2 50 763 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/416d502c22fdb8f1fd643e4cd0750ff5.pdf 915bb7081b9dc8a4dceeec10c65bb890 PDF Text Text 18 SLOVAKIA however, is d.n itself an assurance to all Slovaik em:igres that in the eyes of Prague and of international Communism ,i t is no "quan·t ite negligeable," that it is, in fact, so formidable a hindrance to them for the Slovaks to be allied with the democracies that they even ventured such a brutal scandal to register their reaction. To Slovruk 1patriots in exile, mourning the death of their most distinguished representative, Matus Cernak, this realization begets a fresh spur to redoubled activities. Consummate triumph of the Slovaik hope for independence beckons on the trail over which Matus Cernak has forged ahead in honor and in complete unflinching dedication. God grant it! - "BuNetin of the Slovruk National Council Abroad," June, 1956) . • • • LABOR AND THE SWVAK REPUBLIC J. C. Bukovina " Our policy shall not be socialis·tic, but social. We shall not incite J:}eople against our. selves, but we shall train them to be understanding and Wilted . .A:bove all else, work is the foundation of our policy." 'Dr. Joseph Tlso, Oct. 8, 1S38. October 6, 1938, and March 14, 1939, found the S10vruks prepared. The Hlin:ka ·S lovak People's Party, whic:h had fought consistently for twenty years before Munich to secure the national existence of the Slova!k nation, was fully prepared for these two historical milestones - to take over the direction of the fate of the Slovak nation. The fight of the Slovaks for national independence in the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovak State was actually a struggle and a call of the Slovruk nation for social justice. Once the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Exlward Benes had taken over the reigns of state, promises made to the Slovruks in America and elsewhere were soon forgotten, and the Slovalks found themselves again in the position of the exploited. Like the Magyars, the Czechs found little trouble in recruiting Judas Slovaks to promote not the interests of the Slovak nation, but the interests of the Czech nation, �SLOVAKIA 19 which for propaganda .purposes was labeled "Czecho-Slovak" (with or without the hyphen.) Practically every single utterance of the deputies of the ffiinka Slovak !People's Party on the floor of the Prague Parliament directly or indirectly dealt with the social question of the Sloivak people. When the state ·b udgets came up for consideration, Andrew Hlinka and iDr. Joseph Tiso pointed to the injustices suffered by the Slovaiks at the hands of the Prague centralistic government. Pleas and admonitions, warnings and threats, were a voice calling oot in the desert; the government and Czech deputies always played the same record: Slovakia is costing the "historical" Jra.nds plenty, the policy of the Hlin:ka Slovak People's Party is separatistfo, and its representatiives are demagogues, political analphwbets, etc. While the Prague government continued to add iusuJ.t to injury whenever 'S lovaks demanded state's rights, Andrew iHlinlka !Prepared his most trusted workers for the decisive battle. He knew the significance of trade and professional organizations; several of them had joined his party: the Christian-Social T.rade Federation, led by deputies Rudolph Cajovsky and John Moro; the Allian·ce of Slovruk Railr.oadmen, ,u nder the chairmansh1p of deputy Stephen Surovialk; the Alliance of .Slovak Postal W Oiikers under deputy Joseph Drobny; the Regional Catholic Teachers Society, in whicih Senator .An1.hony Ha.ncJko served as chairman of many years; and the Society of Slovak Professors, led by professor Misfile The occupational organizations, wi1:th their Christia.nSociai program drawn from the Papal Encyclicals, prepared themselves to solve economic, cultural, and social prdblems after the Slovak people rid itself of the tutorship of Prague and :a Slovak government would take over in Slovakia. Now, ·a fter the passage of years, we know that they did their work notably well during the life of the Sloivak Republic. The basis of the political struggle of the Slovak nation for national and state independence was indisputably the social question and it was decisive in the placing of the �20 SLOVIA.KIA foundations for renewed .Slovruk statehood. The words spoken by Dr. Joseph Tiso, when he assumed the premiership of the Slovak aiutooomou:s government, October 8, 1938, teH us everything t!hat made the Slovak Republic Christian and democratic. In the •s entences quoted is noted the social policy of the Slovruk Republic which was conscientiously followed not only by Tiso himself, but by the mem'b ers of the SlOIV3!k government, as well. The program of social policy during the life of the Slovak State was not a copy of German National ,Socialism, as enemies of the Slovruk nation liike to point out, but it was the program of Papal Encyclicals, especially the Encyclicals of Pope Leo XNI (Rerum novarum) :and iPope iPius XI (Qua:dragesimo anno). And this social ,policy, even though it was not entirely original because it was ibased on the Paprul Encyclicals, nevertheless can be regarded as something · new in central Europe, if not in all of Eurorpe ; and it was an attempt to get the human society on a new road within the confines of Christian socialism. The Slwalk Government realized the social program ex;pressed iby President Dr. Joseph Tiso by means of a:n economic program which secured wo!I'k fo,r every 1Slova:k at home, work rewarded with adequate wages; it increased its ca:re of tlie family and its health ; it raised the li'Ving and cu1tuiral standard of all str.ata of the nation; it removed class hatreds and, by systematic re-education of the population, tried to attain mutual understanding and harmony. ln former Austria-Hungary and in pre-<Munich Czecho-Slova'kia, the social problem was partly solved by the emi gration of Slovaks into foreign Jands, notably to America and, later, to Canada and Argentina, and by seeking seasonal wor.k in neighboring countries, such as Hungary, Austria, F-rance rurid Germany. Over a quarter of a million Slovaks left their homeland d'll.I'ing the life of the first C.zecho-Slo.vak Repulblic, while almost the same number of Czechs, throug;h the good graces of the centralistic Pra;gue government, found b;rea:d in Slovakia. This was a bitter pill for the Slovwks to swaHow. Slovak political and 1 1 1 �SLOVAKIA 21 ccltura,1 leaders iknew that, if the trend continued, the Slovalks would soon be threatened with complete extinction in their own homeland. One of the first things the autonomous S1ova;k Government did, after taking office, was to asik Prague to recali all Czechs f.rom Slorvakia - wotikers, teachers, professors, and officials - whose places might well be filled with SlovaJks. 1P rague agreed. Nevertheless this subject was brought up in the post-war trials against President Tiso and memlbern of the Slovaik Government before the National Court in Bratislava, particularly in the process against Dr. Vojtech Tulka upon whom the court practically placed the foll blame for the return of Czech immigrants to Bohemia and Moravia. Let the Czechs exp1ain the release of Czech employees in Slavaikia as they will, Sl:ovalks regarded it as the only way out to right the inj1U:stices committed during two whole decades by the Prague gorvernment against the SlavaJk people and the only way to secure a livelihood for tholl!Sands of Slovak workers, farmers, and intellectuals who, because of the unjust social policy and chauvin~stic attitude of the Prague Government, were dependent on alms doled out from unemployment funds. With the departure of Czech employees from Slovakia thousands of positions were made available for Slovaks: in public works, the railways, the army, police department, the trades, and in private enter,prises. The Czechs learned what the S1ova:ks •knew long before: there was more tham enough work in ·SlO'Vakia for all inh'a,bitants who wanted to work. New r.ail lines were laid, new roads constructed, rivers were regufated, fields, meadows and pastures were drained, new faotorie.s, hydrocentrals, schools public buildings, hospitals, sanatoriums, and libraries were built. During six short years relati-vely much more was done in Slovakia than during the twenty-year existence of the first Ozecho--Slova;k Republic - and without the so-called "historical" lands contriJbuting a cent. The wage problem of Slovalk workers constituted a serio:us problem during the first years of the Slovak Repufblic wa,ges paid in Slovakia were much higher th!an those �22 SLOVAKIA paid in Czech lands. In 1939 agricultural worikers, who were the least paid, had their wages increased. The Slovak laborer, unspoiled by the Marx-Leninist theory and loyal to the Christian and national tradition, was not in a hurry to have his wages or salary adjusted: he realized that the government, even though 'Very willing, needed time to solve labor problems; to create a state, seC'llire peace for it with its neighbors, to get the state apparatus going, a:ll this required much time, thought, and ener,gy. The Slova'k Government was aware of the fact that the farmer and the worker were the main pillars of every state; the welfare of the state depended on the satisfaction and welfare of all workers. On February 5, 1940, the Premier of the Slo:va:k Government, Dr. Vojtech Tuka, called a meeting of representatives of all workers in Slovakia to Bratislava to discuss the iProblem of raising the living standard of workers and everything connected with this problem. The Slovak Government did concern itself with the fulfillment of the regulations of the Slo:vak Constitution (par. 79) and the Papal Encyclicals, according to which the exploitation of the socially weak was forbidden and every citizen of Slovakia had a claim to a just wage. F1amily considerations also entered into the problem, and a minimum wage law was put into effect, so that employers could not act arbitrarily with the wovkers and seek cheap lalbor. The result of the meeting with the representatives of the workers was that the Slovak Government issued a law (No. 284/ 1940), on the basis of which there was set up a Centrai Labor Office in Bratislava which was controlled by the Ministry of the Interior. lt was the task of this office to employ all aivailable workers in Slovakia: find out what people could do, ascertain their health status, and gi'Ve them a just wage for the work they were qualified to do. The Central Labor Office also had charge of hiring foreigners, inspecting industry, and providmg safeguards for the iprotection of lahor .and the wonkera. Law No. 283/1940 gave this office the authority to regulate wages and salaries and to determine woriking conditions. The Labor Office really did a wonderlul job for SlO'Vaik labor. It �SLOVAKIA 23 ca.n only be iregretted that, at the end of 1942 '8llld the beginning of 1943, the regulation of wages and salaries was taken over by the Office of Supplies, headed ,b y Dr. Imrich Karvas, now ·a .professor at the Uni'Versity of Bratislava, who was definitely anti-labor. It soon became apparent that Dr. Karvas wanted to incite the Slo'Vak workers ·a gainst the Slovak State and against the 'Slovak Government. As the "only expert and economist," Karvas ·a lways opposed an mcrease in wages for workers, but was O'Verruled by the Slovak Government and President Tiso himself. And this is the irony of fate: the ,g reatest friends of the Slovak wovker either were executed by hanging or are incarcerated in the Leopoldov prison, while the most implaicable enemy of Slovak labor enjoys the trust of the Communist Party. -During the life of the first Czecho-Sloiv~ Republic, Slovruk labor endeavored in vain to have a law passed in favor of workers with families. What Prague could not do for Slovak wor,kers was done by the Slovak State. The law (No. 216/ 1941) pro!Vided additional payments for children of wage-earners in the form of insurance. The socia:l significance of this law was far-reaching. During the first year, after the pass·a ge of this law, 115,000 families of Slovak workers and a total of 260,000 children were given significant aid: 100,000,000 Slovruk crowns ($3,333,000) were paid out. The true aim of the family wage was so that the worker, as the provider for his family, might make enough to live contendedly, satisfy also his cultural desires, and be able to save something for his family. The deciding factor of family wages, however, were the mothers and women of Slovakia, whom the government wanted to take out of the labor ,g roup in the course of time, so that they might be able to return to their original and God-designed mission - to the family - where they could devote their time to the care of their children and their households. It should b.e ,s pecially emphasized that the Slovak Government endea,yored to do away with piece-work altogether, because this type of labor notably exhausts the worker so that in a relatively short period of time he be- �24 SLOVAKIA comes useless for work and a burden not only :f or the state, but also his family. Workers were paid by the hoUT. When the results of the war began to be felt in Slovakia, the Slwwk government ordered that the workers be compensated for .p rice increases: married men at the rate of 1.20 crowns and the single at 0.80 cro,w ns per hour. Besides that, at the end of each calendar year, the workers receirved a special, tax-free payment in the form of a bonus, the iamount was determined first ,b y the Central LaJbor Office, but later by the Office of Supplies. DUTing the fi11st Czecho-Slovruk Republic workers complained most aJbout social insurance, into which every wovker had to pay high dues while sick benefits were low. The Slova;k Government also changed this radically. By an oroer with the power ·o f -law (No. 300/ 1940), District Socia1 Insurance agencies were dissolved ; from J anuary 1, 1941, the Workers Social Insurance Office, with its main office in Bratislava, took care of sicik, invalid, old-age, and accident insurance. Thus, the wo,r kers, their wives, and their families received better medical ,c are the office had seventeen affiliates in Slovakia and built its own hospitals in Bratislava, Ha.ndlova, and Podbrezova. In 1941 it built and opened one of the largest and most modern ~a.natoriums for liung diseases in central Europe ; it is situated in Vysne Hagy and contains 500 beds: 100 for patients with bone tuberc'U'losis and 400 fo,r other TB cases. ~urthermore, the agency managed the Soos Baths, the s 1anatorium for children in Luci'Vlla, and established sanatociums at Sklenne Teplice and at Trencianske Teplice: these were the places where the Workers 1Social Insurance Office sent afflicted workers and their wi<ves and cihildren. The Slovak Government also did something about the aicute hO'USing problem in industrial centers. The action of the government called a "thousand homes for workers families," was COffiiPleted successfully in the targer industrial centers. The Finance Ministry, with special tax relief for owners of irrdustrial enterprises and large farms, arranged to have these homes built within the framework of iirwestment. Thu s, entire colonies of new workers homes �25 SLOVAKIA sprang up within two-.three years, like mmhrooms after a rain, in Duibnica, Pova:zska Bystrica, Zilina, Ruzomiberok, Zbehy, Afruksice, and other industrial centers. The parliament of the Slovak Republic did not forget the recreational needs of the workers, either. On J,u,ly 6, 1944, it passed a law (No. 87 of the Slovruk Code of Law) granting paid vacations to wor,ke,r s. According to this law, every worker who worked at least six months a year was entitled to a paid vacation. The length of the vacation was established by law and depended on the actua1 number of years wonked and not on the performance of the wor,kers, as it does presently under the Communist iPmgue regime. The judiciary in the Slovak Republic was completely independent. '11his had a marked signific ance for the workers in the labor trials. The la:borer had the right, guaranteed by law, to sue his employer for cruuse; he also had the right to sue the State for cause, if he was an employee thereof. The sodal question of the workers was resolved with the cooperation of the representatives of the Slovak W10rkers, organized in the tra:de organizatiooo. First, as if mentioned above, it was the Christian-Social Trrude Federation and, later, the ·F ederation of l'Ildiustry, Tra:des, and Finances. The trade organizations were non~political and their ta.sk was to help the ,government realize its program for raising the living and cultural level of the workers. Under the concept_ of socia1 question, people usually think of the problem or question of the workers who suffered most, especially in the last years ~fore World War II. This is not the correct explanati~in oif social policy, because not only the factory wo•r ker, but also the fa.I1mer, artisans, the teacher, and the office-worker are equal members of the national collectirve. This is something wihich the Communists do not want to reoog,nize 3/nd the reason why they "solve" social questions so speedily. Just how they do th<at is a chapter ,by itself. If, however, the social question is to be solved to the satisfaction of all the adherents of a nation, its solution must include the farmer, the businessman, and the office-worker. Ami the Slovak State did just 1 �2-6 SLOVAKIA that: as far as the social question went, it took care of every category of wonker, state and private office-.wol'lker. •F or Slovalk agriculturists, the most significant day undoubtedly was February 22, 1940 (Washington's birthday) , when the parliament of the Slovak !Republic passed the new Land Reform Act, whereby ali the injustices suffered by the Slovak farmer during the pre~'Munkh Republic were removed. Land reform of the first CzechoSlova:k Republic did not consider the actual needs of Slovak farmers and distributed the land according ta a political key to those in the Czeoho-Slovak political parties who bound themselves to serve Benes and T. G. Masaryk: to promote the •p olicy of the Prag1Ue centralistic government and the interests of the Czech nation. In a conversation a:bout the new Land Reform Act, besides addresses by representatives o:f the Slovak farmers, Dr. Gejza Medricky, Minister of Agriculture, speaking for the Slovak Government, among other things, said: "It is very well known that we do not have too much arable land in Slovakia. In the whole of Slovakia we have 1,618,000 hectares (3,998,078 aicres) of wooded and agricultural land which come untler the new Land Reform Act ; this amounts to 45 percent of all our wooded and agricudtural land. It ,i s ev.ident that the government must be concerned that this land be worked in the best manner possible, that this land provide the food necessary for the people here settled, and that this land serve as a permanent existential foundation for those people who work on it. That is just why the significance of the plan from the economic side is clear to every individual. But no less is the significance of the plan from the political side. 'In the past the Hlinka Slovak People's Party fought against the injustices which emanated from the realization of the old land reform. With today's discussion about this law and with the passage of this plan, the old political demand of the ffiinka Slovak People's Party, that is, the revision of the old Land Reform Act, is being realized." In his speech, Dr. Gejza Medricky pointed to the actuality that 45 percent, that is, almost a half of the land �SLOVAKIA 27 in SlovaJkia was in the hands of foreigners, while Slovak farmers had only a bit more than half of it. The intention of the new Land !Reform Act was to get the land into the hands of Slova,k farmers and such people, whose social condition required it; furthemiOTe, to avoid economic losses with property transfers, to secure the Hveliihood of the population, and to solve the social question which is connected with an agricultural state (",SLOVAK," Feb. 25, 1940). The task of executing the Land Reform Act correctly and speedily wa,s entrusted to the State Land Office, which C8Jllle into being on the basis of a special law, which the S1ovruk Parliament ha,d voted that same day. According to the law, the Land Office had the 3/Uthority to buy the land concerned fo:r the State and then to sell it to Slovak farmers who were interested in it, guaranteeing that they would work it to produce the commodities needed by the population. According to the law, every citizen of the Slovak State had a claim to ~and, if he ,u nderstood farming, whose properties, after the Vienna Aribitration, fell to Hungary and, therefore, were forced by the Magyar government to lose everything and go to Slovakia empty-handed. Flurtihermore, priority .r ights to buy land were granted to graduates of agricultural schools, then to local people or inha:bitants of neighboring communities; and where none such could be found, the land was distributed to citizens of more remote communities of Slovakia. Of course, those interested in the land did not get it for free. The farmer, who applied for land, had to pay 50 percent of the sale .price, after hls application had been approved, and the remainder he could pay of in forty years in the form of rent to the State. The Land Office QOmpensated the owners of land which came under the Act by paying them the S8Jllle _a moont they paid for it, or payment wa,s based on prod1Uctive value. The significance of ia:nd reform for the Slovak farmer, as well as for the whole Slovak nation, was evaluated �28 SLOVAKIA by President Dr. Joseph Tiso on March 10, 1940, in Banovce Nad Bebravou, in this manner: "Gradually we shall harve to learn to forget the expression 'land reform.' Land reform with us is not the rewarding of protected chHdren to catoh the voters. We are concerned so that more he produced agriculturally. We must increase production. We do not want to reward, to ca:tch, voters. No one shall ever again, in any manner whatsoever, buy voters in Slov~ia ! Even in the present situation we are self-sufficient. This, however, must not satisfy us. We also want to export. That is why we wish to increruse our agricultUTal ,prod'Ulction. "The main idea of land reform is: to enruble as many husbandmen as possible to oper.ate independently. In this we shall act sensi,bly. Wherever anything proves itself, there we shall cultivate it. Whatever ,prorves itself, that we shall do. There shwl a!lso be so-called indivisi!ble property, which shall not be parcelled out under any circumstances. Flur:thermore, we must enaJble ,a higher degree of agrioulture ( experimental agrimtlture) . True, even the farmer can experiment, burt this c·a n be done only by ·t he man who has more. Such a farmer then can make experiments, take risks. We need healthy seeds, quality livestock. The small farmer is not trained to produce these. Such farmers are afraid to give their livestock more so that it could put on more weight. The a:gricwtural industry eannot be maintained only lby the sma'li farmer. [rt is the aim of the State to increase agricultural production. Therefore, the greater agricwtural units shall be preser-ved. . . No one shall get land under the sale price, and no, one shall get something for nothing. Nothing is valued that comes easily. So, if you want land, you shall have to pay for it; if you cannot pay the full iprice, the State will he1p you .p ay it in time in the form of rent. . . We want to make it possible for our ,b rethren in other lands to come here and go into ventures. We want to grow in: numbers; our ambition is that we becrone stronger. I do not fear fo;r the future we have the best outlook There still are some insufficiencies, but that �SLOVAKIA 29 is not because a new state has ,b een born, but because there is war around us!" Strict, 1but fatherly words. Only he could speak thus, who loved his people and who throughout his life worked in its interest. Thus it was that the other hallf of Slovak land got into the hands of Slovak farmers and ceaaed to be the object of business exploitation. And, fina11y, even private inrvestors had it good in ,Sl.ov,ak±a. They were not only given the possibility to enterprise, but were practically forced by the government to participate in the building of the State, so that erven their profits might increase. On the social policy of the government depended the reeducation of the population - the policy carried out in the i:\pirit of Christian charity towards ones illeigh:bor, of mutual assistance, cooperation, and understanding. The aim of the reeducation of the 1people waJS to remOIVe the blights of the past which, under the influence of pressure from the East, began to find opportune soil even in Slovalkia, especially among the Lutherans. Special attention was given to the reeducation of employe11S and owners of larger and smaller industrial enterprises; the relationship between employer and employee was exiplained according to the teaching of the social Pope, Leo XIII, who said in the encyclical Rerum Novarum: "Religion teaches the wealthy owner and the employer that their woJ'.lk people a,re not to be accO!Uilted their !bondsmen; that in ervery man they m'USt respect his dignity and worth as a man and as a Christian.; that labor rfor w,a.ges is not a thing to 'b e ashamed of, if we lend ear to right reason an.d to Christian (Philosophy, but is to a man's credit, ena;bling -h im to earn his living in an honoraJble way; and that it is shamefiuil and inhuman to treat men li!ke chattels to make money by, or to loolk upon them merely as so muoh musole or physical strength. A,g am the Chrurch teaches that, in dealing with the workingman, religion and the ,g ood of his so,ul must be kept in mind. Hence the employer is -bound to see that the wo:rker has time for !his religious duties; that he be not exposed to corrupting influ~.AW¥ and that he ibe not led ences and d~A~g~ UII .. J;Q~VILLE. STATE CO~LE.GE �SLOVAKIA 30 away to neglect bis thome and f.amily, or to squander his earnings. Furthermore, the employer must never tax his work people 'beyond their strength, or employ them in work unsuited to their sex or age. His ,g reat and principal duty is to give every one what is just. Doubtless before deciding whether wages are fair, many things have to be considered; ·b ut wealthy owners and all masters of labor should be mindful of this - that to exercise pressure upon the indigent and the destitute for the sa;ke of gain, and to gather one's profit out of the need of another, is condemned by all laws, human and Divine." 1 On the other hand, workingmen were expected to carry out honestly and fairly all equitable agreements freely entered into; never to injure the property of an employer uselessly and maliciously; never to .r esort to violence in defending their own cause and to avoid riots and disorders; and, finally, to have nothing to do with persons who stand in th service of Communism, endeavoring to sow dissention and dissatisfaction among the working ;p eople and ultimately to enslaJVe them. 1 The results of reeducation were demonstrated especially when Dr. Karvas, chairman of the Office of Supplies, adamantly opposed ,a ll warranted increases in wages for workingmen.. At that time the employers stood by the workingmen and thus embarrassed iDr. Karvas: instead of hourly wages, they ,g radually began to introduce piece-work so that the workmen could gain their increases, but not to sap their strength and exploit them. This arrangement was done in agreement with the trade organizations and the workingmen themselrves; Karvas, therefore, could not punrish employers for increasing wages with out his permission. Tthe life of cohabitation of the citizens in the Slovak State resembled the life of a well-ordered family. Slov:rukia was the envy of States with richer traditions and of nations more mmnerous than the Slova;ks. The SlovaJk workingman ,r eally never had it so good, rund prdbaJbly never will mwe it again, until a free and ~ndependent Slovrukia, based on Christian principles, is again established. � 18 SLOVAKIA however, is d.n itself an assurance to all Slovaik em:igres that in the eyes of Prague and of international Communism ,i t is no "quan·t ite negligeable," that it is, in fact, so formidable a hindrance to them for the Slovaks to be allied with the democracies that they even ventured such a brutal scandal to register their reaction. To Slovruk 1patriots in exile, mourning the death of their most distinguished representative, Matus Cernak, this realization begets a fresh spur to redoubled activities. Consummate triumph of the Slovaik hope for independence beckons on the trail over which Matus Cernak has forged ahead in honor and in complete unflinching dedication. God grant it! - "BuNetin of the Slovruk National Council Abroad," June, 1956) . • • • LABOR AND THE SWVAK REPUBLIC J. C. Bukovina " Our policy shall not be socialis·tic, but social. We shall not incite J:}eople against our. selves, but we shall train them to be understanding and Wilted . .A:bove all else, work is the foundation of our policy." 'Dr. Joseph Tlso, Oct. 8, 1S38. October 6, 1938, and March 14, 1939, found the S10vruks prepared. The Hlin:ka ·S lovak People's Party, whic:h had fought consistently for twenty years before Munich to secure the national existence of the Slova!k nation, was fully prepared for these two historical milestones - to take over the direction of the fate of the Slovak nation. The fight of the Slovaks for national independence in the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovak State was actually a struggle and a call of the Slovruk nation for social justice. Once the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Exlward Benes had taken over the reigns of state, promises made to the Slovruks in America and elsewhere were soon forgotten, and the Slovalks found themselves again in the position of the exploited. Like the Magyars, the Czechs found little trouble in recruiting Judas Slovaks to promote not the interests of the Slovak nation, but the interests of the Czech nation, �SLOVAKIA 19 which for propaganda .purposes was labeled "Czecho-Slovak" (with or without the hyphen.) Practically every single utterance of the deputies of the ffiinka Slovak !People's Party on the floor of the Prague Parliament directly or indirectly dealt with the social question of the Sloivak people. When the state ·b udgets came up for consideration, Andrew Hlinka and iDr. Joseph Tiso pointed to the injustices suffered by the Slovaiks at the hands of the Prague centralistic government. Pleas and admonitions, warnings and threats, were a voice calling oot in the desert; the government and Czech deputies always played the same record: Slovakia is costing the "historical" Jra.nds plenty, the policy of the Hlin:ka Slovak People's Party is separatistfo, and its representatiives are demagogues, political analphwbets, etc. While the Prague government continued to add iusuJ.t to injury whenever 'S lovaks demanded state's rights, Andrew iHlinlka !Prepared his most trusted workers for the decisive battle. He knew the significance of trade and professional organizations; several of them had joined his party: the Christian-Social T.rade Federation, led by deputies Rudolph Cajovsky and John Moro; the Allian·ce of Slovruk Railr.oadmen, ,u nder the chairmansh1p of deputy Stephen Surovialk; the Alliance of .Slovak Postal W Oiikers under deputy Joseph Drobny; the Regional Catholic Teachers Society, in whicih Senator .An1.hony Ha.ncJko served as chairman of many years; and the Society of Slovak Professors, led by professor Misfile The occupational organizations, wi1:th their Christia.nSociai program drawn from the Papal Encyclicals, prepared themselves to solve economic, cultural, and social prdblems after the Slovak people rid itself of the tutorship of Prague and :a Slovak government would take over in Slovakia. Now, ·a fter the passage of years, we know that they did their work notably well during the life of the Sloivak Republic. The basis of the political struggle of the Slovak nation for national and state independence was indisputably the social question and it was decisive in the placing of the �20 SLOVIA.KIA foundations for renewed .Slovruk statehood. The words spoken by Dr. Joseph Tiso, when he assumed the premiership of the Slovak aiutooomou:s government, October 8, 1938, teH us everything t!hat made the Slovak Republic Christian and democratic. In the •s entences quoted is noted the social policy of the Slovruk Republic which was conscientiously followed not only by Tiso himself, but by the mem'b ers of the SlOIV3!k government, as well. The program of social policy during the life of the Slovak State was not a copy of German National ,Socialism, as enemies of the Slovruk nation liike to point out, but it was the program of Papal Encyclicals, especially the Encyclicals of Pope Leo XNI (Rerum novarum) :and iPope iPius XI (Qua:dragesimo anno). And this social ,policy, even though it was not entirely original because it was ibased on the Paprul Encyclicals, nevertheless can be regarded as something · new in central Europe, if not in all of Eurorpe ; and it was an attempt to get the human society on a new road within the confines of Christian socialism. The Slwalk Government realized the social program ex;pressed iby President Dr. Joseph Tiso by means of a:n economic program which secured wo!I'k fo,r every 1Slova:k at home, work rewarded with adequate wages; it increased its ca:re of tlie family and its health ; it raised the li'Ving and cu1tuiral standard of all str.ata of the nation; it removed class hatreds and, by systematic re-education of the population, tried to attain mutual understanding and harmony. ln former Austria-Hungary and in pre-<Munich Czecho-Slova'kia, the social problem was partly solved by the emi gration of Slovaks into foreign Jands, notably to America and, later, to Canada and Argentina, and by seeking seasonal wor.k in neighboring countries, such as Hungary, Austria, F-rance rurid Germany. Over a quarter of a million Slovaks left their homeland d'll.I'ing the life of the first C.zecho-Slo.vak Repulblic, while almost the same number of Czechs, throug;h the good graces of the centralistic Pra;gue government, found b;rea:d in Slovakia. This was a bitter pill for the Slovwks to swaHow. Slovak political and 1 1 1 �SLOVAKIA 21 ccltura,1 leaders iknew that, if the trend continued, the Slovalks would soon be threatened with complete extinction in their own homeland. One of the first things the autonomous S1ova;k Government did, after taking office, was to asik Prague to recali all Czechs f.rom Slorvakia - wotikers, teachers, professors, and officials - whose places might well be filled with SlovaJks. 1P rague agreed. Nevertheless this subject was brought up in the post-war trials against President Tiso and memlbern of the Slovaik Government before the National Court in Bratislava, particularly in the process against Dr. Vojtech Tulka upon whom the court practically placed the foll blame for the return of Czech immigrants to Bohemia and Moravia. Let the Czechs exp1ain the release of Czech employees in Slavaikia as they will, Sl:ovalks regarded it as the only way out to right the inj1U:stices committed during two whole decades by the Prague gorvernment against the SlavaJk people and the only way to secure a livelihood for tholl!Sands of Slovak workers, farmers, and intellectuals who, because of the unjust social policy and chauvin~stic attitude of the Prague Government, were dependent on alms doled out from unemployment funds. With the departure of Czech employees from Slovakia thousands of positions were made available for Slovaks: in public works, the railways, the army, police department, the trades, and in private enter,prises. The Czechs learned what the S1ova:ks •knew long before: there was more tham enough work in ·SlO'Vakia for all inh'a,bitants who wanted to work. New r.ail lines were laid, new roads constructed, rivers were regufated, fields, meadows and pastures were drained, new faotorie.s, hydrocentrals, schools public buildings, hospitals, sanatoriums, and libraries were built. During six short years relati-vely much more was done in Slovakia than during the twenty-year existence of the first Ozecho--Slova;k Republic - and without the so-called "historical" lands contriJbuting a cent. The wage problem of Slovalk workers constituted a serio:us problem during the first years of the Slovak Repufblic wa,ges paid in Slovakia were much higher th!an those �22 SLOVAKIA paid in Czech lands. In 1939 agricultural worikers, who were the least paid, had their wages increased. The Slovak laborer, unspoiled by the Marx-Leninist theory and loyal to the Christian and national tradition, was not in a hurry to have his wages or salary adjusted: he realized that the government, even though 'Very willing, needed time to solve labor problems; to create a state, seC'llire peace for it with its neighbors, to get the state apparatus going, a:ll this required much time, thought, and ener,gy. The Slova'k Government was aware of the fact that the farmer and the worker were the main pillars of every state; the welfare of the state depended on the satisfaction and welfare of all workers. On February 5, 1940, the Premier of the Slo:va:k Government, Dr. Vojtech Tuka, called a meeting of representatives of all workers in Slovakia to Bratislava to discuss the iProblem of raising the living standard of workers and everything connected with this problem. The Slovak Government did concern itself with the fulfillment of the regulations of the Slo:vak Constitution (par. 79) and the Papal Encyclicals, according to which the exploitation of the socially weak was forbidden and every citizen of Slovakia had a claim to a just wage. F1amily considerations also entered into the problem, and a minimum wage law was put into effect, so that employers could not act arbitrarily with the wovkers and seek cheap lalbor. The result of the meeting with the representatives of the workers was that the Slovak Government issued a law (No. 284/ 1940), on the basis of which there was set up a Centrai Labor Office in Bratislava which was controlled by the Ministry of the Interior. lt was the task of this office to employ all aivailable workers in Slovakia: find out what people could do, ascertain their health status, and gi'Ve them a just wage for the work they were qualified to do. The Central Labor Office also had charge of hiring foreigners, inspecting industry, and providmg safeguards for the iprotection of lahor .and the wonkera. Law No. 283/1940 gave this office the authority to regulate wages and salaries and to determine woriking conditions. The Labor Office really did a wonderlul job for SlO'Vaik labor. It �SLOVAKIA 23 ca.n only be iregretted that, at the end of 1942 '8llld the beginning of 1943, the regulation of wages and salaries was taken over by the Office of Supplies, headed ,b y Dr. Imrich Karvas, now ·a .professor at the Uni'Versity of Bratislava, who was definitely anti-labor. It soon became apparent that Dr. Karvas wanted to incite the Slo'Vak workers ·a gainst the Slovak State and against the 'Slovak Government. As the "only expert and economist," Karvas ·a lways opposed an mcrease in wages for workers, but was O'Verruled by the Slovak Government and President Tiso himself. And this is the irony of fate: the ,g reatest friends of the Slovak wovker either were executed by hanging or are incarcerated in the Leopoldov prison, while the most implaicable enemy of Slovak labor enjoys the trust of the Communist Party. -During the life of the first Czecho-Sloiv~ Republic, Slovruk labor endeavored in vain to have a law passed in favor of workers with families. What Prague could not do for Slovak wor,kers was done by the Slovak State. The law (No. 216/ 1941) pro!Vided additional payments for children of wage-earners in the form of insurance. The socia:l significance of this law was far-reaching. During the first year, after the pass·a ge of this law, 115,000 families of Slovak workers and a total of 260,000 children were given significant aid: 100,000,000 Slovruk crowns ($3,333,000) were paid out. The true aim of the family wage was so that the worker, as the provider for his family, might make enough to live contendedly, satisfy also his cultural desires, and be able to save something for his family. The deciding factor of family wages, however, were the mothers and women of Slovakia, whom the government wanted to take out of the labor ,g roup in the course of time, so that they might be able to return to their original and God-designed mission - to the family - where they could devote their time to the care of their children and their households. It should b.e ,s pecially emphasized that the Slovak Government endea,yored to do away with piece-work altogether, because this type of labor notably exhausts the worker so that in a relatively short period of time he be- �24 SLOVAKIA comes useless for work and a burden not only :f or the state, but also his family. Workers were paid by the hoUT. When the results of the war began to be felt in Slovakia, the Slwwk government ordered that the workers be compensated for .p rice increases: married men at the rate of 1.20 crowns and the single at 0.80 cro,w ns per hour. Besides that, at the end of each calendar year, the workers receirved a special, tax-free payment in the form of a bonus, the iamount was determined first ,b y the Central LaJbor Office, but later by the Office of Supplies. DUTing the fi11st Czecho-Slovruk Republic workers complained most aJbout social insurance, into which every wovker had to pay high dues while sick benefits were low. The Slova;k Government also changed this radically. By an oroer with the power ·o f -law (No. 300/ 1940), District Socia1 Insurance agencies were dissolved ; from J anuary 1, 1941, the Workers Social Insurance Office, with its main office in Bratislava, took care of sicik, invalid, old-age, and accident insurance. Thus, the wo,r kers, their wives, and their families received better medical ,c are the office had seventeen affiliates in Slovakia and built its own hospitals in Bratislava, Ha.ndlova, and Podbrezova. In 1941 it built and opened one of the largest and most modern ~a.natoriums for liung diseases in central Europe ; it is situated in Vysne Hagy and contains 500 beds: 100 for patients with bone tuberc'U'losis and 400 fo,r other TB cases. ~urthermore, the agency managed the Soos Baths, the s 1anatorium for children in Luci'Vlla, and established sanatociums at Sklenne Teplice and at Trencianske Teplice: these were the places where the Workers 1Social Insurance Office sent afflicted workers and their wi<ves and cihildren. The Slovak Government also did something about the aicute hO'USing problem in industrial centers. The action of the government called a "thousand homes for workers families," was COffiiPleted successfully in the targer industrial centers. The Finance Ministry, with special tax relief for owners of irrdustrial enterprises and large farms, arranged to have these homes built within the framework of iirwestment. Thu s, entire colonies of new workers homes �25 SLOVAKIA sprang up within two-.three years, like mmhrooms after a rain, in Duibnica, Pova:zska Bystrica, Zilina, Ruzomiberok, Zbehy, Afruksice, and other industrial centers. The parliament of the Slovak Republic did not forget the recreational needs of the workers, either. On J,u,ly 6, 1944, it passed a law (No. 87 of the Slovruk Code of Law) granting paid vacations to wor,ke,r s. According to this law, every worker who worked at least six months a year was entitled to a paid vacation. The length of the vacation was established by law and depended on the actua1 number of years wonked and not on the performance of the wor,kers, as it does presently under the Communist iPmgue regime. The judiciary in the Slovak Republic was completely independent. '11his had a marked signific ance for the workers in the labor trials. The la:borer had the right, guaranteed by law, to sue his employer for cruuse; he also had the right to sue the State for cause, if he was an employee thereof. The sodal question of the workers was resolved with the cooperation of the representatives of the Slovak W10rkers, organized in the tra:de organizatiooo. First, as if mentioned above, it was the Christian-Social Trrude Federation and, later, the ·F ederation of l'Ildiustry, Tra:des, and Finances. The trade organizations were non~political and their ta.sk was to help the ,government realize its program for raising the living and cultural level of the workers. Under the concept_ of socia1 question, people usually think of the problem or question of the workers who suffered most, especially in the last years ~fore World War II. This is not the correct explanati~in oif social policy, because not only the factory wo•r ker, but also the fa.I1mer, artisans, the teacher, and the office-worker are equal members of the national collectirve. This is something wihich the Communists do not want to reoog,nize 3/nd the reason why they "solve" social questions so speedily. Just how they do th<at is a chapter ,by itself. If, however, the social question is to be solved to the satisfaction of all the adherents of a nation, its solution must include the farmer, the businessman, and the office-worker. Ami the Slovak State did just 1 �2-6 SLOVAKIA that: as far as the social question went, it took care of every category of wonker, state and private office-.wol'lker. •F or Slovalk agriculturists, the most significant day undoubtedly was February 22, 1940 (Washington's birthday) , when the parliament of the Slovak !Republic passed the new Land Reform Act, whereby ali the injustices suffered by the Slovak farmer during the pre~'Munkh Republic were removed. Land reform of the first CzechoSlova:k Republic did not consider the actual needs of Slovak farmers and distributed the land according ta a political key to those in the Czeoho-Slovak political parties who bound themselves to serve Benes and T. G. Masaryk: to promote the •p olicy of the Prag1Ue centralistic government and the interests of the Czech nation. In a conversation a:bout the new Land Reform Act, besides addresses by representatives o:f the Slovak farmers, Dr. Gejza Medricky, Minister of Agriculture, speaking for the Slovak Government, among other things, said: "It is very well known that we do not have too much arable land in Slovakia. In the whole of Slovakia we have 1,618,000 hectares (3,998,078 aicres) of wooded and agricultural land which come untler the new Land Reform Act ; this amounts to 45 percent of all our wooded and agricudtural land. It ,i s ev.ident that the government must be concerned that this land be worked in the best manner possible, that this land provide the food necessary for the people here settled, and that this land serve as a permanent existential foundation for those people who work on it. That is just why the significance of the plan from the economic side is clear to every individual. But no less is the significance of the plan from the political side. 'In the past the Hlinka Slovak People's Party fought against the injustices which emanated from the realization of the old land reform. With today's discussion about this law and with the passage of this plan, the old political demand of the ffiinka Slovak People's Party, that is, the revision of the old Land Reform Act, is being realized." In his speech, Dr. Gejza Medricky pointed to the actuality that 45 percent, that is, almost a half of the land �SLOVAKIA 27 in SlovaJkia was in the hands of foreigners, while Slovak farmers had only a bit more than half of it. The intention of the new Land !Reform Act was to get the land into the hands of Slova,k farmers and such people, whose social condition required it; furthemiOTe, to avoid economic losses with property transfers, to secure the Hveliihood of the population, and to solve the social question which is connected with an agricultural state (",SLOVAK," Feb. 25, 1940). The task of executing the Land Reform Act correctly and speedily wa,s entrusted to the State Land Office, which C8Jllle into being on the basis of a special law, which the S1ovruk Parliament ha,d voted that same day. According to the law, the Land Office had the 3/Uthority to buy the land concerned fo:r the State and then to sell it to Slovak farmers who were interested in it, guaranteeing that they would work it to produce the commodities needed by the population. According to the law, every citizen of the Slovak State had a claim to ~and, if he ,u nderstood farming, whose properties, after the Vienna Aribitration, fell to Hungary and, therefore, were forced by the Magyar government to lose everything and go to Slovakia empty-handed. Flurtihermore, priority .r ights to buy land were granted to graduates of agricultural schools, then to local people or inha:bitants of neighboring communities; and where none such could be found, the land was distributed to citizens of more remote communities of Slovakia. Of course, those interested in the land did not get it for free. The farmer, who applied for land, had to pay 50 percent of the sale .price, after hls application had been approved, and the remainder he could pay of in forty years in the form of rent to the State. The Land Office QOmpensated the owners of land which came under the Act by paying them the S8Jllle _a moont they paid for it, or payment wa,s based on prod1Uctive value. The significance of ia:nd reform for the Slovak farmer, as well as for the whole Slovak nation, was evaluated �28 SLOVAKIA by President Dr. Joseph Tiso on March 10, 1940, in Banovce Nad Bebravou, in this manner: "Gradually we shall harve to learn to forget the expression 'land reform.' Land reform with us is not the rewarding of protected chHdren to catoh the voters. We are concerned so that more he produced agriculturally. We must increase production. We do not want to reward, to ca:tch, voters. No one shall ever again, in any manner whatsoever, buy voters in Slov~ia ! Even in the present situation we are self-sufficient. This, however, must not satisfy us. We also want to export. That is why we wish to increruse our agricultUTal ,prod'Ulction. "The main idea of land reform is: to enruble as many husbandmen as possible to oper.ate independently. In this we shall act sensi,bly. Wherever anything proves itself, there we shall cultivate it. Whatever ,prorves itself, that we shall do. There shwl a!lso be so-called indivisi!ble property, which shall not be parcelled out under any circumstances. Flur:thermore, we must enaJble ,a higher degree of agrioulture ( experimental agrimtlture) . True, even the farmer can experiment, burt this c·a n be done only by ·t he man who has more. Such a farmer then can make experiments, take risks. We need healthy seeds, quality livestock. The small farmer is not trained to produce these. Such farmers are afraid to give their livestock more so that it could put on more weight. The a:gricwtural industry eannot be maintained only lby the sma'li farmer. [rt is the aim of the State to increase agricultural production. Therefore, the greater agricwtural units shall be preser-ved. . . No one shall get land under the sale price, and no, one shall get something for nothing. Nothing is valued that comes easily. So, if you want land, you shall have to pay for it; if you cannot pay the full iprice, the State will he1p you .p ay it in time in the form of rent. . . We want to make it possible for our ,b rethren in other lands to come here and go into ventures. We want to grow in: numbers; our ambition is that we becrone stronger. I do not fear fo;r the future we have the best outlook There still are some insufficiencies, but that �SLOVAKIA 29 is not because a new state has ,b een born, but because there is war around us!" Strict, 1but fatherly words. Only he could speak thus, who loved his people and who throughout his life worked in its interest. Thus it was that the other hallf of Slovak land got into the hands of Slovak farmers and ceaaed to be the object of business exploitation. And, fina11y, even private inrvestors had it good in ,Sl.ov,ak±a. They were not only given the possibility to enterprise, but were practically forced by the government to participate in the building of the State, so that erven their profits might increase. On the social policy of the government depended the reeducation of the population - the policy carried out in the i:\pirit of Christian charity towards ones illeigh:bor, of mutual assistance, cooperation, and understanding. The aim of the reeducation of the 1people waJS to remOIVe the blights of the past which, under the influence of pressure from the East, began to find opportune soil even in Slovalkia, especially among the Lutherans. Special attention was given to the reeducation of employe11S and owners of larger and smaller industrial enterprises; the relationship between employer and employee was exiplained according to the teaching of the social Pope, Leo XIII, who said in the encyclical Rerum Novarum: "Religion teaches the wealthy owner and the employer that their woJ'.lk people a,re not to be accO!Uilted their !bondsmen; that in ervery man they m'USt respect his dignity and worth as a man and as a Christian.; that labor rfor w,a.ges is not a thing to 'b e ashamed of, if we lend ear to right reason an.d to Christian (Philosophy, but is to a man's credit, ena;bling -h im to earn his living in an honoraJble way; and that it is shamefiuil and inhuman to treat men li!ke chattels to make money by, or to loolk upon them merely as so muoh musole or physical strength. A,g am the Chrurch teaches that, in dealing with the workingman, religion and the ,g ood of his so,ul must be kept in mind. Hence the employer is -bound to see that the wo:rker has time for !his religious duties; that he be not exposed to corrupting influ~.AW¥ and that he ibe not led ences and d~A~g~ UII .. J;Q~VILLE. STATE CO~LE.GE �SLOVAKIA 30 away to neglect bis thome and f.amily, or to squander his earnings. Furthermore, the employer must never tax his work people 'beyond their strength, or employ them in work unsuited to their sex or age. His ,g reat and principal duty is to give every one what is just. Doubtless before deciding whether wages are fair, many things have to be considered; ·b ut wealthy owners and all masters of labor should be mindful of this - that to exercise pressure upon the indigent and the destitute for the sa;ke of gain, and to gather one's profit out of the need of another, is condemned by all laws, human and Divine." 1 On the other hand, workingmen were expected to carry out honestly and fairly all equitable agreements freely entered into; never to injure the property of an employer uselessly and maliciously; never to .r esort to violence in defending their own cause and to avoid riots and disorders; and, finally, to have nothing to do with persons who stand in th service of Communism, endeavoring to sow dissention and dissatisfaction among the working ;p eople and ultimately to enslaJVe them. 1 The results of reeducation were demonstrated especially when Dr. Karvas, chairman of the Office of Supplies, adamantly opposed ,a ll warranted increases in wages for workingmen.. At that time the employers stood by the workingmen and thus embarrassed iDr. Karvas: instead of hourly wages, they ,g radually began to introduce piece-work so that the workmen could gain their increases, but not to sap their strength and exploit them. This arrangement was done in agreement with the trade organizations and the workingmen themselrves; Karvas, therefore, could not punrish employers for increasing wages with out his permission. Tthe life of cohabitation of the citizens in the Slovak State resembled the life of a well-ordered family. Slov:rukia was the envy of States with richer traditions and of nations more mmnerous than the Slova;ks. The SlovaJk workingman ,r eally never had it so good, rund prdbaJbly never will mwe it again, until a free and ~ndependent Slovrukia, based on Christian principles, is again established. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1956, Vol. 6 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 18), March 1956.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 19), June 1956.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 20-21), September-December 1956.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1956 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 18 SLOVAKIA however, is d.n itself an assurance to all Slovaik em:igres that in the eyes of Prague and of international Communism ,i t is no "quan·t ite negligeable," that it is, in fact, so formidable a hindrance to them for the Slovaks to be allied with the democracies that they even ventured such a brutal scandal to register their reaction. To Slovruk 1patriots in exile, mourning the death of their most distinguished representative, Matus Cernak, this realization begets a fresh spur to redoubled activities. Consummate triumph of the Slovaik hope for independence beckons on the trail over which Matus Cernak has forged ahead in honor and in complete unflinching dedication. God grant it! - "BuNetin of the Slovruk National Council Abroad," June, 1956) . • • • LABOR AND THE SWVAK REPUBLIC J. C. Bukovina " Our policy shall not be socialis·tic, but social. We shall not incite J:}eople against our. selves, but we shall train them to be understanding and Wilted . .A:bove all else, work is the foundation of our policy." 'Dr. Joseph Tlso, Oct. 8, 1S38. October 6, 1938, and March 14, 1939, found the S10vruks prepared. The Hlin:ka ·S lovak People's Party, whic:h had fought consistently for twenty years before Munich to secure the national existence of the Slova!k nation, was fully prepared for these two historical milestones - to take over the direction of the fate of the Slovak nation. The fight of the Slovaks for national independence in the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovak State was actually a struggle and a call of the Slovruk nation for social justice. Once the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Exlward Benes had taken over the reigns of state, promises made to the Slovruks in America and elsewhere were soon forgotten, and the Slovalks found themselves again in the position of the exploited. Like the Magyars, the Czechs found little trouble in recruiting Judas Slovaks to promote not the interests of the Slovak nation, but the interests of the Czech nation, SLOVAKIA 19 which for propaganda .purposes was labeled "Czecho-Slovak" (with or without the hyphen.) Practically every single utterance of the deputies of the ffiinka Slovak !People's Party on the floor of the Prague Parliament directly or indirectly dealt with the social question of the Sloivak people. When the state ·b udgets came up for consideration, Andrew Hlinka and iDr. Joseph Tiso pointed to the injustices suffered by the Slovaiks at the hands of the Prague centralistic government. Pleas and admonitions, warnings and threats, were a voice calling oot in the desert; the government and Czech deputies always played the same record: Slovakia is costing the "historical" Jra.nds plenty, the policy of the Hlin:ka Slovak People's Party is separatistfo, and its representatiives are demagogues, political analphwbets, etc. While the Prague government continued to add iusuJ.t to injury whenever 'S lovaks demanded state's rights, Andrew iHlinlka !Prepared his most trusted workers for the decisive battle. He knew the significance of trade and professional organizations; several of them had joined his party: the Christian-Social T.rade Federation, led by deputies Rudolph Cajovsky and John Moro; the Allian·ce of Slovruk Railr.oadmen, ,u nder the chairmansh1p of deputy Stephen Surovialk; the Alliance of .Slovak Postal W Oiikers under deputy Joseph Drobny; the Regional Catholic Teachers Society, in whicih Senator .An1.hony Ha.ncJko served as chairman of many years; and the Society of Slovak Professors, led by professor Misfile The occupational organizations, wi1:th their Christia.nSociai program drawn from the Papal Encyclicals, prepared themselves to solve economic, cultural, and social prdblems after the Slovak people rid itself of the tutorship of Prague and :a Slovak government would take over in Slovakia. Now, ·a fter the passage of years, we know that they did their work notably well during the life of the Sloivak Republic. The basis of the political struggle of the Slovak nation for national and state independence was indisputably the social question and it was decisive in the placing of the 20 SLOVIA.KIA foundations for renewed .Slovruk statehood. The words spoken by Dr. Joseph Tiso, when he assumed the premiership of the Slovak aiutooomou:s government, October 8, 1938, teH us everything t!hat made the Slovak Republic Christian and democratic. In the •s entences quoted is noted the social policy of the Slovruk Republic which was conscientiously followed not only by Tiso himself, but by the mem'b ers of the SlOIV3!k government, as well. The program of social policy during the life of the Slovak State was not a copy of German National ,Socialism, as enemies of the Slovruk nation liike to point out, but it was the program of Papal Encyclicals, especially the Encyclicals of Pope Leo XNI (Rerum novarum) :and iPope iPius XI (Qua:dragesimo anno). And this social ,policy, even though it was not entirely original because it was ibased on the Paprul Encyclicals, nevertheless can be regarded as something · new in central Europe, if not in all of Eurorpe ; and it was an attempt to get the human society on a new road within the confines of Christian socialism. The Slwalk Government realized the social program ex;pressed iby President Dr. Joseph Tiso by means of a:n economic program which secured wo!I'k fo,r every 1Slova:k at home, work rewarded with adequate wages; it increased its ca:re of tlie family and its health ; it raised the li'Ving and cu1tuiral standard of all str.ata of the nation; it removed class hatreds and, by systematic re-education of the population, tried to attain mutual understanding and harmony. ln former Austria-Hungary and in pre-<Munich Czecho-Slova'kia, the social problem was partly solved by the emi gration of Slovaks into foreign Jands, notably to America and, later, to Canada and Argentina, and by seeking seasonal wor.k in neighboring countries, such as Hungary, Austria, F-rance rurid Germany. Over a quarter of a million Slovaks left their homeland d'll.I'ing the life of the first C.zecho-Slo.vak Repulblic, while almost the same number of Czechs, throug;h the good graces of the centralistic Pra;gue government, found b;rea:d in Slovakia. This was a bitter pill for the Slovwks to swaHow. Slovak political and 1 1 1 SLOVAKIA 21 ccltura,1 leaders iknew that, if the trend continued, the Slovalks would soon be threatened with complete extinction in their own homeland. One of the first things the autonomous S1ova;k Government did, after taking office, was to asik Prague to recali all Czechs f.rom Slorvakia - wotikers, teachers, professors, and officials - whose places might well be filled with SlovaJks. 1P rague agreed. Nevertheless this subject was brought up in the post-war trials against President Tiso and memlbern of the Slovaik Government before the National Court in Bratislava, particularly in the process against Dr. Vojtech Tulka upon whom the court practically placed the foll blame for the return of Czech immigrants to Bohemia and Moravia. Let the Czechs exp1ain the release of Czech employees in Slavaikia as they will, Sl:ovalks regarded it as the only way out to right the inj1U:stices committed during two whole decades by the Prague gorvernment against the SlavaJk people and the only way to secure a livelihood for tholl!Sands of Slovak workers, farmers, and intellectuals who, because of the unjust social policy and chauvin~stic attitude of the Prague Government, were dependent on alms doled out from unemployment funds. With the departure of Czech employees from Slovakia thousands of positions were made available for Slovaks: in public works, the railways, the army, police department, the trades, and in private enter,prises. The Czechs learned what the S1ova:ks •knew long before: there was more tham enough work in ·SlO'Vakia for all inh'a,bitants who wanted to work. New r.ail lines were laid, new roads constructed, rivers were regufated, fields, meadows and pastures were drained, new faotorie.s, hydrocentrals, schools public buildings, hospitals, sanatoriums, and libraries were built. During six short years relati-vely much more was done in Slovakia than during the twenty-year existence of the first Ozecho--Slova;k Republic - and without the so-called "historical" lands contriJbuting a cent. The wage problem of Slovalk workers constituted a serio:us problem during the first years of the Slovak Repufblic wa,ges paid in Slovakia were much higher th!an those 22 SLOVAKIA paid in Czech lands. In 1939 agricultural worikers, who were the least paid, had their wages increased. The Slovak laborer, unspoiled by the Marx-Leninist theory and loyal to the Christian and national tradition, was not in a hurry to have his wages or salary adjusted: he realized that the government, even though 'Very willing, needed time to solve labor problems; to create a state, seC'llire peace for it with its neighbors, to get the state apparatus going, a:ll this required much time, thought, and ener,gy. The Slova'k Government was aware of the fact that the farmer and the worker were the main pillars of every state; the welfare of the state depended on the satisfaction and welfare of all workers. On February 5, 1940, the Premier of the Slo:va:k Government, Dr. Vojtech Tuka, called a meeting of representatives of all workers in Slovakia to Bratislava to discuss the iProblem of raising the living standard of workers and everything connected with this problem. The Slovak Government did concern itself with the fulfillment of the regulations of the Slo:vak Constitution (par. 79) and the Papal Encyclicals, according to which the exploitation of the socially weak was forbidden and every citizen of Slovakia had a claim to a just wage. F1amily considerations also entered into the problem, and a minimum wage law was put into effect, so that employers could not act arbitrarily with the wovkers and seek cheap lalbor. The result of the meeting with the representatives of the workers was that the Slovak Government issued a law (No. 284/ 1940), on the basis of which there was set up a Centrai Labor Office in Bratislava which was controlled by the Ministry of the Interior. lt was the task of this office to employ all aivailable workers in Slovakia: find out what people could do, ascertain their health status, and gi'Ve them a just wage for the work they were qualified to do. The Central Labor Office also had charge of hiring foreigners, inspecting industry, and providmg safeguards for the iprotection of lahor .and the wonkera. Law No. 283/1940 gave this office the authority to regulate wages and salaries and to determine woriking conditions. The Labor Office really did a wonderlul job for SlO'Vaik labor. It SLOVAKIA 23 ca.n only be iregretted that, at the end of 1942 '8llld the beginning of 1943, the regulation of wages and salaries was taken over by the Office of Supplies, headed ,b y Dr. Imrich Karvas, now ·a .professor at the Uni'Versity of Bratislava, who was definitely anti-labor. It soon became apparent that Dr. Karvas wanted to incite the Slo'Vak workers ·a gainst the Slovak State and against the 'Slovak Government. As the "only expert and economist," Karvas ·a lways opposed an mcrease in wages for workers, but was O'Verruled by the Slovak Government and President Tiso himself. And this is the irony of fate: the ,g reatest friends of the Slovak wovker either were executed by hanging or are incarcerated in the Leopoldov prison, while the most implaicable enemy of Slovak labor enjoys the trust of the Communist Party. -During the life of the first Czecho-Sloiv~ Republic, Slovruk labor endeavored in vain to have a law passed in favor of workers with families. What Prague could not do for Slovak wor,kers was done by the Slovak State. The law (No. 216/ 1941) pro!Vided additional payments for children of wage-earners in the form of insurance. The socia:l significance of this law was far-reaching. During the first year, after the pass·a ge of this law, 115,000 families of Slovak workers and a total of 260,000 children were given significant aid: 100,000,000 Slovruk crowns ($3,333,000) were paid out. The true aim of the family wage was so that the worker, as the provider for his family, might make enough to live contendedly, satisfy also his cultural desires, and be able to save something for his family. The deciding factor of family wages, however, were the mothers and women of Slovakia, whom the government wanted to take out of the labor ,g roup in the course of time, so that they might be able to return to their original and God-designed mission - to the family - where they could devote their time to the care of their children and their households. It should b.e ,s pecially emphasized that the Slovak Government endea,yored to do away with piece-work altogether, because this type of labor notably exhausts the worker so that in a relatively short period of time he be- 24 SLOVAKIA comes useless for work and a burden not only :f or the state, but also his family. Workers were paid by the hoUT. When the results of the war began to be felt in Slovakia, the Slwwk government ordered that the workers be compensated for .p rice increases: married men at the rate of 1.20 crowns and the single at 0.80 cro,w ns per hour. Besides that, at the end of each calendar year, the workers receirved a special, tax-free payment in the form of a bonus, the iamount was determined first ,b y the Central LaJbor Office, but later by the Office of Supplies. DUTing the fi11st Czecho-Slovruk Republic workers complained most aJbout social insurance, into which every wovker had to pay high dues while sick benefits were low. The Slova;k Government also changed this radically. By an oroer with the power ·o f -law (No. 300/ 1940), District Socia1 Insurance agencies were dissolved ; from J anuary 1, 1941, the Workers Social Insurance Office, with its main office in Bratislava, took care of sicik, invalid, old-age, and accident insurance. Thus, the wo,r kers, their wives, and their families received better medical ,c are the office had seventeen affiliates in Slovakia and built its own hospitals in Bratislava, Ha.ndlova, and Podbrezova. In 1941 it built and opened one of the largest and most modern ~a.natoriums for liung diseases in central Europe ; it is situated in Vysne Hagy and contains 500 beds: 100 for patients with bone tuberc'U'losis and 400 fo,r other TB cases. ~urthermore, the agency managed the Soos Baths, the s 1anatorium for children in Luci'Vlla, and established sanatociums at Sklenne Teplice and at Trencianske Teplice: these were the places where the Workers 1Social Insurance Office sent afflicted workers and their wi<ves and cihildren. The Slovak Government also did something about the aicute hO'USing problem in industrial centers. The action of the government called a "thousand homes for workers families," was COffiiPleted successfully in the targer industrial centers. The Finance Ministry, with special tax relief for owners of irrdustrial enterprises and large farms, arranged to have these homes built within the framework of iirwestment. Thu s, entire colonies of new workers homes 25 SLOVAKIA sprang up within two-.three years, like mmhrooms after a rain, in Duibnica, Pova:zska Bystrica, Zilina, Ruzomiberok, Zbehy, Afruksice, and other industrial centers. The parliament of the Slovak Republic did not forget the recreational needs of the workers, either. On J,u,ly 6, 1944, it passed a law (No. 87 of the Slovruk Code of Law) granting paid vacations to wor,ke,r s. According to this law, every worker who worked at least six months a year was entitled to a paid vacation. The length of the vacation was established by law and depended on the actua1 number of years wonked and not on the performance of the wor,kers, as it does presently under the Communist iPmgue regime. The judiciary in the Slovak Republic was completely independent. '11his had a marked signific ance for the workers in the labor trials. The la:borer had the right, guaranteed by law, to sue his employer for cruuse; he also had the right to sue the State for cause, if he was an employee thereof. The sodal question of the workers was resolved with the cooperation of the representatives of the Slovak W10rkers, organized in the tra:de organizatiooo. First, as if mentioned above, it was the Christian-Social Trrude Federation and, later, the ·F ederation of l'Ildiustry, Tra:des, and Finances. The trade organizations were non~political and their ta.sk was to help the ,government realize its program for raising the living and cultural level of the workers. Under the concept_ of socia1 question, people usually think of the problem or question of the workers who suffered most, especially in the last years ~fore World War II. This is not the correct explanati~in oif social policy, because not only the factory wo•r ker, but also the fa.I1mer, artisans, the teacher, and the office-worker are equal members of the national collectirve. This is something wihich the Communists do not want to reoog,nize 3/nd the reason why they "solve" social questions so speedily. Just how they do th<at is a chapter ,by itself. If, however, the social question is to be solved to the satisfaction of all the adherents of a nation, its solution must include the farmer, the businessman, and the office-worker. Ami the Slovak State did just 1 2-6 SLOVAKIA that: as far as the social question went, it took care of every category of wonker, state and private office-.wol'lker. •F or Slovalk agriculturists, the most significant day undoubtedly was February 22, 1940 (Washington's birthday) , when the parliament of the Slovak !Republic passed the new Land Reform Act, whereby ali the injustices suffered by the Slovak farmer during the pre~'Munkh Republic were removed. Land reform of the first CzechoSlova:k Republic did not consider the actual needs of Slovak farmers and distributed the land according ta a political key to those in the Czeoho-Slovak political parties who bound themselves to serve Benes and T. G. Masaryk: to promote the •p olicy of the Prag1Ue centralistic government and the interests of the Czech nation. In a conversation a:bout the new Land Reform Act, besides addresses by representatives o:f the Slovak farmers, Dr. Gejza Medricky, Minister of Agriculture, speaking for the Slovak Government, among other things, said: "It is very well known that we do not have too much arable land in Slovakia. In the whole of Slovakia we have 1,618,000 hectares (3,998,078 aicres) of wooded and agricultural land which come untler the new Land Reform Act ; this amounts to 45 percent of all our wooded and agricudtural land. It ,i s ev.ident that the government must be concerned that this land be worked in the best manner possible, that this land provide the food necessary for the people here settled, and that this land serve as a permanent existential foundation for those people who work on it. That is just why the significance of the plan from the economic side is clear to every individual. But no less is the significance of the plan from the political side. 'In the past the Hlinka Slovak People's Party fought against the injustices which emanated from the realization of the old land reform. With today's discussion about this law and with the passage of this plan, the old political demand of the ffiinka Slovak People's Party, that is, the revision of the old Land Reform Act, is being realized." In his speech, Dr. Gejza Medricky pointed to the actuality that 45 percent, that is, almost a half of the land SLOVAKIA 27 in SlovaJkia was in the hands of foreigners, while Slovak farmers had only a bit more than half of it. The intention of the new Land !Reform Act was to get the land into the hands of Slova,k farmers and such people, whose social condition required it; furthemiOTe, to avoid economic losses with property transfers, to secure the Hveliihood of the population, and to solve the social question which is connected with an agricultural state (",SLOVAK," Feb. 25, 1940). The task of executing the Land Reform Act correctly and speedily wa,s entrusted to the State Land Office, which C8Jllle into being on the basis of a special law, which the S1ovruk Parliament ha,d voted that same day. According to the law, the Land Office had the 3/Uthority to buy the land concerned fo:r the State and then to sell it to Slovak farmers who were interested in it, guaranteeing that they would work it to produce the commodities needed by the population. According to the law, every citizen of the Slovak State had a claim to ~and, if he ,u nderstood farming, whose properties, after the Vienna Aribitration, fell to Hungary and, therefore, were forced by the Magyar government to lose everything and go to Slovakia empty-handed. Flurtihermore, priority .r ights to buy land were granted to graduates of agricultural schools, then to local people or inha:bitants of neighboring communities; and where none such could be found, the land was distributed to citizens of more remote communities of Slovakia. Of course, those interested in the land did not get it for free. The farmer, who applied for land, had to pay 50 percent of the sale .price, after hls application had been approved, and the remainder he could pay of in forty years in the form of rent to the State. The Land Office QOmpensated the owners of land which came under the Act by paying them the S8Jllle _a moont they paid for it, or payment wa,s based on prod1Uctive value. The significance of ia:nd reform for the Slovak farmer, as well as for the whole Slovak nation, was evaluated 28 SLOVAKIA by President Dr. Joseph Tiso on March 10, 1940, in Banovce Nad Bebravou, in this manner: "Gradually we shall harve to learn to forget the expression 'land reform.' Land reform with us is not the rewarding of protected chHdren to catoh the voters. We are concerned so that more he produced agriculturally. We must increase production. We do not want to reward, to ca:tch, voters. No one shall ever again, in any manner whatsoever, buy voters in Slov~ia ! Even in the present situation we are self-sufficient. This, however, must not satisfy us. We also want to export. That is why we wish to increruse our agricultUTal ,prod'Ulction. "The main idea of land reform is: to enruble as many husbandmen as possible to oper.ate independently. In this we shall act sensi,bly. Wherever anything proves itself, there we shall cultivate it. Whatever ,prorves itself, that we shall do. There shwl a!lso be so-called indivisi!ble property, which shall not be parcelled out under any circumstances. Flur:thermore, we must enaJble ,a higher degree of agrioulture ( experimental agrimtlture) . True, even the farmer can experiment, burt this c·a n be done only by ·t he man who has more. Such a farmer then can make experiments, take risks. We need healthy seeds, quality livestock. The small farmer is not trained to produce these. Such farmers are afraid to give their livestock more so that it could put on more weight. The a:gricwtural industry eannot be maintained only lby the sma'li farmer. [rt is the aim of the State to increase agricultural production. Therefore, the greater agricwtural units shall be preser-ved. . . No one shall get land under the sale price, and no, one shall get something for nothing. Nothing is valued that comes easily. So, if you want land, you shall have to pay for it; if you cannot pay the full iprice, the State will he1p you .p ay it in time in the form of rent. . . We want to make it possible for our ,b rethren in other lands to come here and go into ventures. We want to grow in: numbers; our ambition is that we becrone stronger. I do not fear fo;r the future we have the best outlook There still are some insufficiencies, but that SLOVAKIA 29 is not because a new state has ,b een born, but because there is war around us!" Strict, 1but fatherly words. Only he could speak thus, who loved his people and who throughout his life worked in its interest. Thus it was that the other hallf of Slovak land got into the hands of Slovak farmers and ceaaed to be the object of business exploitation. And, fina11y, even private inrvestors had it good in ,Sl.ov,ak±a. They were not only given the possibility to enterprise, but were practically forced by the government to participate in the building of the State, so that erven their profits might increase. On the social policy of the government depended the reeducation of the population - the policy carried out in the i:\pirit of Christian charity towards ones illeigh:bor, of mutual assistance, cooperation, and understanding. The aim of the reeducation of the 1people waJS to remOIVe the blights of the past which, under the influence of pressure from the East, began to find opportune soil even in Slovalkia, especially among the Lutherans. Special attention was given to the reeducation of employe11S and owners of larger and smaller industrial enterprises; the relationship between employer and employee was exiplained according to the teaching of the social Pope, Leo XIII, who said in the encyclical Rerum Novarum: "Religion teaches the wealthy owner and the employer that their woJ'.lk people a,re not to be accO!Uilted their !bondsmen; that in ervery man they m'USt respect his dignity and worth as a man and as a Christian.; that labor rfor w,a.ges is not a thing to 'b e ashamed of, if we lend ear to right reason an.d to Christian (Philosophy, but is to a man's credit, ena;bling -h im to earn his living in an honoraJble way; and that it is shamefiuil and inhuman to treat men li!ke chattels to make money by, or to loolk upon them merely as so muoh musole or physical strength. A,g am the Chrurch teaches that, in dealing with the workingman, religion and the ,g ood of his so,ul must be kept in mind. Hence the employer is -bound to see that the wo:rker has time for !his religious duties; that he be not exposed to corrupting influ~.AW¥ and that he ibe not led ences and d~A~g~ UII .. J;Q~VILLE. STATE CO~LE.GE SLOVAKIA 30 away to neglect bis thome and f.amily, or to squander his earnings. Furthermore, the employer must never tax his work people 'beyond their strength, or employ them in work unsuited to their sex or age. His ,g reat and principal duty is to give every one what is just. Doubtless before deciding whether wages are fair, many things have to be considered; ·b ut wealthy owners and all masters of labor should be mindful of this - that to exercise pressure upon the indigent and the destitute for the sa;ke of gain, and to gather one's profit out of the need of another, is condemned by all laws, human and Divine." 1 On the other hand, workingmen were expected to carry out honestly and fairly all equitable agreements freely entered into; never to injure the property of an employer uselessly and maliciously; never to .r esort to violence in defending their own cause and to avoid riots and disorders; and, finally, to have nothing to do with persons who stand in th service of Communism, endeavoring to sow dissention and dissatisfaction among the working ;p eople and ultimately to enslaJVe them. 1 The results of reeducation were demonstrated especially when Dr. Karvas, chairman of the Office of Supplies, adamantly opposed ,a ll warranted increases in wages for workingmen.. At that time the employers stood by the workingmen and thus embarrassed iDr. Karvas: instead of hourly wages, they ,g radually began to introduce piece-work so that the workmen could gain their increases, but not to sap their strength and exploit them. This arrangement was done in agreement with the trade organizations and the workingmen themselrves; Karvas, therefore, could not punrish employers for increasing wages with out his permission. Tthe life of cohabitation of the citizens in the Slovak State resembled the life of a well-ordered family. Slov:rukia was the envy of States with richer traditions and of nations more mmnerous than the Slova;ks. The SlovaJk workingman ,r eally never had it so good, rund prdbaJbly never will mwe it again, until a free and ~ndependent Slovrukia, based on Christian principles, is again established.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Labor and the Slovak Republic Description An account of the resource J. C. Bukovina Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 2 (19), June 1956 pp. 18-30 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bukovina, J. C. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1956 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/229d5ee6eca6e6abde0a43f9ad6e53fa.pdf a496aa4c7f8cd43ea73f60fb8e1e9599 PDF Text Text 48 SLOVAKIA THE SWVAKS AND DR. JOSEPH LE'ITRICH OR. JOSEPH BYSTRICKÝ (The author of this article is the former persona) secretary of Rt. Rev. Msgr. Andrew Cvlnček, Vice President of the Slovak Demo• cratic Party and the Slovak National Council In Bratislava of whlch Dr. Lettrich was Presldent. Mr. Bystrlck:9' also was Chairman of the· Universlty Students' Club of tbe Slovak Democratlc Party.) Dr. Joseph Lettrich became very exclted over the H. R. Concurrent Resolution 139, which was introduced In the U. S. Congress In July, 1951, by the Hon. Charles J. Kersten of M!lwaukee, Wls. In thls resolution Congressman Kersten asks the Unlted States to allow the Slovak nation decide In free elections whether lt wants to live in a joint State with the Czech nation, or in an independent, national State of its own. In a letter to Kersten, Dr. Joseph Lettr!ch presented himself as a representatlve of tbe "absolute majority" of the Slovak people, because, he said, in the elections of May, 1946, the Slovak nat!on voted 62% for the Slovak Democratic Party of which he was pres!dent. Lettrich was not the only one who protested against the Kersten Resolutlon. Dr. George Slávik, former ambassador of Beneš's communistdominated Prague regime, also protested, saying that Slovak lndependence is demanded only by those Slovaks "who collaborated with nazism" and who fled from the "just " punishment of the "People's Courts." Both allegations, malicious and false, are very serious and indicate that here we have to do wlth people whose political means of combat are falsehoods, decepttons, dlshonorable acts and a false presentation of the struggle of the Slovak natlon for State lndependence. Dr. Lettrlch attempts to show that all who voted in the May 1946 elect!ons for the Slovak Democratic Party are for the continued exlstence of the synthetlc Czechoslovak State, because the Slovak Demo• cratlc Party - his political party - was for tbat State. What a terrible mistake! Why did the Slovaks vote for the Democratic Party of Slovakla? Today it 1s abundantly clear to all objective and informed observers that after the advent of the Bolshevik Army to Košice, the Jargest city in east Slovakla, the so-called "provislonal" Czechoslovak Government of Dr. Beneš, wlth its "Košice Program," declded that only two polltical parties shall be allowed in Slovakia, to wit: The Communist Party and the Democr atic Party. The platform of the Slovak Communlst Party was well-known to everybody, because it was an old party. But the Slovak Democrattc Party was a new party whose program was not deflned clearly and was unknown to the public. In 1945, there really was no dlfference between the Communlst and tbe Democrat!c part!es of Slovakia as far as policy was concerned. Dr. Lettrlch was well aware of that fact and admltted it when, as presldent of the Democratic Party, he wrote: "Basically, our political program - our politlcal li ne - completely agrees with the line and the program of the Slovak Communist Party. Up to the rebellion there r eally was no dlfference between an adherent �SLOVAKIA 49 of the Slovak Communiat Party and an adhe rent of the Democratic Party ... 1 emphaaize that we must mutually help each other and that all of ua must solve common problems together, becauae for once and for all t lme we must reallze that there l1 no fundamental dlfference between the Communist Party and the De mocratlc Party of Slovakia." - ("MY 1946) - Prague, No. 23, June 8, 1946.) Both partles participated In equal measure in all the crimes which the Soviet and natlve communlsts perpetrated in Slovakla; both are responsible for the 30,0()'{), Slovaks deported to Siberla In 1945; and both parties are responsible for the incarceratlon of Slovak cltizens, priests and bishops. Communists and representatlves of tbe Democratic Party stole in equal measure and in "brotherly" fashion, threw people out of thelr own homes into the streets In the name of t'he "new people's democratlc" order and then, when these people protested they had no place to live, in both parties sent them 10 concentration camps as elements detrlmental to society and hostlle to the "people's" democracy. During the time of the " triumphant" march of the Bolshevik army, there was not a slngle famUy in Slovakia which dld not have some one to sh ed tears for. To rid itself of the Slovaks who d!d not want to become frlendly with the communist "Jegal" order and wlU1 the Czechoslovak State idea, the new regime used to send them - wfrhout training, with insufficient raiment and arms, in the blisterlng cold, at the beginnlng of 1945 - into battle against the Germans in the Llptovsk~ Svät~ Mikuláä sector. The so-called "Fourth Czechoslovak Brigade", formed in Levoča at th e beginning of February 1945 excluslvely of people who were agalnst communism and Czechos lovaklsm, shed its blood practically to a man in that sector. Those mlssed by the Germans were kllled by Soviet soldiers, who used machine guns and automatlcs to chase barefooted and unarmed Slovaks into the fight. T h is 1s the manner In which the new Czechoslovak communist regime wanted to rid ltself of lts opponents. Despite all this, however, the Idea of an independent Slovak State contlnued to grow, and the Slovak nation ideallzed lt completely and wrapped lt In a robe of sacredness. People could not talk about it in a loud volce, because the "People's Courts," created by the National Front of the Communist and Democratlc parties, arbitrarlly dealt death even for trlvlal matters. Already in July 1945, just before the St. Cyril and Methodius celebration at Devín, the communist pollce arrested some 100 university students in Bratislava, accusing them of attemptlng to make a demonstratlon for an independent Slovak State. Slovak students were daily "guests" of the people's democratlc police who were fully aware of the fact that the unlverslty students were for Slovak State lndependence in an overwhelmlng majority. The communist pollce used to raid the fľaternity houses of the students every March 14 to ascertaln whether t he students were celebratlng the "Slovak Independence Day." The hostlle attitude of the Slovak natlon to the Democratic Party, óf · whlch Dr. Lettrich was chairman, was a lso manltested by leading Cathollc politlcians ot that Ume, who parted wlth Lettrich's party and aniiounced the formation of a new politlcal party, the Chrlstlan Republican Party. Monslgnor Andrew Cvlnček, Dr. Emanuel Bohm, Ing. K. F ilo and others wanted a party which, under the given circumstances �50 SLOVAKIA and possibllities, would best satisfy the feeling and the needs of the Slovak nation, that is a party which would be democratic and Chrlstlan in practice, one that would defend all democratic freedoms and especially the freedom of rel!gion, which at that Ume exlsted only on paper, because all - and I repeat - ALL existlng Catholic societles were dissolved and thelr actlvity forbidden. In the Spring of 194.6, when the new Christlan Republican Party was to be organized - a party in whlch the Slovak saw a ray of a new and better llfe - the National Front of communists and Lettrichites would not allow lt. At that time Dr. Joseph Lettrich announced: "The National Front shall not allow a party w ith a confessional program." - Indeed, it was clear to the communists that a party founded on Christlan principles would be the greatest adversary or communism. Lettrlch and his group also were aware of that, but they also knew that by allowing t his party to organize and function, their Democratic Party would certainly be ruined in tJie coming elections. Consequently, the Christian Republican Party was not allowed to organize, but soon thereafter an announcement was made that permission was granted for a new Marxist party, the Social Democratlc Party. Then Dr. Lettrich offered the representatives of the Christian Republicans a proposal, whereby the Catbolics would get appropriate representation in government and leglslative organs. The Democratic Party agreed to add the toilowing points to its program: a) to do away with the People's Courts; b) to return religious schools, rraternities and other natlonalized properties to the Church; c) to permit Catholic societles to exist and runction without government interference; d) to f!ght the execution or Dr. Joseph Tiso. The Slovak people, however, had little or no falth in the agree· ment of the Catholics and the Democratic Party concluded In April 1946, because Dr. Lettrich remained as head of the Democratic Party - the same Lettrich who compromised himself so strongly in tbe Fall ot 1944 by collaborating with the communists to nationalize all Catholic schools, churches and other properties, to lnstitute People's Courts, etc. The absolute majority or the Slovak nation was determined to use the "White Ballot" in the May 1946 elections to expresa its opposition to the communlst regirne and the Czechoslovak State idea. It was only when the Council of Catbolic Bishops of Slovakia, after careful and lengthy deliberation, decided that it was necessary to choose tbe lesser of two evils, that tbe vast majority of Slovaks decided to vote for the Democratic Party. It is true that 62% ot the voters of Slovakia voted for the Demo• cratic Party, but lt is just as true that this bappened not out or love or respect for Dr. Joseph Lettrich or the Czechoslovak Republlc, but because the great Catholic majority respected the dlcision or the Bishop's Council and voted against communlsm and the communlsts in Slovakla. Dr. Lettrich was the head ot a party whicb in its absolute majority was against bim, but could not unseat him because the voter in the so-called "Third Czecboslovak Republlc" had only one right - the right to obey and keep his mouth sbut. The fact stlll remains: the idea of Slovak State lndependence was the decidlng factor in the 1946 elections. �SLOV.AKJA 51 The Democratic Party saw that it could not gain Slovak voters by simply preaching Czechoslovak mutuality, therefore, it decided to use Slovak State independence as a silent means of propaganda. Dr. Nicholas Franek, at that time a candidate for the deputy mandate of the Bratislava dlstrlct {later Minister of Unlflcation in Prague and now a refugee in America and a member of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia ! ), attended a secret meeting of Slovak un!verslty students, before the electlons of May 1946, at the Centra! Secretariate of the Democratlc Party, and, among other thlngs, sa!d: "None ot us believes Dr. Lettrich. He is overly compromised with his close collaboration wlth the communists. For us Dr. Lettrich cannot be any kind of guarantee that freedoms shall be restored in our country. However, we must keep him as president for the Ume being, otherwise the communists would see to it that we are Jiquidated. After the electlons we shall endeavor to have tbe elected Slovak deput!es procla!m the Slovak State legally in the Prague Parl!ament and in the Slovak National Councll in Bratislava." That is how Dr. Franek got the unlversity students to vote for the Democratlc Party; they belleved that Dr. Franek and bis colleagues would keep their promlses after the elections. And tbe students really worked to assure the victory of the Democratic Party. The Slovak s tudents, whom I sent out into all the districts of Slovakia to conv!nce the people to vote for the Democratlc Party, spoke in the spirit of Dr. Franek's speech. That is why we are so much more disappointed now that Dr. Franek, enjoying politlcal asylum in America, 1s stlll supporting the Czechoslovaks, when he knows fully well that t hey were and s tlJJ are responsible for the naitlonal catastrophe or the Slovak nation. The electlons in May 1946 were elect!ons for the independence of the Slovak State. Propaganda of the Democratic Party was dlrected in that spirit, and it was only that kind of propaganda that made the Slovaks forget some of the sufferlngs they llved through, because they firmly believed that lt was worth whlle to flght, suffer and die for State independence. The enthusiasm of Slovakia in the May 1946 elections reflected this spirit. And for the idea ot an independent Slovak State six university students were wounded by communist bullets in front of Svoradov and 329 were deprived of stipends and expelled from the student boarding houses. But the idea for national and State independence was much stronger than incarcerations and sufferings. True, the Democratlc Party got 62% of the votes in 1946. But we must remember that: a) some citlzens were deprlved of their right to vote; b) 2% voted for the Freedom Party which had State independence in lts platform; c) several percent or the votes went to the Communlst Party because or opposltlon to Dr. Joseph Lettrlch, the voters tlguring that it was wlser or smarter to vote outrlght for the Communist Party, instead of its affillate, the Democratic Party. So, all factors considered, more than 75% of the Slovak votes in May 1946 were cast for an independent Slovak State. That is why we - who :proudly claim the program of national and State independence - are not afraid of the elections proposed by Congressman Kersten in hla Resolution R. H. 139. The people who are afraid of such elections know fully well that if the Slovaks were glven an oppQrtunlty to declde whether they wanted to Jive In Czechoslovakla �52 SLOVAKIA or not, they would answer forcefully and conslsten tly: NO! That is why Lettrich and Company would want to to convince the Government of the United States that the Slovaks are for CzechosJovakia and that an independent Slovakia ls promoted only by some "nazis" who escaped the "just" punishment of the "people's" courts. If Dr. Lettrich really ls the great democrat he poses to be, Jet him not be a!rald or the de!eat he would have to suffer with hls several frlends in case such an election is held. It the Slovaks are for the Czechoslovak Republlc, as Dr. Lett• rich claims, then they certalnly wlll say so in such an electlon. When I talked wlth Dr. Lettrlch after the executlon or Dr. Joseph Tlso, he told me that accord!ng to reports he has in his possession, the absolute majority of Slovak university students was !or a Slovak State and regards Dr. Joseph Tlso as a martyr and those who condemned him as murderers who should be brought to tria!. "In Prague," Dr. Lettrich told me at that Ume, "I met a certaln unlversity student and asked hlm what he thougbt about the executlon or Dr. T!so. Tb!s student replied: ' The Czecha put General Štefänik out of the way, they jailed Hlinka and now hanged Tiso with them'." we have nothing further to talk about After tbe executlon of the Presldent of Slovakia, Msgr. Andrew told me: "Wlth the executlon of Dr. Joseph Tlso Czechos lovakla ls llquldated and no one shall restore !t by means of free electlons." And before I fled from Slovakla, he sald: "Figbt for the State lndependence or Slovakla!" With the executlon of Dr. Tlso a revolutlou and the destruction of the Democratic Party threatened In Slovakla. So the presidency of the Democratic Party called together the executlve commlttee of the Party (1 was present also), and at thls meeting the delegates or the lndlvlclual distrlcts said in one accord: "After the execution of Dr. Joseph Tiao we loat all our members. The Democratic Party exiata only theoretically, but for all pactical purposea it is liquldated." Adm!ttlng that he was a general without an army, and that bis program or collaboratlon wlth the communlsts and Czechoslovakism was not the program of the Slovak nat!on, Dr. Joseph Lettrlch asked the delegates present for advice how to save the Democratlc Party. It was after thls meeting that Lettrlch assumed the role or Pilate and attempted to just!fy hlmself In the eyes of the Slovak people by proclalmlng In the newspapers that Dr. Edward Bene!\ and the Natlonal Soclallsts, and not he and the Democratlc Party, were responslble for the execution of Tlso. But thls came too late. Wlth the execution of Dr. Joseph Tlso nails were sunk deep into the Czechoslovak comn by all classes of the Slovak people - the tradesmen, buslnessmen, workers and farmers and the lntelllgentsia. The Slovak nation deflnltely is for an independent Slovakla. The Slovak natlon reallzes tbat the road to independence !s fuH of sorrow and suf\ferlng, but !s, nevertheless, determlned to attain lndependence at all costs. It ls provlng that dally. Therefore, we welcome the resolutlon ot Congressman Kersten "for the freedom of the Slovaks," because free elections wlll prove who was rlght: we, who are for an jndependent Slovak Republlc, or those who are trying to enslave Slovakla. Cvlnček � 48 SLOVAKIA THE SWVAKS AND DR. JOSEPH LE'ITRICH OR. JOSEPH BYSTRICKÝ (The author of this article is the former persona) secretary of Rt. Rev. Msgr. Andrew Cvlnček, Vice President of the Slovak Demo• cratic Party and the Slovak National Council In Bratislava of whlch Dr. Lettrich was Presldent. Mr. Bystrlck:9' also was Chairman of the· Universlty Students' Club of tbe Slovak Democratlc Party.) Dr. Joseph Lettrich became very exclted over the H. R. Concurrent Resolution 139, which was introduced In the U. S. Congress In July, 1951, by the Hon. Charles J. Kersten of M!lwaukee, Wls. In thls resolution Congressman Kersten asks the Unlted States to allow the Slovak nation decide In free elections whether lt wants to live in a joint State with the Czech nation, or in an independent, national State of its own. In a letter to Kersten, Dr. Joseph Lettr!ch presented himself as a representatlve of tbe "absolute majority" of the Slovak people, because, he said, in the elections of May, 1946, the Slovak nat!on voted 62% for the Slovak Democratic Party of which he was pres!dent. Lettrich was not the only one who protested against the Kersten Resolutlon. Dr. George Slávik, former ambassador of Beneš's communistdominated Prague regime, also protested, saying that Slovak lndependence is demanded only by those Slovaks "who collaborated with nazism" and who fled from the "just " punishment of the "People's Courts." Both allegations, malicious and false, are very serious and indicate that here we have to do wlth people whose political means of combat are falsehoods, decepttons, dlshonorable acts and a false presentation of the struggle of the Slovak natlon for State lndependence. Dr. Lettrlch attempts to show that all who voted in the May 1946 elect!ons for the Slovak Democratic Party are for the continued exlstence of the synthetlc Czechoslovak State, because the Slovak Demo• cratlc Party - his political party - was for tbat State. What a terrible mistake! Why did the Slovaks vote for the Democratic Party of Slovakla? Today it 1s abundantly clear to all objective and informed observers that after the advent of the Bolshevik Army to Košice, the Jargest city in east Slovakla, the so-called "provislonal" Czechoslovak Government of Dr. Beneš, wlth its "Košice Program," declded that only two polltical parties shall be allowed in Slovakia, to wit: The Communist Party and the Democr atic Party. The platform of the Slovak Communlst Party was well-known to everybody, because it was an old party. But the Slovak Democrattc Party was a new party whose program was not deflned clearly and was unknown to the public. In 1945, there really was no dlfference between the Communlst and tbe Democrat!c part!es of Slovakia as far as policy was concerned. Dr. Lettrlch was well aware of that fact and admltted it when, as presldent of the Democratic Party, he wrote: "Basically, our political program - our politlcal li ne - completely agrees with the line and the program of the Slovak Communist Party. Up to the rebellion there r eally was no dlfference between an adherent �SLOVAKIA 49 of the Slovak Communiat Party and an adhe rent of the Democratic Party ... 1 emphaaize that we must mutually help each other and that all of ua must solve common problems together, becauae for once and for all t lme we must reallze that there l1 no fundamental dlfference between the Communist Party and the De mocratlc Party of Slovakia." - ("MY 1946) - Prague, No. 23, June 8, 1946.) Both partles participated In equal measure in all the crimes which the Soviet and natlve communlsts perpetrated in Slovakla; both are responsible for the 30,0()'{), Slovaks deported to Siberla In 1945; and both parties are responsible for the incarceratlon of Slovak cltizens, priests and bishops. Communists and representatlves of tbe Democratic Party stole in equal measure and in "brotherly" fashion, threw people out of thelr own homes into the streets In the name of t'he "new people's democratlc" order and then, when these people protested they had no place to live, in both parties sent them 10 concentration camps as elements detrlmental to society and hostlle to the "people's" democracy. During the time of the " triumphant" march of the Bolshevik army, there was not a slngle famUy in Slovakia which dld not have some one to sh ed tears for. To rid itself of the Slovaks who d!d not want to become frlendly with the communist "Jegal" order and wlU1 the Czechoslovak State idea, the new regime used to send them - wfrhout training, with insufficient raiment and arms, in the blisterlng cold, at the beginnlng of 1945 - into battle against the Germans in the Llptovsk~ Svät~ Mikuláä sector. The so-called "Fourth Czechoslovak Brigade", formed in Levoča at th e beginning of February 1945 excluslvely of people who were agalnst communism and Czechos lovaklsm, shed its blood practically to a man in that sector. Those mlssed by the Germans were kllled by Soviet soldiers, who used machine guns and automatlcs to chase barefooted and unarmed Slovaks into the fight. T h is 1s the manner In which the new Czechoslovak communist regime wanted to rid ltself of lts opponents. Despite all this, however, the Idea of an independent Slovak State contlnued to grow, and the Slovak nation ideallzed lt completely and wrapped lt In a robe of sacredness. People could not talk about it in a loud volce, because the "People's Courts," created by the National Front of the Communist and Democratlc parties, arbitrarlly dealt death even for trlvlal matters. Already in July 1945, just before the St. Cyril and Methodius celebration at Devín, the communist pollce arrested some 100 university students in Bratislava, accusing them of attemptlng to make a demonstratlon for an independent Slovak State. Slovak students were daily "guests" of the people's democratlc police who were fully aware of the fact that the unlverslty students were for Slovak State lndependence in an overwhelmlng majority. The communist pollce used to raid the fľaternity houses of the students every March 14 to ascertaln whether t he students were celebratlng the "Slovak Independence Day." The hostlle attitude of the Slovak natlon to the Democratic Party, óf · whlch Dr. Lettrich was chairman, was a lso manltested by leading Cathollc politlcians ot that Ume, who parted wlth Lettrich's party and aniiounced the formation of a new politlcal party, the Chrlstlan Republican Party. Monslgnor Andrew Cvlnček, Dr. Emanuel Bohm, Ing. K. F ilo and others wanted a party which, under the given circumstances �50 SLOVAKIA and possibllities, would best satisfy the feeling and the needs of the Slovak nation, that is a party which would be democratic and Chrlstlan in practice, one that would defend all democratic freedoms and especially the freedom of rel!gion, which at that Ume exlsted only on paper, because all - and I repeat - ALL existlng Catholic societles were dissolved and thelr actlvity forbidden. In the Spring of 194.6, when the new Christlan Republican Party was to be organized - a party in whlch the Slovak saw a ray of a new and better llfe - the National Front of communists and Lettrichites would not allow lt. At that time Dr. Joseph Lettrich announced: "The National Front shall not allow a party w ith a confessional program." - Indeed, it was clear to the communists that a party founded on Christlan principles would be the greatest adversary or communism. Lettrlch and his group also were aware of that, but they also knew that by allowing t his party to organize and function, their Democratic Party would certainly be ruined in tJie coming elections. Consequently, the Christian Republican Party was not allowed to organize, but soon thereafter an announcement was made that permission was granted for a new Marxist party, the Social Democratlc Party. Then Dr. Lettrich offered the representatives of the Christian Republicans a proposal, whereby the Catbolics would get appropriate representation in government and leglslative organs. The Democratic Party agreed to add the toilowing points to its program: a) to do away with the People's Courts; b) to return religious schools, rraternities and other natlonalized properties to the Church; c) to permit Catholic societles to exist and runction without government interference; d) to f!ght the execution or Dr. Joseph Tiso. The Slovak people, however, had little or no falth in the agree· ment of the Catholics and the Democratic Party concluded In April 1946, because Dr. Lettrich remained as head of the Democratic Party - the same Lettrich who compromised himself so strongly in tbe Fall ot 1944 by collaborating with the communists to nationalize all Catholic schools, churches and other properties, to lnstitute People's Courts, etc. The absolute majority or the Slovak nation was determined to use the "White Ballot" in the May 1946 elections to expresa its opposition to the communlst regirne and the Czechoslovak State idea. It was only when the Council of Catbolic Bishops of Slovakia, after careful and lengthy deliberation, decided that it was necessary to choose tbe lesser of two evils, that tbe vast majority of Slovaks decided to vote for the Democratic Party. It is true that 62% ot the voters of Slovakia voted for the Demo• cratic Party, but lt is just as true that this bappened not out or love or respect for Dr. Joseph Lettrich or the Czechoslovak Republlc, but because the great Catholic majority respected the dlcision or the Bishop's Council and voted against communlsm and the communlsts in Slovakla. Dr. Lettrich was the head ot a party whicb in its absolute majority was against bim, but could not unseat him because the voter in the so-called "Third Czecboslovak Republlc" had only one right - the right to obey and keep his mouth sbut. The fact stlll remains: the idea of Slovak State lndependence was the decidlng factor in the 1946 elections. �SLOV.AKJA 51 The Democratic Party saw that it could not gain Slovak voters by simply preaching Czechoslovak mutuality, therefore, it decided to use Slovak State independence as a silent means of propaganda. Dr. Nicholas Franek, at that time a candidate for the deputy mandate of the Bratislava dlstrlct {later Minister of Unlflcation in Prague and now a refugee in America and a member of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia ! ), attended a secret meeting of Slovak un!verslty students, before the electlons of May 1946, at the Centra! Secretariate of the Democratlc Party, and, among other thlngs, sa!d: "None ot us believes Dr. Lettrich. He is overly compromised with his close collaboration wlth the communists. For us Dr. Lettrich cannot be any kind of guarantee that freedoms shall be restored in our country. However, we must keep him as president for the Ume being, otherwise the communists would see to it that we are Jiquidated. After the electlons we shall endeavor to have tbe elected Slovak deput!es procla!m the Slovak State legally in the Prague Parl!ament and in the Slovak National Councll in Bratislava." That is how Dr. Franek got the unlversity students to vote for the Democratlc Party; they belleved that Dr. Franek and bis colleagues would keep their promlses after the elections. And tbe students really worked to assure the victory of the Democratic Party. The Slovak s tudents, whom I sent out into all the districts of Slovakia to conv!nce the people to vote for the Democratlc Party, spoke in the spirit of Dr. Franek's speech. That is why we are so much more disappointed now that Dr. Franek, enjoying politlcal asylum in America, 1s stlll supporting the Czechoslovaks, when he knows fully well that t hey were and s tlJJ are responsible for the naitlonal catastrophe or the Slovak nation. The electlons in May 1946 were elect!ons for the independence of the Slovak State. Propaganda of the Democratic Party was dlrected in that spirit, and it was only that kind of propaganda that made the Slovaks forget some of the sufferlngs they llved through, because they firmly believed that lt was worth whlle to flght, suffer and die for State independence. The enthusiasm of Slovakia in the May 1946 elections reflected this spirit. And for the idea ot an independent Slovak State six university students were wounded by communist bullets in front of Svoradov and 329 were deprived of stipends and expelled from the student boarding houses. But the idea for national and State independence was much stronger than incarcerations and sufferings. True, the Democratlc Party got 62% of the votes in 1946. But we must remember that: a) some citlzens were deprlved of their right to vote; b) 2% voted for the Freedom Party which had State independence in lts platform; c) several percent or the votes went to the Communlst Party because or opposltlon to Dr. Joseph Lettrlch, the voters tlguring that it was wlser or smarter to vote outrlght for the Communist Party, instead of its affillate, the Democratic Party. So, all factors considered, more than 75% of the Slovak votes in May 1946 were cast for an independent Slovak State. That is why we - who :proudly claim the program of national and State independence - are not afraid of the elections proposed by Congressman Kersten in hla Resolution R. H. 139. The people who are afraid of such elections know fully well that if the Slovaks were glven an oppQrtunlty to declde whether they wanted to Jive In Czechoslovakla �52 SLOVAKIA or not, they would answer forcefully and conslsten tly: NO! That is why Lettrich and Company would want to to convince the Government of the United States that the Slovaks are for CzechosJovakia and that an independent Slovakia ls promoted only by some "nazis" who escaped the "just" punishment of the "people's" courts. If Dr. Lettrich really ls the great democrat he poses to be, Jet him not be a!rald or the de!eat he would have to suffer with hls several frlends in case such an election is held. It the Slovaks are for the Czechoslovak Republlc, as Dr. Lett• rich claims, then they certalnly wlll say so in such an electlon. When I talked wlth Dr. Lettrlch after the executlon or Dr. Joseph Tlso, he told me that accord!ng to reports he has in his possession, the absolute majority of Slovak university students was !or a Slovak State and regards Dr. Joseph Tlso as a martyr and those who condemned him as murderers who should be brought to tria!. "In Prague," Dr. Lettrich told me at that Ume, "I met a certaln unlversity student and asked hlm what he thougbt about the executlon or Dr. T!so. Tb!s student replied: ' The Czecha put General Štefänik out of the way, they jailed Hlinka and now hanged Tiso with them'." we have nothing further to talk about After tbe executlon of the Presldent of Slovakia, Msgr. Andrew told me: "Wlth the executlon of Dr. Joseph Tlso Czechos lovakla ls llquldated and no one shall restore !t by means of free electlons." And before I fled from Slovakla, he sald: "Figbt for the State lndependence or Slovakla!" With the executlon of Dr. Tlso a revolutlou and the destruction of the Democratic Party threatened In Slovakla. So the presidency of the Democratic Party called together the executlve commlttee of the Party (1 was present also), and at thls meeting the delegates or the lndlvlclual distrlcts said in one accord: "After the execution of Dr. Joseph Tiao we loat all our members. The Democratic Party exiata only theoretically, but for all pactical purposea it is liquldated." Adm!ttlng that he was a general without an army, and that bis program or collaboratlon wlth the communlsts and Czechoslovakism was not the program of the Slovak nat!on, Dr. Joseph Lettrlch asked the delegates present for advice how to save the Democratlc Party. It was after thls meeting that Lettrlch assumed the role or Pilate and attempted to just!fy hlmself In the eyes of the Slovak people by proclalmlng In the newspapers that Dr. Edward Bene!\ and the Natlonal Soclallsts, and not he and the Democratlc Party, were responslble for the execution of Tlso. But thls came too late. Wlth the execution of Dr. Joseph Tlso nails were sunk deep into the Czechoslovak comn by all classes of the Slovak people - the tradesmen, buslnessmen, workers and farmers and the lntelllgentsia. The Slovak nation deflnltely is for an independent Slovakla. The Slovak natlon reallzes tbat the road to independence !s fuH of sorrow and suf\ferlng, but !s, nevertheless, determlned to attain lndependence at all costs. It ls provlng that dally. Therefore, we welcome the resolutlon ot Congressman Kersten "for the freedom of the Slovaks," because free elections wlll prove who was rlght: we, who are for an jndependent Slovak Republlc, or those who are trying to enslave Slovakla. Cvlnček � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1951, Vol. 1 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 1951 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 1), May 1951.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 2), December 1951.</li> </ul> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <ul><li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4</span></a></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 48 SLOVAKIA THE SWVAKS AND DR. JOSEPH LE'ITRICH OR. JOSEPH BYSTRICKÝ (The author of this article is the former persona) secretary of Rt. Rev. Msgr. Andrew Cvlnček, Vice President of the Slovak Demo• cratic Party and the Slovak National Council In Bratislava of whlch Dr. Lettrich was Presldent. Mr. Bystrlck:9' also was Chairman of the· Universlty Students' Club of tbe Slovak Democratlc Party.) Dr. Joseph Lettrich became very exclted over the H. R. Concurrent Resolution 139, which was introduced In the U. S. Congress In July, 1951, by the Hon. Charles J. Kersten of M!lwaukee, Wls. In thls resolution Congressman Kersten asks the Unlted States to allow the Slovak nation decide In free elections whether lt wants to live in a joint State with the Czech nation, or in an independent, national State of its own. In a letter to Kersten, Dr. Joseph Lettr!ch presented himself as a representatlve of tbe "absolute majority" of the Slovak people, because, he said, in the elections of May, 1946, the Slovak nat!on voted 62% for the Slovak Democratic Party of which he was pres!dent. Lettrich was not the only one who protested against the Kersten Resolutlon. Dr. George Slávik, former ambassador of Beneš's communistdominated Prague regime, also protested, saying that Slovak lndependence is demanded only by those Slovaks "who collaborated with nazism" and who fled from the "just " punishment of the "People's Courts." Both allegations, malicious and false, are very serious and indicate that here we have to do wlth people whose political means of combat are falsehoods, decepttons, dlshonorable acts and a false presentation of the struggle of the Slovak natlon for State lndependence. Dr. Lettrlch attempts to show that all who voted in the May 1946 elect!ons for the Slovak Democratic Party are for the continued exlstence of the synthetlc Czechoslovak State, because the Slovak Demo• cratlc Party - his political party - was for tbat State. What a terrible mistake! Why did the Slovaks vote for the Democratic Party of Slovakla? Today it 1s abundantly clear to all objective and informed observers that after the advent of the Bolshevik Army to Košice, the Jargest city in east Slovakla, the so-called "provislonal" Czechoslovak Government of Dr. Beneš, wlth its "Košice Program," declded that only two polltical parties shall be allowed in Slovakia, to wit: The Communist Party and the Democr atic Party. The platform of the Slovak Communlst Party was well-known to everybody, because it was an old party. But the Slovak Democrattc Party was a new party whose program was not deflned clearly and was unknown to the public. In 1945, there really was no dlfference between the Communlst and tbe Democrat!c part!es of Slovakia as far as policy was concerned. Dr. Lettrlch was well aware of that fact and admltted it when, as presldent of the Democratic Party, he wrote: "Basically, our political program - our politlcal li ne - completely agrees with the line and the program of the Slovak Communist Party. Up to the rebellion there r eally was no dlfference between an adherent SLOVAKIA 49 of the Slovak Communiat Party and an adhe rent of the Democratic Party ... 1 emphaaize that we must mutually help each other and that all of ua must solve common problems together, becauae for once and for all t lme we must reallze that there l1 no fundamental dlfference between the Communist Party and the De mocratlc Party of Slovakia." - ("MY 1946) - Prague, No. 23, June 8, 1946.) Both partles participated In equal measure in all the crimes which the Soviet and natlve communlsts perpetrated in Slovakla; both are responsible for the 30,0()'{), Slovaks deported to Siberla In 1945; and both parties are responsible for the incarceratlon of Slovak cltizens, priests and bishops. Communists and representatlves of tbe Democratic Party stole in equal measure and in "brotherly" fashion, threw people out of thelr own homes into the streets In the name of t'he "new people's democratlc" order and then, when these people protested they had no place to live, in both parties sent them 10 concentration camps as elements detrlmental to society and hostlle to the "people's" democracy. During the time of the " triumphant" march of the Bolshevik army, there was not a slngle famUy in Slovakia which dld not have some one to sh ed tears for. To rid itself of the Slovaks who d!d not want to become frlendly with the communist "Jegal" order and wlU1 the Czechoslovak State idea, the new regime used to send them - wfrhout training, with insufficient raiment and arms, in the blisterlng cold, at the beginnlng of 1945 - into battle against the Germans in the Llptovsk~ Svät~ Mikuláä sector. The so-called "Fourth Czechoslovak Brigade", formed in Levoča at th e beginning of February 1945 excluslvely of people who were agalnst communism and Czechos lovaklsm, shed its blood practically to a man in that sector. Those mlssed by the Germans were kllled by Soviet soldiers, who used machine guns and automatlcs to chase barefooted and unarmed Slovaks into the fight. T h is 1s the manner In which the new Czechoslovak communist regime wanted to rid ltself of lts opponents. Despite all this, however, the Idea of an independent Slovak State contlnued to grow, and the Slovak nation ideallzed lt completely and wrapped lt In a robe of sacredness. People could not talk about it in a loud volce, because the "People's Courts," created by the National Front of the Communist and Democratlc parties, arbitrarlly dealt death even for trlvlal matters. Already in July 1945, just before the St. Cyril and Methodius celebration at Devín, the communist pollce arrested some 100 university students in Bratislava, accusing them of attemptlng to make a demonstratlon for an independent Slovak State. Slovak students were daily "guests" of the people's democratlc police who were fully aware of the fact that the unlverslty students were for Slovak State lndependence in an overwhelmlng majority. The communist pollce used to raid the fľaternity houses of the students every March 14 to ascertaln whether t he students were celebratlng the "Slovak Independence Day." The hostlle attitude of the Slovak natlon to the Democratic Party, óf · whlch Dr. Lettrich was chairman, was a lso manltested by leading Cathollc politlcians ot that Ume, who parted wlth Lettrich's party and aniiounced the formation of a new politlcal party, the Chrlstlan Republican Party. Monslgnor Andrew Cvlnček, Dr. Emanuel Bohm, Ing. K. F ilo and others wanted a party which, under the given circumstances 50 SLOVAKIA and possibllities, would best satisfy the feeling and the needs of the Slovak nation, that is a party which would be democratic and Chrlstlan in practice, one that would defend all democratic freedoms and especially the freedom of rel!gion, which at that Ume exlsted only on paper, because all - and I repeat - ALL existlng Catholic societles were dissolved and thelr actlvity forbidden. In the Spring of 194.6, when the new Christlan Republican Party was to be organized - a party in whlch the Slovak saw a ray of a new and better llfe - the National Front of communists and Lettrichites would not allow lt. At that time Dr. Joseph Lettrich announced: "The National Front shall not allow a party w ith a confessional program." - Indeed, it was clear to the communists that a party founded on Christlan principles would be the greatest adversary or communism. Lettrlch and his group also were aware of that, but they also knew that by allowing t his party to organize and function, their Democratic Party would certainly be ruined in tJie coming elections. Consequently, the Christian Republican Party was not allowed to organize, but soon thereafter an announcement was made that permission was granted for a new Marxist party, the Social Democratlc Party. Then Dr. Lettrich offered the representatives of the Christian Republicans a proposal, whereby the Catbolics would get appropriate representation in government and leglslative organs. The Democratic Party agreed to add the toilowing points to its program: a) to do away with the People's Courts; b) to return religious schools, rraternities and other natlonalized properties to the Church; c) to permit Catholic societles to exist and runction without government interference; d) to f!ght the execution or Dr. Joseph Tiso. The Slovak people, however, had little or no falth in the agree· ment of the Catholics and the Democratic Party concluded In April 1946, because Dr. Lettrich remained as head of the Democratic Party - the same Lettrich who compromised himself so strongly in tbe Fall ot 1944 by collaborating with the communists to nationalize all Catholic schools, churches and other properties, to lnstitute People's Courts, etc. The absolute majority or the Slovak nation was determined to use the "White Ballot" in the May 1946 elections to expresa its opposition to the communlst regirne and the Czechoslovak State idea. It was only when the Council of Catbolic Bishops of Slovakia, after careful and lengthy deliberation, decided that it was necessary to choose tbe lesser of two evils, that tbe vast majority of Slovaks decided to vote for the Democratic Party. It is true that 62% ot the voters of Slovakia voted for the Demo• cratic Party, but lt is just as true that this bappened not out or love or respect for Dr. Joseph Lettrich or the Czechoslovak Republlc, but because the great Catholic majority respected the dlcision or the Bishop's Council and voted against communlsm and the communlsts in Slovakla. Dr. Lettrich was the head ot a party whicb in its absolute majority was against bim, but could not unseat him because the voter in the so-called "Third Czecboslovak Republlc" had only one right - the right to obey and keep his mouth sbut. The fact stlll remains: the idea of Slovak State lndependence was the decidlng factor in the 1946 elections. SLOV.AKJA 51 The Democratic Party saw that it could not gain Slovak voters by simply preaching Czechoslovak mutuality, therefore, it decided to use Slovak State independence as a silent means of propaganda. Dr. Nicholas Franek, at that time a candidate for the deputy mandate of the Bratislava dlstrlct {later Minister of Unlflcation in Prague and now a refugee in America and a member of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia ! ), attended a secret meeting of Slovak un!verslty students, before the electlons of May 1946, at the Centra! Secretariate of the Democratlc Party, and, among other thlngs, sa!d: "None ot us believes Dr. Lettrich. He is overly compromised with his close collaboration wlth the communists. For us Dr. Lettrich cannot be any kind of guarantee that freedoms shall be restored in our country. However, we must keep him as president for the Ume being, otherwise the communists would see to it that we are Jiquidated. After the electlons we shall endeavor to have tbe elected Slovak deput!es procla!m the Slovak State legally in the Prague Parl!ament and in the Slovak National Councll in Bratislava." That is how Dr. Franek got the unlversity students to vote for the Democratlc Party; they belleved that Dr. Franek and bis colleagues would keep their promlses after the elections. And tbe students really worked to assure the victory of the Democratic Party. The Slovak s tudents, whom I sent out into all the districts of Slovakia to conv!nce the people to vote for the Democratlc Party, spoke in the spirit of Dr. Franek's speech. That is why we are so much more disappointed now that Dr. Franek, enjoying politlcal asylum in America, 1s stlll supporting the Czechoslovaks, when he knows fully well that t hey were and s tlJJ are responsible for the naitlonal catastrophe or the Slovak nation. The electlons in May 1946 were elect!ons for the independence of the Slovak State. Propaganda of the Democratic Party was dlrected in that spirit, and it was only that kind of propaganda that made the Slovaks forget some of the sufferlngs they llved through, because they firmly believed that lt was worth whlle to flght, suffer and die for State independence. The enthusiasm of Slovakia in the May 1946 elections reflected this spirit. And for the idea ot an independent Slovak State six university students were wounded by communist bullets in front of Svoradov and 329 were deprived of stipends and expelled from the student boarding houses. But the idea for national and State independence was much stronger than incarcerations and sufferings. True, the Democratlc Party got 62% of the votes in 1946. But we must remember that: a) some citlzens were deprlved of their right to vote; b) 2% voted for the Freedom Party which had State independence in lts platform; c) several percent or the votes went to the Communlst Party because or opposltlon to Dr. Joseph Lettrlch, the voters tlguring that it was wlser or smarter to vote outrlght for the Communist Party, instead of its affillate, the Democratic Party. So, all factors considered, more than 75% of the Slovak votes in May 1946 were cast for an independent Slovak State. That is why we - who :proudly claim the program of national and State independence - are not afraid of the elections proposed by Congressman Kersten in hla Resolution R. H. 139. The people who are afraid of such elections know fully well that if the Slovaks were glven an oppQrtunlty to declde whether they wanted to Jive In Czechoslovakla 52 SLOVAKIA or not, they would answer forcefully and conslsten tly: NO! That is why Lettrich and Company would want to to convince the Government of the United States that the Slovaks are for CzechosJovakia and that an independent Slovakia ls promoted only by some "nazis" who escaped the "just" punishment of the "people's" courts. If Dr. Lettrich really ls the great democrat he poses to be, Jet him not be a!rald or the de!eat he would have to suffer with hls several frlends in case such an election is held. It the Slovaks are for the Czechoslovak Republlc, as Dr. Lett• rich claims, then they certalnly wlll say so in such an electlon. When I talked wlth Dr. Lettrlch after the executlon or Dr. Joseph Tlso, he told me that accord!ng to reports he has in his possession, the absolute majority of Slovak university students was !or a Slovak State and regards Dr. Joseph Tlso as a martyr and those who condemned him as murderers who should be brought to tria!. "In Prague," Dr. Lettrich told me at that Ume, "I met a certaln unlversity student and asked hlm what he thougbt about the executlon or Dr. T!so. Tb!s student replied: ' The Czecha put General Štefänik out of the way, they jailed Hlinka and now hanged Tiso with them'." we have nothing further to talk about After tbe executlon of the Presldent of Slovakia, Msgr. Andrew told me: "Wlth the executlon of Dr. Joseph Tlso Czechos lovakla ls llquldated and no one shall restore !t by means of free electlons." And before I fled from Slovakla, he sald: "Figbt for the State lndependence or Slovakla!" With the executlon of Dr. Tlso a revolutlou and the destruction of the Democratic Party threatened In Slovakla. So the presidency of the Democratic Party called together the executlve commlttee of the Party (1 was present also), and at thls meeting the delegates or the lndlvlclual distrlcts said in one accord: "After the execution of Dr. Joseph Tiao we loat all our members. The Democratic Party exiata only theoretically, but for all pactical purposea it is liquldated." Adm!ttlng that he was a general without an army, and that bis program or collaboratlon wlth the communlsts and Czechoslovakism was not the program of the Slovak nat!on, Dr. Joseph Lettrlch asked the delegates present for advice how to save the Democratlc Party. It was after thls meeting that Lettrlch assumed the role or Pilate and attempted to just!fy hlmself In the eyes of the Slovak people by proclalmlng In the newspapers that Dr. Edward Bene!\ and the Natlonal Soclallsts, and not he and the Democratlc Party, were responslble for the execution of Tlso. But thls came too late. Wlth the execution of Dr. Joseph Tlso nails were sunk deep into the Czechoslovak comn by all classes of the Slovak people - the tradesmen, buslnessmen, workers and farmers and the lntelllgentsia. The Slovak nation deflnltely is for an independent Slovakla. The Slovak natlon reallzes tbat the road to independence !s fuH of sorrow and suf\ferlng, but !s, nevertheless, determlned to attain lndependence at all costs. It ls provlng that dally. Therefore, we welcome the resolutlon ot Congressman Kersten "for the freedom of the Slovaks," because free elections wlll prove who was rlght: we, who are for an jndependent Slovak Republlc, or those who are trying to enslave Slovakla. Cvlnček  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Slovaks and Dr. Joseph Lettrich Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Bystrický Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2), December 1951 pp. 48-52 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bystrický, Joseph Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1951 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/48db9010a51e0e44c7a014041b30abb2.pdf 66222c37f0096df9ae1815c9fccf02c0 PDF Text Text 31 SLOVAKIA would guarantee the existence oif a 0zeicho-Sloivakia in which they would rule. They 3Jre true foUowers oif Benes: If they are for a central Euroq>ean federation, it is only because of political exiped!iency, or, as Ripka himself so a'PtlY put it: "to gain the sympathies of the demo.craitic world for the CZECH caJuse." The Slovaks, on the other hand, are against any and all forms of Czecho-Slovakia - the federation they were forced into against their will. They are stricmgl,y for a '.Central :IDuropean federation in which Sloiva'kia would be an independent ethnic part, independent oif Bohemia and the 0zechs, and an equal among equals. 1 • • • SLOVAKIA'S RIGHT TO BE HEARD Ann Su Cardwell The Slovak nation has a fong and enrv'iaJble record in the :struggle for freedom and the rights O!f man. That struggle continiues, ,w ith the SlovaJks in this country carrying the'ir share of the rbul'den. How clifrfiicwlt they find it I know only too well it:rom actual experience. '!'here were years when getting the trutJh 1before the Amerilca,n reading 'PUIJ:>lic was next to impossi!ble, and those writers who did succeed oocasional,l y were the ,reciipients ,of letters ()If sha11p criticism and even inrveC:ti!ve. On th3Jt point, too, ·I speak out of experience. It is not necessa'I1)' for me to tell the Slova.tks that Americans in generall hawe ,known ail.I too little of SlovaJkia and its pface in Centra!l European lirfe and 'C!iviliization; and if irn Eastern European life, and dvilization, then in that of Western. Eu1:1oipe and America as well. ,F or despite geograiphical distances am.di differences in lamrgruarge and customs, the entire Western world - and hy that I mean all Europe and Amerrea - is bOIUDd together throughout histo!IY to agree that we do not st-Olp to realize. What haipnot hruppen to one ipeorple has its effect upon pens or the rest, though thait effect may be long in beoom:ing manifest. Surely that point does not need argument these days, does �32 SLOVAKIA when the world is 1ooin,g fo11dbly divided into two great camps. [ think ,ba.dk to the time when my own enlightenm ent on Eastern Europe lbegan. Of course even -as a schoolgirl I had a ,g eneral idea orf the location of Central and Eastern European ;p eoples, which naJturailly i.nc1'uded the .Slaivirc m11tions. That kr.nowledge was lburt slightly improved during my university -and ipost~wn:iversity years. Mter a:11 my <:hief impressions <:onitinued to lbe the inOOIIl/Prehensilble and unpronowncalb1e JwngUJa;ges and the extraordin ary ibeautilful peasant costumes. The faJct w~ that there was simply no ,r eason why I shouild lbe ipairtiicularly interested in those ,peoples. Then <!ame the First Wo rld War, and American readers quidkly became ea;ger students ,o f geog,r ~hy. We were soon on rvery lfarrniliar te11II1s with the iprinted names olf a lot of cities and towns aJUd loca;lities that left us icOIIlllP,letely dumb when we tried to rp:rionounice them, until we mastered the phonetic helip girven us in 'bhe daily paipers as the war progressed. But the sum of it aM wa:s that we ,b ecame vitally interested in what was hruppening in this hitherto uniknoWlll world. The vigorously conducted movement that resulted in the creation ,o f the new state of 0.zeoho,Slova!kia made us aware of the vitwty ,olf those two ,peoples. Thomas Masaryk 'beoome a name and a symbol •a round which ~tered an immense American enthusiasm . But all this was something in whd:ch I !persona:Hy had no part, and so I r~ll little else of that movement e:,oceipt the enthusiasm of icerlain groups, and the ·g reat pulblicity girven the or eation oif what ,w as ha.Ned as a new democracy. Little did I dream that l was to live neighbor to that new state for 17 years. I am more fortunate than most Ameri(!alls when it comes to getting a chance to iknoiw Europe of our time. In 1922 my husband, an eJOpert in 1persorunel training, was loaned by the Alrnerican YiMCA to helip the neiwliy organized YMCA's in Ozecho-Slova.k-ia and Poland get themsclves established . (I :s houid ~lain here that Ann Su Cardwell is my pen name. iMy rea!l name is Mrs. Paw Suiper.) My husband had /been over there but a short time when the �SLOVAKIA 33 Pales asked him to lbecome na,tioll!al director of their YMCA. He oocepted on wndition that I would -agree. I did, for a temn of two · yeara. I ha'Ve ,aJreadiy said we stayed seventeen, lea.ving at midnight of the day the Red Aranry crossed the Polish4Soiviet firontier, Septemlber 17, 1939. We were in Rumania, Hwnga,i,y, l3Jil.d France anotiher nine months before returning to Arrnerioa after the fa:U of fiance. We had lost a:11 we had 'in our Warsaw rupartment, and that was oonsideraJble. Yet we did not count the loos. We had never boon narrow in our outlook, for we had been privileged to iknow .A!meric"a ;fir.om coast to coast and had lived ten years in Honolulu. 'Burt IDurape ,was somethin,g else. It was the ;place Of Arrneri~n origins; and conscious of our ignorance we began di•ligentliy to acquaint 01.l!rselves with Em-ope. One of the !first coiuntri.es I wa:s to vis.it was OzechoSlovaJkia, as everyfbodry then said, but ,which I now refer to simply as IS'loivaikia. There was a conference in T,rencin, whieh mry hu.sband had to attend. My son and I went ,a iong. I irecaM the very attraotirve place where we stayed, the pleasant pe<>iple, the ,g ood food, the lorvely country, the lbeautid:ul things in the ,g ift shops, eSipeciaB.y the briUiant embroidery. I think eJVery woman at the colliference bought at least one blouse "to send 'home." A better introduction to a country than that ivisit afforded could 'hardly ibe asked. From Tren:cin we took the :train to Vienna, and that jowney aicross the southwest corner of iSlowrukia is memoraJble not only for its scenery but the, castle ruins. The names of the castles haive, of course, escaped me, though I was duly instnrcted as or be:fo:re we passed them, but the beaiuty of that scenery shall remain with me forever. Now after the introduction what d!id I learn aJbout Slovakia? ·F or one thing, that it is laiiger than severall well a,nd honoralbly lkm,own European states. Swi,merl,and, Belgi'llllll, Denmark, for insta.:nce. .Arul -w ho would ,propose that these ,n ations ,s houM 4ose their independence and identity? Slova,kia is not th'inl'Y :populated, either. · One cannot say precisely what the tpopulation figures are now, uncertain as we are of the extent o:f 'Moscow's deportation and exter1 �34 SLOVAKIA mination aictiivities, ,plus the importation of elements from the Soviet Union. !But we can still ,be sU1re that the Slovaik population has not 'been too seriously affected. But why was it that we on this side of the Atlantic knew so Jittle aJbout 1Slava1kia during the years preceeding World War I? That is easHy anS1Wered. It 'had been so completely incOI1J)OTated ·i nto Hungary that it did not maJke the i.!Illlpression l.J!POn us as it would have, had it beein a separate sbate. How much space did American histories giive Slovakia? A •parngraiph? But Switzerland - every American schoo~boy and schoolgiTl :knew something of that country's history, ,c,ouild call U!p clear images of pictured mountains and chalets, knew that for watches and clooks no ipeople •c ould compete with t!he. ·Swiss. Perhaips pu:bhcation'S ltke the _National Geograiphic Magruzine carried illrustrated articles on Slovakia, as it did ,and does on little known parts of the world as well. as on the known. But if so, they were for the entertainment of the curious and of arm-chair trruvellers, rather than for informative purposes, on the history and problems orf the Slova;ks. Unless Americans •c ame in ·contact with Slovaks who had emigrated lfnom their unfortunate homelaind to free Ameriica, they never heard olf how the Slova!ks had fought through the ,c enturies to 1pre·se11ve their freedoon or throw off the oppresso•r 's yolke when it had been laiid ,u pon them. We know noching otf the fier,ce Slovruk resistance to swarming Tatar hordes that came up over the "Blaelk Trail" to loot a,nd burn in Burope and ,retire with ca,p tives to be sold in the slawe mankets of tthe East. We knew little or nothing of Slovaik battles •w'ith invading Turks; nothing of the never...ceasing effort to hold their own against German domination amd ·aSiSimilation; and ivery little of the hopeless struggle to prevent .b eing swallowed up by Hungary. And how much more, may I aSik, do Ameri·cans !know of the underigrounrl struggJe itlhat is going on in SlovaJkia today against the tools orf Moscow? I know how difficult it is to. get tmstworthy news out of the lands behind the Iron Curtain, and then how difficult it is to get the press here to take it. But I hope the Slovaks �SLOVAKIA 35 never allow di,s coora:gement to get hold ol[ them. And as for Slo:va!k history, they now hruve an excellent vol,urrne in Mr. Yurehaik's "'.Dhe SlowaJks," to iput before their Americrun. friends and those who should be, their friends. I lose no chan'Ce to recommend it. Norw the magnificent thing about Slo1Vak history is that it is the story of a 1peo1p le that despite oppression, which in all. too many instances reduced the 1Sloivaks to what was little better than an runimal existence,, never lost the consciousness of tJheir nationality and the rights that nationality gave them. The Slovruk spirit !burned with a /bright unwruvering flame. How many Americans know the story of the prirvate schools that were estalblished when the SlovaJk language was not pernn1tted in the state schools? How boo1ks were written and printed, how collection;s of things ipreserving the Slo:vruk tradition, culture, and history were made; how the vairious dfa.iJ.ects were unified to become one recognized languruge? How denationaHzat ion was fought at every turn, and that the num!ber of Slovaks who ,su:ocumbed to magyarfaation for eoonomi1c or sociail reasons was very small compared with the numlber that stubbo,r nly paid the price for remaining 1Slovalks, keeping the SlovaJk farm of thei,r namee: and folllowing Slova:k c;ustoms? Resistantce to denationaliza tion woultl not a1wa,ys remain pass,iive. There were times when protest after protest was made, ruppead after ruppeal. But even when noble Hungarians valiantly espoused the Slovak Slide and sometimes won what seemed a victory, nothing ever came of it. The Slovaks were either scorned or ignored. Then sometimes conditions lbecaime intoleraJble and Slovruk leaders called for fo11ce. But what could ri-sin,gs of the oppressed do against ove:rwheJJining fo,r ee? Oppression of a people for century after century naturally leaids individuals among that people to despairing resignation. They for.get that if the blood of the martyrs is the seed Olf the churich, it is no less true that the blood of the ,p atriots is the seed of the free nation. That is as true America as it is of any other land. Lt is true of tSlovaJkia. m. �36 SLOVAKIA BecaUJSe of the martyrs and the. patriots, there never ceased to ,be a SlovaJlda ipopulated iby Slovaks. And so it came rubout as a wholly logical sequence that when World War I showed the fatal wealkness of the Austro-SiULtllg.arian ffimpire, the minorities within it, among them the SlovaJks, made their bid for freedom. But there is another higihly important factor that, while it has !been in existence for some time, now comes into the limelight. That is the Slovalk element in Ameriica. 1 mentioned earlier the .fact that Slov:alks had either to accept denationalization or leaive their homeland if they hoped fo,r advancement in. any field. There could be but one result in such a situation, namely, the potential leadership of a Slovakian movement for lilberation -was largely drained out of the country and aibso:lfued into the 'Citizenship of other countries. And leadershifp is a temi. that in this instance: alt any rate included eiconomic resources. Where and how that leadership airose I need not recite to the Slovalks who were O!f that ndble comp81Ily. Friends in Western Europe swelled the ranks. We should not forget that during all those years of oppressi,o n there had been a few voirces raised in an eiifort oo let the ,w orld know, in the hope thalt pressure oould be. brought to bear upon a professedly Om-istian. E)rrupiire to right the wrongs. That these revealers o(f the truth oo.e after another failed to stir the West does not talke fu,am theiir good will. The Slo:va/k,s were wise enough to underatand that it wais useless for a smrull Centrrul European oou,nt,r,y to attempt to maintain its independence. There was and it seemed there would always ibe a powerif1U[ amlbitious st.ate on either side. Little countries lying between them rwould always tempt them. Nothing except force sufficient . to irestmm. them would deter them from cooking Ulp one excuse oir ainother for moiving in and taikill!g ,p ossession. 'Dhe only way to get that ne:cessrury force was tJhroug,h union of smaller nations in some sort of federation. lt was but natural, therefore that when the Czechs, straining every effort through Czech leaders in America to gain Owch independence, proposed the Sl()IVaJks join them. �SLOVAKIA 37 There was agreement. A new creation, Ozecho~lovakia, a demooraoy with a;utonomy for eruch partner in the union was to be hera[ded to the world. 'l'he SlorvaJks were ,particular to require sipedfic ,provisions for Slo,vakiia's pos,ition in that union, as is penfootly clear through Ozech acceptance of the iPittsbtu,gh Aig,rooment. ,I n that the db.ligations assumed by eacll party are doowmented, as aire the prinicip'les accepted by each as the foundation upon which the new state would 1 rest. I well ,remem1ber the hig'h enthusiasm wiitll which Americans welcomed the birth of the new state. Oze.cho-Slovrulcia and demooracy see:m.ed toi be words interchangealble in meaning. Thomas Masa,'rylk was spoiken orf as one of the greatest statesmen orf the age, a "Grand Old Mam.," ea.reh of these three words oogi:rming with a caipital letter. Masary!k was a great main in those days and, I was told, that he was a SlO!Vak ,b y birth; but education lhaid -made him Czech in outlook, and that was to be most unfortunate in its eJffects. But at the time, Masaryk's star outshone a11 others in the Ozech0-1SlO!V'aJk slcy, and ilf •w e heard of the Pittsburgh Agreement it got all too little notice. 'r.he rest iis ;painful to recall. Instead orf a Ozecho..Slorvakia where Ozoohs an:d Slovaks, were "equals with equals, a state compairaJble in admirustratirve f.ree with free" oi,gain.izations to the Swiss cantons - the Ozech leaders utterlry disregarded the solemn compact with their Slovak brothers, inrvented reasons for disarvowing it, and emlbarked at the outset on a centralization !I)Ol'icy that put all authority in .Prague. And desipite vociferous and continual protests it ,was a ipolicy followed through to the end. It was a iba4d assumption of Czech suiperi-0rity. Yet we must 1be just and remember that not all Czechs approrved that poliey. There haid been Ozechs supporting, and very valiantly, the Slovruk side of the debate whille the Pittsburgh Algireement iwas under discussion. So alS-O there ,were 07.eehs who did not rupprove the Masaryfic&nes repudiation of that aigreement. But they could not inlfilruence the men launched on the ,r oad toward a Ozooh--controMed union. How easy it is for men to fall viictim to ,t he lust for power! Their judgment warped lby excessive American �SLOVAKIA 38 praise, Benes and his adherents believed that only the Ozechs had the vision and the competence to administer and guide the state fOT whose creation they toolk the credit. They flouted the ivery prindples of democracy on which the state had been estaJblished. They lbecaJme dbsessed with the idea of develo.ping a Ozecho-Sl01Vrukia in which there would ibe no hyphen ~d no crupital S, in which the Ozech would lbe dominant, and whose peqple ,woUJl.d lbe known as "CzeichosJava!ks." They were too blind to see that surc!h a project was foredoomed to faiJure; that a people who if or a thOIU'sand years had endured sub9ection and yet preserived their disitinrctirve cuiltuire, traditions, and toogue was not materirul ,f or amalgamation. But truth and justice were refused a heairing. By devious a:rigume:i:its those in the seats of ipower ,p rofessed to justify their couir~. All these years, even after his crupituil.ation ,t o the Germans, Benes was the ideal democrat in the eyes of many Americans. He waJS :referred to as "the aJblest diiplomat in Europe - the top EurOlpean statesman." The legend of his democra oy has clun,g to .h'im despite the record. But IDdwa11d Benes was not the 1p aragon he was held to 1be. He was not a great .statesman but a clever politician, with the cleverness too often in question. We in PoJ.and knew only too well that Czecho~Sloivakia was not the embodiment of democracy Americans naively swpposed it to be, amd iknew that Benes was not the democrat they ibelieved him to .be. But nothing we oouild say lhad .a ny effect. We were a,ccmsed of indulging in malice and jealousy betcause, as they in -their swperior intelligence asserted, we Hived in Poland, a co'Uiltry ruled by a dictator! Which showed how much they did NOT know. 1 Few .Americrun.s had ,been in either country; if they had, it was for a brief stay only. They made stopover !Visits in Praigiue and Warsruw fo,r a daiy or so while enroute to that most delig,hbfiul ( !) olf all taurist lands, the SoiViet Union f.rom w'hich honest ones came out somewhat less, lyrical than when they went in. In iPra·g ue they met Oze:chs, as a rule, saw the really siplendid Czech industries and arts, but saw and heard little of SlovaJks and Slcxvalkia. If they did it was �SLOVAKIA 39 as. '.'Cz~chosloivakia." The Ozechs, in American Olpinion, were E1qTope's ,p rize exh'ilbit. ls .it any wonder they got satisd'action out of the role O!I' that it infiluenced their own opinion of themselives? Wehl, "God doesn't rpay erv~ day, but He pays," a famous French woman is credited with hav:mg ,w ritten. And Benes and those with him who . framed and ex~ruted thek mistaiken policres have made the final accounting. Surrely no one can envy rthem their fasit years, when in oiverweening confiidenice in their own aibility they wallked inrt o the Soiviet traip, were deiprived of al!l ,p ower, and lingered on runtil death ifilter;vened. But the past is ,p ast. We cannot change its pattern. We review it oruy to 1earn its les,s on, that the same mistaik es may n01t lbe made again. For t!hinlking people it is farll oif guide posts to that fuitme which while we talk betomes the present. What of that future for Sloivrukia? The .~lovaJks are aH w~l a;ware of how mtroh it deipends upon them. SloivaJkia must olf course ibe free. Of that there is no question. But then what? · · You will ,prolbaJbly rugree that the position tiruken at the time the Slov,aiks thre,w in their lot with the Cze.chs was soU!Ild. Oze:chs and Slovaks are, ib1ood kin. They are neighbors, .destined to be neighlbors with nonmaJl commercial and other relations, unless another iron curtain des:coo.ds. There is good reason to hope that after these years otf serivitude to :Moscow the Czechs wil!l .better understand international and ibrotherly relationsh1ps and the spirit of cooperntion. One thing will he~p - t'hey haive not the ;remarkrub~e reputation in America that they onice had. They are less akin to the angcls and deiddedlly more mortal. A real Sio:vak state and a real Ozech state - eaJOh indiividual and independent - should ~ppear after the StaUn'ists are induced to. •r eturn to their own bor,ders. · Yet formation of these separate inmvidurul states is oruy a beginning. Thmwghout the ruges there has been a Gffl'ma,n .push to the east and a Russian to the west. In that is the care oif the prdblem the world stiN faces. It is the threat �40 SLOVAKIA that haiS ai1Jways hung lake the sword of Demooles a!bove the heads oif the peoples ibetween t!he Bail.tic, the Adriatic, and the Black seas. There is a solution to that prOlblem, but one which our Administration in Waslhington for some reason refuses to re!Cogni:ze. That is a regionrul federation in Centrrul and Eastern IDuirqpe. Iif the roughly 11'5,000,000 (POOI>le in that area were in a f~eration that gaJVe them a customs unii.on, a common currency, .s tandardized a'rnlled forces under some kind of a joint comma,nld, a common foreign policy, and whatever e:l:se in icammon or in cooperation they agreed upon while retaining cooniplete control of their initernrul aliai:rs, that federation would fu:rnn so ipowenfiul an dbsta.cile to aggression that no power would dare eJq)and in its direction. There is not spruce here to disouss the enomnous and varied adJvantages that wouil.d come to each of the countries entering into suoh a federation. Moscow has forcilb1y produced a regional union, but what a travesty it is! It is ,t o be hoped that when tJhe day of U'beration comes, the exiles from t)lese Jands WOI1king togetller ,w ith .Americans whose all!cestors came from those lands will ha;ve plains fur swch a regiomcl federation thoroughly discussed and prepared. Lt wou!ld be fol!ly to wait until after liberation to get r eady. I lknow how faithlfully and persistently the Slovaks hwve been fighting all these• re!Cent years that .Americans might iknow the trult'h rubout !Slovalkia. 1It is caJUSe for rejoici.n!g that t:Jhe representa:tiives oif the peoples behind the ITop Curtain are uniting in a common effort to fight communism. The Sllovaiks hruve good grounds for holding up their heads in this fight, for .they hruve Sloivalkia with them. They are not a front behind which stands a paltry few. From what country do we get news of more effective guerilla resastantce, o:r of a greater resistance on the part of the people to soviet~ati.Qn? The Sl01Vak:.s are making t hemselves a force to be redkoned with in mor e ways than one . I close on a note of ,confidence in the future. The struggle for the liberation and ,r ~tablishment of a free Central �SLOVAKIA 41 and East :mu.rope wi'hl .r equire all the wisdom, courage, and persist.eillCe we can commaind. Lt will mean further suffering and blood saic:riifice on the part of the peoples of that area, possilbly on OUT own part. But in the end right wm t.:r,iumiph over might. The signs ,t hat the tide is at last b,eginnin.g to turn in Riight's fawor a.re ruppearing on the horizon, and we will :liive to see the task to whlch we haive set ourselves accomplished. ,SlolV'alkia, too, shall lbe free! • • • SLOVA.KIA AND INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN 1938 Joseph Kirschbaum From the very beginning of Czecho-Slovakia, for twenty entire years, Czech policy and diplomacy succeeded in presenting the Slovak question as an internal problem, about which the outside world could say nothing without disturbing the sovereignty of the Czecho..Slovak State. Even professor Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne in Paris, who was quite partial to the Czech nation, wrote as early as 1917 that "the Slovak question is of European importance" (1), but for Czech politicians it was only an insignificant administrative problem. They refused to admit the existence of any Slovak problem. Thus it happened that Slovakia and Slovak politicians were not mentioned in international official documents until the fall of 1938. The storm, which broke loose over CzechoSlovakia, tore the cloak of Czech propaganda to shreds, and Slovakia, together with other problems of the Czecho-Slovak State, came to the forefront of European interests. This happened primarily through the neighbors of Czecho-Slovakia, each of whom wished to solve the Slovak question according to their own interests. Since these were not always in accord with the interests of the Slovaks, the representatives of the Slovak nation undertook everything possible to save Slovakia from the catastrophe into which the Czecho..Slovak Republic was led lby the policy of Prague. And so, almost simultaneously, we find documents which tell us, on the one hand, of the efforts to annex Slovakia to Hungary or � 31 SLOVAKIA would guarantee the existence oif a 0zeicho-Sloivakia in which they would rule. They 3Jre true foUowers oif Benes: If they are for a central Euroq>ean federation, it is only because of political exiped!iency, or, as Ripka himself so a'PtlY put it: "to gain the sympathies of the demo.craitic world for the CZECH caJuse." The Slovaks, on the other hand, are against any and all forms of Czecho-Slovakia - the federation they were forced into against their will. They are stricmgl,y for a '.Central :IDuropean federation in which Sloiva'kia would be an independent ethnic part, independent oif Bohemia and the 0zechs, and an equal among equals. 1 • • • SLOVAKIA'S RIGHT TO BE HEARD Ann Su Cardwell The Slovak nation has a fong and enrv'iaJble record in the :struggle for freedom and the rights O!f man. That struggle continiues, ,w ith the SlovaJks in this country carrying the'ir share of the rbul'den. How clifrfiicwlt they find it I know only too well it:rom actual experience. '!'here were years when getting the trutJh 1before the Amerilca,n reading 'PUIJ:>lic was next to impossi!ble, and those writers who did succeed oocasional,l y were the ,reciipients ,of letters ()If sha11p criticism and even inrveC:ti!ve. On th3Jt point, too, ·I speak out of experience. It is not necessa'I1)' for me to tell the Slova.tks that Americans in generall hawe ,known ail.I too little of SlovaJkia and its pface in Centra!l European lirfe and 'C!iviliization; and if irn Eastern European life, and dvilization, then in that of Western. Eu1:1oipe and America as well. ,F or despite geograiphical distances am.di differences in lamrgruarge and customs, the entire Western world - and hy that I mean all Europe and Amerrea - is bOIUDd together throughout histo!IY to agree that we do not st-Olp to realize. What haipnot hruppen to one ipeorple has its effect upon pens or the rest, though thait effect may be long in beoom:ing manifest. Surely that point does not need argument these days, does �32 SLOVAKIA when the world is 1ooin,g fo11dbly divided into two great camps. [ think ,ba.dk to the time when my own enlightenm ent on Eastern Europe lbegan. Of course even -as a schoolgirl I had a ,g eneral idea orf the location of Central and Eastern European ;p eoples, which naJturailly i.nc1'uded the .Slaivirc m11tions. That kr.nowledge was lburt slightly improved during my university -and ipost~wn:iversity years. Mter a:11 my <:hief impressions <:onitinued to lbe the inOOIIl/Prehensilble and unpronowncalb1e JwngUJa;ges and the extraordin ary ibeautilful peasant costumes. The faJct w~ that there was simply no ,r eason why I shouild lbe ipairtiicularly interested in those ,peoples. Then <!ame the First Wo rld War, and American readers quidkly became ea;ger students ,o f geog,r ~hy. We were soon on rvery lfarrniliar te11II1s with the iprinted names olf a lot of cities and towns aJUd loca;lities that left us icOIIlllP,letely dumb when we tried to rp:rionounice them, until we mastered the phonetic helip girven us in 'bhe daily paipers as the war progressed. But the sum of it aM wa:s that we ,b ecame vitally interested in what was hruppening in this hitherto uniknoWlll world. The vigorously conducted movement that resulted in the creation ,o f the new state of 0.zeoho,Slova!kia made us aware of the vitwty ,olf those two ,peoples. Thomas Masaryk 'beoome a name and a symbol •a round which ~tered an immense American enthusiasm . But all this was something in whd:ch I !persona:Hy had no part, and so I r~ll little else of that movement e:,oceipt the enthusiasm of icerlain groups, and the ·g reat pulblicity girven the or eation oif what ,w as ha.Ned as a new democracy. Little did I dream that l was to live neighbor to that new state for 17 years. I am more fortunate than most Ameri(!alls when it comes to getting a chance to iknoiw Europe of our time. In 1922 my husband, an eJOpert in 1persorunel training, was loaned by the Alrnerican YiMCA to helip the neiwliy organized YMCA's in Ozecho-Slova.k-ia and Poland get themsclves established . (I :s houid ~lain here that Ann Su Cardwell is my pen name. iMy rea!l name is Mrs. Paw Suiper.) My husband had /been over there but a short time when the �SLOVAKIA 33 Pales asked him to lbecome na,tioll!al director of their YMCA. He oocepted on wndition that I would -agree. I did, for a temn of two · yeara. I ha'Ve ,aJreadiy said we stayed seventeen, lea.ving at midnight of the day the Red Aranry crossed the Polish4Soiviet firontier, Septemlber 17, 1939. We were in Rumania, Hwnga,i,y, l3Jil.d France anotiher nine months before returning to Arrnerioa after the fa:U of fiance. We had lost a:11 we had 'in our Warsaw rupartment, and that was oonsideraJble. Yet we did not count the loos. We had never boon narrow in our outlook, for we had been privileged to iknow .A!meric"a ;fir.om coast to coast and had lived ten years in Honolulu. 'Burt IDurape ,was somethin,g else. It was the ;place Of Arrneri~n origins; and conscious of our ignorance we began di•ligentliy to acquaint 01.l!rselves with Em-ope. One of the !first coiuntri.es I wa:s to vis.it was OzechoSlovaJkia, as everyfbodry then said, but ,which I now refer to simply as IS'loivaikia. There was a conference in T,rencin, whieh mry hu.sband had to attend. My son and I went ,a iong. I irecaM the very attraotirve place where we stayed, the pleasant pe<>iple, the ,g ood food, the lorvely country, the lbeautid:ul things in the ,g ift shops, eSipeciaB.y the briUiant embroidery. I think eJVery woman at the colliference bought at least one blouse "to send 'home." A better introduction to a country than that ivisit afforded could 'hardly ibe asked. From Tren:cin we took the :train to Vienna, and that jowney aicross the southwest corner of iSlowrukia is memoraJble not only for its scenery but the, castle ruins. The names of the castles haive, of course, escaped me, though I was duly instnrcted as or be:fo:re we passed them, but the beaiuty of that scenery shall remain with me forever. Now after the introduction what d!id I learn aJbout Slovakia? ·F or one thing, that it is laiiger than severall well a,nd honoralbly lkm,own European states. Swi,merl,and, Belgi'llllll, Denmark, for insta.:nce. .Arul -w ho would ,propose that these ,n ations ,s houM 4ose their independence and identity? Slova,kia is not th'inl'Y :populated, either. · One cannot say precisely what the tpopulation figures are now, uncertain as we are of the extent o:f 'Moscow's deportation and exter1 �34 SLOVAKIA mination aictiivities, ,plus the importation of elements from the Soviet Union. !But we can still ,be sU1re that the Slovaik population has not 'been too seriously affected. But why was it that we on this side of the Atlantic knew so Jittle aJbout 1Slava1kia during the years preceeding World War I? That is easHy anS1Wered. It 'had been so completely incOI1J)OTated ·i nto Hungary that it did not maJke the i.!Illlpression l.J!POn us as it would have, had it beein a separate sbate. How much space did American histories giive Slovakia? A •parngraiph? But Switzerland - every American schoo~boy and schoolgiTl :knew something of that country's history, ,c,ouild call U!p clear images of pictured mountains and chalets, knew that for watches and clooks no ipeople •c ould compete with t!he. ·Swiss. Perhaips pu:bhcation'S ltke the _National Geograiphic Magruzine carried illrustrated articles on Slovakia, as it did ,and does on little known parts of the world as well. as on the known. But if so, they were for the entertainment of the curious and of arm-chair trruvellers, rather than for informative purposes, on the history and problems orf the Slova;ks. Unless Americans •c ame in ·contact with Slovaks who had emigrated lfnom their unfortunate homelaind to free Ameriica, they never heard olf how the Slova!ks had fought through the ,c enturies to 1pre·se11ve their freedoon or throw off the oppresso•r 's yolke when it had been laiid ,u pon them. We know noching otf the fier,ce Slovruk resistance to swarming Tatar hordes that came up over the "Blaelk Trail" to loot a,nd burn in Burope and ,retire with ca,p tives to be sold in the slawe mankets of tthe East. We knew little or nothing of Slovaik battles •w'ith invading Turks; nothing of the never...ceasing effort to hold their own against German domination amd ·aSiSimilation; and ivery little of the hopeless struggle to prevent .b eing swallowed up by Hungary. And how much more, may I aSik, do Ameri·cans !know of the underigrounrl struggJe itlhat is going on in SlovaJkia today against the tools orf Moscow? I know how difficult it is to. get tmstworthy news out of the lands behind the Iron Curtain, and then how difficult it is to get the press here to take it. But I hope the Slovaks �SLOVAKIA 35 never allow di,s coora:gement to get hold ol[ them. And as for Slo:va!k history, they now hruve an excellent vol,urrne in Mr. Yurehaik's "'.Dhe SlowaJks," to iput before their Americrun. friends and those who should be, their friends. I lose no chan'Ce to recommend it. Norw the magnificent thing about Slo1Vak history is that it is the story of a 1peo1p le that despite oppression, which in all. too many instances reduced the 1Sloivaks to what was little better than an runimal existence,, never lost the consciousness of tJheir nationality and the rights that nationality gave them. The Slovruk spirit !burned with a /bright unwruvering flame. How many Americans know the story of the prirvate schools that were estalblished when the SlovaJk language was not pernn1tted in the state schools? How boo1ks were written and printed, how collection;s of things ipreserving the Slo:vruk tradition, culture, and history were made; how the vairious dfa.iJ.ects were unified to become one recognized languruge? How denationaHzat ion was fought at every turn, and that the num!ber of Slovaks who ,su:ocumbed to magyarfaation for eoonomi1c or sociail reasons was very small compared with the numlber that stubbo,r nly paid the price for remaining 1Slovalks, keeping the SlovaJk farm of thei,r namee: and folllowing Slova:k c;ustoms? Resistantce to denationaliza tion woultl not a1wa,ys remain pass,iive. There were times when protest after protest was made, ruppead after ruppeal. But even when noble Hungarians valiantly espoused the Slovak Slide and sometimes won what seemed a victory, nothing ever came of it. The Slovaks were either scorned or ignored. Then sometimes conditions lbecaime intoleraJble and Slovruk leaders called for fo11ce. But what could ri-sin,gs of the oppressed do against ove:rwheJJining fo,r ee? Oppression of a people for century after century naturally leaids individuals among that people to despairing resignation. They for.get that if the blood of the martyrs is the seed Olf the churich, it is no less true that the blood of the ,p atriots is the seed of the free nation. That is as true America as it is of any other land. Lt is true of tSlovaJkia. m. �36 SLOVAKIA BecaUJSe of the martyrs and the. patriots, there never ceased to ,be a SlovaJlda ipopulated iby Slovaks. And so it came rubout as a wholly logical sequence that when World War I showed the fatal wealkness of the Austro-SiULtllg.arian ffimpire, the minorities within it, among them the SlovaJks, made their bid for freedom. But there is another higihly important factor that, while it has !been in existence for some time, now comes into the limelight. That is the Slovalk element in Ameriica. 1 mentioned earlier the .fact that Slov:alks had either to accept denationalization or leaive their homeland if they hoped fo,r advancement in. any field. There could be but one result in such a situation, namely, the potential leadership of a Slovakian movement for lilberation -was largely drained out of the country and aibso:lfued into the 'Citizenship of other countries. And leadershifp is a temi. that in this instance: alt any rate included eiconomic resources. Where and how that leadership airose I need not recite to the Slovalks who were O!f that ndble comp81Ily. Friends in Western Europe swelled the ranks. We should not forget that during all those years of oppressi,o n there had been a few voirces raised in an eiifort oo let the ,w orld know, in the hope thalt pressure oould be. brought to bear upon a professedly Om-istian. E)rrupiire to right the wrongs. That these revealers o(f the truth oo.e after another failed to stir the West does not talke fu,am theiir good will. The Slo:va/k,s were wise enough to underatand that it wais useless for a smrull Centrrul European oou,nt,r,y to attempt to maintain its independence. There was and it seemed there would always ibe a powerif1U[ amlbitious st.ate on either side. Little countries lying between them rwould always tempt them. Nothing except force sufficient . to irestmm. them would deter them from cooking Ulp one excuse oir ainother for moiving in and taikill!g ,p ossession. 'Dhe only way to get that ne:cessrury force was tJhroug,h union of smaller nations in some sort of federation. lt was but natural, therefore that when the Czechs, straining every effort through Czech leaders in America to gain Owch independence, proposed the Sl()IVaJks join them. �SLOVAKIA 37 There was agreement. A new creation, Ozecho~lovakia, a demooraoy with a;utonomy for eruch partner in the union was to be hera[ded to the world. 'l'he SlorvaJks were ,particular to require sipedfic ,provisions for Slo,vakiia's pos,ition in that union, as is penfootly clear through Ozech acceptance of the iPittsbtu,gh Aig,rooment. ,I n that the db.ligations assumed by eacll party are doowmented, as aire the prinicip'les accepted by each as the foundation upon which the new state would 1 rest. I well ,remem1ber the hig'h enthusiasm wiitll which Americans welcomed the birth of the new state. Oze.cho-Slovrulcia and demooracy see:m.ed toi be words interchangealble in meaning. Thomas Masa,'rylk was spoiken orf as one of the greatest statesmen orf the age, a "Grand Old Mam.," ea.reh of these three words oogi:rming with a caipital letter. Masary!k was a great main in those days and, I was told, that he was a SlO!Vak ,b y birth; but education lhaid -made him Czech in outlook, and that was to be most unfortunate in its eJffects. But at the time, Masaryk's star outshone a11 others in the Ozech0-1SlO!V'aJk slcy, and ilf •w e heard of the Pittsburgh Agreement it got all too little notice. 'r.he rest iis ;painful to recall. Instead orf a Ozecho..Slorvakia where Ozoohs an:d Slovaks, were "equals with equals, a state compairaJble in admirustratirve f.ree with free" oi,gain.izations to the Swiss cantons - the Ozech leaders utterlry disregarded the solemn compact with their Slovak brothers, inrvented reasons for disarvowing it, and emlbarked at the outset on a centralization !I)Ol'icy that put all authority in .Prague. And desipite vociferous and continual protests it ,was a ipolicy followed through to the end. It was a iba4d assumption of Czech suiperi-0rity. Yet we must 1be just and remember that not all Czechs approrved that poliey. There haid been Ozechs supporting, and very valiantly, the Slovruk side of the debate whille the Pittsburgh Algireement iwas under discussion. So alS-O there ,were 07.eehs who did not rupprove the Masaryfic&nes repudiation of that aigreement. But they could not inlfilruence the men launched on the ,r oad toward a Ozooh--controMed union. How easy it is for men to fall viictim to ,t he lust for power! Their judgment warped lby excessive American �SLOVAKIA 38 praise, Benes and his adherents believed that only the Ozechs had the vision and the competence to administer and guide the state fOT whose creation they toolk the credit. They flouted the ivery prindples of democracy on which the state had been estaJblished. They lbecaJme dbsessed with the idea of develo.ping a Ozecho-Sl01Vrukia in which there would ibe no hyphen ~d no crupital S, in which the Ozech would lbe dominant, and whose peqple ,woUJl.d lbe known as "CzeichosJava!ks." They were too blind to see that surc!h a project was foredoomed to faiJure; that a people who if or a thOIU'sand years had endured sub9ection and yet preserived their disitinrctirve cuiltuire, traditions, and toogue was not materirul ,f or amalgamation. But truth and justice were refused a heairing. By devious a:rigume:i:its those in the seats of ipower ,p rofessed to justify their couir~. All these years, even after his crupituil.ation ,t o the Germans, Benes was the ideal democrat in the eyes of many Americans. He waJS :referred to as "the aJblest diiplomat in Europe - the top EurOlpean statesman." The legend of his democra oy has clun,g to .h'im despite the record. But IDdwa11d Benes was not the 1p aragon he was held to 1be. He was not a great .statesman but a clever politician, with the cleverness too often in question. We in PoJ.and knew only too well that Czecho~Sloivakia was not the embodiment of democracy Americans naively swpposed it to be, amd iknew that Benes was not the democrat they ibelieved him to .be. But nothing we oouild say lhad .a ny effect. We were a,ccmsed of indulging in malice and jealousy betcause, as they in -their swperior intelligence asserted, we Hived in Poland, a co'Uiltry ruled by a dictator! Which showed how much they did NOT know. 1 Few .Americrun.s had ,been in either country; if they had, it was for a brief stay only. They made stopover !Visits in Praigiue and Warsruw fo,r a daiy or so while enroute to that most delig,hbfiul ( !) olf all taurist lands, the SoiViet Union f.rom w'hich honest ones came out somewhat less, lyrical than when they went in. In iPra·g ue they met Oze:chs, as a rule, saw the really siplendid Czech industries and arts, but saw and heard little of SlovaJks and Slcxvalkia. If they did it was �SLOVAKIA 39 as. '.'Cz~chosloivakia." The Ozechs, in American Olpinion, were E1qTope's ,p rize exh'ilbit. ls .it any wonder they got satisd'action out of the role O!I' that it infiluenced their own opinion of themselives? Wehl, "God doesn't rpay erv~ day, but He pays," a famous French woman is credited with hav:mg ,w ritten. And Benes and those with him who . framed and ex~ruted thek mistaiken policres have made the final accounting. Surrely no one can envy rthem their fasit years, when in oiverweening confiidenice in their own aibility they wallked inrt o the Soiviet traip, were deiprived of al!l ,p ower, and lingered on runtil death ifilter;vened. But the past is ,p ast. We cannot change its pattern. We review it oruy to 1earn its les,s on, that the same mistaik es may n01t lbe made again. For t!hinlking people it is farll oif guide posts to that fuitme which while we talk betomes the present. What of that future for Sloivrukia? The .~lovaJks are aH w~l a;ware of how mtroh it deipends upon them. SloivaJkia must olf course ibe free. Of that there is no question. But then what? · · You will ,prolbaJbly rugree that the position tiruken at the time the Slov,aiks thre,w in their lot with the Cze.chs was soU!Ild. Oze:chs and Slovaks are, ib1ood kin. They are neighbors, .destined to be neighlbors with nonmaJl commercial and other relations, unless another iron curtain des:coo.ds. There is good reason to hope that after these years otf serivitude to :Moscow the Czechs wil!l .better understand international and ibrotherly relationsh1ps and the spirit of cooperntion. One thing will he~p - t'hey haive not the ;remarkrub~e reputation in America that they onice had. They are less akin to the angcls and deiddedlly more mortal. A real Sio:vak state and a real Ozech state - eaJOh indiividual and independent - should ~ppear after the StaUn'ists are induced to. •r eturn to their own bor,ders. · Yet formation of these separate inmvidurul states is oruy a beginning. Thmwghout the ruges there has been a Gffl'ma,n .push to the east and a Russian to the west. In that is the care oif the prdblem the world stiN faces. It is the threat �40 SLOVAKIA that haiS ai1Jways hung lake the sword of Demooles a!bove the heads oif the peoples ibetween t!he Bail.tic, the Adriatic, and the Black seas. There is a solution to that prOlblem, but one which our Administration in Waslhington for some reason refuses to re!Cogni:ze. That is a regionrul federation in Centrrul and Eastern IDuirqpe. Iif the roughly 11'5,000,000 (POOI>le in that area were in a f~eration that gaJVe them a customs unii.on, a common currency, .s tandardized a'rnlled forces under some kind of a joint comma,nld, a common foreign policy, and whatever e:l:se in icammon or in cooperation they agreed upon while retaining cooniplete control of their initernrul aliai:rs, that federation would fu:rnn so ipowenfiul an dbsta.cile to aggression that no power would dare eJq)and in its direction. There is not spruce here to disouss the enomnous and varied adJvantages that wouil.d come to each of the countries entering into suoh a federation. Moscow has forcilb1y produced a regional union, but what a travesty it is! It is ,t o be hoped that when tJhe day of U'beration comes, the exiles from t)lese Jands WOI1king togetller ,w ith .Americans whose all!cestors came from those lands will ha;ve plains fur swch a regiomcl federation thoroughly discussed and prepared. Lt wou!ld be fol!ly to wait until after liberation to get r eady. I lknow how faithlfully and persistently the Slovaks hwve been fighting all these• re!Cent years that .Americans might iknow the trult'h rubout !Slovalkia. 1It is caJUSe for rejoici.n!g that t:Jhe representa:tiives oif the peoples behind the ITop Curtain are uniting in a common effort to fight communism. The Sllovaiks hruve good grounds for holding up their heads in this fight, for .they hruve Sloivalkia with them. They are not a front behind which stands a paltry few. From what country do we get news of more effective guerilla resastantce, o:r of a greater resistance on the part of the people to soviet~ati.Qn? The Sl01Vak:.s are making t hemselves a force to be redkoned with in mor e ways than one . I close on a note of ,confidence in the future. The struggle for the liberation and ,r ~tablishment of a free Central �SLOVAKIA 41 and East :mu.rope wi'hl .r equire all the wisdom, courage, and persist.eillCe we can commaind. Lt will mean further suffering and blood saic:riifice on the part of the peoples of that area, possilbly on OUT own part. But in the end right wm t.:r,iumiph over might. The signs ,t hat the tide is at last b,eginnin.g to turn in Riight's fawor a.re ruppearing on the horizon, and we will :liive to see the task to whlch we haive set ourselves accomplished. ,SlolV'alkia, too, shall lbe free! • • • SLOVA.KIA AND INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN 1938 Joseph Kirschbaum From the very beginning of Czecho-Slovakia, for twenty entire years, Czech policy and diplomacy succeeded in presenting the Slovak question as an internal problem, about which the outside world could say nothing without disturbing the sovereignty of the Czecho..Slovak State. Even professor Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne in Paris, who was quite partial to the Czech nation, wrote as early as 1917 that "the Slovak question is of European importance" (1), but for Czech politicians it was only an insignificant administrative problem. They refused to admit the existence of any Slovak problem. Thus it happened that Slovakia and Slovak politicians were not mentioned in international official documents until the fall of 1938. The storm, which broke loose over CzechoSlovakia, tore the cloak of Czech propaganda to shreds, and Slovakia, together with other problems of the Czecho-Slovak State, came to the forefront of European interests. This happened primarily through the neighbors of Czecho-Slovakia, each of whom wished to solve the Slovak question according to their own interests. Since these were not always in accord with the interests of the Slovaks, the representatives of the Slovak nation undertook everything possible to save Slovakia from the catastrophe into which the Czecho..Slovak Republic was led lby the policy of Prague. And so, almost simultaneously, we find documents which tell us, on the one hand, of the efforts to annex Slovakia to Hungary or � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1953, Vol. 3 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 6), April 1953.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 7), July 1953.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 8), September 1953.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 9), December 1953.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1953 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 31 SLOVAKIA would guarantee the existence oif a 0zeicho-Sloivakia in which they would rule. They 3Jre true foUowers oif Benes: If they are for a central Euroq>ean federation, it is only because of political exiped!iency, or, as Ripka himself so a'PtlY put it: "to gain the sympathies of the demo.craitic world for the CZECH caJuse." The Slovaks, on the other hand, are against any and all forms of Czecho-Slovakia - the federation they were forced into against their will. They are stricmgl,y for a '.Central :IDuropean federation in which Sloiva'kia would be an independent ethnic part, independent oif Bohemia and the 0zechs, and an equal among equals. 1 • • • SLOVAKIA'S RIGHT TO BE HEARD Ann Su Cardwell The Slovak nation has a fong and enrv'iaJble record in the :struggle for freedom and the rights O!f man. That struggle continiues, ,w ith the SlovaJks in this country carrying the'ir share of the rbul'den. How clifrfiicwlt they find it I know only too well it:rom actual experience. '!'here were years when getting the trutJh 1before the Amerilca,n reading 'PUIJ:>lic was next to impossi!ble, and those writers who did succeed oocasional,l y were the ,reciipients ,of letters ()If sha11p criticism and even inrveC:ti!ve. On th3Jt point, too, ·I speak out of experience. It is not necessa'I1)' for me to tell the Slova.tks that Americans in generall hawe ,known ail.I too little of SlovaJkia and its pface in Centra!l European lirfe and 'C!iviliization; and if irn Eastern European life, and dvilization, then in that of Western. Eu1:1oipe and America as well. ,F or despite geograiphical distances am.di differences in lamrgruarge and customs, the entire Western world - and hy that I mean all Europe and Amerrea - is bOIUDd together throughout histo!IY to agree that we do not st-Olp to realize. What haipnot hruppen to one ipeorple has its effect upon pens or the rest, though thait effect may be long in beoom:ing manifest. Surely that point does not need argument these days, does 32 SLOVAKIA when the world is 1ooin,g fo11dbly divided into two great camps. [ think ,ba.dk to the time when my own enlightenm ent on Eastern Europe lbegan. Of course even -as a schoolgirl I had a ,g eneral idea orf the location of Central and Eastern European ;p eoples, which naJturailly i.nc1'uded the .Slaivirc m11tions. That kr.nowledge was lburt slightly improved during my university -and ipost~wn:iversity years. Mter a:11 my <:hief impressions <:onitinued to lbe the inOOIIl/Prehensilble and unpronowncalb1e JwngUJa;ges and the extraordin ary ibeautilful peasant costumes. The faJct w~ that there was simply no ,r eason why I shouild lbe ipairtiicularly interested in those ,peoples. Then <!ame the First Wo rld War, and American readers quidkly became ea;ger students ,o f geog,r ~hy. We were soon on rvery lfarrniliar te11II1s with the iprinted names olf a lot of cities and towns aJUd loca;lities that left us icOIIlllP,letely dumb when we tried to rp:rionounice them, until we mastered the phonetic helip girven us in 'bhe daily paipers as the war progressed. But the sum of it aM wa:s that we ,b ecame vitally interested in what was hruppening in this hitherto uniknoWlll world. The vigorously conducted movement that resulted in the creation ,o f the new state of 0.zeoho,Slova!kia made us aware of the vitwty ,olf those two ,peoples. Thomas Masaryk 'beoome a name and a symbol •a round which ~tered an immense American enthusiasm . But all this was something in whd:ch I !persona:Hy had no part, and so I r~ll little else of that movement e:,oceipt the enthusiasm of icerlain groups, and the ·g reat pulblicity girven the or eation oif what ,w as ha.Ned as a new democracy. Little did I dream that l was to live neighbor to that new state for 17 years. I am more fortunate than most Ameri(!alls when it comes to getting a chance to iknoiw Europe of our time. In 1922 my husband, an eJOpert in 1persorunel training, was loaned by the Alrnerican YiMCA to helip the neiwliy organized YMCA's in Ozecho-Slova.k-ia and Poland get themsclves established . (I :s houid ~lain here that Ann Su Cardwell is my pen name. iMy rea!l name is Mrs. Paw Suiper.) My husband had /been over there but a short time when the SLOVAKIA 33 Pales asked him to lbecome na,tioll!al director of their YMCA. He oocepted on wndition that I would -agree. I did, for a temn of two · yeara. I ha'Ve ,aJreadiy said we stayed seventeen, lea.ving at midnight of the day the Red Aranry crossed the Polish4Soiviet firontier, Septemlber 17, 1939. We were in Rumania, Hwnga,i,y, l3Jil.d France anotiher nine months before returning to Arrnerioa after the fa:U of fiance. We had lost a:11 we had 'in our Warsaw rupartment, and that was oonsideraJble. Yet we did not count the loos. We had never boon narrow in our outlook, for we had been privileged to iknow .A!meric"a ;fir.om coast to coast and had lived ten years in Honolulu. 'Burt IDurape ,was somethin,g else. It was the ;place Of Arrneri~n origins; and conscious of our ignorance we began di•ligentliy to acquaint 01.l!rselves with Em-ope. One of the !first coiuntri.es I wa:s to vis.it was OzechoSlovaJkia, as everyfbodry then said, but ,which I now refer to simply as IS'loivaikia. There was a conference in T,rencin, whieh mry hu.sband had to attend. My son and I went ,a iong. I irecaM the very attraotirve place where we stayed, the pleasant pe<>iple, the ,g ood food, the lorvely country, the lbeautid:ul things in the ,g ift shops, eSipeciaB.y the briUiant embroidery. I think eJVery woman at the colliference bought at least one blouse "to send 'home." A better introduction to a country than that ivisit afforded could 'hardly ibe asked. From Tren:cin we took the :train to Vienna, and that jowney aicross the southwest corner of iSlowrukia is memoraJble not only for its scenery but the, castle ruins. The names of the castles haive, of course, escaped me, though I was duly instnrcted as or be:fo:re we passed them, but the beaiuty of that scenery shall remain with me forever. Now after the introduction what d!id I learn aJbout Slovakia? ·F or one thing, that it is laiiger than severall well a,nd honoralbly lkm,own European states. Swi,merl,and, Belgi'llllll, Denmark, for insta.:nce. .Arul -w ho would ,propose that these ,n ations ,s houM 4ose their independence and identity? Slova,kia is not th'inl'Y :populated, either. · One cannot say precisely what the tpopulation figures are now, uncertain as we are of the extent o:f 'Moscow's deportation and exter1 34 SLOVAKIA mination aictiivities, ,plus the importation of elements from the Soviet Union. !But we can still ,be sU1re that the Slovaik population has not 'been too seriously affected. But why was it that we on this side of the Atlantic knew so Jittle aJbout 1Slava1kia during the years preceeding World War I? That is easHy anS1Wered. It 'had been so completely incOI1J)OTated ·i nto Hungary that it did not maJke the i.!Illlpression l.J!POn us as it would have, had it beein a separate sbate. How much space did American histories giive Slovakia? A •parngraiph? But Switzerland - every American schoo~boy and schoolgiTl :knew something of that country's history, ,c,ouild call U!p clear images of pictured mountains and chalets, knew that for watches and clooks no ipeople •c ould compete with t!he. ·Swiss. Perhaips pu:bhcation'S ltke the _National Geograiphic Magruzine carried illrustrated articles on Slovakia, as it did ,and does on little known parts of the world as well. as on the known. But if so, they were for the entertainment of the curious and of arm-chair trruvellers, rather than for informative purposes, on the history and problems orf the Slova;ks. Unless Americans •c ame in ·contact with Slovaks who had emigrated lfnom their unfortunate homelaind to free Ameriica, they never heard olf how the Slova!ks had fought through the ,c enturies to 1pre·se11ve their freedoon or throw off the oppresso•r 's yolke when it had been laiid ,u pon them. We know noching otf the fier,ce Slovruk resistance to swarming Tatar hordes that came up over the "Blaelk Trail" to loot a,nd burn in Burope and ,retire with ca,p tives to be sold in the slawe mankets of tthe East. We knew little or nothing of Slovaik battles •w'ith invading Turks; nothing of the never...ceasing effort to hold their own against German domination amd ·aSiSimilation; and ivery little of the hopeless struggle to prevent .b eing swallowed up by Hungary. And how much more, may I aSik, do Ameri·cans !know of the underigrounrl struggJe itlhat is going on in SlovaJkia today against the tools orf Moscow? I know how difficult it is to. get tmstworthy news out of the lands behind the Iron Curtain, and then how difficult it is to get the press here to take it. But I hope the Slovaks SLOVAKIA 35 never allow di,s coora:gement to get hold ol[ them. And as for Slo:va!k history, they now hruve an excellent vol,urrne in Mr. Yurehaik's "'.Dhe SlowaJks," to iput before their Americrun. friends and those who should be, their friends. I lose no chan'Ce to recommend it. Norw the magnificent thing about Slo1Vak history is that it is the story of a 1peo1p le that despite oppression, which in all. too many instances reduced the 1Sloivaks to what was little better than an runimal existence,, never lost the consciousness of tJheir nationality and the rights that nationality gave them. The Slovruk spirit !burned with a /bright unwruvering flame. How many Americans know the story of the prirvate schools that were estalblished when the SlovaJk language was not pernn1tted in the state schools? How boo1ks were written and printed, how collection;s of things ipreserving the Slo:vruk tradition, culture, and history were made; how the vairious dfa.iJ.ects were unified to become one recognized languruge? How denationaHzat ion was fought at every turn, and that the num!ber of Slovaks who ,su:ocumbed to magyarfaation for eoonomi1c or sociail reasons was very small compared with the numlber that stubbo,r nly paid the price for remaining 1Slovalks, keeping the SlovaJk farm of thei,r namee: and folllowing Slova:k c;ustoms? Resistantce to denationaliza tion woultl not a1wa,ys remain pass,iive. There were times when protest after protest was made, ruppead after ruppeal. But even when noble Hungarians valiantly espoused the Slovak Slide and sometimes won what seemed a victory, nothing ever came of it. The Slovaks were either scorned or ignored. Then sometimes conditions lbecaime intoleraJble and Slovruk leaders called for fo11ce. But what could ri-sin,gs of the oppressed do against ove:rwheJJining fo,r ee? Oppression of a people for century after century naturally leaids individuals among that people to despairing resignation. They for.get that if the blood of the martyrs is the seed Olf the churich, it is no less true that the blood of the ,p atriots is the seed of the free nation. That is as true America as it is of any other land. Lt is true of tSlovaJkia. m. 36 SLOVAKIA BecaUJSe of the martyrs and the. patriots, there never ceased to ,be a SlovaJlda ipopulated iby Slovaks. And so it came rubout as a wholly logical sequence that when World War I showed the fatal wealkness of the Austro-SiULtllg.arian ffimpire, the minorities within it, among them the SlovaJks, made their bid for freedom. But there is another higihly important factor that, while it has !been in existence for some time, now comes into the limelight. That is the Slovalk element in Ameriica. 1 mentioned earlier the .fact that Slov:alks had either to accept denationalization or leaive their homeland if they hoped fo,r advancement in. any field. There could be but one result in such a situation, namely, the potential leadership of a Slovakian movement for lilberation -was largely drained out of the country and aibso:lfued into the 'Citizenship of other countries. And leadershifp is a temi. that in this instance: alt any rate included eiconomic resources. Where and how that leadership airose I need not recite to the Slovalks who were O!f that ndble comp81Ily. Friends in Western Europe swelled the ranks. We should not forget that during all those years of oppressi,o n there had been a few voirces raised in an eiifort oo let the ,w orld know, in the hope thalt pressure oould be. brought to bear upon a professedly Om-istian. E)rrupiire to right the wrongs. That these revealers o(f the truth oo.e after another failed to stir the West does not talke fu,am theiir good will. The Slo:va/k,s were wise enough to underatand that it wais useless for a smrull Centrrul European oou,nt,r,y to attempt to maintain its independence. There was and it seemed there would always ibe a powerif1U[ amlbitious st.ate on either side. Little countries lying between them rwould always tempt them. Nothing except force sufficient . to irestmm. them would deter them from cooking Ulp one excuse oir ainother for moiving in and taikill!g ,p ossession. 'Dhe only way to get that ne:cessrury force was tJhroug,h union of smaller nations in some sort of federation. lt was but natural, therefore that when the Czechs, straining every effort through Czech leaders in America to gain Owch independence, proposed the Sl()IVaJks join them. SLOVAKIA 37 There was agreement. A new creation, Ozecho~lovakia, a demooraoy with a;utonomy for eruch partner in the union was to be hera[ded to the world. 'l'he SlorvaJks were ,particular to require sipedfic ,provisions for Slo,vakiia's pos,ition in that union, as is penfootly clear through Ozech acceptance of the iPittsbtu,gh Aig,rooment. ,I n that the db.ligations assumed by eacll party are doowmented, as aire the prinicip'les accepted by each as the foundation upon which the new state would 1 rest. I well ,remem1ber the hig'h enthusiasm wiitll which Americans welcomed the birth of the new state. Oze.cho-Slovrulcia and demooracy see:m.ed toi be words interchangealble in meaning. Thomas Masa,'rylk was spoiken orf as one of the greatest statesmen orf the age, a "Grand Old Mam.," ea.reh of these three words oogi:rming with a caipital letter. Masary!k was a great main in those days and, I was told, that he was a SlO!Vak ,b y birth; but education lhaid -made him Czech in outlook, and that was to be most unfortunate in its eJffects. But at the time, Masaryk's star outshone a11 others in the Ozech0-1SlO!V'aJk slcy, and ilf •w e heard of the Pittsburgh Agreement it got all too little notice. 'r.he rest iis ;painful to recall. Instead orf a Ozecho..Slorvakia where Ozoohs an:d Slovaks, were "equals with equals, a state compairaJble in admirustratirve f.ree with free" oi,gain.izations to the Swiss cantons - the Ozech leaders utterlry disregarded the solemn compact with their Slovak brothers, inrvented reasons for disarvowing it, and emlbarked at the outset on a centralization !I)Ol'icy that put all authority in .Prague. And desipite vociferous and continual protests it ,was a ipolicy followed through to the end. It was a iba4d assumption of Czech suiperi-0rity. Yet we must 1be just and remember that not all Czechs approrved that poliey. There haid been Ozechs supporting, and very valiantly, the Slovruk side of the debate whille the Pittsburgh Algireement iwas under discussion. So alS-O there ,were 07.eehs who did not rupprove the Masaryfic&nes repudiation of that aigreement. But they could not inlfilruence the men launched on the ,r oad toward a Ozooh--controMed union. How easy it is for men to fall viictim to ,t he lust for power! Their judgment warped lby excessive American SLOVAKIA 38 praise, Benes and his adherents believed that only the Ozechs had the vision and the competence to administer and guide the state fOT whose creation they toolk the credit. They flouted the ivery prindples of democracy on which the state had been estaJblished. They lbecaJme dbsessed with the idea of develo.ping a Ozecho-Sl01Vrukia in which there would ibe no hyphen ~d no crupital S, in which the Ozech would lbe dominant, and whose peqple ,woUJl.d lbe known as "CzeichosJava!ks." They were too blind to see that surc!h a project was foredoomed to faiJure; that a people who if or a thOIU'sand years had endured sub9ection and yet preserived their disitinrctirve cuiltuire, traditions, and toogue was not materirul ,f or amalgamation. But truth and justice were refused a heairing. By devious a:rigume:i:its those in the seats of ipower ,p rofessed to justify their couir~. All these years, even after his crupituil.ation ,t o the Germans, Benes was the ideal democrat in the eyes of many Americans. He waJS :referred to as "the aJblest diiplomat in Europe - the top EurOlpean statesman." The legend of his democra oy has clun,g to .h'im despite the record. But IDdwa11d Benes was not the 1p aragon he was held to 1be. He was not a great .statesman but a clever politician, with the cleverness too often in question. We in PoJ.and knew only too well that Czecho~Sloivakia was not the embodiment of democracy Americans naively swpposed it to be, amd iknew that Benes was not the democrat they ibelieved him to .be. But nothing we oouild say lhad .a ny effect. We were a,ccmsed of indulging in malice and jealousy betcause, as they in -their swperior intelligence asserted, we Hived in Poland, a co'Uiltry ruled by a dictator! Which showed how much they did NOT know. 1 Few .Americrun.s had ,been in either country; if they had, it was for a brief stay only. They made stopover !Visits in Praigiue and Warsruw fo,r a daiy or so while enroute to that most delig,hbfiul ( !) olf all taurist lands, the SoiViet Union f.rom w'hich honest ones came out somewhat less, lyrical than when they went in. In iPra·g ue they met Oze:chs, as a rule, saw the really siplendid Czech industries and arts, but saw and heard little of SlovaJks and Slcxvalkia. If they did it was SLOVAKIA 39 as. '.'Cz~chosloivakia." The Ozechs, in American Olpinion, were E1qTope's ,p rize exh'ilbit. ls .it any wonder they got satisd'action out of the role O!I' that it infiluenced their own opinion of themselives? Wehl, "God doesn't rpay erv~ day, but He pays," a famous French woman is credited with hav:mg ,w ritten. And Benes and those with him who . framed and ex~ruted thek mistaiken policres have made the final accounting. Surrely no one can envy rthem their fasit years, when in oiverweening confiidenice in their own aibility they wallked inrt o the Soiviet traip, were deiprived of al!l ,p ower, and lingered on runtil death ifilter;vened. But the past is ,p ast. We cannot change its pattern. We review it oruy to 1earn its les,s on, that the same mistaik es may n01t lbe made again. For t!hinlking people it is farll oif guide posts to that fuitme which while we talk betomes the present. What of that future for Sloivrukia? The .~lovaJks are aH w~l a;ware of how mtroh it deipends upon them. SloivaJkia must olf course ibe free. Of that there is no question. But then what? · · You will ,prolbaJbly rugree that the position tiruken at the time the Slov,aiks thre,w in their lot with the Cze.chs was soU!Ild. Oze:chs and Slovaks are, ib1ood kin. They are neighbors, .destined to be neighlbors with nonmaJl commercial and other relations, unless another iron curtain des:coo.ds. There is good reason to hope that after these years otf serivitude to :Moscow the Czechs wil!l .better understand international and ibrotherly relationsh1ps and the spirit of cooperntion. One thing will he~p - t'hey haive not the ;remarkrub~e reputation in America that they onice had. They are less akin to the angcls and deiddedlly more mortal. A real Sio:vak state and a real Ozech state - eaJOh indiividual and independent - should ~ppear after the StaUn'ists are induced to. •r eturn to their own bor,ders. · Yet formation of these separate inmvidurul states is oruy a beginning. Thmwghout the ruges there has been a Gffl'ma,n .push to the east and a Russian to the west. In that is the care oif the prdblem the world stiN faces. It is the threat 40 SLOVAKIA that haiS ai1Jways hung lake the sword of Demooles a!bove the heads oif the peoples ibetween t!he Bail.tic, the Adriatic, and the Black seas. There is a solution to that prOlblem, but one which our Administration in Waslhington for some reason refuses to re!Cogni:ze. That is a regionrul federation in Centrrul and Eastern IDuirqpe. Iif the roughly 11'5,000,000 (POOI>le in that area were in a f~eration that gaJVe them a customs unii.on, a common currency, .s tandardized a'rnlled forces under some kind of a joint comma,nld, a common foreign policy, and whatever e:l:se in icammon or in cooperation they agreed upon while retaining cooniplete control of their initernrul aliai:rs, that federation would fu:rnn so ipowenfiul an dbsta.cile to aggression that no power would dare eJq)and in its direction. There is not spruce here to disouss the enomnous and varied adJvantages that wouil.d come to each of the countries entering into suoh a federation. Moscow has forcilb1y produced a regional union, but what a travesty it is! It is ,t o be hoped that when tJhe day of U'beration comes, the exiles from t)lese Jands WOI1king togetller ,w ith .Americans whose all!cestors came from those lands will ha;ve plains fur swch a regiomcl federation thoroughly discussed and prepared. Lt wou!ld be fol!ly to wait until after liberation to get r eady. I lknow how faithlfully and persistently the Slovaks hwve been fighting all these• re!Cent years that .Americans might iknow the trult'h rubout !Slovalkia. 1It is caJUSe for rejoici.n!g that t:Jhe representa:tiives oif the peoples behind the ITop Curtain are uniting in a common effort to fight communism. The Sllovaiks hruve good grounds for holding up their heads in this fight, for .they hruve Sloivalkia with them. They are not a front behind which stands a paltry few. From what country do we get news of more effective guerilla resastantce, o:r of a greater resistance on the part of the people to soviet~ati.Qn? The Sl01Vak:.s are making t hemselves a force to be redkoned with in mor e ways than one . I close on a note of ,confidence in the future. The struggle for the liberation and ,r ~tablishment of a free Central SLOVAKIA 41 and East :mu.rope wi'hl .r equire all the wisdom, courage, and persist.eillCe we can commaind. Lt will mean further suffering and blood saic:riifice on the part of the peoples of that area, possilbly on OUT own part. But in the end right wm t.:r,iumiph over might. The signs ,t hat the tide is at last b,eginnin.g to turn in Riight's fawor a.re ruppearing on the horizon, and we will :liive to see the task to whlch we haive set ourselves accomplished. ,SlolV'alkia, too, shall lbe free! • • • SLOVA.KIA AND INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN 1938 Joseph Kirschbaum From the very beginning of Czecho-Slovakia, for twenty entire years, Czech policy and diplomacy succeeded in presenting the Slovak question as an internal problem, about which the outside world could say nothing without disturbing the sovereignty of the Czecho..Slovak State. Even professor Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne in Paris, who was quite partial to the Czech nation, wrote as early as 1917 that "the Slovak question is of European importance" (1), but for Czech politicians it was only an insignificant administrative problem. They refused to admit the existence of any Slovak problem. Thus it happened that Slovakia and Slovak politicians were not mentioned in international official documents until the fall of 1938. The storm, which broke loose over CzechoSlovakia, tore the cloak of Czech propaganda to shreds, and Slovakia, together with other problems of the Czecho-Slovak State, came to the forefront of European interests. This happened primarily through the neighbors of Czecho-Slovakia, each of whom wished to solve the Slovak question according to their own interests. Since these were not always in accord with the interests of the Slovaks, the representatives of the Slovak nation undertook everything possible to save Slovakia from the catastrophe into which the Czecho..Slovak Republic was led lby the policy of Prague. And so, almost simultaneously, we find documents which tell us, on the one hand, of the efforts to annex Slovakia to Hungary or  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovakia's Right to Be Heard Description An account of the resource Ann Su Cardwell Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 4 (9), December 1953 pp. 31-41 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cardwell, Ann Su Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1953 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/133e31d958f4c4c61a8df5f47b1294cd.pdf d9357180613847a11ba6af10909217da PDF Text Text 57 SLOVAKJA Reversing the Trend: Central Europe from Dictatorship to Democracy 1 Jan Camogursky A currently-popular political term is "globalization." Seen from a North American perspective, it is very real. When one reads American or Canadian newspapers, magazines or books, the globe seems to be a tiny button. Planes and boats filled with goods dash from one continent to the next. Billions of dollars are transferred via computers and satellites. Television viewers can instantly discover if it is hot or cold in distant parts of the world on the Weather Channel. Its pictures show continents without state borders, and the sky above them is either sunny and clear or cloudy and raining. Some observers praise globalization, some protest against it, but it probably cannot be stopped. Central Europe has given the world many scientific, economic and cultural stimuli from which globalization evolved. The territory between Ukraine and Germany, Scandinavia and the Balkans, is only about 1/10 the size of Canada, but it has six times as many inhabitants. A multitude of nations exist here, sometimes at peace, and sometimes at war. In the 20th century the Slavs and Germans clashed in two World Wars, into which Canada and the United States were drawn. American and Canadian military cemeteries in Europe speak dramatically about Central Europe's signi1 A public lecture presented at the University of Ottawa on Ferbruary 29, 2000. �58 SLOVAKIA ficance to these two countries. On the other hand, Central Europe also produced Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak, Albert Einstein and John Paul II . Central Europe has been a problem for the Great Powers in the last two centuries , and after World War II it became especially acute. The victorious Allies solved the problem by erasing it. They divided Central Europe between them and for four decades it disappeared from the political map. Ironically enough, Central Europe at this time groaned under the highest concentration of soldiers and weapons in the history of mankind. Even though it was divided, Central Europe continued to exist. One Austrian publicist commented that Central Europe is everywhere where cafes serve soda water with black coffee. Such coffee and soda continued to be served in Warsaw, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava. Central Europe also had a foreign social system forced upon it. This foreign system provoked isolated explosions against it: in East Berlin in 1953; in Poznan and Budapest in 1956; in Prague and Bratislava in 1968; and in Gdansk in 1980. All were suppressed by external forces (or the threat of such force) and all evoked a feeling of solidarity among the nations of Central Europe. Before World War II every Central European country , except Switzerland, had disputes with its neighbours. Repeated interventions by the Soviet Union led Central Europeans to a new awareness of their common suffering. Eventually, Central European dissidents started to cooperate. In the 1960's opponents of the various communist regimes, who had been imprisoned in the I 950's, were released. It became possible, though with much difficulty, for people to travel between Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The level of freedom in these countries varied. In 1968 Czechoslovakia was the most free, �SLOVAKIA 59 and Polish and Hungarian political emigres in the West were able to bring forbidden books, magazines and photocopying machines to their respective countries via Czechoslovakia. In the l 970's and l 980's more liberal conditions prevailed in Hungary and Poland, and forbidden materials could be smuggled into Czechoslovakia from those countries. After the establishment of the Charter'77 movement in Czechoslovakia, dissidents in Hungary and Poland helped out. In the second half of the l 980's I twice met with Czech and Polish dissidents on the border. The first meeting was carefully planned. A few people on each side agreed on a place and time in northern Moravia. There the border runs through deep forests . Even though dissidents on both sides of the border had had their passports confiscated, they could approach the border in groups of two or three, ostensibly to pick mushrooms. After about an hour's walk, we arrived at the agreed-upon rendezvous and in the next three or four hours planned our future activities. The most prominent participant from the Czechoslovak side at the first meeting was Vaclav Havel. All the leading Polish dissidents, except Lech Walesa (who was interned by General Jaruzelski), were there. The second meeting took place in the early summer of 1989, when a free election had already been scheduled in Poland . Many of the participants were subsequently elected to the Polish Parliament. As MP's they had diplomatic passports, and they used them to visit us in August. The end of communism in 1989 was full of paradoxes. When Tadeusz Mazowiecki won the elections in Poland and came to power, I was in a Bratislava jail. Vaclav Havel then wrote to Mazowiecki and asked him to intervene with the Czechoslovak authorities on my behalf. Mazowiecki sent his reply to Havel via the-then communist Polish Ambassador in Prague! �60 SLOVAKIA Religious activists in Slovakia and Poland were very close. Religious oppression in Slovakia was much stronger than in Poland. The Slovak underground church sent its followers to summer camps in Poland and Polish bishops ordained Slovak priests who had secretly studied theology in Slovakia. Also, many thousands of religious books, printed by Slovaks in the West, were smuggled into Slovakia via the Polish Catholic church. Thus far I have spoken about solidarity between dissidents in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The solidarity of the noncommunist Central European countries, Germany and Austria, was reflected in their political and moral support for dissidents in communist countries and their acceptance of refugees from those countries. Some refugees escaped in a spectacular manner. At the beginning of the l 980's a Slovak flew across the border to Austria in a balloon which he had made by sewing together a bunch of raincoats. Another built himself a cart, which he then suspended from a high-voltage power line that went to Austria and he pulled himself across the border on the suspended cart! Twenty years ago NATO's decision to install medium-range missiles in Germany provoked a heated debate. The Eastern bloc responded with threats of military countermeasures. Pershing missiles were eventually placed in Germany. We dissidents supported this move. We knew that the Communists only understood the use of force, and it was ultimately the demonstrated strength of the West, and the internal dissent in Central Europe, that led to the fall of Communism. Central Europe resurrected itself after the fall of Communism. Austria abolished its visa requirements for us as early as December, 1989. As a result, huge crowds of people moved across the breached Iron Curtain. I was among them. Even though my home �SLOVAKIA 61 town of Bratislava borders on Austria, I was 46 years old before I could cross this border! Democratic revolutions in 1989 brought people who shared the same values of a civic society to power. The time had come to demonstrate that these common values really counted for us . We faced the challenge of completing the reverse trend and bringing cooperation to Central Europe, and even a new integration. It was necessary first to remove certain remnants of Communism. In July, 1991 the Warsaw Pact was formally dissolved. At the same time, the Council for Economic Assistance (COMECON) was abolished. This decision was controversial because for four decades the economies of the states of East Central Europe had focussed on eastern markets, and these were suddenly gone. COMECON's member states now traded with each other only on the basis of market demands. Prices were also allowed to reflect market forces. At the same time, Russia started to sell these countries raw materials at world prices and for world currencies. At the fall of Communism two slogans common to all Central European countries suddenly rang out. They were "Free Elections," and "Back to Europe." Free elections did take place in all these countries during 1990. However, joining the European Union was another matter. Brussels was far away and the roads leading to it were fraught with difficulties. It would first be necessary to bring post-communist Central European countries back together. The initiative came from President Vaclav Havel. In February of 1990 Havel invited the Prime Ministers of Poland and Hungary to a meeting with their Czechoslovak counterpart in Bratislava. The plan was to get these three states to cooperate in the future. At their second meeting in Visegrad, Hungary, in 1991, this coalition acquired its name from this historic locality where, in the 14th �62 SLOVAKIA century the Kings of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary had agreed upon peace and mutual trade. In its short history, the Visegrad Group has been through a period of growth and decline. The geographical location, common history, interconnected economy and identical external interests of these countries pushed them into close cooperation. However, Vaclav Klaus's government in Prague did not place much importance on cooperation in the Visegrad Group. Similarly, Vladimir Meciar's government in Bratislava looked for other ways to achieve its goals. With a change in government in 1998 in both Prague and Bratislava, the situation improved and the Visegrad Group caught its second wind. Slovakia's membership is important for the Visegrad Group, which has no formal standing. Slovakia lies in its centre and is the only country to border all three of the others. Without Slovakia's active participation, the Visegrad Group would lose many of its advantages. Membership in the Visegrad Group does not remove all of the disputes between its members, but it does make resolving them easier. One such dispute was the completion of the joint Czechoslovak-Hungarian Gabcikovo waterworks on the Danube River. After the collapse of Communism, Hungary opposed the completion of these waterworks. Following a mutual agreement in 1992, both countries requested a ruling from the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Five years later the Court ruled that Slovakia was almost entirely in the right. The Gabcikovo waterwt>rks stopped attracting media attention and now reliably supply the grid with electricity, regulate the flow of the Danube, and have become a recreation area. The dispute between Hungary and Slovakia is over, although the technical and financial issues �SLOVAKIA 63 surrounding the Gabcikovo waterworks are still being discussed by experts from both countries. While Europe was divided ( 1945-1989), we m the East followed the grad ual formation of today's European Union with interest, envy and admiration. We did not understand all of the problems which occurred while the original six states unified; we smiled at how fishing, the production of butter, the sale of wine and the like could be problems for the member countries. Despite this, the attractiveness of the unifying Western Europe grew . After the fall of Communism all of the countries of Central Europe expressed an interest in joining the European Union . Talks of the accession of these countries to the European Union started very quickly and were completed at the beginning of the l 990's through the conclusion of European agreements on association. The European Union's entry and expansion into Central Europe is important from many perspectives. Henry Kissinger stated that when a power vacuum had formed in Central Europe in the past, Russia and Germany were pulled into and clashed over it. A power vacuum formed in Central Europe after the fall of Communism, but the European Union has filled it in . The agreements on association opened up the European market to the former communist countries. Union ' s On the other hand, the markets of post-communist countries are only gradually opening up. The European Union later established four so-called "Copenhagen criteria" for those interested in joining the Union. They are a developed market economy, the ability to cope with competition in the European Union, a stabilized democracy with guarantees for the functioning of constitutional institutions and the protection of minorities, the adoption of �SLOVAKJA 64 the European acquis communotaire and an institutional structure comparable to the European Union's . At the same time, the European Union developed a number of financial assistance programmes for post-communist countries . The European Union's political and economic criteria speeded up reforms in post-communist countries, while at the same time isolating sources of political extremism. In 1997 the European Union invited Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia to negotiate their future membership. In 1999 it also invited Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia, as well as Romania and Bulgaria. These countries ' membership in the European Union has wide support from the population everywhere. It seems as if membership in the Union has turned into a speed trial for the governments of Central European countries . Slovakia fell out of the first group in 1997 because of the European Union's political reservations about Slovak politics at the time. The current Slovak government is trying to catch up with its neighbours and enter the European Union at roughly the same time, around 2004 . In expanding to the East, the European Union is approaching half a billion inhabitants. It will expand its territory and strengthen its position on the world playing field . At the same time, it will reach the eastern border of Western Christianity. Expansion further east will mean crossing the borders of a civilization. In fact, Greece's current membership and Bulgaria's and Romania ' s future memberships are preparing the European union for just such a step. Another western organization that has expanded its presence into Central Europe since the fall of Communism is NATO. For a while after the Warsaw Pact was abolished, the armies of its former members felt aimless. However, in 1991 the military units from former communist Central European countries took part in �SLOVAKIA operation 65 Desert Storm. Soon thereafter war broke out m Yugoslavia and again all the states contributed at least small units to UNPROFOR. In 1993 I visited a Slovak UNPROFOR corps of engineers in Croatia. They were under the command of a Canadian colonel named Harris, who was very satisfied with their performance. It was a new experience for Slovak soldiers and officers, and certainly also for Czechs and Poles and others, when they started to use NA TO terminology and operational rules. The Partnership for Peace programme enabled former enemies to come closer together and gradually unify at least their communication technology. All the ex-communist Central European countries showed an interest in joining NATO. At NATO 's Madrid Summit in 1997 , Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were invited to join . They have since become members. Slovakia was excluded at that time. The Slovak army is now increasing its cooperation with NATO. It has liaison officers at the Brussels headquarters and membership in NATO is part of the current Slovak government's agenda. But, according to opinion polls, the majority of the Slovak population does not, as yet, support Slovakia's membership in NA TO. Germany has long been the most important country in Central Europe. From the end of the Napoleonic wars to the end of the Second World War German nationalism was a source of tension in Europe. After the defeat of Hitler, Germany turned itself around. Mostly under Christian Democratic governments, Germany achieved an economic miracle and rebuilt itself in record time. It then became a driving force for European integration, and still is today. In the 45 years since the war, Germany earned such trust from the East that there were no reservations in Central Europe about Germany' s reunification. Fran1yois Mitterand's �66 SLOVAKIA France and Margaret Thatcher's Great Britain placed greater obstacles to Germany's reunification than did Poland, Czechoslovakia or Russia. Germany acknowledged the permanence of its border with Poland and reconfirmed the invalidity of the Munich Agreement. Germany contributes the most to the European Union's treasury. British historian Paul Johnson called Germany of the l 920's a leading intellectual power. I do not intend to discuss the intellectual level of today's Germany, but politically Germany plays a very constructive role in Central Europe. Of the Central European countries, Poland is trying to present itself as a regional counterbalance to Germany. In Poland's case there is also a counterbalance to Johnson's statement on German intellect. Polish author Stan isl av Stomma wrote that Poland's intellectual potential has always exceeded its material possibilities. Unfortunately, Poland's material possibilities will probably hold back its intellectual potential for some time. Post-communist Central European countries also look to Germany with another question. Germany will have an important voice in the European Union's institutional reforms . The reforms will determine if and when the European Union will be able to accept new members. Under the current rule!>, the European Union does not have the resources to finance the development of new members from Central Europe to enable them to attain the level of the Union's current members. The countries that receive more money from the Union than they put into it do not want to share income with new members . The countries that contribute more than they take out, especially Germany, are not preparedjustifiably so-to pay more. German politicians freely answer the question of how to solve this quandary by saying that the European Union has always developed by a crisis coming along and then moving towards half-compromise. We shall see. �SLOVAKIA 67 The new Austrian government has posed a challenge for its eastern neighbours. In the Second World War, every country east of Germany, with the exception of Hungary, fought against Germany sooner or later. Some of them suffered exceptionally heavy losses. For example, Poland lost 20% of its population . Proud reminders of the Nazi regime from a politically relevant personality in Austria (forg Haider) are, therefore, unimaginable and incomprehensible in these countries. On the contrary, 40 years of denial of democracy under Communism fostered a tendency in these countries to trust democratic rules regardless of their content. Central European ex-communist countries were only able to give a constrained reaction to the new government in Austria; even more so as the harshness of the reaction from the European Union and some other countries was surprising. The division of Czechoslovakia in 1993 may seem to be at odds with the new integration of Central Europe. However, I would like to point out that in Central Europe the concept of a nation is understood in an ethnic, not in a political sense. Nations that see themselves as ethnically unique may live in one state. Two nations-Slovaks and Czechs-lived separate lives in Czechoslovakia. There was practically no common Czechoslovak culture, only Czech and Slovak cultures. The Slovak and Czech languages are similar, but they are also different. Under the communist dictatorship it was possible to silence national aspirations, but after the restoration of freedom the different political conceptions of the Czechs and Slovaks grew. The 1992 elections (the first free ones since 1946) brought very different political parties into power in Slovakia and in the Czech Lands, and these parties agreed to divide the country, and the Czechoslovak Federal Parliament then adopted the Constitutional Law on the Division of Czechoslovakia. �68 SLOVAKIA Happily, the story does not end there. After the breakup, Slovakia and the Czech Republic maintained fair or even friendly relations . When there were politically different governments in Prague and Bratislava, relations between the Republics were fair; when there are similar political parties in power in Prague and Bratislava, relations are friendly. The people of Slovakia and the Czech Republic have remained on friendly terms. According to public opinion surveys in Slovakia, the Czechs are the Slovaks ' favourite nation , and vice-versa. Slovak and Czech delegations generally support each other at international conferences. In the last few weeks the governments and parliaments of both countries have approved an agreement on the property settlement of the division of the former Czec hoslovakia. Both cooperate within the Visegrad group and their foreign policies are equally oriented towards western integration and security groups. On the other hand, the division of Czechoslovakia is final and there is no desire to resurrect it. Only one political party in 1994 ran on a pro-Czec hoslovak platform and it received a paltry one per cent of the vote. If we compare political developments in the two Republics since the "velvet divorce," Slovakia 's history has probably been more colourful. First, the Slovaks removed certain doubts about the viability of their state. Slovakia ' s economy also did fairly well despite a rather odd dispute between Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar and President Michal Kovac . The dispute did not escalate into a shooting war, but did result in the abduction of the president 's son to Austria. In 1999 the Slovak Parliament revoked the immunity of Ivan Lexa, the previous head of the secret service, who was suspected of having masterminded the abduction. In the seven years of Slovakia's independence there were three changes of government between political groups so opposed to each other that they were able to abduct or tolerate the abduc- �69 SLOVAKJA tion of one of their sons. Despite this, all the political changes took place democratically, within the parameters of the Constitution and on the basis of freely-held elections . In September of 1998, 84% of the electorate turned out to vote in the parliamentary elections. After 40 years of communism democracy works in strange ways. I often mention such figures as proof of the strength of democracy in Slovakia. I admit that it is sometimes necessary to make more of an effort for democracy to function in Slovakia than in other countries. But, it has always worked out. The sometimes strange workings of democracy in post- communist countries directly relate to their communist heritage. Communism ended in a sudden collapse but it soon became apparent that the Communists quickly found their way in the new social order. The Communist Parties changed their names and became Socialist Parties and former Communists appeared in other parties as well. After a short period of anti-communist enthusiasm in 1990 came the realization that economics, culture and politics are more complicated. It is not possible to replace people en masse because there are simply not enough experts to go around and certain stages of development cannot be omitted. In one country after another the former Communists were so successful in elections and constitutional cohabitation that even France was amazed . But the market economy was not disrupted and democracy survived . This is testimony to the strength of western democratic and political institutions which have come to the East. Just to complete the picture, I will mention that the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFT A) has existed since 1993. Originally it was between the Visegrad Group, but later it was joined by Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania. The Agreement liberalized trade between the participating countries and, except for agricultural products, it works well. �70 SLOYAKlA Another attempt at cooperation between Central and Eastern European countries is the Central European Initiative. It was established in 1989 as an association of four states (Italy, Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia) at Italy's initiative. Today it includes sixteen states. Its aim is, not only economic cooperation, but also cultural and political, especially assistance in associating its members with the European Union. The Central European Initiative, on the other hand, is stagnating . Every generation has the tendency to talk about a change of paradigm brought about by its own efforts. Who would not want to change the world, even if we cannot explain it? Why should we give up this ambition? All the more so because the paradigm has changed. For centuries European history was marked by conflicts between Gennany and France. It seems that these conflicts are over. In the twentieth century two World Wars started in Central Europe. I do not see a source of tension here that could lead to another such conflict. Now the most serious dispute in Western and Central Europe is the " Beef War" between France and Great Britain. As long as we do not ask the poor cows for their opinion , we can really talk about a change of paradigm. If in future decades we manage to expand the zone of peace further cast, and even to the Balkans , then Isaiah 's words might come to apply to Europe: "He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation , neither shall they learn war any more ." � 57 SLOVAKJA Reversing the Trend: Central Europe from Dictatorship to Democracy 1 Jan Camogursky A currently-popular political term is "globalization." Seen from a North American perspective, it is very real. When one reads American or Canadian newspapers, magazines or books, the globe seems to be a tiny button. Planes and boats filled with goods dash from one continent to the next. Billions of dollars are transferred via computers and satellites. Television viewers can instantly discover if it is hot or cold in distant parts of the world on the Weather Channel. Its pictures show continents without state borders, and the sky above them is either sunny and clear or cloudy and raining. Some observers praise globalization, some protest against it, but it probably cannot be stopped. Central Europe has given the world many scientific, economic and cultural stimuli from which globalization evolved. The territory between Ukraine and Germany, Scandinavia and the Balkans, is only about 1/10 the size of Canada, but it has six times as many inhabitants. A multitude of nations exist here, sometimes at peace, and sometimes at war. In the 20th century the Slavs and Germans clashed in two World Wars, into which Canada and the United States were drawn. American and Canadian military cemeteries in Europe speak dramatically about Central Europe's signi1 A public lecture presented at the University of Ottawa on Ferbruary 29, 2000. �58 SLOVAKIA ficance to these two countries. On the other hand, Central Europe also produced Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak, Albert Einstein and John Paul II . Central Europe has been a problem for the Great Powers in the last two centuries , and after World War II it became especially acute. The victorious Allies solved the problem by erasing it. They divided Central Europe between them and for four decades it disappeared from the political map. Ironically enough, Central Europe at this time groaned under the highest concentration of soldiers and weapons in the history of mankind. Even though it was divided, Central Europe continued to exist. One Austrian publicist commented that Central Europe is everywhere where cafes serve soda water with black coffee. Such coffee and soda continued to be served in Warsaw, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava. Central Europe also had a foreign social system forced upon it. This foreign system provoked isolated explosions against it: in East Berlin in 1953; in Poznan and Budapest in 1956; in Prague and Bratislava in 1968; and in Gdansk in 1980. All were suppressed by external forces (or the threat of such force) and all evoked a feeling of solidarity among the nations of Central Europe. Before World War II every Central European country , except Switzerland, had disputes with its neighbours. Repeated interventions by the Soviet Union led Central Europeans to a new awareness of their common suffering. Eventually, Central European dissidents started to cooperate. In the 1960's opponents of the various communist regimes, who had been imprisoned in the I 950's, were released. It became possible, though with much difficulty, for people to travel between Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The level of freedom in these countries varied. In 1968 Czechoslovakia was the most free, �SLOVAKIA 59 and Polish and Hungarian political emigres in the West were able to bring forbidden books, magazines and photocopying machines to their respective countries via Czechoslovakia. In the l 970's and l 980's more liberal conditions prevailed in Hungary and Poland, and forbidden materials could be smuggled into Czechoslovakia from those countries. After the establishment of the Charter'77 movement in Czechoslovakia, dissidents in Hungary and Poland helped out. In the second half of the l 980's I twice met with Czech and Polish dissidents on the border. The first meeting was carefully planned. A few people on each side agreed on a place and time in northern Moravia. There the border runs through deep forests . Even though dissidents on both sides of the border had had their passports confiscated, they could approach the border in groups of two or three, ostensibly to pick mushrooms. After about an hour's walk, we arrived at the agreed-upon rendezvous and in the next three or four hours planned our future activities. The most prominent participant from the Czechoslovak side at the first meeting was Vaclav Havel. All the leading Polish dissidents, except Lech Walesa (who was interned by General Jaruzelski), were there. The second meeting took place in the early summer of 1989, when a free election had already been scheduled in Poland . Many of the participants were subsequently elected to the Polish Parliament. As MP's they had diplomatic passports, and they used them to visit us in August. The end of communism in 1989 was full of paradoxes. When Tadeusz Mazowiecki won the elections in Poland and came to power, I was in a Bratislava jail. Vaclav Havel then wrote to Mazowiecki and asked him to intervene with the Czechoslovak authorities on my behalf. Mazowiecki sent his reply to Havel via the-then communist Polish Ambassador in Prague! �60 SLOVAKIA Religious activists in Slovakia and Poland were very close. Religious oppression in Slovakia was much stronger than in Poland. The Slovak underground church sent its followers to summer camps in Poland and Polish bishops ordained Slovak priests who had secretly studied theology in Slovakia. Also, many thousands of religious books, printed by Slovaks in the West, were smuggled into Slovakia via the Polish Catholic church. Thus far I have spoken about solidarity between dissidents in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The solidarity of the noncommunist Central European countries, Germany and Austria, was reflected in their political and moral support for dissidents in communist countries and their acceptance of refugees from those countries. Some refugees escaped in a spectacular manner. At the beginning of the l 980's a Slovak flew across the border to Austria in a balloon which he had made by sewing together a bunch of raincoats. Another built himself a cart, which he then suspended from a high-voltage power line that went to Austria and he pulled himself across the border on the suspended cart! Twenty years ago NATO's decision to install medium-range missiles in Germany provoked a heated debate. The Eastern bloc responded with threats of military countermeasures. Pershing missiles were eventually placed in Germany. We dissidents supported this move. We knew that the Communists only understood the use of force, and it was ultimately the demonstrated strength of the West, and the internal dissent in Central Europe, that led to the fall of Communism. Central Europe resurrected itself after the fall of Communism. Austria abolished its visa requirements for us as early as December, 1989. As a result, huge crowds of people moved across the breached Iron Curtain. I was among them. Even though my home �SLOVAKIA 61 town of Bratislava borders on Austria, I was 46 years old before I could cross this border! Democratic revolutions in 1989 brought people who shared the same values of a civic society to power. The time had come to demonstrate that these common values really counted for us . We faced the challenge of completing the reverse trend and bringing cooperation to Central Europe, and even a new integration. It was necessary first to remove certain remnants of Communism. In July, 1991 the Warsaw Pact was formally dissolved. At the same time, the Council for Economic Assistance (COMECON) was abolished. This decision was controversial because for four decades the economies of the states of East Central Europe had focussed on eastern markets, and these were suddenly gone. COMECON's member states now traded with each other only on the basis of market demands. Prices were also allowed to reflect market forces. At the same time, Russia started to sell these countries raw materials at world prices and for world currencies. At the fall of Communism two slogans common to all Central European countries suddenly rang out. They were "Free Elections," and "Back to Europe." Free elections did take place in all these countries during 1990. However, joining the European Union was another matter. Brussels was far away and the roads leading to it were fraught with difficulties. It would first be necessary to bring post-communist Central European countries back together. The initiative came from President Vaclav Havel. In February of 1990 Havel invited the Prime Ministers of Poland and Hungary to a meeting with their Czechoslovak counterpart in Bratislava. The plan was to get these three states to cooperate in the future. At their second meeting in Visegrad, Hungary, in 1991, this coalition acquired its name from this historic locality where, in the 14th �62 SLOVAKIA century the Kings of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary had agreed upon peace and mutual trade. In its short history, the Visegrad Group has been through a period of growth and decline. The geographical location, common history, interconnected economy and identical external interests of these countries pushed them into close cooperation. However, Vaclav Klaus's government in Prague did not place much importance on cooperation in the Visegrad Group. Similarly, Vladimir Meciar's government in Bratislava looked for other ways to achieve its goals. With a change in government in 1998 in both Prague and Bratislava, the situation improved and the Visegrad Group caught its second wind. Slovakia's membership is important for the Visegrad Group, which has no formal standing. Slovakia lies in its centre and is the only country to border all three of the others. Without Slovakia's active participation, the Visegrad Group would lose many of its advantages. Membership in the Visegrad Group does not remove all of the disputes between its members, but it does make resolving them easier. One such dispute was the completion of the joint Czechoslovak-Hungarian Gabcikovo waterworks on the Danube River. After the collapse of Communism, Hungary opposed the completion of these waterworks. Following a mutual agreement in 1992, both countries requested a ruling from the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Five years later the Court ruled that Slovakia was almost entirely in the right. The Gabcikovo waterwt>rks stopped attracting media attention and now reliably supply the grid with electricity, regulate the flow of the Danube, and have become a recreation area. The dispute between Hungary and Slovakia is over, although the technical and financial issues �SLOVAKIA 63 surrounding the Gabcikovo waterworks are still being discussed by experts from both countries. While Europe was divided ( 1945-1989), we m the East followed the grad ual formation of today's European Union with interest, envy and admiration. We did not understand all of the problems which occurred while the original six states unified; we smiled at how fishing, the production of butter, the sale of wine and the like could be problems for the member countries. Despite this, the attractiveness of the unifying Western Europe grew . After the fall of Communism all of the countries of Central Europe expressed an interest in joining the European Union . Talks of the accession of these countries to the European Union started very quickly and were completed at the beginning of the l 990's through the conclusion of European agreements on association. The European Union's entry and expansion into Central Europe is important from many perspectives. Henry Kissinger stated that when a power vacuum had formed in Central Europe in the past, Russia and Germany were pulled into and clashed over it. A power vacuum formed in Central Europe after the fall of Communism, but the European Union has filled it in . The agreements on association opened up the European market to the former communist countries. Union ' s On the other hand, the markets of post-communist countries are only gradually opening up. The European Union later established four so-called "Copenhagen criteria" for those interested in joining the Union. They are a developed market economy, the ability to cope with competition in the European Union, a stabilized democracy with guarantees for the functioning of constitutional institutions and the protection of minorities, the adoption of �SLOVAKJA 64 the European acquis communotaire and an institutional structure comparable to the European Union's . At the same time, the European Union developed a number of financial assistance programmes for post-communist countries . The European Union's political and economic criteria speeded up reforms in post-communist countries, while at the same time isolating sources of political extremism. In 1997 the European Union invited Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia to negotiate their future membership. In 1999 it also invited Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia, as well as Romania and Bulgaria. These countries ' membership in the European Union has wide support from the population everywhere. It seems as if membership in the Union has turned into a speed trial for the governments of Central European countries . Slovakia fell out of the first group in 1997 because of the European Union's political reservations about Slovak politics at the time. The current Slovak government is trying to catch up with its neighbours and enter the European Union at roughly the same time, around 2004 . In expanding to the East, the European Union is approaching half a billion inhabitants. It will expand its territory and strengthen its position on the world playing field . At the same time, it will reach the eastern border of Western Christianity. Expansion further east will mean crossing the borders of a civilization. In fact, Greece's current membership and Bulgaria's and Romania ' s future memberships are preparing the European union for just such a step. Another western organization that has expanded its presence into Central Europe since the fall of Communism is NATO. For a while after the Warsaw Pact was abolished, the armies of its former members felt aimless. However, in 1991 the military units from former communist Central European countries took part in �SLOVAKIA operation 65 Desert Storm. Soon thereafter war broke out m Yugoslavia and again all the states contributed at least small units to UNPROFOR. In 1993 I visited a Slovak UNPROFOR corps of engineers in Croatia. They were under the command of a Canadian colonel named Harris, who was very satisfied with their performance. It was a new experience for Slovak soldiers and officers, and certainly also for Czechs and Poles and others, when they started to use NA TO terminology and operational rules. The Partnership for Peace programme enabled former enemies to come closer together and gradually unify at least their communication technology. All the ex-communist Central European countries showed an interest in joining NATO. At NATO 's Madrid Summit in 1997 , Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were invited to join . They have since become members. Slovakia was excluded at that time. The Slovak army is now increasing its cooperation with NATO. It has liaison officers at the Brussels headquarters and membership in NATO is part of the current Slovak government's agenda. But, according to opinion polls, the majority of the Slovak population does not, as yet, support Slovakia's membership in NA TO. Germany has long been the most important country in Central Europe. From the end of the Napoleonic wars to the end of the Second World War German nationalism was a source of tension in Europe. After the defeat of Hitler, Germany turned itself around. Mostly under Christian Democratic governments, Germany achieved an economic miracle and rebuilt itself in record time. It then became a driving force for European integration, and still is today. In the 45 years since the war, Germany earned such trust from the East that there were no reservations in Central Europe about Germany' s reunification. Fran1yois Mitterand's �66 SLOVAKIA France and Margaret Thatcher's Great Britain placed greater obstacles to Germany's reunification than did Poland, Czechoslovakia or Russia. Germany acknowledged the permanence of its border with Poland and reconfirmed the invalidity of the Munich Agreement. Germany contributes the most to the European Union's treasury. British historian Paul Johnson called Germany of the l 920's a leading intellectual power. I do not intend to discuss the intellectual level of today's Germany, but politically Germany plays a very constructive role in Central Europe. Of the Central European countries, Poland is trying to present itself as a regional counterbalance to Germany. In Poland's case there is also a counterbalance to Johnson's statement on German intellect. Polish author Stan isl av Stomma wrote that Poland's intellectual potential has always exceeded its material possibilities. Unfortunately, Poland's material possibilities will probably hold back its intellectual potential for some time. Post-communist Central European countries also look to Germany with another question. Germany will have an important voice in the European Union's institutional reforms . The reforms will determine if and when the European Union will be able to accept new members. Under the current rule!>, the European Union does not have the resources to finance the development of new members from Central Europe to enable them to attain the level of the Union's current members. The countries that receive more money from the Union than they put into it do not want to share income with new members . The countries that contribute more than they take out, especially Germany, are not preparedjustifiably so-to pay more. German politicians freely answer the question of how to solve this quandary by saying that the European Union has always developed by a crisis coming along and then moving towards half-compromise. We shall see. �SLOVAKIA 67 The new Austrian government has posed a challenge for its eastern neighbours. In the Second World War, every country east of Germany, with the exception of Hungary, fought against Germany sooner or later. Some of them suffered exceptionally heavy losses. For example, Poland lost 20% of its population . Proud reminders of the Nazi regime from a politically relevant personality in Austria (forg Haider) are, therefore, unimaginable and incomprehensible in these countries. On the contrary, 40 years of denial of democracy under Communism fostered a tendency in these countries to trust democratic rules regardless of their content. Central European ex-communist countries were only able to give a constrained reaction to the new government in Austria; even more so as the harshness of the reaction from the European Union and some other countries was surprising. The division of Czechoslovakia in 1993 may seem to be at odds with the new integration of Central Europe. However, I would like to point out that in Central Europe the concept of a nation is understood in an ethnic, not in a political sense. Nations that see themselves as ethnically unique may live in one state. Two nations-Slovaks and Czechs-lived separate lives in Czechoslovakia. There was practically no common Czechoslovak culture, only Czech and Slovak cultures. The Slovak and Czech languages are similar, but they are also different. Under the communist dictatorship it was possible to silence national aspirations, but after the restoration of freedom the different political conceptions of the Czechs and Slovaks grew. The 1992 elections (the first free ones since 1946) brought very different political parties into power in Slovakia and in the Czech Lands, and these parties agreed to divide the country, and the Czechoslovak Federal Parliament then adopted the Constitutional Law on the Division of Czechoslovakia. �68 SLOVAKIA Happily, the story does not end there. After the breakup, Slovakia and the Czech Republic maintained fair or even friendly relations . When there were politically different governments in Prague and Bratislava, relations between the Republics were fair; when there are similar political parties in power in Prague and Bratislava, relations are friendly. The people of Slovakia and the Czech Republic have remained on friendly terms. According to public opinion surveys in Slovakia, the Czechs are the Slovaks ' favourite nation , and vice-versa. Slovak and Czech delegations generally support each other at international conferences. In the last few weeks the governments and parliaments of both countries have approved an agreement on the property settlement of the division of the former Czec hoslovakia. Both cooperate within the Visegrad group and their foreign policies are equally oriented towards western integration and security groups. On the other hand, the division of Czechoslovakia is final and there is no desire to resurrect it. Only one political party in 1994 ran on a pro-Czec hoslovak platform and it received a paltry one per cent of the vote. If we compare political developments in the two Republics since the "velvet divorce," Slovakia 's history has probably been more colourful. First, the Slovaks removed certain doubts about the viability of their state. Slovakia ' s economy also did fairly well despite a rather odd dispute between Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar and President Michal Kovac . The dispute did not escalate into a shooting war, but did result in the abduction of the president 's son to Austria. In 1999 the Slovak Parliament revoked the immunity of Ivan Lexa, the previous head of the secret service, who was suspected of having masterminded the abduction. In the seven years of Slovakia's independence there were three changes of government between political groups so opposed to each other that they were able to abduct or tolerate the abduc- �69 SLOVAKJA tion of one of their sons. Despite this, all the political changes took place democratically, within the parameters of the Constitution and on the basis of freely-held elections . In September of 1998, 84% of the electorate turned out to vote in the parliamentary elections. After 40 years of communism democracy works in strange ways. I often mention such figures as proof of the strength of democracy in Slovakia. I admit that it is sometimes necessary to make more of an effort for democracy to function in Slovakia than in other countries. But, it has always worked out. The sometimes strange workings of democracy in post- communist countries directly relate to their communist heritage. Communism ended in a sudden collapse but it soon became apparent that the Communists quickly found their way in the new social order. The Communist Parties changed their names and became Socialist Parties and former Communists appeared in other parties as well. After a short period of anti-communist enthusiasm in 1990 came the realization that economics, culture and politics are more complicated. It is not possible to replace people en masse because there are simply not enough experts to go around and certain stages of development cannot be omitted. In one country after another the former Communists were so successful in elections and constitutional cohabitation that even France was amazed . But the market economy was not disrupted and democracy survived . This is testimony to the strength of western democratic and political institutions which have come to the East. Just to complete the picture, I will mention that the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFT A) has existed since 1993. Originally it was between the Visegrad Group, but later it was joined by Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania. The Agreement liberalized trade between the participating countries and, except for agricultural products, it works well. �70 SLOYAKlA Another attempt at cooperation between Central and Eastern European countries is the Central European Initiative. It was established in 1989 as an association of four states (Italy, Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia) at Italy's initiative. Today it includes sixteen states. Its aim is, not only economic cooperation, but also cultural and political, especially assistance in associating its members with the European Union. The Central European Initiative, on the other hand, is stagnating . Every generation has the tendency to talk about a change of paradigm brought about by its own efforts. Who would not want to change the world, even if we cannot explain it? Why should we give up this ambition? All the more so because the paradigm has changed. For centuries European history was marked by conflicts between Gennany and France. It seems that these conflicts are over. In the twentieth century two World Wars started in Central Europe. I do not see a source of tension here that could lead to another such conflict. Now the most serious dispute in Western and Central Europe is the " Beef War" between France and Great Britain. As long as we do not ask the poor cows for their opinion , we can really talk about a change of paradigm. If in future decades we manage to expand the zone of peace further cast, and even to the Balkans , then Isaiah 's words might come to apply to Europe: "He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation , neither shall they learn war any more ." � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2003, Vol. 37 Description An account of the resource Vol. 37 (No. 68-69), 2003. 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 2003 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 57 SLOVAKJA Reversing the Trend: Central Europe from Dictatorship to Democracy 1 Jan Camogursky A currently-popular political term is "globalization." Seen from a North American perspective, it is very real. When one reads American or Canadian newspapers, magazines or books, the globe seems to be a tiny button. Planes and boats filled with goods dash from one continent to the next. Billions of dollars are transferred via computers and satellites. Television viewers can instantly discover if it is hot or cold in distant parts of the world on the Weather Channel. Its pictures show continents without state borders, and the sky above them is either sunny and clear or cloudy and raining. Some observers praise globalization, some protest against it, but it probably cannot be stopped. Central Europe has given the world many scientific, economic and cultural stimuli from which globalization evolved. The territory between Ukraine and Germany, Scandinavia and the Balkans, is only about 1/10 the size of Canada, but it has six times as many inhabitants. A multitude of nations exist here, sometimes at peace, and sometimes at war. In the 20th century the Slavs and Germans clashed in two World Wars, into which Canada and the United States were drawn. American and Canadian military cemeteries in Europe speak dramatically about Central Europe's signi1 A public lecture presented at the University of Ottawa on Ferbruary 29, 2000. 58 SLOVAKIA ficance to these two countries. On the other hand, Central Europe also produced Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak, Albert Einstein and John Paul II . Central Europe has been a problem for the Great Powers in the last two centuries , and after World War II it became especially acute. The victorious Allies solved the problem by erasing it. They divided Central Europe between them and for four decades it disappeared from the political map. Ironically enough, Central Europe at this time groaned under the highest concentration of soldiers and weapons in the history of mankind. Even though it was divided, Central Europe continued to exist. One Austrian publicist commented that Central Europe is everywhere where cafes serve soda water with black coffee. Such coffee and soda continued to be served in Warsaw, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava. Central Europe also had a foreign social system forced upon it. This foreign system provoked isolated explosions against it: in East Berlin in 1953; in Poznan and Budapest in 1956; in Prague and Bratislava in 1968; and in Gdansk in 1980. All were suppressed by external forces (or the threat of such force) and all evoked a feeling of solidarity among the nations of Central Europe. Before World War II every Central European country , except Switzerland, had disputes with its neighbours. Repeated interventions by the Soviet Union led Central Europeans to a new awareness of their common suffering. Eventually, Central European dissidents started to cooperate. In the 1960's opponents of the various communist regimes, who had been imprisoned in the I 950's, were released. It became possible, though with much difficulty, for people to travel between Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The level of freedom in these countries varied. In 1968 Czechoslovakia was the most free, SLOVAKIA 59 and Polish and Hungarian political emigres in the West were able to bring forbidden books, magazines and photocopying machines to their respective countries via Czechoslovakia. In the l 970's and l 980's more liberal conditions prevailed in Hungary and Poland, and forbidden materials could be smuggled into Czechoslovakia from those countries. After the establishment of the Charter'77 movement in Czechoslovakia, dissidents in Hungary and Poland helped out. In the second half of the l 980's I twice met with Czech and Polish dissidents on the border. The first meeting was carefully planned. A few people on each side agreed on a place and time in northern Moravia. There the border runs through deep forests . Even though dissidents on both sides of the border had had their passports confiscated, they could approach the border in groups of two or three, ostensibly to pick mushrooms. After about an hour's walk, we arrived at the agreed-upon rendezvous and in the next three or four hours planned our future activities. The most prominent participant from the Czechoslovak side at the first meeting was Vaclav Havel. All the leading Polish dissidents, except Lech Walesa (who was interned by General Jaruzelski), were there. The second meeting took place in the early summer of 1989, when a free election had already been scheduled in Poland . Many of the participants were subsequently elected to the Polish Parliament. As MP's they had diplomatic passports, and they used them to visit us in August. The end of communism in 1989 was full of paradoxes. When Tadeusz Mazowiecki won the elections in Poland and came to power, I was in a Bratislava jail. Vaclav Havel then wrote to Mazowiecki and asked him to intervene with the Czechoslovak authorities on my behalf. Mazowiecki sent his reply to Havel via the-then communist Polish Ambassador in Prague! 60 SLOVAKIA Religious activists in Slovakia and Poland were very close. Religious oppression in Slovakia was much stronger than in Poland. The Slovak underground church sent its followers to summer camps in Poland and Polish bishops ordained Slovak priests who had secretly studied theology in Slovakia. Also, many thousands of religious books, printed by Slovaks in the West, were smuggled into Slovakia via the Polish Catholic church. Thus far I have spoken about solidarity between dissidents in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The solidarity of the noncommunist Central European countries, Germany and Austria, was reflected in their political and moral support for dissidents in communist countries and their acceptance of refugees from those countries. Some refugees escaped in a spectacular manner. At the beginning of the l 980's a Slovak flew across the border to Austria in a balloon which he had made by sewing together a bunch of raincoats. Another built himself a cart, which he then suspended from a high-voltage power line that went to Austria and he pulled himself across the border on the suspended cart! Twenty years ago NATO's decision to install medium-range missiles in Germany provoked a heated debate. The Eastern bloc responded with threats of military countermeasures. Pershing missiles were eventually placed in Germany. We dissidents supported this move. We knew that the Communists only understood the use of force, and it was ultimately the demonstrated strength of the West, and the internal dissent in Central Europe, that led to the fall of Communism. Central Europe resurrected itself after the fall of Communism. Austria abolished its visa requirements for us as early as December, 1989. As a result, huge crowds of people moved across the breached Iron Curtain. I was among them. Even though my home SLOVAKIA 61 town of Bratislava borders on Austria, I was 46 years old before I could cross this border! Democratic revolutions in 1989 brought people who shared the same values of a civic society to power. The time had come to demonstrate that these common values really counted for us . We faced the challenge of completing the reverse trend and bringing cooperation to Central Europe, and even a new integration. It was necessary first to remove certain remnants of Communism. In July, 1991 the Warsaw Pact was formally dissolved. At the same time, the Council for Economic Assistance (COMECON) was abolished. This decision was controversial because for four decades the economies of the states of East Central Europe had focussed on eastern markets, and these were suddenly gone. COMECON's member states now traded with each other only on the basis of market demands. Prices were also allowed to reflect market forces. At the same time, Russia started to sell these countries raw materials at world prices and for world currencies. At the fall of Communism two slogans common to all Central European countries suddenly rang out. They were "Free Elections," and "Back to Europe." Free elections did take place in all these countries during 1990. However, joining the European Union was another matter. Brussels was far away and the roads leading to it were fraught with difficulties. It would first be necessary to bring post-communist Central European countries back together. The initiative came from President Vaclav Havel. In February of 1990 Havel invited the Prime Ministers of Poland and Hungary to a meeting with their Czechoslovak counterpart in Bratislava. The plan was to get these three states to cooperate in the future. At their second meeting in Visegrad, Hungary, in 1991, this coalition acquired its name from this historic locality where, in the 14th 62 SLOVAKIA century the Kings of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary had agreed upon peace and mutual trade. In its short history, the Visegrad Group has been through a period of growth and decline. The geographical location, common history, interconnected economy and identical external interests of these countries pushed them into close cooperation. However, Vaclav Klaus's government in Prague did not place much importance on cooperation in the Visegrad Group. Similarly, Vladimir Meciar's government in Bratislava looked for other ways to achieve its goals. With a change in government in 1998 in both Prague and Bratislava, the situation improved and the Visegrad Group caught its second wind. Slovakia's membership is important for the Visegrad Group, which has no formal standing. Slovakia lies in its centre and is the only country to border all three of the others. Without Slovakia's active participation, the Visegrad Group would lose many of its advantages. Membership in the Visegrad Group does not remove all of the disputes between its members, but it does make resolving them easier. One such dispute was the completion of the joint Czechoslovak-Hungarian Gabcikovo waterworks on the Danube River. After the collapse of Communism, Hungary opposed the completion of these waterworks. Following a mutual agreement in 1992, both countries requested a ruling from the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Five years later the Court ruled that Slovakia was almost entirely in the right. The Gabcikovo waterwt>rks stopped attracting media attention and now reliably supply the grid with electricity, regulate the flow of the Danube, and have become a recreation area. The dispute between Hungary and Slovakia is over, although the technical and financial issues SLOVAKIA 63 surrounding the Gabcikovo waterworks are still being discussed by experts from both countries. While Europe was divided ( 1945-1989), we m the East followed the grad ual formation of today's European Union with interest, envy and admiration. We did not understand all of the problems which occurred while the original six states unified; we smiled at how fishing, the production of butter, the sale of wine and the like could be problems for the member countries. Despite this, the attractiveness of the unifying Western Europe grew . After the fall of Communism all of the countries of Central Europe expressed an interest in joining the European Union . Talks of the accession of these countries to the European Union started very quickly and were completed at the beginning of the l 990's through the conclusion of European agreements on association. The European Union's entry and expansion into Central Europe is important from many perspectives. Henry Kissinger stated that when a power vacuum had formed in Central Europe in the past, Russia and Germany were pulled into and clashed over it. A power vacuum formed in Central Europe after the fall of Communism, but the European Union has filled it in . The agreements on association opened up the European market to the former communist countries. Union ' s On the other hand, the markets of post-communist countries are only gradually opening up. The European Union later established four so-called "Copenhagen criteria" for those interested in joining the Union. They are a developed market economy, the ability to cope with competition in the European Union, a stabilized democracy with guarantees for the functioning of constitutional institutions and the protection of minorities, the adoption of SLOVAKJA 64 the European acquis communotaire and an institutional structure comparable to the European Union's . At the same time, the European Union developed a number of financial assistance programmes for post-communist countries . The European Union's political and economic criteria speeded up reforms in post-communist countries, while at the same time isolating sources of political extremism. In 1997 the European Union invited Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia to negotiate their future membership. In 1999 it also invited Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia, as well as Romania and Bulgaria. These countries ' membership in the European Union has wide support from the population everywhere. It seems as if membership in the Union has turned into a speed trial for the governments of Central European countries . Slovakia fell out of the first group in 1997 because of the European Union's political reservations about Slovak politics at the time. The current Slovak government is trying to catch up with its neighbours and enter the European Union at roughly the same time, around 2004 . In expanding to the East, the European Union is approaching half a billion inhabitants. It will expand its territory and strengthen its position on the world playing field . At the same time, it will reach the eastern border of Western Christianity. Expansion further east will mean crossing the borders of a civilization. In fact, Greece's current membership and Bulgaria's and Romania ' s future memberships are preparing the European union for just such a step. Another western organization that has expanded its presence into Central Europe since the fall of Communism is NATO. For a while after the Warsaw Pact was abolished, the armies of its former members felt aimless. However, in 1991 the military units from former communist Central European countries took part in SLOVAKIA operation 65 Desert Storm. Soon thereafter war broke out m Yugoslavia and again all the states contributed at least small units to UNPROFOR. In 1993 I visited a Slovak UNPROFOR corps of engineers in Croatia. They were under the command of a Canadian colonel named Harris, who was very satisfied with their performance. It was a new experience for Slovak soldiers and officers, and certainly also for Czechs and Poles and others, when they started to use NA TO terminology and operational rules. The Partnership for Peace programme enabled former enemies to come closer together and gradually unify at least their communication technology. All the ex-communist Central European countries showed an interest in joining NATO. At NATO 's Madrid Summit in 1997 , Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were invited to join . They have since become members. Slovakia was excluded at that time. The Slovak army is now increasing its cooperation with NATO. It has liaison officers at the Brussels headquarters and membership in NATO is part of the current Slovak government's agenda. But, according to opinion polls, the majority of the Slovak population does not, as yet, support Slovakia's membership in NA TO. Germany has long been the most important country in Central Europe. From the end of the Napoleonic wars to the end of the Second World War German nationalism was a source of tension in Europe. After the defeat of Hitler, Germany turned itself around. Mostly under Christian Democratic governments, Germany achieved an economic miracle and rebuilt itself in record time. It then became a driving force for European integration, and still is today. In the 45 years since the war, Germany earned such trust from the East that there were no reservations in Central Europe about Germany' s reunification. Fran1yois Mitterand's 66 SLOVAKIA France and Margaret Thatcher's Great Britain placed greater obstacles to Germany's reunification than did Poland, Czechoslovakia or Russia. Germany acknowledged the permanence of its border with Poland and reconfirmed the invalidity of the Munich Agreement. Germany contributes the most to the European Union's treasury. British historian Paul Johnson called Germany of the l 920's a leading intellectual power. I do not intend to discuss the intellectual level of today's Germany, but politically Germany plays a very constructive role in Central Europe. Of the Central European countries, Poland is trying to present itself as a regional counterbalance to Germany. In Poland's case there is also a counterbalance to Johnson's statement on German intellect. Polish author Stan isl av Stomma wrote that Poland's intellectual potential has always exceeded its material possibilities. Unfortunately, Poland's material possibilities will probably hold back its intellectual potential for some time. Post-communist Central European countries also look to Germany with another question. Germany will have an important voice in the European Union's institutional reforms . The reforms will determine if and when the European Union will be able to accept new members. Under the current rule!>, the European Union does not have the resources to finance the development of new members from Central Europe to enable them to attain the level of the Union's current members. The countries that receive more money from the Union than they put into it do not want to share income with new members . The countries that contribute more than they take out, especially Germany, are not preparedjustifiably so-to pay more. German politicians freely answer the question of how to solve this quandary by saying that the European Union has always developed by a crisis coming along and then moving towards half-compromise. We shall see. SLOVAKIA 67 The new Austrian government has posed a challenge for its eastern neighbours. In the Second World War, every country east of Germany, with the exception of Hungary, fought against Germany sooner or later. Some of them suffered exceptionally heavy losses. For example, Poland lost 20% of its population . Proud reminders of the Nazi regime from a politically relevant personality in Austria (forg Haider) are, therefore, unimaginable and incomprehensible in these countries. On the contrary, 40 years of denial of democracy under Communism fostered a tendency in these countries to trust democratic rules regardless of their content. Central European ex-communist countries were only able to give a constrained reaction to the new government in Austria; even more so as the harshness of the reaction from the European Union and some other countries was surprising. The division of Czechoslovakia in 1993 may seem to be at odds with the new integration of Central Europe. However, I would like to point out that in Central Europe the concept of a nation is understood in an ethnic, not in a political sense. Nations that see themselves as ethnically unique may live in one state. Two nations-Slovaks and Czechs-lived separate lives in Czechoslovakia. There was practically no common Czechoslovak culture, only Czech and Slovak cultures. The Slovak and Czech languages are similar, but they are also different. Under the communist dictatorship it was possible to silence national aspirations, but after the restoration of freedom the different political conceptions of the Czechs and Slovaks grew. The 1992 elections (the first free ones since 1946) brought very different political parties into power in Slovakia and in the Czech Lands, and these parties agreed to divide the country, and the Czechoslovak Federal Parliament then adopted the Constitutional Law on the Division of Czechoslovakia. 68 SLOVAKIA Happily, the story does not end there. After the breakup, Slovakia and the Czech Republic maintained fair or even friendly relations . When there were politically different governments in Prague and Bratislava, relations between the Republics were fair; when there are similar political parties in power in Prague and Bratislava, relations are friendly. The people of Slovakia and the Czech Republic have remained on friendly terms. According to public opinion surveys in Slovakia, the Czechs are the Slovaks ' favourite nation , and vice-versa. Slovak and Czech delegations generally support each other at international conferences. In the last few weeks the governments and parliaments of both countries have approved an agreement on the property settlement of the division of the former Czec hoslovakia. Both cooperate within the Visegrad group and their foreign policies are equally oriented towards western integration and security groups. On the other hand, the division of Czechoslovakia is final and there is no desire to resurrect it. Only one political party in 1994 ran on a pro-Czec hoslovak platform and it received a paltry one per cent of the vote. If we compare political developments in the two Republics since the "velvet divorce," Slovakia 's history has probably been more colourful. First, the Slovaks removed certain doubts about the viability of their state. Slovakia ' s economy also did fairly well despite a rather odd dispute between Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar and President Michal Kovac . The dispute did not escalate into a shooting war, but did result in the abduction of the president 's son to Austria. In 1999 the Slovak Parliament revoked the immunity of Ivan Lexa, the previous head of the secret service, who was suspected of having masterminded the abduction. In the seven years of Slovakia's independence there were three changes of government between political groups so opposed to each other that they were able to abduct or tolerate the abduc- 69 SLOVAKJA tion of one of their sons. Despite this, all the political changes took place democratically, within the parameters of the Constitution and on the basis of freely-held elections . In September of 1998, 84% of the electorate turned out to vote in the parliamentary elections. After 40 years of communism democracy works in strange ways. I often mention such figures as proof of the strength of democracy in Slovakia. I admit that it is sometimes necessary to make more of an effort for democracy to function in Slovakia than in other countries. But, it has always worked out. The sometimes strange workings of democracy in post- communist countries directly relate to their communist heritage. Communism ended in a sudden collapse but it soon became apparent that the Communists quickly found their way in the new social order. The Communist Parties changed their names and became Socialist Parties and former Communists appeared in other parties as well. After a short period of anti-communist enthusiasm in 1990 came the realization that economics, culture and politics are more complicated. It is not possible to replace people en masse because there are simply not enough experts to go around and certain stages of development cannot be omitted. In one country after another the former Communists were so successful in elections and constitutional cohabitation that even France was amazed . But the market economy was not disrupted and democracy survived . This is testimony to the strength of western democratic and political institutions which have come to the East. Just to complete the picture, I will mention that the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFT A) has existed since 1993. Originally it was between the Visegrad Group, but later it was joined by Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania. The Agreement liberalized trade between the participating countries and, except for agricultural products, it works well. 70 SLOYAKlA Another attempt at cooperation between Central and Eastern European countries is the Central European Initiative. It was established in 1989 as an association of four states (Italy, Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia) at Italy's initiative. Today it includes sixteen states. Its aim is, not only economic cooperation, but also cultural and political, especially assistance in associating its members with the European Union. The Central European Initiative, on the other hand, is stagnating . Every generation has the tendency to talk about a change of paradigm brought about by its own efforts. Who would not want to change the world, even if we cannot explain it? Why should we give up this ambition? All the more so because the paradigm has changed. For centuries European history was marked by conflicts between Gennany and France. It seems that these conflicts are over. In the twentieth century two World Wars started in Central Europe. I do not see a source of tension here that could lead to another such conflict. Now the most serious dispute in Western and Central Europe is the " Beef War" between France and Great Britain. As long as we do not ask the poor cows for their opinion , we can really talk about a change of paradigm. If in future decades we manage to expand the zone of peace further cast, and even to the Balkans , then Isaiah 's words might come to apply to Europe: "He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation , neither shall they learn war any more ."  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reversing the Trend: Central Europe from Dictatorship to Democracy Description An account of the resource Ján Čarnogurský Slovakia, Vol. 37 (No. 68-69), 2003 pp. 57-70 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čarnogurský, Ján, 1944- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4b1065536d042f64530048acc0e18dd7.pdf 11f6405210b8e969acee1fcd584bbede PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 81 MYTHS REGARDING THE ANTI-COMMUNIST RESISTANCE IN SLOV AKIA 1 Jan Carnogursky The preparation and course of the Velvet Revolution in Slovakia has gradually become known. The response to the fall of Communism across Europe has shown that the participation and contribution to the overthrow of Communism and the establishment of democracy is part of the legitimacy of Europe today, and a starting point for confident behaviour. The overthrow of Communism was a prerequisite for the unification of Europe in general and the unification of Germany in particular. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it was shown that Eastern Europe did not have any objections to the unification of Germany, unlike Great Britain and France. But that is not the point any more. The media 's revelation of the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia created many myths which still distort our knowledge about the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia. I will try to correct at least some of them. I have to note that some of the myths are positive, some negative. 1. Few Chartists in Slovakia. Almost every report on the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia, specifically on the Velvet Revolution, begins with the statement that there were only a few Chartists (Members of Charter 77) in Slovakia. Indeed, there were not even ten of them . The myth is that there should have been many more. The reason is simple: Charter 77 reflected the Czech, and especially Prague ' s, terms of resistance against Communism. It did not represent the Slovak. Charter 77 included legalistically-conceived demands to respect human rights, which referred to Czechoslovak Decree No. 120/1 976 on the "Covenant on Human Rights." Its provisions were based on the conclusions 1 Speech delivered to th e Eco nomi c C lub of Bra ti slava on October 29, 2009. �82 SLOVAKIA of the Helsinki Conference of 197 5. Charter 77 could count on media and diplomatic support from the West throughout its existence. Charter 77 had existed for less than three months when the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hans van der Broek, during his visit to Prague, received the spokesman of the Charter, Professor Jan Patocka. Subsequently, Jan Patocka suffered from a heart attack and died during an interrogation by State Security (StB) - the secret police, but that's another story. Whenever the police arrested or detained a signatory of the Charter, the Western media reported it within a few hours . Slovakia could not count on similar media support. There were no Western correspondents in Bratislava. They were accredited only in Prague. Similarly, Bratislava had no Western diplomatic offices . The US Consulate General was closed most of the time, and only once a month or two American diplomats from Prague commuted for the day to their building in Bratislava. Let me illustrate. The Candle Demonstration on Hviezdoslav Square in March of 1988, with 5,000 participants, was a much greater manifestation against the communist regime than Charter 77. However, in the following days, the western press reported only a few lines about it. It could not be compared with the constant news about Charter 77. The internal structure of Charter 77 reflected the social situation in the Czech Republic. Among three spokesmen of the Charter, one was a purged Communist, one a practicing Christian, and one was a secular intellectual. Until November of 1989, purged Communists in Slovakia were unable to form their own resistance group against Communism. Alexander Dubcek was isolated. The creative intelligentsia also failed to form any significant alignment against the regime. The centre of resistance against Communism in Slovakia was in the Christian church, with all of its particularities. Until 1989, Charter 77 was signed by about 1,300 to 2,000 people, 200 to 300 of whom were active. The underground Catholic church in Slovakia involved much larger numbers of people. The Candle Demonstration was attended by thousands, while Charter 77 was never able to organize such a massive public demonstration . Charter 77 played an important role in the opposition against Communism, as it influenced the trends and forms of resistance. It was also able to give legitimacy to other forms of resistance and, in �SLOVAKIA 83 such a case, foreign observers did not have any doubts despite communist propaganda (e.g. Ivan Polansky's case in Slovakia). Resistance against a continental dictatorial regime, such as Communism, always had to be based on the deepest national traditions of any society. Using theoretical and political criteria for evaluating resistance against Communism is ridiculous. Such resistance could be easily suppressed by the StB . Slovak resistance against Communism was, therefore, based on Slovak national traditions and historical experience. Czech resistance, on the other hand, was based on Czech national traditions and historical experience. Czech forms of resistance against Communism could not, therefore, be mechanically transferred to Slovakia and used to compare the intensity of Slovak resistance. If we were to proceed in the same way, for example, when comparing and assessing Polish and Czech resistance against Communism, Czech resistance would come out as negligibly weak. 2. Milder "Normalization" in Slovakia. Another myth claims that "normalization" in Slovakia was milder than in the Czech Republic. It is based on the same unscientific observation as the previous claim that there were only few Chartists in Slovakia. Yes, many Party members were purged from cultural institutions and were forced to work in various research institutions where they were stuck, and could only do office work, and were expected to keep quiet. That is how, after having been purged from the Party, the Ideological Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia, Miroslav Kusy, could work in some sort of research institute and the historian Jozef Jablonicky in a local historical institute. And the list could be continued. When they did not obey, the regime went further and sent them to do manual work, as happened to Miroslav Kusy. This, however, only concerned a numerically insignificant group of excluded Party members, formerly of high rank which, by the way, they received through their membership in the Party, and who had no social support in Slovakia. The regime knew that it did not have to fear them and, therefore, pushed them further. This was the major difference with the Czech Republic, where purged Party members represented a greater threat, and the regime had more to fear. It must not be forgotten that in the Czech Republic �84 SLOVAKIA there was a group of more conservative Communists grouped around Antonin Kapek, Alois Indra and later Miroslav Stepan and others, who knew their former colleagues well and let them feel it. This becomes obvious after reading just a few issues of the daily Tribuna, which started publication after the Warsaw pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in the autumn of 1968 by the Bureau for the Management of Party Activity in the Czech Republic. In Slovakia, the regime mostly feared the Christian underground network, and particularly the underground church. It showed it no mercy. Jan Chryzostom Cardinal Korec, who was an underground bishop, was forced to work as an elevator repairman until his retirement. The present Archbishop of Kosice, Alojz Tkac, operated a streetcar. Bishop Rudolf Balaz of Banska Bystrica was a teamster. Trials for obstructing StB surveillance of churches occurred in Slovakia throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with unconditional sentences meted out. Furthermore, doctors and teachers were fired because of their church attendance. The myth of milder "normalization" in Slovakia does not take any of this into account. 3. The Candle Demonstration. The Candle Demonstration on March 25 , 1988, was the first mass public protest since 1969 against the regime in the former Czechoslovakia. It was organized on the initiative of Marian St'astny, then the President of the Slovak World Congress. His intention was to organize demonstrations on the 25th of March 1988 in front of Czechoslovak embassies in several Western countries as an appeal to respect the civil rights of his people. In the end, the only demonstration that took place was in Bratislava. However, it was based on completely different principles compared to those applicable in the Czech Republic or in Western Europe. The demonstrators demanded three things: allowing the Pope to appoint Catholic bishops in Slovakia, full religious freedom, and respect for human rights . This combination is unimaginable in the Czech Republic or in any Western country. But just such a combination was demanded by simple believers on the one hand, and by the urban intelligentsia on the other. This becomes clear after one reads Martin Simecka's report on the participants in the Candle Demonstration for the samizdat press shortly thereafter. The demonstration did not require any �SLOVAKIA 85 leading speaker, as he would have been immediately arrested by the police. The demonstration itself did not give any excuse to the police to intervene and when, despite that, the police sprayed the demonstrators with water cannons and arrested them, the illegality of the reaction was even more evident. In his book A Carnival of Revolution (also published in Czech), the American historian Padraic Kenney charted a time-table of events in Eastern Europe from 1975 until 1989. The table shows that the Candle Demonstration in Bratislava and a demonstration in Budapest on the 15th of March 1988 were the first mass demonstrations in the former Eastern Bloc. I will return later to the Budapest demonstration. Of course, the Candle Demonstration evoked responses in the Czech and Slovak samizdat press, setting a standard for other manifestations against the regime. As to the number of participants, the Candle Demonstration was not outnumbered until demonstrations in Prague took place in October of 1988 in honour of the anniversary of the Republic . The Candle Demonstration, however, has been mentioned only marginally in scholarly works, especially in the Czech Republic, and in the evaluation of the antiCommunist resistance in Czechoslovakia as a whole. 4. State Symbols and Anniversaries. Anniversaries commemorating national and state history have the greatest mobilizing potential in any society. Perhaps some of them are emblazoned with legends, but they are able to attract people to commemorate, and, on the other hand to demonstrate against a ruling regime if they think that it flouts tradition. They are associated with patriotism in the best sense of the word. The opposition in the surrounding countries, as well as in the Czech Republic, used such anniversaries to organize demonstrations against the ruling communist regimes. In Budapest, there was a demonstration on the 15th of March, which hearkened back to the Revolution of 1848. In Prague, October 28 was the anniversary of the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, and in Poland there are many such anniversaries. The taking of one ' s life for the common good also has a great potential to mobilize people. The self-immolation of Jan Palach in Prague in January of 1969 is a good example. In November of 1989, a false rumor circulated in Prague about the death of a student during �86 SLOVAKIA a demonstration on the 17th of November, commemorating the Nazi suppression of a student demonstration in 1939. It was sufficient to spark demonstrations across the country. Slovakia did not have such an anniversary. Slovakia also does not perceive the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 as being a historical event with significant mobilization potential. But this is not the place to discuss the causes . State traditions could only apply to the Slovak Republic which existed from 1939 to 1945, and which was allied with Nazi Germany. Those traditions could not be used. The Slovak National Uprising of 1944 did not leave any clear message - again this is not the place to discuss the reasons - and its message was in any case attributed to the communist regime. The death of General M. R. Stefanik had a certain mobilizing potential in itself, which was used by the Slovak opposition at Brad lo in May of 1989. Mobilizing impulses which had the greatest potential in the surrounding countries and nations could not be applied in Slovakia. Slovak resistance against Communism, therefore, had to be based on some other mobilizing principle. And that, in every society, is religion. However, it is a more abstract principle compared to significant national and state anniversaries. To organize opposition around religion is, therefore, more difficult. On the other hand, the mobilizing potential of religion does have distortions that are threatened by national and state anniversaries. So far, no one has appreciated that the Candle Demonstration outshone public demonstrations throughout Europe against oppressive regimes based on national and state anniversaries. 5. Velehrad, The Petition of Moravian Catholics. In 1985, a commemoration was held in Moravian Velehrad on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the death of Saint Methodius in Great Moravia. The ceremony was attended by about 150,000 - 200,000 believers, most of them from Slovakia. The Vatican State Secretary, Cardinal Cassaroli, attended. It was a significant anniversary, generally recognized by the people and, of course, remembered in Catholic churches throughout the country. For that reason, the communist regime could not ignore it and sent to Velehrad the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Milan Klusak. In his speech, the minister tried to diminish the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to simply that of a linguistic and cultural mission. For example, �SLOVAKIA 87 he did not call them Saints Cyril and Methodius, but only Cyril and Methodius . The audience booed him, shouting "Saints Cyril and Methodius" and the gathering turned into a demonstration against the regime. In the autumn 1987, a Moravian farmer, Augustin Navratil, addressed to the communist authorities 31 requests of Moravian Catholics pertaining to religious freedom. The requests were written in simple, understandable language. After being supported by Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek of Prague, Navratil began to collect signatures for his petition. By the beginning of 1988, half a million people had signed the petition, two thirds of them from Slovakia. This petition was the largest in the Communist Bloc. The signatures revealed that the underground church was active in all of Slovakia and that it had a clear leadership. Of course, such leadership had to remain underground, and could not, for example, emulate Charter 77. However, the number of signatures and their method of collection sent a signal to the regime that there was an invisible enemy which could, under certain circumstances, rise up and become uncontrollable. Velehrad, as well as the petition of the Moravian Catholics, are also only marginally mentioned in the analysis of anti-Communist resistance in the whole of Czechoslovakia. 6. Cooperation of Dissenters. During "normalization," dissent against the regime developed simultaneously in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic . In Slovakia, it was specifically Christian dissent and so-called "civil" dissent. Each of them was based on its own conditions and initially operated only internally. From the end of the 1970s, the StB in Slovakia had concluded that there was a risk of a major strengthening of dissenters if the Christian dissidents were to join with civil dissidents in Slovakia and the Slovak and Czech di ssidents within Czechoslovakia. Within its capabilities, the StB tried to maintain the isolation of individual dissident movements. There was some interaction between them, but it was too weak to unite them. In the mid 1980' s, contacts and mutual assistance intensified so much that it finally allowed the coordination of such dissident movements. In Slovakia, the newly-born Green Movement, as well as independent artists, began to partake in civil and Christian dissent. Christian activists began to meet on �88 SLOVAKIA a regular basis with purged Party members. The now-deceased Milan Simecka, a Moravian living in Bratislava, connected the Slovak and Czech dissents and encouraged many activists from Slovakia to travel to meetings in Prague. It must be said that the connection between the Czech and Slovak Catholic dissents had existed for a long time, following the message of the Croatian Jesuit priest Tomislav Poglajen - Kolakovic in the l 940 's . Very little has been written about Kolakovic. His followers spent many years in Slovak and Czech prisons. After having been released, they used to meet regularly and maintained the Slovak-Czech dialogue, which has lasted until the present day. The cooperation of dissidents in the 1980's helped to prepare the way for the November, 1989 revolution in Slovakia. 7. The Assistance of Czech Dissents. The appearance of Charter 77 was a milestone in the anti-Communist movement in Czechoslovakia. The Charter showed that public opposition against a regime is possible, but at the price of great sacrifice. Samizdat journals began to appear as a result. Petitions were organized for the freeing of political prisoners, and so on. The samizdat periodical press in Slovakia followed the lead of samizdat periodical press in the Czech Republic. Czech forms of resistance against Communism, which were transferable to Slovakia, became a source of inspiration. The State Security in Slovakia tried to label any opposition as a continuation of the Slovak People 's Party, clerical fascism and so on. For foreign defenders of dissdents, it was difficult to tell when communist propaganda was truthful and when it was lying. That was also the case with Ivan Polansky, who was arrested in 1987 and accused of supporting and spreading fascism. Ivan Polansky had prepared a samizdat volume on the Reverend Andrej Hlinka, founder of the Slovak People's Party, and a police search of Polansky's house also revealed materials concerning Jozef Tiso, president of the wartime Slovak Republic. In the end, Charter 77 stood up for Ivan Polansky and the publishers of the Czech samizdat press signed a declaration in which they dared the police to arrest them for carrying out the same activities as Polansky. Whether Ivan Polansky was a clerical fascist or not, it was enough for Wes tern publicists to believe that he was not, and they gave him full publicity �SLOVAKIA 89 and diplomatic support. This was similar to events in February of 1988, when the communist daily Pravda in Bratislava and its counterpart Rude Pravo in Prague published a series of articles denouncing Pavo) Camogursky, the author's father. The articles focused on the activities of Pavo! Carnogursky during the first Slovak Republic. Vaclav Havel, the most prominent of the Czech dissidents, persuaded his followers to sign a declaration in support of Pavo! Camogursky. Havel also used his contacts to transmit messages about Pavo! Carnogursky through various channels in the Prague diplomatic corps. In Slovakia, none of that was possible. The assistance of the Czech dissents significantly improved the chances of the defense of Slovak dissidents in case they were arrested. 8. The Speed of the Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia. The comparison of the speed of the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and, perhaps in other countries, has also become mythical. Based on such comparisons, Czechoslovakia comes out the best since the regime fell in about two weeks. Perhaps it would be useful to have a closer look at the reality. The regime fell quickly in Czechoslovakia for two reasons, one external and one internal. The external reason was that by the 17th of November, 1989 the Berlin wall had already fallen in Eastern Germany, the non-communist government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki was already established in Poland, Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika was already working in the Soviet Union and Hungary was allowing East Germans to escape into Austria. Thus, Czechoslovakia was already de facto surrounded by non-Communist Poland and countries with qualitatively different styles of Communism (the Democratic Republic of Germany, the Soviet Union and Hungary). In geopolitical terms, there was nothing the Czechoslovak communist regime could do than to give up. Furthermore, the communist regime in Czechoslovakia could not rely on internal support, because it had none. Communists were also not willing to fight for their regime. Resistance would mean ineviable defeat for the Communists, followed by their imprisonment and punishment. None of them was willing to take such a risk. The internal reason was the unity of the opposition. This unity consisted in the fact that the opposition in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic wan- �90 SLOVAKIA ted only free elections, a parliamentary democracy, a market economy and European integration. The Slovak opposition did not demand a change in Slovakia's national status. The only small difference lay in its support of Alexander Dubcek' s candidacy for the post of the President of the Republic. The Slovak opposition however, represented by VPN (Public Against Violence), supported Vaclav Havel 's candidacy. Opposition in Czechoslovakia in November and December 1989 was almost exclusively based on demonstrations in cities that were attended by thousands of people. Had any media reports on major differences in the attitude of Czech and Slovak oppositions penetrated the public, it could have significantly reduced the willingness of people to demonstrate in city squares. It was also important that Vaclav Havel was adopted as a generally-recognized symbol of the Velvet Revolution. If any other groups had made other demands, for example purged Slovak Party members pushing Dubcek' s candidacy for the post of the President, they would have failed. Their position was weak because, in previous years, they had not joined in the resistance against the communist regime. Later proponents of the independence of Slovakia had no record of showing resistance against Communism in the form of samizdat or other ways. Therefore, they were ignored in the first few months following the revolution. Prematurely raising requirements for a change in the national status of Czechoslovakia could have significantly weakened the pressure on the communist regime and, in fact, would have given it new legitimacy. The main challenge in November and December of 1989 was to overthrow Communism. Harmonization and balancing of the national form of resistance against Communism in the Czech Republic and Slovakia also contributed to the rapidity of the fall of Communism. After the creation of Charter 77, the Czech opposition against Communism took the lead in the Republic. Based on future analyses, historians will perhaps come to the conclusion that a certain balance was established sometime around 1987 between the Slovak and Czech opposition. In Slovakia, the Greens came out with the publication Bratislava nahlas (Bratislava Aloud), which preceded the results of the Green Movement in the Czech Republic. This was followed by the petition of Moravian Catholics and the Candle Demonstration. American historian Padraic Kenney wrote that in the mid 1980's an exhaustion and weariness of the original anti-Communist movements occurred in �SLOVAKIA 91 several former communist countries and the initiative was then taken by new, emerging, movements . This finding could perhaps also apply to Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia has a complicated history because it consisted of two founding nations which were linguistically close, but differed culturally . The course of the resistance against Communism, and eventually the breakdown of the Republic, have created new, and seemingly better, relations between the Slovaks and the Czechs. However, these remain to be tested during future crises. ��REVIEW ESSAY �� SLOVAKIA 81 MYTHS REGARDING THE ANTI-COMMUNIST RESISTANCE IN SLOV AKIA 1 Jan Carnogursky The preparation and course of the Velvet Revolution in Slovakia has gradually become known. The response to the fall of Communism across Europe has shown that the participation and contribution to the overthrow of Communism and the establishment of democracy is part of the legitimacy of Europe today, and a starting point for confident behaviour. The overthrow of Communism was a prerequisite for the unification of Europe in general and the unification of Germany in particular. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it was shown that Eastern Europe did not have any objections to the unification of Germany, unlike Great Britain and France. But that is not the point any more. The media 's revelation of the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia created many myths which still distort our knowledge about the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia. I will try to correct at least some of them. I have to note that some of the myths are positive, some negative. 1. Few Chartists in Slovakia. Almost every report on the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia, specifically on the Velvet Revolution, begins with the statement that there were only a few Chartists (Members of Charter 77) in Slovakia. Indeed, there were not even ten of them . The myth is that there should have been many more. The reason is simple: Charter 77 reflected the Czech, and especially Prague ' s, terms of resistance against Communism. It did not represent the Slovak. Charter 77 included legalistically-conceived demands to respect human rights, which referred to Czechoslovak Decree No. 120/1 976 on the "Covenant on Human Rights." Its provisions were based on the conclusions 1 Speech delivered to th e Eco nomi c C lub of Bra ti slava on October 29, 2009. �82 SLOVAKIA of the Helsinki Conference of 197 5. Charter 77 could count on media and diplomatic support from the West throughout its existence. Charter 77 had existed for less than three months when the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hans van der Broek, during his visit to Prague, received the spokesman of the Charter, Professor Jan Patocka. Subsequently, Jan Patocka suffered from a heart attack and died during an interrogation by State Security (StB) - the secret police, but that's another story. Whenever the police arrested or detained a signatory of the Charter, the Western media reported it within a few hours . Slovakia could not count on similar media support. There were no Western correspondents in Bratislava. They were accredited only in Prague. Similarly, Bratislava had no Western diplomatic offices . The US Consulate General was closed most of the time, and only once a month or two American diplomats from Prague commuted for the day to their building in Bratislava. Let me illustrate. The Candle Demonstration on Hviezdoslav Square in March of 1988, with 5,000 participants, was a much greater manifestation against the communist regime than Charter 77. However, in the following days, the western press reported only a few lines about it. It could not be compared with the constant news about Charter 77. The internal structure of Charter 77 reflected the social situation in the Czech Republic. Among three spokesmen of the Charter, one was a purged Communist, one a practicing Christian, and one was a secular intellectual. Until November of 1989, purged Communists in Slovakia were unable to form their own resistance group against Communism. Alexander Dubcek was isolated. The creative intelligentsia also failed to form any significant alignment against the regime. The centre of resistance against Communism in Slovakia was in the Christian church, with all of its particularities. Until 1989, Charter 77 was signed by about 1,300 to 2,000 people, 200 to 300 of whom were active. The underground Catholic church in Slovakia involved much larger numbers of people. The Candle Demonstration was attended by thousands, while Charter 77 was never able to organize such a massive public demonstration . Charter 77 played an important role in the opposition against Communism, as it influenced the trends and forms of resistance. It was also able to give legitimacy to other forms of resistance and, in �SLOVAKIA 83 such a case, foreign observers did not have any doubts despite communist propaganda (e.g. Ivan Polansky's case in Slovakia). Resistance against a continental dictatorial regime, such as Communism, always had to be based on the deepest national traditions of any society. Using theoretical and political criteria for evaluating resistance against Communism is ridiculous. Such resistance could be easily suppressed by the StB . Slovak resistance against Communism was, therefore, based on Slovak national traditions and historical experience. Czech resistance, on the other hand, was based on Czech national traditions and historical experience. Czech forms of resistance against Communism could not, therefore, be mechanically transferred to Slovakia and used to compare the intensity of Slovak resistance. If we were to proceed in the same way, for example, when comparing and assessing Polish and Czech resistance against Communism, Czech resistance would come out as negligibly weak. 2. Milder "Normalization" in Slovakia. Another myth claims that "normalization" in Slovakia was milder than in the Czech Republic. It is based on the same unscientific observation as the previous claim that there were only few Chartists in Slovakia. Yes, many Party members were purged from cultural institutions and were forced to work in various research institutions where they were stuck, and could only do office work, and were expected to keep quiet. That is how, after having been purged from the Party, the Ideological Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia, Miroslav Kusy, could work in some sort of research institute and the historian Jozef Jablonicky in a local historical institute. And the list could be continued. When they did not obey, the regime went further and sent them to do manual work, as happened to Miroslav Kusy. This, however, only concerned a numerically insignificant group of excluded Party members, formerly of high rank which, by the way, they received through their membership in the Party, and who had no social support in Slovakia. The regime knew that it did not have to fear them and, therefore, pushed them further. This was the major difference with the Czech Republic, where purged Party members represented a greater threat, and the regime had more to fear. It must not be forgotten that in the Czech Republic �84 SLOVAKIA there was a group of more conservative Communists grouped around Antonin Kapek, Alois Indra and later Miroslav Stepan and others, who knew their former colleagues well and let them feel it. This becomes obvious after reading just a few issues of the daily Tribuna, which started publication after the Warsaw pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in the autumn of 1968 by the Bureau for the Management of Party Activity in the Czech Republic. In Slovakia, the regime mostly feared the Christian underground network, and particularly the underground church. It showed it no mercy. Jan Chryzostom Cardinal Korec, who was an underground bishop, was forced to work as an elevator repairman until his retirement. The present Archbishop of Kosice, Alojz Tkac, operated a streetcar. Bishop Rudolf Balaz of Banska Bystrica was a teamster. Trials for obstructing StB surveillance of churches occurred in Slovakia throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with unconditional sentences meted out. Furthermore, doctors and teachers were fired because of their church attendance. The myth of milder "normalization" in Slovakia does not take any of this into account. 3. The Candle Demonstration. The Candle Demonstration on March 25 , 1988, was the first mass public protest since 1969 against the regime in the former Czechoslovakia. It was organized on the initiative of Marian St'astny, then the President of the Slovak World Congress. His intention was to organize demonstrations on the 25th of March 1988 in front of Czechoslovak embassies in several Western countries as an appeal to respect the civil rights of his people. In the end, the only demonstration that took place was in Bratislava. However, it was based on completely different principles compared to those applicable in the Czech Republic or in Western Europe. The demonstrators demanded three things: allowing the Pope to appoint Catholic bishops in Slovakia, full religious freedom, and respect for human rights . This combination is unimaginable in the Czech Republic or in any Western country. But just such a combination was demanded by simple believers on the one hand, and by the urban intelligentsia on the other. This becomes clear after one reads Martin Simecka's report on the participants in the Candle Demonstration for the samizdat press shortly thereafter. The demonstration did not require any �SLOVAKIA 85 leading speaker, as he would have been immediately arrested by the police. The demonstration itself did not give any excuse to the police to intervene and when, despite that, the police sprayed the demonstrators with water cannons and arrested them, the illegality of the reaction was even more evident. In his book A Carnival of Revolution (also published in Czech), the American historian Padraic Kenney charted a time-table of events in Eastern Europe from 1975 until 1989. The table shows that the Candle Demonstration in Bratislava and a demonstration in Budapest on the 15th of March 1988 were the first mass demonstrations in the former Eastern Bloc. I will return later to the Budapest demonstration. Of course, the Candle Demonstration evoked responses in the Czech and Slovak samizdat press, setting a standard for other manifestations against the regime. As to the number of participants, the Candle Demonstration was not outnumbered until demonstrations in Prague took place in October of 1988 in honour of the anniversary of the Republic . The Candle Demonstration, however, has been mentioned only marginally in scholarly works, especially in the Czech Republic, and in the evaluation of the antiCommunist resistance in Czechoslovakia as a whole. 4. State Symbols and Anniversaries. Anniversaries commemorating national and state history have the greatest mobilizing potential in any society. Perhaps some of them are emblazoned with legends, but they are able to attract people to commemorate, and, on the other hand to demonstrate against a ruling regime if they think that it flouts tradition. They are associated with patriotism in the best sense of the word. The opposition in the surrounding countries, as well as in the Czech Republic, used such anniversaries to organize demonstrations against the ruling communist regimes. In Budapest, there was a demonstration on the 15th of March, which hearkened back to the Revolution of 1848. In Prague, October 28 was the anniversary of the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, and in Poland there are many such anniversaries. The taking of one ' s life for the common good also has a great potential to mobilize people. The self-immolation of Jan Palach in Prague in January of 1969 is a good example. In November of 1989, a false rumor circulated in Prague about the death of a student during �86 SLOVAKIA a demonstration on the 17th of November, commemorating the Nazi suppression of a student demonstration in 1939. It was sufficient to spark demonstrations across the country. Slovakia did not have such an anniversary. Slovakia also does not perceive the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 as being a historical event with significant mobilization potential. But this is not the place to discuss the causes . State traditions could only apply to the Slovak Republic which existed from 1939 to 1945, and which was allied with Nazi Germany. Those traditions could not be used. The Slovak National Uprising of 1944 did not leave any clear message - again this is not the place to discuss the reasons - and its message was in any case attributed to the communist regime. The death of General M. R. Stefanik had a certain mobilizing potential in itself, which was used by the Slovak opposition at Brad lo in May of 1989. Mobilizing impulses which had the greatest potential in the surrounding countries and nations could not be applied in Slovakia. Slovak resistance against Communism, therefore, had to be based on some other mobilizing principle. And that, in every society, is religion. However, it is a more abstract principle compared to significant national and state anniversaries. To organize opposition around religion is, therefore, more difficult. On the other hand, the mobilizing potential of religion does have distortions that are threatened by national and state anniversaries. So far, no one has appreciated that the Candle Demonstration outshone public demonstrations throughout Europe against oppressive regimes based on national and state anniversaries. 5. Velehrad, The Petition of Moravian Catholics. In 1985, a commemoration was held in Moravian Velehrad on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the death of Saint Methodius in Great Moravia. The ceremony was attended by about 150,000 - 200,000 believers, most of them from Slovakia. The Vatican State Secretary, Cardinal Cassaroli, attended. It was a significant anniversary, generally recognized by the people and, of course, remembered in Catholic churches throughout the country. For that reason, the communist regime could not ignore it and sent to Velehrad the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Milan Klusak. In his speech, the minister tried to diminish the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to simply that of a linguistic and cultural mission. For example, �SLOVAKIA 87 he did not call them Saints Cyril and Methodius, but only Cyril and Methodius . The audience booed him, shouting "Saints Cyril and Methodius" and the gathering turned into a demonstration against the regime. In the autumn 1987, a Moravian farmer, Augustin Navratil, addressed to the communist authorities 31 requests of Moravian Catholics pertaining to religious freedom. The requests were written in simple, understandable language. After being supported by Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek of Prague, Navratil began to collect signatures for his petition. By the beginning of 1988, half a million people had signed the petition, two thirds of them from Slovakia. This petition was the largest in the Communist Bloc. The signatures revealed that the underground church was active in all of Slovakia and that it had a clear leadership. Of course, such leadership had to remain underground, and could not, for example, emulate Charter 77. However, the number of signatures and their method of collection sent a signal to the regime that there was an invisible enemy which could, under certain circumstances, rise up and become uncontrollable. Velehrad, as well as the petition of the Moravian Catholics, are also only marginally mentioned in the analysis of anti-Communist resistance in the whole of Czechoslovakia. 6. Cooperation of Dissenters. During "normalization," dissent against the regime developed simultaneously in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic . In Slovakia, it was specifically Christian dissent and so-called "civil" dissent. Each of them was based on its own conditions and initially operated only internally. From the end of the 1970s, the StB in Slovakia had concluded that there was a risk of a major strengthening of dissenters if the Christian dissidents were to join with civil dissidents in Slovakia and the Slovak and Czech di ssidents within Czechoslovakia. Within its capabilities, the StB tried to maintain the isolation of individual dissident movements. There was some interaction between them, but it was too weak to unite them. In the mid 1980' s, contacts and mutual assistance intensified so much that it finally allowed the coordination of such dissident movements. In Slovakia, the newly-born Green Movement, as well as independent artists, began to partake in civil and Christian dissent. Christian activists began to meet on �88 SLOVAKIA a regular basis with purged Party members. The now-deceased Milan Simecka, a Moravian living in Bratislava, connected the Slovak and Czech dissents and encouraged many activists from Slovakia to travel to meetings in Prague. It must be said that the connection between the Czech and Slovak Catholic dissents had existed for a long time, following the message of the Croatian Jesuit priest Tomislav Poglajen - Kolakovic in the l 940 's . Very little has been written about Kolakovic. His followers spent many years in Slovak and Czech prisons. After having been released, they used to meet regularly and maintained the Slovak-Czech dialogue, which has lasted until the present day. The cooperation of dissidents in the 1980's helped to prepare the way for the November, 1989 revolution in Slovakia. 7. The Assistance of Czech Dissents. The appearance of Charter 77 was a milestone in the anti-Communist movement in Czechoslovakia. The Charter showed that public opposition against a regime is possible, but at the price of great sacrifice. Samizdat journals began to appear as a result. Petitions were organized for the freeing of political prisoners, and so on. The samizdat periodical press in Slovakia followed the lead of samizdat periodical press in the Czech Republic. Czech forms of resistance against Communism, which were transferable to Slovakia, became a source of inspiration. The State Security in Slovakia tried to label any opposition as a continuation of the Slovak People 's Party, clerical fascism and so on. For foreign defenders of dissdents, it was difficult to tell when communist propaganda was truthful and when it was lying. That was also the case with Ivan Polansky, who was arrested in 1987 and accused of supporting and spreading fascism. Ivan Polansky had prepared a samizdat volume on the Reverend Andrej Hlinka, founder of the Slovak People's Party, and a police search of Polansky's house also revealed materials concerning Jozef Tiso, president of the wartime Slovak Republic. In the end, Charter 77 stood up for Ivan Polansky and the publishers of the Czech samizdat press signed a declaration in which they dared the police to arrest them for carrying out the same activities as Polansky. Whether Ivan Polansky was a clerical fascist or not, it was enough for Wes tern publicists to believe that he was not, and they gave him full publicity �SLOVAKIA 89 and diplomatic support. This was similar to events in February of 1988, when the communist daily Pravda in Bratislava and its counterpart Rude Pravo in Prague published a series of articles denouncing Pavo) Camogursky, the author's father. The articles focused on the activities of Pavo! Carnogursky during the first Slovak Republic. Vaclav Havel, the most prominent of the Czech dissidents, persuaded his followers to sign a declaration in support of Pavo! Camogursky. Havel also used his contacts to transmit messages about Pavo! Carnogursky through various channels in the Prague diplomatic corps. In Slovakia, none of that was possible. The assistance of the Czech dissents significantly improved the chances of the defense of Slovak dissidents in case they were arrested. 8. The Speed of the Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia. The comparison of the speed of the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and, perhaps in other countries, has also become mythical. Based on such comparisons, Czechoslovakia comes out the best since the regime fell in about two weeks. Perhaps it would be useful to have a closer look at the reality. The regime fell quickly in Czechoslovakia for two reasons, one external and one internal. The external reason was that by the 17th of November, 1989 the Berlin wall had already fallen in Eastern Germany, the non-communist government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki was already established in Poland, Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika was already working in the Soviet Union and Hungary was allowing East Germans to escape into Austria. Thus, Czechoslovakia was already de facto surrounded by non-Communist Poland and countries with qualitatively different styles of Communism (the Democratic Republic of Germany, the Soviet Union and Hungary). In geopolitical terms, there was nothing the Czechoslovak communist regime could do than to give up. Furthermore, the communist regime in Czechoslovakia could not rely on internal support, because it had none. Communists were also not willing to fight for their regime. Resistance would mean ineviable defeat for the Communists, followed by their imprisonment and punishment. None of them was willing to take such a risk. The internal reason was the unity of the opposition. This unity consisted in the fact that the opposition in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic wan- �90 SLOVAKIA ted only free elections, a parliamentary democracy, a market economy and European integration. The Slovak opposition did not demand a change in Slovakia's national status. The only small difference lay in its support of Alexander Dubcek' s candidacy for the post of the President of the Republic. The Slovak opposition however, represented by VPN (Public Against Violence), supported Vaclav Havel 's candidacy. Opposition in Czechoslovakia in November and December 1989 was almost exclusively based on demonstrations in cities that were attended by thousands of people. Had any media reports on major differences in the attitude of Czech and Slovak oppositions penetrated the public, it could have significantly reduced the willingness of people to demonstrate in city squares. It was also important that Vaclav Havel was adopted as a generally-recognized symbol of the Velvet Revolution. If any other groups had made other demands, for example purged Slovak Party members pushing Dubcek' s candidacy for the post of the President, they would have failed. Their position was weak because, in previous years, they had not joined in the resistance against the communist regime. Later proponents of the independence of Slovakia had no record of showing resistance against Communism in the form of samizdat or other ways. Therefore, they were ignored in the first few months following the revolution. Prematurely raising requirements for a change in the national status of Czechoslovakia could have significantly weakened the pressure on the communist regime and, in fact, would have given it new legitimacy. The main challenge in November and December of 1989 was to overthrow Communism. Harmonization and balancing of the national form of resistance against Communism in the Czech Republic and Slovakia also contributed to the rapidity of the fall of Communism. After the creation of Charter 77, the Czech opposition against Communism took the lead in the Republic. Based on future analyses, historians will perhaps come to the conclusion that a certain balance was established sometime around 1987 between the Slovak and Czech opposition. In Slovakia, the Greens came out with the publication Bratislava nahlas (Bratislava Aloud), which preceded the results of the Green Movement in the Czech Republic. This was followed by the petition of Moravian Catholics and the Candle Demonstration. American historian Padraic Kenney wrote that in the mid 1980's an exhaustion and weariness of the original anti-Communist movements occurred in �SLOVAKIA 91 several former communist countries and the initiative was then taken by new, emerging, movements . This finding could perhaps also apply to Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia has a complicated history because it consisted of two founding nations which were linguistically close, but differed culturally . The course of the resistance against Communism, and eventually the breakdown of the Republic, have created new, and seemingly better, relations between the Slovaks and the Czechs. However, these remain to be tested during future crises. ��REVIEW ESSAY �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2010, Vol. 40 Description An account of the resource Vol. 40 (No. 74-75), 2010. 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 2010 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 81 MYTHS REGARDING THE ANTI-COMMUNIST RESISTANCE IN SLOV AKIA 1 Jan Carnogursky The preparation and course of the Velvet Revolution in Slovakia has gradually become known. The response to the fall of Communism across Europe has shown that the participation and contribution to the overthrow of Communism and the establishment of democracy is part of the legitimacy of Europe today, and a starting point for confident behaviour. The overthrow of Communism was a prerequisite for the unification of Europe in general and the unification of Germany in particular. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it was shown that Eastern Europe did not have any objections to the unification of Germany, unlike Great Britain and France. But that is not the point any more. The media 's revelation of the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia created many myths which still distort our knowledge about the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia. I will try to correct at least some of them. I have to note that some of the myths are positive, some negative. 1. Few Chartists in Slovakia. Almost every report on the anti-Communist resistance in Slovakia, specifically on the Velvet Revolution, begins with the statement that there were only a few Chartists (Members of Charter 77) in Slovakia. Indeed, there were not even ten of them . The myth is that there should have been many more. The reason is simple: Charter 77 reflected the Czech, and especially Prague ' s, terms of resistance against Communism. It did not represent the Slovak. Charter 77 included legalistically-conceived demands to respect human rights, which referred to Czechoslovak Decree No. 120/1 976 on the "Covenant on Human Rights." Its provisions were based on the conclusions 1 Speech delivered to th e Eco nomi c C lub of Bra ti slava on October 29, 2009. 82 SLOVAKIA of the Helsinki Conference of 197 5. Charter 77 could count on media and diplomatic support from the West throughout its existence. Charter 77 had existed for less than three months when the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hans van der Broek, during his visit to Prague, received the spokesman of the Charter, Professor Jan Patocka. Subsequently, Jan Patocka suffered from a heart attack and died during an interrogation by State Security (StB) - the secret police, but that's another story. Whenever the police arrested or detained a signatory of the Charter, the Western media reported it within a few hours . Slovakia could not count on similar media support. There were no Western correspondents in Bratislava. They were accredited only in Prague. Similarly, Bratislava had no Western diplomatic offices . The US Consulate General was closed most of the time, and only once a month or two American diplomats from Prague commuted for the day to their building in Bratislava. Let me illustrate. The Candle Demonstration on Hviezdoslav Square in March of 1988, with 5,000 participants, was a much greater manifestation against the communist regime than Charter 77. However, in the following days, the western press reported only a few lines about it. It could not be compared with the constant news about Charter 77. The internal structure of Charter 77 reflected the social situation in the Czech Republic. Among three spokesmen of the Charter, one was a purged Communist, one a practicing Christian, and one was a secular intellectual. Until November of 1989, purged Communists in Slovakia were unable to form their own resistance group against Communism. Alexander Dubcek was isolated. The creative intelligentsia also failed to form any significant alignment against the regime. The centre of resistance against Communism in Slovakia was in the Christian church, with all of its particularities. Until 1989, Charter 77 was signed by about 1,300 to 2,000 people, 200 to 300 of whom were active. The underground Catholic church in Slovakia involved much larger numbers of people. The Candle Demonstration was attended by thousands, while Charter 77 was never able to organize such a massive public demonstration . Charter 77 played an important role in the opposition against Communism, as it influenced the trends and forms of resistance. It was also able to give legitimacy to other forms of resistance and, in SLOVAKIA 83 such a case, foreign observers did not have any doubts despite communist propaganda (e.g. Ivan Polansky's case in Slovakia). Resistance against a continental dictatorial regime, such as Communism, always had to be based on the deepest national traditions of any society. Using theoretical and political criteria for evaluating resistance against Communism is ridiculous. Such resistance could be easily suppressed by the StB . Slovak resistance against Communism was, therefore, based on Slovak national traditions and historical experience. Czech resistance, on the other hand, was based on Czech national traditions and historical experience. Czech forms of resistance against Communism could not, therefore, be mechanically transferred to Slovakia and used to compare the intensity of Slovak resistance. If we were to proceed in the same way, for example, when comparing and assessing Polish and Czech resistance against Communism, Czech resistance would come out as negligibly weak. 2. Milder "Normalization" in Slovakia. Another myth claims that "normalization" in Slovakia was milder than in the Czech Republic. It is based on the same unscientific observation as the previous claim that there were only few Chartists in Slovakia. Yes, many Party members were purged from cultural institutions and were forced to work in various research institutions where they were stuck, and could only do office work, and were expected to keep quiet. That is how, after having been purged from the Party, the Ideological Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia, Miroslav Kusy, could work in some sort of research institute and the historian Jozef Jablonicky in a local historical institute. And the list could be continued. When they did not obey, the regime went further and sent them to do manual work, as happened to Miroslav Kusy. This, however, only concerned a numerically insignificant group of excluded Party members, formerly of high rank which, by the way, they received through their membership in the Party, and who had no social support in Slovakia. The regime knew that it did not have to fear them and, therefore, pushed them further. This was the major difference with the Czech Republic, where purged Party members represented a greater threat, and the regime had more to fear. It must not be forgotten that in the Czech Republic 84 SLOVAKIA there was a group of more conservative Communists grouped around Antonin Kapek, Alois Indra and later Miroslav Stepan and others, who knew their former colleagues well and let them feel it. This becomes obvious after reading just a few issues of the daily Tribuna, which started publication after the Warsaw pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in the autumn of 1968 by the Bureau for the Management of Party Activity in the Czech Republic. In Slovakia, the regime mostly feared the Christian underground network, and particularly the underground church. It showed it no mercy. Jan Chryzostom Cardinal Korec, who was an underground bishop, was forced to work as an elevator repairman until his retirement. The present Archbishop of Kosice, Alojz Tkac, operated a streetcar. Bishop Rudolf Balaz of Banska Bystrica was a teamster. Trials for obstructing StB surveillance of churches occurred in Slovakia throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with unconditional sentences meted out. Furthermore, doctors and teachers were fired because of their church attendance. The myth of milder "normalization" in Slovakia does not take any of this into account. 3. The Candle Demonstration. The Candle Demonstration on March 25 , 1988, was the first mass public protest since 1969 against the regime in the former Czechoslovakia. It was organized on the initiative of Marian St'astny, then the President of the Slovak World Congress. His intention was to organize demonstrations on the 25th of March 1988 in front of Czechoslovak embassies in several Western countries as an appeal to respect the civil rights of his people. In the end, the only demonstration that took place was in Bratislava. However, it was based on completely different principles compared to those applicable in the Czech Republic or in Western Europe. The demonstrators demanded three things: allowing the Pope to appoint Catholic bishops in Slovakia, full religious freedom, and respect for human rights . This combination is unimaginable in the Czech Republic or in any Western country. But just such a combination was demanded by simple believers on the one hand, and by the urban intelligentsia on the other. This becomes clear after one reads Martin Simecka's report on the participants in the Candle Demonstration for the samizdat press shortly thereafter. The demonstration did not require any SLOVAKIA 85 leading speaker, as he would have been immediately arrested by the police. The demonstration itself did not give any excuse to the police to intervene and when, despite that, the police sprayed the demonstrators with water cannons and arrested them, the illegality of the reaction was even more evident. In his book A Carnival of Revolution (also published in Czech), the American historian Padraic Kenney charted a time-table of events in Eastern Europe from 1975 until 1989. The table shows that the Candle Demonstration in Bratislava and a demonstration in Budapest on the 15th of March 1988 were the first mass demonstrations in the former Eastern Bloc. I will return later to the Budapest demonstration. Of course, the Candle Demonstration evoked responses in the Czech and Slovak samizdat press, setting a standard for other manifestations against the regime. As to the number of participants, the Candle Demonstration was not outnumbered until demonstrations in Prague took place in October of 1988 in honour of the anniversary of the Republic . The Candle Demonstration, however, has been mentioned only marginally in scholarly works, especially in the Czech Republic, and in the evaluation of the antiCommunist resistance in Czechoslovakia as a whole. 4. State Symbols and Anniversaries. Anniversaries commemorating national and state history have the greatest mobilizing potential in any society. Perhaps some of them are emblazoned with legends, but they are able to attract people to commemorate, and, on the other hand to demonstrate against a ruling regime if they think that it flouts tradition. They are associated with patriotism in the best sense of the word. The opposition in the surrounding countries, as well as in the Czech Republic, used such anniversaries to organize demonstrations against the ruling communist regimes. In Budapest, there was a demonstration on the 15th of March, which hearkened back to the Revolution of 1848. In Prague, October 28 was the anniversary of the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, and in Poland there are many such anniversaries. The taking of one ' s life for the common good also has a great potential to mobilize people. The self-immolation of Jan Palach in Prague in January of 1969 is a good example. In November of 1989, a false rumor circulated in Prague about the death of a student during 86 SLOVAKIA a demonstration on the 17th of November, commemorating the Nazi suppression of a student demonstration in 1939. It was sufficient to spark demonstrations across the country. Slovakia did not have such an anniversary. Slovakia also does not perceive the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 as being a historical event with significant mobilization potential. But this is not the place to discuss the causes . State traditions could only apply to the Slovak Republic which existed from 1939 to 1945, and which was allied with Nazi Germany. Those traditions could not be used. The Slovak National Uprising of 1944 did not leave any clear message - again this is not the place to discuss the reasons - and its message was in any case attributed to the communist regime. The death of General M. R. Stefanik had a certain mobilizing potential in itself, which was used by the Slovak opposition at Brad lo in May of 1989. Mobilizing impulses which had the greatest potential in the surrounding countries and nations could not be applied in Slovakia. Slovak resistance against Communism, therefore, had to be based on some other mobilizing principle. And that, in every society, is religion. However, it is a more abstract principle compared to significant national and state anniversaries. To organize opposition around religion is, therefore, more difficult. On the other hand, the mobilizing potential of religion does have distortions that are threatened by national and state anniversaries. So far, no one has appreciated that the Candle Demonstration outshone public demonstrations throughout Europe against oppressive regimes based on national and state anniversaries. 5. Velehrad, The Petition of Moravian Catholics. In 1985, a commemoration was held in Moravian Velehrad on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the death of Saint Methodius in Great Moravia. The ceremony was attended by about 150,000 - 200,000 believers, most of them from Slovakia. The Vatican State Secretary, Cardinal Cassaroli, attended. It was a significant anniversary, generally recognized by the people and, of course, remembered in Catholic churches throughout the country. For that reason, the communist regime could not ignore it and sent to Velehrad the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Milan Klusak. In his speech, the minister tried to diminish the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to simply that of a linguistic and cultural mission. For example, SLOVAKIA 87 he did not call them Saints Cyril and Methodius, but only Cyril and Methodius . The audience booed him, shouting "Saints Cyril and Methodius" and the gathering turned into a demonstration against the regime. In the autumn 1987, a Moravian farmer, Augustin Navratil, addressed to the communist authorities 31 requests of Moravian Catholics pertaining to religious freedom. The requests were written in simple, understandable language. After being supported by Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek of Prague, Navratil began to collect signatures for his petition. By the beginning of 1988, half a million people had signed the petition, two thirds of them from Slovakia. This petition was the largest in the Communist Bloc. The signatures revealed that the underground church was active in all of Slovakia and that it had a clear leadership. Of course, such leadership had to remain underground, and could not, for example, emulate Charter 77. However, the number of signatures and their method of collection sent a signal to the regime that there was an invisible enemy which could, under certain circumstances, rise up and become uncontrollable. Velehrad, as well as the petition of the Moravian Catholics, are also only marginally mentioned in the analysis of anti-Communist resistance in the whole of Czechoslovakia. 6. Cooperation of Dissenters. During "normalization," dissent against the regime developed simultaneously in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic . In Slovakia, it was specifically Christian dissent and so-called "civil" dissent. Each of them was based on its own conditions and initially operated only internally. From the end of the 1970s, the StB in Slovakia had concluded that there was a risk of a major strengthening of dissenters if the Christian dissidents were to join with civil dissidents in Slovakia and the Slovak and Czech di ssidents within Czechoslovakia. Within its capabilities, the StB tried to maintain the isolation of individual dissident movements. There was some interaction between them, but it was too weak to unite them. In the mid 1980' s, contacts and mutual assistance intensified so much that it finally allowed the coordination of such dissident movements. In Slovakia, the newly-born Green Movement, as well as independent artists, began to partake in civil and Christian dissent. Christian activists began to meet on 88 SLOVAKIA a regular basis with purged Party members. The now-deceased Milan Simecka, a Moravian living in Bratislava, connected the Slovak and Czech dissents and encouraged many activists from Slovakia to travel to meetings in Prague. It must be said that the connection between the Czech and Slovak Catholic dissents had existed for a long time, following the message of the Croatian Jesuit priest Tomislav Poglajen - Kolakovic in the l 940 's . Very little has been written about Kolakovic. His followers spent many years in Slovak and Czech prisons. After having been released, they used to meet regularly and maintained the Slovak-Czech dialogue, which has lasted until the present day. The cooperation of dissidents in the 1980's helped to prepare the way for the November, 1989 revolution in Slovakia. 7. The Assistance of Czech Dissents. The appearance of Charter 77 was a milestone in the anti-Communist movement in Czechoslovakia. The Charter showed that public opposition against a regime is possible, but at the price of great sacrifice. Samizdat journals began to appear as a result. Petitions were organized for the freeing of political prisoners, and so on. The samizdat periodical press in Slovakia followed the lead of samizdat periodical press in the Czech Republic. Czech forms of resistance against Communism, which were transferable to Slovakia, became a source of inspiration. The State Security in Slovakia tried to label any opposition as a continuation of the Slovak People 's Party, clerical fascism and so on. For foreign defenders of dissdents, it was difficult to tell when communist propaganda was truthful and when it was lying. That was also the case with Ivan Polansky, who was arrested in 1987 and accused of supporting and spreading fascism. Ivan Polansky had prepared a samizdat volume on the Reverend Andrej Hlinka, founder of the Slovak People's Party, and a police search of Polansky's house also revealed materials concerning Jozef Tiso, president of the wartime Slovak Republic. In the end, Charter 77 stood up for Ivan Polansky and the publishers of the Czech samizdat press signed a declaration in which they dared the police to arrest them for carrying out the same activities as Polansky. Whether Ivan Polansky was a clerical fascist or not, it was enough for Wes tern publicists to believe that he was not, and they gave him full publicity SLOVAKIA 89 and diplomatic support. This was similar to events in February of 1988, when the communist daily Pravda in Bratislava and its counterpart Rude Pravo in Prague published a series of articles denouncing Pavo) Camogursky, the author's father. The articles focused on the activities of Pavo! Carnogursky during the first Slovak Republic. Vaclav Havel, the most prominent of the Czech dissidents, persuaded his followers to sign a declaration in support of Pavo! Camogursky. Havel also used his contacts to transmit messages about Pavo! Carnogursky through various channels in the Prague diplomatic corps. In Slovakia, none of that was possible. The assistance of the Czech dissents significantly improved the chances of the defense of Slovak dissidents in case they were arrested. 8. The Speed of the Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia. The comparison of the speed of the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and, perhaps in other countries, has also become mythical. Based on such comparisons, Czechoslovakia comes out the best since the regime fell in about two weeks. Perhaps it would be useful to have a closer look at the reality. The regime fell quickly in Czechoslovakia for two reasons, one external and one internal. The external reason was that by the 17th of November, 1989 the Berlin wall had already fallen in Eastern Germany, the non-communist government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki was already established in Poland, Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika was already working in the Soviet Union and Hungary was allowing East Germans to escape into Austria. Thus, Czechoslovakia was already de facto surrounded by non-Communist Poland and countries with qualitatively different styles of Communism (the Democratic Republic of Germany, the Soviet Union and Hungary). In geopolitical terms, there was nothing the Czechoslovak communist regime could do than to give up. Furthermore, the communist regime in Czechoslovakia could not rely on internal support, because it had none. Communists were also not willing to fight for their regime. Resistance would mean ineviable defeat for the Communists, followed by their imprisonment and punishment. None of them was willing to take such a risk. The internal reason was the unity of the opposition. This unity consisted in the fact that the opposition in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic wan- 90 SLOVAKIA ted only free elections, a parliamentary democracy, a market economy and European integration. The Slovak opposition did not demand a change in Slovakia's national status. The only small difference lay in its support of Alexander Dubcek' s candidacy for the post of the President of the Republic. The Slovak opposition however, represented by VPN (Public Against Violence), supported Vaclav Havel 's candidacy. Opposition in Czechoslovakia in November and December 1989 was almost exclusively based on demonstrations in cities that were attended by thousands of people. Had any media reports on major differences in the attitude of Czech and Slovak oppositions penetrated the public, it could have significantly reduced the willingness of people to demonstrate in city squares. It was also important that Vaclav Havel was adopted as a generally-recognized symbol of the Velvet Revolution. If any other groups had made other demands, for example purged Slovak Party members pushing Dubcek' s candidacy for the post of the President, they would have failed. Their position was weak because, in previous years, they had not joined in the resistance against the communist regime. Later proponents of the independence of Slovakia had no record of showing resistance against Communism in the form of samizdat or other ways. Therefore, they were ignored in the first few months following the revolution. Prematurely raising requirements for a change in the national status of Czechoslovakia could have significantly weakened the pressure on the communist regime and, in fact, would have given it new legitimacy. The main challenge in November and December of 1989 was to overthrow Communism. Harmonization and balancing of the national form of resistance against Communism in the Czech Republic and Slovakia also contributed to the rapidity of the fall of Communism. After the creation of Charter 77, the Czech opposition against Communism took the lead in the Republic. Based on future analyses, historians will perhaps come to the conclusion that a certain balance was established sometime around 1987 between the Slovak and Czech opposition. In Slovakia, the Greens came out with the publication Bratislava nahlas (Bratislava Aloud), which preceded the results of the Green Movement in the Czech Republic. This was followed by the petition of Moravian Catholics and the Candle Demonstration. American historian Padraic Kenney wrote that in the mid 1980's an exhaustion and weariness of the original anti-Communist movements occurred in SLOVAKIA 91 several former communist countries and the initiative was then taken by new, emerging, movements . This finding could perhaps also apply to Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia has a complicated history because it consisted of two founding nations which were linguistically close, but differed culturally . The course of the resistance against Communism, and eventually the breakdown of the Republic, have created new, and seemingly better, relations between the Slovaks and the Czechs. However, these remain to be tested during future crises. REVIEW ESSAY  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Myths Regarding the Anti-Communist Resistance in Slovakia Description An account of the resource Ján Čarnogurský Slovakia, Vol. 40 (No. 74-75), 2010 pp. 81-91 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čarnogurský, Ján, 1944- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/1951bd42fdbbf67544fc5306088ea250.pdf 6b22492b534f792f66247946149db4bb PDF Text Text u SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAKS AND PRESIDENT EISENHOWER Matthew Cernak What do the Slovaik s expect of President Eisenhower ? From the Government orf President Eisenhower we expect a new American politcy: basica:lly, a change of policy toward Bolshevism and, secondly, a change of policy as far as the Slova;k nation is concerned. During the past three decades the Unlted States of North America has shown very little understanding for the nwtural and self-evident right of the Slovaks to independentce. The Sllova:k nation cannot logicaHy understand why this should be so. This la:ck of understanding for the fundamental right of the Slo;va'k nation is all the more striking, ibecause the USA has always aippeared everywhere; from its very ibeginnmg, in the spirit of the beautiful tra;diibions of Wa;shinigton and Jefferson as the ipioneer of national rights and freedom. The Declaration of Lndependance, Wilson's "Fourteen Points," and the principles of the Atlantic Charter - all these in principle express the equal right of the Slovaks to freedom and independence, the ri•g ht to statehood amd the right to a government of their choke. And America,ns oif Slovak descent proba:bly have been more amazed and confused by the situation than there brethren in Slovakia, ,beca;use they had brought these "self-evident" ,t ruths to the attention of their Government many times in the past. This striking conf:liot between the princip1es of American pol11ey on the one hand, amd the practical appli~ation of them in the Slovak instance, on the other, undoubtedly is not the result of hostile intentions toward the Slovruk nation, hut rather the resu1t of incorrect information. It is certamly :p1aiimy evident ,t hat leading Amerioan statesmen olb tained their knowledge about the Slovruks and the Slovak problem mainly from the silty sources of Dr. Edward Benes and his odllalborators. Knowingly they misinformed the entire western world a}bout Slovakia and the Sloviaks to rpromote their fa;ntastic, undemocratic schemes in the intereE.t of Czech imperialism. �SLOVAKIA 23 Today the western world /better knows Benes and his colla'borators for what they really were than it did in the past deoa.des. The greaJt trust enjoyed by Benes in the West and his unreal conception had bad effects not only for the Sloivak nation, ibut even for his own Czech nation ailld for the who1le western world. It was the misfortune of aU of us that the West woike up too late to rea'1ize the fact that Benes was most instrumental in clearililg the wary for Bo1she!Vism into Central Europe. Benes is, therefore respoTI!Silble in a large measure for the terrilble siituation of the world today, which is costing all of us, and even the America.in people, plenty in material goods and blood. Benes, it seems, learned nothing from history; he knew what happened to the Russi:an nation under Communism and he witnessed what had !happened in Poland; but he still insisted on te'.l:ling the western world that this could not and would not hruppen ,t o Czecho~S!lovakia. He promoted StaHn and Moscow in Britain and the United States; they were gullible, a.ind the whole world is paying dearly for it today. Unfortunatelry, even some leading personalities of the Democratic Party of the lJIS!A became the victims of the Sovietophile, simultaneaously the a,nti-Sfovak, prop~anda of the Benesites. In poiwer, they even invited some orf them to the USA to work in va:r.i,ou:s agencies of government, even though the Truman AdministraJtion must have known that most olf them were members of the Commimljgt-tlominated National Fro:nt Government from 1'945 to 1948 and, thernfore, responsilble in a measure for the insta:Uation of the tyranny of Communism in Ozecho..:Slorvakia. Since Mr. Eisenhower has taken office, indli'catioills are that he and his party will not trust any advi1ce or information which mlight lbe offered .b y the Benesites in the so-called ''Council of Free Ozechoslovakia." They were not reliaJble in matters concerning the USSR and are no more reliaJble in oither ·matters, including even the Slovak question. They certainly do- not represent the ,w,i.Jl o,f the Slovak nation, and it ·is sedous1y doUJbted that they speak even for the Czechs ,a:t home or in exile. Positiive e~res- �SLOVAKIA sions of various memlbera of Congress of the USA aJbout the inherent rights of the Slovaks confirm our position in this rega:rd. ·' It is known that the RepUJblican Party of the USA has hitherto regarded the .American pol.icy towaTd Moscow as not suffilCiently self~conscious and out of line with .Ame11:i'can interests. lit haJS regarded rand stm rega:rds Acheson's thesis o!f contaiinmenrt ,a s not sufficient and insists on a firnner polioy of sUJppressinig Bolshevism. This is something thait the people lbehind the Iron Curtain waited a looig time to hear. And ,t he sooner the words are translated into action, the !better. General IDisenhower exipressed this clearly at the American Legion Convention in New York on Aug.ust 25, 195Q, when he said : "We must telil the Kremlin that never shall we desist i,n ouir aid to every man a'IId woman of those shackled lands who seeks refuge with us, any man who keeps burning among his own people the flame of freedom or who js ded!1ciarted to the Hbeiration of his fellows." From this staltement, a:nd others 'b y Eisenhower and other Repulblicam statements, it is evident that a systematic, energetic and firm poli:oy to surppress Bolesheviism is being planned. I beliEWe, itlherefore, that our hope is justified that American polilcy will endeavor, with the dose cooperation of aU an,ti"Bolshevik forces, to helip all the haipless nations behind the · Iron Curtain to freedom, including the Slovak nation. The Slovaks, however, welcome not only this general change in the course of American policy, but have motives to welcome even the ipoliiey' of the new Repulblicam government toward the Slovak na,,tron. A number of Repulblican members of Congress have openly stated that they aTe for the realization of the desires of SlOV!ak nation for its own staJte. Senator Robert Taift of Ohio did not hesitaite to express his views in this regard, neither did the new President of the USA, Dwiig'ht D. Eisenhower. We hope, theretfore, thait the new .Americam President, together with his oo-workers and the whole American nation will. bring aJbout a necessary a:nd invitaJble, erpochai and �26 SLOVA.KIA ipolirtioail corrootion cxf the western Christian world in regard to .t he tyranny cxf Bol,s hevism, but also a corresponding change in policy towaTd the SllQ!Vak nation. By doing so, he will render service to the truth and the ndble principles of Woodrow Wilson and the Atlantic Charter, as well a:s all idears of freedom whi~h have from the time of Geo:r,ge W a'Shington 'been the pride of the American people. In this sense we w.i-sh President Dwight D. Eisenhower a mu!ltitude of God's blessing on all his ructions . • • • WHO SAID IT7 "It can be said w ,ithout hesitation that the Czecho-Slovak Government-in-Exile has accepted the leadership of Moscow freely and voluntarily. The Czecho.,Slovak Government-in-Exile became the full ally of Moscow ·by the pact signed in Moscow last year. and when Dr. Be- nes went baclk to the part of Czecho•Slovakia li•b erated by the Russians, he went by way of •Moscow. The new provisional government he set up in Ko.sice was th1:i result of consultatioru; in Moscow conducted, it seems, very much under the pressure of the CZECH Communist ,g,roup there. For although it was ignored by the American Press, 1:iven Czecho-Slovakfa had her mvn Moscow group, a distinctly Commun'istic councB, headed by the CZECH Communist leader, Klement Gottwald, ,a nd the intellectual leader of CZECH Commundsts, Profossor Zdenek Nej,edly. Th€ difference betwe1:in the CZECH commilttee in Moscow and the Polish grouip there was that the CZECH Government-inExile was in complete agreement with the CZECH Com. munist group in Moscow with respect to the Russian orientation." E. M. Voyta, AMERICA, June 9, 1945. • • • The author of the above quote is a CZECH, formerly of Prague, now residing in the Unit1:id States, who saw and reported events objectiv1:ily. Voyta calls a CZECH a CZECH, and not a "CZECHOSLOVAK," as the propaganda of Dr. Benes did when it suited its purpose to confu:se the western world. The Slovak nation had nothing to do with the 1Moscow deal but, n1:iv1:irtheless, had to surfor the consequen,ces of it. The "Czecho,Slo,v ak Government-in-Exile" mentioned by Voyta was selected by Dr. Edward Benes ; it repres1:inted not the wiil of the Czech and Slovak nations, ,b ut only the wlll of Dr. Benes. Slovaks, es·pecially those of America, condemned Ben1:is and his proSoviet policy long before 1945, but their's was but voice in the wilderness. Today we know they wer1:i right in th1:ilr claim that Benes •s old out to Mo.scow. a • • • we "Don't believe the stupid Nazi perol"aitlons saying tha.t are in the service ot England OR THAT THE SOVIET UNION WISHES TO INCLUDE US WITHIN ITS BOUNDARIES. We are a free and independent state. We are the friends of ALL DEMOCRATIC, treedomlovlng nations, o! the SOVIETS, as well as or Brita.in and America." - (Dr. Bene§, Broadcast to Czechoslovakia, London, June 24, 1943) � u SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAKS AND PRESIDENT EISENHOWER Matthew Cernak What do the Slovaik s expect of President Eisenhower ? From the Government orf President Eisenhower we expect a new American politcy: basica:lly, a change of policy toward Bolshevism and, secondly, a change of policy as far as the Slova;k nation is concerned. During the past three decades the Unlted States of North America has shown very little understanding for the nwtural and self-evident right of the Slovaks to independentce. The Sllova:k nation cannot logicaHy understand why this should be so. This la:ck of understanding for the fundamental right of the Slo;va'k nation is all the more striking, ibecause the USA has always aippeared everywhere; from its very ibeginnmg, in the spirit of the beautiful tra;diibions of Wa;shinigton and Jefferson as the ipioneer of national rights and freedom. The Declaration of Lndependance, Wilson's "Fourteen Points," and the principles of the Atlantic Charter - all these in principle express the equal right of the Slovaks to freedom and independence, the ri•g ht to statehood amd the right to a government of their choke. And America,ns oif Slovak descent proba:bly have been more amazed and confused by the situation than there brethren in Slovakia, ,beca;use they had brought these "self-evident" ,t ruths to the attention of their Government many times in the past. This striking conf:liot between the princip1es of American pol11ey on the one hand, amd the practical appli~ation of them in the Slovak instance, on the other, undoubtedly is not the result of hostile intentions toward the Slovruk nation, hut rather the resu1t of incorrect information. It is certamly :p1aiimy evident ,t hat leading Amerioan statesmen olb tained their knowledge about the Slovruks and the Slovak problem mainly from the silty sources of Dr. Edward Benes and his odllalborators. Knowingly they misinformed the entire western world a}bout Slovakia and the Sloviaks to rpromote their fa;ntastic, undemocratic schemes in the intereE.t of Czech imperialism. �SLOVAKIA 23 Today the western world /better knows Benes and his colla'borators for what they really were than it did in the past deoa.des. The greaJt trust enjoyed by Benes in the West and his unreal conception had bad effects not only for the Sloivak nation, ibut even for his own Czech nation ailld for the who1le western world. It was the misfortune of aU of us that the West woike up too late to rea'1ize the fact that Benes was most instrumental in clearililg the wary for Bo1she!Vism into Central Europe. Benes is, therefore respoTI!Silble in a large measure for the terrilble siituation of the world today, which is costing all of us, and even the America.in people, plenty in material goods and blood. Benes, it seems, learned nothing from history; he knew what happened to the Russi:an nation under Communism and he witnessed what had !happened in Poland; but he still insisted on te'.l:ling the western world that this could not and would not hruppen ,t o Czecho~S!lovakia. He promoted StaHn and Moscow in Britain and the United States; they were gullible, a.ind the whole world is paying dearly for it today. Unfortunatelry, even some leading personalities of the Democratic Party of the lJIS!A became the victims of the Sovietophile, simultaneaously the a,nti-Sfovak, prop~anda of the Benesites. In poiwer, they even invited some orf them to the USA to work in va:r.i,ou:s agencies of government, even though the Truman AdministraJtion must have known that most olf them were members of the Commimljgt-tlominated National Fro:nt Government from 1'945 to 1948 and, thernfore, responsilble in a measure for the insta:Uation of the tyranny of Communism in Ozecho..:Slorvakia. Since Mr. Eisenhower has taken office, indli'catioills are that he and his party will not trust any advi1ce or information which mlight lbe offered .b y the Benesites in the so-called ''Council of Free Ozechoslovakia." They were not reliaJble in matters concerning the USSR and are no more reliaJble in oither ·matters, including even the Slovak question. They certainly do- not represent the ,w,i.Jl o,f the Slovak nation, and it ·is sedous1y doUJbted that they speak even for the Czechs ,a:t home or in exile. Positiive e~res- �SLOVAKIA sions of various memlbera of Congress of the USA aJbout the inherent rights of the Slovaks confirm our position in this rega:rd. ·' It is known that the RepUJblican Party of the USA has hitherto regarded the .American pol.icy towaTd Moscow as not suffilCiently self~conscious and out of line with .Ame11:i'can interests. lit haJS regarded rand stm rega:rds Acheson's thesis o!f contaiinmenrt ,a s not sufficient and insists on a firnner polioy of sUJppressinig Bolshevism. This is something thait the people lbehind the Iron Curtain waited a looig time to hear. And ,t he sooner the words are translated into action, the !better. General IDisenhower exipressed this clearly at the American Legion Convention in New York on Aug.ust 25, 195Q, when he said : "We must telil the Kremlin that never shall we desist i,n ouir aid to every man a'IId woman of those shackled lands who seeks refuge with us, any man who keeps burning among his own people the flame of freedom or who js ded!1ciarted to the Hbeiration of his fellows." From this staltement, a:nd others 'b y Eisenhower and other Repulblicam statements, it is evident that a systematic, energetic and firm poli:oy to surppress Bolesheviism is being planned. I beliEWe, itlherefore, that our hope is justified that American polilcy will endeavor, with the dose cooperation of aU an,ti"Bolshevik forces, to helip all the haipless nations behind the · Iron Curtain to freedom, including the Slovak nation. The Slovaks, however, welcome not only this general change in the course of American policy, but have motives to welcome even the ipoliiey' of the new Repulblicam government toward the Slovak na,,tron. A number of Repulblican members of Congress have openly stated that they aTe for the realization of the desires of SlOV!ak nation for its own staJte. Senator Robert Taift of Ohio did not hesitaite to express his views in this regard, neither did the new President of the USA, Dwiig'ht D. Eisenhower. We hope, theretfore, thait the new .Americam President, together with his oo-workers and the whole American nation will. bring aJbout a necessary a:nd invitaJble, erpochai and �26 SLOVA.KIA ipolirtioail corrootion cxf the western Christian world in regard to .t he tyranny cxf Bol,s hevism, but also a corresponding change in policy towaTd the SllQ!Vak nation. By doing so, he will render service to the truth and the ndble principles of Woodrow Wilson and the Atlantic Charter, as well a:s all idears of freedom whi~h have from the time of Geo:r,ge W a'Shington 'been the pride of the American people. In this sense we w.i-sh President Dwight D. Eisenhower a mu!ltitude of God's blessing on all his ructions . • • • WHO SAID IT7 "It can be said w ,ithout hesitation that the Czecho-Slovak Government-in-Exile has accepted the leadership of Moscow freely and voluntarily. The Czecho.,Slovak Government-in-Exile became the full ally of Moscow ·by the pact signed in Moscow last year. and when Dr. Be- nes went baclk to the part of Czecho•Slovakia li•b erated by the Russians, he went by way of •Moscow. The new provisional government he set up in Ko.sice was th1:i result of consultatioru; in Moscow conducted, it seems, very much under the pressure of the CZECH Communist ,g,roup there. For although it was ignored by the American Press, 1:iven Czecho-Slovakfa had her mvn Moscow group, a distinctly Commun'istic councB, headed by the CZECH Communist leader, Klement Gottwald, ,a nd the intellectual leader of CZECH Commundsts, Profossor Zdenek Nej,edly. Th€ difference betwe1:in the CZECH commilttee in Moscow and the Polish grouip there was that the CZECH Government-inExile was in complete agreement with the CZECH Com. munist group in Moscow with respect to the Russian orientation." E. M. Voyta, AMERICA, June 9, 1945. • • • The author of the above quote is a CZECH, formerly of Prague, now residing in the Unit1:id States, who saw and reported events objectiv1:ily. Voyta calls a CZECH a CZECH, and not a "CZECHOSLOVAK," as the propaganda of Dr. Benes did when it suited its purpose to confu:se the western world. The Slovak nation had nothing to do with the 1Moscow deal but, n1:iv1:irtheless, had to surfor the consequen,ces of it. The "Czecho,Slo,v ak Government-in-Exile" mentioned by Voyta was selected by Dr. Edward Benes ; it repres1:inted not the wiil of the Czech and Slovak nations, ,b ut only the wlll of Dr. Benes. Slovaks, es·pecially those of America, condemned Ben1:is and his proSoviet policy long before 1945, but their's was but voice in the wilderness. Today we know they wer1:i right in th1:ilr claim that Benes •s old out to Mo.scow. a • • • we "Don't believe the stupid Nazi perol"aitlons saying tha.t are in the service ot England OR THAT THE SOVIET UNION WISHES TO INCLUDE US WITHIN ITS BOUNDARIES. We are a free and independent state. We are the friends of ALL DEMOCRATIC, treedomlovlng nations, o! the SOVIETS, as well as or Brita.in and America." - (Dr. Bene§, Broadcast to Czechoslovakia, London, June 24, 1943) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1953, Vol. 3 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 6), April 1953.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 7), July 1953.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 8), September 1953.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 9), December 1953.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1953 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 22 SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAKS AND PRESIDENT EISENHOWER Matthew Cernak What do the Slovaik s expect of President Eisenhower ? From the Government orf President Eisenhower we expect a new American politcy: basica:lly, a change of policy toward Bolshevism and, secondly, a change of policy as far as the Slova;k nation is concerned. During the past three decades the Unlted States of North America has shown very little understanding for the nwtural and self-evident right of the Slovaks to independentce. The Sllova:k nation cannot logicaHy understand why this should be so. This la:ck of understanding for the fundamental right of the Slo;va'k nation is all the more striking, ibecause the USA has always aippeared everywhere; from its very ibeginnmg, in the spirit of the beautiful tra;diibions of Wa;shinigton and Jefferson as the ipioneer of national rights and freedom. The Declaration of Lndependance, Wilson's "Fourteen Points," and the principles of the Atlantic Charter - all these in principle express the equal right of the Slovaks to freedom and independence, the ri•g ht to statehood amd the right to a government of their choke. And America,ns oif Slovak descent proba:bly have been more amazed and confused by the situation than there brethren in Slovakia, ,beca;use they had brought these "self-evident" ,t ruths to the attention of their Government many times in the past. This striking conf:liot between the princip1es of American pol11ey on the one hand, amd the practical appli~ation of them in the Slovak instance, on the other, undoubtedly is not the result of hostile intentions toward the Slovruk nation, hut rather the resu1t of incorrect information. It is certamly :p1aiimy evident ,t hat leading Amerioan statesmen olb tained their knowledge about the Slovruks and the Slovak problem mainly from the silty sources of Dr. Edward Benes and his odllalborators. Knowingly they misinformed the entire western world a}bout Slovakia and the Sloviaks to rpromote their fa;ntastic, undemocratic schemes in the intereE.t of Czech imperialism. SLOVAKIA 23 Today the western world /better knows Benes and his colla'borators for what they really were than it did in the past deoa.des. The greaJt trust enjoyed by Benes in the West and his unreal conception had bad effects not only for the Sloivak nation, ibut even for his own Czech nation ailld for the who1le western world. It was the misfortune of aU of us that the West woike up too late to rea'1ize the fact that Benes was most instrumental in clearililg the wary for Bo1she!Vism into Central Europe. Benes is, therefore respoTI!Silble in a large measure for the terrilble siituation of the world today, which is costing all of us, and even the America.in people, plenty in material goods and blood. Benes, it seems, learned nothing from history; he knew what happened to the Russi:an nation under Communism and he witnessed what had !happened in Poland; but he still insisted on te'.l:ling the western world that this could not and would not hruppen ,t o Czecho~S!lovakia. He promoted StaHn and Moscow in Britain and the United States; they were gullible, a.ind the whole world is paying dearly for it today. Unfortunatelry, even some leading personalities of the Democratic Party of the lJIS!A became the victims of the Sovietophile, simultaneaously the a,nti-Sfovak, prop~anda of the Benesites. In poiwer, they even invited some orf them to the USA to work in va:r.i,ou:s agencies of government, even though the Truman AdministraJtion must have known that most olf them were members of the Commimljgt-tlominated National Fro:nt Government from 1'945 to 1948 and, thernfore, responsilble in a measure for the insta:Uation of the tyranny of Communism in Ozecho..:Slorvakia. Since Mr. Eisenhower has taken office, indli'catioills are that he and his party will not trust any advi1ce or information which mlight lbe offered .b y the Benesites in the so-called ''Council of Free Ozechoslovakia." They were not reliaJble in matters concerning the USSR and are no more reliaJble in oither ·matters, including even the Slovak question. They certainly do- not represent the ,w,i.Jl o,f the Slovak nation, and it ·is sedous1y doUJbted that they speak even for the Czechs ,a:t home or in exile. Positiive e~res- SLOVAKIA sions of various memlbera of Congress of the USA aJbout the inherent rights of the Slovaks confirm our position in this rega:rd. ·' It is known that the RepUJblican Party of the USA has hitherto regarded the .American pol.icy towaTd Moscow as not suffilCiently self~conscious and out of line with .Ame11:i'can interests. lit haJS regarded rand stm rega:rds Acheson's thesis o!f contaiinmenrt ,a s not sufficient and insists on a firnner polioy of sUJppressinig Bolshevism. This is something thait the people lbehind the Iron Curtain waited a looig time to hear. And ,t he sooner the words are translated into action, the !better. General IDisenhower exipressed this clearly at the American Legion Convention in New York on Aug.ust 25, 195Q, when he said : "We must telil the Kremlin that never shall we desist i,n ouir aid to every man a'IId woman of those shackled lands who seeks refuge with us, any man who keeps burning among his own people the flame of freedom or who js ded!1ciarted to the Hbeiration of his fellows." From this staltement, a:nd others 'b y Eisenhower and other Repulblicam statements, it is evident that a systematic, energetic and firm poli:oy to surppress Bolesheviism is being planned. I beliEWe, itlherefore, that our hope is justified that American polilcy will endeavor, with the dose cooperation of aU an,ti"Bolshevik forces, to helip all the haipless nations behind the · Iron Curtain to freedom, including the Slovak nation. The Slovaks, however, welcome not only this general change in the course of American policy, but have motives to welcome even the ipoliiey' of the new Repulblicam government toward the Slovak na,,tron. A number of Repulblican members of Congress have openly stated that they aTe for the realization of the desires of SlOV!ak nation for its own staJte. Senator Robert Taift of Ohio did not hesitaite to express his views in this regard, neither did the new President of the USA, Dwiig'ht D. Eisenhower. We hope, theretfore, thait the new .Americam President, together with his oo-workers and the whole American nation will. bring aJbout a necessary a:nd invitaJble, erpochai and 26 SLOVA.KIA ipolirtioail corrootion cxf the western Christian world in regard to .t he tyranny cxf Bol,s hevism, but also a corresponding change in policy towaTd the SllQ!Vak nation. By doing so, he will render service to the truth and the ndble principles of Woodrow Wilson and the Atlantic Charter, as well a:s all idears of freedom whi~h have from the time of Geo:r,ge W a'Shington 'been the pride of the American people. In this sense we w.i-sh President Dwight D. Eisenhower a mu!ltitude of God's blessing on all his ructions . • • • WHO SAID IT7 "It can be said w ,ithout hesitation that the Czecho-Slovak Government-in-Exile has accepted the leadership of Moscow freely and voluntarily. The Czecho.,Slovak Government-in-Exile became the full ally of Moscow ·by the pact signed in Moscow last year. and when Dr. Be- nes went baclk to the part of Czecho•Slovakia li•b erated by the Russians, he went by way of •Moscow. The new provisional government he set up in Ko.sice was th1:i result of consultatioru; in Moscow conducted, it seems, very much under the pressure of the CZECH Communist ,g,roup there. For although it was ignored by the American Press, 1:iven Czecho-Slovakfa had her mvn Moscow group, a distinctly Commun'istic councB, headed by the CZECH Communist leader, Klement Gottwald, ,a nd the intellectual leader of CZECH Commundsts, Profossor Zdenek Nej,edly. Th€ difference betwe1:in the CZECH commilttee in Moscow and the Polish grouip there was that the CZECH Government-inExile was in complete agreement with the CZECH Com. munist group in Moscow with respect to the Russian orientation." E. M. Voyta, AMERICA, June 9, 1945. • • • The author of the above quote is a CZECH, formerly of Prague, now residing in the Unit1:id States, who saw and reported events objectiv1:ily. Voyta calls a CZECH a CZECH, and not a "CZECHOSLOVAK," as the propaganda of Dr. Benes did when it suited its purpose to confu:se the western world. The Slovak nation had nothing to do with the 1Moscow deal but, n1:iv1:irtheless, had to surfor the consequen,ces of it. The "Czecho,Slo,v ak Government-in-Exile" mentioned by Voyta was selected by Dr. Edward Benes ; it repres1:inted not the wiil of the Czech and Slovak nations, ,b ut only the wlll of Dr. Benes. Slovaks, es·pecially those of America, condemned Ben1:is and his proSoviet policy long before 1945, but their's was but voice in the wilderness. Today we know they wer1:i right in th1:ilr claim that Benes •s old out to Mo.scow. a • • • we "Don't believe the stupid Nazi perol"aitlons saying tha.t are in the service ot England OR THAT THE SOVIET UNION WISHES TO INCLUDE US WITHIN ITS BOUNDARIES. We are a free and independent state. We are the friends of ALL DEMOCRATIC, treedomlovlng nations, o! the SOVIETS, as well as or Brita.in and America." - (Dr. Bene§, Broadcast to Czechoslovakia, London, June 24, 1943)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Slovaks and President Eisenhower Description An account of the resource Matthew Černák Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 1 (6), April 1953 pp. 22-25 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Černák, Matthew Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 1953 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0a4186c45f469a6e25c3397d9b2e72f1.pdf 8565f71f4a21fc7514fbf5cb042e30d2 PDF Text Text 28 SLOVAKIA-2017 A SURVEY OF SLOVAK COMMUNITIES OF THE BYZANTINE RITE IN CANADA BEFORE THEY RECEIVED THEIR OWN BISHOPRIC Daniel Cerny When we look at Catholic immigration to the USA and Canada, only one bishopric in those coutries is called by the name of the nations of the so-called Visegrad Group- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Surprisingly, this ecclesiastical structure is not of the Latin rite. It is the Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodious for Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in Canada. When created in 1980, a postcard with a map of Slovak Greek Catholic settlements in Canada was published. The aim of this paper is to present a historical overview of these communities until the Eparchy was created. The late professor Michael Lacko, SJ wrote the first history of these par1 ishes. However, this paper adds some new information, making this survey more accurate and updated. Some of the reasons why these people immigrated to Canada were the changes to the immigration laws in the USA enacted by Congress in June of 1921 and also in July of 1924. 2 Our research on Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada shows that the majority were descendenats of immigrants who came to Canada between 1926 and 1939 (when the borders were open), to be joined by the immigration waves of 1945 - 1950 and of 1968. For the first immigrants the church was in many cases the most important part of their life. Here they were not forced to speak a foreign language, it was like being at home - the same rite, dialects, family, friends, sometimes even neighbors, the same customs. However this also could be harmful in the sense that it created an ethnic 1 Cf. Lacko, Michal, "A Brief Survey of the History of the Slovak Catholics of the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite," Slovak Studies, III (1963), 199 - 224. 2 Based on these regulations, after June of 1921 only 14,269 Czechoslovak citizens were allowed to immigrate annually to the USA, and after July 1924, only 3,073. Cf. Bielik, Frantisek- Rakos, Elo: Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo (Dokumenty II. - 19191939) (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1975), 51, footnote 2. �SLOVAKIA-2017 29 ghetto - which was probably fine for the first generation, but no longer so for the following ones. Only those places which experienced large numbers of new immigrants in later years, or were open to new people from outside entering "their" church, were able to continue to flourish . The history of these communities includes the creation of their own Slovak deanery (1957) and the consecration of their own Slovak 3 bishop ( 1964) in the person of Michael Rusnak, CSsR, who was for many years an Apostolic Visitator of these communities. Only two Slovak Greek Catholics participated on the Vatican II Council. One layman and one clergyman. The layman was the Canadian-Slovak multimilllionaire Stephen B. Roman, who participated from the third session on and bishop Michal Rusnak, who participated in the fourth and final session. The use of the vernacular, which was encouraged by Vatican II, resulted in more and more celebrations in English among the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada (the translations were done by the Greek Catholics in the Ruthenian Church in the USA), but not so in modem Slovak. Thus the Church lost many people from 4 the immigration wave of 1968. 3 Michael Rusnak was born on August 21, 1921 in Beaverdale, Pennsylvania. His mother and siblings returned with him to Slovakia during the Great Depression. He was ordained a Redemptorist priest by Bishop Pau l Gojdic, OSBM in Jul y of 1949. After the forced liquidation of the Greek Catholic church in Czechoslovakia, Rusnak was arrested and placed in the Podolinec monastery, which was turned into a prison camp for the clergy . After fifteen months in vari ous prisons, he escaped and, thanks to his American citizenship, he was allowed to emigrate to America. Ru snak went to Canada in 1951 and started to establish Slovak Greek Catholic parishes. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishop of Toronto, the Most Reverend Isidore Borecky, named Father Rusnak dean for Slovak Greek-Catholic parishes belonging to his jurisdiction.in 1957. On October 5, 1964, Pope Paul VI elevated Father Rusnak to Auxiliary Bishop to Isidore Borecky and Apostolic Visitator for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada. The process of creating the Slovak Greek Catholic Church in Canada was completed when Pope John Paul II , in his bull Apostolicae Sedis of October 13, 1980, created the Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada. At the same time, the pope appointed aux iliary bishop Michael Rusnak as the eparchi al bishop of this Eparchy . Rusnak retired in 1996 and died on January 16, 2003 and is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Thornhill , Ontario. More about Bishop Michael Rusnak can be found in Cerny, Daniel, Biskup Michael Rusnak, CSsR (Diploma thesis), Presov: Greek Catho lic Theological Faculty of the University of Presov, 2008 . 4 Documents on this topic are in the personal archives of the author (hereafter PAA), and are based on letters from Father Fuga, Father Dubiak and Father Lacko. �30 SLOVAKIA-2017 The author of this article located important documents in various archives, and tiny pieces of the mosaic were found everywhere. Especially valuable were the articles in Maria magazine, which was published from 1955 to 1969 and then from 1976 to I 989; in the second period under the direction of a gifted editor - the late Jozef Suchy. In some cases, we can speak only about individuals, in other cases about a group of dedicated parishioners with only irregular services. The most advanced was the group of individual parishes, which we are about to describe. In 1980 these parishes were incorporated into the newly-created Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada,5 the only Slovak Greek Catholic eparchy in the world, which served as a beacon to the persecuted and oppressed brothers and sisters in Slovakia under the . yo ke. 6 communist PARISHES 1: Lethbridge, Alberta (1921) The oldest Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Canada was in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1885 the first Slovaks came to Lethbridge from 7 Shelby, Montana. Among them was the Veselenak family, Greek 8 Catholics from Nizne Slovinky in Spis county. Local Slovaks formed branch 53 of the Canadian Slovak League (CSL) in 1946. The Slovak Greek Catholic parish of Sts. Peter and Paul was founded in 1921 by coal miners, who came mostly from the Spis villages of Ponic, Zavadka and Slovinky. Before the parish was erected, the faithful organized a branch of the American-based Greek Catholic 5 Cf. L ·o sservatore Romano, December 14, 1980, Articles entitled "Erezione di nuova Eparchia; Provvista di Chiesa; Eretta in Canada Eparchi a di rito bizantino per slovacch i", 1-2. 6 For more on the general history of the Slovak Greek Catholi cs in Canada see Cerny, Daniel , "From Unknown People to a Separate Diocese: Slovak Greek Catholics in Canad a," in Mazurkiewicz, Adam, ed ., East Central Europe in Exile Volum e 1: Transatlantic Migrations (Newcastle upon Tyne : Cam bridge Scholars Publishing, 20 13), 253-72. 7 Cf. "75 rokov lethbridzs kej slov. kol6nie," Kanadsk), Slovak, February 18, 1961 , p. 2. 8 Cf. The Bend: A History of West Lethbridge (Lethbridge: West Lethbridge History Book Soc iety, 1982), 218. �SLOVAKIA-2017 31 9 Union. One important document, a photocopy of the parish minutes from the years 1921-193 7 exists, deposited in the library of the Pon10 tifical Oriental Institute in Rome. These minutes were written by 11 Andrew Mihalik. They start with the explanation that the term "fonitika," mentioned in the minutes as a petition to the Ukrainian bishop of Edmonton Nikita Budka, is to be the language used in the church, and that meant the Slovak language. According to these minutes, the first meeting took place on May 30, 1921 in the presence of bishop Budka. The faithful asked to have the celebration of a lit12 urgy every Sunday. During Wold War II the parish counted some 13 200 adults and 300 children. It was founded and owned by lay people (trustees). This was quite common in the ecclesiastical history of the USA and Canada. According to historian Mark Stolarik, this system consisted of elected members of the parish (kuratori), who collected tithes once a year from all the parishioners. A priest was paid from this treasury and the faithful had the right to terminate their 14 contract with him. Before the blessing of the church, the trustees 15 negotiated with the bishop for a resident priest. The parish had 16 a choir, the first Slovak Greek Catholic Choir in Canada. During the first years of its existence, the pastors were predominately Ukrainian, with the exception of Father Nicholas Szilagy, who came from Subcarpathia. In 1948 Ukrainians established their own parish in Lethbridge, but Ukrainian priests continued to serve Sts. Peter and Paul. However a great joy for the Slovak parish was the 1953 or- 9 PAA, e-mail fro m Father David Petras, November 5, 2010. Parafialna zapisnica Sv. toho Petra i Pavla Greko Katolickoho Viznania.(further on only PIO). 11 In 2011 the author of thi s article contacted the son of the late Andrew Mihalik. The original of the minutes are now neither in the parish archive, nor among the f:osses ions of the Mihalik family. 2 Cf. PIO, 2. 13 PAA, Quinquennial report for Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada, 1973-1978 (November 151, 1978), 2. 14 Cf. Stolarik, M. Mark, " Slovak Immigrants Co me to Terms with Religious Diversity in North America," The Catholic Historical Review, XCVI , No . I (January, 20 I 0), 69. 15 Cf. PIO, 36. 16 Cf. PIO, 25 ; 62. 10 �32 SLOVAKJA-2017 17 daination of one of their own, Father Richard Zuback, who later 18 served also as their pastor. Some of the parishioners appeared 19 among the benefactors of Maria magazine. The first pastoral visit of Bishop Rusnak took place on June 27, 1965 , the parish 's feast day. Many people came to the celebration from as far away as British Columbia. In his homily, Bishop Rusnak said the following: "Do not correct the work of God. If God created you as Greek Catholics, stay firm , remain and work in this province. Do not run away from this rite. Do not leave behind your church and 20 rite. " In the 1960's Father John Zeman, OSB informed Bishop Rusnak about the local Slovak Greek Catholics, asking for a Slovak priest, as the young people were without a priest of their own and 1 ashamed of being Slovaks.2 Father Zeman volunteered to go to the 22 parish . This never happened . In 1967 Bishop Michael expressed his desire to send Father Zorvan, from Europe, to be the pastor of the 23 parish. In I 970's the parish was noted in his calendar several times. 24 Father Lacko, SJ visited the parish in August 1973. When the enthronement of Bishop Rusnak was organized in 1981, the Leth bridge pastor refused to participate, claiming to have only nineteen Slovak 25 families. On the contrary, in 1982, Bishop Rusnak informed the Papal Pro-Nuncio that there were forty-five Slovak families in Leth26 bridge. The parish was owned by the trustees almost for a record time. The official incorporation into the Ukrainian church happened 27 on ly after a plebiscite within the parish in the early 2000's. The 17 "Prve slov. gr. katol primicie v Lethbridge, Alta," Kanadsky Slovak, June 20, 1953, p. 2. The author is grateful for this information to Mark Stolarik. 18 Cf. " Zpravy," Maria, 5/1955 Gui), I 0. 19 Cf. Maria, 6-7/ 1964, third page of the cover; I 2/ 1966, third page of the cover. 20 "Cestujeme s p. biskupom ," Maria , 9-10/ 1965, 8. 21 Cf. PAA, Letter of Father John Zeman, C hri stmas 1964. Father John , who was born in Kenaston , Saskatchewan, joined th e Slovak Benedictine Order in Cleveland, Ohio, but always wished to return to Canada. 22 Cf. PAA, Letter of Father John Zeman, sen t on July 22 , 1966 . 23 Cf. PAA , Letter of Bi shop Michael of May 15, 1967. 24 Cf. PAA , Postcard "Srdecny pozdrav od Ticheho oceanu," Sent from San Francisco, July 20, 1973 . 25 Cf. PAA , Motiuk, D. Report on the Canonical status of Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church. l ethbridge. Alberta. 26 27 Cf. PA A, Letter of Bishop Michael to the Pro- uncio, sent October 28, 1982. Archive of the Eparchy of Sts. Cyri l and Methodius, folder Lethbridge. �33 SLOVAKIA-2017 parish is thus nowadays Ukrainian, but its contribution to the history and culture of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada, especially in the first half of the 20 th century, is significant. 2: Montreal, Quebec (1930) 28 Many Slovaks settled in Montreal in the l 920's, forming branch 2 of the CSL in 1932. After Western Canada, Montreal became the second center of Slovak settlement in Canada. Slovaks in Montreal first established a Roman Catholic parish in 1928 and a 29 Lutheran one in 1929. The Slovak Greek Catholics joined several fraternal groups, such as the Greek Catholic Union. At one of the meetings of branch 959 of the Union, on October 18, 1930, discussions started and eventually led to the founding of the Slovak Greek 30 Catholic parish. The volunteers created a list of fifty families and 31 many individuals who would join the parish. Ukrainian Bishop Ladyka, visiting Montreal on November 21, 1930, welcomed the delegates and promised to do everything possible "in order to fulfill the request of this God-fearing people, who are organizing themselves in this foreign world, not forgetting God, and are willing to do such a 32 beautiful, but difficult task." The first liturgy was celebrated by Father Michal Gregorejchuk, OSBM on Sunday, December 7, 33 1930. Three days later a meeting was held and a parish council was elected. December I 0, 1930 is considered the date of the creation of 34 the parish. From the very beginning the parish was organized by Slovaks not only from Slovakia, but from Hungary, Romania or 35 elsewhere. A photo from 1931 testifies to the presence of a Slovak 36 school. In 1931 a "Membership Book" was published. This book, 28 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia - Nanebevstupenia Pana v Montreale - 50'h anniversary Slovak Catholic (E. R.) parish of Ascension Montreal (Montreal: Parish of the Ascension, 1980), 34. 29 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady, 34. 3 Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, I. 31 PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 3-4. 32 PAA Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 2. 33 Cf. PAA , Zapisn ica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 2. 34 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 30; 34. 35 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr kat. osady Voznesenia, 24. 36 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 23. ° �34 SLOVAKIA-2017 together with the first financial records, are an authoritative example 37 of the language of the first immigrants. The Basilian fathers took care of the parish until the arrival of 38 Father John Hawryluk in 1949. When the parish was created it was named the GR. KFT. RUSSKA CERKOV (Greek Catholic Russian Church). The change of name was moti vated by a schismatic movement and the rise of national awareness among the faithful. The name Slovak Gr. Cath. Church was used for the first time on October 39 15, 1935 . A youth orchestra nicely represented the parish. In 193 7 the parishioners started to use the chapel in the Notre Dame de Lourdes church as their place of worship until November, 1959. In 1938 the parish mission was granted permission to keep their own 40 parish records and thus gained greater internal autonomy. In these years the pari sh was still only a mission. The years following WW II brought a radical change into the lives of the Slovak Greek Catholics . With the arrival of thousands of Ukrainian refugees to Canada, the Ukrainian Exarchate, later the Eparchy of Toronto and all Eastern Canada, was founded. Its first bishop was Isidore Borecky. On October 10, 1949, Bishop Borecky named Father John Hawryluk as the pastor of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Montreal. On December 20, 1949 the former mis41 sion was established as an independent parish. The presence of young people at the services was really appreciated as the youth was 42 "the real core of the new choir of our church." The choir even broadcast by radio to Slovakia. The people dreamt about getting a Slovak priest: 37 Original scans were published in 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 44. 38 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 37. And also : Souvenir book of the dedication of the Slovak Catholic E. R. Church of Ascension, Montreal, Jun e JO, 1962 - Pamiitnci kniha archijerejskeho blahoslovenia slovenskej katolickej V 0. cerkvi Voznesenia, Montreal, JO. juna 1962 (Montreal: Pari sh of the Ascension, 1962), 17-18 . 39 Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 32. 4 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 35; 37-39. 41 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 3 1; 40. 42 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 40. ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 35 We firmly believe that, in a short time a priest of Slovak ethnicity wi ll be assigned to our parish and thus we will fulfill our long-time dream .... The faithfu l understands the announced Word of God more easily . .. There are obstacles in foreign objections and intentions that prevent us from achieving this goal of ours . .. "We do not long for something foreign, we just want to live our own life, but on the other hand we do not accept anyone trying to make fools of us, that we are Rusnaks or something similar, because those days are gone ... 43 In 1956 the trustees purchased properties at the comer of Legen45 44 dre and Clark streets, and erected a wooden cross . The construction of the new church started in Apri l and the basement was finished 46 in November of I 959 . Parishioners came in the evenings, and on their days off, to work on the construction of the church. The first liturgy in the hall in the basement was celebrated on November 29, 47 1959. The cornerstone was blessed by Bishop Borecky on October 48 2, 1960, and the construction was completed on December 17, 49 1961. An icon of Our Lady of Klokofov was displayed in the 50 church . The solemn blessing of the new church by Bishop Borecky 51 had to wait until June I 0, 1962. The main contractor was the parishioner, Mr. Andrej Midlick, originally from Ponic in Spis county. He even donated to the new church the main altar with a baldachino. The newly-ordained Bishop Rusnak came to visit his flock in 52 Montreal for the first time in May of 1965. Bishop Rusnak blessed 43 "Sv. misie pre gr.-kat. Slovakov v Montreali ," Kanadsky Slowik, Apri l 3, 1954, ff· 5, 8. Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Slovenskej Greko Katol'ickej Osadi Voznesefza Vo Montreale Jan Ihnat zapisnik Na rok 1956, 4-5. 45 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 32. The wooden cross still stands in 201 6. 46 Cf. Souvenir book, 34. 47 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 36. 48 Cf. "Z nasich fa rnosti," Maria , 9-10/1960, 226. 49 Souvenir book, 28 . so Cf. "Z nas ich farnosti," Maria, 3/ 1962, 67. 51 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 42. 52 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 42. �36 SLOVAKIA-2017 the altar on March 6, 1966. From Rome he brought some relics of Saint Cyril to be placed into the altar. The parish in Montreal thus became the first one in the North America to celebrate the liturgy on 53 the relics of this great saint. Bishop Rusnak expressed his desire that the Ascension Church would become "a site of pilgrimages in honor of Saint Cyril, the apostle of the Slovaks and Slavs in general. ,,54 • On October 15, 1966, Father Andrew Sinai' was named pastor. 55 For the first time in its history, the parish had its own Slovak priest. Father Sinai' served until 2006. The beginnings were very hard for Father Sinai', since the parish had a huge mortgage. The trustees gave their approval for reading of the Gospel in English and in Slovak to meet the needs of the younger generation, in order to bring them back to the church. From June 1, 1971 Slovak liturgies were cele56 brated in the parish. The golden jubilee was celebrated on Sunday, 57 September 28, 1980, with Bishop Rusnak present. More than twenty of the original founders of the parish survived for this celebration. Around 500 people attended the banquet. However, due to the death of Father Sinai in 2007 and to dwindling numbers, the Montreal parish was closed in 2010. 3: Windsor, Ontario (1950) The automobile industry attracted many Slovaks to the city of Windsor. So did some farms on the outskirts of town. In 1951 the 58 third largest group of Slovaks in Canada lived here. Slovak Lutherans in Windsor organized a parish in 1928, while the Slovak Greek Catholics had to wait until after WW II. Andrew Balint, acting as the secretary of a newly-formed parish committee, wrote to Bishop 59 Borecky on July 29, 1950. He asked for the bishop's permission to 53 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 42. Tomko, Vladimir, " Posviacka noveho hi. oltara v Montreale," Maria, 4-5/ 1966, 56. 55 PAA, Letter sent on October 4, 1966. 56 Cf. PAA, Zapisnica Slovenskej Greko Katol'ickej Osadi Vozneseiia Vo Montreale Jan Ihnat zapisnik Na rok 1956, 48. 57 Cf. "Oslava 50 rocneho jubilea nasej farnosti v Montreale," Maria , 12/1980, 7-8. 58 Cf. Kirschbaum, 137. 59 PAA , Letter from Jul y 29, 1950. 54 �SLOVAKIA-2017 37 establish a new parish. The name chosen was "St. Michael the Archangel Slovak and Subcarpathian Greek Catholic Parish in Windsor, 60 ON." The letter ended with the desire of the congregation to "soon 61 invite (the bishop) to the Slovak parish." Borecky agreed with the 62 organization of a Slovak parish. Father Andrew Krafcik also played a role in its establishment. Until his arrival in Windsor, the 63 parish was administered by Father Mina. The blessing of the cor64 nerstone took place on June 13 , 1954. The rectory, hall and the 65 church were blessed by Bishop Borecky on November 7, 1954. 66 Work with the youth led to establishing the parish choir. In 1956 67 Father George Perejda, CSsR, was ordained from the parish. From November of 1957 to February of 1958 the parish was served by Fa68 ther Fetsco. In 1958 a newly-ordained Slovak Greek Catholic priest, Anthony Zouzal, was appointed as the pastor of Windsor. His tenure could be 69 characterized as the "golden age" of the parish. Collaboration with the Byzantine Catholics on the American side of the border was intensified. 7° Thanks to many cantors, the parish was famous for its singing of Vespers and Liturgies. The popularity of Father Zouzal was so great that on his birthday the parishioners gave him a gift - a 71 car. In his letter to the chancery, dated August 1966, Father Zouzal suggested building a parish school, and even a new name for the parish: the Greek Catholic Parish of St. John - Michael, in order to 60 Sv. Micha/a Archandela Slov. a Podkrp.Gr.kt.paraphija vo Windsor Ont. PAA , Letter from July 29, 1950. 61 "Scoby mi Vas poklikali skoro na nasu Slovensku paraphiju. " PAA , Letter from Jul y 29, 1950. 62 27. Lipna /950. PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore from July 27, 1950. 63 Cf. "S lovenski greckokatolici v Ontariu," Kanadsky Slowik, September 4, 1954, p. 5. 64 Cf. "Cirkevna slavnost' vo Windsore, Ont.", Kanadsky Slowik, June 12, 1954, p. 8. 65 See the photo in Maria, I /1955 (March), 15. 66 Cf. "Zo zivota nasich farnosti ," Maria , 3/ 195 5 (June), I 6. 67 Cf. "Zpravy," Maria, 6/ 1956, 14. 68 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria , 3-4/ 1965, 15 . 69 Cf. "Zpravy z domova a z katolickeho sveta," Maria, 12/ 1958, 15-16. 7 Cf. " Den modlitieb vo Windsore," Kanadsky Slovak, September 19, 1959, p. 2; "Z nasich farnosti," Maria , I 2/ 1960, 282. 71 Cf. "Z nasich osad," Maria, 7-8/ 1960, 189. ° �38 SLOVAKIA-2017 72 avoid confusion within the city. The school project was never im73 plemented . In 1976 Father Zouzal was named an archpriest. However, his tenure was cut short with his premature death on July 14, 74 1976. An eyewitness remembers Bishop Borecky coming to the funeral and placing his own pectoral cross on the body in the coffin. Some 150 priests, as well as more than 1,500 laypeople, participated 75 in the funeral procession. In the following years the parish was served by Father Gregory Novak, CSsR, by Father James Lynch in 76 1978, and by Father Andrew Sipek in 1979. In 1980 some 400 77 people attended an anniversary banquet. The parish continues to exist to this day. 4: Toronto, Ontario (1951) Slovak settlement in Toronto is already mentioned towards the 78 end of the 19 th century, but large numbers came only after 1923. Many Slovak Greek Catholics in Toronto belonged to branch 7 of the CSL (1937). During their meetings the opportunity to establish an independent Slovak Greek Catholic parish was discussed. Until that time, Slovak Greek Catholics mostly attended the Slovak Roman Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (1934), where they comprised a third, or maybe even half of the members . As a result, many people regarded very negatively attempts to establish another parish.79 The beginnings of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Toronto 80 are connected with a Rusyn priest, Father Louis Mina. In the archives of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Toronto is a list of seventy-seven names of those who volunteered to join a "S lovak Greek Catholic 72 PA A, Letter of Father Zouzal to Bishop Isidore from August 12, 1966. Cf. "Vy znamenani e o. Antona Zouzala," Maria, 5/ 1976, I 0. 74 "Zomrel o. Anton Zouzal ," Maria, 9/ 1976, 11. 75 PAA , Comm uni cation with Mr. W. Zouzal , recorded on June 5, 20 11. 76 Cf. "Novy paroch vo Windsore," Maria, 12/ 1979, 7. 77 Cf. "Odpust" in Windsor, Maria, 12/ 1980, 9. 78 Cf. Kirschbaum , 132-5. 79 Mikula, Jan, " Hrst' rozpomienok na t'azke zaciatky," Kanadsky Slovak, March 28, 1981, p. 8. 8 Cf. "S lovenski greckokatolici v Ontariu," Kanadsky Slovak, September 4, 1954, p. 5. 73 ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 39 81 parish, if such were created." The parish was founded on October 82 29, 1951 as the Slovak Greek - Catholic Church of the Nativity of the B. V. Mary. A different date is indicated by a document dated November 29, 1951 based on a request for the founding of the parish, written and submitted in the name of the faithful from the Eparchies of Presov and Mukacevo, as well as the Apostolic Administra83 tion in Miskolc, Hungary by Father Mina. The term Slovak was of much wider sense than nowadays and it included almost all the Greek Catholic faithful coming from the Union of Uzhorod. The lit84 urgy was celebrated in the Ukrainian Church on Bathurst Street. On April I , 1952, Father Rusnak was named the new pastor of the church. The congregation gathered first on Bathurst Street, then moved to the Holy Eucharist church on King Street, where they worshiped until 1959, when their own church on Shaw Street was 85 blessed. The plans for the new Slovak Greek Catholic church in Toronto were approved on June 9, 1953 . The church was supposed to 86 be built at the comer of Roblock Avenue and Leeds, however this 87 attempt failed. The success of parish picnics led to the purchase of 89 St. Mary's Park. 88 The parish also acquired one part of a cemetery. However, none of these investments lasted. Towards the end of 1956 90 a choir was organized in the parish. A long-time cantor was Mr. 91 Joseph Kampu. At the end of 1959 the parish acquired a B' nai Is92 rael congregation synagogue, located at 257 Shaw Street. On De93 cember 27, 1959 Bishop Borecky blessed it as a church. Some 600 81 PAA, Copy of the signature li st. Cf. "25. vyroc ie nasej famost i," Maria, 9/ 1976, I 0. Jozef Suchy gives the date of October 2 1. 83 PAA, Letter from 28. XI. 1951. 84 Cf. Vasko, Andrej , "S lovenskf Grecko-katolfci," Kanadsky Slovak, October 11 , 1952, p. 2. 85 Cf. Ru snak, Michal , "Stvrt'storocie nasho rastu," Maria , 1/ 1980, 11. 86 Cf. Daily commercial news and building records, June 9 1953, I. 87 Cf. Ru snak, Michal , "Stvrt'storocie nasho rastu," Maria , 1/ 1980, 11 . 88 Cf. Maria, 5/ 1963 , third page of the cover. 89 Maria , 2/1963 , 16. 90 Cf. "Z nasich farnosti," Maria, 9-10/1956, 22. 91 Cf. Maria, 4/1963, 16. 92 Cf. "Time for rejoicing - Celebrate Opening of New Slovak Church," Toronto Daily Star, October 11 , 1959, p. 57 . 93 Cf. " Pozvanka na posviacku," Kanadsky Slovak, Christmas 1959, p. 4. 82 �40 SLOVAKIA-2017 94 people from near and far attended. The first English liturgy in the 95 parish was celebrated on March 22, 1964. The nomination of Father Rusnak as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Toronto Eparchy and the Apostolic Visitator for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada surely filled his parishioners with joy, for the church with its rectory became the official seat of the new bishop. Father John Fetsco became its new pastor. In 1972 Father John Pazak, CSsR, later the second bishop of the Slovak Eparchy, was 96 ordained a deacon in the parish. In 1974 Father Joseph Krafcik, SJ 97 helped out. The "odpust" celebration of 197 5 was highlighted by the priestly ordinations of three married deacons, at that time a rare 98 ordination in the Catholic world. On May 31, 1976, a Divine Litur99 gy was celebrated for the first time in Slovak. The arrival of Father Richard Boyle, ordained in the parish in 1978, brought new life to 100 the parish. This consisted not only of pilgrimages he organized, but all the parish activities, where he, together with a group of volun0 teers, cared for children as well as adults. ' ' He even installed a provisional iconostasis. On July 17, 1980, the first Slovak Greek Catholic Day in Bratislava Park near Hamilton took place, in an attempt to unite all the Slovak Greek Catholic parishes at a picnic. The "odpust" in 1980 was prepared jointly by all the parishes, and some 500 102 people attended. When the Slovak Eparchy was created, the 94 Cf. "Z nasich osad," Maria, 1-2/ 1960, 39. Cf. "Kronika," Maria , 3-411964, 16. 96 "Najdostojnej si o. Biskup Jan Pazak, C.Ss.R." in "Banquet in honour of His Excellency Most Reverend John S. Pazak, C.Ss.R." in The episcopal ordination and enthronement of the Most Reverend John S. Pazak, C.Ss. R., second Bishop of the Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius for Byzantine Slovaks in Canada (Toronto: E;archy of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 2000). 9 Cf. PAA , Letter Vel'adostojny a mily Vlady ko! Sent from Rome, Jul y 3, 1974. 98 The whole story is described in the following: Pospishil , Victor, "The Toronto Tempest," in Compulsory celibacy fo r the Eastern Catholics in the Americas (Toronto: Ukrainian Catholic Women's League, 1977). 99 Cf. " Slovenska liturgia v Toronte," Maria, 7-8/ 1976, 13-14. 100 To Quebec and its sanctuaries, to the Holy Land or pilgrimages to Uniontown, PA. 101 Cf. Boy le, Richard, "First solemn reception of Holy Communion in Toronto," Maria , 9/ 1979, 11. 102 Cf. Boyle, Richard, "Alive and well on Shaw Street in Toronto," Maria , 11 / 1980, 8-9. 95 �SLOVAKIA-2017 41 church on Shaw Street became its cathedral. A bishop's throne was 103 installed in the cathedral on the orders of Bishop Rusnak. As time passed many parishioners from downtown Toronto (and from the vicinity of the church) moved to other areas of town. It would have been fitting to reach out to these people, especially in the western areas of the Greater Toronto Area. 5: Oshawa, Ontario (1952) Slovak settlement in Oshawa started in the l 920's and is closely related to the development of the automobile industry in the area. After their arrival, the Greek Catholic Slovaks started to attend ser104 vices in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church of Saint George. In 1951 an announcement was placed in Kanadsky Slovak asking people in the Oshawa region who were interested in establishing a Slo105 vak Greek Catholic church to gather for a meeting. Thanks to Mr. 106 Andrew Vasko, the first meeting took place in January of 1952. The chairman asked all those present to sign a document confirming their desire to establish a Slovak Greek Catholic Society. Some fifty signatures were collected. At this meeting a parish committee was elected and the possibility of celebrating the Greek Catholic services 107 in the Slovak Hall was discussed. The first pastor of the community was the Reverend Michael Rusnak. On July 13 , 1952 the very first Slovak Greek Catholic Day in Oshawa was organized with a field 108 liturgy. On January 11 , 1953, the potential parishioners sent a request to Bishop Borecky for a "Slovak Greek Catholic priest, who would be able to have divine services in Oshawa every other Sunday 103 PAA , Folder: Boyle, Letter of Bishop Michael , February 12, 1981. Cf. "Z peknej slovenskej svadby v Oshawe," Kanadsky Slovak, August I 0, 1950, p. 7; "SI. M. Korcinska a p. M. Karas v putach manzelstva," Kanadsky Slovak, October 19, 1950, p. 6. 105 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin famosti) ," Kanadsky Slovak, AJril 26, 1958, p. 3. 1 Cf. PAA , Lescisin, E. & C.: Slovenska greckokatolicka farnost Ochrany Presvdtej Bohorodicky Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - Slovak Greek Catholic Church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. November 2001, not for sale description of the parish history, 5. 107 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin farnosti) ," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 108 Cf. Ibid. 104 �42 SLOVAKJA-2017 • a mont h ." 109 Some th.irty SI ova k s s1gne • d th e petition. • • 11 0 A or twice mission was established in February of 1953 . The Divine Liturgy was celebrated every other Sunday of the month in the Slovak Hall 111 and the solemn opening ofthe mission occurred on May 10, 1953. The liturgies were celebrated in the morning in Church Slavonic, but 11 2 always with a Slovak sermon. A property was purchased in 1953 11 3 right next to the Slovak Hall on Ritson Road. Really encouraging was the fact that the building process was started by only thirty-eight 114 families. Of great help was a six month-long strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union in the local General Motors Com11 5 pany, thus providing a ready labor force . The blessing of the cor11 6 nerstone occurred on July 31 , 1955 . The fini shed church was 117 blessed by Bishop Borecky on November 2, I 955 . Attendance was astounding, as according to one chronicler: "From some 800 mouths resounded the hierarchical hymn: " Vose) jesi Archijere11 8 1I 9 ju ..." The parish also offered religious education for the youth. 12 In the late 1950' s a Slovak choir also existed in Oshawa. From October of 1960 until September of 1963 , the parish was adminis12 1 tered by Father John Fetsco, CSsR. He was succeeded by Father 122 Andrew Krafcik. The first official visit of Bishop Rusnak to the 123 parish in Oshawa was on Sunday, May 2, I 965 . Father Michael ° 109 PAA , Without any signature. PAA , Without any signature. 11 1 Cf. " Slovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dej in fa rnosti )," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 11 2 C f. " Prvy slovensky grec ko-katolicky odpust," Kanadsky Slovak, November 14, 1953 , p. 2. 11 3 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin farn osti)," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 11 " Vzor jedn oty a spoluprace," Maria, 5/ 1957, 14. 115 Cf. Lescisin, 6. 11 6 Cf. "Oznamuj eme .. .," Mar ia, 5/ 1955 (Jul y), 15. 11 7 Cf. Oznamuj eme .. .," Maria , 7/ 1955 (September), 14-1 5. 118 Cf. " Posvateni e novej slovenskej gr.-kat cerkvi v Os hawe," Maria , 8/ 1955 (October), 15 119 Cf. Maria , 3/ 1957, photo on th e first page of th e cover. 120 "Vas kovci v Os hawe vydava li dceru," Kanadsky Slovak, January 9, 1960, p. 2. 121 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria , 3-4/ 1965 , 15. 122 Cf. Maria, 2/ 1963 , 16. 123 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Bi skupa M. Ru snaka," Maria, 3-4/ 1965, 16. 11 0 �SLOVAKIA-2017 43 Durisin from Slovakia served the parish in 1966. After him came 124 Father Stephen Adamiak. The need for a resident priest became urgent among the parishioners towards the end of 1960 's: " If we do not have a resident priest, ... then we and even more our children will 125 be in danger regarding our faith and keeping our pari sh." After dedicated efforts of the parishioners, a new rectory was blessed in 126 May of 1969. In 1970 Father Adamiak was replaced by Father Joseph Dubiak. Thanks to Father Dubiak the modem Slovak lan127 guage was introduced into the liturgy. Father Dubiak left the parish in 197 1, and his successor became Father Adolph Vateha, 128 CSsR. In 1972 a railroad overpass was built nearby, which changed the church surroundings. Later the parish was given some 129 compensation by the City of Oshawa. In later years, mostly Toronto priests served in the Oshawa parish. The parish in Oshawa was never large, but had a strong sense of community. According to the 200 I booklet about the pari sh, a majority of the parisioners were 130 from the former historic counties of Zemplin and Ugoca. The parish is still alive, being served by the Reverend Stephen Williams, an English-speaking convert to th e Byzantine-Slovak rite. 6: Hamilton, Ontario (1952) The first Slovaks arrived in the steel city of Hamilton, Ontario, 131 in the 1920's. They founded their own Roman Catholic Church in January of 1945 . Half of the fo unding families were Greek Catholics, and due to this fact the parish was named Sts. Cyril and Methodi132 us. Several Slovak Greek Catholic families also attended the local 133 Ukrainian church and some even the Polish church. The key mo124 Cf. "Z nasich osad - Oshawa," Maria , 9- I 0/ 1967, 17- I 8. PAA , Letter fro m Jul y 28, 1967. 126 Cf. "V izi tac ie preosv. o. biskupa Michala Rusnaka, CSsR," Maria , 5-6/ 1969, 5. 127 PAA , Letter of Father Joseph to Father Lacko, September 17, I 971. 128 PAA , Confirmation of the appointment as a pastor in the letter of Bi shop Isidore fro m September 20, 1973. 129 Cf. Lesc isin, 11 . 13 Cf. Lescisin, 13 . 13 1 Cf. Kirschbaum , 135-7. 132 Sts. Cyril and Methodius parish - History . htt ://www.s lovakchurch .com/historyh tm ( 11.5 .20 12 15 :00). b J Cf. "Nas rozhovor," Maria , 4/1 979, 9. 125 ° �44 SLOVAKIA-2017 ment for the founding of the Greek Catholic parish was a meeting on October 26, 1952 in the house of Mr. Michael Mati. During this meeting a deci sion was made to establish the parish of Sts . Peter and 134 Paul. The first liturgy was celebrated on December 14, 1952 in the 135 local Ukrainian church. Fathers Michael Rusnak and Louis Mina 136 took turns serving the community. The first anniversary of the mission was celebrated in the Hungarian church on December 13, 1953 , with Bishop Borecky attending, and everyone "was delighted 137 to hear him deliver a short sermon in Slovak. " 138 In 1954 Father Frantisek Fuga came to Hamilton from Rome. The parish changed its name due to a request by the Roman Catholic bishop of Hamilton, who already had in his diocese a parish dedicated to Sts. Peter and Paul. Ukrainian Bishop Isidore Borecky, who was in charge of Slovak Greek Catholics in Ontario, changed the name of the parish to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 139 October 20, 1954. In a letter from the Oriental Congregation in Rome, Cardinal Coussa stated: "The veneration of the Mother of God of Klokocov will assure its success among Slovak Greek Catho40 lics." 1 A copy of the Klokocov icon was painted in the church thanks to the efforts of Father Lacko in 1955, and it was blessed by 14 1 the Pope himself. Also, some Slovenians came annualy in pil. h' . gnmages to t 1s icon. 142 The cornerstone of the sanctuary was blessed on October 20, 143 144 1957 . Inside was al so a bit of soil from Klokocov in Slovakia. The facade with three mountain peaks and a double cross (the Slovak 134 Cf. Yinansky, J. (F . Fuga), "Gr. K. Osada, Hamilton," Kalendar KSL 1977 (Toronto), 84. 135 Cf. " 25 . vyrocie nas ich farn osti," Maria, I 0/ 1977, 11. 136 Cf. Eli as, Jan, "Otec Fuga IO rokov v Hamiltone," Maria , 5/ 1964, 9. 137 Cf. " Po Gr.-kato lickej oslave v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, Fe bruary 20, 1954, p. 2. 138 "Zo zivota nas ich fa rnosti," Maria, 3/ 195 5 (May), 15. 139 Cf. " Hist6ri a odpustov Panny Marie Klokocovskej v Hamiltonskej svatyni ," Maria, 7-8/ 1965, 3. 14 Fuga, Franti sek, " Rozpomienka na prvy odpu st," Maria , 7-8/ 1965 , I 0. 14 1 Cf. " lkona kl okocovskej Matky Bozej v Hamiltone," Maria, 8/ 1958, 5-7. 142 Cf. " Hor' sa na putnicky odpust Panny Marie Klokococskej do Hamiltonu," Maria , 7-8/ 1969, 3. 143 Cf. Maria, 10/ 1957 , last page of the cover. 144 Cf. " Dej inn y den," Ma ria , 11 / 1957 , 11. ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 45 national emblem) was painted by the noted Slovak artist Jozef 145 Cincik. Father Fuga was a skilled organizer, and the Hamilton 146 sanctuary was nicely decorated during his tenure. Fuga also supported the struggle for Slovak independence and created the modem Slovak flag (horizontal white, blue and red stripes with the Slovak emblem superimposed upon it!" In 197 4 he became the director of 47 the Matica Slovenska Abroad. Hamilton was also one of the first Greek Catholic parishes to have the Sunday readings done in modem Slovak. The church was dedicated on June 9, 1963, as part of the local Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations (the 1100 th anniversary of the 148 arrival of the Apostles of the Slavs on Slovak territory). In those days, the number of the faithful in Hamilton increased to almost 149 500. The first visit of Bishop Rusnak to Hamilton after his episco150 pal ordination took place on May 23 , 1965. At the beginning of 1975 Father Fuga became seriously ill. This was the price he paid for his printing apostolate, using lead ink. Some parishioners said to him: "Monsignor, please do not die! It would be better for us if the sanctuary burned to the ground, because you could build another one, but if you die, we will lose it in a few 151 years! " Father Fuga lived for another ten years. On October 3, 152 1975 a Slovak school opened in the parish. The "odpust" of 1976 included a blessing of the interior iconography, created by Igor 153 Suchacev, and the ceremony of presenting the miter to Monsignor Fuga. Suchacev painted Slovak saints in the apse, with their scrolls 145 PAA, Letter from Father Fuga to Father Lacko, January 31, 1975. Cf. "Z nasich osad - Hamilton," Maria, 3-4, 1968, 18-20; fourth page of the cover; "Odpust a cirkevne slavnosti v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, August 9, 1975, p. 5; "Vyrocity odpust a strieborne jubileum pastoracie Mons. Fr. Fugu v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, September 8, 1979, p. 3. 147 Cf. Elias, Jan, "Zahranicna MS ma protektora," Kanadsky Slovak, July 6, 1974, P,·48 5. Cf. "Kronika," Maria , 4/ 1963, 16. 149 Cf. Lacko, Michal, " Posviacka dvoch novych s lovenskyc h kostolov v Kanade," Kanadsky Slovak, June 29, 1963 , p. 5. 15 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Biskupa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 3-4/ 1965, 16. 151 "Nas rozhovor," Maria , 4/ 1979, 9. 152 Cf. "Skola slovenciny osady P. M. Klokocovskej , Kanadsky Slovak, October 18, 1975 , p. 5. 153 Born in Yugoslavia to Russian refugees . One of his works was the decoration of the throne in Ethiopia. 146 ° �46 SLOVAKIA-2017 written in Slovak. The church also has depictions of the blessed Sister Miriam T. Demjanovic and President Joseph Tiso. The beauty of the church was also enhanced by the iconostasis, being the only Slo154 vak church in Canada to have a permanent one. The parish exists to this day, although the glory days of Father Fuga are gone. 7: Welland, Ontario (1953) The first Slovaks settled in the Niagara peninsula around 1920; eventually there were some 3,000. Local branches of the CSL had these numbers : 23 in Welland (1940), 31 in St. Catharines (1942), 3 7 155 in Niagara Falls (1943) and 64 in Port Colborne ( 1952). A majority of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Welland and nearby places came to Canada in the last years prior to WW II, mostly from Zemplin County. Only after WW II, when new priests arrived, did the organization of spiritual life develop here. On November 22, 1953 a meeting was held in Welland for all those interested in establishing a Slovak Greek Catholic parish under the patronage of the Holy Spirit. The meeting was organized by Father Vincent Danco, SJ. Some twenty-eight members of the future parish appeared. The faithful wished to have the liturgy celebrated twice a month and to temporarily use the Gregorian calendar. They also produced a list of fifty-five people who wished to belong to the 156 parish. Bishop Borecky promised in his letter of December I 9, 157 1953 to send a Decree for the creation of this parish. The first pastor of the parish was Father Danco, whose name was inscribed with gold letters into the history of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada. On August 1, 1954, the Reverend Nicholas Chanat became the pastor of the Hol y Ghost parish in Welland and the "mission stations 158 of the Niagara Peninsula districts." The solemn groundbreaking 154 Cf. " Yysoka cirkevna hodnost' Mons. F. Fugovi," Kanadsky Slovak, September 4, 1976, pp . 1-2. 155 Cf. "S lovaci a ich organi zacia v dejinach oblasti N iagara," Kanadsky Slovak, January 31 , 198 1, p.5. 156 PAA , without a signature. 157 PAA , without a signature. 158 PAA, Letter from Bishop Borecky, without a signature. �47 SLOVAKIA-2017 159 took place on July 3, 1955 , and on May 20, 1956 the new church160 hall was blessed. However, the Reverend Chanat died in the morn161 ing of March 17, 1957 at the age of30. This was so devastating that the hall became a permanent church, as there was never any fur162 ther building activity. Father Mina succeeded him ; after him the 164 163 parish was served by Fathers Fetsco, Kra:fcik, Shogan, Chamey and Russin. Bishop Rusnak visited the parish for the first time as a • 165 bishop on June 6, 1965 . From November 1965, Father Smal' was 166 the pastor. After Father Russin resigned as pastor at the end of 167 I 971, Father Robert Keleher was named the new administrator. 168 He installed a temporary iconostasis. Father Keleher was replaced with a Slovak priest, Father Stephen Kundra, who served from Au169 gust of 1972 until February of 1973 . The parish was administered for a while by Father Fuga until the arrival of Father John Leso, SJ _110 Vo The parish financial report for the year 1980 showed that, were it not for bingo, the rental of the hall and kitchen, the parish would not 171 collect enough money to pay the priest's salary. This was due to the aging of the parish, the death of its founders , while their offspring either moved away or lost interest in this church. Thus, the parish slowly declined and did not survive the year 20 I 0. 159 In other sources the date for the groundbreaking by Father Chanat is listed as Jul y 4, 1954 . 16 Cf. "Zaznamenavame," Maria , 411956, 16. 161 Cf. "Za milovanym o. Nikolajom," Maria , 4/ 1957, 3-6. 162 PAA, Letter of April 3, 1957. 163 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria, 3-4/1965 , 15 . 164 PAA, Letter from Michael Kostik to Bi shop Isidore, November 9, 196 1. 165 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Biskupa M. Ru snaka," Maria , 3-4/ 1965 , 16. 166 PAA , Letter of th e Vicar General, the Right Reverend Basil Filevich, December 6, 1965 . 167 PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore to the Toronto-Dominion Bank, December 24, 197 1. 168 PAA, Letter of Father Keleher to Bishop Isidore, August 27, 1973. 169 PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore, February 23, 1973, addressed to the TorontoDomi nion Bank . 170 PAA , Lette r of February 17, 1976. 171 PAA, Annual statement - 1980. ° �48 SLOVAKIA-2017 8: Sudbury, Ontario (1954) This mining town in northern Ontario also attracted Slovak im172 migrants. In 1923 the first Slovaks arrived in Sudbury. Several of 173 them were Greek Catholics. The founding meeting of branch 16 of the CSL was held June 19, 1938 at the hall of the local Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, showing thus their religious affi liation. The local Greek Catholic Slovaks had quite a community life even before 174 their parish was founded , as testified by newspaper articles. On many of these occasions the Master of Ceremonies, or simply the Elder, presided over the event with both formal as well as religious 175 elements. A real start for the Slovak Greek Catholics was the Divine Liturgy celebrated on August 15, 1954 at the hall of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society. It was celebrated by fathers Louis Mina and Nicholas Chanat and Father Dzurman, the local Ukrainian 176 priest. The parish received the title of Our Lady of Perpetual 178 177 Help. The entire ceremony was broadcast on local television. 179 Thereafter liturgies were celebrated on a monthly basis. The Sudbury parishioners were also subscribers and ~enerous benefactors of 1 the Slovak Greek Catholic magazine Maria. Father Fetsco became 18 1 the pastor for the first time in 1957. With several breaks and sev- ° 172 Cf. Urban, J., "Slovaks in Sudbury," Polyphony: Th e Bulletin of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario - Sudbury 's People, Vol. 5 (No. I, 1983), p. 123 . 173 Cf. "Smutna sprava 23. zboru KSL," Kanadsk:y Slovak, August 9, 1980, p. 7; " Spravy z Toronta," Kanadsk:y Slovak, April 7, 1979, p. 2. 174 Cf. " Man zelia Strokovi jubilovali," Kanadsk:y Slovak, March 30, 1950, p. 6; "Manzelia Rani covi jubilovali, Kanadsk:y Slowik, August 17, 1950, p. 6; "Rani covi zenili syna Stefana," Kanadsk:y Slovak, September 9, 1950, p. 6; "S I. Johanka Simkova v putach manzelstva," Kanadsk:y Slovak November 9, 1950, p. 7; " Manzelia Koritko jubilovali, Kanadsk:y Slovak, November 8, 1952, p. 2. 175 Cf. " Mad'arovci 25 rokov v manzelstve, Kanadsk:y Slovak, December 2 1, 1950, p. 3. 176 Cf. Maria , 2/1955 , 15; "S lavnostne otvorenie slovenskej gr. kat. parafii v Sudbury, Ont. di\ a 15. augusta, Kanadsky Slovak, August 7, 1954, p. 8. 177 Cf Urban 124 178 Cf. Mari;, 2/ 1955 , 15. No such video recording cou ld be found. CTV does not have it in its archi ves, TYO did not exist and CBC did not answer my e-mails. 179 Cf. " Prvy slovensky krst v Sudburach," Kanadsk:y Slovak, November 6, 1954, p. 3. 18 Cf. Maria , 6/l 955 , 17; 5/ 1958, 22. 18 1 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria, 3-4/ 1965 , 15. ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 49 182 era! priests substituting, he continued coming to the parish until 1972. On July I, 1964, a new pastor was named--Father Theoktist 183 Vidov, a Studite monk originally from Croatia. Bishop Rusnak 184 came to Sudbury on June 13, 1965 . Sadly, someone noted that the youth had little interest in its roots: "The whole ceremony was really nice. And it could be even nicer if our young Slovaks from Sudbury 185 would show up in bigger numbers for such a great ceremony." In 1965 Father Jules Riotte, a Greek Catholic priest of German origin is • d as t he pastor, commg • twice • a mont h . 186 B 1s . hop R usna' k menhone 187 also returned to Sudbury in the following years. We have a list 188 from the 1960's of 31 fam ilies who had their homes blessed following the blessing of the Jordan water. Another list of families who 189 appeared for All Souls Day celebrations is also preserved. One of the problems of the Slovak Greek Catholic community in Sudbury was the lack of a resident priest. Another important factor for the downfall of the parish were economic conditions. Around 1964, when their economic situation changed for the better, many people moved to southern Ontario, and since no new waves of immigrants appeared, a decline in the number of Slovaks (and Greek Catholics) began. At a parish meeting held on July 13, 1975, it was decided "to dismiss the parish ; the reason is that there is no one to keep it because there are no more parishioners, it is sad, but it could 191 190 not be changed." Bishop Rusnak responded on July 25, 1975, but another reply from the parishioners was dated August 1, 1977. Because of this correspondence, Maria magazine listed the parish in 182 Cf. Urban, 124. Cf. "Kronika," Maria, 6-7/ 1964, 16. 184 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp . Biskupa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 3-4/1965, 16. 185 "Cestujeme s p. biskupom ," Maria, 9-10/ 1965, 6. 186 Beskyd, J., Yearbook of the Eparchy of Toronto (In the vineyard of Christ) (Toro nto: Eparc hy of Toronto, 1964), 520. 187 Cf. "Z nas ich osad - Sudbury - Preosv. p. biskup Michal Rusnak CSsR medzi svojimi ," Maria, 11-12/ 1967, 18- 19; Stripay, J., "Preosv. o. bisk up Michal Rusnak CSsR v Sudburach," Maria, 9-10/1968, 6. 188 PAA, File: Sudbury. 189 PAA , File: Sudbury. 190 PAA , Letter from the ushers to Bishop Michael, dated July 17, 1975. 191 PAA, Letter from the ushers to Bishop Michael, dated August I, 1977. 183 �50 SLOVAKIA-2017 192 197 6 as still open, but that is no longer the case. Only sixty people 193 of Slovak origin remain in Sudbury. 9: Delhi (Simcoe - Delhi), Ontario (1955) Many Slovaks, especially from Eastern Slovakia, started to move into the area of Simcoe and Delhi, in southern Ontario, around 1930. 194 Most of them worked as tobacco farmers . The same people who founded branch 46 of the Canadian Slovak League in 1944 also founded St. Andrew's parish. In 1954 Father Frantisek Fuga of Hamilton heard about the Greek Catholic Slovaks at this location and contacted them. After a few weeks he celebrated a liturgy for 195 them. Since this took place around the feast of St. Andrew, the parish was named for this saint. It was officially created in Novem196 ber of 1955 . Father Fuga answered the spiritual needs of the parishioners working on farms and served them once a month in the 197 local Ukrainian church in Delhi. In 1965 only about thirty families 198 attended these services. The first pastoral visit of St. Andrew's parish by Bishop Michael Rusnak was conducted on December 18, 199 1966. The silver jubilee of the parish could also be called its swan 200 song. It was celebrated on October 19, 1980. The story of Simcoe - Delhi is the story of a small flock of the faithful, who wanted to 192 Cf. "Nase kostoly," Maria, 1/1976, third page of the cover. Census profile: http://wwwI2.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/20 I I/dpp_gfprQf1/<!eJ<1.ih/p_agt!,Sfo1'.?: Lang= E&Geo l =CSD&Cocle 1=3553005&Geo2=CD&Cocle2=3553&Data=Count&S t!archText=suclbur &SearchT e=Contains&SearchPR=0 l&B l =A ll &C ustom=&TA Bl D '."'J (27.8.2013 23:30) 194 Cf. Kirschbaum , J. M.: Slovaks in Canada (Toronto: Canadian Ethnic Press Association of Ontario, 1967), 128. 195 Cf. "Osada v Simcoe - Delhi jubiluje," Maria , 1-3/1966, 3-4. 196 See: Kirschbaum , 262 and Fuga, Frantisek, J., "Slovenska greckokatolicka farnost' sv. Andreja v Simcoe - Delhi , Ont. jubilovala," Kanadsky Slovak, November 29, 1980, p. 4. 197 Cf. Kirschbaum, 262. 198 Cf." Osada v Simcoe - Delhi jubiluje," Maria, 1-311966, 3-4. 199 Cf. "Prva vizitacia pana biskupa Michala Rusnaka v Simcoe-Delhi, Ont. ," Maria, 1-2/1967, 10-11. 200 Cf. Fuga, Frantisek J., "S lovenska greckokatolicka farnost' sv. Andreja v Simcoe - Delhi , Ont. jubilovala," Kanadsky Slovak, November 29, 1980, p. 4. 193 �SLOVAKIA-2017 51 praise God in Church Slavonic, as they did back home. However their small size prevented the parish from growing. The community literally died with the death of the last parishioner from among the original flock. This community was always listed as a parish, even though from the ecclesiastical point of view it would probably be called a mission, as in all juridical matters the parishioners belonged to the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Hamilton. 10: Kenaston, Saskatchewan (1967) The first Slovaks arrived in Kenaston in July of 1903 and were 20 1 followed by others who came to farm. Besides the Ukrainians, many Slovak Greek Catholics also settled in and around nearby Sas202 katoon, Saskatchewan. Bishop Rusnak came to Saskatoon on June 203 26, 1966, hoping to include these people within his jurisdiction, and to make of this place a permanent center of the Slovak religious presence in Canada. Before this visit, an invitation appeared in the press: Come all of you, who are able to come, because this will be the very first time, since our arrival here 50 years ago, that we will be able to welcome amongst us our first Slovak bishop in Canada and the first bishop who is a Greek Catholic, since the times of Sts. Cyril and Methodius .... This joyful news is written for you ... by Joseph Zeman, an 80 year-old Slovak, who after 65 years in Canada, lived long enough to 204 experience this great joy ... The Ukrainian Greek Catholics gave Rusnak permission to use their cathedral of St. George for the meeting. The organizational committee prepared 600 memorial ribbons - but they were not 205 206 . enough! Father John Kobelak, M.S.F. was entrusted with or- 20 1 Cf. "Na vyrocie slovenskych pociatkov v Saskatchewan a slovenskeho ~riekopnictva v Kanade, Kanadsky Slowik, June 25 , 1966, p. 2. 02 Cf. "S lovak so Slovakom sa zide," Kanadsky Slowik, March 10, 1962, p. 2; "Janko Purda graduoval ," Kanadsky Slovak, January 5, 1963, p. 2. 203 Cf." Pl anovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria , 4-5/1966, 16. 204 Cf. " Do pozornosti Slovakom v Saskatchewan," Kanadsky Slovak, May 28, 1966, ~- 2. os Cf. "Aj 600 bolo malo," Kanadsky Slovak, July 16, I 966, p. 3. �52 SLOVAKIA-2017 20 7 gamzmg this parish. The Slovak Greek Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Kenaston, Saskatchewan, was officially created during the Canadian centennial in 1967, after the trip of Bishop Rusnak to Saskatoon. The parish was part of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Saskatoon, having its own property, a gift of the recently-deceased Joseph Zeman. Bishop Rusnak planned to send the parish a Slovak priest - the Reverend Stephen Adamiak.208 In the archives are notes testifying that the Ukrainian Eparchy indeed received the property and also $1000 to be used to build a Slovak Greek Catholic church in Kenaston. However, the following year the heirs of the late Mr. Zeman changed their minds and requested that the $1,000 be re209 turned to them. In the fall of 1970 the parish ceased to exist. 2 10 The question remains: Would a Slovak parish have lasted in Saskatchewan, if it had been built in Saskatoon rather than in the small village of Kenaston? MISSIONS WITH IRREGULAR SERVICES Among the missions we list those places where we are sure that the Slovak Greek Catholic services were held: 11: Edmonton, Alberta The capital of the Province of Alberta attracted many Slovak immigrants in the 1930's, including Greek Catholics.2 11 Slovak 212 Greek Catholics present here never formed a separate parish or other type of organized community, but they still could be considered a part of the life of Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada. After his 206 Born in Poland in 1921 . He came to Canada in 1964, and worked in the Eastern rite. He died in 200 I. 207 Cf. "Z nasich osad - Kenaston - Nova slovenska greckokatolfcka osada sv. Cyrila a Metoda," Maria, 11-12/ 1967, 17. 208 PAA, Letter of Bishop Michael dated May 15, 1967. 209 PAA , E-mail from the Eparchy of Saskatoon, sent to the author on November 21, 2011 , 17:00. 210 PAA , Letter NM najdostojnejci Otce Vladyka! sent from Rome, 12. X. 1970. 211 Cf. Kirschbaum , 151. 212 Cf. Maria, 1/ 1963, 17. �SLOVAKIA-2017 53 Episcopal ordination, Bishop Michael Rusnak visited Edmonton on 213 June 27, I 965 . 12: Fernie, British Columbia Femie is one of the oldest settlements of Slovaks in Canada. The 214 first Slovak miners came here in 1898 from Pennsylvania. Many of them were Greek Catholics. Shortly after the start of the 20th cen215 tury, a branch of the Greek Catholic Union was founded here. Slovaks in Femie were also organized in branch 51 of the CSL. Fa2 16 ther Michal Lacko did a visitation here in 1973. Femie is mentioned as a mission in the report of the Apostolic Visitator in 217 1978. 13: New Westminster, British Columbia The first Slovaks came to the Canadian Pacific coast at the end 218 219 of the 19 th century. Larger numbers appeared only after WW 11. Branch 4 7 of the CSL was established here in 1944. The Slovak Roman Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius has existed in New 220 Westminster since 1960. Many of its parishioners were Greek 221 Catholics. From time to time, Greek Catholic services were also celebrated here. In 1959 there was a Slovak Greek Catholic wedding in the Ukrainian church, performed by a "good friend of Slovaks, 222 Father Bylik, who was ass isted in the ceremonies by Mr. Bodnar.'' 213 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Bisk upa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 5-611965, I 3. Cf. Kirschbaum , 70. 215 Cf. Palmer, Howard, Land of the Second Chance (A History of Ethnic Groups in Southern Alberta), (Lethbridge : Lethbridge Herald, 1972), 195. 216 Personal Archive of the Author (PAA) Letter of Bishop Michael to Father Lacko, May 28, 1973. 217 PAA , Quinquennial report for Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada, 19731978 (November 1st , 1978),2-3 . 218 Kanadsky Slovak, November 14, I 970. 219 Cf. Kirschbau m, 146-8. 220 Officiall y establ ished by Father Wi lliam Lacko, SJ in 1960. The first acti vities with local Slovaks date back to 1952. 22 1 Cf. " Klub za ujemcov o hist6riu Slovakov v Britskej Kolumbii v Kanade," http://www.sk-bc .ca/book/export/ html/I 98 (October 18, 20 11 , 20:00); Maria, 78/ 1965, 5; 12; 12/1965, 15. 222 " Pekna slovenska svadba v B.C.," Kanadsky Slovak, June 27, 1959, p. 2. 214 �54 SLOVAKIA-2017 The Slovak church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius was the home of Ukrainian Greek Catholics until they built their own church. In those days a certain Byzantine-rite priest - Father Kmec-- celebrated the services. Many times the Slovak Greek Catholics celebrated with the Ukrainians. ln 1970, the Reverend William Lacko wrote about the Greek Catholics: "the late Michael Bodnar with a beautiful voice, was an outstanding cantor." Already during the Cyrillo-Methodian jubilee in 1963 we learn that "many Slovak Greek Catholics are living in this area and because of this Father Michael Lacko went to the far west of Canada ... and celebrated services in the Church Slavonic 223 language .... " And during the Jubilee year, according to the words of the pastor, once a month instead of the sermon "we all sang "Moleben." The Impressive "Hospodi pomiluj" resounded in the church as a joint response to the petition of all the Catholics of both 224 rites." On the day of the Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations, July 7, 1963 , the Latin Mass was fo ll owed with the singing of sacred songs in Slovak and Church Slavonic by both Roman and Greek Catho225 lics. They sang lie Cheruvimi (Let us, who mystically represent 226 the Cherubim) and Otce nas (Our Father), led by Mr. Bodnar. Bishop Rusnak was quite frequentl y a welcome guest of the parish. On those occasions, the church was always filled to the very last seat or even overcrowded. His visit was a real "unique experience with lasting value .. .. Greek Catholics are coming from near and far to the services held in the Slovak church and it is a joy to see them, 227 when Bishop Michael is among them .. .'' In 1966 Bishop Rusnak 228 appeared on July 3. He officiated at the funeral of Mrs. Potoma on 229 July 6, 1970. For the local parishioners it became a tradition throughout the years to have Bishop Rusnak among them , always around the feast day of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, patrons of their 223 224 Cf. Maria , 7/ 1963 , 11. "Slovenski greckokatolici na Pacifiku," Kanadsky Slovak, September 14, 1970, p. 5. 225 Cf. "Cyril ometodske slav nosti v B.C.," Kanadsky Slovak, June 29, 1963, p. 8. Cf. "Cyrilometodske oslavy na Pacifickom pobrezi," Kanadsky Slovak, August 17, 1963, p. 2. 227 "Slovenski greckokatolici na Pacifiku," Kanadsky Slovak, September 14, 1970, p. 5. 228 Cf. " Planovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria , 4-5/ 1966, 16. 229 PAA , Folder: Vancouver. 226 �SLOVAKIA-2017 55 church. The bishop made such a good impression on the people that they left with the words: "Goodbye Most Reverend Bishop M. 230 Rusnak until next year." In 1973 the Byzantine liturgy was scheduled for August 5, with Father Michael Lacko, SJ as the main cele. . was a Iso the act o f a canomca . I v1s1tahon. . . . 232 brant. 23 1 H.1s v1s1t Among the benefactors of the Maria magazine were several people 233 from New Westminster. The visits of the Greek Catholic bishop to New Westminster stopped a long time ago, but the Greek Catholics there attend the Slovak Roman Catholic parish to thi s day. 14: Unionville (Markham), Ontario From the canonical point of view, Unionville Ontario, and the fa mily mansion of the billionaire Stephen B. Roman could not be considered either a parish, or a mission. However, to be fair to history, we have to note that services were held here more often than in some of th e other missions. Fron the 1950's until the 1980 's Bishop Rusnak celebrated a liturgy in the residence of Mr. Roman every 234 Sunday aftemoon. The bishop had become a good friend of the Greek Catholic Stephen Roman in the early 1950 's. Together they planned to build a huge Cathedral of the Transfiguration on Mr. Roman's property in Unionville and Pope John Paul II even blessed the 235 cornerstone in I 984. However, after Mr. Roman suddenly died in 1988, Bishop Rusnak and his successor Bishop Pazak, could not come to an agreement with Mr. Roman 's heirs as to the actual ownership of the cathedral. Therefore, Bishop Pazak deconsecrated the 23 °Korem, Albin, " Dve spravy z B. C.," Kanadsky Slowik, July 18, 1970, p. 5. 23 1 PAA , Postcard Srdecny pozdrav od Ticheho oceanu. Sent from San Francisco, Jul y 20, 1973. 232 PAA, Letter of Bishop Michae l to Father Lacko, May 28, 1973. 233 Cf. Maria, 2/ 1963, 17; 1/1964, third page of the cover; 2/ 1964, third page of the cover; 9-10/ 1964, third page of the cover; 1-2/ 1965, third page of the cover; 12/1965 , 16; 1-3/ 1966, third page of the cover; 1/ 1977, third page of the cover; 5/ 1978, 16;4/ 1979, 16; 7-8/ 1980, 24. 234 Litva, Felix, "Stefan B. Roman - clovek v rozdvojenom svete" (Cambridge, ON : Dobra kniha, 198 I). 235 See Our Heritage of Faith : Consecration of the Slovak Cathedral of the Transfiguration by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, September 15, 1984, ed. by Helen Roman-Barber and Anne C. R. Roman (Toronto: Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius for Slovaks of the Byzantine Ri te in Canada, 1984). �56 SLOVAKIA-2017 church in 2006 and since then it has sat empty as the cornerstone of a 236 massive housing development called "Cathedraltown." 15: Winnipeg, Manitoba Slovak immigrants started coming to to Winnipeg before the First World War, but the largest group arrived in the interwar peri237 od. A Slovak Roman Catholic parish existed here since 1951. Father Alexander Baran, an historian and native of the Subcarpathian region, worked at the local univers ity. Because his dad had been a secretary to the first Slovak Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia- Dr. Milan Hodza--he knew Slovak and was a great friend to Slovak Greek Catholics, with whom he shared the same liturgical tradition.2 38 Before the end of the 19 th century, several families from Zemplin County arrived via Pennsylvania to the town of Neepawa, in the 239 Province of Manitoba. When the Canadian Slovak League (CS L) was established here in 1932, one of the founding members, Juraj Rond'os, was not ashamed of being not only Slovak, but also a Greek Catholic. The local branch of the CSL received the number 1. The Slovak Greek Catholics in town attended mostly the local Ukrainian church for their worship services. The priests even learned some 240 Slovak for special celebrations for these parishioners. The most vital period for Slovak Greek Catholics in Winnipeg 24 1 started after the episcopal ordination of Bishop Rusnak. He came to Winnipeg for the first time on Sunday, August 22, 1965, and assisted by the local Slovak Roman Catholic pastor, Msgr. John Re236 For more details see "The Cathedral that Toronto Forgot," Toronto Star, June 26, 201 1 and "Losing Faith in Cathedraltown," Toronto Star, January I 0, 2015. 237 Cf. Kirschbaum , 75 -76. 238 For more info on Baran see: htt ://um anitoba.ca/libraries/units/archi ves/collections/rad/baran.html 239 Cf. R~ ndos, Juraj, "V lete sli spat' na breh rieky," in Spomienky pionierov, ed. by lmrich Stolarik (Toronto: Kanadska Slovenska Liga, I 978), 2 19. Maria, 1/ 1963, 17; 10/ 1963, third page of the cover; 12/ 1965 , 16; 12/ 1966, third page of the cover. 24 Cf. " Mary Rondosova vydala sa za Janka Stretavskeho," Kanadsky Slovak, March I, 195 1, p. 4. " Pekna slovenska svadba vo Winnipegu," Kanadsky Slovak, Apri l 5, 1958, p. 2; "Opusti li nas dvaja Slovaci z nasej okolice v Dufresne, Man. ," Kanadsky Slovak, March 21, 198 1, p. I 0. 241 Cf. Kutka, J., " Historicky den manitobskych Slovakov," Kanadsky Slovak, Nove mber 13, 1965, p. 2. ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 57 kem, as well as by Father Baran, he celebrated a Byzantine liturgy in 242 the local Slovak Roman Catholic church. His visit was prepared by Msgr. Rekem and Mr. J. Kutka. Beautiful liturgical Church Slavonic singing had a delicate impact on the people present, many of them hearing it probably for the very first time in their lives. The choir, directed by organist Cudovit (Louis) Besei\ovsky, sang both Slovak Greek and Latin liturgies. Even though the Greek and Latin Catholics sang together for the first time, they 243 were praised for their perforrnance. Bishop Rusnak also visited the Greek Catholic Slovaks in Win244 nipeg in the following years. Several Slovak Greek Catholics from Winnipeg and nearby settlements appeared among the supporters of ~"' • • 245 1V1arza magazme. OTHER SLOVAK GREEK CATHOLIC LOCATIONS 16: Flin Flon, Manitoba Many Slovaks found jobs in the mining industry here, among them quite a few Greek Catholics . Several Slovak farmers settled around the town as well. When the Canadian Slovak League was founded in 1932, its local branch was given the number 4. However, the best years for the community were the 1940's and 1950's. Several Greek Catholic Slovaks here attended the local Ukrainian 246 church. In 1966 Bishop Michael Rusnak intended to send the Revernd John Zeman, OSB as a Greek Catholic priest to Flin 247 Flon . However, this did not materialize. 242 Cf. "Cestujeme s p. biskupom," Maria , 9-10/1965, 9- I 0. 1bid., 9. 244 Cf. " Planovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria, 4-5/1966, 16. PAA, diaries. 245 Cf. Maria , 1/ 1964, third page of the cover; 2/ 1964, third page of the cover; 67/ 1964, third page of the cover; 12/1965, 16; 1-2/ 1967, fourth page of the cover; 78/ 1977, third page ofthe cover; 5/ 1978, 16; 3/1979, 16; 2/ 1980, 16; 12/1980, 16. 246 Cf. "Smutok sboru vo Flin Flon, Man. ," Kanadsky Slovak, February 4, 1956, p. 2; Kadas, V.: Brat Jozef Dubos na vecnosti," Kanadsky Slovak, July 23, 1966, p. 2; "Zlata svadba u Rujakov vo Flin Flon, Man.," Kanadsky Slovak, September 25, 1976, p. 6; "Zlata svadba manzelov Stefanik v B. C.," Kanadsky Slovak, October 18, 1975, p. 4. 247 PAA , Letter from Father John Zeman, August 2, 1966. 243 �58 SLOVAKIA-2017 17: Thunder Bay, Ontario The city of Thunder Bay came into existence on January 1, 1970, when Port Arthur and Fort William, were amalgamated. The majority of the Slovaks in this area were from the county of Orava. They started coming in the 1890's and built St. Peter's Slovak Roman 248 Catholic church in 1907. Slovak Lutherans built a church in 1927. 249 Newspapers confirm several Slovak Greek Catholics living here. The first journey after his ordination led Bishop Rusnak to the Cana250 dian West through Fort William. He almost certainly stopped here on his ways to the West, when traveling by car. Conclusion Besides the above mentioned cities, which were depicted on the map of the Eparchy, the Slovak Greek Catholic presence was also documented elsewhere in Canada. Benefactors of the magazine Maria appeared in a larger number of locations. One can observe from the life of the Canadian Slovak Greek Catholics that, to some degree, they were copying the ways of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics, who first settled in the West of Canada, then moved to Quebec, with a hiatus in the interwar period and then focused on Southern Ontario. The settlements in Southern Ontario 25 1 shared similar fates , not only with Ukrainian Catholics, but to a 252 certain degree even more with the Hungarian Greek Catholics. 248 Cf. Kirschbaum , 77-79. Cf. " Smutime za nas imi bratmi," Kanadsky Slowi k, August 27, 1966, p. 3; "Jub ileum Bakovych v Niagara Falls," Kanadsky Slowik, August 15, 1959, p. 2. 25 Cf. Kutka, J., "Historicky dei\ Manitobskych Slovakov, Kanadsky Slowik, November 13, 1965 , p. 2. 251 Cf. Canada 's Ukrainians: Negotiating an Identity, ed. by Lubomyr Luciuk and Stella Hryniuk (Toronto: Uni versity of Toronto Press, 199 1). On the Ukrainian exr,erience around Winnipeg see pages 53 -80. 52 Slovak - Hungarian Greek Cath olic re lati ons in Canada are a topic fo r furth er research . The Slovak Greek Catholics were fo r a time guests of the Hungari an Greek Catholic Church in Hamilton. In Windsor, Father Krafcik served for a time both Greek Catholi c communities - Slovak as we ll as Hungari an. Similar plans were made fo r Welland, whi ch also had both Churches, using the same liturgical rite, the same melodi es (and when it came to English, exactl y the same melodies and texts)! Especially in Ontario, the Hungarian settlements were almost identical to the Slovak ones. Also from the letters of Father Michal Lacko, SJ, we learn that, before the Slovak eparchy was created, he hoped that a bishopric would be created whi ch 249 ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 59 Many people had relatives in other parishes, leading to frequent mutual visits of Slovak Greek Catholics, other than in their their own parishes, especially for parish feast days, or some great historic milestones. Many new friendships were thus started, and also some marriages arranged within the community. Places which really continued to blossom with the Slovak Greek Catholic population were the industrial towns of Eastern Canada. If the industry closed, or shrank, or farming was no longer attractive, the people moved out and then their parishes were closed (Sudbury 253 and Flin Flon). The same thing happened in the mining and steel 254 industry towns of Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey. If a parish were to last, it had to have several zealous parishioners. Where there were only a few, such a parish had only a minimum chance of survival (Kenaston, Winnipeg, New Westminster). In such a case the Slovak Greek Catholics joined (or remained) either with local Slovak Roman Catholics or with Ukrainian Greek Catholics. The age of the parishioners when starting their parishes was also quite crucial, as when they were relatively old, and few in number, their parishes lasted for only a short while (Simcoe - Delhi). What is interesting is how the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada made picnics an important part of parish culture. These gatherings became so popular, that at some time the parishes of Toronto and Hamilton owned their own picnic grounds, while the other parishes used facilities of other groups. In almost all the parishes we note that the most active parishioners were born in Slovakia. The subsequent generations, born in Canada, began to lose interest in maintaining their parishes. This would include, not only Slovak, but Hungarian Greek Catholic parishes as well (PAA). The last pastor of the Slovak church in Welland (before it was closed in 20 I 0) was Father John Girhinyi, himself a Hungarian. For more information on Hungarian life in Canada (and how it resembled the Slovak experience), see Nandor Dreisziger, Church and Society in Hungary and in the Hungarian Diaspora (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016), especially pages 261-4. 253 Cf. https: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of Canadian muni c ipalities having experienced popula-tion decreases 254 Other existing parishes, which face serious challenges with changing industry in the USA include Braddock, Charleroi, Clarence and Clymer, Pennsylvania. See Byzantine-Ruthenian Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh Directory (Pittsburgh: Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, I 999). See also. https://en.wikipecl ia.org/wiki/Shrinking- cities in the United States �60 SLOVAKIA-2017 might be attributed to the relatively high percentage of the Slovak immigrants assimilating to English-Canadian culture. Indeed, many times the parents themselves wanted to have their children completely forget about their ancestral homeland . In some cases the parents were not even willing to speak with them in Slovak - so that they would not have an accent, and thus be more successful in the labor market. By 1980, only two Slovak Greek Catholic parishes in Canada were over 50 years old: Lethbridge - which was Ukrainianized, and Montreal, which also had its best years behind it. Sadly, even some of the younger parishes (Kenaston, Simcoe - Delhi, Sudbury) were already closed, or just about to be closed. At the creation of the Slovak Greek Catholic Eparchy in 1980, only parishes in southern Ontario, which were close to each other, and able to benefit from mutual visits, or even exchanges of the clergy, were flourishing. Even this was to change in the following years, as the parish of Montreal was closed shortly after 2010, and the Welland parish was also not able to live through 2010. Recently the Most Reverend John S. Pazak, Bishop of the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada was transferred by 255 the Vatican to Phoenix, Arizona in the USA. Thus, the future of Greek Catholic Slovaks in Canada remains uncertain. 255 Transfer announced on May 7 th 20 I 6. HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE - Other Pontifical Acts: htt s:// ress.vatican.va/co nten t/sa lastam a/en/bo ll ettino/ ubblico/20 I 6/05/07 /16050 7h.html. See also "Bishop John S. Pazak named new Byzantine Eparch in Phoenix, Ariz. ," Slovak Catholic Falcon, June 15, 20 16, p.5. � 28 SLOVAKIA-2017 A SURVEY OF SLOVAK COMMUNITIES OF THE BYZANTINE RITE IN CANADA BEFORE THEY RECEIVED THEIR OWN BISHOPRIC Daniel Cerny When we look at Catholic immigration to the USA and Canada, only one bishopric in those coutries is called by the name of the nations of the so-called Visegrad Group- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Surprisingly, this ecclesiastical structure is not of the Latin rite. It is the Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodious for Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in Canada. When created in 1980, a postcard with a map of Slovak Greek Catholic settlements in Canada was published. The aim of this paper is to present a historical overview of these communities until the Eparchy was created. The late professor Michael Lacko, SJ wrote the first history of these par1 ishes. However, this paper adds some new information, making this survey more accurate and updated. Some of the reasons why these people immigrated to Canada were the changes to the immigration laws in the USA enacted by Congress in June of 1921 and also in July of 1924. 2 Our research on Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada shows that the majority were descendenats of immigrants who came to Canada between 1926 and 1939 (when the borders were open), to be joined by the immigration waves of 1945 - 1950 and of 1968. For the first immigrants the church was in many cases the most important part of their life. Here they were not forced to speak a foreign language, it was like being at home - the same rite, dialects, family, friends, sometimes even neighbors, the same customs. However this also could be harmful in the sense that it created an ethnic 1 Cf. Lacko, Michal, "A Brief Survey of the History of the Slovak Catholics of the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite," Slovak Studies, III (1963), 199 - 224. 2 Based on these regulations, after June of 1921 only 14,269 Czechoslovak citizens were allowed to immigrate annually to the USA, and after July 1924, only 3,073. Cf. Bielik, Frantisek- Rakos, Elo: Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo (Dokumenty II. - 19191939) (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1975), 51, footnote 2. �SLOVAKIA-2017 29 ghetto - which was probably fine for the first generation, but no longer so for the following ones. Only those places which experienced large numbers of new immigrants in later years, or were open to new people from outside entering "their" church, were able to continue to flourish . The history of these communities includes the creation of their own Slovak deanery (1957) and the consecration of their own Slovak 3 bishop ( 1964) in the person of Michael Rusnak, CSsR, who was for many years an Apostolic Visitator of these communities. Only two Slovak Greek Catholics participated on the Vatican II Council. One layman and one clergyman. The layman was the Canadian-Slovak multimilllionaire Stephen B. Roman, who participated from the third session on and bishop Michal Rusnak, who participated in the fourth and final session. The use of the vernacular, which was encouraged by Vatican II, resulted in more and more celebrations in English among the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada (the translations were done by the Greek Catholics in the Ruthenian Church in the USA), but not so in modem Slovak. Thus the Church lost many people from 4 the immigration wave of 1968. 3 Michael Rusnak was born on August 21, 1921 in Beaverdale, Pennsylvania. His mother and siblings returned with him to Slovakia during the Great Depression. He was ordained a Redemptorist priest by Bishop Pau l Gojdic, OSBM in Jul y of 1949. After the forced liquidation of the Greek Catholic church in Czechoslovakia, Rusnak was arrested and placed in the Podolinec monastery, which was turned into a prison camp for the clergy . After fifteen months in vari ous prisons, he escaped and, thanks to his American citizenship, he was allowed to emigrate to America. Ru snak went to Canada in 1951 and started to establish Slovak Greek Catholic parishes. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishop of Toronto, the Most Reverend Isidore Borecky, named Father Rusnak dean for Slovak Greek-Catholic parishes belonging to his jurisdiction.in 1957. On October 5, 1964, Pope Paul VI elevated Father Rusnak to Auxiliary Bishop to Isidore Borecky and Apostolic Visitator for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada. The process of creating the Slovak Greek Catholic Church in Canada was completed when Pope John Paul II , in his bull Apostolicae Sedis of October 13, 1980, created the Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada. At the same time, the pope appointed aux iliary bishop Michael Rusnak as the eparchi al bishop of this Eparchy . Rusnak retired in 1996 and died on January 16, 2003 and is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Thornhill , Ontario. More about Bishop Michael Rusnak can be found in Cerny, Daniel, Biskup Michael Rusnak, CSsR (Diploma thesis), Presov: Greek Catho lic Theological Faculty of the University of Presov, 2008 . 4 Documents on this topic are in the personal archives of the author (hereafter PAA), and are based on letters from Father Fuga, Father Dubiak and Father Lacko. �30 SLOVAKIA-2017 The author of this article located important documents in various archives, and tiny pieces of the mosaic were found everywhere. Especially valuable were the articles in Maria magazine, which was published from 1955 to 1969 and then from 1976 to I 989; in the second period under the direction of a gifted editor - the late Jozef Suchy. In some cases, we can speak only about individuals, in other cases about a group of dedicated parishioners with only irregular services. The most advanced was the group of individual parishes, which we are about to describe. In 1980 these parishes were incorporated into the newly-created Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada,5 the only Slovak Greek Catholic eparchy in the world, which served as a beacon to the persecuted and oppressed brothers and sisters in Slovakia under the . yo ke. 6 communist PARISHES 1: Lethbridge, Alberta (1921) The oldest Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Canada was in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1885 the first Slovaks came to Lethbridge from 7 Shelby, Montana. Among them was the Veselenak family, Greek 8 Catholics from Nizne Slovinky in Spis county. Local Slovaks formed branch 53 of the Canadian Slovak League (CSL) in 1946. The Slovak Greek Catholic parish of Sts. Peter and Paul was founded in 1921 by coal miners, who came mostly from the Spis villages of Ponic, Zavadka and Slovinky. Before the parish was erected, the faithful organized a branch of the American-based Greek Catholic 5 Cf. L ·o sservatore Romano, December 14, 1980, Articles entitled "Erezione di nuova Eparchia; Provvista di Chiesa; Eretta in Canada Eparchi a di rito bizantino per slovacch i", 1-2. 6 For more on the general history of the Slovak Greek Catholi cs in Canada see Cerny, Daniel , "From Unknown People to a Separate Diocese: Slovak Greek Catholics in Canad a," in Mazurkiewicz, Adam, ed ., East Central Europe in Exile Volum e 1: Transatlantic Migrations (Newcastle upon Tyne : Cam bridge Scholars Publishing, 20 13), 253-72. 7 Cf. "75 rokov lethbridzs kej slov. kol6nie," Kanadsk), Slovak, February 18, 1961 , p. 2. 8 Cf. The Bend: A History of West Lethbridge (Lethbridge: West Lethbridge History Book Soc iety, 1982), 218. �SLOVAKIA-2017 31 9 Union. One important document, a photocopy of the parish minutes from the years 1921-193 7 exists, deposited in the library of the Pon10 tifical Oriental Institute in Rome. These minutes were written by 11 Andrew Mihalik. They start with the explanation that the term "fonitika," mentioned in the minutes as a petition to the Ukrainian bishop of Edmonton Nikita Budka, is to be the language used in the church, and that meant the Slovak language. According to these minutes, the first meeting took place on May 30, 1921 in the presence of bishop Budka. The faithful asked to have the celebration of a lit12 urgy every Sunday. During Wold War II the parish counted some 13 200 adults and 300 children. It was founded and owned by lay people (trustees). This was quite common in the ecclesiastical history of the USA and Canada. According to historian Mark Stolarik, this system consisted of elected members of the parish (kuratori), who collected tithes once a year from all the parishioners. A priest was paid from this treasury and the faithful had the right to terminate their 14 contract with him. Before the blessing of the church, the trustees 15 negotiated with the bishop for a resident priest. The parish had 16 a choir, the first Slovak Greek Catholic Choir in Canada. During the first years of its existence, the pastors were predominately Ukrainian, with the exception of Father Nicholas Szilagy, who came from Subcarpathia. In 1948 Ukrainians established their own parish in Lethbridge, but Ukrainian priests continued to serve Sts. Peter and Paul. However a great joy for the Slovak parish was the 1953 or- 9 PAA, e-mail fro m Father David Petras, November 5, 2010. Parafialna zapisnica Sv. toho Petra i Pavla Greko Katolickoho Viznania.(further on only PIO). 11 In 2011 the author of thi s article contacted the son of the late Andrew Mihalik. The original of the minutes are now neither in the parish archive, nor among the f:osses ions of the Mihalik family. 2 Cf. PIO, 2. 13 PAA, Quinquennial report for Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada, 1973-1978 (November 151, 1978), 2. 14 Cf. Stolarik, M. Mark, " Slovak Immigrants Co me to Terms with Religious Diversity in North America," The Catholic Historical Review, XCVI , No . I (January, 20 I 0), 69. 15 Cf. PIO, 36. 16 Cf. PIO, 25 ; 62. 10 �32 SLOVAKJA-2017 17 daination of one of their own, Father Richard Zuback, who later 18 served also as their pastor. Some of the parishioners appeared 19 among the benefactors of Maria magazine. The first pastoral visit of Bishop Rusnak took place on June 27, 1965 , the parish 's feast day. Many people came to the celebration from as far away as British Columbia. In his homily, Bishop Rusnak said the following: "Do not correct the work of God. If God created you as Greek Catholics, stay firm , remain and work in this province. Do not run away from this rite. Do not leave behind your church and 20 rite. " In the 1960's Father John Zeman, OSB informed Bishop Rusnak about the local Slovak Greek Catholics, asking for a Slovak priest, as the young people were without a priest of their own and 1 ashamed of being Slovaks.2 Father Zeman volunteered to go to the 22 parish . This never happened . In 1967 Bishop Michael expressed his desire to send Father Zorvan, from Europe, to be the pastor of the 23 parish. In I 970's the parish was noted in his calendar several times. 24 Father Lacko, SJ visited the parish in August 1973. When the enthronement of Bishop Rusnak was organized in 1981, the Leth bridge pastor refused to participate, claiming to have only nineteen Slovak 25 families. On the contrary, in 1982, Bishop Rusnak informed the Papal Pro-Nuncio that there were forty-five Slovak families in Leth26 bridge. The parish was owned by the trustees almost for a record time. The official incorporation into the Ukrainian church happened 27 on ly after a plebiscite within the parish in the early 2000's. The 17 "Prve slov. gr. katol primicie v Lethbridge, Alta," Kanadsky Slovak, June 20, 1953, p. 2. The author is grateful for this information to Mark Stolarik. 18 Cf. " Zpravy," Maria, 5/1955 Gui), I 0. 19 Cf. Maria, 6-7/ 1964, third page of the cover; I 2/ 1966, third page of the cover. 20 "Cestujeme s p. biskupom ," Maria , 9-10/ 1965, 8. 21 Cf. PAA, Letter of Father John Zeman, C hri stmas 1964. Father John , who was born in Kenaston , Saskatchewan, joined th e Slovak Benedictine Order in Cleveland, Ohio, but always wished to return to Canada. 22 Cf. PAA, Letter of Father John Zeman, sen t on July 22 , 1966 . 23 Cf. PAA , Letter of Bi shop Michael of May 15, 1967. 24 Cf. PAA , Postcard "Srdecny pozdrav od Ticheho oceanu," Sent from San Francisco, July 20, 1973 . 25 Cf. PAA , Motiuk, D. Report on the Canonical status of Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church. l ethbridge. Alberta. 26 27 Cf. PA A, Letter of Bishop Michael to the Pro- uncio, sent October 28, 1982. Archive of the Eparchy of Sts. Cyri l and Methodius, folder Lethbridge. �33 SLOVAKIA-2017 parish is thus nowadays Ukrainian, but its contribution to the history and culture of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada, especially in the first half of the 20 th century, is significant. 2: Montreal, Quebec (1930) 28 Many Slovaks settled in Montreal in the l 920's, forming branch 2 of the CSL in 1932. After Western Canada, Montreal became the second center of Slovak settlement in Canada. Slovaks in Montreal first established a Roman Catholic parish in 1928 and a 29 Lutheran one in 1929. The Slovak Greek Catholics joined several fraternal groups, such as the Greek Catholic Union. At one of the meetings of branch 959 of the Union, on October 18, 1930, discussions started and eventually led to the founding of the Slovak Greek 30 Catholic parish. The volunteers created a list of fifty families and 31 many individuals who would join the parish. Ukrainian Bishop Ladyka, visiting Montreal on November 21, 1930, welcomed the delegates and promised to do everything possible "in order to fulfill the request of this God-fearing people, who are organizing themselves in this foreign world, not forgetting God, and are willing to do such a 32 beautiful, but difficult task." The first liturgy was celebrated by Father Michal Gregorejchuk, OSBM on Sunday, December 7, 33 1930. Three days later a meeting was held and a parish council was elected. December I 0, 1930 is considered the date of the creation of 34 the parish. From the very beginning the parish was organized by Slovaks not only from Slovakia, but from Hungary, Romania or 35 elsewhere. A photo from 1931 testifies to the presence of a Slovak 36 school. In 1931 a "Membership Book" was published. This book, 28 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia - Nanebevstupenia Pana v Montreale - 50'h anniversary Slovak Catholic (E. R.) parish of Ascension Montreal (Montreal: Parish of the Ascension, 1980), 34. 29 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady, 34. 3 Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, I. 31 PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 3-4. 32 PAA Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 2. 33 Cf. PAA , Zapisn ica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 2. 34 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 30; 34. 35 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr kat. osady Voznesenia, 24. 36 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 23. ° �34 SLOVAKIA-2017 together with the first financial records, are an authoritative example 37 of the language of the first immigrants. The Basilian fathers took care of the parish until the arrival of 38 Father John Hawryluk in 1949. When the parish was created it was named the GR. KFT. RUSSKA CERKOV (Greek Catholic Russian Church). The change of name was moti vated by a schismatic movement and the rise of national awareness among the faithful. The name Slovak Gr. Cath. Church was used for the first time on October 39 15, 1935 . A youth orchestra nicely represented the parish. In 193 7 the parishioners started to use the chapel in the Notre Dame de Lourdes church as their place of worship until November, 1959. In 1938 the parish mission was granted permission to keep their own 40 parish records and thus gained greater internal autonomy. In these years the pari sh was still only a mission. The years following WW II brought a radical change into the lives of the Slovak Greek Catholics . With the arrival of thousands of Ukrainian refugees to Canada, the Ukrainian Exarchate, later the Eparchy of Toronto and all Eastern Canada, was founded. Its first bishop was Isidore Borecky. On October 10, 1949, Bishop Borecky named Father John Hawryluk as the pastor of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Montreal. On December 20, 1949 the former mis41 sion was established as an independent parish. The presence of young people at the services was really appreciated as the youth was 42 "the real core of the new choir of our church." The choir even broadcast by radio to Slovakia. The people dreamt about getting a Slovak priest: 37 Original scans were published in 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 44. 38 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 37. And also : Souvenir book of the dedication of the Slovak Catholic E. R. Church of Ascension, Montreal, Jun e JO, 1962 - Pamiitnci kniha archijerejskeho blahoslovenia slovenskej katolickej V 0. cerkvi Voznesenia, Montreal, JO. juna 1962 (Montreal: Pari sh of the Ascension, 1962), 17-18 . 39 Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 32. 4 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 35; 37-39. 41 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 3 1; 40. 42 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 40. ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 35 We firmly believe that, in a short time a priest of Slovak ethnicity wi ll be assigned to our parish and thus we will fulfill our long-time dream .... The faithfu l understands the announced Word of God more easily . .. There are obstacles in foreign objections and intentions that prevent us from achieving this goal of ours . .. "We do not long for something foreign, we just want to live our own life, but on the other hand we do not accept anyone trying to make fools of us, that we are Rusnaks or something similar, because those days are gone ... 43 In 1956 the trustees purchased properties at the comer of Legen45 44 dre and Clark streets, and erected a wooden cross . The construction of the new church started in Apri l and the basement was finished 46 in November of I 959 . Parishioners came in the evenings, and on their days off, to work on the construction of the church. The first liturgy in the hall in the basement was celebrated on November 29, 47 1959. The cornerstone was blessed by Bishop Borecky on October 48 2, 1960, and the construction was completed on December 17, 49 1961. An icon of Our Lady of Klokofov was displayed in the 50 church . The solemn blessing of the new church by Bishop Borecky 51 had to wait until June I 0, 1962. The main contractor was the parishioner, Mr. Andrej Midlick, originally from Ponic in Spis county. He even donated to the new church the main altar with a baldachino. The newly-ordained Bishop Rusnak came to visit his flock in 52 Montreal for the first time in May of 1965. Bishop Rusnak blessed 43 "Sv. misie pre gr.-kat. Slovakov v Montreali ," Kanadsky Slowik, Apri l 3, 1954, ff· 5, 8. Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Slovenskej Greko Katol'ickej Osadi Voznesefza Vo Montreale Jan Ihnat zapisnik Na rok 1956, 4-5. 45 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 32. The wooden cross still stands in 201 6. 46 Cf. Souvenir book, 34. 47 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 36. 48 Cf. "Z nasich fa rnosti," Maria , 9-10/1960, 226. 49 Souvenir book, 28 . so Cf. "Z nas ich farnosti," Maria, 3/ 1962, 67. 51 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 42. 52 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 42. �36 SLOVAKIA-2017 the altar on March 6, 1966. From Rome he brought some relics of Saint Cyril to be placed into the altar. The parish in Montreal thus became the first one in the North America to celebrate the liturgy on 53 the relics of this great saint. Bishop Rusnak expressed his desire that the Ascension Church would become "a site of pilgrimages in honor of Saint Cyril, the apostle of the Slovaks and Slavs in general. ,,54 • On October 15, 1966, Father Andrew Sinai' was named pastor. 55 For the first time in its history, the parish had its own Slovak priest. Father Sinai' served until 2006. The beginnings were very hard for Father Sinai', since the parish had a huge mortgage. The trustees gave their approval for reading of the Gospel in English and in Slovak to meet the needs of the younger generation, in order to bring them back to the church. From June 1, 1971 Slovak liturgies were cele56 brated in the parish. The golden jubilee was celebrated on Sunday, 57 September 28, 1980, with Bishop Rusnak present. More than twenty of the original founders of the parish survived for this celebration. Around 500 people attended the banquet. However, due to the death of Father Sinai in 2007 and to dwindling numbers, the Montreal parish was closed in 2010. 3: Windsor, Ontario (1950) The automobile industry attracted many Slovaks to the city of Windsor. So did some farms on the outskirts of town. In 1951 the 58 third largest group of Slovaks in Canada lived here. Slovak Lutherans in Windsor organized a parish in 1928, while the Slovak Greek Catholics had to wait until after WW II. Andrew Balint, acting as the secretary of a newly-formed parish committee, wrote to Bishop 59 Borecky on July 29, 1950. He asked for the bishop's permission to 53 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 42. Tomko, Vladimir, " Posviacka noveho hi. oltara v Montreale," Maria, 4-5/ 1966, 56. 55 PAA, Letter sent on October 4, 1966. 56 Cf. PAA, Zapisnica Slovenskej Greko Katol'ickej Osadi Vozneseiia Vo Montreale Jan Ihnat zapisnik Na rok 1956, 48. 57 Cf. "Oslava 50 rocneho jubilea nasej farnosti v Montreale," Maria , 12/1980, 7-8. 58 Cf. Kirschbaum, 137. 59 PAA , Letter from Jul y 29, 1950. 54 �SLOVAKIA-2017 37 establish a new parish. The name chosen was "St. Michael the Archangel Slovak and Subcarpathian Greek Catholic Parish in Windsor, 60 ON." The letter ended with the desire of the congregation to "soon 61 invite (the bishop) to the Slovak parish." Borecky agreed with the 62 organization of a Slovak parish. Father Andrew Krafcik also played a role in its establishment. Until his arrival in Windsor, the 63 parish was administered by Father Mina. The blessing of the cor64 nerstone took place on June 13 , 1954. The rectory, hall and the 65 church were blessed by Bishop Borecky on November 7, 1954. 66 Work with the youth led to establishing the parish choir. In 1956 67 Father George Perejda, CSsR, was ordained from the parish. From November of 1957 to February of 1958 the parish was served by Fa68 ther Fetsco. In 1958 a newly-ordained Slovak Greek Catholic priest, Anthony Zouzal, was appointed as the pastor of Windsor. His tenure could be 69 characterized as the "golden age" of the parish. Collaboration with the Byzantine Catholics on the American side of the border was intensified. 7° Thanks to many cantors, the parish was famous for its singing of Vespers and Liturgies. The popularity of Father Zouzal was so great that on his birthday the parishioners gave him a gift - a 71 car. In his letter to the chancery, dated August 1966, Father Zouzal suggested building a parish school, and even a new name for the parish: the Greek Catholic Parish of St. John - Michael, in order to 60 Sv. Micha/a Archandela Slov. a Podkrp.Gr.kt.paraphija vo Windsor Ont. PAA , Letter from July 29, 1950. 61 "Scoby mi Vas poklikali skoro na nasu Slovensku paraphiju. " PAA , Letter from Jul y 29, 1950. 62 27. Lipna /950. PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore from July 27, 1950. 63 Cf. "S lovenski greckokatolici v Ontariu," Kanadsky Slowik, September 4, 1954, p. 5. 64 Cf. "Cirkevna slavnost' vo Windsore, Ont.", Kanadsky Slowik, June 12, 1954, p. 8. 65 See the photo in Maria, I /1955 (March), 15. 66 Cf. "Zo zivota nasich farnosti ," Maria , 3/ 195 5 (June), I 6. 67 Cf. "Zpravy," Maria, 6/ 1956, 14. 68 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria , 3-4/ 1965, 15 . 69 Cf. "Zpravy z domova a z katolickeho sveta," Maria, 12/ 1958, 15-16. 7 Cf. " Den modlitieb vo Windsore," Kanadsky Slovak, September 19, 1959, p. 2; "Z nasich farnosti," Maria , I 2/ 1960, 282. 71 Cf. "Z nasich osad," Maria, 7-8/ 1960, 189. ° �38 SLOVAKIA-2017 72 avoid confusion within the city. The school project was never im73 plemented . In 1976 Father Zouzal was named an archpriest. However, his tenure was cut short with his premature death on July 14, 74 1976. An eyewitness remembers Bishop Borecky coming to the funeral and placing his own pectoral cross on the body in the coffin. Some 150 priests, as well as more than 1,500 laypeople, participated 75 in the funeral procession. In the following years the parish was served by Father Gregory Novak, CSsR, by Father James Lynch in 76 1978, and by Father Andrew Sipek in 1979. In 1980 some 400 77 people attended an anniversary banquet. The parish continues to exist to this day. 4: Toronto, Ontario (1951) Slovak settlement in Toronto is already mentioned towards the 78 end of the 19 th century, but large numbers came only after 1923. Many Slovak Greek Catholics in Toronto belonged to branch 7 of the CSL (1937). During their meetings the opportunity to establish an independent Slovak Greek Catholic parish was discussed. Until that time, Slovak Greek Catholics mostly attended the Slovak Roman Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (1934), where they comprised a third, or maybe even half of the members . As a result, many people regarded very negatively attempts to establish another parish.79 The beginnings of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Toronto 80 are connected with a Rusyn priest, Father Louis Mina. In the archives of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Toronto is a list of seventy-seven names of those who volunteered to join a "S lovak Greek Catholic 72 PA A, Letter of Father Zouzal to Bishop Isidore from August 12, 1966. Cf. "Vy znamenani e o. Antona Zouzala," Maria, 5/ 1976, I 0. 74 "Zomrel o. Anton Zouzal ," Maria, 9/ 1976, 11. 75 PAA , Comm uni cation with Mr. W. Zouzal , recorded on June 5, 20 11. 76 Cf. "Novy paroch vo Windsore," Maria, 12/ 1979, 7. 77 Cf. "Odpust" in Windsor, Maria, 12/ 1980, 9. 78 Cf. Kirschbaum , 132-5. 79 Mikula, Jan, " Hrst' rozpomienok na t'azke zaciatky," Kanadsky Slovak, March 28, 1981, p. 8. 8 Cf. "S lovenski greckokatolici v Ontariu," Kanadsky Slovak, September 4, 1954, p. 5. 73 ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 39 81 parish, if such were created." The parish was founded on October 82 29, 1951 as the Slovak Greek - Catholic Church of the Nativity of the B. V. Mary. A different date is indicated by a document dated November 29, 1951 based on a request for the founding of the parish, written and submitted in the name of the faithful from the Eparchies of Presov and Mukacevo, as well as the Apostolic Administra83 tion in Miskolc, Hungary by Father Mina. The term Slovak was of much wider sense than nowadays and it included almost all the Greek Catholic faithful coming from the Union of Uzhorod. The lit84 urgy was celebrated in the Ukrainian Church on Bathurst Street. On April I , 1952, Father Rusnak was named the new pastor of the church. The congregation gathered first on Bathurst Street, then moved to the Holy Eucharist church on King Street, where they worshiped until 1959, when their own church on Shaw Street was 85 blessed. The plans for the new Slovak Greek Catholic church in Toronto were approved on June 9, 1953 . The church was supposed to 86 be built at the comer of Roblock Avenue and Leeds, however this 87 attempt failed. The success of parish picnics led to the purchase of 89 St. Mary's Park. 88 The parish also acquired one part of a cemetery. However, none of these investments lasted. Towards the end of 1956 90 a choir was organized in the parish. A long-time cantor was Mr. 91 Joseph Kampu. At the end of 1959 the parish acquired a B' nai Is92 rael congregation synagogue, located at 257 Shaw Street. On De93 cember 27, 1959 Bishop Borecky blessed it as a church. Some 600 81 PAA, Copy of the signature li st. Cf. "25. vyroc ie nasej famost i," Maria, 9/ 1976, I 0. Jozef Suchy gives the date of October 2 1. 83 PAA, Letter from 28. XI. 1951. 84 Cf. Vasko, Andrej , "S lovenskf Grecko-katolfci," Kanadsky Slovak, October 11 , 1952, p. 2. 85 Cf. Ru snak, Michal , "Stvrt'storocie nasho rastu," Maria , 1/ 1980, 11. 86 Cf. Daily commercial news and building records, June 9 1953, I. 87 Cf. Ru snak, Michal , "Stvrt'storocie nasho rastu," Maria , 1/ 1980, 11 . 88 Cf. Maria, 5/ 1963 , third page of the cover. 89 Maria , 2/1963 , 16. 90 Cf. "Z nasich farnosti," Maria, 9-10/1956, 22. 91 Cf. Maria, 4/1963, 16. 92 Cf. "Time for rejoicing - Celebrate Opening of New Slovak Church," Toronto Daily Star, October 11 , 1959, p. 57 . 93 Cf. " Pozvanka na posviacku," Kanadsky Slovak, Christmas 1959, p. 4. 82 �40 SLOVAKIA-2017 94 people from near and far attended. The first English liturgy in the 95 parish was celebrated on March 22, 1964. The nomination of Father Rusnak as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Toronto Eparchy and the Apostolic Visitator for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada surely filled his parishioners with joy, for the church with its rectory became the official seat of the new bishop. Father John Fetsco became its new pastor. In 1972 Father John Pazak, CSsR, later the second bishop of the Slovak Eparchy, was 96 ordained a deacon in the parish. In 1974 Father Joseph Krafcik, SJ 97 helped out. The "odpust" celebration of 197 5 was highlighted by the priestly ordinations of three married deacons, at that time a rare 98 ordination in the Catholic world. On May 31, 1976, a Divine Litur99 gy was celebrated for the first time in Slovak. The arrival of Father Richard Boyle, ordained in the parish in 1978, brought new life to 100 the parish. This consisted not only of pilgrimages he organized, but all the parish activities, where he, together with a group of volun0 teers, cared for children as well as adults. ' ' He even installed a provisional iconostasis. On July 17, 1980, the first Slovak Greek Catholic Day in Bratislava Park near Hamilton took place, in an attempt to unite all the Slovak Greek Catholic parishes at a picnic. The "odpust" in 1980 was prepared jointly by all the parishes, and some 500 102 people attended. When the Slovak Eparchy was created, the 94 Cf. "Z nasich osad," Maria, 1-2/ 1960, 39. Cf. "Kronika," Maria , 3-411964, 16. 96 "Najdostojnej si o. Biskup Jan Pazak, C.Ss.R." in "Banquet in honour of His Excellency Most Reverend John S. Pazak, C.Ss.R." in The episcopal ordination and enthronement of the Most Reverend John S. Pazak, C.Ss. R., second Bishop of the Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius for Byzantine Slovaks in Canada (Toronto: E;archy of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 2000). 9 Cf. PAA , Letter Vel'adostojny a mily Vlady ko! Sent from Rome, Jul y 3, 1974. 98 The whole story is described in the following: Pospishil , Victor, "The Toronto Tempest," in Compulsory celibacy fo r the Eastern Catholics in the Americas (Toronto: Ukrainian Catholic Women's League, 1977). 99 Cf. " Slovenska liturgia v Toronte," Maria, 7-8/ 1976, 13-14. 100 To Quebec and its sanctuaries, to the Holy Land or pilgrimages to Uniontown, PA. 101 Cf. Boy le, Richard, "First solemn reception of Holy Communion in Toronto," Maria , 9/ 1979, 11. 102 Cf. Boyle, Richard, "Alive and well on Shaw Street in Toronto," Maria , 11 / 1980, 8-9. 95 �SLOVAKIA-2017 41 church on Shaw Street became its cathedral. A bishop's throne was 103 installed in the cathedral on the orders of Bishop Rusnak. As time passed many parishioners from downtown Toronto (and from the vicinity of the church) moved to other areas of town. It would have been fitting to reach out to these people, especially in the western areas of the Greater Toronto Area. 5: Oshawa, Ontario (1952) Slovak settlement in Oshawa started in the l 920's and is closely related to the development of the automobile industry in the area. After their arrival, the Greek Catholic Slovaks started to attend ser104 vices in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church of Saint George. In 1951 an announcement was placed in Kanadsky Slovak asking people in the Oshawa region who were interested in establishing a Slo105 vak Greek Catholic church to gather for a meeting. Thanks to Mr. 106 Andrew Vasko, the first meeting took place in January of 1952. The chairman asked all those present to sign a document confirming their desire to establish a Slovak Greek Catholic Society. Some fifty signatures were collected. At this meeting a parish committee was elected and the possibility of celebrating the Greek Catholic services 107 in the Slovak Hall was discussed. The first pastor of the community was the Reverend Michael Rusnak. On July 13 , 1952 the very first Slovak Greek Catholic Day in Oshawa was organized with a field 108 liturgy. On January 11 , 1953, the potential parishioners sent a request to Bishop Borecky for a "Slovak Greek Catholic priest, who would be able to have divine services in Oshawa every other Sunday 103 PAA , Folder: Boyle, Letter of Bishop Michael , February 12, 1981. Cf. "Z peknej slovenskej svadby v Oshawe," Kanadsky Slovak, August I 0, 1950, p. 7; "SI. M. Korcinska a p. M. Karas v putach manzelstva," Kanadsky Slovak, October 19, 1950, p. 6. 105 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin famosti) ," Kanadsky Slovak, AJril 26, 1958, p. 3. 1 Cf. PAA , Lescisin, E. & C.: Slovenska greckokatolicka farnost Ochrany Presvdtej Bohorodicky Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - Slovak Greek Catholic Church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. November 2001, not for sale description of the parish history, 5. 107 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin farnosti) ," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 108 Cf. Ibid. 104 �42 SLOVAKJA-2017 • a mont h ." 109 Some th.irty SI ova k s s1gne • d th e petition. • • 11 0 A or twice mission was established in February of 1953 . The Divine Liturgy was celebrated every other Sunday of the month in the Slovak Hall 111 and the solemn opening ofthe mission occurred on May 10, 1953. The liturgies were celebrated in the morning in Church Slavonic, but 11 2 always with a Slovak sermon. A property was purchased in 1953 11 3 right next to the Slovak Hall on Ritson Road. Really encouraging was the fact that the building process was started by only thirty-eight 114 families. Of great help was a six month-long strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union in the local General Motors Com11 5 pany, thus providing a ready labor force . The blessing of the cor11 6 nerstone occurred on July 31 , 1955 . The fini shed church was 117 blessed by Bishop Borecky on November 2, I 955 . Attendance was astounding, as according to one chronicler: "From some 800 mouths resounded the hierarchical hymn: " Vose) jesi Archijere11 8 1I 9 ju ..." The parish also offered religious education for the youth. 12 In the late 1950' s a Slovak choir also existed in Oshawa. From October of 1960 until September of 1963 , the parish was adminis12 1 tered by Father John Fetsco, CSsR. He was succeeded by Father 122 Andrew Krafcik. The first official visit of Bishop Rusnak to the 123 parish in Oshawa was on Sunday, May 2, I 965 . Father Michael ° 109 PAA , Without any signature. PAA , Without any signature. 11 1 Cf. " Slovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dej in fa rnosti )," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 11 2 C f. " Prvy slovensky grec ko-katolicky odpust," Kanadsky Slovak, November 14, 1953 , p. 2. 11 3 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin farn osti)," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 11 " Vzor jedn oty a spoluprace," Maria, 5/ 1957, 14. 115 Cf. Lescisin, 6. 11 6 Cf. "Oznamuj eme .. .," Mar ia, 5/ 1955 (Jul y), 15. 11 7 Cf. Oznamuj eme .. .," Maria , 7/ 1955 (September), 14-1 5. 118 Cf. " Posvateni e novej slovenskej gr.-kat cerkvi v Os hawe," Maria , 8/ 1955 (October), 15 119 Cf. Maria , 3/ 1957, photo on th e first page of th e cover. 120 "Vas kovci v Os hawe vydava li dceru," Kanadsky Slovak, January 9, 1960, p. 2. 121 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria , 3-4/ 1965 , 15. 122 Cf. Maria, 2/ 1963 , 16. 123 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Bi skupa M. Ru snaka," Maria, 3-4/ 1965, 16. 11 0 �SLOVAKIA-2017 43 Durisin from Slovakia served the parish in 1966. After him came 124 Father Stephen Adamiak. The need for a resident priest became urgent among the parishioners towards the end of 1960 's: " If we do not have a resident priest, ... then we and even more our children will 125 be in danger regarding our faith and keeping our pari sh." After dedicated efforts of the parishioners, a new rectory was blessed in 126 May of 1969. In 1970 Father Adamiak was replaced by Father Joseph Dubiak. Thanks to Father Dubiak the modem Slovak lan127 guage was introduced into the liturgy. Father Dubiak left the parish in 197 1, and his successor became Father Adolph Vateha, 128 CSsR. In 1972 a railroad overpass was built nearby, which changed the church surroundings. Later the parish was given some 129 compensation by the City of Oshawa. In later years, mostly Toronto priests served in the Oshawa parish. The parish in Oshawa was never large, but had a strong sense of community. According to the 200 I booklet about the pari sh, a majority of the parisioners were 130 from the former historic counties of Zemplin and Ugoca. The parish is still alive, being served by the Reverend Stephen Williams, an English-speaking convert to th e Byzantine-Slovak rite. 6: Hamilton, Ontario (1952) The first Slovaks arrived in the steel city of Hamilton, Ontario, 131 in the 1920's. They founded their own Roman Catholic Church in January of 1945 . Half of the fo unding families were Greek Catholics, and due to this fact the parish was named Sts. Cyril and Methodi132 us. Several Slovak Greek Catholic families also attended the local 133 Ukrainian church and some even the Polish church. The key mo124 Cf. "Z nasich osad - Oshawa," Maria , 9- I 0/ 1967, 17- I 8. PAA , Letter fro m Jul y 28, 1967. 126 Cf. "V izi tac ie preosv. o. biskupa Michala Rusnaka, CSsR," Maria , 5-6/ 1969, 5. 127 PAA , Letter of Father Joseph to Father Lacko, September 17, I 971. 128 PAA , Confirmation of the appointment as a pastor in the letter of Bi shop Isidore fro m September 20, 1973. 129 Cf. Lesc isin, 11 . 13 Cf. Lescisin, 13 . 13 1 Cf. Kirschbaum , 135-7. 132 Sts. Cyril and Methodius parish - History . htt ://www.s lovakchurch .com/historyh tm ( 11.5 .20 12 15 :00). b J Cf. "Nas rozhovor," Maria , 4/1 979, 9. 125 ° �44 SLOVAKIA-2017 ment for the founding of the Greek Catholic parish was a meeting on October 26, 1952 in the house of Mr. Michael Mati. During this meeting a deci sion was made to establish the parish of Sts . Peter and 134 Paul. The first liturgy was celebrated on December 14, 1952 in the 135 local Ukrainian church. Fathers Michael Rusnak and Louis Mina 136 took turns serving the community. The first anniversary of the mission was celebrated in the Hungarian church on December 13, 1953 , with Bishop Borecky attending, and everyone "was delighted 137 to hear him deliver a short sermon in Slovak. " 138 In 1954 Father Frantisek Fuga came to Hamilton from Rome. The parish changed its name due to a request by the Roman Catholic bishop of Hamilton, who already had in his diocese a parish dedicated to Sts. Peter and Paul. Ukrainian Bishop Isidore Borecky, who was in charge of Slovak Greek Catholics in Ontario, changed the name of the parish to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 139 October 20, 1954. In a letter from the Oriental Congregation in Rome, Cardinal Coussa stated: "The veneration of the Mother of God of Klokocov will assure its success among Slovak Greek Catho40 lics." 1 A copy of the Klokocov icon was painted in the church thanks to the efforts of Father Lacko in 1955, and it was blessed by 14 1 the Pope himself. Also, some Slovenians came annualy in pil. h' . gnmages to t 1s icon. 142 The cornerstone of the sanctuary was blessed on October 20, 143 144 1957 . Inside was al so a bit of soil from Klokocov in Slovakia. The facade with three mountain peaks and a double cross (the Slovak 134 Cf. Yinansky, J. (F . Fuga), "Gr. K. Osada, Hamilton," Kalendar KSL 1977 (Toronto), 84. 135 Cf. " 25 . vyrocie nas ich farn osti," Maria, I 0/ 1977, 11. 136 Cf. Eli as, Jan, "Otec Fuga IO rokov v Hamiltone," Maria , 5/ 1964, 9. 137 Cf. " Po Gr.-kato lickej oslave v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, Fe bruary 20, 1954, p. 2. 138 "Zo zivota nas ich fa rnosti," Maria, 3/ 195 5 (May), 15. 139 Cf. " Hist6ri a odpustov Panny Marie Klokocovskej v Hamiltonskej svatyni ," Maria, 7-8/ 1965, 3. 14 Fuga, Franti sek, " Rozpomienka na prvy odpu st," Maria , 7-8/ 1965 , I 0. 14 1 Cf. " lkona kl okocovskej Matky Bozej v Hamiltone," Maria, 8/ 1958, 5-7. 142 Cf. " Hor' sa na putnicky odpust Panny Marie Klokococskej do Hamiltonu," Maria , 7-8/ 1969, 3. 143 Cf. Maria, 10/ 1957 , last page of the cover. 144 Cf. " Dej inn y den," Ma ria , 11 / 1957 , 11. ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 45 national emblem) was painted by the noted Slovak artist Jozef 145 Cincik. Father Fuga was a skilled organizer, and the Hamilton 146 sanctuary was nicely decorated during his tenure. Fuga also supported the struggle for Slovak independence and created the modem Slovak flag (horizontal white, blue and red stripes with the Slovak emblem superimposed upon it!" In 197 4 he became the director of 47 the Matica Slovenska Abroad. Hamilton was also one of the first Greek Catholic parishes to have the Sunday readings done in modem Slovak. The church was dedicated on June 9, 1963, as part of the local Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations (the 1100 th anniversary of the 148 arrival of the Apostles of the Slavs on Slovak territory). In those days, the number of the faithful in Hamilton increased to almost 149 500. The first visit of Bishop Rusnak to Hamilton after his episco150 pal ordination took place on May 23 , 1965. At the beginning of 1975 Father Fuga became seriously ill. This was the price he paid for his printing apostolate, using lead ink. Some parishioners said to him: "Monsignor, please do not die! It would be better for us if the sanctuary burned to the ground, because you could build another one, but if you die, we will lose it in a few 151 years! " Father Fuga lived for another ten years. On October 3, 152 1975 a Slovak school opened in the parish. The "odpust" of 1976 included a blessing of the interior iconography, created by Igor 153 Suchacev, and the ceremony of presenting the miter to Monsignor Fuga. Suchacev painted Slovak saints in the apse, with their scrolls 145 PAA, Letter from Father Fuga to Father Lacko, January 31, 1975. Cf. "Z nasich osad - Hamilton," Maria, 3-4, 1968, 18-20; fourth page of the cover; "Odpust a cirkevne slavnosti v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, August 9, 1975, p. 5; "Vyrocity odpust a strieborne jubileum pastoracie Mons. Fr. Fugu v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, September 8, 1979, p. 3. 147 Cf. Elias, Jan, "Zahranicna MS ma protektora," Kanadsky Slovak, July 6, 1974, P,·48 5. Cf. "Kronika," Maria , 4/ 1963, 16. 149 Cf. Lacko, Michal, " Posviacka dvoch novych s lovenskyc h kostolov v Kanade," Kanadsky Slovak, June 29, 1963 , p. 5. 15 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Biskupa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 3-4/ 1965, 16. 151 "Nas rozhovor," Maria , 4/ 1979, 9. 152 Cf. "Skola slovenciny osady P. M. Klokocovskej , Kanadsky Slovak, October 18, 1975 , p. 5. 153 Born in Yugoslavia to Russian refugees . One of his works was the decoration of the throne in Ethiopia. 146 ° �46 SLOVAKIA-2017 written in Slovak. The church also has depictions of the blessed Sister Miriam T. Demjanovic and President Joseph Tiso. The beauty of the church was also enhanced by the iconostasis, being the only Slo154 vak church in Canada to have a permanent one. The parish exists to this day, although the glory days of Father Fuga are gone. 7: Welland, Ontario (1953) The first Slovaks settled in the Niagara peninsula around 1920; eventually there were some 3,000. Local branches of the CSL had these numbers : 23 in Welland (1940), 31 in St. Catharines (1942), 3 7 155 in Niagara Falls (1943) and 64 in Port Colborne ( 1952). A majority of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Welland and nearby places came to Canada in the last years prior to WW II, mostly from Zemplin County. Only after WW II, when new priests arrived, did the organization of spiritual life develop here. On November 22, 1953 a meeting was held in Welland for all those interested in establishing a Slovak Greek Catholic parish under the patronage of the Holy Spirit. The meeting was organized by Father Vincent Danco, SJ. Some twenty-eight members of the future parish appeared. The faithful wished to have the liturgy celebrated twice a month and to temporarily use the Gregorian calendar. They also produced a list of fifty-five people who wished to belong to the 156 parish. Bishop Borecky promised in his letter of December I 9, 157 1953 to send a Decree for the creation of this parish. The first pastor of the parish was Father Danco, whose name was inscribed with gold letters into the history of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada. On August 1, 1954, the Reverend Nicholas Chanat became the pastor of the Hol y Ghost parish in Welland and the "mission stations 158 of the Niagara Peninsula districts." The solemn groundbreaking 154 Cf. " Yysoka cirkevna hodnost' Mons. F. Fugovi," Kanadsky Slovak, September 4, 1976, pp . 1-2. 155 Cf. "S lovaci a ich organi zacia v dejinach oblasti N iagara," Kanadsky Slovak, January 31 , 198 1, p.5. 156 PAA , without a signature. 157 PAA , without a signature. 158 PAA, Letter from Bishop Borecky, without a signature. �47 SLOVAKIA-2017 159 took place on July 3, 1955 , and on May 20, 1956 the new church160 hall was blessed. However, the Reverend Chanat died in the morn161 ing of March 17, 1957 at the age of30. This was so devastating that the hall became a permanent church, as there was never any fur162 ther building activity. Father Mina succeeded him ; after him the 164 163 parish was served by Fathers Fetsco, Kra:fcik, Shogan, Chamey and Russin. Bishop Rusnak visited the parish for the first time as a • 165 bishop on June 6, 1965 . From November 1965, Father Smal' was 166 the pastor. After Father Russin resigned as pastor at the end of 167 I 971, Father Robert Keleher was named the new administrator. 168 He installed a temporary iconostasis. Father Keleher was replaced with a Slovak priest, Father Stephen Kundra, who served from Au169 gust of 1972 until February of 1973 . The parish was administered for a while by Father Fuga until the arrival of Father John Leso, SJ _110 Vo The parish financial report for the year 1980 showed that, were it not for bingo, the rental of the hall and kitchen, the parish would not 171 collect enough money to pay the priest's salary. This was due to the aging of the parish, the death of its founders , while their offspring either moved away or lost interest in this church. Thus, the parish slowly declined and did not survive the year 20 I 0. 159 In other sources the date for the groundbreaking by Father Chanat is listed as Jul y 4, 1954 . 16 Cf. "Zaznamenavame," Maria , 411956, 16. 161 Cf. "Za milovanym o. Nikolajom," Maria , 4/ 1957, 3-6. 162 PAA, Letter of April 3, 1957. 163 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria, 3-4/1965 , 15 . 164 PAA, Letter from Michael Kostik to Bi shop Isidore, November 9, 196 1. 165 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Biskupa M. Ru snaka," Maria , 3-4/ 1965 , 16. 166 PAA , Letter of th e Vicar General, the Right Reverend Basil Filevich, December 6, 1965 . 167 PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore to the Toronto-Dominion Bank, December 24, 197 1. 168 PAA, Letter of Father Keleher to Bishop Isidore, August 27, 1973. 169 PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore, February 23, 1973, addressed to the TorontoDomi nion Bank . 170 PAA , Lette r of February 17, 1976. 171 PAA, Annual statement - 1980. ° �48 SLOVAKIA-2017 8: Sudbury, Ontario (1954) This mining town in northern Ontario also attracted Slovak im172 migrants. In 1923 the first Slovaks arrived in Sudbury. Several of 173 them were Greek Catholics. The founding meeting of branch 16 of the CSL was held June 19, 1938 at the hall of the local Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, showing thus their religious affi liation. The local Greek Catholic Slovaks had quite a community life even before 174 their parish was founded , as testified by newspaper articles. On many of these occasions the Master of Ceremonies, or simply the Elder, presided over the event with both formal as well as religious 175 elements. A real start for the Slovak Greek Catholics was the Divine Liturgy celebrated on August 15, 1954 at the hall of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society. It was celebrated by fathers Louis Mina and Nicholas Chanat and Father Dzurman, the local Ukrainian 176 priest. The parish received the title of Our Lady of Perpetual 178 177 Help. The entire ceremony was broadcast on local television. 179 Thereafter liturgies were celebrated on a monthly basis. The Sudbury parishioners were also subscribers and ~enerous benefactors of 1 the Slovak Greek Catholic magazine Maria. Father Fetsco became 18 1 the pastor for the first time in 1957. With several breaks and sev- ° 172 Cf. Urban, J., "Slovaks in Sudbury," Polyphony: Th e Bulletin of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario - Sudbury 's People, Vol. 5 (No. I, 1983), p. 123 . 173 Cf. "Smutna sprava 23. zboru KSL," Kanadsk:y Slovak, August 9, 1980, p. 7; " Spravy z Toronta," Kanadsk:y Slovak, April 7, 1979, p. 2. 174 Cf. " Man zelia Strokovi jubilovali," Kanadsk:y Slovak, March 30, 1950, p. 6; "Manzelia Rani covi jubilovali, Kanadsk:y Slowik, August 17, 1950, p. 6; "Rani covi zenili syna Stefana," Kanadsk:y Slovak, September 9, 1950, p. 6; "S I. Johanka Simkova v putach manzelstva," Kanadsk:y Slovak November 9, 1950, p. 7; " Manzelia Koritko jubilovali, Kanadsk:y Slovak, November 8, 1952, p. 2. 175 Cf. " Mad'arovci 25 rokov v manzelstve, Kanadsk:y Slovak, December 2 1, 1950, p. 3. 176 Cf. Maria , 2/1955 , 15; "S lavnostne otvorenie slovenskej gr. kat. parafii v Sudbury, Ont. di\ a 15. augusta, Kanadsky Slovak, August 7, 1954, p. 8. 177 Cf Urban 124 178 Cf. Mari;, 2/ 1955 , 15. No such video recording cou ld be found. CTV does not have it in its archi ves, TYO did not exist and CBC did not answer my e-mails. 179 Cf. " Prvy slovensky krst v Sudburach," Kanadsk:y Slovak, November 6, 1954, p. 3. 18 Cf. Maria , 6/l 955 , 17; 5/ 1958, 22. 18 1 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria, 3-4/ 1965 , 15. ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 49 182 era! priests substituting, he continued coming to the parish until 1972. On July I, 1964, a new pastor was named--Father Theoktist 183 Vidov, a Studite monk originally from Croatia. Bishop Rusnak 184 came to Sudbury on June 13, 1965 . Sadly, someone noted that the youth had little interest in its roots: "The whole ceremony was really nice. And it could be even nicer if our young Slovaks from Sudbury 185 would show up in bigger numbers for such a great ceremony." In 1965 Father Jules Riotte, a Greek Catholic priest of German origin is • d as t he pastor, commg • twice • a mont h . 186 B 1s . hop R usna' k menhone 187 also returned to Sudbury in the following years. We have a list 188 from the 1960's of 31 fam ilies who had their homes blessed following the blessing of the Jordan water. Another list of families who 189 appeared for All Souls Day celebrations is also preserved. One of the problems of the Slovak Greek Catholic community in Sudbury was the lack of a resident priest. Another important factor for the downfall of the parish were economic conditions. Around 1964, when their economic situation changed for the better, many people moved to southern Ontario, and since no new waves of immigrants appeared, a decline in the number of Slovaks (and Greek Catholics) began. At a parish meeting held on July 13, 1975, it was decided "to dismiss the parish ; the reason is that there is no one to keep it because there are no more parishioners, it is sad, but it could 191 190 not be changed." Bishop Rusnak responded on July 25, 1975, but another reply from the parishioners was dated August 1, 1977. Because of this correspondence, Maria magazine listed the parish in 182 Cf. Urban, 124. Cf. "Kronika," Maria, 6-7/ 1964, 16. 184 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp . Biskupa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 3-4/1965, 16. 185 "Cestujeme s p. biskupom ," Maria, 9-10/ 1965, 6. 186 Beskyd, J., Yearbook of the Eparchy of Toronto (In the vineyard of Christ) (Toro nto: Eparc hy of Toronto, 1964), 520. 187 Cf. "Z nas ich osad - Sudbury - Preosv. p. biskup Michal Rusnak CSsR medzi svojimi ," Maria, 11-12/ 1967, 18- 19; Stripay, J., "Preosv. o. bisk up Michal Rusnak CSsR v Sudburach," Maria, 9-10/1968, 6. 188 PAA, File: Sudbury. 189 PAA , File: Sudbury. 190 PAA , Letter from the ushers to Bishop Michael, dated July 17, 1975. 191 PAA, Letter from the ushers to Bishop Michael, dated August I, 1977. 183 �50 SLOVAKIA-2017 192 197 6 as still open, but that is no longer the case. Only sixty people 193 of Slovak origin remain in Sudbury. 9: Delhi (Simcoe - Delhi), Ontario (1955) Many Slovaks, especially from Eastern Slovakia, started to move into the area of Simcoe and Delhi, in southern Ontario, around 1930. 194 Most of them worked as tobacco farmers . The same people who founded branch 46 of the Canadian Slovak League in 1944 also founded St. Andrew's parish. In 1954 Father Frantisek Fuga of Hamilton heard about the Greek Catholic Slovaks at this location and contacted them. After a few weeks he celebrated a liturgy for 195 them. Since this took place around the feast of St. Andrew, the parish was named for this saint. It was officially created in Novem196 ber of 1955 . Father Fuga answered the spiritual needs of the parishioners working on farms and served them once a month in the 197 local Ukrainian church in Delhi. In 1965 only about thirty families 198 attended these services. The first pastoral visit of St. Andrew's parish by Bishop Michael Rusnak was conducted on December 18, 199 1966. The silver jubilee of the parish could also be called its swan 200 song. It was celebrated on October 19, 1980. The story of Simcoe - Delhi is the story of a small flock of the faithful, who wanted to 192 Cf. "Nase kostoly," Maria, 1/1976, third page of the cover. Census profile: http://wwwI2.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/20 I I/dpp_gfprQf1/<!eJ<1.ih/p_agt!,Sfo1'.?: Lang= E&Geo l =CSD&Cocle 1=3553005&Geo2=CD&Cocle2=3553&Data=Count&S t!archText=suclbur &SearchT e=Contains&SearchPR=0 l&B l =A ll &C ustom=&TA Bl D '."'J (27.8.2013 23:30) 194 Cf. Kirschbaum , J. M.: Slovaks in Canada (Toronto: Canadian Ethnic Press Association of Ontario, 1967), 128. 195 Cf. "Osada v Simcoe - Delhi jubiluje," Maria , 1-3/1966, 3-4. 196 See: Kirschbaum , 262 and Fuga, Frantisek, J., "Slovenska greckokatolicka farnost' sv. Andreja v Simcoe - Delhi , Ont. jubilovala," Kanadsky Slovak, November 29, 1980, p. 4. 197 Cf. Kirschbaum, 262. 198 Cf." Osada v Simcoe - Delhi jubiluje," Maria, 1-311966, 3-4. 199 Cf. "Prva vizitacia pana biskupa Michala Rusnaka v Simcoe-Delhi, Ont. ," Maria, 1-2/1967, 10-11. 200 Cf. Fuga, Frantisek J., "S lovenska greckokatolicka farnost' sv. Andreja v Simcoe - Delhi , Ont. jubilovala," Kanadsky Slovak, November 29, 1980, p. 4. 193 �SLOVAKIA-2017 51 praise God in Church Slavonic, as they did back home. However their small size prevented the parish from growing. The community literally died with the death of the last parishioner from among the original flock. This community was always listed as a parish, even though from the ecclesiastical point of view it would probably be called a mission, as in all juridical matters the parishioners belonged to the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Hamilton. 10: Kenaston, Saskatchewan (1967) The first Slovaks arrived in Kenaston in July of 1903 and were 20 1 followed by others who came to farm. Besides the Ukrainians, many Slovak Greek Catholics also settled in and around nearby Sas202 katoon, Saskatchewan. Bishop Rusnak came to Saskatoon on June 203 26, 1966, hoping to include these people within his jurisdiction, and to make of this place a permanent center of the Slovak religious presence in Canada. Before this visit, an invitation appeared in the press: Come all of you, who are able to come, because this will be the very first time, since our arrival here 50 years ago, that we will be able to welcome amongst us our first Slovak bishop in Canada and the first bishop who is a Greek Catholic, since the times of Sts. Cyril and Methodius .... This joyful news is written for you ... by Joseph Zeman, an 80 year-old Slovak, who after 65 years in Canada, lived long enough to 204 experience this great joy ... The Ukrainian Greek Catholics gave Rusnak permission to use their cathedral of St. George for the meeting. The organizational committee prepared 600 memorial ribbons - but they were not 205 206 . enough! Father John Kobelak, M.S.F. was entrusted with or- 20 1 Cf. "Na vyrocie slovenskych pociatkov v Saskatchewan a slovenskeho ~riekopnictva v Kanade, Kanadsky Slowik, June 25 , 1966, p. 2. 02 Cf. "S lovak so Slovakom sa zide," Kanadsky Slowik, March 10, 1962, p. 2; "Janko Purda graduoval ," Kanadsky Slovak, January 5, 1963, p. 2. 203 Cf." Pl anovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria , 4-5/1966, 16. 204 Cf. " Do pozornosti Slovakom v Saskatchewan," Kanadsky Slovak, May 28, 1966, ~- 2. os Cf. "Aj 600 bolo malo," Kanadsky Slovak, July 16, I 966, p. 3. �52 SLOVAKIA-2017 20 7 gamzmg this parish. The Slovak Greek Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Kenaston, Saskatchewan, was officially created during the Canadian centennial in 1967, after the trip of Bishop Rusnak to Saskatoon. The parish was part of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Saskatoon, having its own property, a gift of the recently-deceased Joseph Zeman. Bishop Rusnak planned to send the parish a Slovak priest - the Reverend Stephen Adamiak.208 In the archives are notes testifying that the Ukrainian Eparchy indeed received the property and also $1000 to be used to build a Slovak Greek Catholic church in Kenaston. However, the following year the heirs of the late Mr. Zeman changed their minds and requested that the $1,000 be re209 turned to them. In the fall of 1970 the parish ceased to exist. 2 10 The question remains: Would a Slovak parish have lasted in Saskatchewan, if it had been built in Saskatoon rather than in the small village of Kenaston? MISSIONS WITH IRREGULAR SERVICES Among the missions we list those places where we are sure that the Slovak Greek Catholic services were held: 11: Edmonton, Alberta The capital of the Province of Alberta attracted many Slovak immigrants in the 1930's, including Greek Catholics.2 11 Slovak 212 Greek Catholics present here never formed a separate parish or other type of organized community, but they still could be considered a part of the life of Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada. After his 206 Born in Poland in 1921 . He came to Canada in 1964, and worked in the Eastern rite. He died in 200 I. 207 Cf. "Z nasich osad - Kenaston - Nova slovenska greckokatolfcka osada sv. Cyrila a Metoda," Maria, 11-12/ 1967, 17. 208 PAA, Letter of Bishop Michael dated May 15, 1967. 209 PAA , E-mail from the Eparchy of Saskatoon, sent to the author on November 21, 2011 , 17:00. 210 PAA , Letter NM najdostojnejci Otce Vladyka! sent from Rome, 12. X. 1970. 211 Cf. Kirschbaum , 151. 212 Cf. Maria, 1/ 1963, 17. �SLOVAKIA-2017 53 Episcopal ordination, Bishop Michael Rusnak visited Edmonton on 213 June 27, I 965 . 12: Fernie, British Columbia Femie is one of the oldest settlements of Slovaks in Canada. The 214 first Slovak miners came here in 1898 from Pennsylvania. Many of them were Greek Catholics. Shortly after the start of the 20th cen215 tury, a branch of the Greek Catholic Union was founded here. Slovaks in Femie were also organized in branch 51 of the CSL. Fa2 16 ther Michal Lacko did a visitation here in 1973. Femie is mentioned as a mission in the report of the Apostolic Visitator in 217 1978. 13: New Westminster, British Columbia The first Slovaks came to the Canadian Pacific coast at the end 218 219 of the 19 th century. Larger numbers appeared only after WW 11. Branch 4 7 of the CSL was established here in 1944. The Slovak Roman Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius has existed in New 220 Westminster since 1960. Many of its parishioners were Greek 221 Catholics. From time to time, Greek Catholic services were also celebrated here. In 1959 there was a Slovak Greek Catholic wedding in the Ukrainian church, performed by a "good friend of Slovaks, 222 Father Bylik, who was ass isted in the ceremonies by Mr. Bodnar.'' 213 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Bisk upa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 5-611965, I 3. Cf. Kirschbaum , 70. 215 Cf. Palmer, Howard, Land of the Second Chance (A History of Ethnic Groups in Southern Alberta), (Lethbridge : Lethbridge Herald, 1972), 195. 216 Personal Archive of the Author (PAA) Letter of Bishop Michael to Father Lacko, May 28, 1973. 217 PAA , Quinquennial report for Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada, 19731978 (November 1st , 1978),2-3 . 218 Kanadsky Slovak, November 14, I 970. 219 Cf. Kirschbau m, 146-8. 220 Officiall y establ ished by Father Wi lliam Lacko, SJ in 1960. The first acti vities with local Slovaks date back to 1952. 22 1 Cf. " Klub za ujemcov o hist6riu Slovakov v Britskej Kolumbii v Kanade," http://www.sk-bc .ca/book/export/ html/I 98 (October 18, 20 11 , 20:00); Maria, 78/ 1965, 5; 12; 12/1965, 15. 222 " Pekna slovenska svadba v B.C.," Kanadsky Slovak, June 27, 1959, p. 2. 214 �54 SLOVAKIA-2017 The Slovak church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius was the home of Ukrainian Greek Catholics until they built their own church. In those days a certain Byzantine-rite priest - Father Kmec-- celebrated the services. Many times the Slovak Greek Catholics celebrated with the Ukrainians. ln 1970, the Reverend William Lacko wrote about the Greek Catholics: "the late Michael Bodnar with a beautiful voice, was an outstanding cantor." Already during the Cyrillo-Methodian jubilee in 1963 we learn that "many Slovak Greek Catholics are living in this area and because of this Father Michael Lacko went to the far west of Canada ... and celebrated services in the Church Slavonic 223 language .... " And during the Jubilee year, according to the words of the pastor, once a month instead of the sermon "we all sang "Moleben." The Impressive "Hospodi pomiluj" resounded in the church as a joint response to the petition of all the Catholics of both 224 rites." On the day of the Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations, July 7, 1963 , the Latin Mass was fo ll owed with the singing of sacred songs in Slovak and Church Slavonic by both Roman and Greek Catho225 lics. They sang lie Cheruvimi (Let us, who mystically represent 226 the Cherubim) and Otce nas (Our Father), led by Mr. Bodnar. Bishop Rusnak was quite frequentl y a welcome guest of the parish. On those occasions, the church was always filled to the very last seat or even overcrowded. His visit was a real "unique experience with lasting value .. .. Greek Catholics are coming from near and far to the services held in the Slovak church and it is a joy to see them, 227 when Bishop Michael is among them .. .'' In 1966 Bishop Rusnak 228 appeared on July 3. He officiated at the funeral of Mrs. Potoma on 229 July 6, 1970. For the local parishioners it became a tradition throughout the years to have Bishop Rusnak among them , always around the feast day of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, patrons of their 223 224 Cf. Maria , 7/ 1963 , 11. "Slovenski greckokatolici na Pacifiku," Kanadsky Slovak, September 14, 1970, p. 5. 225 Cf. "Cyril ometodske slav nosti v B.C.," Kanadsky Slovak, June 29, 1963, p. 8. Cf. "Cyrilometodske oslavy na Pacifickom pobrezi," Kanadsky Slovak, August 17, 1963, p. 2. 227 "Slovenski greckokatolici na Pacifiku," Kanadsky Slovak, September 14, 1970, p. 5. 228 Cf. " Planovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria , 4-5/ 1966, 16. 229 PAA , Folder: Vancouver. 226 �SLOVAKIA-2017 55 church. The bishop made such a good impression on the people that they left with the words: "Goodbye Most Reverend Bishop M. 230 Rusnak until next year." In 1973 the Byzantine liturgy was scheduled for August 5, with Father Michael Lacko, SJ as the main cele. . was a Iso the act o f a canomca . I v1s1tahon. . . . 232 brant. 23 1 H.1s v1s1t Among the benefactors of the Maria magazine were several people 233 from New Westminster. The visits of the Greek Catholic bishop to New Westminster stopped a long time ago, but the Greek Catholics there attend the Slovak Roman Catholic parish to thi s day. 14: Unionville (Markham), Ontario From the canonical point of view, Unionville Ontario, and the fa mily mansion of the billionaire Stephen B. Roman could not be considered either a parish, or a mission. However, to be fair to history, we have to note that services were held here more often than in some of th e other missions. Fron the 1950's until the 1980 's Bishop Rusnak celebrated a liturgy in the residence of Mr. Roman every 234 Sunday aftemoon. The bishop had become a good friend of the Greek Catholic Stephen Roman in the early 1950 's. Together they planned to build a huge Cathedral of the Transfiguration on Mr. Roman's property in Unionville and Pope John Paul II even blessed the 235 cornerstone in I 984. However, after Mr. Roman suddenly died in 1988, Bishop Rusnak and his successor Bishop Pazak, could not come to an agreement with Mr. Roman 's heirs as to the actual ownership of the cathedral. Therefore, Bishop Pazak deconsecrated the 23 °Korem, Albin, " Dve spravy z B. C.," Kanadsky Slowik, July 18, 1970, p. 5. 23 1 PAA , Postcard Srdecny pozdrav od Ticheho oceanu. Sent from San Francisco, Jul y 20, 1973. 232 PAA, Letter of Bishop Michae l to Father Lacko, May 28, 1973. 233 Cf. Maria, 2/ 1963, 17; 1/1964, third page of the cover; 2/ 1964, third page of the cover; 9-10/ 1964, third page of the cover; 1-2/ 1965, third page of the cover; 12/1965 , 16; 1-3/ 1966, third page of the cover; 1/ 1977, third page of the cover; 5/ 1978, 16;4/ 1979, 16; 7-8/ 1980, 24. 234 Litva, Felix, "Stefan B. Roman - clovek v rozdvojenom svete" (Cambridge, ON : Dobra kniha, 198 I). 235 See Our Heritage of Faith : Consecration of the Slovak Cathedral of the Transfiguration by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, September 15, 1984, ed. by Helen Roman-Barber and Anne C. R. Roman (Toronto: Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius for Slovaks of the Byzantine Ri te in Canada, 1984). �56 SLOVAKIA-2017 church in 2006 and since then it has sat empty as the cornerstone of a 236 massive housing development called "Cathedraltown." 15: Winnipeg, Manitoba Slovak immigrants started coming to to Winnipeg before the First World War, but the largest group arrived in the interwar peri237 od. A Slovak Roman Catholic parish existed here since 1951. Father Alexander Baran, an historian and native of the Subcarpathian region, worked at the local univers ity. Because his dad had been a secretary to the first Slovak Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia- Dr. Milan Hodza--he knew Slovak and was a great friend to Slovak Greek Catholics, with whom he shared the same liturgical tradition.2 38 Before the end of the 19 th century, several families from Zemplin County arrived via Pennsylvania to the town of Neepawa, in the 239 Province of Manitoba. When the Canadian Slovak League (CS L) was established here in 1932, one of the founding members, Juraj Rond'os, was not ashamed of being not only Slovak, but also a Greek Catholic. The local branch of the CSL received the number 1. The Slovak Greek Catholics in town attended mostly the local Ukrainian church for their worship services. The priests even learned some 240 Slovak for special celebrations for these parishioners. The most vital period for Slovak Greek Catholics in Winnipeg 24 1 started after the episcopal ordination of Bishop Rusnak. He came to Winnipeg for the first time on Sunday, August 22, 1965, and assisted by the local Slovak Roman Catholic pastor, Msgr. John Re236 For more details see "The Cathedral that Toronto Forgot," Toronto Star, June 26, 201 1 and "Losing Faith in Cathedraltown," Toronto Star, January I 0, 2015. 237 Cf. Kirschbaum , 75 -76. 238 For more info on Baran see: htt ://um anitoba.ca/libraries/units/archi ves/collections/rad/baran.html 239 Cf. R~ ndos, Juraj, "V lete sli spat' na breh rieky," in Spomienky pionierov, ed. by lmrich Stolarik (Toronto: Kanadska Slovenska Liga, I 978), 2 19. Maria, 1/ 1963, 17; 10/ 1963, third page of the cover; 12/ 1965 , 16; 12/ 1966, third page of the cover. 24 Cf. " Mary Rondosova vydala sa za Janka Stretavskeho," Kanadsky Slovak, March I, 195 1, p. 4. " Pekna slovenska svadba vo Winnipegu," Kanadsky Slovak, Apri l 5, 1958, p. 2; "Opusti li nas dvaja Slovaci z nasej okolice v Dufresne, Man. ," Kanadsky Slovak, March 21, 198 1, p. I 0. 241 Cf. Kutka, J., " Historicky den manitobskych Slovakov," Kanadsky Slovak, Nove mber 13, 1965, p. 2. ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 57 kem, as well as by Father Baran, he celebrated a Byzantine liturgy in 242 the local Slovak Roman Catholic church. His visit was prepared by Msgr. Rekem and Mr. J. Kutka. Beautiful liturgical Church Slavonic singing had a delicate impact on the people present, many of them hearing it probably for the very first time in their lives. The choir, directed by organist Cudovit (Louis) Besei\ovsky, sang both Slovak Greek and Latin liturgies. Even though the Greek and Latin Catholics sang together for the first time, they 243 were praised for their perforrnance. Bishop Rusnak also visited the Greek Catholic Slovaks in Win244 nipeg in the following years. Several Slovak Greek Catholics from Winnipeg and nearby settlements appeared among the supporters of ~"' • • 245 1V1arza magazme. OTHER SLOVAK GREEK CATHOLIC LOCATIONS 16: Flin Flon, Manitoba Many Slovaks found jobs in the mining industry here, among them quite a few Greek Catholics . Several Slovak farmers settled around the town as well. When the Canadian Slovak League was founded in 1932, its local branch was given the number 4. However, the best years for the community were the 1940's and 1950's. Several Greek Catholic Slovaks here attended the local Ukrainian 246 church. In 1966 Bishop Michael Rusnak intended to send the Revernd John Zeman, OSB as a Greek Catholic priest to Flin 247 Flon . However, this did not materialize. 242 Cf. "Cestujeme s p. biskupom," Maria , 9-10/1965, 9- I 0. 1bid., 9. 244 Cf. " Planovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria, 4-5/1966, 16. PAA, diaries. 245 Cf. Maria , 1/ 1964, third page of the cover; 2/ 1964, third page of the cover; 67/ 1964, third page of the cover; 12/1965, 16; 1-2/ 1967, fourth page of the cover; 78/ 1977, third page ofthe cover; 5/ 1978, 16; 3/1979, 16; 2/ 1980, 16; 12/1980, 16. 246 Cf. "Smutok sboru vo Flin Flon, Man. ," Kanadsky Slovak, February 4, 1956, p. 2; Kadas, V.: Brat Jozef Dubos na vecnosti," Kanadsky Slovak, July 23, 1966, p. 2; "Zlata svadba u Rujakov vo Flin Flon, Man.," Kanadsky Slovak, September 25, 1976, p. 6; "Zlata svadba manzelov Stefanik v B. C.," Kanadsky Slovak, October 18, 1975, p. 4. 247 PAA , Letter from Father John Zeman, August 2, 1966. 243 �58 SLOVAKIA-2017 17: Thunder Bay, Ontario The city of Thunder Bay came into existence on January 1, 1970, when Port Arthur and Fort William, were amalgamated. The majority of the Slovaks in this area were from the county of Orava. They started coming in the 1890's and built St. Peter's Slovak Roman 248 Catholic church in 1907. Slovak Lutherans built a church in 1927. 249 Newspapers confirm several Slovak Greek Catholics living here. The first journey after his ordination led Bishop Rusnak to the Cana250 dian West through Fort William. He almost certainly stopped here on his ways to the West, when traveling by car. Conclusion Besides the above mentioned cities, which were depicted on the map of the Eparchy, the Slovak Greek Catholic presence was also documented elsewhere in Canada. Benefactors of the magazine Maria appeared in a larger number of locations. One can observe from the life of the Canadian Slovak Greek Catholics that, to some degree, they were copying the ways of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics, who first settled in the West of Canada, then moved to Quebec, with a hiatus in the interwar period and then focused on Southern Ontario. The settlements in Southern Ontario 25 1 shared similar fates , not only with Ukrainian Catholics, but to a 252 certain degree even more with the Hungarian Greek Catholics. 248 Cf. Kirschbaum , 77-79. Cf. " Smutime za nas imi bratmi," Kanadsky Slowi k, August 27, 1966, p. 3; "Jub ileum Bakovych v Niagara Falls," Kanadsky Slowik, August 15, 1959, p. 2. 25 Cf. Kutka, J., "Historicky dei\ Manitobskych Slovakov, Kanadsky Slowik, November 13, 1965 , p. 2. 251 Cf. Canada 's Ukrainians: Negotiating an Identity, ed. by Lubomyr Luciuk and Stella Hryniuk (Toronto: Uni versity of Toronto Press, 199 1). On the Ukrainian exr,erience around Winnipeg see pages 53 -80. 52 Slovak - Hungarian Greek Cath olic re lati ons in Canada are a topic fo r furth er research . The Slovak Greek Catholics were fo r a time guests of the Hungari an Greek Catholic Church in Hamilton. In Windsor, Father Krafcik served for a time both Greek Catholi c communities - Slovak as we ll as Hungari an. Similar plans were made fo r Welland, whi ch also had both Churches, using the same liturgical rite, the same melodi es (and when it came to English, exactl y the same melodies and texts)! Especially in Ontario, the Hungarian settlements were almost identical to the Slovak ones. Also from the letters of Father Michal Lacko, SJ, we learn that, before the Slovak eparchy was created, he hoped that a bishopric would be created whi ch 249 ° �SLOVAKIA-2017 59 Many people had relatives in other parishes, leading to frequent mutual visits of Slovak Greek Catholics, other than in their their own parishes, especially for parish feast days, or some great historic milestones. Many new friendships were thus started, and also some marriages arranged within the community. Places which really continued to blossom with the Slovak Greek Catholic population were the industrial towns of Eastern Canada. If the industry closed, or shrank, or farming was no longer attractive, the people moved out and then their parishes were closed (Sudbury 253 and Flin Flon). The same thing happened in the mining and steel 254 industry towns of Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey. If a parish were to last, it had to have several zealous parishioners. Where there were only a few, such a parish had only a minimum chance of survival (Kenaston, Winnipeg, New Westminster). In such a case the Slovak Greek Catholics joined (or remained) either with local Slovak Roman Catholics or with Ukrainian Greek Catholics. The age of the parishioners when starting their parishes was also quite crucial, as when they were relatively old, and few in number, their parishes lasted for only a short while (Simcoe - Delhi). What is interesting is how the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada made picnics an important part of parish culture. These gatherings became so popular, that at some time the parishes of Toronto and Hamilton owned their own picnic grounds, while the other parishes used facilities of other groups. In almost all the parishes we note that the most active parishioners were born in Slovakia. The subsequent generations, born in Canada, began to lose interest in maintaining their parishes. This would include, not only Slovak, but Hungarian Greek Catholic parishes as well (PAA). The last pastor of the Slovak church in Welland (before it was closed in 20 I 0) was Father John Girhinyi, himself a Hungarian. For more information on Hungarian life in Canada (and how it resembled the Slovak experience), see Nandor Dreisziger, Church and Society in Hungary and in the Hungarian Diaspora (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016), especially pages 261-4. 253 Cf. https: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of Canadian muni c ipalities having experienced popula-tion decreases 254 Other existing parishes, which face serious challenges with changing industry in the USA include Braddock, Charleroi, Clarence and Clymer, Pennsylvania. See Byzantine-Ruthenian Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh Directory (Pittsburgh: Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, I 999). See also. https://en.wikipecl ia.org/wiki/Shrinking- cities in the United States �60 SLOVAKIA-2017 might be attributed to the relatively high percentage of the Slovak immigrants assimilating to English-Canadian culture. Indeed, many times the parents themselves wanted to have their children completely forget about their ancestral homeland . In some cases the parents were not even willing to speak with them in Slovak - so that they would not have an accent, and thus be more successful in the labor market. By 1980, only two Slovak Greek Catholic parishes in Canada were over 50 years old: Lethbridge - which was Ukrainianized, and Montreal, which also had its best years behind it. Sadly, even some of the younger parishes (Kenaston, Simcoe - Delhi, Sudbury) were already closed, or just about to be closed. At the creation of the Slovak Greek Catholic Eparchy in 1980, only parishes in southern Ontario, which were close to each other, and able to benefit from mutual visits, or even exchanges of the clergy, were flourishing. Even this was to change in the following years, as the parish of Montreal was closed shortly after 2010, and the Welland parish was also not able to live through 2010. Recently the Most Reverend John S. Pazak, Bishop of the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada was transferred by 255 the Vatican to Phoenix, Arizona in the USA. Thus, the future of Greek Catholic Slovaks in Canada remains uncertain. 255 Transfer announced on May 7 th 20 I 6. HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE - Other Pontifical Acts: htt s:// ress.vatican.va/co nten t/sa lastam a/en/bo ll ettino/ ubblico/20 I 6/05/07 /16050 7h.html. See also "Bishop John S. Pazak named new Byzantine Eparch in Phoenix, Ariz. ," Slovak Catholic Falcon, June 15, 20 16, p.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 2017, Vol. 43 Description An account of the resource Vol. 43 (No. 80-81), 2017. 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 2017 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 28 SLOVAKIA-2017 A SURVEY OF SLOVAK COMMUNITIES OF THE BYZANTINE RITE IN CANADA BEFORE THEY RECEIVED THEIR OWN BISHOPRIC Daniel Cerny When we look at Catholic immigration to the USA and Canada, only one bishopric in those coutries is called by the name of the nations of the so-called Visegrad Group- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Surprisingly, this ecclesiastical structure is not of the Latin rite. It is the Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodious for Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in Canada. When created in 1980, a postcard with a map of Slovak Greek Catholic settlements in Canada was published. The aim of this paper is to present a historical overview of these communities until the Eparchy was created. The late professor Michael Lacko, SJ wrote the first history of these par1 ishes. However, this paper adds some new information, making this survey more accurate and updated. Some of the reasons why these people immigrated to Canada were the changes to the immigration laws in the USA enacted by Congress in June of 1921 and also in July of 1924. 2 Our research on Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada shows that the majority were descendenats of immigrants who came to Canada between 1926 and 1939 (when the borders were open), to be joined by the immigration waves of 1945 - 1950 and of 1968. For the first immigrants the church was in many cases the most important part of their life. Here they were not forced to speak a foreign language, it was like being at home - the same rite, dialects, family, friends, sometimes even neighbors, the same customs. However this also could be harmful in the sense that it created an ethnic 1 Cf. Lacko, Michal, "A Brief Survey of the History of the Slovak Catholics of the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite," Slovak Studies, III (1963), 199 - 224. 2 Based on these regulations, after June of 1921 only 14,269 Czechoslovak citizens were allowed to immigrate annually to the USA, and after July 1924, only 3,073. Cf. Bielik, Frantisek- Rakos, Elo: Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo (Dokumenty II. - 19191939) (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1975), 51, footnote 2. SLOVAKIA-2017 29 ghetto - which was probably fine for the first generation, but no longer so for the following ones. Only those places which experienced large numbers of new immigrants in later years, or were open to new people from outside entering "their" church, were able to continue to flourish . The history of these communities includes the creation of their own Slovak deanery (1957) and the consecration of their own Slovak 3 bishop ( 1964) in the person of Michael Rusnak, CSsR, who was for many years an Apostolic Visitator of these communities. Only two Slovak Greek Catholics participated on the Vatican II Council. One layman and one clergyman. The layman was the Canadian-Slovak multimilllionaire Stephen B. Roman, who participated from the third session on and bishop Michal Rusnak, who participated in the fourth and final session. The use of the vernacular, which was encouraged by Vatican II, resulted in more and more celebrations in English among the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada (the translations were done by the Greek Catholics in the Ruthenian Church in the USA), but not so in modem Slovak. Thus the Church lost many people from 4 the immigration wave of 1968. 3 Michael Rusnak was born on August 21, 1921 in Beaverdale, Pennsylvania. His mother and siblings returned with him to Slovakia during the Great Depression. He was ordained a Redemptorist priest by Bishop Pau l Gojdic, OSBM in Jul y of 1949. After the forced liquidation of the Greek Catholic church in Czechoslovakia, Rusnak was arrested and placed in the Podolinec monastery, which was turned into a prison camp for the clergy . After fifteen months in vari ous prisons, he escaped and, thanks to his American citizenship, he was allowed to emigrate to America. Ru snak went to Canada in 1951 and started to establish Slovak Greek Catholic parishes. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishop of Toronto, the Most Reverend Isidore Borecky, named Father Rusnak dean for Slovak Greek-Catholic parishes belonging to his jurisdiction.in 1957. On October 5, 1964, Pope Paul VI elevated Father Rusnak to Auxiliary Bishop to Isidore Borecky and Apostolic Visitator for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada. The process of creating the Slovak Greek Catholic Church in Canada was completed when Pope John Paul II , in his bull Apostolicae Sedis of October 13, 1980, created the Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada. At the same time, the pope appointed aux iliary bishop Michael Rusnak as the eparchi al bishop of this Eparchy . Rusnak retired in 1996 and died on January 16, 2003 and is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Thornhill , Ontario. More about Bishop Michael Rusnak can be found in Cerny, Daniel, Biskup Michael Rusnak, CSsR (Diploma thesis), Presov: Greek Catho lic Theological Faculty of the University of Presov, 2008 . 4 Documents on this topic are in the personal archives of the author (hereafter PAA), and are based on letters from Father Fuga, Father Dubiak and Father Lacko. 30 SLOVAKIA-2017 The author of this article located important documents in various archives, and tiny pieces of the mosaic were found everywhere. Especially valuable were the articles in Maria magazine, which was published from 1955 to 1969 and then from 1976 to I 989; in the second period under the direction of a gifted editor - the late Jozef Suchy. In some cases, we can speak only about individuals, in other cases about a group of dedicated parishioners with only irregular services. The most advanced was the group of individual parishes, which we are about to describe. In 1980 these parishes were incorporated into the newly-created Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada,5 the only Slovak Greek Catholic eparchy in the world, which served as a beacon to the persecuted and oppressed brothers and sisters in Slovakia under the . yo ke. 6 communist PARISHES 1: Lethbridge, Alberta (1921) The oldest Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Canada was in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1885 the first Slovaks came to Lethbridge from 7 Shelby, Montana. Among them was the Veselenak family, Greek 8 Catholics from Nizne Slovinky in Spis county. Local Slovaks formed branch 53 of the Canadian Slovak League (CSL) in 1946. The Slovak Greek Catholic parish of Sts. Peter and Paul was founded in 1921 by coal miners, who came mostly from the Spis villages of Ponic, Zavadka and Slovinky. Before the parish was erected, the faithful organized a branch of the American-based Greek Catholic 5 Cf. L ·o sservatore Romano, December 14, 1980, Articles entitled "Erezione di nuova Eparchia; Provvista di Chiesa; Eretta in Canada Eparchi a di rito bizantino per slovacch i", 1-2. 6 For more on the general history of the Slovak Greek Catholi cs in Canada see Cerny, Daniel , "From Unknown People to a Separate Diocese: Slovak Greek Catholics in Canad a," in Mazurkiewicz, Adam, ed ., East Central Europe in Exile Volum e 1: Transatlantic Migrations (Newcastle upon Tyne : Cam bridge Scholars Publishing, 20 13), 253-72. 7 Cf. "75 rokov lethbridzs kej slov. kol6nie," Kanadsk), Slovak, February 18, 1961 , p. 2. 8 Cf. The Bend: A History of West Lethbridge (Lethbridge: West Lethbridge History Book Soc iety, 1982), 218. SLOVAKIA-2017 31 9 Union. One important document, a photocopy of the parish minutes from the years 1921-193 7 exists, deposited in the library of the Pon10 tifical Oriental Institute in Rome. These minutes were written by 11 Andrew Mihalik. They start with the explanation that the term "fonitika," mentioned in the minutes as a petition to the Ukrainian bishop of Edmonton Nikita Budka, is to be the language used in the church, and that meant the Slovak language. According to these minutes, the first meeting took place on May 30, 1921 in the presence of bishop Budka. The faithful asked to have the celebration of a lit12 urgy every Sunday. During Wold War II the parish counted some 13 200 adults and 300 children. It was founded and owned by lay people (trustees). This was quite common in the ecclesiastical history of the USA and Canada. According to historian Mark Stolarik, this system consisted of elected members of the parish (kuratori), who collected tithes once a year from all the parishioners. A priest was paid from this treasury and the faithful had the right to terminate their 14 contract with him. Before the blessing of the church, the trustees 15 negotiated with the bishop for a resident priest. The parish had 16 a choir, the first Slovak Greek Catholic Choir in Canada. During the first years of its existence, the pastors were predominately Ukrainian, with the exception of Father Nicholas Szilagy, who came from Subcarpathia. In 1948 Ukrainians established their own parish in Lethbridge, but Ukrainian priests continued to serve Sts. Peter and Paul. However a great joy for the Slovak parish was the 1953 or- 9 PAA, e-mail fro m Father David Petras, November 5, 2010. Parafialna zapisnica Sv. toho Petra i Pavla Greko Katolickoho Viznania.(further on only PIO). 11 In 2011 the author of thi s article contacted the son of the late Andrew Mihalik. The original of the minutes are now neither in the parish archive, nor among the f:osses ions of the Mihalik family. 2 Cf. PIO, 2. 13 PAA, Quinquennial report for Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada, 1973-1978 (November 151, 1978), 2. 14 Cf. Stolarik, M. Mark, " Slovak Immigrants Co me to Terms with Religious Diversity in North America," The Catholic Historical Review, XCVI , No . I (January, 20 I 0), 69. 15 Cf. PIO, 36. 16 Cf. PIO, 25 ; 62. 10 32 SLOVAKJA-2017 17 daination of one of their own, Father Richard Zuback, who later 18 served also as their pastor. Some of the parishioners appeared 19 among the benefactors of Maria magazine. The first pastoral visit of Bishop Rusnak took place on June 27, 1965 , the parish 's feast day. Many people came to the celebration from as far away as British Columbia. In his homily, Bishop Rusnak said the following: "Do not correct the work of God. If God created you as Greek Catholics, stay firm , remain and work in this province. Do not run away from this rite. Do not leave behind your church and 20 rite. " In the 1960's Father John Zeman, OSB informed Bishop Rusnak about the local Slovak Greek Catholics, asking for a Slovak priest, as the young people were without a priest of their own and 1 ashamed of being Slovaks.2 Father Zeman volunteered to go to the 22 parish . This never happened . In 1967 Bishop Michael expressed his desire to send Father Zorvan, from Europe, to be the pastor of the 23 parish. In I 970's the parish was noted in his calendar several times. 24 Father Lacko, SJ visited the parish in August 1973. When the enthronement of Bishop Rusnak was organized in 1981, the Leth bridge pastor refused to participate, claiming to have only nineteen Slovak 25 families. On the contrary, in 1982, Bishop Rusnak informed the Papal Pro-Nuncio that there were forty-five Slovak families in Leth26 bridge. The parish was owned by the trustees almost for a record time. The official incorporation into the Ukrainian church happened 27 on ly after a plebiscite within the parish in the early 2000's. The 17 "Prve slov. gr. katol primicie v Lethbridge, Alta," Kanadsky Slovak, June 20, 1953, p. 2. The author is grateful for this information to Mark Stolarik. 18 Cf. " Zpravy," Maria, 5/1955 Gui), I 0. 19 Cf. Maria, 6-7/ 1964, third page of the cover; I 2/ 1966, third page of the cover. 20 "Cestujeme s p. biskupom ," Maria , 9-10/ 1965, 8. 21 Cf. PAA, Letter of Father John Zeman, C hri stmas 1964. Father John , who was born in Kenaston , Saskatchewan, joined th e Slovak Benedictine Order in Cleveland, Ohio, but always wished to return to Canada. 22 Cf. PAA, Letter of Father John Zeman, sen t on July 22 , 1966 . 23 Cf. PAA , Letter of Bi shop Michael of May 15, 1967. 24 Cf. PAA , Postcard "Srdecny pozdrav od Ticheho oceanu," Sent from San Francisco, July 20, 1973 . 25 Cf. PAA , Motiuk, D. Report on the Canonical status of Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church. l ethbridge. Alberta. 26 27 Cf. PA A, Letter of Bishop Michael to the Pro- uncio, sent October 28, 1982. Archive of the Eparchy of Sts. Cyri l and Methodius, folder Lethbridge. 33 SLOVAKIA-2017 parish is thus nowadays Ukrainian, but its contribution to the history and culture of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada, especially in the first half of the 20 th century, is significant. 2: Montreal, Quebec (1930) 28 Many Slovaks settled in Montreal in the l 920's, forming branch 2 of the CSL in 1932. After Western Canada, Montreal became the second center of Slovak settlement in Canada. Slovaks in Montreal first established a Roman Catholic parish in 1928 and a 29 Lutheran one in 1929. The Slovak Greek Catholics joined several fraternal groups, such as the Greek Catholic Union. At one of the meetings of branch 959 of the Union, on October 18, 1930, discussions started and eventually led to the founding of the Slovak Greek 30 Catholic parish. The volunteers created a list of fifty families and 31 many individuals who would join the parish. Ukrainian Bishop Ladyka, visiting Montreal on November 21, 1930, welcomed the delegates and promised to do everything possible "in order to fulfill the request of this God-fearing people, who are organizing themselves in this foreign world, not forgetting God, and are willing to do such a 32 beautiful, but difficult task." The first liturgy was celebrated by Father Michal Gregorejchuk, OSBM on Sunday, December 7, 33 1930. Three days later a meeting was held and a parish council was elected. December I 0, 1930 is considered the date of the creation of 34 the parish. From the very beginning the parish was organized by Slovaks not only from Slovakia, but from Hungary, Romania or 35 elsewhere. A photo from 1931 testifies to the presence of a Slovak 36 school. In 1931 a "Membership Book" was published. This book, 28 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia - Nanebevstupenia Pana v Montreale - 50'h anniversary Slovak Catholic (E. R.) parish of Ascension Montreal (Montreal: Parish of the Ascension, 1980), 34. 29 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady, 34. 3 Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, I. 31 PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 3-4. 32 PAA Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 2. 33 Cf. PAA , Zapisn ica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 2. 34 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 30; 34. 35 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr kat. osady Voznesenia, 24. 36 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 23. ° 34 SLOVAKIA-2017 together with the first financial records, are an authoritative example 37 of the language of the first immigrants. The Basilian fathers took care of the parish until the arrival of 38 Father John Hawryluk in 1949. When the parish was created it was named the GR. KFT. RUSSKA CERKOV (Greek Catholic Russian Church). The change of name was moti vated by a schismatic movement and the rise of national awareness among the faithful. The name Slovak Gr. Cath. Church was used for the first time on October 39 15, 1935 . A youth orchestra nicely represented the parish. In 193 7 the parishioners started to use the chapel in the Notre Dame de Lourdes church as their place of worship until November, 1959. In 1938 the parish mission was granted permission to keep their own 40 parish records and thus gained greater internal autonomy. In these years the pari sh was still only a mission. The years following WW II brought a radical change into the lives of the Slovak Greek Catholics . With the arrival of thousands of Ukrainian refugees to Canada, the Ukrainian Exarchate, later the Eparchy of Toronto and all Eastern Canada, was founded. Its first bishop was Isidore Borecky. On October 10, 1949, Bishop Borecky named Father John Hawryluk as the pastor of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Montreal. On December 20, 1949 the former mis41 sion was established as an independent parish. The presence of young people at the services was really appreciated as the youth was 42 "the real core of the new choir of our church." The choir even broadcast by radio to Slovakia. The people dreamt about getting a Slovak priest: 37 Original scans were published in 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 44. 38 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 37. And also : Souvenir book of the dedication of the Slovak Catholic E. R. Church of Ascension, Montreal, Jun e JO, 1962 - Pamiitnci kniha archijerejskeho blahoslovenia slovenskej katolickej V 0. cerkvi Voznesenia, Montreal, JO. juna 1962 (Montreal: Pari sh of the Ascension, 1962), 17-18 . 39 Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Gr. Kat. Osadi Voznesenie, 32. 4 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 35; 37-39. 41 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 3 1; 40. 42 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 40. ° SLOVAKIA-2017 35 We firmly believe that, in a short time a priest of Slovak ethnicity wi ll be assigned to our parish and thus we will fulfill our long-time dream .... The faithfu l understands the announced Word of God more easily . .. There are obstacles in foreign objections and intentions that prevent us from achieving this goal of ours . .. "We do not long for something foreign, we just want to live our own life, but on the other hand we do not accept anyone trying to make fools of us, that we are Rusnaks or something similar, because those days are gone ... 43 In 1956 the trustees purchased properties at the comer of Legen45 44 dre and Clark streets, and erected a wooden cross . The construction of the new church started in Apri l and the basement was finished 46 in November of I 959 . Parishioners came in the evenings, and on their days off, to work on the construction of the church. The first liturgy in the hall in the basement was celebrated on November 29, 47 1959. The cornerstone was blessed by Bishop Borecky on October 48 2, 1960, and the construction was completed on December 17, 49 1961. An icon of Our Lady of Klokofov was displayed in the 50 church . The solemn blessing of the new church by Bishop Borecky 51 had to wait until June I 0, 1962. The main contractor was the parishioner, Mr. Andrej Midlick, originally from Ponic in Spis county. He even donated to the new church the main altar with a baldachino. The newly-ordained Bishop Rusnak came to visit his flock in 52 Montreal for the first time in May of 1965. Bishop Rusnak blessed 43 "Sv. misie pre gr.-kat. Slovakov v Montreali ," Kanadsky Slowik, Apri l 3, 1954, ff· 5, 8. Cf. PAA , Zapisnica Slovenskej Greko Katol'ickej Osadi Voznesefza Vo Montreale Jan Ihnat zapisnik Na rok 1956, 4-5. 45 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 32. The wooden cross still stands in 201 6. 46 Cf. Souvenir book, 34. 47 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 36. 48 Cf. "Z nasich fa rnosti," Maria , 9-10/1960, 226. 49 Souvenir book, 28 . so Cf. "Z nas ich farnosti," Maria, 3/ 1962, 67. 51 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia, 42. 52 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 42. 36 SLOVAKIA-2017 the altar on March 6, 1966. From Rome he brought some relics of Saint Cyril to be placed into the altar. The parish in Montreal thus became the first one in the North America to celebrate the liturgy on 53 the relics of this great saint. Bishop Rusnak expressed his desire that the Ascension Church would become "a site of pilgrimages in honor of Saint Cyril, the apostle of the Slovaks and Slavs in general. ,,54 • On October 15, 1966, Father Andrew Sinai' was named pastor. 55 For the first time in its history, the parish had its own Slovak priest. Father Sinai' served until 2006. The beginnings were very hard for Father Sinai', since the parish had a huge mortgage. The trustees gave their approval for reading of the Gospel in English and in Slovak to meet the needs of the younger generation, in order to bring them back to the church. From June 1, 1971 Slovak liturgies were cele56 brated in the parish. The golden jubilee was celebrated on Sunday, 57 September 28, 1980, with Bishop Rusnak present. More than twenty of the original founders of the parish survived for this celebration. Around 500 people attended the banquet. However, due to the death of Father Sinai in 2007 and to dwindling numbers, the Montreal parish was closed in 2010. 3: Windsor, Ontario (1950) The automobile industry attracted many Slovaks to the city of Windsor. So did some farms on the outskirts of town. In 1951 the 58 third largest group of Slovaks in Canada lived here. Slovak Lutherans in Windsor organized a parish in 1928, while the Slovak Greek Catholics had to wait until after WW II. Andrew Balint, acting as the secretary of a newly-formed parish committee, wrote to Bishop 59 Borecky on July 29, 1950. He asked for the bishop's permission to 53 Cf. 50 vyrocie Slovenskej Gr. kat. osady Voznesenia , 42. Tomko, Vladimir, " Posviacka noveho hi. oltara v Montreale," Maria, 4-5/ 1966, 56. 55 PAA, Letter sent on October 4, 1966. 56 Cf. PAA, Zapisnica Slovenskej Greko Katol'ickej Osadi Vozneseiia Vo Montreale Jan Ihnat zapisnik Na rok 1956, 48. 57 Cf. "Oslava 50 rocneho jubilea nasej farnosti v Montreale," Maria , 12/1980, 7-8. 58 Cf. Kirschbaum, 137. 59 PAA , Letter from Jul y 29, 1950. 54 SLOVAKIA-2017 37 establish a new parish. The name chosen was "St. Michael the Archangel Slovak and Subcarpathian Greek Catholic Parish in Windsor, 60 ON." The letter ended with the desire of the congregation to "soon 61 invite (the bishop) to the Slovak parish." Borecky agreed with the 62 organization of a Slovak parish. Father Andrew Krafcik also played a role in its establishment. Until his arrival in Windsor, the 63 parish was administered by Father Mina. The blessing of the cor64 nerstone took place on June 13 , 1954. The rectory, hall and the 65 church were blessed by Bishop Borecky on November 7, 1954. 66 Work with the youth led to establishing the parish choir. In 1956 67 Father George Perejda, CSsR, was ordained from the parish. From November of 1957 to February of 1958 the parish was served by Fa68 ther Fetsco. In 1958 a newly-ordained Slovak Greek Catholic priest, Anthony Zouzal, was appointed as the pastor of Windsor. His tenure could be 69 characterized as the "golden age" of the parish. Collaboration with the Byzantine Catholics on the American side of the border was intensified. 7° Thanks to many cantors, the parish was famous for its singing of Vespers and Liturgies. The popularity of Father Zouzal was so great that on his birthday the parishioners gave him a gift - a 71 car. In his letter to the chancery, dated August 1966, Father Zouzal suggested building a parish school, and even a new name for the parish: the Greek Catholic Parish of St. John - Michael, in order to 60 Sv. Micha/a Archandela Slov. a Podkrp.Gr.kt.paraphija vo Windsor Ont. PAA , Letter from July 29, 1950. 61 "Scoby mi Vas poklikali skoro na nasu Slovensku paraphiju. " PAA , Letter from Jul y 29, 1950. 62 27. Lipna /950. PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore from July 27, 1950. 63 Cf. "S lovenski greckokatolici v Ontariu," Kanadsky Slowik, September 4, 1954, p. 5. 64 Cf. "Cirkevna slavnost' vo Windsore, Ont.", Kanadsky Slowik, June 12, 1954, p. 8. 65 See the photo in Maria, I /1955 (March), 15. 66 Cf. "Zo zivota nasich farnosti ," Maria , 3/ 195 5 (June), I 6. 67 Cf. "Zpravy," Maria, 6/ 1956, 14. 68 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria , 3-4/ 1965, 15 . 69 Cf. "Zpravy z domova a z katolickeho sveta," Maria, 12/ 1958, 15-16. 7 Cf. " Den modlitieb vo Windsore," Kanadsky Slovak, September 19, 1959, p. 2; "Z nasich farnosti," Maria , I 2/ 1960, 282. 71 Cf. "Z nasich osad," Maria, 7-8/ 1960, 189. ° 38 SLOVAKIA-2017 72 avoid confusion within the city. The school project was never im73 plemented . In 1976 Father Zouzal was named an archpriest. However, his tenure was cut short with his premature death on July 14, 74 1976. An eyewitness remembers Bishop Borecky coming to the funeral and placing his own pectoral cross on the body in the coffin. Some 150 priests, as well as more than 1,500 laypeople, participated 75 in the funeral procession. In the following years the parish was served by Father Gregory Novak, CSsR, by Father James Lynch in 76 1978, and by Father Andrew Sipek in 1979. In 1980 some 400 77 people attended an anniversary banquet. The parish continues to exist to this day. 4: Toronto, Ontario (1951) Slovak settlement in Toronto is already mentioned towards the 78 end of the 19 th century, but large numbers came only after 1923. Many Slovak Greek Catholics in Toronto belonged to branch 7 of the CSL (1937). During their meetings the opportunity to establish an independent Slovak Greek Catholic parish was discussed. Until that time, Slovak Greek Catholics mostly attended the Slovak Roman Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (1934), where they comprised a third, or maybe even half of the members . As a result, many people regarded very negatively attempts to establish another parish.79 The beginnings of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Toronto 80 are connected with a Rusyn priest, Father Louis Mina. In the archives of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Toronto is a list of seventy-seven names of those who volunteered to join a "S lovak Greek Catholic 72 PA A, Letter of Father Zouzal to Bishop Isidore from August 12, 1966. Cf. "Vy znamenani e o. Antona Zouzala," Maria, 5/ 1976, I 0. 74 "Zomrel o. Anton Zouzal ," Maria, 9/ 1976, 11. 75 PAA , Comm uni cation with Mr. W. Zouzal , recorded on June 5, 20 11. 76 Cf. "Novy paroch vo Windsore," Maria, 12/ 1979, 7. 77 Cf. "Odpust" in Windsor, Maria, 12/ 1980, 9. 78 Cf. Kirschbaum , 132-5. 79 Mikula, Jan, " Hrst' rozpomienok na t'azke zaciatky," Kanadsky Slovak, March 28, 1981, p. 8. 8 Cf. "S lovenski greckokatolici v Ontariu," Kanadsky Slovak, September 4, 1954, p. 5. 73 ° SLOVAKIA-2017 39 81 parish, if such were created." The parish was founded on October 82 29, 1951 as the Slovak Greek - Catholic Church of the Nativity of the B. V. Mary. A different date is indicated by a document dated November 29, 1951 based on a request for the founding of the parish, written and submitted in the name of the faithful from the Eparchies of Presov and Mukacevo, as well as the Apostolic Administra83 tion in Miskolc, Hungary by Father Mina. The term Slovak was of much wider sense than nowadays and it included almost all the Greek Catholic faithful coming from the Union of Uzhorod. The lit84 urgy was celebrated in the Ukrainian Church on Bathurst Street. On April I , 1952, Father Rusnak was named the new pastor of the church. The congregation gathered first on Bathurst Street, then moved to the Holy Eucharist church on King Street, where they worshiped until 1959, when their own church on Shaw Street was 85 blessed. The plans for the new Slovak Greek Catholic church in Toronto were approved on June 9, 1953 . The church was supposed to 86 be built at the comer of Roblock Avenue and Leeds, however this 87 attempt failed. The success of parish picnics led to the purchase of 89 St. Mary's Park. 88 The parish also acquired one part of a cemetery. However, none of these investments lasted. Towards the end of 1956 90 a choir was organized in the parish. A long-time cantor was Mr. 91 Joseph Kampu. At the end of 1959 the parish acquired a B' nai Is92 rael congregation synagogue, located at 257 Shaw Street. On De93 cember 27, 1959 Bishop Borecky blessed it as a church. Some 600 81 PAA, Copy of the signature li st. Cf. "25. vyroc ie nasej famost i," Maria, 9/ 1976, I 0. Jozef Suchy gives the date of October 2 1. 83 PAA, Letter from 28. XI. 1951. 84 Cf. Vasko, Andrej , "S lovenskf Grecko-katolfci," Kanadsky Slovak, October 11 , 1952, p. 2. 85 Cf. Ru snak, Michal , "Stvrt'storocie nasho rastu," Maria , 1/ 1980, 11. 86 Cf. Daily commercial news and building records, June 9 1953, I. 87 Cf. Ru snak, Michal , "Stvrt'storocie nasho rastu," Maria , 1/ 1980, 11 . 88 Cf. Maria, 5/ 1963 , third page of the cover. 89 Maria , 2/1963 , 16. 90 Cf. "Z nasich farnosti," Maria, 9-10/1956, 22. 91 Cf. Maria, 4/1963, 16. 92 Cf. "Time for rejoicing - Celebrate Opening of New Slovak Church," Toronto Daily Star, October 11 , 1959, p. 57 . 93 Cf. " Pozvanka na posviacku," Kanadsky Slovak, Christmas 1959, p. 4. 82 40 SLOVAKIA-2017 94 people from near and far attended. The first English liturgy in the 95 parish was celebrated on March 22, 1964. The nomination of Father Rusnak as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Toronto Eparchy and the Apostolic Visitator for the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada surely filled his parishioners with joy, for the church with its rectory became the official seat of the new bishop. Father John Fetsco became its new pastor. In 1972 Father John Pazak, CSsR, later the second bishop of the Slovak Eparchy, was 96 ordained a deacon in the parish. In 1974 Father Joseph Krafcik, SJ 97 helped out. The "odpust" celebration of 197 5 was highlighted by the priestly ordinations of three married deacons, at that time a rare 98 ordination in the Catholic world. On May 31, 1976, a Divine Litur99 gy was celebrated for the first time in Slovak. The arrival of Father Richard Boyle, ordained in the parish in 1978, brought new life to 100 the parish. This consisted not only of pilgrimages he organized, but all the parish activities, where he, together with a group of volun0 teers, cared for children as well as adults. ' ' He even installed a provisional iconostasis. On July 17, 1980, the first Slovak Greek Catholic Day in Bratislava Park near Hamilton took place, in an attempt to unite all the Slovak Greek Catholic parishes at a picnic. The "odpust" in 1980 was prepared jointly by all the parishes, and some 500 102 people attended. When the Slovak Eparchy was created, the 94 Cf. "Z nasich osad," Maria, 1-2/ 1960, 39. Cf. "Kronika," Maria , 3-411964, 16. 96 "Najdostojnej si o. Biskup Jan Pazak, C.Ss.R." in "Banquet in honour of His Excellency Most Reverend John S. Pazak, C.Ss.R." in The episcopal ordination and enthronement of the Most Reverend John S. Pazak, C.Ss. R., second Bishop of the Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius for Byzantine Slovaks in Canada (Toronto: E;archy of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 2000). 9 Cf. PAA , Letter Vel'adostojny a mily Vlady ko! Sent from Rome, Jul y 3, 1974. 98 The whole story is described in the following: Pospishil , Victor, "The Toronto Tempest," in Compulsory celibacy fo r the Eastern Catholics in the Americas (Toronto: Ukrainian Catholic Women's League, 1977). 99 Cf. " Slovenska liturgia v Toronte," Maria, 7-8/ 1976, 13-14. 100 To Quebec and its sanctuaries, to the Holy Land or pilgrimages to Uniontown, PA. 101 Cf. Boy le, Richard, "First solemn reception of Holy Communion in Toronto," Maria , 9/ 1979, 11. 102 Cf. Boyle, Richard, "Alive and well on Shaw Street in Toronto," Maria , 11 / 1980, 8-9. 95 SLOVAKIA-2017 41 church on Shaw Street became its cathedral. A bishop's throne was 103 installed in the cathedral on the orders of Bishop Rusnak. As time passed many parishioners from downtown Toronto (and from the vicinity of the church) moved to other areas of town. It would have been fitting to reach out to these people, especially in the western areas of the Greater Toronto Area. 5: Oshawa, Ontario (1952) Slovak settlement in Oshawa started in the l 920's and is closely related to the development of the automobile industry in the area. After their arrival, the Greek Catholic Slovaks started to attend ser104 vices in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church of Saint George. In 1951 an announcement was placed in Kanadsky Slovak asking people in the Oshawa region who were interested in establishing a Slo105 vak Greek Catholic church to gather for a meeting. Thanks to Mr. 106 Andrew Vasko, the first meeting took place in January of 1952. The chairman asked all those present to sign a document confirming their desire to establish a Slovak Greek Catholic Society. Some fifty signatures were collected. At this meeting a parish committee was elected and the possibility of celebrating the Greek Catholic services 107 in the Slovak Hall was discussed. The first pastor of the community was the Reverend Michael Rusnak. On July 13 , 1952 the very first Slovak Greek Catholic Day in Oshawa was organized with a field 108 liturgy. On January 11 , 1953, the potential parishioners sent a request to Bishop Borecky for a "Slovak Greek Catholic priest, who would be able to have divine services in Oshawa every other Sunday 103 PAA , Folder: Boyle, Letter of Bishop Michael , February 12, 1981. Cf. "Z peknej slovenskej svadby v Oshawe," Kanadsky Slovak, August I 0, 1950, p. 7; "SI. M. Korcinska a p. M. Karas v putach manzelstva," Kanadsky Slovak, October 19, 1950, p. 6. 105 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin famosti) ," Kanadsky Slovak, AJril 26, 1958, p. 3. 1 Cf. PAA , Lescisin, E. & C.: Slovenska greckokatolicka farnost Ochrany Presvdtej Bohorodicky Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - Slovak Greek Catholic Church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. November 2001, not for sale description of the parish history, 5. 107 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin farnosti) ," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 108 Cf. Ibid. 104 42 SLOVAKJA-2017 • a mont h ." 109 Some th.irty SI ova k s s1gne • d th e petition. • • 11 0 A or twice mission was established in February of 1953 . The Divine Liturgy was celebrated every other Sunday of the month in the Slovak Hall 111 and the solemn opening ofthe mission occurred on May 10, 1953. The liturgies were celebrated in the morning in Church Slavonic, but 11 2 always with a Slovak sermon. A property was purchased in 1953 11 3 right next to the Slovak Hall on Ritson Road. Really encouraging was the fact that the building process was started by only thirty-eight 114 families. Of great help was a six month-long strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union in the local General Motors Com11 5 pany, thus providing a ready labor force . The blessing of the cor11 6 nerstone occurred on July 31 , 1955 . The fini shed church was 117 blessed by Bishop Borecky on November 2, I 955 . Attendance was astounding, as according to one chronicler: "From some 800 mouths resounded the hierarchical hymn: " Vose) jesi Archijere11 8 1I 9 ju ..." The parish also offered religious education for the youth. 12 In the late 1950' s a Slovak choir also existed in Oshawa. From October of 1960 until September of 1963 , the parish was adminis12 1 tered by Father John Fetsco, CSsR. He was succeeded by Father 122 Andrew Krafcik. The first official visit of Bishop Rusnak to the 123 parish in Oshawa was on Sunday, May 2, I 965 . Father Michael ° 109 PAA , Without any signature. PAA , Without any signature. 11 1 Cf. " Slovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dej in fa rnosti )," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 11 2 C f. " Prvy slovensky grec ko-katolicky odpust," Kanadsky Slovak, November 14, 1953 , p. 2. 11 3 Cf. "S lovaci grecko-katolici v Oshawe (z dejin farn osti)," Kanadsky Slovak, April 26, 1958, p. 3. 11 " Vzor jedn oty a spoluprace," Maria, 5/ 1957, 14. 115 Cf. Lescisin, 6. 11 6 Cf. "Oznamuj eme .. .," Mar ia, 5/ 1955 (Jul y), 15. 11 7 Cf. Oznamuj eme .. .," Maria , 7/ 1955 (September), 14-1 5. 118 Cf. " Posvateni e novej slovenskej gr.-kat cerkvi v Os hawe," Maria , 8/ 1955 (October), 15 119 Cf. Maria , 3/ 1957, photo on th e first page of th e cover. 120 "Vas kovci v Os hawe vydava li dceru," Kanadsky Slovak, January 9, 1960, p. 2. 121 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria , 3-4/ 1965 , 15. 122 Cf. Maria, 2/ 1963 , 16. 123 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Bi skupa M. Ru snaka," Maria, 3-4/ 1965, 16. 11 0 SLOVAKIA-2017 43 Durisin from Slovakia served the parish in 1966. After him came 124 Father Stephen Adamiak. The need for a resident priest became urgent among the parishioners towards the end of 1960 's: " If we do not have a resident priest, ... then we and even more our children will 125 be in danger regarding our faith and keeping our pari sh." After dedicated efforts of the parishioners, a new rectory was blessed in 126 May of 1969. In 1970 Father Adamiak was replaced by Father Joseph Dubiak. Thanks to Father Dubiak the modem Slovak lan127 guage was introduced into the liturgy. Father Dubiak left the parish in 197 1, and his successor became Father Adolph Vateha, 128 CSsR. In 1972 a railroad overpass was built nearby, which changed the church surroundings. Later the parish was given some 129 compensation by the City of Oshawa. In later years, mostly Toronto priests served in the Oshawa parish. The parish in Oshawa was never large, but had a strong sense of community. According to the 200 I booklet about the pari sh, a majority of the parisioners were 130 from the former historic counties of Zemplin and Ugoca. The parish is still alive, being served by the Reverend Stephen Williams, an English-speaking convert to th e Byzantine-Slovak rite. 6: Hamilton, Ontario (1952) The first Slovaks arrived in the steel city of Hamilton, Ontario, 131 in the 1920's. They founded their own Roman Catholic Church in January of 1945 . Half of the fo unding families were Greek Catholics, and due to this fact the parish was named Sts. Cyril and Methodi132 us. Several Slovak Greek Catholic families also attended the local 133 Ukrainian church and some even the Polish church. The key mo124 Cf. "Z nasich osad - Oshawa," Maria , 9- I 0/ 1967, 17- I 8. PAA , Letter fro m Jul y 28, 1967. 126 Cf. "V izi tac ie preosv. o. biskupa Michala Rusnaka, CSsR," Maria , 5-6/ 1969, 5. 127 PAA , Letter of Father Joseph to Father Lacko, September 17, I 971. 128 PAA , Confirmation of the appointment as a pastor in the letter of Bi shop Isidore fro m September 20, 1973. 129 Cf. Lesc isin, 11 . 13 Cf. Lescisin, 13 . 13 1 Cf. Kirschbaum , 135-7. 132 Sts. Cyril and Methodius parish - History . htt ://www.s lovakchurch .com/historyh tm ( 11.5 .20 12 15 :00). b J Cf. "Nas rozhovor," Maria , 4/1 979, 9. 125 ° 44 SLOVAKIA-2017 ment for the founding of the Greek Catholic parish was a meeting on October 26, 1952 in the house of Mr. Michael Mati. During this meeting a deci sion was made to establish the parish of Sts . Peter and 134 Paul. The first liturgy was celebrated on December 14, 1952 in the 135 local Ukrainian church. Fathers Michael Rusnak and Louis Mina 136 took turns serving the community. The first anniversary of the mission was celebrated in the Hungarian church on December 13, 1953 , with Bishop Borecky attending, and everyone "was delighted 137 to hear him deliver a short sermon in Slovak. " 138 In 1954 Father Frantisek Fuga came to Hamilton from Rome. The parish changed its name due to a request by the Roman Catholic bishop of Hamilton, who already had in his diocese a parish dedicated to Sts. Peter and Paul. Ukrainian Bishop Isidore Borecky, who was in charge of Slovak Greek Catholics in Ontario, changed the name of the parish to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 139 October 20, 1954. In a letter from the Oriental Congregation in Rome, Cardinal Coussa stated: "The veneration of the Mother of God of Klokocov will assure its success among Slovak Greek Catho40 lics." 1 A copy of the Klokocov icon was painted in the church thanks to the efforts of Father Lacko in 1955, and it was blessed by 14 1 the Pope himself. Also, some Slovenians came annualy in pil. h' . gnmages to t 1s icon. 142 The cornerstone of the sanctuary was blessed on October 20, 143 144 1957 . Inside was al so a bit of soil from Klokocov in Slovakia. The facade with three mountain peaks and a double cross (the Slovak 134 Cf. Yinansky, J. (F . Fuga), "Gr. K. Osada, Hamilton," Kalendar KSL 1977 (Toronto), 84. 135 Cf. " 25 . vyrocie nas ich farn osti," Maria, I 0/ 1977, 11. 136 Cf. Eli as, Jan, "Otec Fuga IO rokov v Hamiltone," Maria , 5/ 1964, 9. 137 Cf. " Po Gr.-kato lickej oslave v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, Fe bruary 20, 1954, p. 2. 138 "Zo zivota nas ich fa rnosti," Maria, 3/ 195 5 (May), 15. 139 Cf. " Hist6ri a odpustov Panny Marie Klokocovskej v Hamiltonskej svatyni ," Maria, 7-8/ 1965, 3. 14 Fuga, Franti sek, " Rozpomienka na prvy odpu st," Maria , 7-8/ 1965 , I 0. 14 1 Cf. " lkona kl okocovskej Matky Bozej v Hamiltone," Maria, 8/ 1958, 5-7. 142 Cf. " Hor' sa na putnicky odpust Panny Marie Klokococskej do Hamiltonu," Maria , 7-8/ 1969, 3. 143 Cf. Maria, 10/ 1957 , last page of the cover. 144 Cf. " Dej inn y den," Ma ria , 11 / 1957 , 11. ° SLOVAKIA-2017 45 national emblem) was painted by the noted Slovak artist Jozef 145 Cincik. Father Fuga was a skilled organizer, and the Hamilton 146 sanctuary was nicely decorated during his tenure. Fuga also supported the struggle for Slovak independence and created the modem Slovak flag (horizontal white, blue and red stripes with the Slovak emblem superimposed upon it!" In 197 4 he became the director of 47 the Matica Slovenska Abroad. Hamilton was also one of the first Greek Catholic parishes to have the Sunday readings done in modem Slovak. The church was dedicated on June 9, 1963, as part of the local Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations (the 1100 th anniversary of the 148 arrival of the Apostles of the Slavs on Slovak territory). In those days, the number of the faithful in Hamilton increased to almost 149 500. The first visit of Bishop Rusnak to Hamilton after his episco150 pal ordination took place on May 23 , 1965. At the beginning of 1975 Father Fuga became seriously ill. This was the price he paid for his printing apostolate, using lead ink. Some parishioners said to him: "Monsignor, please do not die! It would be better for us if the sanctuary burned to the ground, because you could build another one, but if you die, we will lose it in a few 151 years! " Father Fuga lived for another ten years. On October 3, 152 1975 a Slovak school opened in the parish. The "odpust" of 1976 included a blessing of the interior iconography, created by Igor 153 Suchacev, and the ceremony of presenting the miter to Monsignor Fuga. Suchacev painted Slovak saints in the apse, with their scrolls 145 PAA, Letter from Father Fuga to Father Lacko, January 31, 1975. Cf. "Z nasich osad - Hamilton," Maria, 3-4, 1968, 18-20; fourth page of the cover; "Odpust a cirkevne slavnosti v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, August 9, 1975, p. 5; "Vyrocity odpust a strieborne jubileum pastoracie Mons. Fr. Fugu v Hamiltone," Kanadsky Slovak, September 8, 1979, p. 3. 147 Cf. Elias, Jan, "Zahranicna MS ma protektora," Kanadsky Slovak, July 6, 1974, P,·48 5. Cf. "Kronika," Maria , 4/ 1963, 16. 149 Cf. Lacko, Michal, " Posviacka dvoch novych s lovenskyc h kostolov v Kanade," Kanadsky Slovak, June 29, 1963 , p. 5. 15 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Biskupa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 3-4/ 1965, 16. 151 "Nas rozhovor," Maria , 4/ 1979, 9. 152 Cf. "Skola slovenciny osady P. M. Klokocovskej , Kanadsky Slovak, October 18, 1975 , p. 5. 153 Born in Yugoslavia to Russian refugees . One of his works was the decoration of the throne in Ethiopia. 146 ° 46 SLOVAKIA-2017 written in Slovak. The church also has depictions of the blessed Sister Miriam T. Demjanovic and President Joseph Tiso. The beauty of the church was also enhanced by the iconostasis, being the only Slo154 vak church in Canada to have a permanent one. The parish exists to this day, although the glory days of Father Fuga are gone. 7: Welland, Ontario (1953) The first Slovaks settled in the Niagara peninsula around 1920; eventually there were some 3,000. Local branches of the CSL had these numbers : 23 in Welland (1940), 31 in St. Catharines (1942), 3 7 155 in Niagara Falls (1943) and 64 in Port Colborne ( 1952). A majority of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Welland and nearby places came to Canada in the last years prior to WW II, mostly from Zemplin County. Only after WW II, when new priests arrived, did the organization of spiritual life develop here. On November 22, 1953 a meeting was held in Welland for all those interested in establishing a Slovak Greek Catholic parish under the patronage of the Holy Spirit. The meeting was organized by Father Vincent Danco, SJ. Some twenty-eight members of the future parish appeared. The faithful wished to have the liturgy celebrated twice a month and to temporarily use the Gregorian calendar. They also produced a list of fifty-five people who wished to belong to the 156 parish. Bishop Borecky promised in his letter of December I 9, 157 1953 to send a Decree for the creation of this parish. The first pastor of the parish was Father Danco, whose name was inscribed with gold letters into the history of the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada. On August 1, 1954, the Reverend Nicholas Chanat became the pastor of the Hol y Ghost parish in Welland and the "mission stations 158 of the Niagara Peninsula districts." The solemn groundbreaking 154 Cf. " Yysoka cirkevna hodnost' Mons. F. Fugovi," Kanadsky Slovak, September 4, 1976, pp . 1-2. 155 Cf. "S lovaci a ich organi zacia v dejinach oblasti N iagara," Kanadsky Slovak, January 31 , 198 1, p.5. 156 PAA , without a signature. 157 PAA , without a signature. 158 PAA, Letter from Bishop Borecky, without a signature. 47 SLOVAKIA-2017 159 took place on July 3, 1955 , and on May 20, 1956 the new church160 hall was blessed. However, the Reverend Chanat died in the morn161 ing of March 17, 1957 at the age of30. This was so devastating that the hall became a permanent church, as there was never any fur162 ther building activity. Father Mina succeeded him ; after him the 164 163 parish was served by Fathers Fetsco, Kra:fcik, Shogan, Chamey and Russin. Bishop Rusnak visited the parish for the first time as a • 165 bishop on June 6, 1965 . From November 1965, Father Smal' was 166 the pastor. After Father Russin resigned as pastor at the end of 167 I 971, Father Robert Keleher was named the new administrator. 168 He installed a temporary iconostasis. Father Keleher was replaced with a Slovak priest, Father Stephen Kundra, who served from Au169 gust of 1972 until February of 1973 . The parish was administered for a while by Father Fuga until the arrival of Father John Leso, SJ _110 Vo The parish financial report for the year 1980 showed that, were it not for bingo, the rental of the hall and kitchen, the parish would not 171 collect enough money to pay the priest's salary. This was due to the aging of the parish, the death of its founders , while their offspring either moved away or lost interest in this church. Thus, the parish slowly declined and did not survive the year 20 I 0. 159 In other sources the date for the groundbreaking by Father Chanat is listed as Jul y 4, 1954 . 16 Cf. "Zaznamenavame," Maria , 411956, 16. 161 Cf. "Za milovanym o. Nikolajom," Maria , 4/ 1957, 3-6. 162 PAA, Letter of April 3, 1957. 163 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria, 3-4/1965 , 15 . 164 PAA, Letter from Michael Kostik to Bi shop Isidore, November 9, 196 1. 165 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Biskupa M. Ru snaka," Maria , 3-4/ 1965 , 16. 166 PAA , Letter of th e Vicar General, the Right Reverend Basil Filevich, December 6, 1965 . 167 PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore to the Toronto-Dominion Bank, December 24, 197 1. 168 PAA, Letter of Father Keleher to Bishop Isidore, August 27, 1973. 169 PAA , Letter of Bishop Isidore, February 23, 1973, addressed to the TorontoDomi nion Bank . 170 PAA , Lette r of February 17, 1976. 171 PAA, Annual statement - 1980. ° 48 SLOVAKIA-2017 8: Sudbury, Ontario (1954) This mining town in northern Ontario also attracted Slovak im172 migrants. In 1923 the first Slovaks arrived in Sudbury. Several of 173 them were Greek Catholics. The founding meeting of branch 16 of the CSL was held June 19, 1938 at the hall of the local Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, showing thus their religious affi liation. The local Greek Catholic Slovaks had quite a community life even before 174 their parish was founded , as testified by newspaper articles. On many of these occasions the Master of Ceremonies, or simply the Elder, presided over the event with both formal as well as religious 175 elements. A real start for the Slovak Greek Catholics was the Divine Liturgy celebrated on August 15, 1954 at the hall of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society. It was celebrated by fathers Louis Mina and Nicholas Chanat and Father Dzurman, the local Ukrainian 176 priest. The parish received the title of Our Lady of Perpetual 178 177 Help. The entire ceremony was broadcast on local television. 179 Thereafter liturgies were celebrated on a monthly basis. The Sudbury parishioners were also subscribers and ~enerous benefactors of 1 the Slovak Greek Catholic magazine Maria. Father Fetsco became 18 1 the pastor for the first time in 1957. With several breaks and sev- ° 172 Cf. Urban, J., "Slovaks in Sudbury," Polyphony: Th e Bulletin of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario - Sudbury 's People, Vol. 5 (No. I, 1983), p. 123 . 173 Cf. "Smutna sprava 23. zboru KSL," Kanadsk:y Slovak, August 9, 1980, p. 7; " Spravy z Toronta," Kanadsk:y Slovak, April 7, 1979, p. 2. 174 Cf. " Man zelia Strokovi jubilovali," Kanadsk:y Slovak, March 30, 1950, p. 6; "Manzelia Rani covi jubilovali, Kanadsk:y Slowik, August 17, 1950, p. 6; "Rani covi zenili syna Stefana," Kanadsk:y Slovak, September 9, 1950, p. 6; "S I. Johanka Simkova v putach manzelstva," Kanadsk:y Slovak November 9, 1950, p. 7; " Manzelia Koritko jubilovali, Kanadsk:y Slovak, November 8, 1952, p. 2. 175 Cf. " Mad'arovci 25 rokov v manzelstve, Kanadsk:y Slovak, December 2 1, 1950, p. 3. 176 Cf. Maria , 2/1955 , 15; "S lavnostne otvorenie slovenskej gr. kat. parafii v Sudbury, Ont. di\ a 15. augusta, Kanadsky Slovak, August 7, 1954, p. 8. 177 Cf Urban 124 178 Cf. Mari;, 2/ 1955 , 15. No such video recording cou ld be found. CTV does not have it in its archi ves, TYO did not exist and CBC did not answer my e-mails. 179 Cf. " Prvy slovensky krst v Sudburach," Kanadsk:y Slovak, November 6, 1954, p. 3. 18 Cf. Maria , 6/l 955 , 17; 5/ 1958, 22. 18 1 Cf. "Novosti ," Maria, 3-4/ 1965 , 15. ° SLOVAKIA-2017 49 182 era! priests substituting, he continued coming to the parish until 1972. On July I, 1964, a new pastor was named--Father Theoktist 183 Vidov, a Studite monk originally from Croatia. Bishop Rusnak 184 came to Sudbury on June 13, 1965 . Sadly, someone noted that the youth had little interest in its roots: "The whole ceremony was really nice. And it could be even nicer if our young Slovaks from Sudbury 185 would show up in bigger numbers for such a great ceremony." In 1965 Father Jules Riotte, a Greek Catholic priest of German origin is • d as t he pastor, commg • twice • a mont h . 186 B 1s . hop R usna' k menhone 187 also returned to Sudbury in the following years. We have a list 188 from the 1960's of 31 fam ilies who had their homes blessed following the blessing of the Jordan water. Another list of families who 189 appeared for All Souls Day celebrations is also preserved. One of the problems of the Slovak Greek Catholic community in Sudbury was the lack of a resident priest. Another important factor for the downfall of the parish were economic conditions. Around 1964, when their economic situation changed for the better, many people moved to southern Ontario, and since no new waves of immigrants appeared, a decline in the number of Slovaks (and Greek Catholics) began. At a parish meeting held on July 13, 1975, it was decided "to dismiss the parish ; the reason is that there is no one to keep it because there are no more parishioners, it is sad, but it could 191 190 not be changed." Bishop Rusnak responded on July 25, 1975, but another reply from the parishioners was dated August 1, 1977. Because of this correspondence, Maria magazine listed the parish in 182 Cf. Urban, 124. Cf. "Kronika," Maria, 6-7/ 1964, 16. 184 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp . Biskupa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 3-4/1965, 16. 185 "Cestujeme s p. biskupom ," Maria, 9-10/ 1965, 6. 186 Beskyd, J., Yearbook of the Eparchy of Toronto (In the vineyard of Christ) (Toro nto: Eparc hy of Toronto, 1964), 520. 187 Cf. "Z nas ich osad - Sudbury - Preosv. p. biskup Michal Rusnak CSsR medzi svojimi ," Maria, 11-12/ 1967, 18- 19; Stripay, J., "Preosv. o. bisk up Michal Rusnak CSsR v Sudburach," Maria, 9-10/1968, 6. 188 PAA, File: Sudbury. 189 PAA , File: Sudbury. 190 PAA , Letter from the ushers to Bishop Michael, dated July 17, 1975. 191 PAA, Letter from the ushers to Bishop Michael, dated August I, 1977. 183 50 SLOVAKIA-2017 192 197 6 as still open, but that is no longer the case. Only sixty people 193 of Slovak origin remain in Sudbury. 9: Delhi (Simcoe - Delhi), Ontario (1955) Many Slovaks, especially from Eastern Slovakia, started to move into the area of Simcoe and Delhi, in southern Ontario, around 1930. 194 Most of them worked as tobacco farmers . The same people who founded branch 46 of the Canadian Slovak League in 1944 also founded St. Andrew's parish. In 1954 Father Frantisek Fuga of Hamilton heard about the Greek Catholic Slovaks at this location and contacted them. After a few weeks he celebrated a liturgy for 195 them. Since this took place around the feast of St. Andrew, the parish was named for this saint. It was officially created in Novem196 ber of 1955 . Father Fuga answered the spiritual needs of the parishioners working on farms and served them once a month in the 197 local Ukrainian church in Delhi. In 1965 only about thirty families 198 attended these services. The first pastoral visit of St. Andrew's parish by Bishop Michael Rusnak was conducted on December 18, 199 1966. The silver jubilee of the parish could also be called its swan 200 song. It was celebrated on October 19, 1980. The story of Simcoe - Delhi is the story of a small flock of the faithful, who wanted to 192 Cf. "Nase kostoly," Maria, 1/1976, third page of the cover. Census profile: http://wwwI2.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/20 I I/dpp_gfprQf1/<!eJ<1.ih/p_agt!,Sfo1'.?: Lang= E&Geo l =CSD&Cocle 1=3553005&Geo2=CD&Cocle2=3553&Data=Count&S t!archText=suclbur &SearchT e=Contains&SearchPR=0 l&B l =A ll &C ustom=&TA Bl D '."'J (27.8.2013 23:30) 194 Cf. Kirschbaum , J. M.: Slovaks in Canada (Toronto: Canadian Ethnic Press Association of Ontario, 1967), 128. 195 Cf. "Osada v Simcoe - Delhi jubiluje," Maria , 1-3/1966, 3-4. 196 See: Kirschbaum , 262 and Fuga, Frantisek, J., "Slovenska greckokatolicka farnost' sv. Andreja v Simcoe - Delhi , Ont. jubilovala," Kanadsky Slovak, November 29, 1980, p. 4. 197 Cf. Kirschbaum, 262. 198 Cf." Osada v Simcoe - Delhi jubiluje," Maria, 1-311966, 3-4. 199 Cf. "Prva vizitacia pana biskupa Michala Rusnaka v Simcoe-Delhi, Ont. ," Maria, 1-2/1967, 10-11. 200 Cf. Fuga, Frantisek J., "S lovenska greckokatolicka farnost' sv. Andreja v Simcoe - Delhi , Ont. jubilovala," Kanadsky Slovak, November 29, 1980, p. 4. 193 SLOVAKIA-2017 51 praise God in Church Slavonic, as they did back home. However their small size prevented the parish from growing. The community literally died with the death of the last parishioner from among the original flock. This community was always listed as a parish, even though from the ecclesiastical point of view it would probably be called a mission, as in all juridical matters the parishioners belonged to the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Hamilton. 10: Kenaston, Saskatchewan (1967) The first Slovaks arrived in Kenaston in July of 1903 and were 20 1 followed by others who came to farm. Besides the Ukrainians, many Slovak Greek Catholics also settled in and around nearby Sas202 katoon, Saskatchewan. Bishop Rusnak came to Saskatoon on June 203 26, 1966, hoping to include these people within his jurisdiction, and to make of this place a permanent center of the Slovak religious presence in Canada. Before this visit, an invitation appeared in the press: Come all of you, who are able to come, because this will be the very first time, since our arrival here 50 years ago, that we will be able to welcome amongst us our first Slovak bishop in Canada and the first bishop who is a Greek Catholic, since the times of Sts. Cyril and Methodius .... This joyful news is written for you ... by Joseph Zeman, an 80 year-old Slovak, who after 65 years in Canada, lived long enough to 204 experience this great joy ... The Ukrainian Greek Catholics gave Rusnak permission to use their cathedral of St. George for the meeting. The organizational committee prepared 600 memorial ribbons - but they were not 205 206 . enough! Father John Kobelak, M.S.F. was entrusted with or- 20 1 Cf. "Na vyrocie slovenskych pociatkov v Saskatchewan a slovenskeho ~riekopnictva v Kanade, Kanadsky Slowik, June 25 , 1966, p. 2. 02 Cf. "S lovak so Slovakom sa zide," Kanadsky Slowik, March 10, 1962, p. 2; "Janko Purda graduoval ," Kanadsky Slovak, January 5, 1963, p. 2. 203 Cf." Pl anovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria , 4-5/1966, 16. 204 Cf. " Do pozornosti Slovakom v Saskatchewan," Kanadsky Slovak, May 28, 1966, ~- 2. os Cf. "Aj 600 bolo malo," Kanadsky Slovak, July 16, I 966, p. 3. 52 SLOVAKIA-2017 20 7 gamzmg this parish. The Slovak Greek Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Kenaston, Saskatchewan, was officially created during the Canadian centennial in 1967, after the trip of Bishop Rusnak to Saskatoon. The parish was part of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Saskatoon, having its own property, a gift of the recently-deceased Joseph Zeman. Bishop Rusnak planned to send the parish a Slovak priest - the Reverend Stephen Adamiak.208 In the archives are notes testifying that the Ukrainian Eparchy indeed received the property and also $1000 to be used to build a Slovak Greek Catholic church in Kenaston. However, the following year the heirs of the late Mr. Zeman changed their minds and requested that the $1,000 be re209 turned to them. In the fall of 1970 the parish ceased to exist. 2 10 The question remains: Would a Slovak parish have lasted in Saskatchewan, if it had been built in Saskatoon rather than in the small village of Kenaston? MISSIONS WITH IRREGULAR SERVICES Among the missions we list those places where we are sure that the Slovak Greek Catholic services were held: 11: Edmonton, Alberta The capital of the Province of Alberta attracted many Slovak immigrants in the 1930's, including Greek Catholics.2 11 Slovak 212 Greek Catholics present here never formed a separate parish or other type of organized community, but they still could be considered a part of the life of Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada. After his 206 Born in Poland in 1921 . He came to Canada in 1964, and worked in the Eastern rite. He died in 200 I. 207 Cf. "Z nasich osad - Kenaston - Nova slovenska greckokatolfcka osada sv. Cyrila a Metoda," Maria, 11-12/ 1967, 17. 208 PAA, Letter of Bishop Michael dated May 15, 1967. 209 PAA , E-mail from the Eparchy of Saskatoon, sent to the author on November 21, 2011 , 17:00. 210 PAA , Letter NM najdostojnejci Otce Vladyka! sent from Rome, 12. X. 1970. 211 Cf. Kirschbaum , 151. 212 Cf. Maria, 1/ 1963, 17. SLOVAKIA-2017 53 Episcopal ordination, Bishop Michael Rusnak visited Edmonton on 213 June 27, I 965 . 12: Fernie, British Columbia Femie is one of the oldest settlements of Slovaks in Canada. The 214 first Slovak miners came here in 1898 from Pennsylvania. Many of them were Greek Catholics. Shortly after the start of the 20th cen215 tury, a branch of the Greek Catholic Union was founded here. Slovaks in Femie were also organized in branch 51 of the CSL. Fa2 16 ther Michal Lacko did a visitation here in 1973. Femie is mentioned as a mission in the report of the Apostolic Visitator in 217 1978. 13: New Westminster, British Columbia The first Slovaks came to the Canadian Pacific coast at the end 218 219 of the 19 th century. Larger numbers appeared only after WW 11. Branch 4 7 of the CSL was established here in 1944. The Slovak Roman Catholic parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius has existed in New 220 Westminster since 1960. Many of its parishioners were Greek 221 Catholics. From time to time, Greek Catholic services were also celebrated here. In 1959 there was a Slovak Greek Catholic wedding in the Ukrainian church, performed by a "good friend of Slovaks, 222 Father Bylik, who was ass isted in the ceremonies by Mr. Bodnar.'' 213 Cf. "Navstevy Ndp. Bisk upa M. Rusnaka," Maria, 5-611965, I 3. Cf. Kirschbaum , 70. 215 Cf. Palmer, Howard, Land of the Second Chance (A History of Ethnic Groups in Southern Alberta), (Lethbridge : Lethbridge Herald, 1972), 195. 216 Personal Archive of the Author (PAA) Letter of Bishop Michael to Father Lacko, May 28, 1973. 217 PAA , Quinquennial report for Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada, 19731978 (November 1st , 1978),2-3 . 218 Kanadsky Slovak, November 14, I 970. 219 Cf. Kirschbau m, 146-8. 220 Officiall y establ ished by Father Wi lliam Lacko, SJ in 1960. The first acti vities with local Slovaks date back to 1952. 22 1 Cf. " Klub za ujemcov o hist6riu Slovakov v Britskej Kolumbii v Kanade," http://www.sk-bc .ca/book/export/ html/I 98 (October 18, 20 11 , 20:00); Maria, 78/ 1965, 5; 12; 12/1965, 15. 222 " Pekna slovenska svadba v B.C.," Kanadsky Slovak, June 27, 1959, p. 2. 214 54 SLOVAKIA-2017 The Slovak church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius was the home of Ukrainian Greek Catholics until they built their own church. In those days a certain Byzantine-rite priest - Father Kmec-- celebrated the services. Many times the Slovak Greek Catholics celebrated with the Ukrainians. ln 1970, the Reverend William Lacko wrote about the Greek Catholics: "the late Michael Bodnar with a beautiful voice, was an outstanding cantor." Already during the Cyrillo-Methodian jubilee in 1963 we learn that "many Slovak Greek Catholics are living in this area and because of this Father Michael Lacko went to the far west of Canada ... and celebrated services in the Church Slavonic 223 language .... " And during the Jubilee year, according to the words of the pastor, once a month instead of the sermon "we all sang "Moleben." The Impressive "Hospodi pomiluj" resounded in the church as a joint response to the petition of all the Catholics of both 224 rites." On the day of the Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations, July 7, 1963 , the Latin Mass was fo ll owed with the singing of sacred songs in Slovak and Church Slavonic by both Roman and Greek Catho225 lics. They sang lie Cheruvimi (Let us, who mystically represent 226 the Cherubim) and Otce nas (Our Father), led by Mr. Bodnar. Bishop Rusnak was quite frequentl y a welcome guest of the parish. On those occasions, the church was always filled to the very last seat or even overcrowded. His visit was a real "unique experience with lasting value .. .. Greek Catholics are coming from near and far to the services held in the Slovak church and it is a joy to see them, 227 when Bishop Michael is among them .. .'' In 1966 Bishop Rusnak 228 appeared on July 3. He officiated at the funeral of Mrs. Potoma on 229 July 6, 1970. For the local parishioners it became a tradition throughout the years to have Bishop Rusnak among them , always around the feast day of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, patrons of their 223 224 Cf. Maria , 7/ 1963 , 11. "Slovenski greckokatolici na Pacifiku," Kanadsky Slovak, September 14, 1970, p. 5. 225 Cf. "Cyril ometodske slav nosti v B.C.," Kanadsky Slovak, June 29, 1963, p. 8. Cf. "Cyrilometodske oslavy na Pacifickom pobrezi," Kanadsky Slovak, August 17, 1963, p. 2. 227 "Slovenski greckokatolici na Pacifiku," Kanadsky Slovak, September 14, 1970, p. 5. 228 Cf. " Planovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria , 4-5/ 1966, 16. 229 PAA , Folder: Vancouver. 226 SLOVAKIA-2017 55 church. The bishop made such a good impression on the people that they left with the words: "Goodbye Most Reverend Bishop M. 230 Rusnak until next year." In 1973 the Byzantine liturgy was scheduled for August 5, with Father Michael Lacko, SJ as the main cele. . was a Iso the act o f a canomca . I v1s1tahon. . . . 232 brant. 23 1 H.1s v1s1t Among the benefactors of the Maria magazine were several people 233 from New Westminster. The visits of the Greek Catholic bishop to New Westminster stopped a long time ago, but the Greek Catholics there attend the Slovak Roman Catholic parish to thi s day. 14: Unionville (Markham), Ontario From the canonical point of view, Unionville Ontario, and the fa mily mansion of the billionaire Stephen B. Roman could not be considered either a parish, or a mission. However, to be fair to history, we have to note that services were held here more often than in some of th e other missions. Fron the 1950's until the 1980 's Bishop Rusnak celebrated a liturgy in the residence of Mr. Roman every 234 Sunday aftemoon. The bishop had become a good friend of the Greek Catholic Stephen Roman in the early 1950 's. Together they planned to build a huge Cathedral of the Transfiguration on Mr. Roman's property in Unionville and Pope John Paul II even blessed the 235 cornerstone in I 984. However, after Mr. Roman suddenly died in 1988, Bishop Rusnak and his successor Bishop Pazak, could not come to an agreement with Mr. Roman 's heirs as to the actual ownership of the cathedral. Therefore, Bishop Pazak deconsecrated the 23 °Korem, Albin, " Dve spravy z B. C.," Kanadsky Slowik, July 18, 1970, p. 5. 23 1 PAA , Postcard Srdecny pozdrav od Ticheho oceanu. Sent from San Francisco, Jul y 20, 1973. 232 PAA, Letter of Bishop Michae l to Father Lacko, May 28, 1973. 233 Cf. Maria, 2/ 1963, 17; 1/1964, third page of the cover; 2/ 1964, third page of the cover; 9-10/ 1964, third page of the cover; 1-2/ 1965, third page of the cover; 12/1965 , 16; 1-3/ 1966, third page of the cover; 1/ 1977, third page of the cover; 5/ 1978, 16;4/ 1979, 16; 7-8/ 1980, 24. 234 Litva, Felix, "Stefan B. Roman - clovek v rozdvojenom svete" (Cambridge, ON : Dobra kniha, 198 I). 235 See Our Heritage of Faith : Consecration of the Slovak Cathedral of the Transfiguration by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, September 15, 1984, ed. by Helen Roman-Barber and Anne C. R. Roman (Toronto: Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius for Slovaks of the Byzantine Ri te in Canada, 1984). 56 SLOVAKIA-2017 church in 2006 and since then it has sat empty as the cornerstone of a 236 massive housing development called "Cathedraltown." 15: Winnipeg, Manitoba Slovak immigrants started coming to to Winnipeg before the First World War, but the largest group arrived in the interwar peri237 od. A Slovak Roman Catholic parish existed here since 1951. Father Alexander Baran, an historian and native of the Subcarpathian region, worked at the local univers ity. Because his dad had been a secretary to the first Slovak Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia- Dr. Milan Hodza--he knew Slovak and was a great friend to Slovak Greek Catholics, with whom he shared the same liturgical tradition.2 38 Before the end of the 19 th century, several families from Zemplin County arrived via Pennsylvania to the town of Neepawa, in the 239 Province of Manitoba. When the Canadian Slovak League (CS L) was established here in 1932, one of the founding members, Juraj Rond'os, was not ashamed of being not only Slovak, but also a Greek Catholic. The local branch of the CSL received the number 1. The Slovak Greek Catholics in town attended mostly the local Ukrainian church for their worship services. The priests even learned some 240 Slovak for special celebrations for these parishioners. The most vital period for Slovak Greek Catholics in Winnipeg 24 1 started after the episcopal ordination of Bishop Rusnak. He came to Winnipeg for the first time on Sunday, August 22, 1965, and assisted by the local Slovak Roman Catholic pastor, Msgr. John Re236 For more details see "The Cathedral that Toronto Forgot," Toronto Star, June 26, 201 1 and "Losing Faith in Cathedraltown," Toronto Star, January I 0, 2015. 237 Cf. Kirschbaum , 75 -76. 238 For more info on Baran see: htt ://um anitoba.ca/libraries/units/archi ves/collections/rad/baran.html 239 Cf. R~ ndos, Juraj, "V lete sli spat' na breh rieky," in Spomienky pionierov, ed. by lmrich Stolarik (Toronto: Kanadska Slovenska Liga, I 978), 2 19. Maria, 1/ 1963, 17; 10/ 1963, third page of the cover; 12/ 1965 , 16; 12/ 1966, third page of the cover. 24 Cf. " Mary Rondosova vydala sa za Janka Stretavskeho," Kanadsky Slovak, March I, 195 1, p. 4. " Pekna slovenska svadba vo Winnipegu," Kanadsky Slovak, Apri l 5, 1958, p. 2; "Opusti li nas dvaja Slovaci z nasej okolice v Dufresne, Man. ," Kanadsky Slovak, March 21, 198 1, p. I 0. 241 Cf. Kutka, J., " Historicky den manitobskych Slovakov," Kanadsky Slovak, Nove mber 13, 1965, p. 2. ° SLOVAKIA-2017 57 kem, as well as by Father Baran, he celebrated a Byzantine liturgy in 242 the local Slovak Roman Catholic church. His visit was prepared by Msgr. Rekem and Mr. J. Kutka. Beautiful liturgical Church Slavonic singing had a delicate impact on the people present, many of them hearing it probably for the very first time in their lives. The choir, directed by organist Cudovit (Louis) Besei\ovsky, sang both Slovak Greek and Latin liturgies. Even though the Greek and Latin Catholics sang together for the first time, they 243 were praised for their perforrnance. Bishop Rusnak also visited the Greek Catholic Slovaks in Win244 nipeg in the following years. Several Slovak Greek Catholics from Winnipeg and nearby settlements appeared among the supporters of ~"' • • 245 1V1arza magazme. OTHER SLOVAK GREEK CATHOLIC LOCATIONS 16: Flin Flon, Manitoba Many Slovaks found jobs in the mining industry here, among them quite a few Greek Catholics . Several Slovak farmers settled around the town as well. When the Canadian Slovak League was founded in 1932, its local branch was given the number 4. However, the best years for the community were the 1940's and 1950's. Several Greek Catholic Slovaks here attended the local Ukrainian 246 church. In 1966 Bishop Michael Rusnak intended to send the Revernd John Zeman, OSB as a Greek Catholic priest to Flin 247 Flon . However, this did not materialize. 242 Cf. "Cestujeme s p. biskupom," Maria , 9-10/1965, 9- I 0. 1bid., 9. 244 Cf. " Planovane vizitacne cesty p. biskupa," Maria, 4-5/1966, 16. PAA, diaries. 245 Cf. Maria , 1/ 1964, third page of the cover; 2/ 1964, third page of the cover; 67/ 1964, third page of the cover; 12/1965, 16; 1-2/ 1967, fourth page of the cover; 78/ 1977, third page ofthe cover; 5/ 1978, 16; 3/1979, 16; 2/ 1980, 16; 12/1980, 16. 246 Cf. "Smutok sboru vo Flin Flon, Man. ," Kanadsky Slovak, February 4, 1956, p. 2; Kadas, V.: Brat Jozef Dubos na vecnosti," Kanadsky Slovak, July 23, 1966, p. 2; "Zlata svadba u Rujakov vo Flin Flon, Man.," Kanadsky Slovak, September 25, 1976, p. 6; "Zlata svadba manzelov Stefanik v B. C.," Kanadsky Slovak, October 18, 1975, p. 4. 247 PAA , Letter from Father John Zeman, August 2, 1966. 243 58 SLOVAKIA-2017 17: Thunder Bay, Ontario The city of Thunder Bay came into existence on January 1, 1970, when Port Arthur and Fort William, were amalgamated. The majority of the Slovaks in this area were from the county of Orava. They started coming in the 1890's and built St. Peter's Slovak Roman 248 Catholic church in 1907. Slovak Lutherans built a church in 1927. 249 Newspapers confirm several Slovak Greek Catholics living here. The first journey after his ordination led Bishop Rusnak to the Cana250 dian West through Fort William. He almost certainly stopped here on his ways to the West, when traveling by car. Conclusion Besides the above mentioned cities, which were depicted on the map of the Eparchy, the Slovak Greek Catholic presence was also documented elsewhere in Canada. Benefactors of the magazine Maria appeared in a larger number of locations. One can observe from the life of the Canadian Slovak Greek Catholics that, to some degree, they were copying the ways of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics, who first settled in the West of Canada, then moved to Quebec, with a hiatus in the interwar period and then focused on Southern Ontario. The settlements in Southern Ontario 25 1 shared similar fates , not only with Ukrainian Catholics, but to a 252 certain degree even more with the Hungarian Greek Catholics. 248 Cf. Kirschbaum , 77-79. Cf. " Smutime za nas imi bratmi," Kanadsky Slowi k, August 27, 1966, p. 3; "Jub ileum Bakovych v Niagara Falls," Kanadsky Slowik, August 15, 1959, p. 2. 25 Cf. Kutka, J., "Historicky dei\ Manitobskych Slovakov, Kanadsky Slowik, November 13, 1965 , p. 2. 251 Cf. Canada 's Ukrainians: Negotiating an Identity, ed. by Lubomyr Luciuk and Stella Hryniuk (Toronto: Uni versity of Toronto Press, 199 1). On the Ukrainian exr,erience around Winnipeg see pages 53 -80. 52 Slovak - Hungarian Greek Cath olic re lati ons in Canada are a topic fo r furth er research . The Slovak Greek Catholics were fo r a time guests of the Hungari an Greek Catholic Church in Hamilton. In Windsor, Father Krafcik served for a time both Greek Catholi c communities - Slovak as we ll as Hungari an. Similar plans were made fo r Welland, whi ch also had both Churches, using the same liturgical rite, the same melodi es (and when it came to English, exactl y the same melodies and texts)! Especially in Ontario, the Hungarian settlements were almost identical to the Slovak ones. Also from the letters of Father Michal Lacko, SJ, we learn that, before the Slovak eparchy was created, he hoped that a bishopric would be created whi ch 249 ° SLOVAKIA-2017 59 Many people had relatives in other parishes, leading to frequent mutual visits of Slovak Greek Catholics, other than in their their own parishes, especially for parish feast days, or some great historic milestones. Many new friendships were thus started, and also some marriages arranged within the community. Places which really continued to blossom with the Slovak Greek Catholic population were the industrial towns of Eastern Canada. If the industry closed, or shrank, or farming was no longer attractive, the people moved out and then their parishes were closed (Sudbury 253 and Flin Flon). The same thing happened in the mining and steel 254 industry towns of Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey. If a parish were to last, it had to have several zealous parishioners. Where there were only a few, such a parish had only a minimum chance of survival (Kenaston, Winnipeg, New Westminster). In such a case the Slovak Greek Catholics joined (or remained) either with local Slovak Roman Catholics or with Ukrainian Greek Catholics. The age of the parishioners when starting their parishes was also quite crucial, as when they were relatively old, and few in number, their parishes lasted for only a short while (Simcoe - Delhi). What is interesting is how the Slovak Greek Catholics in Canada made picnics an important part of parish culture. These gatherings became so popular, that at some time the parishes of Toronto and Hamilton owned their own picnic grounds, while the other parishes used facilities of other groups. In almost all the parishes we note that the most active parishioners were born in Slovakia. The subsequent generations, born in Canada, began to lose interest in maintaining their parishes. This would include, not only Slovak, but Hungarian Greek Catholic parishes as well (PAA). The last pastor of the Slovak church in Welland (before it was closed in 20 I 0) was Father John Girhinyi, himself a Hungarian. For more information on Hungarian life in Canada (and how it resembled the Slovak experience), see Nandor Dreisziger, Church and Society in Hungary and in the Hungarian Diaspora (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016), especially pages 261-4. 253 Cf. https: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of Canadian muni c ipalities having experienced popula-tion decreases 254 Other existing parishes, which face serious challenges with changing industry in the USA include Braddock, Charleroi, Clarence and Clymer, Pennsylvania. See Byzantine-Ruthenian Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh Directory (Pittsburgh: Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, I 999). See also. https://en.wikipecl ia.org/wiki/Shrinking- cities in the United States 60 SLOVAKIA-2017 might be attributed to the relatively high percentage of the Slovak immigrants assimilating to English-Canadian culture. Indeed, many times the parents themselves wanted to have their children completely forget about their ancestral homeland . In some cases the parents were not even willing to speak with them in Slovak - so that they would not have an accent, and thus be more successful in the labor market. By 1980, only two Slovak Greek Catholic parishes in Canada were over 50 years old: Lethbridge - which was Ukrainianized, and Montreal, which also had its best years behind it. Sadly, even some of the younger parishes (Kenaston, Simcoe - Delhi, Sudbury) were already closed, or just about to be closed. At the creation of the Slovak Greek Catholic Eparchy in 1980, only parishes in southern Ontario, which were close to each other, and able to benefit from mutual visits, or even exchanges of the clergy, were flourishing. Even this was to change in the following years, as the parish of Montreal was closed shortly after 2010, and the Welland parish was also not able to live through 2010. Recently the Most Reverend John S. Pazak, Bishop of the Slovaks of the Byzantine rite in Canada was transferred by 255 the Vatican to Phoenix, Arizona in the USA. Thus, the future of Greek Catholic Slovaks in Canada remains uncertain. 255 Transfer announced on May 7 th 20 I 6. HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE - Other Pontifical Acts: htt s:// ress.vatican.va/co nten t/sa lastam a/en/bo ll ettino/ ubblico/20 I 6/05/07 /16050 7h.html. See also "Bishop John S. Pazak named new Byzantine Eparch in Phoenix, Ariz. ," Slovak Catholic Falcon, June 15, 20 16, p.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 A Survey of Slovak Communities of the Byzantine Rite in Canada before they Received their Own Bishopric Description An account of the resource Daniel Černý Slovakia, Vol. 43 (No. 80-81), 2017 pp. 28-60 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Černý. Daniel Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/989aea1ca9f085022dc25871553920c9.pdf 482921d8a99b9a8147575ead644d8335 PDF Text Text REVIEWS ��SLOVAKIA 2019 133 Tiinde Lengyelova. Zivot na sl'achtickom dvore. Odev, strava, domacnost, hygenia, vo/'ny cas. Bratislava: Slovart, 2015 , 248pp. Notes, bibliography, illustrations, list of noble families , index of names and places. (Baron) PETER MARIASSY Kosice, Slovak Republic The author, who works for the Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, specializes in the history of the nobility and of women in the early modem period. Her book on Life in the Court of the Nobility ... is an original contribution to a history of the 16th and 17th centuries in the Kingdom of Hungary, which at that time was partitioned between the Habsburgs, who controlled Upper Hungary and the Ottoman Turks, who occupied the Hungarian Plains and controlled its vassal province of Transylvania. Lengyelova's main contribution consists of a realistic and uncensored look into the life of Hungarian noble society, which at that time suffered from three heavy burdens : to maintain its existence vis-a-vis the Ottoman threat, the Germanizing Habsburg court, and the various wars with both powers. A major contribution of the book is a detailed description of the leading role of nobles ' wives in supporting their husbands who were running the Kingdom or had gone off to war. Based upon extensive archival research, the book reveals for the first time how noble women very capably functioned and supported their husbands in a patriarchal society where the men were much more educated and recognized. In a sense, the women were more than equal partners of their husbands. The reader will be rewarded by unique descriptions of noble life through their dress, their cuisine, the running of their households, questions of hygiene and leisure activities. All of these aspects of life had to function in a time of many wars and uprisings. This book illustrates how life carried on even in the hardest of times, because the noble men and women divided their tasks and admirably carried them out. I recommend this book not only to professional historians, but also to the general public which might be interested in life in early �134 SLOVAKIA 2019 modern Hungary, especially in its cuisine, its dress, and amusements in this very difficult era. In the future , I would like to see the author compare the dress and other aspects of life of the warring sides. It would also have been useful to have had a conclusion to the book, in which the author would not only summarize her findings , but also indicate her further direction of research. Kenneth Janda. The Emperor and the Peasant: Two Men at the Start of the Great War and End of the Habsburg Empire. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. 2018. X-277 pp. Illustrated, maps, charts, graphs, notes. bibliography, index. M. MARK STOLARIK University of Ottawa This is a popular history of the Great War by a retired Professor of Political Science from Northwestern University. It concerns the Slovak peasant Samuel Mozolak from the village of Krajne in the Myjava region and Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef of AustriaHungary. Janda, a Czech-American, was motivated by the British television series Upstairs Downstairs and Downtown Abby to write the story of his Slovak wife's grandfather and his descendants and compare it with that of the second-last Habsburg Emperor. This is an engaging book. In fourteen well-written chapters, Janda traces the fortunes of Franz Josef and Samuel Mozolak from just before the outbreak of the Great War to its end. He traces Mozolak and his wife back to their voyage and marriage in New York City between 1902 and 1906, their return to Slovakia in 1906, where they dropped off their twins with Mozolaks mother and their return to America until 1914, when they once again returned to Slovakia. Soon after Franz Josef decided to declare war upon Serbia in July of 1914, Samuel Mozolak was drafted into the Hungarian 15 th Honved (Home Army) regiment, based in the city of Trencin, fought on the Russian, Romanian and Italian Fronts, and died in the Battle of the Piave on June 19, 1918. Emperor Franz Josef, on the other hand, declared war upon Serbia on July 28 , 1914, in retaliation for the assassination of his neph- �SLOVAKIA 2019 135 ew Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian terrorist exactly one month earlier. This precipitated the start of the First World War, with the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria supporting the Habsburgs while Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy and Romania opposed them. Since both Austria-Hungary and Germany failed in their objectives to defeat and conquer Serbia and France by December, 1914, they lost the war, Janda concluded, despite the fact that it dragged on for four more years. Jandas account is particularly good in describing the Habsburg armies, their ethnic composition, supplies and materials, and devastating defeats. He points out that the Eastern Front, which is often downplayed by Western historians, actually involved more soldiers than in the West, and counted 1,000,000 more casualties than on the Western Front. Janda concluded that, even though Samuel Mozolak died during the Great War, his family , like his countrymen, made great gains from the war, while the Habsburgs lost everything. By joining with the Czechs in creating the new Republic of Czechoslovakia upon the ruins of the Habsburg Empire in 1918, the Slovaks gained their independence, the use of their language in the public sphere and a democratic government. The Habsburgs, by contrast, lost not only their empire, but their thrones and even the right to live in their homeland, from which they were banned after the war. The descendants of Samuel Mozolak moved to the USA after the war and eventually prospered. Thus, the peasant triumphed over the emperor. Since Janda is not an historian, he made a few unfortunate mistakes, which a good editor should have spotted. Thus, on page 44 he mixed up Greek Catholics (Uniates) with the Orthodox; he mistakenly dated the codification of Slovak to 1852, when it was first codified in 1787 and a second time in 1846 (page 48); he was unaware of the existence of the weekly Slowik v Amerike in New York City before the Great War (page 82); he mistakenly referred to the Austrian province of Galicia as having been in Hungary's northeast region ; and he seemed to be unaware that the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1968, which was still in effect in 1992, allowed for the dissolution of the Republic (page 238). In spite of these shortcomings, The Emperor and the Peasant makes for good reading and the general public will undoubtedly �136 SLOVAKIA 2019 learn a lot from it about Slovak immigration to America, and the Habsburg Empire's decline and fall during the Great War. Janda is to be congratulated for this tribute to the Mozolak famly. John Palka, My Slovakia, My Family: One Family's Role in the Birth of a Nation. Minneapolis: Kirk House Publishers, 2012. Paper, 424 pages, with illustrations, appendix, index. $24.95 . ISBN 978-1933794-55-6. KENNETH JANDA Emeritus, Northwestern University This book by a Slovak-American immigrant about his ancestors' homeland is remarkably different from others. It reflects life among the Slovak intelligentsia, rather than peasant roots . Both sides of John Palka's family not only belonged to the intelligentsia, but also played major roles in the literary, religious, economic, and political development of the Slovak nation and its people. Palka's book is divided into three parts with a substantial Appendix. Part I recounts his family's two escapes to America, first fleeing Fascism and then Communism. Part II intertwines his family's history with that of Slovakia. Part III resembles a diary, reporting Palka's contemporary connections with his Slovak heritage. His Appendix contains historical information, maps, genealogical charts, a Slovak language pronunciation guide, and thirty pages of color plates- each one keyed to the text. The research is solid and well-documented. In a way, John Palka is the unintentional chronicler of his forefathers. After retiring in 2002 as a distinguishedd Professor of Biology at the University of Washington, he benefitted from the Slovak government's belated recognition of grandfather Milan Hodza's contributions as Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938. The Slovak government invited John as an honored guest to the reburial of his grandfather's remains from Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery to the Slovak National Cemetery in Martin. Inspiredd by that experience, unintentional benefactor became intentional historian and author of this absorbing volume. Part I begins in 1935-1938 Prague as Hitler exploited the Western powers' appeasement policies and dismembered and annexed the �SLOVAKIA 2019 137 Czech part of Czechoslovakia. Palka recounts Prime Minister Hodfa's helplessness as allies deserted hi s country. Drawing from family sources, Palka documents the family trauma that forced them to flee their homeland. Theys fled at midnight by train, despite hi s mother's advanced pregnancy. John was born in Paris in 1939, only two weeks after they escaped from Prague. After eluding the SS for nearly two years in occupied France, Palka's family made its way to neutral Portugal in 1941 , using fake passports. In Lisbon, they managed to board a Pan Am Clipper making one of its last flights from warring Europe to New York. Like the many thou sands of Slovak immigrants before them, the Palkas found it hard to adjust to America. Unlike most other Slovaks, they were well-educated and upper class. In Chicago, his multilingual father (Slovak, French, German, Hungarian) and former business owner in the Slovak leather industry was not employable in the American leather industry because he did not speak English. His work on the assembly line of a Slovak-owned electrical parts manufacturing plant produced little income. As Palka tells it, the arrival of his famous grandfather later in 1941 complicated rather than improved the family situation. Not only was Milan Hodza ill before he arrived, but Czechoslovakia's former Prime Minister clashed with its former President, Edvard Benes. Palka said that they divided over three issues : Hodza's insistence on Slovak autonomy within Czechoslovakia, hi s opposition to Soviet influence in hi s country, and hi s support for a federation of Central Europe. Despite speaking often and widely to emigre groups, Hodza failed to win them over before dyi ng in 1944. Obituaries in major world newspapers praised his life and hi s funeral in Chicago was widely attended. Palka says his family's hopes soared with the end of World War II . By 1946 the family was back in Slovakia and optimistic. Two years later, Communists took over the government, and soon the family again fled Czechoslovakia, this time from Bratislava. Palka was old enough to remember their escape. He described crawling under barbed wire, dodging searchlights, and dashing across a field to freedom in Austria. By the end of the year, the Palkas again found themselves on their way to America, this time to New York. �138 SLOVAKIA 2019 By Palka's account, the family fared better in New York than in Chicago. His mother became a translator for Radio Free Europe, and Johnny quickly learned English. He obtained a scholarship at a small private school in Connecticut before entering Swarthmore College, where he met his future wife, Yvonne. Both went to India to do research, married there, and subsequently earned PhDs in neurosciences at UCLA. They eventually landed in Seattle-John at the University of Washington and Yvonne at Antioch University. During that time, Palka had little contact with Slovaks (other than his parents) except for a trip to Czechoslovakia in 1976, where he re-experienced communist oppression. His last chapter in Part I tells how Palka eventually learned of his father's clandestine activities against the Nazis in Slovakia before fleeing in 1941 to join his family in Paris. Part II is primarily about Slovakia's history but also about the roles played by his maternal and paternal ancestors in that history. The first chapters outline his genealogical connections to the Hodfas and Palkas. Whereas most Slovak immigrants' ancestors were peasants, Palka's were also pastors and craftsmen in an emerging middle class. In three chapters, Palka links the personal lives of two special ancestors with the rise of Slovak nationalism in the mid-19 th century. Through his successful leatherworks business, Palka's great-great grand uncle, Ondrej Palka ( 1800-1877), financed the pastoral and cultural activities of Michal Miloslav Hodfa (1811-1870), a great grand uncle who-along with I:udovit Stur and Josef Miloslav Hurban-helped codify Slovak as a literary language. Michal Miloslav Hodfa also became famous for his revolutionary activities in the 1848 uprising against Magyar rule. Although the Austrian emperor pardoned him for his political activities, Slovak magyarones-those who curried favor with the Hungarian government- stripped Hodfa of his salary, his position, and drove him to the borderland. Long after his death, the Slovak government retrieved his remains for an honored burial in Liptovsky Mikulas, where he served as pastor. Ironically, one speaker at his funeral was his nephew, Milan Hodfa-who later would also die in exile and also be returned to Slovakia for reburial with honor. Palka's chapters about other distant relatives-Michael Miloslav's Hodfa's daughter Marina and the Bella family, kin to Palka's great-grandmother-portray accomplished women, which differs sharply from most accounts of Slovaks living in Austria-Hungary. �SLOVAKIA 2019 139 His longest chapter is on grandfather Jan Palka, labeled "the most captivating character" in his family. Inheriting his father's leather business, Jan Palka employed modem manufacturing techniques, and amassed a fortune large enough to own a sumptuous villa with a Bosendoerfer grand piano inside and a tennis court outside. Despite his wealth, he was a utopian socialist who instituted profitsharing, worker participation in management, limited work hours, paid vacations, and children's scholarships. Jan Palka's reforms cut into his company's profits, which also suffered from market losses in Austria-Hungary with the formation of Czechoslovakia. His grandfather lost virtually everything in the Great Depression. Whereas Palka's distant paternal ancestors distinguished themselves in business (and in support of Slovak national causes), his maternal ancestors-the Hodfas- distinguished themselves in "the nation's service"- in Slovak literary, religious, and political activities. Palka ends his chapter, "Four Generations of National Service" sadly, by recounting the high prices the Hodfas paid in jail, persecution, and exile . Palka concludes Part II by returning to grandfather Milan Hodfa, Czechoslovakia's Prime Minister in the mid-1930s . He retraces Hodfa's life from birth, through school, as journalist, during military service, and in politics. Palka's final paragraph says, "And so the story that we began when Milan Hodfa's remains were finally transferred home to his beloved Slovakia, fifty-eight years after his death, is now complete." Part III concludes the book with six chapters providing insight into the author's personal "Slovak awakening." Palka admits to "an emotional experience" each time he returns to the homeland "of a family that has a place in national history." Understandably sentimental, he revisits places and people that played roles in his family's drama, and thus in the nation's history. John Palka assumed the responsibility of documenting his family's life and accomplishments. Not only did he do his duty, but he did it with distinction . �140 SLOVAKIA 2019 Jan Hirka: Pod ochranou Marie - Pastier v sluzbe Cirkvi. Presov: Greckokatolicka teologicka fakulta, 2013. 568 pp. Afterword by Andrej Rusnak. Index, abbreviations, bibliography, photos. DANIEL CERNY Kosice There is a Latin proverb, which probably best fits the review of the book Pod ochranou Marie - Pastier v sluzbe Cirkvi, by the late Bishop of Presov, the Most Reverend Jan Hirka (1923-2014). This proverb is as follows : Verba volant, scripta manent which means "spoken words fly away, written words remain. " History is not only about events and dates, but is also based on great personalities, true leaders, who leave behind them significant imprints and are thus remembered in the hearts of those who knew them . One of the greatest leaders of the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia in the 20 th century was Bishop Jan Hirka, who served as the Administrator of the then Eparchy of Presov from 1968 to 1989 and then as the resident bishop from 1989 to his retirement in 2002. Bishop Hirka is definitely worth remembering. This autobiography was finished in 2013 and Bishop Hirka gave the first copies to those who came to see him for his jubilee. It was a paradox that the one who was supposed to receive gifts, was distributing them. This book, which is so far the largest vo lume dedicated in Slovak to a single Greek Catholic person, was written towards the end of his life. On the positive side, the book covers almost the comth plete life span of Bishop Hirka, from his youth to his 90 birthday, which also serves as the occasion for its publication. This book deserves to be in the library of every historian who focuses on the life of the Church in 20 th century Central Europe. The title of the book reflects the inscription from the bishop ' s coat of arms of- Under the protection of Mary. Bishop Hirka mentions his devotion to the Mother of God throughout the book. He started to work on the manuscript, with the help of his personal secretary, Father Andrej Rusnak, only after his retirement in 2002. The entire volume is divided into several chapters, which could be summarized into three parts: The first part, which after a description of his early years, focuses on the abolition of the Greek Catholic Church in 1950, his secret pastoral ministry afterwards, his arrest, trial and imprisonment, fol- �SLOVAKIA 2019 141 lowed by exile from eastern Slovakia. He then worked as a simple electrician. His description of his imprisonment and the trial in Prague is stunning. So are his memories of prison work in a Czech mine, his time after release, when he was forced to stay outside of eastern Slovakia and needed to earn his daily bread through manual labor. The second part starts with the events of the Prague Spring and rebirth of the Greek Catholic Church in the former Czecho-Slovakia in 1968. At this time Father Hirka was appointed to lead the Greek Catholic Church, but only as an Apostolic Administrator, as his episcopal ordination was not permitted by the communist regime. It contains a detailed list of events and places he visited, texts of several of his sermons and letters, a compilation of newspaper reports, sermons and homilies. The joy of the Prague Spring of 1968 was very quickly replaced with the foreign military invasion and the period of normalization with many restrictions on the religious life of the citizens. The third part follows Hirka, after he was appointed as the Greek Catholic Bishop of Presov, his memorable ordination in the sport hall of Presov, attended by bishops from all over the world and thousands of the faithful. The papal visit in 1995 to Presov and the beatification of Bishop Gojdic in 2001 are among the highlights of this time. This was a period of increased apostolic activity and marvelous building projects, where people were happy to see their Church free. Among the greatest successes dear to the heart of Bishop Hirka was the reestablishment of the Seminary and of the Theological faculty , which was accomplished in 1990, but for which he struggled from 1968. Bishop Hirka lived long enough to see many important changes in Slovak society at the end of the 20 th century. The Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia in 1993 were important and affected the life of the Church. In 1996 a special Exarchate was created for Greek Catholics in the Czech Republic, who formerly belonged to the Eparchy in Presov, and in 1997 the Exarchate of Kosice was erected, creating a second Greek Catholic jurisdiction in Slovakia. All this led to the elevation of the Church to Metropolitan status, for which Bishop Hirka worked, and was able to see it happen (even though already in retirement) in 2008. Any reader of this book, who has at least some knowledge about �142 SLOVAKIA 2019 the history of the Greek Catholic Church in the former CzechoSlovakia, might feel at the end a bit perplexed. While the first part, speaking about the life and deeds of the young boy, later seminarian and young priest is absolutely stunning, the second and third parts following the path of Father Hirka, who became in 1968 Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Presov and later a bishop--do not possess the quality of the first part. Many of the author's personal decisions, or inner opinions are omitted or hidden. Thus many conflicts or problems, which were publicly known, are not even mentioned. The book gives several wrong impressions. One of them is that the 1990's were a period of complete happiness and zeal. To a certain extent yes, but there were also several problems. It is wellknown that the author's personal relations with his former auxiliary and later Exarch of Kosice, the Most Reverend Milan Chautur, were after an initial period, not very positive, and this resulted in many strange situations, like the fact that, for a time the auxiliary bishop was denied the post of Vicar-General, but was instead appointed to administer a parish himself1 The reader does not need to know everything, but to pretend that there was no problem at all in an autobiography of more than 500 pages is a serious mistake and an injustice to its readers. There is also no mention of two additional phenomena. For instance, the priests of Zemplin lobbied for a second bishopric in Slovakia (the Exarchate of Kosice), which was another unpleasant surprise for Hirka. We know from other documents and publications that these efforts date back to December of 1989. There is also silence regarding those who, during the communist era were secretly ordained, including bishops of the underground church. This phenomenon was common to the Church in the former Czecho-Slovakia. Another negative example is the omission of several personalities who became legends. Among them was Father Jifi Novotny SJ, a Jesuit, who came in the early l 990's to help at the Theological Faculty in Presov and more than ten years after his departure everyone remembered stories about him. He taught numerous subjects, all of them on a very high level, thanks to his knowledge of several languages, his academic background and unique personality. In a book of more than 500 pages this is a serious omission. Yet, the overall impression is positive, as there is no other book �SLOVAKIA 2019 143 which could be compared to this one. Since Bishop Hirka was initially reluctant to put anything on paper, one has to admire the huge work done by Father Andrej Rusnak. To be fair, one has to say that Bishop Hirka was tired, almost exhausted, especially due to constant fighting with the communist authorities . But this is also one of the negatives of the book. It started to be written very late in the life of Bishop Jan, thus reducing several events and some details and depending too much on his declining health. Approximately 150 photos add great value to the book, as does a special chapter on the beatification of the new-martyrs P. P. Gojdic and B. Hopko, which were started in 1985 in the USA, but after the fall of the Iron Curtain transferred to the Eparchy of Presov. Resumes in several languages are a great plus, as is the final word by the editor, Father Andrej Rusnak. Thanks also to Father Marek Petro, who helped to finalize the creation of the book, and who provided footnotes to the text. The register of names will be appreciated by all. As Bishop Hirka wrote in the Preface, the famous professor and Roman Catholic priest Stefan Hlavac inspired him to write his memoirs. The latter said that if other nations had lived through such turbulent times, many books, plays and scholarly works would already be published. This book tries to fill this gap and offers a structured and detailed (although not perfect) account of events and deeds of one of the greatest personalities of the Greek Catholics in Slovakia the late Bishop Jan Hirka. Machacek, Michal. Gustav Husak. Praha: Vysehrad, 2017 . 631 pp. Notes, bibliography, photographs and index. JOZEFHYRJA Heidelberg University In order to understand the most rigid period of Czechoslovak history in the 20 th century, we need to know the person who was behind the so-called "normalization." For two decades Gustav Husak (19131991) represented cultural and economic stagnation, restrictions, repressions and an omnipresent fear in the population of that state. �144 SLOVAKIA 2019 Written by the young Czech historian Michal Machacek, this is the first complete biography of the long-time Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the country ' s last communist President. The author covered Husak's life from his birth in the little Slovak village of Dubravka (now part of the capital city Bratislava), until his death as a lonely, defeated and forgotten former communist leader. Machacek did extensive research in archives in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Canada, the USA and Russia, where he discovered new documents. His research led him to the private archives of Husak' s relatives, their oral testimonies and the reminiscences of his contemporaries. He worked on this monograph for almost ten years, which thus became one of the most anticipated books by Slovak and Czech historians. The biography consists of seven chapters listed in chronological order, which provide a detailed insight into the development of Husak's political career as well as his private life. Machacek was influenced neither by Marxist historiography nor by the dissident discourse, which tends to be too emotionally involved in anti-communist views. He represents a new generation of historians, not burdened by the shadows of the past. The result is an objective and wellbalanced biography. Despite coming from a Czech cultural environment, Machacek, is well-acquainted with contemporary Slovak realities, nationalist sentiments, national demands towards the government in Prague and with Slovak historiography. This asset, often lacking in Czech academic discourse, is important for understanding the complicated relations between the Slovak and Czech nations in their common state and it is definitely valuable to understanding Husak's role and involvement in the federalization of Czechoslovakia (January 1, 1969). The narrative's strongest part, the first chapter entitled Young Radical 1913-1938 (pp. 27-96), describes the interwar period, when Gustav Husak lived and studied in Bratislava. Machacek managed to accurately reconstruct those years of his life and he presents a very plastic image--not only of Husak's youth and activities--but also of Slovak intellectual life in Bratislava between the two World Wars and the development of the communist movement. However, he was part of the Slovak intellectual milieu not only in the communist scene but also in the wider spectrum, which included other political and non-political groups. Machacek emphasized the connections and �SLOVAKIA 2019 145 friendships Husak developed, which helped him on many future occasions. One out of many listed in the book was his friendship with the distinguished Slovak economist Imrich Karvas , who was Husak's professor at Comenius University in Bratislava. Husak attended his lectures and seminars and Karvas grew fond of his student. From this moment "their relationship grew in importance during World War II, when Karvas, now as Governor of the Slovak National Bank, many times helped Husak escape his troubles" (p. 72). An impressive element of Machacek's work is that he skilfully links politics, often on the highest level, with Husak's private life. He provides an interesting insight into Husak's relationship with his second wife Viera, who had a significant influence on his personality as well as his decision-making. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bohuslav Chnoupek, recalled how "Husak in general didn 't like official state visits, but precisely because of the initiative of Viera Husakova they, for example, managed to organize( ... ) a state visit to India, or the following June 1977 to Iraq" (pp. 460-61 ). After the tragic death of his wife in a helicopter crash, it appeared "as if [Husak had] lost his supporter and the visits ceased" (p. 461 ). Where the author could have been more specific and could have developed his arguments more, are the details about Husak's relations with the Church in the 1970s. Before that date, Machacek describes exhaustively not only Husak's attitude towards religion, but also that of his parents and his Catholic family background. However, in 1977, when Pope Paul VI elevated the Archdiocese of Tmava to metropolitan status (under the communist regime!), Machacek does not sufficiently explain Husak's role in this process. The creation of the Archdiocese was an important milestone in the history of Slovakia, which could have been examined in more detail, especially from the point of view church-state relations, but the author dedicates only one sentence to it (p. 466). Despite some minor unintentional factual errors, the overall impression of the book is favorable . The author provides the reader with a complete picture of the longest-serving Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. It contains a wealth of new information and gives the reader an interesting insight not only into the political, but also the personal level. Machacek's grasp of the �146 SLOVAKIA 2019 topic is excellent, with more than 2,300 footnotes and an extensive bibliography at the end of the monograph. His book is very readable and contrary to a significant number of preceding scholarly works, it is objective and a valuable contribution to the study of the communist regimes in Central Europe. � REVIEWS ��SLOVAKIA 2019 133 Tiinde Lengyelova. Zivot na sl'achtickom dvore. Odev, strava, domacnost, hygenia, vo/'ny cas. Bratislava: Slovart, 2015 , 248pp. Notes, bibliography, illustrations, list of noble families , index of names and places. (Baron) PETER MARIASSY Kosice, Slovak Republic The author, who works for the Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, specializes in the history of the nobility and of women in the early modem period. Her book on Life in the Court of the Nobility ... is an original contribution to a history of the 16th and 17th centuries in the Kingdom of Hungary, which at that time was partitioned between the Habsburgs, who controlled Upper Hungary and the Ottoman Turks, who occupied the Hungarian Plains and controlled its vassal province of Transylvania. Lengyelova's main contribution consists of a realistic and uncensored look into the life of Hungarian noble society, which at that time suffered from three heavy burdens : to maintain its existence vis-a-vis the Ottoman threat, the Germanizing Habsburg court, and the various wars with both powers. A major contribution of the book is a detailed description of the leading role of nobles ' wives in supporting their husbands who were running the Kingdom or had gone off to war. Based upon extensive archival research, the book reveals for the first time how noble women very capably functioned and supported their husbands in a patriarchal society where the men were much more educated and recognized. In a sense, the women were more than equal partners of their husbands. The reader will be rewarded by unique descriptions of noble life through their dress, their cuisine, the running of their households, questions of hygiene and leisure activities. All of these aspects of life had to function in a time of many wars and uprisings. This book illustrates how life carried on even in the hardest of times, because the noble men and women divided their tasks and admirably carried them out. I recommend this book not only to professional historians, but also to the general public which might be interested in life in early �134 SLOVAKIA 2019 modern Hungary, especially in its cuisine, its dress, and amusements in this very difficult era. In the future , I would like to see the author compare the dress and other aspects of life of the warring sides. It would also have been useful to have had a conclusion to the book, in which the author would not only summarize her findings , but also indicate her further direction of research. Kenneth Janda. The Emperor and the Peasant: Two Men at the Start of the Great War and End of the Habsburg Empire. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. 2018. X-277 pp. Illustrated, maps, charts, graphs, notes. bibliography, index. M. MARK STOLARIK University of Ottawa This is a popular history of the Great War by a retired Professor of Political Science from Northwestern University. It concerns the Slovak peasant Samuel Mozolak from the village of Krajne in the Myjava region and Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef of AustriaHungary. Janda, a Czech-American, was motivated by the British television series Upstairs Downstairs and Downtown Abby to write the story of his Slovak wife's grandfather and his descendants and compare it with that of the second-last Habsburg Emperor. This is an engaging book. In fourteen well-written chapters, Janda traces the fortunes of Franz Josef and Samuel Mozolak from just before the outbreak of the Great War to its end. He traces Mozolak and his wife back to their voyage and marriage in New York City between 1902 and 1906, their return to Slovakia in 1906, where they dropped off their twins with Mozolaks mother and their return to America until 1914, when they once again returned to Slovakia. Soon after Franz Josef decided to declare war upon Serbia in July of 1914, Samuel Mozolak was drafted into the Hungarian 15 th Honved (Home Army) regiment, based in the city of Trencin, fought on the Russian, Romanian and Italian Fronts, and died in the Battle of the Piave on June 19, 1918. Emperor Franz Josef, on the other hand, declared war upon Serbia on July 28 , 1914, in retaliation for the assassination of his neph- �SLOVAKIA 2019 135 ew Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian terrorist exactly one month earlier. This precipitated the start of the First World War, with the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria supporting the Habsburgs while Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy and Romania opposed them. Since both Austria-Hungary and Germany failed in their objectives to defeat and conquer Serbia and France by December, 1914, they lost the war, Janda concluded, despite the fact that it dragged on for four more years. Jandas account is particularly good in describing the Habsburg armies, their ethnic composition, supplies and materials, and devastating defeats. He points out that the Eastern Front, which is often downplayed by Western historians, actually involved more soldiers than in the West, and counted 1,000,000 more casualties than on the Western Front. Janda concluded that, even though Samuel Mozolak died during the Great War, his family , like his countrymen, made great gains from the war, while the Habsburgs lost everything. By joining with the Czechs in creating the new Republic of Czechoslovakia upon the ruins of the Habsburg Empire in 1918, the Slovaks gained their independence, the use of their language in the public sphere and a democratic government. The Habsburgs, by contrast, lost not only their empire, but their thrones and even the right to live in their homeland, from which they were banned after the war. The descendants of Samuel Mozolak moved to the USA after the war and eventually prospered. Thus, the peasant triumphed over the emperor. Since Janda is not an historian, he made a few unfortunate mistakes, which a good editor should have spotted. Thus, on page 44 he mixed up Greek Catholics (Uniates) with the Orthodox; he mistakenly dated the codification of Slovak to 1852, when it was first codified in 1787 and a second time in 1846 (page 48); he was unaware of the existence of the weekly Slowik v Amerike in New York City before the Great War (page 82); he mistakenly referred to the Austrian province of Galicia as having been in Hungary's northeast region ; and he seemed to be unaware that the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1968, which was still in effect in 1992, allowed for the dissolution of the Republic (page 238). In spite of these shortcomings, The Emperor and the Peasant makes for good reading and the general public will undoubtedly �136 SLOVAKIA 2019 learn a lot from it about Slovak immigration to America, and the Habsburg Empire's decline and fall during the Great War. Janda is to be congratulated for this tribute to the Mozolak famly. John Palka, My Slovakia, My Family: One Family's Role in the Birth of a Nation. Minneapolis: Kirk House Publishers, 2012. Paper, 424 pages, with illustrations, appendix, index. $24.95 . ISBN 978-1933794-55-6. KENNETH JANDA Emeritus, Northwestern University This book by a Slovak-American immigrant about his ancestors' homeland is remarkably different from others. It reflects life among the Slovak intelligentsia, rather than peasant roots . Both sides of John Palka's family not only belonged to the intelligentsia, but also played major roles in the literary, religious, economic, and political development of the Slovak nation and its people. Palka's book is divided into three parts with a substantial Appendix. Part I recounts his family's two escapes to America, first fleeing Fascism and then Communism. Part II intertwines his family's history with that of Slovakia. Part III resembles a diary, reporting Palka's contemporary connections with his Slovak heritage. His Appendix contains historical information, maps, genealogical charts, a Slovak language pronunciation guide, and thirty pages of color plates- each one keyed to the text. The research is solid and well-documented. In a way, John Palka is the unintentional chronicler of his forefathers. After retiring in 2002 as a distinguishedd Professor of Biology at the University of Washington, he benefitted from the Slovak government's belated recognition of grandfather Milan Hodza's contributions as Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938. The Slovak government invited John as an honored guest to the reburial of his grandfather's remains from Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery to the Slovak National Cemetery in Martin. Inspiredd by that experience, unintentional benefactor became intentional historian and author of this absorbing volume. Part I begins in 1935-1938 Prague as Hitler exploited the Western powers' appeasement policies and dismembered and annexed the �SLOVAKIA 2019 137 Czech part of Czechoslovakia. Palka recounts Prime Minister Hodfa's helplessness as allies deserted hi s country. Drawing from family sources, Palka documents the family trauma that forced them to flee their homeland. Theys fled at midnight by train, despite hi s mother's advanced pregnancy. John was born in Paris in 1939, only two weeks after they escaped from Prague. After eluding the SS for nearly two years in occupied France, Palka's family made its way to neutral Portugal in 1941 , using fake passports. In Lisbon, they managed to board a Pan Am Clipper making one of its last flights from warring Europe to New York. Like the many thou sands of Slovak immigrants before them, the Palkas found it hard to adjust to America. Unlike most other Slovaks, they were well-educated and upper class. In Chicago, his multilingual father (Slovak, French, German, Hungarian) and former business owner in the Slovak leather industry was not employable in the American leather industry because he did not speak English. His work on the assembly line of a Slovak-owned electrical parts manufacturing plant produced little income. As Palka tells it, the arrival of his famous grandfather later in 1941 complicated rather than improved the family situation. Not only was Milan Hodza ill before he arrived, but Czechoslovakia's former Prime Minister clashed with its former President, Edvard Benes. Palka said that they divided over three issues : Hodza's insistence on Slovak autonomy within Czechoslovakia, hi s opposition to Soviet influence in hi s country, and hi s support for a federation of Central Europe. Despite speaking often and widely to emigre groups, Hodza failed to win them over before dyi ng in 1944. Obituaries in major world newspapers praised his life and hi s funeral in Chicago was widely attended. Palka says his family's hopes soared with the end of World War II . By 1946 the family was back in Slovakia and optimistic. Two years later, Communists took over the government, and soon the family again fled Czechoslovakia, this time from Bratislava. Palka was old enough to remember their escape. He described crawling under barbed wire, dodging searchlights, and dashing across a field to freedom in Austria. By the end of the year, the Palkas again found themselves on their way to America, this time to New York. �138 SLOVAKIA 2019 By Palka's account, the family fared better in New York than in Chicago. His mother became a translator for Radio Free Europe, and Johnny quickly learned English. He obtained a scholarship at a small private school in Connecticut before entering Swarthmore College, where he met his future wife, Yvonne. Both went to India to do research, married there, and subsequently earned PhDs in neurosciences at UCLA. They eventually landed in Seattle-John at the University of Washington and Yvonne at Antioch University. During that time, Palka had little contact with Slovaks (other than his parents) except for a trip to Czechoslovakia in 1976, where he re-experienced communist oppression. His last chapter in Part I tells how Palka eventually learned of his father's clandestine activities against the Nazis in Slovakia before fleeing in 1941 to join his family in Paris. Part II is primarily about Slovakia's history but also about the roles played by his maternal and paternal ancestors in that history. The first chapters outline his genealogical connections to the Hodfas and Palkas. Whereas most Slovak immigrants' ancestors were peasants, Palka's were also pastors and craftsmen in an emerging middle class. In three chapters, Palka links the personal lives of two special ancestors with the rise of Slovak nationalism in the mid-19 th century. Through his successful leatherworks business, Palka's great-great grand uncle, Ondrej Palka ( 1800-1877), financed the pastoral and cultural activities of Michal Miloslav Hodfa (1811-1870), a great grand uncle who-along with I:udovit Stur and Josef Miloslav Hurban-helped codify Slovak as a literary language. Michal Miloslav Hodfa also became famous for his revolutionary activities in the 1848 uprising against Magyar rule. Although the Austrian emperor pardoned him for his political activities, Slovak magyarones-those who curried favor with the Hungarian government- stripped Hodfa of his salary, his position, and drove him to the borderland. Long after his death, the Slovak government retrieved his remains for an honored burial in Liptovsky Mikulas, where he served as pastor. Ironically, one speaker at his funeral was his nephew, Milan Hodfa-who later would also die in exile and also be returned to Slovakia for reburial with honor. Palka's chapters about other distant relatives-Michael Miloslav's Hodfa's daughter Marina and the Bella family, kin to Palka's great-grandmother-portray accomplished women, which differs sharply from most accounts of Slovaks living in Austria-Hungary. �SLOVAKIA 2019 139 His longest chapter is on grandfather Jan Palka, labeled "the most captivating character" in his family. Inheriting his father's leather business, Jan Palka employed modem manufacturing techniques, and amassed a fortune large enough to own a sumptuous villa with a Bosendoerfer grand piano inside and a tennis court outside. Despite his wealth, he was a utopian socialist who instituted profitsharing, worker participation in management, limited work hours, paid vacations, and children's scholarships. Jan Palka's reforms cut into his company's profits, which also suffered from market losses in Austria-Hungary with the formation of Czechoslovakia. His grandfather lost virtually everything in the Great Depression. Whereas Palka's distant paternal ancestors distinguished themselves in business (and in support of Slovak national causes), his maternal ancestors-the Hodfas- distinguished themselves in "the nation's service"- in Slovak literary, religious, and political activities. Palka ends his chapter, "Four Generations of National Service" sadly, by recounting the high prices the Hodfas paid in jail, persecution, and exile . Palka concludes Part II by returning to grandfather Milan Hodfa, Czechoslovakia's Prime Minister in the mid-1930s . He retraces Hodfa's life from birth, through school, as journalist, during military service, and in politics. Palka's final paragraph says, "And so the story that we began when Milan Hodfa's remains were finally transferred home to his beloved Slovakia, fifty-eight years after his death, is now complete." Part III concludes the book with six chapters providing insight into the author's personal "Slovak awakening." Palka admits to "an emotional experience" each time he returns to the homeland "of a family that has a place in national history." Understandably sentimental, he revisits places and people that played roles in his family's drama, and thus in the nation's history. John Palka assumed the responsibility of documenting his family's life and accomplishments. Not only did he do his duty, but he did it with distinction . �140 SLOVAKIA 2019 Jan Hirka: Pod ochranou Marie - Pastier v sluzbe Cirkvi. Presov: Greckokatolicka teologicka fakulta, 2013. 568 pp. Afterword by Andrej Rusnak. Index, abbreviations, bibliography, photos. DANIEL CERNY Kosice There is a Latin proverb, which probably best fits the review of the book Pod ochranou Marie - Pastier v sluzbe Cirkvi, by the late Bishop of Presov, the Most Reverend Jan Hirka (1923-2014). This proverb is as follows : Verba volant, scripta manent which means "spoken words fly away, written words remain. " History is not only about events and dates, but is also based on great personalities, true leaders, who leave behind them significant imprints and are thus remembered in the hearts of those who knew them . One of the greatest leaders of the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia in the 20 th century was Bishop Jan Hirka, who served as the Administrator of the then Eparchy of Presov from 1968 to 1989 and then as the resident bishop from 1989 to his retirement in 2002. Bishop Hirka is definitely worth remembering. This autobiography was finished in 2013 and Bishop Hirka gave the first copies to those who came to see him for his jubilee. It was a paradox that the one who was supposed to receive gifts, was distributing them. This book, which is so far the largest vo lume dedicated in Slovak to a single Greek Catholic person, was written towards the end of his life. On the positive side, the book covers almost the comth plete life span of Bishop Hirka, from his youth to his 90 birthday, which also serves as the occasion for its publication. This book deserves to be in the library of every historian who focuses on the life of the Church in 20 th century Central Europe. The title of the book reflects the inscription from the bishop ' s coat of arms of- Under the protection of Mary. Bishop Hirka mentions his devotion to the Mother of God throughout the book. He started to work on the manuscript, with the help of his personal secretary, Father Andrej Rusnak, only after his retirement in 2002. The entire volume is divided into several chapters, which could be summarized into three parts: The first part, which after a description of his early years, focuses on the abolition of the Greek Catholic Church in 1950, his secret pastoral ministry afterwards, his arrest, trial and imprisonment, fol- �SLOVAKIA 2019 141 lowed by exile from eastern Slovakia. He then worked as a simple electrician. His description of his imprisonment and the trial in Prague is stunning. So are his memories of prison work in a Czech mine, his time after release, when he was forced to stay outside of eastern Slovakia and needed to earn his daily bread through manual labor. The second part starts with the events of the Prague Spring and rebirth of the Greek Catholic Church in the former Czecho-Slovakia in 1968. At this time Father Hirka was appointed to lead the Greek Catholic Church, but only as an Apostolic Administrator, as his episcopal ordination was not permitted by the communist regime. It contains a detailed list of events and places he visited, texts of several of his sermons and letters, a compilation of newspaper reports, sermons and homilies. The joy of the Prague Spring of 1968 was very quickly replaced with the foreign military invasion and the period of normalization with many restrictions on the religious life of the citizens. The third part follows Hirka, after he was appointed as the Greek Catholic Bishop of Presov, his memorable ordination in the sport hall of Presov, attended by bishops from all over the world and thousands of the faithful. The papal visit in 1995 to Presov and the beatification of Bishop Gojdic in 2001 are among the highlights of this time. This was a period of increased apostolic activity and marvelous building projects, where people were happy to see their Church free. Among the greatest successes dear to the heart of Bishop Hirka was the reestablishment of the Seminary and of the Theological faculty , which was accomplished in 1990, but for which he struggled from 1968. Bishop Hirka lived long enough to see many important changes in Slovak society at the end of the 20 th century. The Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia in 1993 were important and affected the life of the Church. In 1996 a special Exarchate was created for Greek Catholics in the Czech Republic, who formerly belonged to the Eparchy in Presov, and in 1997 the Exarchate of Kosice was erected, creating a second Greek Catholic jurisdiction in Slovakia. All this led to the elevation of the Church to Metropolitan status, for which Bishop Hirka worked, and was able to see it happen (even though already in retirement) in 2008. Any reader of this book, who has at least some knowledge about �142 SLOVAKIA 2019 the history of the Greek Catholic Church in the former CzechoSlovakia, might feel at the end a bit perplexed. While the first part, speaking about the life and deeds of the young boy, later seminarian and young priest is absolutely stunning, the second and third parts following the path of Father Hirka, who became in 1968 Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Presov and later a bishop--do not possess the quality of the first part. Many of the author's personal decisions, or inner opinions are omitted or hidden. Thus many conflicts or problems, which were publicly known, are not even mentioned. The book gives several wrong impressions. One of them is that the 1990's were a period of complete happiness and zeal. To a certain extent yes, but there were also several problems. It is wellknown that the author's personal relations with his former auxiliary and later Exarch of Kosice, the Most Reverend Milan Chautur, were after an initial period, not very positive, and this resulted in many strange situations, like the fact that, for a time the auxiliary bishop was denied the post of Vicar-General, but was instead appointed to administer a parish himself1 The reader does not need to know everything, but to pretend that there was no problem at all in an autobiography of more than 500 pages is a serious mistake and an injustice to its readers. There is also no mention of two additional phenomena. For instance, the priests of Zemplin lobbied for a second bishopric in Slovakia (the Exarchate of Kosice), which was another unpleasant surprise for Hirka. We know from other documents and publications that these efforts date back to December of 1989. There is also silence regarding those who, during the communist era were secretly ordained, including bishops of the underground church. This phenomenon was common to the Church in the former Czecho-Slovakia. Another negative example is the omission of several personalities who became legends. Among them was Father Jifi Novotny SJ, a Jesuit, who came in the early l 990's to help at the Theological Faculty in Presov and more than ten years after his departure everyone remembered stories about him. He taught numerous subjects, all of them on a very high level, thanks to his knowledge of several languages, his academic background and unique personality. In a book of more than 500 pages this is a serious omission. Yet, the overall impression is positive, as there is no other book �SLOVAKIA 2019 143 which could be compared to this one. Since Bishop Hirka was initially reluctant to put anything on paper, one has to admire the huge work done by Father Andrej Rusnak. To be fair, one has to say that Bishop Hirka was tired, almost exhausted, especially due to constant fighting with the communist authorities . But this is also one of the negatives of the book. It started to be written very late in the life of Bishop Jan, thus reducing several events and some details and depending too much on his declining health. Approximately 150 photos add great value to the book, as does a special chapter on the beatification of the new-martyrs P. P. Gojdic and B. Hopko, which were started in 1985 in the USA, but after the fall of the Iron Curtain transferred to the Eparchy of Presov. Resumes in several languages are a great plus, as is the final word by the editor, Father Andrej Rusnak. Thanks also to Father Marek Petro, who helped to finalize the creation of the book, and who provided footnotes to the text. The register of names will be appreciated by all. As Bishop Hirka wrote in the Preface, the famous professor and Roman Catholic priest Stefan Hlavac inspired him to write his memoirs. The latter said that if other nations had lived through such turbulent times, many books, plays and scholarly works would already be published. This book tries to fill this gap and offers a structured and detailed (although not perfect) account of events and deeds of one of the greatest personalities of the Greek Catholics in Slovakia the late Bishop Jan Hirka. Machacek, Michal. Gustav Husak. Praha: Vysehrad, 2017 . 631 pp. Notes, bibliography, photographs and index. JOZEFHYRJA Heidelberg University In order to understand the most rigid period of Czechoslovak history in the 20 th century, we need to know the person who was behind the so-called "normalization." For two decades Gustav Husak (19131991) represented cultural and economic stagnation, restrictions, repressions and an omnipresent fear in the population of that state. �144 SLOVAKIA 2019 Written by the young Czech historian Michal Machacek, this is the first complete biography of the long-time Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the country ' s last communist President. The author covered Husak's life from his birth in the little Slovak village of Dubravka (now part of the capital city Bratislava), until his death as a lonely, defeated and forgotten former communist leader. Machacek did extensive research in archives in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Canada, the USA and Russia, where he discovered new documents. His research led him to the private archives of Husak' s relatives, their oral testimonies and the reminiscences of his contemporaries. He worked on this monograph for almost ten years, which thus became one of the most anticipated books by Slovak and Czech historians. The biography consists of seven chapters listed in chronological order, which provide a detailed insight into the development of Husak's political career as well as his private life. Machacek was influenced neither by Marxist historiography nor by the dissident discourse, which tends to be too emotionally involved in anti-communist views. He represents a new generation of historians, not burdened by the shadows of the past. The result is an objective and wellbalanced biography. Despite coming from a Czech cultural environment, Machacek, is well-acquainted with contemporary Slovak realities, nationalist sentiments, national demands towards the government in Prague and with Slovak historiography. This asset, often lacking in Czech academic discourse, is important for understanding the complicated relations between the Slovak and Czech nations in their common state and it is definitely valuable to understanding Husak's role and involvement in the federalization of Czechoslovakia (January 1, 1969). The narrative's strongest part, the first chapter entitled Young Radical 1913-1938 (pp. 27-96), describes the interwar period, when Gustav Husak lived and studied in Bratislava. Machacek managed to accurately reconstruct those years of his life and he presents a very plastic image--not only of Husak's youth and activities--but also of Slovak intellectual life in Bratislava between the two World Wars and the development of the communist movement. However, he was part of the Slovak intellectual milieu not only in the communist scene but also in the wider spectrum, which included other political and non-political groups. Machacek emphasized the connections and �SLOVAKIA 2019 145 friendships Husak developed, which helped him on many future occasions. One out of many listed in the book was his friendship with the distinguished Slovak economist Imrich Karvas , who was Husak's professor at Comenius University in Bratislava. Husak attended his lectures and seminars and Karvas grew fond of his student. From this moment "their relationship grew in importance during World War II, when Karvas, now as Governor of the Slovak National Bank, many times helped Husak escape his troubles" (p. 72). An impressive element of Machacek's work is that he skilfully links politics, often on the highest level, with Husak's private life. He provides an interesting insight into Husak's relationship with his second wife Viera, who had a significant influence on his personality as well as his decision-making. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bohuslav Chnoupek, recalled how "Husak in general didn 't like official state visits, but precisely because of the initiative of Viera Husakova they, for example, managed to organize( ... ) a state visit to India, or the following June 1977 to Iraq" (pp. 460-61 ). After the tragic death of his wife in a helicopter crash, it appeared "as if [Husak had] lost his supporter and the visits ceased" (p. 461 ). Where the author could have been more specific and could have developed his arguments more, are the details about Husak's relations with the Church in the 1970s. Before that date, Machacek describes exhaustively not only Husak's attitude towards religion, but also that of his parents and his Catholic family background. However, in 1977, when Pope Paul VI elevated the Archdiocese of Tmava to metropolitan status (under the communist regime!), Machacek does not sufficiently explain Husak's role in this process. The creation of the Archdiocese was an important milestone in the history of Slovakia, which could have been examined in more detail, especially from the point of view church-state relations, but the author dedicates only one sentence to it (p. 466). Despite some minor unintentional factual errors, the overall impression of the book is favorable . The author provides the reader with a complete picture of the longest-serving Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. It contains a wealth of new information and gives the reader an interesting insight not only into the political, but also the personal level. Machacek's grasp of the �146 SLOVAKIA 2019 topic is excellent, with more than 2,300 footnotes and an extensive bibliography at the end of the monograph. His book is very readable and contrary to a significant number of preceding scholarly works, it is objective and a valuable contribution to the study of the communist regimes in Central Europe. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2019, Vol. 44 Description An account of the resource Vol. 44 (No. 82-83), 2019. 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 2019 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 2019 133 Tiinde Lengyelova. Zivot na sl'achtickom dvore. Odev, strava, domacnost, hygenia, vo/'ny cas. Bratislava: Slovart, 2015 , 248pp. Notes, bibliography, illustrations, list of noble families , index of names and places. (Baron) PETER MARIASSY Kosice, Slovak Republic The author, who works for the Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, specializes in the history of the nobility and of women in the early modem period. Her book on Life in the Court of the Nobility ... is an original contribution to a history of the 16th and 17th centuries in the Kingdom of Hungary, which at that time was partitioned between the Habsburgs, who controlled Upper Hungary and the Ottoman Turks, who occupied the Hungarian Plains and controlled its vassal province of Transylvania. Lengyelova's main contribution consists of a realistic and uncensored look into the life of Hungarian noble society, which at that time suffered from three heavy burdens : to maintain its existence vis-a-vis the Ottoman threat, the Germanizing Habsburg court, and the various wars with both powers. A major contribution of the book is a detailed description of the leading role of nobles ' wives in supporting their husbands who were running the Kingdom or had gone off to war. Based upon extensive archival research, the book reveals for the first time how noble women very capably functioned and supported their husbands in a patriarchal society where the men were much more educated and recognized. In a sense, the women were more than equal partners of their husbands. The reader will be rewarded by unique descriptions of noble life through their dress, their cuisine, the running of their households, questions of hygiene and leisure activities. All of these aspects of life had to function in a time of many wars and uprisings. This book illustrates how life carried on even in the hardest of times, because the noble men and women divided their tasks and admirably carried them out. I recommend this book not only to professional historians, but also to the general public which might be interested in life in early 134 SLOVAKIA 2019 modern Hungary, especially in its cuisine, its dress, and amusements in this very difficult era. In the future , I would like to see the author compare the dress and other aspects of life of the warring sides. It would also have been useful to have had a conclusion to the book, in which the author would not only summarize her findings , but also indicate her further direction of research. Kenneth Janda. The Emperor and the Peasant: Two Men at the Start of the Great War and End of the Habsburg Empire. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. 2018. X-277 pp. Illustrated, maps, charts, graphs, notes. bibliography, index. M. MARK STOLARIK University of Ottawa This is a popular history of the Great War by a retired Professor of Political Science from Northwestern University. It concerns the Slovak peasant Samuel Mozolak from the village of Krajne in the Myjava region and Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef of AustriaHungary. Janda, a Czech-American, was motivated by the British television series Upstairs Downstairs and Downtown Abby to write the story of his Slovak wife's grandfather and his descendants and compare it with that of the second-last Habsburg Emperor. This is an engaging book. In fourteen well-written chapters, Janda traces the fortunes of Franz Josef and Samuel Mozolak from just before the outbreak of the Great War to its end. He traces Mozolak and his wife back to their voyage and marriage in New York City between 1902 and 1906, their return to Slovakia in 1906, where they dropped off their twins with Mozolaks mother and their return to America until 1914, when they once again returned to Slovakia. Soon after Franz Josef decided to declare war upon Serbia in July of 1914, Samuel Mozolak was drafted into the Hungarian 15 th Honved (Home Army) regiment, based in the city of Trencin, fought on the Russian, Romanian and Italian Fronts, and died in the Battle of the Piave on June 19, 1918. Emperor Franz Josef, on the other hand, declared war upon Serbia on July 28 , 1914, in retaliation for the assassination of his neph- SLOVAKIA 2019 135 ew Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian terrorist exactly one month earlier. This precipitated the start of the First World War, with the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria supporting the Habsburgs while Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy and Romania opposed them. Since both Austria-Hungary and Germany failed in their objectives to defeat and conquer Serbia and France by December, 1914, they lost the war, Janda concluded, despite the fact that it dragged on for four more years. Jandas account is particularly good in describing the Habsburg armies, their ethnic composition, supplies and materials, and devastating defeats. He points out that the Eastern Front, which is often downplayed by Western historians, actually involved more soldiers than in the West, and counted 1,000,000 more casualties than on the Western Front. Janda concluded that, even though Samuel Mozolak died during the Great War, his family , like his countrymen, made great gains from the war, while the Habsburgs lost everything. By joining with the Czechs in creating the new Republic of Czechoslovakia upon the ruins of the Habsburg Empire in 1918, the Slovaks gained their independence, the use of their language in the public sphere and a democratic government. The Habsburgs, by contrast, lost not only their empire, but their thrones and even the right to live in their homeland, from which they were banned after the war. The descendants of Samuel Mozolak moved to the USA after the war and eventually prospered. Thus, the peasant triumphed over the emperor. Since Janda is not an historian, he made a few unfortunate mistakes, which a good editor should have spotted. Thus, on page 44 he mixed up Greek Catholics (Uniates) with the Orthodox; he mistakenly dated the codification of Slovak to 1852, when it was first codified in 1787 and a second time in 1846 (page 48); he was unaware of the existence of the weekly Slowik v Amerike in New York City before the Great War (page 82); he mistakenly referred to the Austrian province of Galicia as having been in Hungary's northeast region ; and he seemed to be unaware that the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1968, which was still in effect in 1992, allowed for the dissolution of the Republic (page 238). In spite of these shortcomings, The Emperor and the Peasant makes for good reading and the general public will undoubtedly 136 SLOVAKIA 2019 learn a lot from it about Slovak immigration to America, and the Habsburg Empire's decline and fall during the Great War. Janda is to be congratulated for this tribute to the Mozolak famly. John Palka, My Slovakia, My Family: One Family's Role in the Birth of a Nation. Minneapolis: Kirk House Publishers, 2012. Paper, 424 pages, with illustrations, appendix, index. $24.95 . ISBN 978-1933794-55-6. KENNETH JANDA Emeritus, Northwestern University This book by a Slovak-American immigrant about his ancestors' homeland is remarkably different from others. It reflects life among the Slovak intelligentsia, rather than peasant roots . Both sides of John Palka's family not only belonged to the intelligentsia, but also played major roles in the literary, religious, economic, and political development of the Slovak nation and its people. Palka's book is divided into three parts with a substantial Appendix. Part I recounts his family's two escapes to America, first fleeing Fascism and then Communism. Part II intertwines his family's history with that of Slovakia. Part III resembles a diary, reporting Palka's contemporary connections with his Slovak heritage. His Appendix contains historical information, maps, genealogical charts, a Slovak language pronunciation guide, and thirty pages of color plates- each one keyed to the text. The research is solid and well-documented. In a way, John Palka is the unintentional chronicler of his forefathers. After retiring in 2002 as a distinguishedd Professor of Biology at the University of Washington, he benefitted from the Slovak government's belated recognition of grandfather Milan Hodza's contributions as Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938. The Slovak government invited John as an honored guest to the reburial of his grandfather's remains from Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery to the Slovak National Cemetery in Martin. Inspiredd by that experience, unintentional benefactor became intentional historian and author of this absorbing volume. Part I begins in 1935-1938 Prague as Hitler exploited the Western powers' appeasement policies and dismembered and annexed the SLOVAKIA 2019 137 Czech part of Czechoslovakia. Palka recounts Prime Minister Hodfa's helplessness as allies deserted hi s country. Drawing from family sources, Palka documents the family trauma that forced them to flee their homeland. Theys fled at midnight by train, despite hi s mother's advanced pregnancy. John was born in Paris in 1939, only two weeks after they escaped from Prague. After eluding the SS for nearly two years in occupied France, Palka's family made its way to neutral Portugal in 1941 , using fake passports. In Lisbon, they managed to board a Pan Am Clipper making one of its last flights from warring Europe to New York. Like the many thou sands of Slovak immigrants before them, the Palkas found it hard to adjust to America. Unlike most other Slovaks, they were well-educated and upper class. In Chicago, his multilingual father (Slovak, French, German, Hungarian) and former business owner in the Slovak leather industry was not employable in the American leather industry because he did not speak English. His work on the assembly line of a Slovak-owned electrical parts manufacturing plant produced little income. As Palka tells it, the arrival of his famous grandfather later in 1941 complicated rather than improved the family situation. Not only was Milan Hodza ill before he arrived, but Czechoslovakia's former Prime Minister clashed with its former President, Edvard Benes. Palka said that they divided over three issues : Hodza's insistence on Slovak autonomy within Czechoslovakia, hi s opposition to Soviet influence in hi s country, and hi s support for a federation of Central Europe. Despite speaking often and widely to emigre groups, Hodza failed to win them over before dyi ng in 1944. Obituaries in major world newspapers praised his life and hi s funeral in Chicago was widely attended. Palka says his family's hopes soared with the end of World War II . By 1946 the family was back in Slovakia and optimistic. Two years later, Communists took over the government, and soon the family again fled Czechoslovakia, this time from Bratislava. Palka was old enough to remember their escape. He described crawling under barbed wire, dodging searchlights, and dashing across a field to freedom in Austria. By the end of the year, the Palkas again found themselves on their way to America, this time to New York. 138 SLOVAKIA 2019 By Palka's account, the family fared better in New York than in Chicago. His mother became a translator for Radio Free Europe, and Johnny quickly learned English. He obtained a scholarship at a small private school in Connecticut before entering Swarthmore College, where he met his future wife, Yvonne. Both went to India to do research, married there, and subsequently earned PhDs in neurosciences at UCLA. They eventually landed in Seattle-John at the University of Washington and Yvonne at Antioch University. During that time, Palka had little contact with Slovaks (other than his parents) except for a trip to Czechoslovakia in 1976, where he re-experienced communist oppression. His last chapter in Part I tells how Palka eventually learned of his father's clandestine activities against the Nazis in Slovakia before fleeing in 1941 to join his family in Paris. Part II is primarily about Slovakia's history but also about the roles played by his maternal and paternal ancestors in that history. The first chapters outline his genealogical connections to the Hodfas and Palkas. Whereas most Slovak immigrants' ancestors were peasants, Palka's were also pastors and craftsmen in an emerging middle class. In three chapters, Palka links the personal lives of two special ancestors with the rise of Slovak nationalism in the mid-19 th century. Through his successful leatherworks business, Palka's great-great grand uncle, Ondrej Palka ( 1800-1877), financed the pastoral and cultural activities of Michal Miloslav Hodfa (1811-1870), a great grand uncle who-along with I:udovit Stur and Josef Miloslav Hurban-helped codify Slovak as a literary language. Michal Miloslav Hodfa also became famous for his revolutionary activities in the 1848 uprising against Magyar rule. Although the Austrian emperor pardoned him for his political activities, Slovak magyarones-those who curried favor with the Hungarian government- stripped Hodfa of his salary, his position, and drove him to the borderland. Long after his death, the Slovak government retrieved his remains for an honored burial in Liptovsky Mikulas, where he served as pastor. Ironically, one speaker at his funeral was his nephew, Milan Hodfa-who later would also die in exile and also be returned to Slovakia for reburial with honor. Palka's chapters about other distant relatives-Michael Miloslav's Hodfa's daughter Marina and the Bella family, kin to Palka's great-grandmother-portray accomplished women, which differs sharply from most accounts of Slovaks living in Austria-Hungary. SLOVAKIA 2019 139 His longest chapter is on grandfather Jan Palka, labeled "the most captivating character" in his family. Inheriting his father's leather business, Jan Palka employed modem manufacturing techniques, and amassed a fortune large enough to own a sumptuous villa with a Bosendoerfer grand piano inside and a tennis court outside. Despite his wealth, he was a utopian socialist who instituted profitsharing, worker participation in management, limited work hours, paid vacations, and children's scholarships. Jan Palka's reforms cut into his company's profits, which also suffered from market losses in Austria-Hungary with the formation of Czechoslovakia. His grandfather lost virtually everything in the Great Depression. Whereas Palka's distant paternal ancestors distinguished themselves in business (and in support of Slovak national causes), his maternal ancestors-the Hodfas- distinguished themselves in "the nation's service"- in Slovak literary, religious, and political activities. Palka ends his chapter, "Four Generations of National Service" sadly, by recounting the high prices the Hodfas paid in jail, persecution, and exile . Palka concludes Part II by returning to grandfather Milan Hodfa, Czechoslovakia's Prime Minister in the mid-1930s . He retraces Hodfa's life from birth, through school, as journalist, during military service, and in politics. Palka's final paragraph says, "And so the story that we began when Milan Hodfa's remains were finally transferred home to his beloved Slovakia, fifty-eight years after his death, is now complete." Part III concludes the book with six chapters providing insight into the author's personal "Slovak awakening." Palka admits to "an emotional experience" each time he returns to the homeland "of a family that has a place in national history." Understandably sentimental, he revisits places and people that played roles in his family's drama, and thus in the nation's history. John Palka assumed the responsibility of documenting his family's life and accomplishments. Not only did he do his duty, but he did it with distinction . 140 SLOVAKIA 2019 Jan Hirka: Pod ochranou Marie - Pastier v sluzbe Cirkvi. Presov: Greckokatolicka teologicka fakulta, 2013. 568 pp. Afterword by Andrej Rusnak. Index, abbreviations, bibliography, photos. DANIEL CERNY Kosice There is a Latin proverb, which probably best fits the review of the book Pod ochranou Marie - Pastier v sluzbe Cirkvi, by the late Bishop of Presov, the Most Reverend Jan Hirka (1923-2014). This proverb is as follows : Verba volant, scripta manent which means "spoken words fly away, written words remain. " History is not only about events and dates, but is also based on great personalities, true leaders, who leave behind them significant imprints and are thus remembered in the hearts of those who knew them . One of the greatest leaders of the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia in the 20 th century was Bishop Jan Hirka, who served as the Administrator of the then Eparchy of Presov from 1968 to 1989 and then as the resident bishop from 1989 to his retirement in 2002. Bishop Hirka is definitely worth remembering. This autobiography was finished in 2013 and Bishop Hirka gave the first copies to those who came to see him for his jubilee. It was a paradox that the one who was supposed to receive gifts, was distributing them. This book, which is so far the largest vo lume dedicated in Slovak to a single Greek Catholic person, was written towards the end of his life. On the positive side, the book covers almost the comth plete life span of Bishop Hirka, from his youth to his 90 birthday, which also serves as the occasion for its publication. This book deserves to be in the library of every historian who focuses on the life of the Church in 20 th century Central Europe. The title of the book reflects the inscription from the bishop ' s coat of arms of- Under the protection of Mary. Bishop Hirka mentions his devotion to the Mother of God throughout the book. He started to work on the manuscript, with the help of his personal secretary, Father Andrej Rusnak, only after his retirement in 2002. The entire volume is divided into several chapters, which could be summarized into three parts: The first part, which after a description of his early years, focuses on the abolition of the Greek Catholic Church in 1950, his secret pastoral ministry afterwards, his arrest, trial and imprisonment, fol- SLOVAKIA 2019 141 lowed by exile from eastern Slovakia. He then worked as a simple electrician. His description of his imprisonment and the trial in Prague is stunning. So are his memories of prison work in a Czech mine, his time after release, when he was forced to stay outside of eastern Slovakia and needed to earn his daily bread through manual labor. The second part starts with the events of the Prague Spring and rebirth of the Greek Catholic Church in the former Czecho-Slovakia in 1968. At this time Father Hirka was appointed to lead the Greek Catholic Church, but only as an Apostolic Administrator, as his episcopal ordination was not permitted by the communist regime. It contains a detailed list of events and places he visited, texts of several of his sermons and letters, a compilation of newspaper reports, sermons and homilies. The joy of the Prague Spring of 1968 was very quickly replaced with the foreign military invasion and the period of normalization with many restrictions on the religious life of the citizens. The third part follows Hirka, after he was appointed as the Greek Catholic Bishop of Presov, his memorable ordination in the sport hall of Presov, attended by bishops from all over the world and thousands of the faithful. The papal visit in 1995 to Presov and the beatification of Bishop Gojdic in 2001 are among the highlights of this time. This was a period of increased apostolic activity and marvelous building projects, where people were happy to see their Church free. Among the greatest successes dear to the heart of Bishop Hirka was the reestablishment of the Seminary and of the Theological faculty , which was accomplished in 1990, but for which he struggled from 1968. Bishop Hirka lived long enough to see many important changes in Slovak society at the end of the 20 th century. The Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia in 1993 were important and affected the life of the Church. In 1996 a special Exarchate was created for Greek Catholics in the Czech Republic, who formerly belonged to the Eparchy in Presov, and in 1997 the Exarchate of Kosice was erected, creating a second Greek Catholic jurisdiction in Slovakia. All this led to the elevation of the Church to Metropolitan status, for which Bishop Hirka worked, and was able to see it happen (even though already in retirement) in 2008. Any reader of this book, who has at least some knowledge about 142 SLOVAKIA 2019 the history of the Greek Catholic Church in the former CzechoSlovakia, might feel at the end a bit perplexed. While the first part, speaking about the life and deeds of the young boy, later seminarian and young priest is absolutely stunning, the second and third parts following the path of Father Hirka, who became in 1968 Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Presov and later a bishop--do not possess the quality of the first part. Many of the author's personal decisions, or inner opinions are omitted or hidden. Thus many conflicts or problems, which were publicly known, are not even mentioned. The book gives several wrong impressions. One of them is that the 1990's were a period of complete happiness and zeal. To a certain extent yes, but there were also several problems. It is wellknown that the author's personal relations with his former auxiliary and later Exarch of Kosice, the Most Reverend Milan Chautur, were after an initial period, not very positive, and this resulted in many strange situations, like the fact that, for a time the auxiliary bishop was denied the post of Vicar-General, but was instead appointed to administer a parish himself1 The reader does not need to know everything, but to pretend that there was no problem at all in an autobiography of more than 500 pages is a serious mistake and an injustice to its readers. There is also no mention of two additional phenomena. For instance, the priests of Zemplin lobbied for a second bishopric in Slovakia (the Exarchate of Kosice), which was another unpleasant surprise for Hirka. We know from other documents and publications that these efforts date back to December of 1989. There is also silence regarding those who, during the communist era were secretly ordained, including bishops of the underground church. This phenomenon was common to the Church in the former Czecho-Slovakia. Another negative example is the omission of several personalities who became legends. Among them was Father Jifi Novotny SJ, a Jesuit, who came in the early l 990's to help at the Theological Faculty in Presov and more than ten years after his departure everyone remembered stories about him. He taught numerous subjects, all of them on a very high level, thanks to his knowledge of several languages, his academic background and unique personality. In a book of more than 500 pages this is a serious omission. Yet, the overall impression is positive, as there is no other book SLOVAKIA 2019 143 which could be compared to this one. Since Bishop Hirka was initially reluctant to put anything on paper, one has to admire the huge work done by Father Andrej Rusnak. To be fair, one has to say that Bishop Hirka was tired, almost exhausted, especially due to constant fighting with the communist authorities . But this is also one of the negatives of the book. It started to be written very late in the life of Bishop Jan, thus reducing several events and some details and depending too much on his declining health. Approximately 150 photos add great value to the book, as does a special chapter on the beatification of the new-martyrs P. P. Gojdic and B. Hopko, which were started in 1985 in the USA, but after the fall of the Iron Curtain transferred to the Eparchy of Presov. Resumes in several languages are a great plus, as is the final word by the editor, Father Andrej Rusnak. Thanks also to Father Marek Petro, who helped to finalize the creation of the book, and who provided footnotes to the text. The register of names will be appreciated by all. As Bishop Hirka wrote in the Preface, the famous professor and Roman Catholic priest Stefan Hlavac inspired him to write his memoirs. The latter said that if other nations had lived through such turbulent times, many books, plays and scholarly works would already be published. This book tries to fill this gap and offers a structured and detailed (although not perfect) account of events and deeds of one of the greatest personalities of the Greek Catholics in Slovakia the late Bishop Jan Hirka. Machacek, Michal. Gustav Husak. Praha: Vysehrad, 2017 . 631 pp. Notes, bibliography, photographs and index. JOZEFHYRJA Heidelberg University In order to understand the most rigid period of Czechoslovak history in the 20 th century, we need to know the person who was behind the so-called "normalization." For two decades Gustav Husak (19131991) represented cultural and economic stagnation, restrictions, repressions and an omnipresent fear in the population of that state. 144 SLOVAKIA 2019 Written by the young Czech historian Michal Machacek, this is the first complete biography of the long-time Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the country ' s last communist President. The author covered Husak's life from his birth in the little Slovak village of Dubravka (now part of the capital city Bratislava), until his death as a lonely, defeated and forgotten former communist leader. Machacek did extensive research in archives in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Canada, the USA and Russia, where he discovered new documents. His research led him to the private archives of Husak' s relatives, their oral testimonies and the reminiscences of his contemporaries. He worked on this monograph for almost ten years, which thus became one of the most anticipated books by Slovak and Czech historians. The biography consists of seven chapters listed in chronological order, which provide a detailed insight into the development of Husak's political career as well as his private life. Machacek was influenced neither by Marxist historiography nor by the dissident discourse, which tends to be too emotionally involved in anti-communist views. He represents a new generation of historians, not burdened by the shadows of the past. The result is an objective and wellbalanced biography. Despite coming from a Czech cultural environment, Machacek, is well-acquainted with contemporary Slovak realities, nationalist sentiments, national demands towards the government in Prague and with Slovak historiography. This asset, often lacking in Czech academic discourse, is important for understanding the complicated relations between the Slovak and Czech nations in their common state and it is definitely valuable to understanding Husak's role and involvement in the federalization of Czechoslovakia (January 1, 1969). The narrative's strongest part, the first chapter entitled Young Radical 1913-1938 (pp. 27-96), describes the interwar period, when Gustav Husak lived and studied in Bratislava. Machacek managed to accurately reconstruct those years of his life and he presents a very plastic image--not only of Husak's youth and activities--but also of Slovak intellectual life in Bratislava between the two World Wars and the development of the communist movement. However, he was part of the Slovak intellectual milieu not only in the communist scene but also in the wider spectrum, which included other political and non-political groups. Machacek emphasized the connections and SLOVAKIA 2019 145 friendships Husak developed, which helped him on many future occasions. One out of many listed in the book was his friendship with the distinguished Slovak economist Imrich Karvas , who was Husak's professor at Comenius University in Bratislava. Husak attended his lectures and seminars and Karvas grew fond of his student. From this moment "their relationship grew in importance during World War II, when Karvas, now as Governor of the Slovak National Bank, many times helped Husak escape his troubles" (p. 72). An impressive element of Machacek's work is that he skilfully links politics, often on the highest level, with Husak's private life. He provides an interesting insight into Husak's relationship with his second wife Viera, who had a significant influence on his personality as well as his decision-making. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bohuslav Chnoupek, recalled how "Husak in general didn 't like official state visits, but precisely because of the initiative of Viera Husakova they, for example, managed to organize( ... ) a state visit to India, or the following June 1977 to Iraq" (pp. 460-61 ). After the tragic death of his wife in a helicopter crash, it appeared "as if [Husak had] lost his supporter and the visits ceased" (p. 461 ). Where the author could have been more specific and could have developed his arguments more, are the details about Husak's relations with the Church in the 1970s. Before that date, Machacek describes exhaustively not only Husak's attitude towards religion, but also that of his parents and his Catholic family background. However, in 1977, when Pope Paul VI elevated the Archdiocese of Tmava to metropolitan status (under the communist regime!), Machacek does not sufficiently explain Husak's role in this process. The creation of the Archdiocese was an important milestone in the history of Slovakia, which could have been examined in more detail, especially from the point of view church-state relations, but the author dedicates only one sentence to it (p. 466). Despite some minor unintentional factual errors, the overall impression of the book is favorable . The author provides the reader with a complete picture of the longest-serving Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. It contains a wealth of new information and gives the reader an interesting insight not only into the political, but also the personal level. Machacek's grasp of the 146 SLOVAKIA 2019 topic is excellent, with more than 2,300 footnotes and an extensive bibliography at the end of the monograph. His book is very readable and contrary to a significant number of preceding scholarly works, it is objective and a valuable contribution to the study of the communist regimes in Central Europe.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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. 44 (No. 82-83) Description An account of the resource includes:<br /><ul><li>Tünde Lengyelová, Život na šľachtickom dvore (Peter Máriássy), p. 133</li> <li>Kenneth Janda, The Emperor and the Peasant: Two Men at the Start of the Great War and End of the Habsburg Empire (M. Mark Stolarik), p. 134</li> <li>John Palka, My Slovakia, My Family: One Family's Role in the Birth of a Nation (Kenneth Janda), p. 136</li> <li>Ján Hirka, Pod ochranou Márie - Pastier v službe Cirkvi (Daniel Černý), p. 140</li> <li>Michal Macháček, Gustáv Husák (Jozef Hyrja), p. 143</li> </ul> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Černý. Daniel Hyrja, Jozef Janda, Kenneth Máriássy, Peter Stolarik, M. Mark, 1943- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019 LCNAF name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/10f86e64ee5e33e05bc32faa367825f8.pdf 6baea0402c78cc817142a1621e060ef9 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 61 THE AroSTLES OF BOGUS FEDERALISM By Dr. George W. Cesarich "There are o thers, however, who, under the guise of a federation, are hid ing their ou tworn conce pts whi ch would satisfy tbeir own selfis h as-pirations to powe r." - Matus Zvon. I. Zvon and Federalism There is common agreement that the present Political structure of Europe has ibecome obsolete. Nruzi,sm and fascism had contr1buted a great deal to the general disintegration of EUTopean society, but communism and its collaborators in Croatia, Slo,vakia, Bohemia, Hungary, Ser1bia, Romania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Poland, Albania, etc., ha;ve almost comp1e~ly destroyed the old political, social, and economic struoture in Central and Eastern Europe, substituting a centralistic police state for the old institutions. AmO'l1'g the exiles from that area new ,principles of order are being sought and the general trend is definitely toward federalism. This fact has not escaped the attention of those exiles, who are ,partly responsible for the present plight of the enslawed Central and Eastern European nations; so they are often too ready to pay liip service to the "great principle of federalism," however, at the same time clwerly scheming to restore their old power positioos and privileges. They have learned nothing from history, and with great ,v igor ,propagate again their old, discredited political ideas, this time using, however, a new but more deC'eptive phraseology since the old one has positively lost its former respectability For instance, in the Monthly Bulletin of the International Peasant Union (No. 4, 1953) we lfind an article under the title "Separatism or Unification" by Mr. Matus Zvon who, allegedly, is "a newspaperman of Slavaik origin." However, by his ideas he is evidently an advocate of outworn concep_ts of Ozech and Seribiam coJonialism and hegemony which he very skilfully disguises as "federal1 �62 SLOVAKIA ism." At the same time he conducts a vigorous crusade against "separatism," which is the usual abusive name frequein,tly used lby Czech and ,S eribian chauvinists to designate SlovaJk and Croatian movements for national independence. In short, Mr. Zvon attempts to spread an antiquated "Czechoslovak" and "Yugoslav" 1pro,paganda coveTed with the cloak of a respectable federalism, so that his own motto aJbourt those who "are hiding their outworn concepts under the guise of federnlism" undJO'Uibtedly applies to him and his il'k. His concepts are basically undemocratic and imperialist in nature because they implicitly deny the right to self-determinatio,n for the Slovak and Croatian nations and, thus, are cointra:ry to the idea of a tTuly democratic federalism. His "federalist" pro,posals ha'Ve been made in the spirit of the infamous Little Entente which, among other things, was an alliance of hegemonists orgamzed with the purpose to slllppress ,by force the national liberaticm movements of Croats and 1Slovaiks. Genuine fedeTalism should extend the idea of se1f-determination of nations and not restrict it, as Mr. 7-Jvon desi'I'es. Thus Mr. Zvon's case is certainly the case orf a t)'1pical bogus federalism which is used to perpetuate, 1b y using new propaganda slogans, the oppressor states known as "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugoslavia." We agree with Mr. Zvon in his aHeged objecti,ve of a future that would be free of 1both "Soviet terro;r and expfoitation and of the national jealousies, conflicts and bitterness of the prerwar past." We, too, want ",peace and voluntary cooperation among countries, without dictators and secret pol.ice." We kno,w, howeiver, that his objective is unattainable if "Oze~hoslovaJkia" and "Yugoslaivia" continue to exist. We equally despise the communist or fascist form of totalitarianism. We wholeheartedly accept th~ idea of a federation of free nations, as a synthesis of an enlightened nationalism and a democratic internationalism, which would mean a better future for Central and Eastern Europe. But we coIDIPletely and aJbsolutely disagree with Mr. Zvon's concepts of "seiparatfrm" a,nd "nationalist separatist movements" which he unjustly condemns as a "c,hild of extreme nationalism," asserting that "if left unchooked, �SLOVAKIA 63 they (the separatist movements) could bring aJbout 'the ba1kamzation of Europe'." As a matter of fact, the term "separatism," used as a "smear" term by the Oz,e,ch and Ser,bian h e.gemonists, has been extensively used as a weapon in their political and economic exiploitation of oppressed nationalities, particularly of Slovaks and Car,patho-Ukraini ans in "Czechoslovakia," and of Croatians, tSlovenes, Macedonians, Mbanians, and Montenegrins in "Yugoshwia." What is more, this term has been 1ntentionally girven an omnious connotation by some hegemonists, and Mr. Zvon is only continu·ng this smearing "activity" when painting "separatism" in the darkest possilble colors. He attacks, in effect, those "bad," "separatist" Croats and 1Slovaks who want to free themselives from SeI1bian and Cwclh ,p atronage resp. and thereby intend to destroy such nice, "democratic" states like "CzechoslorvaJkia" and "Y,ugoslaJVia," i.e., make an end to Czech and Se11bian domination. Mr. Zrvon and the International Peasant Un.ion's Bulletin evidently lbelierve that those prisons of nations, "Yugoslavia" and "Ozec'hoslov8Jk-ia," are so.me •k ind of sacred COIWS that sh01Uld not lb e touched by any;body else, in order to be milked, but only lby their ·Se11bian and Orech masters. The first and second "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovakia" have passed very strict lruws "for the protection of state" directed against "separatism," and patterned after the similar codes, thus maJking separatism a serious "crime." Some Ozech and Seiibian agitators in exile are evidently unhappy that they are not in a position to apply those laws, i.e., to 'liquidate' freedOIIn-kwing Croats, Slovaks, Macedonians, etc., rSO they engage in a deceptive propaganda against Slovak and Croat "seiparatiSlm." with arguments that could equally a,pply to those American "separatists" who fought for their inde.pendence against EJngland, or to the French resistance moJVement fighting the Germans during World War II. Mr. Zvon's description of "separatism" has as its primary purpose to create a totalitarian scarecrow to be feared and condemned in this democratic world of ours. He contends that "separatism sees the maximum fulfill- �64 SLOVAKIA ment of national life only in a sovereign, independent, &lb preme and ethnically uniform state," and that "the separatism is a dogma which says that the mooit pevfe<!t and supreme !fomn of social life lies in an ethnically uniform state." It is relatively easy to criticize separatism if defined in this manner. But why did Mr. ~on omit to say what he really had in mind when he spoke aibout "separatism"? What he actually fights are the m01Vements of an enslaved nation for liberation from two ev;i1,s: communism and foreign yoke. He aippears to fear t'he struggle of Croats and Slovaks against Se:vb and Czech co1oruzation which is exactly identical with the s.truggle of American colonists a:gainSit English colonialism. For the so-called "separatists" of Mr. ~on, i.e., the Croats and the Slova!ks, "separatism" is no,t "a faith in a dogma in an ethnica.Ny unifomn state" as he misr~esents it, because they all know well that a complete ethnical uniformity is out of the question in Central and Eastern Europe because of many mixed territories. They haJVe never advocated the idea, as he asserts, that the national state is the "supreme form of social life." However, they have become increasingly more aware of the fact, confi11med by their historical exiperience in "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovakia," that they can fully develop their spiritual, cultura:l and economic resources only if they are free of foJ"eign hegemony, i.e., h:we their OIWil independent state. For them, this state is not an absolute ivalue, or a "supreme form of social life," but a practical necessity of their free and prosperous existence. Czech and Se11bian propagandists h:we .b een desperately trying to create the impression that there is something wrong witlh Croat and SlovaJk struggle for national independence. 'Dhereifore, they speaJk of it as a form of "extreme nationalism - chauvinist nationalism - extreme and uncooperative na,tionalism" - and even "totalitarian nationalism." ThLs is ~aotl.y what Mr. Zvon, too, is doing. Of coUTse, he does not have a single word of conde:mnation for Czech and Seooian imperiruliSIIIl, sneering only at the nation aliSIIIl of the oppressed ibut not the imperialism of their oppressors. �SLOVAKIA 65 ENidently, in Mr. Zivon's, opinion, nationalism of small and enslaJVed nations who fight for their freedom and independence is "chauvinistic, e~reme," and "intolerant separatism.." But nationalism of those who have ruled in "CzechoslovaJkia" and "Yugoslavia" - of the Czechs, the Seribs, and theiir helpers - is "geilluine parioti:s m" and "creative nationalism." '.Dhis is the inescaipruble implication of Mr. Zvon's, article that attacks only nationalism of oppressed n8Jtions lalbeled as ",s eparatism" and, at the same time, keeps completely silent albout the chauvinistic nationalism of some O!f the Czechs and iSe:rlbs, and their e~loitation of other Il!ations. Such a "federalism" - as propagated by Mr. Zwon which denies to small nations their right to se1f-deter,mination, aind also attempts to pe:r,petuate their oppression in artifically created states - is undisputably a fraudulent and untrue federalism. It rwould reestalblish the old regimes which, in national respect, were not muoh better than the communist systems with their ,p hony, centralistic "federalisan." There is, indeed, an unlbridgeaible gu1f between such bogus federalism and a truly democratic federalism. Freedom and federalism are two terun.s that are inseparruble. "Yugoslavi:a" and "OzechoslO'VaJ~ia" cannot exist in freedom, because the Croats and the Slovruk•s are almost unanimously opposed to the continued existence of these states. So "Yugoslruvia" and "Czechosl01Vrukia" can be kept aliive only by force and terror. However, a genuine federation cannot ibe created from albOIVe and maintained lb y force and terror, as some "OzechoslOIVruks" and "Yugoslavs" would like to do. This fact is clearly recogruzed by Mr. George M. DimitroJV, Secretary Generrul of the futernational Peasant Union, when he writes: "The attempts to impose federations from above for the purpose of accomodatlng the int.erests of governing oligarchies and cliques - have not been productive of positive results for the nations themselves. Past governments haive spoken od', and speculaited with such sohemes only when faced with unsunmountable difficulties or as a matter of unscrupuloos opportunism." (LiJberation and Union, Washington, 1952, p. 13.). �66 SLOVAKIA As an example f.o r his viewpoint, Mr. Dimitrov descriJbes "the unifi,c ation of Selfus, Croats and Slo,venes manipulated after world War I," stressmg that "it attained no durable results because it was im_po5ed from above, ignO'ring the ideas and needs of the .peoiples involived as weLl as truiy democratic procedures." Thus, any federation should lbe a free union of national states, or as Mr. Dimitrov puts it, "a true federation of free nations, and not an artificial and from above imposed creation." Therefore, the future European Union, and equally any eventJUal future regionail federations, should be built up from ,below and rest on free indiividual nations, and not on artificial oppressor states like "Ozechos.loivakia" and "Yugoslavia." This i:s a!lso the oipinion of the President of the Croatian Peasant Party, Dr. Valdko Macelk, who, in the same pUlblication (ip. 115), inivited the exiles "to prepare plans for a future Union of Free National States in Central and Southeastern Europe." In addition, it is imiportant that such plans ,be realized throwgh truly d~ocratic procedures and in ~ccordan.ce rwith the wishes of the respective peoples which could 1b e easily ascertained lby f~ee ple!biscites. !Having in mind that these ideas are basi~ for a democratic and federalist setup in Central and Eastern Eiurope, we must draw the conclusion that Mr. Zvon's ,b ogus federalism is intenti:onailly directed against the sulbjrugated tions · of "Czechosloivakia" and "Yugoslruvia." And we, therefore, consider it very unfortunate that his article WaJS pulblished in the Bulletin of the International Peasant Union which, as a democratic o,rgani~ti:on, .should be an. instrument. of freedom and 1progress and _not a S'Uipporter of the old regimes. Mr. Zivon must certainly have known that the Croatian Peasa;nt iParty, which is a memlber of the Union, defends the right of the Croatian ,p eople to. national independence and, in this sense, is Olbviously against any "Yugoslavia," therefore "separatist' in the eyes of Mr. Zvon and his kind. This olbjective of the Croa..tian Peasant Party has been proclaimed on many occasions. Consequently, the article attacking "separatism" of the Croats and the Slova!ks, and implicitly defending "Yugoslavia" and "Ozecho- -na- �67 SIJOVAKIA slovaJkia," is entirely orut of place in the Bulletin of the I. P. U. H we were not acquainted with the ideas expressed by Dr. Maic~k and Dr. Do:rmtrov, we could easil,y .get the wrong impression that the whole International Peasant Uniolll has become ain instrument for the restoration of the old regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The ,participation in the I. P. U. of "OzeclJ.OSilovaJk" and "Yugoslav-1Seribian" politica.'l .parties · (which are exdusively Czech and Serbian creaitions), may only strengthen this impression sin~e it is a weN-;kn01WI1 ·fact that the nam.es "Czechoslovak" and "Yugoslav" hruve always lb~en a cover..;up for Czech and Serbian hegemony. fu addition, the real representa:tive.s of the Slova!k peasant people, the leaders of the Hlinka Party in exile, are not members of tlle I. P. U. I.n our Olpiniorn, thorough reorganiization of the I. P. U. would ibe necessary if it would convince the exiles orf all nations that this organi'zation is not a hodge-ipodge assemJblage of old politi'cians imbued with old -hegemonist caru:!epts, ibut an or,g arrization with new, progressive ideas, advocating a truly democratic federalism !based on free iniliividual nations, and in no wary identified with the oippressor-states. We siil!cereily believe that a ibetter and morn equitalble international order in Europe can never ib e founded on the bogus federalism propagated by Mr. Zvon and his so-called "Czechoslo;vaks." In a •s imilar manner, some ChetniJk prorpagandists orf a Greater Seroia speaJk also of a third, "federalist" Yugosil.1aNia. All this is not a solution of national prolblems. On the contrary, the necessary prerequisit.e for a democratic fed,eralized structure in Europe lies, in our opinion, in the liberation of all subjugated nations from the oppression exerted by Moscow, Prague, and Belgrade, and the creation of independent national states, including the Croat and thre Slovak states, which would then freely unite in a higher federal union. The representatives of those nations are progressiive and democratic men who are actirve partisans of a genuine federalism, aind reject a nairrowminded. and intolera.rnt nationalism. But they resolutely orppose tJhe bogus federalism of Mr. Zvon, some "Ozechoslovaks•," and some "Yugoslavs," since it would only prolong a 1 �68 SLOVAKIA the sufferings of subjugated nations in the artificial states which the Croats aind the Slovruks definitely and finalily do accept as their own. II. Ripka and Federalism Another Ciharaicteristic example of such a bogus federalism may 1b e found in the mimeograip:he d -book by Mr. Hubert Riiplcia (A Federation of Central Europe, New York, 1953), published at aJbout the same time as Mr. Zlvon's article, and pvolbaJbly insipired by the same crOIWd of political exiles. Mr. Ripka pleads for a "federation of existing states," not of nations. He is against any "dismemberm ent of Yugoslwvia and ~hoslOJVaki a." He asserts that the "dismemberment of one or the other state would cause destructive repercussions in t.lhe Danulbian region and also in the Balkans." In his opinion, "angry disputes among small, weak states would multiply," and "all efforts to integrate politically or economicailly the quarel1ing nations would collapse in the initial staige." Mr. Ripka says that "Yugoslavia, like OzechoslovaJkia, is esential to Europe, especially to East and Centra!l Eumpe." He thus disregards the wellknown facts that the, Croats do, not want to li,ve in any "Yugoslavia," and that the Slovaks do not want "Czechoslovakia." Though he recognizes the right of the Ukraine to secede from the Russian empire, he nevertheless denies the same right •o f secession to Croatia and !Slovaikia, thus rffillaining loyal to tile old hegemonist alliance of the Czech a.n d Serb ruling circles whicli, for over twenty years, had prevented any sulbstantial reforms in "OzechoslQIVrukia" and "Yugoslavia," and so, are greatly responsible for the present plight of enslaved nations therein. As coUild haive b een expected, Mr. Riplcia, who, togerthe~ with otlier Benes Ozechs, collwlborated with the Communists before, during and after Wovld War lI, and participated in the destruction oif Slovak national independence, rejects the conception of organizing Central and ])astern Europe on the basis of nations in contradiction to existing states. Like Mr. Zlvon, he too contends that "its rea:lization �69 SDOVAKIA would result in the balkanization of the wihole East Central Europe," and for f.ull measure he adds some shallow phrases aJbout ",graive and sometimes insolwble conflicts" which would allegedly preivent "higher integration." MT. Ripka transcends, however, into the world of Aesop's fables when he attempts to put over the idea that "Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were not artificial creations of Versailles diplomacy, but were, on the contrary, organic results of the historical evolution." Of course, he forgets to mention the Pittsburgh Agreement between the Slovaks and the Ozechs which was s·o shamefully violated by the Czech ruling drcles, and he disregards the undenia:ble fact that the Croats haive never accepted "Yrugoslavia" in a free election or a free plebiscite! Mr. Ripka even ventures to make the statement that "a positive ,policy, intended to create a better organization of Central Euro:pe in the future, after the fall of Soviet domination, must be !based therefore upon the existing states which correspond to national needs and aspirations of the nations concerned" ; tJhus he regards the relationships between Czechs and Slovaks and those between Se-z,bs and Croats, as "a matter of internal politics." May be that "Czechoslova;kia" and "Yugoslavia" co,r respond to "national needs and aspirations" (to exploitation) of the •B enes Czechs and Serbian "Yugosla:vs," but it is not true that these states have never corresponded to the national needs and aspirations of the Croat and Slovak nations. On the contrary, these nations will do everything possiible to dismember the states which tJhey intensely despise, and create their own states in order to be masters of their OIWil destiny. AJS to the '~bal!kanization oif Burope," this term can only mean the use of pretense and deceit in relations between the nations It is an indisput~ble fact that these were and still are the methods used b,y some Czech and Serbian hegemonists a:gainst the enslaved natiorns. 'I'herefore, only these hegemonists are the ones who are responsilble for this strange, new ,phenomenon cahled the "lba1kanilza:tion of Europe" which came into exist.ence only after the creation of "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovarkia." 1 �70 SLOVAKIA EJvidently, the ideoloigy cYf Mr. Ripka and the Benes Ozechs, as eXiplained in their ipublica:tions, conclusively proves that they ,woU!ld like to continue t:he e~loitat.ion of the small ,b ut courageous Slovruk nation in a third "Czedhoslovrukia," and, since the case of "Yugoslavia" is a very similar one, tihey have 'been contiir:ruously inrventing flimsy arguments to effect the sulbjugation of borth the Croats and the 1Slovaik&. There is nothing peculiar aJbout it when a memlber of the Benes im!I)erialist ruling clique dn,es not recognize the right to freedom and independence to other natiOI1Js, and when he arrogantly attaoks Sloivruk and Croat "separatists" (again that disparaging word) and their national moivemenrts, since it would be swa.nge if it were othel1W'ise.. There already are, however, many progressiJve Czechs who, like t:he Czech Lt. Colonel F. 0. Mikscilie, in the spirit of a true federalism and genuine mutua;l cooperation s,a.y that only bad Ozechs and bad Slovaks can be "Ozechoslovruks." (And we saiy accordingly that only bad Croats and ba.tl Selibs can 'be "Yugoslavs"). The iprincilples of a truly democratic federalism, based on independent and free nations, has been gaining more a:nd more ground. Politics ma!kes for strange 'bedfellows, however, and the propaga:nd.i·s ts oif the old regime and political status quo find a supporter in an unexpected quarter. A former Htmgaria.n Minister to Paris, iMr Paul Auer (Liiooraition a:nd Union, p 20), has a nightmare that "the efforts oif certain nationa.il groups (as, the Slorva:ks and Croaits) to achieve greater independence than they have en!joyed up to now, also slhow the need for a federal system in Southeastern EurOipe, because if these people were to a'C'hieve their aims, we would 1b e fa.iced by a still greater numlber of small states in this a.rea with eiven less power to resist outside pressure." iMay be this is another form of bogus federalism that fears freedom and independence of en:shINed natfon and does not comprehend that this is an albsolutely necessary prerequisite for a free federal union. Mr. Ripka boldly asserts, without amy proof, that a dismemberment of "Yugoslavfa" wo•u ld make impossible any organization of the DanU!bia.n area and the iBaJl.kans. This sounds in our ea.rs Hke a:n argument for fee!ble-minded per- �SLOVAKIA 71 sons, since a solid and la.sting politicaJ orga.nimtion must be ,b ased on freedom, ,a nd freedom cannot 'be coupled, as experience teaches, Mth tJhe e~ence of the artificial creations, o!f Versailles. In fact, the first "YugoslaJvia" was kept together only by force and terror, and consequently easily disintegrated in the fi'.rst storm. The same was the case with "Czechoslova kia" which fell without any resistance. "Yugoslavia" was creat.ed against the will of the Croatian people; the Croats always regarded it as a prison of nations and gave a helping hand to destroy that prison. They will do it agam witJh Tito's "Yugoslavia," or any other "YUJgoslaivia," when the occasion arises. In "Czechoslovru kia," the Slovaks wanted first their aJUtonomy, and when this was denied to them, their independence. 'Dhey were n:ot interested in defending a state which was a clevwly disguised hegemony over them and the Carpatho-Ukr ainians, despite the fact tllat millions were spent a'broiad to propagandir7.e that state as a "bastion of democracy." "Yugoslavia" and ''Czechoslovakia" did not solve national problems. If anything, they for a time only succeeded to suppress them. But, in addition, they have created many new iprdblems that did not exist earlier; among other things, they have certainly increased the amount of mutuaJ intolerance and hatred among their component parts. 'I'he organ:iization o!f that a;rea on the basis of independent nations in a true federal union is the only alternative to the "Czechoslovak " and "Yugoslav" failures. This union would, in accordance with the wishes of the people, bring about a democraJti~ political structure, and simultaneously increase cooperation and tolerance among the respective nations. Let us make olear that the opposition to "Ozechoslovakia" and "YugosilaJvia" iby the Slovaks and Croats and Macedonians, is llJOt the opposition of a small gro111p of "separ.aJtists," as some colonialists would like the public to beliesve, but the opposition of the overwhehning majority of the respective nations. In our recently ,pulblished bOOlk ( Croatia and Serbia, why is their peaceful separation a European necessity?, Croatia Cultural PUJblishing Center, �72 SLOVAKIA 4.851 Drexel Blvd., Chicrugo 15, llinois), we have proven beyond any reasonaJble doulbt that today all the Croan, unanimously advocate the separation of Croatia and Serbia, i.e., the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, and that this solution is in the interesit of a lasting Euroipean settlement and peruce in that area. As to the SlovaJks, it is a iwell-<lmown fact that a great mrujority of tihem is today for an independent Slova,k state, and that only some of their renegades are in the camp of the so-icalled "Czechosloivruks." In fa,ce of such energetic opposition to Czech and Senb schemes, of which Mr. Ripka is certainly aware, a third "Czechoslovakia," and a third "YugoslaJVia," could be established and maintained only by undemocratic and dictatorial proce3ses, i.e., iby deceit, terror, and vi,olence. Left momentarily without po,wer to do anything else, the exiled Benes "Ozechoslova,ks" and the Serbian "Ywgoslavs" use deceit as their most potent weapon in 1:!he effort to affect their Greater Czech and Greater Ser.bian plans, engaging in a fals e and deceitful propaganda against the Croat and Slo1Vak "separatists." Freedom first, then Federalization There is no doubt in our mind that the organization of Central and Eastern Europe on the ibasis of existing states, as propagated by Mr. Ripka, Mr. Zvon and Company, is contrary to the democratic principle of self-determination of nations. Its realization would clearly meatn the restoration of the old, discTedited regimes, but the fight for national freedom on the part of enslaved nations would continue inside the states. A third "Czechosl'ovaJda" and a third "Yugoslaivia" oould lbe established only in the spirit of balkanization; deception, terror and suppression would be even more emiphasized because, in the meantime, the enslaved nations have increased their determination to find an exit from those oppressor-states. In contrast to this hegemonist spirit, we propose the national questions to lbe solved on the generally acceptable democratic principle of self-determination of nations. The S1ova'ks, Croats, Macedonians, and Sloivenes have ,t he right to choose freely their own fo,rnn of government, and to �SIJOVAKIA 73 live in their own independent states like any other nation. "Czechoslovakia" and "YugoslaJvia," therefore, cannot exist as free and democratic states since the nat1ons fordbly included in them do not want them. So they necessarily must be either Olpen dictatorSlhips, or at least pseudodemocracies based on a bogtll.Si federalism. A truly d,emocratic "Yugoslavia" and a truly democratic "Czechoslovakia" are today as unconceivable as a square circle or a round square; true democracy must inevitably lead to the dissolution of these oppressor-states. Thus an orderly, democratic and ,equitalble reorganization orf Central and Eastern Europe presupposes that its nations are first liberated, forming their own independent states and, then, as a second step, estaiblish federal unions among themselves. This means of course that further independent units must be created, i.e., a free Slovenia, a free Croatia, a free S1ova;kia, a free Macedonia, a free Montenegro, which may then freely select the fo!1lll and direction of their participation in a federal union. 'Dhese states thoug:h sma1,l are capaible of an independent existence, de-s pite the perlidio,u,s propaganda slogans of some of the "eX)perts" who, deny the right of small nations to a free existence with the flimsy arguments ab,o ut their "smallness," evidently forgetting that Denmark, Holland, Luxemiburg, Belgium, Finland, Albania, etc., are also small but, nevertheless, have ;proven their ability to live an independent life. For a tyipical hegemonist lilke Mr. Ripka the idea that Slovaks and Croats maiy acquire their freedom appears to be a horrilble nigihtmare, but for all freedom.Jlo1ving individuals, this is the ,o nly equitable solution of national problems in thait part of Europe. This is not atomization of Europe, or its lbalikanization; this is mutual coopJra.tion on the basis of freedom and a genuine democratic fed eralism. Therefore, the existing states, "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugoslavia," which evidently do not correspond to national needs and aispira,tions of their inha,bitants, must be dissolved in the interest of a just national settlement and general peace. After the existence of independent Slovak 1 �74 SLOV.AKIA. and Croatian states, irrespective of the conditions surrounding their coming into existence and their forms of government, tlhe relations between Cre<!hs and SlovaJks, and between Serl}s and Croats, are not '_'internal questions" any more, though Mr. Ripka would prefer such a formula in order that Benes Orechs could continue to dominate the Sl01Vaks without any foreign interference as they did in the past. Hence these questions are today internatiiOnal questions; they are concerned with the relations between nations with their own state ideas. The right to selrf-determination is not a ruse, as Mr. Ripka alleges, but a democrati'c right which should not be reserved onil¥ for the Ozechs and the Serbs, 'b ut sho.uld aipply also for other cultured and freedom~loving nrations. The Oild comlb,ination of Oz.ecih and Serbian ruling circles has for a long time succeeded in suppressing the will of sUlbjugated na,tionalities and nations for their independence. These ruling circles are now desperately tcying to continue this practice under the caver of a bogus federalism. They have not changed a 1b it, they have remained struble in .their insane crarvings to rule other nations. This may lbe clear.ly recognired in various international and exile OTga:ruJzaJtions where the same old hegemonist crowd iD!Sists on its old "Ozechoslo.vaik" and "'Y ugoslaJV" deceptions, maintaining the fiotions of a "CzeohJOslOIVa!k" and a "Yugoslav" unity, which is not accepta.lble to Slovaks and Croats. For instance, the Ben.es Ozechs have created a "Czechorslovak" Comrmittee, without any representation of the national Sl·o.vaJks (•i ncluding, howeiver, some dubious Slovalks who re.present only themselives and not the wishes of their ipeople). The well-ilmown fact js, however, that the Slovaik nation desires its national independence, and, therefore, a "Czeohoslovaik" Committee is an obvio.us deception ( and so are all "Czechoslovak" political parties), est:a!blished ,for the purpose to sooure the hegemo1t1y of the Ozec!h "master race" over the SlavaJks. The "Voice of America," "Ratlio Free Europe," and similar organizations, are under the influence of the same old politicians who cherish hegemon:ism. For ins,tance, the "Bulletin" (IPregled) in Croatian, published by the Na- �SLOVAKIA 75 tional Committee for a Free Europe, has been edited by a Slovenian "Yugoslav," a former mem/ber of the semi.fascist and dictatoriral iBelrg rade governments which systematica.olly persecuted the Croatian peoiple. All this despite the fact that there are many a.Ible Croatian journalists in this country. This is a deliJberate insult to all Croatians, but numerous Croatian representations that were made to end this scandal remained without any success. The old hegemonist crowd is seemingly much stronger than all the appeals to reason and .p olitical decency In the "Voice of America," the Croatian language has not ,b een recognized, and some Se11bian chauvinists broadcast to Croatia in a tongue which sounds impossible for Croatian ear:s. In this case, also, numerous Croatian protests produced no results. In the Christian-iDemocratic Union, some .Sl01Venian "Yugoslavs" speak in the name of "Yugos:lwvia," haiving no authorization whatsoever from the Croats to do so. The Slovaks, too, have had the same e:x1periences with all these and similar or.ganizations. · In this sense, an those individuals who spea,k in the name of the "OzechoslolV'all{s" and "Yugoslavs" show practically every day just what is their rea,I concept of freedom and equa,lity, and wihat they understand under "federalism." They have ibeen continually using 1!he old methods of domination, and derception, whieih they so successfully employed in the first "YugOSllavia" a,nd "Ozechoslcwa,kia," .paying liip service to "freedom, democracy and equality," but having in mind only the restoration of their old power positions. As a matter of fact, they do not fight for a free IDuro,pe, but only for a :IDu:rope without freedom for enslaved nations. Lt is only unfortunate that some American organ.IBati'ons and ind1;vidua,l s nairvely support such basically undemocratic and imperialist politicians. Mr. Ripka, IMr. 'Zenikl; and their il'k, had a wonderful opportunity to show the woriking of fueir federalism. when they were in power in first and second "Czechoslovakia." However, at that time their "federalism" consisted of an extreme centralism, of the oppression orf the SlovaJk nation, of persecutions and terror. Who could be so naive to �76 SLOVAKIA believe that their "federalism" would be any different in the future, particularly if we consider that they e1Ven now, in exile, belieive the same way as they did before, de~ nying the right of SIIIlali enslaved nations to their freedom. The same aipplies to the Serbian and Slo1Venian "Yugoslavs" wiho possess the sa:rne arrogant menrtality asthe "Ozeic:hos1ova!ks." There can be no do'U!bt that the hegemonist crowd has accepted the slogan orf federalism only to deceive· the world about their real intentions. Burt we do not see that they can ever return to po,w er. They have missed the boat. They have had their chances to create democratic federal structures in "Creclloslo1Va!kia" and "Yugoslavia." Instead they ruled dictatorially, dis;regarding completely the wishes. of the oppressed, and thus increasing the .power of centrifugal forces. Ripka and the Benes Czechs missed the boat even twice. Their prindples of political order have failed miseraJbly and, therefore, new ones are necessary. In a shameful collaJboration with the Communists, the Benes Ozechs have destroyed Slovak independence and put to death many SlovaJk patriots, among them the great Slova,k president, Monsignor 'Diso. Slovaks will never forget that. So we are sure that the Slo:va!k nation wrn sei'r e the first opportunity to, diSllllemiber Ozecho-lSlwrukia and reestrublish its own state The same will be done b,y the Croats in the Communist Greater Senbian Yugo,s lavia. These are the realities of contemporary Europe, while the hegemonist ,plans of Mr. Zvon, Mr. Ripka, and similair hegemonists, also their bogus federalism, must inelVita:bly end in the disposal containers of history. 'l"he time of colonialism, as in Africa so. in Eump~ has definitely passed. Czech and Serlb coloniailis;,;,1, under the claaik of a bogus federalism, must end in defeat. After the ineivitaJble disintegration of Communism, the enslaved nations of Eastern and Central Euroipe will sha:ke off the yokes of Moscow, Belgrade and Prague, and esitalblish their own independent states which will freel,y coorperate in a spirit of a truly democratic federalism, entering into federal unions as free, independent, democratic and equal na,tions. �SLOVAKIA 77 We Croats will certainly destroy any attempt to create a third "Yugoslavia," and we firmly believe that our old friends, the Slo,vaks, ,will do the same with respect to "OzechoslO'Vakia." The Croats and the Slovaks would not be worthy to exist as free nations,, if they permitted again the hy,pocritical hegeanonist scihemera and apostles of a bogus federalism t,o .S'l.llbdue them in the arhlficial appressor--states. There can be no free Europe without free E)uropean nations. There can ibe no equitalble settlemenit in Europe and no free Euro;pean or regional union, without an independent Sl01Vruk state, without an independent Croatian state, without a free Macedonia, without a free Slovenia. The dissolution of "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugo.sla";a" is, therefore, an absolut-ely indispensable cond.iition for a true and genuine federalist structure of the European continent. • • • WHO SAID IT? "Today more than ever before, I cannot stop believing that a free and independent Czeoho-Slovakia can exist only in Europe that is brought to balance, where the West and Russia find a proper agreement to collaborate. Even the events of February 1948 could not shake me from this conviction, which remains the basis of my whole conception of Dr. Hubert Ripka, FIGARO, Paris, national politics." April 4, 1949. • • • "Novem1ber 7, 1917, is the day thaJt is marlrnd in history as the beginning of a new era, which sought the guarantee of happiness to mankind by means of a new method of equalling differences among people and thus achieving contentment on earth. Today it is still too ealI'ly from thaJt epochal occasion to judge objootiveily the consequences of that great deed. One thing, however, is certain: it was the beginning of an enormous process full of ideas born of idealism." - (Dr. Joseph Lettrich, Vice-Cha.irnian of the Executive Committee of the "Counc,il of Free ~echoslo!V'a:kia," NOYE PRUDY, November 18, 194'5). � SLOVAKIA 61 THE AroSTLES OF BOGUS FEDERALISM By Dr. George W. Cesarich "There are o thers, however, who, under the guise of a federation, are hid ing their ou tworn conce pts whi ch would satisfy tbeir own selfis h as-pirations to powe r." - Matus Zvon. I. Zvon and Federalism There is common agreement that the present Political structure of Europe has ibecome obsolete. Nruzi,sm and fascism had contr1buted a great deal to the general disintegration of EUTopean society, but communism and its collaborators in Croatia, Slo,vakia, Bohemia, Hungary, Ser1bia, Romania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Poland, Albania, etc., ha;ve almost comp1e~ly destroyed the old political, social, and economic struoture in Central and Eastern Europe, substituting a centralistic police state for the old institutions. AmO'l1'g the exiles from that area new ,principles of order are being sought and the general trend is definitely toward federalism. This fact has not escaped the attention of those exiles, who are ,partly responsible for the present plight of the enslawed Central and Eastern European nations; so they are often too ready to pay liip service to the "great principle of federalism," however, at the same time clwerly scheming to restore their old power positioos and privileges. They have learned nothing from history, and with great ,v igor ,propagate again their old, discredited political ideas, this time using, however, a new but more deC'eptive phraseology since the old one has positively lost its former respectability For instance, in the Monthly Bulletin of the International Peasant Union (No. 4, 1953) we lfind an article under the title "Separatism or Unification" by Mr. Matus Zvon who, allegedly, is "a newspaperman of Slavaik origin." However, by his ideas he is evidently an advocate of outworn concep_ts of Ozech and Seribiam coJonialism and hegemony which he very skilfully disguises as "federal1 �62 SLOVAKIA ism." At the same time he conducts a vigorous crusade against "separatism," which is the usual abusive name frequein,tly used lby Czech and ,S eribian chauvinists to designate SlovaJk and Croatian movements for national independence. In short, Mr. Zvon attempts to spread an antiquated "Czechoslovak" and "Yugoslav" 1pro,paganda coveTed with the cloak of a respectable federalism, so that his own motto aJbourt those who "are hiding their outworn concepts under the guise of federnlism" undJO'Uibtedly applies to him and his il'k. His concepts are basically undemocratic and imperialist in nature because they implicitly deny the right to self-determinatio,n for the Slovak and Croatian nations and, thus, are cointra:ry to the idea of a tTuly democratic federalism. His "federalist" pro,posals ha'Ve been made in the spirit of the infamous Little Entente which, among other things, was an alliance of hegemonists orgamzed with the purpose to slllppress ,by force the national liberaticm movements of Croats and 1Slovaiks. Genuine fedeTalism should extend the idea of se1f-determination of nations and not restrict it, as Mr. 7-Jvon desi'I'es. Thus Mr. Zvon's case is certainly the case orf a t)'1pical bogus federalism which is used to perpetuate, 1b y using new propaganda slogans, the oppressor states known as "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugoslavia." We agree with Mr. Zvon in his aHeged objecti,ve of a future that would be free of 1both "Soviet terro;r and expfoitation and of the national jealousies, conflicts and bitterness of the prerwar past." We, too, want ",peace and voluntary cooperation among countries, without dictators and secret pol.ice." We kno,w, howeiver, that his objective is unattainable if "Oze~hoslovaJkia" and "Yugoslaivia" continue to exist. We equally despise the communist or fascist form of totalitarianism. We wholeheartedly accept th~ idea of a federation of free nations, as a synthesis of an enlightened nationalism and a democratic internationalism, which would mean a better future for Central and Eastern Europe. But we coIDIPletely and aJbsolutely disagree with Mr. Zvon's concepts of "seiparatfrm" a,nd "nationalist separatist movements" which he unjustly condemns as a "c,hild of extreme nationalism," asserting that "if left unchooked, �SLOVAKIA 63 they (the separatist movements) could bring aJbout 'the ba1kamzation of Europe'." As a matter of fact, the term "separatism," used as a "smear" term by the Oz,e,ch and Ser,bian h e.gemonists, has been extensively used as a weapon in their political and economic exiploitation of oppressed nationalities, particularly of Slovaks and Car,patho-Ukraini ans in "Czechoslovakia," and of Croatians, tSlovenes, Macedonians, Mbanians, and Montenegrins in "Yugoshwia." What is more, this term has been 1ntentionally girven an omnious connotation by some hegemonists, and Mr. Zvon is only continu·ng this smearing "activity" when painting "separatism" in the darkest possilble colors. He attacks, in effect, those "bad," "separatist" Croats and 1Slovaks who want to free themselives from SeI1bian and Cwclh ,p atronage resp. and thereby intend to destroy such nice, "democratic" states like "CzechoslorvaJkia" and "Y,ugoslaJVia," i.e., make an end to Czech and Se11bian domination. Mr. Zrvon and the International Peasant Un.ion's Bulletin evidently lbelierve that those prisons of nations, "Yugoslavia" and "Ozec'hoslov8Jk-ia," are so.me •k ind of sacred COIWS that sh01Uld not lb e touched by any;body else, in order to be milked, but only lby their ·Se11bian and Orech masters. The first and second "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovakia" have passed very strict lruws "for the protection of state" directed against "separatism," and patterned after the similar codes, thus maJking separatism a serious "crime." Some Ozech and Seiibian agitators in exile are evidently unhappy that they are not in a position to apply those laws, i.e., to 'liquidate' freedOIIn-kwing Croats, Slovaks, Macedonians, etc., rSO they engage in a deceptive propaganda against Slovak and Croat "seiparatiSlm." with arguments that could equally a,pply to those American "separatists" who fought for their inde.pendence against EJngland, or to the French resistance moJVement fighting the Germans during World War II. Mr. Zvon's description of "separatism" has as its primary purpose to create a totalitarian scarecrow to be feared and condemned in this democratic world of ours. He contends that "separatism sees the maximum fulfill- �64 SLOVAKIA ment of national life only in a sovereign, independent, &lb preme and ethnically uniform state," and that "the separatism is a dogma which says that the mooit pevfe<!t and supreme !fomn of social life lies in an ethnically uniform state." It is relatively easy to criticize separatism if defined in this manner. But why did Mr. ~on omit to say what he really had in mind when he spoke aibout "separatism"? What he actually fights are the m01Vements of an enslaved nation for liberation from two ev;i1,s: communism and foreign yoke. He aippears to fear t'he struggle of Croats and Slovaks against Se:vb and Czech co1oruzation which is exactly identical with the s.truggle of American colonists a:gainSit English colonialism. For the so-called "separatists" of Mr. ~on, i.e., the Croats and the Slova!ks, "separatism" is no,t "a faith in a dogma in an ethnica.Ny unifomn state" as he misr~esents it, because they all know well that a complete ethnical uniformity is out of the question in Central and Eastern Europe because of many mixed territories. They haJVe never advocated the idea, as he asserts, that the national state is the "supreme form of social life." However, they have become increasingly more aware of the fact, confi11med by their historical exiperience in "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovakia," that they can fully develop their spiritual, cultura:l and economic resources only if they are free of foJ"eign hegemony, i.e., h:we their OIWil independent state. For them, this state is not an absolute ivalue, or a "supreme form of social life," but a practical necessity of their free and prosperous existence. Czech and Se11bian propagandists h:we .b een desperately trying to create the impression that there is something wrong witlh Croat and SlovaJk struggle for national independence. 'Dhereifore, they speaJk of it as a form of "extreme nationalism - chauvinist nationalism - extreme and uncooperative na,tionalism" - and even "totalitarian nationalism." ThLs is ~aotl.y what Mr. Zvon, too, is doing. Of coUTse, he does not have a single word of conde:mnation for Czech and Seooian imperiruliSIIIl, sneering only at the nation aliSIIIl of the oppressed ibut not the imperialism of their oppressors. �SLOVAKIA 65 ENidently, in Mr. Zivon's, opinion, nationalism of small and enslaJVed nations who fight for their freedom and independence is "chauvinistic, e~reme," and "intolerant separatism.." But nationalism of those who have ruled in "CzechoslovaJkia" and "Yugoslavia" - of the Czechs, the Seribs, and theiir helpers - is "geilluine parioti:s m" and "creative nationalism." '.Dhis is the inescaipruble implication of Mr. Zvon's, article that attacks only nationalism of oppressed n8Jtions lalbeled as ",s eparatism" and, at the same time, keeps completely silent albout the chauvinistic nationalism of some O!f the Czechs and iSe:rlbs, and their e~loitation of other Il!ations. Such a "federalism" - as propagated by Mr. Zwon which denies to small nations their right to se1f-deter,mination, aind also attempts to pe:r,petuate their oppression in artifically created states - is undisputably a fraudulent and untrue federalism. It rwould reestalblish the old regimes which, in national respect, were not muoh better than the communist systems with their ,p hony, centralistic "federalisan." There is, indeed, an unlbridgeaible gu1f between such bogus federalism and a truly democratic federalism. Freedom and federalism are two terun.s that are inseparruble. "Yugoslavi:a" and "OzechoslO'VaJ~ia" cannot exist in freedom, because the Croats and the Slovruk•s are almost unanimously opposed to the continued existence of these states. So "Yugoslruvia" and "Czechosl01Vrukia" can be kept aliive only by force and terror. However, a genuine federation cannot ibe created from albOIVe and maintained lb y force and terror, as some "OzechoslOIVruks" and "Yugoslavs" would like to do. This fact is clearly recogruzed by Mr. George M. DimitroJV, Secretary Generrul of the futernational Peasant Union, when he writes: "The attempts to impose federations from above for the purpose of accomodatlng the int.erests of governing oligarchies and cliques - have not been productive of positive results for the nations themselves. Past governments haive spoken od', and speculaited with such sohemes only when faced with unsunmountable difficulties or as a matter of unscrupuloos opportunism." (LiJberation and Union, Washington, 1952, p. 13.). �66 SLOVAKIA As an example f.o r his viewpoint, Mr. Dimitrov descriJbes "the unifi,c ation of Selfus, Croats and Slo,venes manipulated after world War I," stressmg that "it attained no durable results because it was im_po5ed from above, ignO'ring the ideas and needs of the .peoiples involived as weLl as truiy democratic procedures." Thus, any federation should lbe a free union of national states, or as Mr. Dimitrov puts it, "a true federation of free nations, and not an artificial and from above imposed creation." Therefore, the future European Union, and equally any eventJUal future regionail federations, should be built up from ,below and rest on free indiividual nations, and not on artificial oppressor states like "Ozechos.loivakia" and "Yugoslavia." This i:s a!lso the oipinion of the President of the Croatian Peasant Party, Dr. Valdko Macelk, who, in the same pUlblication (ip. 115), inivited the exiles "to prepare plans for a future Union of Free National States in Central and Southeastern Europe." In addition, it is imiportant that such plans ,be realized throwgh truly d~ocratic procedures and in ~ccordan.ce rwith the wishes of the respective peoples which could 1b e easily ascertained lby f~ee ple!biscites. !Having in mind that these ideas are basi~ for a democratic and federalist setup in Central and Eastern Eiurope, we must draw the conclusion that Mr. Zvon's ,b ogus federalism is intenti:onailly directed against the sulbjrugated tions · of "Czechosloivakia" and "Yugoslruvia." And we, therefore, consider it very unfortunate that his article WaJS pulblished in the Bulletin of the International Peasant Union which, as a democratic o,rgani~ti:on, .should be an. instrument. of freedom and 1progress and _not a S'Uipporter of the old regimes. Mr. Zivon must certainly have known that the Croatian Peasa;nt iParty, which is a memlber of the Union, defends the right of the Croatian ,p eople to. national independence and, in this sense, is Olbviously against any "Yugoslavia," therefore "separatist' in the eyes of Mr. Zvon and his kind. This olbjective of the Croa..tian Peasant Party has been proclaimed on many occasions. Consequently, the article attacking "separatism" of the Croats and the Slova!ks, and implicitly defending "Yugoslavia" and "Ozecho- -na- �67 SIJOVAKIA slovaJkia," is entirely orut of place in the Bulletin of the I. P. U. H we were not acquainted with the ideas expressed by Dr. Maic~k and Dr. Do:rmtrov, we could easil,y .get the wrong impression that the whole International Peasant Uniolll has become ain instrument for the restoration of the old regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The ,participation in the I. P. U. of "OzeclJ.OSilovaJk" and "Yugoslav-1Seribian" politica.'l .parties · (which are exdusively Czech and Serbian creaitions), may only strengthen this impression sin~e it is a weN-;kn01WI1 ·fact that the nam.es "Czechoslovak" and "Yugoslav" hruve always lb~en a cover..;up for Czech and Serbian hegemony. fu addition, the real representa:tive.s of the Slova!k peasant people, the leaders of the Hlinka Party in exile, are not members of tlle I. P. U. I.n our Olpiniorn, thorough reorganiization of the I. P. U. would ibe necessary if it would convince the exiles orf all nations that this organi'zation is not a hodge-ipodge assemJblage of old politi'cians imbued with old -hegemonist caru:!epts, ibut an or,g arrization with new, progressive ideas, advocating a truly democratic federalism !based on free iniliividual nations, and in no wary identified with the oippressor-states. We siil!cereily believe that a ibetter and morn equitalble international order in Europe can never ib e founded on the bogus federalism propagated by Mr. Zvon and his so-called "Czechoslo;vaks." In a •s imilar manner, some ChetniJk prorpagandists orf a Greater Seroia speaJk also of a third, "federalist" Yugosil.1aNia. All this is not a solution of national prolblems. On the contrary, the necessary prerequisit.e for a democratic fed,eralized structure in Europe lies, in our opinion, in the liberation of all subjugated nations from the oppression exerted by Moscow, Prague, and Belgrade, and the creation of independent national states, including the Croat and thre Slovak states, which would then freely unite in a higher federal union. The representatives of those nations are progressiive and democratic men who are actirve partisans of a genuine federalism, aind reject a nairrowminded. and intolera.rnt nationalism. But they resolutely orppose tJhe bogus federalism of Mr. Zvon, some "Ozechoslovaks•," and some "Yugoslavs," since it would only prolong a 1 �68 SLOVAKIA the sufferings of subjugated nations in the artificial states which the Croats aind the Slovruks definitely and finalily do accept as their own. II. Ripka and Federalism Another Ciharaicteristic example of such a bogus federalism may 1b e found in the mimeograip:he d -book by Mr. Hubert Riiplcia (A Federation of Central Europe, New York, 1953), published at aJbout the same time as Mr. Zlvon's article, and pvolbaJbly insipired by the same crOIWd of political exiles. Mr. Ripka pleads for a "federation of existing states," not of nations. He is against any "dismemberm ent of Yugoslwvia and ~hoslOJVaki a." He asserts that the "dismemberment of one or the other state would cause destructive repercussions in t.lhe Danulbian region and also in the Balkans." In his opinion, "angry disputes among small, weak states would multiply," and "all efforts to integrate politically or economicailly the quarel1ing nations would collapse in the initial staige." Mr. Ripka says that "Yugoslavia, like OzechoslovaJkia, is esential to Europe, especially to East and Centra!l Eumpe." He thus disregards the wellknown facts that the, Croats do, not want to li,ve in any "Yugoslavia," and that the Slovaks do not want "Czechoslovakia." Though he recognizes the right of the Ukraine to secede from the Russian empire, he nevertheless denies the same right •o f secession to Croatia and !Slovaikia, thus rffillaining loyal to tile old hegemonist alliance of the Czech a.n d Serb ruling circles whicli, for over twenty years, had prevented any sulbstantial reforms in "OzechoslQIVrukia" and "Yugoslavia," and so, are greatly responsible for the present plight of enslaved nations therein. As coUild haive b een expected, Mr. Riplcia, who, togerthe~ with otlier Benes Ozechs, collwlborated with the Communists before, during and after Wovld War lI, and participated in the destruction oif Slovak national independence, rejects the conception of organizing Central and ])astern Europe on the basis of nations in contradiction to existing states. Like Mr. Zlvon, he too contends that "its rea:lization �69 SDOVAKIA would result in the balkanization of the wihole East Central Europe," and for f.ull measure he adds some shallow phrases aJbout ",graive and sometimes insolwble conflicts" which would allegedly preivent "higher integration." MT. Ripka transcends, however, into the world of Aesop's fables when he attempts to put over the idea that "Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were not artificial creations of Versailles diplomacy, but were, on the contrary, organic results of the historical evolution." Of course, he forgets to mention the Pittsburgh Agreement between the Slovaks and the Ozechs which was s·o shamefully violated by the Czech ruling drcles, and he disregards the undenia:ble fact that the Croats haive never accepted "Yrugoslavia" in a free election or a free plebiscite! Mr. Ripka even ventures to make the statement that "a positive ,policy, intended to create a better organization of Central Euro:pe in the future, after the fall of Soviet domination, must be !based therefore upon the existing states which correspond to national needs and aspirations of the nations concerned" ; tJhus he regards the relationships between Czechs and Slovaks and those between Se-z,bs and Croats, as "a matter of internal politics." May be that "Czechoslova;kia" and "Yugoslavia" co,r respond to "national needs and aspirations" (to exploitation) of the •B enes Czechs and Serbian "Yugosla:vs," but it is not true that these states have never corresponded to the national needs and aspirations of the Croat and Slovak nations. On the contrary, these nations will do everything possiible to dismember the states which tJhey intensely despise, and create their own states in order to be masters of their OIWil destiny. AJS to the '~bal!kanization oif Burope," this term can only mean the use of pretense and deceit in relations between the nations It is an indisput~ble fact that these were and still are the methods used b,y some Czech and Serbian hegemonists a:gainst the enslaved natiorns. 'I'herefore, only these hegemonists are the ones who are responsilble for this strange, new ,phenomenon cahled the "lba1kanilza:tion of Europe" which came into exist.ence only after the creation of "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovarkia." 1 �70 SLOVAKIA EJvidently, the ideoloigy cYf Mr. Ripka and the Benes Ozechs, as eXiplained in their ipublica:tions, conclusively proves that they ,woU!ld like to continue t:he e~loitat.ion of the small ,b ut courageous Slovruk nation in a third "Czedhoslovrukia," and, since the case of "Yugoslavia" is a very similar one, tihey have 'been contiir:ruously inrventing flimsy arguments to effect the sulbjugation of borth the Croats and the 1Slovaik&. There is nothing peculiar aJbout it when a memlber of the Benes im!I)erialist ruling clique dn,es not recognize the right to freedom and independence to other natiOI1Js, and when he arrogantly attaoks Sloivruk and Croat "separatists" (again that disparaging word) and their national moivemenrts, since it would be swa.nge if it were othel1W'ise.. There already are, however, many progressiJve Czechs who, like t:he Czech Lt. Colonel F. 0. Mikscilie, in the spirit of a true federalism and genuine mutua;l cooperation s,a.y that only bad Ozechs and bad Slovaks can be "Ozechoslovruks." (And we saiy accordingly that only bad Croats and ba.tl Selibs can 'be "Yugoslavs"). The iprincilples of a truly democratic federalism, based on independent and free nations, has been gaining more a:nd more ground. Politics ma!kes for strange 'bedfellows, however, and the propaga:nd.i·s ts oif the old regime and political status quo find a supporter in an unexpected quarter. A former Htmgaria.n Minister to Paris, iMr Paul Auer (Liiooraition a:nd Union, p 20), has a nightmare that "the efforts oif certain nationa.il groups (as, the Slorva:ks and Croaits) to achieve greater independence than they have en!joyed up to now, also slhow the need for a federal system in Southeastern EurOipe, because if these people were to a'C'hieve their aims, we would 1b e fa.iced by a still greater numlber of small states in this a.rea with eiven less power to resist outside pressure." iMay be this is another form of bogus federalism that fears freedom and independence of en:shINed natfon and does not comprehend that this is an albsolutely necessary prerequisite for a free federal union. Mr. Ripka boldly asserts, without amy proof, that a dismemberment of "Yugoslavfa" wo•u ld make impossible any organization of the DanU!bia.n area and the iBaJl.kans. This sounds in our ea.rs Hke a:n argument for fee!ble-minded per- �SLOVAKIA 71 sons, since a solid and la.sting politicaJ orga.nimtion must be ,b ased on freedom, ,a nd freedom cannot 'be coupled, as experience teaches, Mth tJhe e~ence of the artificial creations, o!f Versailles. In fact, the first "YugoslaJvia" was kept together only by force and terror, and consequently easily disintegrated in the fi'.rst storm. The same was the case with "Czechoslova kia" which fell without any resistance. "Yugoslavia" was creat.ed against the will of the Croatian people; the Croats always regarded it as a prison of nations and gave a helping hand to destroy that prison. They will do it agam witJh Tito's "Yugoslavia," or any other "YUJgoslaivia," when the occasion arises. In "Czechoslovru kia," the Slovaks wanted first their aJUtonomy, and when this was denied to them, their independence. 'Dhey were n:ot interested in defending a state which was a clevwly disguised hegemony over them and the Carpatho-Ukr ainians, despite the fact tllat millions were spent a'broiad to propagandir7.e that state as a "bastion of democracy." "Yugoslavia" and ''Czechoslovakia" did not solve national problems. If anything, they for a time only succeeded to suppress them. But, in addition, they have created many new iprdblems that did not exist earlier; among other things, they have certainly increased the amount of mutuaJ intolerance and hatred among their component parts. 'I'he organ:iization o!f that a;rea on the basis of independent nations in a true federal union is the only alternative to the "Czechoslovak " and "Yugoslav" failures. This union would, in accordance with the wishes of the people, bring about a democraJti~ political structure, and simultaneously increase cooperation and tolerance among the respective nations. Let us make olear that the opposition to "Ozechoslovakia" and "YugosilaJvia" iby the Slovaks and Croats and Macedonians, is llJOt the opposition of a small gro111p of "separ.aJtists," as some colonialists would like the public to beliesve, but the opposition of the overwhehning majority of the respective nations. In our recently ,pulblished bOOlk ( Croatia and Serbia, why is their peaceful separation a European necessity?, Croatia Cultural PUJblishing Center, �72 SLOVAKIA 4.851 Drexel Blvd., Chicrugo 15, llinois), we have proven beyond any reasonaJble doulbt that today all the Croan, unanimously advocate the separation of Croatia and Serbia, i.e., the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, and that this solution is in the interesit of a lasting Euroipean settlement and peruce in that area. As to the SlovaJks, it is a iwell-<lmown fact that a great mrujority of tihem is today for an independent Slova,k state, and that only some of their renegades are in the camp of the so-icalled "Czechosloivruks." In fa,ce of such energetic opposition to Czech and Senb schemes, of which Mr. Ripka is certainly aware, a third "Czechoslovakia," and a third "YugoslaJVia," could be established and maintained only by undemocratic and dictatorial proce3ses, i.e., iby deceit, terror, and vi,olence. Left momentarily without po,wer to do anything else, the exiled Benes "Ozechoslova,ks" and the Serbian "Ywgoslavs" use deceit as their most potent weapon in 1:!he effort to affect their Greater Czech and Greater Ser.bian plans, engaging in a fals e and deceitful propaganda against the Croat and Slo1Vak "separatists." Freedom first, then Federalization There is no doubt in our mind that the organization of Central and Eastern Europe on the ibasis of existing states, as propagated by Mr. Ripka, Mr. Zvon and Company, is contrary to the democratic principle of self-determination of nations. Its realization would clearly meatn the restoration of the old, discTedited regimes, but the fight for national freedom on the part of enslaved nations would continue inside the states. A third "Czechosl'ovaJda" and a third "Yugoslaivia" oould lbe established only in the spirit of balkanization; deception, terror and suppression would be even more emiphasized because, in the meantime, the enslaved nations have increased their determination to find an exit from those oppressor-states. In contrast to this hegemonist spirit, we propose the national questions to lbe solved on the generally acceptable democratic principle of self-determination of nations. The S1ova'ks, Croats, Macedonians, and Sloivenes have ,t he right to choose freely their own fo,rnn of government, and to �SIJOVAKIA 73 live in their own independent states like any other nation. "Czechoslovakia" and "YugoslaJvia," therefore, cannot exist as free and democratic states since the nat1ons fordbly included in them do not want them. So they necessarily must be either Olpen dictatorSlhips, or at least pseudodemocracies based on a bogtll.Si federalism. A truly d,emocratic "Yugoslavia" and a truly democratic "Czechoslovakia" are today as unconceivable as a square circle or a round square; true democracy must inevitably lead to the dissolution of these oppressor-states. Thus an orderly, democratic and ,equitalble reorganization orf Central and Eastern Europe presupposes that its nations are first liberated, forming their own independent states and, then, as a second step, estaiblish federal unions among themselves. This means of course that further independent units must be created, i.e., a free Slovenia, a free Croatia, a free S1ova;kia, a free Macedonia, a free Montenegro, which may then freely select the fo!1lll and direction of their participation in a federal union. 'Dhese states thoug:h sma1,l are capaible of an independent existence, de-s pite the perlidio,u,s propaganda slogans of some of the "eX)perts" who, deny the right of small nations to a free existence with the flimsy arguments ab,o ut their "smallness," evidently forgetting that Denmark, Holland, Luxemiburg, Belgium, Finland, Albania, etc., are also small but, nevertheless, have ;proven their ability to live an independent life. For a tyipical hegemonist lilke Mr. Ripka the idea that Slovaks and Croats maiy acquire their freedom appears to be a horrilble nigihtmare, but for all freedom.Jlo1ving individuals, this is the ,o nly equitable solution of national problems in thait part of Europe. This is not atomization of Europe, or its lbalikanization; this is mutual coopJra.tion on the basis of freedom and a genuine democratic fed eralism. Therefore, the existing states, "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugoslavia," which evidently do not correspond to national needs and aispira,tions of their inha,bitants, must be dissolved in the interest of a just national settlement and general peace. After the existence of independent Slovak 1 �74 SLOV.AKIA. and Croatian states, irrespective of the conditions surrounding their coming into existence and their forms of government, tlhe relations between Cre<!hs and SlovaJks, and between Serl}s and Croats, are not '_'internal questions" any more, though Mr. Ripka would prefer such a formula in order that Benes Orechs could continue to dominate the Sl01Vaks without any foreign interference as they did in the past. Hence these questions are today internatiiOnal questions; they are concerned with the relations between nations with their own state ideas. The right to selrf-determination is not a ruse, as Mr. Ripka alleges, but a democrati'c right which should not be reserved onil¥ for the Ozechs and the Serbs, 'b ut sho.uld aipply also for other cultured and freedom~loving nrations. The Oild comlb,ination of Oz.ecih and Serbian ruling circles has for a long time succeeded in suppressing the will of sUlbjugated na,tionalities and nations for their independence. These ruling circles are now desperately tcying to continue this practice under the caver of a bogus federalism. They have not changed a 1b it, they have remained struble in .their insane crarvings to rule other nations. This may lbe clear.ly recognired in various international and exile OTga:ruJzaJtions where the same old hegemonist crowd iD!Sists on its old "Ozechoslo.vaik" and "'Y ugoslaJV" deceptions, maintaining the fiotions of a "CzeohJOslOIVa!k" and a "Yugoslav" unity, which is not accepta.lble to Slovaks and Croats. For instance, the Ben.es Ozechs have created a "Czechorslovak" Comrmittee, without any representation of the national Sl·o.vaJks (•i ncluding, howeiver, some dubious Slovalks who re.present only themselives and not the wishes of their ipeople). The well-ilmown fact js, however, that the Slovaik nation desires its national independence, and, therefore, a "Czeohoslovaik" Committee is an obvio.us deception ( and so are all "Czechoslovak" political parties), est:a!blished ,for the purpose to sooure the hegemo1t1y of the Ozec!h "master race" over the SlavaJks. The "Voice of America," "Ratlio Free Europe," and similar organizations, are under the influence of the same old politicians who cherish hegemon:ism. For ins,tance, the "Bulletin" (IPregled) in Croatian, published by the Na- �SLOVAKIA 75 tional Committee for a Free Europe, has been edited by a Slovenian "Yugoslav," a former mem/ber of the semi.fascist and dictatoriral iBelrg rade governments which systematica.olly persecuted the Croatian peoiple. All this despite the fact that there are many a.Ible Croatian journalists in this country. This is a deliJberate insult to all Croatians, but numerous Croatian representations that were made to end this scandal remained without any success. The old hegemonist crowd is seemingly much stronger than all the appeals to reason and .p olitical decency In the "Voice of America," the Croatian language has not ,b een recognized, and some Se11bian chauvinists broadcast to Croatia in a tongue which sounds impossible for Croatian ear:s. In this case, also, numerous Croatian protests produced no results. In the Christian-iDemocratic Union, some .Sl01Venian "Yugoslavs" speak in the name of "Yugos:lwvia," haiving no authorization whatsoever from the Croats to do so. The Slovaks, too, have had the same e:x1periences with all these and similar or.ganizations. · In this sense, an those individuals who spea,k in the name of the "OzechoslolV'all{s" and "Yugoslavs" show practically every day just what is their rea,I concept of freedom and equa,lity, and wihat they understand under "federalism." They have ibeen continually using 1!he old methods of domination, and derception, whieih they so successfully employed in the first "YugOSllavia" a,nd "Ozechoslcwa,kia," .paying liip service to "freedom, democracy and equality," but having in mind only the restoration of their old power positions. As a matter of fact, they do not fight for a free IDuro,pe, but only for a :IDu:rope without freedom for enslaved nations. Lt is only unfortunate that some American organ.IBati'ons and ind1;vidua,l s nairvely support such basically undemocratic and imperialist politicians. Mr. Ripka, IMr. 'Zenikl; and their il'k, had a wonderful opportunity to show the woriking of fueir federalism. when they were in power in first and second "Czechoslovakia." However, at that time their "federalism" consisted of an extreme centralism, of the oppression orf the SlovaJk nation, of persecutions and terror. Who could be so naive to �76 SLOVAKIA believe that their "federalism" would be any different in the future, particularly if we consider that they e1Ven now, in exile, belieive the same way as they did before, de~ nying the right of SIIIlali enslaved nations to their freedom. The same aipplies to the Serbian and Slo1Venian "Yugoslavs" wiho possess the sa:rne arrogant menrtality asthe "Ozeic:hos1ova!ks." There can be no do'U!bt that the hegemonist crowd has accepted the slogan orf federalism only to deceive· the world about their real intentions. Burt we do not see that they can ever return to po,w er. They have missed the boat. They have had their chances to create democratic federal structures in "Creclloslo1Va!kia" and "Yugoslavia." Instead they ruled dictatorially, dis;regarding completely the wishes. of the oppressed, and thus increasing the .power of centrifugal forces. Ripka and the Benes Czechs missed the boat even twice. Their prindples of political order have failed miseraJbly and, therefore, new ones are necessary. In a shameful collaJboration with the Communists, the Benes Ozechs have destroyed Slovak independence and put to death many SlovaJk patriots, among them the great Slova,k president, Monsignor 'Diso. Slovaks will never forget that. So we are sure that the Slo:va!k nation wrn sei'r e the first opportunity to, diSllllemiber Ozecho-lSlwrukia and reestrublish its own state The same will be done b,y the Croats in the Communist Greater Senbian Yugo,s lavia. These are the realities of contemporary Europe, while the hegemonist ,plans of Mr. Zvon, Mr. Ripka, and similair hegemonists, also their bogus federalism, must inelVita:bly end in the disposal containers of history. 'l"he time of colonialism, as in Africa so. in Eump~ has definitely passed. Czech and Serlb coloniailis;,;,1, under the claaik of a bogus federalism, must end in defeat. After the ineivitaJble disintegration of Communism, the enslaved nations of Eastern and Central Euroipe will sha:ke off the yokes of Moscow, Belgrade and Prague, and esitalblish their own independent states which will freel,y coorperate in a spirit of a truly democratic federalism, entering into federal unions as free, independent, democratic and equal na,tions. �SLOVAKIA 77 We Croats will certainly destroy any attempt to create a third "Yugoslavia," and we firmly believe that our old friends, the Slo,vaks, ,will do the same with respect to "OzechoslO'Vakia." The Croats and the Slovaks would not be worthy to exist as free nations,, if they permitted again the hy,pocritical hegeanonist scihemera and apostles of a bogus federalism t,o .S'l.llbdue them in the arhlficial appressor--states. There can be no free Europe without free E)uropean nations. There can ibe no equitalble settlemenit in Europe and no free Euro;pean or regional union, without an independent Sl01Vruk state, without an independent Croatian state, without a free Macedonia, without a free Slovenia. The dissolution of "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugo.sla";a" is, therefore, an absolut-ely indispensable cond.iition for a true and genuine federalist structure of the European continent. • • • WHO SAID IT? "Today more than ever before, I cannot stop believing that a free and independent Czeoho-Slovakia can exist only in Europe that is brought to balance, where the West and Russia find a proper agreement to collaborate. Even the events of February 1948 could not shake me from this conviction, which remains the basis of my whole conception of Dr. Hubert Ripka, FIGARO, Paris, national politics." April 4, 1949. • • • "Novem1ber 7, 1917, is the day thaJt is marlrnd in history as the beginning of a new era, which sought the guarantee of happiness to mankind by means of a new method of equalling differences among people and thus achieving contentment on earth. Today it is still too ealI'ly from thaJt epochal occasion to judge objootiveily the consequences of that great deed. One thing, however, is certain: it was the beginning of an enormous process full of ideas born of idealism." - (Dr. Joseph Lettrich, Vice-Cha.irnian of the Executive Committee of the "Counc,il of Free ~echoslo!V'a:kia," NOYE PRUDY, November 18, 194'5). � 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 1954, Vol. 4 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 10), March 1954.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 11), June 1954.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 12-13), Sept.-Dec. 1954.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1954 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 THE AroSTLES OF BOGUS FEDERALISM By Dr. George W. Cesarich "There are o thers, however, who, under the guise of a federation, are hid ing their ou tworn conce pts whi ch would satisfy tbeir own selfis h as-pirations to powe r." - Matus Zvon. I. Zvon and Federalism There is common agreement that the present Political structure of Europe has ibecome obsolete. Nruzi,sm and fascism had contr1buted a great deal to the general disintegration of EUTopean society, but communism and its collaborators in Croatia, Slo,vakia, Bohemia, Hungary, Ser1bia, Romania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Poland, Albania, etc., ha;ve almost comp1e~ly destroyed the old political, social, and economic struoture in Central and Eastern Europe, substituting a centralistic police state for the old institutions. AmO'l1'g the exiles from that area new ,principles of order are being sought and the general trend is definitely toward federalism. This fact has not escaped the attention of those exiles, who are ,partly responsible for the present plight of the enslawed Central and Eastern European nations; so they are often too ready to pay liip service to the "great principle of federalism," however, at the same time clwerly scheming to restore their old power positioos and privileges. They have learned nothing from history, and with great ,v igor ,propagate again their old, discredited political ideas, this time using, however, a new but more deC'eptive phraseology since the old one has positively lost its former respectability For instance, in the Monthly Bulletin of the International Peasant Union (No. 4, 1953) we lfind an article under the title "Separatism or Unification" by Mr. Matus Zvon who, allegedly, is "a newspaperman of Slavaik origin." However, by his ideas he is evidently an advocate of outworn concep_ts of Ozech and Seribiam coJonialism and hegemony which he very skilfully disguises as "federal1 62 SLOVAKIA ism." At the same time he conducts a vigorous crusade against "separatism," which is the usual abusive name frequein,tly used lby Czech and ,S eribian chauvinists to designate SlovaJk and Croatian movements for national independence. In short, Mr. Zvon attempts to spread an antiquated "Czechoslovak" and "Yugoslav" 1pro,paganda coveTed with the cloak of a respectable federalism, so that his own motto aJbourt those who "are hiding their outworn concepts under the guise of federnlism" undJO'Uibtedly applies to him and his il'k. His concepts are basically undemocratic and imperialist in nature because they implicitly deny the right to self-determinatio,n for the Slovak and Croatian nations and, thus, are cointra:ry to the idea of a tTuly democratic federalism. His "federalist" pro,posals ha'Ve been made in the spirit of the infamous Little Entente which, among other things, was an alliance of hegemonists orgamzed with the purpose to slllppress ,by force the national liberaticm movements of Croats and 1Slovaiks. Genuine fedeTalism should extend the idea of se1f-determination of nations and not restrict it, as Mr. 7-Jvon desi'I'es. Thus Mr. Zvon's case is certainly the case orf a t)'1pical bogus federalism which is used to perpetuate, 1b y using new propaganda slogans, the oppressor states known as "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugoslavia." We agree with Mr. Zvon in his aHeged objecti,ve of a future that would be free of 1both "Soviet terro;r and expfoitation and of the national jealousies, conflicts and bitterness of the prerwar past." We, too, want ",peace and voluntary cooperation among countries, without dictators and secret pol.ice." We kno,w, howeiver, that his objective is unattainable if "Oze~hoslovaJkia" and "Yugoslaivia" continue to exist. We equally despise the communist or fascist form of totalitarianism. We wholeheartedly accept th~ idea of a federation of free nations, as a synthesis of an enlightened nationalism and a democratic internationalism, which would mean a better future for Central and Eastern Europe. But we coIDIPletely and aJbsolutely disagree with Mr. Zvon's concepts of "seiparatfrm" a,nd "nationalist separatist movements" which he unjustly condemns as a "c,hild of extreme nationalism," asserting that "if left unchooked, SLOVAKIA 63 they (the separatist movements) could bring aJbout 'the ba1kamzation of Europe'." As a matter of fact, the term "separatism," used as a "smear" term by the Oz,e,ch and Ser,bian h e.gemonists, has been extensively used as a weapon in their political and economic exiploitation of oppressed nationalities, particularly of Slovaks and Car,patho-Ukraini ans in "Czechoslovakia," and of Croatians, tSlovenes, Macedonians, Mbanians, and Montenegrins in "Yugoshwia." What is more, this term has been 1ntentionally girven an omnious connotation by some hegemonists, and Mr. Zvon is only continu·ng this smearing "activity" when painting "separatism" in the darkest possilble colors. He attacks, in effect, those "bad," "separatist" Croats and 1Slovaks who want to free themselives from SeI1bian and Cwclh ,p atronage resp. and thereby intend to destroy such nice, "democratic" states like "CzechoslorvaJkia" and "Y,ugoslaJVia," i.e., make an end to Czech and Se11bian domination. Mr. Zrvon and the International Peasant Un.ion's Bulletin evidently lbelierve that those prisons of nations, "Yugoslavia" and "Ozec'hoslov8Jk-ia," are so.me •k ind of sacred COIWS that sh01Uld not lb e touched by any;body else, in order to be milked, but only lby their ·Se11bian and Orech masters. The first and second "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovakia" have passed very strict lruws "for the protection of state" directed against "separatism," and patterned after the similar codes, thus maJking separatism a serious "crime." Some Ozech and Seiibian agitators in exile are evidently unhappy that they are not in a position to apply those laws, i.e., to 'liquidate' freedOIIn-kwing Croats, Slovaks, Macedonians, etc., rSO they engage in a deceptive propaganda against Slovak and Croat "seiparatiSlm." with arguments that could equally a,pply to those American "separatists" who fought for their inde.pendence against EJngland, or to the French resistance moJVement fighting the Germans during World War II. Mr. Zvon's description of "separatism" has as its primary purpose to create a totalitarian scarecrow to be feared and condemned in this democratic world of ours. He contends that "separatism sees the maximum fulfill- 64 SLOVAKIA ment of national life only in a sovereign, independent, &lb preme and ethnically uniform state," and that "the separatism is a dogma which says that the mooit pevfe<!t and supreme !fomn of social life lies in an ethnically uniform state." It is relatively easy to criticize separatism if defined in this manner. But why did Mr. ~on omit to say what he really had in mind when he spoke aibout "separatism"? What he actually fights are the m01Vements of an enslaved nation for liberation from two ev;i1,s: communism and foreign yoke. He aippears to fear t'he struggle of Croats and Slovaks against Se:vb and Czech co1oruzation which is exactly identical with the s.truggle of American colonists a:gainSit English colonialism. For the so-called "separatists" of Mr. ~on, i.e., the Croats and the Slova!ks, "separatism" is no,t "a faith in a dogma in an ethnica.Ny unifomn state" as he misr~esents it, because they all know well that a complete ethnical uniformity is out of the question in Central and Eastern Europe because of many mixed territories. They haJVe never advocated the idea, as he asserts, that the national state is the "supreme form of social life." However, they have become increasingly more aware of the fact, confi11med by their historical exiperience in "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovakia," that they can fully develop their spiritual, cultura:l and economic resources only if they are free of foJ"eign hegemony, i.e., h:we their OIWil independent state. For them, this state is not an absolute ivalue, or a "supreme form of social life," but a practical necessity of their free and prosperous existence. Czech and Se11bian propagandists h:we .b een desperately trying to create the impression that there is something wrong witlh Croat and SlovaJk struggle for national independence. 'Dhereifore, they speaJk of it as a form of "extreme nationalism - chauvinist nationalism - extreme and uncooperative na,tionalism" - and even "totalitarian nationalism." ThLs is ~aotl.y what Mr. Zvon, too, is doing. Of coUTse, he does not have a single word of conde:mnation for Czech and Seooian imperiruliSIIIl, sneering only at the nation aliSIIIl of the oppressed ibut not the imperialism of their oppressors. SLOVAKIA 65 ENidently, in Mr. Zivon's, opinion, nationalism of small and enslaJVed nations who fight for their freedom and independence is "chauvinistic, e~reme," and "intolerant separatism.." But nationalism of those who have ruled in "CzechoslovaJkia" and "Yugoslavia" - of the Czechs, the Seribs, and theiir helpers - is "geilluine parioti:s m" and "creative nationalism." '.Dhis is the inescaipruble implication of Mr. Zvon's, article that attacks only nationalism of oppressed n8Jtions lalbeled as ",s eparatism" and, at the same time, keeps completely silent albout the chauvinistic nationalism of some O!f the Czechs and iSe:rlbs, and their e~loitation of other Il!ations. Such a "federalism" - as propagated by Mr. Zwon which denies to small nations their right to se1f-deter,mination, aind also attempts to pe:r,petuate their oppression in artifically created states - is undisputably a fraudulent and untrue federalism. It rwould reestalblish the old regimes which, in national respect, were not muoh better than the communist systems with their ,p hony, centralistic "federalisan." There is, indeed, an unlbridgeaible gu1f between such bogus federalism and a truly democratic federalism. Freedom and federalism are two terun.s that are inseparruble. "Yugoslavi:a" and "OzechoslO'VaJ~ia" cannot exist in freedom, because the Croats and the Slovruk•s are almost unanimously opposed to the continued existence of these states. So "Yugoslruvia" and "Czechosl01Vrukia" can be kept aliive only by force and terror. However, a genuine federation cannot ibe created from albOIVe and maintained lb y force and terror, as some "OzechoslOIVruks" and "Yugoslavs" would like to do. This fact is clearly recogruzed by Mr. George M. DimitroJV, Secretary Generrul of the futernational Peasant Union, when he writes: "The attempts to impose federations from above for the purpose of accomodatlng the int.erests of governing oligarchies and cliques - have not been productive of positive results for the nations themselves. Past governments haive spoken od', and speculaited with such sohemes only when faced with unsunmountable difficulties or as a matter of unscrupuloos opportunism." (LiJberation and Union, Washington, 1952, p. 13.). 66 SLOVAKIA As an example f.o r his viewpoint, Mr. Dimitrov descriJbes "the unifi,c ation of Selfus, Croats and Slo,venes manipulated after world War I," stressmg that "it attained no durable results because it was im_po5ed from above, ignO'ring the ideas and needs of the .peoiples involived as weLl as truiy democratic procedures." Thus, any federation should lbe a free union of national states, or as Mr. Dimitrov puts it, "a true federation of free nations, and not an artificial and from above imposed creation." Therefore, the future European Union, and equally any eventJUal future regionail federations, should be built up from ,below and rest on free indiividual nations, and not on artificial oppressor states like "Ozechos.loivakia" and "Yugoslavia." This i:s a!lso the oipinion of the President of the Croatian Peasant Party, Dr. Valdko Macelk, who, in the same pUlblication (ip. 115), inivited the exiles "to prepare plans for a future Union of Free National States in Central and Southeastern Europe." In addition, it is imiportant that such plans ,be realized throwgh truly d~ocratic procedures and in ~ccordan.ce rwith the wishes of the respective peoples which could 1b e easily ascertained lby f~ee ple!biscites. !Having in mind that these ideas are basi~ for a democratic and federalist setup in Central and Eastern Eiurope, we must draw the conclusion that Mr. Zvon's ,b ogus federalism is intenti:onailly directed against the sulbjrugated tions · of "Czechosloivakia" and "Yugoslruvia." And we, therefore, consider it very unfortunate that his article WaJS pulblished in the Bulletin of the International Peasant Union which, as a democratic o,rgani~ti:on, .should be an. instrument. of freedom and 1progress and _not a S'Uipporter of the old regimes. Mr. Zivon must certainly have known that the Croatian Peasa;nt iParty, which is a memlber of the Union, defends the right of the Croatian ,p eople to. national independence and, in this sense, is Olbviously against any "Yugoslavia," therefore "separatist' in the eyes of Mr. Zvon and his kind. This olbjective of the Croa..tian Peasant Party has been proclaimed on many occasions. Consequently, the article attacking "separatism" of the Croats and the Slova!ks, and implicitly defending "Yugoslavia" and "Ozecho- -na- 67 SIJOVAKIA slovaJkia," is entirely orut of place in the Bulletin of the I. P. U. H we were not acquainted with the ideas expressed by Dr. Maic~k and Dr. Do:rmtrov, we could easil,y .get the wrong impression that the whole International Peasant Uniolll has become ain instrument for the restoration of the old regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The ,participation in the I. P. U. of "OzeclJ.OSilovaJk" and "Yugoslav-1Seribian" politica.'l .parties · (which are exdusively Czech and Serbian creaitions), may only strengthen this impression sin~e it is a weN-;kn01WI1 ·fact that the nam.es "Czechoslovak" and "Yugoslav" hruve always lb~en a cover..;up for Czech and Serbian hegemony. fu addition, the real representa:tive.s of the Slova!k peasant people, the leaders of the Hlinka Party in exile, are not members of tlle I. P. U. I.n our Olpiniorn, thorough reorganiization of the I. P. U. would ibe necessary if it would convince the exiles orf all nations that this organi'zation is not a hodge-ipodge assemJblage of old politi'cians imbued with old -hegemonist caru:!epts, ibut an or,g arrization with new, progressive ideas, advocating a truly democratic federalism !based on free iniliividual nations, and in no wary identified with the oippressor-states. We siil!cereily believe that a ibetter and morn equitalble international order in Europe can never ib e founded on the bogus federalism propagated by Mr. Zvon and his so-called "Czechoslo;vaks." In a •s imilar manner, some ChetniJk prorpagandists orf a Greater Seroia speaJk also of a third, "federalist" Yugosil.1aNia. All this is not a solution of national prolblems. On the contrary, the necessary prerequisit.e for a democratic fed,eralized structure in Europe lies, in our opinion, in the liberation of all subjugated nations from the oppression exerted by Moscow, Prague, and Belgrade, and the creation of independent national states, including the Croat and thre Slovak states, which would then freely unite in a higher federal union. The representatives of those nations are progressiive and democratic men who are actirve partisans of a genuine federalism, aind reject a nairrowminded. and intolera.rnt nationalism. But they resolutely orppose tJhe bogus federalism of Mr. Zvon, some "Ozechoslovaks•," and some "Yugoslavs," since it would only prolong a 1 68 SLOVAKIA the sufferings of subjugated nations in the artificial states which the Croats aind the Slovruks definitely and finalily do accept as their own. II. Ripka and Federalism Another Ciharaicteristic example of such a bogus federalism may 1b e found in the mimeograip:he d -book by Mr. Hubert Riiplcia (A Federation of Central Europe, New York, 1953), published at aJbout the same time as Mr. Zlvon's article, and pvolbaJbly insipired by the same crOIWd of political exiles. Mr. Ripka pleads for a "federation of existing states," not of nations. He is against any "dismemberm ent of Yugoslwvia and ~hoslOJVaki a." He asserts that the "dismemberment of one or the other state would cause destructive repercussions in t.lhe Danulbian region and also in the Balkans." In his opinion, "angry disputes among small, weak states would multiply," and "all efforts to integrate politically or economicailly the quarel1ing nations would collapse in the initial staige." Mr. Ripka says that "Yugoslavia, like OzechoslovaJkia, is esential to Europe, especially to East and Centra!l Eumpe." He thus disregards the wellknown facts that the, Croats do, not want to li,ve in any "Yugoslavia," and that the Slovaks do not want "Czechoslovakia." Though he recognizes the right of the Ukraine to secede from the Russian empire, he nevertheless denies the same right •o f secession to Croatia and !Slovaikia, thus rffillaining loyal to tile old hegemonist alliance of the Czech a.n d Serb ruling circles whicli, for over twenty years, had prevented any sulbstantial reforms in "OzechoslQIVrukia" and "Yugoslavia," and so, are greatly responsible for the present plight of enslaved nations therein. As coUild haive b een expected, Mr. Riplcia, who, togerthe~ with otlier Benes Ozechs, collwlborated with the Communists before, during and after Wovld War lI, and participated in the destruction oif Slovak national independence, rejects the conception of organizing Central and ])astern Europe on the basis of nations in contradiction to existing states. Like Mr. Zlvon, he too contends that "its rea:lization 69 SDOVAKIA would result in the balkanization of the wihole East Central Europe," and for f.ull measure he adds some shallow phrases aJbout ",graive and sometimes insolwble conflicts" which would allegedly preivent "higher integration." MT. Ripka transcends, however, into the world of Aesop's fables when he attempts to put over the idea that "Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were not artificial creations of Versailles diplomacy, but were, on the contrary, organic results of the historical evolution." Of course, he forgets to mention the Pittsburgh Agreement between the Slovaks and the Ozechs which was s·o shamefully violated by the Czech ruling drcles, and he disregards the undenia:ble fact that the Croats haive never accepted "Yrugoslavia" in a free election or a free plebiscite! Mr. Ripka even ventures to make the statement that "a positive ,policy, intended to create a better organization of Central Euro:pe in the future, after the fall of Soviet domination, must be !based therefore upon the existing states which correspond to national needs and aspirations of the nations concerned" ; tJhus he regards the relationships between Czechs and Slovaks and those between Se-z,bs and Croats, as "a matter of internal politics." May be that "Czechoslova;kia" and "Yugoslavia" co,r respond to "national needs and aspirations" (to exploitation) of the •B enes Czechs and Serbian "Yugosla:vs," but it is not true that these states have never corresponded to the national needs and aspirations of the Croat and Slovak nations. On the contrary, these nations will do everything possiible to dismember the states which tJhey intensely despise, and create their own states in order to be masters of their OIWil destiny. AJS to the '~bal!kanization oif Burope," this term can only mean the use of pretense and deceit in relations between the nations It is an indisput~ble fact that these were and still are the methods used b,y some Czech and Serbian hegemonists a:gainst the enslaved natiorns. 'I'herefore, only these hegemonists are the ones who are responsilble for this strange, new ,phenomenon cahled the "lba1kanilza:tion of Europe" which came into exist.ence only after the creation of "Yugoslavia" and "Czechoslovarkia." 1 70 SLOVAKIA EJvidently, the ideoloigy cYf Mr. Ripka and the Benes Ozechs, as eXiplained in their ipublica:tions, conclusively proves that they ,woU!ld like to continue t:he e~loitat.ion of the small ,b ut courageous Slovruk nation in a third "Czedhoslovrukia," and, since the case of "Yugoslavia" is a very similar one, tihey have 'been contiir:ruously inrventing flimsy arguments to effect the sulbjugation of borth the Croats and the 1Slovaik&. There is nothing peculiar aJbout it when a memlber of the Benes im!I)erialist ruling clique dn,es not recognize the right to freedom and independence to other natiOI1Js, and when he arrogantly attaoks Sloivruk and Croat "separatists" (again that disparaging word) and their national moivemenrts, since it would be swa.nge if it were othel1W'ise.. There already are, however, many progressiJve Czechs who, like t:he Czech Lt. Colonel F. 0. Mikscilie, in the spirit of a true federalism and genuine mutua;l cooperation s,a.y that only bad Ozechs and bad Slovaks can be "Ozechoslovruks." (And we saiy accordingly that only bad Croats and ba.tl Selibs can 'be "Yugoslavs"). The iprincilples of a truly democratic federalism, based on independent and free nations, has been gaining more a:nd more ground. Politics ma!kes for strange 'bedfellows, however, and the propaga:nd.i·s ts oif the old regime and political status quo find a supporter in an unexpected quarter. A former Htmgaria.n Minister to Paris, iMr Paul Auer (Liiooraition a:nd Union, p 20), has a nightmare that "the efforts oif certain nationa.il groups (as, the Slorva:ks and Croaits) to achieve greater independence than they have en!joyed up to now, also slhow the need for a federal system in Southeastern EurOipe, because if these people were to a'C'hieve their aims, we would 1b e fa.iced by a still greater numlber of small states in this a.rea with eiven less power to resist outside pressure." iMay be this is another form of bogus federalism that fears freedom and independence of en:shINed natfon and does not comprehend that this is an albsolutely necessary prerequisite for a free federal union. Mr. Ripka boldly asserts, without amy proof, that a dismemberment of "Yugoslavfa" wo•u ld make impossible any organization of the DanU!bia.n area and the iBaJl.kans. This sounds in our ea.rs Hke a:n argument for fee!ble-minded per- SLOVAKIA 71 sons, since a solid and la.sting politicaJ orga.nimtion must be ,b ased on freedom, ,a nd freedom cannot 'be coupled, as experience teaches, Mth tJhe e~ence of the artificial creations, o!f Versailles. In fact, the first "YugoslaJvia" was kept together only by force and terror, and consequently easily disintegrated in the fi'.rst storm. The same was the case with "Czechoslova kia" which fell without any resistance. "Yugoslavia" was creat.ed against the will of the Croatian people; the Croats always regarded it as a prison of nations and gave a helping hand to destroy that prison. They will do it agam witJh Tito's "Yugoslavia," or any other "YUJgoslaivia," when the occasion arises. In "Czechoslovru kia," the Slovaks wanted first their aJUtonomy, and when this was denied to them, their independence. 'Dhey were n:ot interested in defending a state which was a clevwly disguised hegemony over them and the Carpatho-Ukr ainians, despite the fact tllat millions were spent a'broiad to propagandir7.e that state as a "bastion of democracy." "Yugoslavia" and ''Czechoslovakia" did not solve national problems. If anything, they for a time only succeeded to suppress them. But, in addition, they have created many new iprdblems that did not exist earlier; among other things, they have certainly increased the amount of mutuaJ intolerance and hatred among their component parts. 'I'he organ:iization o!f that a;rea on the basis of independent nations in a true federal union is the only alternative to the "Czechoslovak " and "Yugoslav" failures. This union would, in accordance with the wishes of the people, bring about a democraJti~ political structure, and simultaneously increase cooperation and tolerance among the respective nations. Let us make olear that the opposition to "Ozechoslovakia" and "YugosilaJvia" iby the Slovaks and Croats and Macedonians, is llJOt the opposition of a small gro111p of "separ.aJtists," as some colonialists would like the public to beliesve, but the opposition of the overwhehning majority of the respective nations. In our recently ,pulblished bOOlk ( Croatia and Serbia, why is their peaceful separation a European necessity?, Croatia Cultural PUJblishing Center, 72 SLOVAKIA 4.851 Drexel Blvd., Chicrugo 15, llinois), we have proven beyond any reasonaJble doulbt that today all the Croan, unanimously advocate the separation of Croatia and Serbia, i.e., the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, and that this solution is in the interesit of a lasting Euroipean settlement and peruce in that area. As to the SlovaJks, it is a iwell-<lmown fact that a great mrujority of tihem is today for an independent Slova,k state, and that only some of their renegades are in the camp of the so-icalled "Czechosloivruks." In fa,ce of such energetic opposition to Czech and Senb schemes, of which Mr. Ripka is certainly aware, a third "Czechoslovakia," and a third "YugoslaJVia," could be established and maintained only by undemocratic and dictatorial proce3ses, i.e., iby deceit, terror, and vi,olence. Left momentarily without po,wer to do anything else, the exiled Benes "Ozechoslova,ks" and the Serbian "Ywgoslavs" use deceit as their most potent weapon in 1:!he effort to affect their Greater Czech and Greater Ser.bian plans, engaging in a fals e and deceitful propaganda against the Croat and Slo1Vak "separatists." Freedom first, then Federalization There is no doubt in our mind that the organization of Central and Eastern Europe on the ibasis of existing states, as propagated by Mr. Ripka, Mr. Zvon and Company, is contrary to the democratic principle of self-determination of nations. Its realization would clearly meatn the restoration of the old, discTedited regimes, but the fight for national freedom on the part of enslaved nations would continue inside the states. A third "Czechosl'ovaJda" and a third "Yugoslaivia" oould lbe established only in the spirit of balkanization; deception, terror and suppression would be even more emiphasized because, in the meantime, the enslaved nations have increased their determination to find an exit from those oppressor-states. In contrast to this hegemonist spirit, we propose the national questions to lbe solved on the generally acceptable democratic principle of self-determination of nations. The S1ova'ks, Croats, Macedonians, and Sloivenes have ,t he right to choose freely their own fo,rnn of government, and to SIJOVAKIA 73 live in their own independent states like any other nation. "Czechoslovakia" and "YugoslaJvia," therefore, cannot exist as free and democratic states since the nat1ons fordbly included in them do not want them. So they necessarily must be either Olpen dictatorSlhips, or at least pseudodemocracies based on a bogtll.Si federalism. A truly d,emocratic "Yugoslavia" and a truly democratic "Czechoslovakia" are today as unconceivable as a square circle or a round square; true democracy must inevitably lead to the dissolution of these oppressor-states. Thus an orderly, democratic and ,equitalble reorganization orf Central and Eastern Europe presupposes that its nations are first liberated, forming their own independent states and, then, as a second step, estaiblish federal unions among themselves. This means of course that further independent units must be created, i.e., a free Slovenia, a free Croatia, a free S1ova;kia, a free Macedonia, a free Montenegro, which may then freely select the fo!1lll and direction of their participation in a federal union. 'Dhese states thoug:h sma1,l are capaible of an independent existence, de-s pite the perlidio,u,s propaganda slogans of some of the "eX)perts" who, deny the right of small nations to a free existence with the flimsy arguments ab,o ut their "smallness," evidently forgetting that Denmark, Holland, Luxemiburg, Belgium, Finland, Albania, etc., are also small but, nevertheless, have ;proven their ability to live an independent life. For a tyipical hegemonist lilke Mr. Ripka the idea that Slovaks and Croats maiy acquire their freedom appears to be a horrilble nigihtmare, but for all freedom.Jlo1ving individuals, this is the ,o nly equitable solution of national problems in thait part of Europe. This is not atomization of Europe, or its lbalikanization; this is mutual coopJra.tion on the basis of freedom and a genuine democratic fed eralism. Therefore, the existing states, "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugoslavia," which evidently do not correspond to national needs and aispira,tions of their inha,bitants, must be dissolved in the interest of a just national settlement and general peace. After the existence of independent Slovak 1 74 SLOV.AKIA. and Croatian states, irrespective of the conditions surrounding their coming into existence and their forms of government, tlhe relations between Cre<!hs and SlovaJks, and between Serl}s and Croats, are not '_'internal questions" any more, though Mr. Ripka would prefer such a formula in order that Benes Orechs could continue to dominate the Sl01Vaks without any foreign interference as they did in the past. Hence these questions are today internatiiOnal questions; they are concerned with the relations between nations with their own state ideas. The right to selrf-determination is not a ruse, as Mr. Ripka alleges, but a democrati'c right which should not be reserved onil¥ for the Ozechs and the Serbs, 'b ut sho.uld aipply also for other cultured and freedom~loving nrations. The Oild comlb,ination of Oz.ecih and Serbian ruling circles has for a long time succeeded in suppressing the will of sUlbjugated na,tionalities and nations for their independence. These ruling circles are now desperately tcying to continue this practice under the caver of a bogus federalism. They have not changed a 1b it, they have remained struble in .their insane crarvings to rule other nations. This may lbe clear.ly recognired in various international and exile OTga:ruJzaJtions where the same old hegemonist crowd iD!Sists on its old "Ozechoslo.vaik" and "'Y ugoslaJV" deceptions, maintaining the fiotions of a "CzeohJOslOIVa!k" and a "Yugoslav" unity, which is not accepta.lble to Slovaks and Croats. For instance, the Ben.es Ozechs have created a "Czechorslovak" Comrmittee, without any representation of the national Sl·o.vaJks (•i ncluding, howeiver, some dubious Slovalks who re.present only themselives and not the wishes of their ipeople). The well-ilmown fact js, however, that the Slovaik nation desires its national independence, and, therefore, a "Czeohoslovaik" Committee is an obvio.us deception ( and so are all "Czechoslovak" political parties), est:a!blished ,for the purpose to sooure the hegemo1t1y of the Ozec!h "master race" over the SlavaJks. The "Voice of America," "Ratlio Free Europe," and similar organizations, are under the influence of the same old politicians who cherish hegemon:ism. For ins,tance, the "Bulletin" (IPregled) in Croatian, published by the Na- SLOVAKIA 75 tional Committee for a Free Europe, has been edited by a Slovenian "Yugoslav," a former mem/ber of the semi.fascist and dictatoriral iBelrg rade governments which systematica.olly persecuted the Croatian peoiple. All this despite the fact that there are many a.Ible Croatian journalists in this country. This is a deliJberate insult to all Croatians, but numerous Croatian representations that were made to end this scandal remained without any success. The old hegemonist crowd is seemingly much stronger than all the appeals to reason and .p olitical decency In the "Voice of America," the Croatian language has not ,b een recognized, and some Se11bian chauvinists broadcast to Croatia in a tongue which sounds impossible for Croatian ear:s. In this case, also, numerous Croatian protests produced no results. In the Christian-iDemocratic Union, some .Sl01Venian "Yugoslavs" speak in the name of "Yugos:lwvia," haiving no authorization whatsoever from the Croats to do so. The Slovaks, too, have had the same e:x1periences with all these and similar or.ganizations. · In this sense, an those individuals who spea,k in the name of the "OzechoslolV'all{s" and "Yugoslavs" show practically every day just what is their rea,I concept of freedom and equa,lity, and wihat they understand under "federalism." They have ibeen continually using 1!he old methods of domination, and derception, whieih they so successfully employed in the first "YugOSllavia" a,nd "Ozechoslcwa,kia," .paying liip service to "freedom, democracy and equality," but having in mind only the restoration of their old power positions. As a matter of fact, they do not fight for a free IDuro,pe, but only for a :IDu:rope without freedom for enslaved nations. Lt is only unfortunate that some American organ.IBati'ons and ind1;vidua,l s nairvely support such basically undemocratic and imperialist politicians. Mr. Ripka, IMr. 'Zenikl; and their il'k, had a wonderful opportunity to show the woriking of fueir federalism. when they were in power in first and second "Czechoslovakia." However, at that time their "federalism" consisted of an extreme centralism, of the oppression orf the SlovaJk nation, of persecutions and terror. Who could be so naive to 76 SLOVAKIA believe that their "federalism" would be any different in the future, particularly if we consider that they e1Ven now, in exile, belieive the same way as they did before, de~ nying the right of SIIIlali enslaved nations to their freedom. The same aipplies to the Serbian and Slo1Venian "Yugoslavs" wiho possess the sa:rne arrogant menrtality asthe "Ozeic:hos1ova!ks." There can be no do'U!bt that the hegemonist crowd has accepted the slogan orf federalism only to deceive· the world about their real intentions. Burt we do not see that they can ever return to po,w er. They have missed the boat. They have had their chances to create democratic federal structures in "Creclloslo1Va!kia" and "Yugoslavia." Instead they ruled dictatorially, dis;regarding completely the wishes. of the oppressed, and thus increasing the .power of centrifugal forces. Ripka and the Benes Czechs missed the boat even twice. Their prindples of political order have failed miseraJbly and, therefore, new ones are necessary. In a shameful collaJboration with the Communists, the Benes Ozechs have destroyed Slovak independence and put to death many SlovaJk patriots, among them the great Slova,k president, Monsignor 'Diso. Slovaks will never forget that. So we are sure that the Slo:va!k nation wrn sei'r e the first opportunity to, diSllllemiber Ozecho-lSlwrukia and reestrublish its own state The same will be done b,y the Croats in the Communist Greater Senbian Yugo,s lavia. These are the realities of contemporary Europe, while the hegemonist ,plans of Mr. Zvon, Mr. Ripka, and similair hegemonists, also their bogus federalism, must inelVita:bly end in the disposal containers of history. 'l"he time of colonialism, as in Africa so. in Eump~ has definitely passed. Czech and Serlb coloniailis;,;,1, under the claaik of a bogus federalism, must end in defeat. After the ineivitaJble disintegration of Communism, the enslaved nations of Eastern and Central Euroipe will sha:ke off the yokes of Moscow, Belgrade and Prague, and esitalblish their own independent states which will freel,y coorperate in a spirit of a truly democratic federalism, entering into federal unions as free, independent, democratic and equal na,tions. SLOVAKIA 77 We Croats will certainly destroy any attempt to create a third "Yugoslavia," and we firmly believe that our old friends, the Slo,vaks, ,will do the same with respect to "OzechoslO'Vakia." The Croats and the Slovaks would not be worthy to exist as free nations,, if they permitted again the hy,pocritical hegeanonist scihemera and apostles of a bogus federalism t,o .S'l.llbdue them in the arhlficial appressor--states. There can be no free Europe without free E)uropean nations. There can ibe no equitalble settlemenit in Europe and no free Euro;pean or regional union, without an independent Sl01Vruk state, without an independent Croatian state, without a free Macedonia, without a free Slovenia. The dissolution of "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugo.sla";a" is, therefore, an absolut-ely indispensable cond.iition for a true and genuine federalist structure of the European continent. • • • WHO SAID IT? "Today more than ever before, I cannot stop believing that a free and independent Czeoho-Slovakia can exist only in Europe that is brought to balance, where the West and Russia find a proper agreement to collaborate. Even the events of February 1948 could not shake me from this conviction, which remains the basis of my whole conception of Dr. Hubert Ripka, FIGARO, Paris, national politics." April 4, 1949. • • • "Novem1ber 7, 1917, is the day thaJt is marlrnd in history as the beginning of a new era, which sought the guarantee of happiness to mankind by means of a new method of equalling differences among people and thus achieving contentment on earth. Today it is still too ealI'ly from thaJt epochal occasion to judge objootiveily the consequences of that great deed. One thing, however, is certain: it was the beginning of an enormous process full of ideas born of idealism." - (Dr. Joseph Lettrich, Vice-Cha.irnian of the Executive Committee of the "Counc,il of Free ~echoslo!V'a:kia," NOYE PRUDY, November 18, 194'5).  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 The Apostles of Bogus Federalism Description An account of the resource Dr. George W. Cesarich Slovakia, Vol. 4, No. 3-4 (12-13), Sept.-Dec. 1954 pp. 61-77 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cesarich, George W. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Sept.-Dec. 1954 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/64f4bba079e4a745db1df0f78718e873.pdf adfff0d895f78dba279e225328f214ff PDF Text Text REVIEWS ��SLOV AKIA-2015 129 Jan Rychlik, Magdalena Rychlfkova. Hospodafsky, socialni, kulturni a politicky vyvoj Podkarpatske Rusi 1919 - 1939 (Prague: Studie Narodohospodarskeho ustavu Josefa Hlavky, 2013), 184 pages. Notes, maps, illustrations, along with a German and English Summary. C. WINSTON CHRISLOCK Professor Emeritus University of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minnesota Transcarpathian Rus' formed the eastern tip of the First Czechoslovak Republic from 1919 to 1938 and, briefly of the Second Czecho-Slovak Republic from October 1938 to mid-March 1939. On November 2, 1939, Hungary annexed the southern, mostly Magyar regions of a by then autonomous Transcarpathian Rus' . On March 16, after the demise of Czecho-Slovakia, Hungary annexed the remainder of the region . Soviet forces occupied the area during the final stages of World War II in Europe. In June of 1945 Czechoslovakia agreed to allow the U.S.S.R. to annex Transcarpathian Rus' and both countries ratified the treaty of transfer in November of 1945. From 1945 until 1991 it was part of the Soviet Union's Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in December of 1991 , it remained a province of independent Ukraine. The purpose of the Rychliks' monograph is to describe and evaluate the region during its association with Czechoslovakia in the inner-war period. There was no doubt that the Czechoslovak government took over administration of a very complex and economically primitive province. The Rychliks' account begins with a pre-1919 backround in which they summarize Czech, Magyar and Ukranian sources. They then continue with an historical survey up to 1919. We learn that Transcarpathian Rus' consisted of four Hungarian counties, and that the Rusyn population had not yet developed any sense of national consciousness. The northern half of Transcarpathian Rus' was mountainous and heavily forested while the south was flatter and more suited for agriculture. About two-thirds of of the population were Rusyns who spoke dialects closely related to Ukrainian. Minorities consisted of Magyars, Jews, Romanians, Germans and Roma. Prior to World War I any attempt to codify the Rusyn language was prob- �130 SLOVAKIA-2015 lematic. While Rusyn dialects were close to Ukrainian, the tsarist regime in Russia looked upon Ukrainian as a Russian dialect. That would make Rusyn dialects dialects of a dialect! Austria-Hungary's collapse in 1918 brought political and economic chaos . Rusyn Americans had developed national consciousness by 1914, modelled somewhat on the Slovak experience. In the wake of Austria-Hungary's collapse their leaders lobbied T. G. Masaryk, leader of the Czecho-Slovak independence movement, and President Woodrow Wilson, for a Rusyn association with the new Czechoslovak state, with the understanding that Subcarpathian Rus' would have a large degree of autonomy. Masaryk agreed to this and after military confrontations with Hungary, Poland and indigenous Magyars, the Czechoslovak army, with the support of the United Kingdom, France and the U.S .A., successfully occupied the region by the end of 1919 and maintained sovereignty over it until the German annexation of the Czech lands in March of 1939. The Rychliks' objective was to describe the social, cultural and political problems of the region and then evaluate how the Czechoslovak government dealt with and responded to them. Given the complexity of a region that was blessed (cursed?) with a plethora of nationalities and languages, religions, hostile neighbors, and underdeveloped economy and national consciousness, the Czechoslovak government faced a monumental task. The political problem revolved around autonomy for the area. The 1920 Czechoslovak constitution provided for Subcarpathian Rus ' to send four senators and nine representatives to Czechoslovakia's National Assembly. Czechoslovakia's president, upon recommendation of the government, appointed a governor, whose power was limited, and a vicegovemor, who exercised most administrative powers. Rusyns, both at home and in the U.S.A., were dissatisfied with the lack of autonomy. Complicating the political situation were conflicts among Rusyns, Ukrainofiles, Russofiles, Jews, and Magyars and further conflicts between Russian Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians. Economic and infrastructure underdevelopment were also major problems. Before World War I, commerce and transit were basically north and south, while after 1919 these were oriented east-west. Destruction brought on by the war exacerbated these problems. The Rychliks provide maps, railway timetables, and agricultural and eco- �SLOVAKIA-2015 131 nomic data to embellish their account of economic and infrastructure development. The book devotes substantial space to language and education. As both religious and public schools evolved, language became a thorny issue. The Rychliks pointed out that literary languages are artificial, and that was certainly true in Subcarpathian Rus'. Rusyns had not developed a literary language that everybody could agree upon. How could this state establish a network of Schools when Rusyns could not agree if the language and textbooks of instruction should be in Ukranian, Russian, or in a local dialect? What should be the policy toward the minority Ukranian, Russian, Slovak, Czech, Magyar, Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Romanian, Roma Slovak and Czech speakers? The authors concluded that by 1938 there was no final resolution of the language issue. The authors concluded, with reservations, that Subcarpathian Rus' progressed under the first Czechoslovak Republic. However, from the standpoint of political maturity, economic and infrastructure development, literacy, and steps towards the codification of language, the formidable problems listed above retarded its progress. The Rychliks' work is a good companion to Paul R. Magocsi's excellent The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus ', 1848-1948 (1978). The former gives a data-filled account of a twenty-year period in 183 pages, thirty of which are notes, railroad timetables, maps and pictures, while Magocsi provides us with a very readable overview of the development of Subcarpathian Rus' over 100 years, along with a substantial, nearly 100-page, appendix and numerous notes. �132 SLOV AKIA-2015 David Doellinger. Turning Prayers into Based Activism and its Challenge to State Slovakia and East Germany. Budapest: Central Press, 2013. xii-288 pp. Glossary, bibliography, Protests: ReligiousPower in Socialist European University index. JAMES RAMON PELAK University of Washington Poland, no doubt, comes to mind first when one considers the role played by religion and religious institutions in the events and processes leading up to the collapse of Communism in East Central Europe in 1989. David Doellinger reminds us, in his Turning Prayers into Protests, that there were other places in the region where religion was an active and significant force of social mobilization in the fateful developments of the 1980s, most notably Slovakia and East Germany. Doellinger juxtaposes the cases of Slovakia and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in what is a truly comparative work. The focus is on the activists themselves, and the work is organized both thematically and chronologically. Each chapter gives sufficient attention to each situation, examining both cases in terms of a particular aspect of the issue, and establishing the impact and the limitations of the role of religion as a mobilizing force in each locale. Though an historian, Doellinger draws generously from sociology and political science. The author establishes the context for his case studies, attuned to the differences and similarities between them. In Slovakia, he examines the Roman Catholic Church, especially its underground branch, while in the GDR he looks at the official Evangelical Church, a primarily Lutheran institution. Doellinger notes for both cases the differences with regard to the degree of institutional autonomy for the Church, the level of religiosity among the population, and the type of activism . He examines for each state such factors as the social and informational networks established among activists and the processes whereby prayers were transformed into protests in the 1980s. Doellinger decided to do an in-depth study of the Slovak situation after two former Czech dissidents remarked that Slovakia �SLOVAKIA-2015 133 had had no dissidents or independent activism during the communist period, a far cry from reality. As a corrective to such ill-informed views, the author presents the Slovak case in great detail, analyzing the operations of the underground church, situating Catholic activism within the broader context of independent activity in Slovakia, and providing excellent descriptions and analyses of such critical examples of public mobilization as the Velehrad pilgrimage of 1985 (drawing from 100,000 to 250,000 participants), the petition for religious freedom of 1988 (signed by 300,000 to 400,000 Slovaks), and the Good Friday demonstration of March 25 , 1988 in Bratislava. Doellinger notes the crucial role played by Karol Wojtila who, as Archbishop of Krakow, was a friend and supporter of the underground church in Slovakia, ordaining secret clergy in the 1970s. As Pope John Paul II, he gave a voice to the persecuted Church, condemned the government-sponsored Pacem in Terris organization of Czechoslovak clergy, successfully encouraged Prague ' s Archbishop Frantisek Tomasek to become more assertive on behalf of religious freedom, and energized Catholics in Slovakia and elsewhere . With respect to the GDR, Doellinger notes the strong influence of the Evangelical Church, made possible by its considerable autonomy, which enabled it to provide crucial support for independent activity. The church promoted and defended the so-called Bausoldaten, young men who served in non-combat units beside the East German military on grounds of conscientious objection to war and militarism . It provided meeting space, access to publishing, and other supports for peace, environmental, and social justice-oriented groups. Doellinger notes both the advantages enjoyed and constraints faced by activists on account of this close connection with the Evangelical Church. Doellinger's work is especially valuable thanks to the type and array of sources he uses. Along with reports on religious activism and a large and diverse amount of religious samizdat found in more than a dozen archives, he has interviewed scores of activists, examined local church and government records for the GDR, and gained access to at least four private collections of former activists. A few relatively minor criticisms are in order. Though this book is expressly not a study of the inner-workings of the regime in its dealings with religion, the author might have done more with the records of the Czechoslovak Office for Church Affairs. This �134 SLOV AKIA-2015 organization did a competent job in monitoring religion in Czechoslovakia and might contain useful information about the underground church and other forms of Catholic activism. And the subsections marked "Summary" near the end of each chapter sometimes do much more than summarize, but rather introduce important new material and perspectives not found earlier. Doellinger's work is an extremely valuable contribution to our understanding of the late communist period in Czechoslovakia and the GDR, to the processes that brought about the collapse of communist regimes in 1989, and to the important role played by religion in these developments. Though genuinely comparative, and insightfully so, the book does maintain the distinction between the two states, so a reader whose interest lies more in Slovakia than in the GDR would have no problem accessing the parts of the book specific to the Slovak Socialist Republic. James Mace Ward. Priest, Politician, Collaborator: Jozef Tiso and the Making of Fascist Slovakia. Ithaca and London : Cornell University Press, 2013. xii, 362 pp., ill., notes, index. $39 .95 . GREGORY C. FERENCE Salisbury University James Mace Ward has written a first-rate biography of Jozef Tiso, the only Roman Catholic priest, aside from the pope, to lead a modem European country. For his efforts, Ward received Honorable Mention in a 2014 competition of the premier North American scholarly organization, the Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies Reginald Zelnik Book Prize. It is awarded annually for an outstanding monograph published on Russia, Eastern Europe or Eurasia in the field of history in the previous year. In his Preface, the author avers that he is "deeply committed to providing as accurate an account of this life as I can." (xi) He has accomplished this task by conducting extensive research using Czech, English, German, Hungarian, and Slovak sources. Yet, Ward modestly apologizes that he did not have enough time to conduct more research for his book. As Ward shows, the life of Father Jozef Tiso remains multi-faceted, complicated, and controversial. One can characterize his ca- �SLOV AKIA-2015 135 reer as opportunistic and full of contradictions. Before 1918, Tiso seemed destined to rise in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, and, as such, proved to be a loyal Hungarian - a charge that would haunt him for the rest of his life. By the conclusion of the First World War he became more nationally astute, and with the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia, he turned to politics with a Catholic and Christian social agenda subsumed by Slovak nationalism. Throughout his political life, Tiso became a master at organization, infighting, outmaneuvering, playing the various sides, and skillfully deflecting criticism by blaming others for his own faults and actions. He preferred to be ambiguous rather than take responsibility . Despite being a political animal, Tiso found time almost every Sunday from the 1920s until 1945 to celebrate Mass. In 1918, Ward continues, with the state in flux, Tiso became the secretary of the Slovak National Council in Nitra, and helped coordinate its occupation by Czecho-Slovak forces while attacking Jews as usurers, war profiteers, and revolutionaries. As the situation stabilized, Tiso joined Father Andrej Hlinka' s Slovak People ' s ("I:udak") Party, abandoned his anti-Semitism, and became a political moderate who feared secularization. He served first in the Czechoslovak Parliament and then as Minister of Public Health and Physical Education (1927-1929) where his accomplishments were modest. By the early 1930s, Tiso became Hlinka' s heir, but had to fend off a new generation of radical I:udak rivals who often thwarted his goals. Until 1938, he attempted to reconcile the I:udaks with the government and outflank "Godless" socialists. By then, since he realized he would no longer serve in the government, Tiso turned on Czechoslovakia by demanding greater autonomy for Slovakia. With the Republic failing, he conducted talks with Hungary and Poland about Slovakia' s future while still maintaining a dialogue with Prague. After the 1938 Munich Crisis, Ward continues, Tiso blamed the Jews and the Czechs for the diktat while tightening his control over his party . He vacillated on Slovak independence since he did not want to be viewed as the person who destroyed Czechoslovakia, but when it became inevitable, he embraced it and took control of Slovakia despite opposition from the Holy See. Tiso saw the Slovak State as a step forward for national consciousness and confidence. As vodca, or leader of independent Slovakia, he ordered no political executions and traveled freely with few bodyguards. Yet, he allied with �136 SLOV AKIA-2015 Nazi Germany and occasionally resisted its demands, but backed the deportation of two-thirds of Slovakia's Jews. By 1943, as the war seemed lost, Tiso became conciliatory towards a reconstituted Czechoslovakia but did not understand the strength of the underground plotting the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) in the summer of 1944. Deeply hurt by the thought that Slovaks opposed his regime, Tiso nonetheless ordered the suppression of the SNP that resulted in the German occupation of Slovakia. In his last radio address as his government crumbled, Tiso portrayed himself as a martyr. Arrested by the Americans, and turned over to the Czechoslovak authorities, Tiso's trial, according to Ward, became a travesty of justice dominated by unprofessional judges, packed courts, and political manipulations that assured a negative judgment. During the show trial, Tiso received the blame for, among other things, the destruction of Czechoslovakia, the Holocaust, and the failure of the SNP. Sentenced to death, and despite a popular outcry in Slovakia, the court and central government denied his and influential requests for clemency while his co-defendants and counterparts in the Czech Lands received lesser sentences. The Communists used Tiso ' s trial and execution as a political tool against the Slovak Democrats in their bid for power. After Tiso ' s death in 194 7, Ward continues, Tiso remained controversial. Slovak emigres turned him into an anti-Communist patriot martyr who was a victim of circumstances. Meanwhile, communist Czechoslovakia portrayed him as a clerical-fascist war criminal. After the fall of Communism in 1989, Tiso resurfaced as a destabilizing factor in Czechoslovak politics. Emigres, supported by the cultural institution Matica slovenska and, sometimes, the Ministry of Education, attempted to rehabilitate Tiso, but historians at the Slovak Academy of Sciences parried this effort after reasserting their independent academic credentials, thereby presenting a more balanced and scholarly perspective. The issue in today's Slovakia remains a "grey" topic in which Tiso is neither popular nor condemned. This objective biography will remain a classic in English as Tiso will no longer be presented in simple black and white terms as in the past. It is an excellent source for students of nationalism, political Catholicism, the history of Czechoslovakia and Slovakia, and postCommunism. It is a shame that Ward ' s book did not win the Zelnik �SLOV AKIA-2015 137 Book Prize which would have given it greater notoriety and exposure. Miroslav Londak. Ekonomicke reformy v Ceskoslovensku v 50. a 60. Rokoch 20. storocia a slovenskti ekonomika. Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2010 . 295pp. Bibliography, English summary, index of names. MARTIN POSPISIL CERGE-EI, and Charles University, Prague Ever since the communist and capitalist economic systems began competing in the 1920s, economists and historians have explored the efficiency, performance, and stability of these systems. Today, there is a general consensus that Soviet-style Communism failed. At the same time, there is still a limited understanding of how the communist economic system was built, especially in smaller countries . Miroslav Londak tries to bridge this gap and focuses on economic development in Slovakia after the 2nd World War. Londak's book is a well-researched publication aimed at better understanding of the Slovak industrialization, economic system-building, and reconstruction within the Czechoslovakia of the 1950s and 1960s. To explain the Slovak post-war economic reforms, Londak adopted a descriptive methodology that required an analysis of a long list of statistical publications, documents, and speeches. Like a good historian, he picked up a great deal about the concerns and problems that drove the building of the economic system of the time. For the novice there is much to be learned here. For example, in the Introduction (p.9), he rightly notes that it is often forgotten how much of today ' s economic development of Slovakia is linked to the decades of the post-war situation in Czechoslovakia. The book notes the astonishing pace of communist socioeconomic reforms. For example, the author describes the amazing speed of post-War Czechoslovak asset nationalization and collectivization. Londak rightly stresses an important point (sometimes forgotten in related debates) that many policies associated with the Communists (e.g. nationalization) had actually been introduced by President Benes during 1945-1948, before the Communists fully took power. The publication also analyses federalization tendencies in �138 SLOV AKIA-2015 Slovakia and various efforts to reform the inefficient Soviet-style economic system: e.g. the First and Second economic reforms in the 1950s and 1960s, reform ideas related to the Prague Spring, as well as the hopeless attempts to reform the economy in the 1980s. Londak's book contains a lot of statistical data and references to original documents to illustrate the point. In his research, the author includes documents - often very rare ones - to show the development of various sectors of the economy, the level of industrialization, or employment. Certain statistics are telling: While in 1947, 80% of Czechoslovak exports went to the West, this share gradually decreased to 12-25% in only one decade. Another statistic nicely illustrates the continuous emigration from Slovakia. Around 220,000 people left Slovakia between WW I and WW II, which created a large job market mismatch . Despite providing a lot of information, however, the book suffers from several drawbacks. First, it stops short of where it should ideally begin. In the Introduction, Londak asks an important question: Is it possible to successfully reform Soviet-Style Communism? While the consensus today is that such a reform is not possible, Londak does not try to answer the question. In many ways, a descriptive approach based on statistical data produced by communist state agencies is not appropriate to explain the development and the failure of Czech and Slovak communist economies. Good examples are the flawed data on employment in sectors. Due to enormous overemployment in the economy, information on sectoral employment does not bring much value apart from a simple description of how the communist planners wanted to allocate the labor force across various sectors of the economy . Second, the monograph devotes only limited space to analyzing why Czechoslovakia adopted that particular set of economic reforms. While it is clear that Stalin was pushing for certain policies, not all Central and Eastern European satellites built the same socioeconomic system . There were strong differences, for example, between Polish, Hungarian, but naturally also between Yugoslav and Czechoslovak systems. It would have been useful to analyze why Czechoslovakia adopted the implemented the set of policies it adopted. In this respect, the book could also better analyze the "starting blocks" of Czechoslovak reforms. As these reforms were mainly coming from Soviet blueprints, the book would deserve at least a �SLOV AKIA-2015 139 short summary of the Soviet pre-1945 legacy: e.g. the Russian Civil War, the New Economic Policy, the Five Year Plans, Stalinism, collectivization, or central planning which were all part of this new Soviet experience, instrumental for Czechoslovak post-war policy making. Third, the book relies solely on Czech or Slovak literature. Of 234 items in the bibliography, only nine have been published outside (the former) Czechoslovakia. While it is natural that local literature serves as the primary source of this type of research, it would have been more than appropriate to also refer to e.g. Soviet or Polish literature. Moreover, as the book is narrowly focused on Slovak economic development, the question of the Hungarian minority would deserve better analysis again with a reference to Hungarian scholars in this area. The reader also feels overwhelmed by the amount of statistical data presented in the book. The strong emphasis on descriptive statistics without a clear message is often confusing (e.g. on pp.115-120). Some tables might have been better explained as figures, graphs, or even better maps. Crucially, while presenting many tables, Londak devotes too little space to linking the data with the story in the text and he misses the opportunity to explain why things happened the way they happened. Why were Czechs and Slovaks so willing to introduce communist measures, which in a few decades ruined the economy? How was it possible to establish the totalitarian regime so effectively and so quickly? Why were Communists not able to implement their economic plans? These are questions that can hardly be explained using communist statistical data, whose reliability is uncertain. The book would deserve a disclaimer at the beginning noting the limitations of the use of these data. Moreover, while Czech and Slovak economic disparities are analyzed sufficiently, more focus could have been put on regional, within-country variation. For example, how did Bratislava compare with the east of Slovakia over time? Which were the poorest regions and did they pick up over time? Which regions benefitted from industrialization, which did not, and why? And most of all, how did the life of an ordinary citizen look? These questions are unanswered. To supplement the collection of statistical data, Londak's publication would benefit from interviews with those concerned. These could have been either communist decision makers, their relatives, or �140 SLOV AKIA-2015 those affected by the decisions. Londa.k' s book contains only a few of these "human" elements: for example, to illustrate the absurd bureaucratic decision-making within the communist economic system, the book mentions the story of a director who had to sign 100,000 documents in one month (p.127). The publication would benefit from more of these little stories to illustrate the point. Doing so would make the book less dry and more "human" (A good example of this approach is Anne Applebaum ' s Iron Curtain: The Crushing Of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956) . Finally, the book lacks a clear motivation for any international reader. How is the economic development of Slovakia in the 1950s and 1960s relevant for today? There are at least several issues that matter beyond Slovakia: the distribution of power, subsidiarity and local nationalism (e.g. relevant for the EU today), the limits of government strategy planning and supply side economic policy (relevant for any policy-makers, especially in post-Soviet countries), or the analysis of Slovak industrialization (relevant for many developing countries). Unfortunately, none of this is mentioned in the book. When reading Londa.k' s monograph, one does not - and cannot understand the cruelty, violence and targeted threats to political opponents, which all were associated with the economic reforms. The communist economy was built on terror, propaganda, harassment, and persecution. Londak presents the era of Czechoslovak communist-building of the 1950s and 1960s as a game of statistical numbers and often failed economic policy-making. This is a dangerous approach as too many lives were lost during this era. So why did the communist economic system fail, including in Slovakia? Let's mention two factors . First, the explanation is actually presented in the words of economist Ota Sik (p.132) who noted in the 1960s that communist enterprises would not become efficient or innovative unless or until the consumer drove the production process. This key point, which helps to explain the inherent inefficiency of the communist economic system, would deserve a better analysis. Another factor (briefly mentioned on p.151) is that price in a centrally planned economy is completely unrelated to objective economic conditions. In a market economy, price is a result of equality between supply and demand and as a result it provides the key information to consumers and producers. Consumers can compare products based on price and producers can compete on producing with �SLOV AKIA-2015 141 the lowest costs so that their price is low. Finally, market price is information to potential producers who know that if they are able to produce the same product with a lower price, they will succeed. As such, market price is the ultimate driver of economic development. However, in a centrally planned economy, price fulfils none of these functions as it is administratively set with no reference to market conditions. This leads to the ultimate failure of the system. To conclude, Ekonomicke reformy is a well-researched book, which analyzes an important topic using a large number of original Czechoslovak sources. Londak has tried to tell the story of the Slovak post-war economy, which has an impact on today's economic structure and performance. However, the main message of the publication gets lost in dubious communist statistical data, and the story is not well connected. Regrettably, while being a good reference point, the publication misses an important opportunity to probe why the post-war economy of Slovakia was built the way it was built, why it failed, and why it matters for today. The descriptive approach based on flawed communist statistics left the most important questions unanswered . Jan Carnogursky. Dennik,1994-2007. Presov: Michal Vasko, 2013, 190 pp. Afterword by Ondrej Podolec, index of names. JANRYCHLIK Charles University, Prague Jan Carnogursky (b. 1944) was one of the leading figures of the anti-Communist dissident movement in Czechoslovakia between 1969 and 1989 and also an important personality in Slovak politics after November of 1989. In February of 1990 he founded the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), the right-of the center political party which became part of the Slovak government coalition after the first free elections in June of 1990. After the so-called "Velvet Revolution" (November, 1990) he was a Deputy Prime Minister in the Federal government of Marian Calfa and simultaneously a Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak government of Milan Cic. After the first free elections (8 - 9 June 1990), when the KDH joined in a coalition with the Public Against Violence (VPN), Carnogursky was a Deputy Prime Minister in the first government of Vladimir Meciar �142 SLOV AKIA-2015 (than a nominee of the VPN), and after the split of the VPN and the fall of Meciar, he was appointed Slovak Prime Minister (April 23 , 1991). After the second free elections (5 - 6 June 1992) which Meciar's new party - the Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) won, the KDH ended in opposition . Carnogursky was the leading figure of the opposition against Meciar' s non-democratic and autocratic rule which sometimes even used criminal methods and violence against its opponents and led to the international isolation of Slovakia. Carnogursky participated in the establishment of a new party - the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) led by Mikulas Dzurinda and was appointed Minister of Justice in Dzurinda's broad anti-Meciar coalition government (October 30, 1998 - October 15, 2002). Throughout this period Carnogursky was a deputy in the Slovak National Council (the Slovak Parliament) for the KDH (with the exception of the period when he was the Minister of Justice). Carnogursky ' s diary covers the period from August 27, 1994 to June 24, 2007. His notes of the events are usually short and illustrate the attitude of Slovakia towards some important international events. However, the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Dayton agreement in 1995 and the bombing of Serbia by NATO in 1999 are surprisingly missing. It is difficult to say whether Carnogursky did not consider these events worthy of notice or whether they were in the diary but he decided not to publish them . Carnogursky noted his discussions with various political leaders, diplomats and church functionaries . The diary sheds some light on new and important facts about the background of important events in the history of Slovakia of the past two decades, mainly : the political struggle against the HZDS and Vladimir Meciar, the formation of a broad anti-Meciar coalition; and international problems, mainly Slovak relations with Hungary, the USA and Russia. However, from the diary we can learn more about Carnogursky's standpoints than about the events themselves. To understand the diary properly, it is not only necessary to know Slovak political history of the past twenty-five years, but also to know something about Carnogursky 's political and family backgrounds and his ideas and thinking. Carnogursky is a conservative Catholic politician who, on the one hand was active in the dissident movement and struggle against Communism, but on the other hand he has always been critical of �SLOVAKIA-2015 143 American foreign policy and Western liberalism and secularism. While he criticized and opposed the policy of the former Soviet Union, after the fall of Communism Carnogursky advocated cooperation with Russia and saw Russian Orthodox Christianity as a source of spiritual revival of the western Christian world. His views, however, are not always accepted in today's Slovakia. Knowing this, it cannot surprise anyone that the diary reveals Carnogursky's opposition to Slovakia'a admittance to NATO and his friendly relations with Russia. Carnogursky ' s diary is certainly worth reading and may be useful for historians trying to understand the history of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia and of Central Europe in general in the period 1994-2007. Robert M. Zecker. Race and America 's Immigrant Press: How the Slovaks were Taught to Think Like White People. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013. 348pp. Notes, illustrations, bibliography, index. M. MARK STOLARIK University of Ottawa Robet M. Zecker claims that "This is the book I didn ' t want to write. At least not at first" (page 1). Since Zecker is of partial Slovak-American heritage, he was shocked by the racial references he found in the Slovak-American press from the l 890's to the l 940's while working on his University of Pennsylvania dissertation on the Slovak-American community in Philadelphia. After some reflection, and more research, he decided to document the rise of racism among Slovaks and Rusyns (and Eastern Europeans in general) in the United States, as reflected in their newspaper press. He felt that this side of the story had not previously been covered by scholars of Eastern European immigration to the United States of America. Zecker traced the rise of racism in the Slavic-American press to the enaction of Jim Crow laws in the American South in the l 890's and the subsequent lynching of several thousand Black-Americans. Initially, editors of ethnic newspapers were horrified by reports of lynchings in the South, but, within a decade, the horror changed to mere reporting or even agreement with the lynchings . Why? Zecker argues that Slavic-Americans, fearful of their own status as unskilled �144 SLOV AKIA-2015 laborers almost at the bottom of the social ladder, were glad that Blacks and Asians were below them still, and therefore, more inferior than themselves. Indeed, Slavic-Americans soon bought into the theory of "whiteness," whereby they (or their children) would eventually become respected members of the middle-class, which, of course, was white. Once they bought into America's racist society and its social hierarchy, Slavic Americans began to "ape the WASPS," as the expression goes. Their newspapers approvingly reproduced not only reports of lynchings of Blacks in the American South, but also advertisements that featured gross stereotypes of Blacks, which portrayed them as primitive savages. Furthermore, most Slavic-American neighborhoods, which often had Slovak Halls, Rusyn Halls, Polish Halls, etc. staged minstrel shows in the l 920's and l 930's, as did "mainstream" American neighborhood theaters. Finally, most Slavic Americans, like those who came before them, did not want Blacks to move into their neighborhoods and resisted government-led integration efforts in the 1960's and 1970's. In becoming "Americans," Slavic-Americans adopted the racist attitudes of their white predecessors. As Zecker predicted, this is a disturbing book. Most of the histories of the Southern and Eastern Europeans, who came to the United States in search of work and a better life in the l 870's to the l 920's, have focused on their slow, but steady rise on the American social ladder. Unfortunately, most historians have also ignored how these immigrants and their children had to adapt to American society by adopting the racist attitudes of their predecessors and become "white" in the process. The book suffers from only two deficiencies, perhaps caused by the publisher. The first is that the copious footnotes (pp. 253-308) appear at the back of the book, making it extremely tedious for the historian to read. The second is that Zecker did not separate his listing of periodicals from books and articles in the bibliography. It would have been instructive to discover, for instance, how many years (and which years) of Jednota, or Amerikansky russky viestnik, and other ethnic newspapers he had read. On the other hand, Zecker fulfilled very well his duties as an historian. He deeply mined the rich archival resources of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, the archives of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies at the Pennsylvania �SLOV AKIA-2015 145 Historical Society in Philadelphia, the New York Public Library, and several others. Finally, Zecker read most of the important books and articles relating to immigration to North America in the last 130 years. He is to be commended for a job well-done. M . Mark Stolarik. Where is My Hom e? Slovak Immigration to North America (1870-2010) . [Immigration from Europe to North America, Vol. l] Bern : Peter Lang, 2012 . xix, 392 pp. Notes, illustrations, bibliography, index . $99.95. WILLIAM J. GALUSH Loyola University of Chicago (retired) This is an excellent overview of Slovaks in the tumultuous period from the late nineteenth century to the present, thoughtfully and engagingly portrayed through the experiences of one family. Mark Stolarik seeks to combine the personal with the general in history and succeeds admirably. The fami li al dimension benefits from numerous interviews by the author while he relies on his extensive reading and archival research on Slovak immigration for the larger narrative. The story of Slovaks, an oppresed minority within the multiethnic Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, shows them seeking improvement both by departure elsewhere and striving to develop a sense of common identity in the homeland in the face of strenuous efforts by their Hungarian overlords to magyarize them . The transoceanic aspect is important and the author demonstrates enduring connections which significantly influenced the homeland. About a third of immigrants to North America returned, and as with the Poles in my own research, brought back a heightened sense of Slovak identity and a desire for a more modem lifestyle which stimulated their viII ages. Lacking the equivalent of Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian province essentially under Polish control from the late nineteenth century, Slovaks in America took on a greater role in supporting nationalism in the homeland through their fraternalbenefit societies and the Slovak League of Amerca (f. 1907). �146 SLOV AKIA-2015 The theme of Slovak nationalism infonns the narrative. The World War I agreements to create a federal Czecho-Slovakia were subverted by T. G. Masaryk and his followers. The variations among the diaspora, with the Roman Catholics being the most nationalistic, emerge clearly and the author gives a nuanced and sympathetic account of interwar patriotism and the emergence of an independent Slovakia in 1939. With reunification after 1945, Slovaks abroad were the only ones able to articulate a nationalist position. Support for the united country came mainly from a tiny leftist element and from some Lutheran Slovaks . The post-1989 era offered the opportunity for the reappearance of an independent Slovakia and Stolarik clearly rejoices at the success of the effort. The Stolariks were strivers. Some went to the United States while others remained at home, seeking through education and white collar employment to elevate their status. Imrich, father of Mark, became the city assessor of Martin and led a comfortable existence even during World War II, continuing government employment under the newly independent Slovak Republic. The defeat of their Gennan sponsors and fears of a communist Czechoslovakia prompted Imrich and his family to flee to Austria, where Mark and his siblings lived until they were able to move to Canada. The author's parents had a strong interest in education and nationalism and encouraged participation in ethnic activities in the new land . This speaks to the question of identity in the title wherein ethnic consciousness sustained a sense of self and group despite multiple changes of government and location. Family was also a major factor in making a living, with aid in getting jobs and infonnation on the new land helpful in adjustment and upward mobility. One of the most engaging aspects of the book is the use of familial anecdote to bring life to history . For example, during World War II female relatives of the author, needing to milk goats in a time of food scarcity, persuaded nearby soldiers to stop shelling so the animals would calm down! Stolarik also offers accounts of misleading meddling communist officials while his homeland relatives provided shelter, assistance and advice during his research in Slovakia. The larger narrative would benefit from greater acknowledgement of variety . The author likely overstates the general persistence of the immigrant vision of an enclosed Slovak identity in the �SLOVAKIA-2015 147 second generation. In Minneapolis, with five Polish (and one Slovak) Catholic parishes, marriages at the largest Polish congregation by 1940 recorded over 50% with one non-Polish spouse, and the greater paucity of Slovaks might well have fostered such patterns there or elsewhere. In this regard Stolarik is better in the helpful comparison of American and Canadian Slovak development, noting contrasts as well as similarities and offering plausible interpretations for variety. The book is a stimulating study which will repay the attention of scholars and interesting laypersons alike. � REVIEWS ��SLOV AKIA-2015 129 Jan Rychlik, Magdalena Rychlfkova. Hospodafsky, socialni, kulturni a politicky vyvoj Podkarpatske Rusi 1919 - 1939 (Prague: Studie Narodohospodarskeho ustavu Josefa Hlavky, 2013), 184 pages. Notes, maps, illustrations, along with a German and English Summary. C. WINSTON CHRISLOCK Professor Emeritus University of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minnesota Transcarpathian Rus' formed the eastern tip of the First Czechoslovak Republic from 1919 to 1938 and, briefly of the Second Czecho-Slovak Republic from October 1938 to mid-March 1939. On November 2, 1939, Hungary annexed the southern, mostly Magyar regions of a by then autonomous Transcarpathian Rus' . On March 16, after the demise of Czecho-Slovakia, Hungary annexed the remainder of the region . Soviet forces occupied the area during the final stages of World War II in Europe. In June of 1945 Czechoslovakia agreed to allow the U.S.S.R. to annex Transcarpathian Rus' and both countries ratified the treaty of transfer in November of 1945. From 1945 until 1991 it was part of the Soviet Union's Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in December of 1991 , it remained a province of independent Ukraine. The purpose of the Rychliks' monograph is to describe and evaluate the region during its association with Czechoslovakia in the inner-war period. There was no doubt that the Czechoslovak government took over administration of a very complex and economically primitive province. The Rychliks' account begins with a pre-1919 backround in which they summarize Czech, Magyar and Ukranian sources. They then continue with an historical survey up to 1919. We learn that Transcarpathian Rus' consisted of four Hungarian counties, and that the Rusyn population had not yet developed any sense of national consciousness. The northern half of Transcarpathian Rus' was mountainous and heavily forested while the south was flatter and more suited for agriculture. About two-thirds of of the population were Rusyns who spoke dialects closely related to Ukrainian. Minorities consisted of Magyars, Jews, Romanians, Germans and Roma. Prior to World War I any attempt to codify the Rusyn language was prob- �130 SLOVAKIA-2015 lematic. While Rusyn dialects were close to Ukrainian, the tsarist regime in Russia looked upon Ukrainian as a Russian dialect. That would make Rusyn dialects dialects of a dialect! Austria-Hungary's collapse in 1918 brought political and economic chaos . Rusyn Americans had developed national consciousness by 1914, modelled somewhat on the Slovak experience. In the wake of Austria-Hungary's collapse their leaders lobbied T. G. Masaryk, leader of the Czecho-Slovak independence movement, and President Woodrow Wilson, for a Rusyn association with the new Czechoslovak state, with the understanding that Subcarpathian Rus' would have a large degree of autonomy. Masaryk agreed to this and after military confrontations with Hungary, Poland and indigenous Magyars, the Czechoslovak army, with the support of the United Kingdom, France and the U.S .A., successfully occupied the region by the end of 1919 and maintained sovereignty over it until the German annexation of the Czech lands in March of 1939. The Rychliks' objective was to describe the social, cultural and political problems of the region and then evaluate how the Czechoslovak government dealt with and responded to them. Given the complexity of a region that was blessed (cursed?) with a plethora of nationalities and languages, religions, hostile neighbors, and underdeveloped economy and national consciousness, the Czechoslovak government faced a monumental task. The political problem revolved around autonomy for the area. The 1920 Czechoslovak constitution provided for Subcarpathian Rus ' to send four senators and nine representatives to Czechoslovakia's National Assembly. Czechoslovakia's president, upon recommendation of the government, appointed a governor, whose power was limited, and a vicegovemor, who exercised most administrative powers. Rusyns, both at home and in the U.S.A., were dissatisfied with the lack of autonomy. Complicating the political situation were conflicts among Rusyns, Ukrainofiles, Russofiles, Jews, and Magyars and further conflicts between Russian Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians. Economic and infrastructure underdevelopment were also major problems. Before World War I, commerce and transit were basically north and south, while after 1919 these were oriented east-west. Destruction brought on by the war exacerbated these problems. The Rychliks provide maps, railway timetables, and agricultural and eco- �SLOVAKIA-2015 131 nomic data to embellish their account of economic and infrastructure development. The book devotes substantial space to language and education. As both religious and public schools evolved, language became a thorny issue. The Rychliks pointed out that literary languages are artificial, and that was certainly true in Subcarpathian Rus'. Rusyns had not developed a literary language that everybody could agree upon. How could this state establish a network of Schools when Rusyns could not agree if the language and textbooks of instruction should be in Ukranian, Russian, or in a local dialect? What should be the policy toward the minority Ukranian, Russian, Slovak, Czech, Magyar, Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Romanian, Roma Slovak and Czech speakers? The authors concluded that by 1938 there was no final resolution of the language issue. The authors concluded, with reservations, that Subcarpathian Rus' progressed under the first Czechoslovak Republic. However, from the standpoint of political maturity, economic and infrastructure development, literacy, and steps towards the codification of language, the formidable problems listed above retarded its progress. The Rychliks' work is a good companion to Paul R. Magocsi's excellent The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus ', 1848-1948 (1978). The former gives a data-filled account of a twenty-year period in 183 pages, thirty of which are notes, railroad timetables, maps and pictures, while Magocsi provides us with a very readable overview of the development of Subcarpathian Rus' over 100 years, along with a substantial, nearly 100-page, appendix and numerous notes. �132 SLOV AKIA-2015 David Doellinger. Turning Prayers into Based Activism and its Challenge to State Slovakia and East Germany. Budapest: Central Press, 2013. xii-288 pp. Glossary, bibliography, Protests: ReligiousPower in Socialist European University index. JAMES RAMON PELAK University of Washington Poland, no doubt, comes to mind first when one considers the role played by religion and religious institutions in the events and processes leading up to the collapse of Communism in East Central Europe in 1989. David Doellinger reminds us, in his Turning Prayers into Protests, that there were other places in the region where religion was an active and significant force of social mobilization in the fateful developments of the 1980s, most notably Slovakia and East Germany. Doellinger juxtaposes the cases of Slovakia and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in what is a truly comparative work. The focus is on the activists themselves, and the work is organized both thematically and chronologically. Each chapter gives sufficient attention to each situation, examining both cases in terms of a particular aspect of the issue, and establishing the impact and the limitations of the role of religion as a mobilizing force in each locale. Though an historian, Doellinger draws generously from sociology and political science. The author establishes the context for his case studies, attuned to the differences and similarities between them. In Slovakia, he examines the Roman Catholic Church, especially its underground branch, while in the GDR he looks at the official Evangelical Church, a primarily Lutheran institution. Doellinger notes for both cases the differences with regard to the degree of institutional autonomy for the Church, the level of religiosity among the population, and the type of activism . He examines for each state such factors as the social and informational networks established among activists and the processes whereby prayers were transformed into protests in the 1980s. Doellinger decided to do an in-depth study of the Slovak situation after two former Czech dissidents remarked that Slovakia �SLOVAKIA-2015 133 had had no dissidents or independent activism during the communist period, a far cry from reality. As a corrective to such ill-informed views, the author presents the Slovak case in great detail, analyzing the operations of the underground church, situating Catholic activism within the broader context of independent activity in Slovakia, and providing excellent descriptions and analyses of such critical examples of public mobilization as the Velehrad pilgrimage of 1985 (drawing from 100,000 to 250,000 participants), the petition for religious freedom of 1988 (signed by 300,000 to 400,000 Slovaks), and the Good Friday demonstration of March 25 , 1988 in Bratislava. Doellinger notes the crucial role played by Karol Wojtila who, as Archbishop of Krakow, was a friend and supporter of the underground church in Slovakia, ordaining secret clergy in the 1970s. As Pope John Paul II, he gave a voice to the persecuted Church, condemned the government-sponsored Pacem in Terris organization of Czechoslovak clergy, successfully encouraged Prague ' s Archbishop Frantisek Tomasek to become more assertive on behalf of religious freedom, and energized Catholics in Slovakia and elsewhere . With respect to the GDR, Doellinger notes the strong influence of the Evangelical Church, made possible by its considerable autonomy, which enabled it to provide crucial support for independent activity. The church promoted and defended the so-called Bausoldaten, young men who served in non-combat units beside the East German military on grounds of conscientious objection to war and militarism . It provided meeting space, access to publishing, and other supports for peace, environmental, and social justice-oriented groups. Doellinger notes both the advantages enjoyed and constraints faced by activists on account of this close connection with the Evangelical Church. Doellinger's work is especially valuable thanks to the type and array of sources he uses. Along with reports on religious activism and a large and diverse amount of religious samizdat found in more than a dozen archives, he has interviewed scores of activists, examined local church and government records for the GDR, and gained access to at least four private collections of former activists. A few relatively minor criticisms are in order. Though this book is expressly not a study of the inner-workings of the regime in its dealings with religion, the author might have done more with the records of the Czechoslovak Office for Church Affairs. This �134 SLOV AKIA-2015 organization did a competent job in monitoring religion in Czechoslovakia and might contain useful information about the underground church and other forms of Catholic activism. And the subsections marked "Summary" near the end of each chapter sometimes do much more than summarize, but rather introduce important new material and perspectives not found earlier. Doellinger's work is an extremely valuable contribution to our understanding of the late communist period in Czechoslovakia and the GDR, to the processes that brought about the collapse of communist regimes in 1989, and to the important role played by religion in these developments. Though genuinely comparative, and insightfully so, the book does maintain the distinction between the two states, so a reader whose interest lies more in Slovakia than in the GDR would have no problem accessing the parts of the book specific to the Slovak Socialist Republic. James Mace Ward. Priest, Politician, Collaborator: Jozef Tiso and the Making of Fascist Slovakia. Ithaca and London : Cornell University Press, 2013. xii, 362 pp., ill., notes, index. $39 .95 . GREGORY C. FERENCE Salisbury University James Mace Ward has written a first-rate biography of Jozef Tiso, the only Roman Catholic priest, aside from the pope, to lead a modem European country. For his efforts, Ward received Honorable Mention in a 2014 competition of the premier North American scholarly organization, the Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies Reginald Zelnik Book Prize. It is awarded annually for an outstanding monograph published on Russia, Eastern Europe or Eurasia in the field of history in the previous year. In his Preface, the author avers that he is "deeply committed to providing as accurate an account of this life as I can." (xi) He has accomplished this task by conducting extensive research using Czech, English, German, Hungarian, and Slovak sources. Yet, Ward modestly apologizes that he did not have enough time to conduct more research for his book. As Ward shows, the life of Father Jozef Tiso remains multi-faceted, complicated, and controversial. One can characterize his ca- �SLOV AKIA-2015 135 reer as opportunistic and full of contradictions. Before 1918, Tiso seemed destined to rise in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, and, as such, proved to be a loyal Hungarian - a charge that would haunt him for the rest of his life. By the conclusion of the First World War he became more nationally astute, and with the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia, he turned to politics with a Catholic and Christian social agenda subsumed by Slovak nationalism. Throughout his political life, Tiso became a master at organization, infighting, outmaneuvering, playing the various sides, and skillfully deflecting criticism by blaming others for his own faults and actions. He preferred to be ambiguous rather than take responsibility . Despite being a political animal, Tiso found time almost every Sunday from the 1920s until 1945 to celebrate Mass. In 1918, Ward continues, with the state in flux, Tiso became the secretary of the Slovak National Council in Nitra, and helped coordinate its occupation by Czecho-Slovak forces while attacking Jews as usurers, war profiteers, and revolutionaries. As the situation stabilized, Tiso joined Father Andrej Hlinka' s Slovak People ' s ("I:udak") Party, abandoned his anti-Semitism, and became a political moderate who feared secularization. He served first in the Czechoslovak Parliament and then as Minister of Public Health and Physical Education (1927-1929) where his accomplishments were modest. By the early 1930s, Tiso became Hlinka' s heir, but had to fend off a new generation of radical I:udak rivals who often thwarted his goals. Until 1938, he attempted to reconcile the I:udaks with the government and outflank "Godless" socialists. By then, since he realized he would no longer serve in the government, Tiso turned on Czechoslovakia by demanding greater autonomy for Slovakia. With the Republic failing, he conducted talks with Hungary and Poland about Slovakia' s future while still maintaining a dialogue with Prague. After the 1938 Munich Crisis, Ward continues, Tiso blamed the Jews and the Czechs for the diktat while tightening his control over his party . He vacillated on Slovak independence since he did not want to be viewed as the person who destroyed Czechoslovakia, but when it became inevitable, he embraced it and took control of Slovakia despite opposition from the Holy See. Tiso saw the Slovak State as a step forward for national consciousness and confidence. As vodca, or leader of independent Slovakia, he ordered no political executions and traveled freely with few bodyguards. Yet, he allied with �136 SLOV AKIA-2015 Nazi Germany and occasionally resisted its demands, but backed the deportation of two-thirds of Slovakia's Jews. By 1943, as the war seemed lost, Tiso became conciliatory towards a reconstituted Czechoslovakia but did not understand the strength of the underground plotting the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) in the summer of 1944. Deeply hurt by the thought that Slovaks opposed his regime, Tiso nonetheless ordered the suppression of the SNP that resulted in the German occupation of Slovakia. In his last radio address as his government crumbled, Tiso portrayed himself as a martyr. Arrested by the Americans, and turned over to the Czechoslovak authorities, Tiso's trial, according to Ward, became a travesty of justice dominated by unprofessional judges, packed courts, and political manipulations that assured a negative judgment. During the show trial, Tiso received the blame for, among other things, the destruction of Czechoslovakia, the Holocaust, and the failure of the SNP. Sentenced to death, and despite a popular outcry in Slovakia, the court and central government denied his and influential requests for clemency while his co-defendants and counterparts in the Czech Lands received lesser sentences. The Communists used Tiso ' s trial and execution as a political tool against the Slovak Democrats in their bid for power. After Tiso ' s death in 194 7, Ward continues, Tiso remained controversial. Slovak emigres turned him into an anti-Communist patriot martyr who was a victim of circumstances. Meanwhile, communist Czechoslovakia portrayed him as a clerical-fascist war criminal. After the fall of Communism in 1989, Tiso resurfaced as a destabilizing factor in Czechoslovak politics. Emigres, supported by the cultural institution Matica slovenska and, sometimes, the Ministry of Education, attempted to rehabilitate Tiso, but historians at the Slovak Academy of Sciences parried this effort after reasserting their independent academic credentials, thereby presenting a more balanced and scholarly perspective. The issue in today's Slovakia remains a "grey" topic in which Tiso is neither popular nor condemned. This objective biography will remain a classic in English as Tiso will no longer be presented in simple black and white terms as in the past. It is an excellent source for students of nationalism, political Catholicism, the history of Czechoslovakia and Slovakia, and postCommunism. It is a shame that Ward ' s book did not win the Zelnik �SLOV AKIA-2015 137 Book Prize which would have given it greater notoriety and exposure. Miroslav Londak. Ekonomicke reformy v Ceskoslovensku v 50. a 60. Rokoch 20. storocia a slovenskti ekonomika. Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2010 . 295pp. Bibliography, English summary, index of names. MARTIN POSPISIL CERGE-EI, and Charles University, Prague Ever since the communist and capitalist economic systems began competing in the 1920s, economists and historians have explored the efficiency, performance, and stability of these systems. Today, there is a general consensus that Soviet-style Communism failed. At the same time, there is still a limited understanding of how the communist economic system was built, especially in smaller countries . Miroslav Londak tries to bridge this gap and focuses on economic development in Slovakia after the 2nd World War. Londak's book is a well-researched publication aimed at better understanding of the Slovak industrialization, economic system-building, and reconstruction within the Czechoslovakia of the 1950s and 1960s. To explain the Slovak post-war economic reforms, Londak adopted a descriptive methodology that required an analysis of a long list of statistical publications, documents, and speeches. Like a good historian, he picked up a great deal about the concerns and problems that drove the building of the economic system of the time. For the novice there is much to be learned here. For example, in the Introduction (p.9), he rightly notes that it is often forgotten how much of today ' s economic development of Slovakia is linked to the decades of the post-war situation in Czechoslovakia. The book notes the astonishing pace of communist socioeconomic reforms. For example, the author describes the amazing speed of post-War Czechoslovak asset nationalization and collectivization. Londak rightly stresses an important point (sometimes forgotten in related debates) that many policies associated with the Communists (e.g. nationalization) had actually been introduced by President Benes during 1945-1948, before the Communists fully took power. The publication also analyses federalization tendencies in �138 SLOV AKIA-2015 Slovakia and various efforts to reform the inefficient Soviet-style economic system: e.g. the First and Second economic reforms in the 1950s and 1960s, reform ideas related to the Prague Spring, as well as the hopeless attempts to reform the economy in the 1980s. Londak's book contains a lot of statistical data and references to original documents to illustrate the point. In his research, the author includes documents - often very rare ones - to show the development of various sectors of the economy, the level of industrialization, or employment. Certain statistics are telling: While in 1947, 80% of Czechoslovak exports went to the West, this share gradually decreased to 12-25% in only one decade. Another statistic nicely illustrates the continuous emigration from Slovakia. Around 220,000 people left Slovakia between WW I and WW II, which created a large job market mismatch . Despite providing a lot of information, however, the book suffers from several drawbacks. First, it stops short of where it should ideally begin. In the Introduction, Londak asks an important question: Is it possible to successfully reform Soviet-Style Communism? While the consensus today is that such a reform is not possible, Londak does not try to answer the question. In many ways, a descriptive approach based on statistical data produced by communist state agencies is not appropriate to explain the development and the failure of Czech and Slovak communist economies. Good examples are the flawed data on employment in sectors. Due to enormous overemployment in the economy, information on sectoral employment does not bring much value apart from a simple description of how the communist planners wanted to allocate the labor force across various sectors of the economy . Second, the monograph devotes only limited space to analyzing why Czechoslovakia adopted that particular set of economic reforms. While it is clear that Stalin was pushing for certain policies, not all Central and Eastern European satellites built the same socioeconomic system . There were strong differences, for example, between Polish, Hungarian, but naturally also between Yugoslav and Czechoslovak systems. It would have been useful to analyze why Czechoslovakia adopted the implemented the set of policies it adopted. In this respect, the book could also better analyze the "starting blocks" of Czechoslovak reforms. As these reforms were mainly coming from Soviet blueprints, the book would deserve at least a �SLOV AKIA-2015 139 short summary of the Soviet pre-1945 legacy: e.g. the Russian Civil War, the New Economic Policy, the Five Year Plans, Stalinism, collectivization, or central planning which were all part of this new Soviet experience, instrumental for Czechoslovak post-war policy making. Third, the book relies solely on Czech or Slovak literature. Of 234 items in the bibliography, only nine have been published outside (the former) Czechoslovakia. While it is natural that local literature serves as the primary source of this type of research, it would have been more than appropriate to also refer to e.g. Soviet or Polish literature. Moreover, as the book is narrowly focused on Slovak economic development, the question of the Hungarian minority would deserve better analysis again with a reference to Hungarian scholars in this area. The reader also feels overwhelmed by the amount of statistical data presented in the book. The strong emphasis on descriptive statistics without a clear message is often confusing (e.g. on pp.115-120). Some tables might have been better explained as figures, graphs, or even better maps. Crucially, while presenting many tables, Londak devotes too little space to linking the data with the story in the text and he misses the opportunity to explain why things happened the way they happened. Why were Czechs and Slovaks so willing to introduce communist measures, which in a few decades ruined the economy? How was it possible to establish the totalitarian regime so effectively and so quickly? Why were Communists not able to implement their economic plans? These are questions that can hardly be explained using communist statistical data, whose reliability is uncertain. The book would deserve a disclaimer at the beginning noting the limitations of the use of these data. Moreover, while Czech and Slovak economic disparities are analyzed sufficiently, more focus could have been put on regional, within-country variation. For example, how did Bratislava compare with the east of Slovakia over time? Which were the poorest regions and did they pick up over time? Which regions benefitted from industrialization, which did not, and why? And most of all, how did the life of an ordinary citizen look? These questions are unanswered. To supplement the collection of statistical data, Londak's publication would benefit from interviews with those concerned. These could have been either communist decision makers, their relatives, or �140 SLOV AKIA-2015 those affected by the decisions. Londa.k' s book contains only a few of these "human" elements: for example, to illustrate the absurd bureaucratic decision-making within the communist economic system, the book mentions the story of a director who had to sign 100,000 documents in one month (p.127). The publication would benefit from more of these little stories to illustrate the point. Doing so would make the book less dry and more "human" (A good example of this approach is Anne Applebaum ' s Iron Curtain: The Crushing Of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956) . Finally, the book lacks a clear motivation for any international reader. How is the economic development of Slovakia in the 1950s and 1960s relevant for today? There are at least several issues that matter beyond Slovakia: the distribution of power, subsidiarity and local nationalism (e.g. relevant for the EU today), the limits of government strategy planning and supply side economic policy (relevant for any policy-makers, especially in post-Soviet countries), or the analysis of Slovak industrialization (relevant for many developing countries). Unfortunately, none of this is mentioned in the book. When reading Londa.k' s monograph, one does not - and cannot understand the cruelty, violence and targeted threats to political opponents, which all were associated with the economic reforms. The communist economy was built on terror, propaganda, harassment, and persecution. Londak presents the era of Czechoslovak communist-building of the 1950s and 1960s as a game of statistical numbers and often failed economic policy-making. This is a dangerous approach as too many lives were lost during this era. So why did the communist economic system fail, including in Slovakia? Let's mention two factors . First, the explanation is actually presented in the words of economist Ota Sik (p.132) who noted in the 1960s that communist enterprises would not become efficient or innovative unless or until the consumer drove the production process. This key point, which helps to explain the inherent inefficiency of the communist economic system, would deserve a better analysis. Another factor (briefly mentioned on p.151) is that price in a centrally planned economy is completely unrelated to objective economic conditions. In a market economy, price is a result of equality between supply and demand and as a result it provides the key information to consumers and producers. Consumers can compare products based on price and producers can compete on producing with �SLOV AKIA-2015 141 the lowest costs so that their price is low. Finally, market price is information to potential producers who know that if they are able to produce the same product with a lower price, they will succeed. As such, market price is the ultimate driver of economic development. However, in a centrally planned economy, price fulfils none of these functions as it is administratively set with no reference to market conditions. This leads to the ultimate failure of the system. To conclude, Ekonomicke reformy is a well-researched book, which analyzes an important topic using a large number of original Czechoslovak sources. Londak has tried to tell the story of the Slovak post-war economy, which has an impact on today's economic structure and performance. However, the main message of the publication gets lost in dubious communist statistical data, and the story is not well connected. Regrettably, while being a good reference point, the publication misses an important opportunity to probe why the post-war economy of Slovakia was built the way it was built, why it failed, and why it matters for today. The descriptive approach based on flawed communist statistics left the most important questions unanswered . Jan Carnogursky. Dennik,1994-2007. Presov: Michal Vasko, 2013, 190 pp. Afterword by Ondrej Podolec, index of names. JANRYCHLIK Charles University, Prague Jan Carnogursky (b. 1944) was one of the leading figures of the anti-Communist dissident movement in Czechoslovakia between 1969 and 1989 and also an important personality in Slovak politics after November of 1989. In February of 1990 he founded the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), the right-of the center political party which became part of the Slovak government coalition after the first free elections in June of 1990. After the so-called "Velvet Revolution" (November, 1990) he was a Deputy Prime Minister in the Federal government of Marian Calfa and simultaneously a Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak government of Milan Cic. After the first free elections (8 - 9 June 1990), when the KDH joined in a coalition with the Public Against Violence (VPN), Carnogursky was a Deputy Prime Minister in the first government of Vladimir Meciar �142 SLOV AKIA-2015 (than a nominee of the VPN), and after the split of the VPN and the fall of Meciar, he was appointed Slovak Prime Minister (April 23 , 1991). After the second free elections (5 - 6 June 1992) which Meciar's new party - the Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) won, the KDH ended in opposition . Carnogursky was the leading figure of the opposition against Meciar' s non-democratic and autocratic rule which sometimes even used criminal methods and violence against its opponents and led to the international isolation of Slovakia. Carnogursky participated in the establishment of a new party - the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) led by Mikulas Dzurinda and was appointed Minister of Justice in Dzurinda's broad anti-Meciar coalition government (October 30, 1998 - October 15, 2002). Throughout this period Carnogursky was a deputy in the Slovak National Council (the Slovak Parliament) for the KDH (with the exception of the period when he was the Minister of Justice). Carnogursky ' s diary covers the period from August 27, 1994 to June 24, 2007. His notes of the events are usually short and illustrate the attitude of Slovakia towards some important international events. However, the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Dayton agreement in 1995 and the bombing of Serbia by NATO in 1999 are surprisingly missing. It is difficult to say whether Carnogursky did not consider these events worthy of notice or whether they were in the diary but he decided not to publish them . Carnogursky noted his discussions with various political leaders, diplomats and church functionaries . The diary sheds some light on new and important facts about the background of important events in the history of Slovakia of the past two decades, mainly : the political struggle against the HZDS and Vladimir Meciar, the formation of a broad anti-Meciar coalition; and international problems, mainly Slovak relations with Hungary, the USA and Russia. However, from the diary we can learn more about Carnogursky's standpoints than about the events themselves. To understand the diary properly, it is not only necessary to know Slovak political history of the past twenty-five years, but also to know something about Carnogursky 's political and family backgrounds and his ideas and thinking. Carnogursky is a conservative Catholic politician who, on the one hand was active in the dissident movement and struggle against Communism, but on the other hand he has always been critical of �SLOVAKIA-2015 143 American foreign policy and Western liberalism and secularism. While he criticized and opposed the policy of the former Soviet Union, after the fall of Communism Carnogursky advocated cooperation with Russia and saw Russian Orthodox Christianity as a source of spiritual revival of the western Christian world. His views, however, are not always accepted in today's Slovakia. Knowing this, it cannot surprise anyone that the diary reveals Carnogursky's opposition to Slovakia'a admittance to NATO and his friendly relations with Russia. Carnogursky ' s diary is certainly worth reading and may be useful for historians trying to understand the history of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia and of Central Europe in general in the period 1994-2007. Robert M. Zecker. Race and America 's Immigrant Press: How the Slovaks were Taught to Think Like White People. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013. 348pp. Notes, illustrations, bibliography, index. M. MARK STOLARIK University of Ottawa Robet M. Zecker claims that "This is the book I didn ' t want to write. At least not at first" (page 1). Since Zecker is of partial Slovak-American heritage, he was shocked by the racial references he found in the Slovak-American press from the l 890's to the l 940's while working on his University of Pennsylvania dissertation on the Slovak-American community in Philadelphia. After some reflection, and more research, he decided to document the rise of racism among Slovaks and Rusyns (and Eastern Europeans in general) in the United States, as reflected in their newspaper press. He felt that this side of the story had not previously been covered by scholars of Eastern European immigration to the United States of America. Zecker traced the rise of racism in the Slavic-American press to the enaction of Jim Crow laws in the American South in the l 890's and the subsequent lynching of several thousand Black-Americans. Initially, editors of ethnic newspapers were horrified by reports of lynchings in the South, but, within a decade, the horror changed to mere reporting or even agreement with the lynchings . Why? Zecker argues that Slavic-Americans, fearful of their own status as unskilled �144 SLOV AKIA-2015 laborers almost at the bottom of the social ladder, were glad that Blacks and Asians were below them still, and therefore, more inferior than themselves. Indeed, Slavic-Americans soon bought into the theory of "whiteness," whereby they (or their children) would eventually become respected members of the middle-class, which, of course, was white. Once they bought into America's racist society and its social hierarchy, Slavic Americans began to "ape the WASPS," as the expression goes. Their newspapers approvingly reproduced not only reports of lynchings of Blacks in the American South, but also advertisements that featured gross stereotypes of Blacks, which portrayed them as primitive savages. Furthermore, most Slavic-American neighborhoods, which often had Slovak Halls, Rusyn Halls, Polish Halls, etc. staged minstrel shows in the l 920's and l 930's, as did "mainstream" American neighborhood theaters. Finally, most Slavic Americans, like those who came before them, did not want Blacks to move into their neighborhoods and resisted government-led integration efforts in the 1960's and 1970's. In becoming "Americans," Slavic-Americans adopted the racist attitudes of their white predecessors. As Zecker predicted, this is a disturbing book. Most of the histories of the Southern and Eastern Europeans, who came to the United States in search of work and a better life in the l 870's to the l 920's, have focused on their slow, but steady rise on the American social ladder. Unfortunately, most historians have also ignored how these immigrants and their children had to adapt to American society by adopting the racist attitudes of their predecessors and become "white" in the process. The book suffers from only two deficiencies, perhaps caused by the publisher. The first is that the copious footnotes (pp. 253-308) appear at the back of the book, making it extremely tedious for the historian to read. The second is that Zecker did not separate his listing of periodicals from books and articles in the bibliography. It would have been instructive to discover, for instance, how many years (and which years) of Jednota, or Amerikansky russky viestnik, and other ethnic newspapers he had read. On the other hand, Zecker fulfilled very well his duties as an historian. He deeply mined the rich archival resources of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, the archives of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies at the Pennsylvania �SLOV AKIA-2015 145 Historical Society in Philadelphia, the New York Public Library, and several others. Finally, Zecker read most of the important books and articles relating to immigration to North America in the last 130 years. He is to be commended for a job well-done. M . Mark Stolarik. Where is My Hom e? Slovak Immigration to North America (1870-2010) . [Immigration from Europe to North America, Vol. l] Bern : Peter Lang, 2012 . xix, 392 pp. Notes, illustrations, bibliography, index . $99.95. WILLIAM J. GALUSH Loyola University of Chicago (retired) This is an excellent overview of Slovaks in the tumultuous period from the late nineteenth century to the present, thoughtfully and engagingly portrayed through the experiences of one family. Mark Stolarik seeks to combine the personal with the general in history and succeeds admirably. The fami li al dimension benefits from numerous interviews by the author while he relies on his extensive reading and archival research on Slovak immigration for the larger narrative. The story of Slovaks, an oppresed minority within the multiethnic Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, shows them seeking improvement both by departure elsewhere and striving to develop a sense of common identity in the homeland in the face of strenuous efforts by their Hungarian overlords to magyarize them . The transoceanic aspect is important and the author demonstrates enduring connections which significantly influenced the homeland. About a third of immigrants to North America returned, and as with the Poles in my own research, brought back a heightened sense of Slovak identity and a desire for a more modem lifestyle which stimulated their viII ages. Lacking the equivalent of Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian province essentially under Polish control from the late nineteenth century, Slovaks in America took on a greater role in supporting nationalism in the homeland through their fraternalbenefit societies and the Slovak League of Amerca (f. 1907). �146 SLOV AKIA-2015 The theme of Slovak nationalism infonns the narrative. The World War I agreements to create a federal Czecho-Slovakia were subverted by T. G. Masaryk and his followers. The variations among the diaspora, with the Roman Catholics being the most nationalistic, emerge clearly and the author gives a nuanced and sympathetic account of interwar patriotism and the emergence of an independent Slovakia in 1939. With reunification after 1945, Slovaks abroad were the only ones able to articulate a nationalist position. Support for the united country came mainly from a tiny leftist element and from some Lutheran Slovaks . The post-1989 era offered the opportunity for the reappearance of an independent Slovakia and Stolarik clearly rejoices at the success of the effort. The Stolariks were strivers. Some went to the United States while others remained at home, seeking through education and white collar employment to elevate their status. Imrich, father of Mark, became the city assessor of Martin and led a comfortable existence even during World War II, continuing government employment under the newly independent Slovak Republic. The defeat of their Gennan sponsors and fears of a communist Czechoslovakia prompted Imrich and his family to flee to Austria, where Mark and his siblings lived until they were able to move to Canada. The author's parents had a strong interest in education and nationalism and encouraged participation in ethnic activities in the new land . This speaks to the question of identity in the title wherein ethnic consciousness sustained a sense of self and group despite multiple changes of government and location. Family was also a major factor in making a living, with aid in getting jobs and infonnation on the new land helpful in adjustment and upward mobility. One of the most engaging aspects of the book is the use of familial anecdote to bring life to history . For example, during World War II female relatives of the author, needing to milk goats in a time of food scarcity, persuaded nearby soldiers to stop shelling so the animals would calm down! Stolarik also offers accounts of misleading meddling communist officials while his homeland relatives provided shelter, assistance and advice during his research in Slovakia. The larger narrative would benefit from greater acknowledgement of variety . The author likely overstates the general persistence of the immigrant vision of an enclosed Slovak identity in the �SLOVAKIA-2015 147 second generation. In Minneapolis, with five Polish (and one Slovak) Catholic parishes, marriages at the largest Polish congregation by 1940 recorded over 50% with one non-Polish spouse, and the greater paucity of Slovaks might well have fostered such patterns there or elsewhere. In this regard Stolarik is better in the helpful comparison of American and Canadian Slovak development, noting contrasts as well as similarities and offering plausible interpretations for variety. The book is a stimulating study which will repay the attention of scholars and interesting laypersons alike. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2015, Vol. 42 Description An account of the resource Vol. 42 (No. 78-79), 2015. 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 2015 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 SLOV AKIA-2015 129 Jan Rychlik, Magdalena Rychlfkova. Hospodafsky, socialni, kulturni a politicky vyvoj Podkarpatske Rusi 1919 - 1939 (Prague: Studie Narodohospodarskeho ustavu Josefa Hlavky, 2013), 184 pages. Notes, maps, illustrations, along with a German and English Summary. C. WINSTON CHRISLOCK Professor Emeritus University of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minnesota Transcarpathian Rus' formed the eastern tip of the First Czechoslovak Republic from 1919 to 1938 and, briefly of the Second Czecho-Slovak Republic from October 1938 to mid-March 1939. On November 2, 1939, Hungary annexed the southern, mostly Magyar regions of a by then autonomous Transcarpathian Rus' . On March 16, after the demise of Czecho-Slovakia, Hungary annexed the remainder of the region . Soviet forces occupied the area during the final stages of World War II in Europe. In June of 1945 Czechoslovakia agreed to allow the U.S.S.R. to annex Transcarpathian Rus' and both countries ratified the treaty of transfer in November of 1945. From 1945 until 1991 it was part of the Soviet Union's Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in December of 1991 , it remained a province of independent Ukraine. The purpose of the Rychliks' monograph is to describe and evaluate the region during its association with Czechoslovakia in the inner-war period. There was no doubt that the Czechoslovak government took over administration of a very complex and economically primitive province. The Rychliks' account begins with a pre-1919 backround in which they summarize Czech, Magyar and Ukranian sources. They then continue with an historical survey up to 1919. We learn that Transcarpathian Rus' consisted of four Hungarian counties, and that the Rusyn population had not yet developed any sense of national consciousness. The northern half of Transcarpathian Rus' was mountainous and heavily forested while the south was flatter and more suited for agriculture. About two-thirds of of the population were Rusyns who spoke dialects closely related to Ukrainian. Minorities consisted of Magyars, Jews, Romanians, Germans and Roma. Prior to World War I any attempt to codify the Rusyn language was prob- 130 SLOVAKIA-2015 lematic. While Rusyn dialects were close to Ukrainian, the tsarist regime in Russia looked upon Ukrainian as a Russian dialect. That would make Rusyn dialects dialects of a dialect! Austria-Hungary's collapse in 1918 brought political and economic chaos . Rusyn Americans had developed national consciousness by 1914, modelled somewhat on the Slovak experience. In the wake of Austria-Hungary's collapse their leaders lobbied T. G. Masaryk, leader of the Czecho-Slovak independence movement, and President Woodrow Wilson, for a Rusyn association with the new Czechoslovak state, with the understanding that Subcarpathian Rus' would have a large degree of autonomy. Masaryk agreed to this and after military confrontations with Hungary, Poland and indigenous Magyars, the Czechoslovak army, with the support of the United Kingdom, France and the U.S .A., successfully occupied the region by the end of 1919 and maintained sovereignty over it until the German annexation of the Czech lands in March of 1939. The Rychliks' objective was to describe the social, cultural and political problems of the region and then evaluate how the Czechoslovak government dealt with and responded to them. Given the complexity of a region that was blessed (cursed?) with a plethora of nationalities and languages, religions, hostile neighbors, and underdeveloped economy and national consciousness, the Czechoslovak government faced a monumental task. The political problem revolved around autonomy for the area. The 1920 Czechoslovak constitution provided for Subcarpathian Rus ' to send four senators and nine representatives to Czechoslovakia's National Assembly. Czechoslovakia's president, upon recommendation of the government, appointed a governor, whose power was limited, and a vicegovemor, who exercised most administrative powers. Rusyns, both at home and in the U.S.A., were dissatisfied with the lack of autonomy. Complicating the political situation were conflicts among Rusyns, Ukrainofiles, Russofiles, Jews, and Magyars and further conflicts between Russian Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians. Economic and infrastructure underdevelopment were also major problems. Before World War I, commerce and transit were basically north and south, while after 1919 these were oriented east-west. Destruction brought on by the war exacerbated these problems. The Rychliks provide maps, railway timetables, and agricultural and eco- SLOVAKIA-2015 131 nomic data to embellish their account of economic and infrastructure development. The book devotes substantial space to language and education. As both religious and public schools evolved, language became a thorny issue. The Rychliks pointed out that literary languages are artificial, and that was certainly true in Subcarpathian Rus'. Rusyns had not developed a literary language that everybody could agree upon. How could this state establish a network of Schools when Rusyns could not agree if the language and textbooks of instruction should be in Ukranian, Russian, or in a local dialect? What should be the policy toward the minority Ukranian, Russian, Slovak, Czech, Magyar, Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Romanian, Roma Slovak and Czech speakers? The authors concluded that by 1938 there was no final resolution of the language issue. The authors concluded, with reservations, that Subcarpathian Rus' progressed under the first Czechoslovak Republic. However, from the standpoint of political maturity, economic and infrastructure development, literacy, and steps towards the codification of language, the formidable problems listed above retarded its progress. The Rychliks' work is a good companion to Paul R. Magocsi's excellent The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus ', 1848-1948 (1978). The former gives a data-filled account of a twenty-year period in 183 pages, thirty of which are notes, railroad timetables, maps and pictures, while Magocsi provides us with a very readable overview of the development of Subcarpathian Rus' over 100 years, along with a substantial, nearly 100-page, appendix and numerous notes. 132 SLOV AKIA-2015 David Doellinger. Turning Prayers into Based Activism and its Challenge to State Slovakia and East Germany. Budapest: Central Press, 2013. xii-288 pp. Glossary, bibliography, Protests: ReligiousPower in Socialist European University index. JAMES RAMON PELAK University of Washington Poland, no doubt, comes to mind first when one considers the role played by religion and religious institutions in the events and processes leading up to the collapse of Communism in East Central Europe in 1989. David Doellinger reminds us, in his Turning Prayers into Protests, that there were other places in the region where religion was an active and significant force of social mobilization in the fateful developments of the 1980s, most notably Slovakia and East Germany. Doellinger juxtaposes the cases of Slovakia and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in what is a truly comparative work. The focus is on the activists themselves, and the work is organized both thematically and chronologically. Each chapter gives sufficient attention to each situation, examining both cases in terms of a particular aspect of the issue, and establishing the impact and the limitations of the role of religion as a mobilizing force in each locale. Though an historian, Doellinger draws generously from sociology and political science. The author establishes the context for his case studies, attuned to the differences and similarities between them. In Slovakia, he examines the Roman Catholic Church, especially its underground branch, while in the GDR he looks at the official Evangelical Church, a primarily Lutheran institution. Doellinger notes for both cases the differences with regard to the degree of institutional autonomy for the Church, the level of religiosity among the population, and the type of activism . He examines for each state such factors as the social and informational networks established among activists and the processes whereby prayers were transformed into protests in the 1980s. Doellinger decided to do an in-depth study of the Slovak situation after two former Czech dissidents remarked that Slovakia SLOVAKIA-2015 133 had had no dissidents or independent activism during the communist period, a far cry from reality. As a corrective to such ill-informed views, the author presents the Slovak case in great detail, analyzing the operations of the underground church, situating Catholic activism within the broader context of independent activity in Slovakia, and providing excellent descriptions and analyses of such critical examples of public mobilization as the Velehrad pilgrimage of 1985 (drawing from 100,000 to 250,000 participants), the petition for religious freedom of 1988 (signed by 300,000 to 400,000 Slovaks), and the Good Friday demonstration of March 25 , 1988 in Bratislava. Doellinger notes the crucial role played by Karol Wojtila who, as Archbishop of Krakow, was a friend and supporter of the underground church in Slovakia, ordaining secret clergy in the 1970s. As Pope John Paul II, he gave a voice to the persecuted Church, condemned the government-sponsored Pacem in Terris organization of Czechoslovak clergy, successfully encouraged Prague ' s Archbishop Frantisek Tomasek to become more assertive on behalf of religious freedom, and energized Catholics in Slovakia and elsewhere . With respect to the GDR, Doellinger notes the strong influence of the Evangelical Church, made possible by its considerable autonomy, which enabled it to provide crucial support for independent activity. The church promoted and defended the so-called Bausoldaten, young men who served in non-combat units beside the East German military on grounds of conscientious objection to war and militarism . It provided meeting space, access to publishing, and other supports for peace, environmental, and social justice-oriented groups. Doellinger notes both the advantages enjoyed and constraints faced by activists on account of this close connection with the Evangelical Church. Doellinger's work is especially valuable thanks to the type and array of sources he uses. Along with reports on religious activism and a large and diverse amount of religious samizdat found in more than a dozen archives, he has interviewed scores of activists, examined local church and government records for the GDR, and gained access to at least four private collections of former activists. A few relatively minor criticisms are in order. Though this book is expressly not a study of the inner-workings of the regime in its dealings with religion, the author might have done more with the records of the Czechoslovak Office for Church Affairs. This 134 SLOV AKIA-2015 organization did a competent job in monitoring religion in Czechoslovakia and might contain useful information about the underground church and other forms of Catholic activism. And the subsections marked "Summary" near the end of each chapter sometimes do much more than summarize, but rather introduce important new material and perspectives not found earlier. Doellinger's work is an extremely valuable contribution to our understanding of the late communist period in Czechoslovakia and the GDR, to the processes that brought about the collapse of communist regimes in 1989, and to the important role played by religion in these developments. Though genuinely comparative, and insightfully so, the book does maintain the distinction between the two states, so a reader whose interest lies more in Slovakia than in the GDR would have no problem accessing the parts of the book specific to the Slovak Socialist Republic. James Mace Ward. Priest, Politician, Collaborator: Jozef Tiso and the Making of Fascist Slovakia. Ithaca and London : Cornell University Press, 2013. xii, 362 pp., ill., notes, index. $39 .95 . GREGORY C. FERENCE Salisbury University James Mace Ward has written a first-rate biography of Jozef Tiso, the only Roman Catholic priest, aside from the pope, to lead a modem European country. For his efforts, Ward received Honorable Mention in a 2014 competition of the premier North American scholarly organization, the Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies Reginald Zelnik Book Prize. It is awarded annually for an outstanding monograph published on Russia, Eastern Europe or Eurasia in the field of history in the previous year. In his Preface, the author avers that he is "deeply committed to providing as accurate an account of this life as I can." (xi) He has accomplished this task by conducting extensive research using Czech, English, German, Hungarian, and Slovak sources. Yet, Ward modestly apologizes that he did not have enough time to conduct more research for his book. As Ward shows, the life of Father Jozef Tiso remains multi-faceted, complicated, and controversial. One can characterize his ca- SLOV AKIA-2015 135 reer as opportunistic and full of contradictions. Before 1918, Tiso seemed destined to rise in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, and, as such, proved to be a loyal Hungarian - a charge that would haunt him for the rest of his life. By the conclusion of the First World War he became more nationally astute, and with the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia, he turned to politics with a Catholic and Christian social agenda subsumed by Slovak nationalism. Throughout his political life, Tiso became a master at organization, infighting, outmaneuvering, playing the various sides, and skillfully deflecting criticism by blaming others for his own faults and actions. He preferred to be ambiguous rather than take responsibility . Despite being a political animal, Tiso found time almost every Sunday from the 1920s until 1945 to celebrate Mass. In 1918, Ward continues, with the state in flux, Tiso became the secretary of the Slovak National Council in Nitra, and helped coordinate its occupation by Czecho-Slovak forces while attacking Jews as usurers, war profiteers, and revolutionaries. As the situation stabilized, Tiso joined Father Andrej Hlinka' s Slovak People ' s ("I:udak") Party, abandoned his anti-Semitism, and became a political moderate who feared secularization. He served first in the Czechoslovak Parliament and then as Minister of Public Health and Physical Education (1927-1929) where his accomplishments were modest. By the early 1930s, Tiso became Hlinka' s heir, but had to fend off a new generation of radical I:udak rivals who often thwarted his goals. Until 1938, he attempted to reconcile the I:udaks with the government and outflank "Godless" socialists. By then, since he realized he would no longer serve in the government, Tiso turned on Czechoslovakia by demanding greater autonomy for Slovakia. With the Republic failing, he conducted talks with Hungary and Poland about Slovakia' s future while still maintaining a dialogue with Prague. After the 1938 Munich Crisis, Ward continues, Tiso blamed the Jews and the Czechs for the diktat while tightening his control over his party . He vacillated on Slovak independence since he did not want to be viewed as the person who destroyed Czechoslovakia, but when it became inevitable, he embraced it and took control of Slovakia despite opposition from the Holy See. Tiso saw the Slovak State as a step forward for national consciousness and confidence. As vodca, or leader of independent Slovakia, he ordered no political executions and traveled freely with few bodyguards. Yet, he allied with 136 SLOV AKIA-2015 Nazi Germany and occasionally resisted its demands, but backed the deportation of two-thirds of Slovakia's Jews. By 1943, as the war seemed lost, Tiso became conciliatory towards a reconstituted Czechoslovakia but did not understand the strength of the underground plotting the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) in the summer of 1944. Deeply hurt by the thought that Slovaks opposed his regime, Tiso nonetheless ordered the suppression of the SNP that resulted in the German occupation of Slovakia. In his last radio address as his government crumbled, Tiso portrayed himself as a martyr. Arrested by the Americans, and turned over to the Czechoslovak authorities, Tiso's trial, according to Ward, became a travesty of justice dominated by unprofessional judges, packed courts, and political manipulations that assured a negative judgment. During the show trial, Tiso received the blame for, among other things, the destruction of Czechoslovakia, the Holocaust, and the failure of the SNP. Sentenced to death, and despite a popular outcry in Slovakia, the court and central government denied his and influential requests for clemency while his co-defendants and counterparts in the Czech Lands received lesser sentences. The Communists used Tiso ' s trial and execution as a political tool against the Slovak Democrats in their bid for power. After Tiso ' s death in 194 7, Ward continues, Tiso remained controversial. Slovak emigres turned him into an anti-Communist patriot martyr who was a victim of circumstances. Meanwhile, communist Czechoslovakia portrayed him as a clerical-fascist war criminal. After the fall of Communism in 1989, Tiso resurfaced as a destabilizing factor in Czechoslovak politics. Emigres, supported by the cultural institution Matica slovenska and, sometimes, the Ministry of Education, attempted to rehabilitate Tiso, but historians at the Slovak Academy of Sciences parried this effort after reasserting their independent academic credentials, thereby presenting a more balanced and scholarly perspective. The issue in today's Slovakia remains a "grey" topic in which Tiso is neither popular nor condemned. This objective biography will remain a classic in English as Tiso will no longer be presented in simple black and white terms as in the past. It is an excellent source for students of nationalism, political Catholicism, the history of Czechoslovakia and Slovakia, and postCommunism. It is a shame that Ward ' s book did not win the Zelnik SLOV AKIA-2015 137 Book Prize which would have given it greater notoriety and exposure. Miroslav Londak. Ekonomicke reformy v Ceskoslovensku v 50. a 60. Rokoch 20. storocia a slovenskti ekonomika. Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2010 . 295pp. Bibliography, English summary, index of names. MARTIN POSPISIL CERGE-EI, and Charles University, Prague Ever since the communist and capitalist economic systems began competing in the 1920s, economists and historians have explored the efficiency, performance, and stability of these systems. Today, there is a general consensus that Soviet-style Communism failed. At the same time, there is still a limited understanding of how the communist economic system was built, especially in smaller countries . Miroslav Londak tries to bridge this gap and focuses on economic development in Slovakia after the 2nd World War. Londak's book is a well-researched publication aimed at better understanding of the Slovak industrialization, economic system-building, and reconstruction within the Czechoslovakia of the 1950s and 1960s. To explain the Slovak post-war economic reforms, Londak adopted a descriptive methodology that required an analysis of a long list of statistical publications, documents, and speeches. Like a good historian, he picked up a great deal about the concerns and problems that drove the building of the economic system of the time. For the novice there is much to be learned here. For example, in the Introduction (p.9), he rightly notes that it is often forgotten how much of today ' s economic development of Slovakia is linked to the decades of the post-war situation in Czechoslovakia. The book notes the astonishing pace of communist socioeconomic reforms. For example, the author describes the amazing speed of post-War Czechoslovak asset nationalization and collectivization. Londak rightly stresses an important point (sometimes forgotten in related debates) that many policies associated with the Communists (e.g. nationalization) had actually been introduced by President Benes during 1945-1948, before the Communists fully took power. The publication also analyses federalization tendencies in 138 SLOV AKIA-2015 Slovakia and various efforts to reform the inefficient Soviet-style economic system: e.g. the First and Second economic reforms in the 1950s and 1960s, reform ideas related to the Prague Spring, as well as the hopeless attempts to reform the economy in the 1980s. Londak's book contains a lot of statistical data and references to original documents to illustrate the point. In his research, the author includes documents - often very rare ones - to show the development of various sectors of the economy, the level of industrialization, or employment. Certain statistics are telling: While in 1947, 80% of Czechoslovak exports went to the West, this share gradually decreased to 12-25% in only one decade. Another statistic nicely illustrates the continuous emigration from Slovakia. Around 220,000 people left Slovakia between WW I and WW II, which created a large job market mismatch . Despite providing a lot of information, however, the book suffers from several drawbacks. First, it stops short of where it should ideally begin. In the Introduction, Londak asks an important question: Is it possible to successfully reform Soviet-Style Communism? While the consensus today is that such a reform is not possible, Londak does not try to answer the question. In many ways, a descriptive approach based on statistical data produced by communist state agencies is not appropriate to explain the development and the failure of Czech and Slovak communist economies. Good examples are the flawed data on employment in sectors. Due to enormous overemployment in the economy, information on sectoral employment does not bring much value apart from a simple description of how the communist planners wanted to allocate the labor force across various sectors of the economy . Second, the monograph devotes only limited space to analyzing why Czechoslovakia adopted that particular set of economic reforms. While it is clear that Stalin was pushing for certain policies, not all Central and Eastern European satellites built the same socioeconomic system . There were strong differences, for example, between Polish, Hungarian, but naturally also between Yugoslav and Czechoslovak systems. It would have been useful to analyze why Czechoslovakia adopted the implemented the set of policies it adopted. In this respect, the book could also better analyze the "starting blocks" of Czechoslovak reforms. As these reforms were mainly coming from Soviet blueprints, the book would deserve at least a SLOV AKIA-2015 139 short summary of the Soviet pre-1945 legacy: e.g. the Russian Civil War, the New Economic Policy, the Five Year Plans, Stalinism, collectivization, or central planning which were all part of this new Soviet experience, instrumental for Czechoslovak post-war policy making. Third, the book relies solely on Czech or Slovak literature. Of 234 items in the bibliography, only nine have been published outside (the former) Czechoslovakia. While it is natural that local literature serves as the primary source of this type of research, it would have been more than appropriate to also refer to e.g. Soviet or Polish literature. Moreover, as the book is narrowly focused on Slovak economic development, the question of the Hungarian minority would deserve better analysis again with a reference to Hungarian scholars in this area. The reader also feels overwhelmed by the amount of statistical data presented in the book. The strong emphasis on descriptive statistics without a clear message is often confusing (e.g. on pp.115-120). Some tables might have been better explained as figures, graphs, or even better maps. Crucially, while presenting many tables, Londak devotes too little space to linking the data with the story in the text and he misses the opportunity to explain why things happened the way they happened. Why were Czechs and Slovaks so willing to introduce communist measures, which in a few decades ruined the economy? How was it possible to establish the totalitarian regime so effectively and so quickly? Why were Communists not able to implement their economic plans? These are questions that can hardly be explained using communist statistical data, whose reliability is uncertain. The book would deserve a disclaimer at the beginning noting the limitations of the use of these data. Moreover, while Czech and Slovak economic disparities are analyzed sufficiently, more focus could have been put on regional, within-country variation. For example, how did Bratislava compare with the east of Slovakia over time? Which were the poorest regions and did they pick up over time? Which regions benefitted from industrialization, which did not, and why? And most of all, how did the life of an ordinary citizen look? These questions are unanswered. To supplement the collection of statistical data, Londak's publication would benefit from interviews with those concerned. These could have been either communist decision makers, their relatives, or 140 SLOV AKIA-2015 those affected by the decisions. Londa.k' s book contains only a few of these "human" elements: for example, to illustrate the absurd bureaucratic decision-making within the communist economic system, the book mentions the story of a director who had to sign 100,000 documents in one month (p.127). The publication would benefit from more of these little stories to illustrate the point. Doing so would make the book less dry and more "human" (A good example of this approach is Anne Applebaum ' s Iron Curtain: The Crushing Of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956) . Finally, the book lacks a clear motivation for any international reader. How is the economic development of Slovakia in the 1950s and 1960s relevant for today? There are at least several issues that matter beyond Slovakia: the distribution of power, subsidiarity and local nationalism (e.g. relevant for the EU today), the limits of government strategy planning and supply side economic policy (relevant for any policy-makers, especially in post-Soviet countries), or the analysis of Slovak industrialization (relevant for many developing countries). Unfortunately, none of this is mentioned in the book. When reading Londa.k' s monograph, one does not - and cannot understand the cruelty, violence and targeted threats to political opponents, which all were associated with the economic reforms. The communist economy was built on terror, propaganda, harassment, and persecution. Londak presents the era of Czechoslovak communist-building of the 1950s and 1960s as a game of statistical numbers and often failed economic policy-making. This is a dangerous approach as too many lives were lost during this era. So why did the communist economic system fail, including in Slovakia? Let's mention two factors . First, the explanation is actually presented in the words of economist Ota Sik (p.132) who noted in the 1960s that communist enterprises would not become efficient or innovative unless or until the consumer drove the production process. This key point, which helps to explain the inherent inefficiency of the communist economic system, would deserve a better analysis. Another factor (briefly mentioned on p.151) is that price in a centrally planned economy is completely unrelated to objective economic conditions. In a market economy, price is a result of equality between supply and demand and as a result it provides the key information to consumers and producers. Consumers can compare products based on price and producers can compete on producing with SLOV AKIA-2015 141 the lowest costs so that their price is low. Finally, market price is information to potential producers who know that if they are able to produce the same product with a lower price, they will succeed. As such, market price is the ultimate driver of economic development. However, in a centrally planned economy, price fulfils none of these functions as it is administratively set with no reference to market conditions. This leads to the ultimate failure of the system. To conclude, Ekonomicke reformy is a well-researched book, which analyzes an important topic using a large number of original Czechoslovak sources. Londak has tried to tell the story of the Slovak post-war economy, which has an impact on today's economic structure and performance. However, the main message of the publication gets lost in dubious communist statistical data, and the story is not well connected. Regrettably, while being a good reference point, the publication misses an important opportunity to probe why the post-war economy of Slovakia was built the way it was built, why it failed, and why it matters for today. The descriptive approach based on flawed communist statistics left the most important questions unanswered . Jan Carnogursky. Dennik,1994-2007. Presov: Michal Vasko, 2013, 190 pp. Afterword by Ondrej Podolec, index of names. JANRYCHLIK Charles University, Prague Jan Carnogursky (b. 1944) was one of the leading figures of the anti-Communist dissident movement in Czechoslovakia between 1969 and 1989 and also an important personality in Slovak politics after November of 1989. In February of 1990 he founded the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), the right-of the center political party which became part of the Slovak government coalition after the first free elections in June of 1990. After the so-called "Velvet Revolution" (November, 1990) he was a Deputy Prime Minister in the Federal government of Marian Calfa and simultaneously a Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak government of Milan Cic. After the first free elections (8 - 9 June 1990), when the KDH joined in a coalition with the Public Against Violence (VPN), Carnogursky was a Deputy Prime Minister in the first government of Vladimir Meciar 142 SLOV AKIA-2015 (than a nominee of the VPN), and after the split of the VPN and the fall of Meciar, he was appointed Slovak Prime Minister (April 23 , 1991). After the second free elections (5 - 6 June 1992) which Meciar's new party - the Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) won, the KDH ended in opposition . Carnogursky was the leading figure of the opposition against Meciar' s non-democratic and autocratic rule which sometimes even used criminal methods and violence against its opponents and led to the international isolation of Slovakia. Carnogursky participated in the establishment of a new party - the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) led by Mikulas Dzurinda and was appointed Minister of Justice in Dzurinda's broad anti-Meciar coalition government (October 30, 1998 - October 15, 2002). Throughout this period Carnogursky was a deputy in the Slovak National Council (the Slovak Parliament) for the KDH (with the exception of the period when he was the Minister of Justice). Carnogursky ' s diary covers the period from August 27, 1994 to June 24, 2007. His notes of the events are usually short and illustrate the attitude of Slovakia towards some important international events. However, the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Dayton agreement in 1995 and the bombing of Serbia by NATO in 1999 are surprisingly missing. It is difficult to say whether Carnogursky did not consider these events worthy of notice or whether they were in the diary but he decided not to publish them . Carnogursky noted his discussions with various political leaders, diplomats and church functionaries . The diary sheds some light on new and important facts about the background of important events in the history of Slovakia of the past two decades, mainly : the political struggle against the HZDS and Vladimir Meciar, the formation of a broad anti-Meciar coalition; and international problems, mainly Slovak relations with Hungary, the USA and Russia. However, from the diary we can learn more about Carnogursky's standpoints than about the events themselves. To understand the diary properly, it is not only necessary to know Slovak political history of the past twenty-five years, but also to know something about Carnogursky 's political and family backgrounds and his ideas and thinking. Carnogursky is a conservative Catholic politician who, on the one hand was active in the dissident movement and struggle against Communism, but on the other hand he has always been critical of SLOVAKIA-2015 143 American foreign policy and Western liberalism and secularism. While he criticized and opposed the policy of the former Soviet Union, after the fall of Communism Carnogursky advocated cooperation with Russia and saw Russian Orthodox Christianity as a source of spiritual revival of the western Christian world. His views, however, are not always accepted in today's Slovakia. Knowing this, it cannot surprise anyone that the diary reveals Carnogursky's opposition to Slovakia'a admittance to NATO and his friendly relations with Russia. Carnogursky ' s diary is certainly worth reading and may be useful for historians trying to understand the history of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia and of Central Europe in general in the period 1994-2007. Robert M. Zecker. Race and America 's Immigrant Press: How the Slovaks were Taught to Think Like White People. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013. 348pp. Notes, illustrations, bibliography, index. M. MARK STOLARIK University of Ottawa Robet M. Zecker claims that "This is the book I didn ' t want to write. At least not at first" (page 1). Since Zecker is of partial Slovak-American heritage, he was shocked by the racial references he found in the Slovak-American press from the l 890's to the l 940's while working on his University of Pennsylvania dissertation on the Slovak-American community in Philadelphia. After some reflection, and more research, he decided to document the rise of racism among Slovaks and Rusyns (and Eastern Europeans in general) in the United States, as reflected in their newspaper press. He felt that this side of the story had not previously been covered by scholars of Eastern European immigration to the United States of America. Zecker traced the rise of racism in the Slavic-American press to the enaction of Jim Crow laws in the American South in the l 890's and the subsequent lynching of several thousand Black-Americans. Initially, editors of ethnic newspapers were horrified by reports of lynchings in the South, but, within a decade, the horror changed to mere reporting or even agreement with the lynchings . Why? Zecker argues that Slavic-Americans, fearful of their own status as unskilled 144 SLOV AKIA-2015 laborers almost at the bottom of the social ladder, were glad that Blacks and Asians were below them still, and therefore, more inferior than themselves. Indeed, Slavic-Americans soon bought into the theory of "whiteness," whereby they (or their children) would eventually become respected members of the middle-class, which, of course, was white. Once they bought into America's racist society and its social hierarchy, Slavic Americans began to "ape the WASPS," as the expression goes. Their newspapers approvingly reproduced not only reports of lynchings of Blacks in the American South, but also advertisements that featured gross stereotypes of Blacks, which portrayed them as primitive savages. Furthermore, most Slavic-American neighborhoods, which often had Slovak Halls, Rusyn Halls, Polish Halls, etc. staged minstrel shows in the l 920's and l 930's, as did "mainstream" American neighborhood theaters. Finally, most Slavic Americans, like those who came before them, did not want Blacks to move into their neighborhoods and resisted government-led integration efforts in the 1960's and 1970's. In becoming "Americans," Slavic-Americans adopted the racist attitudes of their white predecessors. As Zecker predicted, this is a disturbing book. Most of the histories of the Southern and Eastern Europeans, who came to the United States in search of work and a better life in the l 870's to the l 920's, have focused on their slow, but steady rise on the American social ladder. Unfortunately, most historians have also ignored how these immigrants and their children had to adapt to American society by adopting the racist attitudes of their predecessors and become "white" in the process. The book suffers from only two deficiencies, perhaps caused by the publisher. The first is that the copious footnotes (pp. 253-308) appear at the back of the book, making it extremely tedious for the historian to read. The second is that Zecker did not separate his listing of periodicals from books and articles in the bibliography. It would have been instructive to discover, for instance, how many years (and which years) of Jednota, or Amerikansky russky viestnik, and other ethnic newspapers he had read. On the other hand, Zecker fulfilled very well his duties as an historian. He deeply mined the rich archival resources of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, the archives of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies at the Pennsylvania SLOV AKIA-2015 145 Historical Society in Philadelphia, the New York Public Library, and several others. Finally, Zecker read most of the important books and articles relating to immigration to North America in the last 130 years. He is to be commended for a job well-done. M . Mark Stolarik. Where is My Hom e? Slovak Immigration to North America (1870-2010) . [Immigration from Europe to North America, Vol. l] Bern : Peter Lang, 2012 . xix, 392 pp. Notes, illustrations, bibliography, index . $99.95. WILLIAM J. GALUSH Loyola University of Chicago (retired) This is an excellent overview of Slovaks in the tumultuous period from the late nineteenth century to the present, thoughtfully and engagingly portrayed through the experiences of one family. Mark Stolarik seeks to combine the personal with the general in history and succeeds admirably. The fami li al dimension benefits from numerous interviews by the author while he relies on his extensive reading and archival research on Slovak immigration for the larger narrative. The story of Slovaks, an oppresed minority within the multiethnic Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, shows them seeking improvement both by departure elsewhere and striving to develop a sense of common identity in the homeland in the face of strenuous efforts by their Hungarian overlords to magyarize them . The transoceanic aspect is important and the author demonstrates enduring connections which significantly influenced the homeland. About a third of immigrants to North America returned, and as with the Poles in my own research, brought back a heightened sense of Slovak identity and a desire for a more modem lifestyle which stimulated their viII ages. Lacking the equivalent of Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian province essentially under Polish control from the late nineteenth century, Slovaks in America took on a greater role in supporting nationalism in the homeland through their fraternalbenefit societies and the Slovak League of Amerca (f. 1907). 146 SLOV AKIA-2015 The theme of Slovak nationalism infonns the narrative. The World War I agreements to create a federal Czecho-Slovakia were subverted by T. G. Masaryk and his followers. The variations among the diaspora, with the Roman Catholics being the most nationalistic, emerge clearly and the author gives a nuanced and sympathetic account of interwar patriotism and the emergence of an independent Slovakia in 1939. With reunification after 1945, Slovaks abroad were the only ones able to articulate a nationalist position. Support for the united country came mainly from a tiny leftist element and from some Lutheran Slovaks . The post-1989 era offered the opportunity for the reappearance of an independent Slovakia and Stolarik clearly rejoices at the success of the effort. The Stolariks were strivers. Some went to the United States while others remained at home, seeking through education and white collar employment to elevate their status. Imrich, father of Mark, became the city assessor of Martin and led a comfortable existence even during World War II, continuing government employment under the newly independent Slovak Republic. The defeat of their Gennan sponsors and fears of a communist Czechoslovakia prompted Imrich and his family to flee to Austria, where Mark and his siblings lived until they were able to move to Canada. The author's parents had a strong interest in education and nationalism and encouraged participation in ethnic activities in the new land . This speaks to the question of identity in the title wherein ethnic consciousness sustained a sense of self and group despite multiple changes of government and location. Family was also a major factor in making a living, with aid in getting jobs and infonnation on the new land helpful in adjustment and upward mobility. One of the most engaging aspects of the book is the use of familial anecdote to bring life to history . For example, during World War II female relatives of the author, needing to milk goats in a time of food scarcity, persuaded nearby soldiers to stop shelling so the animals would calm down! Stolarik also offers accounts of misleading meddling communist officials while his homeland relatives provided shelter, assistance and advice during his research in Slovakia. The larger narrative would benefit from greater acknowledgement of variety . The author likely overstates the general persistence of the immigrant vision of an enclosed Slovak identity in the SLOVAKIA-2015 147 second generation. In Minneapolis, with five Polish (and one Slovak) Catholic parishes, marriages at the largest Polish congregation by 1940 recorded over 50% with one non-Polish spouse, and the greater paucity of Slovaks might well have fostered such patterns there or elsewhere. In this regard Stolarik is better in the helpful comparison of American and Canadian Slovak development, noting contrasts as well as similarities and offering plausible interpretations for variety. The book is a stimulating study which will repay the attention of scholars and interesting laypersons alike.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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. 42 (No. 78-79) Description An account of the resource includes:<br /><ul><li>Jan Rychlík, Magdaléna Rychlíková, Hospodářský, sociální, kulturní a politický vývoj Podkarpatské Rusi 1919-1939 (C. Winston Chrislock), p. 129</li> <li>David Doellinger, Turning Prayers into Protests: Religious-Based Activitism and its Challenge to State Power in Socialist Slovakia and East Germany (James Ramon Felak), p. 132</li> <li>James Mace Ward, Priest, Politician, Collaborator: Jozef Tiso and the Making of Fascist Slovakia (Gregory C. Ference), p. 134</li> <li>Miroslav Londák, Ekonomické reformy v Československu v 50. a 60. Rokoch 20. storočia a slovenská ekonomika (Martin Pospíšil), p. 137</li> <li>Ján Čarnogurský, Dennik, 1994-2007 (Jan Rychlík), p. 141</li> <li>Robert M. Zecker, Race and America's Immigrant Press (M. Mark Stolarik), p. 143</li> <li>M. Mark Stolarik, Where is my Home? Slovak Immigration to North America (1870-2010) (William J. Galush), p. 145</li> </ul> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chrislock, Winston, 1940- Felak, James Ramon, 1957- Ference, Gregory Curtis, 1957- Galush, William J. (William John), 1942- Pospíšil, Martin Rychlík, Jan Stolarik, M. Mark, 1943- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 LCNAF name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0ac606234030bb0bc1acc7b83b34b087.pdf df782531580eefa1e027fb5d95fd7090 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 47 " JOZEF STASKO (1917-1999): HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS Miroslav Chromek In the history of Slovakia, many people who opposed the communist regime in the 1940's and 1950's were severely persecuted by the Communists. They were arrested, tortured, and sent to the uranium mines. The communist authorities, meanwhile, did everything in their power to erase any mention of them in official histories of the period. Now that Slovakia is no longer ruled by the Communists, it is incumbent upon historians to reveal the story of the many thousands who suffered under communist oppression. One of these individuals was Dr. Jozef Stasko. Jozef Stasko was born of Slovak peasants in the village of Sedliacka Dubova, Orava, county, on August 1, 1917. His father Peter, who was born in 1884, emigrated to the United States before the Great War in search of work. There he suffered an industrial accident from which he ultimately died on February 27, 1923. Jozef was only six years old and his sister Anna eight when their father died. Thus, Jozefs mother Johana, who had been born in 1887, had to raise her children on her own . 1 Jozef and his sister had to help their mother work the fields , as well as to attend school. In spite of her hard life, Jozef s mother persevered and gave her children all her love, for which Jozef was grateful. After he had made his way to the United States, he wrote a long article in praise of his mother, and all mothers who cared for their children.2 After completing the local Catholic grade school, the bright young Jozef went on to high school , but ran into difficulties. At the Trstena ' gymnasium,' where he first enrolled, he was repelled by the liberal and pro-Czechoslovak attitude of his Czech teachers and decided to switch to the more Catholic-oriented 'gymnasium' m Dolny Kubin. He later reminisced about these times as follows: 1 Stefan Baranovic, "Zivot a di elo PhDr. Jozefa Stasku," in Peter Maruniak, ed ., Dr. Jozef Stasko osemdesiatrocny (Martin: Mati ca slovenska, 1998), 9. 2 JozefStasko, " Moja matka," Ave Maria, 49 (No. 4, 1965), 106. �48 SLOVAKIA At 'gymnasium 'I was reminded that I belonged to an insignificant peasant people. My mother often told me how she had to hide Slovak newspapers from Magyar authorities. After the Great War, in speaking with Slovak patriots who had been jailed by the Magyars, I felt a deep pain in my heart for the past and continued suffering of our nation. 3 After graduating from 'gymansium' in 1935 Stasko continued his studies at Comenius University in Bratislava. In the first two years he studied French and Latin, and then switched to law. At Comenius he encountered the same attitudes as at Trstena-namely Czech professors trying to create a "Czechoslovak" language: "The University was run by Czechs, the Slovak language was degraded. Professor Vazny was trying to change Slovak into Czechoslovak and Professor Chaloupecky taught us Slovak history as if Slovaks were a mere branch of the Czech nation, and that was how were supposed to comport ourselves ."4 While at university, Stasko began to display his organizational and leadership abilities. He joined the student organizations Slavia Catholica, Detvan and Mayzes. Indeed, he was elected secretary of the latter. He lived in the student Catholic dormitory Svoradov, which was a hotbed for future political, scientific and cultural leaders.5 Since he was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the Sorbonne, Stasko left for Paris in February of 1939, and was caught in a maelstrom. The Slovak Diet had proclaimed independence on March 14, 1939, but Stasko disagreed with this proclamation. Therefore, he immediately contacted Dr. Stefan Osusky, the former Czechoslovak Minister to Paris, and offered him his services. However, in their discussions, Stasko found Osusky to be too proCzechoslovak, and too supportive of the philosophy of the late president T.G. Masaryk. 6 3 Baranovic, op.cit., 9. /bid. , I 0. 5 Jan Okal , "Dr. Jozef Stasko 65-rocny," Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov, 12, 2:10. 53, 1982), 22. . Stasko wrote about his discussions with Osusky in " Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establi sh Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir," Slo vakia, 32, nos. 4 �SLOVAKIA 49 Meanwhile, Stasko sought to help Slovak workers in France. Once Slovakia declared independence, Slovaks in France were regarded with suspicion as "Germanophiles. " Therefore, French employers fired many of them. In his fluent French, Stasko either defended these workers in front of their former employers or helped them to find other jobs.7 By the end of April Stasko returned to Slovakia by train. He surmised that war would soon break out and he wanted to size up the situation at home. He was particularly concerned about the 35,000 Slovak workers in Belgium and France, who might be drafted if a war broke out. He also sought to involve the government of Slovakia in helping them to retain their jobs in those uncertain times. He also wished to report to Osusky about the situation of Slovaks in southern Slovakia, which had been occupied by Hungary the previous November. 8 While in Slovakia Stasko met with Dr. Gejza Medricky, the Minister of Economics of the Slovak Republic and with General Rudolf Viest, a member of the Slovak General Staff. Stasko managed to convince Medricky not to cancel the wage agreement between France and Slovakia, which allowed Slovak workers to receive parcels without having to pay any duty on them. 9 In his meeting with General Viest, he tried to persuade the latter to send as many Slovak officers to France as possible, ostensibly to further their educations, but really to be drafted into the French army, where they could then form the nucleus of a Czecho-Slovak army when the war broke out. 10 Viest politely listened but promised nothing. If we are to believe a letter that Stasko wrote to Dr. Jozef Mikus in 1980, Stasko also met with President Jozef Tiso in Banovce nad Bebravou, while the latter was on vacation. Stasko claimed that, in a friendly atmosphere, they discussed various problems that confron58-59 ( 198 5- I 986), 9-33. See also "Zapisky Jozefa Staska," Martin , Sl ovenska narodn a knizn ica, Arch iv literatury a um eni a, (hereafter SN K-ALU) p. 15. 7 Mini sterstvo vnutra Slovenskej republi ke , Statny archiv v Bra ti slave (hereafter MVS R- SA B), Fond okresneho L.:u doveho sudu- Jozef Stasko: Vypoved Jozefa Staska na L.: ud ovom sude z 26.4. 1946, p. 3. 8 /bid 9 "Zapisky Jozefa Staska," op.cit., p. 18. 1 °Fra ntisek Vnuk , "S lovenske studentske spolky v medzivojnovo m obdobi ," in Jozef Stasko, Tvorcovia noveho Slovenska (Ca mbri dge , ON : Fri ends of Good Books, 1982) , 174. �50 SLOVAKIA ted the Slovak State. Stasko further claimed that he upbraided Tiso for Slovakia's pro-Nazi political orientation and for naively looking upon Germany as a trusted protector of the new republic. From his alleged conversation with Tiso, it is clear that Stasko did not expect 11 Nazi Germany to last very long. At the beginning of June Jozef Stasko returned to France, where he experienced the first months of the Second World War. As soon as the war broke out, he volunteered to serve in the Czechoslovak army-in-exile, which Stefan Osusky had organized in France. Stasko began his service on October 17, 1939 in camp Agda, where, incidentally, the Slovak communist politician Vladimir Clementis was also stationed. However, the latter stayed only a few months, and then moved to London, where he would join in the Czechoslovak 12 liberation movement led by ex-president Edvard Benes. Stasko, meanwhile, looked for ways and means to remain in France, and, barring that, in some other western country. As an officer-in-training, Stasko was assigned an apartment on the shores of the Mediterranean. Lieutenant Sivak, a Roman Catholic chaplain, helped him to secure this lodging. 13 On May I 0, 1940, Stasko was assigned to the I st Platoon of the 2nd Czechoslovak Regiment as a 14 sergeant, and as such, in June was sent to the front on the Marne. After France ' s defeat by the Germans, his commanding officer, First Lieutenant Dolejsek, ordered him to retreat with his platoon, and to blow up any and all stores of supplies and ammunition, which Stasko did, and for which he was recommended for a commendation . 15 Stasko then sought to remain in France, and even persuaded a French family to help him to obtain the necessary papers in order to be properly demobilized. He then hoped to make his way to the United States and asked his Orava friend and former fellow-resident at the Svoradov, Jozef Mikus, who was then charge d' affaires in Madrid, to 11 Uni versity of Ottawa, Archives and Special Collections, Slovak Arc hi ves, Jozef Mikus Fo nds, box 205, fasc . 205-7, letter of Jozef Stasko to Jozef Mikus, August 16, 1980. 12 MVSR-SAB , Yypoved Jozefa Staska, op.ci t. , p. 3, and Jozef Mikus, " Dr. Jozef Stasko sedemdesiatnik ," in Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu S/o vako v, 16 (No.77 , 1987), 18. 13 SNK-ALU, Jozef Stasko, " Yo vazeni na majaku Fort de Brescau." 14 Hitl er attacked western Europe on May I 0, 1940. 15 MVSR-SAB , Vypoved Jozefa Staska, p. 5 �SLOVAKIA 51 help him. The latter replied that it was Stasko's duty to return to Slovakia. 16 Meanwhile, Stasko refused to obey what he considered to be an impossible order, and found himself jailed by the French. Stasko's regiment was stationed in a Belgian camp that was shared by soldiers from Senegal. These got roaring drunk and armed themselves and began to loot the local town. French authorities ordered Stasko to quell this rebellion but Stasko knew that the Senegalese outnumbered his forces and refused. As a result, he and his soldiers found themselves jailed, along with the Senegalese, first in Belgium and from the end of August until the middle of November in the French prison Fort de Brescau, and after that in the prison of the Chasseurs Alpins in the port city of Set. While the prison regimen was not too onerous, living conditions were terrible, especially in Belgium, because the blankets were full of bed-bugs and the prison was overrun with rats, which Stasko and the Senegalese sought to kill during the night. 17 Jozef Stasko was finally rescued by Slovak authorities, although his subsequent life in Slovakia remained difficult. Dr. Eduard Malis, of the Slovak Repatriation Commission in France, arranged for Stasko to be released and he returned to Slovakia on March 22, 1941. 18 Stasko was immediately interrogated by the police for having allegedly revealed military secrets to the enemy, but released for lack of evidence. He then returned to Orava and helped his mother with her farm work, all the while being watched by the Gestapo. 19 Since he had no prospects in Orava, he eventually moved to Bratislava and found employment as the secretary of the Association of Industry, Trade and Finance. For three years he studied and published the history of trade and commerce in Slovakia for the magazine Zivnost'. He also planned to write a history of Slovak craft guilds. 20 During the Slovak Republic, Stasko did not engage in politics, nor did he join the ruling Hlinka Slovak People's Party. He did attend a lecture by Dr. Imrich Karvas, the Governor of the Slovak 16 "Zapi sky Jozefa Staska," op.cit., p. 33. Stasko , " Vo vaze ni .. .," op. cit. , 1-11 18 MVSR-SA B, Vypoved Jozefa Staska, op.cit ., p. 8 19 Author interview with lmrich Kruzliak in Bratislava, April 23, 2008. 20 Milan Beres, " Laudac ia na Dr. Jozefa Stas ku pri ude l'ovanf Ceny M . R. Stefanika ," in Peter Maruni ak, ed. , Dr. Jozef Stasko osemdesiatrocny (Martin : Matica slove nska) , 70. 17 �52 SLOVAKIA National Bank, and he did take advantage of a healing session at a Slovak spa, courtesy of his friend Jozef Mikula, who was a member of the People's Party.21 Conversely, Stasko did not participate in the Slovak National Uprising of August, 1944, which he considered illprepared and premature.22 Meanwhile, at the end of the war, some Russian soldiers broke into his bachelor apartment, ransacked it and beat him up when he tried to stop them. For all these reasons, a certain Major Peter Kozurka had him arrested on December 8, 1945 for his alleged "collaboration" activities. Due to a lack of evidence against him, Stasko was released just before Christmas, 1945. 23 After these bitter experiences, Stasko became a steadfast opponent of Communism, which he saw slowly engulfing his homeland. He joined the newly-established Democratic Party, worked tirelessly to unite the Lutherans and Catholics in it, and saw it emerge victorious in the 1946 elections. Initially, four political parties fielded candidates in the 1946 elections-the Democratic Party, the Communist Party of Slovakia, the Party of Freedom and the Party of the Workers. Only the Democrats and the Communists had a chance of winning. Both campaigned against each other. The Communists, largely through their mouthpiece Pravda, tried to divide the Catholic and Lutheran supporters of the Democratic Party. They even supported the creation of a Christian Democratic Party, to represent the Catholics. Initially, Stasko supported this movement, but later abandoned it. When he campaigned on behalf of the Democratic Party, for instance in Rufomberok, the Communists had him arrested while he was making a speech! Nevertheless, in the May 26, 1946 elections, 92.3% of the Orava electorate supported Stasko to the Czechoslovak Parliament for the Democratic Party.24 However, Stasko's victory lasted only until the fall of 1947. That summer he had guided a visiting American Slovak and her daughter across the country, and they both noticed that the secret police had been following them. In September the police arrested him again, on trumped-up charges, in spite of his parliamentary immunity. After 21 MVSR-SAB , Fond od resneho l'udoveho sudu- Jozef Stasko, Cs 414/46: Zapisnica o vysluchu svedka Jozefa Staska z 18. 2. 1947 22 Jnterview with lmrich K.ruzliak, op.cit. 23 Jozef Stasko, "Vazenska psychoterapia," Slovenske poh/'ady, no.3 , 1994, p. 124. 24 "Jozefa Staska prepustili 5. Novembra 1953 ," in "Zapisky Jozefa Staska- Na galejac h v Jachymove," SNK-ALU , Martin, p. 16. �SLOVAKIA 53 his release he was warned to flee the country but refused. Therefore, he was arrested again on November 4, 1947, and this time was sentenced to six years in jail. Once again, the Democratic Party did nothing to free him and he ended up in the notorious Leopoldov prison. Here he found himself in the company of former leaders of the Slovak Republic, such as Alexander Mach and Stefan Tiso, and Jan Kempny and later certain leaders of the Democratic Party, such as , Ursmy. , 25 Jan In spite of their difficult situation, Stasko and his fellow-prisoners decided to draft and sign a "Manifest" in which they protested their imprisonment and the political situation in Czechoslovakia. Interestingly, it was signed on March 14, 1951 (the 12 th anniversary of the Slovak Diet' s declaration of independence), by politicians from completely different ideologycal backgrounds . They were: Dr. Andrej Buza, Jan Kempny, Alexander Mach, Jozef Stasko Dr. Stefan Tiso and Jan Ursiny. Incredibly enough, it proclaimed the following: 1-The Slovak nation is founded upon its Christian heritage and its application in all spheres of social life. 2-In order to safeguard its Christian heritage, the Slovak nation must be free. It will be free only when it is independent and selfgovernmg. 3-The experience of our nation has led us to proclaim its right to home-rule, the form of which will be decided by the Slovak nation . One possible form is statehood. 4-W e recognize the right of humans and citizens to a democratic social and political system . We support open and friendly relations with the Czech nation and with our Magyar and Polish neighbors. 5-We are opposed to oppression, whether of individuals or of societies, in the name of ideological totalitarianism. We shall defend, even unto death, the right to our God-given freedom. 26 This "Manifest" is significant, because, after 1945 the Democratic Party had proposed a common state with the Czechs, albeit with Slovak home-rule. Now both the jailed proponents and former opponents of Slovak independence were united in their demands for Slovak independence. 25 26 Ibid. , 124-6. /bid. , 124. �54 SLOVAKIA After three years in Leopoldov prison, Stasko was transferred to the Jachymov uranium mines in the Czech Lands . Here Stasko 's health broke down , due to the ill-effects of radiation poisoning, which was evident in the development of serious skin lesions on his hands . Even though he was released after he had served a total of six 27 years in prison, he never recovered his health. After his release from jail in 1953 , Stasko returned to his native Orava, to try to start over. Initially he found work studying and cataloging the extensive correspondence of the writer-priest Ignac Grebac-Orlov at the latter's parish in Velicna. Here Stasko discovered a rich correspondence with Hviezdoslav, Jege, Bulla and Hlinka, and other important writers or politicians. He notified the Slovak Academy of Sciences of his discovery and asked if it would publish his findings. However, because of his former prison sentence, the SA V turned him down. Stasko then found employment as a manual laborer at a sawmill in Oravsky Podzamok, but his injured hands made it impossible for him to continue. After he lost this job, he was hired as a clerk at the Research Institute for the Mechanization of Forestry in the same village, largely because he was fluent in French . 28 Meanwhile, Stasko visited Bratislava on several occasions. There he met with Dr. Ambrus, who worked for Slovak Radio. He offered Stasko part-time employment as a co-producer of the serial "Know Your Land." For this program Stasko visited many villages in his native Orava, and interviewed the inhabitants. In this way he became an expert on Slovak folk culture. However, Stasko lost his job as a clerk in Oravsky Podzamok and then had to look for work in Zilina. Here he had great difficulty finding a place to board. Altogether he changed locations ten times. Finally, he found work repairing refrigerators. While working on a refrigerator at the Hotel Fatra in the nearby spa town of Rajecke Teplice, he was poisoned by leaking Methylchloride. As a result, he became a patient in the spa for about a month. While there he had the opportunity to meet with his old friends Jan Kempny and Jan Spisiak, the former ambassador to Hungary. Since his physician ordered Stasko to find less dangerous work, he then was employed in a 27 "Jozefa Staska prepustili 5. nove mb ra 1953 ," in "Zapisky Jozefa Staska- Na ¥,a lejach v Jachymove," SNK-ALU, Martin , p.21 . 8 - Ibid., p. 18. �SLOVAKIA 55 local plywood factory. The Communists saw to it that he could never find work suitable to his education.29 After six years of hard manual labor, with no prospect of the communist regime ending, Stasko decided to flee to the West. He did so with the collaboration of a former prisoner in the Jachymov mines, the electrical engineer Jozef Merko. Even though Merko lived in Moravia and Stasko in Slovakia, they started to meet on the Slovak-Moravian border, near the village of Makov, to plan their escape. They settled on the vi llage of Hulin, on the AustrianMoravian border, because it met all of their criteria-close to the border, with a main road, some friendly contacts, plus a route avoiding the mines, and with barbed-wire that could be penetrated by a truck. The truck would be "borrowed" by Merko from the television-repair factory where he worked. Merko would take with him his wife and children and Stasko his fiancee Ema Schmeringaiova. However, Stasko and Merko would not reveal to them their plans until the last moment. Stasko arrived in Hulin on August 8, 1961. He and Merko then added protective armor to the truck, to shield it from the 5,000-volt electrical wire which they would have to penetrate. Stasko described the actual escape in minute detail: We cut through the first barbed wire as if through a thread. The second wire was higher and more dangerous. We hit an obstruction and had to back up. That took about ten seconds. When we hit the thicker wire, which was electrified, we saw and heard an explosion. One section of the severed wire hit the roof of the truck and burned through it. The third wire was easily broken, but by then we noticed that the wires had coiled themselves around our tires and we were pulling the entire fence behind us. Once we had reached the Austrian side, we stepped on the gas and into freedom! 30 The refugees crossed to the Austrian side on August 15, at 3 :40 a.m. After the Austrian border guards had checked their papers and story, they allowed the truck to proceed. When they arrived in 29 30 !bid., p. 20 /bid. , p.82 �56 SLOVAKIA Vienna, astounded journalists dubbed their Tatra truck as the "tank of freedom." Austrian authorities returned it to Czechoslovakia. The refugees were then taken to the refugee camp called Kagran, where they had to wait for one month in order to acquire Austrian visas. Merko was then hired as a technician by the local television station and Stasko found work in a winery.31 Now that Stasko was free , he breathed a sigh of relief, but still had medical problems. As he put it, "The medicine of freedom relaxed my nerves. At home I had really suffered from headaches, body pain, and depression."32 However, his body still suffered from radiation poisoning. Therefore, he decided to visit his good friend Irnrich Kruzliak, who worked at Radio Free Europe in Munich . The latter immediately sent him to his doctor for a physical. When the physician inspected Stasko's hands, which had millimeter-deep cracks in them, he predicted that Stasko would survive for a maximum of two years.33 He recommended that he go to Rome, to the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which specialized in the disease that afflicted him. Here Stasko was, indeed, helped by taking new medicines. His health improved so much that he was then able to travel all over Europe, particularly to London and Paris, where he met various Slovaks and could guage their political activities. He was interviewed on French television about his escape from Czechoslovakia, and by the French press as well. On February 1, 1962, Dominique Aucleres published a long interview with him in Le Figaro , France 's largest-circulation newspaper. 34 Meanwhile, when Stasko visited with Kruzliak in Munich, he expressed interest in also working for Radio Free Europe, but was disappointed. Some of his former Lutheran colleagues in the Democratic Party, who had the final say as to who was hired, turned Stasko down . Therefore, a dejected Stasko decided to apply for a visa to the United States and was successful. He arrived with his fiancee in New York in May of 1962.35 31 !bid. , p.83 /bid. , p.84. 33 Author interview with Imrich Kruzliak, April 23 , 2008 34 Jozef Mikus, " Dr. Jozef Stasko sedemdesiatnik," in Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu S/ovakov, l 6 (No.77, 1987), p.1 8. 35 Jnterview with Imrich Kruzliak, op.cit. 32 �SLOVAKIA 57 In New York Stasko and his wife (they were married in 1962) flourished . He intensively studied the English language, earned a Master of Library Science degree at Columbia University, and found employment as a librarian at the New York Public Library. His wife Ema, who even in Slovakia had nursed him back to health as best as she could, also enrolled at Columbia University, where she earned a BSc. in chemistry. Meanwhile, on October 27, 1963, they were blessed with a son, Jozef Jr. With the help of their friends, the Stasko family was able to purchase a condominium apartment on Park Terrace in New York City, where he lived for the rest of his life. 36 Shortly after his arrival in the United States, Jozef Stasko joined the Slovak-American community and contributed to its cultural life. He wrote articles for the monthly Ave Maria, Verbum, Horizon!. and especially for the Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov. In 1973-74 he also taught courses on immigration and American Slovaks as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the City College in New York.37 One of Stasko ' s dreams was to establish a Library and Archives dedicated to documenting the history and culture of American Slovaks. He hoped that it would be located in Danville, Pennsylvania, at the Jankola Library, which was already in existence, and which was organized by the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This Slovak congregation had been founded by the Rev. Matus Jankola in 1909 and, since all the sisters were fluent in Slovak, he felt that they would be the ideal recipients of such an archive.38 Jozef Stasko also took an active role in the founding of the Slovak World Congress in 1970. In his 1969 presentation to a meeting of the Organizing Committee of the SWC in Linden, New Jersey, Stasko outlined his conception of the role of the Slovak World Congress among Slovaks in the USA and Canada. He rejected the "Czechoslovakism" that still existed in some quarters and, instead, championed the cause of Slovak independence. On the other 36 /bid., and Jozef Stasko to Frantisek Sub fk, ovember 3, 1963 , Uni versity of Ottawa, Arc hi ves and Spec ial Coll ecti ons, Jozef Stasko Fonds, Box 205, Fasc . 20626. 37 Baranov ic, op. cit., 13. 38 Jozef Stasko to Jozef Papi n, September 8, I 972 and Slovak Hi story Assoc iation of Ameri ca n Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Uni versity of Ottawa, Slovak Archi ves, Archi ves and Spec ial Collectio ns, Fond Jozef Stasko, Box 205 , fasc. 20515 and fasc . 2 12. �58 SLOVAKIA hand, he naively called on the SKS to seek the support of all Slovak factions in the USA, including Catholics and Lutherans and supporters of the Slovak State and its opponents.39 The Slovak World Congress was founded in reaction to the "normalization" of Czechoslovakia after the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968. Stasko put it this way: "We had to recognize that the Slovak nation at home was not free to speak its mind. Therefore, we had to do it. And we had to truly reflect what it wanted and needed." The main goal of the SKS, according to Stasko, was twofold: "to unite all Slovak factions, which by themselves were weak and ineffective, and to demand the right of the Slovak nation to self-govemment."40 Stasko then drafted what he considered to be the main role of the Slovak World Congress in the following points: 1- The leadership of the Slovak World Congress should gather information about Slovak achievements in the arts and sciences and make them available for all to see, so that Slovak demands for homerule would seem reasonable. 2- The Slovak World Congress should publish books about Slovak history and literature in foreign languages and donate them to university libraries. 3- The Slovak World Congress should seek to revise information about the Slovaks in foreign publications. To this end, it should support research and translation into foreign-languages books about the Slovak past and present. 4- The Slovak World Congress must seek to persuade Slovaks abroad to publish quality books for practical purposes. It should seek out qualified Slovaks for this purpose. It must publish in English, French and German. It should publish a periodical geared towards the general public. Slovaks abroad lack a good Slovak-English dictionary, and that makes Americans dependent upon Slovak-speakers for translations. 5- The Slovak World Congress should establish a Slovak library containing information in English about Slovakia. The SKS should consider purchasing a building in New York City for this purpose. 39 Jozef Stasko, "Preco som za SKS?" Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov, No. 7, 1972, p. 18. 40 Ibid. , 17. �SLOVAKIA 59 Slovaks also lack restaurants and delicatessens, where one could purchase Slovak products. 6- The Slovak World Congress should also strive to overcome the divisions among Slovaks between Catholics, Lutherans and Jews. 41 Jozef Stasko also wrote a letter in 1980 to former members of the Democratic Party living in the USA. In it one can see that he was convinced that Communism in Czechoslovakia was doomed, and he also correctly predicted the breakup of the republic.42 Jozef Stasko lived to see an independent Slovak Republic in 1993. He and his generation had long fought for it. As he later remarked, it was one of the happiest days of his life. However, in the second half of the l 990's, Stasko's health began to deteriorate. He never really recovered from the negative effects of his imprisonment and radiation poisoning. Jozef Stasko died in New York City on September 19, 1999. At his request, his remains were transferred to and interred in Sedliacka Dubova, the village of his birth. Thus ended the almost unbelievable life of a person who, in spite of great difficulties, lived to see the realization of his dream: an independent Slovak Republic. 41 /bid., 19. lbid. , 20. 42 � SLOVAKIA 47 " JOZEF STASKO (1917-1999): HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS Miroslav Chromek In the history of Slovakia, many people who opposed the communist regime in the 1940's and 1950's were severely persecuted by the Communists. They were arrested, tortured, and sent to the uranium mines. The communist authorities, meanwhile, did everything in their power to erase any mention of them in official histories of the period. Now that Slovakia is no longer ruled by the Communists, it is incumbent upon historians to reveal the story of the many thousands who suffered under communist oppression. One of these individuals was Dr. Jozef Stasko. Jozef Stasko was born of Slovak peasants in the village of Sedliacka Dubova, Orava, county, on August 1, 1917. His father Peter, who was born in 1884, emigrated to the United States before the Great War in search of work. There he suffered an industrial accident from which he ultimately died on February 27, 1923. Jozef was only six years old and his sister Anna eight when their father died. Thus, Jozefs mother Johana, who had been born in 1887, had to raise her children on her own . 1 Jozef and his sister had to help their mother work the fields , as well as to attend school. In spite of her hard life, Jozef s mother persevered and gave her children all her love, for which Jozef was grateful. After he had made his way to the United States, he wrote a long article in praise of his mother, and all mothers who cared for their children.2 After completing the local Catholic grade school, the bright young Jozef went on to high school , but ran into difficulties. At the Trstena ' gymnasium,' where he first enrolled, he was repelled by the liberal and pro-Czechoslovak attitude of his Czech teachers and decided to switch to the more Catholic-oriented 'gymnasium' m Dolny Kubin. He later reminisced about these times as follows: 1 Stefan Baranovic, "Zivot a di elo PhDr. Jozefa Stasku," in Peter Maruniak, ed ., Dr. Jozef Stasko osemdesiatrocny (Martin: Mati ca slovenska, 1998), 9. 2 JozefStasko, " Moja matka," Ave Maria, 49 (No. 4, 1965), 106. �48 SLOVAKIA At 'gymnasium 'I was reminded that I belonged to an insignificant peasant people. My mother often told me how she had to hide Slovak newspapers from Magyar authorities. After the Great War, in speaking with Slovak patriots who had been jailed by the Magyars, I felt a deep pain in my heart for the past and continued suffering of our nation. 3 After graduating from 'gymansium' in 1935 Stasko continued his studies at Comenius University in Bratislava. In the first two years he studied French and Latin, and then switched to law. At Comenius he encountered the same attitudes as at Trstena-namely Czech professors trying to create a "Czechoslovak" language: "The University was run by Czechs, the Slovak language was degraded. Professor Vazny was trying to change Slovak into Czechoslovak and Professor Chaloupecky taught us Slovak history as if Slovaks were a mere branch of the Czech nation, and that was how were supposed to comport ourselves ."4 While at university, Stasko began to display his organizational and leadership abilities. He joined the student organizations Slavia Catholica, Detvan and Mayzes. Indeed, he was elected secretary of the latter. He lived in the student Catholic dormitory Svoradov, which was a hotbed for future political, scientific and cultural leaders.5 Since he was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the Sorbonne, Stasko left for Paris in February of 1939, and was caught in a maelstrom. The Slovak Diet had proclaimed independence on March 14, 1939, but Stasko disagreed with this proclamation. Therefore, he immediately contacted Dr. Stefan Osusky, the former Czechoslovak Minister to Paris, and offered him his services. However, in their discussions, Stasko found Osusky to be too proCzechoslovak, and too supportive of the philosophy of the late president T.G. Masaryk. 6 3 Baranovic, op.cit., 9. /bid. , I 0. 5 Jan Okal , "Dr. Jozef Stasko 65-rocny," Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov, 12, 2:10. 53, 1982), 22. . Stasko wrote about his discussions with Osusky in " Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establi sh Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir," Slo vakia, 32, nos. 4 �SLOVAKIA 49 Meanwhile, Stasko sought to help Slovak workers in France. Once Slovakia declared independence, Slovaks in France were regarded with suspicion as "Germanophiles. " Therefore, French employers fired many of them. In his fluent French, Stasko either defended these workers in front of their former employers or helped them to find other jobs.7 By the end of April Stasko returned to Slovakia by train. He surmised that war would soon break out and he wanted to size up the situation at home. He was particularly concerned about the 35,000 Slovak workers in Belgium and France, who might be drafted if a war broke out. He also sought to involve the government of Slovakia in helping them to retain their jobs in those uncertain times. He also wished to report to Osusky about the situation of Slovaks in southern Slovakia, which had been occupied by Hungary the previous November. 8 While in Slovakia Stasko met with Dr. Gejza Medricky, the Minister of Economics of the Slovak Republic and with General Rudolf Viest, a member of the Slovak General Staff. Stasko managed to convince Medricky not to cancel the wage agreement between France and Slovakia, which allowed Slovak workers to receive parcels without having to pay any duty on them. 9 In his meeting with General Viest, he tried to persuade the latter to send as many Slovak officers to France as possible, ostensibly to further their educations, but really to be drafted into the French army, where they could then form the nucleus of a Czecho-Slovak army when the war broke out. 10 Viest politely listened but promised nothing. If we are to believe a letter that Stasko wrote to Dr. Jozef Mikus in 1980, Stasko also met with President Jozef Tiso in Banovce nad Bebravou, while the latter was on vacation. Stasko claimed that, in a friendly atmosphere, they discussed various problems that confron58-59 ( 198 5- I 986), 9-33. See also "Zapisky Jozefa Staska," Martin , Sl ovenska narodn a knizn ica, Arch iv literatury a um eni a, (hereafter SN K-ALU) p. 15. 7 Mini sterstvo vnutra Slovenskej republi ke , Statny archiv v Bra ti slave (hereafter MVS R- SA B), Fond okresneho L.:u doveho sudu- Jozef Stasko: Vypoved Jozefa Staska na L.: ud ovom sude z 26.4. 1946, p. 3. 8 /bid 9 "Zapisky Jozefa Staska," op.cit., p. 18. 1 °Fra ntisek Vnuk , "S lovenske studentske spolky v medzivojnovo m obdobi ," in Jozef Stasko, Tvorcovia noveho Slovenska (Ca mbri dge , ON : Fri ends of Good Books, 1982) , 174. �50 SLOVAKIA ted the Slovak State. Stasko further claimed that he upbraided Tiso for Slovakia's pro-Nazi political orientation and for naively looking upon Germany as a trusted protector of the new republic. From his alleged conversation with Tiso, it is clear that Stasko did not expect 11 Nazi Germany to last very long. At the beginning of June Jozef Stasko returned to France, where he experienced the first months of the Second World War. As soon as the war broke out, he volunteered to serve in the Czechoslovak army-in-exile, which Stefan Osusky had organized in France. Stasko began his service on October 17, 1939 in camp Agda, where, incidentally, the Slovak communist politician Vladimir Clementis was also stationed. However, the latter stayed only a few months, and then moved to London, where he would join in the Czechoslovak 12 liberation movement led by ex-president Edvard Benes. Stasko, meanwhile, looked for ways and means to remain in France, and, barring that, in some other western country. As an officer-in-training, Stasko was assigned an apartment on the shores of the Mediterranean. Lieutenant Sivak, a Roman Catholic chaplain, helped him to secure this lodging. 13 On May I 0, 1940, Stasko was assigned to the I st Platoon of the 2nd Czechoslovak Regiment as a 14 sergeant, and as such, in June was sent to the front on the Marne. After France ' s defeat by the Germans, his commanding officer, First Lieutenant Dolejsek, ordered him to retreat with his platoon, and to blow up any and all stores of supplies and ammunition, which Stasko did, and for which he was recommended for a commendation . 15 Stasko then sought to remain in France, and even persuaded a French family to help him to obtain the necessary papers in order to be properly demobilized. He then hoped to make his way to the United States and asked his Orava friend and former fellow-resident at the Svoradov, Jozef Mikus, who was then charge d' affaires in Madrid, to 11 Uni versity of Ottawa, Archives and Special Collections, Slovak Arc hi ves, Jozef Mikus Fo nds, box 205, fasc . 205-7, letter of Jozef Stasko to Jozef Mikus, August 16, 1980. 12 MVSR-SAB , Yypoved Jozefa Staska, op.ci t. , p. 3, and Jozef Mikus, " Dr. Jozef Stasko sedemdesiatnik ," in Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu S/o vako v, 16 (No.77 , 1987), 18. 13 SNK-ALU, Jozef Stasko, " Yo vazeni na majaku Fort de Brescau." 14 Hitl er attacked western Europe on May I 0, 1940. 15 MVSR-SAB , Vypoved Jozefa Staska, p. 5 �SLOVAKIA 51 help him. The latter replied that it was Stasko's duty to return to Slovakia. 16 Meanwhile, Stasko refused to obey what he considered to be an impossible order, and found himself jailed by the French. Stasko's regiment was stationed in a Belgian camp that was shared by soldiers from Senegal. These got roaring drunk and armed themselves and began to loot the local town. French authorities ordered Stasko to quell this rebellion but Stasko knew that the Senegalese outnumbered his forces and refused. As a result, he and his soldiers found themselves jailed, along with the Senegalese, first in Belgium and from the end of August until the middle of November in the French prison Fort de Brescau, and after that in the prison of the Chasseurs Alpins in the port city of Set. While the prison regimen was not too onerous, living conditions were terrible, especially in Belgium, because the blankets were full of bed-bugs and the prison was overrun with rats, which Stasko and the Senegalese sought to kill during the night. 17 Jozef Stasko was finally rescued by Slovak authorities, although his subsequent life in Slovakia remained difficult. Dr. Eduard Malis, of the Slovak Repatriation Commission in France, arranged for Stasko to be released and he returned to Slovakia on March 22, 1941. 18 Stasko was immediately interrogated by the police for having allegedly revealed military secrets to the enemy, but released for lack of evidence. He then returned to Orava and helped his mother with her farm work, all the while being watched by the Gestapo. 19 Since he had no prospects in Orava, he eventually moved to Bratislava and found employment as the secretary of the Association of Industry, Trade and Finance. For three years he studied and published the history of trade and commerce in Slovakia for the magazine Zivnost'. He also planned to write a history of Slovak craft guilds. 20 During the Slovak Republic, Stasko did not engage in politics, nor did he join the ruling Hlinka Slovak People's Party. He did attend a lecture by Dr. Imrich Karvas, the Governor of the Slovak 16 "Zapi sky Jozefa Staska," op.cit., p. 33. Stasko , " Vo vaze ni .. .," op. cit. , 1-11 18 MVSR-SA B, Vypoved Jozefa Staska, op.cit ., p. 8 19 Author interview with lmrich Kruzliak in Bratislava, April 23, 2008. 20 Milan Beres, " Laudac ia na Dr. Jozefa Stas ku pri ude l'ovanf Ceny M . R. Stefanika ," in Peter Maruni ak, ed. , Dr. Jozef Stasko osemdesiatrocny (Martin : Matica slove nska) , 70. 17 �52 SLOVAKIA National Bank, and he did take advantage of a healing session at a Slovak spa, courtesy of his friend Jozef Mikula, who was a member of the People's Party.21 Conversely, Stasko did not participate in the Slovak National Uprising of August, 1944, which he considered illprepared and premature.22 Meanwhile, at the end of the war, some Russian soldiers broke into his bachelor apartment, ransacked it and beat him up when he tried to stop them. For all these reasons, a certain Major Peter Kozurka had him arrested on December 8, 1945 for his alleged "collaboration" activities. Due to a lack of evidence against him, Stasko was released just before Christmas, 1945. 23 After these bitter experiences, Stasko became a steadfast opponent of Communism, which he saw slowly engulfing his homeland. He joined the newly-established Democratic Party, worked tirelessly to unite the Lutherans and Catholics in it, and saw it emerge victorious in the 1946 elections. Initially, four political parties fielded candidates in the 1946 elections-the Democratic Party, the Communist Party of Slovakia, the Party of Freedom and the Party of the Workers. Only the Democrats and the Communists had a chance of winning. Both campaigned against each other. The Communists, largely through their mouthpiece Pravda, tried to divide the Catholic and Lutheran supporters of the Democratic Party. They even supported the creation of a Christian Democratic Party, to represent the Catholics. Initially, Stasko supported this movement, but later abandoned it. When he campaigned on behalf of the Democratic Party, for instance in Rufomberok, the Communists had him arrested while he was making a speech! Nevertheless, in the May 26, 1946 elections, 92.3% of the Orava electorate supported Stasko to the Czechoslovak Parliament for the Democratic Party.24 However, Stasko's victory lasted only until the fall of 1947. That summer he had guided a visiting American Slovak and her daughter across the country, and they both noticed that the secret police had been following them. In September the police arrested him again, on trumped-up charges, in spite of his parliamentary immunity. After 21 MVSR-SAB , Fond od resneho l'udoveho sudu- Jozef Stasko, Cs 414/46: Zapisnica o vysluchu svedka Jozefa Staska z 18. 2. 1947 22 Jnterview with lmrich K.ruzliak, op.cit. 23 Jozef Stasko, "Vazenska psychoterapia," Slovenske poh/'ady, no.3 , 1994, p. 124. 24 "Jozefa Staska prepustili 5. Novembra 1953 ," in "Zapisky Jozefa Staska- Na galejac h v Jachymove," SNK-ALU , Martin, p. 16. �SLOVAKIA 53 his release he was warned to flee the country but refused. Therefore, he was arrested again on November 4, 1947, and this time was sentenced to six years in jail. Once again, the Democratic Party did nothing to free him and he ended up in the notorious Leopoldov prison. Here he found himself in the company of former leaders of the Slovak Republic, such as Alexander Mach and Stefan Tiso, and Jan Kempny and later certain leaders of the Democratic Party, such as , Ursmy. , 25 Jan In spite of their difficult situation, Stasko and his fellow-prisoners decided to draft and sign a "Manifest" in which they protested their imprisonment and the political situation in Czechoslovakia. Interestingly, it was signed on March 14, 1951 (the 12 th anniversary of the Slovak Diet' s declaration of independence), by politicians from completely different ideologycal backgrounds . They were: Dr. Andrej Buza, Jan Kempny, Alexander Mach, Jozef Stasko Dr. Stefan Tiso and Jan Ursiny. Incredibly enough, it proclaimed the following: 1-The Slovak nation is founded upon its Christian heritage and its application in all spheres of social life. 2-In order to safeguard its Christian heritage, the Slovak nation must be free. It will be free only when it is independent and selfgovernmg. 3-The experience of our nation has led us to proclaim its right to home-rule, the form of which will be decided by the Slovak nation . One possible form is statehood. 4-W e recognize the right of humans and citizens to a democratic social and political system . We support open and friendly relations with the Czech nation and with our Magyar and Polish neighbors. 5-We are opposed to oppression, whether of individuals or of societies, in the name of ideological totalitarianism. We shall defend, even unto death, the right to our God-given freedom. 26 This "Manifest" is significant, because, after 1945 the Democratic Party had proposed a common state with the Czechs, albeit with Slovak home-rule. Now both the jailed proponents and former opponents of Slovak independence were united in their demands for Slovak independence. 25 26 Ibid. , 124-6. /bid. , 124. �54 SLOVAKIA After three years in Leopoldov prison, Stasko was transferred to the Jachymov uranium mines in the Czech Lands . Here Stasko 's health broke down , due to the ill-effects of radiation poisoning, which was evident in the development of serious skin lesions on his hands . Even though he was released after he had served a total of six 27 years in prison, he never recovered his health. After his release from jail in 1953 , Stasko returned to his native Orava, to try to start over. Initially he found work studying and cataloging the extensive correspondence of the writer-priest Ignac Grebac-Orlov at the latter's parish in Velicna. Here Stasko discovered a rich correspondence with Hviezdoslav, Jege, Bulla and Hlinka, and other important writers or politicians. He notified the Slovak Academy of Sciences of his discovery and asked if it would publish his findings. However, because of his former prison sentence, the SA V turned him down. Stasko then found employment as a manual laborer at a sawmill in Oravsky Podzamok, but his injured hands made it impossible for him to continue. After he lost this job, he was hired as a clerk at the Research Institute for the Mechanization of Forestry in the same village, largely because he was fluent in French . 28 Meanwhile, Stasko visited Bratislava on several occasions. There he met with Dr. Ambrus, who worked for Slovak Radio. He offered Stasko part-time employment as a co-producer of the serial "Know Your Land." For this program Stasko visited many villages in his native Orava, and interviewed the inhabitants. In this way he became an expert on Slovak folk culture. However, Stasko lost his job as a clerk in Oravsky Podzamok and then had to look for work in Zilina. Here he had great difficulty finding a place to board. Altogether he changed locations ten times. Finally, he found work repairing refrigerators. While working on a refrigerator at the Hotel Fatra in the nearby spa town of Rajecke Teplice, he was poisoned by leaking Methylchloride. As a result, he became a patient in the spa for about a month. While there he had the opportunity to meet with his old friends Jan Kempny and Jan Spisiak, the former ambassador to Hungary. Since his physician ordered Stasko to find less dangerous work, he then was employed in a 27 "Jozefa Staska prepustili 5. nove mb ra 1953 ," in "Zapisky Jozefa Staska- Na ¥,a lejach v Jachymove," SNK-ALU, Martin , p.21 . 8 - Ibid., p. 18. �SLOVAKIA 55 local plywood factory. The Communists saw to it that he could never find work suitable to his education.29 After six years of hard manual labor, with no prospect of the communist regime ending, Stasko decided to flee to the West. He did so with the collaboration of a former prisoner in the Jachymov mines, the electrical engineer Jozef Merko. Even though Merko lived in Moravia and Stasko in Slovakia, they started to meet on the Slovak-Moravian border, near the village of Makov, to plan their escape. They settled on the vi llage of Hulin, on the AustrianMoravian border, because it met all of their criteria-close to the border, with a main road, some friendly contacts, plus a route avoiding the mines, and with barbed-wire that could be penetrated by a truck. The truck would be "borrowed" by Merko from the television-repair factory where he worked. Merko would take with him his wife and children and Stasko his fiancee Ema Schmeringaiova. However, Stasko and Merko would not reveal to them their plans until the last moment. Stasko arrived in Hulin on August 8, 1961. He and Merko then added protective armor to the truck, to shield it from the 5,000-volt electrical wire which they would have to penetrate. Stasko described the actual escape in minute detail: We cut through the first barbed wire as if through a thread. The second wire was higher and more dangerous. We hit an obstruction and had to back up. That took about ten seconds. When we hit the thicker wire, which was electrified, we saw and heard an explosion. One section of the severed wire hit the roof of the truck and burned through it. The third wire was easily broken, but by then we noticed that the wires had coiled themselves around our tires and we were pulling the entire fence behind us. Once we had reached the Austrian side, we stepped on the gas and into freedom! 30 The refugees crossed to the Austrian side on August 15, at 3 :40 a.m. After the Austrian border guards had checked their papers and story, they allowed the truck to proceed. When they arrived in 29 30 !bid., p. 20 /bid. , p.82 �56 SLOVAKIA Vienna, astounded journalists dubbed their Tatra truck as the "tank of freedom." Austrian authorities returned it to Czechoslovakia. The refugees were then taken to the refugee camp called Kagran, where they had to wait for one month in order to acquire Austrian visas. Merko was then hired as a technician by the local television station and Stasko found work in a winery.31 Now that Stasko was free , he breathed a sigh of relief, but still had medical problems. As he put it, "The medicine of freedom relaxed my nerves. At home I had really suffered from headaches, body pain, and depression."32 However, his body still suffered from radiation poisoning. Therefore, he decided to visit his good friend Irnrich Kruzliak, who worked at Radio Free Europe in Munich . The latter immediately sent him to his doctor for a physical. When the physician inspected Stasko's hands, which had millimeter-deep cracks in them, he predicted that Stasko would survive for a maximum of two years.33 He recommended that he go to Rome, to the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which specialized in the disease that afflicted him. Here Stasko was, indeed, helped by taking new medicines. His health improved so much that he was then able to travel all over Europe, particularly to London and Paris, where he met various Slovaks and could guage their political activities. He was interviewed on French television about his escape from Czechoslovakia, and by the French press as well. On February 1, 1962, Dominique Aucleres published a long interview with him in Le Figaro , France 's largest-circulation newspaper. 34 Meanwhile, when Stasko visited with Kruzliak in Munich, he expressed interest in also working for Radio Free Europe, but was disappointed. Some of his former Lutheran colleagues in the Democratic Party, who had the final say as to who was hired, turned Stasko down . Therefore, a dejected Stasko decided to apply for a visa to the United States and was successful. He arrived with his fiancee in New York in May of 1962.35 31 !bid. , p.83 /bid. , p.84. 33 Author interview with Imrich Kruzliak, April 23 , 2008 34 Jozef Mikus, " Dr. Jozef Stasko sedemdesiatnik," in Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu S/ovakov, l 6 (No.77, 1987), p.1 8. 35 Jnterview with Imrich Kruzliak, op.cit. 32 �SLOVAKIA 57 In New York Stasko and his wife (they were married in 1962) flourished . He intensively studied the English language, earned a Master of Library Science degree at Columbia University, and found employment as a librarian at the New York Public Library. His wife Ema, who even in Slovakia had nursed him back to health as best as she could, also enrolled at Columbia University, where she earned a BSc. in chemistry. Meanwhile, on October 27, 1963, they were blessed with a son, Jozef Jr. With the help of their friends, the Stasko family was able to purchase a condominium apartment on Park Terrace in New York City, where he lived for the rest of his life. 36 Shortly after his arrival in the United States, Jozef Stasko joined the Slovak-American community and contributed to its cultural life. He wrote articles for the monthly Ave Maria, Verbum, Horizon!. and especially for the Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov. In 1973-74 he also taught courses on immigration and American Slovaks as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the City College in New York.37 One of Stasko ' s dreams was to establish a Library and Archives dedicated to documenting the history and culture of American Slovaks. He hoped that it would be located in Danville, Pennsylvania, at the Jankola Library, which was already in existence, and which was organized by the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This Slovak congregation had been founded by the Rev. Matus Jankola in 1909 and, since all the sisters were fluent in Slovak, he felt that they would be the ideal recipients of such an archive.38 Jozef Stasko also took an active role in the founding of the Slovak World Congress in 1970. In his 1969 presentation to a meeting of the Organizing Committee of the SWC in Linden, New Jersey, Stasko outlined his conception of the role of the Slovak World Congress among Slovaks in the USA and Canada. He rejected the "Czechoslovakism" that still existed in some quarters and, instead, championed the cause of Slovak independence. On the other 36 /bid., and Jozef Stasko to Frantisek Sub fk, ovember 3, 1963 , Uni versity of Ottawa, Arc hi ves and Spec ial Coll ecti ons, Jozef Stasko Fonds, Box 205, Fasc . 20626. 37 Baranov ic, op. cit., 13. 38 Jozef Stasko to Jozef Papi n, September 8, I 972 and Slovak Hi story Assoc iation of Ameri ca n Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Uni versity of Ottawa, Slovak Archi ves, Archi ves and Spec ial Collectio ns, Fond Jozef Stasko, Box 205 , fasc. 20515 and fasc . 2 12. �58 SLOVAKIA hand, he naively called on the SKS to seek the support of all Slovak factions in the USA, including Catholics and Lutherans and supporters of the Slovak State and its opponents.39 The Slovak World Congress was founded in reaction to the "normalization" of Czechoslovakia after the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968. Stasko put it this way: "We had to recognize that the Slovak nation at home was not free to speak its mind. Therefore, we had to do it. And we had to truly reflect what it wanted and needed." The main goal of the SKS, according to Stasko, was twofold: "to unite all Slovak factions, which by themselves were weak and ineffective, and to demand the right of the Slovak nation to self-govemment."40 Stasko then drafted what he considered to be the main role of the Slovak World Congress in the following points: 1- The leadership of the Slovak World Congress should gather information about Slovak achievements in the arts and sciences and make them available for all to see, so that Slovak demands for homerule would seem reasonable. 2- The Slovak World Congress should publish books about Slovak history and literature in foreign languages and donate them to university libraries. 3- The Slovak World Congress should seek to revise information about the Slovaks in foreign publications. To this end, it should support research and translation into foreign-languages books about the Slovak past and present. 4- The Slovak World Congress must seek to persuade Slovaks abroad to publish quality books for practical purposes. It should seek out qualified Slovaks for this purpose. It must publish in English, French and German. It should publish a periodical geared towards the general public. Slovaks abroad lack a good Slovak-English dictionary, and that makes Americans dependent upon Slovak-speakers for translations. 5- The Slovak World Congress should establish a Slovak library containing information in English about Slovakia. The SKS should consider purchasing a building in New York City for this purpose. 39 Jozef Stasko, "Preco som za SKS?" Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov, No. 7, 1972, p. 18. 40 Ibid. , 17. �SLOVAKIA 59 Slovaks also lack restaurants and delicatessens, where one could purchase Slovak products. 6- The Slovak World Congress should also strive to overcome the divisions among Slovaks between Catholics, Lutherans and Jews. 41 Jozef Stasko also wrote a letter in 1980 to former members of the Democratic Party living in the USA. In it one can see that he was convinced that Communism in Czechoslovakia was doomed, and he also correctly predicted the breakup of the republic.42 Jozef Stasko lived to see an independent Slovak Republic in 1993. He and his generation had long fought for it. As he later remarked, it was one of the happiest days of his life. However, in the second half of the l 990's, Stasko's health began to deteriorate. He never really recovered from the negative effects of his imprisonment and radiation poisoning. Jozef Stasko died in New York City on September 19, 1999. At his request, his remains were transferred to and interred in Sedliacka Dubova, the village of his birth. Thus ended the almost unbelievable life of a person who, in spite of great difficulties, lived to see the realization of his dream: an independent Slovak Republic. 41 /bid., 19. lbid. , 20. 42 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2010, Vol. 40 Description An account of the resource Vol. 40 (No. 74-75), 2010. 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 2010 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 " JOZEF STASKO (1917-1999): HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS Miroslav Chromek In the history of Slovakia, many people who opposed the communist regime in the 1940's and 1950's were severely persecuted by the Communists. They were arrested, tortured, and sent to the uranium mines. The communist authorities, meanwhile, did everything in their power to erase any mention of them in official histories of the period. Now that Slovakia is no longer ruled by the Communists, it is incumbent upon historians to reveal the story of the many thousands who suffered under communist oppression. One of these individuals was Dr. Jozef Stasko. Jozef Stasko was born of Slovak peasants in the village of Sedliacka Dubova, Orava, county, on August 1, 1917. His father Peter, who was born in 1884, emigrated to the United States before the Great War in search of work. There he suffered an industrial accident from which he ultimately died on February 27, 1923. Jozef was only six years old and his sister Anna eight when their father died. Thus, Jozefs mother Johana, who had been born in 1887, had to raise her children on her own . 1 Jozef and his sister had to help their mother work the fields , as well as to attend school. In spite of her hard life, Jozef s mother persevered and gave her children all her love, for which Jozef was grateful. After he had made his way to the United States, he wrote a long article in praise of his mother, and all mothers who cared for their children.2 After completing the local Catholic grade school, the bright young Jozef went on to high school , but ran into difficulties. At the Trstena ' gymnasium,' where he first enrolled, he was repelled by the liberal and pro-Czechoslovak attitude of his Czech teachers and decided to switch to the more Catholic-oriented 'gymnasium' m Dolny Kubin. He later reminisced about these times as follows: 1 Stefan Baranovic, "Zivot a di elo PhDr. Jozefa Stasku," in Peter Maruniak, ed ., Dr. Jozef Stasko osemdesiatrocny (Martin: Mati ca slovenska, 1998), 9. 2 JozefStasko, " Moja matka," Ave Maria, 49 (No. 4, 1965), 106. 48 SLOVAKIA At 'gymnasium 'I was reminded that I belonged to an insignificant peasant people. My mother often told me how she had to hide Slovak newspapers from Magyar authorities. After the Great War, in speaking with Slovak patriots who had been jailed by the Magyars, I felt a deep pain in my heart for the past and continued suffering of our nation. 3 After graduating from 'gymansium' in 1935 Stasko continued his studies at Comenius University in Bratislava. In the first two years he studied French and Latin, and then switched to law. At Comenius he encountered the same attitudes as at Trstena-namely Czech professors trying to create a "Czechoslovak" language: "The University was run by Czechs, the Slovak language was degraded. Professor Vazny was trying to change Slovak into Czechoslovak and Professor Chaloupecky taught us Slovak history as if Slovaks were a mere branch of the Czech nation, and that was how were supposed to comport ourselves ."4 While at university, Stasko began to display his organizational and leadership abilities. He joined the student organizations Slavia Catholica, Detvan and Mayzes. Indeed, he was elected secretary of the latter. He lived in the student Catholic dormitory Svoradov, which was a hotbed for future political, scientific and cultural leaders.5 Since he was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the Sorbonne, Stasko left for Paris in February of 1939, and was caught in a maelstrom. The Slovak Diet had proclaimed independence on March 14, 1939, but Stasko disagreed with this proclamation. Therefore, he immediately contacted Dr. Stefan Osusky, the former Czechoslovak Minister to Paris, and offered him his services. However, in their discussions, Stasko found Osusky to be too proCzechoslovak, and too supportive of the philosophy of the late president T.G. Masaryk. 6 3 Baranovic, op.cit., 9. /bid. , I 0. 5 Jan Okal , "Dr. Jozef Stasko 65-rocny," Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov, 12, 2:10. 53, 1982), 22. . Stasko wrote about his discussions with Osusky in " Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establi sh Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir," Slo vakia, 32, nos. 4 SLOVAKIA 49 Meanwhile, Stasko sought to help Slovak workers in France. Once Slovakia declared independence, Slovaks in France were regarded with suspicion as "Germanophiles. " Therefore, French employers fired many of them. In his fluent French, Stasko either defended these workers in front of their former employers or helped them to find other jobs.7 By the end of April Stasko returned to Slovakia by train. He surmised that war would soon break out and he wanted to size up the situation at home. He was particularly concerned about the 35,000 Slovak workers in Belgium and France, who might be drafted if a war broke out. He also sought to involve the government of Slovakia in helping them to retain their jobs in those uncertain times. He also wished to report to Osusky about the situation of Slovaks in southern Slovakia, which had been occupied by Hungary the previous November. 8 While in Slovakia Stasko met with Dr. Gejza Medricky, the Minister of Economics of the Slovak Republic and with General Rudolf Viest, a member of the Slovak General Staff. Stasko managed to convince Medricky not to cancel the wage agreement between France and Slovakia, which allowed Slovak workers to receive parcels without having to pay any duty on them. 9 In his meeting with General Viest, he tried to persuade the latter to send as many Slovak officers to France as possible, ostensibly to further their educations, but really to be drafted into the French army, where they could then form the nucleus of a Czecho-Slovak army when the war broke out. 10 Viest politely listened but promised nothing. If we are to believe a letter that Stasko wrote to Dr. Jozef Mikus in 1980, Stasko also met with President Jozef Tiso in Banovce nad Bebravou, while the latter was on vacation. Stasko claimed that, in a friendly atmosphere, they discussed various problems that confron58-59 ( 198 5- I 986), 9-33. See also "Zapisky Jozefa Staska," Martin , Sl ovenska narodn a knizn ica, Arch iv literatury a um eni a, (hereafter SN K-ALU) p. 15. 7 Mini sterstvo vnutra Slovenskej republi ke , Statny archiv v Bra ti slave (hereafter MVS R- SA B), Fond okresneho L.:u doveho sudu- Jozef Stasko: Vypoved Jozefa Staska na L.: ud ovom sude z 26.4. 1946, p. 3. 8 /bid 9 "Zapisky Jozefa Staska," op.cit., p. 18. 1 °Fra ntisek Vnuk , "S lovenske studentske spolky v medzivojnovo m obdobi ," in Jozef Stasko, Tvorcovia noveho Slovenska (Ca mbri dge , ON : Fri ends of Good Books, 1982) , 174. 50 SLOVAKIA ted the Slovak State. Stasko further claimed that he upbraided Tiso for Slovakia's pro-Nazi political orientation and for naively looking upon Germany as a trusted protector of the new republic. From his alleged conversation with Tiso, it is clear that Stasko did not expect 11 Nazi Germany to last very long. At the beginning of June Jozef Stasko returned to France, where he experienced the first months of the Second World War. As soon as the war broke out, he volunteered to serve in the Czechoslovak army-in-exile, which Stefan Osusky had organized in France. Stasko began his service on October 17, 1939 in camp Agda, where, incidentally, the Slovak communist politician Vladimir Clementis was also stationed. However, the latter stayed only a few months, and then moved to London, where he would join in the Czechoslovak 12 liberation movement led by ex-president Edvard Benes. Stasko, meanwhile, looked for ways and means to remain in France, and, barring that, in some other western country. As an officer-in-training, Stasko was assigned an apartment on the shores of the Mediterranean. Lieutenant Sivak, a Roman Catholic chaplain, helped him to secure this lodging. 13 On May I 0, 1940, Stasko was assigned to the I st Platoon of the 2nd Czechoslovak Regiment as a 14 sergeant, and as such, in June was sent to the front on the Marne. After France ' s defeat by the Germans, his commanding officer, First Lieutenant Dolejsek, ordered him to retreat with his platoon, and to blow up any and all stores of supplies and ammunition, which Stasko did, and for which he was recommended for a commendation . 15 Stasko then sought to remain in France, and even persuaded a French family to help him to obtain the necessary papers in order to be properly demobilized. He then hoped to make his way to the United States and asked his Orava friend and former fellow-resident at the Svoradov, Jozef Mikus, who was then charge d' affaires in Madrid, to 11 Uni versity of Ottawa, Archives and Special Collections, Slovak Arc hi ves, Jozef Mikus Fo nds, box 205, fasc . 205-7, letter of Jozef Stasko to Jozef Mikus, August 16, 1980. 12 MVSR-SAB , Yypoved Jozefa Staska, op.ci t. , p. 3, and Jozef Mikus, " Dr. Jozef Stasko sedemdesiatnik ," in Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu S/o vako v, 16 (No.77 , 1987), 18. 13 SNK-ALU, Jozef Stasko, " Yo vazeni na majaku Fort de Brescau." 14 Hitl er attacked western Europe on May I 0, 1940. 15 MVSR-SAB , Vypoved Jozefa Staska, p. 5 SLOVAKIA 51 help him. The latter replied that it was Stasko's duty to return to Slovakia. 16 Meanwhile, Stasko refused to obey what he considered to be an impossible order, and found himself jailed by the French. Stasko's regiment was stationed in a Belgian camp that was shared by soldiers from Senegal. These got roaring drunk and armed themselves and began to loot the local town. French authorities ordered Stasko to quell this rebellion but Stasko knew that the Senegalese outnumbered his forces and refused. As a result, he and his soldiers found themselves jailed, along with the Senegalese, first in Belgium and from the end of August until the middle of November in the French prison Fort de Brescau, and after that in the prison of the Chasseurs Alpins in the port city of Set. While the prison regimen was not too onerous, living conditions were terrible, especially in Belgium, because the blankets were full of bed-bugs and the prison was overrun with rats, which Stasko and the Senegalese sought to kill during the night. 17 Jozef Stasko was finally rescued by Slovak authorities, although his subsequent life in Slovakia remained difficult. Dr. Eduard Malis, of the Slovak Repatriation Commission in France, arranged for Stasko to be released and he returned to Slovakia on March 22, 1941. 18 Stasko was immediately interrogated by the police for having allegedly revealed military secrets to the enemy, but released for lack of evidence. He then returned to Orava and helped his mother with her farm work, all the while being watched by the Gestapo. 19 Since he had no prospects in Orava, he eventually moved to Bratislava and found employment as the secretary of the Association of Industry, Trade and Finance. For three years he studied and published the history of trade and commerce in Slovakia for the magazine Zivnost'. He also planned to write a history of Slovak craft guilds. 20 During the Slovak Republic, Stasko did not engage in politics, nor did he join the ruling Hlinka Slovak People's Party. He did attend a lecture by Dr. Imrich Karvas, the Governor of the Slovak 16 "Zapi sky Jozefa Staska," op.cit., p. 33. Stasko , " Vo vaze ni .. .," op. cit. , 1-11 18 MVSR-SA B, Vypoved Jozefa Staska, op.cit ., p. 8 19 Author interview with lmrich Kruzliak in Bratislava, April 23, 2008. 20 Milan Beres, " Laudac ia na Dr. Jozefa Stas ku pri ude l'ovanf Ceny M . R. Stefanika ," in Peter Maruni ak, ed. , Dr. Jozef Stasko osemdesiatrocny (Martin : Matica slove nska) , 70. 17 52 SLOVAKIA National Bank, and he did take advantage of a healing session at a Slovak spa, courtesy of his friend Jozef Mikula, who was a member of the People's Party.21 Conversely, Stasko did not participate in the Slovak National Uprising of August, 1944, which he considered illprepared and premature.22 Meanwhile, at the end of the war, some Russian soldiers broke into his bachelor apartment, ransacked it and beat him up when he tried to stop them. For all these reasons, a certain Major Peter Kozurka had him arrested on December 8, 1945 for his alleged "collaboration" activities. Due to a lack of evidence against him, Stasko was released just before Christmas, 1945. 23 After these bitter experiences, Stasko became a steadfast opponent of Communism, which he saw slowly engulfing his homeland. He joined the newly-established Democratic Party, worked tirelessly to unite the Lutherans and Catholics in it, and saw it emerge victorious in the 1946 elections. Initially, four political parties fielded candidates in the 1946 elections-the Democratic Party, the Communist Party of Slovakia, the Party of Freedom and the Party of the Workers. Only the Democrats and the Communists had a chance of winning. Both campaigned against each other. The Communists, largely through their mouthpiece Pravda, tried to divide the Catholic and Lutheran supporters of the Democratic Party. They even supported the creation of a Christian Democratic Party, to represent the Catholics. Initially, Stasko supported this movement, but later abandoned it. When he campaigned on behalf of the Democratic Party, for instance in Rufomberok, the Communists had him arrested while he was making a speech! Nevertheless, in the May 26, 1946 elections, 92.3% of the Orava electorate supported Stasko to the Czechoslovak Parliament for the Democratic Party.24 However, Stasko's victory lasted only until the fall of 1947. That summer he had guided a visiting American Slovak and her daughter across the country, and they both noticed that the secret police had been following them. In September the police arrested him again, on trumped-up charges, in spite of his parliamentary immunity. After 21 MVSR-SAB , Fond od resneho l'udoveho sudu- Jozef Stasko, Cs 414/46: Zapisnica o vysluchu svedka Jozefa Staska z 18. 2. 1947 22 Jnterview with lmrich K.ruzliak, op.cit. 23 Jozef Stasko, "Vazenska psychoterapia," Slovenske poh/'ady, no.3 , 1994, p. 124. 24 "Jozefa Staska prepustili 5. Novembra 1953 ," in "Zapisky Jozefa Staska- Na galejac h v Jachymove," SNK-ALU , Martin, p. 16. SLOVAKIA 53 his release he was warned to flee the country but refused. Therefore, he was arrested again on November 4, 1947, and this time was sentenced to six years in jail. Once again, the Democratic Party did nothing to free him and he ended up in the notorious Leopoldov prison. Here he found himself in the company of former leaders of the Slovak Republic, such as Alexander Mach and Stefan Tiso, and Jan Kempny and later certain leaders of the Democratic Party, such as , Ursmy. , 25 Jan In spite of their difficult situation, Stasko and his fellow-prisoners decided to draft and sign a "Manifest" in which they protested their imprisonment and the political situation in Czechoslovakia. Interestingly, it was signed on March 14, 1951 (the 12 th anniversary of the Slovak Diet' s declaration of independence), by politicians from completely different ideologycal backgrounds . They were: Dr. Andrej Buza, Jan Kempny, Alexander Mach, Jozef Stasko Dr. Stefan Tiso and Jan Ursiny. Incredibly enough, it proclaimed the following: 1-The Slovak nation is founded upon its Christian heritage and its application in all spheres of social life. 2-In order to safeguard its Christian heritage, the Slovak nation must be free. It will be free only when it is independent and selfgovernmg. 3-The experience of our nation has led us to proclaim its right to home-rule, the form of which will be decided by the Slovak nation . One possible form is statehood. 4-W e recognize the right of humans and citizens to a democratic social and political system . We support open and friendly relations with the Czech nation and with our Magyar and Polish neighbors. 5-We are opposed to oppression, whether of individuals or of societies, in the name of ideological totalitarianism. We shall defend, even unto death, the right to our God-given freedom. 26 This "Manifest" is significant, because, after 1945 the Democratic Party had proposed a common state with the Czechs, albeit with Slovak home-rule. Now both the jailed proponents and former opponents of Slovak independence were united in their demands for Slovak independence. 25 26 Ibid. , 124-6. /bid. , 124. 54 SLOVAKIA After three years in Leopoldov prison, Stasko was transferred to the Jachymov uranium mines in the Czech Lands . Here Stasko 's health broke down , due to the ill-effects of radiation poisoning, which was evident in the development of serious skin lesions on his hands . Even though he was released after he had served a total of six 27 years in prison, he never recovered his health. After his release from jail in 1953 , Stasko returned to his native Orava, to try to start over. Initially he found work studying and cataloging the extensive correspondence of the writer-priest Ignac Grebac-Orlov at the latter's parish in Velicna. Here Stasko discovered a rich correspondence with Hviezdoslav, Jege, Bulla and Hlinka, and other important writers or politicians. He notified the Slovak Academy of Sciences of his discovery and asked if it would publish his findings. However, because of his former prison sentence, the SA V turned him down. Stasko then found employment as a manual laborer at a sawmill in Oravsky Podzamok, but his injured hands made it impossible for him to continue. After he lost this job, he was hired as a clerk at the Research Institute for the Mechanization of Forestry in the same village, largely because he was fluent in French . 28 Meanwhile, Stasko visited Bratislava on several occasions. There he met with Dr. Ambrus, who worked for Slovak Radio. He offered Stasko part-time employment as a co-producer of the serial "Know Your Land." For this program Stasko visited many villages in his native Orava, and interviewed the inhabitants. In this way he became an expert on Slovak folk culture. However, Stasko lost his job as a clerk in Oravsky Podzamok and then had to look for work in Zilina. Here he had great difficulty finding a place to board. Altogether he changed locations ten times. Finally, he found work repairing refrigerators. While working on a refrigerator at the Hotel Fatra in the nearby spa town of Rajecke Teplice, he was poisoned by leaking Methylchloride. As a result, he became a patient in the spa for about a month. While there he had the opportunity to meet with his old friends Jan Kempny and Jan Spisiak, the former ambassador to Hungary. Since his physician ordered Stasko to find less dangerous work, he then was employed in a 27 "Jozefa Staska prepustili 5. nove mb ra 1953 ," in "Zapisky Jozefa Staska- Na ¥,a lejach v Jachymove," SNK-ALU, Martin , p.21 . 8 - Ibid., p. 18. SLOVAKIA 55 local plywood factory. The Communists saw to it that he could never find work suitable to his education.29 After six years of hard manual labor, with no prospect of the communist regime ending, Stasko decided to flee to the West. He did so with the collaboration of a former prisoner in the Jachymov mines, the electrical engineer Jozef Merko. Even though Merko lived in Moravia and Stasko in Slovakia, they started to meet on the Slovak-Moravian border, near the village of Makov, to plan their escape. They settled on the vi llage of Hulin, on the AustrianMoravian border, because it met all of their criteria-close to the border, with a main road, some friendly contacts, plus a route avoiding the mines, and with barbed-wire that could be penetrated by a truck. The truck would be "borrowed" by Merko from the television-repair factory where he worked. Merko would take with him his wife and children and Stasko his fiancee Ema Schmeringaiova. However, Stasko and Merko would not reveal to them their plans until the last moment. Stasko arrived in Hulin on August 8, 1961. He and Merko then added protective armor to the truck, to shield it from the 5,000-volt electrical wire which they would have to penetrate. Stasko described the actual escape in minute detail: We cut through the first barbed wire as if through a thread. The second wire was higher and more dangerous. We hit an obstruction and had to back up. That took about ten seconds. When we hit the thicker wire, which was electrified, we saw and heard an explosion. One section of the severed wire hit the roof of the truck and burned through it. The third wire was easily broken, but by then we noticed that the wires had coiled themselves around our tires and we were pulling the entire fence behind us. Once we had reached the Austrian side, we stepped on the gas and into freedom! 30 The refugees crossed to the Austrian side on August 15, at 3 :40 a.m. After the Austrian border guards had checked their papers and story, they allowed the truck to proceed. When they arrived in 29 30 !bid., p. 20 /bid. , p.82 56 SLOVAKIA Vienna, astounded journalists dubbed their Tatra truck as the "tank of freedom." Austrian authorities returned it to Czechoslovakia. The refugees were then taken to the refugee camp called Kagran, where they had to wait for one month in order to acquire Austrian visas. Merko was then hired as a technician by the local television station and Stasko found work in a winery.31 Now that Stasko was free , he breathed a sigh of relief, but still had medical problems. As he put it, "The medicine of freedom relaxed my nerves. At home I had really suffered from headaches, body pain, and depression."32 However, his body still suffered from radiation poisoning. Therefore, he decided to visit his good friend Irnrich Kruzliak, who worked at Radio Free Europe in Munich . The latter immediately sent him to his doctor for a physical. When the physician inspected Stasko's hands, which had millimeter-deep cracks in them, he predicted that Stasko would survive for a maximum of two years.33 He recommended that he go to Rome, to the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which specialized in the disease that afflicted him. Here Stasko was, indeed, helped by taking new medicines. His health improved so much that he was then able to travel all over Europe, particularly to London and Paris, where he met various Slovaks and could guage their political activities. He was interviewed on French television about his escape from Czechoslovakia, and by the French press as well. On February 1, 1962, Dominique Aucleres published a long interview with him in Le Figaro , France 's largest-circulation newspaper. 34 Meanwhile, when Stasko visited with Kruzliak in Munich, he expressed interest in also working for Radio Free Europe, but was disappointed. Some of his former Lutheran colleagues in the Democratic Party, who had the final say as to who was hired, turned Stasko down . Therefore, a dejected Stasko decided to apply for a visa to the United States and was successful. He arrived with his fiancee in New York in May of 1962.35 31 !bid. , p.83 /bid. , p.84. 33 Author interview with Imrich Kruzliak, April 23 , 2008 34 Jozef Mikus, " Dr. Jozef Stasko sedemdesiatnik," in Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu S/ovakov, l 6 (No.77, 1987), p.1 8. 35 Jnterview with Imrich Kruzliak, op.cit. 32 SLOVAKIA 57 In New York Stasko and his wife (they were married in 1962) flourished . He intensively studied the English language, earned a Master of Library Science degree at Columbia University, and found employment as a librarian at the New York Public Library. His wife Ema, who even in Slovakia had nursed him back to health as best as she could, also enrolled at Columbia University, where she earned a BSc. in chemistry. Meanwhile, on October 27, 1963, they were blessed with a son, Jozef Jr. With the help of their friends, the Stasko family was able to purchase a condominium apartment on Park Terrace in New York City, where he lived for the rest of his life. 36 Shortly after his arrival in the United States, Jozef Stasko joined the Slovak-American community and contributed to its cultural life. He wrote articles for the monthly Ave Maria, Verbum, Horizon!. and especially for the Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov. In 1973-74 he also taught courses on immigration and American Slovaks as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the City College in New York.37 One of Stasko ' s dreams was to establish a Library and Archives dedicated to documenting the history and culture of American Slovaks. He hoped that it would be located in Danville, Pennsylvania, at the Jankola Library, which was already in existence, and which was organized by the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This Slovak congregation had been founded by the Rev. Matus Jankola in 1909 and, since all the sisters were fluent in Slovak, he felt that they would be the ideal recipients of such an archive.38 Jozef Stasko also took an active role in the founding of the Slovak World Congress in 1970. In his 1969 presentation to a meeting of the Organizing Committee of the SWC in Linden, New Jersey, Stasko outlined his conception of the role of the Slovak World Congress among Slovaks in the USA and Canada. He rejected the "Czechoslovakism" that still existed in some quarters and, instead, championed the cause of Slovak independence. On the other 36 /bid., and Jozef Stasko to Frantisek Sub fk, ovember 3, 1963 , Uni versity of Ottawa, Arc hi ves and Spec ial Coll ecti ons, Jozef Stasko Fonds, Box 205, Fasc . 20626. 37 Baranov ic, op. cit., 13. 38 Jozef Stasko to Jozef Papi n, September 8, I 972 and Slovak Hi story Assoc iation of Ameri ca n Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Uni versity of Ottawa, Slovak Archi ves, Archi ves and Spec ial Collectio ns, Fond Jozef Stasko, Box 205 , fasc. 20515 and fasc . 2 12. 58 SLOVAKIA hand, he naively called on the SKS to seek the support of all Slovak factions in the USA, including Catholics and Lutherans and supporters of the Slovak State and its opponents.39 The Slovak World Congress was founded in reaction to the "normalization" of Czechoslovakia after the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968. Stasko put it this way: "We had to recognize that the Slovak nation at home was not free to speak its mind. Therefore, we had to do it. And we had to truly reflect what it wanted and needed." The main goal of the SKS, according to Stasko, was twofold: "to unite all Slovak factions, which by themselves were weak and ineffective, and to demand the right of the Slovak nation to self-govemment."40 Stasko then drafted what he considered to be the main role of the Slovak World Congress in the following points: 1- The leadership of the Slovak World Congress should gather information about Slovak achievements in the arts and sciences and make them available for all to see, so that Slovak demands for homerule would seem reasonable. 2- The Slovak World Congress should publish books about Slovak history and literature in foreign languages and donate them to university libraries. 3- The Slovak World Congress should seek to revise information about the Slovaks in foreign publications. To this end, it should support research and translation into foreign-languages books about the Slovak past and present. 4- The Slovak World Congress must seek to persuade Slovaks abroad to publish quality books for practical purposes. It should seek out qualified Slovaks for this purpose. It must publish in English, French and German. It should publish a periodical geared towards the general public. Slovaks abroad lack a good Slovak-English dictionary, and that makes Americans dependent upon Slovak-speakers for translations. 5- The Slovak World Congress should establish a Slovak library containing information in English about Slovakia. The SKS should consider purchasing a building in New York City for this purpose. 39 Jozef Stasko, "Preco som za SKS?" Bulletin Svetoveho kongresu Slovakov, No. 7, 1972, p. 18. 40 Ibid. , 17. SLOVAKIA 59 Slovaks also lack restaurants and delicatessens, where one could purchase Slovak products. 6- The Slovak World Congress should also strive to overcome the divisions among Slovaks between Catholics, Lutherans and Jews. 41 Jozef Stasko also wrote a letter in 1980 to former members of the Democratic Party living in the USA. In it one can see that he was convinced that Communism in Czechoslovakia was doomed, and he also correctly predicted the breakup of the republic.42 Jozef Stasko lived to see an independent Slovak Republic in 1993. He and his generation had long fought for it. As he later remarked, it was one of the happiest days of his life. However, in the second half of the l 990's, Stasko's health began to deteriorate. He never really recovered from the negative effects of his imprisonment and radiation poisoning. Jozef Stasko died in New York City on September 19, 1999. At his request, his remains were transferred to and interred in Sedliacka Dubova, the village of his birth. Thus ended the almost unbelievable life of a person who, in spite of great difficulties, lived to see the realization of his dream: an independent Slovak Republic. 41 /bid., 19. lbid. , 20. 42  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Staško (1917-1999): His Life and Achievements Description An account of the resource Miroslav Chromek Slovakia, Vol. 40 (No. 74-75), 2010 pp. 47-59 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chromek, Miroslav Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/a969fe086d944834d00d86c394adb7d6.pdf 5a0f99039785ac20100e32fe7783d738 PDF Text Text 12 SLOVAKIA Slovanics" grammar is a real possibility. I believe that it could be drawn up along the lines presented in this article. Of course, it would require the careful, studious efforts of someone well acquainted with the Slovanic languages or at least with one of them. But I feel it can be done. At least the possibility should be explored and an attempt made in .that direction. Perhaps if we Slovaks ignore this project, some one of our kindred Slavs may take it up, using his tongue instead of ours as the basis. The Slav languages certainly should be taught in our schools. But if they are to be, a Slovanic grammar is needed. Slovak can offer itself as the key ingredient in such a book, since it possesses the qualirty of representatives among the Slavic vernaculars. What is requisite, therefore, is a recognition of the needs for and feasibility of a "High School Slovanics" book, and then the efforts of our Slovak-American intelligentsia to prepare it. In this way, the great culture of our tiny nation would make still another contribution to the advancement of world knowledge and culture. - (MOST," Vol. 5, No. 2) . • • • THE BIRTH OF A SATELLITE By Bohdan Chudoba (It is ofiten maintained that Czecho-Slovaikiia became a s·a tellite of Moscow in February, 1948, when the communists gained full power in Prague. In the following article Pr<Yfessor Bohdan Chudio'ba of New York, a noted historian and forimer leading Czech -politician, very clearly -i lluminates the Czecho-Slovaik situation after World War II and the disastrous role that Czecho~ovaikia's foruner President Edward Benes played when, long before '1'94'8, he paved the way for the commun,ist seizure o,f full power in '1948.) When leading statesmen of the Allied Powers met at Teheran in 1943 and President Roosevelt ha,d to decide whether or not to support ChurchiH's plan to invade the Balkans and keep the Red Army out of Central Europe, the conference had the spectacle of Edward Benes journeying solemnly from London to Moscow where, on December 12, he signed a new treaty between Czecho-Slovalda and the Soviet Union, binding himself and his (provisional) government to dissolve all "anti-communist organizations �SLOVAKIA 13 in his country. His voyage to Moscow had been prepared long before by his chief advisor, the late Hubert Ripka. Speaking over the Moscow broadcasting system on December 21, 1943, Dr. Benes declared: "In 1938 we were deserted by the Western Democracies and then subjugated by the Nazis; only the Soviet Union remained faithful to us." That was not true. Benes knew very well that in 1938 the Soviets had refused to give any precise answer to the Czecho-Slovak High Command's request for military aid in the eventuality of war with Hitler Germany. He also accompanied this false strutement by another declaration which can be regarded as the core of his policy. He said: "This journey of mine is the necessary result, the logical conclusion, and the final evolutionary achievement of the Czech policy of the last hundred years, a result made possible by the Russian revolution of the last war." Beware of ideologists who consider their achievements as final. Benes was not satisfied with placing himself in the service of the Krem1lin. Although perfectly aware of the mass graves of Polish officers murdered by the Bolshevists in Katyn in 1944, he persuaded Stanislaus Mikolajczyk to quit the legitimate Polish exile government in London and to join the puppet government set up by the Soviets in Lublin, Eastern Poland. This adventure ended in Mikolajczyk's flight to the West in 1947. Most of Benes' aides were enthusiastic members of the Socialist avant-garde. Hubert Ripka, the most cunning among them, had already developed a far-reaching program which he published in England in 1945 entitled "Czechoslovakia in the New Europe." "Our alliance with the Soviet Union," he declared, "requires a new orientation of our cultural policy; it is necessary that all anti-Soviet elements be eliminated from our schools, educational institutions, and from our literature." Ripka's best disciple, Ivo Duchacek, went even further, saying in his book "Along the Road to Moscow" (London 1944): "This immense conflagration is far more than a flickering flame on which people could warm their soup, people who, until yesterday, had made a career out of criticizing Lenin's interpretation of Marx." �14 SLOVAKIA Benes Moves to Moscow Early in H)45 Benes made his final decision. Accompanied by Jari Sramek and the other ministers of his ca:binet he moved from London to Moscow preferring to reenter his country with the Red Army rather than with the Western liberation troops. In Moscow Benes' star began to decline. He had to nominate a new cabinet in which staunch communists held the key positions. The Soviets were probably not quite sure yet of Czecho-Slovakia. They had freed General Prchala's troops from the concentration camps and sent them, under the command of a man named Svoboda, to the Dukla Pass in the Ca:r,pathians. There most of these young Czech soldiers found their death. But the Soviets still wanted Benes' help. They used the first stop t!he provisional Czecho~lovak Government had to make on Czecho-Slovak soil in the wake of the Red Army, to proclaim a political manifesto that bound Benes and his friends even closer to Moscow than the treaty of 1943. The Kosice Program The Kosice Program, as th:is manifesto is usually called, achieved two things with one stroke: It set the Communist P.arity on its way to final domination of Czecho-Slovakia and it committed the non-Communist members of the Government to help the Communists achieve this aim. It also enacted a decision which had been taken by the Benes group as early as 1943 in London: the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as well as of the Magyarspeaking population of Czecho-Slovakia. Later we were to pay dearly for this blindness. One thing was o·bvious from the very beginning t o any reader of the Kosice program : it was directed against the Czecho-Slovak constitution of 1920. Everyone who had signed it could, according to the laws of the Republic, have been summoned before a court and condemned for high treason. The two parits of the document which were most obviously undemocratic were those concerned with the nationalization of basic industry and the ban of nonCommunist or non-Socialist political parties. �SLOVAKIA 15 The announcemen t of the program caused much anxiety throughout the country. But the note of triumph of Socialist propaganda became louder and louder as the President approached Prague and culminated in his message to the provisional Parliament whose members were all appointed by Dr. Benes, and which had .assembled in Prague on October 28, 1945. "Today," tlhe message read, "we are betaking ourselves along a path which is to lead to the socialization of modern society." The President wholehearted ly endorsed the Kosice program. Secret Police Early Established Immediately after liberation, poiice forces, the SNB, the STB, and the ZOB, organized throughout the country under the auspices of .the Red Army, were to solve thd problems. Any,body arrested by them could have been retained ind~inljtely. Those beaten to death in the prison cells or deported to Siberia have left no traces. Democratic politidans, such as Ivan Micura, a prominent Slovak who had constantly opposed the Nazi domina,tion of Central Europe~ were arrested in their homes, deported to Russia and never heard from a,gain. Gradually the immense police apparatus turned its energies to "prdblems of socialization." Afl persons who possessed some property were put on a list of suspicious persons. The following document gives a good illustration of this process: "Recorded on September 12, 1945, at 1100 hours in the office of the District National Committee in Novy Bydzov. "The Chairman of the District National Committee of Novy Bydzov, in accordance with orders received from the Minister of Food Supply, Mr. Vaclav Majer, and the Provincial National Committee, issues the following order to Ladislav Stulik, milrler in Hradisko: "I order you to revoke, at not later than 4 p. m. of this day, the complaints which you have submitted to the district· court of justice on behalf of the millers' union; if you should not comply with this order I shall have you arrested at 6 p. m. I also order you to refrain from any �16 SLOVAKIA participation in public life. The police measures mentioned above will also be applied to the members of your family, if you do not comply with this order." "Gestapoism" At the same time a wave of cruel hatred travelled from one individual to another. Perhaps the majority of the Czechs were suddenly ready to suspect, to denounce, to arrest, and to torture their neighbors. In a town in eastern Bohemia a group of local intellectuals used to assemble every night at a given hour and to pay a visit to the district jail where hundreds of people, suspected of · collaboration with the Nazis during the war, were imprisoned. There they amused themselves until the small hours by beating the prisoners with sticks and ropes. This willingness to do evil spread as an infectious disease. Someone called it "gestapoism." Its victims were in the first place the Sudeten Germans. Outrages were committed such as the tragic march of death of 60,000 German speaking inhabitants of Brno, the capital of Moravia, from that city to the Austrian border - a march during which about half of the victims miserably perished. But the same cruelties were committed by the Czechs also against other Czechs. In places such as the Pankrac prison in Prague or the Kounicovy Koleje in Brno, people who had been denounced by their neighbors were, without any investigation at all, machinegunned by hundreds every night and buried in common graves. It was on the dirty floor of a Pankrac prison cell that death came to Emil Ha.cha, former President of Czechoslovakia, a great scholar and gentleman whose only concern had been the welfare of his nation. One of the prisoners, who was lucky enough to endure the tortures and to stay alive, relates his memories: "I saw bodies with demolished faces and without eyes, heaps of bodies of men, women, and even children. I have heard jailors reading names from a list of those who were to be set free, but who had already died of starvation days before and whose bodies I myself was forced to remove from our crowded prison cells. Twice a week I had to help load �SLOVAKIA 17 trucks with such corpses, --corpses of those who were investigated but never reached a court of justice. I saw with my own eyes a prisoner who had been prepared for an investigation, have his legs pierced above the heels, a rope placed through the holes, and then suspended on a hook in the wall. This torture, it is true, did not last long, but when, after three years, the prisoner in question was set free, the investigators were still unable to define the charges a!;ainst him." No wonder that, when the weekly paper "0bzory" was started by the Czech People's Party in Prague, one of the first articles submitted to the editors by a young girl, Renata J., was a treatise on fear. "We are a generation of fear," she wrote in her manuscript, "we live in fear, we eat in fear, fear devours our thoughts, our words - words which we do no dare to utter... " Such was the real Czecho-Slovakia of 1945, when Dr. Benes was its President. People were ousted from their jobs, their lodgings. Their properties were confiscated. And they were unable to appeal to the law. Little wonder, then, that the Communists made easy game of Czecho-Slovakia . • • • WHO SAID IT? "We can only repeat ,t hat neither Austria nor Hungary, and prolba/bly not even Gerunany, nor even the Sfovaks, woulld a•cce,pt in the '.l10ng rlllil tlhe existence of Czechoslovakia. Therefore the grafting of Ozeohoslova!kia on to a Danubian federation is hardly possjlble. In such a framewwk she wou1.d si1mply continue to be what she was in her prevti.ous existence : an internaitiona:l oolamity. The position would ibe di,f. ferent in the case of Bohemia and Moravia being separated from Slovakia. The O!ften repeated argument that Czecihoslovakia',s 'breaking up into her natural components would cause an even greaiter dislocation in the Daruufbe Basin, fails to convince, if one realizes ,that such a parution is the essentia1l iprerequisilte of the •o reation of a greater State entity." - F. 0. Miiksche - a Czech - in UNC0NlDITIONAL SURRENDER, pp. 216-216; Falber and Faiber, Ltd., London). � 12 SLOVAKIA Slovanics" grammar is a real possibility. I believe that it could be drawn up along the lines presented in this article. Of course, it would require the careful, studious efforts of someone well acquainted with the Slovanic languages or at least with one of them. But I feel it can be done. At least the possibility should be explored and an attempt made in .that direction. Perhaps if we Slovaks ignore this project, some one of our kindred Slavs may take it up, using his tongue instead of ours as the basis. The Slav languages certainly should be taught in our schools. But if they are to be, a Slovanic grammar is needed. Slovak can offer itself as the key ingredient in such a book, since it possesses the qualirty of representatives among the Slavic vernaculars. What is requisite, therefore, is a recognition of the needs for and feasibility of a "High School Slovanics" book, and then the efforts of our Slovak-American intelligentsia to prepare it. In this way, the great culture of our tiny nation would make still another contribution to the advancement of world knowledge and culture. - (MOST," Vol. 5, No. 2) . • • • THE BIRTH OF A SATELLITE By Bohdan Chudoba (It is ofiten maintained that Czecho-Slovaikiia became a s·a tellite of Moscow in February, 1948, when the communists gained full power in Prague. In the following article Pr<Yfessor Bohdan Chudio'ba of New York, a noted historian and forimer leading Czech -politician, very clearly -i lluminates the Czecho-Slovaik situation after World War II and the disastrous role that Czecho~ovaikia's foruner President Edward Benes played when, long before '1'94'8, he paved the way for the commun,ist seizure o,f full power in '1948.) When leading statesmen of the Allied Powers met at Teheran in 1943 and President Roosevelt ha,d to decide whether or not to support ChurchiH's plan to invade the Balkans and keep the Red Army out of Central Europe, the conference had the spectacle of Edward Benes journeying solemnly from London to Moscow where, on December 12, he signed a new treaty between Czecho-Slovalda and the Soviet Union, binding himself and his (provisional) government to dissolve all "anti-communist organizations �SLOVAKIA 13 in his country. His voyage to Moscow had been prepared long before by his chief advisor, the late Hubert Ripka. Speaking over the Moscow broadcasting system on December 21, 1943, Dr. Benes declared: "In 1938 we were deserted by the Western Democracies and then subjugated by the Nazis; only the Soviet Union remained faithful to us." That was not true. Benes knew very well that in 1938 the Soviets had refused to give any precise answer to the Czecho-Slovak High Command's request for military aid in the eventuality of war with Hitler Germany. He also accompanied this false strutement by another declaration which can be regarded as the core of his policy. He said: "This journey of mine is the necessary result, the logical conclusion, and the final evolutionary achievement of the Czech policy of the last hundred years, a result made possible by the Russian revolution of the last war." Beware of ideologists who consider their achievements as final. Benes was not satisfied with placing himself in the service of the Krem1lin. Although perfectly aware of the mass graves of Polish officers murdered by the Bolshevists in Katyn in 1944, he persuaded Stanislaus Mikolajczyk to quit the legitimate Polish exile government in London and to join the puppet government set up by the Soviets in Lublin, Eastern Poland. This adventure ended in Mikolajczyk's flight to the West in 1947. Most of Benes' aides were enthusiastic members of the Socialist avant-garde. Hubert Ripka, the most cunning among them, had already developed a far-reaching program which he published in England in 1945 entitled "Czechoslovakia in the New Europe." "Our alliance with the Soviet Union," he declared, "requires a new orientation of our cultural policy; it is necessary that all anti-Soviet elements be eliminated from our schools, educational institutions, and from our literature." Ripka's best disciple, Ivo Duchacek, went even further, saying in his book "Along the Road to Moscow" (London 1944): "This immense conflagration is far more than a flickering flame on which people could warm their soup, people who, until yesterday, had made a career out of criticizing Lenin's interpretation of Marx." �14 SLOVAKIA Benes Moves to Moscow Early in H)45 Benes made his final decision. Accompanied by Jari Sramek and the other ministers of his ca:binet he moved from London to Moscow preferring to reenter his country with the Red Army rather than with the Western liberation troops. In Moscow Benes' star began to decline. He had to nominate a new cabinet in which staunch communists held the key positions. The Soviets were probably not quite sure yet of Czecho-Slovakia. They had freed General Prchala's troops from the concentration camps and sent them, under the command of a man named Svoboda, to the Dukla Pass in the Ca:r,pathians. There most of these young Czech soldiers found their death. But the Soviets still wanted Benes' help. They used the first stop t!he provisional Czecho~lovak Government had to make on Czecho-Slovak soil in the wake of the Red Army, to proclaim a political manifesto that bound Benes and his friends even closer to Moscow than the treaty of 1943. The Kosice Program The Kosice Program, as th:is manifesto is usually called, achieved two things with one stroke: It set the Communist P.arity on its way to final domination of Czecho-Slovakia and it committed the non-Communist members of the Government to help the Communists achieve this aim. It also enacted a decision which had been taken by the Benes group as early as 1943 in London: the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as well as of the Magyarspeaking population of Czecho-Slovakia. Later we were to pay dearly for this blindness. One thing was o·bvious from the very beginning t o any reader of the Kosice program : it was directed against the Czecho-Slovak constitution of 1920. Everyone who had signed it could, according to the laws of the Republic, have been summoned before a court and condemned for high treason. The two parits of the document which were most obviously undemocratic were those concerned with the nationalization of basic industry and the ban of nonCommunist or non-Socialist political parties. �SLOVAKIA 15 The announcemen t of the program caused much anxiety throughout the country. But the note of triumph of Socialist propaganda became louder and louder as the President approached Prague and culminated in his message to the provisional Parliament whose members were all appointed by Dr. Benes, and which had .assembled in Prague on October 28, 1945. "Today," tlhe message read, "we are betaking ourselves along a path which is to lead to the socialization of modern society." The President wholehearted ly endorsed the Kosice program. Secret Police Early Established Immediately after liberation, poiice forces, the SNB, the STB, and the ZOB, organized throughout the country under the auspices of .the Red Army, were to solve thd problems. Any,body arrested by them could have been retained ind~inljtely. Those beaten to death in the prison cells or deported to Siberia have left no traces. Democratic politidans, such as Ivan Micura, a prominent Slovak who had constantly opposed the Nazi domina,tion of Central Europe~ were arrested in their homes, deported to Russia and never heard from a,gain. Gradually the immense police apparatus turned its energies to "prdblems of socialization." Afl persons who possessed some property were put on a list of suspicious persons. The following document gives a good illustration of this process: "Recorded on September 12, 1945, at 1100 hours in the office of the District National Committee in Novy Bydzov. "The Chairman of the District National Committee of Novy Bydzov, in accordance with orders received from the Minister of Food Supply, Mr. Vaclav Majer, and the Provincial National Committee, issues the following order to Ladislav Stulik, milrler in Hradisko: "I order you to revoke, at not later than 4 p. m. of this day, the complaints which you have submitted to the district· court of justice on behalf of the millers' union; if you should not comply with this order I shall have you arrested at 6 p. m. I also order you to refrain from any �16 SLOVAKIA participation in public life. The police measures mentioned above will also be applied to the members of your family, if you do not comply with this order." "Gestapoism" At the same time a wave of cruel hatred travelled from one individual to another. Perhaps the majority of the Czechs were suddenly ready to suspect, to denounce, to arrest, and to torture their neighbors. In a town in eastern Bohemia a group of local intellectuals used to assemble every night at a given hour and to pay a visit to the district jail where hundreds of people, suspected of · collaboration with the Nazis during the war, were imprisoned. There they amused themselves until the small hours by beating the prisoners with sticks and ropes. This willingness to do evil spread as an infectious disease. Someone called it "gestapoism." Its victims were in the first place the Sudeten Germans. Outrages were committed such as the tragic march of death of 60,000 German speaking inhabitants of Brno, the capital of Moravia, from that city to the Austrian border - a march during which about half of the victims miserably perished. But the same cruelties were committed by the Czechs also against other Czechs. In places such as the Pankrac prison in Prague or the Kounicovy Koleje in Brno, people who had been denounced by their neighbors were, without any investigation at all, machinegunned by hundreds every night and buried in common graves. It was on the dirty floor of a Pankrac prison cell that death came to Emil Ha.cha, former President of Czechoslovakia, a great scholar and gentleman whose only concern had been the welfare of his nation. One of the prisoners, who was lucky enough to endure the tortures and to stay alive, relates his memories: "I saw bodies with demolished faces and without eyes, heaps of bodies of men, women, and even children. I have heard jailors reading names from a list of those who were to be set free, but who had already died of starvation days before and whose bodies I myself was forced to remove from our crowded prison cells. Twice a week I had to help load �SLOVAKIA 17 trucks with such corpses, --corpses of those who were investigated but never reached a court of justice. I saw with my own eyes a prisoner who had been prepared for an investigation, have his legs pierced above the heels, a rope placed through the holes, and then suspended on a hook in the wall. This torture, it is true, did not last long, but when, after three years, the prisoner in question was set free, the investigators were still unable to define the charges a!;ainst him." No wonder that, when the weekly paper "0bzory" was started by the Czech People's Party in Prague, one of the first articles submitted to the editors by a young girl, Renata J., was a treatise on fear. "We are a generation of fear," she wrote in her manuscript, "we live in fear, we eat in fear, fear devours our thoughts, our words - words which we do no dare to utter... " Such was the real Czecho-Slovakia of 1945, when Dr. Benes was its President. People were ousted from their jobs, their lodgings. Their properties were confiscated. And they were unable to appeal to the law. Little wonder, then, that the Communists made easy game of Czecho-Slovakia . • • • WHO SAID IT? "We can only repeat ,t hat neither Austria nor Hungary, and prolba/bly not even Gerunany, nor even the Sfovaks, woulld a•cce,pt in the '.l10ng rlllil tlhe existence of Czechoslovakia. Therefore the grafting of Ozeohoslova!kia on to a Danubian federation is hardly possjlble. In such a framewwk she wou1.d si1mply continue to be what she was in her prevti.ous existence : an internaitiona:l oolamity. The position would ibe di,f. ferent in the case of Bohemia and Moravia being separated from Slovakia. The O!ften repeated argument that Czecihoslovakia',s 'breaking up into her natural components would cause an even greaiter dislocation in the Daruufbe Basin, fails to convince, if one realizes ,that such a parution is the essentia1l iprerequisilte of the •o reation of a greater State entity." - F. 0. Miiksche - a Czech - in UNC0NlDITIONAL SURRENDER, pp. 216-216; Falber and Faiber, Ltd., London). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1960, Vol. 10 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 6 [sic] (No. 31), March-June 1960.</li> <li>Issue 7 [sic] (No. 32), September-December 1960.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960 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 Slovanics" grammar is a real possibility. I believe that it could be drawn up along the lines presented in this article. Of course, it would require the careful, studious efforts of someone well acquainted with the Slovanic languages or at least with one of them. But I feel it can be done. At least the possibility should be explored and an attempt made in .that direction. Perhaps if we Slovaks ignore this project, some one of our kindred Slavs may take it up, using his tongue instead of ours as the basis. The Slav languages certainly should be taught in our schools. But if they are to be, a Slovanic grammar is needed. Slovak can offer itself as the key ingredient in such a book, since it possesses the qualirty of representatives among the Slavic vernaculars. What is requisite, therefore, is a recognition of the needs for and feasibility of a "High School Slovanics" book, and then the efforts of our Slovak-American intelligentsia to prepare it. In this way, the great culture of our tiny nation would make still another contribution to the advancement of world knowledge and culture. - (MOST," Vol. 5, No. 2) . • • • THE BIRTH OF A SATELLITE By Bohdan Chudoba (It is ofiten maintained that Czecho-Slovaikiia became a s·a tellite of Moscow in February, 1948, when the communists gained full power in Prague. In the following article Pr<Yfessor Bohdan Chudio'ba of New York, a noted historian and forimer leading Czech -politician, very clearly -i lluminates the Czecho-Slovaik situation after World War II and the disastrous role that Czecho~ovaikia's foruner President Edward Benes played when, long before '1'94'8, he paved the way for the commun,ist seizure o,f full power in '1948.) When leading statesmen of the Allied Powers met at Teheran in 1943 and President Roosevelt ha,d to decide whether or not to support ChurchiH's plan to invade the Balkans and keep the Red Army out of Central Europe, the conference had the spectacle of Edward Benes journeying solemnly from London to Moscow where, on December 12, he signed a new treaty between Czecho-Slovalda and the Soviet Union, binding himself and his (provisional) government to dissolve all "anti-communist organizations SLOVAKIA 13 in his country. His voyage to Moscow had been prepared long before by his chief advisor, the late Hubert Ripka. Speaking over the Moscow broadcasting system on December 21, 1943, Dr. Benes declared: "In 1938 we were deserted by the Western Democracies and then subjugated by the Nazis; only the Soviet Union remained faithful to us." That was not true. Benes knew very well that in 1938 the Soviets had refused to give any precise answer to the Czecho-Slovak High Command's request for military aid in the eventuality of war with Hitler Germany. He also accompanied this false strutement by another declaration which can be regarded as the core of his policy. He said: "This journey of mine is the necessary result, the logical conclusion, and the final evolutionary achievement of the Czech policy of the last hundred years, a result made possible by the Russian revolution of the last war." Beware of ideologists who consider their achievements as final. Benes was not satisfied with placing himself in the service of the Krem1lin. Although perfectly aware of the mass graves of Polish officers murdered by the Bolshevists in Katyn in 1944, he persuaded Stanislaus Mikolajczyk to quit the legitimate Polish exile government in London and to join the puppet government set up by the Soviets in Lublin, Eastern Poland. This adventure ended in Mikolajczyk's flight to the West in 1947. Most of Benes' aides were enthusiastic members of the Socialist avant-garde. Hubert Ripka, the most cunning among them, had already developed a far-reaching program which he published in England in 1945 entitled "Czechoslovakia in the New Europe." "Our alliance with the Soviet Union," he declared, "requires a new orientation of our cultural policy; it is necessary that all anti-Soviet elements be eliminated from our schools, educational institutions, and from our literature." Ripka's best disciple, Ivo Duchacek, went even further, saying in his book "Along the Road to Moscow" (London 1944): "This immense conflagration is far more than a flickering flame on which people could warm their soup, people who, until yesterday, had made a career out of criticizing Lenin's interpretation of Marx." 14 SLOVAKIA Benes Moves to Moscow Early in H)45 Benes made his final decision. Accompanied by Jari Sramek and the other ministers of his ca:binet he moved from London to Moscow preferring to reenter his country with the Red Army rather than with the Western liberation troops. In Moscow Benes' star began to decline. He had to nominate a new cabinet in which staunch communists held the key positions. The Soviets were probably not quite sure yet of Czecho-Slovakia. They had freed General Prchala's troops from the concentration camps and sent them, under the command of a man named Svoboda, to the Dukla Pass in the Ca:r,pathians. There most of these young Czech soldiers found their death. But the Soviets still wanted Benes' help. They used the first stop t!he provisional Czecho~lovak Government had to make on Czecho-Slovak soil in the wake of the Red Army, to proclaim a political manifesto that bound Benes and his friends even closer to Moscow than the treaty of 1943. The Kosice Program The Kosice Program, as th:is manifesto is usually called, achieved two things with one stroke: It set the Communist P.arity on its way to final domination of Czecho-Slovakia and it committed the non-Communist members of the Government to help the Communists achieve this aim. It also enacted a decision which had been taken by the Benes group as early as 1943 in London: the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as well as of the Magyarspeaking population of Czecho-Slovakia. Later we were to pay dearly for this blindness. One thing was o·bvious from the very beginning t o any reader of the Kosice program : it was directed against the Czecho-Slovak constitution of 1920. Everyone who had signed it could, according to the laws of the Republic, have been summoned before a court and condemned for high treason. The two parits of the document which were most obviously undemocratic were those concerned with the nationalization of basic industry and the ban of nonCommunist or non-Socialist political parties. SLOVAKIA 15 The announcemen t of the program caused much anxiety throughout the country. But the note of triumph of Socialist propaganda became louder and louder as the President approached Prague and culminated in his message to the provisional Parliament whose members were all appointed by Dr. Benes, and which had .assembled in Prague on October 28, 1945. "Today," tlhe message read, "we are betaking ourselves along a path which is to lead to the socialization of modern society." The President wholehearted ly endorsed the Kosice program. Secret Police Early Established Immediately after liberation, poiice forces, the SNB, the STB, and the ZOB, organized throughout the country under the auspices of .the Red Army, were to solve thd problems. Any,body arrested by them could have been retained ind~inljtely. Those beaten to death in the prison cells or deported to Siberia have left no traces. Democratic politidans, such as Ivan Micura, a prominent Slovak who had constantly opposed the Nazi domina,tion of Central Europe~ were arrested in their homes, deported to Russia and never heard from a,gain. Gradually the immense police apparatus turned its energies to "prdblems of socialization." Afl persons who possessed some property were put on a list of suspicious persons. The following document gives a good illustration of this process: "Recorded on September 12, 1945, at 1100 hours in the office of the District National Committee in Novy Bydzov. "The Chairman of the District National Committee of Novy Bydzov, in accordance with orders received from the Minister of Food Supply, Mr. Vaclav Majer, and the Provincial National Committee, issues the following order to Ladislav Stulik, milrler in Hradisko: "I order you to revoke, at not later than 4 p. m. of this day, the complaints which you have submitted to the district· court of justice on behalf of the millers' union; if you should not comply with this order I shall have you arrested at 6 p. m. I also order you to refrain from any 16 SLOVAKIA participation in public life. The police measures mentioned above will also be applied to the members of your family, if you do not comply with this order." "Gestapoism" At the same time a wave of cruel hatred travelled from one individual to another. Perhaps the majority of the Czechs were suddenly ready to suspect, to denounce, to arrest, and to torture their neighbors. In a town in eastern Bohemia a group of local intellectuals used to assemble every night at a given hour and to pay a visit to the district jail where hundreds of people, suspected of · collaboration with the Nazis during the war, were imprisoned. There they amused themselves until the small hours by beating the prisoners with sticks and ropes. This willingness to do evil spread as an infectious disease. Someone called it "gestapoism." Its victims were in the first place the Sudeten Germans. Outrages were committed such as the tragic march of death of 60,000 German speaking inhabitants of Brno, the capital of Moravia, from that city to the Austrian border - a march during which about half of the victims miserably perished. But the same cruelties were committed by the Czechs also against other Czechs. In places such as the Pankrac prison in Prague or the Kounicovy Koleje in Brno, people who had been denounced by their neighbors were, without any investigation at all, machinegunned by hundreds every night and buried in common graves. It was on the dirty floor of a Pankrac prison cell that death came to Emil Ha.cha, former President of Czechoslovakia, a great scholar and gentleman whose only concern had been the welfare of his nation. One of the prisoners, who was lucky enough to endure the tortures and to stay alive, relates his memories: "I saw bodies with demolished faces and without eyes, heaps of bodies of men, women, and even children. I have heard jailors reading names from a list of those who were to be set free, but who had already died of starvation days before and whose bodies I myself was forced to remove from our crowded prison cells. Twice a week I had to help load SLOVAKIA 17 trucks with such corpses, --corpses of those who were investigated but never reached a court of justice. I saw with my own eyes a prisoner who had been prepared for an investigation, have his legs pierced above the heels, a rope placed through the holes, and then suspended on a hook in the wall. This torture, it is true, did not last long, but when, after three years, the prisoner in question was set free, the investigators were still unable to define the charges a!;ainst him." No wonder that, when the weekly paper "0bzory" was started by the Czech People's Party in Prague, one of the first articles submitted to the editors by a young girl, Renata J., was a treatise on fear. "We are a generation of fear," she wrote in her manuscript, "we live in fear, we eat in fear, fear devours our thoughts, our words - words which we do no dare to utter... " Such was the real Czecho-Slovakia of 1945, when Dr. Benes was its President. People were ousted from their jobs, their lodgings. Their properties were confiscated. And they were unable to appeal to the law. Little wonder, then, that the Communists made easy game of Czecho-Slovakia . • • • WHO SAID IT? "We can only repeat ,t hat neither Austria nor Hungary, and prolba/bly not even Gerunany, nor even the Sfovaks, woulld a•cce,pt in the '.l10ng rlllil tlhe existence of Czechoslovakia. Therefore the grafting of Ozeohoslova!kia on to a Danubian federation is hardly possjlble. In such a framewwk she wou1.d si1mply continue to be what she was in her prevti.ous existence : an internaitiona:l oolamity. The position would ibe di,f. ferent in the case of Bohemia and Moravia being separated from Slovakia. The O!ften repeated argument that Czecihoslovakia',s 'breaking up into her natural components would cause an even greaiter dislocation in the Daruufbe Basin, fails to convince, if one realizes ,that such a parution is the essentia1l iprerequisilte of the •o reation of a greater State entity." - F. 0. Miiksche - a Czech - in UNC0NlDITIONAL SURRENDER, pp. 216-216; Falber and Faiber, Ltd., London).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Birth of a Satellite Description An account of the resource Bohdan Chudoba Slovakia, Vol. 10, No. 6 (31), March-June 1960 pp. 12-17 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chudoba, Bohdan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1960 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/10029788e7f575435cf4af118dd06ced.pdf 5bb4e9251654dd57696a86b37ddefc5e PDF Text Text 8 SLOVAKIA T11E TWO EUROP:ES OR. JOSEPH CIEKER The divi:sion ot Europe is not only a military, political and social reality, but also a mora! and spiritual reality. The indlvislble body, ot Europe wa.s violeutly ,spllt into ,two parbs, each or which lives its own speclal llfe-it the mora! and material misery int.o which the ualtions of centra! and eastern Europe were cast can be called· Jifeat all. · The entire milltary and political effort ot the past war resulled in the terrible reality of two Europes which do not understand each other, which cannot and ,shall not b€' able to tind a form of cooperation and positive cohabitatlon, which .stand agalnst each other, and which one day, sooner or later, shall have to !lght the declsive battle which shall force common norms on the whole ot the European contln.eu t. The present s!tuation cannot be consldered a definite solution under any clrcumstance,s. Two Europes cannot exlst on the territory of the continent whlch creat.ed the idea of EUROPE, whlctt tormed its unity throughout the centuries, and the members of whlch cannot live without belng united. lndestructible torces are ever endeavorlng to unite that whlch was artitlcially dlvided, to eradii'ate that which was brought into being by force as a resull ot ignorance, illusions, cowardice, an1i treachery. We are witnesses ot a vlolent process whlch 1s being suffered by the fatally wounded Europe, wrlthing in a traglc effort to once agaln attaln its historlcal form, to reconstruot 11.<S centuries-old ,personality. There is no doubt that th<ese two Europes-the Jegitimate result or contemporary errors which hav-e been committed not only by pollticlans, diplomats and soldiers, but also by European lntellectualsshall cease to ex.lst and that there shall •be only one Europe, assumlng, however, that whatever takes th~ place of ithe present ,s ltuatlon shall be able to carry the name whlch symbolizes all that humanity has orealted throughout the centnrles. The divlsion of the European body wlll uot he able to be maintained forever. The maimed Idea of Europe shall !ose its historical sense, its mora! content and lts real mh,sion, 1f it cannot live and be enjoyed in !ts '8Iltire eX>tent. What 1s or the utmost im.portance to humanity is the question ot what forces shall brlng about the heal!ng of the div!ded parbs into one European body. Behind the boundary line, whlch once leadlng European factorsespecially forelgn factors--wanted tlo regard only as a symbolic boundary between mutual influences, there 1s now being bom a new world, an alien, terrlble world, a frankenstein world. On the rulns of th,e Chrlstlan countrles of eastern and centra! IEurope, Communi,sm 1s bulld!ng a new "humanity," a mon,strous humanity, whlch baslcally 1s in contlict wlth the prlnciples of ancloot and hlstorlcal Europe. The Soviet system-and in th!s name we need not see only a terr!ble police instrument, a vislble instrumoot !or physical tortureselzlng ,totally and without any llmltatlons whatsoever a half of Eu• �SLOVAKIA 9 rope, ia lnJectlng into the severe<! part of the European body new forms of llfe, a n-ew notlon of culture, a new ldeology, a new mlsslon. Communlsm, already partlally destroylng every1thlng which re• called the idea of anclent Europe, !.s forcing a new idea. which ls sev• erlng tradltlonal ties an<l lifting itselt a-s a legitimate resutt of the unfettered forces ot human periphery. This process of tundamental changes, made posslble by the use of cruel means of -violence, as well as the conscious or unconscious COII!Plicity of gullt of the west, is creating before ithe terrltled eyes of the western peoples "a humanity bereft of humanity" which is bendlng over the boundary line, is showing lts a.nti-Europea,n a.nd anti-Christian face and is causlng understandable cha.os a.nd uncertalnty In ,the west. To better understand the eX!tent of the da:nger whlch threatens the very idea of Europe, we would have to go on -the other slde or the Iron Curta.ln. What ls taklng place in that immense human IM:,oratory, in that area of mlsery and slav-ery, canno.t be fully real!z.ed by lndlvldual n&wspaper reports and reports or news agencles. The Soviet machine is exerting itself to the utmos,t. T,h ere is no rest. The process of change does not have t he character of development, because it is the most a.wful revolution whlch is shaklng the deepest fo1.1:ndatlons of this part of Europe. And thls Europe s,tands ta.ce to face with the forces which are incompatlble with the ma.nner of Evropean Jife. There is no competitlon of thoughts, there are no lntellectuals. There is no asslmilation between what represents tradition a.nd wbat brlngs somethlng new. lt would be a. big mlsta.ke, indeed, to suppose that this historlcal process can glve blrth to something new which might be acceptable to the Idea or Europe. Communism burns evolutlonary eras, destroys l!ves and kills ideas. What 1s ha,ppening behlnd the Iron Curtain is not a renaissance, a. rerorma.tion, a. klnd of enllghtenwent, or a llterary movement; a.nd it certainly is not an expression of Jlberallsm or constitut!onalism. But it is an aotual rlgh>t ,between llfe and death. If Communism were only a force which caused changes of a . political nature, if l!t requlred only a new ,social system, !! lt would want to reallze only the parcelling or large estates, if lt would only want to national!2e industry and economy, the danger of lt would not be or ,such historlcal dimen-slons. But Communlsm 1s much more tha.n a slmple, social reform. Those who vlew the phenomenon of Communism only from that vlewpolnt shall notlce only that whlch ls secondary in it, forgettlng at the same ,tlme to look at lts actual substance. The results attalned by Communism in tha,t part of Europe where it came !nto power by force relate not only to a polltlcal, social and ,physlcal change, but prlmarlly to a mora! a.nd splrltual change. Barbarians have inva.d-ed Uterature, culture, the sciences and arts and the tabernacles. They kllled crea.tive splrlts, or enslaved them, tran.sforming them into lntellectual automats. Poets, romance wrŕters, publlcists, sclentlfic worker,s, and proressors, wh0,; dld not. want to or could not orl~tate themsele,es to the brutlsh norms or ignorance and splrltual prosUtutlon, have elther dled or a.re dying. The schools are produclng a youth whlch 1s not allowed to know anythlng of the pa.st. Unlverslty halls are belng rmoo wtth th6 atmos• phere of Soviet factorles, where the product or Soviet dissolution )s �10 SLOVAKIA offered, where instructions are given to deform the youth morally and intellectually, where the culture of the periphery is forced upon iL This radical ľevolution which concerns fundamental human values, this sup,pression of the human person, thls eradication of everythlng Divine and -eternal, this materializing ot the noble deslres of mankind-all this is creatlng the new world, a steippe without a horizon, an earthly tlre-rulns, the splrltless, inhuman, fanatical, mechanlzed robot.s. To eJGpect such an environment a blessed productiveness of crea• tive s pirlts, works of real art, works of unlversal culture, to SIL{)pose that on this dead soli can grow intellectuals wlth a world-wide per• s~tive, with a European soul and a Christian love-that would mean as much as not to realize what Communlsm really 1.5. True it is that heroes of unattainable moral heights are !Íl existence and are being born, bu,t they are also dying like torches in the desert wbich the hurricane sweeping down fľom the steppes 1s ex.tlnguishlng. The division of Europe ls being deepened, systematized and widened. Everyit,hing is being destroyed so that a "new" Europe can be built. Things are belng produced not only in the pbyslcal, but also the splritual field in an environment of •terror, corporeal fear, in an environment of unceasing haste. Stachanov is the idea! not only for the manual worker, but also for the sp.rltual worker. And this new type of standardized intellectual works and produces like a machine filled with blood and spirit. U the w,,rth of moral and spirit-lial values would ,b e measured in terms of the number of books -published, fabrlcated artistic works, in .terms of their propagatlon, the creatlvE> ability of rthe tradltional and Chrlstian European world would be surpassed. But something that !s fundamental, et<Qornal and unlversally valid, is lacking in all thls produclion whlch was crea.ted and accumulated so feverlshly. On thls steppe of the world that is being born, gigantic pyramlds are rlslng which were ordered to be bullt by Pharaohs, but from them are blowlng the breezes of death. Robots cannot create, because they lack the divine spark and do not have any inspiration, either human or divine. They denied God and killed ,the man In themselves. Today there no longer exlst any llluslons about the inevitable and historlcal disentangllng of the tragedy of the two Europes. Only bltnd people and su\cides-and some of these still exlstdo not see the shadow which thls spectľe is casting over .the most distant corners of Europe, lf not the world, and ls making ready to take the flnal step to unlte dlvlded 1l)urope in tis own fashion. The forces of human perlphery, the forces of darkness and barbarism, organh:lng themselves accord!ng to the Jaws of the jungle, present t o 1the western world a concrete problem of European unlty. This 1s paradoxlcal, but it !s the truth. Barbarians . want to unite that which Europeans had divlded. A ·b oundary line ls not a barrÍ'er for them and it never was. \After swallowlng and digestlng a half or Europe they must thrust themselves on the second half and devoU1° lt, or perlsh in the atitempt. In the meantlme, whlle this barbarlsm-whlch untll recently was evaluated as a pos~tlve and ,equlvalent component ot Euro• peantsm, as a value comparable wlth mora! and splrltual no- �SLOVAKIA 11 blesse-:-is offering a pian ,for uuiting Europe, which in reality is already destroyed_ aQ.d dead Iu embryo and Iu its. very suQl}t.a.nce. the west, polsoned by the poison of dissolu.tlon, nE)glect an:d collective fear, ls wasting tim!l with formalltles and naivities, in con!erences and in solemn though frequent useless assembl!es, as it the lrreconcllable totalitarian beast sensed a duty or some klnd or necesslty to respect -these "European experiences," which it already had destroyed in a brutal manner In the countries behlnd the Iron Curtaiu. The uniflcation of divi-ded EuľoPe is not only a necessity for Communlsm, whlch it doouces ťrom the established progr8./1Il ot lts ideology, hu t also the result of persistent forces of the European whole whlch are calling for the unification of that which was dlvlded, that which was· cu,t off !rom it without analyzing the methods and forms. of thls u nlficatlon. This unlfication by Communism means dea.th for Europe. It 1s sad, indeed, even it 'not tragic, that this anti-European, anti-Chrlstian spectre holds the initiatlve of this unification in its 11ands. The western world would, perhaps, be satisfled with a maimed Europe, if that were ' posslble and if the barbarlans would allow it. Some IE}uropean-s m1ght consider it possible to live in a divlded Europe and probably would even be satlsfied with the loss -of the Chrlstian countries of central and eastern Europe, if at such a prlce they might gain weltare and comfort. This defensive stand, these methods to preserve what has remained of E urope, are the fundamental differences which distlngulsh the traditional world !rom the one which is belng born behind the boundary line or dlvldoo Euro,pe. Whlle it seemed that the west was no Ionger inteľested in rts indivisible part, the east-personlfied by the Sovleit spectres--was very muoh lnte-re-sted. This stand can be e xplained, but it can never l>e justifioo. lt ls slgnlflcan-t that it was the Europeans themselves who were abandoning the Idea of Europe. R seemed, as if the weariness caused by two successlve wars, had overwhelmed the very -substance of European sentiment. In European society there has appeared an une:x;pected phenomenon: the attempt to accustom itsel[ e=n to lrreparable losses. The mind was captured by the fiction that the questlon of the European idea would b e resol~ by the hauling of foodstufts and machlnery into Europe by both Americas. lt is, therefore, understandable that in such an envlroument there could not be and was not bom any force of unlversal grea,tness which could be vlctorlous over the forces of dissoluton which were ga;therlng strength from ·fäe east. The undertakings of European dimenslons- the Crusades, ,the herolsm of Lepant, the Tridentine Councll!-these joint efforts of European h e ro· ism, it seems, were all forgotten. In ,the face of the crude ln!tlatlve -of the east, the west created ,t he conditions for a gradual retreat. Even though the situatlon ls extremely grave, we must not de• s pair. The hlstorical forces of the west wlth thelľ vitality, with ,their mora) and spiritual designs, with thelr own orlgln, can and must excel over the forces that would destroy Europe. Europe can and must f!nd itself. Agalnst the concrete program proferred by Communism, Eu• rope must offer Lts own concrete program-not only a defens!ve one. but an offensive one as well. There !s no place, neither is thPre �12 SLOVAKIA much tlme, for hesitation, for useless phlloéophislng, for nalvltles, for half-way declslons, for neutrality. 'ľhe formula, which the -communistlc system offers the remalnder or Europe for European unlfication, !nevl.tably !ncludes all natlons, all ideologŇls, all confessions, aml. ' all peoples. In 1he cage ot the Soviet system there is room for everything: for materlal and splritual tn!ngs, for ordinary Ml well as sacred things, for the work&r and the lntellectual. Not to recognize rthis law ot Communlsm and attempt to argue lt away would mean to commrt an unpardonable and lrreparable blunder. Either all Eu ropean1 1hall aave themaelve- r elae alt ahall perlah. So that ,t he wesť could save !tself and not perlsh In 4he embrace ot the spectre, lt is being given a last opportunlty to rehablli.ta.te !t· self and ·perform !ts h!stor!cal m!sslon. On-e thl.ng, however, !s certain: l!t shall not be a-ble to fulflll th!s mlsslon by ,the me4hods it has used thus far, the methods w-hlch led to the dlvlslon of Europe. And lt certainly wlll not be able to do !t wlth ,people who have grown old morally a.nd splrLtually. It .ithe west w!shes •to avoid ,the fate ot centra! and ~ste~n Europe, !.f it w!shes to come to terms with the un!fy!ng spectre- of Commun!sm ln a dlgnltled manner, !t must revlve the permanent torces ot the west-ern natlon-s, !t must breathe in,to <the idea of Europe a real European and Chri-stlan content, !t must sleze the lnltiatlve ot un!fy!ng Europe. Even barbar!ans know how to produce and bu!l<i tactories, br!dges, great iron and steel entemprises, rallroads, airfields and bomba. Wha1 •they do not know, and what they shall never know !s how to glve materlal a breath ot humanity, subord!nate it t o the !nterests of the dlgn!ty ot mankind and glve the world a sense ot lts true mission. The positlons are well defined. The hour ha.s come to declde the fate of Europe. The sys tem ot two Europes, which arose and was malntalned by the tault ot the west, cannot last. The west is not Europe, and we cannot regard the east as Europe e•ther. The west cannot harbor bopes ithat lt shall avol-d an lnvaslon by the barbarians by toresaklng the east-ern part of Europe to Communlsm. Al!, long a s one substantlal portlon of Europe 1-s undergolng a feverlsh change. as long as everythlng there, which symbolized the Chrlstlan and European splr•t, is retreating before th-e aggresslveness of the barbarlan and is wlthdrawlng to the hlllsldes and int.o the catacombs, a s long as half of 1Europe -does not live, belleve and t~I accordlng to the thousand-year-old Chrl&tlan and Europeain laws, there shall be no contentmen,t ot •the spirit, ,n or shall th-ere be material welfare In the the west. Tbe Idea of Europe lncludes In itself tbe west as equally a s the ea st. lt -embraces 1he distant plalns of Poland, the Ukraine, White Russla, the Slovak and Rumanla,n valleys, as well as ,th& green fleld s ot France and Germany, and even the broad Iberlan horizons. We must resolve: There shall be only one Europe--a Chrlstlan, hlstorlcal Europe-a free and democratlc Europe. � 8 SLOVAKIA T11E TWO EUROP:ES OR. JOSEPH CIEKER The divi:sion ot Europe is not only a military, political and social reality, but also a mora! and spiritual reality. The indlvislble body, ot Europe wa.s violeutly ,spllt into ,two parbs, each or which lives its own speclal llfe-it the mora! and material misery int.o which the ualtions of centra! and eastern Europe were cast can be called· Jifeat all. · The entire milltary and political effort ot the past war resulled in the terrible reality of two Europes which do not understand each other, which cannot and ,shall not b€' able to tind a form of cooperation and positive cohabitatlon, which .stand agalnst each other, and which one day, sooner or later, shall have to !lght the declsive battle which shall force common norms on the whole ot the European contln.eu t. The present s!tuation cannot be consldered a definite solution under any clrcumstance,s. Two Europes cannot exlst on the territory of the continent whlch creat.ed the idea of EUROPE, whlctt tormed its unity throughout the centuries, and the members of whlch cannot live without belng united. lndestructible torces are ever endeavorlng to unite that whlch was artitlcially dlvided, to eradii'ate that which was brought into being by force as a resull ot ignorance, illusions, cowardice, an1i treachery. We are witnesses ot a vlolent process whlch 1s being suffered by the fatally wounded Europe, wrlthing in a traglc effort to once agaln attaln its historlcal form, to reconstruot 11.<S centuries-old ,personality. There is no doubt that th<ese two Europes-the Jegitimate result or contemporary errors which hav-e been committed not only by pollticlans, diplomats and soldiers, but also by European lntellectualsshall cease to ex.lst and that there shall •be only one Europe, assumlng, however, that whatever takes th~ place of ithe present ,s ltuatlon shall be able to carry the name whlch symbolizes all that humanity has orealted throughout the centnrles. The divlsion of the European body wlll uot he able to be maintained forever. The maimed Idea of Europe shall !ose its historical sense, its mora! content and lts real mh,sion, 1f it cannot live and be enjoyed in !ts '8Iltire eX>tent. What 1s or the utmost im.portance to humanity is the question ot what forces shall brlng about the heal!ng of the div!ded parbs into one European body. Behind the boundary line, whlch once leadlng European factorsespecially forelgn factors--wanted tlo regard only as a symbolic boundary between mutual influences, there 1s now being bom a new world, an alien, terrlble world, a frankenstein world. On the rulns of th,e Chrlstlan countrles of eastern and centra! IEurope, Communi,sm 1s bulld!ng a new "humanity," a mon,strous humanity, whlch baslcally 1s in contlict wlth the prlnciples of ancloot and hlstorlcal Europe. The Soviet system-and in th!s name we need not see only a terr!ble police instrument, a vislble instrumoot !or physical tortureselzlng ,totally and without any llmltatlons whatsoever a half of Eu• �SLOVAKIA 9 rope, ia lnJectlng into the severe<! part of the European body new forms of llfe, a n-ew notlon of culture, a new ldeology, a new mlsslon. Communlsm, already partlally destroylng every1thlng which re• called the idea of anclent Europe, !.s forcing a new idea. which ls sev• erlng tradltlonal ties an<l lifting itselt a-s a legitimate resutt of the unfettered forces ot human periphery. This process of tundamental changes, made posslble by the use of cruel means of -violence, as well as the conscious or unconscious COII!Plicity of gullt of the west, is creating before ithe terrltled eyes of the western peoples "a humanity bereft of humanity" which is bendlng over the boundary line, is showing lts a.nti-Europea,n a.nd anti-Christian face and is causlng understandable cha.os a.nd uncertalnty In ,the west. To better understand the eX!tent of the da:nger whlch threatens the very idea of Europe, we would have to go on -the other slde or the Iron Curta.ln. What ls taklng place in that immense human IM:,oratory, in that area of mlsery and slav-ery, canno.t be fully real!z.ed by lndlvldual n&wspaper reports and reports or news agencles. The Soviet machine is exerting itself to the utmos,t. T,h ere is no rest. The process of change does not have t he character of development, because it is the most a.wful revolution whlch is shaklng the deepest fo1.1:ndatlons of this part of Europe. And thls Europe s,tands ta.ce to face with the forces which are incompatlble with the ma.nner of Evropean Jife. There is no competitlon of thoughts, there are no lntellectuals. There is no asslmilation between what represents tradition a.nd wbat brlngs somethlng new. lt would be a. big mlsta.ke, indeed, to suppose that this historlcal process can glve blrth to something new which might be acceptable to the Idea or Europe. Communism burns evolutlonary eras, destroys l!ves and kills ideas. What 1s ha,ppening behlnd the Iron Curtain is not a renaissance, a. rerorma.tion, a. klnd of enllghtenwent, or a llterary movement; a.nd it certainly is not an expression of Jlberallsm or constitut!onalism. But it is an aotual rlgh>t ,between llfe and death. If Communism were only a force which caused changes of a . political nature, if l!t requlred only a new ,social system, !! lt would want to reallze only the parcelling or large estates, if lt would only want to national!2e industry and economy, the danger of lt would not be or ,such historlcal dimen-slons. But Communlsm 1s much more tha.n a slmple, social reform. Those who vlew the phenomenon of Communism only from that vlewpolnt shall notlce only that whlch ls secondary in it, forgettlng at the same ,tlme to look at lts actual substance. The results attalned by Communism in tha,t part of Europe where it came !nto power by force relate not only to a polltlcal, social and ,physlcal change, but prlmarlly to a mora! a.nd splrltual change. Barbarians have inva.d-ed Uterature, culture, the sciences and arts and the tabernacles. They kllled crea.tive splrlts, or enslaved them, tran.sforming them into lntellectual automats. Poets, romance wrŕters, publlcists, sclentlfic worker,s, and proressors, wh0,; dld not. want to or could not orl~tate themsele,es to the brutlsh norms or ignorance and splrltual prosUtutlon, have elther dled or a.re dying. The schools are produclng a youth whlch 1s not allowed to know anythlng of the pa.st. Unlverslty halls are belng rmoo wtth th6 atmos• phere of Soviet factorles, where the product or Soviet dissolution )s �10 SLOVAKIA offered, where instructions are given to deform the youth morally and intellectually, where the culture of the periphery is forced upon iL This radical ľevolution which concerns fundamental human values, this sup,pression of the human person, thls eradication of everythlng Divine and -eternal, this materializing ot the noble deslres of mankind-all this is creatlng the new world, a steippe without a horizon, an earthly tlre-rulns, the splrltless, inhuman, fanatical, mechanlzed robot.s. To eJGpect such an environment a blessed productiveness of crea• tive s pirlts, works of real art, works of unlversal culture, to SIL{)pose that on this dead soli can grow intellectuals wlth a world-wide per• s~tive, with a European soul and a Christian love-that would mean as much as not to realize what Communlsm really 1.5. True it is that heroes of unattainable moral heights are !Íl existence and are being born, bu,t they are also dying like torches in the desert wbich the hurricane sweeping down fľom the steppes 1s ex.tlnguishlng. The division of Europe ls being deepened, systematized and widened. Everyit,hing is being destroyed so that a "new" Europe can be built. Things are belng produced not only in the pbyslcal, but also the splritual field in an environment of •terror, corporeal fear, in an environment of unceasing haste. Stachanov is the idea! not only for the manual worker, but also for the sp.rltual worker. And this new type of standardized intellectual works and produces like a machine filled with blood and spirit. U the w,,rth of moral and spirit-lial values would ,b e measured in terms of the number of books -published, fabrlcated artistic works, in .terms of their propagatlon, the creatlvE> ability of rthe tradltional and Chrlstian European world would be surpassed. But something that !s fundamental, et<Qornal and unlversally valid, is lacking in all thls produclion whlch was crea.ted and accumulated so feverlshly. On thls steppe of the world that is being born, gigantic pyramlds are rlslng which were ordered to be bullt by Pharaohs, but from them are blowlng the breezes of death. Robots cannot create, because they lack the divine spark and do not have any inspiration, either human or divine. They denied God and killed ,the man In themselves. Today there no longer exlst any llluslons about the inevitable and historlcal disentangllng of the tragedy of the two Europes. Only bltnd people and su\cides-and some of these still exlstdo not see the shadow which thls spectľe is casting over .the most distant corners of Europe, lf not the world, and ls making ready to take the flnal step to unlte dlvlded 1l)urope in tis own fashion. The forces of human perlphery, the forces of darkness and barbarism, organh:lng themselves accord!ng to the Jaws of the jungle, present t o 1the western world a concrete problem of European unlty. This 1s paradoxlcal, but it !s the truth. Barbarians . want to unite that which Europeans had divlded. A ·b oundary line ls not a barrÍ'er for them and it never was. \After swallowlng and digestlng a half or Europe they must thrust themselves on the second half and devoU1° lt, or perlsh in the atitempt. In the meantlme, whlle this barbarlsm-whlch untll recently was evaluated as a pos~tlve and ,equlvalent component ot Euro• peantsm, as a value comparable wlth mora! and splrltual no- �SLOVAKIA 11 blesse-:-is offering a pian ,for uuiting Europe, which in reality is already destroyed_ aQ.d dead Iu embryo and Iu its. very suQl}t.a.nce. the west, polsoned by the poison of dissolu.tlon, nE)glect an:d collective fear, ls wasting tim!l with formalltles and naivities, in con!erences and in solemn though frequent useless assembl!es, as it the lrreconcllable totalitarian beast sensed a duty or some klnd or necesslty to respect -these "European experiences," which it already had destroyed in a brutal manner In the countries behlnd the Iron Curtaiu. The uniflcation of divi-ded EuľoPe is not only a necessity for Communlsm, whlch it doouces ťrom the established progr8./1Il ot lts ideology, hu t also the result of persistent forces of the European whole whlch are calling for the unification of that which was dlvlded, that which was· cu,t off !rom it without analyzing the methods and forms. of thls u nlficatlon. This unlfication by Communism means dea.th for Europe. It 1s sad, indeed, even it 'not tragic, that this anti-European, anti-Chrlstian spectre holds the initiatlve of this unification in its 11ands. The western world would, perhaps, be satisfled with a maimed Europe, if that were ' posslble and if the barbarlans would allow it. Some IE}uropean-s m1ght consider it possible to live in a divlded Europe and probably would even be satlsfied with the loss -of the Chrlstian countries of central and eastern Europe, if at such a prlce they might gain weltare and comfort. This defensive stand, these methods to preserve what has remained of E urope, are the fundamental differences which distlngulsh the traditional world !rom the one which is belng born behind the boundary line or dlvldoo Euro,pe. Whlle it seemed that the west was no Ionger inteľested in rts indivisible part, the east-personlfied by the Sovleit spectres--was very muoh lnte-re-sted. This stand can be e xplained, but it can never l>e justifioo. lt ls slgnlflcan-t that it was the Europeans themselves who were abandoning the Idea of Europe. R seemed, as if the weariness caused by two successlve wars, had overwhelmed the very -substance of European sentiment. In European society there has appeared an une:x;pected phenomenon: the attempt to accustom itsel[ e=n to lrreparable losses. The mind was captured by the fiction that the questlon of the European idea would b e resol~ by the hauling of foodstufts and machlnery into Europe by both Americas. lt is, therefore, understandable that in such an envlroument there could not be and was not bom any force of unlversal grea,tness which could be vlctorlous over the forces of dissoluton which were ga;therlng strength from ·fäe east. The undertakings of European dimenslons- the Crusades, ,the herolsm of Lepant, the Tridentine Councll!-these joint efforts of European h e ro· ism, it seems, were all forgotten. In ,the face of the crude ln!tlatlve -of the east, the west created ,t he conditions for a gradual retreat. Even though the situatlon ls extremely grave, we must not de• s pair. The hlstorical forces of the west wlth thelľ vitality, with ,their mora) and spiritual designs, with thelr own orlgln, can and must excel over the forces that would destroy Europe. Europe can and must f!nd itself. Agalnst the concrete program proferred by Communism, Eu• rope must offer Lts own concrete program-not only a defens!ve one. but an offensive one as well. There !s no place, neither is thPre �12 SLOVAKIA much tlme, for hesitation, for useless phlloéophislng, for nalvltles, for half-way declslons, for neutrality. 'ľhe formula, which the -communistlc system offers the remalnder or Europe for European unlfication, !nevl.tably !ncludes all natlons, all ideologŇls, all confessions, aml. ' all peoples. In 1he cage ot the Soviet system there is room for everything: for materlal and splritual tn!ngs, for ordinary Ml well as sacred things, for the work&r and the lntellectual. Not to recognize rthis law ot Communlsm and attempt to argue lt away would mean to commrt an unpardonable and lrreparable blunder. Either all Eu ropean1 1hall aave themaelve- r elae alt ahall perlah. So that ,t he wesť could save !tself and not perlsh In 4he embrace ot the spectre, lt is being given a last opportunlty to rehablli.ta.te !t· self and ·perform !ts h!stor!cal m!sslon. On-e thl.ng, however, !s certain: l!t shall not be a-ble to fulflll th!s mlsslon by ,the me4hods it has used thus far, the methods w-hlch led to the dlvlslon of Europe. And lt certainly wlll not be able to do !t wlth ,people who have grown old morally a.nd splrLtually. It .ithe west w!shes •to avoid ,the fate ot centra! and ~ste~n Europe, !.f it w!shes to come to terms with the un!fy!ng spectre- of Commun!sm ln a dlgnltled manner, !t must revlve the permanent torces ot the west-ern natlon-s, !t must breathe in,to <the idea of Europe a real European and Chri-stlan content, !t must sleze the lnltiatlve ot un!fy!ng Europe. Even barbar!ans know how to produce and bu!l<i tactories, br!dges, great iron and steel entemprises, rallroads, airfields and bomba. Wha1 •they do not know, and what they shall never know !s how to glve materlal a breath ot humanity, subord!nate it t o the !nterests of the dlgn!ty ot mankind and glve the world a sense ot lts true mission. The positlons are well defined. The hour ha.s come to declde the fate of Europe. The sys tem ot two Europes, which arose and was malntalned by the tault ot the west, cannot last. The west is not Europe, and we cannot regard the east as Europe e•ther. The west cannot harbor bopes ithat lt shall avol-d an lnvaslon by the barbarians by toresaklng the east-ern part of Europe to Communlsm. Al!, long a s one substantlal portlon of Europe 1-s undergolng a feverlsh change. as long as everythlng there, which symbolized the Chrlstlan and European splr•t, is retreating before th-e aggresslveness of the barbarlan and is wlthdrawlng to the hlllsldes and int.o the catacombs, a s long as half of 1Europe -does not live, belleve and t~I accordlng to the thousand-year-old Chrl&tlan and Europeain laws, there shall be no contentmen,t ot •the spirit, ,n or shall th-ere be material welfare In the the west. Tbe Idea of Europe lncludes In itself tbe west as equally a s the ea st. lt -embraces 1he distant plalns of Poland, the Ukraine, White Russla, the Slovak and Rumanla,n valleys, as well as ,th& green fleld s ot France and Germany, and even the broad Iberlan horizons. We must resolve: There shall be only one Europe--a Chrlstlan, hlstorlcal Europe-a free and democratlc Europe. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1951, Vol. 1 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 1951 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 1), May 1951.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 2), December 1951.</li> </ul> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <ul><li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4</span></a></li> </ul> 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 8 SLOVAKIA T11E TWO EUROP:ES OR. JOSEPH CIEKER The divi:sion ot Europe is not only a military, political and social reality, but also a mora! and spiritual reality. The indlvislble body, ot Europe wa.s violeutly ,spllt into ,two parbs, each or which lives its own speclal llfe-it the mora! and material misery int.o which the ualtions of centra! and eastern Europe were cast can be called· Jifeat all. · The entire milltary and political effort ot the past war resulled in the terrible reality of two Europes which do not understand each other, which cannot and ,shall not b€' able to tind a form of cooperation and positive cohabitatlon, which .stand agalnst each other, and which one day, sooner or later, shall have to !lght the declsive battle which shall force common norms on the whole ot the European contln.eu t. The present s!tuation cannot be consldered a definite solution under any clrcumstance,s. Two Europes cannot exlst on the territory of the continent whlch creat.ed the idea of EUROPE, whlctt tormed its unity throughout the centuries, and the members of whlch cannot live without belng united. lndestructible torces are ever endeavorlng to unite that whlch was artitlcially dlvided, to eradii'ate that which was brought into being by force as a resull ot ignorance, illusions, cowardice, an1i treachery. We are witnesses ot a vlolent process whlch 1s being suffered by the fatally wounded Europe, wrlthing in a traglc effort to once agaln attaln its historlcal form, to reconstruot 11.<S centuries-old ,personality. There is no doubt that th<ese two Europes-the Jegitimate result or contemporary errors which hav-e been committed not only by pollticlans, diplomats and soldiers, but also by European lntellectualsshall cease to ex.lst and that there shall •be only one Europe, assumlng, however, that whatever takes th~ place of ithe present ,s ltuatlon shall be able to carry the name whlch symbolizes all that humanity has orealted throughout the centnrles. The divlsion of the European body wlll uot he able to be maintained forever. The maimed Idea of Europe shall !ose its historical sense, its mora! content and lts real mh,sion, 1f it cannot live and be enjoyed in !ts '8Iltire eX>tent. What 1s or the utmost im.portance to humanity is the question ot what forces shall brlng about the heal!ng of the div!ded parbs into one European body. Behind the boundary line, whlch once leadlng European factorsespecially forelgn factors--wanted tlo regard only as a symbolic boundary between mutual influences, there 1s now being bom a new world, an alien, terrlble world, a frankenstein world. On the rulns of th,e Chrlstlan countrles of eastern and centra! IEurope, Communi,sm 1s bulld!ng a new "humanity," a mon,strous humanity, whlch baslcally 1s in contlict wlth the prlnciples of ancloot and hlstorlcal Europe. The Soviet system-and in th!s name we need not see only a terr!ble police instrument, a vislble instrumoot !or physical tortureselzlng ,totally and without any llmltatlons whatsoever a half of Eu• SLOVAKIA 9 rope, ia lnJectlng into the severe<! part of the European body new forms of llfe, a n-ew notlon of culture, a new ldeology, a new mlsslon. Communlsm, already partlally destroylng every1thlng which re• called the idea of anclent Europe, !.s forcing a new idea. which ls sev• erlng tradltlonal ties an<l lifting itselt a-s a legitimate resutt of the unfettered forces ot human periphery. This process of tundamental changes, made posslble by the use of cruel means of -violence, as well as the conscious or unconscious COII!Plicity of gullt of the west, is creating before ithe terrltled eyes of the western peoples "a humanity bereft of humanity" which is bendlng over the boundary line, is showing lts a.nti-Europea,n a.nd anti-Christian face and is causlng understandable cha.os a.nd uncertalnty In ,the west. To better understand the eX!tent of the da:nger whlch threatens the very idea of Europe, we would have to go on -the other slde or the Iron Curta.ln. What ls taklng place in that immense human IM:,oratory, in that area of mlsery and slav-ery, canno.t be fully real!z.ed by lndlvldual n&wspaper reports and reports or news agencles. The Soviet machine is exerting itself to the utmos,t. T,h ere is no rest. The process of change does not have t he character of development, because it is the most a.wful revolution whlch is shaklng the deepest fo1.1:ndatlons of this part of Europe. And thls Europe s,tands ta.ce to face with the forces which are incompatlble with the ma.nner of Evropean Jife. There is no competitlon of thoughts, there are no lntellectuals. There is no asslmilation between what represents tradition a.nd wbat brlngs somethlng new. lt would be a. big mlsta.ke, indeed, to suppose that this historlcal process can glve blrth to something new which might be acceptable to the Idea or Europe. Communism burns evolutlonary eras, destroys l!ves and kills ideas. What 1s ha,ppening behlnd the Iron Curtain is not a renaissance, a. rerorma.tion, a. klnd of enllghtenwent, or a llterary movement; a.nd it certainly is not an expression of Jlberallsm or constitut!onalism. But it is an aotual rlgh>t ,between llfe and death. If Communism were only a force which caused changes of a . political nature, if l!t requlred only a new ,social system, !! lt would want to reallze only the parcelling or large estates, if lt would only want to national!2e industry and economy, the danger of lt would not be or ,such historlcal dimen-slons. But Communlsm 1s much more tha.n a slmple, social reform. Those who vlew the phenomenon of Communism only from that vlewpolnt shall notlce only that whlch ls secondary in it, forgettlng at the same ,tlme to look at lts actual substance. The results attalned by Communism in tha,t part of Europe where it came !nto power by force relate not only to a polltlcal, social and ,physlcal change, but prlmarlly to a mora! a.nd splrltual change. Barbarians have inva.d-ed Uterature, culture, the sciences and arts and the tabernacles. They kllled crea.tive splrlts, or enslaved them, tran.sforming them into lntellectual automats. Poets, romance wrŕters, publlcists, sclentlfic worker,s, and proressors, wh0,; dld not. want to or could not orl~tate themsele,es to the brutlsh norms or ignorance and splrltual prosUtutlon, have elther dled or a.re dying. The schools are produclng a youth whlch 1s not allowed to know anythlng of the pa.st. Unlverslty halls are belng rmoo wtth th6 atmos• phere of Soviet factorles, where the product or Soviet dissolution )s 10 SLOVAKIA offered, where instructions are given to deform the youth morally and intellectually, where the culture of the periphery is forced upon iL This radical ľevolution which concerns fundamental human values, this sup,pression of the human person, thls eradication of everythlng Divine and -eternal, this materializing ot the noble deslres of mankind-all this is creatlng the new world, a steippe without a horizon, an earthly tlre-rulns, the splrltless, inhuman, fanatical, mechanlzed robot.s. To eJGpect such an environment a blessed productiveness of crea• tive s pirlts, works of real art, works of unlversal culture, to SIL{)pose that on this dead soli can grow intellectuals wlth a world-wide per• s~tive, with a European soul and a Christian love-that would mean as much as not to realize what Communlsm really 1.5. True it is that heroes of unattainable moral heights are !Íl existence and are being born, bu,t they are also dying like torches in the desert wbich the hurricane sweeping down fľom the steppes 1s ex.tlnguishlng. The division of Europe ls being deepened, systematized and widened. Everyit,hing is being destroyed so that a "new" Europe can be built. Things are belng produced not only in the pbyslcal, but also the splritual field in an environment of •terror, corporeal fear, in an environment of unceasing haste. Stachanov is the idea! not only for the manual worker, but also for the sp.rltual worker. And this new type of standardized intellectual works and produces like a machine filled with blood and spirit. U the w,,rth of moral and spirit-lial values would ,b e measured in terms of the number of books -published, fabrlcated artistic works, in .terms of their propagatlon, the creatlvE> ability of rthe tradltional and Chrlstian European world would be surpassed. But something that !s fundamental, et<Qornal and unlversally valid, is lacking in all thls produclion whlch was crea.ted and accumulated so feverlshly. On thls steppe of the world that is being born, gigantic pyramlds are rlslng which were ordered to be bullt by Pharaohs, but from them are blowlng the breezes of death. Robots cannot create, because they lack the divine spark and do not have any inspiration, either human or divine. They denied God and killed ,the man In themselves. Today there no longer exlst any llluslons about the inevitable and historlcal disentangllng of the tragedy of the two Europes. Only bltnd people and su\cides-and some of these still exlstdo not see the shadow which thls spectľe is casting over .the most distant corners of Europe, lf not the world, and ls making ready to take the flnal step to unlte dlvlded 1l)urope in tis own fashion. The forces of human perlphery, the forces of darkness and barbarism, organh:lng themselves accord!ng to the Jaws of the jungle, present t o 1the western world a concrete problem of European unlty. This 1s paradoxlcal, but it !s the truth. Barbarians . want to unite that which Europeans had divlded. A ·b oundary line ls not a barrÍ'er for them and it never was. \After swallowlng and digestlng a half or Europe they must thrust themselves on the second half and devoU1° lt, or perlsh in the atitempt. In the meantlme, whlle this barbarlsm-whlch untll recently was evaluated as a pos~tlve and ,equlvalent component ot Euro• peantsm, as a value comparable wlth mora! and splrltual no- SLOVAKIA 11 blesse-:-is offering a pian ,for uuiting Europe, which in reality is already destroyed_ aQ.d dead Iu embryo and Iu its. very suQl}t.a.nce. the west, polsoned by the poison of dissolu.tlon, nE)glect an:d collective fear, ls wasting tim!l with formalltles and naivities, in con!erences and in solemn though frequent useless assembl!es, as it the lrreconcllable totalitarian beast sensed a duty or some klnd or necesslty to respect -these "European experiences," which it already had destroyed in a brutal manner In the countries behlnd the Iron Curtaiu. The uniflcation of divi-ded EuľoPe is not only a necessity for Communlsm, whlch it doouces ťrom the established progr8./1Il ot lts ideology, hu t also the result of persistent forces of the European whole whlch are calling for the unification of that which was dlvlded, that which was· cu,t off !rom it without analyzing the methods and forms. of thls u nlficatlon. This unlfication by Communism means dea.th for Europe. It 1s sad, indeed, even it 'not tragic, that this anti-European, anti-Chrlstian spectre holds the initiatlve of this unification in its 11ands. The western world would, perhaps, be satisfled with a maimed Europe, if that were ' posslble and if the barbarlans would allow it. Some IE}uropean-s m1ght consider it possible to live in a divlded Europe and probably would even be satlsfied with the loss -of the Chrlstian countries of central and eastern Europe, if at such a prlce they might gain weltare and comfort. This defensive stand, these methods to preserve what has remained of E urope, are the fundamental differences which distlngulsh the traditional world !rom the one which is belng born behind the boundary line or dlvldoo Euro,pe. Whlle it seemed that the west was no Ionger inteľested in rts indivisible part, the east-personlfied by the Sovleit spectres--was very muoh lnte-re-sted. This stand can be e xplained, but it can never l>e justifioo. lt ls slgnlflcan-t that it was the Europeans themselves who were abandoning the Idea of Europe. R seemed, as if the weariness caused by two successlve wars, had overwhelmed the very -substance of European sentiment. In European society there has appeared an une:x;pected phenomenon: the attempt to accustom itsel[ e=n to lrreparable losses. The mind was captured by the fiction that the questlon of the European idea would b e resol~ by the hauling of foodstufts and machlnery into Europe by both Americas. lt is, therefore, understandable that in such an envlroument there could not be and was not bom any force of unlversal grea,tness which could be vlctorlous over the forces of dissoluton which were ga;therlng strength from ·fäe east. The undertakings of European dimenslons- the Crusades, ,the herolsm of Lepant, the Tridentine Councll!-these joint efforts of European h e ro· ism, it seems, were all forgotten. In ,the face of the crude ln!tlatlve -of the east, the west created ,t he conditions for a gradual retreat. Even though the situatlon ls extremely grave, we must not de• s pair. The hlstorical forces of the west wlth thelľ vitality, with ,their mora) and spiritual designs, with thelr own orlgln, can and must excel over the forces that would destroy Europe. Europe can and must f!nd itself. Agalnst the concrete program proferred by Communism, Eu• rope must offer Lts own concrete program-not only a defens!ve one. but an offensive one as well. There !s no place, neither is thPre 12 SLOVAKIA much tlme, for hesitation, for useless phlloéophislng, for nalvltles, for half-way declslons, for neutrality. 'ľhe formula, which the -communistlc system offers the remalnder or Europe for European unlfication, !nevl.tably !ncludes all natlons, all ideologŇls, all confessions, aml. ' all peoples. In 1he cage ot the Soviet system there is room for everything: for materlal and splritual tn!ngs, for ordinary Ml well as sacred things, for the work&r and the lntellectual. Not to recognize rthis law ot Communlsm and attempt to argue lt away would mean to commrt an unpardonable and lrreparable blunder. Either all Eu ropean1 1hall aave themaelve- r elae alt ahall perlah. So that ,t he wesť could save !tself and not perlsh In 4he embrace ot the spectre, lt is being given a last opportunlty to rehablli.ta.te !t· self and ·perform !ts h!stor!cal m!sslon. On-e thl.ng, however, !s certain: l!t shall not be a-ble to fulflll th!s mlsslon by ,the me4hods it has used thus far, the methods w-hlch led to the dlvlslon of Europe. And lt certainly wlll not be able to do !t wlth ,people who have grown old morally a.nd splrLtually. It .ithe west w!shes •to avoid ,the fate ot centra! and ~ste~n Europe, !.f it w!shes to come to terms with the un!fy!ng spectre- of Commun!sm ln a dlgnltled manner, !t must revlve the permanent torces ot the west-ern natlon-s, !t must breathe in,to <the idea of Europe a real European and Chri-stlan content, !t must sleze the lnltiatlve ot un!fy!ng Europe. Even barbar!ans know how to produce and bu!l<i tactories, br!dges, great iron and steel entemprises, rallroads, airfields and bomba. Wha1 •they do not know, and what they shall never know !s how to glve materlal a breath ot humanity, subord!nate it t o the !nterests of the dlgn!ty ot mankind and glve the world a sense ot lts true mission. The positlons are well defined. The hour ha.s come to declde the fate of Europe. The sys tem ot two Europes, which arose and was malntalned by the tault ot the west, cannot last. The west is not Europe, and we cannot regard the east as Europe e•ther. The west cannot harbor bopes ithat lt shall avol-d an lnvaslon by the barbarians by toresaklng the east-ern part of Europe to Communlsm. Al!, long a s one substantlal portlon of Europe 1-s undergolng a feverlsh change. as long as everythlng there, which symbolized the Chrlstlan and European splr•t, is retreating before th-e aggresslveness of the barbarlan and is wlthdrawlng to the hlllsldes and int.o the catacombs, a s long as half of 1Europe -does not live, belleve and t~I accordlng to the thousand-year-old Chrl&tlan and Europeain laws, there shall be no contentmen,t ot •the spirit, ,n or shall th-ere be material welfare In the the west. Tbe Idea of Europe lncludes In itself tbe west as equally a s the ea st. lt -embraces 1he distant plalns of Poland, the Ukraine, White Russla, the Slovak and Rumanla,n valleys, as well as ,th& green fleld s ot France and Germany, and even the broad Iberlan horizons. We must resolve: There shall be only one Europe--a Chrlstlan, hlstorlcal Europe-a free and democratlc Europe.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Two Europes Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Cieker Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2), December 1951 pp. 8-12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cieker, Jozef, 1907-1969 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1951 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/bf790366e4f46ef61e114e865e4a60e8.pdf 6d8b53718545dade60db6cc05e04f709 PDF Text Text MARCH, 1952. SLOVAKIA 1 THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC Dr. Joseph Cieker From the very beginning of its history the Slovak nation endeavored to attain a full natlonal and political life. From the standpoint of history, the substance of the development of the Slovaks has not changed. Not all natlons developed in the same manner. Many nations lived in such an environment and under such conditions that their norma! life was not hindered by serious obstacles and they <;ould, therefore, develop to state and national perfectlon more rapidJy t han the nations which, on the road of their development, met with many obstacles - some of which were insurmountable. More than one nation spent its blood in wars and disappeared from the history of Europe. We Slovaks, too, frequently found ourselves exhausted by wars, and at times it appeared to us we might not be strong enough to overcome the obstacles thrust in our path by foreigners and also renegades from our own ranks. Despite the extreme material and biological losses, the Slovak nation, nevertheless, successfully won a place of equality among the nations of Europe and the world and proved its maturity in its own independent Slovak State. In the development of the Slovak nation, there existed a constant continuity even though many falled to see it and some even denied it. Loyal Slovak sons, who were entrusted wlth the responsible task of leadership In Slovak national and political life, believed In this contlnuity of the Slovak spirit wbich glistened so brightly ln real expression on the throne of the first Slovak rulers and then on the chair of the first President of the Slovak Republlc. The elderly Archbishop of Nitra, Dr. Char.les Kmeťko, gave testimony of tbis continuity of the hlstorical evolution of tbe Slovak natíon when, looking at Presldent Dr. .Joseph Tiso in the Bratislava National Court, he said: "This man was, after Svätopluk, our second bead." Austrian emperors and Hungarian klngs were not "our heads" or rulers because of the free will of the Slovak nation. But nelther was T. G. Masaryk, nor Dr. Edward Beneš; nor is Clement Gottwald the "head" of the Slovak nation. From the standpoint of this historical continuity, "our head" can be, and shall be able to be, only the man who shall be placed on the empty chalr of the president of tbe Slovak Republic by the will of the people and in the intent of the national and Ohristian traditions of the Slovak people. How extremely difficult was the road travelled by the Slovak nation - from the times of Svätopluk all the way to Dr. Joseph Tlso - was clearly demonstrated when counter forces tried to destroy the work of the Slovak spirit, es,pecially when they removed in crimlnal fashion the representatlves and Jiving expresslons of the Slovak will from the leadership of Slovak national and politlcal life. The more concrete the form of realizing Slovak aims, the more cruelly all alien and anti-Slovak forces intervened. That is why the work of the Slovak State, wben it proved itself to be on a European and world level, evoked so much concentrated crlmlnality and revenge from the enemies of Slovak independence, the likes of wblch not a single clvilized and cultured nation had ever seen. �2 SLOVAKIA The anti-Slovak forces were symbolized by one of the most des-picalble phenomena of the Czech nation and of contemporary European history, Dr. Edward Beneš. Knowlng that they could not be a ble to destroy the blessed achievements of S lovak vlctory - the Slovak Republíc - they dld not hesitate to ask the help of the criminal forces of the anti-European and anti-Cbristian conspiracy whicb was organized and led by the Kremlln. At the moment of the bistorlcal duel, there remained on the side of the Slovak Republic only the falthful Slovak race and its sons, who were determined and prepared to die as martyrs for the rights of the Slovak nation. Against the Slovak 1Republic was the world public, which had been charmed by the falsehoods and frauds of Dr. Ed· ward Beneš. Thirsting for Slovak blood, designated wlth Cain's mark on their forehads, armed wlth all the means of Soviet justice and prot0i)ted by the military, political and police might of the Soviet Union, the wards of Dr. Edward Beneš-of Czech and Slovak originset out wlth a vengeance against the Joya.l sons of the Slovak nation who were armed only with prayerbooks and the Jegal code of the Christian world-outlook. At the same Ume few people In Europe and in the world comprehended the extent of the treason, the victim of which was the Christian Slovak natlon and the Jegal expression of its will - the Slovak State. Very few people in Europe and in the world realized the im· mensity of the treason of Dr. Edward Beneš, his Czech polítical companions and the individuals of Slovak origin who had united with them in crlme. This anti-Slovak consplracy, which was the beginning of the anti-European and anti-Christlan consplracy of internationa.l Communism, was determlned to destroy the Slovak Republlc, the expression of right and justice. But the means valld up to that tíme did not suffice for the conspirators, so they acted according to the new laws, which were created by the philosophy of violence and Communist crime. To destroy the Slovak State, this conspiratorial, anti-Slovak assoclatlon needed the entire apparatus of terror whlch was used and legallzed by the Soviet system. The Slovak nation succumbed to thls vlolence and temporarily was deprlved of its own State. "After Svätopluk our second head" the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tiso - was indicted, tried, convlcted and executed according to the manner of the Communlst system. Fully aware of thls historical crime and with the consent of hls own Government and full co-responsiblllty of his own executive organs on the territory of the Slovak State, which according to thelr own admission "ruled themselves," Dr. Edward Beneš intervened In the bloodiest manner in thls hlstorlcal development of tbe Slovak natlon, tbereby deflnltely intending to sever the lndestructlble contlnulty of the Slovak spirit. On tbis hlstorical background, there comes before tbe eyes of the contemporary Slovak generation and tbe eyes of contemporary Europe and the world the human and politlcal protile of tbe President of the Slovak Republlc, Joseph Tiso. From tbe Slovak view·point, as well as that of universal history, the greatness of his martyr's death has attained such a degree, that it has placed the figme of Joseph Tlso among the bravest, the noblest and morally perfect expresslons of human effort !or good, for justice, and for right and freedom. His phy- �SLOVAKIA a sical appearance is today crowned with a legendary halo, wbicb to date no member of tbe Slovak natlon bas attained. Every Slovak son and daugbter was acquainted wltb Tiso, because Tiso as priest, as politician, as man, and even as president, was in daily contact wlth Slovak life. And thougb tbe martyr's deatb ba.s enbanced the political and human profile of Joseph Tiso over any otber, as well as the degree of pel'fectlon of the Slov3k spirit atta1ned from a moral, religious, national, polltlcal and world vlewpoint, bis immortal and live presence bas become tbe most su:bstantlal part of the tbinking of the Slovak man today and shall be a constant stimulator of bis· spirit. Tbe more tragic and dark the background from wbicb appears tbe clean and bright pbenomenon of tbe personality of Josepb Tlso, tbe more impassable tbe aibyss between tbe Slovak nation and tbe conspirators against its freedom. Tbe martyr's deatb of Joseph T iso and its glorification cannot be and shall not b e separated from this background, in which - in a union sealed with a treaty or treason, blood and crime - moves a bout and shall eternally appear tbe repulsive face of Dr. Edward Beneš, marked wlth the spittle of revenge, on wbich no artist and no propaganda procedure s hall be able to elicit a smile of a clean conscience. On this bistorlcal b ackground, worthy of Dante's interno, in an equal mora! ugliness sball eternally find tbemselves the individuals, wbo consldered it an honor to besmirch their consciences ,ľitb tbe biood of Slovak sons and whose only vietory is tbe temporary destruction of Slovak independence. These men, being branded wltb tbe mark of Communlsm, bave followed thelr master, Edward Beneš, on the stage of Slovak tragedy, The present Slovak tragedy has attained sucb dlmenslons that not only the intellectual groups of a Slovak generatlon, but even tbe wbole Slovak natlon collectively have been affected by lt. Never b efore in the history of tbe Slovak people did it happen tbat every Slovak man, woman and child were the llvlng partlcipants of the mora! and material destruction caused by tbe conspirators against Slovak statebood. Even if we can comprebend the revenge of Edward Beneš and bis Czecb companlons on the Slovak Nation as an interventlon of negatíve forces in the Divine plans, we cannot understancl, and so much the less excuse, the actlve partlc!patlon in it of tbe lndlvlduals of Slovak origin, wbo renderecl servlce to aliens and consplred agalnst the life of the nation t hey are clescended from. The terrible contrast between the reality of the Slovak State and tbe "acquisitlons of tbe glorious national insurrectlon." which was insplrecl by foreign interests, led by Slovak renegades and climaxed by total communlstlc terror is, and forever shall be, the final sketcher of the political and human profile of ťhe personlflei- of Slovak State lndependence, J oseph Tiso, and the mora! and political degeneracy of those who are In a run measure responsible for the present servlle position of the Slovak nation. From the viewpoint of historical perspective. not only the Slovak 11atlon, but even the whole world sees today the immensity of the sacrifice of a son, loyal to God and nation, was able to make and, on tbe other hand, tbe immenslty of the treason and the consequences emanating from the gullt of those who, silencing wlthin themselv~ the outcry of conscience, rejected from their declsions and acts the law of God and th e Jaw of the natlon. �4 SLOVAKIA To make the human and political profile of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic more expressive, no Slovak needs any syntbetic beautifying mediums, because bis pbysical and spiritua,l features were tbe work of tbe Hands of God and tbe bealtby, religious environment of tbe Slovak nation. On thls face glowed tbe fire of tbe servant of God and nation to tbe very last moment of bis eartbly life. Josepb Tiso was not a complicated, but a clear, clean and transparent pbenomenon; just as uncomplicated, clear, clean and transparent as has been tbe natural cbaracter of tbe Slovak person for generations. Slovak bistory will not bave to searcb for reasons for tbe !ega! connection of the Slovak acts, which form a segment of tbe life of tbe Slovak State, because these acts were explained by the crystal-clear deeds of President Tiso himself. On August 16, 1938, when J oseph Tiso was partlng with the deceased Andrew Hlinka on the Ružomberok Square in the name or the whole Slovak nation, his words sound<ld like the eternal voice of the Slovak spirit, which when silenced on the li,ps of one, are heard by the living nation on the lips of another. This uninterrupted thread of Slovak evo\utlon was handed over to Joseph Tiso by Andrew Hlinka. ' Never was Andrew Hlinka so great in life, as his death has shown bim to be," said Tlso over the casket of the spiritual soverelgn of the Slovak peopl e. "Andrew Hlinka was great during bis lifetime, because he dedicated his liťe to a great idea-and he appeared great a t death, because hls death, attestlng faitbful service to his great idea to the very end, places bim in the gallery of the spiritual heroes of the Slovak nation. The idea of an independent Slovak natlon was the source of bis boundless love for the Slovak natíon, which led and took on higb tbe life of Andrew Hlinka. As a result of bis being elevated to the priestbood of the New Testament, his love for hls people received a special blessing and intensity: by becoming a servant of Christ, he became tbe servant of a grandiose idea - whlch in relation to patriotism meant that he became the servant of an idea, offerlng himself and all bis possessions on the altar of tbat same idea. "Hlinka, priest and patriot, lived in the deep conviction that he was not serving a trivial idea, a superflcial thing, but a cause tbat had deep roots in a 1000-year-old pa.st and in the Christian order of the life of bis nation in the present. In this bigher consecration, bis patriotism did not mean only persona! fancy and momentary satisfaction, but it meant dedicating and sacriflclng bis wbole being - constantly and unreservedly, un'Ceaslngly and tirelessly - because even in bis patriotism he felt that he was a prlest of God who was making a sacriflce - a full-time and lifetime sacrifice in the sense of bis full-time and lifetime priestly character. That is why bis work for bis Slovak people was a figbt - not a struggle for power and glory, but a sacred fight always in the defense of tbe most sacred values, so dear to all members of our nation: our national rigbts, po\itica\ rights, cultural and economic rights. As it bebooves a person dedi· cated to tbe service of an idea, bis fight was an ideological fight. The great Idea of a Divine Order was connected with the idea of a distinct Slovak nation to feed the two-win~ed flame which filled bis mind and bis heart and governed bis whole life. Ideally inflamed, Hlinka waged this sacred fight under difficult circumstances; he �SLOVAKIA 6 fought against overwhelming odds. Yet never did he retreat trom anyone or anything, because he did not doubt tbe naturalness of the right of bis own people to its own life; and he believed in the future of bis nation, because it held fast to the space allotted it by God in the family of otber nations. He bore within himself the conviction of a chosen leader of his people with whom he lived in the most intimate union, along with whom he fought in the land of the Pharaohs, and whom he was to lead into the promised land." It was thus that Tiso described the political and human profile of Andrew Hlinka. And in this profile of the spiritual sovereign of the Slovak nation, Andrew Hlinka, in substance were also found all the traits of the human and political features of Joseph Tiso. The physical person was not the same, but what was substantial, splritual and eternal remained - as proof of the continuity of Slovak life. All the cbaracteristics which adorned the priestly and polltlcal personality or Andrew Hlinka, also adorned bis successor in the management of the destinies of the Slovak people, Dr..Joseph Tiso. Service to God and nation. however, exacted from Joseph Tiso the maximum that a person possibly could give. What Joseph Tiso said at the final parting with Andrew Hlinka was not only so many beautiful words, but a great and heroic act, which attalned its perfect expresslon in the existenee of the Slovak Republic during his presldency - one that was confirmed before the Slovak natlon and before the whole cultured and civilized world with bis martyr's death. We can thank Divine Providencť' and the living continuity of the Slovak spirit that during the most decisive phase of Slovak and world bistory, the Slovak nation decided of it~ own free will to place in the chair of Svätopluk a man of the people who ťarried In hls heart and soul the spark of consecration which was given the Slovak natlon as a dowry at the dawn of its history. That is why the political and human work of Joseph Tiso attainecl such a mora! ancl historical value, the value of which will be recognized even if only one member of the Slovak nation remains on earth. Joseph Tiso did not get on the throne of Slovak rulers by the coincidence of subordinate circumstances, because even the realization of state independence was not the result of an accident. Just as state independence was the ripe fruit on the tree of life of Slovak gnerations, just so its visible head was the mature offspring of Slovak ideological, mora) and spiritual development. Even lf Joseph Tiso personally as a man would not have wanted to be the president of the Slovak Republic, he simply had to be, because at the tlme of the proclamation of Slovak independence he was the acknowledged ruler of the collective will of the Slovak people. Just as 'ľiso dld not seek the oHlce of president as man and priest, just so he hearkened to the voice of the Slovak genle and accepted the presidency from the qualified representatlves of the nation as a supreme obllgatlon - a duty which he performed faithfully and well to the very last moment of his life.. Jf Joseph Tiso devoted hlmself to tbe national service or the Slovak cause, then he diel so in full responsibílity of hls historlc missión. That is why he did not hesitate even for a moment In the face of seduction and vlolence. The presldent of the Slovak Republlc could not recant or even betray anything. That is why Josepb Tlso, after �6 SLOVAKIA acceptlng the office of Pľesident with so much self-immolation, stirred the whole Slovak nation iuto a building effoľt; that is why he defended before a non-Slovak court the work of tbe Slovak RepubJic with such dignity; and that is why, being fully aware that he pertormed his duties as well as he could, Tlso could bless bis [aithful people even from the shadow of the gallows. The human accomplisbments of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic were destined not only by bis priestly character, but also by tbe whole character of a son of the Slovak nation, who never strayed from Slovak and Cbristian trad!tions. No matter how hard the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court tried, it could not prove that Joseph Tiso wa.s gu!lty of acts tbat ran counter to natural and Slovak laws, or were contrary to mora! law. Tbat is why tbe Slova:k nat!on regarded the conviction and execution of .Josepb Tiso as a dellberate, prnmeditated and executed crime. And lt s ball regard it so for all time. The political work of tbe President of the Slovak Republic, serving the welfare o f tbe entire Slovak nation, created such conditions for tbe Slovak natlon so that it could wltbin the framework of !ts state boundaries prove its capabllity to live and so that in its international relationsbip it could gain recognition. Joseph Tiso, placed on the throne of an independent Slovak ruler, did not play the politics of Moscow, Berlin, Dudapest, Paris, London, or Washington, but worked the policy of Bratisla va, the cap!tal city 9f tbe independent State of Slovakia. He worked that pol!cy under ihe given pol!tlcal, geographical and internat!onal circumstances; and he had to work it in sucb a way so that the interests of the Slovak natlon and its State were safeguarded as well as possilble in tbis play of opposing forces. Josepb Tiso could not consplre against the work of Slovak hlstory and. therefore, no otber conception except the pnrely Slovak and state conception could be acceptable for him as well as tbe entlre Slovak nation. He did not regard the existence of the Slovak State as a debatable question. Just as the Slovak nation existed, so the Slovak State also had to exist. " This standpoint - which was not only bis, but tbe whole Slovak nation's as well - was incompatible with the view beld by Dr. Edward Beneš and dictated by him to his lackeys - the renegades of Slovak descent on the territory of t he Slovak State - first from London, then from Moscow and finally from Prague. · Joseph Tiso was so deeply convinced about the propriety of bis llecisions as President tha.t he did not hesitate to state before the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court which was trying bim: "If in the fLÍture it were g!ven to me to concern myself wlth politics, under such circumstances as obtained in 1919-1945, I would follow the same polic!es that I did at that Ume." Looklng over the picture of the human and political profile of tbe f!rst President of tbe Slovak Republic, wbo already today appears in tbe halo of a martyr in the eyes of Europe and the world, we cannot help but be convinced that Joseph Tlso preceded t he development of European and un!versal realities of today, so tbat he could indicate the return of those eternal, mora! and polltlcal values. wbich in today'$ change or the world order have, as lt were, temporarily g!ven place and reign to the forces of the human peripbery �SLOVAKIA 7 which is guided by the Iaw of the jungle. His profile appears on the background of this shocking tragedy, wbich 1s not only natlonal, but European as welJ. The Chrlstlan and natlonal values, whlch Joseph Tlso personified In a form thus far unattalned by any Slovak, were and are being torn out of the body of the Slovak natlon, and In their place was and is being forced the criminal phllosophy and morality or Godless Communism. On the European and world stage the equllibrium o! mora! and polltical order was vlolated, and the declared and proven criminallty of Communism was accepted as the equivalent com• ponent of the hnman struggle for a better tomorow. Using sneh unChristian and unhistorical yardstlcks, the human and politlcal pro• file of the President of the Slovak Republic was regarded as sometbing that does not fall into tbe accepted norms of chaos, wbich was tbe result of tbe aggressiveness and perfidiousness of the CommunLstlc system and of the cowardice and appeasement of a world, whlch, of course, did say that it is llving in Christian and democrat!c forms, but was in fact, willlng to lend itself to a suicidal experiment in an alliance witb Communlsm. That !s why the voice of Joseph Tiso was silenced - the voice which defended truth and Christian morality, tbe freedom ot tbe Slovak people and its State; tbe volce that cried out agalnst Communlsm and for European and Christian cultnre. During tbe reign ot pol!tlcaJ and moral chaos, which was instaJJed totally in Slovakia and partially In tbe rest of Europe, the voice of the just confessor of universal moral principles was a volce crying In tbe wilderness. Al that Ume the crimlnal morality of tbe non-Slovak and non-Cbrlstian court In Bratis lava was accepted as tbe norma! form of justice. It took a long tlme for the West to become sat!ated wlth thls unnatural concublnage with the Soviet system and finally declde to defend wbat Communlsm did not as yet have t!me to conquer. Edward Beneš, his people and the renegades of Slovak origin joined witb them, taking advantage of the moral and politlcal chaos of the world and using the norms of communlstlc lies and deceptlon, wanted to present the pol!t!cal and human profile of Joseph Tiso in s uch a way as to evoke averslon. They succeeded in thls, but only temporarily. As long as the world accepted Stalln as the representatlve ot the most perfect democracy, whlle Dimltrov was a model of nobility, as long as Tito was an angel of justlce, wh!le Rákos! was recognlzed as a norm ot tolerance, as long as Anna Pauker, Palmlro Togl!atti, M:aurlce Tborez and Wllliam Pleck were the hope of European brotherhood, and whlle Edward Beneš, Clement Gottwald and thelr companlone qualified as bu!lders of the brldge between the West and the East - the Presldent ot the Slovak Republ!c, Dr. Joseph Tlso, was a phenomenon who slmply dld not belong in Europe. And Joseph Tlso and the Slovak nation did not want a martyr for the falth ot Christ, for a Christian and just Europe and for the Slovak Republic to belong to the gallery of these representatlves ot dera!led Europe. The unreal conception about the posslbility or normal cohabltation of two irreconcilable world outlooks - the Communlst and the Chrlstian - was bullt on deceptlon and violence, on the basis of a philosophy or falsehood and crime, on cowardlce and apostasy. On the basls ot this unnatural concept!on, it was allowed, with the concurrence of the cultured and civilized world, to lead the head of the �8 SLOVAKIA Slovak State to the gallows despite the fact that he was a priest of the Catholic Church who never violated Her doctrines or Her ia,ws; and despite the fact that Tiso was a man of spotless life and a patriot of the highest level; and despite the fact that Tiso was the freely and democratically elected head of a recognized and orderly European State. Over Joseph Tiso, under whose government no one was executed, the verdict of death was dictated by Edward Beneš, a foreigner by blood and spirit in the eyes of the Slovaks, who perpetrated so much damage on Slovak life and property that as long as a Slovak s hall be a Slovak, the mere mentlon of Beneš's name will always inspire mora! repugnance and eternal condemnation. J oseph Tiso - who conducted himself in accordance to the existing cons<titutional and controlllng institutions, as well as the highest authority of God, that Divine Law and Catholic doctrine which he professed and upheld from childhood a11 the way up to the gallows was tried and convicted by Edward Beneš who - even though he had at hand a "freely" elected parliament ready to do his vengeful bidding - Jistened to and was guided by no one except Stalin and himself. Beneš listened only to himself and hls own voice, which was slngularly full of hatred for everything Slovak, and obeyed an unChristian and undemocratic instinct, which in the last years of his life, was centered entirely against the freedom and state independence of the Slovak nation. Individuals devoid of all morals wanted to teach the gospel to a noble, Catholic priest; w ealthy and corrupt men lec tured him a bout Christian soclology; Godless and faithless people with catechisms in their bloody hands tried bim; the destroyers and plu nderers of the national wealth of the Slovak people tried to show him how he should have defended Slovakia; the perpetrators o.f communist terror dared to speak about principles of Democracy and Christianity; cowards, who never had the courage to raise their voices in defense of Slovak interests, were presented to bim as roodels of heroism; the allies of Communism told bim about the "acquisition of the glo· rious insurrections;" traitors of tbe Slovak race tried to teacb hlm patriotism; the grave diggers of Slovak independence tried to convince hlm of the advantages of subordination of the Slovak nation within the framework of cobabitation with the Czechs. On such negative princ lples, drawn from Communist doctrines, they created the profile of Joseph Tlso. In the conflict with this pollUcal and moral underworld, wbich occupled the !and of the Slovaks and also prepared to enthrone its own government and its own principles in the rest of Europe, Joseph Tiso stood tbere before the Communist tribunal as a milestone on the threshold of two ages. The gallows erected in the courtyard of the Bratislava prison, on wbich the great S lovak, Christian, European beart of the first President of the Slovak Republic ceased beating - that is the symbol of the conflict for wblch Communism and its allies were preparing. It is the symbol of the determination shown by a man of European and world outlook, wbo foresaw not only the extent of his own sacrifice, but also its mora! lmportance at a Ume, when Europe and the world - returnlng to the trnditional Chrlstlan norms - would �SLOVAK.IA 9 weigb justly the mora! and political values not only of lndivlduals, but also of nations. Looking at the human and political profile of the President ot the Slovak Republic from this historical vantage point, it can be said that the Slovak nation, whích succumbed in the brutal conflict tor its own statehood in the Europe of yesterday and today - in which Beneš, and the Communist and pro-Communist alliance helping bim, had all the say about Slovakia - shall wln its just !Ight for the renewal of Slovak statehood in the Europe of tomorrow, where people of determin ation, goodness, noblesse, Christlan morali ty - Jike J oseph Tiso will appear on the stage o! European history. • • • WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TISO "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso was a judicial murder and it is also a political murder. One can c riticize the polltics of the late Msgr. Joseph Tiso, disagree with it and fight against it wltb all of one's strength, but, according to my deep conviction, a man should not be murdered for his political activity which was in accord with the conviction of his nation and for which he had a motive in the development of political events durlng the flrst and second CzechoSlovak Republlcs and in the course followed by lts presidents and governments. It is a down-right travesty of justice that a Slovak, elected President of the Slovak Republic by a majority of the Slovak nation, be executed by the government of a self-appolnted presldent of the present 'Czechoslovak Republic,' who, accordlng to the laws of the First Republic, himself should first be tried and condemned." - Kare! Lochner, former Czecho-Slovak Consul, London, England, April 1947. • • • "American Slovak Catholic women were horrified at the igno· minious death of Monsignor Joseph Tiso. Greatly resent the ignoring of our plea and petition sent by cablegram to President Edward Be• neš and others from our Annual Board Meeting held F®ruary 27, 1947, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in behalf of our entire membership of 75,000 women and children. The wrath of the entire membership centers itself upon the leaders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We hail )lonsignor Tiso as a martyr, dying for the cause of bis people." - Susan Matuscak, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Ladles Union, Cleveland, Ohio. • • • • • • "Tbe Czech governmeRt of presldent Edward Beneš sacrificed an opportunity of easing the tension between the Czechs and the Slovaks when it executed the Rev. Joseph Tiso." - Osservatore Romano, Yatican City, Haly. " The execution of Dr. Josepb Tiso, who loved bis people and served tbem conscientiously throughout bis life, wil\ undoubted\y inspire thousands of his brethren to contlnue the fight for the !nherent and God-given rights of tbe Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary l•'irst Cathollc Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio. � MARCH, 1952. SLOVAKIA 1 THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC Dr. Joseph Cieker From the very beginning of its history the Slovak nation endeavored to attain a full natlonal and political life. From the standpoint of history, the substance of the development of the Slovaks has not changed. Not all natlons developed in the same manner. Many nations lived in such an environment and under such conditions that their norma! life was not hindered by serious obstacles and they <;ould, therefore, develop to state and national perfectlon more rapidJy t han the nations which, on the road of their development, met with many obstacles - some of which were insurmountable. More than one nation spent its blood in wars and disappeared from the history of Europe. We Slovaks, too, frequently found ourselves exhausted by wars, and at times it appeared to us we might not be strong enough to overcome the obstacles thrust in our path by foreigners and also renegades from our own ranks. Despite the extreme material and biological losses, the Slovak nation, nevertheless, successfully won a place of equality among the nations of Europe and the world and proved its maturity in its own independent Slovak State. In the development of the Slovak nation, there existed a constant continuity even though many falled to see it and some even denied it. Loyal Slovak sons, who were entrusted wlth the responsible task of leadership In Slovak national and political life, believed In this contlnuity of the Slovak spirit wbich glistened so brightly ln real expression on the throne of the first Slovak rulers and then on the chair of the first President of the Slovak Republlc. The elderly Archbishop of Nitra, Dr. Char.les Kmeťko, gave testimony of tbis continuity of the hlstorical evolution of tbe Slovak natíon when, looking at Presldent Dr. .Joseph Tiso in the Bratislava National Court, he said: "This man was, after Svätopluk, our second bead." Austrian emperors and Hungarian klngs were not "our heads" or rulers because of the free will of the Slovak nation. But nelther was T. G. Masaryk, nor Dr. Edward Beneš; nor is Clement Gottwald the "head" of the Slovak nation. From the standpoint of this historical continuity, "our head" can be, and shall be able to be, only the man who shall be placed on the empty chalr of the president of tbe Slovak Republic by the will of the people and in the intent of the national and Ohristian traditions of the Slovak people. How extremely difficult was the road travelled by the Slovak nation - from the times of Svätopluk all the way to Dr. Joseph Tlso - was clearly demonstrated when counter forces tried to destroy the work of the Slovak spirit, es,pecially when they removed in crimlnal fashion the representatlves and Jiving expresslons of the Slovak will from the leadership of Slovak national and politlcal life. The more concrete the form of realizing Slovak aims, the more cruelly all alien and anti-Slovak forces intervened. That is why the work of the Slovak State, wben it proved itself to be on a European and world level, evoked so much concentrated crlmlnality and revenge from the enemies of Slovak independence, the likes of wblch not a single clvilized and cultured nation had ever seen. �2 SLOVAKIA The anti-Slovak forces were symbolized by one of the most des-picalble phenomena of the Czech nation and of contemporary European history, Dr. Edward Beneš. Knowlng that they could not be a ble to destroy the blessed achievements of S lovak vlctory - the Slovak Republíc - they dld not hesitate to ask the help of the criminal forces of the anti-European and anti-Cbristian conspiracy whicb was organized and led by the Kremlln. At the moment of the bistorlcal duel, there remained on the side of the Slovak Republic only the falthful Slovak race and its sons, who were determined and prepared to die as martyrs for the rights of the Slovak nation. Against the Slovak 1Republic was the world public, which had been charmed by the falsehoods and frauds of Dr. Ed· ward Beneš. Thirsting for Slovak blood, designated wlth Cain's mark on their forehads, armed wlth all the means of Soviet justice and prot0i)ted by the military, political and police might of the Soviet Union, the wards of Dr. Edward Beneš-of Czech and Slovak originset out wlth a vengeance against the Joya.l sons of the Slovak nation who were armed only with prayerbooks and the Jegal code of the Christian world-outlook. At the same Ume few people In Europe and in the world comprehended the extent of the treason, the victim of which was the Christian Slovak natlon and the Jegal expression of its will - the Slovak State. Very few people in Europe and in the world realized the im· mensity of the treason of Dr. Edward Beneš, his Czech polítical companions and the individuals of Slovak origin who had united with them in crlme. This anti-Slovak consplracy, which was the beginning of the anti-European and anti-Christlan consplracy of internationa.l Communism, was determlned to destroy the Slovak Republlc, the expression of right and justice. But the means valld up to that tíme did not suffice for the conspirators, so they acted according to the new laws, which were created by the philosophy of violence and Communist crime. To destroy the Slovak State, this conspiratorial, anti-Slovak assoclatlon needed the entire apparatus of terror whlch was used and legallzed by the Soviet system. The Slovak nation succumbed to thls vlolence and temporarily was deprlved of its own State. "After Svätopluk our second head" the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tiso - was indicted, tried, convlcted and executed according to the manner of the Communlst system. Fully aware of thls historical crime and with the consent of hls own Government and full co-responsiblllty of his own executive organs on the territory of the Slovak State, which according to thelr own admission "ruled themselves," Dr. Edward Beneš intervened In the bloodiest manner in thls hlstorlcal development of tbe Slovak natlon, tbereby deflnltely intending to sever the lndestructlble contlnulty of the Slovak spirit. On tbis hlstorical background, there comes before tbe eyes of the contemporary Slovak generation and tbe eyes of contemporary Europe and the world the human and politlcal protile of tbe President of the Slovak Republlc, Joseph Tiso. From tbe Slovak view·point, as well as that of universal history, the greatness of his martyr's death has attained such a degree, that it has placed the figme of Joseph Tlso among the bravest, the noblest and morally perfect expresslons of human effort !or good, for justice, and for right and freedom. His phy- �SLOVAKIA a sical appearance is today crowned with a legendary halo, wbicb to date no member of tbe Slovak natlon bas attained. Every Slovak son and daugbter was acquainted wltb Tiso, because Tiso as priest, as politician, as man, and even as president, was in daily contact wlth Slovak life. And thougb tbe martyr's deatb ba.s enbanced the political and human profile of Joseph Tiso over any otber, as well as the degree of pel'fectlon of the Slov3k spirit atta1ned from a moral, religious, national, polltlcal and world vlewpoint, bis immortal and live presence bas become tbe most su:bstantlal part of the tbinking of the Slovak man today and shall be a constant stimulator of bis· spirit. Tbe more tragic and dark the background from wbicb appears tbe clean and bright pbenomenon of tbe personality of Josepb Tlso, tbe more impassable tbe aibyss between tbe Slovak nation and tbe conspirators against its freedom. Tbe martyr's deatb of Joseph T iso and its glorification cannot be and shall not b e separated from this background, in which - in a union sealed with a treaty or treason, blood and crime - moves a bout and shall eternally appear tbe repulsive face of Dr. Edward Beneš, marked wlth the spittle of revenge, on wbich no artist and no propaganda procedure s hall be able to elicit a smile of a clean conscience. On this bistorlcal b ackground, worthy of Dante's interno, in an equal mora! ugliness sball eternally find tbemselves the individuals, wbo consldered it an honor to besmirch their consciences ,ľitb tbe biood of Slovak sons and whose only vietory is tbe temporary destruction of Slovak independence. These men, being branded wltb tbe mark of Communlsm, bave followed thelr master, Edward Beneš, on the stage of Slovak tragedy, The present Slovak tragedy has attained sucb dlmenslons that not only the intellectual groups of a Slovak generatlon, but even tbe wbole Slovak natlon collectively have been affected by lt. Never b efore in the history of tbe Slovak people did it happen tbat every Slovak man, woman and child were the llvlng partlcipants of the mora! and material destruction caused by tbe conspirators against Slovak statebood. Even if we can comprebend the revenge of Edward Beneš and bis Czecb companlons on the Slovak Nation as an interventlon of negatíve forces in the Divine plans, we cannot understancl, and so much the less excuse, the actlve partlc!patlon in it of tbe lndlvlduals of Slovak origin, wbo renderecl servlce to aliens and consplred agalnst the life of the nation t hey are clescended from. The terrible contrast between the reality of the Slovak State and tbe "acquisitlons of tbe glorious national insurrectlon." which was insplrecl by foreign interests, led by Slovak renegades and climaxed by total communlstlc terror is, and forever shall be, the final sketcher of the political and human profile of ťhe personlflei- of Slovak State lndependence, J oseph Tiso, and the mora! and political degeneracy of those who are In a run measure responsible for the present servlle position of the Slovak nation. From the viewpoint of historical perspective. not only the Slovak 11atlon, but even the whole world sees today the immensity of the sacrifice of a son, loyal to God and nation, was able to make and, on tbe other hand, tbe immenslty of the treason and the consequences emanating from the gullt of those who, silencing wlthin themselv~ the outcry of conscience, rejected from their declsions and acts the law of God and th e Jaw of the natlon. �4 SLOVAKIA To make the human and political profile of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic more expressive, no Slovak needs any syntbetic beautifying mediums, because bis pbysical and spiritua,l features were tbe work of tbe Hands of God and tbe bealtby, religious environment of tbe Slovak nation. On thls face glowed tbe fire of tbe servant of God and nation to tbe very last moment of bis eartbly life. Josepb Tiso was not a complicated, but a clear, clean and transparent pbenomenon; just as uncomplicated, clear, clean and transparent as has been tbe natural cbaracter of tbe Slovak person for generations. Slovak bistory will not bave to searcb for reasons for tbe !ega! connection of the Slovak acts, which form a segment of tbe life of tbe Slovak State, because these acts were explained by the crystal-clear deeds of President Tiso himself. On August 16, 1938, when J oseph Tiso was partlng with the deceased Andrew Hlinka on the Ružomberok Square in the name or the whole Slovak nation, his words sound<ld like the eternal voice of the Slovak spirit, which when silenced on the li,ps of one, are heard by the living nation on the lips of another. This uninterrupted thread of Slovak evo\utlon was handed over to Joseph Tiso by Andrew Hlinka. ' Never was Andrew Hlinka so great in life, as his death has shown bim to be," said Tlso over the casket of the spiritual soverelgn of the Slovak peopl e. "Andrew Hlinka was great during bis lifetime, because he dedicated his liťe to a great idea-and he appeared great a t death, because hls death, attestlng faitbful service to his great idea to the very end, places bim in the gallery of the spiritual heroes of the Slovak nation. The idea of an independent Slovak natlon was the source of bis boundless love for the Slovak natíon, which led and took on higb tbe life of Andrew Hlinka. As a result of bis being elevated to the priestbood of the New Testament, his love for hls people received a special blessing and intensity: by becoming a servant of Christ, he became tbe servant of a grandiose idea - whlch in relation to patriotism meant that he became the servant of an idea, offerlng himself and all bis possessions on the altar of tbat same idea. "Hlinka, priest and patriot, lived in the deep conviction that he was not serving a trivial idea, a superflcial thing, but a cause tbat had deep roots in a 1000-year-old pa.st and in the Christian order of the life of bis nation in the present. In this bigher consecration, bis patriotism did not mean only persona! fancy and momentary satisfaction, but it meant dedicating and sacriflclng bis wbole being - constantly and unreservedly, un'Ceaslngly and tirelessly - because even in bis patriotism he felt that he was a prlest of God who was making a sacriflce - a full-time and lifetime sacrifice in the sense of bis full-time and lifetime priestly character. That is why bis work for bis Slovak people was a figbt - not a struggle for power and glory, but a sacred fight always in the defense of tbe most sacred values, so dear to all members of our nation: our national rigbts, po\itica\ rights, cultural and economic rights. As it bebooves a person dedi· cated to tbe service of an idea, bis fight was an ideological fight. The great Idea of a Divine Order was connected with the idea of a distinct Slovak nation to feed the two-win~ed flame which filled bis mind and bis heart and governed bis whole life. Ideally inflamed, Hlinka waged this sacred fight under difficult circumstances; he �SLOVAKIA 6 fought against overwhelming odds. Yet never did he retreat trom anyone or anything, because he did not doubt tbe naturalness of the right of bis own people to its own life; and he believed in the future of bis nation, because it held fast to the space allotted it by God in the family of otber nations. He bore within himself the conviction of a chosen leader of his people with whom he lived in the most intimate union, along with whom he fought in the land of the Pharaohs, and whom he was to lead into the promised land." It was thus that Tiso described the political and human profile of Andrew Hlinka. And in this profile of the spiritual sovereign of the Slovak nation, Andrew Hlinka, in substance were also found all the traits of the human and political features of Joseph Tiso. The physical person was not the same, but what was substantial, splritual and eternal remained - as proof of the continuity of Slovak life. All the cbaracteristics which adorned the priestly and polltlcal personality or Andrew Hlinka, also adorned bis successor in the management of the destinies of the Slovak people, Dr..Joseph Tiso. Service to God and nation. however, exacted from Joseph Tiso the maximum that a person possibly could give. What Joseph Tiso said at the final parting with Andrew Hlinka was not only so many beautiful words, but a great and heroic act, which attalned its perfect expresslon in the existenee of the Slovak Republic during his presldency - one that was confirmed before the Slovak natlon and before the whole cultured and civilized world with bis martyr's death. We can thank Divine Providencť' and the living continuity of the Slovak spirit that during the most decisive phase of Slovak and world bistory, the Slovak nation decided of it~ own free will to place in the chair of Svätopluk a man of the people who ťarried In hls heart and soul the spark of consecration which was given the Slovak natlon as a dowry at the dawn of its history. That is why the political and human work of Joseph Tiso attainecl such a mora! ancl historical value, the value of which will be recognized even if only one member of the Slovak nation remains on earth. Joseph Tiso did not get on the throne of Slovak rulers by the coincidence of subordinate circumstances, because even the realization of state independence was not the result of an accident. Just as state independence was the ripe fruit on the tree of life of Slovak gnerations, just so its visible head was the mature offspring of Slovak ideological, mora) and spiritual development. Even lf Joseph Tiso personally as a man would not have wanted to be the president of the Slovak Republic, he simply had to be, because at the tlme of the proclamation of Slovak independence he was the acknowledged ruler of the collective will of the Slovak people. Just as 'ľiso dld not seek the oHlce of president as man and priest, just so he hearkened to the voice of the Slovak genle and accepted the presidency from the qualified representatlves of the nation as a supreme obllgatlon - a duty which he performed faithfully and well to the very last moment of his life.. Jf Joseph Tiso devoted hlmself to tbe national service or the Slovak cause, then he diel so in full responsibílity of hls historlc missión. That is why he did not hesitate even for a moment In the face of seduction and vlolence. The presldent of the Slovak Republlc could not recant or even betray anything. That is why Josepb Tlso, after �6 SLOVAKIA acceptlng the office of Pľesident with so much self-immolation, stirred the whole Slovak nation iuto a building effoľt; that is why he defended before a non-Slovak court the work of tbe Slovak RepubJic with such dignity; and that is why, being fully aware that he pertormed his duties as well as he could, Tlso could bless bis [aithful people even from the shadow of the gallows. The human accomplisbments of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic were destined not only by bis priestly character, but also by tbe whole character of a son of the Slovak nation, who never strayed from Slovak and Cbristian trad!tions. No matter how hard the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court tried, it could not prove that Joseph Tiso wa.s gu!lty of acts tbat ran counter to natural and Slovak laws, or were contrary to mora! law. Tbat is why tbe Slova:k nat!on regarded the conviction and execution of .Josepb Tiso as a dellberate, prnmeditated and executed crime. And lt s ball regard it so for all time. The political work of tbe President of the Slovak Republic, serving the welfare o f tbe entire Slovak nation, created such conditions for tbe Slovak natlon so that it could wltbin the framework of !ts state boundaries prove its capabllity to live and so that in its international relationsbip it could gain recognition. Joseph Tiso, placed on the throne of an independent Slovak ruler, did not play the politics of Moscow, Berlin, Dudapest, Paris, London, or Washington, but worked the policy of Bratisla va, the cap!tal city 9f tbe independent State of Slovakia. He worked that pol!cy under ihe given pol!tlcal, geographical and internat!onal circumstances; and he had to work it in sucb a way so that the interests of the Slovak natlon and its State were safeguarded as well as possilble in tbis play of opposing forces. Josepb Tiso could not consplre against the work of Slovak hlstory and. therefore, no otber conception except the pnrely Slovak and state conception could be acceptable for him as well as tbe entlre Slovak nation. He did not regard the existence of the Slovak State as a debatable question. Just as the Slovak nation existed, so the Slovak State also had to exist. " This standpoint - which was not only bis, but tbe whole Slovak nation's as well - was incompatible with the view beld by Dr. Edward Beneš and dictated by him to his lackeys - the renegades of Slovak descent on the territory of t he Slovak State - first from London, then from Moscow and finally from Prague. · Joseph Tiso was so deeply convinced about the propriety of bis llecisions as President tha.t he did not hesitate to state before the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court which was trying bim: "If in the fLÍture it were g!ven to me to concern myself wlth politics, under such circumstances as obtained in 1919-1945, I would follow the same polic!es that I did at that Ume." Looklng over the picture of the human and political profile of tbe f!rst President of tbe Slovak Republic, wbo already today appears in tbe halo of a martyr in the eyes of Europe and the world, we cannot help but be convinced that Joseph Tlso preceded t he development of European and un!versal realities of today, so tbat he could indicate the return of those eternal, mora! and polltlcal values. wbich in today'$ change or the world order have, as lt were, temporarily g!ven place and reign to the forces of the human peripbery �SLOVAKIA 7 which is guided by the Iaw of the jungle. His profile appears on the background of this shocking tragedy, wbich 1s not only natlonal, but European as welJ. The Chrlstlan and natlonal values, whlch Joseph Tlso personified In a form thus far unattalned by any Slovak, were and are being torn out of the body of the Slovak natlon, and In their place was and is being forced the criminal phllosophy and morality or Godless Communism. On the European and world stage the equllibrium o! mora! and polltical order was vlolated, and the declared and proven criminallty of Communism was accepted as the equivalent com• ponent of the hnman struggle for a better tomorow. Using sneh unChristian and unhistorical yardstlcks, the human and politlcal pro• file of the President of the Slovak Republic was regarded as sometbing that does not fall into tbe accepted norms of chaos, wbich was tbe result of tbe aggressiveness and perfidiousness of the CommunLstlc system and of the cowardice and appeasement of a world, whlch, of course, did say that it is llving in Christian and democrat!c forms, but was in fact, willlng to lend itself to a suicidal experiment in an alliance witb Communlsm. That !s why the voice of Joseph Tiso was silenced - the voice which defended truth and Christian morality, tbe freedom ot tbe Slovak people and its State; tbe volce that cried out agalnst Communlsm and for European and Christian cultnre. During tbe reign ot pol!tlcaJ and moral chaos, which was instaJJed totally in Slovakia and partially In tbe rest of Europe, the voice of the just confessor of universal moral principles was a volce crying In tbe wilderness. Al that Ume the crimlnal morality of tbe non-Slovak and non-Cbrlstian court In Bratis lava was accepted as tbe norma! form of justice. It took a long tlme for the West to become sat!ated wlth thls unnatural concublnage with the Soviet system and finally declde to defend wbat Communlsm did not as yet have t!me to conquer. Edward Beneš, his people and the renegades of Slovak origin joined witb them, taking advantage of the moral and politlcal chaos of the world and using the norms of communlstlc lies and deceptlon, wanted to present the pol!t!cal and human profile of Joseph Tiso in s uch a way as to evoke averslon. They succeeded in thls, but only temporarily. As long as the world accepted Stalln as the representatlve ot the most perfect democracy, whlle Dimltrov was a model of nobility, as long as Tito was an angel of justlce, wh!le Rákos! was recognlzed as a norm ot tolerance, as long as Anna Pauker, Palmlro Togl!atti, M:aurlce Tborez and Wllliam Pleck were the hope of European brotherhood, and whlle Edward Beneš, Clement Gottwald and thelr companlone qualified as bu!lders of the brldge between the West and the East - the Presldent ot the Slovak Republ!c, Dr. Joseph Tlso, was a phenomenon who slmply dld not belong in Europe. And Joseph Tlso and the Slovak nation did not want a martyr for the falth ot Christ, for a Christian and just Europe and for the Slovak Republic to belong to the gallery of these representatlves ot dera!led Europe. The unreal conception about the posslbility or normal cohabltation of two irreconcilable world outlooks - the Communlst and the Chrlstian - was bullt on deceptlon and violence, on the basis of a philosophy or falsehood and crime, on cowardlce and apostasy. On the basls ot this unnatural concept!on, it was allowed, with the concurrence of the cultured and civilized world, to lead the head of the �8 SLOVAKIA Slovak State to the gallows despite the fact that he was a priest of the Catholic Church who never violated Her doctrines or Her ia,ws; and despite the fact that Tiso was a man of spotless life and a patriot of the highest level; and despite the fact that Tiso was the freely and democratically elected head of a recognized and orderly European State. Over Joseph Tiso, under whose government no one was executed, the verdict of death was dictated by Edward Beneš, a foreigner by blood and spirit in the eyes of the Slovaks, who perpetrated so much damage on Slovak life and property that as long as a Slovak s hall be a Slovak, the mere mentlon of Beneš's name will always inspire mora! repugnance and eternal condemnation. J oseph Tiso - who conducted himself in accordance to the existing cons<titutional and controlllng institutions, as well as the highest authority of God, that Divine Law and Catholic doctrine which he professed and upheld from childhood a11 the way up to the gallows was tried and convicted by Edward Beneš who - even though he had at hand a "freely" elected parliament ready to do his vengeful bidding - Jistened to and was guided by no one except Stalin and himself. Beneš listened only to himself and hls own voice, which was slngularly full of hatred for everything Slovak, and obeyed an unChristian and undemocratic instinct, which in the last years of his life, was centered entirely against the freedom and state independence of the Slovak nation. Individuals devoid of all morals wanted to teach the gospel to a noble, Catholic priest; w ealthy and corrupt men lec tured him a bout Christian soclology; Godless and faithless people with catechisms in their bloody hands tried bim; the destroyers and plu nderers of the national wealth of the Slovak people tried to show him how he should have defended Slovakia; the perpetrators o.f communist terror dared to speak about principles of Democracy and Christianity; cowards, who never had the courage to raise their voices in defense of Slovak interests, were presented to bim as roodels of heroism; the allies of Communism told bim about the "acquisition of the glo· rious insurrections;" traitors of tbe Slovak race tried to teacb hlm patriotism; the grave diggers of Slovak independence tried to convince hlm of the advantages of subordination of the Slovak nation within the framework of cobabitation with the Czechs. On such negative princ lples, drawn from Communist doctrines, they created the profile of Joseph Tlso. In the conflict with this pollUcal and moral underworld, wbich occupled the !and of the Slovaks and also prepared to enthrone its own government and its own principles in the rest of Europe, Joseph Tiso stood tbere before the Communist tribunal as a milestone on the threshold of two ages. The gallows erected in the courtyard of the Bratislava prison, on wbich the great S lovak, Christian, European beart of the first President of the Slovak Republic ceased beating - that is the symbol of the conflict for wblch Communism and its allies were preparing. It is the symbol of the determination shown by a man of European and world outlook, wbo foresaw not only the extent of his own sacrifice, but also its mora! lmportance at a Ume, when Europe and the world - returnlng to the trnditional Chrlstlan norms - would �SLOVAK.IA 9 weigb justly the mora! and political values not only of lndivlduals, but also of nations. Looking at the human and political profile of the President ot the Slovak Republic from this historical vantage point, it can be said that the Slovak nation, whích succumbed in the brutal conflict tor its own statehood in the Europe of yesterday and today - in which Beneš, and the Communist and pro-Communist alliance helping bim, had all the say about Slovakia - shall wln its just !Ight for the renewal of Slovak statehood in the Europe of tomorrow, where people of determin ation, goodness, noblesse, Christlan morali ty - Jike J oseph Tiso will appear on the stage o! European history. • • • WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TISO "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso was a judicial murder and it is also a political murder. One can c riticize the polltics of the late Msgr. Joseph Tiso, disagree with it and fight against it wltb all of one's strength, but, according to my deep conviction, a man should not be murdered for his political activity which was in accord with the conviction of his nation and for which he had a motive in the development of political events durlng the flrst and second CzechoSlovak Republlcs and in the course followed by lts presidents and governments. It is a down-right travesty of justice that a Slovak, elected President of the Slovak Republic by a majority of the Slovak nation, be executed by the government of a self-appolnted presldent of the present 'Czechoslovak Republic,' who, accordlng to the laws of the First Republic, himself should first be tried and condemned." - Kare! Lochner, former Czecho-Slovak Consul, London, England, April 1947. • • • "American Slovak Catholic women were horrified at the igno· minious death of Monsignor Joseph Tiso. Greatly resent the ignoring of our plea and petition sent by cablegram to President Edward Be• neš and others from our Annual Board Meeting held F®ruary 27, 1947, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in behalf of our entire membership of 75,000 women and children. The wrath of the entire membership centers itself upon the leaders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We hail )lonsignor Tiso as a martyr, dying for the cause of bis people." - Susan Matuscak, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Ladles Union, Cleveland, Ohio. • • • • • • "Tbe Czech governmeRt of presldent Edward Beneš sacrificed an opportunity of easing the tension between the Czechs and the Slovaks when it executed the Rev. Joseph Tiso." - Osservatore Romano, Yatican City, Haly. " The execution of Dr. Josepb Tiso, who loved bis people and served tbem conscientiously throughout bis life, wil\ undoubted\y inspire thousands of his brethren to contlnue the fight for the !nherent and God-given rights of tbe Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary l•'irst Cathollc Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1952, Vol. 2 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 1952 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 3), March 1952.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 4), August 1952.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 5), December 1952.</li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document MARCH, 1952. SLOVAKIA 1 THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC Dr. Joseph Cieker From the very beginning of its history the Slovak nation endeavored to attain a full natlonal and political life. From the standpoint of history, the substance of the development of the Slovaks has not changed. Not all natlons developed in the same manner. Many nations lived in such an environment and under such conditions that their norma! life was not hindered by serious obstacles and they <;ould, therefore, develop to state and national perfectlon more rapidJy t han the nations which, on the road of their development, met with many obstacles - some of which were insurmountable. More than one nation spent its blood in wars and disappeared from the history of Europe. We Slovaks, too, frequently found ourselves exhausted by wars, and at times it appeared to us we might not be strong enough to overcome the obstacles thrust in our path by foreigners and also renegades from our own ranks. Despite the extreme material and biological losses, the Slovak nation, nevertheless, successfully won a place of equality among the nations of Europe and the world and proved its maturity in its own independent Slovak State. In the development of the Slovak nation, there existed a constant continuity even though many falled to see it and some even denied it. Loyal Slovak sons, who were entrusted wlth the responsible task of leadership In Slovak national and political life, believed In this contlnuity of the Slovak spirit wbich glistened so brightly ln real expression on the throne of the first Slovak rulers and then on the chair of the first President of the Slovak Republlc. The elderly Archbishop of Nitra, Dr. Char.les Kmeťko, gave testimony of tbis continuity of the hlstorical evolution of tbe Slovak natíon when, looking at Presldent Dr. .Joseph Tiso in the Bratislava National Court, he said: "This man was, after Svätopluk, our second bead." Austrian emperors and Hungarian klngs were not "our heads" or rulers because of the free will of the Slovak nation. But nelther was T. G. Masaryk, nor Dr. Edward Beneš; nor is Clement Gottwald the "head" of the Slovak nation. From the standpoint of this historical continuity, "our head" can be, and shall be able to be, only the man who shall be placed on the empty chalr of the president of tbe Slovak Republic by the will of the people and in the intent of the national and Ohristian traditions of the Slovak people. How extremely difficult was the road travelled by the Slovak nation - from the times of Svätopluk all the way to Dr. Joseph Tlso - was clearly demonstrated when counter forces tried to destroy the work of the Slovak spirit, es,pecially when they removed in crimlnal fashion the representatlves and Jiving expresslons of the Slovak will from the leadership of Slovak national and politlcal life. The more concrete the form of realizing Slovak aims, the more cruelly all alien and anti-Slovak forces intervened. That is why the work of the Slovak State, wben it proved itself to be on a European and world level, evoked so much concentrated crlmlnality and revenge from the enemies of Slovak independence, the likes of wblch not a single clvilized and cultured nation had ever seen. 2 SLOVAKIA The anti-Slovak forces were symbolized by one of the most des-picalble phenomena of the Czech nation and of contemporary European history, Dr. Edward Beneš. Knowlng that they could not be a ble to destroy the blessed achievements of S lovak vlctory - the Slovak Republíc - they dld not hesitate to ask the help of the criminal forces of the anti-European and anti-Cbristian conspiracy whicb was organized and led by the Kremlln. At the moment of the bistorlcal duel, there remained on the side of the Slovak Republic only the falthful Slovak race and its sons, who were determined and prepared to die as martyrs for the rights of the Slovak nation. Against the Slovak 1Republic was the world public, which had been charmed by the falsehoods and frauds of Dr. Ed· ward Beneš. Thirsting for Slovak blood, designated wlth Cain's mark on their forehads, armed wlth all the means of Soviet justice and prot0i)ted by the military, political and police might of the Soviet Union, the wards of Dr. Edward Beneš-of Czech and Slovak originset out wlth a vengeance against the Joya.l sons of the Slovak nation who were armed only with prayerbooks and the Jegal code of the Christian world-outlook. At the same Ume few people In Europe and in the world comprehended the extent of the treason, the victim of which was the Christian Slovak natlon and the Jegal expression of its will - the Slovak State. Very few people in Europe and in the world realized the im· mensity of the treason of Dr. Edward Beneš, his Czech polítical companions and the individuals of Slovak origin who had united with them in crlme. This anti-Slovak consplracy, which was the beginning of the anti-European and anti-Christlan consplracy of internationa.l Communism, was determlned to destroy the Slovak Republlc, the expression of right and justice. But the means valld up to that tíme did not suffice for the conspirators, so they acted according to the new laws, which were created by the philosophy of violence and Communist crime. To destroy the Slovak State, this conspiratorial, anti-Slovak assoclatlon needed the entire apparatus of terror whlch was used and legallzed by the Soviet system. The Slovak nation succumbed to thls vlolence and temporarily was deprlved of its own State. "After Svätopluk our second head" the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tiso - was indicted, tried, convlcted and executed according to the manner of the Communlst system. Fully aware of thls historical crime and with the consent of hls own Government and full co-responsiblllty of his own executive organs on the territory of the Slovak State, which according to thelr own admission "ruled themselves," Dr. Edward Beneš intervened In the bloodiest manner in thls hlstorlcal development of tbe Slovak natlon, tbereby deflnltely intending to sever the lndestructlble contlnulty of the Slovak spirit. On tbis hlstorical background, there comes before tbe eyes of the contemporary Slovak generation and tbe eyes of contemporary Europe and the world the human and politlcal protile of tbe President of the Slovak Republlc, Joseph Tiso. From tbe Slovak view·point, as well as that of universal history, the greatness of his martyr's death has attained such a degree, that it has placed the figme of Joseph Tlso among the bravest, the noblest and morally perfect expresslons of human effort !or good, for justice, and for right and freedom. His phy- SLOVAKIA a sical appearance is today crowned with a legendary halo, wbicb to date no member of tbe Slovak natlon bas attained. Every Slovak son and daugbter was acquainted wltb Tiso, because Tiso as priest, as politician, as man, and even as president, was in daily contact wlth Slovak life. And thougb tbe martyr's deatb ba.s enbanced the political and human profile of Joseph Tiso over any otber, as well as the degree of pel'fectlon of the Slov3k spirit atta1ned from a moral, religious, national, polltlcal and world vlewpoint, bis immortal and live presence bas become tbe most su:bstantlal part of the tbinking of the Slovak man today and shall be a constant stimulator of bis· spirit. Tbe more tragic and dark the background from wbicb appears tbe clean and bright pbenomenon of tbe personality of Josepb Tlso, tbe more impassable tbe aibyss between tbe Slovak nation and tbe conspirators against its freedom. Tbe martyr's deatb of Joseph T iso and its glorification cannot be and shall not b e separated from this background, in which - in a union sealed with a treaty or treason, blood and crime - moves a bout and shall eternally appear tbe repulsive face of Dr. Edward Beneš, marked wlth the spittle of revenge, on wbich no artist and no propaganda procedure s hall be able to elicit a smile of a clean conscience. On this bistorlcal b ackground, worthy of Dante's interno, in an equal mora! ugliness sball eternally find tbemselves the individuals, wbo consldered it an honor to besmirch their consciences ,ľitb tbe biood of Slovak sons and whose only vietory is tbe temporary destruction of Slovak independence. These men, being branded wltb tbe mark of Communlsm, bave followed thelr master, Edward Beneš, on the stage of Slovak tragedy, The present Slovak tragedy has attained sucb dlmenslons that not only the intellectual groups of a Slovak generatlon, but even tbe wbole Slovak natlon collectively have been affected by lt. Never b efore in the history of tbe Slovak people did it happen tbat every Slovak man, woman and child were the llvlng partlcipants of the mora! and material destruction caused by tbe conspirators against Slovak statebood. Even if we can comprebend the revenge of Edward Beneš and bis Czecb companlons on the Slovak Nation as an interventlon of negatíve forces in the Divine plans, we cannot understancl, and so much the less excuse, the actlve partlc!patlon in it of tbe lndlvlduals of Slovak origin, wbo renderecl servlce to aliens and consplred agalnst the life of the nation t hey are clescended from. The terrible contrast between the reality of the Slovak State and tbe "acquisitlons of tbe glorious national insurrectlon." which was insplrecl by foreign interests, led by Slovak renegades and climaxed by total communlstlc terror is, and forever shall be, the final sketcher of the political and human profile of ťhe personlflei- of Slovak State lndependence, J oseph Tiso, and the mora! and political degeneracy of those who are In a run measure responsible for the present servlle position of the Slovak nation. From the viewpoint of historical perspective. not only the Slovak 11atlon, but even the whole world sees today the immensity of the sacrifice of a son, loyal to God and nation, was able to make and, on tbe other hand, tbe immenslty of the treason and the consequences emanating from the gullt of those who, silencing wlthin themselv~ the outcry of conscience, rejected from their declsions and acts the law of God and th e Jaw of the natlon. 4 SLOVAKIA To make the human and political profile of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic more expressive, no Slovak needs any syntbetic beautifying mediums, because bis pbysical and spiritua,l features were tbe work of tbe Hands of God and tbe bealtby, religious environment of tbe Slovak nation. On thls face glowed tbe fire of tbe servant of God and nation to tbe very last moment of bis eartbly life. Josepb Tiso was not a complicated, but a clear, clean and transparent pbenomenon; just as uncomplicated, clear, clean and transparent as has been tbe natural cbaracter of tbe Slovak person for generations. Slovak bistory will not bave to searcb for reasons for tbe !ega! connection of the Slovak acts, which form a segment of tbe life of tbe Slovak State, because these acts were explained by the crystal-clear deeds of President Tiso himself. On August 16, 1938, when J oseph Tiso was partlng with the deceased Andrew Hlinka on the Ružomberok Square in the name or the whole Slovak nation, his words sound<ld like the eternal voice of the Slovak spirit, which when silenced on the li,ps of one, are heard by the living nation on the lips of another. This uninterrupted thread of Slovak evo\utlon was handed over to Joseph Tiso by Andrew Hlinka. ' Never was Andrew Hlinka so great in life, as his death has shown bim to be," said Tlso over the casket of the spiritual soverelgn of the Slovak peopl e. "Andrew Hlinka was great during bis lifetime, because he dedicated his liťe to a great idea-and he appeared great a t death, because hls death, attestlng faitbful service to his great idea to the very end, places bim in the gallery of the spiritual heroes of the Slovak nation. The idea of an independent Slovak natlon was the source of bis boundless love for the Slovak natíon, which led and took on higb tbe life of Andrew Hlinka. As a result of bis being elevated to the priestbood of the New Testament, his love for hls people received a special blessing and intensity: by becoming a servant of Christ, he became tbe servant of a grandiose idea - whlch in relation to patriotism meant that he became the servant of an idea, offerlng himself and all bis possessions on the altar of tbat same idea. "Hlinka, priest and patriot, lived in the deep conviction that he was not serving a trivial idea, a superflcial thing, but a cause tbat had deep roots in a 1000-year-old pa.st and in the Christian order of the life of bis nation in the present. In this bigher consecration, bis patriotism did not mean only persona! fancy and momentary satisfaction, but it meant dedicating and sacriflclng bis wbole being - constantly and unreservedly, un'Ceaslngly and tirelessly - because even in bis patriotism he felt that he was a prlest of God who was making a sacriflce - a full-time and lifetime sacrifice in the sense of bis full-time and lifetime priestly character. That is why bis work for bis Slovak people was a figbt - not a struggle for power and glory, but a sacred fight always in the defense of tbe most sacred values, so dear to all members of our nation: our national rigbts, po\itica\ rights, cultural and economic rights. As it bebooves a person dedi· cated to tbe service of an idea, bis fight was an ideological fight. The great Idea of a Divine Order was connected with the idea of a distinct Slovak nation to feed the two-win~ed flame which filled bis mind and bis heart and governed bis whole life. Ideally inflamed, Hlinka waged this sacred fight under difficult circumstances; he SLOVAKIA 6 fought against overwhelming odds. Yet never did he retreat trom anyone or anything, because he did not doubt tbe naturalness of the right of bis own people to its own life; and he believed in the future of bis nation, because it held fast to the space allotted it by God in the family of otber nations. He bore within himself the conviction of a chosen leader of his people with whom he lived in the most intimate union, along with whom he fought in the land of the Pharaohs, and whom he was to lead into the promised land." It was thus that Tiso described the political and human profile of Andrew Hlinka. And in this profile of the spiritual sovereign of the Slovak nation, Andrew Hlinka, in substance were also found all the traits of the human and political features of Joseph Tiso. The physical person was not the same, but what was substantial, splritual and eternal remained - as proof of the continuity of Slovak life. All the cbaracteristics which adorned the priestly and polltlcal personality or Andrew Hlinka, also adorned bis successor in the management of the destinies of the Slovak people, Dr..Joseph Tiso. Service to God and nation. however, exacted from Joseph Tiso the maximum that a person possibly could give. What Joseph Tiso said at the final parting with Andrew Hlinka was not only so many beautiful words, but a great and heroic act, which attalned its perfect expresslon in the existenee of the Slovak Republic during his presldency - one that was confirmed before the Slovak natlon and before the whole cultured and civilized world with bis martyr's death. We can thank Divine Providencť' and the living continuity of the Slovak spirit that during the most decisive phase of Slovak and world bistory, the Slovak nation decided of it~ own free will to place in the chair of Svätopluk a man of the people who ťarried In hls heart and soul the spark of consecration which was given the Slovak natlon as a dowry at the dawn of its history. That is why the political and human work of Joseph Tiso attainecl such a mora! ancl historical value, the value of which will be recognized even if only one member of the Slovak nation remains on earth. Joseph Tiso did not get on the throne of Slovak rulers by the coincidence of subordinate circumstances, because even the realization of state independence was not the result of an accident. Just as state independence was the ripe fruit on the tree of life of Slovak gnerations, just so its visible head was the mature offspring of Slovak ideological, mora) and spiritual development. Even lf Joseph Tiso personally as a man would not have wanted to be the president of the Slovak Republic, he simply had to be, because at the tlme of the proclamation of Slovak independence he was the acknowledged ruler of the collective will of the Slovak people. Just as 'ľiso dld not seek the oHlce of president as man and priest, just so he hearkened to the voice of the Slovak genle and accepted the presidency from the qualified representatlves of the nation as a supreme obllgatlon - a duty which he performed faithfully and well to the very last moment of his life.. Jf Joseph Tiso devoted hlmself to tbe national service or the Slovak cause, then he diel so in full responsibílity of hls historlc missión. That is why he did not hesitate even for a moment In the face of seduction and vlolence. The presldent of the Slovak Republlc could not recant or even betray anything. That is why Josepb Tlso, after 6 SLOVAKIA acceptlng the office of Pľesident with so much self-immolation, stirred the whole Slovak nation iuto a building effoľt; that is why he defended before a non-Slovak court the work of tbe Slovak RepubJic with such dignity; and that is why, being fully aware that he pertormed his duties as well as he could, Tlso could bless bis [aithful people even from the shadow of the gallows. The human accomplisbments of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic were destined not only by bis priestly character, but also by tbe whole character of a son of the Slovak nation, who never strayed from Slovak and Cbristian trad!tions. No matter how hard the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court tried, it could not prove that Joseph Tiso wa.s gu!lty of acts tbat ran counter to natural and Slovak laws, or were contrary to mora! law. Tbat is why tbe Slova:k nat!on regarded the conviction and execution of .Josepb Tiso as a dellberate, prnmeditated and executed crime. And lt s ball regard it so for all time. The political work of tbe President of the Slovak Republic, serving the welfare o f tbe entire Slovak nation, created such conditions for tbe Slovak natlon so that it could wltbin the framework of !ts state boundaries prove its capabllity to live and so that in its international relationsbip it could gain recognition. Joseph Tiso, placed on the throne of an independent Slovak ruler, did not play the politics of Moscow, Berlin, Dudapest, Paris, London, or Washington, but worked the policy of Bratisla va, the cap!tal city 9f tbe independent State of Slovakia. He worked that pol!cy under ihe given pol!tlcal, geographical and internat!onal circumstances; and he had to work it in sucb a way so that the interests of the Slovak natlon and its State were safeguarded as well as possilble in tbis play of opposing forces. Josepb Tiso could not consplre against the work of Slovak hlstory and. therefore, no otber conception except the pnrely Slovak and state conception could be acceptable for him as well as tbe entlre Slovak nation. He did not regard the existence of the Slovak State as a debatable question. Just as the Slovak nation existed, so the Slovak State also had to exist. " This standpoint - which was not only bis, but tbe whole Slovak nation's as well - was incompatible with the view beld by Dr. Edward Beneš and dictated by him to his lackeys - the renegades of Slovak descent on the territory of t he Slovak State - first from London, then from Moscow and finally from Prague. · Joseph Tiso was so deeply convinced about the propriety of bis llecisions as President tha.t he did not hesitate to state before the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court which was trying bim: "If in the fLÍture it were g!ven to me to concern myself wlth politics, under such circumstances as obtained in 1919-1945, I would follow the same polic!es that I did at that Ume." Looklng over the picture of the human and political profile of tbe f!rst President of tbe Slovak Republic, wbo already today appears in tbe halo of a martyr in the eyes of Europe and the world, we cannot help but be convinced that Joseph Tlso preceded t he development of European and un!versal realities of today, so tbat he could indicate the return of those eternal, mora! and polltlcal values. wbich in today'$ change or the world order have, as lt were, temporarily g!ven place and reign to the forces of the human peripbery SLOVAKIA 7 which is guided by the Iaw of the jungle. His profile appears on the background of this shocking tragedy, wbich 1s not only natlonal, but European as welJ. The Chrlstlan and natlonal values, whlch Joseph Tlso personified In a form thus far unattalned by any Slovak, were and are being torn out of the body of the Slovak natlon, and In their place was and is being forced the criminal phllosophy and morality or Godless Communism. On the European and world stage the equllibrium o! mora! and polltical order was vlolated, and the declared and proven criminallty of Communism was accepted as the equivalent com• ponent of the hnman struggle for a better tomorow. Using sneh unChristian and unhistorical yardstlcks, the human and politlcal pro• file of the President of the Slovak Republic was regarded as sometbing that does not fall into tbe accepted norms of chaos, wbich was tbe result of tbe aggressiveness and perfidiousness of the CommunLstlc system and of the cowardice and appeasement of a world, whlch, of course, did say that it is llving in Christian and democrat!c forms, but was in fact, willlng to lend itself to a suicidal experiment in an alliance witb Communlsm. That !s why the voice of Joseph Tiso was silenced - the voice which defended truth and Christian morality, tbe freedom ot tbe Slovak people and its State; tbe volce that cried out agalnst Communlsm and for European and Christian cultnre. During tbe reign ot pol!tlcaJ and moral chaos, which was instaJJed totally in Slovakia and partially In tbe rest of Europe, the voice of the just confessor of universal moral principles was a volce crying In tbe wilderness. Al that Ume the crimlnal morality of tbe non-Slovak and non-Cbrlstian court In Bratis lava was accepted as tbe norma! form of justice. It took a long tlme for the West to become sat!ated wlth thls unnatural concublnage with the Soviet system and finally declde to defend wbat Communlsm did not as yet have t!me to conquer. Edward Beneš, his people and the renegades of Slovak origin joined witb them, taking advantage of the moral and politlcal chaos of the world and using the norms of communlstlc lies and deceptlon, wanted to present the pol!t!cal and human profile of Joseph Tiso in s uch a way as to evoke averslon. They succeeded in thls, but only temporarily. As long as the world accepted Stalln as the representatlve ot the most perfect democracy, whlle Dimltrov was a model of nobility, as long as Tito was an angel of justlce, wh!le Rákos! was recognlzed as a norm ot tolerance, as long as Anna Pauker, Palmlro Togl!atti, M:aurlce Tborez and Wllliam Pleck were the hope of European brotherhood, and whlle Edward Beneš, Clement Gottwald and thelr companlone qualified as bu!lders of the brldge between the West and the East - the Presldent ot the Slovak Republ!c, Dr. Joseph Tlso, was a phenomenon who slmply dld not belong in Europe. And Joseph Tlso and the Slovak nation did not want a martyr for the falth ot Christ, for a Christian and just Europe and for the Slovak Republic to belong to the gallery of these representatlves ot dera!led Europe. The unreal conception about the posslbility or normal cohabltation of two irreconcilable world outlooks - the Communlst and the Chrlstian - was bullt on deceptlon and violence, on the basis of a philosophy or falsehood and crime, on cowardlce and apostasy. On the basls ot this unnatural concept!on, it was allowed, with the concurrence of the cultured and civilized world, to lead the head of the 8 SLOVAKIA Slovak State to the gallows despite the fact that he was a priest of the Catholic Church who never violated Her doctrines or Her ia,ws; and despite the fact that Tiso was a man of spotless life and a patriot of the highest level; and despite the fact that Tiso was the freely and democratically elected head of a recognized and orderly European State. Over Joseph Tiso, under whose government no one was executed, the verdict of death was dictated by Edward Beneš, a foreigner by blood and spirit in the eyes of the Slovaks, who perpetrated so much damage on Slovak life and property that as long as a Slovak s hall be a Slovak, the mere mentlon of Beneš's name will always inspire mora! repugnance and eternal condemnation. J oseph Tiso - who conducted himself in accordance to the existing cons<titutional and controlllng institutions, as well as the highest authority of God, that Divine Law and Catholic doctrine which he professed and upheld from childhood a11 the way up to the gallows was tried and convicted by Edward Beneš who - even though he had at hand a "freely" elected parliament ready to do his vengeful bidding - Jistened to and was guided by no one except Stalin and himself. Beneš listened only to himself and hls own voice, which was slngularly full of hatred for everything Slovak, and obeyed an unChristian and undemocratic instinct, which in the last years of his life, was centered entirely against the freedom and state independence of the Slovak nation. Individuals devoid of all morals wanted to teach the gospel to a noble, Catholic priest; w ealthy and corrupt men lec tured him a bout Christian soclology; Godless and faithless people with catechisms in their bloody hands tried bim; the destroyers and plu nderers of the national wealth of the Slovak people tried to show him how he should have defended Slovakia; the perpetrators o.f communist terror dared to speak about principles of Democracy and Christianity; cowards, who never had the courage to raise their voices in defense of Slovak interests, were presented to bim as roodels of heroism; the allies of Communism told bim about the "acquisition of the glo· rious insurrections;" traitors of tbe Slovak race tried to teacb hlm patriotism; the grave diggers of Slovak independence tried to convince hlm of the advantages of subordination of the Slovak nation within the framework of cobabitation with the Czechs. On such negative princ lples, drawn from Communist doctrines, they created the profile of Joseph Tlso. In the conflict with this pollUcal and moral underworld, wbich occupled the !and of the Slovaks and also prepared to enthrone its own government and its own principles in the rest of Europe, Joseph Tiso stood tbere before the Communist tribunal as a milestone on the threshold of two ages. The gallows erected in the courtyard of the Bratislava prison, on wbich the great S lovak, Christian, European beart of the first President of the Slovak Republic ceased beating - that is the symbol of the conflict for wblch Communism and its allies were preparing. It is the symbol of the determination shown by a man of European and world outlook, wbo foresaw not only the extent of his own sacrifice, but also its mora! lmportance at a Ume, when Europe and the world - returnlng to the trnditional Chrlstlan norms - would SLOVAK.IA 9 weigb justly the mora! and political values not only of lndivlduals, but also of nations. Looking at the human and political profile of the President ot the Slovak Republic from this historical vantage point, it can be said that the Slovak nation, whích succumbed in the brutal conflict tor its own statehood in the Europe of yesterday and today - in which Beneš, and the Communist and pro-Communist alliance helping bim, had all the say about Slovakia - shall wln its just !Ight for the renewal of Slovak statehood in the Europe of tomorrow, where people of determin ation, goodness, noblesse, Christlan morali ty - Jike J oseph Tiso will appear on the stage o! European history. • • • WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TISO "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso was a judicial murder and it is also a political murder. One can c riticize the polltics of the late Msgr. Joseph Tiso, disagree with it and fight against it wltb all of one's strength, but, according to my deep conviction, a man should not be murdered for his political activity which was in accord with the conviction of his nation and for which he had a motive in the development of political events durlng the flrst and second CzechoSlovak Republlcs and in the course followed by lts presidents and governments. It is a down-right travesty of justice that a Slovak, elected President of the Slovak Republic by a majority of the Slovak nation, be executed by the government of a self-appolnted presldent of the present 'Czechoslovak Republic,' who, accordlng to the laws of the First Republic, himself should first be tried and condemned." - Kare! Lochner, former Czecho-Slovak Consul, London, England, April 1947. • • • "American Slovak Catholic women were horrified at the igno· minious death of Monsignor Joseph Tiso. Greatly resent the ignoring of our plea and petition sent by cablegram to President Edward Be• neš and others from our Annual Board Meeting held F®ruary 27, 1947, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in behalf of our entire membership of 75,000 women and children. The wrath of the entire membership centers itself upon the leaders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We hail )lonsignor Tiso as a martyr, dying for the cause of bis people." - Susan Matuscak, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Ladles Union, Cleveland, Ohio. • • • • • • "Tbe Czech governmeRt of presldent Edward Beneš sacrificed an opportunity of easing the tension between the Czechs and the Slovaks when it executed the Rev. Joseph Tiso." - Osservatore Romano, Yatican City, Haly. " The execution of Dr. Josepb Tiso, who loved bis people and served tbem conscientiously throughout bis life, wil\ undoubted\y inspire thousands of his brethren to contlnue the fight for the !nherent and God-given rights of tbe Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary l•'irst Cathollc Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The First President of the Slovak Republic Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Cieker Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 1 (3), March 1952 pp. 1-9 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cieker, Jozef, 1907-1969 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1952 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0fcff6a2fbe2355dbb865f74581341f3.pdf d7a5df4e425f7e69a3af05a8c8c03079 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 55 THE KREMLIN HAS SHOWN ITS HAND Joseph Cieker It seems that the politicians, who have led and are still leading the destinies of the present time, have been charmed by some kind of enchantresses. They are unable to free themselves from the snares which had been placed for them by Communism. Nay, it would rather seem that the more it appears that they are getting free of them, the more they are really being entangled by them. Not th-at Communism has changed its content and its substance. Its substance and its goal is always the same. Only the strategy and tactics of Communism change. If leading political factors had actually devoted themselves responsibly and directly to the study of Communism, they would have undoubtedly found ,a definite course of action against it. The fact is that they have not. They rather concerned tJhemselves with its strategy and tactics. And the latter governed to a great extent their policies and diplomacy. Thus we were witnesses of the strategic and tactical squables, which perhaps, at times, led to temporary results, but in substance did not contribute to the solution of world Communism, which as a phenomenon simply will not be disputed or debated away and thereby even less to be minimized. Every strategic and tactical move of Communism is reacted to with more or less success, but the burden of the problem remains unchanged on the lives of nations. In fact the burden becomes greater with time. If these so-called victories of international non-Communist politics really were equal to the criteria which had been brought forth in connection with the various diplomatic reactions to the strategic and tactical undertakings of the Red Kremlin, then the power of international Communism would already have been broken. The fact that this power has not been broken is evidence of the fact that the victories were merely of a peripheral significance, and as such were frequently noted as brilliant actions of experimental patrols. We still have not sunk our teeth into the reality and substance of international Communism and into the body of the international policy of the Soviet Union. �56 SLOVAKIA Communism certainly is not a secret organization. Neither is the politics of the .Soviet Union. Entire libraries could be filled with literature about what Communism is, what it wants, and just how it aims to attain its ultimate goat However, even if this literature did not exist, we have before us the work of 40 years of international Communism and of the international politics of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, despite all this, leading politicians and diplomats of the West - with a few exceptions have yet to prove that they are seriously concerned about what Communism writes, talks, and does. As if all this were some sort of witchcraft. Beginning with Lenin and ending with Khrusohchev the basic principles of Communism have been clearly stated to the whole world. Leading figures of Communism have sworn time and again that they shall never abandon their goal no matter what the cost. They announced this by means of all possible forms. But it seems that the world deliberately closed its ears, so that it would not have to hear and then believe, and finally so that it would not have to proceed to serious and principal decisions. As an explanation Jet it suffice now to quote in this connection a part of a statement of a Soviet intellectual, the rector of the political School of Lenin Dmytryj Manuilsky, made twenty-eight years ago. During the past three decades many substantial changes have taken place in the Europe and world structure. During this time, international Communism has made far-reaching steps in its march to its ultimate goal. In 1931, Manuilsky, lecturing to the undergraduates of Moscow's Lenin School, said: War to the hilt between Communism and Capitalism is inevitable. Today, of course , we are not strong enough to attack. Our time will come in 20 or 30 years. The bourgeoisie will have to be lulled to sleep first. So we shall begin by launching the most spectacular peace movement in history. We shall make resounding declarations for the benefit of peace, friendship , and mutual international symphaties. The capitalist countries, stupid and decadent, will be overjoyed to cooperate in their own destruction . They wi II leap at another chance to be our friend s. As soon as their guard is down and they are drunk with gullibil ity, · we shall leap on them and smash them with our fists. Nikita Khruschchev, the most experienced coexisten- �SLOVAKIA 57 tialist - noticing in 1955 that his speeches and recommendations in regard to coexistence are being explained altogether unilaterally by non-Communists for their own benefit and as a guarantee of permanent comfort, hurried to make the following clear: "It is true that we are adherents of coexistence, but at the same time we are also adherents of the expansion of Communism over the entire world. We are faced with the reality of the existence of two different systems in the world. You , the Capitalists, insist that you shall go your own way. Y o\! will do that until the day you realize that this has led you into a blind alley out of which there is no exit. Since you stubbornly hold to the idea that your system is not ancient and decadent enough, and since you think that you can compete with us, well, we have nothing against this. Time will prove who was right." Communism has placed its cards on the table to be seen by all in the game. It has shoved them under the very noses of its fellow players. For long decades it has never changed its game. It keeps on hammering the same tune all the time: we shall destroy you! But the nonCommunist world keeps whistling its own tune as it enters the blind alley from which there will be no way out as Nikita Khruschchev so clearly pointed out. The nonCommunist world apparently still does not have sufficient proof of what Communism really is and what it aims to attain. Stubbornly it keeps on asking the Kremlin to say it again. And then once again. After so many encores, the non-Communist world still is looking for some kind of a change of heart of the Kremlin. P erhaps, it thinks, after all these smiles there will follow a r evision of the entire Communist program. And who can say definitely that a palace r evolution in the Kremlin, or a quarrel between members of the Politbureau, or the fall of a Soviet Marshal, or a quarrel between Peking and Moscow, will not force a change of the ultimate goal? Wishful, useless thinking! All the questions which the non-Communist world has put and will put to the Kremlin have already been answered. At least the principal questions have been clearly answered. The others, the answers to peripheral questions, do not matter, because the problem posed by international Communism cannot be solved by them. � SLOVAKIA 55 THE KREMLIN HAS SHOWN ITS HAND Joseph Cieker It seems that the politicians, who have led and are still leading the destinies of the present time, have been charmed by some kind of enchantresses. They are unable to free themselves from the snares which had been placed for them by Communism. Nay, it would rather seem that the more it appears that they are getting free of them, the more they are really being entangled by them. Not th-at Communism has changed its content and its substance. Its substance and its goal is always the same. Only the strategy and tactics of Communism change. If leading political factors had actually devoted themselves responsibly and directly to the study of Communism, they would have undoubtedly found ,a definite course of action against it. The fact is that they have not. They rather concerned tJhemselves with its strategy and tactics. And the latter governed to a great extent their policies and diplomacy. Thus we were witnesses of the strategic and tactical squables, which perhaps, at times, led to temporary results, but in substance did not contribute to the solution of world Communism, which as a phenomenon simply will not be disputed or debated away and thereby even less to be minimized. Every strategic and tactical move of Communism is reacted to with more or less success, but the burden of the problem remains unchanged on the lives of nations. In fact the burden becomes greater with time. If these so-called victories of international non-Communist politics really were equal to the criteria which had been brought forth in connection with the various diplomatic reactions to the strategic and tactical undertakings of the Red Kremlin, then the power of international Communism would already have been broken. The fact that this power has not been broken is evidence of the fact that the victories were merely of a peripheral significance, and as such were frequently noted as brilliant actions of experimental patrols. We still have not sunk our teeth into the reality and substance of international Communism and into the body of the international policy of the Soviet Union. �56 SLOVAKIA Communism certainly is not a secret organization. Neither is the politics of the .Soviet Union. Entire libraries could be filled with literature about what Communism is, what it wants, and just how it aims to attain its ultimate goat However, even if this literature did not exist, we have before us the work of 40 years of international Communism and of the international politics of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, despite all this, leading politicians and diplomats of the West - with a few exceptions have yet to prove that they are seriously concerned about what Communism writes, talks, and does. As if all this were some sort of witchcraft. Beginning with Lenin and ending with Khrusohchev the basic principles of Communism have been clearly stated to the whole world. Leading figures of Communism have sworn time and again that they shall never abandon their goal no matter what the cost. They announced this by means of all possible forms. But it seems that the world deliberately closed its ears, so that it would not have to hear and then believe, and finally so that it would not have to proceed to serious and principal decisions. As an explanation Jet it suffice now to quote in this connection a part of a statement of a Soviet intellectual, the rector of the political School of Lenin Dmytryj Manuilsky, made twenty-eight years ago. During the past three decades many substantial changes have taken place in the Europe and world structure. During this time, international Communism has made far-reaching steps in its march to its ultimate goal. In 1931, Manuilsky, lecturing to the undergraduates of Moscow's Lenin School, said: War to the hilt between Communism and Capitalism is inevitable. Today, of course , we are not strong enough to attack. Our time will come in 20 or 30 years. The bourgeoisie will have to be lulled to sleep first. So we shall begin by launching the most spectacular peace movement in history. We shall make resounding declarations for the benefit of peace, friendship , and mutual international symphaties. The capitalist countries, stupid and decadent, will be overjoyed to cooperate in their own destruction . They wi II leap at another chance to be our friend s. As soon as their guard is down and they are drunk with gullibil ity, · we shall leap on them and smash them with our fists. Nikita Khruschchev, the most experienced coexisten- �SLOVAKIA 57 tialist - noticing in 1955 that his speeches and recommendations in regard to coexistence are being explained altogether unilaterally by non-Communists for their own benefit and as a guarantee of permanent comfort, hurried to make the following clear: "It is true that we are adherents of coexistence, but at the same time we are also adherents of the expansion of Communism over the entire world. We are faced with the reality of the existence of two different systems in the world. You , the Capitalists, insist that you shall go your own way. Y o\! will do that until the day you realize that this has led you into a blind alley out of which there is no exit. Since you stubbornly hold to the idea that your system is not ancient and decadent enough, and since you think that you can compete with us, well, we have nothing against this. Time will prove who was right." Communism has placed its cards on the table to be seen by all in the game. It has shoved them under the very noses of its fellow players. For long decades it has never changed its game. It keeps on hammering the same tune all the time: we shall destroy you! But the nonCommunist world keeps whistling its own tune as it enters the blind alley from which there will be no way out as Nikita Khruschchev so clearly pointed out. The nonCommunist world apparently still does not have sufficient proof of what Communism really is and what it aims to attain. Stubbornly it keeps on asking the Kremlin to say it again. And then once again. After so many encores, the non-Communist world still is looking for some kind of a change of heart of the Kremlin. P erhaps, it thinks, after all these smiles there will follow a r evision of the entire Communist program. And who can say definitely that a palace r evolution in the Kremlin, or a quarrel between members of the Politbureau, or the fall of a Soviet Marshal, or a quarrel between Peking and Moscow, will not force a change of the ultimate goal? Wishful, useless thinking! All the questions which the non-Communist world has put and will put to the Kremlin have already been answered. At least the principal questions have been clearly answered. The others, the answers to peripheral questions, do not matter, because the problem posed by international Communism cannot be solved by them. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959, Vol. 9 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 4 [sic] (No. 29), March 1959.</li> <li>Issue 5 [sic] (No. 30), June-December 1959.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 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 55 THE KREMLIN HAS SHOWN ITS HAND Joseph Cieker It seems that the politicians, who have led and are still leading the destinies of the present time, have been charmed by some kind of enchantresses. They are unable to free themselves from the snares which had been placed for them by Communism. Nay, it would rather seem that the more it appears that they are getting free of them, the more they are really being entangled by them. Not th-at Communism has changed its content and its substance. Its substance and its goal is always the same. Only the strategy and tactics of Communism change. If leading political factors had actually devoted themselves responsibly and directly to the study of Communism, they would have undoubtedly found ,a definite course of action against it. The fact is that they have not. They rather concerned tJhemselves with its strategy and tactics. And the latter governed to a great extent their policies and diplomacy. Thus we were witnesses of the strategic and tactical squables, which perhaps, at times, led to temporary results, but in substance did not contribute to the solution of world Communism, which as a phenomenon simply will not be disputed or debated away and thereby even less to be minimized. Every strategic and tactical move of Communism is reacted to with more or less success, but the burden of the problem remains unchanged on the lives of nations. In fact the burden becomes greater with time. If these so-called victories of international non-Communist politics really were equal to the criteria which had been brought forth in connection with the various diplomatic reactions to the strategic and tactical undertakings of the Red Kremlin, then the power of international Communism would already have been broken. The fact that this power has not been broken is evidence of the fact that the victories were merely of a peripheral significance, and as such were frequently noted as brilliant actions of experimental patrols. We still have not sunk our teeth into the reality and substance of international Communism and into the body of the international policy of the Soviet Union. 56 SLOVAKIA Communism certainly is not a secret organization. Neither is the politics of the .Soviet Union. Entire libraries could be filled with literature about what Communism is, what it wants, and just how it aims to attain its ultimate goat However, even if this literature did not exist, we have before us the work of 40 years of international Communism and of the international politics of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, despite all this, leading politicians and diplomats of the West - with a few exceptions have yet to prove that they are seriously concerned about what Communism writes, talks, and does. As if all this were some sort of witchcraft. Beginning with Lenin and ending with Khrusohchev the basic principles of Communism have been clearly stated to the whole world. Leading figures of Communism have sworn time and again that they shall never abandon their goal no matter what the cost. They announced this by means of all possible forms. But it seems that the world deliberately closed its ears, so that it would not have to hear and then believe, and finally so that it would not have to proceed to serious and principal decisions. As an explanation Jet it suffice now to quote in this connection a part of a statement of a Soviet intellectual, the rector of the political School of Lenin Dmytryj Manuilsky, made twenty-eight years ago. During the past three decades many substantial changes have taken place in the Europe and world structure. During this time, international Communism has made far-reaching steps in its march to its ultimate goal. In 1931, Manuilsky, lecturing to the undergraduates of Moscow's Lenin School, said: War to the hilt between Communism and Capitalism is inevitable. Today, of course , we are not strong enough to attack. Our time will come in 20 or 30 years. The bourgeoisie will have to be lulled to sleep first. So we shall begin by launching the most spectacular peace movement in history. We shall make resounding declarations for the benefit of peace, friendship , and mutual international symphaties. The capitalist countries, stupid and decadent, will be overjoyed to cooperate in their own destruction . They wi II leap at another chance to be our friend s. As soon as their guard is down and they are drunk with gullibil ity, · we shall leap on them and smash them with our fists. Nikita Khruschchev, the most experienced coexisten- SLOVAKIA 57 tialist - noticing in 1955 that his speeches and recommendations in regard to coexistence are being explained altogether unilaterally by non-Communists for their own benefit and as a guarantee of permanent comfort, hurried to make the following clear: "It is true that we are adherents of coexistence, but at the same time we are also adherents of the expansion of Communism over the entire world. We are faced with the reality of the existence of two different systems in the world. You , the Capitalists, insist that you shall go your own way. Y o\! will do that until the day you realize that this has led you into a blind alley out of which there is no exit. Since you stubbornly hold to the idea that your system is not ancient and decadent enough, and since you think that you can compete with us, well, we have nothing against this. Time will prove who was right." Communism has placed its cards on the table to be seen by all in the game. It has shoved them under the very noses of its fellow players. For long decades it has never changed its game. It keeps on hammering the same tune all the time: we shall destroy you! But the nonCommunist world keeps whistling its own tune as it enters the blind alley from which there will be no way out as Nikita Khruschchev so clearly pointed out. The nonCommunist world apparently still does not have sufficient proof of what Communism really is and what it aims to attain. Stubbornly it keeps on asking the Kremlin to say it again. And then once again. After so many encores, the non-Communist world still is looking for some kind of a change of heart of the Kremlin. P erhaps, it thinks, after all these smiles there will follow a r evision of the entire Communist program. And who can say definitely that a palace r evolution in the Kremlin, or a quarrel between members of the Politbureau, or the fall of a Soviet Marshal, or a quarrel between Peking and Moscow, will not force a change of the ultimate goal? Wishful, useless thinking! All the questions which the non-Communist world has put and will put to the Kremlin have already been answered. At least the principal questions have been clearly answered. The others, the answers to peripheral questions, do not matter, because the problem posed by international Communism cannot be solved by them.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Kremlin Has Shown Its Hand Description An account of the resource Joseph Cieker Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 5 (30), June-December 1959 pp. 55-57 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cieker, Jozef, 1907-1969 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June-December 1959 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e569ca39b248734e436889efd01f4eca.pdf f871f88f76f4deea3b0c30aed267baae PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 3 .6JSSEMBL Y OF CAPTIVE EUROPEAN N~TIONS: CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEA AND DEED JOSEPH CIEK·ER The politics of the non-Communi st world loses much of its aggressivenes s, attractiveness and snap because of the frequent conflict between thought and action, between an ideal and reality, between the height of the noblest values and the baseness of those money-change rs who have made a profession out of politics. If this frequent conflict in the politics of the non-Communi st world is judged benevolently, reasons will be found to explain it, even if not for justification. If, however, in the directing of this conflict politics is being made by people whose personal, moral and national obligation it should be to perseveringly make politics of principles, politics of spiritual and moral revival, politics of li-berating the nations fettered by the chains of communist violence, then this conflict even with the greatest benevolence cannot find neither explanation, nor justification. Undoubtedly great ideas and noble ideas inspired the organization of the Assembly of Captive Nations (ACEN) The "Czechoslovak" delegation or represenfation of the A•ssemlbly of Captive European Natioms is made up of persons who were - all of th€.m with the ,exce•p.tion of Dr. Stephen Osusky memlbel's o.f the po·s twar Communist-dom inated National Ff,(mt Government (1945°1948) of the Benes-<Gottwaild coaJitil()n, whi:ch CO'lla'borated fully wi'th the Soviet Union (Benes's ''Czechosl()IVaJk-S<wiet" tr·e aty of Dec. 112, 1'943, was the "cornerstone" of Pr,a gue's foreign policy). They are con'sidered responsilble in a large measure fo.r the present hapless plig,h t of the Slov,aks and Czechs. Osusky was chosen to head the delega,tion, ibecaus·e he was "cleane·r " tha~, the others. on September 20, 1954. The principal aim of this organization, as expressed on its shield, is: "Freedom and national independence for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe enslaved by the Soviets." The roster of the nations "enslaved by the Soviets'~ �4 SLOVAKIA should contain the names of all the nations (not only the names of the political formations they are enslaved in) which, from the day of their occupation by the Reds, are fighting, suffering and dying for the concept of freedom and independence. Europe and the entire non-Communist world would like to see in this Assembly of Captive Nations ALL of the nations that are held captive by the USSR. Elementary political honor and the most primitive political loyalty to the ideal of freedom and independence, to this truth and the political and national realities in Central and Eastern Europe, have demanded from the very beginning - and perseveringly demand even today - that this organization - which has pledged itself before the non--Communist world that it wishes to express the spiritual, moral, and political content of the enslaved nations - will keep its given word and shall in its own conduct be identified with the aim expressed on its shield. Unfortunately, this was not so. And it still is not so. This Assembly is not an assemly of ALL the nations held in captivity. Its beautifully expressed aim has been, and still "At a time when i,n the free part of the world, peoples who have never enjoy,ed self-government in the past are gradua'1ly attaining ruat ionhood and are assisted by the United NatilQlns in the aichievement of their rightful aspirations - the exact reverse process has been t·ailcirng place in Central a1nd :Ela,s tern Europe." (AIO:EJN statement, Sept. 20, 1·954). Adden<lum: Amid this "reverse pr,ocess" has been goin,g on in Ozeicho-Slov.akia {even under the leadership of T. G. Mia•s•aryik and Dr. Edward Benes) ever since the birth of that glorified "isle of democracy." The Slovaks never enjoyed self-govern'ment or home rule within the fr,a1m~ol'lk of Czech<H5lovakia - not eve n, after members of tlhe present "polibiical representations in exile," \\iho now olaillD. to 1b e ''the genuine voice of the peoples," were members of the Czecho.SlO'V,ak government. is, refuted by the actions of this organization. Its actions belie its noble words. From its very beginning, this organization has been in sharp and basic conflict not only with its own expressed noble ideals, but even with its very own substance. It has not become a dynamic force for the realization of the idea of freedom and independence, but only an instrument of obsolete political garnitures and politi- �SLOVAKIA 5 cal parties that have been crushed and cast off by Communism. Thinking in terms of their past functions, they want to bring back the past. The organization, which - under the given international circumstances, at this twelfth hour, in this amazing shake-up of continents, in this transformation of people and nations, on this cross-roads of universal history should have a great mission, has remained a paralyzed formation because it has renounced the magnanimity which its ideals had assured. Universally valid ideas and principles - being realized today in the jungles of Africa and Asiatic wastelands - have been scrapped by this organization when the same ideas and principles applied equally to all the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. The Assembly of Captive European Nations has, in fact, become an exclusive club of the privileged. Instead of being the interpreter of the will of the historical, organic and •live nations before the world public opinion, in the press, publications, in cultural, scientific and political institutions, in international organizations, in propaganda organs, in parliaments and congresses, in diplomatic and military circles, this organization has become the interpreter of select and dying political garnitures. After so many tragic experiences of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, after so many disappointments and much suffering, after so many mistakes and catastrophies, Europe and the non-Communist world in general do have the right to learn the truth, the whole truth about the political and national realities of the area which today is primarily dependent on the Kremlin. The fact is that the people in responsible positions in the As~ sembly of Captive European Nations have not come out with the whole truth, and the Western world, making international politics, has not as yet made up its mind to press for the whole truth to find out what the nations in Soviet captivity really want and how they picture the reorganization of Central and Eastern Europe. Europe and the non-Communist world should not be expected to accept, in the name of freedom and independence, political products which time has made obsolete and �6 SLOVAKIA which the moths have eaten through. This Europe going forward with renovation, this Europe which in the interest of its own preservat-ion is on the road to unification on the basis of the positive Christian forces within it existing, as expressed in the national individualities, - this non-Communist world, which is being organized on the basis of freedom and independence of the Afr.ican and Asiatic tribes, cannot be permanently deceived as far as the will of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe is concerned. If on the strengbh of the idea freedom and independence, the Albanians, Bulgarians, Czechoslovakians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Poles, and Rumanians are represented in the Assembly of Captive European Nations, why are not, on the strength of the same concept of freedom and independence, the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, Byelorussians, Croatians, Slovenians, Serbians, and the rest of the European national individualities, represented there by their interpreters, since they all suffer the same fate? This aJPparent conflict between idea and deed debases eV1en the positive things the organization has accomplished and can still accomplish. One cannot work constructively "We herewi.th d·e elare our solidarity and pledge our assis'ta'r.1Ce to all who are oppressed, to those who aire being wronged, to the exploited, to the down-trodden, to the ,b etrayed, wha1tev,e r their ina1tiionality, race or creed. The misuse of justified national and social aspira,tions by oppre-s-sive interniatiiona1l Communism must be stopped." - Statement of ACEN, Sept. 20, 1954). Words, words, words - sterHe words! The fa.ct is that tbe A&Sembly of Oapti,ve European Naitions ignores and repudiates the right of the Slovaks, Ukr.ainians, Croatia•ns, Slov-e nians, etc., to freedom, irudependence, and self-determination. Indeed, thoe "misuse of justified national and socia1l aspirati-ons" even of oppressive ''Ozechoslovakism" must be stopped! and successfully for the common good of Europe and the non-Communist world if he is burdened with basic ideological, political and moral conflicts. One cannot logically be for freedom and independence of A L L nations and, at the same time, against the freedom and independence of SOME nations. One cannot logically and honestly be for the freedom and independence of a political territory, but �SLOVAKIA 7 opposed to the freedom and independence of the peoples within that territory. People who always have their heads turned back to the past (the old order in which they functioned as officials) cannot move along with the development of Europe and the world. If the people of the Assembly of Captive European Nations can have recourse to any kind of legitimacy, the latter can have validity only as long as those "representatives" express the authentic will of their respective nations, and as long as by word and deed they are identified with the concept of freedom and independence of every nation. Furthermore, politically, morally, and legally it is not right to base the legitimacy of expressing the will of the national societies of today on the basis of the legitimacies of political parties and group interests of societies which today do not exist. The nations even in this bondage, in this captivity, have gone forward and new generations have come to the fore in the historical continuity of these nations. Now, what have the adherents of the old political garnitures to say, to these new generations that really means anything? Their political titles and functions are meaningless. And the political records of many, based on their political beliefs, are records of moclrery of the concept of freedom and independence. Some were promoters of the modern feudalistic state, the a:lmighty state based on materialistic socialism. To these new generations, which already have - and will - form ranks, one can approach only with the concept of genuine freedom and independence, only with principles of Christian world-outlook, only with aims that are in accord with their will and the attainment and realization of which will mean not only satisfying every nation that has been deprived of freedom and independence, but also making a substantial contribution to the common good of a united Europe. The Right of Self-Determination Is Indivisible The Parisian daily LE FIGARO of October 18, 1961, devoted its entire fifth page to the meeting of exiled politicians and diploma,ts who are members of the Assembly �8 SLOVAKIA of Captive Nations. The editress, Dominique Auclere, had an extensive interview with seven of them. The title, set up in large bold type, read: ONE HUNDRED M)LLION EUROPEANS DEMAND RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION." According to the editress, the Parisian Congress was called to discuss the ways that would enable the nations in captivity to attain the privilege - so generously granted others - to the right of self-determination. She presented the select group of seven as the "spokesmen" of the nations which could not freely express themselves. "This congress," she said, "is of great importance, because the subject to be discussed is very close to our hearts: the right to self-determination." Now, gentlemen, the first question: "What do you expect from Europe?" Reply: "Everything." Q. "Don't you think that the youth has joined Communism?" A. "No. We wanted to practice co-existence, but all our concessions and sacrifices were in vain. The Russians did Dr. Joseph Lettrich, chaiQ"man of the newly,baked postwar "Slovak Democratic Party" in Slova,lcia, headed the "Czechosfovak" delegation at AIOEN's conference in Paris, Oct. 18-20, 1961. He sig;rued two ag,r eements - the first i,n 1943, and the second i:n 1,945 - w~th the CoonmunLsts in Slovakta to collalborate fully with them . Of Slovak birth, he nevertheless has repud~ated the right of his people to fTeedom , inde'Pendenee, and sel'f-determinati-0n. not tolerate any governments, save those in which the Communists predominated." Q. What else should the West have done?" A. "We reproach the West and Europe, too, for not opposing the status as was demanded (incorporating the countries of Central and Eastern Europe within the Soviet sphere). A counterattack at the liberation of the captive nations, was very much desired .... In Czecho-Slovakia the elections in May, 1946, were only relatively free. The presence of the Red Army was felt ... nevertheless the majority voted democratfo. A putsch was made against this ma- �SLOVAKIA 9 jority in 1948. . . THE RIGHT TO SELF~DETERMINATION IS INDIVISIBLE whether we consider Berlin and Germany, or the captive nations. Africans and Asiatics are enjoying this right. Demand - (addressing the French and the West) - to place the question of self-determination for our countries on the agenda of the General Assembly of the United Nations." "The question of self-determination of our nations should not be the subject of discussion of only the General Assembly of the United Nations, but of every discussion between the West and the East... We agree with the right of self-determination which was granted to the countries, the races and tribes of Africa. BUT WHAT ABOUT US ARE WE INFECTED WITH THE PLAGUE?" "You did not know how to exploit the opportunity in 1949 when the USSR was forced to abandon the blockade of Berlin; at the time you had nuclear prevalance. Such an opportunity, which I evaluate as historical, will not come again. But the problem of Berlin is here again. Do not resolve it in an isolationist fashion. Do not say: to speak of the nations in captivity would provoke the Soviet Union .... The spirit of resistance in our countries is a condition of your security. You do not have to figure with that as long as you were not open to attack from the Soviet Union, but now you must think about it." "All our nations in prevailing majority are anti-Communistic. But if we, despite all disappointments, still preserve our faith in the will of Europe to grant us self-determination, our nations, because they are held in captivity, are more vulnerable than we in emigration are .... Europe is not divided and does not appear to be solidified with Europeans of the East .... You go to ,conferences and subjeot yourself to methods, which Hitler invented and which Stalin used, and now that Khrushchev is using. At these conferences you have nothing to gain ,a nd the others have nothing to lose. Take over the offensive! Demand the unification of Germany and self-determination for Eastern Europe, and say: If you want peace, then you shall have to remove all remnants and consequences which issued illegally out of the war .... How could the West allow Soviet Rus- �10 SLOVAKIA sia to become the champion of freedom, that Soviet Russia which has enslaved half of Europe? This is really scandalous! Why is it not said: Let us apply self-determina tion to ALL the nations of the world, including the countries of Eastern Europe! ... France has granted so many African countries independence that we have decided to formulate here our demand to the right of self-determina tion. THE MATTER OF FREEDOM IS INDIVISIBLE !" It must be admitted with satisfaction that the members of the congress expressed principles that are moving the world and without respecting which it is not possible to demolish the world of slavery and to build the foundations .for a new world of justice, equality and cooperation. However, it is easy to express great and noble ideas. Even leading Reds have resorted to them when it served their purpose. Many people keep on washing out their throats with the noblest ideas, but their minds and their deeds are far away from these ideas. It is in this moral conflict that the dissolution of society rests, the dissolution and decay of The Assembly of Captive European Nations requested the Generail Assemlbly of the Uirnited Nations to look into deportations and forced transfel'S of population "ca,r ried out 1by the Soviet Union" (!Resolution of 7th Plenary Meetinig, Nov. 7, 1954!, and Resolution of loth Plenary Meet~n:g, Dec. 18, 1954), but conveniently ignored the brutal transfer of the Sudeten a1nd other Germans from their home·lan:d by Czecho-Slovakia, Poland, etc. Why? 1 institutions and also of the best formulated programs. Words without actions are sterile. Clothes do not make the monk. "THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETER MINATION IS INDIVISIBLE .... THE MATTER OF FREJDDOM IS INDIVISIBLE" - said the members at the conference of European Captive Nations. In other words, in th'is matter of freedom and independence ALL nations must be considered - and none considered more privileged than others. On this we can heartily agree. Why then, we ask, is the Assembly of Captive European Nations limited to nine countries? Nine political territories or formations are members of the Assembly, and there are representative s to speak for these �SLOVAKIA 11 territories, but who is really authorized or entitled to speak for the nations within those territories? Who, for example, speaks for the Slovaks? And the Czechs? We know that the persons who presume to speak for "CZEOHOSLOVAKIA'' are definitely opposed to freedom and independence for the Slovaks and the Czechs, because they are working for the liberation of "Czechoslovakia" and not the liberation of the Slovak and Czech nations. People who could not break with the past, who have their minds and hearts burdened with weeds of fictions, cannot be the builders of a new and just order in Central and Eastern Europe. People who knowingly sin against the evident principles of the self-determination of nations, who in a concrete case deny this right of self-determination to the Slovak nation, demonstrate before the world public that they are not seriously concerned with the idea of selfdetermination. They are dishonest. Otherwise, how can they draw the just sword of self-determination against the Soviet Union and, at the same time, with the same sword, behead the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation? But here we are concerned not only with the Slovak nation, but also with many other nations that equally base their future on the validation of the right of self-determination. It is very significant, indeed, that the politicians and diplomats in the Assembly of Captive European Nations preferred and still prefer to ignore them. "We agree with the right of self-determination that was granted to the countries, races and tribes of Africa, but how about us, are we infected with the plague?" - one of the leading members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations said in just anger. In like manner, the Slovak nation asks the West, and particularly the Assembly of the Captive European Nations - which announced at its Paris Conference that it demands the validation of the right of self-determination for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe : "And how about us? Are we Slovaks infected with the plague?" Does not the right to self-determination apply to the Slovak nation - �12 SLOVAKIA the oldest Christian nation in Central Europe - to the extent that it applies to cannibals of the African jungle? An organization which violates, even partially, its own principles and universally valid principles, loses its political and moral right to reproach the Communist world for violating the right of self-determination - and to cast up to the West its inconsistencies and deficiencies in regard to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. All Nations Are Entitled To Freedom When the editress of Le Figaro asked the members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations how many people demanded self-determination , they answered unanimously : ONE HUNDRED MILLION. This reply is in full accord with the idea which the organization would want to express, but which in practice it denies or repudiates. The name of the organization plainly speaks of NATIONS and not of STATES. Certainly it must be quite clear to the representatives of this organization that it is peoples, national associations, therefore, live and historic personalities that bear an idea, who express an idea, who defend an idea and fight for it. Therefore, the conflict between the "Our politica-1 representations in exile are the gen,uine v,oice of our peoples. They represent our nations' will and desire for independence, freedom, and the democratic form of governmemt. They repr-es-ent the demO'cratic SJpiTi.tuail, political, and socia,l convictions and aspirations which persist amon'g the peoples of Central ar.,d Easllern Europe." - Statement of AJOE)N, Sept. 20, 1954). Dr. Stephen Osusky, chairman of the "Czechoslovak" de'1egation or representation, was never elected to a,my office by his people. He does not represenlt the CZJEOH people, a,n d, even though a SLOVlA!K by birth, he does not represent the SJJOVAK people, and, hence, ca'l~<not be the "genuine voice" of these peoples. As chairman, he has never pwblicly coone out for freedom, ind-ependence, and self-determinatio,n for his peoiple - the SLOVIAK people. concept and reality is all the more apparent, since this organization established its status and structure on the basis of states and did not remain loyal to national individualities. The right of self-determination belongs to a person, to people, to nations. Only through this right of self-determin- �SLOVAKIA 13 ation do we get to the state, to national and state independence. But not conversely. What moral and political capital the organization of the Assembly of Captive European Nations could have enjoyed if it had remained loyal to itself and the principles which it undertook to defend and had demanded their validation to the fullest extent! The fact that in practice it bound itself up with the fate of state, therefore secondary, aims - subordinating nations to state formations - it has deprived itself of reality and, as a result of this, also o{ attractiveness for the nations that are waging their fight for freedom and independence in the name of the right of self-determination. But that is not all. Limiting itself only to the territorial part of Central and Eastern Europe and, therefore, rejecting a priori the benefits and positive effectiveness of the right of self-determination of the Slovaks, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Croatians, Slovenes, Serbians, and other live organisms which consider themselves nations, the Assembly of Captive European Nations has unmasked the utter nakedness of its interior, in which there is entirely too much insincerity and very little dedication to the common good, in which prevails sectarian obstinacy and very little political wisdom, and in which decisions are made not according to the needs of great European and Christian aims, ,but according to the needs of small, indeed very small, needs of personal and group aims and interests. How is one to explain the fact that the Assembly sidetracked Yugoslavia where the Communist law governs no less than it does in the Soviet Union, Albania, China, Czecho-Slovakia, and Cuba? The Assembly had spoken: FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE NATIONS IS INDIVISIBLE! The right of self-determination is valid for ALL nations. If the Assembly of Captive European Nations repudiates this right for some nations or any one nation, it deserves to be repudiated by the West and cast out on the political rubbish heap. Its representatives are not truly interested in a new and just democratic order of Europe, but only in an exchange of political garnitures in the states �14 SLOVAKIA which they claim to represent, or, in effect, they are telling the West: we st.and for the old order, but not the present regimes. Of course, the representatives of the Assembly can claim - as they even do - that they cannot include ALL nations in their program, because the great powers recognize diplomatically the existing states in Central and Eastern Europe. The great powers have their reasons for such recognition, even though it is not consistent with their expressed policies and, for practical purposes, is even detrimental to the common good. Many informed observers believe it would have been better not to have granted recognition to states whose rulers are dedicated to the enslavement of their subjects and, in faot, to the destruction of the entire free world. But what reasons can an organization like the Assembly have for its conduct - an organization which should be nurtured with the revolutionary and creative spirit of reconstructing order in the sense of the principles which it proclaims and which should be concerned about, in the first place, with a permanent balance of this part of Europe - its Central and Eastern area? Even in politics it is not possible to serve two masters. The Assembly of Captive European Nations - as attested to by its record of action - serves not two masters, but all masters who want to permanently warm their soup on the nO'ble and clean fire of concept of freedom, independence, and the rig.ht of self-determination. One cannot therefore declare that, for example, the Albanians have a right to freedom, independence, and self-determination already today, but that the Slovaks, Croatians, Ukrainians, etc., will be granted that right tomorrow. Speaking and writing for the gallery, from which one expects not only applause, but political and material help as well, one cannot state that the business of freedom, independence, and self-determination of the Poles, Germans, Rumanians, etc., is a matter of validifying the principles of freedom, independence and self-determination, but that the matter of freedom , independence, and self-determination of the Slovaks is the business of the Czechs, that of the Croatians the business of �SLOVAKIA 15 the Ser,b ians, that of the Ukrainians the business of the Russians, etc. At a time when the nations in Communist captivity are demanding concrete expression of their own desires, when they are waiting for political motives that would be worthy of their sacrifices and resistance, it is not possible to approach them with the useless, dried-out and stripped branch, broken from the tree of freedom, independence, and self-determination by the careless hands of politicians who are obsessed with their past. From the fruit of this tree of freedom, independence and self-determination which has for long years been sprinkled with their own blood and sweat - the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Croatians, etc., want an equal share. And not tomorrow, but today. As long as the Assembly of Captive European Nations does not bring its own house in order, as long as it promotes self-determination , freedom, and independence only for SOME, but not ALL nations, it will remain in permanent conflict with those noble concepts and those nations to whom it denies the right of self-determination , freedom, and independence. And finally it will be in a paradoxical position: the nations ignored or avoided by it shall have to persistently fight against it in the name of the concept of freedom, independence, and self-determination , as they are now fighting and shall always fight against every violence and every falsehood. "SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE" by Professor Gilbert L. Oddo can now be sent on order. Get your copy rODA \:'. because the -.upply is limited. Over 2.100 copies have been -.old. rhe first real history of the Slovaks and their country in English. rhe book ha~ ~X4 pages and sells for $6.00 per copy postpaid. Order your copy fODA Y from: JED NOT A PRINTERY. P. 0. Box 150. Middletown. Pa. � SLOVAKIA 3 .6JSSEMBL Y OF CAPTIVE EUROPEAN N~TIONS: CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEA AND DEED JOSEPH CIEK·ER The politics of the non-Communi st world loses much of its aggressivenes s, attractiveness and snap because of the frequent conflict between thought and action, between an ideal and reality, between the height of the noblest values and the baseness of those money-change rs who have made a profession out of politics. If this frequent conflict in the politics of the non-Communi st world is judged benevolently, reasons will be found to explain it, even if not for justification. If, however, in the directing of this conflict politics is being made by people whose personal, moral and national obligation it should be to perseveringly make politics of principles, politics of spiritual and moral revival, politics of li-berating the nations fettered by the chains of communist violence, then this conflict even with the greatest benevolence cannot find neither explanation, nor justification. Undoubtedly great ideas and noble ideas inspired the organization of the Assembly of Captive Nations (ACEN) The "Czechoslovak" delegation or represenfation of the A•ssemlbly of Captive European Natioms is made up of persons who were - all of th€.m with the ,exce•p.tion of Dr. Stephen Osusky memlbel's o.f the po·s twar Communist-dom inated National Ff,(mt Government (1945°1948) of the Benes-<Gottwaild coaJitil()n, whi:ch CO'lla'borated fully wi'th the Soviet Union (Benes's ''Czechosl()IVaJk-S<wiet" tr·e aty of Dec. 112, 1'943, was the "cornerstone" of Pr,a gue's foreign policy). They are con'sidered responsilble in a large measure fo.r the present hapless plig,h t of the Slov,aks and Czechs. Osusky was chosen to head the delega,tion, ibecaus·e he was "cleane·r " tha~, the others. on September 20, 1954. The principal aim of this organization, as expressed on its shield, is: "Freedom and national independence for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe enslaved by the Soviets." The roster of the nations "enslaved by the Soviets'~ �4 SLOVAKIA should contain the names of all the nations (not only the names of the political formations they are enslaved in) which, from the day of their occupation by the Reds, are fighting, suffering and dying for the concept of freedom and independence. Europe and the entire non-Communist world would like to see in this Assembly of Captive Nations ALL of the nations that are held captive by the USSR. Elementary political honor and the most primitive political loyalty to the ideal of freedom and independence, to this truth and the political and national realities in Central and Eastern Europe, have demanded from the very beginning - and perseveringly demand even today - that this organization - which has pledged itself before the non--Communist world that it wishes to express the spiritual, moral, and political content of the enslaved nations - will keep its given word and shall in its own conduct be identified with the aim expressed on its shield. Unfortunately, this was not so. And it still is not so. This Assembly is not an assemly of ALL the nations held in captivity. Its beautifully expressed aim has been, and still "At a time when i,n the free part of the world, peoples who have never enjoy,ed self-government in the past are gradua'1ly attaining ruat ionhood and are assisted by the United NatilQlns in the aichievement of their rightful aspirations - the exact reverse process has been t·ailcirng place in Central a1nd :Ela,s tern Europe." (AIO:EJN statement, Sept. 20, 1·954). Adden<lum: Amid this "reverse pr,ocess" has been goin,g on in Ozeicho-Slov.akia {even under the leadership of T. G. Mia•s•aryik and Dr. Edward Benes) ever since the birth of that glorified "isle of democracy." The Slovaks never enjoyed self-govern'ment or home rule within the fr,a1m~ol'lk of Czech<H5lovakia - not eve n, after members of tlhe present "polibiical representations in exile," \\iho now olaillD. to 1b e ''the genuine voice of the peoples," were members of the Czecho.SlO'V,ak government. is, refuted by the actions of this organization. Its actions belie its noble words. From its very beginning, this organization has been in sharp and basic conflict not only with its own expressed noble ideals, but even with its very own substance. It has not become a dynamic force for the realization of the idea of freedom and independence, but only an instrument of obsolete political garnitures and politi- �SLOVAKIA 5 cal parties that have been crushed and cast off by Communism. Thinking in terms of their past functions, they want to bring back the past. The organization, which - under the given international circumstances, at this twelfth hour, in this amazing shake-up of continents, in this transformation of people and nations, on this cross-roads of universal history should have a great mission, has remained a paralyzed formation because it has renounced the magnanimity which its ideals had assured. Universally valid ideas and principles - being realized today in the jungles of Africa and Asiatic wastelands - have been scrapped by this organization when the same ideas and principles applied equally to all the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. The Assembly of Captive European Nations has, in fact, become an exclusive club of the privileged. Instead of being the interpreter of the will of the historical, organic and •live nations before the world public opinion, in the press, publications, in cultural, scientific and political institutions, in international organizations, in propaganda organs, in parliaments and congresses, in diplomatic and military circles, this organization has become the interpreter of select and dying political garnitures. After so many tragic experiences of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, after so many disappointments and much suffering, after so many mistakes and catastrophies, Europe and the non-Communist world in general do have the right to learn the truth, the whole truth about the political and national realities of the area which today is primarily dependent on the Kremlin. The fact is that the people in responsible positions in the As~ sembly of Captive European Nations have not come out with the whole truth, and the Western world, making international politics, has not as yet made up its mind to press for the whole truth to find out what the nations in Soviet captivity really want and how they picture the reorganization of Central and Eastern Europe. Europe and the non-Communist world should not be expected to accept, in the name of freedom and independence, political products which time has made obsolete and �6 SLOVAKIA which the moths have eaten through. This Europe going forward with renovation, this Europe which in the interest of its own preservat-ion is on the road to unification on the basis of the positive Christian forces within it existing, as expressed in the national individualities, - this non-Communist world, which is being organized on the basis of freedom and independence of the Afr.ican and Asiatic tribes, cannot be permanently deceived as far as the will of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe is concerned. If on the strengbh of the idea freedom and independence, the Albanians, Bulgarians, Czechoslovakians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Poles, and Rumanians are represented in the Assembly of Captive European Nations, why are not, on the strength of the same concept of freedom and independence, the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, Byelorussians, Croatians, Slovenians, Serbians, and the rest of the European national individualities, represented there by their interpreters, since they all suffer the same fate? This aJPparent conflict between idea and deed debases eV1en the positive things the organization has accomplished and can still accomplish. One cannot work constructively "We herewi.th d·e elare our solidarity and pledge our assis'ta'r.1Ce to all who are oppressed, to those who aire being wronged, to the exploited, to the down-trodden, to the ,b etrayed, wha1tev,e r their ina1tiionality, race or creed. The misuse of justified national and social aspira,tions by oppre-s-sive interniatiiona1l Communism must be stopped." - Statement of ACEN, Sept. 20, 1954). Words, words, words - sterHe words! The fa.ct is that tbe A&Sembly of Oapti,ve European Naitions ignores and repudiates the right of the Slovaks, Ukr.ainians, Croatia•ns, Slov-e nians, etc., to freedom, irudependence, and self-determination. Indeed, thoe "misuse of justified national and socia1l aspirati-ons" even of oppressive ''Ozechoslovakism" must be stopped! and successfully for the common good of Europe and the non-Communist world if he is burdened with basic ideological, political and moral conflicts. One cannot logically be for freedom and independence of A L L nations and, at the same time, against the freedom and independence of SOME nations. One cannot logically and honestly be for the freedom and independence of a political territory, but �SLOVAKIA 7 opposed to the freedom and independence of the peoples within that territory. People who always have their heads turned back to the past (the old order in which they functioned as officials) cannot move along with the development of Europe and the world. If the people of the Assembly of Captive European Nations can have recourse to any kind of legitimacy, the latter can have validity only as long as those "representatives" express the authentic will of their respective nations, and as long as by word and deed they are identified with the concept of freedom and independence of every nation. Furthermore, politically, morally, and legally it is not right to base the legitimacy of expressing the will of the national societies of today on the basis of the legitimacies of political parties and group interests of societies which today do not exist. The nations even in this bondage, in this captivity, have gone forward and new generations have come to the fore in the historical continuity of these nations. Now, what have the adherents of the old political garnitures to say, to these new generations that really means anything? Their political titles and functions are meaningless. And the political records of many, based on their political beliefs, are records of moclrery of the concept of freedom and independence. Some were promoters of the modern feudalistic state, the a:lmighty state based on materialistic socialism. To these new generations, which already have - and will - form ranks, one can approach only with the concept of genuine freedom and independence, only with principles of Christian world-outlook, only with aims that are in accord with their will and the attainment and realization of which will mean not only satisfying every nation that has been deprived of freedom and independence, but also making a substantial contribution to the common good of a united Europe. The Right of Self-Determination Is Indivisible The Parisian daily LE FIGARO of October 18, 1961, devoted its entire fifth page to the meeting of exiled politicians and diploma,ts who are members of the Assembly �8 SLOVAKIA of Captive Nations. The editress, Dominique Auclere, had an extensive interview with seven of them. The title, set up in large bold type, read: ONE HUNDRED M)LLION EUROPEANS DEMAND RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION." According to the editress, the Parisian Congress was called to discuss the ways that would enable the nations in captivity to attain the privilege - so generously granted others - to the right of self-determination. She presented the select group of seven as the "spokesmen" of the nations which could not freely express themselves. "This congress," she said, "is of great importance, because the subject to be discussed is very close to our hearts: the right to self-determination." Now, gentlemen, the first question: "What do you expect from Europe?" Reply: "Everything." Q. "Don't you think that the youth has joined Communism?" A. "No. We wanted to practice co-existence, but all our concessions and sacrifices were in vain. The Russians did Dr. Joseph Lettrich, chaiQ"man of the newly,baked postwar "Slovak Democratic Party" in Slova,lcia, headed the "Czechosfovak" delegation at AIOEN's conference in Paris, Oct. 18-20, 1961. He sig;rued two ag,r eements - the first i,n 1943, and the second i:n 1,945 - w~th the CoonmunLsts in Slovakta to collalborate fully with them . Of Slovak birth, he nevertheless has repud~ated the right of his people to fTeedom , inde'Pendenee, and sel'f-determinati-0n. not tolerate any governments, save those in which the Communists predominated." Q. What else should the West have done?" A. "We reproach the West and Europe, too, for not opposing the status as was demanded (incorporating the countries of Central and Eastern Europe within the Soviet sphere). A counterattack at the liberation of the captive nations, was very much desired .... In Czecho-Slovakia the elections in May, 1946, were only relatively free. The presence of the Red Army was felt ... nevertheless the majority voted democratfo. A putsch was made against this ma- �SLOVAKIA 9 jority in 1948. . . THE RIGHT TO SELF~DETERMINATION IS INDIVISIBLE whether we consider Berlin and Germany, or the captive nations. Africans and Asiatics are enjoying this right. Demand - (addressing the French and the West) - to place the question of self-determination for our countries on the agenda of the General Assembly of the United Nations." "The question of self-determination of our nations should not be the subject of discussion of only the General Assembly of the United Nations, but of every discussion between the West and the East... We agree with the right of self-determination which was granted to the countries, the races and tribes of Africa. BUT WHAT ABOUT US ARE WE INFECTED WITH THE PLAGUE?" "You did not know how to exploit the opportunity in 1949 when the USSR was forced to abandon the blockade of Berlin; at the time you had nuclear prevalance. Such an opportunity, which I evaluate as historical, will not come again. But the problem of Berlin is here again. Do not resolve it in an isolationist fashion. Do not say: to speak of the nations in captivity would provoke the Soviet Union .... The spirit of resistance in our countries is a condition of your security. You do not have to figure with that as long as you were not open to attack from the Soviet Union, but now you must think about it." "All our nations in prevailing majority are anti-Communistic. But if we, despite all disappointments, still preserve our faith in the will of Europe to grant us self-determination, our nations, because they are held in captivity, are more vulnerable than we in emigration are .... Europe is not divided and does not appear to be solidified with Europeans of the East .... You go to ,conferences and subjeot yourself to methods, which Hitler invented and which Stalin used, and now that Khrushchev is using. At these conferences you have nothing to gain ,a nd the others have nothing to lose. Take over the offensive! Demand the unification of Germany and self-determination for Eastern Europe, and say: If you want peace, then you shall have to remove all remnants and consequences which issued illegally out of the war .... How could the West allow Soviet Rus- �10 SLOVAKIA sia to become the champion of freedom, that Soviet Russia which has enslaved half of Europe? This is really scandalous! Why is it not said: Let us apply self-determina tion to ALL the nations of the world, including the countries of Eastern Europe! ... France has granted so many African countries independence that we have decided to formulate here our demand to the right of self-determina tion. THE MATTER OF FREEDOM IS INDIVISIBLE !" It must be admitted with satisfaction that the members of the congress expressed principles that are moving the world and without respecting which it is not possible to demolish the world of slavery and to build the foundations .for a new world of justice, equality and cooperation. However, it is easy to express great and noble ideas. Even leading Reds have resorted to them when it served their purpose. Many people keep on washing out their throats with the noblest ideas, but their minds and their deeds are far away from these ideas. It is in this moral conflict that the dissolution of society rests, the dissolution and decay of The Assembly of Captive European Nations requested the Generail Assemlbly of the Uirnited Nations to look into deportations and forced transfel'S of population "ca,r ried out 1by the Soviet Union" (!Resolution of 7th Plenary Meetinig, Nov. 7, 1954!, and Resolution of loth Plenary Meet~n:g, Dec. 18, 1954), but conveniently ignored the brutal transfer of the Sudeten a1nd other Germans from their home·lan:d by Czecho-Slovakia, Poland, etc. Why? 1 institutions and also of the best formulated programs. Words without actions are sterile. Clothes do not make the monk. "THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETER MINATION IS INDIVISIBLE .... THE MATTER OF FREJDDOM IS INDIVISIBLE" - said the members at the conference of European Captive Nations. In other words, in th'is matter of freedom and independence ALL nations must be considered - and none considered more privileged than others. On this we can heartily agree. Why then, we ask, is the Assembly of Captive European Nations limited to nine countries? Nine political territories or formations are members of the Assembly, and there are representative s to speak for these �SLOVAKIA 11 territories, but who is really authorized or entitled to speak for the nations within those territories? Who, for example, speaks for the Slovaks? And the Czechs? We know that the persons who presume to speak for "CZEOHOSLOVAKIA'' are definitely opposed to freedom and independence for the Slovaks and the Czechs, because they are working for the liberation of "Czechoslovakia" and not the liberation of the Slovak and Czech nations. People who could not break with the past, who have their minds and hearts burdened with weeds of fictions, cannot be the builders of a new and just order in Central and Eastern Europe. People who knowingly sin against the evident principles of the self-determination of nations, who in a concrete case deny this right of self-determination to the Slovak nation, demonstrate before the world public that they are not seriously concerned with the idea of selfdetermination. They are dishonest. Otherwise, how can they draw the just sword of self-determination against the Soviet Union and, at the same time, with the same sword, behead the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation? But here we are concerned not only with the Slovak nation, but also with many other nations that equally base their future on the validation of the right of self-determination. It is very significant, indeed, that the politicians and diplomats in the Assembly of Captive European Nations preferred and still prefer to ignore them. "We agree with the right of self-determination that was granted to the countries, races and tribes of Africa, but how about us, are we infected with the plague?" - one of the leading members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations said in just anger. In like manner, the Slovak nation asks the West, and particularly the Assembly of the Captive European Nations - which announced at its Paris Conference that it demands the validation of the right of self-determination for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe : "And how about us? Are we Slovaks infected with the plague?" Does not the right to self-determination apply to the Slovak nation - �12 SLOVAKIA the oldest Christian nation in Central Europe - to the extent that it applies to cannibals of the African jungle? An organization which violates, even partially, its own principles and universally valid principles, loses its political and moral right to reproach the Communist world for violating the right of self-determination - and to cast up to the West its inconsistencies and deficiencies in regard to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. All Nations Are Entitled To Freedom When the editress of Le Figaro asked the members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations how many people demanded self-determination , they answered unanimously : ONE HUNDRED MILLION. This reply is in full accord with the idea which the organization would want to express, but which in practice it denies or repudiates. The name of the organization plainly speaks of NATIONS and not of STATES. Certainly it must be quite clear to the representatives of this organization that it is peoples, national associations, therefore, live and historic personalities that bear an idea, who express an idea, who defend an idea and fight for it. Therefore, the conflict between the "Our politica-1 representations in exile are the gen,uine v,oice of our peoples. They represent our nations' will and desire for independence, freedom, and the democratic form of governmemt. They repr-es-ent the demO'cratic SJpiTi.tuail, political, and socia,l convictions and aspirations which persist amon'g the peoples of Central ar.,d Easllern Europe." - Statement of AJOE)N, Sept. 20, 1954). Dr. Stephen Osusky, chairman of the "Czechoslovak" de'1egation or representation, was never elected to a,my office by his people. He does not represenlt the CZJEOH people, a,n d, even though a SLOVlA!K by birth, he does not represent the SJJOVAK people, and, hence, ca'l~<not be the "genuine voice" of these peoples. As chairman, he has never pwblicly coone out for freedom, ind-ependence, and self-determinatio,n for his peoiple - the SLOVIAK people. concept and reality is all the more apparent, since this organization established its status and structure on the basis of states and did not remain loyal to national individualities. The right of self-determination belongs to a person, to people, to nations. Only through this right of self-determin- �SLOVAKIA 13 ation do we get to the state, to national and state independence. But not conversely. What moral and political capital the organization of the Assembly of Captive European Nations could have enjoyed if it had remained loyal to itself and the principles which it undertook to defend and had demanded their validation to the fullest extent! The fact that in practice it bound itself up with the fate of state, therefore secondary, aims - subordinating nations to state formations - it has deprived itself of reality and, as a result of this, also o{ attractiveness for the nations that are waging their fight for freedom and independence in the name of the right of self-determination. But that is not all. Limiting itself only to the territorial part of Central and Eastern Europe and, therefore, rejecting a priori the benefits and positive effectiveness of the right of self-determination of the Slovaks, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Croatians, Slovenes, Serbians, and other live organisms which consider themselves nations, the Assembly of Captive European Nations has unmasked the utter nakedness of its interior, in which there is entirely too much insincerity and very little dedication to the common good, in which prevails sectarian obstinacy and very little political wisdom, and in which decisions are made not according to the needs of great European and Christian aims, ,but according to the needs of small, indeed very small, needs of personal and group aims and interests. How is one to explain the fact that the Assembly sidetracked Yugoslavia where the Communist law governs no less than it does in the Soviet Union, Albania, China, Czecho-Slovakia, and Cuba? The Assembly had spoken: FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE NATIONS IS INDIVISIBLE! The right of self-determination is valid for ALL nations. If the Assembly of Captive European Nations repudiates this right for some nations or any one nation, it deserves to be repudiated by the West and cast out on the political rubbish heap. Its representatives are not truly interested in a new and just democratic order of Europe, but only in an exchange of political garnitures in the states �14 SLOVAKIA which they claim to represent, or, in effect, they are telling the West: we st.and for the old order, but not the present regimes. Of course, the representatives of the Assembly can claim - as they even do - that they cannot include ALL nations in their program, because the great powers recognize diplomatically the existing states in Central and Eastern Europe. The great powers have their reasons for such recognition, even though it is not consistent with their expressed policies and, for practical purposes, is even detrimental to the common good. Many informed observers believe it would have been better not to have granted recognition to states whose rulers are dedicated to the enslavement of their subjects and, in faot, to the destruction of the entire free world. But what reasons can an organization like the Assembly have for its conduct - an organization which should be nurtured with the revolutionary and creative spirit of reconstructing order in the sense of the principles which it proclaims and which should be concerned about, in the first place, with a permanent balance of this part of Europe - its Central and Eastern area? Even in politics it is not possible to serve two masters. The Assembly of Captive European Nations - as attested to by its record of action - serves not two masters, but all masters who want to permanently warm their soup on the nO'ble and clean fire of concept of freedom, independence, and the rig.ht of self-determination. One cannot therefore declare that, for example, the Albanians have a right to freedom, independence, and self-determination already today, but that the Slovaks, Croatians, Ukrainians, etc., will be granted that right tomorrow. Speaking and writing for the gallery, from which one expects not only applause, but political and material help as well, one cannot state that the business of freedom, independence, and self-determination of the Poles, Germans, Rumanians, etc., is a matter of validifying the principles of freedom, independence and self-determination, but that the matter of freedom , independence, and self-determination of the Slovaks is the business of the Czechs, that of the Croatians the business of �SLOVAKIA 15 the Ser,b ians, that of the Ukrainians the business of the Russians, etc. At a time when the nations in Communist captivity are demanding concrete expression of their own desires, when they are waiting for political motives that would be worthy of their sacrifices and resistance, it is not possible to approach them with the useless, dried-out and stripped branch, broken from the tree of freedom, independence, and self-determination by the careless hands of politicians who are obsessed with their past. From the fruit of this tree of freedom, independence and self-determination which has for long years been sprinkled with their own blood and sweat - the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Croatians, etc., want an equal share. And not tomorrow, but today. As long as the Assembly of Captive European Nations does not bring its own house in order, as long as it promotes self-determination , freedom, and independence only for SOME, but not ALL nations, it will remain in permanent conflict with those noble concepts and those nations to whom it denies the right of self-determination , freedom, and independence. And finally it will be in a paradoxical position: the nations ignored or avoided by it shall have to persistently fight against it in the name of the concept of freedom, independence, and self-determination , as they are now fighting and shall always fight against every violence and every falsehood. "SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE" by Professor Gilbert L. Oddo can now be sent on order. Get your copy rODA \:'. because the -.upply is limited. Over 2.100 copies have been -.old. rhe first real history of the Slovaks and their country in English. rhe book ha~ ~X4 pages and sells for $6.00 per copy postpaid. Order your copy fODA Y from: JED NOT A PRINTERY. P. 0. Box 150. Middletown. Pa. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 3 .6JSSEMBL Y OF CAPTIVE EUROPEAN N~TIONS: CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEA AND DEED JOSEPH CIEK·ER The politics of the non-Communi st world loses much of its aggressivenes s, attractiveness and snap because of the frequent conflict between thought and action, between an ideal and reality, between the height of the noblest values and the baseness of those money-change rs who have made a profession out of politics. If this frequent conflict in the politics of the non-Communi st world is judged benevolently, reasons will be found to explain it, even if not for justification. If, however, in the directing of this conflict politics is being made by people whose personal, moral and national obligation it should be to perseveringly make politics of principles, politics of spiritual and moral revival, politics of li-berating the nations fettered by the chains of communist violence, then this conflict even with the greatest benevolence cannot find neither explanation, nor justification. Undoubtedly great ideas and noble ideas inspired the organization of the Assembly of Captive Nations (ACEN) The "Czechoslovak" delegation or represenfation of the A•ssemlbly of Captive European Natioms is made up of persons who were - all of th€.m with the ,exce•p.tion of Dr. Stephen Osusky memlbel's o.f the po·s twar Communist-dom inated National Ff,(mt Government (1945°1948) of the Benes-<Gottwaild coaJitil()n, whi:ch CO'lla'borated fully wi'th the Soviet Union (Benes's ''Czechosl()IVaJk-S<wiet" tr·e aty of Dec. 112, 1'943, was the "cornerstone" of Pr,a gue's foreign policy). They are con'sidered responsilble in a large measure fo.r the present hapless plig,h t of the Slov,aks and Czechs. Osusky was chosen to head the delega,tion, ibecaus·e he was "cleane·r " tha~, the others. on September 20, 1954. The principal aim of this organization, as expressed on its shield, is: "Freedom and national independence for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe enslaved by the Soviets." The roster of the nations "enslaved by the Soviets'~ 4 SLOVAKIA should contain the names of all the nations (not only the names of the political formations they are enslaved in) which, from the day of their occupation by the Reds, are fighting, suffering and dying for the concept of freedom and independence. Europe and the entire non-Communist world would like to see in this Assembly of Captive Nations ALL of the nations that are held captive by the USSR. Elementary political honor and the most primitive political loyalty to the ideal of freedom and independence, to this truth and the political and national realities in Central and Eastern Europe, have demanded from the very beginning - and perseveringly demand even today - that this organization - which has pledged itself before the non--Communist world that it wishes to express the spiritual, moral, and political content of the enslaved nations - will keep its given word and shall in its own conduct be identified with the aim expressed on its shield. Unfortunately, this was not so. And it still is not so. This Assembly is not an assemly of ALL the nations held in captivity. Its beautifully expressed aim has been, and still "At a time when i,n the free part of the world, peoples who have never enjoy,ed self-government in the past are gradua'1ly attaining ruat ionhood and are assisted by the United NatilQlns in the aichievement of their rightful aspirations - the exact reverse process has been t·ailcirng place in Central a1nd :Ela,s tern Europe." (AIO:EJN statement, Sept. 20, 1·954). Adden<lum: Amid this "reverse pr,ocess" has been goin,g on in Ozeicho-Slov.akia {even under the leadership of T. G. Mia•s•aryik and Dr. Edward Benes) ever since the birth of that glorified "isle of democracy." The Slovaks never enjoyed self-govern'ment or home rule within the fr,a1m~ol'lk of Czech<H5lovakia - not eve n, after members of tlhe present "polibiical representations in exile," \\iho now olaillD. to 1b e ''the genuine voice of the peoples," were members of the Czecho.SlO'V,ak government. is, refuted by the actions of this organization. Its actions belie its noble words. From its very beginning, this organization has been in sharp and basic conflict not only with its own expressed noble ideals, but even with its very own substance. It has not become a dynamic force for the realization of the idea of freedom and independence, but only an instrument of obsolete political garnitures and politi- SLOVAKIA 5 cal parties that have been crushed and cast off by Communism. Thinking in terms of their past functions, they want to bring back the past. The organization, which - under the given international circumstances, at this twelfth hour, in this amazing shake-up of continents, in this transformation of people and nations, on this cross-roads of universal history should have a great mission, has remained a paralyzed formation because it has renounced the magnanimity which its ideals had assured. Universally valid ideas and principles - being realized today in the jungles of Africa and Asiatic wastelands - have been scrapped by this organization when the same ideas and principles applied equally to all the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. The Assembly of Captive European Nations has, in fact, become an exclusive club of the privileged. Instead of being the interpreter of the will of the historical, organic and •live nations before the world public opinion, in the press, publications, in cultural, scientific and political institutions, in international organizations, in propaganda organs, in parliaments and congresses, in diplomatic and military circles, this organization has become the interpreter of select and dying political garnitures. After so many tragic experiences of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, after so many disappointments and much suffering, after so many mistakes and catastrophies, Europe and the non-Communist world in general do have the right to learn the truth, the whole truth about the political and national realities of the area which today is primarily dependent on the Kremlin. The fact is that the people in responsible positions in the As~ sembly of Captive European Nations have not come out with the whole truth, and the Western world, making international politics, has not as yet made up its mind to press for the whole truth to find out what the nations in Soviet captivity really want and how they picture the reorganization of Central and Eastern Europe. Europe and the non-Communist world should not be expected to accept, in the name of freedom and independence, political products which time has made obsolete and 6 SLOVAKIA which the moths have eaten through. This Europe going forward with renovation, this Europe which in the interest of its own preservat-ion is on the road to unification on the basis of the positive Christian forces within it existing, as expressed in the national individualities, - this non-Communist world, which is being organized on the basis of freedom and independence of the Afr.ican and Asiatic tribes, cannot be permanently deceived as far as the will of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe is concerned. If on the strengbh of the idea freedom and independence, the Albanians, Bulgarians, Czechoslovakians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Poles, and Rumanians are represented in the Assembly of Captive European Nations, why are not, on the strength of the same concept of freedom and independence, the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, Byelorussians, Croatians, Slovenians, Serbians, and the rest of the European national individualities, represented there by their interpreters, since they all suffer the same fate? This aJPparent conflict between idea and deed debases eV1en the positive things the organization has accomplished and can still accomplish. One cannot work constructively "We herewi.th d·e elare our solidarity and pledge our assis'ta'r.1Ce to all who are oppressed, to those who aire being wronged, to the exploited, to the down-trodden, to the ,b etrayed, wha1tev,e r their ina1tiionality, race or creed. The misuse of justified national and social aspira,tions by oppre-s-sive interniatiiona1l Communism must be stopped." - Statement of ACEN, Sept. 20, 1954). Words, words, words - sterHe words! The fa.ct is that tbe A&Sembly of Oapti,ve European Naitions ignores and repudiates the right of the Slovaks, Ukr.ainians, Croatia•ns, Slov-e nians, etc., to freedom, irudependence, and self-determination. Indeed, thoe "misuse of justified national and socia1l aspirati-ons" even of oppressive ''Ozechoslovakism" must be stopped! and successfully for the common good of Europe and the non-Communist world if he is burdened with basic ideological, political and moral conflicts. One cannot logically be for freedom and independence of A L L nations and, at the same time, against the freedom and independence of SOME nations. One cannot logically and honestly be for the freedom and independence of a political territory, but SLOVAKIA 7 opposed to the freedom and independence of the peoples within that territory. People who always have their heads turned back to the past (the old order in which they functioned as officials) cannot move along with the development of Europe and the world. If the people of the Assembly of Captive European Nations can have recourse to any kind of legitimacy, the latter can have validity only as long as those "representatives" express the authentic will of their respective nations, and as long as by word and deed they are identified with the concept of freedom and independence of every nation. Furthermore, politically, morally, and legally it is not right to base the legitimacy of expressing the will of the national societies of today on the basis of the legitimacies of political parties and group interests of societies which today do not exist. The nations even in this bondage, in this captivity, have gone forward and new generations have come to the fore in the historical continuity of these nations. Now, what have the adherents of the old political garnitures to say, to these new generations that really means anything? Their political titles and functions are meaningless. And the political records of many, based on their political beliefs, are records of moclrery of the concept of freedom and independence. Some were promoters of the modern feudalistic state, the a:lmighty state based on materialistic socialism. To these new generations, which already have - and will - form ranks, one can approach only with the concept of genuine freedom and independence, only with principles of Christian world-outlook, only with aims that are in accord with their will and the attainment and realization of which will mean not only satisfying every nation that has been deprived of freedom and independence, but also making a substantial contribution to the common good of a united Europe. The Right of Self-Determination Is Indivisible The Parisian daily LE FIGARO of October 18, 1961, devoted its entire fifth page to the meeting of exiled politicians and diploma,ts who are members of the Assembly 8 SLOVAKIA of Captive Nations. The editress, Dominique Auclere, had an extensive interview with seven of them. The title, set up in large bold type, read: ONE HUNDRED M)LLION EUROPEANS DEMAND RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION." According to the editress, the Parisian Congress was called to discuss the ways that would enable the nations in captivity to attain the privilege - so generously granted others - to the right of self-determination. She presented the select group of seven as the "spokesmen" of the nations which could not freely express themselves. "This congress," she said, "is of great importance, because the subject to be discussed is very close to our hearts: the right to self-determination." Now, gentlemen, the first question: "What do you expect from Europe?" Reply: "Everything." Q. "Don't you think that the youth has joined Communism?" A. "No. We wanted to practice co-existence, but all our concessions and sacrifices were in vain. The Russians did Dr. Joseph Lettrich, chaiQ"man of the newly,baked postwar "Slovak Democratic Party" in Slova,lcia, headed the "Czechosfovak" delegation at AIOEN's conference in Paris, Oct. 18-20, 1961. He sig;rued two ag,r eements - the first i,n 1943, and the second i:n 1,945 - w~th the CoonmunLsts in Slovakta to collalborate fully with them . Of Slovak birth, he nevertheless has repud~ated the right of his people to fTeedom , inde'Pendenee, and sel'f-determinati-0n. not tolerate any governments, save those in which the Communists predominated." Q. What else should the West have done?" A. "We reproach the West and Europe, too, for not opposing the status as was demanded (incorporating the countries of Central and Eastern Europe within the Soviet sphere). A counterattack at the liberation of the captive nations, was very much desired .... In Czecho-Slovakia the elections in May, 1946, were only relatively free. The presence of the Red Army was felt ... nevertheless the majority voted democratfo. A putsch was made against this ma- SLOVAKIA 9 jority in 1948. . . THE RIGHT TO SELF~DETERMINATION IS INDIVISIBLE whether we consider Berlin and Germany, or the captive nations. Africans and Asiatics are enjoying this right. Demand - (addressing the French and the West) - to place the question of self-determination for our countries on the agenda of the General Assembly of the United Nations." "The question of self-determination of our nations should not be the subject of discussion of only the General Assembly of the United Nations, but of every discussion between the West and the East... We agree with the right of self-determination which was granted to the countries, the races and tribes of Africa. BUT WHAT ABOUT US ARE WE INFECTED WITH THE PLAGUE?" "You did not know how to exploit the opportunity in 1949 when the USSR was forced to abandon the blockade of Berlin; at the time you had nuclear prevalance. Such an opportunity, which I evaluate as historical, will not come again. But the problem of Berlin is here again. Do not resolve it in an isolationist fashion. Do not say: to speak of the nations in captivity would provoke the Soviet Union .... The spirit of resistance in our countries is a condition of your security. You do not have to figure with that as long as you were not open to attack from the Soviet Union, but now you must think about it." "All our nations in prevailing majority are anti-Communistic. But if we, despite all disappointments, still preserve our faith in the will of Europe to grant us self-determination, our nations, because they are held in captivity, are more vulnerable than we in emigration are .... Europe is not divided and does not appear to be solidified with Europeans of the East .... You go to ,conferences and subjeot yourself to methods, which Hitler invented and which Stalin used, and now that Khrushchev is using. At these conferences you have nothing to gain ,a nd the others have nothing to lose. Take over the offensive! Demand the unification of Germany and self-determination for Eastern Europe, and say: If you want peace, then you shall have to remove all remnants and consequences which issued illegally out of the war .... How could the West allow Soviet Rus- 10 SLOVAKIA sia to become the champion of freedom, that Soviet Russia which has enslaved half of Europe? This is really scandalous! Why is it not said: Let us apply self-determina tion to ALL the nations of the world, including the countries of Eastern Europe! ... France has granted so many African countries independence that we have decided to formulate here our demand to the right of self-determina tion. THE MATTER OF FREEDOM IS INDIVISIBLE !" It must be admitted with satisfaction that the members of the congress expressed principles that are moving the world and without respecting which it is not possible to demolish the world of slavery and to build the foundations .for a new world of justice, equality and cooperation. However, it is easy to express great and noble ideas. Even leading Reds have resorted to them when it served their purpose. Many people keep on washing out their throats with the noblest ideas, but their minds and their deeds are far away from these ideas. It is in this moral conflict that the dissolution of society rests, the dissolution and decay of The Assembly of Captive European Nations requested the Generail Assemlbly of the Uirnited Nations to look into deportations and forced transfel'S of population "ca,r ried out 1by the Soviet Union" (!Resolution of 7th Plenary Meetinig, Nov. 7, 1954!, and Resolution of loth Plenary Meet~n:g, Dec. 18, 1954), but conveniently ignored the brutal transfer of the Sudeten a1nd other Germans from their home·lan:d by Czecho-Slovakia, Poland, etc. Why? 1 institutions and also of the best formulated programs. Words without actions are sterile. Clothes do not make the monk. "THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETER MINATION IS INDIVISIBLE .... THE MATTER OF FREJDDOM IS INDIVISIBLE" - said the members at the conference of European Captive Nations. In other words, in th'is matter of freedom and independence ALL nations must be considered - and none considered more privileged than others. On this we can heartily agree. Why then, we ask, is the Assembly of Captive European Nations limited to nine countries? Nine political territories or formations are members of the Assembly, and there are representative s to speak for these SLOVAKIA 11 territories, but who is really authorized or entitled to speak for the nations within those territories? Who, for example, speaks for the Slovaks? And the Czechs? We know that the persons who presume to speak for "CZEOHOSLOVAKIA'' are definitely opposed to freedom and independence for the Slovaks and the Czechs, because they are working for the liberation of "Czechoslovakia" and not the liberation of the Slovak and Czech nations. People who could not break with the past, who have their minds and hearts burdened with weeds of fictions, cannot be the builders of a new and just order in Central and Eastern Europe. People who knowingly sin against the evident principles of the self-determination of nations, who in a concrete case deny this right of self-determination to the Slovak nation, demonstrate before the world public that they are not seriously concerned with the idea of selfdetermination. They are dishonest. Otherwise, how can they draw the just sword of self-determination against the Soviet Union and, at the same time, with the same sword, behead the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation? But here we are concerned not only with the Slovak nation, but also with many other nations that equally base their future on the validation of the right of self-determination. It is very significant, indeed, that the politicians and diplomats in the Assembly of Captive European Nations preferred and still prefer to ignore them. "We agree with the right of self-determination that was granted to the countries, races and tribes of Africa, but how about us, are we infected with the plague?" - one of the leading members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations said in just anger. In like manner, the Slovak nation asks the West, and particularly the Assembly of the Captive European Nations - which announced at its Paris Conference that it demands the validation of the right of self-determination for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe : "And how about us? Are we Slovaks infected with the plague?" Does not the right to self-determination apply to the Slovak nation - 12 SLOVAKIA the oldest Christian nation in Central Europe - to the extent that it applies to cannibals of the African jungle? An organization which violates, even partially, its own principles and universally valid principles, loses its political and moral right to reproach the Communist world for violating the right of self-determination - and to cast up to the West its inconsistencies and deficiencies in regard to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. All Nations Are Entitled To Freedom When the editress of Le Figaro asked the members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations how many people demanded self-determination , they answered unanimously : ONE HUNDRED MILLION. This reply is in full accord with the idea which the organization would want to express, but which in practice it denies or repudiates. The name of the organization plainly speaks of NATIONS and not of STATES. Certainly it must be quite clear to the representatives of this organization that it is peoples, national associations, therefore, live and historic personalities that bear an idea, who express an idea, who defend an idea and fight for it. Therefore, the conflict between the "Our politica-1 representations in exile are the gen,uine v,oice of our peoples. They represent our nations' will and desire for independence, freedom, and the democratic form of governmemt. They repr-es-ent the demO'cratic SJpiTi.tuail, political, and socia,l convictions and aspirations which persist amon'g the peoples of Central ar.,d Easllern Europe." - Statement of AJOE)N, Sept. 20, 1954). Dr. Stephen Osusky, chairman of the "Czechoslovak" de'1egation or representation, was never elected to a,my office by his people. He does not represenlt the CZJEOH people, a,n d, even though a SLOVlA!K by birth, he does not represent the SJJOVAK people, and, hence, ca'l~<not be the "genuine voice" of these peoples. As chairman, he has never pwblicly coone out for freedom, ind-ependence, and self-determinatio,n for his peoiple - the SLOVIAK people. concept and reality is all the more apparent, since this organization established its status and structure on the basis of states and did not remain loyal to national individualities. The right of self-determination belongs to a person, to people, to nations. Only through this right of self-determin- SLOVAKIA 13 ation do we get to the state, to national and state independence. But not conversely. What moral and political capital the organization of the Assembly of Captive European Nations could have enjoyed if it had remained loyal to itself and the principles which it undertook to defend and had demanded their validation to the fullest extent! The fact that in practice it bound itself up with the fate of state, therefore secondary, aims - subordinating nations to state formations - it has deprived itself of reality and, as a result of this, also o{ attractiveness for the nations that are waging their fight for freedom and independence in the name of the right of self-determination. But that is not all. Limiting itself only to the territorial part of Central and Eastern Europe and, therefore, rejecting a priori the benefits and positive effectiveness of the right of self-determination of the Slovaks, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Croatians, Slovenes, Serbians, and other live organisms which consider themselves nations, the Assembly of Captive European Nations has unmasked the utter nakedness of its interior, in which there is entirely too much insincerity and very little dedication to the common good, in which prevails sectarian obstinacy and very little political wisdom, and in which decisions are made not according to the needs of great European and Christian aims, ,but according to the needs of small, indeed very small, needs of personal and group aims and interests. How is one to explain the fact that the Assembly sidetracked Yugoslavia where the Communist law governs no less than it does in the Soviet Union, Albania, China, Czecho-Slovakia, and Cuba? The Assembly had spoken: FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE NATIONS IS INDIVISIBLE! The right of self-determination is valid for ALL nations. If the Assembly of Captive European Nations repudiates this right for some nations or any one nation, it deserves to be repudiated by the West and cast out on the political rubbish heap. Its representatives are not truly interested in a new and just democratic order of Europe, but only in an exchange of political garnitures in the states 14 SLOVAKIA which they claim to represent, or, in effect, they are telling the West: we st.and for the old order, but not the present regimes. Of course, the representatives of the Assembly can claim - as they even do - that they cannot include ALL nations in their program, because the great powers recognize diplomatically the existing states in Central and Eastern Europe. The great powers have their reasons for such recognition, even though it is not consistent with their expressed policies and, for practical purposes, is even detrimental to the common good. Many informed observers believe it would have been better not to have granted recognition to states whose rulers are dedicated to the enslavement of their subjects and, in faot, to the destruction of the entire free world. But what reasons can an organization like the Assembly have for its conduct - an organization which should be nurtured with the revolutionary and creative spirit of reconstructing order in the sense of the principles which it proclaims and which should be concerned about, in the first place, with a permanent balance of this part of Europe - its Central and Eastern area? Even in politics it is not possible to serve two masters. The Assembly of Captive European Nations - as attested to by its record of action - serves not two masters, but all masters who want to permanently warm their soup on the nO'ble and clean fire of concept of freedom, independence, and the rig.ht of self-determination. One cannot therefore declare that, for example, the Albanians have a right to freedom, independence, and self-determination already today, but that the Slovaks, Croatians, Ukrainians, etc., will be granted that right tomorrow. Speaking and writing for the gallery, from which one expects not only applause, but political and material help as well, one cannot state that the business of freedom, independence, and self-determination of the Poles, Germans, Rumanians, etc., is a matter of validifying the principles of freedom, independence and self-determination, but that the matter of freedom , independence, and self-determination of the Slovaks is the business of the Czechs, that of the Croatians the business of SLOVAKIA 15 the Ser,b ians, that of the Ukrainians the business of the Russians, etc. At a time when the nations in Communist captivity are demanding concrete expression of their own desires, when they are waiting for political motives that would be worthy of their sacrifices and resistance, it is not possible to approach them with the useless, dried-out and stripped branch, broken from the tree of freedom, independence, and self-determination by the careless hands of politicians who are obsessed with their past. From the fruit of this tree of freedom, independence and self-determination which has for long years been sprinkled with their own blood and sweat - the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Croatians, etc., want an equal share. And not tomorrow, but today. As long as the Assembly of Captive European Nations does not bring its own house in order, as long as it promotes self-determination , freedom, and independence only for SOME, but not ALL nations, it will remain in permanent conflict with those noble concepts and those nations to whom it denies the right of self-determination , freedom, and independence. And finally it will be in a paradoxical position: the nations ignored or avoided by it shall have to persistently fight against it in the name of the concept of freedom, independence, and self-determination , as they are now fighting and shall always fight against every violence and every falsehood. "SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE" by Professor Gilbert L. Oddo can now be sent on order. Get your copy rODA \:'. because the -.upply is limited. Over 2.100 copies have been -.old. rhe first real history of the Slovaks and their country in English. rhe book ha~ ~X4 pages and sells for $6.00 per copy postpaid. Order your copy fODA Y from: JED NOT A PRINTERY. P. 0. Box 150. Middletown. Pa.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Assembly of Captive European Nations: onflict Between Idea and Deed Description An account of the resource Joseph Cieker Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 3-15 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cieker, Jozef, 1907-1969 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ccecf2d6faecb47803f7601dd89193b4.pdf 623fc71d8803f7c39c3278872b1bd716 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 59 * EAR!L Y SLOVAK ORATORIES: A STUDY IN SLAVIC-IRANIAN ARCIDTECTURAL TRADITION Joseph G. Cincik The group of medieval churches discovered in the past few decades at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice, Moravia, has not failed to elicit the attention of archeologists (1). It has already given rise to a series of scholarly studies, monographs, articles, and critical notes (2), ye: the original interest in the find is not likely to subside within the near future. And rightly so, for the find may throw a new light on architectural perplexities of the early Middle Ages in Central Europe. It is an established fact that the above churches to be exact, oratories and presbyteries, all of them being of rather small dimensions - were erected in the first, at the latest in the second third of the ninth century, i.e., during the pre-Roman Carolingian period of architec::ure. They stood on what seems to have been both ethnically and historically Slovak soil, a surprisingly large territory consisting of a major part of the present.Jday Moravia and of a major part of the present-day Slovakia, the area covering both banks of the Morava River. It is a well-known fad t that in the early Middle Ages the inhabitants of central and eastern Mora via were known as the Slovieni (Sclavini), and only later were they referred to as the Moravians, obviously after the Morava River(3) . From an ethnic point of view they were actually ancient Slovaks, a fact attested to beyond · a doubt by their dialecrts. The large-scale evangelization of the Slovieni began in the first half of the ninth century(4). At this time a new alignment of political, economic, and social forces emerged on both sides of the Morava River. Various Slovien families, clans, and 1triibes tended to unite under the leadership of their elders and chieftans. This tendency was especially *"MOST," quarterly for Slov:ak culture, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1960, Slovaik ,I nstitute. Cleveland, Ohio. �60 SLOVAKIA strong in the region of the Danube an1d the central area, the latter extending for West to the very Zdan Hills. The growth and unification of the ancient Slovak tribes was a phenomenon of considerable importance wilthout which the establishment of the first Slovak principalities would hardly be understandaible. The first principality to arise was organized by the Priibina dynasty (cca 830) in the N.iltra region, in the territory of present-day Slovakia. Members of the dynasty ruled the principality of Pannonia and chose Blatnohrad as their cap1tal (5). The Mojmir dynasty gained power under Mojmir I (from 836 on) in the lanlds of the present-day southwestern Moravia. As this dynasty controlled the so-called "Amber Route" the main commercial artery between the Baltic and Adriatic seas, - it appeared to be economically superior and, as a result, became the only dynasty to assume power in both the Slovak domains (6). It formed the nucleus of a superstructure that was to emerge as lthe Great Moravian Empire under the rule of Svatopluk I (the Great) around 870. Once esta:blished, the Great Moravian Empire - so called first by Constantine Po11phyrogen1tes, the Emperor of Byzantium - pursued a decisively expansive foreign policy(7). Soon it annexed the Slovien principality of Pannonia and gained, for a ltime at least, complete control thereof (8) . This former Roman province (Pannonia Superior) deserves our serious attention. Prince Pribina (830-861) and Prince Kocel (861-874; from 869 an independent sovereign ruler) became prominent by their zeal in spreading the Gospel and by building new churches and renovating old ones (9). Their activity created a period of Christian revival in Pannonia, a true renascence. It should be noted that only thus the survival of earlier Roman paleo-Christian arch.iltectural forms was made poss~ble (10). Nowhere is it more apparent than in the cities. There the ancient Roman tradition of stone and brick masonry did not die out entirely and could again be put to a constructive use. Builders commissioned by Pribina an!d Kocel had, besides, the opportunity Ito study and �SLOVAKIA 61 imitate earlier Roman structures, e.g., the antique Sophiana, ad Quinque Basilicas, in Pees (11). That they did not fail to do so is proven not only by the fact that recent findings pertaining to !~he Pribina-Kocel period were made in the proximity of a Roman sanctuary built according to the clover-leaf plan, but also by churches they themselves built or renova1ted, such as the trinave church of Pribina at Blatnohrad (12). 1 In comparison, the Christian architecture no1t h of the Danube, in both Slovakia and adjoining Moravia, and generally in the regions beyond the ·b oundaries of the Roman provincial tradition, was of a different nature. There the construction techniques and pa,tterns, space arrangements and space divisions developed to a degree independen1tly of the Roman traditions: a situation revealed to us unmistaka!bly by the group of oratories at Stare Mesto, Mikulcice, and lately Pohansko, near Breclav. The building materj.als used in this area consisted of irregularly quarried stone (opus incertum) and pressed and baked clay; wooden posts and ·b eams were quite common, willowreeds were equally frequent. The space division tended to be more simple, the dimensions were much smaller, very much unlike in some churches erected ( or patterned) on Roman foundaJtions in Pannonia ( 13) . The Pannonian needs called for large edifices to accomodate larger congregations; around these the faithful settled 1to live in the proximity of the early feudal and patronal manor to form thereby a large parish of the Carolingian type. Now, while the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia certainly did not fail later 1to re-use abandoned Roman fortifications and camps - and there are in these lands remnants of solid Roman edifices - a direct Roman influence on the ancient Slovak architecture was, to say the least, improbable (14). The dearth of stone block structures (opus certum) and brick masonry is, in this respect, revelatory. Yet 1the Roman military forts and observation towers on the northern border of the Roman Empire, formed between Vindobona (Vienna) and Aquincuum (Budapest), a rather long and impressive chain ; they did not, nevertheless, affect the basic architectural tendencies of the regions further North �62 SLOVAKIA from the Danube River. There an o1der, less elaborated type of structure, better suited for forest areas, retained its hold. Even an occasional presence there of solid structures, destined evidently to serve military purposes, should be interpreted with caution; it does not imply more than sporadic re-use of the Roman brick and stone masonry by the Slovieni ( 15) . Roman fortifications in this area have recently been searched with minute attention for eventual evidence of a Roman-Slovien relationship. As a result, the presence of the Slovieni in the forts, their use of !the abandoned Roman towers (e.g., Vysehrad) as shelters, can no longer be questioned (16). The enigma is, however, far from completely .solved. There still remains the hard problem of exact dating of the Slovien finds and, consequently, of the Slovien arrival to this part of Central Europe. At the presen!t, our only reliable criterion in this respect is the presence of the tyrpical wavy pattern on Slavic ceramics, a fashion, unfortunately, not older than the sixth century(17). On the other hand, no remnants are extant to show a previous direct Roman influence on pagan or Christian architectural 1trends north of the Danube, just as there are no finds to suggest such an immediate cultural continuity before the sixth century. Yet the Slovieni - and the Slavs in general - do appear in Central Europe as early as the fourth century A.D. We see them exerting pressure on rthe Danubian boundary together with the Sarmatians and Venedi ; they can be traced to adjoining Dacia. This we will try to prove in the near future, in a separate study, basing our conclusions on grey ceramics, not yet marked by wavy patJterns and frequent especially around the Tisa River(18). According to our thesis the Slovieni first entered Central Europe by way of eastern Slovakia and settled in the northern valley of the Tisa River as well as in present-day northern Transylvania (19). It is worthy of note, that, already at 1the time of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the toponymy of northern Dacia is in part of Slav character and thus reveals traces of Sarmatian, Dacian, and Slav co-settlements on both northeastern sides of the Carpathian mountain ridges (20). Recent archeological finds continue �SLOVAKIA 63 to support our view in this maJtter and, at the same time, attest to a considerable exchange in material culture (21). We believe that the architectural situation in the Siovien territories north of the Danube shoultd be studied against this larger background. As we have observed above, all Slavic material culture develops in the forest-covered Carpathian area where wood, clay, and woven reeds are used as the most convenient material. This occurred in the very shadow of the walled Roman castella and observation towers, streJ:ching from Vindobona through Aquincuum far to the north, to the Dacian, Sarmatian, and Slav cosettlements in northern Docia ( 22). It is of common knowledge that the Romans continued to build in masonry edifices of this type up to 1their evacuation of the territory ( cca 270 A.D.). It is necessary, however, to point out that the presence of Christian churches or oratories in Dacia at this period has not yet been proven ( 23) . Pannonia had Christian churches already in the fourth century (24). It was there that the Slav settlers became acquainted with Christianity, unless they had already known the Gospel in its Arian form during an earlier coexistence with the Goths ( 25). Ye:, the Pannonian Slovieni were the first to call their churches "kostoly," a word coined from the Latin Castellum (26). Protected by the strong walls of the Roman castella that lend themselves easily 1to new functions, the Pannonian Slovieni assembled in fortified castella to celebrate their liturgy with such Roman Christians as survived the Pannonian catastrophes. Nor were they alone doing so. It is more than proba·b le that the Arian Goths also used the same edifices during their migrations ,through Pannonia for purposes of worship. Soon the castellum became a synonym for Slavic oratories and churches, and eventually for all solid structures s8rving Christian liturgical needs in Pannonia and Noricum. In the second renascence of Christianity that took place, as we have seen, during the rule of the Slovak princes, the castellum - kostol was again used as a meeting place for worshi:p(27). This new period was marked by the progressive disappearance of the pagan Slovien liturgical terminology. The church was no longer terebliste or �64 SLOVAKIA zertvovisko, terms used formerly to describe a wide, fenceprotected yard around a Slavic and pagan shrine quasimegaron ( 28) . It was, first of all, a kosfiol. Words are symbols of reality, and it is hardly a mere flight of fancy to consider the new term of church, the kostol, as a symbolic culmination point of early fruitful contacts between the Roman civilization and the Slovieni in their original homelands beyond the Cal'pathians ( 29) . The architectural development in Pannonia enaibles us to study the early medieval ecclesiastical edifices in Moravia, so to say, by contrast. We have already pointed out their small dimensions and hinted at some of their characteristic particularities. At this moment we would like to follow Dr. F. Graus and call the reader's attention to the fact 1that their space arrangements are, in a certain degree, a mere conjecture based on negative traces of foundations and patterns discovered during the excavations. We believe that they offer us, nevertheless, important clues to the peculiar religious and social evolution of the Slovien territory aJt the beginning of the ninth century(30). As far as can be ascertained by the present state of the finds, early builders in this area were not just servile imitators of Roman Christian architectural tra!ditions. Yet they did continue tthem to a certain extent, since they separate the presbytery from the narrow apse, the latter often of quadrangular shape. It is equally worthy of note that the church at Modra, near Velehrad, follows the so-called Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") pattern (31). The relatively small dimensions of tthese churches suggest that they were meant to serve single clans, each of them individually. The new Christian community, actually members of the same clan, led by their elder or chieftain, would assemble around the church in the open yard. They would remain standing on the mounds ( valy) or behind them, as they were wont to during the pagan period when the place of worship was still a terebliste. '!'his custom bears a striking similarity with very ancient Iranian traditions (32). (It can be likensd also to Greece, for did not the ancient Greeks worship standing beneath tthe open skies, or, as it sometimes happened, under the cover of a �SLOVAKIA 65 peript.eros, on a plateau, t.emenos, outside the megaron?) The unusual number of oratories at Mikulcice and Stare Mesto, erected apparently within a short time one a.1lter the other, would present an insolvable enigma, were this ageold practice not taken in consideration. And let us point out that, to date, already five oratories (wi1th overall dimensions of 5 x 9-10 meters and 7% x 13¼ meters) were discovered on a small area fifty hectares (33) . The manner of burying the dead (particularly deceased chieftains) and the d ate of origin of these edifices indicate that ithere were no mass conversions (by pressure), but rather a gradual and free acceptance of the Gospel by the leaders of the clans and their families (34). That this occurred mainly in the first and second third of the ninth century is proved by 1the finds beyond any doubt. This impression is strengthened by architectural and architectonic features of the edifices. Their small dimensions in structure is of a pagan-Christian planning and, as far as the space and its use are concerned, reveals a functional duality. The edifice i1tself was traditionally reserved for the priest and his assistants while the courtyard was for the congregation. 1'his type of church architecture reflects both the gradual breaking-away of the Slovieni from paganism in the era of transiJtion from the family control over property held in common, or a distinctly tribal con1trol. It does not as yet reflect, however, the centralized management of civic and religious affairs that is to emerge only under Rastislav's and Svatopluk's reigns, (church patronate), at the time of St. Methodius. The churches at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice were not patronal churches, nor did they serve large parishes, as in Pannonia, or such as existed during the feudalistic period which followed (35) . By their square and rectangular forms, and Jtheir modest dimensions, they remain akin to small roofed edifices of the pagan times. Even the pagan outdoor treblist,e (the gathering place for worship and for the consumption of the offerings of the community) is preserved as i1t was probably in Pannonia, where the large courtyards of the former Roman cast.ella - kostoly needed no special adaptations for a similar use. Thus conceived, the Slovien churches �66 SLOVAKIA required neither the large roof-covered naves nor the spaciousness of the Pannonian city ,b asilicas. (The small rural density of population in Moravia and Slovakia aJt the time should also be taken into consideration). Let us note briefly that in all these open-space places of worship, the natural surroundings of the oratories remained unchanged, unless it was necessary to protecit them by mounds to assure privacy for the faithful present at the Mass, or, inn pagan times, at the sacrifice and consumption of animals ( 36). Mounds, rising above rivers and sloughs, were frequent already in the original Slavic homeland beyond the Carpathians; they wbound wherever the shrines were not protected by swamps. Later ramparts and mounds, erected around the rural shrines of Svantovit in Rujana, of Radgost (Svarozhich) in Rethra, Ptuj (Slovenia), of Perun in Kijev (Ukrainia), etc., manifest the same 1traditional pattern (37). In all these shrines the space division (a small roofed edifice with an a!djoining courtyard) is equally traditional. That this appears to be also the ancient Iranian pattern should cause no surprise, since trwces of a strong Iranian impact on Slavic culture have already been proved in the field of linguistics and mylthology(38). As far as the Slovien Christian churches in Moravia are concerned, we may, certainly, admit a gradual Roman influence, but only as a concomitant factor in their architectural plans. The question is, however, whether this influence has been imposed only on Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") architectural patterns, as claimed by J. Cibulka (39). The writer believes that this type of architectonic space arrangement of sanctuary and yard to be much older and, in territories of Slavs, also of Iranian origin. Considerations of the ethnogenetic nature make our view highly probable. The beginnings of the Slavic family of nations are closely linked, we believe, not only to their Baltic-Slavic linguistic substratum, but also to a common Scythian and Sarmatian civilizaJtion of Iranian origin ( 40). The Slavs were e:iqiosed :to a continuous migration of Iranian mythocreative elements in their original trans-Carpathian homeland and there is no reason to doubt that this impact gave �SLOVAKIA 67 birth to common Slavic architectural concepts and usages ( 41) This cultic and cultural situation must have reached its highest point in the first centuries A.D., at the time when the neo-Iranian ethnic waves began to exer\': considerable pressure on Slavic settlements, penetrating the regions both on the Antes and the eastern Slavic tribes. As these usages were 1the result of cultic requirements which, as far as we can judge, did not change essentially, it must be supposed that they follow the Slavs on their migrations. They spread, in fact, as far as ,~he Baltic (Rujana-Rugen) and the Adriatic and Alpine regions (PitujPettovo) and offered serious resistance to architectonic determinants prevalent in those lands prior to Slav occupation. Wherever the Slavic tribes escaped contact with the architectural heritage of Roman provinces, or, wherever they appeared en masse in depopulated areas, they preserved their own building traditions intact. In this connection we would like to stress the importance of a surprisingly "Slavic" adaptation of the then already existing pagan shrine at Ptuj (Pettovio, Slovenia). We are aware of the fact tha:t Christianity was making inroads above ,~he Danube already in the reign of King Samo (623-360) and that there exist Christian remnants of an even earlier period, such as ivory pyxes from the fifth and sixth centuries, found at Zuran (near Brno, Moravia), or stone caps from church pillars discovered in Seitenstnerhof, in the Merovingian borough of Vienna. We are equally aware of Roman building traditions prevailing in the provinces south of the Danube as well as of their renascence in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel. Nevertheless, we deem it our duty to link the architectural finds at Stare Mesta and Mikulcice with the older pagan, Slavic and Iranian, culture. We claim these edifices, in view of their space divisions and functional aspects, must also be inter,preted in connection wi!th such Slavic architectural trends as there existed between the fourth and ninth centuries and, among the Baltic Slavs and the Slavs of the Kijev region, up to the tenth cenicury. Their distinctly two-fold pattern which combines a rather tiny shrine with a large open-space courtyard, does not seem to admit �68 SLOVAKIA any other interpretation. For ;that reason, tentative comparisons with contemporaneous Christian churches in the near-by regions, while always useful and sometimes quite revealing, should be made with extreme prudence. Even where space seems to be almost centrally arranged (e.g., at Modra where four pillars probably supported a baldachino over the church altar, and not a narrow oratory ceiling as J. Ci'bulka claims), conclusions should be all but one-sided. The locale as well as the dimensions, arrangement, and the space function should always be taken as primary factors in all evaluations. We can only hope that such attention combined with useful analysis of all additional aspects of the finds will not fail to support also our· thesis concerning the preservaJtion of the Slav-Iranian elements or traces in the building patterns of that period. This we hum'bly submit for consideration to all who devote their talents to the study of the early medieval CentralEuropean arch~tecture among the Slavs. REFERENCES: 1. The discovel'y of a small church ,a1t IM odra (near Velehrad) was first reported lby J. Neveril in Naiinec (Ol-0mouc, '19111, Vol. 47, No. 295). By the same author: "Velehrad v olbraz'Cich" in SborniJc: velehradsky, Nova Rada, '1940, p.p. 76-80. I. L. Cervinka, Slovane na Morave a rile Velkomoravska, B11n:o, 1928. V. lli•ulby: Pruvodce vysta,v• kou z moravskych archeologickych vyzkumu, 1948, pp. 112-'14. Archeologicke rozhledy, Vol. 'l'-'2, Praha ,1949, pp. 3{H36; Vol. 3, p. 50, 109 sp. J. Poulik, "Jizni :Morav,a, zeme davnych Slovanu," Pravos,av• ny sbornlk na rok 1950, p. IJ112 sq.; same author, "Objev druheho k<ostela ve Starem Meste," Archeoligicke ro:zhlecly, Vol. 2, Praha, 1950, p. 12-22. 2. J. ctbuI:ka: "Velkomoravske kostely, objevene 1949 vo St,arem Meste," Praha, 1'950 (a mul,tigrap1hed lec,ture). V. Hruby: Stlare Mesto, Velkomoravske pohrebi~:e na Valach," Praha, 195 5, in Monumenta archeologica, tom. 3, edit. Ceskoslovenska akad.e mia ved (Dr. J. Bohm); a detailed monogr,a,p h of the finds, rich Mbliography. Hruby, Hochmanova, Pavelcilk: ''IKostel a pohrelbiste z dolby Velkomoravske na Modre v V·elehradu," Casopis Moravskeho Muse-a (Acta Musei Mo .raviae), V-01. Jill, Brno, 1955, pp. 412Jl26. J. Poulik: "Vysledky VY· zkumu na velkioon,or,avskem hradisti '"V•al:Y" u Mdikulcic," Pamatky ar· cheologicke, XI.JVl1IIII, Praha, '1957; sepa,rat-um; pp. 214-3116. J. Oilbulka: Velkomoravsky kostel v Modre u Velehradu a zacatky krest'anstvf na Morave, Praha, 1958, in Monumen,ta archeologica, tom. vm, ed'it. Ceskoslovens:ka akademia ved. J. Poulik: Velkomoravske hradilte Mikulcice: Pruvodce po archeoligickych vyzkumech:, Gottwaldow: Kr,ajElke niaklad'a-telsitvi, 1959; contains a good survey of four oratories found up to 1959 and indications of the tra:ces showing the 1 �SLOVAKIA 69 possilbility of the fift'h church on the location. F. Kalousek: "Velkomoravske hradiste Po'hans'ko u Breclave, in Archeologicke rozhledy, XillI, Pr.aha, 11960, pp. 496-530. 3. F. Trav,nicek: Moravska nareci, Praha, 1926, PIP- 14,118; and a geographilcal card showing the boundaries of the Slovak dialects in medie,v al and co111tempora11y Morarvia. J. :Po·ulik: Staroslovanska Moirava, Pra,h a, 1'!}418, pp. 107.ilOB, p. 111'2; see also PmtliJk's card (No.:H) illus1tra1ting the exten,srion of the Slovak dialects in Mmavia, based or. t'he research made by F. Tra¥nicek. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Y.ol. 1, Bratislava, 11958; c'ha,pt. X. "'Sbr·e doveke sloven~ke jazy,k<ove uzemie, 1<. Moraivska dblast'," pp. 14'7·1'55; a good survey of ·opin,i,ons defended by V. Jagic, P. J. Safarik, 0 . ~aemmel J. L. Cervirrk<a, F. 'Dravnicek, J . V. Dekan, S. Schl\Vlaritz et al. P . .J. §a,f arik: SloYanske staroiitnosti, Praha, 11837, p. 7941: ''I think that a l ong time ago, i.e., before the political separation e.f.1fected bebween Hungary and Moravia, the line of di'Vision between the Ozelch and Slovak d<ialects ran somewhere through the center o'f Moravia, and not on t1he mountains dividing the prerent-day Hunga ry from Mo· ravia." 4. Cf. Libellus de conversione Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum ( cca. 87Q.J87,l,), and Epistola episcoporum BaNariensium ad Jo·ha nnem P. IX . .scripta a. 900. (In Monumenf\a Germaniae histol"ica Scriptores XI. pp. 1~115). Of. Migne, P. L. Y,ol. 113'1, col. 34138. F. Dvornik' The Slavs, Their Early History and Civilization, Boston, 1·956, pp. 7 6-81. J. G. Cirrci:k: Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Slovak Ir.sti1tute, R:ome,Oleveland, 11958, pp. 7'1.f74 and pp. 83-88. ·5_ D. Rlapant: Pribinov nitriansky kostolik, 11941142, separa,tum from Elan, Vol. XII, No. 2-3. F. Hrusov:Sky: Sfovenski vladari, Scranton, P.a., 1'!~418; see chapt. on PriJbina , Kocel, and M,o.jmir I. 1 6. F. Bokes: Slovensky iivotny pr'ie5rtor v min.u<losti a dnes, Bra tislav,a : Cas, 1'943, p. 34. A. S1pe11ke: The Andent Amber ~ou,t es and -the Geog.raphical Discovery of the Eastern Baltic, Stoe'kholm: M. Goppers ('ZeUa A!bele). p. 60 s.p . J . G. Oincik: AncierJ Slovak Fibulas .and Pseudo.iFibulas, Ohic:igo-Whi:ting, 11957·; see caird Nlo. 1 for "the AIJlllber Rowt,e " and card N10. 2 showing the eX!tension of the s :ovak influenice in Central Europe in the sixth-tenth centuries A.D. K. Miajewctki: lmporty nymskie n'a ziemiac,h Slowanskic,h, Wro.claw: Wroclaiws:kie T•ow.arzystwo Nauk,o,we, 1949; see mau> No. 2, "Szlaky i ,rnk>ty burs2ltynowe ." 1 7. Constantinus Poriphyrogenitus : De administl'lando lmperio; in •Corpus scrip.t orum historiae Byzantinae, Bonn, 1,949, Edit. G. Morav,c:;;ik, Bud,a·p est, 11949; English v,ersion, by R. J. H. J,enkins. F. Dvornik: The Slavs, op. cit. p. 94. 18. The temporary ar.nex,a tion of Pannonia occurred after the death of Kocel, 87•5. F. Drvornik: op. cit. , pp. 95"9,6; see also the card " The Mioravi,an Empire c:ca 890," p. 99. :9, M. K:os: Conversio Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum, Ljuibljana, 1.93·6, p. 1136, chaipt. 111 sq. J. Ci.Jbulka : Vaclavske rotunda svateho Vf,ta, Praha, 1933; separatum of the Svatovaclavsky sbornik, pp. 1-li7:8; see pages 36 sq. "Kost-ely podunajsky•c h Slovan,u, je,j1ich stavelbnici a po1 �70 SLOVAKIA sveceni"; Cilbulka enumerates 312 churches consecrated in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel, t;wel,ve of bhern corusecratied personally by the A['chibislhop of Sa17Jburg. 10. L. Galdi: "Le Romanisrne transdanllibien.,'' Studi e documenti italo-ungheresi della Reale Accademia d'Ungheria di Roma, Vol. 1, Rome, 1936, pp. 3·9-40; note ·53: "Quant a l'irufluence slave qui apparut a une date relati'Vernent tardive, eUe laissa pro,'balblernent aussi des traices . .. II faut envisager aussi des contacts plus ou rnoins durables entre les Sla'Ves et les Pannoniens romanises." A. Alfoldi: "Tracee d'el Cristian•esirno dell'~poca delle grandi rnigrazioni in- Ungheria," Quaderni dell'llmpero, Rome, 1938, pp. 17-21. L. Nagy: "Pannonia sacra," Szem Istvan kiraly .Emlekkon,y v (ed. J. Seredi). Bud,apest , 11938, Vol. 1·, pp. 29-al48. T. von Nagiy: Die Geschichte des Chris, entums in Pannonia bis zu dem Zusammenbruch des romischen Grenzschutzes, in Dissertationes Pannonicae, series m. 112; a1nd. same author : "A pann6niai 6kerestzeny egyhazkozsegi bazilikak," Szepmiiveszet, Vol. :El, Budapest, 1,94!1, pp. 144Jll48; and' same author: "Zuim Problem der Kontinuti1tiiJt in Pannonien," Das Bildwerk (ed. F. Kup!feriberg), Berlin, 194'2, p. 3-'6. 11. Dercseny,i, Poganyi, Szentikiraly,i; Pees, Budaipest, 19,56, in Varoskepek, miiemlekek (ed. J. Paipp)), see ,p p. 7..S, 1'7"19 on Slavic 'b uilding activiby in the area of the paleo-Ohdsti-an cemetery and around the basilica; lso fig. 2, 3t, 3d about the renovation of aticient Christian buildings under Priibina and Kocel, p. 20. F . Fiiller: "Neuere Ausgralbungen in der cella trichora von Pees Wtin'fkirc hen)," Acta archeol ig ica, torn. X,I, fasc. 1-4, Bud apest, 1959, pp. 399-417. 1 '12. A. Von Radn6ti: "'Une Eglise du haut rnoyen age a Zalavar," E1: udes Slaves et Roumaines, Vol. 1', pp. 2'1•31•. T. von Bogyay: "Izkopavanja v Zalavaru in r..jihov-a zgodovinska razlag,a " Umetnostnozgodinski zbornik, N. S. 2, Ljubljana, pp. 2Ll-24S; s•a me author: Die Kunst und kirchengeshichtliche Bedeutung der Ausgrabungen von Mosapurz-Zalavar, Baden-Baden, '1956, in Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichtlichen und Christlichen Archeologie; same author: "Mios,a purc und Zala'Var: eine Auswertung der archeiligischen Funde und schrift.lichen Quellen," Siidost Forschungen, 1955, Vol. XiIIV, 2, pip. 349-406. D. DercsenyJ: "Uiabb regeszeti k11tatlasok es a pannoniai kontinu i" as kwrdese',, Szazadok, 1947, pp. 203-21Jl; same author: "l!Eglise de Pribina a Zalavar, Etudes slaves et rouma i•nes, Vol. I, 1•9418, pp. 85--100; same author: A magyar miiveszet tortenete, Vol. I, Budapest, 1956, pp. 12~18. L. Kararnan: "A propos de l'eglise a Blatnograd, ville de Baleton," Arc·heologia Jugos lavica, '1, 1954, pp. 91'96. Kararnan is persuaded that the tri-naved church of Pr~bin-a found in the locality of Receskut at Blatnograd (Zalavar, Mos,al)ruc) is of Romar. origin. G. Feher: "Les Fouilles de Zalawar (li9511..i195G)," Acta archeologica, Budaipest, li9514, V•ol. 4, pp. 201'-26Q. Feher claims that tJhe church (see note 10, p. 206J207) was erected, i n the time of Prince Kocel. 13. See the plans of Pannonian churches in L. Nagy and T. von Nagy, op. cil:. (Our note No. ,10). 14. L. Nlagiy: Azeskii teri r6mai erod, Pest, varos ose, Budlaipest, 1946; concerning the settlementJs of the Slav potter y producers in the old Roman cubiculae and their use of t'he niches for kilns. S. �SLOVAKIA 71 Soproni: "A visegradi r6ma,l taibor es kozepkori var," Archeo·l ogiai ertesito, Vol. 81, Budapest, 1,954, pp. 49-'.'13. The re,use of Rloman bricks in the early SLavic a['chilteoture in the proximity oif the DaJmbe River has been studied of.ten and repeatedly. For the latest da,ta peritaining to our field see Vera HoclrmainovaJV!avrova, "Sysitema,ticky archeologicky vy21kum u STS ve Starem Meste," Pravek vychodni Moravy, ed. Krajsky vlastivedny ustav, Gottiwald10v, 11959, pp. 73-7\5. 11,5 . J,. Dekan: "Stand und Aufgalben der Limesforschung in der Slowakei," in Vhe volume of lectures Limes Romanus Konferenrz, Nitra, ed. Slovenska akademia vied, .Alrcheologicky ustav v Nitre (A. Tocik, ed.), Bratislava, 195,9, pp. 111-48; a concise survey of the Roman proviillCial finds architectural structures in the river valleys of the Morava, Vah, Nitra, and Hron; es·pecially valualb le for the description of the castrum Milanovce (near Nitra) built in the second or third century A.iD. ,1,6. B. Svolboda: "Uebeir das Nachleiben der romischen Kultur in mibtleren DonaUlbecken," Limes Romanus Kon,f erenz, Nitl'a, p;p. 1072 1116. S. Soproni: "Der spatromische Limes wJsche•r.. Visegrad und Eszter~om," ibid., pp. 'lr.3•1~143. M. Hegy: Visegrad, Budarpest, series Mfremlekeiruk, 1'956, ,p. 10; see also t'he plan of the Roman castrum, fig. 3. 1'7. For the daita,tion, of the Slavic pottery previous to the sixth cerntury,, the so-called Prague type of ceramics (a simple urn wilth str,a igM mouth, made on a potter',s wheel or simp ly by hand's) is of a great value. Of. J. Borarkovsky's: Slovanska keremika ve stredni ,Evrope, Pr,a ha, 1940; same author: "Nejstarsi slov,ar.s'ka k•e remika ze stredni'ch Cech," Pamatky archeologicke, Praha, 1936-3-8. For the evoluti'on of the Slavic pottery patterns in Morava, cf the s:chemes based on th•e Velatice stratas and collected by J . Poulik and W. Hensel. See illustrations (No. ,276-2.'76) in Hensel: Slowianczyzna wczesnorednowieczna: Zarys kultury materialnej, Wai;szarwa: Pols:k,a akiademia nauk, 11956, pp. 281.;300; nd Josip Korosec: Uvod v ma• terialno kulturo Slovanov zgodnjega srednega veka, Ljulbl1ana, 1'9512, p. 1180 sq. 11,8. J. G. Oincik: Ancient Slovak Fibulas, etc., ip. 12, card 2 following p. 3-8. Our views hav•e found a new con'f irmation in t he the• sis of V. Ondrouch: '"Hist-odsche Vio r,a ussetzungen fiir die Limes· forsc'hwng in der Tschechoslowakei," Limes Romanus Kon,fe.renz, pip . 63Jl06, see also card No. L "•E thnigraphische Entw,ilcklung der Tschechoslowakei vom Ende des 1. J,a hrhundeints vor u. Z. bis zur Ankunft der ersten Slawen." 1'9. I. T. Kruglik!ov,a: Dakiya v epokhu .rimskoy okkupasiyi, Mos• cow: Akademia Nauk SSSIR, ]nmituit istorii i inst. istor. material. kultury, 11955, V,ol. 8, p. 163 sq. "Pri102ihenye: 0 svyazakh Daik iyi so Slavyanami." A. Tocik: "Vyznam poslednych archeologicikych vy2ikumov na Slov,e nsku pre dejiny najs,tarsich S'1ovanov a Vel'komoravskej rise," Historicky casopis S·A V, E!I, Bratislava, 1955, p. 4l12. Tocik believes thaJt the ar,cheoiogical finds made in eastern Slovak vall-eys of the ·Hornad and Torysa are from the fourth century A.D. and belong in. the sphere o.f the so-icalled Lipicka Culture; same author: "Prvi Slo·v ania na r.asom uzemi," Praca, 195 8, No. 1,96. 1 1 1 1 1 �72 SLOVAKIA 20. N. Iorga: Histoire des Roumains at de la Romanite oriemale, Bucuresti: Aeademie Roumaine, 19317, Vol 2, La Synthese slave, p. 296. E . Moor : "Die Slawischen Ortsnannes der Theisselbene," Zeitschrift fur Ortsnamen Forschung, VoL W , 1930, pp. 1-'317 and 105-ll40. The S1'avic toponomy of northern Dacia has been s,tudied by proif. SeVler Pop; 1his study published in the symposium Trans,y lvan1ia during the ]I_ W. W. was no t accessible to me. P . Olteunu: ' Wumiri slave in Trans,i•!Jvanie de nord," Limba li Literaturia, 11957, Vol. VIT!llI, pp. 195'214; same author : "Aux origines de la culture sl.ave dans la Tuansylvani e du Nord at le Maramures," Romanoslavica, 11958, Vol. 1, pp. 169-1'97. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Bratislava : SAV, 1958, par. 4', "Slovenske sidla v hornom a strednom Po~isi," pp. 1180..164. 21. M. J . Bmjcevskij : Starodavni schidni Sloviani, Kijiv: Akad . Nauk Ukrailli>koy RSR, lnstirtwt Archeologiy;i, 19'59, erupt. 8, pp. 316-315'5, card on page 317. Of. the ediforiial introduction to SlovansJc:a archeologia, 1'960, Vlll.J, rpage 6; here a thesis is made concerning t'he Presov type i1111heren,t to the Przewoc,skio-Llrpicka Culture. 22. Structure reipresentatfons on the well-known Trnian a,i d Marcus Aurelius columns ir: Rome reveal the 'basic di.fference bet.iween the barbarian log-sty;le arohiteoture and the masonry-style of the Roman builc:Liin,gs in the Car,pa,thian Basin. In thi,s respect the analyitical p·hotograip'h ic study of the M. Aurelius colUJmn by G. Recatti seem s quite corwi n\cin.g. (Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Milano, Roma, 1957; for comparison see fig. 2, 14; for t he an t·hropological features of the Slavs or Sarimaitians see fig. 42). Via n der Heyden : Scullard·: Allas of the Classical World, Nelson and Sons, 1959, card 511 , p. 127, pp. 109-1'111. 23 . Except for the Christian inscriiption from cca 107...270 A.D., found in Napoca (Cluj), north of the Miaros River. See Var. de Meer, Miohr.mar:n: Atlas of the Early Christian World, Nelson and Sons, 1<958, card No. 8, "Churches founded before the per,secu1ion by Diocletian (304)." 24. See T. von Nagy : Die Geschichte des Christentums in Pannonien,, etc., our nlO'tle No. 10. 25. The Arian heresy spread among the Goths around the yea~ :t40, at the time of Slav-Gothic co-existence. 126. H . Bartek: "Krest'anstvo a slovencina," Nadej vit'azna, Sc-r anton, 1947, pp. 253. The Czech kostel and the ~olish kosci~I are derivatives of this Slavic pannonism. Of. also tJhe toponymic Keszthely ir: the matnohud district. D. Pais: "A r6mai castellum szlavimagyar folyrtat asa," Magyar nyelv, 1049, pp. 107~1,15. Amon.g the eastern and southern Slavic g,r oup, the term oiric:ev, crkva is a deriv,a-tio,n, of t'he Greek kuriakon.; it refers both to the Ohristian communtty and to the place o.f worship. AngI-crS'ax-0n kirchun, kirchen, kirk is of an Eastern Gerimani'c influence. 27. A . .Alfody: "Tracee . . . " (our note No. 10), p. 10, pp. 14•17. 28. B. A. R'y!balrov: Die Kunst der alten Slawen. Dresden, 1,957, in Geschi0hte der russic'1en ku~, Vol. 1, pp. 54-517, .All:fu. 5()-iSl. ,29.M. Szmiszko: Kultury wczesnego okresu epoki cenrstwa rzymskie go w Malopolsce Wschodniej, Lwow, 1932. M. B. Braj1 �SLOVAKIA 73 cevsskij: Rimska moneta na teritorii Ukrajlini, Kijiv, 1959, edit. Akademia nau:k Ukraijinsikoy RISR, Inst. Archeolog-ii. K. Miajews'l~i: lmporty rzymskie na zemiach slowianskich, Wroclaiw, .194'9, edit. Pra'Ce WrocI,aw. Toiwarzy&twa Naukovego; series A NlR li3. 30. F. Graus: ''K pofatkum krest'answi na Morave, Cs. casopis historicky, Vol. Vff-.3, Praha, 1959, pp. 4178-4813. A critical review of Oilbulka's monograph abowt the oratory at Mro dra. Graus stresses the importance of addit,i onal hell!l"istic work and comparahve material from the Bavarian and Austrian area. 31. K. Va,v rinek: "K otazce pocatku christianisace Vel'ke Moravy," Listy filologicke, Praha, 1'959, pp. 2117-224. Crirtircal r..otes to Cilbulk-a'•s thesis: The reotangular pattern of the edifice at Miodra is hardly saitis:liaotory proof of its "Irish" character. Vavrinek admits, however, that around 800 there were ''I.ri'Sh" missions in Slova!k ia and Moravia. 3'2. Of. Rylbalrov: op. cit., loco cit. J. Strzygow.~ i: Altslawische Kunst, Augsburg, 1929, FiSlclher Verlag, pp. 26-413. 33. J. Paulik: Velkomoravske hradiUe eltc. (our niote No. 2), fig. 3. ·3 4.The Christianization of the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia was not due to typical Oarolingian methods. The moderation used in. this respiect came prolbaibly from hchlbishop .A!lcuin of York. 3i5. Dvornik is right in say-ing that the beginnings of the early feudalistic patronage over the Church are to be looked• fior in Mroravia. T,h e sad oonlfNct 'b etween Svartoplu:k and St. Met hodius is a "prelude to the gigantic investiture struggle whic'h was to end so tragic•aUy in the disrupiton of Western Christiar.ity art; the Reformation" (The Slavs, etc., p. 95). 3•6. R!y,bnik<JIV: op. cit., p. 5'2, p. 54, note 1. 37. For the most com-plete survey of these shrines see Korosec, op. cit., pp. 1170;176. 38. '11he "Iranian" approarch in linguistics is represented by M. V-asmer, in my,thology by R. Jacobson (see his "Slavic Miy,thology" in Funk and w ,a gnall's Standard Diction~ry of Fofklore Myfhol09y and Legend, New Yock, N. Y., 1950, pp. 1025-1028). Adexinsiky: "Slavon-re My,thology" in Larousse .Eycyclopedia of Mythology, New York, N. Y., 11959. F. Dvor,n,i k: The Slavs ertc, pp. 46{iil; see also G. Vernadsky: The Origins of Russia, Oicford: Olarendon Press, 1959, pp. 1-08-117'3. 39. See the opinion of K. Y.avrinek, our nort No. 31. 40. J. ~boril: "Herodotova Skythie a sousede," Slovenska archeo• logia, Vol. Vl!I, 2, 1959, p. 363. Zboril tries to rehaibi'lirtart:e Safarik's theory of a S'cyitr<rSamnart:ian and Sfavic conrtinui,ey, attacked at the begiin,ning of our century by Niederle and- other overzealous ·posiitirvists. >fl. '11he Iranian influence on Sla,vic architectur,e is the thesis of J. Strzy.g01Wsk,i; uhe same influence on Slavic my.thology has been proved by R. Jlacobs,on. Our studies ("Slovak Ruler's Sword,," Scra,nton, 1947, a-nd Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Rome-Oleveland, 1957) try to prove !:his influence, in tihe be exact, the neo-[ranian (Sassanid and A'bassid) influence, in the field o·f fine arts. � SLOVAKIA 59 * EAR!L Y SLOVAK ORATORIES: A STUDY IN SLAVIC-IRANIAN ARCIDTECTURAL TRADITION Joseph G. Cincik The group of medieval churches discovered in the past few decades at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice, Moravia, has not failed to elicit the attention of archeologists (1). It has already given rise to a series of scholarly studies, monographs, articles, and critical notes (2), ye: the original interest in the find is not likely to subside within the near future. And rightly so, for the find may throw a new light on architectural perplexities of the early Middle Ages in Central Europe. It is an established fact that the above churches to be exact, oratories and presbyteries, all of them being of rather small dimensions - were erected in the first, at the latest in the second third of the ninth century, i.e., during the pre-Roman Carolingian period of architec::ure. They stood on what seems to have been both ethnically and historically Slovak soil, a surprisingly large territory consisting of a major part of the present.Jday Moravia and of a major part of the present-day Slovakia, the area covering both banks of the Morava River. It is a well-known fad t that in the early Middle Ages the inhabitants of central and eastern Mora via were known as the Slovieni (Sclavini), and only later were they referred to as the Moravians, obviously after the Morava River(3) . From an ethnic point of view they were actually ancient Slovaks, a fact attested to beyond · a doubt by their dialecrts. The large-scale evangelization of the Slovieni began in the first half of the ninth century(4). At this time a new alignment of political, economic, and social forces emerged on both sides of the Morava River. Various Slovien families, clans, and 1triibes tended to unite under the leadership of their elders and chieftans. This tendency was especially *"MOST," quarterly for Slov:ak culture, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1960, Slovaik ,I nstitute. Cleveland, Ohio. �60 SLOVAKIA strong in the region of the Danube an1d the central area, the latter extending for West to the very Zdan Hills. The growth and unification of the ancient Slovak tribes was a phenomenon of considerable importance wilthout which the establishment of the first Slovak principalities would hardly be understandaible. The first principality to arise was organized by the Priibina dynasty (cca 830) in the N.iltra region, in the territory of present-day Slovakia. Members of the dynasty ruled the principality of Pannonia and chose Blatnohrad as their cap1tal (5). The Mojmir dynasty gained power under Mojmir I (from 836 on) in the lanlds of the present-day southwestern Moravia. As this dynasty controlled the so-called "Amber Route" the main commercial artery between the Baltic and Adriatic seas, - it appeared to be economically superior and, as a result, became the only dynasty to assume power in both the Slovak domains (6). It formed the nucleus of a superstructure that was to emerge as lthe Great Moravian Empire under the rule of Svatopluk I (the Great) around 870. Once esta:blished, the Great Moravian Empire - so called first by Constantine Po11phyrogen1tes, the Emperor of Byzantium - pursued a decisively expansive foreign policy(7). Soon it annexed the Slovien principality of Pannonia and gained, for a ltime at least, complete control thereof (8) . This former Roman province (Pannonia Superior) deserves our serious attention. Prince Pribina (830-861) and Prince Kocel (861-874; from 869 an independent sovereign ruler) became prominent by their zeal in spreading the Gospel and by building new churches and renovating old ones (9). Their activity created a period of Christian revival in Pannonia, a true renascence. It should be noted that only thus the survival of earlier Roman paleo-Christian arch.iltectural forms was made poss~ble (10). Nowhere is it more apparent than in the cities. There the ancient Roman tradition of stone and brick masonry did not die out entirely and could again be put to a constructive use. Builders commissioned by Pribina an!d Kocel had, besides, the opportunity Ito study and �SLOVAKIA 61 imitate earlier Roman structures, e.g., the antique Sophiana, ad Quinque Basilicas, in Pees (11). That they did not fail to do so is proven not only by the fact that recent findings pertaining to !~he Pribina-Kocel period were made in the proximity of a Roman sanctuary built according to the clover-leaf plan, but also by churches they themselves built or renova1ted, such as the trinave church of Pribina at Blatnohrad (12). 1 In comparison, the Christian architecture no1t h of the Danube, in both Slovakia and adjoining Moravia, and generally in the regions beyond the ·b oundaries of the Roman provincial tradition, was of a different nature. There the construction techniques and pa,tterns, space arrangements and space divisions developed to a degree independen1tly of the Roman traditions: a situation revealed to us unmistaka!bly by the group of oratories at Stare Mesto, Mikulcice, and lately Pohansko, near Breclav. The building materj.als used in this area consisted of irregularly quarried stone (opus incertum) and pressed and baked clay; wooden posts and ·b eams were quite common, willowreeds were equally frequent. The space division tended to be more simple, the dimensions were much smaller, very much unlike in some churches erected ( or patterned) on Roman foundaJtions in Pannonia ( 13) . The Pannonian needs called for large edifices to accomodate larger congregations; around these the faithful settled 1to live in the proximity of the early feudal and patronal manor to form thereby a large parish of the Carolingian type. Now, while the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia certainly did not fail later 1to re-use abandoned Roman fortifications and camps - and there are in these lands remnants of solid Roman edifices - a direct Roman influence on the ancient Slovak architecture was, to say the least, improbable (14). The dearth of stone block structures (opus certum) and brick masonry is, in this respect, revelatory. Yet 1the Roman military forts and observation towers on the northern border of the Roman Empire, formed between Vindobona (Vienna) and Aquincuum (Budapest), a rather long and impressive chain ; they did not, nevertheless, affect the basic architectural tendencies of the regions further North �62 SLOVAKIA from the Danube River. There an o1der, less elaborated type of structure, better suited for forest areas, retained its hold. Even an occasional presence there of solid structures, destined evidently to serve military purposes, should be interpreted with caution; it does not imply more than sporadic re-use of the Roman brick and stone masonry by the Slovieni ( 15) . Roman fortifications in this area have recently been searched with minute attention for eventual evidence of a Roman-Slovien relationship. As a result, the presence of the Slovieni in the forts, their use of !the abandoned Roman towers (e.g., Vysehrad) as shelters, can no longer be questioned (16). The enigma is, however, far from completely .solved. There still remains the hard problem of exact dating of the Slovien finds and, consequently, of the Slovien arrival to this part of Central Europe. At the presen!t, our only reliable criterion in this respect is the presence of the tyrpical wavy pattern on Slavic ceramics, a fashion, unfortunately, not older than the sixth century(17). On the other hand, no remnants are extant to show a previous direct Roman influence on pagan or Christian architectural 1trends north of the Danube, just as there are no finds to suggest such an immediate cultural continuity before the sixth century. Yet the Slovieni - and the Slavs in general - do appear in Central Europe as early as the fourth century A.D. We see them exerting pressure on rthe Danubian boundary together with the Sarmatians and Venedi ; they can be traced to adjoining Dacia. This we will try to prove in the near future, in a separate study, basing our conclusions on grey ceramics, not yet marked by wavy patJterns and frequent especially around the Tisa River(18). According to our thesis the Slovieni first entered Central Europe by way of eastern Slovakia and settled in the northern valley of the Tisa River as well as in present-day northern Transylvania (19). It is worthy of note, that, already at 1the time of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the toponymy of northern Dacia is in part of Slav character and thus reveals traces of Sarmatian, Dacian, and Slav co-settlements on both northeastern sides of the Carpathian mountain ridges (20). Recent archeological finds continue �SLOVAKIA 63 to support our view in this maJtter and, at the same time, attest to a considerable exchange in material culture (21). We believe that the architectural situation in the Siovien territories north of the Danube shoultd be studied against this larger background. As we have observed above, all Slavic material culture develops in the forest-covered Carpathian area where wood, clay, and woven reeds are used as the most convenient material. This occurred in the very shadow of the walled Roman castella and observation towers, streJ:ching from Vindobona through Aquincuum far to the north, to the Dacian, Sarmatian, and Slav cosettlements in northern Docia ( 22). It is of common knowledge that the Romans continued to build in masonry edifices of this type up to 1their evacuation of the territory ( cca 270 A.D.). It is necessary, however, to point out that the presence of Christian churches or oratories in Dacia at this period has not yet been proven ( 23) . Pannonia had Christian churches already in the fourth century (24). It was there that the Slav settlers became acquainted with Christianity, unless they had already known the Gospel in its Arian form during an earlier coexistence with the Goths ( 25). Ye:, the Pannonian Slovieni were the first to call their churches "kostoly," a word coined from the Latin Castellum (26). Protected by the strong walls of the Roman castella that lend themselves easily 1to new functions, the Pannonian Slovieni assembled in fortified castella to celebrate their liturgy with such Roman Christians as survived the Pannonian catastrophes. Nor were they alone doing so. It is more than proba·b le that the Arian Goths also used the same edifices during their migrations ,through Pannonia for purposes of worship. Soon the castellum became a synonym for Slavic oratories and churches, and eventually for all solid structures s8rving Christian liturgical needs in Pannonia and Noricum. In the second renascence of Christianity that took place, as we have seen, during the rule of the Slovak princes, the castellum - kostol was again used as a meeting place for worshi:p(27). This new period was marked by the progressive disappearance of the pagan Slovien liturgical terminology. The church was no longer terebliste or �64 SLOVAKIA zertvovisko, terms used formerly to describe a wide, fenceprotected yard around a Slavic and pagan shrine quasimegaron ( 28) . It was, first of all, a kosfiol. Words are symbols of reality, and it is hardly a mere flight of fancy to consider the new term of church, the kostol, as a symbolic culmination point of early fruitful contacts between the Roman civilization and the Slovieni in their original homelands beyond the Cal'pathians ( 29) . The architectural development in Pannonia enaibles us to study the early medieval ecclesiastical edifices in Moravia, so to say, by contrast. We have already pointed out their small dimensions and hinted at some of their characteristic particularities. At this moment we would like to follow Dr. F. Graus and call the reader's attention to the fact 1that their space arrangements are, in a certain degree, a mere conjecture based on negative traces of foundations and patterns discovered during the excavations. We believe that they offer us, nevertheless, important clues to the peculiar religious and social evolution of the Slovien territory aJt the beginning of the ninth century(30). As far as can be ascertained by the present state of the finds, early builders in this area were not just servile imitators of Roman Christian architectural tra!ditions. Yet they did continue tthem to a certain extent, since they separate the presbytery from the narrow apse, the latter often of quadrangular shape. It is equally worthy of note that the church at Modra, near Velehrad, follows the so-called Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") pattern (31). The relatively small dimensions of tthese churches suggest that they were meant to serve single clans, each of them individually. The new Christian community, actually members of the same clan, led by their elder or chieftain, would assemble around the church in the open yard. They would remain standing on the mounds ( valy) or behind them, as they were wont to during the pagan period when the place of worship was still a terebliste. '!'his custom bears a striking similarity with very ancient Iranian traditions (32). (It can be likensd also to Greece, for did not the ancient Greeks worship standing beneath tthe open skies, or, as it sometimes happened, under the cover of a �SLOVAKIA 65 peript.eros, on a plateau, t.emenos, outside the megaron?) The unusual number of oratories at Mikulcice and Stare Mesto, erected apparently within a short time one a.1lter the other, would present an insolvable enigma, were this ageold practice not taken in consideration. And let us point out that, to date, already five oratories (wi1th overall dimensions of 5 x 9-10 meters and 7% x 13¼ meters) were discovered on a small area fifty hectares (33) . The manner of burying the dead (particularly deceased chieftains) and the d ate of origin of these edifices indicate that ithere were no mass conversions (by pressure), but rather a gradual and free acceptance of the Gospel by the leaders of the clans and their families (34). That this occurred mainly in the first and second third of the ninth century is proved by 1the finds beyond any doubt. This impression is strengthened by architectural and architectonic features of the edifices. Their small dimensions in structure is of a pagan-Christian planning and, as far as the space and its use are concerned, reveals a functional duality. The edifice i1tself was traditionally reserved for the priest and his assistants while the courtyard was for the congregation. 1'his type of church architecture reflects both the gradual breaking-away of the Slovieni from paganism in the era of transiJtion from the family control over property held in common, or a distinctly tribal con1trol. It does not as yet reflect, however, the centralized management of civic and religious affairs that is to emerge only under Rastislav's and Svatopluk's reigns, (church patronate), at the time of St. Methodius. The churches at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice were not patronal churches, nor did they serve large parishes, as in Pannonia, or such as existed during the feudalistic period which followed (35) . By their square and rectangular forms, and Jtheir modest dimensions, they remain akin to small roofed edifices of the pagan times. Even the pagan outdoor treblist,e (the gathering place for worship and for the consumption of the offerings of the community) is preserved as i1t was probably in Pannonia, where the large courtyards of the former Roman cast.ella - kostoly needed no special adaptations for a similar use. Thus conceived, the Slovien churches �66 SLOVAKIA required neither the large roof-covered naves nor the spaciousness of the Pannonian city ,b asilicas. (The small rural density of population in Moravia and Slovakia aJt the time should also be taken into consideration). Let us note briefly that in all these open-space places of worship, the natural surroundings of the oratories remained unchanged, unless it was necessary to protecit them by mounds to assure privacy for the faithful present at the Mass, or, inn pagan times, at the sacrifice and consumption of animals ( 36). Mounds, rising above rivers and sloughs, were frequent already in the original Slavic homeland beyond the Carpathians; they wbound wherever the shrines were not protected by swamps. Later ramparts and mounds, erected around the rural shrines of Svantovit in Rujana, of Radgost (Svarozhich) in Rethra, Ptuj (Slovenia), of Perun in Kijev (Ukrainia), etc., manifest the same 1traditional pattern (37). In all these shrines the space division (a small roofed edifice with an a!djoining courtyard) is equally traditional. That this appears to be also the ancient Iranian pattern should cause no surprise, since trwces of a strong Iranian impact on Slavic culture have already been proved in the field of linguistics and mylthology(38). As far as the Slovien Christian churches in Moravia are concerned, we may, certainly, admit a gradual Roman influence, but only as a concomitant factor in their architectural plans. The question is, however, whether this influence has been imposed only on Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") architectural patterns, as claimed by J. Cibulka (39). The writer believes that this type of architectonic space arrangement of sanctuary and yard to be much older and, in territories of Slavs, also of Iranian origin. Considerations of the ethnogenetic nature make our view highly probable. The beginnings of the Slavic family of nations are closely linked, we believe, not only to their Baltic-Slavic linguistic substratum, but also to a common Scythian and Sarmatian civilizaJtion of Iranian origin ( 40). The Slavs were e:iqiosed :to a continuous migration of Iranian mythocreative elements in their original trans-Carpathian homeland and there is no reason to doubt that this impact gave �SLOVAKIA 67 birth to common Slavic architectural concepts and usages ( 41) This cultic and cultural situation must have reached its highest point in the first centuries A.D., at the time when the neo-Iranian ethnic waves began to exer\': considerable pressure on Slavic settlements, penetrating the regions both on the Antes and the eastern Slavic tribes. As these usages were 1the result of cultic requirements which, as far as we can judge, did not change essentially, it must be supposed that they follow the Slavs on their migrations. They spread, in fact, as far as ,~he Baltic (Rujana-Rugen) and the Adriatic and Alpine regions (PitujPettovo) and offered serious resistance to architectonic determinants prevalent in those lands prior to Slav occupation. Wherever the Slavic tribes escaped contact with the architectural heritage of Roman provinces, or, wherever they appeared en masse in depopulated areas, they preserved their own building traditions intact. In this connection we would like to stress the importance of a surprisingly "Slavic" adaptation of the then already existing pagan shrine at Ptuj (Pettovio, Slovenia). We are aware of the fact tha:t Christianity was making inroads above ,~he Danube already in the reign of King Samo (623-360) and that there exist Christian remnants of an even earlier period, such as ivory pyxes from the fifth and sixth centuries, found at Zuran (near Brno, Moravia), or stone caps from church pillars discovered in Seitenstnerhof, in the Merovingian borough of Vienna. We are equally aware of Roman building traditions prevailing in the provinces south of the Danube as well as of their renascence in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel. Nevertheless, we deem it our duty to link the architectural finds at Stare Mesta and Mikulcice with the older pagan, Slavic and Iranian, culture. We claim these edifices, in view of their space divisions and functional aspects, must also be inter,preted in connection wi!th such Slavic architectural trends as there existed between the fourth and ninth centuries and, among the Baltic Slavs and the Slavs of the Kijev region, up to the tenth cenicury. Their distinctly two-fold pattern which combines a rather tiny shrine with a large open-space courtyard, does not seem to admit �68 SLOVAKIA any other interpretation. For ;that reason, tentative comparisons with contemporaneous Christian churches in the near-by regions, while always useful and sometimes quite revealing, should be made with extreme prudence. Even where space seems to be almost centrally arranged (e.g., at Modra where four pillars probably supported a baldachino over the church altar, and not a narrow oratory ceiling as J. Ci'bulka claims), conclusions should be all but one-sided. The locale as well as the dimensions, arrangement, and the space function should always be taken as primary factors in all evaluations. We can only hope that such attention combined with useful analysis of all additional aspects of the finds will not fail to support also our· thesis concerning the preservaJtion of the Slav-Iranian elements or traces in the building patterns of that period. This we hum'bly submit for consideration to all who devote their talents to the study of the early medieval CentralEuropean arch~tecture among the Slavs. REFERENCES: 1. The discovel'y of a small church ,a1t IM odra (near Velehrad) was first reported lby J. Neveril in Naiinec (Ol-0mouc, '19111, Vol. 47, No. 295). By the same author: "Velehrad v olbraz'Cich" in SborniJc: velehradsky, Nova Rada, '1940, p.p. 76-80. I. L. Cervinka, Slovane na Morave a rile Velkomoravska, B11n:o, 1928. V. lli•ulby: Pruvodce vysta,v• kou z moravskych archeologickych vyzkumu, 1948, pp. 112-'14. Archeologicke rozhledy, Vol. 'l'-'2, Praha ,1949, pp. 3{H36; Vol. 3, p. 50, 109 sp. J. Poulik, "Jizni :Morav,a, zeme davnych Slovanu," Pravos,av• ny sbornlk na rok 1950, p. IJ112 sq.; same author, "Objev druheho k<ostela ve Starem Meste," Archeoligicke ro:zhlecly, Vol. 2, Praha, 1950, p. 12-22. 2. J. ctbuI:ka: "Velkomoravske kostely, objevene 1949 vo St,arem Meste," Praha, 1'950 (a mul,tigrap1hed lec,ture). V. Hruby: Stlare Mesto, Velkomoravske pohrebi~:e na Valach," Praha, 195 5, in Monumenta archeologica, tom. 3, edit. Ceskoslovenska akad.e mia ved (Dr. J. Bohm); a detailed monogr,a,p h of the finds, rich Mbliography. Hruby, Hochmanova, Pavelcilk: ''IKostel a pohrelbiste z dolby Velkomoravske na Modre v V·elehradu," Casopis Moravskeho Muse-a (Acta Musei Mo .raviae), V-01. Jill, Brno, 1955, pp. 412Jl26. J. Poulik: "Vysledky VY· zkumu na velkioon,or,avskem hradisti '"V•al:Y" u Mdikulcic," Pamatky ar· cheologicke, XI.JVl1IIII, Praha, '1957; sepa,rat-um; pp. 214-3116. J. Oilbulka: Velkomoravsky kostel v Modre u Velehradu a zacatky krest'anstvf na Morave, Praha, 1958, in Monumen,ta archeologica, tom. vm, ed'it. Ceskoslovens:ka akademia ved. J. Poulik: Velkomoravske hradilte Mikulcice: Pruvodce po archeoligickych vyzkumech:, Gottwaldow: Kr,ajElke niaklad'a-telsitvi, 1959; contains a good survey of four oratories found up to 1959 and indications of the tra:ces showing the 1 �SLOVAKIA 69 possilbility of the fift'h church on the location. F. Kalousek: "Velkomoravske hradiste Po'hans'ko u Breclave, in Archeologicke rozhledy, XillI, Pr.aha, 11960, pp. 496-530. 3. F. Trav,nicek: Moravska nareci, Praha, 1926, PIP- 14,118; and a geographilcal card showing the boundaries of the Slovak dialects in medie,v al and co111tempora11y Morarvia. J. :Po·ulik: Staroslovanska Moirava, Pra,h a, 1'!}418, pp. 107.ilOB, p. 111'2; see also PmtliJk's card (No.:H) illus1tra1ting the exten,srion of the Slovak dialects in Mmavia, based or. t'he research made by F. Tra¥nicek. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Y.ol. 1, Bratislava, 11958; c'ha,pt. X. "'Sbr·e doveke sloven~ke jazy,k<ove uzemie, 1<. Moraivska dblast'," pp. 14'7·1'55; a good survey of ·opin,i,ons defended by V. Jagic, P. J. Safarik, 0 . ~aemmel J. L. Cervirrk<a, F. 'Dravnicek, J . V. Dekan, S. Schl\Vlaritz et al. P . .J. §a,f arik: SloYanske staroiitnosti, Praha, 11837, p. 7941: ''I think that a l ong time ago, i.e., before the political separation e.f.1fected bebween Hungary and Moravia, the line of di'Vision between the Ozelch and Slovak d<ialects ran somewhere through the center o'f Moravia, and not on t1he mountains dividing the prerent-day Hunga ry from Mo· ravia." 4. Cf. Libellus de conversione Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum ( cca. 87Q.J87,l,), and Epistola episcoporum BaNariensium ad Jo·ha nnem P. IX . .scripta a. 900. (In Monumenf\a Germaniae histol"ica Scriptores XI. pp. 1~115). Of. Migne, P. L. Y,ol. 113'1, col. 34138. F. Dvornik' The Slavs, Their Early History and Civilization, Boston, 1·956, pp. 7 6-81. J. G. Cirrci:k: Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Slovak Ir.sti1tute, R:ome,Oleveland, 11958, pp. 7'1.f74 and pp. 83-88. ·5_ D. Rlapant: Pribinov nitriansky kostolik, 11941142, separa,tum from Elan, Vol. XII, No. 2-3. F. Hrusov:Sky: Sfovenski vladari, Scranton, P.a., 1'!~418; see chapt. on PriJbina , Kocel, and M,o.jmir I. 1 6. F. Bokes: Slovensky iivotny pr'ie5rtor v min.u<losti a dnes, Bra tislav,a : Cas, 1'943, p. 34. A. S1pe11ke: The Andent Amber ~ou,t es and -the Geog.raphical Discovery of the Eastern Baltic, Stoe'kholm: M. Goppers ('ZeUa A!bele). p. 60 s.p . J . G. Oincik: AncierJ Slovak Fibulas .and Pseudo.iFibulas, Ohic:igo-Whi:ting, 11957·; see caird Nlo. 1 for "the AIJlllber Rowt,e " and card N10. 2 showing the eX!tension of the s :ovak influenice in Central Europe in the sixth-tenth centuries A.D. K. Miajewctki: lmporty nymskie n'a ziemiac,h Slowanskic,h, Wro.claw: Wroclaiws:kie T•ow.arzystwo Nauk,o,we, 1949; see mau> No. 2, "Szlaky i ,rnk>ty burs2ltynowe ." 1 7. Constantinus Poriphyrogenitus : De administl'lando lmperio; in •Corpus scrip.t orum historiae Byzantinae, Bonn, 1,949, Edit. G. Morav,c:;;ik, Bud,a·p est, 11949; English v,ersion, by R. J. H. J,enkins. F. Dvornik: The Slavs, op. cit. p. 94. 18. The temporary ar.nex,a tion of Pannonia occurred after the death of Kocel, 87•5. F. Drvornik: op. cit. , pp. 95"9,6; see also the card " The Mioravi,an Empire c:ca 890," p. 99. :9, M. K:os: Conversio Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum, Ljuibljana, 1.93·6, p. 1136, chaipt. 111 sq. J. Ci.Jbulka : Vaclavske rotunda svateho Vf,ta, Praha, 1933; separatum of the Svatovaclavsky sbornik, pp. 1-li7:8; see pages 36 sq. "Kost-ely podunajsky•c h Slovan,u, je,j1ich stavelbnici a po1 �70 SLOVAKIA sveceni"; Cilbulka enumerates 312 churches consecrated in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel, t;wel,ve of bhern corusecratied personally by the A['chibislhop of Sa17Jburg. 10. L. Galdi: "Le Romanisrne transdanllibien.,'' Studi e documenti italo-ungheresi della Reale Accademia d'Ungheria di Roma, Vol. 1, Rome, 1936, pp. 3·9-40; note ·53: "Quant a l'irufluence slave qui apparut a une date relati'Vernent tardive, eUe laissa pro,'balblernent aussi des traices . .. II faut envisager aussi des contacts plus ou rnoins durables entre les Sla'Ves et les Pannoniens romanises." A. Alfoldi: "Tracee d'el Cristian•esirno dell'~poca delle grandi rnigrazioni in- Ungheria," Quaderni dell'llmpero, Rome, 1938, pp. 17-21. L. Nagy: "Pannonia sacra," Szem Istvan kiraly .Emlekkon,y v (ed. J. Seredi). Bud,apest , 11938, Vol. 1·, pp. 29-al48. T. von Nagiy: Die Geschichte des Chris, entums in Pannonia bis zu dem Zusammenbruch des romischen Grenzschutzes, in Dissertationes Pannonicae, series m. 112; a1nd. same author : "A pann6niai 6kerestzeny egyhazkozsegi bazilikak," Szepmiiveszet, Vol. :El, Budapest, 1,94!1, pp. 144Jll48; and' same author: "Zuim Problem der Kontinuti1tiiJt in Pannonien," Das Bildwerk (ed. F. Kup!feriberg), Berlin, 194'2, p. 3-'6. 11. Dercseny,i, Poganyi, Szentikiraly,i; Pees, Budaipest, 19,56, in Varoskepek, miiemlekek (ed. J. Paipp)), see ,p p. 7..S, 1'7"19 on Slavic 'b uilding activiby in the area of the paleo-Ohdsti-an cemetery and around the basilica; lso fig. 2, 3t, 3d about the renovation of aticient Christian buildings under Priibina and Kocel, p. 20. F . Fiiller: "Neuere Ausgralbungen in der cella trichora von Pees Wtin'fkirc hen)," Acta archeol ig ica, torn. X,I, fasc. 1-4, Bud apest, 1959, pp. 399-417. 1 '12. A. Von Radn6ti: "'Une Eglise du haut rnoyen age a Zalavar," E1: udes Slaves et Roumaines, Vol. 1', pp. 2'1•31•. T. von Bogyay: "Izkopavanja v Zalavaru in r..jihov-a zgodovinska razlag,a " Umetnostnozgodinski zbornik, N. S. 2, Ljubljana, pp. 2Ll-24S; s•a me author: Die Kunst und kirchengeshichtliche Bedeutung der Ausgrabungen von Mosapurz-Zalavar, Baden-Baden, '1956, in Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichtlichen und Christlichen Archeologie; same author: "Mios,a purc und Zala'Var: eine Auswertung der archeiligischen Funde und schrift.lichen Quellen," Siidost Forschungen, 1955, Vol. XiIIV, 2, pip. 349-406. D. DercsenyJ: "Uiabb regeszeti k11tatlasok es a pannoniai kontinu i" as kwrdese',, Szazadok, 1947, pp. 203-21Jl; same author: "l!Eglise de Pribina a Zalavar, Etudes slaves et rouma i•nes, Vol. I, 1•9418, pp. 85--100; same author: A magyar miiveszet tortenete, Vol. I, Budapest, 1956, pp. 12~18. L. Kararnan: "A propos de l'eglise a Blatnograd, ville de Baleton," Arc·heologia Jugos lavica, '1, 1954, pp. 91'96. Kararnan is persuaded that the tri-naved church of Pr~bin-a found in the locality of Receskut at Blatnograd (Zalavar, Mos,al)ruc) is of Romar. origin. G. Feher: "Les Fouilles de Zalawar (li9511..i195G)," Acta archeologica, Budaipest, li9514, V•ol. 4, pp. 201'-26Q. Feher claims that tJhe church (see note 10, p. 206J207) was erected, i n the time of Prince Kocel. 13. See the plans of Pannonian churches in L. Nagy and T. von Nagy, op. cil:. (Our note No. ,10). 14. L. Nlagiy: Azeskii teri r6mai erod, Pest, varos ose, Budlaipest, 1946; concerning the settlementJs of the Slav potter y producers in the old Roman cubiculae and their use of t'he niches for kilns. S. �SLOVAKIA 71 Soproni: "A visegradi r6ma,l taibor es kozepkori var," Archeo·l ogiai ertesito, Vol. 81, Budapest, 1,954, pp. 49-'.'13. The re,use of Rloman bricks in the early SLavic a['chilteoture in the proximity oif the DaJmbe River has been studied of.ten and repeatedly. For the latest da,ta peritaining to our field see Vera HoclrmainovaJV!avrova, "Sysitema,ticky archeologicky vy21kum u STS ve Starem Meste," Pravek vychodni Moravy, ed. Krajsky vlastivedny ustav, Gottiwald10v, 11959, pp. 73-7\5. 11,5 . J,. Dekan: "Stand und Aufgalben der Limesforschung in der Slowakei," in Vhe volume of lectures Limes Romanus Konferenrz, Nitra, ed. Slovenska akademia vied, .Alrcheologicky ustav v Nitre (A. Tocik, ed.), Bratislava, 195,9, pp. 111-48; a concise survey of the Roman proviillCial finds architectural structures in the river valleys of the Morava, Vah, Nitra, and Hron; es·pecially valualb le for the description of the castrum Milanovce (near Nitra) built in the second or third century A.iD. ,1,6. B. Svolboda: "Uebeir das Nachleiben der romischen Kultur in mibtleren DonaUlbecken," Limes Romanus Kon,f erenz, Nitl'a, p;p. 1072 1116. S. Soproni: "Der spatromische Limes wJsche•r.. Visegrad und Eszter~om," ibid., pp. 'lr.3•1~143. M. Hegy: Visegrad, Budarpest, series Mfremlekeiruk, 1'956, ,p. 10; see also t'he plan of the Roman castrum, fig. 3. 1'7. For the daita,tion, of the Slavic pottery previous to the sixth cerntury,, the so-called Prague type of ceramics (a simple urn wilth str,a igM mouth, made on a potter',s wheel or simp ly by hand's) is of a great value. Of. J. Borarkovsky's: Slovanska keremika ve stredni ,Evrope, Pr,a ha, 1940; same author: "Nejstarsi slov,ar.s'ka k•e remika ze stredni'ch Cech," Pamatky archeologicke, Praha, 1936-3-8. For the evoluti'on of the Slavic pottery patterns in Morava, cf the s:chemes based on th•e Velatice stratas and collected by J . Poulik and W. Hensel. See illustrations (No. ,276-2.'76) in Hensel: Slowianczyzna wczesnorednowieczna: Zarys kultury materialnej, Wai;szarwa: Pols:k,a akiademia nauk, 11956, pp. 281.;300; nd Josip Korosec: Uvod v ma• terialno kulturo Slovanov zgodnjega srednega veka, Ljulbl1ana, 1'9512, p. 1180 sq. 11,8. J. G. Oincik: Ancient Slovak Fibulas, etc., ip. 12, card 2 following p. 3-8. Our views hav•e found a new con'f irmation in t he the• sis of V. Ondrouch: '"Hist-odsche Vio r,a ussetzungen fiir die Limes· forsc'hwng in der Tschechoslowakei," Limes Romanus Kon,fe.renz, pip . 63Jl06, see also card No. L "•E thnigraphische Entw,ilcklung der Tschechoslowakei vom Ende des 1. J,a hrhundeints vor u. Z. bis zur Ankunft der ersten Slawen." 1'9. I. T. Kruglik!ov,a: Dakiya v epokhu .rimskoy okkupasiyi, Mos• cow: Akademia Nauk SSSIR, ]nmituit istorii i inst. istor. material. kultury, 11955, V,ol. 8, p. 163 sq. "Pri102ihenye: 0 svyazakh Daik iyi so Slavyanami." A. Tocik: "Vyznam poslednych archeologicikych vy2ikumov na Slov,e nsku pre dejiny najs,tarsich S'1ovanov a Vel'komoravskej rise," Historicky casopis S·A V, E!I, Bratislava, 1955, p. 4l12. Tocik believes thaJt the ar,cheoiogical finds made in eastern Slovak vall-eys of the ·Hornad and Torysa are from the fourth century A.D. and belong in. the sphere o.f the so-icalled Lipicka Culture; same author: "Prvi Slo·v ania na r.asom uzemi," Praca, 195 8, No. 1,96. 1 1 1 1 1 �72 SLOVAKIA 20. N. Iorga: Histoire des Roumains at de la Romanite oriemale, Bucuresti: Aeademie Roumaine, 19317, Vol 2, La Synthese slave, p. 296. E . Moor : "Die Slawischen Ortsnannes der Theisselbene," Zeitschrift fur Ortsnamen Forschung, VoL W , 1930, pp. 1-'317 and 105-ll40. The S1'avic toponomy of northern Dacia has been s,tudied by proif. SeVler Pop; 1his study published in the symposium Trans,y lvan1ia during the ]I_ W. W. was no t accessible to me. P . Olteunu: ' Wumiri slave in Trans,i•!Jvanie de nord," Limba li Literaturia, 11957, Vol. VIT!llI, pp. 195'214; same author : "Aux origines de la culture sl.ave dans la Tuansylvani e du Nord at le Maramures," Romanoslavica, 11958, Vol. 1, pp. 169-1'97. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Bratislava : SAV, 1958, par. 4', "Slovenske sidla v hornom a strednom Po~isi," pp. 1180..164. 21. M. J . Bmjcevskij : Starodavni schidni Sloviani, Kijiv: Akad . Nauk Ukrailli>koy RSR, lnstirtwt Archeologiy;i, 19'59, erupt. 8, pp. 316-315'5, card on page 317. Of. the ediforiial introduction to SlovansJc:a archeologia, 1'960, Vlll.J, rpage 6; here a thesis is made concerning t'he Presov type i1111heren,t to the Przewoc,skio-Llrpicka Culture. 22. Structure reipresentatfons on the well-known Trnian a,i d Marcus Aurelius columns ir: Rome reveal the 'basic di.fference bet.iween the barbarian log-sty;le arohiteoture and the masonry-style of the Roman builc:Liin,gs in the Car,pa,thian Basin. In thi,s respect the analyitical p·hotograip'h ic study of the M. Aurelius colUJmn by G. Recatti seem s quite corwi n\cin.g. (Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Milano, Roma, 1957; for comparison see fig. 2, 14; for t he an t·hropological features of the Slavs or Sarimaitians see fig. 42). Via n der Heyden : Scullard·: Allas of the Classical World, Nelson and Sons, 1959, card 511 , p. 127, pp. 109-1'111. 23 . Except for the Christian inscriiption from cca 107...270 A.D., found in Napoca (Cluj), north of the Miaros River. See Var. de Meer, Miohr.mar:n: Atlas of the Early Christian World, Nelson and Sons, 1<958, card No. 8, "Churches founded before the per,secu1ion by Diocletian (304)." 24. See T. von Nagy : Die Geschichte des Christentums in Pannonien,, etc., our nlO'tle No. 10. 25. The Arian heresy spread among the Goths around the yea~ :t40, at the time of Slav-Gothic co-existence. 126. H . Bartek: "Krest'anstvo a slovencina," Nadej vit'azna, Sc-r anton, 1947, pp. 253. The Czech kostel and the ~olish kosci~I are derivatives of this Slavic pannonism. Of. also tJhe toponymic Keszthely ir: the matnohud district. D. Pais: "A r6mai castellum szlavimagyar folyrtat asa," Magyar nyelv, 1049, pp. 107~1,15. Amon.g the eastern and southern Slavic g,r oup, the term oiric:ev, crkva is a deriv,a-tio,n, of t'he Greek kuriakon.; it refers both to the Ohristian communtty and to the place o.f worship. AngI-crS'ax-0n kirchun, kirchen, kirk is of an Eastern Gerimani'c influence. 27. A . .Alfody: "Tracee . . . " (our note No. 10), p. 10, pp. 14•17. 28. B. A. R'y!balrov: Die Kunst der alten Slawen. Dresden, 1,957, in Geschi0hte der russic'1en ku~, Vol. 1, pp. 54-517, .All:fu. 5()-iSl. ,29.M. Szmiszko: Kultury wczesnego okresu epoki cenrstwa rzymskie go w Malopolsce Wschodniej, Lwow, 1932. M. B. Braj1 �SLOVAKIA 73 cevsskij: Rimska moneta na teritorii Ukrajlini, Kijiv, 1959, edit. Akademia nau:k Ukraijinsikoy RISR, Inst. Archeolog-ii. K. Miajews'l~i: lmporty rzymskie na zemiach slowianskich, Wroclaiw, .194'9, edit. Pra'Ce WrocI,aw. Toiwarzy&twa Naukovego; series A NlR li3. 30. F. Graus: ''K pofatkum krest'answi na Morave, Cs. casopis historicky, Vol. Vff-.3, Praha, 1959, pp. 4178-4813. A critical review of Oilbulka's monograph abowt the oratory at Mro dra. Graus stresses the importance of addit,i onal hell!l"istic work and comparahve material from the Bavarian and Austrian area. 31. K. Va,v rinek: "K otazce pocatku christianisace Vel'ke Moravy," Listy filologicke, Praha, 1'959, pp. 2117-224. Crirtircal r..otes to Cilbulk-a'•s thesis: The reotangular pattern of the edifice at Miodra is hardly saitis:liaotory proof of its "Irish" character. Vavrinek admits, however, that around 800 there were ''I.ri'Sh" missions in Slova!k ia and Moravia. 3'2. Of. Rylbalrov: op. cit., loco cit. J. Strzygow.~ i: Altslawische Kunst, Augsburg, 1929, FiSlclher Verlag, pp. 26-413. 33. J. Paulik: Velkomoravske hradiUe eltc. (our niote No. 2), fig. 3. ·3 4.The Christianization of the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia was not due to typical Oarolingian methods. The moderation used in. this respiect came prolbaibly from hchlbishop .A!lcuin of York. 3i5. Dvornik is right in say-ing that the beginnings of the early feudalistic patronage over the Church are to be looked• fior in Mroravia. T,h e sad oonlfNct 'b etween Svartoplu:k and St. Met hodius is a "prelude to the gigantic investiture struggle whic'h was to end so tragic•aUy in the disrupiton of Western Christiar.ity art; the Reformation" (The Slavs, etc., p. 95). 3•6. R!y,bnik<JIV: op. cit., p. 5'2, p. 54, note 1. 37. For the most com-plete survey of these shrines see Korosec, op. cit., pp. 1170;176. 38. '11he "Iranian" approarch in linguistics is represented by M. V-asmer, in my,thology by R. Jacobson (see his "Slavic Miy,thology" in Funk and w ,a gnall's Standard Diction~ry of Fofklore Myfhol09y and Legend, New Yock, N. Y., 1950, pp. 1025-1028). Adexinsiky: "Slavon-re My,thology" in Larousse .Eycyclopedia of Mythology, New York, N. Y., 11959. F. Dvor,n,i k: The Slavs ertc, pp. 46{iil; see also G. Vernadsky: The Origins of Russia, Oicford: Olarendon Press, 1959, pp. 1-08-117'3. 39. See the opinion of K. Y.avrinek, our nort No. 31. 40. J. ~boril: "Herodotova Skythie a sousede," Slovenska archeo• logia, Vol. Vl!I, 2, 1959, p. 363. Zboril tries to rehaibi'lirtart:e Safarik's theory of a S'cyitr<rSamnart:ian and Sfavic conrtinui,ey, attacked at the begiin,ning of our century by Niederle and- other overzealous ·posiitirvists. >fl. '11he Iranian influence on Sla,vic architectur,e is the thesis of J. Strzy.g01Wsk,i; uhe same influence on Slavic my.thology has been proved by R. Jlacobs,on. Our studies ("Slovak Ruler's Sword,," Scra,nton, 1947, a-nd Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Rome-Oleveland, 1957) try to prove !:his influence, in tihe be exact, the neo-[ranian (Sassanid and A'bassid) influence, in the field o·f fine arts. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 59 * EAR!L Y SLOVAK ORATORIES: A STUDY IN SLAVIC-IRANIAN ARCIDTECTURAL TRADITION Joseph G. Cincik The group of medieval churches discovered in the past few decades at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice, Moravia, has not failed to elicit the attention of archeologists (1). It has already given rise to a series of scholarly studies, monographs, articles, and critical notes (2), ye: the original interest in the find is not likely to subside within the near future. And rightly so, for the find may throw a new light on architectural perplexities of the early Middle Ages in Central Europe. It is an established fact that the above churches to be exact, oratories and presbyteries, all of them being of rather small dimensions - were erected in the first, at the latest in the second third of the ninth century, i.e., during the pre-Roman Carolingian period of architec::ure. They stood on what seems to have been both ethnically and historically Slovak soil, a surprisingly large territory consisting of a major part of the present.Jday Moravia and of a major part of the present-day Slovakia, the area covering both banks of the Morava River. It is a well-known fad t that in the early Middle Ages the inhabitants of central and eastern Mora via were known as the Slovieni (Sclavini), and only later were they referred to as the Moravians, obviously after the Morava River(3) . From an ethnic point of view they were actually ancient Slovaks, a fact attested to beyond · a doubt by their dialecrts. The large-scale evangelization of the Slovieni began in the first half of the ninth century(4). At this time a new alignment of political, economic, and social forces emerged on both sides of the Morava River. Various Slovien families, clans, and 1triibes tended to unite under the leadership of their elders and chieftans. This tendency was especially *"MOST," quarterly for Slov:ak culture, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1960, Slovaik ,I nstitute. Cleveland, Ohio. 60 SLOVAKIA strong in the region of the Danube an1d the central area, the latter extending for West to the very Zdan Hills. The growth and unification of the ancient Slovak tribes was a phenomenon of considerable importance wilthout which the establishment of the first Slovak principalities would hardly be understandaible. The first principality to arise was organized by the Priibina dynasty (cca 830) in the N.iltra region, in the territory of present-day Slovakia. Members of the dynasty ruled the principality of Pannonia and chose Blatnohrad as their cap1tal (5). The Mojmir dynasty gained power under Mojmir I (from 836 on) in the lanlds of the present-day southwestern Moravia. As this dynasty controlled the so-called "Amber Route" the main commercial artery between the Baltic and Adriatic seas, - it appeared to be economically superior and, as a result, became the only dynasty to assume power in both the Slovak domains (6). It formed the nucleus of a superstructure that was to emerge as lthe Great Moravian Empire under the rule of Svatopluk I (the Great) around 870. Once esta:blished, the Great Moravian Empire - so called first by Constantine Po11phyrogen1tes, the Emperor of Byzantium - pursued a decisively expansive foreign policy(7). Soon it annexed the Slovien principality of Pannonia and gained, for a ltime at least, complete control thereof (8) . This former Roman province (Pannonia Superior) deserves our serious attention. Prince Pribina (830-861) and Prince Kocel (861-874; from 869 an independent sovereign ruler) became prominent by their zeal in spreading the Gospel and by building new churches and renovating old ones (9). Their activity created a period of Christian revival in Pannonia, a true renascence. It should be noted that only thus the survival of earlier Roman paleo-Christian arch.iltectural forms was made poss~ble (10). Nowhere is it more apparent than in the cities. There the ancient Roman tradition of stone and brick masonry did not die out entirely and could again be put to a constructive use. Builders commissioned by Pribina an!d Kocel had, besides, the opportunity Ito study and SLOVAKIA 61 imitate earlier Roman structures, e.g., the antique Sophiana, ad Quinque Basilicas, in Pees (11). That they did not fail to do so is proven not only by the fact that recent findings pertaining to !~he Pribina-Kocel period were made in the proximity of a Roman sanctuary built according to the clover-leaf plan, but also by churches they themselves built or renova1ted, such as the trinave church of Pribina at Blatnohrad (12). 1 In comparison, the Christian architecture no1t h of the Danube, in both Slovakia and adjoining Moravia, and generally in the regions beyond the ·b oundaries of the Roman provincial tradition, was of a different nature. There the construction techniques and pa,tterns, space arrangements and space divisions developed to a degree independen1tly of the Roman traditions: a situation revealed to us unmistaka!bly by the group of oratories at Stare Mesto, Mikulcice, and lately Pohansko, near Breclav. The building materj.als used in this area consisted of irregularly quarried stone (opus incertum) and pressed and baked clay; wooden posts and ·b eams were quite common, willowreeds were equally frequent. The space division tended to be more simple, the dimensions were much smaller, very much unlike in some churches erected ( or patterned) on Roman foundaJtions in Pannonia ( 13) . The Pannonian needs called for large edifices to accomodate larger congregations; around these the faithful settled 1to live in the proximity of the early feudal and patronal manor to form thereby a large parish of the Carolingian type. Now, while the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia certainly did not fail later 1to re-use abandoned Roman fortifications and camps - and there are in these lands remnants of solid Roman edifices - a direct Roman influence on the ancient Slovak architecture was, to say the least, improbable (14). The dearth of stone block structures (opus certum) and brick masonry is, in this respect, revelatory. Yet 1the Roman military forts and observation towers on the northern border of the Roman Empire, formed between Vindobona (Vienna) and Aquincuum (Budapest), a rather long and impressive chain ; they did not, nevertheless, affect the basic architectural tendencies of the regions further North 62 SLOVAKIA from the Danube River. There an o1der, less elaborated type of structure, better suited for forest areas, retained its hold. Even an occasional presence there of solid structures, destined evidently to serve military purposes, should be interpreted with caution; it does not imply more than sporadic re-use of the Roman brick and stone masonry by the Slovieni ( 15) . Roman fortifications in this area have recently been searched with minute attention for eventual evidence of a Roman-Slovien relationship. As a result, the presence of the Slovieni in the forts, their use of !the abandoned Roman towers (e.g., Vysehrad) as shelters, can no longer be questioned (16). The enigma is, however, far from completely .solved. There still remains the hard problem of exact dating of the Slovien finds and, consequently, of the Slovien arrival to this part of Central Europe. At the presen!t, our only reliable criterion in this respect is the presence of the tyrpical wavy pattern on Slavic ceramics, a fashion, unfortunately, not older than the sixth century(17). On the other hand, no remnants are extant to show a previous direct Roman influence on pagan or Christian architectural 1trends north of the Danube, just as there are no finds to suggest such an immediate cultural continuity before the sixth century. Yet the Slovieni - and the Slavs in general - do appear in Central Europe as early as the fourth century A.D. We see them exerting pressure on rthe Danubian boundary together with the Sarmatians and Venedi ; they can be traced to adjoining Dacia. This we will try to prove in the near future, in a separate study, basing our conclusions on grey ceramics, not yet marked by wavy patJterns and frequent especially around the Tisa River(18). According to our thesis the Slovieni first entered Central Europe by way of eastern Slovakia and settled in the northern valley of the Tisa River as well as in present-day northern Transylvania (19). It is worthy of note, that, already at 1the time of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the toponymy of northern Dacia is in part of Slav character and thus reveals traces of Sarmatian, Dacian, and Slav co-settlements on both northeastern sides of the Carpathian mountain ridges (20). Recent archeological finds continue SLOVAKIA 63 to support our view in this maJtter and, at the same time, attest to a considerable exchange in material culture (21). We believe that the architectural situation in the Siovien territories north of the Danube shoultd be studied against this larger background. As we have observed above, all Slavic material culture develops in the forest-covered Carpathian area where wood, clay, and woven reeds are used as the most convenient material. This occurred in the very shadow of the walled Roman castella and observation towers, streJ:ching from Vindobona through Aquincuum far to the north, to the Dacian, Sarmatian, and Slav cosettlements in northern Docia ( 22). It is of common knowledge that the Romans continued to build in masonry edifices of this type up to 1their evacuation of the territory ( cca 270 A.D.). It is necessary, however, to point out that the presence of Christian churches or oratories in Dacia at this period has not yet been proven ( 23) . Pannonia had Christian churches already in the fourth century (24). It was there that the Slav settlers became acquainted with Christianity, unless they had already known the Gospel in its Arian form during an earlier coexistence with the Goths ( 25). Ye:, the Pannonian Slovieni were the first to call their churches "kostoly," a word coined from the Latin Castellum (26). Protected by the strong walls of the Roman castella that lend themselves easily 1to new functions, the Pannonian Slovieni assembled in fortified castella to celebrate their liturgy with such Roman Christians as survived the Pannonian catastrophes. Nor were they alone doing so. It is more than proba·b le that the Arian Goths also used the same edifices during their migrations ,through Pannonia for purposes of worship. Soon the castellum became a synonym for Slavic oratories and churches, and eventually for all solid structures s8rving Christian liturgical needs in Pannonia and Noricum. In the second renascence of Christianity that took place, as we have seen, during the rule of the Slovak princes, the castellum - kostol was again used as a meeting place for worshi:p(27). This new period was marked by the progressive disappearance of the pagan Slovien liturgical terminology. The church was no longer terebliste or 64 SLOVAKIA zertvovisko, terms used formerly to describe a wide, fenceprotected yard around a Slavic and pagan shrine quasimegaron ( 28) . It was, first of all, a kosfiol. Words are symbols of reality, and it is hardly a mere flight of fancy to consider the new term of church, the kostol, as a symbolic culmination point of early fruitful contacts between the Roman civilization and the Slovieni in their original homelands beyond the Cal'pathians ( 29) . The architectural development in Pannonia enaibles us to study the early medieval ecclesiastical edifices in Moravia, so to say, by contrast. We have already pointed out their small dimensions and hinted at some of their characteristic particularities. At this moment we would like to follow Dr. F. Graus and call the reader's attention to the fact 1that their space arrangements are, in a certain degree, a mere conjecture based on negative traces of foundations and patterns discovered during the excavations. We believe that they offer us, nevertheless, important clues to the peculiar religious and social evolution of the Slovien territory aJt the beginning of the ninth century(30). As far as can be ascertained by the present state of the finds, early builders in this area were not just servile imitators of Roman Christian architectural tra!ditions. Yet they did continue tthem to a certain extent, since they separate the presbytery from the narrow apse, the latter often of quadrangular shape. It is equally worthy of note that the church at Modra, near Velehrad, follows the so-called Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") pattern (31). The relatively small dimensions of tthese churches suggest that they were meant to serve single clans, each of them individually. The new Christian community, actually members of the same clan, led by their elder or chieftain, would assemble around the church in the open yard. They would remain standing on the mounds ( valy) or behind them, as they were wont to during the pagan period when the place of worship was still a terebliste. '!'his custom bears a striking similarity with very ancient Iranian traditions (32). (It can be likensd also to Greece, for did not the ancient Greeks worship standing beneath tthe open skies, or, as it sometimes happened, under the cover of a SLOVAKIA 65 peript.eros, on a plateau, t.emenos, outside the megaron?) The unusual number of oratories at Mikulcice and Stare Mesto, erected apparently within a short time one a.1lter the other, would present an insolvable enigma, were this ageold practice not taken in consideration. And let us point out that, to date, already five oratories (wi1th overall dimensions of 5 x 9-10 meters and 7% x 13¼ meters) were discovered on a small area fifty hectares (33) . The manner of burying the dead (particularly deceased chieftains) and the d ate of origin of these edifices indicate that ithere were no mass conversions (by pressure), but rather a gradual and free acceptance of the Gospel by the leaders of the clans and their families (34). That this occurred mainly in the first and second third of the ninth century is proved by 1the finds beyond any doubt. This impression is strengthened by architectural and architectonic features of the edifices. Their small dimensions in structure is of a pagan-Christian planning and, as far as the space and its use are concerned, reveals a functional duality. The edifice i1tself was traditionally reserved for the priest and his assistants while the courtyard was for the congregation. 1'his type of church architecture reflects both the gradual breaking-away of the Slovieni from paganism in the era of transiJtion from the family control over property held in common, or a distinctly tribal con1trol. It does not as yet reflect, however, the centralized management of civic and religious affairs that is to emerge only under Rastislav's and Svatopluk's reigns, (church patronate), at the time of St. Methodius. The churches at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice were not patronal churches, nor did they serve large parishes, as in Pannonia, or such as existed during the feudalistic period which followed (35) . By their square and rectangular forms, and Jtheir modest dimensions, they remain akin to small roofed edifices of the pagan times. Even the pagan outdoor treblist,e (the gathering place for worship and for the consumption of the offerings of the community) is preserved as i1t was probably in Pannonia, where the large courtyards of the former Roman cast.ella - kostoly needed no special adaptations for a similar use. Thus conceived, the Slovien churches 66 SLOVAKIA required neither the large roof-covered naves nor the spaciousness of the Pannonian city ,b asilicas. (The small rural density of population in Moravia and Slovakia aJt the time should also be taken into consideration). Let us note briefly that in all these open-space places of worship, the natural surroundings of the oratories remained unchanged, unless it was necessary to protecit them by mounds to assure privacy for the faithful present at the Mass, or, inn pagan times, at the sacrifice and consumption of animals ( 36). Mounds, rising above rivers and sloughs, were frequent already in the original Slavic homeland beyond the Carpathians; they wbound wherever the shrines were not protected by swamps. Later ramparts and mounds, erected around the rural shrines of Svantovit in Rujana, of Radgost (Svarozhich) in Rethra, Ptuj (Slovenia), of Perun in Kijev (Ukrainia), etc., manifest the same 1traditional pattern (37). In all these shrines the space division (a small roofed edifice with an a!djoining courtyard) is equally traditional. That this appears to be also the ancient Iranian pattern should cause no surprise, since trwces of a strong Iranian impact on Slavic culture have already been proved in the field of linguistics and mylthology(38). As far as the Slovien Christian churches in Moravia are concerned, we may, certainly, admit a gradual Roman influence, but only as a concomitant factor in their architectural plans. The question is, however, whether this influence has been imposed only on Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") architectural patterns, as claimed by J. Cibulka (39). The writer believes that this type of architectonic space arrangement of sanctuary and yard to be much older and, in territories of Slavs, also of Iranian origin. Considerations of the ethnogenetic nature make our view highly probable. The beginnings of the Slavic family of nations are closely linked, we believe, not only to their Baltic-Slavic linguistic substratum, but also to a common Scythian and Sarmatian civilizaJtion of Iranian origin ( 40). The Slavs were e:iqiosed :to a continuous migration of Iranian mythocreative elements in their original trans-Carpathian homeland and there is no reason to doubt that this impact gave SLOVAKIA 67 birth to common Slavic architectural concepts and usages ( 41) This cultic and cultural situation must have reached its highest point in the first centuries A.D., at the time when the neo-Iranian ethnic waves began to exer\': considerable pressure on Slavic settlements, penetrating the regions both on the Antes and the eastern Slavic tribes. As these usages were 1the result of cultic requirements which, as far as we can judge, did not change essentially, it must be supposed that they follow the Slavs on their migrations. They spread, in fact, as far as ,~he Baltic (Rujana-Rugen) and the Adriatic and Alpine regions (PitujPettovo) and offered serious resistance to architectonic determinants prevalent in those lands prior to Slav occupation. Wherever the Slavic tribes escaped contact with the architectural heritage of Roman provinces, or, wherever they appeared en masse in depopulated areas, they preserved their own building traditions intact. In this connection we would like to stress the importance of a surprisingly "Slavic" adaptation of the then already existing pagan shrine at Ptuj (Pettovio, Slovenia). We are aware of the fact tha:t Christianity was making inroads above ,~he Danube already in the reign of King Samo (623-360) and that there exist Christian remnants of an even earlier period, such as ivory pyxes from the fifth and sixth centuries, found at Zuran (near Brno, Moravia), or stone caps from church pillars discovered in Seitenstnerhof, in the Merovingian borough of Vienna. We are equally aware of Roman building traditions prevailing in the provinces south of the Danube as well as of their renascence in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel. Nevertheless, we deem it our duty to link the architectural finds at Stare Mesta and Mikulcice with the older pagan, Slavic and Iranian, culture. We claim these edifices, in view of their space divisions and functional aspects, must also be inter,preted in connection wi!th such Slavic architectural trends as there existed between the fourth and ninth centuries and, among the Baltic Slavs and the Slavs of the Kijev region, up to the tenth cenicury. Their distinctly two-fold pattern which combines a rather tiny shrine with a large open-space courtyard, does not seem to admit 68 SLOVAKIA any other interpretation. For ;that reason, tentative comparisons with contemporaneous Christian churches in the near-by regions, while always useful and sometimes quite revealing, should be made with extreme prudence. Even where space seems to be almost centrally arranged (e.g., at Modra where four pillars probably supported a baldachino over the church altar, and not a narrow oratory ceiling as J. Ci'bulka claims), conclusions should be all but one-sided. The locale as well as the dimensions, arrangement, and the space function should always be taken as primary factors in all evaluations. We can only hope that such attention combined with useful analysis of all additional aspects of the finds will not fail to support also our· thesis concerning the preservaJtion of the Slav-Iranian elements or traces in the building patterns of that period. This we hum'bly submit for consideration to all who devote their talents to the study of the early medieval CentralEuropean arch~tecture among the Slavs. REFERENCES: 1. The discovel'y of a small church ,a1t IM odra (near Velehrad) was first reported lby J. Neveril in Naiinec (Ol-0mouc, '19111, Vol. 47, No. 295). By the same author: "Velehrad v olbraz'Cich" in SborniJc: velehradsky, Nova Rada, '1940, p.p. 76-80. I. L. Cervinka, Slovane na Morave a rile Velkomoravska, B11n:o, 1928. V. lli•ulby: Pruvodce vysta,v• kou z moravskych archeologickych vyzkumu, 1948, pp. 112-'14. Archeologicke rozhledy, Vol. 'l'-'2, Praha ,1949, pp. 3{H36; Vol. 3, p. 50, 109 sp. J. Poulik, "Jizni :Morav,a, zeme davnych Slovanu," Pravos,av• ny sbornlk na rok 1950, p. IJ112 sq.; same author, "Objev druheho k<ostela ve Starem Meste," Archeoligicke ro:zhlecly, Vol. 2, Praha, 1950, p. 12-22. 2. J. ctbuI:ka: "Velkomoravske kostely, objevene 1949 vo St,arem Meste," Praha, 1'950 (a mul,tigrap1hed lec,ture). V. Hruby: Stlare Mesto, Velkomoravske pohrebi~:e na Valach," Praha, 195 5, in Monumenta archeologica, tom. 3, edit. Ceskoslovenska akad.e mia ved (Dr. J. Bohm); a detailed monogr,a,p h of the finds, rich Mbliography. Hruby, Hochmanova, Pavelcilk: ''IKostel a pohrelbiste z dolby Velkomoravske na Modre v V·elehradu," Casopis Moravskeho Muse-a (Acta Musei Mo .raviae), V-01. Jill, Brno, 1955, pp. 412Jl26. J. Poulik: "Vysledky VY· zkumu na velkioon,or,avskem hradisti '"V•al:Y" u Mdikulcic," Pamatky ar· cheologicke, XI.JVl1IIII, Praha, '1957; sepa,rat-um; pp. 214-3116. J. Oilbulka: Velkomoravsky kostel v Modre u Velehradu a zacatky krest'anstvf na Morave, Praha, 1958, in Monumen,ta archeologica, tom. vm, ed'it. Ceskoslovens:ka akademia ved. J. Poulik: Velkomoravske hradilte Mikulcice: Pruvodce po archeoligickych vyzkumech:, Gottwaldow: Kr,ajElke niaklad'a-telsitvi, 1959; contains a good survey of four oratories found up to 1959 and indications of the tra:ces showing the 1 SLOVAKIA 69 possilbility of the fift'h church on the location. F. Kalousek: "Velkomoravske hradiste Po'hans'ko u Breclave, in Archeologicke rozhledy, XillI, Pr.aha, 11960, pp. 496-530. 3. F. Trav,nicek: Moravska nareci, Praha, 1926, PIP- 14,118; and a geographilcal card showing the boundaries of the Slovak dialects in medie,v al and co111tempora11y Morarvia. J. :Po·ulik: Staroslovanska Moirava, Pra,h a, 1'!}418, pp. 107.ilOB, p. 111'2; see also PmtliJk's card (No.:H) illus1tra1ting the exten,srion of the Slovak dialects in Mmavia, based or. t'he research made by F. Tra¥nicek. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Y.ol. 1, Bratislava, 11958; c'ha,pt. X. "'Sbr·e doveke sloven~ke jazy,k<ove uzemie, 1<. Moraivska dblast'," pp. 14'7·1'55; a good survey of ·opin,i,ons defended by V. Jagic, P. J. Safarik, 0 . ~aemmel J. L. Cervirrk<a, F. 'Dravnicek, J . V. Dekan, S. Schl\Vlaritz et al. P . .J. §a,f arik: SloYanske staroiitnosti, Praha, 11837, p. 7941: ''I think that a l ong time ago, i.e., before the political separation e.f.1fected bebween Hungary and Moravia, the line of di'Vision between the Ozelch and Slovak d<ialects ran somewhere through the center o'f Moravia, and not on t1he mountains dividing the prerent-day Hunga ry from Mo· ravia." 4. Cf. Libellus de conversione Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum ( cca. 87Q.J87,l,), and Epistola episcoporum BaNariensium ad Jo·ha nnem P. IX . .scripta a. 900. (In Monumenf\a Germaniae histol"ica Scriptores XI. pp. 1~115). Of. Migne, P. L. Y,ol. 113'1, col. 34138. F. Dvornik' The Slavs, Their Early History and Civilization, Boston, 1·956, pp. 7 6-81. J. G. Cirrci:k: Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Slovak Ir.sti1tute, R:ome,Oleveland, 11958, pp. 7'1.f74 and pp. 83-88. ·5_ D. Rlapant: Pribinov nitriansky kostolik, 11941142, separa,tum from Elan, Vol. XII, No. 2-3. F. Hrusov:Sky: Sfovenski vladari, Scranton, P.a., 1'!~418; see chapt. on PriJbina , Kocel, and M,o.jmir I. 1 6. F. Bokes: Slovensky iivotny pr'ie5rtor v min.u<losti a dnes, Bra tislav,a : Cas, 1'943, p. 34. A. S1pe11ke: The Andent Amber ~ou,t es and -the Geog.raphical Discovery of the Eastern Baltic, Stoe'kholm: M. Goppers ('ZeUa A!bele). p. 60 s.p . J . G. Oincik: AncierJ Slovak Fibulas .and Pseudo.iFibulas, Ohic:igo-Whi:ting, 11957·; see caird Nlo. 1 for "the AIJlllber Rowt,e " and card N10. 2 showing the eX!tension of the s :ovak influenice in Central Europe in the sixth-tenth centuries A.D. K. Miajewctki: lmporty nymskie n'a ziemiac,h Slowanskic,h, Wro.claw: Wroclaiws:kie T•ow.arzystwo Nauk,o,we, 1949; see mau> No. 2, "Szlaky i ,rnk>ty burs2ltynowe ." 1 7. Constantinus Poriphyrogenitus : De administl'lando lmperio; in •Corpus scrip.t orum historiae Byzantinae, Bonn, 1,949, Edit. G. Morav,c:;;ik, Bud,a·p est, 11949; English v,ersion, by R. J. H. J,enkins. F. Dvornik: The Slavs, op. cit. p. 94. 18. The temporary ar.nex,a tion of Pannonia occurred after the death of Kocel, 87•5. F. Drvornik: op. cit. , pp. 95"9,6; see also the card " The Mioravi,an Empire c:ca 890," p. 99. :9, M. K:os: Conversio Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum, Ljuibljana, 1.93·6, p. 1136, chaipt. 111 sq. J. Ci.Jbulka : Vaclavske rotunda svateho Vf,ta, Praha, 1933; separatum of the Svatovaclavsky sbornik, pp. 1-li7:8; see pages 36 sq. "Kost-ely podunajsky•c h Slovan,u, je,j1ich stavelbnici a po1 70 SLOVAKIA sveceni"; Cilbulka enumerates 312 churches consecrated in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel, t;wel,ve of bhern corusecratied personally by the A['chibislhop of Sa17Jburg. 10. L. Galdi: "Le Romanisrne transdanllibien.,'' Studi e documenti italo-ungheresi della Reale Accademia d'Ungheria di Roma, Vol. 1, Rome, 1936, pp. 3·9-40; note ·53: "Quant a l'irufluence slave qui apparut a une date relati'Vernent tardive, eUe laissa pro,'balblernent aussi des traices . .. II faut envisager aussi des contacts plus ou rnoins durables entre les Sla'Ves et les Pannoniens romanises." A. Alfoldi: "Tracee d'el Cristian•esirno dell'~poca delle grandi rnigrazioni in- Ungheria," Quaderni dell'llmpero, Rome, 1938, pp. 17-21. L. Nagy: "Pannonia sacra," Szem Istvan kiraly .Emlekkon,y v (ed. J. Seredi). Bud,apest , 11938, Vol. 1·, pp. 29-al48. T. von Nagiy: Die Geschichte des Chris, entums in Pannonia bis zu dem Zusammenbruch des romischen Grenzschutzes, in Dissertationes Pannonicae, series m. 112; a1nd. same author : "A pann6niai 6kerestzeny egyhazkozsegi bazilikak," Szepmiiveszet, Vol. :El, Budapest, 1,94!1, pp. 144Jll48; and' same author: "Zuim Problem der Kontinuti1tiiJt in Pannonien," Das Bildwerk (ed. F. Kup!feriberg), Berlin, 194'2, p. 3-'6. 11. Dercseny,i, Poganyi, Szentikiraly,i; Pees, Budaipest, 19,56, in Varoskepek, miiemlekek (ed. J. Paipp)), see ,p p. 7..S, 1'7"19 on Slavic 'b uilding activiby in the area of the paleo-Ohdsti-an cemetery and around the basilica; lso fig. 2, 3t, 3d about the renovation of aticient Christian buildings under Priibina and Kocel, p. 20. F . Fiiller: "Neuere Ausgralbungen in der cella trichora von Pees Wtin'fkirc hen)," Acta archeol ig ica, torn. X,I, fasc. 1-4, Bud apest, 1959, pp. 399-417. 1 '12. A. Von Radn6ti: "'Une Eglise du haut rnoyen age a Zalavar," E1: udes Slaves et Roumaines, Vol. 1', pp. 2'1•31•. T. von Bogyay: "Izkopavanja v Zalavaru in r..jihov-a zgodovinska razlag,a " Umetnostnozgodinski zbornik, N. S. 2, Ljubljana, pp. 2Ll-24S; s•a me author: Die Kunst und kirchengeshichtliche Bedeutung der Ausgrabungen von Mosapurz-Zalavar, Baden-Baden, '1956, in Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichtlichen und Christlichen Archeologie; same author: "Mios,a purc und Zala'Var: eine Auswertung der archeiligischen Funde und schrift.lichen Quellen," Siidost Forschungen, 1955, Vol. XiIIV, 2, pip. 349-406. D. DercsenyJ: "Uiabb regeszeti k11tatlasok es a pannoniai kontinu i" as kwrdese',, Szazadok, 1947, pp. 203-21Jl; same author: "l!Eglise de Pribina a Zalavar, Etudes slaves et rouma i•nes, Vol. I, 1•9418, pp. 85--100; same author: A magyar miiveszet tortenete, Vol. I, Budapest, 1956, pp. 12~18. L. Kararnan: "A propos de l'eglise a Blatnograd, ville de Baleton," Arc·heologia Jugos lavica, '1, 1954, pp. 91'96. Kararnan is persuaded that the tri-naved church of Pr~bin-a found in the locality of Receskut at Blatnograd (Zalavar, Mos,al)ruc) is of Romar. origin. G. Feher: "Les Fouilles de Zalawar (li9511..i195G)," Acta archeologica, Budaipest, li9514, V•ol. 4, pp. 201'-26Q. Feher claims that tJhe church (see note 10, p. 206J207) was erected, i n the time of Prince Kocel. 13. See the plans of Pannonian churches in L. Nagy and T. von Nagy, op. cil:. (Our note No. ,10). 14. L. Nlagiy: Azeskii teri r6mai erod, Pest, varos ose, Budlaipest, 1946; concerning the settlementJs of the Slav potter y producers in the old Roman cubiculae and their use of t'he niches for kilns. S. SLOVAKIA 71 Soproni: "A visegradi r6ma,l taibor es kozepkori var," Archeo·l ogiai ertesito, Vol. 81, Budapest, 1,954, pp. 49-'.'13. The re,use of Rloman bricks in the early SLavic a['chilteoture in the proximity oif the DaJmbe River has been studied of.ten and repeatedly. For the latest da,ta peritaining to our field see Vera HoclrmainovaJV!avrova, "Sysitema,ticky archeologicky vy21kum u STS ve Starem Meste," Pravek vychodni Moravy, ed. Krajsky vlastivedny ustav, Gottiwald10v, 11959, pp. 73-7\5. 11,5 . J,. Dekan: "Stand und Aufgalben der Limesforschung in der Slowakei," in Vhe volume of lectures Limes Romanus Konferenrz, Nitra, ed. Slovenska akademia vied, .Alrcheologicky ustav v Nitre (A. Tocik, ed.), Bratislava, 195,9, pp. 111-48; a concise survey of the Roman proviillCial finds architectural structures in the river valleys of the Morava, Vah, Nitra, and Hron; es·pecially valualb le for the description of the castrum Milanovce (near Nitra) built in the second or third century A.iD. ,1,6. B. Svolboda: "Uebeir das Nachleiben der romischen Kultur in mibtleren DonaUlbecken," Limes Romanus Kon,f erenz, Nitl'a, p;p. 1072 1116. S. Soproni: "Der spatromische Limes wJsche•r.. Visegrad und Eszter~om," ibid., pp. 'lr.3•1~143. M. Hegy: Visegrad, Budarpest, series Mfremlekeiruk, 1'956, ,p. 10; see also t'he plan of the Roman castrum, fig. 3. 1'7. For the daita,tion, of the Slavic pottery previous to the sixth cerntury,, the so-called Prague type of ceramics (a simple urn wilth str,a igM mouth, made on a potter',s wheel or simp ly by hand's) is of a great value. Of. J. Borarkovsky's: Slovanska keremika ve stredni ,Evrope, Pr,a ha, 1940; same author: "Nejstarsi slov,ar.s'ka k•e remika ze stredni'ch Cech," Pamatky archeologicke, Praha, 1936-3-8. For the evoluti'on of the Slavic pottery patterns in Morava, cf the s:chemes based on th•e Velatice stratas and collected by J . Poulik and W. Hensel. See illustrations (No. ,276-2.'76) in Hensel: Slowianczyzna wczesnorednowieczna: Zarys kultury materialnej, Wai;szarwa: Pols:k,a akiademia nauk, 11956, pp. 281.;300; nd Josip Korosec: Uvod v ma• terialno kulturo Slovanov zgodnjega srednega veka, Ljulbl1ana, 1'9512, p. 1180 sq. 11,8. J. G. Oincik: Ancient Slovak Fibulas, etc., ip. 12, card 2 following p. 3-8. Our views hav•e found a new con'f irmation in t he the• sis of V. Ondrouch: '"Hist-odsche Vio r,a ussetzungen fiir die Limes· forsc'hwng in der Tschechoslowakei," Limes Romanus Kon,fe.renz, pip . 63Jl06, see also card No. L "•E thnigraphische Entw,ilcklung der Tschechoslowakei vom Ende des 1. J,a hrhundeints vor u. Z. bis zur Ankunft der ersten Slawen." 1'9. I. T. Kruglik!ov,a: Dakiya v epokhu .rimskoy okkupasiyi, Mos• cow: Akademia Nauk SSSIR, ]nmituit istorii i inst. istor. material. kultury, 11955, V,ol. 8, p. 163 sq. "Pri102ihenye: 0 svyazakh Daik iyi so Slavyanami." A. Tocik: "Vyznam poslednych archeologicikych vy2ikumov na Slov,e nsku pre dejiny najs,tarsich S'1ovanov a Vel'komoravskej rise," Historicky casopis S·A V, E!I, Bratislava, 1955, p. 4l12. Tocik believes thaJt the ar,cheoiogical finds made in eastern Slovak vall-eys of the ·Hornad and Torysa are from the fourth century A.D. and belong in. the sphere o.f the so-icalled Lipicka Culture; same author: "Prvi Slo·v ania na r.asom uzemi," Praca, 195 8, No. 1,96. 1 1 1 1 1 72 SLOVAKIA 20. N. Iorga: Histoire des Roumains at de la Romanite oriemale, Bucuresti: Aeademie Roumaine, 19317, Vol 2, La Synthese slave, p. 296. E . Moor : "Die Slawischen Ortsnannes der Theisselbene," Zeitschrift fur Ortsnamen Forschung, VoL W , 1930, pp. 1-'317 and 105-ll40. The S1'avic toponomy of northern Dacia has been s,tudied by proif. SeVler Pop; 1his study published in the symposium Trans,y lvan1ia during the ]I_ W. W. was no t accessible to me. P . Olteunu: ' Wumiri slave in Trans,i•!Jvanie de nord," Limba li Literaturia, 11957, Vol. VIT!llI, pp. 195'214; same author : "Aux origines de la culture sl.ave dans la Tuansylvani e du Nord at le Maramures," Romanoslavica, 11958, Vol. 1, pp. 169-1'97. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Bratislava : SAV, 1958, par. 4', "Slovenske sidla v hornom a strednom Po~isi," pp. 1180..164. 21. M. J . Bmjcevskij : Starodavni schidni Sloviani, Kijiv: Akad . Nauk Ukrailli>koy RSR, lnstirtwt Archeologiy;i, 19'59, erupt. 8, pp. 316-315'5, card on page 317. Of. the ediforiial introduction to SlovansJc:a archeologia, 1'960, Vlll.J, rpage 6; here a thesis is made concerning t'he Presov type i1111heren,t to the Przewoc,skio-Llrpicka Culture. 22. Structure reipresentatfons on the well-known Trnian a,i d Marcus Aurelius columns ir: Rome reveal the 'basic di.fference bet.iween the barbarian log-sty;le arohiteoture and the masonry-style of the Roman builc:Liin,gs in the Car,pa,thian Basin. In thi,s respect the analyitical p·hotograip'h ic study of the M. Aurelius colUJmn by G. Recatti seem s quite corwi n\cin.g. (Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Milano, Roma, 1957; for comparison see fig. 2, 14; for t he an t·hropological features of the Slavs or Sarimaitians see fig. 42). Via n der Heyden : Scullard·: Allas of the Classical World, Nelson and Sons, 1959, card 511 , p. 127, pp. 109-1'111. 23 . Except for the Christian inscriiption from cca 107...270 A.D., found in Napoca (Cluj), north of the Miaros River. See Var. de Meer, Miohr.mar:n: Atlas of the Early Christian World, Nelson and Sons, 1<958, card No. 8, "Churches founded before the per,secu1ion by Diocletian (304)." 24. See T. von Nagy : Die Geschichte des Christentums in Pannonien,, etc., our nlO'tle No. 10. 25. The Arian heresy spread among the Goths around the yea~ :t40, at the time of Slav-Gothic co-existence. 126. H . Bartek: "Krest'anstvo a slovencina," Nadej vit'azna, Sc-r anton, 1947, pp. 253. The Czech kostel and the ~olish kosci~I are derivatives of this Slavic pannonism. Of. also tJhe toponymic Keszthely ir: the matnohud district. D. Pais: "A r6mai castellum szlavimagyar folyrtat asa," Magyar nyelv, 1049, pp. 107~1,15. Amon.g the eastern and southern Slavic g,r oup, the term oiric:ev, crkva is a deriv,a-tio,n, of t'he Greek kuriakon.; it refers both to the Ohristian communtty and to the place o.f worship. AngI-crS'ax-0n kirchun, kirchen, kirk is of an Eastern Gerimani'c influence. 27. A . .Alfody: "Tracee . . . " (our note No. 10), p. 10, pp. 14•17. 28. B. A. R'y!balrov: Die Kunst der alten Slawen. Dresden, 1,957, in Geschi0hte der russic'1en ku~, Vol. 1, pp. 54-517, .All:fu. 5()-iSl. ,29.M. Szmiszko: Kultury wczesnego okresu epoki cenrstwa rzymskie go w Malopolsce Wschodniej, Lwow, 1932. M. B. Braj1 SLOVAKIA 73 cevsskij: Rimska moneta na teritorii Ukrajlini, Kijiv, 1959, edit. Akademia nau:k Ukraijinsikoy RISR, Inst. Archeolog-ii. K. Miajews'l~i: lmporty rzymskie na zemiach slowianskich, Wroclaiw, .194'9, edit. Pra'Ce WrocI,aw. Toiwarzy&twa Naukovego; series A NlR li3. 30. F. Graus: ''K pofatkum krest'answi na Morave, Cs. casopis historicky, Vol. Vff-.3, Praha, 1959, pp. 4178-4813. A critical review of Oilbulka's monograph abowt the oratory at Mro dra. Graus stresses the importance of addit,i onal hell!l"istic work and comparahve material from the Bavarian and Austrian area. 31. K. Va,v rinek: "K otazce pocatku christianisace Vel'ke Moravy," Listy filologicke, Praha, 1'959, pp. 2117-224. Crirtircal r..otes to Cilbulk-a'•s thesis: The reotangular pattern of the edifice at Miodra is hardly saitis:liaotory proof of its "Irish" character. Vavrinek admits, however, that around 800 there were ''I.ri'Sh" missions in Slova!k ia and Moravia. 3'2. Of. Rylbalrov: op. cit., loco cit. J. Strzygow.~ i: Altslawische Kunst, Augsburg, 1929, FiSlclher Verlag, pp. 26-413. 33. J. Paulik: Velkomoravske hradiUe eltc. (our niote No. 2), fig. 3. ·3 4.The Christianization of the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia was not due to typical Oarolingian methods. The moderation used in. this respiect came prolbaibly from hchlbishop .A!lcuin of York. 3i5. Dvornik is right in say-ing that the beginnings of the early feudalistic patronage over the Church are to be looked• fior in Mroravia. T,h e sad oonlfNct 'b etween Svartoplu:k and St. Met hodius is a "prelude to the gigantic investiture struggle whic'h was to end so tragic•aUy in the disrupiton of Western Christiar.ity art; the Reformation" (The Slavs, etc., p. 95). 3•6. R!y,bnik<JIV: op. cit., p. 5'2, p. 54, note 1. 37. For the most com-plete survey of these shrines see Korosec, op. cit., pp. 1170;176. 38. '11he "Iranian" approarch in linguistics is represented by M. V-asmer, in my,thology by R. Jacobson (see his "Slavic Miy,thology" in Funk and w ,a gnall's Standard Diction~ry of Fofklore Myfhol09y and Legend, New Yock, N. Y., 1950, pp. 1025-1028). Adexinsiky: "Slavon-re My,thology" in Larousse .Eycyclopedia of Mythology, New York, N. Y., 11959. F. Dvor,n,i k: The Slavs ertc, pp. 46{iil; see also G. Vernadsky: The Origins of Russia, Oicford: Olarendon Press, 1959, pp. 1-08-117'3. 39. See the opinion of K. Y.avrinek, our nort No. 31. 40. J. ~boril: "Herodotova Skythie a sousede," Slovenska archeo• logia, Vol. Vl!I, 2, 1959, p. 363. Zboril tries to rehaibi'lirtart:e Safarik's theory of a S'cyitr<rSamnart:ian and Sfavic conrtinui,ey, attacked at the begiin,ning of our century by Niederle and- other overzealous ·posiitirvists. >fl. '11he Iranian influence on Sla,vic architectur,e is the thesis of J. Strzy.g01Wsk,i; uhe same influence on Slavic my.thology has been proved by R. Jlacobs,on. Our studies ("Slovak Ruler's Sword,," Scra,nton, 1947, a-nd Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Rome-Oleveland, 1957) try to prove !:his influence, in tihe be exact, the neo-[ranian (Sassanid and A'bassid) influence, in the field o·f fine arts.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Study in Slavic-Iranian Architectural Tradition Description An account of the resource Joseph G. Cincik Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 59-73 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cincík, Jozef G., 1909-1992 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ef2e2e8a7aff230e4c71a8a6e3a12a03.pdf d8edca193738d3c50df9ad5bba2683a3 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 17 THE PAINTINGS IN THE BASILICA OF ST. CLEMENT JOSEPH G. CINCiK W:hen Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored among the Chazars (Kazars), in the Crimea on the Black Sea, preaching the Word of God, they discovered the corporal remains of St. Clement, pupil and fourth successor of St. Peter. In 863, the Slovak Apostles brought the remains of the martyr from Byzantium (Constantinople) to the territory of the ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia, after they had accepted the invitation of Prince Rastislav, sovereign of the Slovak lands, to preach the Word of God to his people in a language they could understand. In 867, when Cyril and Methodius went to Rome for an audience with the Holy Father, they took the remains of St. Clement with them. It was thus that St. Clement returned to his native city. Pope Adrian II expressed heartfelt thanks for the precious gift of the holy brothers. Leading the solemn procession ,h imself, the Holy Father had the remains of St. Clement placed in that part of the Basilica of St. Clement which today we call "the lower church." It is alleged that some time later, St. Cyril himself found :h is last resting place alongside the grave of St. Clement, on the right side of the main altar. Cyril, only 41, did not return to Slovakia; he died in Rome. His brother Methodius returned alone to continue in his apostolic work among the ancient Slovaks. From the artistic side, the Basilica of St. Clement offers many moments which can be connected with the presence of the Slovak Apostles and their group, especially the artistic decoration of the walls of the "lower church," many fragments of which have been preserved to this day. These are the same paintings that Cyril and Methodius admired in their day. There are also iconographic souvenirs which were motivated by the saintly brothers' stay in Rome, and it is with these that we shall deal here, because they interest us most. The Basilica of St. Clement in Ro~ is not a simple structure from one period. As a crosscut through the building demonstrates, it is composed of three different building eras: 1. The foundation walls extend deeply into Roman �St. Cyril taken to last resting place tn Basi- lica of St. Clement �SS. Cyril and Methodlua defe.nd the use of Slo• vak I n liturgy before Pope Adrian 11 In 867 �20 SLOVAKIA times; they were built in the last years of the Roman kings, during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 B. C.), or in the earliest republican times. On the same level under today's surface of the earth - spread a later brick struclure from the period of the emperors. About the time of the birth of Christ this building belonged to the parents of St. Clement, and that is why it is also called "Dominicum Clementis." A part of the original home of St. Clement, which St. Peter and St. Paul often visited, served as an oratory after Clement was martyred. In the year 303 A .D., this oratory was changed by imperial edict into a pagan place of idolatrous worship to honor the god Mithras. The lowest parts of the Basilica were witness to t:he events of the first Christia.us from apostolic times. They were inhabited and visited 1by men who had personal con!.act with our Savior. In 311 A. D., Emperor Galerius ordered. the "Dominicum Clementis" returned to the Christians. But this place, desecrated by the blood of the pagan Bull Cult and called "Mithraeum," was no longer used by the Christians. They sealed the entrance into it. 2. After the victory of Emperor Constantine a large church was built out of quadrangular stones over the old "Dominicum Clementis." Under the arches of this church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius and their delegation had their quarters in 867. This part of the Basilica is today called the "lower church" - and the remains of St. Clement and St. Cyril are there. 3. In 1008, Pope Pascholis II had the present "upper church" built over the "lower church;" it is smaller and narrower than the original "lower church." In the "upper church" of the Basilica - renovated in the baroque style during the pontificate of Pope Clement XI (1715)-there is a side-chapel dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Since the end of the 19th century, pilgrimages by the Slovaks an!,! other Slova.nic nations to the Basilica of St. Clement have increased greatly. In 1886, the Basilica was decorated with the frescoes of Nobili on the initiative Pope Leo XIII and the support of Croatian Bishop strossmayer. Three of them especially attract our attention. �SLOVAKIA 21 Behind the altar, the one on the right depicts Pope Leo Xill placing the Church in the form of a very small church under the protection of the Savior; St. Cyril stands to his right and St. Methodius to his left. Both are clothed in bishop's robes. On the right wall is a painting of the scene before Pope Adrian II and the bishops. Standing before them are Sts. Cyril and Methodius, refuting the charges that they had introduced harmful novelties into t:he liturgy. The painting on the left pictures the transfer of the corporal remains of St. Cyril to the "lower church" of St. Clement by Benedictine Brothers. In a certain sense, this chapel is a sort of national and Christian oratory of the Slovanic peoples in Rome. Today the Basilica is administered by Irish monks of the Dominican Order. Shortly after the end of World War II, Michael Sincak of Monessen, Pa., led a pilgrimage of American Slovaks to the Basilica, where they marked with a simple marble altar the alleged resting place of St. Cyril. During the excavations and reparations of the lowest part of the Basilica (the "Dominicum Clementis") many souvenirs were found: fragments of headpieces, columns, inscriptions, minute reliefs, staitu.es, vessels, lanterns, etc., of the Roman and early Christian era, which are very significant for the history of art and archeology. Numerous decorative fragments of stone and marble from the "lower church" may be found in the various municipal museums of Rome or are built into the walls of the front hallway of the "lower church" which once resounded with the footsteps of the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius. On the walls of the "lower- church" are interesting artistic souvenirs from the IV-IX centuries A.D. On the older skeins of mu1als-mostly of the Byzantium type-from the 8th . century, inl,pressive are the scenes from the life of St. Clement, the Virgin Mary, and several saints. There is a painting of the Virgin Mary with Jesus in the recess on the right side of the nave. The Mother of God is pictured as the Queen of Heaven, sitting on an emperor's throne, clothed in the robe of a Byzantium queen which is ornamented with jewels, pearls and precious stones, and wearing a rich diadem headpiece. Jesus sits in his �22 SLOVAKIA mother's lap a,nd also is clothed in the Byzantium style of the VII-IX centuries. As the Ruler of Christian souls, He is holding in his little hands the sign of power, a parchment scroll. Of the newer skein of paintings, depicting Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, four important iconographic fragments have been preserved: 1. St. Cyril kneeling before Emperor Michael III of Byzantium, accepting the mission to preach the Word of God to the Kazars or probably the Slovaks; 2. (Also from the second half of the 9th century), St. Cyril is shown baptizing a pagan standing in water, probably a Kazar or a member of some Slovanic people; 3. The third painting, comparatively well preserved, shows our Savior in the center, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and, in front of them, as smaller figures, St. Methodius without a beard and with a chalice, and St. Cyril with a beard and a book held to his bosom. Both are still without a "gloriola" above their heads, which indicates that this painting was done before they were proclaimed saints, probably while they lived and certainly before St. Cyril died. To the ri,g ht of $t. Methodiu.s, we see the figure of St. Andrew, and to the left of St. Cyril that of St. Clement. This painting represents the earliest portraits of Sts. Cyril and Methodius-and contemporaneously and relatively the most genuine, that is, styled in the Byzantium-Carolinian tradition. Once again we see the figure of the two brothers on the painting which depicts the transfer of the remains of St. Clement to the Basilica with a solemn procession, headed by Pope Adrian II and our Apostles Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The paintings are in the artistic spirit of the Benedictine school at Monte Cassino and are, from the iconographic and liturgical standpoint, very interesting, since the clothing worn and other marks depicted inform us about the robes and customs of the IX-X centuries. On the last painting, people are in solemn procession, carrying palm branches (symbol of martyrdom-victory), waving church banners, symbol of bishops and abbots, crosiers and crosses, while deacons incense the remains of St. Clement. In the left corner we see the figure of Pope Adrian II, his white tiara embellished with but a single �SLOVAKIA 23 crown (in the later Middle Ages the papal tiara had three crowm.s) . On the right of the Pope, we behold St. Cyril and, on his left, St. Methodius. We note that St. Cyril has a gloriola over his head, while St. Methodius has not, though he is depicted there as a bishop. This means that this painting is older than that of the Savior with the Archangels and the two saintly brothers. There is another conjecture, that later - perhaps after the death of St. Cyril - the painting was complemented with these details. We know that St. Method.ius later appeared on several occasions in Rome as a Bishop and Archbishop of Pannonia-Moravia, the land of the ancient Slovaks. Experts of Christian iconography also say that the absence of a gloriola above the head of St. Method.ius means that the painting probably did originate after St. Cyril's death, but during the lifetime of St. Methodius; some time after 870, when obviously, the gloriola was not appropriate for Methodius. There is evidence that the same type of paintings embellished the first Christian churches in old Slovakia in the 9th century A.D., in the building of which the creative hands of the Benedictines are undeniable. Above all else they are noticeable in the field of the artistic painting which came out of the area of Rome and Monte Cassino, and from northern Italy, from the middle of the 9th century, to the north through the Alps to the territory of the Blatnohrad principality in Pannonia and to southern Slovakia. Stylistic and compositional marks of paintings from the period of the Slovak rulers were used to the end of the 10th and the beginning of the eleventh century, as is demonstrated by the latest discoveries in the PannoniaBlatnohrad area (for example, in Hidegseg, near the Nezider Lake) . For other examples of the painting art, and even the creative art, from the period of Great Moravia and Sts. Cyril and Methodius, we do not have to go to Rome. Artistic souvenirs of Slovak pre-Roman-Carolingian art have been uncovered in areas which were inhabited by the Slovaks on both sides of the Danube in the 9th and 10th centuries. �24 SLOVAKIA REFERENCE LITERATURE R. L. Bensly: The Eplstolea of St. Clement to the Corinthians in Syriac, etc., CamlbTidge, 1899. Acta Sa,nctorum (Bollandia,na): Marti nus II, pp. H seq. Jacopo da Vara,gdne: Leggenda aurea, Vol. III, Firenze (A. Le- vasti), 1926, ,p p. 1464-1484. L . Duchesne: Llber Pontificalis, Paris, 1886, I. p. LXXI- LXXIII. R. S. Lipsius : Chronologie der romische Blachofe, Kdel, 1869. C. H. Tur.ner: The Early E·piscopal Liata (JournaJ of Theological Studies, XVHI, 1917). J. S. Franco: Klements in Cheraonesus, Lemberg (Lvov), 1906, pp. 293-301. Fr. Snopek: Clemens von Rom und seine Reliquien, K!romefilsky Slov.aik, 1918. K.Kiinstle: lkonographie der chrlstlichen Kunst, II, Ikonogr!llPhie der Hei1igen, 19·26, Frei-burg in Bref.sgau, p. 1'65 seq. (Clemens). L. Nolam: The Baslllca of San Clemente in Rome, IV Edition, 1943, Roma. Carlo Cecchelli: San Cemente, s. a., Danesi Editore Roma (Series "Le ch!ese di Roma il1ustrate"-Vols. 24-25). F. X. Zimmerma,n: Die Kirchen Roms, 1935, Ed. Piper, -M iinchen, p. 272 seq. G. B. De Rossi: I mo"umenti scoperti sot-to la basilica di S. Clemente studiati, etc. (fa " Bulletilna d i Archeolog. cristiana"-1870, 1874, 1875, 1882, 1884-85, 1887-89) . Dublin Review, Oct. 1871, p . 403 seq. Fels Th. Gsell: Romlsche ausgrabungen in letzten Decenium: Die Unterklrche S. Clemente, Hi!d•b erghau,sen, 1870. L. Nolan: De effoaaion~bus peractla ad S. Clementis in Urbe (Analecta samri Ord. Frat. Praooiatorum, Vol. XIII, 1918, pp. 344-351. J . H . Parr-k er: Archeology of Rome, OXford, 1874, Tv. XI, p . 58 seq. Al Thomson: Re<:ent Excavations in Rome, E<Unburg, 1866. A. L. Frothingham: The Monuments of Christian Rome, from Con,stainrtillle to -the Renai,ssamce, New York, 1908. J. G. Gray: The House and the Basilica of S. Clemente, i-n the Journal of the British and American Archeologtlcal Society in Rome, III, 1>art 3; The Church of S. Cemente In the light of Mons. Wilperts recent researches, 1907, IV, part 1, pp. 98-109. G. Mullooly: St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, and His Basilica in Rome, Rome, 1869; 2nd oo., 1873. X. X. X.: Basilica of St. Clemente in Rome, Rome , 1924. L. Nolrun: The Irish Dominicans in Rome, Rome, 1911. P. Toesca : Storia dell arte Italians, I, II Medioevo, Torino, 1927, pp.8, 584 seq . Ad. Ve nturd: Storla dell arte ltaliana, I, Mila.no, 1901, v. 1 ui vol. I-VITI, 1902-1923. J . W!lpert: Die romische Mosalken und Malerelen der Kirchli chen Kunstl. � SLOVAKIA 17 THE PAINTINGS IN THE BASILICA OF ST. CLEMENT JOSEPH G. CINCiK W:hen Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored among the Chazars (Kazars), in the Crimea on the Black Sea, preaching the Word of God, they discovered the corporal remains of St. Clement, pupil and fourth successor of St. Peter. In 863, the Slovak Apostles brought the remains of the martyr from Byzantium (Constantinople) to the territory of the ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia, after they had accepted the invitation of Prince Rastislav, sovereign of the Slovak lands, to preach the Word of God to his people in a language they could understand. In 867, when Cyril and Methodius went to Rome for an audience with the Holy Father, they took the remains of St. Clement with them. It was thus that St. Clement returned to his native city. Pope Adrian II expressed heartfelt thanks for the precious gift of the holy brothers. Leading the solemn procession ,h imself, the Holy Father had the remains of St. Clement placed in that part of the Basilica of St. Clement which today we call "the lower church." It is alleged that some time later, St. Cyril himself found :h is last resting place alongside the grave of St. Clement, on the right side of the main altar. Cyril, only 41, did not return to Slovakia; he died in Rome. His brother Methodius returned alone to continue in his apostolic work among the ancient Slovaks. From the artistic side, the Basilica of St. Clement offers many moments which can be connected with the presence of the Slovak Apostles and their group, especially the artistic decoration of the walls of the "lower church," many fragments of which have been preserved to this day. These are the same paintings that Cyril and Methodius admired in their day. There are also iconographic souvenirs which were motivated by the saintly brothers' stay in Rome, and it is with these that we shall deal here, because they interest us most. The Basilica of St. Clement in Ro~ is not a simple structure from one period. As a crosscut through the building demonstrates, it is composed of three different building eras: 1. The foundation walls extend deeply into Roman �St. Cyril taken to last resting place tn Basi- lica of St. Clement �SS. Cyril and Methodlua defe.nd the use of Slo• vak I n liturgy before Pope Adrian 11 In 867 �20 SLOVAKIA times; they were built in the last years of the Roman kings, during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 B. C.), or in the earliest republican times. On the same level under today's surface of the earth - spread a later brick struclure from the period of the emperors. About the time of the birth of Christ this building belonged to the parents of St. Clement, and that is why it is also called "Dominicum Clementis." A part of the original home of St. Clement, which St. Peter and St. Paul often visited, served as an oratory after Clement was martyred. In the year 303 A .D., this oratory was changed by imperial edict into a pagan place of idolatrous worship to honor the god Mithras. The lowest parts of the Basilica were witness to t:he events of the first Christia.us from apostolic times. They were inhabited and visited 1by men who had personal con!.act with our Savior. In 311 A. D., Emperor Galerius ordered. the "Dominicum Clementis" returned to the Christians. But this place, desecrated by the blood of the pagan Bull Cult and called "Mithraeum," was no longer used by the Christians. They sealed the entrance into it. 2. After the victory of Emperor Constantine a large church was built out of quadrangular stones over the old "Dominicum Clementis." Under the arches of this church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius and their delegation had their quarters in 867. This part of the Basilica is today called the "lower church" - and the remains of St. Clement and St. Cyril are there. 3. In 1008, Pope Pascholis II had the present "upper church" built over the "lower church;" it is smaller and narrower than the original "lower church." In the "upper church" of the Basilica - renovated in the baroque style during the pontificate of Pope Clement XI (1715)-there is a side-chapel dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Since the end of the 19th century, pilgrimages by the Slovaks an!,! other Slova.nic nations to the Basilica of St. Clement have increased greatly. In 1886, the Basilica was decorated with the frescoes of Nobili on the initiative Pope Leo XIII and the support of Croatian Bishop strossmayer. Three of them especially attract our attention. �SLOVAKIA 21 Behind the altar, the one on the right depicts Pope Leo Xill placing the Church in the form of a very small church under the protection of the Savior; St. Cyril stands to his right and St. Methodius to his left. Both are clothed in bishop's robes. On the right wall is a painting of the scene before Pope Adrian II and the bishops. Standing before them are Sts. Cyril and Methodius, refuting the charges that they had introduced harmful novelties into t:he liturgy. The painting on the left pictures the transfer of the corporal remains of St. Cyril to the "lower church" of St. Clement by Benedictine Brothers. In a certain sense, this chapel is a sort of national and Christian oratory of the Slovanic peoples in Rome. Today the Basilica is administered by Irish monks of the Dominican Order. Shortly after the end of World War II, Michael Sincak of Monessen, Pa., led a pilgrimage of American Slovaks to the Basilica, where they marked with a simple marble altar the alleged resting place of St. Cyril. During the excavations and reparations of the lowest part of the Basilica (the "Dominicum Clementis") many souvenirs were found: fragments of headpieces, columns, inscriptions, minute reliefs, staitu.es, vessels, lanterns, etc., of the Roman and early Christian era, which are very significant for the history of art and archeology. Numerous decorative fragments of stone and marble from the "lower church" may be found in the various municipal museums of Rome or are built into the walls of the front hallway of the "lower church" which once resounded with the footsteps of the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius. On the walls of the "lower- church" are interesting artistic souvenirs from the IV-IX centuries A.D. On the older skeins of mu1als-mostly of the Byzantium type-from the 8th . century, inl,pressive are the scenes from the life of St. Clement, the Virgin Mary, and several saints. There is a painting of the Virgin Mary with Jesus in the recess on the right side of the nave. The Mother of God is pictured as the Queen of Heaven, sitting on an emperor's throne, clothed in the robe of a Byzantium queen which is ornamented with jewels, pearls and precious stones, and wearing a rich diadem headpiece. Jesus sits in his �22 SLOVAKIA mother's lap a,nd also is clothed in the Byzantium style of the VII-IX centuries. As the Ruler of Christian souls, He is holding in his little hands the sign of power, a parchment scroll. Of the newer skein of paintings, depicting Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, four important iconographic fragments have been preserved: 1. St. Cyril kneeling before Emperor Michael III of Byzantium, accepting the mission to preach the Word of God to the Kazars or probably the Slovaks; 2. (Also from the second half of the 9th century), St. Cyril is shown baptizing a pagan standing in water, probably a Kazar or a member of some Slovanic people; 3. The third painting, comparatively well preserved, shows our Savior in the center, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and, in front of them, as smaller figures, St. Methodius without a beard and with a chalice, and St. Cyril with a beard and a book held to his bosom. Both are still without a "gloriola" above their heads, which indicates that this painting was done before they were proclaimed saints, probably while they lived and certainly before St. Cyril died. To the ri,g ht of $t. Methodiu.s, we see the figure of St. Andrew, and to the left of St. Cyril that of St. Clement. This painting represents the earliest portraits of Sts. Cyril and Methodius-and contemporaneously and relatively the most genuine, that is, styled in the Byzantium-Carolinian tradition. Once again we see the figure of the two brothers on the painting which depicts the transfer of the remains of St. Clement to the Basilica with a solemn procession, headed by Pope Adrian II and our Apostles Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The paintings are in the artistic spirit of the Benedictine school at Monte Cassino and are, from the iconographic and liturgical standpoint, very interesting, since the clothing worn and other marks depicted inform us about the robes and customs of the IX-X centuries. On the last painting, people are in solemn procession, carrying palm branches (symbol of martyrdom-victory), waving church banners, symbol of bishops and abbots, crosiers and crosses, while deacons incense the remains of St. Clement. In the left corner we see the figure of Pope Adrian II, his white tiara embellished with but a single �SLOVAKIA 23 crown (in the later Middle Ages the papal tiara had three crowm.s) . On the right of the Pope, we behold St. Cyril and, on his left, St. Methodius. We note that St. Cyril has a gloriola over his head, while St. Methodius has not, though he is depicted there as a bishop. This means that this painting is older than that of the Savior with the Archangels and the two saintly brothers. There is another conjecture, that later - perhaps after the death of St. Cyril - the painting was complemented with these details. We know that St. Method.ius later appeared on several occasions in Rome as a Bishop and Archbishop of Pannonia-Moravia, the land of the ancient Slovaks. Experts of Christian iconography also say that the absence of a gloriola above the head of St. Method.ius means that the painting probably did originate after St. Cyril's death, but during the lifetime of St. Methodius; some time after 870, when obviously, the gloriola was not appropriate for Methodius. There is evidence that the same type of paintings embellished the first Christian churches in old Slovakia in the 9th century A.D., in the building of which the creative hands of the Benedictines are undeniable. Above all else they are noticeable in the field of the artistic painting which came out of the area of Rome and Monte Cassino, and from northern Italy, from the middle of the 9th century, to the north through the Alps to the territory of the Blatnohrad principality in Pannonia and to southern Slovakia. Stylistic and compositional marks of paintings from the period of the Slovak rulers were used to the end of the 10th and the beginning of the eleventh century, as is demonstrated by the latest discoveries in the PannoniaBlatnohrad area (for example, in Hidegseg, near the Nezider Lake) . For other examples of the painting art, and even the creative art, from the period of Great Moravia and Sts. Cyril and Methodius, we do not have to go to Rome. Artistic souvenirs of Slovak pre-Roman-Carolingian art have been uncovered in areas which were inhabited by the Slovaks on both sides of the Danube in the 9th and 10th centuries. �24 SLOVAKIA REFERENCE LITERATURE R. L. Bensly: The Eplstolea of St. Clement to the Corinthians in Syriac, etc., CamlbTidge, 1899. Acta Sa,nctorum (Bollandia,na): Marti nus II, pp. H seq. Jacopo da Vara,gdne: Leggenda aurea, Vol. III, Firenze (A. Le- vasti), 1926, ,p p. 1464-1484. L . Duchesne: Llber Pontificalis, Paris, 1886, I. p. LXXI- LXXIII. R. S. Lipsius : Chronologie der romische Blachofe, Kdel, 1869. C. H. Tur.ner: The Early E·piscopal Liata (JournaJ of Theological Studies, XVHI, 1917). J. S. Franco: Klements in Cheraonesus, Lemberg (Lvov), 1906, pp. 293-301. Fr. Snopek: Clemens von Rom und seine Reliquien, K!romefilsky Slov.aik, 1918. K.Kiinstle: lkonographie der chrlstlichen Kunst, II, Ikonogr!llPhie der Hei1igen, 19·26, Frei-burg in Bref.sgau, p. 1'65 seq. (Clemens). L. Nolam: The Baslllca of San Clemente in Rome, IV Edition, 1943, Roma. Carlo Cecchelli: San Cemente, s. a., Danesi Editore Roma (Series "Le ch!ese di Roma il1ustrate"-Vols. 24-25). F. X. Zimmerma,n: Die Kirchen Roms, 1935, Ed. Piper, -M iinchen, p. 272 seq. G. B. De Rossi: I mo"umenti scoperti sot-to la basilica di S. Clemente studiati, etc. (fa " Bulletilna d i Archeolog. cristiana"-1870, 1874, 1875, 1882, 1884-85, 1887-89) . Dublin Review, Oct. 1871, p . 403 seq. Fels Th. Gsell: Romlsche ausgrabungen in letzten Decenium: Die Unterklrche S. Clemente, Hi!d•b erghau,sen, 1870. L. Nolan: De effoaaion~bus peractla ad S. Clementis in Urbe (Analecta samri Ord. Frat. Praooiatorum, Vol. XIII, 1918, pp. 344-351. J . H . Parr-k er: Archeology of Rome, OXford, 1874, Tv. XI, p . 58 seq. Al Thomson: Re<:ent Excavations in Rome, E<Unburg, 1866. A. L. Frothingham: The Monuments of Christian Rome, from Con,stainrtillle to -the Renai,ssamce, New York, 1908. J. G. Gray: The House and the Basilica of S. Clemente, i-n the Journal of the British and American Archeologtlcal Society in Rome, III, 1>art 3; The Church of S. Cemente In the light of Mons. Wilperts recent researches, 1907, IV, part 1, pp. 98-109. G. Mullooly: St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, and His Basilica in Rome, Rome, 1869; 2nd oo., 1873. X. X. X.: Basilica of St. Clemente in Rome, Rome , 1924. L. Nolrun: The Irish Dominicans in Rome, Rome, 1911. P. Toesca : Storia dell arte Italians, I, II Medioevo, Torino, 1927, pp.8, 584 seq . Ad. Ve nturd: Storla dell arte ltaliana, I, Mila.no, 1901, v. 1 ui vol. I-VITI, 1902-1923. J . W!lpert: Die romische Mosalken und Malerelen der Kirchli chen Kunstl. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. 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 1963 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 17 THE PAINTINGS IN THE BASILICA OF ST. CLEMENT JOSEPH G. CINCiK W:hen Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored among the Chazars (Kazars), in the Crimea on the Black Sea, preaching the Word of God, they discovered the corporal remains of St. Clement, pupil and fourth successor of St. Peter. In 863, the Slovak Apostles brought the remains of the martyr from Byzantium (Constantinople) to the territory of the ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia, after they had accepted the invitation of Prince Rastislav, sovereign of the Slovak lands, to preach the Word of God to his people in a language they could understand. In 867, when Cyril and Methodius went to Rome for an audience with the Holy Father, they took the remains of St. Clement with them. It was thus that St. Clement returned to his native city. Pope Adrian II expressed heartfelt thanks for the precious gift of the holy brothers. Leading the solemn procession ,h imself, the Holy Father had the remains of St. Clement placed in that part of the Basilica of St. Clement which today we call "the lower church." It is alleged that some time later, St. Cyril himself found :h is last resting place alongside the grave of St. Clement, on the right side of the main altar. Cyril, only 41, did not return to Slovakia; he died in Rome. His brother Methodius returned alone to continue in his apostolic work among the ancient Slovaks. From the artistic side, the Basilica of St. Clement offers many moments which can be connected with the presence of the Slovak Apostles and their group, especially the artistic decoration of the walls of the "lower church," many fragments of which have been preserved to this day. These are the same paintings that Cyril and Methodius admired in their day. There are also iconographic souvenirs which were motivated by the saintly brothers' stay in Rome, and it is with these that we shall deal here, because they interest us most. The Basilica of St. Clement in Ro~ is not a simple structure from one period. As a crosscut through the building demonstrates, it is composed of three different building eras: 1. The foundation walls extend deeply into Roman St. Cyril taken to last resting place tn Basi- lica of St. Clement SS. Cyril and Methodlua defe.nd the use of Slo• vak I n liturgy before Pope Adrian 11 In 867 20 SLOVAKIA times; they were built in the last years of the Roman kings, during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 B. C.), or in the earliest republican times. On the same level under today's surface of the earth - spread a later brick struclure from the period of the emperors. About the time of the birth of Christ this building belonged to the parents of St. Clement, and that is why it is also called "Dominicum Clementis." A part of the original home of St. Clement, which St. Peter and St. Paul often visited, served as an oratory after Clement was martyred. In the year 303 A .D., this oratory was changed by imperial edict into a pagan place of idolatrous worship to honor the god Mithras. The lowest parts of the Basilica were witness to t:he events of the first Christia.us from apostolic times. They were inhabited and visited 1by men who had personal con!.act with our Savior. In 311 A. D., Emperor Galerius ordered. the "Dominicum Clementis" returned to the Christians. But this place, desecrated by the blood of the pagan Bull Cult and called "Mithraeum," was no longer used by the Christians. They sealed the entrance into it. 2. After the victory of Emperor Constantine a large church was built out of quadrangular stones over the old "Dominicum Clementis." Under the arches of this church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius and their delegation had their quarters in 867. This part of the Basilica is today called the "lower church" - and the remains of St. Clement and St. Cyril are there. 3. In 1008, Pope Pascholis II had the present "upper church" built over the "lower church;" it is smaller and narrower than the original "lower church." In the "upper church" of the Basilica - renovated in the baroque style during the pontificate of Pope Clement XI (1715)-there is a side-chapel dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Since the end of the 19th century, pilgrimages by the Slovaks an!,! other Slova.nic nations to the Basilica of St. Clement have increased greatly. In 1886, the Basilica was decorated with the frescoes of Nobili on the initiative Pope Leo XIII and the support of Croatian Bishop strossmayer. Three of them especially attract our attention. SLOVAKIA 21 Behind the altar, the one on the right depicts Pope Leo Xill placing the Church in the form of a very small church under the protection of the Savior; St. Cyril stands to his right and St. Methodius to his left. Both are clothed in bishop's robes. On the right wall is a painting of the scene before Pope Adrian II and the bishops. Standing before them are Sts. Cyril and Methodius, refuting the charges that they had introduced harmful novelties into t:he liturgy. The painting on the left pictures the transfer of the corporal remains of St. Cyril to the "lower church" of St. Clement by Benedictine Brothers. In a certain sense, this chapel is a sort of national and Christian oratory of the Slovanic peoples in Rome. Today the Basilica is administered by Irish monks of the Dominican Order. Shortly after the end of World War II, Michael Sincak of Monessen, Pa., led a pilgrimage of American Slovaks to the Basilica, where they marked with a simple marble altar the alleged resting place of St. Cyril. During the excavations and reparations of the lowest part of the Basilica (the "Dominicum Clementis") many souvenirs were found: fragments of headpieces, columns, inscriptions, minute reliefs, staitu.es, vessels, lanterns, etc., of the Roman and early Christian era, which are very significant for the history of art and archeology. Numerous decorative fragments of stone and marble from the "lower church" may be found in the various municipal museums of Rome or are built into the walls of the front hallway of the "lower church" which once resounded with the footsteps of the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius. On the walls of the "lower- church" are interesting artistic souvenirs from the IV-IX centuries A.D. On the older skeins of mu1als-mostly of the Byzantium type-from the 8th . century, inl,pressive are the scenes from the life of St. Clement, the Virgin Mary, and several saints. There is a painting of the Virgin Mary with Jesus in the recess on the right side of the nave. The Mother of God is pictured as the Queen of Heaven, sitting on an emperor's throne, clothed in the robe of a Byzantium queen which is ornamented with jewels, pearls and precious stones, and wearing a rich diadem headpiece. Jesus sits in his 22 SLOVAKIA mother's lap a,nd also is clothed in the Byzantium style of the VII-IX centuries. As the Ruler of Christian souls, He is holding in his little hands the sign of power, a parchment scroll. Of the newer skein of paintings, depicting Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, four important iconographic fragments have been preserved: 1. St. Cyril kneeling before Emperor Michael III of Byzantium, accepting the mission to preach the Word of God to the Kazars or probably the Slovaks; 2. (Also from the second half of the 9th century), St. Cyril is shown baptizing a pagan standing in water, probably a Kazar or a member of some Slovanic people; 3. The third painting, comparatively well preserved, shows our Savior in the center, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and, in front of them, as smaller figures, St. Methodius without a beard and with a chalice, and St. Cyril with a beard and a book held to his bosom. Both are still without a "gloriola" above their heads, which indicates that this painting was done before they were proclaimed saints, probably while they lived and certainly before St. Cyril died. To the ri,g ht of $t. Methodiu.s, we see the figure of St. Andrew, and to the left of St. Cyril that of St. Clement. This painting represents the earliest portraits of Sts. Cyril and Methodius-and contemporaneously and relatively the most genuine, that is, styled in the Byzantium-Carolinian tradition. Once again we see the figure of the two brothers on the painting which depicts the transfer of the remains of St. Clement to the Basilica with a solemn procession, headed by Pope Adrian II and our Apostles Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The paintings are in the artistic spirit of the Benedictine school at Monte Cassino and are, from the iconographic and liturgical standpoint, very interesting, since the clothing worn and other marks depicted inform us about the robes and customs of the IX-X centuries. On the last painting, people are in solemn procession, carrying palm branches (symbol of martyrdom-victory), waving church banners, symbol of bishops and abbots, crosiers and crosses, while deacons incense the remains of St. Clement. In the left corner we see the figure of Pope Adrian II, his white tiara embellished with but a single SLOVAKIA 23 crown (in the later Middle Ages the papal tiara had three crowm.s) . On the right of the Pope, we behold St. Cyril and, on his left, St. Methodius. We note that St. Cyril has a gloriola over his head, while St. Methodius has not, though he is depicted there as a bishop. This means that this painting is older than that of the Savior with the Archangels and the two saintly brothers. There is another conjecture, that later - perhaps after the death of St. Cyril - the painting was complemented with these details. We know that St. Method.ius later appeared on several occasions in Rome as a Bishop and Archbishop of Pannonia-Moravia, the land of the ancient Slovaks. Experts of Christian iconography also say that the absence of a gloriola above the head of St. Method.ius means that the painting probably did originate after St. Cyril's death, but during the lifetime of St. Methodius; some time after 870, when obviously, the gloriola was not appropriate for Methodius. There is evidence that the same type of paintings embellished the first Christian churches in old Slovakia in the 9th century A.D., in the building of which the creative hands of the Benedictines are undeniable. Above all else they are noticeable in the field of the artistic painting which came out of the area of Rome and Monte Cassino, and from northern Italy, from the middle of the 9th century, to the north through the Alps to the territory of the Blatnohrad principality in Pannonia and to southern Slovakia. Stylistic and compositional marks of paintings from the period of the Slovak rulers were used to the end of the 10th and the beginning of the eleventh century, as is demonstrated by the latest discoveries in the PannoniaBlatnohrad area (for example, in Hidegseg, near the Nezider Lake) . For other examples of the painting art, and even the creative art, from the period of Great Moravia and Sts. Cyril and Methodius, we do not have to go to Rome. Artistic souvenirs of Slovak pre-Roman-Carolingian art have been uncovered in areas which were inhabited by the Slovaks on both sides of the Danube in the 9th and 10th centuries. 24 SLOVAKIA REFERENCE LITERATURE R. L. Bensly: The Eplstolea of St. Clement to the Corinthians in Syriac, etc., CamlbTidge, 1899. Acta Sa,nctorum (Bollandia,na): Marti nus II, pp. H seq. Jacopo da Vara,gdne: Leggenda aurea, Vol. III, Firenze (A. Le- vasti), 1926, ,p p. 1464-1484. L . Duchesne: Llber Pontificalis, Paris, 1886, I. p. LXXI- LXXIII. R. S. Lipsius : Chronologie der romische Blachofe, Kdel, 1869. C. H. Tur.ner: The Early E·piscopal Liata (JournaJ of Theological Studies, XVHI, 1917). J. S. Franco: Klements in Cheraonesus, Lemberg (Lvov), 1906, pp. 293-301. Fr. Snopek: Clemens von Rom und seine Reliquien, K!romefilsky Slov.aik, 1918. K.Kiinstle: lkonographie der chrlstlichen Kunst, II, Ikonogr!llPhie der Hei1igen, 19·26, Frei-burg in Bref.sgau, p. 1'65 seq. (Clemens). L. Nolam: The Baslllca of San Clemente in Rome, IV Edition, 1943, Roma. Carlo Cecchelli: San Cemente, s. a., Danesi Editore Roma (Series "Le ch!ese di Roma il1ustrate"-Vols. 24-25). F. X. Zimmerma,n: Die Kirchen Roms, 1935, Ed. Piper, -M iinchen, p. 272 seq. G. B. De Rossi: I mo"umenti scoperti sot-to la basilica di S. Clemente studiati, etc. (fa " Bulletilna d i Archeolog. cristiana"-1870, 1874, 1875, 1882, 1884-85, 1887-89) . Dublin Review, Oct. 1871, p . 403 seq. Fels Th. Gsell: Romlsche ausgrabungen in letzten Decenium: Die Unterklrche S. Clemente, Hi!d•b erghau,sen, 1870. L. Nolan: De effoaaion~bus peractla ad S. Clementis in Urbe (Analecta samri Ord. Frat. Praooiatorum, Vol. XIII, 1918, pp. 344-351. J . H . Parr-k er: Archeology of Rome, OXford, 1874, Tv. XI, p . 58 seq. Al Thomson: Re<:ent Excavations in Rome, E<Unburg, 1866. A. L. Frothingham: The Monuments of Christian Rome, from Con,stainrtillle to -the Renai,ssamce, New York, 1908. J. G. Gray: The House and the Basilica of S. Clemente, i-n the Journal of the British and American Archeologtlcal Society in Rome, III, 1>art 3; The Church of S. Cemente In the light of Mons. Wilperts recent researches, 1907, IV, part 1, pp. 98-109. G. Mullooly: St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, and His Basilica in Rome, Rome, 1869; 2nd oo., 1873. X. X. X.: Basilica of St. Clemente in Rome, Rome , 1924. L. Nolrun: The Irish Dominicans in Rome, Rome, 1911. P. Toesca : Storia dell arte Italians, I, II Medioevo, Torino, 1927, pp.8, 584 seq . Ad. Ve nturd: Storla dell arte ltaliana, I, Mila.no, 1901, v. 1 ui vol. I-VITI, 1902-1923. J . W!lpert: Die romische Mosalken und Malerelen der Kirchli chen Kunstl.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Paintings in the Basilica of St. Clement Description An account of the resource Joseph G. Cincík Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 17-24 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cincík, Jozef G., 1909-1992 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/57bf29eb8ae2c1109d7aff74ead3bb38.pdf aa5c41e6906ac3a8d5a85674ddfd8255 PDF Text Text 40 SLOVAKIA Slovak and Ruthenian Easter Eggs in America: The Impact of Culture Contact on Immigrant Art and Custom ANDREW CINCURA University of California Decoration of Easter eggs, one of the most ancient calendar customs of the general Slavic area, (1) is still alive among the Slavic ethnic groups in Europe and America. Though there have been changes in the decoration of Easter eggs and in customs related to this form of folk art, Easter eggs are even now cherished by these groups as important and unaltered landmarks of the past. (2) The importance of Easter eggs has also been recognized in folkloristics. Although several Slavic and non-Slavic scholars have studied Easter eggs, either in connection with other disciplines, (3) or as part of a study of Slavic culture, (4) to my knowledge no scholar has studied the transmission of Slavic Easter egg decorative traditions from Europe to America. In this article, I want to briefly outline continuity and change of this transmission in connection with the Slavic and Ruthenian Easter eggs. (5) This is a pilot study based upon fieldwork among the Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland, Ohio, (6) and will examine and interpret the data collected in the field in the terms of (a) implements and materials used in decoration of Easter eggs; (b) designs; (c) techniques of Easter egg manufacture; (d) customs involving decorated eggs. To begin with, the study of implements and materials used in egg decoration is concerned with technology and etymology. The implements employed in egg decoration belong basically to three groups. First, there are household implements, such as sharp-pointed knives, tin cooking utensils, dishes, glasses, spoons, glass jars, tin lids, electric heating plates, needles, brushes, pencils, awls, and baskets. Removed temporarily from their everyday use, these implements serve folk artists in egg decoration, usually without any special change as to the appearance and function of the implement in question. The second group of implements are represented by slightly modified household tools as, for example, needles and pins puslied lengthwise into large kitchen matches or into chopsticks (Figs. 1,4), sewing awls with attached thread, or thin wire (7), or rubberbands. (8). The third group consists of items bought or manufactured exclusively for egg decoration. This group is represented by three tools, oko, skrabacka, andpierko. The first of them, oko, (literally, "eye"), is an implement used either for immersion of eggs in, or for their removal out of, jars or glasses filled with water colors. The oko, consisting of two basic parts, �SLOVAKIA 41 ring and handle, is made of one piece of relatively solid wire. The ring, as the first part of the implement, is made by the bending of wire into the form of a circle of a slightly smaller diameter than the maximal width of the egg. The handle, on the other hand, is formed by a sharp bend of wire at the point qf the completed circle and in about 120 degree slant to the plane rep'resented by the ring (Fig. 7). The oko was manufactured by Mr. and Mrs. Molchak in order "to prevent scratches on the surfaces of freshly batiked eggs whenever the eggs were immersed into containers or removed with a spoon.'' The second tool, skrabacka ("scraper"), is either a commercially-acquired or a homemade awl with a thin pencil-like wooden or metallic handle . The skrabacka, being alternately used with sharp-pointed knives, is the most important tool in the so-called "scratch-carving" technique. (9) The third tool used exclusively in egg decoration, pierko ("pen"), is called also brko (''quillpen'') in Slovakia. A modern variant of pierko is the voskovacka (literally, "waxing fountain-pen"). Basically an implement consisting of a pencil-like wooden handle and a tiny funnel-like metallic cup attached diagonally to the end of the handle, the voskovacka is the most important tool in egg decoration both in Europe and in America. Its more or less archaic specimens were described by Cenek Zibrt, (10) while the modern equivalents of voskovacka were briefly treated by A. Vaclavik. (11) With the exception of Mrs. Jane Mad'ar (shown in Fig. 10), all my informants in Cleveland used the most modern variant of voskovacka when decorating with the batik technique. (12) The tools of the first and second groups are used in decoration either without any change or with slight modification, and as such they are mentioned by most of the sources consulted for this paper both in the terms of technology and terminology. In Cleveland I observed that all implements belonging to these two groups are generally used in a fashion similar to their use in Europe. One may say that an extensive give-and-take exchange exists between the uses of these tools for everyday needs in the household and in egg decoration. In view of this, the tools of these two groups may be considered the most evident instances of continuity in transmission of this form of folk art from Europe to America. (13) As to etymology, the implements described in connection with the third group above (i.e., oko, skrabacka, and voskovacka) are important items in the tracing of historic-ethnic proveniences and the links in material aspects of Easter customs. The usefulness of these terms is evident if one accepts the thesis that there is no term in folk art for something that actually does not exist. (14) Thus, if Slovak terms skrabacka, pierko, and voskovacka have equivalents in all other Slavic languages, this is also a proof of antiquity and popularity of this special group of implements. (15) If, on the contrary, the term oko does not exist in its specific meaning, for example, in Slovak, this might suggest �42 SLOVAKIA that the implement itself does not exist materially in the Slovak ethnic territory either. If in spite of this , however, both the term and implement are present among the Slovaks in America, this is either because of borrowing from another ethnic group in America, or because of an individual's invention . Either way, it is rather convincing evidence of change that took place between the points of origin and American use of this tool. Mr. Molchak, an American of Ukrainian ancestry , told me that he had seen a similar implement "somewhere in Cleveland.'' This information, linked together with the fact that Mr. Molchak did not know the Ukrainian name of this tool, hints that the implement is of Ukrainian origin, but Mrs. Molchak, an American of Slovak ancestry, gave it a Slovak name. The household implements mentioned in connection with groups one and two above are , on the contrary, of no value for a study along ethnic-comparative lines. Although also known in all Slavic languages, these implements are of interchangeable use, and as such they may be present in the cultures unfamiliar with egg decoration. Examined in connection with the informants in Cleveland , the tools of all three groups are relevant for the study of Slavic-English aspects concerning their terminology. In general, a shift to favor English terminology was observable among all my informants without regard to ethnic or sex group or age. Persistence in usage of traditional Slavic terms was still visible in connection with the most recent immigrants. The American-born Slovak and Ruthenian informants, on the contrary, have shown a tendency to favor Slavic terms only in the cases when the implements were of frequent use at home and infrequently mentioned at school. For example, the childen of Mr. and Mrs. Molchak were well acquainted with the terms of pentlicka ("ribbon" in Slovak dialectical usage) or kistka ("waxing pen" in Ruthenian and Eastern Slovak usage) while the Anglo-American terms were consistently favored whenever the children spoke about knives, spoons, or canples. In essence, one can say that the Old World terms were dropped whenever their specific equivalents existed in English. On the other' hand, the Slavic terms were retained even by the American-born informants whenever neither objects nor terms were present in American culture. The second aspect of this study concerns the examination of materials used in egg decoration. Closely related to the study of implements, these materials are used for preparation of colors and the materials employed in the so-called ''relief techniques.'' Since the materials used in the relief techniques will be treated extensively later in this article, only the materials used in preparation of colors will be considered at this point. These materials, at any rate, are of utmost importance for the study of transmission of Easter eggs in its corollary aspect of change . Considered at the point of departure from Europe, these materials represent a medley of knowledge and notions · concerning chemistry, botany, and physics, at a folklife level. In America, �SLOVAKIA 43 on the contrary, all coloring substances are commercially acquired in the form of "new coloring kits, easy to use" either in the so-called "Chick-chick plastic bag" or "Paint me" paper box varieties. In order to understand better the nature and extent of this change, let us examine the materials used for coloring and tinting of eggs first in their European form and then in connection with their American counterpart. According to the majority of my informants, "onions and tea leaves cooked together with eggs were used most often for coloring and tinting by our mothers in Europe , but also some 'other things ' may be used for this work." (16) Although unspecific as to the rest of tinting substances, the informants in Cleveland still gave me enough clues in order to continue with the study of this aspect in connection with the written sources. Thus, the "other things" mentioned by informants may have been: the overcooked "Spring rye, hay and coffee; clover leaves (tied to the eggs and cooked in the) extract of ... young grass (and) parsley" (17) for regular tinting, and "the cabbage 'acid' " (18) for 'etching' of parts of eggs not covered by wax. ( 19) In America, as stated, the tinting and coloring kits are bought. These kits, costing ''only a few dollars,'' (20) contain all basic colors in powder form. The coloring fluid is prepared ''by the mixing of the powder with hot water and vinegar," (21) according to specific directions for use. I have not seen any of my informants work with the etching technique; therefore, I mention it here only in order to stress its relative importance in Europe and its absence among my informants in Ohio. The linguistic aspect concerning the materials used for tinting and coloring is, in my opinion, important only in its European version. The terms used in identification of various tinting and coloring substances or materials are either well-known throughout the Slavic area or restricted to some small regions. The widely spread terms are, again like the terms denoting certain tools, an indication of popularity and presence of these materials and substances in the individual Slavic countries. On the other hand, the terms restricted to certain small regions are undeniable proof that the particular material was used only locally or regionally. This conclusion is based upon the fact that these terms are ''tinted'' with dialecticism to such an extent that they cannot be found in average dictionaries nor identified by those of my informants possessing rather advanced formal education in art history or folk art technology. So, for example, neither Dr. Cincik and Miss Petrushka nor Mrs. Osadca were able to give me any information on the terms of pryzyly or kampeska. (22) The commercially acquired American kits are of no value in the study of folk terminology in connection with materials used for tinting and coloring. As products of mass oriented manufacture, these kits reflect primarily an artificial interference with folk tradition. �44 SLOVAKIA What conclusions could be drawn from this short study of implements and materials used in egg decoration? The frequent use of household tools in egg decoration, to start with, suggests that decorated eggs have roots in a self-sustaining economy. Analyzed with respect to the European tradition, this hypothesis is indirectly supported by many statements of the authors consulted for this paper. Thus, according to Vaclavik, "a laid-away razor knife" (23) was frequently reshaped into a pin-pointed tool and used in the scratchcarving technique, (24) and "a pocket knife with a broken point" (25) was employed for the same purpose by Zibrt's informants. However, "an old spoon (with handle) thrust into the side of a beet-made candlestick" (26) is, perhaps, the most characteristic example of the selfsustaining character of tools in Easter eggs manufacture. This character is, nevertheless, still more pronounced in connection with materials used in egg tinting and coloring. There is almost no limit to the range of plants, materials, and techniques employed in traditional preparation of various colors and tints, as seen in the brief summary of the materials above. Examined in the terms of the American tradition, the hypothesis of a sustentacular relationship of economy and egg decoration still holds in connection with the frequent use of household implements in egg decoration in the United States. There is, however, a marked tendency to acquire more and more tools commercially and exclusively for egg decoration here. One can observe this trend, for example, in connection with the commercially-acquired specimens of voskovacka (waxing pen) or skrabacka (scraper), and in connection with the homemade oko (lit., "eye") manufactured by Mr. and Mrs. Molchak. On the other hand, a drift against the traditional self-sustaining ch'aracter of egg decoration is visible in the fact that all colors and tints are bought. The household implements and materials used in tinting and coloring, to continue, are often referred to in connection with the history of technology in general, and as such they may be relatively good timing and placing devices in establishing historicity and ethnicity of certain aspects in egg decoration custom. Among devices usable for this kind of study are almost all modern inventions, whether of general or restricted use, such as electric heating plates and the voskovacka (waxing pen in its most modem variant). In this connection, however, it is necessary to point out that only presence of modern implements is of value for an investigation along historical lines. Their absence, whether in pictorial representations or in written documents, is worthless, as one could easily see by a comparison of the photographs taken during the interview with Mrs. Molchak (an electric heating plate used for wax melting) and of Mrs. Pap and Mrs. Korlatovic (burning candles used as sources of melted wax). (27) The aspect o~ ethnicity, touched briefly in connection with the dialectical names of materials used in egg decoration, may be considered as a relatively safe testing device of �SLOVAKIA 45 regional-ethnic provenience of certain terms and materials. As a corollary of technology; the inventiveness was indirectly implied in connection witp. the "beet-made candlestick," (28) with the multifold use of household implements, and with the intelligent handling of materials useJ traditionally for manufacture of colors and tints. In its traditional aspect, this inventiveness was brought about primarily by economic considerations. In its new American setting, it is perhaps, owing more to an "aesthetic" feeling of the folk artist. One can see this in two specific cases, such as the above mentioned oko by means of which my informants tried ''to avoid scratches'' on the freshly batiked eggs, (See Figs. 2,3, and 5) and in the concern of another informant "for the shameful results of her work with yellow color." (29) In the first case, Mr. and Mrs. Molchak made the oko; in the second instance, the informant decided "to search for the roots of trouble in order to heighten the quality of her work.'' However, this economic"aesthetic" difference between European and American tradition is a matter of interpretation. There is not a rigid dichotomy between "aesthetics" and economy either in Europe or in America, and there is no dichotomy between the Old World and New World inventiveness either. In summary, the study of implements and materials used in egg decoration is, at its descriptive level, concerned with technology and etymology. At an analytical level, this study may explain some aspects related to economy, inventiveness, historicity, ethnicity, and ''aesthetics.'' Nevertheless, the most important aspect of this study, I think, is in its investigation into continuity and change. As stated above, there is a partial continuity in the tools used in egg decoration both in Europe and in America. However, there is a complete change between the materials used traditionally in Europe and recently in America. The study of designs in folk art concerns primarily an investigation into the types and motifs. Both the types and motifs of folk art are often interchangeable with each other, as in folk narratives, and as such they resist any ready-made definitions. In general, the type may be thought of as the term denoting resemblances in combinations of symbols, signs, motifs, ornaments, and kinds of craftsmanship over a large area to such an extent that these resemblances cannot be ascribed to polygenesis. The motif, on the other hand, is "a graphically complete representation of a given fundamental form that manifests certain content.'' (30) Designs in decoration of Slavic Easter eggs belong to two fundamental types, the western and the eastern. The western type, comprising Poland, Bohemia and Moravia, the easternmost part of Slovakia, and Slovenia, is generally seen as a phenomenon limited in range of motifs, but possessing an exquisite craftsmanship. (31) This type of egg decoration is characterized, according to A. Vaclavik, "by �46 SLOVAKIA star motifs on both ends of egg(s) and by free setting of motifs on sides of egg.'' (32) The specimens of this type are obtained either by tear-like lines and dots (33) or by embossed ornamentation with wax or other suitable material. (34) The most frequent motifs connected with the western type are chains, sinuous lines, trees and branches, garlands, squares, hearts, birds, and rosettes. (35) The eastern type, on the other hand, is geographically restricted to the Ukraine, western Russia, the Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, and the parts of eastern Moravia and westernmost Slovakia. (36) Rich in color as well as in the number of subtypes, this type is characterized by linear ornamentation running over the egg surface vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. (37) The basic traits of the eastern type are traceable to Byzantine art and related to, and influenced by, the grass weaving, (38) embroidery, (39) and wood carving. (40) Because of this relationship, the eastern type is influenced by materials used. Its most frequent motifs seem to be cross, swastika, triangle, pentagram, hexagram, and various highly schematized ribbonlike motifs of lighting, thorns, ''ant and bee paths,'' "bird path," and fork and comb-like motifs. (41) My study in Cleveland showed that Vaclavik's conclusions concerning geographical distribution of these two basic types (i.e., the western and the eastern) are generally valid also in connection with the Slovak and Ruthenian immigrants in Ohio. Already by a cursory observation of the eggs collected or photographed in Cleveland for this project, one can see a remarkable difference between the eggs decorated by Mrs. Molchak, on the one hand, and Mrs. Pap and Mrs. Korlatovic, on the other. While Mrs. Molchak has an overall predilection for the western tear-like motifs, she is also fond of the embossed subtypes in egg decoration. Mrs. Pap, an adherent of the eastern types, decorates eggs characterized by balanced composition of geometrical elements, and by a wide range of colors. With the exception of an egg showing Christ risen from the dead, there is no egg decorated by Mrs. Pap that would suggest design influence from other ethnic groups in America. Mrs. Korlatovic, as another folk artist working with the eastern typological sphere df egg decoration, is also very conservative in approach to design change. Working to the minutest detail in a geometrical partition of the egg surface, Mrs. Korlatovic has attained what many folk artists would consider ''an ideal of perfection." Because of emphasis on mosaicity, the color aspects of her design are subordinated. Eggs decorated by Mrs. Korlatovic are beautiful seen close up; their colors and designs merge in an indefinite brownish hue when the eggs are seen, say, at a distance of 3 or 4 feet. The other informants are more or less an amorphous group as to their relationship to the western or eastern type of design. This group is primarily represented by Mrs. Jana Mad'ar. Mrs. Tanya Osadca, Miss Petrushka, Dr. Joseph Cincik, Mr. Vladimir Ozabal and three daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Molchak. With the exception of the last �SLOVAKIA 47 mentioned three girls, who show a definite pro-western typological inclination (Note Fig. 6) , the other informants mentioned in this paragraph are " individuals " resisting any general classification as to typology in design. Some hints as to the preferences of this group may be traced from the study of motifs in the works and collection of this group . So, at any rate, sinuous lines are the favored motif of Mrs . Mad'ar both according to her own words as well as in accordance with her decoration (Fig. 10) . The motifs of tulips, hearts , roses , and birds evident in western Slovak wall-paintings are on the favored list of Dr. Cincik, of Mrs . Ozabal, and, to certain extent, also of Miss Petrushka. But both Miss Petrushka and Dr. Cincik prefer in their professional work a somewhat schematized design of '' pastoral culture,'' as does Mrs. Osadca in her hobby-oriented egg decoration . (42) On the whole, this group of folk artists is an excellent example of the mixed influences that characterize Slovak ethnic territory as to typology in egg decoration designs. All members of the group have roots in their native or ancestral cultures. With the exception of Mrs. Osadca , this group draws basically from the Western Slovak " fireplace decorating sub-type." But designs of this group merge to the central Slovak sub-types of wood carving and embroidery which, in tum , already shows some traces of the linear-geometrical character present in the eastern type of egg decoration. With a view to the types and motifs examined briefly above, the general concepts of designs in folk art may be analyzed in connection with the study of form and content elements as well. The corollaries of form and content, symbol, sign, and ornament, are mutually substitutive, according to one's point of view. Thus, let us say, an ornament considered under strictly formal attributes may be simply a decoration or embellishment. In its content evaluation, however, an ornament could have " an ideological meaning (issuing) from aesthetic concept(s) " (43) either as a sign representing a conventional idea or as a symbol expressing a basic (and) striking ... idea." (44) Let us now examine the most frequent and self-evident symbols, the cross, heart, briar, wild rose, thorn crown, rose, and grapevine in connection with sources I was able to consult and with the Slovak and Ruthenian folk artists in Cleveland whom I interviewed. The cross, both the symbol and sign expressing the traditional concepts of Christ's death and resurrection, was the most frequent ornament used in the decoration by my informants. Its twelve variants, (45) representing the full range of cultural and ethnic connotations, were intentionally used by the majority of my informants in order either to express their religious affiliation or to stress their ethnic backgrounds. Thus , the Latin cross was consistently used by the informants of the Roman Catholic religion while the members of the Byzantine Catholic Rite expressed their religious beliefs with the Byzantine Catholic Cross and with the words "Christos Voskres" (i.e., �48 SLOVAKIA "Christ is risen"). The Greek Cross, with its vertical and horizontal beams of equal length , was used very often interchangeably with the crosses of St. Andrew (i.e., an "X" or " Y" cross) "because all three crosses are easy to draw in any direction and combination with other ornaments. " In a like manner, the Cross of St. Anthony (i.e. , a cross in the form of a "T") and the Maltese Cross were employed primarily for their formal-decorative aspects. The so-called Apostolic Cross, represented by a long vertical beam and by two horizontal beams placed in the upper half of the cross, brought about some implications of ethnic-cultural symbology. While this cross is an official religious symbol of the Byzantine Catholic Church, it is at the same time also partly related to the Slovak national emblem (i.e. , an Apostolic Cross upon the " peak" of a threesome " mountain range " ). This, at any rate interesting aspect, presented no problems in connection with my informants of the Byzantine Rite faith and eastern Slovak background. For them, the cross was both " Slovak " and also " Byzantine"; however, for my informants of western Slovak ancestry or origin, the cross was always of " Slovak " connotation. The informants of Ruthenian provenience stressed that ''the cross was an emblem of their religion" and asked me " to state this clearly when I write about 'their Easter eggs'.'' This , on first sight trivial emphasis upon ethnic or cultural aspects, may not be easily understood by citizens of a large country like the United States. Had one, however, studied the history of the Slovaks , Sub-Carpathians , Huculs , Lemkos, and other small ethnic groups of central Europe , he would see why there is a strong emphasis on esoteric elements in the folklore of these groups. The heart, a universal symbol of love, is prominent in central and western Slovakia. Used frequently both in folk art designs and in Christian symbology as well, the symbol and ornament of the heart developed, in my opinion , from two different traditions . The first tradition of heart symbols has roots in the so-called " spiritual love ," while the second tradition is linked with the so-called " erotic love." Spiritual love is represented in Christian symbols either by a heart with a burning flame on its top and a crown of thorns placed about it or by the so-called "Lumen Christi" (i.e ., Paschal candle) with fire burning "upwards" or "spiritually." The second tradition of love symbolism , " erotic love ," is more evident in folk art and customs . The aspect of erotic love permeates several customs of the S~avic and Balkan areas, among them especially the customs of " Kore ," " Kostrubonko," and " Morena" in which, usually , an effigy of straw is set afire and thrown into the river . These customs , in essence animistic equations of Notteuer , represent fire as a male element moving downwards toward water or the female element. (46) In folk art, both "spiritual" and " erotic" fire s are frequently connected with the symbols of "suffering love " (i.e ., the thorn crown in its spiritual aspect; rose-and-briar in the " worldly" aspect of love). (4 7) After an examination of the literary �SLOVAKIA 49 sources with the evidence from Cleveland, I came to the conclusion that the "heart-rose-briar" composition ("heart-tulip " version in Slovakia) symbolizes among the Slovaks only "spiritual love." This interpretation is self-evictent in connection with the wood-carved cemetery crosses in central Slovakia, with the fireplace paintings in western Slovakia, and with the works of some of my informants in Cleveland. An investigation into the relative directions in the "movement" of individual ornaments reveals that the elements of "twisting" and "knots" are symbolically opposing the "branching" or "open structures" in every vertical composition. The verticallyoriented "twisting," especially when terminated with a "love knot," symbolizes in folk tradition a "suffering kind of erotic love" while the "branching" or "open structure" is a sign symbol of parent-to-child love. In an examination of forty illustrative plates in the work Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat (Decorated Fireplaces in the Little Capathian Region) by Rudolf Bednarik I found no single instance of the so-called "twisting" or " knots " in connection with the western Slovak "fireplace sub-culture." In a like manner, only "open branching" is evident on the cemetery crosses in central Slovakia, shown in the book Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku. (48) The carving upon the crosses, in addition, shows also genetic and historical development in the ornament-to-symbols direction. The date carved directly on the vertical beam of a cross indicates the year of 188(-), with the last digit illegible because of decay. This cross has no symbolic connotation as yet. Its tulips grow up out of a flower pot rather naturally, and as such they are only an ornament. (49) Another cross at the same cemetery, dated 1928, is evidently an advanced version of the older cross in its ornament-symbol relationship. (50) Its symbolism is expressed in the form of tulips branching upwards from a heart . The "spiritual character" of love is here symbolized, in my opinion, by the "open branching" of the tulip, and, I think, the entire arrangement can be interpreted as suggesting the everlasting love of the deceased toward his living relatives. Now, how does this spiritual and wordly love relationship score with the other folk art products in Europe and in America? Is there any evidence of an ornament-to-symbol orientation among folk artists in more recent times? A little wooden shovel, to start with, was decorated by one of my informants in Cleveland. This shovel may be considered as an intermediary stage between the ornaments symbolizing spiritual and erotic love. Representing the so-called ''medovnikove srdce'' (i.e., " marzipan heart") flanked by two schematized roosters, the ornamental arrangement on the little shovel still preserves some traces of spiritual love (i.e. , the two tulips branching from the heart), but the presence of the roosters suggests already "another aspect" of love. This aspect, I think, is stressed even more by the traditional meaning of the marzipan heart in Slovakia since such a heart was given by a boy �50 SLOVAKIA only to the girl whom he intended to marry. In like manner, the egg made by Mrs. J . B. also shows an intermediary character, this time in connection with the genetic flower pot-to-heart development (i.e., from naturalism to symbolism). There is a remarkable likeness between this egg and an egg shown by A. Vaclavik. (51) This likeness suggests that the polygenetic trend in motifs is not restricted to folk narratives only. Two eggs decorated by one of my informants in Cleveland belong also to the intermediary zone between spiritual and wordly love. One of the eggs , a vertical rendition of "twisting" and "open branching," looks almost like a combination of the rose-and-briar motif of AngloAmerican traditional balladry and of tulip-branching of western Slovak wall-painting. The other egg, elaborated horizontally with only one garland of roses and green leaves slightly above the middle of eggshell, already suggests a higher spiritualization, but this is only an impression. It seems that the most recent ornaments whether created by my informants or by folk artists in Slovakia remained only ornaments. With the exception of the most self-evident symbols like the cross, the heart, and the thorn crown, one of my informants did not know why he put together, for example, the horizontally-arranged grapevine motif with wild roses superimposed upon the grapevine branches. Except the swastika and "sun circles," the other ornaments also described in connection with the types and motifs above are taken by the majority of my informants for face value only. So, for example, Mrs. Korlatovic considered the cobweb, the sieve, and the rake only as a cobweb, a sieve, or a rake, and nothing else. The swastika, treated extensively by M. Gavazzi, (52) was for my informants either "an emblem of the Nazis" or "a garden sprinkler" whenever presented in the "round form.'' Only the informants with formal art training were able to recognize the ' 'ancient symbol of a moving sun'' (53) behind the forms of "windmill wings or clover leaves" of the swastika. The "sun circles," (54) used by my informants in one form or another, were recognized by Mrs. Jana Mad'ar "as a Slovak ceiling decoration," but only Dr. Cincik was familiar with the ancient meaning of this ornament. Theory of design in folk art, like its counterpart in fine arts, is a matter of interpretation in the first place. yonsidered with general concepts of art, designs in folk art may be examined in the terms of form and content, as stated above. Linked to the diachronic study, these designs may reveal some social, economic, cultural, or psychological conditions. Folk art, when contrasted with fine arts, shows a high occurrence of borrowing, repetition, use of conventional themes, plagiarism, and disregard for spontaneity and originality. In the past, folk art was thought to be linked to the preservation and reproduction of life by magical and natural means. At present, folk art seems to lose more and more of its magic character. Hand in hand with the new and more realistic approaches to the problems of life, folk art tends today to emphasize stylistic and formal elements, such as or- �SLOVAKIA 51 nament and decoration attained by mere technical means (i.e., relief techniques). Generally, it seems that folk art design moved originally away from naturalism tow~rd schematization. Its present tendency is toward self-explanatory and self-evident symbolism (i.e., a flower pot exchanged by a heart). When, however, certain general symbols were removed out of anunstressed situation, they became localized within a new and stronger situation and acquired a new meaning (i.e., the Apostolic Cross became the Slovak or Eastern Byzantine Cross). According to conventional aesthetics, symbolism giving content to the form should be thought of as a ''higher level'' in the understanding of artistic creations. In folk art, on the contrary, symbolism was more evident in the ancient and relatively more primitive cultures. With the exception of the most self-evident symbols of the cross and heart, symbolism is almost absent from the recent folk creations. Is this a paradox? No, it is only a fact which suggests that sophisticated and folk culture are two different entities, and so also are conventional aesthetics and folk art ''aesthetics.'' Techniques of egg decoration play an important part in the diachronic-synchronic study of folklore transmission. Thought of in the terms of materials and tools used, these techniques are identified as painting, batiking, scratch-carving, embossing, (with related techniques of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering), and tying. (55) Considered in their relationship to the predetermined use of eggs, these techniques are primarily of a conservational character. There are, however, some techniques of preparatory character which are either considered as preliminary steps for proper decoration of eggs or thought of as techniques in their own right. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, I want first to consider the preparatoryconservational egg decoration · techniques. To start with, painting or coloring of eggs requires "completely clean hands (and) implements." (56) According to Zibrt, the egg must be "at least three days old in order to 'catch' color, (and it should be) slightly heated in order to retain wax. (57) Several informants, quoted by Zibrt and Vaclavik, stress that "lukewarm rain water" (58) is the best for the cleaning of eggs. Then the eggs are either blown out of the eggshells, or cooked in clean water or with any coloring substance whenever they should be decorated later and used as decorative articles at home or as presents for the others. On the other hand, the eggs are either cooked together with onion skin, tea leaves, or other food coloring substances whenever they should be consumed during Easter holidays, or else "scratched-carved" after cooking. These preparatory techniques are gen·e rally known all over the Slavic area. There is, however, a rather restricted technique of a conservational character employed consistently by Mrs. Korlatovic. According to this technique, raw eggs are decorated with batik, and when dry, the eggs are covered with a thin layer of special shellac. This prevents spoilage, adding a bit �52 SLOVAKIA of mirrorlike gloss. Let us now describe and examine the decorative techniques. The first technique of painting is, in essence, the simple application of the technique employed in other forms of folk art, such as wall painting, pottery and ceramics, painting of household implements, and painting on glass. The technique, "gaining momentum recently especially in northern Slovakia," (59) consists of direct application of oil or water paints on eggs. Although mentioned by Zibrt and Vaclavik, this technique is not very important in over all transmission of Easter customs from Europe to America, and only one of my informants in Cleveland used it extensively. Batik technique, on the other hand, is the most important and widespread technique in egg decoration. Mentioned often by several Slavic and non-Slavic authors, (60) this technique is of an ancient origin. Its existence is known all over the Slavic area, and its popularity is unquestioned also among my informants in Cleveland (See Figs. 1,2,3,5, and 6). The technique itself is based fundamentally on a principle similar to offset printing. Decoration by means of this technique is, therefore, attained in such a way that the parts of the eggshell are covered with wax heated in the tiny cup of voskovacka (i.e., waxing pen), and the egg is then immersed and tinted in a light water color. After removal of the egg from the first color, and when the egg is dry enough, the wax is wiped off thoroughly with a warm rag. (61) Then the egg is, again, "painted" with wax, "bathed" in another somewhat darker color, removed, dried and wiped. These steps are repeated until the egg attains the desired design composition (See Fig. 9) Scratch-carving, after batik the most popular technique in Slovakia, is known also among my informants. Related and similar to woodcarving, this technique is generally linked with the eastern type egg design in general and with the so-called "salasnicka kultura" (i.e. pastoral culture) in particular. According to Vaclavik, the drawback of this technique ' 'is hard work, more time-c~nsuming than with wax(batiked) eggs." (62) Only well-seasoned artists are able to work with this technique successfully. As mentioned above, all my informants are familiar with this technique, but only Mrs . Molchak was willing to scratch carve eggs during my stay in Ohio. Folk artists in Europe use for scratch carving "file or awl, knife, (but) most frequently the point of laid-away razor blades." (63) In America, on the contrary, the most popullar implement for this technique is the so-called "skrabacka" (lit., scraper), an awl made of hard steel and having a pencil-like wooden or metallic handle. The egg, decorated in this technique by Mrs. Molchak was made with the skrabacka. Embossing, inlaying, ribboning, hammering, and tying are basically complementary techniques. Linked with each other both in Europe and in America, these techniques are employed in order to �SLOVAKIA 53 variegate the relief of egg's surface by raising the parts of eggshell. In my opinion, however, only embossing and tying are techniques in their own right. Techniques of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering, on the contrary, are mere adaptations of each other as to the material used. Embossing is a technique ih which the egg's surface is raised by permanent application of heavy coat of wax. This technique , in spite of how effective it looks, is not widespread because, in addition to being hard to work the ''relief peels off easily and melts away in warm weather." (64) Traditional specimens with this technique were made with an application of ''red or blue wax'' upon eggshell, or of '' black wax" upon a red-tinted egg. Embossing of eggs is, according to Vaclavik, "known in Moravia, in westernmost Bohemia, and in Bulgaria.'' (65) Only one of my informants in Cleveland (Mrs. Molchak) works with this traditional technique to any great extent. Inlaying, as the first of the three techniques (consisting of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering), is relatively restricted because it depends very much on the skill of a folk artist. In its European version, this technique is represented by two major variants, the so-called "pasted eggs" and "straw eggs." The "pasted eggs," known both in western Slovakia and in Moravia under the names of "birds" and "doves ," are decorated with paper of different colors and shapes . The results of such activity are "birds" with the body made of the egg, and with the head, feet, tail, and wings made of paper. (66) The "straw eggs, '' on the other hand, are manufactured with a technique in which pieces of colored straw are pasted directly upon the eggshell. This mosaic-like work requires great skill and patience. It is fundamentally a variant of a cabinet making technique in which pieces of straw are also used in decoration of furniture'.s frontispieces. (67) Inlaying, of course, can be carried out in a wide range of combination and of materials used. This aspect, however, will be referred to later in connection with the American counterparts of this technique. Ribboning is, according to Vaclavik, "a further (and) more recent variant (of) sitinovani.' ' (68) Widespread in northern Slovakia, ribboning consists of pasting little garlands on both ends of the egg, and tying the ribbons of different colors and widths around the middle. (69) Among my informants, only Miss Petrushka uses this technique in a form described by Vaclavik, while Mrs. Mad'ar uses this technique in its simpler variant of "string-lacing." Hammering, .the last close relative of inlaying and ribboning, is a very old technique. According to Cesky casopis historicky, (70) hammering is documented as early as 1415. Folk artists working with this technique use most "often blown out goose eggs (and embellish) them with metallic rings, flower and animal motifs. (71) With the exception of Miss Petrushka, none of my informants in Cleveland worked with this technique. Tying of eggs, as a technique in its own right, is now restricted to �54 SLOVAKIA the vicinity of Mikulov in Moravia. (72) However, owing to evidence from Cleveland, I will examine this technique in somewhat more detail than the others. According to the data gathered from other studies and from my informants, the egg is decorated with this technique when it is immersed into strong vinegar in order to soften it and then it is tied about the middle in order to acquire a shape of a written number 8. From a practical viewpoint, this technique seems merely to complement the other seven techniques mentioned before. But as mentioned above, tying becomes a technique in its own right for technological and other reasons. First of all, no attempts were made in other techniques to change the chemical composition of the eggshell to such an extent that it would become pliable. Then, in its interpretative aspect, I think that this technique also suggests another important point. As mentioned before, economic factors play a part in the work of folk artists in Europe and in America as well. One can see this in connection with the multifold use of tools both for general household chores and in the use of the terms with which folk artists unequivocally stress how carefully one should work, for example, with razor blade ''in order to prevent breaking of the eggshell." (73) Now, let us consider this project in the situation of which I was an eyewitness during an exposition of the art work of Miss Petrushka. At this exposition, Miss Petrushka startled the attending public when she let fall a jewelled egg as if accidentally, but the egg bounced up without damage. At my question of how this elasticity of the eggshell was attained, Miss Petrushka answered only in part. She told me that she learned this secret from her father, a folk artist also, but otherwise declined to elaborate on or describe the procedure or the chemical reaction by which the elasticity of egg was brought about. I am no chemist, but in view of Vaclavik' s investigation of the "tying egg technique," I think that the process by which Vaclavik's informants brought about the softening of eggs and the process by means of which miss Petrushka was able to induce elasticity to jewelled eggs\are at least partly related to each other. As to the other side of this problem, there is no doubt that her polite refusal to answer my question was motivated by economic reasons, a sort of private patent protection. With respect to the other techniques, I have observed that my informants combine the relief techniques into one. Conversely, embossing in this "modern" version is carried out in connection with inlaying, ribboning, hammering, painting, batiking, and scratch carving. My informants used for this "new technique," in addition to wax, also dough, cultured pearls, wire of various thicknesses, aluminum foil cut in the form of small leaves and flowers, silk and samite, tiny sequins and beads, marzipan, and confetti in baking and regular varieties. This range of materials used is still not a complete one. And this technique, whether considered as one or separately in agreement with its more traditional counterparts, shows that the �SLOVAKIA 55 variety in products manufactured by my Slovak and Ruthenian informants in Cleveland is very wide. At its specific plane, this variety moves from the work of humble folk artists up almost to Faberge's level. (74) The Americanized technique, which includes a number of European traditional techniques , supports the hypothesis of a forwardreverse relationship beh,xeen techniques and implements used in egg decoration . While the number of tools in Europe shrinks , and the implements are frequently interchanged for economic reasons with those in overall household use , the techniques in Europe were held as separate entities in rather restricted areas, again, I believe, mainly to lower cost and to use only locally available materials . In America the situation seems to be reversed. The implements used exclusively for egg decoration here seem to gain ground . The techniques, as seen above , tend to lose individuality and become more and more incorporated into a larger whole. This again, in my opinion , is because of economic reasons . Ame rican folk artists have no difficulty in obtaining locally everything needed for egg decoration. The choice of products in America permits American folk artists to follow their interests to a greater degree than their European counterparts in the past. No matter whether these interests are of an aesthetic nature or whether they are conditioned by profession , economic aspects of buying and selling as well as of the conditions underlying the choice of raw materials and tools are ever present and important. The custom involving Easter eggs consisted in Slovakia of two basic parts: decoration of the eggs carried out in individual families, and use of eggs as presents for the young men performing showers and whippings. Both the showering and whipping as well as the egg decoration were historically documented , according to Cenek Zibrt, as early as the 14th century. (75) The decoration of Easter eggs , as the first part of this custom , has continued for over six hundred years, and no wonder that the Slovak and Ruthenian immigrants brought this custom also to the United States. According to my investigation in Cleveland, it was carried on by the first generation of Slovak immigrants in America. Only single young men used to perform showers and whippings in Slovakia. The first Slovak immigrants in America, to begin with , were in most cases married men who came to the United States to earn money and either to return home or to bring their families here at a later date. The way of life in the United States, to continue, was conditioned by an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and as such it had no ready-made accommodations for such strange customs as whipping and showering. This custom was practiced in Slovakia on Easter Monday and Tuesday , both days being either a religious (i.e., Easter Monday) or traditional (i.e., Easter Tuesday) holiday. Linked together, these three aspects support the thesis that the no-holiday character of these two post-Easter days was the primary cause that brought about disappearance of showering and whipping in the United �56 SLOVAKIA States. The secondary cause for this disappearance was the fact that the Slovak immigrants were unwilling to continue with a custom that might have brought about ridicule from the more sophisticated segments of the American population. (76) The third cause might have been owing to changed environmental conditions. While rural life in Slovakia posed no difficulties to young men performing showers or whipping, urban life in America brought about some restrictions as to where, for example, the custom of showering could have taken place. In Slovakia this custom was usually performed either in the backyard or in the garden. In America, there were in most cases no places to perform the custom without damage to the interior of the house or, if the showering were performed in the street, without interference with law and order. The second part of the custom, involving the Easter eggs as presents in exchange for showering and whipping, had therefore either to disappear completely or to acquire a new meaning. Because of contact with other ethnic and cultural groups, this part of the custom took the road of incorporation within another cultural context. (77) Thus the Roman Catholic Slovak immigrants retained the custom of egg decoration as practiced in Slovakia; however, the second part of this custom involving Easter eggs as presents for the young men performing the whipping and showering either disappeared completely or was adjusted in order to suit the new situation. On the other hand, the Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, (78) together with the Ruthenians and Ukrainians proper, did not change the first part of the custom (i.e., decoration of eggs) at all. But a slight change took place among them in the exchange of eggs as compared with eastern Slovakia and Ruthenia. While, according to Greek Catholic usage, a simple form of exchange among the relatives and neighbors used to take place in Europe, eastern Slovaks and Ruthenians in America decorate eggs now either for sale or for exchange with the other church members. The sale itself could be of two kinds: a simple sale for personal profit and a sale to fellow church members with the proceeds donated to the church. The second and third generations of thf Slovak Roman Catholic immigrants in Cleveland retained the "new approach" of the first generation regarding the revision of the custom involving Easter showers and whipping. Together with the eastern Slovaks and Ukrainians, the Roman Catholic Slovaks also adopted the changes of basic techniques, tools, terminology, and economy with respect to Easter customs and decorated eggs in particular. But this is, again, a matter concerning the other aspects of egg decoration, and as such it was either treated in connection with the individual aspects of egg decoration or it will be touched upon in the last part of this article. In the final analysis, one could see that change manifested itself in the various aspects of egg decoration more frequently than its corollary or continuity. With the exception of designs and tools of general use �SLOVAKIA 57 (both of which remained almost unaltered), changes occurred in coloring substances, techniques, customs involving decorated eggs, and in the tools used exclusively in egg decoration. However, as shown above in connection with individual aspects of egg decoration, these changes were always of different character and extent, and were brought about for different reasons. Thus, there was, on the one hand, a complete change from the.traditional home-made coloring substances (79) to the commercially available coloring kits in America. (80) There were, on the other hand, less evident, but still important, changes in techniques, customs, and tools of specific character. Placed side by side, both techniques and special tools show trends of adding and subtracting in a folktale-like manner. As in the study of folktales, one could observe that "two or more tales (are stringed) together," (81) the techniques which existed in Slovakia and in the Ukraine as separate entities were brought together by the folk artists in America and incorporated into one general technique. The opposite trend, again as in folktales, was evident in connection with the tools used exclusively in egg decoration when the "adding of detail(s)" occurred in the New World either owing to modernization of older tools or because of the introduction of new implements. The two-fold change took place, according to my observation, in customs involving Easter eggs. As mentioned, the custom of whipping and showering disappeared in America. The custom of giving Easter eggs as presents to the others was, on the contrary, retained, but its complete change was evident among the western and central Slovak immigrants while only a slight change as to its practical application was recorded among the eastern Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland. (82) What were 1:he reasons behind these changes and why were certain aspects of egg decoration more amenable for alteration than others? As mentioned elsewhere in this paper, the motives for changes in various aspects of egg decoration can be attributed to folk "aesthetics," economy, and to the impact of culture contact with the other ethnic groups in America. Since no fingerprint evidence exists as to the cross-influence between "aesthetics," economy, and impact of culture contact, on the one hand, and the aspects of egg decoration, on the other, my interpretation of the motives leading to the changes in egg decoration is only a tentative one. I believe that the formation of concepts concerning ''aesthetics'' in the European version of egg decoration was brought about by the availability of materials and tools, in the first place. Artistic endeavors of European egg decorators were, in my opinion, conditioned by the initial cost of egg decoration. European folk artists, therefore, either manufactured the tools and coloring substances at their homes or used only locally available materials in order to save on transportation costs. American folk artists, on the other hand, seem to be concerned more with the sale of finished products, and make every effort to sell their products either for �58 SLOVAKIA money or for recognition ; hence, in order to do so, they are forced "to make saleable products" and "to protect their inventions." The worries about qualitative expression compel American egg decorators to buy new tools and to adapt traditional techniques to new needs . Even the custom involving decorated eggs, as an aspect of Easter eggs, was influenced to the greatest extent by culture contact with the other ethnic groups , is currently conditioned by economic artistic considerations . (83) Continuity, holding opposite side to the change in transmission, is evident in the use of general household implements and in designs. As to the tools, this rule of continuity is caused by the fact that knives, spoons, and needles, to mention just some of these items, are bought or used in Europe and in America along similar lines. Designs, in my opinion, seem to be stable elements in egg decoration because they have the most striking visual impact and are also formulaically and repetitively-oriented to a high degree. Seen altogether, both change and continuity exist side by side in the aspects of egg decoration as they exist both in folk art and in culture itself. This fact, being undeniable proof that egg decoration represents a part of the overall culture, is also testimony that the decoration of eggs as a form of folk art is governed by the laws governing culture itself. Easter eggs, therefore , like culture, are a unique human phenomenon, socially shared and transmitted, (84) this time by the Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland, Ohio. Reprinted from Journal of Popular Culture (Summer 1970) IV:l, pp. 155-193, with permission of Dr. Ray B. Browne. FOOTNOTES (1) Cf. Cenek Zibrt, Vesele chvile v iivote lidu ceskeho. Prague : Vysehrad, 1950, p. 251. According to Zibrt, the term 'Easter eggs' was known already in the 14th century, but originated long before that time . (2) Cf. Antonin Vaclavik, Vyrocni obyceje a lidove umeni. Prague : Ceskoslovenska akademie ved, 1959, p . 261. Vaclavik's informants in Moravia think that Easter eggs exist "from the very beginning " and several of his informants " maintain that the decoration of eggs started in Slovakia." (p . 262). In Vaclavik ' s opinion , the term " Slovakia" should be applied to the region alongside the Slovak-Moravian border only . (3) Cf. Kazimierz Moszyiiski, Kultura Ludowa Slowian. Cracow, 1939. CF . also Rudolf Bednarik , Duchovna kultura slovenskeho l'udu. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1941 . (4) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 259-580 ; cf. Zibrt, passim. (5) Cf. Note No. 6 below. (6) This fi eldwork was carried out by the author between March 18 and April 2, 1969. Thirty informants of Slovak and Ruthenian descent were interviewed. In addition to extensive tape-recordings and note-taking, the author took photographs tracing the individual steps of egg decoration (black and white as well as color slides) . Most of this material, containing also 17 actual eggs, is stored and available for consultation in the Archive of the Center for Comparative Folklore and Mythology at the University of California , Los Angeles. �SLOVAKIA 59 (7) Used as holders of blown-out eggs or as devises for the lengthwise partitioning of , such eggs . (8) Rubber bands may belong to either of the two groups. Used at times only for partitioning of egg surfaces, rubber bands may be stretched lengthwise diagonally, or latitudinally , and reused as any implement of the group one . At other times , rubber bands can be pasted around the eggs in order either to obtain embossing or to hold other items used in egg decoration , such as ribbons , colored sections of straw, or aluminum foil. Used this way, rubber bands belong to group two . For the specimens made either with ~krabai!ka or with sharp-pointed knife, see R. Bednarik, pp. 95-6. A dark-green egg, made by Mrs . Molchak and donated to this collection at U.C .L.A ., was decorated with ~krabai!ka. For an English treatment of eggs made with egg-carving technique, see Alfred L. Shoemaker, Eastertide in Pennsylvania, pp. 50-62. (9) (10) Cf. Zibrt, p. 257. (11) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 267-8. (12) The most modern specimen of uoskouai!ka is now available commercially. I bought one in the store of Mr. Rudenskij, 5432 State Road, Parma, Ohio, for $1.00. This specimen is now stored in the Archive F.M .G. at U.C.L.A. (13) As to the specific tools used exclusively for egg decoration, it is ahnost certain that some changes may have occurred in the Old World owing to new developments in culture and technology. This aspect, however, cannot be treated here because my evidence is fragmentary about it. (14) Cf. Zibrt, p . 251. (15) Cf. Ibid ., p. 255 . Cf. also Vaclavik, pp . 267-8. (16) Interview with Mrs . Mad'ar (17) Zibrt , p . 253 . (18) Ibid. (19) For description of etching, see Vaclavik , pp . 268, 275 . (20) Interview with Mrs. Molchak . (21) Interview with Mrs. Pap. (22) " Pryzyly " is a sort of reddish substance used for tinting (Cf. Zibrt, p . 252). "Kampeska" is a commercially-acquired " wood chip" coloring (Zibrt, p. 253). (23) Vaclavik, p . 269 . (24) Cf. Ibid. For a description of scratch carving, see Shoemaker, p. 51. (25) Zibrt, p . 255. (26) Vaclavik, p. 267. (27) Note Fig. No . 1, 2, 3, and 5. The photographs mentioned are on file in the Archive of the Center for Comparative Folklore and Mythology, U .C.L.A. (28) Vaclavik, p . 267 . (29) Interview with Mr~. Molchak . (30) Vaclavik, p . 376. (31) Cf. Ibid ., pp . 338-9. For a summary concerning the western type of egg decoration, see Ibid . , p . 523 . (32) Ibid ., p. 338 . (33) Cf. Ibid ., p. 287 and Plate LXXVII (upper part) . (34) Cf. Ibid ., p . 338 and Plate LV . �60 SLOVAKIA (35) Cf. Ibid., p. 338. (36) Cf. Ibid . (37) Cf. Ibid., p. 339. (38) Cf. Bednarik, pp. 206-208. (39) Cf. Ibid., Plate 75. Cf. also Moszyiiski, p. 916. (40) Cf. R. Bednarik, Pastierske rezbarske umenie, passim., but especially Plates No. 55, 79, 142, 149, and 158. (41) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 389 , 391, 393, and 395. (42) For prominent motifs in wall painting in western Slovakia, see R. Bednarik, Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat, passim. For ''pastoral culture'' in central Slovakia , see Bednarik, Pastierske rezbarske umenie, passim. (43) Vaclavik, p . 376 . (44) Ibid ., 375. (45) R. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, 57. (46) Cf. J. E. Cir lot, A Dictionary of Symbols, passim. (47) Cf. E. Haig, Floral Symbolism of the Great Masters, pp. 127-8. (48) Cf. R. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, p . 73. Cf. also Bednarik, Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat, plates 1-40. (49) Cf. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, p. 91. (50) Cf. Ibid ., p. 73. (51) Cf. Vaclavik, p. 346 (left side) . (52) Cf. M. Gavazzi, "Svastika i njezin ornamentalni razoj na uskrsnim jajima sa Balkana,'' Zbornik za narodni Zivot i obyc:aje juinih Slavena, XXVII, 1-24. (53) Cf. Gavazzi, Op. Cit., passim. (54) Cf. Alan Dundes, ed., The Study of Folklore, p. 387. (55) For a detailed description of these techniques, see Vaclavik, pp. 267-72. (56) Ibid., p. 267. (57) Zibrt, pp. 252-3. (58) Vaclavik, p. 267; also Zibrt, op. cit., passim. (59) Interview with Mrs. Mad'ar. (60) Cf. Vaclavik, p. 268; Zibrt, op. cit., passim., but especially 251 ff. (61) Cf. Vaclavik, p . 267. (62) Vaclavik, p. 269. (63) Vaclavik, p. 269. (64) Ibid. (65) Ibid. (66) Cf. Vaclavik, p . 269, and Plate XLV. (67) Cf. Ibid., pp. 269-70. Modern specimens made with this technique are shown on Plates XLIX and LXXV; furniture, Pl. LXIV. (68) Ibid ., p. 270. Sitinovani is a technique in which the core of Juncus is pasted upon the eggshell. (Juncus is the Latin term for a genus of olderly tree.) (69) Cf. Ibid . , p. 271. For specimens, see Ibid., p. 351. (70) Czech Historical Review , XXXIII, p. 278 . Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 271, 275. (71) Vaclavik, p. 271. �SLOVAKIA 61 (72) Cf. Ibid., pp. 271-2. (73) Ibid., p. 269. (74) For a treatment of Faberge,. work, see Venetia Newall, "Easter Eggs," Journal of American Folklore, LXXX (1967), 17 ff. (75) Cf. Note No. 1 above. (76) In connection with this point, I tried to elicit the opinions of my informants as to their feeling about whipping and showering. Only Mrs. Mad'ar, a recent immigrant from Slovakia, "hopes that her husband and sons will shower her, but with perfume only." Mrs. Molchak, on the other hand, is against any sort of showering in spite of the fact that the "young boys used to shower her in Pennsylvania." The boys, according to Mrs. Molchak, refused to take any eggs as presents for showering; if they did so, the others "would laugh." Mrs. Pap, a Ruthenian by ethnic origin, considered the custom "without any religious significance." (77) Both the showering and whipping are basically western Slovak customs. In eastern Slovakia, these customs were almost unknown because the majority of the Eastern Slovak population is Greek Catholic. (78) Byzantine Rite Slovaks are in the majority in Cleveland, in comparison with the Roman Catholic Slovaks. In Slovakia, the situation is reversed: Roman Catholics form the majority of the population. (79) I.e., cooked spring rye, hay, coffee, clover leaves, parsley, tea, etc. Cf. also Notes 17 and 22 above. (80) According to Mrs. Mad'ar, coloring substances are now also available commercially in Slovakia; however, they are not used frequently, and they are not packed in exclusive egg decoration kits either. (81) According to Stith Thompson, folktales change by "adding a detail (and by) stringing two or more tales together." The Folktale, p. 436. (82) Because of the disappearance of showering and whipping, again as in folktales, ''one change (brings about others) to maintain consistency," Ibid. (83) I.e., eggs are now sold publicly in front of the church while in the past they were given for showering and whipping or in exchange for other eggs. (84) Cf. the works of Ruth Benedict, Franz Boas, and A. L. Kroeber, passim. INFORMANTS MRS. KORLATOVIC, an American of Ukrainian ethnic ancestry, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rudenskij, owners and operators of an export-import store in Parma, Ohio. Mrs. Korlatovic, the mother of two children and a teacher in a kindergarten near Parma, decorates Easter eggs mainly for sale in her parent's store; she also decorates ceramics. MRS. JANA MADAR, a recent immigrant to the United States, arrived in Cleveland on November 30, 1968. A native of Ruzomberok, central Slovakia, Mrs. Mad'ar is the mother l)f two sons, ages 21 and 20. Mrs. Mad'ar decorated several eggs for this project in the so-called ''painting'' and ''string-lacing'' techniques. MRS. SOPHIE MOLCHAK, an American of Slovak descent, was born in Regenstown, Pennsylvania. She is married to an American of Ukrainian origin and is the mother of six children. Three of her daughters, ages 18, 12, and 9, took an active part in egg decoration during the interviews. MRS. TANYA OSADCA, an Ukrainian by ethnic descent, immigrated to America after World War II. Living now with her family in Peninsula, Ohio, she started egg decorating and collecting in 1952, and at present she owns over 500 specimens. She also �SLOVAKIA 62 studies and collects material published on Easter eggs. Her husband, a psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration Hospital, is also a collector and folk artist specializing in ceramics and pottery. MRS. ANNA PAP, a Ruthenian by ethnic origin, was born in Roztok near the present CSSR-USSR border. Married to Dr. M. S. Pap and the mother of four children ages 17, 14, 11, and 5, Mrs. Pap arrived in the United States in 1933. In addition to her household duties, she is also director of the choir at the St. Mary' s Ukrainian Catholic Church. MISS PETRUSHKA is an American of Slovak descent and a native of Cleveland. An admirer of Slovak folk traditions and a student of Slovak ethnography, Miss Petrushka is the owner of an art studio on Shaker Boulevard, Cleveland. Her collages, collage boxes, and jewelled eggs are well-known all over the United States. During my stay in Cleveland, she held two successful expositions of her creations. DR. JOSEPH CINClK, 65, a Slovak immigrant, arrived in the United States in 1948. An ex-professor at the University of Bratislava and at present an art bibliographer in Cleveland, Dr. Cincik is the foremost expert on Slovak folk art. MR. VLADIMIR OZABAL, 60 , a native of western Slovakia and an ex-officer of the Slovak Army, immigrated to America after World War II . Now the supervisor of a division of the City Water Department in Cleveland , Mr. Ozabal is still working at various projects related to Slovak folk art . .,• "'~ ~:: '~ ., ' Fig. 1 - A typical arrangement of eggs , implements, and coloring substances used by Mrs. Zofia Molchak, an American-born Slovak folk artist working with batik technique in the western-type design. Note the heating plate used for wax melting, rubber bands employed for partitioning of eggs, and the glasses with coloring substances. �SLOVAKIA ~ .,. 63 .. ~ Mrs. Ann Pap, an American of Ruthenian ancestry, decorates eggs in the eastern-type design. Note: a candle is used as a source of melted wax and the most modern specimen of voskovacka, or kistka (" waxing pen") , is employed by Mrs. Pap in batiking of eggs . Fig. 2 - ( Fig. 3 - Mrs. Korlatovic, an American-born folk artist of Ukrainian ancestry, decorates eggs in the eastern style and batik technique for sale in her parents' store. �64 SLOVAKIA Partition of eggshells is carried out with stretched rubber bands. Note the modified " implements" (i .e., needles and pins pushed lengthwise into large kitchen matches, chopsticks, or wooden pencil handles) used in batiking and embossing. Fig. 4 - Fig. 5 - A candle as a source of wax in the batik technique. �SLOVAKIA 65 Fig. 6 - A typical instance of batik-embossing technique and of western-type design. Note the tear-like dots and lines , and the star motifs on both ends of the egg. Miss Sue Molchak, 18 , shown in this picture, decorates eggs every year together with her mother and two of her sisters. The daughter of Mr. Molchak, an American of Ukrainian descent, and of Mrs. Molchak, an American-born Slovak, Miss Molchak is typical of young folk artists who help old traditions permeate a new environment. �SLOVAKIA 66 Fig. 7 - Immersing of a freshly-batiked egg into coloring substance with the so-called " oko " (" eye" ). Fig. 8 - A spoon used for immersing and removal of eggs. �SLOVAKIA Fig. 9 - A typical egg batiked in the eastern-type design . Fig. 10 - Eggs painted and ' ·string-laced" by Mrs . Mad'ar. 67 �68 SLOVAKIA Miss Petrushka , an American-born Slovak, started egg decorating as a folk artist and continued egg decoration on a professional level. The egg shown in this picture is one of her jewelled creations presented at an exposition in Lakewood, Ohio . Fig. 11 - ... Examples of the so-called "Gesunkenes Kulturgut" in folk art - conventional art relationship. The jewelled eggs, shown in this picture, were decorated by Miss Petrushka who, according to her own words, learned "secrets" of egg decoration from her father, a Slovak folk artist . Fig. 12 - � 40 SLOVAKIA Slovak and Ruthenian Easter Eggs in America: The Impact of Culture Contact on Immigrant Art and Custom ANDREW CINCURA University of California Decoration of Easter eggs, one of the most ancient calendar customs of the general Slavic area, (1) is still alive among the Slavic ethnic groups in Europe and America. Though there have been changes in the decoration of Easter eggs and in customs related to this form of folk art, Easter eggs are even now cherished by these groups as important and unaltered landmarks of the past. (2) The importance of Easter eggs has also been recognized in folkloristics. Although several Slavic and non-Slavic scholars have studied Easter eggs, either in connection with other disciplines, (3) or as part of a study of Slavic culture, (4) to my knowledge no scholar has studied the transmission of Slavic Easter egg decorative traditions from Europe to America. In this article, I want to briefly outline continuity and change of this transmission in connection with the Slavic and Ruthenian Easter eggs. (5) This is a pilot study based upon fieldwork among the Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland, Ohio, (6) and will examine and interpret the data collected in the field in the terms of (a) implements and materials used in decoration of Easter eggs; (b) designs; (c) techniques of Easter egg manufacture; (d) customs involving decorated eggs. To begin with, the study of implements and materials used in egg decoration is concerned with technology and etymology. The implements employed in egg decoration belong basically to three groups. First, there are household implements, such as sharp-pointed knives, tin cooking utensils, dishes, glasses, spoons, glass jars, tin lids, electric heating plates, needles, brushes, pencils, awls, and baskets. Removed temporarily from their everyday use, these implements serve folk artists in egg decoration, usually without any special change as to the appearance and function of the implement in question. The second group of implements are represented by slightly modified household tools as, for example, needles and pins puslied lengthwise into large kitchen matches or into chopsticks (Figs. 1,4), sewing awls with attached thread, or thin wire (7), or rubberbands. (8). The third group consists of items bought or manufactured exclusively for egg decoration. This group is represented by three tools, oko, skrabacka, andpierko. The first of them, oko, (literally, "eye"), is an implement used either for immersion of eggs in, or for their removal out of, jars or glasses filled with water colors. The oko, consisting of two basic parts, �SLOVAKIA 41 ring and handle, is made of one piece of relatively solid wire. The ring, as the first part of the implement, is made by the bending of wire into the form of a circle of a slightly smaller diameter than the maximal width of the egg. The handle, on the other hand, is formed by a sharp bend of wire at the point qf the completed circle and in about 120 degree slant to the plane rep'resented by the ring (Fig. 7). The oko was manufactured by Mr. and Mrs. Molchak in order "to prevent scratches on the surfaces of freshly batiked eggs whenever the eggs were immersed into containers or removed with a spoon.'' The second tool, skrabacka ("scraper"), is either a commercially-acquired or a homemade awl with a thin pencil-like wooden or metallic handle . The skrabacka, being alternately used with sharp-pointed knives, is the most important tool in the so-called "scratch-carving" technique. (9) The third tool used exclusively in egg decoration, pierko ("pen"), is called also brko (''quillpen'') in Slovakia. A modern variant of pierko is the voskovacka (literally, "waxing fountain-pen"). Basically an implement consisting of a pencil-like wooden handle and a tiny funnel-like metallic cup attached diagonally to the end of the handle, the voskovacka is the most important tool in egg decoration both in Europe and in America. Its more or less archaic specimens were described by Cenek Zibrt, (10) while the modern equivalents of voskovacka were briefly treated by A. Vaclavik. (11) With the exception of Mrs. Jane Mad'ar (shown in Fig. 10), all my informants in Cleveland used the most modern variant of voskovacka when decorating with the batik technique. (12) The tools of the first and second groups are used in decoration either without any change or with slight modification, and as such they are mentioned by most of the sources consulted for this paper both in the terms of technology and terminology. In Cleveland I observed that all implements belonging to these two groups are generally used in a fashion similar to their use in Europe. One may say that an extensive give-and-take exchange exists between the uses of these tools for everyday needs in the household and in egg decoration. In view of this, the tools of these two groups may be considered the most evident instances of continuity in transmission of this form of folk art from Europe to America. (13) As to etymology, the implements described in connection with the third group above (i.e., oko, skrabacka, and voskovacka) are important items in the tracing of historic-ethnic proveniences and the links in material aspects of Easter customs. The usefulness of these terms is evident if one accepts the thesis that there is no term in folk art for something that actually does not exist. (14) Thus, if Slovak terms skrabacka, pierko, and voskovacka have equivalents in all other Slavic languages, this is also a proof of antiquity and popularity of this special group of implements. (15) If, on the contrary, the term oko does not exist in its specific meaning, for example, in Slovak, this might suggest �42 SLOVAKIA that the implement itself does not exist materially in the Slovak ethnic territory either. If in spite of this , however, both the term and implement are present among the Slovaks in America, this is either because of borrowing from another ethnic group in America, or because of an individual's invention . Either way, it is rather convincing evidence of change that took place between the points of origin and American use of this tool. Mr. Molchak, an American of Ukrainian ancestry , told me that he had seen a similar implement "somewhere in Cleveland.'' This information, linked together with the fact that Mr. Molchak did not know the Ukrainian name of this tool, hints that the implement is of Ukrainian origin, but Mrs. Molchak, an American of Slovak ancestry, gave it a Slovak name. The household implements mentioned in connection with groups one and two above are , on the contrary, of no value for a study along ethnic-comparative lines. Although also known in all Slavic languages, these implements are of interchangeable use, and as such they may be present in the cultures unfamiliar with egg decoration. Examined in connection with the informants in Cleveland , the tools of all three groups are relevant for the study of Slavic-English aspects concerning their terminology. In general, a shift to favor English terminology was observable among all my informants without regard to ethnic or sex group or age. Persistence in usage of traditional Slavic terms was still visible in connection with the most recent immigrants. The American-born Slovak and Ruthenian informants, on the contrary, have shown a tendency to favor Slavic terms only in the cases when the implements were of frequent use at home and infrequently mentioned at school. For example, the childen of Mr. and Mrs. Molchak were well acquainted with the terms of pentlicka ("ribbon" in Slovak dialectical usage) or kistka ("waxing pen" in Ruthenian and Eastern Slovak usage) while the Anglo-American terms were consistently favored whenever the children spoke about knives, spoons, or canples. In essence, one can say that the Old World terms were dropped whenever their specific equivalents existed in English. On the other' hand, the Slavic terms were retained even by the American-born informants whenever neither objects nor terms were present in American culture. The second aspect of this study concerns the examination of materials used in egg decoration. Closely related to the study of implements, these materials are used for preparation of colors and the materials employed in the so-called ''relief techniques.'' Since the materials used in the relief techniques will be treated extensively later in this article, only the materials used in preparation of colors will be considered at this point. These materials, at any rate, are of utmost importance for the study of transmission of Easter eggs in its corollary aspect of change . Considered at the point of departure from Europe, these materials represent a medley of knowledge and notions · concerning chemistry, botany, and physics, at a folklife level. In America, �SLOVAKIA 43 on the contrary, all coloring substances are commercially acquired in the form of "new coloring kits, easy to use" either in the so-called "Chick-chick plastic bag" or "Paint me" paper box varieties. In order to understand better the nature and extent of this change, let us examine the materials used for coloring and tinting of eggs first in their European form and then in connection with their American counterpart. According to the majority of my informants, "onions and tea leaves cooked together with eggs were used most often for coloring and tinting by our mothers in Europe , but also some 'other things ' may be used for this work." (16) Although unspecific as to the rest of tinting substances, the informants in Cleveland still gave me enough clues in order to continue with the study of this aspect in connection with the written sources. Thus, the "other things" mentioned by informants may have been: the overcooked "Spring rye, hay and coffee; clover leaves (tied to the eggs and cooked in the) extract of ... young grass (and) parsley" (17) for regular tinting, and "the cabbage 'acid' " (18) for 'etching' of parts of eggs not covered by wax. ( 19) In America, as stated, the tinting and coloring kits are bought. These kits, costing ''only a few dollars,'' (20) contain all basic colors in powder form. The coloring fluid is prepared ''by the mixing of the powder with hot water and vinegar," (21) according to specific directions for use. I have not seen any of my informants work with the etching technique; therefore, I mention it here only in order to stress its relative importance in Europe and its absence among my informants in Ohio. The linguistic aspect concerning the materials used for tinting and coloring is, in my opinion, important only in its European version. The terms used in identification of various tinting and coloring substances or materials are either well-known throughout the Slavic area or restricted to some small regions. The widely spread terms are, again like the terms denoting certain tools, an indication of popularity and presence of these materials and substances in the individual Slavic countries. On the other hand, the terms restricted to certain small regions are undeniable proof that the particular material was used only locally or regionally. This conclusion is based upon the fact that these terms are ''tinted'' with dialecticism to such an extent that they cannot be found in average dictionaries nor identified by those of my informants possessing rather advanced formal education in art history or folk art technology. So, for example, neither Dr. Cincik and Miss Petrushka nor Mrs. Osadca were able to give me any information on the terms of pryzyly or kampeska. (22) The commercially acquired American kits are of no value in the study of folk terminology in connection with materials used for tinting and coloring. As products of mass oriented manufacture, these kits reflect primarily an artificial interference with folk tradition. �44 SLOVAKIA What conclusions could be drawn from this short study of implements and materials used in egg decoration? The frequent use of household tools in egg decoration, to start with, suggests that decorated eggs have roots in a self-sustaining economy. Analyzed with respect to the European tradition, this hypothesis is indirectly supported by many statements of the authors consulted for this paper. Thus, according to Vaclavik, "a laid-away razor knife" (23) was frequently reshaped into a pin-pointed tool and used in the scratchcarving technique, (24) and "a pocket knife with a broken point" (25) was employed for the same purpose by Zibrt's informants. However, "an old spoon (with handle) thrust into the side of a beet-made candlestick" (26) is, perhaps, the most characteristic example of the selfsustaining character of tools in Easter eggs manufacture. This character is, nevertheless, still more pronounced in connection with materials used in egg tinting and coloring. There is almost no limit to the range of plants, materials, and techniques employed in traditional preparation of various colors and tints, as seen in the brief summary of the materials above. Examined in the terms of the American tradition, the hypothesis of a sustentacular relationship of economy and egg decoration still holds in connection with the frequent use of household implements in egg decoration in the United States. There is, however, a marked tendency to acquire more and more tools commercially and exclusively for egg decoration here. One can observe this trend, for example, in connection with the commercially-acquired specimens of voskovacka (waxing pen) or skrabacka (scraper), and in connection with the homemade oko (lit., "eye") manufactured by Mr. and Mrs. Molchak. On the other hand, a drift against the traditional self-sustaining ch'aracter of egg decoration is visible in the fact that all colors and tints are bought. The household implements and materials used in tinting and coloring, to continue, are often referred to in connection with the history of technology in general, and as such they may be relatively good timing and placing devices in establishing historicity and ethnicity of certain aspects in egg decoration custom. Among devices usable for this kind of study are almost all modern inventions, whether of general or restricted use, such as electric heating plates and the voskovacka (waxing pen in its most modem variant). In this connection, however, it is necessary to point out that only presence of modern implements is of value for an investigation along historical lines. Their absence, whether in pictorial representations or in written documents, is worthless, as one could easily see by a comparison of the photographs taken during the interview with Mrs. Molchak (an electric heating plate used for wax melting) and of Mrs. Pap and Mrs. Korlatovic (burning candles used as sources of melted wax). (27) The aspect o~ ethnicity, touched briefly in connection with the dialectical names of materials used in egg decoration, may be considered as a relatively safe testing device of �SLOVAKIA 45 regional-ethnic provenience of certain terms and materials. As a corollary of technology; the inventiveness was indirectly implied in connection witp. the "beet-made candlestick," (28) with the multifold use of household implements, and with the intelligent handling of materials useJ traditionally for manufacture of colors and tints. In its traditional aspect, this inventiveness was brought about primarily by economic considerations. In its new American setting, it is perhaps, owing more to an "aesthetic" feeling of the folk artist. One can see this in two specific cases, such as the above mentioned oko by means of which my informants tried ''to avoid scratches'' on the freshly batiked eggs, (See Figs. 2,3, and 5) and in the concern of another informant "for the shameful results of her work with yellow color." (29) In the first case, Mr. and Mrs. Molchak made the oko; in the second instance, the informant decided "to search for the roots of trouble in order to heighten the quality of her work.'' However, this economic"aesthetic" difference between European and American tradition is a matter of interpretation. There is not a rigid dichotomy between "aesthetics" and economy either in Europe or in America, and there is no dichotomy between the Old World and New World inventiveness either. In summary, the study of implements and materials used in egg decoration is, at its descriptive level, concerned with technology and etymology. At an analytical level, this study may explain some aspects related to economy, inventiveness, historicity, ethnicity, and ''aesthetics.'' Nevertheless, the most important aspect of this study, I think, is in its investigation into continuity and change. As stated above, there is a partial continuity in the tools used in egg decoration both in Europe and in America. However, there is a complete change between the materials used traditionally in Europe and recently in America. The study of designs in folk art concerns primarily an investigation into the types and motifs. Both the types and motifs of folk art are often interchangeable with each other, as in folk narratives, and as such they resist any ready-made definitions. In general, the type may be thought of as the term denoting resemblances in combinations of symbols, signs, motifs, ornaments, and kinds of craftsmanship over a large area to such an extent that these resemblances cannot be ascribed to polygenesis. The motif, on the other hand, is "a graphically complete representation of a given fundamental form that manifests certain content.'' (30) Designs in decoration of Slavic Easter eggs belong to two fundamental types, the western and the eastern. The western type, comprising Poland, Bohemia and Moravia, the easternmost part of Slovakia, and Slovenia, is generally seen as a phenomenon limited in range of motifs, but possessing an exquisite craftsmanship. (31) This type of egg decoration is characterized, according to A. Vaclavik, "by �46 SLOVAKIA star motifs on both ends of egg(s) and by free setting of motifs on sides of egg.'' (32) The specimens of this type are obtained either by tear-like lines and dots (33) or by embossed ornamentation with wax or other suitable material. (34) The most frequent motifs connected with the western type are chains, sinuous lines, trees and branches, garlands, squares, hearts, birds, and rosettes. (35) The eastern type, on the other hand, is geographically restricted to the Ukraine, western Russia, the Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, and the parts of eastern Moravia and westernmost Slovakia. (36) Rich in color as well as in the number of subtypes, this type is characterized by linear ornamentation running over the egg surface vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. (37) The basic traits of the eastern type are traceable to Byzantine art and related to, and influenced by, the grass weaving, (38) embroidery, (39) and wood carving. (40) Because of this relationship, the eastern type is influenced by materials used. Its most frequent motifs seem to be cross, swastika, triangle, pentagram, hexagram, and various highly schematized ribbonlike motifs of lighting, thorns, ''ant and bee paths,'' "bird path," and fork and comb-like motifs. (41) My study in Cleveland showed that Vaclavik's conclusions concerning geographical distribution of these two basic types (i.e., the western and the eastern) are generally valid also in connection with the Slovak and Ruthenian immigrants in Ohio. Already by a cursory observation of the eggs collected or photographed in Cleveland for this project, one can see a remarkable difference between the eggs decorated by Mrs. Molchak, on the one hand, and Mrs. Pap and Mrs. Korlatovic, on the other. While Mrs. Molchak has an overall predilection for the western tear-like motifs, she is also fond of the embossed subtypes in egg decoration. Mrs. Pap, an adherent of the eastern types, decorates eggs characterized by balanced composition of geometrical elements, and by a wide range of colors. With the exception of an egg showing Christ risen from the dead, there is no egg decorated by Mrs. Pap that would suggest design influence from other ethnic groups in America. Mrs. Korlatovic, as another folk artist working with the eastern typological sphere df egg decoration, is also very conservative in approach to design change. Working to the minutest detail in a geometrical partition of the egg surface, Mrs. Korlatovic has attained what many folk artists would consider ''an ideal of perfection." Because of emphasis on mosaicity, the color aspects of her design are subordinated. Eggs decorated by Mrs. Korlatovic are beautiful seen close up; their colors and designs merge in an indefinite brownish hue when the eggs are seen, say, at a distance of 3 or 4 feet. The other informants are more or less an amorphous group as to their relationship to the western or eastern type of design. This group is primarily represented by Mrs. Jana Mad'ar. Mrs. Tanya Osadca, Miss Petrushka, Dr. Joseph Cincik, Mr. Vladimir Ozabal and three daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Molchak. With the exception of the last �SLOVAKIA 47 mentioned three girls, who show a definite pro-western typological inclination (Note Fig. 6) , the other informants mentioned in this paragraph are " individuals " resisting any general classification as to typology in design. Some hints as to the preferences of this group may be traced from the study of motifs in the works and collection of this group . So, at any rate, sinuous lines are the favored motif of Mrs . Mad'ar both according to her own words as well as in accordance with her decoration (Fig. 10) . The motifs of tulips, hearts , roses , and birds evident in western Slovak wall-paintings are on the favored list of Dr. Cincik, of Mrs . Ozabal, and, to certain extent, also of Miss Petrushka. But both Miss Petrushka and Dr. Cincik prefer in their professional work a somewhat schematized design of '' pastoral culture,'' as does Mrs. Osadca in her hobby-oriented egg decoration . (42) On the whole, this group of folk artists is an excellent example of the mixed influences that characterize Slovak ethnic territory as to typology in egg decoration designs. All members of the group have roots in their native or ancestral cultures. With the exception of Mrs. Osadca , this group draws basically from the Western Slovak " fireplace decorating sub-type." But designs of this group merge to the central Slovak sub-types of wood carving and embroidery which, in tum , already shows some traces of the linear-geometrical character present in the eastern type of egg decoration. With a view to the types and motifs examined briefly above, the general concepts of designs in folk art may be analyzed in connection with the study of form and content elements as well. The corollaries of form and content, symbol, sign, and ornament, are mutually substitutive, according to one's point of view. Thus, let us say, an ornament considered under strictly formal attributes may be simply a decoration or embellishment. In its content evaluation, however, an ornament could have " an ideological meaning (issuing) from aesthetic concept(s) " (43) either as a sign representing a conventional idea or as a symbol expressing a basic (and) striking ... idea." (44) Let us now examine the most frequent and self-evident symbols, the cross, heart, briar, wild rose, thorn crown, rose, and grapevine in connection with sources I was able to consult and with the Slovak and Ruthenian folk artists in Cleveland whom I interviewed. The cross, both the symbol and sign expressing the traditional concepts of Christ's death and resurrection, was the most frequent ornament used in the decoration by my informants. Its twelve variants, (45) representing the full range of cultural and ethnic connotations, were intentionally used by the majority of my informants in order either to express their religious affiliation or to stress their ethnic backgrounds. Thus , the Latin cross was consistently used by the informants of the Roman Catholic religion while the members of the Byzantine Catholic Rite expressed their religious beliefs with the Byzantine Catholic Cross and with the words "Christos Voskres" (i.e., �48 SLOVAKIA "Christ is risen"). The Greek Cross, with its vertical and horizontal beams of equal length , was used very often interchangeably with the crosses of St. Andrew (i.e., an "X" or " Y" cross) "because all three crosses are easy to draw in any direction and combination with other ornaments. " In a like manner, the Cross of St. Anthony (i.e. , a cross in the form of a "T") and the Maltese Cross were employed primarily for their formal-decorative aspects. The so-called Apostolic Cross, represented by a long vertical beam and by two horizontal beams placed in the upper half of the cross, brought about some implications of ethnic-cultural symbology. While this cross is an official religious symbol of the Byzantine Catholic Church, it is at the same time also partly related to the Slovak national emblem (i.e. , an Apostolic Cross upon the " peak" of a threesome " mountain range " ). This, at any rate interesting aspect, presented no problems in connection with my informants of the Byzantine Rite faith and eastern Slovak background. For them, the cross was both " Slovak " and also " Byzantine"; however, for my informants of western Slovak ancestry or origin, the cross was always of " Slovak " connotation. The informants of Ruthenian provenience stressed that ''the cross was an emblem of their religion" and asked me " to state this clearly when I write about 'their Easter eggs'.'' This , on first sight trivial emphasis upon ethnic or cultural aspects, may not be easily understood by citizens of a large country like the United States. Had one, however, studied the history of the Slovaks , Sub-Carpathians , Huculs , Lemkos, and other small ethnic groups of central Europe , he would see why there is a strong emphasis on esoteric elements in the folklore of these groups. The heart, a universal symbol of love, is prominent in central and western Slovakia. Used frequently both in folk art designs and in Christian symbology as well, the symbol and ornament of the heart developed, in my opinion , from two different traditions . The first tradition of heart symbols has roots in the so-called " spiritual love ," while the second tradition is linked with the so-called " erotic love." Spiritual love is represented in Christian symbols either by a heart with a burning flame on its top and a crown of thorns placed about it or by the so-called "Lumen Christi" (i.e ., Paschal candle) with fire burning "upwards" or "spiritually." The second tradition of love symbolism , " erotic love ," is more evident in folk art and customs . The aspect of erotic love permeates several customs of the S~avic and Balkan areas, among them especially the customs of " Kore ," " Kostrubonko," and " Morena" in which, usually , an effigy of straw is set afire and thrown into the river . These customs , in essence animistic equations of Notteuer , represent fire as a male element moving downwards toward water or the female element. (46) In folk art, both "spiritual" and " erotic" fire s are frequently connected with the symbols of "suffering love " (i.e ., the thorn crown in its spiritual aspect; rose-and-briar in the " worldly" aspect of love). (4 7) After an examination of the literary �SLOVAKIA 49 sources with the evidence from Cleveland, I came to the conclusion that the "heart-rose-briar" composition ("heart-tulip " version in Slovakia) symbolizes among the Slovaks only "spiritual love." This interpretation is self-evictent in connection with the wood-carved cemetery crosses in central Slovakia, with the fireplace paintings in western Slovakia, and with the works of some of my informants in Cleveland. An investigation into the relative directions in the "movement" of individual ornaments reveals that the elements of "twisting" and "knots" are symbolically opposing the "branching" or "open structures" in every vertical composition. The verticallyoriented "twisting," especially when terminated with a "love knot," symbolizes in folk tradition a "suffering kind of erotic love" while the "branching" or "open structure" is a sign symbol of parent-to-child love. In an examination of forty illustrative plates in the work Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat (Decorated Fireplaces in the Little Capathian Region) by Rudolf Bednarik I found no single instance of the so-called "twisting" or " knots " in connection with the western Slovak "fireplace sub-culture." In a like manner, only "open branching" is evident on the cemetery crosses in central Slovakia, shown in the book Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku. (48) The carving upon the crosses, in addition, shows also genetic and historical development in the ornament-to-symbols direction. The date carved directly on the vertical beam of a cross indicates the year of 188(-), with the last digit illegible because of decay. This cross has no symbolic connotation as yet. Its tulips grow up out of a flower pot rather naturally, and as such they are only an ornament. (49) Another cross at the same cemetery, dated 1928, is evidently an advanced version of the older cross in its ornament-symbol relationship. (50) Its symbolism is expressed in the form of tulips branching upwards from a heart . The "spiritual character" of love is here symbolized, in my opinion, by the "open branching" of the tulip, and, I think, the entire arrangement can be interpreted as suggesting the everlasting love of the deceased toward his living relatives. Now, how does this spiritual and wordly love relationship score with the other folk art products in Europe and in America? Is there any evidence of an ornament-to-symbol orientation among folk artists in more recent times? A little wooden shovel, to start with, was decorated by one of my informants in Cleveland. This shovel may be considered as an intermediary stage between the ornaments symbolizing spiritual and erotic love. Representing the so-called ''medovnikove srdce'' (i.e., " marzipan heart") flanked by two schematized roosters, the ornamental arrangement on the little shovel still preserves some traces of spiritual love (i.e. , the two tulips branching from the heart), but the presence of the roosters suggests already "another aspect" of love. This aspect, I think, is stressed even more by the traditional meaning of the marzipan heart in Slovakia since such a heart was given by a boy �50 SLOVAKIA only to the girl whom he intended to marry. In like manner, the egg made by Mrs. J . B. also shows an intermediary character, this time in connection with the genetic flower pot-to-heart development (i.e., from naturalism to symbolism). There is a remarkable likeness between this egg and an egg shown by A. Vaclavik. (51) This likeness suggests that the polygenetic trend in motifs is not restricted to folk narratives only. Two eggs decorated by one of my informants in Cleveland belong also to the intermediary zone between spiritual and wordly love. One of the eggs , a vertical rendition of "twisting" and "open branching," looks almost like a combination of the rose-and-briar motif of AngloAmerican traditional balladry and of tulip-branching of western Slovak wall-painting. The other egg, elaborated horizontally with only one garland of roses and green leaves slightly above the middle of eggshell, already suggests a higher spiritualization, but this is only an impression. It seems that the most recent ornaments whether created by my informants or by folk artists in Slovakia remained only ornaments. With the exception of the most self-evident symbols like the cross, the heart, and the thorn crown, one of my informants did not know why he put together, for example, the horizontally-arranged grapevine motif with wild roses superimposed upon the grapevine branches. Except the swastika and "sun circles," the other ornaments also described in connection with the types and motifs above are taken by the majority of my informants for face value only. So, for example, Mrs. Korlatovic considered the cobweb, the sieve, and the rake only as a cobweb, a sieve, or a rake, and nothing else. The swastika, treated extensively by M. Gavazzi, (52) was for my informants either "an emblem of the Nazis" or "a garden sprinkler" whenever presented in the "round form.'' Only the informants with formal art training were able to recognize the ' 'ancient symbol of a moving sun'' (53) behind the forms of "windmill wings or clover leaves" of the swastika. The "sun circles," (54) used by my informants in one form or another, were recognized by Mrs. Jana Mad'ar "as a Slovak ceiling decoration," but only Dr. Cincik was familiar with the ancient meaning of this ornament. Theory of design in folk art, like its counterpart in fine arts, is a matter of interpretation in the first place. yonsidered with general concepts of art, designs in folk art may be examined in the terms of form and content, as stated above. Linked to the diachronic study, these designs may reveal some social, economic, cultural, or psychological conditions. Folk art, when contrasted with fine arts, shows a high occurrence of borrowing, repetition, use of conventional themes, plagiarism, and disregard for spontaneity and originality. In the past, folk art was thought to be linked to the preservation and reproduction of life by magical and natural means. At present, folk art seems to lose more and more of its magic character. Hand in hand with the new and more realistic approaches to the problems of life, folk art tends today to emphasize stylistic and formal elements, such as or- �SLOVAKIA 51 nament and decoration attained by mere technical means (i.e., relief techniques). Generally, it seems that folk art design moved originally away from naturalism tow~rd schematization. Its present tendency is toward self-explanatory and self-evident symbolism (i.e., a flower pot exchanged by a heart). When, however, certain general symbols were removed out of anunstressed situation, they became localized within a new and stronger situation and acquired a new meaning (i.e., the Apostolic Cross became the Slovak or Eastern Byzantine Cross). According to conventional aesthetics, symbolism giving content to the form should be thought of as a ''higher level'' in the understanding of artistic creations. In folk art, on the contrary, symbolism was more evident in the ancient and relatively more primitive cultures. With the exception of the most self-evident symbols of the cross and heart, symbolism is almost absent from the recent folk creations. Is this a paradox? No, it is only a fact which suggests that sophisticated and folk culture are two different entities, and so also are conventional aesthetics and folk art ''aesthetics.'' Techniques of egg decoration play an important part in the diachronic-synchronic study of folklore transmission. Thought of in the terms of materials and tools used, these techniques are identified as painting, batiking, scratch-carving, embossing, (with related techniques of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering), and tying. (55) Considered in their relationship to the predetermined use of eggs, these techniques are primarily of a conservational character. There are, however, some techniques of preparatory character which are either considered as preliminary steps for proper decoration of eggs or thought of as techniques in their own right. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, I want first to consider the preparatoryconservational egg decoration · techniques. To start with, painting or coloring of eggs requires "completely clean hands (and) implements." (56) According to Zibrt, the egg must be "at least three days old in order to 'catch' color, (and it should be) slightly heated in order to retain wax. (57) Several informants, quoted by Zibrt and Vaclavik, stress that "lukewarm rain water" (58) is the best for the cleaning of eggs. Then the eggs are either blown out of the eggshells, or cooked in clean water or with any coloring substance whenever they should be decorated later and used as decorative articles at home or as presents for the others. On the other hand, the eggs are either cooked together with onion skin, tea leaves, or other food coloring substances whenever they should be consumed during Easter holidays, or else "scratched-carved" after cooking. These preparatory techniques are gen·e rally known all over the Slavic area. There is, however, a rather restricted technique of a conservational character employed consistently by Mrs. Korlatovic. According to this technique, raw eggs are decorated with batik, and when dry, the eggs are covered with a thin layer of special shellac. This prevents spoilage, adding a bit �52 SLOVAKIA of mirrorlike gloss. Let us now describe and examine the decorative techniques. The first technique of painting is, in essence, the simple application of the technique employed in other forms of folk art, such as wall painting, pottery and ceramics, painting of household implements, and painting on glass. The technique, "gaining momentum recently especially in northern Slovakia," (59) consists of direct application of oil or water paints on eggs. Although mentioned by Zibrt and Vaclavik, this technique is not very important in over all transmission of Easter customs from Europe to America, and only one of my informants in Cleveland used it extensively. Batik technique, on the other hand, is the most important and widespread technique in egg decoration. Mentioned often by several Slavic and non-Slavic authors, (60) this technique is of an ancient origin. Its existence is known all over the Slavic area, and its popularity is unquestioned also among my informants in Cleveland (See Figs. 1,2,3,5, and 6). The technique itself is based fundamentally on a principle similar to offset printing. Decoration by means of this technique is, therefore, attained in such a way that the parts of the eggshell are covered with wax heated in the tiny cup of voskovacka (i.e., waxing pen), and the egg is then immersed and tinted in a light water color. After removal of the egg from the first color, and when the egg is dry enough, the wax is wiped off thoroughly with a warm rag. (61) Then the egg is, again, "painted" with wax, "bathed" in another somewhat darker color, removed, dried and wiped. These steps are repeated until the egg attains the desired design composition (See Fig. 9) Scratch-carving, after batik the most popular technique in Slovakia, is known also among my informants. Related and similar to woodcarving, this technique is generally linked with the eastern type egg design in general and with the so-called "salasnicka kultura" (i.e. pastoral culture) in particular. According to Vaclavik, the drawback of this technique ' 'is hard work, more time-c~nsuming than with wax(batiked) eggs." (62) Only well-seasoned artists are able to work with this technique successfully. As mentioned above, all my informants are familiar with this technique, but only Mrs . Molchak was willing to scratch carve eggs during my stay in Ohio. Folk artists in Europe use for scratch carving "file or awl, knife, (but) most frequently the point of laid-away razor blades." (63) In America, on the contrary, the most popullar implement for this technique is the so-called "skrabacka" (lit., scraper), an awl made of hard steel and having a pencil-like wooden or metallic handle. The egg, decorated in this technique by Mrs. Molchak was made with the skrabacka. Embossing, inlaying, ribboning, hammering, and tying are basically complementary techniques. Linked with each other both in Europe and in America, these techniques are employed in order to �SLOVAKIA 53 variegate the relief of egg's surface by raising the parts of eggshell. In my opinion, however, only embossing and tying are techniques in their own right. Techniques of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering, on the contrary, are mere adaptations of each other as to the material used. Embossing is a technique ih which the egg's surface is raised by permanent application of heavy coat of wax. This technique , in spite of how effective it looks, is not widespread because, in addition to being hard to work the ''relief peels off easily and melts away in warm weather." (64) Traditional specimens with this technique were made with an application of ''red or blue wax'' upon eggshell, or of '' black wax" upon a red-tinted egg. Embossing of eggs is, according to Vaclavik, "known in Moravia, in westernmost Bohemia, and in Bulgaria.'' (65) Only one of my informants in Cleveland (Mrs. Molchak) works with this traditional technique to any great extent. Inlaying, as the first of the three techniques (consisting of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering), is relatively restricted because it depends very much on the skill of a folk artist. In its European version, this technique is represented by two major variants, the so-called "pasted eggs" and "straw eggs." The "pasted eggs," known both in western Slovakia and in Moravia under the names of "birds" and "doves ," are decorated with paper of different colors and shapes . The results of such activity are "birds" with the body made of the egg, and with the head, feet, tail, and wings made of paper. (66) The "straw eggs, '' on the other hand, are manufactured with a technique in which pieces of colored straw are pasted directly upon the eggshell. This mosaic-like work requires great skill and patience. It is fundamentally a variant of a cabinet making technique in which pieces of straw are also used in decoration of furniture'.s frontispieces. (67) Inlaying, of course, can be carried out in a wide range of combination and of materials used. This aspect, however, will be referred to later in connection with the American counterparts of this technique. Ribboning is, according to Vaclavik, "a further (and) more recent variant (of) sitinovani.' ' (68) Widespread in northern Slovakia, ribboning consists of pasting little garlands on both ends of the egg, and tying the ribbons of different colors and widths around the middle. (69) Among my informants, only Miss Petrushka uses this technique in a form described by Vaclavik, while Mrs. Mad'ar uses this technique in its simpler variant of "string-lacing." Hammering, .the last close relative of inlaying and ribboning, is a very old technique. According to Cesky casopis historicky, (70) hammering is documented as early as 1415. Folk artists working with this technique use most "often blown out goose eggs (and embellish) them with metallic rings, flower and animal motifs. (71) With the exception of Miss Petrushka, none of my informants in Cleveland worked with this technique. Tying of eggs, as a technique in its own right, is now restricted to �54 SLOVAKIA the vicinity of Mikulov in Moravia. (72) However, owing to evidence from Cleveland, I will examine this technique in somewhat more detail than the others. According to the data gathered from other studies and from my informants, the egg is decorated with this technique when it is immersed into strong vinegar in order to soften it and then it is tied about the middle in order to acquire a shape of a written number 8. From a practical viewpoint, this technique seems merely to complement the other seven techniques mentioned before. But as mentioned above, tying becomes a technique in its own right for technological and other reasons. First of all, no attempts were made in other techniques to change the chemical composition of the eggshell to such an extent that it would become pliable. Then, in its interpretative aspect, I think that this technique also suggests another important point. As mentioned before, economic factors play a part in the work of folk artists in Europe and in America as well. One can see this in connection with the multifold use of tools both for general household chores and in the use of the terms with which folk artists unequivocally stress how carefully one should work, for example, with razor blade ''in order to prevent breaking of the eggshell." (73) Now, let us consider this project in the situation of which I was an eyewitness during an exposition of the art work of Miss Petrushka. At this exposition, Miss Petrushka startled the attending public when she let fall a jewelled egg as if accidentally, but the egg bounced up without damage. At my question of how this elasticity of the eggshell was attained, Miss Petrushka answered only in part. She told me that she learned this secret from her father, a folk artist also, but otherwise declined to elaborate on or describe the procedure or the chemical reaction by which the elasticity of egg was brought about. I am no chemist, but in view of Vaclavik' s investigation of the "tying egg technique," I think that the process by which Vaclavik's informants brought about the softening of eggs and the process by means of which miss Petrushka was able to induce elasticity to jewelled eggs\are at least partly related to each other. As to the other side of this problem, there is no doubt that her polite refusal to answer my question was motivated by economic reasons, a sort of private patent protection. With respect to the other techniques, I have observed that my informants combine the relief techniques into one. Conversely, embossing in this "modern" version is carried out in connection with inlaying, ribboning, hammering, painting, batiking, and scratch carving. My informants used for this "new technique," in addition to wax, also dough, cultured pearls, wire of various thicknesses, aluminum foil cut in the form of small leaves and flowers, silk and samite, tiny sequins and beads, marzipan, and confetti in baking and regular varieties. This range of materials used is still not a complete one. And this technique, whether considered as one or separately in agreement with its more traditional counterparts, shows that the �SLOVAKIA 55 variety in products manufactured by my Slovak and Ruthenian informants in Cleveland is very wide. At its specific plane, this variety moves from the work of humble folk artists up almost to Faberge's level. (74) The Americanized technique, which includes a number of European traditional techniques , supports the hypothesis of a forwardreverse relationship beh,xeen techniques and implements used in egg decoration . While the number of tools in Europe shrinks , and the implements are frequently interchanged for economic reasons with those in overall household use , the techniques in Europe were held as separate entities in rather restricted areas, again, I believe, mainly to lower cost and to use only locally available materials . In America the situation seems to be reversed. The implements used exclusively for egg decoration here seem to gain ground . The techniques, as seen above , tend to lose individuality and become more and more incorporated into a larger whole. This again, in my opinion , is because of economic reasons . Ame rican folk artists have no difficulty in obtaining locally everything needed for egg decoration. The choice of products in America permits American folk artists to follow their interests to a greater degree than their European counterparts in the past. No matter whether these interests are of an aesthetic nature or whether they are conditioned by profession , economic aspects of buying and selling as well as of the conditions underlying the choice of raw materials and tools are ever present and important. The custom involving Easter eggs consisted in Slovakia of two basic parts: decoration of the eggs carried out in individual families, and use of eggs as presents for the young men performing showers and whippings. Both the showering and whipping as well as the egg decoration were historically documented , according to Cenek Zibrt, as early as the 14th century. (75) The decoration of Easter eggs , as the first part of this custom , has continued for over six hundred years, and no wonder that the Slovak and Ruthenian immigrants brought this custom also to the United States. According to my investigation in Cleveland, it was carried on by the first generation of Slovak immigrants in America. Only single young men used to perform showers and whippings in Slovakia. The first Slovak immigrants in America, to begin with , were in most cases married men who came to the United States to earn money and either to return home or to bring their families here at a later date. The way of life in the United States, to continue, was conditioned by an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and as such it had no ready-made accommodations for such strange customs as whipping and showering. This custom was practiced in Slovakia on Easter Monday and Tuesday , both days being either a religious (i.e., Easter Monday) or traditional (i.e., Easter Tuesday) holiday. Linked together, these three aspects support the thesis that the no-holiday character of these two post-Easter days was the primary cause that brought about disappearance of showering and whipping in the United �56 SLOVAKIA States. The secondary cause for this disappearance was the fact that the Slovak immigrants were unwilling to continue with a custom that might have brought about ridicule from the more sophisticated segments of the American population. (76) The third cause might have been owing to changed environmental conditions. While rural life in Slovakia posed no difficulties to young men performing showers or whipping, urban life in America brought about some restrictions as to where, for example, the custom of showering could have taken place. In Slovakia this custom was usually performed either in the backyard or in the garden. In America, there were in most cases no places to perform the custom without damage to the interior of the house or, if the showering were performed in the street, without interference with law and order. The second part of the custom, involving the Easter eggs as presents in exchange for showering and whipping, had therefore either to disappear completely or to acquire a new meaning. Because of contact with other ethnic and cultural groups, this part of the custom took the road of incorporation within another cultural context. (77) Thus the Roman Catholic Slovak immigrants retained the custom of egg decoration as practiced in Slovakia; however, the second part of this custom involving Easter eggs as presents for the young men performing the whipping and showering either disappeared completely or was adjusted in order to suit the new situation. On the other hand, the Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, (78) together with the Ruthenians and Ukrainians proper, did not change the first part of the custom (i.e., decoration of eggs) at all. But a slight change took place among them in the exchange of eggs as compared with eastern Slovakia and Ruthenia. While, according to Greek Catholic usage, a simple form of exchange among the relatives and neighbors used to take place in Europe, eastern Slovaks and Ruthenians in America decorate eggs now either for sale or for exchange with the other church members. The sale itself could be of two kinds: a simple sale for personal profit and a sale to fellow church members with the proceeds donated to the church. The second and third generations of thf Slovak Roman Catholic immigrants in Cleveland retained the "new approach" of the first generation regarding the revision of the custom involving Easter showers and whipping. Together with the eastern Slovaks and Ukrainians, the Roman Catholic Slovaks also adopted the changes of basic techniques, tools, terminology, and economy with respect to Easter customs and decorated eggs in particular. But this is, again, a matter concerning the other aspects of egg decoration, and as such it was either treated in connection with the individual aspects of egg decoration or it will be touched upon in the last part of this article. In the final analysis, one could see that change manifested itself in the various aspects of egg decoration more frequently than its corollary or continuity. With the exception of designs and tools of general use �SLOVAKIA 57 (both of which remained almost unaltered), changes occurred in coloring substances, techniques, customs involving decorated eggs, and in the tools used exclusively in egg decoration. However, as shown above in connection with individual aspects of egg decoration, these changes were always of different character and extent, and were brought about for different reasons. Thus, there was, on the one hand, a complete change from the.traditional home-made coloring substances (79) to the commercially available coloring kits in America. (80) There were, on the other hand, less evident, but still important, changes in techniques, customs, and tools of specific character. Placed side by side, both techniques and special tools show trends of adding and subtracting in a folktale-like manner. As in the study of folktales, one could observe that "two or more tales (are stringed) together," (81) the techniques which existed in Slovakia and in the Ukraine as separate entities were brought together by the folk artists in America and incorporated into one general technique. The opposite trend, again as in folktales, was evident in connection with the tools used exclusively in egg decoration when the "adding of detail(s)" occurred in the New World either owing to modernization of older tools or because of the introduction of new implements. The two-fold change took place, according to my observation, in customs involving Easter eggs. As mentioned, the custom of whipping and showering disappeared in America. The custom of giving Easter eggs as presents to the others was, on the contrary, retained, but its complete change was evident among the western and central Slovak immigrants while only a slight change as to its practical application was recorded among the eastern Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland. (82) What were 1:he reasons behind these changes and why were certain aspects of egg decoration more amenable for alteration than others? As mentioned elsewhere in this paper, the motives for changes in various aspects of egg decoration can be attributed to folk "aesthetics," economy, and to the impact of culture contact with the other ethnic groups in America. Since no fingerprint evidence exists as to the cross-influence between "aesthetics," economy, and impact of culture contact, on the one hand, and the aspects of egg decoration, on the other, my interpretation of the motives leading to the changes in egg decoration is only a tentative one. I believe that the formation of concepts concerning ''aesthetics'' in the European version of egg decoration was brought about by the availability of materials and tools, in the first place. Artistic endeavors of European egg decorators were, in my opinion, conditioned by the initial cost of egg decoration. European folk artists, therefore, either manufactured the tools and coloring substances at their homes or used only locally available materials in order to save on transportation costs. American folk artists, on the other hand, seem to be concerned more with the sale of finished products, and make every effort to sell their products either for �58 SLOVAKIA money or for recognition ; hence, in order to do so, they are forced "to make saleable products" and "to protect their inventions." The worries about qualitative expression compel American egg decorators to buy new tools and to adapt traditional techniques to new needs . Even the custom involving decorated eggs, as an aspect of Easter eggs, was influenced to the greatest extent by culture contact with the other ethnic groups , is currently conditioned by economic artistic considerations . (83) Continuity, holding opposite side to the change in transmission, is evident in the use of general household implements and in designs. As to the tools, this rule of continuity is caused by the fact that knives, spoons, and needles, to mention just some of these items, are bought or used in Europe and in America along similar lines. Designs, in my opinion, seem to be stable elements in egg decoration because they have the most striking visual impact and are also formulaically and repetitively-oriented to a high degree. Seen altogether, both change and continuity exist side by side in the aspects of egg decoration as they exist both in folk art and in culture itself. This fact, being undeniable proof that egg decoration represents a part of the overall culture, is also testimony that the decoration of eggs as a form of folk art is governed by the laws governing culture itself. Easter eggs, therefore , like culture, are a unique human phenomenon, socially shared and transmitted, (84) this time by the Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland, Ohio. Reprinted from Journal of Popular Culture (Summer 1970) IV:l, pp. 155-193, with permission of Dr. Ray B. Browne. FOOTNOTES (1) Cf. Cenek Zibrt, Vesele chvile v iivote lidu ceskeho. Prague : Vysehrad, 1950, p. 251. According to Zibrt, the term 'Easter eggs' was known already in the 14th century, but originated long before that time . (2) Cf. Antonin Vaclavik, Vyrocni obyceje a lidove umeni. Prague : Ceskoslovenska akademie ved, 1959, p . 261. Vaclavik's informants in Moravia think that Easter eggs exist "from the very beginning " and several of his informants " maintain that the decoration of eggs started in Slovakia." (p . 262). In Vaclavik ' s opinion , the term " Slovakia" should be applied to the region alongside the Slovak-Moravian border only . (3) Cf. Kazimierz Moszyiiski, Kultura Ludowa Slowian. Cracow, 1939. CF . also Rudolf Bednarik , Duchovna kultura slovenskeho l'udu. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1941 . (4) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 259-580 ; cf. Zibrt, passim. (5) Cf. Note No. 6 below. (6) This fi eldwork was carried out by the author between March 18 and April 2, 1969. Thirty informants of Slovak and Ruthenian descent were interviewed. In addition to extensive tape-recordings and note-taking, the author took photographs tracing the individual steps of egg decoration (black and white as well as color slides) . Most of this material, containing also 17 actual eggs, is stored and available for consultation in the Archive of the Center for Comparative Folklore and Mythology at the University of California , Los Angeles. �SLOVAKIA 59 (7) Used as holders of blown-out eggs or as devises for the lengthwise partitioning of , such eggs . (8) Rubber bands may belong to either of the two groups. Used at times only for partitioning of egg surfaces, rubber bands may be stretched lengthwise diagonally, or latitudinally , and reused as any implement of the group one . At other times , rubber bands can be pasted around the eggs in order either to obtain embossing or to hold other items used in egg decoration , such as ribbons , colored sections of straw, or aluminum foil. Used this way, rubber bands belong to group two . For the specimens made either with ~krabai!ka or with sharp-pointed knife, see R. Bednarik, pp. 95-6. A dark-green egg, made by Mrs . Molchak and donated to this collection at U.C .L.A ., was decorated with ~krabai!ka. For an English treatment of eggs made with egg-carving technique, see Alfred L. Shoemaker, Eastertide in Pennsylvania, pp. 50-62. (9) (10) Cf. Zibrt, p. 257. (11) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 267-8. (12) The most modern specimen of uoskouai!ka is now available commercially. I bought one in the store of Mr. Rudenskij, 5432 State Road, Parma, Ohio, for $1.00. This specimen is now stored in the Archive F.M .G. at U.C.L.A. (13) As to the specific tools used exclusively for egg decoration, it is ahnost certain that some changes may have occurred in the Old World owing to new developments in culture and technology. This aspect, however, cannot be treated here because my evidence is fragmentary about it. (14) Cf. Zibrt, p . 251. (15) Cf. Ibid ., p. 255 . Cf. also Vaclavik, pp . 267-8. (16) Interview with Mrs . Mad'ar (17) Zibrt , p . 253 . (18) Ibid. (19) For description of etching, see Vaclavik , pp . 268, 275 . (20) Interview with Mrs. Molchak . (21) Interview with Mrs. Pap. (22) " Pryzyly " is a sort of reddish substance used for tinting (Cf. Zibrt, p . 252). "Kampeska" is a commercially-acquired " wood chip" coloring (Zibrt, p. 253). (23) Vaclavik, p . 269 . (24) Cf. Ibid. For a description of scratch carving, see Shoemaker, p. 51. (25) Zibrt, p . 255. (26) Vaclavik, p. 267. (27) Note Fig. No . 1, 2, 3, and 5. The photographs mentioned are on file in the Archive of the Center for Comparative Folklore and Mythology, U .C.L.A. (28) Vaclavik, p . 267 . (29) Interview with Mr~. Molchak . (30) Vaclavik, p . 376. (31) Cf. Ibid ., pp . 338-9. For a summary concerning the western type of egg decoration, see Ibid . , p . 523 . (32) Ibid ., p. 338 . (33) Cf. Ibid ., p. 287 and Plate LXXVII (upper part) . (34) Cf. Ibid ., p . 338 and Plate LV . �60 SLOVAKIA (35) Cf. Ibid., p. 338. (36) Cf. Ibid . (37) Cf. Ibid., p. 339. (38) Cf. Bednarik, pp. 206-208. (39) Cf. Ibid., Plate 75. Cf. also Moszyiiski, p. 916. (40) Cf. R. Bednarik, Pastierske rezbarske umenie, passim., but especially Plates No. 55, 79, 142, 149, and 158. (41) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 389 , 391, 393, and 395. (42) For prominent motifs in wall painting in western Slovakia, see R. Bednarik, Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat, passim. For ''pastoral culture'' in central Slovakia , see Bednarik, Pastierske rezbarske umenie, passim. (43) Vaclavik, p . 376 . (44) Ibid ., 375. (45) R. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, 57. (46) Cf. J. E. Cir lot, A Dictionary of Symbols, passim. (47) Cf. E. Haig, Floral Symbolism of the Great Masters, pp. 127-8. (48) Cf. R. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, p . 73. Cf. also Bednarik, Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat, plates 1-40. (49) Cf. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, p. 91. (50) Cf. Ibid ., p. 73. (51) Cf. Vaclavik, p. 346 (left side) . (52) Cf. M. Gavazzi, "Svastika i njezin ornamentalni razoj na uskrsnim jajima sa Balkana,'' Zbornik za narodni Zivot i obyc:aje juinih Slavena, XXVII, 1-24. (53) Cf. Gavazzi, Op. Cit., passim. (54) Cf. Alan Dundes, ed., The Study of Folklore, p. 387. (55) For a detailed description of these techniques, see Vaclavik, pp. 267-72. (56) Ibid., p. 267. (57) Zibrt, pp. 252-3. (58) Vaclavik, p. 267; also Zibrt, op. cit., passim. (59) Interview with Mrs. Mad'ar. (60) Cf. Vaclavik, p. 268; Zibrt, op. cit., passim., but especially 251 ff. (61) Cf. Vaclavik, p . 267. (62) Vaclavik, p. 269. (63) Vaclavik, p. 269. (64) Ibid. (65) Ibid. (66) Cf. Vaclavik, p . 269, and Plate XLV. (67) Cf. Ibid., pp. 269-70. Modern specimens made with this technique are shown on Plates XLIX and LXXV; furniture, Pl. LXIV. (68) Ibid ., p. 270. Sitinovani is a technique in which the core of Juncus is pasted upon the eggshell. (Juncus is the Latin term for a genus of olderly tree.) (69) Cf. Ibid . , p. 271. For specimens, see Ibid., p. 351. (70) Czech Historical Review , XXXIII, p. 278 . Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 271, 275. (71) Vaclavik, p. 271. �SLOVAKIA 61 (72) Cf. Ibid., pp. 271-2. (73) Ibid., p. 269. (74) For a treatment of Faberge,. work, see Venetia Newall, "Easter Eggs," Journal of American Folklore, LXXX (1967), 17 ff. (75) Cf. Note No. 1 above. (76) In connection with this point, I tried to elicit the opinions of my informants as to their feeling about whipping and showering. Only Mrs. Mad'ar, a recent immigrant from Slovakia, "hopes that her husband and sons will shower her, but with perfume only." Mrs. Molchak, on the other hand, is against any sort of showering in spite of the fact that the "young boys used to shower her in Pennsylvania." The boys, according to Mrs. Molchak, refused to take any eggs as presents for showering; if they did so, the others "would laugh." Mrs. Pap, a Ruthenian by ethnic origin, considered the custom "without any religious significance." (77) Both the showering and whipping are basically western Slovak customs. In eastern Slovakia, these customs were almost unknown because the majority of the Eastern Slovak population is Greek Catholic. (78) Byzantine Rite Slovaks are in the majority in Cleveland, in comparison with the Roman Catholic Slovaks. In Slovakia, the situation is reversed: Roman Catholics form the majority of the population. (79) I.e., cooked spring rye, hay, coffee, clover leaves, parsley, tea, etc. Cf. also Notes 17 and 22 above. (80) According to Mrs. Mad'ar, coloring substances are now also available commercially in Slovakia; however, they are not used frequently, and they are not packed in exclusive egg decoration kits either. (81) According to Stith Thompson, folktales change by "adding a detail (and by) stringing two or more tales together." The Folktale, p. 436. (82) Because of the disappearance of showering and whipping, again as in folktales, ''one change (brings about others) to maintain consistency," Ibid. (83) I.e., eggs are now sold publicly in front of the church while in the past they were given for showering and whipping or in exchange for other eggs. (84) Cf. the works of Ruth Benedict, Franz Boas, and A. L. Kroeber, passim. INFORMANTS MRS. KORLATOVIC, an American of Ukrainian ethnic ancestry, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rudenskij, owners and operators of an export-import store in Parma, Ohio. Mrs. Korlatovic, the mother of two children and a teacher in a kindergarten near Parma, decorates Easter eggs mainly for sale in her parent's store; she also decorates ceramics. MRS. JANA MADAR, a recent immigrant to the United States, arrived in Cleveland on November 30, 1968. A native of Ruzomberok, central Slovakia, Mrs. Mad'ar is the mother l)f two sons, ages 21 and 20. Mrs. Mad'ar decorated several eggs for this project in the so-called ''painting'' and ''string-lacing'' techniques. MRS. SOPHIE MOLCHAK, an American of Slovak descent, was born in Regenstown, Pennsylvania. She is married to an American of Ukrainian origin and is the mother of six children. Three of her daughters, ages 18, 12, and 9, took an active part in egg decoration during the interviews. MRS. TANYA OSADCA, an Ukrainian by ethnic descent, immigrated to America after World War II. Living now with her family in Peninsula, Ohio, she started egg decorating and collecting in 1952, and at present she owns over 500 specimens. She also �SLOVAKIA 62 studies and collects material published on Easter eggs. Her husband, a psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration Hospital, is also a collector and folk artist specializing in ceramics and pottery. MRS. ANNA PAP, a Ruthenian by ethnic origin, was born in Roztok near the present CSSR-USSR border. Married to Dr. M. S. Pap and the mother of four children ages 17, 14, 11, and 5, Mrs. Pap arrived in the United States in 1933. In addition to her household duties, she is also director of the choir at the St. Mary' s Ukrainian Catholic Church. MISS PETRUSHKA is an American of Slovak descent and a native of Cleveland. An admirer of Slovak folk traditions and a student of Slovak ethnography, Miss Petrushka is the owner of an art studio on Shaker Boulevard, Cleveland. Her collages, collage boxes, and jewelled eggs are well-known all over the United States. During my stay in Cleveland, she held two successful expositions of her creations. DR. JOSEPH CINClK, 65, a Slovak immigrant, arrived in the United States in 1948. An ex-professor at the University of Bratislava and at present an art bibliographer in Cleveland, Dr. Cincik is the foremost expert on Slovak folk art. MR. VLADIMIR OZABAL, 60 , a native of western Slovakia and an ex-officer of the Slovak Army, immigrated to America after World War II . Now the supervisor of a division of the City Water Department in Cleveland , Mr. Ozabal is still working at various projects related to Slovak folk art . .,• "'~ ~:: '~ ., ' Fig. 1 - A typical arrangement of eggs , implements, and coloring substances used by Mrs. Zofia Molchak, an American-born Slovak folk artist working with batik technique in the western-type design. Note the heating plate used for wax melting, rubber bands employed for partitioning of eggs, and the glasses with coloring substances. �SLOVAKIA ~ .,. 63 .. ~ Mrs. Ann Pap, an American of Ruthenian ancestry, decorates eggs in the eastern-type design. Note: a candle is used as a source of melted wax and the most modern specimen of voskovacka, or kistka (" waxing pen") , is employed by Mrs. Pap in batiking of eggs . Fig. 2 - ( Fig. 3 - Mrs. Korlatovic, an American-born folk artist of Ukrainian ancestry, decorates eggs in the eastern style and batik technique for sale in her parents' store. �64 SLOVAKIA Partition of eggshells is carried out with stretched rubber bands. Note the modified " implements" (i .e., needles and pins pushed lengthwise into large kitchen matches, chopsticks, or wooden pencil handles) used in batiking and embossing. Fig. 4 - Fig. 5 - A candle as a source of wax in the batik technique. �SLOVAKIA 65 Fig. 6 - A typical instance of batik-embossing technique and of western-type design. Note the tear-like dots and lines , and the star motifs on both ends of the egg. Miss Sue Molchak, 18 , shown in this picture, decorates eggs every year together with her mother and two of her sisters. The daughter of Mr. Molchak, an American of Ukrainian descent, and of Mrs. Molchak, an American-born Slovak, Miss Molchak is typical of young folk artists who help old traditions permeate a new environment. �SLOVAKIA 66 Fig. 7 - Immersing of a freshly-batiked egg into coloring substance with the so-called " oko " (" eye" ). Fig. 8 - A spoon used for immersing and removal of eggs. �SLOVAKIA Fig. 9 - A typical egg batiked in the eastern-type design . Fig. 10 - Eggs painted and ' ·string-laced" by Mrs . Mad'ar. 67 �68 SLOVAKIA Miss Petrushka , an American-born Slovak, started egg decorating as a folk artist and continued egg decoration on a professional level. The egg shown in this picture is one of her jewelled creations presented at an exposition in Lakewood, Ohio . Fig. 11 - ... Examples of the so-called "Gesunkenes Kulturgut" in folk art - conventional art relationship. The jewelled eggs, shown in this picture, were decorated by Miss Petrushka who, according to her own words, learned "secrets" of egg decoration from her father, a Slovak folk artist . Fig. 12 - � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1976, Vol. 26 Description An account of the resource Vol. 26 (No. 49), 1976. 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 1976 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 40 SLOVAKIA Slovak and Ruthenian Easter Eggs in America: The Impact of Culture Contact on Immigrant Art and Custom ANDREW CINCURA University of California Decoration of Easter eggs, one of the most ancient calendar customs of the general Slavic area, (1) is still alive among the Slavic ethnic groups in Europe and America. Though there have been changes in the decoration of Easter eggs and in customs related to this form of folk art, Easter eggs are even now cherished by these groups as important and unaltered landmarks of the past. (2) The importance of Easter eggs has also been recognized in folkloristics. Although several Slavic and non-Slavic scholars have studied Easter eggs, either in connection with other disciplines, (3) or as part of a study of Slavic culture, (4) to my knowledge no scholar has studied the transmission of Slavic Easter egg decorative traditions from Europe to America. In this article, I want to briefly outline continuity and change of this transmission in connection with the Slavic and Ruthenian Easter eggs. (5) This is a pilot study based upon fieldwork among the Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland, Ohio, (6) and will examine and interpret the data collected in the field in the terms of (a) implements and materials used in decoration of Easter eggs; (b) designs; (c) techniques of Easter egg manufacture; (d) customs involving decorated eggs. To begin with, the study of implements and materials used in egg decoration is concerned with technology and etymology. The implements employed in egg decoration belong basically to three groups. First, there are household implements, such as sharp-pointed knives, tin cooking utensils, dishes, glasses, spoons, glass jars, tin lids, electric heating plates, needles, brushes, pencils, awls, and baskets. Removed temporarily from their everyday use, these implements serve folk artists in egg decoration, usually without any special change as to the appearance and function of the implement in question. The second group of implements are represented by slightly modified household tools as, for example, needles and pins puslied lengthwise into large kitchen matches or into chopsticks (Figs. 1,4), sewing awls with attached thread, or thin wire (7), or rubberbands. (8). The third group consists of items bought or manufactured exclusively for egg decoration. This group is represented by three tools, oko, skrabacka, andpierko. The first of them, oko, (literally, "eye"), is an implement used either for immersion of eggs in, or for their removal out of, jars or glasses filled with water colors. The oko, consisting of two basic parts, SLOVAKIA 41 ring and handle, is made of one piece of relatively solid wire. The ring, as the first part of the implement, is made by the bending of wire into the form of a circle of a slightly smaller diameter than the maximal width of the egg. The handle, on the other hand, is formed by a sharp bend of wire at the point qf the completed circle and in about 120 degree slant to the plane rep'resented by the ring (Fig. 7). The oko was manufactured by Mr. and Mrs. Molchak in order "to prevent scratches on the surfaces of freshly batiked eggs whenever the eggs were immersed into containers or removed with a spoon.'' The second tool, skrabacka ("scraper"), is either a commercially-acquired or a homemade awl with a thin pencil-like wooden or metallic handle . The skrabacka, being alternately used with sharp-pointed knives, is the most important tool in the so-called "scratch-carving" technique. (9) The third tool used exclusively in egg decoration, pierko ("pen"), is called also brko (''quillpen'') in Slovakia. A modern variant of pierko is the voskovacka (literally, "waxing fountain-pen"). Basically an implement consisting of a pencil-like wooden handle and a tiny funnel-like metallic cup attached diagonally to the end of the handle, the voskovacka is the most important tool in egg decoration both in Europe and in America. Its more or less archaic specimens were described by Cenek Zibrt, (10) while the modern equivalents of voskovacka were briefly treated by A. Vaclavik. (11) With the exception of Mrs. Jane Mad'ar (shown in Fig. 10), all my informants in Cleveland used the most modern variant of voskovacka when decorating with the batik technique. (12) The tools of the first and second groups are used in decoration either without any change or with slight modification, and as such they are mentioned by most of the sources consulted for this paper both in the terms of technology and terminology. In Cleveland I observed that all implements belonging to these two groups are generally used in a fashion similar to their use in Europe. One may say that an extensive give-and-take exchange exists between the uses of these tools for everyday needs in the household and in egg decoration. In view of this, the tools of these two groups may be considered the most evident instances of continuity in transmission of this form of folk art from Europe to America. (13) As to etymology, the implements described in connection with the third group above (i.e., oko, skrabacka, and voskovacka) are important items in the tracing of historic-ethnic proveniences and the links in material aspects of Easter customs. The usefulness of these terms is evident if one accepts the thesis that there is no term in folk art for something that actually does not exist. (14) Thus, if Slovak terms skrabacka, pierko, and voskovacka have equivalents in all other Slavic languages, this is also a proof of antiquity and popularity of this special group of implements. (15) If, on the contrary, the term oko does not exist in its specific meaning, for example, in Slovak, this might suggest 42 SLOVAKIA that the implement itself does not exist materially in the Slovak ethnic territory either. If in spite of this , however, both the term and implement are present among the Slovaks in America, this is either because of borrowing from another ethnic group in America, or because of an individual's invention . Either way, it is rather convincing evidence of change that took place between the points of origin and American use of this tool. Mr. Molchak, an American of Ukrainian ancestry , told me that he had seen a similar implement "somewhere in Cleveland.'' This information, linked together with the fact that Mr. Molchak did not know the Ukrainian name of this tool, hints that the implement is of Ukrainian origin, but Mrs. Molchak, an American of Slovak ancestry, gave it a Slovak name. The household implements mentioned in connection with groups one and two above are , on the contrary, of no value for a study along ethnic-comparative lines. Although also known in all Slavic languages, these implements are of interchangeable use, and as such they may be present in the cultures unfamiliar with egg decoration. Examined in connection with the informants in Cleveland , the tools of all three groups are relevant for the study of Slavic-English aspects concerning their terminology. In general, a shift to favor English terminology was observable among all my informants without regard to ethnic or sex group or age. Persistence in usage of traditional Slavic terms was still visible in connection with the most recent immigrants. The American-born Slovak and Ruthenian informants, on the contrary, have shown a tendency to favor Slavic terms only in the cases when the implements were of frequent use at home and infrequently mentioned at school. For example, the childen of Mr. and Mrs. Molchak were well acquainted with the terms of pentlicka ("ribbon" in Slovak dialectical usage) or kistka ("waxing pen" in Ruthenian and Eastern Slovak usage) while the Anglo-American terms were consistently favored whenever the children spoke about knives, spoons, or canples. In essence, one can say that the Old World terms were dropped whenever their specific equivalents existed in English. On the other' hand, the Slavic terms were retained even by the American-born informants whenever neither objects nor terms were present in American culture. The second aspect of this study concerns the examination of materials used in egg decoration. Closely related to the study of implements, these materials are used for preparation of colors and the materials employed in the so-called ''relief techniques.'' Since the materials used in the relief techniques will be treated extensively later in this article, only the materials used in preparation of colors will be considered at this point. These materials, at any rate, are of utmost importance for the study of transmission of Easter eggs in its corollary aspect of change . Considered at the point of departure from Europe, these materials represent a medley of knowledge and notions · concerning chemistry, botany, and physics, at a folklife level. In America, SLOVAKIA 43 on the contrary, all coloring substances are commercially acquired in the form of "new coloring kits, easy to use" either in the so-called "Chick-chick plastic bag" or "Paint me" paper box varieties. In order to understand better the nature and extent of this change, let us examine the materials used for coloring and tinting of eggs first in their European form and then in connection with their American counterpart. According to the majority of my informants, "onions and tea leaves cooked together with eggs were used most often for coloring and tinting by our mothers in Europe , but also some 'other things ' may be used for this work." (16) Although unspecific as to the rest of tinting substances, the informants in Cleveland still gave me enough clues in order to continue with the study of this aspect in connection with the written sources. Thus, the "other things" mentioned by informants may have been: the overcooked "Spring rye, hay and coffee; clover leaves (tied to the eggs and cooked in the) extract of ... young grass (and) parsley" (17) for regular tinting, and "the cabbage 'acid' " (18) for 'etching' of parts of eggs not covered by wax. ( 19) In America, as stated, the tinting and coloring kits are bought. These kits, costing ''only a few dollars,'' (20) contain all basic colors in powder form. The coloring fluid is prepared ''by the mixing of the powder with hot water and vinegar," (21) according to specific directions for use. I have not seen any of my informants work with the etching technique; therefore, I mention it here only in order to stress its relative importance in Europe and its absence among my informants in Ohio. The linguistic aspect concerning the materials used for tinting and coloring is, in my opinion, important only in its European version. The terms used in identification of various tinting and coloring substances or materials are either well-known throughout the Slavic area or restricted to some small regions. The widely spread terms are, again like the terms denoting certain tools, an indication of popularity and presence of these materials and substances in the individual Slavic countries. On the other hand, the terms restricted to certain small regions are undeniable proof that the particular material was used only locally or regionally. This conclusion is based upon the fact that these terms are ''tinted'' with dialecticism to such an extent that they cannot be found in average dictionaries nor identified by those of my informants possessing rather advanced formal education in art history or folk art technology. So, for example, neither Dr. Cincik and Miss Petrushka nor Mrs. Osadca were able to give me any information on the terms of pryzyly or kampeska. (22) The commercially acquired American kits are of no value in the study of folk terminology in connection with materials used for tinting and coloring. As products of mass oriented manufacture, these kits reflect primarily an artificial interference with folk tradition. 44 SLOVAKIA What conclusions could be drawn from this short study of implements and materials used in egg decoration? The frequent use of household tools in egg decoration, to start with, suggests that decorated eggs have roots in a self-sustaining economy. Analyzed with respect to the European tradition, this hypothesis is indirectly supported by many statements of the authors consulted for this paper. Thus, according to Vaclavik, "a laid-away razor knife" (23) was frequently reshaped into a pin-pointed tool and used in the scratchcarving technique, (24) and "a pocket knife with a broken point" (25) was employed for the same purpose by Zibrt's informants. However, "an old spoon (with handle) thrust into the side of a beet-made candlestick" (26) is, perhaps, the most characteristic example of the selfsustaining character of tools in Easter eggs manufacture. This character is, nevertheless, still more pronounced in connection with materials used in egg tinting and coloring. There is almost no limit to the range of plants, materials, and techniques employed in traditional preparation of various colors and tints, as seen in the brief summary of the materials above. Examined in the terms of the American tradition, the hypothesis of a sustentacular relationship of economy and egg decoration still holds in connection with the frequent use of household implements in egg decoration in the United States. There is, however, a marked tendency to acquire more and more tools commercially and exclusively for egg decoration here. One can observe this trend, for example, in connection with the commercially-acquired specimens of voskovacka (waxing pen) or skrabacka (scraper), and in connection with the homemade oko (lit., "eye") manufactured by Mr. and Mrs. Molchak. On the other hand, a drift against the traditional self-sustaining ch'aracter of egg decoration is visible in the fact that all colors and tints are bought. The household implements and materials used in tinting and coloring, to continue, are often referred to in connection with the history of technology in general, and as such they may be relatively good timing and placing devices in establishing historicity and ethnicity of certain aspects in egg decoration custom. Among devices usable for this kind of study are almost all modern inventions, whether of general or restricted use, such as electric heating plates and the voskovacka (waxing pen in its most modem variant). In this connection, however, it is necessary to point out that only presence of modern implements is of value for an investigation along historical lines. Their absence, whether in pictorial representations or in written documents, is worthless, as one could easily see by a comparison of the photographs taken during the interview with Mrs. Molchak (an electric heating plate used for wax melting) and of Mrs. Pap and Mrs. Korlatovic (burning candles used as sources of melted wax). (27) The aspect o~ ethnicity, touched briefly in connection with the dialectical names of materials used in egg decoration, may be considered as a relatively safe testing device of SLOVAKIA 45 regional-ethnic provenience of certain terms and materials. As a corollary of technology; the inventiveness was indirectly implied in connection witp. the "beet-made candlestick," (28) with the multifold use of household implements, and with the intelligent handling of materials useJ traditionally for manufacture of colors and tints. In its traditional aspect, this inventiveness was brought about primarily by economic considerations. In its new American setting, it is perhaps, owing more to an "aesthetic" feeling of the folk artist. One can see this in two specific cases, such as the above mentioned oko by means of which my informants tried ''to avoid scratches'' on the freshly batiked eggs, (See Figs. 2,3, and 5) and in the concern of another informant "for the shameful results of her work with yellow color." (29) In the first case, Mr. and Mrs. Molchak made the oko; in the second instance, the informant decided "to search for the roots of trouble in order to heighten the quality of her work.'' However, this economic"aesthetic" difference between European and American tradition is a matter of interpretation. There is not a rigid dichotomy between "aesthetics" and economy either in Europe or in America, and there is no dichotomy between the Old World and New World inventiveness either. In summary, the study of implements and materials used in egg decoration is, at its descriptive level, concerned with technology and etymology. At an analytical level, this study may explain some aspects related to economy, inventiveness, historicity, ethnicity, and ''aesthetics.'' Nevertheless, the most important aspect of this study, I think, is in its investigation into continuity and change. As stated above, there is a partial continuity in the tools used in egg decoration both in Europe and in America. However, there is a complete change between the materials used traditionally in Europe and recently in America. The study of designs in folk art concerns primarily an investigation into the types and motifs. Both the types and motifs of folk art are often interchangeable with each other, as in folk narratives, and as such they resist any ready-made definitions. In general, the type may be thought of as the term denoting resemblances in combinations of symbols, signs, motifs, ornaments, and kinds of craftsmanship over a large area to such an extent that these resemblances cannot be ascribed to polygenesis. The motif, on the other hand, is "a graphically complete representation of a given fundamental form that manifests certain content.'' (30) Designs in decoration of Slavic Easter eggs belong to two fundamental types, the western and the eastern. The western type, comprising Poland, Bohemia and Moravia, the easternmost part of Slovakia, and Slovenia, is generally seen as a phenomenon limited in range of motifs, but possessing an exquisite craftsmanship. (31) This type of egg decoration is characterized, according to A. Vaclavik, "by 46 SLOVAKIA star motifs on both ends of egg(s) and by free setting of motifs on sides of egg.'' (32) The specimens of this type are obtained either by tear-like lines and dots (33) or by embossed ornamentation with wax or other suitable material. (34) The most frequent motifs connected with the western type are chains, sinuous lines, trees and branches, garlands, squares, hearts, birds, and rosettes. (35) The eastern type, on the other hand, is geographically restricted to the Ukraine, western Russia, the Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, and the parts of eastern Moravia and westernmost Slovakia. (36) Rich in color as well as in the number of subtypes, this type is characterized by linear ornamentation running over the egg surface vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. (37) The basic traits of the eastern type are traceable to Byzantine art and related to, and influenced by, the grass weaving, (38) embroidery, (39) and wood carving. (40) Because of this relationship, the eastern type is influenced by materials used. Its most frequent motifs seem to be cross, swastika, triangle, pentagram, hexagram, and various highly schematized ribbonlike motifs of lighting, thorns, ''ant and bee paths,'' "bird path," and fork and comb-like motifs. (41) My study in Cleveland showed that Vaclavik's conclusions concerning geographical distribution of these two basic types (i.e., the western and the eastern) are generally valid also in connection with the Slovak and Ruthenian immigrants in Ohio. Already by a cursory observation of the eggs collected or photographed in Cleveland for this project, one can see a remarkable difference between the eggs decorated by Mrs. Molchak, on the one hand, and Mrs. Pap and Mrs. Korlatovic, on the other. While Mrs. Molchak has an overall predilection for the western tear-like motifs, she is also fond of the embossed subtypes in egg decoration. Mrs. Pap, an adherent of the eastern types, decorates eggs characterized by balanced composition of geometrical elements, and by a wide range of colors. With the exception of an egg showing Christ risen from the dead, there is no egg decorated by Mrs. Pap that would suggest design influence from other ethnic groups in America. Mrs. Korlatovic, as another folk artist working with the eastern typological sphere df egg decoration, is also very conservative in approach to design change. Working to the minutest detail in a geometrical partition of the egg surface, Mrs. Korlatovic has attained what many folk artists would consider ''an ideal of perfection." Because of emphasis on mosaicity, the color aspects of her design are subordinated. Eggs decorated by Mrs. Korlatovic are beautiful seen close up; their colors and designs merge in an indefinite brownish hue when the eggs are seen, say, at a distance of 3 or 4 feet. The other informants are more or less an amorphous group as to their relationship to the western or eastern type of design. This group is primarily represented by Mrs. Jana Mad'ar. Mrs. Tanya Osadca, Miss Petrushka, Dr. Joseph Cincik, Mr. Vladimir Ozabal and three daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Molchak. With the exception of the last SLOVAKIA 47 mentioned three girls, who show a definite pro-western typological inclination (Note Fig. 6) , the other informants mentioned in this paragraph are " individuals " resisting any general classification as to typology in design. Some hints as to the preferences of this group may be traced from the study of motifs in the works and collection of this group . So, at any rate, sinuous lines are the favored motif of Mrs . Mad'ar both according to her own words as well as in accordance with her decoration (Fig. 10) . The motifs of tulips, hearts , roses , and birds evident in western Slovak wall-paintings are on the favored list of Dr. Cincik, of Mrs . Ozabal, and, to certain extent, also of Miss Petrushka. But both Miss Petrushka and Dr. Cincik prefer in their professional work a somewhat schematized design of '' pastoral culture,'' as does Mrs. Osadca in her hobby-oriented egg decoration . (42) On the whole, this group of folk artists is an excellent example of the mixed influences that characterize Slovak ethnic territory as to typology in egg decoration designs. All members of the group have roots in their native or ancestral cultures. With the exception of Mrs. Osadca , this group draws basically from the Western Slovak " fireplace decorating sub-type." But designs of this group merge to the central Slovak sub-types of wood carving and embroidery which, in tum , already shows some traces of the linear-geometrical character present in the eastern type of egg decoration. With a view to the types and motifs examined briefly above, the general concepts of designs in folk art may be analyzed in connection with the study of form and content elements as well. The corollaries of form and content, symbol, sign, and ornament, are mutually substitutive, according to one's point of view. Thus, let us say, an ornament considered under strictly formal attributes may be simply a decoration or embellishment. In its content evaluation, however, an ornament could have " an ideological meaning (issuing) from aesthetic concept(s) " (43) either as a sign representing a conventional idea or as a symbol expressing a basic (and) striking ... idea." (44) Let us now examine the most frequent and self-evident symbols, the cross, heart, briar, wild rose, thorn crown, rose, and grapevine in connection with sources I was able to consult and with the Slovak and Ruthenian folk artists in Cleveland whom I interviewed. The cross, both the symbol and sign expressing the traditional concepts of Christ's death and resurrection, was the most frequent ornament used in the decoration by my informants. Its twelve variants, (45) representing the full range of cultural and ethnic connotations, were intentionally used by the majority of my informants in order either to express their religious affiliation or to stress their ethnic backgrounds. Thus , the Latin cross was consistently used by the informants of the Roman Catholic religion while the members of the Byzantine Catholic Rite expressed their religious beliefs with the Byzantine Catholic Cross and with the words "Christos Voskres" (i.e., 48 SLOVAKIA "Christ is risen"). The Greek Cross, with its vertical and horizontal beams of equal length , was used very often interchangeably with the crosses of St. Andrew (i.e., an "X" or " Y" cross) "because all three crosses are easy to draw in any direction and combination with other ornaments. " In a like manner, the Cross of St. Anthony (i.e. , a cross in the form of a "T") and the Maltese Cross were employed primarily for their formal-decorative aspects. The so-called Apostolic Cross, represented by a long vertical beam and by two horizontal beams placed in the upper half of the cross, brought about some implications of ethnic-cultural symbology. While this cross is an official religious symbol of the Byzantine Catholic Church, it is at the same time also partly related to the Slovak national emblem (i.e. , an Apostolic Cross upon the " peak" of a threesome " mountain range " ). This, at any rate interesting aspect, presented no problems in connection with my informants of the Byzantine Rite faith and eastern Slovak background. For them, the cross was both " Slovak " and also " Byzantine"; however, for my informants of western Slovak ancestry or origin, the cross was always of " Slovak " connotation. The informants of Ruthenian provenience stressed that ''the cross was an emblem of their religion" and asked me " to state this clearly when I write about 'their Easter eggs'.'' This , on first sight trivial emphasis upon ethnic or cultural aspects, may not be easily understood by citizens of a large country like the United States. Had one, however, studied the history of the Slovaks , Sub-Carpathians , Huculs , Lemkos, and other small ethnic groups of central Europe , he would see why there is a strong emphasis on esoteric elements in the folklore of these groups. The heart, a universal symbol of love, is prominent in central and western Slovakia. Used frequently both in folk art designs and in Christian symbology as well, the symbol and ornament of the heart developed, in my opinion , from two different traditions . The first tradition of heart symbols has roots in the so-called " spiritual love ," while the second tradition is linked with the so-called " erotic love." Spiritual love is represented in Christian symbols either by a heart with a burning flame on its top and a crown of thorns placed about it or by the so-called "Lumen Christi" (i.e ., Paschal candle) with fire burning "upwards" or "spiritually." The second tradition of love symbolism , " erotic love ," is more evident in folk art and customs . The aspect of erotic love permeates several customs of the S~avic and Balkan areas, among them especially the customs of " Kore ," " Kostrubonko," and " Morena" in which, usually , an effigy of straw is set afire and thrown into the river . These customs , in essence animistic equations of Notteuer , represent fire as a male element moving downwards toward water or the female element. (46) In folk art, both "spiritual" and " erotic" fire s are frequently connected with the symbols of "suffering love " (i.e ., the thorn crown in its spiritual aspect; rose-and-briar in the " worldly" aspect of love). (4 7) After an examination of the literary SLOVAKIA 49 sources with the evidence from Cleveland, I came to the conclusion that the "heart-rose-briar" composition ("heart-tulip " version in Slovakia) symbolizes among the Slovaks only "spiritual love." This interpretation is self-evictent in connection with the wood-carved cemetery crosses in central Slovakia, with the fireplace paintings in western Slovakia, and with the works of some of my informants in Cleveland. An investigation into the relative directions in the "movement" of individual ornaments reveals that the elements of "twisting" and "knots" are symbolically opposing the "branching" or "open structures" in every vertical composition. The verticallyoriented "twisting," especially when terminated with a "love knot," symbolizes in folk tradition a "suffering kind of erotic love" while the "branching" or "open structure" is a sign symbol of parent-to-child love. In an examination of forty illustrative plates in the work Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat (Decorated Fireplaces in the Little Capathian Region) by Rudolf Bednarik I found no single instance of the so-called "twisting" or " knots " in connection with the western Slovak "fireplace sub-culture." In a like manner, only "open branching" is evident on the cemetery crosses in central Slovakia, shown in the book Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku. (48) The carving upon the crosses, in addition, shows also genetic and historical development in the ornament-to-symbols direction. The date carved directly on the vertical beam of a cross indicates the year of 188(-), with the last digit illegible because of decay. This cross has no symbolic connotation as yet. Its tulips grow up out of a flower pot rather naturally, and as such they are only an ornament. (49) Another cross at the same cemetery, dated 1928, is evidently an advanced version of the older cross in its ornament-symbol relationship. (50) Its symbolism is expressed in the form of tulips branching upwards from a heart . The "spiritual character" of love is here symbolized, in my opinion, by the "open branching" of the tulip, and, I think, the entire arrangement can be interpreted as suggesting the everlasting love of the deceased toward his living relatives. Now, how does this spiritual and wordly love relationship score with the other folk art products in Europe and in America? Is there any evidence of an ornament-to-symbol orientation among folk artists in more recent times? A little wooden shovel, to start with, was decorated by one of my informants in Cleveland. This shovel may be considered as an intermediary stage between the ornaments symbolizing spiritual and erotic love. Representing the so-called ''medovnikove srdce'' (i.e., " marzipan heart") flanked by two schematized roosters, the ornamental arrangement on the little shovel still preserves some traces of spiritual love (i.e. , the two tulips branching from the heart), but the presence of the roosters suggests already "another aspect" of love. This aspect, I think, is stressed even more by the traditional meaning of the marzipan heart in Slovakia since such a heart was given by a boy 50 SLOVAKIA only to the girl whom he intended to marry. In like manner, the egg made by Mrs. J . B. also shows an intermediary character, this time in connection with the genetic flower pot-to-heart development (i.e., from naturalism to symbolism). There is a remarkable likeness between this egg and an egg shown by A. Vaclavik. (51) This likeness suggests that the polygenetic trend in motifs is not restricted to folk narratives only. Two eggs decorated by one of my informants in Cleveland belong also to the intermediary zone between spiritual and wordly love. One of the eggs , a vertical rendition of "twisting" and "open branching," looks almost like a combination of the rose-and-briar motif of AngloAmerican traditional balladry and of tulip-branching of western Slovak wall-painting. The other egg, elaborated horizontally with only one garland of roses and green leaves slightly above the middle of eggshell, already suggests a higher spiritualization, but this is only an impression. It seems that the most recent ornaments whether created by my informants or by folk artists in Slovakia remained only ornaments. With the exception of the most self-evident symbols like the cross, the heart, and the thorn crown, one of my informants did not know why he put together, for example, the horizontally-arranged grapevine motif with wild roses superimposed upon the grapevine branches. Except the swastika and "sun circles," the other ornaments also described in connection with the types and motifs above are taken by the majority of my informants for face value only. So, for example, Mrs. Korlatovic considered the cobweb, the sieve, and the rake only as a cobweb, a sieve, or a rake, and nothing else. The swastika, treated extensively by M. Gavazzi, (52) was for my informants either "an emblem of the Nazis" or "a garden sprinkler" whenever presented in the "round form.'' Only the informants with formal art training were able to recognize the ' 'ancient symbol of a moving sun'' (53) behind the forms of "windmill wings or clover leaves" of the swastika. The "sun circles," (54) used by my informants in one form or another, were recognized by Mrs. Jana Mad'ar "as a Slovak ceiling decoration," but only Dr. Cincik was familiar with the ancient meaning of this ornament. Theory of design in folk art, like its counterpart in fine arts, is a matter of interpretation in the first place. yonsidered with general concepts of art, designs in folk art may be examined in the terms of form and content, as stated above. Linked to the diachronic study, these designs may reveal some social, economic, cultural, or psychological conditions. Folk art, when contrasted with fine arts, shows a high occurrence of borrowing, repetition, use of conventional themes, plagiarism, and disregard for spontaneity and originality. In the past, folk art was thought to be linked to the preservation and reproduction of life by magical and natural means. At present, folk art seems to lose more and more of its magic character. Hand in hand with the new and more realistic approaches to the problems of life, folk art tends today to emphasize stylistic and formal elements, such as or- SLOVAKIA 51 nament and decoration attained by mere technical means (i.e., relief techniques). Generally, it seems that folk art design moved originally away from naturalism tow~rd schematization. Its present tendency is toward self-explanatory and self-evident symbolism (i.e., a flower pot exchanged by a heart). When, however, certain general symbols were removed out of anunstressed situation, they became localized within a new and stronger situation and acquired a new meaning (i.e., the Apostolic Cross became the Slovak or Eastern Byzantine Cross). According to conventional aesthetics, symbolism giving content to the form should be thought of as a ''higher level'' in the understanding of artistic creations. In folk art, on the contrary, symbolism was more evident in the ancient and relatively more primitive cultures. With the exception of the most self-evident symbols of the cross and heart, symbolism is almost absent from the recent folk creations. Is this a paradox? No, it is only a fact which suggests that sophisticated and folk culture are two different entities, and so also are conventional aesthetics and folk art ''aesthetics.'' Techniques of egg decoration play an important part in the diachronic-synchronic study of folklore transmission. Thought of in the terms of materials and tools used, these techniques are identified as painting, batiking, scratch-carving, embossing, (with related techniques of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering), and tying. (55) Considered in their relationship to the predetermined use of eggs, these techniques are primarily of a conservational character. There are, however, some techniques of preparatory character which are either considered as preliminary steps for proper decoration of eggs or thought of as techniques in their own right. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, I want first to consider the preparatoryconservational egg decoration · techniques. To start with, painting or coloring of eggs requires "completely clean hands (and) implements." (56) According to Zibrt, the egg must be "at least three days old in order to 'catch' color, (and it should be) slightly heated in order to retain wax. (57) Several informants, quoted by Zibrt and Vaclavik, stress that "lukewarm rain water" (58) is the best for the cleaning of eggs. Then the eggs are either blown out of the eggshells, or cooked in clean water or with any coloring substance whenever they should be decorated later and used as decorative articles at home or as presents for the others. On the other hand, the eggs are either cooked together with onion skin, tea leaves, or other food coloring substances whenever they should be consumed during Easter holidays, or else "scratched-carved" after cooking. These preparatory techniques are gen·e rally known all over the Slavic area. There is, however, a rather restricted technique of a conservational character employed consistently by Mrs. Korlatovic. According to this technique, raw eggs are decorated with batik, and when dry, the eggs are covered with a thin layer of special shellac. This prevents spoilage, adding a bit 52 SLOVAKIA of mirrorlike gloss. Let us now describe and examine the decorative techniques. The first technique of painting is, in essence, the simple application of the technique employed in other forms of folk art, such as wall painting, pottery and ceramics, painting of household implements, and painting on glass. The technique, "gaining momentum recently especially in northern Slovakia," (59) consists of direct application of oil or water paints on eggs. Although mentioned by Zibrt and Vaclavik, this technique is not very important in over all transmission of Easter customs from Europe to America, and only one of my informants in Cleveland used it extensively. Batik technique, on the other hand, is the most important and widespread technique in egg decoration. Mentioned often by several Slavic and non-Slavic authors, (60) this technique is of an ancient origin. Its existence is known all over the Slavic area, and its popularity is unquestioned also among my informants in Cleveland (See Figs. 1,2,3,5, and 6). The technique itself is based fundamentally on a principle similar to offset printing. Decoration by means of this technique is, therefore, attained in such a way that the parts of the eggshell are covered with wax heated in the tiny cup of voskovacka (i.e., waxing pen), and the egg is then immersed and tinted in a light water color. After removal of the egg from the first color, and when the egg is dry enough, the wax is wiped off thoroughly with a warm rag. (61) Then the egg is, again, "painted" with wax, "bathed" in another somewhat darker color, removed, dried and wiped. These steps are repeated until the egg attains the desired design composition (See Fig. 9) Scratch-carving, after batik the most popular technique in Slovakia, is known also among my informants. Related and similar to woodcarving, this technique is generally linked with the eastern type egg design in general and with the so-called "salasnicka kultura" (i.e. pastoral culture) in particular. According to Vaclavik, the drawback of this technique ' 'is hard work, more time-c~nsuming than with wax(batiked) eggs." (62) Only well-seasoned artists are able to work with this technique successfully. As mentioned above, all my informants are familiar with this technique, but only Mrs . Molchak was willing to scratch carve eggs during my stay in Ohio. Folk artists in Europe use for scratch carving "file or awl, knife, (but) most frequently the point of laid-away razor blades." (63) In America, on the contrary, the most popullar implement for this technique is the so-called "skrabacka" (lit., scraper), an awl made of hard steel and having a pencil-like wooden or metallic handle. The egg, decorated in this technique by Mrs. Molchak was made with the skrabacka. Embossing, inlaying, ribboning, hammering, and tying are basically complementary techniques. Linked with each other both in Europe and in America, these techniques are employed in order to SLOVAKIA 53 variegate the relief of egg's surface by raising the parts of eggshell. In my opinion, however, only embossing and tying are techniques in their own right. Techniques of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering, on the contrary, are mere adaptations of each other as to the material used. Embossing is a technique ih which the egg's surface is raised by permanent application of heavy coat of wax. This technique , in spite of how effective it looks, is not widespread because, in addition to being hard to work the ''relief peels off easily and melts away in warm weather." (64) Traditional specimens with this technique were made with an application of ''red or blue wax'' upon eggshell, or of '' black wax" upon a red-tinted egg. Embossing of eggs is, according to Vaclavik, "known in Moravia, in westernmost Bohemia, and in Bulgaria.'' (65) Only one of my informants in Cleveland (Mrs. Molchak) works with this traditional technique to any great extent. Inlaying, as the first of the three techniques (consisting of inlaying, ribboning, and hammering), is relatively restricted because it depends very much on the skill of a folk artist. In its European version, this technique is represented by two major variants, the so-called "pasted eggs" and "straw eggs." The "pasted eggs," known both in western Slovakia and in Moravia under the names of "birds" and "doves ," are decorated with paper of different colors and shapes . The results of such activity are "birds" with the body made of the egg, and with the head, feet, tail, and wings made of paper. (66) The "straw eggs, '' on the other hand, are manufactured with a technique in which pieces of colored straw are pasted directly upon the eggshell. This mosaic-like work requires great skill and patience. It is fundamentally a variant of a cabinet making technique in which pieces of straw are also used in decoration of furniture'.s frontispieces. (67) Inlaying, of course, can be carried out in a wide range of combination and of materials used. This aspect, however, will be referred to later in connection with the American counterparts of this technique. Ribboning is, according to Vaclavik, "a further (and) more recent variant (of) sitinovani.' ' (68) Widespread in northern Slovakia, ribboning consists of pasting little garlands on both ends of the egg, and tying the ribbons of different colors and widths around the middle. (69) Among my informants, only Miss Petrushka uses this technique in a form described by Vaclavik, while Mrs. Mad'ar uses this technique in its simpler variant of "string-lacing." Hammering, .the last close relative of inlaying and ribboning, is a very old technique. According to Cesky casopis historicky, (70) hammering is documented as early as 1415. Folk artists working with this technique use most "often blown out goose eggs (and embellish) them with metallic rings, flower and animal motifs. (71) With the exception of Miss Petrushka, none of my informants in Cleveland worked with this technique. Tying of eggs, as a technique in its own right, is now restricted to 54 SLOVAKIA the vicinity of Mikulov in Moravia. (72) However, owing to evidence from Cleveland, I will examine this technique in somewhat more detail than the others. According to the data gathered from other studies and from my informants, the egg is decorated with this technique when it is immersed into strong vinegar in order to soften it and then it is tied about the middle in order to acquire a shape of a written number 8. From a practical viewpoint, this technique seems merely to complement the other seven techniques mentioned before. But as mentioned above, tying becomes a technique in its own right for technological and other reasons. First of all, no attempts were made in other techniques to change the chemical composition of the eggshell to such an extent that it would become pliable. Then, in its interpretative aspect, I think that this technique also suggests another important point. As mentioned before, economic factors play a part in the work of folk artists in Europe and in America as well. One can see this in connection with the multifold use of tools both for general household chores and in the use of the terms with which folk artists unequivocally stress how carefully one should work, for example, with razor blade ''in order to prevent breaking of the eggshell." (73) Now, let us consider this project in the situation of which I was an eyewitness during an exposition of the art work of Miss Petrushka. At this exposition, Miss Petrushka startled the attending public when she let fall a jewelled egg as if accidentally, but the egg bounced up without damage. At my question of how this elasticity of the eggshell was attained, Miss Petrushka answered only in part. She told me that she learned this secret from her father, a folk artist also, but otherwise declined to elaborate on or describe the procedure or the chemical reaction by which the elasticity of egg was brought about. I am no chemist, but in view of Vaclavik' s investigation of the "tying egg technique," I think that the process by which Vaclavik's informants brought about the softening of eggs and the process by means of which miss Petrushka was able to induce elasticity to jewelled eggs\are at least partly related to each other. As to the other side of this problem, there is no doubt that her polite refusal to answer my question was motivated by economic reasons, a sort of private patent protection. With respect to the other techniques, I have observed that my informants combine the relief techniques into one. Conversely, embossing in this "modern" version is carried out in connection with inlaying, ribboning, hammering, painting, batiking, and scratch carving. My informants used for this "new technique," in addition to wax, also dough, cultured pearls, wire of various thicknesses, aluminum foil cut in the form of small leaves and flowers, silk and samite, tiny sequins and beads, marzipan, and confetti in baking and regular varieties. This range of materials used is still not a complete one. And this technique, whether considered as one or separately in agreement with its more traditional counterparts, shows that the SLOVAKIA 55 variety in products manufactured by my Slovak and Ruthenian informants in Cleveland is very wide. At its specific plane, this variety moves from the work of humble folk artists up almost to Faberge's level. (74) The Americanized technique, which includes a number of European traditional techniques , supports the hypothesis of a forwardreverse relationship beh,xeen techniques and implements used in egg decoration . While the number of tools in Europe shrinks , and the implements are frequently interchanged for economic reasons with those in overall household use , the techniques in Europe were held as separate entities in rather restricted areas, again, I believe, mainly to lower cost and to use only locally available materials . In America the situation seems to be reversed. The implements used exclusively for egg decoration here seem to gain ground . The techniques, as seen above , tend to lose individuality and become more and more incorporated into a larger whole. This again, in my opinion , is because of economic reasons . Ame rican folk artists have no difficulty in obtaining locally everything needed for egg decoration. The choice of products in America permits American folk artists to follow their interests to a greater degree than their European counterparts in the past. No matter whether these interests are of an aesthetic nature or whether they are conditioned by profession , economic aspects of buying and selling as well as of the conditions underlying the choice of raw materials and tools are ever present and important. The custom involving Easter eggs consisted in Slovakia of two basic parts: decoration of the eggs carried out in individual families, and use of eggs as presents for the young men performing showers and whippings. Both the showering and whipping as well as the egg decoration were historically documented , according to Cenek Zibrt, as early as the 14th century. (75) The decoration of Easter eggs , as the first part of this custom , has continued for over six hundred years, and no wonder that the Slovak and Ruthenian immigrants brought this custom also to the United States. According to my investigation in Cleveland, it was carried on by the first generation of Slovak immigrants in America. Only single young men used to perform showers and whippings in Slovakia. The first Slovak immigrants in America, to begin with , were in most cases married men who came to the United States to earn money and either to return home or to bring their families here at a later date. The way of life in the United States, to continue, was conditioned by an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and as such it had no ready-made accommodations for such strange customs as whipping and showering. This custom was practiced in Slovakia on Easter Monday and Tuesday , both days being either a religious (i.e., Easter Monday) or traditional (i.e., Easter Tuesday) holiday. Linked together, these three aspects support the thesis that the no-holiday character of these two post-Easter days was the primary cause that brought about disappearance of showering and whipping in the United 56 SLOVAKIA States. The secondary cause for this disappearance was the fact that the Slovak immigrants were unwilling to continue with a custom that might have brought about ridicule from the more sophisticated segments of the American population. (76) The third cause might have been owing to changed environmental conditions. While rural life in Slovakia posed no difficulties to young men performing showers or whipping, urban life in America brought about some restrictions as to where, for example, the custom of showering could have taken place. In Slovakia this custom was usually performed either in the backyard or in the garden. In America, there were in most cases no places to perform the custom without damage to the interior of the house or, if the showering were performed in the street, without interference with law and order. The second part of the custom, involving the Easter eggs as presents in exchange for showering and whipping, had therefore either to disappear completely or to acquire a new meaning. Because of contact with other ethnic and cultural groups, this part of the custom took the road of incorporation within another cultural context. (77) Thus the Roman Catholic Slovak immigrants retained the custom of egg decoration as practiced in Slovakia; however, the second part of this custom involving Easter eggs as presents for the young men performing the whipping and showering either disappeared completely or was adjusted in order to suit the new situation. On the other hand, the Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, (78) together with the Ruthenians and Ukrainians proper, did not change the first part of the custom (i.e., decoration of eggs) at all. But a slight change took place among them in the exchange of eggs as compared with eastern Slovakia and Ruthenia. While, according to Greek Catholic usage, a simple form of exchange among the relatives and neighbors used to take place in Europe, eastern Slovaks and Ruthenians in America decorate eggs now either for sale or for exchange with the other church members. The sale itself could be of two kinds: a simple sale for personal profit and a sale to fellow church members with the proceeds donated to the church. The second and third generations of thf Slovak Roman Catholic immigrants in Cleveland retained the "new approach" of the first generation regarding the revision of the custom involving Easter showers and whipping. Together with the eastern Slovaks and Ukrainians, the Roman Catholic Slovaks also adopted the changes of basic techniques, tools, terminology, and economy with respect to Easter customs and decorated eggs in particular. But this is, again, a matter concerning the other aspects of egg decoration, and as such it was either treated in connection with the individual aspects of egg decoration or it will be touched upon in the last part of this article. In the final analysis, one could see that change manifested itself in the various aspects of egg decoration more frequently than its corollary or continuity. With the exception of designs and tools of general use SLOVAKIA 57 (both of which remained almost unaltered), changes occurred in coloring substances, techniques, customs involving decorated eggs, and in the tools used exclusively in egg decoration. However, as shown above in connection with individual aspects of egg decoration, these changes were always of different character and extent, and were brought about for different reasons. Thus, there was, on the one hand, a complete change from the.traditional home-made coloring substances (79) to the commercially available coloring kits in America. (80) There were, on the other hand, less evident, but still important, changes in techniques, customs, and tools of specific character. Placed side by side, both techniques and special tools show trends of adding and subtracting in a folktale-like manner. As in the study of folktales, one could observe that "two or more tales (are stringed) together," (81) the techniques which existed in Slovakia and in the Ukraine as separate entities were brought together by the folk artists in America and incorporated into one general technique. The opposite trend, again as in folktales, was evident in connection with the tools used exclusively in egg decoration when the "adding of detail(s)" occurred in the New World either owing to modernization of older tools or because of the introduction of new implements. The two-fold change took place, according to my observation, in customs involving Easter eggs. As mentioned, the custom of whipping and showering disappeared in America. The custom of giving Easter eggs as presents to the others was, on the contrary, retained, but its complete change was evident among the western and central Slovak immigrants while only a slight change as to its practical application was recorded among the eastern Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland. (82) What were 1:he reasons behind these changes and why were certain aspects of egg decoration more amenable for alteration than others? As mentioned elsewhere in this paper, the motives for changes in various aspects of egg decoration can be attributed to folk "aesthetics," economy, and to the impact of culture contact with the other ethnic groups in America. Since no fingerprint evidence exists as to the cross-influence between "aesthetics," economy, and impact of culture contact, on the one hand, and the aspects of egg decoration, on the other, my interpretation of the motives leading to the changes in egg decoration is only a tentative one. I believe that the formation of concepts concerning ''aesthetics'' in the European version of egg decoration was brought about by the availability of materials and tools, in the first place. Artistic endeavors of European egg decorators were, in my opinion, conditioned by the initial cost of egg decoration. European folk artists, therefore, either manufactured the tools and coloring substances at their homes or used only locally available materials in order to save on transportation costs. American folk artists, on the other hand, seem to be concerned more with the sale of finished products, and make every effort to sell their products either for 58 SLOVAKIA money or for recognition ; hence, in order to do so, they are forced "to make saleable products" and "to protect their inventions." The worries about qualitative expression compel American egg decorators to buy new tools and to adapt traditional techniques to new needs . Even the custom involving decorated eggs, as an aspect of Easter eggs, was influenced to the greatest extent by culture contact with the other ethnic groups , is currently conditioned by economic artistic considerations . (83) Continuity, holding opposite side to the change in transmission, is evident in the use of general household implements and in designs. As to the tools, this rule of continuity is caused by the fact that knives, spoons, and needles, to mention just some of these items, are bought or used in Europe and in America along similar lines. Designs, in my opinion, seem to be stable elements in egg decoration because they have the most striking visual impact and are also formulaically and repetitively-oriented to a high degree. Seen altogether, both change and continuity exist side by side in the aspects of egg decoration as they exist both in folk art and in culture itself. This fact, being undeniable proof that egg decoration represents a part of the overall culture, is also testimony that the decoration of eggs as a form of folk art is governed by the laws governing culture itself. Easter eggs, therefore , like culture, are a unique human phenomenon, socially shared and transmitted, (84) this time by the Slovaks and Ruthenians in Cleveland, Ohio. Reprinted from Journal of Popular Culture (Summer 1970) IV:l, pp. 155-193, with permission of Dr. Ray B. Browne. FOOTNOTES (1) Cf. Cenek Zibrt, Vesele chvile v iivote lidu ceskeho. Prague : Vysehrad, 1950, p. 251. According to Zibrt, the term 'Easter eggs' was known already in the 14th century, but originated long before that time . (2) Cf. Antonin Vaclavik, Vyrocni obyceje a lidove umeni. Prague : Ceskoslovenska akademie ved, 1959, p . 261. Vaclavik's informants in Moravia think that Easter eggs exist "from the very beginning " and several of his informants " maintain that the decoration of eggs started in Slovakia." (p . 262). In Vaclavik ' s opinion , the term " Slovakia" should be applied to the region alongside the Slovak-Moravian border only . (3) Cf. Kazimierz Moszyiiski, Kultura Ludowa Slowian. Cracow, 1939. CF . also Rudolf Bednarik , Duchovna kultura slovenskeho l'udu. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1941 . (4) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 259-580 ; cf. Zibrt, passim. (5) Cf. Note No. 6 below. (6) This fi eldwork was carried out by the author between March 18 and April 2, 1969. Thirty informants of Slovak and Ruthenian descent were interviewed. In addition to extensive tape-recordings and note-taking, the author took photographs tracing the individual steps of egg decoration (black and white as well as color slides) . Most of this material, containing also 17 actual eggs, is stored and available for consultation in the Archive of the Center for Comparative Folklore and Mythology at the University of California , Los Angeles. SLOVAKIA 59 (7) Used as holders of blown-out eggs or as devises for the lengthwise partitioning of , such eggs . (8) Rubber bands may belong to either of the two groups. Used at times only for partitioning of egg surfaces, rubber bands may be stretched lengthwise diagonally, or latitudinally , and reused as any implement of the group one . At other times , rubber bands can be pasted around the eggs in order either to obtain embossing or to hold other items used in egg decoration , such as ribbons , colored sections of straw, or aluminum foil. Used this way, rubber bands belong to group two . For the specimens made either with ~krabai!ka or with sharp-pointed knife, see R. Bednarik, pp. 95-6. A dark-green egg, made by Mrs . Molchak and donated to this collection at U.C .L.A ., was decorated with ~krabai!ka. For an English treatment of eggs made with egg-carving technique, see Alfred L. Shoemaker, Eastertide in Pennsylvania, pp. 50-62. (9) (10) Cf. Zibrt, p. 257. (11) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 267-8. (12) The most modern specimen of uoskouai!ka is now available commercially. I bought one in the store of Mr. Rudenskij, 5432 State Road, Parma, Ohio, for $1.00. This specimen is now stored in the Archive F.M .G. at U.C.L.A. (13) As to the specific tools used exclusively for egg decoration, it is ahnost certain that some changes may have occurred in the Old World owing to new developments in culture and technology. This aspect, however, cannot be treated here because my evidence is fragmentary about it. (14) Cf. Zibrt, p . 251. (15) Cf. Ibid ., p. 255 . Cf. also Vaclavik, pp . 267-8. (16) Interview with Mrs . Mad'ar (17) Zibrt , p . 253 . (18) Ibid. (19) For description of etching, see Vaclavik , pp . 268, 275 . (20) Interview with Mrs. Molchak . (21) Interview with Mrs. Pap. (22) " Pryzyly " is a sort of reddish substance used for tinting (Cf. Zibrt, p . 252). "Kampeska" is a commercially-acquired " wood chip" coloring (Zibrt, p. 253). (23) Vaclavik, p . 269 . (24) Cf. Ibid. For a description of scratch carving, see Shoemaker, p. 51. (25) Zibrt, p . 255. (26) Vaclavik, p. 267. (27) Note Fig. No . 1, 2, 3, and 5. The photographs mentioned are on file in the Archive of the Center for Comparative Folklore and Mythology, U .C.L.A. (28) Vaclavik, p . 267 . (29) Interview with Mr~. Molchak . (30) Vaclavik, p . 376. (31) Cf. Ibid ., pp . 338-9. For a summary concerning the western type of egg decoration, see Ibid . , p . 523 . (32) Ibid ., p. 338 . (33) Cf. Ibid ., p. 287 and Plate LXXVII (upper part) . (34) Cf. Ibid ., p . 338 and Plate LV . 60 SLOVAKIA (35) Cf. Ibid., p. 338. (36) Cf. Ibid . (37) Cf. Ibid., p. 339. (38) Cf. Bednarik, pp. 206-208. (39) Cf. Ibid., Plate 75. Cf. also Moszyiiski, p. 916. (40) Cf. R. Bednarik, Pastierske rezbarske umenie, passim., but especially Plates No. 55, 79, 142, 149, and 158. (41) Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 389 , 391, 393, and 395. (42) For prominent motifs in wall painting in western Slovakia, see R. Bednarik, Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat, passim. For ''pastoral culture'' in central Slovakia , see Bednarik, Pastierske rezbarske umenie, passim. (43) Vaclavik, p . 376 . (44) Ibid ., 375. (45) R. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, 57. (46) Cf. J. E. Cir lot, A Dictionary of Symbols, passim. (47) Cf. E. Haig, Floral Symbolism of the Great Masters, pp. 127-8. (48) Cf. R. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, p . 73. Cf. also Bednarik, Mal'ovane ohnistia v oblasti Malych Karpat, plates 1-40. (49) Cf. Bednarik, Eudove nahrobniky na Slovensku, p. 91. (50) Cf. Ibid ., p. 73. (51) Cf. Vaclavik, p. 346 (left side) . (52) Cf. M. Gavazzi, "Svastika i njezin ornamentalni razoj na uskrsnim jajima sa Balkana,'' Zbornik za narodni Zivot i obyc:aje juinih Slavena, XXVII, 1-24. (53) Cf. Gavazzi, Op. Cit., passim. (54) Cf. Alan Dundes, ed., The Study of Folklore, p. 387. (55) For a detailed description of these techniques, see Vaclavik, pp. 267-72. (56) Ibid., p. 267. (57) Zibrt, pp. 252-3. (58) Vaclavik, p. 267; also Zibrt, op. cit., passim. (59) Interview with Mrs. Mad'ar. (60) Cf. Vaclavik, p. 268; Zibrt, op. cit., passim., but especially 251 ff. (61) Cf. Vaclavik, p . 267. (62) Vaclavik, p. 269. (63) Vaclavik, p. 269. (64) Ibid. (65) Ibid. (66) Cf. Vaclavik, p . 269, and Plate XLV. (67) Cf. Ibid., pp. 269-70. Modern specimens made with this technique are shown on Plates XLIX and LXXV; furniture, Pl. LXIV. (68) Ibid ., p. 270. Sitinovani is a technique in which the core of Juncus is pasted upon the eggshell. (Juncus is the Latin term for a genus of olderly tree.) (69) Cf. Ibid . , p. 271. For specimens, see Ibid., p. 351. (70) Czech Historical Review , XXXIII, p. 278 . Cf. Vaclavik, pp. 271, 275. (71) Vaclavik, p. 271. SLOVAKIA 61 (72) Cf. Ibid., pp. 271-2. (73) Ibid., p. 269. (74) For a treatment of Faberge,. work, see Venetia Newall, "Easter Eggs," Journal of American Folklore, LXXX (1967), 17 ff. (75) Cf. Note No. 1 above. (76) In connection with this point, I tried to elicit the opinions of my informants as to their feeling about whipping and showering. Only Mrs. Mad'ar, a recent immigrant from Slovakia, "hopes that her husband and sons will shower her, but with perfume only." Mrs. Molchak, on the other hand, is against any sort of showering in spite of the fact that the "young boys used to shower her in Pennsylvania." The boys, according to Mrs. Molchak, refused to take any eggs as presents for showering; if they did so, the others "would laugh." Mrs. Pap, a Ruthenian by ethnic origin, considered the custom "without any religious significance." (77) Both the showering and whipping are basically western Slovak customs. In eastern Slovakia, these customs were almost unknown because the majority of the Eastern Slovak population is Greek Catholic. (78) Byzantine Rite Slovaks are in the majority in Cleveland, in comparison with the Roman Catholic Slovaks. In Slovakia, the situation is reversed: Roman Catholics form the majority of the population. (79) I.e., cooked spring rye, hay, coffee, clover leaves, parsley, tea, etc. Cf. also Notes 17 and 22 above. (80) According to Mrs. Mad'ar, coloring substances are now also available commercially in Slovakia; however, they are not used frequently, and they are not packed in exclusive egg decoration kits either. (81) According to Stith Thompson, folktales change by "adding a detail (and by) stringing two or more tales together." The Folktale, p. 436. (82) Because of the disappearance of showering and whipping, again as in folktales, ''one change (brings about others) to maintain consistency," Ibid. (83) I.e., eggs are now sold publicly in front of the church while in the past they were given for showering and whipping or in exchange for other eggs. (84) Cf. the works of Ruth Benedict, Franz Boas, and A. L. Kroeber, passim. INFORMANTS MRS. KORLATOVIC, an American of Ukrainian ethnic ancestry, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rudenskij, owners and operators of an export-import store in Parma, Ohio. Mrs. Korlatovic, the mother of two children and a teacher in a kindergarten near Parma, decorates Easter eggs mainly for sale in her parent's store; she also decorates ceramics. MRS. JANA MADAR, a recent immigrant to the United States, arrived in Cleveland on November 30, 1968. A native of Ruzomberok, central Slovakia, Mrs. Mad'ar is the mother l)f two sons, ages 21 and 20. Mrs. Mad'ar decorated several eggs for this project in the so-called ''painting'' and ''string-lacing'' techniques. MRS. SOPHIE MOLCHAK, an American of Slovak descent, was born in Regenstown, Pennsylvania. She is married to an American of Ukrainian origin and is the mother of six children. Three of her daughters, ages 18, 12, and 9, took an active part in egg decoration during the interviews. MRS. TANYA OSADCA, an Ukrainian by ethnic descent, immigrated to America after World War II. Living now with her family in Peninsula, Ohio, she started egg decorating and collecting in 1952, and at present she owns over 500 specimens. She also SLOVAKIA 62 studies and collects material published on Easter eggs. Her husband, a psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration Hospital, is also a collector and folk artist specializing in ceramics and pottery. MRS. ANNA PAP, a Ruthenian by ethnic origin, was born in Roztok near the present CSSR-USSR border. Married to Dr. M. S. Pap and the mother of four children ages 17, 14, 11, and 5, Mrs. Pap arrived in the United States in 1933. In addition to her household duties, she is also director of the choir at the St. Mary' s Ukrainian Catholic Church. MISS PETRUSHKA is an American of Slovak descent and a native of Cleveland. An admirer of Slovak folk traditions and a student of Slovak ethnography, Miss Petrushka is the owner of an art studio on Shaker Boulevard, Cleveland. Her collages, collage boxes, and jewelled eggs are well-known all over the United States. During my stay in Cleveland, she held two successful expositions of her creations. DR. JOSEPH CINClK, 65, a Slovak immigrant, arrived in the United States in 1948. An ex-professor at the University of Bratislava and at present an art bibliographer in Cleveland, Dr. Cincik is the foremost expert on Slovak folk art. MR. VLADIMIR OZABAL, 60 , a native of western Slovakia and an ex-officer of the Slovak Army, immigrated to America after World War II . Now the supervisor of a division of the City Water Department in Cleveland , Mr. Ozabal is still working at various projects related to Slovak folk art . .,• "'~ ~:: '~ ., ' Fig. 1 - A typical arrangement of eggs , implements, and coloring substances used by Mrs. Zofia Molchak, an American-born Slovak folk artist working with batik technique in the western-type design. Note the heating plate used for wax melting, rubber bands employed for partitioning of eggs, and the glasses with coloring substances. SLOVAKIA ~ .,. 63 .. ~ Mrs. Ann Pap, an American of Ruthenian ancestry, decorates eggs in the eastern-type design. Note: a candle is used as a source of melted wax and the most modern specimen of voskovacka, or kistka (" waxing pen") , is employed by Mrs. Pap in batiking of eggs . Fig. 2 - ( Fig. 3 - Mrs. Korlatovic, an American-born folk artist of Ukrainian ancestry, decorates eggs in the eastern style and batik technique for sale in her parents' store. 64 SLOVAKIA Partition of eggshells is carried out with stretched rubber bands. Note the modified " implements" (i .e., needles and pins pushed lengthwise into large kitchen matches, chopsticks, or wooden pencil handles) used in batiking and embossing. Fig. 4 - Fig. 5 - A candle as a source of wax in the batik technique. SLOVAKIA 65 Fig. 6 - A typical instance of batik-embossing technique and of western-type design. Note the tear-like dots and lines , and the star motifs on both ends of the egg. Miss Sue Molchak, 18 , shown in this picture, decorates eggs every year together with her mother and two of her sisters. The daughter of Mr. Molchak, an American of Ukrainian descent, and of Mrs. Molchak, an American-born Slovak, Miss Molchak is typical of young folk artists who help old traditions permeate a new environment. SLOVAKIA 66 Fig. 7 - Immersing of a freshly-batiked egg into coloring substance with the so-called " oko " (" eye" ). Fig. 8 - A spoon used for immersing and removal of eggs. SLOVAKIA Fig. 9 - A typical egg batiked in the eastern-type design . Fig. 10 - Eggs painted and ' ·string-laced" by Mrs . Mad'ar. 67 68 SLOVAKIA Miss Petrushka , an American-born Slovak, started egg decorating as a folk artist and continued egg decoration on a professional level. The egg shown in this picture is one of her jewelled creations presented at an exposition in Lakewood, Ohio . Fig. 11 - ... Examples of the so-called "Gesunkenes Kulturgut" in folk art - conventional art relationship. The jewelled eggs, shown in this picture, were decorated by Miss Petrushka who, according to her own words, learned "secrets" of egg decoration from her father, a Slovak folk artist . Fig. 12 -  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 and Ruthenian Easter Eggs in America: The Impact of Culture Contact on Immigrant Art and Custom Description An account of the resource Andrew Cincura Slovakia, Vol. 26 (No. 49), 1976 pp. 40-68 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cincura, Andrew, 1917- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/78e92e51e7b0ae8f4233c1fcecf492a7.pdf 054cb5351ec245c14b0f7aca275881dc PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 23 MEMORIES OF KUNERAD G. fOBANOV Just thirteen years ago, at the end of September, 1944, I was sitting in the cellar .o f the Kunerad Castle waiting to die. Death is a terrible word, but in those days death was ·a ,venial thing. People were dying everywhere in SlovaJkia: the "glorious Slovak National Uprising" - as the Benes Czechs, Lettrich "democrats," and SlovaJk and Czech Reds call it - ,w as in full swing. The Kunerad Castle, not far from my home town, I knew well from my youthful days. The spruce forests full of mushrooms, the streams loaded with trout, the plateaus heavily overgrown with bilberries and cranberries, and then the hunting ,p arties in the hills for wild boar - ah, those are happy memories of Kunerad and vicinity, memories of those dearest to me, of my friends and that beautiful corner of .Slovakia which is called Rajec Valley. Memories of September, 1944, however are not so happy. They are memories of one of the s•a ddest chaipters in S'lo:va'k history. Picturesque Rajec Valley, peaceful Kunerad, as many other .Slovak towns and villiages, were going through the first ,p hase of Communist "freedom" or "liberation." And on the meado:w, not far from the Kunerad Castle, where machine-gunn ed bodies of innocent victims thumped into shallow graves. The machine-guns were triggered by the "liberators," and the graves were dug by the victims themselves ! The partisans caught me in RajeCike Teplice as I attempted to escape to unoccupied territory, into Zilina. I was recognized by a certain Czech, an employee of the Zbrojovka (Gunworks) in Povazska Bystrica. Before I knew it, I was .surrounded by a band of partisans armed with rifles ·a nd .automatics. They escorted me to a partisan commissioner, .Sedlacek - the Red from Zilina - in the clinic of the Worlkers' Social Insurance. After a ,b rief questioning, they "liberated" me from my personal papers, press card, money, and revolver; then Sedlacek ordered my escort to �24 SLOVAKIA take me to the Kunerad Castle, the Gene.ml Headquarters of .the Red ,p artisans in the Rajec Valley. At that time I did not know Sedlacek personally, so I was very much surprised to learn during the hearing that he knew so much about me. Later, after "liberation," I found out that my grandmother was his baptismal ,s ponsor and that my parents attended his wedding. My grandfather ,ursed tn ha:ve a large orchavd, and !Sedla-c,eik often came with his family for apples and pears. When the Freethirukers of C2iecho-Slo;va)kia ,propagated the slog,a n "Away from Rome" and wore anti-lP,a pal badges, I was to,l d that Sedlacek once wore one when he came for pears. When grandpa caught sight of the badge, he told Sedlacek to get out and neiVer show his face in our place a,gain. I was very young at the time and, hence, did not remember either Sedlacek or this incident. In the Kunerad Castle I was taken before a Russian, Major Popo;v, the chief oif staff. He ordered me locked up in one of the ,c ellar rooms. I was alone in the room; the guard threw a litrtle strruw on the concrete floor and my furcoat served ,a s a blaniket. Through the barred window I could see the ,a rea in front of the castle. Men and women were 'hauled in on wagoil1's and aufos for questioning; freshly recruited youngsters from Rajec and surrounding communities were brought in on hayracks. Among them I saw two familar faces of former schoolmates with whom I attended the Realka at ZUi.na. Court was he1d in the castle; it did not ta)ke the "jrudge" long to find those ,aippr-e hended "guilty." Then the firing squad marched the .u nfortunate victims away from the castle, singing "Koline." The murderers were commanded by Sedlacek and Spitzer, the latter a Jew who had a dry goods store in Zilina. Arfter the victims dug their own graves to some depth, they were machine-gunned. The shril,l cry of tho,s e poor, innocent victims sti'll rings in my ears. Many men and some women were beaten by the partisans before they were marched out to die. I do not know to this day why, but the fact is that nolbody ,s eemed to bother rubout me. The door of my cell opened three times a day and two, prisoners under guard �SLOVAKIA 25 would brmg me something to eat, most of the time a crust of brea:d with coffee in the morning and evening and sowp at noon. The commander of the guard was a co.r poral of the Slovak Army; he hailed from eastern Slovakia. On two occasions he spolke rather friendly to me; he ,s,aid he would rather run off. He got into the "Uprising" as so many other SlovaJk soldiers did: by the ruse that the Nazis had arrested and taiken President Tiso to Germany, that they had thrown out the Slovak Goivernment, and now were marching in to destroy the Slovak State and to occupy the whole of SlovaJkia. It did not t3Jke him, and so many others, very long to .realize what had happened - then the problem became: how to breaJk away from the partisans. It was not easy. Many boys wound up with a bullet back of the neck for trying .to escape. My cell happened to be directly under the spacious reception room, where the partisans would drink and dance laite into the night. Squeeze boxes screeched. loudly and the old walls of the castle shook as the partisans danced, sang, and shouted with their heavily airmed partners; it was the first time I saw "girl" partisans; they were armed, had grenades around their belts, and Red Cross badges on their shoulders. The time went slowly, terribly slow4y. I was worried and prepared for the rworst. Never in my life did I ipray so much and so ardently a:s I did during those four days and ,nights in the cellar of the Kunerad Castle. My only com1panion, a spider in the darkest corner, undoubtedly was happy that I was there. To pass the time aiway and truke my mind off my troUJbles, I caught flies and fed them to him. Once, when they brought me soup, I was pleasantly surprised. that one of the men carrying the large kettle of so.up was an old ,a cquaintance of mine. Before I could open my mouth, however, to tallk to him, he winked at me, and I caught on, so I said nothing to him. The fourth evening, just when the sun was setting, there ruppeared in the mead.ow in front of the castle a herd of oattle and sheep that were being drirven o.n by several men. Shortly thereafter the corporal mentioned above came to my cell and told me that the shepherds had brought a �26 SLOVAKIA report that the Germans had taken Turciansky Svaty Martin. They were sending diivisions to the Mala Fatra, they said, to clean out the partisan nests. The Red ipartisans were up to their old tricks; they would start trouble and then run off to the mountains, leaving the fight against the Germans to the deceived SlovaJk soldiers. Reportedly German ,u nits were already on the way from the plateaus to the Kunerad Valley and to the castle. Moments later everything was quite a bustle in and around the castle, then momentary quite, after which I heard the Russian partisans barking orders. Lights went out and groups of partisans were speedily leaving thEl castle to lose themselves in the night. Then everything was really quiet. Only the forest hummed its monotonous, eternal song and somewhere in the distance a noctura;l bird would ma!ke itself heard ,f rom .time to time. Before daiwn, somewhere from far off, the thunder of guns resounded and then it was quiet again. In the castle the partisans who had remained were ibusy, piling guns and ammunition on wagons in front of the castle. I called out through the window to attract the attention of one of the men, to find out what was happening, but nobody bothered about me. I banged on the door of my cell, ibut in vain. There was nothing left for me to do ,b ut wait. It was already daylight, but nobody was bringing my breakfast. Suddenly, in the distance, the rat-at-at of machine guns could be heard and later the characteristic rumble of approaching tanks. "THE GERMANS ARE COMING WITH TANKS," someone yelled - and what had been chaos before, now turned into a panic in and around the castle. The firing increased and the rumble o.f the tanlks became louder; shots rang out in the woods nearby and from the castle itself. The partisans took to flight; it seemed that they did not have enough legs to run on. Of course, I was scared, as were the rest of the interned. We could smell smoke. We screaimed and yelled and banged on our doors. Soon the castle was in flames ; the partisans had set it afire be-fore they took off for the woods. Suddenly there was a turn of a key in the lock of �SLOVAKIA 27 my door, and my acquaintance, the cor,poral, yelled out: "Hurry, get out of here!" And, believe me, I lost no time in .getting out! I ran up the stairs to the entrance of the castle and, without regard for anyone and anything, too!k off in the direction of the woods. I had double trouble: I had to stay clear of the partisans and out of sight o;f the Gevman tank gunners who could taJke me for a partisan. In the woods, some distance from where I haippened to be at the time, a group of men and women were wielding picks, axes, and shovels, ma1king a road. After I made my way through the woods, I hit the fields in the direction of Rajecke Teplice; I skirted around the latter because fighting was quite heavy there. I waded through the Rajcinka, then ran through wooded areas again, and then reached Z.ilina. The Kunerad partisans scattered without a fight. Most of the local men returned to their homes. Only Russian parachutists remained in the mountains, awaiting the advent of the Red Army. They had fulfilled their mission. Moscow was not so much interested in any speedy action against the Germans in Slovakia; they were more interested in making trouble for the Slovak Republic and the Slova!k nation, because they knew how the Slovaks felt about Communism. And the Slova!ks, because of their adamant stand against Communism had to suffer much - and are still undergoing much suffering today. The Germans captured Sedlacek. I saw him again, the last time, when on one Octdber Sunday forenoon he was led through the streets of Z.ilina by German field scouts. He had a placard pinned to his coat front which read: "The Kunerad Assassin." The German military court sentenced him to death and the firing squad carried out the sentence. Mass graves - the characteristic symbol of bloody Bolshevilk tyranny everywhere, where the Reds seize power even momentarily. Kunerad is only one of them. Daily their numlber increases, because Coonmunism always finds new victims. It is high time that the free world wakes up and offers some effective resistance, otherwise the sacrifices of those whose bones turn to dust in the mass graves will have been made in vain. - (J ...9457) � SLOVAKIA 23 MEMORIES OF KUNERAD G. fOBANOV Just thirteen years ago, at the end of September, 1944, I was sitting in the cellar .o f the Kunerad Castle waiting to die. Death is a terrible word, but in those days death was ·a ,venial thing. People were dying everywhere in SlovaJkia: the "glorious Slovak National Uprising" - as the Benes Czechs, Lettrich "democrats," and SlovaJk and Czech Reds call it - ,w as in full swing. The Kunerad Castle, not far from my home town, I knew well from my youthful days. The spruce forests full of mushrooms, the streams loaded with trout, the plateaus heavily overgrown with bilberries and cranberries, and then the hunting ,p arties in the hills for wild boar - ah, those are happy memories of Kunerad and vicinity, memories of those dearest to me, of my friends and that beautiful corner of .Slovakia which is called Rajec Valley. Memories of September, 1944, however are not so happy. They are memories of one of the s•a ddest chaipters in S'lo:va'k history. Picturesque Rajec Valley, peaceful Kunerad, as many other .Slovak towns and villiages, were going through the first ,p hase of Communist "freedom" or "liberation." And on the meado:w, not far from the Kunerad Castle, where machine-gunn ed bodies of innocent victims thumped into shallow graves. The machine-guns were triggered by the "liberators," and the graves were dug by the victims themselves ! The partisans caught me in RajeCike Teplice as I attempted to escape to unoccupied territory, into Zilina. I was recognized by a certain Czech, an employee of the Zbrojovka (Gunworks) in Povazska Bystrica. Before I knew it, I was .surrounded by a band of partisans armed with rifles ·a nd .automatics. They escorted me to a partisan commissioner, .Sedlacek - the Red from Zilina - in the clinic of the Worlkers' Social Insurance. After a ,b rief questioning, they "liberated" me from my personal papers, press card, money, and revolver; then Sedlacek ordered my escort to �24 SLOVAKIA take me to the Kunerad Castle, the Gene.ml Headquarters of .the Red ,p artisans in the Rajec Valley. At that time I did not know Sedlacek personally, so I was very much surprised to learn during the hearing that he knew so much about me. Later, after "liberation," I found out that my grandmother was his baptismal ,s ponsor and that my parents attended his wedding. My grandfather ,ursed tn ha:ve a large orchavd, and !Sedla-c,eik often came with his family for apples and pears. When the Freethirukers of C2iecho-Slo;va)kia ,propagated the slog,a n "Away from Rome" and wore anti-lP,a pal badges, I was to,l d that Sedlacek once wore one when he came for pears. When grandpa caught sight of the badge, he told Sedlacek to get out and neiVer show his face in our place a,gain. I was very young at the time and, hence, did not remember either Sedlacek or this incident. In the Kunerad Castle I was taken before a Russian, Major Popo;v, the chief oif staff. He ordered me locked up in one of the ,c ellar rooms. I was alone in the room; the guard threw a litrtle strruw on the concrete floor and my furcoat served ,a s a blaniket. Through the barred window I could see the ,a rea in front of the castle. Men and women were 'hauled in on wagoil1's and aufos for questioning; freshly recruited youngsters from Rajec and surrounding communities were brought in on hayracks. Among them I saw two familar faces of former schoolmates with whom I attended the Realka at ZUi.na. Court was he1d in the castle; it did not ta)ke the "jrudge" long to find those ,aippr-e hended "guilty." Then the firing squad marched the .u nfortunate victims away from the castle, singing "Koline." The murderers were commanded by Sedlacek and Spitzer, the latter a Jew who had a dry goods store in Zilina. Arfter the victims dug their own graves to some depth, they were machine-gunned. The shril,l cry of tho,s e poor, innocent victims sti'll rings in my ears. Many men and some women were beaten by the partisans before they were marched out to die. I do not know to this day why, but the fact is that nolbody ,s eemed to bother rubout me. The door of my cell opened three times a day and two, prisoners under guard �SLOVAKIA 25 would brmg me something to eat, most of the time a crust of brea:d with coffee in the morning and evening and sowp at noon. The commander of the guard was a co.r poral of the Slovak Army; he hailed from eastern Slovakia. On two occasions he spolke rather friendly to me; he ,s,aid he would rather run off. He got into the "Uprising" as so many other SlovaJk soldiers did: by the ruse that the Nazis had arrested and taiken President Tiso to Germany, that they had thrown out the Slovak Goivernment, and now were marching in to destroy the Slovak State and to occupy the whole of SlovaJkia. It did not t3Jke him, and so many others, very long to .realize what had happened - then the problem became: how to breaJk away from the partisans. It was not easy. Many boys wound up with a bullet back of the neck for trying .to escape. My cell happened to be directly under the spacious reception room, where the partisans would drink and dance laite into the night. Squeeze boxes screeched. loudly and the old walls of the castle shook as the partisans danced, sang, and shouted with their heavily airmed partners; it was the first time I saw "girl" partisans; they were armed, had grenades around their belts, and Red Cross badges on their shoulders. The time went slowly, terribly slow4y. I was worried and prepared for the rworst. Never in my life did I ipray so much and so ardently a:s I did during those four days and ,nights in the cellar of the Kunerad Castle. My only com1panion, a spider in the darkest corner, undoubtedly was happy that I was there. To pass the time aiway and truke my mind off my troUJbles, I caught flies and fed them to him. Once, when they brought me soup, I was pleasantly surprised. that one of the men carrying the large kettle of so.up was an old ,a cquaintance of mine. Before I could open my mouth, however, to tallk to him, he winked at me, and I caught on, so I said nothing to him. The fourth evening, just when the sun was setting, there ruppeared in the mead.ow in front of the castle a herd of oattle and sheep that were being drirven o.n by several men. Shortly thereafter the corporal mentioned above came to my cell and told me that the shepherds had brought a �26 SLOVAKIA report that the Germans had taken Turciansky Svaty Martin. They were sending diivisions to the Mala Fatra, they said, to clean out the partisan nests. The Red ipartisans were up to their old tricks; they would start trouble and then run off to the mountains, leaving the fight against the Germans to the deceived SlovaJk soldiers. Reportedly German ,u nits were already on the way from the plateaus to the Kunerad Valley and to the castle. Moments later everything was quite a bustle in and around the castle, then momentary quite, after which I heard the Russian partisans barking orders. Lights went out and groups of partisans were speedily leaving thEl castle to lose themselves in the night. Then everything was really quiet. Only the forest hummed its monotonous, eternal song and somewhere in the distance a noctura;l bird would ma!ke itself heard ,f rom .time to time. Before daiwn, somewhere from far off, the thunder of guns resounded and then it was quiet again. In the castle the partisans who had remained were ibusy, piling guns and ammunition on wagons in front of the castle. I called out through the window to attract the attention of one of the men, to find out what was happening, but nobody bothered about me. I banged on the door of my cell, ibut in vain. There was nothing left for me to do ,b ut wait. It was already daylight, but nobody was bringing my breakfast. Suddenly, in the distance, the rat-at-at of machine guns could be heard and later the characteristic rumble of approaching tanks. "THE GERMANS ARE COMING WITH TANKS," someone yelled - and what had been chaos before, now turned into a panic in and around the castle. The firing increased and the rumble o.f the tanlks became louder; shots rang out in the woods nearby and from the castle itself. The partisans took to flight; it seemed that they did not have enough legs to run on. Of course, I was scared, as were the rest of the interned. We could smell smoke. We screaimed and yelled and banged on our doors. Soon the castle was in flames ; the partisans had set it afire be-fore they took off for the woods. Suddenly there was a turn of a key in the lock of �SLOVAKIA 27 my door, and my acquaintance, the cor,poral, yelled out: "Hurry, get out of here!" And, believe me, I lost no time in .getting out! I ran up the stairs to the entrance of the castle and, without regard for anyone and anything, too!k off in the direction of the woods. I had double trouble: I had to stay clear of the partisans and out of sight o;f the Gevman tank gunners who could taJke me for a partisan. In the woods, some distance from where I haippened to be at the time, a group of men and women were wielding picks, axes, and shovels, ma1king a road. After I made my way through the woods, I hit the fields in the direction of Rajecke Teplice; I skirted around the latter because fighting was quite heavy there. I waded through the Rajcinka, then ran through wooded areas again, and then reached Z.ilina. The Kunerad partisans scattered without a fight. Most of the local men returned to their homes. Only Russian parachutists remained in the mountains, awaiting the advent of the Red Army. They had fulfilled their mission. Moscow was not so much interested in any speedy action against the Germans in Slovakia; they were more interested in making trouble for the Slovak Republic and the Slova!k nation, because they knew how the Slovaks felt about Communism. And the Slova!ks, because of their adamant stand against Communism had to suffer much - and are still undergoing much suffering today. The Germans captured Sedlacek. I saw him again, the last time, when on one Octdber Sunday forenoon he was led through the streets of Z.ilina by German field scouts. He had a placard pinned to his coat front which read: "The Kunerad Assassin." The German military court sentenced him to death and the firing squad carried out the sentence. Mass graves - the characteristic symbol of bloody Bolshevilk tyranny everywhere, where the Reds seize power even momentarily. Kunerad is only one of them. Daily their numlber increases, because Coonmunism always finds new victims. It is high time that the free world wakes up and offers some effective resistance, otherwise the sacrifices of those whose bones turn to dust in the mass graves will have been made in vain. - (J ...9457) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1957, Vol. 7 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 22), March 1957.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 23), June 1957.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 24-25), September-December 1957.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1957 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 MEMORIES OF KUNERAD G. fOBANOV Just thirteen years ago, at the end of September, 1944, I was sitting in the cellar .o f the Kunerad Castle waiting to die. Death is a terrible word, but in those days death was ·a ,venial thing. People were dying everywhere in SlovaJkia: the "glorious Slovak National Uprising" - as the Benes Czechs, Lettrich "democrats," and SlovaJk and Czech Reds call it - ,w as in full swing. The Kunerad Castle, not far from my home town, I knew well from my youthful days. The spruce forests full of mushrooms, the streams loaded with trout, the plateaus heavily overgrown with bilberries and cranberries, and then the hunting ,p arties in the hills for wild boar - ah, those are happy memories of Kunerad and vicinity, memories of those dearest to me, of my friends and that beautiful corner of .Slovakia which is called Rajec Valley. Memories of September, 1944, however are not so happy. They are memories of one of the s•a ddest chaipters in S'lo:va'k history. Picturesque Rajec Valley, peaceful Kunerad, as many other .Slovak towns and villiages, were going through the first ,p hase of Communist "freedom" or "liberation." And on the meado:w, not far from the Kunerad Castle, where machine-gunn ed bodies of innocent victims thumped into shallow graves. The machine-guns were triggered by the "liberators," and the graves were dug by the victims themselves ! The partisans caught me in RajeCike Teplice as I attempted to escape to unoccupied territory, into Zilina. I was recognized by a certain Czech, an employee of the Zbrojovka (Gunworks) in Povazska Bystrica. Before I knew it, I was .surrounded by a band of partisans armed with rifles ·a nd .automatics. They escorted me to a partisan commissioner, .Sedlacek - the Red from Zilina - in the clinic of the Worlkers' Social Insurance. After a ,b rief questioning, they "liberated" me from my personal papers, press card, money, and revolver; then Sedlacek ordered my escort to 24 SLOVAKIA take me to the Kunerad Castle, the Gene.ml Headquarters of .the Red ,p artisans in the Rajec Valley. At that time I did not know Sedlacek personally, so I was very much surprised to learn during the hearing that he knew so much about me. Later, after "liberation," I found out that my grandmother was his baptismal ,s ponsor and that my parents attended his wedding. My grandfather ,ursed tn ha:ve a large orchavd, and !Sedla-c,eik often came with his family for apples and pears. When the Freethirukers of C2iecho-Slo;va)kia ,propagated the slog,a n "Away from Rome" and wore anti-lP,a pal badges, I was to,l d that Sedlacek once wore one when he came for pears. When grandpa caught sight of the badge, he told Sedlacek to get out and neiVer show his face in our place a,gain. I was very young at the time and, hence, did not remember either Sedlacek or this incident. In the Kunerad Castle I was taken before a Russian, Major Popo;v, the chief oif staff. He ordered me locked up in one of the ,c ellar rooms. I was alone in the room; the guard threw a litrtle strruw on the concrete floor and my furcoat served ,a s a blaniket. Through the barred window I could see the ,a rea in front of the castle. Men and women were 'hauled in on wagoil1's and aufos for questioning; freshly recruited youngsters from Rajec and surrounding communities were brought in on hayracks. Among them I saw two familar faces of former schoolmates with whom I attended the Realka at ZUi.na. Court was he1d in the castle; it did not ta)ke the "jrudge" long to find those ,aippr-e hended "guilty." Then the firing squad marched the .u nfortunate victims away from the castle, singing "Koline." The murderers were commanded by Sedlacek and Spitzer, the latter a Jew who had a dry goods store in Zilina. Arfter the victims dug their own graves to some depth, they were machine-gunned. The shril,l cry of tho,s e poor, innocent victims sti'll rings in my ears. Many men and some women were beaten by the partisans before they were marched out to die. I do not know to this day why, but the fact is that nolbody ,s eemed to bother rubout me. The door of my cell opened three times a day and two, prisoners under guard SLOVAKIA 25 would brmg me something to eat, most of the time a crust of brea:d with coffee in the morning and evening and sowp at noon. The commander of the guard was a co.r poral of the Slovak Army; he hailed from eastern Slovakia. On two occasions he spolke rather friendly to me; he ,s,aid he would rather run off. He got into the "Uprising" as so many other SlovaJk soldiers did: by the ruse that the Nazis had arrested and taiken President Tiso to Germany, that they had thrown out the Slovak Goivernment, and now were marching in to destroy the Slovak State and to occupy the whole of SlovaJkia. It did not t3Jke him, and so many others, very long to .realize what had happened - then the problem became: how to breaJk away from the partisans. It was not easy. Many boys wound up with a bullet back of the neck for trying .to escape. My cell happened to be directly under the spacious reception room, where the partisans would drink and dance laite into the night. Squeeze boxes screeched. loudly and the old walls of the castle shook as the partisans danced, sang, and shouted with their heavily airmed partners; it was the first time I saw "girl" partisans; they were armed, had grenades around their belts, and Red Cross badges on their shoulders. The time went slowly, terribly slow4y. I was worried and prepared for the rworst. Never in my life did I ipray so much and so ardently a:s I did during those four days and ,nights in the cellar of the Kunerad Castle. My only com1panion, a spider in the darkest corner, undoubtedly was happy that I was there. To pass the time aiway and truke my mind off my troUJbles, I caught flies and fed them to him. Once, when they brought me soup, I was pleasantly surprised. that one of the men carrying the large kettle of so.up was an old ,a cquaintance of mine. Before I could open my mouth, however, to tallk to him, he winked at me, and I caught on, so I said nothing to him. The fourth evening, just when the sun was setting, there ruppeared in the mead.ow in front of the castle a herd of oattle and sheep that were being drirven o.n by several men. Shortly thereafter the corporal mentioned above came to my cell and told me that the shepherds had brought a 26 SLOVAKIA report that the Germans had taken Turciansky Svaty Martin. They were sending diivisions to the Mala Fatra, they said, to clean out the partisan nests. The Red ipartisans were up to their old tricks; they would start trouble and then run off to the mountains, leaving the fight against the Germans to the deceived SlovaJk soldiers. Reportedly German ,u nits were already on the way from the plateaus to the Kunerad Valley and to the castle. Moments later everything was quite a bustle in and around the castle, then momentary quite, after which I heard the Russian partisans barking orders. Lights went out and groups of partisans were speedily leaving thEl castle to lose themselves in the night. Then everything was really quiet. Only the forest hummed its monotonous, eternal song and somewhere in the distance a noctura;l bird would ma!ke itself heard ,f rom .time to time. Before daiwn, somewhere from far off, the thunder of guns resounded and then it was quiet again. In the castle the partisans who had remained were ibusy, piling guns and ammunition on wagons in front of the castle. I called out through the window to attract the attention of one of the men, to find out what was happening, but nobody bothered about me. I banged on the door of my cell, ibut in vain. There was nothing left for me to do ,b ut wait. It was already daylight, but nobody was bringing my breakfast. Suddenly, in the distance, the rat-at-at of machine guns could be heard and later the characteristic rumble of approaching tanks. "THE GERMANS ARE COMING WITH TANKS," someone yelled - and what had been chaos before, now turned into a panic in and around the castle. The firing increased and the rumble o.f the tanlks became louder; shots rang out in the woods nearby and from the castle itself. The partisans took to flight; it seemed that they did not have enough legs to run on. Of course, I was scared, as were the rest of the interned. We could smell smoke. We screaimed and yelled and banged on our doors. Soon the castle was in flames ; the partisans had set it afire be-fore they took off for the woods. Suddenly there was a turn of a key in the lock of SLOVAKIA 27 my door, and my acquaintance, the cor,poral, yelled out: "Hurry, get out of here!" And, believe me, I lost no time in .getting out! I ran up the stairs to the entrance of the castle and, without regard for anyone and anything, too!k off in the direction of the woods. I had double trouble: I had to stay clear of the partisans and out of sight o;f the Gevman tank gunners who could taJke me for a partisan. In the woods, some distance from where I haippened to be at the time, a group of men and women were wielding picks, axes, and shovels, ma1king a road. After I made my way through the woods, I hit the fields in the direction of Rajecke Teplice; I skirted around the latter because fighting was quite heavy there. I waded through the Rajcinka, then ran through wooded areas again, and then reached Z.ilina. The Kunerad partisans scattered without a fight. Most of the local men returned to their homes. Only Russian parachutists remained in the mountains, awaiting the advent of the Red Army. They had fulfilled their mission. Moscow was not so much interested in any speedy action against the Germans in Slovakia; they were more interested in making trouble for the Slovak Republic and the Slova!k nation, because they knew how the Slovaks felt about Communism. And the Slova!ks, because of their adamant stand against Communism had to suffer much - and are still undergoing much suffering today. The Germans captured Sedlacek. I saw him again, the last time, when on one Octdber Sunday forenoon he was led through the streets of Z.ilina by German field scouts. He had a placard pinned to his coat front which read: "The Kunerad Assassin." The German military court sentenced him to death and the firing squad carried out the sentence. Mass graves - the characteristic symbol of bloody Bolshevilk tyranny everywhere, where the Reds seize power even momentarily. Kunerad is only one of them. Daily their numlber increases, because Coonmunism always finds new victims. It is high time that the free world wakes up and offers some effective resistance, otherwise the sacrifices of those whose bones turn to dust in the mass graves will have been made in vain. - (J ...9457)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories of Kunerad Description An account of the resource G. Čobanov Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 3-4 (24-25), September-December 1957 pp. 23-27 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čobanov, G. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1957 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6ab65a70c2b64609832cfafbb7ce7d5d.pdf f6a76f57ce452b3fd5966ad435268d54 PDF Text Text 26 SLOVAKIA The Roma Of Slovakia Since 1939 David M. Crowe One of the most intriguing ethnic groups in Slovakia are the Roma or Gypsies. Traditionally regarded as social outcasts and misfits, the Roma have been a unique part of the Slovak historical landscape. Though there have been Roma in Slovakia since the Middle Ages, it was not until World War II that significant efforts were made to deal with the Slovak Roma. From 1939 until 1945, the Roma, often lumped together with the country's Jews, were subjected to a number of restrictive policies. Within a decade after the end of World War II, attention again was drawn to the Roma in the reconstructed Czechoslovak Republic, but particularly in Slovakia, where most of the country's Gypsies lived. To Czechoslovakia's communist leaders, the low socioeconomic status of the Roma was a national embarassment and underscored at least one failed aspect of the communist experiment. Driven by statistics that illustrated the low social, economic, educational, and cultural status of the Roma, considerable efforts were made through the 1980s to transform this traditionally nomadic people into sedentary, assimilated Slovak and Czech citizens. Though some significant gains were made, Slovak and Czech leaders were unable to stifle the centuries-old prejudice that had haunted Gypsies throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Though large numbers of Slovak Roma fled to the �SLOVAKIA 27 Czech Republic after the 1993 breakup of Czechoslovakia, a large Roma population still resides in Slovakia. The Roma or Gypsies have lived in Slovakia since the Middle Ages. By the 14th century, considerable Gypsy settlements began to appear in the Slovak portions of Hungary, particularly around feudal castles such as Spis (Zips) Castle. Initially, Roma were welcomed by local officials. Slovak peasants regarded these "Egyptians" as religious exiles from the Middle East. However, over time, positive Slovak attitudes towards the Roma began to change, particularly during the 16th century, when the region was plagued by religious wars and the Turkish threat. In Slovak Royal Hungary, for example, some noblemen began forcibly to expel Gypsies or force them to settle on the outskirts of towns and villages. 1 During the 17th century, Gypsies and others fleeing the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648) entered Slovakia, which adopted new anti-Gypsy regulations to deal with the new Roma presence. Once the Austrian Habsburgs retook much of Hungary at the end of the 17th century, they implemented new regulations that strongly discouraged Roma settlement throughout the Austrian Empire. These harsh policies began to change under Maria Theresa (1740 - 1780). Her policies were designed to halt Gypsy immigration into her empire and force those already there to become sedentary. The Roma now became subject to all imperial taxes and obligations such as the draft. Gypsies were also required to give up their traditional dress and customs, and forbidden to marry other Gypsies. Roma children over five were taken from their parents and placed in the care of non-Gypsy Catholic parents. These policies were continued by Maria Theresa's son, Jopseph II (r. 1780 -1790), but fell into disarray after his death. 2 1 David M. Crowe, A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994 ), pp. 31-35. ' Ibid., pp. 36-40. �28 SLOVAKIA There are few glimpses of Slovak Rom during the first half of the 19th century, though there is more on them during the second half of this period. In 1856, a Gypsy school, one of the first in Europe, was opened in Nove Zamky. However, it was not until the general Hungarian census of 1880 and the Hungarian Gypsy census of 1893 that the first concrete evidence about the Roma presence in Slovakia surfaced. According to 1893 data, there were 36,231 Roma in Slovakia, most of them settled. Almost half of those employed worked in traditional Gypsy occupations, while an almost equal number were musicians. The census also indicated that a considerable number of Roma were involved in unsavory occupations. Almost 90% of Slovakia's Gypsies were Roman Catholics.3 Total Gypsy population figures declined dramatically in the new post-World War I Czechoslovak census of 1921. It showed only 7,967 Roma in Slovakia and almost none in the Czech lands. Experts reasoned that the low numbers could be caused by exclusive use of "mother tongue" in the census. More accurate 1926 data indicated 62,192 Roma in Slovakia, though gypsiologist Dr. Eva Davidova felt the real numbers were much higher. 4 Efforts were made in Slovakia during this period to open schools for Gypsies and to encourage the development of cultural organizations for them. Some attempts were also inade privately to improve Gypsy health. One of the most famous Gypsy schools in Slovakia at this time was in Uzhorod. Opened in 1925 by Pavel Fodor, it gained an international reputation for its instruction in Slovak. 5 What gains were made by Slovak Roma disappeared with the coming of World War II. After the German dismemberment 3 Ibid., pp. 40-42. • Ibid., pp. 42-44. ' Ibid., pp. 44-47. �SLOVAKIA 29 of Czechoslovak.a in 1939, two separate states emerged - the German- controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the German-allied state of Slovakia. Whereas Gypsies in Bohemia and Moravia suffered from harsh Nazi policies throughout the Porajmos or Gypsy Holocaust, the Roma in Slovakia fared much better. 6 Part of the reason for Slovakia's comparatively mild treatment of its Gypsies centered around Germany's desire for Slovakia to be a model satellite state in southeastern Europe. Consequently, the government, the Catholic church, and business enjoyed semi-autonomy. Furthermore, Father Jozef Tiso, the head of state, opposed the complete nazification of his country. In time, Reich officials came to realize that the only way - they could achieve their goals was through political pressure and an intense propaganda campaign. Anything else would hamper Slovakia's contribution to the German war effort. Almost all of Slovakia's Gypsies survived the war because of this. This did not mean, however, that the Slovak government left its Roma population alone. Within months after the creation of Slovakia in the spring of 1939, the Tiso government ordered nomadic Gypsies to return to their legal residences, and made it illegal for them to do any horse trading. On September 25, 1939, Jews were deprived of their Slovak citizenship, while Gypsies who were born in Slovakia and wanted Slovak citizenship had to prove that they lived an orderly way of life; had a steady place of residence and employment; and were honorable citizens as reflected in their education, their moral and political trustworthiness, and their activity in their community, could they be included in the Slovak national community. If they did not fulfill the aforementioned conditions, or if they fulfilled them only ' Ibid. , pp. 47-51. �30 SLOVAKIA partially-if they worked only occasionally, if they spoke the Gypsy language among themselves, if their moral and political trustworthiness was doubtful, etc.--they could not be considered members of the Slovak national community. In other words, wandering Gypsies did not qualify for citizenship. 1 Four months later, Ferdinand Durcansky, Slovakia's Interior Minister, ordered that Gypsies and Jews were to work in special labor units as alternatives to military service, which was later set "at two terms of two months twice annually." Durcansky defined a Gypsy in Law No. 130/1940 of June 18, 1940, as someone who had two Roma parents and lived as a nomad, or a sedentary person who avoided work. Other regulations issued during this period made it illegal for Gypsies to ride public transportation, eat in cafes, or enter public parks. As Germany intensified pressure on the Slovaks to increase their contribution to the war effort, the Tiso government created seasonal labor camps in 1941 where Gypsies often made up over half of the workers. Conditions in the labor units were bad. Inmates suffered increasingly from inadequate clothing and shoes, cold, infestation with lice and bedbugs, hunger, and disease, especially trachoma and typhus. 8 7 Jorg K. Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomfr Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic J9 J 8- J 948 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973), pp. 278-279, 284-286; Jiff Upa, "The Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia under Nazi Domination," in Michael Berenbaum, ed., A Mosaic of Victims· Non-Jews Persecuted and Murdered by the Nazis (New York: New York University Press, 1990), pp. 209-210; Ctibor Necas. Nad osudem ceskych a sI ovenskych Cikam1 v letech I 939- I 945 (Brno: Univerzita J. E. Purkyne, 1981 ), p. 70. • Upa, "Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 210; Gypsy and Jewish service regulations were included in legislation of January 18, 1940, and February 29, 1940. Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 82-129, devotes a great deal of time to the little �SLOVAKIA 31 Many prisoners practiced self-mutilation to gain their freedom. In 1943, one member of the Slovak Diet, Hut'ka, criticized the conditions of the camps at Bystre nad Topl'ou. He felt the labor camps had been opened "to re-educate the asocial elements, not...to torture people and bring them into an even worse moral degradation." 9 On April 20, 1941, nomadic Gypsies were given eight days to return home. Once there, they were watched by the police and only allowed to leave with special permission. The Roma were also given two weeks to dispose of their horses and wagons . Gypsy houses located near public thoroughfares had to be torn down and reconstructed at a new site determined by officials. A Gypsy representative was to work with the local mayor to ensure that local ordinances were followed. Roma were also not allowed to own dogs. These regulations evidently did not curb all Gypsy nomadism, and officials explained when they opened a new labor camp in Krupina in the summer of 1941, that nomadic Roma were to be put in such camps to force them to live a sedentary life and to learn to do productive labor. These efforts still did not stop Gypsy nomadism, and on June 21, 1943, the government ordered that all Gypsy housing be removed from alongside busy roads. 10 Each Slovak community dealt with its Roma in a different manner. The 500 Gypsies in the village of Smizany were well integrated and none were sent to labor camps. When Hlinka Guards, the Slovak paramilitary group that modeled itself on the Italian "Black Shirts" and the German SA, arrived to take Gypknown history of the Gypsy Labor Units (pracovni utvary) from 1941-1944. He provides detailed Gypsy inmate statistics for the camps at Bystre nad Topl'ou , Dubnica nad Vlihom, llava, and Revuca; Donald Kenrick and Grattan Puxon, ~ Destiny of Europe's Gypsies (New York: Basic Books, I972), p. 136. • Lfpa, "Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 210. 10 Ibid., p. 211; Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 74-75, 130. �32 SLOVAKIA sies from the village of Letanovce, the mayor only agreed to send two Roma who had reputations as drunks. Both Gypsies returned to Letanovce at the end of the war. 11 This atmosphere changed drastically during the summer of 1944. In June, Slovak Roma were accused of spreading typhoid throughout the country, and were forbidden to ride trains unless they had a special travel permit backed by a physician's certificate that showed them free of typhoid. Gypsies could only use the rail passes for outbound trips and had to get another one if they wanted to return home. The following month, the Interior Ministry informed its regional offices that there were still Roma in some of the country's towns and villages. It ordered local officials to move all Gypsies away from roadsides, and said that if any refused to comply, they would be executed. The decree added that more forced labor camps were being prepared for Slovak Roma. 12 The climate for the Gypsies got considerably worse with the German occupation of Slovakia on September 29, 1944. Spurred by the Slovak National Insurrection of August 29-0ctober 27, 1944, the Germans clamped down harshly on the Slovaks, including the Roma, because they had actively supported the uprising. One Gypsy leader, Tomas Farkas, headed a mixed guerilla band of Roma and Slovaks during the uprising. Farkas' detachment momentarily held up German forces near Tisovec as they moved towards Banska Bystrica, the military center of the rebellion. After Banska Bystrica fell, authorities arrested Farkas' son, and imprisoned him. When Slovak partisans retreated in the 11 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 136; Emflia Horvlithova, Cii:ani na SJovensku (Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1964), p. 171. Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 137; Horvathova, Ciian.i na SJoyensku, p. 171; the train regulations were issued on June 13, 1944, while others appeared on June 19-21, 1944. Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 130-132. 12 �SLOVAKIA 33 face of the German advance in the fall of 1944, the Gypsies, using hidden weapons, stayed behind to protect their families. After the rebellion's collapse, a German intelligence officer tricked the Roma into revealing details about their weapons cache. Hlinka Guards executed the Gypsy partisans as their families watched in horror. The Germans then killed all Roma women and children and buried their bodies in a lime pit. 13 Similar Gypsy massacres took place in other parts of Slovakia as retribution for their role in the Slovak National Insurrection. On November 14, 1944, 65 Roma were burned to death in two huts in Cierny Balog, while other Gypsies were forced to dig a large grave for their fallen comrades. Hlinka - Guards murdered the entire community of 111 Gypsies in Ilija eight days later, and on November 23 , butchered as many Roma as they could find in Slatina. Only three Gypsies escaped the massacre. A similar tragedy took place at Neresnice, where only two families survived. 14 Atrocities also took place at the labor camp at Dubnica nad Vahom. On September 29, 1944, German authorities in Trencin just south of Dubnica nad Vahom ordered that all male Roma from this region be sent to the labor camp at Dubnica. The Gypsy transfers were halted once the camp became full two weeks later. On November 2, 1944, Dubnica na Vahom was transformed into a concentration center for all Roma. Authorites freed all of the camp's non-Gypsy inmates to make room for the Roma. After a typhus epidemic ravaged a Gypsy camp at Ustie 1 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, pp. 137- 138; Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic," pp. 293-295 ; Anna Josko, "The Slovak Resistance Movement," in Mamatey and Luza, Histocy of the Czechoslovak Republic, pp . 375-380, 382-383. 14 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gyspies. pp. 137-138; authorities later found a mass grave at Kremnica, which was occupied by the Germans from November 5, 1944, to January 12, 1945. It contaimed 3,723 bodies, some of them Gypsies. Netas, Nad osudem, pp. 138-141. ' �34 SLOVAKIA nad Oravou in mid-December, authorites shipped its inmates to Dubnica nad Vahom. Before the arrival of the new Roma inmates, there were 729 Roma at Dubnica nad V ahom, 250 of them children. The only recorded atrocity at the camp took place on January 17, 1945, when 16 sick Gypsy prisoners were taken from the camp and told they were being shipped to the hopsital at Trencfn. Instead, they were driven in military trucks to a wooded area, forced into a pit, and executed. The Dubnica nad V ahom camp was closed on the eve of its capture by Soviet forces on April 8, 1945. Despite these tragedies, the Gypsy survival rate in Slovakia was quite high, and estimates are that only a few hundred of Slovakia's 100,000 Rom died in the Porajmos. 15 The liberation of Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1945 found the country traumatized by the human and economic devastation of the war. A massive campaign of expulsions aimed primarily at Germans and Magyars saw I .5 million people move into the former Sudetenland from other parts of Czechoslovakia, including some Gypsies. As the Germans were expelled from Cze- __ choslovakia, many Slovak Gypsies were sent to camps in northern Bohemia and Moravia where they worked as unskilled laborers. Not all Slovak Gypsies remained in the Czech lands, 15 Lfpa, "Fate of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 211 -213; Necas, Nad llS..Ll.d.e.m, pp. 111-112, I 34- 137 ; Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 138; Horvathova, Cii:ani na S)ovensku, p. 173 n34; David J. Kostelancik, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia: Political and Ideological Considerations in the Development of Policy," Studies in Comparative Communism, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Winter 1984), p. 309; the Gypsies were not Slovakia's only victims after the Slovak National Insurrection. Estimates are that from August 1944 until April 1945, "7,500 soldiers and 2,500 partisans were killed and 3,723 civilians ... were murdered and buried in mass graves; 900 were burned in lime kilns; 30,000 people were de)Xlrted to German concentration camps; 60 communities were completely destroyed by fires and 142 were partially wiped out." Josko, "Slovak Resistance Movement," p. 383. �SLOVAKIA 35 and some returned to Slovakia where they began to buy new homes. In addition, about 6,000 Olach [Olassti] Gypsies continued to live as nomads. Officials hoped the returning Slovak Roma would help solve the regions's severe labor shortage and serve as role models for other Roma. After the strong communist showing in the May 26, 1946, elections, the new Minister of the Interior, the Czech Vaclav Nosek, and others, called for restrictive policies against the Roma, whom Nosek and his supporters called questionable citizens of Czechoslovakia. 16 Efforts by Evzan Erban, the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, to continue to send Slovak Gypsies to camps in the Czech lands were stopped by the non-communist Minister of Justice, Prokop Drtina in 1947. Nosek convinced Drtina to do a census of the country's Roma population to determine how many lived as nomads. According to the census, there were 84,438 Roma in Slovakia, and 16,752 in the Czech lands. The successful communist coup in early 1948 brought to power a party that a year earlier had pledged that it would do everything possible to integrate the Gypsies into the fabric of Czechoslovakian society, and raise their social, economic, and cultural status. 17 In 1949, the government of Klement Gottwald created a special commission to investigate the "Gypsy question." The 16 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 309-310; Willy Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms: The Case of Czechoslovakia," in Farnham Rehfisch, ed., Gypsies Tinkers and Other Travellers (New York: Academic Press, 1975), p. 213; Tom~ Grulich and Tom~ Hai~man, "lnstitucionalnf zajem o cikanske obyvatelstvo v Ceskoslovensku v letech 1945-1958," C:esky Lid, Vol. 73 , No. 2 ( 1986), p. 73. 17 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 310-3 I I ; Vladimir Srb, "Cikani v Ceskoslovensku Demo2rafje, Vol. Xl , No. 3 (1969), p. 194; Zdenek Suda, The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1969), pp. 32-36; Radomfr Luui, "Czechoslovakia between Democracy and Communism," in Mamatey and Luui, History of the Czechoslovak Republic, pp. 412-415. �36 SLOVAKIA new commission sponsored a detailed study of Czechoslovakia's Gypsies that appeared in 1950 as Zarazovani osob cikanskeho puvodu do trvaleho pracovniho procesu (Position of Individuals of Gypsy Origin in the Work Process). Two years later, this study was partly integrated into another report by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Uprava pomeru osob cikanskeho puvodu (Report About the Life of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia). This latter study blamed earlier governments and societies for the Roma's low social and economic status, and promised that the new People's Democratic State would resolve the "Gypsy question" if the Roma willingly and quickly become accustomed to conscientious work, they adopt trades, they take part in socialist competition, they become shock-workers, members and functionaries of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and the Revolutionary Trade-Union Movement. 18 However, over the next eight years, Czechoslovak leaders did little to help the Gypsies improve their quality of life. Numerous regional and local decrees touched on health care and housing needs, and emphasized changing the behavior of the Roma. 19 Communist Party propaganda, however, underscored improved Gypsy school attendance, literacy, and new attitudes towards work and integration. By the mid-1950s, this congratulatory tone changed as the reality of the Gypsy's plight and demographic growth became more apparent to the country's leadership. In 1956, authorities began to talk about a national Gypsy crisis, which was linked to their continued nomadism. 18 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 3 I 0-311; Grulich and Hai~man, "Institucionalnf zajem o cikanske," p. 74. " Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 311, 320; Josef Kalvoda, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," in David M. Crowe and John Kolsti, eds., ~ Gypsies of Eastern Europe (New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1991), p. 93. �SLOVAKIA 37 According to an article in Zemedelske Novjny (Agricultural Newspaper) in 1957, only 40% of the country's Roma were working in industry and agriculture. The Slovak journal Smena (Direction) added that the nomadic Roma lifestyle heightened prejudice towards them, which the journal compared to "discrimination against the Negro in the United States.":n These problems and attitudes, coupled with the size of the Roma population nationwide, which Radio Bratislava estimated in 1958 to be 150,000, prompted the Communist Party to approve a resolution on April 8, 1958, that demanded a new campaign to resolve the "Gypsy question." Similar to new policies throughout the Soviet bloc at that time, the Party called for a mass campaign addressed to both the Gypsies and white -- bigots, for lifting the Gypsies' extraterritorial immunities and punishment of nomadism. 21 Czechoslovakia's Gypsies were now officially divided into three categories - nomads, semi-nomads, and completely sedentary - in anticipation of Law No. 74, of October 17, 1958, "Act on Permanent Settlement of Nomadic People." The new law instructed local officials to work with nomads, whom it defined as an individual who 0 Otto Ulc, "Communist National Minority Policy: The Case of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," Soviet Studies, Vol. XX, No. 4 (April 1969), pp. 422-424 ; "Minorites in Eastern Europe," Eastern Europe. Vol. 8, No. 3 (March 1959), pp . 13-14. 21 "M inorities in Eastern Europe," p. 14; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 311, improperly places the date for the passage of Law No. 74 as November 17, 1958; Grulich and Hai§man, "Jnstitucionalnf zajem o cikanske," pp. 77-78; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 214-215. Guy estimates the number of registered nomads at 20,000-27,000; Ulc, "Gyps ies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 424-426, says officials estimated that the semi-nomadic Rom were the largest group among the Gypsies. ' �38 SLOVAKIA in groups or individually, wanders from place to place, shuns honest work or obtains his livelihood by iniquitious means even though he may be registered in some community as its permanent resident.-n. According to the new law, if anyone continued to live in this manner, he or she could be imprisoned for six months to three years. Two other parts of Law No. 74 gave the Minister of the Interior the right 11 to issue executive orders to this effect, including registration of the nomads. 11 Though the new regulations never mentioned the Roma, they were its only target, particularly the country's 6,000 nomadic Olach Gypsies. Official estimates indicated that there were from 11,000 to 40,000 nomadic Roma in Czechoslovakia at this time. 23 In an effort to avoid charges of racism, officials also upgraded the Gypsies' official status to a "socio-ethnic group." Unfortunately, Czechoslovak authorities did not anticipate the complex economic and social problems that would accompany their efforts to force the complete integration of the nation's Gypsies. Many nomadic Roma found ways to avoid punishment for thsir lifestyle, while local efforts to force settlement through the assignment of precious housing to Gypsies created growing resentment against a group that some came to see as privileged. Many Slovaks and Czechs felt the Roma were a privileged group that had special rights without obligations. The public complained that the Gypsies were measured by different standards and took advantage of their unique position. More importantly, the government's new efforts did little to upgrade the low socio-economic status of the Roma, and perhaps made it worse for the newly settled Gypsies, who, located principally in Slova- 22 23 UII!, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 424-425. Ibid., pp. 425-426. �SLOVAKIA 39 kia, still lived in slums with inadequate plumbing and sanitation facilites. 24 Consequently, in 1965, the Communist Party asked local officials to do a more thorough investigation of the plight of the Roma and develop a long range plan for Gypsy assimilation. The result was Ordinance No. 502 of June 1965, which developed a Gypsy reform progam that centered around fullemployment possibilities for Gypsies able to work full time. These efforts were considered essential to upgrading the standard of living for Roma, and tied to plans to destroy substandard Gypsy settlements and the movement of Roma from Slovakia to other parts of the country. The Academy of Sciences was asked to do a study of Roma life, while the state-controlled media was ord.tred to help counter nationwide prejudice against the Roma. A new government body, the National Council for Questions of the Gypsy Population (NCQGP), which had no Gypsy members, was to serve as the program's watchdog. The NCQGP produced three position papers, but was abolished in 1968. 25 At the center of this new program was the destruction of substandard Gypsy housing and settlements, primarily in Slovakia, and the forced resettlement and employment of their Rom inhabitants. Officials estimated that 67.3% of Slovakia's 153,000 Gypsies lived in extremely substandard housing. The government pin-pointed 1,266 Roma settlements in Slovakia for destruction, and the transfer of 64,096 Gypsies. Officials planned to move the effected Slovak Gypsies to the Czech lands after their settlements were razed. Local governments, aided by national ,. Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 426; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia." pp. 98-99. 25 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia." pp. 312-313; Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia." pp. 430-431. Of the 56,000 Rom in eastern Slovakia, only 2.2% had an adequate water supply; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 2 I 922 . �40 SLOVAKIA subsidies, would then be responsible for the Gypsies' housing and employment. The resettlement program was voluntary. Once a Gypsy family was convinced of the wisdom of moving, the government would give the family a special payment, combined with a 25-30% subsidy and low cost government loan, which would be used to purchase a new home in the Czech lands. However, inadequate funding, coupled with growing resentment towards the new Roma presence in the Czech lands, and the unwillingness of some Gypsies to remain there, undercut the success of the program. Between 1965-1968, the government was only able to eliminate a third of the Roma settlements targeted for destruction. 26 As authorities struggled with the mixed results of this new transfer and employment program, Czechoslovakia was turned inside out by the events of the Prague Spring in 1968.Z7 On the eve of the Prague Spring, Czechoslovakia had an official Gypsy population of 223,993, with 164,526 in Slovakia, and 59,467 in the Czech lands. In 1968, the Roma in Slovakia formed their first official organization, the Union of Gypsy-Romanies (UGR or Zvaz Cikanov-Romov; Romani, Romano Jekhetaniben), followed by a similar Czech organization in 1969. Later that year, both groups joined together, but maintained separate Slovak and Czech branches. The UGR received funds from the National Front and had branches throughout Czechoslovakia. Its goals were to improve the socio-economic status of the Roma and enhance the Gypsies' awareness of their own culture and 2 • Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 432-433 ; Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 312-314; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 219-220; Hiibschmannova, "Co je tak zvana cikanska otazka," p. 115 n I 9. 27 Otto Ulc, "Czechoslovakia," in Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone, ed., Communism io Eastern Europe, Second Edition (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984), pp. 121-123; William Shawcross, ~ (New York : Touchstone Books/Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1990), pp. 114-119. �SLOVAKIA 41 traditions. The UGR also wanted to acquire nationality status for the Roma, which triggered an engaging debate between Gypsy and non-Gypsy intellectuals about the entire "Gypsy question." Central to the debate was Jaroslav Sus' 1963 study, Cikanska otazka v CSSR (The Gypsy Question in the CSSR), which described the Rom way of life as [an] undesirable combination of 'nomadism, tribalism ...and blood f euds,' and the Romani language as ... unworthy of preservation. Consequently, Sus felt that "unconditional assimilation [was] ... the only solution for the question." 28 Roma scholar Elena Htibschmannova, long an advcoate of --Gypsy nationality status, led the attack on Sus' ideas. Htibschmannova shifted responsibility for some aspects of the "Gypsy Question" to the shoulders of the government, as did the August 1969 Programme of the Founding Congress of the Czech Gypsy-Rom Association [Union], which felt that "fears of the results of granting rights to the Gypsies as a nationality" lay at the heart of the question. As this debate raged, plans were made to start a Roma journal, and the UGR's membership rolls swelled to 20,000 between 1968 - 1971. Several hundred Gypsy musical and sports groups were formed, and the media began to refer to the country's Roma as "citizens of Gypsy origin." Unfortunately, after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968, the new government of Gustav Husak introduced an era of "normalization" that gradually chipped away at many of the gains achieved by the Roma during the Prague Spring. In April I 973, the government expelled the UGR from the National Front, and outlawed other Gypsy organizations because "they had failed to fulfill their integrative function." 29 21 " Crowe, Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia, pp. 58-59. Srb, "Cikani v Ceskoslovensku, ~ p. 194; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of �42 SLOVAKIA What followed was a renewed effort to force Gypsy integration and assimilation, coupled with a new sterialization scheme to reduce Gypsy births.~ One of the darker sides of the new Roma assimilation campaign were efforts to promote the sterilization of Gypsy women. The seed for this idea was planted in a February 29, 1972, Ministry of Health "Decree on Sterilization." Though "designed to safeguard against arbitrary or illinformed sterilization of all Czechoslovak citizens," the decree was used to encourage the sterilization of Romany women in order to reduce the high unhealthy' Romany population and, as a result, a disproportionately high number of Romany women were sterilized, often in violation of the existing safeguards and of their rights to non-discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or sex. 3 ' Czechoslovakia," pp. 3 I 7-318 ; Eva Davidova, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia, " Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. Third Series, Vol. I, Nos. 12 (Jan uary-April), pp. 53-54; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 220-22 I , 223, n44; Grattan Puxon, "Gypsies: Blacks of East Europe," The Nation. April 17, I 976, pp. 461-462; Hlibschmannova, "Co je tak zvana cikanska otazka," pp . 105, I 12 nl6, I 13- 114, I 16 n23, 117-118 ; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 101-103 ; Otto Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia: A Case of Unfinished Integration," Eastern European Politics and Societies, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 1988), pp. 310-312. 30 Other estimates put the 1970 Roma population at over 300,000. Vladimir Srb, "Demograficky profil ~eskoslovenskych romu," Cesky Lid, Vol. 72 ( 1985), p. 139; Vladimir Srb, "K integraci cikanskeho obyvatelstva v CSSR," Demoi:rafie, Vol. XXI, No. 4 (1979), p. 323; V. Srb and J. Job, "Nektere demograficke, ekonomicke a kultumi charakteristiky romskehe obyvatelstva v CSSR 1970," Demoi:rafie, Vol. XVI, No. 2 (1974), p. 173 ; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 106; Paul S. Shoup, The East European and Soviet Data Handbook (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 42, 48; Chris Cook and John Stevenson, The Loni:man Handbook of Modern European History )763-)985 (London: Longman, 1987), pp. 216,218. 31 Rachael Tritt, Jeri Laber, and Lois Whitman, Strui:i:Jini: for Ethnic Identity · Czechoslovakia's Endani:eced Gypsies (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1992), �SLOVAKIA 43 According to a Slovak document released in 1979 by Charter 77, a Czechoslovak dissident group, the Slovak government had already begun a program that used economic incentives to get Gypsy women to be sterilized because of earlier, unsuccessful government efforts "to control the high unhealthy Romany population through family planning and contraception." Local health workers offered some prospective sterilization candidates as much as 5,000 Crowns to undergo the procedure. As pressure intensified to get more Gypsy women to agree to sterilization, some health workers often made unfulfilled offers of as high as 30,000 Crowns. Charter 77 protested this practice in 1979, and claimed that it violated Article No. 259 of the state penal code, which dealt with genocide. But this was not the only - . criticism in Charter 77's 1979 document. On a broader scale, Charter 77 decried government practices designed to stop Gypsy nomadism and force assimilation, and the official denial of Roma ethnic status. According to Charter 77, the collective impact of these programs set into play "a process of social disintegration which has no comparison in the history of the Gypsies. This fact is substantiated by an ever increasing number of Gypsies who are sentenced to loss of freedom." 32 While it difficult to gauge the impact of the 1979 Charter 77 report on the plight of the Roma, population data from the 1980 census spurred further government action. The 1980 census showed a Roma population of 288,440, an increase of 31.3% over 1970 figures. Czechoslovakia's total population only grew by 6%. during the same period. The greatest increase in Gypsy growth rates was in the Czech republic, where the Roma population increased 47% between 1970 - 1980, versus a 25.5% rise in Slovakia. Even these figures, though, are misleading, since pp. 19, 139-144. 2 ' Tritt, Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies, pp. 20, 24, 26-27; Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 314-315. �44 SLOVAKIA arbitrary counting methods showed a discrepancy between national census figures, and those recorded in local "Gypsy Registers," which indicated that there were 306,246 Roma in Czechoslovakia in 1980. The absolute rise in Gypsy population numbers was less troubling to the government than the national and Rom childbirth rate figures. The overall Czechoslovak childbirth rate was on the decline, and by 1982 was "below the level of biological reproduction." The average Czechoslovak woman bore 2.4 children in the 1970s compared to 6.4 children for a Gypsy woman. 33 These increases were remarkable, particularly in light of continued government efforts to destroy Slovak Gypsy slums and the forced movement of Slovak Roma to Czech portions of the country. Other Gypsies also moved to the Czech lands because of better job opportunities and a higher standard of living. Between 1972-1980, officials destroyed 4,000 Roma dwellings in Slovakia, and moved 4,850 Gypsies elsewhere. Though Gypsy housing standards improved appreciably between during this period, there were still 5.6 persons in thct average Roma apartment or house versus a national average of 3.1 persons per dwelling. By 1980, a little more than 70% of the country's Gypsy population lived in apartments, while 10% still lived in primitive settlements that were to be destroyed by 1990. The number in extremely unfit housing dropped from 80.7% in 1970 to 49% between 1970 and 1980. Another part of the Roma assimilation campaign centered around attempts to force more Gypsy children into the public schools. In 1971, only 10% of the eligible Roma children in Czechoslovakia attended kindergarten, a figure that rose to 33 Srb, "Demograficky profil foskoslovenskych Romu," pp. 139-140. There were 88,507 Gypsies in the Czech Republic in 1980, and 199,853 in Slovakia; Ul~, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 315-316; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 108-109. �SLOVAKIA 45 58.5% in 1980. During the same period, the number .of Gypsy children that finished public school rose from 16.6% to 25.6%, while the number enrolled in colleges and universities increased from 39 to 191. Nationwide, literacy rates rose to 90% among Roma adults. On the other hand, Gypsy school dropout rates in Slovakia increased substantially as Roma pupils moved from grade to grade. In 1983-1984, 72.2% of the Slovak students who failed to go into the second grade were Gypsies, and almost a third of the Roma who went to second grade barely had minimal literacy skills, a figure that jumped to 50% for Gypsy 4th graders. Nationwide, many Gypsies entered the school system with a knowledge of only a few hundred Slovak or Czech words, and were often assigned to special instititions (zvlastnf skoly) designed for the mentally retarded. Only a third of the country's Gypsy children finished 8th grade in 19831984, and only 4% went on to university or college. 34 Gypsy employment figures for this period were also a mixture of success and failure. Though 1981 data showed an 87.7% employment rate for male Gypsy workers that was close to the national average of 91 .9% for all adult males, the 54.95% employment rate for Roma female workers was well below the national average of 87.7% for all women. In addition, over three quarters of all Gypsies employed held low paying, non-skilled jobs. The overall impact of the employment, educational, and housing data found Czechoslovakia's Roma on a socio-economic plateau that proved difficult to transcend. According to Irnrich Farkas, the official responsible for Gypsy matters in Slovakia, the government felt that it would be harder to improve the quality " Kostelanc ik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 313-3 I 5. In I 980, 59% of the Gypsies in Slovakia lived in the lowest classification for housing, Class IV. Kindergarten attendance rates in eastern Slovakia, where 53% of Slovakia's Rom lived in 1980, rose from 10% to 66% between 1970-1980; Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 319-320. �46 SLOVAKIA of Gypsy life "because increasingly left for solution are those socially and culturally backward families." 35 The government tried to put the best light on its assimilation efforts, and publicized some Gypsy success stories. Bratislava Pravda reported that 435 Roma had been elected to predominantly low level positions as deputies of Peoples Committees, and that one Gypsy, Emil Rigo, had briefly been a member of the Politburo in 1968. Officials also used successful Gypsies to counter efforts to acquire nationality status for the Roma. In 1986, Rude Pravo responded to the World Romany Congress' appeal for nationality status for Czechoslovakia's Gypsies partially with a statement by Mirosalv 2.ajda, an assimilated Roma and Party member who told the newspaper that he was quite content with his life. 36 The lack of nationality status for Czechoslovakia's Roma, who were officially referred to as citizens "of Gypsy origin," robbed them of the special rights and financial support afforded officially recognized minorities. It also placed them into a limbo world where they were forced to identify with other ethnic groups. Their plight was compounded by the growing body of prejudice that accompanied their growing numbers and official attention. 37 To many Slovaks and Czechs, Gypsies were the tmavi kluci (dark boys), a term that automatically identified one as a Roma. According to Otto Ulc, post-1968 Czechsolvakia became a society that was "less tolerant, more impatient, and egotistic." Increasingly, he observed, the public saw Gypsies as "beneficiaries of a host of privileges on their path to the less- " Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 3I3-315; Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 322-323 . 36 Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 322 n36, 326. 37 Ibid., pp. 323-326. Not all Gypsies suffered from lack of nationality status on the same scale, and there were a number of instances, particularly in Slovakia, where local officials encouraged Rom ethnicity. �SLOVAKIA 47 than-cherished goal of integration." Furthermore, Ulc argued, Slovaks and Czechs became "thoroughly uninhibited about making racial slurs and expressing racist prejudice of the oldfashioned vintage." They saw the Roma as "dirty, lazy, dishonest, primitive, parasitic, and inferior." 38 Government efforts to counter this prejudice met with mixed results, since the press used stories that gave explicit details about instances of unfair treatment of Gypsies with others that detailed Roma crime. Bratislava Pravda, for example, claimed in 1983 that the Gypsies, who made up 4 % of Slovakia's population, accounted for 24 percent of the charges of parasitism, 50 __ percent of robberies, 60 percent of petty thefts, 75 percent of charges for endangering the morals of youth, and 20 percent of all crimes committed.'39 The overall impact of such reports was to create a very unwelcome, suspicious climate for Czechoslovakia's growing Roma population that worsened as the country and its leadership drifted towards the collapse of the system that had dominated the country since 1948.'° As the Velvet Revolution swept Czechoslovakia in 1989, a plethora of political parties and other organizations surfaced. A number of Gypsy parties emerged during this period, including the Party of the Integration of the Romany People in Slovakia and the Party of the Democratic Romany Union. The most important was the Romany Civic Inititative (ROI or Romska obcanska iniciativa), which had close links to Civic Forum (Obcanske Forum), the umbrella political organization for a number of the country's dissident factions . ROI soon had a 31 Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 327-328. " Kalvoda, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. I06. •• lhid., p. 106. �48 SLOVAKIA membership of over 70,000, and held its first national meeting in Prague in the spring of 1990. One of its first decisions was to vote to erect a monument in Bratislava to the Rom victims of the Holocaust. The ROI congress elected Emil Scuka, a lawyer and playwright, to head the organization.41 Yet the very democracy that gave Slovak and Czech Gypsies the opportunity to form their own political and other organizations also created a new atmosphere for open, virulent expressions of prejudice towards them. Of particular concern to many non-Gypsies was the dramatic growth of the Roma population. In 1988, the government estimated that there were 391 ,000 Rom in Czechoslovakia, a 35.5% increase over 1980 figures. Other sources estimated there were as many as 700,000-800,000 Roma in Czechoslovakia, with 470,000 a more reasonable figure. Some perceived these figures to be a new threat, and the newspaper Express warned in an article on July 2, 1990, "that the Gypsy fertility may mean a ' tragedy', that within a century the country may well have to be renamed the Romska republika. 42 These fears combined with the deep-rooted, traditional prejudices towards the Roma, and prompted some people to depict the-Gypsies as new symbols of everything gone awry in Czechoslo- " Otto Ulc, "Integration of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," Ethnic Groups. Vol. 9, No. 2 ( 1991 ), pp. 11 2- 11 3; in 1986, Scuka produced the "musical drama Amaro Drom (Our Road)...only the second play in Romanes ever to be staged in Czechoslovakia." Grattan Puxon, Roma· Europe's Gypsies (London: Minority Rights Group, 1987), p. 11 . " Radio Free Europe/Rad io Liberty, "Ethnic Minorities and Foreigners," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 14, No. 39 (22 September 1989), pp. 33, 36-37 ; Ulc, "Integration of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 113-114; Czechoslovakia's population was 15,658,079, in Ju ly 1989, and 15,683,234, a year later, an increase of 25,155. Suda, "Czechoslovakia," p. 319, and Carol Skalnik Leff, "Czechoslovakia," in Richard F. Staar and Margit N. Grigory, eds., Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1221 (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1991), p. 269. �SLOVAKIA 49 vakia. At the forefront of this new assualt on the Rom were renewed charges of criminality. Dramatic increases in crime had plagued the country since the early 1980s, particularly in Bratislava and Prague. In a society accustomed to traditionally low crime rates, crime reached epidemic proportions by 1990. Slovakia experienced a 17.7% rise in crime between 1988-1989, while the Czech Republic reported a 52% increase during the same pericxi. Much of this increase was attributed to Gypsies, who as early as 1987 had been blamed by television reports for 38% of Bratislava's crimes, and 40% of those committed in eastern Slovakia. Gypsies 18 years old and younger were accused of being part of over 44% of all crimes nationwide in 1988. Clearer heads proved that many of these statistics were exaggerated, and that the Roma were responsible for no more than 7.5-11 % of the crime in the country. Though the more conservative estimates were still out of proportion to the number of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia, they were directly tied to post1989 Gypsy unemployment figures that reached as high as 50% in certain areas. 43 Whatever the true numbers, Czechoslovakia's Roma paid a dear price for the accusations against them. Skinhead attacks, sometimes quietly encouraged by onlookers, mounted dangerously against Gypsies and the 35,000 Vietnamese workers in Czechoslovakia throughout 1990. On April 26, Prime Minister Petr Pithart of the Czech Republic called for "peaceful coexis0 Jan Orbman, "Crime Rate Among the Young," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 12, No. 32 (14 August 1987), p. 18; Martina Nevesky, "The Gypsy Problem," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 14, No. 31 (4 August 1989), p. 40; Jan Orbman, "Minorities Not a Major Issue Yet," Report on Eastern Europe, Vol. 2, No. 50 (December 13, 1991 ), p. 11 ; Wheaton and Kavan, The Yel vet Revo)utjon, p. 147; Jiti Pehe, "Crime Rises in Czechoslovakia," R.EElRL Research Report, Vol. 1, No. 14 (3 April 1992), p. 58; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 112, claims the Rom were responsible for 15.6% of all crimes in the Czech Republic. �50 SLOVAKIA tence with our fellow citizens of Gypsy origin," while federal Deputy Prime Minister Jan Carnogursky demanded "tougher action against those skinheads who had attacked the Gypsies." On May 3, 1990, ROI urged national leaders and organizations to speak out against racist incidents against Roma and foreigners. Four days later, Charter 77 and the Czechoslovak Helsinki Committee condemned such attacks on the Vietnamese and Gypsies, and said they constitute attacks on all of us. They are attacks on the most basic principles of ethics and humanism, attacks on the state based on Jaw that is being bom , attacks contradicting the ideals of our democratic revolution. The fact that we silently tolerate such attacks makes us accomplices. We call on all citizens to stop being indifferent to the manifestations of violence and intolerance. We appeal to our executive bodies to put a final stop to these attacks. Let us make the people who for years have been working in our country feel that they live in a society in which it is JX)SSible to have their basic human rights protected.44 Vaclav Havel detailed the wrongs done Gypsies in public statements on May 2 and in an address on July 27, 1990, to the First World Romany Festival in Brno. Though admirable, particularly when coupled with the new rights acquired by the Roma over the next year, they did not prevent the racially motivated deaths of 26 Gypsies before the breakup of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993.45 Both the federal and individual Czechoslovak republics granted the Roma full minority status, rights, and protections in " Jiri Pehe, "Racial Violence Increasing," Report on Eastern Europe, Vol. I, No. 20 (May I 8, 1990), pp. 15, 18; David Binder, "European Gypsies Issue Call for Human Rights at Meeting," The New York Times, May 5, 1993, p. 6. 5 • Tritt, Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies, pp. 13-14. �SLOVAKIA 51 1990-1991. Over thirty Gypsy cultural organizations arose during this period, anchored by the Union of Romany Writers and numerous newspapers and magazines. Programs in Romany Studies were opened at Charles University in Prague and at the Pedagogical Faculty in Nitra. Unfortunately, these developments were overshadowed by a new set of problems that accompanied the breakup of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993. Before the formal separation, Slovakia had an estimated Gypsy population of 400,000, and the Czech lands, 150,000. However, only 81,000 Slovak Gypsies officially identified themselves as Roma in the 1991 census. In anticipation of the breakup, a number of Slovak Rom began to move to the Czech lands because they felt • the political and social atmosphere would be more tolerant, and economic conditions better. The sudden increase in "unemployed Romanies, often unassimilated families from Romany villages in eastern Slovakia," stunned many Czechs, who soon claimed that 90% of the republic's new crime was committed by Slovak Roma. Led by individual community actions throughout the Czech Republic, the new state's Prosecutor-General "proposed to the Czech parliament a draft Law on Extraordinary Measures as a means of dealing with unrest caused by undisciplined groups of migrants." Though condemned by human rights groups and the Romany Democratic Congress, which represented 19 Gypsy groups in the Czech Republic, the law had surprising support from conservatives and local officials. The controversial legislation never passed, while the debate that surrounded it brought to the surface traditionally strong prejudice towards the Roma. 46 These feelings were also expressed in several public opinion surveys conducted before and after the January 1, 1993, breakup " Jin Pehe, "Law on Romanies Causes Uproar in Czech Republic,• REElRL Research Report, Vol. 2, No. 7 (12 February 1993), pp. 18-22; Zoltan Barany, "Grim Realities in Eastern Europe." Transition, Vol. I, No. 4 (29 May 1995), p. 8. �52 SLOVAKIA of Czechoslovakia that showed almost universal hatred and distrust towards Gypsies, particularly among young Slovaks and Czechs. Officials in both countries have also been critical of the Roma. One Czech official claimed in the summer of 1993 that the Gypsies remained "a problem ... because most of them are criminals who are getting rich through thievery and prostitution." Slovak Premier Vladimfr Meciar, who lost his post in midMarch 1994 but later regained it, created an uproar on September 4, 1993, in a speech he made in Spis, where Gypsies made up 13% of the population. Meciar felt it "was necessary to curtail the extended reproduction of the socially unadaptable and mentally backward population by decreasing family allowances," which some observers felt was a reference to the country's Gypsies. Famed Nazi hunter and human rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal said that Meciar "has adopted the thinking and diction of Nazism." Meciar sued the newspaperman who originally wrote about his speech, while the Slovak government threatened to sue "any newspaper, radio or television station which refused to apologize for reporting it." Slovak authorities explained that the media had distorted Meciar's speech and released an official translation of his talk. Part of it read: They [Gypsies] should be perceived as a problem group that is growing in size ...This means that if we do not deal with them now, they will deal with us later.. Another thing we have to consider is extended reproduction of socially inadequate population.,f/ 0 Los Angeles Times Mirror, The Pulse of Europe· A Survey of Political and Socja! Values and Attitudes (Washington: Times Mirror Center for People & The Press, 1992), pp. 184-185; Freedom House and The American Jewish Committee, Democracy Economic Reform and Western Assistance in Czechoslovakia Huni:ary and Poland· A Comparative Public Opinion Survey (New York: Freedom House and The American Jewish Committee, 1991), pp. 63-65; "Iron in the Soul," The Economist, March 12, 1994, pp. 55-56; Jane Perlez, "A New �SLOVAKIA 53 Several months later, Monika Nemcokova, the Press Secretary for the Slovak Embassy in Washington, D.C., wrote The New York Times to complain about other distortions in an article by Henry Kamm, "In Slovak Gypsy Ghetto, Hovels and Plea for Jobs." Kamm's article centered on Gypsies in the Slovak village of Svinia, and their poor living conditions and high unemployment. According to a parish priest in the village of Medzev, the Rom "don't want to work," and were satisfied subsisting on government welfare. The mayor of Medzev said the only solution to Slovakia's Gypsy problem was "to shoot them all," though, after a few moments, he added, "I'm no racist...But some Gypsies you would have to shoot." Ms. Nemcokova said such attitudes were "not based on racial intole. ranee, but on a significant difference in life styles and standards." She added that almost 40% of all crimes in Slovakia were committed by Roma, figures that ranged from 40-50% for all "youth cases in Slovakia." The Press Secretary felt that the Rom stipend of $71 a month was more than adequate to maintain a reasonable lifestyle in Slovakia, though she admitted it was less than half the average monthly salary of a worker. Ms. Nemcokova strongly disagreed with Kamm's assertion that there were 400,000 Roma in Slovakia, and put the figure at 250,000. She noted that the government spent 70 milllion crowns annually to help the Roma, which was "used for improving living standards in Gypsy villages, education and children's summer camps, including 3.6 million crowns for Gypsy periodicals, and 10.7 million crowns for Gypsy cultural activities.''48 Slovak Government Pledges Moderation,• The New York Times, March 17, 1994, p. A6; Peter Maas, "Half a Century after Hitler, Gypsies Face New Fight to Exist," The Washini:ton Post, August 13, 1993, p. A29; "Reported Racist Remarks Makes Slovakians Angry," Greensboro News & Record, Setpember 7, 1993, p. A5; "His Struggle," The Economjst, September 18-24, 1993, p. 56. " Henry Kamm, "In Slovak Gypsy Ghetto, Hovels and Plea for Jobs,• The New �SLOVAKIA 54 The current status of the Roma in Slovakia is quite grim. The Slovak Gypsies have been hit particularly hard by the sluggish economy, and there are reports of Roma unemployment rates as high as 100%, particularly in eastern Slovakia, where most Roma live. The rather topsy turvy political situation and lack of commitment to address the complex problems faced by the country's Roma has stifled any significant government efforts to develop a mature program to raise Gypsy educational, social, and economic standards. The Slovak Government's minority department has only five people on its staff, and there is only one Gypsy expert in the Ministry of Education. Until something more is done to address the sad plight of Slovak Roma, they will remain a community outside of the fabric of Slovak society. 49 The serious social, economic, employment, and educational problems faced by Slovakia's Roma are not unique to this young Republic. Roma suffer from similar difficulties throughout Central and Eastern Europe, where most continental Gypsies live. Most of Slovakia's neighbors are faced with rising Roma birthrates vis vis static native rates, and serious financial problems that hinder the dramatic types of educational and social experiments used earlier to try to draw the Roma more deeply into the fabric of the societies of Central and Eastern Europe. These difficulties, though, should not be used as an excuse to fail to deal with the problems of this growing minority. Hopes that the Roma, in the right circumstances, might move elsewhere, are misguided, since Slovakia's Roma have lived in the region for centuries and have deep roots there. Furthermore, in light of their growing numbers and new political activism, the Roma could, in future, present an interesting political threat to Slovakia's current ruling parties. Moreover, rulers in Slovakia and a York Times, November 28, 1993, p. A4; Monica Nemcokova, "Don't Blame Slovakia for Gypsy Problem," The New York Times, December 15, 1993, p. A14. " Barany, "Grim Realities," p. 8. �SLOVAKIA 55 elsewhere in the region should remember that their treatment of the Roma has become an important litmus test of the depth of their democratic experiments in Western eyes. Any failure to deal positively and creatively with each country's Roma population could have negative implications for any of the states in the region trying to draw closer to the West. � 26 SLOVAKIA The Roma Of Slovakia Since 1939 David M. Crowe One of the most intriguing ethnic groups in Slovakia are the Roma or Gypsies. Traditionally regarded as social outcasts and misfits, the Roma have been a unique part of the Slovak historical landscape. Though there have been Roma in Slovakia since the Middle Ages, it was not until World War II that significant efforts were made to deal with the Slovak Roma. From 1939 until 1945, the Roma, often lumped together with the country's Jews, were subjected to a number of restrictive policies. Within a decade after the end of World War II, attention again was drawn to the Roma in the reconstructed Czechoslovak Republic, but particularly in Slovakia, where most of the country's Gypsies lived. To Czechoslovakia's communist leaders, the low socioeconomic status of the Roma was a national embarassment and underscored at least one failed aspect of the communist experiment. Driven by statistics that illustrated the low social, economic, educational, and cultural status of the Roma, considerable efforts were made through the 1980s to transform this traditionally nomadic people into sedentary, assimilated Slovak and Czech citizens. Though some significant gains were made, Slovak and Czech leaders were unable to stifle the centuries-old prejudice that had haunted Gypsies throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Though large numbers of Slovak Roma fled to the �SLOVAKIA 27 Czech Republic after the 1993 breakup of Czechoslovakia, a large Roma population still resides in Slovakia. The Roma or Gypsies have lived in Slovakia since the Middle Ages. By the 14th century, considerable Gypsy settlements began to appear in the Slovak portions of Hungary, particularly around feudal castles such as Spis (Zips) Castle. Initially, Roma were welcomed by local officials. Slovak peasants regarded these "Egyptians" as religious exiles from the Middle East. However, over time, positive Slovak attitudes towards the Roma began to change, particularly during the 16th century, when the region was plagued by religious wars and the Turkish threat. In Slovak Royal Hungary, for example, some noblemen began forcibly to expel Gypsies or force them to settle on the outskirts of towns and villages. 1 During the 17th century, Gypsies and others fleeing the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648) entered Slovakia, which adopted new anti-Gypsy regulations to deal with the new Roma presence. Once the Austrian Habsburgs retook much of Hungary at the end of the 17th century, they implemented new regulations that strongly discouraged Roma settlement throughout the Austrian Empire. These harsh policies began to change under Maria Theresa (1740 - 1780). Her policies were designed to halt Gypsy immigration into her empire and force those already there to become sedentary. The Roma now became subject to all imperial taxes and obligations such as the draft. Gypsies were also required to give up their traditional dress and customs, and forbidden to marry other Gypsies. Roma children over five were taken from their parents and placed in the care of non-Gypsy Catholic parents. These policies were continued by Maria Theresa's son, Jopseph II (r. 1780 -1790), but fell into disarray after his death. 2 1 David M. Crowe, A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994 ), pp. 31-35. ' Ibid., pp. 36-40. �28 SLOVAKIA There are few glimpses of Slovak Rom during the first half of the 19th century, though there is more on them during the second half of this period. In 1856, a Gypsy school, one of the first in Europe, was opened in Nove Zamky. However, it was not until the general Hungarian census of 1880 and the Hungarian Gypsy census of 1893 that the first concrete evidence about the Roma presence in Slovakia surfaced. According to 1893 data, there were 36,231 Roma in Slovakia, most of them settled. Almost half of those employed worked in traditional Gypsy occupations, while an almost equal number were musicians. The census also indicated that a considerable number of Roma were involved in unsavory occupations. Almost 90% of Slovakia's Gypsies were Roman Catholics.3 Total Gypsy population figures declined dramatically in the new post-World War I Czechoslovak census of 1921. It showed only 7,967 Roma in Slovakia and almost none in the Czech lands. Experts reasoned that the low numbers could be caused by exclusive use of "mother tongue" in the census. More accurate 1926 data indicated 62,192 Roma in Slovakia, though gypsiologist Dr. Eva Davidova felt the real numbers were much higher. 4 Efforts were made in Slovakia during this period to open schools for Gypsies and to encourage the development of cultural organizations for them. Some attempts were also inade privately to improve Gypsy health. One of the most famous Gypsy schools in Slovakia at this time was in Uzhorod. Opened in 1925 by Pavel Fodor, it gained an international reputation for its instruction in Slovak. 5 What gains were made by Slovak Roma disappeared with the coming of World War II. After the German dismemberment 3 Ibid., pp. 40-42. • Ibid., pp. 42-44. ' Ibid., pp. 44-47. �SLOVAKIA 29 of Czechoslovak.a in 1939, two separate states emerged - the German- controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the German-allied state of Slovakia. Whereas Gypsies in Bohemia and Moravia suffered from harsh Nazi policies throughout the Porajmos or Gypsy Holocaust, the Roma in Slovakia fared much better. 6 Part of the reason for Slovakia's comparatively mild treatment of its Gypsies centered around Germany's desire for Slovakia to be a model satellite state in southeastern Europe. Consequently, the government, the Catholic church, and business enjoyed semi-autonomy. Furthermore, Father Jozef Tiso, the head of state, opposed the complete nazification of his country. In time, Reich officials came to realize that the only way - they could achieve their goals was through political pressure and an intense propaganda campaign. Anything else would hamper Slovakia's contribution to the German war effort. Almost all of Slovakia's Gypsies survived the war because of this. This did not mean, however, that the Slovak government left its Roma population alone. Within months after the creation of Slovakia in the spring of 1939, the Tiso government ordered nomadic Gypsies to return to their legal residences, and made it illegal for them to do any horse trading. On September 25, 1939, Jews were deprived of their Slovak citizenship, while Gypsies who were born in Slovakia and wanted Slovak citizenship had to prove that they lived an orderly way of life; had a steady place of residence and employment; and were honorable citizens as reflected in their education, their moral and political trustworthiness, and their activity in their community, could they be included in the Slovak national community. If they did not fulfill the aforementioned conditions, or if they fulfilled them only ' Ibid. , pp. 47-51. �30 SLOVAKIA partially-if they worked only occasionally, if they spoke the Gypsy language among themselves, if their moral and political trustworthiness was doubtful, etc.--they could not be considered members of the Slovak national community. In other words, wandering Gypsies did not qualify for citizenship. 1 Four months later, Ferdinand Durcansky, Slovakia's Interior Minister, ordered that Gypsies and Jews were to work in special labor units as alternatives to military service, which was later set "at two terms of two months twice annually." Durcansky defined a Gypsy in Law No. 130/1940 of June 18, 1940, as someone who had two Roma parents and lived as a nomad, or a sedentary person who avoided work. Other regulations issued during this period made it illegal for Gypsies to ride public transportation, eat in cafes, or enter public parks. As Germany intensified pressure on the Slovaks to increase their contribution to the war effort, the Tiso government created seasonal labor camps in 1941 where Gypsies often made up over half of the workers. Conditions in the labor units were bad. Inmates suffered increasingly from inadequate clothing and shoes, cold, infestation with lice and bedbugs, hunger, and disease, especially trachoma and typhus. 8 7 Jorg K. Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomfr Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic J9 J 8- J 948 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973), pp. 278-279, 284-286; Jiff Upa, "The Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia under Nazi Domination," in Michael Berenbaum, ed., A Mosaic of Victims· Non-Jews Persecuted and Murdered by the Nazis (New York: New York University Press, 1990), pp. 209-210; Ctibor Necas. Nad osudem ceskych a sI ovenskych Cikam1 v letech I 939- I 945 (Brno: Univerzita J. E. Purkyne, 1981 ), p. 70. • Upa, "Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 210; Gypsy and Jewish service regulations were included in legislation of January 18, 1940, and February 29, 1940. Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 82-129, devotes a great deal of time to the little �SLOVAKIA 31 Many prisoners practiced self-mutilation to gain their freedom. In 1943, one member of the Slovak Diet, Hut'ka, criticized the conditions of the camps at Bystre nad Topl'ou. He felt the labor camps had been opened "to re-educate the asocial elements, not...to torture people and bring them into an even worse moral degradation." 9 On April 20, 1941, nomadic Gypsies were given eight days to return home. Once there, they were watched by the police and only allowed to leave with special permission. The Roma were also given two weeks to dispose of their horses and wagons . Gypsy houses located near public thoroughfares had to be torn down and reconstructed at a new site determined by officials. A Gypsy representative was to work with the local mayor to ensure that local ordinances were followed. Roma were also not allowed to own dogs. These regulations evidently did not curb all Gypsy nomadism, and officials explained when they opened a new labor camp in Krupina in the summer of 1941, that nomadic Roma were to be put in such camps to force them to live a sedentary life and to learn to do productive labor. These efforts still did not stop Gypsy nomadism, and on June 21, 1943, the government ordered that all Gypsy housing be removed from alongside busy roads. 10 Each Slovak community dealt with its Roma in a different manner. The 500 Gypsies in the village of Smizany were well integrated and none were sent to labor camps. When Hlinka Guards, the Slovak paramilitary group that modeled itself on the Italian "Black Shirts" and the German SA, arrived to take Gypknown history of the Gypsy Labor Units (pracovni utvary) from 1941-1944. He provides detailed Gypsy inmate statistics for the camps at Bystre nad Topl'ou , Dubnica nad Vlihom, llava, and Revuca; Donald Kenrick and Grattan Puxon, ~ Destiny of Europe's Gypsies (New York: Basic Books, I972), p. 136. • Lfpa, "Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 210. 10 Ibid., p. 211; Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 74-75, 130. �32 SLOVAKIA sies from the village of Letanovce, the mayor only agreed to send two Roma who had reputations as drunks. Both Gypsies returned to Letanovce at the end of the war. 11 This atmosphere changed drastically during the summer of 1944. In June, Slovak Roma were accused of spreading typhoid throughout the country, and were forbidden to ride trains unless they had a special travel permit backed by a physician's certificate that showed them free of typhoid. Gypsies could only use the rail passes for outbound trips and had to get another one if they wanted to return home. The following month, the Interior Ministry informed its regional offices that there were still Roma in some of the country's towns and villages. It ordered local officials to move all Gypsies away from roadsides, and said that if any refused to comply, they would be executed. The decree added that more forced labor camps were being prepared for Slovak Roma. 12 The climate for the Gypsies got considerably worse with the German occupation of Slovakia on September 29, 1944. Spurred by the Slovak National Insurrection of August 29-0ctober 27, 1944, the Germans clamped down harshly on the Slovaks, including the Roma, because they had actively supported the uprising. One Gypsy leader, Tomas Farkas, headed a mixed guerilla band of Roma and Slovaks during the uprising. Farkas' detachment momentarily held up German forces near Tisovec as they moved towards Banska Bystrica, the military center of the rebellion. After Banska Bystrica fell, authorities arrested Farkas' son, and imprisoned him. When Slovak partisans retreated in the 11 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 136; Emflia Horvlithova, Cii:ani na SJovensku (Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1964), p. 171. Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 137; Horvathova, Ciian.i na SJoyensku, p. 171; the train regulations were issued on June 13, 1944, while others appeared on June 19-21, 1944. Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 130-132. 12 �SLOVAKIA 33 face of the German advance in the fall of 1944, the Gypsies, using hidden weapons, stayed behind to protect their families. After the rebellion's collapse, a German intelligence officer tricked the Roma into revealing details about their weapons cache. Hlinka Guards executed the Gypsy partisans as their families watched in horror. The Germans then killed all Roma women and children and buried their bodies in a lime pit. 13 Similar Gypsy massacres took place in other parts of Slovakia as retribution for their role in the Slovak National Insurrection. On November 14, 1944, 65 Roma were burned to death in two huts in Cierny Balog, while other Gypsies were forced to dig a large grave for their fallen comrades. Hlinka - Guards murdered the entire community of 111 Gypsies in Ilija eight days later, and on November 23 , butchered as many Roma as they could find in Slatina. Only three Gypsies escaped the massacre. A similar tragedy took place at Neresnice, where only two families survived. 14 Atrocities also took place at the labor camp at Dubnica nad Vahom. On September 29, 1944, German authorities in Trencin just south of Dubnica nad Vahom ordered that all male Roma from this region be sent to the labor camp at Dubnica. The Gypsy transfers were halted once the camp became full two weeks later. On November 2, 1944, Dubnica na Vahom was transformed into a concentration center for all Roma. Authorites freed all of the camp's non-Gypsy inmates to make room for the Roma. After a typhus epidemic ravaged a Gypsy camp at Ustie 1 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, pp. 137- 138; Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic," pp. 293-295 ; Anna Josko, "The Slovak Resistance Movement," in Mamatey and Luza, Histocy of the Czechoslovak Republic, pp . 375-380, 382-383. 14 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gyspies. pp. 137-138; authorities later found a mass grave at Kremnica, which was occupied by the Germans from November 5, 1944, to January 12, 1945. It contaimed 3,723 bodies, some of them Gypsies. Netas, Nad osudem, pp. 138-141. ' �34 SLOVAKIA nad Oravou in mid-December, authorites shipped its inmates to Dubnica nad Vahom. Before the arrival of the new Roma inmates, there were 729 Roma at Dubnica nad V ahom, 250 of them children. The only recorded atrocity at the camp took place on January 17, 1945, when 16 sick Gypsy prisoners were taken from the camp and told they were being shipped to the hopsital at Trencfn. Instead, they were driven in military trucks to a wooded area, forced into a pit, and executed. The Dubnica nad V ahom camp was closed on the eve of its capture by Soviet forces on April 8, 1945. Despite these tragedies, the Gypsy survival rate in Slovakia was quite high, and estimates are that only a few hundred of Slovakia's 100,000 Rom died in the Porajmos. 15 The liberation of Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1945 found the country traumatized by the human and economic devastation of the war. A massive campaign of expulsions aimed primarily at Germans and Magyars saw I .5 million people move into the former Sudetenland from other parts of Czechoslovakia, including some Gypsies. As the Germans were expelled from Cze- __ choslovakia, many Slovak Gypsies were sent to camps in northern Bohemia and Moravia where they worked as unskilled laborers. Not all Slovak Gypsies remained in the Czech lands, 15 Lfpa, "Fate of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 211 -213; Necas, Nad llS..Ll.d.e.m, pp. 111-112, I 34- 137 ; Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 138; Horvathova, Cii:ani na S)ovensku, p. 173 n34; David J. Kostelancik, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia: Political and Ideological Considerations in the Development of Policy," Studies in Comparative Communism, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Winter 1984), p. 309; the Gypsies were not Slovakia's only victims after the Slovak National Insurrection. Estimates are that from August 1944 until April 1945, "7,500 soldiers and 2,500 partisans were killed and 3,723 civilians ... were murdered and buried in mass graves; 900 were burned in lime kilns; 30,000 people were de)Xlrted to German concentration camps; 60 communities were completely destroyed by fires and 142 were partially wiped out." Josko, "Slovak Resistance Movement," p. 383. �SLOVAKIA 35 and some returned to Slovakia where they began to buy new homes. In addition, about 6,000 Olach [Olassti] Gypsies continued to live as nomads. Officials hoped the returning Slovak Roma would help solve the regions's severe labor shortage and serve as role models for other Roma. After the strong communist showing in the May 26, 1946, elections, the new Minister of the Interior, the Czech Vaclav Nosek, and others, called for restrictive policies against the Roma, whom Nosek and his supporters called questionable citizens of Czechoslovakia. 16 Efforts by Evzan Erban, the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, to continue to send Slovak Gypsies to camps in the Czech lands were stopped by the non-communist Minister of Justice, Prokop Drtina in 1947. Nosek convinced Drtina to do a census of the country's Roma population to determine how many lived as nomads. According to the census, there were 84,438 Roma in Slovakia, and 16,752 in the Czech lands. The successful communist coup in early 1948 brought to power a party that a year earlier had pledged that it would do everything possible to integrate the Gypsies into the fabric of Czechoslovakian society, and raise their social, economic, and cultural status. 17 In 1949, the government of Klement Gottwald created a special commission to investigate the "Gypsy question." The 16 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 309-310; Willy Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms: The Case of Czechoslovakia," in Farnham Rehfisch, ed., Gypsies Tinkers and Other Travellers (New York: Academic Press, 1975), p. 213; Tom~ Grulich and Tom~ Hai~man, "lnstitucionalnf zajem o cikanske obyvatelstvo v Ceskoslovensku v letech 1945-1958," C:esky Lid, Vol. 73 , No. 2 ( 1986), p. 73. 17 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 310-3 I I ; Vladimir Srb, "Cikani v Ceskoslovensku Demo2rafje, Vol. Xl , No. 3 (1969), p. 194; Zdenek Suda, The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1969), pp. 32-36; Radomfr Luui, "Czechoslovakia between Democracy and Communism," in Mamatey and Luui, History of the Czechoslovak Republic, pp. 412-415. �36 SLOVAKIA new commission sponsored a detailed study of Czechoslovakia's Gypsies that appeared in 1950 as Zarazovani osob cikanskeho puvodu do trvaleho pracovniho procesu (Position of Individuals of Gypsy Origin in the Work Process). Two years later, this study was partly integrated into another report by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Uprava pomeru osob cikanskeho puvodu (Report About the Life of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia). This latter study blamed earlier governments and societies for the Roma's low social and economic status, and promised that the new People's Democratic State would resolve the "Gypsy question" if the Roma willingly and quickly become accustomed to conscientious work, they adopt trades, they take part in socialist competition, they become shock-workers, members and functionaries of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and the Revolutionary Trade-Union Movement. 18 However, over the next eight years, Czechoslovak leaders did little to help the Gypsies improve their quality of life. Numerous regional and local decrees touched on health care and housing needs, and emphasized changing the behavior of the Roma. 19 Communist Party propaganda, however, underscored improved Gypsy school attendance, literacy, and new attitudes towards work and integration. By the mid-1950s, this congratulatory tone changed as the reality of the Gypsy's plight and demographic growth became more apparent to the country's leadership. In 1956, authorities began to talk about a national Gypsy crisis, which was linked to their continued nomadism. 18 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 3 I 0-311; Grulich and Hai~man, "Institucionalnf zajem o cikanske," p. 74. " Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 311, 320; Josef Kalvoda, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," in David M. Crowe and John Kolsti, eds., ~ Gypsies of Eastern Europe (New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1991), p. 93. �SLOVAKIA 37 According to an article in Zemedelske Novjny (Agricultural Newspaper) in 1957, only 40% of the country's Roma were working in industry and agriculture. The Slovak journal Smena (Direction) added that the nomadic Roma lifestyle heightened prejudice towards them, which the journal compared to "discrimination against the Negro in the United States.":n These problems and attitudes, coupled with the size of the Roma population nationwide, which Radio Bratislava estimated in 1958 to be 150,000, prompted the Communist Party to approve a resolution on April 8, 1958, that demanded a new campaign to resolve the "Gypsy question." Similar to new policies throughout the Soviet bloc at that time, the Party called for a mass campaign addressed to both the Gypsies and white -- bigots, for lifting the Gypsies' extraterritorial immunities and punishment of nomadism. 21 Czechoslovakia's Gypsies were now officially divided into three categories - nomads, semi-nomads, and completely sedentary - in anticipation of Law No. 74, of October 17, 1958, "Act on Permanent Settlement of Nomadic People." The new law instructed local officials to work with nomads, whom it defined as an individual who 0 Otto Ulc, "Communist National Minority Policy: The Case of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," Soviet Studies, Vol. XX, No. 4 (April 1969), pp. 422-424 ; "Minorites in Eastern Europe," Eastern Europe. Vol. 8, No. 3 (March 1959), pp . 13-14. 21 "M inorities in Eastern Europe," p. 14; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 311, improperly places the date for the passage of Law No. 74 as November 17, 1958; Grulich and Hai§man, "Jnstitucionalnf zajem o cikanske," pp. 77-78; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 214-215. Guy estimates the number of registered nomads at 20,000-27,000; Ulc, "Gyps ies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 424-426, says officials estimated that the semi-nomadic Rom were the largest group among the Gypsies. ' �38 SLOVAKIA in groups or individually, wanders from place to place, shuns honest work or obtains his livelihood by iniquitious means even though he may be registered in some community as its permanent resident.-n. According to the new law, if anyone continued to live in this manner, he or she could be imprisoned for six months to three years. Two other parts of Law No. 74 gave the Minister of the Interior the right 11 to issue executive orders to this effect, including registration of the nomads. 11 Though the new regulations never mentioned the Roma, they were its only target, particularly the country's 6,000 nomadic Olach Gypsies. Official estimates indicated that there were from 11,000 to 40,000 nomadic Roma in Czechoslovakia at this time. 23 In an effort to avoid charges of racism, officials also upgraded the Gypsies' official status to a "socio-ethnic group." Unfortunately, Czechoslovak authorities did not anticipate the complex economic and social problems that would accompany their efforts to force the complete integration of the nation's Gypsies. Many nomadic Roma found ways to avoid punishment for thsir lifestyle, while local efforts to force settlement through the assignment of precious housing to Gypsies created growing resentment against a group that some came to see as privileged. Many Slovaks and Czechs felt the Roma were a privileged group that had special rights without obligations. The public complained that the Gypsies were measured by different standards and took advantage of their unique position. More importantly, the government's new efforts did little to upgrade the low socio-economic status of the Roma, and perhaps made it worse for the newly settled Gypsies, who, located principally in Slova- 22 23 UII!, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 424-425. Ibid., pp. 425-426. �SLOVAKIA 39 kia, still lived in slums with inadequate plumbing and sanitation facilites. 24 Consequently, in 1965, the Communist Party asked local officials to do a more thorough investigation of the plight of the Roma and develop a long range plan for Gypsy assimilation. The result was Ordinance No. 502 of June 1965, which developed a Gypsy reform progam that centered around fullemployment possibilities for Gypsies able to work full time. These efforts were considered essential to upgrading the standard of living for Roma, and tied to plans to destroy substandard Gypsy settlements and the movement of Roma from Slovakia to other parts of the country. The Academy of Sciences was asked to do a study of Roma life, while the state-controlled media was ord.tred to help counter nationwide prejudice against the Roma. A new government body, the National Council for Questions of the Gypsy Population (NCQGP), which had no Gypsy members, was to serve as the program's watchdog. The NCQGP produced three position papers, but was abolished in 1968. 25 At the center of this new program was the destruction of substandard Gypsy housing and settlements, primarily in Slovakia, and the forced resettlement and employment of their Rom inhabitants. Officials estimated that 67.3% of Slovakia's 153,000 Gypsies lived in extremely substandard housing. The government pin-pointed 1,266 Roma settlements in Slovakia for destruction, and the transfer of 64,096 Gypsies. Officials planned to move the effected Slovak Gypsies to the Czech lands after their settlements were razed. Local governments, aided by national ,. Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 426; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia." pp. 98-99. 25 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia." pp. 312-313; Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia." pp. 430-431. Of the 56,000 Rom in eastern Slovakia, only 2.2% had an adequate water supply; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 2 I 922 . �40 SLOVAKIA subsidies, would then be responsible for the Gypsies' housing and employment. The resettlement program was voluntary. Once a Gypsy family was convinced of the wisdom of moving, the government would give the family a special payment, combined with a 25-30% subsidy and low cost government loan, which would be used to purchase a new home in the Czech lands. However, inadequate funding, coupled with growing resentment towards the new Roma presence in the Czech lands, and the unwillingness of some Gypsies to remain there, undercut the success of the program. Between 1965-1968, the government was only able to eliminate a third of the Roma settlements targeted for destruction. 26 As authorities struggled with the mixed results of this new transfer and employment program, Czechoslovakia was turned inside out by the events of the Prague Spring in 1968.Z7 On the eve of the Prague Spring, Czechoslovakia had an official Gypsy population of 223,993, with 164,526 in Slovakia, and 59,467 in the Czech lands. In 1968, the Roma in Slovakia formed their first official organization, the Union of Gypsy-Romanies (UGR or Zvaz Cikanov-Romov; Romani, Romano Jekhetaniben), followed by a similar Czech organization in 1969. Later that year, both groups joined together, but maintained separate Slovak and Czech branches. The UGR received funds from the National Front and had branches throughout Czechoslovakia. Its goals were to improve the socio-economic status of the Roma and enhance the Gypsies' awareness of their own culture and 2 • Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 432-433 ; Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 312-314; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 219-220; Hiibschmannova, "Co je tak zvana cikanska otazka," p. 115 n I 9. 27 Otto Ulc, "Czechoslovakia," in Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone, ed., Communism io Eastern Europe, Second Edition (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984), pp. 121-123; William Shawcross, ~ (New York : Touchstone Books/Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1990), pp. 114-119. �SLOVAKIA 41 traditions. The UGR also wanted to acquire nationality status for the Roma, which triggered an engaging debate between Gypsy and non-Gypsy intellectuals about the entire "Gypsy question." Central to the debate was Jaroslav Sus' 1963 study, Cikanska otazka v CSSR (The Gypsy Question in the CSSR), which described the Rom way of life as [an] undesirable combination of 'nomadism, tribalism ...and blood f euds,' and the Romani language as ... unworthy of preservation. Consequently, Sus felt that "unconditional assimilation [was] ... the only solution for the question." 28 Roma scholar Elena Htibschmannova, long an advcoate of --Gypsy nationality status, led the attack on Sus' ideas. Htibschmannova shifted responsibility for some aspects of the "Gypsy Question" to the shoulders of the government, as did the August 1969 Programme of the Founding Congress of the Czech Gypsy-Rom Association [Union], which felt that "fears of the results of granting rights to the Gypsies as a nationality" lay at the heart of the question. As this debate raged, plans were made to start a Roma journal, and the UGR's membership rolls swelled to 20,000 between 1968 - 1971. Several hundred Gypsy musical and sports groups were formed, and the media began to refer to the country's Roma as "citizens of Gypsy origin." Unfortunately, after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968, the new government of Gustav Husak introduced an era of "normalization" that gradually chipped away at many of the gains achieved by the Roma during the Prague Spring. In April I 973, the government expelled the UGR from the National Front, and outlawed other Gypsy organizations because "they had failed to fulfill their integrative function." 29 21 " Crowe, Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia, pp. 58-59. Srb, "Cikani v Ceskoslovensku, ~ p. 194; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of �42 SLOVAKIA What followed was a renewed effort to force Gypsy integration and assimilation, coupled with a new sterialization scheme to reduce Gypsy births.~ One of the darker sides of the new Roma assimilation campaign were efforts to promote the sterilization of Gypsy women. The seed for this idea was planted in a February 29, 1972, Ministry of Health "Decree on Sterilization." Though "designed to safeguard against arbitrary or illinformed sterilization of all Czechoslovak citizens," the decree was used to encourage the sterilization of Romany women in order to reduce the high unhealthy' Romany population and, as a result, a disproportionately high number of Romany women were sterilized, often in violation of the existing safeguards and of their rights to non-discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or sex. 3 ' Czechoslovakia," pp. 3 I 7-318 ; Eva Davidova, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia, " Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. Third Series, Vol. I, Nos. 12 (Jan uary-April), pp. 53-54; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 220-22 I , 223, n44; Grattan Puxon, "Gypsies: Blacks of East Europe," The Nation. April 17, I 976, pp. 461-462; Hlibschmannova, "Co je tak zvana cikanska otazka," pp . 105, I 12 nl6, I 13- 114, I 16 n23, 117-118 ; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 101-103 ; Otto Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia: A Case of Unfinished Integration," Eastern European Politics and Societies, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 1988), pp. 310-312. 30 Other estimates put the 1970 Roma population at over 300,000. Vladimir Srb, "Demograficky profil ~eskoslovenskych romu," Cesky Lid, Vol. 72 ( 1985), p. 139; Vladimir Srb, "K integraci cikanskeho obyvatelstva v CSSR," Demoi:rafie, Vol. XXI, No. 4 (1979), p. 323; V. Srb and J. Job, "Nektere demograficke, ekonomicke a kultumi charakteristiky romskehe obyvatelstva v CSSR 1970," Demoi:rafie, Vol. XVI, No. 2 (1974), p. 173 ; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 106; Paul S. Shoup, The East European and Soviet Data Handbook (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 42, 48; Chris Cook and John Stevenson, The Loni:man Handbook of Modern European History )763-)985 (London: Longman, 1987), pp. 216,218. 31 Rachael Tritt, Jeri Laber, and Lois Whitman, Strui:i:Jini: for Ethnic Identity · Czechoslovakia's Endani:eced Gypsies (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1992), �SLOVAKIA 43 According to a Slovak document released in 1979 by Charter 77, a Czechoslovak dissident group, the Slovak government had already begun a program that used economic incentives to get Gypsy women to be sterilized because of earlier, unsuccessful government efforts "to control the high unhealthy Romany population through family planning and contraception." Local health workers offered some prospective sterilization candidates as much as 5,000 Crowns to undergo the procedure. As pressure intensified to get more Gypsy women to agree to sterilization, some health workers often made unfulfilled offers of as high as 30,000 Crowns. Charter 77 protested this practice in 1979, and claimed that it violated Article No. 259 of the state penal code, which dealt with genocide. But this was not the only - . criticism in Charter 77's 1979 document. On a broader scale, Charter 77 decried government practices designed to stop Gypsy nomadism and force assimilation, and the official denial of Roma ethnic status. According to Charter 77, the collective impact of these programs set into play "a process of social disintegration which has no comparison in the history of the Gypsies. This fact is substantiated by an ever increasing number of Gypsies who are sentenced to loss of freedom." 32 While it difficult to gauge the impact of the 1979 Charter 77 report on the plight of the Roma, population data from the 1980 census spurred further government action. The 1980 census showed a Roma population of 288,440, an increase of 31.3% over 1970 figures. Czechoslovakia's total population only grew by 6%. during the same period. The greatest increase in Gypsy growth rates was in the Czech republic, where the Roma population increased 47% between 1970 - 1980, versus a 25.5% rise in Slovakia. Even these figures, though, are misleading, since pp. 19, 139-144. 2 ' Tritt, Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies, pp. 20, 24, 26-27; Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 314-315. �44 SLOVAKIA arbitrary counting methods showed a discrepancy between national census figures, and those recorded in local "Gypsy Registers," which indicated that there were 306,246 Roma in Czechoslovakia in 1980. The absolute rise in Gypsy population numbers was less troubling to the government than the national and Rom childbirth rate figures. The overall Czechoslovak childbirth rate was on the decline, and by 1982 was "below the level of biological reproduction." The average Czechoslovak woman bore 2.4 children in the 1970s compared to 6.4 children for a Gypsy woman. 33 These increases were remarkable, particularly in light of continued government efforts to destroy Slovak Gypsy slums and the forced movement of Slovak Roma to Czech portions of the country. Other Gypsies also moved to the Czech lands because of better job opportunities and a higher standard of living. Between 1972-1980, officials destroyed 4,000 Roma dwellings in Slovakia, and moved 4,850 Gypsies elsewhere. Though Gypsy housing standards improved appreciably between during this period, there were still 5.6 persons in thct average Roma apartment or house versus a national average of 3.1 persons per dwelling. By 1980, a little more than 70% of the country's Gypsy population lived in apartments, while 10% still lived in primitive settlements that were to be destroyed by 1990. The number in extremely unfit housing dropped from 80.7% in 1970 to 49% between 1970 and 1980. Another part of the Roma assimilation campaign centered around attempts to force more Gypsy children into the public schools. In 1971, only 10% of the eligible Roma children in Czechoslovakia attended kindergarten, a figure that rose to 33 Srb, "Demograficky profil foskoslovenskych Romu," pp. 139-140. There were 88,507 Gypsies in the Czech Republic in 1980, and 199,853 in Slovakia; Ul~, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 315-316; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 108-109. �SLOVAKIA 45 58.5% in 1980. During the same period, the number .of Gypsy children that finished public school rose from 16.6% to 25.6%, while the number enrolled in colleges and universities increased from 39 to 191. Nationwide, literacy rates rose to 90% among Roma adults. On the other hand, Gypsy school dropout rates in Slovakia increased substantially as Roma pupils moved from grade to grade. In 1983-1984, 72.2% of the Slovak students who failed to go into the second grade were Gypsies, and almost a third of the Roma who went to second grade barely had minimal literacy skills, a figure that jumped to 50% for Gypsy 4th graders. Nationwide, many Gypsies entered the school system with a knowledge of only a few hundred Slovak or Czech words, and were often assigned to special instititions (zvlastnf skoly) designed for the mentally retarded. Only a third of the country's Gypsy children finished 8th grade in 19831984, and only 4% went on to university or college. 34 Gypsy employment figures for this period were also a mixture of success and failure. Though 1981 data showed an 87.7% employment rate for male Gypsy workers that was close to the national average of 91 .9% for all adult males, the 54.95% employment rate for Roma female workers was well below the national average of 87.7% for all women. In addition, over three quarters of all Gypsies employed held low paying, non-skilled jobs. The overall impact of the employment, educational, and housing data found Czechoslovakia's Roma on a socio-economic plateau that proved difficult to transcend. According to Irnrich Farkas, the official responsible for Gypsy matters in Slovakia, the government felt that it would be harder to improve the quality " Kostelanc ik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 313-3 I 5. In I 980, 59% of the Gypsies in Slovakia lived in the lowest classification for housing, Class IV. Kindergarten attendance rates in eastern Slovakia, where 53% of Slovakia's Rom lived in 1980, rose from 10% to 66% between 1970-1980; Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 319-320. �46 SLOVAKIA of Gypsy life "because increasingly left for solution are those socially and culturally backward families." 35 The government tried to put the best light on its assimilation efforts, and publicized some Gypsy success stories. Bratislava Pravda reported that 435 Roma had been elected to predominantly low level positions as deputies of Peoples Committees, and that one Gypsy, Emil Rigo, had briefly been a member of the Politburo in 1968. Officials also used successful Gypsies to counter efforts to acquire nationality status for the Roma. In 1986, Rude Pravo responded to the World Romany Congress' appeal for nationality status for Czechoslovakia's Gypsies partially with a statement by Mirosalv 2.ajda, an assimilated Roma and Party member who told the newspaper that he was quite content with his life. 36 The lack of nationality status for Czechoslovakia's Roma, who were officially referred to as citizens "of Gypsy origin," robbed them of the special rights and financial support afforded officially recognized minorities. It also placed them into a limbo world where they were forced to identify with other ethnic groups. Their plight was compounded by the growing body of prejudice that accompanied their growing numbers and official attention. 37 To many Slovaks and Czechs, Gypsies were the tmavi kluci (dark boys), a term that automatically identified one as a Roma. According to Otto Ulc, post-1968 Czechsolvakia became a society that was "less tolerant, more impatient, and egotistic." Increasingly, he observed, the public saw Gypsies as "beneficiaries of a host of privileges on their path to the less- " Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 3I3-315; Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 322-323 . 36 Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 322 n36, 326. 37 Ibid., pp. 323-326. Not all Gypsies suffered from lack of nationality status on the same scale, and there were a number of instances, particularly in Slovakia, where local officials encouraged Rom ethnicity. �SLOVAKIA 47 than-cherished goal of integration." Furthermore, Ulc argued, Slovaks and Czechs became "thoroughly uninhibited about making racial slurs and expressing racist prejudice of the oldfashioned vintage." They saw the Roma as "dirty, lazy, dishonest, primitive, parasitic, and inferior." 38 Government efforts to counter this prejudice met with mixed results, since the press used stories that gave explicit details about instances of unfair treatment of Gypsies with others that detailed Roma crime. Bratislava Pravda, for example, claimed in 1983 that the Gypsies, who made up 4 % of Slovakia's population, accounted for 24 percent of the charges of parasitism, 50 __ percent of robberies, 60 percent of petty thefts, 75 percent of charges for endangering the morals of youth, and 20 percent of all crimes committed.'39 The overall impact of such reports was to create a very unwelcome, suspicious climate for Czechoslovakia's growing Roma population that worsened as the country and its leadership drifted towards the collapse of the system that had dominated the country since 1948.'° As the Velvet Revolution swept Czechoslovakia in 1989, a plethora of political parties and other organizations surfaced. A number of Gypsy parties emerged during this period, including the Party of the Integration of the Romany People in Slovakia and the Party of the Democratic Romany Union. The most important was the Romany Civic Inititative (ROI or Romska obcanska iniciativa), which had close links to Civic Forum (Obcanske Forum), the umbrella political organization for a number of the country's dissident factions . ROI soon had a 31 Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 327-328. " Kalvoda, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. I06. •• lhid., p. 106. �48 SLOVAKIA membership of over 70,000, and held its first national meeting in Prague in the spring of 1990. One of its first decisions was to vote to erect a monument in Bratislava to the Rom victims of the Holocaust. The ROI congress elected Emil Scuka, a lawyer and playwright, to head the organization.41 Yet the very democracy that gave Slovak and Czech Gypsies the opportunity to form their own political and other organizations also created a new atmosphere for open, virulent expressions of prejudice towards them. Of particular concern to many non-Gypsies was the dramatic growth of the Roma population. In 1988, the government estimated that there were 391 ,000 Rom in Czechoslovakia, a 35.5% increase over 1980 figures. Other sources estimated there were as many as 700,000-800,000 Roma in Czechoslovakia, with 470,000 a more reasonable figure. Some perceived these figures to be a new threat, and the newspaper Express warned in an article on July 2, 1990, "that the Gypsy fertility may mean a ' tragedy', that within a century the country may well have to be renamed the Romska republika. 42 These fears combined with the deep-rooted, traditional prejudices towards the Roma, and prompted some people to depict the-Gypsies as new symbols of everything gone awry in Czechoslo- " Otto Ulc, "Integration of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," Ethnic Groups. Vol. 9, No. 2 ( 1991 ), pp. 11 2- 11 3; in 1986, Scuka produced the "musical drama Amaro Drom (Our Road)...only the second play in Romanes ever to be staged in Czechoslovakia." Grattan Puxon, Roma· Europe's Gypsies (London: Minority Rights Group, 1987), p. 11 . " Radio Free Europe/Rad io Liberty, "Ethnic Minorities and Foreigners," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 14, No. 39 (22 September 1989), pp. 33, 36-37 ; Ulc, "Integration of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 113-114; Czechoslovakia's population was 15,658,079, in Ju ly 1989, and 15,683,234, a year later, an increase of 25,155. Suda, "Czechoslovakia," p. 319, and Carol Skalnik Leff, "Czechoslovakia," in Richard F. Staar and Margit N. Grigory, eds., Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1221 (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1991), p. 269. �SLOVAKIA 49 vakia. At the forefront of this new assualt on the Rom were renewed charges of criminality. Dramatic increases in crime had plagued the country since the early 1980s, particularly in Bratislava and Prague. In a society accustomed to traditionally low crime rates, crime reached epidemic proportions by 1990. Slovakia experienced a 17.7% rise in crime between 1988-1989, while the Czech Republic reported a 52% increase during the same pericxi. Much of this increase was attributed to Gypsies, who as early as 1987 had been blamed by television reports for 38% of Bratislava's crimes, and 40% of those committed in eastern Slovakia. Gypsies 18 years old and younger were accused of being part of over 44% of all crimes nationwide in 1988. Clearer heads proved that many of these statistics were exaggerated, and that the Roma were responsible for no more than 7.5-11 % of the crime in the country. Though the more conservative estimates were still out of proportion to the number of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia, they were directly tied to post1989 Gypsy unemployment figures that reached as high as 50% in certain areas. 43 Whatever the true numbers, Czechoslovakia's Roma paid a dear price for the accusations against them. Skinhead attacks, sometimes quietly encouraged by onlookers, mounted dangerously against Gypsies and the 35,000 Vietnamese workers in Czechoslovakia throughout 1990. On April 26, Prime Minister Petr Pithart of the Czech Republic called for "peaceful coexis0 Jan Orbman, "Crime Rate Among the Young," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 12, No. 32 (14 August 1987), p. 18; Martina Nevesky, "The Gypsy Problem," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 14, No. 31 (4 August 1989), p. 40; Jan Orbman, "Minorities Not a Major Issue Yet," Report on Eastern Europe, Vol. 2, No. 50 (December 13, 1991 ), p. 11 ; Wheaton and Kavan, The Yel vet Revo)utjon, p. 147; Jiti Pehe, "Crime Rises in Czechoslovakia," R.EElRL Research Report, Vol. 1, No. 14 (3 April 1992), p. 58; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 112, claims the Rom were responsible for 15.6% of all crimes in the Czech Republic. �50 SLOVAKIA tence with our fellow citizens of Gypsy origin," while federal Deputy Prime Minister Jan Carnogursky demanded "tougher action against those skinheads who had attacked the Gypsies." On May 3, 1990, ROI urged national leaders and organizations to speak out against racist incidents against Roma and foreigners. Four days later, Charter 77 and the Czechoslovak Helsinki Committee condemned such attacks on the Vietnamese and Gypsies, and said they constitute attacks on all of us. They are attacks on the most basic principles of ethics and humanism, attacks on the state based on Jaw that is being bom , attacks contradicting the ideals of our democratic revolution. The fact that we silently tolerate such attacks makes us accomplices. We call on all citizens to stop being indifferent to the manifestations of violence and intolerance. We appeal to our executive bodies to put a final stop to these attacks. Let us make the people who for years have been working in our country feel that they live in a society in which it is JX)SSible to have their basic human rights protected.44 Vaclav Havel detailed the wrongs done Gypsies in public statements on May 2 and in an address on July 27, 1990, to the First World Romany Festival in Brno. Though admirable, particularly when coupled with the new rights acquired by the Roma over the next year, they did not prevent the racially motivated deaths of 26 Gypsies before the breakup of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993.45 Both the federal and individual Czechoslovak republics granted the Roma full minority status, rights, and protections in " Jiri Pehe, "Racial Violence Increasing," Report on Eastern Europe, Vol. I, No. 20 (May I 8, 1990), pp. 15, 18; David Binder, "European Gypsies Issue Call for Human Rights at Meeting," The New York Times, May 5, 1993, p. 6. 5 • Tritt, Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies, pp. 13-14. �SLOVAKIA 51 1990-1991. Over thirty Gypsy cultural organizations arose during this period, anchored by the Union of Romany Writers and numerous newspapers and magazines. Programs in Romany Studies were opened at Charles University in Prague and at the Pedagogical Faculty in Nitra. Unfortunately, these developments were overshadowed by a new set of problems that accompanied the breakup of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993. Before the formal separation, Slovakia had an estimated Gypsy population of 400,000, and the Czech lands, 150,000. However, only 81,000 Slovak Gypsies officially identified themselves as Roma in the 1991 census. In anticipation of the breakup, a number of Slovak Rom began to move to the Czech lands because they felt • the political and social atmosphere would be more tolerant, and economic conditions better. The sudden increase in "unemployed Romanies, often unassimilated families from Romany villages in eastern Slovakia," stunned many Czechs, who soon claimed that 90% of the republic's new crime was committed by Slovak Roma. Led by individual community actions throughout the Czech Republic, the new state's Prosecutor-General "proposed to the Czech parliament a draft Law on Extraordinary Measures as a means of dealing with unrest caused by undisciplined groups of migrants." Though condemned by human rights groups and the Romany Democratic Congress, which represented 19 Gypsy groups in the Czech Republic, the law had surprising support from conservatives and local officials. The controversial legislation never passed, while the debate that surrounded it brought to the surface traditionally strong prejudice towards the Roma. 46 These feelings were also expressed in several public opinion surveys conducted before and after the January 1, 1993, breakup " Jin Pehe, "Law on Romanies Causes Uproar in Czech Republic,• REElRL Research Report, Vol. 2, No. 7 (12 February 1993), pp. 18-22; Zoltan Barany, "Grim Realities in Eastern Europe." Transition, Vol. I, No. 4 (29 May 1995), p. 8. �52 SLOVAKIA of Czechoslovakia that showed almost universal hatred and distrust towards Gypsies, particularly among young Slovaks and Czechs. Officials in both countries have also been critical of the Roma. One Czech official claimed in the summer of 1993 that the Gypsies remained "a problem ... because most of them are criminals who are getting rich through thievery and prostitution." Slovak Premier Vladimfr Meciar, who lost his post in midMarch 1994 but later regained it, created an uproar on September 4, 1993, in a speech he made in Spis, where Gypsies made up 13% of the population. Meciar felt it "was necessary to curtail the extended reproduction of the socially unadaptable and mentally backward population by decreasing family allowances," which some observers felt was a reference to the country's Gypsies. Famed Nazi hunter and human rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal said that Meciar "has adopted the thinking and diction of Nazism." Meciar sued the newspaperman who originally wrote about his speech, while the Slovak government threatened to sue "any newspaper, radio or television station which refused to apologize for reporting it." Slovak authorities explained that the media had distorted Meciar's speech and released an official translation of his talk. Part of it read: They [Gypsies] should be perceived as a problem group that is growing in size ...This means that if we do not deal with them now, they will deal with us later.. Another thing we have to consider is extended reproduction of socially inadequate population.,f/ 0 Los Angeles Times Mirror, The Pulse of Europe· A Survey of Political and Socja! Values and Attitudes (Washington: Times Mirror Center for People & The Press, 1992), pp. 184-185; Freedom House and The American Jewish Committee, Democracy Economic Reform and Western Assistance in Czechoslovakia Huni:ary and Poland· A Comparative Public Opinion Survey (New York: Freedom House and The American Jewish Committee, 1991), pp. 63-65; "Iron in the Soul," The Economist, March 12, 1994, pp. 55-56; Jane Perlez, "A New �SLOVAKIA 53 Several months later, Monika Nemcokova, the Press Secretary for the Slovak Embassy in Washington, D.C., wrote The New York Times to complain about other distortions in an article by Henry Kamm, "In Slovak Gypsy Ghetto, Hovels and Plea for Jobs." Kamm's article centered on Gypsies in the Slovak village of Svinia, and their poor living conditions and high unemployment. According to a parish priest in the village of Medzev, the Rom "don't want to work," and were satisfied subsisting on government welfare. The mayor of Medzev said the only solution to Slovakia's Gypsy problem was "to shoot them all," though, after a few moments, he added, "I'm no racist...But some Gypsies you would have to shoot." Ms. Nemcokova said such attitudes were "not based on racial intole. ranee, but on a significant difference in life styles and standards." She added that almost 40% of all crimes in Slovakia were committed by Roma, figures that ranged from 40-50% for all "youth cases in Slovakia." The Press Secretary felt that the Rom stipend of $71 a month was more than adequate to maintain a reasonable lifestyle in Slovakia, though she admitted it was less than half the average monthly salary of a worker. Ms. Nemcokova strongly disagreed with Kamm's assertion that there were 400,000 Roma in Slovakia, and put the figure at 250,000. She noted that the government spent 70 milllion crowns annually to help the Roma, which was "used for improving living standards in Gypsy villages, education and children's summer camps, including 3.6 million crowns for Gypsy periodicals, and 10.7 million crowns for Gypsy cultural activities.''48 Slovak Government Pledges Moderation,• The New York Times, March 17, 1994, p. A6; Peter Maas, "Half a Century after Hitler, Gypsies Face New Fight to Exist," The Washini:ton Post, August 13, 1993, p. A29; "Reported Racist Remarks Makes Slovakians Angry," Greensboro News & Record, Setpember 7, 1993, p. A5; "His Struggle," The Economjst, September 18-24, 1993, p. 56. " Henry Kamm, "In Slovak Gypsy Ghetto, Hovels and Plea for Jobs,• The New �SLOVAKIA 54 The current status of the Roma in Slovakia is quite grim. The Slovak Gypsies have been hit particularly hard by the sluggish economy, and there are reports of Roma unemployment rates as high as 100%, particularly in eastern Slovakia, where most Roma live. The rather topsy turvy political situation and lack of commitment to address the complex problems faced by the country's Roma has stifled any significant government efforts to develop a mature program to raise Gypsy educational, social, and economic standards. The Slovak Government's minority department has only five people on its staff, and there is only one Gypsy expert in the Ministry of Education. Until something more is done to address the sad plight of Slovak Roma, they will remain a community outside of the fabric of Slovak society. 49 The serious social, economic, employment, and educational problems faced by Slovakia's Roma are not unique to this young Republic. Roma suffer from similar difficulties throughout Central and Eastern Europe, where most continental Gypsies live. Most of Slovakia's neighbors are faced with rising Roma birthrates vis vis static native rates, and serious financial problems that hinder the dramatic types of educational and social experiments used earlier to try to draw the Roma more deeply into the fabric of the societies of Central and Eastern Europe. These difficulties, though, should not be used as an excuse to fail to deal with the problems of this growing minority. Hopes that the Roma, in the right circumstances, might move elsewhere, are misguided, since Slovakia's Roma have lived in the region for centuries and have deep roots there. Furthermore, in light of their growing numbers and new political activism, the Roma could, in future, present an interesting political threat to Slovakia's current ruling parties. Moreover, rulers in Slovakia and a York Times, November 28, 1993, p. A4; Monica Nemcokova, "Don't Blame Slovakia for Gypsy Problem," The New York Times, December 15, 1993, p. A14. " Barany, "Grim Realities," p. 8. �SLOVAKIA 55 elsewhere in the region should remember that their treatment of the Roma has become an important litmus test of the depth of their democratic experiments in Western eyes. Any failure to deal positively and creatively with each country's Roma population could have negative implications for any of the states in the region trying to draw closer to the West. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1998, Vol. 36 Description An account of the resource Vol. 36 (No. 66-67), 1998. 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 1998 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 26 SLOVAKIA The Roma Of Slovakia Since 1939 David M. Crowe One of the most intriguing ethnic groups in Slovakia are the Roma or Gypsies. Traditionally regarded as social outcasts and misfits, the Roma have been a unique part of the Slovak historical landscape. Though there have been Roma in Slovakia since the Middle Ages, it was not until World War II that significant efforts were made to deal with the Slovak Roma. From 1939 until 1945, the Roma, often lumped together with the country's Jews, were subjected to a number of restrictive policies. Within a decade after the end of World War II, attention again was drawn to the Roma in the reconstructed Czechoslovak Republic, but particularly in Slovakia, where most of the country's Gypsies lived. To Czechoslovakia's communist leaders, the low socioeconomic status of the Roma was a national embarassment and underscored at least one failed aspect of the communist experiment. Driven by statistics that illustrated the low social, economic, educational, and cultural status of the Roma, considerable efforts were made through the 1980s to transform this traditionally nomadic people into sedentary, assimilated Slovak and Czech citizens. Though some significant gains were made, Slovak and Czech leaders were unable to stifle the centuries-old prejudice that had haunted Gypsies throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Though large numbers of Slovak Roma fled to the SLOVAKIA 27 Czech Republic after the 1993 breakup of Czechoslovakia, a large Roma population still resides in Slovakia. The Roma or Gypsies have lived in Slovakia since the Middle Ages. By the 14th century, considerable Gypsy settlements began to appear in the Slovak portions of Hungary, particularly around feudal castles such as Spis (Zips) Castle. Initially, Roma were welcomed by local officials. Slovak peasants regarded these "Egyptians" as religious exiles from the Middle East. However, over time, positive Slovak attitudes towards the Roma began to change, particularly during the 16th century, when the region was plagued by religious wars and the Turkish threat. In Slovak Royal Hungary, for example, some noblemen began forcibly to expel Gypsies or force them to settle on the outskirts of towns and villages. 1 During the 17th century, Gypsies and others fleeing the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648) entered Slovakia, which adopted new anti-Gypsy regulations to deal with the new Roma presence. Once the Austrian Habsburgs retook much of Hungary at the end of the 17th century, they implemented new regulations that strongly discouraged Roma settlement throughout the Austrian Empire. These harsh policies began to change under Maria Theresa (1740 - 1780). Her policies were designed to halt Gypsy immigration into her empire and force those already there to become sedentary. The Roma now became subject to all imperial taxes and obligations such as the draft. Gypsies were also required to give up their traditional dress and customs, and forbidden to marry other Gypsies. Roma children over five were taken from their parents and placed in the care of non-Gypsy Catholic parents. These policies were continued by Maria Theresa's son, Jopseph II (r. 1780 -1790), but fell into disarray after his death. 2 1 David M. Crowe, A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994 ), pp. 31-35. ' Ibid., pp. 36-40. 28 SLOVAKIA There are few glimpses of Slovak Rom during the first half of the 19th century, though there is more on them during the second half of this period. In 1856, a Gypsy school, one of the first in Europe, was opened in Nove Zamky. However, it was not until the general Hungarian census of 1880 and the Hungarian Gypsy census of 1893 that the first concrete evidence about the Roma presence in Slovakia surfaced. According to 1893 data, there were 36,231 Roma in Slovakia, most of them settled. Almost half of those employed worked in traditional Gypsy occupations, while an almost equal number were musicians. The census also indicated that a considerable number of Roma were involved in unsavory occupations. Almost 90% of Slovakia's Gypsies were Roman Catholics.3 Total Gypsy population figures declined dramatically in the new post-World War I Czechoslovak census of 1921. It showed only 7,967 Roma in Slovakia and almost none in the Czech lands. Experts reasoned that the low numbers could be caused by exclusive use of "mother tongue" in the census. More accurate 1926 data indicated 62,192 Roma in Slovakia, though gypsiologist Dr. Eva Davidova felt the real numbers were much higher. 4 Efforts were made in Slovakia during this period to open schools for Gypsies and to encourage the development of cultural organizations for them. Some attempts were also inade privately to improve Gypsy health. One of the most famous Gypsy schools in Slovakia at this time was in Uzhorod. Opened in 1925 by Pavel Fodor, it gained an international reputation for its instruction in Slovak. 5 What gains were made by Slovak Roma disappeared with the coming of World War II. After the German dismemberment 3 Ibid., pp. 40-42. • Ibid., pp. 42-44. ' Ibid., pp. 44-47. SLOVAKIA 29 of Czechoslovak.a in 1939, two separate states emerged - the German- controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the German-allied state of Slovakia. Whereas Gypsies in Bohemia and Moravia suffered from harsh Nazi policies throughout the Porajmos or Gypsy Holocaust, the Roma in Slovakia fared much better. 6 Part of the reason for Slovakia's comparatively mild treatment of its Gypsies centered around Germany's desire for Slovakia to be a model satellite state in southeastern Europe. Consequently, the government, the Catholic church, and business enjoyed semi-autonomy. Furthermore, Father Jozef Tiso, the head of state, opposed the complete nazification of his country. In time, Reich officials came to realize that the only way - they could achieve their goals was through political pressure and an intense propaganda campaign. Anything else would hamper Slovakia's contribution to the German war effort. Almost all of Slovakia's Gypsies survived the war because of this. This did not mean, however, that the Slovak government left its Roma population alone. Within months after the creation of Slovakia in the spring of 1939, the Tiso government ordered nomadic Gypsies to return to their legal residences, and made it illegal for them to do any horse trading. On September 25, 1939, Jews were deprived of their Slovak citizenship, while Gypsies who were born in Slovakia and wanted Slovak citizenship had to prove that they lived an orderly way of life; had a steady place of residence and employment; and were honorable citizens as reflected in their education, their moral and political trustworthiness, and their activity in their community, could they be included in the Slovak national community. If they did not fulfill the aforementioned conditions, or if they fulfilled them only ' Ibid. , pp. 47-51. 30 SLOVAKIA partially-if they worked only occasionally, if they spoke the Gypsy language among themselves, if their moral and political trustworthiness was doubtful, etc.--they could not be considered members of the Slovak national community. In other words, wandering Gypsies did not qualify for citizenship. 1 Four months later, Ferdinand Durcansky, Slovakia's Interior Minister, ordered that Gypsies and Jews were to work in special labor units as alternatives to military service, which was later set "at two terms of two months twice annually." Durcansky defined a Gypsy in Law No. 130/1940 of June 18, 1940, as someone who had two Roma parents and lived as a nomad, or a sedentary person who avoided work. Other regulations issued during this period made it illegal for Gypsies to ride public transportation, eat in cafes, or enter public parks. As Germany intensified pressure on the Slovaks to increase their contribution to the war effort, the Tiso government created seasonal labor camps in 1941 where Gypsies often made up over half of the workers. Conditions in the labor units were bad. Inmates suffered increasingly from inadequate clothing and shoes, cold, infestation with lice and bedbugs, hunger, and disease, especially trachoma and typhus. 8 7 Jorg K. Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomfr Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic J9 J 8- J 948 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973), pp. 278-279, 284-286; Jiff Upa, "The Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia under Nazi Domination," in Michael Berenbaum, ed., A Mosaic of Victims· Non-Jews Persecuted and Murdered by the Nazis (New York: New York University Press, 1990), pp. 209-210; Ctibor Necas. Nad osudem ceskych a sI ovenskych Cikam1 v letech I 939- I 945 (Brno: Univerzita J. E. Purkyne, 1981 ), p. 70. • Upa, "Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 210; Gypsy and Jewish service regulations were included in legislation of January 18, 1940, and February 29, 1940. Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 82-129, devotes a great deal of time to the little SLOVAKIA 31 Many prisoners practiced self-mutilation to gain their freedom. In 1943, one member of the Slovak Diet, Hut'ka, criticized the conditions of the camps at Bystre nad Topl'ou. He felt the labor camps had been opened "to re-educate the asocial elements, not...to torture people and bring them into an even worse moral degradation." 9 On April 20, 1941, nomadic Gypsies were given eight days to return home. Once there, they were watched by the police and only allowed to leave with special permission. The Roma were also given two weeks to dispose of their horses and wagons . Gypsy houses located near public thoroughfares had to be torn down and reconstructed at a new site determined by officials. A Gypsy representative was to work with the local mayor to ensure that local ordinances were followed. Roma were also not allowed to own dogs. These regulations evidently did not curb all Gypsy nomadism, and officials explained when they opened a new labor camp in Krupina in the summer of 1941, that nomadic Roma were to be put in such camps to force them to live a sedentary life and to learn to do productive labor. These efforts still did not stop Gypsy nomadism, and on June 21, 1943, the government ordered that all Gypsy housing be removed from alongside busy roads. 10 Each Slovak community dealt with its Roma in a different manner. The 500 Gypsies in the village of Smizany were well integrated and none were sent to labor camps. When Hlinka Guards, the Slovak paramilitary group that modeled itself on the Italian "Black Shirts" and the German SA, arrived to take Gypknown history of the Gypsy Labor Units (pracovni utvary) from 1941-1944. He provides detailed Gypsy inmate statistics for the camps at Bystre nad Topl'ou , Dubnica nad Vlihom, llava, and Revuca; Donald Kenrick and Grattan Puxon, ~ Destiny of Europe's Gypsies (New York: Basic Books, I972), p. 136. • Lfpa, "Fate of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 210. 10 Ibid., p. 211; Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 74-75, 130. 32 SLOVAKIA sies from the village of Letanovce, the mayor only agreed to send two Roma who had reputations as drunks. Both Gypsies returned to Letanovce at the end of the war. 11 This atmosphere changed drastically during the summer of 1944. In June, Slovak Roma were accused of spreading typhoid throughout the country, and were forbidden to ride trains unless they had a special travel permit backed by a physician's certificate that showed them free of typhoid. Gypsies could only use the rail passes for outbound trips and had to get another one if they wanted to return home. The following month, the Interior Ministry informed its regional offices that there were still Roma in some of the country's towns and villages. It ordered local officials to move all Gypsies away from roadsides, and said that if any refused to comply, they would be executed. The decree added that more forced labor camps were being prepared for Slovak Roma. 12 The climate for the Gypsies got considerably worse with the German occupation of Slovakia on September 29, 1944. Spurred by the Slovak National Insurrection of August 29-0ctober 27, 1944, the Germans clamped down harshly on the Slovaks, including the Roma, because they had actively supported the uprising. One Gypsy leader, Tomas Farkas, headed a mixed guerilla band of Roma and Slovaks during the uprising. Farkas' detachment momentarily held up German forces near Tisovec as they moved towards Banska Bystrica, the military center of the rebellion. After Banska Bystrica fell, authorities arrested Farkas' son, and imprisoned him. When Slovak partisans retreated in the 11 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 136; Emflia Horvlithova, Cii:ani na SJovensku (Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1964), p. 171. Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 137; Horvathova, Ciian.i na SJoyensku, p. 171; the train regulations were issued on June 13, 1944, while others appeared on June 19-21, 1944. Necas, Nad osudem, pp. 130-132. 12 SLOVAKIA 33 face of the German advance in the fall of 1944, the Gypsies, using hidden weapons, stayed behind to protect their families. After the rebellion's collapse, a German intelligence officer tricked the Roma into revealing details about their weapons cache. Hlinka Guards executed the Gypsy partisans as their families watched in horror. The Germans then killed all Roma women and children and buried their bodies in a lime pit. 13 Similar Gypsy massacres took place in other parts of Slovakia as retribution for their role in the Slovak National Insurrection. On November 14, 1944, 65 Roma were burned to death in two huts in Cierny Balog, while other Gypsies were forced to dig a large grave for their fallen comrades. Hlinka - Guards murdered the entire community of 111 Gypsies in Ilija eight days later, and on November 23 , butchered as many Roma as they could find in Slatina. Only three Gypsies escaped the massacre. A similar tragedy took place at Neresnice, where only two families survived. 14 Atrocities also took place at the labor camp at Dubnica nad Vahom. On September 29, 1944, German authorities in Trencin just south of Dubnica nad Vahom ordered that all male Roma from this region be sent to the labor camp at Dubnica. The Gypsy transfers were halted once the camp became full two weeks later. On November 2, 1944, Dubnica na Vahom was transformed into a concentration center for all Roma. Authorites freed all of the camp's non-Gypsy inmates to make room for the Roma. After a typhus epidemic ravaged a Gypsy camp at Ustie 1 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, pp. 137- 138; Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic," pp. 293-295 ; Anna Josko, "The Slovak Resistance Movement," in Mamatey and Luza, Histocy of the Czechoslovak Republic, pp . 375-380, 382-383. 14 Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gyspies. pp. 137-138; authorities later found a mass grave at Kremnica, which was occupied by the Germans from November 5, 1944, to January 12, 1945. It contaimed 3,723 bodies, some of them Gypsies. Netas, Nad osudem, pp. 138-141. ' 34 SLOVAKIA nad Oravou in mid-December, authorites shipped its inmates to Dubnica nad Vahom. Before the arrival of the new Roma inmates, there were 729 Roma at Dubnica nad V ahom, 250 of them children. The only recorded atrocity at the camp took place on January 17, 1945, when 16 sick Gypsy prisoners were taken from the camp and told they were being shipped to the hopsital at Trencfn. Instead, they were driven in military trucks to a wooded area, forced into a pit, and executed. The Dubnica nad V ahom camp was closed on the eve of its capture by Soviet forces on April 8, 1945. Despite these tragedies, the Gypsy survival rate in Slovakia was quite high, and estimates are that only a few hundred of Slovakia's 100,000 Rom died in the Porajmos. 15 The liberation of Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1945 found the country traumatized by the human and economic devastation of the war. A massive campaign of expulsions aimed primarily at Germans and Magyars saw I .5 million people move into the former Sudetenland from other parts of Czechoslovakia, including some Gypsies. As the Germans were expelled from Cze- __ choslovakia, many Slovak Gypsies were sent to camps in northern Bohemia and Moravia where they worked as unskilled laborers. Not all Slovak Gypsies remained in the Czech lands, 15 Lfpa, "Fate of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 211 -213; Necas, Nad llS..Ll.d.e.m, pp. 111-112, I 34- 137 ; Kenrick and Puxon, Destiny of Europe's Gypsies, p. 138; Horvathova, Cii:ani na S)ovensku, p. 173 n34; David J. Kostelancik, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia: Political and Ideological Considerations in the Development of Policy," Studies in Comparative Communism, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Winter 1984), p. 309; the Gypsies were not Slovakia's only victims after the Slovak National Insurrection. Estimates are that from August 1944 until April 1945, "7,500 soldiers and 2,500 partisans were killed and 3,723 civilians ... were murdered and buried in mass graves; 900 were burned in lime kilns; 30,000 people were de)Xlrted to German concentration camps; 60 communities were completely destroyed by fires and 142 were partially wiped out." Josko, "Slovak Resistance Movement," p. 383. SLOVAKIA 35 and some returned to Slovakia where they began to buy new homes. In addition, about 6,000 Olach [Olassti] Gypsies continued to live as nomads. Officials hoped the returning Slovak Roma would help solve the regions's severe labor shortage and serve as role models for other Roma. After the strong communist showing in the May 26, 1946, elections, the new Minister of the Interior, the Czech Vaclav Nosek, and others, called for restrictive policies against the Roma, whom Nosek and his supporters called questionable citizens of Czechoslovakia. 16 Efforts by Evzan Erban, the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, to continue to send Slovak Gypsies to camps in the Czech lands were stopped by the non-communist Minister of Justice, Prokop Drtina in 1947. Nosek convinced Drtina to do a census of the country's Roma population to determine how many lived as nomads. According to the census, there were 84,438 Roma in Slovakia, and 16,752 in the Czech lands. The successful communist coup in early 1948 brought to power a party that a year earlier had pledged that it would do everything possible to integrate the Gypsies into the fabric of Czechoslovakian society, and raise their social, economic, and cultural status. 17 In 1949, the government of Klement Gottwald created a special commission to investigate the "Gypsy question." The 16 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 309-310; Willy Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms: The Case of Czechoslovakia," in Farnham Rehfisch, ed., Gypsies Tinkers and Other Travellers (New York: Academic Press, 1975), p. 213; Tom~ Grulich and Tom~ Hai~man, "lnstitucionalnf zajem o cikanske obyvatelstvo v Ceskoslovensku v letech 1945-1958," C:esky Lid, Vol. 73 , No. 2 ( 1986), p. 73. 17 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 310-3 I I ; Vladimir Srb, "Cikani v Ceskoslovensku Demo2rafje, Vol. Xl , No. 3 (1969), p. 194; Zdenek Suda, The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1969), pp. 32-36; Radomfr Luui, "Czechoslovakia between Democracy and Communism," in Mamatey and Luui, History of the Czechoslovak Republic, pp. 412-415. 36 SLOVAKIA new commission sponsored a detailed study of Czechoslovakia's Gypsies that appeared in 1950 as Zarazovani osob cikanskeho puvodu do trvaleho pracovniho procesu (Position of Individuals of Gypsy Origin in the Work Process). Two years later, this study was partly integrated into another report by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Uprava pomeru osob cikanskeho puvodu (Report About the Life of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia). This latter study blamed earlier governments and societies for the Roma's low social and economic status, and promised that the new People's Democratic State would resolve the "Gypsy question" if the Roma willingly and quickly become accustomed to conscientious work, they adopt trades, they take part in socialist competition, they become shock-workers, members and functionaries of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and the Revolutionary Trade-Union Movement. 18 However, over the next eight years, Czechoslovak leaders did little to help the Gypsies improve their quality of life. Numerous regional and local decrees touched on health care and housing needs, and emphasized changing the behavior of the Roma. 19 Communist Party propaganda, however, underscored improved Gypsy school attendance, literacy, and new attitudes towards work and integration. By the mid-1950s, this congratulatory tone changed as the reality of the Gypsy's plight and demographic growth became more apparent to the country's leadership. In 1956, authorities began to talk about a national Gypsy crisis, which was linked to their continued nomadism. 18 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 3 I 0-311; Grulich and Hai~man, "Institucionalnf zajem o cikanske," p. 74. " Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 311, 320; Josef Kalvoda, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," in David M. Crowe and John Kolsti, eds., ~ Gypsies of Eastern Europe (New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1991), p. 93. SLOVAKIA 37 According to an article in Zemedelske Novjny (Agricultural Newspaper) in 1957, only 40% of the country's Roma were working in industry and agriculture. The Slovak journal Smena (Direction) added that the nomadic Roma lifestyle heightened prejudice towards them, which the journal compared to "discrimination against the Negro in the United States.":n These problems and attitudes, coupled with the size of the Roma population nationwide, which Radio Bratislava estimated in 1958 to be 150,000, prompted the Communist Party to approve a resolution on April 8, 1958, that demanded a new campaign to resolve the "Gypsy question." Similar to new policies throughout the Soviet bloc at that time, the Party called for a mass campaign addressed to both the Gypsies and white -- bigots, for lifting the Gypsies' extraterritorial immunities and punishment of nomadism. 21 Czechoslovakia's Gypsies were now officially divided into three categories - nomads, semi-nomads, and completely sedentary - in anticipation of Law No. 74, of October 17, 1958, "Act on Permanent Settlement of Nomadic People." The new law instructed local officials to work with nomads, whom it defined as an individual who 0 Otto Ulc, "Communist National Minority Policy: The Case of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," Soviet Studies, Vol. XX, No. 4 (April 1969), pp. 422-424 ; "Minorites in Eastern Europe," Eastern Europe. Vol. 8, No. 3 (March 1959), pp . 13-14. 21 "M inorities in Eastern Europe," p. 14; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 311, improperly places the date for the passage of Law No. 74 as November 17, 1958; Grulich and Hai§man, "Jnstitucionalnf zajem o cikanske," pp. 77-78; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 214-215. Guy estimates the number of registered nomads at 20,000-27,000; Ulc, "Gyps ies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 424-426, says officials estimated that the semi-nomadic Rom were the largest group among the Gypsies. ' 38 SLOVAKIA in groups or individually, wanders from place to place, shuns honest work or obtains his livelihood by iniquitious means even though he may be registered in some community as its permanent resident.-n. According to the new law, if anyone continued to live in this manner, he or she could be imprisoned for six months to three years. Two other parts of Law No. 74 gave the Minister of the Interior the right 11 to issue executive orders to this effect, including registration of the nomads. 11 Though the new regulations never mentioned the Roma, they were its only target, particularly the country's 6,000 nomadic Olach Gypsies. Official estimates indicated that there were from 11,000 to 40,000 nomadic Roma in Czechoslovakia at this time. 23 In an effort to avoid charges of racism, officials also upgraded the Gypsies' official status to a "socio-ethnic group." Unfortunately, Czechoslovak authorities did not anticipate the complex economic and social problems that would accompany their efforts to force the complete integration of the nation's Gypsies. Many nomadic Roma found ways to avoid punishment for thsir lifestyle, while local efforts to force settlement through the assignment of precious housing to Gypsies created growing resentment against a group that some came to see as privileged. Many Slovaks and Czechs felt the Roma were a privileged group that had special rights without obligations. The public complained that the Gypsies were measured by different standards and took advantage of their unique position. More importantly, the government's new efforts did little to upgrade the low socio-economic status of the Roma, and perhaps made it worse for the newly settled Gypsies, who, located principally in Slova- 22 23 UII!, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 424-425. Ibid., pp. 425-426. SLOVAKIA 39 kia, still lived in slums with inadequate plumbing and sanitation facilites. 24 Consequently, in 1965, the Communist Party asked local officials to do a more thorough investigation of the plight of the Roma and develop a long range plan for Gypsy assimilation. The result was Ordinance No. 502 of June 1965, which developed a Gypsy reform progam that centered around fullemployment possibilities for Gypsies able to work full time. These efforts were considered essential to upgrading the standard of living for Roma, and tied to plans to destroy substandard Gypsy settlements and the movement of Roma from Slovakia to other parts of the country. The Academy of Sciences was asked to do a study of Roma life, while the state-controlled media was ord.tred to help counter nationwide prejudice against the Roma. A new government body, the National Council for Questions of the Gypsy Population (NCQGP), which had no Gypsy members, was to serve as the program's watchdog. The NCQGP produced three position papers, but was abolished in 1968. 25 At the center of this new program was the destruction of substandard Gypsy housing and settlements, primarily in Slovakia, and the forced resettlement and employment of their Rom inhabitants. Officials estimated that 67.3% of Slovakia's 153,000 Gypsies lived in extremely substandard housing. The government pin-pointed 1,266 Roma settlements in Slovakia for destruction, and the transfer of 64,096 Gypsies. Officials planned to move the effected Slovak Gypsies to the Czech lands after their settlements were razed. Local governments, aided by national ,. Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. 426; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia." pp. 98-99. 25 Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia." pp. 312-313; Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia." pp. 430-431. Of the 56,000 Rom in eastern Slovakia, only 2.2% had an adequate water supply; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 2 I 922 . 40 SLOVAKIA subsidies, would then be responsible for the Gypsies' housing and employment. The resettlement program was voluntary. Once a Gypsy family was convinced of the wisdom of moving, the government would give the family a special payment, combined with a 25-30% subsidy and low cost government loan, which would be used to purchase a new home in the Czech lands. However, inadequate funding, coupled with growing resentment towards the new Roma presence in the Czech lands, and the unwillingness of some Gypsies to remain there, undercut the success of the program. Between 1965-1968, the government was only able to eliminate a third of the Roma settlements targeted for destruction. 26 As authorities struggled with the mixed results of this new transfer and employment program, Czechoslovakia was turned inside out by the events of the Prague Spring in 1968.Z7 On the eve of the Prague Spring, Czechoslovakia had an official Gypsy population of 223,993, with 164,526 in Slovakia, and 59,467 in the Czech lands. In 1968, the Roma in Slovakia formed their first official organization, the Union of Gypsy-Romanies (UGR or Zvaz Cikanov-Romov; Romani, Romano Jekhetaniben), followed by a similar Czech organization in 1969. Later that year, both groups joined together, but maintained separate Slovak and Czech branches. The UGR received funds from the National Front and had branches throughout Czechoslovakia. Its goals were to improve the socio-economic status of the Roma and enhance the Gypsies' awareness of their own culture and 2 • Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 432-433 ; Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 312-314; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 219-220; Hiibschmannova, "Co je tak zvana cikanska otazka," p. 115 n I 9. 27 Otto Ulc, "Czechoslovakia," in Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone, ed., Communism io Eastern Europe, Second Edition (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984), pp. 121-123; William Shawcross, ~ (New York : Touchstone Books/Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1990), pp. 114-119. SLOVAKIA 41 traditions. The UGR also wanted to acquire nationality status for the Roma, which triggered an engaging debate between Gypsy and non-Gypsy intellectuals about the entire "Gypsy question." Central to the debate was Jaroslav Sus' 1963 study, Cikanska otazka v CSSR (The Gypsy Question in the CSSR), which described the Rom way of life as [an] undesirable combination of 'nomadism, tribalism ...and blood f euds,' and the Romani language as ... unworthy of preservation. Consequently, Sus felt that "unconditional assimilation [was] ... the only solution for the question." 28 Roma scholar Elena Htibschmannova, long an advcoate of --Gypsy nationality status, led the attack on Sus' ideas. Htibschmannova shifted responsibility for some aspects of the "Gypsy Question" to the shoulders of the government, as did the August 1969 Programme of the Founding Congress of the Czech Gypsy-Rom Association [Union], which felt that "fears of the results of granting rights to the Gypsies as a nationality" lay at the heart of the question. As this debate raged, plans were made to start a Roma journal, and the UGR's membership rolls swelled to 20,000 between 1968 - 1971. Several hundred Gypsy musical and sports groups were formed, and the media began to refer to the country's Roma as "citizens of Gypsy origin." Unfortunately, after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968, the new government of Gustav Husak introduced an era of "normalization" that gradually chipped away at many of the gains achieved by the Roma during the Prague Spring. In April I 973, the government expelled the UGR from the National Front, and outlawed other Gypsy organizations because "they had failed to fulfill their integrative function." 29 21 " Crowe, Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia, pp. 58-59. Srb, "Cikani v Ceskoslovensku, ~ p. 194; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of 42 SLOVAKIA What followed was a renewed effort to force Gypsy integration and assimilation, coupled with a new sterialization scheme to reduce Gypsy births.~ One of the darker sides of the new Roma assimilation campaign were efforts to promote the sterilization of Gypsy women. The seed for this idea was planted in a February 29, 1972, Ministry of Health "Decree on Sterilization." Though "designed to safeguard against arbitrary or illinformed sterilization of all Czechoslovak citizens," the decree was used to encourage the sterilization of Romany women in order to reduce the high unhealthy' Romany population and, as a result, a disproportionately high number of Romany women were sterilized, often in violation of the existing safeguards and of their rights to non-discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or sex. 3 ' Czechoslovakia," pp. 3 I 7-318 ; Eva Davidova, "The Gypsies of Czechoslovakia, " Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. Third Series, Vol. I, Nos. 12 (Jan uary-April), pp. 53-54; Guy, "Ways of Looking at Roms," pp. 220-22 I , 223, n44; Grattan Puxon, "Gypsies: Blacks of East Europe," The Nation. April 17, I 976, pp. 461-462; Hlibschmannova, "Co je tak zvana cikanska otazka," pp . 105, I 12 nl6, I 13- 114, I 16 n23, 117-118 ; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 101-103 ; Otto Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia: A Case of Unfinished Integration," Eastern European Politics and Societies, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 1988), pp. 310-312. 30 Other estimates put the 1970 Roma population at over 300,000. Vladimir Srb, "Demograficky profil ~eskoslovenskych romu," Cesky Lid, Vol. 72 ( 1985), p. 139; Vladimir Srb, "K integraci cikanskeho obyvatelstva v CSSR," Demoi:rafie, Vol. XXI, No. 4 (1979), p. 323; V. Srb and J. Job, "Nektere demograficke, ekonomicke a kultumi charakteristiky romskehe obyvatelstva v CSSR 1970," Demoi:rafie, Vol. XVI, No. 2 (1974), p. 173 ; Kostelancik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 106; Paul S. Shoup, The East European and Soviet Data Handbook (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 42, 48; Chris Cook and John Stevenson, The Loni:man Handbook of Modern European History )763-)985 (London: Longman, 1987), pp. 216,218. 31 Rachael Tritt, Jeri Laber, and Lois Whitman, Strui:i:Jini: for Ethnic Identity · Czechoslovakia's Endani:eced Gypsies (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1992), SLOVAKIA 43 According to a Slovak document released in 1979 by Charter 77, a Czechoslovak dissident group, the Slovak government had already begun a program that used economic incentives to get Gypsy women to be sterilized because of earlier, unsuccessful government efforts "to control the high unhealthy Romany population through family planning and contraception." Local health workers offered some prospective sterilization candidates as much as 5,000 Crowns to undergo the procedure. As pressure intensified to get more Gypsy women to agree to sterilization, some health workers often made unfulfilled offers of as high as 30,000 Crowns. Charter 77 protested this practice in 1979, and claimed that it violated Article No. 259 of the state penal code, which dealt with genocide. But this was not the only - . criticism in Charter 77's 1979 document. On a broader scale, Charter 77 decried government practices designed to stop Gypsy nomadism and force assimilation, and the official denial of Roma ethnic status. According to Charter 77, the collective impact of these programs set into play "a process of social disintegration which has no comparison in the history of the Gypsies. This fact is substantiated by an ever increasing number of Gypsies who are sentenced to loss of freedom." 32 While it difficult to gauge the impact of the 1979 Charter 77 report on the plight of the Roma, population data from the 1980 census spurred further government action. The 1980 census showed a Roma population of 288,440, an increase of 31.3% over 1970 figures. Czechoslovakia's total population only grew by 6%. during the same period. The greatest increase in Gypsy growth rates was in the Czech republic, where the Roma population increased 47% between 1970 - 1980, versus a 25.5% rise in Slovakia. Even these figures, though, are misleading, since pp. 19, 139-144. 2 ' Tritt, Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies, pp. 20, 24, 26-27; Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 314-315. 44 SLOVAKIA arbitrary counting methods showed a discrepancy between national census figures, and those recorded in local "Gypsy Registers," which indicated that there were 306,246 Roma in Czechoslovakia in 1980. The absolute rise in Gypsy population numbers was less troubling to the government than the national and Rom childbirth rate figures. The overall Czechoslovak childbirth rate was on the decline, and by 1982 was "below the level of biological reproduction." The average Czechoslovak woman bore 2.4 children in the 1970s compared to 6.4 children for a Gypsy woman. 33 These increases were remarkable, particularly in light of continued government efforts to destroy Slovak Gypsy slums and the forced movement of Slovak Roma to Czech portions of the country. Other Gypsies also moved to the Czech lands because of better job opportunities and a higher standard of living. Between 1972-1980, officials destroyed 4,000 Roma dwellings in Slovakia, and moved 4,850 Gypsies elsewhere. Though Gypsy housing standards improved appreciably between during this period, there were still 5.6 persons in thct average Roma apartment or house versus a national average of 3.1 persons per dwelling. By 1980, a little more than 70% of the country's Gypsy population lived in apartments, while 10% still lived in primitive settlements that were to be destroyed by 1990. The number in extremely unfit housing dropped from 80.7% in 1970 to 49% between 1970 and 1980. Another part of the Roma assimilation campaign centered around attempts to force more Gypsy children into the public schools. In 1971, only 10% of the eligible Roma children in Czechoslovakia attended kindergarten, a figure that rose to 33 Srb, "Demograficky profil foskoslovenskych Romu," pp. 139-140. There were 88,507 Gypsies in the Czech Republic in 1980, and 199,853 in Slovakia; Ul~, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 315-316; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 108-109. SLOVAKIA 45 58.5% in 1980. During the same period, the number .of Gypsy children that finished public school rose from 16.6% to 25.6%, while the number enrolled in colleges and universities increased from 39 to 191. Nationwide, literacy rates rose to 90% among Roma adults. On the other hand, Gypsy school dropout rates in Slovakia increased substantially as Roma pupils moved from grade to grade. In 1983-1984, 72.2% of the Slovak students who failed to go into the second grade were Gypsies, and almost a third of the Roma who went to second grade barely had minimal literacy skills, a figure that jumped to 50% for Gypsy 4th graders. Nationwide, many Gypsies entered the school system with a knowledge of only a few hundred Slovak or Czech words, and were often assigned to special instititions (zvlastnf skoly) designed for the mentally retarded. Only a third of the country's Gypsy children finished 8th grade in 19831984, and only 4% went on to university or college. 34 Gypsy employment figures for this period were also a mixture of success and failure. Though 1981 data showed an 87.7% employment rate for male Gypsy workers that was close to the national average of 91 .9% for all adult males, the 54.95% employment rate for Roma female workers was well below the national average of 87.7% for all women. In addition, over three quarters of all Gypsies employed held low paying, non-skilled jobs. The overall impact of the employment, educational, and housing data found Czechoslovakia's Roma on a socio-economic plateau that proved difficult to transcend. According to Irnrich Farkas, the official responsible for Gypsy matters in Slovakia, the government felt that it would be harder to improve the quality " Kostelanc ik, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," pp. 313-3 I 5. In I 980, 59% of the Gypsies in Slovakia lived in the lowest classification for housing, Class IV. Kindergarten attendance rates in eastern Slovakia, where 53% of Slovakia's Rom lived in 1980, rose from 10% to 66% between 1970-1980; Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 319-320. 46 SLOVAKIA of Gypsy life "because increasingly left for solution are those socially and culturally backward families." 35 The government tried to put the best light on its assimilation efforts, and publicized some Gypsy success stories. Bratislava Pravda reported that 435 Roma had been elected to predominantly low level positions as deputies of Peoples Committees, and that one Gypsy, Emil Rigo, had briefly been a member of the Politburo in 1968. Officials also used successful Gypsies to counter efforts to acquire nationality status for the Roma. In 1986, Rude Pravo responded to the World Romany Congress' appeal for nationality status for Czechoslovakia's Gypsies partially with a statement by Mirosalv 2.ajda, an assimilated Roma and Party member who told the newspaper that he was quite content with his life. 36 The lack of nationality status for Czechoslovakia's Roma, who were officially referred to as citizens "of Gypsy origin," robbed them of the special rights and financial support afforded officially recognized minorities. It also placed them into a limbo world where they were forced to identify with other ethnic groups. Their plight was compounded by the growing body of prejudice that accompanied their growing numbers and official attention. 37 To many Slovaks and Czechs, Gypsies were the tmavi kluci (dark boys), a term that automatically identified one as a Roma. According to Otto Ulc, post-1968 Czechsolvakia became a society that was "less tolerant, more impatient, and egotistic." Increasingly, he observed, the public saw Gypsies as "beneficiaries of a host of privileges on their path to the less- " Kostelancik, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 3I3-315; Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 322-323 . 36 Ulc, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 322 n36, 326. 37 Ibid., pp. 323-326. Not all Gypsies suffered from lack of nationality status on the same scale, and there were a number of instances, particularly in Slovakia, where local officials encouraged Rom ethnicity. SLOVAKIA 47 than-cherished goal of integration." Furthermore, Ulc argued, Slovaks and Czechs became "thoroughly uninhibited about making racial slurs and expressing racist prejudice of the oldfashioned vintage." They saw the Roma as "dirty, lazy, dishonest, primitive, parasitic, and inferior." 38 Government efforts to counter this prejudice met with mixed results, since the press used stories that gave explicit details about instances of unfair treatment of Gypsies with others that detailed Roma crime. Bratislava Pravda, for example, claimed in 1983 that the Gypsies, who made up 4 % of Slovakia's population, accounted for 24 percent of the charges of parasitism, 50 __ percent of robberies, 60 percent of petty thefts, 75 percent of charges for endangering the morals of youth, and 20 percent of all crimes committed.'39 The overall impact of such reports was to create a very unwelcome, suspicious climate for Czechoslovakia's growing Roma population that worsened as the country and its leadership drifted towards the collapse of the system that had dominated the country since 1948.'° As the Velvet Revolution swept Czechoslovakia in 1989, a plethora of political parties and other organizations surfaced. A number of Gypsy parties emerged during this period, including the Party of the Integration of the Romany People in Slovakia and the Party of the Democratic Romany Union. The most important was the Romany Civic Inititative (ROI or Romska obcanska iniciativa), which had close links to Civic Forum (Obcanske Forum), the umbrella political organization for a number of the country's dissident factions . ROI soon had a 31 Ult, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 327-328. " Kalvoda, "Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," p. I06. •• lhid., p. 106. 48 SLOVAKIA membership of over 70,000, and held its first national meeting in Prague in the spring of 1990. One of its first decisions was to vote to erect a monument in Bratislava to the Rom victims of the Holocaust. The ROI congress elected Emil Scuka, a lawyer and playwright, to head the organization.41 Yet the very democracy that gave Slovak and Czech Gypsies the opportunity to form their own political and other organizations also created a new atmosphere for open, virulent expressions of prejudice towards them. Of particular concern to many non-Gypsies was the dramatic growth of the Roma population. In 1988, the government estimated that there were 391 ,000 Rom in Czechoslovakia, a 35.5% increase over 1980 figures. Other sources estimated there were as many as 700,000-800,000 Roma in Czechoslovakia, with 470,000 a more reasonable figure. Some perceived these figures to be a new threat, and the newspaper Express warned in an article on July 2, 1990, "that the Gypsy fertility may mean a ' tragedy', that within a century the country may well have to be renamed the Romska republika. 42 These fears combined with the deep-rooted, traditional prejudices towards the Roma, and prompted some people to depict the-Gypsies as new symbols of everything gone awry in Czechoslo- " Otto Ulc, "Integration of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," Ethnic Groups. Vol. 9, No. 2 ( 1991 ), pp. 11 2- 11 3; in 1986, Scuka produced the "musical drama Amaro Drom (Our Road)...only the second play in Romanes ever to be staged in Czechoslovakia." Grattan Puxon, Roma· Europe's Gypsies (London: Minority Rights Group, 1987), p. 11 . " Radio Free Europe/Rad io Liberty, "Ethnic Minorities and Foreigners," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 14, No. 39 (22 September 1989), pp. 33, 36-37 ; Ulc, "Integration of the Gypsies in Czechoslovakia," pp. 113-114; Czechoslovakia's population was 15,658,079, in Ju ly 1989, and 15,683,234, a year later, an increase of 25,155. Suda, "Czechoslovakia," p. 319, and Carol Skalnik Leff, "Czechoslovakia," in Richard F. Staar and Margit N. Grigory, eds., Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1221 (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1991), p. 269. SLOVAKIA 49 vakia. At the forefront of this new assualt on the Rom were renewed charges of criminality. Dramatic increases in crime had plagued the country since the early 1980s, particularly in Bratislava and Prague. In a society accustomed to traditionally low crime rates, crime reached epidemic proportions by 1990. Slovakia experienced a 17.7% rise in crime between 1988-1989, while the Czech Republic reported a 52% increase during the same pericxi. Much of this increase was attributed to Gypsies, who as early as 1987 had been blamed by television reports for 38% of Bratislava's crimes, and 40% of those committed in eastern Slovakia. Gypsies 18 years old and younger were accused of being part of over 44% of all crimes nationwide in 1988. Clearer heads proved that many of these statistics were exaggerated, and that the Roma were responsible for no more than 7.5-11 % of the crime in the country. Though the more conservative estimates were still out of proportion to the number of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia, they were directly tied to post1989 Gypsy unemployment figures that reached as high as 50% in certain areas. 43 Whatever the true numbers, Czechoslovakia's Roma paid a dear price for the accusations against them. Skinhead attacks, sometimes quietly encouraged by onlookers, mounted dangerously against Gypsies and the 35,000 Vietnamese workers in Czechoslovakia throughout 1990. On April 26, Prime Minister Petr Pithart of the Czech Republic called for "peaceful coexis0 Jan Orbman, "Crime Rate Among the Young," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 12, No. 32 (14 August 1987), p. 18; Martina Nevesky, "The Gypsy Problem," Radio Free Europe Research, Vol. 14, No. 31 (4 August 1989), p. 40; Jan Orbman, "Minorities Not a Major Issue Yet," Report on Eastern Europe, Vol. 2, No. 50 (December 13, 1991 ), p. 11 ; Wheaton and Kavan, The Yel vet Revo)utjon, p. 147; Jiti Pehe, "Crime Rises in Czechoslovakia," R.EElRL Research Report, Vol. 1, No. 14 (3 April 1992), p. 58; Kalvoda, "Gypsies of Czechoslovakia," p. 112, claims the Rom were responsible for 15.6% of all crimes in the Czech Republic. 50 SLOVAKIA tence with our fellow citizens of Gypsy origin," while federal Deputy Prime Minister Jan Carnogursky demanded "tougher action against those skinheads who had attacked the Gypsies." On May 3, 1990, ROI urged national leaders and organizations to speak out against racist incidents against Roma and foreigners. Four days later, Charter 77 and the Czechoslovak Helsinki Committee condemned such attacks on the Vietnamese and Gypsies, and said they constitute attacks on all of us. They are attacks on the most basic principles of ethics and humanism, attacks on the state based on Jaw that is being bom , attacks contradicting the ideals of our democratic revolution. The fact that we silently tolerate such attacks makes us accomplices. We call on all citizens to stop being indifferent to the manifestations of violence and intolerance. We appeal to our executive bodies to put a final stop to these attacks. Let us make the people who for years have been working in our country feel that they live in a society in which it is JX)SSible to have their basic human rights protected.44 Vaclav Havel detailed the wrongs done Gypsies in public statements on May 2 and in an address on July 27, 1990, to the First World Romany Festival in Brno. Though admirable, particularly when coupled with the new rights acquired by the Roma over the next year, they did not prevent the racially motivated deaths of 26 Gypsies before the breakup of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993.45 Both the federal and individual Czechoslovak republics granted the Roma full minority status, rights, and protections in " Jiri Pehe, "Racial Violence Increasing," Report on Eastern Europe, Vol. I, No. 20 (May I 8, 1990), pp. 15, 18; David Binder, "European Gypsies Issue Call for Human Rights at Meeting," The New York Times, May 5, 1993, p. 6. 5 • Tritt, Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies, pp. 13-14. SLOVAKIA 51 1990-1991. Over thirty Gypsy cultural organizations arose during this period, anchored by the Union of Romany Writers and numerous newspapers and magazines. Programs in Romany Studies were opened at Charles University in Prague and at the Pedagogical Faculty in Nitra. Unfortunately, these developments were overshadowed by a new set of problems that accompanied the breakup of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993. Before the formal separation, Slovakia had an estimated Gypsy population of 400,000, and the Czech lands, 150,000. However, only 81,000 Slovak Gypsies officially identified themselves as Roma in the 1991 census. In anticipation of the breakup, a number of Slovak Rom began to move to the Czech lands because they felt • the political and social atmosphere would be more tolerant, and economic conditions better. The sudden increase in "unemployed Romanies, often unassimilated families from Romany villages in eastern Slovakia," stunned many Czechs, who soon claimed that 90% of the republic's new crime was committed by Slovak Roma. Led by individual community actions throughout the Czech Republic, the new state's Prosecutor-General "proposed to the Czech parliament a draft Law on Extraordinary Measures as a means of dealing with unrest caused by undisciplined groups of migrants." Though condemned by human rights groups and the Romany Democratic Congress, which represented 19 Gypsy groups in the Czech Republic, the law had surprising support from conservatives and local officials. The controversial legislation never passed, while the debate that surrounded it brought to the surface traditionally strong prejudice towards the Roma. 46 These feelings were also expressed in several public opinion surveys conducted before and after the January 1, 1993, breakup " Jin Pehe, "Law on Romanies Causes Uproar in Czech Republic,• REElRL Research Report, Vol. 2, No. 7 (12 February 1993), pp. 18-22; Zoltan Barany, "Grim Realities in Eastern Europe." Transition, Vol. I, No. 4 (29 May 1995), p. 8. 52 SLOVAKIA of Czechoslovakia that showed almost universal hatred and distrust towards Gypsies, particularly among young Slovaks and Czechs. Officials in both countries have also been critical of the Roma. One Czech official claimed in the summer of 1993 that the Gypsies remained "a problem ... because most of them are criminals who are getting rich through thievery and prostitution." Slovak Premier Vladimfr Meciar, who lost his post in midMarch 1994 but later regained it, created an uproar on September 4, 1993, in a speech he made in Spis, where Gypsies made up 13% of the population. Meciar felt it "was necessary to curtail the extended reproduction of the socially unadaptable and mentally backward population by decreasing family allowances," which some observers felt was a reference to the country's Gypsies. Famed Nazi hunter and human rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal said that Meciar "has adopted the thinking and diction of Nazism." Meciar sued the newspaperman who originally wrote about his speech, while the Slovak government threatened to sue "any newspaper, radio or television station which refused to apologize for reporting it." Slovak authorities explained that the media had distorted Meciar's speech and released an official translation of his talk. Part of it read: They [Gypsies] should be perceived as a problem group that is growing in size ...This means that if we do not deal with them now, they will deal with us later.. Another thing we have to consider is extended reproduction of socially inadequate population.,f/ 0 Los Angeles Times Mirror, The Pulse of Europe· A Survey of Political and Socja! Values and Attitudes (Washington: Times Mirror Center for People & The Press, 1992), pp. 184-185; Freedom House and The American Jewish Committee, Democracy Economic Reform and Western Assistance in Czechoslovakia Huni:ary and Poland· A Comparative Public Opinion Survey (New York: Freedom House and The American Jewish Committee, 1991), pp. 63-65; "Iron in the Soul," The Economist, March 12, 1994, pp. 55-56; Jane Perlez, "A New SLOVAKIA 53 Several months later, Monika Nemcokova, the Press Secretary for the Slovak Embassy in Washington, D.C., wrote The New York Times to complain about other distortions in an article by Henry Kamm, "In Slovak Gypsy Ghetto, Hovels and Plea for Jobs." Kamm's article centered on Gypsies in the Slovak village of Svinia, and their poor living conditions and high unemployment. According to a parish priest in the village of Medzev, the Rom "don't want to work," and were satisfied subsisting on government welfare. The mayor of Medzev said the only solution to Slovakia's Gypsy problem was "to shoot them all," though, after a few moments, he added, "I'm no racist...But some Gypsies you would have to shoot." Ms. Nemcokova said such attitudes were "not based on racial intole. ranee, but on a significant difference in life styles and standards." She added that almost 40% of all crimes in Slovakia were committed by Roma, figures that ranged from 40-50% for all "youth cases in Slovakia." The Press Secretary felt that the Rom stipend of $71 a month was more than adequate to maintain a reasonable lifestyle in Slovakia, though she admitted it was less than half the average monthly salary of a worker. Ms. Nemcokova strongly disagreed with Kamm's assertion that there were 400,000 Roma in Slovakia, and put the figure at 250,000. She noted that the government spent 70 milllion crowns annually to help the Roma, which was "used for improving living standards in Gypsy villages, education and children's summer camps, including 3.6 million crowns for Gypsy periodicals, and 10.7 million crowns for Gypsy cultural activities.''48 Slovak Government Pledges Moderation,• The New York Times, March 17, 1994, p. A6; Peter Maas, "Half a Century after Hitler, Gypsies Face New Fight to Exist," The Washini:ton Post, August 13, 1993, p. A29; "Reported Racist Remarks Makes Slovakians Angry," Greensboro News & Record, Setpember 7, 1993, p. A5; "His Struggle," The Economjst, September 18-24, 1993, p. 56. " Henry Kamm, "In Slovak Gypsy Ghetto, Hovels and Plea for Jobs,• The New SLOVAKIA 54 The current status of the Roma in Slovakia is quite grim. The Slovak Gypsies have been hit particularly hard by the sluggish economy, and there are reports of Roma unemployment rates as high as 100%, particularly in eastern Slovakia, where most Roma live. The rather topsy turvy political situation and lack of commitment to address the complex problems faced by the country's Roma has stifled any significant government efforts to develop a mature program to raise Gypsy educational, social, and economic standards. The Slovak Government's minority department has only five people on its staff, and there is only one Gypsy expert in the Ministry of Education. Until something more is done to address the sad plight of Slovak Roma, they will remain a community outside of the fabric of Slovak society. 49 The serious social, economic, employment, and educational problems faced by Slovakia's Roma are not unique to this young Republic. Roma suffer from similar difficulties throughout Central and Eastern Europe, where most continental Gypsies live. Most of Slovakia's neighbors are faced with rising Roma birthrates vis vis static native rates, and serious financial problems that hinder the dramatic types of educational and social experiments used earlier to try to draw the Roma more deeply into the fabric of the societies of Central and Eastern Europe. These difficulties, though, should not be used as an excuse to fail to deal with the problems of this growing minority. Hopes that the Roma, in the right circumstances, might move elsewhere, are misguided, since Slovakia's Roma have lived in the region for centuries and have deep roots there. Furthermore, in light of their growing numbers and new political activism, the Roma could, in future, present an interesting political threat to Slovakia's current ruling parties. Moreover, rulers in Slovakia and a York Times, November 28, 1993, p. A4; Monica Nemcokova, "Don't Blame Slovakia for Gypsy Problem," The New York Times, December 15, 1993, p. A14. " Barany, "Grim Realities," p. 8. SLOVAKIA 55 elsewhere in the region should remember that their treatment of the Roma has become an important litmus test of the depth of their democratic experiments in Western eyes. Any failure to deal positively and creatively with each country's Roma population could have negative implications for any of the states in the region trying to draw closer to the West.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Roma of Slovakia Since 1939 Description An account of the resource David M. Crowe Slovakia, Vol. 36 (No. 66-67), 1998 pp. 26-55 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Crowe, David M., 1943- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/006f0e8f1b2b40dd7a01877c9000076b.pdf 2d6648d8c8f73dc1a78c92eebb9f6f72 PDF Text Text 18 SLOVAKIA 2019 THE TRANSATLANTIC SLOVAK QUESTION DURING THE INTERW AR YEARS Michael Cude The relationship of the Slovaks to the Czechs is an issue that has persisted through the modem hi story of the two peoples. From the 19 th century ' national awakenings ' in Austria-Hungary to the Velvet Divorce between the Slovaks and Czechs in 1993, this 'Slovak question' was at the center of key events, including the creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, its breakup and reestablishment after World War II, and the 1968 Prague Spring. 1 While many recent works have addressed the Slovak question, many have underappreciated the extent to which modem Slovak national identity formation was a transatlantic phenomenon. Historians examining this topic from the domestic Slovak perspective rarely delve deeply beyond Slovak borders, while histories of Slovaks abroad have focused predominantly on the Slovaks' place as immigrant communities . In doing so, such histories overlook how interlinked Slovak national politics in Slovakia were to Slovak communities abroad, particularly in North America, and the critical role they played in shaping Slovak national identity formation. Addressed by only a handful of recent works, the transatlantic Slovak question requires more attention.2 1 Reference key for shortened arc hi val ci tations: IHRC : Slovak American Collection, Immi gratio n History Research Center, University of Minneso ta. fil: Slovak Institute, Cleveland, OH. DoS CS 1910-44: Records of th e U.S. Department of Stale Relating to th e Internal Affairs of Czechoslovakia 1910-1944, Microfilm (Washin gton D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1982). 2 For some examples of sc holarship considering the Slovak question from a transatlantic perspective, see: M. Mark Sto larik, Where is my Home? Slovak Immigration to North America ( /8 70-2010) (Bern : Peter Lang, 2012). M. Mark Stolarik, "The Slovak League of America and the Canadian Slovak League in the Struggle for the Self-determination of the Nation, 1907- 1992," Slovakia, 39, 72 & 73 (2007), 7-35 . Marian Mark Stolarik, "The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of CzechoSlovakia, 1914-19 I 8," Slovak Studies, 8, Hi stori ca 5 ( 1968), 7-82. Stefan Kucik, Podiel americkych S!ovakov na aulonomistickom hnuti na Slovensku 191 8-/938 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 20 I I). Gregory Curtis Ference, Sixteen Months of Indecision : Slovak American Viewpoints Toward Compatriots and the Homeland from �SLOVAKIA 2019 19 The Slovak efforts abroad during World War I remain the best told component of this story. The foundation of the transatlantic Slovak question was laid in the periods leading up to the First World War, when Slovak-American organizations began to campaign for Slovak political autonomy within the Kingdom of Hungary. The central organization for Slovak national activism became the Slovak League of America (SLA), founded in May 1907 by Slovak-American leaders to unify the disparate Slovak groups in the United States in common political action. The SLA ' s main objectives were to develop the cultural and political life of the Slovaks in America as a means of supporting the cultural and political life of the Slovaks in the homeland and to fight for Slovak national self-determination. 3 World War I and its accompanying 'Wilsonian moment' entrenched important symbols of Slovak national self-determination, as Slovak immigrant communities contributed to the establishment of the new Czechoslovak Republic. The wartime Czechoslovak National Council and its leaders, including Thomas G. Masaryk and Milan R. Stefanik, utilized Slovak-American organizations for financial , military, and diplomatic support. Consequently, Slovak-American demands led to the creation of the most important document relating to Slovak nationalism for the following twenty years: the Pittsburgh Agreement. Signed on 31 May 1918, this document declared common action between the Czechs and Slovaks in the formation of a democratic republic. Nevertheless, the agreement made a clear assertion for Slovak autonomy, under the terms that the Slovaks would I 9 I 4 to I 9 I 5 as Viewed by the Slovak Language Press in Pennsylvania (Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna Uni versity Press, 1995). Michael Cude, "The Imagined Exiles: Slovak-Americans and the Slovak Question during the First Czechoslovak Republic," in From Exsilium to Exile: Coercion in Migration, Studia Historica Gedanensia, vo l. 5, ed. Anna Mazurkiewicz (Gdansk, Poland: University of Gdansk History Institute, 20 14), 287-305 3 Konstantin Culen, History of Slovaks in America, Daniel C. Necas, trans. (St. Paul, MN : Czechoslovak Genealogical Society, 2007). Jan Pankuch, History of the Slovaks of Cleveland and Lakewood, Rasto Gallo, trans. (Cleveland: Czechoslovak Genealogical Society & Western Reserve Historical Society, 2001), 29-38. Stolarik, " Rol e," 7-82 . Stephanie 0. Husek, "Slovak American Fraternal, Cultural, and Civic Organizations to 19 I 4," in Slovaks in America: A Bicentennial Study, Joseph C. Krajsa, ed. (Middletown: Slovak League of America, 1978), 23 -38 . Joseph A. Mikus "The Slovak League of America: A Historical Survey," in Slovaks, Krajsa, ed., 3956. R. Vladimir Baumgarten & Joseph Stefka, The National Slovak Society: JOO Year History, I 890-1990 (Pittsburgh: National Slovak Society, 1990), 17-33. �20 SLOVAKIA 2019 have their "own administration, own parliament, and own courts." In the short term, the Pittsburgh Agreement appeased the Slovak-Americans, who consolidated their support around the budding state, while Masaryk used the agreement to legitimize Czech-Slovak coop4 eration in his diplomatic efforts. This campaign allowed Slovak-American leaders a sense of direct influence on the affairs of their homeland, although the Czechoslovak National Council quickly stymied this hope. While the Slovak-Americans had been able to pressure Masaryk into symbolically accepting their goals for Slovak autonomy, their influence only extended to his need to provide evidence of Slovak participation in his political program as he sought recognition from the Entente powers. As a result, the Slovak-Americans found themselves on the margins during the building of the state . Accordingly, many historians consider the Pittsburgh Agreement as a matter of domestic Slovak politics after its initial signing, with little further consideration for the Slovaks abroad. In doing so, they neglect the fact that transatlantic activities continued through the interwar period.5 With the establishment of Czechoslovakia following the war, Slovak national activists on both sides of the Atlantic, hereto identi- 4 "Pittsburgska Dohoda" in Dok:umenty slovenskej narodnej identity a statnosti, vol. I, eds. Jan Benko, et al (Narodne literame centrum: Dom slovenskej literatury, 1998), 484-7. " Masaryk to Mamatey, 22 September 1918," SLA Cabinet, F:llth Congress, Slovak Institute (S I), Cleveland, OH. Pankuch, History, 145-50. Stolarik, "Role," 32-54. Karo l Sidor, ''The Slovak League of America and the Slovak Nation 's Struggle for Autonomy," Slovakia I 7, 40 ( I 967), 39-46. Peter P. Hletko, "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact," Slovakia l 8, 41 ( 1968), 5-54. Stanislav J. Kirschbaum , "The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Documents," in Slovakia 36, 66 & 67 ( 1998), 81-97. lmrich Mazar, A History of the Binghamton Slovaks : Over a Period of Forty Years, 1879-1919, ed. Wilhelmina Mazar Salina, trans. Thomas Janacek (Phoenix: Via Press, 2003), 203-17. Baumgarten & Stefka, National, 81-3. 5 James Ramon Felak, At the Price of the Republic: Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, 1929-1938 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, I 994). Peter A. Toma & Dusan Kovac, Slovakia: From Samo to Dzurinda (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 200 I). Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, A History of Slovakia : The Struggle for Survival, 2nd ed. (New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). Jan Rychlik, "Czech-Slovak Relations in Czechoslovakia, I 918-1939," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist and Fascist Europe, 1918- 1948, eds . Mark Cornwall, R.J.W . Evans (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 13-26. Elisabeth Bakke, "Czechoslovakism in Slovak History," in Slovakia in History, eds. Mikulas Teich, et al (Cambridge: Cambridge Univers ity Press, 2011), 247-68. �SLOVAKIA 2019 21 fied as the Slovak 'autonomists,' had full expectations of a federal relationship that would recognize Slovak cultural uniqueness and grant the Slovaks civic equality with autonomy over domestic affairs under the terms of the Pittsburgh Agreement. In contrast, most Czech leaders wanted a strongly centralized state, justified by arguments of the commonality of the Czechs and Slovaks, the threat of Hungarian and German irredentism, and the believed necessity of Czech oversight to modernize Slovakia. They relied on support from Slovak ' centralists,' who identified the Czechs and Slovaks as a common people. Slovak autonomists, who saw the Slovaks as a culturally distinct people from the Czechs, perceived this ' Prague centralism' as a form of cultural and political hegemony. In response, they replanted their fight over the Slovak question against the newly formed government in Prague. Both autonomists and centralists mobilized Slovaks at home and abroad behind their version of the state, with the transatlantic component focused on lobbying foreign governments. As with many other nationality groups, Slovak leaders saw the postwar peace process as a key moment to make their case. With the centralists represented at the Versailles Peace Conference by the formal delegation from Czechoslovakia, the autonomists attempted to present their own view, including a flurry of correspondence from Slovak-Americans to United States President Woodrow Wilson and an unofficial delegation led by Slovak nationalist leader Andrej Hlinka. The autonomists appealed for recognition of an independent Slovak identity and the establishment of a federalist system in Czechoslovakia that granted greater domestic political autonomy to Slovakia. Wilson and other western leaders, however, prioritized economic and political modernity as a necessary quality for selfgovernrnent. Czechoslovakia's centralist leaders appealed to the Wilsonian prioritization of modernism to gain American acceptance of their vision, and used a proposed uplift of the Slovaks into modernity to advance this cause. They nonetheless pursued this objective in a way that often cast the Slovaks in a disparaging light and sowed further discord. The Conference in turn legitimated this organization of the Czechoslovak state and ignored Slovak autonomist appeals. 6 6 For more, see : Michael Cude, "Wilsonian National Self-determination and the Slovak Question during th e Founding of Czechoslovakia, 1918-192 1," Diplomatic Histo,y (2016) 40, I: 155-80 �22 SLOVAKIA 2019 This failure at Versailles did not dissuade transatlantic Slovak activities. From the conclusion of the Treaty of Trianon in June 1920 to the Munich Agreement in September 1938, the Slovak question persisted in the First Czechoslovak Republic. The interwar period saw the Slovak autonomist movement survive with the Czechoslovak state arrayed against them . Slovak autonomists regularly looked across the Atlantic for support in pressuring Prague to change its stance. The Slovak autonomists continued to reference the spirit and goals of Wilsonianism to justify their claims for autonomy, and the Pittsburgh Agreement became their primary symbol. SlovakAmerican autonomists accepted their leading role of defending the Slovaks internationally, and they remained hopeful of convincing world leaders, particularly those in the United States, to embrace their view. This task remained an uphill battle, given the autonomists' inability to match the resources or international connections maintained by Prague, as centralists worked to discredit the idea of domestic autonomy for Slovakia. The Czech and Slovak centralists polarized the issue as a support for state unity through centralism or support for the destruction of the state through autonomy. In international appeals, the centralists disparaged Slovak capabilities for selfgovernment, and presented the Slovak autonomists as a parochial fringe, ignorant of world affairs. Accordingly, this transatlantic debate heavily contributed to the failure of the Czechoslovak concept in the interwar period by helping sow the entrenched distrust that culminated in the splintering of the Czechoslovak Republic in March of 1939. The question of Slovak autonomy remained a principal component of Slovak politics during the First Czechoslovak Republic. The Slovaks split into three general categories on the Slovak question. The smallest of these groups were the Czechoslovakists, who wanted a close, non-differential linkage with the Czechs. Vavro Srobar, the first appointed Minister for Slovakia in 1918, exemplified this faction. Another group consisted of moderate nationalists who pursued cooperation with the Czechs, but wanted recognition of separate Slovak identity and political autonomy. Milan Hodza, Prime Minister of the republic in the late 1930s and leader of the Agrarian Party, best exemplified this faction. Hodza and others supported a federalist model to address national minority questions. Most of the former two groups came from Slovakia's Lutheran minority. The Slovak auton- �SLOVAKIA 2019 23 omists, who were predominantly Catholics, were the most controversial. The Reverend Andrej Hlinka represented them as leader of the Slovak People 's Party. Hlinka and his supporters pushed for complete autonomy within Czechoslovakia, although the radical end of the party increasingly sought greater independence while a smaller minority even promoted a return to Hungary under a promise of autonomy. The Slovak People's Party (SPP) remained the most popular party in Slovakia and mixed cooperation with opposition to push for Slovak autonomy. The Agrarian Party followed in popular support, and it gradually pushed for more autonomy, albeit in a more deliberate fashion than the SPP. The Slovak National Party, the Slovak Communists, and the Hungarian Parties joined them in support of autonomy.7 Politically, some Slovaks took prominent positions in the central government, most notably Hodza. Prague allowed Slovak autonomists to organize and hold seats in Parliament, but it continued to censor nationali st viewpoints and it regularly pursued smear campaigns against Slovak autonomist leaders. The SPP joined the government in 1927, arranged by Hodza after promises of Slovak autonomy, but Hodza's plan proceeded in a watered-down fashion. The SPP participation lasted only two years before accusations of treason against radical politician Vojtech Tuka led to the SPP's withdrawal from the government. The SPP later exploited the Munich Agreement to force Prague's hand to achieve autonomy during the short-lived Second Republic, and then seceded from the state in March of 1939.8 7 Prague regularly promoted the idea that most of the Slovak people opposed autonomy, because the SPP only maintained 30-35% of the electorate in Slovakia. Although it is difficult to determine the true popular support of autonomy based strictly on the electoral support of each party, the support in Slovakia for Prague's version of centralism was probably we ll in the minority when one considers that the three largest parties-SPP, Agrarian, and Communists- all embraced some level of Slovak autonomy. 8 For more on this period in Slovak hi story, see: Yeshayahu A. Jelinek, The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists 1918- 1948 (New York: Columbia University, 1983). Susan Mikula, "The Politics of Frustration : The Slovak Politica l Experience, 191 8-1938," in Reflections on Slovak Histo ry, eds. Stanislav Kirschbaum & Anne C. Rom an (Toronto: Slovak World Congress, 1987), 73 -88. James Felak, "Slovak Considerations of the Slovak Question: The Ludak, Agrarian, Socialist, and Communi st views in lnterwar Czechoslovakia" in The Czech and Slovak Experience, ed . John Morison (New York: St. Martin's, 1992), 136-62. Felak, At the �24 SLOVAKIA 2019 The Slovak-A mericans also consolidated their positions on the issue in a similar fas hi on. After an early divide, the leaders of the Slovak League of America gave up on Prague and embraced the autonomist position, as did the large Catholic fraternal organization the First Catholic Slovak Union, and other, smaller organizations, such as the Friends of Slovak Freedom (FSF), an organization formed in the 1920s w ith the singul ar goal of addressing the Slovak question . The large, secular and large ly Protestant, fraternal organizations, the National Slovak Society and the Slovak Evangeli cal Un ion, at first embraced the centralist Slovaks, but nationalist pressure ultimatel y led them to try to moderate between the centrali st and autonomist positions. They ultim ate ly embraced the gradualist position of Hodza. In response, the Czechoslovaki sts established the Slovak National A lliance to serve as the arm of Prague among the SlovakAmericans, along with the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol. Consisting mostl y of secularists and some Lutherans, these organizations regularly attacked the SLA for its Catholic and autonomist leanings and promoted the strict uni ty of the Czechs and Slovaks. 9 As the Slovak question became entrenched in Czechoslovak politics, each competing side pursued a voluminous international lobby ing campaign to build western support for its respective position. This included a fact ion demanding a revision of the Trianon Treaty to return Slovakia to Hungary. The primary international Slovak advocate of this position was the Reverend Francis Jehlicka and hi s organization, the Slovak Council , founded in 1933 . Jehlicka had attended the Paris Peace Conference wi th Hlinka, but decided afterwards that the Slovaks could not trust the Czechs. Jehlicka remained abroad, where he lobbied fo r a Slovak reunion with Hungary based on Hun ga ri an promises of Slovak autonomy. He attempted to build Price of th e Republic. Toma & Kovac, Slovakia, 78-1 06. Kirsc hbaum, History of Slovakia , 155-84. Ryc hlik, "Czec h-Sl ovak Relations," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist, 13-2 6. R.J.W. Evans, " Hungarians, Czechs, and Slovaks : Some Mutual Perceptions," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist, I 09-22 . Mary Heimann, Czechoslovakia : The State that Failed (New Haven: Yale Uni vers ity Press, 2009), 48-86. Nata lia Kraj covicova, " Slovakia in Czechoslovakia," in Slovakia in History, 137-56. 9 Joseph Pauco, "Slovaks Abroad and Their Relati onship with Slovakia," in Slo vakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries, ed. Joseph M. Kirschbaum (Toronto: Slovak World Congress, 1973), 333-42. Josep h V. Adamec, "The Slovak Cath olic Federation," in Slovaks in America, 223-32 . Baumgarten & Stetl<a, National, 85-7. Pankuch, History, 177-86 . Stolarik, " Slovak League," 7-35 . �SLOVAKIA 2019 25 support from the Slovak-Americans by appealing to Slovakia's historical and economic roots in Hungary and exposing claimed mistreatment of the Slovaks by Prague. ' 0 Jehlicka could express his voice abroad because of support from Budapest and later Nazi Germany, and he convinced a few figures in the West, most notably the British publi sher Lord Rothermere, who campaigned on behalf of Hungary internationally. Jehlicka ' s arguments nevertheless carried little weight in other circles . Scottish historian R. W. Seton-Watson, a prominent supporter of the Czechoslovak Republic , pursued a constant back and forth against Jehlicka, and, on both sides of the Atlantic, Slovaks and Czechs of different politica l views unified against Slovakia ' s return to Hungary. The Slovak autonomi sts and centralists , for example, collaborated in an open letter denouncing Jehlicka . 11 Slovak-Americans likewise continued to lobby against Hungarian claims, reminding readers about the old magyarization policy to eliminate Slovak national identity. Slovak-American publisher Jan Pankuch claimed that this was the sole occas ion when the Slovak-American autonomi sts, Czech-Americans, and Slovak10 Anthony Pessenl ehner, "Czechoslovakia' s Ri ght to Statehood Assa iled," Current History, 14, 5 (Aug. I 92 1), 845-8. Dr. F. Jehlicka: Kto on je a co chce (C leveland: 1920). Francis Jehlicka, Reply to Mr. R. W. Seton-Watson 's Book 'Slovakia Th en and Now ' (Vienn a, 1932). The Slovak Co uncil , Th e Unsolved Slovak Problem (Vienna: Slovak Council, 1933). The Slovak Co un cil , Bolsevizmus a slovenska otazka (Geneva: Slovak Council , 193 6), in : 8 : Resolutions, Memoranda, Proclamations, SI. The Slovak Council , Sh ould Great Britain go to Wa r- fo r Czechoslovakia: An Appeal to British Common Sense for th e Sake of Wo rld Peace (London: Haze l, Watson, & Viney, 1937) . Francis Jehli cka, Fa1her Hlinka 's Struggle fo r Slovak Freedom (London: Slova k Council , 1938), 34-5. "The German Minister in Czechoslovaki a (Eisenlohr) to the German Foreign Ministry (Doc 57)," Documen1s on German Foreign Policy, Seri es D, V2 (Was hington, D.C. : U. S. Government Printing Office, 1947), 132-3 . 11 R.W. Seton-Watson, Treaty Revision and the Hungarian Frontiers ( London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1934). " Seton-Watson to Alois Ka lisek" (Doc I 32) in R. W. SetonWa tson and His Relations with the Czechs and Slovaks: Documents, / 906- 195 1, vol. I, eds. Jan Ryc hlik, et al (Prague: Ustav T. G. Masaryka, I 995), 393-6. "The Situati on in Slova ki a and the Magyar Minori ty" (Doc 139) in Seton-Watson, 409-25. "Seton-Watson to Martin Razus" (Doc 155 ) in Seton- Watson, 454-5 . "Fedor Ruppeldt to Seton-Watson" (Doc I 60) in Seton-Watson, 465-9. C. L Orbach, "Czechoslovakia ' s Place in the Sun," Current Histo1y, 14, 6 (Sept I 92 1), 944-5. Anonymous, "Another Defense of Czechoslovaki a" Curren/ History, 14, 6 (Sept 192 1), 945-6. Adam Poliak, "Czechos lova ki a's Right to Statehood," Current History, I 5, 3 (Dec I 92 1), 499. " Slovaki a' s Pro test" (Doc 156) in Seton-Watson, 456-9. �26 SLOVAKIA 2019 American centralists came together in common cause, although the resolution almost failed when the two sides sparred over whether the text should declare the Slovaks and Czechs as one nation. The proHungarian autonomists, thus, remained on the periphery of the Sio• 12 va k question. The unified opposition against Hungarian irredentism otherwise did little to ease the conflict between the centralists and autonomists. The Czech and Slovak centralists made the Slovak question a primary component of their international propaganda, and they often perpetuated negative stereotypes of the Slovaks to promote the Czechoslovak vision. The official press in Prague released ample publications by Czech nationali st leaders in the English language on the topic. President Masaryk, for example, made clear his disappointment with the "po litical immaturity" of the Slovak autonomist movement. Masaryk, who continued to highlight his own partial Slovak heritage, likewise claimed to have proven his great love for Slovakia by having liberated it from Hungary and he asserted that Slovak nationalists could prove their own love by embracing Prague 's authority. 13 Edvard Benes, who served as Foreign Minister until succeeding Masaryk to the presidency in 1935, in tum argued that the Czechs and Slovaks remained unified, except for a "fringe minority," working for a return to the pre-war order, and the "dictates of local , provin12 "Rezolucie Vznesene Ustrednym Vyborom Slovenskej Ligy v Amerike na schodzi , vzdrziavanej IO novembra 1920," Person File (PF): Bielek, SI. Association of Slovak Newspapermen of America, Count Albert Apponyi or Revival of Magyar Propaganda in America (Scranton, Pa: Bosak Press, 1923), in: B: Resolutions, SI. American Citizens of Slovak Origin, The Refutation to the Arguments of the Hungarian Kossuth Delegation ( 1928), in: The Podkrivacky, Adam Papers, B: 17, Slovak American Collection, Immigration History Research Center (IHRC), Uni versity of Minnesota. "What the Magyars Forget," The National Slovak Society (NSS) of the US.A . Records, B: 168, F: Slovak League of America (SLA), lHRC. "The Cleveland District Assembly of the SLA to Hoover," 4 December 1929, F#: 860F.00/306, Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Czechoslovakia 1910-1944 (DoS CS 1910-44), Microfilm (Washington D.C .: National Archi ves and Records Service, 1982). Pankuch, History, 186-90. 13 Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, The Making of a State: Memories and Observations, 1914-1918, trans. Henry Wickham Steed (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1927), 2 1, 41 , 208-11 , 338, 361. Thomas G. Masaryk, Masa,yk on Thought and Life: Conversations with Karel Capek, reprint ed., trans. M. & R. Weatherall (New York: Arno Press, 1971 ). "T.G. Masaryk on the Pittsburgh Agreement" (Doc 30) in Slovakia : Political, 209- 10. �SLOVAKIA 2019 27 cial, factional and individualist interests ." 14 Czech scholars, journalists and officials also contributed to this campaign, mostly through studies of the Czechs that glossed over the Slovaks except to praise 15 how the Czechs had liberated them. For example, Czech historian Albert Prazak praised the Czech ro le in uplifting the Slovaks, and condemned Hlinka and the SPP as tools of Hungary and as part of a Catholic conspiracy to take over Central Europe. Prazak then dismissed the Pittsburgh Agreement as "merely a flight of fancy ," rooted in "immaturity of political judgment and lack of understanding." 16 Czech journalist Ales Broz likewise condemned the Slovaks as " retarded in their development" versus the " well educated, practical, realistic" Czechs, and praised the direction of Slovakia under the Czechs for allowing the two peoples to become "one stock, one cul. ,, I 7 ture, one nat10n . Centralist Slovaks also contributed to this campaign, including articles by Interior Minister Juraj Slavik and Minister to France Stefan Osusky on the nationality questions in Czec hoslovakia, as well as one by Education Minister Anton Stefanek praising Prague ' s 14 Eduard Benes, My War Memoirs, trans. Paul Seiver (London : George Allen & Unwin, 1928), 348, 448, 469, 472-8 1. Edvard Benes, Christmas Message (Prague: Orb is, 193 7), 17. Edvard Benes, "Of Czechoslovak Unity" in We Were and We Shall Be: Th e Czechoslovak Spirit th rough th e Centuries , eds. Zdenk a & Jan Mun zer (New York : Un gar, 1941), 164-6. 15 Kami I Krofta & Jiri Hoetzel, A Short Histo,y of Czechoslovakia ( ew York: Robert McBride & Co, 1934), 137-8, 142, 149-52. Kami! Krofta, "Czechs and Slovaks (I)" The Slavonic and East European Review, 13, 38 (January 1935), 363-7 1. Kami I Kroft a, "Czechs and Slovaks ( II )" The Slavonic and East European Review, I 3, 39 (April 1935), 6 11-26. Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics (Prague: Orbis, 1929), 7-8, 13 , 20-1 , 44, 111-1 2, I I 9-20, I 24-6. Emanuel Capek, "The Background of Political Parti es in Czechoslovaki a" The Sla vonic and East European Review, I 0, 28 (June 193 1), 90- 104. Ales Broz, " Minori ty Ri ghts in th e Czechoslova k State," Foreign Affairs, 6, I (October 1927), 158-60. Ales Broz, " President Masaryk, Creator of the Czechos lovak Republic," Current Histo,y , 24, I (April I 926), 48-53. 16 Prague appointed Prazak, a Czech, to erve at Comenius Uni versity in Brati slava as its primary hi stori an of the Slova ks. The Slavonic Review labeled Prazak the "foremost li ving authority on Slovak History." Albert Prazak, " Review : The ew Slovaki a by R. W. Seton-W atso n" The Slavonic Review, 3, 9 (March 1925), 71 3-20. 17 Ales Broz, "Czech and Slovak at Odds: Both Sides of the Controversy - From the Czech Standpoint," Curren/ Histo,y, 22 , 5 (Aug 1925), 784-8 . �28 SLOVAKIA 2019 development of Slovak education. 18 Slovak Social Democrat, and rigid Czechoslovakist, [van Derer's short book on the Pittsburgh Agreement provided the most thorough effort in English to discredit the Slovak autonomists . Derer claimed that most Slovaks embraced the state as constructed, and that only a " pro-Magyar" minority supported autonomy. He likewise dismissed the Slovak-American signers of the Pittsburgh Agreement as not " true" Slovak nationals, because they lived in America. Derer argued that the document had meant simply local administrative autonomy, which he claimed Prague had granted. He then portrayed the Czechs as the Slovaks' saviors and condemned Slovak autonomy: In return for their having helped Slovakia when things were at th eir worst, in return for their having saved our liberty and an independent state apparatus, railway and postal communications, and a Slovak system of education at the tim e when the Slovaks th emselves were weak, unprepared, often distrustful and inclined rather to continue to live under their thousand-year yoke than to live in freedom, in return for having shed their blood for our country on the battlefronts in the Great War, and in the fights against Bolshevist Hungary in I 9 I 9 and thus saving Slovakia from a new occupation by the Magyars -in return for all this are we to remove the Czechs from Slovakia ? 19 Prague also maintained support from American and Eng lish academics and journalists in perpetuating Czechoslovakism. SetonWatson remained a staunch supporter of the idea, boasting how he regularly discredited "cantankerous Slovaks who accused Masaryk and hi s friend s of 'Czec hi sation."' He publicly condemned Hlinka and the SPP and repudiated their criticisms of Prague. Seton-Watson a lso actively denied Slovak agency in Slovak national development. 18 Juraj Slavik, "The Nationality Question in Slovakia," Central European Observer, 11 , 26 (Dec 18, 1933), 463-5 . Stefan Osusky, " Wh y Czechoslovakia?" Foreign Affairs, 15 , 3 (Apri l 1937), 455-71. Anton Stefanek, " Education in Slovakia," Th e Slavonic Review, 2, 5 (Dec 1923), 308-27. 19 Ivan Derer, The Unity of th e Czechs and Slovaks: Has th e Pittsburgh Declaration Been Carried Out? (Prague: Orbis, 193 8). �SLOVAKIA 2019 29 The Slovaks should therefore be thankful that fate has made them dependent upon a race so efficient, so well-educated and well-disciplined as the Czechs ... .At the critical moment, the Slovaks made the impression of a helpless animal fascinated by the approach of the boa-constrictor, and Prague was literally the sole hope.-'0 On the Slovak question, Seton-Watson blamed the " hypersensitive" Slovaks as simply being too parochial, religiously backward and ill developed, and he dismissed autonomist arguments as the "wild talk of extremists." Even in a work of collected essays designed to "show that the Slovaks themselves have had a much greater share in the reconstruction of their country than is often supposed," Seton-Watson turned predominantly to centralist Slovaks whose contributions consisted mostly of self-promotion and praise for the merits of centralism.21 The American philanthropist and writer Kenneth D. Miller was another avid promoter of Czechoslovakism. "Everything points to the wisdom of a cultural as well as political union between the two nationalities. No matter what the cultural development may be, neither nationality can well maintain its political independence without the other." He likewise felt that the Slovak question would disappear with the development of the "slow, passive Slovak," who yet lacked initiative, and who was prone to immorality and drunkenness, and to "religious vagary or fanaticism." 22 Other presentations ranged from industrialist and diplomat John Crane, who attacked the "backward ignorance" of the Slovaks for resisting secularization, to YMCA secretary Fred Rindge who criticized a claimed lack of Slovak interest 20 R.W. Seton-Watson , Th e New Slovakia (Prague: Fr. Borovy, 1924), 3, 23-4. R.W. Seton-Watson, Masaryk in England (New York: Macmillan, 1943), 61. "Seton-Watson Open Letter to Hlinka" (Doc 108), in Seton-Watson, 343-4. "SetonWatson to Alois Kolisek" (Doc 135), in Seton-Watson, 401-2. R.W. Seton-Watson, ed. Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1931). When planning the book, Seton-Watson expressed his desire to have an article from a SPP leader, so that Slovak autonomists could not accuse him of onesidedness. He considered an article on the issue of autonomy, but decided only to allow an article on Slovak religion by Hlinka. "Seton-Watson to Milan Hodza" (Docs 144 & 145), in Seton-Watson, 431-2 . 22 Kenneth D. Mill er, The Czecho-Slovaks in America (New York: Doran Company, 1922), 14-25, 121-122, 158-160. 21 �30 SLOVAK.IA 2019 in the arts. Journalist C.J.C. Street claimed, "The Slovak dream was always to regain their lost unity with the Czechs and as a united nation to secure the tolerable conditions of existence. " 23 The Slovak autonomists in Slovakia pursued a few efforts during the interwar period to counter this campaign, although they lacked equivalent resources and connections to those held by Prague. The SPP' s most notable attempt was the Zilina Memorandum of 1922. Released to the western press and governments, the document sought to expose the Slovak question to the world, beginning with its sensationalist title, "a country doomed to death, a nation in her last agonies implores the civilized world for help." It decried the failures of Wilsonianism, which had allowed Prague to "bamboozle" the Slovaks "out of the freedom promised to them ." The text went on to explain their issues with the Czechs, discussing concerns from the treatment of religion, to economic exploitation, and the denial of autonomy. The memorandum also condemned Czechoslovakism as simply a tool for domination. The Czechs and Slovaks have been always forming two separate little worlds with a very different character due to their different geographical and economic conditions, their different way of thinking, of feeling and of mind. We have a different view of life, other morals and other traditions; we have a different social structure, different legal rules and different ideas about political economy and culture. The document ultimately claimed the world could still save the Slovaks if it acted quickly. The key of the iron cage in which the Slo vak Nation is being mercilessly incarcerated lays in the hands of the Great Powers. This memorial is our last expedient and our last weap23 John 0. Crane, "Church and State in Czechoslovakia" The Slavonic Review, 6, 17 (Dec. 1927), 364-78. Fred H. Rindge, Jr. "The Charm of Czechoslovakia" Current History, 22, 3 (June 1925), 447-50. C. J. C. Street, Slovakia Past and Present (Westm inster, UK: P.S. King & Son, 1928). For more examples, see: Robert Machray, "Czechoslova ki a a Pioneer in Central European Politics" Current Hislo ry, 25, 6 (Mar. 1927), 839-43 . J. H. Wallis, "The Upbuilding of Czechoslovakia," Curren/ Histo1y, 14, 5 (Aug. 192 1), 835-45 . �SLOVAK.IA 2019 31 on ... Though only clad in the rags of our torn freedom we nevertheless appear as accusers before the world, charging the rulers of Prague who are still deluding the powers, and the powers themselves for having out of sheer ignorance become their accomplices. To ignore the Slovak case, thus, would be to support the trampling of liberty. 24 After the Zilina Memorandum bore no fruit, the Slovak autonomists pursued fewer efforts to court the west. They made a few sporadic attempts, such as a translation of the SPP •program in 1930, written by Jozef Tiso, which outlined the SPPs vision of a Slovak national Christian democracy, and appealed for autonomy as a protection of the Slovak cultural tradition. It argued that the Slovak nation's religious roots encouraged it toward a peaceful selfpreservation, unlike other nations that turned toward national chauvinism. 25 Slovak priest and publicist Anton Kompanek also produced an article that emphasized Slovak Christianity as a symbol of Slovak worthiness for self-government. Kompanek believed Slovakia served as an example of how the Church and state could find balance in the modem world. 26 These publications, however, remained exceptions, as the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia maintained little faith in western governments, recognizing Prague's stranglehold over their image internationally. They instead relied on the Slovak-Americans to lead the way in their defense internationally. Slovak nationalist politician Karol Sidor claimed that despite a continued interest in the homeland, the Slovak-Americans began to lose their "onetime vitality and ardor" during the interwar period. He linked this outcome to greater assimilation and a decreasing knowledge of the Slovak language.27 This claim is somewhat true. The energy of the war years certainly diminished, particularly in the 24 "Zilina Memorandum" (Doc I 02) & "Covering Letter for the Zilina Memorandum" (Doc I 03), in Seton-Watson, pp. 319-33 . 25 Jozef Tiso, The Ideology of th e Slovak Populist Party (Prague: 1930). 26 Anton Kompanek, "The Catholic Church in Slovakia" Th e Sla vonic and East European Review, 12, 36 (April 1934), 611-21. 27 Sidor, "Slovak League," 59-62. �32 SLOVAKIA 2019 1930s with the onset of the Great Depression.28 Sidor, however, understated how much the Slovak-Americans remained at the forefront of the international efforts to gain recognition of the Slovak question. Historian Jozef Pauco 's interpretation is much more accurate: "For twenty years the Slovak League of America defended the spirit and letter of the Pittsburgh Pact and by using the freedom of the press and the freedom of assembly on American soil, they did so more freely and energetically than the two political parties in their homeland." 29 Based on the volume of publications and direct communications with government officials on both side of the Atlantic, it is clear that the Slovak question continued to dominate the transatlantic interests of the Slovak Americans, as they bolstered their compatriots' activities within Czechoslovakia by applying external pressure on Prague. The Slovak fraternal organizations made constant efforts to keep their members linked to their Slovak cultural identity, and to aid in the fight for autonomy in the homeland. They pursued these efforts through education programs such as national lectures, art and photography tours, but also symbolic actions such as erecting a statue of General Milan R. Stefanik in Cleveland in 1924 and the planting of a Linden Tree on Capitol Hill in honor of Stefanik in 1934. 30 The Slovak question remained high on the list of Slovak-American concerns, and the various Slovak organizations produced a flurry of pamphlets and informative documents on the issue. The Pittsburgh Agreement remained at the center of this debate, with Slovak autonomists on both sides of the Atlantic continuing to affirm its legality against the centralist dismissals that it was simply a non-binding text designed to placate the Slovak-Americans during the war. Autonomist publica28 June Alexander, for example, shows how assimilation became an internal issue for Slovak-Americans, as the older generations struggled to assure that their American born children maintained links to their ethnic heritage. June Granatir Alexander, Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism: Slovaks and Other New Immigrants in the Jn terwar Era (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2004), 93-19 I. 29 Pauco, "S lovaks Abroad," 333-42. 30 "Ot. Svec to Podkrivacky," 3 Oct. 1938," PF: Adam Podkrivacky, SI. "S LA to Jakub Vitostak, 30 Nov 1923 ," The First Catholic Slovak Union of America (FCSU) Records, F: 1303, IHRC. "Jan Kocur to Michael Senko, 30 Nov 1926," FCSU, F: 1304, IHRC. 0. D. Koreff, Milan Rastisla v Stefanik: A Short Biography (Cleveland: Slovak League of America, 1924), 82-3 . "SLA to Arthur Colegrove," NSS, 8 : 168, F: SLA, IHRC. �SLOVAKIA 2019 33 tions looked to inform about the Slovaks, to expose the failed promises of Prague on autonomy, and to defend against the accusations of Prague centralists. The Slovak League remained at the forefront, hoping that exposure of the situation to the American press and pub1ic would spur sympathy and support? In many cases, the Slovak-Americans directed these publications at Prague, with the hope of convincing a change in policy . They, nevertheless, would consecutively produce English versions, which they then sent to the American President, members of Congress, the Department of State, and assorted press outlets. For example, in 1921 the SLA wrote to Masaryk calling for the immediate implementation of the Pittsburgh Agreement. When Prague did not respond, the League followed up with a more detailed Memorandum on November 9, 1922. This document called on Prague to make good on the Pittsburgh Agreement in the name of natural rights and to reward the sacrifices made by Slovak-Americans during World War I. It highlighted Masaryk's role in the formation of the Agreement, and then provided a photograph of the original text as well as a series of letters between the SLA and various Czechoslovak officials that had promised its implementation to show how promises made to the Slovak-Americans never lived up to reality. The text then defended the legitimacy of Slovak autonomy. We are convinced that the honest and upright materialization of the Pittsburgh Pact in no way will harm the unity of the State; on the contrary it will mean a considerable reinforcement within and without and make possible united co-operation of all patriotic forces against the elements of disintegration, depriving them of a dangerous weapon, which they cannot effectively employ against the Republic, fanning discontent, mistrust and spreading hatred between both nations comprising the state. The League made clear, however, that this good will rested "solely upon a sincere Czecho-Slovak reciprocity." It then gave an alternative: 31 "Telegram to Ivan Bielek on 29 Nov 1934," NSS, B: 168, F: SLA , IHRC. �34 SLOVAKIA 2019 We feel it is our duty to emphasize that if our sincere and friendly attempt, which has at its heart the welfare, interest and future of the Republic, should fail to meet with success, the Slovak l eague of America would not be able to prevent the American Slovaks and their factors from turning to the Court of Public Opinion of the civilized world. While the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia acknowledged the letter, Prague neglected to respond. 32 The SLA then passed a follow-up resolution. Asserting that it "fights with fire and sword with everyone who is in favor of autonomy of the Slovak nation," it admonished Prague for manipulating the world into believing the Czechoslovakist image and for leading a smear campaign against the SLA. It then provided a list of examples of hostility, including efforts to undermine its finances , blackmail, the bullying of Slovak-American leaders and press, and attempts to send government officials to propagandize against them . It once again emphasized how the League had made every effort to resolve the Slovak question within the confines of the Czechoslovak Republic , but it would soon submit the issue "to the judgment of public opinion of the civilized world," if Prague continued to treat them with disdain.33 Many more publications followed. The Friends of Slovak Freedom , for example, released two protests in 1923. These texts defended the va lidi ty of the Slovak-Americans as representatives of the Slovak people, and condemned Prague's actions against Slovak autonomists, including such accusations as "false signatures or resolutions, false numbers of people attending their lectures, insulting the Slovak journalists, insulting the Slovak League as anti-state, and many other lies," as well as criticisms about press censorship in Slo- 32 SLA , Memorandum S/ovenskej Ligy v Amerike upra vene na vladu a Narodne Shromai denie Cesko-Slo venskej Republiky v zaujme vtelenia Pittsburgskej Dohody do ustavy C.-S. Republiky (Pittsburgh: Slovak League of America, 1922). Both the full Slovak and English versions of this Document are avai lab le at: SLA Cab, F: Memorandum /922 v Zaum e Pitts. Dohody, SI. Also avai lable in: " Memorandum Slovenskej Ligy v Arnerike" in Dokumenty, Vol 2, 138-44. 33 " An Appeal of the Slovak League of America to All Political Factors of th e Czecho-S lovak Republic," PF: Bielek, SI. �SLOVAKIA 2019 35 vakia. 34 After reading Masaryk's criticism of Hlinka, the Slovak League then produced a pamphlet that challenged the idea that Masaryk personally had liberated the Slovaks. It reminded readers of the Slovak-American war contribution, and then remarked how the SLA and the Pittsburgh Agreement were certainly valid in Masaryk's eyes when he needed Slovak-American support in 1918. The document then included a text from former Czechoslovak ambassador to Japan, Karel Pergler, arguing that both the Slovaks and Czechs had unequivocally recognized the Pittsburgh Agreement upon its signing. 35 Next to these direct appeals, the Slovak-American autonomists also released many publications geared directly toward an American audience. They designed these works to inform about the Slovaks, expose their continued fight for self-determination and to link the Slovak question to American democratic values. These publications included several biographies of Milan R. Stefanik, a translated history by Slovak historian Joseph Skultety that directly challenged images of Slovak backwardness and other stereotypes, and a short pamphlet on Czechoslovakism by Slovak-American historian Ol'ga Husek warning that the concept meant for the Slovaks "the rejection of their cultural past and the stunting of their future growth." 36 They also attempted to rally America to their cause by showing their valiance in the face of domination. An SLA article distributed to the American Press praised how the Slovak-Americans continued to fight even with "the entire machinery of government set against them, calumnies upon calumnies by a government subsidized press, heaped upon the heads of those who take up their cause, and bug- 34 Friends of Slovak Freedom, " Resolution, November 28, 1923," & " Protest against Censorship and Confiscation of Slovak Publications by the Government in Slovakia" in Pankuch , Slo vaks of Cleveland, l 82-6. 35 Slovenska Liga v Amerike, V Zaujme Pra vdy! (In the Interest of Truth !) (Pittsburgh: P. Jamriska, 1930). Found in : SLA Cabinet, F: SLA Presidents, SI. Prague responded to these letters, but it simply reasserted the usual rebutta ls, claiming that 75% of the Slovaks supported centralization and that the Pittsburgh Agreement was simply an American document. "Ohlas Americkeho Memoranda u Nas," 8 : Slovak League of America (SLA) , SI. 36 0. D. Koreff, Milan Rastislav Stefanik: A Short Biography (Cleveland: Slovak League of America, 1924). Andrew Slabey, General Milan R. Stefanik (Leisenring, PA: Griglak Printery, 1937). Joseph Skultety, Sketches from Slovak History, O.D. Koreff, trans . (Middletown, PA : First Catholic Slovak Union, I 930) . Ol'ga Husek, The Czechoslovak Fallacy (Middletown, PA : Jednota, 1935). �36 SLOVAK.IA 2019 bears turned loose to scare those who are not acquainted with conditions. " 37 Religion became a major component of Slovak-American advocacy on the Slovak question in the interwar period. Slovak-American journalist Stephen J. Palickar published many articles in general Catholic publications, including a five-month tit-for-tat with Czech diplomat Josef Hane in defense of Slovak religiosity. He also provided some of the first Slovak-American attempts to link Slovak religiosity to anti-Communism. Palickar likewise defended Slovak agency, and appealed for a lifting of Prague centralism to allow the Slovaks an opportunity to prove their abi lity for self-government. 38 While most of these publications were shorter, more direct works, the Slovak-Americans released a couple of longer exposes on the Slovak question. The first, written by then SLA president Peter P. Hletko on behalf of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, looked to inform the American people about the Pittsburgh Agreement as an American product in line with "the principles of democracy and self-determination of small nations." Hletko praised how the Slovak "has an inherent love for liberty and freedom , and enjoys fostering his national spirit," which had spurred his immigration to America in a "quest for a land of true liberty," and he argued that American democracy had allowed the Slovaks in America to assert their national identity as an independent people. He asserted how the Slovaks had only joined the Czechoslovak movement on the premise that they would be treated fairly and as equals and highlighted a reg37 "The conflict between Czechs and Slovaks," NSS Records, B: 168, F: SLA, IHRC. For many examples, see: "The Slovaks- Past and Present," in Stephen J. Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism to Atheistic Czech Communism (Cambridge, MA : Hampshire Press, 1948), 40-3 . Stephen J. Palickar, "Czech and Slovak at Odds: Both Sides of the Controversy - From the Slovak Standpoint," Current History, 22 , 5 (Aug 1925), 784-6. "A Dark Spot in Czecho-Slovakia," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism , 43-45 . "Who is Masaryk?," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 49-51 . "S lovakia-whither bound," in Palickar, Slovakia : From Hungarian Despotism, 76-83. "Slovak Catholicism vs. Czech Communism," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 84-86. "Slovak Grievance," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 70-72 . "President Masaryk and his State," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 61-62. "Scotus Viator Surveys Slovakia," in Palickar, Slo vakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 72-75. Stephen J. Palickar, Slovakia of Today (A Lecture), December 12, 1933 , Columbi a University (New York: Slovak Library Association, 1933). 38 �SLOVAKIA 2019 37 ular sense of duplicity and condescension the Slovaks felt from the Czechs. Hlekto praised the Pittsburgh Agreement as having resolved these conflicts, before Masaryk ultimately betrayed his promise, and he gave a detailed defense of its validity and of the right of the Slovak-Americans to speak for their nation during the war. 39 The Slovak-American autonomists shortly thereafter produced an even longer book on the topic . Written by Peter P. Hletko under the pseudonym , "An Autonomist," it served as the most exhaustive consideration of the Slovak question in Eng lish in the early 20 th century. Hletko placed blame on Czech intransigence for fueling the issue unnecessarily. The book argued that the Czechos lovak revolution relied on American money and manpower and "should the President (Masaryk) have failed to dispel the fear and dissatisfaction of the Slovaks through the Moscow and Pittsburgh Agreements, there certainly would not be a Czecho-Slovakia today. " The book then deconstructed Prague 's policies toward the Slovaks, to show Czechoslovakism as a means of hegemony. Hletko considered every issue from the Czech obfuscation on autonomy, the complicity of the Slovak centrali sts, the language issue, schools, and the economy, and he explained the claims of Slovak neediness and incompetence, as we ll as the claimed threat of Hungary, as only a fa<;:ade to justify Czech dominance. He likewise gave examples of Slovak intellectuals to dispute the claim that the Slovaks needed the Czechs to serve that role. He then detailed the domination of Slovakia's administration, civi l service, education system, and cultura l institutions by Slovak centralists and Czechs, and the press censorship and smear campaigns. Ultimately, he concluded that Czechoslovakism was undermining the state and mu st be reversed. Hletko concluded: Th e motive that has promoted us to write this work is not one of revenge, nor a desire to arouse bad feeling, but simply to expose falsehood and reveal truth. It is our sincere hope that, the truth being known, it will enable the Czechs and Slovaks to form a more stable union which will promote justice, trust, and good 39 Slovak Catholi c Federation of America, The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (S lovak Cath olic Federation of America, 1934). Joseph C. Krajsa, " Dr. Peter Hletko, Most Elite of American Slovaks," Slovakia, 22, 45 ( 1972), 57-9. �38 SLOVAKIA 2019 will, and thereby insure national integrity both at home and abroad. 40 A few non-Slovak publications did favor Slovak autonomy . For example, some historians of the First World War, such as Jan Opocensky and C. A. Macartney, attempted to present a balanced consideration of the Slovak question, giving voice to Slovak autonomist concerns.4 1 There were also several publications that utilized the Slovak question to criticize the broader Versailles system . Writer and journalist E. Alexander Powell , for example, highlighted the differences between the Czechs and Slovaks as an example of the precariousness of the region ' s political stability. Although not particularly admiring of the Slovaks, Powell was highly critical of the Czech treatment of them. He commented, "The Czechs, an energetic, ambitious, progressive, and aggressive people, who outnumber the Slovaks three to one, look with condescension, if not contempt, on their less literate, slower thinking, more easy-going partners, whom, if the truth be known , they regard as immensely inferior to themselves." These scholars all argued that the Czechs needed to treat their minorities with more respect and make good on promises for Slovak autonomy for the sake of the survival of the state. 42 A few works were even somewhat favorable to the Slovaks. One such example came from writer Kenneth L. Roberts , who after visiting Czechoslovakia complained, "The Czechs want to socialize everything in sight, and the Slovaks are not poignantly eager to be social- 40 An Autonomist, Slovakia 's Plea for Autonomy (Middletown, Pa: Slovak Literary Society, 1935). 41 Jan Opocensky, The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Mon archy and the Rise of the Czechoslovak Stale (Prague: Orbis, 1928), 153-68, I 93-214. C. A. MaCartney, National States and National Min orities (London : Oxford Uni versity Press, 1934), 117, 201 ,208. 42 E. Alexander Powell , The Danger on th e Danube (New York: Century Company, 1928), 56-8, 62-8, 72-4. M. W. Fodor, South of Hiller (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1939). For oth er examples, see : C. A. Macartney, Hungary and her Successors: The Treaty of Trianon and its Consequences, 1919-193 7 (London : Oxford University Press, 1937/ 1965), 73-148. Frank H. Simonds, Can Europe Keep th e Peace? (New York : Harper, I 93 I), 92-10 I. Isaiah Bowman, The New World: Problems in Political Geography, 4th ed. (Yonkers, NY : World Book, 1928). Harold Temperley, " How the Hungari an Frontiers were Drawn," Foreign Affairs, 6, 3 (April 1928), 432-47 . �SLOVAKIA 2019 39 ized." Comparing the Czechs in Slovakia to U.S. Civil War carpetbaggers, he criticized the Czech administration of Slovakia, their denial of autonomy, and called out Czechoslovakism as a lie. He alternatively praised the Slovaks as "among the most attractive and lovable peasant people of the many I have seen." An article by journalist Robert Sage, after a visit to Slovakia, likewise chided the Czechs for using claims of generosi ty as a mirage for domination over Slovakia. 43 The SLA ultimately made good on its threat to take the issue to the world stage, presenting the Slovak question to the League of Nations in 1932. It produced a long legal brief, which appealed for a cessation of wrongdoing against the Slovaks and the granting of political and cultural autonomy. It then begged the League of Nations to recognize the Slovaks as an independent nation, to demand the implementation of the Pittsburgh Agreement, to investigate ill treatment, and to grant recognition of the Slovaks as a true minority in Czechoslovakia. It pointed out how the Slovak-Americans had made multiple attempts to reach out to Prague to explain their concerns and offer an olive branch towards a solution, but that Prague had ignored their appeals and through censorship had silenced their brothers in Slovakia. The document then went on to detail the history of the founding of the state and the Pittsburgh Agreement, their complaints of ill-treatment against the Slovaks, and their view as to why the 44 Slovaks were an independent people. This appeal was unsuccessful. Slovak-Americans also regularly wrote to U.S. government officials. One such example was an "Open Letter" to Masaryk in 1923 that the Slovak Catholic Federation in America also sent to President Coolidge, members of Congress, all the embassies in Prague, and to the American press. The document started with an image of Masaryk approaching the Slovak-Americans as equals during the war, to 43 Kenneth L. Roberts, Europe's Morning After (New York: Harper Brothers, 1921 ), 121-73. Kenneth L. Roberts, Why Europe l eaves Home (New York: Bobbs-Merrill , 1922), 28-31 . Robert Sage, "There's no such Nationality as Czecho-Slovak," Chicago Daily Tribune, Jan 2, 1930, 6. For other examples, see: Felix John Vondracek, The Foreign Policy of Czechoslovakia / 918-1935 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1937), 377-9. Alexander Szana, Die Geschichte der Slowakei (Bratislava: Grenzenbote Verlag, 1930). Robert Nowak, Der Kiinstliche Staal: Ostprobleme der Tschecho-Slowakei (Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling, 1938). 44 "To the Supreme Council of the League of Nations at Geneva," SlA Cabinet, F: Supreme Council of the l eague of Na tions at Geneva, 1932, SI. �40 SLOVAKIA 2019 which they responded with loyalty and support. Masaryk then betrayed them, treating the Slovaks "in step-mother fashion, nay, even like slaves," having lured them into "an invisible net of imperialistic aspirations, renounced openly that which is to every nation and to us 'ignorant' Slovaks inviolable, priceless, sacred." It bemoaned that the Slovaks again felt endangered in their national existence, and how the Czechs misled the world on the issue. It appealed for Masaryk "to acknowledge and fulfill that which you had promised us, the American Slovaks," for the sake of Czech-Slovak unity and the secu45 rity of the state. This letter elicited a response from the Slovak-American centralists. The National Slovak Society, the Slovak Sokol, and assorted editors produced a counter response to Masaryk, which they then sent to Coolidge and Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. This document asserted open support for the idea that the Czechs and Slovaks were one nation. It criticized the SCF letter for having "a spirit of narrow sectarianism," in contrast to "the great majority of the American Slovaks," who supported Masaryk "heart and soul." The document praised Masaryk and the Czechoslovak state for bringing cultural and economic development to Slovakia and it mentioned the centralist Slovaks in the government as a sign of Czech inclusiveness. The text also apologized for the Czech administration of Slovakia, bemoaning that Slovakia lacked enough competent officials. It then claimed that Prague had carried out the Pittsburgh Agreement in full , adding that "during the war neither the Czechs nor the Slovaks demanded self-determination for each separately; they demanded self-determination for the Czechoslovaks." 46 To the frustration of the Slovak autonomists, this campaign barely registered among U.S. officials in Washington. American officials at the U.S. Embassy in Prague paid slightly more attention, although most addressed it only passively and most often from the Czechoslo45 Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Open Letter to Thomas G. Masaryk, President of the Czecho-S/ovak Republic (Slovak Catholic Federation of America : 1923). Found in : "Einstein to SoS, No. 611 ," 20 February 1924, F#: 860F.0l / 162, DoS CS 1910-44. The New York Times reported on the letter: " Slovak Protest to All Nations," New York Times, Mar. 12, 1924, 34. 46 National Slovak Society, et al. , An Open Letter to Thomas G. Masaryk, President of Czechoslovakia ( I 924), in "Joseph Jan eek to Coolidge," 3 May 1924, F# : 860F.0l / 164, Dos cs 1910-44 �SLOVAKIA 2019 41 vakist perspective. The American Ambassador during the 1920s, Lewis Einstein, for example, reported on the SCF letter, misrepresenting it as "a violent indictment of Czech policy in Slovakia," and praised Prague for "accomplishing there a work of civilization. By introducing education and schools in a population where a high degree of illiteracy existed, by bringing in public hygiene, orderly justice and a better fiscal system, they are laying the foundations for the future. " Accordingly, in his view the Slovaks only needed proper education to unify with the Czechs . Ultimately, "Only one thing can be excluded, which is Slovakian autonomy." 47 In another attempt at outreach, Adam Podkrivacky as President of the FCSU wrote to John Hickerson, acting Chief of Western European Affairs at the U.S . State Department. Podkrivacky complained about the U.S. Consul General in Prague sending out correspondence to Slovakia in the Czech language instead of Slovak. He also requested that the State Department use the hyphen when writing 'Czecho-Slovakia. ' Podkrivacky then supplied Hickerson a copy of an autonomist political pamphlet, to "acquaint better with the political situation just as it exists between the Slovaks and the Czechs in Czecho-Slovakia." Hickerson forwarded the letter to the embassy in Prague and asked for a report on the Slovak question. Charge d' affaires J. Web Benton responded, declaring the letter unacceptable due to the threat posed by Czechoslovakia's neighbors. He also made the usual ethnographic arguments, adding how "Czech culture has contributed measurably to the advancement of Slovakia," and predicted the issue would dissipate. Benton dismissed the pamphlet as simply "anti-government propaganda ... the request for autonomy, in the sense of a separate parliament as mentioned in the Pittsburgh Pact, is something that no truly patriotic and far-seeing Slovak could at present afford to advocate." He added, "I assume that the Department will pay no further attention to his communications, but it seems not inopportune to observe that Czech is the official language of this country."48 While a few U.S. diplomats from the period, notably Lewis Einstein, came to develop a more nuanced view on the topic, this ended each time new embassy staff took over. 47 "Einstein to SoS , No . 611 ," DoS CS 1910-44. "Adam Podkrivac ky to John Hickerson," 29 March 1937, F#: 860F.0l / 18 1, DoS CS 1910-44. " Movement for Slovak Autonomy," 30 April 1937, F#: 860F .01 /184, DoS CS 1910-44. 48 �42 SLOVAKIA 2019 The dismissal of Slovak-American pleas stood in contrast to a disproportionate concern among American officials about the proHungarian Slovaks living abroad. The Rothermere campaign spurred some interest, and while some Americans expressed some sympathy to it, including chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee William Borah and publisher William Randolph Hearst, the U.S. Embassy in Prague wrote profusely about how the Slovaks remained opposed to a return to Hungary. When the exiled nationalist communist Slovak Vince Mihalus created an exile Slovak government in 1928, the State Department gave him disproportionate consideration, even though he held little popular support in Slovakia. Jehlicka reached out to Washington, calling for support against "Czech tyranny" and requesting support for recognition of the Slovaks as a minority in the League of Nations. The Czechoslovak embassy directed the State Department in its response, simply informing U.S. officials that Jehlicka only organized a "small number of Slovak renegades, mostly of Hungarian origin." 49 This flurry of publishing was very much a product of the widespread transatlantic interaction between Slovakia and the United States, as Slovak leaders on both sides of the Atlantic travelled between Europe and North America as they attempted to coordinate common political action. In the early 1920s, Prague still had hopes of guiding the Slovak-Americans to the centralist cause, despite the sentiment building against it. One major effort was the creation of a Slovak League in Slovakia by centralist Slovaks, designed to serve 49 Czechoslovak Ambassador Vladimir Hurban exchanged several letters with Hearst on the issue, facilitated by the State Department, eventually convincing Hearst to no longer give a voice to Rothermere and his supporters. "Einstein to SoS, No. 1355," 30 July 1927, F#: 860F.4016/4, DoS CS 1910-44. "J. Butler Wright to SoS, No. 62," 15 Oct 1927, F#: 860F.4016/9, DoS CS 1910-44. "Vladimir Hurban to William Randolph Hearst," 27 May 1937, & " Hurban to Cordell Hull," 4 June 1937, F#: 860F.00/437 & 438 , DoS CS 1910-44. "Council of State of Slovakia to SoS," 6 Nov 1928, F#: 860F.01 / 171 & 172, DoS CS 1910-44. "Nelson Torsler Johnson to Einstein," 28 Jan 1929, F#: 860F.01 / 171 , DoS CS 1910-44. "Gittings to SoS, No. 1747," 28 Feb 1929, F#: 860F.0l/173, DoS CS 1910-44. "Gittings to SoS, No. 1756," 9 Mar 1929, F#: 860F.0l / 174, DoS CS 1910-44. "Washburn to SoS, No. 2153." "Einstein to SoS, No. 516," 20 Sep 1923, F#: 860F.00/2 14, DoS CS 1910-44. "SoS to Geneva and Prague," 30 July 1933, F#: 860F.00/345, DoS CS 1910-44. "Prentiss B. Gilbert to SoS, No. 650," 8 Aug 1933 , F#: 860F.00/346, DoS CS 191044. "SoS to Geneva and Prague," 29 Aug 1933, F#: 860F.00/346, DoS CS 1910-44. �SLOVAKIA 2019 43 as a counterpart to the SLA and to build common action across the Atlantic. This effort failed, however, after the Slovak League of America refused to cooperate with it. 50 With autonomist sentiment among the American Slovaks sharpening, Prague sent Slovak centralist leader Vavro Srobar to the United States in 1923. While Srobar attempted to unify the Slovak-Americans behind centralism, his visit had the opposite effect of galvanizing the Slovak-American autonomists. Srobar received support from sympathetic groups such as the Slovak Sokol, but the SLA and other autonomist organizations boycotted his speeches. Prague sent other figures to agitate for centralism, including the priest Jozef Rudinsky and agrarian politician Fedor Ruppeldt. Seton-Watson also reached out to the SlovakAmericans in several letters and later in a visit in 1935 , during which he appealed to the Slovak-Americans to encourage the Slovaks in . · 51 SI ova k ia against autonomy. The efforts by centralists did not change the status quo, as the Slovak-American autonomists remained firm in their opinions and openly repudiated centralist arguments. Pankuch, for example, felt that the only result of Srobar's visit was to destroy Czech-Slovak 52 unity and the internal unity of the Slovak-Americans. Ruppelt in tum complained how even among the Slovak Lutherans he constantly had to fight against autonomist sentiment. 53 With the dividing lines firmly set, the Slovak-American centralists and autonomists quit mutual involvement in each other's organizations and the centralists began a continuous propaganda campaign against the SLA backed by Prague. For example, after Slovak-American autonomists 50 Ignac Gessay, Kratke Dejiny S/ovenskej Ligy Na S/ovensku: od Zalozenia po 1. 0kt. 1926 (Bratislava: Slovenska Liga na Slovensku, 1926). "Nova ohlavka- stary kon. Pozor na Slovensku ligu!" 27 Oct 1924, Bratislava (No 68), in Jozef Tiso, Prejavy a Clanky (1913-193 8), eds. Miroslav Fabricius & Ladislav Susko (Bratislava: Historicky 'ustav SA V, 2002),), 196-7. 51 "An Appeal ," PF: Bie/ek, SI. Pankuch, Histo ry, 177-86. "Seton-Watson to Vojtech Mastny" (Doc 124), in Seton -Watson, 375-6. "Odkaz Scotus Viatora Americkym Slovakom" (Doc 125), in Seton-Watson, 377-80. "Seton-Watson to Stefan Osusky "' (Doc 128) & "Osusky to Seton-Watson" (Doc 129), in Seton-Watson, 3857. Mikus, "Slovak League," 46-7. Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, 1864-1926 (Bratislava: Knihtlaciarne Sv. Andreja, 1934), 503-5 . Palickar, "Czech and Slovak." Tomas Capek, Nase Amerika (Prague: Nakladem Narodni Rady Ceskoslovenske, 1926), 113. 52 Pankuch, History, 180. 53 " Fedor Ruppeldt to Seton-Watson" (Doc 149), in Seton-Watson, 441-2 . �44 SLOVAKIA 2019 confronted him, Srobar reportedly lashed out at them as "knownothing drunkards" and traitors against the Republic. 54 While the Slovaks in America had been legitimate Slovaks when Masaryk needed them during the war, once they became a threat, the centralists began to categorize them as United States citizens, whose influence should not extend beyond America. 55 When the Czechoslovak Government offered a special commendation to the SLA on Czechoslovakia's l 0th anniversary in 1928, for its role in the creation of the state, the Slovak League of America rejected it. 56 The Slovak autonomists in Slovakia perceived things quite differently. Many Slovak nationalist leaders believed that the nation as an ethnic and cultural foundation transcended the state, and offered regular praise of the Slovak-Americans as fighters for Slovak liberty and autonomy. Figures such as Hlinka and Lutheran autonomist leader Emil Stodola openly praised the Slovak-Americans and their role in the fight for autonomy, and argued that their past actions allowed the American Slovaks an equal right to speak about the fate of the Slovak homeland. 57 SPP leader Jozef Tiso extolled, "In this (Pittsburgh) agreement we see the heritage of our own American brothers, for which we will fight with the honor and the tenacity of the Slovak spirit, which is not intimidated by prison, the malice of the world, nor the cynicism of centralist agents." Tiso praised the "real Slovak patriots," working in the "free air of America," and he even posited that the Slovak-Americans had a better claim to speak for the Slovaks than the Slovak centralists did, because the SlovakAmericans had made the revolution successful with their blood, treasure and propaganda.58 Slovak scholars also published multiple 54 "A. S. Ambrose to Seton-Watson" (Doc 126) in Seton-Watson, 381-2. "Aby uz raz bolo jasno a aby prestaly r6zne narknutia proti Slov. Lige," PF: Bielek, SI. 55 Masaryk, for example, used such logic to dismiss the Pittsburgh Agreement, which he called a "local understanding between American Czechs and Slovaks," whose "signatories were mainly American citizens, only two of them being nonAmericans." Masaryk, Making, 208-11. 56 Stolarik, Where is my Hom e?, 98 . 57 "Hlinka on Scotus Viator" (Doc 109), in Seton-Watson, 345-53. Emil Stodola, Pre/om: Spomienky, Uvahy, Studie (Praha: L. Mazac, 1933), 193-4. 58 "Novy vykrik bratov z Ameriky," 24 Feb 1924, Bratislava (No 43), in Tiso, Prejavy, 157-9. " Pittsburghska dohoda - neplatna?!" 29 May 1924, Bratislava (no 57), in Tiso, Prejavy, 179-80. "Parliamentary Speech," 25 Nov 1931, Prague (No I 64), in Ti so, Preja vy, 347. "Speech to Public Assembly of the Slovak People 's �SLOVAKIA 2019 45 studies of the Slovak-Americans and their role m Slovak national development. 59 Slovak autonomists openly expressed these sentiments through regular trips to the United States. These attempts at direct engagement were nonetheless slow to start. Prague regularly prevented such trips, including the denial of a passport to Bishop Jan Vojtassak out of concern that he would agitate for autonomy and collect money for the SPP while in the United States. The barrier broke in 1926 when Hlinka accepted an invitation to visit America from editor Jozef Husek and the Friends of Slovak Freedom, sponsored by the SLA, the FCSU, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union (FCSLU). Hlinka desired to visit the United States to thank the Slovak-Americans in person for their support for Slovak self-determination, to explain firsthand the political situation in Slovakia, and to encourage them to keep fighting. After stalling on the process, Prague ultimately relented to avoid the resulting outrage had they refused. They issued Hlinka a passport to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. Hlinka's visit lasted from June 5 to October 13. Although Hlinka expressed some trepidation that Slovak-American centralists would treat him with hostility, Slovak-American autonomist leaders Josef Husek and Anton Kompanek convinced him the experience would prove the opposite. This claim proved true, as Hlinka received hundreds of invitations to speak to overflowing crowds on each occasion. Demand was so high that, then SLA president Ivan Bielek had to write an article emphasizing Hlinka's time limitations to try to tame expectations. During his visit, Hlinka travelled around the U.S. East and Midwest, visiting local Slovak communities. He regularly attended and celebrated Mass and held meetings with SlovakAmerican organizations, including the SLA from whom he received an honorary membership . Hlinka visited assorted Slovak-American institutions, surveying Slovak-American newsrooms, printeries, Party," 18 August 1937 & 25 August 1937, Bratislava (No 251 & 252), in Tiso, Prejavy, 523-4. "Nase narodnopo liticke palladium," 5 June 1938 (No 260), in Tiso, Prejavy, 543-4. Kon stantin Culen, Po Sviitop/ukovi druha nasa h/ava: Zivot Dr. Jozefa Tisu (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1947), 182-3. 59 Jozef Rudinsky, V Amerike a doma (Ruzomberok: Rudinsky, 1921 ). Karol Sidor, S/ovaci v zahranicnom odboji (Bratislava: Jednota, 1928). Matica Slovenska, S/ovenskej verejenosti v Amerike (Mati ca slovenska , 1937). Konstantin Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava: Knihtlaciarei'l Andreja, 193 7) . �46 SLOVAK.IA 2019 schools, and churches. Overall, Hlinka held rallies at 80 locations, gave 200 speeches, and visited more than 100 Slovak parishes. Hlinka's visit spurred a level of excitement and activity among the Slovak-Americans that would never recur. 60 Hlinka kept his goal of directly exposing the Slovak question during his visit. He regularly spoke on the issue, and carried a copy of a censored Slovak nationalist newspaper as evidence. During his visit, Hlinka could not help but contrast the image of America with his experience in Czechoslovakia. In one such speech, he made clear that the Slovaks .. . would prefer not to quarrel with the Bohemians, but when they preach democracy and at the same time practice deceptions and aggression, we have no choice but to oppose them ... America is a superior nation and a master democratic republic. It has a splendid constitution which not only guarantees the rights and liberties to the people, but sees that they get them as well. Hlinka likewise extolled the "firm individuality" that the SlovakAmericans had gained, and he highlighted the sense of natural connection between Slovaks and Americans. "A good Slovak who comes to America makes a good American, and all good SlovakAmericans, including the new generations born in America from Slovak extraction will appreciate what they have inherited from their Slovak ancestry. Neither will they forget Slovakia." In his farewell speech, Hlinka expressed how the Slovak-Americans had filled him with national pride. He affirmed, "I saw the large affl uence of Slovaks, these Slovaks who under the Tatras suffered from hardship and physical and spiritual want," and prai sed how they helped sustain the Slovak nation. He finally asked of them, "do not forget that under the Tatras stand your cradle and your old homeland, our hard-tested and suffering Slovakia!" 61 60 Adamec, "Slovak Catholic Federation ," 223-32. Sidor, Hlinka, 503-5, 510-1 I, 543 -52 . Sidor, "The Slovak League," 57-9. Mikus, "S lovak League," 46-7 . Jozef Pauco, "75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union," Furdek, 5 ( 1966), 65 -74. 61 Palickar, " Monsignor Hlinka- The Man," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism , 51-6, 55 . Palickar, " My Interview with Msgr. Hlinka," in Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 56-9. Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, 543-52. �SLOVAKIA 2019 47 In the 1930s, the Slovak-Americans experienced a few more visits from notable figures. One such visit was from the Slovak cultural organization Matica slovenska, in 1935 . The Slovak-Americans had regular contact with the Matica in the 1920s and there remained regular efforts to create an American branch of the organization.62 With the outbreak of the Great Depression, however, interest and funding for Slovak cultural programs in America declined. The Matica decided a visit to America was necessary to reverse thi s process, which they interpreted as the Slovak-Americans becoming too Americanized. The organization ' s director, the writer Jozef C. Hronsky, led the delegation, but it also included historian Konstantin Culen, and the artist Jozef Cincik, among others. These individuals gave many lectures and supplied ample literature and art, including a donation of libraries of Slovak material to the cities of New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago.63 While they found that some second and third generation Slovak-Americans had lost touch with Slovak culture, the delegates gave high praise to the Slovak-Americans for the interest they showed in the lectures, music, art and other cultural information the Matica provided. The experience led Culen to adopt the task of writing a history of Slovak-Americans. The linguist Jozef G. Konus likewise noted how "the Slovak spirit opens up more in free America than the lush fantasie s at home could imagine." When the White House wrote a statement for a Slovak-American information brochure praising the Slovaks as a "healthy minded, freedomloving and determined people," the Matica hailed it as evidence of Slovak democratic bona tides. Ultimately, the delegation praised the trip as very much a success, and took back ample material on the Slovak-Americans for placement in the Slovak National Library. The Matica left satisfied that Slovak culture remained firm in America, although it put pressure on the Slovak-Americans to improve their direct cultural linkages with the homeland. 64 62 To see many examples of this communicati on, see: The Ma tica slovenskti, Martin, Slovakia, re: American Slovaks Papers, IHRC . 63 According to Mark Stol arik, th e Mati ca brought 84 crates of books, totaling 4 I ,000 volumes, while visiting 98 separate Slovak-American communities. Stolarik, Wh ere is my Home?, 96-100. 64 "Vianoce Maticnej delegacie," Slovensko, 2, 5 & 6 (Jan-Feb 1936), 87-8. Konstantin Culen, "Co m6ze dat' Amerika slovenskej historii ," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), 87-8. Jozef C. Hronsky, " Mati ca v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (March 1936), 110-13. Jozef G. Konus, " Matica v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), I I6-18 . �48 SLOVAK.IA 2019 The final major figure to visit America was the Reverend Jozef Tiso in 1937, with the Catholic cultural organization Spolok Sv. Vojtecha. Much like Hlinka, Tiso celebrated mass and heard confessions during his visit, spoke at public assemblies and met with many American priests, journalists, and Slovak-American leaders. He also attended other broader Catholic events, including the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and met with the Papal delegation in Washington, D.C. Tiso made a broad effort to learn about American political life, to determine what Slovak leaders could transfer back to Slovakia. He particularly admired American technical prowess in organization and publishing, which he saw as facilitating a more efficient Catholic organization and action, and conceptualized a plan to send young Slovak leaders to America to learn American methods of organization. Tiso also praised the Slovak-American sense of independence and pride in their Slovak identity. Seeing how the Slovaks had developed on independent terms in the vast American melting pot, Tiso interpreted the Slovak-American experience as proof of Slovak capabilities and their merit for self-determination. Tiso never gave up his sense of solidarity with the Slovak-Americans, and referenced his visit to affirm his desired direction for the Slovaks. 65 The only visit to the United States by a Slovak official to gamer much attention from Washington was Srobar's in 1923. American diplomat Einstein provided notice of the visit, adding that it was "doubtless intended to counteract the seditious anti-Czech propaganda which has been going on for some time both in Slovakia, where it is fomented by Magyar intrigues, and among the Slovak clericals in the United States." Although, he noted that the Slovak autonomy movement remained "noisy and violent in its methods but unaided it can do little and it is not at present causing here any serious conJozef G. Konu s, "Matica v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), 116-18. Jozef Hronsky, "Na margo americkeho zapisnika," S/o vensko, 2, IO & I I (June-July 1936), 177-80. Jozef Cincik, "Na margo americkeho zapisnaka," Slo vensko , 2, IO & 11 (June-July 1936), 181-6. " Maticna vystava v Clevelande," Slo vensko, 2, IO & 11 (June-July 1936), 181-4. " President Roosevelt pozdravuje slovensky narod," Slovensko , 2, 5 & 6 (Jan-Feb 1936), 79. "Slovenska Amerika sa hybe," S/ovensko, 4, 3 (Nov 1937), 32-3. "SLA to Sku ltety, I June 1935,".PF: Mamatey, SI. Stolarik, "Slovak League." J.A. Berta, "Slovak America and the Matica Slovenska," Furdek, 23 (1984), 163-71. 65 Culen, Po Sviiloplukovi, 182-9. "Speech about the state account balance from 1926," 23 February 1938, Prague (No 258), in Tiso, Prejavy, 533-6. �SLOVAKIA 2019 49 cem." 66 Several Slovak-American autonomists wrote to the State Department to complain about Srobar's visit, including a letter from a Slovak-American World War I veteran asking the Department to halt Srobar's lectures for sowing discord among the Slovaks in the United States. The most notable letter, however, came from the Reverend John Porubsky on behalf of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association. Porubsky criticized Srobar's claimed "cultural visit" as a ruse to propagandize on behalf of Czechoslovakism. He presented it as part of an effort by Prague, "To inoculate the masses of our people in America as a contracting party with such misconception and ethnographical nonsense," and to discredit the Pittsburgh Agreement. Claiming that Srobar "forgot the scope of his mission, even forgot himself in outbursts against leading Slovak American gentlemen, calling them vile names unworthy of a man of his position," Porubsky asked Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes to have him expelled from the country.67 This effort also spurred a response by Prague and its allies in the United States. These letters, in an organized campaign, all repeated versions of the same arguments. They complained that the opposition to Srobar consisted of "Jesuits and Bolsheviks" and other "enemies of the state" that were working for Czechoslovakia's destruction. Srobar was, alternatively, a great statesman fighting against them to bring cultural development to Slovakia. They also personally targeted Porubsky and the Slovak Newspapermen's Association: "The great majority of intelligent American Slovaks are heart and soul in accord with Dr. Srobar's patriotic works; only the ignorant and reactionary masses are ignobly and ignorantly supporting the destructive work of Rev. Porubsky and his few brawling associates." 68 Likewise, the Slovak Sokol, which had arranged Srobar's visit from the American end, took credit for the visit, praising how Srobar had "proved to 66 " Einstein to SoS, No. 502 ," 29 Aug 1923, F#: 860F .0 I/ I 48, DoS CS 1910-44. "John Porubsky to Charles Evans Hughes," 31 Oct 1923 , F#: 860F.0 l/149, DoS CS 1910-44. "John J. Nedorostek to Hughes," 13 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.01/150, DoS cs 1910-44. 68 "V. Krali cek to Hughes," 12 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / 151 , DoS CS 1910-44. "J. Joscak to Hughes," 14 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / 154, DoS CS 1910-44. "Henry Russek to Hughes," 15 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l/156, DoS CS 1910-44. "C lement lhrisky & Joscak to Hughes," 15 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.0 l/152, DoS CS 1910-44. " Michael Kovalovsky to Hughes," 16 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0 1/157, DoS CS 1910-44. " Michael Olsavicki to Hughes," 19 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0 1/ 155, DoS CS 1910-44. 67 �50 SLOVAKIA 2019 the Slovaks of America that any fears as to the future of their former country are unfounded." 69 The State Department only sent back formulaic verification of receipts to these letters, except for one to John Zeman of the Slovak Sokol, thanking him for "setting forth the real purposes of the visit." William Phillips then requested President Coolidge to meet with Srobar, calling him "one of the five men who founded the Republic of Czechoslovakia," to which Coolidge obliged. 70 In 193 7, the Reverend Francis Dubosh of Lakewood, Ohio, attempted to arrange a meeting between officers of the SCF A, Jozef Tiso, and President Roosevelt, with the help of Monsignor Michael J. Ready at the Catholic University of America. The White House staff supported this meeting, but Roosevelt wanted to first confirm with the State Department so as not "to get mixed up in a Slovak controversy." After consulting with Czechoslovak Ambassador Vladimir Hurban, the State Department reported that the embassy made no official complaint, but that they themselves discouraged the visit with "the opinion that these persons are not of sufficient prominence for the President to receive them." After a back and forth in consideration of the issue, the White House ultimately declined, claiming 71 that the President was simply too busy. The Slovak-Americans also visited Slovakia. The most significant of these occurred in 193 8 in the tense period leading up to the Munich Agreement, when the Slovak League sent a delegation to celebrate the 20 th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement. Led by its President, Peter P. Hletko, the delegation, as a deliberate gesture, made its first formal visit in Slovakia to Andrej Hlinka in Rufomberok. The delegation travelled into Slovakia through Poland, to 69 "J. Zeman to Hughes," 18 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.01 / 153 , DoS CS 1910-44. "W. R. Castle to Association of Slovak Newspapermen of America," 6 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / l49, DoS CS 1910-44. "J. B. Wright to Kralicek," 20 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l/15I, DoS CS 1910-44. "Castle to Joscak," 20 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.01/l54, DoS CS 1910-44. "Castle to Zeman," I Dec 1923, F#: 860F.0l / l53 , DoS CS 191044. "William Phillips to G. B. Slemp, 12 Nov 1923," & "Slemp to Phillips, 12 Nov 1923," Coolidge Papers, Series I, 742. 71 "Roosevelt to M. H. McIntyre, 22 Oct 1937," " McIntyre to George F. Summerlin, 23 Oct 193 7," "Spruks to Summerlin, 27 Oct 193 7," "McIntyre to Roosevelt, 29 Oct 1937," "McIntyre to Summerlin, 3 Nov 1937," President 's Personal File (PPF), F: 639, Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (FDR), Hyde Park, New York. 70 �SLOVAKIA 2019 51 avoid Prague and Bratislava, and the Polish government hosted the delegation on their way through. Both the Slovak autonomists and the Slovak centralists sent representatives to corral them before they entered Slovakia. The centralists were, however, sent back early after Warsaw and Slovak-Americans embraced the SPP delegation as the official one. After arriving in Slovakia, the delegation showed the original of the Pittsburgh Agreement to Hlinka and spent most of the trip associating with the Slovak autonomists. Its activities included several visits to the Matica slovenska in Martin, to which it gifted an authenticated copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement and made clear commitments toward transatlantic cultural programs, including joint publications and a transatlantic cultural council. Prime Minister Milan Hodza also led a continued effort to meet and work with the visiting delegation, believing he could convince them to break their close affiliation with the SPP and align with the Agrarians instead. Out of respect, the delegation did meet with centralist officials, including Hodza and President Eduard Benes, whom they encouraged the granting of autonomy to Slovakia for the sake of unity in those very tense times. In a speech in Prague, Hletko made clear their objectives stating, "Our love for Slovakia and the Czechoslovak Republic has induced us to come here. The object of the Pittsburgh Declaration, the original of which we have brought with us, is not to weaken but to strengthen the Republic ." 72 When describing his meetings, Hletko said that Hodza promised a movement towards autonomy, yet Prague still rejected them. 73 Likewise, Ivan Derer was extremely critical of the SlovakAmericans during their visit, accusing them of having been brainwashed. He also dismissed them as representing a small, vocal minority, and smeared them as deliberate Hungarian, German, or Polish agents, if not otherwise simply duped by the machinations of these neighboring rivals. Derer complained, "This delegation, composed most of autonomists, expressed its separatist convictions during every opportunity, expressed anti-Czech interests, made light of work of 72 "Visit of American Slovak Delegation to Jubilee Congress, Bratislava; Slovak Demands for Autonomy," 6 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/534, DoS CS 1910-44. 73 Hletko, "The Slovaks," 5-54. "Narodna Politika Roku 1938 : Ked Bol P. Hletko na Slovensku," B: Karol Sidor - Diplomat 1901-1958 - Vol 2, SI. Pavel KuklisKunovsky, Ako je na Slovensku ? Z vlastnych skusenosti napisa/ a vydal v mesiaci )uni /940 v Pittsburghu, Pa., U.S.A. (Pittsburgh: Narodne noviny, 1940), 4-7. �52 SLOVAK.IA 2019 the Czechoslovak government successes in Slovakia, ironized Czechoslovak oriented Slovaks." He was extremely derisive of Hletko, accusing him of not being truly Slovak, having been born in the United States, and as being "politically inexperienced, unknowledgeable about the conditions of Europe, Czechoslovakia and Slovakia." 74 The SLA visit culminated in the Jubilee Congress for the anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement on June 4, 1938 in Bratislava. A massive rally was organized where Hlinka, Tiso, and Hletko, among others, gave speeches. A large facsimile of the Pittsburgh Agreement surrounded on each side by the American and Slovak flags served as a backdrop. In his speech, Hletko showed the original copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement to the crowd, and praised the attention given to the Agreement. A formal proposal by the SPP in the Czechoslovak Parliament to amend the constitution to implement Slovak autonomy then followed. The centralists, led by Hodza, held a counter-rally two days later. They declared the rally more ambiguously as a celebration of the Slovak farmer, although Prague and the centralists promoted the event afterwards as a pro-state rally in opposition to autonomy. The SLA delegation also attended this celebration and Hletko gave a speech, simply affirming that the SLA continued to work for Slovak freedom . Hletko later claimed that the delegation warned the Czech and Slovak leaders they had met about the need to come to an accommodation on the Slovak question, in favor of autonomy, fearing that the issue might become larger with Adolph Hitler rattling his saber. Hletko claimed, however, that no one took this warning seriously. The delegation departed shortly before Hlinka's death in August of 1938, but the SPP sent a piece of earth from Hlinka's graveside to America. 75 74 Ivan Derer, S/ovensky vyvoj a /ud'acka zrada (Prague: K vasnicka a Hamp) , 1946), 183-9 . Derer was convinced the SLA was part of a Polish conspiracy to absorb Slovaki a, led by Karol Sidor. The SLA, however, openly rebuked Polish calls for absorption of Slovakia during its stop th ere. 75 The exact number of participants in each rally is unclear, but most accounts reflected similar participation rates (around one hundred thousand each) and photos of the Slovak Jubilee show a massive crowd. The urn containing the soil is still on display at the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Hletko, "The Slovaks," 5-54. " Wilbur Carr to SoS, no 122," 9 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/518, DoS CS 1910-44. " Farmers' Day at Bratislava; Demonstration of Slovak Branch of Czechoslovak Agrarian Party," IO June 1938, F#: 860F.00/531 , DoS CS 1910-44. " Po odchode delegatov Slov- �SLOVAKIA 2019 53 The U.S. Embassy took an interest in the SLA visit to Czechoslovakia in 1938, and U.S . Ambassador Wilbur Carr agreed to meet with the delegation. Carr reported that the visit was cordial and that the delegation affirmed to him that its visit was simply to promote good will and it did not desire to interfere in domestic issues in Czechoslovakia. Carr then stated that the SLA's visit to Czechoslovakia annoyed Prague, due to the enflamed minority issues of the time, but that Czechoslovak officials tried to maintain good will with the delegation, although this sentiment "lacked a ring of sincerity." Accordingly, Hletko admitted to Carr that the timing was not the best, but that it was not by design, since they had come simply for the anniversary celebration. Carr expected no harm from the visit. While Carr described the autonomy proposal and reported statements by Hletko and Jozef Rusek complementing the support of the Pittsburgh Agreement among the Slovaks, he countered by providing the text of an anti-autonomy speech by Derer and a section of Masaryk' s memoirs. Carr then misrepresented the Slovak-Americans as having felt embarrassed for having been "utilized by the Hlinka Party for partisan and election purposes." While Carr reported on each of the two rallies, he praised the Farmer's Day as turning into "a spontaneous demonstration of Czechoslovak unity, homage to Benes, and allegiance and confidence in its leader," hostility to autonomy, and featuring a much larger participation.76 While Czech and Slovak centralists worked to keep the SlovakAmericans at a distance after early efforts to court them failed, the Slovak autonomists on both sides of the Atlantic worked around Prague to coordinate their activities. Nevertheless, the autonomists had no means of pushing Prague towards changes on the Slovak question. The Slovak autonomists, however, continued their fight and never gave up. The transatlantic Slovak question during the interwar period established the roots for the eventual Slovak-Czech split. The failure to find a compromise between Slovak autonomists and centralists saw an entrenched distrust that contributed to the fall of the First Republic . When the Munich Agreement formally handed the enskej Ligy v Amerike," Slovensko, 5 ( I 939), 16-17. Sidor, "The Slovak League," 59-62. 76 "Carr to SoS , no 112," 31 May 1938, F#: 860F.00/5 l 0, DoS CS 1910-44. "Visit of American Slovak." "Carr to SoS, no 121 ," 8 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/517, DoS CS 1910-44. "Carr to SoS , No 122." "Farmers ' Day. " �54 SLOVAKIA 2019 Sudetenland to Germany in September of 1938, the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia demanded and received autonomy until the new SPP-led government there declared independence on March 14, 1939, following Nazi Germany's invasion of Bohemia and Moravia. Slovak-American autonomists, although distrustful of Nazi Germany, openly embraced the shift toward Slovak autonomy in the shortlived Second Republic, believing they could no longer trust the Czechs. Peter Hletko, for example, cheered how the Slovaks had "fought and won the victory." 77 Although initially hesitant to support complete independence, most Slovak-American autonomists, the moderates excepted, came to support the World War II Slovak State as a symbol of Slovak self-determination, even as they supported Allied victory in the war. While World War II and the subsequent Cold War limited direct linkages between Slovakia and North America, the same rifts on the Slovak question persisted on both sides of the Atlantic until the 1993 Velvet Divorce. 78 77 Jozef Pauco, "75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union," Furdek, 5 ( 1966), 6574. 78 For more on this topic during World War II and beyond, see: Michael Cude, Transatlantic Perspectives on the Slovak Question, I 9 I 4-/ 948 (PhD Diss., University of Co lorado-Boulder, 20 13 ). M. Mark Stolarik, Wh ere is my Home? Slovak Immigration to North America (/870-2010) (Bern: Peter Lang, 2012). M. Mark Stolarik, "The Slovak League of America and the Canadian League in the Struggle for the Self-determination of the Nation, 1907-1992," Slovakia, 39, 72 & 73 (2007), 7-35. � 18 SLOVAKIA 2019 THE TRANSATLANTIC SLOVAK QUESTION DURING THE INTERW AR YEARS Michael Cude The relationship of the Slovaks to the Czechs is an issue that has persisted through the modem hi story of the two peoples. From the 19 th century ' national awakenings ' in Austria-Hungary to the Velvet Divorce between the Slovaks and Czechs in 1993, this 'Slovak question' was at the center of key events, including the creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, its breakup and reestablishment after World War II, and the 1968 Prague Spring. 1 While many recent works have addressed the Slovak question, many have underappreciated the extent to which modem Slovak national identity formation was a transatlantic phenomenon. Historians examining this topic from the domestic Slovak perspective rarely delve deeply beyond Slovak borders, while histories of Slovaks abroad have focused predominantly on the Slovaks' place as immigrant communities . In doing so, such histories overlook how interlinked Slovak national politics in Slovakia were to Slovak communities abroad, particularly in North America, and the critical role they played in shaping Slovak national identity formation. Addressed by only a handful of recent works, the transatlantic Slovak question requires more attention.2 1 Reference key for shortened arc hi val ci tations: IHRC : Slovak American Collection, Immi gratio n History Research Center, University of Minneso ta. fil: Slovak Institute, Cleveland, OH. DoS CS 1910-44: Records of th e U.S. Department of Stale Relating to th e Internal Affairs of Czechoslovakia 1910-1944, Microfilm (Washin gton D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1982). 2 For some examples of sc holarship considering the Slovak question from a transatlantic perspective, see: M. Mark Sto larik, Where is my Home? Slovak Immigration to North America ( /8 70-2010) (Bern : Peter Lang, 2012). M. Mark Stolarik, "The Slovak League of America and the Canadian Slovak League in the Struggle for the Self-determination of the Nation, 1907- 1992," Slovakia, 39, 72 & 73 (2007), 7-35 . Marian Mark Stolarik, "The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of CzechoSlovakia, 1914-19 I 8," Slovak Studies, 8, Hi stori ca 5 ( 1968), 7-82. Stefan Kucik, Podiel americkych S!ovakov na aulonomistickom hnuti na Slovensku 191 8-/938 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 20 I I). Gregory Curtis Ference, Sixteen Months of Indecision : Slovak American Viewpoints Toward Compatriots and the Homeland from �SLOVAKIA 2019 19 The Slovak efforts abroad during World War I remain the best told component of this story. The foundation of the transatlantic Slovak question was laid in the periods leading up to the First World War, when Slovak-American organizations began to campaign for Slovak political autonomy within the Kingdom of Hungary. The central organization for Slovak national activism became the Slovak League of America (SLA), founded in May 1907 by Slovak-American leaders to unify the disparate Slovak groups in the United States in common political action. The SLA ' s main objectives were to develop the cultural and political life of the Slovaks in America as a means of supporting the cultural and political life of the Slovaks in the homeland and to fight for Slovak national self-determination. 3 World War I and its accompanying 'Wilsonian moment' entrenched important symbols of Slovak national self-determination, as Slovak immigrant communities contributed to the establishment of the new Czechoslovak Republic. The wartime Czechoslovak National Council and its leaders, including Thomas G. Masaryk and Milan R. Stefanik, utilized Slovak-American organizations for financial , military, and diplomatic support. Consequently, Slovak-American demands led to the creation of the most important document relating to Slovak nationalism for the following twenty years: the Pittsburgh Agreement. Signed on 31 May 1918, this document declared common action between the Czechs and Slovaks in the formation of a democratic republic. Nevertheless, the agreement made a clear assertion for Slovak autonomy, under the terms that the Slovaks would I 9 I 4 to I 9 I 5 as Viewed by the Slovak Language Press in Pennsylvania (Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna Uni versity Press, 1995). Michael Cude, "The Imagined Exiles: Slovak-Americans and the Slovak Question during the First Czechoslovak Republic," in From Exsilium to Exile: Coercion in Migration, Studia Historica Gedanensia, vo l. 5, ed. Anna Mazurkiewicz (Gdansk, Poland: University of Gdansk History Institute, 20 14), 287-305 3 Konstantin Culen, History of Slovaks in America, Daniel C. Necas, trans. (St. Paul, MN : Czechoslovak Genealogical Society, 2007). Jan Pankuch, History of the Slovaks of Cleveland and Lakewood, Rasto Gallo, trans. (Cleveland: Czechoslovak Genealogical Society & Western Reserve Historical Society, 2001), 29-38. Stolarik, " Rol e," 7-82 . Stephanie 0. Husek, "Slovak American Fraternal, Cultural, and Civic Organizations to 19 I 4," in Slovaks in America: A Bicentennial Study, Joseph C. Krajsa, ed. (Middletown: Slovak League of America, 1978), 23 -38 . Joseph A. Mikus "The Slovak League of America: A Historical Survey," in Slovaks, Krajsa, ed., 3956. R. Vladimir Baumgarten & Joseph Stefka, The National Slovak Society: JOO Year History, I 890-1990 (Pittsburgh: National Slovak Society, 1990), 17-33. �20 SLOVAKIA 2019 have their "own administration, own parliament, and own courts." In the short term, the Pittsburgh Agreement appeased the Slovak-Americans, who consolidated their support around the budding state, while Masaryk used the agreement to legitimize Czech-Slovak coop4 eration in his diplomatic efforts. This campaign allowed Slovak-American leaders a sense of direct influence on the affairs of their homeland, although the Czechoslovak National Council quickly stymied this hope. While the Slovak-Americans had been able to pressure Masaryk into symbolically accepting their goals for Slovak autonomy, their influence only extended to his need to provide evidence of Slovak participation in his political program as he sought recognition from the Entente powers. As a result, the Slovak-Americans found themselves on the margins during the building of the state . Accordingly, many historians consider the Pittsburgh Agreement as a matter of domestic Slovak politics after its initial signing, with little further consideration for the Slovaks abroad. In doing so, they neglect the fact that transatlantic activities continued through the interwar period.5 With the establishment of Czechoslovakia following the war, Slovak national activists on both sides of the Atlantic, hereto identi- 4 "Pittsburgska Dohoda" in Dok:umenty slovenskej narodnej identity a statnosti, vol. I, eds. Jan Benko, et al (Narodne literame centrum: Dom slovenskej literatury, 1998), 484-7. " Masaryk to Mamatey, 22 September 1918," SLA Cabinet, F:llth Congress, Slovak Institute (S I), Cleveland, OH. Pankuch, History, 145-50. Stolarik, "Role," 32-54. Karo l Sidor, ''The Slovak League of America and the Slovak Nation 's Struggle for Autonomy," Slovakia I 7, 40 ( I 967), 39-46. Peter P. Hletko, "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact," Slovakia l 8, 41 ( 1968), 5-54. Stanislav J. Kirschbaum , "The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Documents," in Slovakia 36, 66 & 67 ( 1998), 81-97. lmrich Mazar, A History of the Binghamton Slovaks : Over a Period of Forty Years, 1879-1919, ed. Wilhelmina Mazar Salina, trans. Thomas Janacek (Phoenix: Via Press, 2003), 203-17. Baumgarten & Stefka, National, 81-3. 5 James Ramon Felak, At the Price of the Republic: Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, 1929-1938 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, I 994). Peter A. Toma & Dusan Kovac, Slovakia: From Samo to Dzurinda (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 200 I). Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, A History of Slovakia : The Struggle for Survival, 2nd ed. (New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). Jan Rychlik, "Czech-Slovak Relations in Czechoslovakia, I 918-1939," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist and Fascist Europe, 1918- 1948, eds . Mark Cornwall, R.J.W . Evans (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 13-26. Elisabeth Bakke, "Czechoslovakism in Slovak History," in Slovakia in History, eds. Mikulas Teich, et al (Cambridge: Cambridge Univers ity Press, 2011), 247-68. �SLOVAKIA 2019 21 fied as the Slovak 'autonomists,' had full expectations of a federal relationship that would recognize Slovak cultural uniqueness and grant the Slovaks civic equality with autonomy over domestic affairs under the terms of the Pittsburgh Agreement. In contrast, most Czech leaders wanted a strongly centralized state, justified by arguments of the commonality of the Czechs and Slovaks, the threat of Hungarian and German irredentism, and the believed necessity of Czech oversight to modernize Slovakia. They relied on support from Slovak ' centralists,' who identified the Czechs and Slovaks as a common people. Slovak autonomists, who saw the Slovaks as a culturally distinct people from the Czechs, perceived this ' Prague centralism' as a form of cultural and political hegemony. In response, they replanted their fight over the Slovak question against the newly formed government in Prague. Both autonomists and centralists mobilized Slovaks at home and abroad behind their version of the state, with the transatlantic component focused on lobbying foreign governments. As with many other nationality groups, Slovak leaders saw the postwar peace process as a key moment to make their case. With the centralists represented at the Versailles Peace Conference by the formal delegation from Czechoslovakia, the autonomists attempted to present their own view, including a flurry of correspondence from Slovak-Americans to United States President Woodrow Wilson and an unofficial delegation led by Slovak nationalist leader Andrej Hlinka. The autonomists appealed for recognition of an independent Slovak identity and the establishment of a federalist system in Czechoslovakia that granted greater domestic political autonomy to Slovakia. Wilson and other western leaders, however, prioritized economic and political modernity as a necessary quality for selfgovernrnent. Czechoslovakia's centralist leaders appealed to the Wilsonian prioritization of modernism to gain American acceptance of their vision, and used a proposed uplift of the Slovaks into modernity to advance this cause. They nonetheless pursued this objective in a way that often cast the Slovaks in a disparaging light and sowed further discord. The Conference in turn legitimated this organization of the Czechoslovak state and ignored Slovak autonomist appeals. 6 6 For more, see : Michael Cude, "Wilsonian National Self-determination and the Slovak Question during th e Founding of Czechoslovakia, 1918-192 1," Diplomatic Histo,y (2016) 40, I: 155-80 �22 SLOVAKIA 2019 This failure at Versailles did not dissuade transatlantic Slovak activities. From the conclusion of the Treaty of Trianon in June 1920 to the Munich Agreement in September 1938, the Slovak question persisted in the First Czechoslovak Republic. The interwar period saw the Slovak autonomist movement survive with the Czechoslovak state arrayed against them . Slovak autonomists regularly looked across the Atlantic for support in pressuring Prague to change its stance. The Slovak autonomists continued to reference the spirit and goals of Wilsonianism to justify their claims for autonomy, and the Pittsburgh Agreement became their primary symbol. SlovakAmerican autonomists accepted their leading role of defending the Slovaks internationally, and they remained hopeful of convincing world leaders, particularly those in the United States, to embrace their view. This task remained an uphill battle, given the autonomists' inability to match the resources or international connections maintained by Prague, as centralists worked to discredit the idea of domestic autonomy for Slovakia. The Czech and Slovak centralists polarized the issue as a support for state unity through centralism or support for the destruction of the state through autonomy. In international appeals, the centralists disparaged Slovak capabilities for selfgovernment, and presented the Slovak autonomists as a parochial fringe, ignorant of world affairs. Accordingly, this transatlantic debate heavily contributed to the failure of the Czechoslovak concept in the interwar period by helping sow the entrenched distrust that culminated in the splintering of the Czechoslovak Republic in March of 1939. The question of Slovak autonomy remained a principal component of Slovak politics during the First Czechoslovak Republic. The Slovaks split into three general categories on the Slovak question. The smallest of these groups were the Czechoslovakists, who wanted a close, non-differential linkage with the Czechs. Vavro Srobar, the first appointed Minister for Slovakia in 1918, exemplified this faction. Another group consisted of moderate nationalists who pursued cooperation with the Czechs, but wanted recognition of separate Slovak identity and political autonomy. Milan Hodza, Prime Minister of the republic in the late 1930s and leader of the Agrarian Party, best exemplified this faction. Hodza and others supported a federalist model to address national minority questions. Most of the former two groups came from Slovakia's Lutheran minority. The Slovak auton- �SLOVAKIA 2019 23 omists, who were predominantly Catholics, were the most controversial. The Reverend Andrej Hlinka represented them as leader of the Slovak People 's Party. Hlinka and his supporters pushed for complete autonomy within Czechoslovakia, although the radical end of the party increasingly sought greater independence while a smaller minority even promoted a return to Hungary under a promise of autonomy. The Slovak People's Party (SPP) remained the most popular party in Slovakia and mixed cooperation with opposition to push for Slovak autonomy. The Agrarian Party followed in popular support, and it gradually pushed for more autonomy, albeit in a more deliberate fashion than the SPP. The Slovak National Party, the Slovak Communists, and the Hungarian Parties joined them in support of autonomy.7 Politically, some Slovaks took prominent positions in the central government, most notably Hodza. Prague allowed Slovak autonomists to organize and hold seats in Parliament, but it continued to censor nationali st viewpoints and it regularly pursued smear campaigns against Slovak autonomist leaders. The SPP joined the government in 1927, arranged by Hodza after promises of Slovak autonomy, but Hodza's plan proceeded in a watered-down fashion. The SPP participation lasted only two years before accusations of treason against radical politician Vojtech Tuka led to the SPP's withdrawal from the government. The SPP later exploited the Munich Agreement to force Prague's hand to achieve autonomy during the short-lived Second Republic, and then seceded from the state in March of 1939.8 7 Prague regularly promoted the idea that most of the Slovak people opposed autonomy, because the SPP only maintained 30-35% of the electorate in Slovakia. Although it is difficult to determine the true popular support of autonomy based strictly on the electoral support of each party, the support in Slovakia for Prague's version of centralism was probably we ll in the minority when one considers that the three largest parties-SPP, Agrarian, and Communists- all embraced some level of Slovak autonomy. 8 For more on this period in Slovak hi story, see: Yeshayahu A. Jelinek, The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists 1918- 1948 (New York: Columbia University, 1983). Susan Mikula, "The Politics of Frustration : The Slovak Politica l Experience, 191 8-1938," in Reflections on Slovak Histo ry, eds. Stanislav Kirschbaum & Anne C. Rom an (Toronto: Slovak World Congress, 1987), 73 -88. James Felak, "Slovak Considerations of the Slovak Question: The Ludak, Agrarian, Socialist, and Communi st views in lnterwar Czechoslovakia" in The Czech and Slovak Experience, ed . John Morison (New York: St. Martin's, 1992), 136-62. Felak, At the �24 SLOVAKIA 2019 The Slovak-A mericans also consolidated their positions on the issue in a similar fas hi on. After an early divide, the leaders of the Slovak League of America gave up on Prague and embraced the autonomist position, as did the large Catholic fraternal organization the First Catholic Slovak Union, and other, smaller organizations, such as the Friends of Slovak Freedom (FSF), an organization formed in the 1920s w ith the singul ar goal of addressing the Slovak question . The large, secular and large ly Protestant, fraternal organizations, the National Slovak Society and the Slovak Evangeli cal Un ion, at first embraced the centralist Slovaks, but nationalist pressure ultimatel y led them to try to moderate between the centrali st and autonomist positions. They ultim ate ly embraced the gradualist position of Hodza. In response, the Czechoslovaki sts established the Slovak National A lliance to serve as the arm of Prague among the SlovakAmericans, along with the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol. Consisting mostl y of secularists and some Lutherans, these organizations regularly attacked the SLA for its Catholic and autonomist leanings and promoted the strict uni ty of the Czechs and Slovaks. 9 As the Slovak question became entrenched in Czechoslovak politics, each competing side pursued a voluminous international lobby ing campaign to build western support for its respective position. This included a fact ion demanding a revision of the Trianon Treaty to return Slovakia to Hungary. The primary international Slovak advocate of this position was the Reverend Francis Jehlicka and hi s organization, the Slovak Council , founded in 1933 . Jehlicka had attended the Paris Peace Conference wi th Hlinka, but decided afterwards that the Slovaks could not trust the Czechs. Jehlicka remained abroad, where he lobbied fo r a Slovak reunion with Hungary based on Hun ga ri an promises of Slovak autonomy. He attempted to build Price of th e Republic. Toma & Kovac, Slovakia, 78-1 06. Kirsc hbaum, History of Slovakia , 155-84. Ryc hlik, "Czec h-Sl ovak Relations," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist, 13-2 6. R.J.W. Evans, " Hungarians, Czechs, and Slovaks : Some Mutual Perceptions," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist, I 09-22 . Mary Heimann, Czechoslovakia : The State that Failed (New Haven: Yale Uni vers ity Press, 2009), 48-86. Nata lia Kraj covicova, " Slovakia in Czechoslovakia," in Slovakia in History, 137-56. 9 Joseph Pauco, "Slovaks Abroad and Their Relati onship with Slovakia," in Slo vakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries, ed. Joseph M. Kirschbaum (Toronto: Slovak World Congress, 1973), 333-42. Josep h V. Adamec, "The Slovak Cath olic Federation," in Slovaks in America, 223-32 . Baumgarten & Stetl<a, National, 85-7. Pankuch, History, 177-86 . Stolarik, " Slovak League," 7-35 . �SLOVAKIA 2019 25 support from the Slovak-Americans by appealing to Slovakia's historical and economic roots in Hungary and exposing claimed mistreatment of the Slovaks by Prague. ' 0 Jehlicka could express his voice abroad because of support from Budapest and later Nazi Germany, and he convinced a few figures in the West, most notably the British publi sher Lord Rothermere, who campaigned on behalf of Hungary internationally. Jehlicka ' s arguments nevertheless carried little weight in other circles . Scottish historian R. W. Seton-Watson, a prominent supporter of the Czechoslovak Republic , pursued a constant back and forth against Jehlicka, and, on both sides of the Atlantic, Slovaks and Czechs of different politica l views unified against Slovakia ' s return to Hungary. The Slovak autonomi sts and centralists , for example, collaborated in an open letter denouncing Jehlicka . 11 Slovak-Americans likewise continued to lobby against Hungarian claims, reminding readers about the old magyarization policy to eliminate Slovak national identity. Slovak-American publisher Jan Pankuch claimed that this was the sole occas ion when the Slovak-American autonomi sts, Czech-Americans, and Slovak10 Anthony Pessenl ehner, "Czechoslovakia' s Ri ght to Statehood Assa iled," Current History, 14, 5 (Aug. I 92 1), 845-8. Dr. F. Jehlicka: Kto on je a co chce (C leveland: 1920). Francis Jehlicka, Reply to Mr. R. W. Seton-Watson 's Book 'Slovakia Th en and Now ' (Vienn a, 1932). The Slovak Co uncil , Th e Unsolved Slovak Problem (Vienna: Slovak Council, 1933). The Slovak Co un cil , Bolsevizmus a slovenska otazka (Geneva: Slovak Council , 193 6), in : 8 : Resolutions, Memoranda, Proclamations, SI. The Slovak Council , Sh ould Great Britain go to Wa r- fo r Czechoslovakia: An Appeal to British Common Sense for th e Sake of Wo rld Peace (London: Haze l, Watson, & Viney, 1937) . Francis Jehli cka, Fa1her Hlinka 's Struggle fo r Slovak Freedom (London: Slova k Council , 1938), 34-5. "The German Minister in Czechoslovaki a (Eisenlohr) to the German Foreign Ministry (Doc 57)," Documen1s on German Foreign Policy, Seri es D, V2 (Was hington, D.C. : U. S. Government Printing Office, 1947), 132-3 . 11 R.W. Seton-Watson, Treaty Revision and the Hungarian Frontiers ( London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1934). " Seton-Watson to Alois Ka lisek" (Doc I 32) in R. W. SetonWa tson and His Relations with the Czechs and Slovaks: Documents, / 906- 195 1, vol. I, eds. Jan Ryc hlik, et al (Prague: Ustav T. G. Masaryka, I 995), 393-6. "The Situati on in Slova ki a and the Magyar Minori ty" (Doc 139) in Seton-Watson, 409-25. "Seton-Watson to Martin Razus" (Doc 155 ) in Seton- Watson, 454-5 . "Fedor Ruppeldt to Seton-Watson" (Doc I 60) in Seton-Watson, 465-9. C. L Orbach, "Czechoslovakia ' s Place in the Sun," Current Histo1y, 14, 6 (Sept I 92 1), 944-5. Anonymous, "Another Defense of Czechoslovaki a" Curren/ History, 14, 6 (Sept 192 1), 945-6. Adam Poliak, "Czechos lova ki a's Right to Statehood," Current History, I 5, 3 (Dec I 92 1), 499. " Slovaki a' s Pro test" (Doc 156) in Seton-Watson, 456-9. �26 SLOVAKIA 2019 American centralists came together in common cause, although the resolution almost failed when the two sides sparred over whether the text should declare the Slovaks and Czechs as one nation. The proHungarian autonomists, thus, remained on the periphery of the Sio• 12 va k question. The unified opposition against Hungarian irredentism otherwise did little to ease the conflict between the centralists and autonomists. The Czech and Slovak centralists made the Slovak question a primary component of their international propaganda, and they often perpetuated negative stereotypes of the Slovaks to promote the Czechoslovak vision. The official press in Prague released ample publications by Czech nationali st leaders in the English language on the topic. President Masaryk, for example, made clear his disappointment with the "po litical immaturity" of the Slovak autonomist movement. Masaryk, who continued to highlight his own partial Slovak heritage, likewise claimed to have proven his great love for Slovakia by having liberated it from Hungary and he asserted that Slovak nationalists could prove their own love by embracing Prague 's authority. 13 Edvard Benes, who served as Foreign Minister until succeeding Masaryk to the presidency in 1935, in tum argued that the Czechs and Slovaks remained unified, except for a "fringe minority," working for a return to the pre-war order, and the "dictates of local , provin12 "Rezolucie Vznesene Ustrednym Vyborom Slovenskej Ligy v Amerike na schodzi , vzdrziavanej IO novembra 1920," Person File (PF): Bielek, SI. Association of Slovak Newspapermen of America, Count Albert Apponyi or Revival of Magyar Propaganda in America (Scranton, Pa: Bosak Press, 1923), in: B: Resolutions, SI. American Citizens of Slovak Origin, The Refutation to the Arguments of the Hungarian Kossuth Delegation ( 1928), in: The Podkrivacky, Adam Papers, B: 17, Slovak American Collection, Immigration History Research Center (IHRC), Uni versity of Minnesota. "What the Magyars Forget," The National Slovak Society (NSS) of the US.A . Records, B: 168, F: Slovak League of America (SLA), lHRC. "The Cleveland District Assembly of the SLA to Hoover," 4 December 1929, F#: 860F.00/306, Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Czechoslovakia 1910-1944 (DoS CS 1910-44), Microfilm (Washington D.C .: National Archi ves and Records Service, 1982). Pankuch, History, 186-90. 13 Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, The Making of a State: Memories and Observations, 1914-1918, trans. Henry Wickham Steed (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1927), 2 1, 41 , 208-11 , 338, 361. Thomas G. Masaryk, Masa,yk on Thought and Life: Conversations with Karel Capek, reprint ed., trans. M. & R. Weatherall (New York: Arno Press, 1971 ). "T.G. Masaryk on the Pittsburgh Agreement" (Doc 30) in Slovakia : Political, 209- 10. �SLOVAKIA 2019 27 cial, factional and individualist interests ." 14 Czech scholars, journalists and officials also contributed to this campaign, mostly through studies of the Czechs that glossed over the Slovaks except to praise 15 how the Czechs had liberated them. For example, Czech historian Albert Prazak praised the Czech ro le in uplifting the Slovaks, and condemned Hlinka and the SPP as tools of Hungary and as part of a Catholic conspiracy to take over Central Europe. Prazak then dismissed the Pittsburgh Agreement as "merely a flight of fancy ," rooted in "immaturity of political judgment and lack of understanding." 16 Czech journalist Ales Broz likewise condemned the Slovaks as " retarded in their development" versus the " well educated, practical, realistic" Czechs, and praised the direction of Slovakia under the Czechs for allowing the two peoples to become "one stock, one cul. ,, I 7 ture, one nat10n . Centralist Slovaks also contributed to this campaign, including articles by Interior Minister Juraj Slavik and Minister to France Stefan Osusky on the nationality questions in Czec hoslovakia, as well as one by Education Minister Anton Stefanek praising Prague ' s 14 Eduard Benes, My War Memoirs, trans. Paul Seiver (London : George Allen & Unwin, 1928), 348, 448, 469, 472-8 1. Edvard Benes, Christmas Message (Prague: Orb is, 193 7), 17. Edvard Benes, "Of Czechoslovak Unity" in We Were and We Shall Be: Th e Czechoslovak Spirit th rough th e Centuries , eds. Zdenk a & Jan Mun zer (New York : Un gar, 1941), 164-6. 15 Kami I Krofta & Jiri Hoetzel, A Short Histo,y of Czechoslovakia ( ew York: Robert McBride & Co, 1934), 137-8, 142, 149-52. Kami! Krofta, "Czechs and Slovaks (I)" The Slavonic and East European Review, 13, 38 (January 1935), 363-7 1. Kami I Kroft a, "Czechs and Slovaks ( II )" The Slavonic and East European Review, I 3, 39 (April 1935), 6 11-26. Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics (Prague: Orbis, 1929), 7-8, 13 , 20-1 , 44, 111-1 2, I I 9-20, I 24-6. Emanuel Capek, "The Background of Political Parti es in Czechoslovaki a" The Sla vonic and East European Review, I 0, 28 (June 193 1), 90- 104. Ales Broz, " Minori ty Ri ghts in th e Czechoslova k State," Foreign Affairs, 6, I (October 1927), 158-60. Ales Broz, " President Masaryk, Creator of the Czechos lovak Republic," Current Histo,y , 24, I (April I 926), 48-53. 16 Prague appointed Prazak, a Czech, to erve at Comenius Uni versity in Brati slava as its primary hi stori an of the Slova ks. The Slavonic Review labeled Prazak the "foremost li ving authority on Slovak History." Albert Prazak, " Review : The ew Slovaki a by R. W. Seton-W atso n" The Slavonic Review, 3, 9 (March 1925), 71 3-20. 17 Ales Broz, "Czech and Slovak at Odds: Both Sides of the Controversy - From the Czech Standpoint," Curren/ Histo,y, 22 , 5 (Aug 1925), 784-8 . �28 SLOVAKIA 2019 development of Slovak education. 18 Slovak Social Democrat, and rigid Czechoslovakist, [van Derer's short book on the Pittsburgh Agreement provided the most thorough effort in English to discredit the Slovak autonomists . Derer claimed that most Slovaks embraced the state as constructed, and that only a " pro-Magyar" minority supported autonomy. He likewise dismissed the Slovak-American signers of the Pittsburgh Agreement as not " true" Slovak nationals, because they lived in America. Derer argued that the document had meant simply local administrative autonomy, which he claimed Prague had granted. He then portrayed the Czechs as the Slovaks' saviors and condemned Slovak autonomy: In return for their having helped Slovakia when things were at th eir worst, in return for their having saved our liberty and an independent state apparatus, railway and postal communications, and a Slovak system of education at the tim e when the Slovaks th emselves were weak, unprepared, often distrustful and inclined rather to continue to live under their thousand-year yoke than to live in freedom, in return for having shed their blood for our country on the battlefronts in the Great War, and in the fights against Bolshevist Hungary in I 9 I 9 and thus saving Slovakia from a new occupation by the Magyars -in return for all this are we to remove the Czechs from Slovakia ? 19 Prague also maintained support from American and Eng lish academics and journalists in perpetuating Czechoslovakism. SetonWatson remained a staunch supporter of the idea, boasting how he regularly discredited "cantankerous Slovaks who accused Masaryk and hi s friend s of 'Czec hi sation."' He publicly condemned Hlinka and the SPP and repudiated their criticisms of Prague. Seton-Watson a lso actively denied Slovak agency in Slovak national development. 18 Juraj Slavik, "The Nationality Question in Slovakia," Central European Observer, 11 , 26 (Dec 18, 1933), 463-5 . Stefan Osusky, " Wh y Czechoslovakia?" Foreign Affairs, 15 , 3 (Apri l 1937), 455-71. Anton Stefanek, " Education in Slovakia," Th e Slavonic Review, 2, 5 (Dec 1923), 308-27. 19 Ivan Derer, The Unity of th e Czechs and Slovaks: Has th e Pittsburgh Declaration Been Carried Out? (Prague: Orbis, 193 8). �SLOVAKIA 2019 29 The Slovaks should therefore be thankful that fate has made them dependent upon a race so efficient, so well-educated and well-disciplined as the Czechs ... .At the critical moment, the Slovaks made the impression of a helpless animal fascinated by the approach of the boa-constrictor, and Prague was literally the sole hope.-'0 On the Slovak question, Seton-Watson blamed the " hypersensitive" Slovaks as simply being too parochial, religiously backward and ill developed, and he dismissed autonomist arguments as the "wild talk of extremists." Even in a work of collected essays designed to "show that the Slovaks themselves have had a much greater share in the reconstruction of their country than is often supposed," Seton-Watson turned predominantly to centralist Slovaks whose contributions consisted mostly of self-promotion and praise for the merits of centralism.21 The American philanthropist and writer Kenneth D. Miller was another avid promoter of Czechoslovakism. "Everything points to the wisdom of a cultural as well as political union between the two nationalities. No matter what the cultural development may be, neither nationality can well maintain its political independence without the other." He likewise felt that the Slovak question would disappear with the development of the "slow, passive Slovak," who yet lacked initiative, and who was prone to immorality and drunkenness, and to "religious vagary or fanaticism." 22 Other presentations ranged from industrialist and diplomat John Crane, who attacked the "backward ignorance" of the Slovaks for resisting secularization, to YMCA secretary Fred Rindge who criticized a claimed lack of Slovak interest 20 R.W. Seton-Watson , Th e New Slovakia (Prague: Fr. Borovy, 1924), 3, 23-4. R.W. Seton-Watson, Masaryk in England (New York: Macmillan, 1943), 61. "Seton-Watson Open Letter to Hlinka" (Doc 108), in Seton-Watson, 343-4. "SetonWatson to Alois Kolisek" (Doc 135), in Seton-Watson, 401-2. R.W. Seton-Watson, ed. Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1931). When planning the book, Seton-Watson expressed his desire to have an article from a SPP leader, so that Slovak autonomists could not accuse him of onesidedness. He considered an article on the issue of autonomy, but decided only to allow an article on Slovak religion by Hlinka. "Seton-Watson to Milan Hodza" (Docs 144 & 145), in Seton-Watson, 431-2 . 22 Kenneth D. Mill er, The Czecho-Slovaks in America (New York: Doran Company, 1922), 14-25, 121-122, 158-160. 21 �30 SLOVAK.IA 2019 in the arts. Journalist C.J.C. Street claimed, "The Slovak dream was always to regain their lost unity with the Czechs and as a united nation to secure the tolerable conditions of existence. " 23 The Slovak autonomists in Slovakia pursued a few efforts during the interwar period to counter this campaign, although they lacked equivalent resources and connections to those held by Prague. The SPP' s most notable attempt was the Zilina Memorandum of 1922. Released to the western press and governments, the document sought to expose the Slovak question to the world, beginning with its sensationalist title, "a country doomed to death, a nation in her last agonies implores the civilized world for help." It decried the failures of Wilsonianism, which had allowed Prague to "bamboozle" the Slovaks "out of the freedom promised to them ." The text went on to explain their issues with the Czechs, discussing concerns from the treatment of religion, to economic exploitation, and the denial of autonomy. The memorandum also condemned Czechoslovakism as simply a tool for domination. The Czechs and Slovaks have been always forming two separate little worlds with a very different character due to their different geographical and economic conditions, their different way of thinking, of feeling and of mind. We have a different view of life, other morals and other traditions; we have a different social structure, different legal rules and different ideas about political economy and culture. The document ultimately claimed the world could still save the Slovaks if it acted quickly. The key of the iron cage in which the Slo vak Nation is being mercilessly incarcerated lays in the hands of the Great Powers. This memorial is our last expedient and our last weap23 John 0. Crane, "Church and State in Czechoslovakia" The Slavonic Review, 6, 17 (Dec. 1927), 364-78. Fred H. Rindge, Jr. "The Charm of Czechoslovakia" Current History, 22, 3 (June 1925), 447-50. C. J. C. Street, Slovakia Past and Present (Westm inster, UK: P.S. King & Son, 1928). For more examples, see: Robert Machray, "Czechoslova ki a a Pioneer in Central European Politics" Current Hislo ry, 25, 6 (Mar. 1927), 839-43 . J. H. Wallis, "The Upbuilding of Czechoslovakia," Curren/ Histo1y, 14, 5 (Aug. 192 1), 835-45 . �SLOVAK.IA 2019 31 on ... Though only clad in the rags of our torn freedom we nevertheless appear as accusers before the world, charging the rulers of Prague who are still deluding the powers, and the powers themselves for having out of sheer ignorance become their accomplices. To ignore the Slovak case, thus, would be to support the trampling of liberty. 24 After the Zilina Memorandum bore no fruit, the Slovak autonomists pursued fewer efforts to court the west. They made a few sporadic attempts, such as a translation of the SPP •program in 1930, written by Jozef Tiso, which outlined the SPPs vision of a Slovak national Christian democracy, and appealed for autonomy as a protection of the Slovak cultural tradition. It argued that the Slovak nation's religious roots encouraged it toward a peaceful selfpreservation, unlike other nations that turned toward national chauvinism. 25 Slovak priest and publicist Anton Kompanek also produced an article that emphasized Slovak Christianity as a symbol of Slovak worthiness for self-government. Kompanek believed Slovakia served as an example of how the Church and state could find balance in the modem world. 26 These publications, however, remained exceptions, as the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia maintained little faith in western governments, recognizing Prague's stranglehold over their image internationally. They instead relied on the Slovak-Americans to lead the way in their defense internationally. Slovak nationalist politician Karol Sidor claimed that despite a continued interest in the homeland, the Slovak-Americans began to lose their "onetime vitality and ardor" during the interwar period. He linked this outcome to greater assimilation and a decreasing knowledge of the Slovak language.27 This claim is somewhat true. The energy of the war years certainly diminished, particularly in the 24 "Zilina Memorandum" (Doc I 02) & "Covering Letter for the Zilina Memorandum" (Doc I 03), in Seton-Watson, pp. 319-33 . 25 Jozef Tiso, The Ideology of th e Slovak Populist Party (Prague: 1930). 26 Anton Kompanek, "The Catholic Church in Slovakia" Th e Sla vonic and East European Review, 12, 36 (April 1934), 611-21. 27 Sidor, "Slovak League," 59-62. �32 SLOVAKIA 2019 1930s with the onset of the Great Depression.28 Sidor, however, understated how much the Slovak-Americans remained at the forefront of the international efforts to gain recognition of the Slovak question. Historian Jozef Pauco 's interpretation is much more accurate: "For twenty years the Slovak League of America defended the spirit and letter of the Pittsburgh Pact and by using the freedom of the press and the freedom of assembly on American soil, they did so more freely and energetically than the two political parties in their homeland." 29 Based on the volume of publications and direct communications with government officials on both side of the Atlantic, it is clear that the Slovak question continued to dominate the transatlantic interests of the Slovak Americans, as they bolstered their compatriots' activities within Czechoslovakia by applying external pressure on Prague. The Slovak fraternal organizations made constant efforts to keep their members linked to their Slovak cultural identity, and to aid in the fight for autonomy in the homeland. They pursued these efforts through education programs such as national lectures, art and photography tours, but also symbolic actions such as erecting a statue of General Milan R. Stefanik in Cleveland in 1924 and the planting of a Linden Tree on Capitol Hill in honor of Stefanik in 1934. 30 The Slovak question remained high on the list of Slovak-American concerns, and the various Slovak organizations produced a flurry of pamphlets and informative documents on the issue. The Pittsburgh Agreement remained at the center of this debate, with Slovak autonomists on both sides of the Atlantic continuing to affirm its legality against the centralist dismissals that it was simply a non-binding text designed to placate the Slovak-Americans during the war. Autonomist publica28 June Alexander, for example, shows how assimilation became an internal issue for Slovak-Americans, as the older generations struggled to assure that their American born children maintained links to their ethnic heritage. June Granatir Alexander, Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism: Slovaks and Other New Immigrants in the Jn terwar Era (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2004), 93-19 I. 29 Pauco, "S lovaks Abroad," 333-42. 30 "Ot. Svec to Podkrivacky," 3 Oct. 1938," PF: Adam Podkrivacky, SI. "S LA to Jakub Vitostak, 30 Nov 1923 ," The First Catholic Slovak Union of America (FCSU) Records, F: 1303, IHRC. "Jan Kocur to Michael Senko, 30 Nov 1926," FCSU, F: 1304, IHRC. 0. D. Koreff, Milan Rastisla v Stefanik: A Short Biography (Cleveland: Slovak League of America, 1924), 82-3 . "SLA to Arthur Colegrove," NSS, 8 : 168, F: SLA, IHRC. �SLOVAKIA 2019 33 tions looked to inform about the Slovaks, to expose the failed promises of Prague on autonomy, and to defend against the accusations of Prague centralists. The Slovak League remained at the forefront, hoping that exposure of the situation to the American press and pub1ic would spur sympathy and support? In many cases, the Slovak-Americans directed these publications at Prague, with the hope of convincing a change in policy . They, nevertheless, would consecutively produce English versions, which they then sent to the American President, members of Congress, the Department of State, and assorted press outlets. For example, in 1921 the SLA wrote to Masaryk calling for the immediate implementation of the Pittsburgh Agreement. When Prague did not respond, the League followed up with a more detailed Memorandum on November 9, 1922. This document called on Prague to make good on the Pittsburgh Agreement in the name of natural rights and to reward the sacrifices made by Slovak-Americans during World War I. It highlighted Masaryk's role in the formation of the Agreement, and then provided a photograph of the original text as well as a series of letters between the SLA and various Czechoslovak officials that had promised its implementation to show how promises made to the Slovak-Americans never lived up to reality. The text then defended the legitimacy of Slovak autonomy. We are convinced that the honest and upright materialization of the Pittsburgh Pact in no way will harm the unity of the State; on the contrary it will mean a considerable reinforcement within and without and make possible united co-operation of all patriotic forces against the elements of disintegration, depriving them of a dangerous weapon, which they cannot effectively employ against the Republic, fanning discontent, mistrust and spreading hatred between both nations comprising the state. The League made clear, however, that this good will rested "solely upon a sincere Czecho-Slovak reciprocity." It then gave an alternative: 31 "Telegram to Ivan Bielek on 29 Nov 1934," NSS, B: 168, F: SLA , IHRC. �34 SLOVAKIA 2019 We feel it is our duty to emphasize that if our sincere and friendly attempt, which has at its heart the welfare, interest and future of the Republic, should fail to meet with success, the Slovak l eague of America would not be able to prevent the American Slovaks and their factors from turning to the Court of Public Opinion of the civilized world. While the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia acknowledged the letter, Prague neglected to respond. 32 The SLA then passed a follow-up resolution. Asserting that it "fights with fire and sword with everyone who is in favor of autonomy of the Slovak nation," it admonished Prague for manipulating the world into believing the Czechoslovakist image and for leading a smear campaign against the SLA. It then provided a list of examples of hostility, including efforts to undermine its finances , blackmail, the bullying of Slovak-American leaders and press, and attempts to send government officials to propagandize against them . It once again emphasized how the League had made every effort to resolve the Slovak question within the confines of the Czechoslovak Republic , but it would soon submit the issue "to the judgment of public opinion of the civilized world," if Prague continued to treat them with disdain.33 Many more publications followed. The Friends of Slovak Freedom , for example, released two protests in 1923. These texts defended the va lidi ty of the Slovak-Americans as representatives of the Slovak people, and condemned Prague's actions against Slovak autonomists, including such accusations as "false signatures or resolutions, false numbers of people attending their lectures, insulting the Slovak journalists, insulting the Slovak League as anti-state, and many other lies," as well as criticisms about press censorship in Slo- 32 SLA , Memorandum S/ovenskej Ligy v Amerike upra vene na vladu a Narodne Shromai denie Cesko-Slo venskej Republiky v zaujme vtelenia Pittsburgskej Dohody do ustavy C.-S. Republiky (Pittsburgh: Slovak League of America, 1922). Both the full Slovak and English versions of this Document are avai lab le at: SLA Cab, F: Memorandum /922 v Zaum e Pitts. Dohody, SI. Also avai lable in: " Memorandum Slovenskej Ligy v Arnerike" in Dokumenty, Vol 2, 138-44. 33 " An Appeal of the Slovak League of America to All Political Factors of th e Czecho-S lovak Republic," PF: Bielek, SI. �SLOVAKIA 2019 35 vakia. 34 After reading Masaryk's criticism of Hlinka, the Slovak League then produced a pamphlet that challenged the idea that Masaryk personally had liberated the Slovaks. It reminded readers of the Slovak-American war contribution, and then remarked how the SLA and the Pittsburgh Agreement were certainly valid in Masaryk's eyes when he needed Slovak-American support in 1918. The document then included a text from former Czechoslovak ambassador to Japan, Karel Pergler, arguing that both the Slovaks and Czechs had unequivocally recognized the Pittsburgh Agreement upon its signing. 35 Next to these direct appeals, the Slovak-American autonomists also released many publications geared directly toward an American audience. They designed these works to inform about the Slovaks, expose their continued fight for self-determination and to link the Slovak question to American democratic values. These publications included several biographies of Milan R. Stefanik, a translated history by Slovak historian Joseph Skultety that directly challenged images of Slovak backwardness and other stereotypes, and a short pamphlet on Czechoslovakism by Slovak-American historian Ol'ga Husek warning that the concept meant for the Slovaks "the rejection of their cultural past and the stunting of their future growth." 36 They also attempted to rally America to their cause by showing their valiance in the face of domination. An SLA article distributed to the American Press praised how the Slovak-Americans continued to fight even with "the entire machinery of government set against them, calumnies upon calumnies by a government subsidized press, heaped upon the heads of those who take up their cause, and bug- 34 Friends of Slovak Freedom, " Resolution, November 28, 1923," & " Protest against Censorship and Confiscation of Slovak Publications by the Government in Slovakia" in Pankuch , Slo vaks of Cleveland, l 82-6. 35 Slovenska Liga v Amerike, V Zaujme Pra vdy! (In the Interest of Truth !) (Pittsburgh: P. Jamriska, 1930). Found in : SLA Cabinet, F: SLA Presidents, SI. Prague responded to these letters, but it simply reasserted the usual rebutta ls, claiming that 75% of the Slovaks supported centralization and that the Pittsburgh Agreement was simply an American document. "Ohlas Americkeho Memoranda u Nas," 8 : Slovak League of America (SLA) , SI. 36 0. D. Koreff, Milan Rastislav Stefanik: A Short Biography (Cleveland: Slovak League of America, 1924). Andrew Slabey, General Milan R. Stefanik (Leisenring, PA: Griglak Printery, 1937). Joseph Skultety, Sketches from Slovak History, O.D. Koreff, trans . (Middletown, PA : First Catholic Slovak Union, I 930) . Ol'ga Husek, The Czechoslovak Fallacy (Middletown, PA : Jednota, 1935). �36 SLOVAK.IA 2019 bears turned loose to scare those who are not acquainted with conditions. " 37 Religion became a major component of Slovak-American advocacy on the Slovak question in the interwar period. Slovak-American journalist Stephen J. Palickar published many articles in general Catholic publications, including a five-month tit-for-tat with Czech diplomat Josef Hane in defense of Slovak religiosity. He also provided some of the first Slovak-American attempts to link Slovak religiosity to anti-Communism. Palickar likewise defended Slovak agency, and appealed for a lifting of Prague centralism to allow the Slovaks an opportunity to prove their abi lity for self-government. 38 While most of these publications were shorter, more direct works, the Slovak-Americans released a couple of longer exposes on the Slovak question. The first, written by then SLA president Peter P. Hletko on behalf of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, looked to inform the American people about the Pittsburgh Agreement as an American product in line with "the principles of democracy and self-determination of small nations." Hletko praised how the Slovak "has an inherent love for liberty and freedom , and enjoys fostering his national spirit," which had spurred his immigration to America in a "quest for a land of true liberty," and he argued that American democracy had allowed the Slovaks in America to assert their national identity as an independent people. He asserted how the Slovaks had only joined the Czechoslovak movement on the premise that they would be treated fairly and as equals and highlighted a reg37 "The conflict between Czechs and Slovaks," NSS Records, B: 168, F: SLA, IHRC. For many examples, see: "The Slovaks- Past and Present," in Stephen J. Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism to Atheistic Czech Communism (Cambridge, MA : Hampshire Press, 1948), 40-3 . Stephen J. Palickar, "Czech and Slovak at Odds: Both Sides of the Controversy - From the Slovak Standpoint," Current History, 22 , 5 (Aug 1925), 784-6. "A Dark Spot in Czecho-Slovakia," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism , 43-45 . "Who is Masaryk?," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 49-51 . "S lovakia-whither bound," in Palickar, Slovakia : From Hungarian Despotism, 76-83. "Slovak Catholicism vs. Czech Communism," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 84-86. "Slovak Grievance," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 70-72 . "President Masaryk and his State," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 61-62. "Scotus Viator Surveys Slovakia," in Palickar, Slo vakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 72-75. Stephen J. Palickar, Slovakia of Today (A Lecture), December 12, 1933 , Columbi a University (New York: Slovak Library Association, 1933). 38 �SLOVAKIA 2019 37 ular sense of duplicity and condescension the Slovaks felt from the Czechs. Hlekto praised the Pittsburgh Agreement as having resolved these conflicts, before Masaryk ultimately betrayed his promise, and he gave a detailed defense of its validity and of the right of the Slovak-Americans to speak for their nation during the war. 39 The Slovak-American autonomists shortly thereafter produced an even longer book on the topic . Written by Peter P. Hletko under the pseudonym , "An Autonomist," it served as the most exhaustive consideration of the Slovak question in Eng lish in the early 20 th century. Hletko placed blame on Czech intransigence for fueling the issue unnecessarily. The book argued that the Czechos lovak revolution relied on American money and manpower and "should the President (Masaryk) have failed to dispel the fear and dissatisfaction of the Slovaks through the Moscow and Pittsburgh Agreements, there certainly would not be a Czecho-Slovakia today. " The book then deconstructed Prague 's policies toward the Slovaks, to show Czechoslovakism as a means of hegemony. Hletko considered every issue from the Czech obfuscation on autonomy, the complicity of the Slovak centrali sts, the language issue, schools, and the economy, and he explained the claims of Slovak neediness and incompetence, as we ll as the claimed threat of Hungary, as only a fa<;:ade to justify Czech dominance. He likewise gave examples of Slovak intellectuals to dispute the claim that the Slovaks needed the Czechs to serve that role. He then detailed the domination of Slovakia's administration, civi l service, education system, and cultura l institutions by Slovak centralists and Czechs, and the press censorship and smear campaigns. Ultimately, he concluded that Czechoslovakism was undermining the state and mu st be reversed. Hletko concluded: Th e motive that has promoted us to write this work is not one of revenge, nor a desire to arouse bad feeling, but simply to expose falsehood and reveal truth. It is our sincere hope that, the truth being known, it will enable the Czechs and Slovaks to form a more stable union which will promote justice, trust, and good 39 Slovak Catholi c Federation of America, The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (S lovak Cath olic Federation of America, 1934). Joseph C. Krajsa, " Dr. Peter Hletko, Most Elite of American Slovaks," Slovakia, 22, 45 ( 1972), 57-9. �38 SLOVAKIA 2019 will, and thereby insure national integrity both at home and abroad. 40 A few non-Slovak publications did favor Slovak autonomy . For example, some historians of the First World War, such as Jan Opocensky and C. A. Macartney, attempted to present a balanced consideration of the Slovak question, giving voice to Slovak autonomist concerns.4 1 There were also several publications that utilized the Slovak question to criticize the broader Versailles system . Writer and journalist E. Alexander Powell , for example, highlighted the differences between the Czechs and Slovaks as an example of the precariousness of the region ' s political stability. Although not particularly admiring of the Slovaks, Powell was highly critical of the Czech treatment of them. He commented, "The Czechs, an energetic, ambitious, progressive, and aggressive people, who outnumber the Slovaks three to one, look with condescension, if not contempt, on their less literate, slower thinking, more easy-going partners, whom, if the truth be known , they regard as immensely inferior to themselves." These scholars all argued that the Czechs needed to treat their minorities with more respect and make good on promises for Slovak autonomy for the sake of the survival of the state. 42 A few works were even somewhat favorable to the Slovaks. One such example came from writer Kenneth L. Roberts , who after visiting Czechoslovakia complained, "The Czechs want to socialize everything in sight, and the Slovaks are not poignantly eager to be social- 40 An Autonomist, Slovakia 's Plea for Autonomy (Middletown, Pa: Slovak Literary Society, 1935). 41 Jan Opocensky, The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Mon archy and the Rise of the Czechoslovak Stale (Prague: Orbis, 1928), 153-68, I 93-214. C. A. MaCartney, National States and National Min orities (London : Oxford Uni versity Press, 1934), 117, 201 ,208. 42 E. Alexander Powell , The Danger on th e Danube (New York: Century Company, 1928), 56-8, 62-8, 72-4. M. W. Fodor, South of Hiller (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1939). For oth er examples, see : C. A. Macartney, Hungary and her Successors: The Treaty of Trianon and its Consequences, 1919-193 7 (London : Oxford University Press, 1937/ 1965), 73-148. Frank H. Simonds, Can Europe Keep th e Peace? (New York : Harper, I 93 I), 92-10 I. Isaiah Bowman, The New World: Problems in Political Geography, 4th ed. (Yonkers, NY : World Book, 1928). Harold Temperley, " How the Hungari an Frontiers were Drawn," Foreign Affairs, 6, 3 (April 1928), 432-47 . �SLOVAKIA 2019 39 ized." Comparing the Czechs in Slovakia to U.S. Civil War carpetbaggers, he criticized the Czech administration of Slovakia, their denial of autonomy, and called out Czechoslovakism as a lie. He alternatively praised the Slovaks as "among the most attractive and lovable peasant people of the many I have seen." An article by journalist Robert Sage, after a visit to Slovakia, likewise chided the Czechs for using claims of generosi ty as a mirage for domination over Slovakia. 43 The SLA ultimately made good on its threat to take the issue to the world stage, presenting the Slovak question to the League of Nations in 1932. It produced a long legal brief, which appealed for a cessation of wrongdoing against the Slovaks and the granting of political and cultural autonomy. It then begged the League of Nations to recognize the Slovaks as an independent nation, to demand the implementation of the Pittsburgh Agreement, to investigate ill treatment, and to grant recognition of the Slovaks as a true minority in Czechoslovakia. It pointed out how the Slovak-Americans had made multiple attempts to reach out to Prague to explain their concerns and offer an olive branch towards a solution, but that Prague had ignored their appeals and through censorship had silenced their brothers in Slovakia. The document then went on to detail the history of the founding of the state and the Pittsburgh Agreement, their complaints of ill-treatment against the Slovaks, and their view as to why the 44 Slovaks were an independent people. This appeal was unsuccessful. Slovak-Americans also regularly wrote to U.S. government officials. One such example was an "Open Letter" to Masaryk in 1923 that the Slovak Catholic Federation in America also sent to President Coolidge, members of Congress, all the embassies in Prague, and to the American press. The document started with an image of Masaryk approaching the Slovak-Americans as equals during the war, to 43 Kenneth L. Roberts, Europe's Morning After (New York: Harper Brothers, 1921 ), 121-73. Kenneth L. Roberts, Why Europe l eaves Home (New York: Bobbs-Merrill , 1922), 28-31 . Robert Sage, "There's no such Nationality as Czecho-Slovak," Chicago Daily Tribune, Jan 2, 1930, 6. For other examples, see: Felix John Vondracek, The Foreign Policy of Czechoslovakia / 918-1935 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1937), 377-9. Alexander Szana, Die Geschichte der Slowakei (Bratislava: Grenzenbote Verlag, 1930). Robert Nowak, Der Kiinstliche Staal: Ostprobleme der Tschecho-Slowakei (Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling, 1938). 44 "To the Supreme Council of the League of Nations at Geneva," SlA Cabinet, F: Supreme Council of the l eague of Na tions at Geneva, 1932, SI. �40 SLOVAKIA 2019 which they responded with loyalty and support. Masaryk then betrayed them, treating the Slovaks "in step-mother fashion, nay, even like slaves," having lured them into "an invisible net of imperialistic aspirations, renounced openly that which is to every nation and to us 'ignorant' Slovaks inviolable, priceless, sacred." It bemoaned that the Slovaks again felt endangered in their national existence, and how the Czechs misled the world on the issue. It appealed for Masaryk "to acknowledge and fulfill that which you had promised us, the American Slovaks," for the sake of Czech-Slovak unity and the secu45 rity of the state. This letter elicited a response from the Slovak-American centralists. The National Slovak Society, the Slovak Sokol, and assorted editors produced a counter response to Masaryk, which they then sent to Coolidge and Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. This document asserted open support for the idea that the Czechs and Slovaks were one nation. It criticized the SCF letter for having "a spirit of narrow sectarianism," in contrast to "the great majority of the American Slovaks," who supported Masaryk "heart and soul." The document praised Masaryk and the Czechoslovak state for bringing cultural and economic development to Slovakia and it mentioned the centralist Slovaks in the government as a sign of Czech inclusiveness. The text also apologized for the Czech administration of Slovakia, bemoaning that Slovakia lacked enough competent officials. It then claimed that Prague had carried out the Pittsburgh Agreement in full , adding that "during the war neither the Czechs nor the Slovaks demanded self-determination for each separately; they demanded self-determination for the Czechoslovaks." 46 To the frustration of the Slovak autonomists, this campaign barely registered among U.S. officials in Washington. American officials at the U.S. Embassy in Prague paid slightly more attention, although most addressed it only passively and most often from the Czechoslo45 Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Open Letter to Thomas G. Masaryk, President of the Czecho-S/ovak Republic (Slovak Catholic Federation of America : 1923). Found in : "Einstein to SoS, No. 611 ," 20 February 1924, F#: 860F.0l / 162, DoS CS 1910-44. The New York Times reported on the letter: " Slovak Protest to All Nations," New York Times, Mar. 12, 1924, 34. 46 National Slovak Society, et al. , An Open Letter to Thomas G. Masaryk, President of Czechoslovakia ( I 924), in "Joseph Jan eek to Coolidge," 3 May 1924, F# : 860F.0l / 164, Dos cs 1910-44 �SLOVAKIA 2019 41 vakist perspective. The American Ambassador during the 1920s, Lewis Einstein, for example, reported on the SCF letter, misrepresenting it as "a violent indictment of Czech policy in Slovakia," and praised Prague for "accomplishing there a work of civilization. By introducing education and schools in a population where a high degree of illiteracy existed, by bringing in public hygiene, orderly justice and a better fiscal system, they are laying the foundations for the future. " Accordingly, in his view the Slovaks only needed proper education to unify with the Czechs . Ultimately, "Only one thing can be excluded, which is Slovakian autonomy." 47 In another attempt at outreach, Adam Podkrivacky as President of the FCSU wrote to John Hickerson, acting Chief of Western European Affairs at the U.S . State Department. Podkrivacky complained about the U.S. Consul General in Prague sending out correspondence to Slovakia in the Czech language instead of Slovak. He also requested that the State Department use the hyphen when writing 'Czecho-Slovakia. ' Podkrivacky then supplied Hickerson a copy of an autonomist political pamphlet, to "acquaint better with the political situation just as it exists between the Slovaks and the Czechs in Czecho-Slovakia." Hickerson forwarded the letter to the embassy in Prague and asked for a report on the Slovak question. Charge d' affaires J. Web Benton responded, declaring the letter unacceptable due to the threat posed by Czechoslovakia's neighbors. He also made the usual ethnographic arguments, adding how "Czech culture has contributed measurably to the advancement of Slovakia," and predicted the issue would dissipate. Benton dismissed the pamphlet as simply "anti-government propaganda ... the request for autonomy, in the sense of a separate parliament as mentioned in the Pittsburgh Pact, is something that no truly patriotic and far-seeing Slovak could at present afford to advocate." He added, "I assume that the Department will pay no further attention to his communications, but it seems not inopportune to observe that Czech is the official language of this country."48 While a few U.S. diplomats from the period, notably Lewis Einstein, came to develop a more nuanced view on the topic, this ended each time new embassy staff took over. 47 "Einstein to SoS , No . 611 ," DoS CS 1910-44. "Adam Podkrivac ky to John Hickerson," 29 March 1937, F#: 860F.0l / 18 1, DoS CS 1910-44. " Movement for Slovak Autonomy," 30 April 1937, F#: 860F .01 /184, DoS CS 1910-44. 48 �42 SLOVAKIA 2019 The dismissal of Slovak-American pleas stood in contrast to a disproportionate concern among American officials about the proHungarian Slovaks living abroad. The Rothermere campaign spurred some interest, and while some Americans expressed some sympathy to it, including chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee William Borah and publisher William Randolph Hearst, the U.S. Embassy in Prague wrote profusely about how the Slovaks remained opposed to a return to Hungary. When the exiled nationalist communist Slovak Vince Mihalus created an exile Slovak government in 1928, the State Department gave him disproportionate consideration, even though he held little popular support in Slovakia. Jehlicka reached out to Washington, calling for support against "Czech tyranny" and requesting support for recognition of the Slovaks as a minority in the League of Nations. The Czechoslovak embassy directed the State Department in its response, simply informing U.S. officials that Jehlicka only organized a "small number of Slovak renegades, mostly of Hungarian origin." 49 This flurry of publishing was very much a product of the widespread transatlantic interaction between Slovakia and the United States, as Slovak leaders on both sides of the Atlantic travelled between Europe and North America as they attempted to coordinate common political action. In the early 1920s, Prague still had hopes of guiding the Slovak-Americans to the centralist cause, despite the sentiment building against it. One major effort was the creation of a Slovak League in Slovakia by centralist Slovaks, designed to serve 49 Czechoslovak Ambassador Vladimir Hurban exchanged several letters with Hearst on the issue, facilitated by the State Department, eventually convincing Hearst to no longer give a voice to Rothermere and his supporters. "Einstein to SoS, No. 1355," 30 July 1927, F#: 860F.4016/4, DoS CS 1910-44. "J. Butler Wright to SoS, No. 62," 15 Oct 1927, F#: 860F.4016/9, DoS CS 1910-44. "Vladimir Hurban to William Randolph Hearst," 27 May 1937, & " Hurban to Cordell Hull," 4 June 1937, F#: 860F.00/437 & 438 , DoS CS 1910-44. "Council of State of Slovakia to SoS," 6 Nov 1928, F#: 860F.01 / 171 & 172, DoS CS 1910-44. "Nelson Torsler Johnson to Einstein," 28 Jan 1929, F#: 860F.01 / 171 , DoS CS 1910-44. "Gittings to SoS, No. 1747," 28 Feb 1929, F#: 860F.0l/173, DoS CS 1910-44. "Gittings to SoS, No. 1756," 9 Mar 1929, F#: 860F.0l / 174, DoS CS 1910-44. "Washburn to SoS, No. 2153." "Einstein to SoS, No. 516," 20 Sep 1923, F#: 860F.00/2 14, DoS CS 1910-44. "SoS to Geneva and Prague," 30 July 1933, F#: 860F.00/345, DoS CS 1910-44. "Prentiss B. Gilbert to SoS, No. 650," 8 Aug 1933 , F#: 860F.00/346, DoS CS 191044. "SoS to Geneva and Prague," 29 Aug 1933, F#: 860F.00/346, DoS CS 1910-44. �SLOVAKIA 2019 43 as a counterpart to the SLA and to build common action across the Atlantic. This effort failed, however, after the Slovak League of America refused to cooperate with it. 50 With autonomist sentiment among the American Slovaks sharpening, Prague sent Slovak centralist leader Vavro Srobar to the United States in 1923. While Srobar attempted to unify the Slovak-Americans behind centralism, his visit had the opposite effect of galvanizing the Slovak-American autonomists. Srobar received support from sympathetic groups such as the Slovak Sokol, but the SLA and other autonomist organizations boycotted his speeches. Prague sent other figures to agitate for centralism, including the priest Jozef Rudinsky and agrarian politician Fedor Ruppeldt. Seton-Watson also reached out to the SlovakAmericans in several letters and later in a visit in 1935 , during which he appealed to the Slovak-Americans to encourage the Slovaks in . · 51 SI ova k ia against autonomy. The efforts by centralists did not change the status quo, as the Slovak-American autonomists remained firm in their opinions and openly repudiated centralist arguments. Pankuch, for example, felt that the only result of Srobar's visit was to destroy Czech-Slovak 52 unity and the internal unity of the Slovak-Americans. Ruppelt in tum complained how even among the Slovak Lutherans he constantly had to fight against autonomist sentiment. 53 With the dividing lines firmly set, the Slovak-American centralists and autonomists quit mutual involvement in each other's organizations and the centralists began a continuous propaganda campaign against the SLA backed by Prague. For example, after Slovak-American autonomists 50 Ignac Gessay, Kratke Dejiny S/ovenskej Ligy Na S/ovensku: od Zalozenia po 1. 0kt. 1926 (Bratislava: Slovenska Liga na Slovensku, 1926). "Nova ohlavka- stary kon. Pozor na Slovensku ligu!" 27 Oct 1924, Bratislava (No 68), in Jozef Tiso, Prejavy a Clanky (1913-193 8), eds. Miroslav Fabricius & Ladislav Susko (Bratislava: Historicky 'ustav SA V, 2002),), 196-7. 51 "An Appeal ," PF: Bie/ek, SI. Pankuch, Histo ry, 177-86. "Seton-Watson to Vojtech Mastny" (Doc 124), in Seton -Watson, 375-6. "Odkaz Scotus Viatora Americkym Slovakom" (Doc 125), in Seton-Watson, 377-80. "Seton-Watson to Stefan Osusky "' (Doc 128) & "Osusky to Seton-Watson" (Doc 129), in Seton-Watson, 3857. Mikus, "Slovak League," 46-7. Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, 1864-1926 (Bratislava: Knihtlaciarne Sv. Andreja, 1934), 503-5 . Palickar, "Czech and Slovak." Tomas Capek, Nase Amerika (Prague: Nakladem Narodni Rady Ceskoslovenske, 1926), 113. 52 Pankuch, History, 180. 53 " Fedor Ruppeldt to Seton-Watson" (Doc 149), in Seton-Watson, 441-2 . �44 SLOVAKIA 2019 confronted him, Srobar reportedly lashed out at them as "knownothing drunkards" and traitors against the Republic. 54 While the Slovaks in America had been legitimate Slovaks when Masaryk needed them during the war, once they became a threat, the centralists began to categorize them as United States citizens, whose influence should not extend beyond America. 55 When the Czechoslovak Government offered a special commendation to the SLA on Czechoslovakia's l 0th anniversary in 1928, for its role in the creation of the state, the Slovak League of America rejected it. 56 The Slovak autonomists in Slovakia perceived things quite differently. Many Slovak nationalist leaders believed that the nation as an ethnic and cultural foundation transcended the state, and offered regular praise of the Slovak-Americans as fighters for Slovak liberty and autonomy. Figures such as Hlinka and Lutheran autonomist leader Emil Stodola openly praised the Slovak-Americans and their role in the fight for autonomy, and argued that their past actions allowed the American Slovaks an equal right to speak about the fate of the Slovak homeland. 57 SPP leader Jozef Tiso extolled, "In this (Pittsburgh) agreement we see the heritage of our own American brothers, for which we will fight with the honor and the tenacity of the Slovak spirit, which is not intimidated by prison, the malice of the world, nor the cynicism of centralist agents." Tiso praised the "real Slovak patriots," working in the "free air of America," and he even posited that the Slovak-Americans had a better claim to speak for the Slovaks than the Slovak centralists did, because the SlovakAmericans had made the revolution successful with their blood, treasure and propaganda.58 Slovak scholars also published multiple 54 "A. S. Ambrose to Seton-Watson" (Doc 126) in Seton-Watson, 381-2. "Aby uz raz bolo jasno a aby prestaly r6zne narknutia proti Slov. Lige," PF: Bielek, SI. 55 Masaryk, for example, used such logic to dismiss the Pittsburgh Agreement, which he called a "local understanding between American Czechs and Slovaks," whose "signatories were mainly American citizens, only two of them being nonAmericans." Masaryk, Making, 208-11. 56 Stolarik, Where is my Hom e?, 98 . 57 "Hlinka on Scotus Viator" (Doc 109), in Seton-Watson, 345-53. Emil Stodola, Pre/om: Spomienky, Uvahy, Studie (Praha: L. Mazac, 1933), 193-4. 58 "Novy vykrik bratov z Ameriky," 24 Feb 1924, Bratislava (No 43), in Tiso, Prejavy, 157-9. " Pittsburghska dohoda - neplatna?!" 29 May 1924, Bratislava (no 57), in Tiso, Prejavy, 179-80. "Parliamentary Speech," 25 Nov 1931, Prague (No I 64), in Ti so, Preja vy, 347. "Speech to Public Assembly of the Slovak People 's �SLOVAKIA 2019 45 studies of the Slovak-Americans and their role m Slovak national development. 59 Slovak autonomists openly expressed these sentiments through regular trips to the United States. These attempts at direct engagement were nonetheless slow to start. Prague regularly prevented such trips, including the denial of a passport to Bishop Jan Vojtassak out of concern that he would agitate for autonomy and collect money for the SPP while in the United States. The barrier broke in 1926 when Hlinka accepted an invitation to visit America from editor Jozef Husek and the Friends of Slovak Freedom, sponsored by the SLA, the FCSU, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union (FCSLU). Hlinka desired to visit the United States to thank the Slovak-Americans in person for their support for Slovak self-determination, to explain firsthand the political situation in Slovakia, and to encourage them to keep fighting. After stalling on the process, Prague ultimately relented to avoid the resulting outrage had they refused. They issued Hlinka a passport to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. Hlinka's visit lasted from June 5 to October 13. Although Hlinka expressed some trepidation that Slovak-American centralists would treat him with hostility, Slovak-American autonomist leaders Josef Husek and Anton Kompanek convinced him the experience would prove the opposite. This claim proved true, as Hlinka received hundreds of invitations to speak to overflowing crowds on each occasion. Demand was so high that, then SLA president Ivan Bielek had to write an article emphasizing Hlinka's time limitations to try to tame expectations. During his visit, Hlinka travelled around the U.S. East and Midwest, visiting local Slovak communities. He regularly attended and celebrated Mass and held meetings with SlovakAmerican organizations, including the SLA from whom he received an honorary membership . Hlinka visited assorted Slovak-American institutions, surveying Slovak-American newsrooms, printeries, Party," 18 August 1937 & 25 August 1937, Bratislava (No 251 & 252), in Tiso, Prejavy, 523-4. "Nase narodnopo liticke palladium," 5 June 1938 (No 260), in Tiso, Prejavy, 543-4. Kon stantin Culen, Po Sviitop/ukovi druha nasa h/ava: Zivot Dr. Jozefa Tisu (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1947), 182-3. 59 Jozef Rudinsky, V Amerike a doma (Ruzomberok: Rudinsky, 1921 ). Karol Sidor, S/ovaci v zahranicnom odboji (Bratislava: Jednota, 1928). Matica Slovenska, S/ovenskej verejenosti v Amerike (Mati ca slovenska , 1937). Konstantin Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava: Knihtlaciarei'l Andreja, 193 7) . �46 SLOVAK.IA 2019 schools, and churches. Overall, Hlinka held rallies at 80 locations, gave 200 speeches, and visited more than 100 Slovak parishes. Hlinka's visit spurred a level of excitement and activity among the Slovak-Americans that would never recur. 60 Hlinka kept his goal of directly exposing the Slovak question during his visit. He regularly spoke on the issue, and carried a copy of a censored Slovak nationalist newspaper as evidence. During his visit, Hlinka could not help but contrast the image of America with his experience in Czechoslovakia. In one such speech, he made clear that the Slovaks .. . would prefer not to quarrel with the Bohemians, but when they preach democracy and at the same time practice deceptions and aggression, we have no choice but to oppose them ... America is a superior nation and a master democratic republic. It has a splendid constitution which not only guarantees the rights and liberties to the people, but sees that they get them as well. Hlinka likewise extolled the "firm individuality" that the SlovakAmericans had gained, and he highlighted the sense of natural connection between Slovaks and Americans. "A good Slovak who comes to America makes a good American, and all good SlovakAmericans, including the new generations born in America from Slovak extraction will appreciate what they have inherited from their Slovak ancestry. Neither will they forget Slovakia." In his farewell speech, Hlinka expressed how the Slovak-Americans had filled him with national pride. He affirmed, "I saw the large affl uence of Slovaks, these Slovaks who under the Tatras suffered from hardship and physical and spiritual want," and prai sed how they helped sustain the Slovak nation. He finally asked of them, "do not forget that under the Tatras stand your cradle and your old homeland, our hard-tested and suffering Slovakia!" 61 60 Adamec, "Slovak Catholic Federation ," 223-32. Sidor, Hlinka, 503-5, 510-1 I, 543 -52 . Sidor, "The Slovak League," 57-9. Mikus, "S lovak League," 46-7 . Jozef Pauco, "75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union," Furdek, 5 ( 1966), 65 -74. 61 Palickar, " Monsignor Hlinka- The Man," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism , 51-6, 55 . Palickar, " My Interview with Msgr. Hlinka," in Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 56-9. Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, 543-52. �SLOVAKIA 2019 47 In the 1930s, the Slovak-Americans experienced a few more visits from notable figures. One such visit was from the Slovak cultural organization Matica slovenska, in 1935 . The Slovak-Americans had regular contact with the Matica in the 1920s and there remained regular efforts to create an American branch of the organization.62 With the outbreak of the Great Depression, however, interest and funding for Slovak cultural programs in America declined. The Matica decided a visit to America was necessary to reverse thi s process, which they interpreted as the Slovak-Americans becoming too Americanized. The organization ' s director, the writer Jozef C. Hronsky, led the delegation, but it also included historian Konstantin Culen, and the artist Jozef Cincik, among others. These individuals gave many lectures and supplied ample literature and art, including a donation of libraries of Slovak material to the cities of New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago.63 While they found that some second and third generation Slovak-Americans had lost touch with Slovak culture, the delegates gave high praise to the Slovak-Americans for the interest they showed in the lectures, music, art and other cultural information the Matica provided. The experience led Culen to adopt the task of writing a history of Slovak-Americans. The linguist Jozef G. Konus likewise noted how "the Slovak spirit opens up more in free America than the lush fantasie s at home could imagine." When the White House wrote a statement for a Slovak-American information brochure praising the Slovaks as a "healthy minded, freedomloving and determined people," the Matica hailed it as evidence of Slovak democratic bona tides. Ultimately, the delegation praised the trip as very much a success, and took back ample material on the Slovak-Americans for placement in the Slovak National Library. The Matica left satisfied that Slovak culture remained firm in America, although it put pressure on the Slovak-Americans to improve their direct cultural linkages with the homeland. 64 62 To see many examples of this communicati on, see: The Ma tica slovenskti, Martin, Slovakia, re: American Slovaks Papers, IHRC . 63 According to Mark Stol arik, th e Mati ca brought 84 crates of books, totaling 4 I ,000 volumes, while visiting 98 separate Slovak-American communities. Stolarik, Wh ere is my Home?, 96-100. 64 "Vianoce Maticnej delegacie," Slovensko, 2, 5 & 6 (Jan-Feb 1936), 87-8. Konstantin Culen, "Co m6ze dat' Amerika slovenskej historii ," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), 87-8. Jozef C. Hronsky, " Mati ca v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (March 1936), 110-13. Jozef G. Konus, " Matica v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), I I6-18 . �48 SLOVAK.IA 2019 The final major figure to visit America was the Reverend Jozef Tiso in 1937, with the Catholic cultural organization Spolok Sv. Vojtecha. Much like Hlinka, Tiso celebrated mass and heard confessions during his visit, spoke at public assemblies and met with many American priests, journalists, and Slovak-American leaders. He also attended other broader Catholic events, including the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and met with the Papal delegation in Washington, D.C. Tiso made a broad effort to learn about American political life, to determine what Slovak leaders could transfer back to Slovakia. He particularly admired American technical prowess in organization and publishing, which he saw as facilitating a more efficient Catholic organization and action, and conceptualized a plan to send young Slovak leaders to America to learn American methods of organization. Tiso also praised the Slovak-American sense of independence and pride in their Slovak identity. Seeing how the Slovaks had developed on independent terms in the vast American melting pot, Tiso interpreted the Slovak-American experience as proof of Slovak capabilities and their merit for self-determination. Tiso never gave up his sense of solidarity with the Slovak-Americans, and referenced his visit to affirm his desired direction for the Slovaks. 65 The only visit to the United States by a Slovak official to gamer much attention from Washington was Srobar's in 1923. American diplomat Einstein provided notice of the visit, adding that it was "doubtless intended to counteract the seditious anti-Czech propaganda which has been going on for some time both in Slovakia, where it is fomented by Magyar intrigues, and among the Slovak clericals in the United States." Although, he noted that the Slovak autonomy movement remained "noisy and violent in its methods but unaided it can do little and it is not at present causing here any serious conJozef G. Konu s, "Matica v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), 116-18. Jozef Hronsky, "Na margo americkeho zapisnika," S/o vensko, 2, IO & I I (June-July 1936), 177-80. Jozef Cincik, "Na margo americkeho zapisnaka," Slo vensko , 2, IO & 11 (June-July 1936), 181-6. " Maticna vystava v Clevelande," Slo vensko, 2, IO & 11 (June-July 1936), 181-4. " President Roosevelt pozdravuje slovensky narod," Slovensko , 2, 5 & 6 (Jan-Feb 1936), 79. "Slovenska Amerika sa hybe," S/ovensko, 4, 3 (Nov 1937), 32-3. "SLA to Sku ltety, I June 1935,".PF: Mamatey, SI. Stolarik, "Slovak League." J.A. Berta, "Slovak America and the Matica Slovenska," Furdek, 23 (1984), 163-71. 65 Culen, Po Sviiloplukovi, 182-9. "Speech about the state account balance from 1926," 23 February 1938, Prague (No 258), in Tiso, Prejavy, 533-6. �SLOVAKIA 2019 49 cem." 66 Several Slovak-American autonomists wrote to the State Department to complain about Srobar's visit, including a letter from a Slovak-American World War I veteran asking the Department to halt Srobar's lectures for sowing discord among the Slovaks in the United States. The most notable letter, however, came from the Reverend John Porubsky on behalf of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association. Porubsky criticized Srobar's claimed "cultural visit" as a ruse to propagandize on behalf of Czechoslovakism. He presented it as part of an effort by Prague, "To inoculate the masses of our people in America as a contracting party with such misconception and ethnographical nonsense," and to discredit the Pittsburgh Agreement. Claiming that Srobar "forgot the scope of his mission, even forgot himself in outbursts against leading Slovak American gentlemen, calling them vile names unworthy of a man of his position," Porubsky asked Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes to have him expelled from the country.67 This effort also spurred a response by Prague and its allies in the United States. These letters, in an organized campaign, all repeated versions of the same arguments. They complained that the opposition to Srobar consisted of "Jesuits and Bolsheviks" and other "enemies of the state" that were working for Czechoslovakia's destruction. Srobar was, alternatively, a great statesman fighting against them to bring cultural development to Slovakia. They also personally targeted Porubsky and the Slovak Newspapermen's Association: "The great majority of intelligent American Slovaks are heart and soul in accord with Dr. Srobar's patriotic works; only the ignorant and reactionary masses are ignobly and ignorantly supporting the destructive work of Rev. Porubsky and his few brawling associates." 68 Likewise, the Slovak Sokol, which had arranged Srobar's visit from the American end, took credit for the visit, praising how Srobar had "proved to 66 " Einstein to SoS, No. 502 ," 29 Aug 1923, F#: 860F .0 I/ I 48, DoS CS 1910-44. "John Porubsky to Charles Evans Hughes," 31 Oct 1923 , F#: 860F.0 l/149, DoS CS 1910-44. "John J. Nedorostek to Hughes," 13 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.01/150, DoS cs 1910-44. 68 "V. Krali cek to Hughes," 12 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / 151 , DoS CS 1910-44. "J. Joscak to Hughes," 14 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / 154, DoS CS 1910-44. "Henry Russek to Hughes," 15 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l/156, DoS CS 1910-44. "C lement lhrisky & Joscak to Hughes," 15 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.0 l/152, DoS CS 1910-44. " Michael Kovalovsky to Hughes," 16 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0 1/157, DoS CS 1910-44. " Michael Olsavicki to Hughes," 19 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0 1/ 155, DoS CS 1910-44. 67 �50 SLOVAKIA 2019 the Slovaks of America that any fears as to the future of their former country are unfounded." 69 The State Department only sent back formulaic verification of receipts to these letters, except for one to John Zeman of the Slovak Sokol, thanking him for "setting forth the real purposes of the visit." William Phillips then requested President Coolidge to meet with Srobar, calling him "one of the five men who founded the Republic of Czechoslovakia," to which Coolidge obliged. 70 In 193 7, the Reverend Francis Dubosh of Lakewood, Ohio, attempted to arrange a meeting between officers of the SCF A, Jozef Tiso, and President Roosevelt, with the help of Monsignor Michael J. Ready at the Catholic University of America. The White House staff supported this meeting, but Roosevelt wanted to first confirm with the State Department so as not "to get mixed up in a Slovak controversy." After consulting with Czechoslovak Ambassador Vladimir Hurban, the State Department reported that the embassy made no official complaint, but that they themselves discouraged the visit with "the opinion that these persons are not of sufficient prominence for the President to receive them." After a back and forth in consideration of the issue, the White House ultimately declined, claiming 71 that the President was simply too busy. The Slovak-Americans also visited Slovakia. The most significant of these occurred in 193 8 in the tense period leading up to the Munich Agreement, when the Slovak League sent a delegation to celebrate the 20 th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement. Led by its President, Peter P. Hletko, the delegation, as a deliberate gesture, made its first formal visit in Slovakia to Andrej Hlinka in Rufomberok. The delegation travelled into Slovakia through Poland, to 69 "J. Zeman to Hughes," 18 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.01 / 153 , DoS CS 1910-44. "W. R. Castle to Association of Slovak Newspapermen of America," 6 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / l49, DoS CS 1910-44. "J. B. Wright to Kralicek," 20 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l/15I, DoS CS 1910-44. "Castle to Joscak," 20 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.01/l54, DoS CS 1910-44. "Castle to Zeman," I Dec 1923, F#: 860F.0l / l53 , DoS CS 191044. "William Phillips to G. B. Slemp, 12 Nov 1923," & "Slemp to Phillips, 12 Nov 1923," Coolidge Papers, Series I, 742. 71 "Roosevelt to M. H. McIntyre, 22 Oct 1937," " McIntyre to George F. Summerlin, 23 Oct 193 7," "Spruks to Summerlin, 27 Oct 193 7," "McIntyre to Roosevelt, 29 Oct 1937," "McIntyre to Summerlin, 3 Nov 1937," President 's Personal File (PPF), F: 639, Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (FDR), Hyde Park, New York. 70 �SLOVAKIA 2019 51 avoid Prague and Bratislava, and the Polish government hosted the delegation on their way through. Both the Slovak autonomists and the Slovak centralists sent representatives to corral them before they entered Slovakia. The centralists were, however, sent back early after Warsaw and Slovak-Americans embraced the SPP delegation as the official one. After arriving in Slovakia, the delegation showed the original of the Pittsburgh Agreement to Hlinka and spent most of the trip associating with the Slovak autonomists. Its activities included several visits to the Matica slovenska in Martin, to which it gifted an authenticated copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement and made clear commitments toward transatlantic cultural programs, including joint publications and a transatlantic cultural council. Prime Minister Milan Hodza also led a continued effort to meet and work with the visiting delegation, believing he could convince them to break their close affiliation with the SPP and align with the Agrarians instead. Out of respect, the delegation did meet with centralist officials, including Hodza and President Eduard Benes, whom they encouraged the granting of autonomy to Slovakia for the sake of unity in those very tense times. In a speech in Prague, Hletko made clear their objectives stating, "Our love for Slovakia and the Czechoslovak Republic has induced us to come here. The object of the Pittsburgh Declaration, the original of which we have brought with us, is not to weaken but to strengthen the Republic ." 72 When describing his meetings, Hletko said that Hodza promised a movement towards autonomy, yet Prague still rejected them. 73 Likewise, Ivan Derer was extremely critical of the SlovakAmericans during their visit, accusing them of having been brainwashed. He also dismissed them as representing a small, vocal minority, and smeared them as deliberate Hungarian, German, or Polish agents, if not otherwise simply duped by the machinations of these neighboring rivals. Derer complained, "This delegation, composed most of autonomists, expressed its separatist convictions during every opportunity, expressed anti-Czech interests, made light of work of 72 "Visit of American Slovak Delegation to Jubilee Congress, Bratislava; Slovak Demands for Autonomy," 6 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/534, DoS CS 1910-44. 73 Hletko, "The Slovaks," 5-54. "Narodna Politika Roku 1938 : Ked Bol P. Hletko na Slovensku," B: Karol Sidor - Diplomat 1901-1958 - Vol 2, SI. Pavel KuklisKunovsky, Ako je na Slovensku ? Z vlastnych skusenosti napisa/ a vydal v mesiaci )uni /940 v Pittsburghu, Pa., U.S.A. (Pittsburgh: Narodne noviny, 1940), 4-7. �52 SLOVAK.IA 2019 the Czechoslovak government successes in Slovakia, ironized Czechoslovak oriented Slovaks." He was extremely derisive of Hletko, accusing him of not being truly Slovak, having been born in the United States, and as being "politically inexperienced, unknowledgeable about the conditions of Europe, Czechoslovakia and Slovakia." 74 The SLA visit culminated in the Jubilee Congress for the anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement on June 4, 1938 in Bratislava. A massive rally was organized where Hlinka, Tiso, and Hletko, among others, gave speeches. A large facsimile of the Pittsburgh Agreement surrounded on each side by the American and Slovak flags served as a backdrop. In his speech, Hletko showed the original copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement to the crowd, and praised the attention given to the Agreement. A formal proposal by the SPP in the Czechoslovak Parliament to amend the constitution to implement Slovak autonomy then followed. The centralists, led by Hodza, held a counter-rally two days later. They declared the rally more ambiguously as a celebration of the Slovak farmer, although Prague and the centralists promoted the event afterwards as a pro-state rally in opposition to autonomy. The SLA delegation also attended this celebration and Hletko gave a speech, simply affirming that the SLA continued to work for Slovak freedom . Hletko later claimed that the delegation warned the Czech and Slovak leaders they had met about the need to come to an accommodation on the Slovak question, in favor of autonomy, fearing that the issue might become larger with Adolph Hitler rattling his saber. Hletko claimed, however, that no one took this warning seriously. The delegation departed shortly before Hlinka's death in August of 1938, but the SPP sent a piece of earth from Hlinka's graveside to America. 75 74 Ivan Derer, S/ovensky vyvoj a /ud'acka zrada (Prague: K vasnicka a Hamp) , 1946), 183-9 . Derer was convinced the SLA was part of a Polish conspiracy to absorb Slovaki a, led by Karol Sidor. The SLA, however, openly rebuked Polish calls for absorption of Slovakia during its stop th ere. 75 The exact number of participants in each rally is unclear, but most accounts reflected similar participation rates (around one hundred thousand each) and photos of the Slovak Jubilee show a massive crowd. The urn containing the soil is still on display at the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Hletko, "The Slovaks," 5-54. " Wilbur Carr to SoS, no 122," 9 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/518, DoS CS 1910-44. " Farmers' Day at Bratislava; Demonstration of Slovak Branch of Czechoslovak Agrarian Party," IO June 1938, F#: 860F.00/531 , DoS CS 1910-44. " Po odchode delegatov Slov- �SLOVAKIA 2019 53 The U.S. Embassy took an interest in the SLA visit to Czechoslovakia in 1938, and U.S . Ambassador Wilbur Carr agreed to meet with the delegation. Carr reported that the visit was cordial and that the delegation affirmed to him that its visit was simply to promote good will and it did not desire to interfere in domestic issues in Czechoslovakia. Carr then stated that the SLA's visit to Czechoslovakia annoyed Prague, due to the enflamed minority issues of the time, but that Czechoslovak officials tried to maintain good will with the delegation, although this sentiment "lacked a ring of sincerity." Accordingly, Hletko admitted to Carr that the timing was not the best, but that it was not by design, since they had come simply for the anniversary celebration. Carr expected no harm from the visit. While Carr described the autonomy proposal and reported statements by Hletko and Jozef Rusek complementing the support of the Pittsburgh Agreement among the Slovaks, he countered by providing the text of an anti-autonomy speech by Derer and a section of Masaryk' s memoirs. Carr then misrepresented the Slovak-Americans as having felt embarrassed for having been "utilized by the Hlinka Party for partisan and election purposes." While Carr reported on each of the two rallies, he praised the Farmer's Day as turning into "a spontaneous demonstration of Czechoslovak unity, homage to Benes, and allegiance and confidence in its leader," hostility to autonomy, and featuring a much larger participation.76 While Czech and Slovak centralists worked to keep the SlovakAmericans at a distance after early efforts to court them failed, the Slovak autonomists on both sides of the Atlantic worked around Prague to coordinate their activities. Nevertheless, the autonomists had no means of pushing Prague towards changes on the Slovak question. The Slovak autonomists, however, continued their fight and never gave up. The transatlantic Slovak question during the interwar period established the roots for the eventual Slovak-Czech split. The failure to find a compromise between Slovak autonomists and centralists saw an entrenched distrust that contributed to the fall of the First Republic . When the Munich Agreement formally handed the enskej Ligy v Amerike," Slovensko, 5 ( I 939), 16-17. Sidor, "The Slovak League," 59-62. 76 "Carr to SoS , no 112," 31 May 1938, F#: 860F.00/5 l 0, DoS CS 1910-44. "Visit of American Slovak." "Carr to SoS, no 121 ," 8 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/517, DoS CS 1910-44. "Carr to SoS , No 122." "Farmers ' Day. " �54 SLOVAKIA 2019 Sudetenland to Germany in September of 1938, the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia demanded and received autonomy until the new SPP-led government there declared independence on March 14, 1939, following Nazi Germany's invasion of Bohemia and Moravia. Slovak-American autonomists, although distrustful of Nazi Germany, openly embraced the shift toward Slovak autonomy in the shortlived Second Republic, believing they could no longer trust the Czechs. Peter Hletko, for example, cheered how the Slovaks had "fought and won the victory." 77 Although initially hesitant to support complete independence, most Slovak-American autonomists, the moderates excepted, came to support the World War II Slovak State as a symbol of Slovak self-determination, even as they supported Allied victory in the war. While World War II and the subsequent Cold War limited direct linkages between Slovakia and North America, the same rifts on the Slovak question persisted on both sides of the Atlantic until the 1993 Velvet Divorce. 78 77 Jozef Pauco, "75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union," Furdek, 5 ( 1966), 6574. 78 For more on this topic during World War II and beyond, see: Michael Cude, Transatlantic Perspectives on the Slovak Question, I 9 I 4-/ 948 (PhD Diss., University of Co lorado-Boulder, 20 13 ). M. Mark Stolarik, Wh ere is my Home? Slovak Immigration to North America (/870-2010) (Bern: Peter Lang, 2012). M. Mark Stolarik, "The Slovak League of America and the Canadian League in the Struggle for the Self-determination of the Nation, 1907-1992," Slovakia, 39, 72 & 73 (2007), 7-35. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2019, Vol. 44 Description An account of the resource Vol. 44 (No. 82-83), 2019. 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 2019 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 18 SLOVAKIA 2019 THE TRANSATLANTIC SLOVAK QUESTION DURING THE INTERW AR YEARS Michael Cude The relationship of the Slovaks to the Czechs is an issue that has persisted through the modem hi story of the two peoples. From the 19 th century ' national awakenings ' in Austria-Hungary to the Velvet Divorce between the Slovaks and Czechs in 1993, this 'Slovak question' was at the center of key events, including the creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, its breakup and reestablishment after World War II, and the 1968 Prague Spring. 1 While many recent works have addressed the Slovak question, many have underappreciated the extent to which modem Slovak national identity formation was a transatlantic phenomenon. Historians examining this topic from the domestic Slovak perspective rarely delve deeply beyond Slovak borders, while histories of Slovaks abroad have focused predominantly on the Slovaks' place as immigrant communities . In doing so, such histories overlook how interlinked Slovak national politics in Slovakia were to Slovak communities abroad, particularly in North America, and the critical role they played in shaping Slovak national identity formation. Addressed by only a handful of recent works, the transatlantic Slovak question requires more attention.2 1 Reference key for shortened arc hi val ci tations: IHRC : Slovak American Collection, Immi gratio n History Research Center, University of Minneso ta. fil: Slovak Institute, Cleveland, OH. DoS CS 1910-44: Records of th e U.S. Department of Stale Relating to th e Internal Affairs of Czechoslovakia 1910-1944, Microfilm (Washin gton D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1982). 2 For some examples of sc holarship considering the Slovak question from a transatlantic perspective, see: M. Mark Sto larik, Where is my Home? Slovak Immigration to North America ( /8 70-2010) (Bern : Peter Lang, 2012). M. Mark Stolarik, "The Slovak League of America and the Canadian Slovak League in the Struggle for the Self-determination of the Nation, 1907- 1992," Slovakia, 39, 72 & 73 (2007), 7-35 . Marian Mark Stolarik, "The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of CzechoSlovakia, 1914-19 I 8," Slovak Studies, 8, Hi stori ca 5 ( 1968), 7-82. Stefan Kucik, Podiel americkych S!ovakov na aulonomistickom hnuti na Slovensku 191 8-/938 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 20 I I). Gregory Curtis Ference, Sixteen Months of Indecision : Slovak American Viewpoints Toward Compatriots and the Homeland from SLOVAKIA 2019 19 The Slovak efforts abroad during World War I remain the best told component of this story. The foundation of the transatlantic Slovak question was laid in the periods leading up to the First World War, when Slovak-American organizations began to campaign for Slovak political autonomy within the Kingdom of Hungary. The central organization for Slovak national activism became the Slovak League of America (SLA), founded in May 1907 by Slovak-American leaders to unify the disparate Slovak groups in the United States in common political action. The SLA ' s main objectives were to develop the cultural and political life of the Slovaks in America as a means of supporting the cultural and political life of the Slovaks in the homeland and to fight for Slovak national self-determination. 3 World War I and its accompanying 'Wilsonian moment' entrenched important symbols of Slovak national self-determination, as Slovak immigrant communities contributed to the establishment of the new Czechoslovak Republic. The wartime Czechoslovak National Council and its leaders, including Thomas G. Masaryk and Milan R. Stefanik, utilized Slovak-American organizations for financial , military, and diplomatic support. Consequently, Slovak-American demands led to the creation of the most important document relating to Slovak nationalism for the following twenty years: the Pittsburgh Agreement. Signed on 31 May 1918, this document declared common action between the Czechs and Slovaks in the formation of a democratic republic. Nevertheless, the agreement made a clear assertion for Slovak autonomy, under the terms that the Slovaks would I 9 I 4 to I 9 I 5 as Viewed by the Slovak Language Press in Pennsylvania (Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna Uni versity Press, 1995). Michael Cude, "The Imagined Exiles: Slovak-Americans and the Slovak Question during the First Czechoslovak Republic," in From Exsilium to Exile: Coercion in Migration, Studia Historica Gedanensia, vo l. 5, ed. Anna Mazurkiewicz (Gdansk, Poland: University of Gdansk History Institute, 20 14), 287-305 3 Konstantin Culen, History of Slovaks in America, Daniel C. Necas, trans. (St. Paul, MN : Czechoslovak Genealogical Society, 2007). Jan Pankuch, History of the Slovaks of Cleveland and Lakewood, Rasto Gallo, trans. (Cleveland: Czechoslovak Genealogical Society & Western Reserve Historical Society, 2001), 29-38. Stolarik, " Rol e," 7-82 . Stephanie 0. Husek, "Slovak American Fraternal, Cultural, and Civic Organizations to 19 I 4," in Slovaks in America: A Bicentennial Study, Joseph C. Krajsa, ed. (Middletown: Slovak League of America, 1978), 23 -38 . Joseph A. Mikus "The Slovak League of America: A Historical Survey," in Slovaks, Krajsa, ed., 3956. R. Vladimir Baumgarten & Joseph Stefka, The National Slovak Society: JOO Year History, I 890-1990 (Pittsburgh: National Slovak Society, 1990), 17-33. 20 SLOVAKIA 2019 have their "own administration, own parliament, and own courts." In the short term, the Pittsburgh Agreement appeased the Slovak-Americans, who consolidated their support around the budding state, while Masaryk used the agreement to legitimize Czech-Slovak coop4 eration in his diplomatic efforts. This campaign allowed Slovak-American leaders a sense of direct influence on the affairs of their homeland, although the Czechoslovak National Council quickly stymied this hope. While the Slovak-Americans had been able to pressure Masaryk into symbolically accepting their goals for Slovak autonomy, their influence only extended to his need to provide evidence of Slovak participation in his political program as he sought recognition from the Entente powers. As a result, the Slovak-Americans found themselves on the margins during the building of the state . Accordingly, many historians consider the Pittsburgh Agreement as a matter of domestic Slovak politics after its initial signing, with little further consideration for the Slovaks abroad. In doing so, they neglect the fact that transatlantic activities continued through the interwar period.5 With the establishment of Czechoslovakia following the war, Slovak national activists on both sides of the Atlantic, hereto identi- 4 "Pittsburgska Dohoda" in Dok:umenty slovenskej narodnej identity a statnosti, vol. I, eds. Jan Benko, et al (Narodne literame centrum: Dom slovenskej literatury, 1998), 484-7. " Masaryk to Mamatey, 22 September 1918," SLA Cabinet, F:llth Congress, Slovak Institute (S I), Cleveland, OH. Pankuch, History, 145-50. Stolarik, "Role," 32-54. Karo l Sidor, ''The Slovak League of America and the Slovak Nation 's Struggle for Autonomy," Slovakia I 7, 40 ( I 967), 39-46. Peter P. Hletko, "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact," Slovakia l 8, 41 ( 1968), 5-54. Stanislav J. Kirschbaum , "The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Documents," in Slovakia 36, 66 & 67 ( 1998), 81-97. lmrich Mazar, A History of the Binghamton Slovaks : Over a Period of Forty Years, 1879-1919, ed. Wilhelmina Mazar Salina, trans. Thomas Janacek (Phoenix: Via Press, 2003), 203-17. Baumgarten & Stefka, National, 81-3. 5 James Ramon Felak, At the Price of the Republic: Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, 1929-1938 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, I 994). Peter A. Toma & Dusan Kovac, Slovakia: From Samo to Dzurinda (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 200 I). Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, A History of Slovakia : The Struggle for Survival, 2nd ed. (New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). Jan Rychlik, "Czech-Slovak Relations in Czechoslovakia, I 918-1939," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist and Fascist Europe, 1918- 1948, eds . Mark Cornwall, R.J.W . Evans (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 13-26. Elisabeth Bakke, "Czechoslovakism in Slovak History," in Slovakia in History, eds. Mikulas Teich, et al (Cambridge: Cambridge Univers ity Press, 2011), 247-68. SLOVAKIA 2019 21 fied as the Slovak 'autonomists,' had full expectations of a federal relationship that would recognize Slovak cultural uniqueness and grant the Slovaks civic equality with autonomy over domestic affairs under the terms of the Pittsburgh Agreement. In contrast, most Czech leaders wanted a strongly centralized state, justified by arguments of the commonality of the Czechs and Slovaks, the threat of Hungarian and German irredentism, and the believed necessity of Czech oversight to modernize Slovakia. They relied on support from Slovak ' centralists,' who identified the Czechs and Slovaks as a common people. Slovak autonomists, who saw the Slovaks as a culturally distinct people from the Czechs, perceived this ' Prague centralism' as a form of cultural and political hegemony. In response, they replanted their fight over the Slovak question against the newly formed government in Prague. Both autonomists and centralists mobilized Slovaks at home and abroad behind their version of the state, with the transatlantic component focused on lobbying foreign governments. As with many other nationality groups, Slovak leaders saw the postwar peace process as a key moment to make their case. With the centralists represented at the Versailles Peace Conference by the formal delegation from Czechoslovakia, the autonomists attempted to present their own view, including a flurry of correspondence from Slovak-Americans to United States President Woodrow Wilson and an unofficial delegation led by Slovak nationalist leader Andrej Hlinka. The autonomists appealed for recognition of an independent Slovak identity and the establishment of a federalist system in Czechoslovakia that granted greater domestic political autonomy to Slovakia. Wilson and other western leaders, however, prioritized economic and political modernity as a necessary quality for selfgovernrnent. Czechoslovakia's centralist leaders appealed to the Wilsonian prioritization of modernism to gain American acceptance of their vision, and used a proposed uplift of the Slovaks into modernity to advance this cause. They nonetheless pursued this objective in a way that often cast the Slovaks in a disparaging light and sowed further discord. The Conference in turn legitimated this organization of the Czechoslovak state and ignored Slovak autonomist appeals. 6 6 For more, see : Michael Cude, "Wilsonian National Self-determination and the Slovak Question during th e Founding of Czechoslovakia, 1918-192 1," Diplomatic Histo,y (2016) 40, I: 155-80 22 SLOVAKIA 2019 This failure at Versailles did not dissuade transatlantic Slovak activities. From the conclusion of the Treaty of Trianon in June 1920 to the Munich Agreement in September 1938, the Slovak question persisted in the First Czechoslovak Republic. The interwar period saw the Slovak autonomist movement survive with the Czechoslovak state arrayed against them . Slovak autonomists regularly looked across the Atlantic for support in pressuring Prague to change its stance. The Slovak autonomists continued to reference the spirit and goals of Wilsonianism to justify their claims for autonomy, and the Pittsburgh Agreement became their primary symbol. SlovakAmerican autonomists accepted their leading role of defending the Slovaks internationally, and they remained hopeful of convincing world leaders, particularly those in the United States, to embrace their view. This task remained an uphill battle, given the autonomists' inability to match the resources or international connections maintained by Prague, as centralists worked to discredit the idea of domestic autonomy for Slovakia. The Czech and Slovak centralists polarized the issue as a support for state unity through centralism or support for the destruction of the state through autonomy. In international appeals, the centralists disparaged Slovak capabilities for selfgovernment, and presented the Slovak autonomists as a parochial fringe, ignorant of world affairs. Accordingly, this transatlantic debate heavily contributed to the failure of the Czechoslovak concept in the interwar period by helping sow the entrenched distrust that culminated in the splintering of the Czechoslovak Republic in March of 1939. The question of Slovak autonomy remained a principal component of Slovak politics during the First Czechoslovak Republic. The Slovaks split into three general categories on the Slovak question. The smallest of these groups were the Czechoslovakists, who wanted a close, non-differential linkage with the Czechs. Vavro Srobar, the first appointed Minister for Slovakia in 1918, exemplified this faction. Another group consisted of moderate nationalists who pursued cooperation with the Czechs, but wanted recognition of separate Slovak identity and political autonomy. Milan Hodza, Prime Minister of the republic in the late 1930s and leader of the Agrarian Party, best exemplified this faction. Hodza and others supported a federalist model to address national minority questions. Most of the former two groups came from Slovakia's Lutheran minority. The Slovak auton- SLOVAKIA 2019 23 omists, who were predominantly Catholics, were the most controversial. The Reverend Andrej Hlinka represented them as leader of the Slovak People 's Party. Hlinka and his supporters pushed for complete autonomy within Czechoslovakia, although the radical end of the party increasingly sought greater independence while a smaller minority even promoted a return to Hungary under a promise of autonomy. The Slovak People's Party (SPP) remained the most popular party in Slovakia and mixed cooperation with opposition to push for Slovak autonomy. The Agrarian Party followed in popular support, and it gradually pushed for more autonomy, albeit in a more deliberate fashion than the SPP. The Slovak National Party, the Slovak Communists, and the Hungarian Parties joined them in support of autonomy.7 Politically, some Slovaks took prominent positions in the central government, most notably Hodza. Prague allowed Slovak autonomists to organize and hold seats in Parliament, but it continued to censor nationali st viewpoints and it regularly pursued smear campaigns against Slovak autonomist leaders. The SPP joined the government in 1927, arranged by Hodza after promises of Slovak autonomy, but Hodza's plan proceeded in a watered-down fashion. The SPP participation lasted only two years before accusations of treason against radical politician Vojtech Tuka led to the SPP's withdrawal from the government. The SPP later exploited the Munich Agreement to force Prague's hand to achieve autonomy during the short-lived Second Republic, and then seceded from the state in March of 1939.8 7 Prague regularly promoted the idea that most of the Slovak people opposed autonomy, because the SPP only maintained 30-35% of the electorate in Slovakia. Although it is difficult to determine the true popular support of autonomy based strictly on the electoral support of each party, the support in Slovakia for Prague's version of centralism was probably we ll in the minority when one considers that the three largest parties-SPP, Agrarian, and Communists- all embraced some level of Slovak autonomy. 8 For more on this period in Slovak hi story, see: Yeshayahu A. Jelinek, The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists 1918- 1948 (New York: Columbia University, 1983). Susan Mikula, "The Politics of Frustration : The Slovak Politica l Experience, 191 8-1938," in Reflections on Slovak Histo ry, eds. Stanislav Kirschbaum & Anne C. Rom an (Toronto: Slovak World Congress, 1987), 73 -88. James Felak, "Slovak Considerations of the Slovak Question: The Ludak, Agrarian, Socialist, and Communi st views in lnterwar Czechoslovakia" in The Czech and Slovak Experience, ed . John Morison (New York: St. Martin's, 1992), 136-62. Felak, At the 24 SLOVAKIA 2019 The Slovak-A mericans also consolidated their positions on the issue in a similar fas hi on. After an early divide, the leaders of the Slovak League of America gave up on Prague and embraced the autonomist position, as did the large Catholic fraternal organization the First Catholic Slovak Union, and other, smaller organizations, such as the Friends of Slovak Freedom (FSF), an organization formed in the 1920s w ith the singul ar goal of addressing the Slovak question . The large, secular and large ly Protestant, fraternal organizations, the National Slovak Society and the Slovak Evangeli cal Un ion, at first embraced the centralist Slovaks, but nationalist pressure ultimatel y led them to try to moderate between the centrali st and autonomist positions. They ultim ate ly embraced the gradualist position of Hodza. In response, the Czechoslovaki sts established the Slovak National A lliance to serve as the arm of Prague among the SlovakAmericans, along with the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol. Consisting mostl y of secularists and some Lutherans, these organizations regularly attacked the SLA for its Catholic and autonomist leanings and promoted the strict uni ty of the Czechs and Slovaks. 9 As the Slovak question became entrenched in Czechoslovak politics, each competing side pursued a voluminous international lobby ing campaign to build western support for its respective position. This included a fact ion demanding a revision of the Trianon Treaty to return Slovakia to Hungary. The primary international Slovak advocate of this position was the Reverend Francis Jehlicka and hi s organization, the Slovak Council , founded in 1933 . Jehlicka had attended the Paris Peace Conference wi th Hlinka, but decided afterwards that the Slovaks could not trust the Czechs. Jehlicka remained abroad, where he lobbied fo r a Slovak reunion with Hungary based on Hun ga ri an promises of Slovak autonomy. He attempted to build Price of th e Republic. Toma & Kovac, Slovakia, 78-1 06. Kirsc hbaum, History of Slovakia , 155-84. Ryc hlik, "Czec h-Sl ovak Relations," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist, 13-2 6. R.J.W. Evans, " Hungarians, Czechs, and Slovaks : Some Mutual Perceptions," in Czechoslovakia in a Nationalist, I 09-22 . Mary Heimann, Czechoslovakia : The State that Failed (New Haven: Yale Uni vers ity Press, 2009), 48-86. Nata lia Kraj covicova, " Slovakia in Czechoslovakia," in Slovakia in History, 137-56. 9 Joseph Pauco, "Slovaks Abroad and Their Relati onship with Slovakia," in Slo vakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries, ed. Joseph M. Kirschbaum (Toronto: Slovak World Congress, 1973), 333-42. Josep h V. Adamec, "The Slovak Cath olic Federation," in Slovaks in America, 223-32 . Baumgarten & Stetl<a, National, 85-7. Pankuch, History, 177-86 . Stolarik, " Slovak League," 7-35 . SLOVAKIA 2019 25 support from the Slovak-Americans by appealing to Slovakia's historical and economic roots in Hungary and exposing claimed mistreatment of the Slovaks by Prague. ' 0 Jehlicka could express his voice abroad because of support from Budapest and later Nazi Germany, and he convinced a few figures in the West, most notably the British publi sher Lord Rothermere, who campaigned on behalf of Hungary internationally. Jehlicka ' s arguments nevertheless carried little weight in other circles . Scottish historian R. W. Seton-Watson, a prominent supporter of the Czechoslovak Republic , pursued a constant back and forth against Jehlicka, and, on both sides of the Atlantic, Slovaks and Czechs of different politica l views unified against Slovakia ' s return to Hungary. The Slovak autonomi sts and centralists , for example, collaborated in an open letter denouncing Jehlicka . 11 Slovak-Americans likewise continued to lobby against Hungarian claims, reminding readers about the old magyarization policy to eliminate Slovak national identity. Slovak-American publisher Jan Pankuch claimed that this was the sole occas ion when the Slovak-American autonomi sts, Czech-Americans, and Slovak10 Anthony Pessenl ehner, "Czechoslovakia' s Ri ght to Statehood Assa iled," Current History, 14, 5 (Aug. I 92 1), 845-8. Dr. F. Jehlicka: Kto on je a co chce (C leveland: 1920). Francis Jehlicka, Reply to Mr. R. W. Seton-Watson 's Book 'Slovakia Th en and Now ' (Vienn a, 1932). The Slovak Co uncil , Th e Unsolved Slovak Problem (Vienna: Slovak Council, 1933). The Slovak Co un cil , Bolsevizmus a slovenska otazka (Geneva: Slovak Council , 193 6), in : 8 : Resolutions, Memoranda, Proclamations, SI. The Slovak Council , Sh ould Great Britain go to Wa r- fo r Czechoslovakia: An Appeal to British Common Sense for th e Sake of Wo rld Peace (London: Haze l, Watson, & Viney, 1937) . Francis Jehli cka, Fa1her Hlinka 's Struggle fo r Slovak Freedom (London: Slova k Council , 1938), 34-5. "The German Minister in Czechoslovaki a (Eisenlohr) to the German Foreign Ministry (Doc 57)," Documen1s on German Foreign Policy, Seri es D, V2 (Was hington, D.C. : U. S. Government Printing Office, 1947), 132-3 . 11 R.W. Seton-Watson, Treaty Revision and the Hungarian Frontiers ( London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1934). " Seton-Watson to Alois Ka lisek" (Doc I 32) in R. W. SetonWa tson and His Relations with the Czechs and Slovaks: Documents, / 906- 195 1, vol. I, eds. Jan Ryc hlik, et al (Prague: Ustav T. G. Masaryka, I 995), 393-6. "The Situati on in Slova ki a and the Magyar Minori ty" (Doc 139) in Seton-Watson, 409-25. "Seton-Watson to Martin Razus" (Doc 155 ) in Seton- Watson, 454-5 . "Fedor Ruppeldt to Seton-Watson" (Doc I 60) in Seton-Watson, 465-9. C. L Orbach, "Czechoslovakia ' s Place in the Sun," Current Histo1y, 14, 6 (Sept I 92 1), 944-5. Anonymous, "Another Defense of Czechoslovaki a" Curren/ History, 14, 6 (Sept 192 1), 945-6. Adam Poliak, "Czechos lova ki a's Right to Statehood," Current History, I 5, 3 (Dec I 92 1), 499. " Slovaki a' s Pro test" (Doc 156) in Seton-Watson, 456-9. 26 SLOVAKIA 2019 American centralists came together in common cause, although the resolution almost failed when the two sides sparred over whether the text should declare the Slovaks and Czechs as one nation. The proHungarian autonomists, thus, remained on the periphery of the Sio• 12 va k question. The unified opposition against Hungarian irredentism otherwise did little to ease the conflict between the centralists and autonomists. The Czech and Slovak centralists made the Slovak question a primary component of their international propaganda, and they often perpetuated negative stereotypes of the Slovaks to promote the Czechoslovak vision. The official press in Prague released ample publications by Czech nationali st leaders in the English language on the topic. President Masaryk, for example, made clear his disappointment with the "po litical immaturity" of the Slovak autonomist movement. Masaryk, who continued to highlight his own partial Slovak heritage, likewise claimed to have proven his great love for Slovakia by having liberated it from Hungary and he asserted that Slovak nationalists could prove their own love by embracing Prague 's authority. 13 Edvard Benes, who served as Foreign Minister until succeeding Masaryk to the presidency in 1935, in tum argued that the Czechs and Slovaks remained unified, except for a "fringe minority," working for a return to the pre-war order, and the "dictates of local , provin12 "Rezolucie Vznesene Ustrednym Vyborom Slovenskej Ligy v Amerike na schodzi , vzdrziavanej IO novembra 1920," Person File (PF): Bielek, SI. Association of Slovak Newspapermen of America, Count Albert Apponyi or Revival of Magyar Propaganda in America (Scranton, Pa: Bosak Press, 1923), in: B: Resolutions, SI. American Citizens of Slovak Origin, The Refutation to the Arguments of the Hungarian Kossuth Delegation ( 1928), in: The Podkrivacky, Adam Papers, B: 17, Slovak American Collection, Immigration History Research Center (IHRC), Uni versity of Minnesota. "What the Magyars Forget," The National Slovak Society (NSS) of the US.A . Records, B: 168, F: Slovak League of America (SLA), lHRC. "The Cleveland District Assembly of the SLA to Hoover," 4 December 1929, F#: 860F.00/306, Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Czechoslovakia 1910-1944 (DoS CS 1910-44), Microfilm (Washington D.C .: National Archi ves and Records Service, 1982). Pankuch, History, 186-90. 13 Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, The Making of a State: Memories and Observations, 1914-1918, trans. Henry Wickham Steed (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1927), 2 1, 41 , 208-11 , 338, 361. Thomas G. Masaryk, Masa,yk on Thought and Life: Conversations with Karel Capek, reprint ed., trans. M. & R. Weatherall (New York: Arno Press, 1971 ). "T.G. Masaryk on the Pittsburgh Agreement" (Doc 30) in Slovakia : Political, 209- 10. SLOVAKIA 2019 27 cial, factional and individualist interests ." 14 Czech scholars, journalists and officials also contributed to this campaign, mostly through studies of the Czechs that glossed over the Slovaks except to praise 15 how the Czechs had liberated them. For example, Czech historian Albert Prazak praised the Czech ro le in uplifting the Slovaks, and condemned Hlinka and the SPP as tools of Hungary and as part of a Catholic conspiracy to take over Central Europe. Prazak then dismissed the Pittsburgh Agreement as "merely a flight of fancy ," rooted in "immaturity of political judgment and lack of understanding." 16 Czech journalist Ales Broz likewise condemned the Slovaks as " retarded in their development" versus the " well educated, practical, realistic" Czechs, and praised the direction of Slovakia under the Czechs for allowing the two peoples to become "one stock, one cul. ,, I 7 ture, one nat10n . Centralist Slovaks also contributed to this campaign, including articles by Interior Minister Juraj Slavik and Minister to France Stefan Osusky on the nationality questions in Czec hoslovakia, as well as one by Education Minister Anton Stefanek praising Prague ' s 14 Eduard Benes, My War Memoirs, trans. Paul Seiver (London : George Allen & Unwin, 1928), 348, 448, 469, 472-8 1. Edvard Benes, Christmas Message (Prague: Orb is, 193 7), 17. Edvard Benes, "Of Czechoslovak Unity" in We Were and We Shall Be: Th e Czechoslovak Spirit th rough th e Centuries , eds. Zdenk a & Jan Mun zer (New York : Un gar, 1941), 164-6. 15 Kami I Krofta & Jiri Hoetzel, A Short Histo,y of Czechoslovakia ( ew York: Robert McBride & Co, 1934), 137-8, 142, 149-52. Kami! Krofta, "Czechs and Slovaks (I)" The Slavonic and East European Review, 13, 38 (January 1935), 363-7 1. Kami I Kroft a, "Czechs and Slovaks ( II )" The Slavonic and East European Review, I 3, 39 (April 1935), 6 11-26. Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics (Prague: Orbis, 1929), 7-8, 13 , 20-1 , 44, 111-1 2, I I 9-20, I 24-6. Emanuel Capek, "The Background of Political Parti es in Czechoslovaki a" The Sla vonic and East European Review, I 0, 28 (June 193 1), 90- 104. Ales Broz, " Minori ty Ri ghts in th e Czechoslova k State," Foreign Affairs, 6, I (October 1927), 158-60. Ales Broz, " President Masaryk, Creator of the Czechos lovak Republic," Current Histo,y , 24, I (April I 926), 48-53. 16 Prague appointed Prazak, a Czech, to erve at Comenius Uni versity in Brati slava as its primary hi stori an of the Slova ks. The Slavonic Review labeled Prazak the "foremost li ving authority on Slovak History." Albert Prazak, " Review : The ew Slovaki a by R. W. Seton-W atso n" The Slavonic Review, 3, 9 (March 1925), 71 3-20. 17 Ales Broz, "Czech and Slovak at Odds: Both Sides of the Controversy - From the Czech Standpoint," Curren/ Histo,y, 22 , 5 (Aug 1925), 784-8 . 28 SLOVAKIA 2019 development of Slovak education. 18 Slovak Social Democrat, and rigid Czechoslovakist, [van Derer's short book on the Pittsburgh Agreement provided the most thorough effort in English to discredit the Slovak autonomists . Derer claimed that most Slovaks embraced the state as constructed, and that only a " pro-Magyar" minority supported autonomy. He likewise dismissed the Slovak-American signers of the Pittsburgh Agreement as not " true" Slovak nationals, because they lived in America. Derer argued that the document had meant simply local administrative autonomy, which he claimed Prague had granted. He then portrayed the Czechs as the Slovaks' saviors and condemned Slovak autonomy: In return for their having helped Slovakia when things were at th eir worst, in return for their having saved our liberty and an independent state apparatus, railway and postal communications, and a Slovak system of education at the tim e when the Slovaks th emselves were weak, unprepared, often distrustful and inclined rather to continue to live under their thousand-year yoke than to live in freedom, in return for having shed their blood for our country on the battlefronts in the Great War, and in the fights against Bolshevist Hungary in I 9 I 9 and thus saving Slovakia from a new occupation by the Magyars -in return for all this are we to remove the Czechs from Slovakia ? 19 Prague also maintained support from American and Eng lish academics and journalists in perpetuating Czechoslovakism. SetonWatson remained a staunch supporter of the idea, boasting how he regularly discredited "cantankerous Slovaks who accused Masaryk and hi s friend s of 'Czec hi sation."' He publicly condemned Hlinka and the SPP and repudiated their criticisms of Prague. Seton-Watson a lso actively denied Slovak agency in Slovak national development. 18 Juraj Slavik, "The Nationality Question in Slovakia," Central European Observer, 11 , 26 (Dec 18, 1933), 463-5 . Stefan Osusky, " Wh y Czechoslovakia?" Foreign Affairs, 15 , 3 (Apri l 1937), 455-71. Anton Stefanek, " Education in Slovakia," Th e Slavonic Review, 2, 5 (Dec 1923), 308-27. 19 Ivan Derer, The Unity of th e Czechs and Slovaks: Has th e Pittsburgh Declaration Been Carried Out? (Prague: Orbis, 193 8). SLOVAKIA 2019 29 The Slovaks should therefore be thankful that fate has made them dependent upon a race so efficient, so well-educated and well-disciplined as the Czechs ... .At the critical moment, the Slovaks made the impression of a helpless animal fascinated by the approach of the boa-constrictor, and Prague was literally the sole hope.-'0 On the Slovak question, Seton-Watson blamed the " hypersensitive" Slovaks as simply being too parochial, religiously backward and ill developed, and he dismissed autonomist arguments as the "wild talk of extremists." Even in a work of collected essays designed to "show that the Slovaks themselves have had a much greater share in the reconstruction of their country than is often supposed," Seton-Watson turned predominantly to centralist Slovaks whose contributions consisted mostly of self-promotion and praise for the merits of centralism.21 The American philanthropist and writer Kenneth D. Miller was another avid promoter of Czechoslovakism. "Everything points to the wisdom of a cultural as well as political union between the two nationalities. No matter what the cultural development may be, neither nationality can well maintain its political independence without the other." He likewise felt that the Slovak question would disappear with the development of the "slow, passive Slovak," who yet lacked initiative, and who was prone to immorality and drunkenness, and to "religious vagary or fanaticism." 22 Other presentations ranged from industrialist and diplomat John Crane, who attacked the "backward ignorance" of the Slovaks for resisting secularization, to YMCA secretary Fred Rindge who criticized a claimed lack of Slovak interest 20 R.W. Seton-Watson , Th e New Slovakia (Prague: Fr. Borovy, 1924), 3, 23-4. R.W. Seton-Watson, Masaryk in England (New York: Macmillan, 1943), 61. "Seton-Watson Open Letter to Hlinka" (Doc 108), in Seton-Watson, 343-4. "SetonWatson to Alois Kolisek" (Doc 135), in Seton-Watson, 401-2. R.W. Seton-Watson, ed. Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1931). When planning the book, Seton-Watson expressed his desire to have an article from a SPP leader, so that Slovak autonomists could not accuse him of onesidedness. He considered an article on the issue of autonomy, but decided only to allow an article on Slovak religion by Hlinka. "Seton-Watson to Milan Hodza" (Docs 144 & 145), in Seton-Watson, 431-2 . 22 Kenneth D. Mill er, The Czecho-Slovaks in America (New York: Doran Company, 1922), 14-25, 121-122, 158-160. 21 30 SLOVAK.IA 2019 in the arts. Journalist C.J.C. Street claimed, "The Slovak dream was always to regain their lost unity with the Czechs and as a united nation to secure the tolerable conditions of existence. " 23 The Slovak autonomists in Slovakia pursued a few efforts during the interwar period to counter this campaign, although they lacked equivalent resources and connections to those held by Prague. The SPP' s most notable attempt was the Zilina Memorandum of 1922. Released to the western press and governments, the document sought to expose the Slovak question to the world, beginning with its sensationalist title, "a country doomed to death, a nation in her last agonies implores the civilized world for help." It decried the failures of Wilsonianism, which had allowed Prague to "bamboozle" the Slovaks "out of the freedom promised to them ." The text went on to explain their issues with the Czechs, discussing concerns from the treatment of religion, to economic exploitation, and the denial of autonomy. The memorandum also condemned Czechoslovakism as simply a tool for domination. The Czechs and Slovaks have been always forming two separate little worlds with a very different character due to their different geographical and economic conditions, their different way of thinking, of feeling and of mind. We have a different view of life, other morals and other traditions; we have a different social structure, different legal rules and different ideas about political economy and culture. The document ultimately claimed the world could still save the Slovaks if it acted quickly. The key of the iron cage in which the Slo vak Nation is being mercilessly incarcerated lays in the hands of the Great Powers. This memorial is our last expedient and our last weap23 John 0. Crane, "Church and State in Czechoslovakia" The Slavonic Review, 6, 17 (Dec. 1927), 364-78. Fred H. Rindge, Jr. "The Charm of Czechoslovakia" Current History, 22, 3 (June 1925), 447-50. C. J. C. Street, Slovakia Past and Present (Westm inster, UK: P.S. King & Son, 1928). For more examples, see: Robert Machray, "Czechoslova ki a a Pioneer in Central European Politics" Current Hislo ry, 25, 6 (Mar. 1927), 839-43 . J. H. Wallis, "The Upbuilding of Czechoslovakia," Curren/ Histo1y, 14, 5 (Aug. 192 1), 835-45 . SLOVAK.IA 2019 31 on ... Though only clad in the rags of our torn freedom we nevertheless appear as accusers before the world, charging the rulers of Prague who are still deluding the powers, and the powers themselves for having out of sheer ignorance become their accomplices. To ignore the Slovak case, thus, would be to support the trampling of liberty. 24 After the Zilina Memorandum bore no fruit, the Slovak autonomists pursued fewer efforts to court the west. They made a few sporadic attempts, such as a translation of the SPP •program in 1930, written by Jozef Tiso, which outlined the SPPs vision of a Slovak national Christian democracy, and appealed for autonomy as a protection of the Slovak cultural tradition. It argued that the Slovak nation's religious roots encouraged it toward a peaceful selfpreservation, unlike other nations that turned toward national chauvinism. 25 Slovak priest and publicist Anton Kompanek also produced an article that emphasized Slovak Christianity as a symbol of Slovak worthiness for self-government. Kompanek believed Slovakia served as an example of how the Church and state could find balance in the modem world. 26 These publications, however, remained exceptions, as the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia maintained little faith in western governments, recognizing Prague's stranglehold over their image internationally. They instead relied on the Slovak-Americans to lead the way in their defense internationally. Slovak nationalist politician Karol Sidor claimed that despite a continued interest in the homeland, the Slovak-Americans began to lose their "onetime vitality and ardor" during the interwar period. He linked this outcome to greater assimilation and a decreasing knowledge of the Slovak language.27 This claim is somewhat true. The energy of the war years certainly diminished, particularly in the 24 "Zilina Memorandum" (Doc I 02) & "Covering Letter for the Zilina Memorandum" (Doc I 03), in Seton-Watson, pp. 319-33 . 25 Jozef Tiso, The Ideology of th e Slovak Populist Party (Prague: 1930). 26 Anton Kompanek, "The Catholic Church in Slovakia" Th e Sla vonic and East European Review, 12, 36 (April 1934), 611-21. 27 Sidor, "Slovak League," 59-62. 32 SLOVAKIA 2019 1930s with the onset of the Great Depression.28 Sidor, however, understated how much the Slovak-Americans remained at the forefront of the international efforts to gain recognition of the Slovak question. Historian Jozef Pauco 's interpretation is much more accurate: "For twenty years the Slovak League of America defended the spirit and letter of the Pittsburgh Pact and by using the freedom of the press and the freedom of assembly on American soil, they did so more freely and energetically than the two political parties in their homeland." 29 Based on the volume of publications and direct communications with government officials on both side of the Atlantic, it is clear that the Slovak question continued to dominate the transatlantic interests of the Slovak Americans, as they bolstered their compatriots' activities within Czechoslovakia by applying external pressure on Prague. The Slovak fraternal organizations made constant efforts to keep their members linked to their Slovak cultural identity, and to aid in the fight for autonomy in the homeland. They pursued these efforts through education programs such as national lectures, art and photography tours, but also symbolic actions such as erecting a statue of General Milan R. Stefanik in Cleveland in 1924 and the planting of a Linden Tree on Capitol Hill in honor of Stefanik in 1934. 30 The Slovak question remained high on the list of Slovak-American concerns, and the various Slovak organizations produced a flurry of pamphlets and informative documents on the issue. The Pittsburgh Agreement remained at the center of this debate, with Slovak autonomists on both sides of the Atlantic continuing to affirm its legality against the centralist dismissals that it was simply a non-binding text designed to placate the Slovak-Americans during the war. Autonomist publica28 June Alexander, for example, shows how assimilation became an internal issue for Slovak-Americans, as the older generations struggled to assure that their American born children maintained links to their ethnic heritage. June Granatir Alexander, Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism: Slovaks and Other New Immigrants in the Jn terwar Era (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2004), 93-19 I. 29 Pauco, "S lovaks Abroad," 333-42. 30 "Ot. Svec to Podkrivacky," 3 Oct. 1938," PF: Adam Podkrivacky, SI. "S LA to Jakub Vitostak, 30 Nov 1923 ," The First Catholic Slovak Union of America (FCSU) Records, F: 1303, IHRC. "Jan Kocur to Michael Senko, 30 Nov 1926," FCSU, F: 1304, IHRC. 0. D. Koreff, Milan Rastisla v Stefanik: A Short Biography (Cleveland: Slovak League of America, 1924), 82-3 . "SLA to Arthur Colegrove," NSS, 8 : 168, F: SLA, IHRC. SLOVAKIA 2019 33 tions looked to inform about the Slovaks, to expose the failed promises of Prague on autonomy, and to defend against the accusations of Prague centralists. The Slovak League remained at the forefront, hoping that exposure of the situation to the American press and pub1ic would spur sympathy and support? In many cases, the Slovak-Americans directed these publications at Prague, with the hope of convincing a change in policy . They, nevertheless, would consecutively produce English versions, which they then sent to the American President, members of Congress, the Department of State, and assorted press outlets. For example, in 1921 the SLA wrote to Masaryk calling for the immediate implementation of the Pittsburgh Agreement. When Prague did not respond, the League followed up with a more detailed Memorandum on November 9, 1922. This document called on Prague to make good on the Pittsburgh Agreement in the name of natural rights and to reward the sacrifices made by Slovak-Americans during World War I. It highlighted Masaryk's role in the formation of the Agreement, and then provided a photograph of the original text as well as a series of letters between the SLA and various Czechoslovak officials that had promised its implementation to show how promises made to the Slovak-Americans never lived up to reality. The text then defended the legitimacy of Slovak autonomy. We are convinced that the honest and upright materialization of the Pittsburgh Pact in no way will harm the unity of the State; on the contrary it will mean a considerable reinforcement within and without and make possible united co-operation of all patriotic forces against the elements of disintegration, depriving them of a dangerous weapon, which they cannot effectively employ against the Republic, fanning discontent, mistrust and spreading hatred between both nations comprising the state. The League made clear, however, that this good will rested "solely upon a sincere Czecho-Slovak reciprocity." It then gave an alternative: 31 "Telegram to Ivan Bielek on 29 Nov 1934," NSS, B: 168, F: SLA , IHRC. 34 SLOVAKIA 2019 We feel it is our duty to emphasize that if our sincere and friendly attempt, which has at its heart the welfare, interest and future of the Republic, should fail to meet with success, the Slovak l eague of America would not be able to prevent the American Slovaks and their factors from turning to the Court of Public Opinion of the civilized world. While the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia acknowledged the letter, Prague neglected to respond. 32 The SLA then passed a follow-up resolution. Asserting that it "fights with fire and sword with everyone who is in favor of autonomy of the Slovak nation," it admonished Prague for manipulating the world into believing the Czechoslovakist image and for leading a smear campaign against the SLA. It then provided a list of examples of hostility, including efforts to undermine its finances , blackmail, the bullying of Slovak-American leaders and press, and attempts to send government officials to propagandize against them . It once again emphasized how the League had made every effort to resolve the Slovak question within the confines of the Czechoslovak Republic , but it would soon submit the issue "to the judgment of public opinion of the civilized world," if Prague continued to treat them with disdain.33 Many more publications followed. The Friends of Slovak Freedom , for example, released two protests in 1923. These texts defended the va lidi ty of the Slovak-Americans as representatives of the Slovak people, and condemned Prague's actions against Slovak autonomists, including such accusations as "false signatures or resolutions, false numbers of people attending their lectures, insulting the Slovak journalists, insulting the Slovak League as anti-state, and many other lies," as well as criticisms about press censorship in Slo- 32 SLA , Memorandum S/ovenskej Ligy v Amerike upra vene na vladu a Narodne Shromai denie Cesko-Slo venskej Republiky v zaujme vtelenia Pittsburgskej Dohody do ustavy C.-S. Republiky (Pittsburgh: Slovak League of America, 1922). Both the full Slovak and English versions of this Document are avai lab le at: SLA Cab, F: Memorandum /922 v Zaum e Pitts. Dohody, SI. Also avai lable in: " Memorandum Slovenskej Ligy v Arnerike" in Dokumenty, Vol 2, 138-44. 33 " An Appeal of the Slovak League of America to All Political Factors of th e Czecho-S lovak Republic," PF: Bielek, SI. SLOVAKIA 2019 35 vakia. 34 After reading Masaryk's criticism of Hlinka, the Slovak League then produced a pamphlet that challenged the idea that Masaryk personally had liberated the Slovaks. It reminded readers of the Slovak-American war contribution, and then remarked how the SLA and the Pittsburgh Agreement were certainly valid in Masaryk's eyes when he needed Slovak-American support in 1918. The document then included a text from former Czechoslovak ambassador to Japan, Karel Pergler, arguing that both the Slovaks and Czechs had unequivocally recognized the Pittsburgh Agreement upon its signing. 35 Next to these direct appeals, the Slovak-American autonomists also released many publications geared directly toward an American audience. They designed these works to inform about the Slovaks, expose their continued fight for self-determination and to link the Slovak question to American democratic values. These publications included several biographies of Milan R. Stefanik, a translated history by Slovak historian Joseph Skultety that directly challenged images of Slovak backwardness and other stereotypes, and a short pamphlet on Czechoslovakism by Slovak-American historian Ol'ga Husek warning that the concept meant for the Slovaks "the rejection of their cultural past and the stunting of their future growth." 36 They also attempted to rally America to their cause by showing their valiance in the face of domination. An SLA article distributed to the American Press praised how the Slovak-Americans continued to fight even with "the entire machinery of government set against them, calumnies upon calumnies by a government subsidized press, heaped upon the heads of those who take up their cause, and bug- 34 Friends of Slovak Freedom, " Resolution, November 28, 1923," & " Protest against Censorship and Confiscation of Slovak Publications by the Government in Slovakia" in Pankuch , Slo vaks of Cleveland, l 82-6. 35 Slovenska Liga v Amerike, V Zaujme Pra vdy! (In the Interest of Truth !) (Pittsburgh: P. Jamriska, 1930). Found in : SLA Cabinet, F: SLA Presidents, SI. Prague responded to these letters, but it simply reasserted the usual rebutta ls, claiming that 75% of the Slovaks supported centralization and that the Pittsburgh Agreement was simply an American document. "Ohlas Americkeho Memoranda u Nas," 8 : Slovak League of America (SLA) , SI. 36 0. D. Koreff, Milan Rastislav Stefanik: A Short Biography (Cleveland: Slovak League of America, 1924). Andrew Slabey, General Milan R. Stefanik (Leisenring, PA: Griglak Printery, 1937). Joseph Skultety, Sketches from Slovak History, O.D. Koreff, trans . (Middletown, PA : First Catholic Slovak Union, I 930) . Ol'ga Husek, The Czechoslovak Fallacy (Middletown, PA : Jednota, 1935). 36 SLOVAK.IA 2019 bears turned loose to scare those who are not acquainted with conditions. " 37 Religion became a major component of Slovak-American advocacy on the Slovak question in the interwar period. Slovak-American journalist Stephen J. Palickar published many articles in general Catholic publications, including a five-month tit-for-tat with Czech diplomat Josef Hane in defense of Slovak religiosity. He also provided some of the first Slovak-American attempts to link Slovak religiosity to anti-Communism. Palickar likewise defended Slovak agency, and appealed for a lifting of Prague centralism to allow the Slovaks an opportunity to prove their abi lity for self-government. 38 While most of these publications were shorter, more direct works, the Slovak-Americans released a couple of longer exposes on the Slovak question. The first, written by then SLA president Peter P. Hletko on behalf of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, looked to inform the American people about the Pittsburgh Agreement as an American product in line with "the principles of democracy and self-determination of small nations." Hletko praised how the Slovak "has an inherent love for liberty and freedom , and enjoys fostering his national spirit," which had spurred his immigration to America in a "quest for a land of true liberty," and he argued that American democracy had allowed the Slovaks in America to assert their national identity as an independent people. He asserted how the Slovaks had only joined the Czechoslovak movement on the premise that they would be treated fairly and as equals and highlighted a reg37 "The conflict between Czechs and Slovaks," NSS Records, B: 168, F: SLA, IHRC. For many examples, see: "The Slovaks- Past and Present," in Stephen J. Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism to Atheistic Czech Communism (Cambridge, MA : Hampshire Press, 1948), 40-3 . Stephen J. Palickar, "Czech and Slovak at Odds: Both Sides of the Controversy - From the Slovak Standpoint," Current History, 22 , 5 (Aug 1925), 784-6. "A Dark Spot in Czecho-Slovakia," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism , 43-45 . "Who is Masaryk?," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 49-51 . "S lovakia-whither bound," in Palickar, Slovakia : From Hungarian Despotism, 76-83. "Slovak Catholicism vs. Czech Communism," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 84-86. "Slovak Grievance," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 70-72 . "President Masaryk and his State," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 61-62. "Scotus Viator Surveys Slovakia," in Palickar, Slo vakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 72-75. Stephen J. Palickar, Slovakia of Today (A Lecture), December 12, 1933 , Columbi a University (New York: Slovak Library Association, 1933). 38 SLOVAKIA 2019 37 ular sense of duplicity and condescension the Slovaks felt from the Czechs. Hlekto praised the Pittsburgh Agreement as having resolved these conflicts, before Masaryk ultimately betrayed his promise, and he gave a detailed defense of its validity and of the right of the Slovak-Americans to speak for their nation during the war. 39 The Slovak-American autonomists shortly thereafter produced an even longer book on the topic . Written by Peter P. Hletko under the pseudonym , "An Autonomist," it served as the most exhaustive consideration of the Slovak question in Eng lish in the early 20 th century. Hletko placed blame on Czech intransigence for fueling the issue unnecessarily. The book argued that the Czechos lovak revolution relied on American money and manpower and "should the President (Masaryk) have failed to dispel the fear and dissatisfaction of the Slovaks through the Moscow and Pittsburgh Agreements, there certainly would not be a Czecho-Slovakia today. " The book then deconstructed Prague 's policies toward the Slovaks, to show Czechoslovakism as a means of hegemony. Hletko considered every issue from the Czech obfuscation on autonomy, the complicity of the Slovak centrali sts, the language issue, schools, and the economy, and he explained the claims of Slovak neediness and incompetence, as we ll as the claimed threat of Hungary, as only a fa<;:ade to justify Czech dominance. He likewise gave examples of Slovak intellectuals to dispute the claim that the Slovaks needed the Czechs to serve that role. He then detailed the domination of Slovakia's administration, civi l service, education system, and cultura l institutions by Slovak centralists and Czechs, and the press censorship and smear campaigns. Ultimately, he concluded that Czechoslovakism was undermining the state and mu st be reversed. Hletko concluded: Th e motive that has promoted us to write this work is not one of revenge, nor a desire to arouse bad feeling, but simply to expose falsehood and reveal truth. It is our sincere hope that, the truth being known, it will enable the Czechs and Slovaks to form a more stable union which will promote justice, trust, and good 39 Slovak Catholi c Federation of America, The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (S lovak Cath olic Federation of America, 1934). Joseph C. Krajsa, " Dr. Peter Hletko, Most Elite of American Slovaks," Slovakia, 22, 45 ( 1972), 57-9. 38 SLOVAKIA 2019 will, and thereby insure national integrity both at home and abroad. 40 A few non-Slovak publications did favor Slovak autonomy . For example, some historians of the First World War, such as Jan Opocensky and C. A. Macartney, attempted to present a balanced consideration of the Slovak question, giving voice to Slovak autonomist concerns.4 1 There were also several publications that utilized the Slovak question to criticize the broader Versailles system . Writer and journalist E. Alexander Powell , for example, highlighted the differences between the Czechs and Slovaks as an example of the precariousness of the region ' s political stability. Although not particularly admiring of the Slovaks, Powell was highly critical of the Czech treatment of them. He commented, "The Czechs, an energetic, ambitious, progressive, and aggressive people, who outnumber the Slovaks three to one, look with condescension, if not contempt, on their less literate, slower thinking, more easy-going partners, whom, if the truth be known , they regard as immensely inferior to themselves." These scholars all argued that the Czechs needed to treat their minorities with more respect and make good on promises for Slovak autonomy for the sake of the survival of the state. 42 A few works were even somewhat favorable to the Slovaks. One such example came from writer Kenneth L. Roberts , who after visiting Czechoslovakia complained, "The Czechs want to socialize everything in sight, and the Slovaks are not poignantly eager to be social- 40 An Autonomist, Slovakia 's Plea for Autonomy (Middletown, Pa: Slovak Literary Society, 1935). 41 Jan Opocensky, The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Mon archy and the Rise of the Czechoslovak Stale (Prague: Orbis, 1928), 153-68, I 93-214. C. A. MaCartney, National States and National Min orities (London : Oxford Uni versity Press, 1934), 117, 201 ,208. 42 E. Alexander Powell , The Danger on th e Danube (New York: Century Company, 1928), 56-8, 62-8, 72-4. M. W. Fodor, South of Hiller (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1939). For oth er examples, see : C. A. Macartney, Hungary and her Successors: The Treaty of Trianon and its Consequences, 1919-193 7 (London : Oxford University Press, 1937/ 1965), 73-148. Frank H. Simonds, Can Europe Keep th e Peace? (New York : Harper, I 93 I), 92-10 I. Isaiah Bowman, The New World: Problems in Political Geography, 4th ed. (Yonkers, NY : World Book, 1928). Harold Temperley, " How the Hungari an Frontiers were Drawn," Foreign Affairs, 6, 3 (April 1928), 432-47 . SLOVAKIA 2019 39 ized." Comparing the Czechs in Slovakia to U.S. Civil War carpetbaggers, he criticized the Czech administration of Slovakia, their denial of autonomy, and called out Czechoslovakism as a lie. He alternatively praised the Slovaks as "among the most attractive and lovable peasant people of the many I have seen." An article by journalist Robert Sage, after a visit to Slovakia, likewise chided the Czechs for using claims of generosi ty as a mirage for domination over Slovakia. 43 The SLA ultimately made good on its threat to take the issue to the world stage, presenting the Slovak question to the League of Nations in 1932. It produced a long legal brief, which appealed for a cessation of wrongdoing against the Slovaks and the granting of political and cultural autonomy. It then begged the League of Nations to recognize the Slovaks as an independent nation, to demand the implementation of the Pittsburgh Agreement, to investigate ill treatment, and to grant recognition of the Slovaks as a true minority in Czechoslovakia. It pointed out how the Slovak-Americans had made multiple attempts to reach out to Prague to explain their concerns and offer an olive branch towards a solution, but that Prague had ignored their appeals and through censorship had silenced their brothers in Slovakia. The document then went on to detail the history of the founding of the state and the Pittsburgh Agreement, their complaints of ill-treatment against the Slovaks, and their view as to why the 44 Slovaks were an independent people. This appeal was unsuccessful. Slovak-Americans also regularly wrote to U.S. government officials. One such example was an "Open Letter" to Masaryk in 1923 that the Slovak Catholic Federation in America also sent to President Coolidge, members of Congress, all the embassies in Prague, and to the American press. The document started with an image of Masaryk approaching the Slovak-Americans as equals during the war, to 43 Kenneth L. Roberts, Europe's Morning After (New York: Harper Brothers, 1921 ), 121-73. Kenneth L. Roberts, Why Europe l eaves Home (New York: Bobbs-Merrill , 1922), 28-31 . Robert Sage, "There's no such Nationality as Czecho-Slovak," Chicago Daily Tribune, Jan 2, 1930, 6. For other examples, see: Felix John Vondracek, The Foreign Policy of Czechoslovakia / 918-1935 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1937), 377-9. Alexander Szana, Die Geschichte der Slowakei (Bratislava: Grenzenbote Verlag, 1930). Robert Nowak, Der Kiinstliche Staal: Ostprobleme der Tschecho-Slowakei (Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling, 1938). 44 "To the Supreme Council of the League of Nations at Geneva," SlA Cabinet, F: Supreme Council of the l eague of Na tions at Geneva, 1932, SI. 40 SLOVAKIA 2019 which they responded with loyalty and support. Masaryk then betrayed them, treating the Slovaks "in step-mother fashion, nay, even like slaves," having lured them into "an invisible net of imperialistic aspirations, renounced openly that which is to every nation and to us 'ignorant' Slovaks inviolable, priceless, sacred." It bemoaned that the Slovaks again felt endangered in their national existence, and how the Czechs misled the world on the issue. It appealed for Masaryk "to acknowledge and fulfill that which you had promised us, the American Slovaks," for the sake of Czech-Slovak unity and the secu45 rity of the state. This letter elicited a response from the Slovak-American centralists. The National Slovak Society, the Slovak Sokol, and assorted editors produced a counter response to Masaryk, which they then sent to Coolidge and Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. This document asserted open support for the idea that the Czechs and Slovaks were one nation. It criticized the SCF letter for having "a spirit of narrow sectarianism," in contrast to "the great majority of the American Slovaks," who supported Masaryk "heart and soul." The document praised Masaryk and the Czechoslovak state for bringing cultural and economic development to Slovakia and it mentioned the centralist Slovaks in the government as a sign of Czech inclusiveness. The text also apologized for the Czech administration of Slovakia, bemoaning that Slovakia lacked enough competent officials. It then claimed that Prague had carried out the Pittsburgh Agreement in full , adding that "during the war neither the Czechs nor the Slovaks demanded self-determination for each separately; they demanded self-determination for the Czechoslovaks." 46 To the frustration of the Slovak autonomists, this campaign barely registered among U.S. officials in Washington. American officials at the U.S. Embassy in Prague paid slightly more attention, although most addressed it only passively and most often from the Czechoslo45 Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Open Letter to Thomas G. Masaryk, President of the Czecho-S/ovak Republic (Slovak Catholic Federation of America : 1923). Found in : "Einstein to SoS, No. 611 ," 20 February 1924, F#: 860F.0l / 162, DoS CS 1910-44. The New York Times reported on the letter: " Slovak Protest to All Nations," New York Times, Mar. 12, 1924, 34. 46 National Slovak Society, et al. , An Open Letter to Thomas G. Masaryk, President of Czechoslovakia ( I 924), in "Joseph Jan eek to Coolidge," 3 May 1924, F# : 860F.0l / 164, Dos cs 1910-44 SLOVAKIA 2019 41 vakist perspective. The American Ambassador during the 1920s, Lewis Einstein, for example, reported on the SCF letter, misrepresenting it as "a violent indictment of Czech policy in Slovakia," and praised Prague for "accomplishing there a work of civilization. By introducing education and schools in a population where a high degree of illiteracy existed, by bringing in public hygiene, orderly justice and a better fiscal system, they are laying the foundations for the future. " Accordingly, in his view the Slovaks only needed proper education to unify with the Czechs . Ultimately, "Only one thing can be excluded, which is Slovakian autonomy." 47 In another attempt at outreach, Adam Podkrivacky as President of the FCSU wrote to John Hickerson, acting Chief of Western European Affairs at the U.S . State Department. Podkrivacky complained about the U.S. Consul General in Prague sending out correspondence to Slovakia in the Czech language instead of Slovak. He also requested that the State Department use the hyphen when writing 'Czecho-Slovakia. ' Podkrivacky then supplied Hickerson a copy of an autonomist political pamphlet, to "acquaint better with the political situation just as it exists between the Slovaks and the Czechs in Czecho-Slovakia." Hickerson forwarded the letter to the embassy in Prague and asked for a report on the Slovak question. Charge d' affaires J. Web Benton responded, declaring the letter unacceptable due to the threat posed by Czechoslovakia's neighbors. He also made the usual ethnographic arguments, adding how "Czech culture has contributed measurably to the advancement of Slovakia," and predicted the issue would dissipate. Benton dismissed the pamphlet as simply "anti-government propaganda ... the request for autonomy, in the sense of a separate parliament as mentioned in the Pittsburgh Pact, is something that no truly patriotic and far-seeing Slovak could at present afford to advocate." He added, "I assume that the Department will pay no further attention to his communications, but it seems not inopportune to observe that Czech is the official language of this country."48 While a few U.S. diplomats from the period, notably Lewis Einstein, came to develop a more nuanced view on the topic, this ended each time new embassy staff took over. 47 "Einstein to SoS , No . 611 ," DoS CS 1910-44. "Adam Podkrivac ky to John Hickerson," 29 March 1937, F#: 860F.0l / 18 1, DoS CS 1910-44. " Movement for Slovak Autonomy," 30 April 1937, F#: 860F .01 /184, DoS CS 1910-44. 48 42 SLOVAKIA 2019 The dismissal of Slovak-American pleas stood in contrast to a disproportionate concern among American officials about the proHungarian Slovaks living abroad. The Rothermere campaign spurred some interest, and while some Americans expressed some sympathy to it, including chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee William Borah and publisher William Randolph Hearst, the U.S. Embassy in Prague wrote profusely about how the Slovaks remained opposed to a return to Hungary. When the exiled nationalist communist Slovak Vince Mihalus created an exile Slovak government in 1928, the State Department gave him disproportionate consideration, even though he held little popular support in Slovakia. Jehlicka reached out to Washington, calling for support against "Czech tyranny" and requesting support for recognition of the Slovaks as a minority in the League of Nations. The Czechoslovak embassy directed the State Department in its response, simply informing U.S. officials that Jehlicka only organized a "small number of Slovak renegades, mostly of Hungarian origin." 49 This flurry of publishing was very much a product of the widespread transatlantic interaction between Slovakia and the United States, as Slovak leaders on both sides of the Atlantic travelled between Europe and North America as they attempted to coordinate common political action. In the early 1920s, Prague still had hopes of guiding the Slovak-Americans to the centralist cause, despite the sentiment building against it. One major effort was the creation of a Slovak League in Slovakia by centralist Slovaks, designed to serve 49 Czechoslovak Ambassador Vladimir Hurban exchanged several letters with Hearst on the issue, facilitated by the State Department, eventually convincing Hearst to no longer give a voice to Rothermere and his supporters. "Einstein to SoS, No. 1355," 30 July 1927, F#: 860F.4016/4, DoS CS 1910-44. "J. Butler Wright to SoS, No. 62," 15 Oct 1927, F#: 860F.4016/9, DoS CS 1910-44. "Vladimir Hurban to William Randolph Hearst," 27 May 1937, & " Hurban to Cordell Hull," 4 June 1937, F#: 860F.00/437 & 438 , DoS CS 1910-44. "Council of State of Slovakia to SoS," 6 Nov 1928, F#: 860F.01 / 171 & 172, DoS CS 1910-44. "Nelson Torsler Johnson to Einstein," 28 Jan 1929, F#: 860F.01 / 171 , DoS CS 1910-44. "Gittings to SoS, No. 1747," 28 Feb 1929, F#: 860F.0l/173, DoS CS 1910-44. "Gittings to SoS, No. 1756," 9 Mar 1929, F#: 860F.0l / 174, DoS CS 1910-44. "Washburn to SoS, No. 2153." "Einstein to SoS, No. 516," 20 Sep 1923, F#: 860F.00/2 14, DoS CS 1910-44. "SoS to Geneva and Prague," 30 July 1933, F#: 860F.00/345, DoS CS 1910-44. "Prentiss B. Gilbert to SoS, No. 650," 8 Aug 1933 , F#: 860F.00/346, DoS CS 191044. "SoS to Geneva and Prague," 29 Aug 1933, F#: 860F.00/346, DoS CS 1910-44. SLOVAKIA 2019 43 as a counterpart to the SLA and to build common action across the Atlantic. This effort failed, however, after the Slovak League of America refused to cooperate with it. 50 With autonomist sentiment among the American Slovaks sharpening, Prague sent Slovak centralist leader Vavro Srobar to the United States in 1923. While Srobar attempted to unify the Slovak-Americans behind centralism, his visit had the opposite effect of galvanizing the Slovak-American autonomists. Srobar received support from sympathetic groups such as the Slovak Sokol, but the SLA and other autonomist organizations boycotted his speeches. Prague sent other figures to agitate for centralism, including the priest Jozef Rudinsky and agrarian politician Fedor Ruppeldt. Seton-Watson also reached out to the SlovakAmericans in several letters and later in a visit in 1935 , during which he appealed to the Slovak-Americans to encourage the Slovaks in . · 51 SI ova k ia against autonomy. The efforts by centralists did not change the status quo, as the Slovak-American autonomists remained firm in their opinions and openly repudiated centralist arguments. Pankuch, for example, felt that the only result of Srobar's visit was to destroy Czech-Slovak 52 unity and the internal unity of the Slovak-Americans. Ruppelt in tum complained how even among the Slovak Lutherans he constantly had to fight against autonomist sentiment. 53 With the dividing lines firmly set, the Slovak-American centralists and autonomists quit mutual involvement in each other's organizations and the centralists began a continuous propaganda campaign against the SLA backed by Prague. For example, after Slovak-American autonomists 50 Ignac Gessay, Kratke Dejiny S/ovenskej Ligy Na S/ovensku: od Zalozenia po 1. 0kt. 1926 (Bratislava: Slovenska Liga na Slovensku, 1926). "Nova ohlavka- stary kon. Pozor na Slovensku ligu!" 27 Oct 1924, Bratislava (No 68), in Jozef Tiso, Prejavy a Clanky (1913-193 8), eds. Miroslav Fabricius & Ladislav Susko (Bratislava: Historicky 'ustav SA V, 2002),), 196-7. 51 "An Appeal ," PF: Bie/ek, SI. Pankuch, Histo ry, 177-86. "Seton-Watson to Vojtech Mastny" (Doc 124), in Seton -Watson, 375-6. "Odkaz Scotus Viatora Americkym Slovakom" (Doc 125), in Seton-Watson, 377-80. "Seton-Watson to Stefan Osusky "' (Doc 128) & "Osusky to Seton-Watson" (Doc 129), in Seton-Watson, 3857. Mikus, "Slovak League," 46-7. Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, 1864-1926 (Bratislava: Knihtlaciarne Sv. Andreja, 1934), 503-5 . Palickar, "Czech and Slovak." Tomas Capek, Nase Amerika (Prague: Nakladem Narodni Rady Ceskoslovenske, 1926), 113. 52 Pankuch, History, 180. 53 " Fedor Ruppeldt to Seton-Watson" (Doc 149), in Seton-Watson, 441-2 . 44 SLOVAKIA 2019 confronted him, Srobar reportedly lashed out at them as "knownothing drunkards" and traitors against the Republic. 54 While the Slovaks in America had been legitimate Slovaks when Masaryk needed them during the war, once they became a threat, the centralists began to categorize them as United States citizens, whose influence should not extend beyond America. 55 When the Czechoslovak Government offered a special commendation to the SLA on Czechoslovakia's l 0th anniversary in 1928, for its role in the creation of the state, the Slovak League of America rejected it. 56 The Slovak autonomists in Slovakia perceived things quite differently. Many Slovak nationalist leaders believed that the nation as an ethnic and cultural foundation transcended the state, and offered regular praise of the Slovak-Americans as fighters for Slovak liberty and autonomy. Figures such as Hlinka and Lutheran autonomist leader Emil Stodola openly praised the Slovak-Americans and their role in the fight for autonomy, and argued that their past actions allowed the American Slovaks an equal right to speak about the fate of the Slovak homeland. 57 SPP leader Jozef Tiso extolled, "In this (Pittsburgh) agreement we see the heritage of our own American brothers, for which we will fight with the honor and the tenacity of the Slovak spirit, which is not intimidated by prison, the malice of the world, nor the cynicism of centralist agents." Tiso praised the "real Slovak patriots," working in the "free air of America," and he even posited that the Slovak-Americans had a better claim to speak for the Slovaks than the Slovak centralists did, because the SlovakAmericans had made the revolution successful with their blood, treasure and propaganda.58 Slovak scholars also published multiple 54 "A. S. Ambrose to Seton-Watson" (Doc 126) in Seton-Watson, 381-2. "Aby uz raz bolo jasno a aby prestaly r6zne narknutia proti Slov. Lige," PF: Bielek, SI. 55 Masaryk, for example, used such logic to dismiss the Pittsburgh Agreement, which he called a "local understanding between American Czechs and Slovaks," whose "signatories were mainly American citizens, only two of them being nonAmericans." Masaryk, Making, 208-11. 56 Stolarik, Where is my Hom e?, 98 . 57 "Hlinka on Scotus Viator" (Doc 109), in Seton-Watson, 345-53. Emil Stodola, Pre/om: Spomienky, Uvahy, Studie (Praha: L. Mazac, 1933), 193-4. 58 "Novy vykrik bratov z Ameriky," 24 Feb 1924, Bratislava (No 43), in Tiso, Prejavy, 157-9. " Pittsburghska dohoda - neplatna?!" 29 May 1924, Bratislava (no 57), in Tiso, Prejavy, 179-80. "Parliamentary Speech," 25 Nov 1931, Prague (No I 64), in Ti so, Preja vy, 347. "Speech to Public Assembly of the Slovak People 's SLOVAKIA 2019 45 studies of the Slovak-Americans and their role m Slovak national development. 59 Slovak autonomists openly expressed these sentiments through regular trips to the United States. These attempts at direct engagement were nonetheless slow to start. Prague regularly prevented such trips, including the denial of a passport to Bishop Jan Vojtassak out of concern that he would agitate for autonomy and collect money for the SPP while in the United States. The barrier broke in 1926 when Hlinka accepted an invitation to visit America from editor Jozef Husek and the Friends of Slovak Freedom, sponsored by the SLA, the FCSU, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union (FCSLU). Hlinka desired to visit the United States to thank the Slovak-Americans in person for their support for Slovak self-determination, to explain firsthand the political situation in Slovakia, and to encourage them to keep fighting. After stalling on the process, Prague ultimately relented to avoid the resulting outrage had they refused. They issued Hlinka a passport to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. Hlinka's visit lasted from June 5 to October 13. Although Hlinka expressed some trepidation that Slovak-American centralists would treat him with hostility, Slovak-American autonomist leaders Josef Husek and Anton Kompanek convinced him the experience would prove the opposite. This claim proved true, as Hlinka received hundreds of invitations to speak to overflowing crowds on each occasion. Demand was so high that, then SLA president Ivan Bielek had to write an article emphasizing Hlinka's time limitations to try to tame expectations. During his visit, Hlinka travelled around the U.S. East and Midwest, visiting local Slovak communities. He regularly attended and celebrated Mass and held meetings with SlovakAmerican organizations, including the SLA from whom he received an honorary membership . Hlinka visited assorted Slovak-American institutions, surveying Slovak-American newsrooms, printeries, Party," 18 August 1937 & 25 August 1937, Bratislava (No 251 & 252), in Tiso, Prejavy, 523-4. "Nase narodnopo liticke palladium," 5 June 1938 (No 260), in Tiso, Prejavy, 543-4. Kon stantin Culen, Po Sviitop/ukovi druha nasa h/ava: Zivot Dr. Jozefa Tisu (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1947), 182-3. 59 Jozef Rudinsky, V Amerike a doma (Ruzomberok: Rudinsky, 1921 ). Karol Sidor, S/ovaci v zahranicnom odboji (Bratislava: Jednota, 1928). Matica Slovenska, S/ovenskej verejenosti v Amerike (Mati ca slovenska , 1937). Konstantin Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava: Knihtlaciarei'l Andreja, 193 7) . 46 SLOVAK.IA 2019 schools, and churches. Overall, Hlinka held rallies at 80 locations, gave 200 speeches, and visited more than 100 Slovak parishes. Hlinka's visit spurred a level of excitement and activity among the Slovak-Americans that would never recur. 60 Hlinka kept his goal of directly exposing the Slovak question during his visit. He regularly spoke on the issue, and carried a copy of a censored Slovak nationalist newspaper as evidence. During his visit, Hlinka could not help but contrast the image of America with his experience in Czechoslovakia. In one such speech, he made clear that the Slovaks .. . would prefer not to quarrel with the Bohemians, but when they preach democracy and at the same time practice deceptions and aggression, we have no choice but to oppose them ... America is a superior nation and a master democratic republic. It has a splendid constitution which not only guarantees the rights and liberties to the people, but sees that they get them as well. Hlinka likewise extolled the "firm individuality" that the SlovakAmericans had gained, and he highlighted the sense of natural connection between Slovaks and Americans. "A good Slovak who comes to America makes a good American, and all good SlovakAmericans, including the new generations born in America from Slovak extraction will appreciate what they have inherited from their Slovak ancestry. Neither will they forget Slovakia." In his farewell speech, Hlinka expressed how the Slovak-Americans had filled him with national pride. He affirmed, "I saw the large affl uence of Slovaks, these Slovaks who under the Tatras suffered from hardship and physical and spiritual want," and prai sed how they helped sustain the Slovak nation. He finally asked of them, "do not forget that under the Tatras stand your cradle and your old homeland, our hard-tested and suffering Slovakia!" 61 60 Adamec, "Slovak Catholic Federation ," 223-32. Sidor, Hlinka, 503-5, 510-1 I, 543 -52 . Sidor, "The Slovak League," 57-9. Mikus, "S lovak League," 46-7 . Jozef Pauco, "75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union," Furdek, 5 ( 1966), 65 -74. 61 Palickar, " Monsignor Hlinka- The Man," in Palickar, Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism , 51-6, 55 . Palickar, " My Interview with Msgr. Hlinka," in Slovakia: From Hungarian Despotism, 56-9. Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, 543-52. SLOVAKIA 2019 47 In the 1930s, the Slovak-Americans experienced a few more visits from notable figures. One such visit was from the Slovak cultural organization Matica slovenska, in 1935 . The Slovak-Americans had regular contact with the Matica in the 1920s and there remained regular efforts to create an American branch of the organization.62 With the outbreak of the Great Depression, however, interest and funding for Slovak cultural programs in America declined. The Matica decided a visit to America was necessary to reverse thi s process, which they interpreted as the Slovak-Americans becoming too Americanized. The organization ' s director, the writer Jozef C. Hronsky, led the delegation, but it also included historian Konstantin Culen, and the artist Jozef Cincik, among others. These individuals gave many lectures and supplied ample literature and art, including a donation of libraries of Slovak material to the cities of New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago.63 While they found that some second and third generation Slovak-Americans had lost touch with Slovak culture, the delegates gave high praise to the Slovak-Americans for the interest they showed in the lectures, music, art and other cultural information the Matica provided. The experience led Culen to adopt the task of writing a history of Slovak-Americans. The linguist Jozef G. Konus likewise noted how "the Slovak spirit opens up more in free America than the lush fantasie s at home could imagine." When the White House wrote a statement for a Slovak-American information brochure praising the Slovaks as a "healthy minded, freedomloving and determined people," the Matica hailed it as evidence of Slovak democratic bona tides. Ultimately, the delegation praised the trip as very much a success, and took back ample material on the Slovak-Americans for placement in the Slovak National Library. The Matica left satisfied that Slovak culture remained firm in America, although it put pressure on the Slovak-Americans to improve their direct cultural linkages with the homeland. 64 62 To see many examples of this communicati on, see: The Ma tica slovenskti, Martin, Slovakia, re: American Slovaks Papers, IHRC . 63 According to Mark Stol arik, th e Mati ca brought 84 crates of books, totaling 4 I ,000 volumes, while visiting 98 separate Slovak-American communities. Stolarik, Wh ere is my Home?, 96-100. 64 "Vianoce Maticnej delegacie," Slovensko, 2, 5 & 6 (Jan-Feb 1936), 87-8. Konstantin Culen, "Co m6ze dat' Amerika slovenskej historii ," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), 87-8. Jozef C. Hronsky, " Mati ca v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (March 1936), 110-13. Jozef G. Konus, " Matica v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), I I6-18 . 48 SLOVAK.IA 2019 The final major figure to visit America was the Reverend Jozef Tiso in 1937, with the Catholic cultural organization Spolok Sv. Vojtecha. Much like Hlinka, Tiso celebrated mass and heard confessions during his visit, spoke at public assemblies and met with many American priests, journalists, and Slovak-American leaders. He also attended other broader Catholic events, including the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and met with the Papal delegation in Washington, D.C. Tiso made a broad effort to learn about American political life, to determine what Slovak leaders could transfer back to Slovakia. He particularly admired American technical prowess in organization and publishing, which he saw as facilitating a more efficient Catholic organization and action, and conceptualized a plan to send young Slovak leaders to America to learn American methods of organization. Tiso also praised the Slovak-American sense of independence and pride in their Slovak identity. Seeing how the Slovaks had developed on independent terms in the vast American melting pot, Tiso interpreted the Slovak-American experience as proof of Slovak capabilities and their merit for self-determination. Tiso never gave up his sense of solidarity with the Slovak-Americans, and referenced his visit to affirm his desired direction for the Slovaks. 65 The only visit to the United States by a Slovak official to gamer much attention from Washington was Srobar's in 1923. American diplomat Einstein provided notice of the visit, adding that it was "doubtless intended to counteract the seditious anti-Czech propaganda which has been going on for some time both in Slovakia, where it is fomented by Magyar intrigues, and among the Slovak clericals in the United States." Although, he noted that the Slovak autonomy movement remained "noisy and violent in its methods but unaided it can do little and it is not at present causing here any serious conJozef G. Konu s, "Matica v Amerike," Slovensko, 2, 7 (Mar 1936), 116-18. Jozef Hronsky, "Na margo americkeho zapisnika," S/o vensko, 2, IO & I I (June-July 1936), 177-80. Jozef Cincik, "Na margo americkeho zapisnaka," Slo vensko , 2, IO & 11 (June-July 1936), 181-6. " Maticna vystava v Clevelande," Slo vensko, 2, IO & 11 (June-July 1936), 181-4. " President Roosevelt pozdravuje slovensky narod," Slovensko , 2, 5 & 6 (Jan-Feb 1936), 79. "Slovenska Amerika sa hybe," S/ovensko, 4, 3 (Nov 1937), 32-3. "SLA to Sku ltety, I June 1935,".PF: Mamatey, SI. Stolarik, "Slovak League." J.A. Berta, "Slovak America and the Matica Slovenska," Furdek, 23 (1984), 163-71. 65 Culen, Po Sviiloplukovi, 182-9. "Speech about the state account balance from 1926," 23 February 1938, Prague (No 258), in Tiso, Prejavy, 533-6. SLOVAKIA 2019 49 cem." 66 Several Slovak-American autonomists wrote to the State Department to complain about Srobar's visit, including a letter from a Slovak-American World War I veteran asking the Department to halt Srobar's lectures for sowing discord among the Slovaks in the United States. The most notable letter, however, came from the Reverend John Porubsky on behalf of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association. Porubsky criticized Srobar's claimed "cultural visit" as a ruse to propagandize on behalf of Czechoslovakism. He presented it as part of an effort by Prague, "To inoculate the masses of our people in America as a contracting party with such misconception and ethnographical nonsense," and to discredit the Pittsburgh Agreement. Claiming that Srobar "forgot the scope of his mission, even forgot himself in outbursts against leading Slovak American gentlemen, calling them vile names unworthy of a man of his position," Porubsky asked Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes to have him expelled from the country.67 This effort also spurred a response by Prague and its allies in the United States. These letters, in an organized campaign, all repeated versions of the same arguments. They complained that the opposition to Srobar consisted of "Jesuits and Bolsheviks" and other "enemies of the state" that were working for Czechoslovakia's destruction. Srobar was, alternatively, a great statesman fighting against them to bring cultural development to Slovakia. They also personally targeted Porubsky and the Slovak Newspapermen's Association: "The great majority of intelligent American Slovaks are heart and soul in accord with Dr. Srobar's patriotic works; only the ignorant and reactionary masses are ignobly and ignorantly supporting the destructive work of Rev. Porubsky and his few brawling associates." 68 Likewise, the Slovak Sokol, which had arranged Srobar's visit from the American end, took credit for the visit, praising how Srobar had "proved to 66 " Einstein to SoS, No. 502 ," 29 Aug 1923, F#: 860F .0 I/ I 48, DoS CS 1910-44. "John Porubsky to Charles Evans Hughes," 31 Oct 1923 , F#: 860F.0 l/149, DoS CS 1910-44. "John J. Nedorostek to Hughes," 13 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.01/150, DoS cs 1910-44. 68 "V. Krali cek to Hughes," 12 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / 151 , DoS CS 1910-44. "J. Joscak to Hughes," 14 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / 154, DoS CS 1910-44. "Henry Russek to Hughes," 15 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l/156, DoS CS 1910-44. "C lement lhrisky & Joscak to Hughes," 15 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.0 l/152, DoS CS 1910-44. " Michael Kovalovsky to Hughes," 16 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0 1/157, DoS CS 1910-44. " Michael Olsavicki to Hughes," 19 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0 1/ 155, DoS CS 1910-44. 67 50 SLOVAKIA 2019 the Slovaks of America that any fears as to the future of their former country are unfounded." 69 The State Department only sent back formulaic verification of receipts to these letters, except for one to John Zeman of the Slovak Sokol, thanking him for "setting forth the real purposes of the visit." William Phillips then requested President Coolidge to meet with Srobar, calling him "one of the five men who founded the Republic of Czechoslovakia," to which Coolidge obliged. 70 In 193 7, the Reverend Francis Dubosh of Lakewood, Ohio, attempted to arrange a meeting between officers of the SCF A, Jozef Tiso, and President Roosevelt, with the help of Monsignor Michael J. Ready at the Catholic University of America. The White House staff supported this meeting, but Roosevelt wanted to first confirm with the State Department so as not "to get mixed up in a Slovak controversy." After consulting with Czechoslovak Ambassador Vladimir Hurban, the State Department reported that the embassy made no official complaint, but that they themselves discouraged the visit with "the opinion that these persons are not of sufficient prominence for the President to receive them." After a back and forth in consideration of the issue, the White House ultimately declined, claiming 71 that the President was simply too busy. The Slovak-Americans also visited Slovakia. The most significant of these occurred in 193 8 in the tense period leading up to the Munich Agreement, when the Slovak League sent a delegation to celebrate the 20 th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement. Led by its President, Peter P. Hletko, the delegation, as a deliberate gesture, made its first formal visit in Slovakia to Andrej Hlinka in Rufomberok. The delegation travelled into Slovakia through Poland, to 69 "J. Zeman to Hughes," 18 Nov 1923 , F#: 860F.01 / 153 , DoS CS 1910-44. "W. R. Castle to Association of Slovak Newspapermen of America," 6 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l / l49, DoS CS 1910-44. "J. B. Wright to Kralicek," 20 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.0l/15I, DoS CS 1910-44. "Castle to Joscak," 20 Nov 1923, F#: 860F.01/l54, DoS CS 1910-44. "Castle to Zeman," I Dec 1923, F#: 860F.0l / l53 , DoS CS 191044. "William Phillips to G. B. Slemp, 12 Nov 1923," & "Slemp to Phillips, 12 Nov 1923," Coolidge Papers, Series I, 742. 71 "Roosevelt to M. H. McIntyre, 22 Oct 1937," " McIntyre to George F. Summerlin, 23 Oct 193 7," "Spruks to Summerlin, 27 Oct 193 7," "McIntyre to Roosevelt, 29 Oct 1937," "McIntyre to Summerlin, 3 Nov 1937," President 's Personal File (PPF), F: 639, Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (FDR), Hyde Park, New York. 70 SLOVAKIA 2019 51 avoid Prague and Bratislava, and the Polish government hosted the delegation on their way through. Both the Slovak autonomists and the Slovak centralists sent representatives to corral them before they entered Slovakia. The centralists were, however, sent back early after Warsaw and Slovak-Americans embraced the SPP delegation as the official one. After arriving in Slovakia, the delegation showed the original of the Pittsburgh Agreement to Hlinka and spent most of the trip associating with the Slovak autonomists. Its activities included several visits to the Matica slovenska in Martin, to which it gifted an authenticated copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement and made clear commitments toward transatlantic cultural programs, including joint publications and a transatlantic cultural council. Prime Minister Milan Hodza also led a continued effort to meet and work with the visiting delegation, believing he could convince them to break their close affiliation with the SPP and align with the Agrarians instead. Out of respect, the delegation did meet with centralist officials, including Hodza and President Eduard Benes, whom they encouraged the granting of autonomy to Slovakia for the sake of unity in those very tense times. In a speech in Prague, Hletko made clear their objectives stating, "Our love for Slovakia and the Czechoslovak Republic has induced us to come here. The object of the Pittsburgh Declaration, the original of which we have brought with us, is not to weaken but to strengthen the Republic ." 72 When describing his meetings, Hletko said that Hodza promised a movement towards autonomy, yet Prague still rejected them. 73 Likewise, Ivan Derer was extremely critical of the SlovakAmericans during their visit, accusing them of having been brainwashed. He also dismissed them as representing a small, vocal minority, and smeared them as deliberate Hungarian, German, or Polish agents, if not otherwise simply duped by the machinations of these neighboring rivals. Derer complained, "This delegation, composed most of autonomists, expressed its separatist convictions during every opportunity, expressed anti-Czech interests, made light of work of 72 "Visit of American Slovak Delegation to Jubilee Congress, Bratislava; Slovak Demands for Autonomy," 6 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/534, DoS CS 1910-44. 73 Hletko, "The Slovaks," 5-54. "Narodna Politika Roku 1938 : Ked Bol P. Hletko na Slovensku," B: Karol Sidor - Diplomat 1901-1958 - Vol 2, SI. Pavel KuklisKunovsky, Ako je na Slovensku ? Z vlastnych skusenosti napisa/ a vydal v mesiaci )uni /940 v Pittsburghu, Pa., U.S.A. (Pittsburgh: Narodne noviny, 1940), 4-7. 52 SLOVAK.IA 2019 the Czechoslovak government successes in Slovakia, ironized Czechoslovak oriented Slovaks." He was extremely derisive of Hletko, accusing him of not being truly Slovak, having been born in the United States, and as being "politically inexperienced, unknowledgeable about the conditions of Europe, Czechoslovakia and Slovakia." 74 The SLA visit culminated in the Jubilee Congress for the anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement on June 4, 1938 in Bratislava. A massive rally was organized where Hlinka, Tiso, and Hletko, among others, gave speeches. A large facsimile of the Pittsburgh Agreement surrounded on each side by the American and Slovak flags served as a backdrop. In his speech, Hletko showed the original copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement to the crowd, and praised the attention given to the Agreement. A formal proposal by the SPP in the Czechoslovak Parliament to amend the constitution to implement Slovak autonomy then followed. The centralists, led by Hodza, held a counter-rally two days later. They declared the rally more ambiguously as a celebration of the Slovak farmer, although Prague and the centralists promoted the event afterwards as a pro-state rally in opposition to autonomy. The SLA delegation also attended this celebration and Hletko gave a speech, simply affirming that the SLA continued to work for Slovak freedom . Hletko later claimed that the delegation warned the Czech and Slovak leaders they had met about the need to come to an accommodation on the Slovak question, in favor of autonomy, fearing that the issue might become larger with Adolph Hitler rattling his saber. Hletko claimed, however, that no one took this warning seriously. The delegation departed shortly before Hlinka's death in August of 1938, but the SPP sent a piece of earth from Hlinka's graveside to America. 75 74 Ivan Derer, S/ovensky vyvoj a /ud'acka zrada (Prague: K vasnicka a Hamp) , 1946), 183-9 . Derer was convinced the SLA was part of a Polish conspiracy to absorb Slovaki a, led by Karol Sidor. The SLA, however, openly rebuked Polish calls for absorption of Slovakia during its stop th ere. 75 The exact number of participants in each rally is unclear, but most accounts reflected similar participation rates (around one hundred thousand each) and photos of the Slovak Jubilee show a massive crowd. The urn containing the soil is still on display at the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Hletko, "The Slovaks," 5-54. " Wilbur Carr to SoS, no 122," 9 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/518, DoS CS 1910-44. " Farmers' Day at Bratislava; Demonstration of Slovak Branch of Czechoslovak Agrarian Party," IO June 1938, F#: 860F.00/531 , DoS CS 1910-44. " Po odchode delegatov Slov- SLOVAKIA 2019 53 The U.S. Embassy took an interest in the SLA visit to Czechoslovakia in 1938, and U.S . Ambassador Wilbur Carr agreed to meet with the delegation. Carr reported that the visit was cordial and that the delegation affirmed to him that its visit was simply to promote good will and it did not desire to interfere in domestic issues in Czechoslovakia. Carr then stated that the SLA's visit to Czechoslovakia annoyed Prague, due to the enflamed minority issues of the time, but that Czechoslovak officials tried to maintain good will with the delegation, although this sentiment "lacked a ring of sincerity." Accordingly, Hletko admitted to Carr that the timing was not the best, but that it was not by design, since they had come simply for the anniversary celebration. Carr expected no harm from the visit. While Carr described the autonomy proposal and reported statements by Hletko and Jozef Rusek complementing the support of the Pittsburgh Agreement among the Slovaks, he countered by providing the text of an anti-autonomy speech by Derer and a section of Masaryk' s memoirs. Carr then misrepresented the Slovak-Americans as having felt embarrassed for having been "utilized by the Hlinka Party for partisan and election purposes." While Carr reported on each of the two rallies, he praised the Farmer's Day as turning into "a spontaneous demonstration of Czechoslovak unity, homage to Benes, and allegiance and confidence in its leader," hostility to autonomy, and featuring a much larger participation.76 While Czech and Slovak centralists worked to keep the SlovakAmericans at a distance after early efforts to court them failed, the Slovak autonomists on both sides of the Atlantic worked around Prague to coordinate their activities. Nevertheless, the autonomists had no means of pushing Prague towards changes on the Slovak question. The Slovak autonomists, however, continued their fight and never gave up. The transatlantic Slovak question during the interwar period established the roots for the eventual Slovak-Czech split. The failure to find a compromise between Slovak autonomists and centralists saw an entrenched distrust that contributed to the fall of the First Republic . When the Munich Agreement formally handed the enskej Ligy v Amerike," Slovensko, 5 ( I 939), 16-17. Sidor, "The Slovak League," 59-62. 76 "Carr to SoS , no 112," 31 May 1938, F#: 860F.00/5 l 0, DoS CS 1910-44. "Visit of American Slovak." "Carr to SoS, no 121 ," 8 June 1938, F#: 860F.00/517, DoS CS 1910-44. "Carr to SoS , No 122." "Farmers ' Day. " 54 SLOVAKIA 2019 Sudetenland to Germany in September of 1938, the Slovak autonomists in Slovakia demanded and received autonomy until the new SPP-led government there declared independence on March 14, 1939, following Nazi Germany's invasion of Bohemia and Moravia. Slovak-American autonomists, although distrustful of Nazi Germany, openly embraced the shift toward Slovak autonomy in the shortlived Second Republic, believing they could no longer trust the Czechs. Peter Hletko, for example, cheered how the Slovaks had "fought and won the victory." 77 Although initially hesitant to support complete independence, most Slovak-American autonomists, the moderates excepted, came to support the World War II Slovak State as a symbol of Slovak self-determination, even as they supported Allied victory in the war. While World War II and the subsequent Cold War limited direct linkages between Slovakia and North America, the same rifts on the Slovak question persisted on both sides of the Atlantic until the 1993 Velvet Divorce. 78 77 Jozef Pauco, "75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union," Furdek, 5 ( 1966), 6574. 78 For more on this topic during World War II and beyond, see: Michael Cude, Transatlantic Perspectives on the Slovak Question, I 9 I 4-/ 948 (PhD Diss., University of Co lorado-Boulder, 20 13 ). M. Mark Stolarik, Wh ere is my Home? Slovak Immigration to North America (/870-2010) (Bern: Peter Lang, 2012). M. Mark Stolarik, "The Slovak League of America and the Canadian League in the Struggle for the Self-determination of the Nation, 1907-1992," Slovakia, 39, 72 & 73 (2007), 7-35.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Transatlantic Slovak Question during the Interwar Years Description An account of the resource Michael Cude Slovakia, Vol. 44 (No. 82-83), 2019 pp. 18-54 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cude, Michael Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9035ed3667ef69ed4467ca94b766f781.pdf 5d5b464c4fe3e22d910d612a1c2eeffd PDF Text Text AMERICAN SLOVAKS AND SLOVAK STATEHOOD CONSTANTINE ČULEN (Member of the Board of the Slovak National Council Abroad) We are witnesses of an incredible phenomenon. The demand of the Slovak nation to decide for itself its own fate, to have its own state, has often been classified as a crime. If it is a crime, then we must state clearly at the outset that the roots of this crime stem not in Slovakia, but in America. No other country in the world has had as much influence as America on the development of the political destinies of the Slovak nation. Even today in Slovakia there Jive several hundred thousand mature citizens who spent the best years of their lives in America. English and American prisoners of war attest to the fact that wher­ever they traveled in Slovakia they found people who could speak English and felt a burning love for the United States. There were times when 2 per cent of the total Slovak population left its native home for America annually. In the years between 1889 and 1915 about 600,000 Slovaks emigrated out of a total population of about 2,750,000. Of course, many Slovaks later returned to their homes beneath the majestic Tatras, but the majority of Slovak emi­grants remained in America. Today about a million and a half Americans are of Slovak descent. The Slovaks who returned to Slo­vakia, however, were not the same people who had left lt. They were distinctly different in certain respects, because America had done something to them, America had, in fact, transformed them. In old Hungary the Slovak people was an oppressed nation. The Slovaks were dying materially and nationally under the yoke of Magyar feudalism. They had very little or no schooling and no representation in parliament. Their language was not tolerated outside the church and family circle. It was such Slovaks who first came to America in large numbers. They had no idea of the rights they were entitled to. In America they began to organize themselves on a national basis. It may seem strange, but it 1s a fact that the Slovaks as a whole did not awaken nationally at home, but in America. For the first time in their history, it was In America that the Slovaks could parade freely under the Slovak flag. In America they could establish Slovak organizations. In America they could freely and without fear of censorship and confiscation publish their own Slovak newspapers. They could freely and without interference present their political demands. All this was forbidden them at home, In Slovakia. In a short Ume, this small nation, oppressed at home, awakened nationally on American soil and soon made its influence felt even at home. In Slovakia under the Magyars. the Slovaks could not even elect a squire, but In the USA they could elect even the President of the USA after they had become citizens. The Slovaks, who lived in thraldom in their native land, became full-fledged citizens In America. And since thousands of Slovaks returned to Slovakia from America annually, they brought with themselves not only money, with which they paid off their debts, bought homes and established businesses, but they also brought with themselves national consciousness. The influence of these re-emigrants was so effective that the Slovak nation, which had only two deputies in parliament during a whole century, already had twenty of them during the first decade of this century. All political battles of the twentieth century were waged with American money and were influenced by the American spirit of freedom. From America, the Slovaks brought many things to their homeland, especially, however, 1. capital; 2. technical experiences; 3. human and national self-consciousness; 4. a love for democracy; 6. a knowledge of English; and 6. a love for America and the American way of life. What the Slovaks brought from America they sought to validate at home. The American way of life encouraged and directed their plans in Slovakia. Slovak life waxed strong even during the hardest times, because it was nourished materially and ideologically by a current of material and spiritual wealth from America. In the recent past, American Slovaks formed the most nationalistic group of the Slovak nation. What the Slovak at home could not say, the Slovak in America expressed for him. It is undoubtedly an interesting reality that the wide Slovak masses became ardent na­tionalists in America. And the fact that Slovak newspapers became an indispensable necessity of the Slovak people, that, too, must be credited to America. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the most widely distributed Slovak newspaper in America had about ten times more sub­scribers than all the Slovak newspapers in Slovakia combined. Without the national consciousness which the emigrants brought home from America, there never would have been any political awakening of the Slovaks during the first decade of this century. And without the money, which the Slovaks earned and saved in America, the living standard of the Slovak people would not have attained the high level that it did. For that reason, the Idea of "the new homeland of the Slovaks" - in reference to America - is not an empty expression. America actually became the new homeland of Slovak emigrants, in fact, the homeland of approximately one-third of the entire Slovak nation. The Slovaks at home always mentioned and still do mention America with grateful affection. In Slovakia, even today the words Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, New York, Milwaukee, Scranton and other American cities with large Slovak populations are as familiar as Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Paris and Prague. If one looks through the oldest newspapers published in Slovakia, he will ascertain that Slovakia regarded the results of American de­mocracy with great admiration and respect long before hundreds of thousands of Slovaks settled in America. American freedom was their model. The old "Prešpurské Noviny" (Pressburg News) already in 1783 published quite a few articles about the American struggle for freedom. And American democracy – “where there are no citizens with special privileges" - was offered as a model to the Slovaks by Štúr's "Orol Tatranský (The Eagle of the Tatras). The youthful followers of Štúr already In 1843 contributed an article about Slovak poetry to the "North American Review." Joseph Miloslav Hurban, Slovak patriot, said in his biography of Štúr: "Wise and just laws, founded on inalienable natural rights, will provide strength and welfare to nations. For us the evident proof of this has become the free United States of North America." His son, Svetozár Hurban Vajanský renowned Slovak poet and writer, sent a greeting to his countrymen in America while in jail. In that greeting, among other things, he has America saying to Slovak emigrants: "Oh, come to me, foresaken children! Gifts I have not, but one thing I do give you: Time to work in freedom, respect for human rights." And he further wrote: "And Columbia? Thou hast rent the shackles, Lifted them up closer to humanity, to God, to heaven. Land of Christopher, may Christ reward thee, For what thou bast done for my wretched brethren." That the American flag was held in great respect by the first Slovak immigrants is attested to by a leaflet that was published some fifty years ago. It reads: "Under this flag you are a free citizen. Under this flag there is freedom, equality and fraternity. Under this flag is justice and truth. Under this flag you have meat and bread. Under this flag you worship no one and are not persecuted by the Government. Under this flag you were received as a human being and freedom was given you. Under this flag you praise the Lord in your own tongue and no one ridicules or persecutes you for it. To this flag you have sworn loyalty, you have become a citizen. Do you want to break your oath, do you want to be a perjurer and traitor? ! " That is how the Slovaks regarded and respected the American flag fifty years ago. In such a manner the Slovaks rallied around the American f\ag and everything that is symbolized: American democracy, American regard for the rights of nations. It was the American way of life that first motivated the Slovaks to fight for the right of the Slovak nation to its own state. Unfortunately, false and mendacious propaganda succeeded in convincing the statesmen of America that there is only one nation In the world that did not want freedom and independence - and that nation was the Slovak nation. They fell for the story that there was one nation In this world that wanted to be a vassal of others and not an independent nation, and that was the Slovak nation - the nation which drank from the pure stream of American freedom and democracy, the nation which so long ago propagated from America what its enslaved adherents at home dared to translate into deeds a half century later. American democracy and the American way of life gave the Slovaks the first motive to demand all their inherent rights. Fifty years ago American Slovaks propagated and financed the fight of their nation for the right of a general, equal and secret ballot in Slovakia. The Slovaks in America sent their first "Memorandum" to the rulers of Slovakia in 1900. In it they requested the Magyar government to grant the Slovaks at home as much freedom as the Slovaks enjoyed in America. Peter Rovnianek, one of the outstanding Slovaks of his time, already in 1894 wrote in the first Slovak Almanac (Kalendár) published in America: "American-Slovak life is shining proof of Slovak capability. Only in America have we seen all that the Slovaks would be able to create at home, if the boot of the tyrant would not press them to the earth." But even Dr. Edward Beneš himself wrote in 1918: "American Slovaks are manifesting how the entire Slovak nation would think, speak and act, if it could freely think, speak and act. They are demonstrating on what level of mora! and cultural development they would be today, if they could live their own national life for at least two or three decades." - (ČESKOSLOVENSKÁ SAMOSTATNOSŤ, September 4, 1918). The idea of Slovak statehood did not originate in Germany, as is frequently claimed, but in America. The first Slovak book which told the Slovaks why they must work for their own state was published in Pittsburgh, Pa., some forty years ago. It is altogether understandable and natural that the Slovaks, who grew up under the sun of American freedom, should demand for the nation they are descended from all that had proved to be so sound in America. For that very reason it was the American Slovaks who first came with the idea of Slovak statehood. and it is they who even today in an overwhelming majority hold to the idea that only an independent Slovakia can fully secure the national existence of the Slovak nation. The Slovak state originated from the ideals of American freedom. Its most zealous defenders are people who know and love America. The spirit of independence has its roots in America. The first Slovaks who claimed that the Slovak nation was entitled to a state of its own lived in America. The Slovaks, brought up in America in the spirit of freedom, were the first to foster the Idea of Slovak state independence. It is tragic misunderstanding, caused by bolshevik and Czech propaganda connected with bolshevism, that from the large states it was only the American statesmen who did not recognize the Slovak State, even though that State ideologically and practically had its roots in the great and noble principles of American freedom and de­mocracy and was born, so to speak, on American soil. Already at the outset we had mentioned that the Slovak, who at home could not elect even a squire. in America could elect the President when he became a citizen. No little wonder, then, that such a difference in political rights evoked In the common Slovak immigrant a sound reaction and urged him to think about the causes for such a difference. How is it - he asked himself - that here In America I can do these things, but at home I cannot? He learned that in a foreign land he could freely establish societies, schools, church organizations and businesses; that he even could march under the Slovak flag; that he could pin the Slovak emblem on his coat. But all these things were taboo at home, why? He compared himself with members of other nations and asked: What’s wrong with me? Am I inferior to others? Am I not a member of the family of nations of this earth? Is my child more backward intellectually than others in school? - And again he had to answer: certainly not! He saw that the Slovak, given an equal opportunity, was equal to any member of the ancient and wealthy nations as far as work, dexterity and readiness were concerned. Why can't the Slovaks at home enjoy the things the Slovaks can have in America? Who are we? What is our history? And so it was that the Slovaks gradually became self-conscious and it was altogether natural for them to seek the same rights and opportunities even for their own people over there. Thus it was that some 50 years ago, there began to appear in the American Slovak press the declaration: Slovaks, we are entitled to our own Slovak State! In the "Amerikánsko Slovenské Noviny" (American Slovak News), the "Slovenský Denník" (Slovak Daily), the "Jednota" (Union), the "Slovák v Amerike" (Slovak in America) and the "Slovenský Hlásnik" (Slovak Herald) - to name at least the most important papers - an interesting discussion developed. Dissertation followed dissertation and thoughts were being crystallized. Among the first propagators of the idea of an independent Slovak State was Adalbert Tholt-Veľkoštiavnický. Then came Hušek, Salva and many others. And it was entirely natural that those people saw the industry, the organizing ability of the Slovak In America who was aroused nationally and secured materially. They saw that in the Slovak nation were to be found all the prerequisites for the attainment of the highest right - state independence. At the same Ume, when the Slovaks at home dreamed about having a single secondary school and about the re-established Slovak Institute (Matica Slovenská) as the pinnacle of national attainment, the voice of the Slovaks in America thundered: Not one school, but all schools! Not a few rights, but all rights! Not the easement of thraldom, but the abolition of slavery! And these things are possible only in an Independent state life. At the time, when even those Slovaks at home did not believe in their hearts the Slovak credo which they publicly professed, the voice of the Slovaks In America boomed: "You must believe in the resurrection of our Slovak nation and also in its complete independence and self-sufficiency, because the Lord of all nations is not God of the dead nations, but of those which are corporeally and spiritually alive. Long live the independent Slovak nation!" - (Slovenský Denník, Pittsburgh, Pa., April 10, 1909). That was the kind of faith that transformed mountains and cured the sick. But that kind of faith could be attained only in an atmosphere enlightened by the sun of American freedom and democracy. And we must admit that this faith, developed In America. worked miracles in Slovakia. The Magyars could prohibit the publication of Slovak periodicals, they could forbid the entry of Slovak Almanacs into Slovakia, but the living bearers of this faith kept returning home to fire their countrymen with it. Without this faith there would have been no miraculous turn of events In 1918. And it was this faith, too, that in an instant washed away all foreign deposits like fine dust. 18 SLOVAKIA AMERICAN SWVAKS AND SLOVAK STATEHOOD CONSTANTINE ČULEN (Member of the Board of the Slovak National Council Abroad) We are witnesses of an incredlble phenomenon. The demand of the Slovak natlon to decide for itself its own fate, to have its own state, has often been classified as a crime. If it 1s a crlme, then we must state clearly at the outset that the roots of thls crlme stem not in Slovakia, but in Amerlca. No other country in the world has had as much influence as Amerlca on the development of the political destinles of the Slovak natlon. Even today in Slovakia there Jive several hundred thousand mature cltlzens who spent the best years of their lives in America. Engllsh and American prisoners of war attest to the fact that wherever they traveled in Slovakla they found people who could speak Engllsh and felt a burning love for the Unlted States. There were tlmes when 2 per cent of the total Slovak population Jeft its natlve home for America annually. In the years between 1889 and 1915 about 600,000 Slovaks emlgrated out of a total populatlon of about 2,750,000. Of course, many Slovaks later returned to thelr homes beneath the majestlc Tatras, but the majority of Slovak emigrants remalned in America. Today about a million and a half Americans are of Slovak descent. The Slovaks who returned to Slovakia, however, were not the same people who had left lt. Tbey were dlstlnctly dlfferent In certaln respects, because America had done something to them, Amerlca had, In fact, t ransformed them. In old Hungary the Slovak people was an oppressed nation. The Slovaks were dylng materlally and nationally under the yoke of Magyar feudallsm. They had very llttle or no schooling and no representatlon In parllament. Thelr language was not tolerated outslde the church and family clrcle. It was such Slovaks who flrst came to America in large numbers. They had no idea of the rlghts they were entltled to. In America they began to organlze themselves on a natlonal basls. It may seem strange, but it 1s a fact that the Slovaks as a whole dld not awaken natlonally at home, but in Amerlca. For the flrst Ume In thelr hlstory, lt was In America that the Slovaks could parade freeJy under the Slovak flag. In Amerlca they could establlsh Slovak organlzatlons. In America they could freely and without fear of censors hlp and conflscatlon publish thelr own Slovak newspapers. They could freely and wlthout lnterference present their political demands. All thls was forbldden them at home, In Slovakla. In a short Ume, this small natlon, oppressed at home, awakened natlonally on Amerlcan son and soon made its influence felt even at home. In Slovakia under the Magyars. the Slovaks could not even elect a squlre, but In the USA they could elect even the Presldent of the USA after they had become cltizens. The Slovaks, who l!ved in thraldom In thelr natlve land, became full-fledged cltlzens In America. And slnce thousands of Slovaks returned to Slovakla from Amerlca annually, they brought wlth themselves not only money, wlth which they paid off thelr debts, bought homes and established buslnesses, but they also brougbt witb tbemselves natlonal consclousness. Tbe �SLOVAKIA 19 influence of these re-emigrants was so effective that the Slovak nation, whlch had only two deputies In parUament durlng a whole century, a.lready had twenty of them durlng the flrst decade of thls century. All politícal battles of the twentieth century were waged wlth Ameri• can money and were lnfluenced by the American spirit of freedom. From America, the Slovaks brought many things to thelr homeland, especially, however, 1. capi tal; 2. technical experiences; 3. human and national self-consciousness; 4. a love for democracy; 6. a knowledge of English; and 6. a love for Amerlca and the Amerlcan way of llfe. Wbat the Slovaks brought trom Amerlca they sought to valldate at home. The Amerlcan way of llfe encouraged and dlrected their plans in Slovakia. Slovak life waxed strong even durlng the hardest times, because lt was nourlshed materlally and ldeologically by a eurrent of material and spiritual wealth from Amerlca. In the recent past, American Slovaks formed the most nationalistlc group of the Slovak nation. What the Slovak at home could not say, the Slovak In Amerlca expressed for bim. It Js undoubtedly an lnterestlng reality that the wide Slovak masses became ardent nationalists in Amerlca. And tbe fact that Slovak newspapers became an indispensable necessity of the Slovak people, that, too, must be credited to America. At the beginnlng of the twentieth century, the most wldely distributed Slovak newspaper In America had about ten times more subscribers than all the Slovak newspapers in Slovakla combined. Wlthout the national consclousness whlch the emigrants brought home from America, there never would bave been any polltical awakening of the Slovaks during the first decade of this century. And wlthout the money, which the Slovaks earned and saved in Amerlca, the llvlng standard of the Slovak people would not have attained the hlgh level that it dld. For that reason, the Idea of "the new homeland of the Slovaks" - In reference to America - is not an empty expression. Amerlca actually became the new homeland of Slovak emlgrants, in fact, the homeland of approxlmately one-thlrd of the entire Slovak nation. The Slovaks at bome always mentloned and stlll do mentlon America wlth grateful affectlon. In Slovakia, even today tbe words Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, New York, Wllwaukee, Scranton and otber Amerlcan citles witb large Slovak populations are as famil!ar as Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Paris and Prague. If one looks tbrougb the oldest newspapers publlsbed In Slovakla, he will ascertaln that Slovakia regarded the results of American democracy wltb great admlration and respect long before hundreds of thousands of Slovaks settled in America. Amerlcan freedom was the!r model. The old "Prešpurské Noviny" {Pressburg News) already In 1783 published qulte a few articles about the American struggle for freedom. And Amerlcan democracy - ·'where there are no cltlzens wltb speclal privlleges" - was offered as a model to the Slovaks by Štúr's "Orol Tatranský" {The Eagle of the Tatras). The youthful followers ot Štúr already In 1843 contrlbuted an artlcle about Slovak 'poetry to the "North Amerlcan Review." Joseph MIioslav Hurban, Slova'k patriot, sa!d In bis b!ography of Štúr: �20 SLOVAKIA "Wise and just laws, founded on inalienable natural rights, will provide strength and welfare to nations. For us the evident proof of this has become the free United States of North America." His son, Svetozár Hurban Vajanský, renowned Slovak poet and writer, sent a greeting to his countrymen in America while in jail. In that greeting, among other things, he has America saying to Slovak emigrants: "Oh, come to me, foresaken children ! Gifts I have not, but one thing I do give you: Tlme to work in freedom. respect for human rights." And he further wrote: "And Columbia? Thou bast rent the shackles, Lifted them up closer to humanity, to God, to beaven. Land of Christopher, may Christ reward tbee, For what thou bast done for my wretched brethren." That the American flag was held in great respect by the first Slovak lmmigrants is attested to by a leaflet that was pubiisbed some fifty years ago. It reads: "Under this flag you are a free citizen. Under this flag there is freedom, equality and fraternity. Under this flag is justice and truth. Under this flag you have meat and bread. Under thls flag you worship no one and are not persecuted by t he Government. Under this flag you were received as a buman being and freedom was given you. Under thls flag you praise the Lord in your own tongue and no one ridicules or persecutes you for it. To this flag you have sworn loyalty, you have become a Citizen. Do you want to break your oath, do you want to be a perjurer and traitor? ! " That is how the Slovaks regarded and respected the American flag fifty years ago. In such a manner the Slovaks rallied around the American f\ag and everything that is symbolized: American democracy, American regard for the rights of nations. It was the American way of \ife that first motivated the Slovaks to fight for the right of the Slovak nation to its own state. Unfortunately, false and mendacious propaganda succeeded in convinclng the statesmen of America that there ls only one natlon In the world that dld not want fredom and independence - and that nation was the Slovak nation. They fell for the story that there was one nation In this world that wanted to be a vassal of others and not an independent nation, and that was the Slovak nation - the natlon whlch drank ftom the pure stream of American freedom and democracy, the natlon whlch so long ago propagated from America what lts enslaved adherents at home dared to translate lnto deeds a half cen• tury later. American democracy and the American way of life gave t he Slovaks the first motlve to demand all their inherent rlghts. Fify years ago Amerlcan Slovaks propagated and Cinanced the flght of thelr natlon for the rlght of a general, equa\ and secret ballot In Slovak la. �SLOVAKIA 21 The Slovaks in America sent their first "Memorandum" to the rulers of Slovakia in 1900. In it tbey requested the Magyar government to grant the Slovaks at home as much freedom as the Slovaks enjoyed in America. Peter Rovnianek, one of the outstandlng Slovaks of hls Ume, already in 1894 wrote in the first Slovak Almanac (Kalendár) publlshed in America: "American-Slovak life ls shining proof of Slovak capability. Only in America have we seen all that the Slovaks would be able to create at bome, if the boot of tbe tyrant would not press them to the earth." But even Dr. Edward Beneš himself wrote in 1918: "American Slovaks are manifesting how the entire Slovak natlon would think, speak and act, if it could freely tbink, speak and act. They are demonstrating on what level of mora! and cultural development they would be today, if they could live their own national Ufe for at least two or three decades." - (ČESKOSLOVENSKÁ SAMO· STATNOSŤ, September 4, 1918). The ide a of Slovak statehood did no t orig i na te in Germany, as la frequently cl ai m ed, but in Ame r i ca. The first Slovak book which told the Slovaks why th ey must work for their own state was published in Pittsburgh, Pa., some forty years ago. It !s altogether understandable and natural tbat the Slovaks, wbo grew up under the sun of American freedom, sbould demand for tbe nation tbey are descended trom all that had proved to be so sound in America. For that very reason it was tbe Amerlcan Slovaks wbo first came with tbe idea of Slovak statehood. and it is they wbo even today in an overwhelming majority hold to the Idea that only an Independent Slovakia can fully secure tbe national existence of tbe Slovak nation. The Slovak state originated from tbe ideals of American freedom. Its most zealous defenclers are people wbo know and love America. The spirit of independence has its roots In Amerlca. Tbe first Slovaks who clalmed that the Slovak nation was entltled to a state of its own lived in Amer!ca. Tbe Slovaks, brought up In Amerlca in tbe spirit of freedom, were the first to foster tbe Idea of Slovak state lndependence. It ls traglc misunderstandlng, caused by bolshevik and Czech propaganda connected with bolsbevlsm, that from tbe large states lt was only the American statesmen wbo did not recognize the Slovak State, even though tbat State !deologically and practlcally had lts roots In the great and noble princ!oles of American freedom and democracy and was born, so to speak, on Amerlcan soll. Already at the outset we had mentloned that the Slovak, who at home could not elect even a sQuire. in America could elect tbe President when he became a cltlzen. No llttle wonder, then, that such a difference in political r!ghts evoked In the common Slovak lmmigrant a sound reaction and urged bim to thlnk about the causes for such a dlfference. How ls it - he asked h!mself - that here In America I can do these things, but at home I cannot? He learned that In a forelgn !and he could freely establish societies, schools, chu rch organlzatlons and businesses; tbat he even could marcb under the Slovak flag; tbat �22 SLOVAKIA he could pin the Slovak emblem on his coat. But all these things were taboo at home, why? He compared himself with members of other nations and asked: Whaťs wrong with me? Am I inferior to others? Am I not a member of the famlly of natlons ot this earth? Is my child more backward intellectually than others in school? - And again he had to answer: certalnly not! He saw that the Slovak, given an equal opportunlty, was equal to any member of the ancient and wealthy nations as far as work, dexterity and readiness were concerned. Why can't the S lovaks at home enjoy the things the Slovaks can have in Amerlca? Who are we? What is our history? And so it was that the Slovaks gradually became selt-conscious and it was altogether natural for them to seek the same rlghts and opportunities even for their own people over there. Thus it was that some 50 years ago, there began to appear in the Amerlcan Slovak press the declaration: Slova ks, we are entitled to our own Slovak State! In the "Amerikánsko Slovenské Noviny" (American Slovak News), the "Slovenský Dennik" (Slovak Dal\y), the "J ednota" (Union), the "Slovák v Amerike" (Slovak in Amerlca) and the "Slovenský Hläsnik" (Slovak Herald) - to name at Jeast the most important papers - an interestlng dlscussion developed. Dlssertation followed dlssertation and thoughts were being crystalllzed. Among the tlrst propagators ot the Idea of an independent Slovak State was Adalbert Tholt- Vel'koštiavnický. Then came Hušek, Salva and many others. And it was entirely natural that those people saw the industry, the organlzlng ablllty of the Slovak In America who was aroused natlonally and secured materially. They saw that in the Slovak natlon were to be found all the prerequlsltes for the attainment of the hlghest right - state lndependence. At the same Ume, when the Slovaks at horne dreamed ahout having a single secondary school and about the re-establlshed Slovak Instltute (Matica Slovenská) as the plnnacle of natlonal attalnment, the volce of the Slovaks in America thundered: Not one school, but all schools ! Not a few rights, but all rights ! Not the easement of thraldom, but the abolition of slavery! And these thlngs are posslble only in an Independent state life. At the tlme, when even those Slovaks at home dld not believe In tbelr hearts the Slovak credo which they publlcly professed, tbe voice of the Slovaks In America boomed: "You must belleve in the resurrectlon of our Slovak natlon and also ln its complete lndependence and self-sufficiency, because the Lord of all natlons is not God ot tbe dead natlons. but of those whlch are corporeally and splrltually allve. Long live the Independent Slovak natlon!" - (Slovenský Denn!k, Plttsburgh, Pa., Aprll 10, 1909). That was the klnd of falth that transformed mountalns and cured the slck. But that klnd of falth could be attalned only in an atmospbere enllgbtened by tbe sun of Amerlcan freedom and democracy. And we must admlt that thls faitb, developed In Amerlca. worked mlracles In Slovakla. The Magyars could problblt the publlcatlon of Slovak perlodicals, they could forbld tbe entry of Slovak Almanacs lnto Slovakla, but the llving b earers of thls faith kept returnlng home to flre thelr countrymen wlth lt. Wltbout thls faltb there would have been no mlraculous turn of events In 1918. And lt was thls faitb, too, tbat in an lnstant washed away all forelgn deposlts llke fine dust. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1951, Vol. 1 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 1951 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 1), May 1951.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 2), December 1951.</li> </ul> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <ul><li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4</span></a></li> </ul> 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 AMERICAN SLOVAKS AND SLOVAK STATEHOOD CONSTANTINE ČULEN (Member of the Board of the Slovak National Council Abroad) We are witnesses of an incredible phenomenon. The demand of the Slovak nation to decide for itself its own fate, to have its own state, has often been classified as a crime. If it is a crime, then we must state clearly at the outset that the roots of this crime stem not in Slovakia, but in America. No other country in the world has had as much influence as America on the development of the political destinies of the Slovak nation. Even today in Slovakia there Jive several hundred thousand mature citizens who spent the best years of their lives in America. English and American prisoners of war attest to the fact that wher­ever they traveled in Slovakia they found people who could speak English and felt a burning love for the United States. There were times when 2 per cent of the total Slovak population left its native home for America annually. In the years between 1889 and 1915 about 600,000 Slovaks emigrated out of a total population of about 2,750,000. Of course, many Slovaks later returned to their homes beneath the majestic Tatras, but the majority of Slovak emi­grants remained in America. Today about a million and a half Americans are of Slovak descent. The Slovaks who returned to Slo­vakia, however, were not the same people who had left lt. They were distinctly different in certain respects, because America had done something to them, America had, in fact, transformed them. In old Hungary the Slovak people was an oppressed nation. The Slovaks were dying materially and nationally under the yoke of Magyar feudalism. They had very little or no schooling and no representation in parliament. Their language was not tolerated outside the church and family circle. It was such Slovaks who first came to America in large numbers. They had no idea of the rights they were entitled to. In America they began to organize themselves on a national basis. It may seem strange, but it 1s a fact that the Slovaks as a whole did not awaken nationally at home, but in America. For the first time in their history, it was In America that the Slovaks could parade freely under the Slovak flag. In America they could establish Slovak organizations. In America they could freely and without fear of censorship and confiscation publish their own Slovak newspapers. They could freely and without interference present their political demands. All this was forbidden them at home, In Slovakia. In a short Ume, this small nation, oppressed at home, awakened nationally on American soil and soon made its influence felt even at home. In Slovakia under the Magyars. the Slovaks could not even elect a squire, but In the USA they could elect even the President of the USA after they had become citizens. The Slovaks, who lived in thraldom in their native land, became full-fledged citizens In America. And since thousands of Slovaks returned to Slovakia from America annually, they brought with themselves not only money, with which they paid off their debts, bought homes and established businesses, but they also brought with themselves national consciousness. The influence of these re-emigrants was so effective that the Slovak nation, which had only two deputies in parliament during a whole century, already had twenty of them during the first decade of this century. All political battles of the twentieth century were waged with American money and were influenced by the American spirit of freedom. From America, the Slovaks brought many things to their homeland, especially, however, 1. capital; 2. technical experiences; 3. human and national self-consciousness; 4. a love for democracy; 6. a knowledge of English; and 6. a love for America and the American way of life. What the Slovaks brought from America they sought to validate at home. The American way of life encouraged and directed their plans in Slovakia. Slovak life waxed strong even during the hardest times, because it was nourished materially and ideologically by a current of material and spiritual wealth from America. In the recent past, American Slovaks formed the most nationalistic group of the Slovak nation. What the Slovak at home could not say, the Slovak in America expressed for him. It is undoubtedly an interesting reality that the wide Slovak masses became ardent na­tionalists in America. And the fact that Slovak newspapers became an indispensable necessity of the Slovak people, that, too, must be credited to America. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the most widely distributed Slovak newspaper in America had about ten times more sub­scribers than all the Slovak newspapers in Slovakia combined. Without the national consciousness which the emigrants brought home from America, there never would have been any political awakening of the Slovaks during the first decade of this century. And without the money, which the Slovaks earned and saved in America, the living standard of the Slovak people would not have attained the high level that it did. For that reason, the Idea of "the new homeland of the Slovaks" - in reference to America - is not an empty expression. America actually became the new homeland of Slovak emigrants, in fact, the homeland of approximately one-third of the entire Slovak nation. The Slovaks at home always mentioned and still do mention America with grateful affection. In Slovakia, even today the words Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, New York, Milwaukee, Scranton and other American cities with large Slovak populations are as familiar as Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Paris and Prague. If one looks through the oldest newspapers published in Slovakia, he will ascertain that Slovakia regarded the results of American de­mocracy with great admiration and respect long before hundreds of thousands of Slovaks settled in America. American freedom was their model. The old "Prešpurské Noviny" (Pressburg News) already in 1783 published quite a few articles about the American struggle for freedom. And American democracy – “where there are no citizens with special privileges" - was offered as a model to the Slovaks by Štúr's "Orol Tatranský (The Eagle of the Tatras). The youthful followers of Štúr already In 1843 contributed an article about Slovak poetry to the "North American Review." Joseph Miloslav Hurban, Slovak patriot, said in his biography of Štúr: "Wise and just laws, founded on inalienable natural rights, will provide strength and welfare to nations. For us the evident proof of this has become the free United States of North America." His son, Svetozár Hurban Vajanský renowned Slovak poet and writer, sent a greeting to his countrymen in America while in jail. In that greeting, among other things, he has America saying to Slovak emigrants: "Oh, come to me, foresaken children! Gifts I have not, but one thing I do give you: Time to work in freedom, respect for human rights." And he further wrote: "And Columbia? Thou hast rent the shackles, Lifted them up closer to humanity, to God, to heaven. Land of Christopher, may Christ reward thee, For what thou bast done for my wretched brethren." That the American flag was held in great respect by the first Slovak immigrants is attested to by a leaflet that was published some fifty years ago. It reads: "Under this flag you are a free citizen. Under this flag there is freedom, equality and fraternity. Under this flag is justice and truth. Under this flag you have meat and bread. Under this flag you worship no one and are not persecuted by the Government. Under this flag you were received as a human being and freedom was given you. Under this flag you praise the Lord in your own tongue and no one ridicules or persecutes you for it. To this flag you have sworn loyalty, you have become a citizen. Do you want to break your oath, do you want to be a perjurer and traitor? ! " That is how the Slovaks regarded and respected the American flag fifty years ago. In such a manner the Slovaks rallied around the American f\ag and everything that is symbolized: American democracy, American regard for the rights of nations. It was the American way of life that first motivated the Slovaks to fight for the right of the Slovak nation to its own state. Unfortunately, false and mendacious propaganda succeeded in convincing the statesmen of America that there is only one nation In the world that did not want freedom and independence - and that nation was the Slovak nation. They fell for the story that there was one nation In this world that wanted to be a vassal of others and not an independent nation, and that was the Slovak nation - the nation which drank from the pure stream of American freedom and democracy, the nation which so long ago propagated from America what its enslaved adherents at home dared to translate into deeds a half century later. American democracy and the American way of life gave the Slovaks the first motive to demand all their inherent rights. Fifty years ago American Slovaks propagated and financed the fight of their nation for the right of a general, equal and secret ballot in Slovakia. The Slovaks in America sent their first "Memorandum" to the rulers of Slovakia in 1900. In it they requested the Magyar government to grant the Slovaks at home as much freedom as the Slovaks enjoyed in America. Peter Rovnianek, one of the outstanding Slovaks of his time, already in 1894 wrote in the first Slovak Almanac (Kalendár) published in America: "American-Slovak life is shining proof of Slovak capability. Only in America have we seen all that the Slovaks would be able to create at home, if the boot of the tyrant would not press them to the earth." But even Dr. Edward Beneš himself wrote in 1918: "American Slovaks are manifesting how the entire Slovak nation would think, speak and act, if it could freely think, speak and act. They are demonstrating on what level of mora! and cultural development they would be today, if they could live their own national life for at least two or three decades." - (ČESKOSLOVENSKÁ SAMOSTATNOSŤ, September 4, 1918). The idea of Slovak statehood did not originate in Germany, as is frequently claimed, but in America. The first Slovak book which told the Slovaks why they must work for their own state was published in Pittsburgh, Pa., some forty years ago. It is altogether understandable and natural that the Slovaks, who grew up under the sun of American freedom, should demand for the nation they are descended from all that had proved to be so sound in America. For that very reason it was the American Slovaks who first came with the idea of Slovak statehood. and it is they who even today in an overwhelming majority hold to the idea that only an independent Slovakia can fully secure the national existence of the Slovak nation. The Slovak state originated from the ideals of American freedom. Its most zealous defenders are people who know and love America. The spirit of independence has its roots in America. The first Slovaks who claimed that the Slovak nation was entitled to a state of its own lived in America. The Slovaks, brought up in America in the spirit of freedom, were the first to foster the Idea of Slovak state independence. It is tragic misunderstanding, caused by bolshevik and Czech propaganda connected with bolshevism, that from the large states it was only the American statesmen who did not recognize the Slovak State, even though that State ideologically and practically had its roots in the great and noble principles of American freedom and de­mocracy and was born, so to speak, on American soil. Already at the outset we had mentioned that the Slovak, who at home could not elect even a squire. in America could elect the President when he became a citizen. No little wonder, then, that such a difference in political rights evoked In the common Slovak immigrant a sound reaction and urged him to think about the causes for such a difference. How is it - he asked himself - that here In America I can do these things, but at home I cannot? He learned that in a foreign land he could freely establish societies, schools, church organizations and businesses; that he even could march under the Slovak flag; that he could pin the Slovak emblem on his coat. But all these things were taboo at home, why? He compared himself with members of other nations and asked: What’s wrong with me? Am I inferior to others? Am I not a member of the family of nations of this earth? Is my child more backward intellectually than others in school? - And again he had to answer: certainly not! He saw that the Slovak, given an equal opportunity, was equal to any member of the ancient and wealthy nations as far as work, dexterity and readiness were concerned. Why can't the Slovaks at home enjoy the things the Slovaks can have in America? Who are we? What is our history? And so it was that the Slovaks gradually became self-conscious and it was altogether natural for them to seek the same rights and opportunities even for their own people over there. Thus it was that some 50 years ago, there began to appear in the American Slovak press the declaration: Slovaks, we are entitled to our own Slovak State! In the "Amerikánsko Slovenské Noviny" (American Slovak News), the "Slovenský Denník" (Slovak Daily), the "Jednota" (Union), the "Slovák v Amerike" (Slovak in America) and the "Slovenský Hlásnik" (Slovak Herald) - to name at least the most important papers - an interesting discussion developed. Dissertation followed dissertation and thoughts were being crystallized. Among the first propagators of the idea of an independent Slovak State was Adalbert Tholt-Veľkoštiavnický. Then came Hušek, Salva and many others. And it was entirely natural that those people saw the industry, the organizing ability of the Slovak In America who was aroused nationally and secured materially. They saw that in the Slovak nation were to be found all the prerequisites for the attainment of the highest right - state independence. At the same Ume, when the Slovaks at home dreamed about having a single secondary school and about the re-established Slovak Institute (Matica Slovenská) as the pinnacle of national attainment, the voice of the Slovaks in America thundered: Not one school, but all schools! Not a few rights, but all rights! Not the easement of thraldom, but the abolition of slavery! And these things are possible only in an Independent state life. At the time, when even those Slovaks at home did not believe in their hearts the Slovak credo which they publicly professed, the voice of the Slovaks In America boomed: "You must believe in the resurrection of our Slovak nation and also in its complete independence and self-sufficiency, because the Lord of all nations is not God of the dead nations, but of those which are corporeally and spiritually alive. Long live the independent Slovak nation!" - (Slovenský Denník, Pittsburgh, Pa., April 10, 1909). That was the kind of faith that transformed mountains and cured the sick. But that kind of faith could be attained only in an atmosphere enlightened by the sun of American freedom and democracy. And we must admit that this faith, developed In America. worked miracles in Slovakia. The Magyars could prohibit the publication of Slovak periodicals, they could forbid the entry of Slovak Almanacs into Slovakia, but the living bearers of this faith kept returning home to fire their countrymen with it. Without this faith there would have been no miraculous turn of events In 1918. And it was this faith, too, that in an instant washed away all foreign deposits like fine dust. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource American Slovaks and Slovak Statehood Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1), May 1951 pp. 18-22 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 1951 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/062c531c3b28c8bfd1e8c6c2539754f4.pdf 508637756155c65ecc6b711fe5a50b84 PDF Text Text 32 SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAKS HAVE A RIGHT TO A STATE CONSTA NTI N E ČU L EN Why? Because 1. It is their natural and God-given right. 2. The Slovaks have a historical rlght to their own state. 3. They never relinquished that right. 4. The Slovaks never abandoned their state and let another nation inhabit lt. 5. Nationally they have matured to such a degree that they feel ihey not only have the right, but even the solemn duty to take over their destiny into their own hands. 6. They want to be an equal member in the family of nations. 7. What the Slovaks want does not constltute an injustice to others, because they do not want what belongs to others, but only what they are rightfully entltled to. 8. The Slovaks are not willing to have their necks in a foreign yoke. 9. The Slovaks have definitely proven that tbey know how to manage their own state on a European level. They can do that better than was done in their name, wlthout their consent, and on their territory by the Magyars or the Czechs. 10. Everybody that ruled over the Slovaks is trying to prove that the Slovaks cost them money. The Slovaks, during the years of their statehood (1939- 1945), have definltely proven that no one need lose money on Slovakia. It is_ therefore, in the interest of the economlc progress not only of Slovakia but even that of the natlons who ruled over the Slovaks to have the Slovaks rule themselves. The Slovaks do not want any country to suffer economically because of them, slnce - as the Czechs and Magyars say - they are not worth it. 11. Flnally the Slovaks want only what has been acclalmed by all great natlons on earth - freedom anct independence - for whlch all natlons - large and small - fought for twlce wlthin a quarter ot a century. That is the wlll of the Slovak nation. That is its supreme alm. Did the Slovaks enjoy the rights of a free nation In Hungary? Definltely not! Did they enjoy the rights of a free nation In the Czecho-Slovak Republic? Absolutely not! For the flrst tlme slnce the tragic end of the first Slovak State over a thousand years ago the Slovaks definitely ran their own interna! affairs In the independent State of Slovakia (1939- 1945). The head of the State was Slovak and the overwhelming majority of those employed by the state were Slovaks. The Slovak language was the official language of the state and the language of the schools. Slnce the fall of the first Slovak State, it was the flrst time that the Slovaks had Slovak schools, a Slovak army, a Slovak parliament, a Slovak government, a Slovak president, Slovak money, a Slovak emblem and a Slovak flag. lt was also the first tlme that Slovakla appeared as an independent State on the map of the world. �SLOVAKIA 33 The Slovaks fared better even during the last war than they had at any tíme during the past 1000 years. They managed their own household and loved lt. Their homes really became their castles. They breathed and lived as free men, even though forced into war and all its hardships. Whosoever denies the Slovaks the right to their own way of life, - to freedom, independence and statehood denies the law of God and nature and betrays the ideals of true democracy. • • * • RED TRAITORS (h) - We have pointed to the danger of Communlsm for many years in our paper. We have also cautioned the gentlemen in Washington about thls enemy of human freedom and dignity. lt ls not our fault lf some of the gentlemen preferred to listen to Beneš and hls underlings and paid no attention to American citizens. We have, however, saved many of oor countrymen, whom the Reds wanted to ensnare with nice and enticing mottos. We can say, therefore, that the Slovaks kept away from Communlsm. They dld not want to have anything to do wlth it. But such was not the case wlth the so-called "Czechoslovaks." When the professional revolutionists could not galn the Slovaks, they became friendly wlth Communists and paved the way for them to get to Washington. It is to the credit of American Slovaks that they dld not play second flddle to the Communists, that they dld not collaborate with them and that they did not allow them among themselves. The Czechoslovaks, however, are deslgnated as collaborators with Communism. The NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÚ{ (New York Daily) and the Czech NEW YORKSKÉ LISTY (New York News) even imported communist editors. And they even published many, many artlcles of communist wr!ters. This they cannot deny, because lt ls all perpetuated black on white. These journals were no better than the communist ĽUDOVli: NOVINY (People's News) or the Canadian ĽUDOVÉ ZVESTI (People's Tidings). Today it is difficult to distingulsh between a Commun!st and a Czechoslovak, because both are so closely united. Both walked along the same road, both spoke and wrote the same thlngs. Both villified the Slovaks, because they exposed their dirty plans. Even Washington is fina\ly noting whence the wind is blowlng. The aim of the Communists !s clear, because it was stated by Stalin in simple words. Twenty-two years ago Stalin told us who was an internatlonalist. He said: "An internatlonallst 1s a person who unconditionally, without hesitation and without limitation is willing to defend the USSR, because the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) is the foundation of the world revolutlonary movement, and to defend this movement, make lt progress is not posslble wlthout the protection of the USSR. Who WQUld defend the world revolutionary movement wlthout and against the USSR. that person goes agalnst the revolution, that person necessarlly falls into the camp of the enemles ot the revolutlon." � 32 SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAKS HAVE A RIGHT TO A STATE CONSTA NTI N E ČU L EN Why? Because 1. It is their natural and God-given right. 2. The Slovaks have a historical rlght to their own state. 3. They never relinquished that right. 4. The Slovaks never abandoned their state and let another nation inhabit lt. 5. Nationally they have matured to such a degree that they feel ihey not only have the right, but even the solemn duty to take over their destiny into their own hands. 6. They want to be an equal member in the family of nations. 7. What the Slovaks want does not constltute an injustice to others, because they do not want what belongs to others, but only what they are rightfully entltled to. 8. The Slovaks are not willing to have their necks in a foreign yoke. 9. The Slovaks have definitely proven that tbey know how to manage their own state on a European level. They can do that better than was done in their name, wlthout their consent, and on their territory by the Magyars or the Czechs. 10. Everybody that ruled over the Slovaks is trying to prove that the Slovaks cost them money. The Slovaks, during the years of their statehood (1939- 1945), have definltely proven that no one need lose money on Slovakia. It is_ therefore, in the interest of the economlc progress not only of Slovakia but even that of the natlons who ruled over the Slovaks to have the Slovaks rule themselves. The Slovaks do not want any country to suffer economically because of them, slnce - as the Czechs and Magyars say - they are not worth it. 11. Flnally the Slovaks want only what has been acclalmed by all great natlons on earth - freedom anct independence - for whlch all natlons - large and small - fought for twlce wlthin a quarter ot a century. That is the wlll of the Slovak nation. That is its supreme alm. Did the Slovaks enjoy the rights of a free nation In Hungary? Definltely not! Did they enjoy the rights of a free nation In the Czecho-Slovak Republic? Absolutely not! For the flrst tlme slnce the tragic end of the first Slovak State over a thousand years ago the Slovaks definitely ran their own interna! affairs In the independent State of Slovakia (1939- 1945). The head of the State was Slovak and the overwhelming majority of those employed by the state were Slovaks. The Slovak language was the official language of the state and the language of the schools. Slnce the fall of the first Slovak State, it was the flrst time that the Slovaks had Slovak schools, a Slovak army, a Slovak parliament, a Slovak government, a Slovak president, Slovak money, a Slovak emblem and a Slovak flag. lt was also the first tlme that Slovakla appeared as an independent State on the map of the world. �SLOVAKIA 33 The Slovaks fared better even during the last war than they had at any tíme during the past 1000 years. They managed their own household and loved lt. Their homes really became their castles. They breathed and lived as free men, even though forced into war and all its hardships. Whosoever denies the Slovaks the right to their own way of life, - to freedom, independence and statehood denies the law of God and nature and betrays the ideals of true democracy. • • * • RED TRAITORS (h) - We have pointed to the danger of Communlsm for many years in our paper. We have also cautioned the gentlemen in Washington about thls enemy of human freedom and dignity. lt ls not our fault lf some of the gentlemen preferred to listen to Beneš and hls underlings and paid no attention to American citizens. We have, however, saved many of oor countrymen, whom the Reds wanted to ensnare with nice and enticing mottos. We can say, therefore, that the Slovaks kept away from Communlsm. They dld not want to have anything to do wlth it. But such was not the case wlth the so-called "Czechoslovaks." When the professional revolutionists could not galn the Slovaks, they became friendly wlth Communists and paved the way for them to get to Washington. It is to the credit of American Slovaks that they dld not play second flddle to the Communists, that they dld not collaborate with them and that they did not allow them among themselves. The Czechoslovaks, however, are deslgnated as collaborators with Communism. The NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÚ{ (New York Daily) and the Czech NEW YORKSKÉ LISTY (New York News) even imported communist editors. And they even published many, many artlcles of communist wr!ters. This they cannot deny, because lt ls all perpetuated black on white. These journals were no better than the communist ĽUDOVli: NOVINY (People's News) or the Canadian ĽUDOVÉ ZVESTI (People's Tidings). Today it is difficult to distingulsh between a Commun!st and a Czechoslovak, because both are so closely united. Both walked along the same road, both spoke and wrote the same thlngs. Both villified the Slovaks, because they exposed their dirty plans. Even Washington is fina\ly noting whence the wind is blowlng. The aim of the Communists !s clear, because it was stated by Stalin in simple words. Twenty-two years ago Stalin told us who was an internatlonalist. He said: "An internatlonallst 1s a person who unconditionally, without hesitation and without limitation is willing to defend the USSR, because the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) is the foundation of the world revolutlonary movement, and to defend this movement, make lt progress is not posslble wlthout the protection of the USSR. Who WQUld defend the world revolutionary movement wlthout and against the USSR. that person goes agalnst the revolution, that person necessarlly falls into the camp of the enemles ot the revolutlon." � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1951, Vol. 1 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 1951 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 1), May 1951.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 2), December 1951.</li> </ul> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <ul><li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4</span></a></li> </ul> 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 32 SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAKS HAVE A RIGHT TO A STATE CONSTA NTI N E ČU L EN Why? Because 1. It is their natural and God-given right. 2. The Slovaks have a historical rlght to their own state. 3. They never relinquished that right. 4. The Slovaks never abandoned their state and let another nation inhabit lt. 5. Nationally they have matured to such a degree that they feel ihey not only have the right, but even the solemn duty to take over their destiny into their own hands. 6. They want to be an equal member in the family of nations. 7. What the Slovaks want does not constltute an injustice to others, because they do not want what belongs to others, but only what they are rightfully entltled to. 8. The Slovaks are not willing to have their necks in a foreign yoke. 9. The Slovaks have definitely proven that tbey know how to manage their own state on a European level. They can do that better than was done in their name, wlthout their consent, and on their territory by the Magyars or the Czechs. 10. Everybody that ruled over the Slovaks is trying to prove that the Slovaks cost them money. The Slovaks, during the years of their statehood (1939- 1945), have definltely proven that no one need lose money on Slovakia. It is_ therefore, in the interest of the economlc progress not only of Slovakia but even that of the natlons who ruled over the Slovaks to have the Slovaks rule themselves. The Slovaks do not want any country to suffer economically because of them, slnce - as the Czechs and Magyars say - they are not worth it. 11. Flnally the Slovaks want only what has been acclalmed by all great natlons on earth - freedom anct independence - for whlch all natlons - large and small - fought for twlce wlthin a quarter ot a century. That is the wlll of the Slovak nation. That is its supreme alm. Did the Slovaks enjoy the rights of a free nation In Hungary? Definltely not! Did they enjoy the rights of a free nation In the Czecho-Slovak Republic? Absolutely not! For the flrst tlme slnce the tragic end of the first Slovak State over a thousand years ago the Slovaks definitely ran their own interna! affairs In the independent State of Slovakia (1939- 1945). The head of the State was Slovak and the overwhelming majority of those employed by the state were Slovaks. The Slovak language was the official language of the state and the language of the schools. Slnce the fall of the first Slovak State, it was the flrst time that the Slovaks had Slovak schools, a Slovak army, a Slovak parliament, a Slovak government, a Slovak president, Slovak money, a Slovak emblem and a Slovak flag. lt was also the first tlme that Slovakla appeared as an independent State on the map of the world. SLOVAKIA 33 The Slovaks fared better even during the last war than they had at any tíme during the past 1000 years. They managed their own household and loved lt. Their homes really became their castles. They breathed and lived as free men, even though forced into war and all its hardships. Whosoever denies the Slovaks the right to their own way of life, - to freedom, independence and statehood denies the law of God and nature and betrays the ideals of true democracy. • • * • RED TRAITORS (h) - We have pointed to the danger of Communlsm for many years in our paper. We have also cautioned the gentlemen in Washington about thls enemy of human freedom and dignity. lt ls not our fault lf some of the gentlemen preferred to listen to Beneš and hls underlings and paid no attention to American citizens. We have, however, saved many of oor countrymen, whom the Reds wanted to ensnare with nice and enticing mottos. We can say, therefore, that the Slovaks kept away from Communlsm. They dld not want to have anything to do wlth it. But such was not the case wlth the so-called "Czechoslovaks." When the professional revolutionists could not galn the Slovaks, they became friendly wlth Communists and paved the way for them to get to Washington. It is to the credit of American Slovaks that they dld not play second flddle to the Communists, that they dld not collaborate with them and that they did not allow them among themselves. The Czechoslovaks, however, are deslgnated as collaborators with Communism. The NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÚ{ (New York Daily) and the Czech NEW YORKSKÉ LISTY (New York News) even imported communist editors. And they even published many, many artlcles of communist wr!ters. This they cannot deny, because lt ls all perpetuated black on white. These journals were no better than the communist ĽUDOVli: NOVINY (People's News) or the Canadian ĽUDOVÉ ZVESTI (People's Tidings). Today it is difficult to distingulsh between a Commun!st and a Czechoslovak, because both are so closely united. Both walked along the same road, both spoke and wrote the same thlngs. Both villified the Slovaks, because they exposed their dirty plans. Even Washington is fina\ly noting whence the wind is blowlng. The aim of the Communists !s clear, because it was stated by Stalin in simple words. Twenty-two years ago Stalin told us who was an internatlonalist. He said: "An internatlonallst 1s a person who unconditionally, without hesitation and without limitation is willing to defend the USSR, because the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) is the foundation of the world revolutlonary movement, and to defend this movement, make lt progress is not posslble wlthout the protection of the USSR. Who WQUld defend the world revolutionary movement wlthout and against the USSR. that person goes agalnst the revolution, that person necessarlly falls into the camp of the enemles ot the revolutlon."  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Slovaks Have a Right to a State Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1), May 1951 pp. 32-33 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 1951 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/575fd74b2c0220cb32780f0e819fc80c.pdf 372740dc44a33c68193f09f3b6423935 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA HOW TIIE CZECHS DECEIVED US CONST A NTIN E ČU L EN "Why do you not believe that old mistakes will not be repeated in the Czechoslovak Republlc?" I was asked by a Czech Slovak (a Czeehoslovak! ). "Because," I answer,,d, "only a donkey trlps twice on tbe same stone. And we Slovaks have already been deceived twice by Czech promiaes. One deceptlon was labeled the Pittsburgh Pact, and tbe second the Košice Agreement." "But you must belleve," said the Beneš Slovak, " just Jike a drowning man clinging to a straw." "Believe? But whom? The old decelvers? Here's a Jetter from a young Slovak who, In 1944, was one of those who believed the ~echs more than he dld hls brother Slovaks. After 1945," he wrltes, "many of my friends went to Prague to work in the mlnistrles. They worked in the Mlnistry of Foreign Trade, where Ripka was boss. When they wanted to execute some document, they had to steal it. In P rague they were willlng to employ Slovaks and, in cases, even elevate them, but they did not want them to work for Slovakia and make decisions and have influence on the trend of events and development of Slovakla." That young Slovak, an exile today, recently reminded me tbat I was right when I told bim, during the years of the Slovak Republlc, that the Czechs did not learn anything, or did they forget anythlng. At one Ume I collected a list of Czech promises very dillgently. Slnce 1919 I have recorded qulte a number or them. The first promlse sounded llke this: We Czechs are going to Slovakia only to help you out; when the Slovaks have capable people or their own, we w!ll ret•trn horne and let them manage their own arfalrs. Statlstics, however, show that there were less Slovaks in centra! offices in 1938, than there were in 1936. The schools in Slovakla, run by the Czechs, dld put out a lot of scholarly people, but !t seems that these schools were not as excellent as the Czech schools. Otherwlse someone mlght be able to say that this 1s just au anti-Czech argument to show that the Czechs used to send their worst professors to Slovakla, slnce they could not turn out, for example, anybody for the Jeading poslt!on in the Presidenťs office, in Parliament and in the varlous minlstries. The fact that out of 150 Generals only one was Slovak could be au argument that the Slovaks are a terribly peace-loving natlon and that the Czechs were all Žlžkas and warrlors. At the beginnlng of 1919, the offlclal Czech Press Bureau (ÔTK) had this joyful report propagated In Amer!ca: "The Slovak language shall be introduced as a required subject In the middle schools In Bohemia and Moravla. At the Prague philosophical facuJty it already has lts own seminary; it shall have a lecturer and the lectures on Slovak l!terature shall 'be ín Slovak. "Literary and scientlfic societles are prepar!ng to arrange coursel!I in Slovak for their members and for the general public. A Slovak dictionary and a Slovak comparat!ve . grammar are being publlshed. A review hlstory or literature wlll follow. �SLOV AK1A "A council of foremost Slovaks here or technical expert& on the Slovak language, because the Minlstry of Schools and Natlonal Enlightenment wills it, are preparing plans and school books for Slovakia, which shall be placed before natlve Slovak experta and, after agreement and approval, shall be published speedlly and passed out to ouľ students. "Professors from all sides are answering our call to teach in the first complete Slovak gymnasimn in Skalica; they are perfectlng themselves in Slovak and, as soon as circumstances allow, they shall actively undertake teaching work. And after the first middle school, there shall be in other parts of our country a second, a third and a fourth. "Already today the Slovak language is at horne in our entire State. A former Clnderella has now become the most-liked chlld of the entire Czechoslovak society" (NÁRODNt NOVINY, Jan. 16, 1919). Well, what flnally happened? The Slovak language was uot lntroduced into Czech schools, nay they stlfled it even in Slovak schools. In Bohemia the Czecn language was taught, but in Slovakla only the Czech brand of Slovak, that is the so-called "Czechoslovak" language. A Slovak dictionary and grammar were not being published at that time at all, nor were they being pre· pared. The dictlonary was prepared later by Professor Tvrdt, a Slovak professor, who could not flnd a teaching position in Slovakia. Slovak text)><loks were not approved by Slovaks, "but by Czechs in Pragúe. They _dld not like to approve textbooks prepared by Slovaks, because books afforded the Czechs a nice income. As late as 1938, practtcally all. textbooks of technical schools and a large percentage of the other schools in Slovakia were in Czech. At the Skalica gymnazlum, where Slovak professors flocked in such numbers already in 1919, there were, in 19~8, 15% Slovak professors and 85% Czech. lndeed, iu 1938, the Slovak language was not "at horne" even at the Universlty of Bratislava, or in barr acks, tbe schools and offlces. In 1988, 80% of the leading official pos itions in Slovakia were in Czech hands and the majority of Czechs offlciated in Czech. And in Prague, in the centra! offlces, where the destluy of Slovakia was being decided, there were three Slovaks out of 200 officials. In a word, in 1919 the Czech Press Bureau wanted Americans of Slovak descent to relax their vigilance. In the meantime, the Czech parliament, witb a Czech majority, passed a Iaw, according to which the Slovak nation vauished as such and, follo.wiug U1e Magyar pattern, instead of a unitary Hungarian natlon, we had a unltary Czechoslovak nation, with the Czechoslovak language as the otflcial language, the State language. Whosoever wishes can believe new Czech promises. The Slovakl!I cannot and must not, because the Czechs are determlned to destroy the Slovak nation. A wlse and cautious person wlll not believe them, b&caúse the people doing the promlsing today are the pupils or Masaryk'a scbool and that school really excelled in deception. The "master" cheated to s uch an extent that he denled his own slgnature on the· document which was called the Pittsburgh Pact. The Slovak natlon has matured to sllch an extent that lt does not believe the Czechs. It shall belleve them, but with caution, only when t he Morava river shall again be thelr bouudary. � SLOVAKIA HOW TIIE CZECHS DECEIVED US CONST A NTIN E ČU L EN "Why do you not believe that old mistakes will not be repeated in the Czechoslovak Republlc?" I was asked by a Czech Slovak (a Czeehoslovak! ). "Because," I answer,,d, "only a donkey trlps twice on tbe same stone. And we Slovaks have already been deceived twice by Czech promiaes. One deceptlon was labeled the Pittsburgh Pact, and tbe second the Košice Agreement." "But you must belleve," said the Beneš Slovak, " just Jike a drowning man clinging to a straw." "Believe? But whom? The old decelvers? Here's a Jetter from a young Slovak who, In 1944, was one of those who believed the ~echs more than he dld hls brother Slovaks. After 1945," he wrltes, "many of my friends went to Prague to work in the mlnistrles. They worked in the Mlnistry of Foreign Trade, where Ripka was boss. When they wanted to execute some document, they had to steal it. In P rague they were willlng to employ Slovaks and, in cases, even elevate them, but they did not want them to work for Slovakia and make decisions and have influence on the trend of events and development of Slovakla." That young Slovak, an exile today, recently reminded me tbat I was right when I told bim, during the years of the Slovak Republlc, that the Czechs did not learn anything, or did they forget anythlng. At one Ume I collected a list of Czech promises very dillgently. Slnce 1919 I have recorded qulte a number or them. The first promlse sounded llke this: We Czechs are going to Slovakia only to help you out; when the Slovaks have capable people or their own, we w!ll ret•trn horne and let them manage their own arfalrs. Statlstics, however, show that there were less Slovaks in centra! offices in 1938, than there were in 1936. The schools in Slovakla, run by the Czechs, dld put out a lot of scholarly people, but !t seems that these schools were not as excellent as the Czech schools. Otherwlse someone mlght be able to say that this 1s just au anti-Czech argument to show that the Czechs used to send their worst professors to Slovakla, slnce they could not turn out, for example, anybody for the Jeading poslt!on in the Presidenťs office, in Parliament and in the varlous minlstries. The fact that out of 150 Generals only one was Slovak could be au argument that the Slovaks are a terribly peace-loving natlon and that the Czechs were all Žlžkas and warrlors. At the beginnlng of 1919, the offlclal Czech Press Bureau (ÔTK) had this joyful report propagated In Amer!ca: "The Slovak language shall be introduced as a required subject In the middle schools In Bohemia and Moravla. At the Prague philosophical facuJty it already has lts own seminary; it shall have a lecturer and the lectures on Slovak l!terature shall 'be ín Slovak. "Literary and scientlfic societles are prepar!ng to arrange coursel!I in Slovak for their members and for the general public. A Slovak dictionary and a Slovak comparat!ve . grammar are being publlshed. A review hlstory or literature wlll follow. �SLOV AK1A "A council of foremost Slovaks here or technical expert& on the Slovak language, because the Minlstry of Schools and Natlonal Enlightenment wills it, are preparing plans and school books for Slovakia, which shall be placed before natlve Slovak experta and, after agreement and approval, shall be published speedlly and passed out to ouľ students. "Professors from all sides are answering our call to teach in the first complete Slovak gymnasimn in Skalica; they are perfectlng themselves in Slovak and, as soon as circumstances allow, they shall actively undertake teaching work. And after the first middle school, there shall be in other parts of our country a second, a third and a fourth. "Already today the Slovak language is at horne in our entire State. A former Clnderella has now become the most-liked chlld of the entire Czechoslovak society" (NÁRODNt NOVINY, Jan. 16, 1919). Well, what flnally happened? The Slovak language was uot lntroduced into Czech schools, nay they stlfled it even in Slovak schools. In Bohemia the Czecn language was taught, but in Slovakla only the Czech brand of Slovak, that is the so-called "Czechoslovak" language. A Slovak dictionary and grammar were not being published at that time at all, nor were they being pre· pared. The dictlonary was prepared later by Professor Tvrdt, a Slovak professor, who could not flnd a teaching position in Slovakia. Slovak text)><loks were not approved by Slovaks, "but by Czechs in Pragúe. They _dld not like to approve textbooks prepared by Slovaks, because books afforded the Czechs a nice income. As late as 1938, practtcally all. textbooks of technical schools and a large percentage of the other schools in Slovakia were in Czech. At the Skalica gymnazlum, where Slovak professors flocked in such numbers already in 1919, there were, in 19~8, 15% Slovak professors and 85% Czech. lndeed, iu 1938, the Slovak language was not "at horne" even at the Universlty of Bratislava, or in barr acks, tbe schools and offlces. In 1988, 80% of the leading official pos itions in Slovakia were in Czech hands and the majority of Czechs offlciated in Czech. And in Prague, in the centra! offlces, where the destluy of Slovakia was being decided, there were three Slovaks out of 200 officials. In a word, in 1919 the Czech Press Bureau wanted Americans of Slovak descent to relax their vigilance. In the meantime, the Czech parliament, witb a Czech majority, passed a Iaw, according to which the Slovak nation vauished as such and, follo.wiug U1e Magyar pattern, instead of a unitary Hungarian natlon, we had a unltary Czechoslovak nation, with the Czechoslovak language as the otflcial language, the State language. Whosoever wishes can believe new Czech promises. The Slovakl!I cannot and must not, because the Czechs are determlned to destroy the Slovak nation. A wlse and cautious person wlll not believe them, b&caúse the people doing the promlsing today are the pupils or Masaryk'a scbool and that school really excelled in deception. The "master" cheated to s uch an extent that he denled his own slgnature on the· document which was called the Pittsburgh Pact. The Slovak natlon has matured to sllch an extent that lt does not believe the Czechs. It shall belleve them, but with caution, only when t he Morava river shall again be thelr bouudary. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1952, Vol. 2 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 1952 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 3), March 1952.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 4), August 1952.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 5), December 1952.</li> </ul> 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 HOW TIIE CZECHS DECEIVED US CONST A NTIN E ČU L EN "Why do you not believe that old mistakes will not be repeated in the Czechoslovak Republlc?" I was asked by a Czech Slovak (a Czeehoslovak! ). "Because," I answer,,d, "only a donkey trlps twice on tbe same stone. And we Slovaks have already been deceived twice by Czech promiaes. One deceptlon was labeled the Pittsburgh Pact, and tbe second the Košice Agreement." "But you must belleve," said the Beneš Slovak, " just Jike a drowning man clinging to a straw." "Believe? But whom? The old decelvers? Here's a Jetter from a young Slovak who, In 1944, was one of those who believed the ~echs more than he dld hls brother Slovaks. After 1945," he wrltes, "many of my friends went to Prague to work in the mlnistrles. They worked in the Mlnistry of Foreign Trade, where Ripka was boss. When they wanted to execute some document, they had to steal it. In P rague they were willlng to employ Slovaks and, in cases, even elevate them, but they did not want them to work for Slovakia and make decisions and have influence on the trend of events and development of Slovakla." That young Slovak, an exile today, recently reminded me tbat I was right when I told bim, during the years of the Slovak Republlc, that the Czechs did not learn anything, or did they forget anythlng. At one Ume I collected a list of Czech promises very dillgently. Slnce 1919 I have recorded qulte a number or them. The first promlse sounded llke this: We Czechs are going to Slovakia only to help you out; when the Slovaks have capable people or their own, we w!ll ret•trn horne and let them manage their own arfalrs. Statlstics, however, show that there were less Slovaks in centra! offices in 1938, than there were in 1936. The schools in Slovakla, run by the Czechs, dld put out a lot of scholarly people, but !t seems that these schools were not as excellent as the Czech schools. Otherwlse someone mlght be able to say that this 1s just au anti-Czech argument to show that the Czechs used to send their worst professors to Slovakla, slnce they could not turn out, for example, anybody for the Jeading poslt!on in the Presidenťs office, in Parliament and in the varlous minlstries. The fact that out of 150 Generals only one was Slovak could be au argument that the Slovaks are a terribly peace-loving natlon and that the Czechs were all Žlžkas and warrlors. At the beginnlng of 1919, the offlclal Czech Press Bureau (ÔTK) had this joyful report propagated In Amer!ca: "The Slovak language shall be introduced as a required subject In the middle schools In Bohemia and Moravla. At the Prague philosophical facuJty it already has lts own seminary; it shall have a lecturer and the lectures on Slovak l!terature shall 'be ín Slovak. "Literary and scientlfic societles are prepar!ng to arrange coursel!I in Slovak for their members and for the general public. A Slovak dictionary and a Slovak comparat!ve . grammar are being publlshed. A review hlstory or literature wlll follow. SLOV AK1A "A council of foremost Slovaks here or technical expert& on the Slovak language, because the Minlstry of Schools and Natlonal Enlightenment wills it, are preparing plans and school books for Slovakia, which shall be placed before natlve Slovak experta and, after agreement and approval, shall be published speedlly and passed out to ouľ students. "Professors from all sides are answering our call to teach in the first complete Slovak gymnasimn in Skalica; they are perfectlng themselves in Slovak and, as soon as circumstances allow, they shall actively undertake teaching work. And after the first middle school, there shall be in other parts of our country a second, a third and a fourth. "Already today the Slovak language is at horne in our entire State. A former Clnderella has now become the most-liked chlld of the entire Czechoslovak society" (NÁRODNt NOVINY, Jan. 16, 1919). Well, what flnally happened? The Slovak language was uot lntroduced into Czech schools, nay they stlfled it even in Slovak schools. In Bohemia the Czecn language was taught, but in Slovakla only the Czech brand of Slovak, that is the so-called "Czechoslovak" language. A Slovak dictionary and grammar were not being published at that time at all, nor were they being pre· pared. The dictlonary was prepared later by Professor Tvrdt, a Slovak professor, who could not flnd a teaching position in Slovakia. Slovak text)><loks were not approved by Slovaks, "but by Czechs in Pragúe. They _dld not like to approve textbooks prepared by Slovaks, because books afforded the Czechs a nice income. As late as 1938, practtcally all. textbooks of technical schools and a large percentage of the other schools in Slovakia were in Czech. At the Skalica gymnazlum, where Slovak professors flocked in such numbers already in 1919, there were, in 19~8, 15% Slovak professors and 85% Czech. lndeed, iu 1938, the Slovak language was not "at horne" even at the Universlty of Bratislava, or in barr acks, tbe schools and offlces. In 1988, 80% of the leading official pos itions in Slovakia were in Czech hands and the majority of Czechs offlciated in Czech. And in Prague, in the centra! offlces, where the destluy of Slovakia was being decided, there were three Slovaks out of 200 officials. In a word, in 1919 the Czech Press Bureau wanted Americans of Slovak descent to relax their vigilance. In the meantime, the Czech parliament, witb a Czech majority, passed a Iaw, according to which the Slovak nation vauished as such and, follo.wiug U1e Magyar pattern, instead of a unitary Hungarian natlon, we had a unltary Czechoslovak nation, with the Czechoslovak language as the otflcial language, the State language. Whosoever wishes can believe new Czech promises. The Slovakl!I cannot and must not, because the Czechs are determlned to destroy the Slovak nation. A wlse and cautious person wlll not believe them, b&caúse the people doing the promlsing today are the pupils or Masaryk'a scbool and that school really excelled in deception. The "master" cheated to s uch an extent that he denled his own slgnature on the· document which was called the Pittsburgh Pact. The Slovak natlon has matured to sllch an extent that lt does not believe the Czechs. It shall belleve them, but with caution, only when t he Morava river shall again be thelr bouudary.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource How the Czechs Deceived Us Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 2 (4), August 1952 pp. 42-43 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 1952 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/cae39c6465594f6f4a0f788fb7fc510c.pdf 6fd3e7fee758d0c6d5ec88cc21a37386 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA THE TRAGIC CASE OF DUSAN SLAVIK Constantine Culen No generation of the Slovak nation sinned so grievously against its own people as did the generation of so-called "pre-revolutionary " Slovaks, who rendered service to Prague and so betrayed their Slovak birthright for a mess of Czech pottage. To this group -b elong Dr. Joseph Lettrich, former chairman of the Slovak National Front and communist collaborator, and Dr. George Slavik, former ambassador of Dr. Benes to the USA - today both are leading members of the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia." They were the socalled "Czechoslovaks," the "ruling class" of Slovakia, who believed that political leaders of the overwhelming majority of the Slovak nation were not fit for any government office either in Slovakia or in the ill-fated Czecho-Slovak Republic of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes. This story is about the son of Dr. George Slavik, Dusan Slavik, who was executed several years ago along with an i.n dustrialist named Tvarozka for espionage and acts inimical fo the "people's democracy." The court which tried Slavik and others was the court set up by Dr. Edward Benes, for whom the elder Slavik worked - the court approved by Dr. Lettrich, who today roams freely about America telling people how great a democrat and anti-Communist he is! The irony of the whole affair is that Dr. Lettrich had decorated both of the executed men for services rendered to restore Czecho-Slovakia. The boys did everything in 1945 to annihilate the independent state of Slovakia and re-estab:. lish the Czecho-Slovak state of Benes which was unwanted by 90 per cent of the Slovak people. For that they were decorated by Lettrich and the Reds. Again they became members of the "ruling" class. Then in 1949: death by the 6rder of the "People's Court!" : ' .. It should be noted for 'h istory that the Slovak Republic thtotighout its six-year: existence had protected Dusan Slavik. And all the while his father, ambassador George Slavik, �iO SLOVAKIA villified and smeared the Slovak State and threatened Tiso and other Slovak leaders with terrible reprisals. What was young Dusan doing during that time? Attending Bratislava University and taking advantage of everything the Slova'k State had to offer to Slovak students. And the Tvarozkas waxed rich, just as had so many other "select" families of Brezova. When waves of the bolshevik armies inundated Slovakia in 1945, the unfinished lawyer Dusan Slavik became the "leader" of a group of Slovak students. At 23 he was a Deputy of parliament. Dr. Lettrich and the Reds knew whom to place in high positions. They could not trust the hated Catholic "separatists" and followers of IIlinka and Tiso. But they knew that they could depend on the Slaviks, Ursinys, Stefaniks, Boors, Cobrdas and others - who professed to be Christian followers of Martin Luther - to make it really tough for the overwhelming Catholic majority of the Slovak population. And tough they made it, too! The youngsters of this so-called "ruling" class in Slovakia followed closely in their fathers' footsteps. As their fathers had divided positions and functions in 1918, so also did their sons in 1945. They shared lucrative governmental positions in Slovakia with nobody but the Communists. The youthful leaders of Slovak students ,o utlawed all existing student organizations and established a new one: "The Club of Fighting Youth." Only a partisan and non-Catholic could be an officer of the Club. Rudas and Ba.zany represented the Communists in the office of the Club, and Slavik, Stefanik and Boor represented the families of the "pre-revolutionary" super-patriots. The very first thing that Dusan's Club did was to set up a screening commission to put the finger on all students "who had sinned against the Slovak nation." As a result thousands of students were expelled from universities. Their crime: they belonged to the Hlinka Youth Organization! Young Slavik further proposed that no diplomas or degrees given or acquired during the years of the Slovak Republic be recognized as valid. But that proposition fell through be- �SLOVAKIA 61 cause even the Communists thought it was going too far at that time. Young Slavik had begun his political career as a Deputy of Lettrich's Democratic Party. But when Benes saw that Lettrich was getting a bit coc'ky in Slovakia - claiming that his party represented at least 62 per cent of the voting population - he gave money to Dr. Srobar to start the Liberty Party. Young Slavik was in on the deal. He soon became a leading member of the new party and a private secretary to Srobar; he was told the party had the blessing of Benes and soon would be the largest ,p olitical party in Slovakia. But even then he was not satisfied. A year later Dusan Slavik became a member of the Socialist Democratic Party, which promised him more than Srobar's party. After the Stalinists were firmly entrenched in the government of Czecho-Slovakia, they staged their so-called "putsch" in February, 1948. · Everything went overboard. All Red opposition was outlawed, jailad, exiled to Siberia, put into labor camps or executed. Benes, Sramek and many other "democratic" greats who collaborated fully with the Gottwaldists were thrown out. Lettrich, Ursiny, Slavik, and all the other "select" leaders, who had set out with the Reds to smash the Catholics of Slovakia, shared a similar fate. And young Dusan Slavik, who had screened so many of his classmates and labeled them "anti-state," made out worse than most of the bigwigs who had counseled him. Lettrich and many of the leading "pre-revolutionary" Slovaks are enjoying the freedom of America and London, but Dusan was executed. Dusan Slavik was executed by order of the "people's court." His murderers were the enemies of the Slovak nation. But his father and he had thought they were friends. Dusan walked in his father's footsteps, hoping that he too, as ;a faithful follower of the anti-democratic, anti-Christian and anti-Slova.k -policies of Benes, might have an eternal claim to some ministerial job, just like his father seemed to have. Dusan, however, was just as terribly mistaken as was Benes, who had found out too late that you cannot do business with Stalin and win. �52 SLOVAKIA Dr. Benes knew how the Slovak Lutherans felt a,,bout the Slovak Catholics. So did Stalin and his man Friday in Czecho-Slovakia - the late Gottwald. Benes and Stalin used that hatred of the Lutherans against the Catholics to attain their own ends. It is high time that all Slovak Christians realize what has happened to their Slovakia, put away their hatred and work together to liberate their country from Godless, Red rule and to establish a democratic, independent Slovakia, the safe guarantee of their national existence . • • • WHO SAID IT? "lt would be a new tragedy not merely for .Elurope but for the whole world if the Soviet Union were again driven into is olation and deprived of an Influence ON THE COURSE OF EUROPEAN EVENTS. That 1s why what I hi.ve called the MIDDLE WAY has been chosen - the natural way which does not abandon the principle of federa,tlon ' or the ruture and meanwhile permits friendly agreements !or mumat assistance and post-war collaboration such as the CzechoslovakSoviet Pact. This agreement is not merely defensive, merely regional, merely based on self-Interest. It leaves room for collaboration with all the Allied nations and in essence serves WORLD PEACE and helps lay the foundations of the NEW WORLD. whicb is to be FREE from the fear of War. FREE from the curse of Naziism and Fascism IN ALL THE!h ~'ORMS, a world based on the principles of INDIVIDUAL AND NATION AL LIBERTY. It does not mean tha,t we shall be an instrument of SOVIET policy, but it CERTAINLY means that we shall not be an instrument of ANTI-SOVIET policy. Internally we shall be COMPLETELY FREE, with quite different cultural, economic and soci al conditions than exist in SOVIET RUSSIA. And 1n our external affairs we shall not abandon our efforts to reach the same relations we have established with Russia and to malnt.ain with Poland · as our traditional relations with wes tern Europe. This path FULLY accords with Czechoslovakia's national tradition of HUMANITARIAN ( Dr. Benes, Foreign Affairs, New York, October OEMOCRACY." 1944). • • • "Our relations with Germany are good and correct and they s.hall remain so In the future In every instance. Between ourselves and Germany there never were, are not, and shall not be any border d~bates and difficulties." (Dr. Ben es, Speecb to the Slovaks, 1933) . • • • "We must get rid of all those Germans in _Czechoslovakia who plunged a dagger in the back of the Czechoslovak state in 1938. Similar treatment· will be meted out to ALL collaborationists in the Czech lands and In . Slovakia and to ALL those whq _lost faith .i.n, the State, in democracy, freedom and In glorious tradition." - (Dr. Benes Brol!,d· · cast from London, October 28. 1944). � SLOVAKIA THE TRAGIC CASE OF DUSAN SLAVIK Constantine Culen No generation of the Slovak nation sinned so grievously against its own people as did the generation of so-called "pre-revolutionary " Slovaks, who rendered service to Prague and so betrayed their Slovak birthright for a mess of Czech pottage. To this group -b elong Dr. Joseph Lettrich, former chairman of the Slovak National Front and communist collaborator, and Dr. George Slavik, former ambassador of Dr. Benes to the USA - today both are leading members of the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia." They were the socalled "Czechoslovaks," the "ruling class" of Slovakia, who believed that political leaders of the overwhelming majority of the Slovak nation were not fit for any government office either in Slovakia or in the ill-fated Czecho-Slovak Republic of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes. This story is about the son of Dr. George Slavik, Dusan Slavik, who was executed several years ago along with an i.n dustrialist named Tvarozka for espionage and acts inimical fo the "people's democracy." The court which tried Slavik and others was the court set up by Dr. Edward Benes, for whom the elder Slavik worked - the court approved by Dr. Lettrich, who today roams freely about America telling people how great a democrat and anti-Communist he is! The irony of the whole affair is that Dr. Lettrich had decorated both of the executed men for services rendered to restore Czecho-Slovakia. The boys did everything in 1945 to annihilate the independent state of Slovakia and re-estab:. lish the Czecho-Slovak state of Benes which was unwanted by 90 per cent of the Slovak people. For that they were decorated by Lettrich and the Reds. Again they became members of the "ruling" class. Then in 1949: death by the 6rder of the "People's Court!" : ' .. It should be noted for 'h istory that the Slovak Republic thtotighout its six-year: existence had protected Dusan Slavik. And all the while his father, ambassador George Slavik, �iO SLOVAKIA villified and smeared the Slovak State and threatened Tiso and other Slovak leaders with terrible reprisals. What was young Dusan doing during that time? Attending Bratislava University and taking advantage of everything the Slova'k State had to offer to Slovak students. And the Tvarozkas waxed rich, just as had so many other "select" families of Brezova. When waves of the bolshevik armies inundated Slovakia in 1945, the unfinished lawyer Dusan Slavik became the "leader" of a group of Slovak students. At 23 he was a Deputy of parliament. Dr. Lettrich and the Reds knew whom to place in high positions. They could not trust the hated Catholic "separatists" and followers of IIlinka and Tiso. But they knew that they could depend on the Slaviks, Ursinys, Stefaniks, Boors, Cobrdas and others - who professed to be Christian followers of Martin Luther - to make it really tough for the overwhelming Catholic majority of the Slovak population. And tough they made it, too! The youngsters of this so-called "ruling" class in Slovakia followed closely in their fathers' footsteps. As their fathers had divided positions and functions in 1918, so also did their sons in 1945. They shared lucrative governmental positions in Slovakia with nobody but the Communists. The youthful leaders of Slovak students ,o utlawed all existing student organizations and established a new one: "The Club of Fighting Youth." Only a partisan and non-Catholic could be an officer of the Club. Rudas and Ba.zany represented the Communists in the office of the Club, and Slavik, Stefanik and Boor represented the families of the "pre-revolutionary" super-patriots. The very first thing that Dusan's Club did was to set up a screening commission to put the finger on all students "who had sinned against the Slovak nation." As a result thousands of students were expelled from universities. Their crime: they belonged to the Hlinka Youth Organization! Young Slavik further proposed that no diplomas or degrees given or acquired during the years of the Slovak Republic be recognized as valid. But that proposition fell through be- �SLOVAKIA 61 cause even the Communists thought it was going too far at that time. Young Slavik had begun his political career as a Deputy of Lettrich's Democratic Party. But when Benes saw that Lettrich was getting a bit coc'ky in Slovakia - claiming that his party represented at least 62 per cent of the voting population - he gave money to Dr. Srobar to start the Liberty Party. Young Slavik was in on the deal. He soon became a leading member of the new party and a private secretary to Srobar; he was told the party had the blessing of Benes and soon would be the largest ,p olitical party in Slovakia. But even then he was not satisfied. A year later Dusan Slavik became a member of the Socialist Democratic Party, which promised him more than Srobar's party. After the Stalinists were firmly entrenched in the government of Czecho-Slovakia, they staged their so-called "putsch" in February, 1948. · Everything went overboard. All Red opposition was outlawed, jailad, exiled to Siberia, put into labor camps or executed. Benes, Sramek and many other "democratic" greats who collaborated fully with the Gottwaldists were thrown out. Lettrich, Ursiny, Slavik, and all the other "select" leaders, who had set out with the Reds to smash the Catholics of Slovakia, shared a similar fate. And young Dusan Slavik, who had screened so many of his classmates and labeled them "anti-state," made out worse than most of the bigwigs who had counseled him. Lettrich and many of the leading "pre-revolutionary" Slovaks are enjoying the freedom of America and London, but Dusan was executed. Dusan Slavik was executed by order of the "people's court." His murderers were the enemies of the Slovak nation. But his father and he had thought they were friends. Dusan walked in his father's footsteps, hoping that he too, as ;a faithful follower of the anti-democratic, anti-Christian and anti-Slova.k -policies of Benes, might have an eternal claim to some ministerial job, just like his father seemed to have. Dusan, however, was just as terribly mistaken as was Benes, who had found out too late that you cannot do business with Stalin and win. �52 SLOVAKIA Dr. Benes knew how the Slovak Lutherans felt a,,bout the Slovak Catholics. So did Stalin and his man Friday in Czecho-Slovakia - the late Gottwald. Benes and Stalin used that hatred of the Lutherans against the Catholics to attain their own ends. It is high time that all Slovak Christians realize what has happened to their Slovakia, put away their hatred and work together to liberate their country from Godless, Red rule and to establish a democratic, independent Slovakia, the safe guarantee of their national existence . • • • WHO SAID IT? "lt would be a new tragedy not merely for .Elurope but for the whole world if the Soviet Union were again driven into is olation and deprived of an Influence ON THE COURSE OF EUROPEAN EVENTS. That 1s why what I hi.ve called the MIDDLE WAY has been chosen - the natural way which does not abandon the principle of federa,tlon ' or the ruture and meanwhile permits friendly agreements !or mumat assistance and post-war collaboration such as the CzechoslovakSoviet Pact. This agreement is not merely defensive, merely regional, merely based on self-Interest. It leaves room for collaboration with all the Allied nations and in essence serves WORLD PEACE and helps lay the foundations of the NEW WORLD. whicb is to be FREE from the fear of War. FREE from the curse of Naziism and Fascism IN ALL THE!h ~'ORMS, a world based on the principles of INDIVIDUAL AND NATION AL LIBERTY. It does not mean tha,t we shall be an instrument of SOVIET policy, but it CERTAINLY means that we shall not be an instrument of ANTI-SOVIET policy. Internally we shall be COMPLETELY FREE, with quite different cultural, economic and soci al conditions than exist in SOVIET RUSSIA. And 1n our external affairs we shall not abandon our efforts to reach the same relations we have established with Russia and to malnt.ain with Poland · as our traditional relations with wes tern Europe. This path FULLY accords with Czechoslovakia's national tradition of HUMANITARIAN ( Dr. Benes, Foreign Affairs, New York, October OEMOCRACY." 1944). • • • "Our relations with Germany are good and correct and they s.hall remain so In the future In every instance. Between ourselves and Germany there never were, are not, and shall not be any border d~bates and difficulties." (Dr. Ben es, Speecb to the Slovaks, 1933) . • • • "We must get rid of all those Germans in _Czechoslovakia who plunged a dagger in the back of the Czechoslovak state in 1938. Similar treatment· will be meted out to ALL collaborationists in the Czech lands and In . Slovakia and to ALL those whq _lost faith .i.n, the State, in democracy, freedom and In glorious tradition." - (Dr. Benes Brol!,d· · cast from London, October 28. 1944). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1953, Vol. 3 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 6), April 1953.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 7), July 1953.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 8), September 1953.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 9), December 1953.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1953 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 THE TRAGIC CASE OF DUSAN SLAVIK Constantine Culen No generation of the Slovak nation sinned so grievously against its own people as did the generation of so-called "pre-revolutionary " Slovaks, who rendered service to Prague and so betrayed their Slovak birthright for a mess of Czech pottage. To this group -b elong Dr. Joseph Lettrich, former chairman of the Slovak National Front and communist collaborator, and Dr. George Slavik, former ambassador of Dr. Benes to the USA - today both are leading members of the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia." They were the socalled "Czechoslovaks," the "ruling class" of Slovakia, who believed that political leaders of the overwhelming majority of the Slovak nation were not fit for any government office either in Slovakia or in the ill-fated Czecho-Slovak Republic of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes. This story is about the son of Dr. George Slavik, Dusan Slavik, who was executed several years ago along with an i.n dustrialist named Tvarozka for espionage and acts inimical fo the "people's democracy." The court which tried Slavik and others was the court set up by Dr. Edward Benes, for whom the elder Slavik worked - the court approved by Dr. Lettrich, who today roams freely about America telling people how great a democrat and anti-Communist he is! The irony of the whole affair is that Dr. Lettrich had decorated both of the executed men for services rendered to restore Czecho-Slovakia. The boys did everything in 1945 to annihilate the independent state of Slovakia and re-estab:. lish the Czecho-Slovak state of Benes which was unwanted by 90 per cent of the Slovak people. For that they were decorated by Lettrich and the Reds. Again they became members of the "ruling" class. Then in 1949: death by the 6rder of the "People's Court!" : ' .. It should be noted for 'h istory that the Slovak Republic thtotighout its six-year: existence had protected Dusan Slavik. And all the while his father, ambassador George Slavik, iO SLOVAKIA villified and smeared the Slovak State and threatened Tiso and other Slovak leaders with terrible reprisals. What was young Dusan doing during that time? Attending Bratislava University and taking advantage of everything the Slova'k State had to offer to Slovak students. And the Tvarozkas waxed rich, just as had so many other "select" families of Brezova. When waves of the bolshevik armies inundated Slovakia in 1945, the unfinished lawyer Dusan Slavik became the "leader" of a group of Slovak students. At 23 he was a Deputy of parliament. Dr. Lettrich and the Reds knew whom to place in high positions. They could not trust the hated Catholic "separatists" and followers of IIlinka and Tiso. But they knew that they could depend on the Slaviks, Ursinys, Stefaniks, Boors, Cobrdas and others - who professed to be Christian followers of Martin Luther - to make it really tough for the overwhelming Catholic majority of the Slovak population. And tough they made it, too! The youngsters of this so-called "ruling" class in Slovakia followed closely in their fathers' footsteps. As their fathers had divided positions and functions in 1918, so also did their sons in 1945. They shared lucrative governmental positions in Slovakia with nobody but the Communists. The youthful leaders of Slovak students ,o utlawed all existing student organizations and established a new one: "The Club of Fighting Youth." Only a partisan and non-Catholic could be an officer of the Club. Rudas and Ba.zany represented the Communists in the office of the Club, and Slavik, Stefanik and Boor represented the families of the "pre-revolutionary" super-patriots. The very first thing that Dusan's Club did was to set up a screening commission to put the finger on all students "who had sinned against the Slovak nation." As a result thousands of students were expelled from universities. Their crime: they belonged to the Hlinka Youth Organization! Young Slavik further proposed that no diplomas or degrees given or acquired during the years of the Slovak Republic be recognized as valid. But that proposition fell through be- SLOVAKIA 61 cause even the Communists thought it was going too far at that time. Young Slavik had begun his political career as a Deputy of Lettrich's Democratic Party. But when Benes saw that Lettrich was getting a bit coc'ky in Slovakia - claiming that his party represented at least 62 per cent of the voting population - he gave money to Dr. Srobar to start the Liberty Party. Young Slavik was in on the deal. He soon became a leading member of the new party and a private secretary to Srobar; he was told the party had the blessing of Benes and soon would be the largest ,p olitical party in Slovakia. But even then he was not satisfied. A year later Dusan Slavik became a member of the Socialist Democratic Party, which promised him more than Srobar's party. After the Stalinists were firmly entrenched in the government of Czecho-Slovakia, they staged their so-called "putsch" in February, 1948. · Everything went overboard. All Red opposition was outlawed, jailad, exiled to Siberia, put into labor camps or executed. Benes, Sramek and many other "democratic" greats who collaborated fully with the Gottwaldists were thrown out. Lettrich, Ursiny, Slavik, and all the other "select" leaders, who had set out with the Reds to smash the Catholics of Slovakia, shared a similar fate. And young Dusan Slavik, who had screened so many of his classmates and labeled them "anti-state," made out worse than most of the bigwigs who had counseled him. Lettrich and many of the leading "pre-revolutionary" Slovaks are enjoying the freedom of America and London, but Dusan was executed. Dusan Slavik was executed by order of the "people's court." His murderers were the enemies of the Slovak nation. But his father and he had thought they were friends. Dusan walked in his father's footsteps, hoping that he too, as ;a faithful follower of the anti-democratic, anti-Christian and anti-Slova.k -policies of Benes, might have an eternal claim to some ministerial job, just like his father seemed to have. Dusan, however, was just as terribly mistaken as was Benes, who had found out too late that you cannot do business with Stalin and win. 52 SLOVAKIA Dr. Benes knew how the Slovak Lutherans felt a,,bout the Slovak Catholics. So did Stalin and his man Friday in Czecho-Slovakia - the late Gottwald. Benes and Stalin used that hatred of the Lutherans against the Catholics to attain their own ends. It is high time that all Slovak Christians realize what has happened to their Slovakia, put away their hatred and work together to liberate their country from Godless, Red rule and to establish a democratic, independent Slovakia, the safe guarantee of their national existence . • • • WHO SAID IT? "lt would be a new tragedy not merely for .Elurope but for the whole world if the Soviet Union were again driven into is olation and deprived of an Influence ON THE COURSE OF EUROPEAN EVENTS. That 1s why what I hi.ve called the MIDDLE WAY has been chosen - the natural way which does not abandon the principle of federa,tlon ' or the ruture and meanwhile permits friendly agreements !or mumat assistance and post-war collaboration such as the CzechoslovakSoviet Pact. This agreement is not merely defensive, merely regional, merely based on self-Interest. It leaves room for collaboration with all the Allied nations and in essence serves WORLD PEACE and helps lay the foundations of the NEW WORLD. whicb is to be FREE from the fear of War. FREE from the curse of Naziism and Fascism IN ALL THE!h ~'ORMS, a world based on the principles of INDIVIDUAL AND NATION AL LIBERTY. It does not mean tha,t we shall be an instrument of SOVIET policy, but it CERTAINLY means that we shall not be an instrument of ANTI-SOVIET policy. Internally we shall be COMPLETELY FREE, with quite different cultural, economic and soci al conditions than exist in SOVIET RUSSIA. And 1n our external affairs we shall not abandon our efforts to reach the same relations we have established with Russia and to malnt.ain with Poland · as our traditional relations with wes tern Europe. This path FULLY accords with Czechoslovakia's national tradition of HUMANITARIAN ( Dr. Benes, Foreign Affairs, New York, October OEMOCRACY." 1944). • • • "Our relations with Germany are good and correct and they s.hall remain so In the future In every instance. Between ourselves and Germany there never were, are not, and shall not be any border d~bates and difficulties." (Dr. Ben es, Speecb to the Slovaks, 1933) . • • • "We must get rid of all those Germans in _Czechoslovakia who plunged a dagger in the back of the Czechoslovak state in 1938. Similar treatment· will be meted out to ALL collaborationists in the Czech lands and In . Slovakia and to ALL those whq _lost faith .i.n, the State, in democracy, freedom and In glorious tradition." - (Dr. Benes Brol!,d· · cast from London, October 28. 1944).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Tragic Case of Dušan Slávik Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 1 (6), April 1953 pp. 49-52 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 1953 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c672884b42cfb02d25713c71e2a2e99a.pdf be52d8e8e9ba19505d5ae12a900ea058 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 21 LETI'RIOH'S IDSTORY OF SLOVAK.IA By Constantine Oulen We shall not criticize the ideological side of his booik, because according to Letitric,h only the Slovak Catholics were Nazis, only they praised Hitler, only they wrote derogatively of the Jews, only they Aryanized, only they were in the Hlinka Guards, and only they were dissatis ... fied in the Czecho.,Slovak Reipu1blic. We shall not carry on polemics with Lettrich even on as, for example, the Sudanians, because we know that Lettrich is of the conviction that what is the right of the unclothed Sudanian at home, does not belong to the Slovaks at home even if they were to weM' fro-cks and uniforms. We know that from a feeling of his own inferio,r 'ity even an under-average Czech is an unattainable ideal. Lettrich really belongs under the Czechs. We shall not d~bate about whether Lettrich was en~ titled to let thousands od' Slova;ks lhe jailed, and we shall not deJbate ,a bout the Magyarism of the politicians of the Slo,vaik People's Party, beC'ause that is, after aJll, a matter of personal opinion, and it is useless to talik about the beauty of colors with a color-blind person. The statistics presented or ref erred to by Lettrich, however, really is not 'history, but news. They demonst11ate the superficiality, irresponsiibility and outright falsification of facts. L ettrich wanted to prove Urat the progress Slovakia made in the Czecho-iSlovak Repu:bli·c from 1918 to 1938 "had never been surpassed in any phase of history" by referring to the gigantic growth of various Slovak cities (p. 64). He compares the 1919 with the 1948 numlber of inha:bitants of some cities. Many cities, indeed, did develop and grow, while otihers showed a decrease in population. But we see that everywhere, not only in .Slovakia. So, are we to regard that as a "Czecho..,Slovaik" miracle? Is it not practically a universal oustom that :people leave the farms for the cities? And even Lettrich should know that the influx of some 200,000 Czechs into Slovakia, especially into 1 �22 SLOVAKIA the cities, certainly had something to do with the increase in population of those cities. But why shou1d Lettrich resort to false statistics even in this case? He could have proved his case even with correct statistics, selected from official statistical publications. It is obvious that Leittrich preferred to use other statistics: those which sulbstantially decrease the numlber of inhabitants from Magyar times and su:b stantially increase the number of inhaJbitants from the times of the Czecho~ Slovruk Republic. According to Lett.rich, Zilina had 9,000 inh~bitants in 1919 and 18,000 in 1948 (p. 64). But Zilina, we know, already :had 9,166 inhaJbitants in 1910; 12,073 after the census was taken in Ozecho-Slo•v akia; and in 1940, in the Slovak Republic, 19,329 (Vd. SOZNAM OBOI NA SLOVEN~U, p. 161). Aooording to Lettrich, then, Zilina had 1~ people in 1948 than in 1940. According to Dr. Palic (Vd. OIDSKOSLOVENSKY PR!EHLED), Zilina had 16,400 i.nhabitants in 1949. According to Lettrich, Turciansky &vaty Martin had 3,000 inhabitants in 1919, but 20,000 in 1948. However, we know that T. iSv. M. had 3,351 inha,bitants already in 1900; 4,101 in 11910; and 5,6'57 after the first Czecho--,Slova:k census. Where did Lettrich get the 20,000 figure? And the other statistics? In the footnote (ip. 64), he says his source was (pp. '118-157) of "':NIE POPULATION OF CZECHOSLOV~ " by Waller Wynne, Jr. (Washington, 1953). But that source does not show 20,000 inha:bitants. for T. Sv. M . ! It shows 11,300 for the year 1940; in 1946 only 10,600, hence, less t'han during the time of the Slovak Republic. In fact a closer loolk at pages 47-57 shows Wynne's book of afificfal American statistics does not carry the figures either for 1919, with which Lettrich begins, or for 1948, with which Lettrich ends; but we do find there the figures for 1940 and 1946. It seems that pseudohistorian Lettrich did not understand ,w hat he read. Wynne gives the figures for the growth of cities between 1930 and 1947 "in 1948 area." Lettrich quotes the number of inhabitants of the various Slovak cities for 194i8 from statistics, of Octolber 1, 1946. �SLOVAKIA 23 When . a historian writes a:bout ithe growth of some cities and towns, it is not unusual for him to mention the decrease in populat'ion of others. But Lettrich is different; he is determined to pmve that the Czecho--•SltoviaJk Republic was responsible only for "growth" figures,. For example, the following cities and towns decreased as indicated: Skalica 2.3 percent; Myjava 2.7 percent; Pukanec 2.9 percent; Bansika Stiavnica 8.3 •p ercent; Doib,sina 12:3 percent; Gelnica 24.1 percent; Reviuca 32.2 percent. Why these old industria~ centers decreased in populatfon could also form an interesting chapter in a SlovaJk history, which is cal,l ed 'modern"! "Between 1906 and 1908 alone, 56·0 Slovaks were sentenced for political crimes to a total of 91 years in jail and fines of 42,000 Crowns" (p. 38). That's what Lettrfoh says rubout Magyar persecution, but even here there seems to :b e a slight error of some ten years. The figures given are for a period of 12 years and not two. We suggest that Lettrich c'hook .this item with the figures given by R. W. Seton-·Watson, whom he probaibly wanted to quote (RAOIAL BROBLEM!S IN HUNGARY, p. 466). To check this item, he might also use the SLOVENISKY OB~OR and the PIRUDY, with which he is quite familiar. It is, significant, too, that, in the matter of persecution, oppression and suppression, Mr. Lettrich quite conveniently forgets to rememb.er what the Slovaks suffered from 1945 to 1'948, when he and Communist Schmidke ,w ere cocha_imnen of the SlovaJk National Council, the lbody supreme in Slovakia. The Magyars treated the Slo1vaks harshly and unjustly, it is true; Magyar statistics themselves prove that. There is no need to add anything to thek figures; we need not magnid'y those statistics in 1955. As they are, tihey are a monument to intolerance., dishonesty, and especially .p olitical short-sightedness. In the final analysis, what the ruling Magyaris did was a crime even against the Magyar nation. On the other hand, however, what was done to the Slovaks during the Benes-Lettrich er.a is so terribfo, r8JW, and criminal that it simply is without parallel in the �24 SLOVAKIA thousand-year history O!f the Slovaks. Lettrich's regime pa:s:ses into Sliovak history as a regime O!f an unbroken skein of the most terrilble and blo·odiest crimes. At one of the meetings of the Board of Commissars, when Lettrirch ruled, a reiport was given that 19,740 persons, most of them in:tellectuals, were jailed; 56 of them already were sentenced to death and the rest o£ them received a total of 12,555 years in jail; and the property of most of them ,w a s confiscated. And that was only the beginning. In 19416, the a'Verage jail senitence was 19 months; at the end of 1'947, it was 33 months and 14 days. 'Dhiat was in the days when Lettrich's word could save a person's life, or a:meliorate a sentence. Lettrioh's cowts meted out jail sentenices which were 1,250 percent higher, besides that also executions, which in peace time did not even happen in Hungary. But Lettrilch makes a lb ig issue of 91 yearn in jail which the Magyar-s meted out to 560 Slovaks in twelve years! What is 1:lhaJt in •c omparison to what Leittrich's regime was responsible for? Hias, Lettrich already fongotten the Slova:ks executed, the thousands in Silberia, the crammed jaHs and concentration camps, the people beaten by his police? Hias he forgotten the thous•a nds of women who were raped by rhis glorified partisans, the freight cars crammed with Magyars whom he tra:nsferred to Czech lands for slave la!bor, the 15 frozen Magyar children in one of those ft-eight car-s, which waited under the Bratis1a~a bridge in January without any heat for over rbwo weeks until an order was given to move? Yes, and what is that in comparison to the 300,000 ,b eaten Germans? Lettrich made thi,s history, was a respoinsilble patt of it, so why should he not include it in his "History of Modern Slo'Vakia"? 1 ".fn 1918 Hungarian statistics listed no more than 30,118 children of Slovak nationality" (p. 37). But the truth is that Magyar staUstiJcs for that year showed 255,7'92 school child.rein of Slovak natli onality (Vd . .Judr Fojifr: NAIRODNi SKOLY V REPUBillCE Cs DLE S'DAVU ZID DNIE 31. PROS. 1'92,1, which contains detailed statistics of Slovak elementary schiools from 11881 to 1919). Lettrich is a bit befuddled or wants to befuddle others. 1 �SLOVAKIA 25 Magyar statistics show that in 1'918 there were 30,118 Slovalk children in 365 Slovak schooJs, but the same statistics showed that there were 255,792 Slovak school children, the rubsolute majority of which, of course, had to attend Magyar schools. Magyar statli.stics were false, but even Magyar statisticians were not so stupid .as to show 30,000 school children for a nation of three million. They left .that to Lettrioh ! "In 1918 ... there were 12,447 Hungarian civil servants on Slovak territory. Only 35 offered their services to the new Republic The others, being of Magyar nat ionality, refused to serve" (p. 39) , Now, -if that were kue, then Count Apponyi was right when he said that the Slovaks were against uniting with the Czechs. But Lettrich is wrong again. Ho,w did he arrive at those figures? Lettrich not only accepts the statistics supplied by Count Al1bert Apponyd. to support his ar• guments to save the unity of greater Hungairy at the Peace Conference, 1b ut even e~plains them more unfavorably for the Slovaks than Apponyi himself. At .the Peace Oonference CoU!nt A,pponyi presented stabstics about the number of offidals and teachers in Hungary. He said th'at in the whole of Hungary there were 12,447 state employees: 12,412 Magyars and 35 Slo,vaks. Of the 35 SlQIV'akS, 18 were employed in 17 ISl,ova;k districts. Lettrich, not understanding what he read, wrote that in Slovakia there were 12,447 Magyar officiaJs, 35 of whom were Slovak, and the rest (12,412) refused to ta;ke the loyalty oath to the Ozecho-Slovruk Reip,ublic. Now, what are the facts ? 1. It is not true that there were 12,447 Magyar State emip loyees in Slo,v a1kia. The figure relates to, the whole of Hungiary, with the e:x:ception of Croatia. In Slovakia there were 920 Magyars, 11 Germans and 18 Slovaks employed by the Hungarian State. 2. lt is not true that only 3'5 were willing to serve the Czecho-•Slova;k Repulb1iic. The figures refer only to those who were 'listed as Slovalks, but say nothing about their willingness or unwillingless to serve the Czecho-1Slova:k Republic. 3. It is not true that the rest ref.used to• serve the 1 �26 SLOVAKIA Ozecho-lSlovruk Repulblic. If that were so, then it would not have been possilble even ,w ith the help of the Ozechs to establish a Cze:cho-SlovaJk regime in Slovakia. The absolute majority of State employees, even those of German and Mrugyar origin, took the oath of loyalty to the Czecho-Slo . . vak Repu:blk. Only ,a minority ref.used to take the loyalty oath; the number of those who r&fused was never recorded statistically (Vd. .Dr. H. Rashofer: Die Tschechoslowa,kischen Denks-chriften fiir die Friedenskonference von Paris 1919-1920, pp. 187~193; and Magyar Beketargyalasok). Continuing to falsify statistics, Lettrich states that only "10 of the 660 high school teachers and college professors" offered their services to the new Repulblic of Czecho-iSlovakia (,p. 40). At the Peace Conference, Count Apponyi stated that there ,w ere 23 Slovaks teaching in the secondary schools ; 10 of these taught in Slwaikia. Dr. Derer, speaiking on the floor of the Prague Parliament, February 7, 1931, said that there was only 1 Slovak professor under Hungary. Michael Slavik counted 25 in his 'book : 115 Lutherans and 10 Catho'.1 ks. The fact is, however, that the 11918-19 school year began in SlovaJkia. with over a 100 Slov8Jk professors. Many left good positions in large Magyar cities to accept teaching positions in Slovruk towns and villages; they sacrificed muoh just so th'at they might serve their nation. But the Czechs rejected ·s:ome of them and relegated many of them to teach in Magyar schools! Certainly Lettrich himself could, if he only wanted to, name more than 10 Slovak professors of the Lutheran faith alone w'ho served the young Repulblic enthusiastically in HH8. We might mention the following Sl~vak professors who definitely did tea.ch in SlovaJkia in 191'8: Rozim, Kmet'., Branecky, Potkan, Fr. Tiso, Kra.jniak, Vallo, Kovalik, Mruirgas, Hlavaty, Hronec, Ohra.pa, Lisy, Klein--Tesnoskals:ky, Horniaik, BeniaJC, Poto:cky, Misik, Bezak, '.Domaja, Resek, FJorek, Necikar, Bu;jnaik, Vo~ko-Starohorsky, Twdy. Count Aipponyi ma.de all kinds of statements at the Paris Pea.:ce Coruferenice; but he did not go as far as Lettrich. What Lettrich says could be used adrvantageously �SLOVAKIA 27 by Magyar revisionist propaganda. And yet he thmks this is an argument for the "Czecho-lSlovak" concept! It is strange, indeed, tha,t we who are considered "seiparatists" should have to defend the Czecho-iSlavak Republic even against Lettrich. Did he forget about the five Slovak university pro,fessors from Budapest who came to Bratislava to, offer their services to the new Republic, but not ooe was accepted? Tuka and Kviatcala, too, were rejected in favor of Czech professo:vs,, were they not? It is almost useaess to attempt to analyize otther statistics given 'by Lettrich in his "history." They are all equally false. Lettriich simply either did not understand the significance of what he read, or, if he did, then he falsified knowingly. In this category he outdid Apponyi. Lettrich could have proved his point easHy in an hooest manner, but he preferred to use the Magyar system: minim.ie.e and vilify everything that was SloV'ak. Slovaks never regarded tMagyar figures as reliable, so why should Lettrich regard them as the last word? A Ozech statistician Wl'ote the foUowing a;bout Magyar statistics: 1 "The incorrectness of Magyar official statistics is attested to even by official Magyar data about the spreading of knowledge of the individual languages. On the territory of the 16 Slovak counwhich either completely or partly fell to Czecho-Slovakia ties in 1910, there were 300,584 Magyars who knew Slovak; that is, 25.3 percent of all the Magyar inhabitants of those 16 counties. On that same territory, in 1910, it was recorded that only 281,230 Slovaks (16.5 percent) knew Magyar, even though the great majority of Slovaks was educated in Magyar schools whose main job was to teach Magyar. On the other hand, it is still more odd that 25.3 percent of the Magyars in the 16 Slovak counties could speak Slovak, that is, the language of the Pariahs, the language that was despised, suppressed and cast out of the schools, offices and public life. "This discordance must be explained only by the fact that a great number of ·Slovaks, who knew Magyar, were counted among the Magyars. We need not conjecture that 300,000 Magyars learned Slovak either out of love for Slovak or other motives. Mraz, in his book "Slovensko vo svetle statistiky," estimates that of the 300,000 'Magyars who know Slovak,' there are at least 200,000 Slovaks who did not learn Magyar, but were counted as Magyars when the census was taken" (Ph. Dr. VI. Slaninka: Narodnostni vyvoj Ceskoslovenske republiky, Pra,gue 1938 ; pp. 67-68) . And that is a fad. There is a difference !between actually >Magy,ari'zed SlovaJks and 'Slovruks whom only Magyar statistics regarded as Magyars. Lettrich obviously under- �28 SLOVAKIA took the task of proving the miraculous "progre.ss" oif the Slovaks in the Czecho-·S lovak Repuiblic by ma:gnifying Magyar injustices and aJbolishing all Czoch injustices. But a historian should write olbjec·Uvely; he must not forget even what was good in Hungary, jrust as he must record what was good in Cz~cho-:Slovakia; and he must not close his eyes ei.theT to Magyar o,r Czech injustices. "Serious unemployment and perpetual depression reigned in Slovakia from the Austrian-Hungarian Settlement in 1867, unti I the outbreak of World War I. In that period three-quarters of a million Slovaks emigrated to earn their bread abroad, mostly in the United States" (p. 40) . Why Lettrich uses the year 1867 as his initial year is · diffictrlt to understand, becaiuse it was just at the end of the last and the 1beginning of the present century that Hungary began to ,b uild up_ industrially, and most of the enteriprises were built in .SlovaJkia with state funds. From 1881 to 191'4, there we.:re 960 industrial enterprises built in Slovaikia; another 760 were remodeled to manufacture various products. Jlt is estimated that this cost the Hungarian State 63 million pre-war Gold Orowns. There was one industrial enterprise for every 617 inhaJbitants in Slova;kia, according to lli. E. Stodola ("Statistika Slo;v enska"). How did industry in Slovaikia fare under Ozecho-Slovakia? Well, when the Cze·c hs came to power, Slov,a k industrial enterprises rwere graidually dosed up. The Czechs said: 1. Slovakia should be the agricultural country of the Staite; 2. Slovak industry did not have natural prerequisites; it was lb uilt with the he1p of the Magyar State, hence, it had to be destroyed; 3. Slo,vaik industry belongs to Magya:r Jews and foreigners, who suppressed the Slo-· va:ks nationally; this must be aivenged by destroying their properties; 4. More modern Ozech industry can produce more cheaply and abundantly all the products which were produced by faicfories in Sfovakia, therefore, the latter must be liquidated. The "Morgenthau" plan for Germany in 1945 was put into effoct by the Benes Czechs for Slovakia in 1918 ! Lettrich might pretend not to ·know the facts, or may simply �SLOVAKIA 29 ignore them, lbut nevertheless facts they still remain. The Federation of Slovak Industrialists pU!blished reports annually; Lettrich undoubtedly knows aJbout them, or should have, if he wanted his "history" to be objective. What do the r eports of that Federation tell us? In the Slovak wood industry, in the 11 largest enterprises, workers put in 9,04'5,000 hours in 1914, tbut only 3,786,000 hours in 1923 ; in 19 of the largest chemical plants, Sl()IVak workers put in 8,352,000 hours in 1914, but only 4,5·38,000 hours in 1923; in three of the largest glass enter,prises, 2,937,000 hours in 1914, but only 468,000 hours in 1 92,6 ; in 9 of the largest mining and smelting enteriprises 11,469,000 hours in 1914, but only 5,684,000 hours in 1922; in 8 of the largest grain mills 1,·680,000 hours in 1914, but only 853,000 hours in 1926 ; in 19 metal enter.prises 14,271,000 hours in 1914, but only 7,059,000 hours in 1923; in 12 textile enterprises 29,080,000 hours in 1914, ibut only 115,829,000 hours in 1922; in 9 cellulose and paper mills 9,528,000 hours in 1914, but only 5,4155,000 hours in 1923 ; in three breweries 435,000 hours in 1914, but only 236,000 hours in 1923; in 6 enterprises of building materials 5,195,000 hours in 1914, but only 2,585,000 hours in 1923 ; in 6 of the largest fur and leather enterprises 2,538,000 hours in 191'4 ; but only 1,024,000 hours in 1923; in 6 food enterprises 4,155,000 hours in 1914, but only 898,000 hours in 1003. These figures tell us that there must have b.een greater unemployment in Slovakia under Czecho-1Slovakia than prior to 1918. For the edification of the readers of Lettirich's "his tory' and of Lettrich himself, we call to their attention a 'book written by R. W. Seton-.Watson, who has been known as an agent of Czech propaganda for almost 40 years ; it is ca:lled "THE NEW SLOV.AlKifA" and was pulblished in 1924 by Fr. Borovy, Pvague. Several quotes from Chaipter V (Economic Difficulties) may be in order: 1 1 1 1 "In the case of Slovakia today it would be quite idle to deny that many serious economic grievances do exist, and further, that the Centralist regime, as at present directed from Prague, is in many respects contr-ary to the economic interests of Slovakia" (p. 78) . .. "No favo ur was shown even t o th e coal mines of H an dlova, with disastrous effects upon industry in eastern Slovakia and in Ruth e- �30 SLOVAKIA nia" (p. 84) . . . ",I rritation and suspicion are already so general, that a leailing Slovak industrialist, whom no one to whom I should name him could deny the titles of patriot and unionist, roundly declared to me that Slova,kia is .reg,a rded •b y 'Prague' as so much economic ballast! The argument that because 80 percent or even more of Slovak industry is owned by Magyars or Jews it therefore need not receive the same consideration, is a mere feebl-e pretext, intended to justify a very doubtful operation. It ma,y be countered in the first place by a reminder tihat 60-70 percent of Bohemian industry is owned by Germa:ns or Jews, most of whom are - only to a lesser de· gree than the Ma,gyars of Slovakia - unwilling citizens of the Republic. . . . However questionable may be the first origins of Slovak industry - and on this point there is in the main no dispute - it represents today the means of liv-e lihood of a large population which is over,w heLmingly Slovak" (p. 94) . . . "The deliberate reduction of Slovak industries, as a part of a Government programme, without any corresponding reduction in the industries of Bohemia and Mol'lavia, would be a direct incitement to separatism, and would in any case force Slovaks, Maigyars, Ruthenes and Germans into an economic alliance so strong as to overshadow the divergencies of political outlook" (P. 95) .. . "According to a calculation of "t,he Union of Slovak Industrialists, the cost of transport in Slovakia, as late as the autumn of 1922, was 50 .p ercent ·h igher than in the western half of the Republic" (p. 84) . . . "But a great deal still requires to be done in the way of adjusting the general tariff system. . . For the result o.f these unequal tariffs is to favour still . further the competition of Czech and German firms in Slovakia and to make of Slovakia a dumping ,g round for their surplus goods, while rendering retaliation almost impossible. As a result, it is possible for Moravian firms to import sand to Zilina and timber to Orava - thus refuting the proverbial absurility of 'carrying coals to Newcastle' - and thus Slovak fi.rms are undersold, and cheaper labor is brought from outside, under the eyes of the Slovak unemployed. This creates a great deal of bad blood and gives rise to the demand, at once objectionable and impracticable, that Czech firms should not be allowed to compete in Slovakia" (pp. 85-86). "The Germans exploited SlovaJk natural resources, such as lumber and o,r es" (p. 171), according to . Lettrich, who already seems to have forigotten the arguments put forth to save the skin of Dr. Ing. Zatko in 1946, when he stood before the National Court in Bratislava. You see, Lettrich and his SlovaJk National Council had decreed that eivery deputy of the SlovaJk Parliament had to stand trial. Since Zatko was such a deputy, he, too, had to •g o through the or.deal. But he was more fortJunate than most of the other deputies; being a Lutheran, he had Dr. Lett.rich on his side. What~er was good in the SlovaJk Republic, Lettrich would have us know, was the merit of the Lutheran or non- �SLOVAKIA 31 Catholic deputies; whatever was no good or just plain bad in it was due to the Catholic deputies. Since Zafko was, during the war, the mightiest man in the departmen t of Slova:k economy, and he and Dr. Karvas (head of the Slovak National Bank), were really dictators in this field, Mr. Lettrich and the other witnesses who testified in Zafko's behalf tried to prove that it was a splendid dictatorship a nd that economical ly Slov,aJkia prospered to such a great extent tha,t its pos-ition could not even be coonpared with the poor economy of the Czech lands. At the trial Dr. Matura, an economic expert, showed that while in the protectorat e 50 percent more than the average amount of lumlber was exacted, in Slovakia the production did not reach the norma:l average, so that some 15 million cubic feet of lwmlber, valued at 5 milliard (5 thousand million) Czecho-Sio vak crowns was saved for the RepuJblic. At that trial Dr. Matura also said that after the passage of the front "the supplies of raw materials in Slovakia were higher than on January 1, 1939." Mr. Lettrich's official organ, the CAS, recorded the testimony gi;ven during Zafko's trial ('CAS, Sept. 7, 1946) . What he ,a nd witnesses said in deferuse of Dr. Zafiko in 1946 is just the opposite of what he contends in his "history," that is, that "1Sl0V1akia also pro;vided valuaJble economic and ma~ terial aid to Germany" (ip. 171). Is Lettrich now teYing us that the testimony given in behalf of the ecorromic e:,q>erls before the National Court was false? What else, unless hiis "history" is ,a record of frauds and falsificatio ns? Lettrich feels that the power of the Jews is great and, hence, that it is necessary to flatter the mighty of this world. So he attempts to do just that in his "history." The greater ipart of the pictorial supiplemen t is devoted to the fate of the Jews during the war. It seems that he borrowed the pictures from a certain book Which was published by the Jews of Prague and Bratislawa in 1949, which means that it was allowed by the Red regime of Gottwald. Of course, Lettrich does not want us to know that. To ma!ke the affair look as horrilble as possible, he graced his "his.. t:ory" with pictures of mass graves from somewhere in �32 SLOVAKIA Poland or Germany with which Slovakia had no connection whatever. In this connection he proba:b ly would have contri,buted to history had he published at least one picture of the hanging of the Jews in Zvolen by the CzechoSlovaJk legionnaires in 1919. At least it would have !been something ,brused on fact. Looking at the pictures in Lettrich's book, the uninformed reader must get the impression, for example, that the hole filled with dead Jewish women must lb e in SlovaJkia. Lettrich conveniently avoided writing an introduction to his pictorial s111pplement; he simply adds the ipictures arfter the index, and lets the rest to the imagination of his readers, of course, first offering several pictures of Slovak political figures. The intent is only all too clear to all informed observers. But deception and misrepresentation are hardly the devices of genuine historians. Lettrich wamited to prove that the anti-Semites in Slovakia were Catholics and separatists exclusively, so he resorted to a daring falsification of the facts. According to Lettrich, the Jews in Slovakia had an acti;ve participation in Slovak national and cultural life, but he does not dep~ct the extent of this participation. He even states .that the Jews were co·- foun<lers of the Matica Slovenska (The Slova1k l!nstitute) . And that certainly is news. Furthermore, Lettrich would hruve the readers of his "history" know that there never was any anti-Semi.tic feeling in Slovakia until the "separatists" came into lbeing. Up to 1919 there is not a single article in Slovak liter .. ature which shows sympathy for the Jews. There is not a single S1ovak cultural or national event, about which it can be said that the Jews of SlovaJkia participated in . There are very many proofs of the opposite. The Jews pla,yed an important role only in the economic life of Slova;kia. There is a weal.th of literature depicting just what that role wa.s. The first anti-Semitic article in Slo,vakia was printed in 1785, in the "Stare Noviny" (Old News) of Bystrica, which was pu'blished and edited 'by IDvangelical (1L utheran) preachers. In the "Orol TatranSlky" (The Tatra Eagle) of 1845 is an article by Stu.T, recommending the transfer of Jews; the second time thi,s recommendation was made in a �SLOVAKIA 33 publication was after the first world war - and it came from the NEW YORK.SKY DEJNN1K ("Czechoslovak daily in Slovak language") ! The most radical anti-:Semite in Slovakia was Svetoizar Hurban Vajansky, the son of an Evangelical preacher and the father of the late Ozecho-Slo;vaJk ambassador to, the US'A. The newspapers whiich excelled in anti-Semitic articles at that time were the Narodnie Noviny and the New York.sky Dennik. The old Matica Slovenska did not have a single founder who was a J ew. Lettrich iillVented one. It had only one regular memiber who was Jewish, a certain tavern keeper in 'l'urciansky Svaty Martin. This fellow, h owever, became a memiber only because most of the people who visited the Matica were lodged in his home at night and ate in his tavern. The other J ew, who up to 1919, openly iba;cked the Slovaks, was a certain Jewish tavern keeper from Sucany; he was the only J ew in 1S1ovakia who voted for a Slovak candidate in the parliamentary elections. In the Slovak Republic the families of both of these Jews enjoyed all privileges and had special protection. To prove that oruy Catholics and "separatists" were anti-Semites, Mr. Lettrich quotes from the writings of Gajdos-Breza, to wit: "The J ews are our greatest enemies; they destroy, spread dissension and demoralize. But these very same words were used a countless number of times by Dr. M. Hbd.za, T. G. Masaryk, Mirrosla;v J. Hurban, Svetozar Hu:r'ban-Vajansky, Joseph Skultety, John Slavik, Julius Bodnar, and by many other •w riters and politicians, scientists and clerics, who were more significant in 'Slovak life than was Gajdos-Breza. Lettrich, however, preferred to forget them in this connection. T. G. Masaryk founded his "•p rogressive" movement (the Hlasists) with these counsels: "Anti-Semitism in Slovakia is warranted (just). . . . In your land the Jews are everywhere, without exception , against the cultural efforts of the people. They practice usury. People must be saved from the yoke of alcohol and Jewish capital. • .. Priests must be national; the Church must be anti.Semitic so that the people might free itself economically from Jewish capital. . •." Srobar, one of the greatest opponents of separatism, preached the anti-Semitic gospel of Masaryk. "The Jews �34 SLOVAKIA always were the exploiters and extortioners of the Slovak people. The enemies of the State are punished in the entire world," said -Mr. Vavro Srnlbar at a meeting of the 2upans (Distri:ct Administrators) on August 4, 19,19. Dr. Anton Stefanek, another great antagonist o,f Slovak autonomy, wrote in the NEW YORKSKY DENNIK (August 25, 1'920): "Neither the Germans, nor the Magyars, but not even any other nation on earth is more harmful to our nation than the Jews. But not only to us Slovaks, but also to the whole Slav world the Jews are the greatest enemies, and this is a factually and historically proven matter." Just aJbout a year 1b efore that (June 22, 1919), Stefanelk said in the same newspaper: "One of the most difficult problems which we shall have to resolve is the question how the vast masses of this nation shall be protected from the flood of the Jews, that is, from the destructive and subversive vices that have taken hold. . . ." T.he NEW YO!RJKISIKY DIDNNlK was quite enthused by such words and offered this advice: "Send all the Jews to hell" (N()lV. 11, 191'9) . . . "Since we do not allow a Jew to become a Zupan, then we must not allow him to be an owner or director of large factories, enterprises, homes, and businesses in Slovakia," wrote 'Dvaroiz~k, one orf Lettrich's commissars, already in 191'9 in the NYD . . . "The irrefutable fact is that something ought to be done about the Jews in Slovakia already now" (NYD, Oct. 8, 1938). And what ought to be done, the NYD explains: "So that they might go to the lands of those nations, which they voluntarily claimed as their own in 1930" (resolution of the Czecho-iSlovak Sokol Community, Oct . 7, H)3'8). Of cour,se, that meant that the Jews. were supposed to go back to Germany, Hungary and Poland. in 1938, the newspaper edited 1by Dr. Martin Kivetko, another commissar of Lettrich's and no,w a significant factor in the Council of Free Czecho~S,lovrukia and one orf the so-icalled lbig gl,lns of the Free Europe Committee, wrote unequivocally that there was only one effective way to deal with the Jewish prolblem, so he presented it in this manner: "Germany has shown us how we must deal with the foreign element. We must apply such methods even more than �SLOV.AKI.A 35 Germany" (Narodnie Noviny, Sept. 18, 1938). In other words, he recommended Hitler's methods. Gabo Rapos, who received the greatest decoration from the hands of Dr. Lettrich, wrote the foJlorwing in the Narodnie Noviny (Oct. 6, 1938). "We must also rid ourselves of one more element which economically is pauperizfog Slovakia - we must resolve the Jewish question which impedes the development of Slovakia, and we must rid ourselves of all parasites!" Did the situation change in 1945? Well, Senior Sensel, a deputy of Lettrich's "democratic" party, prophesied as follows: "We'll first lay aside our Lutheran garb and stop reading the Passion, before we put anti-Semitism aside." Dr. Martin BeHus, another o.f Lettri.ch's stalwarts, wrote in a similar vein in· the Narodnie Noviny and recommended the use of Hitler's methods: "Every half-way solution ( of the Jewish question) supported by pseudodemo('ratic principles is bound to fail, because it opposes the interests of the whole of autonomous Slovakia and the State of the Czechs, Slovaks and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenians." But even Dr. Lettrich himself, as co-ehairman of the Slovaik National Coun'Cil, demanded that the Jews in Slovakia be treated or dealt with as with enemies, the Germans and Magyars. In 1945, he proclaimed: "We must endeavor without mercy to chase the Magyars and Germans out of our countr:y. 'Ilhe Jews, who by their feelings and their language show sympathy toward the Magyars or Germans, we shall regard as Germans and Magyars and they shall have to share the lot of Germans and Magyars." And those he did expel ! Dry statistical figures say nothing about the Slovak nationality of Jews. In 11890, 6 percent of the Jews living in Slovakia claimed ,SlovaJk as their mother tongue, but in 1910 only 2 percent did. It is both interesting and significant to the informed reader that Lettrich devotes qll.lite a bit of his space in his "history" to quotations of altogether unimportant and ipoliticaUy, insignificant people, but conveniently forgets to quote authorities,, such as 'Masaryk, Srolbar, Stefaneik, Hodza, Jan Slavik, Sensel. He quotes from the "Slovak," �36 SLOVAKIA but forgets to do so from the "!Stare No,v iny, Orol Tatransky, Narodnie Noviny, Cirkevne Listy, New YorksJky Dennik, Slovensky Dennik, Slov,enstke :Pohfady" and other periodicals. Lettrich tries to place the entire responsiibiUty for the sufferings of the Jews on the Slovak Go;vernment, even though an institution regarded as reS1ponsilble and serious, which proba;bly was mo.re concerned than any other with this prdblem the International Red Cross - stated that: at certain times SlovaJkia was regarded as a refuge of the Jews, especially Polish Jews; the Jews who remained in .Slovakia were comparatively protected until the uprising against the German army at the end of August 1944; it is true that the law of . May 5, 1942, resulted in the arrest of several thousands of Jews, but in the cam,ps, where living and housing conditions were adequate, the prisoners were aUowed to wovk for pay under conditions which approximated free economy; in H,ungary, like in Slovrukia, Israelites were spared as long as the local gov~ ernment hrud a certain freedom of action (Vd. Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Vol 29, No•. 348, Dec. 1947). The EVA1NGEil.;]ST, t'he official organ of the Diocese of A]bany, N. Y., carried a ,r eport from Prague sayi,nig that a comparison of the ipre-,war andi ipost-war nUlilliber of ,perisons of the Jewish faith and r,a.ce in Czecho-Slova;kia shows that while in Ozechia and 1M oravia - which were under Ge.r,man rule - 85 pevcent of the Jews perished, in Sl0>vakia, on the other hand, during the reign of President Joseph Tiso, 85 percent of the Jews were saved. After 194!5, at the Bratislava University, several sons of the foremost "Oze:cho-Slovak and Lutheran" families objected to receiving doctorates together with Jews and the university had to arrange another time for the ceremO'Ily; the Jews recei,v ed their doctorates with former members of the Hllinlka youth. And Lettrich wa:S boss in SlovaJkia at that time! History !b,ooks usually carry pictures of leading personalities and events that made history. Lettrich's "history," however, is different; it tells the story of so-called "Catholic crimes" and, quite understandably then, Lettrich �SLOVAKIA 37 used only photographs of so--called "Catholic criminals." Under one ,p icture whi'ch is a,lmost ineligiible, for example, we read: "Canon KaroJ Korper wearing a Hlinka Guard cap while sperukirng." What the occasion was and what Korper said is left to the imagination of the reader. Orf course, those who were present on that occasion know that a blessing of the Slovalk colors took place. They also ,k now that the speaker who followed K6r,p er was the Eviangelical (Lutheran) chaplain of the Hllinka Guard, Dr. Ladislaus Jurkovilc. The latter and I went to school together and were good friends; I was glad to see him in Lettrich's book; he is to. the left of Ko:nper, 'b etween two German officers. Lettrich obviously was only interested in lifting out the name of Canon Korper. Then there is the picture of Comrade Kaftanov. He, too, made Lettrich's "history," even though he proibrubly will not make Russian history. Kaftanov attended the occasion of Dr. Tuka's instaH.ation as rector of the Bratislava University, at which he is reported to have predicted a "glorious future for the Slovak 'State, because it resulted from the collaboration of the two. most powerful nations, the Germans an.d the Russians, who had decided to reorganize the a,ppearance of Euro,pe." Since Lettrich bothered with Kaftanov, he should have also mentioned the names of very distinguished scholars and representatives of world-renowned uni.versities (American, French, English, Italian, '11unkish, etc.) who· sent congratulatory messages to Dr. Tuka. And Lettrich's picture is lacking, too, even though he was photographed while pinning decorations on quite a few Red Russians. We are supposed to believe, too, that theire are no ,p ictures of LeUrich with Tito, Gottwald, Siroky, Duris, Pull, Smidike, Husak, and other Communists. Too bad, too, that he could not embellish his pictorial supplement with a few ,photos Off the German ambassador to Slovaikia, of N a zi generals and economic represen.tat1ves all orf whom enjoyed huntin,g wiitih Lettrich's friends on their pri•v•a te hunting reserves and were very happy to shruke hands with Na;zis. But even this is all petty and trivial. 1 �38 SLOVAKIA The ,S lovak RepU!blic was the work of peo,ple and it was managed ,b y people. It is, therefore, quite understandable that, like other states, the Slovruk RepUibliic also had its faults ,a nd deficiencies. It was born during a world crisis, in the shadow of the gigantic German Reich, to which the western ,p owers aJbandoned the whole of Europe. At that time there was no force, single or combined, which could or did intervene to change the course o!f events. Lettrich states that Benes and others, including himself, were forced to do things under given circumstances, which they probably would not have done under no•I1Inal condi~ tions. And that is und~rstandable. But why shotl!ld Lettrich create the impression that the Slovruks and Tiso, w'ho were respons~ble for the welfare of the Slovak Republic, willingly and voluntarily went along in all things with the Nazis? The answer is obvious. Lettrich could not control or overcome his ,prejudices and his intense hatred of Tiso and his group, which he calls the • "Catholic Party" and which represented the overwhelming majority of the Slov3;ks. In this he was no different than the Communists and the chauvinistic Benes Czechs. In a word, Lettrich's "history" is one of the most shameful, vicious and malicious books about Sl01Vakia tihat was ever published. Griinwald's infamous "Felvidek" in comparison is an inno.c ent song. To those who read Lettrich's book, I say this: do not even believe the figures he gives as the .p opulation for any Slovak town or city, because thev are most certainly falsified. The "History of Modern 'Slovwkia" is, indeed, a true picture of Lettrich's ,p olitical and moral stature! • • • "CZEOHOSLOVAKISM VERSUS A'MERICANISIM" an ~pose of .t he pr~Soviet "National Froniters" in the socalled Oouncil of Free Ozechoslov-ailcia - is a 48 :page booklet pwbliished by the Slovak League o!f America, which should be read 'by every one seekdng the answer to the queQtion of how "Ozecho-.Slovak demoora·c y" ooniveirted to a ",p eople's demoocacy." Send 25 cents (coin or stamps) to the SIJOVAKiiA for your copy today. � SLOVAKIA 21 LETI'RIOH'S IDSTORY OF SLOVAK.IA By Constantine Oulen We shall not criticize the ideological side of his booik, because according to Letitric,h only the Slovak Catholics were Nazis, only they praised Hitler, only they wrote derogatively of the Jews, only they Aryanized, only they were in the Hlinka Guards, and only they were dissatis ... fied in the Czecho.,Slovak Reipu1blic. We shall not carry on polemics with Lettrich even on as, for example, the Sudanians, because we know that Lettrich is of the conviction that what is the right of the unclothed Sudanian at home, does not belong to the Slovaks at home even if they were to weM' fro-cks and uniforms. We know that from a feeling of his own inferio,r 'ity even an under-average Czech is an unattainable ideal. Lettrich really belongs under the Czechs. We shall not d~bate about whether Lettrich was en~ titled to let thousands od' Slova;ks lhe jailed, and we shall not deJbate ,a bout the Magyarism of the politicians of the Slo,vaik People's Party, beC'ause that is, after aJll, a matter of personal opinion, and it is useless to talik about the beauty of colors with a color-blind person. The statistics presented or ref erred to by Lettrich, however, really is not 'history, but news. They demonst11ate the superficiality, irresponsiibility and outright falsification of facts. L ettrich wanted to prove Urat the progress Slovakia made in the Czecho-iSlovak Repu:bli·c from 1918 to 1938 "had never been surpassed in any phase of history" by referring to the gigantic growth of various Slovak cities (p. 64). He compares the 1919 with the 1948 numlber of inha:bitants of some cities. Many cities, indeed, did develop and grow, while otihers showed a decrease in population. But we see that everywhere, not only in .Slovakia. So, are we to regard that as a "Czecho..,Slovaik" miracle? Is it not practically a universal oustom that :people leave the farms for the cities? And even Lettrich should know that the influx of some 200,000 Czechs into Slovakia, especially into 1 �22 SLOVAKIA the cities, certainly had something to do with the increase in population of those cities. But why shou1d Lettrich resort to false statistics even in this case? He could have proved his case even with correct statistics, selected from official statistical publications. It is obvious that Leittrich preferred to use other statistics: those which sulbstantially decrease the numlber of inhabitants from Magyar times and su:b stantially increase the number of inhaJbitants from the times of the Czecho~ Slovruk Republic. According to Lett.rich, Zilina had 9,000 inh~bitants in 1919 and 18,000 in 1948 (p. 64). But Zilina, we know, already :had 9,166 inhaJbitants in 1910; 12,073 after the census was taken in Ozecho-Slo•v akia; and in 1940, in the Slovak Republic, 19,329 (Vd. SOZNAM OBOI NA SLOVEN~U, p. 161). Aooording to Lettrich, then, Zilina had 1~ people in 1948 than in 1940. According to Dr. Palic (Vd. OIDSKOSLOVENSKY PR!EHLED), Zilina had 16,400 i.nhabitants in 1949. According to Lettrich, Turciansky &vaty Martin had 3,000 inhabitants in 1919, but 20,000 in 1948. However, we know that T. iSv. M. had 3,351 inha,bitants already in 1900; 4,101 in 11910; and 5,6'57 after the first Czecho--,Slova:k census. Where did Lettrich get the 20,000 figure? And the other statistics? In the footnote (ip. 64), he says his source was (pp. '118-157) of "':NIE POPULATION OF CZECHOSLOV~ " by Waller Wynne, Jr. (Washington, 1953). But that source does not show 20,000 inha:bitants. for T. Sv. M . ! It shows 11,300 for the year 1940; in 1946 only 10,600, hence, less t'han during the time of the Slovak Republic. In fact a closer loolk at pages 47-57 shows Wynne's book of afificfal American statistics does not carry the figures either for 1919, with which Lettrich begins, or for 1948, with which Lettrich ends; but we do find there the figures for 1940 and 1946. It seems that pseudohistorian Lettrich did not understand ,w hat he read. Wynne gives the figures for the growth of cities between 1930 and 1947 "in 1948 area." Lettrich quotes the number of inhabitants of the various Slovak cities for 194i8 from statistics, of Octolber 1, 1946. �SLOVAKIA 23 When . a historian writes a:bout ithe growth of some cities and towns, it is not unusual for him to mention the decrease in populat'ion of others. But Lettrich is different; he is determined to pmve that the Czecho--•SltoviaJk Republic was responsible only for "growth" figures,. For example, the following cities and towns decreased as indicated: Skalica 2.3 percent; Myjava 2.7 percent; Pukanec 2.9 percent; Bansika Stiavnica 8.3 •p ercent; Doib,sina 12:3 percent; Gelnica 24.1 percent; Reviuca 32.2 percent. Why these old industria~ centers decreased in populatfon could also form an interesting chapter in a SlovaJk history, which is cal,l ed 'modern"! "Between 1906 and 1908 alone, 56·0 Slovaks were sentenced for political crimes to a total of 91 years in jail and fines of 42,000 Crowns" (p. 38). That's what Lettrfoh says rubout Magyar persecution, but even here there seems to :b e a slight error of some ten years. The figures given are for a period of 12 years and not two. We suggest that Lettrich c'hook .this item with the figures given by R. W. Seton-·Watson, whom he probaibly wanted to quote (RAOIAL BROBLEM!S IN HUNGARY, p. 466). To check this item, he might also use the SLOVENISKY OB~OR and the PIRUDY, with which he is quite familiar. It is, significant, too, that, in the matter of persecution, oppression and suppression, Mr. Lettrich quite conveniently forgets to rememb.er what the Slovaks suffered from 1945 to 1'948, when he and Communist Schmidke ,w ere cocha_imnen of the SlovaJk National Council, the lbody supreme in Slovakia. The Magyars treated the Slo1vaks harshly and unjustly, it is true; Magyar statistics themselves prove that. There is no need to add anything to thek figures; we need not magnid'y those statistics in 1955. As they are, tihey are a monument to intolerance., dishonesty, and especially .p olitical short-sightedness. In the final analysis, what the ruling Magyaris did was a crime even against the Magyar nation. On the other hand, however, what was done to the Slovaks during the Benes-Lettrich er.a is so terribfo, r8JW, and criminal that it simply is without parallel in the �24 SLOVAKIA thousand-year history O!f the Slovaks. Lettrich's regime pa:s:ses into Sliovak history as a regime O!f an unbroken skein of the most terrilble and blo·odiest crimes. At one of the meetings of the Board of Commissars, when Lettrirch ruled, a reiport was given that 19,740 persons, most of them in:tellectuals, were jailed; 56 of them already were sentenced to death and the rest o£ them received a total of 12,555 years in jail; and the property of most of them ,w a s confiscated. And that was only the beginning. In 19416, the a'Verage jail senitence was 19 months; at the end of 1'947, it was 33 months and 14 days. 'Dhiat was in the days when Lettrich's word could save a person's life, or a:meliorate a sentence. Lettrioh's cowts meted out jail sentenices which were 1,250 percent higher, besides that also executions, which in peace time did not even happen in Hungary. But Lettrilch makes a lb ig issue of 91 yearn in jail which the Magyar-s meted out to 560 Slovaks in twelve years! What is 1:lhaJt in •c omparison to what Leittrich's regime was responsible for? Hias, Lettrich already fongotten the Slova:ks executed, the thousands in Silberia, the crammed jaHs and concentration camps, the people beaten by his police? Hias he forgotten the thous•a nds of women who were raped by rhis glorified partisans, the freight cars crammed with Magyars whom he tra:nsferred to Czech lands for slave la!bor, the 15 frozen Magyar children in one of those ft-eight car-s, which waited under the Bratis1a~a bridge in January without any heat for over rbwo weeks until an order was given to move? Yes, and what is that in comparison to the 300,000 ,b eaten Germans? Lettrich made thi,s history, was a respoinsilble patt of it, so why should he not include it in his "History of Modern Slo'Vakia"? 1 ".fn 1918 Hungarian statistics listed no more than 30,118 children of Slovak nationality" (p. 37). But the truth is that Magyar staUstiJcs for that year showed 255,7'92 school child.rein of Slovak natli onality (Vd . .Judr Fojifr: NAIRODNi SKOLY V REPUBillCE Cs DLE S'DAVU ZID DNIE 31. PROS. 1'92,1, which contains detailed statistics of Slovak elementary schiools from 11881 to 1919). Lettrich is a bit befuddled or wants to befuddle others. 1 �SLOVAKIA 25 Magyar statistics show that in 1'918 there were 30,118 Slovalk children in 365 Slovak schooJs, but the same statistics showed that there were 255,792 Slovak school children, the rubsolute majority of which, of course, had to attend Magyar schools. Magyar statli.stics were false, but even Magyar statisticians were not so stupid .as to show 30,000 school children for a nation of three million. They left .that to Lettrioh ! "In 1918 ... there were 12,447 Hungarian civil servants on Slovak territory. Only 35 offered their services to the new Republic The others, being of Magyar nat ionality, refused to serve" (p. 39) , Now, -if that were kue, then Count Apponyi was right when he said that the Slovaks were against uniting with the Czechs. But Lettrich is wrong again. Ho,w did he arrive at those figures? Lettrich not only accepts the statistics supplied by Count Al1bert Apponyd. to support his ar• guments to save the unity of greater Hungairy at the Peace Conference, 1b ut even e~plains them more unfavorably for the Slovaks than Apponyi himself. At .the Peace Oonference CoU!nt A,pponyi presented stabstics about the number of offidals and teachers in Hungary. He said th'at in the whole of Hungary there were 12,447 state employees: 12,412 Magyars and 35 Slo,vaks. Of the 35 SlQIV'akS, 18 were employed in 17 ISl,ova;k districts. Lettrich, not understanding what he read, wrote that in Slovakia there were 12,447 Magyar officiaJs, 35 of whom were Slovak, and the rest (12,412) refused to ta;ke the loyalty oath to the Ozecho-Slovruk Reip,ublic. Now, what are the facts ? 1. It is not true that there were 12,447 Magyar State emip loyees in Slo,v a1kia. The figure relates to, the whole of Hungiary, with the e:x:ception of Croatia. In Slovakia there were 920 Magyars, 11 Germans and 18 Slovaks employed by the Hungarian State. 2. lt is not true that only 3'5 were willing to serve the Czecho-•Slova;k Repulb1iic. The figures refer only to those who were 'listed as Slovalks, but say nothing about their willingness or unwillingless to serve the Czecho-1Slova:k Republic. 3. It is not true that the rest ref.used to• serve the 1 �26 SLOVAKIA Ozecho-lSlovruk Repulblic. If that were so, then it would not have been possilble even ,w ith the help of the Ozechs to establish a Cze:cho-SlovaJk regime in Slovakia. The absolute majority of State employees, even those of German and Mrugyar origin, took the oath of loyalty to the Czecho-Slo . . vak Repu:blk. Only ,a minority ref.used to take the loyalty oath; the number of those who r&fused was never recorded statistically (Vd. .Dr. H. Rashofer: Die Tschechoslowa,kischen Denks-chriften fiir die Friedenskonference von Paris 1919-1920, pp. 187~193; and Magyar Beketargyalasok). Continuing to falsify statistics, Lettrich states that only "10 of the 660 high school teachers and college professors" offered their services to the new Repulblic of Czecho-iSlovakia (,p. 40). At the Peace Conference, Count Apponyi stated that there ,w ere 23 Slovaks teaching in the secondary schools ; 10 of these taught in Slwaikia. Dr. Derer, speaiking on the floor of the Prague Parliament, February 7, 1931, said that there was only 1 Slovak professor under Hungary. Michael Slavik counted 25 in his 'book : 115 Lutherans and 10 Catho'.1 ks. The fact is, however, that the 11918-19 school year began in SlovaJkia. with over a 100 Slov8Jk professors. Many left good positions in large Magyar cities to accept teaching positions in Slovruk towns and villages; they sacrificed muoh just so th'at they might serve their nation. But the Czechs rejected ·s:ome of them and relegated many of them to teach in Magyar schools! Certainly Lettrich himself could, if he only wanted to, name more than 10 Slovak professors of the Lutheran faith alone w'ho served the young Repulblic enthusiastically in HH8. We might mention the following Sl~vak professors who definitely did tea.ch in SlovaJkia in 191'8: Rozim, Kmet'., Branecky, Potkan, Fr. Tiso, Kra.jniak, Vallo, Kovalik, Mruirgas, Hlavaty, Hronec, Ohra.pa, Lisy, Klein--Tesnoskals:ky, Horniaik, BeniaJC, Poto:cky, Misik, Bezak, '.Domaja, Resek, FJorek, Necikar, Bu;jnaik, Vo~ko-Starohorsky, Twdy. Count Aipponyi ma.de all kinds of statements at the Paris Pea.:ce Coruferenice; but he did not go as far as Lettrich. What Lettrich says could be used adrvantageously �SLOVAKIA 27 by Magyar revisionist propaganda. And yet he thmks this is an argument for the "Czecho-lSlovak" concept! It is strange, indeed, tha,t we who are considered "seiparatists" should have to defend the Czecho-iSlavak Republic even against Lettrich. Did he forget about the five Slovak university pro,fessors from Budapest who came to Bratislava to, offer their services to the new Republic, but not ooe was accepted? Tuka and Kviatcala, too, were rejected in favor of Czech professo:vs,, were they not? It is almost useaess to attempt to analyize otther statistics given 'by Lettrich in his "history." They are all equally false. Lettriich simply either did not understand the significance of what he read, or, if he did, then he falsified knowingly. In this category he outdid Apponyi. Lettrich could have proved his point easHy in an hooest manner, but he preferred to use the Magyar system: minim.ie.e and vilify everything that was SloV'ak. Slovaks never regarded tMagyar figures as reliable, so why should Lettrich regard them as the last word? A Ozech statistician Wl'ote the foUowing a;bout Magyar statistics: 1 "The incorrectness of Magyar official statistics is attested to even by official Magyar data about the spreading of knowledge of the individual languages. On the territory of the 16 Slovak counwhich either completely or partly fell to Czecho-Slovakia ties in 1910, there were 300,584 Magyars who knew Slovak; that is, 25.3 percent of all the Magyar inhabitants of those 16 counties. On that same territory, in 1910, it was recorded that only 281,230 Slovaks (16.5 percent) knew Magyar, even though the great majority of Slovaks was educated in Magyar schools whose main job was to teach Magyar. On the other hand, it is still more odd that 25.3 percent of the Magyars in the 16 Slovak counties could speak Slovak, that is, the language of the Pariahs, the language that was despised, suppressed and cast out of the schools, offices and public life. "This discordance must be explained only by the fact that a great number of ·Slovaks, who knew Magyar, were counted among the Magyars. We need not conjecture that 300,000 Magyars learned Slovak either out of love for Slovak or other motives. Mraz, in his book "Slovensko vo svetle statistiky," estimates that of the 300,000 'Magyars who know Slovak,' there are at least 200,000 Slovaks who did not learn Magyar, but were counted as Magyars when the census was taken" (Ph. Dr. VI. Slaninka: Narodnostni vyvoj Ceskoslovenske republiky, Pra,gue 1938 ; pp. 67-68) . And that is a fad. There is a difference !between actually >Magy,ari'zed SlovaJks and 'Slovruks whom only Magyar statistics regarded as Magyars. Lettrich obviously under- �28 SLOVAKIA took the task of proving the miraculous "progre.ss" oif the Slovaks in the Czecho-·S lovak Repuiblic by ma:gnifying Magyar injustices and aJbolishing all Czoch injustices. But a historian should write olbjec·Uvely; he must not forget even what was good in Hungary, jrust as he must record what was good in Cz~cho-:Slovakia; and he must not close his eyes ei.theT to Magyar o,r Czech injustices. "Serious unemployment and perpetual depression reigned in Slovakia from the Austrian-Hungarian Settlement in 1867, unti I the outbreak of World War I. In that period three-quarters of a million Slovaks emigrated to earn their bread abroad, mostly in the United States" (p. 40) . Why Lettrich uses the year 1867 as his initial year is · diffictrlt to understand, becaiuse it was just at the end of the last and the 1beginning of the present century that Hungary began to ,b uild up_ industrially, and most of the enteriprises were built in .SlovaJkia with state funds. From 1881 to 191'4, there we.:re 960 industrial enterprises built in Slovaikia; another 760 were remodeled to manufacture various products. Jlt is estimated that this cost the Hungarian State 63 million pre-war Gold Orowns. There was one industrial enterprise for every 617 inhaJbitants in Slova;kia, according to lli. E. Stodola ("Statistika Slo;v enska"). How did industry in Slovaikia fare under Ozecho-Slovakia? Well, when the Cze·c hs came to power, Slov,a k industrial enterprises rwere graidually dosed up. The Czechs said: 1. Slovakia should be the agricultural country of the Staite; 2. Slovak industry did not have natural prerequisites; it was lb uilt with the he1p of the Magyar State, hence, it had to be destroyed; 3. Slo,vaik industry belongs to Magya:r Jews and foreigners, who suppressed the Slo-· va:ks nationally; this must be aivenged by destroying their properties; 4. More modern Ozech industry can produce more cheaply and abundantly all the products which were produced by faicfories in Sfovakia, therefore, the latter must be liquidated. The "Morgenthau" plan for Germany in 1945 was put into effoct by the Benes Czechs for Slovakia in 1918 ! Lettrich might pretend not to ·know the facts, or may simply �SLOVAKIA 29 ignore them, lbut nevertheless facts they still remain. The Federation of Slovak Industrialists pU!blished reports annually; Lettrich undoubtedly knows aJbout them, or should have, if he wanted his "history" to be objective. What do the r eports of that Federation tell us? In the Slovak wood industry, in the 11 largest enterprises, workers put in 9,04'5,000 hours in 1914, tbut only 3,786,000 hours in 1923 ; in 19 of the largest chemical plants, Sl()IVak workers put in 8,352,000 hours in 1914, but only 4,5·38,000 hours in 1923; in three of the largest glass enter,prises, 2,937,000 hours in 1914, but only 468,000 hours in 1 92,6 ; in 9 of the largest mining and smelting enteriprises 11,469,000 hours in 1914, but only 5,684,000 hours in 1922; in 8 of the largest grain mills 1,·680,000 hours in 1914, but only 853,000 hours in 1926 ; in 19 metal enter.prises 14,271,000 hours in 1914, but only 7,059,000 hours in 1923; in 12 textile enterprises 29,080,000 hours in 1914, ibut only 115,829,000 hours in 1922; in 9 cellulose and paper mills 9,528,000 hours in 1914, but only 5,4155,000 hours in 1923 ; in three breweries 435,000 hours in 1914, but only 236,000 hours in 1923; in 6 enterprises of building materials 5,195,000 hours in 1914, but only 2,585,000 hours in 1923 ; in 6 of the largest fur and leather enterprises 2,538,000 hours in 191'4 ; but only 1,024,000 hours in 1923; in 6 food enterprises 4,155,000 hours in 1914, but only 898,000 hours in 1003. These figures tell us that there must have b.een greater unemployment in Slovakia under Czecho-1Slovakia than prior to 1918. For the edification of the readers of Lettirich's "his tory' and of Lettrich himself, we call to their attention a 'book written by R. W. Seton-.Watson, who has been known as an agent of Czech propaganda for almost 40 years ; it is ca:lled "THE NEW SLOV.AlKifA" and was pulblished in 1924 by Fr. Borovy, Pvague. Several quotes from Chaipter V (Economic Difficulties) may be in order: 1 1 1 1 "In the case of Slovakia today it would be quite idle to deny that many serious economic grievances do exist, and further, that the Centralist regime, as at present directed from Prague, is in many respects contr-ary to the economic interests of Slovakia" (p. 78) . .. "No favo ur was shown even t o th e coal mines of H an dlova, with disastrous effects upon industry in eastern Slovakia and in Ruth e- �30 SLOVAKIA nia" (p. 84) . . . ",I rritation and suspicion are already so general, that a leailing Slovak industrialist, whom no one to whom I should name him could deny the titles of patriot and unionist, roundly declared to me that Slova,kia is .reg,a rded •b y 'Prague' as so much economic ballast! The argument that because 80 percent or even more of Slovak industry is owned by Magyars or Jews it therefore need not receive the same consideration, is a mere feebl-e pretext, intended to justify a very doubtful operation. It ma,y be countered in the first place by a reminder tihat 60-70 percent of Bohemian industry is owned by Germa:ns or Jews, most of whom are - only to a lesser de· gree than the Ma,gyars of Slovakia - unwilling citizens of the Republic. . . . However questionable may be the first origins of Slovak industry - and on this point there is in the main no dispute - it represents today the means of liv-e lihood of a large population which is over,w heLmingly Slovak" (p. 94) . . . "The deliberate reduction of Slovak industries, as a part of a Government programme, without any corresponding reduction in the industries of Bohemia and Mol'lavia, would be a direct incitement to separatism, and would in any case force Slovaks, Maigyars, Ruthenes and Germans into an economic alliance so strong as to overshadow the divergencies of political outlook" (P. 95) .. . "According to a calculation of "t,he Union of Slovak Industrialists, the cost of transport in Slovakia, as late as the autumn of 1922, was 50 .p ercent ·h igher than in the western half of the Republic" (p. 84) . . . "But a great deal still requires to be done in the way of adjusting the general tariff system. . . For the result o.f these unequal tariffs is to favour still . further the competition of Czech and German firms in Slovakia and to make of Slovakia a dumping ,g round for their surplus goods, while rendering retaliation almost impossible. As a result, it is possible for Moravian firms to import sand to Zilina and timber to Orava - thus refuting the proverbial absurility of 'carrying coals to Newcastle' - and thus Slovak fi.rms are undersold, and cheaper labor is brought from outside, under the eyes of the Slovak unemployed. This creates a great deal of bad blood and gives rise to the demand, at once objectionable and impracticable, that Czech firms should not be allowed to compete in Slovakia" (pp. 85-86). "The Germans exploited SlovaJk natural resources, such as lumber and o,r es" (p. 171), according to . Lettrich, who already seems to have forigotten the arguments put forth to save the skin of Dr. Ing. Zatko in 1946, when he stood before the National Court in Bratislava. You see, Lettrich and his SlovaJk National Council had decreed that eivery deputy of the SlovaJk Parliament had to stand trial. Since Zatko was such a deputy, he, too, had to •g o through the or.deal. But he was more fortJunate than most of the other deputies; being a Lutheran, he had Dr. Lett.rich on his side. What~er was good in the SlovaJk Republic, Lettrich would have us know, was the merit of the Lutheran or non- �SLOVAKIA 31 Catholic deputies; whatever was no good or just plain bad in it was due to the Catholic deputies. Since Zafko was, during the war, the mightiest man in the departmen t of Slova:k economy, and he and Dr. Karvas (head of the Slovak National Bank), were really dictators in this field, Mr. Lettrich and the other witnesses who testified in Zafko's behalf tried to prove that it was a splendid dictatorship a nd that economical ly Slov,aJkia prospered to such a great extent tha,t its pos-ition could not even be coonpared with the poor economy of the Czech lands. At the trial Dr. Matura, an economic expert, showed that while in the protectorat e 50 percent more than the average amount of lumlber was exacted, in Slovakia the production did not reach the norma:l average, so that some 15 million cubic feet of lwmlber, valued at 5 milliard (5 thousand million) Czecho-Sio vak crowns was saved for the RepuJblic. At that trial Dr. Matura also said that after the passage of the front "the supplies of raw materials in Slovakia were higher than on January 1, 1939." Mr. Lettrich's official organ, the CAS, recorded the testimony gi;ven during Zafko's trial ('CAS, Sept. 7, 1946) . What he ,a nd witnesses said in deferuse of Dr. Zafiko in 1946 is just the opposite of what he contends in his "history," that is, that "1Sl0V1akia also pro;vided valuaJble economic and ma~ terial aid to Germany" (ip. 171). Is Lettrich now teYing us that the testimony given in behalf of the ecorromic e:,q>erls before the National Court was false? What else, unless hiis "history" is ,a record of frauds and falsificatio ns? Lettrich feels that the power of the Jews is great and, hence, that it is necessary to flatter the mighty of this world. So he attempts to do just that in his "history." The greater ipart of the pictorial supiplemen t is devoted to the fate of the Jews during the war. It seems that he borrowed the pictures from a certain book Which was published by the Jews of Prague and Bratislawa in 1949, which means that it was allowed by the Red regime of Gottwald. Of course, Lettrich does not want us to know that. To ma!ke the affair look as horrilble as possible, he graced his "his.. t:ory" with pictures of mass graves from somewhere in �32 SLOVAKIA Poland or Germany with which Slovakia had no connection whatever. In this connection he proba:b ly would have contri,buted to history had he published at least one picture of the hanging of the Jews in Zvolen by the CzechoSlovaJk legionnaires in 1919. At least it would have !been something ,brused on fact. Looking at the pictures in Lettrich's book, the uninformed reader must get the impression, for example, that the hole filled with dead Jewish women must lb e in SlovaJkia. Lettrich conveniently avoided writing an introduction to his pictorial s111pplement; he simply adds the ipictures arfter the index, and lets the rest to the imagination of his readers, of course, first offering several pictures of Slovak political figures. The intent is only all too clear to all informed observers. But deception and misrepresentation are hardly the devices of genuine historians. Lettrich wamited to prove that the anti-Semites in Slovakia were Catholics and separatists exclusively, so he resorted to a daring falsification of the facts. According to Lettrich, the Jews in Slovakia had an acti;ve participation in Slovak national and cultural life, but he does not dep~ct the extent of this participation. He even states .that the Jews were co·- foun<lers of the Matica Slovenska (The Slova1k l!nstitute) . And that certainly is news. Furthermore, Lettrich would hruve the readers of his "history" know that there never was any anti-Semi.tic feeling in Slovakia until the "separatists" came into lbeing. Up to 1919 there is not a single article in Slovak liter .. ature which shows sympathy for the Jews. There is not a single S1ovak cultural or national event, about which it can be said that the Jews of SlovaJkia participated in . There are very many proofs of the opposite. The Jews pla,yed an important role only in the economic life of Slova;kia. There is a weal.th of literature depicting just what that role wa.s. The first anti-Semitic article in Slo,vakia was printed in 1785, in the "Stare Noviny" (Old News) of Bystrica, which was pu'blished and edited 'by IDvangelical (1L utheran) preachers. In the "Orol TatranSlky" (The Tatra Eagle) of 1845 is an article by Stu.T, recommending the transfer of Jews; the second time thi,s recommendation was made in a �SLOVAKIA 33 publication was after the first world war - and it came from the NEW YORK.SKY DEJNN1K ("Czechoslovak daily in Slovak language") ! The most radical anti-:Semite in Slovakia was Svetoizar Hurban Vajansky, the son of an Evangelical preacher and the father of the late Ozecho-Slo;vaJk ambassador to, the US'A. The newspapers whiich excelled in anti-Semitic articles at that time were the Narodnie Noviny and the New York.sky Dennik. The old Matica Slovenska did not have a single founder who was a J ew. Lettrich iillVented one. It had only one regular memiber who was Jewish, a certain tavern keeper in 'l'urciansky Svaty Martin. This fellow, h owever, became a memiber only because most of the people who visited the Matica were lodged in his home at night and ate in his tavern. The other J ew, who up to 1919, openly iba;cked the Slovaks, was a certain Jewish tavern keeper from Sucany; he was the only J ew in 1S1ovakia who voted for a Slovak candidate in the parliamentary elections. In the Slovak Republic the families of both of these Jews enjoyed all privileges and had special protection. To prove that oruy Catholics and "separatists" were anti-Semites, Mr. Lettrich quotes from the writings of Gajdos-Breza, to wit: "The J ews are our greatest enemies; they destroy, spread dissension and demoralize. But these very same words were used a countless number of times by Dr. M. Hbd.za, T. G. Masaryk, Mirrosla;v J. Hurban, Svetozar Hu:r'ban-Vajansky, Joseph Skultety, John Slavik, Julius Bodnar, and by many other •w riters and politicians, scientists and clerics, who were more significant in 'Slovak life than was Gajdos-Breza. Lettrich, however, preferred to forget them in this connection. T. G. Masaryk founded his "•p rogressive" movement (the Hlasists) with these counsels: "Anti-Semitism in Slovakia is warranted (just). . . . In your land the Jews are everywhere, without exception , against the cultural efforts of the people. They practice usury. People must be saved from the yoke of alcohol and Jewish capital. • .. Priests must be national; the Church must be anti.Semitic so that the people might free itself economically from Jewish capital. . •." Srobar, one of the greatest opponents of separatism, preached the anti-Semitic gospel of Masaryk. "The Jews �34 SLOVAKIA always were the exploiters and extortioners of the Slovak people. The enemies of the State are punished in the entire world," said -Mr. Vavro Srnlbar at a meeting of the 2upans (Distri:ct Administrators) on August 4, 19,19. Dr. Anton Stefanek, another great antagonist o,f Slovak autonomy, wrote in the NEW YORKSKY DENNIK (August 25, 1'920): "Neither the Germans, nor the Magyars, but not even any other nation on earth is more harmful to our nation than the Jews. But not only to us Slovaks, but also to the whole Slav world the Jews are the greatest enemies, and this is a factually and historically proven matter." Just aJbout a year 1b efore that (June 22, 1919), Stefanelk said in the same newspaper: "One of the most difficult problems which we shall have to resolve is the question how the vast masses of this nation shall be protected from the flood of the Jews, that is, from the destructive and subversive vices that have taken hold. . . ." T.he NEW YO!RJKISIKY DIDNNlK was quite enthused by such words and offered this advice: "Send all the Jews to hell" (N()lV. 11, 191'9) . . . "Since we do not allow a Jew to become a Zupan, then we must not allow him to be an owner or director of large factories, enterprises, homes, and businesses in Slovakia," wrote 'Dvaroiz~k, one orf Lettrich's commissars, already in 191'9 in the NYD . . . "The irrefutable fact is that something ought to be done about the Jews in Slovakia already now" (NYD, Oct. 8, 1938). And what ought to be done, the NYD explains: "So that they might go to the lands of those nations, which they voluntarily claimed as their own in 1930" (resolution of the Czecho-iSlovak Sokol Community, Oct . 7, H)3'8). Of cour,se, that meant that the Jews. were supposed to go back to Germany, Hungary and Poland. in 1938, the newspaper edited 1by Dr. Martin Kivetko, another commissar of Lettrich's and no,w a significant factor in the Council of Free Czecho~S,lovrukia and one orf the so-icalled lbig gl,lns of the Free Europe Committee, wrote unequivocally that there was only one effective way to deal with the Jewish prolblem, so he presented it in this manner: "Germany has shown us how we must deal with the foreign element. We must apply such methods even more than �SLOV.AKI.A 35 Germany" (Narodnie Noviny, Sept. 18, 1938). In other words, he recommended Hitler's methods. Gabo Rapos, who received the greatest decoration from the hands of Dr. Lettrich, wrote the foJlorwing in the Narodnie Noviny (Oct. 6, 1938). "We must also rid ourselves of one more element which economically is pauperizfog Slovakia - we must resolve the Jewish question which impedes the development of Slovakia, and we must rid ourselves of all parasites!" Did the situation change in 1945? Well, Senior Sensel, a deputy of Lettrich's "democratic" party, prophesied as follows: "We'll first lay aside our Lutheran garb and stop reading the Passion, before we put anti-Semitism aside." Dr. Martin BeHus, another o.f Lettri.ch's stalwarts, wrote in a similar vein in· the Narodnie Noviny and recommended the use of Hitler's methods: "Every half-way solution ( of the Jewish question) supported by pseudodemo('ratic principles is bound to fail, because it opposes the interests of the whole of autonomous Slovakia and the State of the Czechs, Slovaks and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenians." But even Dr. Lettrich himself, as co-ehairman of the Slovaik National Coun'Cil, demanded that the Jews in Slovakia be treated or dealt with as with enemies, the Germans and Magyars. In 1945, he proclaimed: "We must endeavor without mercy to chase the Magyars and Germans out of our countr:y. 'Ilhe Jews, who by their feelings and their language show sympathy toward the Magyars or Germans, we shall regard as Germans and Magyars and they shall have to share the lot of Germans and Magyars." And those he did expel ! Dry statistical figures say nothing about the Slovak nationality of Jews. In 11890, 6 percent of the Jews living in Slovakia claimed ,SlovaJk as their mother tongue, but in 1910 only 2 percent did. It is both interesting and significant to the informed reader that Lettrich devotes qll.lite a bit of his space in his "history" to quotations of altogether unimportant and ipoliticaUy, insignificant people, but conveniently forgets to quote authorities,, such as 'Masaryk, Srolbar, Stefaneik, Hodza, Jan Slavik, Sensel. He quotes from the "Slovak," �36 SLOVAKIA but forgets to do so from the "!Stare No,v iny, Orol Tatransky, Narodnie Noviny, Cirkevne Listy, New YorksJky Dennik, Slovensky Dennik, Slov,enstke :Pohfady" and other periodicals. Lettrich tries to place the entire responsiibiUty for the sufferings of the Jews on the Slovak Go;vernment, even though an institution regarded as reS1ponsilble and serious, which proba;bly was mo.re concerned than any other with this prdblem the International Red Cross - stated that: at certain times SlovaJkia was regarded as a refuge of the Jews, especially Polish Jews; the Jews who remained in .Slovakia were comparatively protected until the uprising against the German army at the end of August 1944; it is true that the law of . May 5, 1942, resulted in the arrest of several thousands of Jews, but in the cam,ps, where living and housing conditions were adequate, the prisoners were aUowed to wovk for pay under conditions which approximated free economy; in H,ungary, like in Slovrukia, Israelites were spared as long as the local gov~ ernment hrud a certain freedom of action (Vd. Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Vol 29, No•. 348, Dec. 1947). The EVA1NGEil.;]ST, t'he official organ of the Diocese of A]bany, N. Y., carried a ,r eport from Prague sayi,nig that a comparison of the ipre-,war andi ipost-war nUlilliber of ,perisons of the Jewish faith and r,a.ce in Czecho-Slova;kia shows that while in Ozechia and 1M oravia - which were under Ge.r,man rule - 85 pevcent of the Jews perished, in Sl0>vakia, on the other hand, during the reign of President Joseph Tiso, 85 percent of the Jews were saved. After 194!5, at the Bratislava University, several sons of the foremost "Oze:cho-Slovak and Lutheran" families objected to receiving doctorates together with Jews and the university had to arrange another time for the ceremO'Ily; the Jews recei,v ed their doctorates with former members of the Hllinlka youth. And Lettrich wa:S boss in SlovaJkia at that time! History !b,ooks usually carry pictures of leading personalities and events that made history. Lettrich's "history," however, is different; it tells the story of so-called "Catholic crimes" and, quite understandably then, Lettrich �SLOVAKIA 37 used only photographs of so--called "Catholic criminals." Under one ,p icture whi'ch is a,lmost ineligiible, for example, we read: "Canon KaroJ Korper wearing a Hlinka Guard cap while sperukirng." What the occasion was and what Korper said is left to the imagination of the reader. Orf course, those who were present on that occasion know that a blessing of the Slovalk colors took place. They also ,k now that the speaker who followed K6r,p er was the Eviangelical (Lutheran) chaplain of the Hllinka Guard, Dr. Ladislaus Jurkovilc. The latter and I went to school together and were good friends; I was glad to see him in Lettrich's book; he is to. the left of Ko:nper, 'b etween two German officers. Lettrich obviously was only interested in lifting out the name of Canon Korper. Then there is the picture of Comrade Kaftanov. He, too, made Lettrich's "history," even though he proibrubly will not make Russian history. Kaftanov attended the occasion of Dr. Tuka's instaH.ation as rector of the Bratislava University, at which he is reported to have predicted a "glorious future for the Slovak 'State, because it resulted from the collaboration of the two. most powerful nations, the Germans an.d the Russians, who had decided to reorganize the a,ppearance of Euro,pe." Since Lettrich bothered with Kaftanov, he should have also mentioned the names of very distinguished scholars and representatives of world-renowned uni.versities (American, French, English, Italian, '11unkish, etc.) who· sent congratulatory messages to Dr. Tuka. And Lettrich's picture is lacking, too, even though he was photographed while pinning decorations on quite a few Red Russians. We are supposed to believe, too, that theire are no ,p ictures of LeUrich with Tito, Gottwald, Siroky, Duris, Pull, Smidike, Husak, and other Communists. Too bad, too, that he could not embellish his pictorial supplement with a few ,photos Off the German ambassador to Slovaikia, of N a zi generals and economic represen.tat1ves all orf whom enjoyed huntin,g wiitih Lettrich's friends on their pri•v•a te hunting reserves and were very happy to shruke hands with Na;zis. But even this is all petty and trivial. 1 �38 SLOVAKIA The ,S lovak RepU!blic was the work of peo,ple and it was managed ,b y people. It is, therefore, quite understandable that, like other states, the Slovruk RepUibliic also had its faults ,a nd deficiencies. It was born during a world crisis, in the shadow of the gigantic German Reich, to which the western ,p owers aJbandoned the whole of Europe. At that time there was no force, single or combined, which could or did intervene to change the course o!f events. Lettrich states that Benes and others, including himself, were forced to do things under given circumstances, which they probably would not have done under no•I1Inal condi~ tions. And that is und~rstandable. But why shotl!ld Lettrich create the impression that the Slovruks and Tiso, w'ho were respons~ble for the welfare of the Slovak Republic, willingly and voluntarily went along in all things with the Nazis? The answer is obvious. Lettrich could not control or overcome his ,prejudices and his intense hatred of Tiso and his group, which he calls the • "Catholic Party" and which represented the overwhelming majority of the Slov3;ks. In this he was no different than the Communists and the chauvinistic Benes Czechs. In a word, Lettrich's "history" is one of the most shameful, vicious and malicious books about Sl01Vakia tihat was ever published. Griinwald's infamous "Felvidek" in comparison is an inno.c ent song. To those who read Lettrich's book, I say this: do not even believe the figures he gives as the .p opulation for any Slovak town or city, because thev are most certainly falsified. The "History of Modern 'Slovwkia" is, indeed, a true picture of Lettrich's ,p olitical and moral stature! • • • "CZEOHOSLOVAKISM VERSUS A'MERICANISIM" an ~pose of .t he pr~Soviet "National Froniters" in the socalled Oouncil of Free Ozechoslov-ailcia - is a 48 :page booklet pwbliished by the Slovak League o!f America, which should be read 'by every one seekdng the answer to the queQtion of how "Ozecho-.Slovak demoora·c y" ooniveirted to a ",p eople's demoocacy." Send 25 cents (coin or stamps) to the SIJOVAKiiA for your copy today. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1955, Vol. 5 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 14), March 1955.</li> <li>Issue 2-3 (No. 15-16), June-September 1955.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 17), December 1955.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1955 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 21 LETI'RIOH'S IDSTORY OF SLOVAK.IA By Constantine Oulen We shall not criticize the ideological side of his booik, because according to Letitric,h only the Slovak Catholics were Nazis, only they praised Hitler, only they wrote derogatively of the Jews, only they Aryanized, only they were in the Hlinka Guards, and only they were dissatis ... fied in the Czecho.,Slovak Reipu1blic. We shall not carry on polemics with Lettrich even on as, for example, the Sudanians, because we know that Lettrich is of the conviction that what is the right of the unclothed Sudanian at home, does not belong to the Slovaks at home even if they were to weM' fro-cks and uniforms. We know that from a feeling of his own inferio,r 'ity even an under-average Czech is an unattainable ideal. Lettrich really belongs under the Czechs. We shall not d~bate about whether Lettrich was en~ titled to let thousands od' Slova;ks lhe jailed, and we shall not deJbate ,a bout the Magyarism of the politicians of the Slo,vaik People's Party, beC'ause that is, after aJll, a matter of personal opinion, and it is useless to talik about the beauty of colors with a color-blind person. The statistics presented or ref erred to by Lettrich, however, really is not 'history, but news. They demonst11ate the superficiality, irresponsiibility and outright falsification of facts. L ettrich wanted to prove Urat the progress Slovakia made in the Czecho-iSlovak Repu:bli·c from 1918 to 1938 "had never been surpassed in any phase of history" by referring to the gigantic growth of various Slovak cities (p. 64). He compares the 1919 with the 1948 numlber of inha:bitants of some cities. Many cities, indeed, did develop and grow, while otihers showed a decrease in population. But we see that everywhere, not only in .Slovakia. So, are we to regard that as a "Czecho..,Slovaik" miracle? Is it not practically a universal oustom that :people leave the farms for the cities? And even Lettrich should know that the influx of some 200,000 Czechs into Slovakia, especially into 1 22 SLOVAKIA the cities, certainly had something to do with the increase in population of those cities. But why shou1d Lettrich resort to false statistics even in this case? He could have proved his case even with correct statistics, selected from official statistical publications. It is obvious that Leittrich preferred to use other statistics: those which sulbstantially decrease the numlber of inhabitants from Magyar times and su:b stantially increase the number of inhaJbitants from the times of the Czecho~ Slovruk Republic. According to Lett.rich, Zilina had 9,000 inh~bitants in 1919 and 18,000 in 1948 (p. 64). But Zilina, we know, already :had 9,166 inhaJbitants in 1910; 12,073 after the census was taken in Ozecho-Slo•v akia; and in 1940, in the Slovak Republic, 19,329 (Vd. SOZNAM OBOI NA SLOVEN~U, p. 161). Aooording to Lettrich, then, Zilina had 1~ people in 1948 than in 1940. According to Dr. Palic (Vd. OIDSKOSLOVENSKY PR!EHLED), Zilina had 16,400 i.nhabitants in 1949. According to Lettrich, Turciansky &vaty Martin had 3,000 inhabitants in 1919, but 20,000 in 1948. However, we know that T. iSv. M. had 3,351 inha,bitants already in 1900; 4,101 in 11910; and 5,6'57 after the first Czecho--,Slova:k census. Where did Lettrich get the 20,000 figure? And the other statistics? In the footnote (ip. 64), he says his source was (pp. '118-157) of "':NIE POPULATION OF CZECHOSLOV~ " by Waller Wynne, Jr. (Washington, 1953). But that source does not show 20,000 inha:bitants. for T. Sv. M . ! It shows 11,300 for the year 1940; in 1946 only 10,600, hence, less t'han during the time of the Slovak Republic. In fact a closer loolk at pages 47-57 shows Wynne's book of afificfal American statistics does not carry the figures either for 1919, with which Lettrich begins, or for 1948, with which Lettrich ends; but we do find there the figures for 1940 and 1946. It seems that pseudohistorian Lettrich did not understand ,w hat he read. Wynne gives the figures for the growth of cities between 1930 and 1947 "in 1948 area." Lettrich quotes the number of inhabitants of the various Slovak cities for 194i8 from statistics, of Octolber 1, 1946. SLOVAKIA 23 When . a historian writes a:bout ithe growth of some cities and towns, it is not unusual for him to mention the decrease in populat'ion of others. But Lettrich is different; he is determined to pmve that the Czecho--•SltoviaJk Republic was responsible only for "growth" figures,. For example, the following cities and towns decreased as indicated: Skalica 2.3 percent; Myjava 2.7 percent; Pukanec 2.9 percent; Bansika Stiavnica 8.3 •p ercent; Doib,sina 12:3 percent; Gelnica 24.1 percent; Reviuca 32.2 percent. Why these old industria~ centers decreased in populatfon could also form an interesting chapter in a SlovaJk history, which is cal,l ed 'modern"! "Between 1906 and 1908 alone, 56·0 Slovaks were sentenced for political crimes to a total of 91 years in jail and fines of 42,000 Crowns" (p. 38). That's what Lettrfoh says rubout Magyar persecution, but even here there seems to :b e a slight error of some ten years. The figures given are for a period of 12 years and not two. We suggest that Lettrich c'hook .this item with the figures given by R. W. Seton-·Watson, whom he probaibly wanted to quote (RAOIAL BROBLEM!S IN HUNGARY, p. 466). To check this item, he might also use the SLOVENISKY OB~OR and the PIRUDY, with which he is quite familiar. It is, significant, too, that, in the matter of persecution, oppression and suppression, Mr. Lettrich quite conveniently forgets to rememb.er what the Slovaks suffered from 1945 to 1'948, when he and Communist Schmidke ,w ere cocha_imnen of the SlovaJk National Council, the lbody supreme in Slovakia. The Magyars treated the Slo1vaks harshly and unjustly, it is true; Magyar statistics themselves prove that. There is no need to add anything to thek figures; we need not magnid'y those statistics in 1955. As they are, tihey are a monument to intolerance., dishonesty, and especially .p olitical short-sightedness. In the final analysis, what the ruling Magyaris did was a crime even against the Magyar nation. On the other hand, however, what was done to the Slovaks during the Benes-Lettrich er.a is so terribfo, r8JW, and criminal that it simply is without parallel in the 24 SLOVAKIA thousand-year history O!f the Slovaks. Lettrich's regime pa:s:ses into Sliovak history as a regime O!f an unbroken skein of the most terrilble and blo·odiest crimes. At one of the meetings of the Board of Commissars, when Lettrirch ruled, a reiport was given that 19,740 persons, most of them in:tellectuals, were jailed; 56 of them already were sentenced to death and the rest o£ them received a total of 12,555 years in jail; and the property of most of them ,w a s confiscated. And that was only the beginning. In 19416, the a'Verage jail senitence was 19 months; at the end of 1'947, it was 33 months and 14 days. 'Dhiat was in the days when Lettrich's word could save a person's life, or a:meliorate a sentence. Lettrioh's cowts meted out jail sentenices which were 1,250 percent higher, besides that also executions, which in peace time did not even happen in Hungary. But Lettrilch makes a lb ig issue of 91 yearn in jail which the Magyar-s meted out to 560 Slovaks in twelve years! What is 1:lhaJt in •c omparison to what Leittrich's regime was responsible for? Hias, Lettrich already fongotten the Slova:ks executed, the thousands in Silberia, the crammed jaHs and concentration camps, the people beaten by his police? Hias he forgotten the thous•a nds of women who were raped by rhis glorified partisans, the freight cars crammed with Magyars whom he tra:nsferred to Czech lands for slave la!bor, the 15 frozen Magyar children in one of those ft-eight car-s, which waited under the Bratis1a~a bridge in January without any heat for over rbwo weeks until an order was given to move? Yes, and what is that in comparison to the 300,000 ,b eaten Germans? Lettrich made thi,s history, was a respoinsilble patt of it, so why should he not include it in his "History of Modern Slo'Vakia"? 1 ".fn 1918 Hungarian statistics listed no more than 30,118 children of Slovak nationality" (p. 37). But the truth is that Magyar staUstiJcs for that year showed 255,7'92 school child.rein of Slovak natli onality (Vd . .Judr Fojifr: NAIRODNi SKOLY V REPUBillCE Cs DLE S'DAVU ZID DNIE 31. PROS. 1'92,1, which contains detailed statistics of Slovak elementary schiools from 11881 to 1919). Lettrich is a bit befuddled or wants to befuddle others. 1 SLOVAKIA 25 Magyar statistics show that in 1'918 there were 30,118 Slovalk children in 365 Slovak schooJs, but the same statistics showed that there were 255,792 Slovak school children, the rubsolute majority of which, of course, had to attend Magyar schools. Magyar statli.stics were false, but even Magyar statisticians were not so stupid .as to show 30,000 school children for a nation of three million. They left .that to Lettrioh ! "In 1918 ... there were 12,447 Hungarian civil servants on Slovak territory. Only 35 offered their services to the new Republic The others, being of Magyar nat ionality, refused to serve" (p. 39) , Now, -if that were kue, then Count Apponyi was right when he said that the Slovaks were against uniting with the Czechs. But Lettrich is wrong again. Ho,w did he arrive at those figures? Lettrich not only accepts the statistics supplied by Count Al1bert Apponyd. to support his ar• guments to save the unity of greater Hungairy at the Peace Conference, 1b ut even e~plains them more unfavorably for the Slovaks than Apponyi himself. At .the Peace Oonference CoU!nt A,pponyi presented stabstics about the number of offidals and teachers in Hungary. He said th'at in the whole of Hungary there were 12,447 state employees: 12,412 Magyars and 35 Slo,vaks. Of the 35 SlQIV'akS, 18 were employed in 17 ISl,ova;k districts. Lettrich, not understanding what he read, wrote that in Slovakia there were 12,447 Magyar officiaJs, 35 of whom were Slovak, and the rest (12,412) refused to ta;ke the loyalty oath to the Ozecho-Slovruk Reip,ublic. Now, what are the facts ? 1. It is not true that there were 12,447 Magyar State emip loyees in Slo,v a1kia. The figure relates to, the whole of Hungiary, with the e:x:ception of Croatia. In Slovakia there were 920 Magyars, 11 Germans and 18 Slovaks employed by the Hungarian State. 2. lt is not true that only 3'5 were willing to serve the Czecho-•Slova;k Repulb1iic. The figures refer only to those who were 'listed as Slovalks, but say nothing about their willingness or unwillingless to serve the Czecho-1Slova:k Republic. 3. It is not true that the rest ref.used to• serve the 1 26 SLOVAKIA Ozecho-lSlovruk Repulblic. If that were so, then it would not have been possilble even ,w ith the help of the Ozechs to establish a Cze:cho-SlovaJk regime in Slovakia. The absolute majority of State employees, even those of German and Mrugyar origin, took the oath of loyalty to the Czecho-Slo . . vak Repu:blk. Only ,a minority ref.used to take the loyalty oath; the number of those who r&fused was never recorded statistically (Vd. .Dr. H. Rashofer: Die Tschechoslowa,kischen Denks-chriften fiir die Friedenskonference von Paris 1919-1920, pp. 187~193; and Magyar Beketargyalasok). Continuing to falsify statistics, Lettrich states that only "10 of the 660 high school teachers and college professors" offered their services to the new Repulblic of Czecho-iSlovakia (,p. 40). At the Peace Conference, Count Apponyi stated that there ,w ere 23 Slovaks teaching in the secondary schools ; 10 of these taught in Slwaikia. Dr. Derer, speaiking on the floor of the Prague Parliament, February 7, 1931, said that there was only 1 Slovak professor under Hungary. Michael Slavik counted 25 in his 'book : 115 Lutherans and 10 Catho'.1 ks. The fact is, however, that the 11918-19 school year began in SlovaJkia. with over a 100 Slov8Jk professors. Many left good positions in large Magyar cities to accept teaching positions in Slovruk towns and villages; they sacrificed muoh just so th'at they might serve their nation. But the Czechs rejected ·s:ome of them and relegated many of them to teach in Magyar schools! Certainly Lettrich himself could, if he only wanted to, name more than 10 Slovak professors of the Lutheran faith alone w'ho served the young Repulblic enthusiastically in HH8. We might mention the following Sl~vak professors who definitely did tea.ch in SlovaJkia in 191'8: Rozim, Kmet'., Branecky, Potkan, Fr. Tiso, Kra.jniak, Vallo, Kovalik, Mruirgas, Hlavaty, Hronec, Ohra.pa, Lisy, Klein--Tesnoskals:ky, Horniaik, BeniaJC, Poto:cky, Misik, Bezak, '.Domaja, Resek, FJorek, Necikar, Bu;jnaik, Vo~ko-Starohorsky, Twdy. Count Aipponyi ma.de all kinds of statements at the Paris Pea.:ce Coruferenice; but he did not go as far as Lettrich. What Lettrich says could be used adrvantageously SLOVAKIA 27 by Magyar revisionist propaganda. And yet he thmks this is an argument for the "Czecho-lSlovak" concept! It is strange, indeed, tha,t we who are considered "seiparatists" should have to defend the Czecho-iSlavak Republic even against Lettrich. Did he forget about the five Slovak university pro,fessors from Budapest who came to Bratislava to, offer their services to the new Republic, but not ooe was accepted? Tuka and Kviatcala, too, were rejected in favor of Czech professo:vs,, were they not? It is almost useaess to attempt to analyize otther statistics given 'by Lettrich in his "history." They are all equally false. Lettriich simply either did not understand the significance of what he read, or, if he did, then he falsified knowingly. In this category he outdid Apponyi. Lettrich could have proved his point easHy in an hooest manner, but he preferred to use the Magyar system: minim.ie.e and vilify everything that was SloV'ak. Slovaks never regarded tMagyar figures as reliable, so why should Lettrich regard them as the last word? A Ozech statistician Wl'ote the foUowing a;bout Magyar statistics: 1 "The incorrectness of Magyar official statistics is attested to even by official Magyar data about the spreading of knowledge of the individual languages. On the territory of the 16 Slovak counwhich either completely or partly fell to Czecho-Slovakia ties in 1910, there were 300,584 Magyars who knew Slovak; that is, 25.3 percent of all the Magyar inhabitants of those 16 counties. On that same territory, in 1910, it was recorded that only 281,230 Slovaks (16.5 percent) knew Magyar, even though the great majority of Slovaks was educated in Magyar schools whose main job was to teach Magyar. On the other hand, it is still more odd that 25.3 percent of the Magyars in the 16 Slovak counties could speak Slovak, that is, the language of the Pariahs, the language that was despised, suppressed and cast out of the schools, offices and public life. "This discordance must be explained only by the fact that a great number of ·Slovaks, who knew Magyar, were counted among the Magyars. We need not conjecture that 300,000 Magyars learned Slovak either out of love for Slovak or other motives. Mraz, in his book "Slovensko vo svetle statistiky," estimates that of the 300,000 'Magyars who know Slovak,' there are at least 200,000 Slovaks who did not learn Magyar, but were counted as Magyars when the census was taken" (Ph. Dr. VI. Slaninka: Narodnostni vyvoj Ceskoslovenske republiky, Pra,gue 1938 ; pp. 67-68) . And that is a fad. There is a difference !between actually >Magy,ari'zed SlovaJks and 'Slovruks whom only Magyar statistics regarded as Magyars. Lettrich obviously under- 28 SLOVAKIA took the task of proving the miraculous "progre.ss" oif the Slovaks in the Czecho-·S lovak Repuiblic by ma:gnifying Magyar injustices and aJbolishing all Czoch injustices. But a historian should write olbjec·Uvely; he must not forget even what was good in Hungary, jrust as he must record what was good in Cz~cho-:Slovakia; and he must not close his eyes ei.theT to Magyar o,r Czech injustices. "Serious unemployment and perpetual depression reigned in Slovakia from the Austrian-Hungarian Settlement in 1867, unti I the outbreak of World War I. In that period three-quarters of a million Slovaks emigrated to earn their bread abroad, mostly in the United States" (p. 40) . Why Lettrich uses the year 1867 as his initial year is · diffictrlt to understand, becaiuse it was just at the end of the last and the 1beginning of the present century that Hungary began to ,b uild up_ industrially, and most of the enteriprises were built in .SlovaJkia with state funds. From 1881 to 191'4, there we.:re 960 industrial enterprises built in Slovaikia; another 760 were remodeled to manufacture various products. Jlt is estimated that this cost the Hungarian State 63 million pre-war Gold Orowns. There was one industrial enterprise for every 617 inhaJbitants in Slova;kia, according to lli. E. Stodola ("Statistika Slo;v enska"). How did industry in Slovaikia fare under Ozecho-Slovakia? Well, when the Cze·c hs came to power, Slov,a k industrial enterprises rwere graidually dosed up. The Czechs said: 1. Slovakia should be the agricultural country of the Staite; 2. Slovak industry did not have natural prerequisites; it was lb uilt with the he1p of the Magyar State, hence, it had to be destroyed; 3. Slo,vaik industry belongs to Magya:r Jews and foreigners, who suppressed the Slo-· va:ks nationally; this must be aivenged by destroying their properties; 4. More modern Ozech industry can produce more cheaply and abundantly all the products which were produced by faicfories in Sfovakia, therefore, the latter must be liquidated. The "Morgenthau" plan for Germany in 1945 was put into effoct by the Benes Czechs for Slovakia in 1918 ! Lettrich might pretend not to ·know the facts, or may simply SLOVAKIA 29 ignore them, lbut nevertheless facts they still remain. The Federation of Slovak Industrialists pU!blished reports annually; Lettrich undoubtedly knows aJbout them, or should have, if he wanted his "history" to be objective. What do the r eports of that Federation tell us? In the Slovak wood industry, in the 11 largest enterprises, workers put in 9,04'5,000 hours in 1914, tbut only 3,786,000 hours in 1923 ; in 19 of the largest chemical plants, Sl()IVak workers put in 8,352,000 hours in 1914, but only 4,5·38,000 hours in 1923; in three of the largest glass enter,prises, 2,937,000 hours in 1914, but only 468,000 hours in 1 92,6 ; in 9 of the largest mining and smelting enteriprises 11,469,000 hours in 1914, but only 5,684,000 hours in 1922; in 8 of the largest grain mills 1,·680,000 hours in 1914, but only 853,000 hours in 1926 ; in 19 metal enter.prises 14,271,000 hours in 1914, but only 7,059,000 hours in 1923; in 12 textile enterprises 29,080,000 hours in 1914, ibut only 115,829,000 hours in 1922; in 9 cellulose and paper mills 9,528,000 hours in 1914, but only 5,4155,000 hours in 1923 ; in three breweries 435,000 hours in 1914, but only 236,000 hours in 1923; in 6 enterprises of building materials 5,195,000 hours in 1914, but only 2,585,000 hours in 1923 ; in 6 of the largest fur and leather enterprises 2,538,000 hours in 191'4 ; but only 1,024,000 hours in 1923; in 6 food enterprises 4,155,000 hours in 1914, but only 898,000 hours in 1003. These figures tell us that there must have b.een greater unemployment in Slovakia under Czecho-1Slovakia than prior to 1918. For the edification of the readers of Lettirich's "his tory' and of Lettrich himself, we call to their attention a 'book written by R. W. Seton-.Watson, who has been known as an agent of Czech propaganda for almost 40 years ; it is ca:lled "THE NEW SLOV.AlKifA" and was pulblished in 1924 by Fr. Borovy, Pvague. Several quotes from Chaipter V (Economic Difficulties) may be in order: 1 1 1 1 "In the case of Slovakia today it would be quite idle to deny that many serious economic grievances do exist, and further, that the Centralist regime, as at present directed from Prague, is in many respects contr-ary to the economic interests of Slovakia" (p. 78) . .. "No favo ur was shown even t o th e coal mines of H an dlova, with disastrous effects upon industry in eastern Slovakia and in Ruth e- 30 SLOVAKIA nia" (p. 84) . . . ",I rritation and suspicion are already so general, that a leailing Slovak industrialist, whom no one to whom I should name him could deny the titles of patriot and unionist, roundly declared to me that Slova,kia is .reg,a rded •b y 'Prague' as so much economic ballast! The argument that because 80 percent or even more of Slovak industry is owned by Magyars or Jews it therefore need not receive the same consideration, is a mere feebl-e pretext, intended to justify a very doubtful operation. It ma,y be countered in the first place by a reminder tihat 60-70 percent of Bohemian industry is owned by Germa:ns or Jews, most of whom are - only to a lesser de· gree than the Ma,gyars of Slovakia - unwilling citizens of the Republic. . . . However questionable may be the first origins of Slovak industry - and on this point there is in the main no dispute - it represents today the means of liv-e lihood of a large population which is over,w heLmingly Slovak" (p. 94) . . . "The deliberate reduction of Slovak industries, as a part of a Government programme, without any corresponding reduction in the industries of Bohemia and Mol'lavia, would be a direct incitement to separatism, and would in any case force Slovaks, Maigyars, Ruthenes and Germans into an economic alliance so strong as to overshadow the divergencies of political outlook" (P. 95) .. . "According to a calculation of "t,he Union of Slovak Industrialists, the cost of transport in Slovakia, as late as the autumn of 1922, was 50 .p ercent ·h igher than in the western half of the Republic" (p. 84) . . . "But a great deal still requires to be done in the way of adjusting the general tariff system. . . For the result o.f these unequal tariffs is to favour still . further the competition of Czech and German firms in Slovakia and to make of Slovakia a dumping ,g round for their surplus goods, while rendering retaliation almost impossible. As a result, it is possible for Moravian firms to import sand to Zilina and timber to Orava - thus refuting the proverbial absurility of 'carrying coals to Newcastle' - and thus Slovak fi.rms are undersold, and cheaper labor is brought from outside, under the eyes of the Slovak unemployed. This creates a great deal of bad blood and gives rise to the demand, at once objectionable and impracticable, that Czech firms should not be allowed to compete in Slovakia" (pp. 85-86). "The Germans exploited SlovaJk natural resources, such as lumber and o,r es" (p. 171), according to . Lettrich, who already seems to have forigotten the arguments put forth to save the skin of Dr. Ing. Zatko in 1946, when he stood before the National Court in Bratislava. You see, Lettrich and his SlovaJk National Council had decreed that eivery deputy of the SlovaJk Parliament had to stand trial. Since Zatko was such a deputy, he, too, had to •g o through the or.deal. But he was more fortJunate than most of the other deputies; being a Lutheran, he had Dr. Lett.rich on his side. What~er was good in the SlovaJk Republic, Lettrich would have us know, was the merit of the Lutheran or non- SLOVAKIA 31 Catholic deputies; whatever was no good or just plain bad in it was due to the Catholic deputies. Since Zafko was, during the war, the mightiest man in the departmen t of Slova:k economy, and he and Dr. Karvas (head of the Slovak National Bank), were really dictators in this field, Mr. Lettrich and the other witnesses who testified in Zafko's behalf tried to prove that it was a splendid dictatorship a nd that economical ly Slov,aJkia prospered to such a great extent tha,t its pos-ition could not even be coonpared with the poor economy of the Czech lands. At the trial Dr. Matura, an economic expert, showed that while in the protectorat e 50 percent more than the average amount of lumlber was exacted, in Slovakia the production did not reach the norma:l average, so that some 15 million cubic feet of lwmlber, valued at 5 milliard (5 thousand million) Czecho-Sio vak crowns was saved for the RepuJblic. At that trial Dr. Matura also said that after the passage of the front "the supplies of raw materials in Slovakia were higher than on January 1, 1939." Mr. Lettrich's official organ, the CAS, recorded the testimony gi;ven during Zafko's trial ('CAS, Sept. 7, 1946) . What he ,a nd witnesses said in deferuse of Dr. Zafiko in 1946 is just the opposite of what he contends in his "history," that is, that "1Sl0V1akia also pro;vided valuaJble economic and ma~ terial aid to Germany" (ip. 171). Is Lettrich now teYing us that the testimony given in behalf of the ecorromic e:,q>erls before the National Court was false? What else, unless hiis "history" is ,a record of frauds and falsificatio ns? Lettrich feels that the power of the Jews is great and, hence, that it is necessary to flatter the mighty of this world. So he attempts to do just that in his "history." The greater ipart of the pictorial supiplemen t is devoted to the fate of the Jews during the war. It seems that he borrowed the pictures from a certain book Which was published by the Jews of Prague and Bratislawa in 1949, which means that it was allowed by the Red regime of Gottwald. Of course, Lettrich does not want us to know that. To ma!ke the affair look as horrilble as possible, he graced his "his.. t:ory" with pictures of mass graves from somewhere in 32 SLOVAKIA Poland or Germany with which Slovakia had no connection whatever. In this connection he proba:b ly would have contri,buted to history had he published at least one picture of the hanging of the Jews in Zvolen by the CzechoSlovaJk legionnaires in 1919. At least it would have !been something ,brused on fact. Looking at the pictures in Lettrich's book, the uninformed reader must get the impression, for example, that the hole filled with dead Jewish women must lb e in SlovaJkia. Lettrich conveniently avoided writing an introduction to his pictorial s111pplement; he simply adds the ipictures arfter the index, and lets the rest to the imagination of his readers, of course, first offering several pictures of Slovak political figures. The intent is only all too clear to all informed observers. But deception and misrepresentation are hardly the devices of genuine historians. Lettrich wamited to prove that the anti-Semites in Slovakia were Catholics and separatists exclusively, so he resorted to a daring falsification of the facts. According to Lettrich, the Jews in Slovakia had an acti;ve participation in Slovak national and cultural life, but he does not dep~ct the extent of this participation. He even states .that the Jews were co·- foun<lers of the Matica Slovenska (The Slova1k l!nstitute) . And that certainly is news. Furthermore, Lettrich would hruve the readers of his "history" know that there never was any anti-Semi.tic feeling in Slovakia until the "separatists" came into lbeing. Up to 1919 there is not a single article in Slovak liter .. ature which shows sympathy for the Jews. There is not a single S1ovak cultural or national event, about which it can be said that the Jews of SlovaJkia participated in . There are very many proofs of the opposite. The Jews pla,yed an important role only in the economic life of Slova;kia. There is a weal.th of literature depicting just what that role wa.s. The first anti-Semitic article in Slo,vakia was printed in 1785, in the "Stare Noviny" (Old News) of Bystrica, which was pu'blished and edited 'by IDvangelical (1L utheran) preachers. In the "Orol TatranSlky" (The Tatra Eagle) of 1845 is an article by Stu.T, recommending the transfer of Jews; the second time thi,s recommendation was made in a SLOVAKIA 33 publication was after the first world war - and it came from the NEW YORK.SKY DEJNN1K ("Czechoslovak daily in Slovak language") ! The most radical anti-:Semite in Slovakia was Svetoizar Hurban Vajansky, the son of an Evangelical preacher and the father of the late Ozecho-Slo;vaJk ambassador to, the US'A. The newspapers whiich excelled in anti-Semitic articles at that time were the Narodnie Noviny and the New York.sky Dennik. The old Matica Slovenska did not have a single founder who was a J ew. Lettrich iillVented one. It had only one regular memiber who was Jewish, a certain tavern keeper in 'l'urciansky Svaty Martin. This fellow, h owever, became a memiber only because most of the people who visited the Matica were lodged in his home at night and ate in his tavern. The other J ew, who up to 1919, openly iba;cked the Slovaks, was a certain Jewish tavern keeper from Sucany; he was the only J ew in 1S1ovakia who voted for a Slovak candidate in the parliamentary elections. In the Slovak Republic the families of both of these Jews enjoyed all privileges and had special protection. To prove that oruy Catholics and "separatists" were anti-Semites, Mr. Lettrich quotes from the writings of Gajdos-Breza, to wit: "The J ews are our greatest enemies; they destroy, spread dissension and demoralize. But these very same words were used a countless number of times by Dr. M. Hbd.za, T. G. Masaryk, Mirrosla;v J. Hurban, Svetozar Hu:r'ban-Vajansky, Joseph Skultety, John Slavik, Julius Bodnar, and by many other •w riters and politicians, scientists and clerics, who were more significant in 'Slovak life than was Gajdos-Breza. Lettrich, however, preferred to forget them in this connection. T. G. Masaryk founded his "•p rogressive" movement (the Hlasists) with these counsels: "Anti-Semitism in Slovakia is warranted (just). . . . In your land the Jews are everywhere, without exception , against the cultural efforts of the people. They practice usury. People must be saved from the yoke of alcohol and Jewish capital. • .. Priests must be national; the Church must be anti.Semitic so that the people might free itself economically from Jewish capital. . •." Srobar, one of the greatest opponents of separatism, preached the anti-Semitic gospel of Masaryk. "The Jews 34 SLOVAKIA always were the exploiters and extortioners of the Slovak people. The enemies of the State are punished in the entire world," said -Mr. Vavro Srnlbar at a meeting of the 2upans (Distri:ct Administrators) on August 4, 19,19. Dr. Anton Stefanek, another great antagonist o,f Slovak autonomy, wrote in the NEW YORKSKY DENNIK (August 25, 1'920): "Neither the Germans, nor the Magyars, but not even any other nation on earth is more harmful to our nation than the Jews. But not only to us Slovaks, but also to the whole Slav world the Jews are the greatest enemies, and this is a factually and historically proven matter." Just aJbout a year 1b efore that (June 22, 1919), Stefanelk said in the same newspaper: "One of the most difficult problems which we shall have to resolve is the question how the vast masses of this nation shall be protected from the flood of the Jews, that is, from the destructive and subversive vices that have taken hold. . . ." T.he NEW YO!RJKISIKY DIDNNlK was quite enthused by such words and offered this advice: "Send all the Jews to hell" (N()lV. 11, 191'9) . . . "Since we do not allow a Jew to become a Zupan, then we must not allow him to be an owner or director of large factories, enterprises, homes, and businesses in Slovakia," wrote 'Dvaroiz~k, one orf Lettrich's commissars, already in 191'9 in the NYD . . . "The irrefutable fact is that something ought to be done about the Jews in Slovakia already now" (NYD, Oct. 8, 1938). And what ought to be done, the NYD explains: "So that they might go to the lands of those nations, which they voluntarily claimed as their own in 1930" (resolution of the Czecho-iSlovak Sokol Community, Oct . 7, H)3'8). Of cour,se, that meant that the Jews. were supposed to go back to Germany, Hungary and Poland. in 1938, the newspaper edited 1by Dr. Martin Kivetko, another commissar of Lettrich's and no,w a significant factor in the Council of Free Czecho~S,lovrukia and one orf the so-icalled lbig gl,lns of the Free Europe Committee, wrote unequivocally that there was only one effective way to deal with the Jewish prolblem, so he presented it in this manner: "Germany has shown us how we must deal with the foreign element. We must apply such methods even more than SLOV.AKI.A 35 Germany" (Narodnie Noviny, Sept. 18, 1938). In other words, he recommended Hitler's methods. Gabo Rapos, who received the greatest decoration from the hands of Dr. Lettrich, wrote the foJlorwing in the Narodnie Noviny (Oct. 6, 1938). "We must also rid ourselves of one more element which economically is pauperizfog Slovakia - we must resolve the Jewish question which impedes the development of Slovakia, and we must rid ourselves of all parasites!" Did the situation change in 1945? Well, Senior Sensel, a deputy of Lettrich's "democratic" party, prophesied as follows: "We'll first lay aside our Lutheran garb and stop reading the Passion, before we put anti-Semitism aside." Dr. Martin BeHus, another o.f Lettri.ch's stalwarts, wrote in a similar vein in· the Narodnie Noviny and recommended the use of Hitler's methods: "Every half-way solution ( of the Jewish question) supported by pseudodemo('ratic principles is bound to fail, because it opposes the interests of the whole of autonomous Slovakia and the State of the Czechs, Slovaks and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenians." But even Dr. Lettrich himself, as co-ehairman of the Slovaik National Coun'Cil, demanded that the Jews in Slovakia be treated or dealt with as with enemies, the Germans and Magyars. In 1945, he proclaimed: "We must endeavor without mercy to chase the Magyars and Germans out of our countr:y. 'Ilhe Jews, who by their feelings and their language show sympathy toward the Magyars or Germans, we shall regard as Germans and Magyars and they shall have to share the lot of Germans and Magyars." And those he did expel ! Dry statistical figures say nothing about the Slovak nationality of Jews. In 11890, 6 percent of the Jews living in Slovakia claimed ,SlovaJk as their mother tongue, but in 1910 only 2 percent did. It is both interesting and significant to the informed reader that Lettrich devotes qll.lite a bit of his space in his "history" to quotations of altogether unimportant and ipoliticaUy, insignificant people, but conveniently forgets to quote authorities,, such as 'Masaryk, Srolbar, Stefaneik, Hodza, Jan Slavik, Sensel. He quotes from the "Slovak," 36 SLOVAKIA but forgets to do so from the "!Stare No,v iny, Orol Tatransky, Narodnie Noviny, Cirkevne Listy, New YorksJky Dennik, Slovensky Dennik, Slov,enstke :Pohfady" and other periodicals. Lettrich tries to place the entire responsiibiUty for the sufferings of the Jews on the Slovak Go;vernment, even though an institution regarded as reS1ponsilble and serious, which proba;bly was mo.re concerned than any other with this prdblem the International Red Cross - stated that: at certain times SlovaJkia was regarded as a refuge of the Jews, especially Polish Jews; the Jews who remained in .Slovakia were comparatively protected until the uprising against the German army at the end of August 1944; it is true that the law of . May 5, 1942, resulted in the arrest of several thousands of Jews, but in the cam,ps, where living and housing conditions were adequate, the prisoners were aUowed to wovk for pay under conditions which approximated free economy; in H,ungary, like in Slovrukia, Israelites were spared as long as the local gov~ ernment hrud a certain freedom of action (Vd. Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Vol 29, No•. 348, Dec. 1947). The EVA1NGEil.;]ST, t'he official organ of the Diocese of A]bany, N. Y., carried a ,r eport from Prague sayi,nig that a comparison of the ipre-,war andi ipost-war nUlilliber of ,perisons of the Jewish faith and r,a.ce in Czecho-Slova;kia shows that while in Ozechia and 1M oravia - which were under Ge.r,man rule - 85 pevcent of the Jews perished, in Sl0>vakia, on the other hand, during the reign of President Joseph Tiso, 85 percent of the Jews were saved. After 194!5, at the Bratislava University, several sons of the foremost "Oze:cho-Slovak and Lutheran" families objected to receiving doctorates together with Jews and the university had to arrange another time for the ceremO'Ily; the Jews recei,v ed their doctorates with former members of the Hllinlka youth. And Lettrich wa:S boss in SlovaJkia at that time! History !b,ooks usually carry pictures of leading personalities and events that made history. Lettrich's "history," however, is different; it tells the story of so-called "Catholic crimes" and, quite understandably then, Lettrich SLOVAKIA 37 used only photographs of so--called "Catholic criminals." Under one ,p icture whi'ch is a,lmost ineligiible, for example, we read: "Canon KaroJ Korper wearing a Hlinka Guard cap while sperukirng." What the occasion was and what Korper said is left to the imagination of the reader. Orf course, those who were present on that occasion know that a blessing of the Slovalk colors took place. They also ,k now that the speaker who followed K6r,p er was the Eviangelical (Lutheran) chaplain of the Hllinka Guard, Dr. Ladislaus Jurkovilc. The latter and I went to school together and were good friends; I was glad to see him in Lettrich's book; he is to. the left of Ko:nper, 'b etween two German officers. Lettrich obviously was only interested in lifting out the name of Canon Korper. Then there is the picture of Comrade Kaftanov. He, too, made Lettrich's "history," even though he proibrubly will not make Russian history. Kaftanov attended the occasion of Dr. Tuka's instaH.ation as rector of the Bratislava University, at which he is reported to have predicted a "glorious future for the Slovak 'State, because it resulted from the collaboration of the two. most powerful nations, the Germans an.d the Russians, who had decided to reorganize the a,ppearance of Euro,pe." Since Lettrich bothered with Kaftanov, he should have also mentioned the names of very distinguished scholars and representatives of world-renowned uni.versities (American, French, English, Italian, '11unkish, etc.) who· sent congratulatory messages to Dr. Tuka. And Lettrich's picture is lacking, too, even though he was photographed while pinning decorations on quite a few Red Russians. We are supposed to believe, too, that theire are no ,p ictures of LeUrich with Tito, Gottwald, Siroky, Duris, Pull, Smidike, Husak, and other Communists. Too bad, too, that he could not embellish his pictorial supplement with a few ,photos Off the German ambassador to Slovaikia, of N a zi generals and economic represen.tat1ves all orf whom enjoyed huntin,g wiitih Lettrich's friends on their pri•v•a te hunting reserves and were very happy to shruke hands with Na;zis. But even this is all petty and trivial. 1 38 SLOVAKIA The ,S lovak RepU!blic was the work of peo,ple and it was managed ,b y people. It is, therefore, quite understandable that, like other states, the Slovruk RepUibliic also had its faults ,a nd deficiencies. It was born during a world crisis, in the shadow of the gigantic German Reich, to which the western ,p owers aJbandoned the whole of Europe. At that time there was no force, single or combined, which could or did intervene to change the course o!f events. Lettrich states that Benes and others, including himself, were forced to do things under given circumstances, which they probably would not have done under no•I1Inal condi~ tions. And that is und~rstandable. But why shotl!ld Lettrich create the impression that the Slovruks and Tiso, w'ho were respons~ble for the welfare of the Slovak Republic, willingly and voluntarily went along in all things with the Nazis? The answer is obvious. Lettrich could not control or overcome his ,prejudices and his intense hatred of Tiso and his group, which he calls the • "Catholic Party" and which represented the overwhelming majority of the Slov3;ks. In this he was no different than the Communists and the chauvinistic Benes Czechs. In a word, Lettrich's "history" is one of the most shameful, vicious and malicious books about Sl01Vakia tihat was ever published. Griinwald's infamous "Felvidek" in comparison is an inno.c ent song. To those who read Lettrich's book, I say this: do not even believe the figures he gives as the .p opulation for any Slovak town or city, because thev are most certainly falsified. The "History of Modern 'Slovwkia" is, indeed, a true picture of Lettrich's ,p olitical and moral stature! • • • "CZEOHOSLOVAKISM VERSUS A'MERICANISIM" an ~pose of .t he pr~Soviet "National Froniters" in the socalled Oouncil of Free Ozechoslov-ailcia - is a 48 :page booklet pwbliished by the Slovak League o!f America, which should be read 'by every one seekdng the answer to the queQtion of how "Ozecho-.Slovak demoora·c y" ooniveirted to a ",p eople's demoocacy." Send 25 cents (coin or stamps) to the SIJOVAKiiA for your copy today.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lettrich's History of Slovakia Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 5, No. 4 (17), December 1955 pp. 21-38 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1955 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/cb3d02877fc492ac399c428eb97fa522.pdf e6f1497d28c7ae6d8ec2f6bb05784f1a PDF Text Text 5 SLOVAKIA Slovak letters, as well as American Slovak history, were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and ex;pansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural 'history of American citizens of Slovak descent. Besides these book length productions, Dr. Hruso:vsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numeTous addresses delivered on various occasions. Reflecting on some of these merits of Dr. 'Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond v\ith the ex.pression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultral life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for wo,r k, and his lmfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." Afl true Slovaks on both sides of the Iron Curtain bear with pain the loss of Dr. IHruso,vsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovs:k y's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and li'berties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die . Thus, indeed, will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live, partaking of an immorality among us, his courage, his vision, his selflessness seTVing as an undying example for coming generations of Slo:vaks, inspiring them tq win fOT their country that freedom, that independent and recognized state for which Hrusovsky wo!"ked literally to his last breath . 1 • • • DR. FRANCIS HRUSOVSKY - THE MAN Constantine Culen Franc.is Hrufovsky was eminently an historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislava even under the tuteJage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. The ,professor was aware that this yo'll'Ilg collegian's views were radical,l y oppooed to his own outlook, nevertheless entertained high esteem for him. It was something which Hirusovsky merited 'because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge. But �6 SLOVAKIA on completing his university training, Hruswsky decided on a different course of life. There happened to be a vaicancy for the head.mastership at the Catholic Slovalk high school or gymna:zium at Klastor pod Znievom and Hrusovsky chose to apply for the post. It was not considered an enviable position by reason of the fact that the institution was burdened with financiaJ difficulties amd very often the first of the month found the administration really straitened ~bout meeting the payroll. Moreover, the school faced an expansion prog~am which complicated financial matters to an even greater degree. Nevertheless, Hrusovsky did not decide on the assured se_ curity and prestige of a university chair in pr,e ference to this position which was less rewarding in material ivalues. He became the school's director and made of it the intellectual center which Bishop Stefan Moyses, its founder, had hoped it would once become. This particular gymnazium was the only institution which ,b ore upon its facade the inscription "SLOVIDNSKE GYMNAZl/lJ.M (,SI.JOV!AK GYiMiNAZIUM); all other similar schools were inscribed as "OZE}()HO-SLOiVA1K." It is not dear just how this detail escaped the notice of the civic authorities at the time, but the point is that Dr. HTusovsky was singularly proud of such a distinctive designation of his school. And it was, in reality, the only genuine SLOV A1K gymna·zium, not merely in name, but also in spirit and in purpose. It was my privilege to go there often. And each visit proved to me a more refreshing experience. Perhaps there had never yet been as demanding a headmaster as was Hrusovsky, but certainly there never yet was one who had been so universally loved and respected "Pan direk:to:r" -that was his title; it was a designation or an ruppellation by which we understood without question and immediately that the reference was to Dr. Hrusorvsky and to him alone. The greatest penalty meted out to an unhappy offender was to hear from pan direktor no word rubout the transgression. Once I happened to be in his school office with hin1 when a student approached with an explanation and apology. �SLOVAKIA 7 "Did I say anything to you?" said pan direktor to the offender in a tone of voice which betrayed no wiarmth. "Well, that's just it, pan direktor; thia t's the point. You said not a wo,r d," the student complained. Even here, in immigration, his former students often soug,h t out their pan direktor. The confidently referred to him for counsel and always ·p arted from him strengthened and imbued with resolution. Hrusorvsiky never recommended inconsiderate or rash and merely contentious conflict, he did encourage vigorous effort and endorsed even justified force that was deliberate and purposeful. Hrusorvsky was one of the most highly regarded members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic (193'8--1945). We happened to, serive together ,o n various committees. I learned that he looked even upon current problems with the dis1p osition of a serious historian, and it was especially in our committee sessions that a comparison of the past with the present helped to resolve our difficulties and to ease our tasks. He was not given to frequent expression in Parliament but when he did speak, he delivered a speech that left a lasting impression. Although 'he was a,ble to, speak without prolonged ,p reparation, he always took pains to :p repare his par. liamentary addresses with care. Every sentence, every word was selected for a specific purpo,s e and a particula:r significance. These addresses are of such merit that one day they will be e!ID!bodied in handbooks of ;public speaking as classic creations. The thought-ieontent, as well as the delivery and all that was connected with these addresses, was thoroughly studied and weighed, tI believe that I derogate from no one's merits of fame when I judge thaJt Hrusovsky was one of. the best speakers of the Slovaik nation within the past century. Frequently HI'us01Vslky was also the speaker of the day in villages and towns celebrating this or that occasion. Very many people must recall these celebrations with a deep sense of appreciation of his talents. One of the interests of Dr. Hrusovsky's s,pooial .p redilec-, tion was the Slov,a,k Institute of Arts and -Sciences (1M atica �8 SLOVAKIA slovenska). As chairman of various science departments and as secretary of the history depa:rtment of the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, he contributed a great deal to the organization of scientific pursuits and undertrukings in Slovakia. He was a real responsibility; he had accomplished much; but he still had a great deal of work .planned. Even the very last evening of his life he discussed several longstanding iprojects which he hoped to realize some future day that would grant a happy return to his native land. Recently a certain Slovak political leader who was en. gaiged in conversation with Dr. Hrusovsky remarked that at this ,p oint it was quite beyond him even to imagine a return to his former calling, a!bsor'bed as, he had become with national politics. Dr. Hrusovsky observed, "With me it is quite the contrary. What I can most r,e adily imagine and what would give me the greatest satisfaction right at this moment would be to return to the teaching field at the gymnazilliill." It was most natural and logical that on the death of Ka,rol Sidor, Hrusovsky should succeed to the presidency of the Slovak National Council AJbroad. Never at home, and much less in exile, did he aspire to p'U'blic office. 'In response to the insistence of his friends and colleagues, however, he finally yielded to, this extent that he agreed to undertake whatever responsibilities the membe'I'.s of the SNCA should decide to entrust to him. He conceived of this office as a service to the nation. Two days ,before his, death we were occupied in discussion until midnight. When he became engrossed in the subject of Slovakia, his eyes shone bdlliantly. He said that evening, and he repeated it with emphasis several times, that when our nation attains its freedom and independence, not one of us may presume .pretensions to a privileged position at home. Our only duty, here in a new land which affords us liberty and the opportunity to live unshackled by the terror which dominates aJl life at home, is to devote ourseilves tq work for our naJtion . This is one of the most important convictions which each one of us must g~asp. Anyone who would arrogate to himself special advantages or favors at home in re- �SLOVAKIA 9 turn for his labor in exile is not welcome in our midst. On the other hand, he continued, qualified aind deserving indi,v iduals will be fully appreciated at home in due time; they will be in demand, and there need be no apprehensions that any worthy indi1vidurul will receive less than his due. •I t behooves us all to re reasonable, non-extremist, and to do our utmost in beha[f of the Slovak cause under extraterritorial circumstances. This is the spirit in which Dr. Hrusorvsky dedicated himself to his nation throughout his whole life. This article would be incomplete were I to omit recollections from Rome in the years 1945-1947. Those were trying times. We lived in constant danger of ,b eing overtaken and apprehended and committed. to our foes. Terrific pressure was .b eing put on iltalian officialdom, but Italian autho. rities, sympathetic to our case because of ~arol Sidor, with., stood and resisted this .pressure successfully. Rome captured: Hlrusovsky's heart. Day after day he frequented the Vatican library and devcoted himself particular1y to the study of the olosest relationships between .t he V aitican and Sl01Vrukia. !His finished wo11k on this sUJbject has already been published. When it was not a jaunt to the library that he planned, we went out togethm-, tramping the streets of Rome, touring its boulevards and ma,rket ;plaices, and visiting its shrines and churches. Hrnsovsky ha,d so intimate a knowledge of ancient Roman villages and country sites that when he began to re.late what happened in this or that locality, or how a ,plaice had distinguished itself, his listener lost ali cootact with time and became wholly unaware that planes roared in the Slky, that trolleys jangled in the streets, that cars meed by. Lost in the spell of Hrusovsky's words, one relirved the glory of ancient days. Before one's eyes the Roman Emp:i!re caime. to life again. Hrusovsky had a rare genius for creating this kind of atmosphere: It was this type of historica1 ,p resentation that also held the key to his eminent success as a classroom lecturer. Just as in Rome he made Roman history live before our eyes, so did he regale his students in ,Slo'Va:kia with Slovak history. �SLOVAKIA Just as Jan Holly over a hundred years ago captivated and instructed the followers of Stur, so did Hrusovsky inspire and educate his high school students at the gymnazium. lt was in this manner, too, that he held audiences spellbound when he delivered occasional addresses at the various celebrations in Slovak villages and towns. ThaJt was his ,life; that was his life's work: to conjure an authentic image of the true greatness and the true glory of the distant past, t.o bridge the gay between the presBnt and the past, and then to forecast and build a more prosperous Slovak future. There is a very large number of Hrusovsky's addresses and articles in which he developed the subject of Slovak statehood. There have been many opponents to Slovaikia's aspirations to statehood, ,b ut not one of them has been able to foil or to refute the iron logic of Hrusovsky's aJI1guments in its favor. In the ,p ast, the works of the most popular Slovak writers were putblished in editions running to several hundred copies. Never yet, however, did any Slovak booik win such ready ·a nd such widespread populairity as did Hlru_ sovsky's "Slovenske Dejiny" (Slovak History). It was the first complete survey of our Slovruk historicaJ record. Pre-. pared as it was ,b y Dr. Hrnsovsky, the first Slovak historian of learning and of note, it presented to the Slovak nation a continuous reel of a:bsoirbing scenes from its past. We were all ag,reeaJbly surprised when edition upon edition of his work was exhausted so that by 1945 when Hrusovsky was leaving Slova:kia, over one hundred thousand copies of this 'book were in the hands of the Slovak people. 'Dhis volume of Hrusovsky's history found its way even into homes where formerly hardly another book haid been brought besides the prayer book and an infrequent almanac or annual. Hrusovsky's book was written in a style which had been so often recommended to us by Karol Sidor, who repeatedly reminded us to write clearly, simply, so that even unschooled ;parents in remote hamlets would haive no difficulty in following and understanding what we wrote. That was its styllistic merit. In content, this history is �SLOVAKIA ll prepared. with so scholarl:y an approach - with restraint, with fairmindedness, with an oibjective outlook - that it ser.ves as a substantial refreshment for both the educated classes and for the less privileged. With this volume, which the new regime proscribed in 194'5, Hrusavsky turned in Slovak national life so deep and so broad a furrow that no foreign usurpers can sue. ceed. in leveling it eiven in the course of years of effort. Even today reports from home reveal that this is the book which is still the most widely read Slovak work and the most frequently sought book in the black ma.T!kets where, alas, an enonnous number of Slovaik writings are listed. In the early part of 1945 it was rll!ffiOTed that Communist par tisans caiptured and executed Hrusovsky. Thank God that this was a false rumor. The partisans were defeated; they retreated. and Hlrl.l'sovsky returned home. His first visit took him to Bresto vany to see 'his mother. It is understanda]ble that she embraced him warmly and held him close to her heart. Shortly after the e,raltation of their meeting, however., she ·b ravely reminded. him: "For a great cause, it is a worthy thing eiven to die, my son -- and Slovak statehood is a great cause." Dr. Hrus ovsky often repeated these w<>irds, commenting: "Our peasant mothers embody much of the heroism of ancient Rome's noble matrons." And now the noble heart of •F rancis Hrusovsky has stilled its ibeating. He departed., mourned by a company of outstanding quinquagenarians who had worked with him toward a common goal in ,puiblic life: Sidor, Cernak, Janci. All were oa.lled by the Angel of Death at an age when a public servant usually attains the peak and the full de. velopment of his strength and activity. National leaders though they were, their hearts, so devoted to theiT nation, could not withstand the strain orf the hour; they were overworked and exhausted. The burden of the yoke overtaxed their physical limitations, and their spark of life was crushed by it. � 5 SLOVAKIA Slovak letters, as well as American Slovak history, were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and ex;pansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural 'history of American citizens of Slovak descent. Besides these book length productions, Dr. Hruso:vsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numeTous addresses delivered on various occasions. Reflecting on some of these merits of Dr. 'Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond v\ith the ex.pression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultral life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for wo,r k, and his lmfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." Afl true Slovaks on both sides of the Iron Curtain bear with pain the loss of Dr. IHruso,vsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovs:k y's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and li'berties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die . Thus, indeed, will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live, partaking of an immorality among us, his courage, his vision, his selflessness seTVing as an undying example for coming generations of Slo:vaks, inspiring them tq win fOT their country that freedom, that independent and recognized state for which Hrusovsky wo!"ked literally to his last breath . 1 • • • DR. FRANCIS HRUSOVSKY - THE MAN Constantine Culen Franc.is Hrufovsky was eminently an historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislava even under the tuteJage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. The ,professor was aware that this yo'll'Ilg collegian's views were radical,l y oppooed to his own outlook, nevertheless entertained high esteem for him. It was something which Hirusovsky merited 'because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge. But �6 SLOVAKIA on completing his university training, Hruswsky decided on a different course of life. There happened to be a vaicancy for the head.mastership at the Catholic Slovalk high school or gymna:zium at Klastor pod Znievom and Hrusovsky chose to apply for the post. It was not considered an enviable position by reason of the fact that the institution was burdened with financiaJ difficulties amd very often the first of the month found the administration really straitened ~bout meeting the payroll. Moreover, the school faced an expansion prog~am which complicated financial matters to an even greater degree. Nevertheless, Hrusovsky did not decide on the assured se_ curity and prestige of a university chair in pr,e ference to this position which was less rewarding in material ivalues. He became the school's director and made of it the intellectual center which Bishop Stefan Moyses, its founder, had hoped it would once become. This particular gymnazium was the only institution which ,b ore upon its facade the inscription "SLOVIDNSKE GYMNAZl/lJ.M (,SI.JOV!AK GYiMiNAZIUM); all other similar schools were inscribed as "OZE}()HO-SLOiVA1K." It is not dear just how this detail escaped the notice of the civic authorities at the time, but the point is that Dr. HTusovsky was singularly proud of such a distinctive designation of his school. And it was, in reality, the only genuine SLOV A1K gymna·zium, not merely in name, but also in spirit and in purpose. It was my privilege to go there often. And each visit proved to me a more refreshing experience. Perhaps there had never yet been as demanding a headmaster as was Hrusovsky, but certainly there never yet was one who had been so universally loved and respected "Pan direk:to:r" -that was his title; it was a designation or an ruppellation by which we understood without question and immediately that the reference was to Dr. Hrusorvsky and to him alone. The greatest penalty meted out to an unhappy offender was to hear from pan direktor no word rubout the transgression. Once I happened to be in his school office with hin1 when a student approached with an explanation and apology. �SLOVAKIA 7 "Did I say anything to you?" said pan direktor to the offender in a tone of voice which betrayed no wiarmth. "Well, that's just it, pan direktor; thia t's the point. You said not a wo,r d," the student complained. Even here, in immigration, his former students often soug,h t out their pan direktor. The confidently referred to him for counsel and always ·p arted from him strengthened and imbued with resolution. Hrusorvsiky never recommended inconsiderate or rash and merely contentious conflict, he did encourage vigorous effort and endorsed even justified force that was deliberate and purposeful. Hrusorvsky was one of the most highly regarded members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic (193'8--1945). We happened to, serive together ,o n various committees. I learned that he looked even upon current problems with the dis1p osition of a serious historian, and it was especially in our committee sessions that a comparison of the past with the present helped to resolve our difficulties and to ease our tasks. He was not given to frequent expression in Parliament but when he did speak, he delivered a speech that left a lasting impression. Although 'he was a,ble to, speak without prolonged ,p reparation, he always took pains to :p repare his par. liamentary addresses with care. Every sentence, every word was selected for a specific purpo,s e and a particula:r significance. These addresses are of such merit that one day they will be e!ID!bodied in handbooks of ;public speaking as classic creations. The thought-ieontent, as well as the delivery and all that was connected with these addresses, was thoroughly studied and weighed, tI believe that I derogate from no one's merits of fame when I judge thaJt Hrusovsky was one of. the best speakers of the Slovaik nation within the past century. Frequently HI'us01Vslky was also the speaker of the day in villages and towns celebrating this or that occasion. Very many people must recall these celebrations with a deep sense of appreciation of his talents. One of the interests of Dr. Hrusovsky's s,pooial .p redilec-, tion was the Slov,a,k Institute of Arts and -Sciences (1M atica �8 SLOVAKIA slovenska). As chairman of various science departments and as secretary of the history depa:rtment of the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, he contributed a great deal to the organization of scientific pursuits and undertrukings in Slovakia. He was a real responsibility; he had accomplished much; but he still had a great deal of work .planned. Even the very last evening of his life he discussed several longstanding iprojects which he hoped to realize some future day that would grant a happy return to his native land. Recently a certain Slovak political leader who was en. gaiged in conversation with Dr. Hrusovsky remarked that at this ,p oint it was quite beyond him even to imagine a return to his former calling, a!bsor'bed as, he had become with national politics. Dr. Hrusovsky observed, "With me it is quite the contrary. What I can most r,e adily imagine and what would give me the greatest satisfaction right at this moment would be to return to the teaching field at the gymnazilliill." It was most natural and logical that on the death of Ka,rol Sidor, Hrusovsky should succeed to the presidency of the Slovak National Council AJbroad. Never at home, and much less in exile, did he aspire to p'U'blic office. 'In response to the insistence of his friends and colleagues, however, he finally yielded to, this extent that he agreed to undertake whatever responsibilities the membe'I'.s of the SNCA should decide to entrust to him. He conceived of this office as a service to the nation. Two days ,before his, death we were occupied in discussion until midnight. When he became engrossed in the subject of Slovakia, his eyes shone bdlliantly. He said that evening, and he repeated it with emphasis several times, that when our nation attains its freedom and independence, not one of us may presume .pretensions to a privileged position at home. Our only duty, here in a new land which affords us liberty and the opportunity to live unshackled by the terror which dominates aJl life at home, is to devote ourseilves tq work for our naJtion . This is one of the most important convictions which each one of us must g~asp. Anyone who would arrogate to himself special advantages or favors at home in re- �SLOVAKIA 9 turn for his labor in exile is not welcome in our midst. On the other hand, he continued, qualified aind deserving indi,v iduals will be fully appreciated at home in due time; they will be in demand, and there need be no apprehensions that any worthy indi1vidurul will receive less than his due. •I t behooves us all to re reasonable, non-extremist, and to do our utmost in beha[f of the Slovak cause under extraterritorial circumstances. This is the spirit in which Dr. Hrusorvsky dedicated himself to his nation throughout his whole life. This article would be incomplete were I to omit recollections from Rome in the years 1945-1947. Those were trying times. We lived in constant danger of ,b eing overtaken and apprehended and committed. to our foes. Terrific pressure was .b eing put on iltalian officialdom, but Italian autho. rities, sympathetic to our case because of ~arol Sidor, with., stood and resisted this .pressure successfully. Rome captured: Hlrusovsky's heart. Day after day he frequented the Vatican library and devcoted himself particular1y to the study of the olosest relationships between .t he V aitican and Sl01Vrukia. !His finished wo11k on this sUJbject has already been published. When it was not a jaunt to the library that he planned, we went out togethm-, tramping the streets of Rome, touring its boulevards and ma,rket ;plaices, and visiting its shrines and churches. Hrnsovsky ha,d so intimate a knowledge of ancient Roman villages and country sites that when he began to re.late what happened in this or that locality, or how a ,plaice had distinguished itself, his listener lost ali cootact with time and became wholly unaware that planes roared in the Slky, that trolleys jangled in the streets, that cars meed by. Lost in the spell of Hrusovsky's words, one relirved the glory of ancient days. Before one's eyes the Roman Emp:i!re caime. to life again. Hrusovsky had a rare genius for creating this kind of atmosphere: It was this type of historica1 ,p resentation that also held the key to his eminent success as a classroom lecturer. Just as in Rome he made Roman history live before our eyes, so did he regale his students in ,Slo'Va:kia with Slovak history. �SLOVAKIA Just as Jan Holly over a hundred years ago captivated and instructed the followers of Stur, so did Hrusovsky inspire and educate his high school students at the gymnazium. lt was in this manner, too, that he held audiences spellbound when he delivered occasional addresses at the various celebrations in Slovak villages and towns. ThaJt was his ,life; that was his life's work: to conjure an authentic image of the true greatness and the true glory of the distant past, t.o bridge the gay between the presBnt and the past, and then to forecast and build a more prosperous Slovak future. There is a very large number of Hrusovsky's addresses and articles in which he developed the subject of Slovak statehood. There have been many opponents to Slovaikia's aspirations to statehood, ,b ut not one of them has been able to foil or to refute the iron logic of Hrusovsky's aJI1guments in its favor. In the ,p ast, the works of the most popular Slovak writers were putblished in editions running to several hundred copies. Never yet, however, did any Slovak booik win such ready ·a nd such widespread populairity as did Hlru_ sovsky's "Slovenske Dejiny" (Slovak History). It was the first complete survey of our Slovruk historicaJ record. Pre-. pared as it was ,b y Dr. Hrnsovsky, the first Slovak historian of learning and of note, it presented to the Slovak nation a continuous reel of a:bsoirbing scenes from its past. We were all ag,reeaJbly surprised when edition upon edition of his work was exhausted so that by 1945 when Hrusovsky was leaving Slova:kia, over one hundred thousand copies of this 'book were in the hands of the Slovak people. 'Dhis volume of Hrusovsky's history found its way even into homes where formerly hardly another book haid been brought besides the prayer book and an infrequent almanac or annual. Hrusovsky's book was written in a style which had been so often recommended to us by Karol Sidor, who repeatedly reminded us to write clearly, simply, so that even unschooled ;parents in remote hamlets would haive no difficulty in following and understanding what we wrote. That was its styllistic merit. In content, this history is �SLOVAKIA ll prepared. with so scholarl:y an approach - with restraint, with fairmindedness, with an oibjective outlook - that it ser.ves as a substantial refreshment for both the educated classes and for the less privileged. With this volume, which the new regime proscribed in 194'5, Hrusavsky turned in Slovak national life so deep and so broad a furrow that no foreign usurpers can sue. ceed. in leveling it eiven in the course of years of effort. Even today reports from home reveal that this is the book which is still the most widely read Slovak work and the most frequently sought book in the black ma.T!kets where, alas, an enonnous number of Slovaik writings are listed. In the early part of 1945 it was rll!ffiOTed that Communist par tisans caiptured and executed Hrusovsky. Thank God that this was a false rumor. The partisans were defeated; they retreated. and Hlrl.l'sovsky returned home. His first visit took him to Bresto vany to see 'his mother. It is understanda]ble that she embraced him warmly and held him close to her heart. Shortly after the e,raltation of their meeting, however., she ·b ravely reminded. him: "For a great cause, it is a worthy thing eiven to die, my son -- and Slovak statehood is a great cause." Dr. Hrus ovsky often repeated these w<>irds, commenting: "Our peasant mothers embody much of the heroism of ancient Rome's noble matrons." And now the noble heart of •F rancis Hrusovsky has stilled its ibeating. He departed., mourned by a company of outstanding quinquagenarians who had worked with him toward a common goal in ,puiblic life: Sidor, Cernak, Janci. All were oa.lled by the Angel of Death at an age when a public servant usually attains the peak and the full de. velopment of his strength and activity. National leaders though they were, their hearts, so devoted to theiT nation, could not withstand the strain orf the hour; they were overworked and exhausted. The burden of the yoke overtaxed their physical limitations, and their spark of life was crushed by it. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1956, Vol. 6 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 18), March 1956.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 19), June 1956.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 20-21), September-December 1956.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1956 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 5 SLOVAKIA Slovak letters, as well as American Slovak history, were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and ex;pansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural 'history of American citizens of Slovak descent. Besides these book length productions, Dr. Hruso:vsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numeTous addresses delivered on various occasions. Reflecting on some of these merits of Dr. 'Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond v\ith the ex.pression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultral life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for wo,r k, and his lmfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." Afl true Slovaks on both sides of the Iron Curtain bear with pain the loss of Dr. IHruso,vsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovs:k y's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and li'berties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die . Thus, indeed, will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live, partaking of an immorality among us, his courage, his vision, his selflessness seTVing as an undying example for coming generations of Slo:vaks, inspiring them tq win fOT their country that freedom, that independent and recognized state for which Hrusovsky wo!"ked literally to his last breath . 1 • • • DR. FRANCIS HRUSOVSKY - THE MAN Constantine Culen Franc.is Hrufovsky was eminently an historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislava even under the tuteJage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. The ,professor was aware that this yo'll'Ilg collegian's views were radical,l y oppooed to his own outlook, nevertheless entertained high esteem for him. It was something which Hirusovsky merited 'because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge. But 6 SLOVAKIA on completing his university training, Hruswsky decided on a different course of life. There happened to be a vaicancy for the head.mastership at the Catholic Slovalk high school or gymna:zium at Klastor pod Znievom and Hrusovsky chose to apply for the post. It was not considered an enviable position by reason of the fact that the institution was burdened with financiaJ difficulties amd very often the first of the month found the administration really straitened ~bout meeting the payroll. Moreover, the school faced an expansion prog~am which complicated financial matters to an even greater degree. Nevertheless, Hrusovsky did not decide on the assured se_ curity and prestige of a university chair in pr,e ference to this position which was less rewarding in material ivalues. He became the school's director and made of it the intellectual center which Bishop Stefan Moyses, its founder, had hoped it would once become. This particular gymnazium was the only institution which ,b ore upon its facade the inscription "SLOVIDNSKE GYMNAZl/lJ.M (,SI.JOV!AK GYiMiNAZIUM); all other similar schools were inscribed as "OZE}()HO-SLOiVA1K." It is not dear just how this detail escaped the notice of the civic authorities at the time, but the point is that Dr. HTusovsky was singularly proud of such a distinctive designation of his school. And it was, in reality, the only genuine SLOV A1K gymna·zium, not merely in name, but also in spirit and in purpose. It was my privilege to go there often. And each visit proved to me a more refreshing experience. Perhaps there had never yet been as demanding a headmaster as was Hrusovsky, but certainly there never yet was one who had been so universally loved and respected "Pan direk:to:r" -that was his title; it was a designation or an ruppellation by which we understood without question and immediately that the reference was to Dr. Hrusorvsky and to him alone. The greatest penalty meted out to an unhappy offender was to hear from pan direktor no word rubout the transgression. Once I happened to be in his school office with hin1 when a student approached with an explanation and apology. SLOVAKIA 7 "Did I say anything to you?" said pan direktor to the offender in a tone of voice which betrayed no wiarmth. "Well, that's just it, pan direktor; thia t's the point. You said not a wo,r d," the student complained. Even here, in immigration, his former students often soug,h t out their pan direktor. The confidently referred to him for counsel and always ·p arted from him strengthened and imbued with resolution. Hrusorvsiky never recommended inconsiderate or rash and merely contentious conflict, he did encourage vigorous effort and endorsed even justified force that was deliberate and purposeful. Hrusorvsky was one of the most highly regarded members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic (193'8--1945). We happened to, serive together ,o n various committees. I learned that he looked even upon current problems with the dis1p osition of a serious historian, and it was especially in our committee sessions that a comparison of the past with the present helped to resolve our difficulties and to ease our tasks. He was not given to frequent expression in Parliament but when he did speak, he delivered a speech that left a lasting impression. Although 'he was a,ble to, speak without prolonged ,p reparation, he always took pains to :p repare his par. liamentary addresses with care. Every sentence, every word was selected for a specific purpo,s e and a particula:r significance. These addresses are of such merit that one day they will be e!ID!bodied in handbooks of ;public speaking as classic creations. The thought-ieontent, as well as the delivery and all that was connected with these addresses, was thoroughly studied and weighed, tI believe that I derogate from no one's merits of fame when I judge thaJt Hrusovsky was one of. the best speakers of the Slovaik nation within the past century. Frequently HI'us01Vslky was also the speaker of the day in villages and towns celebrating this or that occasion. Very many people must recall these celebrations with a deep sense of appreciation of his talents. One of the interests of Dr. Hrusovsky's s,pooial .p redilec-, tion was the Slov,a,k Institute of Arts and -Sciences (1M atica 8 SLOVAKIA slovenska). As chairman of various science departments and as secretary of the history depa:rtment of the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, he contributed a great deal to the organization of scientific pursuits and undertrukings in Slovakia. He was a real responsibility; he had accomplished much; but he still had a great deal of work .planned. Even the very last evening of his life he discussed several longstanding iprojects which he hoped to realize some future day that would grant a happy return to his native land. Recently a certain Slovak political leader who was en. gaiged in conversation with Dr. Hrusovsky remarked that at this ,p oint it was quite beyond him even to imagine a return to his former calling, a!bsor'bed as, he had become with national politics. Dr. Hrusovsky observed, "With me it is quite the contrary. What I can most r,e adily imagine and what would give me the greatest satisfaction right at this moment would be to return to the teaching field at the gymnazilliill." It was most natural and logical that on the death of Ka,rol Sidor, Hrusovsky should succeed to the presidency of the Slovak National Council AJbroad. Never at home, and much less in exile, did he aspire to p'U'blic office. 'In response to the insistence of his friends and colleagues, however, he finally yielded to, this extent that he agreed to undertake whatever responsibilities the membe'I'.s of the SNCA should decide to entrust to him. He conceived of this office as a service to the nation. Two days ,before his, death we were occupied in discussion until midnight. When he became engrossed in the subject of Slovakia, his eyes shone bdlliantly. He said that evening, and he repeated it with emphasis several times, that when our nation attains its freedom and independence, not one of us may presume .pretensions to a privileged position at home. Our only duty, here in a new land which affords us liberty and the opportunity to live unshackled by the terror which dominates aJl life at home, is to devote ourseilves tq work for our naJtion . This is one of the most important convictions which each one of us must g~asp. Anyone who would arrogate to himself special advantages or favors at home in re- SLOVAKIA 9 turn for his labor in exile is not welcome in our midst. On the other hand, he continued, qualified aind deserving indi,v iduals will be fully appreciated at home in due time; they will be in demand, and there need be no apprehensions that any worthy indi1vidurul will receive less than his due. •I t behooves us all to re reasonable, non-extremist, and to do our utmost in beha[f of the Slovak cause under extraterritorial circumstances. This is the spirit in which Dr. Hrusorvsky dedicated himself to his nation throughout his whole life. This article would be incomplete were I to omit recollections from Rome in the years 1945-1947. Those were trying times. We lived in constant danger of ,b eing overtaken and apprehended and committed. to our foes. Terrific pressure was .b eing put on iltalian officialdom, but Italian autho. rities, sympathetic to our case because of ~arol Sidor, with., stood and resisted this .pressure successfully. Rome captured: Hlrusovsky's heart. Day after day he frequented the Vatican library and devcoted himself particular1y to the study of the olosest relationships between .t he V aitican and Sl01Vrukia. !His finished wo11k on this sUJbject has already been published. When it was not a jaunt to the library that he planned, we went out togethm-, tramping the streets of Rome, touring its boulevards and ma,rket ;plaices, and visiting its shrines and churches. Hrnsovsky ha,d so intimate a knowledge of ancient Roman villages and country sites that when he began to re.late what happened in this or that locality, or how a ,plaice had distinguished itself, his listener lost ali cootact with time and became wholly unaware that planes roared in the Slky, that trolleys jangled in the streets, that cars meed by. Lost in the spell of Hrusovsky's words, one relirved the glory of ancient days. Before one's eyes the Roman Emp:i!re caime. to life again. Hrusovsky had a rare genius for creating this kind of atmosphere: It was this type of historica1 ,p resentation that also held the key to his eminent success as a classroom lecturer. Just as in Rome he made Roman history live before our eyes, so did he regale his students in ,Slo'Va:kia with Slovak history. SLOVAKIA Just as Jan Holly over a hundred years ago captivated and instructed the followers of Stur, so did Hrusovsky inspire and educate his high school students at the gymnazium. lt was in this manner, too, that he held audiences spellbound when he delivered occasional addresses at the various celebrations in Slovak villages and towns. ThaJt was his ,life; that was his life's work: to conjure an authentic image of the true greatness and the true glory of the distant past, t.o bridge the gay between the presBnt and the past, and then to forecast and build a more prosperous Slovak future. There is a very large number of Hrusovsky's addresses and articles in which he developed the subject of Slovak statehood. There have been many opponents to Slovaikia's aspirations to statehood, ,b ut not one of them has been able to foil or to refute the iron logic of Hrusovsky's aJI1guments in its favor. In the ,p ast, the works of the most popular Slovak writers were putblished in editions running to several hundred copies. Never yet, however, did any Slovak booik win such ready ·a nd such widespread populairity as did Hlru_ sovsky's "Slovenske Dejiny" (Slovak History). It was the first complete survey of our Slovruk historicaJ record. Pre-. pared as it was ,b y Dr. Hrnsovsky, the first Slovak historian of learning and of note, it presented to the Slovak nation a continuous reel of a:bsoirbing scenes from its past. We were all ag,reeaJbly surprised when edition upon edition of his work was exhausted so that by 1945 when Hrusovsky was leaving Slova:kia, over one hundred thousand copies of this 'book were in the hands of the Slovak people. 'Dhis volume of Hrusovsky's history found its way even into homes where formerly hardly another book haid been brought besides the prayer book and an infrequent almanac or annual. Hrusovsky's book was written in a style which had been so often recommended to us by Karol Sidor, who repeatedly reminded us to write clearly, simply, so that even unschooled ;parents in remote hamlets would haive no difficulty in following and understanding what we wrote. That was its styllistic merit. In content, this history is SLOVAKIA ll prepared. with so scholarl:y an approach - with restraint, with fairmindedness, with an oibjective outlook - that it ser.ves as a substantial refreshment for both the educated classes and for the less privileged. With this volume, which the new regime proscribed in 194'5, Hrusavsky turned in Slovak national life so deep and so broad a furrow that no foreign usurpers can sue. ceed. in leveling it eiven in the course of years of effort. Even today reports from home reveal that this is the book which is still the most widely read Slovak work and the most frequently sought book in the black ma.T!kets where, alas, an enonnous number of Slovaik writings are listed. In the early part of 1945 it was rll!ffiOTed that Communist par tisans caiptured and executed Hrusovsky. Thank God that this was a false rumor. The partisans were defeated; they retreated. and Hlrl.l'sovsky returned home. His first visit took him to Bresto vany to see 'his mother. It is understanda]ble that she embraced him warmly and held him close to her heart. Shortly after the e,raltation of their meeting, however., she ·b ravely reminded. him: "For a great cause, it is a worthy thing eiven to die, my son -- and Slovak statehood is a great cause." Dr. Hrus ovsky often repeated these w<>irds, commenting: "Our peasant mothers embody much of the heroism of ancient Rome's noble matrons." And now the noble heart of •F rancis Hrusovsky has stilled its ibeating. He departed., mourned by a company of outstanding quinquagenarians who had worked with him toward a common goal in ,puiblic life: Sidor, Cernak, Janci. All were oa.lled by the Angel of Death at an age when a public servant usually attains the peak and the full de. velopment of his strength and activity. National leaders though they were, their hearts, so devoted to theiT nation, could not withstand the strain orf the hour; they were overworked and exhausted. The burden of the yoke overtaxed their physical limitations, and their spark of life was crushed by it.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Francis Hrušovský - The Man Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 3-4 (20-21), September-December 1956 pp. 5-11 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1956 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/de116eb2b4f18a7d53061b5225491a7a.pdf 9e67b7fcb68c7ce8075d1a92214a5193 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 31 ISRAEL AND SLOVAKIA K. Oulen Israel i,s in the news today. And it has been in the news since it was founded in 1948. Israel is the youngest state of the oldest nation on earth. Israel is in a precarious situaition, being surrounded as it is by enemies who have proclaimed !i.t their aim to force the Israeli into the sea and destroy the State. To do this, however, they need weapons and ammunition. The Skoda wOiiks of Pilsen, Bohemia, has contacted with Egypt to provide materials of war, presumably with the approbation of !Moscow - the same Skoda works which worked SQ efficiently for Hitler during the past war and is now working overtime for the men of the Kremildn, the works that British and U. 1S. bomlbers, it seems, were not allowed to destroy. It is both interesting and sur.prising that the Communists began so willingly to supply weapons against Israel, since it is an admitted fact that no one helped the idea of Communism more than the Jews: they were its creators, its standard-bearers, and its ,propagators throughout the world. It is also interesting to note that it was the Czechs who began to supply werupons of war to the enemies of Israel, even though no one in the whole wide world supported Czech interests more than the Jews. The Jews openly admit ;that their independence is threatened. And they vow that they shall fight to. preserve it. And that is, indeed, a JVery nice and proper thing to do. John Kollar, the Slovak writer, once wrote: Every one who is worthy of freedom knows how to respect the free. dom of others. The Jews renewed their independent state after 2000 years of alien rule, while the Slovaks rid themselves of alien domination after a 1000 years. But it is a fact that, excepting the Czechs, no other nation was against Slovak statehood as were the Jews. In 1939, when minister Mracna intervened in the State Department in Washington for recognition of the Slovak �32 SLOV4KIA Repwblic, officials of the Department to1d hi.Ip. dire<!tly they ha.d no objections to su:ch recognition. We know that the .American am:bassador in Bud~t intervened several times and recommended the recogmtton of the Slovak Republic. Against recognition were certain political circles which were greatlY. influenced by Jewish circles. The latter have been and still are of the opinion that the Slova;ks must be under Czech domination. Before the creation of the political "Czecho-iSlovaJk" moostrooity of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, the same circles favored the domination of the SfovaJks ,b y the Magyars. In every instant, in the struggle of the Slovaks for freedom, the Jews always supported the oppressors of the Slovaks. Indeed, it wou1d be apropos to learn directly from a Jewish s01Urce by what reckoning the Jews came to the conclusion that they are entitled to a. state while the Slo~ vaks are not. lrf they are not o.f such a mind, why do they oppose Slovruk statehood? If the Jews honestly believe that no one sha1l be able to kill the idea of Jewish statehood, we, on the other hand, assure them that the Slovaks believe the same thing in their c~·- Ali naJtions endeavo,r to attain independence. We believe that the time is coming when natiion wHl cease oppressing nation. The Slovaks firmly believe that they will one day enjoy political independence, their own Slovak Republic, founded on Ohristian, demo.c ratic principles. Is it in the interests of the Jews who lived in Slovakia and would stitl want to live there to persevere to the fast moment on the siide of the enemies of the Slovak people, against Siovak independence ? We cannot believe that it is. Preferring one nation to another is not just. There must be no exceptions. Even the Ozechs must be no exception with their claim that every _mature, self-sustainin g nation which !knows how to manage itself iis entitled to independence. If a nation is not left to itself, how can it be known whether it can manage iitself or nort? Accord.ring to the Czechs, the Slovak peo,p le was not Slllch a nation. During the war, however, the Slorvaks proved con:olu:si.vely that they were a mature and self-sustainin g nation, q_emon_ �SLOVAKIA 33 strating in the Slovak Republic that they were able a.nd capable of managm,g their own affairs even without Czech intervention. Nevertheless, the Je:ws of the whole world are still op-, posed to Slovak independence, not a single Jewish organizamon voicing itself openly for it. They were the lbacikbone of the anti-'Slova!k propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes (Klinger, Benau, Ku:nossy, Ifu!jdu, Weisskopf, Dr. Sarissky, HaasKysucky, Frisch, etc.). The :Slovsaks are of the opinion that the Jewish nation is entitled to state independence, if it so desires. The same goes for every nation in the entire world. And, hence, that holds for their own Slovalk nation. The Jewish 1State would have coliaipsed long .a go without foreign. loans and gifts. The Slova:k State did not owe any~ body anything; it got along nicely without foreign. loan.s and gifts during the most trying years of the war. Conversely, the leaiders of the Slovaik Republic were executed, imprisoned, disfranchii!zed, deported and di~possessed, because it was aJ.leged that others did owe Slovakia quite a bit - the same SlovaJk!i-a that the Ozechs had complaJined about so many years as 'b eing an e~pensive ,ba;llast. The Slovaks never abandoned their territory. Ml neighboring nations, except the Czechs, were for S1ovak independence. Slovakia, twice as large as Israel, had a ma:jo-rity of Slovruk inha:bitants. And yet, the very same Jews, who so enthusiastically and uncompromisingly are fighting fo:r their own independence, fought and are still fighting against Slovak independence. Certainly it must be perfectly clear that if the 1Slova.k.s are not entitled to independence, then certainil.y neither are the Jews. But ff .that were the case, iit would mean that we are stiil living in a period of racism, in which some nations are preferred, while others are oppressed and suppressed. A nation cannot be fighting for its own independence with one hand and striking against the independence of dther nations with the other. The Jews, however, are doing just thiat in the case of the Slovaks. � SLOVAKIA 31 ISRAEL AND SLOVAKIA K. Oulen Israel i,s in the news today. And it has been in the news since it was founded in 1948. Israel is the youngest state of the oldest nation on earth. Israel is in a precarious situaition, being surrounded as it is by enemies who have proclaimed !i.t their aim to force the Israeli into the sea and destroy the State. To do this, however, they need weapons and ammunition. The Skoda wOiiks of Pilsen, Bohemia, has contacted with Egypt to provide materials of war, presumably with the approbation of !Moscow - the same Skoda works which worked SQ efficiently for Hitler during the past war and is now working overtime for the men of the Kremildn, the works that British and U. 1S. bomlbers, it seems, were not allowed to destroy. It is both interesting and sur.prising that the Communists began so willingly to supply weapons against Israel, since it is an admitted fact that no one helped the idea of Communism more than the Jews: they were its creators, its standard-bearers, and its ,propagators throughout the world. It is also interesting to note that it was the Czechs who began to supply werupons of war to the enemies of Israel, even though no one in the whole wide world supported Czech interests more than the Jews. The Jews openly admit ;that their independence is threatened. And they vow that they shall fight to. preserve it. And that is, indeed, a JVery nice and proper thing to do. John Kollar, the Slovak writer, once wrote: Every one who is worthy of freedom knows how to respect the free. dom of others. The Jews renewed their independent state after 2000 years of alien rule, while the Slovaks rid themselves of alien domination after a 1000 years. But it is a fact that, excepting the Czechs, no other nation was against Slovak statehood as were the Jews. In 1939, when minister Mracna intervened in the State Department in Washington for recognition of the Slovak �32 SLOV4KIA Repwblic, officials of the Department to1d hi.Ip. dire<!tly they ha.d no objections to su:ch recognition. We know that the .American am:bassador in Bud~t intervened several times and recommended the recogmtton of the Slovak Republic. Against recognition were certain political circles which were greatlY. influenced by Jewish circles. The latter have been and still are of the opinion that the Slova;ks must be under Czech domination. Before the creation of the political "Czecho-iSlovaJk" moostrooity of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, the same circles favored the domination of the SfovaJks ,b y the Magyars. In every instant, in the struggle of the Slovaks for freedom, the Jews always supported the oppressors of the Slovaks. Indeed, it wou1d be apropos to learn directly from a Jewish s01Urce by what reckoning the Jews came to the conclusion that they are entitled to a. state while the Slo~ vaks are not. lrf they are not o.f such a mind, why do they oppose Slovruk statehood? If the Jews honestly believe that no one sha1l be able to kill the idea of Jewish statehood, we, on the other hand, assure them that the Slovaks believe the same thing in their c~·- Ali naJtions endeavo,r to attain independence. We believe that the time is coming when natiion wHl cease oppressing nation. The Slovaks firmly believe that they will one day enjoy political independence, their own Slovak Republic, founded on Ohristian, demo.c ratic principles. Is it in the interests of the Jews who lived in Slovakia and would stitl want to live there to persevere to the fast moment on the siide of the enemies of the Slovak people, against Siovak independence ? We cannot believe that it is. Preferring one nation to another is not just. There must be no exceptions. Even the Ozechs must be no exception with their claim that every _mature, self-sustainin g nation which !knows how to manage itself iis entitled to independence. If a nation is not left to itself, how can it be known whether it can manage iitself or nort? Accord.ring to the Czechs, the Slovak peo,p le was not Slllch a nation. During the war, however, the Slorvaks proved con:olu:si.vely that they were a mature and self-sustainin g nation, q_emon_ �SLOVAKIA 33 strating in the Slovak Republic that they were able a.nd capable of managm,g their own affairs even without Czech intervention. Nevertheless, the Je:ws of the whole world are still op-, posed to Slovak independence, not a single Jewish organizamon voicing itself openly for it. They were the lbacikbone of the anti-'Slova!k propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes (Klinger, Benau, Ku:nossy, Ifu!jdu, Weisskopf, Dr. Sarissky, HaasKysucky, Frisch, etc.). The :Slovsaks are of the opinion that the Jewish nation is entitled to state independence, if it so desires. The same goes for every nation in the entire world. And, hence, that holds for their own Slovalk nation. The Jewish 1State would have coliaipsed long .a go without foreign. loans and gifts. The Slova:k State did not owe any~ body anything; it got along nicely without foreign. loan.s and gifts during the most trying years of the war. Conversely, the leaiders of the Slovaik Republic were executed, imprisoned, disfranchii!zed, deported and di~possessed, because it was aJ.leged that others did owe Slovakia quite a bit - the same SlovaJk!i-a that the Ozechs had complaJined about so many years as 'b eing an e~pensive ,ba;llast. The Slovaks never abandoned their territory. Ml neighboring nations, except the Czechs, were for S1ovak independence. Slovakia, twice as large as Israel, had a ma:jo-rity of Slovruk inha:bitants. And yet, the very same Jews, who so enthusiastically and uncompromisingly are fighting fo:r their own independence, fought and are still fighting against Slovak independence. Certainly it must be perfectly clear that if the 1Slova.k.s are not entitled to independence, then certainil.y neither are the Jews. But ff .that were the case, iit would mean that we are stiil living in a period of racism, in which some nations are preferred, while others are oppressed and suppressed. A nation cannot be fighting for its own independence with one hand and striking against the independence of dther nations with the other. The Jews, however, are doing just thiat in the case of the Slovaks. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1956, Vol. 6 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 18), March 1956.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 19), June 1956.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 20-21), September-December 1956.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1956 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 31 ISRAEL AND SLOVAKIA K. Oulen Israel i,s in the news today. And it has been in the news since it was founded in 1948. Israel is the youngest state of the oldest nation on earth. Israel is in a precarious situaition, being surrounded as it is by enemies who have proclaimed !i.t their aim to force the Israeli into the sea and destroy the State. To do this, however, they need weapons and ammunition. The Skoda wOiiks of Pilsen, Bohemia, has contacted with Egypt to provide materials of war, presumably with the approbation of !Moscow - the same Skoda works which worked SQ efficiently for Hitler during the past war and is now working overtime for the men of the Kremildn, the works that British and U. 1S. bomlbers, it seems, were not allowed to destroy. It is both interesting and sur.prising that the Communists began so willingly to supply weapons against Israel, since it is an admitted fact that no one helped the idea of Communism more than the Jews: they were its creators, its standard-bearers, and its ,propagators throughout the world. It is also interesting to note that it was the Czechs who began to supply werupons of war to the enemies of Israel, even though no one in the whole wide world supported Czech interests more than the Jews. The Jews openly admit ;that their independence is threatened. And they vow that they shall fight to. preserve it. And that is, indeed, a JVery nice and proper thing to do. John Kollar, the Slovak writer, once wrote: Every one who is worthy of freedom knows how to respect the free. dom of others. The Jews renewed their independent state after 2000 years of alien rule, while the Slovaks rid themselves of alien domination after a 1000 years. But it is a fact that, excepting the Czechs, no other nation was against Slovak statehood as were the Jews. In 1939, when minister Mracna intervened in the State Department in Washington for recognition of the Slovak 32 SLOV4KIA Repwblic, officials of the Department to1d hi.Ip. dire<!tly they ha.d no objections to su:ch recognition. We know that the .American am:bassador in Bud~t intervened several times and recommended the recogmtton of the Slovak Republic. Against recognition were certain political circles which were greatlY. influenced by Jewish circles. The latter have been and still are of the opinion that the Slova;ks must be under Czech domination. Before the creation of the political "Czecho-iSlovaJk" moostrooity of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, the same circles favored the domination of the SfovaJks ,b y the Magyars. In every instant, in the struggle of the Slovaks for freedom, the Jews always supported the oppressors of the Slovaks. Indeed, it wou1d be apropos to learn directly from a Jewish s01Urce by what reckoning the Jews came to the conclusion that they are entitled to a. state while the Slo~ vaks are not. lrf they are not o.f such a mind, why do they oppose Slovruk statehood? If the Jews honestly believe that no one sha1l be able to kill the idea of Jewish statehood, we, on the other hand, assure them that the Slovaks believe the same thing in their c~·- Ali naJtions endeavo,r to attain independence. We believe that the time is coming when natiion wHl cease oppressing nation. The Slovaks firmly believe that they will one day enjoy political independence, their own Slovak Republic, founded on Ohristian, demo.c ratic principles. Is it in the interests of the Jews who lived in Slovakia and would stitl want to live there to persevere to the fast moment on the siide of the enemies of the Slovak people, against Siovak independence ? We cannot believe that it is. Preferring one nation to another is not just. There must be no exceptions. Even the Ozechs must be no exception with their claim that every _mature, self-sustainin g nation which !knows how to manage itself iis entitled to independence. If a nation is not left to itself, how can it be known whether it can manage iitself or nort? Accord.ring to the Czechs, the Slovak peo,p le was not Slllch a nation. During the war, however, the Slorvaks proved con:olu:si.vely that they were a mature and self-sustainin g nation, q_emon_ SLOVAKIA 33 strating in the Slovak Republic that they were able a.nd capable of managm,g their own affairs even without Czech intervention. Nevertheless, the Je:ws of the whole world are still op-, posed to Slovak independence, not a single Jewish organizamon voicing itself openly for it. They were the lbacikbone of the anti-'Slova!k propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes (Klinger, Benau, Ku:nossy, Ifu!jdu, Weisskopf, Dr. Sarissky, HaasKysucky, Frisch, etc.). The :Slovsaks are of the opinion that the Jewish nation is entitled to state independence, if it so desires. The same goes for every nation in the entire world. And, hence, that holds for their own Slovalk nation. The Jewish 1State would have coliaipsed long .a go without foreign. loans and gifts. The Slova:k State did not owe any~ body anything; it got along nicely without foreign. loan.s and gifts during the most trying years of the war. Conversely, the leaiders of the Slovaik Republic were executed, imprisoned, disfranchii!zed, deported and di~possessed, because it was aJ.leged that others did owe Slovakia quite a bit - the same SlovaJk!i-a that the Ozechs had complaJined about so many years as 'b eing an e~pensive ,ba;llast. The Slovaks never abandoned their territory. Ml neighboring nations, except the Czechs, were for S1ovak independence. Slovakia, twice as large as Israel, had a ma:jo-rity of Slovruk inha:bitants. And yet, the very same Jews, who so enthusiastically and uncompromisingly are fighting fo:r their own independence, fought and are still fighting against Slovak independence. Certainly it must be perfectly clear that if the 1Slova.k.s are not entitled to independence, then certainil.y neither are the Jews. But ff .that were the case, iit would mean that we are stiil living in a period of racism, in which some nations are preferred, while others are oppressed and suppressed. A nation cannot be fighting for its own independence with one hand and striking against the independence of dther nations with the other. The Jews, however, are doing just thiat in the case of the Slovaks.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Israel and Slovakia Description An account of the resource K. Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 2 (19), June 1956 pp. 31-33 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1956 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/98ef07010f1a1cd98244cc4998b659fe.pdf af405f39714999cc5424511c38773a93 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 57 - - - - - - -- -- ANDREW HLINKA AND PRAGUE By CONSTANTINE tULEN After the Czecho-Slovak Republic was born, two significant Slovak personalities became "problems" for the governing group in Prague, the men handpicked by T. G. Masaryk and Eduard Benes to run the infant state. The first was General Milan R. Stefanik. When the first World War was just about over, and T. G. Masaryk, at that time in Japan, had named the first Czecho-Slovak Government, Stefanik was named War Minister, while the department of Foreign Affairs was entrusted to Dr. Edward Benes. Stefanik expressed no desire for the office given him by Masaryk; he did not expect to be appointed War Minister, but Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new state, since he had opened the door for Masaryk to diplomatic circles which were most responsible for the creation of Czecho-Slovakia. Benes was a political unknown at that time, a politician without any practical political experience. As a result there was a conflict between Benes and Stefanik. The latter, however, was far away from Prague and not very close to Masaryk, while Benes, regarded as Masaryk's intimate and understudy, was right in Prague. Among the very first orders issued by Benes in Prague to his subordinates and lieutenants was the order to inform Slovak factors "in a proper manner" about Stefanik. In the secret documents of Benes's archive there were several accounts about reporting on Stefanik in such a "proper manner." From the tone of the accounts, it is evident that the information given Slovak factors in regard to Stefanik was anything but favorable to him even before he decided to return home. The documents frequently mentioned the "Stefanik problem." And those who regarded Stefanik as the most important problem of the new republic gave out with a sigh of relief when Stefanik's plane was shot up and crashed, killing its occupants, as it neared Bratislava on that fateful day of May 4, 1919. The same men went to Bradlo, made a few nice speeches, and had a gigantic mound built over the dead Stefanik, "one of the �58 SLOVAKIA founders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." But even this the Benes Czechs would prefer to forget today. Thereafter, the "Stefanik problem" ceased to be a problem! The second Slovak personality that entered the life of the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a "problem" was Andrew Hlinka. In a way, Hlinka was given the same treatment as Stefanik. Before he had come to Prague, the same people in the service of Benes made it their business to inform the Czechs about the "Andrew Hlinka problem." In the life of Andrew Hlinka, between the end of October, 1918, and the end of January, 1919, there is a colossal abyss. In 1918, Hlinka was the only one in Slovakia who spoke out clearly and forcefully for secession from the Magyars and for union with the Czechs to form a common political state on the basis of "equals with equals." At the meeting in Martin, in May 1918, he prevented the flight of Slovak leaders from politics, shouting down Dula who wanted to resign the chairmanship of the group. At that time Hlinka said: "Let us not circumvent the issue, but let us say outright that we are for a Czech-Slovak orientation!" In 1918, at two secret meetings and one public meeting, when uncertainty and fear dominated all present, Andrew Hlinka stood up fearlessly and proclaimed: "Our marriage with the Magyars was not successful, we must part." But he went further and said what should be done: "Let us unite with the Czechs in one state." Official Prague had the opportunity to make Hlinka the greatest friend of the Czechs. All it had to do was tell the truth about Hlinka, what Hlinka had done to gain the Slovaks for the new republic. If it had done that, Hlinka would have been greeted in Prague with demonstrations which would have undoubtedly surpassed those in his honor in 1907 after the Cernova massacre. But official Prague had willed it otherwise. Masaryk and Benes and their political servants - were well aware of the fact that Hlinka was a Catholic priest, the leader of the Slovak Catholic People's Party, and a great Slovak patriot and champion of freedom and independence of the Slovak people. A small group of Slovak politicians, handpicked by Masa- �SLOVAKIA 59 ryk and Benes to serve in Prague, saw to it that the "proper" information about Hlinka was propagated. Official Prague could then quote and spread it. It was obvious that the Masaryk-Benes political clique did not want Andrew Hlinka for a friend, so they did what they could to embarrass him and present him in a false light to the people of Czecho-Slovakia to ruin him politically and otherwise. When the Czecho-Slovak State was established, the Slovaks, including Hlinka, had no clear conception of what the new state would be like. That the new state would be run in the spirit of equality of both nations - on that, it seems, all were agreed. The Slovaks would run their country, while the Czechs would be masters of their own household; if the Slovaks needed help, the Czechs would help, but the quantity and quality of such help would be decided by the Slovaks, not the Czechs. The Czechs agreed with this in principle. After Czecho-Slovakia became a reality, some of the men who were afraid to open their mouths before October, 1918, suddenly acquired sufficient courage to run to Prague and tell what they had done for the creation of the state in order to secure political offices for themselves. Hlinka was not one of them. And thereby Hlinka became "dangerous" to the Prague clique of Masaryk and Benes. When Hlinka arrived in Prague as the last of the Slovak deputies, no one told him: "Hlinka, you behaved valiantly, thank you!" No, the Prague politicians, influenced by Masaryk and Benes, could not do that. When Hlinka arrived in Prague he was welcomed not as the greatest friend of the Czechs, but as the worst enemy of the new State. Long debates in parliament revolved around the personality of Andrew Hlinka. Appraising this behavior of the Benes Czechs years later, we can say that it was the first Czech defeat. The history of the advent of Hlinka to Prague and the history of the beginnings of the struggle, which is not finished to date, is very interesting. Andrew Hlinka did not run to Prague as soon as Czecho-Slovakia became a reality, because he realized that Slovakia needed to be consolidated first. Hlinka did not yearn for a ministerial or cabinet position as some Slovak �60 SLOVAKIA politicians did, making it appear as if this were the last station of happiness, or the main prize in the lottery of their life's career. Hlinka came to Prague on January 10, 1919. Hlinka had not been in Prague for a long time - the last time when he lectured in Prague, the city of Prague welcomed him as it had never welcomed any Slovak before or since. It was a welcome fit for a king. But all that seemed to be forgotten now. The majority of Slovak deputies, selected and named by Srobar and approved by Masaryk and Benes, had already taken the oath at previous sessions. The 15th session began with the announcement by chairman Tomasek that Andrew Hlinka, a member of the National Assembly, had presented himself and was ready to take the oath of office. Anton Stefanek read the form of the oath and Hlinka replied: "I do so promise!" At that instant the parliament r esponded with applause. This was the first and, at the same time, the last spontaneous applause that Hlinka received in the Prague parliament from the Czechs and the Czech Slovaks ("Czechoslovaks") . After taking the oath, Hlinka immediately returned home. In less than two weeks, while he was absent, Hlinka became the target of the most vicious and malicious attacks from members of the same parliament. It is strange, when we think of it now, that the attacks wer e initiated by the otherwise keen Czech Social Democrat, Mr. Rudolph Bechyne, who said on January 21, 1919: "I have here the organ of the Czecho-Slovak People's Party, the CZECH. In it is a report of a non-political meeting of Czecho-Slovak Catholics. I read here that the delegate from Slovakia, Andrew Hlinka, spoke at that meeting and this is what he said about the Czechs: ' They are ousting us from our churches!' Allow me to mark this by its right name : it is not dignified for a Catholic priest to lie." "Excellent," exclaimed the parliament, wildly applauding Bechyne. Bechyne: "Hlinka further stated that a hundred Czech teachers are going to Slovakia and what such a teacher knows, that we know." �SLOVAKIA 61 Cuprik: "We got to know that from Moravia!" Bechyiie: "Gentlemen, in such a manner, according to Hlinka's opinion, will be welcomed in Slovakia the Czech teachers, who are going there with real idealism, the kind of idealism we recommend to many of those for whom Hlinka speaks! Furthermore, it says that they are taking religion away from 90 percent of the Catholics. But where is the proof for this? Who is taking religion away from whom? Gentlemen, if anyone took religion away from the people in this war, then it was the army chaplains, about whose activities all soldiers, the faithful and unfaithful believers, are properly informed." As Bechyne continued to speak, he mentioned also that the separation of Church from State is just about ready and closed with this warning : "It is my wish that our public should not be prepared for this act in the manner that it was brought to us in royal Prague by Andrew Blinka, about whose head the aureola is very false." Blinka did have the martyr's aureola: a three-year prison term. And this was something that no other Slovak had. Bechyne's attack was the beginning of a bitter struggle - a struggle which in the end meant the collapse of Czecho-Slovakia, the end of Slovak-Czech collaboration for any sort of common political state. The signal for the attack on Hlinka was given. Even members of the Slovak Club of the Prague parliament caught on quickly; they sensed it would be to their advantage to attack Hlinka in Prague. To ingratiate themselves to the "progressive" Masaryk-Benes Czechs, they willingly and gladly did what they wanted them to do: smear Hlinka. They readily forgot that there were a thousand and one problems in Slovakia. These did not interest them primarily; the big problem was Hlinka. On January 23, 1919, the Prague parliament was the scene of the wildest conversations. The first attack against Blinka was made by Deputy Devecka, who said: "Mr. Hlinka was and is a puzzle for the Slovaks!" The "progressive" Czechs liked that remark, rewarding Devecka's "wisdom" with wild applause, as if he had �62 SLOVAKIA just set another column for the foundations of the newlyborn republic. What Illinka happened to be in 1919, and what the Slovaks thought of him, is not difficult to ascertain at all, but who was Devecka, who was the first Slovak in the Prague parliament to draw a sword against Hlinka? Public sources, literary handbooks, and encyclopediae have nothing to give about Devecka. But it is said by those who are informed that Devecka was a Lutheran preacher, one of the pre-war collaborators of the periodical "Prudy." In short, from time to time, Devecka contributed several lines to a periodical which had some 238 subscribers just before the war began. This was the man, then, who spoke in the name of the Slovak Club of Deputies, of which Hlinka, too, was a member, saying that he and the Club do not identify themselves with Illinka ! Of course, this pleased the Masaryk-Benes politicians exceedingly. Srobar, in his book "Oslobodene Slovensko" (Liberated Slovakia), recalls that there was much distrust of Slovak leaders in Prague for their separatistic stand. Devecka lost no time in assuring Prague that they were good and reliable Slovaks, with the exception of Hlinka, who was, in his estimation, no good. Devecka's speech was complemented by the "Slovensky dennik" (Slovak Daily) with this remark: "Hlinka fears that he will lose power; he does not want Czech enlightenment to shine into the dark corners of the pulpits and that is why he is instigating against progressive teachers.'' The Czechs use the term "devecka" for a maid. In politics that is exactly what Devecka was: an obedient .servant-maid of the Czech socialistic clique, which was determined to neutralize the political activity of Slovak Catholic leaders. During one of his last speeches, on March 5, 1937, Devecka again rehashed the question why Slovak Lutherans had to be employed to help the Czechs in the .administration of government in Slovakia. After nineteen years of Czecho-Slovakia, qualified Slovaks of the Catholic faith still found it difficult to find government employment, because, according to Devecka, it would not be pro- �SLOVAKIA 6'3 per now to replace the non-Catholics in Slovakia after they had performed so faithfully for Czecho-Slovakia. Devecka did not speak the truth. No one in Slovakia said that Slovak Lutherans should be thrown out of offices, but the majority of Slovaks were agreed that Slovak Catholics, too, should be placed in government jobs. Furthermore, few people said throw ALL the Czechs out of Slovakia, but many did speak out against sending more Czechs into Slovakia after the Slovaks did have qualified sons and daughters to fill the various positions which required education and training. Devecka, however, was in the service of the Czech regime in Prague and had to do its bidding for his own sake. Hlinka practically stood alone in the defense of the interests of his Slovak people in 1919. Outside of Juriga, no others were experienced politicians. He was not defended by his own people so much as by Czech Catholics under the leadership of Msgr. Sramek. They backed Hlinka not so much out of love for him, but rather for the practical political considerations which could be exacted with the aid of Hlinka's support. Sramek in fact could more easily and effectively defend Hlinka's clean shield than his own. Later on, of course, we know that Sramek turned against Hlinka and his party, but in 1919 he was Hlinka's "lone defender" so to speak. After Devecka's senseless attack against the absent Hlinka on January 23, 1919, Sramek asked for the floor to reply to Devecka's smear-statements. He had just begun to speak, addressing the members of parliament "most esteemed gentlemen," when a voice boomed out: "And what about ladies?" Sramek answered cooly: "I'm sorry, but I see none here." Thereupon Deputy Zemina (Zeminova) jumped up and shouted: "I am an enemy; I am no lady!" She was right and so was Sramek: Madame Zemina was no lady! Sramek then spoke how necessary it was to cultivate and preserve national unity, particularly at this time (1919) when the borders of the State were not yet defined. Even to this day it is difficult to explain why Sra.mek's words evoked such a storm of protest and opposition. He had attacked no one and had spoken clearly and without malice �64 SLOVAKIA on what he thought was one of the major problems of the new State. In those days, however, it made little difference what Hlinka or Sramek said about anything: all they had to do was ask for the floor and the Czech "progressives" would start barking. I quote from the record for the edification of our readers so they might get an idea of what the "progressive" Deputies in the Prague Parliament were like in the first years of the Republic. Bufival: That means that you must quit inciting against us in the churches! Aust: But it will happen one time that we shall reply to you in the churches. The lights in the heavens are already extinguished! When Sramek asked for a sense of justice and questioned whether the representation in parliament justly represented the people who sent their deputies, Deputy Aust barked: That is FATA MORGANA! Kubicek: Only according to the merits one has gained in the nation. Here every party is represented according to merits which it gained in the nation. "Gentlemen," asked Sramek, "do you really want me to cause a riot in this parliament?" Thereupon the entire parliament resounded with bitter invectives and outcries. When the clamor died down, various members asked and were given the privilege of the floor: Zemina: Well, go ahead and riot! Stransky: Just don't jingle your spurs! Johanis: You're capable of it, Mr. Professor. You used to send people drunk with alcohol against us. Zemina: In Vienna you had no courage. Bufival: In Vienna you made the politics of sneaks. Zemina: Hlinka is inciting against the teachers. Oufik: (one of Sramek's men): Hlinka incites no one; he is a martyr. If Hlinka did not exist, you would have no Slovakia! Markovic: Hlinka did not make Slovakia; he betrayed her. This man is one day a priest and something else the next. I am a Slovak! (Applause). "Allow me," Sramek tried again, "since the day be- �SLOVAKIA 65 fore yesterday the absent Hlinka was attacked in .such a manner ... " - but a booming voice bellowed: This is ingratitude! And then ... Zemina: He attacked Czech teachers. Cufik: Without Hlinka there would have been no Slovakia. To Hlinka belongs the credit that the Slovaks joined the Czechs. He was jailed for two years for the .Slovak cause. Thereupon shouts of ridicule broke out, and a voice ,c ried out: Tell us more, what else did Hlinka do? Markovic: If there were no Masaryk, there would be no Slovaks. Sramek: Permit me, esteemed gentlemen, to state that I felt embarrassed when a member of the presidium of the Czecho-Slovak Social Democratic Party, in such a crude manner, if I must say it, attacked the honor of an absent member of this parliament without ascertaining beforehand exactly what this man had said not in parliament, but at a meeting. Voices: But we read about it in the "Czech." "Esteemed gentlemen, coutinued Sramek, I recall for you what you already know very well, that we are here concerned with every word, every qualifying word, when such a great reproach is made against Andrew Hlinka with falsehoods." Jaros: He does not deserve anything else when he spits at Czech teachers! Zemina: He used to kiss the hand of a Magyar bishop! Sramek: Allow me to state further that there is no proof for what has been said here against Hlinka and no one of us knows exactly what Hlinka said. Jaros: Then he should have retracted it in the newspapers. Sramek: But he is in Slovakia and does not know what is going on here. Stransky: Wen, even one Slovak deputy condemned him. Cufik: From what party? Voice: He, too, was a clerical. Sramek at that time, however, stood his ground, de- �66 SLOVAKIA fending Hlinka against all "progressive" Czechs who wanted to discredit him. Hlinka had a great following in Slovakia, Sramek told the parliament, and by ridiculing and smearing him Hlinka's opponents were not rendering a noble service to the Slovaks and the Czechs and certainly not to the newly-born Czecho-Slovak Republic. When Deputy Bechyne claimed that he heard Hlinka speak against Masaryk in Prostejov and in Brno, Sramek asked him when that happened. When Bechyne replied that it happened b8fore the war, Deputy Sedlacek asked Bechyne what he himself happened to be before the war and what he had said about certain people and matters at that time. Bechyne, of course, would rather not talk about that! Sramek admired Hlinka for standing up for the rights of his people and for his fight in the defense of the individuality of the Slovak people. Promises had been made the Slovaks before they decided to join the Czechs to form a joint political State and those) promises should be kept. And Hlinka had the right to demand that they be kept. Hlinka was and is, Sramek said, for the Czecho-Slovak Republic, but he also is the Slovak nation's symbol of freedom and independence; he should be heard and everything should be done to make the Slovaks feel at home in the new Republic. But Sramek was yelled down by the Czech "progressive" anti-clericals who were egged on by Masaryk's "away from Rome - Rome must be put on trial and condemned !" The Czech press of that time enthusiastically indulged in attacks against Andrew Hlinka. The "Lidove noviny" (People's News) said in an editorial that the regeneration of Slovakia is possible only on the foundation of modern Czech currents. "It will take only a few years and things will be the same in Slovakia as they are in the. Czech lands',' concluded the editorial (Feb. 27, 1919). Stenographic reports of the minutes of the Prague parliament from the beginning of 1919 make particularly interesting reading. They describe some very lively scenes, during which a speaker had to wait quite some time before he could resume speaking. Every mention of Hlinka's name, it seems, caused disturbances, insulting outcries, and �SLOVAKIA 67 bitter attacks. With the exception of the temperamental Bechyne, none of the foremost Czech politicians of the old Vienna school indulged in frivolous, senseless, and unsparing attacks against Hlinka. It is interesting that Markovic was of the opm10n that without Masaryk there would have been no Slovak nation, because it was Masaryk himself who had said that the Slovak nation is the invention of Magyar propaganda and that there was no Slovak nation! Imagine if you will, how much poorer the world would be without T. G. Masaryk: it would have to do without the Slovak nation and without "Czechoslovak" democracy! Masaryk represented the smallest Czech political party, but the world, including the Slovaks and Czechs who knew better, was supposed to believe that "Masaryk's teaching became the national Credo of Czecho-Slovakia." Masaryk, the great "progressive," was put in the saddle by the Allies and his disciples lost no time in building altars in his honor to replace those of the "outmoded, reactionary" saints. Two months after that "glorious October Day" (Oct. 28, 1918) - after Hlinka had come out resolutely against the Magyars and for joining the Czechs - the "progressive" Czechs of Masaryk and Benes proclaimed Hlinka a Magyarone, a coward who had surrendered to the Magyars. Scotus Viator replied at that time: "Hlinka never did submit to the Magyars. He lies who would make a Magyarone of him and makes himself stupid." Hlinka and his people wanted to serve the best interests of their new Republic; they proved this over and over again. But the Masaryk-Benes Czechs, and the Czech Slovaks ("Czechoslovaks") in their service, welcomed Hlinka in Prague as an enemy of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The consequences of this folly were far-reachring. On January 30, 1919, Hlinka returned to Prague and read the records of the parliamentary sessions to learn what was said about him in his absence. When Hlinka did rise in his own defense, it is interesting to note that the Czech voices, so loud and disturbing when Sramek spoke, were now silent. Since the accusations and allegations made �68 SLOVAKIA against him were of a very serious nature, Hlinka openly demanded an investigation of each and every charge and all accusers. But the Czechs clammed up on that occasion. Markovic, descendant of one of Hlinka's very good friends, stood alone against Hlinka. Hlinka stressed the fact that no one can honestly accuse him of hating the Czechs or of working against the welfare and security of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. He and his followers recognize and respect the right of the Czech people to certain inalienable rights, but by the same token, the Slovaks expect the Czechs and their leaders to recognize and respect the right of the Slovak people to the same inalienable rights. After what had happened in the Prague Parliament, Hlinka quit visiting the Slovak Club of which he was a member, but he did visit the Deputy's Club of Sramek's Czech People's Party. Hlinka later said: "That I appreciate good Czechs is proven by the fact that in Prague I do not visit the Slovak Club, but the Club of the Czech Peoples' Party." • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are deeply convinced that this alliance (with the USSR) is to the benefit of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union and that it also is a contribution to international understanding. Whosoever among us does not want to acknowledge this supra-partisan and national character of the Czechoslovak-Soviet alliance, he is undermining this alliance and working against his very own aims." - (Dr. Peter Zenkl, chairman "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," Karlove Vary, July 20, 1947, according to CAS, 7-25-47) . • • • "In Ozech .p olitics, in Ozei:::h national life, it is urgent that we cOlffie to am understanding with the Communist Party . . . the Comnmnist party shahl remain the greatest force in oiur political scheme even after the elections are over, and socialism shall remain the foundation o.f our national life . . . . Coming to tern1s with the Communists is the golden theme of our political philo,so,p hy." - (Ferdinand Perouit:Jka, a Benei:\ Ctzech, DNESEIK, 2-.9-48). � SLOVAKIA 57 - - - - - - -- -- ANDREW HLINKA AND PRAGUE By CONSTANTINE tULEN After the Czecho-Slovak Republic was born, two significant Slovak personalities became "problems" for the governing group in Prague, the men handpicked by T. G. Masaryk and Eduard Benes to run the infant state. The first was General Milan R. Stefanik. When the first World War was just about over, and T. G. Masaryk, at that time in Japan, had named the first Czecho-Slovak Government, Stefanik was named War Minister, while the department of Foreign Affairs was entrusted to Dr. Edward Benes. Stefanik expressed no desire for the office given him by Masaryk; he did not expect to be appointed War Minister, but Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new state, since he had opened the door for Masaryk to diplomatic circles which were most responsible for the creation of Czecho-Slovakia. Benes was a political unknown at that time, a politician without any practical political experience. As a result there was a conflict between Benes and Stefanik. The latter, however, was far away from Prague and not very close to Masaryk, while Benes, regarded as Masaryk's intimate and understudy, was right in Prague. Among the very first orders issued by Benes in Prague to his subordinates and lieutenants was the order to inform Slovak factors "in a proper manner" about Stefanik. In the secret documents of Benes's archive there were several accounts about reporting on Stefanik in such a "proper manner." From the tone of the accounts, it is evident that the information given Slovak factors in regard to Stefanik was anything but favorable to him even before he decided to return home. The documents frequently mentioned the "Stefanik problem." And those who regarded Stefanik as the most important problem of the new republic gave out with a sigh of relief when Stefanik's plane was shot up and crashed, killing its occupants, as it neared Bratislava on that fateful day of May 4, 1919. The same men went to Bradlo, made a few nice speeches, and had a gigantic mound built over the dead Stefanik, "one of the �58 SLOVAKIA founders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." But even this the Benes Czechs would prefer to forget today. Thereafter, the "Stefanik problem" ceased to be a problem! The second Slovak personality that entered the life of the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a "problem" was Andrew Hlinka. In a way, Hlinka was given the same treatment as Stefanik. Before he had come to Prague, the same people in the service of Benes made it their business to inform the Czechs about the "Andrew Hlinka problem." In the life of Andrew Hlinka, between the end of October, 1918, and the end of January, 1919, there is a colossal abyss. In 1918, Hlinka was the only one in Slovakia who spoke out clearly and forcefully for secession from the Magyars and for union with the Czechs to form a common political state on the basis of "equals with equals." At the meeting in Martin, in May 1918, he prevented the flight of Slovak leaders from politics, shouting down Dula who wanted to resign the chairmanship of the group. At that time Hlinka said: "Let us not circumvent the issue, but let us say outright that we are for a Czech-Slovak orientation!" In 1918, at two secret meetings and one public meeting, when uncertainty and fear dominated all present, Andrew Hlinka stood up fearlessly and proclaimed: "Our marriage with the Magyars was not successful, we must part." But he went further and said what should be done: "Let us unite with the Czechs in one state." Official Prague had the opportunity to make Hlinka the greatest friend of the Czechs. All it had to do was tell the truth about Hlinka, what Hlinka had done to gain the Slovaks for the new republic. If it had done that, Hlinka would have been greeted in Prague with demonstrations which would have undoubtedly surpassed those in his honor in 1907 after the Cernova massacre. But official Prague had willed it otherwise. Masaryk and Benes and their political servants - were well aware of the fact that Hlinka was a Catholic priest, the leader of the Slovak Catholic People's Party, and a great Slovak patriot and champion of freedom and independence of the Slovak people. A small group of Slovak politicians, handpicked by Masa- �SLOVAKIA 59 ryk and Benes to serve in Prague, saw to it that the "proper" information about Hlinka was propagated. Official Prague could then quote and spread it. It was obvious that the Masaryk-Benes political clique did not want Andrew Hlinka for a friend, so they did what they could to embarrass him and present him in a false light to the people of Czecho-Slovakia to ruin him politically and otherwise. When the Czecho-Slovak State was established, the Slovaks, including Hlinka, had no clear conception of what the new state would be like. That the new state would be run in the spirit of equality of both nations - on that, it seems, all were agreed. The Slovaks would run their country, while the Czechs would be masters of their own household; if the Slovaks needed help, the Czechs would help, but the quantity and quality of such help would be decided by the Slovaks, not the Czechs. The Czechs agreed with this in principle. After Czecho-Slovakia became a reality, some of the men who were afraid to open their mouths before October, 1918, suddenly acquired sufficient courage to run to Prague and tell what they had done for the creation of the state in order to secure political offices for themselves. Hlinka was not one of them. And thereby Hlinka became "dangerous" to the Prague clique of Masaryk and Benes. When Hlinka arrived in Prague as the last of the Slovak deputies, no one told him: "Hlinka, you behaved valiantly, thank you!" No, the Prague politicians, influenced by Masaryk and Benes, could not do that. When Hlinka arrived in Prague he was welcomed not as the greatest friend of the Czechs, but as the worst enemy of the new State. Long debates in parliament revolved around the personality of Andrew Hlinka. Appraising this behavior of the Benes Czechs years later, we can say that it was the first Czech defeat. The history of the advent of Hlinka to Prague and the history of the beginnings of the struggle, which is not finished to date, is very interesting. Andrew Hlinka did not run to Prague as soon as Czecho-Slovakia became a reality, because he realized that Slovakia needed to be consolidated first. Hlinka did not yearn for a ministerial or cabinet position as some Slovak �60 SLOVAKIA politicians did, making it appear as if this were the last station of happiness, or the main prize in the lottery of their life's career. Hlinka came to Prague on January 10, 1919. Hlinka had not been in Prague for a long time - the last time when he lectured in Prague, the city of Prague welcomed him as it had never welcomed any Slovak before or since. It was a welcome fit for a king. But all that seemed to be forgotten now. The majority of Slovak deputies, selected and named by Srobar and approved by Masaryk and Benes, had already taken the oath at previous sessions. The 15th session began with the announcement by chairman Tomasek that Andrew Hlinka, a member of the National Assembly, had presented himself and was ready to take the oath of office. Anton Stefanek read the form of the oath and Hlinka replied: "I do so promise!" At that instant the parliament r esponded with applause. This was the first and, at the same time, the last spontaneous applause that Hlinka received in the Prague parliament from the Czechs and the Czech Slovaks ("Czechoslovaks") . After taking the oath, Hlinka immediately returned home. In less than two weeks, while he was absent, Hlinka became the target of the most vicious and malicious attacks from members of the same parliament. It is strange, when we think of it now, that the attacks wer e initiated by the otherwise keen Czech Social Democrat, Mr. Rudolph Bechyne, who said on January 21, 1919: "I have here the organ of the Czecho-Slovak People's Party, the CZECH. In it is a report of a non-political meeting of Czecho-Slovak Catholics. I read here that the delegate from Slovakia, Andrew Hlinka, spoke at that meeting and this is what he said about the Czechs: ' They are ousting us from our churches!' Allow me to mark this by its right name : it is not dignified for a Catholic priest to lie." "Excellent," exclaimed the parliament, wildly applauding Bechyne. Bechyne: "Hlinka further stated that a hundred Czech teachers are going to Slovakia and what such a teacher knows, that we know." �SLOVAKIA 61 Cuprik: "We got to know that from Moravia!" Bechyiie: "Gentlemen, in such a manner, according to Hlinka's opinion, will be welcomed in Slovakia the Czech teachers, who are going there with real idealism, the kind of idealism we recommend to many of those for whom Hlinka speaks! Furthermore, it says that they are taking religion away from 90 percent of the Catholics. But where is the proof for this? Who is taking religion away from whom? Gentlemen, if anyone took religion away from the people in this war, then it was the army chaplains, about whose activities all soldiers, the faithful and unfaithful believers, are properly informed." As Bechyne continued to speak, he mentioned also that the separation of Church from State is just about ready and closed with this warning : "It is my wish that our public should not be prepared for this act in the manner that it was brought to us in royal Prague by Andrew Blinka, about whose head the aureola is very false." Blinka did have the martyr's aureola: a three-year prison term. And this was something that no other Slovak had. Bechyne's attack was the beginning of a bitter struggle - a struggle which in the end meant the collapse of Czecho-Slovakia, the end of Slovak-Czech collaboration for any sort of common political state. The signal for the attack on Hlinka was given. Even members of the Slovak Club of the Prague parliament caught on quickly; they sensed it would be to their advantage to attack Hlinka in Prague. To ingratiate themselves to the "progressive" Masaryk-Benes Czechs, they willingly and gladly did what they wanted them to do: smear Hlinka. They readily forgot that there were a thousand and one problems in Slovakia. These did not interest them primarily; the big problem was Hlinka. On January 23, 1919, the Prague parliament was the scene of the wildest conversations. The first attack against Blinka was made by Deputy Devecka, who said: "Mr. Hlinka was and is a puzzle for the Slovaks!" The "progressive" Czechs liked that remark, rewarding Devecka's "wisdom" with wild applause, as if he had �62 SLOVAKIA just set another column for the foundations of the newlyborn republic. What Illinka happened to be in 1919, and what the Slovaks thought of him, is not difficult to ascertain at all, but who was Devecka, who was the first Slovak in the Prague parliament to draw a sword against Hlinka? Public sources, literary handbooks, and encyclopediae have nothing to give about Devecka. But it is said by those who are informed that Devecka was a Lutheran preacher, one of the pre-war collaborators of the periodical "Prudy." In short, from time to time, Devecka contributed several lines to a periodical which had some 238 subscribers just before the war began. This was the man, then, who spoke in the name of the Slovak Club of Deputies, of which Hlinka, too, was a member, saying that he and the Club do not identify themselves with Illinka ! Of course, this pleased the Masaryk-Benes politicians exceedingly. Srobar, in his book "Oslobodene Slovensko" (Liberated Slovakia), recalls that there was much distrust of Slovak leaders in Prague for their separatistic stand. Devecka lost no time in assuring Prague that they were good and reliable Slovaks, with the exception of Hlinka, who was, in his estimation, no good. Devecka's speech was complemented by the "Slovensky dennik" (Slovak Daily) with this remark: "Hlinka fears that he will lose power; he does not want Czech enlightenment to shine into the dark corners of the pulpits and that is why he is instigating against progressive teachers.'' The Czechs use the term "devecka" for a maid. In politics that is exactly what Devecka was: an obedient .servant-maid of the Czech socialistic clique, which was determined to neutralize the political activity of Slovak Catholic leaders. During one of his last speeches, on March 5, 1937, Devecka again rehashed the question why Slovak Lutherans had to be employed to help the Czechs in the .administration of government in Slovakia. After nineteen years of Czecho-Slovakia, qualified Slovaks of the Catholic faith still found it difficult to find government employment, because, according to Devecka, it would not be pro- �SLOVAKIA 6'3 per now to replace the non-Catholics in Slovakia after they had performed so faithfully for Czecho-Slovakia. Devecka did not speak the truth. No one in Slovakia said that Slovak Lutherans should be thrown out of offices, but the majority of Slovaks were agreed that Slovak Catholics, too, should be placed in government jobs. Furthermore, few people said throw ALL the Czechs out of Slovakia, but many did speak out against sending more Czechs into Slovakia after the Slovaks did have qualified sons and daughters to fill the various positions which required education and training. Devecka, however, was in the service of the Czech regime in Prague and had to do its bidding for his own sake. Hlinka practically stood alone in the defense of the interests of his Slovak people in 1919. Outside of Juriga, no others were experienced politicians. He was not defended by his own people so much as by Czech Catholics under the leadership of Msgr. Sramek. They backed Hlinka not so much out of love for him, but rather for the practical political considerations which could be exacted with the aid of Hlinka's support. Sramek in fact could more easily and effectively defend Hlinka's clean shield than his own. Later on, of course, we know that Sramek turned against Hlinka and his party, but in 1919 he was Hlinka's "lone defender" so to speak. After Devecka's senseless attack against the absent Hlinka on January 23, 1919, Sramek asked for the floor to reply to Devecka's smear-statements. He had just begun to speak, addressing the members of parliament "most esteemed gentlemen," when a voice boomed out: "And what about ladies?" Sramek answered cooly: "I'm sorry, but I see none here." Thereupon Deputy Zemina (Zeminova) jumped up and shouted: "I am an enemy; I am no lady!" She was right and so was Sramek: Madame Zemina was no lady! Sramek then spoke how necessary it was to cultivate and preserve national unity, particularly at this time (1919) when the borders of the State were not yet defined. Even to this day it is difficult to explain why Sra.mek's words evoked such a storm of protest and opposition. He had attacked no one and had spoken clearly and without malice �64 SLOVAKIA on what he thought was one of the major problems of the new State. In those days, however, it made little difference what Hlinka or Sramek said about anything: all they had to do was ask for the floor and the Czech "progressives" would start barking. I quote from the record for the edification of our readers so they might get an idea of what the "progressive" Deputies in the Prague Parliament were like in the first years of the Republic. Bufival: That means that you must quit inciting against us in the churches! Aust: But it will happen one time that we shall reply to you in the churches. The lights in the heavens are already extinguished! When Sramek asked for a sense of justice and questioned whether the representation in parliament justly represented the people who sent their deputies, Deputy Aust barked: That is FATA MORGANA! Kubicek: Only according to the merits one has gained in the nation. Here every party is represented according to merits which it gained in the nation. "Gentlemen," asked Sramek, "do you really want me to cause a riot in this parliament?" Thereupon the entire parliament resounded with bitter invectives and outcries. When the clamor died down, various members asked and were given the privilege of the floor: Zemina: Well, go ahead and riot! Stransky: Just don't jingle your spurs! Johanis: You're capable of it, Mr. Professor. You used to send people drunk with alcohol against us. Zemina: In Vienna you had no courage. Bufival: In Vienna you made the politics of sneaks. Zemina: Hlinka is inciting against the teachers. Oufik: (one of Sramek's men): Hlinka incites no one; he is a martyr. If Hlinka did not exist, you would have no Slovakia! Markovic: Hlinka did not make Slovakia; he betrayed her. This man is one day a priest and something else the next. I am a Slovak! (Applause). "Allow me," Sramek tried again, "since the day be- �SLOVAKIA 65 fore yesterday the absent Hlinka was attacked in .such a manner ... " - but a booming voice bellowed: This is ingratitude! And then ... Zemina: He attacked Czech teachers. Cufik: Without Hlinka there would have been no Slovakia. To Hlinka belongs the credit that the Slovaks joined the Czechs. He was jailed for two years for the .Slovak cause. Thereupon shouts of ridicule broke out, and a voice ,c ried out: Tell us more, what else did Hlinka do? Markovic: If there were no Masaryk, there would be no Slovaks. Sramek: Permit me, esteemed gentlemen, to state that I felt embarrassed when a member of the presidium of the Czecho-Slovak Social Democratic Party, in such a crude manner, if I must say it, attacked the honor of an absent member of this parliament without ascertaining beforehand exactly what this man had said not in parliament, but at a meeting. Voices: But we read about it in the "Czech." "Esteemed gentlemen, coutinued Sramek, I recall for you what you already know very well, that we are here concerned with every word, every qualifying word, when such a great reproach is made against Andrew Hlinka with falsehoods." Jaros: He does not deserve anything else when he spits at Czech teachers! Zemina: He used to kiss the hand of a Magyar bishop! Sramek: Allow me to state further that there is no proof for what has been said here against Hlinka and no one of us knows exactly what Hlinka said. Jaros: Then he should have retracted it in the newspapers. Sramek: But he is in Slovakia and does not know what is going on here. Stransky: Wen, even one Slovak deputy condemned him. Cufik: From what party? Voice: He, too, was a clerical. Sramek at that time, however, stood his ground, de- �66 SLOVAKIA fending Hlinka against all "progressive" Czechs who wanted to discredit him. Hlinka had a great following in Slovakia, Sramek told the parliament, and by ridiculing and smearing him Hlinka's opponents were not rendering a noble service to the Slovaks and the Czechs and certainly not to the newly-born Czecho-Slovak Republic. When Deputy Bechyne claimed that he heard Hlinka speak against Masaryk in Prostejov and in Brno, Sramek asked him when that happened. When Bechyne replied that it happened b8fore the war, Deputy Sedlacek asked Bechyne what he himself happened to be before the war and what he had said about certain people and matters at that time. Bechyne, of course, would rather not talk about that! Sramek admired Hlinka for standing up for the rights of his people and for his fight in the defense of the individuality of the Slovak people. Promises had been made the Slovaks before they decided to join the Czechs to form a joint political State and those) promises should be kept. And Hlinka had the right to demand that they be kept. Hlinka was and is, Sramek said, for the Czecho-Slovak Republic, but he also is the Slovak nation's symbol of freedom and independence; he should be heard and everything should be done to make the Slovaks feel at home in the new Republic. But Sramek was yelled down by the Czech "progressive" anti-clericals who were egged on by Masaryk's "away from Rome - Rome must be put on trial and condemned !" The Czech press of that time enthusiastically indulged in attacks against Andrew Hlinka. The "Lidove noviny" (People's News) said in an editorial that the regeneration of Slovakia is possible only on the foundation of modern Czech currents. "It will take only a few years and things will be the same in Slovakia as they are in the. Czech lands',' concluded the editorial (Feb. 27, 1919). Stenographic reports of the minutes of the Prague parliament from the beginning of 1919 make particularly interesting reading. They describe some very lively scenes, during which a speaker had to wait quite some time before he could resume speaking. Every mention of Hlinka's name, it seems, caused disturbances, insulting outcries, and �SLOVAKIA 67 bitter attacks. With the exception of the temperamental Bechyne, none of the foremost Czech politicians of the old Vienna school indulged in frivolous, senseless, and unsparing attacks against Hlinka. It is interesting that Markovic was of the opm10n that without Masaryk there would have been no Slovak nation, because it was Masaryk himself who had said that the Slovak nation is the invention of Magyar propaganda and that there was no Slovak nation! Imagine if you will, how much poorer the world would be without T. G. Masaryk: it would have to do without the Slovak nation and without "Czechoslovak" democracy! Masaryk represented the smallest Czech political party, but the world, including the Slovaks and Czechs who knew better, was supposed to believe that "Masaryk's teaching became the national Credo of Czecho-Slovakia." Masaryk, the great "progressive," was put in the saddle by the Allies and his disciples lost no time in building altars in his honor to replace those of the "outmoded, reactionary" saints. Two months after that "glorious October Day" (Oct. 28, 1918) - after Hlinka had come out resolutely against the Magyars and for joining the Czechs - the "progressive" Czechs of Masaryk and Benes proclaimed Hlinka a Magyarone, a coward who had surrendered to the Magyars. Scotus Viator replied at that time: "Hlinka never did submit to the Magyars. He lies who would make a Magyarone of him and makes himself stupid." Hlinka and his people wanted to serve the best interests of their new Republic; they proved this over and over again. But the Masaryk-Benes Czechs, and the Czech Slovaks ("Czechoslovaks") in their service, welcomed Hlinka in Prague as an enemy of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The consequences of this folly were far-reachring. On January 30, 1919, Hlinka returned to Prague and read the records of the parliamentary sessions to learn what was said about him in his absence. When Hlinka did rise in his own defense, it is interesting to note that the Czech voices, so loud and disturbing when Sramek spoke, were now silent. Since the accusations and allegations made �68 SLOVAKIA against him were of a very serious nature, Hlinka openly demanded an investigation of each and every charge and all accusers. But the Czechs clammed up on that occasion. Markovic, descendant of one of Hlinka's very good friends, stood alone against Hlinka. Hlinka stressed the fact that no one can honestly accuse him of hating the Czechs or of working against the welfare and security of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. He and his followers recognize and respect the right of the Czech people to certain inalienable rights, but by the same token, the Slovaks expect the Czechs and their leaders to recognize and respect the right of the Slovak people to the same inalienable rights. After what had happened in the Prague Parliament, Hlinka quit visiting the Slovak Club of which he was a member, but he did visit the Deputy's Club of Sramek's Czech People's Party. Hlinka later said: "That I appreciate good Czechs is proven by the fact that in Prague I do not visit the Slovak Club, but the Club of the Czech Peoples' Party." • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are deeply convinced that this alliance (with the USSR) is to the benefit of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union and that it also is a contribution to international understanding. Whosoever among us does not want to acknowledge this supra-partisan and national character of the Czechoslovak-Soviet alliance, he is undermining this alliance and working against his very own aims." - (Dr. Peter Zenkl, chairman "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," Karlove Vary, July 20, 1947, according to CAS, 7-25-47) . • • • "In Ozech .p olitics, in Ozei:::h national life, it is urgent that we cOlffie to am understanding with the Communist Party . . . the Comnmnist party shahl remain the greatest force in oiur political scheme even after the elections are over, and socialism shall remain the foundation o.f our national life . . . . Coming to tern1s with the Communists is the golden theme of our political philo,so,p hy." - (Ferdinand Perouit:Jka, a Benei:\ Ctzech, DNESEIK, 2-.9-48). � 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 1958, Vol. 8 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 26), March 1958.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 27), June 1958.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 28), December 1958.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 57 - - - - - - -- -- ANDREW HLINKA AND PRAGUE By CONSTANTINE tULEN After the Czecho-Slovak Republic was born, two significant Slovak personalities became "problems" for the governing group in Prague, the men handpicked by T. G. Masaryk and Eduard Benes to run the infant state. The first was General Milan R. Stefanik. When the first World War was just about over, and T. G. Masaryk, at that time in Japan, had named the first Czecho-Slovak Government, Stefanik was named War Minister, while the department of Foreign Affairs was entrusted to Dr. Edward Benes. Stefanik expressed no desire for the office given him by Masaryk; he did not expect to be appointed War Minister, but Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new state, since he had opened the door for Masaryk to diplomatic circles which were most responsible for the creation of Czecho-Slovakia. Benes was a political unknown at that time, a politician without any practical political experience. As a result there was a conflict between Benes and Stefanik. The latter, however, was far away from Prague and not very close to Masaryk, while Benes, regarded as Masaryk's intimate and understudy, was right in Prague. Among the very first orders issued by Benes in Prague to his subordinates and lieutenants was the order to inform Slovak factors "in a proper manner" about Stefanik. In the secret documents of Benes's archive there were several accounts about reporting on Stefanik in such a "proper manner." From the tone of the accounts, it is evident that the information given Slovak factors in regard to Stefanik was anything but favorable to him even before he decided to return home. The documents frequently mentioned the "Stefanik problem." And those who regarded Stefanik as the most important problem of the new republic gave out with a sigh of relief when Stefanik's plane was shot up and crashed, killing its occupants, as it neared Bratislava on that fateful day of May 4, 1919. The same men went to Bradlo, made a few nice speeches, and had a gigantic mound built over the dead Stefanik, "one of the 58 SLOVAKIA founders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." But even this the Benes Czechs would prefer to forget today. Thereafter, the "Stefanik problem" ceased to be a problem! The second Slovak personality that entered the life of the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a "problem" was Andrew Hlinka. In a way, Hlinka was given the same treatment as Stefanik. Before he had come to Prague, the same people in the service of Benes made it their business to inform the Czechs about the "Andrew Hlinka problem." In the life of Andrew Hlinka, between the end of October, 1918, and the end of January, 1919, there is a colossal abyss. In 1918, Hlinka was the only one in Slovakia who spoke out clearly and forcefully for secession from the Magyars and for union with the Czechs to form a common political state on the basis of "equals with equals." At the meeting in Martin, in May 1918, he prevented the flight of Slovak leaders from politics, shouting down Dula who wanted to resign the chairmanship of the group. At that time Hlinka said: "Let us not circumvent the issue, but let us say outright that we are for a Czech-Slovak orientation!" In 1918, at two secret meetings and one public meeting, when uncertainty and fear dominated all present, Andrew Hlinka stood up fearlessly and proclaimed: "Our marriage with the Magyars was not successful, we must part." But he went further and said what should be done: "Let us unite with the Czechs in one state." Official Prague had the opportunity to make Hlinka the greatest friend of the Czechs. All it had to do was tell the truth about Hlinka, what Hlinka had done to gain the Slovaks for the new republic. If it had done that, Hlinka would have been greeted in Prague with demonstrations which would have undoubtedly surpassed those in his honor in 1907 after the Cernova massacre. But official Prague had willed it otherwise. Masaryk and Benes and their political servants - were well aware of the fact that Hlinka was a Catholic priest, the leader of the Slovak Catholic People's Party, and a great Slovak patriot and champion of freedom and independence of the Slovak people. A small group of Slovak politicians, handpicked by Masa- SLOVAKIA 59 ryk and Benes to serve in Prague, saw to it that the "proper" information about Hlinka was propagated. Official Prague could then quote and spread it. It was obvious that the Masaryk-Benes political clique did not want Andrew Hlinka for a friend, so they did what they could to embarrass him and present him in a false light to the people of Czecho-Slovakia to ruin him politically and otherwise. When the Czecho-Slovak State was established, the Slovaks, including Hlinka, had no clear conception of what the new state would be like. That the new state would be run in the spirit of equality of both nations - on that, it seems, all were agreed. The Slovaks would run their country, while the Czechs would be masters of their own household; if the Slovaks needed help, the Czechs would help, but the quantity and quality of such help would be decided by the Slovaks, not the Czechs. The Czechs agreed with this in principle. After Czecho-Slovakia became a reality, some of the men who were afraid to open their mouths before October, 1918, suddenly acquired sufficient courage to run to Prague and tell what they had done for the creation of the state in order to secure political offices for themselves. Hlinka was not one of them. And thereby Hlinka became "dangerous" to the Prague clique of Masaryk and Benes. When Hlinka arrived in Prague as the last of the Slovak deputies, no one told him: "Hlinka, you behaved valiantly, thank you!" No, the Prague politicians, influenced by Masaryk and Benes, could not do that. When Hlinka arrived in Prague he was welcomed not as the greatest friend of the Czechs, but as the worst enemy of the new State. Long debates in parliament revolved around the personality of Andrew Hlinka. Appraising this behavior of the Benes Czechs years later, we can say that it was the first Czech defeat. The history of the advent of Hlinka to Prague and the history of the beginnings of the struggle, which is not finished to date, is very interesting. Andrew Hlinka did not run to Prague as soon as Czecho-Slovakia became a reality, because he realized that Slovakia needed to be consolidated first. Hlinka did not yearn for a ministerial or cabinet position as some Slovak 60 SLOVAKIA politicians did, making it appear as if this were the last station of happiness, or the main prize in the lottery of their life's career. Hlinka came to Prague on January 10, 1919. Hlinka had not been in Prague for a long time - the last time when he lectured in Prague, the city of Prague welcomed him as it had never welcomed any Slovak before or since. It was a welcome fit for a king. But all that seemed to be forgotten now. The majority of Slovak deputies, selected and named by Srobar and approved by Masaryk and Benes, had already taken the oath at previous sessions. The 15th session began with the announcement by chairman Tomasek that Andrew Hlinka, a member of the National Assembly, had presented himself and was ready to take the oath of office. Anton Stefanek read the form of the oath and Hlinka replied: "I do so promise!" At that instant the parliament r esponded with applause. This was the first and, at the same time, the last spontaneous applause that Hlinka received in the Prague parliament from the Czechs and the Czech Slovaks ("Czechoslovaks") . After taking the oath, Hlinka immediately returned home. In less than two weeks, while he was absent, Hlinka became the target of the most vicious and malicious attacks from members of the same parliament. It is strange, when we think of it now, that the attacks wer e initiated by the otherwise keen Czech Social Democrat, Mr. Rudolph Bechyne, who said on January 21, 1919: "I have here the organ of the Czecho-Slovak People's Party, the CZECH. In it is a report of a non-political meeting of Czecho-Slovak Catholics. I read here that the delegate from Slovakia, Andrew Hlinka, spoke at that meeting and this is what he said about the Czechs: ' They are ousting us from our churches!' Allow me to mark this by its right name : it is not dignified for a Catholic priest to lie." "Excellent," exclaimed the parliament, wildly applauding Bechyne. Bechyne: "Hlinka further stated that a hundred Czech teachers are going to Slovakia and what such a teacher knows, that we know." SLOVAKIA 61 Cuprik: "We got to know that from Moravia!" Bechyiie: "Gentlemen, in such a manner, according to Hlinka's opinion, will be welcomed in Slovakia the Czech teachers, who are going there with real idealism, the kind of idealism we recommend to many of those for whom Hlinka speaks! Furthermore, it says that they are taking religion away from 90 percent of the Catholics. But where is the proof for this? Who is taking religion away from whom? Gentlemen, if anyone took religion away from the people in this war, then it was the army chaplains, about whose activities all soldiers, the faithful and unfaithful believers, are properly informed." As Bechyne continued to speak, he mentioned also that the separation of Church from State is just about ready and closed with this warning : "It is my wish that our public should not be prepared for this act in the manner that it was brought to us in royal Prague by Andrew Blinka, about whose head the aureola is very false." Blinka did have the martyr's aureola: a three-year prison term. And this was something that no other Slovak had. Bechyne's attack was the beginning of a bitter struggle - a struggle which in the end meant the collapse of Czecho-Slovakia, the end of Slovak-Czech collaboration for any sort of common political state. The signal for the attack on Hlinka was given. Even members of the Slovak Club of the Prague parliament caught on quickly; they sensed it would be to their advantage to attack Hlinka in Prague. To ingratiate themselves to the "progressive" Masaryk-Benes Czechs, they willingly and gladly did what they wanted them to do: smear Hlinka. They readily forgot that there were a thousand and one problems in Slovakia. These did not interest them primarily; the big problem was Hlinka. On January 23, 1919, the Prague parliament was the scene of the wildest conversations. The first attack against Blinka was made by Deputy Devecka, who said: "Mr. Hlinka was and is a puzzle for the Slovaks!" The "progressive" Czechs liked that remark, rewarding Devecka's "wisdom" with wild applause, as if he had 62 SLOVAKIA just set another column for the foundations of the newlyborn republic. What Illinka happened to be in 1919, and what the Slovaks thought of him, is not difficult to ascertain at all, but who was Devecka, who was the first Slovak in the Prague parliament to draw a sword against Hlinka? Public sources, literary handbooks, and encyclopediae have nothing to give about Devecka. But it is said by those who are informed that Devecka was a Lutheran preacher, one of the pre-war collaborators of the periodical "Prudy." In short, from time to time, Devecka contributed several lines to a periodical which had some 238 subscribers just before the war began. This was the man, then, who spoke in the name of the Slovak Club of Deputies, of which Hlinka, too, was a member, saying that he and the Club do not identify themselves with Illinka ! Of course, this pleased the Masaryk-Benes politicians exceedingly. Srobar, in his book "Oslobodene Slovensko" (Liberated Slovakia), recalls that there was much distrust of Slovak leaders in Prague for their separatistic stand. Devecka lost no time in assuring Prague that they were good and reliable Slovaks, with the exception of Hlinka, who was, in his estimation, no good. Devecka's speech was complemented by the "Slovensky dennik" (Slovak Daily) with this remark: "Hlinka fears that he will lose power; he does not want Czech enlightenment to shine into the dark corners of the pulpits and that is why he is instigating against progressive teachers.'' The Czechs use the term "devecka" for a maid. In politics that is exactly what Devecka was: an obedient .servant-maid of the Czech socialistic clique, which was determined to neutralize the political activity of Slovak Catholic leaders. During one of his last speeches, on March 5, 1937, Devecka again rehashed the question why Slovak Lutherans had to be employed to help the Czechs in the .administration of government in Slovakia. After nineteen years of Czecho-Slovakia, qualified Slovaks of the Catholic faith still found it difficult to find government employment, because, according to Devecka, it would not be pro- SLOVAKIA 6'3 per now to replace the non-Catholics in Slovakia after they had performed so faithfully for Czecho-Slovakia. Devecka did not speak the truth. No one in Slovakia said that Slovak Lutherans should be thrown out of offices, but the majority of Slovaks were agreed that Slovak Catholics, too, should be placed in government jobs. Furthermore, few people said throw ALL the Czechs out of Slovakia, but many did speak out against sending more Czechs into Slovakia after the Slovaks did have qualified sons and daughters to fill the various positions which required education and training. Devecka, however, was in the service of the Czech regime in Prague and had to do its bidding for his own sake. Hlinka practically stood alone in the defense of the interests of his Slovak people in 1919. Outside of Juriga, no others were experienced politicians. He was not defended by his own people so much as by Czech Catholics under the leadership of Msgr. Sramek. They backed Hlinka not so much out of love for him, but rather for the practical political considerations which could be exacted with the aid of Hlinka's support. Sramek in fact could more easily and effectively defend Hlinka's clean shield than his own. Later on, of course, we know that Sramek turned against Hlinka and his party, but in 1919 he was Hlinka's "lone defender" so to speak. After Devecka's senseless attack against the absent Hlinka on January 23, 1919, Sramek asked for the floor to reply to Devecka's smear-statements. He had just begun to speak, addressing the members of parliament "most esteemed gentlemen," when a voice boomed out: "And what about ladies?" Sramek answered cooly: "I'm sorry, but I see none here." Thereupon Deputy Zemina (Zeminova) jumped up and shouted: "I am an enemy; I am no lady!" She was right and so was Sramek: Madame Zemina was no lady! Sramek then spoke how necessary it was to cultivate and preserve national unity, particularly at this time (1919) when the borders of the State were not yet defined. Even to this day it is difficult to explain why Sra.mek's words evoked such a storm of protest and opposition. He had attacked no one and had spoken clearly and without malice 64 SLOVAKIA on what he thought was one of the major problems of the new State. In those days, however, it made little difference what Hlinka or Sramek said about anything: all they had to do was ask for the floor and the Czech "progressives" would start barking. I quote from the record for the edification of our readers so they might get an idea of what the "progressive" Deputies in the Prague Parliament were like in the first years of the Republic. Bufival: That means that you must quit inciting against us in the churches! Aust: But it will happen one time that we shall reply to you in the churches. The lights in the heavens are already extinguished! When Sramek asked for a sense of justice and questioned whether the representation in parliament justly represented the people who sent their deputies, Deputy Aust barked: That is FATA MORGANA! Kubicek: Only according to the merits one has gained in the nation. Here every party is represented according to merits which it gained in the nation. "Gentlemen," asked Sramek, "do you really want me to cause a riot in this parliament?" Thereupon the entire parliament resounded with bitter invectives and outcries. When the clamor died down, various members asked and were given the privilege of the floor: Zemina: Well, go ahead and riot! Stransky: Just don't jingle your spurs! Johanis: You're capable of it, Mr. Professor. You used to send people drunk with alcohol against us. Zemina: In Vienna you had no courage. Bufival: In Vienna you made the politics of sneaks. Zemina: Hlinka is inciting against the teachers. Oufik: (one of Sramek's men): Hlinka incites no one; he is a martyr. If Hlinka did not exist, you would have no Slovakia! Markovic: Hlinka did not make Slovakia; he betrayed her. This man is one day a priest and something else the next. I am a Slovak! (Applause). "Allow me," Sramek tried again, "since the day be- SLOVAKIA 65 fore yesterday the absent Hlinka was attacked in .such a manner ... " - but a booming voice bellowed: This is ingratitude! And then ... Zemina: He attacked Czech teachers. Cufik: Without Hlinka there would have been no Slovakia. To Hlinka belongs the credit that the Slovaks joined the Czechs. He was jailed for two years for the .Slovak cause. Thereupon shouts of ridicule broke out, and a voice ,c ried out: Tell us more, what else did Hlinka do? Markovic: If there were no Masaryk, there would be no Slovaks. Sramek: Permit me, esteemed gentlemen, to state that I felt embarrassed when a member of the presidium of the Czecho-Slovak Social Democratic Party, in such a crude manner, if I must say it, attacked the honor of an absent member of this parliament without ascertaining beforehand exactly what this man had said not in parliament, but at a meeting. Voices: But we read about it in the "Czech." "Esteemed gentlemen, coutinued Sramek, I recall for you what you already know very well, that we are here concerned with every word, every qualifying word, when such a great reproach is made against Andrew Hlinka with falsehoods." Jaros: He does not deserve anything else when he spits at Czech teachers! Zemina: He used to kiss the hand of a Magyar bishop! Sramek: Allow me to state further that there is no proof for what has been said here against Hlinka and no one of us knows exactly what Hlinka said. Jaros: Then he should have retracted it in the newspapers. Sramek: But he is in Slovakia and does not know what is going on here. Stransky: Wen, even one Slovak deputy condemned him. Cufik: From what party? Voice: He, too, was a clerical. Sramek at that time, however, stood his ground, de- 66 SLOVAKIA fending Hlinka against all "progressive" Czechs who wanted to discredit him. Hlinka had a great following in Slovakia, Sramek told the parliament, and by ridiculing and smearing him Hlinka's opponents were not rendering a noble service to the Slovaks and the Czechs and certainly not to the newly-born Czecho-Slovak Republic. When Deputy Bechyne claimed that he heard Hlinka speak against Masaryk in Prostejov and in Brno, Sramek asked him when that happened. When Bechyne replied that it happened b8fore the war, Deputy Sedlacek asked Bechyne what he himself happened to be before the war and what he had said about certain people and matters at that time. Bechyne, of course, would rather not talk about that! Sramek admired Hlinka for standing up for the rights of his people and for his fight in the defense of the individuality of the Slovak people. Promises had been made the Slovaks before they decided to join the Czechs to form a joint political State and those) promises should be kept. And Hlinka had the right to demand that they be kept. Hlinka was and is, Sramek said, for the Czecho-Slovak Republic, but he also is the Slovak nation's symbol of freedom and independence; he should be heard and everything should be done to make the Slovaks feel at home in the new Republic. But Sramek was yelled down by the Czech "progressive" anti-clericals who were egged on by Masaryk's "away from Rome - Rome must be put on trial and condemned !" The Czech press of that time enthusiastically indulged in attacks against Andrew Hlinka. The "Lidove noviny" (People's News) said in an editorial that the regeneration of Slovakia is possible only on the foundation of modern Czech currents. "It will take only a few years and things will be the same in Slovakia as they are in the. Czech lands',' concluded the editorial (Feb. 27, 1919). Stenographic reports of the minutes of the Prague parliament from the beginning of 1919 make particularly interesting reading. They describe some very lively scenes, during which a speaker had to wait quite some time before he could resume speaking. Every mention of Hlinka's name, it seems, caused disturbances, insulting outcries, and SLOVAKIA 67 bitter attacks. With the exception of the temperamental Bechyne, none of the foremost Czech politicians of the old Vienna school indulged in frivolous, senseless, and unsparing attacks against Hlinka. It is interesting that Markovic was of the opm10n that without Masaryk there would have been no Slovak nation, because it was Masaryk himself who had said that the Slovak nation is the invention of Magyar propaganda and that there was no Slovak nation! Imagine if you will, how much poorer the world would be without T. G. Masaryk: it would have to do without the Slovak nation and without "Czechoslovak" democracy! Masaryk represented the smallest Czech political party, but the world, including the Slovaks and Czechs who knew better, was supposed to believe that "Masaryk's teaching became the national Credo of Czecho-Slovakia." Masaryk, the great "progressive," was put in the saddle by the Allies and his disciples lost no time in building altars in his honor to replace those of the "outmoded, reactionary" saints. Two months after that "glorious October Day" (Oct. 28, 1918) - after Hlinka had come out resolutely against the Magyars and for joining the Czechs - the "progressive" Czechs of Masaryk and Benes proclaimed Hlinka a Magyarone, a coward who had surrendered to the Magyars. Scotus Viator replied at that time: "Hlinka never did submit to the Magyars. He lies who would make a Magyarone of him and makes himself stupid." Hlinka and his people wanted to serve the best interests of their new Republic; they proved this over and over again. But the Masaryk-Benes Czechs, and the Czech Slovaks ("Czechoslovaks") in their service, welcomed Hlinka in Prague as an enemy of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The consequences of this folly were far-reachring. On January 30, 1919, Hlinka returned to Prague and read the records of the parliamentary sessions to learn what was said about him in his absence. When Hlinka did rise in his own defense, it is interesting to note that the Czech voices, so loud and disturbing when Sramek spoke, were now silent. Since the accusations and allegations made 68 SLOVAKIA against him were of a very serious nature, Hlinka openly demanded an investigation of each and every charge and all accusers. But the Czechs clammed up on that occasion. Markovic, descendant of one of Hlinka's very good friends, stood alone against Hlinka. Hlinka stressed the fact that no one can honestly accuse him of hating the Czechs or of working against the welfare and security of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. He and his followers recognize and respect the right of the Czech people to certain inalienable rights, but by the same token, the Slovaks expect the Czechs and their leaders to recognize and respect the right of the Slovak people to the same inalienable rights. After what had happened in the Prague Parliament, Hlinka quit visiting the Slovak Club of which he was a member, but he did visit the Deputy's Club of Sramek's Czech People's Party. Hlinka later said: "That I appreciate good Czechs is proven by the fact that in Prague I do not visit the Slovak Club, but the Club of the Czech Peoples' Party." • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are deeply convinced that this alliance (with the USSR) is to the benefit of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union and that it also is a contribution to international understanding. Whosoever among us does not want to acknowledge this supra-partisan and national character of the Czechoslovak-Soviet alliance, he is undermining this alliance and working against his very own aims." - (Dr. Peter Zenkl, chairman "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," Karlove Vary, July 20, 1947, according to CAS, 7-25-47) . • • • "In Ozech .p olitics, in Ozei:::h national life, it is urgent that we cOlffie to am understanding with the Communist Party . . . the Comnmnist party shahl remain the greatest force in oiur political scheme even after the elections are over, and socialism shall remain the foundation o.f our national life . . . . Coming to tern1s with the Communists is the golden theme of our political philo,so,p hy." - (Ferdinand Perouit:Jka, a Benei:\ Ctzech, DNESEIK, 2-.9-48).  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 Andrew Hlinka and Prague Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 8, No. 3 (28), December 1958 pp. 57-68 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1958 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0320081ee2ff2025916682b59c012c94.pdf 2dafcfc71dce2c68e8997c530f0965f7 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA SWVAK EMIGRATION Constantine Culen 49 I ,J I 1 n ' At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the middle and lo;wer noibility held 70 % of the land in Slovakia. 'Dhe laind from which the Slovalk people was supposed rto maJke a liviing, the urlbarial land, a;mounted to only about 11 % of the total, ,b ut JI' even tlhis land did not b,e long to it. From what the land, yielded, the SlovaJk had to pay his taxes to feudal lords to wlhom the land ,b elonged according to the Ja,ws of that time - and to the so1Verign, w'ho tried to secure ,t he mil>it>a:ry defense of his realm from the taxes of the poorest people. Disease and constant warfary, of the rebellious nOlbility decimated t:Jhe tp0pu:lation. The nobility ruppropril}ted depopulated arets, even where some people ~till rerp.ained, usually -the more. productive areas. ,Slovakia lost its productiive force and gained an uniprodudive no~ bility. ' At that time one-half of the privileged class of the wlhole of Hungary lived in t3lovaki~; in BratisJa,v a County every tent'b ,p erson was a nobleman. The same situation preivailed in t,he counties of Turiec and Zemplin. This class reaUy did live a parasitic life; it was without initiative and considered it an insult to wor,k · it lived a wild life from the swea1:t. and blo9d of the po~rest people. According to I. A:csady, eminent Magyar author, the nolbility toolk away 167 1000 "Pressburg measures" of land from the peasants from 1700 to 1720. We can aippreciate wlhat that meant if we realize that five ,s uch measures a1lowed a livelihood for one family. In twenty years, therefore, mOTe than 33,000 Slovak families lost their means af livelihood; and ~bout 200,000 people were deipriived. of bread and ah existence! In five years (from 171·5 to 17'20) , 1,240 fawlies of Uptov County and 2,000 families of SaTis County were reduced to beggary oy the mY.b1eis. In the times when the rest of Europe was liberating itself from feudal regimes, Slovakia had to provide for 53 %<of the pTtvileged porpulaition of Hungary frro1m tJhe means that were not even sufficient for the .tnost primi- �50 SLOVAKIA tiive living of the serfs themselves. Practically every decade of the eigihteenth century is ma:z,ked with the death of tens ,o.f thousands of people firom hunger and pestilence. 'Dhe inhabitants fled from the villages, fathers of families abandoned their wives and children, and thousands oif acr~ of land .r ema,i ned uncuit1vated. Ba:ttalions oif gendarmes inteIWened, but to no avail. The oppressed and miseraJbJe people 'kept pouring to the south, to the more fertile land, wlhence reports had spread aibout a better and more free life on the desolat-ru but Twk-albandoned "Dolna zem" (lorwer coutry). Orv,e r 1,000 farrnilies left Liptov from 1715 to 1717; Orav;a County, among tlhe most populated of that time, lost almost onethivd of its 1peo1ple, Spis one-fifth, while in Saris the peasants aJbandoned three villa,ges completely and nine others almost comipletely. Thousands of peQple poured into south ern HungaTy from the counties of Zemplin and Albauj. In 1703, the first Slovaks had already settled in BOTos Jeno in Arad County; in 171'5, SlovaJk,s .built up Slovenska Caba, Endrod in 1'718, Sarvas i,n 1722, Slovensky Komlos in 1746, an:d communities in Bekes County; In 1747, the communities of Mokra and Menyhaza in Arad County, etc. Of course, with this first migiration the misery in .SlovaJkia did not diminish. Division of the land remained unchanged, because not even Theresian registers, nay, not even the agrarian reforms of 1836, brought any relief. A neglig~ble percentage of land was in the hands of peasants and strong population increases only aggraJVated the situation. From the second half o.f the eighteenth century until the liberation of the serfs in 1848, Slo,v ak blood continued to fl'orw to the south and strengthened t'he settlements of the Dolna ,zem. From there it flowed to Backia and Banat, then c·o ursed its way farther to the east into Transylvania, to the west into Croatia and Slavonia, and along the Darnulbe all the way to Bulgaria. Marie-Therese colonized Novo Selo and Padina with Slovaks in 1762; the Royal Ex-chequer settled them in Palota, Canada County, in 1768, while Joseph I plaiced them, in 17813, in Ba/lmvar, Ternes County, and also in 1 �SJ,OVAKIA 51 Elbendorf, KTasoiva County. In 1805, Francis I settled Slovaks together with Germans in Sairca, Torontala County; in 1807, in Butin, Arad County; in 1810, in the .communities o£ Sana:d and Baton.a o,n the Military Border (Vojenska hrani,ca); :from 1843 to 1845, the Ex-chequer settled them in. the communities of .AJ1'berti and NadlaJk, Canada County, where Slovruks had already settled previous to that time. It is not an easy task to trace accUTately just when and hoiw many Slovruks emigrated from their homeland to foreign lands to seek freedom and bread, b;ut the fact that already in 1880 one-qua:r,ter million SlovaJks of Hungary lived outside of Slovak national territory remains an eternal aiccusation against Hungary feudalism. Up to the yea,r 1880, Slovruk emigration a!p.peairs to be the first collective protest against the feudalistic economic regime. Mter that yeaT, a new psychological motive ruppears on the scene. The time of the economic conjuncture of the New W~ld and the time to enrich oneself had arrived. 'Dhe oppfessed ,p eople maJkes a grand effort to rid itself od' its bondage. 'the docile SlcwaJks be<::ame fully awaire of their own strength, 'perseverance and honesty, and believe that they can malke out better in foreign lands than at home. What economic improlent could the Slovak meland, but the popue ~ t at home? People left their lation kept on increasing. At ho , where bwo thirds of the cleared land, only a part of. hich belonged to the people, became so atomized because of the heritage laiws that one-fourth of all the agricultural units were less than one measure? The Slova;ks saw no hope of better economic conditions at that time. The low productivity of the soil, the competition of Magyar farm products, the lack of industry and commerce, philoxera which destroyed all the winelands of eastern SlovaJkia, increasing local and state taxes, poor distribution and increasing price of vital necessities, high interest rates and constant exiploitation held the small huslban man in a permanent crisis. But the land barons were not concerned with the plight of the small husbandmen; they would not �52 SLOVAKIA let go pf any part of their lands. This was all contrasted with the rosy ;pi:ot,ure of America, whJrch soon came to be ca1led ".tlh e promised lamd." T,he desiTe for national freedom and the hunger for cheap land soon had hundreds of thousands of Slwalks m8Jking their way, legally or illegally, to the ; 'New World." Slovaks began to emigrate in greater numbers to America in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. From 1879 to· 18 91, Slova.ks from Zemplin County numbered 23,940; only 6,718 of them returned after a time, so that wer 17,000 of the first Slorva!k pioneers remained in America. .A'ccording to population staltistics of that time, the cooorties of AJb.auj, Zemplin, Saris, and Spis, together had a population of 888,678. But a census of the people rervealed that there were only 810,393 peorple in those countries. More than 75,000 Slovaks from these countris had alrady emigrated to America! By that time there were also 5,000 Slovaks in America from the counties of Gerner and Liptov, the total in America then being 80,000. Letters from Slovaiks in the "New World" to relahves and friends in the "home count·r,y" soon had more thousands of Slovaiks crossing the ocean to America. In the beginning, the Hungarian gorvernment, controlled by the Magyars, did nothing to stop the emigration to America and other lands. Later on, however, when the emigration mavement reached catastrophic prQPortions. the government tried to stop the trend by building urp industry in the hilly regions, but this did not remedy the situation. There was no comparison between America and Hungary when it caime to the question of getting "real" money for wo:rlkin1g. Petty and insignificant social reforms proclaimed by the Hungarian g nvernments, most of them never realized, did not influence the Slovaks. After all, thei-r brethren had tasted of real freedom in America ! Up to the first World War, Slorva:kia lost some 22,000 people annually ; they emigrated in the best yea·r s of theiir productive life and formed the most valuable and enter,prising class of the population. Uip to the year 1890, ars we saw a!bove, an average of 9,000 Slovaks left their homeland annually. In the years �SLOVAKIA 53 following this average increased raipidly. In 1869, there were 1,997 ,0-96 persons in twe1ve Slorvalk counties; but in 1'890, 31 years later, there were 2,240,044 in the same counties, indicating an increase of only 12.2 % (242,948), even though birtihs exceeded deaths by 27.5 % ! Obviously tJhe differenice between the natural and the actual increase, 307,81'3 persons, was already beyond the boTders of SlovaJkia in 1900. The Hungarian pu'b,lic paid no attention to this great movement. It was generally said that it was due to the "itch to tra vel aJbroad" and wa;s convinced t!hat every Slovalk emigrant, after a time, would return to his homeland. Of course, it is true thait Slo,vaJks returned home in greater numbers tha,n Germans and MaJgyars, but the numlber of returnees was. insignificant in comparision to the number of those who settled down permanently in America. In 1900, 14,170 persons emigrnted from SlolV'aJkia; in 1901 - 19,302 ; in 1902 - 18,760; in 1903 - 17,063; in 1·904 - 17,477 ; but in 1905 - 38,770! In the latter year, 4,038 SlovaJks returned to SlovaJkia, but 34,732 remained in America. What Euro,p ean states lost more population by emigration in those same years? From 1905 to 1910, 117,188 Slovalks left thek homeland and 39,965 of them returned: in five years 77,223 more Slovruks settled beyond the ocean. In that first decade of the present century, the migrational stream swallowed up ,t he natural increaise in the counties of Tu:riec, Hont, and Orava: three times that of Gerner and Zemplin counties: five times that of the counties of Uzhorod and Albauj: and 12-13 times that of Spis and Saris counties. From 1910 on, the number of emigrants frOIIn Slovakia constantly decreases, indicating a decline of conjunctuTe and tighter immigration regulations. From 1,910 to the beginning of World War I, only an average of 10,760 persons emigrated from Slova;kia annually, while more than 4,000 of them returned annually. DuriTllg tlhat period Slovakia lost 33,788 ~ons and daughters. By recaipitulating the figuTes given aJb01Ve, we learn that from 1880, the year when emigration from Slovakia began in greater numbers, to the outbreak of World War I, 1 �54 SLOVAKIA S,lQ/Vaooia lost more than 550,000 pe0iple through emigration. That more than that numlber actually left Slovakia during that time (,w e must rookon with those who emigrated illegally to America and, hence, did not figure satisticatly) is ,pr01ven by the 1921 census, accord,ing to which there were more than 619,000 Slovaks of the first and second generations in America. From 1 901 to 1910, Hungarian immigrants sent postal money orders in the amount of 1,248,81'8.7-40 crowns. During that tilme a total of 1,236,000 persons emigrated frOIIll Hungary; 18 % of that total - 228,000 persons - was Slovalk. Hence, we can saifely sa;y that Slovalkis sent their relatives at least l.'8 % of the total a,mount of crowns, that is, 223,'5127,000 crowns, or an average 22,352,000 crowns aru:JJually during that period. Adually, however, we know that si,gnifiicamtly more than this amount helped out SlovaJk economy, because many Slovalks sent money through b,an!ks and aill those who returned brought it with them, but we do nn have any record of this amount. With American doUws the SlovaJks at home paid their debts, bought new land from the great landowners, built stone and brick houses, boug:ht agricultural implements, and began to invest in various industrial entenprises. The family at home was better orfif economicaHy and wages began to increase. What the Slovaiks had learned in America they put to good use in Slov,aJkia after their return, raiising the sodal level particularly orf the poorest people o:f eastern Slo,vakia. With the progress of time, however, the spiritual effects prOlVed to be even more significant than the econolffilic effects. The late Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, eminent Slo,va:k historian, pointed this out when he wrote: "ISlovaik emigraints that left t 1heir homeland, often without national consciousness, became conscious of their ethnic 01rigin in a foreign world, in a new environment, and far from their homeland, aind they cultivated and deepened their Slov·a k national soUdarity wherever they had an QPportunity to do so. It so happened that Slo.vruk emi,g rants far beyond the ocean or in pre-wa,r Russia were more strongly conscious of tJheir nationality and possessed a profounder SlovaJk feeling than the Slovaks at home who lagged in their 1 �SLOVAKIA 55 national development, or succumbed to Magyarization, influenced as they were by the MaJgyarization politics of the Hungarian government. The results of the contacts between Slo,vaik Amedca and Slovald.a became a,parent in various fields and in vairioUJs manners, and the Magyar government evaluated them well, seing in the national awrukening of eastern Slovaik,ia the influence of .American emigrants from Saris and Zemplin, and tried to paralyze this inf1uence by all pos•silble means. "The hundreds of thousands of American Slo,valks attentitvely followed the development of national life in SlovaJkia, intenvened in this development a:nd moraHy and materially aided every Slovak underta:king whioh aimed to gain national freedom for their countrymen. We would be very ungrateful and unjust, if we should underestimate th!.s participation of the American Slova'k s in the histori-cal development of the SloivaJk nation." • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are a chosen generation to which it has been granted to fulfill a unique historical task: to rid our country of Germans, in other words, the eternal danger to peace in our land and in Europe ... What was done and supported by laws i:n our country was the entering upon a path which the nation has chosen and along which it shall develop. There is no turning back from this path, even if some one would desire to do so. Obviously we ourselves do not wish to do so. We have begun a gigantic task which must be successful. For its success all of us are responsible to future generations." (Dr. Peter Zenkl, SVOBODNE SLOVO, Jan. 1, 1946) . • • "At this fateful ti-me, when the Red Army and the armies of the United States and other United Nations are fighting on German sohl, we can look forward with even greater confidence to the early defeat of the Nazi aggressors and the attaiinment oif our common goail - a durruble and just peace and a continuance of close coHruboration between a!1l the United Nations." - F. D. Roosevelt's caJblegrrum, Noiv. 6, 1944, to the SovieJt President on the occasion of the 27ith amtiJVersary orf the fOU!lldling of the USSR. � SLOVAKIA SWVAK EMIGRATION Constantine Culen 49 I ,J I 1 n ' At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the middle and lo;wer noibility held 70 % of the land in Slovakia. 'Dhe laind from which the Slovalk people was supposed rto maJke a liviing, the urlbarial land, a;mounted to only about 11 % of the total, ,b ut JI' even tlhis land did not b,e long to it. From what the land, yielded, the SlovaJk had to pay his taxes to feudal lords to wlhom the land ,b elonged according to the Ja,ws of that time - and to the so1Verign, w'ho tried to secure ,t he mil>it>a:ry defense of his realm from the taxes of the poorest people. Disease and constant warfary, of the rebellious nOlbility decimated t:Jhe tp0pu:lation. The nobility ruppropril}ted depopulated arets, even where some people ~till rerp.ained, usually -the more. productive areas. ,Slovakia lost its productiive force and gained an uniprodudive no~ bility. ' At that time one-half of the privileged class of the wlhole of Hungary lived in t3lovaki~; in BratisJa,v a County every tent'b ,p erson was a nobleman. The same situation preivailed in t,he counties of Turiec and Zemplin. This class reaUy did live a parasitic life; it was without initiative and considered it an insult to wor,k · it lived a wild life from the swea1:t. and blo9d of the po~rest people. According to I. A:csady, eminent Magyar author, the nolbility toolk away 167 1000 "Pressburg measures" of land from the peasants from 1700 to 1720. We can aippreciate wlhat that meant if we realize that five ,s uch measures a1lowed a livelihood for one family. In twenty years, therefore, mOTe than 33,000 Slovak families lost their means af livelihood; and ~bout 200,000 people were deipriived. of bread and ah existence! In five years (from 171·5 to 17'20) , 1,240 fawlies of Uptov County and 2,000 families of SaTis County were reduced to beggary oy the mY.b1eis. In the times when the rest of Europe was liberating itself from feudal regimes, Slovakia had to provide for 53 %<of the pTtvileged porpulaition of Hungary frro1m tJhe means that were not even sufficient for the .tnost primi- �50 SLOVAKIA tiive living of the serfs themselves. Practically every decade of the eigihteenth century is ma:z,ked with the death of tens ,o.f thousands of people firom hunger and pestilence. 'Dhe inhabitants fled from the villages, fathers of families abandoned their wives and children, and thousands oif acr~ of land .r ema,i ned uncuit1vated. Ba:ttalions oif gendarmes inteIWened, but to no avail. The oppressed and miseraJbJe people 'kept pouring to the south, to the more fertile land, wlhence reports had spread aibout a better and more free life on the desolat-ru but Twk-albandoned "Dolna zem" (lorwer coutry). Orv,e r 1,000 farrnilies left Liptov from 1715 to 1717; Orav;a County, among tlhe most populated of that time, lost almost onethivd of its 1peo1ple, Spis one-fifth, while in Saris the peasants aJbandoned three villa,ges completely and nine others almost comipletely. Thousands of peQple poured into south ern HungaTy from the counties of Zemplin and Albauj. In 1703, the first Slovaks had already settled in BOTos Jeno in Arad County; in 171'5, SlovaJk,s .built up Slovenska Caba, Endrod in 1'718, Sarvas i,n 1722, Slovensky Komlos in 1746, an:d communities in Bekes County; In 1747, the communities of Mokra and Menyhaza in Arad County, etc. Of course, with this first migiration the misery in .SlovaJkia did not diminish. Division of the land remained unchanged, because not even Theresian registers, nay, not even the agrarian reforms of 1836, brought any relief. A neglig~ble percentage of land was in the hands of peasants and strong population increases only aggraJVated the situation. From the second half o.f the eighteenth century until the liberation of the serfs in 1848, Slo,v ak blood continued to fl'orw to the south and strengthened t'he settlements of the Dolna ,zem. From there it flowed to Backia and Banat, then c·o ursed its way farther to the east into Transylvania, to the west into Croatia and Slavonia, and along the Darnulbe all the way to Bulgaria. Marie-Therese colonized Novo Selo and Padina with Slovaks in 1762; the Royal Ex-chequer settled them in Palota, Canada County, in 1768, while Joseph I plaiced them, in 17813, in Ba/lmvar, Ternes County, and also in 1 �SJ,OVAKIA 51 Elbendorf, KTasoiva County. In 1805, Francis I settled Slovaks together with Germans in Sairca, Torontala County; in 1807, in Butin, Arad County; in 1810, in the .communities o£ Sana:d and Baton.a o,n the Military Border (Vojenska hrani,ca); :from 1843 to 1845, the Ex-chequer settled them in. the communities of .AJ1'berti and NadlaJk, Canada County, where Slovruks had already settled previous to that time. It is not an easy task to trace accUTately just when and hoiw many Slovruks emigrated from their homeland to foreign lands to seek freedom and bread, b;ut the fact that already in 1880 one-qua:r,ter million SlovaJks of Hungary lived outside of Slovak national territory remains an eternal aiccusation against Hungary feudalism. Up to the yea,r 1880, Slovruk emigration a!p.peairs to be the first collective protest against the feudalistic economic regime. Mter that yeaT, a new psychological motive ruppears on the scene. The time of the economic conjuncture of the New W~ld and the time to enrich oneself had arrived. 'Dhe oppfessed ,p eople maJkes a grand effort to rid itself od' its bondage. 'the docile SlcwaJks be<::ame fully awaire of their own strength, 'perseverance and honesty, and believe that they can malke out better in foreign lands than at home. What economic improlent could the Slovak meland, but the popue ~ t at home? People left their lation kept on increasing. At ho , where bwo thirds of the cleared land, only a part of. hich belonged to the people, became so atomized because of the heritage laiws that one-fourth of all the agricultural units were less than one measure? The Slova;ks saw no hope of better economic conditions at that time. The low productivity of the soil, the competition of Magyar farm products, the lack of industry and commerce, philoxera which destroyed all the winelands of eastern SlovaJkia, increasing local and state taxes, poor distribution and increasing price of vital necessities, high interest rates and constant exiploitation held the small huslban man in a permanent crisis. But the land barons were not concerned with the plight of the small husbandmen; they would not �52 SLOVAKIA let go pf any part of their lands. This was all contrasted with the rosy ;pi:ot,ure of America, whJrch soon came to be ca1led ".tlh e promised lamd." T,he desiTe for national freedom and the hunger for cheap land soon had hundreds of thousands of Slwalks m8Jking their way, legally or illegally, to the ; 'New World." Slovaks began to emigrate in greater numbers to America in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. From 1879 to· 18 91, Slova.ks from Zemplin County numbered 23,940; only 6,718 of them returned after a time, so that wer 17,000 of the first Slorva!k pioneers remained in America. .A'ccording to population staltistics of that time, the cooorties of AJb.auj, Zemplin, Saris, and Spis, together had a population of 888,678. But a census of the people rervealed that there were only 810,393 peorple in those countries. More than 75,000 Slovaks from these countris had alrady emigrated to America! By that time there were also 5,000 Slovaks in America from the counties of Gerner and Liptov, the total in America then being 80,000. Letters from Slovaiks in the "New World" to relahves and friends in the "home count·r,y" soon had more thousands of Slovaiks crossing the ocean to America. In the beginning, the Hungarian gorvernment, controlled by the Magyars, did nothing to stop the emigration to America and other lands. Later on, however, when the emigration mavement reached catastrophic prQPortions. the government tried to stop the trend by building urp industry in the hilly regions, but this did not remedy the situation. There was no comparison between America and Hungary when it caime to the question of getting "real" money for wo:rlkin1g. Petty and insignificant social reforms proclaimed by the Hungarian g nvernments, most of them never realized, did not influence the Slovaks. After all, thei-r brethren had tasted of real freedom in America ! Up to the first World War, Slorva:kia lost some 22,000 people annually ; they emigrated in the best yea·r s of theiir productive life and formed the most valuable and enter,prising class of the population. Uip to the year 1890, ars we saw a!bove, an average of 9,000 Slovaks left their homeland annually. In the years �SLOVAKIA 53 following this average increased raipidly. In 1869, there were 1,997 ,0-96 persons in twe1ve Slorvalk counties; but in 1'890, 31 years later, there were 2,240,044 in the same counties, indicating an increase of only 12.2 % (242,948), even though birtihs exceeded deaths by 27.5 % ! Obviously tJhe differenice between the natural and the actual increase, 307,81'3 persons, was already beyond the boTders of SlovaJkia in 1900. The Hungarian pu'b,lic paid no attention to this great movement. It was generally said that it was due to the "itch to tra vel aJbroad" and wa;s convinced t!hat every Slovalk emigrant, after a time, would return to his homeland. Of course, it is true thait Slo,vaJks returned home in greater numbers tha,n Germans and MaJgyars, but the numlber of returnees was. insignificant in comparision to the number of those who settled down permanently in America. In 1900, 14,170 persons emigrnted from SlolV'aJkia; in 1901 - 19,302 ; in 1902 - 18,760; in 1903 - 17,063; in 1·904 - 17,477 ; but in 1905 - 38,770! In the latter year, 4,038 SlovaJks returned to SlovaJkia, but 34,732 remained in America. What Euro,p ean states lost more population by emigration in those same years? From 1905 to 1910, 117,188 Slovalks left thek homeland and 39,965 of them returned: in five years 77,223 more Slovruks settled beyond the ocean. In that first decade of the present century, the migrational stream swallowed up ,t he natural increaise in the counties of Tu:riec, Hont, and Orava: three times that of Gerner and Zemplin counties: five times that of the counties of Uzhorod and Albauj: and 12-13 times that of Spis and Saris counties. From 1910 on, the number of emigrants frOIIn Slovakia constantly decreases, indicating a decline of conjunctuTe and tighter immigration regulations. From 1,910 to the beginning of World War I, only an average of 10,760 persons emigrated from Slova;kia annually, while more than 4,000 of them returned annually. DuriTllg tlhat period Slovakia lost 33,788 ~ons and daughters. By recaipitulating the figuTes given aJb01Ve, we learn that from 1880, the year when emigration from Slovakia began in greater numbers, to the outbreak of World War I, 1 �54 SLOVAKIA S,lQ/Vaooia lost more than 550,000 pe0iple through emigration. That more than that numlber actually left Slovakia during that time (,w e must rookon with those who emigrated illegally to America and, hence, did not figure satisticatly) is ,pr01ven by the 1921 census, accord,ing to which there were more than 619,000 Slovaks of the first and second generations in America. From 1 901 to 1910, Hungarian immigrants sent postal money orders in the amount of 1,248,81'8.7-40 crowns. During that tilme a total of 1,236,000 persons emigrated frOIIll Hungary; 18 % of that total - 228,000 persons - was Slovalk. Hence, we can saifely sa;y that Slovalkis sent their relatives at least l.'8 % of the total a,mount of crowns, that is, 223,'5127,000 crowns, or an average 22,352,000 crowns aru:JJually during that period. Adually, however, we know that si,gnifiicamtly more than this amount helped out SlovaJk economy, because many Slovalks sent money through b,an!ks and aill those who returned brought it with them, but we do nn have any record of this amount. With American doUws the SlovaJks at home paid their debts, bought new land from the great landowners, built stone and brick houses, boug:ht agricultural implements, and began to invest in various industrial entenprises. The family at home was better orfif economicaHy and wages began to increase. What the Slovaiks had learned in America they put to good use in Slov,aJkia after their return, raiising the sodal level particularly orf the poorest people o:f eastern Slo,vakia. With the progress of time, however, the spiritual effects prOlVed to be even more significant than the econolffilic effects. The late Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, eminent Slo,va:k historian, pointed this out when he wrote: "ISlovaik emigraints that left t 1heir homeland, often without national consciousness, became conscious of their ethnic 01rigin in a foreign world, in a new environment, and far from their homeland, aind they cultivated and deepened their Slov·a k national soUdarity wherever they had an QPportunity to do so. It so happened that Slo.vruk emi,g rants far beyond the ocean or in pre-wa,r Russia were more strongly conscious of tJheir nationality and possessed a profounder SlovaJk feeling than the Slovaks at home who lagged in their 1 �SLOVAKIA 55 national development, or succumbed to Magyarization, influenced as they were by the MaJgyarization politics of the Hungarian government. The results of the contacts between Slo,vaik Amedca and Slovald.a became a,parent in various fields and in vairioUJs manners, and the Magyar government evaluated them well, seing in the national awrukening of eastern Slovaik,ia the influence of .American emigrants from Saris and Zemplin, and tried to paralyze this inf1uence by all pos•silble means. "The hundreds of thousands of American Slo,valks attentitvely followed the development of national life in SlovaJkia, intenvened in this development a:nd moraHy and materially aided every Slovak underta:king whioh aimed to gain national freedom for their countrymen. We would be very ungrateful and unjust, if we should underestimate th!.s participation of the American Slova'k s in the histori-cal development of the SloivaJk nation." • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are a chosen generation to which it has been granted to fulfill a unique historical task: to rid our country of Germans, in other words, the eternal danger to peace in our land and in Europe ... What was done and supported by laws i:n our country was the entering upon a path which the nation has chosen and along which it shall develop. There is no turning back from this path, even if some one would desire to do so. Obviously we ourselves do not wish to do so. We have begun a gigantic task which must be successful. For its success all of us are responsible to future generations." (Dr. Peter Zenkl, SVOBODNE SLOVO, Jan. 1, 1946) . • • "At this fateful ti-me, when the Red Army and the armies of the United States and other United Nations are fighting on German sohl, we can look forward with even greater confidence to the early defeat of the Nazi aggressors and the attaiinment oif our common goail - a durruble and just peace and a continuance of close coHruboration between a!1l the United Nations." - F. D. Roosevelt's caJblegrrum, Noiv. 6, 1944, to the SovieJt President on the occasion of the 27ith amtiJVersary orf the fOU!lldling of the USSR. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958, Vol. 8 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 26), March 1958.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 27), June 1958.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 28), December 1958.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 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 SWVAK EMIGRATION Constantine Culen 49 I ,J I 1 n ' At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the middle and lo;wer noibility held 70 % of the land in Slovakia. 'Dhe laind from which the Slovalk people was supposed rto maJke a liviing, the urlbarial land, a;mounted to only about 11 % of the total, ,b ut JI' even tlhis land did not b,e long to it. From what the land, yielded, the SlovaJk had to pay his taxes to feudal lords to wlhom the land ,b elonged according to the Ja,ws of that time - and to the so1Verign, w'ho tried to secure ,t he mil>it>a:ry defense of his realm from the taxes of the poorest people. Disease and constant warfary, of the rebellious nOlbility decimated t:Jhe tp0pu:lation. The nobility ruppropril}ted depopulated arets, even where some people ~till rerp.ained, usually -the more. productive areas. ,Slovakia lost its productiive force and gained an uniprodudive no~ bility. ' At that time one-half of the privileged class of the wlhole of Hungary lived in t3lovaki~; in BratisJa,v a County every tent'b ,p erson was a nobleman. The same situation preivailed in t,he counties of Turiec and Zemplin. This class reaUy did live a parasitic life; it was without initiative and considered it an insult to wor,k · it lived a wild life from the swea1:t. and blo9d of the po~rest people. According to I. A:csady, eminent Magyar author, the nolbility toolk away 167 1000 "Pressburg measures" of land from the peasants from 1700 to 1720. We can aippreciate wlhat that meant if we realize that five ,s uch measures a1lowed a livelihood for one family. In twenty years, therefore, mOTe than 33,000 Slovak families lost their means af livelihood; and ~bout 200,000 people were deipriived. of bread and ah existence! In five years (from 171·5 to 17'20) , 1,240 fawlies of Uptov County and 2,000 families of SaTis County were reduced to beggary oy the mY.b1eis. In the times when the rest of Europe was liberating itself from feudal regimes, Slovakia had to provide for 53 %<of the pTtvileged porpulaition of Hungary frro1m tJhe means that were not even sufficient for the .tnost primi- 50 SLOVAKIA tiive living of the serfs themselves. Practically every decade of the eigihteenth century is ma:z,ked with the death of tens ,o.f thousands of people firom hunger and pestilence. 'Dhe inhabitants fled from the villages, fathers of families abandoned their wives and children, and thousands oif acr~ of land .r ema,i ned uncuit1vated. Ba:ttalions oif gendarmes inteIWened, but to no avail. The oppressed and miseraJbJe people 'kept pouring to the south, to the more fertile land, wlhence reports had spread aibout a better and more free life on the desolat-ru but Twk-albandoned "Dolna zem" (lorwer coutry). Orv,e r 1,000 farrnilies left Liptov from 1715 to 1717; Orav;a County, among tlhe most populated of that time, lost almost onethivd of its 1peo1ple, Spis one-fifth, while in Saris the peasants aJbandoned three villa,ges completely and nine others almost comipletely. Thousands of peQple poured into south ern HungaTy from the counties of Zemplin and Albauj. In 1703, the first Slovaks had already settled in BOTos Jeno in Arad County; in 171'5, SlovaJk,s .built up Slovenska Caba, Endrod in 1'718, Sarvas i,n 1722, Slovensky Komlos in 1746, an:d communities in Bekes County; In 1747, the communities of Mokra and Menyhaza in Arad County, etc. Of course, with this first migiration the misery in .SlovaJkia did not diminish. Division of the land remained unchanged, because not even Theresian registers, nay, not even the agrarian reforms of 1836, brought any relief. A neglig~ble percentage of land was in the hands of peasants and strong population increases only aggraJVated the situation. From the second half o.f the eighteenth century until the liberation of the serfs in 1848, Slo,v ak blood continued to fl'orw to the south and strengthened t'he settlements of the Dolna ,zem. From there it flowed to Backia and Banat, then c·o ursed its way farther to the east into Transylvania, to the west into Croatia and Slavonia, and along the Darnulbe all the way to Bulgaria. Marie-Therese colonized Novo Selo and Padina with Slovaks in 1762; the Royal Ex-chequer settled them in Palota, Canada County, in 1768, while Joseph I plaiced them, in 17813, in Ba/lmvar, Ternes County, and also in 1 SJ,OVAKIA 51 Elbendorf, KTasoiva County. In 1805, Francis I settled Slovaks together with Germans in Sairca, Torontala County; in 1807, in Butin, Arad County; in 1810, in the .communities o£ Sana:d and Baton.a o,n the Military Border (Vojenska hrani,ca); :from 1843 to 1845, the Ex-chequer settled them in. the communities of .AJ1'berti and NadlaJk, Canada County, where Slovruks had already settled previous to that time. It is not an easy task to trace accUTately just when and hoiw many Slovruks emigrated from their homeland to foreign lands to seek freedom and bread, b;ut the fact that already in 1880 one-qua:r,ter million SlovaJks of Hungary lived outside of Slovak national territory remains an eternal aiccusation against Hungary feudalism. Up to the yea,r 1880, Slovruk emigration a!p.peairs to be the first collective protest against the feudalistic economic regime. Mter that yeaT, a new psychological motive ruppears on the scene. The time of the economic conjuncture of the New W~ld and the time to enrich oneself had arrived. 'Dhe oppfessed ,p eople maJkes a grand effort to rid itself od' its bondage. 'the docile SlcwaJks be<::ame fully awaire of their own strength, 'perseverance and honesty, and believe that they can malke out better in foreign lands than at home. What economic improlent could the Slovak meland, but the popue ~ t at home? People left their lation kept on increasing. At ho , where bwo thirds of the cleared land, only a part of. hich belonged to the people, became so atomized because of the heritage laiws that one-fourth of all the agricultural units were less than one measure? The Slova;ks saw no hope of better economic conditions at that time. The low productivity of the soil, the competition of Magyar farm products, the lack of industry and commerce, philoxera which destroyed all the winelands of eastern SlovaJkia, increasing local and state taxes, poor distribution and increasing price of vital necessities, high interest rates and constant exiploitation held the small huslban man in a permanent crisis. But the land barons were not concerned with the plight of the small husbandmen; they would not 52 SLOVAKIA let go pf any part of their lands. This was all contrasted with the rosy ;pi:ot,ure of America, whJrch soon came to be ca1led ".tlh e promised lamd." T,he desiTe for national freedom and the hunger for cheap land soon had hundreds of thousands of Slwalks m8Jking their way, legally or illegally, to the ; 'New World." Slovaks began to emigrate in greater numbers to America in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. From 1879 to· 18 91, Slova.ks from Zemplin County numbered 23,940; only 6,718 of them returned after a time, so that wer 17,000 of the first Slorva!k pioneers remained in America. .A'ccording to population staltistics of that time, the cooorties of AJb.auj, Zemplin, Saris, and Spis, together had a population of 888,678. But a census of the people rervealed that there were only 810,393 peorple in those countries. More than 75,000 Slovaks from these countris had alrady emigrated to America! By that time there were also 5,000 Slovaks in America from the counties of Gerner and Liptov, the total in America then being 80,000. Letters from Slovaiks in the "New World" to relahves and friends in the "home count·r,y" soon had more thousands of Slovaiks crossing the ocean to America. In the beginning, the Hungarian gorvernment, controlled by the Magyars, did nothing to stop the emigration to America and other lands. Later on, however, when the emigration mavement reached catastrophic prQPortions. the government tried to stop the trend by building urp industry in the hilly regions, but this did not remedy the situation. There was no comparison between America and Hungary when it caime to the question of getting "real" money for wo:rlkin1g. Petty and insignificant social reforms proclaimed by the Hungarian g nvernments, most of them never realized, did not influence the Slovaks. After all, thei-r brethren had tasted of real freedom in America ! Up to the first World War, Slorva:kia lost some 22,000 people annually ; they emigrated in the best yea·r s of theiir productive life and formed the most valuable and enter,prising class of the population. Uip to the year 1890, ars we saw a!bove, an average of 9,000 Slovaks left their homeland annually. In the years SLOVAKIA 53 following this average increased raipidly. In 1869, there were 1,997 ,0-96 persons in twe1ve Slorvalk counties; but in 1'890, 31 years later, there were 2,240,044 in the same counties, indicating an increase of only 12.2 % (242,948), even though birtihs exceeded deaths by 27.5 % ! Obviously tJhe differenice between the natural and the actual increase, 307,81'3 persons, was already beyond the boTders of SlovaJkia in 1900. The Hungarian pu'b,lic paid no attention to this great movement. It was generally said that it was due to the "itch to tra vel aJbroad" and wa;s convinced t!hat every Slovalk emigrant, after a time, would return to his homeland. Of course, it is true thait Slo,vaJks returned home in greater numbers tha,n Germans and MaJgyars, but the numlber of returnees was. insignificant in comparision to the number of those who settled down permanently in America. In 1900, 14,170 persons emigrnted from SlolV'aJkia; in 1901 - 19,302 ; in 1902 - 18,760; in 1903 - 17,063; in 1·904 - 17,477 ; but in 1905 - 38,770! In the latter year, 4,038 SlovaJks returned to SlovaJkia, but 34,732 remained in America. What Euro,p ean states lost more population by emigration in those same years? From 1905 to 1910, 117,188 Slovalks left thek homeland and 39,965 of them returned: in five years 77,223 more Slovruks settled beyond the ocean. In that first decade of the present century, the migrational stream swallowed up ,t he natural increaise in the counties of Tu:riec, Hont, and Orava: three times that of Gerner and Zemplin counties: five times that of the counties of Uzhorod and Albauj: and 12-13 times that of Spis and Saris counties. From 1910 on, the number of emigrants frOIIn Slovakia constantly decreases, indicating a decline of conjunctuTe and tighter immigration regulations. From 1,910 to the beginning of World War I, only an average of 10,760 persons emigrated from Slova;kia annually, while more than 4,000 of them returned annually. DuriTllg tlhat period Slovakia lost 33,788 ~ons and daughters. By recaipitulating the figuTes given aJb01Ve, we learn that from 1880, the year when emigration from Slovakia began in greater numbers, to the outbreak of World War I, 1 54 SLOVAKIA S,lQ/Vaooia lost more than 550,000 pe0iple through emigration. That more than that numlber actually left Slovakia during that time (,w e must rookon with those who emigrated illegally to America and, hence, did not figure satisticatly) is ,pr01ven by the 1921 census, accord,ing to which there were more than 619,000 Slovaks of the first and second generations in America. From 1 901 to 1910, Hungarian immigrants sent postal money orders in the amount of 1,248,81'8.7-40 crowns. During that tilme a total of 1,236,000 persons emigrated frOIIll Hungary; 18 % of that total - 228,000 persons - was Slovalk. Hence, we can saifely sa;y that Slovalkis sent their relatives at least l.'8 % of the total a,mount of crowns, that is, 223,'5127,000 crowns, or an average 22,352,000 crowns aru:JJually during that period. Adually, however, we know that si,gnifiicamtly more than this amount helped out SlovaJk economy, because many Slovalks sent money through b,an!ks and aill those who returned brought it with them, but we do nn have any record of this amount. With American doUws the SlovaJks at home paid their debts, bought new land from the great landowners, built stone and brick houses, boug:ht agricultural implements, and began to invest in various industrial entenprises. The family at home was better orfif economicaHy and wages began to increase. What the Slovaiks had learned in America they put to good use in Slov,aJkia after their return, raiising the sodal level particularly orf the poorest people o:f eastern Slo,vakia. With the progress of time, however, the spiritual effects prOlVed to be even more significant than the econolffilic effects. The late Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, eminent Slo,va:k historian, pointed this out when he wrote: "ISlovaik emigraints that left t 1heir homeland, often without national consciousness, became conscious of their ethnic 01rigin in a foreign world, in a new environment, and far from their homeland, aind they cultivated and deepened their Slov·a k national soUdarity wherever they had an QPportunity to do so. It so happened that Slo.vruk emi,g rants far beyond the ocean or in pre-wa,r Russia were more strongly conscious of tJheir nationality and possessed a profounder SlovaJk feeling than the Slovaks at home who lagged in their 1 SLOVAKIA 55 national development, or succumbed to Magyarization, influenced as they were by the MaJgyarization politics of the Hungarian government. The results of the contacts between Slo,vaik Amedca and Slovald.a became a,parent in various fields and in vairioUJs manners, and the Magyar government evaluated them well, seing in the national awrukening of eastern Slovaik,ia the influence of .American emigrants from Saris and Zemplin, and tried to paralyze this inf1uence by all pos•silble means. "The hundreds of thousands of American Slo,valks attentitvely followed the development of national life in SlovaJkia, intenvened in this development a:nd moraHy and materially aided every Slovak underta:king whioh aimed to gain national freedom for their countrymen. We would be very ungrateful and unjust, if we should underestimate th!.s participation of the American Slova'k s in the histori-cal development of the SloivaJk nation." • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are a chosen generation to which it has been granted to fulfill a unique historical task: to rid our country of Germans, in other words, the eternal danger to peace in our land and in Europe ... What was done and supported by laws i:n our country was the entering upon a path which the nation has chosen and along which it shall develop. There is no turning back from this path, even if some one would desire to do so. Obviously we ourselves do not wish to do so. We have begun a gigantic task which must be successful. For its success all of us are responsible to future generations." (Dr. Peter Zenkl, SVOBODNE SLOVO, Jan. 1, 1946) . • • "At this fateful ti-me, when the Red Army and the armies of the United States and other United Nations are fighting on German sohl, we can look forward with even greater confidence to the early defeat of the Nazi aggressors and the attaiinment oif our common goail - a durruble and just peace and a continuance of close coHruboration between a!1l the United Nations." - F. D. Roosevelt's caJblegrrum, Noiv. 6, 1944, to the SovieJt President on the occasion of the 27ith amtiJVersary orf the fOU!lldling of the USSR.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Emigration Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 8, No. 2 (27), June 1958 pp. 49-55 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1958 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c6066799d2c648d30601272429b42647.pdf 191697fac20fdcca6f1a5954187f5822 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 69 OSUSKY AFTER MARCH 14, 1939 Constantine Colen I have read Vnuk's article on Osusky in the Slovak press and believe it in the interest of historians to enlarge upon it, since I have quite a file on Osusky, the man who was delegated by the Slovak League of America to do a certain job for it in 1916 (to get the story in Europe of what was to be done with Austria-Hungary at the end of World War 1 and, particularly, to see what could be done to liberate the Slovaks from the hegemony of Budapest), but thusfar has failed to report his findings to the League. Now, how did Osusky, a Slovak who found favorwith T. G.Masaryk, protect the interests of his fellowSlovaks in France? Let me tell you how he tried to make cannon fodder of them for the French in the last war. After Germany attacked France, Osusky began to organize a new Czecho~Slovak army in France, knowing that some 50,000 Slovaks had settled there. In the years w:hen thousands upon thousands of Czechs poured into Slovakia to help the "backward, primitive" Slovaks, thousands upon thousands of Slovaks were forced to seek their bread in foreign lands. France was one of the countries where the Slovaks settled in larger numbers. Osusky was a politician who had two irons in th fire. Thus he began his political career, and thus he ended it. Whenever he made one of his rare appearences in Slovakia, his "homeland," Osusky would turn radical and make a speech on how the Slovaks were being mistreated by Prague. On to Prague he would then go and do some smooth explaining so that his Prague boss would not be angry with him. In the fall of 1938, Osusky same to Prague and sought the favor of the deputies of the Slovak People's Party. He delivered a long address to the Club of Deputies and Senators in which he did not treat Eduard Benes and Milan Hodza too kindly. Osusky was the protege of Masaryk, while Hodza, also of Slovak origin, was in favor with Benes. It was no secret that Osusky had hoped to become the Foreign Minister of Czecho-Slovakia. The address, how- �70 SLOVAKIA ever, fell short of its mark. After Osusky left the Club, Tiso, later President of the Slovak Republic, remarked amusingly: "The discharged maid came to complain about her mistress." The Populists agreed tha Hodza could answer Osusky in the Club. Hodza, however, let one of his friends answer Osusky. Osusky and the Czechs Stephen Osusky remained in Paris where he began to organize the "liberation" movement, but behind the scenes he was also opposed to Benes. With the Czechs under Benes, Osusky was a member of Benes's "Czecho-Slovak National Committee," and yet he intervened with French authorities so that Daladier would not accept Benes as the head of the movement. Benes was furious. And it was Benes who told an American correspondent that Osusky is a link between Daladier and the Habsburg Otto. As a result, Czech emigrants turned against Osusky, calling him a traitor, a contemptible man, and a careerist who had, they said, "thrown himself out of the liberation movement." Did France Betray Czecho-Slovakia? Osusky lived so long in France that he finally became a Frenchman in spirit. After Munich, leading Czech personalities unhesitatingly declared that France had betrayed Czecho-'Slovakia. When the Czechs and Slovaks in France let it be known that they felt the same way, the French Government warned Osusky that it had enough of such "bad conduct." Osusky replied publicly in the newspapers, berating his countrymen for their "unbecoming" conduct. "In one's awn home," Osusky said, "no one allows himself to be called a traitor. A traitor is an enemy. To call the French enemies and at the same time live among them and accept their hospitality, this is something that cannot be borne well. lt simply was not true," concluded Osusky, "and France is the Mother of our freedom and independence." The First "State Act" Of course, Osusky had to show his appreciation to the French Government for letting him keep the Czecho- �SLOVAKIA 71 Slovak Embassy. Fr-ance needed soldiers. There were thousands of Slovak workers in France, and Osusky gave them the choice of sacrificing themselves for France or going to a concentration camp. In his press, of course, 0susky said this "diplomatically" thusly: "Czecho-'Slovak citizens here in France have the right to think and to give expression to their thoughts. They have a right to look after their own livelihood and to care for their own welfare." A "Proclamation" form was then issued in Czech, which the Slovak and Czechs were supposed to sign and return to 0susky's office. This was to be proof that the men were signing up "voluntavily" and without reservations for a Czecho-Slovak army, and the women for whatever duties mig,ht be ,a ssigned to them by the Czecho-lSlovak Foreign Center. As one Slovak put it: "They are forcing us to die for something that is foreign but even this verdict of death cannot be published in Slovak, but in Czech!" The Slovaks in France· Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris, was a center of Slovak national and cultural life. Over 1,000 Slovaks lived there. They were "stubborn" Slovaks, who would not be influenced by Czech or "Czechoslovak" propaganda. They had their own Slovak school. Prague tried unsuccessfuly to place a Czech teacher. Finally a Slovak was appointed. Of course, he was not an autonomist. All the Argenteuil Slovaks, however, backed the right of the Slovaks to autonomy, that is, to home rule or to states' rights. They never had any trouble with the French authorities before Germany invaded Bohemia and Moravia. But plenty after Benes, Jan Masaryk and other 0zech "patriots" with their Slovak helpers went into exile. 'Dhe cry went out to organize a "Czechoslovak" resistance. The chief problem was to organize an army in France. After months of agitation among the Slovaks, five volunteered to join the Czecho-:Slovak Legion in Fance. A roundup of Slovaks began; all capable of bearing arms were brought by the police to the Police Commissioner where they were ordered to sign up with the Czecho-Slovak Le- �72 SLOVAKIA gion. Excepting the five mentioned, all other refused to do so. Those that were citizens of France were willing to answer the call from the authorities when it was issued, but refused to sign up for the Czecho-Slovak Legion. The result was that some were jailed, while many others were placed in concentration camps at Rolland Garros, Buffalo Bill, and still others were relegated to forced labor on the Spanish frontier. Fathers of families were not excepted. Benes and Osusky had to have an army. The hapless Slovaks were then visited by agents of the Paris Czecho-Slovak Office who urged them to "get smart" and si•g n up for the Legion. The Slovaks. however, resisted stubbornly, asking: "for what?" Letters, sent to relatives in Slovakia, told of the suffering they undergo because they refused to fight against their brethren in Slovakia who had as much rig,ht to freedom and independence as Benes and his Czechs. Their attitude was like that of the French in Quebec, Canada. That is how they began to organize the Czecho-Slovak Legion in France. Much was said about it. Czech propaganda wrote about thousands and tens of thousands joining up "voluntarily and enthusiastically." The periodical "Cesko~Slovensky boj" (,T he Czecho-'S lovak Struggle) reported on the "Departure of our First Defenders": 160 men and ten officers under the command of Captain Kratky; three companies headed by two battalions. In the meantime Prchala and Snejdarek, both Czech Generals, were waiting for something to do. Osusky Vs. Benes After Slovakia proclaimed her independence on March 14, 1939, and the Czech lands were occupied by the Germans, it seemed that Osusky and Benes would become reconciled. In America Benes praised Osusky for organizing the new resistance movement in France. But Osusky apparently did not want to be a subordinate of Benes who had capitulated to Hitler at Munich. Backed by the French, who wanted Benes to lose himself, Osusky wanted the No. �73 SLOVAKIA 1 spot as far as Czecho-Slovak leadership abroad was concerned. On July 29, 1939, the "Cesko-Slovensky Boj" published th€ July 10th resolution of "Osusky's countrymen" who had settled in Grand Combe, wherein they acknowledged the leadership of Osusky and expressed full confidence in him. The Ruthenians followed suit. Pamphlets sharply critical of Benes were circulated among the Slovaks in France. In his propaganda organ, Osusky began to write a bout the need of a new and different Czecho-Slovakia, unlike the old one. He said that generals who lost the war do have the obligation to continue working, but that they did not have any right at all to lead the Slovaks and Czechs into a new fight. He did not consider himself as one of the generals who lost the war. The new resistance, it was said, must be imbued with a new spirit and must be lead by new leaders (''Slovensky I:.ud" - Buenos Aires, May 18, 1939). 1 In the "Cesko-Slovensky Boj" of June 10, 1939, he wrote about the situation and feelings of the Slovaks in Ozecho-Slovakia. "The fact is," Osusky said, "that many Slovaks do not believe in the ,l egal continuity of the CzeohoS1ovak Republic and in its restoration, because some Slovaks and Czechs threaten the Slovak with even a tougher and more ruthless centralism that the one they lived under for twenty years." Osusky recalled that he had protested against the policy followed in Slovakia. "I recall that in the fall of 1937, a year before the catastrophe," Osusky dec,Iared, "I had foretold in official places the end of the Republic if a radical change and improvement did not take place." Rigid centralism - the cause of so many quarrels between the Slovaks and Czechs - is hurried and dead, and "I hereby publicly state that I shall never agree to have the Slovak nation robbed of its sacred rights ... We are here concerned with the existence and the future of the Czecho-Slovak Republic," continued Osusky, and "whosoever threatens the Slovaks with centralism is an enemy of the restoration of the Republic. and that for the reason that without the Slovaks Czecho- �74 SLOVAKIA Slovakia cannot be and sha11 not be restored." Diplomatic double talk! Osusky in London After the fall of France, Osusky, like Hodza before him, was given the "Benes treatment" for faithful services rendered: first he was vilified and then dropped. Among other things, Benes and his political entourage accused 0susky of: using :State finances for "other purposes;" sabota·g ing the evacuation of Czecho-Slovaks from France; helping Hitler to divide the "Ozechoslovak nation" even before Munich; favoring French policy in Munich; and repudiating the "president's" conception of the second resistance movement, according to which Benes was still president of Czecho~Slovakia which legally did not cease to exist, and Benes, therefore is "the sole source of constitutional rights and State sovereignty of Masaryk's f.irst Republic." The Czech press in America, which up to that time wrote highly of Osusky and his "occomplishments," now turned against him. Osusky now became a Habsburg monarchist, a reactionary, a collaborator of Germans, and declared that he must never be allowed to return to "liberated" Czecho-'Slovakia. In his MEMOIDS, Benes referred to ()Busky and others as "malcontents who, when they wanted to extort something for their personal benefit, used to threaten or attack me (sometimes with extreme lack of decency or political propriety" (p. 1'21). Benes expe1led Osusky from his London "government-in-exile" in March, 1942, stating, however, that Osusky had "resigned." "But I did not resign," Osusky hurried to reply, "I was simply dismissed." Not being able to get his side of the story to the West, Osusky published several pamphlets to exonerate himself and indict Benes and his "illegal" political clique. As far as Osusky was concerned, "Dr. Edward Benes had resigned from the office of president of the Czecllo-,Slovak Republic," and Dr. EmH Ha.cha was elected according to the Constitution in his stead and, therefore, "legally and in fact Dr. Edward Benes ceased to ·b e president of the Ozecho-Slovak Republic." Benes, however, had the right connections in London and Washington. In the end he, and not Osusky, prevailed. �SLOVAKIA 75 In politics it seldom pays to to sit on two chairs. OsuS'ky began his career when the Slovak League sent him to Europe to Masaryk to work for the establishment of Czecho-,Slovakia and to see to it that Slovakia was granted autonomy. Osusky found it convenient and profitable to forget the League and the rights of his Slovak people to freedom, freedom from a1ien domination. He preferred to serve Masaryk and his senseless concept of "Czechoslovakism." At one time it was said that Osusky claimed "credit" for the fact that the Pittsburgh Pact was not even mentioned dunng the Paris Peace Conference negotiations. Osusky served as a Prague ambassador for over twenty years. He did a commendable job of it. Today, perhaps as he writes his memoirs in Washington, the Czechs don't want him - and the Slovaks, his own people, won't ·have him. • • • ibe History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK 1Continu ed) Slovakia played an important role in the relations of the kingdom which developed between Hungary and Poland during the reign of the Anjous. Louis the Great wanted to ,b ecome Polish king after the death of Casimir the Great, the last male descendant of the Piastov Clan. The agreements by which this union of Poland and Hungary was to be realized, were concluded in Slovak cities, especially in ,Kosice which was on the Cracow-Budin highway. It was at Kosice, after several meetings, that it was decided to have t!he daughter of Louis the Great, succeed him to the cP olish throne after his death. The reign of the Anjous brought Slovakia a notable contribution especially in the field of culture. G001HIC ClJiL'NJRE IN SLOVAKIA Medieval culture is a Christian culture. The Church concerned itself not only with the advancement of Christian faith and morals among the uncivilized nations of Europe, � SLOVAKIA 69 OSUSKY AFTER MARCH 14, 1939 Constantine Colen I have read Vnuk's article on Osusky in the Slovak press and believe it in the interest of historians to enlarge upon it, since I have quite a file on Osusky, the man who was delegated by the Slovak League of America to do a certain job for it in 1916 (to get the story in Europe of what was to be done with Austria-Hungary at the end of World War 1 and, particularly, to see what could be done to liberate the Slovaks from the hegemony of Budapest), but thusfar has failed to report his findings to the League. Now, how did Osusky, a Slovak who found favorwith T. G.Masaryk, protect the interests of his fellowSlovaks in France? Let me tell you how he tried to make cannon fodder of them for the French in the last war. After Germany attacked France, Osusky began to organize a new Czecho~Slovak army in France, knowing that some 50,000 Slovaks had settled there. In the years w:hen thousands upon thousands of Czechs poured into Slovakia to help the "backward, primitive" Slovaks, thousands upon thousands of Slovaks were forced to seek their bread in foreign lands. France was one of the countries where the Slovaks settled in larger numbers. Osusky was a politician who had two irons in th fire. Thus he began his political career, and thus he ended it. Whenever he made one of his rare appearences in Slovakia, his "homeland," Osusky would turn radical and make a speech on how the Slovaks were being mistreated by Prague. On to Prague he would then go and do some smooth explaining so that his Prague boss would not be angry with him. In the fall of 1938, Osusky same to Prague and sought the favor of the deputies of the Slovak People's Party. He delivered a long address to the Club of Deputies and Senators in which he did not treat Eduard Benes and Milan Hodza too kindly. Osusky was the protege of Masaryk, while Hodza, also of Slovak origin, was in favor with Benes. It was no secret that Osusky had hoped to become the Foreign Minister of Czecho-Slovakia. The address, how- �70 SLOVAKIA ever, fell short of its mark. After Osusky left the Club, Tiso, later President of the Slovak Republic, remarked amusingly: "The discharged maid came to complain about her mistress." The Populists agreed tha Hodza could answer Osusky in the Club. Hodza, however, let one of his friends answer Osusky. Osusky and the Czechs Stephen Osusky remained in Paris where he began to organize the "liberation" movement, but behind the scenes he was also opposed to Benes. With the Czechs under Benes, Osusky was a member of Benes's "Czecho-Slovak National Committee," and yet he intervened with French authorities so that Daladier would not accept Benes as the head of the movement. Benes was furious. And it was Benes who told an American correspondent that Osusky is a link between Daladier and the Habsburg Otto. As a result, Czech emigrants turned against Osusky, calling him a traitor, a contemptible man, and a careerist who had, they said, "thrown himself out of the liberation movement." Did France Betray Czecho-Slovakia? Osusky lived so long in France that he finally became a Frenchman in spirit. After Munich, leading Czech personalities unhesitatingly declared that France had betrayed Czecho-'Slovakia. When the Czechs and Slovaks in France let it be known that they felt the same way, the French Government warned Osusky that it had enough of such "bad conduct." Osusky replied publicly in the newspapers, berating his countrymen for their "unbecoming" conduct. "In one's awn home," Osusky said, "no one allows himself to be called a traitor. A traitor is an enemy. To call the French enemies and at the same time live among them and accept their hospitality, this is something that cannot be borne well. lt simply was not true," concluded Osusky, "and France is the Mother of our freedom and independence." The First "State Act" Of course, Osusky had to show his appreciation to the French Government for letting him keep the Czecho- �SLOVAKIA 71 Slovak Embassy. Fr-ance needed soldiers. There were thousands of Slovak workers in France, and Osusky gave them the choice of sacrificing themselves for France or going to a concentration camp. In his press, of course, 0susky said this "diplomatically" thusly: "Czecho-'Slovak citizens here in France have the right to think and to give expression to their thoughts. They have a right to look after their own livelihood and to care for their own welfare." A "Proclamation" form was then issued in Czech, which the Slovak and Czechs were supposed to sign and return to 0susky's office. This was to be proof that the men were signing up "voluntavily" and without reservations for a Czecho-Slovak army, and the women for whatever duties mig,ht be ,a ssigned to them by the Czecho-lSlovak Foreign Center. As one Slovak put it: "They are forcing us to die for something that is foreign but even this verdict of death cannot be published in Slovak, but in Czech!" The Slovaks in France· Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris, was a center of Slovak national and cultural life. Over 1,000 Slovaks lived there. They were "stubborn" Slovaks, who would not be influenced by Czech or "Czechoslovak" propaganda. They had their own Slovak school. Prague tried unsuccessfuly to place a Czech teacher. Finally a Slovak was appointed. Of course, he was not an autonomist. All the Argenteuil Slovaks, however, backed the right of the Slovaks to autonomy, that is, to home rule or to states' rights. They never had any trouble with the French authorities before Germany invaded Bohemia and Moravia. But plenty after Benes, Jan Masaryk and other 0zech "patriots" with their Slovak helpers went into exile. 'Dhe cry went out to organize a "Czechoslovak" resistance. The chief problem was to organize an army in France. After months of agitation among the Slovaks, five volunteered to join the Czecho-:Slovak Legion in Fance. A roundup of Slovaks began; all capable of bearing arms were brought by the police to the Police Commissioner where they were ordered to sign up with the Czecho-Slovak Le- �72 SLOVAKIA gion. Excepting the five mentioned, all other refused to do so. Those that were citizens of France were willing to answer the call from the authorities when it was issued, but refused to sign up for the Czecho-Slovak Legion. The result was that some were jailed, while many others were placed in concentration camps at Rolland Garros, Buffalo Bill, and still others were relegated to forced labor on the Spanish frontier. Fathers of families were not excepted. Benes and Osusky had to have an army. The hapless Slovaks were then visited by agents of the Paris Czecho-Slovak Office who urged them to "get smart" and si•g n up for the Legion. The Slovaks. however, resisted stubbornly, asking: "for what?" Letters, sent to relatives in Slovakia, told of the suffering they undergo because they refused to fight against their brethren in Slovakia who had as much rig,ht to freedom and independence as Benes and his Czechs. Their attitude was like that of the French in Quebec, Canada. That is how they began to organize the Czecho-Slovak Legion in France. Much was said about it. Czech propaganda wrote about thousands and tens of thousands joining up "voluntarily and enthusiastically." The periodical "Cesko~Slovensky boj" (,T he Czecho-'S lovak Struggle) reported on the "Departure of our First Defenders": 160 men and ten officers under the command of Captain Kratky; three companies headed by two battalions. In the meantime Prchala and Snejdarek, both Czech Generals, were waiting for something to do. Osusky Vs. Benes After Slovakia proclaimed her independence on March 14, 1939, and the Czech lands were occupied by the Germans, it seemed that Osusky and Benes would become reconciled. In America Benes praised Osusky for organizing the new resistance movement in France. But Osusky apparently did not want to be a subordinate of Benes who had capitulated to Hitler at Munich. Backed by the French, who wanted Benes to lose himself, Osusky wanted the No. �73 SLOVAKIA 1 spot as far as Czecho-Slovak leadership abroad was concerned. On July 29, 1939, the "Cesko-Slovensky Boj" published th€ July 10th resolution of "Osusky's countrymen" who had settled in Grand Combe, wherein they acknowledged the leadership of Osusky and expressed full confidence in him. The Ruthenians followed suit. Pamphlets sharply critical of Benes were circulated among the Slovaks in France. In his propaganda organ, Osusky began to write a bout the need of a new and different Czecho-Slovakia, unlike the old one. He said that generals who lost the war do have the obligation to continue working, but that they did not have any right at all to lead the Slovaks and Czechs into a new fight. He did not consider himself as one of the generals who lost the war. The new resistance, it was said, must be imbued with a new spirit and must be lead by new leaders (''Slovensky I:.ud" - Buenos Aires, May 18, 1939). 1 In the "Cesko-Slovensky Boj" of June 10, 1939, he wrote about the situation and feelings of the Slovaks in Ozecho-Slovakia. "The fact is," Osusky said, "that many Slovaks do not believe in the ,l egal continuity of the CzeohoS1ovak Republic and in its restoration, because some Slovaks and Czechs threaten the Slovak with even a tougher and more ruthless centralism that the one they lived under for twenty years." Osusky recalled that he had protested against the policy followed in Slovakia. "I recall that in the fall of 1937, a year before the catastrophe," Osusky dec,Iared, "I had foretold in official places the end of the Republic if a radical change and improvement did not take place." Rigid centralism - the cause of so many quarrels between the Slovaks and Czechs - is hurried and dead, and "I hereby publicly state that I shall never agree to have the Slovak nation robbed of its sacred rights ... We are here concerned with the existence and the future of the Czecho-Slovak Republic," continued Osusky, and "whosoever threatens the Slovaks with centralism is an enemy of the restoration of the Republic. and that for the reason that without the Slovaks Czecho- �74 SLOVAKIA Slovakia cannot be and sha11 not be restored." Diplomatic double talk! Osusky in London After the fall of France, Osusky, like Hodza before him, was given the "Benes treatment" for faithful services rendered: first he was vilified and then dropped. Among other things, Benes and his political entourage accused 0susky of: using :State finances for "other purposes;" sabota·g ing the evacuation of Czecho-Slovaks from France; helping Hitler to divide the "Ozechoslovak nation" even before Munich; favoring French policy in Munich; and repudiating the "president's" conception of the second resistance movement, according to which Benes was still president of Czecho~Slovakia which legally did not cease to exist, and Benes, therefore is "the sole source of constitutional rights and State sovereignty of Masaryk's f.irst Republic." The Czech press in America, which up to that time wrote highly of Osusky and his "occomplishments," now turned against him. Osusky now became a Habsburg monarchist, a reactionary, a collaborator of Germans, and declared that he must never be allowed to return to "liberated" Czecho-'Slovakia. In his MEMOIDS, Benes referred to ()Busky and others as "malcontents who, when they wanted to extort something for their personal benefit, used to threaten or attack me (sometimes with extreme lack of decency or political propriety" (p. 1'21). Benes expe1led Osusky from his London "government-in-exile" in March, 1942, stating, however, that Osusky had "resigned." "But I did not resign," Osusky hurried to reply, "I was simply dismissed." Not being able to get his side of the story to the West, Osusky published several pamphlets to exonerate himself and indict Benes and his "illegal" political clique. As far as Osusky was concerned, "Dr. Edward Benes had resigned from the office of president of the Czecllo-,Slovak Republic," and Dr. EmH Ha.cha was elected according to the Constitution in his stead and, therefore, "legally and in fact Dr. Edward Benes ceased to ·b e president of the Ozecho-Slovak Republic." Benes, however, had the right connections in London and Washington. In the end he, and not Osusky, prevailed. �SLOVAKIA 75 In politics it seldom pays to to sit on two chairs. OsuS'ky began his career when the Slovak League sent him to Europe to Masaryk to work for the establishment of Czecho-,Slovakia and to see to it that Slovakia was granted autonomy. Osusky found it convenient and profitable to forget the League and the rights of his Slovak people to freedom, freedom from a1ien domination. He preferred to serve Masaryk and his senseless concept of "Czechoslovakism." At one time it was said that Osusky claimed "credit" for the fact that the Pittsburgh Pact was not even mentioned dunng the Paris Peace Conference negotiations. Osusky served as a Prague ambassador for over twenty years. He did a commendable job of it. Today, perhaps as he writes his memoirs in Washington, the Czechs don't want him - and the Slovaks, his own people, won't ·have him. • • • ibe History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK 1Continu ed) Slovakia played an important role in the relations of the kingdom which developed between Hungary and Poland during the reign of the Anjous. Louis the Great wanted to ,b ecome Polish king after the death of Casimir the Great, the last male descendant of the Piastov Clan. The agreements by which this union of Poland and Hungary was to be realized, were concluded in Slovak cities, especially in ,Kosice which was on the Cracow-Budin highway. It was at Kosice, after several meetings, that it was decided to have t!he daughter of Louis the Great, succeed him to the cP olish throne after his death. The reign of the Anjous brought Slovakia a notable contribution especially in the field of culture. G001HIC ClJiL'NJRE IN SLOVAKIA Medieval culture is a Christian culture. The Church concerned itself not only with the advancement of Christian faith and morals among the uncivilized nations of Europe, � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959, Vol. 9 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 4 [sic] (No. 29), March 1959.</li> <li>Issue 5 [sic] (No. 30), June-December 1959.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 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 69 OSUSKY AFTER MARCH 14, 1939 Constantine Colen I have read Vnuk's article on Osusky in the Slovak press and believe it in the interest of historians to enlarge upon it, since I have quite a file on Osusky, the man who was delegated by the Slovak League of America to do a certain job for it in 1916 (to get the story in Europe of what was to be done with Austria-Hungary at the end of World War 1 and, particularly, to see what could be done to liberate the Slovaks from the hegemony of Budapest), but thusfar has failed to report his findings to the League. Now, how did Osusky, a Slovak who found favorwith T. G.Masaryk, protect the interests of his fellowSlovaks in France? Let me tell you how he tried to make cannon fodder of them for the French in the last war. After Germany attacked France, Osusky began to organize a new Czecho~Slovak army in France, knowing that some 50,000 Slovaks had settled there. In the years w:hen thousands upon thousands of Czechs poured into Slovakia to help the "backward, primitive" Slovaks, thousands upon thousands of Slovaks were forced to seek their bread in foreign lands. France was one of the countries where the Slovaks settled in larger numbers. Osusky was a politician who had two irons in th fire. Thus he began his political career, and thus he ended it. Whenever he made one of his rare appearences in Slovakia, his "homeland," Osusky would turn radical and make a speech on how the Slovaks were being mistreated by Prague. On to Prague he would then go and do some smooth explaining so that his Prague boss would not be angry with him. In the fall of 1938, Osusky same to Prague and sought the favor of the deputies of the Slovak People's Party. He delivered a long address to the Club of Deputies and Senators in which he did not treat Eduard Benes and Milan Hodza too kindly. Osusky was the protege of Masaryk, while Hodza, also of Slovak origin, was in favor with Benes. It was no secret that Osusky had hoped to become the Foreign Minister of Czecho-Slovakia. The address, how- 70 SLOVAKIA ever, fell short of its mark. After Osusky left the Club, Tiso, later President of the Slovak Republic, remarked amusingly: "The discharged maid came to complain about her mistress." The Populists agreed tha Hodza could answer Osusky in the Club. Hodza, however, let one of his friends answer Osusky. Osusky and the Czechs Stephen Osusky remained in Paris where he began to organize the "liberation" movement, but behind the scenes he was also opposed to Benes. With the Czechs under Benes, Osusky was a member of Benes's "Czecho-Slovak National Committee," and yet he intervened with French authorities so that Daladier would not accept Benes as the head of the movement. Benes was furious. And it was Benes who told an American correspondent that Osusky is a link between Daladier and the Habsburg Otto. As a result, Czech emigrants turned against Osusky, calling him a traitor, a contemptible man, and a careerist who had, they said, "thrown himself out of the liberation movement." Did France Betray Czecho-Slovakia? Osusky lived so long in France that he finally became a Frenchman in spirit. After Munich, leading Czech personalities unhesitatingly declared that France had betrayed Czecho-'Slovakia. When the Czechs and Slovaks in France let it be known that they felt the same way, the French Government warned Osusky that it had enough of such "bad conduct." Osusky replied publicly in the newspapers, berating his countrymen for their "unbecoming" conduct. "In one's awn home," Osusky said, "no one allows himself to be called a traitor. A traitor is an enemy. To call the French enemies and at the same time live among them and accept their hospitality, this is something that cannot be borne well. lt simply was not true," concluded Osusky, "and France is the Mother of our freedom and independence." The First "State Act" Of course, Osusky had to show his appreciation to the French Government for letting him keep the Czecho- SLOVAKIA 71 Slovak Embassy. Fr-ance needed soldiers. There were thousands of Slovak workers in France, and Osusky gave them the choice of sacrificing themselves for France or going to a concentration camp. In his press, of course, 0susky said this "diplomatically" thusly: "Czecho-'Slovak citizens here in France have the right to think and to give expression to their thoughts. They have a right to look after their own livelihood and to care for their own welfare." A "Proclamation" form was then issued in Czech, which the Slovak and Czechs were supposed to sign and return to 0susky's office. This was to be proof that the men were signing up "voluntavily" and without reservations for a Czecho-Slovak army, and the women for whatever duties mig,ht be ,a ssigned to them by the Czecho-lSlovak Foreign Center. As one Slovak put it: "They are forcing us to die for something that is foreign but even this verdict of death cannot be published in Slovak, but in Czech!" The Slovaks in France· Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris, was a center of Slovak national and cultural life. Over 1,000 Slovaks lived there. They were "stubborn" Slovaks, who would not be influenced by Czech or "Czechoslovak" propaganda. They had their own Slovak school. Prague tried unsuccessfuly to place a Czech teacher. Finally a Slovak was appointed. Of course, he was not an autonomist. All the Argenteuil Slovaks, however, backed the right of the Slovaks to autonomy, that is, to home rule or to states' rights. They never had any trouble with the French authorities before Germany invaded Bohemia and Moravia. But plenty after Benes, Jan Masaryk and other 0zech "patriots" with their Slovak helpers went into exile. 'Dhe cry went out to organize a "Czechoslovak" resistance. The chief problem was to organize an army in France. After months of agitation among the Slovaks, five volunteered to join the Czecho-:Slovak Legion in Fance. A roundup of Slovaks began; all capable of bearing arms were brought by the police to the Police Commissioner where they were ordered to sign up with the Czecho-Slovak Le- 72 SLOVAKIA gion. Excepting the five mentioned, all other refused to do so. Those that were citizens of France were willing to answer the call from the authorities when it was issued, but refused to sign up for the Czecho-Slovak Legion. The result was that some were jailed, while many others were placed in concentration camps at Rolland Garros, Buffalo Bill, and still others were relegated to forced labor on the Spanish frontier. Fathers of families were not excepted. Benes and Osusky had to have an army. The hapless Slovaks were then visited by agents of the Paris Czecho-Slovak Office who urged them to "get smart" and si•g n up for the Legion. The Slovaks. however, resisted stubbornly, asking: "for what?" Letters, sent to relatives in Slovakia, told of the suffering they undergo because they refused to fight against their brethren in Slovakia who had as much rig,ht to freedom and independence as Benes and his Czechs. Their attitude was like that of the French in Quebec, Canada. That is how they began to organize the Czecho-Slovak Legion in France. Much was said about it. Czech propaganda wrote about thousands and tens of thousands joining up "voluntarily and enthusiastically." The periodical "Cesko~Slovensky boj" (,T he Czecho-'S lovak Struggle) reported on the "Departure of our First Defenders": 160 men and ten officers under the command of Captain Kratky; three companies headed by two battalions. In the meantime Prchala and Snejdarek, both Czech Generals, were waiting for something to do. Osusky Vs. Benes After Slovakia proclaimed her independence on March 14, 1939, and the Czech lands were occupied by the Germans, it seemed that Osusky and Benes would become reconciled. In America Benes praised Osusky for organizing the new resistance movement in France. But Osusky apparently did not want to be a subordinate of Benes who had capitulated to Hitler at Munich. Backed by the French, who wanted Benes to lose himself, Osusky wanted the No. 73 SLOVAKIA 1 spot as far as Czecho-Slovak leadership abroad was concerned. On July 29, 1939, the "Cesko-Slovensky Boj" published th€ July 10th resolution of "Osusky's countrymen" who had settled in Grand Combe, wherein they acknowledged the leadership of Osusky and expressed full confidence in him. The Ruthenians followed suit. Pamphlets sharply critical of Benes were circulated among the Slovaks in France. In his propaganda organ, Osusky began to write a bout the need of a new and different Czecho-Slovakia, unlike the old one. He said that generals who lost the war do have the obligation to continue working, but that they did not have any right at all to lead the Slovaks and Czechs into a new fight. He did not consider himself as one of the generals who lost the war. The new resistance, it was said, must be imbued with a new spirit and must be lead by new leaders (''Slovensky I:.ud" - Buenos Aires, May 18, 1939). 1 In the "Cesko-Slovensky Boj" of June 10, 1939, he wrote about the situation and feelings of the Slovaks in Ozecho-Slovakia. "The fact is," Osusky said, "that many Slovaks do not believe in the ,l egal continuity of the CzeohoS1ovak Republic and in its restoration, because some Slovaks and Czechs threaten the Slovak with even a tougher and more ruthless centralism that the one they lived under for twenty years." Osusky recalled that he had protested against the policy followed in Slovakia. "I recall that in the fall of 1937, a year before the catastrophe," Osusky dec,Iared, "I had foretold in official places the end of the Republic if a radical change and improvement did not take place." Rigid centralism - the cause of so many quarrels between the Slovaks and Czechs - is hurried and dead, and "I hereby publicly state that I shall never agree to have the Slovak nation robbed of its sacred rights ... We are here concerned with the existence and the future of the Czecho-Slovak Republic," continued Osusky, and "whosoever threatens the Slovaks with centralism is an enemy of the restoration of the Republic. and that for the reason that without the Slovaks Czecho- 74 SLOVAKIA Slovakia cannot be and sha11 not be restored." Diplomatic double talk! Osusky in London After the fall of France, Osusky, like Hodza before him, was given the "Benes treatment" for faithful services rendered: first he was vilified and then dropped. Among other things, Benes and his political entourage accused 0susky of: using :State finances for "other purposes;" sabota·g ing the evacuation of Czecho-Slovaks from France; helping Hitler to divide the "Ozechoslovak nation" even before Munich; favoring French policy in Munich; and repudiating the "president's" conception of the second resistance movement, according to which Benes was still president of Czecho~Slovakia which legally did not cease to exist, and Benes, therefore is "the sole source of constitutional rights and State sovereignty of Masaryk's f.irst Republic." The Czech press in America, which up to that time wrote highly of Osusky and his "occomplishments," now turned against him. Osusky now became a Habsburg monarchist, a reactionary, a collaborator of Germans, and declared that he must never be allowed to return to "liberated" Czecho-'Slovakia. In his MEMOIDS, Benes referred to ()Busky and others as "malcontents who, when they wanted to extort something for their personal benefit, used to threaten or attack me (sometimes with extreme lack of decency or political propriety" (p. 1'21). Benes expe1led Osusky from his London "government-in-exile" in March, 1942, stating, however, that Osusky had "resigned." "But I did not resign," Osusky hurried to reply, "I was simply dismissed." Not being able to get his side of the story to the West, Osusky published several pamphlets to exonerate himself and indict Benes and his "illegal" political clique. As far as Osusky was concerned, "Dr. Edward Benes had resigned from the office of president of the Czecllo-,Slovak Republic," and Dr. EmH Ha.cha was elected according to the Constitution in his stead and, therefore, "legally and in fact Dr. Edward Benes ceased to ·b e president of the Ozecho-Slovak Republic." Benes, however, had the right connections in London and Washington. In the end he, and not Osusky, prevailed. SLOVAKIA 75 In politics it seldom pays to to sit on two chairs. OsuS'ky began his career when the Slovak League sent him to Europe to Masaryk to work for the establishment of Czecho-,Slovakia and to see to it that Slovakia was granted autonomy. Osusky found it convenient and profitable to forget the League and the rights of his Slovak people to freedom, freedom from a1ien domination. He preferred to serve Masaryk and his senseless concept of "Czechoslovakism." At one time it was said that Osusky claimed "credit" for the fact that the Pittsburgh Pact was not even mentioned dunng the Paris Peace Conference negotiations. Osusky served as a Prague ambassador for over twenty years. He did a commendable job of it. Today, perhaps as he writes his memoirs in Washington, the Czechs don't want him - and the Slovaks, his own people, won't ·have him. • • • ibe History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK 1Continu ed) Slovakia played an important role in the relations of the kingdom which developed between Hungary and Poland during the reign of the Anjous. Louis the Great wanted to ,b ecome Polish king after the death of Casimir the Great, the last male descendant of the Piastov Clan. The agreements by which this union of Poland and Hungary was to be realized, were concluded in Slovak cities, especially in ,Kosice which was on the Cracow-Budin highway. It was at Kosice, after several meetings, that it was decided to have t!he daughter of Louis the Great, succeed him to the cP olish throne after his death. The reign of the Anjous brought Slovakia a notable contribution especially in the field of culture. G001HIC ClJiL'NJRE IN SLOVAKIA Medieval culture is a Christian culture. The Church concerned itself not only with the advancement of Christian faith and morals among the uncivilized nations of Europe,  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Osuský After March 14, 1939 Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 5 (30), June-December 1959 pp. 69-75 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June-December 1959 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c995ac72ffd390c31fa23e950875ebd2.pdf b522f6f9888fadcc7a71fbcf1a745668 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 4 NOTES FOR HISTORIANS J. G. KOHL AND THE SLOVAKS Constantine Culen Little ell!ough has been written about the Slovaks and their country outside of Sloviakia. But even less is known generally, even by Americans of Slovak descent, than has been made available :to English readers. Back in 1842, for ex.ample, a certain J. G. Kohl of England published five volumes under the title of "A Hundred Days in Austria," compris'ing an account of a tour througth Austri'a, Bohemiia, Hungary a:nd the then so-caUed "Mi1itary F'rcmtier." Two years later, in 1844, Mr. Kohl concluded his volume on Russia, containing hris remarks on Bulroviina, Galicia, and Moravia, which, ,as not referring iin any way to Russia, were omitted in t!he two fiirst parbs of the "Foreign Lib:riary, " but which, on account of t!heir intrinsic v,alue, he deemed a fitting sequel to !the Austrian tour. For the edifica.tion of our rreaders we are happy to reproduce parts of the volume (Chiapman and HaU, London, 1844) referring to the Slovaks and their country. lit may be well to note tJha)t Mr. Kohl, llike so many others before and after him, did not always cleair,ly dd.stli.nguish between the terms "Bohemian-Czech" and "HungarianMagyar." Nevertheless he did treat the Slovak as a distinct ethnic ent~ty. In Northern Germany, we understa,nd under the name of Aills• tr.ran every one ,w ho coones froon any part of the great AIUstr:ian conglomeration of lands, (Pr<>'Vi<led: he speaks German; bU't every weH-educated Bohemian, Hiungacian, Oroatiian, or Slovak, speaiks our language quite as well as do the people of Vienna or Sty,ria. - (p. 79). It is not Esterthaz ,b ut the t0rw.n, of Eisenstadt, which is -the chieif seat of the Esterhaey government. At the latter •town is the centraloiifice of admini-straitdon for arH the vast esta•tes, extending hence to the other side of the Pl:a-bten. Lake, as weH as nor.t'hrwaro into the Slowack cournti,y. Each of the territories or lordships is admimistered by a 1presiden.t, residing in Eisenstadt, and ifOON" counse!JJ.ors. The ,great mass of the estates i,s divided into five distrlirots, to each of which a prefeot i·s appointed, and so emensiive are thes-e, tha,t a prefect :has often to tra,vel two days to ,get dlroon one end of his district to bhe other. Under the orefects aga-in .are the directors for each single estate, with their renbmasters, stewards, agenrts, etc. �SLOVAKIA 5 Some of the -e states lha,ve .from twent,y to thirty vihlages and hamlets, and sometimes a: tow,n, of la,r ~er sdize. On the a,verage they contain about etght or ten. '11he ,o ldest castle of the IEsterhazys - their hereditar:y castl,e of Galantha, lies in the Slowack country, 1b ut the greater numlber as we11 as the langest and newest a'l"e alboiult the Neu'Siediler Lake. The ca,s tle of Eiise,nstad!t is celeboo:ted for it5 park, and its numerous treasures O!f. art. It is decorated on the outside wi!tih the busts od' Attila anid the leaders O!f. the Ma,gy,ars, - a sort o;f decoration noit wncormmon in the castles O!f. Hungary. - (rp. 178) ·M y esteemed cOODJpaniion was one of those !Hu1J1Jg,a rian literati who .p refer speaking Latin to any other 1,a,ruguage. He 1uS1Uiaill!y began by srpeaiking German, buit soon fel1l impercepti'bl!y into Latin, filnding it as he saii,d so muidh more convenient and better adaipted to coniversatwn tha·n any other tongue. He said th,a t he knew many literacy men to whom Lat,i n was by d'ar the most if.amilia·r, alith-0,u,gh on the ,whrue d1t had falle-n into disuse O!f. J,ate. He hilIIlselrf, as a Hungairian ipatriot, ipreferred· as a matter of principle, the ruse of tlhe nativ,e la,ng.uage, ,b ut when he wished to pour out hi•s heart he couild not he:lip usin,g Latin. Some, ,he said, carried their persecution of it to ,a pitch od' fonati:cism.. ''Et illts n,un,c ,pud!or est :Iaqu,i Latine, et vomnt ut canes nocturnd1 v,igHantes• Hu'Illgariae canant." With the hiuiman ,g uardians of •t he night, i,n, some !Hiungaa:-fa.n towru; where they ,h,a,v e ibeen in th•e haibit of ceyinJg tJhe hoUT fo German, this has rea,l]y ·b een requi'l"eld. [ inquired whether, as I had heard,, the ilrun!g,a rian ladies sipdke Latin, /but he said he never met <but one wlho was carpaible o:f doiirug s-0, and1 that ,wa,s a lady i£rom Presburg. 'I1h1e <Hun.ga,rian ma,gna-tes a'11 srpeak it, blUt the Slowacks are considered better and more fluent La-tinists than the IMaigy.ars. (.pp. 1191,192) The Slovaks are the prindpa,l dealers in linen, rwhiJCh they mamllfach.1ire themselves in the north-wester.n. parts o:f Hiurugary, bordertl.Jllg in Si:lesia and Mora,via, and this branch of indust ry has spread thence into other countries. As the Slov.aks a,r e the greatest manwfooburers, the Hungarians aire chiefl,y oocuipie<l i,n, the lbreed'i:n,g of ,c attle and horses; anid in the energy ,wti:t:h whic,h tlhey devote themselves to the latter, it wou[d seem as if they had not quite fongotten the a,n cient mode of 1iife O!f. their oforef.athers on the Asiatic st eppes. (p. 2'12) The 'Valleys and ,mountaiJi.s in Nortlhern Hungary, ,in,haibHed by the Slov,a'ks, likewise send out numerous colonists sourthward. Accord,i,n,g to ,t he rocotllllt of a native Hungarian aiuthor, "of aU the ionha,bitants of 'Hungary, they have the ,g reatest oind1ustroia,l skill, the most enengetic spirit of eruteroprise. Wherever they take root, they accordinglly soon s,up,I)lant and di'srplaice tJhe original ,inhalbitants, whether Gerunan,s or Magyars." There are in fact, nu·merO!U>s ex•aiffi· p'les of entire ·towns a,nd villaiges, onee solely iinihalbited by GeI\l'Iliam: and M!aigyars, bu,t now entir,el,y occupied by Slovaks . . . . the 1\fuoovwaini'S are found in ,g reat numbers· in Ru,ssia, and the O'. ey:ka[-oi (oi,Imerehants), Safra,nnitschi (sa1ii£r,on1brewers), P,J,atenniei (l.inen,dealers), gia$'lll'erehants, and wa,x--deal!ers, .iif they albound nowlhere else, albound a,t least, in an .parts of Hun,ga•r,y and G-aili~ia. (p. 3119) �6 SLOVAKIA In the laltter part of the above we have a sample of Mr. Kohl's falilure to distinquish clearly between Bohemiian and Slovak. Undoubtedly his reference was to Slovaks and not Bohemiians, because the fatter dlid not "abound in all parts of Hungary and Gal1oiia," whereas rtJhe SloV'aks did. The noble -a nd !,earned Huiruga<ri-an ,priiesfs Ql()ok do,wn somewhait scornd'UJHy upon the sirrnpliicitty of their reforuned- ibrethren. It dis soonewhait duiforent wi'th the Lutherans in the Slovak count:r,y. These Jiv-e in all'Other and very dissimilla<r spiTi:tua,l elemen:t. I wa,s assiUTed by many en~ightened Catholics, that talken on the whole, the Protestants 'in Hungax,y were far more in1tolerant than t he Oa,tholics. "H never occurs to a Ca,tho1ic," sa,i d they, ",to i,n,q,uire after a stran· g,e r's re1igio,us belief, which a iPirotestant WO'I.Jlld do Jimrrnediately; the Protestants keep much .t01gether, arud are far more exc1usive than the Caitholics." A lad,y assured me thait a'lthough she had been broUJght UIP in a convent, she ·h ad never tiJl her eilghteenth ryear known any dilierence betwen .Protestaruts -a nd Oatholiics: the folimer bancDy the ,r eproach of heresy amongst each other cfar mor,e tJhan the Ca,tholics do towards them. I give these rerrnaJI"ikiS as t•hey were made to me, ha,vinig ha:d no exiperience ,on the sUJbject m:yseLf; so much, !however, [ must say th1a,t no question respecbi1rug my reli.giou:s faith, was ever .pUJt to rrne, go where [ wowd. (p. 359) The Slovacks igener,a,Hy a·r e hand:sOIIDe; I have never seen a ifiner re~ent than the Slovack infantry rreig-irrnent, with respect to carria,g,e, form and mar,tia'1 exipression od' countenance. - (p. 380). 1 Undoubtedly other visitor,s to Hungary, particularly to Northern Hunga:ry w.here lthe SloV'aks h·a d settled way back in the 7-8-t!h centuries, wrote about it.he Slovaks and their land. Their impressions ·a nd observiations for the most part are probably ,recorded in documents covered wit!h dust in the varioUJS archives and 1ilbv8i~ies of the old world and -p ossibly even of the new wo'I'1d. Until some inquisi!tive ,a nd searching scholars come upon them, we slral!l have to rest satisfied with the sour,ces open to us which clearly prove 1:Jhat the Slovaks are ,a distinct etlmic entity . • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are united with the Soviet Union for life and death . . . the idea of being united with the Soviet Union for life and death is the most importMit priniei:ple of our foreign policy, whether any one likes it or not. No government can afford to pursue anti~Soviet politics. That would be a policy .o f suicide, and the government pursuing it would (Ferdinand Peroutka, a be destroyed by the people." 12-31-47). DNESEK, Czech, Benes � SLOVAKIA 4 NOTES FOR HISTORIANS J. G. KOHL AND THE SLOVAKS Constantine Culen Little ell!ough has been written about the Slovaks and their country outside of Sloviakia. But even less is known generally, even by Americans of Slovak descent, than has been made available :to English readers. Back in 1842, for ex.ample, a certain J. G. Kohl of England published five volumes under the title of "A Hundred Days in Austria," compris'ing an account of a tour througth Austri'a, Bohemiia, Hungary a:nd the then so-caUed "Mi1itary F'rcmtier." Two years later, in 1844, Mr. Kohl concluded his volume on Russia, containing hris remarks on Bulroviina, Galicia, and Moravia, which, ,as not referring iin any way to Russia, were omitted in t!he two fiirst parbs of the "Foreign Lib:riary, " but which, on account of t!heir intrinsic v,alue, he deemed a fitting sequel to !the Austrian tour. For the edifica.tion of our rreaders we are happy to reproduce parts of the volume (Chiapman and HaU, London, 1844) referring to the Slovaks and their country. lit may be well to note tJha)t Mr. Kohl, llike so many others before and after him, did not always cleair,ly dd.stli.nguish between the terms "Bohemian-Czech" and "HungarianMagyar." Nevertheless he did treat the Slovak as a distinct ethnic ent~ty. In Northern Germany, we understa,nd under the name of Aills• tr.ran every one ,w ho coones froon any part of the great AIUstr:ian conglomeration of lands, (Pr<>'Vi<led: he speaks German; bU't every weH-educated Bohemian, Hiungacian, Oroatiian, or Slovak, speaiks our language quite as well as do the people of Vienna or Sty,ria. - (p. 79). It is not Esterthaz ,b ut the t0rw.n, of Eisenstadt, which is -the chieif seat of the Esterhaey government. At the latter •town is the centraloiifice of admini-straitdon for arH the vast esta•tes, extending hence to the other side of the Pl:a-bten. Lake, as weH as nor.t'hrwaro into the Slowack cournti,y. Each of the territories or lordships is admimistered by a 1presiden.t, residing in Eisenstadt, and ifOON" counse!JJ.ors. The ,great mass of the estates i,s divided into five distrlirots, to each of which a prefeot i·s appointed, and so emensiive are thes-e, tha,t a prefect :has often to tra,vel two days to ,get dlroon one end of his district to bhe other. Under the orefects aga-in .are the directors for each single estate, with their renbmasters, stewards, agenrts, etc. �SLOVAKIA 5 Some of the -e states lha,ve .from twent,y to thirty vihlages and hamlets, and sometimes a: tow,n, of la,r ~er sdize. On the a,verage they contain about etght or ten. '11he ,o ldest castle of the IEsterhazys - their hereditar:y castl,e of Galantha, lies in the Slowack country, 1b ut the greater numlber as we11 as the langest and newest a'l"e alboiult the Neu'Siediler Lake. The ca,s tle of Eiise,nstad!t is celeboo:ted for it5 park, and its numerous treasures O!f. art. It is decorated on the outside wi!tih the busts od' Attila anid the leaders O!f. the Ma,gy,ars, - a sort o;f decoration noit wncormmon in the castles O!f. Hungary. - (rp. 178) ·M y esteemed cOODJpaniion was one of those !Hu1J1Jg,a rian literati who .p refer speaking Latin to any other 1,a,ruguage. He 1uS1Uiaill!y began by srpeaiking German, buit soon fel1l impercepti'bl!y into Latin, filnding it as he saii,d so muidh more convenient and better adaipted to coniversatwn tha·n any other tongue. He said th,a t he knew many literacy men to whom Lat,i n was by d'ar the most if.amilia·r, alith-0,u,gh on the ,whrue d1t had falle-n into disuse O!f. J,ate. He hilIIlselrf, as a Hungairian ipatriot, ipreferred· as a matter of principle, the ruse of tlhe nativ,e la,ng.uage, ,b ut when he wished to pour out hi•s heart he couild not he:lip usin,g Latin. Some, ,he said, carried their persecution of it to ,a pitch od' fonati:cism.. ''Et illts n,un,c ,pud!or est :Iaqu,i Latine, et vomnt ut canes nocturnd1 v,igHantes• Hu'Illgariae canant." With the hiuiman ,g uardians of •t he night, i,n, some !Hiungaa:-fa.n towru; where they ,h,a,v e ibeen in th•e haibit of ceyinJg tJhe hoUT fo German, this has rea,l]y ·b een requi'l"eld. [ inquired whether, as I had heard,, the ilrun!g,a rian ladies sipdke Latin, /but he said he never met <but one wlho was carpaible o:f doiirug s-0, and1 that ,wa,s a lady i£rom Presburg. 'I1h1e <Hun.ga,rian ma,gna-tes a'11 srpeak it, blUt the Slowacks are considered better and more fluent La-tinists than the IMaigy.ars. (.pp. 1191,192) The Slovaks are the prindpa,l dealers in linen, rwhiJCh they mamllfach.1ire themselves in the north-wester.n. parts o:f Hiurugary, bordertl.Jllg in Si:lesia and Mora,via, and this branch of indust ry has spread thence into other countries. As the Slov.aks a,r e the greatest manwfooburers, the Hungarians aire chiefl,y oocuipie<l i,n, the lbreed'i:n,g of ,c attle and horses; anid in the energy ,wti:t:h whic,h tlhey devote themselves to the latter, it wou[d seem as if they had not quite fongotten the a,n cient mode of 1iife O!f. their oforef.athers on the Asiatic st eppes. (p. 2'12) The 'Valleys and ,mountaiJi.s in Nortlhern Hungary, ,in,haibHed by the Slov,a'ks, likewise send out numerous colonists sourthward. Accord,i,n,g to ,t he rocotllllt of a native Hungarian aiuthor, "of aU the ionha,bitants of 'Hungary, they have the ,g reatest oind1ustroia,l skill, the most enengetic spirit of eruteroprise. Wherever they take root, they accordinglly soon s,up,I)lant and di'srplaice tJhe original ,inhalbitants, whether Gerunan,s or Magyars." There are in fact, nu·merO!U>s ex•aiffi· p'les of entire ·towns a,nd villaiges, onee solely iinihalbited by GeI\l'Iliam: and M!aigyars, bu,t now entir,el,y occupied by Slovaks . . . . the 1\fuoovwaini'S are found in ,g reat numbers· in Ru,ssia, and the O'. ey:ka[-oi (oi,Imerehants), Safra,nnitschi (sa1ii£r,on1brewers), P,J,atenniei (l.inen,dealers), gia$'lll'erehants, and wa,x--deal!ers, .iif they albound nowlhere else, albound a,t least, in an .parts of Hun,ga•r,y and G-aili~ia. (p. 3119) �6 SLOVAKIA In the laltter part of the above we have a sample of Mr. Kohl's falilure to distinquish clearly between Bohemiian and Slovak. Undoubtedly his reference was to Slovaks and not Bohemiians, because the fatter dlid not "abound in all parts of Hungary and Gal1oiia," whereas rtJhe SloV'aks did. The noble -a nd !,earned Huiruga<ri-an ,priiesfs Ql()ok do,wn somewhait scornd'UJHy upon the sirrnpliicitty of their reforuned- ibrethren. It dis soonewhait duiforent wi'th the Lutherans in the Slovak count:r,y. These Jiv-e in all'Other and very dissimilla<r spiTi:tua,l elemen:t. I wa,s assiUTed by many en~ightened Catholics, that talken on the whole, the Protestants 'in Hungax,y were far more in1tolerant than t he Oa,tholics. "H never occurs to a Ca,tho1ic," sa,i d they, ",to i,n,q,uire after a stran· g,e r's re1igio,us belief, which a iPirotestant WO'I.Jlld do Jimrrnediately; the Protestants keep much .t01gether, arud are far more exc1usive than the Caitholics." A lad,y assured me thait a'lthough she had been broUJght UIP in a convent, she ·h ad never tiJl her eilghteenth ryear known any dilierence betwen .Protestaruts -a nd Oatholiics: the folimer bancDy the ,r eproach of heresy amongst each other cfar mor,e tJhan the Ca,tholics do towards them. I give these rerrnaJI"ikiS as t•hey were made to me, ha,vinig ha:d no exiperience ,on the sUJbject m:yseLf; so much, !however, [ must say th1a,t no question respecbi1rug my reli.giou:s faith, was ever .pUJt to rrne, go where [ wowd. (p. 359) The Slovacks igener,a,Hy a·r e hand:sOIIDe; I have never seen a ifiner re~ent than the Slovack infantry rreig-irrnent, with respect to carria,g,e, form and mar,tia'1 exipression od' countenance. - (p. 380). 1 Undoubtedly other visitor,s to Hungary, particularly to Northern Hunga:ry w.here lthe SloV'aks h·a d settled way back in the 7-8-t!h centuries, wrote about it.he Slovaks and their land. Their impressions ·a nd observiations for the most part are probably ,recorded in documents covered wit!h dust in the varioUJS archives and 1ilbv8i~ies of the old world and -p ossibly even of the new wo'I'1d. Until some inquisi!tive ,a nd searching scholars come upon them, we slral!l have to rest satisfied with the sour,ces open to us which clearly prove 1:Jhat the Slovaks are ,a distinct etlmic entity . • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are united with the Soviet Union for life and death . . . the idea of being united with the Soviet Union for life and death is the most importMit priniei:ple of our foreign policy, whether any one likes it or not. No government can afford to pursue anti~Soviet politics. That would be a policy .o f suicide, and the government pursuing it would (Ferdinand Peroutka, a be destroyed by the people." 12-31-47). DNESEK, Czech, Benes � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1960, Vol. 10 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 6 [sic] (No. 31), March-June 1960.</li> <li>Issue 7 [sic] (No. 32), September-December 1960.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960 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 4 NOTES FOR HISTORIANS J. G. KOHL AND THE SLOVAKS Constantine Culen Little ell!ough has been written about the Slovaks and their country outside of Sloviakia. But even less is known generally, even by Americans of Slovak descent, than has been made available :to English readers. Back in 1842, for ex.ample, a certain J. G. Kohl of England published five volumes under the title of "A Hundred Days in Austria," compris'ing an account of a tour througth Austri'a, Bohemiia, Hungary a:nd the then so-caUed "Mi1itary F'rcmtier." Two years later, in 1844, Mr. Kohl concluded his volume on Russia, containing hris remarks on Bulroviina, Galicia, and Moravia, which, ,as not referring iin any way to Russia, were omitted in t!he two fiirst parbs of the "Foreign Lib:riary, " but which, on account of t!heir intrinsic v,alue, he deemed a fitting sequel to !the Austrian tour. For the edifica.tion of our rreaders we are happy to reproduce parts of the volume (Chiapman and HaU, London, 1844) referring to the Slovaks and their country. lit may be well to note tJha)t Mr. Kohl, llike so many others before and after him, did not always cleair,ly dd.stli.nguish between the terms "Bohemian-Czech" and "HungarianMagyar." Nevertheless he did treat the Slovak as a distinct ethnic ent~ty. In Northern Germany, we understa,nd under the name of Aills• tr.ran every one ,w ho coones froon any part of the great AIUstr:ian conglomeration of lands, (Pr<>'Vi<led: he speaks German; bU't every weH-educated Bohemian, Hiungacian, Oroatiian, or Slovak, speaiks our language quite as well as do the people of Vienna or Sty,ria. - (p. 79). It is not Esterthaz ,b ut the t0rw.n, of Eisenstadt, which is -the chieif seat of the Esterhaey government. At the latter •town is the centraloiifice of admini-straitdon for arH the vast esta•tes, extending hence to the other side of the Pl:a-bten. Lake, as weH as nor.t'hrwaro into the Slowack cournti,y. Each of the territories or lordships is admimistered by a 1presiden.t, residing in Eisenstadt, and ifOON" counse!JJ.ors. The ,great mass of the estates i,s divided into five distrlirots, to each of which a prefeot i·s appointed, and so emensiive are thes-e, tha,t a prefect :has often to tra,vel two days to ,get dlroon one end of his district to bhe other. Under the orefects aga-in .are the directors for each single estate, with their renbmasters, stewards, agenrts, etc. SLOVAKIA 5 Some of the -e states lha,ve .from twent,y to thirty vihlages and hamlets, and sometimes a: tow,n, of la,r ~er sdize. On the a,verage they contain about etght or ten. '11he ,o ldest castle of the IEsterhazys - their hereditar:y castl,e of Galantha, lies in the Slowack country, 1b ut the greater numlber as we11 as the langest and newest a'l"e alboiult the Neu'Siediler Lake. The ca,s tle of Eiise,nstad!t is celeboo:ted for it5 park, and its numerous treasures O!f. art. It is decorated on the outside wi!tih the busts od' Attila anid the leaders O!f. the Ma,gy,ars, - a sort o;f decoration noit wncormmon in the castles O!f. Hungary. - (rp. 178) ·M y esteemed cOODJpaniion was one of those !Hu1J1Jg,a rian literati who .p refer speaking Latin to any other 1,a,ruguage. He 1uS1Uiaill!y began by srpeaiking German, buit soon fel1l impercepti'bl!y into Latin, filnding it as he saii,d so muidh more convenient and better adaipted to coniversatwn tha·n any other tongue. He said th,a t he knew many literacy men to whom Lat,i n was by d'ar the most if.amilia·r, alith-0,u,gh on the ,whrue d1t had falle-n into disuse O!f. J,ate. He hilIIlselrf, as a Hungairian ipatriot, ipreferred· as a matter of principle, the ruse of tlhe nativ,e la,ng.uage, ,b ut when he wished to pour out hi•s heart he couild not he:lip usin,g Latin. Some, ,he said, carried their persecution of it to ,a pitch od' fonati:cism.. ''Et illts n,un,c ,pud!or est :Iaqu,i Latine, et vomnt ut canes nocturnd1 v,igHantes• Hu'Illgariae canant." With the hiuiman ,g uardians of •t he night, i,n, some !Hiungaa:-fa.n towru; where they ,h,a,v e ibeen in th•e haibit of ceyinJg tJhe hoUT fo German, this has rea,l]y ·b een requi'l"eld. [ inquired whether, as I had heard,, the ilrun!g,a rian ladies sipdke Latin, /but he said he never met <but one wlho was carpaible o:f doiirug s-0, and1 that ,wa,s a lady i£rom Presburg. 'I1h1e <Hun.ga,rian ma,gna-tes a'11 srpeak it, blUt the Slowacks are considered better and more fluent La-tinists than the IMaigy.ars. (.pp. 1191,192) The Slovaks are the prindpa,l dealers in linen, rwhiJCh they mamllfach.1ire themselves in the north-wester.n. parts o:f Hiurugary, bordertl.Jllg in Si:lesia and Mora,via, and this branch of indust ry has spread thence into other countries. As the Slov.aks a,r e the greatest manwfooburers, the Hungarians aire chiefl,y oocuipie<l i,n, the lbreed'i:n,g of ,c attle and horses; anid in the energy ,wti:t:h whic,h tlhey devote themselves to the latter, it wou[d seem as if they had not quite fongotten the a,n cient mode of 1iife O!f. their oforef.athers on the Asiatic st eppes. (p. 2'12) The 'Valleys and ,mountaiJi.s in Nortlhern Hungary, ,in,haibHed by the Slov,a'ks, likewise send out numerous colonists sourthward. Accord,i,n,g to ,t he rocotllllt of a native Hungarian aiuthor, "of aU the ionha,bitants of 'Hungary, they have the ,g reatest oind1ustroia,l skill, the most enengetic spirit of eruteroprise. Wherever they take root, they accordinglly soon s,up,I)lant and di'srplaice tJhe original ,inhalbitants, whether Gerunan,s or Magyars." There are in fact, nu·merO!U>s ex•aiffi· p'les of entire ·towns a,nd villaiges, onee solely iinihalbited by GeI\l'Iliam: and M!aigyars, bu,t now entir,el,y occupied by Slovaks . . . . the 1\fuoovwaini'S are found in ,g reat numbers· in Ru,ssia, and the O'. ey:ka[-oi (oi,Imerehants), Safra,nnitschi (sa1ii£r,on1brewers), P,J,atenniei (l.inen,dealers), gia$'lll'erehants, and wa,x--deal!ers, .iif they albound nowlhere else, albound a,t least, in an .parts of Hun,ga•r,y and G-aili~ia. (p. 3119) 6 SLOVAKIA In the laltter part of the above we have a sample of Mr. Kohl's falilure to distinquish clearly between Bohemiian and Slovak. Undoubtedly his reference was to Slovaks and not Bohemiians, because the fatter dlid not "abound in all parts of Hungary and Gal1oiia," whereas rtJhe SloV'aks did. The noble -a nd !,earned Huiruga<ri-an ,priiesfs Ql()ok do,wn somewhait scornd'UJHy upon the sirrnpliicitty of their reforuned- ibrethren. It dis soonewhait duiforent wi'th the Lutherans in the Slovak count:r,y. These Jiv-e in all'Other and very dissimilla<r spiTi:tua,l elemen:t. I wa,s assiUTed by many en~ightened Catholics, that talken on the whole, the Protestants 'in Hungax,y were far more in1tolerant than t he Oa,tholics. "H never occurs to a Ca,tho1ic," sa,i d they, ",to i,n,q,uire after a stran· g,e r's re1igio,us belief, which a iPirotestant WO'I.Jlld do Jimrrnediately; the Protestants keep much .t01gether, arud are far more exc1usive than the Caitholics." A lad,y assured me thait a'lthough she had been broUJght UIP in a convent, she ·h ad never tiJl her eilghteenth ryear known any dilierence betwen .Protestaruts -a nd Oatholiics: the folimer bancDy the ,r eproach of heresy amongst each other cfar mor,e tJhan the Ca,tholics do towards them. I give these rerrnaJI"ikiS as t•hey were made to me, ha,vinig ha:d no exiperience ,on the sUJbject m:yseLf; so much, !however, [ must say th1a,t no question respecbi1rug my reli.giou:s faith, was ever .pUJt to rrne, go where [ wowd. (p. 359) The Slovacks igener,a,Hy a·r e hand:sOIIDe; I have never seen a ifiner re~ent than the Slovack infantry rreig-irrnent, with respect to carria,g,e, form and mar,tia'1 exipression od' countenance. - (p. 380). 1 Undoubtedly other visitor,s to Hungary, particularly to Northern Hunga:ry w.here lthe SloV'aks h·a d settled way back in the 7-8-t!h centuries, wrote about it.he Slovaks and their land. Their impressions ·a nd observiations for the most part are probably ,recorded in documents covered wit!h dust in the varioUJS archives and 1ilbv8i~ies of the old world and -p ossibly even of the new wo'I'1d. Until some inquisi!tive ,a nd searching scholars come upon them, we slral!l have to rest satisfied with the sour,ces open to us which clearly prove 1:Jhat the Slovaks are ,a distinct etlmic entity . • • • WHO SAID IT? "We are united with the Soviet Union for life and death . . . the idea of being united with the Soviet Union for life and death is the most importMit priniei:ple of our foreign policy, whether any one likes it or not. No government can afford to pursue anti~Soviet politics. That would be a policy .o f suicide, and the government pursuing it would (Ferdinand Peroutka, a be destroyed by the people." 12-31-47). DNESEK, Czech, Benes  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource J. G. Kohl and the Slovaks Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 10, No. 7 (32), September-December 1960 pp. 4-6 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1960 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ad5ad6569148152357724a975663bcdc.pdf 85e08313d02b14b2643eec56feb18bbf PDF Text Text 58:.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...::S:.:L:.;:O...::V..:..AKIA,..:.._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ PRESIDENT TISO AND AMERICA BY KONSTO CULE1N During the war, the propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes, headquarters London, prevailed. The little man, who always had a plan, had surrendered Czecho-Slovakia and its peoples to Hitler at Munich, in 1938, without even consulting parliament. Benes then resigned and fled the country. He fled the country not only to escape capture by the Nazis, but also to escape the wrath of his own people, the Czechs, who felt that he had betrayed them. Of course, after he settled in London and had time to think a-bout his cowardly flight from responsibility, he left no stone unturned to justify his actions. Secretly he swore vengeance on the Slovaks and the Sudeten Germans - and even the Czechs who dared to tell the truth about what had happened in Czecho-Slovakia while Benes was top man. And that was Dr. Benes's postwar policy. For official circles in London and Washington, only Benes was the accepted authority. Benes could do no wrong. His word was the gospel truth. That is, until he told London and Washington off, too, as Stalin's stooge - the pay-off for his being "appointed" president of Czecho-610vakia by Moscow. Benes's London propaganda apparatus attacked the Slovaks and their leaders viciously and maliciously: the Slovaks declared war on the United States; President Tiso sold out to Hitler; the Slovaks mistreated and murdered American flyers; the Slovaks had surrendered Americans to the Nazis, etc. Lies that made Goe'bbels look like an amateur! The fact is that President Tiso and the Slovaks were well aware of their hapless situation - a situation they had not created or asked for. Bombs fell on Slovakia, not on the Czech Skoda Works that worked for Hitler, but the Slovaks understood, because they figured it was not America bombing them, but Dr. Benes whose military advice prevailed with Washington. Of course, the Slovaks were �SLOVAKIA 59 hurt, but they suffered without blasting off against America. When Tiso learned that American flyers of Slovak origin were captured by the Germans, he requested that they be transferred to Slovakia. The president wanted to set up a detention camp for them in Central Slovakia where they might spend the rest of the war. "If we coUJld only get them here," Tiso told me on one occasion, we could be sure they would be safe and we could show them all of our Slovakia." When several Americans were taken in Slovakia ( after their mission for Benes had failed), they were treated royally by the Slovaks. They were housed in one of the summer resorts in the Tatras and were practically on their own, with all their needs taken care of. When I visited them, one of them told me outright: "This reaMy is something. I could never have imagined that being captured could be so pleasant. Everybody treats us so kindly and we have just about everything we want." The American prisoners were free to move about, to go to town, have their teeth repaired, to bathe in the spa, etc. And they played tennis with Slovak officers. The only complaint I had heard from them was that they were getting too much meat and not enough vegetables! One of them was of Slovak origin. "How fortunate," he said, "that I had learned at least some Slovak from my mother and now can ad as interpreter for my buddies!" Tiso was very much concerned about their fate and about their comfort. I was present when he ordered our people to give the best possible care to "our American friends" - the sons of our brethren in America. Things went along fine, until one day the Germans demanded the surrender of the American flyers in Slovakia. I happened to be with Tiso when t he order was received. "This is a terriible situation. We shall have to fight for them," he said. "I have already told Mracna of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do what he can to forestall the execution of the order." It was plainly evident that President Tiso was really worried. I suggested that Mracna use the argument that �60 SLOVAKIA surrendering our American friends could be used propaganda-wise against the independence of Slovakia; our adversaries could say: what kind of an independence does Slovakia enjoy if she has to surrender her own prisoners? Tiso listened nervously and then said: "Go to Mracna at once and talk the matter over with him. We must find a way of keeping the Americans here." It so happened that the Americans were not surrendered to the Germans. We prepared a note, telling just how much harm would come to the Slovak Republic from such a surrender, especially since one of the prisoners was of Slovak origin. If we are forced to surrender the Americans, our American Slovaks would then certainly be led to believe that we ourselves do not control the internal affairs of our country. Furthermore, that it is President Tiso's personal wish that the Americans remain in Slovakia. The result surprised even us : The Germans no longer presented demands to surrender our Americans to them. They spent the rest of the war in comparative comfort. President Tiso was a real friend of America during the most trying times, when the war was on, when the allies were bombing Slovakia according to the strategy planned by Dr. Benes. The Slovaks did not hate America, and never could. Too many of them had been to America and tasted of the fruits of liberty and freedom. They knew America. America was not at war with Slovakia - Benes was. And, unfortunately, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was gullible enough to trust Benes, the errand boy of Stalin! THE TROUBLEMAKER He is the silent one. He never speiak,s up on issues. He never sounlds off in the letter column O'f his looa'l newspaiper. He never writes his Oon,gressman or the Sllaite Deipartment. He is quiet as a clam. How could Democracy succeed if all of us, lilk,e 1!his one, wi1!hheld our opiniions, our idea.s, our cr'i'hcisms? Vo'tiing on election day is only part of a citizen!s duty. Active, day-lby-diay ,parl.iciipation in gov,e rnment, in society, in, busJness associations is a responsilb'ility for each and every one of us. The silent troull:ilemaker foils to understand this. In his worship df " law and order," he never dares to question an oppressive law, never distin·g uishes "o·r der" from stagna'tli'on. He is the aipostle of social deCla-y, not Democracy. In his Wiish t,o offend nobody, he oofends Democracy. And forget it ndt: Democracy, like Charity, begins at home. � 58:.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...::S:.:L:.;:O...::V..:..AKIA,..:.._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ PRESIDENT TISO AND AMERICA BY KONSTO CULE1N During the war, the propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes, headquarters London, prevailed. The little man, who always had a plan, had surrendered Czecho-Slovakia and its peoples to Hitler at Munich, in 1938, without even consulting parliament. Benes then resigned and fled the country. He fled the country not only to escape capture by the Nazis, but also to escape the wrath of his own people, the Czechs, who felt that he had betrayed them. Of course, after he settled in London and had time to think a-bout his cowardly flight from responsibility, he left no stone unturned to justify his actions. Secretly he swore vengeance on the Slovaks and the Sudeten Germans - and even the Czechs who dared to tell the truth about what had happened in Czecho-Slovakia while Benes was top man. And that was Dr. Benes's postwar policy. For official circles in London and Washington, only Benes was the accepted authority. Benes could do no wrong. His word was the gospel truth. That is, until he told London and Washington off, too, as Stalin's stooge - the pay-off for his being "appointed" president of Czecho-610vakia by Moscow. Benes's London propaganda apparatus attacked the Slovaks and their leaders viciously and maliciously: the Slovaks declared war on the United States; President Tiso sold out to Hitler; the Slovaks mistreated and murdered American flyers; the Slovaks had surrendered Americans to the Nazis, etc. Lies that made Goe'bbels look like an amateur! The fact is that President Tiso and the Slovaks were well aware of their hapless situation - a situation they had not created or asked for. Bombs fell on Slovakia, not on the Czech Skoda Works that worked for Hitler, but the Slovaks understood, because they figured it was not America bombing them, but Dr. Benes whose military advice prevailed with Washington. Of course, the Slovaks were �SLOVAKIA 59 hurt, but they suffered without blasting off against America. When Tiso learned that American flyers of Slovak origin were captured by the Germans, he requested that they be transferred to Slovakia. The president wanted to set up a detention camp for them in Central Slovakia where they might spend the rest of the war. "If we coUJld only get them here," Tiso told me on one occasion, we could be sure they would be safe and we could show them all of our Slovakia." When several Americans were taken in Slovakia ( after their mission for Benes had failed), they were treated royally by the Slovaks. They were housed in one of the summer resorts in the Tatras and were practically on their own, with all their needs taken care of. When I visited them, one of them told me outright: "This reaMy is something. I could never have imagined that being captured could be so pleasant. Everybody treats us so kindly and we have just about everything we want." The American prisoners were free to move about, to go to town, have their teeth repaired, to bathe in the spa, etc. And they played tennis with Slovak officers. The only complaint I had heard from them was that they were getting too much meat and not enough vegetables! One of them was of Slovak origin. "How fortunate," he said, "that I had learned at least some Slovak from my mother and now can ad as interpreter for my buddies!" Tiso was very much concerned about their fate and about their comfort. I was present when he ordered our people to give the best possible care to "our American friends" - the sons of our brethren in America. Things went along fine, until one day the Germans demanded the surrender of the American flyers in Slovakia. I happened to be with Tiso when t he order was received. "This is a terriible situation. We shall have to fight for them," he said. "I have already told Mracna of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do what he can to forestall the execution of the order." It was plainly evident that President Tiso was really worried. I suggested that Mracna use the argument that �60 SLOVAKIA surrendering our American friends could be used propaganda-wise against the independence of Slovakia; our adversaries could say: what kind of an independence does Slovakia enjoy if she has to surrender her own prisoners? Tiso listened nervously and then said: "Go to Mracna at once and talk the matter over with him. We must find a way of keeping the Americans here." It so happened that the Americans were not surrendered to the Germans. We prepared a note, telling just how much harm would come to the Slovak Republic from such a surrender, especially since one of the prisoners was of Slovak origin. If we are forced to surrender the Americans, our American Slovaks would then certainly be led to believe that we ourselves do not control the internal affairs of our country. Furthermore, that it is President Tiso's personal wish that the Americans remain in Slovakia. The result surprised even us : The Germans no longer presented demands to surrender our Americans to them. They spent the rest of the war in comparative comfort. President Tiso was a real friend of America during the most trying times, when the war was on, when the allies were bombing Slovakia according to the strategy planned by Dr. Benes. The Slovaks did not hate America, and never could. Too many of them had been to America and tasted of the fruits of liberty and freedom. They knew America. America was not at war with Slovakia - Benes was. And, unfortunately, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was gullible enough to trust Benes, the errand boy of Stalin! THE TROUBLEMAKER He is the silent one. He never speiak,s up on issues. He never sounlds off in the letter column O'f his looa'l newspaiper. He never writes his Oon,gressman or the Sllaite Deipartment. He is quiet as a clam. How could Democracy succeed if all of us, lilk,e 1!his one, wi1!hheld our opiniions, our idea.s, our cr'i'hcisms? Vo'tiing on election day is only part of a citizen!s duty. Active, day-lby-diay ,parl.iciipation in gov,e rnment, in society, in, busJness associations is a responsilb'ility for each and every one of us. The silent troull:ilemaker foils to understand this. In his worship df " law and order," he never dares to question an oppressive law, never distin·g uishes "o·r der" from stagna'tli'on. He is the aipostle of social deCla-y, not Democracy. In his Wiish t,o offend nobody, he oofends Democracy. And forget it ndt: Democracy, like Charity, begins at home. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 58:.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...::S:.:L:.;:O...::V..:..AKIA,..:.._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ PRESIDENT TISO AND AMERICA BY KONSTO CULE1N During the war, the propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes, headquarters London, prevailed. The little man, who always had a plan, had surrendered Czecho-Slovakia and its peoples to Hitler at Munich, in 1938, without even consulting parliament. Benes then resigned and fled the country. He fled the country not only to escape capture by the Nazis, but also to escape the wrath of his own people, the Czechs, who felt that he had betrayed them. Of course, after he settled in London and had time to think a-bout his cowardly flight from responsibility, he left no stone unturned to justify his actions. Secretly he swore vengeance on the Slovaks and the Sudeten Germans - and even the Czechs who dared to tell the truth about what had happened in Czecho-Slovakia while Benes was top man. And that was Dr. Benes's postwar policy. For official circles in London and Washington, only Benes was the accepted authority. Benes could do no wrong. His word was the gospel truth. That is, until he told London and Washington off, too, as Stalin's stooge - the pay-off for his being "appointed" president of Czecho-610vakia by Moscow. Benes's London propaganda apparatus attacked the Slovaks and their leaders viciously and maliciously: the Slovaks declared war on the United States; President Tiso sold out to Hitler; the Slovaks mistreated and murdered American flyers; the Slovaks had surrendered Americans to the Nazis, etc. Lies that made Goe'bbels look like an amateur! The fact is that President Tiso and the Slovaks were well aware of their hapless situation - a situation they had not created or asked for. Bombs fell on Slovakia, not on the Czech Skoda Works that worked for Hitler, but the Slovaks understood, because they figured it was not America bombing them, but Dr. Benes whose military advice prevailed with Washington. Of course, the Slovaks were SLOVAKIA 59 hurt, but they suffered without blasting off against America. When Tiso learned that American flyers of Slovak origin were captured by the Germans, he requested that they be transferred to Slovakia. The president wanted to set up a detention camp for them in Central Slovakia where they might spend the rest of the war. "If we coUJld only get them here," Tiso told me on one occasion, we could be sure they would be safe and we could show them all of our Slovakia." When several Americans were taken in Slovakia ( after their mission for Benes had failed), they were treated royally by the Slovaks. They were housed in one of the summer resorts in the Tatras and were practically on their own, with all their needs taken care of. When I visited them, one of them told me outright: "This reaMy is something. I could never have imagined that being captured could be so pleasant. Everybody treats us so kindly and we have just about everything we want." The American prisoners were free to move about, to go to town, have their teeth repaired, to bathe in the spa, etc. And they played tennis with Slovak officers. The only complaint I had heard from them was that they were getting too much meat and not enough vegetables! One of them was of Slovak origin. "How fortunate," he said, "that I had learned at least some Slovak from my mother and now can ad as interpreter for my buddies!" Tiso was very much concerned about their fate and about their comfort. I was present when he ordered our people to give the best possible care to "our American friends" - the sons of our brethren in America. Things went along fine, until one day the Germans demanded the surrender of the American flyers in Slovakia. I happened to be with Tiso when t he order was received. "This is a terriible situation. We shall have to fight for them," he said. "I have already told Mracna of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do what he can to forestall the execution of the order." It was plainly evident that President Tiso was really worried. I suggested that Mracna use the argument that 60 SLOVAKIA surrendering our American friends could be used propaganda-wise against the independence of Slovakia; our adversaries could say: what kind of an independence does Slovakia enjoy if she has to surrender her own prisoners? Tiso listened nervously and then said: "Go to Mracna at once and talk the matter over with him. We must find a way of keeping the Americans here." It so happened that the Americans were not surrendered to the Germans. We prepared a note, telling just how much harm would come to the Slovak Republic from such a surrender, especially since one of the prisoners was of Slovak origin. If we are forced to surrender the Americans, our American Slovaks would then certainly be led to believe that we ourselves do not control the internal affairs of our country. Furthermore, that it is President Tiso's personal wish that the Americans remain in Slovakia. The result surprised even us : The Germans no longer presented demands to surrender our Americans to them. They spent the rest of the war in comparative comfort. President Tiso was a real friend of America during the most trying times, when the war was on, when the allies were bombing Slovakia according to the strategy planned by Dr. Benes. The Slovaks did not hate America, and never could. Too many of them had been to America and tasted of the fruits of liberty and freedom. They knew America. America was not at war with Slovakia - Benes was. And, unfortunately, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was gullible enough to trust Benes, the errand boy of Stalin! THE TROUBLEMAKER He is the silent one. He never speiak,s up on issues. He never sounlds off in the letter column O'f his looa'l newspaiper. He never writes his Oon,gressman or the Sllaite Deipartment. He is quiet as a clam. How could Democracy succeed if all of us, lilk,e 1!his one, wi1!hheld our opiniions, our idea.s, our cr'i'hcisms? Vo'tiing on election day is only part of a citizen!s duty. Active, day-lby-diay ,parl.iciipation in gov,e rnment, in society, in, busJness associations is a responsilb'ility for each and every one of us. The silent troull:ilemaker foils to understand this. In his worship df " law and order," he never dares to question an oppressive law, never distin·g uishes "o·r der" from stagna'tli'on. He is the aipostle of social deCla-y, not Democracy. In his Wiish t,o offend nobody, he oofends Democracy. And forget it ndt: Democracy, like Charity, begins at home.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource President Tiso and America Description An account of the resource Konšto Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 58-60 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/623da38c19a9f333dd7f2d5f223cbdf8.pdf d7ddfad2f08e42c35926a9028bbac367 PDF Text Text 18 SLOVAKIA BEGINNINGS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE IN AMERICA By Constantin Culen All foes of the Slovak national idea shared the same mottoes and techniques. The first of their statements denied the Slovaks nationality status - hence, they had no right, the claim was asserted, to any rights as a nation. They could find happiness only by becoming assimilated in a greater unity with another people. Both the Magyars and Czechs made this assertion. Hurban in the Slovenske Pohl'ady publication noted that the Slovak was considered audacious if he had national pride, a coward if he was not aggressive, if he travelled outside his own country, he was a vagrant but if he stayed at home he was a lazy, shiftless bum. That's the way it was - that's the way it is today. Events proved to the Slovaks themselves that they were better off when they ignored what the state dictated and went ahead doing what other nations did, namely, what was to their own advantage and national interest. 1906 was a momentous year for the Slovaks, for it was in elections for parliamentary seats that year that they supported their own candidates, and they elected seven. The Magyars reacted by starting a political persecution and a series of reprisals sent many to prison. The courts cooperated by meting out sentences ranging from months to several years. Thus many Slovak political leaders were put out of action. The opposition was bitterly directed towards the leading exponents of the Slovak cause, particularly assailing those who by the spoken or written word exerted great influence on the masses struggling for representation and selfgovernment. Andrej Hlinka, a Catholic priest in Ruzomberok, who was not a candidate but who spoke in behalf of Vavro srobar, a candidate, became the prime target of ecclesiastical and political leaders who opposed Slovak participation in politics when it meant the election of their representative to parliament. Biskup Parvy went so far �SLOVAKIA 19 in his chauvinism that he suspended Hlinka and the courts sentenced the Slovak priest to two years in prison. This anti-Slovak outburst in Hungary coincided with a number of political demonstrations by American Slovaks in sympathy with the struggle of their fellow countrymen for political freedom in their native and historic homeland. The speakers (among them many prominent Slovak civic and Church leaders) expressed their willingness to organize an all-Slovak organization, for they deemed the time was ripe for a united front of all Slovaks in the struggle ahead. In the previous century the needs, sufferings and injustices experienced by masses of Slovak workers stimulated the organization of fraternal societies. Now was the time for united action of another kind, namely, to help the Slovak nation fight for its just rights, and it was unanimously agreed that a national united society was obviously essential to carry on the struggle. Hlinka's case, in which both Church and State cooperated in an effort to crush the Slovak spirit by eliminating the great champion of their just rights, stirred the American Slovaks and aroused them to action. Leaders of the Slovak press in America accepted Furdek's invitation for a conference on April 4, 1907. Accordingly, the slogan, "Za tu nasu slovencinu," (For our Slovak Heritage) which was destined to become the battlecry of Slovaks everywhere during and after World War I , was adopted by the following group of Slovak leaders who met in Pittsburgh: Furdek, Mamatey, Feriencik, Straka, Vakulek, Joscak, Polak, Katchmar, Gimesky, Ambrose, Pirhala, Harbula, Karchnak, Husek, Bielek, Orbach, Chudatsik, Marsall, stiasny, Getting, Pankuch, Balent, Rovnianek, Kadlecik, Thomka, Tvrdy, Gessay. A committee for formulating the by-laws of the proposed organization was named. The program unanimously adopted was twofold, namely, to give assistance, culturally, politically, financially and morally to their fellow countrymen in America and in their embattled homeland. May 30, 1907, was the date scheduled to launch the new organization in Cleveland, Ohio. What a coincidence! This date was destined to become, eleven years later, a historic day, for on May 30, �20 SLOVAKIA 1918, the famed Pittsburgh Agreement was signed by the representatives of the American Slovaks and Czechs as a basic agreement for the formation of the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia. However, in deference to the Slovak Gymnastic Sokol ( which had meeting or convention at the time) the date was re-scheduled for May 26, 1907. Invitations to this meeting used the term, "Slovak Congress." In 1861 the meeting of Slovak leaders in Turciansky sv. Martin was known as the National Slovak Assembly. It appears that historic events of similar vein, though far removed in time and place, frequently assume the same program and adopt similar nomenclatures, are the same in scope and follow the same pattern. Unification of all existing Slovak societies was the primary aim of the first Slovak Congress in Cleveland, 0., in order to coordinate their activities in a united program designed to give aid to their fellow countrymen in Slovakia. The invitation was signed by the following: First Catholic Slovak Union, National Slovak Society, Slovak Evangelical Union, Sojuz, Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol, Independent Slovak National Society, Cleveland Slovak Union, Passaic Slovak Union, zivena, First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, Pennsylvania Slovak Ladies Union, Evangelical Slovak Ladies Union. Editors of all the Slovak national newspapers here signed also. Even today a person is thrilled as he reads the inspiring articles and the reports of spirited discussions in the Slovak newspapers of almost half a century ago. Clearly the focus is on Slovakia, their ancestral homeland. Though fully aware of the necessity and inevitability of becoming an integral part of their new life in America, these early Slovak settlers felt it was somehow decreed by Divine Providence that the American Slovaks were destined to save the Slovak nation from extinction at home, and they were convinced this could be accomplished more effectively from America than at home. 'Today,' the newspapers wrote, 'we are sufficiently strong, thank God, to pay our debt to our Motherland where the Slovak nation is struggling for its very existence.' 'Do your duty! As a child is obliged by God's laws to help his parents in time of need, so we American Slovaks, �SLOVAKIA 21 too, though forced to leave home to escape from tyranny, must fulfill our sacred obligation to help defend our native Motherland suffering under the whip lash of a cruel master.' 'Our task is not merely to unmask the tyranny but to give practical aid to our suffering brethren.' "Let us pay our debt to Slovakia" became the united slogan of the new Slovak movement. History proves that this movement remained faithful to its trust by giving invaluable aid through the years, and this despite the sad fact that at times misappropriation of needed funds weakened its position and deprived it of money necessary for additional worthwhile cases. Gray's Armory on Cleveland's East Side became the scene of a great historic gathering of more than 7,000 stalwart Slovaks representing numerous societies, organizations, parishes, newspapers and communities in every part of the country east of the Mississippi. It was an overflow crowd of Slovaks who were inspired by the desire to help their fellow countrymen overseas. On a well faded photograph from the time we can still make out the following pictures of: Furdek, Anton Bielek, Wolf, Martincek, Ambrose, Bosak, Kiesel, Gelhoff, Bielik, Marsall, Gessay, Rovnianek, Feriencik, Pirhala, stiasny and others, well known and less known Slovaks. A Prayer opened the Assembly: 0, Almighty God, Father of All Nations : Inspire in us a high sense of honor and national pride, Fill us with a sacred love of our glorious heritage, Inflame our hearts and strengthen our conscience In this struggle for human liberty. Bless us, 0 Lord, with final victory. Banish all blunders Grant freedom in our native homeland. Amen. Rev. Stefan Furdek then formally opened the session with a brief introduction: "Today we will not complain but instead we will go forward together with one will towards our national goal. It seems to me, said Furdek, that this is the glorious day of the Slovak nation's resurrection. All of us are here because of our common love of our Slovak nation." �22 SLOVAKIA Rovnianek spoke: "This day's demonstration, he said, has ignited a great fire that has smouldered for two decades. It is the answer to the charge that there is no Slovak nation! It is manifest proof, particularly for the doubting Thomases of our Slovak nation, that here in America an unbending tree has grown up for our Slovak nation, a strong tree under whose outspread branches the oppressed Slovaks driven from their homeland can find refuge and shelter." In a beautiful, heartful speech he inspired all present to persevere in the struggle for Slovak freedom. Ambrose, the third speaker, replied to the newspapers that claimed there was freedom in Hungary. The National Slovak Society offered $5,000 and challenged the Magyars to offer the same amount to cover expenses for an investigating commission of 4 Americans, 2 Magyars, 2 Slovaks and a Chairman ( of their own choice) to ascertain the truth. Musket-fire in Cernova (Slovakia) soon afterwards broke out. The offer was repeated but never accepted even when the Slovaks guaranteed to assume all financial obligations if the Magyars could prove that political freedom really existed in Hungary.) Remarks were made briefly by Pirhala, Bielek (A.), Chudatsik, N. Bielik, Getting, Harbula, Uhrin, Burik, M. Bosak and several representatives of various organizations. The by-laws of the new organization, Slovak League of America, were then read and approved by the entire assembly. Stefan Furdek was elected for the President of the League. Emphasis should be placed on the main idea that sparked the Congress, and from the words of the Prayer opening the historic session it was evident that a spirit of great national pride and self-esteem dominated the meeting, as if it were an atonement for all the years of national degradation often caused by the indifference of the Slovaks themselves. It was made clear that nothing contributed to our failures in the past so much as our submissivness, our backing down on basic issues, our timidity, our lack of courage to stand firm, in a word, lack of a healthy, vigorous national pride. As soon as these weaknesses were pointed out and admitted, the Slovaks entered upon a new era by supporting a national movement to improve their lot: politically, socially, culturally and economically. �SLOVAKIA 23 The Slovak League assumed the responsibility of fostering Slovak national pride that was a prerequisite for the spirit of human dignity. Nowhere did this spirit flourish as it did in America. And therefore, when it was proposed that the Slovaks had a right to their national program, it was but natural that for the first time since the death of stur in the mid-19th century the slogan, "We have a rigth to a Slovak state" was again heard, gained headway and soon was popularized. National self-pride leads logically to the formation of a self-governing state. A nation without its own state, though it may be a part of the most progressive and most liberal country, faces ultimate extinction, without a state of its own it cannot reach fulfillment of its cultural, social and national potential. In this particular direction precisely the program of the Slovak League of America reached the zenith of its greatness, for the ideals of freedom inspired its dynamic activity from this very first mass meeting. What undoubtedly was the Slovak League's most significant role in the life of the Slovak nation was that it provided the Slovaks, freed at last from the common traits of backwardness, slavishness and servility so evident in their native homeland, a powerful and resourceful arsenal for the struggle to win national freedom for their home country on the basis of a natural and divine right to enjoy the blessings of freedom. In the exciting years when these events transpired abroad, the spirit at home waned noticeably. The greater the pressure exerted, the more the home folks weakened in their resolve and their demands for their just rights reached a new low. It appeared that if the Magyars had offered the Slovaks a few intermediate schools and had relaxed their political pressure then, and had they allowed restricted use of the Slovak language in the schools and distributed a few minor offices, they probably would have solved the 'Slovak problem'. The Slovak struggle, which had begun as an all-out fight for all the rights the Slovak nation was entitled to, was now but a feeble movement to attain some sort of recognition. It was a far cry from the original demand for Slovak schools throughout the country, for �24 SLOVAKIA Slovak representatives of their own people and the use of the Slovak language as an official language in Slovakia. Ironically, when Slovak spokesmen sought to get even the smallest consideration, their Magyar overlords asked them arrogantly: "Now, wouldn't you like to have your own Slovak state?" Vajansky gave the proper response: "Why not? The natural right of every nation is its birthright to self-government, and we, Slovaks as a full-fledged nation, have all the prerogatives for our own free , self-governing state." (Narodne Noviny, November 15, 1910). At home, however, it was virtually impossible to voice this right to statehood, not to speak of a practical application. But we must never surrender this right because the highest aspiration of any nation is to have its own state. Are we Slovaks to be the lone exception among a long list of advanced nations down through history? No! Was there ever a Slovak who before World War I denied the right of his people to their own free state? Never! And had the opportunity presented itself, every Slovak would have exerted himself to the utmost to establish and maintain a free, self-governing Slovak state. 'Not merely the attainment of some of our rights but all of them' was the battle-cry of the Slovak League as the movement gained momentum among a united American Slovak public. Soon after the founding of the Slovak League, there appeared in the Slovak press here proposals of Slovak statehood. Freedom is a God-given right and we cannot receive it as a gift from other nations. All nations are equal in the sight of God, and hence they have equality of rights. Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky proposed the possibility of a federation of European nations in which each nation would give up a little of its national sovereignity for the common welfare of all fellow members. Studies of the Slovak pronouncements at the time indicate indisputably aspirations for state self-government; though often veiled they were there nevertheless. A closer look proves it. Why, then, did they refrain from coming out and saying so openly? Because the Slovak masses were not yet conditioned to so radical �SLOVAKIA 25 a proposal, namely, outright freedom and self-governing state of their own in their own country. Upon reflection as to the prime requisites for a selfgoverning and independent state, the Slovaks came to the following conclusions: a) They had a living language b) They possessed a common Christian faith which was the national basis of a moral life c) They shared a spirit of unity and national pride On the debit side, they realized that they lacked a strong national organization to set up this political state they vaguely dreamed of at home. But, as they looked westward, the example of the dynamic Slovak League of America gave them the courage they needed, for here actually the Slovaks were organized, ready and able to give them the assistance necessary to establish and maintain their own free, self-governing state. Slovak Independence was in the mind of Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky as he wrote in an editorial: "Slovak freedom will materialize when the political circumstances and a new favorable atmosphere appear in Europe. The Slovaks must await this moment with complete confidence and an ardent national pride. They must aspire to a full, unconditional national fulfillment in a free and independent Slovak state." What vision and courage to have written these prophetic words at the time! "We Slovaks will join that movement that will give us it.he most and surest guarantees of our national liberty. We do not want to be a footstool for any nation. We will cooperate with those who will pledge to respect our aspirations to national freedom . Theoretically, this meant possible aid from the Poles, Romanians, Croatians, and even the Germans and Austrians. "That is why we Slovaks will join our forces with those who not only offer aid to us for the attainment of our legitimate objectives as a nation but who at the same time give us the best guarantees. In politics there is no place for sentiment. We will be friends with those who give us the most advantages, but we will not be their slaves. "There were pessimistic views, then as now, ithait sought to convince the Slovaks of the utter futility of seeking full self-government based on ,t he ridiculous premise that it is far more advantageous to be allied with others more experienced in the art of government ... which, in effect, meant that one should be willing to carry the burden of oppression if only his oppressors lighten the burden somewhat! To these people Husek had only one comment: 'Such rubbish! ' " (Jednota, December 30, 1908) . �26 SLOVAKIA Slovak League leaders and members scoffed at views that were designed to discourage the Slovak nation's aspiration to national freedom and self-government. They called for an all-out struggle for the attainment of all their rights to which they were entitled by nature. It was, indeed, in harmony with what a western Slovak song so aptly expressed: "We only want what is ours, nothing more, nothing less." Liberty is the natural heritage of every nation but no nation can enjoy freedom unless it has its own free, selfgoverning state. One of the greatest services performed by the Slovak League of America in the years when the struggle for the nation's freedom reached a low ebb in the Slovak's historic homeland was to hold high the banner of national freedom and personal liberty. American Slovak immigrants soon came to the conclusion that they, too, were able to conduct their own political affairs and like nations, they, too, had an equal right to their own independent state. Strange as it may seem, the idea of national freedom and independent statehood did not originate in Slovakia but in America where the Slovak pioneers compared themselves to their neighbors of various nationalities and saw that they were not at all an inferior people. On the contrary, they were equals among equals. This discovery encouraged them to adopt a program whose objective was the liberation of the Slovaks from alien domination. The ultimate goal was the establishment of their own free state. "Independent statehood for the Slovak nation must be uppermost in the minds of all Slovaks because the nations of the world, even the least advanced, are seeking independence. Consequently, the Slovaks must not be slaves to any nation." (Slovensky Dennik, Pittsburgh, Pa. , January 21, 1910). Again in the same newspaper of June 3, 1910, we read: "No one can degrade the ideal of freedom because it is won by the sacrifice of human blood and is, therefore, sacred. Moreover, it is founded on the principles of equality, truth and justice." This was the spirit of the founders of the Slovak League as expressed in America, far from the Slovaks' native homeland. It embodied the spirit of personal liberty, human dignity, democracy, national pride. It was based upon the �SLOVAKIA 27 knowledge of God's laws as found in nature and it enkindled the spirit of free enterprise, cooperation and self-confidence. The inner strength of the Slovak nation assured the future national destiny of the Slovak people in their own free and independent state. Spontaneous and prophetic, this spirit inspired the Slovak nation to adopt a clear-cut program towards winning freedom, and if for a time the Slovak nation had been deprived of its freedom the words of I'..udovit stlir and Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky echoed and re-echoed the eternal message: "The ideal of Slovak freedom will never die. Traitors to the Slovak cause will perish but the movement to national freedom will live forever. " In this unique chapter of Slovak history, the Slovak League has a just and major portion because it inspired the struggle, maintained the fight in its day, and is still carrying on that fight because the Slovak nation has been enslaved in our times. Furdek presided at a meeting of the executive committee of the Slovak League on June 13, 1907. The discussions centered on the practical means of giving aid. A suggestion to issue stamps and a commemorative medal for a fund-raising campaign was approved and adopted. Soon a stamp was issued and a medal appeared with the inspiring motto, 'Za tu nasu slovencinu' (For our Slovak Heritage). The new stamp appeared on thousands of letters that circulated throughout the country, and the idea of Slovak freedom caught on everywhere. Some said (prophetically) that in the near future Slovakia would have its own postage stamps! A strong reaction set in overseas. Hungarian authorities returned letters by the thousands to their original mailing-points in America simply because alongside the regular postage stamp there appeared the special Slovak League stamp! They feared the danger of this propaganda medium, namely, the fear of an aroused Slovak public. In America the Slovak League fully exploited the ban by informing America Newspapers of this step. The Slovak League not only intensified its efforts towards national emancipation but gave invaluable aid to orphaned families. �28 SLOVAKLA Correspondence between Slovak political leaders at home and the American Slovaks reveals the solid strength of their fellow countrymen who had emigrated. Every appeal for help was answered. On their part, the American Slovaks were self-sufficient in that they needed no prodding to do what they deemed a sacred duty towards their embattled countrymen. When Count Albert Apponyi visited America in 1911, his mission was to convince the Americans that the Magyars were truly a bastion of democracy in Central Europe. The American Slovaks presented facts, based upon actual experience before they had left their homeland, which convinced the American public that in actuality the Magyars were tyrannical oppressors of the Slovak nation and other nations in Hungary. American census-takers for years had listed Slovaks as "Hungarians" but it was the Slovak League that intervened and set the records straight. From 1910 on, all Slovaks were listed as such officially. War clouds appeared in Europe. In 1914 Count Karolyi appeared suddenly in this country. He, too, had a mission, namely, to unite the nationality groups that had origins in Hungary. It soon became evident, however, that he found it an impossibility to inspire loyalty, for he represented the oppressor and they had been the oppressed. American Slovaks, who had got used to the idea of freedom, now envisioned national freedom and consequently complete separation from Hungary. Accordingly, they had the same reply for the liberal Karolyi as they had given only a short time before to the conservative Apponyi, ie., 'Nothing doing!' This occasion gave the Slovak League the opportunity to make a bold stand against amalgamation with the Magyars, or the Czechs later; under Mamatey's leadership the Slovak League asserted the right of the Slovak nation to determine its own destiny in a free, self-governing state. Count Karolyi's visit to America marked the end of an era, an era of oppression, and the political subjugation of the Slovaks. It was, moreover, the prelude to a new chapter in the Slovak nation's history at the very outbreak of World War I. � 18 SLOVAKIA BEGINNINGS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE IN AMERICA By Constantin Culen All foes of the Slovak national idea shared the same mottoes and techniques. The first of their statements denied the Slovaks nationality status - hence, they had no right, the claim was asserted, to any rights as a nation. They could find happiness only by becoming assimilated in a greater unity with another people. Both the Magyars and Czechs made this assertion. Hurban in the Slovenske Pohl'ady publication noted that the Slovak was considered audacious if he had national pride, a coward if he was not aggressive, if he travelled outside his own country, he was a vagrant but if he stayed at home he was a lazy, shiftless bum. That's the way it was - that's the way it is today. Events proved to the Slovaks themselves that they were better off when they ignored what the state dictated and went ahead doing what other nations did, namely, what was to their own advantage and national interest. 1906 was a momentous year for the Slovaks, for it was in elections for parliamentary seats that year that they supported their own candidates, and they elected seven. The Magyars reacted by starting a political persecution and a series of reprisals sent many to prison. The courts cooperated by meting out sentences ranging from months to several years. Thus many Slovak political leaders were put out of action. The opposition was bitterly directed towards the leading exponents of the Slovak cause, particularly assailing those who by the spoken or written word exerted great influence on the masses struggling for representation and selfgovernment. Andrej Hlinka, a Catholic priest in Ruzomberok, who was not a candidate but who spoke in behalf of Vavro srobar, a candidate, became the prime target of ecclesiastical and political leaders who opposed Slovak participation in politics when it meant the election of their representative to parliament. Biskup Parvy went so far �SLOVAKIA 19 in his chauvinism that he suspended Hlinka and the courts sentenced the Slovak priest to two years in prison. This anti-Slovak outburst in Hungary coincided with a number of political demonstrations by American Slovaks in sympathy with the struggle of their fellow countrymen for political freedom in their native and historic homeland. The speakers (among them many prominent Slovak civic and Church leaders) expressed their willingness to organize an all-Slovak organization, for they deemed the time was ripe for a united front of all Slovaks in the struggle ahead. In the previous century the needs, sufferings and injustices experienced by masses of Slovak workers stimulated the organization of fraternal societies. Now was the time for united action of another kind, namely, to help the Slovak nation fight for its just rights, and it was unanimously agreed that a national united society was obviously essential to carry on the struggle. Hlinka's case, in which both Church and State cooperated in an effort to crush the Slovak spirit by eliminating the great champion of their just rights, stirred the American Slovaks and aroused them to action. Leaders of the Slovak press in America accepted Furdek's invitation for a conference on April 4, 1907. Accordingly, the slogan, "Za tu nasu slovencinu," (For our Slovak Heritage) which was destined to become the battlecry of Slovaks everywhere during and after World War I , was adopted by the following group of Slovak leaders who met in Pittsburgh: Furdek, Mamatey, Feriencik, Straka, Vakulek, Joscak, Polak, Katchmar, Gimesky, Ambrose, Pirhala, Harbula, Karchnak, Husek, Bielek, Orbach, Chudatsik, Marsall, stiasny, Getting, Pankuch, Balent, Rovnianek, Kadlecik, Thomka, Tvrdy, Gessay. A committee for formulating the by-laws of the proposed organization was named. The program unanimously adopted was twofold, namely, to give assistance, culturally, politically, financially and morally to their fellow countrymen in America and in their embattled homeland. May 30, 1907, was the date scheduled to launch the new organization in Cleveland, Ohio. What a coincidence! This date was destined to become, eleven years later, a historic day, for on May 30, �20 SLOVAKIA 1918, the famed Pittsburgh Agreement was signed by the representatives of the American Slovaks and Czechs as a basic agreement for the formation of the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia. However, in deference to the Slovak Gymnastic Sokol ( which had meeting or convention at the time) the date was re-scheduled for May 26, 1907. Invitations to this meeting used the term, "Slovak Congress." In 1861 the meeting of Slovak leaders in Turciansky sv. Martin was known as the National Slovak Assembly. It appears that historic events of similar vein, though far removed in time and place, frequently assume the same program and adopt similar nomenclatures, are the same in scope and follow the same pattern. Unification of all existing Slovak societies was the primary aim of the first Slovak Congress in Cleveland, 0., in order to coordinate their activities in a united program designed to give aid to their fellow countrymen in Slovakia. The invitation was signed by the following: First Catholic Slovak Union, National Slovak Society, Slovak Evangelical Union, Sojuz, Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol, Independent Slovak National Society, Cleveland Slovak Union, Passaic Slovak Union, zivena, First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, Pennsylvania Slovak Ladies Union, Evangelical Slovak Ladies Union. Editors of all the Slovak national newspapers here signed also. Even today a person is thrilled as he reads the inspiring articles and the reports of spirited discussions in the Slovak newspapers of almost half a century ago. Clearly the focus is on Slovakia, their ancestral homeland. Though fully aware of the necessity and inevitability of becoming an integral part of their new life in America, these early Slovak settlers felt it was somehow decreed by Divine Providence that the American Slovaks were destined to save the Slovak nation from extinction at home, and they were convinced this could be accomplished more effectively from America than at home. 'Today,' the newspapers wrote, 'we are sufficiently strong, thank God, to pay our debt to our Motherland where the Slovak nation is struggling for its very existence.' 'Do your duty! As a child is obliged by God's laws to help his parents in time of need, so we American Slovaks, �SLOVAKIA 21 too, though forced to leave home to escape from tyranny, must fulfill our sacred obligation to help defend our native Motherland suffering under the whip lash of a cruel master.' 'Our task is not merely to unmask the tyranny but to give practical aid to our suffering brethren.' "Let us pay our debt to Slovakia" became the united slogan of the new Slovak movement. History proves that this movement remained faithful to its trust by giving invaluable aid through the years, and this despite the sad fact that at times misappropriation of needed funds weakened its position and deprived it of money necessary for additional worthwhile cases. Gray's Armory on Cleveland's East Side became the scene of a great historic gathering of more than 7,000 stalwart Slovaks representing numerous societies, organizations, parishes, newspapers and communities in every part of the country east of the Mississippi. It was an overflow crowd of Slovaks who were inspired by the desire to help their fellow countrymen overseas. On a well faded photograph from the time we can still make out the following pictures of: Furdek, Anton Bielek, Wolf, Martincek, Ambrose, Bosak, Kiesel, Gelhoff, Bielik, Marsall, Gessay, Rovnianek, Feriencik, Pirhala, stiasny and others, well known and less known Slovaks. A Prayer opened the Assembly: 0, Almighty God, Father of All Nations : Inspire in us a high sense of honor and national pride, Fill us with a sacred love of our glorious heritage, Inflame our hearts and strengthen our conscience In this struggle for human liberty. Bless us, 0 Lord, with final victory. Banish all blunders Grant freedom in our native homeland. Amen. Rev. Stefan Furdek then formally opened the session with a brief introduction: "Today we will not complain but instead we will go forward together with one will towards our national goal. It seems to me, said Furdek, that this is the glorious day of the Slovak nation's resurrection. All of us are here because of our common love of our Slovak nation." �22 SLOVAKIA Rovnianek spoke: "This day's demonstration, he said, has ignited a great fire that has smouldered for two decades. It is the answer to the charge that there is no Slovak nation! It is manifest proof, particularly for the doubting Thomases of our Slovak nation, that here in America an unbending tree has grown up for our Slovak nation, a strong tree under whose outspread branches the oppressed Slovaks driven from their homeland can find refuge and shelter." In a beautiful, heartful speech he inspired all present to persevere in the struggle for Slovak freedom. Ambrose, the third speaker, replied to the newspapers that claimed there was freedom in Hungary. The National Slovak Society offered $5,000 and challenged the Magyars to offer the same amount to cover expenses for an investigating commission of 4 Americans, 2 Magyars, 2 Slovaks and a Chairman ( of their own choice) to ascertain the truth. Musket-fire in Cernova (Slovakia) soon afterwards broke out. The offer was repeated but never accepted even when the Slovaks guaranteed to assume all financial obligations if the Magyars could prove that political freedom really existed in Hungary.) Remarks were made briefly by Pirhala, Bielek (A.), Chudatsik, N. Bielik, Getting, Harbula, Uhrin, Burik, M. Bosak and several representatives of various organizations. The by-laws of the new organization, Slovak League of America, were then read and approved by the entire assembly. Stefan Furdek was elected for the President of the League. Emphasis should be placed on the main idea that sparked the Congress, and from the words of the Prayer opening the historic session it was evident that a spirit of great national pride and self-esteem dominated the meeting, as if it were an atonement for all the years of national degradation often caused by the indifference of the Slovaks themselves. It was made clear that nothing contributed to our failures in the past so much as our submissivness, our backing down on basic issues, our timidity, our lack of courage to stand firm, in a word, lack of a healthy, vigorous national pride. As soon as these weaknesses were pointed out and admitted, the Slovaks entered upon a new era by supporting a national movement to improve their lot: politically, socially, culturally and economically. �SLOVAKIA 23 The Slovak League assumed the responsibility of fostering Slovak national pride that was a prerequisite for the spirit of human dignity. Nowhere did this spirit flourish as it did in America. And therefore, when it was proposed that the Slovaks had a right to their national program, it was but natural that for the first time since the death of stur in the mid-19th century the slogan, "We have a rigth to a Slovak state" was again heard, gained headway and soon was popularized. National self-pride leads logically to the formation of a self-governing state. A nation without its own state, though it may be a part of the most progressive and most liberal country, faces ultimate extinction, without a state of its own it cannot reach fulfillment of its cultural, social and national potential. In this particular direction precisely the program of the Slovak League of America reached the zenith of its greatness, for the ideals of freedom inspired its dynamic activity from this very first mass meeting. What undoubtedly was the Slovak League's most significant role in the life of the Slovak nation was that it provided the Slovaks, freed at last from the common traits of backwardness, slavishness and servility so evident in their native homeland, a powerful and resourceful arsenal for the struggle to win national freedom for their home country on the basis of a natural and divine right to enjoy the blessings of freedom. In the exciting years when these events transpired abroad, the spirit at home waned noticeably. The greater the pressure exerted, the more the home folks weakened in their resolve and their demands for their just rights reached a new low. It appeared that if the Magyars had offered the Slovaks a few intermediate schools and had relaxed their political pressure then, and had they allowed restricted use of the Slovak language in the schools and distributed a few minor offices, they probably would have solved the 'Slovak problem'. The Slovak struggle, which had begun as an all-out fight for all the rights the Slovak nation was entitled to, was now but a feeble movement to attain some sort of recognition. It was a far cry from the original demand for Slovak schools throughout the country, for �24 SLOVAKIA Slovak representatives of their own people and the use of the Slovak language as an official language in Slovakia. Ironically, when Slovak spokesmen sought to get even the smallest consideration, their Magyar overlords asked them arrogantly: "Now, wouldn't you like to have your own Slovak state?" Vajansky gave the proper response: "Why not? The natural right of every nation is its birthright to self-government, and we, Slovaks as a full-fledged nation, have all the prerogatives for our own free , self-governing state." (Narodne Noviny, November 15, 1910). At home, however, it was virtually impossible to voice this right to statehood, not to speak of a practical application. But we must never surrender this right because the highest aspiration of any nation is to have its own state. Are we Slovaks to be the lone exception among a long list of advanced nations down through history? No! Was there ever a Slovak who before World War I denied the right of his people to their own free state? Never! And had the opportunity presented itself, every Slovak would have exerted himself to the utmost to establish and maintain a free, self-governing Slovak state. 'Not merely the attainment of some of our rights but all of them' was the battle-cry of the Slovak League as the movement gained momentum among a united American Slovak public. Soon after the founding of the Slovak League, there appeared in the Slovak press here proposals of Slovak statehood. Freedom is a God-given right and we cannot receive it as a gift from other nations. All nations are equal in the sight of God, and hence they have equality of rights. Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky proposed the possibility of a federation of European nations in which each nation would give up a little of its national sovereignity for the common welfare of all fellow members. Studies of the Slovak pronouncements at the time indicate indisputably aspirations for state self-government; though often veiled they were there nevertheless. A closer look proves it. Why, then, did they refrain from coming out and saying so openly? Because the Slovak masses were not yet conditioned to so radical �SLOVAKIA 25 a proposal, namely, outright freedom and self-governing state of their own in their own country. Upon reflection as to the prime requisites for a selfgoverning and independent state, the Slovaks came to the following conclusions: a) They had a living language b) They possessed a common Christian faith which was the national basis of a moral life c) They shared a spirit of unity and national pride On the debit side, they realized that they lacked a strong national organization to set up this political state they vaguely dreamed of at home. But, as they looked westward, the example of the dynamic Slovak League of America gave them the courage they needed, for here actually the Slovaks were organized, ready and able to give them the assistance necessary to establish and maintain their own free, self-governing state. Slovak Independence was in the mind of Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky as he wrote in an editorial: "Slovak freedom will materialize when the political circumstances and a new favorable atmosphere appear in Europe. The Slovaks must await this moment with complete confidence and an ardent national pride. They must aspire to a full, unconditional national fulfillment in a free and independent Slovak state." What vision and courage to have written these prophetic words at the time! "We Slovaks will join that movement that will give us it.he most and surest guarantees of our national liberty. We do not want to be a footstool for any nation. We will cooperate with those who will pledge to respect our aspirations to national freedom . Theoretically, this meant possible aid from the Poles, Romanians, Croatians, and even the Germans and Austrians. "That is why we Slovaks will join our forces with those who not only offer aid to us for the attainment of our legitimate objectives as a nation but who at the same time give us the best guarantees. In politics there is no place for sentiment. We will be friends with those who give us the most advantages, but we will not be their slaves. "There were pessimistic views, then as now, ithait sought to convince the Slovaks of the utter futility of seeking full self-government based on ,t he ridiculous premise that it is far more advantageous to be allied with others more experienced in the art of government ... which, in effect, meant that one should be willing to carry the burden of oppression if only his oppressors lighten the burden somewhat! To these people Husek had only one comment: 'Such rubbish! ' " (Jednota, December 30, 1908) . �26 SLOVAKIA Slovak League leaders and members scoffed at views that were designed to discourage the Slovak nation's aspiration to national freedom and self-government. They called for an all-out struggle for the attainment of all their rights to which they were entitled by nature. It was, indeed, in harmony with what a western Slovak song so aptly expressed: "We only want what is ours, nothing more, nothing less." Liberty is the natural heritage of every nation but no nation can enjoy freedom unless it has its own free, selfgoverning state. One of the greatest services performed by the Slovak League of America in the years when the struggle for the nation's freedom reached a low ebb in the Slovak's historic homeland was to hold high the banner of national freedom and personal liberty. American Slovak immigrants soon came to the conclusion that they, too, were able to conduct their own political affairs and like nations, they, too, had an equal right to their own independent state. Strange as it may seem, the idea of national freedom and independent statehood did not originate in Slovakia but in America where the Slovak pioneers compared themselves to their neighbors of various nationalities and saw that they were not at all an inferior people. On the contrary, they were equals among equals. This discovery encouraged them to adopt a program whose objective was the liberation of the Slovaks from alien domination. The ultimate goal was the establishment of their own free state. "Independent statehood for the Slovak nation must be uppermost in the minds of all Slovaks because the nations of the world, even the least advanced, are seeking independence. Consequently, the Slovaks must not be slaves to any nation." (Slovensky Dennik, Pittsburgh, Pa. , January 21, 1910). Again in the same newspaper of June 3, 1910, we read: "No one can degrade the ideal of freedom because it is won by the sacrifice of human blood and is, therefore, sacred. Moreover, it is founded on the principles of equality, truth and justice." This was the spirit of the founders of the Slovak League as expressed in America, far from the Slovaks' native homeland. It embodied the spirit of personal liberty, human dignity, democracy, national pride. It was based upon the �SLOVAKIA 27 knowledge of God's laws as found in nature and it enkindled the spirit of free enterprise, cooperation and self-confidence. The inner strength of the Slovak nation assured the future national destiny of the Slovak people in their own free and independent state. Spontaneous and prophetic, this spirit inspired the Slovak nation to adopt a clear-cut program towards winning freedom, and if for a time the Slovak nation had been deprived of its freedom the words of I'..udovit stlir and Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky echoed and re-echoed the eternal message: "The ideal of Slovak freedom will never die. Traitors to the Slovak cause will perish but the movement to national freedom will live forever. " In this unique chapter of Slovak history, the Slovak League has a just and major portion because it inspired the struggle, maintained the fight in its day, and is still carrying on that fight because the Slovak nation has been enslaved in our times. Furdek presided at a meeting of the executive committee of the Slovak League on June 13, 1907. The discussions centered on the practical means of giving aid. A suggestion to issue stamps and a commemorative medal for a fund-raising campaign was approved and adopted. Soon a stamp was issued and a medal appeared with the inspiring motto, 'Za tu nasu slovencinu' (For our Slovak Heritage). The new stamp appeared on thousands of letters that circulated throughout the country, and the idea of Slovak freedom caught on everywhere. Some said (prophetically) that in the near future Slovakia would have its own postage stamps! A strong reaction set in overseas. Hungarian authorities returned letters by the thousands to their original mailing-points in America simply because alongside the regular postage stamp there appeared the special Slovak League stamp! They feared the danger of this propaganda medium, namely, the fear of an aroused Slovak public. In America the Slovak League fully exploited the ban by informing America Newspapers of this step. The Slovak League not only intensified its efforts towards national emancipation but gave invaluable aid to orphaned families. �28 SLOVAKLA Correspondence between Slovak political leaders at home and the American Slovaks reveals the solid strength of their fellow countrymen who had emigrated. Every appeal for help was answered. On their part, the American Slovaks were self-sufficient in that they needed no prodding to do what they deemed a sacred duty towards their embattled countrymen. When Count Albert Apponyi visited America in 1911, his mission was to convince the Americans that the Magyars were truly a bastion of democracy in Central Europe. The American Slovaks presented facts, based upon actual experience before they had left their homeland, which convinced the American public that in actuality the Magyars were tyrannical oppressors of the Slovak nation and other nations in Hungary. American census-takers for years had listed Slovaks as "Hungarians" but it was the Slovak League that intervened and set the records straight. From 1910 on, all Slovaks were listed as such officially. War clouds appeared in Europe. In 1914 Count Karolyi appeared suddenly in this country. He, too, had a mission, namely, to unite the nationality groups that had origins in Hungary. It soon became evident, however, that he found it an impossibility to inspire loyalty, for he represented the oppressor and they had been the oppressed. American Slovaks, who had got used to the idea of freedom, now envisioned national freedom and consequently complete separation from Hungary. Accordingly, they had the same reply for the liberal Karolyi as they had given only a short time before to the conservative Apponyi, ie., 'Nothing doing!' This occasion gave the Slovak League the opportunity to make a bold stand against amalgamation with the Magyars, or the Czechs later; under Mamatey's leadership the Slovak League asserted the right of the Slovak nation to determine its own destiny in a free, self-governing state. Count Karolyi's visit to America marked the end of an era, an era of oppression, and the political subjugation of the Slovaks. It was, moreover, the prelude to a new chapter in the Slovak nation's history at the very outbreak of World War I. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1967, Vol. 17 Description An account of the resource Special Issue: Sixty Years of the Slovak League of America Vol. 17 (No. 40), 1967. 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 1967 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 18 SLOVAKIA BEGINNINGS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE IN AMERICA By Constantin Culen All foes of the Slovak national idea shared the same mottoes and techniques. The first of their statements denied the Slovaks nationality status - hence, they had no right, the claim was asserted, to any rights as a nation. They could find happiness only by becoming assimilated in a greater unity with another people. Both the Magyars and Czechs made this assertion. Hurban in the Slovenske Pohl'ady publication noted that the Slovak was considered audacious if he had national pride, a coward if he was not aggressive, if he travelled outside his own country, he was a vagrant but if he stayed at home he was a lazy, shiftless bum. That's the way it was - that's the way it is today. Events proved to the Slovaks themselves that they were better off when they ignored what the state dictated and went ahead doing what other nations did, namely, what was to their own advantage and national interest. 1906 was a momentous year for the Slovaks, for it was in elections for parliamentary seats that year that they supported their own candidates, and they elected seven. The Magyars reacted by starting a political persecution and a series of reprisals sent many to prison. The courts cooperated by meting out sentences ranging from months to several years. Thus many Slovak political leaders were put out of action. The opposition was bitterly directed towards the leading exponents of the Slovak cause, particularly assailing those who by the spoken or written word exerted great influence on the masses struggling for representation and selfgovernment. Andrej Hlinka, a Catholic priest in Ruzomberok, who was not a candidate but who spoke in behalf of Vavro srobar, a candidate, became the prime target of ecclesiastical and political leaders who opposed Slovak participation in politics when it meant the election of their representative to parliament. Biskup Parvy went so far SLOVAKIA 19 in his chauvinism that he suspended Hlinka and the courts sentenced the Slovak priest to two years in prison. This anti-Slovak outburst in Hungary coincided with a number of political demonstrations by American Slovaks in sympathy with the struggle of their fellow countrymen for political freedom in their native and historic homeland. The speakers (among them many prominent Slovak civic and Church leaders) expressed their willingness to organize an all-Slovak organization, for they deemed the time was ripe for a united front of all Slovaks in the struggle ahead. In the previous century the needs, sufferings and injustices experienced by masses of Slovak workers stimulated the organization of fraternal societies. Now was the time for united action of another kind, namely, to help the Slovak nation fight for its just rights, and it was unanimously agreed that a national united society was obviously essential to carry on the struggle. Hlinka's case, in which both Church and State cooperated in an effort to crush the Slovak spirit by eliminating the great champion of their just rights, stirred the American Slovaks and aroused them to action. Leaders of the Slovak press in America accepted Furdek's invitation for a conference on April 4, 1907. Accordingly, the slogan, "Za tu nasu slovencinu," (For our Slovak Heritage) which was destined to become the battlecry of Slovaks everywhere during and after World War I , was adopted by the following group of Slovak leaders who met in Pittsburgh: Furdek, Mamatey, Feriencik, Straka, Vakulek, Joscak, Polak, Katchmar, Gimesky, Ambrose, Pirhala, Harbula, Karchnak, Husek, Bielek, Orbach, Chudatsik, Marsall, stiasny, Getting, Pankuch, Balent, Rovnianek, Kadlecik, Thomka, Tvrdy, Gessay. A committee for formulating the by-laws of the proposed organization was named. The program unanimously adopted was twofold, namely, to give assistance, culturally, politically, financially and morally to their fellow countrymen in America and in their embattled homeland. May 30, 1907, was the date scheduled to launch the new organization in Cleveland, Ohio. What a coincidence! This date was destined to become, eleven years later, a historic day, for on May 30, 20 SLOVAKIA 1918, the famed Pittsburgh Agreement was signed by the representatives of the American Slovaks and Czechs as a basic agreement for the formation of the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia. However, in deference to the Slovak Gymnastic Sokol ( which had meeting or convention at the time) the date was re-scheduled for May 26, 1907. Invitations to this meeting used the term, "Slovak Congress." In 1861 the meeting of Slovak leaders in Turciansky sv. Martin was known as the National Slovak Assembly. It appears that historic events of similar vein, though far removed in time and place, frequently assume the same program and adopt similar nomenclatures, are the same in scope and follow the same pattern. Unification of all existing Slovak societies was the primary aim of the first Slovak Congress in Cleveland, 0., in order to coordinate their activities in a united program designed to give aid to their fellow countrymen in Slovakia. The invitation was signed by the following: First Catholic Slovak Union, National Slovak Society, Slovak Evangelical Union, Sojuz, Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol, Independent Slovak National Society, Cleveland Slovak Union, Passaic Slovak Union, zivena, First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, Pennsylvania Slovak Ladies Union, Evangelical Slovak Ladies Union. Editors of all the Slovak national newspapers here signed also. Even today a person is thrilled as he reads the inspiring articles and the reports of spirited discussions in the Slovak newspapers of almost half a century ago. Clearly the focus is on Slovakia, their ancestral homeland. Though fully aware of the necessity and inevitability of becoming an integral part of their new life in America, these early Slovak settlers felt it was somehow decreed by Divine Providence that the American Slovaks were destined to save the Slovak nation from extinction at home, and they were convinced this could be accomplished more effectively from America than at home. 'Today,' the newspapers wrote, 'we are sufficiently strong, thank God, to pay our debt to our Motherland where the Slovak nation is struggling for its very existence.' 'Do your duty! As a child is obliged by God's laws to help his parents in time of need, so we American Slovaks, SLOVAKIA 21 too, though forced to leave home to escape from tyranny, must fulfill our sacred obligation to help defend our native Motherland suffering under the whip lash of a cruel master.' 'Our task is not merely to unmask the tyranny but to give practical aid to our suffering brethren.' "Let us pay our debt to Slovakia" became the united slogan of the new Slovak movement. History proves that this movement remained faithful to its trust by giving invaluable aid through the years, and this despite the sad fact that at times misappropriation of needed funds weakened its position and deprived it of money necessary for additional worthwhile cases. Gray's Armory on Cleveland's East Side became the scene of a great historic gathering of more than 7,000 stalwart Slovaks representing numerous societies, organizations, parishes, newspapers and communities in every part of the country east of the Mississippi. It was an overflow crowd of Slovaks who were inspired by the desire to help their fellow countrymen overseas. On a well faded photograph from the time we can still make out the following pictures of: Furdek, Anton Bielek, Wolf, Martincek, Ambrose, Bosak, Kiesel, Gelhoff, Bielik, Marsall, Gessay, Rovnianek, Feriencik, Pirhala, stiasny and others, well known and less known Slovaks. A Prayer opened the Assembly: 0, Almighty God, Father of All Nations : Inspire in us a high sense of honor and national pride, Fill us with a sacred love of our glorious heritage, Inflame our hearts and strengthen our conscience In this struggle for human liberty. Bless us, 0 Lord, with final victory. Banish all blunders Grant freedom in our native homeland. Amen. Rev. Stefan Furdek then formally opened the session with a brief introduction: "Today we will not complain but instead we will go forward together with one will towards our national goal. It seems to me, said Furdek, that this is the glorious day of the Slovak nation's resurrection. All of us are here because of our common love of our Slovak nation." 22 SLOVAKIA Rovnianek spoke: "This day's demonstration, he said, has ignited a great fire that has smouldered for two decades. It is the answer to the charge that there is no Slovak nation! It is manifest proof, particularly for the doubting Thomases of our Slovak nation, that here in America an unbending tree has grown up for our Slovak nation, a strong tree under whose outspread branches the oppressed Slovaks driven from their homeland can find refuge and shelter." In a beautiful, heartful speech he inspired all present to persevere in the struggle for Slovak freedom. Ambrose, the third speaker, replied to the newspapers that claimed there was freedom in Hungary. The National Slovak Society offered $5,000 and challenged the Magyars to offer the same amount to cover expenses for an investigating commission of 4 Americans, 2 Magyars, 2 Slovaks and a Chairman ( of their own choice) to ascertain the truth. Musket-fire in Cernova (Slovakia) soon afterwards broke out. The offer was repeated but never accepted even when the Slovaks guaranteed to assume all financial obligations if the Magyars could prove that political freedom really existed in Hungary.) Remarks were made briefly by Pirhala, Bielek (A.), Chudatsik, N. Bielik, Getting, Harbula, Uhrin, Burik, M. Bosak and several representatives of various organizations. The by-laws of the new organization, Slovak League of America, were then read and approved by the entire assembly. Stefan Furdek was elected for the President of the League. Emphasis should be placed on the main idea that sparked the Congress, and from the words of the Prayer opening the historic session it was evident that a spirit of great national pride and self-esteem dominated the meeting, as if it were an atonement for all the years of national degradation often caused by the indifference of the Slovaks themselves. It was made clear that nothing contributed to our failures in the past so much as our submissivness, our backing down on basic issues, our timidity, our lack of courage to stand firm, in a word, lack of a healthy, vigorous national pride. As soon as these weaknesses were pointed out and admitted, the Slovaks entered upon a new era by supporting a national movement to improve their lot: politically, socially, culturally and economically. SLOVAKIA 23 The Slovak League assumed the responsibility of fostering Slovak national pride that was a prerequisite for the spirit of human dignity. Nowhere did this spirit flourish as it did in America. And therefore, when it was proposed that the Slovaks had a right to their national program, it was but natural that for the first time since the death of stur in the mid-19th century the slogan, "We have a rigth to a Slovak state" was again heard, gained headway and soon was popularized. National self-pride leads logically to the formation of a self-governing state. A nation without its own state, though it may be a part of the most progressive and most liberal country, faces ultimate extinction, without a state of its own it cannot reach fulfillment of its cultural, social and national potential. In this particular direction precisely the program of the Slovak League of America reached the zenith of its greatness, for the ideals of freedom inspired its dynamic activity from this very first mass meeting. What undoubtedly was the Slovak League's most significant role in the life of the Slovak nation was that it provided the Slovaks, freed at last from the common traits of backwardness, slavishness and servility so evident in their native homeland, a powerful and resourceful arsenal for the struggle to win national freedom for their home country on the basis of a natural and divine right to enjoy the blessings of freedom. In the exciting years when these events transpired abroad, the spirit at home waned noticeably. The greater the pressure exerted, the more the home folks weakened in their resolve and their demands for their just rights reached a new low. It appeared that if the Magyars had offered the Slovaks a few intermediate schools and had relaxed their political pressure then, and had they allowed restricted use of the Slovak language in the schools and distributed a few minor offices, they probably would have solved the 'Slovak problem'. The Slovak struggle, which had begun as an all-out fight for all the rights the Slovak nation was entitled to, was now but a feeble movement to attain some sort of recognition. It was a far cry from the original demand for Slovak schools throughout the country, for 24 SLOVAKIA Slovak representatives of their own people and the use of the Slovak language as an official language in Slovakia. Ironically, when Slovak spokesmen sought to get even the smallest consideration, their Magyar overlords asked them arrogantly: "Now, wouldn't you like to have your own Slovak state?" Vajansky gave the proper response: "Why not? The natural right of every nation is its birthright to self-government, and we, Slovaks as a full-fledged nation, have all the prerogatives for our own free , self-governing state." (Narodne Noviny, November 15, 1910). At home, however, it was virtually impossible to voice this right to statehood, not to speak of a practical application. But we must never surrender this right because the highest aspiration of any nation is to have its own state. Are we Slovaks to be the lone exception among a long list of advanced nations down through history? No! Was there ever a Slovak who before World War I denied the right of his people to their own free state? Never! And had the opportunity presented itself, every Slovak would have exerted himself to the utmost to establish and maintain a free, self-governing Slovak state. 'Not merely the attainment of some of our rights but all of them' was the battle-cry of the Slovak League as the movement gained momentum among a united American Slovak public. Soon after the founding of the Slovak League, there appeared in the Slovak press here proposals of Slovak statehood. Freedom is a God-given right and we cannot receive it as a gift from other nations. All nations are equal in the sight of God, and hence they have equality of rights. Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky proposed the possibility of a federation of European nations in which each nation would give up a little of its national sovereignity for the common welfare of all fellow members. Studies of the Slovak pronouncements at the time indicate indisputably aspirations for state self-government; though often veiled they were there nevertheless. A closer look proves it. Why, then, did they refrain from coming out and saying so openly? Because the Slovak masses were not yet conditioned to so radical SLOVAKIA 25 a proposal, namely, outright freedom and self-governing state of their own in their own country. Upon reflection as to the prime requisites for a selfgoverning and independent state, the Slovaks came to the following conclusions: a) They had a living language b) They possessed a common Christian faith which was the national basis of a moral life c) They shared a spirit of unity and national pride On the debit side, they realized that they lacked a strong national organization to set up this political state they vaguely dreamed of at home. But, as they looked westward, the example of the dynamic Slovak League of America gave them the courage they needed, for here actually the Slovaks were organized, ready and able to give them the assistance necessary to establish and maintain their own free, self-governing state. Slovak Independence was in the mind of Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky as he wrote in an editorial: "Slovak freedom will materialize when the political circumstances and a new favorable atmosphere appear in Europe. The Slovaks must await this moment with complete confidence and an ardent national pride. They must aspire to a full, unconditional national fulfillment in a free and independent Slovak state." What vision and courage to have written these prophetic words at the time! "We Slovaks will join that movement that will give us it.he most and surest guarantees of our national liberty. We do not want to be a footstool for any nation. We will cooperate with those who will pledge to respect our aspirations to national freedom . Theoretically, this meant possible aid from the Poles, Romanians, Croatians, and even the Germans and Austrians. "That is why we Slovaks will join our forces with those who not only offer aid to us for the attainment of our legitimate objectives as a nation but who at the same time give us the best guarantees. In politics there is no place for sentiment. We will be friends with those who give us the most advantages, but we will not be their slaves. "There were pessimistic views, then as now, ithait sought to convince the Slovaks of the utter futility of seeking full self-government based on ,t he ridiculous premise that it is far more advantageous to be allied with others more experienced in the art of government ... which, in effect, meant that one should be willing to carry the burden of oppression if only his oppressors lighten the burden somewhat! To these people Husek had only one comment: 'Such rubbish! ' " (Jednota, December 30, 1908) . 26 SLOVAKIA Slovak League leaders and members scoffed at views that were designed to discourage the Slovak nation's aspiration to national freedom and self-government. They called for an all-out struggle for the attainment of all their rights to which they were entitled by nature. It was, indeed, in harmony with what a western Slovak song so aptly expressed: "We only want what is ours, nothing more, nothing less." Liberty is the natural heritage of every nation but no nation can enjoy freedom unless it has its own free, selfgoverning state. One of the greatest services performed by the Slovak League of America in the years when the struggle for the nation's freedom reached a low ebb in the Slovak's historic homeland was to hold high the banner of national freedom and personal liberty. American Slovak immigrants soon came to the conclusion that they, too, were able to conduct their own political affairs and like nations, they, too, had an equal right to their own independent state. Strange as it may seem, the idea of national freedom and independent statehood did not originate in Slovakia but in America where the Slovak pioneers compared themselves to their neighbors of various nationalities and saw that they were not at all an inferior people. On the contrary, they were equals among equals. This discovery encouraged them to adopt a program whose objective was the liberation of the Slovaks from alien domination. The ultimate goal was the establishment of their own free state. "Independent statehood for the Slovak nation must be uppermost in the minds of all Slovaks because the nations of the world, even the least advanced, are seeking independence. Consequently, the Slovaks must not be slaves to any nation." (Slovensky Dennik, Pittsburgh, Pa. , January 21, 1910). Again in the same newspaper of June 3, 1910, we read: "No one can degrade the ideal of freedom because it is won by the sacrifice of human blood and is, therefore, sacred. Moreover, it is founded on the principles of equality, truth and justice." This was the spirit of the founders of the Slovak League as expressed in America, far from the Slovaks' native homeland. It embodied the spirit of personal liberty, human dignity, democracy, national pride. It was based upon the SLOVAKIA 27 knowledge of God's laws as found in nature and it enkindled the spirit of free enterprise, cooperation and self-confidence. The inner strength of the Slovak nation assured the future national destiny of the Slovak people in their own free and independent state. Spontaneous and prophetic, this spirit inspired the Slovak nation to adopt a clear-cut program towards winning freedom, and if for a time the Slovak nation had been deprived of its freedom the words of I'..udovit stlir and Tholt Vel'kostiavnicky echoed and re-echoed the eternal message: "The ideal of Slovak freedom will never die. Traitors to the Slovak cause will perish but the movement to national freedom will live forever. " In this unique chapter of Slovak history, the Slovak League has a just and major portion because it inspired the struggle, maintained the fight in its day, and is still carrying on that fight because the Slovak nation has been enslaved in our times. Furdek presided at a meeting of the executive committee of the Slovak League on June 13, 1907. The discussions centered on the practical means of giving aid. A suggestion to issue stamps and a commemorative medal for a fund-raising campaign was approved and adopted. Soon a stamp was issued and a medal appeared with the inspiring motto, 'Za tu nasu slovencinu' (For our Slovak Heritage). The new stamp appeared on thousands of letters that circulated throughout the country, and the idea of Slovak freedom caught on everywhere. Some said (prophetically) that in the near future Slovakia would have its own postage stamps! A strong reaction set in overseas. Hungarian authorities returned letters by the thousands to their original mailing-points in America simply because alongside the regular postage stamp there appeared the special Slovak League stamp! They feared the danger of this propaganda medium, namely, the fear of an aroused Slovak public. In America the Slovak League fully exploited the ban by informing America Newspapers of this step. The Slovak League not only intensified its efforts towards national emancipation but gave invaluable aid to orphaned families. 28 SLOVAKLA Correspondence between Slovak political leaders at home and the American Slovaks reveals the solid strength of their fellow countrymen who had emigrated. Every appeal for help was answered. On their part, the American Slovaks were self-sufficient in that they needed no prodding to do what they deemed a sacred duty towards their embattled countrymen. When Count Albert Apponyi visited America in 1911, his mission was to convince the Americans that the Magyars were truly a bastion of democracy in Central Europe. The American Slovaks presented facts, based upon actual experience before they had left their homeland, which convinced the American public that in actuality the Magyars were tyrannical oppressors of the Slovak nation and other nations in Hungary. American census-takers for years had listed Slovaks as "Hungarians" but it was the Slovak League that intervened and set the records straight. From 1910 on, all Slovaks were listed as such officially. War clouds appeared in Europe. In 1914 Count Karolyi appeared suddenly in this country. He, too, had a mission, namely, to unite the nationality groups that had origins in Hungary. It soon became evident, however, that he found it an impossibility to inspire loyalty, for he represented the oppressor and they had been the oppressed. American Slovaks, who had got used to the idea of freedom, now envisioned national freedom and consequently complete separation from Hungary. Accordingly, they had the same reply for the liberal Karolyi as they had given only a short time before to the conservative Apponyi, ie., 'Nothing doing!' This occasion gave the Slovak League the opportunity to make a bold stand against amalgamation with the Magyars, or the Czechs later; under Mamatey's leadership the Slovak League asserted the right of the Slovak nation to determine its own destiny in a free, self-governing state. Count Karolyi's visit to America marked the end of an era, an era of oppression, and the political subjugation of the Slovaks. It was, moreover, the prelude to a new chapter in the Slovak nation's history at the very outbreak of World War I.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Beginnings of The Slovak League of America Description An account of the resource Constantine Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 17 (No. 40), 1967 pp. 18-28 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967 Relation A related resource This article is one of five from this special issue republished as a monograph: Paučo, Jozef, ed. 1967. <em>Sixty Years of the Slovak League of America.</em> Middletown Pennsylvania: Slovak League of America. <a href="https://worldcat.org/en/title/36616" target="_blank" title="Link to WorldCat" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://worldcat.org/en/title/36616</a> 60years SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/acbca4aeaa05e6bb55a55bf2bfdc621d.pdf 7d140315605c3634d449e1a8dba15357 PDF Text Text 70 SLOVAKIA Dr. Francis I-Irusovsky - the Man (1903 -1956) Francis Hrusovsky was eminently a historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislav;i even under the tutelage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. Chaloupecky realized that this young collegian's views were radically opposed to his own outlook but he entertained high esteem for the youth. It was a regard which Hrusovsky merited because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge . But on completing his university training, Hrusovsky decided on a different course in life. There happened to be a vacancy for the headmasteship at the Catholic Slovak high school or gymnazium at Klastor pod Znievom and Hrusovsky chose to make application for this post. It was not considered an enviable position by reason of the fact that the institution was yoked with financial difficulties and very often the first of the month found the administration really straitened about meeting the payroll. Moreover, the school faced an expansion program wn.ich complicated financial matters to an even greater degree. Nevertheless, Hrusovsky did not decide on the assured security and prestige of a university chair in preference to this position which was less rewarding in material values. He became the school's principal and he made of it the intellectual center: which Bishop Stefan l.VIoyses, its founder , had hoped that it would become. This particular gymnazium was the only institution which bore upon its facade the inscription SLOVAK GYMNAZIUM (SLOVENSKE GYMNAZIUM ); all other similar schools were inscribed as being "CZECHO-SLOVAK". It is n et clear just how this detail escaped the notice of the civic authorities at the time, but the point is that Dr. Hrusovsky was singularly proud of such a d istinctive designation on his school. And it was, in reality, the only true SLOVAK gymnazium, not merely in name, but also in spirit and purpose. It was my privilege to come here often. And each visit �71 SLOVAKIA proved to be a refreshing experience. Perhaps there had never yet bee.a as demanding a headmaster as was Hrusovsky, but certainly there never yet was one who had been so universally loved and respected. "Pan direktor" - that was his title, and it was a designation or an appellation by which we understand without question and immediately that the reference was to Dr. Hrusovsky and to him alone . The greatest penalty meted out to an unhappy offender was to hear from pdn direktor no word about the transgression. Once I happened to be in his school office with him when a student approached with an explanation and apology. "Did I say anything to you?" said pdn direktor to the offender in a tone of voice which betrayed no warmth. "Well, that's just it, pan direktor; that's the point. You said not a word," the student complained. Even here in these circumstances of our emigration, his students often sought out their pan direktor. They confidently referred to him for counsel and always parted from him strengthened and imbued with resolution. Hrusovsky never recommended unconsiderate or rash and merely contentious conflict; he did encourage vigorous effort and he endorsed even justified force that was deliberate and purposeful. * * -l(· Hrusovsky was one of the most highly regarded members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic ( 19381946 ) . We happened to serve together on various committees. I learned that he looked even upon present-day problems with the disposition of a serious historian, and it was especially at our committee sessions that a comparison of the past with the present helped to resolve our difficulties and to ease our task. HP was not given to frequent expression in Parliament but when he did speak, he delivered a speech that left a lasting impression. Although he was able to speak without prolonged preparation, he always took pains to prepare his parliamentary addresses with care. Every sentence, every word was selected for a specific purpose and a particular significance. These addresses are of. such merit that one day they will be embodied in handbooks of public speaking as classic creations. The thought-content as well as the delivery and all that was connected with these �SLOVAKIA 72 addresses was thoroughly studied and weighed, and it took on a classic aspect. I believe that I derogate from no one's merits of fame when I judg·e that Hrusovsky was one of the best speakers of the Slovak nation within the past century. Frequently Hrusovsky was also the speaker of the day in villages and towns celebrating this or that occasion. Very many people must recall these celebrations with a deep sense of appreciation of his gifts. * * * * * * One of the interests of Dr. Hrusovsky's special predilection was the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences (Matica slovenska) . As chairman of various science departments and as secretary of the history department of the Slovak Inst.i tute of Arts and Sciences, he contributed a great deal to the organization of scientific pursuits and undertakings in Slovakia. His was no mean responsibility. He had accomplished very much, he had a great deal of work in progress and even in the very last evening of his life he had discussed several long-standing plans which he helped to realize in some future day that would grant a happy return to the homeland. A certain Slovak political leader who was engaged in conversation with Dr. Hrusovsky remarked that at this point it was quite beyond him even to imagine a return to his former calling, absorbed as he had become with national politics. Dr. Hrusovsky observed, "With me it is quite the contrary. What I can most readily imagine and what would give me the greatest satisfaction right at this moment would be to return to the teaching field back in a gymnazium." It was most natural and logical that on the death of Karol Sidor. Hrusovsky should succeed to the presidency of the Slovak National Council Abroad. Never at home, and much less in exile, did he aspire to public office. In response to the insistence of his friends and colleagues, however, he finally yielded to this extent that he agreed to undertake whatever responsibilities the members of the SNCA: should decide to entrust to him. He conoeived of this office as a service to the nation. Two days before his death we were occupied in discussion �SLOVAKIA 73 until midnight. When he became engrossed in the subject of Slovakia, his eyes shone brilliantly. He said that evening, and he repeated it with emphasis several times, that when our nation attains its freedom and independence, not one of us may presume pretensions to a privileged position at home. Ours is only the duty here in a new land, which affords us liberty and the opportunity to live unshackled by that terror which dominates all life at home, to devote ourselves to work for our nation. This it one of the most important comictions which each one of us must grasp. Anyone who would arrogate to himself special advantages or favors at home in return for his labor in exile is not welcome in our midst. On the other hand, he continued, qualified and deserving individuals will be fully appreciated at home in due time; they will be in demand, and there need be no apprehensions that any worthy individual will receive less than his due. It behooves us all to be reasonable, non-extremist, and to do our utmost in behalf of the Slovak cause in extra-territorial circumstances. This is the spirit in which Dr. Hrusovsky dedicated himself to his nation throughout his whole life. * * * This column would be incomplete were I to omit recollections from Rome in the years 1945-1947. Those were trying times. We lived in constant danger of being overtaken and apprehended and committed to our foes. Terrific pressure was being put on Italian officialdom but Italian authorities, won to sympathy especially by contacts which Karol Sidor had established with them, withstood and resisted this pressure successfully. Rome captured Hrusovsky heart. Day after day he frequented the Vatican library and he devoted himself particularly to a study of the earliest relationships between the Vatican and Slovakia. His finished work on this subject was published. When it was not a jaunt to the library that he planned, we went out together, tramping the streets of Rome, touring its boulevards and market places, and visiting its shrines and churches. Hrusovsky had so intimate a know- �SLOVA KIA 74 ledge of ancien t Roman villages and countr y sites that when he began to relate what happen ed in this or that locality , or how a place had disting uished itself, his listene r lost all contac t with time and becam e wholly unawa re that planes roared in the sky, that trolley s jangled in the streets , that cars raced by. Lost in the spell of Hrusov sky's words, one re-lived the glory of ancien t days. Before one's eyes the Roman Empir e same to life again. Hrusov sky had a rare genius for creatin g this kind of atmosp here . It was this type of histori cal presen tation that also held the key to his eminen t succes s as a classro om lecture r. Just as in Rome he made Roman history live before our eyes, so did he regale his studen ts in Slovak ia with Slovak history . Just as Jan Holly over a hundre d years ago captiva ted and instruc ted the followe rs of stur, so did Hrusov sky inspire and educat e his high school studen ts in the gymna zium. It was in this manne r, too, that he held audien ces spellbo und when he deliver ed occasio nal addres ses at the various celebra tions in Slovak villages and towns. That was his life; that was his life's work : to conjur e an authen tic image of the true greatne ss and the true glory of the distant past, to bridge the gap betwee n the presen t and the past and then to forecas t and build a more prospe rous Slovak future. * * * * * * There is a very large numbe r of Hrusov sky's addres ses and articles in which he develo ped the subjec t of Slovak stateho od. There have been many oppone nts to Slovak ia's aspirat ions to stateho od but not one of them has been able to foil or to refute the iron logic of Hrusov sky's argum ents in its favor. In the past, the works of the most popula r Slovak writers were publish ed in edition s runnin g to several hundre d copies. Never yet, howev er, did any Slovak book win such ready and such wide-s pread popula rity as did Hrusov sky's SLOVAK HISTO RY. It was the first comple te survey of our Slovak histori cal record. Prepar ed as it was by Dr. Hrusov sky the first Slovak histori an of learnin g and of note, it presen ted to the Slovak nation a continu ous reel of absorb ing scenes from its past. We were all agree- �75 SLOVAKIA ably surprised when edition upon edition of his work was exhausted so that by 1945 when Hrusovsky was leaving Slovakia, over one hundred thousand copies of this book were in the hands of the Slovak people. This volume of Hrusovsky's HISTORY found its way even into homes where formerly hardly another book had been brought besides the prayer book and an infrequent almanac or annual. Hrusovsky's book was written in a style which had been so often recommended to us by Karol Sidor who repeatedly reminded us to write clearly, simply, so that even our unschooled parents in remote hamlets would have no difficulty in following and understanding what we wrote. That was its stylistic merit. In content, this HISTORY is prepared with so scholarly an approach-with restraint, with fairmindedness, with an objective outlook -that it serves as a substantial refreshment for both the educated classes and for the less privileged. With this Yolume, which the new regime proscribed Hrusovsky turned in Slovak national life so deep 1945, in and so broad a furrow that no foreign usurpers can succeed in leveling it even in the course of years of effort. Even today reports from home reveal that this is the book which is still the most widely read Slovak work and the most frequently S()ught book in the black markets where, alas, an enormous number of Slovak writings are listed. * * * In the early of 1945 it was rumored that Communist partisans captured and executed Hrusovsky. Thank God, it was not so. The partisans were defeated; they retreated and Hrusovsky returned home. His first visit took him to Brestovany to see his mother. It is understandable that she embraced him warmly and held him close to her heart. Shortly after the exaltation of their meeting, however, she bravely reminded him, "For a great cause, it is a worthy thing even to die, my son. And Slovak statehood is a great cause." Dr. Hrusovsky often repeated these words and commented, "Our peasant mothers embody much of the heroism of ancient Rome's noble matrons." K. Culen � 70 SLOVAKIA Dr. Francis I-Irusovsky - the Man (1903 -1956) Francis Hrusovsky was eminently a historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislav;i even under the tutelage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. Chaloupecky realized that this young collegian's views were radically opposed to his own outlook but he entertained high esteem for the youth. It was a regard which Hrusovsky merited because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge . But on completing his university training, Hrusovsky decided on a different course in life. There happened to be a vacancy for the headmasteship at the Catholic Slovak high school or gymnazium at Klastor pod Znievom and Hrusovsky chose to make application for this post. It was not considered an enviable position by reason of the fact that the institution was yoked with financial difficulties and very often the first of the month found the administration really straitened about meeting the payroll. Moreover, the school faced an expansion program wn.ich complicated financial matters to an even greater degree. Nevertheless, Hrusovsky did not decide on the assured security and prestige of a university chair in preference to this position which was less rewarding in material values. He became the school's principal and he made of it the intellectual center: which Bishop Stefan l.VIoyses, its founder , had hoped that it would become. This particular gymnazium was the only institution which bore upon its facade the inscription SLOVAK GYMNAZIUM (SLOVENSKE GYMNAZIUM ); all other similar schools were inscribed as being "CZECHO-SLOVAK". It is n et clear just how this detail escaped the notice of the civic authorities at the time, but the point is that Dr. Hrusovsky was singularly proud of such a d istinctive designation on his school. And it was, in reality, the only true SLOVAK gymnazium, not merely in name, but also in spirit and purpose. It was my privilege to come here often. And each visit �71 SLOVAKIA proved to be a refreshing experience. Perhaps there had never yet bee.a as demanding a headmaster as was Hrusovsky, but certainly there never yet was one who had been so universally loved and respected. "Pan direktor" - that was his title, and it was a designation or an appellation by which we understand without question and immediately that the reference was to Dr. Hrusovsky and to him alone . The greatest penalty meted out to an unhappy offender was to hear from pdn direktor no word about the transgression. Once I happened to be in his school office with him when a student approached with an explanation and apology. "Did I say anything to you?" said pdn direktor to the offender in a tone of voice which betrayed no warmth. "Well, that's just it, pan direktor; that's the point. You said not a word," the student complained. Even here in these circumstances of our emigration, his students often sought out their pan direktor. They confidently referred to him for counsel and always parted from him strengthened and imbued with resolution. Hrusovsky never recommended unconsiderate or rash and merely contentious conflict; he did encourage vigorous effort and he endorsed even justified force that was deliberate and purposeful. * * -l(· Hrusovsky was one of the most highly regarded members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic ( 19381946 ) . We happened to serve together on various committees. I learned that he looked even upon present-day problems with the disposition of a serious historian, and it was especially at our committee sessions that a comparison of the past with the present helped to resolve our difficulties and to ease our task. HP was not given to frequent expression in Parliament but when he did speak, he delivered a speech that left a lasting impression. Although he was able to speak without prolonged preparation, he always took pains to prepare his parliamentary addresses with care. Every sentence, every word was selected for a specific purpose and a particular significance. These addresses are of. such merit that one day they will be embodied in handbooks of public speaking as classic creations. The thought-content as well as the delivery and all that was connected with these �SLOVAKIA 72 addresses was thoroughly studied and weighed, and it took on a classic aspect. I believe that I derogate from no one's merits of fame when I judg·e that Hrusovsky was one of the best speakers of the Slovak nation within the past century. Frequently Hrusovsky was also the speaker of the day in villages and towns celebrating this or that occasion. Very many people must recall these celebrations with a deep sense of appreciation of his gifts. * * * * * * One of the interests of Dr. Hrusovsky's special predilection was the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences (Matica slovenska) . As chairman of various science departments and as secretary of the history department of the Slovak Inst.i tute of Arts and Sciences, he contributed a great deal to the organization of scientific pursuits and undertakings in Slovakia. His was no mean responsibility. He had accomplished very much, he had a great deal of work in progress and even in the very last evening of his life he had discussed several long-standing plans which he helped to realize in some future day that would grant a happy return to the homeland. A certain Slovak political leader who was engaged in conversation with Dr. Hrusovsky remarked that at this point it was quite beyond him even to imagine a return to his former calling, absorbed as he had become with national politics. Dr. Hrusovsky observed, "With me it is quite the contrary. What I can most readily imagine and what would give me the greatest satisfaction right at this moment would be to return to the teaching field back in a gymnazium." It was most natural and logical that on the death of Karol Sidor. Hrusovsky should succeed to the presidency of the Slovak National Council Abroad. Never at home, and much less in exile, did he aspire to public office. In response to the insistence of his friends and colleagues, however, he finally yielded to this extent that he agreed to undertake whatever responsibilities the members of the SNCA: should decide to entrust to him. He conoeived of this office as a service to the nation. Two days before his death we were occupied in discussion �SLOVAKIA 73 until midnight. When he became engrossed in the subject of Slovakia, his eyes shone brilliantly. He said that evening, and he repeated it with emphasis several times, that when our nation attains its freedom and independence, not one of us may presume pretensions to a privileged position at home. Ours is only the duty here in a new land, which affords us liberty and the opportunity to live unshackled by that terror which dominates all life at home, to devote ourselves to work for our nation. This it one of the most important comictions which each one of us must grasp. Anyone who would arrogate to himself special advantages or favors at home in return for his labor in exile is not welcome in our midst. On the other hand, he continued, qualified and deserving individuals will be fully appreciated at home in due time; they will be in demand, and there need be no apprehensions that any worthy individual will receive less than his due. It behooves us all to be reasonable, non-extremist, and to do our utmost in behalf of the Slovak cause in extra-territorial circumstances. This is the spirit in which Dr. Hrusovsky dedicated himself to his nation throughout his whole life. * * * This column would be incomplete were I to omit recollections from Rome in the years 1945-1947. Those were trying times. We lived in constant danger of being overtaken and apprehended and committed to our foes. Terrific pressure was being put on Italian officialdom but Italian authorities, won to sympathy especially by contacts which Karol Sidor had established with them, withstood and resisted this pressure successfully. Rome captured Hrusovsky heart. Day after day he frequented the Vatican library and he devoted himself particularly to a study of the earliest relationships between the Vatican and Slovakia. His finished work on this subject was published. When it was not a jaunt to the library that he planned, we went out together, tramping the streets of Rome, touring its boulevards and market places, and visiting its shrines and churches. Hrusovsky had so intimate a know- �SLOVA KIA 74 ledge of ancien t Roman villages and countr y sites that when he began to relate what happen ed in this or that locality , or how a place had disting uished itself, his listene r lost all contac t with time and becam e wholly unawa re that planes roared in the sky, that trolley s jangled in the streets , that cars raced by. Lost in the spell of Hrusov sky's words, one re-lived the glory of ancien t days. Before one's eyes the Roman Empir e same to life again. Hrusov sky had a rare genius for creatin g this kind of atmosp here . It was this type of histori cal presen tation that also held the key to his eminen t succes s as a classro om lecture r. Just as in Rome he made Roman history live before our eyes, so did he regale his studen ts in Slovak ia with Slovak history . Just as Jan Holly over a hundre d years ago captiva ted and instruc ted the followe rs of stur, so did Hrusov sky inspire and educat e his high school studen ts in the gymna zium. It was in this manne r, too, that he held audien ces spellbo und when he deliver ed occasio nal addres ses at the various celebra tions in Slovak villages and towns. That was his life; that was his life's work : to conjur e an authen tic image of the true greatne ss and the true glory of the distant past, to bridge the gap betwee n the presen t and the past and then to forecas t and build a more prospe rous Slovak future. * * * * * * There is a very large numbe r of Hrusov sky's addres ses and articles in which he develo ped the subjec t of Slovak stateho od. There have been many oppone nts to Slovak ia's aspirat ions to stateho od but not one of them has been able to foil or to refute the iron logic of Hrusov sky's argum ents in its favor. In the past, the works of the most popula r Slovak writers were publish ed in edition s runnin g to several hundre d copies. Never yet, howev er, did any Slovak book win such ready and such wide-s pread popula rity as did Hrusov sky's SLOVAK HISTO RY. It was the first comple te survey of our Slovak histori cal record. Prepar ed as it was by Dr. Hrusov sky the first Slovak histori an of learnin g and of note, it presen ted to the Slovak nation a continu ous reel of absorb ing scenes from its past. We were all agree- �75 SLOVAKIA ably surprised when edition upon edition of his work was exhausted so that by 1945 when Hrusovsky was leaving Slovakia, over one hundred thousand copies of this book were in the hands of the Slovak people. This volume of Hrusovsky's HISTORY found its way even into homes where formerly hardly another book had been brought besides the prayer book and an infrequent almanac or annual. Hrusovsky's book was written in a style which had been so often recommended to us by Karol Sidor who repeatedly reminded us to write clearly, simply, so that even our unschooled parents in remote hamlets would have no difficulty in following and understanding what we wrote. That was its stylistic merit. In content, this HISTORY is prepared with so scholarly an approach-with restraint, with fairmindedness, with an objective outlook -that it serves as a substantial refreshment for both the educated classes and for the less privileged. With this Yolume, which the new regime proscribed Hrusovsky turned in Slovak national life so deep 1945, in and so broad a furrow that no foreign usurpers can succeed in leveling it even in the course of years of effort. Even today reports from home reveal that this is the book which is still the most widely read Slovak work and the most frequently S()ught book in the black markets where, alas, an enormous number of Slovak writings are listed. * * * In the early of 1945 it was rumored that Communist partisans captured and executed Hrusovsky. Thank God, it was not so. The partisans were defeated; they retreated and Hrusovsky returned home. His first visit took him to Brestovany to see his mother. It is understandable that she embraced him warmly and held him close to her heart. Shortly after the exaltation of their meeting, however, she bravely reminded him, "For a great cause, it is a worthy thing even to die, my son. And Slovak statehood is a great cause." Dr. Hrusovsky often repeated these words and commented, "Our peasant mothers embody much of the heroism of ancient Rome's noble matrons." K. Culen � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1970, Vol. 20 Description An account of the resource Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970. 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 1970 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 70 SLOVAKIA Dr. Francis I-Irusovsky - the Man (1903 -1956) Francis Hrusovsky was eminently a historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislav;i even under the tutelage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. Chaloupecky realized that this young collegian's views were radically opposed to his own outlook but he entertained high esteem for the youth. It was a regard which Hrusovsky merited because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge . But on completing his university training, Hrusovsky decided on a different course in life. There happened to be a vacancy for the headmasteship at the Catholic Slovak high school or gymnazium at Klastor pod Znievom and Hrusovsky chose to make application for this post. It was not considered an enviable position by reason of the fact that the institution was yoked with financial difficulties and very often the first of the month found the administration really straitened about meeting the payroll. Moreover, the school faced an expansion program wn.ich complicated financial matters to an even greater degree. Nevertheless, Hrusovsky did not decide on the assured security and prestige of a university chair in preference to this position which was less rewarding in material values. He became the school's principal and he made of it the intellectual center: which Bishop Stefan l.VIoyses, its founder , had hoped that it would become. This particular gymnazium was the only institution which bore upon its facade the inscription SLOVAK GYMNAZIUM (SLOVENSKE GYMNAZIUM ); all other similar schools were inscribed as being "CZECHO-SLOVAK". It is n et clear just how this detail escaped the notice of the civic authorities at the time, but the point is that Dr. Hrusovsky was singularly proud of such a d istinctive designation on his school. And it was, in reality, the only true SLOVAK gymnazium, not merely in name, but also in spirit and purpose. It was my privilege to come here often. And each visit 71 SLOVAKIA proved to be a refreshing experience. Perhaps there had never yet bee.a as demanding a headmaster as was Hrusovsky, but certainly there never yet was one who had been so universally loved and respected. "Pan direktor" - that was his title, and it was a designation or an appellation by which we understand without question and immediately that the reference was to Dr. Hrusovsky and to him alone . The greatest penalty meted out to an unhappy offender was to hear from pdn direktor no word about the transgression. Once I happened to be in his school office with him when a student approached with an explanation and apology. "Did I say anything to you?" said pdn direktor to the offender in a tone of voice which betrayed no warmth. "Well, that's just it, pan direktor; that's the point. You said not a word," the student complained. Even here in these circumstances of our emigration, his students often sought out their pan direktor. They confidently referred to him for counsel and always parted from him strengthened and imbued with resolution. Hrusovsky never recommended unconsiderate or rash and merely contentious conflict; he did encourage vigorous effort and he endorsed even justified force that was deliberate and purposeful. * * -l(· Hrusovsky was one of the most highly regarded members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic ( 19381946 ) . We happened to serve together on various committees. I learned that he looked even upon present-day problems with the disposition of a serious historian, and it was especially at our committee sessions that a comparison of the past with the present helped to resolve our difficulties and to ease our task. HP was not given to frequent expression in Parliament but when he did speak, he delivered a speech that left a lasting impression. Although he was able to speak without prolonged preparation, he always took pains to prepare his parliamentary addresses with care. Every sentence, every word was selected for a specific purpose and a particular significance. These addresses are of. such merit that one day they will be embodied in handbooks of public speaking as classic creations. The thought-content as well as the delivery and all that was connected with these SLOVAKIA 72 addresses was thoroughly studied and weighed, and it took on a classic aspect. I believe that I derogate from no one's merits of fame when I judg·e that Hrusovsky was one of the best speakers of the Slovak nation within the past century. Frequently Hrusovsky was also the speaker of the day in villages and towns celebrating this or that occasion. Very many people must recall these celebrations with a deep sense of appreciation of his gifts. * * * * * * One of the interests of Dr. Hrusovsky's special predilection was the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences (Matica slovenska) . As chairman of various science departments and as secretary of the history department of the Slovak Inst.i tute of Arts and Sciences, he contributed a great deal to the organization of scientific pursuits and undertakings in Slovakia. His was no mean responsibility. He had accomplished very much, he had a great deal of work in progress and even in the very last evening of his life he had discussed several long-standing plans which he helped to realize in some future day that would grant a happy return to the homeland. A certain Slovak political leader who was engaged in conversation with Dr. Hrusovsky remarked that at this point it was quite beyond him even to imagine a return to his former calling, absorbed as he had become with national politics. Dr. Hrusovsky observed, "With me it is quite the contrary. What I can most readily imagine and what would give me the greatest satisfaction right at this moment would be to return to the teaching field back in a gymnazium." It was most natural and logical that on the death of Karol Sidor. Hrusovsky should succeed to the presidency of the Slovak National Council Abroad. Never at home, and much less in exile, did he aspire to public office. In response to the insistence of his friends and colleagues, however, he finally yielded to this extent that he agreed to undertake whatever responsibilities the members of the SNCA: should decide to entrust to him. He conoeived of this office as a service to the nation. Two days before his death we were occupied in discussion SLOVAKIA 73 until midnight. When he became engrossed in the subject of Slovakia, his eyes shone brilliantly. He said that evening, and he repeated it with emphasis several times, that when our nation attains its freedom and independence, not one of us may presume pretensions to a privileged position at home. Ours is only the duty here in a new land, which affords us liberty and the opportunity to live unshackled by that terror which dominates all life at home, to devote ourselves to work for our nation. This it one of the most important comictions which each one of us must grasp. Anyone who would arrogate to himself special advantages or favors at home in return for his labor in exile is not welcome in our midst. On the other hand, he continued, qualified and deserving individuals will be fully appreciated at home in due time; they will be in demand, and there need be no apprehensions that any worthy individual will receive less than his due. It behooves us all to be reasonable, non-extremist, and to do our utmost in behalf of the Slovak cause in extra-territorial circumstances. This is the spirit in which Dr. Hrusovsky dedicated himself to his nation throughout his whole life. * * * This column would be incomplete were I to omit recollections from Rome in the years 1945-1947. Those were trying times. We lived in constant danger of being overtaken and apprehended and committed to our foes. Terrific pressure was being put on Italian officialdom but Italian authorities, won to sympathy especially by contacts which Karol Sidor had established with them, withstood and resisted this pressure successfully. Rome captured Hrusovsky heart. Day after day he frequented the Vatican library and he devoted himself particularly to a study of the earliest relationships between the Vatican and Slovakia. His finished work on this subject was published. When it was not a jaunt to the library that he planned, we went out together, tramping the streets of Rome, touring its boulevards and market places, and visiting its shrines and churches. Hrusovsky had so intimate a know- SLOVA KIA 74 ledge of ancien t Roman villages and countr y sites that when he began to relate what happen ed in this or that locality , or how a place had disting uished itself, his listene r lost all contac t with time and becam e wholly unawa re that planes roared in the sky, that trolley s jangled in the streets , that cars raced by. Lost in the spell of Hrusov sky's words, one re-lived the glory of ancien t days. Before one's eyes the Roman Empir e same to life again. Hrusov sky had a rare genius for creatin g this kind of atmosp here . It was this type of histori cal presen tation that also held the key to his eminen t succes s as a classro om lecture r. Just as in Rome he made Roman history live before our eyes, so did he regale his studen ts in Slovak ia with Slovak history . Just as Jan Holly over a hundre d years ago captiva ted and instruc ted the followe rs of stur, so did Hrusov sky inspire and educat e his high school studen ts in the gymna zium. It was in this manne r, too, that he held audien ces spellbo und when he deliver ed occasio nal addres ses at the various celebra tions in Slovak villages and towns. That was his life; that was his life's work : to conjur e an authen tic image of the true greatne ss and the true glory of the distant past, to bridge the gap betwee n the presen t and the past and then to forecas t and build a more prospe rous Slovak future. * * * * * * There is a very large numbe r of Hrusov sky's addres ses and articles in which he develo ped the subjec t of Slovak stateho od. There have been many oppone nts to Slovak ia's aspirat ions to stateho od but not one of them has been able to foil or to refute the iron logic of Hrusov sky's argum ents in its favor. In the past, the works of the most popula r Slovak writers were publish ed in edition s runnin g to several hundre d copies. Never yet, howev er, did any Slovak book win such ready and such wide-s pread popula rity as did Hrusov sky's SLOVAK HISTO RY. It was the first comple te survey of our Slovak histori cal record. Prepar ed as it was by Dr. Hrusov sky the first Slovak histori an of learnin g and of note, it presen ted to the Slovak nation a continu ous reel of absorb ing scenes from its past. We were all agree- 75 SLOVAKIA ably surprised when edition upon edition of his work was exhausted so that by 1945 when Hrusovsky was leaving Slovakia, over one hundred thousand copies of this book were in the hands of the Slovak people. This volume of Hrusovsky's HISTORY found its way even into homes where formerly hardly another book had been brought besides the prayer book and an infrequent almanac or annual. Hrusovsky's book was written in a style which had been so often recommended to us by Karol Sidor who repeatedly reminded us to write clearly, simply, so that even our unschooled parents in remote hamlets would have no difficulty in following and understanding what we wrote. That was its stylistic merit. In content, this HISTORY is prepared with so scholarly an approach-with restraint, with fairmindedness, with an objective outlook -that it serves as a substantial refreshment for both the educated classes and for the less privileged. With this Yolume, which the new regime proscribed Hrusovsky turned in Slovak national life so deep 1945, in and so broad a furrow that no foreign usurpers can succeed in leveling it even in the course of years of effort. Even today reports from home reveal that this is the book which is still the most widely read Slovak work and the most frequently S()ught book in the black markets where, alas, an enormous number of Slovak writings are listed. * * * In the early of 1945 it was rumored that Communist partisans captured and executed Hrusovsky. Thank God, it was not so. The partisans were defeated; they retreated and Hrusovsky returned home. His first visit took him to Brestovany to see his mother. It is understandable that she embraced him warmly and held him close to her heart. Shortly after the exaltation of their meeting, however, she bravely reminded him, "For a great cause, it is a worthy thing even to die, my son. And Slovak statehood is a great cause." Dr. Hrusovsky often repeated these words and commented, "Our peasant mothers embody much of the heroism of ancient Rome's noble matrons." K. Culen  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Francis Hrušovský - the Man (1903-1956) Description An account of the resource K. Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970 pp. 70-75 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8071ba5523ab887312dd16e8dbc89dbb.pdf 275d0b991ec2daf93713b41d78eda43a PDF Text Text 98 SLOVAKIA The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks Ln U.S.A. and Canada* * This essay w as prepare d by t he late Konstan tin culen i n 1962 for a symposium or ganized and edited by Prof. J. M . K i rschbaum for the 11th cent ennary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among t he ancest ors of Slov aks. T he essays co llected and edit ed or translated by J. M. K i r sc h baum appeared in SLOVAK STUDT ES, CYRILLO-METH ODIANA, V ol. 3, (Rome, 1963). Culen's essay was not yet tr anslated and therefore not published. I n view of the valuable information and in order to complet e the history of the CyriUo-Methodia n tradition among Sl ov aks, we are grat efiil to Dr. Kirschbaum for preserving the manuscript and his adaptation for an English piiblication . By K . C u len THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN IRISH ON AMERICAN SLOVAKS The migration of Slovaks to the U.S.A. had many traits similar to those of the migration of the Irish. It was the catastrophic potato crop failure which caused the first man emigration of the Irish to the U.S.A. And we come across a similar cause of emigration of the Slovaks. The Slovak statistician Dr. Emil Stodola noted that each poor p otato crop in Slovakia was followed by rising emigration to the U.S .A. There were other similarities between the Irish and the Slovak migrations. The oppression of the Irish dates even further back in history than the Slovak one and is many sided. The political oppression started in Slovakia at the end of the 18th century and culminated befor the First World War. The Irish were oppressed due to their religion and suffered culturally and economically and therefore their resistance was stronger and more passionate than that of the Slovaks. In Ireland the oppression affected all the classes but in Slovakia the intelligentsia suffered most. The difference comes to light when we compare the cult of S t . Patrick to the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius . �SLOVAKIA 99 St. Patrick is a national saint and is known and revered by all the Irish. SS. Cyril and Methodius were not known to the same extent amongst Slovaks. The population in general had only a vague knowledge of them. But the Slovak intelligentsia had even a deeper devotion to them than the Irish to St. Patrick. Therefore the cult of the SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S.A. was not a cult brought over by the masses as in the case of St. Patrick, but it was a cult especially nurtured by nationally conscious immigrants, nurtured to an extent that would not have been possible in Slovakia. Generally speaking, the Slovak immigrants became aware, in their new countries, of a need for a national saint and this became evident to them on such days as the feast of St. Patrick, with its festivities attracting not only the Irish but also numerous names of other nationalities. In older Slovak papers we frequently see articles about large groups of Slovaks participating in the festivities of St. Patrick. In one case the writer claimed that Slovaks outnumbered the Irish. No wonder these Slovaks asked"Who would correspond to St. Patrick in our national life? " They frequently raised this question in the Slovak press and of course the only answer they could obtain was-SS . Cyril and Methodius. It was this background which helped to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius between the Slovak names in the U.S .A. It should be noted in this connection, that SS . Cyril and Methodius completed amongst the Slovaks the missionary work which prior to them was already initiated by Bavarian and Irish missionaries, the first Christian missionaries in the Danube area. 1 THE INFLUENCE OF THE CULT OF ST. PATRICK ON THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS In the very early Slovak papers in the U.S.A. appeared dozens of articles, some short and some extensive enough, for serial publication, describing the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst the Slovak ancestors. American Slovaks who were scattered amongst the Irish saw in the SS. Cyril and Methodius their St. Patrick. The Slovak papers exhorted them to venerate them just as the Irish revered St. Patrick. It is interesting to ask the question, how much did �100 SLOVAKIA the American Slovaks know about SS. Cyril and Methodius? Not a great deal. Most often they learned about them them from the excellent and well known prayer book of Rev. Andrej Radlinsky "Nabozne Vylevy." This prayer book contained a color picture of the Saints, their brief history and their prayers. Rev. Radlinsky succeeded in doing this to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Later on when a small prayer book was published in the U.S.A., the bishop of Spis, Parvy, put it on the Index for no reason other than that it contained a prayer to SS. Cyril and Methodius. Thus while Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical highly extoling the missionary work of these two Saints, a Magyar bishop with his seat in Catholic Slovakia put the prayer book on the Index as he mistrusted these Saints because of their panslavistic learnings. The large groups of Slovak immigrants in the U.S.A. had for the first time an opportunity to learn more about the missionary work of those Apostles, as well as about their cultural and linguistic work. But at the moment when the cult of these Apostles began to spread, a group of Catholic priests rose against it even in the U.S .A. and according to the spirit which was taught to them in the seminaries in the old country prepared the road-blocks to this cult. At the head of the group were Kossalko, Denes and Haitinger. In the papers edited by them they vituperated both Saints in the same manner as did the Magyar Catholic periodical "Katolikus Szemle" (Catholic Review) in the year 1893 in an article "Slavonic Christianity in our territories before their occupation". St. Methodius was denounced here as a panslavistic chauvinist, a forerunner of the schism and a very untrustworthy personality. The author of the article applied the modern Magyar approach and the chauvinistic terminology to the period prior to 900 when the national questions were of very minor importance.2 The pupils of this chauvinistic school working in the U.S .A. could find nothing worthy to say about these Saints and made them subjects of the intrigues of the Hungarian premier Koloman Tisza and of his successors. Their success was, however, small as they were unpopular priests and their arguments were without any force against the well documented work of their opponents. �SLOVAKIA 101 THE FIRST CHURCH DEDICATED TO SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS The first church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S .A. was a small wooden church built by two Czech Societies: the Society of St. Wenceslas and the Society of St. Ludmila in New York. These two societies were founded in 1874 with the purpose of building the first church for the growing Czech colony in New York, in the block between the 1st and 10th streets and between the Avenues B-D, where the Czechs were intermingled with the Poles. The Plan for the building of the church received a new impetus when Rev. A. V. Vacula came to New York from Baltimore, Md. He was born on the 15th of August 1845, in Osek, near Olomouc, in Moravia. He studied in Kromeriz, at the University of Vienna and at Louvain, Belgium. Here the American bishops established a seminary into which they accepted students from the whole of Europe, to prepare them for work in the ethnic settlements in the U.S.A. Vacula was accepted as the future priest of the Czech settlement in Baltimore, Md. Immediately after his consecration in 1870 he left for the U.S.A. and from the beginning of December he served in the parish of St. Wenceslas, Baltimore, Md. As the Czech Catholics of New York could not make progress with their plan, they invited into this parish Rev. Vacula, who arrived in 1875 and started his work with great enthusiasm. He immediately bought the land and the building, Number 316 E. 4th Street for $12,000.00, then enlarged the building for an outlay of an additional $6,000.00 and on the 1st of December 1875 the Vicar General of New York consecrated the Church in the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius. 3 This was the first church in the U.S.A. to be named after SS. Cyril and Methodius. And it appeared very appropriate that behind this achievement was a priest from Moravia. Out of all Slavic countries, in Moravia the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the deeepest, most widely spread and most popular. In no other Slavic country were the names SS. Cyril and Methodius given so often at baptism as in Moravia. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult spread from the Moravian Velehrad in all directions and the �102 SLOVAKIA Slovaks made frequent pilgrimages there as to a source of spiritual strength. The New York church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methoqius was the first catholic church which was also attended by "the first Slovak immigrants in that city. When later this church was closed, they went to the Irish church of St. Brigitte or to the nearest German or Polish churches until in 1894 they built the first Slovak Catholic church dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. This church was built in the same street where earlier had been the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similarly as amongst the Slovaks, the Cyrillo-Methodian cult was as widely spread amongst the Czechs, especially in those districts where also Moravians were settled. After the first Cyrillo-Methodian church in New York, which soon closed, there were another 15 churches built in the U.S.A., namely in: Bannister, Mich.; Kansas City, Kansas; Chicago, Ill.; Platoma, Texas; Clarkson, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Tex.; Doman, Texas; Dubina, Texas; East St. Louis, Illinois; Granger, Texas; North Judson, Indiana; Plasi (Prague), Nebraska; Shiner, Texas ; Tanton, Michigan; Vodnary, Dakota. Besides the Slovaks and the Czechs the Cyrillo-Methodian churches were mainly built by Slovenes, Croatians and · Poles. THE UNFULFILLED PLAN OF A NEW CHURCH OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN NEW YORK The next church in New York which was to bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the church originally dedicated to St. John Nepomucene. That this plan did not succeed was due mainly to the bitter struggles between the nationally conscious Slovaks and the Magyarones. The consecration of the first Slovak Catholic Church took place in 1894. This was the church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. It was around this church that the struggle between the Slovaks and the Magyars and Magyar sympathizers developed. The night before the consecration the "Magyarones" removed from the corner stone the plaque bearing the text written in literary Slovak: "Rim. Kat. Kostal Sv. Alzbety, Vystavany R. 1892". Instead of this they �SLOVAKIA 103 placed there plaque with a text in Eastern-Slovak dialect : " Uherszko Szlovenszki Kat. Koscel Szv. Elizabethy Uherszkej, Visztav. R. 1892." This arnmounted to a declaration of war. The Slovaks refused to support a Church with a name written in a distorted Slovak language and in foreign, non-Slovak orthography. This battle lasted for over a year until finally Archbishop Corrigan wrote to Slovakia inquiring which version was correct. When he received the reply he had the plaque changed as he considered that what was orthographically incorrect, was of poor taste and unfitting for a house of God. The Slovaks were jubilant but not for long as the Archbishop was approached by a delegation led by a Magyar lawyer Czukor (Jewish by religion) who persuaded the Archbishop that this struggle was between the Eastern Orthodox Panslavistic Church and between Catholicism. The Magyars were the true catholics, a European nation, but the Slovaks were Panslavs, Russofiles and sympathizers with the Eastern-Orthodoxy. Should this movement gain power it would dominate the Danubian Basin and soon it would undermine even the See. of St. Peter. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult which they spread is an Eastern-Orthodox religion. The archbishop believed these arguments and the following day he ordered to put back the plaque with the text in the Eastern dialect. The local priest, Rev. Polakovic, protested but the Archbishop rebuked him and informed him he had to look for a new parish outside of his diocese. This naturally caused a great disappointment amongst the Slovaks. A delegation of Slovaks informed the Archbishop that they would not attend this church and would not support it but would built a new Slovak Church. The Archbishop approved the plans for the new Church. The Slovaks started to work with enthusiasm and in a few weeks they transformed an old building into a new church which stood only one block away on the same street. It was planned that this church would bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius, this had been already announced in the papers and the donations for the building paid and it was accepted under this name.4 But this plan did not materialize. The Archbishop appointed here a Czech priest, Rev. simonik, who under �104 SLOVAKIA the pressure from the Archbishop gave the church the name of St. John Nepomuce ne. This was the first but also the last time that the names of SS. Cyril and Methodius were in the disfavor of an American Bishop. THE OLDEST CATHOLIC CHURCHE S WITH PATRON SAINTS SS. CYRIL AND METHODI US The sudden expansion of the Cyrillo-Me thodian cult on the American continent was described by Rev. Jozef Martincek as follows: "As soon as the Slovak immigrant s settled in the U.S.A. and began to form their parishes and to build their churches, the Cyrillo-Me thodian flame, which appeared for almost extinguishe d, suddenly rekindled in the hearts of our compatriot s. They almost competed with each other in their Cyrillo-Me thodian zeal to build and dedicate churches to them and there is hardly any Slovak church in the U.S.A. where their picture or their statue would not be given a distinguish ed place." 5 The Cyrillo-Me thodian cult spread in the U.S.A. due to the expanding Slovak periodicals and papers, due to the work of the patriotic Slovak priest and to a great extent also as a result of a protest against the Magyar persecutio n at home. The popularity which the cult gained in the U.S.A. was inconceiva ble in Slovakia of that time. The first Slovak Catholic Church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was built in 1891 in Minneapol is, Minn. The initiative came from the local Society of SS. Cyril and Methodius which was founded in 1888 as the first society on the American soil called after these Saints. In the same year another church bearing the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was opened in Bethlehem , Pa. The founder of this church was Rev. Heinen, a missionary of German origin. He was originally an officer in the German Army but later on he changed the uniform for a priestly garb and after completing his theological studies he came to the U.S.A. and worked as a missionary mainly amongst the Slavic immigrant s in Pennsylvan ia. His assistant in missionary work ( which he directed from Mau Chung, Pa.) was Rev. Vlossak, a Slovak priest, and it was due to his influence that the church in Bethlehem , Pa., was given the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius .6 �SLOVAKIA 105 THE LIST OF THE SLOVAK CHURCHES OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. This example was followed by others and the following list shows chronologically the founding of the churches dedicated to the SS. Cyril and Methodius in different parts of the U.S.A. the brackets show the diocese to which the parish belonged. 7 1891. Minneapolis, Minn. (St. Paul, Minn. ) 1891. Bethlehem, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1893. Reading, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1895. Brookside, Ala. (Mobile, Ala. ) 1898. Haverstraw, N. Y. (New York, N. Y.) 1898. Youngstown, 0. (Youngstown, 0.) 1900. Kingston, Pa. (Scranton, Pa.) 1900. Stockett, Mont. (Great Falls, Mont.) 1900. Joliet, Ill. (Joliet, Ill.) 1900. Stuttgart, Ark. (Little Rock, Ark. ) 1901. Edwardsville, Pa. 1902. Charleroi, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1903. Binghamton, N. Y. (Syracuse, N . Y.) 1903. Lakewood, Ohio (Cleveland, Ohio ) 1904. Winburne, Pa. (Erie, Pa.) 1905. Lebanon, Pa. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1905. Windber, Pa. (Altoona, Pa.) 1906. Kansas City, Kans. (Kansas City Kans.) 1906. Barberton, Ohio 1906. Boonton, N. J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1907 . Bridgeport, Conn. (Hartford, Conn.) 1911. East St. Louis, Ill. (Belleville, Ill.) 1911. Fairchance, Pa. (Greensburg, Pa.) 1911. Superior, Wis. (Superior, Wis.) 1912. Rock Spring, Wyoming 1913. Clifton, N . J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1913. Sugar Creek, Mo. 1913. Schenectady, N . Y. (Albany, N . Y.) 1914. Chicago, Ill. (Chicago, Ill.) 1916. New Brighton, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1918. Detroit, Mich. (Detroit, Mich.) 1920. Coaldale, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1923. Lisbon Falls, Maine (Portland, Maine ) 1923. Rossford, Ohio (Toledo, Ohio) 1928. Warren, Ohio 1949. Slovak Manor, N. Y. (New York, N . Y .) �106 SLOVAKIA THE GROWTH OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS One of the early articles dealing with the CyrilloMethodian cult appeared in Jednota in 1899. The author, J. Stas, is critical of Slovak immigrants and of their lack of devotions to SS. Cyril and Methodius. He makes the following suggestions about how to pay homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius. 1. Keep their picture in your house and teach your children about their life, their work, their contributions to our faith and our culture. 2. Give their names to your children at baptism. 3. Build and dedicate churches to these Saints and decorate the existing churches with their statues. 4. Put your societies under their patronage. So far less than 10 societies have been named after them. Is this not a disgrace to American Slovaks? 5. The 5th of July should be for the Slovaks a religious and a national holiday and in this we should learn from the Irish who so devotedly revere St. Patrick. This day, or at least the following Sunday, should be devoted to religious services and sermons in reverence to their work. On that day also other national and cultural celebrations should be organized. "I am asking our priests, our editors and all Slovaks to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst our compatriots, and so preserve their heritage-- our faith and our culture." 8 But in spite of this exhortation the Slovaks in the U.S.A. were unable to organize any mass Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations. Rev. Jozef Martincek, one of the most ardent promoters of the Cyrillo-Methodian cult, wrote in 1913: "Why don't we pay the necessary homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius and why don't we celebrate one day in a year as their holiday as this was already suggested before by our compatriots and our brother in Christ, Michael Bosak. I ask Rev. Furdek and other leading Slovaks to take up this matter seriously and to present to the Slovak public a plan for Cyrillo-Methodian celebration."9 �SLOVAKIA 107 REV. F. V. SASINEK AND THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. In the days when the first Slovak papers commenced publication in the U.S.A., the 20-30,000 Slovak immigrants had only two priests and two educated laymen, Wolf and Slovensky, ( both teachers by profession and editors of these papers). It took several years before the number of such laymen together with the priest grew to 25. Naturally, under these circumstances any cultural work was extremely difficult as it fell on the shoulders of a very small group of men who besides their cultural work without monastery remuneration had also to carry on with their regular employment to provide for themselves and their families. Therefore, from the very beginning these men had to look to Slovakia for new help in their cultural and national work. The most enthusiastic and successful of such early workers was Rev. F . V. Sasinek, a catholic priest and a historian. Falling into disgrace of his bishop IpolyiStummer, he left Banska Bystrica and for some years he lived in Kuty as a guest of his friend Rev. Pukancik. He then went to Prague and from there to Maria Zell , a pilgrimage shrine in Austria, where he served as a confessor of the pilgrims and heard confessions in 12 languages. In this voluntary exile be became greatly interested in Slovak immigrants to the U.S.A. and as soon as he made contacts with Rovnianek and Furdek he became the main contributor to Slovak papers in the U.S.A. 10 He played especially a very important part in the cultivating of the Cyrillo-Methodian spirit. We estimate that approximately 85 ¼' of all Slovak publications about SS. Cyril and Methodius in the last century came from the pen of Sasinek. His first literary contribution published in 1852, was a poem: "Piesen o slovanskych blahozvestcoch", "A song about the missionaries of the Slavs".11 THE MAIN ADVOCATES OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. There were many active supporters of the CyrilloMethodian cult among the Catholic priests. Probably the most active was Rev. Jan Porubsky. He was an ingenious �108 SLOVAKIA writer, with a general, almost encyclopedic knowledge and was especially well acquainted with Slovak history. He began to write from Slovakia for the American Slovak papers and published a great number of articles about the life and the significance of the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similar topics were covered by him in his books which were published in the U.S.A.12 From among other priests who were in the foreground of the Cyrillo-Methodian movement it is necessary to mention especially Stefan Furdek, then Rev. Stas, Rev. Dianiska, D. D., Rev. Pavco, Rev. Martincek, 13 Rev. Duchon and out of the younger generation, Rev. Stefan Panik, Msgr. Mlynarovic, etc. THE ORDER OF THE SISTERS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS But probably the greatest achievement in this field can be attributed to Rev. Matus Jankola who founded the first Slovak teaching order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Dr. Fr. Hrusovsky in his history of this Order notes the following: "The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius has a special place amongst the Slovak Orders in the U.S.A. because it is a truly Slovak Order. Even more, it is the only truly Slovak Order. Figuratively speaking we may say that The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius is the only Slovak flower in the large bouquet of Slovak Orders. It was not by coincidence that this Order was not founded in Slovakia where SS. Cyril and Methodius worked many centuries ago and where different Orders, fo many centuries, maintained and developed their heritage. The fact that this Order was founded in the U.S .A. illustrates well how bright was the legacy of these Saints amongst those members of the Slovak nation who had to leave the mother country and how deep was their determination to preserve this legacy." 14 REV. DANIEL ZABOJ LAUcEK AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Amongst the Slovak Protestant pastors it is especially �SLOVAKIA 109 necessary to mention Rev. Daniel Zaboj Laucek who dedicated his work to the Cyrillo-Methodian ideals when still in Slovakia and continued in this work on his arrival in America. In 1885, in Turciansky Sv. Martin he published the book Sv. Cyril a Metod, apostolovia slovanski, jich vyznam v cirkvi krest'anskej v6bec a v Slovanstve zvlast'. Nakladom vlastnym pri pomoci podporovatel'ov slovenskej spisby. (SS. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs, their place in Christendom and in Slavdom.) Private edition with the help of the supporters of the Slovak Literature. Besides this he published a series of articles : "Po tisic rokoch." "Pamiatke sv. slovanskych apostolov". (After a thousand years. In memory of the Saint Apostles of Slavs.) "Ocenenie jich p6sobenia" (Evaluation of their work) . "Blizsie o p6sobeni a razu sv. slovanskych apostolov" (More about the work and the spirit of the Saint Apostles of the Slavs) . "Pamiatky p6sobenia slovanskych bratov v nasom narode" (The imprints of the work of the Apostles of the Slavs in our nation). The series was published in Ndrodnie Noviny, XVI, 1885, number 1-7 . Rev. Laucek continued in this work in the U.S.A. and he wrote about similar topics in "cas" of which he was an editor for a short time. He also wrote in Slovak Protestant papers especially in Slovensky Hldsnik. Unfortunately a bibliography of the Slovak publications in the U.S.A. has never been put together and many of the works have not been preserved which means a great loss for Slovak literature. THE ASSOCIATIONS BEARING THE NAME OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS It is of great interest that the Cyrillo-Methodian Cult first spread amongst the immigrants from Eastern Slovakia. In 1875 the brothers Jan and Juraj Gogola came to Minneapolis, Minn. and shortly after them Jan Zelenak, Jan Martonik, and Tomas Ovsak. They came across an advertisement of the firm Timm Eliot and as they expected that this was probably a Slovak name, Elias, they answered the advertisement and applied for work with that firm. They were accepted and the firm found in them such good employees that it was willing in future to give preference to Slovaks. The owner of the firm was very �110 SLOVAKLA just and humanitarian and the Slovaks were pleased to work for him. From 1875 on, the number of the Slovaks in this city grew considerably and in 1878 the brothers Juraj and Andrej Olha and Jan Martonik thought of the plan of forming an Association of the Minneapolis Slovaks. They met on November 12th, 1888 and decided to form the Association. There is a notation in the minutes of the first meeting which reads: "As SS. Cyril and Methodius were our Apostles, it will be appropriate that our Association be placed under their patronage." This resolution was carried out. In 1891 the Association formed the first Slovak Catholic parish in the U.S.A. called after the two Apostles. This was the beginning of our active CyrilloMethodian cult amongst the American Slovaks. The men who were first preoccupied with this idea in the U.S.A. came from Bystre in saris county. 15 The first branch of "Narodny Slovensky Spolok" which put itself under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the local branch No. 8, in Youngstown, Ohio. Rev. Horvath, and ardent Slovak Catholic priest, was in Youngstown at that time and it is likely that the Branch accepted the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius on his suggestion. 16 It will be of interest to note that one of the cofounders of the branch was John smigovsky, the grandfather of the colonel smigovsky, who for his service to the Slovak Republic was sentenced to death in 1946 by the pro-Communist National Tribunal under the chairmanship of Igor Daxner. Daxner recommended an amnesty, however, the chairman of the Slovak National Council refused to deal with this request on technical grounds and Smigovsky was executed the following day. Colonel smigovsky was born in the U.S.A. but was educated in Slovakia. THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN CANADA The possition of the Slovak immigrants to Canada was quite different from that of the immigration to the U.S.A. The immigration to Canada reached noticeable proportions only after the First World War when immigration to the U.S.A. became restricted and the quotas allowed were quickly filled. Unable to obtain admission to the U.S.A. many immigrants choose Canada, often with plans to seek admission to the U.S.A. later. The immigrants �SLOVAKIA 111 who come to Canada were of a different political background than those who in the previous century went to the U.S.A. They experienced the First World War, the political upheavals which followed, many of them went to Slovak schools and were on a higher cultural level than the generation who before them went to the U.S.A. They were more aware of national and political problems. There were no Magyarones amongst them and regardless of their political affiliations they declared themselves as Slovaks. Only a very small number of them believed that Slovaks ceased to exist as an individual nation and that a new "Czechoslovak" nation emerged. The first Catholic church in Canada dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was a small church built in 1906 in Bellevue, Alberta. The oldest parish called after SS. Cyril and Methodius is the Montreal parish which was established in 1928. Similar parishes were formed in Toronto in 1934 and in Windsor in 1940. New parishes were founded following a new wave of immigrants after the Second World War. Amongst them are the parishes of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Hamilton, Ontario of 1945 and in Westminster, B. C. of 1960. 17 EPILOG The Cyrillo-Methodian ideology did not find favorable ground in Czecho-Slovakia after 1918 due to a strong anti-Catholic feeling of the ruling Czechs. But the Slovaks, in spite of many difficulties, were able to make progress in every direction. The ranks of the intelligentsia grew, the letters and the sciences advanced even in those fields where there was not one Slovak representative before. And slowly also the Cyrillo-Methodian ideas became better known to the masses. There were many who thought this development was too slow. Thus we read: "It is a pity that while the Slovaks in the U.S.A. have 16 parishes and 200 altars in their churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, we at home, in Slovakia, have only 16 such altars in our 2,300 Catholic churches and chapels." 18 The author of course was poorly informed, as the number-of such parishes in the U.S.A. was not 16 but more �112 SLOVAKIA than twice that number. As in many other fields of Slovak affairs only after the formation of the Slovak Republic definite steps were taken to accept SS. Cyril and Methodius as national Saints. Their feast in Slovakia was also a day of commemoration for all Slovaks abroad. Throughout Slovakia there were festivals, meetings, lectures commemorating the Slovaks who had to leave their fatherland. The plans were made to build a cathedral to SS. Cyril and Methodius in Bratislava. Many research projects were under way and a Cyrillo-Methodian archives and library were in preparation. But with the loss of political independence these projects also died and with them also much of the work inspired by bishop Moyses, Fr. Sasinek and Holly. Out of these endeavors only those that grew abroad, in the U.S.A. and in Canada survived. But we believe that, in this age when even small nations and tribes throughout Africa are gaining independence, it will not be possible to beep in chains a nation which already 1,100 years ago belonged to the cultured and Christian nations of Europe and this mainly through the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius.19 FOOTNOTES AMI) LITERATURE 1) See Dr. F . Hrusovsky: frska misia a zaciatky krest'anstva (The Irish Mission and the Beginning of Christianity), pp. 41-65, and also by the same author Slovenski v ladari (Slovak Rulers ), Scranton 1948, p. 263. 2) Ries, Viliam : Frantisek Richard Osvald (Trnava, 1939), pp. 87, 93 . 3) Goulding, S: Catholic Churches of New York City, with sketches of their history and lives of the present Pastors, (New York, 1878 ), pp. 748. 4) Culen, K.: Dejiny newyorskych Slovcikov (The History of t he Slovaks of New York) . 5) " Oslava cyrilometodejska, 863-1863-1913," Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 129. 6) Fink, Leo, Gregory: Monsignor Heinen, Militant Missionary , The Dolphin Press, (P hiladelphia, Pa. 1937) , p. 75. 7 ) Hrobak, Philip: Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institution in the United States of America, (Middletown, Pa. 1955), pp. 32, 34, 39, 42, 50, 52, 63, 65, 68, 70, 81 , 84, 87, 90, 92, 99, 105, 106, 107, 121, 132, 134, 146, 152, 154, 162. See also Piroch, Mary: "American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius," Slovakia Vol. XIII, N. 1/36, March 1963, pp. 25-28 ; ~ofranec, Tomas, Rev.: "Sv. Cyril a Metod a m y americki Slovaci" ( SS. Cyril and Methodi us and American Slovaks). Ave Maria, XLVII, No. 4, April 1, 1963, pp.175-176; Slovenske osady v Amerike, (Slovak Parishes in the U.S.A.), Kalendar Jednota for �SLOVAKIA 113 1906, pp. 23 , 51, 53-57, 73 , 81, 109, 113, 114; Baska, Louis, O.S.B.: Slovenske katolicke osady v Spojenych Statoch (Slovak Catholic Parishes in the U.S.A.) , Katolicke Slovensko (Trnava) , p. 623 ; Kushner, Jozef, Rev.: Slovaci katolici pittsburghskeho biskupstva ( Slovak Catholics of the Pittsburgh Diocese), Katolicky Sokol (Passaic, 1946) , p. 174. 8 ) J ednota, July 12, 1899. 9) Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 130. 10) The first biography of SS. Cyril and Methodius started publicatio n in Jednota on the 18th January, 1899, and continued in a long series of articles. The author was Rev. Fr. Sasinek. 11) See Katolicke Noviny, 1852, 1st year, No. 35. 12) Porubsky, Jan Rev.: 100 rokov spisovnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), Scranton, Pa.; Slovaci a slovencina (Slovaks and the Slovak language). This was edited anonymously, but it was the work of Rev. Porubsky, Katolicky Sokol, 1929, p . 114. 13 ) Martincek, Jozef, Rev. : "Oslava cyrilometodejska" (The CyrilloMethodian Jubilee) 863-1863-1913 ; Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, pp. 129135. " Oslava sv. Cyrila a Metoda v dobe Moysesa a dnes" (The Cyrillo-Methodian Celebration at the time of Moyses and Today), Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky, 1936, pp. 119-125. 14) Hrusovsky, Franti.sek, Dr. : Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in the U. S.A. ), Cleveland, Ohio 1935, p.496. See Chapter: Kongregacia sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, P a. (Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.), pp. 161-232. This Chapter has a detailed bibliography on pages 231-232 ; See also Pauco, Jozef: Matus Jankola, knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola as a priest and a patriot) , Danville, Pa. , p . 173. 15) Pamiitnik Spolku sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Almanac of SS. Cyril and Methodius), No. 3, I.K.S.J. , Minneapolis, Minn. 1888-1938. 16) V. S. Platek: Nase odbory , D ejiny a pamiitnica 60 . vyrocia N. S.S. (Our Associations. The Memoirs of the 60th Anniversary of the National Slovak Society), Pittsburgh, Pa. , pp. 225-392. 17) On the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks, see J . M. Kirschbaum, Slovaks in Canada, (Toronto, 1967) , pp. 227-276. 18) Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky (St. Adalbert's Almanac ), 1936, p. 125. 19) On the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in Slovakia, see Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum "The Role of the Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak Na tional Life," Slovak Studies, Vol. III, (Rome, 1963 ) . • THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA heartily commends all efforts of our governmental and other organs to ferret out and unmask all Communists and fellow travellers, as well as all persons and organizations who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism promoted by the Soviet Union. � 98 SLOVAKIA The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks Ln U.S.A. and Canada* * This essay w as prepare d by t he late Konstan tin culen i n 1962 for a symposium or ganized and edited by Prof. J. M . K i rschbaum for the 11th cent ennary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among t he ancest ors of Slov aks. T he essays co llected and edit ed or translated by J. M. K i r sc h baum appeared in SLOVAK STUDT ES, CYRILLO-METH ODIANA, V ol. 3, (Rome, 1963). Culen's essay was not yet tr anslated and therefore not published. I n view of the valuable information and in order to complet e the history of the CyriUo-Methodia n tradition among Sl ov aks, we are grat efiil to Dr. Kirschbaum for preserving the manuscript and his adaptation for an English piiblication . By K . C u len THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN IRISH ON AMERICAN SLOVAKS The migration of Slovaks to the U.S.A. had many traits similar to those of the migration of the Irish. It was the catastrophic potato crop failure which caused the first man emigration of the Irish to the U.S.A. And we come across a similar cause of emigration of the Slovaks. The Slovak statistician Dr. Emil Stodola noted that each poor p otato crop in Slovakia was followed by rising emigration to the U.S .A. There were other similarities between the Irish and the Slovak migrations. The oppression of the Irish dates even further back in history than the Slovak one and is many sided. The political oppression started in Slovakia at the end of the 18th century and culminated befor the First World War. The Irish were oppressed due to their religion and suffered culturally and economically and therefore their resistance was stronger and more passionate than that of the Slovaks. In Ireland the oppression affected all the classes but in Slovakia the intelligentsia suffered most. The difference comes to light when we compare the cult of S t . Patrick to the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius . �SLOVAKIA 99 St. Patrick is a national saint and is known and revered by all the Irish. SS. Cyril and Methodius were not known to the same extent amongst Slovaks. The population in general had only a vague knowledge of them. But the Slovak intelligentsia had even a deeper devotion to them than the Irish to St. Patrick. Therefore the cult of the SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S.A. was not a cult brought over by the masses as in the case of St. Patrick, but it was a cult especially nurtured by nationally conscious immigrants, nurtured to an extent that would not have been possible in Slovakia. Generally speaking, the Slovak immigrants became aware, in their new countries, of a need for a national saint and this became evident to them on such days as the feast of St. Patrick, with its festivities attracting not only the Irish but also numerous names of other nationalities. In older Slovak papers we frequently see articles about large groups of Slovaks participating in the festivities of St. Patrick. In one case the writer claimed that Slovaks outnumbered the Irish. No wonder these Slovaks asked"Who would correspond to St. Patrick in our national life? " They frequently raised this question in the Slovak press and of course the only answer they could obtain was-SS . Cyril and Methodius. It was this background which helped to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius between the Slovak names in the U.S .A. It should be noted in this connection, that SS . Cyril and Methodius completed amongst the Slovaks the missionary work which prior to them was already initiated by Bavarian and Irish missionaries, the first Christian missionaries in the Danube area. 1 THE INFLUENCE OF THE CULT OF ST. PATRICK ON THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS In the very early Slovak papers in the U.S.A. appeared dozens of articles, some short and some extensive enough, for serial publication, describing the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst the Slovak ancestors. American Slovaks who were scattered amongst the Irish saw in the SS. Cyril and Methodius their St. Patrick. The Slovak papers exhorted them to venerate them just as the Irish revered St. Patrick. It is interesting to ask the question, how much did �100 SLOVAKIA the American Slovaks know about SS. Cyril and Methodius? Not a great deal. Most often they learned about them them from the excellent and well known prayer book of Rev. Andrej Radlinsky "Nabozne Vylevy." This prayer book contained a color picture of the Saints, their brief history and their prayers. Rev. Radlinsky succeeded in doing this to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Later on when a small prayer book was published in the U.S.A., the bishop of Spis, Parvy, put it on the Index for no reason other than that it contained a prayer to SS. Cyril and Methodius. Thus while Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical highly extoling the missionary work of these two Saints, a Magyar bishop with his seat in Catholic Slovakia put the prayer book on the Index as he mistrusted these Saints because of their panslavistic learnings. The large groups of Slovak immigrants in the U.S.A. had for the first time an opportunity to learn more about the missionary work of those Apostles, as well as about their cultural and linguistic work. But at the moment when the cult of these Apostles began to spread, a group of Catholic priests rose against it even in the U.S .A. and according to the spirit which was taught to them in the seminaries in the old country prepared the road-blocks to this cult. At the head of the group were Kossalko, Denes and Haitinger. In the papers edited by them they vituperated both Saints in the same manner as did the Magyar Catholic periodical "Katolikus Szemle" (Catholic Review) in the year 1893 in an article "Slavonic Christianity in our territories before their occupation". St. Methodius was denounced here as a panslavistic chauvinist, a forerunner of the schism and a very untrustworthy personality. The author of the article applied the modern Magyar approach and the chauvinistic terminology to the period prior to 900 when the national questions were of very minor importance.2 The pupils of this chauvinistic school working in the U.S .A. could find nothing worthy to say about these Saints and made them subjects of the intrigues of the Hungarian premier Koloman Tisza and of his successors. Their success was, however, small as they were unpopular priests and their arguments were without any force against the well documented work of their opponents. �SLOVAKIA 101 THE FIRST CHURCH DEDICATED TO SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS The first church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S .A. was a small wooden church built by two Czech Societies: the Society of St. Wenceslas and the Society of St. Ludmila in New York. These two societies were founded in 1874 with the purpose of building the first church for the growing Czech colony in New York, in the block between the 1st and 10th streets and between the Avenues B-D, where the Czechs were intermingled with the Poles. The Plan for the building of the church received a new impetus when Rev. A. V. Vacula came to New York from Baltimore, Md. He was born on the 15th of August 1845, in Osek, near Olomouc, in Moravia. He studied in Kromeriz, at the University of Vienna and at Louvain, Belgium. Here the American bishops established a seminary into which they accepted students from the whole of Europe, to prepare them for work in the ethnic settlements in the U.S.A. Vacula was accepted as the future priest of the Czech settlement in Baltimore, Md. Immediately after his consecration in 1870 he left for the U.S.A. and from the beginning of December he served in the parish of St. Wenceslas, Baltimore, Md. As the Czech Catholics of New York could not make progress with their plan, they invited into this parish Rev. Vacula, who arrived in 1875 and started his work with great enthusiasm. He immediately bought the land and the building, Number 316 E. 4th Street for $12,000.00, then enlarged the building for an outlay of an additional $6,000.00 and on the 1st of December 1875 the Vicar General of New York consecrated the Church in the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius. 3 This was the first church in the U.S.A. to be named after SS. Cyril and Methodius. And it appeared very appropriate that behind this achievement was a priest from Moravia. Out of all Slavic countries, in Moravia the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the deeepest, most widely spread and most popular. In no other Slavic country were the names SS. Cyril and Methodius given so often at baptism as in Moravia. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult spread from the Moravian Velehrad in all directions and the �102 SLOVAKIA Slovaks made frequent pilgrimages there as to a source of spiritual strength. The New York church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methoqius was the first catholic church which was also attended by "the first Slovak immigrants in that city. When later this church was closed, they went to the Irish church of St. Brigitte or to the nearest German or Polish churches until in 1894 they built the first Slovak Catholic church dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. This church was built in the same street where earlier had been the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similarly as amongst the Slovaks, the Cyrillo-Methodian cult was as widely spread amongst the Czechs, especially in those districts where also Moravians were settled. After the first Cyrillo-Methodian church in New York, which soon closed, there were another 15 churches built in the U.S.A., namely in: Bannister, Mich.; Kansas City, Kansas; Chicago, Ill.; Platoma, Texas; Clarkson, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Tex.; Doman, Texas; Dubina, Texas; East St. Louis, Illinois; Granger, Texas; North Judson, Indiana; Plasi (Prague), Nebraska; Shiner, Texas ; Tanton, Michigan; Vodnary, Dakota. Besides the Slovaks and the Czechs the Cyrillo-Methodian churches were mainly built by Slovenes, Croatians and · Poles. THE UNFULFILLED PLAN OF A NEW CHURCH OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN NEW YORK The next church in New York which was to bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the church originally dedicated to St. John Nepomucene. That this plan did not succeed was due mainly to the bitter struggles between the nationally conscious Slovaks and the Magyarones. The consecration of the first Slovak Catholic Church took place in 1894. This was the church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. It was around this church that the struggle between the Slovaks and the Magyars and Magyar sympathizers developed. The night before the consecration the "Magyarones" removed from the corner stone the plaque bearing the text written in literary Slovak: "Rim. Kat. Kostal Sv. Alzbety, Vystavany R. 1892". Instead of this they �SLOVAKIA 103 placed there plaque with a text in Eastern-Slovak dialect : " Uherszko Szlovenszki Kat. Koscel Szv. Elizabethy Uherszkej, Visztav. R. 1892." This arnmounted to a declaration of war. The Slovaks refused to support a Church with a name written in a distorted Slovak language and in foreign, non-Slovak orthography. This battle lasted for over a year until finally Archbishop Corrigan wrote to Slovakia inquiring which version was correct. When he received the reply he had the plaque changed as he considered that what was orthographically incorrect, was of poor taste and unfitting for a house of God. The Slovaks were jubilant but not for long as the Archbishop was approached by a delegation led by a Magyar lawyer Czukor (Jewish by religion) who persuaded the Archbishop that this struggle was between the Eastern Orthodox Panslavistic Church and between Catholicism. The Magyars were the true catholics, a European nation, but the Slovaks were Panslavs, Russofiles and sympathizers with the Eastern-Orthodoxy. Should this movement gain power it would dominate the Danubian Basin and soon it would undermine even the See. of St. Peter. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult which they spread is an Eastern-Orthodox religion. The archbishop believed these arguments and the following day he ordered to put back the plaque with the text in the Eastern dialect. The local priest, Rev. Polakovic, protested but the Archbishop rebuked him and informed him he had to look for a new parish outside of his diocese. This naturally caused a great disappointment amongst the Slovaks. A delegation of Slovaks informed the Archbishop that they would not attend this church and would not support it but would built a new Slovak Church. The Archbishop approved the plans for the new Church. The Slovaks started to work with enthusiasm and in a few weeks they transformed an old building into a new church which stood only one block away on the same street. It was planned that this church would bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius, this had been already announced in the papers and the donations for the building paid and it was accepted under this name.4 But this plan did not materialize. The Archbishop appointed here a Czech priest, Rev. simonik, who under �104 SLOVAKIA the pressure from the Archbishop gave the church the name of St. John Nepomuce ne. This was the first but also the last time that the names of SS. Cyril and Methodius were in the disfavor of an American Bishop. THE OLDEST CATHOLIC CHURCHE S WITH PATRON SAINTS SS. CYRIL AND METHODI US The sudden expansion of the Cyrillo-Me thodian cult on the American continent was described by Rev. Jozef Martincek as follows: "As soon as the Slovak immigrant s settled in the U.S.A. and began to form their parishes and to build their churches, the Cyrillo-Me thodian flame, which appeared for almost extinguishe d, suddenly rekindled in the hearts of our compatriot s. They almost competed with each other in their Cyrillo-Me thodian zeal to build and dedicate churches to them and there is hardly any Slovak church in the U.S.A. where their picture or their statue would not be given a distinguish ed place." 5 The Cyrillo-Me thodian cult spread in the U.S.A. due to the expanding Slovak periodicals and papers, due to the work of the patriotic Slovak priest and to a great extent also as a result of a protest against the Magyar persecutio n at home. The popularity which the cult gained in the U.S.A. was inconceiva ble in Slovakia of that time. The first Slovak Catholic Church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was built in 1891 in Minneapol is, Minn. The initiative came from the local Society of SS. Cyril and Methodius which was founded in 1888 as the first society on the American soil called after these Saints. In the same year another church bearing the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was opened in Bethlehem , Pa. The founder of this church was Rev. Heinen, a missionary of German origin. He was originally an officer in the German Army but later on he changed the uniform for a priestly garb and after completing his theological studies he came to the U.S.A. and worked as a missionary mainly amongst the Slavic immigrant s in Pennsylvan ia. His assistant in missionary work ( which he directed from Mau Chung, Pa.) was Rev. Vlossak, a Slovak priest, and it was due to his influence that the church in Bethlehem , Pa., was given the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius .6 �SLOVAKIA 105 THE LIST OF THE SLOVAK CHURCHES OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. This example was followed by others and the following list shows chronologically the founding of the churches dedicated to the SS. Cyril and Methodius in different parts of the U.S.A. the brackets show the diocese to which the parish belonged. 7 1891. Minneapolis, Minn. (St. Paul, Minn. ) 1891. Bethlehem, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1893. Reading, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1895. Brookside, Ala. (Mobile, Ala. ) 1898. Haverstraw, N. Y. (New York, N. Y.) 1898. Youngstown, 0. (Youngstown, 0.) 1900. Kingston, Pa. (Scranton, Pa.) 1900. Stockett, Mont. (Great Falls, Mont.) 1900. Joliet, Ill. (Joliet, Ill.) 1900. Stuttgart, Ark. (Little Rock, Ark. ) 1901. Edwardsville, Pa. 1902. Charleroi, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1903. Binghamton, N. Y. (Syracuse, N . Y.) 1903. Lakewood, Ohio (Cleveland, Ohio ) 1904. Winburne, Pa. (Erie, Pa.) 1905. Lebanon, Pa. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1905. Windber, Pa. (Altoona, Pa.) 1906. Kansas City, Kans. (Kansas City Kans.) 1906. Barberton, Ohio 1906. Boonton, N. J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1907 . Bridgeport, Conn. (Hartford, Conn.) 1911. East St. Louis, Ill. (Belleville, Ill.) 1911. Fairchance, Pa. (Greensburg, Pa.) 1911. Superior, Wis. (Superior, Wis.) 1912. Rock Spring, Wyoming 1913. Clifton, N . J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1913. Sugar Creek, Mo. 1913. Schenectady, N . Y. (Albany, N . Y.) 1914. Chicago, Ill. (Chicago, Ill.) 1916. New Brighton, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1918. Detroit, Mich. (Detroit, Mich.) 1920. Coaldale, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1923. Lisbon Falls, Maine (Portland, Maine ) 1923. Rossford, Ohio (Toledo, Ohio) 1928. Warren, Ohio 1949. Slovak Manor, N. Y. (New York, N . Y .) �106 SLOVAKIA THE GROWTH OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS One of the early articles dealing with the CyrilloMethodian cult appeared in Jednota in 1899. The author, J. Stas, is critical of Slovak immigrants and of their lack of devotions to SS. Cyril and Methodius. He makes the following suggestions about how to pay homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius. 1. Keep their picture in your house and teach your children about their life, their work, their contributions to our faith and our culture. 2. Give their names to your children at baptism. 3. Build and dedicate churches to these Saints and decorate the existing churches with their statues. 4. Put your societies under their patronage. So far less than 10 societies have been named after them. Is this not a disgrace to American Slovaks? 5. The 5th of July should be for the Slovaks a religious and a national holiday and in this we should learn from the Irish who so devotedly revere St. Patrick. This day, or at least the following Sunday, should be devoted to religious services and sermons in reverence to their work. On that day also other national and cultural celebrations should be organized. "I am asking our priests, our editors and all Slovaks to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst our compatriots, and so preserve their heritage-- our faith and our culture." 8 But in spite of this exhortation the Slovaks in the U.S.A. were unable to organize any mass Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations. Rev. Jozef Martincek, one of the most ardent promoters of the Cyrillo-Methodian cult, wrote in 1913: "Why don't we pay the necessary homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius and why don't we celebrate one day in a year as their holiday as this was already suggested before by our compatriots and our brother in Christ, Michael Bosak. I ask Rev. Furdek and other leading Slovaks to take up this matter seriously and to present to the Slovak public a plan for Cyrillo-Methodian celebration."9 �SLOVAKIA 107 REV. F. V. SASINEK AND THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. In the days when the first Slovak papers commenced publication in the U.S.A., the 20-30,000 Slovak immigrants had only two priests and two educated laymen, Wolf and Slovensky, ( both teachers by profession and editors of these papers). It took several years before the number of such laymen together with the priest grew to 25. Naturally, under these circumstances any cultural work was extremely difficult as it fell on the shoulders of a very small group of men who besides their cultural work without monastery remuneration had also to carry on with their regular employment to provide for themselves and their families. Therefore, from the very beginning these men had to look to Slovakia for new help in their cultural and national work. The most enthusiastic and successful of such early workers was Rev. F . V. Sasinek, a catholic priest and a historian. Falling into disgrace of his bishop IpolyiStummer, he left Banska Bystrica and for some years he lived in Kuty as a guest of his friend Rev. Pukancik. He then went to Prague and from there to Maria Zell , a pilgrimage shrine in Austria, where he served as a confessor of the pilgrims and heard confessions in 12 languages. In this voluntary exile be became greatly interested in Slovak immigrants to the U.S.A. and as soon as he made contacts with Rovnianek and Furdek he became the main contributor to Slovak papers in the U.S.A. 10 He played especially a very important part in the cultivating of the Cyrillo-Methodian spirit. We estimate that approximately 85 ¼' of all Slovak publications about SS. Cyril and Methodius in the last century came from the pen of Sasinek. His first literary contribution published in 1852, was a poem: "Piesen o slovanskych blahozvestcoch", "A song about the missionaries of the Slavs".11 THE MAIN ADVOCATES OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. There were many active supporters of the CyrilloMethodian cult among the Catholic priests. Probably the most active was Rev. Jan Porubsky. He was an ingenious �108 SLOVAKIA writer, with a general, almost encyclopedic knowledge and was especially well acquainted with Slovak history. He began to write from Slovakia for the American Slovak papers and published a great number of articles about the life and the significance of the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similar topics were covered by him in his books which were published in the U.S.A.12 From among other priests who were in the foreground of the Cyrillo-Methodian movement it is necessary to mention especially Stefan Furdek, then Rev. Stas, Rev. Dianiska, D. D., Rev. Pavco, Rev. Martincek, 13 Rev. Duchon and out of the younger generation, Rev. Stefan Panik, Msgr. Mlynarovic, etc. THE ORDER OF THE SISTERS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS But probably the greatest achievement in this field can be attributed to Rev. Matus Jankola who founded the first Slovak teaching order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Dr. Fr. Hrusovsky in his history of this Order notes the following: "The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius has a special place amongst the Slovak Orders in the U.S.A. because it is a truly Slovak Order. Even more, it is the only truly Slovak Order. Figuratively speaking we may say that The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius is the only Slovak flower in the large bouquet of Slovak Orders. It was not by coincidence that this Order was not founded in Slovakia where SS. Cyril and Methodius worked many centuries ago and where different Orders, fo many centuries, maintained and developed their heritage. The fact that this Order was founded in the U.S .A. illustrates well how bright was the legacy of these Saints amongst those members of the Slovak nation who had to leave the mother country and how deep was their determination to preserve this legacy." 14 REV. DANIEL ZABOJ LAUcEK AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Amongst the Slovak Protestant pastors it is especially �SLOVAKIA 109 necessary to mention Rev. Daniel Zaboj Laucek who dedicated his work to the Cyrillo-Methodian ideals when still in Slovakia and continued in this work on his arrival in America. In 1885, in Turciansky Sv. Martin he published the book Sv. Cyril a Metod, apostolovia slovanski, jich vyznam v cirkvi krest'anskej v6bec a v Slovanstve zvlast'. Nakladom vlastnym pri pomoci podporovatel'ov slovenskej spisby. (SS. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs, their place in Christendom and in Slavdom.) Private edition with the help of the supporters of the Slovak Literature. Besides this he published a series of articles : "Po tisic rokoch." "Pamiatke sv. slovanskych apostolov". (After a thousand years. In memory of the Saint Apostles of Slavs.) "Ocenenie jich p6sobenia" (Evaluation of their work) . "Blizsie o p6sobeni a razu sv. slovanskych apostolov" (More about the work and the spirit of the Saint Apostles of the Slavs) . "Pamiatky p6sobenia slovanskych bratov v nasom narode" (The imprints of the work of the Apostles of the Slavs in our nation). The series was published in Ndrodnie Noviny, XVI, 1885, number 1-7 . Rev. Laucek continued in this work in the U.S.A. and he wrote about similar topics in "cas" of which he was an editor for a short time. He also wrote in Slovak Protestant papers especially in Slovensky Hldsnik. Unfortunately a bibliography of the Slovak publications in the U.S.A. has never been put together and many of the works have not been preserved which means a great loss for Slovak literature. THE ASSOCIATIONS BEARING THE NAME OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS It is of great interest that the Cyrillo-Methodian Cult first spread amongst the immigrants from Eastern Slovakia. In 1875 the brothers Jan and Juraj Gogola came to Minneapolis, Minn. and shortly after them Jan Zelenak, Jan Martonik, and Tomas Ovsak. They came across an advertisement of the firm Timm Eliot and as they expected that this was probably a Slovak name, Elias, they answered the advertisement and applied for work with that firm. They were accepted and the firm found in them such good employees that it was willing in future to give preference to Slovaks. The owner of the firm was very �110 SLOVAKLA just and humanitarian and the Slovaks were pleased to work for him. From 1875 on, the number of the Slovaks in this city grew considerably and in 1878 the brothers Juraj and Andrej Olha and Jan Martonik thought of the plan of forming an Association of the Minneapolis Slovaks. They met on November 12th, 1888 and decided to form the Association. There is a notation in the minutes of the first meeting which reads: "As SS. Cyril and Methodius were our Apostles, it will be appropriate that our Association be placed under their patronage." This resolution was carried out. In 1891 the Association formed the first Slovak Catholic parish in the U.S.A. called after the two Apostles. This was the beginning of our active CyrilloMethodian cult amongst the American Slovaks. The men who were first preoccupied with this idea in the U.S.A. came from Bystre in saris county. 15 The first branch of "Narodny Slovensky Spolok" which put itself under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the local branch No. 8, in Youngstown, Ohio. Rev. Horvath, and ardent Slovak Catholic priest, was in Youngstown at that time and it is likely that the Branch accepted the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius on his suggestion. 16 It will be of interest to note that one of the cofounders of the branch was John smigovsky, the grandfather of the colonel smigovsky, who for his service to the Slovak Republic was sentenced to death in 1946 by the pro-Communist National Tribunal under the chairmanship of Igor Daxner. Daxner recommended an amnesty, however, the chairman of the Slovak National Council refused to deal with this request on technical grounds and Smigovsky was executed the following day. Colonel smigovsky was born in the U.S.A. but was educated in Slovakia. THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN CANADA The possition of the Slovak immigrants to Canada was quite different from that of the immigration to the U.S.A. The immigration to Canada reached noticeable proportions only after the First World War when immigration to the U.S.A. became restricted and the quotas allowed were quickly filled. Unable to obtain admission to the U.S.A. many immigrants choose Canada, often with plans to seek admission to the U.S.A. later. The immigrants �SLOVAKIA 111 who come to Canada were of a different political background than those who in the previous century went to the U.S.A. They experienced the First World War, the political upheavals which followed, many of them went to Slovak schools and were on a higher cultural level than the generation who before them went to the U.S.A. They were more aware of national and political problems. There were no Magyarones amongst them and regardless of their political affiliations they declared themselves as Slovaks. Only a very small number of them believed that Slovaks ceased to exist as an individual nation and that a new "Czechoslovak" nation emerged. The first Catholic church in Canada dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was a small church built in 1906 in Bellevue, Alberta. The oldest parish called after SS. Cyril and Methodius is the Montreal parish which was established in 1928. Similar parishes were formed in Toronto in 1934 and in Windsor in 1940. New parishes were founded following a new wave of immigrants after the Second World War. Amongst them are the parishes of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Hamilton, Ontario of 1945 and in Westminster, B. C. of 1960. 17 EPILOG The Cyrillo-Methodian ideology did not find favorable ground in Czecho-Slovakia after 1918 due to a strong anti-Catholic feeling of the ruling Czechs. But the Slovaks, in spite of many difficulties, were able to make progress in every direction. The ranks of the intelligentsia grew, the letters and the sciences advanced even in those fields where there was not one Slovak representative before. And slowly also the Cyrillo-Methodian ideas became better known to the masses. There were many who thought this development was too slow. Thus we read: "It is a pity that while the Slovaks in the U.S.A. have 16 parishes and 200 altars in their churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, we at home, in Slovakia, have only 16 such altars in our 2,300 Catholic churches and chapels." 18 The author of course was poorly informed, as the number-of such parishes in the U.S.A. was not 16 but more �112 SLOVAKIA than twice that number. As in many other fields of Slovak affairs only after the formation of the Slovak Republic definite steps were taken to accept SS. Cyril and Methodius as national Saints. Their feast in Slovakia was also a day of commemoration for all Slovaks abroad. Throughout Slovakia there were festivals, meetings, lectures commemorating the Slovaks who had to leave their fatherland. The plans were made to build a cathedral to SS. Cyril and Methodius in Bratislava. Many research projects were under way and a Cyrillo-Methodian archives and library were in preparation. But with the loss of political independence these projects also died and with them also much of the work inspired by bishop Moyses, Fr. Sasinek and Holly. Out of these endeavors only those that grew abroad, in the U.S.A. and in Canada survived. But we believe that, in this age when even small nations and tribes throughout Africa are gaining independence, it will not be possible to beep in chains a nation which already 1,100 years ago belonged to the cultured and Christian nations of Europe and this mainly through the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius.19 FOOTNOTES AMI) LITERATURE 1) See Dr. F . Hrusovsky: frska misia a zaciatky krest'anstva (The Irish Mission and the Beginning of Christianity), pp. 41-65, and also by the same author Slovenski v ladari (Slovak Rulers ), Scranton 1948, p. 263. 2) Ries, Viliam : Frantisek Richard Osvald (Trnava, 1939), pp. 87, 93 . 3) Goulding, S: Catholic Churches of New York City, with sketches of their history and lives of the present Pastors, (New York, 1878 ), pp. 748. 4) Culen, K.: Dejiny newyorskych Slovcikov (The History of t he Slovaks of New York) . 5) " Oslava cyrilometodejska, 863-1863-1913," Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 129. 6) Fink, Leo, Gregory: Monsignor Heinen, Militant Missionary , The Dolphin Press, (P hiladelphia, Pa. 1937) , p. 75. 7 ) Hrobak, Philip: Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institution in the United States of America, (Middletown, Pa. 1955), pp. 32, 34, 39, 42, 50, 52, 63, 65, 68, 70, 81 , 84, 87, 90, 92, 99, 105, 106, 107, 121, 132, 134, 146, 152, 154, 162. See also Piroch, Mary: "American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius," Slovakia Vol. XIII, N. 1/36, March 1963, pp. 25-28 ; ~ofranec, Tomas, Rev.: "Sv. Cyril a Metod a m y americki Slovaci" ( SS. Cyril and Methodi us and American Slovaks). Ave Maria, XLVII, No. 4, April 1, 1963, pp.175-176; Slovenske osady v Amerike, (Slovak Parishes in the U.S.A.), Kalendar Jednota for �SLOVAKIA 113 1906, pp. 23 , 51, 53-57, 73 , 81, 109, 113, 114; Baska, Louis, O.S.B.: Slovenske katolicke osady v Spojenych Statoch (Slovak Catholic Parishes in the U.S.A.) , Katolicke Slovensko (Trnava) , p. 623 ; Kushner, Jozef, Rev.: Slovaci katolici pittsburghskeho biskupstva ( Slovak Catholics of the Pittsburgh Diocese), Katolicky Sokol (Passaic, 1946) , p. 174. 8 ) J ednota, July 12, 1899. 9) Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 130. 10) The first biography of SS. Cyril and Methodius started publicatio n in Jednota on the 18th January, 1899, and continued in a long series of articles. The author was Rev. Fr. Sasinek. 11) See Katolicke Noviny, 1852, 1st year, No. 35. 12) Porubsky, Jan Rev.: 100 rokov spisovnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), Scranton, Pa.; Slovaci a slovencina (Slovaks and the Slovak language). This was edited anonymously, but it was the work of Rev. Porubsky, Katolicky Sokol, 1929, p . 114. 13 ) Martincek, Jozef, Rev. : "Oslava cyrilometodejska" (The CyrilloMethodian Jubilee) 863-1863-1913 ; Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, pp. 129135. " Oslava sv. Cyrila a Metoda v dobe Moysesa a dnes" (The Cyrillo-Methodian Celebration at the time of Moyses and Today), Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky, 1936, pp. 119-125. 14) Hrusovsky, Franti.sek, Dr. : Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in the U. S.A. ), Cleveland, Ohio 1935, p.496. See Chapter: Kongregacia sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, P a. (Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.), pp. 161-232. This Chapter has a detailed bibliography on pages 231-232 ; See also Pauco, Jozef: Matus Jankola, knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola as a priest and a patriot) , Danville, Pa. , p . 173. 15) Pamiitnik Spolku sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Almanac of SS. Cyril and Methodius), No. 3, I.K.S.J. , Minneapolis, Minn. 1888-1938. 16) V. S. Platek: Nase odbory , D ejiny a pamiitnica 60 . vyrocia N. S.S. (Our Associations. The Memoirs of the 60th Anniversary of the National Slovak Society), Pittsburgh, Pa. , pp. 225-392. 17) On the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks, see J . M. Kirschbaum, Slovaks in Canada, (Toronto, 1967) , pp. 227-276. 18) Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky (St. Adalbert's Almanac ), 1936, p. 125. 19) On the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in Slovakia, see Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum "The Role of the Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak Na tional Life," Slovak Studies, Vol. III, (Rome, 1963 ) . • THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA heartily commends all efforts of our governmental and other organs to ferret out and unmask all Communists and fellow travellers, as well as all persons and organizations who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism promoted by the Soviet Union. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 98 SLOVAKIA The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks Ln U.S.A. and Canada* * This essay w as prepare d by t he late Konstan tin culen i n 1962 for a symposium or ganized and edited by Prof. J. M . K i rschbaum for the 11th cent ennary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among t he ancest ors of Slov aks. T he essays co llected and edit ed or translated by J. M. K i r sc h baum appeared in SLOVAK STUDT ES, CYRILLO-METH ODIANA, V ol. 3, (Rome, 1963). Culen's essay was not yet tr anslated and therefore not published. I n view of the valuable information and in order to complet e the history of the CyriUo-Methodia n tradition among Sl ov aks, we are grat efiil to Dr. Kirschbaum for preserving the manuscript and his adaptation for an English piiblication . By K . C u len THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN IRISH ON AMERICAN SLOVAKS The migration of Slovaks to the U.S.A. had many traits similar to those of the migration of the Irish. It was the catastrophic potato crop failure which caused the first man emigration of the Irish to the U.S.A. And we come across a similar cause of emigration of the Slovaks. The Slovak statistician Dr. Emil Stodola noted that each poor p otato crop in Slovakia was followed by rising emigration to the U.S .A. There were other similarities between the Irish and the Slovak migrations. The oppression of the Irish dates even further back in history than the Slovak one and is many sided. The political oppression started in Slovakia at the end of the 18th century and culminated befor the First World War. The Irish were oppressed due to their religion and suffered culturally and economically and therefore their resistance was stronger and more passionate than that of the Slovaks. In Ireland the oppression affected all the classes but in Slovakia the intelligentsia suffered most. The difference comes to light when we compare the cult of S t . Patrick to the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius . SLOVAKIA 99 St. Patrick is a national saint and is known and revered by all the Irish. SS. Cyril and Methodius were not known to the same extent amongst Slovaks. The population in general had only a vague knowledge of them. But the Slovak intelligentsia had even a deeper devotion to them than the Irish to St. Patrick. Therefore the cult of the SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S.A. was not a cult brought over by the masses as in the case of St. Patrick, but it was a cult especially nurtured by nationally conscious immigrants, nurtured to an extent that would not have been possible in Slovakia. Generally speaking, the Slovak immigrants became aware, in their new countries, of a need for a national saint and this became evident to them on such days as the feast of St. Patrick, with its festivities attracting not only the Irish but also numerous names of other nationalities. In older Slovak papers we frequently see articles about large groups of Slovaks participating in the festivities of St. Patrick. In one case the writer claimed that Slovaks outnumbered the Irish. No wonder these Slovaks asked"Who would correspond to St. Patrick in our national life? " They frequently raised this question in the Slovak press and of course the only answer they could obtain was-SS . Cyril and Methodius. It was this background which helped to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius between the Slovak names in the U.S .A. It should be noted in this connection, that SS . Cyril and Methodius completed amongst the Slovaks the missionary work which prior to them was already initiated by Bavarian and Irish missionaries, the first Christian missionaries in the Danube area. 1 THE INFLUENCE OF THE CULT OF ST. PATRICK ON THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS In the very early Slovak papers in the U.S.A. appeared dozens of articles, some short and some extensive enough, for serial publication, describing the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst the Slovak ancestors. American Slovaks who were scattered amongst the Irish saw in the SS. Cyril and Methodius their St. Patrick. The Slovak papers exhorted them to venerate them just as the Irish revered St. Patrick. It is interesting to ask the question, how much did 100 SLOVAKIA the American Slovaks know about SS. Cyril and Methodius? Not a great deal. Most often they learned about them them from the excellent and well known prayer book of Rev. Andrej Radlinsky "Nabozne Vylevy." This prayer book contained a color picture of the Saints, their brief history and their prayers. Rev. Radlinsky succeeded in doing this to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Later on when a small prayer book was published in the U.S.A., the bishop of Spis, Parvy, put it on the Index for no reason other than that it contained a prayer to SS. Cyril and Methodius. Thus while Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical highly extoling the missionary work of these two Saints, a Magyar bishop with his seat in Catholic Slovakia put the prayer book on the Index as he mistrusted these Saints because of their panslavistic learnings. The large groups of Slovak immigrants in the U.S.A. had for the first time an opportunity to learn more about the missionary work of those Apostles, as well as about their cultural and linguistic work. But at the moment when the cult of these Apostles began to spread, a group of Catholic priests rose against it even in the U.S .A. and according to the spirit which was taught to them in the seminaries in the old country prepared the road-blocks to this cult. At the head of the group were Kossalko, Denes and Haitinger. In the papers edited by them they vituperated both Saints in the same manner as did the Magyar Catholic periodical "Katolikus Szemle" (Catholic Review) in the year 1893 in an article "Slavonic Christianity in our territories before their occupation". St. Methodius was denounced here as a panslavistic chauvinist, a forerunner of the schism and a very untrustworthy personality. The author of the article applied the modern Magyar approach and the chauvinistic terminology to the period prior to 900 when the national questions were of very minor importance.2 The pupils of this chauvinistic school working in the U.S .A. could find nothing worthy to say about these Saints and made them subjects of the intrigues of the Hungarian premier Koloman Tisza and of his successors. Their success was, however, small as they were unpopular priests and their arguments were without any force against the well documented work of their opponents. SLOVAKIA 101 THE FIRST CHURCH DEDICATED TO SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS The first church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S .A. was a small wooden church built by two Czech Societies: the Society of St. Wenceslas and the Society of St. Ludmila in New York. These two societies were founded in 1874 with the purpose of building the first church for the growing Czech colony in New York, in the block between the 1st and 10th streets and between the Avenues B-D, where the Czechs were intermingled with the Poles. The Plan for the building of the church received a new impetus when Rev. A. V. Vacula came to New York from Baltimore, Md. He was born on the 15th of August 1845, in Osek, near Olomouc, in Moravia. He studied in Kromeriz, at the University of Vienna and at Louvain, Belgium. Here the American bishops established a seminary into which they accepted students from the whole of Europe, to prepare them for work in the ethnic settlements in the U.S.A. Vacula was accepted as the future priest of the Czech settlement in Baltimore, Md. Immediately after his consecration in 1870 he left for the U.S.A. and from the beginning of December he served in the parish of St. Wenceslas, Baltimore, Md. As the Czech Catholics of New York could not make progress with their plan, they invited into this parish Rev. Vacula, who arrived in 1875 and started his work with great enthusiasm. He immediately bought the land and the building, Number 316 E. 4th Street for $12,000.00, then enlarged the building for an outlay of an additional $6,000.00 and on the 1st of December 1875 the Vicar General of New York consecrated the Church in the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius. 3 This was the first church in the U.S.A. to be named after SS. Cyril and Methodius. And it appeared very appropriate that behind this achievement was a priest from Moravia. Out of all Slavic countries, in Moravia the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the deeepest, most widely spread and most popular. In no other Slavic country were the names SS. Cyril and Methodius given so often at baptism as in Moravia. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult spread from the Moravian Velehrad in all directions and the 102 SLOVAKIA Slovaks made frequent pilgrimages there as to a source of spiritual strength. The New York church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methoqius was the first catholic church which was also attended by "the first Slovak immigrants in that city. When later this church was closed, they went to the Irish church of St. Brigitte or to the nearest German or Polish churches until in 1894 they built the first Slovak Catholic church dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. This church was built in the same street where earlier had been the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similarly as amongst the Slovaks, the Cyrillo-Methodian cult was as widely spread amongst the Czechs, especially in those districts where also Moravians were settled. After the first Cyrillo-Methodian church in New York, which soon closed, there were another 15 churches built in the U.S.A., namely in: Bannister, Mich.; Kansas City, Kansas; Chicago, Ill.; Platoma, Texas; Clarkson, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Tex.; Doman, Texas; Dubina, Texas; East St. Louis, Illinois; Granger, Texas; North Judson, Indiana; Plasi (Prague), Nebraska; Shiner, Texas ; Tanton, Michigan; Vodnary, Dakota. Besides the Slovaks and the Czechs the Cyrillo-Methodian churches were mainly built by Slovenes, Croatians and · Poles. THE UNFULFILLED PLAN OF A NEW CHURCH OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN NEW YORK The next church in New York which was to bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the church originally dedicated to St. John Nepomucene. That this plan did not succeed was due mainly to the bitter struggles between the nationally conscious Slovaks and the Magyarones. The consecration of the first Slovak Catholic Church took place in 1894. This was the church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. It was around this church that the struggle between the Slovaks and the Magyars and Magyar sympathizers developed. The night before the consecration the "Magyarones" removed from the corner stone the plaque bearing the text written in literary Slovak: "Rim. Kat. Kostal Sv. Alzbety, Vystavany R. 1892". Instead of this they SLOVAKIA 103 placed there plaque with a text in Eastern-Slovak dialect : " Uherszko Szlovenszki Kat. Koscel Szv. Elizabethy Uherszkej, Visztav. R. 1892." This arnmounted to a declaration of war. The Slovaks refused to support a Church with a name written in a distorted Slovak language and in foreign, non-Slovak orthography. This battle lasted for over a year until finally Archbishop Corrigan wrote to Slovakia inquiring which version was correct. When he received the reply he had the plaque changed as he considered that what was orthographically incorrect, was of poor taste and unfitting for a house of God. The Slovaks were jubilant but not for long as the Archbishop was approached by a delegation led by a Magyar lawyer Czukor (Jewish by religion) who persuaded the Archbishop that this struggle was between the Eastern Orthodox Panslavistic Church and between Catholicism. The Magyars were the true catholics, a European nation, but the Slovaks were Panslavs, Russofiles and sympathizers with the Eastern-Orthodoxy. Should this movement gain power it would dominate the Danubian Basin and soon it would undermine even the See. of St. Peter. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult which they spread is an Eastern-Orthodox religion. The archbishop believed these arguments and the following day he ordered to put back the plaque with the text in the Eastern dialect. The local priest, Rev. Polakovic, protested but the Archbishop rebuked him and informed him he had to look for a new parish outside of his diocese. This naturally caused a great disappointment amongst the Slovaks. A delegation of Slovaks informed the Archbishop that they would not attend this church and would not support it but would built a new Slovak Church. The Archbishop approved the plans for the new Church. The Slovaks started to work with enthusiasm and in a few weeks they transformed an old building into a new church which stood only one block away on the same street. It was planned that this church would bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius, this had been already announced in the papers and the donations for the building paid and it was accepted under this name.4 But this plan did not materialize. The Archbishop appointed here a Czech priest, Rev. simonik, who under 104 SLOVAKIA the pressure from the Archbishop gave the church the name of St. John Nepomuce ne. This was the first but also the last time that the names of SS. Cyril and Methodius were in the disfavor of an American Bishop. THE OLDEST CATHOLIC CHURCHE S WITH PATRON SAINTS SS. CYRIL AND METHODI US The sudden expansion of the Cyrillo-Me thodian cult on the American continent was described by Rev. Jozef Martincek as follows: "As soon as the Slovak immigrant s settled in the U.S.A. and began to form their parishes and to build their churches, the Cyrillo-Me thodian flame, which appeared for almost extinguishe d, suddenly rekindled in the hearts of our compatriot s. They almost competed with each other in their Cyrillo-Me thodian zeal to build and dedicate churches to them and there is hardly any Slovak church in the U.S.A. where their picture or their statue would not be given a distinguish ed place." 5 The Cyrillo-Me thodian cult spread in the U.S.A. due to the expanding Slovak periodicals and papers, due to the work of the patriotic Slovak priest and to a great extent also as a result of a protest against the Magyar persecutio n at home. The popularity which the cult gained in the U.S.A. was inconceiva ble in Slovakia of that time. The first Slovak Catholic Church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was built in 1891 in Minneapol is, Minn. The initiative came from the local Society of SS. Cyril and Methodius which was founded in 1888 as the first society on the American soil called after these Saints. In the same year another church bearing the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was opened in Bethlehem , Pa. The founder of this church was Rev. Heinen, a missionary of German origin. He was originally an officer in the German Army but later on he changed the uniform for a priestly garb and after completing his theological studies he came to the U.S.A. and worked as a missionary mainly amongst the Slavic immigrant s in Pennsylvan ia. His assistant in missionary work ( which he directed from Mau Chung, Pa.) was Rev. Vlossak, a Slovak priest, and it was due to his influence that the church in Bethlehem , Pa., was given the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius .6 SLOVAKIA 105 THE LIST OF THE SLOVAK CHURCHES OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. This example was followed by others and the following list shows chronologically the founding of the churches dedicated to the SS. Cyril and Methodius in different parts of the U.S.A. the brackets show the diocese to which the parish belonged. 7 1891. Minneapolis, Minn. (St. Paul, Minn. ) 1891. Bethlehem, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1893. Reading, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1895. Brookside, Ala. (Mobile, Ala. ) 1898. Haverstraw, N. Y. (New York, N. Y.) 1898. Youngstown, 0. (Youngstown, 0.) 1900. Kingston, Pa. (Scranton, Pa.) 1900. Stockett, Mont. (Great Falls, Mont.) 1900. Joliet, Ill. (Joliet, Ill.) 1900. Stuttgart, Ark. (Little Rock, Ark. ) 1901. Edwardsville, Pa. 1902. Charleroi, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1903. Binghamton, N. Y. (Syracuse, N . Y.) 1903. Lakewood, Ohio (Cleveland, Ohio ) 1904. Winburne, Pa. (Erie, Pa.) 1905. Lebanon, Pa. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1905. Windber, Pa. (Altoona, Pa.) 1906. Kansas City, Kans. (Kansas City Kans.) 1906. Barberton, Ohio 1906. Boonton, N. J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1907 . Bridgeport, Conn. (Hartford, Conn.) 1911. East St. Louis, Ill. (Belleville, Ill.) 1911. Fairchance, Pa. (Greensburg, Pa.) 1911. Superior, Wis. (Superior, Wis.) 1912. Rock Spring, Wyoming 1913. Clifton, N . J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1913. Sugar Creek, Mo. 1913. Schenectady, N . Y. (Albany, N . Y.) 1914. Chicago, Ill. (Chicago, Ill.) 1916. New Brighton, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1918. Detroit, Mich. (Detroit, Mich.) 1920. Coaldale, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1923. Lisbon Falls, Maine (Portland, Maine ) 1923. Rossford, Ohio (Toledo, Ohio) 1928. Warren, Ohio 1949. Slovak Manor, N. Y. (New York, N . Y .) 106 SLOVAKIA THE GROWTH OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS One of the early articles dealing with the CyrilloMethodian cult appeared in Jednota in 1899. The author, J. Stas, is critical of Slovak immigrants and of their lack of devotions to SS. Cyril and Methodius. He makes the following suggestions about how to pay homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius. 1. Keep their picture in your house and teach your children about their life, their work, their contributions to our faith and our culture. 2. Give their names to your children at baptism. 3. Build and dedicate churches to these Saints and decorate the existing churches with their statues. 4. Put your societies under their patronage. So far less than 10 societies have been named after them. Is this not a disgrace to American Slovaks? 5. The 5th of July should be for the Slovaks a religious and a national holiday and in this we should learn from the Irish who so devotedly revere St. Patrick. This day, or at least the following Sunday, should be devoted to religious services and sermons in reverence to their work. On that day also other national and cultural celebrations should be organized. "I am asking our priests, our editors and all Slovaks to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst our compatriots, and so preserve their heritage-- our faith and our culture." 8 But in spite of this exhortation the Slovaks in the U.S.A. were unable to organize any mass Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations. Rev. Jozef Martincek, one of the most ardent promoters of the Cyrillo-Methodian cult, wrote in 1913: "Why don't we pay the necessary homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius and why don't we celebrate one day in a year as their holiday as this was already suggested before by our compatriots and our brother in Christ, Michael Bosak. I ask Rev. Furdek and other leading Slovaks to take up this matter seriously and to present to the Slovak public a plan for Cyrillo-Methodian celebration."9 SLOVAKIA 107 REV. F. V. SASINEK AND THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. In the days when the first Slovak papers commenced publication in the U.S.A., the 20-30,000 Slovak immigrants had only two priests and two educated laymen, Wolf and Slovensky, ( both teachers by profession and editors of these papers). It took several years before the number of such laymen together with the priest grew to 25. Naturally, under these circumstances any cultural work was extremely difficult as it fell on the shoulders of a very small group of men who besides their cultural work without monastery remuneration had also to carry on with their regular employment to provide for themselves and their families. Therefore, from the very beginning these men had to look to Slovakia for new help in their cultural and national work. The most enthusiastic and successful of such early workers was Rev. F . V. Sasinek, a catholic priest and a historian. Falling into disgrace of his bishop IpolyiStummer, he left Banska Bystrica and for some years he lived in Kuty as a guest of his friend Rev. Pukancik. He then went to Prague and from there to Maria Zell , a pilgrimage shrine in Austria, where he served as a confessor of the pilgrims and heard confessions in 12 languages. In this voluntary exile be became greatly interested in Slovak immigrants to the U.S.A. and as soon as he made contacts with Rovnianek and Furdek he became the main contributor to Slovak papers in the U.S.A. 10 He played especially a very important part in the cultivating of the Cyrillo-Methodian spirit. We estimate that approximately 85 ¼' of all Slovak publications about SS. Cyril and Methodius in the last century came from the pen of Sasinek. His first literary contribution published in 1852, was a poem: "Piesen o slovanskych blahozvestcoch", "A song about the missionaries of the Slavs".11 THE MAIN ADVOCATES OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. There were many active supporters of the CyrilloMethodian cult among the Catholic priests. Probably the most active was Rev. Jan Porubsky. He was an ingenious 108 SLOVAKIA writer, with a general, almost encyclopedic knowledge and was especially well acquainted with Slovak history. He began to write from Slovakia for the American Slovak papers and published a great number of articles about the life and the significance of the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similar topics were covered by him in his books which were published in the U.S.A.12 From among other priests who were in the foreground of the Cyrillo-Methodian movement it is necessary to mention especially Stefan Furdek, then Rev. Stas, Rev. Dianiska, D. D., Rev. Pavco, Rev. Martincek, 13 Rev. Duchon and out of the younger generation, Rev. Stefan Panik, Msgr. Mlynarovic, etc. THE ORDER OF THE SISTERS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS But probably the greatest achievement in this field can be attributed to Rev. Matus Jankola who founded the first Slovak teaching order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Dr. Fr. Hrusovsky in his history of this Order notes the following: "The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius has a special place amongst the Slovak Orders in the U.S.A. because it is a truly Slovak Order. Even more, it is the only truly Slovak Order. Figuratively speaking we may say that The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius is the only Slovak flower in the large bouquet of Slovak Orders. It was not by coincidence that this Order was not founded in Slovakia where SS. Cyril and Methodius worked many centuries ago and where different Orders, fo many centuries, maintained and developed their heritage. The fact that this Order was founded in the U.S .A. illustrates well how bright was the legacy of these Saints amongst those members of the Slovak nation who had to leave the mother country and how deep was their determination to preserve this legacy." 14 REV. DANIEL ZABOJ LAUcEK AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Amongst the Slovak Protestant pastors it is especially SLOVAKIA 109 necessary to mention Rev. Daniel Zaboj Laucek who dedicated his work to the Cyrillo-Methodian ideals when still in Slovakia and continued in this work on his arrival in America. In 1885, in Turciansky Sv. Martin he published the book Sv. Cyril a Metod, apostolovia slovanski, jich vyznam v cirkvi krest'anskej v6bec a v Slovanstve zvlast'. Nakladom vlastnym pri pomoci podporovatel'ov slovenskej spisby. (SS. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs, their place in Christendom and in Slavdom.) Private edition with the help of the supporters of the Slovak Literature. Besides this he published a series of articles : "Po tisic rokoch." "Pamiatke sv. slovanskych apostolov". (After a thousand years. In memory of the Saint Apostles of Slavs.) "Ocenenie jich p6sobenia" (Evaluation of their work) . "Blizsie o p6sobeni a razu sv. slovanskych apostolov" (More about the work and the spirit of the Saint Apostles of the Slavs) . "Pamiatky p6sobenia slovanskych bratov v nasom narode" (The imprints of the work of the Apostles of the Slavs in our nation). The series was published in Ndrodnie Noviny, XVI, 1885, number 1-7 . Rev. Laucek continued in this work in the U.S.A. and he wrote about similar topics in "cas" of which he was an editor for a short time. He also wrote in Slovak Protestant papers especially in Slovensky Hldsnik. Unfortunately a bibliography of the Slovak publications in the U.S.A. has never been put together and many of the works have not been preserved which means a great loss for Slovak literature. THE ASSOCIATIONS BEARING THE NAME OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS It is of great interest that the Cyrillo-Methodian Cult first spread amongst the immigrants from Eastern Slovakia. In 1875 the brothers Jan and Juraj Gogola came to Minneapolis, Minn. and shortly after them Jan Zelenak, Jan Martonik, and Tomas Ovsak. They came across an advertisement of the firm Timm Eliot and as they expected that this was probably a Slovak name, Elias, they answered the advertisement and applied for work with that firm. They were accepted and the firm found in them such good employees that it was willing in future to give preference to Slovaks. The owner of the firm was very 110 SLOVAKLA just and humanitarian and the Slovaks were pleased to work for him. From 1875 on, the number of the Slovaks in this city grew considerably and in 1878 the brothers Juraj and Andrej Olha and Jan Martonik thought of the plan of forming an Association of the Minneapolis Slovaks. They met on November 12th, 1888 and decided to form the Association. There is a notation in the minutes of the first meeting which reads: "As SS. Cyril and Methodius were our Apostles, it will be appropriate that our Association be placed under their patronage." This resolution was carried out. In 1891 the Association formed the first Slovak Catholic parish in the U.S.A. called after the two Apostles. This was the beginning of our active CyrilloMethodian cult amongst the American Slovaks. The men who were first preoccupied with this idea in the U.S.A. came from Bystre in saris county. 15 The first branch of "Narodny Slovensky Spolok" which put itself under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the local branch No. 8, in Youngstown, Ohio. Rev. Horvath, and ardent Slovak Catholic priest, was in Youngstown at that time and it is likely that the Branch accepted the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius on his suggestion. 16 It will be of interest to note that one of the cofounders of the branch was John smigovsky, the grandfather of the colonel smigovsky, who for his service to the Slovak Republic was sentenced to death in 1946 by the pro-Communist National Tribunal under the chairmanship of Igor Daxner. Daxner recommended an amnesty, however, the chairman of the Slovak National Council refused to deal with this request on technical grounds and Smigovsky was executed the following day. Colonel smigovsky was born in the U.S.A. but was educated in Slovakia. THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN CANADA The possition of the Slovak immigrants to Canada was quite different from that of the immigration to the U.S.A. The immigration to Canada reached noticeable proportions only after the First World War when immigration to the U.S.A. became restricted and the quotas allowed were quickly filled. Unable to obtain admission to the U.S.A. many immigrants choose Canada, often with plans to seek admission to the U.S.A. later. The immigrants SLOVAKIA 111 who come to Canada were of a different political background than those who in the previous century went to the U.S.A. They experienced the First World War, the political upheavals which followed, many of them went to Slovak schools and were on a higher cultural level than the generation who before them went to the U.S.A. They were more aware of national and political problems. There were no Magyarones amongst them and regardless of their political affiliations they declared themselves as Slovaks. Only a very small number of them believed that Slovaks ceased to exist as an individual nation and that a new "Czechoslovak" nation emerged. The first Catholic church in Canada dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was a small church built in 1906 in Bellevue, Alberta. The oldest parish called after SS. Cyril and Methodius is the Montreal parish which was established in 1928. Similar parishes were formed in Toronto in 1934 and in Windsor in 1940. New parishes were founded following a new wave of immigrants after the Second World War. Amongst them are the parishes of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Hamilton, Ontario of 1945 and in Westminster, B. C. of 1960. 17 EPILOG The Cyrillo-Methodian ideology did not find favorable ground in Czecho-Slovakia after 1918 due to a strong anti-Catholic feeling of the ruling Czechs. But the Slovaks, in spite of many difficulties, were able to make progress in every direction. The ranks of the intelligentsia grew, the letters and the sciences advanced even in those fields where there was not one Slovak representative before. And slowly also the Cyrillo-Methodian ideas became better known to the masses. There were many who thought this development was too slow. Thus we read: "It is a pity that while the Slovaks in the U.S.A. have 16 parishes and 200 altars in their churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, we at home, in Slovakia, have only 16 such altars in our 2,300 Catholic churches and chapels." 18 The author of course was poorly informed, as the number-of such parishes in the U.S.A. was not 16 but more 112 SLOVAKIA than twice that number. As in many other fields of Slovak affairs only after the formation of the Slovak Republic definite steps were taken to accept SS. Cyril and Methodius as national Saints. Their feast in Slovakia was also a day of commemoration for all Slovaks abroad. Throughout Slovakia there were festivals, meetings, lectures commemorating the Slovaks who had to leave their fatherland. The plans were made to build a cathedral to SS. Cyril and Methodius in Bratislava. Many research projects were under way and a Cyrillo-Methodian archives and library were in preparation. But with the loss of political independence these projects also died and with them also much of the work inspired by bishop Moyses, Fr. Sasinek and Holly. Out of these endeavors only those that grew abroad, in the U.S.A. and in Canada survived. But we believe that, in this age when even small nations and tribes throughout Africa are gaining independence, it will not be possible to beep in chains a nation which already 1,100 years ago belonged to the cultured and Christian nations of Europe and this mainly through the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius.19 FOOTNOTES AMI) LITERATURE 1) See Dr. F . Hrusovsky: frska misia a zaciatky krest'anstva (The Irish Mission and the Beginning of Christianity), pp. 41-65, and also by the same author Slovenski v ladari (Slovak Rulers ), Scranton 1948, p. 263. 2) Ries, Viliam : Frantisek Richard Osvald (Trnava, 1939), pp. 87, 93 . 3) Goulding, S: Catholic Churches of New York City, with sketches of their history and lives of the present Pastors, (New York, 1878 ), pp. 748. 4) Culen, K.: Dejiny newyorskych Slovcikov (The History of t he Slovaks of New York) . 5) " Oslava cyrilometodejska, 863-1863-1913," Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 129. 6) Fink, Leo, Gregory: Monsignor Heinen, Militant Missionary , The Dolphin Press, (P hiladelphia, Pa. 1937) , p. 75. 7 ) Hrobak, Philip: Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institution in the United States of America, (Middletown, Pa. 1955), pp. 32, 34, 39, 42, 50, 52, 63, 65, 68, 70, 81 , 84, 87, 90, 92, 99, 105, 106, 107, 121, 132, 134, 146, 152, 154, 162. See also Piroch, Mary: "American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius," Slovakia Vol. XIII, N. 1/36, March 1963, pp. 25-28 ; ~ofranec, Tomas, Rev.: "Sv. Cyril a Metod a m y americki Slovaci" ( SS. Cyril and Methodi us and American Slovaks). Ave Maria, XLVII, No. 4, April 1, 1963, pp.175-176; Slovenske osady v Amerike, (Slovak Parishes in the U.S.A.), Kalendar Jednota for SLOVAKIA 113 1906, pp. 23 , 51, 53-57, 73 , 81, 109, 113, 114; Baska, Louis, O.S.B.: Slovenske katolicke osady v Spojenych Statoch (Slovak Catholic Parishes in the U.S.A.) , Katolicke Slovensko (Trnava) , p. 623 ; Kushner, Jozef, Rev.: Slovaci katolici pittsburghskeho biskupstva ( Slovak Catholics of the Pittsburgh Diocese), Katolicky Sokol (Passaic, 1946) , p. 174. 8 ) J ednota, July 12, 1899. 9) Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 130. 10) The first biography of SS. Cyril and Methodius started publicatio n in Jednota on the 18th January, 1899, and continued in a long series of articles. The author was Rev. Fr. Sasinek. 11) See Katolicke Noviny, 1852, 1st year, No. 35. 12) Porubsky, Jan Rev.: 100 rokov spisovnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), Scranton, Pa.; Slovaci a slovencina (Slovaks and the Slovak language). This was edited anonymously, but it was the work of Rev. Porubsky, Katolicky Sokol, 1929, p . 114. 13 ) Martincek, Jozef, Rev. : "Oslava cyrilometodejska" (The CyrilloMethodian Jubilee) 863-1863-1913 ; Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, pp. 129135. " Oslava sv. Cyrila a Metoda v dobe Moysesa a dnes" (The Cyrillo-Methodian Celebration at the time of Moyses and Today), Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky, 1936, pp. 119-125. 14) Hrusovsky, Franti.sek, Dr. : Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in the U. S.A. ), Cleveland, Ohio 1935, p.496. See Chapter: Kongregacia sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, P a. (Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.), pp. 161-232. This Chapter has a detailed bibliography on pages 231-232 ; See also Pauco, Jozef: Matus Jankola, knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola as a priest and a patriot) , Danville, Pa. , p . 173. 15) Pamiitnik Spolku sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Almanac of SS. Cyril and Methodius), No. 3, I.K.S.J. , Minneapolis, Minn. 1888-1938. 16) V. S. Platek: Nase odbory , D ejiny a pamiitnica 60 . vyrocia N. S.S. (Our Associations. The Memoirs of the 60th Anniversary of the National Slovak Society), Pittsburgh, Pa. , pp. 225-392. 17) On the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks, see J . M. Kirschbaum, Slovaks in Canada, (Toronto, 1967) , pp. 227-276. 18) Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky (St. Adalbert's Almanac ), 1936, p. 125. 19) On the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in Slovakia, see Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum "The Role of the Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak Na tional Life," Slovak Studies, Vol. III, (Rome, 1963 ) . • THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA heartily commends all efforts of our governmental and other organs to ferret out and unmask all Communists and fellow travellers, as well as all persons and organizations who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism promoted by the Soviet Union.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks in U.S.A. and Canada Description An account of the resource K. Čulen trans. and adapted by J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 98-113 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8432117ce31dcf25dea601b1d8b24549.pdf eec6c6389871a17e6c1eba125bbfabaf PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 41 Good Slovak Republic By Konstantin cul en It was March 14, 1945. I was scheduled to be the main speaker in a certain Slovak city which was known chiefly for the strange fact that people disliked to go there for celebrations and lectures. The population consisted generally of teachers, professors, students and officials. In short, they lived there because they had to. To my great surprise, the auditorium was filled to capacity ten minutes before the program was slated to start. This was unusual because the town had the reputation of starting all of its programs late in order to give stragglers time to come and give the speaker some encouragement in a sparsely filled hall. On this occasion, however, many had to be turned away but they waited outside during the entire program. After the program I asked what had brought such a great crowd to the affair. A small landowner explained it this way: "We all feel that our enemies are about to destroy our Slovak Republic. Now we realize more than ever before what we shall lose. I tell you never was the idea of the Slovak Republic as strong as at this very moment, and it will be even stronger when we don't have it any more. But we shall revive it again ... at the very first opportunity, mind my words," he concluded. In later years I often recalled what this genuine Slovak patriot had said. Many agreed with him wholeheartedly then, and many still do today. I am fully aware of this, for the idea is very much alive today and stronger, too, for in the passing years people have witnessed the contrast between what was and what is the situation in our time. Czech politicians, alone, like to think that the Slovak Republic vanished forever. They are convinced that "the Czecho-Slovak Republic is the only plausible solution and way of life for the Slovak nation." The newspapermen spread this propaganda. They ignore the obvious fact that for six years the Slovaks proved this thesis wrong ... the reality of the Slovak Republic is proof positive of the �42 SLOVAKIA self-reliance of the Slovak nation. The Czech people do not accept this view. If their political leaders do not see the writing on the wall let them live with their illusions. Is there a nation in the whole wide world which has surrendered its right for a self-governing state, especially after demonstrating, as did the Slovak nation, that it can govern itself successfully? We know of no such nation. Nations have lost their self-governing states but always by force, by defeat, by treason, but never by a voluntary surrender of their natural right to govern themselves. Well, the Czechs always did consider us to be inferior ... no wonder they have such a low opinion of us anyway. "The Slovaks have gloriously given up their inglorious past," a Czech newspaper gloated. "Still, though they have given up their Slovak state, they repeatedly sigh how good they had it under Tiso," the same article noted. ( Cas, November 17, 1946) If someone voluntarily and gloriously gives up something, he will not want it back. I am not alone in this opinion. The general secretary of the Socialist-Democratic Party declared in parliament: "In Slovakia there are forces to preserve an independent Slovakia inside the framework of Czecho-Slovakia. It is imperative for the Slovaks to realize that the patience of Czech public opinion has its limits." (Slaboda, December 19, 1946). Too bad the above mentioned speaker did not venture to predict what would happen the moment those limits of Czech patience were reached. It would be interesting to see if war would follow ... or would the Czechs declare their independence? When we consider this Czech spokesman had in mind the Slovak Democratic Party ( which had 62 % of the votes and the Slovak Freedom Party 4 %, this adds up to 66 % of the Slovak people) that favored, as he rightfully suspected, a Slovak state. Another Czech observer who studied the situation in Slovakia after the Slovaks reportedly 'gave up their right to self-government' declared: "The average Czech considers the existence of the �SLOVAKIA 43 Czecho-Slovak Republic as self-evident. He talks Czech but feels like a Czechoslovak, thinks like a Czechoslovak and on state occasions flies the Czechoslovak Flag. It is different in Slovakia, however. "This is quite obvious as one approaches Bratislava by train. The first tobacco store he sees from the window displays a Slovak emblem. At the railroad station the Slovak Flag is displayed side by side with the Czechoslovak banner . . . and when the national court is in session the Slovak Flag waves proudly above the bulding. The internal dissension, though not so apparent, is perhaps more or less intense. Sensitiveness in the linguistic sphere, constant vigilance and an air of mistrust, in fact, an atmosphere of expectation, reserve and expediency seems to be everywhere. Actually there are people who find it distasteful to utter the word, 'Czecho-Slovakia'." (Engineer Teyssler, Svobodny zitfek, October 17, 1946). What does all this signify? Simply that the Slovak nation awaits the opportunity of declaring its freedom. It has not renounced its national destiny. Many others observe the same thing and there are plenty of signs to confirm this view. Today's situation the Slovak nation regards as a temporary one, one that was forced upon it. To be forced into a state against its will when it is powerless, at the moment, to resist does not mean the Slovak nation has surrendered its natural right to self-government in its own national state. Archbishop Charles Kmet'ko publicly expressed his conviction under oath on the subject of President Tiso's politics: To Dr. sujan's question: "What did the Slovak state give the Slovak nation, morally or otherwise?" The reply by the highest ecclesiastic-Ordinary in Slovakia was spontaneous: "First of all," he said, "what Hlinka affirmed is an internationally acknowledged principle. Can anyone imagine a nation that does not want self-government? Is it possible that a poor man never dreams of owning his own home some day? Obviously, there is no such nation or person that does not want to be independent and to be master of his own household." �44 SLOVAKIA sujan interposed: "But that independence was dependence!" Kmet'ko: "Nonetheless, it was ten times better than a protectorate," the archbishop responded. sujan: "You denounced the direction of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party at the beginning of the Czecho-Slovak Republic because you foresaw an unhappy outcome. How could you abandon so many of your better principles in relationship to the Czecho-Slovak Republic after Munich?" Kmet'ko: "The Czecho-Slovak Republic is the only form in which the Slovak nation can live peaceably and progressively. Yet, if, theoretically, we could have a self-governing Slovak state, we could be independent. I say, if it is possible, we are for it. If impossible, we are for the Czecho-Slovak Republic." (Katolicke noviny, March 2, 1947). If the Czechs were convinced that the Slovak state is theoretically and practically impossible, then they could have used Kmet'ko's arguments as favorable propaganda. But actually they believe that an independent Slovakia is a possibility, not only theoretically but practically because they witnessed its realization. No wonder this statement caused a furore. Benes himself retorted: "This means that if the situation warranted a change the Slovaks tomorrow or the day after tomorrow would be for it. I will never accept this argument. I refuse to consider it in principle. I want a simple solution, clear-cut and definitive. Both of us must speak plainly: yes, yes, no, no!" (March 13, 1947). The Slovaks must speak out, Benes says, but first and last on his terms. In other words, they must agree with him, whether they feel that way or not. Since he spoke so vociferously in this tone, he knew that Slovak public opinion opposed his views. That is why he categorically announced he rejected Kmet'ko's opinion. What virtually is Benes's attitude towards the Slovak nation? By what right has a foreigner the power to direct the destiny of our ·nation to its own detriment? Benes has the right to dictate to us what policy we should follow and what views we are to have? Then any Hungarian. Russian. �SLOVAKIA 45 Polish or Austrian ruler has that right, too, for these are our neighbors ... a logical deduction from Benes' line of reasoning. Archbishop Kmet'ko was not Hlinka's follower. Certainly, he was not against Czecho-Slovakia, as such, because he believed as many of us believed, too, that this was the only way for our existence at the time. But he became more and more convinced in time that he was wrong, and that is why he proclaimed his belief in national independence as a better solution. The spirit of the Slovak Republic proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Slovak nation is vitally strong enough to sustain a self-governing state. The idea is very much alive and will once again give life to a new, revived free Slovakia in the future. This is inevitably the final solution to the aspirations of a freedom-loving Slovak people. A loyal citizen and patriot must support the best solution for his country, not foreign interests that are detrimental to its national interest. Benes in this struggle represents alien Czech interests, Kmet'ko and Tiso are representatives of the Slovak nation whose interests they defend as leaders of their people who are in full agreement with them. Schmidtke, a communist, once said: "There are people who find it difficult to renounce their sympathy for the fascist Slovak state." (Pravda, September 6, 1946). In short, it seems to us that 'the glorious renunciation of the Slovak Republic' is such that neither the Czechs, nor the communists, believe this, on the contrary, at every turn they discover a clear-cut expression of the desire for restoration of the Slovak Republic, and the desire for its renewal is manifested in word and deed on every side. A government, however, that gives its people a larger loaf of bread, that invests just taxes in its own development, that gives priority to the native language of its people and places it where it rightfully belongs, that builds roads, railways, hospitals, schools, etc., etc., and that emanates from the nation and rules the nation for its best interests, is a good government. Such a government the nation does not renounce. �46 SLOVAKIA On the other hand, a nation gives up on a government that takes away the best part of an honestly-earned loaf of bread, that deprives it of using its own language, that attempts to rob it of its nationality, that does not recognize its national identity. Such a government is not good and a nation gladly renounces it. What government ruled Slovakia in the first and second instance? It is needless to respond to this question, for we have many authentic reports from contemporary ministers and representatives how inept were the various administrations in the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Further, it is well to cite testimony of fereigners, not at all friendly to us, about how good the Slovak Republic really was. One could publish a book filled with their favorable quotations and observations. Perhaps ihe following statement will suffice to indicate what others thought of the Slovak Republic: 1) "The average, simple and intelligent Slovak lived in an oasis for six years of prosperity in a free Slovak state under the leadership of Tiso. "It is true, as we often repeated, that the Slovaks had it good during wartime, not so much because of German kindness but because of their own native skill. In Slovakia there are still signs of this so-called 'German goodness' in contrast to Czech lands." (Osvobozeny nasinec, December 1, 1946). 2) "Slovakia among the small European nations up to the autumn of 1944 remained unaffected directly by the war. Relative security, prosperity brought on, for this or that reason, the growth of national culture and art, national self-consciousness and other circumstances seemed to indicate that the Slovak Republic would not become involved actively in the war at all." (Obzory, E. Komorovsky: Slovensko vcera a dnes-Slovakia yesterday and today, 1946). 3) "Six years during World War II for the Czechs were cruel and retrogressive, for the Slovaks up to 1944 they were economically and socially successful, internationally and politically, however, problematical. During this time Czech industry, although partially dislocated and paralyzed, due to air bombardments, managed to survive and in some instances made progress. �SLOVAKIA 47 "Meanwhile, the Slovaks for fully five years progressed immensely on all fronts ... they had the great advantage of ruling themselves, which we did not have ... they not only caught up to us, but even forged ahead." (Obzory, 1946, page 815: My narod ceskoslovensky). 4) "Slovakia in wartime enjoyed prosperity and relatively great freedom. It was, as a matter of fact, a showcase state which the German used for propaganda purposes to show how they treated a good obedient child." (Obzory, 1945, page 262). 5) Dr. Vavro srobar said: "During the war Slovakia had the best situation on the continent. There were no executions, no concentration camps. There was plenty of bread, food, potatoes. Anyone could purchase a goose, or pork, and any kind of meat was available at relatively cheap prices." (Eudovy dennik, July 19, 1945). 6) "We do not deny, either the upli~t of religious life or the growth of spiritual and civilizing influence in the country. Under favorable conditions Slovakia was completely free on the religious side." Osvobozeny nasinec). 7) "Even after the breakthrough on the fighting-front the amount of goods was greater in Slovakia than on January 1, 1939." (Dr. Matura v Zat'kovom procese. Ndrodna obrbda, September 12, 1946). 8) "Frequently in studying conditions in Slovakia one concludes that the average citizen did not have it bad at all, in fact, he was not bad off during the entire war." (Cas, December 18, 1946). 9) "Economically, Slovakia was in very good shape. Government officials admit this and write about it openly. There were no exceptions, everyone was well off, whether he was a worker, an official or farmer. While the Germans exploited the Czechs, our government officials cleverly arranged to give the Germans a minimum of their national output." (Kanadsky Slovak. A letter from Kosice, August 6, 1946). Unaoubtedly, these few quotations from various sources indicate that the Slovak Republic was not bad at all. Fereign �48 SLOVAKIA newspapers, such as the London T i mes, wrote in the same vein. In wartime Benes propaganda sought to convince the Slovaks of their 'bad plight.' After war Czechs had this to say: "The years of the independent Slovak state were marked by rapidly increasing prosperity with the result of a high standard of living. This changed considerably after the war. "It was a period of building, progress and communication, and relative internal freedom, though not definitely democratic, yet it was free of any so-called fascist terror, particularly in the Hitlerian sense of the word. "While Czech schools were closed, the Slovak university received hundreds of highly qualified and intelligent students year after year. These can now be employed in various positions. Cultural life reached a new high level. "All this was not the work of the ruling regime-it was a national evolution of a people who seized the opportunity to get ahead. Slovak youth, according to personal testimony, was determined to advance at all costs. Slovak autonomists do not consider themselves to be discredited but rather exonerated for their policies by the events of their time ... which proved them to be right in pursuing those policies." (Obzory, "cesi a Slovaci", 1946, p. 774). So these were the so-called 'crimes' of the Slovak Republic! Obviously, a Czech, admitting the facts, must try in every way, however, to discredit the regime of the Slovak Republic. For him, it is only true that it was a natural evolution impelled by a new opportunity. But a people enjoys such an opportunity only in its own state. It is not a crime to seek such an opportunity ... it is only a natural evolution. Furthermore, that the Slovaks themselves might have some merit for their own economic well-being as a consequence of their wise and judicious politics a Czech finds it difficult to admit. On their side of the ledger, while the Czechs reluctantly admit they made mistakes, they claim these were not malicious. Well, was it not malicious to dismantle Slovak factories? This 'mistake' they attribute not to their government but to the "zivnobanka" administration. �SLOVAKIA 49 At present, finally when all the facts are in and when any objective-minded person must admit that conditions in Slovakia during the war were ideal, we are continually hearing from various quarters that the situation was unnatural, unchristian and immoral, completely wrong from every angle, because conditions were bad everywhere, and that must include Slovakia, it could not have been an exception, and so Czechs generally try to debunk the government of the Slovak Republic. Dr. Kozeluhova (a Czech) after lauding wartime conditions in Slovakia concludes : "Since in Slovakia much of the national wealth was in the forests, lumber exports were greatly excessive. Actually, we have to note that it will be a long, long time before the exorbitant cutting-down of trees will be replaced by new growth. Although the Germans did not impoverish the Slovaks by demands for food, there was prosperity, but future generations will have to suffer. It is clear that after years of abundance the postwar consequences would result in many lean years." (Obzory, 1945, p. 263). She was not alone in this view, for another Czech, Engineer J. Rotnagel expressed the same opinion in his book, cesi a Slovdci ( Czechs and Slovaks): "And the Slovaks? Let no one be deceived by the claim of a sounder and better financial status and higher living standards in Slovakia in contrast to Czech lands. The so-called prosperity was brought on by undue exploitation of the country's natural resources, particularly by the harvesting of the luxuriant Slovak forests by the Slovak: government." (page 275). What he is trying to say is that prosperity in Slovakia was at the expense of future generations. The Czechs talk about the exploitation of Slovak forests just like the Venetians of ancient times in Dalmatia and neighboring lands. Never in the history of Slovaks was there such economic exploitation on all sides as occurred under Czech domination in the old Czecho-Slovak Republic. The proof is in the records of the parliament in Prague, especially in the records of various companies operating in eastern Slovakia. How was this operation effected during the regime of the Slovak Republic? Reference to this was made in Zat'ko's �50 SLOVAKIA process, and not only as a mere statement but backed up by statistics. An authority on natural resources, Zat'ko reported as follows: "The Germans established a quota for the Czechs to produce 50 % more lumber than normally. In contrast to this, the normal capacity of lumber produced in Slovakia was not even reached so that the Slovak Republic actually saved 15,000,000 cubic metres of wood valued at 3,000,000,00 crowns." (N<irodnd obroda, September 12, 1946). This, then, is the truth based on facts. Simply stated, this action preserved millions of cubic metres of lumber for future generations. From this, one must conclude that the government was far-sighted, and far better than its predecessors. The government of the Slovak Republic planned and regulated the prosperity of its era while at the same time provided for the future. Least known and unpublicized is the fact that at the end of the war the Slovak Republic had a surplus of more than a billion crowns, which the Prague government confiscated, spent in less than two years and plunged the country into a deficit of 4 billion crowns by 1947. A treasure trove of fine lumber estimated in value of more than 3 billion crowns was left intact for future generations by the Slovak Republic. Industrial expansion was greatly augmented, too. The Slovaks had an abundance of food. What more material goods does one need aside from shelter and clothing? And the Slovak Republic provided these vital needs, too, for its people. After such derogatory statements about so-called exploitation by the Slovak Republic it sounds rather strange to hear a radio broadcast in Bratislava: "Czecho-Slovakia has a surplus of lumber in the eastern part of the country for extensive export." (Praha, January 8, 1947). It is easy to manipulate words, sentences and conclusions in an effort to hide the truth, but eventually the truth will uncover the lie, and cold statistics will further confirm what is true. It would be extremely difficult to find a nation whose officials were so guilty of deceit as those on the Czech side. One of these glaring examples is their shameless attempt to explain away Slovak prosperity. �SLOVAKIA 51 Exploitation of Slovak forests attributed falsely to the Slovak Republic is now followed by a strange sequel: the official order to cut down no less than five million cubic metres in 1947, and that for export. So, the postwar Czechoslovak government is following the example of the Slovak Republic's 'exploitation' by cutting down lumber in Slovakia, not in Czech lands, however. Every lie or falsehood sooner or later is detected. And so it is in this case. The lie levelled against the Slovak Republic comes to roost in Prague. Factually, the Slovak state was governed wisely and honestly. Such a state only a primitive and stupid people would voluntarily renounce. The Slovak nation has not renounced its right to a selfgoverning state but denounces every attempt to falsify the genuine record of good government and achievement of its Slovak Republic. From experience down through the ages that saw the Slovaks survive many regimes, they have come to realize that by far the best, the most beneficial was the regime of the Slovak Republic. No need to hide its imperfections, but what regime is perfect? Nevertheless, there is no comparison between Czecho-Slovakia and the Slovak Republic as far as its benefits go when one looks at the record that is indelibly imprinted on the pages of history. All of these events lead us to the obvious conclusion, namely, that the Slovaks are not satisfied with the present state of affairs, and that they aspire to renew their own Slovak state. None of the leading Slovak cultural or political leaders joined Benes when he left the country. In 1939 the Slovak wholeheartedly and unanimously took the oath of allegiance to the Slovak Republic. Why? Because they did not love Czecho-Slovakia. At the conclusion of the war when President Tiso was persuaded to leave the country thousands of Slovaks, intellectuals as well as average citizens, followed him into exile. Why? Because they wanted to work for the restoration of the Slovak Republic. The people at home are united in spirit with their Slovak countrymen abroad in the struggle to restore their self-governing state at the earliest opportunity. To this they are committed and dedicated as freedomloving men who aspire to a life of national freedom for their �52 SLOVAKIA people who for too long a time have been forced to live in servitude. Slovaks at home and throughout the entire world are of one mind, namely, that eventually and inevitably their eternal struggle for freedom and statehood must become a reality again. This dream is in keeping with the finest Slovak traditions of the past and a sacred legacy of our forefathers . It is in the spirit of Jjudovit stur who, after bitter experience and disappointments, declared: "We must liberate ourselves once and forever from the unendurable yoke of foreign rule if we are to take our rightful place that belongs to us on the strength of our abilities, and that means we must attain the ultimate goal of self-governing statehood because a nation that is enslaved has its bands bound, its spirit depressed and faces the danger of ultimate extinction." (Slovanstvo a svet buducnosti). To engage and negotiate in politics with anyone who is willing to help us was the slogan of the American Slovaks a half century ago. "We must pursue a political course," wrote Tholt-Vel'kostiavnicky, " that will bring us eventually to our national independence." (Slovensky dennik, February 27, 1909). In another article Vel'kostiavnicky wrote: "We Slovaks must have an honorable political program that will permit us to adopt a policy or unite with a nation with which we will be able to cooperate mutually, with positive assurance and a guarantee of our national independence. We must be a fully and independent and selfgoverning nation because this is according to the natural law, and a principle of an individual entity that belongs to every nation. "Every nation like every person upon reaching maturity desires to be free, and a nation aspires to have its own individual self-governing state. Thus it is with our Slovak nation, for we do not want to be infants iorever, nor dependents or slaves. We are impelled to this not only by the spirit of the age but by nature and every conceivable political experience of the past. "We Slovaks declare to the whole world that we are �SLOVAKIA 53 a nation that wants to be free, and therefore, must have its own free self-governing state in Europe." Our forebears spoke distinctly in this manner and spirit when all they had was the historic fact of the existence of Slovak statehood more than a thousand years ago, and of course, the basis for their claim the universally accepted principle that all nations aspire to independence. We had it a thousand years ago. We lost it because of overwhelming force but we did not surrender the right to be independent. That right belongs to us today and forever. Holly, stur and Tholt-Vel'kostiavnicky, and their followers believed this firmly. Should we who saw with our own eyes the happy reality of an independent Slovak state believe less? Should we after having witnessed what our Slovak state accomplished in six short years willingly bow our heads and place them in the Czech yoke? "No, never!" Let us unite with anyone who wants to help us, as Tholt wrote once, and oppose anyone and everyone who is against Slovak statehood. There are vital material resources that a nation needs but more importantly a nation has need of strong enduring moral values without which a nation cannot exist or long endure. Foremost among the characteristics that make a nation what it is is national consciousness. Both the Magyars and Czechs concentrated their attacks on this central point. Slovaks who possessed a conviction of their own national identity were recognized as inimical to their plans of assimilating the Slovaks. Accordingly they sought to destroy all self-consciousness by bribery, force and imprisonment. For all time renegades from the Slovak nation are listed as "mad'ar6ni" and "cechoslovaci." They degraded themselves by abandoning their Slovak nation because of an inferiority complex, and so they became satraps first of Magyar and subsequently of Czech overlords. Self-consciousness is an acquired virtue and strengthened by one's own conviction that he is his own man, and an individual person who is equal to any man, and he proves �54 SLOVAKIA it to himself and others by his actions in practical life. He stands proudly on his own two feet, so to speak. As in the experience of a child taking his first step which requires courage and effort, so it is with a nation taking its first step towards going ahead without any assistance. The Slovaks took their first step in modern times in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, but soon learned to stand and walk with confidence on their own two feet in the Slovak Republic. Slovak self-consciousness reached such a stage that even erstwhile "Czecho-Slovaks" changed and became convinced of their equality with the Czechs! Quite a transformation. And today they proudly assert they are Slovaks . . . not "Czechoslovaks", as once upon a time they timidly imagined themselves to be. This new spirit of self-reliance is the direct result of the successful development that led to Slovak statehood in our times. Czechs returning to Slovakia after the war, or those who meet Slovak visitors in Prague, are made aware immediately that these are not the old type Slovaks but a new generation or race of self-conscious members of the Slovak nation. This self-consciousness of the average Slovak, and of the intellectual as well, causes great consternation in the Czech camp. A certain 'Moravus' dealing with this natural phenomenon declared this to be absolutely 'insufferable.' With the exception of communist periodicals the Slovak press unanimously attacked him. Moravus got a stinging reply in Slaboda, October 26, 1948: "Awareness of the Slovak nation's abilities and possibilities is the source of the current self-consciousness," insufferable, indeed! cas (Time) replied in kind: "Thank God, Slovakia today is not the Slovakia of yesterday when the country had fewer than five hundred intellectuals.'' Ndrodnd obroda (National Renewal) added on October 26, 1946: "There is no resemblance between the Slovak nation that awoke from a long slumber in 1918 and the Slovak nation today.'' Where did this self-consciousness emanate from? �SLOVAKIA 55 To a large degree, from the Slovak Republic. It does not exist today as it did then, but the spirit has survived because we proved to ourselves and the whole world that we could rule our own country better and more efficiently than any alien master ... and because the average Slovak received more for his efforts, he became convinced of his ability to stand on his own two feet as a proud individual of the Slovak nation and as a loyal citizen of the SlovakRepublic. Some politicians who formerly did not dare to have an opinion of their own, relying entirely on Prague wrote: "Slovak affairs can be conducted best right here in Slovakia without interference from Prague, as has been amply demonstrated in recent years. "Slovakia stands firmly on its own feet and is progressing nicely without needless Czech supervision that may now concentrate on solving problems close to home in Prague itself." ( Cas) Under pressure of this new development even Benes changed his tune about his familiar theme, "one nation" i.e., only a Czechoslovak nation (sic), when he said in Kosice: "Since 1918 Slovakia has become stronger and more prosperous, and it has advanced culturally, politically and organizationally so that its rights must be respected. That was self-evident to me in 1938 when I proposed decentralization in the republic." Benes' statement is not true, however. The Czech president addressed a similar proposal on October 4, 1938, to Tiso but he had it recalled from the post office because he was suddenly forced to resign from the presidency. The fact is that in 1938 Benes declared: "No Slovak problem exists. Therefore, there is no need for a solution." Since even Benes admits Slovakia's maturity and progress, why was it denied a Slovak national council, a board of commissioners and other agencies on the basis of the Kosice Agreement? Let us search for the source of the best qualities of every nation. We shall find clues in the following: "The intensive and extensive experience of Slovak statehood produced a new Slovak personality whose political �56 SLOVAKIA spirit and abilities astonished observers who could not help but admire real achievements of the era." (Dr. V. Busek, Svobodny zitfek, No. 36, 1946). One Czech finally admits that it was the Slovak Republic that accomplished wonders. Then why judge Slovak politicians for their achievements? Benes brought them to trial precisely because they were responsible for the rise and growth of Slovak national self-consciousness, because they gave testimony to their own nation of their effective leadership in utilizing their innate talents and skills in establishing independence and statehood. Benes no longer can repeat what he once said to Razus: "You Slovaks have nowhere to go." The Slovaks do not have to go anywhere. All they have to do and they want to do is to stay in their own historic homeland and manage their own affairs in their national household. In the eyes of Benes who attempted to make Slovakia a Czech colony there was no greater crime in all history than that of Tiso and his governmental staff that dared to take off and soar high on their wings like Slovak eagles in the blue sky high above a free land. "Never again will dictatorship rule the Slovaks, for one learns once ancl. for all from his personal experience," writes Slaboda, November 12, 1946. Quotations of this new popular view were often repeated in the postwar era when Prague seized political control of Slovakia after the war. One heard statements like the following: "We have outgrown our infant clothes, we will not take orders from Praha. We lived without Czechs and we can live without them; we were burned once, never again, etc." Dr. Kulhanek advised his Czech countrymen to face the facts, reminding them at long last this (Slovak nation) was not a primitive tribe of sheepherders whiling away the hours blowing the fujara (a musical instrument which may be described as a giant cousin of the saxophone), nor a group of migrant tinkers. "This is a very capable nation comprising seriousminded people of realism. They seek to solve contemporary problems with greater calm and keener perspicacity than we do." (Svobodny zitfek, October 4, 1946). �SLOVAKIA 57 Another Czech periodical observed: "Czechs have to be aware of the great re-birth in Slovakia since 1938, and that there is a great difference between Slovaks of yesterday and today. The Slovaks have matured politically and have grown up culturally, their national self-consciousness has been strengthened and ripened. The great majority of Slovaks, not excluding former 'Hlasist' devotees who preached a Czechoslovak form of national unity, feel they are members of an independent nation, and they will not tolerate either political or cultural overlordship, nor economic domination. (Zemedelske listy). Reacting to these tributes to the Slovak Republic from even hitherto hostile quarters an American Slovak journalist wrote: "What great miraculous powers of national liberty and independent statehood must have been at work that in less than six years of the regime of the Slovak Republic these transformed many in the former 'Hlasist' Czechoslovak camp into self-conscious Slovak Patriots." ( Osadne Hlasy, August 9, 1946). No political regime in the world ever gave its people as much as the administration of the Slovak Republic gave the Slovak nation. Self-pride, independence, the spirit of conscientious work, national consciousness, as well as the conversion of Czechoslovak factions, those unbelieving Thomases, all this was inspired by the Slovak Republic. Nevertheless, we are faced with the paradox of all paradoxes, namely, the persecution, imprisonment and execution of the very persons who accomplished all these things. What irony of fate that propagators of noble ideals are now being hounded, tried in court and sentenced to prison and death in the country they served so nobly and so well! Despite this tragedy enemies of the Slovak nation have lost the fight, for the fanatical movement to absorb the Slovaks in a conglomerate of a "Czechoslovak" people was crushed. This was genocide long before it was labelled as such after the war. Hlinka, Tiso and Sidor and their colleagues won the good fight and saved the Slovak nation in a crisis that saw their domestic enemies, the Hlasists, converted to the cause of Slovak national freedom. Ideologically, Benes was defeated. He asserted that he �58 SLOVAKIA recognized only a "Czechoslovak" nation-Hlinka triumphed hy 'declaring he did not recognize such a nation because it never existed. Today Benes, the Bolsheviks and their collaborators may condemn, imprison and hang the creators of the Slovak Republic, they may confiscate their properties and seek to erase their names from history, but they will never succeed in stamping out the self-consciousness of the Slovak nation that came to full maturity in the Slovak Republic. No power in the world can eradicate the aspiration of the Slovak nation for its own free, independent statehood. Attempts to educate a new generation of Slovaks to repudiate the achievements of the brave men ,a nd women who created the Slovak state will be in vain, as will be the terroristic methods designed to intimidate the Slovak people into acknowledging that they have lost their will to be free. Slovak coins with the image of the immortal Slovak president, the banner of the Slovak army, photographs from the Slovak state remain, all reminders of the Slovak Republic. Most important of all, however, is the abiding conviction that we are equals with the civilized and cultured nations of Europe, that we have enough intelligence, that we have a nation that is alert and wide-awake, and particularly that we have a will strong enough to renew our Slovak state at the earliest opportunity. Clearly and unequivocally we declare again: The Slovak nation is ready to accept a helping hand from every great power on earth. Echoes and re-echoes will be heard incessantly throughout Slovakia until the restoration of a free Slovak state. Times have changed and today's situation is not the same as it was when we had our own Slovak Republic. Unpleasant and unbearable though the truth is to some Czechs of the past, the wise ones admit it must be respected, and they are reconciled to the inevitable gennination of a free Slovak state that must come into being again for a self-conscious Slovak nation in the near future. Such is the destiny of a nation determined to have its own self-governing state. (A translation by Andrew Pier from unpublished book of Konstantin culen.) � SLOVAKIA 41 Good Slovak Republic By Konstantin cul en It was March 14, 1945. I was scheduled to be the main speaker in a certain Slovak city which was known chiefly for the strange fact that people disliked to go there for celebrations and lectures. The population consisted generally of teachers, professors, students and officials. In short, they lived there because they had to. To my great surprise, the auditorium was filled to capacity ten minutes before the program was slated to start. This was unusual because the town had the reputation of starting all of its programs late in order to give stragglers time to come and give the speaker some encouragement in a sparsely filled hall. On this occasion, however, many had to be turned away but they waited outside during the entire program. After the program I asked what had brought such a great crowd to the affair. A small landowner explained it this way: "We all feel that our enemies are about to destroy our Slovak Republic. Now we realize more than ever before what we shall lose. I tell you never was the idea of the Slovak Republic as strong as at this very moment, and it will be even stronger when we don't have it any more. But we shall revive it again ... at the very first opportunity, mind my words," he concluded. In later years I often recalled what this genuine Slovak patriot had said. Many agreed with him wholeheartedly then, and many still do today. I am fully aware of this, for the idea is very much alive today and stronger, too, for in the passing years people have witnessed the contrast between what was and what is the situation in our time. Czech politicians, alone, like to think that the Slovak Republic vanished forever. They are convinced that "the Czecho-Slovak Republic is the only plausible solution and way of life for the Slovak nation." The newspapermen spread this propaganda. They ignore the obvious fact that for six years the Slovaks proved this thesis wrong ... the reality of the Slovak Republic is proof positive of the �42 SLOVAKIA self-reliance of the Slovak nation. The Czech people do not accept this view. If their political leaders do not see the writing on the wall let them live with their illusions. Is there a nation in the whole wide world which has surrendered its right for a self-governing state, especially after demonstrating, as did the Slovak nation, that it can govern itself successfully? We know of no such nation. Nations have lost their self-governing states but always by force, by defeat, by treason, but never by a voluntary surrender of their natural right to govern themselves. Well, the Czechs always did consider us to be inferior ... no wonder they have such a low opinion of us anyway. "The Slovaks have gloriously given up their inglorious past," a Czech newspaper gloated. "Still, though they have given up their Slovak state, they repeatedly sigh how good they had it under Tiso," the same article noted. ( Cas, November 17, 1946) If someone voluntarily and gloriously gives up something, he will not want it back. I am not alone in this opinion. The general secretary of the Socialist-Democratic Party declared in parliament: "In Slovakia there are forces to preserve an independent Slovakia inside the framework of Czecho-Slovakia. It is imperative for the Slovaks to realize that the patience of Czech public opinion has its limits." (Slaboda, December 19, 1946). Too bad the above mentioned speaker did not venture to predict what would happen the moment those limits of Czech patience were reached. It would be interesting to see if war would follow ... or would the Czechs declare their independence? When we consider this Czech spokesman had in mind the Slovak Democratic Party ( which had 62 % of the votes and the Slovak Freedom Party 4 %, this adds up to 66 % of the Slovak people) that favored, as he rightfully suspected, a Slovak state. Another Czech observer who studied the situation in Slovakia after the Slovaks reportedly 'gave up their right to self-government' declared: "The average Czech considers the existence of the �SLOVAKIA 43 Czecho-Slovak Republic as self-evident. He talks Czech but feels like a Czechoslovak, thinks like a Czechoslovak and on state occasions flies the Czechoslovak Flag. It is different in Slovakia, however. "This is quite obvious as one approaches Bratislava by train. The first tobacco store he sees from the window displays a Slovak emblem. At the railroad station the Slovak Flag is displayed side by side with the Czechoslovak banner . . . and when the national court is in session the Slovak Flag waves proudly above the bulding. The internal dissension, though not so apparent, is perhaps more or less intense. Sensitiveness in the linguistic sphere, constant vigilance and an air of mistrust, in fact, an atmosphere of expectation, reserve and expediency seems to be everywhere. Actually there are people who find it distasteful to utter the word, 'Czecho-Slovakia'." (Engineer Teyssler, Svobodny zitfek, October 17, 1946). What does all this signify? Simply that the Slovak nation awaits the opportunity of declaring its freedom. It has not renounced its national destiny. Many others observe the same thing and there are plenty of signs to confirm this view. Today's situation the Slovak nation regards as a temporary one, one that was forced upon it. To be forced into a state against its will when it is powerless, at the moment, to resist does not mean the Slovak nation has surrendered its natural right to self-government in its own national state. Archbishop Charles Kmet'ko publicly expressed his conviction under oath on the subject of President Tiso's politics: To Dr. sujan's question: "What did the Slovak state give the Slovak nation, morally or otherwise?" The reply by the highest ecclesiastic-Ordinary in Slovakia was spontaneous: "First of all," he said, "what Hlinka affirmed is an internationally acknowledged principle. Can anyone imagine a nation that does not want self-government? Is it possible that a poor man never dreams of owning his own home some day? Obviously, there is no such nation or person that does not want to be independent and to be master of his own household." �44 SLOVAKIA sujan interposed: "But that independence was dependence!" Kmet'ko: "Nonetheless, it was ten times better than a protectorate," the archbishop responded. sujan: "You denounced the direction of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party at the beginning of the Czecho-Slovak Republic because you foresaw an unhappy outcome. How could you abandon so many of your better principles in relationship to the Czecho-Slovak Republic after Munich?" Kmet'ko: "The Czecho-Slovak Republic is the only form in which the Slovak nation can live peaceably and progressively. Yet, if, theoretically, we could have a self-governing Slovak state, we could be independent. I say, if it is possible, we are for it. If impossible, we are for the Czecho-Slovak Republic." (Katolicke noviny, March 2, 1947). If the Czechs were convinced that the Slovak state is theoretically and practically impossible, then they could have used Kmet'ko's arguments as favorable propaganda. But actually they believe that an independent Slovakia is a possibility, not only theoretically but practically because they witnessed its realization. No wonder this statement caused a furore. Benes himself retorted: "This means that if the situation warranted a change the Slovaks tomorrow or the day after tomorrow would be for it. I will never accept this argument. I refuse to consider it in principle. I want a simple solution, clear-cut and definitive. Both of us must speak plainly: yes, yes, no, no!" (March 13, 1947). The Slovaks must speak out, Benes says, but first and last on his terms. In other words, they must agree with him, whether they feel that way or not. Since he spoke so vociferously in this tone, he knew that Slovak public opinion opposed his views. That is why he categorically announced he rejected Kmet'ko's opinion. What virtually is Benes's attitude towards the Slovak nation? By what right has a foreigner the power to direct the destiny of our ·nation to its own detriment? Benes has the right to dictate to us what policy we should follow and what views we are to have? Then any Hungarian. Russian. �SLOVAKIA 45 Polish or Austrian ruler has that right, too, for these are our neighbors ... a logical deduction from Benes' line of reasoning. Archbishop Kmet'ko was not Hlinka's follower. Certainly, he was not against Czecho-Slovakia, as such, because he believed as many of us believed, too, that this was the only way for our existence at the time. But he became more and more convinced in time that he was wrong, and that is why he proclaimed his belief in national independence as a better solution. The spirit of the Slovak Republic proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Slovak nation is vitally strong enough to sustain a self-governing state. The idea is very much alive and will once again give life to a new, revived free Slovakia in the future. This is inevitably the final solution to the aspirations of a freedom-loving Slovak people. A loyal citizen and patriot must support the best solution for his country, not foreign interests that are detrimental to its national interest. Benes in this struggle represents alien Czech interests, Kmet'ko and Tiso are representatives of the Slovak nation whose interests they defend as leaders of their people who are in full agreement with them. Schmidtke, a communist, once said: "There are people who find it difficult to renounce their sympathy for the fascist Slovak state." (Pravda, September 6, 1946). In short, it seems to us that 'the glorious renunciation of the Slovak Republic' is such that neither the Czechs, nor the communists, believe this, on the contrary, at every turn they discover a clear-cut expression of the desire for restoration of the Slovak Republic, and the desire for its renewal is manifested in word and deed on every side. A government, however, that gives its people a larger loaf of bread, that invests just taxes in its own development, that gives priority to the native language of its people and places it where it rightfully belongs, that builds roads, railways, hospitals, schools, etc., etc., and that emanates from the nation and rules the nation for its best interests, is a good government. Such a government the nation does not renounce. �46 SLOVAKIA On the other hand, a nation gives up on a government that takes away the best part of an honestly-earned loaf of bread, that deprives it of using its own language, that attempts to rob it of its nationality, that does not recognize its national identity. Such a government is not good and a nation gladly renounces it. What government ruled Slovakia in the first and second instance? It is needless to respond to this question, for we have many authentic reports from contemporary ministers and representatives how inept were the various administrations in the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Further, it is well to cite testimony of fereigners, not at all friendly to us, about how good the Slovak Republic really was. One could publish a book filled with their favorable quotations and observations. Perhaps ihe following statement will suffice to indicate what others thought of the Slovak Republic: 1) "The average, simple and intelligent Slovak lived in an oasis for six years of prosperity in a free Slovak state under the leadership of Tiso. "It is true, as we often repeated, that the Slovaks had it good during wartime, not so much because of German kindness but because of their own native skill. In Slovakia there are still signs of this so-called 'German goodness' in contrast to Czech lands." (Osvobozeny nasinec, December 1, 1946). 2) "Slovakia among the small European nations up to the autumn of 1944 remained unaffected directly by the war. Relative security, prosperity brought on, for this or that reason, the growth of national culture and art, national self-consciousness and other circumstances seemed to indicate that the Slovak Republic would not become involved actively in the war at all." (Obzory, E. Komorovsky: Slovensko vcera a dnes-Slovakia yesterday and today, 1946). 3) "Six years during World War II for the Czechs were cruel and retrogressive, for the Slovaks up to 1944 they were economically and socially successful, internationally and politically, however, problematical. During this time Czech industry, although partially dislocated and paralyzed, due to air bombardments, managed to survive and in some instances made progress. �SLOVAKIA 47 "Meanwhile, the Slovaks for fully five years progressed immensely on all fronts ... they had the great advantage of ruling themselves, which we did not have ... they not only caught up to us, but even forged ahead." (Obzory, 1946, page 815: My narod ceskoslovensky). 4) "Slovakia in wartime enjoyed prosperity and relatively great freedom. It was, as a matter of fact, a showcase state which the German used for propaganda purposes to show how they treated a good obedient child." (Obzory, 1945, page 262). 5) Dr. Vavro srobar said: "During the war Slovakia had the best situation on the continent. There were no executions, no concentration camps. There was plenty of bread, food, potatoes. Anyone could purchase a goose, or pork, and any kind of meat was available at relatively cheap prices." (Eudovy dennik, July 19, 1945). 6) "We do not deny, either the upli~t of religious life or the growth of spiritual and civilizing influence in the country. Under favorable conditions Slovakia was completely free on the religious side." Osvobozeny nasinec). 7) "Even after the breakthrough on the fighting-front the amount of goods was greater in Slovakia than on January 1, 1939." (Dr. Matura v Zat'kovom procese. Ndrodna obrbda, September 12, 1946). 8) "Frequently in studying conditions in Slovakia one concludes that the average citizen did not have it bad at all, in fact, he was not bad off during the entire war." (Cas, December 18, 1946). 9) "Economically, Slovakia was in very good shape. Government officials admit this and write about it openly. There were no exceptions, everyone was well off, whether he was a worker, an official or farmer. While the Germans exploited the Czechs, our government officials cleverly arranged to give the Germans a minimum of their national output." (Kanadsky Slovak. A letter from Kosice, August 6, 1946). Unaoubtedly, these few quotations from various sources indicate that the Slovak Republic was not bad at all. Fereign �48 SLOVAKIA newspapers, such as the London T i mes, wrote in the same vein. In wartime Benes propaganda sought to convince the Slovaks of their 'bad plight.' After war Czechs had this to say: "The years of the independent Slovak state were marked by rapidly increasing prosperity with the result of a high standard of living. This changed considerably after the war. "It was a period of building, progress and communication, and relative internal freedom, though not definitely democratic, yet it was free of any so-called fascist terror, particularly in the Hitlerian sense of the word. "While Czech schools were closed, the Slovak university received hundreds of highly qualified and intelligent students year after year. These can now be employed in various positions. Cultural life reached a new high level. "All this was not the work of the ruling regime-it was a national evolution of a people who seized the opportunity to get ahead. Slovak youth, according to personal testimony, was determined to advance at all costs. Slovak autonomists do not consider themselves to be discredited but rather exonerated for their policies by the events of their time ... which proved them to be right in pursuing those policies." (Obzory, "cesi a Slovaci", 1946, p. 774). So these were the so-called 'crimes' of the Slovak Republic! Obviously, a Czech, admitting the facts, must try in every way, however, to discredit the regime of the Slovak Republic. For him, it is only true that it was a natural evolution impelled by a new opportunity. But a people enjoys such an opportunity only in its own state. It is not a crime to seek such an opportunity ... it is only a natural evolution. Furthermore, that the Slovaks themselves might have some merit for their own economic well-being as a consequence of their wise and judicious politics a Czech finds it difficult to admit. On their side of the ledger, while the Czechs reluctantly admit they made mistakes, they claim these were not malicious. Well, was it not malicious to dismantle Slovak factories? This 'mistake' they attribute not to their government but to the "zivnobanka" administration. �SLOVAKIA 49 At present, finally when all the facts are in and when any objective-minded person must admit that conditions in Slovakia during the war were ideal, we are continually hearing from various quarters that the situation was unnatural, unchristian and immoral, completely wrong from every angle, because conditions were bad everywhere, and that must include Slovakia, it could not have been an exception, and so Czechs generally try to debunk the government of the Slovak Republic. Dr. Kozeluhova (a Czech) after lauding wartime conditions in Slovakia concludes : "Since in Slovakia much of the national wealth was in the forests, lumber exports were greatly excessive. Actually, we have to note that it will be a long, long time before the exorbitant cutting-down of trees will be replaced by new growth. Although the Germans did not impoverish the Slovaks by demands for food, there was prosperity, but future generations will have to suffer. It is clear that after years of abundance the postwar consequences would result in many lean years." (Obzory, 1945, p. 263). She was not alone in this view, for another Czech, Engineer J. Rotnagel expressed the same opinion in his book, cesi a Slovdci ( Czechs and Slovaks): "And the Slovaks? Let no one be deceived by the claim of a sounder and better financial status and higher living standards in Slovakia in contrast to Czech lands. The so-called prosperity was brought on by undue exploitation of the country's natural resources, particularly by the harvesting of the luxuriant Slovak forests by the Slovak: government." (page 275). What he is trying to say is that prosperity in Slovakia was at the expense of future generations. The Czechs talk about the exploitation of Slovak forests just like the Venetians of ancient times in Dalmatia and neighboring lands. Never in the history of Slovaks was there such economic exploitation on all sides as occurred under Czech domination in the old Czecho-Slovak Republic. The proof is in the records of the parliament in Prague, especially in the records of various companies operating in eastern Slovakia. How was this operation effected during the regime of the Slovak Republic? Reference to this was made in Zat'ko's �50 SLOVAKIA process, and not only as a mere statement but backed up by statistics. An authority on natural resources, Zat'ko reported as follows: "The Germans established a quota for the Czechs to produce 50 % more lumber than normally. In contrast to this, the normal capacity of lumber produced in Slovakia was not even reached so that the Slovak Republic actually saved 15,000,000 cubic metres of wood valued at 3,000,000,00 crowns." (N<irodnd obroda, September 12, 1946). This, then, is the truth based on facts. Simply stated, this action preserved millions of cubic metres of lumber for future generations. From this, one must conclude that the government was far-sighted, and far better than its predecessors. The government of the Slovak Republic planned and regulated the prosperity of its era while at the same time provided for the future. Least known and unpublicized is the fact that at the end of the war the Slovak Republic had a surplus of more than a billion crowns, which the Prague government confiscated, spent in less than two years and plunged the country into a deficit of 4 billion crowns by 1947. A treasure trove of fine lumber estimated in value of more than 3 billion crowns was left intact for future generations by the Slovak Republic. Industrial expansion was greatly augmented, too. The Slovaks had an abundance of food. What more material goods does one need aside from shelter and clothing? And the Slovak Republic provided these vital needs, too, for its people. After such derogatory statements about so-called exploitation by the Slovak Republic it sounds rather strange to hear a radio broadcast in Bratislava: "Czecho-Slovakia has a surplus of lumber in the eastern part of the country for extensive export." (Praha, January 8, 1947). It is easy to manipulate words, sentences and conclusions in an effort to hide the truth, but eventually the truth will uncover the lie, and cold statistics will further confirm what is true. It would be extremely difficult to find a nation whose officials were so guilty of deceit as those on the Czech side. One of these glaring examples is their shameless attempt to explain away Slovak prosperity. �SLOVAKIA 51 Exploitation of Slovak forests attributed falsely to the Slovak Republic is now followed by a strange sequel: the official order to cut down no less than five million cubic metres in 1947, and that for export. So, the postwar Czechoslovak government is following the example of the Slovak Republic's 'exploitation' by cutting down lumber in Slovakia, not in Czech lands, however. Every lie or falsehood sooner or later is detected. And so it is in this case. The lie levelled against the Slovak Republic comes to roost in Prague. Factually, the Slovak state was governed wisely and honestly. Such a state only a primitive and stupid people would voluntarily renounce. The Slovak nation has not renounced its right to a selfgoverning state but denounces every attempt to falsify the genuine record of good government and achievement of its Slovak Republic. From experience down through the ages that saw the Slovaks survive many regimes, they have come to realize that by far the best, the most beneficial was the regime of the Slovak Republic. No need to hide its imperfections, but what regime is perfect? Nevertheless, there is no comparison between Czecho-Slovakia and the Slovak Republic as far as its benefits go when one looks at the record that is indelibly imprinted on the pages of history. All of these events lead us to the obvious conclusion, namely, that the Slovaks are not satisfied with the present state of affairs, and that they aspire to renew their own Slovak state. None of the leading Slovak cultural or political leaders joined Benes when he left the country. In 1939 the Slovak wholeheartedly and unanimously took the oath of allegiance to the Slovak Republic. Why? Because they did not love Czecho-Slovakia. At the conclusion of the war when President Tiso was persuaded to leave the country thousands of Slovaks, intellectuals as well as average citizens, followed him into exile. Why? Because they wanted to work for the restoration of the Slovak Republic. The people at home are united in spirit with their Slovak countrymen abroad in the struggle to restore their self-governing state at the earliest opportunity. To this they are committed and dedicated as freedomloving men who aspire to a life of national freedom for their �52 SLOVAKIA people who for too long a time have been forced to live in servitude. Slovaks at home and throughout the entire world are of one mind, namely, that eventually and inevitably their eternal struggle for freedom and statehood must become a reality again. This dream is in keeping with the finest Slovak traditions of the past and a sacred legacy of our forefathers . It is in the spirit of Jjudovit stur who, after bitter experience and disappointments, declared: "We must liberate ourselves once and forever from the unendurable yoke of foreign rule if we are to take our rightful place that belongs to us on the strength of our abilities, and that means we must attain the ultimate goal of self-governing statehood because a nation that is enslaved has its bands bound, its spirit depressed and faces the danger of ultimate extinction." (Slovanstvo a svet buducnosti). To engage and negotiate in politics with anyone who is willing to help us was the slogan of the American Slovaks a half century ago. "We must pursue a political course," wrote Tholt-Vel'kostiavnicky, " that will bring us eventually to our national independence." (Slovensky dennik, February 27, 1909). In another article Vel'kostiavnicky wrote: "We Slovaks must have an honorable political program that will permit us to adopt a policy or unite with a nation with which we will be able to cooperate mutually, with positive assurance and a guarantee of our national independence. We must be a fully and independent and selfgoverning nation because this is according to the natural law, and a principle of an individual entity that belongs to every nation. "Every nation like every person upon reaching maturity desires to be free, and a nation aspires to have its own individual self-governing state. Thus it is with our Slovak nation, for we do not want to be infants iorever, nor dependents or slaves. We are impelled to this not only by the spirit of the age but by nature and every conceivable political experience of the past. "We Slovaks declare to the whole world that we are �SLOVAKIA 53 a nation that wants to be free, and therefore, must have its own free self-governing state in Europe." Our forebears spoke distinctly in this manner and spirit when all they had was the historic fact of the existence of Slovak statehood more than a thousand years ago, and of course, the basis for their claim the universally accepted principle that all nations aspire to independence. We had it a thousand years ago. We lost it because of overwhelming force but we did not surrender the right to be independent. That right belongs to us today and forever. Holly, stur and Tholt-Vel'kostiavnicky, and their followers believed this firmly. Should we who saw with our own eyes the happy reality of an independent Slovak state believe less? Should we after having witnessed what our Slovak state accomplished in six short years willingly bow our heads and place them in the Czech yoke? "No, never!" Let us unite with anyone who wants to help us, as Tholt wrote once, and oppose anyone and everyone who is against Slovak statehood. There are vital material resources that a nation needs but more importantly a nation has need of strong enduring moral values without which a nation cannot exist or long endure. Foremost among the characteristics that make a nation what it is is national consciousness. Both the Magyars and Czechs concentrated their attacks on this central point. Slovaks who possessed a conviction of their own national identity were recognized as inimical to their plans of assimilating the Slovaks. Accordingly they sought to destroy all self-consciousness by bribery, force and imprisonment. For all time renegades from the Slovak nation are listed as "mad'ar6ni" and "cechoslovaci." They degraded themselves by abandoning their Slovak nation because of an inferiority complex, and so they became satraps first of Magyar and subsequently of Czech overlords. Self-consciousness is an acquired virtue and strengthened by one's own conviction that he is his own man, and an individual person who is equal to any man, and he proves �54 SLOVAKIA it to himself and others by his actions in practical life. He stands proudly on his own two feet, so to speak. As in the experience of a child taking his first step which requires courage and effort, so it is with a nation taking its first step towards going ahead without any assistance. The Slovaks took their first step in modern times in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, but soon learned to stand and walk with confidence on their own two feet in the Slovak Republic. Slovak self-consciousness reached such a stage that even erstwhile "Czecho-Slovaks" changed and became convinced of their equality with the Czechs! Quite a transformation. And today they proudly assert they are Slovaks . . . not "Czechoslovaks", as once upon a time they timidly imagined themselves to be. This new spirit of self-reliance is the direct result of the successful development that led to Slovak statehood in our times. Czechs returning to Slovakia after the war, or those who meet Slovak visitors in Prague, are made aware immediately that these are not the old type Slovaks but a new generation or race of self-conscious members of the Slovak nation. This self-consciousness of the average Slovak, and of the intellectual as well, causes great consternation in the Czech camp. A certain 'Moravus' dealing with this natural phenomenon declared this to be absolutely 'insufferable.' With the exception of communist periodicals the Slovak press unanimously attacked him. Moravus got a stinging reply in Slaboda, October 26, 1948: "Awareness of the Slovak nation's abilities and possibilities is the source of the current self-consciousness," insufferable, indeed! cas (Time) replied in kind: "Thank God, Slovakia today is not the Slovakia of yesterday when the country had fewer than five hundred intellectuals.'' Ndrodnd obroda (National Renewal) added on October 26, 1946: "There is no resemblance between the Slovak nation that awoke from a long slumber in 1918 and the Slovak nation today.'' Where did this self-consciousness emanate from? �SLOVAKIA 55 To a large degree, from the Slovak Republic. It does not exist today as it did then, but the spirit has survived because we proved to ourselves and the whole world that we could rule our own country better and more efficiently than any alien master ... and because the average Slovak received more for his efforts, he became convinced of his ability to stand on his own two feet as a proud individual of the Slovak nation and as a loyal citizen of the SlovakRepublic. Some politicians who formerly did not dare to have an opinion of their own, relying entirely on Prague wrote: "Slovak affairs can be conducted best right here in Slovakia without interference from Prague, as has been amply demonstrated in recent years. "Slovakia stands firmly on its own feet and is progressing nicely without needless Czech supervision that may now concentrate on solving problems close to home in Prague itself." ( Cas) Under pressure of this new development even Benes changed his tune about his familiar theme, "one nation" i.e., only a Czechoslovak nation (sic), when he said in Kosice: "Since 1918 Slovakia has become stronger and more prosperous, and it has advanced culturally, politically and organizationally so that its rights must be respected. That was self-evident to me in 1938 when I proposed decentralization in the republic." Benes' statement is not true, however. The Czech president addressed a similar proposal on October 4, 1938, to Tiso but he had it recalled from the post office because he was suddenly forced to resign from the presidency. The fact is that in 1938 Benes declared: "No Slovak problem exists. Therefore, there is no need for a solution." Since even Benes admits Slovakia's maturity and progress, why was it denied a Slovak national council, a board of commissioners and other agencies on the basis of the Kosice Agreement? Let us search for the source of the best qualities of every nation. We shall find clues in the following: "The intensive and extensive experience of Slovak statehood produced a new Slovak personality whose political �56 SLOVAKIA spirit and abilities astonished observers who could not help but admire real achievements of the era." (Dr. V. Busek, Svobodny zitfek, No. 36, 1946). One Czech finally admits that it was the Slovak Republic that accomplished wonders. Then why judge Slovak politicians for their achievements? Benes brought them to trial precisely because they were responsible for the rise and growth of Slovak national self-consciousness, because they gave testimony to their own nation of their effective leadership in utilizing their innate talents and skills in establishing independence and statehood. Benes no longer can repeat what he once said to Razus: "You Slovaks have nowhere to go." The Slovaks do not have to go anywhere. All they have to do and they want to do is to stay in their own historic homeland and manage their own affairs in their national household. In the eyes of Benes who attempted to make Slovakia a Czech colony there was no greater crime in all history than that of Tiso and his governmental staff that dared to take off and soar high on their wings like Slovak eagles in the blue sky high above a free land. "Never again will dictatorship rule the Slovaks, for one learns once ancl. for all from his personal experience," writes Slaboda, November 12, 1946. Quotations of this new popular view were often repeated in the postwar era when Prague seized political control of Slovakia after the war. One heard statements like the following: "We have outgrown our infant clothes, we will not take orders from Praha. We lived without Czechs and we can live without them; we were burned once, never again, etc." Dr. Kulhanek advised his Czech countrymen to face the facts, reminding them at long last this (Slovak nation) was not a primitive tribe of sheepherders whiling away the hours blowing the fujara (a musical instrument which may be described as a giant cousin of the saxophone), nor a group of migrant tinkers. "This is a very capable nation comprising seriousminded people of realism. They seek to solve contemporary problems with greater calm and keener perspicacity than we do." (Svobodny zitfek, October 4, 1946). �SLOVAKIA 57 Another Czech periodical observed: "Czechs have to be aware of the great re-birth in Slovakia since 1938, and that there is a great difference between Slovaks of yesterday and today. The Slovaks have matured politically and have grown up culturally, their national self-consciousness has been strengthened and ripened. The great majority of Slovaks, not excluding former 'Hlasist' devotees who preached a Czechoslovak form of national unity, feel they are members of an independent nation, and they will not tolerate either political or cultural overlordship, nor economic domination. (Zemedelske listy). Reacting to these tributes to the Slovak Republic from even hitherto hostile quarters an American Slovak journalist wrote: "What great miraculous powers of national liberty and independent statehood must have been at work that in less than six years of the regime of the Slovak Republic these transformed many in the former 'Hlasist' Czechoslovak camp into self-conscious Slovak Patriots." ( Osadne Hlasy, August 9, 1946). No political regime in the world ever gave its people as much as the administration of the Slovak Republic gave the Slovak nation. Self-pride, independence, the spirit of conscientious work, national consciousness, as well as the conversion of Czechoslovak factions, those unbelieving Thomases, all this was inspired by the Slovak Republic. Nevertheless, we are faced with the paradox of all paradoxes, namely, the persecution, imprisonment and execution of the very persons who accomplished all these things. What irony of fate that propagators of noble ideals are now being hounded, tried in court and sentenced to prison and death in the country they served so nobly and so well! Despite this tragedy enemies of the Slovak nation have lost the fight, for the fanatical movement to absorb the Slovaks in a conglomerate of a "Czechoslovak" people was crushed. This was genocide long before it was labelled as such after the war. Hlinka, Tiso and Sidor and their colleagues won the good fight and saved the Slovak nation in a crisis that saw their domestic enemies, the Hlasists, converted to the cause of Slovak national freedom. Ideologically, Benes was defeated. He asserted that he �58 SLOVAKIA recognized only a "Czechoslovak" nation-Hlinka triumphed hy 'declaring he did not recognize such a nation because it never existed. Today Benes, the Bolsheviks and their collaborators may condemn, imprison and hang the creators of the Slovak Republic, they may confiscate their properties and seek to erase their names from history, but they will never succeed in stamping out the self-consciousness of the Slovak nation that came to full maturity in the Slovak Republic. No power in the world can eradicate the aspiration of the Slovak nation for its own free, independent statehood. Attempts to educate a new generation of Slovaks to repudiate the achievements of the brave men ,a nd women who created the Slovak state will be in vain, as will be the terroristic methods designed to intimidate the Slovak people into acknowledging that they have lost their will to be free. Slovak coins with the image of the immortal Slovak president, the banner of the Slovak army, photographs from the Slovak state remain, all reminders of the Slovak Republic. Most important of all, however, is the abiding conviction that we are equals with the civilized and cultured nations of Europe, that we have enough intelligence, that we have a nation that is alert and wide-awake, and particularly that we have a will strong enough to renew our Slovak state at the earliest opportunity. Clearly and unequivocally we declare again: The Slovak nation is ready to accept a helping hand from every great power on earth. Echoes and re-echoes will be heard incessantly throughout Slovakia until the restoration of a free Slovak state. Times have changed and today's situation is not the same as it was when we had our own Slovak Republic. Unpleasant and unbearable though the truth is to some Czechs of the past, the wise ones admit it must be respected, and they are reconciled to the inevitable gennination of a free Slovak state that must come into being again for a self-conscious Slovak nation in the near future. Such is the destiny of a nation determined to have its own self-governing state. (A translation by Andrew Pier from unpublished book of Konstantin culen.) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1975, Vol. 25 Description An account of the resource Vol. 25 (No. 48), 1975. 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 1975 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 41 Good Slovak Republic By Konstantin cul en It was March 14, 1945. I was scheduled to be the main speaker in a certain Slovak city which was known chiefly for the strange fact that people disliked to go there for celebrations and lectures. The population consisted generally of teachers, professors, students and officials. In short, they lived there because they had to. To my great surprise, the auditorium was filled to capacity ten minutes before the program was slated to start. This was unusual because the town had the reputation of starting all of its programs late in order to give stragglers time to come and give the speaker some encouragement in a sparsely filled hall. On this occasion, however, many had to be turned away but they waited outside during the entire program. After the program I asked what had brought such a great crowd to the affair. A small landowner explained it this way: "We all feel that our enemies are about to destroy our Slovak Republic. Now we realize more than ever before what we shall lose. I tell you never was the idea of the Slovak Republic as strong as at this very moment, and it will be even stronger when we don't have it any more. But we shall revive it again ... at the very first opportunity, mind my words," he concluded. In later years I often recalled what this genuine Slovak patriot had said. Many agreed with him wholeheartedly then, and many still do today. I am fully aware of this, for the idea is very much alive today and stronger, too, for in the passing years people have witnessed the contrast between what was and what is the situation in our time. Czech politicians, alone, like to think that the Slovak Republic vanished forever. They are convinced that "the Czecho-Slovak Republic is the only plausible solution and way of life for the Slovak nation." The newspapermen spread this propaganda. They ignore the obvious fact that for six years the Slovaks proved this thesis wrong ... the reality of the Slovak Republic is proof positive of the 42 SLOVAKIA self-reliance of the Slovak nation. The Czech people do not accept this view. If their political leaders do not see the writing on the wall let them live with their illusions. Is there a nation in the whole wide world which has surrendered its right for a self-governing state, especially after demonstrating, as did the Slovak nation, that it can govern itself successfully? We know of no such nation. Nations have lost their self-governing states but always by force, by defeat, by treason, but never by a voluntary surrender of their natural right to govern themselves. Well, the Czechs always did consider us to be inferior ... no wonder they have such a low opinion of us anyway. "The Slovaks have gloriously given up their inglorious past," a Czech newspaper gloated. "Still, though they have given up their Slovak state, they repeatedly sigh how good they had it under Tiso," the same article noted. ( Cas, November 17, 1946) If someone voluntarily and gloriously gives up something, he will not want it back. I am not alone in this opinion. The general secretary of the Socialist-Democratic Party declared in parliament: "In Slovakia there are forces to preserve an independent Slovakia inside the framework of Czecho-Slovakia. It is imperative for the Slovaks to realize that the patience of Czech public opinion has its limits." (Slaboda, December 19, 1946). Too bad the above mentioned speaker did not venture to predict what would happen the moment those limits of Czech patience were reached. It would be interesting to see if war would follow ... or would the Czechs declare their independence? When we consider this Czech spokesman had in mind the Slovak Democratic Party ( which had 62 % of the votes and the Slovak Freedom Party 4 %, this adds up to 66 % of the Slovak people) that favored, as he rightfully suspected, a Slovak state. Another Czech observer who studied the situation in Slovakia after the Slovaks reportedly 'gave up their right to self-government' declared: "The average Czech considers the existence of the SLOVAKIA 43 Czecho-Slovak Republic as self-evident. He talks Czech but feels like a Czechoslovak, thinks like a Czechoslovak and on state occasions flies the Czechoslovak Flag. It is different in Slovakia, however. "This is quite obvious as one approaches Bratislava by train. The first tobacco store he sees from the window displays a Slovak emblem. At the railroad station the Slovak Flag is displayed side by side with the Czechoslovak banner . . . and when the national court is in session the Slovak Flag waves proudly above the bulding. The internal dissension, though not so apparent, is perhaps more or less intense. Sensitiveness in the linguistic sphere, constant vigilance and an air of mistrust, in fact, an atmosphere of expectation, reserve and expediency seems to be everywhere. Actually there are people who find it distasteful to utter the word, 'Czecho-Slovakia'." (Engineer Teyssler, Svobodny zitfek, October 17, 1946). What does all this signify? Simply that the Slovak nation awaits the opportunity of declaring its freedom. It has not renounced its national destiny. Many others observe the same thing and there are plenty of signs to confirm this view. Today's situation the Slovak nation regards as a temporary one, one that was forced upon it. To be forced into a state against its will when it is powerless, at the moment, to resist does not mean the Slovak nation has surrendered its natural right to self-government in its own national state. Archbishop Charles Kmet'ko publicly expressed his conviction under oath on the subject of President Tiso's politics: To Dr. sujan's question: "What did the Slovak state give the Slovak nation, morally or otherwise?" The reply by the highest ecclesiastic-Ordinary in Slovakia was spontaneous: "First of all," he said, "what Hlinka affirmed is an internationally acknowledged principle. Can anyone imagine a nation that does not want self-government? Is it possible that a poor man never dreams of owning his own home some day? Obviously, there is no such nation or person that does not want to be independent and to be master of his own household." 44 SLOVAKIA sujan interposed: "But that independence was dependence!" Kmet'ko: "Nonetheless, it was ten times better than a protectorate," the archbishop responded. sujan: "You denounced the direction of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party at the beginning of the Czecho-Slovak Republic because you foresaw an unhappy outcome. How could you abandon so many of your better principles in relationship to the Czecho-Slovak Republic after Munich?" Kmet'ko: "The Czecho-Slovak Republic is the only form in which the Slovak nation can live peaceably and progressively. Yet, if, theoretically, we could have a self-governing Slovak state, we could be independent. I say, if it is possible, we are for it. If impossible, we are for the Czecho-Slovak Republic." (Katolicke noviny, March 2, 1947). If the Czechs were convinced that the Slovak state is theoretically and practically impossible, then they could have used Kmet'ko's arguments as favorable propaganda. But actually they believe that an independent Slovakia is a possibility, not only theoretically but practically because they witnessed its realization. No wonder this statement caused a furore. Benes himself retorted: "This means that if the situation warranted a change the Slovaks tomorrow or the day after tomorrow would be for it. I will never accept this argument. I refuse to consider it in principle. I want a simple solution, clear-cut and definitive. Both of us must speak plainly: yes, yes, no, no!" (March 13, 1947). The Slovaks must speak out, Benes says, but first and last on his terms. In other words, they must agree with him, whether they feel that way or not. Since he spoke so vociferously in this tone, he knew that Slovak public opinion opposed his views. That is why he categorically announced he rejected Kmet'ko's opinion. What virtually is Benes's attitude towards the Slovak nation? By what right has a foreigner the power to direct the destiny of our ·nation to its own detriment? Benes has the right to dictate to us what policy we should follow and what views we are to have? Then any Hungarian. Russian. SLOVAKIA 45 Polish or Austrian ruler has that right, too, for these are our neighbors ... a logical deduction from Benes' line of reasoning. Archbishop Kmet'ko was not Hlinka's follower. Certainly, he was not against Czecho-Slovakia, as such, because he believed as many of us believed, too, that this was the only way for our existence at the time. But he became more and more convinced in time that he was wrong, and that is why he proclaimed his belief in national independence as a better solution. The spirit of the Slovak Republic proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Slovak nation is vitally strong enough to sustain a self-governing state. The idea is very much alive and will once again give life to a new, revived free Slovakia in the future. This is inevitably the final solution to the aspirations of a freedom-loving Slovak people. A loyal citizen and patriot must support the best solution for his country, not foreign interests that are detrimental to its national interest. Benes in this struggle represents alien Czech interests, Kmet'ko and Tiso are representatives of the Slovak nation whose interests they defend as leaders of their people who are in full agreement with them. Schmidtke, a communist, once said: "There are people who find it difficult to renounce their sympathy for the fascist Slovak state." (Pravda, September 6, 1946). In short, it seems to us that 'the glorious renunciation of the Slovak Republic' is such that neither the Czechs, nor the communists, believe this, on the contrary, at every turn they discover a clear-cut expression of the desire for restoration of the Slovak Republic, and the desire for its renewal is manifested in word and deed on every side. A government, however, that gives its people a larger loaf of bread, that invests just taxes in its own development, that gives priority to the native language of its people and places it where it rightfully belongs, that builds roads, railways, hospitals, schools, etc., etc., and that emanates from the nation and rules the nation for its best interests, is a good government. Such a government the nation does not renounce. 46 SLOVAKIA On the other hand, a nation gives up on a government that takes away the best part of an honestly-earned loaf of bread, that deprives it of using its own language, that attempts to rob it of its nationality, that does not recognize its national identity. Such a government is not good and a nation gladly renounces it. What government ruled Slovakia in the first and second instance? It is needless to respond to this question, for we have many authentic reports from contemporary ministers and representatives how inept were the various administrations in the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Further, it is well to cite testimony of fereigners, not at all friendly to us, about how good the Slovak Republic really was. One could publish a book filled with their favorable quotations and observations. Perhaps ihe following statement will suffice to indicate what others thought of the Slovak Republic: 1) "The average, simple and intelligent Slovak lived in an oasis for six years of prosperity in a free Slovak state under the leadership of Tiso. "It is true, as we often repeated, that the Slovaks had it good during wartime, not so much because of German kindness but because of their own native skill. In Slovakia there are still signs of this so-called 'German goodness' in contrast to Czech lands." (Osvobozeny nasinec, December 1, 1946). 2) "Slovakia among the small European nations up to the autumn of 1944 remained unaffected directly by the war. Relative security, prosperity brought on, for this or that reason, the growth of national culture and art, national self-consciousness and other circumstances seemed to indicate that the Slovak Republic would not become involved actively in the war at all." (Obzory, E. Komorovsky: Slovensko vcera a dnes-Slovakia yesterday and today, 1946). 3) "Six years during World War II for the Czechs were cruel and retrogressive, for the Slovaks up to 1944 they were economically and socially successful, internationally and politically, however, problematical. During this time Czech industry, although partially dislocated and paralyzed, due to air bombardments, managed to survive and in some instances made progress. SLOVAKIA 47 "Meanwhile, the Slovaks for fully five years progressed immensely on all fronts ... they had the great advantage of ruling themselves, which we did not have ... they not only caught up to us, but even forged ahead." (Obzory, 1946, page 815: My narod ceskoslovensky). 4) "Slovakia in wartime enjoyed prosperity and relatively great freedom. It was, as a matter of fact, a showcase state which the German used for propaganda purposes to show how they treated a good obedient child." (Obzory, 1945, page 262). 5) Dr. Vavro srobar said: "During the war Slovakia had the best situation on the continent. There were no executions, no concentration camps. There was plenty of bread, food, potatoes. Anyone could purchase a goose, or pork, and any kind of meat was available at relatively cheap prices." (Eudovy dennik, July 19, 1945). 6) "We do not deny, either the upli~t of religious life or the growth of spiritual and civilizing influence in the country. Under favorable conditions Slovakia was completely free on the religious side." Osvobozeny nasinec). 7) "Even after the breakthrough on the fighting-front the amount of goods was greater in Slovakia than on January 1, 1939." (Dr. Matura v Zat'kovom procese. Ndrodna obrbda, September 12, 1946). 8) "Frequently in studying conditions in Slovakia one concludes that the average citizen did not have it bad at all, in fact, he was not bad off during the entire war." (Cas, December 18, 1946). 9) "Economically, Slovakia was in very good shape. Government officials admit this and write about it openly. There were no exceptions, everyone was well off, whether he was a worker, an official or farmer. While the Germans exploited the Czechs, our government officials cleverly arranged to give the Germans a minimum of their national output." (Kanadsky Slovak. A letter from Kosice, August 6, 1946). Unaoubtedly, these few quotations from various sources indicate that the Slovak Republic was not bad at all. Fereign 48 SLOVAKIA newspapers, such as the London T i mes, wrote in the same vein. In wartime Benes propaganda sought to convince the Slovaks of their 'bad plight.' After war Czechs had this to say: "The years of the independent Slovak state were marked by rapidly increasing prosperity with the result of a high standard of living. This changed considerably after the war. "It was a period of building, progress and communication, and relative internal freedom, though not definitely democratic, yet it was free of any so-called fascist terror, particularly in the Hitlerian sense of the word. "While Czech schools were closed, the Slovak university received hundreds of highly qualified and intelligent students year after year. These can now be employed in various positions. Cultural life reached a new high level. "All this was not the work of the ruling regime-it was a national evolution of a people who seized the opportunity to get ahead. Slovak youth, according to personal testimony, was determined to advance at all costs. Slovak autonomists do not consider themselves to be discredited but rather exonerated for their policies by the events of their time ... which proved them to be right in pursuing those policies." (Obzory, "cesi a Slovaci", 1946, p. 774). So these were the so-called 'crimes' of the Slovak Republic! Obviously, a Czech, admitting the facts, must try in every way, however, to discredit the regime of the Slovak Republic. For him, it is only true that it was a natural evolution impelled by a new opportunity. But a people enjoys such an opportunity only in its own state. It is not a crime to seek such an opportunity ... it is only a natural evolution. Furthermore, that the Slovaks themselves might have some merit for their own economic well-being as a consequence of their wise and judicious politics a Czech finds it difficult to admit. On their side of the ledger, while the Czechs reluctantly admit they made mistakes, they claim these were not malicious. Well, was it not malicious to dismantle Slovak factories? This 'mistake' they attribute not to their government but to the "zivnobanka" administration. SLOVAKIA 49 At present, finally when all the facts are in and when any objective-minded person must admit that conditions in Slovakia during the war were ideal, we are continually hearing from various quarters that the situation was unnatural, unchristian and immoral, completely wrong from every angle, because conditions were bad everywhere, and that must include Slovakia, it could not have been an exception, and so Czechs generally try to debunk the government of the Slovak Republic. Dr. Kozeluhova (a Czech) after lauding wartime conditions in Slovakia concludes : "Since in Slovakia much of the national wealth was in the forests, lumber exports were greatly excessive. Actually, we have to note that it will be a long, long time before the exorbitant cutting-down of trees will be replaced by new growth. Although the Germans did not impoverish the Slovaks by demands for food, there was prosperity, but future generations will have to suffer. It is clear that after years of abundance the postwar consequences would result in many lean years." (Obzory, 1945, p. 263). She was not alone in this view, for another Czech, Engineer J. Rotnagel expressed the same opinion in his book, cesi a Slovdci ( Czechs and Slovaks): "And the Slovaks? Let no one be deceived by the claim of a sounder and better financial status and higher living standards in Slovakia in contrast to Czech lands. The so-called prosperity was brought on by undue exploitation of the country's natural resources, particularly by the harvesting of the luxuriant Slovak forests by the Slovak: government." (page 275). What he is trying to say is that prosperity in Slovakia was at the expense of future generations. The Czechs talk about the exploitation of Slovak forests just like the Venetians of ancient times in Dalmatia and neighboring lands. Never in the history of Slovaks was there such economic exploitation on all sides as occurred under Czech domination in the old Czecho-Slovak Republic. The proof is in the records of the parliament in Prague, especially in the records of various companies operating in eastern Slovakia. How was this operation effected during the regime of the Slovak Republic? Reference to this was made in Zat'ko's 50 SLOVAKIA process, and not only as a mere statement but backed up by statistics. An authority on natural resources, Zat'ko reported as follows: "The Germans established a quota for the Czechs to produce 50 % more lumber than normally. In contrast to this, the normal capacity of lumber produced in Slovakia was not even reached so that the Slovak Republic actually saved 15,000,000 cubic metres of wood valued at 3,000,000,00 crowns." (N<irodnd obroda, September 12, 1946). This, then, is the truth based on facts. Simply stated, this action preserved millions of cubic metres of lumber for future generations. From this, one must conclude that the government was far-sighted, and far better than its predecessors. The government of the Slovak Republic planned and regulated the prosperity of its era while at the same time provided for the future. Least known and unpublicized is the fact that at the end of the war the Slovak Republic had a surplus of more than a billion crowns, which the Prague government confiscated, spent in less than two years and plunged the country into a deficit of 4 billion crowns by 1947. A treasure trove of fine lumber estimated in value of more than 3 billion crowns was left intact for future generations by the Slovak Republic. Industrial expansion was greatly augmented, too. The Slovaks had an abundance of food. What more material goods does one need aside from shelter and clothing? And the Slovak Republic provided these vital needs, too, for its people. After such derogatory statements about so-called exploitation by the Slovak Republic it sounds rather strange to hear a radio broadcast in Bratislava: "Czecho-Slovakia has a surplus of lumber in the eastern part of the country for extensive export." (Praha, January 8, 1947). It is easy to manipulate words, sentences and conclusions in an effort to hide the truth, but eventually the truth will uncover the lie, and cold statistics will further confirm what is true. It would be extremely difficult to find a nation whose officials were so guilty of deceit as those on the Czech side. One of these glaring examples is their shameless attempt to explain away Slovak prosperity. SLOVAKIA 51 Exploitation of Slovak forests attributed falsely to the Slovak Republic is now followed by a strange sequel: the official order to cut down no less than five million cubic metres in 1947, and that for export. So, the postwar Czechoslovak government is following the example of the Slovak Republic's 'exploitation' by cutting down lumber in Slovakia, not in Czech lands, however. Every lie or falsehood sooner or later is detected. And so it is in this case. The lie levelled against the Slovak Republic comes to roost in Prague. Factually, the Slovak state was governed wisely and honestly. Such a state only a primitive and stupid people would voluntarily renounce. The Slovak nation has not renounced its right to a selfgoverning state but denounces every attempt to falsify the genuine record of good government and achievement of its Slovak Republic. From experience down through the ages that saw the Slovaks survive many regimes, they have come to realize that by far the best, the most beneficial was the regime of the Slovak Republic. No need to hide its imperfections, but what regime is perfect? Nevertheless, there is no comparison between Czecho-Slovakia and the Slovak Republic as far as its benefits go when one looks at the record that is indelibly imprinted on the pages of history. All of these events lead us to the obvious conclusion, namely, that the Slovaks are not satisfied with the present state of affairs, and that they aspire to renew their own Slovak state. None of the leading Slovak cultural or political leaders joined Benes when he left the country. In 1939 the Slovak wholeheartedly and unanimously took the oath of allegiance to the Slovak Republic. Why? Because they did not love Czecho-Slovakia. At the conclusion of the war when President Tiso was persuaded to leave the country thousands of Slovaks, intellectuals as well as average citizens, followed him into exile. Why? Because they wanted to work for the restoration of the Slovak Republic. The people at home are united in spirit with their Slovak countrymen abroad in the struggle to restore their self-governing state at the earliest opportunity. To this they are committed and dedicated as freedomloving men who aspire to a life of national freedom for their 52 SLOVAKIA people who for too long a time have been forced to live in servitude. Slovaks at home and throughout the entire world are of one mind, namely, that eventually and inevitably their eternal struggle for freedom and statehood must become a reality again. This dream is in keeping with the finest Slovak traditions of the past and a sacred legacy of our forefathers . It is in the spirit of Jjudovit stur who, after bitter experience and disappointments, declared: "We must liberate ourselves once and forever from the unendurable yoke of foreign rule if we are to take our rightful place that belongs to us on the strength of our abilities, and that means we must attain the ultimate goal of self-governing statehood because a nation that is enslaved has its bands bound, its spirit depressed and faces the danger of ultimate extinction." (Slovanstvo a svet buducnosti). To engage and negotiate in politics with anyone who is willing to help us was the slogan of the American Slovaks a half century ago. "We must pursue a political course," wrote Tholt-Vel'kostiavnicky, " that will bring us eventually to our national independence." (Slovensky dennik, February 27, 1909). In another article Vel'kostiavnicky wrote: "We Slovaks must have an honorable political program that will permit us to adopt a policy or unite with a nation with which we will be able to cooperate mutually, with positive assurance and a guarantee of our national independence. We must be a fully and independent and selfgoverning nation because this is according to the natural law, and a principle of an individual entity that belongs to every nation. "Every nation like every person upon reaching maturity desires to be free, and a nation aspires to have its own individual self-governing state. Thus it is with our Slovak nation, for we do not want to be infants iorever, nor dependents or slaves. We are impelled to this not only by the spirit of the age but by nature and every conceivable political experience of the past. "We Slovaks declare to the whole world that we are SLOVAKIA 53 a nation that wants to be free, and therefore, must have its own free self-governing state in Europe." Our forebears spoke distinctly in this manner and spirit when all they had was the historic fact of the existence of Slovak statehood more than a thousand years ago, and of course, the basis for their claim the universally accepted principle that all nations aspire to independence. We had it a thousand years ago. We lost it because of overwhelming force but we did not surrender the right to be independent. That right belongs to us today and forever. Holly, stur and Tholt-Vel'kostiavnicky, and their followers believed this firmly. Should we who saw with our own eyes the happy reality of an independent Slovak state believe less? Should we after having witnessed what our Slovak state accomplished in six short years willingly bow our heads and place them in the Czech yoke? "No, never!" Let us unite with anyone who wants to help us, as Tholt wrote once, and oppose anyone and everyone who is against Slovak statehood. There are vital material resources that a nation needs but more importantly a nation has need of strong enduring moral values without which a nation cannot exist or long endure. Foremost among the characteristics that make a nation what it is is national consciousness. Both the Magyars and Czechs concentrated their attacks on this central point. Slovaks who possessed a conviction of their own national identity were recognized as inimical to their plans of assimilating the Slovaks. Accordingly they sought to destroy all self-consciousness by bribery, force and imprisonment. For all time renegades from the Slovak nation are listed as "mad'ar6ni" and "cechoslovaci." They degraded themselves by abandoning their Slovak nation because of an inferiority complex, and so they became satraps first of Magyar and subsequently of Czech overlords. Self-consciousness is an acquired virtue and strengthened by one's own conviction that he is his own man, and an individual person who is equal to any man, and he proves 54 SLOVAKIA it to himself and others by his actions in practical life. He stands proudly on his own two feet, so to speak. As in the experience of a child taking his first step which requires courage and effort, so it is with a nation taking its first step towards going ahead without any assistance. The Slovaks took their first step in modern times in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, but soon learned to stand and walk with confidence on their own two feet in the Slovak Republic. Slovak self-consciousness reached such a stage that even erstwhile "Czecho-Slovaks" changed and became convinced of their equality with the Czechs! Quite a transformation. And today they proudly assert they are Slovaks . . . not "Czechoslovaks", as once upon a time they timidly imagined themselves to be. This new spirit of self-reliance is the direct result of the successful development that led to Slovak statehood in our times. Czechs returning to Slovakia after the war, or those who meet Slovak visitors in Prague, are made aware immediately that these are not the old type Slovaks but a new generation or race of self-conscious members of the Slovak nation. This self-consciousness of the average Slovak, and of the intellectual as well, causes great consternation in the Czech camp. A certain 'Moravus' dealing with this natural phenomenon declared this to be absolutely 'insufferable.' With the exception of communist periodicals the Slovak press unanimously attacked him. Moravus got a stinging reply in Slaboda, October 26, 1948: "Awareness of the Slovak nation's abilities and possibilities is the source of the current self-consciousness," insufferable, indeed! cas (Time) replied in kind: "Thank God, Slovakia today is not the Slovakia of yesterday when the country had fewer than five hundred intellectuals.'' Ndrodnd obroda (National Renewal) added on October 26, 1946: "There is no resemblance between the Slovak nation that awoke from a long slumber in 1918 and the Slovak nation today.'' Where did this self-consciousness emanate from? SLOVAKIA 55 To a large degree, from the Slovak Republic. It does not exist today as it did then, but the spirit has survived because we proved to ourselves and the whole world that we could rule our own country better and more efficiently than any alien master ... and because the average Slovak received more for his efforts, he became convinced of his ability to stand on his own two feet as a proud individual of the Slovak nation and as a loyal citizen of the SlovakRepublic. Some politicians who formerly did not dare to have an opinion of their own, relying entirely on Prague wrote: "Slovak affairs can be conducted best right here in Slovakia without interference from Prague, as has been amply demonstrated in recent years. "Slovakia stands firmly on its own feet and is progressing nicely without needless Czech supervision that may now concentrate on solving problems close to home in Prague itself." ( Cas) Under pressure of this new development even Benes changed his tune about his familiar theme, "one nation" i.e., only a Czechoslovak nation (sic), when he said in Kosice: "Since 1918 Slovakia has become stronger and more prosperous, and it has advanced culturally, politically and organizationally so that its rights must be respected. That was self-evident to me in 1938 when I proposed decentralization in the republic." Benes' statement is not true, however. The Czech president addressed a similar proposal on October 4, 1938, to Tiso but he had it recalled from the post office because he was suddenly forced to resign from the presidency. The fact is that in 1938 Benes declared: "No Slovak problem exists. Therefore, there is no need for a solution." Since even Benes admits Slovakia's maturity and progress, why was it denied a Slovak national council, a board of commissioners and other agencies on the basis of the Kosice Agreement? Let us search for the source of the best qualities of every nation. We shall find clues in the following: "The intensive and extensive experience of Slovak statehood produced a new Slovak personality whose political 56 SLOVAKIA spirit and abilities astonished observers who could not help but admire real achievements of the era." (Dr. V. Busek, Svobodny zitfek, No. 36, 1946). One Czech finally admits that it was the Slovak Republic that accomplished wonders. Then why judge Slovak politicians for their achievements? Benes brought them to trial precisely because they were responsible for the rise and growth of Slovak national self-consciousness, because they gave testimony to their own nation of their effective leadership in utilizing their innate talents and skills in establishing independence and statehood. Benes no longer can repeat what he once said to Razus: "You Slovaks have nowhere to go." The Slovaks do not have to go anywhere. All they have to do and they want to do is to stay in their own historic homeland and manage their own affairs in their national household. In the eyes of Benes who attempted to make Slovakia a Czech colony there was no greater crime in all history than that of Tiso and his governmental staff that dared to take off and soar high on their wings like Slovak eagles in the blue sky high above a free land. "Never again will dictatorship rule the Slovaks, for one learns once ancl. for all from his personal experience," writes Slaboda, November 12, 1946. Quotations of this new popular view were often repeated in the postwar era when Prague seized political control of Slovakia after the war. One heard statements like the following: "We have outgrown our infant clothes, we will not take orders from Praha. We lived without Czechs and we can live without them; we were burned once, never again, etc." Dr. Kulhanek advised his Czech countrymen to face the facts, reminding them at long last this (Slovak nation) was not a primitive tribe of sheepherders whiling away the hours blowing the fujara (a musical instrument which may be described as a giant cousin of the saxophone), nor a group of migrant tinkers. "This is a very capable nation comprising seriousminded people of realism. They seek to solve contemporary problems with greater calm and keener perspicacity than we do." (Svobodny zitfek, October 4, 1946). SLOVAKIA 57 Another Czech periodical observed: "Czechs have to be aware of the great re-birth in Slovakia since 1938, and that there is a great difference between Slovaks of yesterday and today. The Slovaks have matured politically and have grown up culturally, their national self-consciousness has been strengthened and ripened. The great majority of Slovaks, not excluding former 'Hlasist' devotees who preached a Czechoslovak form of national unity, feel they are members of an independent nation, and they will not tolerate either political or cultural overlordship, nor economic domination. (Zemedelske listy). Reacting to these tributes to the Slovak Republic from even hitherto hostile quarters an American Slovak journalist wrote: "What great miraculous powers of national liberty and independent statehood must have been at work that in less than six years of the regime of the Slovak Republic these transformed many in the former 'Hlasist' Czechoslovak camp into self-conscious Slovak Patriots." ( Osadne Hlasy, August 9, 1946). No political regime in the world ever gave its people as much as the administration of the Slovak Republic gave the Slovak nation. Self-pride, independence, the spirit of conscientious work, national consciousness, as well as the conversion of Czechoslovak factions, those unbelieving Thomases, all this was inspired by the Slovak Republic. Nevertheless, we are faced with the paradox of all paradoxes, namely, the persecution, imprisonment and execution of the very persons who accomplished all these things. What irony of fate that propagators of noble ideals are now being hounded, tried in court and sentenced to prison and death in the country they served so nobly and so well! Despite this tragedy enemies of the Slovak nation have lost the fight, for the fanatical movement to absorb the Slovaks in a conglomerate of a "Czechoslovak" people was crushed. This was genocide long before it was labelled as such after the war. Hlinka, Tiso and Sidor and their colleagues won the good fight and saved the Slovak nation in a crisis that saw their domestic enemies, the Hlasists, converted to the cause of Slovak national freedom. Ideologically, Benes was defeated. He asserted that he 58 SLOVAKIA recognized only a "Czechoslovak" nation-Hlinka triumphed hy 'declaring he did not recognize such a nation because it never existed. Today Benes, the Bolsheviks and their collaborators may condemn, imprison and hang the creators of the Slovak Republic, they may confiscate their properties and seek to erase their names from history, but they will never succeed in stamping out the self-consciousness of the Slovak nation that came to full maturity in the Slovak Republic. No power in the world can eradicate the aspiration of the Slovak nation for its own free, independent statehood. Attempts to educate a new generation of Slovaks to repudiate the achievements of the brave men ,a nd women who created the Slovak state will be in vain, as will be the terroristic methods designed to intimidate the Slovak people into acknowledging that they have lost their will to be free. Slovak coins with the image of the immortal Slovak president, the banner of the Slovak army, photographs from the Slovak state remain, all reminders of the Slovak Republic. Most important of all, however, is the abiding conviction that we are equals with the civilized and cultured nations of Europe, that we have enough intelligence, that we have a nation that is alert and wide-awake, and particularly that we have a will strong enough to renew our Slovak state at the earliest opportunity. Clearly and unequivocally we declare again: The Slovak nation is ready to accept a helping hand from every great power on earth. Echoes and re-echoes will be heard incessantly throughout Slovakia until the restoration of a free Slovak state. Times have changed and today's situation is not the same as it was when we had our own Slovak Republic. Unpleasant and unbearable though the truth is to some Czechs of the past, the wise ones admit it must be respected, and they are reconciled to the inevitable gennination of a free Slovak state that must come into being again for a self-conscious Slovak nation in the near future. Such is the destiny of a nation determined to have its own self-governing state. (A translation by Andrew Pier from unpublished book of Konstantin culen.)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Good Slovak Republic Description An account of the resource Konštantín Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 25 (No. 48), 1975 pp. 41-58 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4bc69c29bb870a250fa1b6758b8d6a87.pdf 91d342c6840a65d6345652c59f188e97 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 9 The Lattimer Massacre and Its Sources GEORGE A. TURNER ''The affair at Hazleton yesterday is one of those terrible catastrophies the news of which simply stuns the community and paralyzes for a moment the power of thought." (1) The above editorial comment was a reaction to one of the worst acts of violence in the history of the American labor movement. The tragedy occurred at Laimer, a small coal mining patch, one and a half miles northeast of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh region of the anthracite coal fields on September 10, 1897. A group of nearly four hundred striking, unarmed, immigrant mine workers adhering to the control of their leaders, approached Lattimer to encourage the employees of Calvin Pardee & Company to join them in a work stoppage. They encountered Sheriff James Martin of Luzerne County and his posse of eighty-six deputies who viewed them as enemies of public order and the wellspring of lawlessness. When the marching laborers arrived at Lattimer in midafternoon, the Sheriff approached them, ordered them to halt, disperse, and return to their homes. Within a few minutes an altercation erupted between the Sheriff and some of the strikers at which point the deputies aimed their rifles and fired directly into the group of strikers. Instantly, their gunshots produced a carnage of blood and death among the immigrants - a massacre that left nineteen dead and thirty-eight wounded.(2) Peace officers were unscathed in their deadly assault on the defenseless workers who had been peacefully assembled on a public highway. This incident, lasting only a few minutes, became one of the most devastating acts of public authorities attacking, wounding and killing American laborers. The next day newspaper headlines depicted the killings as an atrocity. Regional papers denounced the shooting: "Yesterday's Butchery, A Mob of Heartless Deputies Fire Into a Throng of Miners and Accomplish Deadly Work" ;(3) "D of Blood at Lattimer" ;(4) "Strikers Shot in Cold Blood" ;(5) and "Looks Like Butchery" .(6) The account quickly spread beyond the anthracite region. Major metropolitan newspapers depicted the shooting in equally stark terms: ''The Killing of Miners at Lattimer Was Butchery'';(7) ''Mowed Down By Deputies" ;(8) "Laid Low By Bullets, the Men Fell Like Sheep Before the Murderous Winchesters of the Officials" ;(9) "Homestead Battle Thrown In The Shade" ;(10) and "Dead in Heaps, Deputies Fire on Miners at Lattimer, Penn ., Men Were Huddled Closely and Slaughter Was Terrific''. (11) The killing of the strikers by the Sheriff's deputies was a major national news story for several days prompting a �10 SLOVAKIA very basic question: Why did this senseless, violent act of shooting unarmed immigrant workers occur? To answer this inquiry requires an understanding of nativism found in the hard coal fields of Pennsylvania and an identification of those factors affecting the lives and working conditions of the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Slavic and Italian immigrants began arriving in the eight Pennsylvania counties comprising the anthracite region in the late 1870' s and early 1880 's with nearly all taking employment in mining and by the late 1890's outnumbered German and English-speaking workers .(12) The magnitude of this immigration flow from Poland, Austria-Hungary , Russia, and Italy was evident; in 1880 they totaled only 1,925 , in 1890 they were 32,007, and ten years later their numbe had more than doubled to 89,328. At the same time the foreign born from England , Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Germany decreased by 2.2 percent from 102,421 in 1880 to 100,269 in 1900; in particular, the demographic composition of this group in Luzerne County revealed a decline from ninety-four percent in 1880, to sixty-eight percent in 1890, and a further drop to forty-nine percent in 1900. These southern and eastern Europeans grew to an ever increasing percent of the foreignborn population in the anthracite coal fields: 1. 7 percent in 1880, 25 .2 percent in 1890 , and 46.1 percent in 1900.(13) Such a substantial and rapid growth of alien people created apprehension and anxieties leading to resentment and nativistic sentiments among the AngloSaxon population , their antipathy stemming from cultural differences and fear of economic competition for jobs. There was little to encourage the necessary processes for immigrants to be readily assimilated into the society. New arrivals had a distinctive culture, language , religion, and life style that were strikingly different , giving rise to suspicion and contempt from the native population and other established ethnic groups. Eastern and southern Europeans established numerous ethnic societies which perpetuated their pride , customs, and traditions . Since their religion was Catholic , they organized separate parishes along nationality lines thus sustaining ethnic identification. Marriage records reveal a consistent pattern of immigrants marrying only members of their own nationality. Divisions caused by factionalism in this polyglot society were difficult to bridge. Newspapers did not assume any responsibility for promoting harmony and assimilation among the diverse nationalities, and public schools did not lead in the task of Americanizing children of foreign cultures until the early 1900's . School attendance by immigrant children was minimal and those who did attend encountered language barriers. (14) Anglo-Saxons were finding it difficult to accept a pluralistic society in which they were becoming a numerical minority. This development fostered nativist sentiment , causing AngloSaxons to have ce rtain perceptions of the immigrants that inhibited �SLOVAKIA 11 assimilation of the aliens contributing to their separation and isolation in the society. Attitudes of non-acceptance found expression in opprobrious terms for the new arrivals: " Pollocks, " "Huns," and " Dagoes," all denoting inferiority and disdain. Polish, Italian, and Slavic celebrations for marriages and their baptismal customs were denigrated and viewed as outlandish. A common belief among the native population was that a '' ... Slav does not know how to enjoy himself save by getting drunk, he does not know how to show kindness to friends save by making them drink." (15) Stories circulated that these new aliens participated in wife-selling, practiced polyandry, and were responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime, (16) contributing to the viewpoint that they were '' ... much more dangerous to the body politic than the excluded Chinese; . . . do not hesitate to use dynamite if they desire to blow up the home of one whom they particularly hate."(17) Rejection of the new immigrants grew in part from a feeling on the part of Anglo-Saxons that they belonged to a superior and more progressive race of people. The way that immigrants lived reinforced feelings of superiority in nativist thinking. Due to economic factors, lack of acceptance, and the desire of ethnic groups to have their own neighborhoods, ghettoes emerged in different communities. Since houses in ghettoes were crowded and substandard, outsiders viewed living conditions as unpleasant , unattractive, offensive, and the area as a tough and brawlly place to live. "The Slavs are physically strong and can flourish in an environment that would be fatal to more sensitive organisms." (18) Supporting this dislike of southern and eastern Europeans, the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1895 passed a resolution calling upon Congress to enact legislation to restrict immigration. The resolution clearly reflected a protectionist attitude as seen in its opening statement: '' That we recognize in the constant influx of an ignorant and vicious class of immigrants a great and growing evil highly injurious to American workingmen and dangerous to American institutions." (19) Again, two years later legislators passed another similar resolution.(20) Native Americans and older immigrants from northern Europe came to the conclusion they were being invaded and overcome by hordes of undesirable people who would undermine their communities. Of equal importance and of more immediate concern was competition by Slavic and Italian immigrants for jobs and wages in the labor market. Nativist sentiment held that railroads and coal operators enticed immigrants to settle in the region in order to increase the supply of labor which, in turn, had the effect of keeping wage rates down. (21) This charge against railroad and coal operators, however, was not completely true. It was well known that contract miners, who were primarily Anglo-Saxons, had the best and highest paying positions outside the mine supervisory jobs. They were also employers and were '' ... themselves largely responsible for the employment of �12 SLOVAKIA the non-English speaking foreigners. Instead of employing English laborers at the regular wage week the miners would employ a big Slav or Hun cheaply, increasing his own pay check quite an amount. His boasting of the 'snap' caused others to do the same."(22) Job competition increased as immigrants took any kind of work they could find in and around the mines. No matter what employment they found their wages were four or five times higher than what they previously earned in the native land.(23) Anxious to find work, newcomers took the unskilled positions of slate pickers, door-boys and helpers, drivers , runners, and laborers, willing to endure dangerous work and inconveniences which older workers refused to accept. With the passage of time and experience they began to compete for the higher paying, skilled positions held by English-speaking and German coal workers. Established workers contended that since new immigrants were willing to accept lower wages and even wage cuts to get and hold jobs, they were undermining the standard of living and forcing many older laborers to forego mining in the mines and to leave the area to find new employment. Anglo-Saxon workers became bitter and antagonistic which impaired the development of any class solidarity among the anthracite workers.(24) This led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices toward eastern and southern Europeans. The history of the anthracite labor movement revealed that the Knights of Labor, dominated by Irish, and the Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers, controlled by Americans, English, Welsh, and Germans, were ineffective in enrolling these workers into their ranks in the 1880's and 1890's. Leaders of organized labor vacillated, were ambivalent, and showed a lack of real interest in encouraging new immigrants to join the union movement. On certain occasions labor organizations even attacked Slavic groups for undermining the labor movement. Failure of the unions to bridge ethnic differences was a major factor in thwarting endeavors to establish successful collective bargaining with the region's coal operators and to gain better conditions of employment.(25) Whenever new immigrants supported organized labor, they generally joined locals organized along ethnic lines; this at first weakened the interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests and ideas between the AngloSaxons and the new immigrants.(26) When the United Mine Workers of America first appeared in the area in the early 1890's, it made little headway in recruiting the Slavic and Italian immigrants who were fast becoming the major segment of the anthracite labor force.(27) Finally, when U.M.W.A. became firmly established after 1900 and merged the 'old' and 'new' immigrants together, each local retained ethnic �SLOVAKIA 13 distinction , making the union an alliance of distrustful nationality groups .(28) Established miners, who supported organized labor and held the higher paying and more desirable jobs, sought to protect their positions and perpetuate their advantage. They were fearful that the new immigrants who entered the coal fields as unskilled laborers would in time acquire needed skills to pass into the ranks of skilled miners which had the highest pay scale ; older workers also believed that when new immigrants became employed in mines the accident rate increased due to their lack of mining experience and inability to communicate in English .(29) State mine inspector, James Roderick, of Luzerne and Carbon Counties supported this viewpoint and asserted in 1883 that the rate of accidents increased as the influx of new laborers grew, whereas the older miners were more careful in their work. (30) Therefore, AngloSaxon miners supported the enactment of the miners' examination law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1889. The official title of the legislation, " An act for the examination of miners in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania and to prevent the employment of incompetent persons as miners in anthracite coal mines,'' aptly described its intent. The law created examination boards in various districts in the anthracite region consisting of skilled miners having at least five years of experience and appointed by the presiding judge in a county . It stipulated that no coal company could legally employ a person as a miner who did not have a certificate of competency issued by a miners' examination board ; in order for a person to receive a miner's certificate he had to provide evidence of having at least two years experience as a mine laborer in Pennsylvania.(31) In the legislative debate on this proposal, coal operators were accused of allowing incompetent people to work in mines , thus contributing to large numbers of fatalities and injuries. Many hoped that the new law would reduce the dangers of working in anthracite mines . Aside from viewing this act as a safety measure, there was a clear inference that the law would also help to check the influx and competition of labor from the new immigrants. Representative Caffery commenting on the proposed law declared that it could prevent '' ... incompetent men to come here from Europe, three or four of whom will be rushed into one chamber, thus dividing up the work.'' (32) Caffery's remark clearly made reference to the recent European influx into the anthracite region that had aroused resentments among older miners. In time it became apparent that expectations concerning the miner 's examination law would not be realized. Anglo-Saxon miners recognized that asking a few questions by miners ' examination boards could not really assure the competency of an applicant. In the examination of a non-English speaking person, the interpreter often aided and embellished the individual' s response. Furthermore, it �14 SLOVAKIA became a fact of life, due to fraud and corruption, that certificates became articles of merchandise.(33) From the time the law went into effect until 1897 there were several attempts to modify or even to repeal the statute . The law, rather than excluding unskilled laborers from becoming miners, had, in effect, due to the requirement of two years of mining experience in Pennsylvania, made ineligible the experienced miners who came from other parts of the country or Europe to secure jobs in the anthracite coal fields . These men were unwilling to work two years as a mine laborers in order to qualify for a miner's certificate. Instead, this simply assured that the new immigrants in time would move into the ranks of skilled miners - the higher-paying positions normally held by Anglo-Saxon workers. Representative Miller, whose district included Luzerne county, substantiated this point: ''Under the present act no one can receive a certificate as a miner until he has worked for two years as a miner's laborer. The result of that is just this: Only the least responsible class of workmen will come into the anthracite district at all; it excludes all of the better class of men. No one who is a practical miner from the bituminous region, or any other part of the State or the United States will come into the anthracite region and work for two years as a miner's laborer before he can obtain this certificate. '' (34) Admission that the law would stymie the settlement of new immigrants in the region was acknowledged by Representative Morahan in one of the attempts to revise the statute: ''It was brought about after the mining corporations had sent their agents over into Europe and brought over an element tended to restrict the production and elevation of wages. It was passed for the purpose of preventing the importation of pauper immigrants into the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania . . . "(35) Deficiencies in the miners' examination law prompted district one (anthracite region) of the United Mine Workers of America in its annual convention at Pottsvillle on October 16, 1896, to charge that the act was a farce. In a resolution calling for revision of the statute, the union wanted stiff penalties, imprisonment up to five years and fines of $100, for not adhering to the law; it also advocated that the state pay board members a set salary, abolishing the present procedure of having salaries based on fees collected from issuance of certificates. (36) These recommended changes reflected a view that corruption and failure to enforce the law had become commonplace among many of the miners' examination boards. John Fahy, president of district one, lobbied at the state capital in support of revisions to the law approved in 1897. One amendment increased penalties for violations, but no changes were made in the fee structure. A second amendment stipulated that each exaininee had to answer a minimum of twelve questions in English, which prohibited the use of interpreters and therefore discriminated against immigrants, who could not speak English.(37) The United Mine �SLOVAKIA 15 Worker's Journal lauded Fahy's lobbying activities and contribution in getting this legislature enacted. (38) After passage of these revisions to the law, the Miners' Examination Board in the Hazleton area placed a notice in the local newspaper to alert mine officials of its provisions. It noted that the law had been violated in the past but henceforth would be strictly enforced. The Board's warning reflected nativist sentiment: "As you, above all others, should know the necessity of having men who understand their work and the language which is the known language of this, our country, the Board would say do your duty and acquit yourselves like men and Americans.'' (39) Control of the miners' examination boards rested with English-speaking miners who were able to exercise certain prerogatives and institute various regulations to their advantage at the expense of the new immigrants.(40) Another piece of discriminating legislation with nativist prejudice, the Alien Tax Act, passed by large majorities in both houses, went into effect on July 1, 1897. The statue stipulated that any male alien age twenty-one and over employed in the state had to pay a three-cent tax on each day of employment which meant that most aliens employed as laborers in the Lehigh anthracite coal region suffered a two to three percent reduction in daily wages . Employers had to maintain employment records on aliens in their service and to collect the tax which reverted to the county treasury, half of which went to school districts and the other half to defray county operating expenses.(41) In the senate debate over the bill, the presence of new immigrants in the community gave rise to a concern that they were '' .. . a constant source of expense to us and . . . this is a very good way to get some money out of them to help pay the expenses of government.' ' (42) The act's preamble declared that aliens showed no allegiance to the state and did not financially support the maintenance of government. In addition, it described aliens as direct competitors to the state's laboring population. One passage stated they were '' ... brought into unjust competition with the tax-paying American laborers and greatly impair their welfare by depriving them of their employment and of preventing them from receiving fair compensation for their labor therefore." (43) Again, John Fahy, miners ' advocate at the state capital, wrote an article for the United Mine Workers Journal asserting: ''What a world of good this law would do the American citizens who try to earn their living in the coal mines, if the tax were one dollar per day.' ' (44) Nearly two months after the tax went into effect, the United States Circuit Court in Pittsburgh declared the law unconstitutional as a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Judge Acheson in the court's decision acknowledged that the law discriminated against new immigrants: "Evidently the act is intended to hinder the employment of foreign born unnaturalized male persons over 21 years of age." (45) An obvious recourse for the alien to avoid this new tax, prior to its �16 SLOVAKIA being declared unconstitutional, was to become a naturalized citizen. Senator Flinn feared this possibility and could see little benefit from such a law unless to increase local revenues. It was his opinion that the legislation '' ... would have a tendency to drive this class of people into quicker citizenship." (46) Possibly anticipating this result, the Naturalization Court in Luzerne County a few days prior to the alien tax being voided instituted new rules to revise the process of naturalizing aliens. New procedures required an applicant to make formal application and declare his or her intention to become an American citizen at least thirty days prior to appearing in court, to be represented in the court proceedings by an attorney, and to produce a certificate of entry from the commissioner of immigration at the port of arrival. County officials had to publish in advance of the naturalization hearing the names of aliens seeking citizenship . Publicizing names of aliens petitioning to become citizens had the purpose of facilitating the process of weeding out undesirable applicants. Under the new rules five people could sign a petition remonstrating against an alien becoming a citizen thereby requiring a hearing to pass on their objections. In court, the alien had to demonstrate knowledge of the national and state constitutions and duties of citizens with responses in English.(47) Under these new procedures costs and amount of time required of the foreigner to become a citizen greatly increased. Previously, it had been perfunctory procedure since the immigrant only had to pay two dollars to secure naturalization papers. Now the costs rose to at least eight dollars for court and attorney fees.(48) When the individual lived some distance from the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, he had additional expenses for transportation and meals as well as losing a day of wages. Cumulatively, the costs for most aliens was equivalent to nearly two weeks of wages . A month later when implementation of these new naturalization rules became part of the court proceedings, half of the ninety-seven applicants, predominately Slavic, Polish, and Italian, were rejected in their quest for citizenship.(49) The new naturalization procedures confirmed the fact that the ease with which foreigners had in the past gained American citizenship would no longer be the rule. The new immigrants, who had become the dominant group among the mine workers, found themselves unaccepted due to nativistic attitudes, discriminatory laws, organized labor's lack of interest and view of them as an economic threat, and increased difficulty in acquiring citizenship. An added burden which all mine laborers faced was working conditions in the anthracite coal fields . The Pennsylvania Legislature in 1897 established a joint investigating committee of three representatives and two senators to examine and make a report concerning working conditions among those employed in the mining of anthracite coal. The committee held twenty-six meetings in the principal cities in the anthracite region and took testimony from 311 witnesses �SLOVAKIA 17 representing businessmen , directors of relief organizations, and different classes of people connected with mining. The committee released its findings to the public on June 14, 1897, containing valuable information affecting those employed in mining.(50) The committee cited a major problem in the anthracite coal economy as excessive production in relationship to market demands that made coal prices weak and unstable. This had a direct bearing on mine employees since coal operators would cut production , institute lay-offs , and reduce wages in order to prevent or minimize their losses, thus exacerbating the labor market which already suffered from an over supply of workers . Surplus labor was evident when comparing the number employed in the anthracite mines in 1892 with 1896 and the coal produced in those same two years. Between 1892 to 1896 there occurred a fifteen percent increase in the number employed , 130,197 to 149,670, while coal production only increased five percent, 45,738,374 to 48,074 ,350 tons.(51) Estimated production capacity of the region 's collieries in 1896 was ninety million tons; actual output only came to fifty-four percent of capability while the number of mine employees for that same year increased by 6,065 .(52) Because of surplus laborers and a weak coal market there was lack of employment in the mines in 1896 as the average number of days of employment in the Hazleton region was only 178 days or fifty-seven percent of full employment for a year, based on a six-day week for fifty-two weeks. (53) This same condition was still prevalent in the first seven months in 1897 in which the mines operated on an average of one or two days a week.(54) One mine owner succinctly described the situation: " We can't give them work enough even at ninety cents a day because of the ups and downs of the business. When things begin to improve, we must have enough on hand to satisfy the demand, and that means, when business slacks up, that many have to be idle ." (55) This practice of the coal operators cutting back production to maintain the price of coal in a depressed market had caused frequent interruptions in the mid 1890's that put the standard of living of the average mine laborer on a very low basis . The legislative report pointed out that starvation conditions existed among the miners with Hazleton and vicinity one of the five areas identified as having great destitution and want. The committee reported: ' 'The testimony shows conclusively that deplorable condition of affairs for a period covering about two years, and particularly since the first of January of the present year, since which time the men in and about the collieries have been employed not more than two or three three-fourths days per week , earning on an average $4 per week , upon which , in many instances, they were compelled to support large families , in some cases as high as eleven members, paying house rent and coal and the necessities of life, which to this committee seems an impossibility . In . .. mining centres there is at all times more or less destitution and want , in many instances occasioned by profligacy. �18 SLOVAKIA Matters throughout the anthracite region have been gradually growing worse, and never in the history of this section of our State has the condition of the men employed in and about the mines been so deplorable or of such long duration.'' (56) The wages of miners and laborers in the Lehigh anthracite region had a direct relationship to the selling price of coal. Since the collapse of the union after the strike in 1888, there was no union contract to govern working conditions and wages. Wages were pegged to the market price of coal at the tidewater in Elizabethport, New Jersey. This system known as the ' 'sliding scale'' came into effect in 1869 with the formula for determining wages established in 1875. Under this arrangement, if coal sold for $5 .00 a ton at Elizabethport, miners, who held the highest paying jobs, received eighty-seven cents for each car of coal produced which meant that on the average, skilled miners earned twenty-one cents an hour, or $12.60 a week for sixty hours of work. The highest paid class of laborers, if a ton of coal sold for the same price, earned $10.80 a week or fourteen percent less than the miners. Whenever the price of coal increased ten cents a ton, wages advanced one percent for each ten cent rise and conversely, whenever the price of coal declined ten cents a ton, wages decreased one percent for each ten cent reduction . (57) Mine employees saw several drawbacks to this method of determining wages. Lehigh coal operators, as opposed to the Wyoming and Schuylkill coal operators, were mainly independents; hence, they were more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the freight rates in transporting their coal to the markets, which, in turn, had a direct bearing on establishing the price of coal. High transportation costs reduced the coal operator's ability to improve wages and, most importantly, forced an increase in coal prices that made coal produced in the Lehigh region less competitive in the market than that produced in the other two fields largely under the control of the railroads. Consequently, starting in 1892 the Lehigh coal operators, who produced only around sixteen percent of anthracite coal, agreed to sell part of their production to the railway coal companies at forty percent below the tidewater price in order to avoid excessive freight rates. A major portion of the coal production was sold in the interior at prices higher than at the tidewater. Finally, the 1875 price-wage formula did not reflect changes that had occurred in the coal market. Anthracite coal had been losing the industrial fuel market to the less expensive bituminous coal. This loss forced a readjustment in the coal trade as more and more anthracite had to be processed into smaller sizes to be sold for home heating purposes. Smaller sizes gradually became the major portion of the coal trade and this sold at lower prices, resulting in a reduction of the average price per ton of coal thus keeping wages down.(58) Besides irregular work and low wages the anthracite laborer had to contend with day-to-day conditions which were equally distressing. The �SLOVAKIA 19 company store had long been an issue in the mining communities and had an odious reputation. The fact that employees were under some form of compulsion to make their purchases at a company store at inflated prices was so repugnant that it caused considerable discord, dissension, and prolonged agitation. A congressional committee in 1889 investigating working conditions in the anthracite region reported some of the abuses connected with stores operated by coal companies which still persisted in the late 1890's. Prices were as much as thirty percent higher for the same items sold in independent stores. There was both direct and subtle pressure on employees to purchase groceries , clothing, and other items from the company store; workers feared losing their jobs or being moved to a lower paying position or to one that was more difficult because of dangerous or strenuous working conditions. "Some of the officials of the company, such as foremen, would state to their workmen, 'If you patronize me we will patronize you.' Well , that meant if there was a good job they would receive it if they traded in the company' s store ."(59) Reacting to these abuses, Pennsylvania in 1891 enacted a law prohibiting corporations engaged in mining and manufacturing from operating general supply stores . In an attempt to prevent evasion, the law explicitly made it illegal for a corporation to contract with an independent store to require its employees to purchase merchandise; also it prohibited any corporate officer or stockholder to operate a company store on the premises of the corporation. (60) Unfortunately, the legislation did not eliminate the many evils associated with the company stores. In the first place , unincorporated coal operators did not come under the law's jurisdiction. Secondly, there was a loophole in the law's language forbidding a corporation from requiring its employees to patronize a particular store by stating that employees " shall not be obliged" to deal with a designated store. In other words an employee of a corporation could not be compelled to shop at a particular store but he could voluntarily choose to buy his merchandise at that store. Realistically, as life existed in the mining communities with the ever-presence and dominance of the coal companies, many factors came into play that inevitably induced an employee to make a so-called voluntary decision to patronize a particular store. Thirdly, when individual coal operators sold their interests to a large corporation, they often retained the right to continue the operation of their store. In this arrangement, many times the corporation provided a service by deducting an employee's bill at the store from his monthly wages with a collection fee which varied from three to five percent of the bill. This system had a descriptive nickname of the "pluck-me-store." (61) It was in the Lehigh region, where a very large percent of the coal operators were independent and unincorporated, that the existence of company stores was one of the highest in the anthracite region ; two-thirds of the mine laborers worked at collieries �20 SLOVAKIA that operated company stores.(62) In some instances a coal company which operated a store would undersell its competitor by lowering prices for coal and then make up losses by compelling the employees to trade at the company store at exorbitant prices .(63) The store of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company reportedly had everything from a red herring to a furnace . A Polish employee of the company flatly stated: '' ... we are compelled to purchase whether we want to or not. " (64) Three English-speaking miners of the A. S. Van Wickle Company commented that they would not object to the company's store if it were not for the high prices. To illustrate their point, they cited three items priced in an independent store and the company store: dozen eggs for thirteen cents as opposed to twenty-three cents, pound of butter for eighteen cents as opposed to twenty-six cents, and tobacco for twenty-six cents as opposed to thirtyfour cents. (In computing these goods the average price increase over the independent store was forty-six percent.) They further asserted: ''These are but a few samples of the prices charged here, but we have no redress. If we do not deal in the store we are notified about it with a broad intimation that others would be glad to have our places and deal in the store ." (65) The two investigative reports documented abuses concerning the company store in the anthracite region in 1897 and drew attention to three pertinent facts: the company store did not operate to the benefit of the workmen; employees were subjected to intimidation when they failed to patronize company stores; profits were substantial. (66) The company store problem was a major concern of John Fahy who noted that the number was greater than when the legislation was passed in 1891 and coal operators continued to violate the law. Union members of the United Mine Workers of America agreed and passed a resolution condemning this kind of store : '' ... the company store is a great and burdensome evil; that the system is harsh and tyrannical, and its purposes to rob labor of the full use of that pittance, always too meager, which the mine worker now received for his toil . . . "(67) Another grievance of the workers closely related to the company store was the practice of having a company butcher make door to door sales to employees living in company houses. They objected to the butcher's high prices and his habit of leaving more meat than requested forcing the purchaser to pay for meat not wanted . (68) What they wanted was the. abolition of this solicitation. Dominance of the coal companies over their employees was felt in another way through the company doctor. Coal operators had a physician to administer to the health needs of workers. On the surface this service appeared to be a desirable fringe benefit. Not so in the eyes of the employees who had several objections. They felt that they should have the right to select their own doctor since many believed that the quality of medical help was below average. The fact that the doctor's �SLOVAKIA 21 allegiance rested with the company placed uncertainty on the doctorpatient relationship.(69) Aside from these reservations was the cost. Deduction from workers' paychecks funded the program; A. S. Van Wickle Company levied two cents a day on each employee while other companies charged each married man with a family seventy-five cents a month and single men fifty cents a month.(70) To many this outlay of money equaled a half-day of wages and was an unnecessary cost. At this time it was common practice for people to rely upon home remedies for curing illnesses rather than always going to a doctor. A custom among miners was to establish their own mutual medical aid organizations known as '' keg funds.'' Miners donated refunds received from turning in their empty powder kegs.(71) Another major factor explaining why workers opposed the company doctor scheme stemmed from a plethora of fraternal groups that provided insurance against sickness and death. In the Hazleton area there were around fifty such organizations with many established along ethnic lines. Working class membership in these societies was large. Dues entitled them to sick benefits that varied from four to six dollars a week for a period of three to six months. Average death benefits ranged from $50 to $125 with wives often receiving half the rate. (72) With these other arrangements, the company doctor plan offered few, if any , advantages to mine workers. Feelings of exploitation among the miners were particularly strong over the price of blasting powder and mining supplies and the coercion to purchase these items from the coal companies. Each of the collieries kept mining supplies for sale. Testimony before the United States Industrial Commission revealed: ''The coal operators will say that they do not compel miners to buy their supplies with that company. While this may be true in regard to oil in some places, yet they are compelled to buy their powder from these companies where they work, for they will tell you if you do not buy your powder there you can work where you buy it."(73) Along with this compulsion there was the high price for the powder. A keg of powder weighing twenty-five pounds sold for $2. 75 in the Lehigh region whereas in the Schuylkill region the same amount had sold for $1.50 since 1888.(74) A major demand of the strikers was to secure a price decrease for powder generally in the amount of seventy-five cents a keg. However, miners at Calvin Pardee & Company sought a more extensive price reduction for powder so that it would sell for $1.50 a keg.(75) Powder purchased from independent stores sold from $1.25 to $1.50 a keg and the wholesale cost of powder per keg delivered from the manufacturer ranged from 90 cents to $1.00.(76) It was obvious to the miners that the coal operators made substantial profits on the sale of powder with a mark-up of around two hundred percent. When comparing powder prices in the Schuylkill region with the Hazleton area in 1896, men believed they were overcharged by some $125,353.75 or a per capita of $217.50 which was �22 SLOVAKIA almost equivalent to one-third of their annual income.(77) This issue was particularly irritating to the miners and they felt that they were victims of extortion. Another vexing issue was the lack of compliance by coal companies to provisions of the state semi-monthly wage payment law passed in 1891 . The act stipulated that employers pay their employees in lawful money every two weeks.(78) With the exception of the Coxe mines, violation of the statute was widespread in the Hazleton area . (79) The state legislative investigating committee reported the act was '' ... virtually a dead letter in many instances. Operators disregard it and deem it an unjustifiable interference with their rights .'' (80) District One of the United Mine Workers of America in its 1896 annual convention adopted a resolution endorsing the semi-monthly wage payment law and invited members of the business community to cooperate with them in supporting this legislation. (81) Frequency of payment to workers was important to coal operators since it had a direct relationship to the maintenance of company stores. If workmen received their wages every two weeks or even weekly, they would be inclined to shop at independent stores which had lower prices. With monthly payments, employees found it convenient and, sometimes necessary , to depend on credit extended at the company stores.(82) These cumulative burdens of adverse working conditions, irregular and limited work, low wages, pressure to patronize the company's store and butcher, expense for a company doctor, high costs for blasting powder and mining supplies, and non-compliance with the semi-monthly pay law were hardships ever present to mine laborers and became issues in the strike. Of equal importance, immigrant workers found themselves having to cope with additional adversities such as nativistic attitudes that rejected their culture and impeded assimilation, economic discrimination in employment, passage of the alien tax law, and difficult and costly naturalization procedures. A wellspring of resentment and antagonism festered among the ranks of southern and eastern Europeans over conditions affecting their lives which stirred feelings of discontent and frustrations creating a serious strike situation. The spark which produced the Lattimer massacre first appeared to be nothing more than an isolated and minor labor dispute between District Superintendent Gomer Jones and some mule drivers at the Honey Brook colliery of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company; however, it became the catalyst leading to a series of crippling strikes in the Lehigh region. Gomer Jones , who had a reputation as a tyrannical mine boss, had recently been appointed superintendent of the Audenried district and assumed his new position with an eagerness to establish order and efficiency out of what he and the company considered to be a chaotic situation.(83) Jones stated in an interview that he perceived his superintendency: '' I came here a year ago. I came to restore discipline �SLOVAKIA 23 in the mines and to operate them in such a manner that the company could continue in business. The discipline was certainly lax. The men did about as they pleased. The two superintendents who were here then associated with the men, mixed with them, drank with them and were regarded as 'hail fellows well met' everywhere among the miners. Now I cannot do that. I'm not a drinking man, and I've never made it a practice to hobnob with the men. However, when I give orders I expect them to be obeyed and do not permit miners to do exactly as they please. " (84) He began to institute economics in the company's operations in order to achieve the lowest possible cost in mining. To carry out this resolve , he dismissed two easy-going foremen , about eighty other workers, and reduced daily wages for all classes of mine workers from three percent for carpenters to as much as twenty-five percent for stripping miners.(85) Another of Jones ' cost-saving proposals required all of the company mules to be stabled at Audenried. This measure required the mule drivers employed at Honey Brook to spend an extra hour in the morning and evening to pick up their mules and return them to the stables. For these two extra hours of work , Jones refused to grant any compensation to the mule drivers . Dissatisfaction over this arrangement provoked a strike among mule drivers , who were Slavic and Polish , on August 13 . The next day some workers took up positions along the road near the stable to insure that none of the mule teams was removed for work. Upon learning of this development , Jones went to the scene with club in hand with the intention of dispersing the disgruntled workers. Within minutes a boisterous dispute erupted and Jones, using his club, struck one worker. Some of Jones' assistants came to his rescue before the melee got completely out of control. (86) A consequence of the mule driver strike and the residue of dissatisfaction and discontent among the rest of the workers produced a general strike against the company on August 16. An assessment of the situation made by a local newspaper declared that coal companies " .. . import this cheap labor, drag them down with all sorts of hardships, and indignities and finally the bosses attempt to make records for money saving and thus increase their own salaries at the expense of the poor unfortunates who are under them. There is no need for white slavery, nor pauper wages ... pay them a living salary and treat them as human beings , and trouble of this kind will be unheard of.'' (87) That evening miners held a large meeting at McAdoo at which they formulated their grievances and demands to present to Elmer H. Lawall, General Superintendent of Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. They wanted restoration of the wage scale in effect prior to reductions imposed by Jones , an increase of ten percent in wages for all employees who worked underground, purchase of coal by workers for use in their homes reduced from $2.50 to $1.50 a ton, the right of each worker to select his own doctor, removal of Gomer Jones from his �24 SLOVAKIA position as district superintendent, and assurance that each person on strike would be reinstated.(88). Miners elected a strike committee representing different nationalities to present the issue to company officials. After meeting with Mr. Lawall on August 17, the committee decided to go to New York the next day to confer with Mr. Lawall and C. H. Warren, assistant to company President Maxwell. After returning from New York, the committee on August 19 met with the miners to report on negotiations, informing them that Mr. Warren had pledged that the company would pay the same rate of wages prevailing in the area and did not object to miners selecting their own doctor and making their own payments. There was no response to reducing the price of coal used by miners in their homes. With regard to the miners' objections concerning the conduct of Gomer Jones, the company refused to dismiss him but did promise to investigate his actions; this prompted an editorial comment in a Hazleton newspaper: ''The men are determined in their demands for justice, and if the Lehigh and WilkesBarre officials are wise they will speedily dismiss Superintendent Gomer Jones, for so long as he is retained in his present position, the trouble will not be adjusted. This man, with perhaps one exception, has imposed more hardships on the mines than any other living person who ever set foot on this soil. " (89) Upon hearing the company offer, which the miners described as one containing only promises rather than solutions to their grievances and demands, they voted to remain on strike . (90) Refusal to end the strike caused Mr. Lawall to hold another meeting with the strike committee. Three additional issues were introduced in the negotiations: employees need not live in company houses , men in the same grade of work receive the same pay, and employees be paid for all services rendered to the company - a direct reference to the mule drivers' complaint of having to spend two extra hours without pay to pick up and return their mules to the stables. After conferring with Lawall the strike committee called another meeting with workers on August 20. At this time the company informed the men that it had accepted the employees' position on the three additional points and that Lawall had personally promised to investigate fairly every grievance . Strikers believed that the injudicious activities of Jones would certainly be exposed and he would be dismissed. They learned that the mules were returned to Honey Brook, removing the issue of extra work without pay that had sparked the strike . In addition, two men dismissed by Jones were reinstated to their former positions. With such favorable news and expectation of Jones' replacement, the miners voted to end the week old strike and return to work on August 23.(91) The euphoria that prevailed among miners stemmed from their belief of success in exerting their interests against the coal company. This sense of accomplishment was further underscored by the fact they �SLOVAKIA 25 had been able to organize seven locals of the United Mine Workers of America comprising nearly a thousand men or about half of the company' s employees in the Audenried district. Establishing the union rested on the activities of John Fahy, United Mine Workers organizer, who took advantage of miners' discontent over their working conditions and lack of unionization. With the backing of a union and the promise of Lawall to investigate their differences with Jones , miners felt confident that they had won.(92) It appeared that labor unrest at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company was only an aberration and the outlook for labor peace quite good. Such optimism was short lived. The strike was a harbinger of labor agitation that soon engulfed the Lehigh mining region surrounding Hazleton. Within a week, on August 27, another strike initiated by immigrant workers broke out at the Coleraine and Milnesville collieries of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company. Some 1,500 strikers demanded reinstatement of the wage scale prior to the reduction made in February of 1897, which meant an average increase in wages from ten to fifteen percent in the daily rates. They wanted the new daily rates to be the following: stripping laborers, $1.20; first class laborers , $1.64; second class laborers, $1.50; outside laborers , from $1.00 to $1.20 ; breaker hands, men at $1.00 and boys at 90 cents; mule drivers, one mule at $1.50 ; two mules at $1.64; and three mules at $1.75; first class miners , $2.10; and second class miners, $1.93 . A few days later, August 31, some 2,000 employees of Lehigh and WilkesBarre Coal Company swelled the ranks of dissatisfied workers by walking off their jobs a second time after the elapse of two weeks when company officials had promised a settlement of their grievances in their first strike at the beginning of the month.(93) Chairman of the strikers ' negotiating committee charged that ' ' ... Messrs. Lawall and Warren, did not keep faith, and their refusal to make any concessions after their encouraging promises originally had served to work the men up to a high pitch. " (94) Work stoppages also began to spread to other coal operators: Lehigh Valley Coal Company, C. M. Dodson & Company, G. B. Markel & Company, Calvin Pardee & Company, A. Pardee & Company , New Ebervale Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, Arnold & Morgan Company , and Silver Brook Coal Company.(95) This general strike action at the end of August and the first of September erupted with the pressing demand for an increase in wages. Immigrant workers were the principal source of agitation over this issue. It was they who suffered loss of wages due to enactment of the alien tax law and who felt the effects of wage discrimination when they received less for the same job than the English-speaking worker. Miners in their class earned from $1.50 to $1.65 a day while an Englishspeaking miner earned $1.97 for the same position. Similar conditions existed for those who were employed as laborers; the percent of wage difference was even greater, $1.15 versus $1.50. Anglo-Saxon workers �26 SLOVAKIA did not support the strike and immigrants looked upon them as a favored class. Since Slavic and Italian workers outnumbered Englishspeaking workers by a three-to-one ratio, their dissatisfaction over wages and working conditions became the prevailing voice. (96) Demand for the same pay for the same job had the following local, editorial support: "Employees should receive the same compensation for the same kind and amount of work done whether they are Hungarians, Italians or any other nationality." (97) Strikers ' demands for improvement in their wages came in part from the fact that Lehigh coal operators paid lower wages than operators in the other two anthracite coal fields. (98) Although there existed an industry-wide formula for determining wages based on the tidewater price of coal, in actuality there was a divergence in the wage scale particularly among the unskilled in different coal companies, which contributed to labor unrest among workers when they learned their wages were lower than their counterparts in other mines. In protest, foreign workers began marching from one colliery to another, closing down operations and compelling other workers to join their ranks. With each passing day the situation became somewhat more tense. Area newspapers assessed conditions as serious with the distinct possibility of becoming quite dangerous since, ''Never in the history of the region was such a determined body of men seen together'' ;(99) it was feared that unless a settlement was reached, '' ... the whole Lehigh region will be plunged into one of the most threatening conditions ever experienced in the history of Pennsylvania coal mining." (100) Immigrant workers were the masters of the situation, dominating the strike activities; English-speaking workers, fewer in number receiving better wages, did not voluntarily support them and preferred to remain at work. Instead of a feeling of camaraderie and solidarity between these two groups there was distrust and suspicion.(101) An important break occurred in the strike action when A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company made a wage settlement with their employees at Milnesville and Coleraine collieries on September 3 and 4, respectively. The company's General Superintendent, James Roderick, fulfilled a promise to investigate wages paid at other area mines and, if his company's rates were lower, make appropriate advances. Advances did not completely equal the original demands of the workers: increases were around nine percent given primarily to the unskilled and semiskilled, jobs held mainly by the Slavic and Italian immigrants with no raise for skilled laborers, miners, jobs dominated by AngloSaxons.(102) With regard to the alien tax, which had recently been declared unconstitutional, the company promised to return the money at the next pay day. Concerning other issues of the company store and butcher, Roderick promised ''. . . there will positively be no compulsion for any man to deal with the company butcher and the company �SLOVAKIA 27 store, nor will any intimidation in this direction be permitted by any of the subordinates."(103) Following the lead of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company, officials at Coxe mines voluntarily increased wages ten cents a day to prevent their workers from going out on strike. (104) Settlement of the strike at A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company and increased pay by Coxe marked an important turning point in the labor unrest which had idled some twelve collieries due to the strikers' demonstrations. Success of these workers in improving their wages became a stimulus for hundreds of other workers to increase their determination to secure the same monetary gain. Higher wages granted by the two companies simply exacerbated the situation when other coal operators refused to match or make any improvement in wages. As long as this condition prevailed, chances of labor unrest becoming volatile heightened and the outcome became more uncertain . A week prior to the Lattimer killings, a Hazleton newspaper, realizing the nature of the situation, made the following appeal to coal operators: ''What the outcome of the uprising will be is simply conjecture, but one thing is certain, that the operators owe it to themselves as well as the community to bring about a speedy adjustment of the trouble. There is no good reason why the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. officials should not pay the same rate of wages as A. S. Van Wickle; they are in a position to do it and ought to. If there is to be an average rate of wages let all the operators join the combination and pay it. The obstinacy of either one company or the other, is simply injurious to the community, and for the benefit of all we suggest that the operators at least meet the men half-way, and the trouble will soon be a thing of the past. " (105) As each day passed without settlement, strikers continued marching from one coal mine to another seeking to induce other workers to join the strike; some responded willingly and others only after cajoling or intimidation. Their efforts were having success in disrupting the area's mining operations. Anxiety grew as the potential for serious trouble became likely with an apparent impasse emerging between strikers and operators who had refused to go along with the settlement made by A. S. Van Wickle and Coxe. Coal companies , holding the view that the situation had deteriorated and people had become terrorstricken by the strikers' protest, urged the sheriff to intervene in a manner that would terminate the strikers' activities. Sheriff James Martin, vacationing in Atlantic City, New Jersey , received a telegram on Saturday , September 4, from his deputy, Mr. George Wall, that Superintendent Lathrop of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company requested him to go to Hazleton to deal with the developing strike situation. Upon returning to Wilkes-Barre, the Sheriff held a Monday morning conference concerning the strike with Lathrop, Superintendent Steams of Cross Creek Coal Company, and Superintendent Lawall of Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company before �28 SLOVAKIA proceeding to Hazleton.(106) The Sheriff did not come to Hazleton at the request of any elected or appointed public official such as a magistrate, justice of peace, constable, or mayor, nor upon his arrival did he confer with any public official concerning the question of public order as related to the strikers' demonstrations. Instead, when he came to Hazleton, he met with Mr. Zerby, Assistant Superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and Mr. Platt, Superintendent of Calvin Pardee & Company store. Naturally, these two men held views concerning the strike that reflected their companies' vested interests and could possibly have misrepresented the degree of disruption. Apparently, Martin did not feel there was any advantage to investigating and reviewing developments with a variety of people having different perspectives in order to ascertain objectively sentiments and facts related to the strike. It was at this time that officials of Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, and Calvin Pardee & Company made it abundantly clear that they would hold Sheriff Martin personally responsible for any interference with their mining operations.(107) After conferring with Messrs. Zerby and Platt, Martin decided to organize a posse comitatus. A Sheriff's decision to create a posse must be based upon circumstances as defined in law in which a state of disorder exists, consisting of a riot or the threat of a riot in which life and property are in jeopardy. Again Martin's assessment that these conditions existed rested upon information given to him by representatives of coal companies. Following their recommendation, he appointed Thomas Hall, a prominent Hazleton businessman whose occupation involved selling blasting powder to coal companies, as his chief deputy.(108) In the Hazleton Machinery Supply Company Store, a concern involved in coal mining, eighty-seven men were sworn in as Sheriff's deputies and members of the posse with nearly all of them directly or indirectly earning their living from coal companies. This close connection of the deputies with the coal companies was apparent as some twenty-three were employees of Calvin Pardee & Company, including his own son and Augustus W. Drake, Pardee's General Superintendent; fourteen worked for the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and six were members of the coal and iron police. All but one deputy had surnames indicating Irish, English, or German heritage, the majority were members of prominent families and relatives of coal operators, many were young, several had attended college and were engineers or held managerial positions in coal companies. Others were businessmen and a few were laborers.(109) Superintendent Smith of G. B. Markle & Company, a coal operator, ordered rifles and shotguns and shipped them to a warehouse owned by A. Pardee & Company, another coal operator, where they were dispensed to the deputies under the direction of Mr. Platt.(110) Martin cautioned his deputies: " ... it was their duty to maintain the peace at all hazards, but under no cir- �SLOVAKIA 29 cumstances to shoot unless they were convinced either they or myself to be in danger.'' (111) Since the coal operators were responsible for requesting the Sheriff to come to Hazleton and to organize a posse, they also agreed to assume the costs for expenses incurred by the deputies. (112) Another service available to the Sheriff and his deputies was a special trolley car provided by Lehigh Traction Company upon the orders of Mr. Zerby so they could have unimpeded transportation to move about the coal fields.(113) While arrangements were under way in organizing the posse, Martin contacted Sheriffs Scott and Setzer of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties, respectively , since Lehigh coal fields encompassed parts of these counties. The main source of strike agitation came from men employed at collieries south of Hazleton in the area where Luzerne , Schuylkill , and Carbon Counties have a common boundary. After consulting with each other, the three law officers issued separate proclamations admonishing people '' . . . from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly, and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace .' ' (114) Included in the proclamation was the state riot act of 1860 describing illegal activities and penalties. Sheriff Martin 's decision to issue the proclamation made it appear that he felt conditions were turbulent, disorderly, and warranted the organization of a posse; yet on the same day he chose to spend a leisurely afternnoon attending the bicycle races at Hazleton.(115) The following morning, Tuesday, September 7, Sheriff Martin, upon learning that a group of strikers planned to shut down the Crystal Ridge Colliery , took a number of deputies to the site and prevented them from accomplishing their goal.(116) News of this intervention by the Sheriff either had not spread, or if it had, did not awe other strikers from descending on the New Ebervale Coal Company colliery and closing it down. Company superintendent, John Scott, describing the incident stated: '' ... the real leader appeared and said they intended to win the strike if they had to apply the torch to every town in the region ."(117) After closing the New Ebervale colliery, strikers marched over to the stripping area of Calvin Pardee & Company at Lattimer hoping to repeat their success earlier in the day. However, some of the Sheriff's deputies were already at Lattimer to prevent any disruption in the company 's operations . When the marchers appeared, the officers fired warning shots ito the air dispersing them and thwarting their objective.(118) The remaining days prior to the tragedy at Lattimer found Sheriff Martin and his deputies constantly transversing the coal fields from one colliery to another checking the strikers' movements . With each passing encounter the level of exasperation and tension between the law officers and immigrant workers on strike began to rise. A Hazleton newspaper again reflected a growing concern over the lack of a strike �30 SLOVAKIA settlement and a possible serious confrontation: ''The strike can be settled within twenty-four hours, and without bloodshed, if the operators will act fair and honest with their men. "(119) A day later the same editorial voice observed a growing seriousness in that the strikers '' ... are very much embittered against the deputies, and it is feared that both parties will engage in mortal combat." (120) A letter to the newspaper editor commenting on the strike stated it was '' ... causing a depression in business and fear in the hearts of the people of bloodshed . . . '' suggesting ' ' . . . the Ministerial Association take the matter in hand, call a meeting of all the clergy of the Protestant and Catholic churches, and together with the press and businessmen try and see if their influence could not be used to settle this grave matter between the operators and men."(121) John Fahy counseled the workers to obey the Sheriff's proclamations and to avoid provocations that could cause violence since the authorities had the ability to crush them. His interest was to temper the strikers' ardor and give it some meaningful direction.(122) Martin, apparently feeling some frustrations and reservations over his efforts to deal with strikers , told Frank Pardee, head of A. Pardee & Company, '' ... that while the strikers simply confined themselves to talking to the men quietly and persuading them to quit, it was none of my business and I had no right to interfere. "(123) Regardless of whatever doubts the Sheriff may have had, he knew perfectly well that he could not disregard the wishes of the coal operators. Starting on Thursday afternoon events began to cascade toward that fateful Friday. Employees of Calvin Pardee & Company at Harwood who were on strike felt that in order to win they had to shut down the company's operation at Lattimer which had failed earlier. News came to Harwood strikers that their fellow employees at Lattimer were anxious to join them if only they would march over to Lattimer; this appeal stimulated their determination.(124) The Harwood local of the United Mine Workers held a meeting on Thursday evening to make plans to march to Lattimer the next day. Joe Mahalko, president of the Harwood local of the United Mine Workers of America, cautioned his fellow workers to go without guns or any other kind of weapons, to harm no one nor to destroy any property, and to keep the peace. On the next day, Friday, September 10, around noon some two hundred and fifty strikers from the Harwood area, consisting almost exclusively of immigrant workers, started their ill-fated mission to get their counterparts to go on strike at Lattimer. As the march proceeded, some seventy-five to one hundred additional strikers joined the ranks. (125) When they reached the outskirts of West Hazleton on their route to Lattimer around two o 'clock, they were stopped by Evan Jones, Chief of Police of West Hazleton, who told them, "Go back out of this, you are in a dangerous place. If you have to go to Lattimer you must go another way."(126) At this point Sheriff Martin and his deputies �SLOVAKIA 31 arrived on the scene with the intention of stopping the marchers from proceeding to Lattimer. A confrontation occurred between the Sheriff, his deputies , and the strikers, in which one striker was arrested, another had his arm broken by a deputy, many had guns thrust in their faces , the American flag they were carrying was destroyed, and there was an exchange of blasphemous name calling.(127) Martin read his proclamation containing the riot act, ordered them to cease their march to Lattimer , and urged them to return to their homes, telling them that all of the marching from colliery to colliery to drive men from work was no way to get better wages.(128) He believed there would be serious trouble since some of the marchers had picked up stones and looked as if they intended to throw them at the law enforcement officials. However, this fear proved to be unfounded since they did not take such a provocative action. (129) Efforts to halt the march were futile considering the strikers ' determination to continue their trek to Lattimer, and Martin 's inability to communicate with them since he spoke only English and had no interpreter . After becoming exhausted from the episode , he simply gave up trying to stop them.(130) The strikers ' perception of this hostile encounter differed from the law officers ' version and hinted at forthcoming trouble . John Eagler, one of the leaders of the march and secretary of the United Mine Workers local at Harwood stated: " We were met by the deputies at West Hazleton who did not come like civilized beings , but broke through the ranks, crying, 'Stop , stop!' " (131) Joseph Mahalko declared : '' I told the Sheriff we had no stick big as my finger in the crowd. All Sheriff said was 'don't go any farther .' Sheriff said , 'You go back or I shoot you . ' " (132) Again John Eagler stated that the Sheriff only took a piece of paper from his pocket and did not read any proclamation as he claimed but had simply told them that it was against the law to march to Lattimer.(133) The strikers asserted they did not initiate any altercation with the law officers but were merely the victims of an unwarranted attempt to prohibit them from using the public highway. Something that proved to be far more serious was the ominous threats attributted to the Sheriff and his deputies against the strikers: "Go back and take care of yourself, for there will be big trouble today ." (134) " We 'll get even with the --- at Lattimer."(135) "We ' ll leave them go till we get to Lattimer ; then we ' ll shoot them. "(136) "I'd like to get a pop at the ---of b---. I'll bet I'll drop six. " (137) "I didn 't know what the h--- the Sheriff makes us walk around here so much without giving us a chance to shoot those men .'' (138) ' 'Everyone of the G-- d-- Hunks ought to be shot. " (139) Sheriff Martin , formerly a coal foreman at the Mill Creek colliery in Luzerne County, allegedly stated, " . . . a little cold lead is the only way to conquer the strikers."(140) The Sheriff's efforts and reported intimidations to terminate the strike rs ' march to Lattimer became nothing more than a futile gesture that only made them more resolute to continue their journey. Un- �32 SLOVAKIA daunted, the marchers following the advice of Chief Evan Jones took a route toward Lattimer along the outskirts of Hazleton on which they could proceed without further interference.(141) Sheriff Martin realizing his efforts had been to no avail quickly returned to Hazleton, summoned his entire force of deputies telling them to take their arms and board the trolley to Lattimer so they could prevent the marchers from stopping the Lattimer mining operations.(142) En route there was talk among the deputies '' . . . about shooting and each man seemed to be eager ... "(143) Since some of the deputies had served as coal and iron police, they " ... had had much trouble with the strikers on previous occasions and were said to be in a revengeful mood against them. "(144) Even Sheriff Martin admitted, " ... I have no doubt that some of the deputies were excited, and certainly the ride over the mountain in that crowded car was animating."(145) The Sheriff and his posse arrived at Lattimer a few minutes after three o'clock and stationed themselves along the right side of the road as it entered Lattimer from the south. He instructed his deputies " ... to keep cool and not get excited. "(146) However, before the strikers arrived, the deputies ordered a woman to go into her house on the likelihood that some shooting may occur.(147) Shortly after the deputies were in place , the strikers appeared coming up the public road in an orderly array toward the Lattimer breaker. (148) There was every reason to suspect that the deputies were fully aware that the miners were unarmed. As they approached the law officers who were standing parallel to the road, the Sheriff stepped out and walked toward the marchers with the intention of learning what they planned to do. Martin indicated that " ... if they are not going to do anything, I may let them go on, and we will go along with them.' ' (149) He ordered them to halt about forty or fifty yards from the armed deputies. The front of the column slowed as the Sheriff approached and asked them what they intended to do. The Sheriff reported they said, "We stop Lattimer Mines."(150) He then proceeded to read his proclamation in English, which many of them could not understand, while at the same time the rear of the column kept pushing forward. Within a few minutes a fracas broke out between the Sheriff and some twenty strikers at the side of the road when he attempted to seize and arrest one of the men.(151) At this point the deputies aimed and fired directly into the ranks of the strikers. The exploding crescendo of Winchesters created a bloody massacre with the sound of shrieks and moaning of the dying and wounded lying in agony. One newspaper described the scene: ''It was a human slaughter in which men were mowed down like grain stalks before a scythe, by the deadly bullets which stormed for fully two minutes. The blood of the dead and dying soaked the dusty road and flowed in streams through the ditch."(152) The murderous volley created a human carnage taking the lives of nineteen immigrants and leaving thrity-eight wounded; eleven men died at Lattimer with the �SLOVAKIA 33 remaining eight dying at the Hazleton Hospital. Dr. Keller, a physician at the hospital, stated that many of the victims were shot in the back.(153) What began a month earlier as a dispute between Gomer Jones and immigrant mule drivers grew into a serious strike finally ending as a sorrowful episode in American labor history. In the aftermath of this tragedy there were contradictory versions as to what actually happened. Sheriff Martin said the strikers were vicious, boisterous, a furious and desperate gang, fierce as wild beasts, threatening to physically harm or even kill him. He felt that they were bent on doing violence and had no intention of obeying his proclamation or the laws of Pennsylvania. Earlier at West Hazleton, Martin told the marchers that it was his duty to prevent them from interfering with the men who were working at the mines, and at Lattimer he went a step further to warn them that if they did not disperse there would be trouble.(154) When a Hungarian speaking in broken English told him, "Go to hell, you a---," (155) he sought to arrest the man who shouted the epithet. The men, excited, began assaulting him forcing him to draw his revolver in self defense and attempt to shoot an attacking man, but the gun failed to discharge. He claimed that two of his attackers had pistols and a third man with a knife sought to stab him. (156) In a letter written five weeks later explaining the event to Governor Hastings, Martin wrote the following description: "One high (sic) fellow gave me a blow on the cheek and knocked me on my knees. I would have been knocked down on my back, but the crowd was too close around me so that there was no room for me to get down, and while we were struggling I heard a shot followed closely by a second and then a number of shots together. Those who were attacking me were shot, and I was then unable to recover myself, and there is no doubt in my mind that if the deputies had not shot just when they did I would certainly have been killed. While I was struggling with part of the mob on one side of the road in the ditch where they had pushed me, the part on the other side of the road with a whoop and yell rushed on toward the deputies, who no doubt fearing that their lives were in danger and that I was to be killed, fired ... '' (157) On the day after the shooting, Martin gave several conflicting statements as to why the deputies shot the strikers. "I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers ... I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot if they must to protect their lives or to protect the property that they had been sent to guard from being demolished . . . I hated to give the command to shoot and was awfully sorry that I was compelled to do so. "(158) "I did not order the deputies to fire; someone else did that. I gave no order." (159) "The shooting commenced in a manner that baffles me completely when it comes to explaining."(160) A few days later in an interview Martin suggested that the cause of the shooting came from an impulse of his men to protect him: ''They saw me in the �34 SLOVAKIA midst of the strikers, with men aiming blows at me, and they supposed probably that my life was in danger."(161) The Sheriff's answers vacillated on how the shooting began, ranging from admitting that he gave the order to his deputies to fire their weapons to denying any knowledge of how the firing happened. Even among the deputies there was no satisfactory answer as to how the shooting commenced. The version of the confrontation by the strikers and bystanders differed from and challenged the assertions made by Sheriff Martin. According to the strikers, the Sheriff ordered them to halt and began to read his proclamation. The situation became disruptive when the Sheriff sought to arrest one of the marchers and get the others to disperse. One of the men told the Sheriff '' . . . we only want to move on peaceably ... "(162) Those in the rear of the column continued pressing forward and shouting '' go ahead,'' pushing the Sheriff and some of the men off to the side of the road. Whereupon, John Eagler reported that Martin flourished his revolver, '' ... grabbed one man by the arm, and, pointing the revolver at him, said, 'Did you tell them to go ahead?' The man said he had not spoken, and then the Sheriff grabbed another man and began to shove him about. 'You will say ''Go ahead," eh?' said the Sheriff, and at the same time he aimed the revolver squarely at the man's heart. The man naturally was frightened, and pushed the Sheriff's hand holding the revolver to one side. Whether or not the Sheriff considers that an attack or·not I don't know. I am positive that not a man hit the Sheriff."(163) An account from a bystander stated that Martin '' . . . became excited and ordered the deputies to shoot . . . " (164) A striker affirmed this point that the Sheriff gave the order to fire.(165) Another eye witness agreed that Martin's command was to fire but only a warning shot over the heads of the strikers.(166) Witnesses to the shooting pointed out there were no warning shots fired but told of excessive firing into the ranks of the strikers, deputies continuing to shoot after men ran for cover, and men shot down as far as 150 yards from where they were stopped by the Sheriff.(167) A Lattimer school teacher reported: "I saw men who had hidden behind trees and fences during the first fusillade leave their places of concealment only to be deliberately shot down."(168) The school house about three hundred yards distant from which the teacher saw the shooting was riddled with bullets. An area newspaper asserted: ''This would indicate that the strikers, fleeing by the shortest route to Hazleton across the hills, were shot at long after there was any danger to the deputies." (169) Strikers affirming this horror told of being targets as they ran for safety. A detached account by Henry Hoyt, United States Assistant Attorney General, based upon an investigation of the shooting made the following summation: ''It appeared that the strikers were unarmed; that small clubs which they had previously carried were thrown away on the march between West Hazleton and Lattimer; that they were peaceable and orderly in West �SLOVAKIA 35 Hazleton and Lattimer; were not riotous at West Hazleton or Lattimer, and at neither place made an assault upon the Sheriff or his deputies, or offered any violence or used threatening language to them."(170) Martin confirmed Hoyt's account by stating, in response to a reporter's question, that the strikers until the time of the shooting had not committed any overt act nor behaved otherwise than peaceably. (171) The Lattimer tragedy resulted from a multiplicity of interrelated sources. Existing in the anthracite region were nativistic sentiments encompassing an attitude of disdain for Slavic and Italian immigrants; Anglo-Saxons looked upon the strikers as unwelcomed strangers who were inferiors and who could not possibly conform to accepted standards in society. In an interview a federal treasury official, who was familiar with Hazleton, affirmed this idea with his romantic (and distorted) depiction of an idyllic and bucolic setting disrupted by the intrusion of alien people who fostered hatred: ''I think when all the facts come out in regard to the shooting it will be found that the officers who did the shooting have covered a revenge of years under the wings of the law. I remember when twelve or fifteen years ago, the section around Hazleton was settled by hard-working and honest Irishmen, Welshmen, Englishmen, Germans, and Americans. They worked in the mines and did well. Many of them owned their own homes - pretty little cottages on the hillside, surrounded by outhouses for cattle and chickens, etc., and happiness seemed to smile on all. There were no strikes and the morality of the neighborhood was good. Then began to come in the Hungarians and the Poles and the class of foreigners, by accepting smaller wages, ran the others out. I knew several Irishmen who vowed they would not leave, but went away to other States, in many instances having to sell their little homes to pay their debts and to get away on. This naturally caused a bitter feeling, a feeling which exists to this day, and one which caused many vows of revenge. The houses once the property of prosperous Irishmen and Americans are now in filthy condition, occupied by two and three families of Hungarians and Poles. Instead of clean beds there are bunks ranged along the walls and as many as four people slept in a small room. In that band of deputies which encountered the marching miners a few days ago are many men who remembered the change from the scenes of years ago. Their hearts have been full of revenge. When the opportunity presented itself they seized it, with the horrible result too well known. They shot to kill, because their relatives and friends had been made paupers by these people. I do not approve of the shooting, but I believe the facts will reveal what I have stated." (172) These immigrant strikers represented a class of people outside the local structure, posed an economic threat to the interests of coal operators, and replaced Anglo-Saxons as the dominant mine workers. In contrast, the Sheriff's posse consisted of a class of people that was �36 SLOVAKIA diametrically opposite in nationality, place in society , and occupation. This dissimilarity in turn tended to heighten emotional responses. The strike increased the stresses of nativism. Passions grew in both contending groups; as workers sought to shut down the mines , the Sheriff and his deputies, under the pressure of coal companies , tried to prevent them from accomplishing their objective. A feeling of anxiety and tension grew in the community as the chances of an ugly confrontation between strikers and law officers became likely. Undoubtedly , the Sheriff and his men fully sensed this but realized the ramifications if they failed to prevent the strikers from closing down the mining operations at Lattimer. If unsuccessful, the chances of protecting the remaining mines from being closed down by the strikers would be slight. Combined with this pressure were frustrations in trying to quell the strikers' activities , tension and fatigue over the incident at West Hazleton, malicious attitudes toward the immigrants who were also labor agitators, and a glandular excitement capable of generating panic from a large group about to undergo another encounter with strikers . A maturation process among Slavic and Italian immigrants in the anthracite coal fields reached fruition when the strike broke out in the Lehigh region in the late summer of 1897. Having become the dominant group among the mine workers in the late 1890's, they asserted themselves by conceiving and initiating the strike . This decision resulted from the frustrating working conditions and discriminatory practices emanating from nativistic actions which combined to impose hardships and an inferior status . The culmination of these factors was the wellspring for discontent and dissatisfaction. At this time the United Mine Workers of America lacked strength to represent and protect the anthracite mine workers ' interest effectively and , in addition , generally showed little interest in including the new immigrants in their ranks or purview. Consequently, the only recourse for the immigrant workers was to take matters into their own hands to seek redress for grievances. As the strike developed, it lacked coherent strategies since it was unorganized, leaderless , and did not have benefit of an effective union structure to provide direction, articulation, and ability to successfully negotiate with the coal operators. (173) This point of inadequate experience and unfamiliarity in labor affairs made the strikers vulnerable to violence . Therefore, on that Friday afternoon as the immigrant strikers marched into Lattimer imbued with a spirit to win their strike, they came face to face with Sheriff Martin and his deputies equally committed to stopping them. It was as if for a moment, the recent social and economic history of the area had been centripetally compressed into a time capsule only to be exploded by indigenous divergent and incompatible forces . Catapulted into a deadly collision were two different worlds in conflict. The result was-violence, perpetrated by public peace keepers who were the instruments of coal �SLOVAKIA 37 companies' strategy to break the strike . The effect was that Lattimer became the worst tragedy in American labor history in terms of the number of workers killed and wounded by public authorities, who were not provoked nor endangered and who attacked without warning unarmed strikers peacefully demonstrating on a public highway. FOOTNOTES (1) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 11, 1897. (2) Letter from Henry Hoyt, Assistant Attorney-General, to William Day, Secretary of State, April 8, 1898; in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, with the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 6, 1898 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901), 82-87. Hoyt' s letter stemmed from an investigation made by the Department of Justice for the Department of State concerning a diplomatic protest from the Austria-Hungary government over several of its nationals killed and wounded at Lattimer. A great deal of confusion and inaccuracy existed in newspaper accounts as to the number of casualities from the shooting; reports varied from fourteen to as many as fifty people killed. Hoyt based his figures upon grand jury murder indictments against Sheriff Martin and his deputies who were brought to trial on February 1, 1898, in Luzerne County but were found not guilty by the jury. (3) Daily Standard (Hazleton), September 11, 1897. (4) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 11, 1897. (5) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (6) Daily Globe (South Bethlehem) , September 11, 1897. (7) St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 12, 1897. (8) San Francisco Chronicle, September 11, 1897. (9) Detroit Free Press, September 11, 1897. (10) Pittsburgh Dispatch, September 11, 1897. (11) Boston Daily Globe, September 11, 1897. (12) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 5, 1897. (13) Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers : A Study in Immigration (Philadelphia: J . B. Lippincott Company, 1904) , 51 & 58 ; Frank Julian Warne, "Some Industrial Effects of Slav Immigration," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904), 223-224. (14) Rowland Berthoff, "The Social Order of the Anthracite Region , 1825-1902," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LXXXIX (July 1965), 169-171; Charles B. Spahr, "America 's Working People," Outlook, Ll(Il (August 5, 1899) , 811. (15) Peter Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904) , 219. (16) Berthoff, 287; George 0 . Virtue, "The Anthracite Mine Laborers," Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor No. 13, (November, 1897) , 753. (17) Henry Edward Rood , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village ," Century Magazine, XXXIII, new series, (April, 1898), 811. (18) Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," 221. (19) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1895 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1895), 643. (20) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1897 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 546. �38 SLOVAKIA (21) Frank Julian Warne, " Organized Labor in the Anthracite Coal Fields," Outlook, LXXI (May 24 , 1902), 273 . '' . . . The operators used them (immigrants) originally to introduce low wages ... " Wilkes-Barre Record, August 8, 1897. The attitude that immigrants were responsible for undermining native labor interests was prevalent in newspaper editorials. Mauch Chunk Coal Gazette, September 25, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 8, 1897; Weekly Herald (Shenandoah), September 18, 1897; Sullivan Review, September 16, 1897 ; Detroit Free Press, September 12, 1897; Pittsburgh Post, September 15, 1897. (22) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. The laborer who assisted the contract miner was not employed by the coal operator but by the miner. Nearly eighty percent of the mine laborers in the Lehigh region worked under the contract system. Frank Julian Warne , " The Anthracite Coal Strike, " Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XVII (January, 1901), 32-33 . (23) Rood, 815. (24) Frank Julian Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XXI (January , 1903) , 23-24; Rood, 815; Virtue, 753 . (25) Victor R. Greene, The Slavic Community on Strike: Immigrant Labor in Pennsylvania Anthracite (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968), 86-87 ; Berthoff, 272-273 ; Virtue , 753 . (26) Spahr, 8ll ; Warne, " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," 31-32 ; Roberts, "The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities, " 218 . (27) Harold W. Aurand , From the Molly Maguires to the United Mine Workers: The Social Ecology of an Industrial Union, 1869-1897 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press , 1971) , 136. (28) Berthoff, 273 . (29) Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker, " 21; Berthoff, 268. (30) Alexander Trachtenberg, The History of Legislation for the Protection of Coal Miners in Pennsylvania, 1824-1915 (New York: International Publishers, 1942) , 134135. (31) Ibid., 135-136; Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88 . (32) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Sessions of 1889, Vol. I, Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1889) , 1529. (33) Virtue, 768; Greene, ll 7-ll8 ; Pottsville Republican, June 15, 1897 . (34) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1889, Vol. I, 1236. (35) Ibid. (36) United Mine Workers Journal, October 22, 1896, 1. (37) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1897, 289. (38) UMW Journal, August 12, 1897, 7. (39) Daily Standard, August 28, 1897. (40) Warne , Th e Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88. (41) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Ses sion of 1897, 135-136. The bill passed the House and Senate by votes of 126 to 12 and 28 to 3 respectively . Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 1069 & 2418 . There were attempts in the House to make the tax five cents a day. Ibid., 2418 (42) Ibid., 2292 . (43) Ibid., 2217 . �SLOVAKIA 39 (44) UMW Journal, July 1, 1897, 1. (45) Fraser v. McConway & Torley Co., 82 The Federal Reporter 259 (1897) . (46) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, 2217. (47) Wilkes-Barre Record, August 26 & 28, 1897. (48) Peter Roberts, Anthracite Coal Communities: A Study of the Demography, The Social, Educational and Moral Life of the Anthracite Region (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904), 44-45 . (49) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897. (50) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report on Conditions Existing Among the Miners and Those Employed in and About the Mines in the Anthracite Coal Regions ," Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Session Begun at Harrisburg, on the Fifth Day of January, 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1897), Il, 1824-1842. (51) R eports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), xvi-xvii . (52) Ibid., xvii; "Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (53) Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 170-172. (54) "The Association Letter," Anthracite Coal Operators Association, September, 1897, 2. (55) John Graham Brooks, " An Impression of the Anthracite Coal Troubles," Yale Review, VI (November, 1897), 307. (56) "Legislative Investigating Committee Report, " 1826. (57) Virtue, 756 . (58) Ibid., 757-58; "The Association Letter," 14-15; "The Marketing of Small Sizes of Anthracite," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (June, 1897), 490. (59) The Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1888-89, Vol. IV (Washington: U.S . Government Printing Office, 1889) , lxxix . (60) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1891), 256-57 . (61) Peter Roberts , Anthracite Coal Industry (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901), 136. (62) Ibid., 138. (63) "Company Store Legislation," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (April, 1897) , 395. (64) Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897. (65) Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897. (66) Virtue, 760 ; " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (67) UMW Journal, January 14 , 1897, 5; Ibid., October 22, 1896, l; Wilkes-Barre Record, December 25, 1896; Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897 . Fahy launched a campaign in the anthracite region to secure public contributions to support the United Mine Workers of America lobbying activities to abolish the company store. The Pennsylvania Legislature, reflecting an increased awareness of labor interests, responded and passed a bill in July, 1897 , placing a ten percent tax upon the face value of all types of certificates or the equivalent issued in lieu of legal tender for employees' wages . This measure would have severely crippled the operation of company stores; however, Governor Hastings vetoed the legislation on the ground that it violated the state constitution. George Edward Reed, ed., Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. Xll, 4th ser., (Harrisburg: Wm . Stanley Ray State Printer, 1902), 150-54. �40 SLOVAKIA (68) Daily Standard, August 31 & September 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2 & 13, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike of May-October, 1902 by the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission (Washington : U.S . Government Printing Office , 1903), 144 . The above source contained information regarding the strikers' demands made to the G. B. Markle & Company in the 1897 strike. (69) Daily Standard, September 6 & 8, 1897; Spahr, 810 . (70) Ibid.; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897 ; The Reports of Committees of the Hous e ... Fiftieth Congress, lxxxi. (71) Berthoff, 286. If all the miners in the fifth district (Lehigh region) had turned in their empty powder kegs in 1896, they would have raised $10 ,028.30 . Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173. (72) Robe rts , Anthracite Coal Communities, 259, 262-263. (73) Report of the Industrial Commission of the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor in the Mining Industry Including Testimony, Review of Evidence, and Topical Digest, Vol. XIl (Washington : U.S. Government Printing Office , 1901), 142 . (74) Robe rts, Anthracite Coal Industry, 133-134. (75) Daily Standard, September 6, 8 & 9, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 7, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike, 144. (76) Daily Standard, September 9, 1897; Spahr, 810; Report of the Industrial Commission, 142. (77) Computation based on 5,754 miners and laborers in the fifth anthracite district and the use of 100,283 kegs of blasting powder. Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173 & 176. (78) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891, 96-97. (79) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. (80) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1830. (81) UMW Journal, Ocotber 22, 1896, 1. (82) Report of the Industrial Commission, 143. (83) UMW Journal, November 25, 1897, 2; Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (84) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 15, 1897. (85) Ibid.; Daily Standard, August 17, 1897. In the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre newspapers there appeared an account of an interview with an unnamed individual defending Jones ' superintendency . Acknowledging that Jones may have made some mistakes, the source indicated that the workers' discontent really stemmed from the decisions made by the preceeding superintendent or from orders issued by higher company officials . ''He is charged with being a tyrant, and in reference to this it may be said that each foreman has full charge of all employees working under him . But Jones is among the first men about the works in the morning and among the last to leave at night, and because he attends strictly to business he is called a tyrant by men who want ten hours pay for less than ten hours of work.'' Wilkes-Barre Times, August 27, 1897. (86) Ibid., August 16, 1897. Gomer Jones was arrested later on a complaint by John Bodan on the charge of aggravated assault. Ibid., August 18, 1897. (87)lbid. , August 16, 1897 . (88) Ibid. , August 17, 1897 . (89) Ibid. , August 18, 1897. (90) Ibid. , August 20, 1897 . �SLOVAKIA 41 (91) Ibid. , August 21, 1897. (92) Ibid. (93) Ibid., August 28, 30 & September 1, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28, 1897. (94) Ibid., September 3, 1897. (95) Ibid., September 3 & 4, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, September 4, 6 & 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 3, 1897 . (96) Ibid. , August 28, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897. (97) Ibid. , August 30, 1897 . (98) Ibid., August 31, 1897. (99) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 3, 1897. (100) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. (101) Ibid, ; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & 30, 1897. (102) Ibid. , September 4 & 6, 1897. (103) Daily Standard, September 6, 1897. (104) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897. (105) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. A. S. Van Wickle Company operated independently of the other coal companies, provided their employees more work, and were regarded with greater esteem and confidence in the community. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 22, 1897 . (106) Letter from James Martin to Daniel H. Hastings, Governor of Pennsylvania, October 18, 1897 , Governor Hastings Papers, MG-145, Box 18, Division of Archives and Manuscripts of Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (107) Ibid. (108) R eco rd of the Times (Wilkes-Barre), March 4, 1898. (109) New York World, February 13, 1898; Dollar Weekly News-Dealer (Wilkes-Barre), September 18, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 23 , 1898 ; Pennsylvania, Department of State, Commission Bureau, "Policemen, 1889-1912," 346; Hazle Township and Hazleton City, "Real Estate Tax Assessment Books for 1896 and 1897 ,'' Office of the Board for the Assessment and Revision of Taxes , Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . (110) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898; Daily Standard, September 7, 1897. (111) Record of the Times, March 4, 1897. (112) Daily Standard, October 21, 1897. A review of the annual financial report of the Comptroller for Luzerne County revealed that there were no payments from county funds for the services of the deputies at Hazleton , supporting the conclusion that the coal operators paid the deputies' salaries. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 23, 1898. (113) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (114) Daily Standard, September 9, 1898. (115) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (116) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (118) Ibid. (119) Ibid. , September 9, 1897. (120) Ibid. , September 10, 1897 . (121) Ibid., September 9, 1897. �42 SLOVAKIA (122) Ibid., September 8, 1897; Hazleton Sentinel, September 3, 1897; Spahr, 808. (123) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (124) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (125) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (126) Record of the Times, February 11, 1898. (127) Ibid. , March 4, 1898. (128) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (129) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (130) Ibid. (131) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (132) Ibid. (133) Ibid. (134) Ibid., February 18, 1898. (135) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (136) Ibid., February 15, 1898. (137) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (138) Ibid., February 8, 1898. (139) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (140) New York World, September 12, 1898. "Whether deserved or not, Sheriff Martin, of Luzerne county, it is alleged, entertains an unquestionable hatred for the foreign element." Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (141) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (142) Ibid., September 11, 1897. (143) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 13, 1897. (144) Easton Free Press, September 13, 1897. (145) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (146) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (147) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (148) Record of the Times, February 28, 1898; Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (149) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (150) Ibid. (151) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (152) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (153) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898; Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), September 11, 1897; Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (154) Ibid., September 11, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 11 , 1897; WilkesBarre Record, September 11, 1897 . (155) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (156) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (157) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897. (158) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (159) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897 . (160) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11 , 1897. �SLOVAKIA 43 (161) Pottsville Republican, September 14, 1897. (162) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (163) Evening Bulletin, September 13, 1897. (164) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (165) Record of the Times, February 22, 1897. (166) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (167) Record of the Times, February 11 & 15, 1898; Daily Standard, September 11, 1897; "Some of the guns were loaded with shells containing a lot of No.8 shot, which scattered with deadliest effect, and others had the plain bullets of heavy bore. The manner in which the victims were tom up looked as though they had been before gatling guns or on a field of where grape and canister were poured from cannon mouths." Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (168) Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (169) Wilkes-Barre Sunday Morning Leader, September 12, 1897. (170) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (171) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (172) New York Tribune, September 15, 1897. (173) Report of the Industrial Commission, 139-140; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & September 5, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. When news of the Lattimer shooting spread through the coal fields surrounding Hazleton, the scope of the strike immediately enlarged involving some 10,000 mine employees and idling nineteen of the thirty-three area collieries. Strikers were unwilling to return to work during the following week when funerals for victims were held; they further refused to end their work stoppage until the coal operators met their grievances, mainly an increase in wages. The strike began to wane on September 20 when the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company agreed to grant a ten percent wage increase to mine laborers, pay six to eight cents more per car of coal to miners, and seek solutions to workers' complaints. Only two companies, Lehigh Valley Coal Company and C. Pardee and Company, had not reached a settlement by the end of the second week after the Lattimer shooting but by the end of September they both made an agreement similar to the other coal operators which finally brought an end to the Lehigh coal strike of 1897. Pennsylvania, Official Documents of 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1899), ill, 124 Scranton Times, September 21, 1897; Daily Standard, September 21 & 24, 1897; UMW Journal, November 18, 1897, 3. �44 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre KON STANTIN CULEN A tragic event that occurred in September 1897 struck at the heart of Slovak American life with such telling impact that it served to solidify the Slovak immigrants in the United States into one unified body more effectively than had any previous experience in their new world. This event greatly furthered that awareness of a need for unity that began to crystallize under the pressures to which they had been subjected in their homeland Slovakia. In American history as well as in the record of early SlovakAmerican history this event is known as the Lattimer slaughter or the Lattimer massacre. The setting was the mining region around Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It was an area that had long seethed with the discontent and the restiveness of the men who were employed in the mines . Mine management groups had long bled their workers white, extracting the very marrow out of their bones . The companies paid out pauper wages, cheated the workmen on their weight checks, overcharged prices for foods and daily necessities that were sold through company stores. Scores of mining catastrophes underscored the obvious inadequacy of safety measures that existed to protect the men in their dangerous work in deep underground pits. Miners in Hazleton had declared a strike but nearby mines in neighboring communities continued to operate at practically full strength. Some casual talk was heard from time to time to the effect that the Hazleton operators were planning to bring in scabs in the near future. Union leaders realized that their Hazleton strike would lose all effectiveness unless the miners of the entire locality would join forces in one concerted resistance movement, supporting the Hazleton effort and pressing common demands for improved conditions and benefits. On September 10, 1897 a sizable group of Slovak and Polish miners who were on strike set out for the small mining settlement of Lattimer. In subsequent investigations during the trial they testified that they were on their way there because the Lattimer workers had sent them word that they decided to join the strike movement. The group of striking miners had hardly left Hazleton when Sheriff Martin with a company of about a hundred men from the supporting police force (so-called deputies) anticipated their movement and went An excerpt from Konstantin Culen's two-volume History of the Slovaks in America. (Bratislava, Slovenska Liga , 1942) vol. 1, Part XI , no . 5-9, pp. 162-176. Translated by Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. �SLOVAKIA 45 on ahead of them riding the trolley lines. On reaching Lattimer, he assigned his force of deputies to various positions and then he moved several paces forward, addressing the group marching in on foot, to read a restraining order that forbade any gathering or assemblage of persons by provision ordinance dealing with uprising and rebellion. During the reading of this ordinance, a few strikers came closer to the sheriff and there was some minor verbal exchange. The miners objected that they were not disturbers of the public peace or revolutionaries of any kind; they were simply orderly and law-abiding citizens peacefully going along their way . This reaction so exasperated the sheriff that he reached out and snatched away a small American flag that one of the men was carrying, tore it up, pulled out his revolver and began to shoot. After he had drawn his trigger five times, his sixth shot struck a miner in the chest and hurled him to the ground. After the sheriff's outburst of fire, there was the sound of volleys from the deputies. The unarmed miners turned and fled in panic, trying to find safety or protection of some kind. The brutal frontal attack lasted but a few moments but the deputies continued to fire upon the fleeing miners so that practically all of them were struck and wounded in flight.(1) The deputies who were charged with excitement by this time, further assaulted the bleeding victims by beating them and kicking them cruelly as they lay helpless on the ground. A shot or a volley of shots can seem to be an effective argument at a given moment but usually its effectiveness wears off after a brief time. And shots or salvos of shots fail to carry conviction. This was brought out in the Lattimer situation. The Slovak colony found itself in a state of shock, standing inconsolate beside the corpses of the fallen men. It was all too clear to these newcomers now - if it had not been clear to them before - that every Slovak had to be very realistically a brother to a fellow-Slovak, that every Slovak would have to be the most reliable standby and defense of a fellow-Slovak. Anything less than that would serve to reduce them to the debasing circumstance of being mere henchmen and convenient tools of foreign overlords and exploiters. This extravagant bloodletting and bizarre butchering under unprovoked and non-violent circumstances evoked considerable humane reaction in the American press. The attitudes of American journalists were not all of a kind. Some reporters and editors were incensed over the needless killings and brutality. Some wrote with a sense of relief that the incident involved only "Hunkies" - the generic designation that most newspapers used for every newcomer from Austria-Hungary. News of this lamentable event spread to all the Slovak settlers scattered throughout the United States and set off a degree of outrage and consternation that no other experience had yet caused in SlovakAmerican life. Those who had been faction-torn or at odds for whatever �46 SLOVAKIA reasons , were at once moved to conciliation and unity through their common grief at the graveside of the murdered men. Slovak Ame rican journalists who had been indulging personal and non-personal bouts of polemics in their papers left all that trivia now that a common cause evolved out of this catastrophe , and a vigorous new spirit infused their energies and talents. They reacted with a sense of unity and resolute will not only to moderate the mounting resentment and growing agitation that could have been fanned to unreasonable and uncontrollable proportions but to divert effort and attention to an altruistic purpose on behalf of aiding and befriending the widowed and orphaned survivors . Slovak American journalists also undertook a determined program to secure in the free world of America that measure of civic dignity and security that would make it impossible for such brutal disregard of the human right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ever to be repeated and condoned again . The press came out strongly with appeals for at least financial compensation to the bereaved widows and orphans and demanded that punitive justice be dealt the incriminated sheriff. The general feeling was that the just process of law and suitable sentencing should act as a deterrent to any possible repetition of the horrible incident. The whole body of Slovak immigrant life in America reacted with a corporate cry of pain and a strong appeal protesting the inhumanity of the Lattimer episode. New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, all made their voices heard as did lesser towns and even the lowly scattered hamlet settlements in America where Slovaks nursed the pain of this tragic hurt . Countless gatherings and demonstrations attracted thousands of Slovak laborers to review and assess the factors involved and the consequences of this catastrophe. Numberless formal discussions and rallies were climaxed with the drawing up of appropriate protest resolutions. All Slovak-American centers participated in drives to aid the victimized survivors of the callous murder, and there were also spirited fund-raising campaigns for legal expenses and court costs to bring Sheriff Martin to justice, for the prevailing view was that he should be made to pay for his crime, for his responsibility in leading and abetting reprehensible action . A committee for this express purpose was organized in Hazleton, holding itself charged to set in motion whatever action might be called for and to pursue the cause to its end. The September 16, 1897 issue (738) of the Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny appeared with a banner headline whose bold-faced lettering read: "Massacre of Slavs . In the freest country under the sun , people are shot at like dogs. Slavs are the victims of American savagery." Editor Pucher Ciernovodsky designated September 10 the bloody Friday of Slovak national life. His report seemed to be written with a pen dipped in blood. He denounced the attacking party and he did not spare the Slovaks themselves , finding them culpable of that lack of �SLOVAKIA 47 interest in public affairs that could have contributed significantly to the culmination of this public scandal. Some of Pucher Ciernovodsky' s thoughts were: ' 'The mountainsides of Hazleton are drenched with Slovak blood, and pitiable orphans and widows, fathers and mothers, brothers and friends raise eyes brimming with bitter tears to heaven pleading, 0 God , is there justice in this life? If there is justice on this earth of ours, did our blood truly deserve this spilling? Who in this world is committed to greater drudgery than we? Who in this world is engaged in a work that is more dangerous than ours? ' 'When we are driven to extremes of misery because hunger and want have sapped our strength and our bodies are bone-weary from overwork, and when our famished and shabbily clothed children ask for food that we cannot provide for them , and we go to discuss our problems and try to come together for deliberations in an effort to arrive at some reasonable solutions, how to go about unsnarling this sad fate that so embitters our lives - what kind of law is it, what kind of justice and fairness is it - or is it our miserable doom that we should be shot at like dogs? Ah, America, America ... ''It is indeed a curious America. When the Turks set upon the Armenians, every full-blooded American protested and vehemently shouted his willingness to join a fighting force to check the Turks. And yet here and now when it comes to bringing to justice those who similarly violated the rights of Slavs in America, they do all in their power to prevent the guilty from being brought to legitimate trial. Reams have been written and volumes have been mouthed condemning the cruelties of the Spanish in Cuba. There was universal recrimination against the injustices inflicted upon the oppressed Cubans, yet journalists have scant syllables of tenderness or sympathy for our people who were felled by wanton gunshot in a manner more senseless and inhuman than any attack of the Spanish upon the Cubans . The Cubans at least had defense weapons but our people were shot unarmed, shot like animals . ''This grieves us unspeakably. '' And, in the last analysis, who is most responsible for all this? "We ourselves must hold ourselves responsible. "A Slav does not support a fellow-Slav. We have no mutual bonds of unity, no fellowship at all, no commonly shared activities. We cultivate none. We fail to get along amicably. Instead, we seem to make sport of baiting one another, and we lack even that zest for life that long ago should have whipped us into a common front to denounce the maligning that the American press released against us and to protest the discrimination and injustice imposed upon foreigners by the threecent-tax. If other ethnic groups had not taken the initiative , we would have let them dance on our heads . �48 SLOVAKIA ' ' What can the American public think about such men? It would not be surprising if they rated us cowardly, worthless, less than the Indians, and so deserving a fate no better than that of the Indians. "We give too little consideration to matters like citizenship, legal rights and civil rights or public opinion. No wonder, then, that public opinion shows no concern about us, has no regard for us . ''If public opinion had any respect for us, then those deputies and the sheriff who were involved in the Lattimer affair would not have allowed themselves to perpetrate such an act of sheer barbarism. Whatever the circumstances, whether there was any excuse or not for a collective attack with Winchester rifles, at least this truth remains that if we were not a subservient people they would not have kept firing at our fleeing men from behind. "The catchword of people like our attackers, is "Shoot the Hungarian dog! ' ' Why? Because we do not make the effort to have our own recognized defense and defenders , our own qualified men who are in touch with the pulse of political life and current trends , men qualified to speak out on our behalf. We ourselves all too readily and regrettably belittle our own ; we tend to regard with disfavor and lack of recognition those of us who have gifts of leadership; we begrudge them opportunities , cut them down and deny them a chance to develop their potential. "In the end we suffer for it collectively. It is true that there are officials whose duty it is to defend our people because they were appointed and authorized to do so, and they are salaried to execute this office , but they seem to be wrapped in safe slumber. They are our Austro-Hungarian consuls. " Just what did these officials, these Austro-Hungarian consuls do for us in previous strike situations? Exactly nothing. " On the other hand , how did the Italian consuls react when their Italian countrymen were being lynched in New Orleans? The furor that was generated on that occasion almost incited a war with the United States, and an indemnity of five thousand dollars had to be paid for every victim. ' 'It is our reasoned judgment that the Hazleton bloodshed is far more criminal than was the New Orleans lynching and it is the patent duty of the Austro-Hungarian government to make honorable and serious intervention on our behalf. "Since those who were shot to death were citizens of the United States , we have no alternative but to organize our effort in order to bring the whole affair to an exhaustive investigation and to the due process of justice. The burden of responsibility in this matter rests primarily with our Slavic organizations which, in every respect, bear the characteristics of American organizational structure. And their responsibility for such action is all the more binding if any of their members happened to be among the victims, if they were members of �SLOVAKIA 49 the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota), the Greek Catholic society Sojedinenie, the Pennsylvania Slovak Union, Sojus, etc. Let these organizations set in motion the wheels that will bring about necessary lawsuits; let them underwrite out of their treasuries or raise funds in some way to cover related expenses, and let their united effort and combined strength prove that they truly have the good name and the best interests of all Slavic ethnics at heart. Let me presume to say that this Bartholomew night should serve as a Sturrnistic symbol effecting concerted and wholehearted cooperation. ''If this soul-shaking experience fails to jolt us out of our morbid lethargy, we ought to raise a memorial cross as a marker for our nation and our spirit of patriotism and declare that we buried it all on that bloody Friday in Hazleton.'' (2) Because of this massacre a violent disturbance broke out among the Slovak and Polish miners. Governor Hastings declared a state of emergency in Hazleton and dispatched 2,500 troops to move in and control the problem. Security measures that the governor ordered for the Hazleton area were very extensive and elaborate, involving the outlay of $475 ,000 - a very large sum in those days. The whole countryside seethed and repercussions were witnessed far and wide. The American press took sides with Sheriff Martin, generally arguing (as if it were a valid objection) that the slain men were not even American citizens. The press of the ethnic groups and those who supported the cause of the miners countered this attitude with the historically substantiated observation that neither were Pulaski, Kosciusko and some other heroes of the American War for Independence official citizens of the United States. They came to fight for freedom in a land that was alien to them because liberty and freedom are nowhere in the world foreign commodities to any human being. Freedom is the prerogative of every person and we are all entitled to our share of this gift. In the hour of our country's struggle for freedom, every able volunteer was welcome to share in the battle and in the pain to win it. Now that the fruits of liberty should be portioned out to all and denied to none in a free land, it is glibly said that freedom is our privilege - you are existentially in the land of liberty but you are not a free man. On September 11 the miners held an open air protest rally in Hazleton. Father Stas, pastor of St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic church in Freeland, spoke on behalf of the Slovak minority. He spoke out strongly and fearlessly against a freedom that countenances the murder of defenseless people. Some of the other speakers on this occasion were Reverend R. Aust of Hazleton who represented the Poles, Reverend Gullovic, Reverend Hauser, attorney John Shea of Wilkes-Barre and J . Fahy, president of the United Mine Workers. A gathering of over 4,000 Slovak and Polish mine workers resolved to �50 SLOVAKIA defend their rights, determined to make Sheriff Martin stand trial for this wanton bloodletting. The victims of the disaster were buried on September 12 as huge throngs converged upon the area for the occasion. This Lattimer massacre affected much of America. On September 15, the Slovaks and the Poles of the New York region held a mass demonstration at which they made it clear that the issue at stake was in no way related to religious affiliation or nationality roots or fratemalism of one kind or another. Their main concern was the general welfare of the American working class and fundamental civil rights for all. They appealed for unanimity and single-mindedness of purpose among them all - the Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians and English. A resolution which they formulated on this occasion includes these sentiments: · 'Profoundly affected by the catastrophe that occurred in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in a free country, the republic of the United States of North America, where on September 10 eighteen men who were Slavs and Slovaks were shot to death and about forty others were wounded by a sheriff's posse as these men peaceably and with no ill intent went their way on a public street, aware of the provision of the Constitution of the United States which guarantees every citizen freedom of speech, freedom of opinion and belief, and the right of assemblage, all of which this country esteems and safeguards as sacred civil rights. ' ' Aware that the action of Sheriff Martin and his party was wholly unlawful and totally uncalled for - for it has been proved that the workmen who were en route to their predetermined destination had neither arms nor foul purpose, and he had not even tried to inform them of his rights and their duties - we, on this basis, as American citizens, as workingmen, as Slavs by accident of birth, do most emphatically denounce and condemn this criminal act. We express our profound sympathy to the bereaved families of the unfortunate victims even as we invoke the widely esteemed American regard for justice, urging that formal action be taken to bring to trial those who are considered blameworthy and to have them face their responsibility by due process of law and in this way to effect moral satisfaction to our nation and material compensation to the survivors of the victim families; ' 'We further resolve that to the full extent of our ability and means we will morally and materially offer our assistance to the unfortunately bereaved and we will exert all our power and prestige to have bloodthirsty criminals bear the just punishment which their conduct deserves; "We finally resolve that copies of this resolution be sent to the governor of the state of Pennsylvania and to the district attorney of Luzerne County, and that it be published in all newspapers; we also urge the editors of our Slovak publications to appeal to our people to �SLOVAKIA 51 support this action wholeheartedly with liberal contributions in an effort to redeem and justify the much maligned name and rights of the Slovaks who find it inevitable to undertake a distasteful reckoning with narrow-minded nativists." (3) A spirited call was made in the press for attendance at a protest gathering scheduled for September 20 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania "at which resolutions will be formulated denouncing the action of Sheriff Martin who is responsible for the shooting-death of so many blameless Slovaks . English, Slovak, Polish, Croatian and various other speakers will address those present." Protest and denunciation were voiced from all parts of the nation where there were fellow nationals of the slain miners . Dr. Theodorovic, who represented the office of the Austro-Hungarian consul, came to Hazleton for a personal assessment of the massacre and related factors. Slovak and Polish groups initiated drives throughout the United States in order to raise funds for promoting an equitable trial that would yield at least fair compensations where they were due, and just penalties for Sheriff Martin and his henchmen, all within the framework of jurisprudence and with a deterrent impact against similar injustice. One outcome of this effort was the organization of "the National Fair Trial and Beneficial Committee on Behalf of the Lattimer Victims. " This committee published a public statement and an appeal which was carried in all the current newspapers. It read in part: '' The underlings who are in the employ of corporations and share a thirst for liquidating their fellow-citizens are largely the lackeys and hacks of their bosses, all murderously eager to carry out every order from the top. The incident did not arise out of any disturbance of the peace by those guiltless men who were so brutally victimized; there was no intent to transgress law or ordinance; they carried no firearms , no clubs or flails. Workingmen were simply on a mission of their own, marching along the street to meet some fellow-workers from the same mining company in order to discuss a sharing of views and attitudes and to build moral support in a common cause. ''The Declaration of Independence in this land proclaims that all men are created free and equal. Somehow these hirelings felt that the life of an alien is not worth even as much as the life of a slave. Apparently they were led to believe that their killing of such people and under such circumstances would be universally approved by the press and by public opinion. '' It is well known that Americans endorse the principle of fair play. When poor workmen, unarmed victims, were so foully gunned down in cold blood, not only this land but all the civilized world was appalled by the atrocity. The Constitution of the United States provides for the right of peaceful assembly. Have these words meaning or force in the light of bullets and bayonets? We hold that every individual who participated in the shooting on that ill-fated day in Lattimer overstepped his rights �52 SLOVAKIA and violated the law. We hold that their act was nothing short of criminal, inhuman and unspeakable butchery. "We make this appeal and protest in the name of those who were wounded and as representatives of those who are the bereaved survivors in the families of the slain victims. Our committee has been organized in order to provide counsel and to call witnesses and to take care of whatever else may be necessary to bring Sheriff Martin and his deputies to face indictment and to stand trial according to the full force of our country's laws. ''We act on the principle that this struggle of ours is your struggle as well as ours and on the assumption that you are friends of the workingman who is often taken advantage of. If these people whom we desire to bring to an accounting are let go free and without making retribution for the killing of our countrymen, who knows what further fate can await us in the future? "Reverend Richard Aust, president; John Nemeth, treasurer; Loughran, secretary; Reverend John Stas, Salvator di Sandola, Nicholas Ballok, Matthews Long, John Kuntz, Charles Hauser, Edmund Lemhick, Reverend J. Formanek, Frank Kozlovski, George Kozarovich. '' Samuel Gompers, president of the Federation of Labor, visited the scene and made some observations about the cheap labor of the Poles, Slovaks and Italians whom the coal barons were importing into America in order to squeeze out the '' intelligent Irish and Welsh laborers.' ' Even before the sentencing, Gompers as president of the workers' union said, ''It is my opinion that the sheriff and his deputies will be acquitted in order to teach 'those foreigners' a lesson to behave differently in the future. ' 'Posterity will rate the Lattimer killings as nothing but massacre of a kind that has no equal in the history of civilized peoples, and the consciences of the perpetrators of this act will accuse and torment them to their last day. And even though monopolies and monopolists may succeed in achieving their victory, such slaughter must some day come to an end; truth will be victorious and all people will enjoy the fulness of their sacred rights - all people, whether they be of the common working class or the favored moneyed class of mine owners. "The laborers .of our country are moving toward better and stronger organization day by day, and the citizens at large are grasping a much better and a truer concept of the rights and obligations of individuals. When that day of ultimate realization does arrive, the account of the Lattimer murders will have been written in our history in letters of blood and this notorious crime will be looked upon as the most atrocious and vile offense of the nineteenth century.'' The trial of Sheriff Martin and his associates opened on February 1, 1898. The place of trial was the Luzerne County Court in WilkesBarre. Adherents of both the prosecution and the defense followed �SLOVAKIA 53 developments with undivided attention and intense feeling. Sheriff Martin had the support of all the major coal corporations , top officialdom and capitalism . The plaintiffs were backed by the laboring masses. In the process of jury se lection , Judge Staley Woodward saw to it that only American-born citizens were seated as jurors . There was never any doubt that the se lected jury panel was unanimous in its antipathy for foreigners . Judge Woodward ascertained from sworn testimony that the striking miners had created no public disorder or disturbance during their march , that they were completely unarmed, that Sheriff Martin had stopped them and insolently ordered them to turn back , that the miners were not incline d to obey but had objected that they had every right to use a public street. Further testimony indicated that the sheriff challenged the leader of the marching group, gave the order to fire and that he himself fired the first shot , striking the leader of the marching miners in the chest as additional volleys were turned upon the men who began to run for shelter . The City Trust Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia supplied bail for the indicted to the amount of $256 ,000 . The press seldom missed an opportunity to belittle the foreign element and to overstate their shortcomings and least desirable traits - almost as if bad traits and undesirable characteristics were exclusively theirs. The presiding judge at the trial was Judge Woodward. He was related to the owner of the mines where strikes were beginning to be staged. He was also a shareholder in these mines. There was not a single Slav among the twelve jurors, most of whom were farmers, men who could hardly have firsthand knowledge of mining conditions and the situations that had justified the strike movement. They were not at all familiar with such matters as fair working conditions, e quitable pay, safety m easures, etc. A writer in one of the current publications observed, ' 'These are the names of the men in whose hands rests the power of passing a verdict that will tell the world whether anyone in this civilized country - even if he be the highest official of a particular country - may or may not, without cause, slaughter peaceful workers . It is easy to tell from the listed names that to the very last man these jurors are all Americans. The question is: are their hearts filled with rank nativism and malicious ill-will against foreigners? If they are bigoted nativists, it is vain to expect a fair sentence.'' Early in the opening of the trial the court denied the motion of the state prosecutor that the jury go to the scene of the massacre for a kind of re-enactment of the events that occurred there . The last act of this bloody drama took place during the trial. As charge followed upon charge , the full impact of hate and prejudice �54 SLOVAKIA harbored against the Slavic immigrants came into clearer and surer light. One of the defendants boasted, "I did all right; I aimed at nine and brought down five of them ." Meanwhile the mutilated survivors of that bloody Friday - some without an arm or a leg -- were in full view of the court and the spectators gathered at the trial. Before the eyes of them all , Gregory Gasparik with bandages bound about his head in which a bullet was still lodged, in moderate tones testified against Sheriff Martin and his posse. People who lived near the scene of the crime also came in to testify, telling how they had seen the deputies beat the strikers who were already all bloodied and wounded with shots . The defendants produced about a hundred witnesses who charged that Poles and Huns had terrorized the whole area and that on this occasion they were actuallly marching with firearms. They supported Sheriff Martin as a law man who was doing his duty when he ordered his men to fire at the group . Sheriff Martin, on his part, denied all guilt in the matter and entered a plea of innocent . He claimed that after reading the injunction, he attempted to arrest the leader of the marchers but the striking men , misunderstanding his action and intent, set upon him and began to beat and kick him. At this point he called upon his men for help and when even that restraint was ineffective, he finally gave an order to fire because he feared that he might be killed. When blank shots did not quell the situation , then they began to shoot in earnest even if it meant to wound and kill. He claimed that when he first met the marchers, he asked where they were going and that they answered, ''To Lattimer in order to get the men out of work! " " I begged them and pleaded with them not to go any farther ," he stated. " I urged them to obey the law and to disperse. Someone from the back of the crowd loudly cried out the word to go on. The strikers began to jostle me about and to shout abuse at me. One drunken Hungarian even tried to throttle me so I arrested him. The crowd that surrounded me swelled bigger and bigger. I drew my revolver and aimed into the air because I did not want to hurt anyone . In that instant, Joseph Novotny punched me in the face and I fell to the ground as the mob began to howl, 'Kill the s.o.b. ! ' '' I tried to defend myself with my revolver but it wouldn't fire. The mob that was pressing upon me was armed with revolvers and knives. When I fell to my knees, the deputies began to fire and the crowd then started to fall back. But they did not disperse at once. At a distance of 500 to 600 feet, they stopped in a wooded place. I felt that they might return. My men began to shout to them to disperse . Afterwards I gave the order to look after the wounded and the killed.'' The strikers countered this desposition with the charge that the sheriff was the first to fire a shot. They maintained that no one struck �SLOVAKIA 55 him, no one kicked him nor was there any evidence on his clothing or his body that he had been subjected to rough treatment of any kind. No blanks were discharged and no man who was wounded or killed was struck by a frontal shot; all were shot from the back. The son of the mine owner, young Pardee, called out to the law men , "Boys, shoot down those Huns! " Further testimony indicated that the deputies were extremely harsh and unfeeling even toward the killed and the wounded , kicking them mercilessly. Sworn witnesses consistently testified that the miners had no arms of any kind . They carried no canes or sticks, no rocks or stones , much less firearms. Scores of witnesses corroborated this testimony . Andrew Siviar, one of the miners, testified that the workmen marched as members of the United Mine Workers of America and that they had no weapons and had planned no mischief or property destruction of any kind. John Milhala, secretary of the local union, testified that they had gone to the mayor of the city who assured them that they could go to Lattimer in orderly fashion , that the sheriff had no authority to stop or prevent them. Some striking testimony was presented by the local school teacher Charles Guscot. He was eyewitness to the entire episode. He attested to the opening of fire by Sheriff Martin and the inhumane shooting upon the men who helplessly tried to flee from the ruthless officers. Another teacher from a nearby school alleged that she personally saw one of the deputies pursuing a wounded and bloodied man and in horror witnessed how he shot him to death a few steps in front of her when the weakened man fell to the ground from exhaustion. Reverend Stafflet declared under sworn testimony that he was passing the scene in a trolley car and had seen no signs of provocation on the part of the miners . They conducted themselves becomingly and bothered nobody along the way. The daily papers reported that the courtroom was the scene of some most unusual proceedings. The firm that had provided the earlier funds for bail now again supplied further expense money in the amount of over $402 .00 . All the sworn testimony agreed on the fact that the miners had no weapons . As a matter of fact, they had reckoned with the possibility of being challenged on the way and had forbidden any man to carry arms. Not one of them carried even as much as a walking stick or ordinary cane. Among the witnesses one testified that when he decided to join the group, he went into the mountains and cut himself a staff - just in case - but the others prevailed upon him to throw it away. There was also testimony that the deputies had openly boasted in the town that they would kill "the dirty Huns" yet. One of them joked about the whole thing afterwards, commenting that if he had been �56 SLOVAKIA given a cent for every one that he shot, he would have had the price of a bee r because he himself hit five . The sheriff and all the indicted men appeared before the bench with an air of great self-confidence and assurance. Their backing firm had made an outlay of over $30,000 in legal fees, the judge undoubtedly lent them the weight of his favor and they knew beforehand that no kind of testimony could affect them adversely. Some of the leading American newspapers, including the New York World which was owned by Pulitzer , a Jew from Zemplin in Slovakia, slanted their reporting to discredit the miners. Maurice Engelman , who was also a witness, testified that back in town they laughingly told him to hide or he would be an easy target. John Petruska testified that he was present when the posse was choosing firearms and one of the deputies quipped, " We ' re on our way for a shooting in Lattimer!" Gaspar Wizneski testified that he himself saw the sheriff raise his revolver and fire into the crowd in front of him . '' Do you swear that you saw the sheriff kill one of the strikers?'' the attorney challenged him . '' I swear to it that I did! '' he answered in a clear and audible voice that carried throughout the electrified atmosphere of the courtroom. Martin McGahren and Scarlet, attorneys for the plaintiffs, did not lack incriminating evidence yet all the substance of the testimony did not seem to put the burden of guilt on the accused. The court demanded specific proof and specific charges identifying who killed whom . This could hardly be presented , given the circumstances of abrupt assault and the ensuing panic . Who could tell precisely whose bullet killed this victim or that one? And there was the persistent line of defense claiming that the sheriff acted in the discharge of his duty when he issued the order to fire on the crowd. The defense was called to investigate a hundred witnesses . It was a drawn out trial that finally ended on March 9, 1898 . The sentence that was pronounced was: "The accused are found not guilty. " The court ruled that they had the right to shoot, that they had a right to selfdefense. This verdict created a public scandal. Over 30 ,000 miners began to threaten to take to the streets again, to start another strike. But they were at a total disadvantage. Corporations had contributed several hundred thousands of dollars for this legal battle. How could that be matched by the trifling $5,930 that the impoverished and distracted miners were able to raise from their own resources? For long months, the prime topic of public interest and comment among the Slovaks was the Lattimer massacre. Dozens and dozens of articles, printed and spoken reactions of varying degrees of intensity, were devoted to this incredibly outrageous event and its disgraceful outcome . J. A. Feriencik vehemently and fearlessly criticized a court of �SLOVAKIA 57 justice that would condone such wanton killing and allow such an act to go unpunished, unatoned, because the lords and the mighty ones assented to it. In stark disbelief he wrote: ''They will kill, they will shoot, and grant you no mourning or tears of relief. And somehow they will make it all come out within the limits of the law. '' On the one hand we keep calling out 'Friends and countrymen of ours, come out here and settle here in America, in this famed free country. Apply for American citizenship, learn English, do your utmost to become worthy citizens of the United States, etc.' On the other hand, we urge our people back home to come over with their entire families, to establish themselves as family units and to adopt the American way of life and so gain the ' respect' of their American neighbors. '' And our people here credulously throng to the courts for naturalization forms, they register their desire to become American citizens, set themselves to studying English, the language of this country, adopt American usage and custom, and with all the ardor of their nature they cultivate a deep love for this new country of theirs. In many instances their devotion and loyalty outstrip the sentiments of some native American citizens. And the returns for this good will and generous effort? - Heartless murder! "Even as our people spare no pain in their sincere enthusiasm to evidence their devotion , patriotism and good will, their love for the land of their adoption, their respect for its laws, they are contemptuously referred to as scoundrel Huns and Hunkies. And what hate goes with the slogans: They pushed us out of our jobs; take it out on them! Give it to them! Let them know that we don't like them one bit! '' Some of it is even more foul than this but I must restrain myself or some of that biased American justice might just get me across the knuckles too. "So it is then. These are the facts: You, my people , bend your neck willingly . You do all that you can to prove your genuine devotion to this new land. And what do you get for it all? - Censure, unmitigated scorn, cold brutality. '' Blameless blood is needlessly shed within the scope of the law. It is all but a miracle that the presiding judge did not pin a medal of heroism on the lapel of the sheriff and proclaim him a deliverer of some kind. ''It is time for us to look about and assess what's around us and not just sound off about the freedom, the democracy and the brotherhood of these people. "At every step you come upon hate, you face contempt. Even a street urchin will let you know that you are repulsive to him. ' ' My people, does misery force you to flee from one country as you seek to save your life and avoid starvation, and do you eagerly turn to �58 SLOVAKIA this free America to settle here and earn your bread through hard work and long hours? You escape from misery at home and the threat of death by famine only to hurl yourself into the arms of death here. There you tried to save your life; here they snatch it from you. "Foul murder! '' Are we to be the door mat of murderers forever? Some drive us out of our birthplace and in exile others set upon us with the intent to kill. "Introduce a system of slavery. Buy white slaves, shackle them, treat them at will and you will have a fair picture of American freedom and democracy in action . A realistic picture. Is the world to consider these democratic and freedom-loving people? A murderer has never yet been taken for a champion of freedom , a humanitarian or a freedom-lover. The lurid blotch left by Slovak blood spilled in Pennsylvania will long witness your kind of benevolence, your warped philanthropia? '' Are we to tell the undisguised truth to all our people? Well, if you want them to shoot you here, then tell it. It appears that before long they will pass laws making it legal to shoot Slovaks in certain particular months and not to consider them game in others - just as they do for various animals. It seems to be moving in that direction. This very trial gives proof of such widely touted justice and equity. The capitalist triumphs in spite of his crime and his guilt. The wretched workman loses even though it is he who has been wronged. " My people, if you only had millions of dollars in your hands, they would surely have proved to you how they can adjust and modify twisted paragraphs. But without the almighty dollar ... if you are the unfortunate wretch, then suffer and be still. That is the kind of principle that guided the judge presiding at the trial of the Lattimer murderers .'' (4) The American-Slovak News further editorialized on the subject of the trial and its verdict: '' For those who participated in the Lattimer massacre - or putting it more aptly - for those who defended the bloody trade of the butchers thirsting for human blood at the scene of the Lattimer carnage, it would be rather unfair to designate the event as a drama. For them this classic drama reached its denouement with all the impact of a genuine comedy. Twelve confirmed foes of all that does not breathe the fanatic ideas of the Apaches declared that the butcher Sheriff Martin and his vultures only did their duty; they acted as honorable men when they killed off those hated Huns. ''They crucified truth! They grossly trampled upon the rights of the disadvantaged workman in this free country. Why? For no reason other than this fact that the slaughtered victims first saw the light of day in Hungary, in Russia, in Germany or in Italy.'' (5) �SLOVAKIA 59 Naturally such a foul crime of multiple homicide and utter ruthlessness could not have touched Slovak life without affecting it deeply. The Slovaks sensed that if they would truly avoid being so tom by factions and lack of unity, if they could somehow unite their thousands of workers with common purpose and a sense of solidarity, such a misfortune could never again be repeated. Gradually there evolved within them the consciousness that we are all at fault, all of us, for not claiming those rights to which we are entitled. And so we suffer punishment. Out of this painful and humiliating or humbling realization , even before the verdict was pronounced, there grew the first substantial endeavor of the Slovaks in this land to work in harmony and to achieve a common strength. Realization fortunately led to action. On October 17, 1897 representatives of the leading Slovak-American publications met in Cleveland in order to confer on definite practical steps toward cooperation and the pursuit of common goals. The conference of these journalists resolved to adopt measures related to basic issues in order to counteract the unwholesome attitudes and underserved attacks of certain American press agencies that treated the Slovak immigrant element as less than human . This Congress of Slavic Pressmen , which was organized by Fr. (Francis) Pucher , also sent expressions of condolence to the survivors of the Lattimer victims. This innocent Slovak blood that was shed then did not go wholly wasted. It tended to conciliate the Slovaks and to bring them together. And though this was an extravagantly harsh and costly lesson, it taught them that in their distant strange land they must renounce all petty conflicts and contentions, for in this new world their widely scattered strength will count only if they can bring themselves together and act as a corporate unit that has the general welfare at heart. Many families that had not bothered about joining a Slovak fraternal or beneficial organization now saw that membership in such a society could really mean much to them, especially in the event of an unfortunate or tragic occurrence. The blood that the Slovak miners shed for the general good was the first effective and lasting incentive that brought the Slovaks of America together into one unified and conscious body. One disappointment followed in the aftermath. Newspapers published the report that John Nemeth, chairman of the committee, was named consul just before the final settlement of all the misunderstandings; however, his appointment was conditioned on his withdrawal from the committee. The government of Austria-Hungary petitioned the government of the United States to allocate some compensation to the families of the Lattimer victims. The outcome is embodied in an official document of the Secretary of the Interior (78,999) which includes the following statement: �60 SLOVAKIA "The government of the United States does not recognize any obligation to provide compensation to our fellow-citizens or to the famili es of those who were killed in the clash between the mine workers and the police in the Hazleton-Lattimer area.'' From the blood of these martyrs there was a sprouting of the fragile and delicate flower of accord. Within a year the general tone of the Slovak press had changed from bitter acrimony and unprofitable controversy to understanding and kindlier feeling all around. Even in cases where everyone had believed that common ground could never be found among known antagonists, it had indeed been discovered that these individuals also had many mutually satisfying interests to share and promote and they could work together and get along satisfactorily in spite of their differences. From this point on, every other problem seemed to be of a trivial nature, insignificant trifles that caused minor rifts here and there but had no essential substance. The main drive was toward definite goals even though various and varied avenues led to the ultimate end. FOOTNOTES (1) In a newspaper report published by the Amerikansko Slovenske noviny right after the event, the following are listed as fatality victims in this unfortunate clash: 1) John Kosanec , 2) John Temoci , 3) Fr. Kedel, 4) John Ceka, 5) John Ceslak 6) George Versek, 7) Stephen Hornik , 8) George Kulik, 9) Fr. Ceka, 10) Stephen Ulrich, 11) Andrew Zesman, 12) John Ivanko. Later these names wer also added to the list: 13) John Futa , whose name is sometimes also given as Futas, 14) Stephen Jurek, 15) Michael Ceslak, 16) George Gasparek, 17) John Slebodnik , 18) John Banko, 19) Andrew Jurecek, 20) John Skrip. Since Sheriff Martin was indicted for the death of twenty-one victims , it is clear that this list is incomplete. Some of the men who had been seriously wounded in the incident later died in the hospital. An exact list with all names in their correct spelling is most likely available from the court records in Wilkes-Barre and probably from various English and Polish newspapers of that time. It was a common practice in those days to transmit news reports by telegraphic communication and so it is possible that some of the names were affected by transcription and could have been somewhat distorted. The following men were wounded in the encounter: Anthony Macuka, single , Polish; James Tomason , single, Polish; Francis Fetus, single, Slovak; John Penkames, married, Lithuanian; Joseph Macko, married, Slovak ; Andrew Josmont, married, Polish ; Martin Serfanek, single, Polish ; John Dolny , married , Slovak; John Krisak, single, Slovak ; John Presa, married, Slovak ; Andrew Majer , single, Slovak; John Padnok , married , Polish ; John Posca, married, Slovak ; George Gaspar, single, Slovak; Adolph Colak, married, Slovak ; Adam Lipianski , single, Polish; John Kulich, single, Polish , John Kontra, married , Slovak; Joseph Gasparik, married, Slovak; Thomas Paris , single, Polish ; Andrew Honas, married, Slovak; Andrew Orban, married , Polish; Gaspar Dula§, married , Slovak; Joseph Zapa, Slovak; Joseph Paulak, married , Polish; Matthew Chia, married , Polish; Clement Plotach, married, Polish; John Fora, single, Slovak; Stanislaus Kominski, married, Polish; Constantine Monsara , married , Polish , Bernard Rummal, single, Polish . In 1902 the convention of American Mine Workers adopted a resolution providing for the erection of a memorial to honor the fallen miners as pioneer heroes in the cause for �SLOVAKIA 61 social justice. Additional names of stricken men that make their appearance within the formal text of this resolution include the following: Clement Patek, John Foote, Sebastian Praztomski, Raphael Rezervicz, Albert Czaja, Stanley Rajoski, Andrew Goekers, Andrew Miczkowski, John Krop, Andrew Morrikoski, Adam Zrainski, Adalbert Zienka, Frank Chazesjewski, Steve Znoec, Andrew Jamee (Jurecek), Mike Coseak (Ceslak), George Kulek (Kulik). Some of the surnames were garbled to some extent; most likely they happened to be misread in the course of years that had passed since the massacre itself. (2) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), September 16, 1897. (3) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny, 30. IX. 1897. (4) "Let Slovak Blood Call to God for Vengeance" American-Slovak News, 31. ill. 1898. (5) American-Slovak News. 5.Il. 1899. �62 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre and Trial HARRY B. SCHOOLEY III INTRODUCTION To have a clearer understanding of the trial at issue it is necessary to say that upon entering the court where the trial is in progress one is immediately impressed with the fact that the issue involved is as much a question of the relations of employer and employed as a question of the trial of Sheriff Martin and his deputies for murder, and, as has been invariably the case, the representatives of corporate power assume a hauteur and domineering attitude toward all. The counsel for the defense, former Attorney-General Palmer and Mr. Lenahan, as well as Sheriff Martin and the Deputies , assume an air of offended pride and indignation at being called to defend themselves against a charge of killing a score or more laborers, and think of it! Foreign laborers at that! So wrote Samuel Gompers in an article for the New York World of February 20, 1898. The shooting at Lattimer, Pennsylvania, had become labor's forgotten massacre. Twenty-four striking anthracite coal miners were killed when Luzerne County Sheriff James Martin ordered his deputies to fire into their ranks when their parade threatened the security of the community shortly after three o'clock on the hot afternoon of September 10, 1897. While at times a Sheriff has been punished for criminal neglect of his duty in not firing on a riotous mob, Sheriff Martin was proceeded against in the Lattimer trial because he and his deputies did so fire. The law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for whose supremacy they battled, was used to compass their destruction because they did so. Gompers was wrong. Lattimer was not a '' question of the relations of employer and employed." The lesson of the verdict in the Lattimer case is not that the rich are to be protected, but that the poor and defenseless shall have an absolute guarantee of all their individual rights, and that those who attempt to impair them by lawlessness must answer to the law as criminals. H.B.s.,m May, 1965 (Harry B. Schooley ill teaches at the Buffalo Seminary for girls in Buffalo, New York. A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he wrote this paper while an undergraduate at Williams College in May, 1965.) �SLOVAKIA 63 Ariovistus Pardee, an ambitious engineering student with the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, was sent in May of 1833 to the Lehigh coal regions of Pennsylvania to survey a railroad line from the anthracite mines at Beaver Meadow to the Lehigh Canal at Mauch Chunk. Pardee 's success in the area led him to locating further lines in the region and he began his own mining operations in 1840.(1) In 1869 Pardee built the company towns of Lattimer and Harwood near Hazleton to house the miners working in his six mines. In 1892, following his father ' s death, Calvin Pardee took over the mines at Lattimer and Harwood. Feeling there would be less chance of a consolidation of the working men against his interests, Pardee mixed the foreign immigrant miners filling the houses at Lattimer largely with Italians and those at Harwood with Slovaks, Poles, and Lithuanians . Between 1875 and 1900 there were sporadic attempts on behalf of the Welsh, Irish, and German miners of the anthracite fields to organize for better working and wage conditions. A means for curbing any attempts to organize the miners was the introduction by the mine operators of large numbers of laborers from Austria-Hungary, Poland, Russia , and Italy who were content to work hard and long for low wages. This over supply of unorganized men literally depressed wages to a minimum through the ever-present competition.(2) By the late 1890's the mine patches of the Lehigh coal regions were largely populated by the new mixture of non-English speaking nationalities who with their cheaper immigrant labor replaced the old order of English , Welsh, and Irish miners. The new miners were largely Slovaks, Poles, Italians , Hungarians , and Lithuanians and were considered "foreigners" relegated by the social conditions to which they belonged - the unpainted company houses , shacks, and the dreaded company store. A racial and national prejudice predominated in the mine patches and the better educated, more intelligent of the foreigners met with each other and insisted that every good foreigner should get his "papers " as soon as possible so as to vote in the elections and prevent the '' white men ' ' from voting to pass a law that might drive them from the country. Many of the miners found themselves in great debt to the company store . In 1896 the Pennsylvania Legislature appointed a committee to investigate the company store system . An order for 50,000 copies of the committee report was canceled because, as American Federation of Labor Vice President J . P. McGuire stated in September of 1897 , ''of the disgrace which would fall upon the State were the truth made known of conditions existing in the Schuylkill region." (3) Conditions were the same in the Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys. Perhaps McGuire 's labor affiliations prejudiced him in the making of this statement, but the recent business depression had reduced the lot of the anthracite miner to a very poor one. The manager of one of the Hazleton collieries revealed that his payrolls for September 1, 1897, amounted to about $26,000, of which $18,000 was �64 SLOVAKIA deducted for living expenses (debts to the company store, rents for living in the company houses, fees deducted from pay for the company doctor, money deducted to pay the priest) leaving less than one-third the original amount to be divided among the miners. Discontent over small wages, idleness, and other alleged "wrongs" was seized upon by the new leadership composed of young, energetic and often violent labor organizers as a timely excuse for action. Their opportunity came in August of 1897. A strike broke out at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company 's Honeybrook Colliery near the new borough of McAdoo, when twenty driver boys were ordered to stable their mules after stopping work without extra pay. They refused and division superintendent Gomer Jones fired them. On Sunday, August 15, 2,500 Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company miners joined the strike. Newspapers feared that ''the Italians and Hungarians, who are very aggressive, cannot be controlled." (4) The Honeybrook strikers were led by a committee of grievances which met with general superintendent Elmer H. Lawall demanding an investigation of Gomer Jones to the effect that he reduced miners' wages and that the wages be restored to the original rates. Lawall promised an investigation of Jones if the miners returned to work; and a week after the first walk-out, work was resumed at Honeybrook.(5) On the same day (August 22) the Honeybrook miners returned to work, there arrived in the area from Philadelphia one John Fahy, selfappointed local president of the United Mine Workers of America. Meeting with Italian miners at Audenreid, Yorktown, and Beaver Brook, Fahy persuaded them to organize an Italian branch of the United Mine Workers.(6) Fahy's presence in the area on behalf of the union caused great concern among the mine operators as the miners became more aware of their plight and their demands became more intense. Fahy's word spread rapidly from operation to operation, and on August 26, Italian and Hungarian miners struck at the Van Wickle Coal Company collieries at Beaver Meadow and Coleraine. Two thousand miners moving overnight forced the workers from their shops at the Van Wickle breakers so as to stop all work. Their demands for higher wages were not considered serious as the strike was spontaneous and had no apparent intelligent leadership.(7) On August 27, the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville was idled by the strikers and a coal train was prevented from leaving the town. All Van Wickle operations were forced to shut down. The next day at a meeting of the strikers in Hazleton, a formal demand was presented to Van Wickle superintendent Roderick. Roderick claimed that the advanced scheduled wages (which would set a wage scale for the region) demanded by Fahy 's organizers would not be paid to the miners, although the average pay rates of the region would be paid. The speaker at a Coleraine meeting urged the strikers to resort to violence if the demands were not met. In answer armed members of the Coal and �SLOVAKIA 65 Iron Police were sent to guard the Van Wickle properties.(8) Saloons in Milnesville and Coleraine were closed and a state of ominous calm pervaded the Hazleton area. English-speaking miners were willing to return to work were it not for the threats made by the foreigners. The employees of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company anxiously watched the Van Wickle situation as there had been no action taken towards the promised investigation of Superintendent Jones.(9) Between August 30 and September 3 the strike spread rapidly. Roderick agreed to make wage concessions at the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville which immediately resumed work. If settlements were made at the other Van Wickle operations, then the Lehigh and WilkesBarre miners might never see Jones investigated at all. The miners at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre's Audenreid colliery struck and five hundred strong marched on the company's Yorktown colliery and washeries at Dodson, Beaver Brook, Star, Monarch, and Carson, driving off all the workmen.(10) The miners at the Van Wickle Coleraine colliery remained on strike. Assembling in McAdoo on September 2, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre strikers marched with an American flag to the Beaver Brook colliery forcing it to close. Those workers who refused to stop work were driven off. From Beaver Brook they marched to Yorktown (which had resumed work in spite of the march on that operation by the Audenreid strikers a day earlier) where colliery superintendent Hayes tried to reason with them, as the Yorktown workers had no grievance. Nevertheless, the Yorktown colliery closed. The march then turned towards Audenreid and the home of Gomer Jones. Following a thorough but futile search for Jones , the then two thousand marchers proceeded to the colliery at Silver Brook where the workers fled. At a meeting that evening in McAdoo, the members of the grievance committee advised against future marches, but Fahy's organizers insisted that the marches would continue daily until all the collieries were idle. Fahy, incidentally, was in Silver Brook that evening organizing a new chapter of the United Mine Workers. At Coleraine the Van Wickle strikers were quiet and Superintendent Roderick, in a bid to maintain good will between the company and the strikers, stated that none of the Coleraine workers participated in the march.(11) Later on the evening of September 2, the Coleraine strikers agreed to return to work if they would be protected from the mob. Roderick gladly granted protection. Mayor Altmiller of Hazleton issued orders to the police that if any attempt was made to organize a mob parade on September 3, the marchers were to be dispersed, and if the police were not strong enough the citizens should help them. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company closed its collieries at Jeansville and Hazleton No. 1 not because of grievances between the company and its employees, but because the mob of strikers had threatened the workers. The Lehigh Valley counseled all its workmen to obey the will of the mob.(12) By September 3 the strike had stopped all �66 SLOVAKIA mining operations except those of the New Ebervale Coal Company , Van Wickle 's Coleraine and Milnesville Collieries, and Pardee 's colliery at Lattimer. The weapons of the foreigners were the threat and the mob . With the march of September 2 and the probability of future marches , many mine owners feared for the safety of their property at the hands of the striking miners. The Luzerne County Sheriff's office in Wilkes-Barre, in response to the pleas of the operators for protection , sent an urgent telegram to Sheriff James R. Martin , vacationing in Atlantic City, requesting his immediate return. As soon as Sheriff Martin arrived in Wilkes-Barre on September 5, he telegraphed the sheriffs of Carbon and Schuylkill counties to meet him in Hazleton the next day. Before boarding the train to Hazleton, Martin announced that if he thought necessary , a proclamation would be issued calling on the strikers to refrain from all acts of violence and to permit all who so desired to return to their usual vocation as well as to cease marching. "The fact that men are compelled against their will to march along with an ignorant and sometimes infuriated mob causes some fear that other and more dangerous complications may arise ." (13) Following the Hazleton meeting on September 6, the three sheriffs simultaneously published a proclamation prohibiting mob parades and demonstrations , stating the following: . . . notice is given to all good citizens to refrain from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace . Notice is further given, that all such acts of disorder and lawlessness will be summarily repressed and punished in accordance with the laws of the land. - James Martin, High Sheriff of Luzerne County The proclamation was based on the Pennsylvania Riot Act of March 31, 1860 which forbade ''any persons riotously and tumultuously to assemble together to the disturbance of the public peace." (15) While the three sheriffs were meeting in Hazleton, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company granted the same advances as did the Van Wickle Coal Company at Milnesville and Coleraine.(16) That night Sheriff Martin in his Broad Street hotel room swore in 87 deputies, most of whom were members of the Coal and Iron Police from the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley Coal companies , but some of whom were business and professional men of the Hazleton area .(17) For the next three days the Hazleton area remained in an uneasy calm as the sheriff and his deputies remained on call responding to separate incidents throughout the area. �SLOVAKIA 67 While Martin and his men remained in Hazleton, John Fahy was active at the Pardee colliery at Harwood. Enlisting the aid of the popular young Hungarian slate boss, John Eagler, Fahy was successful in organizing a new branch of the United Mine Workers. Fahy claimed the new union advocated peaceful arbitration of differences between the miners and the operators. Selecting Eagler as their first local secretary and Joseph Mehalto, another well-known Slav from nearby Crystal Ridge as president, the Harwood body immediately formulated a list of grievances - demanding a ten cent wage raise, a reduction of blasting powder from $2. 75 to $1.50, and no company butcher or company doctor - which they presented to the Pardee office in Hazleton on September 9.(18) While the Harwood strikers were presenting their grievances, a mob of "young Italians and Huns" descended on the New Ebervale Coal Company's colliery at Ebervale, driving off Superintendent John Scott and his employees in a shower of rocks and sticks.(19) With this outbreak of new violence, the Pardee Company refused to consider any grievances until all sections of the Harwood colliery were working. Meeting in the Harwood schoolhouse on the evening of September 9, the striking miners decided that in order to get the bargaining position they needed, the whole company must be shut down. This meant work must be stopped at Lattimer. Upon Mehalto's suggestion, the members resolved to send a committee of ten to Lattimer on the next day to persuade the colliery to close down. (20) On the morning of the tenth it was suggested that the strikers go along with the committee, and with Mehalto and Eagler at the head of a column of 250 to 300 men and boys, the strikers set out for Lattimer. With the American flag at the head of the procession, they marched through Crystal Ridge and Cranberry where they were joined by others until the ranks numbered about four hundred. On entering West Hazleton the strikers found their route blocked by Sheriff Martin and his deputies . Standing in front of his line of deputies, Martin ordered the strikers to stop and to disperse. The march pushed on, a scuffle resulted, two strikers were arrested, and the flag was taken from them. Following this encounter, the strikers moved off into a field by the side of the road and the sheriff and his deputies withdrew maintaining a careful eye on the marchers. Soon, however, the march was under way once more, the strikers still heading for Lattimer but skirting West Hazleton to the north. Martin and his deputies hurriedly boarded an open trolley car, provided for their use by the Lehigh Transit Company, and rode back into Hazleton and out the Lattimer line to Harleigh , where the road to Lattimer and the rail line converged and ran parallel for a short distance. At Harleigh the sheriff and his deputies again met the marching strikers, the trolley car keeping pace with the men on foot, grim silence between them while the police in their trolley sat holding their rifles . (21) The car arrived in Lattimer in time for Martin to �68 SLOVAKIA watch the movement of the march, and, from a high point at the town 's approach, the column could be observed moving toward the Pardee colliery No. 1. Again the deputies, about 150 in number, having been reinforced by numbers of the coal and iron police from Lattimer, lined up in a semi-circle across the road with Sheriff Martin standing several yards in front of them. The scene at West Hazleton a few hours earlier appeared about to be re-enacted. When the strikers reached the line of deputies Martin, proclamation in hand, stepped out to meet them: ''You must stop marching and disperse. This is contrary to the law and you are creating a disturbance. You must go back. I won't let you go on to the colliery.'' (22) Eagler argued that American citizens had the right to parade as long as they were not disturbing the peace. Martin read the Riot Act. Most of the marchers, not understanding English, pushed forward to find out what Martin was saying. In the crowd the sheriff was jostled. Thinking himself in danger, he tried to get back to his line of deputies, but was knocked to his knees. The strikers made way for him, and just as he emerged from their ranks, the cry was heard, ''Fire, fire on' em!'' The deputies fired into the unarmed mob. (23) Following a meeting with his lawyer on arriving back in WilkesBarre that evening, Sheriff Martin issued a statement of the Hazleton conditions and shooting: I was not there to interfere in the strike in any shape or manner, but was there for the mere purpose to prevent all violations of the law, and to restore peace and quiet. I beseeched and entreated the leaders to talk to their comrades and ask them to disperse and return to their homes, act in a peaceable way and desist from doing any sort of violence ... (at West Hazleton) the strikers began to crowd together, and to mutter and chatter in their own languages. The leaders urged them on and at the same time began to curse and swear at me, as well as openly defy me and my deputies . (at Lattimer) I ... rushed ahead of my deputies ... dashed in among the foreigners and boldly placed the leader under arrest. (the strikers) at once attacked me most viciously , striking and kicking me, knocking me down. I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers, as it might probably frighten them ... I fully realized that the foreigners were a desperate lot ... (I assumed) they were too excited to listen to reason and that myself and deputies would be killed ... if we did not defend ourselves. I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot, if they must, to protect their lives or to �SLOVAKIA 69 protect the property, that they had been sent to guard, from being demolished. I hated to give the command to shoot and was awful sorry that I was compelled to do so, but I was there to do my duty and I did it the best I knew how and as my conscience dictated, as the strikers were violating the laws of the Commonwealth and flatly refused to obey the proclamation that I had read to them. They, instead, insisted on doing violence and disobeying the laws.(24) In "doing violence and disobeying the laws" eighteen strikers were instantly killed while approximately twenty-four others were seriously wounded. Eagler and Mehalto escaped and their comrades fled in terror. One of the strikers, Martin Rosko, a Hungarian from Mt. Pleasant and wounded in the arm, gave the following account: We were going along the road to Lattimer and the deputies were lined across the road barring our progress. We tried to go through them and did not attempt to hit or molest them when they fired upon us. We ran but they kept on shooting while we ran. It (the massacre) is all their fault.(25) That evening three thousand Hazleton-area miners gathered at Hazleton's Donegal Hall for a meeting conducted by United Mine Workers' president John Fahy in which it was resolved "that we demand the prosecution of the sheriff and deputies of the crimes committed this tenth day of September."(26) At midnight Pennsylvania Governor Daniel Hastings notified Colonel C. B. Dougherty of the 9th Regiment that as there may be further disturbances and that the security of the community may be in danger, Dougherty was to take the regiment to Hazleton to maintain peace and order. (27) On September 11, Dougherty's regiment was joined by five regiments of the Third Brigade of the Pennsylvania National Guard under the leadership of General John P. Gobin. On the morning of September 11, John Nemeth, a leader of the strikers' general committee, went before Squire Gorman of Hazleton and had warrants sworn out for Sheriff Martin and 102 of his deputies. (28) When General Gobin heard of the warrants he issued an edict declaring that so long as the troops remain in the vicinity not a single deputy would be placed under arrest. Owing to the military authority, Sheriff Martin and the deputies were not arrested until ten days after the warrants were issued. Also on that morning a representative of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Philadelphia arrived in Hazleton to investigate the murder of Hungarian nationals. (29) �70 SLOVAKIA In the meantime the strike continued. By September 14, seven thousand men had left their jobs, crippling the seven Hazleton area companies.(30) Out of sympathy for their murdered comrades from Harwood, 2,300 men left work at the Pardee operations at Lattimer. Visiting Hazleton from Philadelphia the next day, Calvin Pardee stated the following: My men were perfectly satisfied with the wages they were receiving, and would have continued work had they not been driven away by the mob . . . I have operated my collieries over twenty years on the sliding scale, the rate of wages being based on the price of coal at tide, and I will not change that method.(31) Sheriff Scott of Schuylkill County telegraphed to Governor Hastings an appeal for troops to maintain order should the strike spread to his county(32) as sporadic outbreaks of violence continued throughout the region with no apparent prospect of settlement in sight. John Fahy, in a somewhat curious statement to the press on September 18, claimed "The strike is not being conducted by the United Mine Workers." Speaking of his efforts to organize the miners, Fahy stated, "our objects are not to raise excitement and occasion violence but are arbitration, peace and conciliation. Our organization is not to encourage strikes but to prevent them." (33) Fahy expressed the hope that the strike would be settled more quickly if more men organized. If more men were organized in the manner in which the Harwood strikers were organized, the strike would be far from being settled. On September 19 following a Hazleton meeting, the owners of the mines at Lattimer, Beaver Meadow, Honeybrook, McAdoo, and Audenreid announced that they would open their mines on September 20, and if the men were not back at work, they would be discharged altogether. By September 20 all strikers but the employees of the Coxe Brothers Coal Company had returned to work.(34) That evening Fahy held a meeting at Donegal Hall whereat the miners resolved ''to demand that the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania immediately proceed against each corporation now conducting company stores."(35) On September 23, the employees of the Silver Brook collieries were told they were no longer subject to compulsory patronization of the company store and company butcher.(36) The operators gradually made concessions to prevent another such strike, and on September 29, General Gobin and his troops left Hazleton.(37) The anthracite strike of 1897 was virtually over. With peace returning to the Hazleton region, attention was turned to the fate of Sheriff Martin and his deputies. On September 20, Luzerne County District Attorney D.A. Fell and County Detective Isaac Eckert secured bench warrants from the Luzerne County Court of Oyer �SLOVAKIA 71 and Terminer for the arrest of Martin and 68 of his deputies, charging them with' 'the willful and malicious killing of twenty-four (six had died since the shooting) strikers near the village of Lattimer on September 10 last."(38) Bail was posted at $4,000 for homicide and $1,000 for felonious wounding and, through the maneuvring of Calvin Pardee, bond was furnished by the City Trust, Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia.(39) Seeing the opportunity to take up the cause, the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor meeting in Washington resolved on September 24, That we condemn most severely the wanton killing and wounding of the poor miners at Lattimer and will give our fullest help through the trade union and the American Federation of Labor to raise money for the legal prosecution and conviction of Sheriff Martin and his murderous minions, that through the courts of the land even-handed justice may be done to atone for those revolting murders.(40) A preliminary hearing was held in the Luzerne County Court House at Wilkes-Barre from September 21 to 27 wherein the grand jury came to the decision that Martin and his men had shown probable cause of a "wanton and unjustifiable" killing of the strikers.(41) The case of Commonwealth v. Martin was scheduled to begin on February 1, 1898. On February 4, 1898, an editorial in the Wilkes-Barre Record accurately predicted that the trial was expected to develop whether the sheriff and his posse were justified, under the circumstances, in resorting to the extreme measure they did, either for their own protection or to preserve law, order, and the public peace. The case was called on the morning of February 1, before Judge Stanley Woodward, presiding judge of Luzerne County. Sheriff Martin's defense counsel consisted of his personal lawyer, George S. Ferris, and the county's leading criminal lawyer, John T. Lenahan. Other attorneys for the defendants were Henry W. Palmer, George Troutman, C. W. Kline, George R. Urquhart and F. W. Wheaton. At the table for the prosecution sat the new District Attorney, T. R. Martin, who had only taken office a month earlier. With Martin were four other lawyers, who were secured by the strikers' prosecuting committee: John Garman, John McGahren, James Scarlett, and former secretary of the miners' prosecuting committee, J. F. Loughran. In addition to the deputies the court room was crowded with interested spectators including New York, Philadelphia, and nationally syndicated newspaper reporters, newspaper artists, representatives of the Royal Austro-Hungarian government which was planning to make a claim for indemnity for the deaths of the nationals should the sheriff be convicted, and the solicitor general of the United States, Luzerne County's own Henry M. Hoyt (Williams, 1849).(42) �72 SLOVAKIA For two tedious days the court was involved in selecting a jury. When the task had been completed, the twelve men who sat in the jury box were all native American citizens and were largely representative of the middle class skilled labor group.(43) Many of the jury men admitted in their examination by the counsels for defense and prosecution that although they had already formed an opinion, their verdict would not be so influenced. None of the jurors were foreign-born and counsel Loughran complained that the majority of them were ''in sympathy with the sheriff and his deputies." (44) The case for the Commonwealth was opened by McGahren, who claimed the shooting at Lattimer was a ''horrible massacre . '' In a highly emotional speech he told the courtroom how Sheriff Martin stood by proudly while his men brutally murdered the fleeing strikers. He even went so far as to claim the sheriff had emptied his pistol into the head of one of the march leaders. The Sheriff's actions at Lattimer were "a disgrace to civilization," he explained.(46) With this heated example of rhetoric, began the case for the prosecution which consumed nearly sixteen days of examination during which 103 witnesses testified. At the end of the first week of the trial on February 5, it developed that when the case had been continued from the November to the January term of court, bail for the defendants had not been renewed. District Attorney Martin immediately asked either that bail be posted or that the defendants be committed to jail. Judge Woodward replied he would not require the defendants to enter bail until Monday, February 7. Garman of the prosecution immediately pressed the court further to demand bail at once. Lenahan of the defense resented Garman's demands and charged, "You are a puppy! You have been a puppy all your life!" Garman's reply was apparently appropriate as he turned to Judge Woodward and said, "When the thing back of me shuts up, I will proceed." Lenahan replied, "That is only a part of the buffoonery of the Commonwealth.'' Garman turned to face him and raised his fist as if to strike. "If you touch me, I'll kill you!" By this time friends intervened and restrained the two attorneys until order was restored. Garman, eyeing Lenahan defiantly, replied, ''The buffoon has just ceased speaking." (4 7) This exchange of opinions on the floor of the courtroom did not change Woodward's mind and the bail was deferred. The exchange was, however, quickly picked up by the out-of-town reporters and reported in such a way that when court convened on February 7, Judge Woodward admonished the artists and reporters of some of the newspapers that if they continued to caricature the proceedings of the court or to misrepresent what developed, he would refuse them admission to the courtroom.(48) Woodward's admonishment of the reporters for their "yellow journalism" did not end the court's cause for concern. On the evening of February 14, the President of the American Federation of Labor, �SLOVAKIA 73 Samuel Gompers, arrived in Wilkes-Barre to write a special report on the trial for the New York World. The Wilkes-Barre Record was critical of the labor leader's being in Wilkes-Barre, claiming that Gompers would only report the trial from the point of view of the strikers, not from the objective viewpoint of whether Martin was justified in shooting.(49) The Record was not the only newspaper critical of Gompers ' being in Wilkes-Barre. The New York Evening Sun stated " Gompers is so dissatisfied with the way Judge Woodward is conducting the Lattimer trial that he refused to be presented to him. We can only congratulate his Honor on a fortunate escape." (50) In an article in the World on February 20, Gompers attacked Woodward's conduct of the trial, his rulings on evidence, and went so far as to attack him personally as a friend of the mine owners, as Woodward: married into a family of land holders of the district, who receive royalties upon every ton of coal mined. When a cessation of mining occurs from any cause Judge Woodward is to that extent a loser of part of his income. He is a member of the Westmoreland Club, of which the mine-owners are largely members and of which also a number of the so-called deputies are members.(Of the strikers Gompers wrote) They had previously decided and carried out their purpose , to be unarmed and unprotected except by the justice of their cause and the American flag in which they had absolute faith. It is sad to contemplate when workingmen of either American or foreign birth have their faith and confidence in the emblem of our country destroyed and perhaps sadder still is the possibility of losing faith in the justice of our courts. In conclusion Gompers made the Lattimer trial a trial in behalf of the eventual triumph of the working man: The workers of our country are organizing better and more thoroughly each day; we shall not only create a healthier public sentiment as to man 's rights and man's duties, but we shall largely constitute that public opinion. And , when that day comes , the crime of Lattimer will be a record-letter day in the annals of our history to which all will look back upon with horror as the monumental crime of the century. (51) Should Sheriff Martin be convicted of murder, labor would win a great victory in its struggle for recognition. While labor adopted Lattimer as its forgotten massacre , the prosecution rested on February �74 SLOVAKIA 21, having produced testimony in line with McGahren's opening. Ferris opened the case for the defense claiming that if a sheriff and his posse meet a riotous mob which resists them in such a way that their duty to uphold the law requires the use of firearms, then, "they do their duty. They do not violate, but obey the law.'' (52) Anarchy ruled the Hazleton area, Ferris explained, and Martin, in the company of good, lawabiding citizens - not bar room toughs and thugs - brought security to the region. On March 1, Sheriff Martin took the stand. He testified that when he met the strikers at Lattimer, he demanded to know where they were going and they all answered, "Lattimer to get out the men!" He also told the court that he had told them they were doing wrong and that he read the proclamation to them. He said he begged them to go no farther, but they pushed on and someone tried to grab him by the neck. I arrested him, when a big crowd pushed around me. I pulled out my revolver for protection and held it in the air, as I did not want to shoot. One of the mob tried to grab it, but failed, and in the struggle I and the crowd around me were pushed to one side of the road." (53) Martin testified one of the strikers gave him a terrific blow on the side of the head and that he tried to shoot that man, but his pistol would not go off. Then the firing began. After 111 witnesses had testified for the defense the Court adjourned on March 4.(54) The closing pleas to the jury began on March 7, with Scarlett opening for the prosecution: "Every effort has been made to have it tried fairly and nothing has been excluded and every bit of evidence has been admitted according to the rules of the court." (55) The final plea was made by former state Attorney-General Henry W. Palmer, on behalf of the defense, to an overcrowded court room. Palmer's closing has been praised as a masterpiece of eloquence and damned as a bigoted oration and foul utterance against the Slav immigrants. To the jury Palmer said the following: Condemn these men and go home to your neighbors and tell them, 'We convicted Sheriff Martin and his deputies for an error in judgment when they were standing between your homes and the horrors of mob rule.' Tell your wives and children that henceforth when the rioters are about to march and the right of men to work is in peril that there will be no Sheriff and deputies to keep the peace or defend your homes, because by your verdict you will have forbidden them to act, under penalty of death or infamous punishment. (56) Following Palmer's plea District Attorney Martin closed the case for the prosecution, and late on the afternoon of March 9, Judge Woodward delivered his charge to the jury. In an admirably clear, impartial, and ably written presentation of the law of riot and murder, �SLOVAKIA 75 Woodward charged that the sheriff had the right as the chief officer of the county to summon a posse to assist him in the preservation of order and in the prevention of riot. The public peace in Hazleton was threatened. Men were being driven from their jobs by the mob. The Sheriff saw the people were terrorized by the strikers. When they were at West Hazleton and at Lattimer, the strikers failed to obey the sheriff and insisted on pushing on. It was the duty of the crowd to obey his command and that disobedience of the sheriff was evidence of a riotous purpose. If you are satisfied, gentlemen, from the evidence that the purpose of the sheriff and of the posse was to preserve order and prevent a riot, then it would follow that their intent and object was not a criminal or unlawful one, and the rule of the law which makes the act of one the act of all has no application to the facts of this case. (57) At three minutes after ten on the morning of March 9, the jury arrived at its verdict. The sealed paper was handed up to the Judge, who examined it and returned it to the clerk. The clerk read: ''Gentlemen of the jury, harken unto your verdict as the Court hath recorded it. You find in the case wherein the Commonwealth is prosecutor and Sheriff Martin et. al., defendants, you find the defendants not guilty. So say you all?" (58) The verdict of acquittal was a just one under the law, yet, at the same time, it is possible that a terrible doubt exists that the slaughter at Lattimer was necessary or justifiable. Could the tragedy have been avoided? It is not clear that the miners should have been prevented from marching on the highway; it is not clear that they should have been denied the opportunity to show themselves within sight of the miners at work; it is not clear that the deputies should have fired as soon as they did. But, the law is for all men, and against all men who are not obedient to it. There is no question of the right of men to strike. The strike is often the only weapon. When the striker learns to keep within the law, to be fair to others, and to respect property rights, he will have made the greatest advances in the direction of public sympathy. The example of the Lattimer strikers was clear. Had a determined effort been made to keep within the law, to win the friendship of the people of the Hazleton region, the clash with Sheriff Martin and his deputies would have been avoided. The law is the defense of the individual and the salvation of the nation. Violence toward it cannot win. EPILOGUE In the course of researching the Commonwealth v. Martin Trial, it has been found that the Luzerne County Court records for that case are missing from their file at the Luzerne County Court House. Perhaps an �76 SLOVAKIA attorney borrowed them to study and never returned them ; or perhaps they were removed by intent considering the hard feelings exhibited by some members of the Hazleton mining community following the jury's verdict. The sleepy little mining patch of Lattimer today is much the same as it was sixty-eight years ago. The breakers are gone , the trolley tracks are gone , and the miners, whose families now occupy the same houses that witnessed the shooting, work at the near-by collieries in Harleigh and Jeddo . The excitement that brought the name Lattimer to the mind of most Americans in 1897 has been completely forgotten - even in Luzerne County. Should Lattimer be forgotten? Some say it should . But in today 's society when groups of American are banding together and marching, sometimes in defiance of the law, in causes they believe to be paramount, the tragedy of Lattimer could happen again. FOOTNOTES (1) John W . Jordan, Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, vol. 7, (New York , 1916), 2350. (2) John Mitchell , Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903), 375. (3) Henry Edward Rood , " A Pennsylvania Colliery Village, " The Century Magazine, vol. 55, no . 6, (April, 1898), 814. (4) "2,500 Men cut at Hazleton ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. (5) " The Honey Brook Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 21, 1897 , 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 23, 1897, 8. (6) ''The Hazleton Strike,'' Wilk es-Barre Evening Leader, August 23 , 1897, 8. (7) " Two Thousand Foreigners Out, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 27, 1897, 1. (8) " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control ," Wilkes-Barre E vening Leader, August 28, 1897. 1. " Hazleton Strike Comes to a Demand ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 29, 1897, 1. (9) " The Anthracite Strike ," Wilkes -Barre E ve ning Leader, August 30, 1897, 1. (10) " Wild Excitement, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897, 1-2. (11) " Strike Situation at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (12) " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (13) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897 , 1. (14)/bid., 1. (15) " Labor Day Parade at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 7, 1897, 1. (16) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897, 1. (17) " Strikers Still Marching," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader. �SLOVAKIA 77 (18) Ibid., 2. (19)lbid., 2. (20) Ibid., 2. (21) Ibid., 2. (22) "Murdered in Cold Blood," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 11 , 1897, 1. (23) Ibid., 1. (24) Ibid., 1. (25) Ibid. , 1. (26) Ibid. , 1. (27) Ibid., 1. (28) "Sheriff Martin to be Arrested, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 12, 1897, 1. (29) Ibid., 1. (30) ''They Will Not Return to Work, '' Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 14, 1897, 1. (31) "Everything Quiet Along the Line, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (32) " Miners ' Strike is Spreading," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (33) " News from the Seat of War," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 18, 1897, 1. (34) " Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 21, 1897, 1. (35) " Many Strikers Return to Work, " Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897, 1. (36) "A Quiet Day at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. (37) " Troops Leave Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 29, 1897, 1. (38) " A Stampede to Return to Work," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 21 , 1897, 1. (39) " The Court Sits In Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. (40) " The Court Sits in Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattimer," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 24, 1897, 1. " The Sheriff Condemned," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 28, 1897, 1. (42) ''The Lattimer Cases,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897, 1. (43) "The Twelve Jurymen Selected, " Wilkes-Barre Record, February 3, 1898, 1. (44) " The Lattimer Cases," Wilkes-Barre Record, February 4, 1898, 1. (45) Henry W. Palmer, Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, Penna. , 1913) 64. (46) Ibid., 65. (47) ''Excitement In Court,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 7, 1898, 12. (48) '' Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6 . (49) '' Said the Sheriff Shot, '' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 16, 1898, 6. (50) "A Labor View of Judge Woodward ," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4. (51) "Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter," New York World, February 20, 1898, 20. (52) Palmer , 67. (53) George B. Kulp , Luzerne Legal Register Reports, vol. 9 (Wilkes-Barre, 1900), 81. (54) Palmer , 81. �78 SLOVAKIA (55) Ibid., ll0. (56) Ibid., 147. (57) From Judge Woodward ' s original hand-written charge to the jury as found in his personal scrapbook in the possession of his grand-daughter, Mrs . Bruce Payne of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (58) " The Deputies Are Not Guilty," Wilkes-Barre Times, March 9, 1898, 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Jordan, John W ., Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography vol. 7, (New York, 1916) . Kulp, George B., Luzerne Legal Register Reports vol. 9, (Wilkes-Barre, 1900) . Mitchell , John, Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903). Palmer, Henry W ., Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, 1913) . Rood, Henry Edward , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village," The Century Magazine, Vol. 55, no. 6, (1898). Newspaper Sources "A Labor View of Judge Woodward," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4 . '' Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter, " New York World, February 20 , 1898, 20. ''Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6. ''2,500 Men out at Hazleton, '' Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. " The Honey Brook Strike, " August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," August 21, 1897, 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," August 23, 1897, 8 . " Two Thousand Foreigners Out," August 27, 1897, 1. " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control," August 28, 1897, 1. " Hazleton Strike comes to a Demand ," August 29, 1897, 1. " The Anthracite Strike ," August 30, 1897, 1. " Wild Excitement" September 2, 1897, 1-2. " Strike Situation at Hazleton," September 3 , 1897, 1. " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," September 3, 1897, 1. " Sheriff Martin on the Ground, " September 6, 1897, 1. · 'Labor Day Parade at Hazleton,'' September 7, 1897, 1. "Strikers Still Marching, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 9, 1897, 2. "Murdered in Cold Blood," September 11, 1897, 1. " She riff Martin to be Arrested ," September 12, 1897, 1. " They Will Not Return to Work," September 14, 1897 , 1. · 'Eve rything Quiet along the Line ,' ' September 16, 1897, 1. " Mine rs ' Strike is Spreading, " September 17, 1897, 1. " News from the Seat of War," September 18, 1897, 1. " A Stampede to return to Work ," Septe mber 21, 1897, 1. "The Court sits in Judgment," Se ptember 22 , 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattime r," September 24 , 1897, 1. " She riff Condemned," September 28 , 1897, 1. ··A Quiet Day at Hazleton ,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. �SLOVAKIA 79 "Troops Leave Hazleton ," September 29, 1897, 1. "The Twelve Jurymen Selected," February 3, 1898, 1. "The Lattimer Cases," February 4, 1898, 1. "Excitement in Court," February 7, 1898 , 12. "Said the Sheriff Shot," February 16, 1898, 6. "Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897 , 1. "The Dep uties are Not Guilty," March 9, 1898, 1. Woodward, Stanley, the original hand-written charge to the jury as found in Judge Woodwa rd 's personal scrap book now in the possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Bruce Payne of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania. � SLOVAKIA 9 The Lattimer Massacre and Its Sources GEORGE A. TURNER ''The affair at Hazleton yesterday is one of those terrible catastrophies the news of which simply stuns the community and paralyzes for a moment the power of thought." (1) The above editorial comment was a reaction to one of the worst acts of violence in the history of the American labor movement. The tragedy occurred at Laimer, a small coal mining patch, one and a half miles northeast of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh region of the anthracite coal fields on September 10, 1897. A group of nearly four hundred striking, unarmed, immigrant mine workers adhering to the control of their leaders, approached Lattimer to encourage the employees of Calvin Pardee & Company to join them in a work stoppage. They encountered Sheriff James Martin of Luzerne County and his posse of eighty-six deputies who viewed them as enemies of public order and the wellspring of lawlessness. When the marching laborers arrived at Lattimer in midafternoon, the Sheriff approached them, ordered them to halt, disperse, and return to their homes. Within a few minutes an altercation erupted between the Sheriff and some of the strikers at which point the deputies aimed their rifles and fired directly into the group of strikers. Instantly, their gunshots produced a carnage of blood and death among the immigrants - a massacre that left nineteen dead and thirty-eight wounded.(2) Peace officers were unscathed in their deadly assault on the defenseless workers who had been peacefully assembled on a public highway. This incident, lasting only a few minutes, became one of the most devastating acts of public authorities attacking, wounding and killing American laborers. The next day newspaper headlines depicted the killings as an atrocity. Regional papers denounced the shooting: "Yesterday's Butchery, A Mob of Heartless Deputies Fire Into a Throng of Miners and Accomplish Deadly Work" ;(3) "D of Blood at Lattimer" ;(4) "Strikers Shot in Cold Blood" ;(5) and "Looks Like Butchery" .(6) The account quickly spread beyond the anthracite region. Major metropolitan newspapers depicted the shooting in equally stark terms: ''The Killing of Miners at Lattimer Was Butchery'';(7) ''Mowed Down By Deputies" ;(8) "Laid Low By Bullets, the Men Fell Like Sheep Before the Murderous Winchesters of the Officials" ;(9) "Homestead Battle Thrown In The Shade" ;(10) and "Dead in Heaps, Deputies Fire on Miners at Lattimer, Penn ., Men Were Huddled Closely and Slaughter Was Terrific''. (11) The killing of the strikers by the Sheriff's deputies was a major national news story for several days prompting a �10 SLOVAKIA very basic question: Why did this senseless, violent act of shooting unarmed immigrant workers occur? To answer this inquiry requires an understanding of nativism found in the hard coal fields of Pennsylvania and an identification of those factors affecting the lives and working conditions of the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Slavic and Italian immigrants began arriving in the eight Pennsylvania counties comprising the anthracite region in the late 1870' s and early 1880 's with nearly all taking employment in mining and by the late 1890's outnumbered German and English-speaking workers .(12) The magnitude of this immigration flow from Poland, Austria-Hungary , Russia, and Italy was evident; in 1880 they totaled only 1,925 , in 1890 they were 32,007, and ten years later their numbe had more than doubled to 89,328. At the same time the foreign born from England , Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Germany decreased by 2.2 percent from 102,421 in 1880 to 100,269 in 1900; in particular, the demographic composition of this group in Luzerne County revealed a decline from ninety-four percent in 1880, to sixty-eight percent in 1890, and a further drop to forty-nine percent in 1900. These southern and eastern Europeans grew to an ever increasing percent of the foreignborn population in the anthracite coal fields: 1. 7 percent in 1880, 25 .2 percent in 1890 , and 46.1 percent in 1900.(13) Such a substantial and rapid growth of alien people created apprehension and anxieties leading to resentment and nativistic sentiments among the AngloSaxon population , their antipathy stemming from cultural differences and fear of economic competition for jobs. There was little to encourage the necessary processes for immigrants to be readily assimilated into the society. New arrivals had a distinctive culture, language , religion, and life style that were strikingly different , giving rise to suspicion and contempt from the native population and other established ethnic groups. Eastern and southern Europeans established numerous ethnic societies which perpetuated their pride , customs, and traditions . Since their religion was Catholic , they organized separate parishes along nationality lines thus sustaining ethnic identification. Marriage records reveal a consistent pattern of immigrants marrying only members of their own nationality. Divisions caused by factionalism in this polyglot society were difficult to bridge. Newspapers did not assume any responsibility for promoting harmony and assimilation among the diverse nationalities, and public schools did not lead in the task of Americanizing children of foreign cultures until the early 1900's . School attendance by immigrant children was minimal and those who did attend encountered language barriers. (14) Anglo-Saxons were finding it difficult to accept a pluralistic society in which they were becoming a numerical minority. This development fostered nativist sentiment , causing AngloSaxons to have ce rtain perceptions of the immigrants that inhibited �SLOVAKIA 11 assimilation of the aliens contributing to their separation and isolation in the society. Attitudes of non-acceptance found expression in opprobrious terms for the new arrivals: " Pollocks, " "Huns," and " Dagoes," all denoting inferiority and disdain. Polish, Italian, and Slavic celebrations for marriages and their baptismal customs were denigrated and viewed as outlandish. A common belief among the native population was that a '' ... Slav does not know how to enjoy himself save by getting drunk, he does not know how to show kindness to friends save by making them drink." (15) Stories circulated that these new aliens participated in wife-selling, practiced polyandry, and were responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime, (16) contributing to the viewpoint that they were '' ... much more dangerous to the body politic than the excluded Chinese; . . . do not hesitate to use dynamite if they desire to blow up the home of one whom they particularly hate."(17) Rejection of the new immigrants grew in part from a feeling on the part of Anglo-Saxons that they belonged to a superior and more progressive race of people. The way that immigrants lived reinforced feelings of superiority in nativist thinking. Due to economic factors, lack of acceptance, and the desire of ethnic groups to have their own neighborhoods, ghettoes emerged in different communities. Since houses in ghettoes were crowded and substandard, outsiders viewed living conditions as unpleasant , unattractive, offensive, and the area as a tough and brawlly place to live. "The Slavs are physically strong and can flourish in an environment that would be fatal to more sensitive organisms." (18) Supporting this dislike of southern and eastern Europeans, the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1895 passed a resolution calling upon Congress to enact legislation to restrict immigration. The resolution clearly reflected a protectionist attitude as seen in its opening statement: '' That we recognize in the constant influx of an ignorant and vicious class of immigrants a great and growing evil highly injurious to American workingmen and dangerous to American institutions." (19) Again, two years later legislators passed another similar resolution.(20) Native Americans and older immigrants from northern Europe came to the conclusion they were being invaded and overcome by hordes of undesirable people who would undermine their communities. Of equal importance and of more immediate concern was competition by Slavic and Italian immigrants for jobs and wages in the labor market. Nativist sentiment held that railroads and coal operators enticed immigrants to settle in the region in order to increase the supply of labor which, in turn, had the effect of keeping wage rates down. (21) This charge against railroad and coal operators, however, was not completely true. It was well known that contract miners, who were primarily Anglo-Saxons, had the best and highest paying positions outside the mine supervisory jobs. They were also employers and were '' ... themselves largely responsible for the employment of �12 SLOVAKIA the non-English speaking foreigners. Instead of employing English laborers at the regular wage week the miners would employ a big Slav or Hun cheaply, increasing his own pay check quite an amount. His boasting of the 'snap' caused others to do the same."(22) Job competition increased as immigrants took any kind of work they could find in and around the mines. No matter what employment they found their wages were four or five times higher than what they previously earned in the native land.(23) Anxious to find work, newcomers took the unskilled positions of slate pickers, door-boys and helpers, drivers , runners, and laborers, willing to endure dangerous work and inconveniences which older workers refused to accept. With the passage of time and experience they began to compete for the higher paying, skilled positions held by English-speaking and German coal workers. Established workers contended that since new immigrants were willing to accept lower wages and even wage cuts to get and hold jobs, they were undermining the standard of living and forcing many older laborers to forego mining in the mines and to leave the area to find new employment. Anglo-Saxon workers became bitter and antagonistic which impaired the development of any class solidarity among the anthracite workers.(24) This led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices toward eastern and southern Europeans. The history of the anthracite labor movement revealed that the Knights of Labor, dominated by Irish, and the Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers, controlled by Americans, English, Welsh, and Germans, were ineffective in enrolling these workers into their ranks in the 1880's and 1890's. Leaders of organized labor vacillated, were ambivalent, and showed a lack of real interest in encouraging new immigrants to join the union movement. On certain occasions labor organizations even attacked Slavic groups for undermining the labor movement. Failure of the unions to bridge ethnic differences was a major factor in thwarting endeavors to establish successful collective bargaining with the region's coal operators and to gain better conditions of employment.(25) Whenever new immigrants supported organized labor, they generally joined locals organized along ethnic lines; this at first weakened the interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests and ideas between the AngloSaxons and the new immigrants.(26) When the United Mine Workers of America first appeared in the area in the early 1890's, it made little headway in recruiting the Slavic and Italian immigrants who were fast becoming the major segment of the anthracite labor force.(27) Finally, when U.M.W.A. became firmly established after 1900 and merged the 'old' and 'new' immigrants together, each local retained ethnic �SLOVAKIA 13 distinction , making the union an alliance of distrustful nationality groups .(28) Established miners, who supported organized labor and held the higher paying and more desirable jobs, sought to protect their positions and perpetuate their advantage. They were fearful that the new immigrants who entered the coal fields as unskilled laborers would in time acquire needed skills to pass into the ranks of skilled miners which had the highest pay scale ; older workers also believed that when new immigrants became employed in mines the accident rate increased due to their lack of mining experience and inability to communicate in English .(29) State mine inspector, James Roderick, of Luzerne and Carbon Counties supported this viewpoint and asserted in 1883 that the rate of accidents increased as the influx of new laborers grew, whereas the older miners were more careful in their work. (30) Therefore, AngloSaxon miners supported the enactment of the miners' examination law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1889. The official title of the legislation, " An act for the examination of miners in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania and to prevent the employment of incompetent persons as miners in anthracite coal mines,'' aptly described its intent. The law created examination boards in various districts in the anthracite region consisting of skilled miners having at least five years of experience and appointed by the presiding judge in a county . It stipulated that no coal company could legally employ a person as a miner who did not have a certificate of competency issued by a miners' examination board ; in order for a person to receive a miner's certificate he had to provide evidence of having at least two years experience as a mine laborer in Pennsylvania.(31) In the legislative debate on this proposal, coal operators were accused of allowing incompetent people to work in mines , thus contributing to large numbers of fatalities and injuries. Many hoped that the new law would reduce the dangers of working in anthracite mines . Aside from viewing this act as a safety measure, there was a clear inference that the law would also help to check the influx and competition of labor from the new immigrants. Representative Caffery commenting on the proposed law declared that it could prevent '' ... incompetent men to come here from Europe, three or four of whom will be rushed into one chamber, thus dividing up the work.'' (32) Caffery's remark clearly made reference to the recent European influx into the anthracite region that had aroused resentments among older miners. In time it became apparent that expectations concerning the miner 's examination law would not be realized. Anglo-Saxon miners recognized that asking a few questions by miners ' examination boards could not really assure the competency of an applicant. In the examination of a non-English speaking person, the interpreter often aided and embellished the individual' s response. Furthermore, it �14 SLOVAKIA became a fact of life, due to fraud and corruption, that certificates became articles of merchandise.(33) From the time the law went into effect until 1897 there were several attempts to modify or even to repeal the statute . The law, rather than excluding unskilled laborers from becoming miners, had, in effect, due to the requirement of two years of mining experience in Pennsylvania, made ineligible the experienced miners who came from other parts of the country or Europe to secure jobs in the anthracite coal fields . These men were unwilling to work two years as a mine laborers in order to qualify for a miner's certificate. Instead, this simply assured that the new immigrants in time would move into the ranks of skilled miners - the higher-paying positions normally held by Anglo-Saxon workers. Representative Miller, whose district included Luzerne county, substantiated this point: ''Under the present act no one can receive a certificate as a miner until he has worked for two years as a miner's laborer. The result of that is just this: Only the least responsible class of workmen will come into the anthracite district at all; it excludes all of the better class of men. No one who is a practical miner from the bituminous region, or any other part of the State or the United States will come into the anthracite region and work for two years as a miner's laborer before he can obtain this certificate. '' (34) Admission that the law would stymie the settlement of new immigrants in the region was acknowledged by Representative Morahan in one of the attempts to revise the statute: ''It was brought about after the mining corporations had sent their agents over into Europe and brought over an element tended to restrict the production and elevation of wages. It was passed for the purpose of preventing the importation of pauper immigrants into the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania . . . "(35) Deficiencies in the miners' examination law prompted district one (anthracite region) of the United Mine Workers of America in its annual convention at Pottsvillle on October 16, 1896, to charge that the act was a farce. In a resolution calling for revision of the statute, the union wanted stiff penalties, imprisonment up to five years and fines of $100, for not adhering to the law; it also advocated that the state pay board members a set salary, abolishing the present procedure of having salaries based on fees collected from issuance of certificates. (36) These recommended changes reflected a view that corruption and failure to enforce the law had become commonplace among many of the miners' examination boards. John Fahy, president of district one, lobbied at the state capital in support of revisions to the law approved in 1897. One amendment increased penalties for violations, but no changes were made in the fee structure. A second amendment stipulated that each exaininee had to answer a minimum of twelve questions in English, which prohibited the use of interpreters and therefore discriminated against immigrants, who could not speak English.(37) The United Mine �SLOVAKIA 15 Worker's Journal lauded Fahy's lobbying activities and contribution in getting this legislature enacted. (38) After passage of these revisions to the law, the Miners' Examination Board in the Hazleton area placed a notice in the local newspaper to alert mine officials of its provisions. It noted that the law had been violated in the past but henceforth would be strictly enforced. The Board's warning reflected nativist sentiment: "As you, above all others, should know the necessity of having men who understand their work and the language which is the known language of this, our country, the Board would say do your duty and acquit yourselves like men and Americans.'' (39) Control of the miners' examination boards rested with English-speaking miners who were able to exercise certain prerogatives and institute various regulations to their advantage at the expense of the new immigrants.(40) Another piece of discriminating legislation with nativist prejudice, the Alien Tax Act, passed by large majorities in both houses, went into effect on July 1, 1897. The statue stipulated that any male alien age twenty-one and over employed in the state had to pay a three-cent tax on each day of employment which meant that most aliens employed as laborers in the Lehigh anthracite coal region suffered a two to three percent reduction in daily wages . Employers had to maintain employment records on aliens in their service and to collect the tax which reverted to the county treasury, half of which went to school districts and the other half to defray county operating expenses.(41) In the senate debate over the bill, the presence of new immigrants in the community gave rise to a concern that they were '' .. . a constant source of expense to us and . . . this is a very good way to get some money out of them to help pay the expenses of government.' ' (42) The act's preamble declared that aliens showed no allegiance to the state and did not financially support the maintenance of government. In addition, it described aliens as direct competitors to the state's laboring population. One passage stated they were '' ... brought into unjust competition with the tax-paying American laborers and greatly impair their welfare by depriving them of their employment and of preventing them from receiving fair compensation for their labor therefore." (43) Again, John Fahy, miners ' advocate at the state capital, wrote an article for the United Mine Workers Journal asserting: ''What a world of good this law would do the American citizens who try to earn their living in the coal mines, if the tax were one dollar per day.' ' (44) Nearly two months after the tax went into effect, the United States Circuit Court in Pittsburgh declared the law unconstitutional as a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Judge Acheson in the court's decision acknowledged that the law discriminated against new immigrants: "Evidently the act is intended to hinder the employment of foreign born unnaturalized male persons over 21 years of age." (45) An obvious recourse for the alien to avoid this new tax, prior to its �16 SLOVAKIA being declared unconstitutional, was to become a naturalized citizen. Senator Flinn feared this possibility and could see little benefit from such a law unless to increase local revenues. It was his opinion that the legislation '' ... would have a tendency to drive this class of people into quicker citizenship." (46) Possibly anticipating this result, the Naturalization Court in Luzerne County a few days prior to the alien tax being voided instituted new rules to revise the process of naturalizing aliens. New procedures required an applicant to make formal application and declare his or her intention to become an American citizen at least thirty days prior to appearing in court, to be represented in the court proceedings by an attorney, and to produce a certificate of entry from the commissioner of immigration at the port of arrival. County officials had to publish in advance of the naturalization hearing the names of aliens seeking citizenship . Publicizing names of aliens petitioning to become citizens had the purpose of facilitating the process of weeding out undesirable applicants. Under the new rules five people could sign a petition remonstrating against an alien becoming a citizen thereby requiring a hearing to pass on their objections. In court, the alien had to demonstrate knowledge of the national and state constitutions and duties of citizens with responses in English.(47) Under these new procedures costs and amount of time required of the foreigner to become a citizen greatly increased. Previously, it had been perfunctory procedure since the immigrant only had to pay two dollars to secure naturalization papers. Now the costs rose to at least eight dollars for court and attorney fees.(48) When the individual lived some distance from the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, he had additional expenses for transportation and meals as well as losing a day of wages. Cumulatively, the costs for most aliens was equivalent to nearly two weeks of wages . A month later when implementation of these new naturalization rules became part of the court proceedings, half of the ninety-seven applicants, predominately Slavic, Polish, and Italian, were rejected in their quest for citizenship.(49) The new naturalization procedures confirmed the fact that the ease with which foreigners had in the past gained American citizenship would no longer be the rule. The new immigrants, who had become the dominant group among the mine workers, found themselves unaccepted due to nativistic attitudes, discriminatory laws, organized labor's lack of interest and view of them as an economic threat, and increased difficulty in acquiring citizenship. An added burden which all mine laborers faced was working conditions in the anthracite coal fields . The Pennsylvania Legislature in 1897 established a joint investigating committee of three representatives and two senators to examine and make a report concerning working conditions among those employed in the mining of anthracite coal. The committee held twenty-six meetings in the principal cities in the anthracite region and took testimony from 311 witnesses �SLOVAKIA 17 representing businessmen , directors of relief organizations, and different classes of people connected with mining. The committee released its findings to the public on June 14, 1897, containing valuable information affecting those employed in mining.(50) The committee cited a major problem in the anthracite coal economy as excessive production in relationship to market demands that made coal prices weak and unstable. This had a direct bearing on mine employees since coal operators would cut production , institute lay-offs , and reduce wages in order to prevent or minimize their losses, thus exacerbating the labor market which already suffered from an over supply of workers . Surplus labor was evident when comparing the number employed in the anthracite mines in 1892 with 1896 and the coal produced in those same two years. Between 1892 to 1896 there occurred a fifteen percent increase in the number employed , 130,197 to 149,670, while coal production only increased five percent, 45,738,374 to 48,074 ,350 tons.(51) Estimated production capacity of the region 's collieries in 1896 was ninety million tons; actual output only came to fifty-four percent of capability while the number of mine employees for that same year increased by 6,065 .(52) Because of surplus laborers and a weak coal market there was lack of employment in the mines in 1896 as the average number of days of employment in the Hazleton region was only 178 days or fifty-seven percent of full employment for a year, based on a six-day week for fifty-two weeks. (53) This same condition was still prevalent in the first seven months in 1897 in which the mines operated on an average of one or two days a week.(54) One mine owner succinctly described the situation: " We can't give them work enough even at ninety cents a day because of the ups and downs of the business. When things begin to improve, we must have enough on hand to satisfy the demand, and that means, when business slacks up, that many have to be idle ." (55) This practice of the coal operators cutting back production to maintain the price of coal in a depressed market had caused frequent interruptions in the mid 1890's that put the standard of living of the average mine laborer on a very low basis . The legislative report pointed out that starvation conditions existed among the miners with Hazleton and vicinity one of the five areas identified as having great destitution and want. The committee reported: ' 'The testimony shows conclusively that deplorable condition of affairs for a period covering about two years, and particularly since the first of January of the present year, since which time the men in and about the collieries have been employed not more than two or three three-fourths days per week , earning on an average $4 per week , upon which , in many instances, they were compelled to support large families , in some cases as high as eleven members, paying house rent and coal and the necessities of life, which to this committee seems an impossibility . In . .. mining centres there is at all times more or less destitution and want , in many instances occasioned by profligacy. �18 SLOVAKIA Matters throughout the anthracite region have been gradually growing worse, and never in the history of this section of our State has the condition of the men employed in and about the mines been so deplorable or of such long duration.'' (56) The wages of miners and laborers in the Lehigh anthracite region had a direct relationship to the selling price of coal. Since the collapse of the union after the strike in 1888, there was no union contract to govern working conditions and wages. Wages were pegged to the market price of coal at the tidewater in Elizabethport, New Jersey. This system known as the ' 'sliding scale'' came into effect in 1869 with the formula for determining wages established in 1875. Under this arrangement, if coal sold for $5 .00 a ton at Elizabethport, miners, who held the highest paying jobs, received eighty-seven cents for each car of coal produced which meant that on the average, skilled miners earned twenty-one cents an hour, or $12.60 a week for sixty hours of work. The highest paid class of laborers, if a ton of coal sold for the same price, earned $10.80 a week or fourteen percent less than the miners. Whenever the price of coal increased ten cents a ton, wages advanced one percent for each ten cent rise and conversely, whenever the price of coal declined ten cents a ton, wages decreased one percent for each ten cent reduction . (57) Mine employees saw several drawbacks to this method of determining wages. Lehigh coal operators, as opposed to the Wyoming and Schuylkill coal operators, were mainly independents; hence, they were more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the freight rates in transporting their coal to the markets, which, in turn, had a direct bearing on establishing the price of coal. High transportation costs reduced the coal operator's ability to improve wages and, most importantly, forced an increase in coal prices that made coal produced in the Lehigh region less competitive in the market than that produced in the other two fields largely under the control of the railroads. Consequently, starting in 1892 the Lehigh coal operators, who produced only around sixteen percent of anthracite coal, agreed to sell part of their production to the railway coal companies at forty percent below the tidewater price in order to avoid excessive freight rates. A major portion of the coal production was sold in the interior at prices higher than at the tidewater. Finally, the 1875 price-wage formula did not reflect changes that had occurred in the coal market. Anthracite coal had been losing the industrial fuel market to the less expensive bituminous coal. This loss forced a readjustment in the coal trade as more and more anthracite had to be processed into smaller sizes to be sold for home heating purposes. Smaller sizes gradually became the major portion of the coal trade and this sold at lower prices, resulting in a reduction of the average price per ton of coal thus keeping wages down.(58) Besides irregular work and low wages the anthracite laborer had to contend with day-to-day conditions which were equally distressing. The �SLOVAKIA 19 company store had long been an issue in the mining communities and had an odious reputation. The fact that employees were under some form of compulsion to make their purchases at a company store at inflated prices was so repugnant that it caused considerable discord, dissension, and prolonged agitation. A congressional committee in 1889 investigating working conditions in the anthracite region reported some of the abuses connected with stores operated by coal companies which still persisted in the late 1890's. Prices were as much as thirty percent higher for the same items sold in independent stores. There was both direct and subtle pressure on employees to purchase groceries , clothing, and other items from the company store; workers feared losing their jobs or being moved to a lower paying position or to one that was more difficult because of dangerous or strenuous working conditions. "Some of the officials of the company, such as foremen, would state to their workmen, 'If you patronize me we will patronize you.' Well , that meant if there was a good job they would receive it if they traded in the company' s store ."(59) Reacting to these abuses, Pennsylvania in 1891 enacted a law prohibiting corporations engaged in mining and manufacturing from operating general supply stores . In an attempt to prevent evasion, the law explicitly made it illegal for a corporation to contract with an independent store to require its employees to purchase merchandise; also it prohibited any corporate officer or stockholder to operate a company store on the premises of the corporation. (60) Unfortunately, the legislation did not eliminate the many evils associated with the company stores. In the first place , unincorporated coal operators did not come under the law's jurisdiction. Secondly, there was a loophole in the law's language forbidding a corporation from requiring its employees to patronize a particular store by stating that employees " shall not be obliged" to deal with a designated store. In other words an employee of a corporation could not be compelled to shop at a particular store but he could voluntarily choose to buy his merchandise at that store. Realistically, as life existed in the mining communities with the ever-presence and dominance of the coal companies, many factors came into play that inevitably induced an employee to make a so-called voluntary decision to patronize a particular store. Thirdly, when individual coal operators sold their interests to a large corporation, they often retained the right to continue the operation of their store. In this arrangement, many times the corporation provided a service by deducting an employee's bill at the store from his monthly wages with a collection fee which varied from three to five percent of the bill. This system had a descriptive nickname of the "pluck-me-store." (61) It was in the Lehigh region, where a very large percent of the coal operators were independent and unincorporated, that the existence of company stores was one of the highest in the anthracite region ; two-thirds of the mine laborers worked at collieries �20 SLOVAKIA that operated company stores.(62) In some instances a coal company which operated a store would undersell its competitor by lowering prices for coal and then make up losses by compelling the employees to trade at the company store at exorbitant prices .(63) The store of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company reportedly had everything from a red herring to a furnace . A Polish employee of the company flatly stated: '' ... we are compelled to purchase whether we want to or not. " (64) Three English-speaking miners of the A. S. Van Wickle Company commented that they would not object to the company's store if it were not for the high prices. To illustrate their point, they cited three items priced in an independent store and the company store: dozen eggs for thirteen cents as opposed to twenty-three cents, pound of butter for eighteen cents as opposed to twenty-six cents, and tobacco for twenty-six cents as opposed to thirtyfour cents. (In computing these goods the average price increase over the independent store was forty-six percent.) They further asserted: ''These are but a few samples of the prices charged here, but we have no redress. If we do not deal in the store we are notified about it with a broad intimation that others would be glad to have our places and deal in the store ." (65) The two investigative reports documented abuses concerning the company store in the anthracite region in 1897 and drew attention to three pertinent facts: the company store did not operate to the benefit of the workmen; employees were subjected to intimidation when they failed to patronize company stores; profits were substantial. (66) The company store problem was a major concern of John Fahy who noted that the number was greater than when the legislation was passed in 1891 and coal operators continued to violate the law. Union members of the United Mine Workers of America agreed and passed a resolution condemning this kind of store : '' ... the company store is a great and burdensome evil; that the system is harsh and tyrannical, and its purposes to rob labor of the full use of that pittance, always too meager, which the mine worker now received for his toil . . . "(67) Another grievance of the workers closely related to the company store was the practice of having a company butcher make door to door sales to employees living in company houses. They objected to the butcher's high prices and his habit of leaving more meat than requested forcing the purchaser to pay for meat not wanted . (68) What they wanted was the. abolition of this solicitation. Dominance of the coal companies over their employees was felt in another way through the company doctor. Coal operators had a physician to administer to the health needs of workers. On the surface this service appeared to be a desirable fringe benefit. Not so in the eyes of the employees who had several objections. They felt that they should have the right to select their own doctor since many believed that the quality of medical help was below average. The fact that the doctor's �SLOVAKIA 21 allegiance rested with the company placed uncertainty on the doctorpatient relationship.(69) Aside from these reservations was the cost. Deduction from workers' paychecks funded the program; A. S. Van Wickle Company levied two cents a day on each employee while other companies charged each married man with a family seventy-five cents a month and single men fifty cents a month.(70) To many this outlay of money equaled a half-day of wages and was an unnecessary cost. At this time it was common practice for people to rely upon home remedies for curing illnesses rather than always going to a doctor. A custom among miners was to establish their own mutual medical aid organizations known as '' keg funds.'' Miners donated refunds received from turning in their empty powder kegs.(71) Another major factor explaining why workers opposed the company doctor scheme stemmed from a plethora of fraternal groups that provided insurance against sickness and death. In the Hazleton area there were around fifty such organizations with many established along ethnic lines. Working class membership in these societies was large. Dues entitled them to sick benefits that varied from four to six dollars a week for a period of three to six months. Average death benefits ranged from $50 to $125 with wives often receiving half the rate. (72) With these other arrangements, the company doctor plan offered few, if any , advantages to mine workers. Feelings of exploitation among the miners were particularly strong over the price of blasting powder and mining supplies and the coercion to purchase these items from the coal companies. Each of the collieries kept mining supplies for sale. Testimony before the United States Industrial Commission revealed: ''The coal operators will say that they do not compel miners to buy their supplies with that company. While this may be true in regard to oil in some places, yet they are compelled to buy their powder from these companies where they work, for they will tell you if you do not buy your powder there you can work where you buy it."(73) Along with this compulsion there was the high price for the powder. A keg of powder weighing twenty-five pounds sold for $2. 75 in the Lehigh region whereas in the Schuylkill region the same amount had sold for $1.50 since 1888.(74) A major demand of the strikers was to secure a price decrease for powder generally in the amount of seventy-five cents a keg. However, miners at Calvin Pardee & Company sought a more extensive price reduction for powder so that it would sell for $1.50 a keg.(75) Powder purchased from independent stores sold from $1.25 to $1.50 a keg and the wholesale cost of powder per keg delivered from the manufacturer ranged from 90 cents to $1.00.(76) It was obvious to the miners that the coal operators made substantial profits on the sale of powder with a mark-up of around two hundred percent. When comparing powder prices in the Schuylkill region with the Hazleton area in 1896, men believed they were overcharged by some $125,353.75 or a per capita of $217.50 which was �22 SLOVAKIA almost equivalent to one-third of their annual income.(77) This issue was particularly irritating to the miners and they felt that they were victims of extortion. Another vexing issue was the lack of compliance by coal companies to provisions of the state semi-monthly wage payment law passed in 1891 . The act stipulated that employers pay their employees in lawful money every two weeks.(78) With the exception of the Coxe mines, violation of the statute was widespread in the Hazleton area . (79) The state legislative investigating committee reported the act was '' ... virtually a dead letter in many instances. Operators disregard it and deem it an unjustifiable interference with their rights .'' (80) District One of the United Mine Workers of America in its 1896 annual convention adopted a resolution endorsing the semi-monthly wage payment law and invited members of the business community to cooperate with them in supporting this legislation. (81) Frequency of payment to workers was important to coal operators since it had a direct relationship to the maintenance of company stores. If workmen received their wages every two weeks or even weekly, they would be inclined to shop at independent stores which had lower prices. With monthly payments, employees found it convenient and, sometimes necessary , to depend on credit extended at the company stores.(82) These cumulative burdens of adverse working conditions, irregular and limited work, low wages, pressure to patronize the company's store and butcher, expense for a company doctor, high costs for blasting powder and mining supplies, and non-compliance with the semi-monthly pay law were hardships ever present to mine laborers and became issues in the strike. Of equal importance, immigrant workers found themselves having to cope with additional adversities such as nativistic attitudes that rejected their culture and impeded assimilation, economic discrimination in employment, passage of the alien tax law, and difficult and costly naturalization procedures. A wellspring of resentment and antagonism festered among the ranks of southern and eastern Europeans over conditions affecting their lives which stirred feelings of discontent and frustrations creating a serious strike situation. The spark which produced the Lattimer massacre first appeared to be nothing more than an isolated and minor labor dispute between District Superintendent Gomer Jones and some mule drivers at the Honey Brook colliery of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company; however, it became the catalyst leading to a series of crippling strikes in the Lehigh region. Gomer Jones , who had a reputation as a tyrannical mine boss, had recently been appointed superintendent of the Audenried district and assumed his new position with an eagerness to establish order and efficiency out of what he and the company considered to be a chaotic situation.(83) Jones stated in an interview that he perceived his superintendency: '' I came here a year ago. I came to restore discipline �SLOVAKIA 23 in the mines and to operate them in such a manner that the company could continue in business. The discipline was certainly lax. The men did about as they pleased. The two superintendents who were here then associated with the men, mixed with them, drank with them and were regarded as 'hail fellows well met' everywhere among the miners. Now I cannot do that. I'm not a drinking man, and I've never made it a practice to hobnob with the men. However, when I give orders I expect them to be obeyed and do not permit miners to do exactly as they please. " (84) He began to institute economics in the company's operations in order to achieve the lowest possible cost in mining. To carry out this resolve , he dismissed two easy-going foremen , about eighty other workers, and reduced daily wages for all classes of mine workers from three percent for carpenters to as much as twenty-five percent for stripping miners.(85) Another of Jones ' cost-saving proposals required all of the company mules to be stabled at Audenried. This measure required the mule drivers employed at Honey Brook to spend an extra hour in the morning and evening to pick up their mules and return them to the stables. For these two extra hours of work , Jones refused to grant any compensation to the mule drivers . Dissatisfaction over this arrangement provoked a strike among mule drivers , who were Slavic and Polish , on August 13 . The next day some workers took up positions along the road near the stable to insure that none of the mule teams was removed for work. Upon learning of this development , Jones went to the scene with club in hand with the intention of dispersing the disgruntled workers. Within minutes a boisterous dispute erupted and Jones, using his club, struck one worker. Some of Jones' assistants came to his rescue before the melee got completely out of control. (86) A consequence of the mule driver strike and the residue of dissatisfaction and discontent among the rest of the workers produced a general strike against the company on August 16. An assessment of the situation made by a local newspaper declared that coal companies " .. . import this cheap labor, drag them down with all sorts of hardships, and indignities and finally the bosses attempt to make records for money saving and thus increase their own salaries at the expense of the poor unfortunates who are under them. There is no need for white slavery, nor pauper wages ... pay them a living salary and treat them as human beings , and trouble of this kind will be unheard of.'' (87) That evening miners held a large meeting at McAdoo at which they formulated their grievances and demands to present to Elmer H. Lawall, General Superintendent of Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. They wanted restoration of the wage scale in effect prior to reductions imposed by Jones , an increase of ten percent in wages for all employees who worked underground, purchase of coal by workers for use in their homes reduced from $2.50 to $1.50 a ton, the right of each worker to select his own doctor, removal of Gomer Jones from his �24 SLOVAKIA position as district superintendent, and assurance that each person on strike would be reinstated.(88). Miners elected a strike committee representing different nationalities to present the issue to company officials. After meeting with Mr. Lawall on August 17, the committee decided to go to New York the next day to confer with Mr. Lawall and C. H. Warren, assistant to company President Maxwell. After returning from New York, the committee on August 19 met with the miners to report on negotiations, informing them that Mr. Warren had pledged that the company would pay the same rate of wages prevailing in the area and did not object to miners selecting their own doctor and making their own payments. There was no response to reducing the price of coal used by miners in their homes. With regard to the miners' objections concerning the conduct of Gomer Jones, the company refused to dismiss him but did promise to investigate his actions; this prompted an editorial comment in a Hazleton newspaper: ''The men are determined in their demands for justice, and if the Lehigh and WilkesBarre officials are wise they will speedily dismiss Superintendent Gomer Jones, for so long as he is retained in his present position, the trouble will not be adjusted. This man, with perhaps one exception, has imposed more hardships on the mines than any other living person who ever set foot on this soil. " (89) Upon hearing the company offer, which the miners described as one containing only promises rather than solutions to their grievances and demands, they voted to remain on strike . (90) Refusal to end the strike caused Mr. Lawall to hold another meeting with the strike committee. Three additional issues were introduced in the negotiations: employees need not live in company houses , men in the same grade of work receive the same pay, and employees be paid for all services rendered to the company - a direct reference to the mule drivers' complaint of having to spend two extra hours without pay to pick up and return their mules to the stables. After conferring with Lawall the strike committee called another meeting with workers on August 20. At this time the company informed the men that it had accepted the employees' position on the three additional points and that Lawall had personally promised to investigate fairly every grievance . Strikers believed that the injudicious activities of Jones would certainly be exposed and he would be dismissed. They learned that the mules were returned to Honey Brook, removing the issue of extra work without pay that had sparked the strike . In addition, two men dismissed by Jones were reinstated to their former positions. With such favorable news and expectation of Jones' replacement, the miners voted to end the week old strike and return to work on August 23.(91) The euphoria that prevailed among miners stemmed from their belief of success in exerting their interests against the coal company. This sense of accomplishment was further underscored by the fact they �SLOVAKIA 25 had been able to organize seven locals of the United Mine Workers of America comprising nearly a thousand men or about half of the company' s employees in the Audenried district. Establishing the union rested on the activities of John Fahy, United Mine Workers organizer, who took advantage of miners' discontent over their working conditions and lack of unionization. With the backing of a union and the promise of Lawall to investigate their differences with Jones , miners felt confident that they had won.(92) It appeared that labor unrest at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company was only an aberration and the outlook for labor peace quite good. Such optimism was short lived. The strike was a harbinger of labor agitation that soon engulfed the Lehigh mining region surrounding Hazleton. Within a week, on August 27, another strike initiated by immigrant workers broke out at the Coleraine and Milnesville collieries of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company. Some 1,500 strikers demanded reinstatement of the wage scale prior to the reduction made in February of 1897, which meant an average increase in wages from ten to fifteen percent in the daily rates. They wanted the new daily rates to be the following: stripping laborers, $1.20; first class laborers , $1.64; second class laborers, $1.50; outside laborers , from $1.00 to $1.20 ; breaker hands, men at $1.00 and boys at 90 cents; mule drivers, one mule at $1.50 ; two mules at $1.64; and three mules at $1.75; first class miners , $2.10; and second class miners, $1.93 . A few days later, August 31, some 2,000 employees of Lehigh and WilkesBarre Coal Company swelled the ranks of dissatisfied workers by walking off their jobs a second time after the elapse of two weeks when company officials had promised a settlement of their grievances in their first strike at the beginning of the month.(93) Chairman of the strikers ' negotiating committee charged that ' ' ... Messrs. Lawall and Warren, did not keep faith, and their refusal to make any concessions after their encouraging promises originally had served to work the men up to a high pitch. " (94) Work stoppages also began to spread to other coal operators: Lehigh Valley Coal Company, C. M. Dodson & Company, G. B. Markel & Company, Calvin Pardee & Company, A. Pardee & Company , New Ebervale Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, Arnold & Morgan Company , and Silver Brook Coal Company.(95) This general strike action at the end of August and the first of September erupted with the pressing demand for an increase in wages. Immigrant workers were the principal source of agitation over this issue. It was they who suffered loss of wages due to enactment of the alien tax law and who felt the effects of wage discrimination when they received less for the same job than the English-speaking worker. Miners in their class earned from $1.50 to $1.65 a day while an Englishspeaking miner earned $1.97 for the same position. Similar conditions existed for those who were employed as laborers; the percent of wage difference was even greater, $1.15 versus $1.50. Anglo-Saxon workers �26 SLOVAKIA did not support the strike and immigrants looked upon them as a favored class. Since Slavic and Italian workers outnumbered Englishspeaking workers by a three-to-one ratio, their dissatisfaction over wages and working conditions became the prevailing voice. (96) Demand for the same pay for the same job had the following local, editorial support: "Employees should receive the same compensation for the same kind and amount of work done whether they are Hungarians, Italians or any other nationality." (97) Strikers ' demands for improvement in their wages came in part from the fact that Lehigh coal operators paid lower wages than operators in the other two anthracite coal fields. (98) Although there existed an industry-wide formula for determining wages based on the tidewater price of coal, in actuality there was a divergence in the wage scale particularly among the unskilled in different coal companies, which contributed to labor unrest among workers when they learned their wages were lower than their counterparts in other mines. In protest, foreign workers began marching from one colliery to another, closing down operations and compelling other workers to join their ranks. With each passing day the situation became somewhat more tense. Area newspapers assessed conditions as serious with the distinct possibility of becoming quite dangerous since, ''Never in the history of the region was such a determined body of men seen together'' ;(99) it was feared that unless a settlement was reached, '' ... the whole Lehigh region will be plunged into one of the most threatening conditions ever experienced in the history of Pennsylvania coal mining." (100) Immigrant workers were the masters of the situation, dominating the strike activities; English-speaking workers, fewer in number receiving better wages, did not voluntarily support them and preferred to remain at work. Instead of a feeling of camaraderie and solidarity between these two groups there was distrust and suspicion.(101) An important break occurred in the strike action when A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company made a wage settlement with their employees at Milnesville and Coleraine collieries on September 3 and 4, respectively. The company's General Superintendent, James Roderick, fulfilled a promise to investigate wages paid at other area mines and, if his company's rates were lower, make appropriate advances. Advances did not completely equal the original demands of the workers: increases were around nine percent given primarily to the unskilled and semiskilled, jobs held mainly by the Slavic and Italian immigrants with no raise for skilled laborers, miners, jobs dominated by AngloSaxons.(102) With regard to the alien tax, which had recently been declared unconstitutional, the company promised to return the money at the next pay day. Concerning other issues of the company store and butcher, Roderick promised ''. . . there will positively be no compulsion for any man to deal with the company butcher and the company �SLOVAKIA 27 store, nor will any intimidation in this direction be permitted by any of the subordinates."(103) Following the lead of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company, officials at Coxe mines voluntarily increased wages ten cents a day to prevent their workers from going out on strike. (104) Settlement of the strike at A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company and increased pay by Coxe marked an important turning point in the labor unrest which had idled some twelve collieries due to the strikers' demonstrations. Success of these workers in improving their wages became a stimulus for hundreds of other workers to increase their determination to secure the same monetary gain. Higher wages granted by the two companies simply exacerbated the situation when other coal operators refused to match or make any improvement in wages. As long as this condition prevailed, chances of labor unrest becoming volatile heightened and the outcome became more uncertain . A week prior to the Lattimer killings, a Hazleton newspaper, realizing the nature of the situation, made the following appeal to coal operators: ''What the outcome of the uprising will be is simply conjecture, but one thing is certain, that the operators owe it to themselves as well as the community to bring about a speedy adjustment of the trouble. There is no good reason why the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. officials should not pay the same rate of wages as A. S. Van Wickle; they are in a position to do it and ought to. If there is to be an average rate of wages let all the operators join the combination and pay it. The obstinacy of either one company or the other, is simply injurious to the community, and for the benefit of all we suggest that the operators at least meet the men half-way, and the trouble will soon be a thing of the past. " (105) As each day passed without settlement, strikers continued marching from one coal mine to another seeking to induce other workers to join the strike; some responded willingly and others only after cajoling or intimidation. Their efforts were having success in disrupting the area's mining operations. Anxiety grew as the potential for serious trouble became likely with an apparent impasse emerging between strikers and operators who had refused to go along with the settlement made by A. S. Van Wickle and Coxe. Coal companies , holding the view that the situation had deteriorated and people had become terrorstricken by the strikers' protest, urged the sheriff to intervene in a manner that would terminate the strikers' activities. Sheriff James Martin, vacationing in Atlantic City, New Jersey , received a telegram on Saturday , September 4, from his deputy, Mr. George Wall, that Superintendent Lathrop of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company requested him to go to Hazleton to deal with the developing strike situation. Upon returning to Wilkes-Barre, the Sheriff held a Monday morning conference concerning the strike with Lathrop, Superintendent Steams of Cross Creek Coal Company, and Superintendent Lawall of Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company before �28 SLOVAKIA proceeding to Hazleton.(106) The Sheriff did not come to Hazleton at the request of any elected or appointed public official such as a magistrate, justice of peace, constable, or mayor, nor upon his arrival did he confer with any public official concerning the question of public order as related to the strikers' demonstrations. Instead, when he came to Hazleton, he met with Mr. Zerby, Assistant Superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and Mr. Platt, Superintendent of Calvin Pardee & Company store. Naturally, these two men held views concerning the strike that reflected their companies' vested interests and could possibly have misrepresented the degree of disruption. Apparently, Martin did not feel there was any advantage to investigating and reviewing developments with a variety of people having different perspectives in order to ascertain objectively sentiments and facts related to the strike. It was at this time that officials of Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, and Calvin Pardee & Company made it abundantly clear that they would hold Sheriff Martin personally responsible for any interference with their mining operations.(107) After conferring with Messrs. Zerby and Platt, Martin decided to organize a posse comitatus. A Sheriff's decision to create a posse must be based upon circumstances as defined in law in which a state of disorder exists, consisting of a riot or the threat of a riot in which life and property are in jeopardy. Again Martin's assessment that these conditions existed rested upon information given to him by representatives of coal companies. Following their recommendation, he appointed Thomas Hall, a prominent Hazleton businessman whose occupation involved selling blasting powder to coal companies, as his chief deputy.(108) In the Hazleton Machinery Supply Company Store, a concern involved in coal mining, eighty-seven men were sworn in as Sheriff's deputies and members of the posse with nearly all of them directly or indirectly earning their living from coal companies. This close connection of the deputies with the coal companies was apparent as some twenty-three were employees of Calvin Pardee & Company, including his own son and Augustus W. Drake, Pardee's General Superintendent; fourteen worked for the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and six were members of the coal and iron police. All but one deputy had surnames indicating Irish, English, or German heritage, the majority were members of prominent families and relatives of coal operators, many were young, several had attended college and were engineers or held managerial positions in coal companies. Others were businessmen and a few were laborers.(109) Superintendent Smith of G. B. Markle & Company, a coal operator, ordered rifles and shotguns and shipped them to a warehouse owned by A. Pardee & Company, another coal operator, where they were dispensed to the deputies under the direction of Mr. Platt.(110) Martin cautioned his deputies: " ... it was their duty to maintain the peace at all hazards, but under no cir- �SLOVAKIA 29 cumstances to shoot unless they were convinced either they or myself to be in danger.'' (111) Since the coal operators were responsible for requesting the Sheriff to come to Hazleton and to organize a posse, they also agreed to assume the costs for expenses incurred by the deputies. (112) Another service available to the Sheriff and his deputies was a special trolley car provided by Lehigh Traction Company upon the orders of Mr. Zerby so they could have unimpeded transportation to move about the coal fields.(113) While arrangements were under way in organizing the posse, Martin contacted Sheriffs Scott and Setzer of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties, respectively , since Lehigh coal fields encompassed parts of these counties. The main source of strike agitation came from men employed at collieries south of Hazleton in the area where Luzerne , Schuylkill , and Carbon Counties have a common boundary. After consulting with each other, the three law officers issued separate proclamations admonishing people '' . . . from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly, and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace .' ' (114) Included in the proclamation was the state riot act of 1860 describing illegal activities and penalties. Sheriff Martin 's decision to issue the proclamation made it appear that he felt conditions were turbulent, disorderly, and warranted the organization of a posse; yet on the same day he chose to spend a leisurely afternnoon attending the bicycle races at Hazleton.(115) The following morning, Tuesday, September 7, Sheriff Martin, upon learning that a group of strikers planned to shut down the Crystal Ridge Colliery , took a number of deputies to the site and prevented them from accomplishing their goal.(116) News of this intervention by the Sheriff either had not spread, or if it had, did not awe other strikers from descending on the New Ebervale Coal Company colliery and closing it down. Company superintendent, John Scott, describing the incident stated: '' ... the real leader appeared and said they intended to win the strike if they had to apply the torch to every town in the region ."(117) After closing the New Ebervale colliery, strikers marched over to the stripping area of Calvin Pardee & Company at Lattimer hoping to repeat their success earlier in the day. However, some of the Sheriff's deputies were already at Lattimer to prevent any disruption in the company 's operations . When the marchers appeared, the officers fired warning shots ito the air dispersing them and thwarting their objective.(118) The remaining days prior to the tragedy at Lattimer found Sheriff Martin and his deputies constantly transversing the coal fields from one colliery to another checking the strikers' movements . With each passing encounter the level of exasperation and tension between the law officers and immigrant workers on strike began to rise. A Hazleton newspaper again reflected a growing concern over the lack of a strike �30 SLOVAKIA settlement and a possible serious confrontation: ''The strike can be settled within twenty-four hours, and without bloodshed, if the operators will act fair and honest with their men. "(119) A day later the same editorial voice observed a growing seriousness in that the strikers '' ... are very much embittered against the deputies, and it is feared that both parties will engage in mortal combat." (120) A letter to the newspaper editor commenting on the strike stated it was '' ... causing a depression in business and fear in the hearts of the people of bloodshed . . . '' suggesting ' ' . . . the Ministerial Association take the matter in hand, call a meeting of all the clergy of the Protestant and Catholic churches, and together with the press and businessmen try and see if their influence could not be used to settle this grave matter between the operators and men."(121) John Fahy counseled the workers to obey the Sheriff's proclamations and to avoid provocations that could cause violence since the authorities had the ability to crush them. His interest was to temper the strikers' ardor and give it some meaningful direction.(122) Martin, apparently feeling some frustrations and reservations over his efforts to deal with strikers , told Frank Pardee, head of A. Pardee & Company, '' ... that while the strikers simply confined themselves to talking to the men quietly and persuading them to quit, it was none of my business and I had no right to interfere. "(123) Regardless of whatever doubts the Sheriff may have had, he knew perfectly well that he could not disregard the wishes of the coal operators. Starting on Thursday afternoon events began to cascade toward that fateful Friday. Employees of Calvin Pardee & Company at Harwood who were on strike felt that in order to win they had to shut down the company's operation at Lattimer which had failed earlier. News came to Harwood strikers that their fellow employees at Lattimer were anxious to join them if only they would march over to Lattimer; this appeal stimulated their determination.(124) The Harwood local of the United Mine Workers held a meeting on Thursday evening to make plans to march to Lattimer the next day. Joe Mahalko, president of the Harwood local of the United Mine Workers of America, cautioned his fellow workers to go without guns or any other kind of weapons, to harm no one nor to destroy any property, and to keep the peace. On the next day, Friday, September 10, around noon some two hundred and fifty strikers from the Harwood area, consisting almost exclusively of immigrant workers, started their ill-fated mission to get their counterparts to go on strike at Lattimer. As the march proceeded, some seventy-five to one hundred additional strikers joined the ranks. (125) When they reached the outskirts of West Hazleton on their route to Lattimer around two o 'clock, they were stopped by Evan Jones, Chief of Police of West Hazleton, who told them, "Go back out of this, you are in a dangerous place. If you have to go to Lattimer you must go another way."(126) At this point Sheriff Martin and his deputies �SLOVAKIA 31 arrived on the scene with the intention of stopping the marchers from proceeding to Lattimer. A confrontation occurred between the Sheriff, his deputies , and the strikers, in which one striker was arrested, another had his arm broken by a deputy, many had guns thrust in their faces , the American flag they were carrying was destroyed, and there was an exchange of blasphemous name calling.(127) Martin read his proclamation containing the riot act, ordered them to cease their march to Lattimer , and urged them to return to their homes, telling them that all of the marching from colliery to colliery to drive men from work was no way to get better wages.(128) He believed there would be serious trouble since some of the marchers had picked up stones and looked as if they intended to throw them at the law enforcement officials. However, this fear proved to be unfounded since they did not take such a provocative action. (129) Efforts to halt the march were futile considering the strikers ' determination to continue their trek to Lattimer, and Martin 's inability to communicate with them since he spoke only English and had no interpreter . After becoming exhausted from the episode , he simply gave up trying to stop them.(130) The strikers ' perception of this hostile encounter differed from the law officers ' version and hinted at forthcoming trouble . John Eagler, one of the leaders of the march and secretary of the United Mine Workers local at Harwood stated: " We were met by the deputies at West Hazleton who did not come like civilized beings , but broke through the ranks, crying, 'Stop , stop!' " (131) Joseph Mahalko declared : '' I told the Sheriff we had no stick big as my finger in the crowd. All Sheriff said was 'don't go any farther .' Sheriff said , 'You go back or I shoot you . ' " (132) Again John Eagler stated that the Sheriff only took a piece of paper from his pocket and did not read any proclamation as he claimed but had simply told them that it was against the law to march to Lattimer.(133) The strikers asserted they did not initiate any altercation with the law officers but were merely the victims of an unwarranted attempt to prohibit them from using the public highway. Something that proved to be far more serious was the ominous threats attributted to the Sheriff and his deputies against the strikers: "Go back and take care of yourself, for there will be big trouble today ." (134) " We 'll get even with the --- at Lattimer."(135) "We ' ll leave them go till we get to Lattimer ; then we ' ll shoot them. "(136) "I'd like to get a pop at the ---of b---. I'll bet I'll drop six. " (137) "I didn 't know what the h--- the Sheriff makes us walk around here so much without giving us a chance to shoot those men .'' (138) ' 'Everyone of the G-- d-- Hunks ought to be shot. " (139) Sheriff Martin , formerly a coal foreman at the Mill Creek colliery in Luzerne County, allegedly stated, " . . . a little cold lead is the only way to conquer the strikers."(140) The Sheriff's efforts and reported intimidations to terminate the strike rs ' march to Lattimer became nothing more than a futile gesture that only made them more resolute to continue their journey. Un- �32 SLOVAKIA daunted, the marchers following the advice of Chief Evan Jones took a route toward Lattimer along the outskirts of Hazleton on which they could proceed without further interference.(141) Sheriff Martin realizing his efforts had been to no avail quickly returned to Hazleton, summoned his entire force of deputies telling them to take their arms and board the trolley to Lattimer so they could prevent the marchers from stopping the Lattimer mining operations.(142) En route there was talk among the deputies '' . . . about shooting and each man seemed to be eager ... "(143) Since some of the deputies had served as coal and iron police, they " ... had had much trouble with the strikers on previous occasions and were said to be in a revengeful mood against them. "(144) Even Sheriff Martin admitted, " ... I have no doubt that some of the deputies were excited, and certainly the ride over the mountain in that crowded car was animating."(145) The Sheriff and his posse arrived at Lattimer a few minutes after three o'clock and stationed themselves along the right side of the road as it entered Lattimer from the south. He instructed his deputies " ... to keep cool and not get excited. "(146) However, before the strikers arrived, the deputies ordered a woman to go into her house on the likelihood that some shooting may occur.(147) Shortly after the deputies were in place , the strikers appeared coming up the public road in an orderly array toward the Lattimer breaker. (148) There was every reason to suspect that the deputies were fully aware that the miners were unarmed. As they approached the law officers who were standing parallel to the road, the Sheriff stepped out and walked toward the marchers with the intention of learning what they planned to do. Martin indicated that " ... if they are not going to do anything, I may let them go on, and we will go along with them.' ' (149) He ordered them to halt about forty or fifty yards from the armed deputies. The front of the column slowed as the Sheriff approached and asked them what they intended to do. The Sheriff reported they said, "We stop Lattimer Mines."(150) He then proceeded to read his proclamation in English, which many of them could not understand, while at the same time the rear of the column kept pushing forward. Within a few minutes a fracas broke out between the Sheriff and some twenty strikers at the side of the road when he attempted to seize and arrest one of the men.(151) At this point the deputies aimed and fired directly into the ranks of the strikers. The exploding crescendo of Winchesters created a bloody massacre with the sound of shrieks and moaning of the dying and wounded lying in agony. One newspaper described the scene: ''It was a human slaughter in which men were mowed down like grain stalks before a scythe, by the deadly bullets which stormed for fully two minutes. The blood of the dead and dying soaked the dusty road and flowed in streams through the ditch."(152) The murderous volley created a human carnage taking the lives of nineteen immigrants and leaving thrity-eight wounded; eleven men died at Lattimer with the �SLOVAKIA 33 remaining eight dying at the Hazleton Hospital. Dr. Keller, a physician at the hospital, stated that many of the victims were shot in the back.(153) What began a month earlier as a dispute between Gomer Jones and immigrant mule drivers grew into a serious strike finally ending as a sorrowful episode in American labor history. In the aftermath of this tragedy there were contradictory versions as to what actually happened. Sheriff Martin said the strikers were vicious, boisterous, a furious and desperate gang, fierce as wild beasts, threatening to physically harm or even kill him. He felt that they were bent on doing violence and had no intention of obeying his proclamation or the laws of Pennsylvania. Earlier at West Hazleton, Martin told the marchers that it was his duty to prevent them from interfering with the men who were working at the mines, and at Lattimer he went a step further to warn them that if they did not disperse there would be trouble.(154) When a Hungarian speaking in broken English told him, "Go to hell, you a---," (155) he sought to arrest the man who shouted the epithet. The men, excited, began assaulting him forcing him to draw his revolver in self defense and attempt to shoot an attacking man, but the gun failed to discharge. He claimed that two of his attackers had pistols and a third man with a knife sought to stab him. (156) In a letter written five weeks later explaining the event to Governor Hastings, Martin wrote the following description: "One high (sic) fellow gave me a blow on the cheek and knocked me on my knees. I would have been knocked down on my back, but the crowd was too close around me so that there was no room for me to get down, and while we were struggling I heard a shot followed closely by a second and then a number of shots together. Those who were attacking me were shot, and I was then unable to recover myself, and there is no doubt in my mind that if the deputies had not shot just when they did I would certainly have been killed. While I was struggling with part of the mob on one side of the road in the ditch where they had pushed me, the part on the other side of the road with a whoop and yell rushed on toward the deputies, who no doubt fearing that their lives were in danger and that I was to be killed, fired ... '' (157) On the day after the shooting, Martin gave several conflicting statements as to why the deputies shot the strikers. "I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers ... I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot if they must to protect their lives or to protect the property that they had been sent to guard from being demolished . . . I hated to give the command to shoot and was awfully sorry that I was compelled to do so. "(158) "I did not order the deputies to fire; someone else did that. I gave no order." (159) "The shooting commenced in a manner that baffles me completely when it comes to explaining."(160) A few days later in an interview Martin suggested that the cause of the shooting came from an impulse of his men to protect him: ''They saw me in the �34 SLOVAKIA midst of the strikers, with men aiming blows at me, and they supposed probably that my life was in danger."(161) The Sheriff's answers vacillated on how the shooting began, ranging from admitting that he gave the order to his deputies to fire their weapons to denying any knowledge of how the firing happened. Even among the deputies there was no satisfactory answer as to how the shooting commenced. The version of the confrontation by the strikers and bystanders differed from and challenged the assertions made by Sheriff Martin. According to the strikers, the Sheriff ordered them to halt and began to read his proclamation. The situation became disruptive when the Sheriff sought to arrest one of the marchers and get the others to disperse. One of the men told the Sheriff '' . . . we only want to move on peaceably ... "(162) Those in the rear of the column continued pressing forward and shouting '' go ahead,'' pushing the Sheriff and some of the men off to the side of the road. Whereupon, John Eagler reported that Martin flourished his revolver, '' ... grabbed one man by the arm, and, pointing the revolver at him, said, 'Did you tell them to go ahead?' The man said he had not spoken, and then the Sheriff grabbed another man and began to shove him about. 'You will say ''Go ahead," eh?' said the Sheriff, and at the same time he aimed the revolver squarely at the man's heart. The man naturally was frightened, and pushed the Sheriff's hand holding the revolver to one side. Whether or not the Sheriff considers that an attack or·not I don't know. I am positive that not a man hit the Sheriff."(163) An account from a bystander stated that Martin '' . . . became excited and ordered the deputies to shoot . . . " (164) A striker affirmed this point that the Sheriff gave the order to fire.(165) Another eye witness agreed that Martin's command was to fire but only a warning shot over the heads of the strikers.(166) Witnesses to the shooting pointed out there were no warning shots fired but told of excessive firing into the ranks of the strikers, deputies continuing to shoot after men ran for cover, and men shot down as far as 150 yards from where they were stopped by the Sheriff.(167) A Lattimer school teacher reported: "I saw men who had hidden behind trees and fences during the first fusillade leave their places of concealment only to be deliberately shot down."(168) The school house about three hundred yards distant from which the teacher saw the shooting was riddled with bullets. An area newspaper asserted: ''This would indicate that the strikers, fleeing by the shortest route to Hazleton across the hills, were shot at long after there was any danger to the deputies." (169) Strikers affirming this horror told of being targets as they ran for safety. A detached account by Henry Hoyt, United States Assistant Attorney General, based upon an investigation of the shooting made the following summation: ''It appeared that the strikers were unarmed; that small clubs which they had previously carried were thrown away on the march between West Hazleton and Lattimer; that they were peaceable and orderly in West �SLOVAKIA 35 Hazleton and Lattimer; were not riotous at West Hazleton or Lattimer, and at neither place made an assault upon the Sheriff or his deputies, or offered any violence or used threatening language to them."(170) Martin confirmed Hoyt's account by stating, in response to a reporter's question, that the strikers until the time of the shooting had not committed any overt act nor behaved otherwise than peaceably. (171) The Lattimer tragedy resulted from a multiplicity of interrelated sources. Existing in the anthracite region were nativistic sentiments encompassing an attitude of disdain for Slavic and Italian immigrants; Anglo-Saxons looked upon the strikers as unwelcomed strangers who were inferiors and who could not possibly conform to accepted standards in society. In an interview a federal treasury official, who was familiar with Hazleton, affirmed this idea with his romantic (and distorted) depiction of an idyllic and bucolic setting disrupted by the intrusion of alien people who fostered hatred: ''I think when all the facts come out in regard to the shooting it will be found that the officers who did the shooting have covered a revenge of years under the wings of the law. I remember when twelve or fifteen years ago, the section around Hazleton was settled by hard-working and honest Irishmen, Welshmen, Englishmen, Germans, and Americans. They worked in the mines and did well. Many of them owned their own homes - pretty little cottages on the hillside, surrounded by outhouses for cattle and chickens, etc., and happiness seemed to smile on all. There were no strikes and the morality of the neighborhood was good. Then began to come in the Hungarians and the Poles and the class of foreigners, by accepting smaller wages, ran the others out. I knew several Irishmen who vowed they would not leave, but went away to other States, in many instances having to sell their little homes to pay their debts and to get away on. This naturally caused a bitter feeling, a feeling which exists to this day, and one which caused many vows of revenge. The houses once the property of prosperous Irishmen and Americans are now in filthy condition, occupied by two and three families of Hungarians and Poles. Instead of clean beds there are bunks ranged along the walls and as many as four people slept in a small room. In that band of deputies which encountered the marching miners a few days ago are many men who remembered the change from the scenes of years ago. Their hearts have been full of revenge. When the opportunity presented itself they seized it, with the horrible result too well known. They shot to kill, because their relatives and friends had been made paupers by these people. I do not approve of the shooting, but I believe the facts will reveal what I have stated." (172) These immigrant strikers represented a class of people outside the local structure, posed an economic threat to the interests of coal operators, and replaced Anglo-Saxons as the dominant mine workers. In contrast, the Sheriff's posse consisted of a class of people that was �36 SLOVAKIA diametrically opposite in nationality, place in society , and occupation. This dissimilarity in turn tended to heighten emotional responses. The strike increased the stresses of nativism. Passions grew in both contending groups; as workers sought to shut down the mines , the Sheriff and his deputies, under the pressure of coal companies , tried to prevent them from accomplishing their objective. A feeling of anxiety and tension grew in the community as the chances of an ugly confrontation between strikers and law officers became likely. Undoubtedly , the Sheriff and his men fully sensed this but realized the ramifications if they failed to prevent the strikers from closing down the mining operations at Lattimer. If unsuccessful, the chances of protecting the remaining mines from being closed down by the strikers would be slight. Combined with this pressure were frustrations in trying to quell the strikers' activities , tension and fatigue over the incident at West Hazleton, malicious attitudes toward the immigrants who were also labor agitators, and a glandular excitement capable of generating panic from a large group about to undergo another encounter with strikers . A maturation process among Slavic and Italian immigrants in the anthracite coal fields reached fruition when the strike broke out in the Lehigh region in the late summer of 1897. Having become the dominant group among the mine workers in the late 1890's, they asserted themselves by conceiving and initiating the strike . This decision resulted from the frustrating working conditions and discriminatory practices emanating from nativistic actions which combined to impose hardships and an inferior status . The culmination of these factors was the wellspring for discontent and dissatisfaction. At this time the United Mine Workers of America lacked strength to represent and protect the anthracite mine workers ' interest effectively and , in addition , generally showed little interest in including the new immigrants in their ranks or purview. Consequently, the only recourse for the immigrant workers was to take matters into their own hands to seek redress for grievances. As the strike developed, it lacked coherent strategies since it was unorganized, leaderless , and did not have benefit of an effective union structure to provide direction, articulation, and ability to successfully negotiate with the coal operators. (173) This point of inadequate experience and unfamiliarity in labor affairs made the strikers vulnerable to violence . Therefore, on that Friday afternoon as the immigrant strikers marched into Lattimer imbued with a spirit to win their strike, they came face to face with Sheriff Martin and his deputies equally committed to stopping them. It was as if for a moment, the recent social and economic history of the area had been centripetally compressed into a time capsule only to be exploded by indigenous divergent and incompatible forces . Catapulted into a deadly collision were two different worlds in conflict. The result was-violence, perpetrated by public peace keepers who were the instruments of coal �SLOVAKIA 37 companies' strategy to break the strike . The effect was that Lattimer became the worst tragedy in American labor history in terms of the number of workers killed and wounded by public authorities, who were not provoked nor endangered and who attacked without warning unarmed strikers peacefully demonstrating on a public highway. FOOTNOTES (1) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 11, 1897. (2) Letter from Henry Hoyt, Assistant Attorney-General, to William Day, Secretary of State, April 8, 1898; in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, with the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 6, 1898 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901), 82-87. Hoyt' s letter stemmed from an investigation made by the Department of Justice for the Department of State concerning a diplomatic protest from the Austria-Hungary government over several of its nationals killed and wounded at Lattimer. A great deal of confusion and inaccuracy existed in newspaper accounts as to the number of casualities from the shooting; reports varied from fourteen to as many as fifty people killed. Hoyt based his figures upon grand jury murder indictments against Sheriff Martin and his deputies who were brought to trial on February 1, 1898, in Luzerne County but were found not guilty by the jury. (3) Daily Standard (Hazleton), September 11, 1897. (4) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 11, 1897. (5) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (6) Daily Globe (South Bethlehem) , September 11, 1897. (7) St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 12, 1897. (8) San Francisco Chronicle, September 11, 1897. (9) Detroit Free Press, September 11, 1897. (10) Pittsburgh Dispatch, September 11, 1897. (11) Boston Daily Globe, September 11, 1897. (12) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 5, 1897. (13) Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers : A Study in Immigration (Philadelphia: J . B. Lippincott Company, 1904) , 51 & 58 ; Frank Julian Warne, "Some Industrial Effects of Slav Immigration," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904), 223-224. (14) Rowland Berthoff, "The Social Order of the Anthracite Region , 1825-1902," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LXXXIX (July 1965), 169-171; Charles B. Spahr, "America 's Working People," Outlook, Ll(Il (August 5, 1899) , 811. (15) Peter Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904) , 219. (16) Berthoff, 287; George 0 . Virtue, "The Anthracite Mine Laborers," Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor No. 13, (November, 1897) , 753. (17) Henry Edward Rood , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village ," Century Magazine, XXXIII, new series, (April, 1898), 811. (18) Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," 221. (19) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1895 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1895), 643. (20) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1897 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 546. �38 SLOVAKIA (21) Frank Julian Warne, " Organized Labor in the Anthracite Coal Fields," Outlook, LXXI (May 24 , 1902), 273 . '' . . . The operators used them (immigrants) originally to introduce low wages ... " Wilkes-Barre Record, August 8, 1897. The attitude that immigrants were responsible for undermining native labor interests was prevalent in newspaper editorials. Mauch Chunk Coal Gazette, September 25, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 8, 1897; Weekly Herald (Shenandoah), September 18, 1897; Sullivan Review, September 16, 1897 ; Detroit Free Press, September 12, 1897; Pittsburgh Post, September 15, 1897. (22) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. The laborer who assisted the contract miner was not employed by the coal operator but by the miner. Nearly eighty percent of the mine laborers in the Lehigh region worked under the contract system. Frank Julian Warne , " The Anthracite Coal Strike, " Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XVII (January, 1901), 32-33 . (23) Rood, 815. (24) Frank Julian Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XXI (January , 1903) , 23-24; Rood, 815; Virtue, 753 . (25) Victor R. Greene, The Slavic Community on Strike: Immigrant Labor in Pennsylvania Anthracite (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968), 86-87 ; Berthoff, 272-273 ; Virtue , 753 . (26) Spahr, 8ll ; Warne, " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," 31-32 ; Roberts, "The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities, " 218 . (27) Harold W. Aurand , From the Molly Maguires to the United Mine Workers: The Social Ecology of an Industrial Union, 1869-1897 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press , 1971) , 136. (28) Berthoff, 273 . (29) Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker, " 21; Berthoff, 268. (30) Alexander Trachtenberg, The History of Legislation for the Protection of Coal Miners in Pennsylvania, 1824-1915 (New York: International Publishers, 1942) , 134135. (31) Ibid., 135-136; Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88 . (32) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Sessions of 1889, Vol. I, Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1889) , 1529. (33) Virtue, 768; Greene, ll 7-ll8 ; Pottsville Republican, June 15, 1897 . (34) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1889, Vol. I, 1236. (35) Ibid. (36) United Mine Workers Journal, October 22, 1896, 1. (37) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1897, 289. (38) UMW Journal, August 12, 1897, 7. (39) Daily Standard, August 28, 1897. (40) Warne , Th e Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88. (41) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Ses sion of 1897, 135-136. The bill passed the House and Senate by votes of 126 to 12 and 28 to 3 respectively . Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 1069 & 2418 . There were attempts in the House to make the tax five cents a day. Ibid., 2418 (42) Ibid., 2292 . (43) Ibid., 2217 . �SLOVAKIA 39 (44) UMW Journal, July 1, 1897, 1. (45) Fraser v. McConway & Torley Co., 82 The Federal Reporter 259 (1897) . (46) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, 2217. (47) Wilkes-Barre Record, August 26 & 28, 1897. (48) Peter Roberts, Anthracite Coal Communities: A Study of the Demography, The Social, Educational and Moral Life of the Anthracite Region (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904), 44-45 . (49) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897. (50) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report on Conditions Existing Among the Miners and Those Employed in and About the Mines in the Anthracite Coal Regions ," Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Session Begun at Harrisburg, on the Fifth Day of January, 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1897), Il, 1824-1842. (51) R eports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), xvi-xvii . (52) Ibid., xvii; "Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (53) Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 170-172. (54) "The Association Letter," Anthracite Coal Operators Association, September, 1897, 2. (55) John Graham Brooks, " An Impression of the Anthracite Coal Troubles," Yale Review, VI (November, 1897), 307. (56) "Legislative Investigating Committee Report, " 1826. (57) Virtue, 756 . (58) Ibid., 757-58; "The Association Letter," 14-15; "The Marketing of Small Sizes of Anthracite," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (June, 1897), 490. (59) The Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1888-89, Vol. IV (Washington: U.S . Government Printing Office, 1889) , lxxix . (60) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1891), 256-57 . (61) Peter Roberts , Anthracite Coal Industry (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901), 136. (62) Ibid., 138. (63) "Company Store Legislation," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (April, 1897) , 395. (64) Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897. (65) Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897. (66) Virtue, 760 ; " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (67) UMW Journal, January 14 , 1897, 5; Ibid., October 22, 1896, l; Wilkes-Barre Record, December 25, 1896; Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897 . Fahy launched a campaign in the anthracite region to secure public contributions to support the United Mine Workers of America lobbying activities to abolish the company store. The Pennsylvania Legislature, reflecting an increased awareness of labor interests, responded and passed a bill in July, 1897 , placing a ten percent tax upon the face value of all types of certificates or the equivalent issued in lieu of legal tender for employees' wages . This measure would have severely crippled the operation of company stores; however, Governor Hastings vetoed the legislation on the ground that it violated the state constitution. George Edward Reed, ed., Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. Xll, 4th ser., (Harrisburg: Wm . Stanley Ray State Printer, 1902), 150-54. �40 SLOVAKIA (68) Daily Standard, August 31 & September 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2 & 13, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike of May-October, 1902 by the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission (Washington : U.S . Government Printing Office , 1903), 144 . The above source contained information regarding the strikers' demands made to the G. B. Markle & Company in the 1897 strike. (69) Daily Standard, September 6 & 8, 1897; Spahr, 810 . (70) Ibid.; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897 ; The Reports of Committees of the Hous e ... Fiftieth Congress, lxxxi. (71) Berthoff, 286. If all the miners in the fifth district (Lehigh region) had turned in their empty powder kegs in 1896, they would have raised $10 ,028.30 . Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173. (72) Robe rts , Anthracite Coal Communities, 259, 262-263. (73) Report of the Industrial Commission of the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor in the Mining Industry Including Testimony, Review of Evidence, and Topical Digest, Vol. XIl (Washington : U.S. Government Printing Office , 1901), 142 . (74) Robe rts, Anthracite Coal Industry, 133-134. (75) Daily Standard, September 6, 8 & 9, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 7, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike, 144. (76) Daily Standard, September 9, 1897; Spahr, 810; Report of the Industrial Commission, 142. (77) Computation based on 5,754 miners and laborers in the fifth anthracite district and the use of 100,283 kegs of blasting powder. Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173 & 176. (78) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891, 96-97. (79) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. (80) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1830. (81) UMW Journal, Ocotber 22, 1896, 1. (82) Report of the Industrial Commission, 143. (83) UMW Journal, November 25, 1897, 2; Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (84) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 15, 1897. (85) Ibid.; Daily Standard, August 17, 1897. In the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre newspapers there appeared an account of an interview with an unnamed individual defending Jones ' superintendency . Acknowledging that Jones may have made some mistakes, the source indicated that the workers' discontent really stemmed from the decisions made by the preceeding superintendent or from orders issued by higher company officials . ''He is charged with being a tyrant, and in reference to this it may be said that each foreman has full charge of all employees working under him . But Jones is among the first men about the works in the morning and among the last to leave at night, and because he attends strictly to business he is called a tyrant by men who want ten hours pay for less than ten hours of work.'' Wilkes-Barre Times, August 27, 1897. (86) Ibid., August 16, 1897. Gomer Jones was arrested later on a complaint by John Bodan on the charge of aggravated assault. Ibid., August 18, 1897. (87)lbid. , August 16, 1897 . (88) Ibid. , August 17, 1897 . (89) Ibid. , August 18, 1897. (90) Ibid. , August 20, 1897 . �SLOVAKIA 41 (91) Ibid. , August 21, 1897. (92) Ibid. (93) Ibid., August 28, 30 & September 1, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28, 1897. (94) Ibid., September 3, 1897. (95) Ibid., September 3 & 4, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, September 4, 6 & 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 3, 1897 . (96) Ibid. , August 28, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897. (97) Ibid. , August 30, 1897 . (98) Ibid., August 31, 1897. (99) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 3, 1897. (100) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. (101) Ibid, ; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & 30, 1897. (102) Ibid. , September 4 & 6, 1897. (103) Daily Standard, September 6, 1897. (104) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897. (105) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. A. S. Van Wickle Company operated independently of the other coal companies, provided their employees more work, and were regarded with greater esteem and confidence in the community. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 22, 1897 . (106) Letter from James Martin to Daniel H. Hastings, Governor of Pennsylvania, October 18, 1897 , Governor Hastings Papers, MG-145, Box 18, Division of Archives and Manuscripts of Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (107) Ibid. (108) R eco rd of the Times (Wilkes-Barre), March 4, 1898. (109) New York World, February 13, 1898; Dollar Weekly News-Dealer (Wilkes-Barre), September 18, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 23 , 1898 ; Pennsylvania, Department of State, Commission Bureau, "Policemen, 1889-1912," 346; Hazle Township and Hazleton City, "Real Estate Tax Assessment Books for 1896 and 1897 ,'' Office of the Board for the Assessment and Revision of Taxes , Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . (110) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898; Daily Standard, September 7, 1897. (111) Record of the Times, March 4, 1897. (112) Daily Standard, October 21, 1897. A review of the annual financial report of the Comptroller for Luzerne County revealed that there were no payments from county funds for the services of the deputies at Hazleton , supporting the conclusion that the coal operators paid the deputies' salaries. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 23, 1898. (113) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (114) Daily Standard, September 9, 1898. (115) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (116) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (118) Ibid. (119) Ibid. , September 9, 1897. (120) Ibid. , September 10, 1897 . (121) Ibid., September 9, 1897. �42 SLOVAKIA (122) Ibid., September 8, 1897; Hazleton Sentinel, September 3, 1897; Spahr, 808. (123) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (124) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (125) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (126) Record of the Times, February 11, 1898. (127) Ibid. , March 4, 1898. (128) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (129) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (130) Ibid. (131) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (132) Ibid. (133) Ibid. (134) Ibid., February 18, 1898. (135) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (136) Ibid., February 15, 1898. (137) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (138) Ibid., February 8, 1898. (139) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (140) New York World, September 12, 1898. "Whether deserved or not, Sheriff Martin, of Luzerne county, it is alleged, entertains an unquestionable hatred for the foreign element." Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (141) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (142) Ibid., September 11, 1897. (143) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 13, 1897. (144) Easton Free Press, September 13, 1897. (145) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (146) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (147) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (148) Record of the Times, February 28, 1898; Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (149) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (150) Ibid. (151) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (152) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (153) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898; Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), September 11, 1897; Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (154) Ibid., September 11, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 11 , 1897; WilkesBarre Record, September 11, 1897 . (155) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (156) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (157) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897. (158) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (159) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897 . (160) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11 , 1897. �SLOVAKIA 43 (161) Pottsville Republican, September 14, 1897. (162) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (163) Evening Bulletin, September 13, 1897. (164) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (165) Record of the Times, February 22, 1897. (166) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (167) Record of the Times, February 11 & 15, 1898; Daily Standard, September 11, 1897; "Some of the guns were loaded with shells containing a lot of No.8 shot, which scattered with deadliest effect, and others had the plain bullets of heavy bore. The manner in which the victims were tom up looked as though they had been before gatling guns or on a field of where grape and canister were poured from cannon mouths." Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (168) Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (169) Wilkes-Barre Sunday Morning Leader, September 12, 1897. (170) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (171) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (172) New York Tribune, September 15, 1897. (173) Report of the Industrial Commission, 139-140; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & September 5, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. When news of the Lattimer shooting spread through the coal fields surrounding Hazleton, the scope of the strike immediately enlarged involving some 10,000 mine employees and idling nineteen of the thirty-three area collieries. Strikers were unwilling to return to work during the following week when funerals for victims were held; they further refused to end their work stoppage until the coal operators met their grievances, mainly an increase in wages. The strike began to wane on September 20 when the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company agreed to grant a ten percent wage increase to mine laborers, pay six to eight cents more per car of coal to miners, and seek solutions to workers' complaints. Only two companies, Lehigh Valley Coal Company and C. Pardee and Company, had not reached a settlement by the end of the second week after the Lattimer shooting but by the end of September they both made an agreement similar to the other coal operators which finally brought an end to the Lehigh coal strike of 1897. Pennsylvania, Official Documents of 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1899), ill, 124 Scranton Times, September 21, 1897; Daily Standard, September 21 & 24, 1897; UMW Journal, November 18, 1897, 3. �44 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre KON STANTIN CULEN A tragic event that occurred in September 1897 struck at the heart of Slovak American life with such telling impact that it served to solidify the Slovak immigrants in the United States into one unified body more effectively than had any previous experience in their new world. This event greatly furthered that awareness of a need for unity that began to crystallize under the pressures to which they had been subjected in their homeland Slovakia. In American history as well as in the record of early SlovakAmerican history this event is known as the Lattimer slaughter or the Lattimer massacre. The setting was the mining region around Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It was an area that had long seethed with the discontent and the restiveness of the men who were employed in the mines . Mine management groups had long bled their workers white, extracting the very marrow out of their bones . The companies paid out pauper wages, cheated the workmen on their weight checks, overcharged prices for foods and daily necessities that were sold through company stores. Scores of mining catastrophes underscored the obvious inadequacy of safety measures that existed to protect the men in their dangerous work in deep underground pits. Miners in Hazleton had declared a strike but nearby mines in neighboring communities continued to operate at practically full strength. Some casual talk was heard from time to time to the effect that the Hazleton operators were planning to bring in scabs in the near future. Union leaders realized that their Hazleton strike would lose all effectiveness unless the miners of the entire locality would join forces in one concerted resistance movement, supporting the Hazleton effort and pressing common demands for improved conditions and benefits. On September 10, 1897 a sizable group of Slovak and Polish miners who were on strike set out for the small mining settlement of Lattimer. In subsequent investigations during the trial they testified that they were on their way there because the Lattimer workers had sent them word that they decided to join the strike movement. The group of striking miners had hardly left Hazleton when Sheriff Martin with a company of about a hundred men from the supporting police force (so-called deputies) anticipated their movement and went An excerpt from Konstantin Culen's two-volume History of the Slovaks in America. (Bratislava, Slovenska Liga , 1942) vol. 1, Part XI , no . 5-9, pp. 162-176. Translated by Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. �SLOVAKIA 45 on ahead of them riding the trolley lines. On reaching Lattimer, he assigned his force of deputies to various positions and then he moved several paces forward, addressing the group marching in on foot, to read a restraining order that forbade any gathering or assemblage of persons by provision ordinance dealing with uprising and rebellion. During the reading of this ordinance, a few strikers came closer to the sheriff and there was some minor verbal exchange. The miners objected that they were not disturbers of the public peace or revolutionaries of any kind; they were simply orderly and law-abiding citizens peacefully going along their way . This reaction so exasperated the sheriff that he reached out and snatched away a small American flag that one of the men was carrying, tore it up, pulled out his revolver and began to shoot. After he had drawn his trigger five times, his sixth shot struck a miner in the chest and hurled him to the ground. After the sheriff's outburst of fire, there was the sound of volleys from the deputies. The unarmed miners turned and fled in panic, trying to find safety or protection of some kind. The brutal frontal attack lasted but a few moments but the deputies continued to fire upon the fleeing miners so that practically all of them were struck and wounded in flight.(1) The deputies who were charged with excitement by this time, further assaulted the bleeding victims by beating them and kicking them cruelly as they lay helpless on the ground. A shot or a volley of shots can seem to be an effective argument at a given moment but usually its effectiveness wears off after a brief time. And shots or salvos of shots fail to carry conviction. This was brought out in the Lattimer situation. The Slovak colony found itself in a state of shock, standing inconsolate beside the corpses of the fallen men. It was all too clear to these newcomers now - if it had not been clear to them before - that every Slovak had to be very realistically a brother to a fellow-Slovak, that every Slovak would have to be the most reliable standby and defense of a fellow-Slovak. Anything less than that would serve to reduce them to the debasing circumstance of being mere henchmen and convenient tools of foreign overlords and exploiters. This extravagant bloodletting and bizarre butchering under unprovoked and non-violent circumstances evoked considerable humane reaction in the American press. The attitudes of American journalists were not all of a kind. Some reporters and editors were incensed over the needless killings and brutality. Some wrote with a sense of relief that the incident involved only "Hunkies" - the generic designation that most newspapers used for every newcomer from Austria-Hungary. News of this lamentable event spread to all the Slovak settlers scattered throughout the United States and set off a degree of outrage and consternation that no other experience had yet caused in SlovakAmerican life. Those who had been faction-torn or at odds for whatever �46 SLOVAKIA reasons , were at once moved to conciliation and unity through their common grief at the graveside of the murdered men. Slovak Ame rican journalists who had been indulging personal and non-personal bouts of polemics in their papers left all that trivia now that a common cause evolved out of this catastrophe , and a vigorous new spirit infused their energies and talents. They reacted with a sense of unity and resolute will not only to moderate the mounting resentment and growing agitation that could have been fanned to unreasonable and uncontrollable proportions but to divert effort and attention to an altruistic purpose on behalf of aiding and befriending the widowed and orphaned survivors . Slovak American journalists also undertook a determined program to secure in the free world of America that measure of civic dignity and security that would make it impossible for such brutal disregard of the human right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ever to be repeated and condoned again . The press came out strongly with appeals for at least financial compensation to the bereaved widows and orphans and demanded that punitive justice be dealt the incriminated sheriff. The general feeling was that the just process of law and suitable sentencing should act as a deterrent to any possible repetition of the horrible incident. The whole body of Slovak immigrant life in America reacted with a corporate cry of pain and a strong appeal protesting the inhumanity of the Lattimer episode. New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, all made their voices heard as did lesser towns and even the lowly scattered hamlet settlements in America where Slovaks nursed the pain of this tragic hurt . Countless gatherings and demonstrations attracted thousands of Slovak laborers to review and assess the factors involved and the consequences of this catastrophe. Numberless formal discussions and rallies were climaxed with the drawing up of appropriate protest resolutions. All Slovak-American centers participated in drives to aid the victimized survivors of the callous murder, and there were also spirited fund-raising campaigns for legal expenses and court costs to bring Sheriff Martin to justice, for the prevailing view was that he should be made to pay for his crime, for his responsibility in leading and abetting reprehensible action . A committee for this express purpose was organized in Hazleton, holding itself charged to set in motion whatever action might be called for and to pursue the cause to its end. The September 16, 1897 issue (738) of the Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny appeared with a banner headline whose bold-faced lettering read: "Massacre of Slavs . In the freest country under the sun , people are shot at like dogs. Slavs are the victims of American savagery." Editor Pucher Ciernovodsky designated September 10 the bloody Friday of Slovak national life. His report seemed to be written with a pen dipped in blood. He denounced the attacking party and he did not spare the Slovaks themselves , finding them culpable of that lack of �SLOVAKIA 47 interest in public affairs that could have contributed significantly to the culmination of this public scandal. Some of Pucher Ciernovodsky' s thoughts were: ' 'The mountainsides of Hazleton are drenched with Slovak blood, and pitiable orphans and widows, fathers and mothers, brothers and friends raise eyes brimming with bitter tears to heaven pleading, 0 God , is there justice in this life? If there is justice on this earth of ours, did our blood truly deserve this spilling? Who in this world is committed to greater drudgery than we? Who in this world is engaged in a work that is more dangerous than ours? ' 'When we are driven to extremes of misery because hunger and want have sapped our strength and our bodies are bone-weary from overwork, and when our famished and shabbily clothed children ask for food that we cannot provide for them , and we go to discuss our problems and try to come together for deliberations in an effort to arrive at some reasonable solutions, how to go about unsnarling this sad fate that so embitters our lives - what kind of law is it, what kind of justice and fairness is it - or is it our miserable doom that we should be shot at like dogs? Ah, America, America ... ''It is indeed a curious America. When the Turks set upon the Armenians, every full-blooded American protested and vehemently shouted his willingness to join a fighting force to check the Turks. And yet here and now when it comes to bringing to justice those who similarly violated the rights of Slavs in America, they do all in their power to prevent the guilty from being brought to legitimate trial. Reams have been written and volumes have been mouthed condemning the cruelties of the Spanish in Cuba. There was universal recrimination against the injustices inflicted upon the oppressed Cubans, yet journalists have scant syllables of tenderness or sympathy for our people who were felled by wanton gunshot in a manner more senseless and inhuman than any attack of the Spanish upon the Cubans . The Cubans at least had defense weapons but our people were shot unarmed, shot like animals . ''This grieves us unspeakably. '' And, in the last analysis, who is most responsible for all this? "We ourselves must hold ourselves responsible. "A Slav does not support a fellow-Slav. We have no mutual bonds of unity, no fellowship at all, no commonly shared activities. We cultivate none. We fail to get along amicably. Instead, we seem to make sport of baiting one another, and we lack even that zest for life that long ago should have whipped us into a common front to denounce the maligning that the American press released against us and to protest the discrimination and injustice imposed upon foreigners by the threecent-tax. If other ethnic groups had not taken the initiative , we would have let them dance on our heads . �48 SLOVAKIA ' ' What can the American public think about such men? It would not be surprising if they rated us cowardly, worthless, less than the Indians, and so deserving a fate no better than that of the Indians. "We give too little consideration to matters like citizenship, legal rights and civil rights or public opinion. No wonder, then, that public opinion shows no concern about us, has no regard for us . ''If public opinion had any respect for us, then those deputies and the sheriff who were involved in the Lattimer affair would not have allowed themselves to perpetrate such an act of sheer barbarism. Whatever the circumstances, whether there was any excuse or not for a collective attack with Winchester rifles, at least this truth remains that if we were not a subservient people they would not have kept firing at our fleeing men from behind. "The catchword of people like our attackers, is "Shoot the Hungarian dog! ' ' Why? Because we do not make the effort to have our own recognized defense and defenders , our own qualified men who are in touch with the pulse of political life and current trends , men qualified to speak out on our behalf. We ourselves all too readily and regrettably belittle our own ; we tend to regard with disfavor and lack of recognition those of us who have gifts of leadership; we begrudge them opportunities , cut them down and deny them a chance to develop their potential. "In the end we suffer for it collectively. It is true that there are officials whose duty it is to defend our people because they were appointed and authorized to do so, and they are salaried to execute this office , but they seem to be wrapped in safe slumber. They are our Austro-Hungarian consuls. " Just what did these officials, these Austro-Hungarian consuls do for us in previous strike situations? Exactly nothing. " On the other hand , how did the Italian consuls react when their Italian countrymen were being lynched in New Orleans? The furor that was generated on that occasion almost incited a war with the United States, and an indemnity of five thousand dollars had to be paid for every victim. ' 'It is our reasoned judgment that the Hazleton bloodshed is far more criminal than was the New Orleans lynching and it is the patent duty of the Austro-Hungarian government to make honorable and serious intervention on our behalf. "Since those who were shot to death were citizens of the United States , we have no alternative but to organize our effort in order to bring the whole affair to an exhaustive investigation and to the due process of justice. The burden of responsibility in this matter rests primarily with our Slavic organizations which, in every respect, bear the characteristics of American organizational structure. And their responsibility for such action is all the more binding if any of their members happened to be among the victims, if they were members of �SLOVAKIA 49 the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota), the Greek Catholic society Sojedinenie, the Pennsylvania Slovak Union, Sojus, etc. Let these organizations set in motion the wheels that will bring about necessary lawsuits; let them underwrite out of their treasuries or raise funds in some way to cover related expenses, and let their united effort and combined strength prove that they truly have the good name and the best interests of all Slavic ethnics at heart. Let me presume to say that this Bartholomew night should serve as a Sturrnistic symbol effecting concerted and wholehearted cooperation. ''If this soul-shaking experience fails to jolt us out of our morbid lethargy, we ought to raise a memorial cross as a marker for our nation and our spirit of patriotism and declare that we buried it all on that bloody Friday in Hazleton.'' (2) Because of this massacre a violent disturbance broke out among the Slovak and Polish miners. Governor Hastings declared a state of emergency in Hazleton and dispatched 2,500 troops to move in and control the problem. Security measures that the governor ordered for the Hazleton area were very extensive and elaborate, involving the outlay of $475 ,000 - a very large sum in those days. The whole countryside seethed and repercussions were witnessed far and wide. The American press took sides with Sheriff Martin, generally arguing (as if it were a valid objection) that the slain men were not even American citizens. The press of the ethnic groups and those who supported the cause of the miners countered this attitude with the historically substantiated observation that neither were Pulaski, Kosciusko and some other heroes of the American War for Independence official citizens of the United States. They came to fight for freedom in a land that was alien to them because liberty and freedom are nowhere in the world foreign commodities to any human being. Freedom is the prerogative of every person and we are all entitled to our share of this gift. In the hour of our country's struggle for freedom, every able volunteer was welcome to share in the battle and in the pain to win it. Now that the fruits of liberty should be portioned out to all and denied to none in a free land, it is glibly said that freedom is our privilege - you are existentially in the land of liberty but you are not a free man. On September 11 the miners held an open air protest rally in Hazleton. Father Stas, pastor of St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic church in Freeland, spoke on behalf of the Slovak minority. He spoke out strongly and fearlessly against a freedom that countenances the murder of defenseless people. Some of the other speakers on this occasion were Reverend R. Aust of Hazleton who represented the Poles, Reverend Gullovic, Reverend Hauser, attorney John Shea of Wilkes-Barre and J . Fahy, president of the United Mine Workers. A gathering of over 4,000 Slovak and Polish mine workers resolved to �50 SLOVAKIA defend their rights, determined to make Sheriff Martin stand trial for this wanton bloodletting. The victims of the disaster were buried on September 12 as huge throngs converged upon the area for the occasion. This Lattimer massacre affected much of America. On September 15, the Slovaks and the Poles of the New York region held a mass demonstration at which they made it clear that the issue at stake was in no way related to religious affiliation or nationality roots or fratemalism of one kind or another. Their main concern was the general welfare of the American working class and fundamental civil rights for all. They appealed for unanimity and single-mindedness of purpose among them all - the Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians and English. A resolution which they formulated on this occasion includes these sentiments: · 'Profoundly affected by the catastrophe that occurred in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in a free country, the republic of the United States of North America, where on September 10 eighteen men who were Slavs and Slovaks were shot to death and about forty others were wounded by a sheriff's posse as these men peaceably and with no ill intent went their way on a public street, aware of the provision of the Constitution of the United States which guarantees every citizen freedom of speech, freedom of opinion and belief, and the right of assemblage, all of which this country esteems and safeguards as sacred civil rights. ' ' Aware that the action of Sheriff Martin and his party was wholly unlawful and totally uncalled for - for it has been proved that the workmen who were en route to their predetermined destination had neither arms nor foul purpose, and he had not even tried to inform them of his rights and their duties - we, on this basis, as American citizens, as workingmen, as Slavs by accident of birth, do most emphatically denounce and condemn this criminal act. We express our profound sympathy to the bereaved families of the unfortunate victims even as we invoke the widely esteemed American regard for justice, urging that formal action be taken to bring to trial those who are considered blameworthy and to have them face their responsibility by due process of law and in this way to effect moral satisfaction to our nation and material compensation to the survivors of the victim families; ' 'We further resolve that to the full extent of our ability and means we will morally and materially offer our assistance to the unfortunately bereaved and we will exert all our power and prestige to have bloodthirsty criminals bear the just punishment which their conduct deserves; "We finally resolve that copies of this resolution be sent to the governor of the state of Pennsylvania and to the district attorney of Luzerne County, and that it be published in all newspapers; we also urge the editors of our Slovak publications to appeal to our people to �SLOVAKIA 51 support this action wholeheartedly with liberal contributions in an effort to redeem and justify the much maligned name and rights of the Slovaks who find it inevitable to undertake a distasteful reckoning with narrow-minded nativists." (3) A spirited call was made in the press for attendance at a protest gathering scheduled for September 20 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania "at which resolutions will be formulated denouncing the action of Sheriff Martin who is responsible for the shooting-death of so many blameless Slovaks . English, Slovak, Polish, Croatian and various other speakers will address those present." Protest and denunciation were voiced from all parts of the nation where there were fellow nationals of the slain miners . Dr. Theodorovic, who represented the office of the Austro-Hungarian consul, came to Hazleton for a personal assessment of the massacre and related factors. Slovak and Polish groups initiated drives throughout the United States in order to raise funds for promoting an equitable trial that would yield at least fair compensations where they were due, and just penalties for Sheriff Martin and his henchmen, all within the framework of jurisprudence and with a deterrent impact against similar injustice. One outcome of this effort was the organization of "the National Fair Trial and Beneficial Committee on Behalf of the Lattimer Victims. " This committee published a public statement and an appeal which was carried in all the current newspapers. It read in part: '' The underlings who are in the employ of corporations and share a thirst for liquidating their fellow-citizens are largely the lackeys and hacks of their bosses, all murderously eager to carry out every order from the top. The incident did not arise out of any disturbance of the peace by those guiltless men who were so brutally victimized; there was no intent to transgress law or ordinance; they carried no firearms , no clubs or flails. Workingmen were simply on a mission of their own, marching along the street to meet some fellow-workers from the same mining company in order to discuss a sharing of views and attitudes and to build moral support in a common cause. ''The Declaration of Independence in this land proclaims that all men are created free and equal. Somehow these hirelings felt that the life of an alien is not worth even as much as the life of a slave. Apparently they were led to believe that their killing of such people and under such circumstances would be universally approved by the press and by public opinion. '' It is well known that Americans endorse the principle of fair play. When poor workmen, unarmed victims, were so foully gunned down in cold blood, not only this land but all the civilized world was appalled by the atrocity. The Constitution of the United States provides for the right of peaceful assembly. Have these words meaning or force in the light of bullets and bayonets? We hold that every individual who participated in the shooting on that ill-fated day in Lattimer overstepped his rights �52 SLOVAKIA and violated the law. We hold that their act was nothing short of criminal, inhuman and unspeakable butchery. "We make this appeal and protest in the name of those who were wounded and as representatives of those who are the bereaved survivors in the families of the slain victims. Our committee has been organized in order to provide counsel and to call witnesses and to take care of whatever else may be necessary to bring Sheriff Martin and his deputies to face indictment and to stand trial according to the full force of our country's laws. ''We act on the principle that this struggle of ours is your struggle as well as ours and on the assumption that you are friends of the workingman who is often taken advantage of. If these people whom we desire to bring to an accounting are let go free and without making retribution for the killing of our countrymen, who knows what further fate can await us in the future? "Reverend Richard Aust, president; John Nemeth, treasurer; Loughran, secretary; Reverend John Stas, Salvator di Sandola, Nicholas Ballok, Matthews Long, John Kuntz, Charles Hauser, Edmund Lemhick, Reverend J. Formanek, Frank Kozlovski, George Kozarovich. '' Samuel Gompers, president of the Federation of Labor, visited the scene and made some observations about the cheap labor of the Poles, Slovaks and Italians whom the coal barons were importing into America in order to squeeze out the '' intelligent Irish and Welsh laborers.' ' Even before the sentencing, Gompers as president of the workers' union said, ''It is my opinion that the sheriff and his deputies will be acquitted in order to teach 'those foreigners' a lesson to behave differently in the future. ' 'Posterity will rate the Lattimer killings as nothing but massacre of a kind that has no equal in the history of civilized peoples, and the consciences of the perpetrators of this act will accuse and torment them to their last day. And even though monopolies and monopolists may succeed in achieving their victory, such slaughter must some day come to an end; truth will be victorious and all people will enjoy the fulness of their sacred rights - all people, whether they be of the common working class or the favored moneyed class of mine owners. "The laborers .of our country are moving toward better and stronger organization day by day, and the citizens at large are grasping a much better and a truer concept of the rights and obligations of individuals. When that day of ultimate realization does arrive, the account of the Lattimer murders will have been written in our history in letters of blood and this notorious crime will be looked upon as the most atrocious and vile offense of the nineteenth century.'' The trial of Sheriff Martin and his associates opened on February 1, 1898. The place of trial was the Luzerne County Court in WilkesBarre. Adherents of both the prosecution and the defense followed �SLOVAKIA 53 developments with undivided attention and intense feeling. Sheriff Martin had the support of all the major coal corporations , top officialdom and capitalism . The plaintiffs were backed by the laboring masses. In the process of jury se lection , Judge Staley Woodward saw to it that only American-born citizens were seated as jurors . There was never any doubt that the se lected jury panel was unanimous in its antipathy for foreigners . Judge Woodward ascertained from sworn testimony that the striking miners had created no public disorder or disturbance during their march , that they were completely unarmed, that Sheriff Martin had stopped them and insolently ordered them to turn back , that the miners were not incline d to obey but had objected that they had every right to use a public street. Further testimony indicated that the sheriff challenged the leader of the marching group, gave the order to fire and that he himself fired the first shot , striking the leader of the marching miners in the chest as additional volleys were turned upon the men who began to run for shelter . The City Trust Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia supplied bail for the indicted to the amount of $256 ,000 . The press seldom missed an opportunity to belittle the foreign element and to overstate their shortcomings and least desirable traits - almost as if bad traits and undesirable characteristics were exclusively theirs. The presiding judge at the trial was Judge Woodward. He was related to the owner of the mines where strikes were beginning to be staged. He was also a shareholder in these mines. There was not a single Slav among the twelve jurors, most of whom were farmers, men who could hardly have firsthand knowledge of mining conditions and the situations that had justified the strike movement. They were not at all familiar with such matters as fair working conditions, e quitable pay, safety m easures, etc. A writer in one of the current publications observed, ' 'These are the names of the men in whose hands rests the power of passing a verdict that will tell the world whether anyone in this civilized country - even if he be the highest official of a particular country - may or may not, without cause, slaughter peaceful workers . It is easy to tell from the listed names that to the very last man these jurors are all Americans. The question is: are their hearts filled with rank nativism and malicious ill-will against foreigners? If they are bigoted nativists, it is vain to expect a fair sentence.'' Early in the opening of the trial the court denied the motion of the state prosecutor that the jury go to the scene of the massacre for a kind of re-enactment of the events that occurred there . The last act of this bloody drama took place during the trial. As charge followed upon charge , the full impact of hate and prejudice �54 SLOVAKIA harbored against the Slavic immigrants came into clearer and surer light. One of the defendants boasted, "I did all right; I aimed at nine and brought down five of them ." Meanwhile the mutilated survivors of that bloody Friday - some without an arm or a leg -- were in full view of the court and the spectators gathered at the trial. Before the eyes of them all , Gregory Gasparik with bandages bound about his head in which a bullet was still lodged, in moderate tones testified against Sheriff Martin and his posse. People who lived near the scene of the crime also came in to testify, telling how they had seen the deputies beat the strikers who were already all bloodied and wounded with shots . The defendants produced about a hundred witnesses who charged that Poles and Huns had terrorized the whole area and that on this occasion they were actuallly marching with firearms. They supported Sheriff Martin as a law man who was doing his duty when he ordered his men to fire at the group . Sheriff Martin, on his part, denied all guilt in the matter and entered a plea of innocent . He claimed that after reading the injunction, he attempted to arrest the leader of the marchers but the striking men , misunderstanding his action and intent, set upon him and began to beat and kick him. At this point he called upon his men for help and when even that restraint was ineffective, he finally gave an order to fire because he feared that he might be killed. When blank shots did not quell the situation , then they began to shoot in earnest even if it meant to wound and kill. He claimed that when he first met the marchers, he asked where they were going and that they answered, ''To Lattimer in order to get the men out of work! " " I begged them and pleaded with them not to go any farther ," he stated. " I urged them to obey the law and to disperse. Someone from the back of the crowd loudly cried out the word to go on. The strikers began to jostle me about and to shout abuse at me. One drunken Hungarian even tried to throttle me so I arrested him. The crowd that surrounded me swelled bigger and bigger. I drew my revolver and aimed into the air because I did not want to hurt anyone . In that instant, Joseph Novotny punched me in the face and I fell to the ground as the mob began to howl, 'Kill the s.o.b. ! ' '' I tried to defend myself with my revolver but it wouldn't fire. The mob that was pressing upon me was armed with revolvers and knives. When I fell to my knees, the deputies began to fire and the crowd then started to fall back. But they did not disperse at once. At a distance of 500 to 600 feet, they stopped in a wooded place. I felt that they might return. My men began to shout to them to disperse . Afterwards I gave the order to look after the wounded and the killed.'' The strikers countered this desposition with the charge that the sheriff was the first to fire a shot. They maintained that no one struck �SLOVAKIA 55 him, no one kicked him nor was there any evidence on his clothing or his body that he had been subjected to rough treatment of any kind. No blanks were discharged and no man who was wounded or killed was struck by a frontal shot; all were shot from the back. The son of the mine owner, young Pardee, called out to the law men , "Boys, shoot down those Huns! " Further testimony indicated that the deputies were extremely harsh and unfeeling even toward the killed and the wounded , kicking them mercilessly. Sworn witnesses consistently testified that the miners had no arms of any kind . They carried no canes or sticks, no rocks or stones , much less firearms. Scores of witnesses corroborated this testimony . Andrew Siviar, one of the miners, testified that the workmen marched as members of the United Mine Workers of America and that they had no weapons and had planned no mischief or property destruction of any kind. John Milhala, secretary of the local union, testified that they had gone to the mayor of the city who assured them that they could go to Lattimer in orderly fashion , that the sheriff had no authority to stop or prevent them. Some striking testimony was presented by the local school teacher Charles Guscot. He was eyewitness to the entire episode. He attested to the opening of fire by Sheriff Martin and the inhumane shooting upon the men who helplessly tried to flee from the ruthless officers. Another teacher from a nearby school alleged that she personally saw one of the deputies pursuing a wounded and bloodied man and in horror witnessed how he shot him to death a few steps in front of her when the weakened man fell to the ground from exhaustion. Reverend Stafflet declared under sworn testimony that he was passing the scene in a trolley car and had seen no signs of provocation on the part of the miners . They conducted themselves becomingly and bothered nobody along the way. The daily papers reported that the courtroom was the scene of some most unusual proceedings. The firm that had provided the earlier funds for bail now again supplied further expense money in the amount of over $402 .00 . All the sworn testimony agreed on the fact that the miners had no weapons . As a matter of fact, they had reckoned with the possibility of being challenged on the way and had forbidden any man to carry arms. Not one of them carried even as much as a walking stick or ordinary cane. Among the witnesses one testified that when he decided to join the group, he went into the mountains and cut himself a staff - just in case - but the others prevailed upon him to throw it away. There was also testimony that the deputies had openly boasted in the town that they would kill "the dirty Huns" yet. One of them joked about the whole thing afterwards, commenting that if he had been �56 SLOVAKIA given a cent for every one that he shot, he would have had the price of a bee r because he himself hit five . The sheriff and all the indicted men appeared before the bench with an air of great self-confidence and assurance. Their backing firm had made an outlay of over $30,000 in legal fees, the judge undoubtedly lent them the weight of his favor and they knew beforehand that no kind of testimony could affect them adversely. Some of the leading American newspapers, including the New York World which was owned by Pulitzer , a Jew from Zemplin in Slovakia, slanted their reporting to discredit the miners. Maurice Engelman , who was also a witness, testified that back in town they laughingly told him to hide or he would be an easy target. John Petruska testified that he was present when the posse was choosing firearms and one of the deputies quipped, " We ' re on our way for a shooting in Lattimer!" Gaspar Wizneski testified that he himself saw the sheriff raise his revolver and fire into the crowd in front of him . '' Do you swear that you saw the sheriff kill one of the strikers?'' the attorney challenged him . '' I swear to it that I did! '' he answered in a clear and audible voice that carried throughout the electrified atmosphere of the courtroom. Martin McGahren and Scarlet, attorneys for the plaintiffs, did not lack incriminating evidence yet all the substance of the testimony did not seem to put the burden of guilt on the accused. The court demanded specific proof and specific charges identifying who killed whom . This could hardly be presented , given the circumstances of abrupt assault and the ensuing panic . Who could tell precisely whose bullet killed this victim or that one? And there was the persistent line of defense claiming that the sheriff acted in the discharge of his duty when he issued the order to fire on the crowd. The defense was called to investigate a hundred witnesses . It was a drawn out trial that finally ended on March 9, 1898 . The sentence that was pronounced was: "The accused are found not guilty. " The court ruled that they had the right to shoot, that they had a right to selfdefense. This verdict created a public scandal. Over 30 ,000 miners began to threaten to take to the streets again, to start another strike. But they were at a total disadvantage. Corporations had contributed several hundred thousands of dollars for this legal battle. How could that be matched by the trifling $5,930 that the impoverished and distracted miners were able to raise from their own resources? For long months, the prime topic of public interest and comment among the Slovaks was the Lattimer massacre. Dozens and dozens of articles, printed and spoken reactions of varying degrees of intensity, were devoted to this incredibly outrageous event and its disgraceful outcome . J. A. Feriencik vehemently and fearlessly criticized a court of �SLOVAKIA 57 justice that would condone such wanton killing and allow such an act to go unpunished, unatoned, because the lords and the mighty ones assented to it. In stark disbelief he wrote: ''They will kill, they will shoot, and grant you no mourning or tears of relief. And somehow they will make it all come out within the limits of the law. '' On the one hand we keep calling out 'Friends and countrymen of ours, come out here and settle here in America, in this famed free country. Apply for American citizenship, learn English, do your utmost to become worthy citizens of the United States, etc.' On the other hand, we urge our people back home to come over with their entire families, to establish themselves as family units and to adopt the American way of life and so gain the ' respect' of their American neighbors. '' And our people here credulously throng to the courts for naturalization forms, they register their desire to become American citizens, set themselves to studying English, the language of this country, adopt American usage and custom, and with all the ardor of their nature they cultivate a deep love for this new country of theirs. In many instances their devotion and loyalty outstrip the sentiments of some native American citizens. And the returns for this good will and generous effort? - Heartless murder! "Even as our people spare no pain in their sincere enthusiasm to evidence their devotion , patriotism and good will, their love for the land of their adoption, their respect for its laws, they are contemptuously referred to as scoundrel Huns and Hunkies. And what hate goes with the slogans: They pushed us out of our jobs; take it out on them! Give it to them! Let them know that we don't like them one bit! '' Some of it is even more foul than this but I must restrain myself or some of that biased American justice might just get me across the knuckles too. "So it is then. These are the facts: You, my people , bend your neck willingly . You do all that you can to prove your genuine devotion to this new land. And what do you get for it all? - Censure, unmitigated scorn, cold brutality. '' Blameless blood is needlessly shed within the scope of the law. It is all but a miracle that the presiding judge did not pin a medal of heroism on the lapel of the sheriff and proclaim him a deliverer of some kind. ''It is time for us to look about and assess what's around us and not just sound off about the freedom, the democracy and the brotherhood of these people. "At every step you come upon hate, you face contempt. Even a street urchin will let you know that you are repulsive to him. ' ' My people, does misery force you to flee from one country as you seek to save your life and avoid starvation, and do you eagerly turn to �58 SLOVAKIA this free America to settle here and earn your bread through hard work and long hours? You escape from misery at home and the threat of death by famine only to hurl yourself into the arms of death here. There you tried to save your life; here they snatch it from you. "Foul murder! '' Are we to be the door mat of murderers forever? Some drive us out of our birthplace and in exile others set upon us with the intent to kill. "Introduce a system of slavery. Buy white slaves, shackle them, treat them at will and you will have a fair picture of American freedom and democracy in action . A realistic picture. Is the world to consider these democratic and freedom-loving people? A murderer has never yet been taken for a champion of freedom , a humanitarian or a freedom-lover. The lurid blotch left by Slovak blood spilled in Pennsylvania will long witness your kind of benevolence, your warped philanthropia? '' Are we to tell the undisguised truth to all our people? Well, if you want them to shoot you here, then tell it. It appears that before long they will pass laws making it legal to shoot Slovaks in certain particular months and not to consider them game in others - just as they do for various animals. It seems to be moving in that direction. This very trial gives proof of such widely touted justice and equity. The capitalist triumphs in spite of his crime and his guilt. The wretched workman loses even though it is he who has been wronged. " My people, if you only had millions of dollars in your hands, they would surely have proved to you how they can adjust and modify twisted paragraphs. But without the almighty dollar ... if you are the unfortunate wretch, then suffer and be still. That is the kind of principle that guided the judge presiding at the trial of the Lattimer murderers .'' (4) The American-Slovak News further editorialized on the subject of the trial and its verdict: '' For those who participated in the Lattimer massacre - or putting it more aptly - for those who defended the bloody trade of the butchers thirsting for human blood at the scene of the Lattimer carnage, it would be rather unfair to designate the event as a drama. For them this classic drama reached its denouement with all the impact of a genuine comedy. Twelve confirmed foes of all that does not breathe the fanatic ideas of the Apaches declared that the butcher Sheriff Martin and his vultures only did their duty; they acted as honorable men when they killed off those hated Huns. ''They crucified truth! They grossly trampled upon the rights of the disadvantaged workman in this free country. Why? For no reason other than this fact that the slaughtered victims first saw the light of day in Hungary, in Russia, in Germany or in Italy.'' (5) �SLOVAKIA 59 Naturally such a foul crime of multiple homicide and utter ruthlessness could not have touched Slovak life without affecting it deeply. The Slovaks sensed that if they would truly avoid being so tom by factions and lack of unity, if they could somehow unite their thousands of workers with common purpose and a sense of solidarity, such a misfortune could never again be repeated. Gradually there evolved within them the consciousness that we are all at fault, all of us, for not claiming those rights to which we are entitled. And so we suffer punishment. Out of this painful and humiliating or humbling realization , even before the verdict was pronounced, there grew the first substantial endeavor of the Slovaks in this land to work in harmony and to achieve a common strength. Realization fortunately led to action. On October 17, 1897 representatives of the leading Slovak-American publications met in Cleveland in order to confer on definite practical steps toward cooperation and the pursuit of common goals. The conference of these journalists resolved to adopt measures related to basic issues in order to counteract the unwholesome attitudes and underserved attacks of certain American press agencies that treated the Slovak immigrant element as less than human . This Congress of Slavic Pressmen , which was organized by Fr. (Francis) Pucher , also sent expressions of condolence to the survivors of the Lattimer victims. This innocent Slovak blood that was shed then did not go wholly wasted. It tended to conciliate the Slovaks and to bring them together. And though this was an extravagantly harsh and costly lesson, it taught them that in their distant strange land they must renounce all petty conflicts and contentions, for in this new world their widely scattered strength will count only if they can bring themselves together and act as a corporate unit that has the general welfare at heart. Many families that had not bothered about joining a Slovak fraternal or beneficial organization now saw that membership in such a society could really mean much to them, especially in the event of an unfortunate or tragic occurrence. The blood that the Slovak miners shed for the general good was the first effective and lasting incentive that brought the Slovaks of America together into one unified and conscious body. One disappointment followed in the aftermath. Newspapers published the report that John Nemeth, chairman of the committee, was named consul just before the final settlement of all the misunderstandings; however, his appointment was conditioned on his withdrawal from the committee. The government of Austria-Hungary petitioned the government of the United States to allocate some compensation to the families of the Lattimer victims. The outcome is embodied in an official document of the Secretary of the Interior (78,999) which includes the following statement: �60 SLOVAKIA "The government of the United States does not recognize any obligation to provide compensation to our fellow-citizens or to the famili es of those who were killed in the clash between the mine workers and the police in the Hazleton-Lattimer area.'' From the blood of these martyrs there was a sprouting of the fragile and delicate flower of accord. Within a year the general tone of the Slovak press had changed from bitter acrimony and unprofitable controversy to understanding and kindlier feeling all around. Even in cases where everyone had believed that common ground could never be found among known antagonists, it had indeed been discovered that these individuals also had many mutually satisfying interests to share and promote and they could work together and get along satisfactorily in spite of their differences. From this point on, every other problem seemed to be of a trivial nature, insignificant trifles that caused minor rifts here and there but had no essential substance. The main drive was toward definite goals even though various and varied avenues led to the ultimate end. FOOTNOTES (1) In a newspaper report published by the Amerikansko Slovenske noviny right after the event, the following are listed as fatality victims in this unfortunate clash: 1) John Kosanec , 2) John Temoci , 3) Fr. Kedel, 4) John Ceka, 5) John Ceslak 6) George Versek, 7) Stephen Hornik , 8) George Kulik, 9) Fr. Ceka, 10) Stephen Ulrich, 11) Andrew Zesman, 12) John Ivanko. Later these names wer also added to the list: 13) John Futa , whose name is sometimes also given as Futas, 14) Stephen Jurek, 15) Michael Ceslak, 16) George Gasparek, 17) John Slebodnik , 18) John Banko, 19) Andrew Jurecek, 20) John Skrip. Since Sheriff Martin was indicted for the death of twenty-one victims , it is clear that this list is incomplete. Some of the men who had been seriously wounded in the incident later died in the hospital. An exact list with all names in their correct spelling is most likely available from the court records in Wilkes-Barre and probably from various English and Polish newspapers of that time. It was a common practice in those days to transmit news reports by telegraphic communication and so it is possible that some of the names were affected by transcription and could have been somewhat distorted. The following men were wounded in the encounter: Anthony Macuka, single , Polish; James Tomason , single, Polish; Francis Fetus, single, Slovak; John Penkames, married, Lithuanian; Joseph Macko, married, Slovak ; Andrew Josmont, married, Polish ; Martin Serfanek, single, Polish ; John Dolny , married , Slovak; John Krisak, single, Slovak ; John Presa, married, Slovak ; Andrew Majer , single, Slovak; John Padnok , married , Polish ; John Posca, married, Slovak ; George Gaspar, single, Slovak; Adolph Colak, married, Slovak ; Adam Lipianski , single, Polish; John Kulich, single, Polish , John Kontra, married , Slovak; Joseph Gasparik, married, Slovak; Thomas Paris , single, Polish ; Andrew Honas, married, Slovak; Andrew Orban, married , Polish; Gaspar Dula§, married , Slovak; Joseph Zapa, Slovak; Joseph Paulak, married , Polish; Matthew Chia, married , Polish; Clement Plotach, married, Polish; John Fora, single, Slovak; Stanislaus Kominski, married, Polish; Constantine Monsara , married , Polish , Bernard Rummal, single, Polish . In 1902 the convention of American Mine Workers adopted a resolution providing for the erection of a memorial to honor the fallen miners as pioneer heroes in the cause for �SLOVAKIA 61 social justice. Additional names of stricken men that make their appearance within the formal text of this resolution include the following: Clement Patek, John Foote, Sebastian Praztomski, Raphael Rezervicz, Albert Czaja, Stanley Rajoski, Andrew Goekers, Andrew Miczkowski, John Krop, Andrew Morrikoski, Adam Zrainski, Adalbert Zienka, Frank Chazesjewski, Steve Znoec, Andrew Jamee (Jurecek), Mike Coseak (Ceslak), George Kulek (Kulik). Some of the surnames were garbled to some extent; most likely they happened to be misread in the course of years that had passed since the massacre itself. (2) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), September 16, 1897. (3) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny, 30. IX. 1897. (4) "Let Slovak Blood Call to God for Vengeance" American-Slovak News, 31. ill. 1898. (5) American-Slovak News. 5.Il. 1899. �62 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre and Trial HARRY B. SCHOOLEY III INTRODUCTION To have a clearer understanding of the trial at issue it is necessary to say that upon entering the court where the trial is in progress one is immediately impressed with the fact that the issue involved is as much a question of the relations of employer and employed as a question of the trial of Sheriff Martin and his deputies for murder, and, as has been invariably the case, the representatives of corporate power assume a hauteur and domineering attitude toward all. The counsel for the defense, former Attorney-General Palmer and Mr. Lenahan, as well as Sheriff Martin and the Deputies , assume an air of offended pride and indignation at being called to defend themselves against a charge of killing a score or more laborers, and think of it! Foreign laborers at that! So wrote Samuel Gompers in an article for the New York World of February 20, 1898. The shooting at Lattimer, Pennsylvania, had become labor's forgotten massacre. Twenty-four striking anthracite coal miners were killed when Luzerne County Sheriff James Martin ordered his deputies to fire into their ranks when their parade threatened the security of the community shortly after three o'clock on the hot afternoon of September 10, 1897. While at times a Sheriff has been punished for criminal neglect of his duty in not firing on a riotous mob, Sheriff Martin was proceeded against in the Lattimer trial because he and his deputies did so fire. The law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for whose supremacy they battled, was used to compass their destruction because they did so. Gompers was wrong. Lattimer was not a '' question of the relations of employer and employed." The lesson of the verdict in the Lattimer case is not that the rich are to be protected, but that the poor and defenseless shall have an absolute guarantee of all their individual rights, and that those who attempt to impair them by lawlessness must answer to the law as criminals. H.B.s.,m May, 1965 (Harry B. Schooley ill teaches at the Buffalo Seminary for girls in Buffalo, New York. A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he wrote this paper while an undergraduate at Williams College in May, 1965.) �SLOVAKIA 63 Ariovistus Pardee, an ambitious engineering student with the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, was sent in May of 1833 to the Lehigh coal regions of Pennsylvania to survey a railroad line from the anthracite mines at Beaver Meadow to the Lehigh Canal at Mauch Chunk. Pardee 's success in the area led him to locating further lines in the region and he began his own mining operations in 1840.(1) In 1869 Pardee built the company towns of Lattimer and Harwood near Hazleton to house the miners working in his six mines. In 1892, following his father ' s death, Calvin Pardee took over the mines at Lattimer and Harwood. Feeling there would be less chance of a consolidation of the working men against his interests, Pardee mixed the foreign immigrant miners filling the houses at Lattimer largely with Italians and those at Harwood with Slovaks, Poles, and Lithuanians . Between 1875 and 1900 there were sporadic attempts on behalf of the Welsh, Irish, and German miners of the anthracite fields to organize for better working and wage conditions. A means for curbing any attempts to organize the miners was the introduction by the mine operators of large numbers of laborers from Austria-Hungary, Poland, Russia , and Italy who were content to work hard and long for low wages. This over supply of unorganized men literally depressed wages to a minimum through the ever-present competition.(2) By the late 1890's the mine patches of the Lehigh coal regions were largely populated by the new mixture of non-English speaking nationalities who with their cheaper immigrant labor replaced the old order of English , Welsh, and Irish miners. The new miners were largely Slovaks, Poles, Italians , Hungarians , and Lithuanians and were considered "foreigners" relegated by the social conditions to which they belonged - the unpainted company houses , shacks, and the dreaded company store. A racial and national prejudice predominated in the mine patches and the better educated, more intelligent of the foreigners met with each other and insisted that every good foreigner should get his "papers " as soon as possible so as to vote in the elections and prevent the '' white men ' ' from voting to pass a law that might drive them from the country. Many of the miners found themselves in great debt to the company store . In 1896 the Pennsylvania Legislature appointed a committee to investigate the company store system . An order for 50,000 copies of the committee report was canceled because, as American Federation of Labor Vice President J . P. McGuire stated in September of 1897 , ''of the disgrace which would fall upon the State were the truth made known of conditions existing in the Schuylkill region." (3) Conditions were the same in the Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys. Perhaps McGuire 's labor affiliations prejudiced him in the making of this statement, but the recent business depression had reduced the lot of the anthracite miner to a very poor one. The manager of one of the Hazleton collieries revealed that his payrolls for September 1, 1897, amounted to about $26,000, of which $18,000 was �64 SLOVAKIA deducted for living expenses (debts to the company store, rents for living in the company houses, fees deducted from pay for the company doctor, money deducted to pay the priest) leaving less than one-third the original amount to be divided among the miners. Discontent over small wages, idleness, and other alleged "wrongs" was seized upon by the new leadership composed of young, energetic and often violent labor organizers as a timely excuse for action. Their opportunity came in August of 1897. A strike broke out at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company 's Honeybrook Colliery near the new borough of McAdoo, when twenty driver boys were ordered to stable their mules after stopping work without extra pay. They refused and division superintendent Gomer Jones fired them. On Sunday, August 15, 2,500 Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company miners joined the strike. Newspapers feared that ''the Italians and Hungarians, who are very aggressive, cannot be controlled." (4) The Honeybrook strikers were led by a committee of grievances which met with general superintendent Elmer H. Lawall demanding an investigation of Gomer Jones to the effect that he reduced miners' wages and that the wages be restored to the original rates. Lawall promised an investigation of Jones if the miners returned to work; and a week after the first walk-out, work was resumed at Honeybrook.(5) On the same day (August 22) the Honeybrook miners returned to work, there arrived in the area from Philadelphia one John Fahy, selfappointed local president of the United Mine Workers of America. Meeting with Italian miners at Audenreid, Yorktown, and Beaver Brook, Fahy persuaded them to organize an Italian branch of the United Mine Workers.(6) Fahy's presence in the area on behalf of the union caused great concern among the mine operators as the miners became more aware of their plight and their demands became more intense. Fahy's word spread rapidly from operation to operation, and on August 26, Italian and Hungarian miners struck at the Van Wickle Coal Company collieries at Beaver Meadow and Coleraine. Two thousand miners moving overnight forced the workers from their shops at the Van Wickle breakers so as to stop all work. Their demands for higher wages were not considered serious as the strike was spontaneous and had no apparent intelligent leadership.(7) On August 27, the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville was idled by the strikers and a coal train was prevented from leaving the town. All Van Wickle operations were forced to shut down. The next day at a meeting of the strikers in Hazleton, a formal demand was presented to Van Wickle superintendent Roderick. Roderick claimed that the advanced scheduled wages (which would set a wage scale for the region) demanded by Fahy 's organizers would not be paid to the miners, although the average pay rates of the region would be paid. The speaker at a Coleraine meeting urged the strikers to resort to violence if the demands were not met. In answer armed members of the Coal and �SLOVAKIA 65 Iron Police were sent to guard the Van Wickle properties.(8) Saloons in Milnesville and Coleraine were closed and a state of ominous calm pervaded the Hazleton area. English-speaking miners were willing to return to work were it not for the threats made by the foreigners. The employees of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company anxiously watched the Van Wickle situation as there had been no action taken towards the promised investigation of Superintendent Jones.(9) Between August 30 and September 3 the strike spread rapidly. Roderick agreed to make wage concessions at the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville which immediately resumed work. If settlements were made at the other Van Wickle operations, then the Lehigh and WilkesBarre miners might never see Jones investigated at all. The miners at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre's Audenreid colliery struck and five hundred strong marched on the company's Yorktown colliery and washeries at Dodson, Beaver Brook, Star, Monarch, and Carson, driving off all the workmen.(10) The miners at the Van Wickle Coleraine colliery remained on strike. Assembling in McAdoo on September 2, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre strikers marched with an American flag to the Beaver Brook colliery forcing it to close. Those workers who refused to stop work were driven off. From Beaver Brook they marched to Yorktown (which had resumed work in spite of the march on that operation by the Audenreid strikers a day earlier) where colliery superintendent Hayes tried to reason with them, as the Yorktown workers had no grievance. Nevertheless, the Yorktown colliery closed. The march then turned towards Audenreid and the home of Gomer Jones. Following a thorough but futile search for Jones , the then two thousand marchers proceeded to the colliery at Silver Brook where the workers fled. At a meeting that evening in McAdoo, the members of the grievance committee advised against future marches, but Fahy's organizers insisted that the marches would continue daily until all the collieries were idle. Fahy, incidentally, was in Silver Brook that evening organizing a new chapter of the United Mine Workers. At Coleraine the Van Wickle strikers were quiet and Superintendent Roderick, in a bid to maintain good will between the company and the strikers, stated that none of the Coleraine workers participated in the march.(11) Later on the evening of September 2, the Coleraine strikers agreed to return to work if they would be protected from the mob. Roderick gladly granted protection. Mayor Altmiller of Hazleton issued orders to the police that if any attempt was made to organize a mob parade on September 3, the marchers were to be dispersed, and if the police were not strong enough the citizens should help them. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company closed its collieries at Jeansville and Hazleton No. 1 not because of grievances between the company and its employees, but because the mob of strikers had threatened the workers. The Lehigh Valley counseled all its workmen to obey the will of the mob.(12) By September 3 the strike had stopped all �66 SLOVAKIA mining operations except those of the New Ebervale Coal Company , Van Wickle 's Coleraine and Milnesville Collieries, and Pardee 's colliery at Lattimer. The weapons of the foreigners were the threat and the mob . With the march of September 2 and the probability of future marches , many mine owners feared for the safety of their property at the hands of the striking miners. The Luzerne County Sheriff's office in Wilkes-Barre, in response to the pleas of the operators for protection , sent an urgent telegram to Sheriff James R. Martin , vacationing in Atlantic City, requesting his immediate return. As soon as Sheriff Martin arrived in Wilkes-Barre on September 5, he telegraphed the sheriffs of Carbon and Schuylkill counties to meet him in Hazleton the next day. Before boarding the train to Hazleton, Martin announced that if he thought necessary , a proclamation would be issued calling on the strikers to refrain from all acts of violence and to permit all who so desired to return to their usual vocation as well as to cease marching. "The fact that men are compelled against their will to march along with an ignorant and sometimes infuriated mob causes some fear that other and more dangerous complications may arise ." (13) Following the Hazleton meeting on September 6, the three sheriffs simultaneously published a proclamation prohibiting mob parades and demonstrations , stating the following: . . . notice is given to all good citizens to refrain from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace . Notice is further given, that all such acts of disorder and lawlessness will be summarily repressed and punished in accordance with the laws of the land. - James Martin, High Sheriff of Luzerne County The proclamation was based on the Pennsylvania Riot Act of March 31, 1860 which forbade ''any persons riotously and tumultuously to assemble together to the disturbance of the public peace." (15) While the three sheriffs were meeting in Hazleton, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company granted the same advances as did the Van Wickle Coal Company at Milnesville and Coleraine.(16) That night Sheriff Martin in his Broad Street hotel room swore in 87 deputies, most of whom were members of the Coal and Iron Police from the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley Coal companies , but some of whom were business and professional men of the Hazleton area .(17) For the next three days the Hazleton area remained in an uneasy calm as the sheriff and his deputies remained on call responding to separate incidents throughout the area. �SLOVAKIA 67 While Martin and his men remained in Hazleton, John Fahy was active at the Pardee colliery at Harwood. Enlisting the aid of the popular young Hungarian slate boss, John Eagler, Fahy was successful in organizing a new branch of the United Mine Workers. Fahy claimed the new union advocated peaceful arbitration of differences between the miners and the operators. Selecting Eagler as their first local secretary and Joseph Mehalto, another well-known Slav from nearby Crystal Ridge as president, the Harwood body immediately formulated a list of grievances - demanding a ten cent wage raise, a reduction of blasting powder from $2. 75 to $1.50, and no company butcher or company doctor - which they presented to the Pardee office in Hazleton on September 9.(18) While the Harwood strikers were presenting their grievances, a mob of "young Italians and Huns" descended on the New Ebervale Coal Company's colliery at Ebervale, driving off Superintendent John Scott and his employees in a shower of rocks and sticks.(19) With this outbreak of new violence, the Pardee Company refused to consider any grievances until all sections of the Harwood colliery were working. Meeting in the Harwood schoolhouse on the evening of September 9, the striking miners decided that in order to get the bargaining position they needed, the whole company must be shut down. This meant work must be stopped at Lattimer. Upon Mehalto's suggestion, the members resolved to send a committee of ten to Lattimer on the next day to persuade the colliery to close down. (20) On the morning of the tenth it was suggested that the strikers go along with the committee, and with Mehalto and Eagler at the head of a column of 250 to 300 men and boys, the strikers set out for Lattimer. With the American flag at the head of the procession, they marched through Crystal Ridge and Cranberry where they were joined by others until the ranks numbered about four hundred. On entering West Hazleton the strikers found their route blocked by Sheriff Martin and his deputies . Standing in front of his line of deputies, Martin ordered the strikers to stop and to disperse. The march pushed on, a scuffle resulted, two strikers were arrested, and the flag was taken from them. Following this encounter, the strikers moved off into a field by the side of the road and the sheriff and his deputies withdrew maintaining a careful eye on the marchers. Soon, however, the march was under way once more, the strikers still heading for Lattimer but skirting West Hazleton to the north. Martin and his deputies hurriedly boarded an open trolley car, provided for their use by the Lehigh Transit Company, and rode back into Hazleton and out the Lattimer line to Harleigh , where the road to Lattimer and the rail line converged and ran parallel for a short distance. At Harleigh the sheriff and his deputies again met the marching strikers, the trolley car keeping pace with the men on foot, grim silence between them while the police in their trolley sat holding their rifles . (21) The car arrived in Lattimer in time for Martin to �68 SLOVAKIA watch the movement of the march, and, from a high point at the town 's approach, the column could be observed moving toward the Pardee colliery No. 1. Again the deputies, about 150 in number, having been reinforced by numbers of the coal and iron police from Lattimer, lined up in a semi-circle across the road with Sheriff Martin standing several yards in front of them. The scene at West Hazleton a few hours earlier appeared about to be re-enacted. When the strikers reached the line of deputies Martin, proclamation in hand, stepped out to meet them: ''You must stop marching and disperse. This is contrary to the law and you are creating a disturbance. You must go back. I won't let you go on to the colliery.'' (22) Eagler argued that American citizens had the right to parade as long as they were not disturbing the peace. Martin read the Riot Act. Most of the marchers, not understanding English, pushed forward to find out what Martin was saying. In the crowd the sheriff was jostled. Thinking himself in danger, he tried to get back to his line of deputies, but was knocked to his knees. The strikers made way for him, and just as he emerged from their ranks, the cry was heard, ''Fire, fire on' em!'' The deputies fired into the unarmed mob. (23) Following a meeting with his lawyer on arriving back in WilkesBarre that evening, Sheriff Martin issued a statement of the Hazleton conditions and shooting: I was not there to interfere in the strike in any shape or manner, but was there for the mere purpose to prevent all violations of the law, and to restore peace and quiet. I beseeched and entreated the leaders to talk to their comrades and ask them to disperse and return to their homes, act in a peaceable way and desist from doing any sort of violence ... (at West Hazleton) the strikers began to crowd together, and to mutter and chatter in their own languages. The leaders urged them on and at the same time began to curse and swear at me, as well as openly defy me and my deputies . (at Lattimer) I ... rushed ahead of my deputies ... dashed in among the foreigners and boldly placed the leader under arrest. (the strikers) at once attacked me most viciously , striking and kicking me, knocking me down. I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers, as it might probably frighten them ... I fully realized that the foreigners were a desperate lot ... (I assumed) they were too excited to listen to reason and that myself and deputies would be killed ... if we did not defend ourselves. I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot, if they must, to protect their lives or to �SLOVAKIA 69 protect the property, that they had been sent to guard, from being demolished. I hated to give the command to shoot and was awful sorry that I was compelled to do so, but I was there to do my duty and I did it the best I knew how and as my conscience dictated, as the strikers were violating the laws of the Commonwealth and flatly refused to obey the proclamation that I had read to them. They, instead, insisted on doing violence and disobeying the laws.(24) In "doing violence and disobeying the laws" eighteen strikers were instantly killed while approximately twenty-four others were seriously wounded. Eagler and Mehalto escaped and their comrades fled in terror. One of the strikers, Martin Rosko, a Hungarian from Mt. Pleasant and wounded in the arm, gave the following account: We were going along the road to Lattimer and the deputies were lined across the road barring our progress. We tried to go through them and did not attempt to hit or molest them when they fired upon us. We ran but they kept on shooting while we ran. It (the massacre) is all their fault.(25) That evening three thousand Hazleton-area miners gathered at Hazleton's Donegal Hall for a meeting conducted by United Mine Workers' president John Fahy in which it was resolved "that we demand the prosecution of the sheriff and deputies of the crimes committed this tenth day of September."(26) At midnight Pennsylvania Governor Daniel Hastings notified Colonel C. B. Dougherty of the 9th Regiment that as there may be further disturbances and that the security of the community may be in danger, Dougherty was to take the regiment to Hazleton to maintain peace and order. (27) On September 11, Dougherty's regiment was joined by five regiments of the Third Brigade of the Pennsylvania National Guard under the leadership of General John P. Gobin. On the morning of September 11, John Nemeth, a leader of the strikers' general committee, went before Squire Gorman of Hazleton and had warrants sworn out for Sheriff Martin and 102 of his deputies. (28) When General Gobin heard of the warrants he issued an edict declaring that so long as the troops remain in the vicinity not a single deputy would be placed under arrest. Owing to the military authority, Sheriff Martin and the deputies were not arrested until ten days after the warrants were issued. Also on that morning a representative of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Philadelphia arrived in Hazleton to investigate the murder of Hungarian nationals. (29) �70 SLOVAKIA In the meantime the strike continued. By September 14, seven thousand men had left their jobs, crippling the seven Hazleton area companies.(30) Out of sympathy for their murdered comrades from Harwood, 2,300 men left work at the Pardee operations at Lattimer. Visiting Hazleton from Philadelphia the next day, Calvin Pardee stated the following: My men were perfectly satisfied with the wages they were receiving, and would have continued work had they not been driven away by the mob . . . I have operated my collieries over twenty years on the sliding scale, the rate of wages being based on the price of coal at tide, and I will not change that method.(31) Sheriff Scott of Schuylkill County telegraphed to Governor Hastings an appeal for troops to maintain order should the strike spread to his county(32) as sporadic outbreaks of violence continued throughout the region with no apparent prospect of settlement in sight. John Fahy, in a somewhat curious statement to the press on September 18, claimed "The strike is not being conducted by the United Mine Workers." Speaking of his efforts to organize the miners, Fahy stated, "our objects are not to raise excitement and occasion violence but are arbitration, peace and conciliation. Our organization is not to encourage strikes but to prevent them." (33) Fahy expressed the hope that the strike would be settled more quickly if more men organized. If more men were organized in the manner in which the Harwood strikers were organized, the strike would be far from being settled. On September 19 following a Hazleton meeting, the owners of the mines at Lattimer, Beaver Meadow, Honeybrook, McAdoo, and Audenreid announced that they would open their mines on September 20, and if the men were not back at work, they would be discharged altogether. By September 20 all strikers but the employees of the Coxe Brothers Coal Company had returned to work.(34) That evening Fahy held a meeting at Donegal Hall whereat the miners resolved ''to demand that the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania immediately proceed against each corporation now conducting company stores."(35) On September 23, the employees of the Silver Brook collieries were told they were no longer subject to compulsory patronization of the company store and company butcher.(36) The operators gradually made concessions to prevent another such strike, and on September 29, General Gobin and his troops left Hazleton.(37) The anthracite strike of 1897 was virtually over. With peace returning to the Hazleton region, attention was turned to the fate of Sheriff Martin and his deputies. On September 20, Luzerne County District Attorney D.A. Fell and County Detective Isaac Eckert secured bench warrants from the Luzerne County Court of Oyer �SLOVAKIA 71 and Terminer for the arrest of Martin and 68 of his deputies, charging them with' 'the willful and malicious killing of twenty-four (six had died since the shooting) strikers near the village of Lattimer on September 10 last."(38) Bail was posted at $4,000 for homicide and $1,000 for felonious wounding and, through the maneuvring of Calvin Pardee, bond was furnished by the City Trust, Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia.(39) Seeing the opportunity to take up the cause, the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor meeting in Washington resolved on September 24, That we condemn most severely the wanton killing and wounding of the poor miners at Lattimer and will give our fullest help through the trade union and the American Federation of Labor to raise money for the legal prosecution and conviction of Sheriff Martin and his murderous minions, that through the courts of the land even-handed justice may be done to atone for those revolting murders.(40) A preliminary hearing was held in the Luzerne County Court House at Wilkes-Barre from September 21 to 27 wherein the grand jury came to the decision that Martin and his men had shown probable cause of a "wanton and unjustifiable" killing of the strikers.(41) The case of Commonwealth v. Martin was scheduled to begin on February 1, 1898. On February 4, 1898, an editorial in the Wilkes-Barre Record accurately predicted that the trial was expected to develop whether the sheriff and his posse were justified, under the circumstances, in resorting to the extreme measure they did, either for their own protection or to preserve law, order, and the public peace. The case was called on the morning of February 1, before Judge Stanley Woodward, presiding judge of Luzerne County. Sheriff Martin's defense counsel consisted of his personal lawyer, George S. Ferris, and the county's leading criminal lawyer, John T. Lenahan. Other attorneys for the defendants were Henry W. Palmer, George Troutman, C. W. Kline, George R. Urquhart and F. W. Wheaton. At the table for the prosecution sat the new District Attorney, T. R. Martin, who had only taken office a month earlier. With Martin were four other lawyers, who were secured by the strikers' prosecuting committee: John Garman, John McGahren, James Scarlett, and former secretary of the miners' prosecuting committee, J. F. Loughran. In addition to the deputies the court room was crowded with interested spectators including New York, Philadelphia, and nationally syndicated newspaper reporters, newspaper artists, representatives of the Royal Austro-Hungarian government which was planning to make a claim for indemnity for the deaths of the nationals should the sheriff be convicted, and the solicitor general of the United States, Luzerne County's own Henry M. Hoyt (Williams, 1849).(42) �72 SLOVAKIA For two tedious days the court was involved in selecting a jury. When the task had been completed, the twelve men who sat in the jury box were all native American citizens and were largely representative of the middle class skilled labor group.(43) Many of the jury men admitted in their examination by the counsels for defense and prosecution that although they had already formed an opinion, their verdict would not be so influenced. None of the jurors were foreign-born and counsel Loughran complained that the majority of them were ''in sympathy with the sheriff and his deputies." (44) The case for the Commonwealth was opened by McGahren, who claimed the shooting at Lattimer was a ''horrible massacre . '' In a highly emotional speech he told the courtroom how Sheriff Martin stood by proudly while his men brutally murdered the fleeing strikers. He even went so far as to claim the sheriff had emptied his pistol into the head of one of the march leaders. The Sheriff's actions at Lattimer were "a disgrace to civilization," he explained.(46) With this heated example of rhetoric, began the case for the prosecution which consumed nearly sixteen days of examination during which 103 witnesses testified. At the end of the first week of the trial on February 5, it developed that when the case had been continued from the November to the January term of court, bail for the defendants had not been renewed. District Attorney Martin immediately asked either that bail be posted or that the defendants be committed to jail. Judge Woodward replied he would not require the defendants to enter bail until Monday, February 7. Garman of the prosecution immediately pressed the court further to demand bail at once. Lenahan of the defense resented Garman's demands and charged, "You are a puppy! You have been a puppy all your life!" Garman's reply was apparently appropriate as he turned to Judge Woodward and said, "When the thing back of me shuts up, I will proceed." Lenahan replied, "That is only a part of the buffoonery of the Commonwealth.'' Garman turned to face him and raised his fist as if to strike. "If you touch me, I'll kill you!" By this time friends intervened and restrained the two attorneys until order was restored. Garman, eyeing Lenahan defiantly, replied, ''The buffoon has just ceased speaking." (4 7) This exchange of opinions on the floor of the courtroom did not change Woodward's mind and the bail was deferred. The exchange was, however, quickly picked up by the out-of-town reporters and reported in such a way that when court convened on February 7, Judge Woodward admonished the artists and reporters of some of the newspapers that if they continued to caricature the proceedings of the court or to misrepresent what developed, he would refuse them admission to the courtroom.(48) Woodward's admonishment of the reporters for their "yellow journalism" did not end the court's cause for concern. On the evening of February 14, the President of the American Federation of Labor, �SLOVAKIA 73 Samuel Gompers, arrived in Wilkes-Barre to write a special report on the trial for the New York World. The Wilkes-Barre Record was critical of the labor leader's being in Wilkes-Barre, claiming that Gompers would only report the trial from the point of view of the strikers, not from the objective viewpoint of whether Martin was justified in shooting.(49) The Record was not the only newspaper critical of Gompers ' being in Wilkes-Barre. The New York Evening Sun stated " Gompers is so dissatisfied with the way Judge Woodward is conducting the Lattimer trial that he refused to be presented to him. We can only congratulate his Honor on a fortunate escape." (50) In an article in the World on February 20, Gompers attacked Woodward's conduct of the trial, his rulings on evidence, and went so far as to attack him personally as a friend of the mine owners, as Woodward: married into a family of land holders of the district, who receive royalties upon every ton of coal mined. When a cessation of mining occurs from any cause Judge Woodward is to that extent a loser of part of his income. He is a member of the Westmoreland Club, of which the mine-owners are largely members and of which also a number of the so-called deputies are members.(Of the strikers Gompers wrote) They had previously decided and carried out their purpose , to be unarmed and unprotected except by the justice of their cause and the American flag in which they had absolute faith. It is sad to contemplate when workingmen of either American or foreign birth have their faith and confidence in the emblem of our country destroyed and perhaps sadder still is the possibility of losing faith in the justice of our courts. In conclusion Gompers made the Lattimer trial a trial in behalf of the eventual triumph of the working man: The workers of our country are organizing better and more thoroughly each day; we shall not only create a healthier public sentiment as to man 's rights and man's duties, but we shall largely constitute that public opinion. And , when that day comes , the crime of Lattimer will be a record-letter day in the annals of our history to which all will look back upon with horror as the monumental crime of the century. (51) Should Sheriff Martin be convicted of murder, labor would win a great victory in its struggle for recognition. While labor adopted Lattimer as its forgotten massacre , the prosecution rested on February �74 SLOVAKIA 21, having produced testimony in line with McGahren's opening. Ferris opened the case for the defense claiming that if a sheriff and his posse meet a riotous mob which resists them in such a way that their duty to uphold the law requires the use of firearms, then, "they do their duty. They do not violate, but obey the law.'' (52) Anarchy ruled the Hazleton area, Ferris explained, and Martin, in the company of good, lawabiding citizens - not bar room toughs and thugs - brought security to the region. On March 1, Sheriff Martin took the stand. He testified that when he met the strikers at Lattimer, he demanded to know where they were going and they all answered, "Lattimer to get out the men!" He also told the court that he had told them they were doing wrong and that he read the proclamation to them. He said he begged them to go no farther, but they pushed on and someone tried to grab him by the neck. I arrested him, when a big crowd pushed around me. I pulled out my revolver for protection and held it in the air, as I did not want to shoot. One of the mob tried to grab it, but failed, and in the struggle I and the crowd around me were pushed to one side of the road." (53) Martin testified one of the strikers gave him a terrific blow on the side of the head and that he tried to shoot that man, but his pistol would not go off. Then the firing began. After 111 witnesses had testified for the defense the Court adjourned on March 4.(54) The closing pleas to the jury began on March 7, with Scarlett opening for the prosecution: "Every effort has been made to have it tried fairly and nothing has been excluded and every bit of evidence has been admitted according to the rules of the court." (55) The final plea was made by former state Attorney-General Henry W. Palmer, on behalf of the defense, to an overcrowded court room. Palmer's closing has been praised as a masterpiece of eloquence and damned as a bigoted oration and foul utterance against the Slav immigrants. To the jury Palmer said the following: Condemn these men and go home to your neighbors and tell them, 'We convicted Sheriff Martin and his deputies for an error in judgment when they were standing between your homes and the horrors of mob rule.' Tell your wives and children that henceforth when the rioters are about to march and the right of men to work is in peril that there will be no Sheriff and deputies to keep the peace or defend your homes, because by your verdict you will have forbidden them to act, under penalty of death or infamous punishment. (56) Following Palmer's plea District Attorney Martin closed the case for the prosecution, and late on the afternoon of March 9, Judge Woodward delivered his charge to the jury. In an admirably clear, impartial, and ably written presentation of the law of riot and murder, �SLOVAKIA 75 Woodward charged that the sheriff had the right as the chief officer of the county to summon a posse to assist him in the preservation of order and in the prevention of riot. The public peace in Hazleton was threatened. Men were being driven from their jobs by the mob. The Sheriff saw the people were terrorized by the strikers. When they were at West Hazleton and at Lattimer, the strikers failed to obey the sheriff and insisted on pushing on. It was the duty of the crowd to obey his command and that disobedience of the sheriff was evidence of a riotous purpose. If you are satisfied, gentlemen, from the evidence that the purpose of the sheriff and of the posse was to preserve order and prevent a riot, then it would follow that their intent and object was not a criminal or unlawful one, and the rule of the law which makes the act of one the act of all has no application to the facts of this case. (57) At three minutes after ten on the morning of March 9, the jury arrived at its verdict. The sealed paper was handed up to the Judge, who examined it and returned it to the clerk. The clerk read: ''Gentlemen of the jury, harken unto your verdict as the Court hath recorded it. You find in the case wherein the Commonwealth is prosecutor and Sheriff Martin et. al., defendants, you find the defendants not guilty. So say you all?" (58) The verdict of acquittal was a just one under the law, yet, at the same time, it is possible that a terrible doubt exists that the slaughter at Lattimer was necessary or justifiable. Could the tragedy have been avoided? It is not clear that the miners should have been prevented from marching on the highway; it is not clear that they should have been denied the opportunity to show themselves within sight of the miners at work; it is not clear that the deputies should have fired as soon as they did. But, the law is for all men, and against all men who are not obedient to it. There is no question of the right of men to strike. The strike is often the only weapon. When the striker learns to keep within the law, to be fair to others, and to respect property rights, he will have made the greatest advances in the direction of public sympathy. The example of the Lattimer strikers was clear. Had a determined effort been made to keep within the law, to win the friendship of the people of the Hazleton region, the clash with Sheriff Martin and his deputies would have been avoided. The law is the defense of the individual and the salvation of the nation. Violence toward it cannot win. EPILOGUE In the course of researching the Commonwealth v. Martin Trial, it has been found that the Luzerne County Court records for that case are missing from their file at the Luzerne County Court House. Perhaps an �76 SLOVAKIA attorney borrowed them to study and never returned them ; or perhaps they were removed by intent considering the hard feelings exhibited by some members of the Hazleton mining community following the jury's verdict. The sleepy little mining patch of Lattimer today is much the same as it was sixty-eight years ago. The breakers are gone , the trolley tracks are gone , and the miners, whose families now occupy the same houses that witnessed the shooting, work at the near-by collieries in Harleigh and Jeddo . The excitement that brought the name Lattimer to the mind of most Americans in 1897 has been completely forgotten - even in Luzerne County. Should Lattimer be forgotten? Some say it should . But in today 's society when groups of American are banding together and marching, sometimes in defiance of the law, in causes they believe to be paramount, the tragedy of Lattimer could happen again. FOOTNOTES (1) John W . Jordan, Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, vol. 7, (New York , 1916), 2350. (2) John Mitchell , Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903), 375. (3) Henry Edward Rood , " A Pennsylvania Colliery Village, " The Century Magazine, vol. 55, no . 6, (April, 1898), 814. (4) "2,500 Men cut at Hazleton ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. (5) " The Honey Brook Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 21, 1897 , 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 23, 1897, 8. (6) ''The Hazleton Strike,'' Wilk es-Barre Evening Leader, August 23 , 1897, 8. (7) " Two Thousand Foreigners Out, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 27, 1897, 1. (8) " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control ," Wilkes-Barre E vening Leader, August 28, 1897. 1. " Hazleton Strike Comes to a Demand ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 29, 1897, 1. (9) " The Anthracite Strike ," Wilkes -Barre E ve ning Leader, August 30, 1897, 1. (10) " Wild Excitement, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897, 1-2. (11) " Strike Situation at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (12) " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (13) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897 , 1. (14)/bid., 1. (15) " Labor Day Parade at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 7, 1897, 1. (16) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897, 1. (17) " Strikers Still Marching," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader. �SLOVAKIA 77 (18) Ibid., 2. (19)lbid., 2. (20) Ibid., 2. (21) Ibid., 2. (22) "Murdered in Cold Blood," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 11 , 1897, 1. (23) Ibid., 1. (24) Ibid., 1. (25) Ibid. , 1. (26) Ibid. , 1. (27) Ibid., 1. (28) "Sheriff Martin to be Arrested, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 12, 1897, 1. (29) Ibid., 1. (30) ''They Will Not Return to Work, '' Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 14, 1897, 1. (31) "Everything Quiet Along the Line, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (32) " Miners ' Strike is Spreading," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (33) " News from the Seat of War," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 18, 1897, 1. (34) " Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 21, 1897, 1. (35) " Many Strikers Return to Work, " Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897, 1. (36) "A Quiet Day at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. (37) " Troops Leave Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 29, 1897, 1. (38) " A Stampede to Return to Work," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 21 , 1897, 1. (39) " The Court Sits In Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. (40) " The Court Sits in Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattimer," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 24, 1897, 1. " The Sheriff Condemned," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 28, 1897, 1. (42) ''The Lattimer Cases,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897, 1. (43) "The Twelve Jurymen Selected, " Wilkes-Barre Record, February 3, 1898, 1. (44) " The Lattimer Cases," Wilkes-Barre Record, February 4, 1898, 1. (45) Henry W. Palmer, Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, Penna. , 1913) 64. (46) Ibid., 65. (47) ''Excitement In Court,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 7, 1898, 12. (48) '' Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6 . (49) '' Said the Sheriff Shot, '' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 16, 1898, 6. (50) "A Labor View of Judge Woodward ," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4. (51) "Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter," New York World, February 20, 1898, 20. (52) Palmer , 67. (53) George B. Kulp , Luzerne Legal Register Reports, vol. 9 (Wilkes-Barre, 1900), 81. (54) Palmer , 81. �78 SLOVAKIA (55) Ibid., ll0. (56) Ibid., 147. (57) From Judge Woodward ' s original hand-written charge to the jury as found in his personal scrapbook in the possession of his grand-daughter, Mrs . Bruce Payne of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (58) " The Deputies Are Not Guilty," Wilkes-Barre Times, March 9, 1898, 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Jordan, John W ., Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography vol. 7, (New York, 1916) . Kulp, George B., Luzerne Legal Register Reports vol. 9, (Wilkes-Barre, 1900) . Mitchell , John, Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903). Palmer, Henry W ., Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, 1913) . Rood, Henry Edward , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village," The Century Magazine, Vol. 55, no. 6, (1898). Newspaper Sources "A Labor View of Judge Woodward," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4 . '' Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter, " New York World, February 20 , 1898, 20. ''Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6. ''2,500 Men out at Hazleton, '' Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. " The Honey Brook Strike, " August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," August 21, 1897, 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," August 23, 1897, 8 . " Two Thousand Foreigners Out," August 27, 1897, 1. " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control," August 28, 1897, 1. " Hazleton Strike comes to a Demand ," August 29, 1897, 1. " The Anthracite Strike ," August 30, 1897, 1. " Wild Excitement" September 2, 1897, 1-2. " Strike Situation at Hazleton," September 3 , 1897, 1. " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," September 3, 1897, 1. " Sheriff Martin on the Ground, " September 6, 1897, 1. · 'Labor Day Parade at Hazleton,'' September 7, 1897, 1. "Strikers Still Marching, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 9, 1897, 2. "Murdered in Cold Blood," September 11, 1897, 1. " She riff Martin to be Arrested ," September 12, 1897, 1. " They Will Not Return to Work," September 14, 1897 , 1. · 'Eve rything Quiet along the Line ,' ' September 16, 1897, 1. " Mine rs ' Strike is Spreading, " September 17, 1897, 1. " News from the Seat of War," September 18, 1897, 1. " A Stampede to return to Work ," Septe mber 21, 1897, 1. "The Court sits in Judgment," Se ptember 22 , 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattime r," September 24 , 1897, 1. " She riff Condemned," September 28 , 1897, 1. ··A Quiet Day at Hazleton ,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. �SLOVAKIA 79 "Troops Leave Hazleton ," September 29, 1897, 1. "The Twelve Jurymen Selected," February 3, 1898, 1. "The Lattimer Cases," February 4, 1898, 1. "Excitement in Court," February 7, 1898 , 12. "Said the Sheriff Shot," February 16, 1898, 6. "Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897 , 1. "The Dep uties are Not Guilty," March 9, 1898, 1. Woodward, Stanley, the original hand-written charge to the jury as found in Judge Woodwa rd 's personal scrap book now in the possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Bruce Payne of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1977, Vol. 27 Description An account of the resource Vol. 27 (No. 50), 1977. 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 1977 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 The Lattimer Massacre and Its Sources GEORGE A. TURNER ''The affair at Hazleton yesterday is one of those terrible catastrophies the news of which simply stuns the community and paralyzes for a moment the power of thought." (1) The above editorial comment was a reaction to one of the worst acts of violence in the history of the American labor movement. The tragedy occurred at Laimer, a small coal mining patch, one and a half miles northeast of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh region of the anthracite coal fields on September 10, 1897. A group of nearly four hundred striking, unarmed, immigrant mine workers adhering to the control of their leaders, approached Lattimer to encourage the employees of Calvin Pardee & Company to join them in a work stoppage. They encountered Sheriff James Martin of Luzerne County and his posse of eighty-six deputies who viewed them as enemies of public order and the wellspring of lawlessness. When the marching laborers arrived at Lattimer in midafternoon, the Sheriff approached them, ordered them to halt, disperse, and return to their homes. Within a few minutes an altercation erupted between the Sheriff and some of the strikers at which point the deputies aimed their rifles and fired directly into the group of strikers. Instantly, their gunshots produced a carnage of blood and death among the immigrants - a massacre that left nineteen dead and thirty-eight wounded.(2) Peace officers were unscathed in their deadly assault on the defenseless workers who had been peacefully assembled on a public highway. This incident, lasting only a few minutes, became one of the most devastating acts of public authorities attacking, wounding and killing American laborers. The next day newspaper headlines depicted the killings as an atrocity. Regional papers denounced the shooting: "Yesterday's Butchery, A Mob of Heartless Deputies Fire Into a Throng of Miners and Accomplish Deadly Work" ;(3) "D of Blood at Lattimer" ;(4) "Strikers Shot in Cold Blood" ;(5) and "Looks Like Butchery" .(6) The account quickly spread beyond the anthracite region. Major metropolitan newspapers depicted the shooting in equally stark terms: ''The Killing of Miners at Lattimer Was Butchery'';(7) ''Mowed Down By Deputies" ;(8) "Laid Low By Bullets, the Men Fell Like Sheep Before the Murderous Winchesters of the Officials" ;(9) "Homestead Battle Thrown In The Shade" ;(10) and "Dead in Heaps, Deputies Fire on Miners at Lattimer, Penn ., Men Were Huddled Closely and Slaughter Was Terrific''. (11) The killing of the strikers by the Sheriff's deputies was a major national news story for several days prompting a 10 SLOVAKIA very basic question: Why did this senseless, violent act of shooting unarmed immigrant workers occur? To answer this inquiry requires an understanding of nativism found in the hard coal fields of Pennsylvania and an identification of those factors affecting the lives and working conditions of the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Slavic and Italian immigrants began arriving in the eight Pennsylvania counties comprising the anthracite region in the late 1870' s and early 1880 's with nearly all taking employment in mining and by the late 1890's outnumbered German and English-speaking workers .(12) The magnitude of this immigration flow from Poland, Austria-Hungary , Russia, and Italy was evident; in 1880 they totaled only 1,925 , in 1890 they were 32,007, and ten years later their numbe had more than doubled to 89,328. At the same time the foreign born from England , Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Germany decreased by 2.2 percent from 102,421 in 1880 to 100,269 in 1900; in particular, the demographic composition of this group in Luzerne County revealed a decline from ninety-four percent in 1880, to sixty-eight percent in 1890, and a further drop to forty-nine percent in 1900. These southern and eastern Europeans grew to an ever increasing percent of the foreignborn population in the anthracite coal fields: 1. 7 percent in 1880, 25 .2 percent in 1890 , and 46.1 percent in 1900.(13) Such a substantial and rapid growth of alien people created apprehension and anxieties leading to resentment and nativistic sentiments among the AngloSaxon population , their antipathy stemming from cultural differences and fear of economic competition for jobs. There was little to encourage the necessary processes for immigrants to be readily assimilated into the society. New arrivals had a distinctive culture, language , religion, and life style that were strikingly different , giving rise to suspicion and contempt from the native population and other established ethnic groups. Eastern and southern Europeans established numerous ethnic societies which perpetuated their pride , customs, and traditions . Since their religion was Catholic , they organized separate parishes along nationality lines thus sustaining ethnic identification. Marriage records reveal a consistent pattern of immigrants marrying only members of their own nationality. Divisions caused by factionalism in this polyglot society were difficult to bridge. Newspapers did not assume any responsibility for promoting harmony and assimilation among the diverse nationalities, and public schools did not lead in the task of Americanizing children of foreign cultures until the early 1900's . School attendance by immigrant children was minimal and those who did attend encountered language barriers. (14) Anglo-Saxons were finding it difficult to accept a pluralistic society in which they were becoming a numerical minority. This development fostered nativist sentiment , causing AngloSaxons to have ce rtain perceptions of the immigrants that inhibited SLOVAKIA 11 assimilation of the aliens contributing to their separation and isolation in the society. Attitudes of non-acceptance found expression in opprobrious terms for the new arrivals: " Pollocks, " "Huns," and " Dagoes," all denoting inferiority and disdain. Polish, Italian, and Slavic celebrations for marriages and their baptismal customs were denigrated and viewed as outlandish. A common belief among the native population was that a '' ... Slav does not know how to enjoy himself save by getting drunk, he does not know how to show kindness to friends save by making them drink." (15) Stories circulated that these new aliens participated in wife-selling, practiced polyandry, and were responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime, (16) contributing to the viewpoint that they were '' ... much more dangerous to the body politic than the excluded Chinese; . . . do not hesitate to use dynamite if they desire to blow up the home of one whom they particularly hate."(17) Rejection of the new immigrants grew in part from a feeling on the part of Anglo-Saxons that they belonged to a superior and more progressive race of people. The way that immigrants lived reinforced feelings of superiority in nativist thinking. Due to economic factors, lack of acceptance, and the desire of ethnic groups to have their own neighborhoods, ghettoes emerged in different communities. Since houses in ghettoes were crowded and substandard, outsiders viewed living conditions as unpleasant , unattractive, offensive, and the area as a tough and brawlly place to live. "The Slavs are physically strong and can flourish in an environment that would be fatal to more sensitive organisms." (18) Supporting this dislike of southern and eastern Europeans, the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1895 passed a resolution calling upon Congress to enact legislation to restrict immigration. The resolution clearly reflected a protectionist attitude as seen in its opening statement: '' That we recognize in the constant influx of an ignorant and vicious class of immigrants a great and growing evil highly injurious to American workingmen and dangerous to American institutions." (19) Again, two years later legislators passed another similar resolution.(20) Native Americans and older immigrants from northern Europe came to the conclusion they were being invaded and overcome by hordes of undesirable people who would undermine their communities. Of equal importance and of more immediate concern was competition by Slavic and Italian immigrants for jobs and wages in the labor market. Nativist sentiment held that railroads and coal operators enticed immigrants to settle in the region in order to increase the supply of labor which, in turn, had the effect of keeping wage rates down. (21) This charge against railroad and coal operators, however, was not completely true. It was well known that contract miners, who were primarily Anglo-Saxons, had the best and highest paying positions outside the mine supervisory jobs. They were also employers and were '' ... themselves largely responsible for the employment of 12 SLOVAKIA the non-English speaking foreigners. Instead of employing English laborers at the regular wage week the miners would employ a big Slav or Hun cheaply, increasing his own pay check quite an amount. His boasting of the 'snap' caused others to do the same."(22) Job competition increased as immigrants took any kind of work they could find in and around the mines. No matter what employment they found their wages were four or five times higher than what they previously earned in the native land.(23) Anxious to find work, newcomers took the unskilled positions of slate pickers, door-boys and helpers, drivers , runners, and laborers, willing to endure dangerous work and inconveniences which older workers refused to accept. With the passage of time and experience they began to compete for the higher paying, skilled positions held by English-speaking and German coal workers. Established workers contended that since new immigrants were willing to accept lower wages and even wage cuts to get and hold jobs, they were undermining the standard of living and forcing many older laborers to forego mining in the mines and to leave the area to find new employment. Anglo-Saxon workers became bitter and antagonistic which impaired the development of any class solidarity among the anthracite workers.(24) This led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices toward eastern and southern Europeans. The history of the anthracite labor movement revealed that the Knights of Labor, dominated by Irish, and the Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers, controlled by Americans, English, Welsh, and Germans, were ineffective in enrolling these workers into their ranks in the 1880's and 1890's. Leaders of organized labor vacillated, were ambivalent, and showed a lack of real interest in encouraging new immigrants to join the union movement. On certain occasions labor organizations even attacked Slavic groups for undermining the labor movement. Failure of the unions to bridge ethnic differences was a major factor in thwarting endeavors to establish successful collective bargaining with the region's coal operators and to gain better conditions of employment.(25) Whenever new immigrants supported organized labor, they generally joined locals organized along ethnic lines; this at first weakened the interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests and ideas between the AngloSaxons and the new immigrants.(26) When the United Mine Workers of America first appeared in the area in the early 1890's, it made little headway in recruiting the Slavic and Italian immigrants who were fast becoming the major segment of the anthracite labor force.(27) Finally, when U.M.W.A. became firmly established after 1900 and merged the 'old' and 'new' immigrants together, each local retained ethnic SLOVAKIA 13 distinction , making the union an alliance of distrustful nationality groups .(28) Established miners, who supported organized labor and held the higher paying and more desirable jobs, sought to protect their positions and perpetuate their advantage. They were fearful that the new immigrants who entered the coal fields as unskilled laborers would in time acquire needed skills to pass into the ranks of skilled miners which had the highest pay scale ; older workers also believed that when new immigrants became employed in mines the accident rate increased due to their lack of mining experience and inability to communicate in English .(29) State mine inspector, James Roderick, of Luzerne and Carbon Counties supported this viewpoint and asserted in 1883 that the rate of accidents increased as the influx of new laborers grew, whereas the older miners were more careful in their work. (30) Therefore, AngloSaxon miners supported the enactment of the miners' examination law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1889. The official title of the legislation, " An act for the examination of miners in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania and to prevent the employment of incompetent persons as miners in anthracite coal mines,'' aptly described its intent. The law created examination boards in various districts in the anthracite region consisting of skilled miners having at least five years of experience and appointed by the presiding judge in a county . It stipulated that no coal company could legally employ a person as a miner who did not have a certificate of competency issued by a miners' examination board ; in order for a person to receive a miner's certificate he had to provide evidence of having at least two years experience as a mine laborer in Pennsylvania.(31) In the legislative debate on this proposal, coal operators were accused of allowing incompetent people to work in mines , thus contributing to large numbers of fatalities and injuries. Many hoped that the new law would reduce the dangers of working in anthracite mines . Aside from viewing this act as a safety measure, there was a clear inference that the law would also help to check the influx and competition of labor from the new immigrants. Representative Caffery commenting on the proposed law declared that it could prevent '' ... incompetent men to come here from Europe, three or four of whom will be rushed into one chamber, thus dividing up the work.'' (32) Caffery's remark clearly made reference to the recent European influx into the anthracite region that had aroused resentments among older miners. In time it became apparent that expectations concerning the miner 's examination law would not be realized. Anglo-Saxon miners recognized that asking a few questions by miners ' examination boards could not really assure the competency of an applicant. In the examination of a non-English speaking person, the interpreter often aided and embellished the individual' s response. Furthermore, it 14 SLOVAKIA became a fact of life, due to fraud and corruption, that certificates became articles of merchandise.(33) From the time the law went into effect until 1897 there were several attempts to modify or even to repeal the statute . The law, rather than excluding unskilled laborers from becoming miners, had, in effect, due to the requirement of two years of mining experience in Pennsylvania, made ineligible the experienced miners who came from other parts of the country or Europe to secure jobs in the anthracite coal fields . These men were unwilling to work two years as a mine laborers in order to qualify for a miner's certificate. Instead, this simply assured that the new immigrants in time would move into the ranks of skilled miners - the higher-paying positions normally held by Anglo-Saxon workers. Representative Miller, whose district included Luzerne county, substantiated this point: ''Under the present act no one can receive a certificate as a miner until he has worked for two years as a miner's laborer. The result of that is just this: Only the least responsible class of workmen will come into the anthracite district at all; it excludes all of the better class of men. No one who is a practical miner from the bituminous region, or any other part of the State or the United States will come into the anthracite region and work for two years as a miner's laborer before he can obtain this certificate. '' (34) Admission that the law would stymie the settlement of new immigrants in the region was acknowledged by Representative Morahan in one of the attempts to revise the statute: ''It was brought about after the mining corporations had sent their agents over into Europe and brought over an element tended to restrict the production and elevation of wages. It was passed for the purpose of preventing the importation of pauper immigrants into the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania . . . "(35) Deficiencies in the miners' examination law prompted district one (anthracite region) of the United Mine Workers of America in its annual convention at Pottsvillle on October 16, 1896, to charge that the act was a farce. In a resolution calling for revision of the statute, the union wanted stiff penalties, imprisonment up to five years and fines of $100, for not adhering to the law; it also advocated that the state pay board members a set salary, abolishing the present procedure of having salaries based on fees collected from issuance of certificates. (36) These recommended changes reflected a view that corruption and failure to enforce the law had become commonplace among many of the miners' examination boards. John Fahy, president of district one, lobbied at the state capital in support of revisions to the law approved in 1897. One amendment increased penalties for violations, but no changes were made in the fee structure. A second amendment stipulated that each exaininee had to answer a minimum of twelve questions in English, which prohibited the use of interpreters and therefore discriminated against immigrants, who could not speak English.(37) The United Mine SLOVAKIA 15 Worker's Journal lauded Fahy's lobbying activities and contribution in getting this legislature enacted. (38) After passage of these revisions to the law, the Miners' Examination Board in the Hazleton area placed a notice in the local newspaper to alert mine officials of its provisions. It noted that the law had been violated in the past but henceforth would be strictly enforced. The Board's warning reflected nativist sentiment: "As you, above all others, should know the necessity of having men who understand their work and the language which is the known language of this, our country, the Board would say do your duty and acquit yourselves like men and Americans.'' (39) Control of the miners' examination boards rested with English-speaking miners who were able to exercise certain prerogatives and institute various regulations to their advantage at the expense of the new immigrants.(40) Another piece of discriminating legislation with nativist prejudice, the Alien Tax Act, passed by large majorities in both houses, went into effect on July 1, 1897. The statue stipulated that any male alien age twenty-one and over employed in the state had to pay a three-cent tax on each day of employment which meant that most aliens employed as laborers in the Lehigh anthracite coal region suffered a two to three percent reduction in daily wages . Employers had to maintain employment records on aliens in their service and to collect the tax which reverted to the county treasury, half of which went to school districts and the other half to defray county operating expenses.(41) In the senate debate over the bill, the presence of new immigrants in the community gave rise to a concern that they were '' .. . a constant source of expense to us and . . . this is a very good way to get some money out of them to help pay the expenses of government.' ' (42) The act's preamble declared that aliens showed no allegiance to the state and did not financially support the maintenance of government. In addition, it described aliens as direct competitors to the state's laboring population. One passage stated they were '' ... brought into unjust competition with the tax-paying American laborers and greatly impair their welfare by depriving them of their employment and of preventing them from receiving fair compensation for their labor therefore." (43) Again, John Fahy, miners ' advocate at the state capital, wrote an article for the United Mine Workers Journal asserting: ''What a world of good this law would do the American citizens who try to earn their living in the coal mines, if the tax were one dollar per day.' ' (44) Nearly two months after the tax went into effect, the United States Circuit Court in Pittsburgh declared the law unconstitutional as a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Judge Acheson in the court's decision acknowledged that the law discriminated against new immigrants: "Evidently the act is intended to hinder the employment of foreign born unnaturalized male persons over 21 years of age." (45) An obvious recourse for the alien to avoid this new tax, prior to its 16 SLOVAKIA being declared unconstitutional, was to become a naturalized citizen. Senator Flinn feared this possibility and could see little benefit from such a law unless to increase local revenues. It was his opinion that the legislation '' ... would have a tendency to drive this class of people into quicker citizenship." (46) Possibly anticipating this result, the Naturalization Court in Luzerne County a few days prior to the alien tax being voided instituted new rules to revise the process of naturalizing aliens. New procedures required an applicant to make formal application and declare his or her intention to become an American citizen at least thirty days prior to appearing in court, to be represented in the court proceedings by an attorney, and to produce a certificate of entry from the commissioner of immigration at the port of arrival. County officials had to publish in advance of the naturalization hearing the names of aliens seeking citizenship . Publicizing names of aliens petitioning to become citizens had the purpose of facilitating the process of weeding out undesirable applicants. Under the new rules five people could sign a petition remonstrating against an alien becoming a citizen thereby requiring a hearing to pass on their objections. In court, the alien had to demonstrate knowledge of the national and state constitutions and duties of citizens with responses in English.(47) Under these new procedures costs and amount of time required of the foreigner to become a citizen greatly increased. Previously, it had been perfunctory procedure since the immigrant only had to pay two dollars to secure naturalization papers. Now the costs rose to at least eight dollars for court and attorney fees.(48) When the individual lived some distance from the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, he had additional expenses for transportation and meals as well as losing a day of wages. Cumulatively, the costs for most aliens was equivalent to nearly two weeks of wages . A month later when implementation of these new naturalization rules became part of the court proceedings, half of the ninety-seven applicants, predominately Slavic, Polish, and Italian, were rejected in their quest for citizenship.(49) The new naturalization procedures confirmed the fact that the ease with which foreigners had in the past gained American citizenship would no longer be the rule. The new immigrants, who had become the dominant group among the mine workers, found themselves unaccepted due to nativistic attitudes, discriminatory laws, organized labor's lack of interest and view of them as an economic threat, and increased difficulty in acquiring citizenship. An added burden which all mine laborers faced was working conditions in the anthracite coal fields . The Pennsylvania Legislature in 1897 established a joint investigating committee of three representatives and two senators to examine and make a report concerning working conditions among those employed in the mining of anthracite coal. The committee held twenty-six meetings in the principal cities in the anthracite region and took testimony from 311 witnesses SLOVAKIA 17 representing businessmen , directors of relief organizations, and different classes of people connected with mining. The committee released its findings to the public on June 14, 1897, containing valuable information affecting those employed in mining.(50) The committee cited a major problem in the anthracite coal economy as excessive production in relationship to market demands that made coal prices weak and unstable. This had a direct bearing on mine employees since coal operators would cut production , institute lay-offs , and reduce wages in order to prevent or minimize their losses, thus exacerbating the labor market which already suffered from an over supply of workers . Surplus labor was evident when comparing the number employed in the anthracite mines in 1892 with 1896 and the coal produced in those same two years. Between 1892 to 1896 there occurred a fifteen percent increase in the number employed , 130,197 to 149,670, while coal production only increased five percent, 45,738,374 to 48,074 ,350 tons.(51) Estimated production capacity of the region 's collieries in 1896 was ninety million tons; actual output only came to fifty-four percent of capability while the number of mine employees for that same year increased by 6,065 .(52) Because of surplus laborers and a weak coal market there was lack of employment in the mines in 1896 as the average number of days of employment in the Hazleton region was only 178 days or fifty-seven percent of full employment for a year, based on a six-day week for fifty-two weeks. (53) This same condition was still prevalent in the first seven months in 1897 in which the mines operated on an average of one or two days a week.(54) One mine owner succinctly described the situation: " We can't give them work enough even at ninety cents a day because of the ups and downs of the business. When things begin to improve, we must have enough on hand to satisfy the demand, and that means, when business slacks up, that many have to be idle ." (55) This practice of the coal operators cutting back production to maintain the price of coal in a depressed market had caused frequent interruptions in the mid 1890's that put the standard of living of the average mine laborer on a very low basis . The legislative report pointed out that starvation conditions existed among the miners with Hazleton and vicinity one of the five areas identified as having great destitution and want. The committee reported: ' 'The testimony shows conclusively that deplorable condition of affairs for a period covering about two years, and particularly since the first of January of the present year, since which time the men in and about the collieries have been employed not more than two or three three-fourths days per week , earning on an average $4 per week , upon which , in many instances, they were compelled to support large families , in some cases as high as eleven members, paying house rent and coal and the necessities of life, which to this committee seems an impossibility . In . .. mining centres there is at all times more or less destitution and want , in many instances occasioned by profligacy. 18 SLOVAKIA Matters throughout the anthracite region have been gradually growing worse, and never in the history of this section of our State has the condition of the men employed in and about the mines been so deplorable or of such long duration.'' (56) The wages of miners and laborers in the Lehigh anthracite region had a direct relationship to the selling price of coal. Since the collapse of the union after the strike in 1888, there was no union contract to govern working conditions and wages. Wages were pegged to the market price of coal at the tidewater in Elizabethport, New Jersey. This system known as the ' 'sliding scale'' came into effect in 1869 with the formula for determining wages established in 1875. Under this arrangement, if coal sold for $5 .00 a ton at Elizabethport, miners, who held the highest paying jobs, received eighty-seven cents for each car of coal produced which meant that on the average, skilled miners earned twenty-one cents an hour, or $12.60 a week for sixty hours of work. The highest paid class of laborers, if a ton of coal sold for the same price, earned $10.80 a week or fourteen percent less than the miners. Whenever the price of coal increased ten cents a ton, wages advanced one percent for each ten cent rise and conversely, whenever the price of coal declined ten cents a ton, wages decreased one percent for each ten cent reduction . (57) Mine employees saw several drawbacks to this method of determining wages. Lehigh coal operators, as opposed to the Wyoming and Schuylkill coal operators, were mainly independents; hence, they were more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the freight rates in transporting their coal to the markets, which, in turn, had a direct bearing on establishing the price of coal. High transportation costs reduced the coal operator's ability to improve wages and, most importantly, forced an increase in coal prices that made coal produced in the Lehigh region less competitive in the market than that produced in the other two fields largely under the control of the railroads. Consequently, starting in 1892 the Lehigh coal operators, who produced only around sixteen percent of anthracite coal, agreed to sell part of their production to the railway coal companies at forty percent below the tidewater price in order to avoid excessive freight rates. A major portion of the coal production was sold in the interior at prices higher than at the tidewater. Finally, the 1875 price-wage formula did not reflect changes that had occurred in the coal market. Anthracite coal had been losing the industrial fuel market to the less expensive bituminous coal. This loss forced a readjustment in the coal trade as more and more anthracite had to be processed into smaller sizes to be sold for home heating purposes. Smaller sizes gradually became the major portion of the coal trade and this sold at lower prices, resulting in a reduction of the average price per ton of coal thus keeping wages down.(58) Besides irregular work and low wages the anthracite laborer had to contend with day-to-day conditions which were equally distressing. The SLOVAKIA 19 company store had long been an issue in the mining communities and had an odious reputation. The fact that employees were under some form of compulsion to make their purchases at a company store at inflated prices was so repugnant that it caused considerable discord, dissension, and prolonged agitation. A congressional committee in 1889 investigating working conditions in the anthracite region reported some of the abuses connected with stores operated by coal companies which still persisted in the late 1890's. Prices were as much as thirty percent higher for the same items sold in independent stores. There was both direct and subtle pressure on employees to purchase groceries , clothing, and other items from the company store; workers feared losing their jobs or being moved to a lower paying position or to one that was more difficult because of dangerous or strenuous working conditions. "Some of the officials of the company, such as foremen, would state to their workmen, 'If you patronize me we will patronize you.' Well , that meant if there was a good job they would receive it if they traded in the company' s store ."(59) Reacting to these abuses, Pennsylvania in 1891 enacted a law prohibiting corporations engaged in mining and manufacturing from operating general supply stores . In an attempt to prevent evasion, the law explicitly made it illegal for a corporation to contract with an independent store to require its employees to purchase merchandise; also it prohibited any corporate officer or stockholder to operate a company store on the premises of the corporation. (60) Unfortunately, the legislation did not eliminate the many evils associated with the company stores. In the first place , unincorporated coal operators did not come under the law's jurisdiction. Secondly, there was a loophole in the law's language forbidding a corporation from requiring its employees to patronize a particular store by stating that employees " shall not be obliged" to deal with a designated store. In other words an employee of a corporation could not be compelled to shop at a particular store but he could voluntarily choose to buy his merchandise at that store. Realistically, as life existed in the mining communities with the ever-presence and dominance of the coal companies, many factors came into play that inevitably induced an employee to make a so-called voluntary decision to patronize a particular store. Thirdly, when individual coal operators sold their interests to a large corporation, they often retained the right to continue the operation of their store. In this arrangement, many times the corporation provided a service by deducting an employee's bill at the store from his monthly wages with a collection fee which varied from three to five percent of the bill. This system had a descriptive nickname of the "pluck-me-store." (61) It was in the Lehigh region, where a very large percent of the coal operators were independent and unincorporated, that the existence of company stores was one of the highest in the anthracite region ; two-thirds of the mine laborers worked at collieries 20 SLOVAKIA that operated company stores.(62) In some instances a coal company which operated a store would undersell its competitor by lowering prices for coal and then make up losses by compelling the employees to trade at the company store at exorbitant prices .(63) The store of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company reportedly had everything from a red herring to a furnace . A Polish employee of the company flatly stated: '' ... we are compelled to purchase whether we want to or not. " (64) Three English-speaking miners of the A. S. Van Wickle Company commented that they would not object to the company's store if it were not for the high prices. To illustrate their point, they cited three items priced in an independent store and the company store: dozen eggs for thirteen cents as opposed to twenty-three cents, pound of butter for eighteen cents as opposed to twenty-six cents, and tobacco for twenty-six cents as opposed to thirtyfour cents. (In computing these goods the average price increase over the independent store was forty-six percent.) They further asserted: ''These are but a few samples of the prices charged here, but we have no redress. If we do not deal in the store we are notified about it with a broad intimation that others would be glad to have our places and deal in the store ." (65) The two investigative reports documented abuses concerning the company store in the anthracite region in 1897 and drew attention to three pertinent facts: the company store did not operate to the benefit of the workmen; employees were subjected to intimidation when they failed to patronize company stores; profits were substantial. (66) The company store problem was a major concern of John Fahy who noted that the number was greater than when the legislation was passed in 1891 and coal operators continued to violate the law. Union members of the United Mine Workers of America agreed and passed a resolution condemning this kind of store : '' ... the company store is a great and burdensome evil; that the system is harsh and tyrannical, and its purposes to rob labor of the full use of that pittance, always too meager, which the mine worker now received for his toil . . . "(67) Another grievance of the workers closely related to the company store was the practice of having a company butcher make door to door sales to employees living in company houses. They objected to the butcher's high prices and his habit of leaving more meat than requested forcing the purchaser to pay for meat not wanted . (68) What they wanted was the. abolition of this solicitation. Dominance of the coal companies over their employees was felt in another way through the company doctor. Coal operators had a physician to administer to the health needs of workers. On the surface this service appeared to be a desirable fringe benefit. Not so in the eyes of the employees who had several objections. They felt that they should have the right to select their own doctor since many believed that the quality of medical help was below average. The fact that the doctor's SLOVAKIA 21 allegiance rested with the company placed uncertainty on the doctorpatient relationship.(69) Aside from these reservations was the cost. Deduction from workers' paychecks funded the program; A. S. Van Wickle Company levied two cents a day on each employee while other companies charged each married man with a family seventy-five cents a month and single men fifty cents a month.(70) To many this outlay of money equaled a half-day of wages and was an unnecessary cost. At this time it was common practice for people to rely upon home remedies for curing illnesses rather than always going to a doctor. A custom among miners was to establish their own mutual medical aid organizations known as '' keg funds.'' Miners donated refunds received from turning in their empty powder kegs.(71) Another major factor explaining why workers opposed the company doctor scheme stemmed from a plethora of fraternal groups that provided insurance against sickness and death. In the Hazleton area there were around fifty such organizations with many established along ethnic lines. Working class membership in these societies was large. Dues entitled them to sick benefits that varied from four to six dollars a week for a period of three to six months. Average death benefits ranged from $50 to $125 with wives often receiving half the rate. (72) With these other arrangements, the company doctor plan offered few, if any , advantages to mine workers. Feelings of exploitation among the miners were particularly strong over the price of blasting powder and mining supplies and the coercion to purchase these items from the coal companies. Each of the collieries kept mining supplies for sale. Testimony before the United States Industrial Commission revealed: ''The coal operators will say that they do not compel miners to buy their supplies with that company. While this may be true in regard to oil in some places, yet they are compelled to buy their powder from these companies where they work, for they will tell you if you do not buy your powder there you can work where you buy it."(73) Along with this compulsion there was the high price for the powder. A keg of powder weighing twenty-five pounds sold for $2. 75 in the Lehigh region whereas in the Schuylkill region the same amount had sold for $1.50 since 1888.(74) A major demand of the strikers was to secure a price decrease for powder generally in the amount of seventy-five cents a keg. However, miners at Calvin Pardee & Company sought a more extensive price reduction for powder so that it would sell for $1.50 a keg.(75) Powder purchased from independent stores sold from $1.25 to $1.50 a keg and the wholesale cost of powder per keg delivered from the manufacturer ranged from 90 cents to $1.00.(76) It was obvious to the miners that the coal operators made substantial profits on the sale of powder with a mark-up of around two hundred percent. When comparing powder prices in the Schuylkill region with the Hazleton area in 1896, men believed they were overcharged by some $125,353.75 or a per capita of $217.50 which was 22 SLOVAKIA almost equivalent to one-third of their annual income.(77) This issue was particularly irritating to the miners and they felt that they were victims of extortion. Another vexing issue was the lack of compliance by coal companies to provisions of the state semi-monthly wage payment law passed in 1891 . The act stipulated that employers pay their employees in lawful money every two weeks.(78) With the exception of the Coxe mines, violation of the statute was widespread in the Hazleton area . (79) The state legislative investigating committee reported the act was '' ... virtually a dead letter in many instances. Operators disregard it and deem it an unjustifiable interference with their rights .'' (80) District One of the United Mine Workers of America in its 1896 annual convention adopted a resolution endorsing the semi-monthly wage payment law and invited members of the business community to cooperate with them in supporting this legislation. (81) Frequency of payment to workers was important to coal operators since it had a direct relationship to the maintenance of company stores. If workmen received their wages every two weeks or even weekly, they would be inclined to shop at independent stores which had lower prices. With monthly payments, employees found it convenient and, sometimes necessary , to depend on credit extended at the company stores.(82) These cumulative burdens of adverse working conditions, irregular and limited work, low wages, pressure to patronize the company's store and butcher, expense for a company doctor, high costs for blasting powder and mining supplies, and non-compliance with the semi-monthly pay law were hardships ever present to mine laborers and became issues in the strike. Of equal importance, immigrant workers found themselves having to cope with additional adversities such as nativistic attitudes that rejected their culture and impeded assimilation, economic discrimination in employment, passage of the alien tax law, and difficult and costly naturalization procedures. A wellspring of resentment and antagonism festered among the ranks of southern and eastern Europeans over conditions affecting their lives which stirred feelings of discontent and frustrations creating a serious strike situation. The spark which produced the Lattimer massacre first appeared to be nothing more than an isolated and minor labor dispute between District Superintendent Gomer Jones and some mule drivers at the Honey Brook colliery of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company; however, it became the catalyst leading to a series of crippling strikes in the Lehigh region. Gomer Jones , who had a reputation as a tyrannical mine boss, had recently been appointed superintendent of the Audenried district and assumed his new position with an eagerness to establish order and efficiency out of what he and the company considered to be a chaotic situation.(83) Jones stated in an interview that he perceived his superintendency: '' I came here a year ago. I came to restore discipline SLOVAKIA 23 in the mines and to operate them in such a manner that the company could continue in business. The discipline was certainly lax. The men did about as they pleased. The two superintendents who were here then associated with the men, mixed with them, drank with them and were regarded as 'hail fellows well met' everywhere among the miners. Now I cannot do that. I'm not a drinking man, and I've never made it a practice to hobnob with the men. However, when I give orders I expect them to be obeyed and do not permit miners to do exactly as they please. " (84) He began to institute economics in the company's operations in order to achieve the lowest possible cost in mining. To carry out this resolve , he dismissed two easy-going foremen , about eighty other workers, and reduced daily wages for all classes of mine workers from three percent for carpenters to as much as twenty-five percent for stripping miners.(85) Another of Jones ' cost-saving proposals required all of the company mules to be stabled at Audenried. This measure required the mule drivers employed at Honey Brook to spend an extra hour in the morning and evening to pick up their mules and return them to the stables. For these two extra hours of work , Jones refused to grant any compensation to the mule drivers . Dissatisfaction over this arrangement provoked a strike among mule drivers , who were Slavic and Polish , on August 13 . The next day some workers took up positions along the road near the stable to insure that none of the mule teams was removed for work. Upon learning of this development , Jones went to the scene with club in hand with the intention of dispersing the disgruntled workers. Within minutes a boisterous dispute erupted and Jones, using his club, struck one worker. Some of Jones' assistants came to his rescue before the melee got completely out of control. (86) A consequence of the mule driver strike and the residue of dissatisfaction and discontent among the rest of the workers produced a general strike against the company on August 16. An assessment of the situation made by a local newspaper declared that coal companies " .. . import this cheap labor, drag them down with all sorts of hardships, and indignities and finally the bosses attempt to make records for money saving and thus increase their own salaries at the expense of the poor unfortunates who are under them. There is no need for white slavery, nor pauper wages ... pay them a living salary and treat them as human beings , and trouble of this kind will be unheard of.'' (87) That evening miners held a large meeting at McAdoo at which they formulated their grievances and demands to present to Elmer H. Lawall, General Superintendent of Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. They wanted restoration of the wage scale in effect prior to reductions imposed by Jones , an increase of ten percent in wages for all employees who worked underground, purchase of coal by workers for use in their homes reduced from $2.50 to $1.50 a ton, the right of each worker to select his own doctor, removal of Gomer Jones from his 24 SLOVAKIA position as district superintendent, and assurance that each person on strike would be reinstated.(88). Miners elected a strike committee representing different nationalities to present the issue to company officials. After meeting with Mr. Lawall on August 17, the committee decided to go to New York the next day to confer with Mr. Lawall and C. H. Warren, assistant to company President Maxwell. After returning from New York, the committee on August 19 met with the miners to report on negotiations, informing them that Mr. Warren had pledged that the company would pay the same rate of wages prevailing in the area and did not object to miners selecting their own doctor and making their own payments. There was no response to reducing the price of coal used by miners in their homes. With regard to the miners' objections concerning the conduct of Gomer Jones, the company refused to dismiss him but did promise to investigate his actions; this prompted an editorial comment in a Hazleton newspaper: ''The men are determined in their demands for justice, and if the Lehigh and WilkesBarre officials are wise they will speedily dismiss Superintendent Gomer Jones, for so long as he is retained in his present position, the trouble will not be adjusted. This man, with perhaps one exception, has imposed more hardships on the mines than any other living person who ever set foot on this soil. " (89) Upon hearing the company offer, which the miners described as one containing only promises rather than solutions to their grievances and demands, they voted to remain on strike . (90) Refusal to end the strike caused Mr. Lawall to hold another meeting with the strike committee. Three additional issues were introduced in the negotiations: employees need not live in company houses , men in the same grade of work receive the same pay, and employees be paid for all services rendered to the company - a direct reference to the mule drivers' complaint of having to spend two extra hours without pay to pick up and return their mules to the stables. After conferring with Lawall the strike committee called another meeting with workers on August 20. At this time the company informed the men that it had accepted the employees' position on the three additional points and that Lawall had personally promised to investigate fairly every grievance . Strikers believed that the injudicious activities of Jones would certainly be exposed and he would be dismissed. They learned that the mules were returned to Honey Brook, removing the issue of extra work without pay that had sparked the strike . In addition, two men dismissed by Jones were reinstated to their former positions. With such favorable news and expectation of Jones' replacement, the miners voted to end the week old strike and return to work on August 23.(91) The euphoria that prevailed among miners stemmed from their belief of success in exerting their interests against the coal company. This sense of accomplishment was further underscored by the fact they SLOVAKIA 25 had been able to organize seven locals of the United Mine Workers of America comprising nearly a thousand men or about half of the company' s employees in the Audenried district. Establishing the union rested on the activities of John Fahy, United Mine Workers organizer, who took advantage of miners' discontent over their working conditions and lack of unionization. With the backing of a union and the promise of Lawall to investigate their differences with Jones , miners felt confident that they had won.(92) It appeared that labor unrest at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company was only an aberration and the outlook for labor peace quite good. Such optimism was short lived. The strike was a harbinger of labor agitation that soon engulfed the Lehigh mining region surrounding Hazleton. Within a week, on August 27, another strike initiated by immigrant workers broke out at the Coleraine and Milnesville collieries of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company. Some 1,500 strikers demanded reinstatement of the wage scale prior to the reduction made in February of 1897, which meant an average increase in wages from ten to fifteen percent in the daily rates. They wanted the new daily rates to be the following: stripping laborers, $1.20; first class laborers , $1.64; second class laborers, $1.50; outside laborers , from $1.00 to $1.20 ; breaker hands, men at $1.00 and boys at 90 cents; mule drivers, one mule at $1.50 ; two mules at $1.64; and three mules at $1.75; first class miners , $2.10; and second class miners, $1.93 . A few days later, August 31, some 2,000 employees of Lehigh and WilkesBarre Coal Company swelled the ranks of dissatisfied workers by walking off their jobs a second time after the elapse of two weeks when company officials had promised a settlement of their grievances in their first strike at the beginning of the month.(93) Chairman of the strikers ' negotiating committee charged that ' ' ... Messrs. Lawall and Warren, did not keep faith, and their refusal to make any concessions after their encouraging promises originally had served to work the men up to a high pitch. " (94) Work stoppages also began to spread to other coal operators: Lehigh Valley Coal Company, C. M. Dodson & Company, G. B. Markel & Company, Calvin Pardee & Company, A. Pardee & Company , New Ebervale Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, Arnold & Morgan Company , and Silver Brook Coal Company.(95) This general strike action at the end of August and the first of September erupted with the pressing demand for an increase in wages. Immigrant workers were the principal source of agitation over this issue. It was they who suffered loss of wages due to enactment of the alien tax law and who felt the effects of wage discrimination when they received less for the same job than the English-speaking worker. Miners in their class earned from $1.50 to $1.65 a day while an Englishspeaking miner earned $1.97 for the same position. Similar conditions existed for those who were employed as laborers; the percent of wage difference was even greater, $1.15 versus $1.50. Anglo-Saxon workers 26 SLOVAKIA did not support the strike and immigrants looked upon them as a favored class. Since Slavic and Italian workers outnumbered Englishspeaking workers by a three-to-one ratio, their dissatisfaction over wages and working conditions became the prevailing voice. (96) Demand for the same pay for the same job had the following local, editorial support: "Employees should receive the same compensation for the same kind and amount of work done whether they are Hungarians, Italians or any other nationality." (97) Strikers ' demands for improvement in their wages came in part from the fact that Lehigh coal operators paid lower wages than operators in the other two anthracite coal fields. (98) Although there existed an industry-wide formula for determining wages based on the tidewater price of coal, in actuality there was a divergence in the wage scale particularly among the unskilled in different coal companies, which contributed to labor unrest among workers when they learned their wages were lower than their counterparts in other mines. In protest, foreign workers began marching from one colliery to another, closing down operations and compelling other workers to join their ranks. With each passing day the situation became somewhat more tense. Area newspapers assessed conditions as serious with the distinct possibility of becoming quite dangerous since, ''Never in the history of the region was such a determined body of men seen together'' ;(99) it was feared that unless a settlement was reached, '' ... the whole Lehigh region will be plunged into one of the most threatening conditions ever experienced in the history of Pennsylvania coal mining." (100) Immigrant workers were the masters of the situation, dominating the strike activities; English-speaking workers, fewer in number receiving better wages, did not voluntarily support them and preferred to remain at work. Instead of a feeling of camaraderie and solidarity between these two groups there was distrust and suspicion.(101) An important break occurred in the strike action when A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company made a wage settlement with their employees at Milnesville and Coleraine collieries on September 3 and 4, respectively. The company's General Superintendent, James Roderick, fulfilled a promise to investigate wages paid at other area mines and, if his company's rates were lower, make appropriate advances. Advances did not completely equal the original demands of the workers: increases were around nine percent given primarily to the unskilled and semiskilled, jobs held mainly by the Slavic and Italian immigrants with no raise for skilled laborers, miners, jobs dominated by AngloSaxons.(102) With regard to the alien tax, which had recently been declared unconstitutional, the company promised to return the money at the next pay day. Concerning other issues of the company store and butcher, Roderick promised ''. . . there will positively be no compulsion for any man to deal with the company butcher and the company SLOVAKIA 27 store, nor will any intimidation in this direction be permitted by any of the subordinates."(103) Following the lead of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company, officials at Coxe mines voluntarily increased wages ten cents a day to prevent their workers from going out on strike. (104) Settlement of the strike at A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company and increased pay by Coxe marked an important turning point in the labor unrest which had idled some twelve collieries due to the strikers' demonstrations. Success of these workers in improving their wages became a stimulus for hundreds of other workers to increase their determination to secure the same monetary gain. Higher wages granted by the two companies simply exacerbated the situation when other coal operators refused to match or make any improvement in wages. As long as this condition prevailed, chances of labor unrest becoming volatile heightened and the outcome became more uncertain . A week prior to the Lattimer killings, a Hazleton newspaper, realizing the nature of the situation, made the following appeal to coal operators: ''What the outcome of the uprising will be is simply conjecture, but one thing is certain, that the operators owe it to themselves as well as the community to bring about a speedy adjustment of the trouble. There is no good reason why the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. officials should not pay the same rate of wages as A. S. Van Wickle; they are in a position to do it and ought to. If there is to be an average rate of wages let all the operators join the combination and pay it. The obstinacy of either one company or the other, is simply injurious to the community, and for the benefit of all we suggest that the operators at least meet the men half-way, and the trouble will soon be a thing of the past. " (105) As each day passed without settlement, strikers continued marching from one coal mine to another seeking to induce other workers to join the strike; some responded willingly and others only after cajoling or intimidation. Their efforts were having success in disrupting the area's mining operations. Anxiety grew as the potential for serious trouble became likely with an apparent impasse emerging between strikers and operators who had refused to go along with the settlement made by A. S. Van Wickle and Coxe. Coal companies , holding the view that the situation had deteriorated and people had become terrorstricken by the strikers' protest, urged the sheriff to intervene in a manner that would terminate the strikers' activities. Sheriff James Martin, vacationing in Atlantic City, New Jersey , received a telegram on Saturday , September 4, from his deputy, Mr. George Wall, that Superintendent Lathrop of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company requested him to go to Hazleton to deal with the developing strike situation. Upon returning to Wilkes-Barre, the Sheriff held a Monday morning conference concerning the strike with Lathrop, Superintendent Steams of Cross Creek Coal Company, and Superintendent Lawall of Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company before 28 SLOVAKIA proceeding to Hazleton.(106) The Sheriff did not come to Hazleton at the request of any elected or appointed public official such as a magistrate, justice of peace, constable, or mayor, nor upon his arrival did he confer with any public official concerning the question of public order as related to the strikers' demonstrations. Instead, when he came to Hazleton, he met with Mr. Zerby, Assistant Superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and Mr. Platt, Superintendent of Calvin Pardee & Company store. Naturally, these two men held views concerning the strike that reflected their companies' vested interests and could possibly have misrepresented the degree of disruption. Apparently, Martin did not feel there was any advantage to investigating and reviewing developments with a variety of people having different perspectives in order to ascertain objectively sentiments and facts related to the strike. It was at this time that officials of Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, and Calvin Pardee & Company made it abundantly clear that they would hold Sheriff Martin personally responsible for any interference with their mining operations.(107) After conferring with Messrs. Zerby and Platt, Martin decided to organize a posse comitatus. A Sheriff's decision to create a posse must be based upon circumstances as defined in law in which a state of disorder exists, consisting of a riot or the threat of a riot in which life and property are in jeopardy. Again Martin's assessment that these conditions existed rested upon information given to him by representatives of coal companies. Following their recommendation, he appointed Thomas Hall, a prominent Hazleton businessman whose occupation involved selling blasting powder to coal companies, as his chief deputy.(108) In the Hazleton Machinery Supply Company Store, a concern involved in coal mining, eighty-seven men were sworn in as Sheriff's deputies and members of the posse with nearly all of them directly or indirectly earning their living from coal companies. This close connection of the deputies with the coal companies was apparent as some twenty-three were employees of Calvin Pardee & Company, including his own son and Augustus W. Drake, Pardee's General Superintendent; fourteen worked for the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and six were members of the coal and iron police. All but one deputy had surnames indicating Irish, English, or German heritage, the majority were members of prominent families and relatives of coal operators, many were young, several had attended college and were engineers or held managerial positions in coal companies. Others were businessmen and a few were laborers.(109) Superintendent Smith of G. B. Markle & Company, a coal operator, ordered rifles and shotguns and shipped them to a warehouse owned by A. Pardee & Company, another coal operator, where they were dispensed to the deputies under the direction of Mr. Platt.(110) Martin cautioned his deputies: " ... it was their duty to maintain the peace at all hazards, but under no cir- SLOVAKIA 29 cumstances to shoot unless they were convinced either they or myself to be in danger.'' (111) Since the coal operators were responsible for requesting the Sheriff to come to Hazleton and to organize a posse, they also agreed to assume the costs for expenses incurred by the deputies. (112) Another service available to the Sheriff and his deputies was a special trolley car provided by Lehigh Traction Company upon the orders of Mr. Zerby so they could have unimpeded transportation to move about the coal fields.(113) While arrangements were under way in organizing the posse, Martin contacted Sheriffs Scott and Setzer of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties, respectively , since Lehigh coal fields encompassed parts of these counties. The main source of strike agitation came from men employed at collieries south of Hazleton in the area where Luzerne , Schuylkill , and Carbon Counties have a common boundary. After consulting with each other, the three law officers issued separate proclamations admonishing people '' . . . from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly, and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace .' ' (114) Included in the proclamation was the state riot act of 1860 describing illegal activities and penalties. Sheriff Martin 's decision to issue the proclamation made it appear that he felt conditions were turbulent, disorderly, and warranted the organization of a posse; yet on the same day he chose to spend a leisurely afternnoon attending the bicycle races at Hazleton.(115) The following morning, Tuesday, September 7, Sheriff Martin, upon learning that a group of strikers planned to shut down the Crystal Ridge Colliery , took a number of deputies to the site and prevented them from accomplishing their goal.(116) News of this intervention by the Sheriff either had not spread, or if it had, did not awe other strikers from descending on the New Ebervale Coal Company colliery and closing it down. Company superintendent, John Scott, describing the incident stated: '' ... the real leader appeared and said they intended to win the strike if they had to apply the torch to every town in the region ."(117) After closing the New Ebervale colliery, strikers marched over to the stripping area of Calvin Pardee & Company at Lattimer hoping to repeat their success earlier in the day. However, some of the Sheriff's deputies were already at Lattimer to prevent any disruption in the company 's operations . When the marchers appeared, the officers fired warning shots ito the air dispersing them and thwarting their objective.(118) The remaining days prior to the tragedy at Lattimer found Sheriff Martin and his deputies constantly transversing the coal fields from one colliery to another checking the strikers' movements . With each passing encounter the level of exasperation and tension between the law officers and immigrant workers on strike began to rise. A Hazleton newspaper again reflected a growing concern over the lack of a strike 30 SLOVAKIA settlement and a possible serious confrontation: ''The strike can be settled within twenty-four hours, and without bloodshed, if the operators will act fair and honest with their men. "(119) A day later the same editorial voice observed a growing seriousness in that the strikers '' ... are very much embittered against the deputies, and it is feared that both parties will engage in mortal combat." (120) A letter to the newspaper editor commenting on the strike stated it was '' ... causing a depression in business and fear in the hearts of the people of bloodshed . . . '' suggesting ' ' . . . the Ministerial Association take the matter in hand, call a meeting of all the clergy of the Protestant and Catholic churches, and together with the press and businessmen try and see if their influence could not be used to settle this grave matter between the operators and men."(121) John Fahy counseled the workers to obey the Sheriff's proclamations and to avoid provocations that could cause violence since the authorities had the ability to crush them. His interest was to temper the strikers' ardor and give it some meaningful direction.(122) Martin, apparently feeling some frustrations and reservations over his efforts to deal with strikers , told Frank Pardee, head of A. Pardee & Company, '' ... that while the strikers simply confined themselves to talking to the men quietly and persuading them to quit, it was none of my business and I had no right to interfere. "(123) Regardless of whatever doubts the Sheriff may have had, he knew perfectly well that he could not disregard the wishes of the coal operators. Starting on Thursday afternoon events began to cascade toward that fateful Friday. Employees of Calvin Pardee & Company at Harwood who were on strike felt that in order to win they had to shut down the company's operation at Lattimer which had failed earlier. News came to Harwood strikers that their fellow employees at Lattimer were anxious to join them if only they would march over to Lattimer; this appeal stimulated their determination.(124) The Harwood local of the United Mine Workers held a meeting on Thursday evening to make plans to march to Lattimer the next day. Joe Mahalko, president of the Harwood local of the United Mine Workers of America, cautioned his fellow workers to go without guns or any other kind of weapons, to harm no one nor to destroy any property, and to keep the peace. On the next day, Friday, September 10, around noon some two hundred and fifty strikers from the Harwood area, consisting almost exclusively of immigrant workers, started their ill-fated mission to get their counterparts to go on strike at Lattimer. As the march proceeded, some seventy-five to one hundred additional strikers joined the ranks. (125) When they reached the outskirts of West Hazleton on their route to Lattimer around two o 'clock, they were stopped by Evan Jones, Chief of Police of West Hazleton, who told them, "Go back out of this, you are in a dangerous place. If you have to go to Lattimer you must go another way."(126) At this point Sheriff Martin and his deputies SLOVAKIA 31 arrived on the scene with the intention of stopping the marchers from proceeding to Lattimer. A confrontation occurred between the Sheriff, his deputies , and the strikers, in which one striker was arrested, another had his arm broken by a deputy, many had guns thrust in their faces , the American flag they were carrying was destroyed, and there was an exchange of blasphemous name calling.(127) Martin read his proclamation containing the riot act, ordered them to cease their march to Lattimer , and urged them to return to their homes, telling them that all of the marching from colliery to colliery to drive men from work was no way to get better wages.(128) He believed there would be serious trouble since some of the marchers had picked up stones and looked as if they intended to throw them at the law enforcement officials. However, this fear proved to be unfounded since they did not take such a provocative action. (129) Efforts to halt the march were futile considering the strikers ' determination to continue their trek to Lattimer, and Martin 's inability to communicate with them since he spoke only English and had no interpreter . After becoming exhausted from the episode , he simply gave up trying to stop them.(130) The strikers ' perception of this hostile encounter differed from the law officers ' version and hinted at forthcoming trouble . John Eagler, one of the leaders of the march and secretary of the United Mine Workers local at Harwood stated: " We were met by the deputies at West Hazleton who did not come like civilized beings , but broke through the ranks, crying, 'Stop , stop!' " (131) Joseph Mahalko declared : '' I told the Sheriff we had no stick big as my finger in the crowd. All Sheriff said was 'don't go any farther .' Sheriff said , 'You go back or I shoot you . ' " (132) Again John Eagler stated that the Sheriff only took a piece of paper from his pocket and did not read any proclamation as he claimed but had simply told them that it was against the law to march to Lattimer.(133) The strikers asserted they did not initiate any altercation with the law officers but were merely the victims of an unwarranted attempt to prohibit them from using the public highway. Something that proved to be far more serious was the ominous threats attributted to the Sheriff and his deputies against the strikers: "Go back and take care of yourself, for there will be big trouble today ." (134) " We 'll get even with the --- at Lattimer."(135) "We ' ll leave them go till we get to Lattimer ; then we ' ll shoot them. "(136) "I'd like to get a pop at the ---of b---. I'll bet I'll drop six. " (137) "I didn 't know what the h--- the Sheriff makes us walk around here so much without giving us a chance to shoot those men .'' (138) ' 'Everyone of the G-- d-- Hunks ought to be shot. " (139) Sheriff Martin , formerly a coal foreman at the Mill Creek colliery in Luzerne County, allegedly stated, " . . . a little cold lead is the only way to conquer the strikers."(140) The Sheriff's efforts and reported intimidations to terminate the strike rs ' march to Lattimer became nothing more than a futile gesture that only made them more resolute to continue their journey. Un- 32 SLOVAKIA daunted, the marchers following the advice of Chief Evan Jones took a route toward Lattimer along the outskirts of Hazleton on which they could proceed without further interference.(141) Sheriff Martin realizing his efforts had been to no avail quickly returned to Hazleton, summoned his entire force of deputies telling them to take their arms and board the trolley to Lattimer so they could prevent the marchers from stopping the Lattimer mining operations.(142) En route there was talk among the deputies '' . . . about shooting and each man seemed to be eager ... "(143) Since some of the deputies had served as coal and iron police, they " ... had had much trouble with the strikers on previous occasions and were said to be in a revengeful mood against them. "(144) Even Sheriff Martin admitted, " ... I have no doubt that some of the deputies were excited, and certainly the ride over the mountain in that crowded car was animating."(145) The Sheriff and his posse arrived at Lattimer a few minutes after three o'clock and stationed themselves along the right side of the road as it entered Lattimer from the south. He instructed his deputies " ... to keep cool and not get excited. "(146) However, before the strikers arrived, the deputies ordered a woman to go into her house on the likelihood that some shooting may occur.(147) Shortly after the deputies were in place , the strikers appeared coming up the public road in an orderly array toward the Lattimer breaker. (148) There was every reason to suspect that the deputies were fully aware that the miners were unarmed. As they approached the law officers who were standing parallel to the road, the Sheriff stepped out and walked toward the marchers with the intention of learning what they planned to do. Martin indicated that " ... if they are not going to do anything, I may let them go on, and we will go along with them.' ' (149) He ordered them to halt about forty or fifty yards from the armed deputies. The front of the column slowed as the Sheriff approached and asked them what they intended to do. The Sheriff reported they said, "We stop Lattimer Mines."(150) He then proceeded to read his proclamation in English, which many of them could not understand, while at the same time the rear of the column kept pushing forward. Within a few minutes a fracas broke out between the Sheriff and some twenty strikers at the side of the road when he attempted to seize and arrest one of the men.(151) At this point the deputies aimed and fired directly into the ranks of the strikers. The exploding crescendo of Winchesters created a bloody massacre with the sound of shrieks and moaning of the dying and wounded lying in agony. One newspaper described the scene: ''It was a human slaughter in which men were mowed down like grain stalks before a scythe, by the deadly bullets which stormed for fully two minutes. The blood of the dead and dying soaked the dusty road and flowed in streams through the ditch."(152) The murderous volley created a human carnage taking the lives of nineteen immigrants and leaving thrity-eight wounded; eleven men died at Lattimer with the SLOVAKIA 33 remaining eight dying at the Hazleton Hospital. Dr. Keller, a physician at the hospital, stated that many of the victims were shot in the back.(153) What began a month earlier as a dispute between Gomer Jones and immigrant mule drivers grew into a serious strike finally ending as a sorrowful episode in American labor history. In the aftermath of this tragedy there were contradictory versions as to what actually happened. Sheriff Martin said the strikers were vicious, boisterous, a furious and desperate gang, fierce as wild beasts, threatening to physically harm or even kill him. He felt that they were bent on doing violence and had no intention of obeying his proclamation or the laws of Pennsylvania. Earlier at West Hazleton, Martin told the marchers that it was his duty to prevent them from interfering with the men who were working at the mines, and at Lattimer he went a step further to warn them that if they did not disperse there would be trouble.(154) When a Hungarian speaking in broken English told him, "Go to hell, you a---," (155) he sought to arrest the man who shouted the epithet. The men, excited, began assaulting him forcing him to draw his revolver in self defense and attempt to shoot an attacking man, but the gun failed to discharge. He claimed that two of his attackers had pistols and a third man with a knife sought to stab him. (156) In a letter written five weeks later explaining the event to Governor Hastings, Martin wrote the following description: "One high (sic) fellow gave me a blow on the cheek and knocked me on my knees. I would have been knocked down on my back, but the crowd was too close around me so that there was no room for me to get down, and while we were struggling I heard a shot followed closely by a second and then a number of shots together. Those who were attacking me were shot, and I was then unable to recover myself, and there is no doubt in my mind that if the deputies had not shot just when they did I would certainly have been killed. While I was struggling with part of the mob on one side of the road in the ditch where they had pushed me, the part on the other side of the road with a whoop and yell rushed on toward the deputies, who no doubt fearing that their lives were in danger and that I was to be killed, fired ... '' (157) On the day after the shooting, Martin gave several conflicting statements as to why the deputies shot the strikers. "I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers ... I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot if they must to protect their lives or to protect the property that they had been sent to guard from being demolished . . . I hated to give the command to shoot and was awfully sorry that I was compelled to do so. "(158) "I did not order the deputies to fire; someone else did that. I gave no order." (159) "The shooting commenced in a manner that baffles me completely when it comes to explaining."(160) A few days later in an interview Martin suggested that the cause of the shooting came from an impulse of his men to protect him: ''They saw me in the 34 SLOVAKIA midst of the strikers, with men aiming blows at me, and they supposed probably that my life was in danger."(161) The Sheriff's answers vacillated on how the shooting began, ranging from admitting that he gave the order to his deputies to fire their weapons to denying any knowledge of how the firing happened. Even among the deputies there was no satisfactory answer as to how the shooting commenced. The version of the confrontation by the strikers and bystanders differed from and challenged the assertions made by Sheriff Martin. According to the strikers, the Sheriff ordered them to halt and began to read his proclamation. The situation became disruptive when the Sheriff sought to arrest one of the marchers and get the others to disperse. One of the men told the Sheriff '' . . . we only want to move on peaceably ... "(162) Those in the rear of the column continued pressing forward and shouting '' go ahead,'' pushing the Sheriff and some of the men off to the side of the road. Whereupon, John Eagler reported that Martin flourished his revolver, '' ... grabbed one man by the arm, and, pointing the revolver at him, said, 'Did you tell them to go ahead?' The man said he had not spoken, and then the Sheriff grabbed another man and began to shove him about. 'You will say ''Go ahead," eh?' said the Sheriff, and at the same time he aimed the revolver squarely at the man's heart. The man naturally was frightened, and pushed the Sheriff's hand holding the revolver to one side. Whether or not the Sheriff considers that an attack or·not I don't know. I am positive that not a man hit the Sheriff."(163) An account from a bystander stated that Martin '' . . . became excited and ordered the deputies to shoot . . . " (164) A striker affirmed this point that the Sheriff gave the order to fire.(165) Another eye witness agreed that Martin's command was to fire but only a warning shot over the heads of the strikers.(166) Witnesses to the shooting pointed out there were no warning shots fired but told of excessive firing into the ranks of the strikers, deputies continuing to shoot after men ran for cover, and men shot down as far as 150 yards from where they were stopped by the Sheriff.(167) A Lattimer school teacher reported: "I saw men who had hidden behind trees and fences during the first fusillade leave their places of concealment only to be deliberately shot down."(168) The school house about three hundred yards distant from which the teacher saw the shooting was riddled with bullets. An area newspaper asserted: ''This would indicate that the strikers, fleeing by the shortest route to Hazleton across the hills, were shot at long after there was any danger to the deputies." (169) Strikers affirming this horror told of being targets as they ran for safety. A detached account by Henry Hoyt, United States Assistant Attorney General, based upon an investigation of the shooting made the following summation: ''It appeared that the strikers were unarmed; that small clubs which they had previously carried were thrown away on the march between West Hazleton and Lattimer; that they were peaceable and orderly in West SLOVAKIA 35 Hazleton and Lattimer; were not riotous at West Hazleton or Lattimer, and at neither place made an assault upon the Sheriff or his deputies, or offered any violence or used threatening language to them."(170) Martin confirmed Hoyt's account by stating, in response to a reporter's question, that the strikers until the time of the shooting had not committed any overt act nor behaved otherwise than peaceably. (171) The Lattimer tragedy resulted from a multiplicity of interrelated sources. Existing in the anthracite region were nativistic sentiments encompassing an attitude of disdain for Slavic and Italian immigrants; Anglo-Saxons looked upon the strikers as unwelcomed strangers who were inferiors and who could not possibly conform to accepted standards in society. In an interview a federal treasury official, who was familiar with Hazleton, affirmed this idea with his romantic (and distorted) depiction of an idyllic and bucolic setting disrupted by the intrusion of alien people who fostered hatred: ''I think when all the facts come out in regard to the shooting it will be found that the officers who did the shooting have covered a revenge of years under the wings of the law. I remember when twelve or fifteen years ago, the section around Hazleton was settled by hard-working and honest Irishmen, Welshmen, Englishmen, Germans, and Americans. They worked in the mines and did well. Many of them owned their own homes - pretty little cottages on the hillside, surrounded by outhouses for cattle and chickens, etc., and happiness seemed to smile on all. There were no strikes and the morality of the neighborhood was good. Then began to come in the Hungarians and the Poles and the class of foreigners, by accepting smaller wages, ran the others out. I knew several Irishmen who vowed they would not leave, but went away to other States, in many instances having to sell their little homes to pay their debts and to get away on. This naturally caused a bitter feeling, a feeling which exists to this day, and one which caused many vows of revenge. The houses once the property of prosperous Irishmen and Americans are now in filthy condition, occupied by two and three families of Hungarians and Poles. Instead of clean beds there are bunks ranged along the walls and as many as four people slept in a small room. In that band of deputies which encountered the marching miners a few days ago are many men who remembered the change from the scenes of years ago. Their hearts have been full of revenge. When the opportunity presented itself they seized it, with the horrible result too well known. They shot to kill, because their relatives and friends had been made paupers by these people. I do not approve of the shooting, but I believe the facts will reveal what I have stated." (172) These immigrant strikers represented a class of people outside the local structure, posed an economic threat to the interests of coal operators, and replaced Anglo-Saxons as the dominant mine workers. In contrast, the Sheriff's posse consisted of a class of people that was 36 SLOVAKIA diametrically opposite in nationality, place in society , and occupation. This dissimilarity in turn tended to heighten emotional responses. The strike increased the stresses of nativism. Passions grew in both contending groups; as workers sought to shut down the mines , the Sheriff and his deputies, under the pressure of coal companies , tried to prevent them from accomplishing their objective. A feeling of anxiety and tension grew in the community as the chances of an ugly confrontation between strikers and law officers became likely. Undoubtedly , the Sheriff and his men fully sensed this but realized the ramifications if they failed to prevent the strikers from closing down the mining operations at Lattimer. If unsuccessful, the chances of protecting the remaining mines from being closed down by the strikers would be slight. Combined with this pressure were frustrations in trying to quell the strikers' activities , tension and fatigue over the incident at West Hazleton, malicious attitudes toward the immigrants who were also labor agitators, and a glandular excitement capable of generating panic from a large group about to undergo another encounter with strikers . A maturation process among Slavic and Italian immigrants in the anthracite coal fields reached fruition when the strike broke out in the Lehigh region in the late summer of 1897. Having become the dominant group among the mine workers in the late 1890's, they asserted themselves by conceiving and initiating the strike . This decision resulted from the frustrating working conditions and discriminatory practices emanating from nativistic actions which combined to impose hardships and an inferior status . The culmination of these factors was the wellspring for discontent and dissatisfaction. At this time the United Mine Workers of America lacked strength to represent and protect the anthracite mine workers ' interest effectively and , in addition , generally showed little interest in including the new immigrants in their ranks or purview. Consequently, the only recourse for the immigrant workers was to take matters into their own hands to seek redress for grievances. As the strike developed, it lacked coherent strategies since it was unorganized, leaderless , and did not have benefit of an effective union structure to provide direction, articulation, and ability to successfully negotiate with the coal operators. (173) This point of inadequate experience and unfamiliarity in labor affairs made the strikers vulnerable to violence . Therefore, on that Friday afternoon as the immigrant strikers marched into Lattimer imbued with a spirit to win their strike, they came face to face with Sheriff Martin and his deputies equally committed to stopping them. It was as if for a moment, the recent social and economic history of the area had been centripetally compressed into a time capsule only to be exploded by indigenous divergent and incompatible forces . Catapulted into a deadly collision were two different worlds in conflict. The result was-violence, perpetrated by public peace keepers who were the instruments of coal SLOVAKIA 37 companies' strategy to break the strike . The effect was that Lattimer became the worst tragedy in American labor history in terms of the number of workers killed and wounded by public authorities, who were not provoked nor endangered and who attacked without warning unarmed strikers peacefully demonstrating on a public highway. FOOTNOTES (1) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 11, 1897. (2) Letter from Henry Hoyt, Assistant Attorney-General, to William Day, Secretary of State, April 8, 1898; in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, with the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 6, 1898 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901), 82-87. Hoyt' s letter stemmed from an investigation made by the Department of Justice for the Department of State concerning a diplomatic protest from the Austria-Hungary government over several of its nationals killed and wounded at Lattimer. A great deal of confusion and inaccuracy existed in newspaper accounts as to the number of casualities from the shooting; reports varied from fourteen to as many as fifty people killed. Hoyt based his figures upon grand jury murder indictments against Sheriff Martin and his deputies who were brought to trial on February 1, 1898, in Luzerne County but were found not guilty by the jury. (3) Daily Standard (Hazleton), September 11, 1897. (4) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 11, 1897. (5) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (6) Daily Globe (South Bethlehem) , September 11, 1897. (7) St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 12, 1897. (8) San Francisco Chronicle, September 11, 1897. (9) Detroit Free Press, September 11, 1897. (10) Pittsburgh Dispatch, September 11, 1897. (11) Boston Daily Globe, September 11, 1897. (12) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 5, 1897. (13) Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers : A Study in Immigration (Philadelphia: J . B. Lippincott Company, 1904) , 51 & 58 ; Frank Julian Warne, "Some Industrial Effects of Slav Immigration," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904), 223-224. (14) Rowland Berthoff, "The Social Order of the Anthracite Region , 1825-1902," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LXXXIX (July 1965), 169-171; Charles B. Spahr, "America 's Working People," Outlook, Ll(Il (August 5, 1899) , 811. (15) Peter Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904) , 219. (16) Berthoff, 287; George 0 . Virtue, "The Anthracite Mine Laborers," Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor No. 13, (November, 1897) , 753. (17) Henry Edward Rood , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village ," Century Magazine, XXXIII, new series, (April, 1898), 811. (18) Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," 221. (19) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1895 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1895), 643. (20) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1897 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 546. 38 SLOVAKIA (21) Frank Julian Warne, " Organized Labor in the Anthracite Coal Fields," Outlook, LXXI (May 24 , 1902), 273 . '' . . . The operators used them (immigrants) originally to introduce low wages ... " Wilkes-Barre Record, August 8, 1897. The attitude that immigrants were responsible for undermining native labor interests was prevalent in newspaper editorials. Mauch Chunk Coal Gazette, September 25, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 8, 1897; Weekly Herald (Shenandoah), September 18, 1897; Sullivan Review, September 16, 1897 ; Detroit Free Press, September 12, 1897; Pittsburgh Post, September 15, 1897. (22) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. The laborer who assisted the contract miner was not employed by the coal operator but by the miner. Nearly eighty percent of the mine laborers in the Lehigh region worked under the contract system. Frank Julian Warne , " The Anthracite Coal Strike, " Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XVII (January, 1901), 32-33 . (23) Rood, 815. (24) Frank Julian Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XXI (January , 1903) , 23-24; Rood, 815; Virtue, 753 . (25) Victor R. Greene, The Slavic Community on Strike: Immigrant Labor in Pennsylvania Anthracite (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968), 86-87 ; Berthoff, 272-273 ; Virtue , 753 . (26) Spahr, 8ll ; Warne, " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," 31-32 ; Roberts, "The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities, " 218 . (27) Harold W. Aurand , From the Molly Maguires to the United Mine Workers: The Social Ecology of an Industrial Union, 1869-1897 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press , 1971) , 136. (28) Berthoff, 273 . (29) Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker, " 21; Berthoff, 268. (30) Alexander Trachtenberg, The History of Legislation for the Protection of Coal Miners in Pennsylvania, 1824-1915 (New York: International Publishers, 1942) , 134135. (31) Ibid., 135-136; Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88 . (32) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Sessions of 1889, Vol. I, Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1889) , 1529. (33) Virtue, 768; Greene, ll 7-ll8 ; Pottsville Republican, June 15, 1897 . (34) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1889, Vol. I, 1236. (35) Ibid. (36) United Mine Workers Journal, October 22, 1896, 1. (37) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1897, 289. (38) UMW Journal, August 12, 1897, 7. (39) Daily Standard, August 28, 1897. (40) Warne , Th e Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88. (41) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Ses sion of 1897, 135-136. The bill passed the House and Senate by votes of 126 to 12 and 28 to 3 respectively . Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 1069 & 2418 . There were attempts in the House to make the tax five cents a day. Ibid., 2418 (42) Ibid., 2292 . (43) Ibid., 2217 . SLOVAKIA 39 (44) UMW Journal, July 1, 1897, 1. (45) Fraser v. McConway & Torley Co., 82 The Federal Reporter 259 (1897) . (46) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, 2217. (47) Wilkes-Barre Record, August 26 & 28, 1897. (48) Peter Roberts, Anthracite Coal Communities: A Study of the Demography, The Social, Educational and Moral Life of the Anthracite Region (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904), 44-45 . (49) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897. (50) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report on Conditions Existing Among the Miners and Those Employed in and About the Mines in the Anthracite Coal Regions ," Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Session Begun at Harrisburg, on the Fifth Day of January, 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1897), Il, 1824-1842. (51) R eports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), xvi-xvii . (52) Ibid., xvii; "Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (53) Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 170-172. (54) "The Association Letter," Anthracite Coal Operators Association, September, 1897, 2. (55) John Graham Brooks, " An Impression of the Anthracite Coal Troubles," Yale Review, VI (November, 1897), 307. (56) "Legislative Investigating Committee Report, " 1826. (57) Virtue, 756 . (58) Ibid., 757-58; "The Association Letter," 14-15; "The Marketing of Small Sizes of Anthracite," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (June, 1897), 490. (59) The Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1888-89, Vol. IV (Washington: U.S . Government Printing Office, 1889) , lxxix . (60) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1891), 256-57 . (61) Peter Roberts , Anthracite Coal Industry (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901), 136. (62) Ibid., 138. (63) "Company Store Legislation," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (April, 1897) , 395. (64) Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897. (65) Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897. (66) Virtue, 760 ; " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (67) UMW Journal, January 14 , 1897, 5; Ibid., October 22, 1896, l; Wilkes-Barre Record, December 25, 1896; Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897 . Fahy launched a campaign in the anthracite region to secure public contributions to support the United Mine Workers of America lobbying activities to abolish the company store. The Pennsylvania Legislature, reflecting an increased awareness of labor interests, responded and passed a bill in July, 1897 , placing a ten percent tax upon the face value of all types of certificates or the equivalent issued in lieu of legal tender for employees' wages . This measure would have severely crippled the operation of company stores; however, Governor Hastings vetoed the legislation on the ground that it violated the state constitution. George Edward Reed, ed., Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. Xll, 4th ser., (Harrisburg: Wm . Stanley Ray State Printer, 1902), 150-54. 40 SLOVAKIA (68) Daily Standard, August 31 & September 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2 & 13, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike of May-October, 1902 by the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission (Washington : U.S . Government Printing Office , 1903), 144 . The above source contained information regarding the strikers' demands made to the G. B. Markle & Company in the 1897 strike. (69) Daily Standard, September 6 & 8, 1897; Spahr, 810 . (70) Ibid.; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897 ; The Reports of Committees of the Hous e ... Fiftieth Congress, lxxxi. (71) Berthoff, 286. If all the miners in the fifth district (Lehigh region) had turned in their empty powder kegs in 1896, they would have raised $10 ,028.30 . Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173. (72) Robe rts , Anthracite Coal Communities, 259, 262-263. (73) Report of the Industrial Commission of the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor in the Mining Industry Including Testimony, Review of Evidence, and Topical Digest, Vol. XIl (Washington : U.S. Government Printing Office , 1901), 142 . (74) Robe rts, Anthracite Coal Industry, 133-134. (75) Daily Standard, September 6, 8 & 9, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 7, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike, 144. (76) Daily Standard, September 9, 1897; Spahr, 810; Report of the Industrial Commission, 142. (77) Computation based on 5,754 miners and laborers in the fifth anthracite district and the use of 100,283 kegs of blasting powder. Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173 & 176. (78) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891, 96-97. (79) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. (80) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1830. (81) UMW Journal, Ocotber 22, 1896, 1. (82) Report of the Industrial Commission, 143. (83) UMW Journal, November 25, 1897, 2; Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (84) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 15, 1897. (85) Ibid.; Daily Standard, August 17, 1897. In the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre newspapers there appeared an account of an interview with an unnamed individual defending Jones ' superintendency . Acknowledging that Jones may have made some mistakes, the source indicated that the workers' discontent really stemmed from the decisions made by the preceeding superintendent or from orders issued by higher company officials . ''He is charged with being a tyrant, and in reference to this it may be said that each foreman has full charge of all employees working under him . But Jones is among the first men about the works in the morning and among the last to leave at night, and because he attends strictly to business he is called a tyrant by men who want ten hours pay for less than ten hours of work.'' Wilkes-Barre Times, August 27, 1897. (86) Ibid., August 16, 1897. Gomer Jones was arrested later on a complaint by John Bodan on the charge of aggravated assault. Ibid., August 18, 1897. (87)lbid. , August 16, 1897 . (88) Ibid. , August 17, 1897 . (89) Ibid. , August 18, 1897. (90) Ibid. , August 20, 1897 . SLOVAKIA 41 (91) Ibid. , August 21, 1897. (92) Ibid. (93) Ibid., August 28, 30 & September 1, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28, 1897. (94) Ibid., September 3, 1897. (95) Ibid., September 3 & 4, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, September 4, 6 & 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 3, 1897 . (96) Ibid. , August 28, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897. (97) Ibid. , August 30, 1897 . (98) Ibid., August 31, 1897. (99) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 3, 1897. (100) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. (101) Ibid, ; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & 30, 1897. (102) Ibid. , September 4 & 6, 1897. (103) Daily Standard, September 6, 1897. (104) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897. (105) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. A. S. Van Wickle Company operated independently of the other coal companies, provided their employees more work, and were regarded with greater esteem and confidence in the community. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 22, 1897 . (106) Letter from James Martin to Daniel H. Hastings, Governor of Pennsylvania, October 18, 1897 , Governor Hastings Papers, MG-145, Box 18, Division of Archives and Manuscripts of Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (107) Ibid. (108) R eco rd of the Times (Wilkes-Barre), March 4, 1898. (109) New York World, February 13, 1898; Dollar Weekly News-Dealer (Wilkes-Barre), September 18, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 23 , 1898 ; Pennsylvania, Department of State, Commission Bureau, "Policemen, 1889-1912," 346; Hazle Township and Hazleton City, "Real Estate Tax Assessment Books for 1896 and 1897 ,'' Office of the Board for the Assessment and Revision of Taxes , Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . (110) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898; Daily Standard, September 7, 1897. (111) Record of the Times, March 4, 1897. (112) Daily Standard, October 21, 1897. A review of the annual financial report of the Comptroller for Luzerne County revealed that there were no payments from county funds for the services of the deputies at Hazleton , supporting the conclusion that the coal operators paid the deputies' salaries. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 23, 1898. (113) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (114) Daily Standard, September 9, 1898. (115) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (116) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (118) Ibid. (119) Ibid. , September 9, 1897. (120) Ibid. , September 10, 1897 . (121) Ibid., September 9, 1897. 42 SLOVAKIA (122) Ibid., September 8, 1897; Hazleton Sentinel, September 3, 1897; Spahr, 808. (123) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (124) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (125) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (126) Record of the Times, February 11, 1898. (127) Ibid. , March 4, 1898. (128) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (129) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (130) Ibid. (131) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (132) Ibid. (133) Ibid. (134) Ibid., February 18, 1898. (135) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (136) Ibid., February 15, 1898. (137) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (138) Ibid., February 8, 1898. (139) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (140) New York World, September 12, 1898. "Whether deserved or not, Sheriff Martin, of Luzerne county, it is alleged, entertains an unquestionable hatred for the foreign element." Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (141) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (142) Ibid., September 11, 1897. (143) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 13, 1897. (144) Easton Free Press, September 13, 1897. (145) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (146) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (147) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (148) Record of the Times, February 28, 1898; Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (149) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (150) Ibid. (151) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (152) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (153) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898; Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), September 11, 1897; Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (154) Ibid., September 11, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 11 , 1897; WilkesBarre Record, September 11, 1897 . (155) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (156) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (157) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897. (158) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (159) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897 . (160) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11 , 1897. SLOVAKIA 43 (161) Pottsville Republican, September 14, 1897. (162) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (163) Evening Bulletin, September 13, 1897. (164) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (165) Record of the Times, February 22, 1897. (166) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (167) Record of the Times, February 11 & 15, 1898; Daily Standard, September 11, 1897; "Some of the guns were loaded with shells containing a lot of No.8 shot, which scattered with deadliest effect, and others had the plain bullets of heavy bore. The manner in which the victims were tom up looked as though they had been before gatling guns or on a field of where grape and canister were poured from cannon mouths." Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (168) Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (169) Wilkes-Barre Sunday Morning Leader, September 12, 1897. (170) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (171) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (172) New York Tribune, September 15, 1897. (173) Report of the Industrial Commission, 139-140; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & September 5, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. When news of the Lattimer shooting spread through the coal fields surrounding Hazleton, the scope of the strike immediately enlarged involving some 10,000 mine employees and idling nineteen of the thirty-three area collieries. Strikers were unwilling to return to work during the following week when funerals for victims were held; they further refused to end their work stoppage until the coal operators met their grievances, mainly an increase in wages. The strike began to wane on September 20 when the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company agreed to grant a ten percent wage increase to mine laborers, pay six to eight cents more per car of coal to miners, and seek solutions to workers' complaints. Only two companies, Lehigh Valley Coal Company and C. Pardee and Company, had not reached a settlement by the end of the second week after the Lattimer shooting but by the end of September they both made an agreement similar to the other coal operators which finally brought an end to the Lehigh coal strike of 1897. Pennsylvania, Official Documents of 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1899), ill, 124 Scranton Times, September 21, 1897; Daily Standard, September 21 & 24, 1897; UMW Journal, November 18, 1897, 3. 44 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre KON STANTIN CULEN A tragic event that occurred in September 1897 struck at the heart of Slovak American life with such telling impact that it served to solidify the Slovak immigrants in the United States into one unified body more effectively than had any previous experience in their new world. This event greatly furthered that awareness of a need for unity that began to crystallize under the pressures to which they had been subjected in their homeland Slovakia. In American history as well as in the record of early SlovakAmerican history this event is known as the Lattimer slaughter or the Lattimer massacre. The setting was the mining region around Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It was an area that had long seethed with the discontent and the restiveness of the men who were employed in the mines . Mine management groups had long bled their workers white, extracting the very marrow out of their bones . The companies paid out pauper wages, cheated the workmen on their weight checks, overcharged prices for foods and daily necessities that were sold through company stores. Scores of mining catastrophes underscored the obvious inadequacy of safety measures that existed to protect the men in their dangerous work in deep underground pits. Miners in Hazleton had declared a strike but nearby mines in neighboring communities continued to operate at practically full strength. Some casual talk was heard from time to time to the effect that the Hazleton operators were planning to bring in scabs in the near future. Union leaders realized that their Hazleton strike would lose all effectiveness unless the miners of the entire locality would join forces in one concerted resistance movement, supporting the Hazleton effort and pressing common demands for improved conditions and benefits. On September 10, 1897 a sizable group of Slovak and Polish miners who were on strike set out for the small mining settlement of Lattimer. In subsequent investigations during the trial they testified that they were on their way there because the Lattimer workers had sent them word that they decided to join the strike movement. The group of striking miners had hardly left Hazleton when Sheriff Martin with a company of about a hundred men from the supporting police force (so-called deputies) anticipated their movement and went An excerpt from Konstantin Culen's two-volume History of the Slovaks in America. (Bratislava, Slovenska Liga , 1942) vol. 1, Part XI , no . 5-9, pp. 162-176. Translated by Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. SLOVAKIA 45 on ahead of them riding the trolley lines. On reaching Lattimer, he assigned his force of deputies to various positions and then he moved several paces forward, addressing the group marching in on foot, to read a restraining order that forbade any gathering or assemblage of persons by provision ordinance dealing with uprising and rebellion. During the reading of this ordinance, a few strikers came closer to the sheriff and there was some minor verbal exchange. The miners objected that they were not disturbers of the public peace or revolutionaries of any kind; they were simply orderly and law-abiding citizens peacefully going along their way . This reaction so exasperated the sheriff that he reached out and snatched away a small American flag that one of the men was carrying, tore it up, pulled out his revolver and began to shoot. After he had drawn his trigger five times, his sixth shot struck a miner in the chest and hurled him to the ground. After the sheriff's outburst of fire, there was the sound of volleys from the deputies. The unarmed miners turned and fled in panic, trying to find safety or protection of some kind. The brutal frontal attack lasted but a few moments but the deputies continued to fire upon the fleeing miners so that practically all of them were struck and wounded in flight.(1) The deputies who were charged with excitement by this time, further assaulted the bleeding victims by beating them and kicking them cruelly as they lay helpless on the ground. A shot or a volley of shots can seem to be an effective argument at a given moment but usually its effectiveness wears off after a brief time. And shots or salvos of shots fail to carry conviction. This was brought out in the Lattimer situation. The Slovak colony found itself in a state of shock, standing inconsolate beside the corpses of the fallen men. It was all too clear to these newcomers now - if it had not been clear to them before - that every Slovak had to be very realistically a brother to a fellow-Slovak, that every Slovak would have to be the most reliable standby and defense of a fellow-Slovak. Anything less than that would serve to reduce them to the debasing circumstance of being mere henchmen and convenient tools of foreign overlords and exploiters. This extravagant bloodletting and bizarre butchering under unprovoked and non-violent circumstances evoked considerable humane reaction in the American press. The attitudes of American journalists were not all of a kind. Some reporters and editors were incensed over the needless killings and brutality. Some wrote with a sense of relief that the incident involved only "Hunkies" - the generic designation that most newspapers used for every newcomer from Austria-Hungary. News of this lamentable event spread to all the Slovak settlers scattered throughout the United States and set off a degree of outrage and consternation that no other experience had yet caused in SlovakAmerican life. Those who had been faction-torn or at odds for whatever 46 SLOVAKIA reasons , were at once moved to conciliation and unity through their common grief at the graveside of the murdered men. Slovak Ame rican journalists who had been indulging personal and non-personal bouts of polemics in their papers left all that trivia now that a common cause evolved out of this catastrophe , and a vigorous new spirit infused their energies and talents. They reacted with a sense of unity and resolute will not only to moderate the mounting resentment and growing agitation that could have been fanned to unreasonable and uncontrollable proportions but to divert effort and attention to an altruistic purpose on behalf of aiding and befriending the widowed and orphaned survivors . Slovak American journalists also undertook a determined program to secure in the free world of America that measure of civic dignity and security that would make it impossible for such brutal disregard of the human right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ever to be repeated and condoned again . The press came out strongly with appeals for at least financial compensation to the bereaved widows and orphans and demanded that punitive justice be dealt the incriminated sheriff. The general feeling was that the just process of law and suitable sentencing should act as a deterrent to any possible repetition of the horrible incident. The whole body of Slovak immigrant life in America reacted with a corporate cry of pain and a strong appeal protesting the inhumanity of the Lattimer episode. New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, all made their voices heard as did lesser towns and even the lowly scattered hamlet settlements in America where Slovaks nursed the pain of this tragic hurt . Countless gatherings and demonstrations attracted thousands of Slovak laborers to review and assess the factors involved and the consequences of this catastrophe. Numberless formal discussions and rallies were climaxed with the drawing up of appropriate protest resolutions. All Slovak-American centers participated in drives to aid the victimized survivors of the callous murder, and there were also spirited fund-raising campaigns for legal expenses and court costs to bring Sheriff Martin to justice, for the prevailing view was that he should be made to pay for his crime, for his responsibility in leading and abetting reprehensible action . A committee for this express purpose was organized in Hazleton, holding itself charged to set in motion whatever action might be called for and to pursue the cause to its end. The September 16, 1897 issue (738) of the Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny appeared with a banner headline whose bold-faced lettering read: "Massacre of Slavs . In the freest country under the sun , people are shot at like dogs. Slavs are the victims of American savagery." Editor Pucher Ciernovodsky designated September 10 the bloody Friday of Slovak national life. His report seemed to be written with a pen dipped in blood. He denounced the attacking party and he did not spare the Slovaks themselves , finding them culpable of that lack of SLOVAKIA 47 interest in public affairs that could have contributed significantly to the culmination of this public scandal. Some of Pucher Ciernovodsky' s thoughts were: ' 'The mountainsides of Hazleton are drenched with Slovak blood, and pitiable orphans and widows, fathers and mothers, brothers and friends raise eyes brimming with bitter tears to heaven pleading, 0 God , is there justice in this life? If there is justice on this earth of ours, did our blood truly deserve this spilling? Who in this world is committed to greater drudgery than we? Who in this world is engaged in a work that is more dangerous than ours? ' 'When we are driven to extremes of misery because hunger and want have sapped our strength and our bodies are bone-weary from overwork, and when our famished and shabbily clothed children ask for food that we cannot provide for them , and we go to discuss our problems and try to come together for deliberations in an effort to arrive at some reasonable solutions, how to go about unsnarling this sad fate that so embitters our lives - what kind of law is it, what kind of justice and fairness is it - or is it our miserable doom that we should be shot at like dogs? Ah, America, America ... ''It is indeed a curious America. When the Turks set upon the Armenians, every full-blooded American protested and vehemently shouted his willingness to join a fighting force to check the Turks. And yet here and now when it comes to bringing to justice those who similarly violated the rights of Slavs in America, they do all in their power to prevent the guilty from being brought to legitimate trial. Reams have been written and volumes have been mouthed condemning the cruelties of the Spanish in Cuba. There was universal recrimination against the injustices inflicted upon the oppressed Cubans, yet journalists have scant syllables of tenderness or sympathy for our people who were felled by wanton gunshot in a manner more senseless and inhuman than any attack of the Spanish upon the Cubans . The Cubans at least had defense weapons but our people were shot unarmed, shot like animals . ''This grieves us unspeakably. '' And, in the last analysis, who is most responsible for all this? "We ourselves must hold ourselves responsible. "A Slav does not support a fellow-Slav. We have no mutual bonds of unity, no fellowship at all, no commonly shared activities. We cultivate none. We fail to get along amicably. Instead, we seem to make sport of baiting one another, and we lack even that zest for life that long ago should have whipped us into a common front to denounce the maligning that the American press released against us and to protest the discrimination and injustice imposed upon foreigners by the threecent-tax. If other ethnic groups had not taken the initiative , we would have let them dance on our heads . 48 SLOVAKIA ' ' What can the American public think about such men? It would not be surprising if they rated us cowardly, worthless, less than the Indians, and so deserving a fate no better than that of the Indians. "We give too little consideration to matters like citizenship, legal rights and civil rights or public opinion. No wonder, then, that public opinion shows no concern about us, has no regard for us . ''If public opinion had any respect for us, then those deputies and the sheriff who were involved in the Lattimer affair would not have allowed themselves to perpetrate such an act of sheer barbarism. Whatever the circumstances, whether there was any excuse or not for a collective attack with Winchester rifles, at least this truth remains that if we were not a subservient people they would not have kept firing at our fleeing men from behind. "The catchword of people like our attackers, is "Shoot the Hungarian dog! ' ' Why? Because we do not make the effort to have our own recognized defense and defenders , our own qualified men who are in touch with the pulse of political life and current trends , men qualified to speak out on our behalf. We ourselves all too readily and regrettably belittle our own ; we tend to regard with disfavor and lack of recognition those of us who have gifts of leadership; we begrudge them opportunities , cut them down and deny them a chance to develop their potential. "In the end we suffer for it collectively. It is true that there are officials whose duty it is to defend our people because they were appointed and authorized to do so, and they are salaried to execute this office , but they seem to be wrapped in safe slumber. They are our Austro-Hungarian consuls. " Just what did these officials, these Austro-Hungarian consuls do for us in previous strike situations? Exactly nothing. " On the other hand , how did the Italian consuls react when their Italian countrymen were being lynched in New Orleans? The furor that was generated on that occasion almost incited a war with the United States, and an indemnity of five thousand dollars had to be paid for every victim. ' 'It is our reasoned judgment that the Hazleton bloodshed is far more criminal than was the New Orleans lynching and it is the patent duty of the Austro-Hungarian government to make honorable and serious intervention on our behalf. "Since those who were shot to death were citizens of the United States , we have no alternative but to organize our effort in order to bring the whole affair to an exhaustive investigation and to the due process of justice. The burden of responsibility in this matter rests primarily with our Slavic organizations which, in every respect, bear the characteristics of American organizational structure. And their responsibility for such action is all the more binding if any of their members happened to be among the victims, if they were members of SLOVAKIA 49 the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota), the Greek Catholic society Sojedinenie, the Pennsylvania Slovak Union, Sojus, etc. Let these organizations set in motion the wheels that will bring about necessary lawsuits; let them underwrite out of their treasuries or raise funds in some way to cover related expenses, and let their united effort and combined strength prove that they truly have the good name and the best interests of all Slavic ethnics at heart. Let me presume to say that this Bartholomew night should serve as a Sturrnistic symbol effecting concerted and wholehearted cooperation. ''If this soul-shaking experience fails to jolt us out of our morbid lethargy, we ought to raise a memorial cross as a marker for our nation and our spirit of patriotism and declare that we buried it all on that bloody Friday in Hazleton.'' (2) Because of this massacre a violent disturbance broke out among the Slovak and Polish miners. Governor Hastings declared a state of emergency in Hazleton and dispatched 2,500 troops to move in and control the problem. Security measures that the governor ordered for the Hazleton area were very extensive and elaborate, involving the outlay of $475 ,000 - a very large sum in those days. The whole countryside seethed and repercussions were witnessed far and wide. The American press took sides with Sheriff Martin, generally arguing (as if it were a valid objection) that the slain men were not even American citizens. The press of the ethnic groups and those who supported the cause of the miners countered this attitude with the historically substantiated observation that neither were Pulaski, Kosciusko and some other heroes of the American War for Independence official citizens of the United States. They came to fight for freedom in a land that was alien to them because liberty and freedom are nowhere in the world foreign commodities to any human being. Freedom is the prerogative of every person and we are all entitled to our share of this gift. In the hour of our country's struggle for freedom, every able volunteer was welcome to share in the battle and in the pain to win it. Now that the fruits of liberty should be portioned out to all and denied to none in a free land, it is glibly said that freedom is our privilege - you are existentially in the land of liberty but you are not a free man. On September 11 the miners held an open air protest rally in Hazleton. Father Stas, pastor of St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic church in Freeland, spoke on behalf of the Slovak minority. He spoke out strongly and fearlessly against a freedom that countenances the murder of defenseless people. Some of the other speakers on this occasion were Reverend R. Aust of Hazleton who represented the Poles, Reverend Gullovic, Reverend Hauser, attorney John Shea of Wilkes-Barre and J . Fahy, president of the United Mine Workers. A gathering of over 4,000 Slovak and Polish mine workers resolved to 50 SLOVAKIA defend their rights, determined to make Sheriff Martin stand trial for this wanton bloodletting. The victims of the disaster were buried on September 12 as huge throngs converged upon the area for the occasion. This Lattimer massacre affected much of America. On September 15, the Slovaks and the Poles of the New York region held a mass demonstration at which they made it clear that the issue at stake was in no way related to religious affiliation or nationality roots or fratemalism of one kind or another. Their main concern was the general welfare of the American working class and fundamental civil rights for all. They appealed for unanimity and single-mindedness of purpose among them all - the Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians and English. A resolution which they formulated on this occasion includes these sentiments: · 'Profoundly affected by the catastrophe that occurred in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in a free country, the republic of the United States of North America, where on September 10 eighteen men who were Slavs and Slovaks were shot to death and about forty others were wounded by a sheriff's posse as these men peaceably and with no ill intent went their way on a public street, aware of the provision of the Constitution of the United States which guarantees every citizen freedom of speech, freedom of opinion and belief, and the right of assemblage, all of which this country esteems and safeguards as sacred civil rights. ' ' Aware that the action of Sheriff Martin and his party was wholly unlawful and totally uncalled for - for it has been proved that the workmen who were en route to their predetermined destination had neither arms nor foul purpose, and he had not even tried to inform them of his rights and their duties - we, on this basis, as American citizens, as workingmen, as Slavs by accident of birth, do most emphatically denounce and condemn this criminal act. We express our profound sympathy to the bereaved families of the unfortunate victims even as we invoke the widely esteemed American regard for justice, urging that formal action be taken to bring to trial those who are considered blameworthy and to have them face their responsibility by due process of law and in this way to effect moral satisfaction to our nation and material compensation to the survivors of the victim families; ' 'We further resolve that to the full extent of our ability and means we will morally and materially offer our assistance to the unfortunately bereaved and we will exert all our power and prestige to have bloodthirsty criminals bear the just punishment which their conduct deserves; "We finally resolve that copies of this resolution be sent to the governor of the state of Pennsylvania and to the district attorney of Luzerne County, and that it be published in all newspapers; we also urge the editors of our Slovak publications to appeal to our people to SLOVAKIA 51 support this action wholeheartedly with liberal contributions in an effort to redeem and justify the much maligned name and rights of the Slovaks who find it inevitable to undertake a distasteful reckoning with narrow-minded nativists." (3) A spirited call was made in the press for attendance at a protest gathering scheduled for September 20 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania "at which resolutions will be formulated denouncing the action of Sheriff Martin who is responsible for the shooting-death of so many blameless Slovaks . English, Slovak, Polish, Croatian and various other speakers will address those present." Protest and denunciation were voiced from all parts of the nation where there were fellow nationals of the slain miners . Dr. Theodorovic, who represented the office of the Austro-Hungarian consul, came to Hazleton for a personal assessment of the massacre and related factors. Slovak and Polish groups initiated drives throughout the United States in order to raise funds for promoting an equitable trial that would yield at least fair compensations where they were due, and just penalties for Sheriff Martin and his henchmen, all within the framework of jurisprudence and with a deterrent impact against similar injustice. One outcome of this effort was the organization of "the National Fair Trial and Beneficial Committee on Behalf of the Lattimer Victims. " This committee published a public statement and an appeal which was carried in all the current newspapers. It read in part: '' The underlings who are in the employ of corporations and share a thirst for liquidating their fellow-citizens are largely the lackeys and hacks of their bosses, all murderously eager to carry out every order from the top. The incident did not arise out of any disturbance of the peace by those guiltless men who were so brutally victimized; there was no intent to transgress law or ordinance; they carried no firearms , no clubs or flails. Workingmen were simply on a mission of their own, marching along the street to meet some fellow-workers from the same mining company in order to discuss a sharing of views and attitudes and to build moral support in a common cause. ''The Declaration of Independence in this land proclaims that all men are created free and equal. Somehow these hirelings felt that the life of an alien is not worth even as much as the life of a slave. Apparently they were led to believe that their killing of such people and under such circumstances would be universally approved by the press and by public opinion. '' It is well known that Americans endorse the principle of fair play. When poor workmen, unarmed victims, were so foully gunned down in cold blood, not only this land but all the civilized world was appalled by the atrocity. The Constitution of the United States provides for the right of peaceful assembly. Have these words meaning or force in the light of bullets and bayonets? We hold that every individual who participated in the shooting on that ill-fated day in Lattimer overstepped his rights 52 SLOVAKIA and violated the law. We hold that their act was nothing short of criminal, inhuman and unspeakable butchery. "We make this appeal and protest in the name of those who were wounded and as representatives of those who are the bereaved survivors in the families of the slain victims. Our committee has been organized in order to provide counsel and to call witnesses and to take care of whatever else may be necessary to bring Sheriff Martin and his deputies to face indictment and to stand trial according to the full force of our country's laws. ''We act on the principle that this struggle of ours is your struggle as well as ours and on the assumption that you are friends of the workingman who is often taken advantage of. If these people whom we desire to bring to an accounting are let go free and without making retribution for the killing of our countrymen, who knows what further fate can await us in the future? "Reverend Richard Aust, president; John Nemeth, treasurer; Loughran, secretary; Reverend John Stas, Salvator di Sandola, Nicholas Ballok, Matthews Long, John Kuntz, Charles Hauser, Edmund Lemhick, Reverend J. Formanek, Frank Kozlovski, George Kozarovich. '' Samuel Gompers, president of the Federation of Labor, visited the scene and made some observations about the cheap labor of the Poles, Slovaks and Italians whom the coal barons were importing into America in order to squeeze out the '' intelligent Irish and Welsh laborers.' ' Even before the sentencing, Gompers as president of the workers' union said, ''It is my opinion that the sheriff and his deputies will be acquitted in order to teach 'those foreigners' a lesson to behave differently in the future. ' 'Posterity will rate the Lattimer killings as nothing but massacre of a kind that has no equal in the history of civilized peoples, and the consciences of the perpetrators of this act will accuse and torment them to their last day. And even though monopolies and monopolists may succeed in achieving their victory, such slaughter must some day come to an end; truth will be victorious and all people will enjoy the fulness of their sacred rights - all people, whether they be of the common working class or the favored moneyed class of mine owners. "The laborers .of our country are moving toward better and stronger organization day by day, and the citizens at large are grasping a much better and a truer concept of the rights and obligations of individuals. When that day of ultimate realization does arrive, the account of the Lattimer murders will have been written in our history in letters of blood and this notorious crime will be looked upon as the most atrocious and vile offense of the nineteenth century.'' The trial of Sheriff Martin and his associates opened on February 1, 1898. The place of trial was the Luzerne County Court in WilkesBarre. Adherents of both the prosecution and the defense followed SLOVAKIA 53 developments with undivided attention and intense feeling. Sheriff Martin had the support of all the major coal corporations , top officialdom and capitalism . The plaintiffs were backed by the laboring masses. In the process of jury se lection , Judge Staley Woodward saw to it that only American-born citizens were seated as jurors . There was never any doubt that the se lected jury panel was unanimous in its antipathy for foreigners . Judge Woodward ascertained from sworn testimony that the striking miners had created no public disorder or disturbance during their march , that they were completely unarmed, that Sheriff Martin had stopped them and insolently ordered them to turn back , that the miners were not incline d to obey but had objected that they had every right to use a public street. Further testimony indicated that the sheriff challenged the leader of the marching group, gave the order to fire and that he himself fired the first shot , striking the leader of the marching miners in the chest as additional volleys were turned upon the men who began to run for shelter . The City Trust Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia supplied bail for the indicted to the amount of $256 ,000 . The press seldom missed an opportunity to belittle the foreign element and to overstate their shortcomings and least desirable traits - almost as if bad traits and undesirable characteristics were exclusively theirs. The presiding judge at the trial was Judge Woodward. He was related to the owner of the mines where strikes were beginning to be staged. He was also a shareholder in these mines. There was not a single Slav among the twelve jurors, most of whom were farmers, men who could hardly have firsthand knowledge of mining conditions and the situations that had justified the strike movement. They were not at all familiar with such matters as fair working conditions, e quitable pay, safety m easures, etc. A writer in one of the current publications observed, ' 'These are the names of the men in whose hands rests the power of passing a verdict that will tell the world whether anyone in this civilized country - even if he be the highest official of a particular country - may or may not, without cause, slaughter peaceful workers . It is easy to tell from the listed names that to the very last man these jurors are all Americans. The question is: are their hearts filled with rank nativism and malicious ill-will against foreigners? If they are bigoted nativists, it is vain to expect a fair sentence.'' Early in the opening of the trial the court denied the motion of the state prosecutor that the jury go to the scene of the massacre for a kind of re-enactment of the events that occurred there . The last act of this bloody drama took place during the trial. As charge followed upon charge , the full impact of hate and prejudice 54 SLOVAKIA harbored against the Slavic immigrants came into clearer and surer light. One of the defendants boasted, "I did all right; I aimed at nine and brought down five of them ." Meanwhile the mutilated survivors of that bloody Friday - some without an arm or a leg -- were in full view of the court and the spectators gathered at the trial. Before the eyes of them all , Gregory Gasparik with bandages bound about his head in which a bullet was still lodged, in moderate tones testified against Sheriff Martin and his posse. People who lived near the scene of the crime also came in to testify, telling how they had seen the deputies beat the strikers who were already all bloodied and wounded with shots . The defendants produced about a hundred witnesses who charged that Poles and Huns had terrorized the whole area and that on this occasion they were actuallly marching with firearms. They supported Sheriff Martin as a law man who was doing his duty when he ordered his men to fire at the group . Sheriff Martin, on his part, denied all guilt in the matter and entered a plea of innocent . He claimed that after reading the injunction, he attempted to arrest the leader of the marchers but the striking men , misunderstanding his action and intent, set upon him and began to beat and kick him. At this point he called upon his men for help and when even that restraint was ineffective, he finally gave an order to fire because he feared that he might be killed. When blank shots did not quell the situation , then they began to shoot in earnest even if it meant to wound and kill. He claimed that when he first met the marchers, he asked where they were going and that they answered, ''To Lattimer in order to get the men out of work! " " I begged them and pleaded with them not to go any farther ," he stated. " I urged them to obey the law and to disperse. Someone from the back of the crowd loudly cried out the word to go on. The strikers began to jostle me about and to shout abuse at me. One drunken Hungarian even tried to throttle me so I arrested him. The crowd that surrounded me swelled bigger and bigger. I drew my revolver and aimed into the air because I did not want to hurt anyone . In that instant, Joseph Novotny punched me in the face and I fell to the ground as the mob began to howl, 'Kill the s.o.b. ! ' '' I tried to defend myself with my revolver but it wouldn't fire. The mob that was pressing upon me was armed with revolvers and knives. When I fell to my knees, the deputies began to fire and the crowd then started to fall back. But they did not disperse at once. At a distance of 500 to 600 feet, they stopped in a wooded place. I felt that they might return. My men began to shout to them to disperse . Afterwards I gave the order to look after the wounded and the killed.'' The strikers countered this desposition with the charge that the sheriff was the first to fire a shot. They maintained that no one struck SLOVAKIA 55 him, no one kicked him nor was there any evidence on his clothing or his body that he had been subjected to rough treatment of any kind. No blanks were discharged and no man who was wounded or killed was struck by a frontal shot; all were shot from the back. The son of the mine owner, young Pardee, called out to the law men , "Boys, shoot down those Huns! " Further testimony indicated that the deputies were extremely harsh and unfeeling even toward the killed and the wounded , kicking them mercilessly. Sworn witnesses consistently testified that the miners had no arms of any kind . They carried no canes or sticks, no rocks or stones , much less firearms. Scores of witnesses corroborated this testimony . Andrew Siviar, one of the miners, testified that the workmen marched as members of the United Mine Workers of America and that they had no weapons and had planned no mischief or property destruction of any kind. John Milhala, secretary of the local union, testified that they had gone to the mayor of the city who assured them that they could go to Lattimer in orderly fashion , that the sheriff had no authority to stop or prevent them. Some striking testimony was presented by the local school teacher Charles Guscot. He was eyewitness to the entire episode. He attested to the opening of fire by Sheriff Martin and the inhumane shooting upon the men who helplessly tried to flee from the ruthless officers. Another teacher from a nearby school alleged that she personally saw one of the deputies pursuing a wounded and bloodied man and in horror witnessed how he shot him to death a few steps in front of her when the weakened man fell to the ground from exhaustion. Reverend Stafflet declared under sworn testimony that he was passing the scene in a trolley car and had seen no signs of provocation on the part of the miners . They conducted themselves becomingly and bothered nobody along the way. The daily papers reported that the courtroom was the scene of some most unusual proceedings. The firm that had provided the earlier funds for bail now again supplied further expense money in the amount of over $402 .00 . All the sworn testimony agreed on the fact that the miners had no weapons . As a matter of fact, they had reckoned with the possibility of being challenged on the way and had forbidden any man to carry arms. Not one of them carried even as much as a walking stick or ordinary cane. Among the witnesses one testified that when he decided to join the group, he went into the mountains and cut himself a staff - just in case - but the others prevailed upon him to throw it away. There was also testimony that the deputies had openly boasted in the town that they would kill "the dirty Huns" yet. One of them joked about the whole thing afterwards, commenting that if he had been 56 SLOVAKIA given a cent for every one that he shot, he would have had the price of a bee r because he himself hit five . The sheriff and all the indicted men appeared before the bench with an air of great self-confidence and assurance. Their backing firm had made an outlay of over $30,000 in legal fees, the judge undoubtedly lent them the weight of his favor and they knew beforehand that no kind of testimony could affect them adversely. Some of the leading American newspapers, including the New York World which was owned by Pulitzer , a Jew from Zemplin in Slovakia, slanted their reporting to discredit the miners. Maurice Engelman , who was also a witness, testified that back in town they laughingly told him to hide or he would be an easy target. John Petruska testified that he was present when the posse was choosing firearms and one of the deputies quipped, " We ' re on our way for a shooting in Lattimer!" Gaspar Wizneski testified that he himself saw the sheriff raise his revolver and fire into the crowd in front of him . '' Do you swear that you saw the sheriff kill one of the strikers?'' the attorney challenged him . '' I swear to it that I did! '' he answered in a clear and audible voice that carried throughout the electrified atmosphere of the courtroom. Martin McGahren and Scarlet, attorneys for the plaintiffs, did not lack incriminating evidence yet all the substance of the testimony did not seem to put the burden of guilt on the accused. The court demanded specific proof and specific charges identifying who killed whom . This could hardly be presented , given the circumstances of abrupt assault and the ensuing panic . Who could tell precisely whose bullet killed this victim or that one? And there was the persistent line of defense claiming that the sheriff acted in the discharge of his duty when he issued the order to fire on the crowd. The defense was called to investigate a hundred witnesses . It was a drawn out trial that finally ended on March 9, 1898 . The sentence that was pronounced was: "The accused are found not guilty. " The court ruled that they had the right to shoot, that they had a right to selfdefense. This verdict created a public scandal. Over 30 ,000 miners began to threaten to take to the streets again, to start another strike. But they were at a total disadvantage. Corporations had contributed several hundred thousands of dollars for this legal battle. How could that be matched by the trifling $5,930 that the impoverished and distracted miners were able to raise from their own resources? For long months, the prime topic of public interest and comment among the Slovaks was the Lattimer massacre. Dozens and dozens of articles, printed and spoken reactions of varying degrees of intensity, were devoted to this incredibly outrageous event and its disgraceful outcome . J. A. Feriencik vehemently and fearlessly criticized a court of SLOVAKIA 57 justice that would condone such wanton killing and allow such an act to go unpunished, unatoned, because the lords and the mighty ones assented to it. In stark disbelief he wrote: ''They will kill, they will shoot, and grant you no mourning or tears of relief. And somehow they will make it all come out within the limits of the law. '' On the one hand we keep calling out 'Friends and countrymen of ours, come out here and settle here in America, in this famed free country. Apply for American citizenship, learn English, do your utmost to become worthy citizens of the United States, etc.' On the other hand, we urge our people back home to come over with their entire families, to establish themselves as family units and to adopt the American way of life and so gain the ' respect' of their American neighbors. '' And our people here credulously throng to the courts for naturalization forms, they register their desire to become American citizens, set themselves to studying English, the language of this country, adopt American usage and custom, and with all the ardor of their nature they cultivate a deep love for this new country of theirs. In many instances their devotion and loyalty outstrip the sentiments of some native American citizens. And the returns for this good will and generous effort? - Heartless murder! "Even as our people spare no pain in their sincere enthusiasm to evidence their devotion , patriotism and good will, their love for the land of their adoption, their respect for its laws, they are contemptuously referred to as scoundrel Huns and Hunkies. And what hate goes with the slogans: They pushed us out of our jobs; take it out on them! Give it to them! Let them know that we don't like them one bit! '' Some of it is even more foul than this but I must restrain myself or some of that biased American justice might just get me across the knuckles too. "So it is then. These are the facts: You, my people , bend your neck willingly . You do all that you can to prove your genuine devotion to this new land. And what do you get for it all? - Censure, unmitigated scorn, cold brutality. '' Blameless blood is needlessly shed within the scope of the law. It is all but a miracle that the presiding judge did not pin a medal of heroism on the lapel of the sheriff and proclaim him a deliverer of some kind. ''It is time for us to look about and assess what's around us and not just sound off about the freedom, the democracy and the brotherhood of these people. "At every step you come upon hate, you face contempt. Even a street urchin will let you know that you are repulsive to him. ' ' My people, does misery force you to flee from one country as you seek to save your life and avoid starvation, and do you eagerly turn to 58 SLOVAKIA this free America to settle here and earn your bread through hard work and long hours? You escape from misery at home and the threat of death by famine only to hurl yourself into the arms of death here. There you tried to save your life; here they snatch it from you. "Foul murder! '' Are we to be the door mat of murderers forever? Some drive us out of our birthplace and in exile others set upon us with the intent to kill. "Introduce a system of slavery. Buy white slaves, shackle them, treat them at will and you will have a fair picture of American freedom and democracy in action . A realistic picture. Is the world to consider these democratic and freedom-loving people? A murderer has never yet been taken for a champion of freedom , a humanitarian or a freedom-lover. The lurid blotch left by Slovak blood spilled in Pennsylvania will long witness your kind of benevolence, your warped philanthropia? '' Are we to tell the undisguised truth to all our people? Well, if you want them to shoot you here, then tell it. It appears that before long they will pass laws making it legal to shoot Slovaks in certain particular months and not to consider them game in others - just as they do for various animals. It seems to be moving in that direction. This very trial gives proof of such widely touted justice and equity. The capitalist triumphs in spite of his crime and his guilt. The wretched workman loses even though it is he who has been wronged. " My people, if you only had millions of dollars in your hands, they would surely have proved to you how they can adjust and modify twisted paragraphs. But without the almighty dollar ... if you are the unfortunate wretch, then suffer and be still. That is the kind of principle that guided the judge presiding at the trial of the Lattimer murderers .'' (4) The American-Slovak News further editorialized on the subject of the trial and its verdict: '' For those who participated in the Lattimer massacre - or putting it more aptly - for those who defended the bloody trade of the butchers thirsting for human blood at the scene of the Lattimer carnage, it would be rather unfair to designate the event as a drama. For them this classic drama reached its denouement with all the impact of a genuine comedy. Twelve confirmed foes of all that does not breathe the fanatic ideas of the Apaches declared that the butcher Sheriff Martin and his vultures only did their duty; they acted as honorable men when they killed off those hated Huns. ''They crucified truth! They grossly trampled upon the rights of the disadvantaged workman in this free country. Why? For no reason other than this fact that the slaughtered victims first saw the light of day in Hungary, in Russia, in Germany or in Italy.'' (5) SLOVAKIA 59 Naturally such a foul crime of multiple homicide and utter ruthlessness could not have touched Slovak life without affecting it deeply. The Slovaks sensed that if they would truly avoid being so tom by factions and lack of unity, if they could somehow unite their thousands of workers with common purpose and a sense of solidarity, such a misfortune could never again be repeated. Gradually there evolved within them the consciousness that we are all at fault, all of us, for not claiming those rights to which we are entitled. And so we suffer punishment. Out of this painful and humiliating or humbling realization , even before the verdict was pronounced, there grew the first substantial endeavor of the Slovaks in this land to work in harmony and to achieve a common strength. Realization fortunately led to action. On October 17, 1897 representatives of the leading Slovak-American publications met in Cleveland in order to confer on definite practical steps toward cooperation and the pursuit of common goals. The conference of these journalists resolved to adopt measures related to basic issues in order to counteract the unwholesome attitudes and underserved attacks of certain American press agencies that treated the Slovak immigrant element as less than human . This Congress of Slavic Pressmen , which was organized by Fr. (Francis) Pucher , also sent expressions of condolence to the survivors of the Lattimer victims. This innocent Slovak blood that was shed then did not go wholly wasted. It tended to conciliate the Slovaks and to bring them together. And though this was an extravagantly harsh and costly lesson, it taught them that in their distant strange land they must renounce all petty conflicts and contentions, for in this new world their widely scattered strength will count only if they can bring themselves together and act as a corporate unit that has the general welfare at heart. Many families that had not bothered about joining a Slovak fraternal or beneficial organization now saw that membership in such a society could really mean much to them, especially in the event of an unfortunate or tragic occurrence. The blood that the Slovak miners shed for the general good was the first effective and lasting incentive that brought the Slovaks of America together into one unified and conscious body. One disappointment followed in the aftermath. Newspapers published the report that John Nemeth, chairman of the committee, was named consul just before the final settlement of all the misunderstandings; however, his appointment was conditioned on his withdrawal from the committee. The government of Austria-Hungary petitioned the government of the United States to allocate some compensation to the families of the Lattimer victims. The outcome is embodied in an official document of the Secretary of the Interior (78,999) which includes the following statement: 60 SLOVAKIA "The government of the United States does not recognize any obligation to provide compensation to our fellow-citizens or to the famili es of those who were killed in the clash between the mine workers and the police in the Hazleton-Lattimer area.'' From the blood of these martyrs there was a sprouting of the fragile and delicate flower of accord. Within a year the general tone of the Slovak press had changed from bitter acrimony and unprofitable controversy to understanding and kindlier feeling all around. Even in cases where everyone had believed that common ground could never be found among known antagonists, it had indeed been discovered that these individuals also had many mutually satisfying interests to share and promote and they could work together and get along satisfactorily in spite of their differences. From this point on, every other problem seemed to be of a trivial nature, insignificant trifles that caused minor rifts here and there but had no essential substance. The main drive was toward definite goals even though various and varied avenues led to the ultimate end. FOOTNOTES (1) In a newspaper report published by the Amerikansko Slovenske noviny right after the event, the following are listed as fatality victims in this unfortunate clash: 1) John Kosanec , 2) John Temoci , 3) Fr. Kedel, 4) John Ceka, 5) John Ceslak 6) George Versek, 7) Stephen Hornik , 8) George Kulik, 9) Fr. Ceka, 10) Stephen Ulrich, 11) Andrew Zesman, 12) John Ivanko. Later these names wer also added to the list: 13) John Futa , whose name is sometimes also given as Futas, 14) Stephen Jurek, 15) Michael Ceslak, 16) George Gasparek, 17) John Slebodnik , 18) John Banko, 19) Andrew Jurecek, 20) John Skrip. Since Sheriff Martin was indicted for the death of twenty-one victims , it is clear that this list is incomplete. Some of the men who had been seriously wounded in the incident later died in the hospital. An exact list with all names in their correct spelling is most likely available from the court records in Wilkes-Barre and probably from various English and Polish newspapers of that time. It was a common practice in those days to transmit news reports by telegraphic communication and so it is possible that some of the names were affected by transcription and could have been somewhat distorted. The following men were wounded in the encounter: Anthony Macuka, single , Polish; James Tomason , single, Polish; Francis Fetus, single, Slovak; John Penkames, married, Lithuanian; Joseph Macko, married, Slovak ; Andrew Josmont, married, Polish ; Martin Serfanek, single, Polish ; John Dolny , married , Slovak; John Krisak, single, Slovak ; John Presa, married, Slovak ; Andrew Majer , single, Slovak; John Padnok , married , Polish ; John Posca, married, Slovak ; George Gaspar, single, Slovak; Adolph Colak, married, Slovak ; Adam Lipianski , single, Polish; John Kulich, single, Polish , John Kontra, married , Slovak; Joseph Gasparik, married, Slovak; Thomas Paris , single, Polish ; Andrew Honas, married, Slovak; Andrew Orban, married , Polish; Gaspar Dula§, married , Slovak; Joseph Zapa, Slovak; Joseph Paulak, married , Polish; Matthew Chia, married , Polish; Clement Plotach, married, Polish; John Fora, single, Slovak; Stanislaus Kominski, married, Polish; Constantine Monsara , married , Polish , Bernard Rummal, single, Polish . In 1902 the convention of American Mine Workers adopted a resolution providing for the erection of a memorial to honor the fallen miners as pioneer heroes in the cause for SLOVAKIA 61 social justice. Additional names of stricken men that make their appearance within the formal text of this resolution include the following: Clement Patek, John Foote, Sebastian Praztomski, Raphael Rezervicz, Albert Czaja, Stanley Rajoski, Andrew Goekers, Andrew Miczkowski, John Krop, Andrew Morrikoski, Adam Zrainski, Adalbert Zienka, Frank Chazesjewski, Steve Znoec, Andrew Jamee (Jurecek), Mike Coseak (Ceslak), George Kulek (Kulik). Some of the surnames were garbled to some extent; most likely they happened to be misread in the course of years that had passed since the massacre itself. (2) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), September 16, 1897. (3) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny, 30. IX. 1897. (4) "Let Slovak Blood Call to God for Vengeance" American-Slovak News, 31. ill. 1898. (5) American-Slovak News. 5.Il. 1899. 62 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre and Trial HARRY B. SCHOOLEY III INTRODUCTION To have a clearer understanding of the trial at issue it is necessary to say that upon entering the court where the trial is in progress one is immediately impressed with the fact that the issue involved is as much a question of the relations of employer and employed as a question of the trial of Sheriff Martin and his deputies for murder, and, as has been invariably the case, the representatives of corporate power assume a hauteur and domineering attitude toward all. The counsel for the defense, former Attorney-General Palmer and Mr. Lenahan, as well as Sheriff Martin and the Deputies , assume an air of offended pride and indignation at being called to defend themselves against a charge of killing a score or more laborers, and think of it! Foreign laborers at that! So wrote Samuel Gompers in an article for the New York World of February 20, 1898. The shooting at Lattimer, Pennsylvania, had become labor's forgotten massacre. Twenty-four striking anthracite coal miners were killed when Luzerne County Sheriff James Martin ordered his deputies to fire into their ranks when their parade threatened the security of the community shortly after three o'clock on the hot afternoon of September 10, 1897. While at times a Sheriff has been punished for criminal neglect of his duty in not firing on a riotous mob, Sheriff Martin was proceeded against in the Lattimer trial because he and his deputies did so fire. The law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for whose supremacy they battled, was used to compass their destruction because they did so. Gompers was wrong. Lattimer was not a '' question of the relations of employer and employed." The lesson of the verdict in the Lattimer case is not that the rich are to be protected, but that the poor and defenseless shall have an absolute guarantee of all their individual rights, and that those who attempt to impair them by lawlessness must answer to the law as criminals. H.B.s.,m May, 1965 (Harry B. Schooley ill teaches at the Buffalo Seminary for girls in Buffalo, New York. A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he wrote this paper while an undergraduate at Williams College in May, 1965.) SLOVAKIA 63 Ariovistus Pardee, an ambitious engineering student with the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, was sent in May of 1833 to the Lehigh coal regions of Pennsylvania to survey a railroad line from the anthracite mines at Beaver Meadow to the Lehigh Canal at Mauch Chunk. Pardee 's success in the area led him to locating further lines in the region and he began his own mining operations in 1840.(1) In 1869 Pardee built the company towns of Lattimer and Harwood near Hazleton to house the miners working in his six mines. In 1892, following his father ' s death, Calvin Pardee took over the mines at Lattimer and Harwood. Feeling there would be less chance of a consolidation of the working men against his interests, Pardee mixed the foreign immigrant miners filling the houses at Lattimer largely with Italians and those at Harwood with Slovaks, Poles, and Lithuanians . Between 1875 and 1900 there were sporadic attempts on behalf of the Welsh, Irish, and German miners of the anthracite fields to organize for better working and wage conditions. A means for curbing any attempts to organize the miners was the introduction by the mine operators of large numbers of laborers from Austria-Hungary, Poland, Russia , and Italy who were content to work hard and long for low wages. This over supply of unorganized men literally depressed wages to a minimum through the ever-present competition.(2) By the late 1890's the mine patches of the Lehigh coal regions were largely populated by the new mixture of non-English speaking nationalities who with their cheaper immigrant labor replaced the old order of English , Welsh, and Irish miners. The new miners were largely Slovaks, Poles, Italians , Hungarians , and Lithuanians and were considered "foreigners" relegated by the social conditions to which they belonged - the unpainted company houses , shacks, and the dreaded company store. A racial and national prejudice predominated in the mine patches and the better educated, more intelligent of the foreigners met with each other and insisted that every good foreigner should get his "papers " as soon as possible so as to vote in the elections and prevent the '' white men ' ' from voting to pass a law that might drive them from the country. Many of the miners found themselves in great debt to the company store . In 1896 the Pennsylvania Legislature appointed a committee to investigate the company store system . An order for 50,000 copies of the committee report was canceled because, as American Federation of Labor Vice President J . P. McGuire stated in September of 1897 , ''of the disgrace which would fall upon the State were the truth made known of conditions existing in the Schuylkill region." (3) Conditions were the same in the Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys. Perhaps McGuire 's labor affiliations prejudiced him in the making of this statement, but the recent business depression had reduced the lot of the anthracite miner to a very poor one. The manager of one of the Hazleton collieries revealed that his payrolls for September 1, 1897, amounted to about $26,000, of which $18,000 was 64 SLOVAKIA deducted for living expenses (debts to the company store, rents for living in the company houses, fees deducted from pay for the company doctor, money deducted to pay the priest) leaving less than one-third the original amount to be divided among the miners. Discontent over small wages, idleness, and other alleged "wrongs" was seized upon by the new leadership composed of young, energetic and often violent labor organizers as a timely excuse for action. Their opportunity came in August of 1897. A strike broke out at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company 's Honeybrook Colliery near the new borough of McAdoo, when twenty driver boys were ordered to stable their mules after stopping work without extra pay. They refused and division superintendent Gomer Jones fired them. On Sunday, August 15, 2,500 Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company miners joined the strike. Newspapers feared that ''the Italians and Hungarians, who are very aggressive, cannot be controlled." (4) The Honeybrook strikers were led by a committee of grievances which met with general superintendent Elmer H. Lawall demanding an investigation of Gomer Jones to the effect that he reduced miners' wages and that the wages be restored to the original rates. Lawall promised an investigation of Jones if the miners returned to work; and a week after the first walk-out, work was resumed at Honeybrook.(5) On the same day (August 22) the Honeybrook miners returned to work, there arrived in the area from Philadelphia one John Fahy, selfappointed local president of the United Mine Workers of America. Meeting with Italian miners at Audenreid, Yorktown, and Beaver Brook, Fahy persuaded them to organize an Italian branch of the United Mine Workers.(6) Fahy's presence in the area on behalf of the union caused great concern among the mine operators as the miners became more aware of their plight and their demands became more intense. Fahy's word spread rapidly from operation to operation, and on August 26, Italian and Hungarian miners struck at the Van Wickle Coal Company collieries at Beaver Meadow and Coleraine. Two thousand miners moving overnight forced the workers from their shops at the Van Wickle breakers so as to stop all work. Their demands for higher wages were not considered serious as the strike was spontaneous and had no apparent intelligent leadership.(7) On August 27, the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville was idled by the strikers and a coal train was prevented from leaving the town. All Van Wickle operations were forced to shut down. The next day at a meeting of the strikers in Hazleton, a formal demand was presented to Van Wickle superintendent Roderick. Roderick claimed that the advanced scheduled wages (which would set a wage scale for the region) demanded by Fahy 's organizers would not be paid to the miners, although the average pay rates of the region would be paid. The speaker at a Coleraine meeting urged the strikers to resort to violence if the demands were not met. In answer armed members of the Coal and SLOVAKIA 65 Iron Police were sent to guard the Van Wickle properties.(8) Saloons in Milnesville and Coleraine were closed and a state of ominous calm pervaded the Hazleton area. English-speaking miners were willing to return to work were it not for the threats made by the foreigners. The employees of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company anxiously watched the Van Wickle situation as there had been no action taken towards the promised investigation of Superintendent Jones.(9) Between August 30 and September 3 the strike spread rapidly. Roderick agreed to make wage concessions at the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville which immediately resumed work. If settlements were made at the other Van Wickle operations, then the Lehigh and WilkesBarre miners might never see Jones investigated at all. The miners at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre's Audenreid colliery struck and five hundred strong marched on the company's Yorktown colliery and washeries at Dodson, Beaver Brook, Star, Monarch, and Carson, driving off all the workmen.(10) The miners at the Van Wickle Coleraine colliery remained on strike. Assembling in McAdoo on September 2, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre strikers marched with an American flag to the Beaver Brook colliery forcing it to close. Those workers who refused to stop work were driven off. From Beaver Brook they marched to Yorktown (which had resumed work in spite of the march on that operation by the Audenreid strikers a day earlier) where colliery superintendent Hayes tried to reason with them, as the Yorktown workers had no grievance. Nevertheless, the Yorktown colliery closed. The march then turned towards Audenreid and the home of Gomer Jones. Following a thorough but futile search for Jones , the then two thousand marchers proceeded to the colliery at Silver Brook where the workers fled. At a meeting that evening in McAdoo, the members of the grievance committee advised against future marches, but Fahy's organizers insisted that the marches would continue daily until all the collieries were idle. Fahy, incidentally, was in Silver Brook that evening organizing a new chapter of the United Mine Workers. At Coleraine the Van Wickle strikers were quiet and Superintendent Roderick, in a bid to maintain good will between the company and the strikers, stated that none of the Coleraine workers participated in the march.(11) Later on the evening of September 2, the Coleraine strikers agreed to return to work if they would be protected from the mob. Roderick gladly granted protection. Mayor Altmiller of Hazleton issued orders to the police that if any attempt was made to organize a mob parade on September 3, the marchers were to be dispersed, and if the police were not strong enough the citizens should help them. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company closed its collieries at Jeansville and Hazleton No. 1 not because of grievances between the company and its employees, but because the mob of strikers had threatened the workers. The Lehigh Valley counseled all its workmen to obey the will of the mob.(12) By September 3 the strike had stopped all 66 SLOVAKIA mining operations except those of the New Ebervale Coal Company , Van Wickle 's Coleraine and Milnesville Collieries, and Pardee 's colliery at Lattimer. The weapons of the foreigners were the threat and the mob . With the march of September 2 and the probability of future marches , many mine owners feared for the safety of their property at the hands of the striking miners. The Luzerne County Sheriff's office in Wilkes-Barre, in response to the pleas of the operators for protection , sent an urgent telegram to Sheriff James R. Martin , vacationing in Atlantic City, requesting his immediate return. As soon as Sheriff Martin arrived in Wilkes-Barre on September 5, he telegraphed the sheriffs of Carbon and Schuylkill counties to meet him in Hazleton the next day. Before boarding the train to Hazleton, Martin announced that if he thought necessary , a proclamation would be issued calling on the strikers to refrain from all acts of violence and to permit all who so desired to return to their usual vocation as well as to cease marching. "The fact that men are compelled against their will to march along with an ignorant and sometimes infuriated mob causes some fear that other and more dangerous complications may arise ." (13) Following the Hazleton meeting on September 6, the three sheriffs simultaneously published a proclamation prohibiting mob parades and demonstrations , stating the following: . . . notice is given to all good citizens to refrain from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace . Notice is further given, that all such acts of disorder and lawlessness will be summarily repressed and punished in accordance with the laws of the land. - James Martin, High Sheriff of Luzerne County The proclamation was based on the Pennsylvania Riot Act of March 31, 1860 which forbade ''any persons riotously and tumultuously to assemble together to the disturbance of the public peace." (15) While the three sheriffs were meeting in Hazleton, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company granted the same advances as did the Van Wickle Coal Company at Milnesville and Coleraine.(16) That night Sheriff Martin in his Broad Street hotel room swore in 87 deputies, most of whom were members of the Coal and Iron Police from the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley Coal companies , but some of whom were business and professional men of the Hazleton area .(17) For the next three days the Hazleton area remained in an uneasy calm as the sheriff and his deputies remained on call responding to separate incidents throughout the area. SLOVAKIA 67 While Martin and his men remained in Hazleton, John Fahy was active at the Pardee colliery at Harwood. Enlisting the aid of the popular young Hungarian slate boss, John Eagler, Fahy was successful in organizing a new branch of the United Mine Workers. Fahy claimed the new union advocated peaceful arbitration of differences between the miners and the operators. Selecting Eagler as their first local secretary and Joseph Mehalto, another well-known Slav from nearby Crystal Ridge as president, the Harwood body immediately formulated a list of grievances - demanding a ten cent wage raise, a reduction of blasting powder from $2. 75 to $1.50, and no company butcher or company doctor - which they presented to the Pardee office in Hazleton on September 9.(18) While the Harwood strikers were presenting their grievances, a mob of "young Italians and Huns" descended on the New Ebervale Coal Company's colliery at Ebervale, driving off Superintendent John Scott and his employees in a shower of rocks and sticks.(19) With this outbreak of new violence, the Pardee Company refused to consider any grievances until all sections of the Harwood colliery were working. Meeting in the Harwood schoolhouse on the evening of September 9, the striking miners decided that in order to get the bargaining position they needed, the whole company must be shut down. This meant work must be stopped at Lattimer. Upon Mehalto's suggestion, the members resolved to send a committee of ten to Lattimer on the next day to persuade the colliery to close down. (20) On the morning of the tenth it was suggested that the strikers go along with the committee, and with Mehalto and Eagler at the head of a column of 250 to 300 men and boys, the strikers set out for Lattimer. With the American flag at the head of the procession, they marched through Crystal Ridge and Cranberry where they were joined by others until the ranks numbered about four hundred. On entering West Hazleton the strikers found their route blocked by Sheriff Martin and his deputies . Standing in front of his line of deputies, Martin ordered the strikers to stop and to disperse. The march pushed on, a scuffle resulted, two strikers were arrested, and the flag was taken from them. Following this encounter, the strikers moved off into a field by the side of the road and the sheriff and his deputies withdrew maintaining a careful eye on the marchers. Soon, however, the march was under way once more, the strikers still heading for Lattimer but skirting West Hazleton to the north. Martin and his deputies hurriedly boarded an open trolley car, provided for their use by the Lehigh Transit Company, and rode back into Hazleton and out the Lattimer line to Harleigh , where the road to Lattimer and the rail line converged and ran parallel for a short distance. At Harleigh the sheriff and his deputies again met the marching strikers, the trolley car keeping pace with the men on foot, grim silence between them while the police in their trolley sat holding their rifles . (21) The car arrived in Lattimer in time for Martin to 68 SLOVAKIA watch the movement of the march, and, from a high point at the town 's approach, the column could be observed moving toward the Pardee colliery No. 1. Again the deputies, about 150 in number, having been reinforced by numbers of the coal and iron police from Lattimer, lined up in a semi-circle across the road with Sheriff Martin standing several yards in front of them. The scene at West Hazleton a few hours earlier appeared about to be re-enacted. When the strikers reached the line of deputies Martin, proclamation in hand, stepped out to meet them: ''You must stop marching and disperse. This is contrary to the law and you are creating a disturbance. You must go back. I won't let you go on to the colliery.'' (22) Eagler argued that American citizens had the right to parade as long as they were not disturbing the peace. Martin read the Riot Act. Most of the marchers, not understanding English, pushed forward to find out what Martin was saying. In the crowd the sheriff was jostled. Thinking himself in danger, he tried to get back to his line of deputies, but was knocked to his knees. The strikers made way for him, and just as he emerged from their ranks, the cry was heard, ''Fire, fire on' em!'' The deputies fired into the unarmed mob. (23) Following a meeting with his lawyer on arriving back in WilkesBarre that evening, Sheriff Martin issued a statement of the Hazleton conditions and shooting: I was not there to interfere in the strike in any shape or manner, but was there for the mere purpose to prevent all violations of the law, and to restore peace and quiet. I beseeched and entreated the leaders to talk to their comrades and ask them to disperse and return to their homes, act in a peaceable way and desist from doing any sort of violence ... (at West Hazleton) the strikers began to crowd together, and to mutter and chatter in their own languages. The leaders urged them on and at the same time began to curse and swear at me, as well as openly defy me and my deputies . (at Lattimer) I ... rushed ahead of my deputies ... dashed in among the foreigners and boldly placed the leader under arrest. (the strikers) at once attacked me most viciously , striking and kicking me, knocking me down. I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers, as it might probably frighten them ... I fully realized that the foreigners were a desperate lot ... (I assumed) they were too excited to listen to reason and that myself and deputies would be killed ... if we did not defend ourselves. I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot, if they must, to protect their lives or to SLOVAKIA 69 protect the property, that they had been sent to guard, from being demolished. I hated to give the command to shoot and was awful sorry that I was compelled to do so, but I was there to do my duty and I did it the best I knew how and as my conscience dictated, as the strikers were violating the laws of the Commonwealth and flatly refused to obey the proclamation that I had read to them. They, instead, insisted on doing violence and disobeying the laws.(24) In "doing violence and disobeying the laws" eighteen strikers were instantly killed while approximately twenty-four others were seriously wounded. Eagler and Mehalto escaped and their comrades fled in terror. One of the strikers, Martin Rosko, a Hungarian from Mt. Pleasant and wounded in the arm, gave the following account: We were going along the road to Lattimer and the deputies were lined across the road barring our progress. We tried to go through them and did not attempt to hit or molest them when they fired upon us. We ran but they kept on shooting while we ran. It (the massacre) is all their fault.(25) That evening three thousand Hazleton-area miners gathered at Hazleton's Donegal Hall for a meeting conducted by United Mine Workers' president John Fahy in which it was resolved "that we demand the prosecution of the sheriff and deputies of the crimes committed this tenth day of September."(26) At midnight Pennsylvania Governor Daniel Hastings notified Colonel C. B. Dougherty of the 9th Regiment that as there may be further disturbances and that the security of the community may be in danger, Dougherty was to take the regiment to Hazleton to maintain peace and order. (27) On September 11, Dougherty's regiment was joined by five regiments of the Third Brigade of the Pennsylvania National Guard under the leadership of General John P. Gobin. On the morning of September 11, John Nemeth, a leader of the strikers' general committee, went before Squire Gorman of Hazleton and had warrants sworn out for Sheriff Martin and 102 of his deputies. (28) When General Gobin heard of the warrants he issued an edict declaring that so long as the troops remain in the vicinity not a single deputy would be placed under arrest. Owing to the military authority, Sheriff Martin and the deputies were not arrested until ten days after the warrants were issued. Also on that morning a representative of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Philadelphia arrived in Hazleton to investigate the murder of Hungarian nationals. (29) 70 SLOVAKIA In the meantime the strike continued. By September 14, seven thousand men had left their jobs, crippling the seven Hazleton area companies.(30) Out of sympathy for their murdered comrades from Harwood, 2,300 men left work at the Pardee operations at Lattimer. Visiting Hazleton from Philadelphia the next day, Calvin Pardee stated the following: My men were perfectly satisfied with the wages they were receiving, and would have continued work had they not been driven away by the mob . . . I have operated my collieries over twenty years on the sliding scale, the rate of wages being based on the price of coal at tide, and I will not change that method.(31) Sheriff Scott of Schuylkill County telegraphed to Governor Hastings an appeal for troops to maintain order should the strike spread to his county(32) as sporadic outbreaks of violence continued throughout the region with no apparent prospect of settlement in sight. John Fahy, in a somewhat curious statement to the press on September 18, claimed "The strike is not being conducted by the United Mine Workers." Speaking of his efforts to organize the miners, Fahy stated, "our objects are not to raise excitement and occasion violence but are arbitration, peace and conciliation. Our organization is not to encourage strikes but to prevent them." (33) Fahy expressed the hope that the strike would be settled more quickly if more men organized. If more men were organized in the manner in which the Harwood strikers were organized, the strike would be far from being settled. On September 19 following a Hazleton meeting, the owners of the mines at Lattimer, Beaver Meadow, Honeybrook, McAdoo, and Audenreid announced that they would open their mines on September 20, and if the men were not back at work, they would be discharged altogether. By September 20 all strikers but the employees of the Coxe Brothers Coal Company had returned to work.(34) That evening Fahy held a meeting at Donegal Hall whereat the miners resolved ''to demand that the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania immediately proceed against each corporation now conducting company stores."(35) On September 23, the employees of the Silver Brook collieries were told they were no longer subject to compulsory patronization of the company store and company butcher.(36) The operators gradually made concessions to prevent another such strike, and on September 29, General Gobin and his troops left Hazleton.(37) The anthracite strike of 1897 was virtually over. With peace returning to the Hazleton region, attention was turned to the fate of Sheriff Martin and his deputies. On September 20, Luzerne County District Attorney D.A. Fell and County Detective Isaac Eckert secured bench warrants from the Luzerne County Court of Oyer SLOVAKIA 71 and Terminer for the arrest of Martin and 68 of his deputies, charging them with' 'the willful and malicious killing of twenty-four (six had died since the shooting) strikers near the village of Lattimer on September 10 last."(38) Bail was posted at $4,000 for homicide and $1,000 for felonious wounding and, through the maneuvring of Calvin Pardee, bond was furnished by the City Trust, Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia.(39) Seeing the opportunity to take up the cause, the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor meeting in Washington resolved on September 24, That we condemn most severely the wanton killing and wounding of the poor miners at Lattimer and will give our fullest help through the trade union and the American Federation of Labor to raise money for the legal prosecution and conviction of Sheriff Martin and his murderous minions, that through the courts of the land even-handed justice may be done to atone for those revolting murders.(40) A preliminary hearing was held in the Luzerne County Court House at Wilkes-Barre from September 21 to 27 wherein the grand jury came to the decision that Martin and his men had shown probable cause of a "wanton and unjustifiable" killing of the strikers.(41) The case of Commonwealth v. Martin was scheduled to begin on February 1, 1898. On February 4, 1898, an editorial in the Wilkes-Barre Record accurately predicted that the trial was expected to develop whether the sheriff and his posse were justified, under the circumstances, in resorting to the extreme measure they did, either for their own protection or to preserve law, order, and the public peace. The case was called on the morning of February 1, before Judge Stanley Woodward, presiding judge of Luzerne County. Sheriff Martin's defense counsel consisted of his personal lawyer, George S. Ferris, and the county's leading criminal lawyer, John T. Lenahan. Other attorneys for the defendants were Henry W. Palmer, George Troutman, C. W. Kline, George R. Urquhart and F. W. Wheaton. At the table for the prosecution sat the new District Attorney, T. R. Martin, who had only taken office a month earlier. With Martin were four other lawyers, who were secured by the strikers' prosecuting committee: John Garman, John McGahren, James Scarlett, and former secretary of the miners' prosecuting committee, J. F. Loughran. In addition to the deputies the court room was crowded with interested spectators including New York, Philadelphia, and nationally syndicated newspaper reporters, newspaper artists, representatives of the Royal Austro-Hungarian government which was planning to make a claim for indemnity for the deaths of the nationals should the sheriff be convicted, and the solicitor general of the United States, Luzerne County's own Henry M. Hoyt (Williams, 1849).(42) 72 SLOVAKIA For two tedious days the court was involved in selecting a jury. When the task had been completed, the twelve men who sat in the jury box were all native American citizens and were largely representative of the middle class skilled labor group.(43) Many of the jury men admitted in their examination by the counsels for defense and prosecution that although they had already formed an opinion, their verdict would not be so influenced. None of the jurors were foreign-born and counsel Loughran complained that the majority of them were ''in sympathy with the sheriff and his deputies." (44) The case for the Commonwealth was opened by McGahren, who claimed the shooting at Lattimer was a ''horrible massacre . '' In a highly emotional speech he told the courtroom how Sheriff Martin stood by proudly while his men brutally murdered the fleeing strikers. He even went so far as to claim the sheriff had emptied his pistol into the head of one of the march leaders. The Sheriff's actions at Lattimer were "a disgrace to civilization," he explained.(46) With this heated example of rhetoric, began the case for the prosecution which consumed nearly sixteen days of examination during which 103 witnesses testified. At the end of the first week of the trial on February 5, it developed that when the case had been continued from the November to the January term of court, bail for the defendants had not been renewed. District Attorney Martin immediately asked either that bail be posted or that the defendants be committed to jail. Judge Woodward replied he would not require the defendants to enter bail until Monday, February 7. Garman of the prosecution immediately pressed the court further to demand bail at once. Lenahan of the defense resented Garman's demands and charged, "You are a puppy! You have been a puppy all your life!" Garman's reply was apparently appropriate as he turned to Judge Woodward and said, "When the thing back of me shuts up, I will proceed." Lenahan replied, "That is only a part of the buffoonery of the Commonwealth.'' Garman turned to face him and raised his fist as if to strike. "If you touch me, I'll kill you!" By this time friends intervened and restrained the two attorneys until order was restored. Garman, eyeing Lenahan defiantly, replied, ''The buffoon has just ceased speaking." (4 7) This exchange of opinions on the floor of the courtroom did not change Woodward's mind and the bail was deferred. The exchange was, however, quickly picked up by the out-of-town reporters and reported in such a way that when court convened on February 7, Judge Woodward admonished the artists and reporters of some of the newspapers that if they continued to caricature the proceedings of the court or to misrepresent what developed, he would refuse them admission to the courtroom.(48) Woodward's admonishment of the reporters for their "yellow journalism" did not end the court's cause for concern. On the evening of February 14, the President of the American Federation of Labor, SLOVAKIA 73 Samuel Gompers, arrived in Wilkes-Barre to write a special report on the trial for the New York World. The Wilkes-Barre Record was critical of the labor leader's being in Wilkes-Barre, claiming that Gompers would only report the trial from the point of view of the strikers, not from the objective viewpoint of whether Martin was justified in shooting.(49) The Record was not the only newspaper critical of Gompers ' being in Wilkes-Barre. The New York Evening Sun stated " Gompers is so dissatisfied with the way Judge Woodward is conducting the Lattimer trial that he refused to be presented to him. We can only congratulate his Honor on a fortunate escape." (50) In an article in the World on February 20, Gompers attacked Woodward's conduct of the trial, his rulings on evidence, and went so far as to attack him personally as a friend of the mine owners, as Woodward: married into a family of land holders of the district, who receive royalties upon every ton of coal mined. When a cessation of mining occurs from any cause Judge Woodward is to that extent a loser of part of his income. He is a member of the Westmoreland Club, of which the mine-owners are largely members and of which also a number of the so-called deputies are members.(Of the strikers Gompers wrote) They had previously decided and carried out their purpose , to be unarmed and unprotected except by the justice of their cause and the American flag in which they had absolute faith. It is sad to contemplate when workingmen of either American or foreign birth have their faith and confidence in the emblem of our country destroyed and perhaps sadder still is the possibility of losing faith in the justice of our courts. In conclusion Gompers made the Lattimer trial a trial in behalf of the eventual triumph of the working man: The workers of our country are organizing better and more thoroughly each day; we shall not only create a healthier public sentiment as to man 's rights and man's duties, but we shall largely constitute that public opinion. And , when that day comes , the crime of Lattimer will be a record-letter day in the annals of our history to which all will look back upon with horror as the monumental crime of the century. (51) Should Sheriff Martin be convicted of murder, labor would win a great victory in its struggle for recognition. While labor adopted Lattimer as its forgotten massacre , the prosecution rested on February 74 SLOVAKIA 21, having produced testimony in line with McGahren's opening. Ferris opened the case for the defense claiming that if a sheriff and his posse meet a riotous mob which resists them in such a way that their duty to uphold the law requires the use of firearms, then, "they do their duty. They do not violate, but obey the law.'' (52) Anarchy ruled the Hazleton area, Ferris explained, and Martin, in the company of good, lawabiding citizens - not bar room toughs and thugs - brought security to the region. On March 1, Sheriff Martin took the stand. He testified that when he met the strikers at Lattimer, he demanded to know where they were going and they all answered, "Lattimer to get out the men!" He also told the court that he had told them they were doing wrong and that he read the proclamation to them. He said he begged them to go no farther, but they pushed on and someone tried to grab him by the neck. I arrested him, when a big crowd pushed around me. I pulled out my revolver for protection and held it in the air, as I did not want to shoot. One of the mob tried to grab it, but failed, and in the struggle I and the crowd around me were pushed to one side of the road." (53) Martin testified one of the strikers gave him a terrific blow on the side of the head and that he tried to shoot that man, but his pistol would not go off. Then the firing began. After 111 witnesses had testified for the defense the Court adjourned on March 4.(54) The closing pleas to the jury began on March 7, with Scarlett opening for the prosecution: "Every effort has been made to have it tried fairly and nothing has been excluded and every bit of evidence has been admitted according to the rules of the court." (55) The final plea was made by former state Attorney-General Henry W. Palmer, on behalf of the defense, to an overcrowded court room. Palmer's closing has been praised as a masterpiece of eloquence and damned as a bigoted oration and foul utterance against the Slav immigrants. To the jury Palmer said the following: Condemn these men and go home to your neighbors and tell them, 'We convicted Sheriff Martin and his deputies for an error in judgment when they were standing between your homes and the horrors of mob rule.' Tell your wives and children that henceforth when the rioters are about to march and the right of men to work is in peril that there will be no Sheriff and deputies to keep the peace or defend your homes, because by your verdict you will have forbidden them to act, under penalty of death or infamous punishment. (56) Following Palmer's plea District Attorney Martin closed the case for the prosecution, and late on the afternoon of March 9, Judge Woodward delivered his charge to the jury. In an admirably clear, impartial, and ably written presentation of the law of riot and murder, SLOVAKIA 75 Woodward charged that the sheriff had the right as the chief officer of the county to summon a posse to assist him in the preservation of order and in the prevention of riot. The public peace in Hazleton was threatened. Men were being driven from their jobs by the mob. The Sheriff saw the people were terrorized by the strikers. When they were at West Hazleton and at Lattimer, the strikers failed to obey the sheriff and insisted on pushing on. It was the duty of the crowd to obey his command and that disobedience of the sheriff was evidence of a riotous purpose. If you are satisfied, gentlemen, from the evidence that the purpose of the sheriff and of the posse was to preserve order and prevent a riot, then it would follow that their intent and object was not a criminal or unlawful one, and the rule of the law which makes the act of one the act of all has no application to the facts of this case. (57) At three minutes after ten on the morning of March 9, the jury arrived at its verdict. The sealed paper was handed up to the Judge, who examined it and returned it to the clerk. The clerk read: ''Gentlemen of the jury, harken unto your verdict as the Court hath recorded it. You find in the case wherein the Commonwealth is prosecutor and Sheriff Martin et. al., defendants, you find the defendants not guilty. So say you all?" (58) The verdict of acquittal was a just one under the law, yet, at the same time, it is possible that a terrible doubt exists that the slaughter at Lattimer was necessary or justifiable. Could the tragedy have been avoided? It is not clear that the miners should have been prevented from marching on the highway; it is not clear that they should have been denied the opportunity to show themselves within sight of the miners at work; it is not clear that the deputies should have fired as soon as they did. But, the law is for all men, and against all men who are not obedient to it. There is no question of the right of men to strike. The strike is often the only weapon. When the striker learns to keep within the law, to be fair to others, and to respect property rights, he will have made the greatest advances in the direction of public sympathy. The example of the Lattimer strikers was clear. Had a determined effort been made to keep within the law, to win the friendship of the people of the Hazleton region, the clash with Sheriff Martin and his deputies would have been avoided. The law is the defense of the individual and the salvation of the nation. Violence toward it cannot win. EPILOGUE In the course of researching the Commonwealth v. Martin Trial, it has been found that the Luzerne County Court records for that case are missing from their file at the Luzerne County Court House. Perhaps an 76 SLOVAKIA attorney borrowed them to study and never returned them ; or perhaps they were removed by intent considering the hard feelings exhibited by some members of the Hazleton mining community following the jury's verdict. The sleepy little mining patch of Lattimer today is much the same as it was sixty-eight years ago. The breakers are gone , the trolley tracks are gone , and the miners, whose families now occupy the same houses that witnessed the shooting, work at the near-by collieries in Harleigh and Jeddo . The excitement that brought the name Lattimer to the mind of most Americans in 1897 has been completely forgotten - even in Luzerne County. Should Lattimer be forgotten? Some say it should . But in today 's society when groups of American are banding together and marching, sometimes in defiance of the law, in causes they believe to be paramount, the tragedy of Lattimer could happen again. FOOTNOTES (1) John W . Jordan, Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, vol. 7, (New York , 1916), 2350. (2) John Mitchell , Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903), 375. (3) Henry Edward Rood , " A Pennsylvania Colliery Village, " The Century Magazine, vol. 55, no . 6, (April, 1898), 814. (4) "2,500 Men cut at Hazleton ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. (5) " The Honey Brook Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 21, 1897 , 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 23, 1897, 8. (6) ''The Hazleton Strike,'' Wilk es-Barre Evening Leader, August 23 , 1897, 8. (7) " Two Thousand Foreigners Out, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 27, 1897, 1. (8) " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control ," Wilkes-Barre E vening Leader, August 28, 1897. 1. " Hazleton Strike Comes to a Demand ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 29, 1897, 1. (9) " The Anthracite Strike ," Wilkes -Barre E ve ning Leader, August 30, 1897, 1. (10) " Wild Excitement, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897, 1-2. (11) " Strike Situation at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (12) " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (13) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897 , 1. (14)/bid., 1. (15) " Labor Day Parade at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 7, 1897, 1. (16) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897, 1. (17) " Strikers Still Marching," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader. SLOVAKIA 77 (18) Ibid., 2. (19)lbid., 2. (20) Ibid., 2. (21) Ibid., 2. (22) "Murdered in Cold Blood," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 11 , 1897, 1. (23) Ibid., 1. (24) Ibid., 1. (25) Ibid. , 1. (26) Ibid. , 1. (27) Ibid., 1. (28) "Sheriff Martin to be Arrested, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 12, 1897, 1. (29) Ibid., 1. (30) ''They Will Not Return to Work, '' Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 14, 1897, 1. (31) "Everything Quiet Along the Line, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (32) " Miners ' Strike is Spreading," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (33) " News from the Seat of War," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 18, 1897, 1. (34) " Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 21, 1897, 1. (35) " Many Strikers Return to Work, " Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897, 1. (36) "A Quiet Day at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. (37) " Troops Leave Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 29, 1897, 1. (38) " A Stampede to Return to Work," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 21 , 1897, 1. (39) " The Court Sits In Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. (40) " The Court Sits in Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattimer," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 24, 1897, 1. " The Sheriff Condemned," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 28, 1897, 1. (42) ''The Lattimer Cases,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897, 1. (43) "The Twelve Jurymen Selected, " Wilkes-Barre Record, February 3, 1898, 1. (44) " The Lattimer Cases," Wilkes-Barre Record, February 4, 1898, 1. (45) Henry W. Palmer, Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, Penna. , 1913) 64. (46) Ibid., 65. (47) ''Excitement In Court,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 7, 1898, 12. (48) '' Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6 . (49) '' Said the Sheriff Shot, '' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 16, 1898, 6. (50) "A Labor View of Judge Woodward ," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4. (51) "Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter," New York World, February 20, 1898, 20. (52) Palmer , 67. (53) George B. Kulp , Luzerne Legal Register Reports, vol. 9 (Wilkes-Barre, 1900), 81. (54) Palmer , 81. 78 SLOVAKIA (55) Ibid., ll0. (56) Ibid., 147. (57) From Judge Woodward ' s original hand-written charge to the jury as found in his personal scrapbook in the possession of his grand-daughter, Mrs . Bruce Payne of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (58) " The Deputies Are Not Guilty," Wilkes-Barre Times, March 9, 1898, 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Jordan, John W ., Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography vol. 7, (New York, 1916) . Kulp, George B., Luzerne Legal Register Reports vol. 9, (Wilkes-Barre, 1900) . Mitchell , John, Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903). Palmer, Henry W ., Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, 1913) . Rood, Henry Edward , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village," The Century Magazine, Vol. 55, no. 6, (1898). Newspaper Sources "A Labor View of Judge Woodward," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4 . '' Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter, " New York World, February 20 , 1898, 20. ''Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6. ''2,500 Men out at Hazleton, '' Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. " The Honey Brook Strike, " August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," August 21, 1897, 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," August 23, 1897, 8 . " Two Thousand Foreigners Out," August 27, 1897, 1. " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control," August 28, 1897, 1. " Hazleton Strike comes to a Demand ," August 29, 1897, 1. " The Anthracite Strike ," August 30, 1897, 1. " Wild Excitement" September 2, 1897, 1-2. " Strike Situation at Hazleton," September 3 , 1897, 1. " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," September 3, 1897, 1. " Sheriff Martin on the Ground, " September 6, 1897, 1. · 'Labor Day Parade at Hazleton,'' September 7, 1897, 1. "Strikers Still Marching, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 9, 1897, 2. "Murdered in Cold Blood," September 11, 1897, 1. " She riff Martin to be Arrested ," September 12, 1897, 1. " They Will Not Return to Work," September 14, 1897 , 1. · 'Eve rything Quiet along the Line ,' ' September 16, 1897, 1. " Mine rs ' Strike is Spreading, " September 17, 1897, 1. " News from the Seat of War," September 18, 1897, 1. " A Stampede to return to Work ," Septe mber 21, 1897, 1. "The Court sits in Judgment," Se ptember 22 , 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattime r," September 24 , 1897, 1. " She riff Condemned," September 28 , 1897, 1. ··A Quiet Day at Hazleton ,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. SLOVAKIA 79 "Troops Leave Hazleton ," September 29, 1897, 1. "The Twelve Jurymen Selected," February 3, 1898, 1. "The Lattimer Cases," February 4, 1898, 1. "Excitement in Court," February 7, 1898 , 12. "Said the Sheriff Shot," February 16, 1898, 6. "Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897 , 1. "The Dep uties are Not Guilty," March 9, 1898, 1. Woodward, Stanley, the original hand-written charge to the jury as found in Judge Woodwa rd 's personal scrap book now in the possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Bruce Payne of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 MASSACRE AT LATIIMER MINES: September 10, 1897 Description An account of the resource Slovakia, Vol. 27 (No. 50), 1977<br />pp. 9-79<br /><ol><li>The Lattimer Massacre and Its Sources / George A. Turner (pp. 9-43).</li> <li>The Lattimer Massacre / Konštantín Čulen (pp. 44-61).</li> <li>The Lattimer Massacre and Trial / Harry B. Schooley III (pp. 62-79).</li> </ol> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Turner, George A., 1935-2014 Schooley, Harry B. Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977 name SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/24c0ac872e7ac6795b014bdd4fddb951.pdf cdf811185b2d67c56e5303bd487cfc0e PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 2021 27 ENVISIONING A HOMELAND: CARPATHO-RUSYN IMMIGRANTS IN THE USA AND THE CZECHOSLOVAK OPTION 1 Richard D. Custer In the earliest decades of their life in the United States, relations between Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrants were frequent and generally productive. But Czech immigrants neither settled in the same places most Rusyn immigrants went, nor had any notable higherlevel contacts with them. Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant newspapers, which were an important means for their readers to become aware of immigrant issues outside their own ethnic group, rarely made mention of Czechs until 19 16. Yet by late 1918, American Rusyn leaders were laying a foundation for their homeland countrymen entering into a new state with the Czechs and Slovaks. In the space of just a few months of the concept of the first Czechoslovak Republic being known to American Rusyns, a plebiscite conducted in some segments of the community resulted in a strong, though not overwhelming, preference for inclusion into the nascent Czechoslovak state. The results would prove decisive in the fate of post-Austro-Hungarian Subcarpathian Rus'. This article will examine why Czechoslovakia became and did, or did not, remain their preferred option. Early Settlement of Carpatho-Rusyns, Slovaks, and Czechs in the U.S.A. [n the formative years of the Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrant communities, these two Slavic peoples, in many cases already having occasional contact in their shared homeland, experienced times of cooperation and conflict that helped to firmly define their respective identities. Historic "U pper Hungary," specificall y the counties of Abauj /Abov, Szepes/Spis, Saras/Saris, Zemplen/Zemplin, and Ung/ Uz, 1 O ri gi nally presented at "Czec hoslovakia at I 00: Envisioning and Imagi ng Subcarpathian Rus"' panel , Association fo r Slavic, East European, and Euras ian Studies (ASEEES) annua l convention, Boston , MA, 6 December 2018. �28 SLOVAKIA 2021 experienced the highest rate of poverty and thus the highest rate of emigration to the United States starting in the late 19th century. In these counties - for the most part present-day eastern Slovakia - Slovaks were the majority, and Rusyns were a substantial minority. Some villages were ethnically mixed, or neighboring vil lages inhabited mostly by the other ethnic group. The first Slovak immigrants to the United States from Upper Hungary began to arrive in the late 1860s, and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants from Upper Hungary and Austrian Galicia began to arrive in the latter 1870s, but significant numbers of both were not found in the U.S.A. until the 1880s. The communities of both groups began to organize in the early 1880s. In general , Slovaks (particularly those from eastern Slovakia) and Carpatho-Rusyns settled in the same towns and cities in the U.S.A.: metropolitan New York City; Bridgeport, Connecticut; the anthracite coa l mining region of northeastern Pennsylvania; Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania; western Pennsy lvania; C leveland ; Chicago and northwestern Indiana; St. Louis; Minneapolis; and Detroit. 2 These areas were home to the vast majority of both Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn parishes and other organizations. The places where Slovaks were established that had no Carpatho-Rusyn presence were few, primarily in upstate New York and the Midwest. Specifically Slovak Roman Catholic parishes were founded in Haz leton , Pennsylvania. and Streator, Illinois ( 1885), and a Lutheran parish was founded also in Streator ( 1884), whi le the first CarpathoRusyn Greek Catholic parish was founded in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1884. Their respective mutual-aid "buria l societies," or fraternal insurance lodges, were also founded at around the same time, the first such Slovak society being founded in New York City in 1883 3 , while the first such Ru syn soc iety was founded in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1885 4 . 2 Konstantin Cul en, History of Slovaks in America (St. Paul, Minn .: Czechoslovak Genea logical Society International, 2007), 67-70; Paul R. Magocsi, Our People: Carpatho-Rusvns and Their Descendant.,· in North America. Fourth rev. ed. (Wauconda, Ill .: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2005), 20-22. 3 M. Mark Sto larik, "A Place fo r Everyone: Slovak Fraternal-Benefit Societies" in Scott Cummings ed., Se(f-Help in America: Patterns of Minoritv Business Ente1prise (Port Washington. NY: Kennikat Press, 1980), 130- 141. 4 Magocsi, 49. �SLOVAKIA 2021 29 In the homeland, Carpatho- Ru syns probably would have never met an ethnic Czech/ Bohemian or Moravian, except perhaps as young conscripts serving together in the Austro-Hungarian army in World War 1. 5 (And it is further unlikely that these men wou ld have found their way to the United States until after the end of the war.) Contact between Carpatho-Ru syn and Czech immigrants in the U.S.A. was similarly unlikely, and the two immigrant groups were of substantiall y different character. Czech immigrants began to arrive in the United States much earl ier: the largest number came in the late 1860s. A substantial portion of these immigrants were at least middle class and artisans, in strong contrast to the mostly peasant Slovak and CarpathoRusyn immigrants who took on unskilled jobs in the mines and mills. Finally, Czech settlements were generally in the Midwest and Texas, where farm land was easi ly obtai ned, far from the industrial setting that defined the Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant experience.6 Only in cities like Ch icago, C leveland, and Pittsburgh were eastern S lovaks and Carpatho-Rusyns likely to encounter Czech immigrants, if at all. Additionally, Czech immigrants were increasingly less likely to worship in (Roman) Catholic churc hes and thus their contact with Slovak or (i n certain situations) Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants was not frequent. The early Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants, then, in addition to frequent and essential contact with their Lemko Rusyn , Boiko, and Ukrainian co-religionists from Galicia in Greek Catholic parishes and fraternal organizations, were far more familiar with Slovak immigra nts as their neighbors, work friends , and perhaps spouses or extended family. To some extent, Carpatho-Rusyns' and Slovaks' fraternal benefit organizations developed along the same lines and in cooperation. Fraternal organizations were usually the first community institution estab lished in the Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrant settlements. These were built on the model of simi lar organizations in the homeland, in part as a replacement for the American insurance that was not usually ava il ab le to S lavic immigrants, and out of a need for 5 Magocsi, " The Ruthenian Decision to Unite with Czechoslovaki a," Sla vic Review, Vol. 34, o. 2 (June 1975), 364. 6 Thoma s Capek, The Cechs (Bohemians) in America: A Study of Their National, Cultural, Political, Social, Economic and Religious life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1920), 36-51 , 60-68. �30 SLOVAKIA 2021 an organization to rally the immigrants on an ethnic basis. The first of these societies arose in pioneer Slovak and Rusyn settlements in the 1880s and 1890s. Some were founded by Roman and Greek Catholics together, e.g., in Bridgeport, Connecticut ( 1888), Kingston, Pennsylvania ( 1887 or 1888), Streator, Illinois ( 1889), McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, Allegheny/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Passaic, New Jersey ( 1890). Some or most of these organizations would likely have joined the national Slovak organizations founded around that time: the National Slavonic Society of the United States (renamed National Slovak Society of the United States of America in 1913), or the First Catholic Slovak Union, FCSU/"Jednota," both founded in 1890.7 Rusyns would not have their own comparable organization until 1892. But the most striking example of a shared Slovak/Rusyn fraternal society was the Pennsylvania Slovak Roman & Greek Catholic Union (aka Pennsylvania Slovak Union or PSJ). Of all the Slovak-American fraternal societies this organization would count the largest number of Rusyn members, and more than 20 PSJ lodges were identified specifically as Greek Catholic or were based at a Greek Catholic church. 8 Despite having a generally common cultural background, and some shared religious affiliation and shared organizations, on an official level , the political goals of the Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants did not always coincide, even as the idea of a Czechoslovak republic began to materiali ze. American Carpatho-Rusyn Fraternal Benefit Societies Greek Catholic Union (GCU). The GCU was the sec ul ar organization with the largest membership and widest geographical reach in the American Rusyn community. Its leadership, and editorial stance of its Amerikansky Russky Viestnik newspaper (ARV) , were generally anti-Hungarian, vehemently anti-Ukrainian, and mildly Russophil e, though never politically inclined to union with Russia. While its 1902 spinoff United Societies, loyal to America's first Greek Catholic 7 Stolarik, 130- 141. Ri chard D. Custer, "Old Countrymen, New Neighbors: Early Carpatho- Rusyn and Slovak Immigra nt Relations in the United States" in S/ovo (National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rap ids, IA), Summer 2016. Unabridged version on line at https://www .ncsml .org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07 /Old-Countrymen-New-Neighbors.pdf, 6-7. 8 �SLOVAKIA 2021 31 Bishop Soter Ortynsky (an ethnic Ukrainian) since his arrival in 1907 and friendly to the Ga lician clergy, was the GCU 's antagonist on paper, they wou ld prove to be the al li es that would make possible a stronger voice that proved to be the one that caught the ear of the creators of the first Czechoslovak Republic. Slovaks - those who were Greek Catholics as we ll as Roman Catholics - made up a not insignificant portion of the GCU ' s membership, but early on the GCU took a strong stand against the idea that there were actually ethnic S lovak Greek Catholics.9 United Societies of the Greek Catholic Religion. The United Societies spun off from the GCU in 1902 and maintained a loya li st position toward the Greek Catholic Church, at times in opposition to what was perceived as the rebel li ous or disloyal GCU. In its support for Bishop Ortynsky, the society, its newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian ( 1910- 19 17), and its editor, Father Joseph Hanulya, were castigated by the GCU as Ukrainian sympathi zers. Around 1918, the United Societies had about 9,000 members including youth 10 , and published a newspaper, Prosvita, that remained often at odds w ith the GCU and its ARV. Ruskij Narodnyj Sojuz (RNS) / Ukrainian National Association (UNA). The GCU in its early years, under c lerically-dominated leadership, became preoccupied with Rusyn affairs in Hungary and enunciated a generally pro-Hungarian political stance. This ali enated the significant membership from Galicia (most of whom were Lemkos), and many lodges, some even with substantial Subcarpathian membership, seceded from the GCU in 1894 to form a new organization . That organization, founded in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, was the Ruskij Narodnyj Sojuz, or in English, Russian National Union . It we lcomed as members Rusyns from Hungary and Galicia who had a strong sense of national identity, whether "Rusyn," " Russian," or "Ruthenian ." As the organization and its Svoboda newspaper became more Ukrainian-oriented, and the terms Ukraine and Ukrainian increasing ly used alongside Rus' and Rusyn, those with Russophil e or Old-Ruthenian views wou ld transfer to other organizations, primarily 9 Custer, '" No Such Thing as Greek Catholic Slovaks: ' The GCU's Polemic," The Carpatho-Rusyns of Pennsylvania, http://rusynsofpa. blogspot.com/2 014/12/no-suchthing-as-greek-catholic-slovaks.html. Accessed December I, 201 8. 10 Magocsi, " Political Activity," 398. �32 SLOVAKIA 2021 the Russian Brotherhood Organization. The dominant "Ruthenian" segment would eventually lead the organization to change its name in September 1914 to the Ukrainian National Association. Alienated by this change, approximately 17 UNA lodges, 15 of which had a primarily Subcarpathian Rusyn membership, joined the United Societies between October 1914 and February 1915, resulting in 2 1 new regular United Societies lodges and 6 new United Societies youth lodges. Onl y a few such lodges would remain in the UNA, and so the organization's influence among American Subcarpathian Rusyns had almost entirely di ssipated. Russian Brotherhood Organization (RBO). Some members of GCU and RNS in 1900 gathered in Mahanoy City, Pa ., to form a new fraternal organization that would resist clerical domination, have no requirement of church membership, and avoid both pro-Hungarian and pro-Ukrainian political stands. Most of its early lodges were located in northeastern Pennsylvania and some had left the GCU or RNS to join. Religiously, the society remained officially neutral , but as a Ukrainian orientation came to dominate Ga lician Greek Catholic circles in the U.S.A. and in the homeland, the organization became much more supportive of the Orthodox Church, and an increasing portion of its membership reflected that. The RBO 's consistent stand on Ukrainianism was very negative, but simi larly, it opposed the idea that the Rusyn people's regional distinctions justified separation from Great Russians. While the majority of RBO members originated in the Lemko Region of Galicia, many of its founders and largest lodges originated in Hungary/Subcarpathia. In fact, in 1918 nearly 40 RBO lodges had a Subcarpathian majority, and a comparable number of lodges were loosely affiliated with Subcarpathian-majority Greek Catholic parishes. Ru ssian Orthodox Catholic Mutual Aid Society (ROCMAS). A convention of church brotherhoods that had converted to Orthodoxy took place in September 1895 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. , the center of the Rusyn movement to Orthodoxy led by Father Alexis Toth. They formed a federation, and by the first national convention in 1896, eighteen brotherhoods were members. The Society issued a newspaper, Svit, written in a mixture of Galician Ukrainian and Russian . While somewhat concerned with cultural matters, the Society's primary goal was the defense and promotion of Orthodoxy among socalled " Little Russian" immigrants. It vehemently opposed Ukrainia- �SLOVAKIA 2021 33 nism and the Greek Catholic Church, and promoted a strict Russian identity almost as a necessary feature of Orthodoxy, to the detriment of the local or regional linguistic and cultural traits of its Rusyn membership. Many of its larger and older lodges were primarily Subcarpathian, e.g., Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Bridgeport, Scranton , Catasauqua, and Berwick. United Russian Orthodox Brotherhood of America. The organization, at its founding known as the Greek Catholic Pravoslavny Brotherhood, was established in 1915 mainly by former members of the GCU in southwestern Penn sylvania who had recently joined the Ru ssian Orthodox Church. The vast majority of its members hip was of Subcarpathian origin, particularly from the more eastern counties of Uz, Bereg and Maramoros. Within two decades it grew to around 20,000 members 11 . Position of Slovak Fraternals "There is no 'Slovak ' people" - so titled was an art icle in the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik, Aug. 29, 1918. The postwar years and the struggles over the formation of the First Czechoslovak Republic would involve back-and-forth arguments between Ru syn American and Slovak American leaders, in print and, no doubt, in face-to-face meetings. But the root of the di strust undoubtedly was the early conflicts in these communities. The National Slovak Society, for its part, both supported the Rusyn people and disagreed at times with the position of the Rusyn leaders: National Slovak Society members expressed their concern for the fate of their brother Slavs, the Rusyns, who were now [World War I] experiencing the brunt of persecution in wartime Europe. Not only were repressive measures being taken against Rusyns in Carpathian Hungary, but in neighboring Galicia, Magyar troops were perpetrating wholesale massac res. This did not mean that the N.S.S. was conceding to th e claims of a Rusyn nationalism in Eastern Slovakia. Although support for the Slovak ca use in the region had been growing - largely thanks to the financi al support of the American Slovak community - certain elements considered the "S lovjaks" (i .e., Greek Catholics speaking the dial ect of the 11 Magocs i, Our People, 57. �34 SLOVAKIA 2021 eastern regions) as a separate nationality. The official N.S.S. policy was that the Slovjaks were Slovak, not Rusyn, Russian , or any other Slav people. 12 Political Actions During and Toward the End of World War I The Rus 'ko-Amerykans 'ka Rada (Rusyn/Ruthenian American Council) was established at a gathering in Philadelphia on December 8, 1914. By design it was to give equal leadership voice to Subcarpathian and Galician Rusyns, and under the patronage of Bishop Ortynsky, its directors included clerical and lay leaders from the Subcarpathian Rusyn community, especially Father Joseph Hanulya, editor of the United Societies newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian , George Gulanich and Ivan Zeedick of the GCU , and John Branik, president of the United Societies. At its Philadelphia meeting it condemned Russia and advocated for support of the political and cultural union of "Ukrainian (Rusyn)"-inhabited Galicia, Bukovina, and Hungary. 13 This entity ceased to exist with the death of Ortynsky in 1916, but not without drawing ire upon Father Hanulya for his participation. The American-Russian National Defense (ARND) / Narodna Obrana was founded in 1915 in Braddock, Pa. , near Pittsburgh, by Nicholas Pachuta. At the time Pachuta was assistant editor of the ARV, a post he held until 1918, under Michael Hanchin . National Defense styled itself the defender of Rus ' -ness against Magyarism in the Greek Catholic Church, was also critical of Slovakophiles and Ukrainophiles, and picked up members who were recent converts to Orthodoxy in the era of Bishop Stephen Dzubay. In May of 19 18 he met with Thomas G. Masaryk, the leader of the movement for a new state to be called Czechoslovakia, in Pittsburgh and began a discussion around the fate of Uhro-Rus ' (the Rusyn lands south of the Carpathians, historically part of Hungary). At that time Masaryk disregarded Pachuta's goals because his group "had no following or 12 R. Vl adimir Baumgarten and Joseph Ste fka , The National Slovak Society : 100 Year Histmy. 1890-/990. (Pittsburgh: Nation al Slovak Society, 1990), 76. 13 " Narodnyi z' "izd u Filiadel'fii"," Svoboda (Jersey City, NJ ), 19 December 1914, 2; Myron B. Kuropas, The Ukrainian Americans: Roots and Aspirations, 1884- 1954 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991 ), 134. �SLOVAKIA 2021 35 support among the broad masses of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants." 14 National Defense came around to the Czechoslovak option and delivered a memorandum to Masaryk in October endorsing autonomy within a Czechoslovak state. Around that time Pachuta converted to Orthodoxy, and in 1921 he united the National Defense with the American Russian Brotherhood based in C leve land. From 1922 until 1935 he was editor of the Russkij Vistnik newspaper of U ROBA. The League for the Liberation of Carpatho-Russia was a strictly Russophile political organization that drew most of its participation from individuals who were already active in organizations like ROCMAS and especially RBO. The vast majority of its members were of Galician background, but about 25% of delegates to its congresses were Subcarpathian Rusyns . 15 It held congresses in 19 17, 1918, and 1919 and made proclamations that Carpatho-Rusyn territory, a long with the who le of Galicia and Bukovina, should be part of Russia. The American National Counci l of Uhro-Rusins was founded in July of 1918 in Pittsburgh, with strong support from the United Societies and eventually the GCU . It grew to more than 100 branches, some of which had I 00 or even 200+ members. This was the organization in which the Pittsburgh attorney Gregory Zatkovich rose to leadership, began meetings with Masaryk, and which led to his post as the first governor of Subcarpathian Rus' . In Philadelphia on October 23, 1918, Zatkovich participated in the Mid-European Democratic Union in the presence of Masaryk . At that time Uhro-Rusyns - Rusyns of Hungary - were accepted as a distinct nationa lity, apart from Ukrainians who were already members. The National Counci l met at Scranton, Pa., on November 12, and formulated its final recommendation that Rusyn territory south of the Carpathians, including all of the original Uhro-Rusyn counties, be united in a Czechoslovak state with broad autonomy. The next day, the resolution was presented to Masaryk, who recommended that a plebiscite be held among American Uhro-Rusyns. 14 Joseph Danko, "Plebiscite of Carpath o- Ruthenians in the United States Recommendin g Union of Carpatho-Rutheni a with the Czec hoslovak Republic," Annals of !he Ukrainian Academy of Aris and Sciences, 11 , nos. 1-2 ( 1964-68), 186. 15 Prikarpalskaia Rus • (New York), Vol. I, o. I, October 191 8. �36 SLOVAKIA 2021 The American Uhro-Rusyn Plebiscite of December 1918 The American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, in conjunction with Masaryk's advice to Zatkovich, resolved to conduct a vote in Subcarpathian Rusyn parishes and fraternal lodges to determine their preferred action with respect to the homeland, among the options it had previously agreed to. Of course, they expected that the result would need to support what had already been decided: that Subcarpathian Rusyn territory should join the Czech and Slovak republic. This vote, then, was limited to the National Council's constituency: Subcarpathian-majority Greek Catholic parishes - no Orthodox parishes and no Galician-majority parishes would be involved, even if they had substantial numbers of Subcarpathian Rusyn members; and lodges of the GCU and United Societies only, who were already seen to be inclined toward their leadership's preference for Czechoslovakia. The plebiscite was announced in only one issue of the ARV (Nov. 14, 1918), and commenced almost immediately thereafter. There is no extant evidence that there was campaigning within the communities to select a particular option; certainly there would have been very little time for that. We do have results of the vote, which was published in several installments in the ARV and Prosvita, and which were collected in "Plebiscite ofCarpatho-Ruthenians in the United States Recommending Union of Carpatho-Ruthenia with the Czechoslovak Republic" authored by Joseph Danko in 1968. 16 Option Union with the Czecho-Slovak Republic Union with the Ukrainian Republic Total independence Union with Carpatho-Russians Union with Russi a Union with Magyar Land fHungaryl Union with Galicia Total Votes (% of tota l) 732 (66.4%) 310 (28. 1%) 27 (2.5%) 13 ( 1.2%) 10 (0.9%) 9 (0.8%) I (0. 1%) I , 102(/00.0%) Unsurprisingly, the organizers' preferred option won decisively, but not overwhelmingly. Based on the individual vote counts by parish and lodge provided by Danko, I would like to comment on some of 16 Danko, 200. �SLOVAKIA 2021 37 the more interesting things I observed. Union with the Czecho-Slovak Republic (rank: I} As we will see, each of the options had some very surprising entities voting for them. This option's supporters included two parishes founded as Greek Catholic but which at the time of the vote had Orthodox pastors: Elkhorn, West Virginia (Father John Gratson) and Elizabeth, New Jersey (Father Gregory Varho l). Not very surprising was a vote by a large, mostly Subcarpathian parish of Rusyns from Spis, Saris and Zemplin Counties (Holy Ghost in Tremont), but whose pastor was Father Hanulya, former editor of the United Societies' first newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian - who for years as a supporter of Bishop Ortynsky had been attacked by the GCU in the pages of ARV for being a quasi-Ukrainian . Fourteen of the GCU lodges were based at majority-Galician parishes, although some of these lodges were primari ly Subcarpathian in membership. Union with the Ukrainian Republic (rank: 2) Figure 1. A portion of the American Rusyn communities that voted for union of Uhro-Rusyns with the Ukrainian Republic (66% of tota l votes cast). (Source: Danko, 196-198) The following voted for Uni on of Uhro-Rusins with Ukraini an Republic Societies of the Greek Catholic of Rusin Brothe rhoods in the USA 4 6 17 19 24 28 32 50 Mahoney City, Pa. Donmore , Pa. Rendham, Pa. Lansing, Pa . Eckle y , Pa. Glenlien, Pa. Sheppton, Pa. Mahoney Plane, Pa. (Figure I continues) 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 242 267 292 295 298 324 379 390 St. Clair , Pa. Hannastown, Pa. Wilkes-Barre , Pa. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Baggaley, PP a . New Salem, Pa. Kester, Pa. McKees Rocks, Pa. 3 2 2 3 1 6 2 5 �38 SLOVAKIA 2021 Uhro-Rusins Greek Catholic United Congregations. I St. Johna SL Johna B. V. M. Bleaed TrinitY B. V. M. B. V. M. SL Michael B. V. M. Holy Ghost L Michael hen Scnnton, Pa. Bridgeport, Conn. New Salem, Pa. New Britain, Conn. Freebnd,PL Whitting, Ind. Ref. &am>lky P.ev. Cbomoc:t Rev.~ 400- 8 500-10 400- 8 Blnghamtoo, N.Y. Taylor, Pa. McKeca Rocb, PL St. Clair Pa. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Rev. Thq2t Rev. Petraaovich Rev. A. Suba Rev. Ribovsk Rev. N. Chopey 550- 7 Lt Lansford, Pa. Rev. Martyak 550- 7 ~udloning, Pa. Ha eton, Pa. Rn. p ch Rev. Brinaky llef. Choarboch 500- 6 500· 6 600-12 600-12 550- 7 Rev. FeiuG !&J- s Overall this was the most surprising result, having the second highest number of votes. Some votes came from additionally surprising places. For example: the parish in New Britain had experienced an ugly split with Galician Ukrainians just eight years before, yet they still had a Galician pastor. The Wilkes-Barre parish ' s pastor was Father Nicholas Chopey, who had a few years before been numbered among the pro-Hungary clergy. The Lansford parish ' s pastor was Father Gabriel Martyak, administrator of the Uhro-Rusyn parishes in the wake of Bishop Ortynsky's death two years before. And the Hazleton parish that voted for this option, pastored by the Lemko priest Father John Fekula? This was actually the Galician parish (St. Michael) that split off from two existing Subcarpathian parishes in the same city. We must wonder how this parish had the opportunity to vote at all. The lodges that voted this way included largely-Galician GCU lodges in Glen Lyon (based at an old mostlyGalician parish) and Rankin (based at a mostly-Subcarpathian parish), �39 SLOVAKIA 2021 five other GC U lodges based at Galician-majority pari shes but with mostl y Subcarpathi an members, and a GCU lodge from Father Martyak's paris h in Lansford whose members were mostl y from Sari s and Zemplin Counti es. The following voted for Tou.l Independence of Uhro-Rusins. Societies of the Greek C. Union. ):: ~~•:· an !Im , a. \ Eynon, Pa. lmon, Pa. ~nton, ra. 2 1 I Gymnastic Branches. I61 11 Scranton, Pa. 67 Mahonoy City, Pa. 1 United Societies of Greek C. Religion I ss K.ingaton, Pa. 1 II 60 Edwardavillc, Pa. 2 j Uhro-Rusin Congregations 11 ¥ M : Holy Gbolt iililUIIII t11 Jcaup, Pa. 1&11 li•1 :Rev. Ivan I= i I Figure 2. The Ameri can Rusyn communities whi ch voted fo r tota l indepe ndence of Uhro-Rusyns (3 % of votes cast). (Danko, 198) Total independence of Uhro- Rusyns (rank: 3) Without any traditi on of self-rule, and without any real advocates fo r thi s pos ition, it is not surpri sing that it rece ived so few votes. It 's notable that not only did the pari sh and a GCU lodge in Jessup, Pennsy lvani a, contribute a number of the votes fo r thi s option, but two additional GC U lodges that did , in Eynon , Pennsyl va ni a, were a ffili ated wi th the Jessup pari sh as we ll. Jessup a lso had a large RBO lodge, but it is unlike ly that independence would have been the ir preference. �40 SLOVAKIA 2021 Union with Carpatho-Russians (i.e., Galicians, Bukovinians, UhroRusyns) (rank: 4) This position was represented among American Carpatho-Rusyns mainly by the League for the Liberation of Carpatho-Russia, although evidently few Subcarpathian Rusyns belonged to that organization, and to some extent originally by the American-Russian National Defense. The few votes for this option came mainly from Gary, Indiana 's GCU Lodge 469 and its Greek Catholic parish, which was primarily of Subcarpathian origin (in its western counties that would be incorporated into Slovakia) although it is not clear to this author why that would have been their choice. Union with Russia (rank: 5) The FolJowing voted for Union with Russia Greek Catholic Union. 550 Olyphant, Pa. 1 Gymnastic Branch 121 Jerome, Pa. I Uhro-Rusin Congregations a. V. M. Mahoooy City, Pa. lln. I. lubck 400- a Figure 3. The American Rusyn communities which voted for union ofUhroRusyns with Russia (I % of votes cast). (Danko. 199) Among the votes for this option were GCU Lodge 530 in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, mostly Lemko in membership and based at a Galician-majority parish, and perhaps most curious of all , St. Mary 's Greek Catholi c Church in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, whose pastor was the noted Rusyn-language author and cultural patriot Father Emil Kubek. Kubek was also part of the leadership of the American I �41 SLOVAKIA 2021 National Council, which was not supportive of union with Russia at all. While he was not a Russophile, his relative lack of involvement with the GCU (and perhaps due to the RBO being founded in his parish) may have encouraged him to advocate for this option . Or more likely the decisive factor was the RBO's founding president, John Zincak Smith, also being the president of St. Mary's parish. Union with Magyar land (i.e., Hungary) (rank: 6) The Following voted for Union of Uhro-Rwins with Magyar Land Greek Catholic Union. 50 2 181 Clevdand, Ohio Clndand, Ohio Uhro-Rusin Congregations. St. John'• , ClcYeland, Ohio llev. Ballog soo- 6 I Figure 4. The American Rusyn communities which voted for union ofUhroRusyns with Hungary (I % of votes cast). (Danko, 199) Even though many of the Subcarpathian Greek Catholic clergy in the U.S. were Magyarized (if not outright Magyarone), it doesn't seem that any attempt there may have been on their part to influence their parishioners to vote for this option was successful. The ARV denounced Hungary's policy toward its ethnic minorities for years in the lead up to the war. Despite Hungary's liberalized ethnic minority policy that began in 1915, inclination toward Hungary from American Rusyns seems to have changed little. Two GCU lodges voted for this option, but most striking is that six votes came from St. John's Church in Cleveland - not the Rusyn one that in 1918 had hired an Orthodox priest as its pastor - but the Magyar parish, pastored by Father Michael Balogh. This was the only ethnic-Hungarian parish to vote, and it's unlikely that Zatkovich and the American National Council had intended the plebiscite to include the Magyar parishes. (It's possible that they did, we just have no evidence on either side to say for sure.) Union with Galicia (rank: 7) Given the still substantial portion of the GCU's membership either �42 SLOVAKIA 2021 from Galicia or belonging to lodges based at Galician-majority parishes, we could have expected more votes for this option than were returned. However, a number of GCU lodges that were mostly or entirely Galician in membership (e.g., McKeesport Lodge 782, Wilmerding, Pa. , Lodges 348 and 360) - and based at Galician parishes - did not vote. It must be underscored that the plebiscite was not truly representative of the range of religious congregations and fraternal lodges found in the American Carpatho-Rusyn community, not even when speaking exclusively of those from Subcarpathia - the "Uhro-Rusyns." The Orthodox (except for two parishes which inexplicably did vote) were wholly unrepresented, and the significant fraternals RBO, ROCMAS , and fledgling UROBA were likewise ignored. Clearly it was meant to produce the additional justification Zatkovich needed to present the Scranton resolution to the Paris Peace Conference. 17 Understandably alarmed by this development, the activist Ukrainian American community opposed what they had hoped would be an outcome supporting their goal to unite so-called Ukrainian-Ruthenian ethnographic territory in a Ukrainian state. In so doing, they provided what seems to be the only eyewitness account of how the plebiscite was conducted in a Rusyn parish. Here writes a Ukrainian from Bridgeport, Conn .: Our Hungarian brother Rusyns want to unite Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine. On December 8 of this year, a parish meeting was held in Bridgeport, Conn. , right after the Divine Liturgy, in the parish school. The meeting was very interesting for every Ukrainian, because our brother Uhro-Rusyns decided on the fate of our and their brothers across the sea. Local speakers and Father Orest Cornjak [Chornock], local pastor, spoke. The meeting was convened for the purpose of deciding where Hungarian Rus' shou ld belong: whether to Ukraine or to the Czecho-Slovak state. Father Orest Cornjak stated his preference, that he would vote to belong to his brothers, that is, to the Ukrainians, rather than to the Czecho-Slovaks . After much discussion , it turned out that the Uhro-Rusyn 17 Victor S. Mamatey, "The Slovaks and Carpatho-Ruthenians," in Joseph F. O'Grady, ed .. The Immigrants· Influence on Wilson's Peace Policies (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1967), 245-246. �SLOVAKIA 2021 43 leaders wanted to lead the Uhro-Rusyns to the Czecho-Slovaks, without questioning the Uhro-Rusyn people. And again the speakers protested against the "American National Council of UhroRusins" in America that no one has elected; its members of that Council are self-appointed leaders, that they have chosen themselves and have no right to speak in the name of the Uhro-Rusyn people, and further that they proposed an amendment so as not to vote either for Ukraine or against, nor to take a position against the Czecho-Slovak state, and so let it be as Uhro-Rusyns will decide in the old country. They also complained to the Ukrainians that at the founding of the " Mid-European Union" at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pa., they had to say that the Uhro-Rusyns are "a different people" from the Ukrainians, and thus the Ukrainians do not want to accept the UhroRusyns as an equal among equals and so for that reason will not vote in that way. When people were already wanting to leave, Mr. Ivan Boyko, head of the Ukrainian Athletic Association (Sich) in America, while asking forgiveness for the slurs that were committed by Ukrainians, and explaining that the Uhro-Rusyns had already decided at the founding council meetings in L'viv that Hungarian Rus ' should belong to Ukraine together with Galicia and Bukovina, said he did not see the reasons why the Uhro-Rusyns should not vote for the joining of Hungarian Rus' to Ukraine. He laid out what benefits the Uhro-Rusyns would have in a Ukrainian state, and what benefits they would have from the Czecho-Slovaks .. .. We Ukrainians, said Mr. Bojko, can never agree that our Hungarian brothers will be in the Czecho-Slovak state. [... ] It should be noted that the audience very intently listened to Mr. Bojko and took his every word to heart. After the speech the audience rewarded him with applause when the other speakers received no applause. Here Mr. Bojko did a great service to the Ukrainian people by proclaiming this speech to the Hungarian brothers, because then now the entire hall of people began to speak differently about it after the speech, because it was moved to vote by secret ballot, about where Hungarian Rus' should belong: whether to Ukraine, or to the Czecho-Slovak state, and another motion, to vote by roll call , so that you know who is against your brothers (Ukrainians). Father Comjak led by saying: Who is for �44 SLOVAKIA 2021 uniting Hungarian Rus' with Ukraine? It was decided unanimously on the joining of Hungarian Rus' to Ukraine, and then came the second ballot: Who is for uniting Hungarian Rus' with the Czecho-Slovaks? For this union with the Czecho-Slovaks there was only one vote. So, evidently, the Uhro-Rusyns want to unite with Ukraine. The statement made in Philadelphia by Misters M. Sichynsky and N. Ceglinsky, recognizing the Uhro-Rusyns as a separate nationality, with their representative as Mr. Zatkovich in the "MidEuropean Union," should be retracted for the good of the Ukrainian people and the Uhro-Rusyns . Instead, let them declare that the Uhro-Rusyns are our brothers by blood and by faith , and we can never agree that a second nationality would rule over our Hungarian brothers, even if it were Czecho-Slovakia. In Bridgeport, Conn ., Uhro-Rusyns do not recognize the "American National Council of Uhro-Rusins" because their people did not select them , and that self-styled Counci l has no right to push them into a Czecho-Slovak state, because the Uhro-Rusyn brothers want to unite Hungarian Rus ' with Ukraine. Glory to them for this! 18 The Ukrainian National Association's newspaper Svoboda reported on a Ukrainian National Congress that took place in January 1919. This congress included speakers on the situation in the Subcarpath ian Rusyn community in the U.S. and its recent Scranton resolution and fol low-on plebiscite. Father Kubek , editor of the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik [this is an error, he was not] was supposed to speak, but at the last moment he informed that he was not able to do so. His place was taken by a Galician priest, Father Vasyl' Merenkiv, who said, among other things: "In recent days I was in several Uhro-Rusyn parishes and spoke with several Uhro-Rusyn priest-leaders . We spoke about the idea of uniting Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine . I can assure the esteemed delegates that they are all committed to joining Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine more so than with Czec hoslovak ia. But still, I noticed that American Uhro-Rusyns are sti ll wavering." Mr. Ivan Hajovyc (of Maramoros), a delegate from the Chicago Uhro-Rusyns, was called to speak. He revealed his joy that he has an 18 "Svobidna vo lia uhors' kykh Ru syniv," Svoboda, 14 December 19 I 8, 2. �SLOVAKIA 2021 45 opportunity to speak to so many people who are interested in the fate of Uhro-Rusyns. He talked about the oppression that Uhro-Rusyns suffered from the Magyars. " We, Hungarian Ukrainians," said Mr. Hajovyc, "stand body and soul for the unity of Ukraine.We want to join with Ukraine! We are protesting against the plebiscite conducted among American UhroRusyn s, which was set up for the sake of uniting Uhro-Rus' with Czechoslovakia. Hungarian Ukrainians want to be united with Ukraine. We do not know what Czechoslovakia is and who CzechoSlovaks are. We never want to hear anything about joining them." Mr. Ivan Hundjak (a Galician) argued using statistics that the plebiscite initiated by Masaryk among American Uhro-Rusyns was conducted in a deceptive manner. Finally Mr. Ivan Skakandij, an Uhro-Rusyn cantor-teacher and delegate from Nesquehoning, Pa . was called to speak He regretted that in such an important moment Hungarian Ukrainians in America have not yet all been awakened to a life of national consciousness. " It is the fault of the Uhro-Rusyn clergy, who in the old country were led around by the Magyars and now by the Czechoslovaks. But nationally conscious Hungarian Ukrainians in America want to unite with Ukraine. We are just now awakening to life and there is hope that in a short time we will all be awakened." One speaker (Father Merenkiv) said " Hungarian Ukrainians in America are still waking up, but remember, that as we wake up , Masaryk will do nothing to help." 19 My observations about the results, it turns out, while I arrived at them independently, were noted to some extent already in 1919 in an article in the Ukrainian press. This is the speech by Ivan Hundjak (mentioned previously) in which he analyzed the resu lts and pointed out, among other criticisms, that if a person happened to be a member of a GCU lodge and the United Societies lodge in the same place, and the local Subcarpathian Greek Catholic parish, conceivably that person could vote up to three times. He noted as well (as Danko did) that participation among those eligible to vote was fairly low. He asserted that had these irregularities been taken into account, the leading result 19 "Z narodnohu z'izdu," Svoboda, 18 January 19 19, 2. �46 SLOVAKIA 2021 probably would have been for union with Ukraine. I would counter that had there been time, or the will, to more inclusively offer the vote to all American Subcarpathian Rusyn institutions, and not just the ones affiliated with the American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, the results may indeed have been different, but more likely toward union with Russia, as impractical as that might have been. Reception of Czechoslovakia in the Rusyn American Community In May of 19 I 9, the cornerstone was laid in Homestead, Pennsylvania, for the Rusin Peoples Home. This event, under the patronage of the American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, occurred just days before the National Counci l in Uzhorod, Subcarpathian Rus ', would accept the American Rusyns ' proposal to unite with Czechoslovakia. The commemorative booklet for this event 20 prominently featured a page with the American, Czechoslovak, and "Rusin" flags entwined, with the slogan "Old Glory Has Made This Federation (Czech-SlovakRusin) Possible." The pages following showed photographs of Zatkovich signing the declaration of the Mid-European Nationalities and Masaryk reading the declaration at a public manifestation in Philadelphia. The book ' s last page is a map showing Europe ' s ethnic groups within the new postwar borders, with Czechoslovakia labeled "Czechoslovaks" and to its east, "Uhro-Rusinia." It's not clear whether UhroRusinia is meant to be depicted as part of Czechoslovakia or not. Whatever the interpretation, this is probably the lone celebratory publication of American Rusyns to mark the decision to join the Czechoslovak Republic. A delegation of American Rusyn gymnasts affiliated with the GCU Sokol division travelled to Prague in the summer of 1920 to participate in a Pan-Slavic Gymnastics exhibition. As part of the trip they also visited Subcarpathian Rus ' and had an audience with Governor Zatkovich. One member of the delegation wrote, " In Prague we were 20 Souvenir Issued by the Rusin Peoples Home, Inc. on the Occasion of the Dedication ofthe Corner-Stone I Pamiatnik izdan ko,poratsieiu Russkii Narodny i Dom iz sluchai posviashcheniia kraeugol 'nago kamen 'ia. Homestead. Pa .. I 9 I 9 (Homestead, Pa., 19 19). �SLOVAKIA 2021 47 warmly welcomed by the Czechs and everything we saw in Prague and the way we were treated , we enjoyed ... " oi...o OLO ..... .. , . . MAO• T .. , . rcDll:.. 4Tt0N ie&&CW·~YAK "v.lNI ~ . . . • 1..• Figure 5. Page from the commemorative booklet for the cornerstone laying ofthe Rusin Peoples Home in Homestead, Pa., May 1919. Another wrote, " With thanks to God , with our appearance at the Pan-Slavic Sokol Meet in Prague, we made a mark in the history of our Sokol Branch which wi ll be permanent proof that we accomplished our mission , that we entered into the order of the Czechoslovak Sokol movement. . . We also left a lasting impression on the youth of Subcarpathian Rus ' ." The trip was promoted in the pages of ARV and chronicled fully in the 1921 almanac of the Sokol division. 2 1 It wou ld not be long before frustration over the lack of autonomy promised Subcarpathian Rus' by Masaryk would boil over in the American Carpatho-Rusyn press, especially when Zatkovich resigned in 1921 , and would continue at least until the late 1920s among Greek Catholics. The GCU printed a number of publications critical of Czechoslovak policy: Zatkovich's Otkrytie-Expose by vseho g ubernatora Podkarpatskoj Rus i, o Podkarpatskoj Rusi ( 1921 ), Wilson's Prin21 C heryl We ller Beck et al. , Opportuni~v Realized: The Greek Catholic Union 's First One Hundred Years, / 892-1992. (Beaver, Pa.: Gree k Catholic Uni on o f the U.S.A. , 1994), 75 . �48 SLOVAKIA 2021 ciples in Czechoslovak Practice: The Situation of the Carpatho-Russian People Under the Czech Yoke ( 1929) and Beskid's Karpatorusskaja pravda ( 1932). They would also lead a National Congress of Rusins in Pittsburgh in November 1922, which issued a memorandum to Prague condemning their policy toward Subcarpathian Rus '. American Rusyns in the Russian Orthodox Church and others of Russophile orientation would take up the opposition to Czechoslovak policy toward Subcarpathian Rus' through the 1930s. 22 I did not find any evidence - written or photographic - in Carpatho-Rusyn communities or parishes of widespread adoption of Czechoslovakia as a symbolic "homeland." There is certain ly no oral folklore around portraits of Masaryk (or Zatkovich, for that matter) being hung in parish halls as there is of portraits of Maria Theresa and Franz Josef from the early immigration. Lasting Impressions on Rusyn Americans of a Czechoslovak "Homeland" A list on the Wikipedia entry for Czech Americans of "The top 50 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Czech ancestry" 23 (based on the 2000 U.S . census) contains mostly predictable results - locations in North Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin , et al. An accompanying list, " U.S. communities with the most residents born in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia)," however, contains a curious entry: tied for number IO was the little town of Colver, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles north of Johnstown in the west central part of the state. Colver, a former coal mining company town , had just a few primary ethnic groups : among these were Slovaks and Carpatho-Rusyns. It may we ll have sti ll had a few residents in 2000 who were born in the former Czechos lovakia. It is not clear that these results came from responses declaring their birthplace as "Czech Republic" or "Czechoslovakia," or either, but surely this population in Colver, Pennsylvania, was not ethnic Czechs. 22 Magocsi, Our People, 88-89. "Czech Americans", https ://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech Americans. Accessed December I, 201 8. 23 �SLOVAKIA 2021 49 The U.S. Census Bureau statistics for ancestry 24 (estimated from its 20 I 3 American Community Survey) show that Pennsylvania, historically the state with the largest number of Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrants, had more than 52,142 residents with Czech ancestry, or 0.3% of Pennsylvania residents. This is much less than those who indicated Slovak or Ukrainian ancestry, many of which are likely of Carpatho-Rusyn background (or the completely unreali stic 193 ,000 with "Russian" ancestry), but still far higher than the hi storically low Czech settlement of the state would imply. In addition, "Czechoslovak ian" ancestry was estimated at 22,904, which could conceivably include any of Czech, Slovak, or Carpatho-Rusyn-descended individuals, although the much lower national consciousness of CarpathoRusyn Americans - reflected by the miniscule estimated 2,050 of that background - would lead one to expect most of those "Czechoslovak" individuals to have Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. That many Carpatho-Rusyn Americans of any particular geographic background in Carpathian Rus ' still exhibit confusion about their ethnic and geographical origins is not news to anyone. But it may be that Subcarpathian Rus ' belonging for 20 years to Czechoslovakia created a lingering geographic attachment to the idea of "Czechoslovakia" as the ancestral land of American Carpatho-Rusyns. Consider these newspaper clippings, maybe the most extreme examples of this phenomenon I've encountered. A perhaps unintended corollary to this phenomenon is the everincreasing use of genealogy websites where obituaries, gravestones, and other data are collected; many of the individuals - Carpatho-Rusyns and others - whose ge nealogical data is found on these sites have had their birthplace, which was probably entered by their descendant researcher as "Czechoslovakia," transposed by the site into "Czech Republic," further muddling Carpatho-Rusyn identity by placing Czechoslovak natives into the wrong modem-day country. Thus the main legacy of Carpatho-Rusyns' Czechoslovak homeland may well be their descendants eventually needing to educate themselves about 24 U.S. Census Bureau, Total Ancestry Reported: Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported, 2013 American Community Survey I- Year Estimates. https :// factfinder.census.gov/ faces/tableservices/ jsf/pages/productview.xhtml ?pid=ACS 13 I YR B04003&prodType=table. Accessed I December 2018. �50 SLOVAKIA 2021 the fact that Subcarpathian Rus ' was indeed part of Czechoslovakia and is not the modem day Czechia, nor Slovakia, for that matter. rites _____§s:,vtces for Mary - • 93, of 1220 Valley Road, Duncott, who died Friday morning at Pottsville Hospital, will be held at 9 :15 a.m. Tuesday !rom Dutcavich Funeral Home, Minersville. Further services will be held at 10 a .m . in Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Minersville . The Very Rev. Michael Hatrak will officiate. Interment will be in the parish cemetery, Branch Township. Born public, sh late Metro and Sophie She came to the United States as a child, resided in the Heckscherville and Duncott areas and attended Heckscherville schools. She was a member of Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Minersville, and was active in numerous church functions for many years. Figure 6. 1998 obituary of a Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant born in Lochovo, Bereg County, now in the Zakarpatska Oblast of Ukraine, which states she was " born in Lockaway, Czech Republic In any case, on this centennial of the creation of the first Czechoslovak Republic, we can happily remember Mamatey's remark about the significance of American Carpatho-Rusyns' activities around this creation : "while the Slovak immigration in the United States affected Wilson's peace policies only indirectly ... the Carpatho-Ruthenian immigrants did so directly." 25 25 Mamatey, 249. �SLOVAKIA 2021 MARI( 51 R0CMR8ISlalf Pholo Woman celebrates turning 103 Mary 11111111 • l'Nident at York Terrace, Pottsville, wavee to ad- =:~==bi~ le now the Cziech Republ 1891, ahe larecenUy. • member of Sa. Born In Pa,1 ; lie Church, Mlnersvllle, and atlll enjoya muak:al and cooking actlvltlea at York Terrace. 7. 200 I news article of a birthday celebration of a Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant centenarian born in Cyganovci , Uz County, now in the Zakarpatska Oblast of Ukraine, which states she was "born in what is now the Czech Republic." Figure �52 SLOVAKIA 2021 "UIIRO . RUSINIA, PROPOSED THIUD STATE OF TUE CZl',()JJO!!LO'\"AK REPUBLIC " • 0 ...... ,,.....,....-_-...):/ ~ ( • • • ,. 1'14"-t.~ Figure 8. Map prepared in 1918 by Gregory Zatkovich depicting the proposed future state of "Uhro-Rusinia" within a federal Czechoslovakia, in which all Rusyn-inhabited lands on the southern slopes of the Carpathians were to be included. (Archive of Paul R. Magocsi , used with permission) � SLOVAKIA 2021 27 ENVISIONING A HOMELAND: CARPATHO-RUSYN IMMIGRANTS IN THE USA AND THE CZECHOSLOVAK OPTION 1 Richard D. Custer In the earliest decades of their life in the United States, relations between Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrants were frequent and generally productive. But Czech immigrants neither settled in the same places most Rusyn immigrants went, nor had any notable higherlevel contacts with them. Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant newspapers, which were an important means for their readers to become aware of immigrant issues outside their own ethnic group, rarely made mention of Czechs until 19 16. Yet by late 1918, American Rusyn leaders were laying a foundation for their homeland countrymen entering into a new state with the Czechs and Slovaks. In the space of just a few months of the concept of the first Czechoslovak Republic being known to American Rusyns, a plebiscite conducted in some segments of the community resulted in a strong, though not overwhelming, preference for inclusion into the nascent Czechoslovak state. The results would prove decisive in the fate of post-Austro-Hungarian Subcarpathian Rus'. This article will examine why Czechoslovakia became and did, or did not, remain their preferred option. Early Settlement of Carpatho-Rusyns, Slovaks, and Czechs in the U.S.A. [n the formative years of the Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrant communities, these two Slavic peoples, in many cases already having occasional contact in their shared homeland, experienced times of cooperation and conflict that helped to firmly define their respective identities. Historic "U pper Hungary," specificall y the counties of Abauj /Abov, Szepes/Spis, Saras/Saris, Zemplen/Zemplin, and Ung/ Uz, 1 O ri gi nally presented at "Czec hoslovakia at I 00: Envisioning and Imagi ng Subcarpathian Rus"' panel , Association fo r Slavic, East European, and Euras ian Studies (ASEEES) annua l convention, Boston , MA, 6 December 2018. �28 SLOVAKIA 2021 experienced the highest rate of poverty and thus the highest rate of emigration to the United States starting in the late 19th century. In these counties - for the most part present-day eastern Slovakia - Slovaks were the majority, and Rusyns were a substantial minority. Some villages were ethnically mixed, or neighboring vil lages inhabited mostly by the other ethnic group. The first Slovak immigrants to the United States from Upper Hungary began to arrive in the late 1860s, and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants from Upper Hungary and Austrian Galicia began to arrive in the latter 1870s, but significant numbers of both were not found in the U.S.A. until the 1880s. The communities of both groups began to organize in the early 1880s. In general , Slovaks (particularly those from eastern Slovakia) and Carpatho-Rusyns settled in the same towns and cities in the U.S.A.: metropolitan New York City; Bridgeport, Connecticut; the anthracite coa l mining region of northeastern Pennsylvania; Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania; western Pennsy lvania; C leveland ; Chicago and northwestern Indiana; St. Louis; Minneapolis; and Detroit. 2 These areas were home to the vast majority of both Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn parishes and other organizations. The places where Slovaks were established that had no Carpatho-Rusyn presence were few, primarily in upstate New York and the Midwest. Specifically Slovak Roman Catholic parishes were founded in Haz leton , Pennsylvania. and Streator, Illinois ( 1885), and a Lutheran parish was founded also in Streator ( 1884), whi le the first CarpathoRusyn Greek Catholic parish was founded in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1884. Their respective mutual-aid "buria l societies," or fraternal insurance lodges, were also founded at around the same time, the first such Slovak society being founded in New York City in 1883 3 , while the first such Ru syn soc iety was founded in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1885 4 . 2 Konstantin Cul en, History of Slovaks in America (St. Paul, Minn .: Czechoslovak Genea logical Society International, 2007), 67-70; Paul R. Magocsi, Our People: Carpatho-Rusvns and Their Descendant.,· in North America. Fourth rev. ed. (Wauconda, Ill .: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2005), 20-22. 3 M. Mark Sto larik, "A Place fo r Everyone: Slovak Fraternal-Benefit Societies" in Scott Cummings ed., Se(f-Help in America: Patterns of Minoritv Business Ente1prise (Port Washington. NY: Kennikat Press, 1980), 130- 141. 4 Magocsi, 49. �SLOVAKIA 2021 29 In the homeland, Carpatho- Ru syns probably would have never met an ethnic Czech/ Bohemian or Moravian, except perhaps as young conscripts serving together in the Austro-Hungarian army in World War 1. 5 (And it is further unlikely that these men wou ld have found their way to the United States until after the end of the war.) Contact between Carpatho-Ru syn and Czech immigrants in the U.S.A. was similarly unlikely, and the two immigrant groups were of substantiall y different character. Czech immigrants began to arrive in the United States much earl ier: the largest number came in the late 1860s. A substantial portion of these immigrants were at least middle class and artisans, in strong contrast to the mostly peasant Slovak and CarpathoRusyn immigrants who took on unskilled jobs in the mines and mills. Finally, Czech settlements were generally in the Midwest and Texas, where farm land was easi ly obtai ned, far from the industrial setting that defined the Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant experience.6 Only in cities like Ch icago, C leveland, and Pittsburgh were eastern S lovaks and Carpatho-Rusyns likely to encounter Czech immigrants, if at all. Additionally, Czech immigrants were increasingly less likely to worship in (Roman) Catholic churc hes and thus their contact with Slovak or (i n certain situations) Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants was not frequent. The early Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants, then, in addition to frequent and essential contact with their Lemko Rusyn , Boiko, and Ukrainian co-religionists from Galicia in Greek Catholic parishes and fraternal organizations, were far more familiar with Slovak immigra nts as their neighbors, work friends , and perhaps spouses or extended family. To some extent, Carpatho-Rusyns' and Slovaks' fraternal benefit organizations developed along the same lines and in cooperation. Fraternal organizations were usually the first community institution estab lished in the Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrant settlements. These were built on the model of simi lar organizations in the homeland, in part as a replacement for the American insurance that was not usually ava il ab le to S lavic immigrants, and out of a need for 5 Magocsi, " The Ruthenian Decision to Unite with Czechoslovaki a," Sla vic Review, Vol. 34, o. 2 (June 1975), 364. 6 Thoma s Capek, The Cechs (Bohemians) in America: A Study of Their National, Cultural, Political, Social, Economic and Religious life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1920), 36-51 , 60-68. �30 SLOVAKIA 2021 an organization to rally the immigrants on an ethnic basis. The first of these societies arose in pioneer Slovak and Rusyn settlements in the 1880s and 1890s. Some were founded by Roman and Greek Catholics together, e.g., in Bridgeport, Connecticut ( 1888), Kingston, Pennsylvania ( 1887 or 1888), Streator, Illinois ( 1889), McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, Allegheny/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Passaic, New Jersey ( 1890). Some or most of these organizations would likely have joined the national Slovak organizations founded around that time: the National Slavonic Society of the United States (renamed National Slovak Society of the United States of America in 1913), or the First Catholic Slovak Union, FCSU/"Jednota," both founded in 1890.7 Rusyns would not have their own comparable organization until 1892. But the most striking example of a shared Slovak/Rusyn fraternal society was the Pennsylvania Slovak Roman & Greek Catholic Union (aka Pennsylvania Slovak Union or PSJ). Of all the Slovak-American fraternal societies this organization would count the largest number of Rusyn members, and more than 20 PSJ lodges were identified specifically as Greek Catholic or were based at a Greek Catholic church. 8 Despite having a generally common cultural background, and some shared religious affiliation and shared organizations, on an official level , the political goals of the Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants did not always coincide, even as the idea of a Czechoslovak republic began to materiali ze. American Carpatho-Rusyn Fraternal Benefit Societies Greek Catholic Union (GCU). The GCU was the sec ul ar organization with the largest membership and widest geographical reach in the American Rusyn community. Its leadership, and editorial stance of its Amerikansky Russky Viestnik newspaper (ARV) , were generally anti-Hungarian, vehemently anti-Ukrainian, and mildly Russophil e, though never politically inclined to union with Russia. While its 1902 spinoff United Societies, loyal to America's first Greek Catholic 7 Stolarik, 130- 141. Ri chard D. Custer, "Old Countrymen, New Neighbors: Early Carpatho- Rusyn and Slovak Immigra nt Relations in the United States" in S/ovo (National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rap ids, IA), Summer 2016. Unabridged version on line at https://www .ncsml .org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07 /Old-Countrymen-New-Neighbors.pdf, 6-7. 8 �SLOVAKIA 2021 31 Bishop Soter Ortynsky (an ethnic Ukrainian) since his arrival in 1907 and friendly to the Ga lician clergy, was the GCU 's antagonist on paper, they wou ld prove to be the al li es that would make possible a stronger voice that proved to be the one that caught the ear of the creators of the first Czechoslovak Republic. Slovaks - those who were Greek Catholics as we ll as Roman Catholics - made up a not insignificant portion of the GCU ' s membership, but early on the GCU took a strong stand against the idea that there were actually ethnic S lovak Greek Catholics.9 United Societies of the Greek Catholic Religion. The United Societies spun off from the GCU in 1902 and maintained a loya li st position toward the Greek Catholic Church, at times in opposition to what was perceived as the rebel li ous or disloyal GCU. In its support for Bishop Ortynsky, the society, its newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian ( 1910- 19 17), and its editor, Father Joseph Hanulya, were castigated by the GCU as Ukrainian sympathi zers. Around 1918, the United Societies had about 9,000 members including youth 10 , and published a newspaper, Prosvita, that remained often at odds w ith the GCU and its ARV. Ruskij Narodnyj Sojuz (RNS) / Ukrainian National Association (UNA). The GCU in its early years, under c lerically-dominated leadership, became preoccupied with Rusyn affairs in Hungary and enunciated a generally pro-Hungarian political stance. This ali enated the significant membership from Galicia (most of whom were Lemkos), and many lodges, some even with substantial Subcarpathian membership, seceded from the GCU in 1894 to form a new organization . That organization, founded in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, was the Ruskij Narodnyj Sojuz, or in English, Russian National Union . It we lcomed as members Rusyns from Hungary and Galicia who had a strong sense of national identity, whether "Rusyn," " Russian," or "Ruthenian ." As the organization and its Svoboda newspaper became more Ukrainian-oriented, and the terms Ukraine and Ukrainian increasing ly used alongside Rus' and Rusyn, those with Russophil e or Old-Ruthenian views wou ld transfer to other organizations, primarily 9 Custer, '" No Such Thing as Greek Catholic Slovaks: ' The GCU's Polemic," The Carpatho-Rusyns of Pennsylvania, http://rusynsofpa. blogspot.com/2 014/12/no-suchthing-as-greek-catholic-slovaks.html. Accessed December I, 201 8. 10 Magocsi, " Political Activity," 398. �32 SLOVAKIA 2021 the Russian Brotherhood Organization. The dominant "Ruthenian" segment would eventually lead the organization to change its name in September 1914 to the Ukrainian National Association. Alienated by this change, approximately 17 UNA lodges, 15 of which had a primarily Subcarpathian Rusyn membership, joined the United Societies between October 1914 and February 1915, resulting in 2 1 new regular United Societies lodges and 6 new United Societies youth lodges. Onl y a few such lodges would remain in the UNA, and so the organization's influence among American Subcarpathian Rusyns had almost entirely di ssipated. Russian Brotherhood Organization (RBO). Some members of GCU and RNS in 1900 gathered in Mahanoy City, Pa ., to form a new fraternal organization that would resist clerical domination, have no requirement of church membership, and avoid both pro-Hungarian and pro-Ukrainian political stands. Most of its early lodges were located in northeastern Pennsylvania and some had left the GCU or RNS to join. Religiously, the society remained officially neutral , but as a Ukrainian orientation came to dominate Ga lician Greek Catholic circles in the U.S.A. and in the homeland, the organization became much more supportive of the Orthodox Church, and an increasing portion of its membership reflected that. The RBO 's consistent stand on Ukrainianism was very negative, but simi larly, it opposed the idea that the Rusyn people's regional distinctions justified separation from Great Russians. While the majority of RBO members originated in the Lemko Region of Galicia, many of its founders and largest lodges originated in Hungary/Subcarpathia. In fact, in 1918 nearly 40 RBO lodges had a Subcarpathian majority, and a comparable number of lodges were loosely affiliated with Subcarpathian-majority Greek Catholic parishes. Ru ssian Orthodox Catholic Mutual Aid Society (ROCMAS). A convention of church brotherhoods that had converted to Orthodoxy took place in September 1895 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. , the center of the Rusyn movement to Orthodoxy led by Father Alexis Toth. They formed a federation, and by the first national convention in 1896, eighteen brotherhoods were members. The Society issued a newspaper, Svit, written in a mixture of Galician Ukrainian and Russian . While somewhat concerned with cultural matters, the Society's primary goal was the defense and promotion of Orthodoxy among socalled " Little Russian" immigrants. It vehemently opposed Ukrainia- �SLOVAKIA 2021 33 nism and the Greek Catholic Church, and promoted a strict Russian identity almost as a necessary feature of Orthodoxy, to the detriment of the local or regional linguistic and cultural traits of its Rusyn membership. Many of its larger and older lodges were primarily Subcarpathian, e.g., Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Bridgeport, Scranton , Catasauqua, and Berwick. United Russian Orthodox Brotherhood of America. The organization, at its founding known as the Greek Catholic Pravoslavny Brotherhood, was established in 1915 mainly by former members of the GCU in southwestern Penn sylvania who had recently joined the Ru ssian Orthodox Church. The vast majority of its members hip was of Subcarpathian origin, particularly from the more eastern counties of Uz, Bereg and Maramoros. Within two decades it grew to around 20,000 members 11 . Position of Slovak Fraternals "There is no 'Slovak ' people" - so titled was an art icle in the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik, Aug. 29, 1918. The postwar years and the struggles over the formation of the First Czechoslovak Republic would involve back-and-forth arguments between Ru syn American and Slovak American leaders, in print and, no doubt, in face-to-face meetings. But the root of the di strust undoubtedly was the early conflicts in these communities. The National Slovak Society, for its part, both supported the Rusyn people and disagreed at times with the position of the Rusyn leaders: National Slovak Society members expressed their concern for the fate of their brother Slavs, the Rusyns, who were now [World War I] experiencing the brunt of persecution in wartime Europe. Not only were repressive measures being taken against Rusyns in Carpathian Hungary, but in neighboring Galicia, Magyar troops were perpetrating wholesale massac res. This did not mean that the N.S.S. was conceding to th e claims of a Rusyn nationalism in Eastern Slovakia. Although support for the Slovak ca use in the region had been growing - largely thanks to the financi al support of the American Slovak community - certain elements considered the "S lovjaks" (i .e., Greek Catholics speaking the dial ect of the 11 Magocs i, Our People, 57. �34 SLOVAKIA 2021 eastern regions) as a separate nationality. The official N.S.S. policy was that the Slovjaks were Slovak, not Rusyn, Russian , or any other Slav people. 12 Political Actions During and Toward the End of World War I The Rus 'ko-Amerykans 'ka Rada (Rusyn/Ruthenian American Council) was established at a gathering in Philadelphia on December 8, 1914. By design it was to give equal leadership voice to Subcarpathian and Galician Rusyns, and under the patronage of Bishop Ortynsky, its directors included clerical and lay leaders from the Subcarpathian Rusyn community, especially Father Joseph Hanulya, editor of the United Societies newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian , George Gulanich and Ivan Zeedick of the GCU , and John Branik, president of the United Societies. At its Philadelphia meeting it condemned Russia and advocated for support of the political and cultural union of "Ukrainian (Rusyn)"-inhabited Galicia, Bukovina, and Hungary. 13 This entity ceased to exist with the death of Ortynsky in 1916, but not without drawing ire upon Father Hanulya for his participation. The American-Russian National Defense (ARND) / Narodna Obrana was founded in 1915 in Braddock, Pa. , near Pittsburgh, by Nicholas Pachuta. At the time Pachuta was assistant editor of the ARV, a post he held until 1918, under Michael Hanchin . National Defense styled itself the defender of Rus ' -ness against Magyarism in the Greek Catholic Church, was also critical of Slovakophiles and Ukrainophiles, and picked up members who were recent converts to Orthodoxy in the era of Bishop Stephen Dzubay. In May of 19 18 he met with Thomas G. Masaryk, the leader of the movement for a new state to be called Czechoslovakia, in Pittsburgh and began a discussion around the fate of Uhro-Rus ' (the Rusyn lands south of the Carpathians, historically part of Hungary). At that time Masaryk disregarded Pachuta's goals because his group "had no following or 12 R. Vl adimir Baumgarten and Joseph Ste fka , The National Slovak Society : 100 Year Histmy. 1890-/990. (Pittsburgh: Nation al Slovak Society, 1990), 76. 13 " Narodnyi z' "izd u Filiadel'fii"," Svoboda (Jersey City, NJ ), 19 December 1914, 2; Myron B. Kuropas, The Ukrainian Americans: Roots and Aspirations, 1884- 1954 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991 ), 134. �SLOVAKIA 2021 35 support among the broad masses of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants." 14 National Defense came around to the Czechoslovak option and delivered a memorandum to Masaryk in October endorsing autonomy within a Czechoslovak state. Around that time Pachuta converted to Orthodoxy, and in 1921 he united the National Defense with the American Russian Brotherhood based in C leve land. From 1922 until 1935 he was editor of the Russkij Vistnik newspaper of U ROBA. The League for the Liberation of Carpatho-Russia was a strictly Russophile political organization that drew most of its participation from individuals who were already active in organizations like ROCMAS and especially RBO. The vast majority of its members were of Galician background, but about 25% of delegates to its congresses were Subcarpathian Rusyns . 15 It held congresses in 19 17, 1918, and 1919 and made proclamations that Carpatho-Rusyn territory, a long with the who le of Galicia and Bukovina, should be part of Russia. The American National Counci l of Uhro-Rusins was founded in July of 1918 in Pittsburgh, with strong support from the United Societies and eventually the GCU . It grew to more than 100 branches, some of which had I 00 or even 200+ members. This was the organization in which the Pittsburgh attorney Gregory Zatkovich rose to leadership, began meetings with Masaryk, and which led to his post as the first governor of Subcarpathian Rus' . In Philadelphia on October 23, 1918, Zatkovich participated in the Mid-European Democratic Union in the presence of Masaryk . At that time Uhro-Rusyns - Rusyns of Hungary - were accepted as a distinct nationa lity, apart from Ukrainians who were already members. The National Counci l met at Scranton, Pa., on November 12, and formulated its final recommendation that Rusyn territory south of the Carpathians, including all of the original Uhro-Rusyn counties, be united in a Czechoslovak state with broad autonomy. The next day, the resolution was presented to Masaryk, who recommended that a plebiscite be held among American Uhro-Rusyns. 14 Joseph Danko, "Plebiscite of Carpath o- Ruthenians in the United States Recommendin g Union of Carpatho-Rutheni a with the Czec hoslovak Republic," Annals of !he Ukrainian Academy of Aris and Sciences, 11 , nos. 1-2 ( 1964-68), 186. 15 Prikarpalskaia Rus • (New York), Vol. I, o. I, October 191 8. �36 SLOVAKIA 2021 The American Uhro-Rusyn Plebiscite of December 1918 The American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, in conjunction with Masaryk's advice to Zatkovich, resolved to conduct a vote in Subcarpathian Rusyn parishes and fraternal lodges to determine their preferred action with respect to the homeland, among the options it had previously agreed to. Of course, they expected that the result would need to support what had already been decided: that Subcarpathian Rusyn territory should join the Czech and Slovak republic. This vote, then, was limited to the National Council's constituency: Subcarpathian-majority Greek Catholic parishes - no Orthodox parishes and no Galician-majority parishes would be involved, even if they had substantial numbers of Subcarpathian Rusyn members; and lodges of the GCU and United Societies only, who were already seen to be inclined toward their leadership's preference for Czechoslovakia. The plebiscite was announced in only one issue of the ARV (Nov. 14, 1918), and commenced almost immediately thereafter. There is no extant evidence that there was campaigning within the communities to select a particular option; certainly there would have been very little time for that. We do have results of the vote, which was published in several installments in the ARV and Prosvita, and which were collected in "Plebiscite ofCarpatho-Ruthenians in the United States Recommending Union of Carpatho-Ruthenia with the Czechoslovak Republic" authored by Joseph Danko in 1968. 16 Option Union with the Czecho-Slovak Republic Union with the Ukrainian Republic Total independence Union with Carpatho-Russians Union with Russi a Union with Magyar Land fHungaryl Union with Galicia Total Votes (% of tota l) 732 (66.4%) 310 (28. 1%) 27 (2.5%) 13 ( 1.2%) 10 (0.9%) 9 (0.8%) I (0. 1%) I , 102(/00.0%) Unsurprisingly, the organizers' preferred option won decisively, but not overwhelmingly. Based on the individual vote counts by parish and lodge provided by Danko, I would like to comment on some of 16 Danko, 200. �SLOVAKIA 2021 37 the more interesting things I observed. Union with the Czecho-Slovak Republic (rank: I} As we will see, each of the options had some very surprising entities voting for them. This option's supporters included two parishes founded as Greek Catholic but which at the time of the vote had Orthodox pastors: Elkhorn, West Virginia (Father John Gratson) and Elizabeth, New Jersey (Father Gregory Varho l). Not very surprising was a vote by a large, mostly Subcarpathian parish of Rusyns from Spis, Saris and Zemplin Counties (Holy Ghost in Tremont), but whose pastor was Father Hanulya, former editor of the United Societies' first newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian - who for years as a supporter of Bishop Ortynsky had been attacked by the GCU in the pages of ARV for being a quasi-Ukrainian . Fourteen of the GCU lodges were based at majority-Galician parishes, although some of these lodges were primari ly Subcarpathian in membership. Union with the Ukrainian Republic (rank: 2) Figure 1. A portion of the American Rusyn communities that voted for union of Uhro-Rusyns with the Ukrainian Republic (66% of tota l votes cast). (Source: Danko, 196-198) The following voted for Uni on of Uhro-Rusins with Ukraini an Republic Societies of the Greek Catholic of Rusin Brothe rhoods in the USA 4 6 17 19 24 28 32 50 Mahoney City, Pa. Donmore , Pa. Rendham, Pa. Lansing, Pa . Eckle y , Pa. Glenlien, Pa. Sheppton, Pa. Mahoney Plane, Pa. (Figure I continues) 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 242 267 292 295 298 324 379 390 St. Clair , Pa. Hannastown, Pa. Wilkes-Barre , Pa. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Baggaley, PP a . New Salem, Pa. Kester, Pa. McKees Rocks, Pa. 3 2 2 3 1 6 2 5 �38 SLOVAKIA 2021 Uhro-Rusins Greek Catholic United Congregations. I St. Johna SL Johna B. V. M. Bleaed TrinitY B. V. M. B. V. M. SL Michael B. V. M. Holy Ghost L Michael hen Scnnton, Pa. Bridgeport, Conn. New Salem, Pa. New Britain, Conn. Freebnd,PL Whitting, Ind. Ref. &am>lky P.ev. Cbomoc:t Rev.~ 400- 8 500-10 400- 8 Blnghamtoo, N.Y. Taylor, Pa. McKeca Rocb, PL St. Clair Pa. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Rev. Thq2t Rev. Petraaovich Rev. A. Suba Rev. Ribovsk Rev. N. Chopey 550- 7 Lt Lansford, Pa. Rev. Martyak 550- 7 ~udloning, Pa. Ha eton, Pa. Rn. p ch Rev. Brinaky llef. Choarboch 500- 6 500· 6 600-12 600-12 550- 7 Rev. FeiuG !&J- s Overall this was the most surprising result, having the second highest number of votes. Some votes came from additionally surprising places. For example: the parish in New Britain had experienced an ugly split with Galician Ukrainians just eight years before, yet they still had a Galician pastor. The Wilkes-Barre parish ' s pastor was Father Nicholas Chopey, who had a few years before been numbered among the pro-Hungary clergy. The Lansford parish ' s pastor was Father Gabriel Martyak, administrator of the Uhro-Rusyn parishes in the wake of Bishop Ortynsky's death two years before. And the Hazleton parish that voted for this option, pastored by the Lemko priest Father John Fekula? This was actually the Galician parish (St. Michael) that split off from two existing Subcarpathian parishes in the same city. We must wonder how this parish had the opportunity to vote at all. The lodges that voted this way included largely-Galician GCU lodges in Glen Lyon (based at an old mostlyGalician parish) and Rankin (based at a mostly-Subcarpathian parish), �39 SLOVAKIA 2021 five other GC U lodges based at Galician-majority pari shes but with mostl y Subcarpathi an members, and a GCU lodge from Father Martyak's paris h in Lansford whose members were mostl y from Sari s and Zemplin Counti es. The following voted for Tou.l Independence of Uhro-Rusins. Societies of the Greek C. Union. ):: ~~•:· an !Im , a. \ Eynon, Pa. lmon, Pa. ~nton, ra. 2 1 I Gymnastic Branches. I61 11 Scranton, Pa. 67 Mahonoy City, Pa. 1 United Societies of Greek C. Religion I ss K.ingaton, Pa. 1 II 60 Edwardavillc, Pa. 2 j Uhro-Rusin Congregations 11 ¥ M : Holy Gbolt iililUIIII t11 Jcaup, Pa. 1&11 li•1 :Rev. Ivan I= i I Figure 2. The Ameri can Rusyn communities whi ch voted fo r tota l indepe ndence of Uhro-Rusyns (3 % of votes cast). (Danko, 198) Total independence of Uhro- Rusyns (rank: 3) Without any traditi on of self-rule, and without any real advocates fo r thi s pos ition, it is not surpri sing that it rece ived so few votes. It 's notable that not only did the pari sh and a GCU lodge in Jessup, Pennsy lvani a, contribute a number of the votes fo r thi s option, but two additional GC U lodges that did , in Eynon , Pennsyl va ni a, were a ffili ated wi th the Jessup pari sh as we ll. Jessup a lso had a large RBO lodge, but it is unlike ly that independence would have been the ir preference. �40 SLOVAKIA 2021 Union with Carpatho-Russians (i.e., Galicians, Bukovinians, UhroRusyns) (rank: 4) This position was represented among American Carpatho-Rusyns mainly by the League for the Liberation of Carpatho-Russia, although evidently few Subcarpathian Rusyns belonged to that organization, and to some extent originally by the American-Russian National Defense. The few votes for this option came mainly from Gary, Indiana 's GCU Lodge 469 and its Greek Catholic parish, which was primarily of Subcarpathian origin (in its western counties that would be incorporated into Slovakia) although it is not clear to this author why that would have been their choice. Union with Russia (rank: 5) The FolJowing voted for Union with Russia Greek Catholic Union. 550 Olyphant, Pa. 1 Gymnastic Branch 121 Jerome, Pa. I Uhro-Rusin Congregations a. V. M. Mahoooy City, Pa. lln. I. lubck 400- a Figure 3. The American Rusyn communities which voted for union ofUhroRusyns with Russia (I % of votes cast). (Danko. 199) Among the votes for this option were GCU Lodge 530 in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, mostly Lemko in membership and based at a Galician-majority parish, and perhaps most curious of all , St. Mary 's Greek Catholi c Church in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, whose pastor was the noted Rusyn-language author and cultural patriot Father Emil Kubek. Kubek was also part of the leadership of the American I �41 SLOVAKIA 2021 National Council, which was not supportive of union with Russia at all. While he was not a Russophile, his relative lack of involvement with the GCU (and perhaps due to the RBO being founded in his parish) may have encouraged him to advocate for this option . Or more likely the decisive factor was the RBO's founding president, John Zincak Smith, also being the president of St. Mary's parish. Union with Magyar land (i.e., Hungary) (rank: 6) The Following voted for Union of Uhro-Rwins with Magyar Land Greek Catholic Union. 50 2 181 Clevdand, Ohio Clndand, Ohio Uhro-Rusin Congregations. St. John'• , ClcYeland, Ohio llev. Ballog soo- 6 I Figure 4. The American Rusyn communities which voted for union ofUhroRusyns with Hungary (I % of votes cast). (Danko, 199) Even though many of the Subcarpathian Greek Catholic clergy in the U.S. were Magyarized (if not outright Magyarone), it doesn't seem that any attempt there may have been on their part to influence their parishioners to vote for this option was successful. The ARV denounced Hungary's policy toward its ethnic minorities for years in the lead up to the war. Despite Hungary's liberalized ethnic minority policy that began in 1915, inclination toward Hungary from American Rusyns seems to have changed little. Two GCU lodges voted for this option, but most striking is that six votes came from St. John's Church in Cleveland - not the Rusyn one that in 1918 had hired an Orthodox priest as its pastor - but the Magyar parish, pastored by Father Michael Balogh. This was the only ethnic-Hungarian parish to vote, and it's unlikely that Zatkovich and the American National Council had intended the plebiscite to include the Magyar parishes. (It's possible that they did, we just have no evidence on either side to say for sure.) Union with Galicia (rank: 7) Given the still substantial portion of the GCU's membership either �42 SLOVAKIA 2021 from Galicia or belonging to lodges based at Galician-majority parishes, we could have expected more votes for this option than were returned. However, a number of GCU lodges that were mostly or entirely Galician in membership (e.g., McKeesport Lodge 782, Wilmerding, Pa. , Lodges 348 and 360) - and based at Galician parishes - did not vote. It must be underscored that the plebiscite was not truly representative of the range of religious congregations and fraternal lodges found in the American Carpatho-Rusyn community, not even when speaking exclusively of those from Subcarpathia - the "Uhro-Rusyns." The Orthodox (except for two parishes which inexplicably did vote) were wholly unrepresented, and the significant fraternals RBO, ROCMAS , and fledgling UROBA were likewise ignored. Clearly it was meant to produce the additional justification Zatkovich needed to present the Scranton resolution to the Paris Peace Conference. 17 Understandably alarmed by this development, the activist Ukrainian American community opposed what they had hoped would be an outcome supporting their goal to unite so-called Ukrainian-Ruthenian ethnographic territory in a Ukrainian state. In so doing, they provided what seems to be the only eyewitness account of how the plebiscite was conducted in a Rusyn parish. Here writes a Ukrainian from Bridgeport, Conn .: Our Hungarian brother Rusyns want to unite Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine. On December 8 of this year, a parish meeting was held in Bridgeport, Conn. , right after the Divine Liturgy, in the parish school. The meeting was very interesting for every Ukrainian, because our brother Uhro-Rusyns decided on the fate of our and their brothers across the sea. Local speakers and Father Orest Cornjak [Chornock], local pastor, spoke. The meeting was convened for the purpose of deciding where Hungarian Rus' shou ld belong: whether to Ukraine or to the Czecho-Slovak state. Father Orest Cornjak stated his preference, that he would vote to belong to his brothers, that is, to the Ukrainians, rather than to the Czecho-Slovaks . After much discussion , it turned out that the Uhro-Rusyn 17 Victor S. Mamatey, "The Slovaks and Carpatho-Ruthenians," in Joseph F. O'Grady, ed .. The Immigrants· Influence on Wilson's Peace Policies (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1967), 245-246. �SLOVAKIA 2021 43 leaders wanted to lead the Uhro-Rusyns to the Czecho-Slovaks, without questioning the Uhro-Rusyn people. And again the speakers protested against the "American National Council of UhroRusins" in America that no one has elected; its members of that Council are self-appointed leaders, that they have chosen themselves and have no right to speak in the name of the Uhro-Rusyn people, and further that they proposed an amendment so as not to vote either for Ukraine or against, nor to take a position against the Czecho-Slovak state, and so let it be as Uhro-Rusyns will decide in the old country. They also complained to the Ukrainians that at the founding of the " Mid-European Union" at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pa., they had to say that the Uhro-Rusyns are "a different people" from the Ukrainians, and thus the Ukrainians do not want to accept the UhroRusyns as an equal among equals and so for that reason will not vote in that way. When people were already wanting to leave, Mr. Ivan Boyko, head of the Ukrainian Athletic Association (Sich) in America, while asking forgiveness for the slurs that were committed by Ukrainians, and explaining that the Uhro-Rusyns had already decided at the founding council meetings in L'viv that Hungarian Rus ' should belong to Ukraine together with Galicia and Bukovina, said he did not see the reasons why the Uhro-Rusyns should not vote for the joining of Hungarian Rus' to Ukraine. He laid out what benefits the Uhro-Rusyns would have in a Ukrainian state, and what benefits they would have from the Czecho-Slovaks .. .. We Ukrainians, said Mr. Bojko, can never agree that our Hungarian brothers will be in the Czecho-Slovak state. [... ] It should be noted that the audience very intently listened to Mr. Bojko and took his every word to heart. After the speech the audience rewarded him with applause when the other speakers received no applause. Here Mr. Bojko did a great service to the Ukrainian people by proclaiming this speech to the Hungarian brothers, because then now the entire hall of people began to speak differently about it after the speech, because it was moved to vote by secret ballot, about where Hungarian Rus' should belong: whether to Ukraine, or to the Czecho-Slovak state, and another motion, to vote by roll call , so that you know who is against your brothers (Ukrainians). Father Comjak led by saying: Who is for �44 SLOVAKIA 2021 uniting Hungarian Rus' with Ukraine? It was decided unanimously on the joining of Hungarian Rus' to Ukraine, and then came the second ballot: Who is for uniting Hungarian Rus' with the Czecho-Slovaks? For this union with the Czecho-Slovaks there was only one vote. So, evidently, the Uhro-Rusyns want to unite with Ukraine. The statement made in Philadelphia by Misters M. Sichynsky and N. Ceglinsky, recognizing the Uhro-Rusyns as a separate nationality, with their representative as Mr. Zatkovich in the "MidEuropean Union," should be retracted for the good of the Ukrainian people and the Uhro-Rusyns . Instead, let them declare that the Uhro-Rusyns are our brothers by blood and by faith , and we can never agree that a second nationality would rule over our Hungarian brothers, even if it were Czecho-Slovakia. In Bridgeport, Conn ., Uhro-Rusyns do not recognize the "American National Council of Uhro-Rusins" because their people did not select them , and that self-styled Counci l has no right to push them into a Czecho-Slovak state, because the Uhro-Rusyn brothers want to unite Hungarian Rus ' with Ukraine. Glory to them for this! 18 The Ukrainian National Association's newspaper Svoboda reported on a Ukrainian National Congress that took place in January 1919. This congress included speakers on the situation in the Subcarpath ian Rusyn community in the U.S. and its recent Scranton resolution and fol low-on plebiscite. Father Kubek , editor of the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik [this is an error, he was not] was supposed to speak, but at the last moment he informed that he was not able to do so. His place was taken by a Galician priest, Father Vasyl' Merenkiv, who said, among other things: "In recent days I was in several Uhro-Rusyn parishes and spoke with several Uhro-Rusyn priest-leaders . We spoke about the idea of uniting Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine . I can assure the esteemed delegates that they are all committed to joining Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine more so than with Czec hoslovak ia. But still, I noticed that American Uhro-Rusyns are sti ll wavering." Mr. Ivan Hajovyc (of Maramoros), a delegate from the Chicago Uhro-Rusyns, was called to speak. He revealed his joy that he has an 18 "Svobidna vo lia uhors' kykh Ru syniv," Svoboda, 14 December 19 I 8, 2. �SLOVAKIA 2021 45 opportunity to speak to so many people who are interested in the fate of Uhro-Rusyns. He talked about the oppression that Uhro-Rusyns suffered from the Magyars. " We, Hungarian Ukrainians," said Mr. Hajovyc, "stand body and soul for the unity of Ukraine.We want to join with Ukraine! We are protesting against the plebiscite conducted among American UhroRusyn s, which was set up for the sake of uniting Uhro-Rus' with Czechoslovakia. Hungarian Ukrainians want to be united with Ukraine. We do not know what Czechoslovakia is and who CzechoSlovaks are. We never want to hear anything about joining them." Mr. Ivan Hundjak (a Galician) argued using statistics that the plebiscite initiated by Masaryk among American Uhro-Rusyns was conducted in a deceptive manner. Finally Mr. Ivan Skakandij, an Uhro-Rusyn cantor-teacher and delegate from Nesquehoning, Pa . was called to speak He regretted that in such an important moment Hungarian Ukrainians in America have not yet all been awakened to a life of national consciousness. " It is the fault of the Uhro-Rusyn clergy, who in the old country were led around by the Magyars and now by the Czechoslovaks. But nationally conscious Hungarian Ukrainians in America want to unite with Ukraine. We are just now awakening to life and there is hope that in a short time we will all be awakened." One speaker (Father Merenkiv) said " Hungarian Ukrainians in America are still waking up, but remember, that as we wake up , Masaryk will do nothing to help." 19 My observations about the results, it turns out, while I arrived at them independently, were noted to some extent already in 1919 in an article in the Ukrainian press. This is the speech by Ivan Hundjak (mentioned previously) in which he analyzed the resu lts and pointed out, among other criticisms, that if a person happened to be a member of a GCU lodge and the United Societies lodge in the same place, and the local Subcarpathian Greek Catholic parish, conceivably that person could vote up to three times. He noted as well (as Danko did) that participation among those eligible to vote was fairly low. He asserted that had these irregularities been taken into account, the leading result 19 "Z narodnohu z'izdu," Svoboda, 18 January 19 19, 2. �46 SLOVAKIA 2021 probably would have been for union with Ukraine. I would counter that had there been time, or the will, to more inclusively offer the vote to all American Subcarpathian Rusyn institutions, and not just the ones affiliated with the American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, the results may indeed have been different, but more likely toward union with Russia, as impractical as that might have been. Reception of Czechoslovakia in the Rusyn American Community In May of 19 I 9, the cornerstone was laid in Homestead, Pennsylvania, for the Rusin Peoples Home. This event, under the patronage of the American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, occurred just days before the National Counci l in Uzhorod, Subcarpathian Rus ', would accept the American Rusyns ' proposal to unite with Czechoslovakia. The commemorative booklet for this event 20 prominently featured a page with the American, Czechoslovak, and "Rusin" flags entwined, with the slogan "Old Glory Has Made This Federation (Czech-SlovakRusin) Possible." The pages following showed photographs of Zatkovich signing the declaration of the Mid-European Nationalities and Masaryk reading the declaration at a public manifestation in Philadelphia. The book ' s last page is a map showing Europe ' s ethnic groups within the new postwar borders, with Czechoslovakia labeled "Czechoslovaks" and to its east, "Uhro-Rusinia." It's not clear whether UhroRusinia is meant to be depicted as part of Czechoslovakia or not. Whatever the interpretation, this is probably the lone celebratory publication of American Rusyns to mark the decision to join the Czechoslovak Republic. A delegation of American Rusyn gymnasts affiliated with the GCU Sokol division travelled to Prague in the summer of 1920 to participate in a Pan-Slavic Gymnastics exhibition. As part of the trip they also visited Subcarpathian Rus ' and had an audience with Governor Zatkovich. One member of the delegation wrote, " In Prague we were 20 Souvenir Issued by the Rusin Peoples Home, Inc. on the Occasion of the Dedication ofthe Corner-Stone I Pamiatnik izdan ko,poratsieiu Russkii Narodny i Dom iz sluchai posviashcheniia kraeugol 'nago kamen 'ia. Homestead. Pa .. I 9 I 9 (Homestead, Pa., 19 19). �SLOVAKIA 2021 47 warmly welcomed by the Czechs and everything we saw in Prague and the way we were treated , we enjoyed ... " oi...o OLO ..... .. , . . MAO• T .. , . rcDll:.. 4Tt0N ie&&CW·~YAK "v.lNI ~ . . . • 1..• Figure 5. Page from the commemorative booklet for the cornerstone laying ofthe Rusin Peoples Home in Homestead, Pa., May 1919. Another wrote, " With thanks to God , with our appearance at the Pan-Slavic Sokol Meet in Prague, we made a mark in the history of our Sokol Branch which wi ll be permanent proof that we accomplished our mission , that we entered into the order of the Czechoslovak Sokol movement. . . We also left a lasting impression on the youth of Subcarpathian Rus ' ." The trip was promoted in the pages of ARV and chronicled fully in the 1921 almanac of the Sokol division. 2 1 It wou ld not be long before frustration over the lack of autonomy promised Subcarpathian Rus' by Masaryk would boil over in the American Carpatho-Rusyn press, especially when Zatkovich resigned in 1921 , and would continue at least until the late 1920s among Greek Catholics. The GCU printed a number of publications critical of Czechoslovak policy: Zatkovich's Otkrytie-Expose by vseho g ubernatora Podkarpatskoj Rus i, o Podkarpatskoj Rusi ( 1921 ), Wilson's Prin21 C heryl We ller Beck et al. , Opportuni~v Realized: The Greek Catholic Union 's First One Hundred Years, / 892-1992. (Beaver, Pa.: Gree k Catholic Uni on o f the U.S.A. , 1994), 75 . �48 SLOVAKIA 2021 ciples in Czechoslovak Practice: The Situation of the Carpatho-Russian People Under the Czech Yoke ( 1929) and Beskid's Karpatorusskaja pravda ( 1932). They would also lead a National Congress of Rusins in Pittsburgh in November 1922, which issued a memorandum to Prague condemning their policy toward Subcarpathian Rus '. American Rusyns in the Russian Orthodox Church and others of Russophile orientation would take up the opposition to Czechoslovak policy toward Subcarpathian Rus' through the 1930s. 22 I did not find any evidence - written or photographic - in Carpatho-Rusyn communities or parishes of widespread adoption of Czechoslovakia as a symbolic "homeland." There is certain ly no oral folklore around portraits of Masaryk (or Zatkovich, for that matter) being hung in parish halls as there is of portraits of Maria Theresa and Franz Josef from the early immigration. Lasting Impressions on Rusyn Americans of a Czechoslovak "Homeland" A list on the Wikipedia entry for Czech Americans of "The top 50 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Czech ancestry" 23 (based on the 2000 U.S . census) contains mostly predictable results - locations in North Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin , et al. An accompanying list, " U.S. communities with the most residents born in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia)," however, contains a curious entry: tied for number IO was the little town of Colver, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles north of Johnstown in the west central part of the state. Colver, a former coal mining company town , had just a few primary ethnic groups : among these were Slovaks and Carpatho-Rusyns. It may we ll have sti ll had a few residents in 2000 who were born in the former Czechos lovakia. It is not clear that these results came from responses declaring their birthplace as "Czech Republic" or "Czechoslovakia," or either, but surely this population in Colver, Pennsylvania, was not ethnic Czechs. 22 Magocsi, Our People, 88-89. "Czech Americans", https ://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech Americans. Accessed December I, 201 8. 23 �SLOVAKIA 2021 49 The U.S. Census Bureau statistics for ancestry 24 (estimated from its 20 I 3 American Community Survey) show that Pennsylvania, historically the state with the largest number of Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrants, had more than 52,142 residents with Czech ancestry, or 0.3% of Pennsylvania residents. This is much less than those who indicated Slovak or Ukrainian ancestry, many of which are likely of Carpatho-Rusyn background (or the completely unreali stic 193 ,000 with "Russian" ancestry), but still far higher than the hi storically low Czech settlement of the state would imply. In addition, "Czechoslovak ian" ancestry was estimated at 22,904, which could conceivably include any of Czech, Slovak, or Carpatho-Rusyn-descended individuals, although the much lower national consciousness of CarpathoRusyn Americans - reflected by the miniscule estimated 2,050 of that background - would lead one to expect most of those "Czechoslovak" individuals to have Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. That many Carpatho-Rusyn Americans of any particular geographic background in Carpathian Rus ' still exhibit confusion about their ethnic and geographical origins is not news to anyone. But it may be that Subcarpathian Rus ' belonging for 20 years to Czechoslovakia created a lingering geographic attachment to the idea of "Czechoslovakia" as the ancestral land of American Carpatho-Rusyns. Consider these newspaper clippings, maybe the most extreme examples of this phenomenon I've encountered. A perhaps unintended corollary to this phenomenon is the everincreasing use of genealogy websites where obituaries, gravestones, and other data are collected; many of the individuals - Carpatho-Rusyns and others - whose ge nealogical data is found on these sites have had their birthplace, which was probably entered by their descendant researcher as "Czechoslovakia," transposed by the site into "Czech Republic," further muddling Carpatho-Rusyn identity by placing Czechoslovak natives into the wrong modem-day country. Thus the main legacy of Carpatho-Rusyns' Czechoslovak homeland may well be their descendants eventually needing to educate themselves about 24 U.S. Census Bureau, Total Ancestry Reported: Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported, 2013 American Community Survey I- Year Estimates. https :// factfinder.census.gov/ faces/tableservices/ jsf/pages/productview.xhtml ?pid=ACS 13 I YR B04003&prodType=table. Accessed I December 2018. �50 SLOVAKIA 2021 the fact that Subcarpathian Rus ' was indeed part of Czechoslovakia and is not the modem day Czechia, nor Slovakia, for that matter. rites _____§s:,vtces for Mary - • 93, of 1220 Valley Road, Duncott, who died Friday morning at Pottsville Hospital, will be held at 9 :15 a.m. Tuesday !rom Dutcavich Funeral Home, Minersville. Further services will be held at 10 a .m . in Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Minersville . The Very Rev. Michael Hatrak will officiate. Interment will be in the parish cemetery, Branch Township. Born public, sh late Metro and Sophie She came to the United States as a child, resided in the Heckscherville and Duncott areas and attended Heckscherville schools. She was a member of Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Minersville, and was active in numerous church functions for many years. Figure 6. 1998 obituary of a Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant born in Lochovo, Bereg County, now in the Zakarpatska Oblast of Ukraine, which states she was " born in Lockaway, Czech Republic In any case, on this centennial of the creation of the first Czechoslovak Republic, we can happily remember Mamatey's remark about the significance of American Carpatho-Rusyns' activities around this creation : "while the Slovak immigration in the United States affected Wilson's peace policies only indirectly ... the Carpatho-Ruthenian immigrants did so directly." 25 25 Mamatey, 249. �SLOVAKIA 2021 MARI( 51 R0CMR8ISlalf Pholo Woman celebrates turning 103 Mary 11111111 • l'Nident at York Terrace, Pottsville, wavee to ad- =:~==bi~ le now the Cziech Republ 1891, ahe larecenUy. • member of Sa. Born In Pa,1 ; lie Church, Mlnersvllle, and atlll enjoya muak:al and cooking actlvltlea at York Terrace. 7. 200 I news article of a birthday celebration of a Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant centenarian born in Cyganovci , Uz County, now in the Zakarpatska Oblast of Ukraine, which states she was "born in what is now the Czech Republic." Figure �52 SLOVAKIA 2021 "UIIRO . RUSINIA, PROPOSED THIUD STATE OF TUE CZl',()JJO!!LO'\"AK REPUBLIC " • 0 ...... ,,.....,....-_-...):/ ~ ( • • • ,. 1'14"-t.~ Figure 8. Map prepared in 1918 by Gregory Zatkovich depicting the proposed future state of "Uhro-Rusinia" within a federal Czechoslovakia, in which all Rusyn-inhabited lands on the southern slopes of the Carpathians were to be included. (Archive of Paul R. Magocsi , used with permission) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2021, Vol. 45 Description An account of the resource Vol. 45 (No. 84-85), 2021. 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 2021 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 2021 27 ENVISIONING A HOMELAND: CARPATHO-RUSYN IMMIGRANTS IN THE USA AND THE CZECHOSLOVAK OPTION 1 Richard D. Custer In the earliest decades of their life in the United States, relations between Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrants were frequent and generally productive. But Czech immigrants neither settled in the same places most Rusyn immigrants went, nor had any notable higherlevel contacts with them. Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant newspapers, which were an important means for their readers to become aware of immigrant issues outside their own ethnic group, rarely made mention of Czechs until 19 16. Yet by late 1918, American Rusyn leaders were laying a foundation for their homeland countrymen entering into a new state with the Czechs and Slovaks. In the space of just a few months of the concept of the first Czechoslovak Republic being known to American Rusyns, a plebiscite conducted in some segments of the community resulted in a strong, though not overwhelming, preference for inclusion into the nascent Czechoslovak state. The results would prove decisive in the fate of post-Austro-Hungarian Subcarpathian Rus'. This article will examine why Czechoslovakia became and did, or did not, remain their preferred option. Early Settlement of Carpatho-Rusyns, Slovaks, and Czechs in the U.S.A. [n the formative years of the Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrant communities, these two Slavic peoples, in many cases already having occasional contact in their shared homeland, experienced times of cooperation and conflict that helped to firmly define their respective identities. Historic "U pper Hungary," specificall y the counties of Abauj /Abov, Szepes/Spis, Saras/Saris, Zemplen/Zemplin, and Ung/ Uz, 1 O ri gi nally presented at "Czec hoslovakia at I 00: Envisioning and Imagi ng Subcarpathian Rus"' panel , Association fo r Slavic, East European, and Euras ian Studies (ASEEES) annua l convention, Boston , MA, 6 December 2018. 28 SLOVAKIA 2021 experienced the highest rate of poverty and thus the highest rate of emigration to the United States starting in the late 19th century. In these counties - for the most part present-day eastern Slovakia - Slovaks were the majority, and Rusyns were a substantial minority. Some villages were ethnically mixed, or neighboring vil lages inhabited mostly by the other ethnic group. The first Slovak immigrants to the United States from Upper Hungary began to arrive in the late 1860s, and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants from Upper Hungary and Austrian Galicia began to arrive in the latter 1870s, but significant numbers of both were not found in the U.S.A. until the 1880s. The communities of both groups began to organize in the early 1880s. In general , Slovaks (particularly those from eastern Slovakia) and Carpatho-Rusyns settled in the same towns and cities in the U.S.A.: metropolitan New York City; Bridgeport, Connecticut; the anthracite coa l mining region of northeastern Pennsylvania; Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania; western Pennsy lvania; C leveland ; Chicago and northwestern Indiana; St. Louis; Minneapolis; and Detroit. 2 These areas were home to the vast majority of both Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn parishes and other organizations. The places where Slovaks were established that had no Carpatho-Rusyn presence were few, primarily in upstate New York and the Midwest. Specifically Slovak Roman Catholic parishes were founded in Haz leton , Pennsylvania. and Streator, Illinois ( 1885), and a Lutheran parish was founded also in Streator ( 1884), whi le the first CarpathoRusyn Greek Catholic parish was founded in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1884. Their respective mutual-aid "buria l societies," or fraternal insurance lodges, were also founded at around the same time, the first such Slovak society being founded in New York City in 1883 3 , while the first such Ru syn soc iety was founded in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1885 4 . 2 Konstantin Cul en, History of Slovaks in America (St. Paul, Minn .: Czechoslovak Genea logical Society International, 2007), 67-70; Paul R. Magocsi, Our People: Carpatho-Rusvns and Their Descendant.,· in North America. Fourth rev. ed. (Wauconda, Ill .: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2005), 20-22. 3 M. Mark Sto larik, "A Place fo r Everyone: Slovak Fraternal-Benefit Societies" in Scott Cummings ed., Se(f-Help in America: Patterns of Minoritv Business Ente1prise (Port Washington. NY: Kennikat Press, 1980), 130- 141. 4 Magocsi, 49. SLOVAKIA 2021 29 In the homeland, Carpatho- Ru syns probably would have never met an ethnic Czech/ Bohemian or Moravian, except perhaps as young conscripts serving together in the Austro-Hungarian army in World War 1. 5 (And it is further unlikely that these men wou ld have found their way to the United States until after the end of the war.) Contact between Carpatho-Ru syn and Czech immigrants in the U.S.A. was similarly unlikely, and the two immigrant groups were of substantiall y different character. Czech immigrants began to arrive in the United States much earl ier: the largest number came in the late 1860s. A substantial portion of these immigrants were at least middle class and artisans, in strong contrast to the mostly peasant Slovak and CarpathoRusyn immigrants who took on unskilled jobs in the mines and mills. Finally, Czech settlements were generally in the Midwest and Texas, where farm land was easi ly obtai ned, far from the industrial setting that defined the Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant experience.6 Only in cities like Ch icago, C leveland, and Pittsburgh were eastern S lovaks and Carpatho-Rusyns likely to encounter Czech immigrants, if at all. Additionally, Czech immigrants were increasingly less likely to worship in (Roman) Catholic churc hes and thus their contact with Slovak or (i n certain situations) Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants was not frequent. The early Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants, then, in addition to frequent and essential contact with their Lemko Rusyn , Boiko, and Ukrainian co-religionists from Galicia in Greek Catholic parishes and fraternal organizations, were far more familiar with Slovak immigra nts as their neighbors, work friends , and perhaps spouses or extended family. To some extent, Carpatho-Rusyns' and Slovaks' fraternal benefit organizations developed along the same lines and in cooperation. Fraternal organizations were usually the first community institution estab lished in the Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrant settlements. These were built on the model of simi lar organizations in the homeland, in part as a replacement for the American insurance that was not usually ava il ab le to S lavic immigrants, and out of a need for 5 Magocsi, " The Ruthenian Decision to Unite with Czechoslovaki a," Sla vic Review, Vol. 34, o. 2 (June 1975), 364. 6 Thoma s Capek, The Cechs (Bohemians) in America: A Study of Their National, Cultural, Political, Social, Economic and Religious life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1920), 36-51 , 60-68. 30 SLOVAKIA 2021 an organization to rally the immigrants on an ethnic basis. The first of these societies arose in pioneer Slovak and Rusyn settlements in the 1880s and 1890s. Some were founded by Roman and Greek Catholics together, e.g., in Bridgeport, Connecticut ( 1888), Kingston, Pennsylvania ( 1887 or 1888), Streator, Illinois ( 1889), McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, Allegheny/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Passaic, New Jersey ( 1890). Some or most of these organizations would likely have joined the national Slovak organizations founded around that time: the National Slavonic Society of the United States (renamed National Slovak Society of the United States of America in 1913), or the First Catholic Slovak Union, FCSU/"Jednota," both founded in 1890.7 Rusyns would not have their own comparable organization until 1892. But the most striking example of a shared Slovak/Rusyn fraternal society was the Pennsylvania Slovak Roman & Greek Catholic Union (aka Pennsylvania Slovak Union or PSJ). Of all the Slovak-American fraternal societies this organization would count the largest number of Rusyn members, and more than 20 PSJ lodges were identified specifically as Greek Catholic or were based at a Greek Catholic church. 8 Despite having a generally common cultural background, and some shared religious affiliation and shared organizations, on an official level , the political goals of the Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants did not always coincide, even as the idea of a Czechoslovak republic began to materiali ze. American Carpatho-Rusyn Fraternal Benefit Societies Greek Catholic Union (GCU). The GCU was the sec ul ar organization with the largest membership and widest geographical reach in the American Rusyn community. Its leadership, and editorial stance of its Amerikansky Russky Viestnik newspaper (ARV) , were generally anti-Hungarian, vehemently anti-Ukrainian, and mildly Russophil e, though never politically inclined to union with Russia. While its 1902 spinoff United Societies, loyal to America's first Greek Catholic 7 Stolarik, 130- 141. Ri chard D. Custer, "Old Countrymen, New Neighbors: Early Carpatho- Rusyn and Slovak Immigra nt Relations in the United States" in S/ovo (National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rap ids, IA), Summer 2016. Unabridged version on line at https://www .ncsml .org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07 /Old-Countrymen-New-Neighbors.pdf, 6-7. 8 SLOVAKIA 2021 31 Bishop Soter Ortynsky (an ethnic Ukrainian) since his arrival in 1907 and friendly to the Ga lician clergy, was the GCU 's antagonist on paper, they wou ld prove to be the al li es that would make possible a stronger voice that proved to be the one that caught the ear of the creators of the first Czechoslovak Republic. Slovaks - those who were Greek Catholics as we ll as Roman Catholics - made up a not insignificant portion of the GCU ' s membership, but early on the GCU took a strong stand against the idea that there were actually ethnic S lovak Greek Catholics.9 United Societies of the Greek Catholic Religion. The United Societies spun off from the GCU in 1902 and maintained a loya li st position toward the Greek Catholic Church, at times in opposition to what was perceived as the rebel li ous or disloyal GCU. In its support for Bishop Ortynsky, the society, its newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian ( 1910- 19 17), and its editor, Father Joseph Hanulya, were castigated by the GCU as Ukrainian sympathi zers. Around 1918, the United Societies had about 9,000 members including youth 10 , and published a newspaper, Prosvita, that remained often at odds w ith the GCU and its ARV. Ruskij Narodnyj Sojuz (RNS) / Ukrainian National Association (UNA). The GCU in its early years, under c lerically-dominated leadership, became preoccupied with Rusyn affairs in Hungary and enunciated a generally pro-Hungarian political stance. This ali enated the significant membership from Galicia (most of whom were Lemkos), and many lodges, some even with substantial Subcarpathian membership, seceded from the GCU in 1894 to form a new organization . That organization, founded in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, was the Ruskij Narodnyj Sojuz, or in English, Russian National Union . It we lcomed as members Rusyns from Hungary and Galicia who had a strong sense of national identity, whether "Rusyn," " Russian," or "Ruthenian ." As the organization and its Svoboda newspaper became more Ukrainian-oriented, and the terms Ukraine and Ukrainian increasing ly used alongside Rus' and Rusyn, those with Russophil e or Old-Ruthenian views wou ld transfer to other organizations, primarily 9 Custer, '" No Such Thing as Greek Catholic Slovaks: ' The GCU's Polemic," The Carpatho-Rusyns of Pennsylvania, http://rusynsofpa. blogspot.com/2 014/12/no-suchthing-as-greek-catholic-slovaks.html. Accessed December I, 201 8. 10 Magocsi, " Political Activity," 398. 32 SLOVAKIA 2021 the Russian Brotherhood Organization. The dominant "Ruthenian" segment would eventually lead the organization to change its name in September 1914 to the Ukrainian National Association. Alienated by this change, approximately 17 UNA lodges, 15 of which had a primarily Subcarpathian Rusyn membership, joined the United Societies between October 1914 and February 1915, resulting in 2 1 new regular United Societies lodges and 6 new United Societies youth lodges. Onl y a few such lodges would remain in the UNA, and so the organization's influence among American Subcarpathian Rusyns had almost entirely di ssipated. Russian Brotherhood Organization (RBO). Some members of GCU and RNS in 1900 gathered in Mahanoy City, Pa ., to form a new fraternal organization that would resist clerical domination, have no requirement of church membership, and avoid both pro-Hungarian and pro-Ukrainian political stands. Most of its early lodges were located in northeastern Pennsylvania and some had left the GCU or RNS to join. Religiously, the society remained officially neutral , but as a Ukrainian orientation came to dominate Ga lician Greek Catholic circles in the U.S.A. and in the homeland, the organization became much more supportive of the Orthodox Church, and an increasing portion of its membership reflected that. The RBO 's consistent stand on Ukrainianism was very negative, but simi larly, it opposed the idea that the Rusyn people's regional distinctions justified separation from Great Russians. While the majority of RBO members originated in the Lemko Region of Galicia, many of its founders and largest lodges originated in Hungary/Subcarpathia. In fact, in 1918 nearly 40 RBO lodges had a Subcarpathian majority, and a comparable number of lodges were loosely affiliated with Subcarpathian-majority Greek Catholic parishes. Ru ssian Orthodox Catholic Mutual Aid Society (ROCMAS). A convention of church brotherhoods that had converted to Orthodoxy took place in September 1895 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. , the center of the Rusyn movement to Orthodoxy led by Father Alexis Toth. They formed a federation, and by the first national convention in 1896, eighteen brotherhoods were members. The Society issued a newspaper, Svit, written in a mixture of Galician Ukrainian and Russian . While somewhat concerned with cultural matters, the Society's primary goal was the defense and promotion of Orthodoxy among socalled " Little Russian" immigrants. It vehemently opposed Ukrainia- SLOVAKIA 2021 33 nism and the Greek Catholic Church, and promoted a strict Russian identity almost as a necessary feature of Orthodoxy, to the detriment of the local or regional linguistic and cultural traits of its Rusyn membership. Many of its larger and older lodges were primarily Subcarpathian, e.g., Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Bridgeport, Scranton , Catasauqua, and Berwick. United Russian Orthodox Brotherhood of America. The organization, at its founding known as the Greek Catholic Pravoslavny Brotherhood, was established in 1915 mainly by former members of the GCU in southwestern Penn sylvania who had recently joined the Ru ssian Orthodox Church. The vast majority of its members hip was of Subcarpathian origin, particularly from the more eastern counties of Uz, Bereg and Maramoros. Within two decades it grew to around 20,000 members 11 . Position of Slovak Fraternals "There is no 'Slovak ' people" - so titled was an art icle in the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik, Aug. 29, 1918. The postwar years and the struggles over the formation of the First Czechoslovak Republic would involve back-and-forth arguments between Ru syn American and Slovak American leaders, in print and, no doubt, in face-to-face meetings. But the root of the di strust undoubtedly was the early conflicts in these communities. The National Slovak Society, for its part, both supported the Rusyn people and disagreed at times with the position of the Rusyn leaders: National Slovak Society members expressed their concern for the fate of their brother Slavs, the Rusyns, who were now [World War I] experiencing the brunt of persecution in wartime Europe. Not only were repressive measures being taken against Rusyns in Carpathian Hungary, but in neighboring Galicia, Magyar troops were perpetrating wholesale massac res. This did not mean that the N.S.S. was conceding to th e claims of a Rusyn nationalism in Eastern Slovakia. Although support for the Slovak ca use in the region had been growing - largely thanks to the financi al support of the American Slovak community - certain elements considered the "S lovjaks" (i .e., Greek Catholics speaking the dial ect of the 11 Magocs i, Our People, 57. 34 SLOVAKIA 2021 eastern regions) as a separate nationality. The official N.S.S. policy was that the Slovjaks were Slovak, not Rusyn, Russian , or any other Slav people. 12 Political Actions During and Toward the End of World War I The Rus 'ko-Amerykans 'ka Rada (Rusyn/Ruthenian American Council) was established at a gathering in Philadelphia on December 8, 1914. By design it was to give equal leadership voice to Subcarpathian and Galician Rusyns, and under the patronage of Bishop Ortynsky, its directors included clerical and lay leaders from the Subcarpathian Rusyn community, especially Father Joseph Hanulya, editor of the United Societies newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian , George Gulanich and Ivan Zeedick of the GCU , and John Branik, president of the United Societies. At its Philadelphia meeting it condemned Russia and advocated for support of the political and cultural union of "Ukrainian (Rusyn)"-inhabited Galicia, Bukovina, and Hungary. 13 This entity ceased to exist with the death of Ortynsky in 1916, but not without drawing ire upon Father Hanulya for his participation. The American-Russian National Defense (ARND) / Narodna Obrana was founded in 1915 in Braddock, Pa. , near Pittsburgh, by Nicholas Pachuta. At the time Pachuta was assistant editor of the ARV, a post he held until 1918, under Michael Hanchin . National Defense styled itself the defender of Rus ' -ness against Magyarism in the Greek Catholic Church, was also critical of Slovakophiles and Ukrainophiles, and picked up members who were recent converts to Orthodoxy in the era of Bishop Stephen Dzubay. In May of 19 18 he met with Thomas G. Masaryk, the leader of the movement for a new state to be called Czechoslovakia, in Pittsburgh and began a discussion around the fate of Uhro-Rus ' (the Rusyn lands south of the Carpathians, historically part of Hungary). At that time Masaryk disregarded Pachuta's goals because his group "had no following or 12 R. Vl adimir Baumgarten and Joseph Ste fka , The National Slovak Society : 100 Year Histmy. 1890-/990. (Pittsburgh: Nation al Slovak Society, 1990), 76. 13 " Narodnyi z' "izd u Filiadel'fii"," Svoboda (Jersey City, NJ ), 19 December 1914, 2; Myron B. Kuropas, The Ukrainian Americans: Roots and Aspirations, 1884- 1954 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991 ), 134. SLOVAKIA 2021 35 support among the broad masses of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants." 14 National Defense came around to the Czechoslovak option and delivered a memorandum to Masaryk in October endorsing autonomy within a Czechoslovak state. Around that time Pachuta converted to Orthodoxy, and in 1921 he united the National Defense with the American Russian Brotherhood based in C leve land. From 1922 until 1935 he was editor of the Russkij Vistnik newspaper of U ROBA. The League for the Liberation of Carpatho-Russia was a strictly Russophile political organization that drew most of its participation from individuals who were already active in organizations like ROCMAS and especially RBO. The vast majority of its members were of Galician background, but about 25% of delegates to its congresses were Subcarpathian Rusyns . 15 It held congresses in 19 17, 1918, and 1919 and made proclamations that Carpatho-Rusyn territory, a long with the who le of Galicia and Bukovina, should be part of Russia. The American National Counci l of Uhro-Rusins was founded in July of 1918 in Pittsburgh, with strong support from the United Societies and eventually the GCU . It grew to more than 100 branches, some of which had I 00 or even 200+ members. This was the organization in which the Pittsburgh attorney Gregory Zatkovich rose to leadership, began meetings with Masaryk, and which led to his post as the first governor of Subcarpathian Rus' . In Philadelphia on October 23, 1918, Zatkovich participated in the Mid-European Democratic Union in the presence of Masaryk . At that time Uhro-Rusyns - Rusyns of Hungary - were accepted as a distinct nationa lity, apart from Ukrainians who were already members. The National Counci l met at Scranton, Pa., on November 12, and formulated its final recommendation that Rusyn territory south of the Carpathians, including all of the original Uhro-Rusyn counties, be united in a Czechoslovak state with broad autonomy. The next day, the resolution was presented to Masaryk, who recommended that a plebiscite be held among American Uhro-Rusyns. 14 Joseph Danko, "Plebiscite of Carpath o- Ruthenians in the United States Recommendin g Union of Carpatho-Rutheni a with the Czec hoslovak Republic," Annals of !he Ukrainian Academy of Aris and Sciences, 11 , nos. 1-2 ( 1964-68), 186. 15 Prikarpalskaia Rus • (New York), Vol. I, o. I, October 191 8. 36 SLOVAKIA 2021 The American Uhro-Rusyn Plebiscite of December 1918 The American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, in conjunction with Masaryk's advice to Zatkovich, resolved to conduct a vote in Subcarpathian Rusyn parishes and fraternal lodges to determine their preferred action with respect to the homeland, among the options it had previously agreed to. Of course, they expected that the result would need to support what had already been decided: that Subcarpathian Rusyn territory should join the Czech and Slovak republic. This vote, then, was limited to the National Council's constituency: Subcarpathian-majority Greek Catholic parishes - no Orthodox parishes and no Galician-majority parishes would be involved, even if they had substantial numbers of Subcarpathian Rusyn members; and lodges of the GCU and United Societies only, who were already seen to be inclined toward their leadership's preference for Czechoslovakia. The plebiscite was announced in only one issue of the ARV (Nov. 14, 1918), and commenced almost immediately thereafter. There is no extant evidence that there was campaigning within the communities to select a particular option; certainly there would have been very little time for that. We do have results of the vote, which was published in several installments in the ARV and Prosvita, and which were collected in "Plebiscite ofCarpatho-Ruthenians in the United States Recommending Union of Carpatho-Ruthenia with the Czechoslovak Republic" authored by Joseph Danko in 1968. 16 Option Union with the Czecho-Slovak Republic Union with the Ukrainian Republic Total independence Union with Carpatho-Russians Union with Russi a Union with Magyar Land fHungaryl Union with Galicia Total Votes (% of tota l) 732 (66.4%) 310 (28. 1%) 27 (2.5%) 13 ( 1.2%) 10 (0.9%) 9 (0.8%) I (0. 1%) I , 102(/00.0%) Unsurprisingly, the organizers' preferred option won decisively, but not overwhelmingly. Based on the individual vote counts by parish and lodge provided by Danko, I would like to comment on some of 16 Danko, 200. SLOVAKIA 2021 37 the more interesting things I observed. Union with the Czecho-Slovak Republic (rank: I} As we will see, each of the options had some very surprising entities voting for them. This option's supporters included two parishes founded as Greek Catholic but which at the time of the vote had Orthodox pastors: Elkhorn, West Virginia (Father John Gratson) and Elizabeth, New Jersey (Father Gregory Varho l). Not very surprising was a vote by a large, mostly Subcarpathian parish of Rusyns from Spis, Saris and Zemplin Counties (Holy Ghost in Tremont), but whose pastor was Father Hanulya, former editor of the United Societies' first newspaper Rusin - The Ruthenian - who for years as a supporter of Bishop Ortynsky had been attacked by the GCU in the pages of ARV for being a quasi-Ukrainian . Fourteen of the GCU lodges were based at majority-Galician parishes, although some of these lodges were primari ly Subcarpathian in membership. Union with the Ukrainian Republic (rank: 2) Figure 1. A portion of the American Rusyn communities that voted for union of Uhro-Rusyns with the Ukrainian Republic (66% of tota l votes cast). (Source: Danko, 196-198) The following voted for Uni on of Uhro-Rusins with Ukraini an Republic Societies of the Greek Catholic of Rusin Brothe rhoods in the USA 4 6 17 19 24 28 32 50 Mahoney City, Pa. Donmore , Pa. Rendham, Pa. Lansing, Pa . Eckle y , Pa. Glenlien, Pa. Sheppton, Pa. Mahoney Plane, Pa. (Figure I continues) 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 242 267 292 295 298 324 379 390 St. Clair , Pa. Hannastown, Pa. Wilkes-Barre , Pa. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Baggaley, PP a . New Salem, Pa. Kester, Pa. McKees Rocks, Pa. 3 2 2 3 1 6 2 5 38 SLOVAKIA 2021 Uhro-Rusins Greek Catholic United Congregations. I St. Johna SL Johna B. V. M. Bleaed TrinitY B. V. M. B. V. M. SL Michael B. V. M. Holy Ghost L Michael hen Scnnton, Pa. Bridgeport, Conn. New Salem, Pa. New Britain, Conn. Freebnd,PL Whitting, Ind. Ref. &am>lky P.ev. Cbomoc:t Rev.~ 400- 8 500-10 400- 8 Blnghamtoo, N.Y. Taylor, Pa. McKeca Rocb, PL St. Clair Pa. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Rev. Thq2t Rev. Petraaovich Rev. A. Suba Rev. Ribovsk Rev. N. Chopey 550- 7 Lt Lansford, Pa. Rev. Martyak 550- 7 ~udloning, Pa. Ha eton, Pa. Rn. p ch Rev. Brinaky llef. Choarboch 500- 6 500· 6 600-12 600-12 550- 7 Rev. FeiuG !&J- s Overall this was the most surprising result, having the second highest number of votes. Some votes came from additionally surprising places. For example: the parish in New Britain had experienced an ugly split with Galician Ukrainians just eight years before, yet they still had a Galician pastor. The Wilkes-Barre parish ' s pastor was Father Nicholas Chopey, who had a few years before been numbered among the pro-Hungary clergy. The Lansford parish ' s pastor was Father Gabriel Martyak, administrator of the Uhro-Rusyn parishes in the wake of Bishop Ortynsky's death two years before. And the Hazleton parish that voted for this option, pastored by the Lemko priest Father John Fekula? This was actually the Galician parish (St. Michael) that split off from two existing Subcarpathian parishes in the same city. We must wonder how this parish had the opportunity to vote at all. The lodges that voted this way included largely-Galician GCU lodges in Glen Lyon (based at an old mostlyGalician parish) and Rankin (based at a mostly-Subcarpathian parish), 39 SLOVAKIA 2021 five other GC U lodges based at Galician-majority pari shes but with mostl y Subcarpathi an members, and a GCU lodge from Father Martyak's paris h in Lansford whose members were mostl y from Sari s and Zemplin Counti es. The following voted for Tou.l Independence of Uhro-Rusins. Societies of the Greek C. Union. ):: ~~•:· an !Im , a. \ Eynon, Pa. lmon, Pa. ~nton, ra. 2 1 I Gymnastic Branches. I61 11 Scranton, Pa. 67 Mahonoy City, Pa. 1 United Societies of Greek C. Religion I ss K.ingaton, Pa. 1 II 60 Edwardavillc, Pa. 2 j Uhro-Rusin Congregations 11 ¥ M : Holy Gbolt iililUIIII t11 Jcaup, Pa. 1&11 li•1 :Rev. Ivan I= i I Figure 2. The Ameri can Rusyn communities whi ch voted fo r tota l indepe ndence of Uhro-Rusyns (3 % of votes cast). (Danko, 198) Total independence of Uhro- Rusyns (rank: 3) Without any traditi on of self-rule, and without any real advocates fo r thi s pos ition, it is not surpri sing that it rece ived so few votes. It 's notable that not only did the pari sh and a GCU lodge in Jessup, Pennsy lvani a, contribute a number of the votes fo r thi s option, but two additional GC U lodges that did , in Eynon , Pennsyl va ni a, were a ffili ated wi th the Jessup pari sh as we ll. Jessup a lso had a large RBO lodge, but it is unlike ly that independence would have been the ir preference. 40 SLOVAKIA 2021 Union with Carpatho-Russians (i.e., Galicians, Bukovinians, UhroRusyns) (rank: 4) This position was represented among American Carpatho-Rusyns mainly by the League for the Liberation of Carpatho-Russia, although evidently few Subcarpathian Rusyns belonged to that organization, and to some extent originally by the American-Russian National Defense. The few votes for this option came mainly from Gary, Indiana 's GCU Lodge 469 and its Greek Catholic parish, which was primarily of Subcarpathian origin (in its western counties that would be incorporated into Slovakia) although it is not clear to this author why that would have been their choice. Union with Russia (rank: 5) The FolJowing voted for Union with Russia Greek Catholic Union. 550 Olyphant, Pa. 1 Gymnastic Branch 121 Jerome, Pa. I Uhro-Rusin Congregations a. V. M. Mahoooy City, Pa. lln. I. lubck 400- a Figure 3. The American Rusyn communities which voted for union ofUhroRusyns with Russia (I % of votes cast). (Danko. 199) Among the votes for this option were GCU Lodge 530 in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, mostly Lemko in membership and based at a Galician-majority parish, and perhaps most curious of all , St. Mary 's Greek Catholi c Church in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, whose pastor was the noted Rusyn-language author and cultural patriot Father Emil Kubek. Kubek was also part of the leadership of the American I 41 SLOVAKIA 2021 National Council, which was not supportive of union with Russia at all. While he was not a Russophile, his relative lack of involvement with the GCU (and perhaps due to the RBO being founded in his parish) may have encouraged him to advocate for this option . Or more likely the decisive factor was the RBO's founding president, John Zincak Smith, also being the president of St. Mary's parish. Union with Magyar land (i.e., Hungary) (rank: 6) The Following voted for Union of Uhro-Rwins with Magyar Land Greek Catholic Union. 50 2 181 Clevdand, Ohio Clndand, Ohio Uhro-Rusin Congregations. St. John'• , ClcYeland, Ohio llev. Ballog soo- 6 I Figure 4. The American Rusyn communities which voted for union ofUhroRusyns with Hungary (I % of votes cast). (Danko, 199) Even though many of the Subcarpathian Greek Catholic clergy in the U.S. were Magyarized (if not outright Magyarone), it doesn't seem that any attempt there may have been on their part to influence their parishioners to vote for this option was successful. The ARV denounced Hungary's policy toward its ethnic minorities for years in the lead up to the war. Despite Hungary's liberalized ethnic minority policy that began in 1915, inclination toward Hungary from American Rusyns seems to have changed little. Two GCU lodges voted for this option, but most striking is that six votes came from St. John's Church in Cleveland - not the Rusyn one that in 1918 had hired an Orthodox priest as its pastor - but the Magyar parish, pastored by Father Michael Balogh. This was the only ethnic-Hungarian parish to vote, and it's unlikely that Zatkovich and the American National Council had intended the plebiscite to include the Magyar parishes. (It's possible that they did, we just have no evidence on either side to say for sure.) Union with Galicia (rank: 7) Given the still substantial portion of the GCU's membership either 42 SLOVAKIA 2021 from Galicia or belonging to lodges based at Galician-majority parishes, we could have expected more votes for this option than were returned. However, a number of GCU lodges that were mostly or entirely Galician in membership (e.g., McKeesport Lodge 782, Wilmerding, Pa. , Lodges 348 and 360) - and based at Galician parishes - did not vote. It must be underscored that the plebiscite was not truly representative of the range of religious congregations and fraternal lodges found in the American Carpatho-Rusyn community, not even when speaking exclusively of those from Subcarpathia - the "Uhro-Rusyns." The Orthodox (except for two parishes which inexplicably did vote) were wholly unrepresented, and the significant fraternals RBO, ROCMAS , and fledgling UROBA were likewise ignored. Clearly it was meant to produce the additional justification Zatkovich needed to present the Scranton resolution to the Paris Peace Conference. 17 Understandably alarmed by this development, the activist Ukrainian American community opposed what they had hoped would be an outcome supporting their goal to unite so-called Ukrainian-Ruthenian ethnographic territory in a Ukrainian state. In so doing, they provided what seems to be the only eyewitness account of how the plebiscite was conducted in a Rusyn parish. Here writes a Ukrainian from Bridgeport, Conn .: Our Hungarian brother Rusyns want to unite Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine. On December 8 of this year, a parish meeting was held in Bridgeport, Conn. , right after the Divine Liturgy, in the parish school. The meeting was very interesting for every Ukrainian, because our brother Uhro-Rusyns decided on the fate of our and their brothers across the sea. Local speakers and Father Orest Cornjak [Chornock], local pastor, spoke. The meeting was convened for the purpose of deciding where Hungarian Rus' shou ld belong: whether to Ukraine or to the Czecho-Slovak state. Father Orest Cornjak stated his preference, that he would vote to belong to his brothers, that is, to the Ukrainians, rather than to the Czecho-Slovaks . After much discussion , it turned out that the Uhro-Rusyn 17 Victor S. Mamatey, "The Slovaks and Carpatho-Ruthenians," in Joseph F. O'Grady, ed .. The Immigrants· Influence on Wilson's Peace Policies (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1967), 245-246. SLOVAKIA 2021 43 leaders wanted to lead the Uhro-Rusyns to the Czecho-Slovaks, without questioning the Uhro-Rusyn people. And again the speakers protested against the "American National Council of UhroRusins" in America that no one has elected; its members of that Council are self-appointed leaders, that they have chosen themselves and have no right to speak in the name of the Uhro-Rusyn people, and further that they proposed an amendment so as not to vote either for Ukraine or against, nor to take a position against the Czecho-Slovak state, and so let it be as Uhro-Rusyns will decide in the old country. They also complained to the Ukrainians that at the founding of the " Mid-European Union" at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pa., they had to say that the Uhro-Rusyns are "a different people" from the Ukrainians, and thus the Ukrainians do not want to accept the UhroRusyns as an equal among equals and so for that reason will not vote in that way. When people were already wanting to leave, Mr. Ivan Boyko, head of the Ukrainian Athletic Association (Sich) in America, while asking forgiveness for the slurs that were committed by Ukrainians, and explaining that the Uhro-Rusyns had already decided at the founding council meetings in L'viv that Hungarian Rus ' should belong to Ukraine together with Galicia and Bukovina, said he did not see the reasons why the Uhro-Rusyns should not vote for the joining of Hungarian Rus' to Ukraine. He laid out what benefits the Uhro-Rusyns would have in a Ukrainian state, and what benefits they would have from the Czecho-Slovaks .. .. We Ukrainians, said Mr. Bojko, can never agree that our Hungarian brothers will be in the Czecho-Slovak state. [... ] It should be noted that the audience very intently listened to Mr. Bojko and took his every word to heart. After the speech the audience rewarded him with applause when the other speakers received no applause. Here Mr. Bojko did a great service to the Ukrainian people by proclaiming this speech to the Hungarian brothers, because then now the entire hall of people began to speak differently about it after the speech, because it was moved to vote by secret ballot, about where Hungarian Rus' should belong: whether to Ukraine, or to the Czecho-Slovak state, and another motion, to vote by roll call , so that you know who is against your brothers (Ukrainians). Father Comjak led by saying: Who is for 44 SLOVAKIA 2021 uniting Hungarian Rus' with Ukraine? It was decided unanimously on the joining of Hungarian Rus' to Ukraine, and then came the second ballot: Who is for uniting Hungarian Rus' with the Czecho-Slovaks? For this union with the Czecho-Slovaks there was only one vote. So, evidently, the Uhro-Rusyns want to unite with Ukraine. The statement made in Philadelphia by Misters M. Sichynsky and N. Ceglinsky, recognizing the Uhro-Rusyns as a separate nationality, with their representative as Mr. Zatkovich in the "MidEuropean Union," should be retracted for the good of the Ukrainian people and the Uhro-Rusyns . Instead, let them declare that the Uhro-Rusyns are our brothers by blood and by faith , and we can never agree that a second nationality would rule over our Hungarian brothers, even if it were Czecho-Slovakia. In Bridgeport, Conn ., Uhro-Rusyns do not recognize the "American National Council of Uhro-Rusins" because their people did not select them , and that self-styled Counci l has no right to push them into a Czecho-Slovak state, because the Uhro-Rusyn brothers want to unite Hungarian Rus ' with Ukraine. Glory to them for this! 18 The Ukrainian National Association's newspaper Svoboda reported on a Ukrainian National Congress that took place in January 1919. This congress included speakers on the situation in the Subcarpath ian Rusyn community in the U.S. and its recent Scranton resolution and fol low-on plebiscite. Father Kubek , editor of the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik [this is an error, he was not] was supposed to speak, but at the last moment he informed that he was not able to do so. His place was taken by a Galician priest, Father Vasyl' Merenkiv, who said, among other things: "In recent days I was in several Uhro-Rusyn parishes and spoke with several Uhro-Rusyn priest-leaders . We spoke about the idea of uniting Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine . I can assure the esteemed delegates that they are all committed to joining Uhro-Rus ' with Ukraine more so than with Czec hoslovak ia. But still, I noticed that American Uhro-Rusyns are sti ll wavering." Mr. Ivan Hajovyc (of Maramoros), a delegate from the Chicago Uhro-Rusyns, was called to speak. He revealed his joy that he has an 18 "Svobidna vo lia uhors' kykh Ru syniv," Svoboda, 14 December 19 I 8, 2. SLOVAKIA 2021 45 opportunity to speak to so many people who are interested in the fate of Uhro-Rusyns. He talked about the oppression that Uhro-Rusyns suffered from the Magyars. " We, Hungarian Ukrainians," said Mr. Hajovyc, "stand body and soul for the unity of Ukraine.We want to join with Ukraine! We are protesting against the plebiscite conducted among American UhroRusyn s, which was set up for the sake of uniting Uhro-Rus' with Czechoslovakia. Hungarian Ukrainians want to be united with Ukraine. We do not know what Czechoslovakia is and who CzechoSlovaks are. We never want to hear anything about joining them." Mr. Ivan Hundjak (a Galician) argued using statistics that the plebiscite initiated by Masaryk among American Uhro-Rusyns was conducted in a deceptive manner. Finally Mr. Ivan Skakandij, an Uhro-Rusyn cantor-teacher and delegate from Nesquehoning, Pa . was called to speak He regretted that in such an important moment Hungarian Ukrainians in America have not yet all been awakened to a life of national consciousness. " It is the fault of the Uhro-Rusyn clergy, who in the old country were led around by the Magyars and now by the Czechoslovaks. But nationally conscious Hungarian Ukrainians in America want to unite with Ukraine. We are just now awakening to life and there is hope that in a short time we will all be awakened." One speaker (Father Merenkiv) said " Hungarian Ukrainians in America are still waking up, but remember, that as we wake up , Masaryk will do nothing to help." 19 My observations about the results, it turns out, while I arrived at them independently, were noted to some extent already in 1919 in an article in the Ukrainian press. This is the speech by Ivan Hundjak (mentioned previously) in which he analyzed the resu lts and pointed out, among other criticisms, that if a person happened to be a member of a GCU lodge and the United Societies lodge in the same place, and the local Subcarpathian Greek Catholic parish, conceivably that person could vote up to three times. He noted as well (as Danko did) that participation among those eligible to vote was fairly low. He asserted that had these irregularities been taken into account, the leading result 19 "Z narodnohu z'izdu," Svoboda, 18 January 19 19, 2. 46 SLOVAKIA 2021 probably would have been for union with Ukraine. I would counter that had there been time, or the will, to more inclusively offer the vote to all American Subcarpathian Rusyn institutions, and not just the ones affiliated with the American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, the results may indeed have been different, but more likely toward union with Russia, as impractical as that might have been. Reception of Czechoslovakia in the Rusyn American Community In May of 19 I 9, the cornerstone was laid in Homestead, Pennsylvania, for the Rusin Peoples Home. This event, under the patronage of the American National Council of Uhro-Rusins, occurred just days before the National Counci l in Uzhorod, Subcarpathian Rus ', would accept the American Rusyns ' proposal to unite with Czechoslovakia. The commemorative booklet for this event 20 prominently featured a page with the American, Czechoslovak, and "Rusin" flags entwined, with the slogan "Old Glory Has Made This Federation (Czech-SlovakRusin) Possible." The pages following showed photographs of Zatkovich signing the declaration of the Mid-European Nationalities and Masaryk reading the declaration at a public manifestation in Philadelphia. The book ' s last page is a map showing Europe ' s ethnic groups within the new postwar borders, with Czechoslovakia labeled "Czechoslovaks" and to its east, "Uhro-Rusinia." It's not clear whether UhroRusinia is meant to be depicted as part of Czechoslovakia or not. Whatever the interpretation, this is probably the lone celebratory publication of American Rusyns to mark the decision to join the Czechoslovak Republic. A delegation of American Rusyn gymnasts affiliated with the GCU Sokol division travelled to Prague in the summer of 1920 to participate in a Pan-Slavic Gymnastics exhibition. As part of the trip they also visited Subcarpathian Rus ' and had an audience with Governor Zatkovich. One member of the delegation wrote, " In Prague we were 20 Souvenir Issued by the Rusin Peoples Home, Inc. on the Occasion of the Dedication ofthe Corner-Stone I Pamiatnik izdan ko,poratsieiu Russkii Narodny i Dom iz sluchai posviashcheniia kraeugol 'nago kamen 'ia. Homestead. Pa .. I 9 I 9 (Homestead, Pa., 19 19). SLOVAKIA 2021 47 warmly welcomed by the Czechs and everything we saw in Prague and the way we were treated , we enjoyed ... " oi...o OLO ..... .. , . . MAO• T .. , . rcDll:.. 4Tt0N ie&&CW·~YAK "v.lNI ~ . . . • 1..• Figure 5. Page from the commemorative booklet for the cornerstone laying ofthe Rusin Peoples Home in Homestead, Pa., May 1919. Another wrote, " With thanks to God , with our appearance at the Pan-Slavic Sokol Meet in Prague, we made a mark in the history of our Sokol Branch which wi ll be permanent proof that we accomplished our mission , that we entered into the order of the Czechoslovak Sokol movement. . . We also left a lasting impression on the youth of Subcarpathian Rus ' ." The trip was promoted in the pages of ARV and chronicled fully in the 1921 almanac of the Sokol division. 2 1 It wou ld not be long before frustration over the lack of autonomy promised Subcarpathian Rus' by Masaryk would boil over in the American Carpatho-Rusyn press, especially when Zatkovich resigned in 1921 , and would continue at least until the late 1920s among Greek Catholics. The GCU printed a number of publications critical of Czechoslovak policy: Zatkovich's Otkrytie-Expose by vseho g ubernatora Podkarpatskoj Rus i, o Podkarpatskoj Rusi ( 1921 ), Wilson's Prin21 C heryl We ller Beck et al. , Opportuni~v Realized: The Greek Catholic Union 's First One Hundred Years, / 892-1992. (Beaver, Pa.: Gree k Catholic Uni on o f the U.S.A. , 1994), 75 . 48 SLOVAKIA 2021 ciples in Czechoslovak Practice: The Situation of the Carpatho-Russian People Under the Czech Yoke ( 1929) and Beskid's Karpatorusskaja pravda ( 1932). They would also lead a National Congress of Rusins in Pittsburgh in November 1922, which issued a memorandum to Prague condemning their policy toward Subcarpathian Rus '. American Rusyns in the Russian Orthodox Church and others of Russophile orientation would take up the opposition to Czechoslovak policy toward Subcarpathian Rus' through the 1930s. 22 I did not find any evidence - written or photographic - in Carpatho-Rusyn communities or parishes of widespread adoption of Czechoslovakia as a symbolic "homeland." There is certain ly no oral folklore around portraits of Masaryk (or Zatkovich, for that matter) being hung in parish halls as there is of portraits of Maria Theresa and Franz Josef from the early immigration. Lasting Impressions on Rusyn Americans of a Czechoslovak "Homeland" A list on the Wikipedia entry for Czech Americans of "The top 50 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Czech ancestry" 23 (based on the 2000 U.S . census) contains mostly predictable results - locations in North Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin , et al. An accompanying list, " U.S. communities with the most residents born in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia)," however, contains a curious entry: tied for number IO was the little town of Colver, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles north of Johnstown in the west central part of the state. Colver, a former coal mining company town , had just a few primary ethnic groups : among these were Slovaks and Carpatho-Rusyns. It may we ll have sti ll had a few residents in 2000 who were born in the former Czechos lovakia. It is not clear that these results came from responses declaring their birthplace as "Czech Republic" or "Czechoslovakia," or either, but surely this population in Colver, Pennsylvania, was not ethnic Czechs. 22 Magocsi, Our People, 88-89. "Czech Americans", https ://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech Americans. Accessed December I, 201 8. 23 SLOVAKIA 2021 49 The U.S. Census Bureau statistics for ancestry 24 (estimated from its 20 I 3 American Community Survey) show that Pennsylvania, historically the state with the largest number of Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak immigrants, had more than 52,142 residents with Czech ancestry, or 0.3% of Pennsylvania residents. This is much less than those who indicated Slovak or Ukrainian ancestry, many of which are likely of Carpatho-Rusyn background (or the completely unreali stic 193 ,000 with "Russian" ancestry), but still far higher than the hi storically low Czech settlement of the state would imply. In addition, "Czechoslovak ian" ancestry was estimated at 22,904, which could conceivably include any of Czech, Slovak, or Carpatho-Rusyn-descended individuals, although the much lower national consciousness of CarpathoRusyn Americans - reflected by the miniscule estimated 2,050 of that background - would lead one to expect most of those "Czechoslovak" individuals to have Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. That many Carpatho-Rusyn Americans of any particular geographic background in Carpathian Rus ' still exhibit confusion about their ethnic and geographical origins is not news to anyone. But it may be that Subcarpathian Rus ' belonging for 20 years to Czechoslovakia created a lingering geographic attachment to the idea of "Czechoslovakia" as the ancestral land of American Carpatho-Rusyns. Consider these newspaper clippings, maybe the most extreme examples of this phenomenon I've encountered. A perhaps unintended corollary to this phenomenon is the everincreasing use of genealogy websites where obituaries, gravestones, and other data are collected; many of the individuals - Carpatho-Rusyns and others - whose ge nealogical data is found on these sites have had their birthplace, which was probably entered by their descendant researcher as "Czechoslovakia," transposed by the site into "Czech Republic," further muddling Carpatho-Rusyn identity by placing Czechoslovak natives into the wrong modem-day country. Thus the main legacy of Carpatho-Rusyns' Czechoslovak homeland may well be their descendants eventually needing to educate themselves about 24 U.S. Census Bureau, Total Ancestry Reported: Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported, 2013 American Community Survey I- Year Estimates. https :// factfinder.census.gov/ faces/tableservices/ jsf/pages/productview.xhtml ?pid=ACS 13 I YR B04003&prodType=table. Accessed I December 2018. 50 SLOVAKIA 2021 the fact that Subcarpathian Rus ' was indeed part of Czechoslovakia and is not the modem day Czechia, nor Slovakia, for that matter. rites _____§s:,vtces for Mary - • 93, of 1220 Valley Road, Duncott, who died Friday morning at Pottsville Hospital, will be held at 9 :15 a.m. Tuesday !rom Dutcavich Funeral Home, Minersville. Further services will be held at 10 a .m . in Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Minersville . The Very Rev. Michael Hatrak will officiate. Interment will be in the parish cemetery, Branch Township. Born public, sh late Metro and Sophie She came to the United States as a child, resided in the Heckscherville and Duncott areas and attended Heckscherville schools. She was a member of Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Minersville, and was active in numerous church functions for many years. Figure 6. 1998 obituary of a Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant born in Lochovo, Bereg County, now in the Zakarpatska Oblast of Ukraine, which states she was " born in Lockaway, Czech Republic In any case, on this centennial of the creation of the first Czechoslovak Republic, we can happily remember Mamatey's remark about the significance of American Carpatho-Rusyns' activities around this creation : "while the Slovak immigration in the United States affected Wilson's peace policies only indirectly ... the Carpatho-Ruthenian immigrants did so directly." 25 25 Mamatey, 249. SLOVAKIA 2021 MARI( 51 R0CMR8ISlalf Pholo Woman celebrates turning 103 Mary 11111111 • l'Nident at York Terrace, Pottsville, wavee to ad- =:~==bi~ le now the Cziech Republ 1891, ahe larecenUy. • member of Sa. Born In Pa,1 ; lie Church, Mlnersvllle, and atlll enjoya muak:al and cooking actlvltlea at York Terrace. 7. 200 I news article of a birthday celebration of a Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant centenarian born in Cyganovci , Uz County, now in the Zakarpatska Oblast of Ukraine, which states she was "born in what is now the Czech Republic." Figure 52 SLOVAKIA 2021 "UIIRO . RUSINIA, PROPOSED THIUD STATE OF TUE CZl',()JJO!!LO'\"AK REPUBLIC " • 0 ...... ,,.....,....-_-...):/ ~ ( • • • ,. 1'14"-t.~ Figure 8. Map prepared in 1918 by Gregory Zatkovich depicting the proposed future state of "Uhro-Rusinia" within a federal Czechoslovakia, in which all Rusyn-inhabited lands on the southern slopes of the Carpathians were to be included. (Archive of Paul R. Magocsi , used with permission)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Envisioning a Homeland: Carpatho-Rusyn Immigrants in the USA and the Czechoslovak Option Description An account of the resource Richard D. Custer Slovakia, Vol. 45 (No. 84-85), 2021 pp. 27-52 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Custer, Richard D. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/276651af8e54a7db0a911f26f960cb00.pdf 9c03d1d299698b8baccc6bb0fb35cc54 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 49 . ' The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness DAVID P . DANIEL The Pennsylvania State University - Erie For many of the descendants of Slovak immigrants to the United States , the history of the Reformation in Slovakia and its impact upon the emergence of an ethnic self-consciousness among these people is an unknown aspect of their Slovak heritage. This is not surprising for the cultural significance of the Reformation for the Slovaks has not been examined extensively in western histories of the Reformation Era of East Central Europe, Czechoslovakia, Hungary , or of the Slovak people . (1) Czech historians usually do little more than assert that the Reformation fostered or reinforced, especially by the continuing use of the Kralice Bible by Slovak Lutherans, the cultural and linguistic ties between the Czechs and the Slovaks . Hungarian scholars , on the other hand, seldom differentiate between the Reformation in Slovakia and its course the remaining counties of Hungary. Even many Slovak scholars, especially those of the Catholic tradition , quickly pass over the Reformation Era and its significance for the Slovaks. At the same time, a growing number of European and American scholars has recognized that the Reformation was one of the major milestones in the development of Slovak ethnic self-consciousness.(2) In their attempts to unravel the complexities of Slovak history, they have sought to explain why, during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries , many of the leaders of the Slovak national revival were products of the Lutheran tradition in Slovakia. Unfortunately , few of their findings have found their way into the literature available to the English-reading public. Moreover , most of these studies have focused primarily upon the language and literature of the Slovaks and have not considered to any great extent the non-literary aspects of ethnicity and ethnic self-consciousness. Certainly the study of ethnicity and of cultural history does require an extensive examination of the language and literature of a particular people . Literature, in the broadest sense of that word, encapsulates the language , manners , mores, and other peculiarities of the culture of any people. On the other hand, it must also be recognized that a people 's •in �50 SLOVAKIA awareness of its own particular identity vis-a-vis other groups does not arise solely from the fact that it employs a distinct language. A common history, a sense of common destiny, and access to institutions, however primitive they might be, wherein a people can give expression to their own conceptions of themselves and determine their own future, are also necessary for the development and preservation of an ethnic selfconsciousness . In this light, the Reformation of the sixteenth century must be considered as one of the major forces contributing to the emergence of an ethnic, though not a political, self-consciousness among the Slovaks. SOME GENERAL FEATURES OF THE REFORMATION IN SLOVAKIA Before turning to the question of how the Reformation contributed to the growth of Slovak ethnic self-consciousness, it might be helpful to review , at least in some general outlines, the major features of the Reformation in Slovakia.(3) As elsewhere in Europe, the Reformation in Slovakia was rooted in long lasting conflicts within Hungary. The extra-imperial nature of the Sacred Crown of Hungary, the ardent nationalism of the Magyars , the conflict between the Habsburgs and the Zapolyas for the throne of Hungary, the multiplicity of ethnic groups with their inter-ethnic rivalries, the proximity of the Turks, and the complex political relationships between the various segments of the population and between all of them and the kings of Hungary created a chaotic situation within Hungary which enabled the Reformation to spread quickly throughout East Central Europe in general and Slovakia in particular. This political and social situation was exacerbated, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, by the failure of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church to remedy some ma'{_1ifold abuses which were abhorrent to many. Simony, pluralism, absenteeism, feuds among the hierarchs, incessant demands for funds ; paris.hes and- even bishoprics remaining vacant for years or suffering under incompetent or miserably trained curates - all were being criticized with increasing regularity by both clergy and laymen. Since the hierarchy failed to act to cleanse the Church of the most egregious abuses in practice and theology or to stem the tide of moral laxity, many secular leaders and clerics in Slovakia early heeded Luther' s call for the reform of the life of the Church. Luther's teachings spread quickly into all regions of Slovakia but especially into the cities of central and eastern Slovakia which were �SLOVAKIA 51 predominantly German in population. Town after town, noble after noble, went over to the standard of reform. It would be erroneous to assume, as many have, that the laymen and clerics who supported the Reformation did so only out of base economic motives. and a desire for self-aggrandizement. While there were some who were notv eluctant to expropriate the endowments of the Church to enrich themselves , and this included some who remained Catholics , the bulk of the evidence which is available indicates that a great number of magistrates and magnates were conscientiously and legitimately concerned with the quality of pastoral service being provided to them and to those dependent upon them. They were seeking to purify the Church of its most egregious abuses and staunchly defended their rights to encourage the free preaching of the Gospel in their territories and to oversee the collection and distribution of funds for the charitable activities of the Church. These individuals frequently aided the evangelical cause with both money and political support. Many laymen made substantial grants to enable students and pastors from Slovakia to study Lutheran theology abroad or to establish local academies , staffed by reformist rectors and teachers, in the cities and throughout the countryside of Slovakia. This active supervision of the local congregations by the nobles and city councils was possible not only because of the impotency of the hierarchy after 1526 but also because of the provisions of the charters of privileges to the cities and of the patents of nobility which granted to these laymen substantial rights and prerogatives in the supervision of the churches and their resources . (4) So it was that the Lutheran Reformation spread quickly into and throughout Slovakia. Merchants traveling to Germany returned with copies of Luther's writings after 1518 while, beginning in 1522 with the matriculation of George Baumhenckel from Banska Bystrica , an ever increasing stream of students left Slovakia to study at the University of Wittenberg.(5) By 1525 reformist doctrines were known and accepted in Banska Bystrica, Bardejov , Levoca, and in many of the smaller towns and villages of Slovakia. Despite attempts to limit the spread of Lutheranism by the passage of anti-heretic laws by the Hungarian Diets of 1523 and 1525 , the Reformation continued to spread. The defeat of the Hungarian forces by the Turks at Mohacs in 1526, which resulted in the death of King Lous II, the Cardinal Primate of Hungary, several bishops and high nobles , and scores of parish priests and lower nobles, led to a prolonged struggle over the throne of Hungary between Ferdinand I and John Zapolya , the latter supporter by the lesser Magyar nobles . This accentuated the difficulties within Hungary as a �52 SLOVAKIA whole and made it possible for the Reformation to spread throughout Slovakia without meeting any really effective resistance . (6) Because of this leadership vacuum in both Church and State during the early years of the Reformation, the Lutheran movement in Slovakia achieved its successes with a minimum of conflict, a development which is quite remarkable in comparison to what transpired in the rest of Europe during the first half of the sixteenth century. The Lutheran leaders were able to work within and utilize the structures and institutions of the Catholic Church as they moved to fill the vacuum in ecclesiastical leadership at the local and regional levels. Lutheran pastors were called as preachers to serve the congregations in the cities and the countryside and gradually became a majority within the various seniorats or pastoral conferences . By the middle of the sixteenth century, most of the seniorats in Slovakia were comprised of and headed by Lutherans. It is also interesting to note that the particular lization and factionalization which characterized the northern and western European Reformation by 1520 did not emerge in Slovakia until the middle of the century, after the evangelical reform movement was well established. After 1550, however, the Roman Catholic hierarchy began to recover its strength and, especially after the Council of Trent, inaugurated measures designed to regain that which had been lost through weakness and neglect. Aided by Emperor Ferdinand I, the Roman Catholic hierarchy began to apply against the Lutherans the laws of the Diet of 1548 proscribing Anabaptist and Sacramentarian theologies . Seeking to differentiate between their views and those of the other reformist groups in Hungary and to identify themselves clearly with the Augsburg Confession, which had originally been accepted by Emperor Charles V in 1530 and subsequently recognized by Ferdinand and by the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, the Lutherans of Slovakia began to define their faith and dociifine more precisely. Within a period of 21 years, the Lutherans of Slov~ia adopted three major regional confessions of faith, all of them based primarily upon the Augsburg Confession and its Apology and the writings of Philip Melanchthon . In 1548 the five royal free cities of eastern Slovakia, Bardejov , Levoca, Presov, Kosice, and Sabinov, united in accepting the Confessio Pentapolitana prepared by Leonard Stoeckel, Rector of the so-called "Humanist" school in Bardejov. Ten years later, the seven mining cities of central Slovakia, Banska Bystrica, Banska Stiavnica, Kremnica, Nova Bana, Pukanec, tubietova, and Banska Bela, accepted the Confessio Montana prepared by Ulrich Cubicularius. In 1569, the towns of Spis county followed the lead of the larger cities and accepted �SLOVAKIA 53 the Confessio Scepusia~a written by Cyriak Koch and Valentin Megander.(7) ' , The supporters of Helvetic theologies did not remain idle, for they too adopted several confessions of faith which defined their doctrine more precisely. As a result, by 1575 the reformation movements in Hungary had divided into separate and distinct groups. Despite a few exceptions , for there were a few Calvinist Slovaks and Lutheran Magyars, the Magyar protestants were adherents to Helvetic Reformed theology while the vast majority of Slovaks and Germans adhered to the faith expressed in their own and the Augsburg confessions. The confessionalism which established the hegemony of Lutheranism in Slovakia and the denominationalization of the Reformation by 1575 did not, however, bring to an end the theological problems of, or controversies among, the Lutherans , and between the Lutherans and the Reformed. After 1580 , the doctrines of the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord' s Supper and the Communication of Attributes, that is that the attributes of Christ's divine nature were communicated to his human nature , continued to plague the Lutherans in Slovakia.(8) From the Synod of Kremnica in 1580 until the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614) , the Lutherans of Slovakia debated these theological points in connection with the question of whether or not they should accept the Formula of Concord (1577) , as contained in the Book of Concord (1580) , as normative for their own theology. Since the Lutherans of Slovakia had consistently defended their right to practice the Lutheran faith by citing its recognition in Germany by the Hungarian kings as emperors , many were reluctant to accept the Formula and Book of Concord as their doctrinal norm . They felt that they could be charged with having accepted a new , nonrecognized confession of faith. They preferred, therefore , to stand by their own confession of faith. There were also some who were reluctant to accept the Formula of Concord because they suspected that it was intended to displace the writings of Philip Melanchthon who had taught and befriended many of the clergy of Slovakia while they were studying at the University of Wittenberg . Many of these individuals tended to question the precise definitions and formulations of the doctrines of the Eucharist and the Communication of Attributes contained in the Formula and most of these individuals were of German ancestry. The defenders of Lutheran orthodoxy as defined by the Formula, therefore , attacked these moderates as Cryptocalvinists. Among the leading spokesmen for Lutheran orthodoxy were the Slovaks Elias Lani and Severinus Scultety who, together with the �54 SLOVAKIA nobleman Gregor Horvath Stancic de Hradecz and the German Albert Grawer , urged the acceptance of the Book of Concord at the colloquies held in Csepreg (1591) and in Kezmarok (1595-1596), and at many of the synods held regularly by the various regional pastoral conferences throughout eastern Slovakia. (9) The debate over the acceptance of the Book of Concord might have been even more prolonged had not the political situation changed drastically. In 1592 the truce between the Habsburgs and the Turks was shattered and the Fifteen Years' War ensued. During the course of this struggle, the Catholic hierarchy tried to confiscate the churches of the Lutherans in several cities in Slovakia while, in 1604, Matthias II attempted to extend royal authority by repudiating the rights of the nobles and the cities to discuss matters pertaining to religion in the Diet of Hungary. As in the first days of the Reformation, the lay leaders came to the aid of the Protestant groups. The Reformed magnate, Stephen Bocskay of Transylvania, took up arms against the Habsburgs and, after gaining control of royal Hungary (Slovakia), forced Matthias to repudiate as unconstitutional the decree of 1604 and to accept the Peace of Vienna of 1606 which established the right of the Lutherans and Calvinists to exist in Hungary much as the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 had sanctioned Lutheranism in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.(10) The terms of the Peace of Vienna were further refined and defined by the decisions of the Diet of 1608 which not only clearly sanctioned the right of the Lutherans and Calvinists to practice their own faith but also to establish their own independent ecclesiastical institutions . Under the sponsorship of the Palatine (Chancellor) of Hungary, the Lutheran magnate George Thurzo, representatives of the Lutherans in the counties of western Slovakia met in Zilina on March 27-30, 1610 and created three superintendencies to administer the Lutheran congregations .(11) The Synod also established the rules governing the administrative and other activities of the superintendents and accepted the Formula of Concord and the Book of Concord as the norm and guide for Lutheran doctrine. Already accepted py the Lutherans in Gerner county in 1604, and in Turiec county in 1608 ~t the Synod of Turciansky Sviity Martin,(12) the Book of Concord was also accepted by the eastern cities of Spis and Saris counties in January of 1614 at the Synod of Spisske Podhradie. (13) It is important to note that the organizations established by the synods of Zilina and Spisske Podhradie, as well as those of the other regions of Slovakia which had been or would be confirmed by the Palatine, resulted in a diminution of lay influence in the ecclesiastical �SLOVAKIA 55 organizations in favor of clerical authority and administration. This development was _contracy to trends elsewhere in Europe . To be sure, the local congregations s\ill had lay patrons or defenders but the superintendencies and districts were independent of direct lay supervision. This centralization of the regional administration of the Lutheran churches in the hands of the clergy while, at the same time, the superintendencies remained independent of each other, both helped and hindered the maintenance of Lutheranism in Slovakia during the Counter-Reformation of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries . The lack of a single administrative unit for all the Lutherans in Slovakia made it difficult for them to resist effectively the combined forces of the Roman Catholic Church and the Habsburgs. On the other hand, since the leadership of the Lutheran movement was primarily in the hands of the clergy, it was able to survive the strong pressures exerted upon it by the state and the noble families who returned to the Catholic Church. Despite the vicissitudes of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, the Lutherans continued to maintain their faith and practices despite greatly reduced numbers and stringent restrictions. Although Slovak Lutherans became and have remained a minority within the Slovak people, the Reformation remained indelibly etched upon the consciousness of the Slovaks. As F. G. Heymann noted: Among the Slovak gentry and intellegentsia, Lutheranism maintained a foothold, and its adherents remained one of the most active, culturally productive and nationally conscious elements of the Slovak people in the period down to the late eighteenth century .(14) Indeed, many of the leaders of the national revival of the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries in Slovakia, as well as in Bohemia and Hungary, were raised in Lutheran homes and parsonages and were imbued with the evangelical heritage. Jan Kollar, I.:udovit Stur, Jozef Hurban, Michal Miloslav Hodza, Karol Kuzmany , and many others, were either Lutheran clergymen or teachers, or the sons of Lutheran pastors and teachers.(15) What explains this tenacity of the Lutheran tradition in Slovakia and its impact upon the development of Slovak ethnic selfconsciousness? In what way did the Lutheran Reformation aid in the development of the ethnic awareness of the Slovaks? Although many explanations can be proferred, it appears that the Reformation contributed to the growth of a Slovak ethnic self-awareness and a Slovak �56 SLOVAKIA culture in at least three ways. The Reformation provided an opportunity for Slovaks to assume leadership roles in the Lutheran Church in Slovakia as administrators and theologians. The Lutheran movement established evangelical schools throughout Slovakia which provided Slovaks with an opportunity to obtain more than a rudimentary education. Finally, the liturgical, devotional, and theological works produced by Slovak Lutherans enabled them to maintain their peculiar identity vis-a-vis both the Magyars and the Germans. SLOVAKS AS LEADERS OF LUTHERANISM IN SLOVAKIA During the early years of the Reformation in Slovakia, the first to adhere to the teachings of Luther were the Germans of the cities of central and eastern Slovakia. The Slovaks were drawn to Lutheranism slowly but steadily, following the lead of the German population and of the magnates and nobles. However, by the last third of the sixteenth century, Slovaks had become the majority in the Lutheran movement and Slovak clerics began to emerge as leaders in the administration of the Lutheran congregations and seniorats and as influential theologians. It was during the theological controversies over the acceptance of the Formula and Book of Concord that Slovak clergy emerged as the defenders of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Elias Lani, Severin Skultety and the nobleman Gregor Horvath Stancic were unswerving in their advocacy of the Book of Concord at the synods and colloquies held during the last decade of the sixteenth century. It is interesting to note that the Book of Concord was accepted first in those seniorats and districts in which Slovaks were in the majority while the cities of the central montana district and of Spis and Saris counties where German clergy were in the majority, the Book of Concord was accepted only after the synods of Zilina and Spisske Podhradie, and even then, only at the urging of the Thurzos and with some reluctance . While the reasons for the Slovak acceptance of Lutheran orthodoxy are still difficult to determine with any certainty, there is evidence that one of the reasons was the influence of the Lutheran school at Straza, supported by Stancic, and others like it in Slovakia. Althq_ugh many Slovaks went to Wittenberg, there were others who received 'their theological education in Slovakia and Strafa was the foremost school among those providing instruction in theology in Slovakia. Stancic, the patron of the school, was no mere theological dilettante but a capable lay theologian cognizant of theological developments at home and in Germany and �SLOVAKIA 57 Switzerland.(16) His support for the Book of Concord and Lutheran orthodoxy permeated his shortlived school whose most illustrious graduate and teacher was Elias Lani.(17) Lani was on~ of th~ most persuasive and forceful leaders of Lutheranism in Slovakia dµring the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and must be considered one of the leading organizers and theologians of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. While still in eastern Slovakia during the 1590s, Lani participated in the colloquies held at Csepreg and Kezmarok and, during the disputes with Sebastian Ambrosius or Lam and other Cryptocalvinists over adiaphora or nonessential theological matters, such as the use of pictures in churches, Lani wrote several defenses of the orthodox Lutheran position upholding Christian liberty.(18) He subsequently moved to Mosovce where, in 1598, he was elected Senior of the pastoral conferences in Turiec county and there gained the acceptance of the Formula of Concord and of rules governing the life of the clergy of the conference. Shortly after the Synod of Turciansky Svaty Martin of March 1608 he was called to serve as the Pastor at Vel'ka Bytca, the residence of George Thurzo and there served the Palatine as pastor and advisor. Elected Senior of the Upper Trencin Seniorat in January 1609 he was instrumental in assisting Thurzo in organizing the Synod of Zilina and his influence can be clearly seen in the deliberations and decisions of the Synod.(19) While Lani, who died in 1618, was the most notable of the Slovak theologians of the Reformation Era, he was certainly not the only Slovak to attain a position of leadership within the Church. Severin Skultety was a lector in Bardejov, a teacher at Presov, and the Senior of the five royal free cities of eastern Slovakia from 1593 until his death in 1600. He , too, was an associate of Stancic and a supporter of the Book of Concord. He began a history of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia and, along with other original works, published in Bardejov in 1581 a translation into Slovak of Luther's Small Catechism. (20) Other theologians of significance include Jan Pruno, who published a SlovakLatin edition of the Small Catechism in Hlohovec c. 1585, and also Leonard Mokosin, Senior in Liptov, who authored an epic poem based upon the books of the Old Testament. Slovaks, such as Daniel Pribis, Stefan Pilarik , and Jakub Jakubei, the intellectual presager of Jan Kollar, continued to make important contributions to the theological development of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia during the seventeenth century. Although most of the works of these theologians were written in Latin and were heavily influenced by the Lutheran theologians of Germany, it must be recognized that the theological �58 SLOVAKIA activity of Slovaks enabled Lutheranism in Slovakia to become more than merely a German religion. Slovaks were also active in the administration of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia, especially in the counties of western Slovakia. At the Synod of Zilina, the three superintendents elected by the nobles, clergy, and representatives of some of the towns, were the Slovaks Lani, Samuel Melikus, and Isaak Abrahamides Hrochotius or Hrochotsky, to whom the two German and the Magyar inspectors were responsible.(21) They were followed by a long line of Slovak superintendents who administered the various districts or superintendencies of the Lutherans in Slovakia. Of the seven major superintendencies, Germans predominated only in the one for the mining cities of central Slovakia and in the two in Spis and Saris counties for the five royal free cities and for the 24 Spis cities. The rest were largely Slovak and normally headed by Slovak superintendents. The Slovak influence in the administration of the Lutheran Church can be even more clearly appreciated when it is recognized that the majority of the some 800-900 Lutheran congregations in Slovakia were composed of Slovaks and had pastors of the same background. Even in the towns where the German population predominated, Slovaks had their own congregations and pastors who ministered to their specific needs, preaching to and teaching the members of these congregations in their own language. By preaching and teaching in the vernacular, the Slovak Lutheran clergymen perpetuated the use of Slovak and fostered the awareness of the Slovaks as a particular and distinct ethnic group within the Hungarian kingdom. As theologians and administrators the Slovak clergy guided and enriched the life of Slovak Lutherans and afforded them an opportunity to express their own faith in a language comprehensible to them. At the same time, the availability of positions as clerics in the Lutheran church made it possible for Slovak individuals to achieve positions of prominence and leadership in their communities and aided in the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. \ LUTHERANISM, EDUCATION, AND SLOVAK ETHNICITY Among the institutions which helped to spread the Lutheran Reformation throughout Slovakia and which, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, perpetuated its heritage, the evangelical schools of Slovakia were especially important. Lutherans throughout �SLOVAKIA 59 Europe emphasized popular education, and evangelical schools were established and supported by Lutheran communities. According to Johann Rezik, there were four types of schools which emerged in Slovakia during the Reformation Era: the Scholae Magnatum et Nob ilium; the Scholae Civitatenses; the Scholae Oppidane ; and the Scholae Pagenses ~(22) Th~se city, town and village schools, supported by the local authorities or by nobles, did not differ so much in their curricula as in the scope of their programs, the character of their patrons, and in the size and composition of their student bodies . The most important were the city Latin schools, especially those of the larger free cities, which were often endowed by a magnate in addition to receiving regular financial support from the magistrates of the cities.(23) Under lay control, but usually directed by a rector who had received some theological training, the municipal Latin schools became the centers of reformist teaching and continued the humanist pedagogical tradition in Slovakia. Although many would close because of financial difficulties or were taken over by Roman Catholics during the turmoil of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the schools of Slovakia attained a great repute throughout Hungary and were recognized for their academic excellence in both the German states and in Poland. The most significant of the early evangelical schools were located in Kezmarok, Presov, Banska Bystrica, Levoca, and Bardejov.(24) Under the rectorate of Leonard Stoeckel (d. 1560) a protege and friend of Melanchthon, Bardejov was considered the premier educational institution in Slovakia and attracted the sons of magnates and nobles as well as of the citizens of the cities. Stoeckel prepared the Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540 which combined the classic humanist pedagogical concerns with Lutheran theology .(25) Borrowing heavily but not slavishly from the German humanists, such as John Agricola, Herman Talechi and Philip Melanchthon, Stoeckel constructed a curriculum which emphasized the study of Latin, the classical authors, and the Lutheran faith . Latin was the medium of instruction and each day began with readings from the Scriptures while regular attendance at church services was also required. The students also put on plays, with heavy doctrinal content, for the community and, under the direction of a cantor, sang at regular and special services in the town church. Although other school orders, such as those for Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica by Michael Pechov, and variations on Abraham Schremmel's ordinances for the Strasbourg schools were also used in Slovakia, the Leges of Stoeckel was the most influential. (26) His �60 SLOVAKIA teaching of the doctrines of the Augsburg Confession through the humanist methodology became standard in the evangelical schools of Slovakia. Not only were the instructors Lutheran, but the materials used for instruction also had a Lutheran perspective, for among the textbooks used were the Scriptures, Luther's Small Catechism, Melanchthon's Examen Theologicum, Loci Communes, Rhetorica, Dialectica, and his Entymoligia.(27) It should also be noted that although most of the academic materials and instruction were in Latin, during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries some scholarly works in Slovak began to appear ; indeed, most of the works published in Slovak during the sixteenth century, even of a non-theological nature, were published by evangelicals who maintained numerous presses throughout Slovakia. While the curricula of these schools were not intended to meet the particular needs of Slovaks , but were to provide all students with a sound basic humanist education in preparation for further study at the major universities of Europe, especially Wittenberg, the schools did admit students of Slovak birth. In fact there were schools, such as those at Zilina, Turciansky Svaty Martin, Mosovce, Trencin, and Straza where the majority of students were Slovak.(28) The school at Straza became a center for the study of Lutheran theology for those Slovaks who were unable to go abroad to complete their education. All of these schools provided Slovaks with an opportunity to acquire more than just a rudimentary education and prepared them to assume positions of leadership and responsibility in Slovakia. The Slovak intelligentsia of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, as were their counterparts during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, were greatly influenced by intellectual developments in Germany and they not only participated in the broader intellectual movements of Europe but adapted them to meet their own particular needs and the situation within Slovakia. The writings of Slovak Lutheran intellectuals and the curricula of the Lutheran schools of Slovakia helped to foster a greater appreciation of the heritage and culture of the Slovak people and it is not surprising that many of the leaders of the Slovak national revival were educated in the Lutheran tradition in the evangelical schools of Sloyakia. \ LUTHERANISM AND THE EMERGENCE OF SLOVAK LITERATURE During the early stages of the Reformation in Slovakia there were no works published in Slovak. The clergy of Slovak ancestry, educated �SLOVAKIA 61 in the Latin schools, could read for themselves the works published in Latin and German and were usually content to utilize Latin, the lingua franca of the sixteenth · century, to express publicly their own theological views. But, as '\ more and more Slovaks adhered to the Lutheran faith with its emph~sis upon vernacular worship, the need for devotional and liturgical works in Slovak became increasingly obvious. Already in 1546 the first work published in Slovak, a devotional book by Vasek z Zalesin, was printed in Wittenberg while the first book in Slovak published in Slovakia was Scultety' s translation of the Small Catechism of Luther. (29) Of more immediate significance for the spread of Lutheranism among the Slovaks was the development of Slovak liturgies and hymnody. During the early years of the Reformation this need was met by borrowing materials produced by Czech Utraquists and the Unitas Fratrum, which could be used by Slovaks without any great difficulty, and by translations into Slovak of hymns by Luther and other reformers and of German orders of worship , especially the Wittenberg Order of 1533.(30) By 1560 there were reports of Lutheran services being held in Slovak not only in the almost completely Slovak areas of Liptov county and along the Vah but also in the mining cities of central Slovakia.(31) In 1580 the Synod of Trencin approved its own church order, the Canones rituum sacrorum Trenchini, which established in 27 articles the rules governing the liturgical life of the Lutherans in the region along the Vah river.(32) The use of Slovak in worship was also encouraged by the appearance of the Bohemian Agenda of 1581. This agenda was used as a guide in the preparation of the Bystrica Agenda, in manuscript form, in 1585. Revised in 1595 and again in 1608, the Bystrica Agenda was approved in 1613 by the Lutheran superintendents of western Slovakia who, following the directions of the Synod of Zilina, were to establish a standard for the liturgical practices of the Slovak congregations under their jurisdiction. (33) But these agendas and church orders, which aided in the standardization of liturgical language and practice among the Lutheran congregations of Slovakia, could not meet all of the worship and devotional needs of the Slovak population since literary Slovak had not yet been codified . These needs were met by the appearance of a new Czech translation of the Bible and by the compilation of an hymnbook by George Tranovsky. These works provided the Slovaks with a vernacular devotional literature in kralicina Czech which was adopted and adapted for use as the literary language of the Slovak Lutherans until the 19th century. �62 SLOVAKIA Since the Germans of Slovakia generally utilized the Bible translation of Luther it was the Slovaks who most acutely felt the need for a vernacular Bible. Early in the Reformation Era they relied on the old Slavic version of Sts. Cyril and Methodius or on the Venetian or Nuremberg Czech translations which had found their way into Slovakia.(34) However, the Kralice Bible translation proved to be the most acceptable of the Czech translations and became the standard one used by the Slovak Lutherans, remaining in general use even into the twentieth century. The Kralice Bible, published in six volumes from 1579-1593, was the work of a translation committee under the chairmanship of a Moravian Bishop of the Unitas Fratrum. John Zerotin of Moravia opened his castle to them and helped to underwrite the expenses involved in the printing of the translation.(35) George Thurzo, a close friend of Zerotin, obtained copies of the work and encouraged its use by the Slovak Lutherans in his lands who did appropriate it for both public and private devotions.(36) Throughout Hungary and Slovakia meanwhile, the use of hymns sung by the congregation had become quite common early in the Reformation. The earliest hymns used by the Slovaks were translations of the Psalms or of the medieval "gradual" or "sequence" hymns and were usually prepared in manuscript form.(37) Many of Luther's hymns and those of his co-workers were translated while Czech evangelical or Hussite hymns were borrowed intact or rephrased. Among the early Slovak hymn writers were George Banovsky, Jan Pruno, Elias Lani, and Daniel Pribis. Pribis, for example , supplemented his Catechism of 1634 with a collection of 113 hymns in Slovak which included seven of his own and eight by Lani.(38) The most noted writer and compiler of hymns for the Slovak Lutherans was Tranovsky. Born in 1591 in Tesin (eastern Silesia) , Tranovsky was brought up in the Lutheran faith and in April 1607 entered the University of Wittenberg. After a short stay in Prague he traveled to eastern Moravia but , after the outbreak of the Thirty Years ' War in 1618 Tranovsky was forced to flee to Slovakia where, on May 29, 1637, he died while serving as the pastor of the Slovak Lutheran congregation at Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas.(39) His Cithara Sanctorum, or Harp of the Saints , was a devotional aitd liturgical guide for individuals as well as a hymnbook for congregations ; Seven hundred pages long, the first edition of the work was -divided into four major sections , each containing hymns for the various seasons , festivals , and services of the ecclesiastical year, along with a section of hymns on specific doctrines arranged according to the structure of the Small Catechism of Luther. The hymnal proper was followed by a series of �SLOVAKIA 63 \ indices , a collection of prayers , and an indication of the preferred liturgy to be used. No other book , except for the Kralice Bible, had such a great significance for the Slovak Lutherans. It can be said that the Cithara Sanctorum , or " Tranoscius " as it became popularly known , was the Slovak expression , in song and verse , of the spirit and content of the Lutheran Reformation and became the focus of Slovak Lutheran devotional life . Both Jan Kollar and P. J . Safarik emphasized the cultural significance of the "Tranoscius" and openly acknowledged their own indebtedness to Tranovsky.(40) But if the Kralice Bible and the ''Tranoscius '' were the epitome of Slovak Lutheran devotional and cultural expressions they were not the only influences upon the development of Slovak literature. Slovak postilla or sermon collections were also produced late in the sixteenth century while Nikodem Sartorius of Zvolen prepared the first Slovak commentary on the Bible.(41) Prayer books and religious poetry collections also became very popular. While it would certainly be an overstatement to claim that the heritage of Reformation Lutheranism was the only or even the most notable influence upon the development of a Slovak ethnic selfconsciousness , it would be equally erroneous not to recognize that the Reformation and the Lutheran heritage did help to foster such a selfconsciousness . As for other peoples elsewhere in Europe, the Lutheran Reformation accentuated the linguistic and ethnic peculiarities of the Slovaks and , as the Slovak Lutherans continued to practice their faith and worship in their own langauge and to guide the fortunes of their own church, they kept alive, in their religious life and experiences, their own ethno-linguistic individuality and identity. It is not surprising then, that from the Lutheran tradition came many of those leaders of the national revival who, while they examined and treasured their past, also sought to mold the destiny of their people and to make them into a modern nation. FOOTNOTES David P . Daniel , The Historiograp hy of the R eformation in Slo vakia (St . Louis, Mo.: 1977), 4. (1) (2) The most significant recent work on the history of the Slovaks and their ethnic selfconsciousness is the three volume study of Ludwig von Gogolak, B eitriige zur Geschichte des slowak ischen Volk es (Munich : 1963-1972 ). Volume I, Die N ationswerdung de r Slowaken und die Anfiinge der tschechoslowakischen Frag e, 1526-1790 is an exce llent examination of the relationship of the Reformation to Slovak ethnicity. An earlier study of importance is T. J . G. Locher, Die nationale Differe nzierung und �64 SLOVAKIA lntegrierung der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848 (Haarlem: 1931) . (3) For a more detailed survey of the Reformation Era in Slovakia in English see David P. Daniel , "Highlights of the Lutheran Reformation in Slovakia," Concordia Theological Quarterly 42 :1 (1978), 21-34. (4) Gustav Hammann, " Magister Nicolaus von Sabinov : Ein Beitrag uber den Humanismus und die fruehe Reformation in der Slowakei," Zeitschrift fu er Ostforschung 16 (1967), 25-40 . (5) Johann Borbis, Die euangelisch-lutherische Kirche Ungarns (Noerdlingen: 1864), 29-30; J . P. Tomasik, Andenken an die 300-jahrige Jubelfeier der euangelischen Gemeine in der k. Freistadt Leutschau (Leutschau : 1844) , 17-18. (6)Branislav Varsik, "K pociatkom Reformacie na Slovensku ," Historica Slouaca I/II (1940-41), 304-335. (7) Viktor Bruckner (ed .), Gedenkbuch anlasslich der 400-jahrigen Jahreswende der Confessio Augustana (Leipzig : 1930) , 3-67 . (8) Daniel , "Highlights," 29-30. (9) Jan Kvacala , Dejiny Reformacie na Slo ue nsku (Lipt . Sv. Mikulas: 1935), 131-136. Kvacala's book is the standard history of the Slovak Reformation in Slovak. For other works on the Reformation in Slovakia see Jarold K. Zeman , The Hussite Movement and the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia (1350-1650) (Ann Arbor: 1977), and also Daniel, The Historiography of the Reformation in Slovakia. (10) An excellent study of the circumstances surrounding Bocskay 's Rebellion and the Peace of Vienna is Geza Lencz, Der Au/stand Bocskays und der Wiener Friede. Eine kirchenhistorische Studie (Debreczen: 1917) . (11) Borbis , 124-126 ; Kvacala , 147-148. (12) Kvacala, 132; Otto Skrovina, Z historie turc':ianskeho euanj. se niorcitu ajeho sborou (Tore . Sv. Martin : 1929), 9-10 . (13) For the acts of the Synod of Zilina and of Spisske Podhradie see Johannes Szeberinyi, Corpus maxime memorabilium synodorum euangelicarum Augustanae Confessionis in Hungaria cum praefatione Historica in Singulas (Pesthini: 1848) , 1542 . (14) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland and Czechoslovakia (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: 1966) , 63. (15) See Thomas Capek, The Slovaks of Hungary. Slavs and Panslauism (New York : 1906) for the earliest study of the Slovaks and the Slovak national revival in English. (16) Stancic translated into Hungarian several works of the noted orthodox Lutheran theologian , Martin Chernnitz . He also wrote an \ account of the colloquy held at Csepreg : Historia Colloquii Chepregiensis, De Coen~ Domini _. . . (Bartphae: 1591) . (17) For an examination of the life of Lani see Jan Mocko, Elicis Lcini, prvy superintendent cirkue euanj. augs. uyzn. u Uhrach ajeho doba (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1902). His theological significance is treated by Jan Kvacala, " El. Lani a vit'azstvo lutherskeho smeru v evanjelickej cirkvi na Slovensku," Viera a ueda I (1930), 153-165 . (18) Elias Lani, Scutum Libertatis Christianae in usu Ceremoniarum nominatim autem imaginum: oppositum Disceptationi D. Thomae Fabricii Tholnensis, Ministri Patakini, de Christianorum imaginibus (Bartphae : 1595); and also Defen sio libertatis �SLOVAKIA 65 Christianae in vsv imaginum Historico, quam pro asserendo scvto svo, adversvs Exarmationem Thomae Fabricij (Bartphae : n.d.). (19) Juraj Janoska, 0 Synode Zilinskej (Lipt. Sv. Mikulas: 1910) and E. A. Doleschall, "Die Silleiner Synode," Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft fuer die Geschichte des Protestantismus in Oesterreic_h 4 (1883), 96-104. (20) Gogolak, I, 43. (21) Borbis, 47 . (22) Kvacala, Dejiny, 101-102. (23) Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, §tudijne a §kolske poriadky na Slovensku v 16. storoc5i (Bratislava: 1955). 27, 57; Johann Liptak and Roland Steinacker, Deutsche ev. Schulwesen in der Slowakei (Stuttgart: 1957) , 5-15; Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischenLyzeumsA .B . inKiismark (Kiismark: 1933) , 17-18, 26-29. (24) Vajcik, 2-13 . (25) Johann Samuel Klein, Nachrichten von den Lebensumstiinden und Schriften evangelischer Prediger in alien Gemeine des Koenigreichs Ungarn I (Leipzig: 1787), 332-341; E. Szelenyi, " Ev. Pedagoes," in V. Bruckner (Ed.), Gedenkbuch, 439-440. (26) Vajcik, 81 ff. and 109 ff. (27) Ibid . , 110-112; 120-123. See also Janos Breznyik , A Selmecbcinyai cigost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyceum tortenete (Selmecbanyan: 1883) , 350-364. (28) Gogolak, I, 45-46. (29) Ibid., 44 . (30) Jan Petrik, Dejiny slovenskych evanjelickych a. v. sluiieb Bozich (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1946) , 54-62, 99-103. (31) Gogolak, I, 46-47. (32) Petrik, 65-91. (33) Ibid., 103-116. (34) Edmund DeSchweinitz, History of the Church Known as the Unitas Fratrum (Bethlehem, Pa.: 1901), 410. (35) Ibid., 423-424; Mirjam Bohatcova, " Bible Kralicka, jeji vznik a vyznam," in Vlasta Fialova, Kralice (Brno: 1959), 51-61. (36) Gogolak, I, 59. (37) Mihaly Bucsay, Geschichte des Protestantismus in Ungarn (Stuttgart: 1959), 66-67 , 76 . (38) Jaroslav Vajda, "A History of the Cithara Sanctorum (Tranoscius) (unpulished B.D. thesis, Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, 1944) , 13 f. (39) For the life and significance of Tranovsky see Jan P . Durovic, Zivotopis Juraja Tranovskeho (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1942) , Jan Mocko, Zivot Jura Tranovskeho (Senice : 1891), and Walter Stoekl, " Georg Tranoscius, der groesste lutherische Liederdichter der Slowakei,' ' in Desider Alexy (ed .), Roland Steinacker: Ein Leben fuer Kirche und Volk : Festschrift zur 90 Geburtstag von R . Steinacker (Stuttgart: 1960) , 54-78 . (40) Gogolak, I, 84 . (41) Ibid . , 61-65. � SLOVAKIA 49 . ' The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness DAVID P . DANIEL The Pennsylvania State University - Erie For many of the descendants of Slovak immigrants to the United States , the history of the Reformation in Slovakia and its impact upon the emergence of an ethnic self-consciousness among these people is an unknown aspect of their Slovak heritage. This is not surprising for the cultural significance of the Reformation for the Slovaks has not been examined extensively in western histories of the Reformation Era of East Central Europe, Czechoslovakia, Hungary , or of the Slovak people . (1) Czech historians usually do little more than assert that the Reformation fostered or reinforced, especially by the continuing use of the Kralice Bible by Slovak Lutherans, the cultural and linguistic ties between the Czechs and the Slovaks . Hungarian scholars , on the other hand, seldom differentiate between the Reformation in Slovakia and its course the remaining counties of Hungary. Even many Slovak scholars, especially those of the Catholic tradition , quickly pass over the Reformation Era and its significance for the Slovaks. At the same time, a growing number of European and American scholars has recognized that the Reformation was one of the major milestones in the development of Slovak ethnic self-consciousness.(2) In their attempts to unravel the complexities of Slovak history, they have sought to explain why, during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries , many of the leaders of the Slovak national revival were products of the Lutheran tradition in Slovakia. Unfortunately , few of their findings have found their way into the literature available to the English-reading public. Moreover , most of these studies have focused primarily upon the language and literature of the Slovaks and have not considered to any great extent the non-literary aspects of ethnicity and ethnic self-consciousness. Certainly the study of ethnicity and of cultural history does require an extensive examination of the language and literature of a particular people . Literature, in the broadest sense of that word, encapsulates the language , manners , mores, and other peculiarities of the culture of any people. On the other hand, it must also be recognized that a people 's •in �50 SLOVAKIA awareness of its own particular identity vis-a-vis other groups does not arise solely from the fact that it employs a distinct language. A common history, a sense of common destiny, and access to institutions, however primitive they might be, wherein a people can give expression to their own conceptions of themselves and determine their own future, are also necessary for the development and preservation of an ethnic selfconsciousness . In this light, the Reformation of the sixteenth century must be considered as one of the major forces contributing to the emergence of an ethnic, though not a political, self-consciousness among the Slovaks. SOME GENERAL FEATURES OF THE REFORMATION IN SLOVAKIA Before turning to the question of how the Reformation contributed to the growth of Slovak ethnic self-consciousness, it might be helpful to review , at least in some general outlines, the major features of the Reformation in Slovakia.(3) As elsewhere in Europe, the Reformation in Slovakia was rooted in long lasting conflicts within Hungary. The extra-imperial nature of the Sacred Crown of Hungary, the ardent nationalism of the Magyars , the conflict between the Habsburgs and the Zapolyas for the throne of Hungary, the multiplicity of ethnic groups with their inter-ethnic rivalries, the proximity of the Turks, and the complex political relationships between the various segments of the population and between all of them and the kings of Hungary created a chaotic situation within Hungary which enabled the Reformation to spread quickly throughout East Central Europe in general and Slovakia in particular. This political and social situation was exacerbated, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, by the failure of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church to remedy some ma'{_1ifold abuses which were abhorrent to many. Simony, pluralism, absenteeism, feuds among the hierarchs, incessant demands for funds ; paris.hes and- even bishoprics remaining vacant for years or suffering under incompetent or miserably trained curates - all were being criticized with increasing regularity by both clergy and laymen. Since the hierarchy failed to act to cleanse the Church of the most egregious abuses in practice and theology or to stem the tide of moral laxity, many secular leaders and clerics in Slovakia early heeded Luther' s call for the reform of the life of the Church. Luther's teachings spread quickly into all regions of Slovakia but especially into the cities of central and eastern Slovakia which were �SLOVAKIA 51 predominantly German in population. Town after town, noble after noble, went over to the standard of reform. It would be erroneous to assume, as many have, that the laymen and clerics who supported the Reformation did so only out of base economic motives. and a desire for self-aggrandizement. While there were some who were notv eluctant to expropriate the endowments of the Church to enrich themselves , and this included some who remained Catholics , the bulk of the evidence which is available indicates that a great number of magistrates and magnates were conscientiously and legitimately concerned with the quality of pastoral service being provided to them and to those dependent upon them. They were seeking to purify the Church of its most egregious abuses and staunchly defended their rights to encourage the free preaching of the Gospel in their territories and to oversee the collection and distribution of funds for the charitable activities of the Church. These individuals frequently aided the evangelical cause with both money and political support. Many laymen made substantial grants to enable students and pastors from Slovakia to study Lutheran theology abroad or to establish local academies , staffed by reformist rectors and teachers, in the cities and throughout the countryside of Slovakia. This active supervision of the local congregations by the nobles and city councils was possible not only because of the impotency of the hierarchy after 1526 but also because of the provisions of the charters of privileges to the cities and of the patents of nobility which granted to these laymen substantial rights and prerogatives in the supervision of the churches and their resources . (4) So it was that the Lutheran Reformation spread quickly into and throughout Slovakia. Merchants traveling to Germany returned with copies of Luther's writings after 1518 while, beginning in 1522 with the matriculation of George Baumhenckel from Banska Bystrica , an ever increasing stream of students left Slovakia to study at the University of Wittenberg.(5) By 1525 reformist doctrines were known and accepted in Banska Bystrica, Bardejov , Levoca, and in many of the smaller towns and villages of Slovakia. Despite attempts to limit the spread of Lutheranism by the passage of anti-heretic laws by the Hungarian Diets of 1523 and 1525 , the Reformation continued to spread. The defeat of the Hungarian forces by the Turks at Mohacs in 1526, which resulted in the death of King Lous II, the Cardinal Primate of Hungary, several bishops and high nobles , and scores of parish priests and lower nobles, led to a prolonged struggle over the throne of Hungary between Ferdinand I and John Zapolya , the latter supporter by the lesser Magyar nobles . This accentuated the difficulties within Hungary as a �52 SLOVAKIA whole and made it possible for the Reformation to spread throughout Slovakia without meeting any really effective resistance . (6) Because of this leadership vacuum in both Church and State during the early years of the Reformation, the Lutheran movement in Slovakia achieved its successes with a minimum of conflict, a development which is quite remarkable in comparison to what transpired in the rest of Europe during the first half of the sixteenth century. The Lutheran leaders were able to work within and utilize the structures and institutions of the Catholic Church as they moved to fill the vacuum in ecclesiastical leadership at the local and regional levels. Lutheran pastors were called as preachers to serve the congregations in the cities and the countryside and gradually became a majority within the various seniorats or pastoral conferences . By the middle of the sixteenth century, most of the seniorats in Slovakia were comprised of and headed by Lutherans. It is also interesting to note that the particular lization and factionalization which characterized the northern and western European Reformation by 1520 did not emerge in Slovakia until the middle of the century, after the evangelical reform movement was well established. After 1550, however, the Roman Catholic hierarchy began to recover its strength and, especially after the Council of Trent, inaugurated measures designed to regain that which had been lost through weakness and neglect. Aided by Emperor Ferdinand I, the Roman Catholic hierarchy began to apply against the Lutherans the laws of the Diet of 1548 proscribing Anabaptist and Sacramentarian theologies . Seeking to differentiate between their views and those of the other reformist groups in Hungary and to identify themselves clearly with the Augsburg Confession, which had originally been accepted by Emperor Charles V in 1530 and subsequently recognized by Ferdinand and by the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, the Lutherans of Slovakia began to define their faith and dociifine more precisely. Within a period of 21 years, the Lutherans of Slov~ia adopted three major regional confessions of faith, all of them based primarily upon the Augsburg Confession and its Apology and the writings of Philip Melanchthon . In 1548 the five royal free cities of eastern Slovakia, Bardejov , Levoca, Presov, Kosice, and Sabinov, united in accepting the Confessio Pentapolitana prepared by Leonard Stoeckel, Rector of the so-called "Humanist" school in Bardejov. Ten years later, the seven mining cities of central Slovakia, Banska Bystrica, Banska Stiavnica, Kremnica, Nova Bana, Pukanec, tubietova, and Banska Bela, accepted the Confessio Montana prepared by Ulrich Cubicularius. In 1569, the towns of Spis county followed the lead of the larger cities and accepted �SLOVAKIA 53 the Confessio Scepusia~a written by Cyriak Koch and Valentin Megander.(7) ' , The supporters of Helvetic theologies did not remain idle, for they too adopted several confessions of faith which defined their doctrine more precisely. As a result, by 1575 the reformation movements in Hungary had divided into separate and distinct groups. Despite a few exceptions , for there were a few Calvinist Slovaks and Lutheran Magyars, the Magyar protestants were adherents to Helvetic Reformed theology while the vast majority of Slovaks and Germans adhered to the faith expressed in their own and the Augsburg confessions. The confessionalism which established the hegemony of Lutheranism in Slovakia and the denominationalization of the Reformation by 1575 did not, however, bring to an end the theological problems of, or controversies among, the Lutherans , and between the Lutherans and the Reformed. After 1580 , the doctrines of the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord' s Supper and the Communication of Attributes, that is that the attributes of Christ's divine nature were communicated to his human nature , continued to plague the Lutherans in Slovakia.(8) From the Synod of Kremnica in 1580 until the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614) , the Lutherans of Slovakia debated these theological points in connection with the question of whether or not they should accept the Formula of Concord (1577) , as contained in the Book of Concord (1580) , as normative for their own theology. Since the Lutherans of Slovakia had consistently defended their right to practice the Lutheran faith by citing its recognition in Germany by the Hungarian kings as emperors , many were reluctant to accept the Formula and Book of Concord as their doctrinal norm . They felt that they could be charged with having accepted a new , nonrecognized confession of faith. They preferred, therefore , to stand by their own confession of faith. There were also some who were reluctant to accept the Formula of Concord because they suspected that it was intended to displace the writings of Philip Melanchthon who had taught and befriended many of the clergy of Slovakia while they were studying at the University of Wittenberg . Many of these individuals tended to question the precise definitions and formulations of the doctrines of the Eucharist and the Communication of Attributes contained in the Formula and most of these individuals were of German ancestry. The defenders of Lutheran orthodoxy as defined by the Formula, therefore , attacked these moderates as Cryptocalvinists. Among the leading spokesmen for Lutheran orthodoxy were the Slovaks Elias Lani and Severinus Scultety who, together with the �54 SLOVAKIA nobleman Gregor Horvath Stancic de Hradecz and the German Albert Grawer , urged the acceptance of the Book of Concord at the colloquies held in Csepreg (1591) and in Kezmarok (1595-1596), and at many of the synods held regularly by the various regional pastoral conferences throughout eastern Slovakia. (9) The debate over the acceptance of the Book of Concord might have been even more prolonged had not the political situation changed drastically. In 1592 the truce between the Habsburgs and the Turks was shattered and the Fifteen Years' War ensued. During the course of this struggle, the Catholic hierarchy tried to confiscate the churches of the Lutherans in several cities in Slovakia while, in 1604, Matthias II attempted to extend royal authority by repudiating the rights of the nobles and the cities to discuss matters pertaining to religion in the Diet of Hungary. As in the first days of the Reformation, the lay leaders came to the aid of the Protestant groups. The Reformed magnate, Stephen Bocskay of Transylvania, took up arms against the Habsburgs and, after gaining control of royal Hungary (Slovakia), forced Matthias to repudiate as unconstitutional the decree of 1604 and to accept the Peace of Vienna of 1606 which established the right of the Lutherans and Calvinists to exist in Hungary much as the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 had sanctioned Lutheranism in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.(10) The terms of the Peace of Vienna were further refined and defined by the decisions of the Diet of 1608 which not only clearly sanctioned the right of the Lutherans and Calvinists to practice their own faith but also to establish their own independent ecclesiastical institutions . Under the sponsorship of the Palatine (Chancellor) of Hungary, the Lutheran magnate George Thurzo, representatives of the Lutherans in the counties of western Slovakia met in Zilina on March 27-30, 1610 and created three superintendencies to administer the Lutheran congregations .(11) The Synod also established the rules governing the administrative and other activities of the superintendents and accepted the Formula of Concord and the Book of Concord as the norm and guide for Lutheran doctrine. Already accepted py the Lutherans in Gerner county in 1604, and in Turiec county in 1608 ~t the Synod of Turciansky Sviity Martin,(12) the Book of Concord was also accepted by the eastern cities of Spis and Saris counties in January of 1614 at the Synod of Spisske Podhradie. (13) It is important to note that the organizations established by the synods of Zilina and Spisske Podhradie, as well as those of the other regions of Slovakia which had been or would be confirmed by the Palatine, resulted in a diminution of lay influence in the ecclesiastical �SLOVAKIA 55 organizations in favor of clerical authority and administration. This development was _contracy to trends elsewhere in Europe . To be sure, the local congregations s\ill had lay patrons or defenders but the superintendencies and districts were independent of direct lay supervision. This centralization of the regional administration of the Lutheran churches in the hands of the clergy while, at the same time, the superintendencies remained independent of each other, both helped and hindered the maintenance of Lutheranism in Slovakia during the Counter-Reformation of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries . The lack of a single administrative unit for all the Lutherans in Slovakia made it difficult for them to resist effectively the combined forces of the Roman Catholic Church and the Habsburgs. On the other hand, since the leadership of the Lutheran movement was primarily in the hands of the clergy, it was able to survive the strong pressures exerted upon it by the state and the noble families who returned to the Catholic Church. Despite the vicissitudes of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, the Lutherans continued to maintain their faith and practices despite greatly reduced numbers and stringent restrictions. Although Slovak Lutherans became and have remained a minority within the Slovak people, the Reformation remained indelibly etched upon the consciousness of the Slovaks. As F. G. Heymann noted: Among the Slovak gentry and intellegentsia, Lutheranism maintained a foothold, and its adherents remained one of the most active, culturally productive and nationally conscious elements of the Slovak people in the period down to the late eighteenth century .(14) Indeed, many of the leaders of the national revival of the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries in Slovakia, as well as in Bohemia and Hungary, were raised in Lutheran homes and parsonages and were imbued with the evangelical heritage. Jan Kollar, I.:udovit Stur, Jozef Hurban, Michal Miloslav Hodza, Karol Kuzmany , and many others, were either Lutheran clergymen or teachers, or the sons of Lutheran pastors and teachers.(15) What explains this tenacity of the Lutheran tradition in Slovakia and its impact upon the development of Slovak ethnic selfconsciousness? In what way did the Lutheran Reformation aid in the development of the ethnic awareness of the Slovaks? Although many explanations can be proferred, it appears that the Reformation contributed to the growth of a Slovak ethnic self-awareness and a Slovak �56 SLOVAKIA culture in at least three ways. The Reformation provided an opportunity for Slovaks to assume leadership roles in the Lutheran Church in Slovakia as administrators and theologians. The Lutheran movement established evangelical schools throughout Slovakia which provided Slovaks with an opportunity to obtain more than a rudimentary education. Finally, the liturgical, devotional, and theological works produced by Slovak Lutherans enabled them to maintain their peculiar identity vis-a-vis both the Magyars and the Germans. SLOVAKS AS LEADERS OF LUTHERANISM IN SLOVAKIA During the early years of the Reformation in Slovakia, the first to adhere to the teachings of Luther were the Germans of the cities of central and eastern Slovakia. The Slovaks were drawn to Lutheranism slowly but steadily, following the lead of the German population and of the magnates and nobles. However, by the last third of the sixteenth century, Slovaks had become the majority in the Lutheran movement and Slovak clerics began to emerge as leaders in the administration of the Lutheran congregations and seniorats and as influential theologians. It was during the theological controversies over the acceptance of the Formula and Book of Concord that Slovak clergy emerged as the defenders of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Elias Lani, Severin Skultety and the nobleman Gregor Horvath Stancic were unswerving in their advocacy of the Book of Concord at the synods and colloquies held during the last decade of the sixteenth century. It is interesting to note that the Book of Concord was accepted first in those seniorats and districts in which Slovaks were in the majority while the cities of the central montana district and of Spis and Saris counties where German clergy were in the majority, the Book of Concord was accepted only after the synods of Zilina and Spisske Podhradie, and even then, only at the urging of the Thurzos and with some reluctance . While the reasons for the Slovak acceptance of Lutheran orthodoxy are still difficult to determine with any certainty, there is evidence that one of the reasons was the influence of the Lutheran school at Straza, supported by Stancic, and others like it in Slovakia. Althq_ugh many Slovaks went to Wittenberg, there were others who received 'their theological education in Slovakia and Strafa was the foremost school among those providing instruction in theology in Slovakia. Stancic, the patron of the school, was no mere theological dilettante but a capable lay theologian cognizant of theological developments at home and in Germany and �SLOVAKIA 57 Switzerland.(16) His support for the Book of Concord and Lutheran orthodoxy permeated his shortlived school whose most illustrious graduate and teacher was Elias Lani.(17) Lani was on~ of th~ most persuasive and forceful leaders of Lutheranism in Slovakia dµring the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and must be considered one of the leading organizers and theologians of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. While still in eastern Slovakia during the 1590s, Lani participated in the colloquies held at Csepreg and Kezmarok and, during the disputes with Sebastian Ambrosius or Lam and other Cryptocalvinists over adiaphora or nonessential theological matters, such as the use of pictures in churches, Lani wrote several defenses of the orthodox Lutheran position upholding Christian liberty.(18) He subsequently moved to Mosovce where, in 1598, he was elected Senior of the pastoral conferences in Turiec county and there gained the acceptance of the Formula of Concord and of rules governing the life of the clergy of the conference. Shortly after the Synod of Turciansky Svaty Martin of March 1608 he was called to serve as the Pastor at Vel'ka Bytca, the residence of George Thurzo and there served the Palatine as pastor and advisor. Elected Senior of the Upper Trencin Seniorat in January 1609 he was instrumental in assisting Thurzo in organizing the Synod of Zilina and his influence can be clearly seen in the deliberations and decisions of the Synod.(19) While Lani, who died in 1618, was the most notable of the Slovak theologians of the Reformation Era, he was certainly not the only Slovak to attain a position of leadership within the Church. Severin Skultety was a lector in Bardejov, a teacher at Presov, and the Senior of the five royal free cities of eastern Slovakia from 1593 until his death in 1600. He , too, was an associate of Stancic and a supporter of the Book of Concord. He began a history of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia and, along with other original works, published in Bardejov in 1581 a translation into Slovak of Luther's Small Catechism. (20) Other theologians of significance include Jan Pruno, who published a SlovakLatin edition of the Small Catechism in Hlohovec c. 1585, and also Leonard Mokosin, Senior in Liptov, who authored an epic poem based upon the books of the Old Testament. Slovaks, such as Daniel Pribis, Stefan Pilarik , and Jakub Jakubei, the intellectual presager of Jan Kollar, continued to make important contributions to the theological development of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia during the seventeenth century. Although most of the works of these theologians were written in Latin and were heavily influenced by the Lutheran theologians of Germany, it must be recognized that the theological �58 SLOVAKIA activity of Slovaks enabled Lutheranism in Slovakia to become more than merely a German religion. Slovaks were also active in the administration of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia, especially in the counties of western Slovakia. At the Synod of Zilina, the three superintendents elected by the nobles, clergy, and representatives of some of the towns, were the Slovaks Lani, Samuel Melikus, and Isaak Abrahamides Hrochotius or Hrochotsky, to whom the two German and the Magyar inspectors were responsible.(21) They were followed by a long line of Slovak superintendents who administered the various districts or superintendencies of the Lutherans in Slovakia. Of the seven major superintendencies, Germans predominated only in the one for the mining cities of central Slovakia and in the two in Spis and Saris counties for the five royal free cities and for the 24 Spis cities. The rest were largely Slovak and normally headed by Slovak superintendents. The Slovak influence in the administration of the Lutheran Church can be even more clearly appreciated when it is recognized that the majority of the some 800-900 Lutheran congregations in Slovakia were composed of Slovaks and had pastors of the same background. Even in the towns where the German population predominated, Slovaks had their own congregations and pastors who ministered to their specific needs, preaching to and teaching the members of these congregations in their own language. By preaching and teaching in the vernacular, the Slovak Lutheran clergymen perpetuated the use of Slovak and fostered the awareness of the Slovaks as a particular and distinct ethnic group within the Hungarian kingdom. As theologians and administrators the Slovak clergy guided and enriched the life of Slovak Lutherans and afforded them an opportunity to express their own faith in a language comprehensible to them. At the same time, the availability of positions as clerics in the Lutheran church made it possible for Slovak individuals to achieve positions of prominence and leadership in their communities and aided in the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. \ LUTHERANISM, EDUCATION, AND SLOVAK ETHNICITY Among the institutions which helped to spread the Lutheran Reformation throughout Slovakia and which, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, perpetuated its heritage, the evangelical schools of Slovakia were especially important. Lutherans throughout �SLOVAKIA 59 Europe emphasized popular education, and evangelical schools were established and supported by Lutheran communities. According to Johann Rezik, there were four types of schools which emerged in Slovakia during the Reformation Era: the Scholae Magnatum et Nob ilium; the Scholae Civitatenses; the Scholae Oppidane ; and the Scholae Pagenses ~(22) Th~se city, town and village schools, supported by the local authorities or by nobles, did not differ so much in their curricula as in the scope of their programs, the character of their patrons, and in the size and composition of their student bodies . The most important were the city Latin schools, especially those of the larger free cities, which were often endowed by a magnate in addition to receiving regular financial support from the magistrates of the cities.(23) Under lay control, but usually directed by a rector who had received some theological training, the municipal Latin schools became the centers of reformist teaching and continued the humanist pedagogical tradition in Slovakia. Although many would close because of financial difficulties or were taken over by Roman Catholics during the turmoil of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the schools of Slovakia attained a great repute throughout Hungary and were recognized for their academic excellence in both the German states and in Poland. The most significant of the early evangelical schools were located in Kezmarok, Presov, Banska Bystrica, Levoca, and Bardejov.(24) Under the rectorate of Leonard Stoeckel (d. 1560) a protege and friend of Melanchthon, Bardejov was considered the premier educational institution in Slovakia and attracted the sons of magnates and nobles as well as of the citizens of the cities. Stoeckel prepared the Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540 which combined the classic humanist pedagogical concerns with Lutheran theology .(25) Borrowing heavily but not slavishly from the German humanists, such as John Agricola, Herman Talechi and Philip Melanchthon, Stoeckel constructed a curriculum which emphasized the study of Latin, the classical authors, and the Lutheran faith . Latin was the medium of instruction and each day began with readings from the Scriptures while regular attendance at church services was also required. The students also put on plays, with heavy doctrinal content, for the community and, under the direction of a cantor, sang at regular and special services in the town church. Although other school orders, such as those for Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica by Michael Pechov, and variations on Abraham Schremmel's ordinances for the Strasbourg schools were also used in Slovakia, the Leges of Stoeckel was the most influential. (26) His �60 SLOVAKIA teaching of the doctrines of the Augsburg Confession through the humanist methodology became standard in the evangelical schools of Slovakia. Not only were the instructors Lutheran, but the materials used for instruction also had a Lutheran perspective, for among the textbooks used were the Scriptures, Luther's Small Catechism, Melanchthon's Examen Theologicum, Loci Communes, Rhetorica, Dialectica, and his Entymoligia.(27) It should also be noted that although most of the academic materials and instruction were in Latin, during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries some scholarly works in Slovak began to appear ; indeed, most of the works published in Slovak during the sixteenth century, even of a non-theological nature, were published by evangelicals who maintained numerous presses throughout Slovakia. While the curricula of these schools were not intended to meet the particular needs of Slovaks , but were to provide all students with a sound basic humanist education in preparation for further study at the major universities of Europe, especially Wittenberg, the schools did admit students of Slovak birth. In fact there were schools, such as those at Zilina, Turciansky Svaty Martin, Mosovce, Trencin, and Straza where the majority of students were Slovak.(28) The school at Straza became a center for the study of Lutheran theology for those Slovaks who were unable to go abroad to complete their education. All of these schools provided Slovaks with an opportunity to acquire more than just a rudimentary education and prepared them to assume positions of leadership and responsibility in Slovakia. The Slovak intelligentsia of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, as were their counterparts during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, were greatly influenced by intellectual developments in Germany and they not only participated in the broader intellectual movements of Europe but adapted them to meet their own particular needs and the situation within Slovakia. The writings of Slovak Lutheran intellectuals and the curricula of the Lutheran schools of Slovakia helped to foster a greater appreciation of the heritage and culture of the Slovak people and it is not surprising that many of the leaders of the Slovak national revival were educated in the Lutheran tradition in the evangelical schools of Sloyakia. \ LUTHERANISM AND THE EMERGENCE OF SLOVAK LITERATURE During the early stages of the Reformation in Slovakia there were no works published in Slovak. The clergy of Slovak ancestry, educated �SLOVAKIA 61 in the Latin schools, could read for themselves the works published in Latin and German and were usually content to utilize Latin, the lingua franca of the sixteenth · century, to express publicly their own theological views. But, as '\ more and more Slovaks adhered to the Lutheran faith with its emph~sis upon vernacular worship, the need for devotional and liturgical works in Slovak became increasingly obvious. Already in 1546 the first work published in Slovak, a devotional book by Vasek z Zalesin, was printed in Wittenberg while the first book in Slovak published in Slovakia was Scultety' s translation of the Small Catechism of Luther. (29) Of more immediate significance for the spread of Lutheranism among the Slovaks was the development of Slovak liturgies and hymnody. During the early years of the Reformation this need was met by borrowing materials produced by Czech Utraquists and the Unitas Fratrum, which could be used by Slovaks without any great difficulty, and by translations into Slovak of hymns by Luther and other reformers and of German orders of worship , especially the Wittenberg Order of 1533.(30) By 1560 there were reports of Lutheran services being held in Slovak not only in the almost completely Slovak areas of Liptov county and along the Vah but also in the mining cities of central Slovakia.(31) In 1580 the Synod of Trencin approved its own church order, the Canones rituum sacrorum Trenchini, which established in 27 articles the rules governing the liturgical life of the Lutherans in the region along the Vah river.(32) The use of Slovak in worship was also encouraged by the appearance of the Bohemian Agenda of 1581. This agenda was used as a guide in the preparation of the Bystrica Agenda, in manuscript form, in 1585. Revised in 1595 and again in 1608, the Bystrica Agenda was approved in 1613 by the Lutheran superintendents of western Slovakia who, following the directions of the Synod of Zilina, were to establish a standard for the liturgical practices of the Slovak congregations under their jurisdiction. (33) But these agendas and church orders, which aided in the standardization of liturgical language and practice among the Lutheran congregations of Slovakia, could not meet all of the worship and devotional needs of the Slovak population since literary Slovak had not yet been codified . These needs were met by the appearance of a new Czech translation of the Bible and by the compilation of an hymnbook by George Tranovsky. These works provided the Slovaks with a vernacular devotional literature in kralicina Czech which was adopted and adapted for use as the literary language of the Slovak Lutherans until the 19th century. �62 SLOVAKIA Since the Germans of Slovakia generally utilized the Bible translation of Luther it was the Slovaks who most acutely felt the need for a vernacular Bible. Early in the Reformation Era they relied on the old Slavic version of Sts. Cyril and Methodius or on the Venetian or Nuremberg Czech translations which had found their way into Slovakia.(34) However, the Kralice Bible translation proved to be the most acceptable of the Czech translations and became the standard one used by the Slovak Lutherans, remaining in general use even into the twentieth century. The Kralice Bible, published in six volumes from 1579-1593, was the work of a translation committee under the chairmanship of a Moravian Bishop of the Unitas Fratrum. John Zerotin of Moravia opened his castle to them and helped to underwrite the expenses involved in the printing of the translation.(35) George Thurzo, a close friend of Zerotin, obtained copies of the work and encouraged its use by the Slovak Lutherans in his lands who did appropriate it for both public and private devotions.(36) Throughout Hungary and Slovakia meanwhile, the use of hymns sung by the congregation had become quite common early in the Reformation. The earliest hymns used by the Slovaks were translations of the Psalms or of the medieval "gradual" or "sequence" hymns and were usually prepared in manuscript form.(37) Many of Luther's hymns and those of his co-workers were translated while Czech evangelical or Hussite hymns were borrowed intact or rephrased. Among the early Slovak hymn writers were George Banovsky, Jan Pruno, Elias Lani, and Daniel Pribis. Pribis, for example , supplemented his Catechism of 1634 with a collection of 113 hymns in Slovak which included seven of his own and eight by Lani.(38) The most noted writer and compiler of hymns for the Slovak Lutherans was Tranovsky. Born in 1591 in Tesin (eastern Silesia) , Tranovsky was brought up in the Lutheran faith and in April 1607 entered the University of Wittenberg. After a short stay in Prague he traveled to eastern Moravia but , after the outbreak of the Thirty Years ' War in 1618 Tranovsky was forced to flee to Slovakia where, on May 29, 1637, he died while serving as the pastor of the Slovak Lutheran congregation at Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas.(39) His Cithara Sanctorum, or Harp of the Saints , was a devotional aitd liturgical guide for individuals as well as a hymnbook for congregations ; Seven hundred pages long, the first edition of the work was -divided into four major sections , each containing hymns for the various seasons , festivals , and services of the ecclesiastical year, along with a section of hymns on specific doctrines arranged according to the structure of the Small Catechism of Luther. The hymnal proper was followed by a series of �SLOVAKIA 63 \ indices , a collection of prayers , and an indication of the preferred liturgy to be used. No other book , except for the Kralice Bible, had such a great significance for the Slovak Lutherans. It can be said that the Cithara Sanctorum , or " Tranoscius " as it became popularly known , was the Slovak expression , in song and verse , of the spirit and content of the Lutheran Reformation and became the focus of Slovak Lutheran devotional life . Both Jan Kollar and P. J . Safarik emphasized the cultural significance of the "Tranoscius" and openly acknowledged their own indebtedness to Tranovsky.(40) But if the Kralice Bible and the ''Tranoscius '' were the epitome of Slovak Lutheran devotional and cultural expressions they were not the only influences upon the development of Slovak literature. Slovak postilla or sermon collections were also produced late in the sixteenth century while Nikodem Sartorius of Zvolen prepared the first Slovak commentary on the Bible.(41) Prayer books and religious poetry collections also became very popular. While it would certainly be an overstatement to claim that the heritage of Reformation Lutheranism was the only or even the most notable influence upon the development of a Slovak ethnic selfconsciousness , it would be equally erroneous not to recognize that the Reformation and the Lutheran heritage did help to foster such a selfconsciousness . As for other peoples elsewhere in Europe, the Lutheran Reformation accentuated the linguistic and ethnic peculiarities of the Slovaks and , as the Slovak Lutherans continued to practice their faith and worship in their own langauge and to guide the fortunes of their own church, they kept alive, in their religious life and experiences, their own ethno-linguistic individuality and identity. It is not surprising then, that from the Lutheran tradition came many of those leaders of the national revival who, while they examined and treasured their past, also sought to mold the destiny of their people and to make them into a modern nation. FOOTNOTES David P . Daniel , The Historiograp hy of the R eformation in Slo vakia (St . Louis, Mo.: 1977), 4. (1) (2) The most significant recent work on the history of the Slovaks and their ethnic selfconsciousness is the three volume study of Ludwig von Gogolak, B eitriige zur Geschichte des slowak ischen Volk es (Munich : 1963-1972 ). Volume I, Die N ationswerdung de r Slowaken und die Anfiinge der tschechoslowakischen Frag e, 1526-1790 is an exce llent examination of the relationship of the Reformation to Slovak ethnicity. An earlier study of importance is T. J . G. Locher, Die nationale Differe nzierung und �64 SLOVAKIA lntegrierung der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848 (Haarlem: 1931) . (3) For a more detailed survey of the Reformation Era in Slovakia in English see David P. Daniel , "Highlights of the Lutheran Reformation in Slovakia," Concordia Theological Quarterly 42 :1 (1978), 21-34. (4) Gustav Hammann, " Magister Nicolaus von Sabinov : Ein Beitrag uber den Humanismus und die fruehe Reformation in der Slowakei," Zeitschrift fu er Ostforschung 16 (1967), 25-40 . (5) Johann Borbis, Die euangelisch-lutherische Kirche Ungarns (Noerdlingen: 1864), 29-30; J . P. Tomasik, Andenken an die 300-jahrige Jubelfeier der euangelischen Gemeine in der k. Freistadt Leutschau (Leutschau : 1844) , 17-18. (6)Branislav Varsik, "K pociatkom Reformacie na Slovensku ," Historica Slouaca I/II (1940-41), 304-335. (7) Viktor Bruckner (ed .), Gedenkbuch anlasslich der 400-jahrigen Jahreswende der Confessio Augustana (Leipzig : 1930) , 3-67 . (8) Daniel , "Highlights," 29-30. (9) Jan Kvacala , Dejiny Reformacie na Slo ue nsku (Lipt . Sv. Mikulas: 1935), 131-136. Kvacala's book is the standard history of the Slovak Reformation in Slovak. For other works on the Reformation in Slovakia see Jarold K. Zeman , The Hussite Movement and the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia (1350-1650) (Ann Arbor: 1977), and also Daniel, The Historiography of the Reformation in Slovakia. (10) An excellent study of the circumstances surrounding Bocskay 's Rebellion and the Peace of Vienna is Geza Lencz, Der Au/stand Bocskays und der Wiener Friede. Eine kirchenhistorische Studie (Debreczen: 1917) . (11) Borbis , 124-126 ; Kvacala , 147-148. (12) Kvacala, 132; Otto Skrovina, Z historie turc':ianskeho euanj. se niorcitu ajeho sborou (Tore . Sv. Martin : 1929), 9-10 . (13) For the acts of the Synod of Zilina and of Spisske Podhradie see Johannes Szeberinyi, Corpus maxime memorabilium synodorum euangelicarum Augustanae Confessionis in Hungaria cum praefatione Historica in Singulas (Pesthini: 1848) , 1542 . (14) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland and Czechoslovakia (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: 1966) , 63. (15) See Thomas Capek, The Slovaks of Hungary. Slavs and Panslauism (New York : 1906) for the earliest study of the Slovaks and the Slovak national revival in English. (16) Stancic translated into Hungarian several works of the noted orthodox Lutheran theologian , Martin Chernnitz . He also wrote an \ account of the colloquy held at Csepreg : Historia Colloquii Chepregiensis, De Coen~ Domini _. . . (Bartphae: 1591) . (17) For an examination of the life of Lani see Jan Mocko, Elicis Lcini, prvy superintendent cirkue euanj. augs. uyzn. u Uhrach ajeho doba (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1902). His theological significance is treated by Jan Kvacala, " El. Lani a vit'azstvo lutherskeho smeru v evanjelickej cirkvi na Slovensku," Viera a ueda I (1930), 153-165 . (18) Elias Lani, Scutum Libertatis Christianae in usu Ceremoniarum nominatim autem imaginum: oppositum Disceptationi D. Thomae Fabricii Tholnensis, Ministri Patakini, de Christianorum imaginibus (Bartphae : 1595); and also Defen sio libertatis �SLOVAKIA 65 Christianae in vsv imaginum Historico, quam pro asserendo scvto svo, adversvs Exarmationem Thomae Fabricij (Bartphae : n.d.). (19) Juraj Janoska, 0 Synode Zilinskej (Lipt. Sv. Mikulas: 1910) and E. A. Doleschall, "Die Silleiner Synode," Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft fuer die Geschichte des Protestantismus in Oesterreic_h 4 (1883), 96-104. (20) Gogolak, I, 43. (21) Borbis, 47 . (22) Kvacala, Dejiny, 101-102. (23) Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, §tudijne a §kolske poriadky na Slovensku v 16. storoc5i (Bratislava: 1955). 27, 57; Johann Liptak and Roland Steinacker, Deutsche ev. Schulwesen in der Slowakei (Stuttgart: 1957) , 5-15; Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischenLyzeumsA .B . inKiismark (Kiismark: 1933) , 17-18, 26-29. (24) Vajcik, 2-13 . (25) Johann Samuel Klein, Nachrichten von den Lebensumstiinden und Schriften evangelischer Prediger in alien Gemeine des Koenigreichs Ungarn I (Leipzig: 1787), 332-341; E. Szelenyi, " Ev. Pedagoes," in V. Bruckner (Ed.), Gedenkbuch, 439-440. (26) Vajcik, 81 ff. and 109 ff. (27) Ibid . , 110-112; 120-123. See also Janos Breznyik , A Selmecbcinyai cigost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyceum tortenete (Selmecbanyan: 1883) , 350-364. (28) Gogolak, I, 45-46. (29) Ibid., 44 . (30) Jan Petrik, Dejiny slovenskych evanjelickych a. v. sluiieb Bozich (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1946) , 54-62, 99-103. (31) Gogolak, I, 46-47. (32) Petrik, 65-91. (33) Ibid., 103-116. (34) Edmund DeSchweinitz, History of the Church Known as the Unitas Fratrum (Bethlehem, Pa.: 1901), 410. (35) Ibid., 423-424; Mirjam Bohatcova, " Bible Kralicka, jeji vznik a vyznam," in Vlasta Fialova, Kralice (Brno: 1959), 51-61. (36) Gogolak, I, 59. (37) Mihaly Bucsay, Geschichte des Protestantismus in Ungarn (Stuttgart: 1959), 66-67 , 76 . (38) Jaroslav Vajda, "A History of the Cithara Sanctorum (Tranoscius) (unpulished B.D. thesis, Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, 1944) , 13 f. (39) For the life and significance of Tranovsky see Jan P . Durovic, Zivotopis Juraja Tranovskeho (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1942) , Jan Mocko, Zivot Jura Tranovskeho (Senice : 1891), and Walter Stoekl, " Georg Tranoscius, der groesste lutherische Liederdichter der Slowakei,' ' in Desider Alexy (ed .), Roland Steinacker: Ein Leben fuer Kirche und Volk : Festschrift zur 90 Geburtstag von R . Steinacker (Stuttgart: 1960) , 54-78 . (40) Gogolak, I, 84 . (41) Ibid . , 61-65. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 49 . ' The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness DAVID P . DANIEL The Pennsylvania State University - Erie For many of the descendants of Slovak immigrants to the United States , the history of the Reformation in Slovakia and its impact upon the emergence of an ethnic self-consciousness among these people is an unknown aspect of their Slovak heritage. This is not surprising for the cultural significance of the Reformation for the Slovaks has not been examined extensively in western histories of the Reformation Era of East Central Europe, Czechoslovakia, Hungary , or of the Slovak people . (1) Czech historians usually do little more than assert that the Reformation fostered or reinforced, especially by the continuing use of the Kralice Bible by Slovak Lutherans, the cultural and linguistic ties between the Czechs and the Slovaks . Hungarian scholars , on the other hand, seldom differentiate between the Reformation in Slovakia and its course the remaining counties of Hungary. Even many Slovak scholars, especially those of the Catholic tradition , quickly pass over the Reformation Era and its significance for the Slovaks. At the same time, a growing number of European and American scholars has recognized that the Reformation was one of the major milestones in the development of Slovak ethnic self-consciousness.(2) In their attempts to unravel the complexities of Slovak history, they have sought to explain why, during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries , many of the leaders of the Slovak national revival were products of the Lutheran tradition in Slovakia. Unfortunately , few of their findings have found their way into the literature available to the English-reading public. Moreover , most of these studies have focused primarily upon the language and literature of the Slovaks and have not considered to any great extent the non-literary aspects of ethnicity and ethnic self-consciousness. Certainly the study of ethnicity and of cultural history does require an extensive examination of the language and literature of a particular people . Literature, in the broadest sense of that word, encapsulates the language , manners , mores, and other peculiarities of the culture of any people. On the other hand, it must also be recognized that a people 's •in 50 SLOVAKIA awareness of its own particular identity vis-a-vis other groups does not arise solely from the fact that it employs a distinct language. A common history, a sense of common destiny, and access to institutions, however primitive they might be, wherein a people can give expression to their own conceptions of themselves and determine their own future, are also necessary for the development and preservation of an ethnic selfconsciousness . In this light, the Reformation of the sixteenth century must be considered as one of the major forces contributing to the emergence of an ethnic, though not a political, self-consciousness among the Slovaks. SOME GENERAL FEATURES OF THE REFORMATION IN SLOVAKIA Before turning to the question of how the Reformation contributed to the growth of Slovak ethnic self-consciousness, it might be helpful to review , at least in some general outlines, the major features of the Reformation in Slovakia.(3) As elsewhere in Europe, the Reformation in Slovakia was rooted in long lasting conflicts within Hungary. The extra-imperial nature of the Sacred Crown of Hungary, the ardent nationalism of the Magyars , the conflict between the Habsburgs and the Zapolyas for the throne of Hungary, the multiplicity of ethnic groups with their inter-ethnic rivalries, the proximity of the Turks, and the complex political relationships between the various segments of the population and between all of them and the kings of Hungary created a chaotic situation within Hungary which enabled the Reformation to spread quickly throughout East Central Europe in general and Slovakia in particular. This political and social situation was exacerbated, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, by the failure of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church to remedy some ma'{_1ifold abuses which were abhorrent to many. Simony, pluralism, absenteeism, feuds among the hierarchs, incessant demands for funds ; paris.hes and- even bishoprics remaining vacant for years or suffering under incompetent or miserably trained curates - all were being criticized with increasing regularity by both clergy and laymen. Since the hierarchy failed to act to cleanse the Church of the most egregious abuses in practice and theology or to stem the tide of moral laxity, many secular leaders and clerics in Slovakia early heeded Luther' s call for the reform of the life of the Church. Luther's teachings spread quickly into all regions of Slovakia but especially into the cities of central and eastern Slovakia which were SLOVAKIA 51 predominantly German in population. Town after town, noble after noble, went over to the standard of reform. It would be erroneous to assume, as many have, that the laymen and clerics who supported the Reformation did so only out of base economic motives. and a desire for self-aggrandizement. While there were some who were notv eluctant to expropriate the endowments of the Church to enrich themselves , and this included some who remained Catholics , the bulk of the evidence which is available indicates that a great number of magistrates and magnates were conscientiously and legitimately concerned with the quality of pastoral service being provided to them and to those dependent upon them. They were seeking to purify the Church of its most egregious abuses and staunchly defended their rights to encourage the free preaching of the Gospel in their territories and to oversee the collection and distribution of funds for the charitable activities of the Church. These individuals frequently aided the evangelical cause with both money and political support. Many laymen made substantial grants to enable students and pastors from Slovakia to study Lutheran theology abroad or to establish local academies , staffed by reformist rectors and teachers, in the cities and throughout the countryside of Slovakia. This active supervision of the local congregations by the nobles and city councils was possible not only because of the impotency of the hierarchy after 1526 but also because of the provisions of the charters of privileges to the cities and of the patents of nobility which granted to these laymen substantial rights and prerogatives in the supervision of the churches and their resources . (4) So it was that the Lutheran Reformation spread quickly into and throughout Slovakia. Merchants traveling to Germany returned with copies of Luther's writings after 1518 while, beginning in 1522 with the matriculation of George Baumhenckel from Banska Bystrica , an ever increasing stream of students left Slovakia to study at the University of Wittenberg.(5) By 1525 reformist doctrines were known and accepted in Banska Bystrica, Bardejov , Levoca, and in many of the smaller towns and villages of Slovakia. Despite attempts to limit the spread of Lutheranism by the passage of anti-heretic laws by the Hungarian Diets of 1523 and 1525 , the Reformation continued to spread. The defeat of the Hungarian forces by the Turks at Mohacs in 1526, which resulted in the death of King Lous II, the Cardinal Primate of Hungary, several bishops and high nobles , and scores of parish priests and lower nobles, led to a prolonged struggle over the throne of Hungary between Ferdinand I and John Zapolya , the latter supporter by the lesser Magyar nobles . This accentuated the difficulties within Hungary as a 52 SLOVAKIA whole and made it possible for the Reformation to spread throughout Slovakia without meeting any really effective resistance . (6) Because of this leadership vacuum in both Church and State during the early years of the Reformation, the Lutheran movement in Slovakia achieved its successes with a minimum of conflict, a development which is quite remarkable in comparison to what transpired in the rest of Europe during the first half of the sixteenth century. The Lutheran leaders were able to work within and utilize the structures and institutions of the Catholic Church as they moved to fill the vacuum in ecclesiastical leadership at the local and regional levels. Lutheran pastors were called as preachers to serve the congregations in the cities and the countryside and gradually became a majority within the various seniorats or pastoral conferences . By the middle of the sixteenth century, most of the seniorats in Slovakia were comprised of and headed by Lutherans. It is also interesting to note that the particular lization and factionalization which characterized the northern and western European Reformation by 1520 did not emerge in Slovakia until the middle of the century, after the evangelical reform movement was well established. After 1550, however, the Roman Catholic hierarchy began to recover its strength and, especially after the Council of Trent, inaugurated measures designed to regain that which had been lost through weakness and neglect. Aided by Emperor Ferdinand I, the Roman Catholic hierarchy began to apply against the Lutherans the laws of the Diet of 1548 proscribing Anabaptist and Sacramentarian theologies . Seeking to differentiate between their views and those of the other reformist groups in Hungary and to identify themselves clearly with the Augsburg Confession, which had originally been accepted by Emperor Charles V in 1530 and subsequently recognized by Ferdinand and by the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, the Lutherans of Slovakia began to define their faith and dociifine more precisely. Within a period of 21 years, the Lutherans of Slov~ia adopted three major regional confessions of faith, all of them based primarily upon the Augsburg Confession and its Apology and the writings of Philip Melanchthon . In 1548 the five royal free cities of eastern Slovakia, Bardejov , Levoca, Presov, Kosice, and Sabinov, united in accepting the Confessio Pentapolitana prepared by Leonard Stoeckel, Rector of the so-called "Humanist" school in Bardejov. Ten years later, the seven mining cities of central Slovakia, Banska Bystrica, Banska Stiavnica, Kremnica, Nova Bana, Pukanec, tubietova, and Banska Bela, accepted the Confessio Montana prepared by Ulrich Cubicularius. In 1569, the towns of Spis county followed the lead of the larger cities and accepted SLOVAKIA 53 the Confessio Scepusia~a written by Cyriak Koch and Valentin Megander.(7) ' , The supporters of Helvetic theologies did not remain idle, for they too adopted several confessions of faith which defined their doctrine more precisely. As a result, by 1575 the reformation movements in Hungary had divided into separate and distinct groups. Despite a few exceptions , for there were a few Calvinist Slovaks and Lutheran Magyars, the Magyar protestants were adherents to Helvetic Reformed theology while the vast majority of Slovaks and Germans adhered to the faith expressed in their own and the Augsburg confessions. The confessionalism which established the hegemony of Lutheranism in Slovakia and the denominationalization of the Reformation by 1575 did not, however, bring to an end the theological problems of, or controversies among, the Lutherans , and between the Lutherans and the Reformed. After 1580 , the doctrines of the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord' s Supper and the Communication of Attributes, that is that the attributes of Christ's divine nature were communicated to his human nature , continued to plague the Lutherans in Slovakia.(8) From the Synod of Kremnica in 1580 until the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614) , the Lutherans of Slovakia debated these theological points in connection with the question of whether or not they should accept the Formula of Concord (1577) , as contained in the Book of Concord (1580) , as normative for their own theology. Since the Lutherans of Slovakia had consistently defended their right to practice the Lutheran faith by citing its recognition in Germany by the Hungarian kings as emperors , many were reluctant to accept the Formula and Book of Concord as their doctrinal norm . They felt that they could be charged with having accepted a new , nonrecognized confession of faith. They preferred, therefore , to stand by their own confession of faith. There were also some who were reluctant to accept the Formula of Concord because they suspected that it was intended to displace the writings of Philip Melanchthon who had taught and befriended many of the clergy of Slovakia while they were studying at the University of Wittenberg . Many of these individuals tended to question the precise definitions and formulations of the doctrines of the Eucharist and the Communication of Attributes contained in the Formula and most of these individuals were of German ancestry. The defenders of Lutheran orthodoxy as defined by the Formula, therefore , attacked these moderates as Cryptocalvinists. Among the leading spokesmen for Lutheran orthodoxy were the Slovaks Elias Lani and Severinus Scultety who, together with the 54 SLOVAKIA nobleman Gregor Horvath Stancic de Hradecz and the German Albert Grawer , urged the acceptance of the Book of Concord at the colloquies held in Csepreg (1591) and in Kezmarok (1595-1596), and at many of the synods held regularly by the various regional pastoral conferences throughout eastern Slovakia. (9) The debate over the acceptance of the Book of Concord might have been even more prolonged had not the political situation changed drastically. In 1592 the truce between the Habsburgs and the Turks was shattered and the Fifteen Years' War ensued. During the course of this struggle, the Catholic hierarchy tried to confiscate the churches of the Lutherans in several cities in Slovakia while, in 1604, Matthias II attempted to extend royal authority by repudiating the rights of the nobles and the cities to discuss matters pertaining to religion in the Diet of Hungary. As in the first days of the Reformation, the lay leaders came to the aid of the Protestant groups. The Reformed magnate, Stephen Bocskay of Transylvania, took up arms against the Habsburgs and, after gaining control of royal Hungary (Slovakia), forced Matthias to repudiate as unconstitutional the decree of 1604 and to accept the Peace of Vienna of 1606 which established the right of the Lutherans and Calvinists to exist in Hungary much as the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 had sanctioned Lutheranism in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.(10) The terms of the Peace of Vienna were further refined and defined by the decisions of the Diet of 1608 which not only clearly sanctioned the right of the Lutherans and Calvinists to practice their own faith but also to establish their own independent ecclesiastical institutions . Under the sponsorship of the Palatine (Chancellor) of Hungary, the Lutheran magnate George Thurzo, representatives of the Lutherans in the counties of western Slovakia met in Zilina on March 27-30, 1610 and created three superintendencies to administer the Lutheran congregations .(11) The Synod also established the rules governing the administrative and other activities of the superintendents and accepted the Formula of Concord and the Book of Concord as the norm and guide for Lutheran doctrine. Already accepted py the Lutherans in Gerner county in 1604, and in Turiec county in 1608 ~t the Synod of Turciansky Sviity Martin,(12) the Book of Concord was also accepted by the eastern cities of Spis and Saris counties in January of 1614 at the Synod of Spisske Podhradie. (13) It is important to note that the organizations established by the synods of Zilina and Spisske Podhradie, as well as those of the other regions of Slovakia which had been or would be confirmed by the Palatine, resulted in a diminution of lay influence in the ecclesiastical SLOVAKIA 55 organizations in favor of clerical authority and administration. This development was _contracy to trends elsewhere in Europe . To be sure, the local congregations s\ill had lay patrons or defenders but the superintendencies and districts were independent of direct lay supervision. This centralization of the regional administration of the Lutheran churches in the hands of the clergy while, at the same time, the superintendencies remained independent of each other, both helped and hindered the maintenance of Lutheranism in Slovakia during the Counter-Reformation of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries . The lack of a single administrative unit for all the Lutherans in Slovakia made it difficult for them to resist effectively the combined forces of the Roman Catholic Church and the Habsburgs. On the other hand, since the leadership of the Lutheran movement was primarily in the hands of the clergy, it was able to survive the strong pressures exerted upon it by the state and the noble families who returned to the Catholic Church. Despite the vicissitudes of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, the Lutherans continued to maintain their faith and practices despite greatly reduced numbers and stringent restrictions. Although Slovak Lutherans became and have remained a minority within the Slovak people, the Reformation remained indelibly etched upon the consciousness of the Slovaks. As F. G. Heymann noted: Among the Slovak gentry and intellegentsia, Lutheranism maintained a foothold, and its adherents remained one of the most active, culturally productive and nationally conscious elements of the Slovak people in the period down to the late eighteenth century .(14) Indeed, many of the leaders of the national revival of the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries in Slovakia, as well as in Bohemia and Hungary, were raised in Lutheran homes and parsonages and were imbued with the evangelical heritage. Jan Kollar, I.:udovit Stur, Jozef Hurban, Michal Miloslav Hodza, Karol Kuzmany , and many others, were either Lutheran clergymen or teachers, or the sons of Lutheran pastors and teachers.(15) What explains this tenacity of the Lutheran tradition in Slovakia and its impact upon the development of Slovak ethnic selfconsciousness? In what way did the Lutheran Reformation aid in the development of the ethnic awareness of the Slovaks? Although many explanations can be proferred, it appears that the Reformation contributed to the growth of a Slovak ethnic self-awareness and a Slovak 56 SLOVAKIA culture in at least three ways. The Reformation provided an opportunity for Slovaks to assume leadership roles in the Lutheran Church in Slovakia as administrators and theologians. The Lutheran movement established evangelical schools throughout Slovakia which provided Slovaks with an opportunity to obtain more than a rudimentary education. Finally, the liturgical, devotional, and theological works produced by Slovak Lutherans enabled them to maintain their peculiar identity vis-a-vis both the Magyars and the Germans. SLOVAKS AS LEADERS OF LUTHERANISM IN SLOVAKIA During the early years of the Reformation in Slovakia, the first to adhere to the teachings of Luther were the Germans of the cities of central and eastern Slovakia. The Slovaks were drawn to Lutheranism slowly but steadily, following the lead of the German population and of the magnates and nobles. However, by the last third of the sixteenth century, Slovaks had become the majority in the Lutheran movement and Slovak clerics began to emerge as leaders in the administration of the Lutheran congregations and seniorats and as influential theologians. It was during the theological controversies over the acceptance of the Formula and Book of Concord that Slovak clergy emerged as the defenders of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Elias Lani, Severin Skultety and the nobleman Gregor Horvath Stancic were unswerving in their advocacy of the Book of Concord at the synods and colloquies held during the last decade of the sixteenth century. It is interesting to note that the Book of Concord was accepted first in those seniorats and districts in which Slovaks were in the majority while the cities of the central montana district and of Spis and Saris counties where German clergy were in the majority, the Book of Concord was accepted only after the synods of Zilina and Spisske Podhradie, and even then, only at the urging of the Thurzos and with some reluctance . While the reasons for the Slovak acceptance of Lutheran orthodoxy are still difficult to determine with any certainty, there is evidence that one of the reasons was the influence of the Lutheran school at Straza, supported by Stancic, and others like it in Slovakia. Althq_ugh many Slovaks went to Wittenberg, there were others who received 'their theological education in Slovakia and Strafa was the foremost school among those providing instruction in theology in Slovakia. Stancic, the patron of the school, was no mere theological dilettante but a capable lay theologian cognizant of theological developments at home and in Germany and SLOVAKIA 57 Switzerland.(16) His support for the Book of Concord and Lutheran orthodoxy permeated his shortlived school whose most illustrious graduate and teacher was Elias Lani.(17) Lani was on~ of th~ most persuasive and forceful leaders of Lutheranism in Slovakia dµring the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and must be considered one of the leading organizers and theologians of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. While still in eastern Slovakia during the 1590s, Lani participated in the colloquies held at Csepreg and Kezmarok and, during the disputes with Sebastian Ambrosius or Lam and other Cryptocalvinists over adiaphora or nonessential theological matters, such as the use of pictures in churches, Lani wrote several defenses of the orthodox Lutheran position upholding Christian liberty.(18) He subsequently moved to Mosovce where, in 1598, he was elected Senior of the pastoral conferences in Turiec county and there gained the acceptance of the Formula of Concord and of rules governing the life of the clergy of the conference. Shortly after the Synod of Turciansky Svaty Martin of March 1608 he was called to serve as the Pastor at Vel'ka Bytca, the residence of George Thurzo and there served the Palatine as pastor and advisor. Elected Senior of the Upper Trencin Seniorat in January 1609 he was instrumental in assisting Thurzo in organizing the Synod of Zilina and his influence can be clearly seen in the deliberations and decisions of the Synod.(19) While Lani, who died in 1618, was the most notable of the Slovak theologians of the Reformation Era, he was certainly not the only Slovak to attain a position of leadership within the Church. Severin Skultety was a lector in Bardejov, a teacher at Presov, and the Senior of the five royal free cities of eastern Slovakia from 1593 until his death in 1600. He , too, was an associate of Stancic and a supporter of the Book of Concord. He began a history of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia and, along with other original works, published in Bardejov in 1581 a translation into Slovak of Luther's Small Catechism. (20) Other theologians of significance include Jan Pruno, who published a SlovakLatin edition of the Small Catechism in Hlohovec c. 1585, and also Leonard Mokosin, Senior in Liptov, who authored an epic poem based upon the books of the Old Testament. Slovaks, such as Daniel Pribis, Stefan Pilarik , and Jakub Jakubei, the intellectual presager of Jan Kollar, continued to make important contributions to the theological development of the Lutheran movement in Slovakia during the seventeenth century. Although most of the works of these theologians were written in Latin and were heavily influenced by the Lutheran theologians of Germany, it must be recognized that the theological 58 SLOVAKIA activity of Slovaks enabled Lutheranism in Slovakia to become more than merely a German religion. Slovaks were also active in the administration of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia, especially in the counties of western Slovakia. At the Synod of Zilina, the three superintendents elected by the nobles, clergy, and representatives of some of the towns, were the Slovaks Lani, Samuel Melikus, and Isaak Abrahamides Hrochotius or Hrochotsky, to whom the two German and the Magyar inspectors were responsible.(21) They were followed by a long line of Slovak superintendents who administered the various districts or superintendencies of the Lutherans in Slovakia. Of the seven major superintendencies, Germans predominated only in the one for the mining cities of central Slovakia and in the two in Spis and Saris counties for the five royal free cities and for the 24 Spis cities. The rest were largely Slovak and normally headed by Slovak superintendents. The Slovak influence in the administration of the Lutheran Church can be even more clearly appreciated when it is recognized that the majority of the some 800-900 Lutheran congregations in Slovakia were composed of Slovaks and had pastors of the same background. Even in the towns where the German population predominated, Slovaks had their own congregations and pastors who ministered to their specific needs, preaching to and teaching the members of these congregations in their own language. By preaching and teaching in the vernacular, the Slovak Lutheran clergymen perpetuated the use of Slovak and fostered the awareness of the Slovaks as a particular and distinct ethnic group within the Hungarian kingdom. As theologians and administrators the Slovak clergy guided and enriched the life of Slovak Lutherans and afforded them an opportunity to express their own faith in a language comprehensible to them. At the same time, the availability of positions as clerics in the Lutheran church made it possible for Slovak individuals to achieve positions of prominence and leadership in their communities and aided in the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. \ LUTHERANISM, EDUCATION, AND SLOVAK ETHNICITY Among the institutions which helped to spread the Lutheran Reformation throughout Slovakia and which, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, perpetuated its heritage, the evangelical schools of Slovakia were especially important. Lutherans throughout SLOVAKIA 59 Europe emphasized popular education, and evangelical schools were established and supported by Lutheran communities. According to Johann Rezik, there were four types of schools which emerged in Slovakia during the Reformation Era: the Scholae Magnatum et Nob ilium; the Scholae Civitatenses; the Scholae Oppidane ; and the Scholae Pagenses ~(22) Th~se city, town and village schools, supported by the local authorities or by nobles, did not differ so much in their curricula as in the scope of their programs, the character of their patrons, and in the size and composition of their student bodies . The most important were the city Latin schools, especially those of the larger free cities, which were often endowed by a magnate in addition to receiving regular financial support from the magistrates of the cities.(23) Under lay control, but usually directed by a rector who had received some theological training, the municipal Latin schools became the centers of reformist teaching and continued the humanist pedagogical tradition in Slovakia. Although many would close because of financial difficulties or were taken over by Roman Catholics during the turmoil of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the schools of Slovakia attained a great repute throughout Hungary and were recognized for their academic excellence in both the German states and in Poland. The most significant of the early evangelical schools were located in Kezmarok, Presov, Banska Bystrica, Levoca, and Bardejov.(24) Under the rectorate of Leonard Stoeckel (d. 1560) a protege and friend of Melanchthon, Bardejov was considered the premier educational institution in Slovakia and attracted the sons of magnates and nobles as well as of the citizens of the cities. Stoeckel prepared the Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540 which combined the classic humanist pedagogical concerns with Lutheran theology .(25) Borrowing heavily but not slavishly from the German humanists, such as John Agricola, Herman Talechi and Philip Melanchthon, Stoeckel constructed a curriculum which emphasized the study of Latin, the classical authors, and the Lutheran faith . Latin was the medium of instruction and each day began with readings from the Scriptures while regular attendance at church services was also required. The students also put on plays, with heavy doctrinal content, for the community and, under the direction of a cantor, sang at regular and special services in the town church. Although other school orders, such as those for Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica by Michael Pechov, and variations on Abraham Schremmel's ordinances for the Strasbourg schools were also used in Slovakia, the Leges of Stoeckel was the most influential. (26) His 60 SLOVAKIA teaching of the doctrines of the Augsburg Confession through the humanist methodology became standard in the evangelical schools of Slovakia. Not only were the instructors Lutheran, but the materials used for instruction also had a Lutheran perspective, for among the textbooks used were the Scriptures, Luther's Small Catechism, Melanchthon's Examen Theologicum, Loci Communes, Rhetorica, Dialectica, and his Entymoligia.(27) It should also be noted that although most of the academic materials and instruction were in Latin, during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries some scholarly works in Slovak began to appear ; indeed, most of the works published in Slovak during the sixteenth century, even of a non-theological nature, were published by evangelicals who maintained numerous presses throughout Slovakia. While the curricula of these schools were not intended to meet the particular needs of Slovaks , but were to provide all students with a sound basic humanist education in preparation for further study at the major universities of Europe, especially Wittenberg, the schools did admit students of Slovak birth. In fact there were schools, such as those at Zilina, Turciansky Svaty Martin, Mosovce, Trencin, and Straza where the majority of students were Slovak.(28) The school at Straza became a center for the study of Lutheran theology for those Slovaks who were unable to go abroad to complete their education. All of these schools provided Slovaks with an opportunity to acquire more than just a rudimentary education and prepared them to assume positions of leadership and responsibility in Slovakia. The Slovak intelligentsia of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, as were their counterparts during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, were greatly influenced by intellectual developments in Germany and they not only participated in the broader intellectual movements of Europe but adapted them to meet their own particular needs and the situation within Slovakia. The writings of Slovak Lutheran intellectuals and the curricula of the Lutheran schools of Slovakia helped to foster a greater appreciation of the heritage and culture of the Slovak people and it is not surprising that many of the leaders of the Slovak national revival were educated in the Lutheran tradition in the evangelical schools of Sloyakia. \ LUTHERANISM AND THE EMERGENCE OF SLOVAK LITERATURE During the early stages of the Reformation in Slovakia there were no works published in Slovak. The clergy of Slovak ancestry, educated SLOVAKIA 61 in the Latin schools, could read for themselves the works published in Latin and German and were usually content to utilize Latin, the lingua franca of the sixteenth · century, to express publicly their own theological views. But, as '\ more and more Slovaks adhered to the Lutheran faith with its emph~sis upon vernacular worship, the need for devotional and liturgical works in Slovak became increasingly obvious. Already in 1546 the first work published in Slovak, a devotional book by Vasek z Zalesin, was printed in Wittenberg while the first book in Slovak published in Slovakia was Scultety' s translation of the Small Catechism of Luther. (29) Of more immediate significance for the spread of Lutheranism among the Slovaks was the development of Slovak liturgies and hymnody. During the early years of the Reformation this need was met by borrowing materials produced by Czech Utraquists and the Unitas Fratrum, which could be used by Slovaks without any great difficulty, and by translations into Slovak of hymns by Luther and other reformers and of German orders of worship , especially the Wittenberg Order of 1533.(30) By 1560 there were reports of Lutheran services being held in Slovak not only in the almost completely Slovak areas of Liptov county and along the Vah but also in the mining cities of central Slovakia.(31) In 1580 the Synod of Trencin approved its own church order, the Canones rituum sacrorum Trenchini, which established in 27 articles the rules governing the liturgical life of the Lutherans in the region along the Vah river.(32) The use of Slovak in worship was also encouraged by the appearance of the Bohemian Agenda of 1581. This agenda was used as a guide in the preparation of the Bystrica Agenda, in manuscript form, in 1585. Revised in 1595 and again in 1608, the Bystrica Agenda was approved in 1613 by the Lutheran superintendents of western Slovakia who, following the directions of the Synod of Zilina, were to establish a standard for the liturgical practices of the Slovak congregations under their jurisdiction. (33) But these agendas and church orders, which aided in the standardization of liturgical language and practice among the Lutheran congregations of Slovakia, could not meet all of the worship and devotional needs of the Slovak population since literary Slovak had not yet been codified . These needs were met by the appearance of a new Czech translation of the Bible and by the compilation of an hymnbook by George Tranovsky. These works provided the Slovaks with a vernacular devotional literature in kralicina Czech which was adopted and adapted for use as the literary language of the Slovak Lutherans until the 19th century. 62 SLOVAKIA Since the Germans of Slovakia generally utilized the Bible translation of Luther it was the Slovaks who most acutely felt the need for a vernacular Bible. Early in the Reformation Era they relied on the old Slavic version of Sts. Cyril and Methodius or on the Venetian or Nuremberg Czech translations which had found their way into Slovakia.(34) However, the Kralice Bible translation proved to be the most acceptable of the Czech translations and became the standard one used by the Slovak Lutherans, remaining in general use even into the twentieth century. The Kralice Bible, published in six volumes from 1579-1593, was the work of a translation committee under the chairmanship of a Moravian Bishop of the Unitas Fratrum. John Zerotin of Moravia opened his castle to them and helped to underwrite the expenses involved in the printing of the translation.(35) George Thurzo, a close friend of Zerotin, obtained copies of the work and encouraged its use by the Slovak Lutherans in his lands who did appropriate it for both public and private devotions.(36) Throughout Hungary and Slovakia meanwhile, the use of hymns sung by the congregation had become quite common early in the Reformation. The earliest hymns used by the Slovaks were translations of the Psalms or of the medieval "gradual" or "sequence" hymns and were usually prepared in manuscript form.(37) Many of Luther's hymns and those of his co-workers were translated while Czech evangelical or Hussite hymns were borrowed intact or rephrased. Among the early Slovak hymn writers were George Banovsky, Jan Pruno, Elias Lani, and Daniel Pribis. Pribis, for example , supplemented his Catechism of 1634 with a collection of 113 hymns in Slovak which included seven of his own and eight by Lani.(38) The most noted writer and compiler of hymns for the Slovak Lutherans was Tranovsky. Born in 1591 in Tesin (eastern Silesia) , Tranovsky was brought up in the Lutheran faith and in April 1607 entered the University of Wittenberg. After a short stay in Prague he traveled to eastern Moravia but , after the outbreak of the Thirty Years ' War in 1618 Tranovsky was forced to flee to Slovakia where, on May 29, 1637, he died while serving as the pastor of the Slovak Lutheran congregation at Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas.(39) His Cithara Sanctorum, or Harp of the Saints , was a devotional aitd liturgical guide for individuals as well as a hymnbook for congregations ; Seven hundred pages long, the first edition of the work was -divided into four major sections , each containing hymns for the various seasons , festivals , and services of the ecclesiastical year, along with a section of hymns on specific doctrines arranged according to the structure of the Small Catechism of Luther. The hymnal proper was followed by a series of SLOVAKIA 63 \ indices , a collection of prayers , and an indication of the preferred liturgy to be used. No other book , except for the Kralice Bible, had such a great significance for the Slovak Lutherans. It can be said that the Cithara Sanctorum , or " Tranoscius " as it became popularly known , was the Slovak expression , in song and verse , of the spirit and content of the Lutheran Reformation and became the focus of Slovak Lutheran devotional life . Both Jan Kollar and P. J . Safarik emphasized the cultural significance of the "Tranoscius" and openly acknowledged their own indebtedness to Tranovsky.(40) But if the Kralice Bible and the ''Tranoscius '' were the epitome of Slovak Lutheran devotional and cultural expressions they were not the only influences upon the development of Slovak literature. Slovak postilla or sermon collections were also produced late in the sixteenth century while Nikodem Sartorius of Zvolen prepared the first Slovak commentary on the Bible.(41) Prayer books and religious poetry collections also became very popular. While it would certainly be an overstatement to claim that the heritage of Reformation Lutheranism was the only or even the most notable influence upon the development of a Slovak ethnic selfconsciousness , it would be equally erroneous not to recognize that the Reformation and the Lutheran heritage did help to foster such a selfconsciousness . As for other peoples elsewhere in Europe, the Lutheran Reformation accentuated the linguistic and ethnic peculiarities of the Slovaks and , as the Slovak Lutherans continued to practice their faith and worship in their own langauge and to guide the fortunes of their own church, they kept alive, in their religious life and experiences, their own ethno-linguistic individuality and identity. It is not surprising then, that from the Lutheran tradition came many of those leaders of the national revival who, while they examined and treasured their past, also sought to mold the destiny of their people and to make them into a modern nation. FOOTNOTES David P . Daniel , The Historiograp hy of the R eformation in Slo vakia (St . Louis, Mo.: 1977), 4. (1) (2) The most significant recent work on the history of the Slovaks and their ethnic selfconsciousness is the three volume study of Ludwig von Gogolak, B eitriige zur Geschichte des slowak ischen Volk es (Munich : 1963-1972 ). Volume I, Die N ationswerdung de r Slowaken und die Anfiinge der tschechoslowakischen Frag e, 1526-1790 is an exce llent examination of the relationship of the Reformation to Slovak ethnicity. An earlier study of importance is T. J . G. Locher, Die nationale Differe nzierung und 64 SLOVAKIA lntegrierung der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848 (Haarlem: 1931) . (3) For a more detailed survey of the Reformation Era in Slovakia in English see David P. Daniel , "Highlights of the Lutheran Reformation in Slovakia," Concordia Theological Quarterly 42 :1 (1978), 21-34. (4) Gustav Hammann, " Magister Nicolaus von Sabinov : Ein Beitrag uber den Humanismus und die fruehe Reformation in der Slowakei," Zeitschrift fu er Ostforschung 16 (1967), 25-40 . (5) Johann Borbis, Die euangelisch-lutherische Kirche Ungarns (Noerdlingen: 1864), 29-30; J . P. Tomasik, Andenken an die 300-jahrige Jubelfeier der euangelischen Gemeine in der k. Freistadt Leutschau (Leutschau : 1844) , 17-18. (6)Branislav Varsik, "K pociatkom Reformacie na Slovensku ," Historica Slouaca I/II (1940-41), 304-335. (7) Viktor Bruckner (ed .), Gedenkbuch anlasslich der 400-jahrigen Jahreswende der Confessio Augustana (Leipzig : 1930) , 3-67 . (8) Daniel , "Highlights," 29-30. (9) Jan Kvacala , Dejiny Reformacie na Slo ue nsku (Lipt . Sv. Mikulas: 1935), 131-136. Kvacala's book is the standard history of the Slovak Reformation in Slovak. For other works on the Reformation in Slovakia see Jarold K. Zeman , The Hussite Movement and the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia (1350-1650) (Ann Arbor: 1977), and also Daniel, The Historiography of the Reformation in Slovakia. (10) An excellent study of the circumstances surrounding Bocskay 's Rebellion and the Peace of Vienna is Geza Lencz, Der Au/stand Bocskays und der Wiener Friede. Eine kirchenhistorische Studie (Debreczen: 1917) . (11) Borbis , 124-126 ; Kvacala , 147-148. (12) Kvacala, 132; Otto Skrovina, Z historie turc':ianskeho euanj. se niorcitu ajeho sborou (Tore . Sv. Martin : 1929), 9-10 . (13) For the acts of the Synod of Zilina and of Spisske Podhradie see Johannes Szeberinyi, Corpus maxime memorabilium synodorum euangelicarum Augustanae Confessionis in Hungaria cum praefatione Historica in Singulas (Pesthini: 1848) , 1542 . (14) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland and Czechoslovakia (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: 1966) , 63. (15) See Thomas Capek, The Slovaks of Hungary. Slavs and Panslauism (New York : 1906) for the earliest study of the Slovaks and the Slovak national revival in English. (16) Stancic translated into Hungarian several works of the noted orthodox Lutheran theologian , Martin Chernnitz . He also wrote an \ account of the colloquy held at Csepreg : Historia Colloquii Chepregiensis, De Coen~ Domini _. . . (Bartphae: 1591) . (17) For an examination of the life of Lani see Jan Mocko, Elicis Lcini, prvy superintendent cirkue euanj. augs. uyzn. u Uhrach ajeho doba (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1902). His theological significance is treated by Jan Kvacala, " El. Lani a vit'azstvo lutherskeho smeru v evanjelickej cirkvi na Slovensku," Viera a ueda I (1930), 153-165 . (18) Elias Lani, Scutum Libertatis Christianae in usu Ceremoniarum nominatim autem imaginum: oppositum Disceptationi D. Thomae Fabricii Tholnensis, Ministri Patakini, de Christianorum imaginibus (Bartphae : 1595); and also Defen sio libertatis SLOVAKIA 65 Christianae in vsv imaginum Historico, quam pro asserendo scvto svo, adversvs Exarmationem Thomae Fabricij (Bartphae : n.d.). (19) Juraj Janoska, 0 Synode Zilinskej (Lipt. Sv. Mikulas: 1910) and E. A. Doleschall, "Die Silleiner Synode," Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft fuer die Geschichte des Protestantismus in Oesterreic_h 4 (1883), 96-104. (20) Gogolak, I, 43. (21) Borbis, 47 . (22) Kvacala, Dejiny, 101-102. (23) Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, §tudijne a §kolske poriadky na Slovensku v 16. storoc5i (Bratislava: 1955). 27, 57; Johann Liptak and Roland Steinacker, Deutsche ev. Schulwesen in der Slowakei (Stuttgart: 1957) , 5-15; Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischenLyzeumsA .B . inKiismark (Kiismark: 1933) , 17-18, 26-29. (24) Vajcik, 2-13 . (25) Johann Samuel Klein, Nachrichten von den Lebensumstiinden und Schriften evangelischer Prediger in alien Gemeine des Koenigreichs Ungarn I (Leipzig: 1787), 332-341; E. Szelenyi, " Ev. Pedagoes," in V. Bruckner (Ed.), Gedenkbuch, 439-440. (26) Vajcik, 81 ff. and 109 ff. (27) Ibid . , 110-112; 120-123. See also Janos Breznyik , A Selmecbcinyai cigost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyceum tortenete (Selmecbanyan: 1883) , 350-364. (28) Gogolak, I, 45-46. (29) Ibid., 44 . (30) Jan Petrik, Dejiny slovenskych evanjelickych a. v. sluiieb Bozich (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1946) , 54-62, 99-103. (31) Gogolak, I, 46-47. (32) Petrik, 65-91. (33) Ibid., 103-116. (34) Edmund DeSchweinitz, History of the Church Known as the Unitas Fratrum (Bethlehem, Pa.: 1901), 410. (35) Ibid., 423-424; Mirjam Bohatcova, " Bible Kralicka, jeji vznik a vyznam," in Vlasta Fialova, Kralice (Brno: 1959), 51-61. (36) Gogolak, I, 59. (37) Mihaly Bucsay, Geschichte des Protestantismus in Ungarn (Stuttgart: 1959), 66-67 , 76 . (38) Jaroslav Vajda, "A History of the Cithara Sanctorum (Tranoscius) (unpulished B.D. thesis, Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, 1944) , 13 f. (39) For the life and significance of Tranovsky see Jan P . Durovic, Zivotopis Juraja Tranovskeho (Lipt. Sv . Mikulas: 1942) , Jan Mocko, Zivot Jura Tranovskeho (Senice : 1891), and Walter Stoekl, " Georg Tranoscius, der groesste lutherische Liederdichter der Slowakei,' ' in Desider Alexy (ed .), Roland Steinacker: Ein Leben fuer Kirche und Volk : Festschrift zur 90 Geburtstag von R . Steinacker (Stuttgart: 1960) , 54-78 . (40) Gogolak, I, 84 . (41) Ibid . , 61-65.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness Description An account of the resource David P. Daniel Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 pp. 49-65 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 1978-79 SNK 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/bb358ced8555b12e00913973a1d65360.pdf 2873587d7a7b1e48c550f307647df013 PDF Text Text 28 SLOVAKIA Learning and Education in Slovakia during the late 17th and 18th centuries EV A KOWALSKA (Translated by David P. Daniel) "Inter arma silent Musae ." (Among arms, the muses are silent). At the dawn of the sixteenth century, Slovakia was at one of the major crossroads of its development. The peasant uprising led by Juraj D6za in 1514 initiated the process of re-feudalization which strengthened manorial relationships in agriculture, the main sphere of economic life. After the battle of Mohacs in 1526 the expanding influence and military might of the Turks made of the southern region of Slovakia, in particular, the scene of military clashes which lasted for nearly one and a half centuries. Another complication was the power struggle between the Habsburgs and the Hungarian nobility which did not end with the successful assertion, by the Habsburgs, of their claims to the Hungarian throne. The resistance of the Hungarian nobility took the form of a rebellion and an insurrection of the estates. It occurred largely on the territory of Slovakia, which, during the time of the Turkish occupation, represented the remnant and nucleus of the Hungarian kingdom. It might seem then, that societal conflicts and both international and domestic struggles for political power would lead to the decline of culture and education in Slovakia, that it inaugurated, in the true sense of the word, ' ' doba temna, '' a time of darkness. However, as the results of the most recent historical research demonstrate, this did not happen .1 On the contrary, Slovakia, and especially its most important cities, remained centers �SLOVAKIA 29 of high culture which was enriched by internal and external influences. The royal free and mining cities represented the most economically significant type of city in which were concentrated manufacture and trade, often oriented towards foreign markets. 2 These cities had at their disposal extensive rights which gave them a certain ability to counter the preponderant influence of the nobility. Although affected by the gradual depletion of the sources of their economic prosperity, their extensive tax obligations and the need to maintain alliances in the war against the Turks, their favored position was strengthened by the integration of the citizenry and their class consciousness and allegiance . One of the fundamental characteristics of municipalities was that they maintained schools for which they possessed the right of patronage. Among the several ambitions of the cities was the desire to establish the highest type of school possible and to employ recognized pedagogues. It is possible that these tendencies fostered the accompanying manifestations of secularization and laicization. Behind these, however, stood the adoption of the Reformation movement which, in a decisive manner, influenced education in Slovakia. Schools became for the Protestant churches the "conditio sine qua non" of their existence and broadened their social influence. This goal was evident among all social strata, even that of the villages. It not only spread among the ranks of the children who completed the various levels of instruction but also changed the attitudes of individual social classes toward the question of the maintenance of schools. Many landlords, moreover, especially from the ranks of the higher nobility, founded and supported schools on their property. 3 On the other hand, church congregations in small towns and villages were also obliged to maintain an appropriate type of school. The spread of the Reformation, together with the development of education, supported the development of book culture in all its aspects - the printing and sale of books, the founding of libraries, and the development of literature. During the sixteenth century several cities became important centers of printing and the book trade. An increasingly greater proportion of the citizenry appears to have had its own extensive libraries. Some individuals built up their collections with an eye toward their professional activities. �30 SLOVAKIA For example, on the basis of information provided by last wills and testaments, we know that twenty-eight libraries with 1,182 volumes existed in the chief mining cities of Banska Bystrica, Banska Stiavnica and Kremnica. The number of libraries in the following era increased sharply. There is evidence available from the seventeenth century that in the 215 libraries of individual citizens in these cities there were 9,173 books. 4 The development of schools in Slovakia, stimulated by the Reformation, was not, however, unambiguous and straightforward. It was marked by two decisive, determining factors : the inauguration and successful completion of re-Catholicization, and the assumption of the supervision of education by the state. The peculiar internal conditions in Slovakia made it possible, in contrast to Bohemia, for a certain number of Protestant churches and schools to function. But, on the whole, the picture of education after the mid-seventeenth century changed dramatically. Using means similar to those employed by the Reformers, who propagated their ideas through school and church, the aggressive reCatholicizers also used, with special effectiveness, military intervention. Its result was the renewal of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and of the network of Catholic schools in Slovakia. The question of the free development of education thus became a slogan and demand of contemporary Protestants who were drawn into the anti-Habsburg revolt of the estates led by Frantisek Rakoczi. The final regulations of the diet which met in Sopron in 1681 limited the number of Protestant schools and churches to two '' articular places" in each county, places specified in the articles approved by the Diet. In 1731, the "Resolutio Carolina" further restricted the Protestants. The few schools which the Protestants were allowed to maintain could only be lower, grammar schools and these could not teach, in their higher grades, the humanities, philosophy or theology . Protestant education was on the defensive and lost the means of free development. Whether Catholic or Protestant, the confessionalization of education brought with it an interior paralyzation both in the area of the content and method of education. Aristotelian scholasticism became a boundary which limited the process of modernization. However, already in the seventeenth century, attempts to over- �SLOVAKIA 31 come these limitations were made, especially in the Protestant schools, by the introduction of new methods of instruction and by the broadening of the content of education. Therefore, the way to the "Resolutio Carolina" was limited, on the one hand, by the contradictory development of Protestant education, and, on the other hand, by the success of the power of the Catholic state and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, previously important Lutheran schools had ceased to exist including those at Krupina, Trencin, Pezinok, and Svaty Jur. Many schools were transformed from gymnasiums (grammar schools) into two or three-class elementary schools, as occurred in Kremnica in 1674 or Banska Stiavnica in 1735. This meant that the rebirth and flowering of Evangelical education had to wait until the last two decades of the eighteenth century. However, many of these schools, despite their difficult fate, continued to play an important role in the history of education in Slovakia and had a vibrant influence upon the creation and development of a Slovak intelligentia. It is necessary to mention, in the first place, the Evangelical college in Presov. 5 This collegium, which never was a true "high school" or university, was active as the highest type of Lutheran school in Hungary only for three short periods, 1667-1672, 1682-1687, and 1704-1711. Its development, curricula and the activities of its individual professors show, however, that it certainly had the ambition to become such an institution. The Latin school in Presov had already reached a high level of instruction, thanks to the rectors Lukas Fabiny, Jan Bocatius, Jakub Jacobaeus, Jan Biihringer, Jan Matthaeides and especially, Jan Bayer. The last mentioned prepared in 1664 a suggestion for the reorganization fo the Latin school in Presov. In it he tried to transform the content and form of instruction in conformity to and as a practical application of the "new philosophy" contained in the works of Francis Bacon.6 His concept of education was that it should emphasize practical knowledge and train a man of action, who would have the ability to discover and rule over nature and his world. Therefore, he emphasized a broad spectrum of philosophical studies which included questions of epistemology, methodology,physics, practical philosophy or ethics, economics and metaphysics. Of equal importance was mathematics, in which, in �32 SLOVAKIA contrast to his contemporaries, he also included the study of its applied forms, that is astronomical mathematics, optics, architecture, and mathematical geography. Bayer's pedagogical plan corresponded with the concepts of Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius) who advocated a broad-based education which went beyond the traditional humanist emphasis upon piety and eloquence, "pietas et eloquentia. " The realization of this plan, however, was probably restricted by the disputes of Bayer with both the town council and the leading nobility. He certainly wished to win their support for the development of the town and church. But he attacked "the greedy rich and unproductive people, who devote themselves neither to work or study but only to shameful idleness." It is no wonder that his uncompromising attitudes earned him the ill-will of the town council, which had already been discussing the building of a new school. In 1665 Bayer was released from his functions as rector. Discussions concerning the establishment a new higher school or college had begun, at the instigation of the Lutheran nobility present, at the synod of Presov. Here, representatives of the Lutheran nobility and the six royal towns of eastern Slovakia decided to abolish the patronage right of the city of Presov over the city school. They then used the city school as the foundation on which would be established a new school under the supervision of the Lutheran church in eastern Slovakia. The agreement about the legal status of the college, the regulations for the supervisors of the school, its professors and students, were approved on 16 April 1667. Instruction began on 18 October of the same year. A plan of instruction was drawn up for ten classes and included theology, dogmatics, polemics and moral theology (ethics), Latin, Greek and Hebrew, law, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, mathematics, geography, and both general and church history. The graduates, therefore, would be able to enter the clerical or secular professions or go on for further advanced study. The road the students took in pursuing further education led normally toward the university of Wittenberg with which the college continuously maintained close contacts. Even the selection of professors for the college was regularly conducted in consultation with Adam Calovius, a professor at Wittenberg. The relatively numerous �SLOVAKIA 33 publications of the professors, especially Elias Ladiver Jr., Jakub Roser and Izak Caban also contributed to the prestige of the school. 7 The founding and activity of the college took place during a time when the influence and pressure of the Counter-Reformation was growing. The Habsburgs, especially Leopold I, had as their goal the building of a strong state. They effectively resisted the pressure of the Ottoman Turks and henceforth played a key role in European politics. The strengthening of the power of the ruler (royal absolutism) brought with it the centralization of the administration of the whole monarchy which sought, by force if necessary, to establish uniformity even in the spiritual sphere. ReCatholicization became a tool in this process. It did not, moreover, extend only to the area of the spiritual life of the population. It was accompanied by a restriction of political and civil rights, the repudiation of ancient privileges, and even military actions as, for example, the so-called Presov massacre of 1673 and the arrest and persecution of Evangelical pastors and teachers in 1674. One's attachment to a specific ideology was a demonstration of loyalty; violations of the same were considered a dangerous act towards one's superiors. As they attempted to consolidate a state strong in every respect, significant support was provided to the Habsburg monarches by the new Counter-Reformation orders of the Jesuits and the Piarists. Both considered education as one of the most important weapons in the struggle against religious opponents. In contrast to the diversity which characterized Lutheran schools, they established a monolithic, detailed, and precisely expounded conception of education and of training in the schools. Their concept did not permit any variations in textbooks, in the interpretation of, or the conclusions drawn from the subject matter. Even though these and other orders, including the Paulinian, Franciscan or Minorite, and Benedictine orders, did not work together directly, thanks to their activity, there developed in Slovakia complete, stable, and relatively widespread system of schools, extending from elementary through secondary or grammar schools to " high schools" (universities). A quality classical education and the possibility of university study with the Jesuits or an education oriented towards the practical with an emphasis on the exact sciences and the native language �34 SLOVAKIA with the Piarists - these became the two kinds of Catholic schools in Slovakia until the time of school reform at the end of the eighteenth century. The academic attraction of these schools was enhanced by the opportunity to study free of charge. The towns with important schools became centers to which students came from far and wide. Ethnic Slovak students predominated at the Jesuit gymnasiums or grammar schools in Trencin, Trnava, and Skalica, and at those of the Piarists in Prievidza and Nitra. In Nitra a boarding school was founded for pupils from the counties of Trencin, Orava, Turiec, Liptov, and Spis. In the urban milieu it became customary to complete at least the lower classes of the Latin school which, to a considerable degree, also served the function of a public elementary school. 8 The principles of the systematic education of girls were established by the Ursulines and the order of Notre Dame de Namur. 9 The most significant contribution of the re-Catholicization of the schools for the development of education in Slovakia was, however, the founding of universities. The first opened in Trnava in 1635 and the second in 1667 in Kosice. 10 Even if they served, in equal measure, all of the peoples of Hungary, they played an extraordinary role in the creation of the national consciousness, language and literature of the Slovaks. 11 The founding of the University at Trnava by Peter Pazmany was the culmination of his extensive organization activity in the field of education. Although the university developed and worked under the administration of the Jesuits, the training of the clergy was not its only goal. Pazmany, although he was originally a member of the Jesuit order, endeavored to secure for the university the direct protection of the sovereign and a partial reduction of the influence of the Jesuits . However, given the conditions in Hungary, he could not count on an effective counterweight to the Jesuits. 12 Trnava was selected as the seat of the university for several reasons. It was not only the site of the already existing boarding school founded by Pazmany, but also had a lower cost of living and a population relatively unaffected by the Reformation. But especially beneficial for the Jesuits was that it was the seat of the cathedral chapter and the residence of the Archbishop of Esztergom. �SLOVAKIA 35 This assured the Jesuits freedom from city taxes and favorable conditions for acquiring real estate. 13 The university opened its doors to students of philosophy and theology on 13 November 1635. Instruction in philosophy included lectures in logic, physics, metaphysics, mathematics, ethics, geometry,astronomy, and natural sciences. For young noblemen, the inclusion of Italian, French, dancing and fencing made the curriculum more attractive. In theology the students studied scholastic theology, dogmatics according to Thomas Aquinas, under the direction of two or three professors. A second main subject was casuistry, the special subject of polemics, canon law, the reading and exposition of the Scriptures and Hebrew. Within the framework of the university was included the "studia humaniora" as the highest grades of the Jesuit college, where preparation in classical Latin reached its apex. Although these grades were actually a part of the gymnasium or grammar school, they were identified as part of the philosophical faculty and designated the language faculty, "facultas linguarum. '' The university survived in this form until 1667. In comparison with other universities it was not complete. It lacked a faculty of law and of medicine. Until the second half of the seventeenth century the teaching of law at the university was limited to canon and Roman civil law. During this time "domestic" or statutory law had no place in the curriculum. It is not surprising that, given the social conditions of the early seventeenth century, a time of political uncertainty and economic decline, there was no support for, or widespread interest in, the study of this limited branch of law either among the Hungarian nobility or the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The steady growth of the various levels of bureaucratic administration soon made evident, however, the necessity of specialized legal training. The Archbishops of Esztergom, Juraj Lippay and Imrich Losy, who were generous benefactors of the university, founded and supported a new faculty of law. This "delay" in opening a faculty of law to 2 January 1667 made it possible for that faculty to avoid teaching in this subject the contemporary trends which supported the interest and power of the state. These interests were shifted to the study of Roman law, the scope of which was expanded, and to the new subject of "domestic" or statutory law. �36 SLOVAKIA Even though, from the very beginning, the new faculty lectured on canon, Roman and Hungarian law, it is necessary to see the close connection between domestic and broader contemporary currents of thought. Instruction in the faculty was divided into four areas: Roman, canon, Hungarian civil and property law, and Hungarian civil procedural law. The range of statutory law soon was enlarged to encompass further disciplines, for example, criminal law. In this, Trnava surpassed many foreign universities. 14 The university functioned with these three faculties until 1769. At its head stood a Rector, the first of whom was Juraj Dobronoki . He was assisted by a Chancellor whose task was to organize disputes and public presentations, to decide about the bestowal of academic degrees and he also served as the book censor. The work of the faculties was directed by individual deans. The composition of the teaching faculty was affected by the international character of the Jesuit order. There was a large number of foreigners, especially Germans and Italians on the faculty; but the highest proportion were Slavs: Croats, Slovenes, Poles, and Czechs, but Slovaks and Magyars predominated. No other important changes occurred in the organization of the university until 1735-1744, the beginning of the second century of its existence. That these were anticipated earlier is indicated by a decree of the Provincial of the Jesuit order which prohibited lectures on new philosophical theories, especially those of Descartes and Leibnitz. From 1735 on, however, new subjects of instruction were introduced. The most characteristic Jesuit discipline, casuistry, was transformed into the teaching of moral and pastoral theology. Church history, until then largely disregarded, was introduced largely within the study of rhetoric. Instruction in mathematics, astronomy, and geometry was entrusted to three separate professors. Also introduced was instruction in geography and in the "living" languages of Hungarian and German. A decisive turning point, the first step in the process of the "nationalization" or secularization of the university, and " de facto ", of the whole school system in Hungary, occurred in 1753. In the previous year, the University of Vienna was reorganized and nationalized and this example was immediately followed by all other universities in the monarchy. In Trnava, however, it did not lead �SLOVAKIA 37 to total state control of the faculty but did substantially alter the pattern of instruction. Study in the philosophical faculty was reduced to two years and the number of professors reduced to three, one each for logic and metaphysics, physics and ethics, and mathematics. It also changed the method of obtaining academic degrees. Public, formal disputes were replaced by difficult tests and the title of Master of Philosophy was abolished. Professors had to prepare texts for their own subjects in order to end the practice of dictating subject matter and to improve the level of instruction. Thanks to these changes, during the course of the next few years, the professors at Trnava published many texts . Moreover, in 1756 an astronomical observatory, designed by Maximilian Hell, was opened and equipped with the most modern instruments. The introduction of modern science and thought was anticipated in the work of Martin Szentivany (1633-1705) as rector of the university. In his extensive work, ''Miscellanea scientiarum'' he expressly employed a combination of empiricism and logic to support a differentiation among the competence of theology, metaphysics and natural philosophy. After the rectorship of Szentivany, during the course of the next several decades, both Cartesian and Newtonian mechanics were used for the exposition of natural phenomena as, for example, in the text book "Statica" published in 1740 by Michal Lipsciz. Others, among them Adanyi, Jaslinsky, Revicky, Ivancic, Mako and Radie, whose textbooks were issued after 1753, did not consider it necessary even to mention the differences between Newton and Descartes. In epistemology, theological presuppositions were consistently ignored and a distinction was clearly made between the problems of philosophy and those of physics. Copernicus and Newton became the fundamental authorities for interpreting the natural world. At the university experiments were used both in the instructional process and for individual scientific work, especially in astronomy. The well-equipped observatory guaranteed precise measurements. Professor F. Weiss and his assistant, J. Sajnovic and F. Taucher, issued the results of their observations in their own journal, '' Observationes astronomicae. '' In the observatory there was also a chemical laboratory and a physics collection. The physics �38 SLOVAKIA textbook of Jan Baptist Horvath in 1767 was issued in several domestic and foreign editions. A change as significant as that experienced by the philosophical faculty during the mid-eighteenth century also occurred in the faculty of law. Law faculties in the whole monarchy had to become active assistants in carrying through the political and national goals of the dynasty. Therefore, on 3 November 1760, Maria Theresa issued an order that the law faculty at Trnava had to teach those subjects which were related to the administration of the state. Most important was natural law, the principles of which could be employed to strengthen absolutism. In 1770 political science and international law were added to the curriculum. Martini, Justi and Sonnenfels were employed as the main authorities, as in the Austrian part of the monarchy. The process of extending state control over the university culminated on 11 November 1769 when Maria Theresa issued regulations which placed the university under her special protection . The administration of the faculty was entrusted, as in Vienna, to appointed directors. A second result of these regulations was the creation of a faculty of medicine. 15 This step was not only an immediate reaction to the acute lack of physicians in Hungary, but also contributed to the high technical level of education. In Hungary this trend had already emerg_ed in 1762 in the organization of the mining academy in Banska Stiavnica and, in the following year, in the "Collegium oeconomicum" in Senec which was a technical school for preparing officials for state and commerce . The distribution and number of professors in medicine, five in number, approached European standards . The high quality of the faculty was underscored by the work of the well-known specialists Josef Plenck in the chair of surgery, Jakub Winterl in botany and chemistry, and Adam Trnka in anatomy. All were disciples of Gerhard van Swieten. To an equal degree the faculty contributed to the formation of public hygiene by training midwives and pharmacists as well as doctors. The cultural importance of the university was not limited to the preparation of specialists in various areas of study. While the intellectual life of the Slovak nation was not confined to Trnava during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the contributions �SLOVAKIA 39 that the university made to it were considerable. The University contributed to the formation of written Slovak, the ideology of the Slovak nation and to the strengthening of Slovak national consciousness. These processes were connected with the work of the professors who, as in the historical works of Szentivany and Samuel Timon, contributed to the building up of a historical consciousness as an important component of the national ideological program. An important role was played, moreover, by the university press which helped to develop norms for the Slovak language. 16 In the years 1648-1779 it published more than three million volumes of 4,915 titles of which 257 titles were in Slovak. Slovak editors gave the Slovak language a cultivated form which, already at this time, differed from that used by the Slovak Lutherans. It was spread among the people of Slovakia through its use in official orders and especially for religious literature. It played both a communicative and a unifying role. This written Slovak codified the western Slovak cultural language. Through polemical literature and multi-language dictionaries used in both Catholic and Lutheran schools it also influenced the language used by the Lutherans. The importance of the press grew even more after all the Catholic schools were taken over by the state in 1773 and by the school reform of 1777, the "Ratio educationis." The university press was oriented toward the publication of textbooks . In the years 1773 to 1783 alone 89,450 books used in the primary public schools were published . Of these nearly half or 41,950 volumes were editions of the eight Slovak titles published. The reform of the university of Trnava and the formation of higher technical schools anticipated the process of the nationalization of the whole school system which culminated during the 1770s. The suppression of the Jesuit order also signified a fundamental turning point in the realization of the plan of school reform. An essential difference, in contrast to the past, was the strict division between the elementary level and the middle level of education by a more precise definition of their scope and relationship. Expressly employed was the concept of the utility of education. It was manifested in the content of instruction and in the preferential treatment accorded the technical and public primary schools at the expense of the middle schools . In general, for the first time, attention was given to the education of apprentices and girls and �40 SLOVAKIA to the determination of the content of elementary instruction . Academies were established with similar goals. They rounded out the system of schools in Hungary and provided professional training for those who had completed their studies at a gymnasium or grammar school. This included, naturally, the preparation of teachers who would serve in the public schools, including primary schools. 17 This utilitarian attitude corresponded to the Enlightenment conception of the state and the organization of society. 18 The physiocrats viewed the working classes as the primary component of the population which created the major part of the wealth of the state. They were, however, assigned a passive role. They had to be instruments in the hands of the well-organized state. In the spirit of the Enlightenment, the main goal of the state was to secure the "public good." It was to provide its population with appropriate conditions which would enable the population to fulfill its function . This required, of course, at least a fundamental education. The population had to be prepared to function as future "citizens" and, at the same time, to know what they could expect from the state. The state considered, therefore, that it had the responsibility, to a certain degree, of "enlightenment," that is, to provide its population with an understanding of citizenship. In this, the schools were considered as important an agency as religion. Here it is possible to see the beginning of the process of emancipation in which the schools gradually were freed from their subordination to the church. This Enlightenment tendency was, however, within a short time, slowed down by a renewed strengthening of the position of the church vis-a-vis the school. The assumption of the supervision of schools by the state can be considered as an essential characteristic of Enlightenment education . The beginning of this process was characterized by an encroachment into the organizational structure of education in the form of the general approval of school orders. In the Austrian part of the monarchy they were prepared for individual types of schools . In Hungary, this was attempted as a whole in the form of the "Ratio educationis" of 1777. 19 The " Ratio educationis" contained all of the main principles of the Enlightenment understanding of education. Its authors, �SLOVAKIA 41 among them the Slovak Adam Frantisek Kollar, extended the task of schools to the building up of the citizenry in society. In harmony with this, ideas conforming to the theory of natural law were presented, on the one hand, with a demand for the extension of education to all social classes and, on the other, with a conscious intent to overcome social, national (ethnic) and confessional barriers. The Ratio implemented the principles of the hierarchy of schools and their administration. The new extent and intent was broader in comparison to the previous situation 20 and emphasized the formational aspect of education. The school administration took care to establish prescribed curricula, methods and textbooks for all school. This task was relatively easy in "gymnasium" or "grammar" schools where there were enough texts and teachers. 21 However, a great number of complex problems had to be resolved in the case of the public school. It required the preparation of a sufficient number of textbooks and educated teachers . Good material conditions for the schools and teachers were an essential condition for the success of the whole reform program, which, after 1777, began a difficult process of extending the network of public schools. It found a relatively good response in the towns where the number of pupils increased rapidly. 2 2 The attempt to establish a sovereign model for education and the introduction of specific curricula for the various types of schools also affected non-Catholic schools. Within Hungary and its adjacent territories the Lutherans and the Reformed had the right to maintain their own schools. This was not, however, based on the principles of toleration. The Protestant schools were able to function only as a result of complex conflicts with the Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy and struggles with the secular power and then, only to a limited degree. If the principles of education advocated by the state were to be implemented by the power of the state it was unavoidable that this would lead to conflict with non-Catholics. It was necessary, therefore, to prepare such a model of education which would enable the approval of the principle of toleration. This was, after all, in the interest of the state. The Lutheran schools in Slovakia were not unaffected by the spreading influence of the Enlightenment. On the contrary, Pietism, of which Matej Bel was one of the chief representatives, was ex- �42 SLOVAKIA pressly manifested in several middle schools in Slovakia, especially in Banska Bystrica and Bratislava. 23 The findings of the new science, including pedagogy, spread into Slovakia especially through the number of students who studied abroad. 24 Although the ''Resolutio Carolina" did not allow for an increase in the number of Lutheran schools or changes in their character, their teachers attempted to include such subjects in their program of instruction which went beyond those allowed by the state . Despite this, non-Catholic schools during the late eighteenth century were characterized by stagnation. This was the result of the social situation of the nonCatholic population, of the possibilities allowed them and the insufficiency of the necessary means for maintaining a high level of instruction in their existing schools. The schools were transitional places for teachers, many of whom were waiting for a clerical position. Because of this situation, reforms in non-Catholic education were also anticipated in accordance with the goals of the state. One indication of this was the demand for fundamental reforms of elementary education by Gabriel Balasovic in 1749 and the plan for the reform of the middle schools by Juraj Fabry in 1773. The prospects for a general, wide-spread reform of the schools, however, were not great. In contrast to Catholic schools, the Lutheran schools lacked a single supervisory organ which could guarantee a unified administration and the introduction of reform measures. In Slovakia, only in Gerner did the seniorat, or Lutheran pastoral conference, establish an organization of teachers, the "Bratstvo rektorov", in 1741, which considered questions concerning the work of the schools. In such conditions, the issuance of the "Ratio educationis" was a definite milestone also in the development of Lutheran education in Slovakia as well in the whole of Hungary. The chief difference from the earlier situation was that the question of non-Catholic schools was removed from the jurisdiction of a religious commission. For the first time the "Ratio" proclaimed the assumption by the state of the supervision of education without considerations of confessional allegiance. The non-Catholic schools had to follow the direction of the regional school districts even though the rectors and teachers were installed by the local church �SLOVAKIA 43 congregation. The school districts resolved problems in the schools with the exception that they could not interfere in religious questions. Approved textbooks were issued for "secular subjects" which had to be acceptable to all the confessions since non-Catholic students could study at all types of schools. It is understandable, however, that since legal toleration was not yet firmly anchored or legally established - the Edict of Toleration would not be issued until nearly five years later - these attempts at implementing the above mentioned principles of educational reform had to meet with a lack of confidence. In individual cases, Lutheran middle schools worked together with the direction of specific school districts, especially in Bratislava, thanks to a leading representative of Enlightenment thought in Hungary, Frantisek Balassa. The administration of the Lutheran and Reformed churches as a whole, however, shortly after the issuance of the "Ratio", opposed the attempts of the state to extend its jurisdiction over education . More important changes, which could be traced back directly to the "Ratio" were realized during the reign of Joseph II (1780-90), when several tendencies, which were only briefly touched upon in the "ratio" were more fully expounded and implemented. The ear of Joseph II was characterized, in the area of education, by a growing centralization and unifying of school organization. In the field of education his reforms not only effected a necessary broadening of the scope of education as, for example, in devoting particular attention to the public schools, but also emphasized practical matters as can be seen in the support of practical schooling and the restrictions placed upon university study. The most important change in the school system, however, was the resolution of the relationship between church and state in religious questions. With regard to the Catholic church there was established the principle of the subordination of the church to the state. The evidence for this was the foundation of state seminaries for preparing clergy,the abolition both of theological studies within individual orders and of the responsibility of students to participate in the religious ceremonies or life in the schools. A further, very important, change in the development of schools was the issuance of the Edict of Toleration in 1781. Its greatest significance was in the field of primary education where �44 SLOVAKIA it changed the manner of educating non-Catholic children. According to its provisions non-Catholics could establish their own schools in places where there lived at least 100 families and 500 individual non-Catholics. However, the curriculum of the schools thus established had to conform to written regulations, and the population had to provide significant financial support. In addition, the possibility of state control, the economic conditions of the towns and villages and the resources which the highest level of schools required made it advantageous to establish mixed schools . The idea of the so-called mixed schools, attended by both Catholic and Protestant children was worked out by Gottfried van Swieten, the leader of school policy under Joseph II. It was first implemented on the school district of Bratislava, in Svaty Jur and in the village of Neded. Ferdinand Kigler, 25 a co-worker of J.I. Felbiger, also worked to establish mixed schools more widely throughout the country. The pupils in these schools were separated according to their knowledge and not according to their religious confession. Each confession had to employ its own teachers who taught each class as a whole. Religion was taught only by the cantor or catechist in individual congregations. Whereas in the "confessional" schools the clergy had supervisory responsibilities, this was denied them in the so-called "mixed" schools, which were under lay supervisors, one of whom had to be Catholic, another Lutheran. Another important provision concerned the preparation of textbooks from which all that was not acceptable to non-Catholics had to be removed. About seventy mixed schools developed in Slovakia during the 1789s in, for example, Brezno, Krupina, Pukanec, and Svaty Jur. State schools and, in the first place primary schools, required high financial burdens for the whole population. These were borne not only by local treasuries but also directly by the parents of the pupils and students who had to pay school taxes. Several cities, among them Bardejov, Krupina, Skalka, and Pezinok, felt injured by the abolition of their Latin schools. The question of " Germanization" also negatively influenced the attitudes of the population. Although the use of German, in the view of the state, was an effective instrument for communicating with the whole population, the attempt to mandate its use led to dissatisfaction and did not �SLOVAKIA 45 conform to actual local situations. Instruction in the German language was mandated even in villages where the peasant population had no interest in or need for it. While in the villages, at least, it was not possible to enforce this provision, because of local circumstances, it eventually was implemented in the case of most of the middle and higher schools. However, this "Germanization" also created opposition to the Josephine reforms. During the 1780s, while this opposition was suppressed by the supporters of reform, after the death of Joseph II the system of state schools was nearly abolished. The main cause of this development might be seen, in general, in the determined opposition of the Hungarian nobility towards unifying the supervision and administration of both the schools and education. The leading initiators of this opposition were the counties which, already before the death of Joseph II, had opened a campaign against his measures. At a meeting of the counties in 1790 a whole list of grievances was prepared, several of which touched upon the question of the schools and education. A series of pamphlets also appeared attacking state control of education. In these, the chief cause of dissatisfaction was the question of language instruction. Equally important, in light of later developments, were suggestions concerning the organization of schools. The supervision of the schools should be returned to the clergy. The school commission which, under the reforms of Joseph, was responsible for administration, should be confined to advisory functions. This would mean that the Josephine system of school administration, as a whole, would have to be abolished. The highest circles at court and representatives of the school administration defended the view that education was within the purview of the ruler. Only slowly did the counties gain an influence in its supervision. Another important factor in the disintegration of the Josephine school system was the twenty-sixth article of 1791. This called upon non-Catholics to establish, with the consent of the ruler, different types of schools which would no longer be under the direction of the local school districts . The non-Catholic population naturally welcomed this possibility. In many villages and towns independent Lutheran schools were founded. Lutheran schools in Slovakia, �46 SLOVAKIA thanks to this article, thus obtained the possibility of their own free development. A whole series of Lutheran schools reached a high level which rivaled that of the royal academies. Especially significant among these were the Evangelical lycea in Bratislava, Kezmarok, Levoca, Banska Stiavnica, Presov and Modra at which studied a large number of the members of the Slovak Lutheran intelligentsia. Despite all of the conflicting tendencies in the development of education after the year 1790, the nucleus of the school system erected in the spirit of the Enlightenment was preserved. It did not lack, moreover, forward-thinking individuals who sought to strengthen it. The possibility to achieve this was improved by the creation of a commission for schools by the Diet, the "deputation regnicolaris litteraria", which prepared new editions of both school and curricular orders for Hungary. In the area of public schools attention was given to the improvement of technical education while in the area of higher education a plan was considered to make a distinction in specialized training and discussed the question of the differences between the universities and the academies. The new reforms suggested, however, were not realized because of internal political conditions. The estates were satisfied with a formal return to the conditions which existed before the year 1780. The most significant gain was reflected especially in the language regulations of the Diet which made Hungarian the predominant language in all types of schools. Education more and more began to manifest the conservative characteristics of the policies of Francis I. There ceased to be interest in the education of the people as a whole because it could result in the social emancipation of the working classes. In the schools discipline was strengthened and religious education was once again given preference over practical education. The church again played an important role in the administration of the school. This was a clear step backward from the original intentions of the reforms which began with Maria Theresa. All of these adjustments were manifested in a new edition of the "ratio educationis" in 1806. In principle, the concept of the state as the highest authority in the administration of education was not abandoned, a view that also allowed the non-Catholic schools to develop rather freely. In �SLOVAKIA 47 this, the tendencies which had been introduced already at the beginning of the period of this study were fulfilled . The already existing framework of Lutheran and Catholic schools was completed as the conditions for their continued activity were established in law. This laid the foundation for the massive growth of literacy and of an educated populace. Even though the Slovak nation did not have anchored in law the right to develop its own national schools, and despite the threat to even the lowest level of schools by the spread of Magyarization, the schools that did exist in Slovakia provided an education for those individuals who would emerge as the Slovak intelligentsia and who created the movement known as "narodne obrodenie," the national revival. FOOTNOTES 1 Vladislav Ru zicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobi neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974); Domokos Kosary, Miivelodes a XVJ/l. sztizadi Magyarorsztigon (Budapest, 1981). This work was also issued in 1987 in an English edition; Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia tlaci vydanych na S/ovensku do roku 1700, Vols. I-II (Martin, 1972, 1984); Richard Rybaric, Dejiny hudobnej kultun; na S/ovensku, I (Bratislava, 1986); Anna Petrova-Pleskotova,Maliarstvo 18. storocia na Slovensku (Bratislava, 1983); Eduard Winter, Friihaufkliirung (Berlin, 1966), See especially the section on Slovakia, pp. 193-213; Jan Misianik, Poh/'ady do starsej slovenskej literatury (Bratislava, 1974); Jozef Minarik, Barokovti literatura. Svetovti, ceskti, s/ovenskti (Bratislava, 1984). A general overview is provided by Anton Spiesz, Slobodne krti/'ovske rnestti na S/ovensku v rokoch 1680-1780 (Kosice, 1983) . Individu al questions are treated by Anton Spiesz, " Der Wiener Hof und die Stadte des Konigreichs Ungarn in den Jahren 1681-1780" pages 83-95 and Stefan Kazimir, S. " Die wirtsch aftliche Entwicklung der Stadte in der Slowakei im 17. and und 18. Jahrhundert" pages 97-106 in Die Stiidte Mitteleuropas im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, volume five in the series Bietrage zur Geschichte der Stadte Mitteleuropas edited by Wilhelm Rausch (Linz, 1981); Marie Mareckova, Frantisek Hejl and Rudolf Fiser, " Die Ostslowakischen Stadte in der Struktur der mitteleuropaischen Handelsverbindungen im 17. Jahrh undert" pages 111-136 in Problems of Continuity and Discon tinuity in History (Prague, 1980). 3 Jan Re zik, and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziol6gia . Dejiny gymntizii na Slovensku. Ed ited by Vladislav Ru zicka (Bratislava, 1971). 2 Viliam Cicaj, Kniznti kultiira na strednom Slovensku v 16.-18. storoci (Bratislava, 1985). s Presovske kolegium v slovenskych dejintich , edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967) . 4 �48 SLOVAKIA For an analysis of his works see Dejiny filozofickeho myslenia na Slovensku 1 (Bratislava, 1987), pp. 104-125. 7 Concerning the works of Izak Caban, a representative of the philosophical doctrine of atomism, see Oejiny filozofickeho myslenia na Slovensku I, pp. 125-136. 6 8 9 A replay of the scene occurred in linguistic bi- and trilingualism, quite common in the cities of Slovakia, and especially in the frequency of the mastery of Latin. Among the 181 newly accepted citizens in Trencfn during the years 1762-1777 there were 74 individuals who knew Latin. The pupils of the lowest classes of the gymnasium normally made up about half of the total number of students. At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were, in the whole of Slovakia, fourteen Jesuit and six Piarist gymnasiums. The Ursuline order opened its school in Bratislava in 1689 and schools in Trnava and Kosice in 1687. The Order of Notre Dame de Namur came to Bratislava in 1747. Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach, edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). See also Pamiatke trnavskej univerzity, 1635-1777 (Trnava, 1935). 11 Branislav Varsik, Narodnostny problem Trnavskej univerzity (Bratislava: 1938). 10 In a complicated political struggle and on the basis of a realistic assessment of the situation in Hungary Pazmany endeavored to secure for the University the protection of the strongest political force in the kingdom, the monarch. The struggle over Jesuit influence upon universities also occurred in Vienna and Prague . See Anton Vantuch, "Zalozenie tmavskej univerzity" in Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach, pp. 47-48 and also his "Trnavska univerzita, sucasny stav badania a ulohy d'alsieho vyskumu" pp 69-80 in Zbornfk Muzea skolstva a pedagogiky na Slovensku (Bratislava, 1986); Josef Haubelt, Ceske osvicenstvi (Prague, 1986), p. 57. 13 Anton Vantuch, "Tmava ako univerzitne mesto," Historicky casopis 21, (1973): 497-529. 12 The question of legal education as a whole was treated in Die juristische Bi/dung in der 5/owakei und Unga rn bis zum Jahre 1848, Acta facultatis juridicae Universitatis Comenianae (Bratislava, 1968). 15 Maria Bokesova-Uherova, Lekarska fakulta trnavskej univerzity, 1770-1777 (Bratislava, 1962). 14 16 Typographia Universitatis Hungaricae Budae, 1777-1848 (Budapest, 1983); Izidor Kotulic, " Vyznam tmavskej univerzity pre rozvoj kultumej slovencin y," pages 69-95 in Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach. 17 Concerning public education see Eva Kowalska, Staine /'udove skolstvo na Slovensku na prelome 18. a 19. storocia (Bratislava, 1987). 1 s The Enlightenment concept of the absolutist state was extensively developed in the works of Joseph von Sonnenfels . The first detailed monograph concern- �SLOVAKIA 19 20 49 ing his life is Helmut Reinalter (Ed .), Joseph van Sonnen/els (Wien, 1988). Ratio educa tionis totiusques rei literariae per Regnum Hungariae et Provincias eidem adnexas (Vindobonae, 1777). A Slovak translation was issued by M. Novacka and Jan Mikles (Bratislava, 1988). The curriculum was enlarged to include such subj ects as moral education and the fundamental p rinciples of agriculture . The attention given to practical subjects was evident in the public schools. 21 The text for geography was w ritten by Matej Bel and was issued several times during th e centu ry . The Piarist order, which took into its hands some of the former Jesuit " gymnasiums" or grammar schools, had considerable experience in teaching practical subj ects. 22 In 1777, in all of the 24 royal free cities in Slovakia, 3,964 pupils from these cities attended the 10 public and secondary Latin schools . In the same cities in 1780 there were 3,564 pupils in the exclusively Catholic public schools organized according to the " Ratio. " A detailed study of Pietism in Slovakia is Jan Oberuc, Math ieu Bel, un pietiste en Slovaqu ie en 18-eme siecle (Strassburg, 1936). The newest collection of essays concerning the life and work of Matej Bel is Matej Bel. Doba-Zivot-Dielo (Bra tislava, 1987) . 4 2 The road the students followed was directed most frequently towards the universities of Wittenberg and Jena and, from the start of the seventeenth century, especially towards Halle . Less or only incidentally visited were the universities at Gottingen, Konigsberg, Leipzig, Thorn and so on . Benefactors of the schools established endowments fo r the benefit of the students which paid part of their study expenses. For more particulars concerning the travels of the students see V. Ru zicka, pp. 194-215. In 1766, the Lutheran gymn asium in Bra tislava had 24,300 florins at its disposal to pay fo r the foreign stud y of its students . Special fo undations were created for students in Tu.bingen, Wittenberg, Leipzig, Jena, Halle and Nuremberg. Archive of the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, 1766, Cone. 541. 2 s F. Kigler took part in the organization of an orphanage in Senec according to the model of the orphanage in H alle and, after the Edict of Toleration, he took part in the discussions between the Protestants and the state school administration on the subject of mixed schools . 23 � 28 SLOVAKIA Learning and Education in Slovakia during the late 17th and 18th centuries EV A KOWALSKA (Translated by David P. Daniel) "Inter arma silent Musae ." (Among arms, the muses are silent). At the dawn of the sixteenth century, Slovakia was at one of the major crossroads of its development. The peasant uprising led by Juraj D6za in 1514 initiated the process of re-feudalization which strengthened manorial relationships in agriculture, the main sphere of economic life. After the battle of Mohacs in 1526 the expanding influence and military might of the Turks made of the southern region of Slovakia, in particular, the scene of military clashes which lasted for nearly one and a half centuries. Another complication was the power struggle between the Habsburgs and the Hungarian nobility which did not end with the successful assertion, by the Habsburgs, of their claims to the Hungarian throne. The resistance of the Hungarian nobility took the form of a rebellion and an insurrection of the estates. It occurred largely on the territory of Slovakia, which, during the time of the Turkish occupation, represented the remnant and nucleus of the Hungarian kingdom. It might seem then, that societal conflicts and both international and domestic struggles for political power would lead to the decline of culture and education in Slovakia, that it inaugurated, in the true sense of the word, ' ' doba temna, '' a time of darkness. However, as the results of the most recent historical research demonstrate, this did not happen .1 On the contrary, Slovakia, and especially its most important cities, remained centers �SLOVAKIA 29 of high culture which was enriched by internal and external influences. The royal free and mining cities represented the most economically significant type of city in which were concentrated manufacture and trade, often oriented towards foreign markets. 2 These cities had at their disposal extensive rights which gave them a certain ability to counter the preponderant influence of the nobility. Although affected by the gradual depletion of the sources of their economic prosperity, their extensive tax obligations and the need to maintain alliances in the war against the Turks, their favored position was strengthened by the integration of the citizenry and their class consciousness and allegiance . One of the fundamental characteristics of municipalities was that they maintained schools for which they possessed the right of patronage. Among the several ambitions of the cities was the desire to establish the highest type of school possible and to employ recognized pedagogues. It is possible that these tendencies fostered the accompanying manifestations of secularization and laicization. Behind these, however, stood the adoption of the Reformation movement which, in a decisive manner, influenced education in Slovakia. Schools became for the Protestant churches the "conditio sine qua non" of their existence and broadened their social influence. This goal was evident among all social strata, even that of the villages. It not only spread among the ranks of the children who completed the various levels of instruction but also changed the attitudes of individual social classes toward the question of the maintenance of schools. Many landlords, moreover, especially from the ranks of the higher nobility, founded and supported schools on their property. 3 On the other hand, church congregations in small towns and villages were also obliged to maintain an appropriate type of school. The spread of the Reformation, together with the development of education, supported the development of book culture in all its aspects - the printing and sale of books, the founding of libraries, and the development of literature. During the sixteenth century several cities became important centers of printing and the book trade. An increasingly greater proportion of the citizenry appears to have had its own extensive libraries. Some individuals built up their collections with an eye toward their professional activities. �30 SLOVAKIA For example, on the basis of information provided by last wills and testaments, we know that twenty-eight libraries with 1,182 volumes existed in the chief mining cities of Banska Bystrica, Banska Stiavnica and Kremnica. The number of libraries in the following era increased sharply. There is evidence available from the seventeenth century that in the 215 libraries of individual citizens in these cities there were 9,173 books. 4 The development of schools in Slovakia, stimulated by the Reformation, was not, however, unambiguous and straightforward. It was marked by two decisive, determining factors : the inauguration and successful completion of re-Catholicization, and the assumption of the supervision of education by the state. The peculiar internal conditions in Slovakia made it possible, in contrast to Bohemia, for a certain number of Protestant churches and schools to function. But, on the whole, the picture of education after the mid-seventeenth century changed dramatically. Using means similar to those employed by the Reformers, who propagated their ideas through school and church, the aggressive reCatholicizers also used, with special effectiveness, military intervention. Its result was the renewal of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and of the network of Catholic schools in Slovakia. The question of the free development of education thus became a slogan and demand of contemporary Protestants who were drawn into the anti-Habsburg revolt of the estates led by Frantisek Rakoczi. The final regulations of the diet which met in Sopron in 1681 limited the number of Protestant schools and churches to two '' articular places" in each county, places specified in the articles approved by the Diet. In 1731, the "Resolutio Carolina" further restricted the Protestants. The few schools which the Protestants were allowed to maintain could only be lower, grammar schools and these could not teach, in their higher grades, the humanities, philosophy or theology . Protestant education was on the defensive and lost the means of free development. Whether Catholic or Protestant, the confessionalization of education brought with it an interior paralyzation both in the area of the content and method of education. Aristotelian scholasticism became a boundary which limited the process of modernization. However, already in the seventeenth century, attempts to over- �SLOVAKIA 31 come these limitations were made, especially in the Protestant schools, by the introduction of new methods of instruction and by the broadening of the content of education. Therefore, the way to the "Resolutio Carolina" was limited, on the one hand, by the contradictory development of Protestant education, and, on the other hand, by the success of the power of the Catholic state and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, previously important Lutheran schools had ceased to exist including those at Krupina, Trencin, Pezinok, and Svaty Jur. Many schools were transformed from gymnasiums (grammar schools) into two or three-class elementary schools, as occurred in Kremnica in 1674 or Banska Stiavnica in 1735. This meant that the rebirth and flowering of Evangelical education had to wait until the last two decades of the eighteenth century. However, many of these schools, despite their difficult fate, continued to play an important role in the history of education in Slovakia and had a vibrant influence upon the creation and development of a Slovak intelligentia. It is necessary to mention, in the first place, the Evangelical college in Presov. 5 This collegium, which never was a true "high school" or university, was active as the highest type of Lutheran school in Hungary only for three short periods, 1667-1672, 1682-1687, and 1704-1711. Its development, curricula and the activities of its individual professors show, however, that it certainly had the ambition to become such an institution. The Latin school in Presov had already reached a high level of instruction, thanks to the rectors Lukas Fabiny, Jan Bocatius, Jakub Jacobaeus, Jan Biihringer, Jan Matthaeides and especially, Jan Bayer. The last mentioned prepared in 1664 a suggestion for the reorganization fo the Latin school in Presov. In it he tried to transform the content and form of instruction in conformity to and as a practical application of the "new philosophy" contained in the works of Francis Bacon.6 His concept of education was that it should emphasize practical knowledge and train a man of action, who would have the ability to discover and rule over nature and his world. Therefore, he emphasized a broad spectrum of philosophical studies which included questions of epistemology, methodology,physics, practical philosophy or ethics, economics and metaphysics. Of equal importance was mathematics, in which, in �32 SLOVAKIA contrast to his contemporaries, he also included the study of its applied forms, that is astronomical mathematics, optics, architecture, and mathematical geography. Bayer's pedagogical plan corresponded with the concepts of Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius) who advocated a broad-based education which went beyond the traditional humanist emphasis upon piety and eloquence, "pietas et eloquentia. " The realization of this plan, however, was probably restricted by the disputes of Bayer with both the town council and the leading nobility. He certainly wished to win their support for the development of the town and church. But he attacked "the greedy rich and unproductive people, who devote themselves neither to work or study but only to shameful idleness." It is no wonder that his uncompromising attitudes earned him the ill-will of the town council, which had already been discussing the building of a new school. In 1665 Bayer was released from his functions as rector. Discussions concerning the establishment a new higher school or college had begun, at the instigation of the Lutheran nobility present, at the synod of Presov. Here, representatives of the Lutheran nobility and the six royal towns of eastern Slovakia decided to abolish the patronage right of the city of Presov over the city school. They then used the city school as the foundation on which would be established a new school under the supervision of the Lutheran church in eastern Slovakia. The agreement about the legal status of the college, the regulations for the supervisors of the school, its professors and students, were approved on 16 April 1667. Instruction began on 18 October of the same year. A plan of instruction was drawn up for ten classes and included theology, dogmatics, polemics and moral theology (ethics), Latin, Greek and Hebrew, law, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, mathematics, geography, and both general and church history. The graduates, therefore, would be able to enter the clerical or secular professions or go on for further advanced study. The road the students took in pursuing further education led normally toward the university of Wittenberg with which the college continuously maintained close contacts. Even the selection of professors for the college was regularly conducted in consultation with Adam Calovius, a professor at Wittenberg. The relatively numerous �SLOVAKIA 33 publications of the professors, especially Elias Ladiver Jr., Jakub Roser and Izak Caban also contributed to the prestige of the school. 7 The founding and activity of the college took place during a time when the influence and pressure of the Counter-Reformation was growing. The Habsburgs, especially Leopold I, had as their goal the building of a strong state. They effectively resisted the pressure of the Ottoman Turks and henceforth played a key role in European politics. The strengthening of the power of the ruler (royal absolutism) brought with it the centralization of the administration of the whole monarchy which sought, by force if necessary, to establish uniformity even in the spiritual sphere. ReCatholicization became a tool in this process. It did not, moreover, extend only to the area of the spiritual life of the population. It was accompanied by a restriction of political and civil rights, the repudiation of ancient privileges, and even military actions as, for example, the so-called Presov massacre of 1673 and the arrest and persecution of Evangelical pastors and teachers in 1674. One's attachment to a specific ideology was a demonstration of loyalty; violations of the same were considered a dangerous act towards one's superiors. As they attempted to consolidate a state strong in every respect, significant support was provided to the Habsburg monarches by the new Counter-Reformation orders of the Jesuits and the Piarists. Both considered education as one of the most important weapons in the struggle against religious opponents. In contrast to the diversity which characterized Lutheran schools, they established a monolithic, detailed, and precisely expounded conception of education and of training in the schools. Their concept did not permit any variations in textbooks, in the interpretation of, or the conclusions drawn from the subject matter. Even though these and other orders, including the Paulinian, Franciscan or Minorite, and Benedictine orders, did not work together directly, thanks to their activity, there developed in Slovakia complete, stable, and relatively widespread system of schools, extending from elementary through secondary or grammar schools to " high schools" (universities). A quality classical education and the possibility of university study with the Jesuits or an education oriented towards the practical with an emphasis on the exact sciences and the native language �34 SLOVAKIA with the Piarists - these became the two kinds of Catholic schools in Slovakia until the time of school reform at the end of the eighteenth century. The academic attraction of these schools was enhanced by the opportunity to study free of charge. The towns with important schools became centers to which students came from far and wide. Ethnic Slovak students predominated at the Jesuit gymnasiums or grammar schools in Trencin, Trnava, and Skalica, and at those of the Piarists in Prievidza and Nitra. In Nitra a boarding school was founded for pupils from the counties of Trencin, Orava, Turiec, Liptov, and Spis. In the urban milieu it became customary to complete at least the lower classes of the Latin school which, to a considerable degree, also served the function of a public elementary school. 8 The principles of the systematic education of girls were established by the Ursulines and the order of Notre Dame de Namur. 9 The most significant contribution of the re-Catholicization of the schools for the development of education in Slovakia was, however, the founding of universities. The first opened in Trnava in 1635 and the second in 1667 in Kosice. 10 Even if they served, in equal measure, all of the peoples of Hungary, they played an extraordinary role in the creation of the national consciousness, language and literature of the Slovaks. 11 The founding of the University at Trnava by Peter Pazmany was the culmination of his extensive organization activity in the field of education. Although the university developed and worked under the administration of the Jesuits, the training of the clergy was not its only goal. Pazmany, although he was originally a member of the Jesuit order, endeavored to secure for the university the direct protection of the sovereign and a partial reduction of the influence of the Jesuits . However, given the conditions in Hungary, he could not count on an effective counterweight to the Jesuits. 12 Trnava was selected as the seat of the university for several reasons. It was not only the site of the already existing boarding school founded by Pazmany, but also had a lower cost of living and a population relatively unaffected by the Reformation. But especially beneficial for the Jesuits was that it was the seat of the cathedral chapter and the residence of the Archbishop of Esztergom. �SLOVAKIA 35 This assured the Jesuits freedom from city taxes and favorable conditions for acquiring real estate. 13 The university opened its doors to students of philosophy and theology on 13 November 1635. Instruction in philosophy included lectures in logic, physics, metaphysics, mathematics, ethics, geometry,astronomy, and natural sciences. For young noblemen, the inclusion of Italian, French, dancing and fencing made the curriculum more attractive. In theology the students studied scholastic theology, dogmatics according to Thomas Aquinas, under the direction of two or three professors. A second main subject was casuistry, the special subject of polemics, canon law, the reading and exposition of the Scriptures and Hebrew. Within the framework of the university was included the "studia humaniora" as the highest grades of the Jesuit college, where preparation in classical Latin reached its apex. Although these grades were actually a part of the gymnasium or grammar school, they were identified as part of the philosophical faculty and designated the language faculty, "facultas linguarum. '' The university survived in this form until 1667. In comparison with other universities it was not complete. It lacked a faculty of law and of medicine. Until the second half of the seventeenth century the teaching of law at the university was limited to canon and Roman civil law. During this time "domestic" or statutory law had no place in the curriculum. It is not surprising that, given the social conditions of the early seventeenth century, a time of political uncertainty and economic decline, there was no support for, or widespread interest in, the study of this limited branch of law either among the Hungarian nobility or the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The steady growth of the various levels of bureaucratic administration soon made evident, however, the necessity of specialized legal training. The Archbishops of Esztergom, Juraj Lippay and Imrich Losy, who were generous benefactors of the university, founded and supported a new faculty of law. This "delay" in opening a faculty of law to 2 January 1667 made it possible for that faculty to avoid teaching in this subject the contemporary trends which supported the interest and power of the state. These interests were shifted to the study of Roman law, the scope of which was expanded, and to the new subject of "domestic" or statutory law. �36 SLOVAKIA Even though, from the very beginning, the new faculty lectured on canon, Roman and Hungarian law, it is necessary to see the close connection between domestic and broader contemporary currents of thought. Instruction in the faculty was divided into four areas: Roman, canon, Hungarian civil and property law, and Hungarian civil procedural law. The range of statutory law soon was enlarged to encompass further disciplines, for example, criminal law. In this, Trnava surpassed many foreign universities. 14 The university functioned with these three faculties until 1769. At its head stood a Rector, the first of whom was Juraj Dobronoki . He was assisted by a Chancellor whose task was to organize disputes and public presentations, to decide about the bestowal of academic degrees and he also served as the book censor. The work of the faculties was directed by individual deans. The composition of the teaching faculty was affected by the international character of the Jesuit order. There was a large number of foreigners, especially Germans and Italians on the faculty; but the highest proportion were Slavs: Croats, Slovenes, Poles, and Czechs, but Slovaks and Magyars predominated. No other important changes occurred in the organization of the university until 1735-1744, the beginning of the second century of its existence. That these were anticipated earlier is indicated by a decree of the Provincial of the Jesuit order which prohibited lectures on new philosophical theories, especially those of Descartes and Leibnitz. From 1735 on, however, new subjects of instruction were introduced. The most characteristic Jesuit discipline, casuistry, was transformed into the teaching of moral and pastoral theology. Church history, until then largely disregarded, was introduced largely within the study of rhetoric. Instruction in mathematics, astronomy, and geometry was entrusted to three separate professors. Also introduced was instruction in geography and in the "living" languages of Hungarian and German. A decisive turning point, the first step in the process of the "nationalization" or secularization of the university, and " de facto ", of the whole school system in Hungary, occurred in 1753. In the previous year, the University of Vienna was reorganized and nationalized and this example was immediately followed by all other universities in the monarchy. In Trnava, however, it did not lead �SLOVAKIA 37 to total state control of the faculty but did substantially alter the pattern of instruction. Study in the philosophical faculty was reduced to two years and the number of professors reduced to three, one each for logic and metaphysics, physics and ethics, and mathematics. It also changed the method of obtaining academic degrees. Public, formal disputes were replaced by difficult tests and the title of Master of Philosophy was abolished. Professors had to prepare texts for their own subjects in order to end the practice of dictating subject matter and to improve the level of instruction. Thanks to these changes, during the course of the next few years, the professors at Trnava published many texts . Moreover, in 1756 an astronomical observatory, designed by Maximilian Hell, was opened and equipped with the most modern instruments. The introduction of modern science and thought was anticipated in the work of Martin Szentivany (1633-1705) as rector of the university. In his extensive work, ''Miscellanea scientiarum'' he expressly employed a combination of empiricism and logic to support a differentiation among the competence of theology, metaphysics and natural philosophy. After the rectorship of Szentivany, during the course of the next several decades, both Cartesian and Newtonian mechanics were used for the exposition of natural phenomena as, for example, in the text book "Statica" published in 1740 by Michal Lipsciz. Others, among them Adanyi, Jaslinsky, Revicky, Ivancic, Mako and Radie, whose textbooks were issued after 1753, did not consider it necessary even to mention the differences between Newton and Descartes. In epistemology, theological presuppositions were consistently ignored and a distinction was clearly made between the problems of philosophy and those of physics. Copernicus and Newton became the fundamental authorities for interpreting the natural world. At the university experiments were used both in the instructional process and for individual scientific work, especially in astronomy. The well-equipped observatory guaranteed precise measurements. Professor F. Weiss and his assistant, J. Sajnovic and F. Taucher, issued the results of their observations in their own journal, '' Observationes astronomicae. '' In the observatory there was also a chemical laboratory and a physics collection. The physics �38 SLOVAKIA textbook of Jan Baptist Horvath in 1767 was issued in several domestic and foreign editions. A change as significant as that experienced by the philosophical faculty during the mid-eighteenth century also occurred in the faculty of law. Law faculties in the whole monarchy had to become active assistants in carrying through the political and national goals of the dynasty. Therefore, on 3 November 1760, Maria Theresa issued an order that the law faculty at Trnava had to teach those subjects which were related to the administration of the state. Most important was natural law, the principles of which could be employed to strengthen absolutism. In 1770 political science and international law were added to the curriculum. Martini, Justi and Sonnenfels were employed as the main authorities, as in the Austrian part of the monarchy. The process of extending state control over the university culminated on 11 November 1769 when Maria Theresa issued regulations which placed the university under her special protection . The administration of the faculty was entrusted, as in Vienna, to appointed directors. A second result of these regulations was the creation of a faculty of medicine. 15 This step was not only an immediate reaction to the acute lack of physicians in Hungary, but also contributed to the high technical level of education. In Hungary this trend had already emerg_ed in 1762 in the organization of the mining academy in Banska Stiavnica and, in the following year, in the "Collegium oeconomicum" in Senec which was a technical school for preparing officials for state and commerce . The distribution and number of professors in medicine, five in number, approached European standards . The high quality of the faculty was underscored by the work of the well-known specialists Josef Plenck in the chair of surgery, Jakub Winterl in botany and chemistry, and Adam Trnka in anatomy. All were disciples of Gerhard van Swieten. To an equal degree the faculty contributed to the formation of public hygiene by training midwives and pharmacists as well as doctors. The cultural importance of the university was not limited to the preparation of specialists in various areas of study. While the intellectual life of the Slovak nation was not confined to Trnava during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the contributions �SLOVAKIA 39 that the university made to it were considerable. The University contributed to the formation of written Slovak, the ideology of the Slovak nation and to the strengthening of Slovak national consciousness. These processes were connected with the work of the professors who, as in the historical works of Szentivany and Samuel Timon, contributed to the building up of a historical consciousness as an important component of the national ideological program. An important role was played, moreover, by the university press which helped to develop norms for the Slovak language. 16 In the years 1648-1779 it published more than three million volumes of 4,915 titles of which 257 titles were in Slovak. Slovak editors gave the Slovak language a cultivated form which, already at this time, differed from that used by the Slovak Lutherans. It was spread among the people of Slovakia through its use in official orders and especially for religious literature. It played both a communicative and a unifying role. This written Slovak codified the western Slovak cultural language. Through polemical literature and multi-language dictionaries used in both Catholic and Lutheran schools it also influenced the language used by the Lutherans. The importance of the press grew even more after all the Catholic schools were taken over by the state in 1773 and by the school reform of 1777, the "Ratio educationis." The university press was oriented toward the publication of textbooks . In the years 1773 to 1783 alone 89,450 books used in the primary public schools were published . Of these nearly half or 41,950 volumes were editions of the eight Slovak titles published. The reform of the university of Trnava and the formation of higher technical schools anticipated the process of the nationalization of the whole school system which culminated during the 1770s. The suppression of the Jesuit order also signified a fundamental turning point in the realization of the plan of school reform. An essential difference, in contrast to the past, was the strict division between the elementary level and the middle level of education by a more precise definition of their scope and relationship. Expressly employed was the concept of the utility of education. It was manifested in the content of instruction and in the preferential treatment accorded the technical and public primary schools at the expense of the middle schools . In general, for the first time, attention was given to the education of apprentices and girls and �40 SLOVAKIA to the determination of the content of elementary instruction . Academies were established with similar goals. They rounded out the system of schools in Hungary and provided professional training for those who had completed their studies at a gymnasium or grammar school. This included, naturally, the preparation of teachers who would serve in the public schools, including primary schools. 17 This utilitarian attitude corresponded to the Enlightenment conception of the state and the organization of society. 18 The physiocrats viewed the working classes as the primary component of the population which created the major part of the wealth of the state. They were, however, assigned a passive role. They had to be instruments in the hands of the well-organized state. In the spirit of the Enlightenment, the main goal of the state was to secure the "public good." It was to provide its population with appropriate conditions which would enable the population to fulfill its function . This required, of course, at least a fundamental education. The population had to be prepared to function as future "citizens" and, at the same time, to know what they could expect from the state. The state considered, therefore, that it had the responsibility, to a certain degree, of "enlightenment," that is, to provide its population with an understanding of citizenship. In this, the schools were considered as important an agency as religion. Here it is possible to see the beginning of the process of emancipation in which the schools gradually were freed from their subordination to the church. This Enlightenment tendency was, however, within a short time, slowed down by a renewed strengthening of the position of the church vis-a-vis the school. The assumption of the supervision of schools by the state can be considered as an essential characteristic of Enlightenment education . The beginning of this process was characterized by an encroachment into the organizational structure of education in the form of the general approval of school orders. In the Austrian part of the monarchy they were prepared for individual types of schools . In Hungary, this was attempted as a whole in the form of the "Ratio educationis" of 1777. 19 The " Ratio educationis" contained all of the main principles of the Enlightenment understanding of education. Its authors, �SLOVAKIA 41 among them the Slovak Adam Frantisek Kollar, extended the task of schools to the building up of the citizenry in society. In harmony with this, ideas conforming to the theory of natural law were presented, on the one hand, with a demand for the extension of education to all social classes and, on the other, with a conscious intent to overcome social, national (ethnic) and confessional barriers. The Ratio implemented the principles of the hierarchy of schools and their administration. The new extent and intent was broader in comparison to the previous situation 20 and emphasized the formational aspect of education. The school administration took care to establish prescribed curricula, methods and textbooks for all school. This task was relatively easy in "gymnasium" or "grammar" schools where there were enough texts and teachers. 21 However, a great number of complex problems had to be resolved in the case of the public school. It required the preparation of a sufficient number of textbooks and educated teachers . Good material conditions for the schools and teachers were an essential condition for the success of the whole reform program, which, after 1777, began a difficult process of extending the network of public schools. It found a relatively good response in the towns where the number of pupils increased rapidly. 2 2 The attempt to establish a sovereign model for education and the introduction of specific curricula for the various types of schools also affected non-Catholic schools. Within Hungary and its adjacent territories the Lutherans and the Reformed had the right to maintain their own schools. This was not, however, based on the principles of toleration. The Protestant schools were able to function only as a result of complex conflicts with the Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy and struggles with the secular power and then, only to a limited degree. If the principles of education advocated by the state were to be implemented by the power of the state it was unavoidable that this would lead to conflict with non-Catholics. It was necessary, therefore, to prepare such a model of education which would enable the approval of the principle of toleration. This was, after all, in the interest of the state. The Lutheran schools in Slovakia were not unaffected by the spreading influence of the Enlightenment. On the contrary, Pietism, of which Matej Bel was one of the chief representatives, was ex- �42 SLOVAKIA pressly manifested in several middle schools in Slovakia, especially in Banska Bystrica and Bratislava. 23 The findings of the new science, including pedagogy, spread into Slovakia especially through the number of students who studied abroad. 24 Although the ''Resolutio Carolina" did not allow for an increase in the number of Lutheran schools or changes in their character, their teachers attempted to include such subjects in their program of instruction which went beyond those allowed by the state . Despite this, non-Catholic schools during the late eighteenth century were characterized by stagnation. This was the result of the social situation of the nonCatholic population, of the possibilities allowed them and the insufficiency of the necessary means for maintaining a high level of instruction in their existing schools. The schools were transitional places for teachers, many of whom were waiting for a clerical position. Because of this situation, reforms in non-Catholic education were also anticipated in accordance with the goals of the state. One indication of this was the demand for fundamental reforms of elementary education by Gabriel Balasovic in 1749 and the plan for the reform of the middle schools by Juraj Fabry in 1773. The prospects for a general, wide-spread reform of the schools, however, were not great. In contrast to Catholic schools, the Lutheran schools lacked a single supervisory organ which could guarantee a unified administration and the introduction of reform measures. In Slovakia, only in Gerner did the seniorat, or Lutheran pastoral conference, establish an organization of teachers, the "Bratstvo rektorov", in 1741, which considered questions concerning the work of the schools. In such conditions, the issuance of the "Ratio educationis" was a definite milestone also in the development of Lutheran education in Slovakia as well in the whole of Hungary. The chief difference from the earlier situation was that the question of non-Catholic schools was removed from the jurisdiction of a religious commission. For the first time the "Ratio" proclaimed the assumption by the state of the supervision of education without considerations of confessional allegiance. The non-Catholic schools had to follow the direction of the regional school districts even though the rectors and teachers were installed by the local church �SLOVAKIA 43 congregation. The school districts resolved problems in the schools with the exception that they could not interfere in religious questions. Approved textbooks were issued for "secular subjects" which had to be acceptable to all the confessions since non-Catholic students could study at all types of schools. It is understandable, however, that since legal toleration was not yet firmly anchored or legally established - the Edict of Toleration would not be issued until nearly five years later - these attempts at implementing the above mentioned principles of educational reform had to meet with a lack of confidence. In individual cases, Lutheran middle schools worked together with the direction of specific school districts, especially in Bratislava, thanks to a leading representative of Enlightenment thought in Hungary, Frantisek Balassa. The administration of the Lutheran and Reformed churches as a whole, however, shortly after the issuance of the "Ratio", opposed the attempts of the state to extend its jurisdiction over education . More important changes, which could be traced back directly to the "Ratio" were realized during the reign of Joseph II (1780-90), when several tendencies, which were only briefly touched upon in the "ratio" were more fully expounded and implemented. The ear of Joseph II was characterized, in the area of education, by a growing centralization and unifying of school organization. In the field of education his reforms not only effected a necessary broadening of the scope of education as, for example, in devoting particular attention to the public schools, but also emphasized practical matters as can be seen in the support of practical schooling and the restrictions placed upon university study. The most important change in the school system, however, was the resolution of the relationship between church and state in religious questions. With regard to the Catholic church there was established the principle of the subordination of the church to the state. The evidence for this was the foundation of state seminaries for preparing clergy,the abolition both of theological studies within individual orders and of the responsibility of students to participate in the religious ceremonies or life in the schools. A further, very important, change in the development of schools was the issuance of the Edict of Toleration in 1781. Its greatest significance was in the field of primary education where �44 SLOVAKIA it changed the manner of educating non-Catholic children. According to its provisions non-Catholics could establish their own schools in places where there lived at least 100 families and 500 individual non-Catholics. However, the curriculum of the schools thus established had to conform to written regulations, and the population had to provide significant financial support. In addition, the possibility of state control, the economic conditions of the towns and villages and the resources which the highest level of schools required made it advantageous to establish mixed schools . The idea of the so-called mixed schools, attended by both Catholic and Protestant children was worked out by Gottfried van Swieten, the leader of school policy under Joseph II. It was first implemented on the school district of Bratislava, in Svaty Jur and in the village of Neded. Ferdinand Kigler, 25 a co-worker of J.I. Felbiger, also worked to establish mixed schools more widely throughout the country. The pupils in these schools were separated according to their knowledge and not according to their religious confession. Each confession had to employ its own teachers who taught each class as a whole. Religion was taught only by the cantor or catechist in individual congregations. Whereas in the "confessional" schools the clergy had supervisory responsibilities, this was denied them in the so-called "mixed" schools, which were under lay supervisors, one of whom had to be Catholic, another Lutheran. Another important provision concerned the preparation of textbooks from which all that was not acceptable to non-Catholics had to be removed. About seventy mixed schools developed in Slovakia during the 1789s in, for example, Brezno, Krupina, Pukanec, and Svaty Jur. State schools and, in the first place primary schools, required high financial burdens for the whole population. These were borne not only by local treasuries but also directly by the parents of the pupils and students who had to pay school taxes. Several cities, among them Bardejov, Krupina, Skalka, and Pezinok, felt injured by the abolition of their Latin schools. The question of " Germanization" also negatively influenced the attitudes of the population. Although the use of German, in the view of the state, was an effective instrument for communicating with the whole population, the attempt to mandate its use led to dissatisfaction and did not �SLOVAKIA 45 conform to actual local situations. Instruction in the German language was mandated even in villages where the peasant population had no interest in or need for it. While in the villages, at least, it was not possible to enforce this provision, because of local circumstances, it eventually was implemented in the case of most of the middle and higher schools. However, this "Germanization" also created opposition to the Josephine reforms. During the 1780s, while this opposition was suppressed by the supporters of reform, after the death of Joseph II the system of state schools was nearly abolished. The main cause of this development might be seen, in general, in the determined opposition of the Hungarian nobility towards unifying the supervision and administration of both the schools and education. The leading initiators of this opposition were the counties which, already before the death of Joseph II, had opened a campaign against his measures. At a meeting of the counties in 1790 a whole list of grievances was prepared, several of which touched upon the question of the schools and education. A series of pamphlets also appeared attacking state control of education. In these, the chief cause of dissatisfaction was the question of language instruction. Equally important, in light of later developments, were suggestions concerning the organization of schools. The supervision of the schools should be returned to the clergy. The school commission which, under the reforms of Joseph, was responsible for administration, should be confined to advisory functions. This would mean that the Josephine system of school administration, as a whole, would have to be abolished. The highest circles at court and representatives of the school administration defended the view that education was within the purview of the ruler. Only slowly did the counties gain an influence in its supervision. Another important factor in the disintegration of the Josephine school system was the twenty-sixth article of 1791. This called upon non-Catholics to establish, with the consent of the ruler, different types of schools which would no longer be under the direction of the local school districts . The non-Catholic population naturally welcomed this possibility. In many villages and towns independent Lutheran schools were founded. Lutheran schools in Slovakia, �46 SLOVAKIA thanks to this article, thus obtained the possibility of their own free development. A whole series of Lutheran schools reached a high level which rivaled that of the royal academies. Especially significant among these were the Evangelical lycea in Bratislava, Kezmarok, Levoca, Banska Stiavnica, Presov and Modra at which studied a large number of the members of the Slovak Lutheran intelligentsia. Despite all of the conflicting tendencies in the development of education after the year 1790, the nucleus of the school system erected in the spirit of the Enlightenment was preserved. It did not lack, moreover, forward-thinking individuals who sought to strengthen it. The possibility to achieve this was improved by the creation of a commission for schools by the Diet, the "deputation regnicolaris litteraria", which prepared new editions of both school and curricular orders for Hungary. In the area of public schools attention was given to the improvement of technical education while in the area of higher education a plan was considered to make a distinction in specialized training and discussed the question of the differences between the universities and the academies. The new reforms suggested, however, were not realized because of internal political conditions. The estates were satisfied with a formal return to the conditions which existed before the year 1780. The most significant gain was reflected especially in the language regulations of the Diet which made Hungarian the predominant language in all types of schools. Education more and more began to manifest the conservative characteristics of the policies of Francis I. There ceased to be interest in the education of the people as a whole because it could result in the social emancipation of the working classes. In the schools discipline was strengthened and religious education was once again given preference over practical education. The church again played an important role in the administration of the school. This was a clear step backward from the original intentions of the reforms which began with Maria Theresa. All of these adjustments were manifested in a new edition of the "ratio educationis" in 1806. In principle, the concept of the state as the highest authority in the administration of education was not abandoned, a view that also allowed the non-Catholic schools to develop rather freely. In �SLOVAKIA 47 this, the tendencies which had been introduced already at the beginning of the period of this study were fulfilled . The already existing framework of Lutheran and Catholic schools was completed as the conditions for their continued activity were established in law. This laid the foundation for the massive growth of literacy and of an educated populace. Even though the Slovak nation did not have anchored in law the right to develop its own national schools, and despite the threat to even the lowest level of schools by the spread of Magyarization, the schools that did exist in Slovakia provided an education for those individuals who would emerge as the Slovak intelligentsia and who created the movement known as "narodne obrodenie," the national revival. FOOTNOTES 1 Vladislav Ru zicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobi neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974); Domokos Kosary, Miivelodes a XVJ/l. sztizadi Magyarorsztigon (Budapest, 1981). This work was also issued in 1987 in an English edition; Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia tlaci vydanych na S/ovensku do roku 1700, Vols. I-II (Martin, 1972, 1984); Richard Rybaric, Dejiny hudobnej kultun; na S/ovensku, I (Bratislava, 1986); Anna Petrova-Pleskotova,Maliarstvo 18. storocia na Slovensku (Bratislava, 1983); Eduard Winter, Friihaufkliirung (Berlin, 1966), See especially the section on Slovakia, pp. 193-213; Jan Misianik, Poh/'ady do starsej slovenskej literatury (Bratislava, 1974); Jozef Minarik, Barokovti literatura. Svetovti, ceskti, s/ovenskti (Bratislava, 1984). A general overview is provided by Anton Spiesz, Slobodne krti/'ovske rnestti na S/ovensku v rokoch 1680-1780 (Kosice, 1983) . Individu al questions are treated by Anton Spiesz, " Der Wiener Hof und die Stadte des Konigreichs Ungarn in den Jahren 1681-1780" pages 83-95 and Stefan Kazimir, S. " Die wirtsch aftliche Entwicklung der Stadte in der Slowakei im 17. and und 18. Jahrhundert" pages 97-106 in Die Stiidte Mitteleuropas im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, volume five in the series Bietrage zur Geschichte der Stadte Mitteleuropas edited by Wilhelm Rausch (Linz, 1981); Marie Mareckova, Frantisek Hejl and Rudolf Fiser, " Die Ostslowakischen Stadte in der Struktur der mitteleuropaischen Handelsverbindungen im 17. Jahrh undert" pages 111-136 in Problems of Continuity and Discon tinuity in History (Prague, 1980). 3 Jan Re zik, and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziol6gia . Dejiny gymntizii na Slovensku. Ed ited by Vladislav Ru zicka (Bratislava, 1971). 2 Viliam Cicaj, Kniznti kultiira na strednom Slovensku v 16.-18. storoci (Bratislava, 1985). s Presovske kolegium v slovenskych dejintich , edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967) . 4 �48 SLOVAKIA For an analysis of his works see Dejiny filozofickeho myslenia na Slovensku 1 (Bratislava, 1987), pp. 104-125. 7 Concerning the works of Izak Caban, a representative of the philosophical doctrine of atomism, see Oejiny filozofickeho myslenia na Slovensku I, pp. 125-136. 6 8 9 A replay of the scene occurred in linguistic bi- and trilingualism, quite common in the cities of Slovakia, and especially in the frequency of the mastery of Latin. Among the 181 newly accepted citizens in Trencfn during the years 1762-1777 there were 74 individuals who knew Latin. The pupils of the lowest classes of the gymnasium normally made up about half of the total number of students. At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were, in the whole of Slovakia, fourteen Jesuit and six Piarist gymnasiums. The Ursuline order opened its school in Bratislava in 1689 and schools in Trnava and Kosice in 1687. The Order of Notre Dame de Namur came to Bratislava in 1747. Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach, edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). See also Pamiatke trnavskej univerzity, 1635-1777 (Trnava, 1935). 11 Branislav Varsik, Narodnostny problem Trnavskej univerzity (Bratislava: 1938). 10 In a complicated political struggle and on the basis of a realistic assessment of the situation in Hungary Pazmany endeavored to secure for the University the protection of the strongest political force in the kingdom, the monarch. The struggle over Jesuit influence upon universities also occurred in Vienna and Prague . See Anton Vantuch, "Zalozenie tmavskej univerzity" in Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach, pp. 47-48 and also his "Trnavska univerzita, sucasny stav badania a ulohy d'alsieho vyskumu" pp 69-80 in Zbornfk Muzea skolstva a pedagogiky na Slovensku (Bratislava, 1986); Josef Haubelt, Ceske osvicenstvi (Prague, 1986), p. 57. 13 Anton Vantuch, "Tmava ako univerzitne mesto," Historicky casopis 21, (1973): 497-529. 12 The question of legal education as a whole was treated in Die juristische Bi/dung in der 5/owakei und Unga rn bis zum Jahre 1848, Acta facultatis juridicae Universitatis Comenianae (Bratislava, 1968). 15 Maria Bokesova-Uherova, Lekarska fakulta trnavskej univerzity, 1770-1777 (Bratislava, 1962). 14 16 Typographia Universitatis Hungaricae Budae, 1777-1848 (Budapest, 1983); Izidor Kotulic, " Vyznam tmavskej univerzity pre rozvoj kultumej slovencin y," pages 69-95 in Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach. 17 Concerning public education see Eva Kowalska, Staine /'udove skolstvo na Slovensku na prelome 18. a 19. storocia (Bratislava, 1987). 1 s The Enlightenment concept of the absolutist state was extensively developed in the works of Joseph von Sonnenfels . The first detailed monograph concern- �SLOVAKIA 19 20 49 ing his life is Helmut Reinalter (Ed .), Joseph van Sonnen/els (Wien, 1988). Ratio educa tionis totiusques rei literariae per Regnum Hungariae et Provincias eidem adnexas (Vindobonae, 1777). A Slovak translation was issued by M. Novacka and Jan Mikles (Bratislava, 1988). The curriculum was enlarged to include such subj ects as moral education and the fundamental p rinciples of agriculture . The attention given to practical subjects was evident in the public schools. 21 The text for geography was w ritten by Matej Bel and was issued several times during th e centu ry . The Piarist order, which took into its hands some of the former Jesuit " gymnasiums" or grammar schools, had considerable experience in teaching practical subj ects. 22 In 1777, in all of the 24 royal free cities in Slovakia, 3,964 pupils from these cities attended the 10 public and secondary Latin schools . In the same cities in 1780 there were 3,564 pupils in the exclusively Catholic public schools organized according to the " Ratio. " A detailed study of Pietism in Slovakia is Jan Oberuc, Math ieu Bel, un pietiste en Slovaqu ie en 18-eme siecle (Strassburg, 1936). The newest collection of essays concerning the life and work of Matej Bel is Matej Bel. Doba-Zivot-Dielo (Bra tislava, 1987) . 4 2 The road the students followed was directed most frequently towards the universities of Wittenberg and Jena and, from the start of the seventeenth century, especially towards Halle . Less or only incidentally visited were the universities at Gottingen, Konigsberg, Leipzig, Thorn and so on . Benefactors of the schools established endowments fo r the benefit of the students which paid part of their study expenses. For more particulars concerning the travels of the students see V. Ru zicka, pp. 194-215. In 1766, the Lutheran gymn asium in Bra tislava had 24,300 florins at its disposal to pay fo r the foreign stud y of its students . Special fo undations were created for students in Tu.bingen, Wittenberg, Leipzig, Jena, Halle and Nuremberg. Archive of the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, 1766, Cone. 541. 2 s F. Kigler took part in the organization of an orphanage in Senec according to the model of the orphanage in H alle and, after the Edict of Toleration, he took part in the discussions between the Protestants and the state school administration on the subject of mixed schools . 23 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1989-90, Vol. 34 Description An account of the resource Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90. 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 1989-90 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 28 SLOVAKIA Learning and Education in Slovakia during the late 17th and 18th centuries EV A KOWALSKA (Translated by David P. Daniel) "Inter arma silent Musae ." (Among arms, the muses are silent). At the dawn of the sixteenth century, Slovakia was at one of the major crossroads of its development. The peasant uprising led by Juraj D6za in 1514 initiated the process of re-feudalization which strengthened manorial relationships in agriculture, the main sphere of economic life. After the battle of Mohacs in 1526 the expanding influence and military might of the Turks made of the southern region of Slovakia, in particular, the scene of military clashes which lasted for nearly one and a half centuries. Another complication was the power struggle between the Habsburgs and the Hungarian nobility which did not end with the successful assertion, by the Habsburgs, of their claims to the Hungarian throne. The resistance of the Hungarian nobility took the form of a rebellion and an insurrection of the estates. It occurred largely on the territory of Slovakia, which, during the time of the Turkish occupation, represented the remnant and nucleus of the Hungarian kingdom. It might seem then, that societal conflicts and both international and domestic struggles for political power would lead to the decline of culture and education in Slovakia, that it inaugurated, in the true sense of the word, ' ' doba temna, '' a time of darkness. However, as the results of the most recent historical research demonstrate, this did not happen .1 On the contrary, Slovakia, and especially its most important cities, remained centers SLOVAKIA 29 of high culture which was enriched by internal and external influences. The royal free and mining cities represented the most economically significant type of city in which were concentrated manufacture and trade, often oriented towards foreign markets. 2 These cities had at their disposal extensive rights which gave them a certain ability to counter the preponderant influence of the nobility. Although affected by the gradual depletion of the sources of their economic prosperity, their extensive tax obligations and the need to maintain alliances in the war against the Turks, their favored position was strengthened by the integration of the citizenry and their class consciousness and allegiance . One of the fundamental characteristics of municipalities was that they maintained schools for which they possessed the right of patronage. Among the several ambitions of the cities was the desire to establish the highest type of school possible and to employ recognized pedagogues. It is possible that these tendencies fostered the accompanying manifestations of secularization and laicization. Behind these, however, stood the adoption of the Reformation movement which, in a decisive manner, influenced education in Slovakia. Schools became for the Protestant churches the "conditio sine qua non" of their existence and broadened their social influence. This goal was evident among all social strata, even that of the villages. It not only spread among the ranks of the children who completed the various levels of instruction but also changed the attitudes of individual social classes toward the question of the maintenance of schools. Many landlords, moreover, especially from the ranks of the higher nobility, founded and supported schools on their property. 3 On the other hand, church congregations in small towns and villages were also obliged to maintain an appropriate type of school. The spread of the Reformation, together with the development of education, supported the development of book culture in all its aspects - the printing and sale of books, the founding of libraries, and the development of literature. During the sixteenth century several cities became important centers of printing and the book trade. An increasingly greater proportion of the citizenry appears to have had its own extensive libraries. Some individuals built up their collections with an eye toward their professional activities. 30 SLOVAKIA For example, on the basis of information provided by last wills and testaments, we know that twenty-eight libraries with 1,182 volumes existed in the chief mining cities of Banska Bystrica, Banska Stiavnica and Kremnica. The number of libraries in the following era increased sharply. There is evidence available from the seventeenth century that in the 215 libraries of individual citizens in these cities there were 9,173 books. 4 The development of schools in Slovakia, stimulated by the Reformation, was not, however, unambiguous and straightforward. It was marked by two decisive, determining factors : the inauguration and successful completion of re-Catholicization, and the assumption of the supervision of education by the state. The peculiar internal conditions in Slovakia made it possible, in contrast to Bohemia, for a certain number of Protestant churches and schools to function. But, on the whole, the picture of education after the mid-seventeenth century changed dramatically. Using means similar to those employed by the Reformers, who propagated their ideas through school and church, the aggressive reCatholicizers also used, with special effectiveness, military intervention. Its result was the renewal of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and of the network of Catholic schools in Slovakia. The question of the free development of education thus became a slogan and demand of contemporary Protestants who were drawn into the anti-Habsburg revolt of the estates led by Frantisek Rakoczi. The final regulations of the diet which met in Sopron in 1681 limited the number of Protestant schools and churches to two '' articular places" in each county, places specified in the articles approved by the Diet. In 1731, the "Resolutio Carolina" further restricted the Protestants. The few schools which the Protestants were allowed to maintain could only be lower, grammar schools and these could not teach, in their higher grades, the humanities, philosophy or theology . Protestant education was on the defensive and lost the means of free development. Whether Catholic or Protestant, the confessionalization of education brought with it an interior paralyzation both in the area of the content and method of education. Aristotelian scholasticism became a boundary which limited the process of modernization. However, already in the seventeenth century, attempts to over- SLOVAKIA 31 come these limitations were made, especially in the Protestant schools, by the introduction of new methods of instruction and by the broadening of the content of education. Therefore, the way to the "Resolutio Carolina" was limited, on the one hand, by the contradictory development of Protestant education, and, on the other hand, by the success of the power of the Catholic state and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, previously important Lutheran schools had ceased to exist including those at Krupina, Trencin, Pezinok, and Svaty Jur. Many schools were transformed from gymnasiums (grammar schools) into two or three-class elementary schools, as occurred in Kremnica in 1674 or Banska Stiavnica in 1735. This meant that the rebirth and flowering of Evangelical education had to wait until the last two decades of the eighteenth century. However, many of these schools, despite their difficult fate, continued to play an important role in the history of education in Slovakia and had a vibrant influence upon the creation and development of a Slovak intelligentia. It is necessary to mention, in the first place, the Evangelical college in Presov. 5 This collegium, which never was a true "high school" or university, was active as the highest type of Lutheran school in Hungary only for three short periods, 1667-1672, 1682-1687, and 1704-1711. Its development, curricula and the activities of its individual professors show, however, that it certainly had the ambition to become such an institution. The Latin school in Presov had already reached a high level of instruction, thanks to the rectors Lukas Fabiny, Jan Bocatius, Jakub Jacobaeus, Jan Biihringer, Jan Matthaeides and especially, Jan Bayer. The last mentioned prepared in 1664 a suggestion for the reorganization fo the Latin school in Presov. In it he tried to transform the content and form of instruction in conformity to and as a practical application of the "new philosophy" contained in the works of Francis Bacon.6 His concept of education was that it should emphasize practical knowledge and train a man of action, who would have the ability to discover and rule over nature and his world. Therefore, he emphasized a broad spectrum of philosophical studies which included questions of epistemology, methodology,physics, practical philosophy or ethics, economics and metaphysics. Of equal importance was mathematics, in which, in 32 SLOVAKIA contrast to his contemporaries, he also included the study of its applied forms, that is astronomical mathematics, optics, architecture, and mathematical geography. Bayer's pedagogical plan corresponded with the concepts of Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius) who advocated a broad-based education which went beyond the traditional humanist emphasis upon piety and eloquence, "pietas et eloquentia. " The realization of this plan, however, was probably restricted by the disputes of Bayer with both the town council and the leading nobility. He certainly wished to win their support for the development of the town and church. But he attacked "the greedy rich and unproductive people, who devote themselves neither to work or study but only to shameful idleness." It is no wonder that his uncompromising attitudes earned him the ill-will of the town council, which had already been discussing the building of a new school. In 1665 Bayer was released from his functions as rector. Discussions concerning the establishment a new higher school or college had begun, at the instigation of the Lutheran nobility present, at the synod of Presov. Here, representatives of the Lutheran nobility and the six royal towns of eastern Slovakia decided to abolish the patronage right of the city of Presov over the city school. They then used the city school as the foundation on which would be established a new school under the supervision of the Lutheran church in eastern Slovakia. The agreement about the legal status of the college, the regulations for the supervisors of the school, its professors and students, were approved on 16 April 1667. Instruction began on 18 October of the same year. A plan of instruction was drawn up for ten classes and included theology, dogmatics, polemics and moral theology (ethics), Latin, Greek and Hebrew, law, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, mathematics, geography, and both general and church history. The graduates, therefore, would be able to enter the clerical or secular professions or go on for further advanced study. The road the students took in pursuing further education led normally toward the university of Wittenberg with which the college continuously maintained close contacts. Even the selection of professors for the college was regularly conducted in consultation with Adam Calovius, a professor at Wittenberg. The relatively numerous SLOVAKIA 33 publications of the professors, especially Elias Ladiver Jr., Jakub Roser and Izak Caban also contributed to the prestige of the school. 7 The founding and activity of the college took place during a time when the influence and pressure of the Counter-Reformation was growing. The Habsburgs, especially Leopold I, had as their goal the building of a strong state. They effectively resisted the pressure of the Ottoman Turks and henceforth played a key role in European politics. The strengthening of the power of the ruler (royal absolutism) brought with it the centralization of the administration of the whole monarchy which sought, by force if necessary, to establish uniformity even in the spiritual sphere. ReCatholicization became a tool in this process. It did not, moreover, extend only to the area of the spiritual life of the population. It was accompanied by a restriction of political and civil rights, the repudiation of ancient privileges, and even military actions as, for example, the so-called Presov massacre of 1673 and the arrest and persecution of Evangelical pastors and teachers in 1674. One's attachment to a specific ideology was a demonstration of loyalty; violations of the same were considered a dangerous act towards one's superiors. As they attempted to consolidate a state strong in every respect, significant support was provided to the Habsburg monarches by the new Counter-Reformation orders of the Jesuits and the Piarists. Both considered education as one of the most important weapons in the struggle against religious opponents. In contrast to the diversity which characterized Lutheran schools, they established a monolithic, detailed, and precisely expounded conception of education and of training in the schools. Their concept did not permit any variations in textbooks, in the interpretation of, or the conclusions drawn from the subject matter. Even though these and other orders, including the Paulinian, Franciscan or Minorite, and Benedictine orders, did not work together directly, thanks to their activity, there developed in Slovakia complete, stable, and relatively widespread system of schools, extending from elementary through secondary or grammar schools to " high schools" (universities). A quality classical education and the possibility of university study with the Jesuits or an education oriented towards the practical with an emphasis on the exact sciences and the native language 34 SLOVAKIA with the Piarists - these became the two kinds of Catholic schools in Slovakia until the time of school reform at the end of the eighteenth century. The academic attraction of these schools was enhanced by the opportunity to study free of charge. The towns with important schools became centers to which students came from far and wide. Ethnic Slovak students predominated at the Jesuit gymnasiums or grammar schools in Trencin, Trnava, and Skalica, and at those of the Piarists in Prievidza and Nitra. In Nitra a boarding school was founded for pupils from the counties of Trencin, Orava, Turiec, Liptov, and Spis. In the urban milieu it became customary to complete at least the lower classes of the Latin school which, to a considerable degree, also served the function of a public elementary school. 8 The principles of the systematic education of girls were established by the Ursulines and the order of Notre Dame de Namur. 9 The most significant contribution of the re-Catholicization of the schools for the development of education in Slovakia was, however, the founding of universities. The first opened in Trnava in 1635 and the second in 1667 in Kosice. 10 Even if they served, in equal measure, all of the peoples of Hungary, they played an extraordinary role in the creation of the national consciousness, language and literature of the Slovaks. 11 The founding of the University at Trnava by Peter Pazmany was the culmination of his extensive organization activity in the field of education. Although the university developed and worked under the administration of the Jesuits, the training of the clergy was not its only goal. Pazmany, although he was originally a member of the Jesuit order, endeavored to secure for the university the direct protection of the sovereign and a partial reduction of the influence of the Jesuits . However, given the conditions in Hungary, he could not count on an effective counterweight to the Jesuits. 12 Trnava was selected as the seat of the university for several reasons. It was not only the site of the already existing boarding school founded by Pazmany, but also had a lower cost of living and a population relatively unaffected by the Reformation. But especially beneficial for the Jesuits was that it was the seat of the cathedral chapter and the residence of the Archbishop of Esztergom. SLOVAKIA 35 This assured the Jesuits freedom from city taxes and favorable conditions for acquiring real estate. 13 The university opened its doors to students of philosophy and theology on 13 November 1635. Instruction in philosophy included lectures in logic, physics, metaphysics, mathematics, ethics, geometry,astronomy, and natural sciences. For young noblemen, the inclusion of Italian, French, dancing and fencing made the curriculum more attractive. In theology the students studied scholastic theology, dogmatics according to Thomas Aquinas, under the direction of two or three professors. A second main subject was casuistry, the special subject of polemics, canon law, the reading and exposition of the Scriptures and Hebrew. Within the framework of the university was included the "studia humaniora" as the highest grades of the Jesuit college, where preparation in classical Latin reached its apex. Although these grades were actually a part of the gymnasium or grammar school, they were identified as part of the philosophical faculty and designated the language faculty, "facultas linguarum. '' The university survived in this form until 1667. In comparison with other universities it was not complete. It lacked a faculty of law and of medicine. Until the second half of the seventeenth century the teaching of law at the university was limited to canon and Roman civil law. During this time "domestic" or statutory law had no place in the curriculum. It is not surprising that, given the social conditions of the early seventeenth century, a time of political uncertainty and economic decline, there was no support for, or widespread interest in, the study of this limited branch of law either among the Hungarian nobility or the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The steady growth of the various levels of bureaucratic administration soon made evident, however, the necessity of specialized legal training. The Archbishops of Esztergom, Juraj Lippay and Imrich Losy, who were generous benefactors of the university, founded and supported a new faculty of law. This "delay" in opening a faculty of law to 2 January 1667 made it possible for that faculty to avoid teaching in this subject the contemporary trends which supported the interest and power of the state. These interests were shifted to the study of Roman law, the scope of which was expanded, and to the new subject of "domestic" or statutory law. 36 SLOVAKIA Even though, from the very beginning, the new faculty lectured on canon, Roman and Hungarian law, it is necessary to see the close connection between domestic and broader contemporary currents of thought. Instruction in the faculty was divided into four areas: Roman, canon, Hungarian civil and property law, and Hungarian civil procedural law. The range of statutory law soon was enlarged to encompass further disciplines, for example, criminal law. In this, Trnava surpassed many foreign universities. 14 The university functioned with these three faculties until 1769. At its head stood a Rector, the first of whom was Juraj Dobronoki . He was assisted by a Chancellor whose task was to organize disputes and public presentations, to decide about the bestowal of academic degrees and he also served as the book censor. The work of the faculties was directed by individual deans. The composition of the teaching faculty was affected by the international character of the Jesuit order. There was a large number of foreigners, especially Germans and Italians on the faculty; but the highest proportion were Slavs: Croats, Slovenes, Poles, and Czechs, but Slovaks and Magyars predominated. No other important changes occurred in the organization of the university until 1735-1744, the beginning of the second century of its existence. That these were anticipated earlier is indicated by a decree of the Provincial of the Jesuit order which prohibited lectures on new philosophical theories, especially those of Descartes and Leibnitz. From 1735 on, however, new subjects of instruction were introduced. The most characteristic Jesuit discipline, casuistry, was transformed into the teaching of moral and pastoral theology. Church history, until then largely disregarded, was introduced largely within the study of rhetoric. Instruction in mathematics, astronomy, and geometry was entrusted to three separate professors. Also introduced was instruction in geography and in the "living" languages of Hungarian and German. A decisive turning point, the first step in the process of the "nationalization" or secularization of the university, and " de facto ", of the whole school system in Hungary, occurred in 1753. In the previous year, the University of Vienna was reorganized and nationalized and this example was immediately followed by all other universities in the monarchy. In Trnava, however, it did not lead SLOVAKIA 37 to total state control of the faculty but did substantially alter the pattern of instruction. Study in the philosophical faculty was reduced to two years and the number of professors reduced to three, one each for logic and metaphysics, physics and ethics, and mathematics. It also changed the method of obtaining academic degrees. Public, formal disputes were replaced by difficult tests and the title of Master of Philosophy was abolished. Professors had to prepare texts for their own subjects in order to end the practice of dictating subject matter and to improve the level of instruction. Thanks to these changes, during the course of the next few years, the professors at Trnava published many texts . Moreover, in 1756 an astronomical observatory, designed by Maximilian Hell, was opened and equipped with the most modern instruments. The introduction of modern science and thought was anticipated in the work of Martin Szentivany (1633-1705) as rector of the university. In his extensive work, ''Miscellanea scientiarum'' he expressly employed a combination of empiricism and logic to support a differentiation among the competence of theology, metaphysics and natural philosophy. After the rectorship of Szentivany, during the course of the next several decades, both Cartesian and Newtonian mechanics were used for the exposition of natural phenomena as, for example, in the text book "Statica" published in 1740 by Michal Lipsciz. Others, among them Adanyi, Jaslinsky, Revicky, Ivancic, Mako and Radie, whose textbooks were issued after 1753, did not consider it necessary even to mention the differences between Newton and Descartes. In epistemology, theological presuppositions were consistently ignored and a distinction was clearly made between the problems of philosophy and those of physics. Copernicus and Newton became the fundamental authorities for interpreting the natural world. At the university experiments were used both in the instructional process and for individual scientific work, especially in astronomy. The well-equipped observatory guaranteed precise measurements. Professor F. Weiss and his assistant, J. Sajnovic and F. Taucher, issued the results of their observations in their own journal, '' Observationes astronomicae. '' In the observatory there was also a chemical laboratory and a physics collection. The physics 38 SLOVAKIA textbook of Jan Baptist Horvath in 1767 was issued in several domestic and foreign editions. A change as significant as that experienced by the philosophical faculty during the mid-eighteenth century also occurred in the faculty of law. Law faculties in the whole monarchy had to become active assistants in carrying through the political and national goals of the dynasty. Therefore, on 3 November 1760, Maria Theresa issued an order that the law faculty at Trnava had to teach those subjects which were related to the administration of the state. Most important was natural law, the principles of which could be employed to strengthen absolutism. In 1770 political science and international law were added to the curriculum. Martini, Justi and Sonnenfels were employed as the main authorities, as in the Austrian part of the monarchy. The process of extending state control over the university culminated on 11 November 1769 when Maria Theresa issued regulations which placed the university under her special protection . The administration of the faculty was entrusted, as in Vienna, to appointed directors. A second result of these regulations was the creation of a faculty of medicine. 15 This step was not only an immediate reaction to the acute lack of physicians in Hungary, but also contributed to the high technical level of education. In Hungary this trend had already emerg_ed in 1762 in the organization of the mining academy in Banska Stiavnica and, in the following year, in the "Collegium oeconomicum" in Senec which was a technical school for preparing officials for state and commerce . The distribution and number of professors in medicine, five in number, approached European standards . The high quality of the faculty was underscored by the work of the well-known specialists Josef Plenck in the chair of surgery, Jakub Winterl in botany and chemistry, and Adam Trnka in anatomy. All were disciples of Gerhard van Swieten. To an equal degree the faculty contributed to the formation of public hygiene by training midwives and pharmacists as well as doctors. The cultural importance of the university was not limited to the preparation of specialists in various areas of study. While the intellectual life of the Slovak nation was not confined to Trnava during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the contributions SLOVAKIA 39 that the university made to it were considerable. The University contributed to the formation of written Slovak, the ideology of the Slovak nation and to the strengthening of Slovak national consciousness. These processes were connected with the work of the professors who, as in the historical works of Szentivany and Samuel Timon, contributed to the building up of a historical consciousness as an important component of the national ideological program. An important role was played, moreover, by the university press which helped to develop norms for the Slovak language. 16 In the years 1648-1779 it published more than three million volumes of 4,915 titles of which 257 titles were in Slovak. Slovak editors gave the Slovak language a cultivated form which, already at this time, differed from that used by the Slovak Lutherans. It was spread among the people of Slovakia through its use in official orders and especially for religious literature. It played both a communicative and a unifying role. This written Slovak codified the western Slovak cultural language. Through polemical literature and multi-language dictionaries used in both Catholic and Lutheran schools it also influenced the language used by the Lutherans. The importance of the press grew even more after all the Catholic schools were taken over by the state in 1773 and by the school reform of 1777, the "Ratio educationis." The university press was oriented toward the publication of textbooks . In the years 1773 to 1783 alone 89,450 books used in the primary public schools were published . Of these nearly half or 41,950 volumes were editions of the eight Slovak titles published. The reform of the university of Trnava and the formation of higher technical schools anticipated the process of the nationalization of the whole school system which culminated during the 1770s. The suppression of the Jesuit order also signified a fundamental turning point in the realization of the plan of school reform. An essential difference, in contrast to the past, was the strict division between the elementary level and the middle level of education by a more precise definition of their scope and relationship. Expressly employed was the concept of the utility of education. It was manifested in the content of instruction and in the preferential treatment accorded the technical and public primary schools at the expense of the middle schools . In general, for the first time, attention was given to the education of apprentices and girls and 40 SLOVAKIA to the determination of the content of elementary instruction . Academies were established with similar goals. They rounded out the system of schools in Hungary and provided professional training for those who had completed their studies at a gymnasium or grammar school. This included, naturally, the preparation of teachers who would serve in the public schools, including primary schools. 17 This utilitarian attitude corresponded to the Enlightenment conception of the state and the organization of society. 18 The physiocrats viewed the working classes as the primary component of the population which created the major part of the wealth of the state. They were, however, assigned a passive role. They had to be instruments in the hands of the well-organized state. In the spirit of the Enlightenment, the main goal of the state was to secure the "public good." It was to provide its population with appropriate conditions which would enable the population to fulfill its function . This required, of course, at least a fundamental education. The population had to be prepared to function as future "citizens" and, at the same time, to know what they could expect from the state. The state considered, therefore, that it had the responsibility, to a certain degree, of "enlightenment," that is, to provide its population with an understanding of citizenship. In this, the schools were considered as important an agency as religion. Here it is possible to see the beginning of the process of emancipation in which the schools gradually were freed from their subordination to the church. This Enlightenment tendency was, however, within a short time, slowed down by a renewed strengthening of the position of the church vis-a-vis the school. The assumption of the supervision of schools by the state can be considered as an essential characteristic of Enlightenment education . The beginning of this process was characterized by an encroachment into the organizational structure of education in the form of the general approval of school orders. In the Austrian part of the monarchy they were prepared for individual types of schools . In Hungary, this was attempted as a whole in the form of the "Ratio educationis" of 1777. 19 The " Ratio educationis" contained all of the main principles of the Enlightenment understanding of education. Its authors, SLOVAKIA 41 among them the Slovak Adam Frantisek Kollar, extended the task of schools to the building up of the citizenry in society. In harmony with this, ideas conforming to the theory of natural law were presented, on the one hand, with a demand for the extension of education to all social classes and, on the other, with a conscious intent to overcome social, national (ethnic) and confessional barriers. The Ratio implemented the principles of the hierarchy of schools and their administration. The new extent and intent was broader in comparison to the previous situation 20 and emphasized the formational aspect of education. The school administration took care to establish prescribed curricula, methods and textbooks for all school. This task was relatively easy in "gymnasium" or "grammar" schools where there were enough texts and teachers. 21 However, a great number of complex problems had to be resolved in the case of the public school. It required the preparation of a sufficient number of textbooks and educated teachers . Good material conditions for the schools and teachers were an essential condition for the success of the whole reform program, which, after 1777, began a difficult process of extending the network of public schools. It found a relatively good response in the towns where the number of pupils increased rapidly. 2 2 The attempt to establish a sovereign model for education and the introduction of specific curricula for the various types of schools also affected non-Catholic schools. Within Hungary and its adjacent territories the Lutherans and the Reformed had the right to maintain their own schools. This was not, however, based on the principles of toleration. The Protestant schools were able to function only as a result of complex conflicts with the Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy and struggles with the secular power and then, only to a limited degree. If the principles of education advocated by the state were to be implemented by the power of the state it was unavoidable that this would lead to conflict with non-Catholics. It was necessary, therefore, to prepare such a model of education which would enable the approval of the principle of toleration. This was, after all, in the interest of the state. The Lutheran schools in Slovakia were not unaffected by the spreading influence of the Enlightenment. On the contrary, Pietism, of which Matej Bel was one of the chief representatives, was ex- 42 SLOVAKIA pressly manifested in several middle schools in Slovakia, especially in Banska Bystrica and Bratislava. 23 The findings of the new science, including pedagogy, spread into Slovakia especially through the number of students who studied abroad. 24 Although the ''Resolutio Carolina" did not allow for an increase in the number of Lutheran schools or changes in their character, their teachers attempted to include such subjects in their program of instruction which went beyond those allowed by the state . Despite this, non-Catholic schools during the late eighteenth century were characterized by stagnation. This was the result of the social situation of the nonCatholic population, of the possibilities allowed them and the insufficiency of the necessary means for maintaining a high level of instruction in their existing schools. The schools were transitional places for teachers, many of whom were waiting for a clerical position. Because of this situation, reforms in non-Catholic education were also anticipated in accordance with the goals of the state. One indication of this was the demand for fundamental reforms of elementary education by Gabriel Balasovic in 1749 and the plan for the reform of the middle schools by Juraj Fabry in 1773. The prospects for a general, wide-spread reform of the schools, however, were not great. In contrast to Catholic schools, the Lutheran schools lacked a single supervisory organ which could guarantee a unified administration and the introduction of reform measures. In Slovakia, only in Gerner did the seniorat, or Lutheran pastoral conference, establish an organization of teachers, the "Bratstvo rektorov", in 1741, which considered questions concerning the work of the schools. In such conditions, the issuance of the "Ratio educationis" was a definite milestone also in the development of Lutheran education in Slovakia as well in the whole of Hungary. The chief difference from the earlier situation was that the question of non-Catholic schools was removed from the jurisdiction of a religious commission. For the first time the "Ratio" proclaimed the assumption by the state of the supervision of education without considerations of confessional allegiance. The non-Catholic schools had to follow the direction of the regional school districts even though the rectors and teachers were installed by the local church SLOVAKIA 43 congregation. The school districts resolved problems in the schools with the exception that they could not interfere in religious questions. Approved textbooks were issued for "secular subjects" which had to be acceptable to all the confessions since non-Catholic students could study at all types of schools. It is understandable, however, that since legal toleration was not yet firmly anchored or legally established - the Edict of Toleration would not be issued until nearly five years later - these attempts at implementing the above mentioned principles of educational reform had to meet with a lack of confidence. In individual cases, Lutheran middle schools worked together with the direction of specific school districts, especially in Bratislava, thanks to a leading representative of Enlightenment thought in Hungary, Frantisek Balassa. The administration of the Lutheran and Reformed churches as a whole, however, shortly after the issuance of the "Ratio", opposed the attempts of the state to extend its jurisdiction over education . More important changes, which could be traced back directly to the "Ratio" were realized during the reign of Joseph II (1780-90), when several tendencies, which were only briefly touched upon in the "ratio" were more fully expounded and implemented. The ear of Joseph II was characterized, in the area of education, by a growing centralization and unifying of school organization. In the field of education his reforms not only effected a necessary broadening of the scope of education as, for example, in devoting particular attention to the public schools, but also emphasized practical matters as can be seen in the support of practical schooling and the restrictions placed upon university study. The most important change in the school system, however, was the resolution of the relationship between church and state in religious questions. With regard to the Catholic church there was established the principle of the subordination of the church to the state. The evidence for this was the foundation of state seminaries for preparing clergy,the abolition both of theological studies within individual orders and of the responsibility of students to participate in the religious ceremonies or life in the schools. A further, very important, change in the development of schools was the issuance of the Edict of Toleration in 1781. Its greatest significance was in the field of primary education where 44 SLOVAKIA it changed the manner of educating non-Catholic children. According to its provisions non-Catholics could establish their own schools in places where there lived at least 100 families and 500 individual non-Catholics. However, the curriculum of the schools thus established had to conform to written regulations, and the population had to provide significant financial support. In addition, the possibility of state control, the economic conditions of the towns and villages and the resources which the highest level of schools required made it advantageous to establish mixed schools . The idea of the so-called mixed schools, attended by both Catholic and Protestant children was worked out by Gottfried van Swieten, the leader of school policy under Joseph II. It was first implemented on the school district of Bratislava, in Svaty Jur and in the village of Neded. Ferdinand Kigler, 25 a co-worker of J.I. Felbiger, also worked to establish mixed schools more widely throughout the country. The pupils in these schools were separated according to their knowledge and not according to their religious confession. Each confession had to employ its own teachers who taught each class as a whole. Religion was taught only by the cantor or catechist in individual congregations. Whereas in the "confessional" schools the clergy had supervisory responsibilities, this was denied them in the so-called "mixed" schools, which were under lay supervisors, one of whom had to be Catholic, another Lutheran. Another important provision concerned the preparation of textbooks from which all that was not acceptable to non-Catholics had to be removed. About seventy mixed schools developed in Slovakia during the 1789s in, for example, Brezno, Krupina, Pukanec, and Svaty Jur. State schools and, in the first place primary schools, required high financial burdens for the whole population. These were borne not only by local treasuries but also directly by the parents of the pupils and students who had to pay school taxes. Several cities, among them Bardejov, Krupina, Skalka, and Pezinok, felt injured by the abolition of their Latin schools. The question of " Germanization" also negatively influenced the attitudes of the population. Although the use of German, in the view of the state, was an effective instrument for communicating with the whole population, the attempt to mandate its use led to dissatisfaction and did not SLOVAKIA 45 conform to actual local situations. Instruction in the German language was mandated even in villages where the peasant population had no interest in or need for it. While in the villages, at least, it was not possible to enforce this provision, because of local circumstances, it eventually was implemented in the case of most of the middle and higher schools. However, this "Germanization" also created opposition to the Josephine reforms. During the 1780s, while this opposition was suppressed by the supporters of reform, after the death of Joseph II the system of state schools was nearly abolished. The main cause of this development might be seen, in general, in the determined opposition of the Hungarian nobility towards unifying the supervision and administration of both the schools and education. The leading initiators of this opposition were the counties which, already before the death of Joseph II, had opened a campaign against his measures. At a meeting of the counties in 1790 a whole list of grievances was prepared, several of which touched upon the question of the schools and education. A series of pamphlets also appeared attacking state control of education. In these, the chief cause of dissatisfaction was the question of language instruction. Equally important, in light of later developments, were suggestions concerning the organization of schools. The supervision of the schools should be returned to the clergy. The school commission which, under the reforms of Joseph, was responsible for administration, should be confined to advisory functions. This would mean that the Josephine system of school administration, as a whole, would have to be abolished. The highest circles at court and representatives of the school administration defended the view that education was within the purview of the ruler. Only slowly did the counties gain an influence in its supervision. Another important factor in the disintegration of the Josephine school system was the twenty-sixth article of 1791. This called upon non-Catholics to establish, with the consent of the ruler, different types of schools which would no longer be under the direction of the local school districts . The non-Catholic population naturally welcomed this possibility. In many villages and towns independent Lutheran schools were founded. Lutheran schools in Slovakia, 46 SLOVAKIA thanks to this article, thus obtained the possibility of their own free development. A whole series of Lutheran schools reached a high level which rivaled that of the royal academies. Especially significant among these were the Evangelical lycea in Bratislava, Kezmarok, Levoca, Banska Stiavnica, Presov and Modra at which studied a large number of the members of the Slovak Lutheran intelligentsia. Despite all of the conflicting tendencies in the development of education after the year 1790, the nucleus of the school system erected in the spirit of the Enlightenment was preserved. It did not lack, moreover, forward-thinking individuals who sought to strengthen it. The possibility to achieve this was improved by the creation of a commission for schools by the Diet, the "deputation regnicolaris litteraria", which prepared new editions of both school and curricular orders for Hungary. In the area of public schools attention was given to the improvement of technical education while in the area of higher education a plan was considered to make a distinction in specialized training and discussed the question of the differences between the universities and the academies. The new reforms suggested, however, were not realized because of internal political conditions. The estates were satisfied with a formal return to the conditions which existed before the year 1780. The most significant gain was reflected especially in the language regulations of the Diet which made Hungarian the predominant language in all types of schools. Education more and more began to manifest the conservative characteristics of the policies of Francis I. There ceased to be interest in the education of the people as a whole because it could result in the social emancipation of the working classes. In the schools discipline was strengthened and religious education was once again given preference over practical education. The church again played an important role in the administration of the school. This was a clear step backward from the original intentions of the reforms which began with Maria Theresa. All of these adjustments were manifested in a new edition of the "ratio educationis" in 1806. In principle, the concept of the state as the highest authority in the administration of education was not abandoned, a view that also allowed the non-Catholic schools to develop rather freely. In SLOVAKIA 47 this, the tendencies which had been introduced already at the beginning of the period of this study were fulfilled . The already existing framework of Lutheran and Catholic schools was completed as the conditions for their continued activity were established in law. This laid the foundation for the massive growth of literacy and of an educated populace. Even though the Slovak nation did not have anchored in law the right to develop its own national schools, and despite the threat to even the lowest level of schools by the spread of Magyarization, the schools that did exist in Slovakia provided an education for those individuals who would emerge as the Slovak intelligentsia and who created the movement known as "narodne obrodenie," the national revival. FOOTNOTES 1 Vladislav Ru zicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobi neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974); Domokos Kosary, Miivelodes a XVJ/l. sztizadi Magyarorsztigon (Budapest, 1981). This work was also issued in 1987 in an English edition; Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia tlaci vydanych na S/ovensku do roku 1700, Vols. I-II (Martin, 1972, 1984); Richard Rybaric, Dejiny hudobnej kultun; na S/ovensku, I (Bratislava, 1986); Anna Petrova-Pleskotova,Maliarstvo 18. storocia na Slovensku (Bratislava, 1983); Eduard Winter, Friihaufkliirung (Berlin, 1966), See especially the section on Slovakia, pp. 193-213; Jan Misianik, Poh/'ady do starsej slovenskej literatury (Bratislava, 1974); Jozef Minarik, Barokovti literatura. Svetovti, ceskti, s/ovenskti (Bratislava, 1984). A general overview is provided by Anton Spiesz, Slobodne krti/'ovske rnestti na S/ovensku v rokoch 1680-1780 (Kosice, 1983) . Individu al questions are treated by Anton Spiesz, " Der Wiener Hof und die Stadte des Konigreichs Ungarn in den Jahren 1681-1780" pages 83-95 and Stefan Kazimir, S. " Die wirtsch aftliche Entwicklung der Stadte in der Slowakei im 17. and und 18. Jahrhundert" pages 97-106 in Die Stiidte Mitteleuropas im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, volume five in the series Bietrage zur Geschichte der Stadte Mitteleuropas edited by Wilhelm Rausch (Linz, 1981); Marie Mareckova, Frantisek Hejl and Rudolf Fiser, " Die Ostslowakischen Stadte in der Struktur der mitteleuropaischen Handelsverbindungen im 17. Jahrh undert" pages 111-136 in Problems of Continuity and Discon tinuity in History (Prague, 1980). 3 Jan Re zik, and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziol6gia . Dejiny gymntizii na Slovensku. Ed ited by Vladislav Ru zicka (Bratislava, 1971). 2 Viliam Cicaj, Kniznti kultiira na strednom Slovensku v 16.-18. storoci (Bratislava, 1985). s Presovske kolegium v slovenskych dejintich , edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967) . 4 48 SLOVAKIA For an analysis of his works see Dejiny filozofickeho myslenia na Slovensku 1 (Bratislava, 1987), pp. 104-125. 7 Concerning the works of Izak Caban, a representative of the philosophical doctrine of atomism, see Oejiny filozofickeho myslenia na Slovensku I, pp. 125-136. 6 8 9 A replay of the scene occurred in linguistic bi- and trilingualism, quite common in the cities of Slovakia, and especially in the frequency of the mastery of Latin. Among the 181 newly accepted citizens in Trencfn during the years 1762-1777 there were 74 individuals who knew Latin. The pupils of the lowest classes of the gymnasium normally made up about half of the total number of students. At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were, in the whole of Slovakia, fourteen Jesuit and six Piarist gymnasiums. The Ursuline order opened its school in Bratislava in 1689 and schools in Trnava and Kosice in 1687. The Order of Notre Dame de Namur came to Bratislava in 1747. Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach, edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). See also Pamiatke trnavskej univerzity, 1635-1777 (Trnava, 1935). 11 Branislav Varsik, Narodnostny problem Trnavskej univerzity (Bratislava: 1938). 10 In a complicated political struggle and on the basis of a realistic assessment of the situation in Hungary Pazmany endeavored to secure for the University the protection of the strongest political force in the kingdom, the monarch. The struggle over Jesuit influence upon universities also occurred in Vienna and Prague . See Anton Vantuch, "Zalozenie tmavskej univerzity" in Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach, pp. 47-48 and also his "Trnavska univerzita, sucasny stav badania a ulohy d'alsieho vyskumu" pp 69-80 in Zbornfk Muzea skolstva a pedagogiky na Slovensku (Bratislava, 1986); Josef Haubelt, Ceske osvicenstvi (Prague, 1986), p. 57. 13 Anton Vantuch, "Tmava ako univerzitne mesto," Historicky casopis 21, (1973): 497-529. 12 The question of legal education as a whole was treated in Die juristische Bi/dung in der 5/owakei und Unga rn bis zum Jahre 1848, Acta facultatis juridicae Universitatis Comenianae (Bratislava, 1968). 15 Maria Bokesova-Uherova, Lekarska fakulta trnavskej univerzity, 1770-1777 (Bratislava, 1962). 14 16 Typographia Universitatis Hungaricae Budae, 1777-1848 (Budapest, 1983); Izidor Kotulic, " Vyznam tmavskej univerzity pre rozvoj kultumej slovencin y," pages 69-95 in Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach. 17 Concerning public education see Eva Kowalska, Staine /'udove skolstvo na Slovensku na prelome 18. a 19. storocia (Bratislava, 1987). 1 s The Enlightenment concept of the absolutist state was extensively developed in the works of Joseph von Sonnenfels . The first detailed monograph concern- SLOVAKIA 19 20 49 ing his life is Helmut Reinalter (Ed .), Joseph van Sonnen/els (Wien, 1988). Ratio educa tionis totiusques rei literariae per Regnum Hungariae et Provincias eidem adnexas (Vindobonae, 1777). A Slovak translation was issued by M. Novacka and Jan Mikles (Bratislava, 1988). The curriculum was enlarged to include such subj ects as moral education and the fundamental p rinciples of agriculture . The attention given to practical subjects was evident in the public schools. 21 The text for geography was w ritten by Matej Bel and was issued several times during th e centu ry . The Piarist order, which took into its hands some of the former Jesuit " gymnasiums" or grammar schools, had considerable experience in teaching practical subj ects. 22 In 1777, in all of the 24 royal free cities in Slovakia, 3,964 pupils from these cities attended the 10 public and secondary Latin schools . In the same cities in 1780 there were 3,564 pupils in the exclusively Catholic public schools organized according to the " Ratio. " A detailed study of Pietism in Slovakia is Jan Oberuc, Math ieu Bel, un pietiste en Slovaqu ie en 18-eme siecle (Strassburg, 1936). The newest collection of essays concerning the life and work of Matej Bel is Matej Bel. Doba-Zivot-Dielo (Bra tislava, 1987) . 4 2 The road the students followed was directed most frequently towards the universities of Wittenberg and Jena and, from the start of the seventeenth century, especially towards Halle . Less or only incidentally visited were the universities at Gottingen, Konigsberg, Leipzig, Thorn and so on . Benefactors of the schools established endowments fo r the benefit of the students which paid part of their study expenses. For more particulars concerning the travels of the students see V. Ru zicka, pp. 194-215. In 1766, the Lutheran gymn asium in Bra tislava had 24,300 florins at its disposal to pay fo r the foreign stud y of its students . Special fo undations were created for students in Tu.bingen, Wittenberg, Leipzig, Jena, Halle and Nuremberg. Archive of the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, 1766, Cone. 541. 2 s F. Kigler took part in the organization of an orphanage in Senec according to the model of the orphanage in H alle and, after the Edict of Toleration, he took part in the discussions between the Protestants and the state school administration on the subject of mixed schools . 23  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Learning and Education in Slovakia during the late 17th and 18th centuries Description An account of the resource Eva Kowalská trans. by David P. Daniel Slovakia, Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90 pp. 28-49 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Daniel, David P., 1940-2020 Kowalská, Eva, 1955- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-90 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d2580d8f22a5bab5b9efef3435b6b3de.pdf 29e1b80b253050aaae107bbb71ba1066 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 9 The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Slovakia DAVID P. DANIEL National revival moments awakened the ethnic, linguistic and cultural consciousness of the various peoples of the Austrian Empire throughout east central Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These movements were manifestations of the influence of the Enlightenment which penetrated the region prior to and during the reign of Joseph II . Their leaders sought to define, express, and to realize the national aspirations of the peoples of the region. In Slovakia, the movement of national revival (narodne obrodenie) was particularly significant. It led to the codification of the Slovak language and the creation of a diverse body of literary works in Slovak and thus stimulated the emergence of the cultural and ethnic consciousness of the people and, ultimately, to expressions of their political aspirations. This movement can be considered one of the most significant events in the history of the Slovaks. Its leaders, among them Bel, Bernolak, Tablic, Holly, Palkovic, Safarik, Kollar, Kuzmany, Shir and Hurban, to name but a few, are rightly honored as major contributors to the development of the Slovak language, literature and culture. 1 While this national revival was primarily an expression of Enlightenment thought and was fostered by contacts with German universities and intellectuals, its roots can be traced to the transformation of education which occurred in Slovakia during the early modern era. Members of the Slovak intelligentsia of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were the intellectual and cultural heirs of traditions which can be traced back to the era of �10 SLOVAKIA the Reformation and the Counter or Catholic Reformation. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, both Protestants and Catholics contributed to the establishment of popular education . The schools in Slovakia, which were founded or reorganized during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, were local outputs of the broad intellectual and cultural currents of early modern European civilization. Their teachers and students had considerable influence, not only among the Magyar and German population of the major cities of Upper Hungary, but also among the Slovaks who comprised the largest proportion of the population in the region. Although often bitterly divided over religious issues, the faculty and graduates of those Protestant and Catholic schools were important agents both of religious reformation and cultural formation. The history of the transformation wrought in education during the Renaissance and Reformation has attracted much scholarly attention during the last twenty years. 2 Recent reformation research has devoted considerable attention to the influence of Renaissance humanism upon the curriculum of European universities and its subsequent impact upon the emergence and spread of the Reformation .3 Sharply criticizing what they considered the sterility of late medieval scholasticism, Renaisance humanists sought to engender eloquence, piety and civic responsibility. They emphasized the study of Latin, Greek, and for would-be theologians, Hebrew, as the necessary foundation for reading classic texts in their original languages. In addition, especially in its northern European manifestation, evangelical humanism also stressed religious morality and piety as well as the civic activity and responsibility which characterized Italian humanism. This influence of Renaissance humanism was not limited to the newly founded or reformed universities. It was clearly evident in the reform or founding of new grammar or middle schools throughout Europe . The education of the young was one of the primary concerns of the ecclesiastical reformers of the sixteenth century. The Protestant reformers and, following the Council of Trent, leaders of Catholic reform, urged that local institutions be established to inculcate pure doctrine and to foster piety as well as to train students in the so-called "studia humanitatis ." The reformers �SLOVAKIA 11 encouraged laymen to establish and support local schools as nurseries of humanist learning and of religious formation. In these schools, the form and substance of the traditional curricula was transformed . Evangelical humanist pedagogical methods were adopted by Protestant communities and used to inculcate Lutheran or Reformed theology. These methods were also adapted for use in Catholic schools where they were employed to counter the spread of Protestantism and regain the populace for post-Tridentine Catholicism. Aided by the contemporary growth in the number and variety of printed materials, these schools created a literate public by producing and disseminating religious literature as an aid to institutionalizing ecclesiastical reform. 4 This was true not merely for Germany or western Europe, where the Reformation began and was first consolidated. It also characterized developments in east and south east central Europe as a whole and in Hungary in particular. 5 In Hungary, and specifically in Upper Hungary, roughly congruent with modernday Slovakia, educational reform and the development of local schools was one of the major features of the history of the region during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest.6 These schools were particularly important for the population of the region since none of the universities founded in medieval Hungary endured into the sixteenth century . On the one hand, this meant that these local schools had to prepare students for study at foreign universities and therefore maintained close contacts with these universities . On the other hand, it not only meant that a substantial number of students, who could not afford to attend a university abroad, received all of their training in Slovakia but also that the founding of a local university or institution of higher learning eventually emerged as a major concern of both Protestant and Catholic educators. Both of these developments had considerable significance not only for the course of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Slovakia but also for the history of popular education and the emergence of a Slovak intelligentsia. MEDIEVAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Of course, the history of education in Hungary in general and �12 SLOVAKIA in Slovakia in particular did not begin with the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Both the Protestant and Catholic reformers built upon, enlarged and transformed educational institutions and traditions which had been established by the end of the fifteenth century . Indeed, in many respects, the way for the pedagogical reformers of the sixteenth century was paved by an increasing interest in education among the citizens, at the court and in the chancellery of Hungary during the time of Matthias Corvinus" Hunyadi. This growing concern for an education which went beyond that offered primarily in the older ecclesiastical institutions and schools was a manifestation both of changes in society and statecraft as well as of the influence of Italian humanism in Hungary. 7 While individual teachers could be found in Hungary during the early middle ages and although a school may have existed in the cathedral city of Nitra as early as the twelfth century, it was not until cities had begun to emerge as centers of economic and cultural activity that the existence of more than a handful of schools can be established. In addition, although a few nobles may have employed teachers in their courts, the higher nobility, as a group, did not show much interest in formal academic education prior to the sixteenth century and actually sought to inhibit the children of their serfs from attending school. Thus, most of the early schools were primarily ecclesiastical in character and emphasized the preparation of their students for functions within the church .8 The first schools to be established in the region were probably those of the three chapters, in Nitra, Bratislava and Spis and from the fragmentary documentary evidence available it is clear that each of these chapters had individuals who served as teachers by the end of the thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth centuries. These not only were charged with the instruction of members of the chapter but also taught a few lay students as well. While there may also have been rudimentary schools maintained at the chancellery and in the so-called vierohodne mies ta" or II trustworthy places, which served as repositories of important legal documents, the evidence for such is fragmentary. The same is true for schools which may have been supported by the various monastic communities in Slovakia. These schools served the specific needs 11 11 11 �SLOVAKIA 13 of the supporting community and taught, besides reading and writing, singing and rudimentary arithmetic or computation, necessary for determining the major, movable festivals of the ecclesiastical year. The Ars minor of Donatus and Priscian's Institutio de artica grammatica were used as the primary language instruction texts which prepared the students to read the Bible and the Church fathers. However, the reading of works by Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, usually in "Florilegia," collections of excerpts from their works, was not unknown. 9 More significant, at least in terms of the number that existed, were schools established as agencies of parish churches in the major towns of Slovakia. In northern Hungary, by the end of the fifteenth century, there were more than thirty such parish schools and eleven more towns established schools during the first two decades of the sixteenth century. Thus, at the beginning of the Reformation, most of the larger towns and at least thirteen villages in Slovakia had established schools. Although documentary evidence for the curriculum of these schools is also fragmentary, it does appear that they too were primarily concerned with meeting ecclesiastical needs and preparing students for participation in church services . However, it is reasonable to suppose that these schools were similar to "trivial" Latin schools elsewhere, especially in Germany. The "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric and logic were the foundations of the plan of studies which also included elements of the " quadrivium" of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. In addition to the rector who supervised the administration and established, with the approval of the ecclesiastical or municipal authorities, the curriculum, there were several assistants and a cantor was employed to give instruction in music. Especially important were schools founded at Kezmarok, Bardejov, Levoca and Kosice in eastern Slovakia as well as at Kremnica, Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica in central Slovakia . 10 The schools of eastern Slovakia had particularly strong connections with the University of Cracow. Leonard Cox, a former tutor of Henry VII of England, who had been honored as a poet at Cracow, taught at Levoca and then in Kosice while Valentin Eck served as rector in Bardejov. 11 These schools prepared many of their students �14 SLOVAKIA for subsequent university training. Indeed, during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the number of students from the territory inhabited by the Slovaks who attended universities in Italy, Austria, Bohemia and Poland steadily increased. While Italian universities, especially Bologna and Padua were the first to attract students from Hungary, ethnic Slovaks were particularly drawn to the University of Prague, founded by Charles IV in 1348, and then to Cracow where from 1492 the students from Hungary had their own bourse or foundation which provided financial assistance and their own matriculation book in which they registered as students . The University of Vienna also attracted a considerable number of students from Hungary where they were members of the Hungarian nation. 12 One reason that the number of students from Hungary at foreign Universities grew during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was that the number of city schools in Slovakia increased . Another reason was the closure of the universities which had been founded in Hungary, the chapter school at Veszprem, the University at Pees, which had close contacts with Bologna and was a center of Italian humnist influence, the short-lived university at Buda, and the Academia Istropolitana, founded by Matthias Corvinus in Bratislava in 1465 at which, in addition to humanism the influence of the "devotio moderna" was evident during its existence which lasted until 1493. Indeed, one of the noteworthy features of both the city schools founded in Slovakia during the decades prior to the inauguration of the Reformation and of the university training received at foreign or domestic universities, was the influence of Renaissance humanism. While Italian humanist influence predominated at Pees and in the court of Corvinus, the humanism which radiated from the Academia Istropolitana and Cracow, and whose influence was also evident in the court of Louis II and Mary, exhibited many of the particular concerns of the ''northern'' humanists for whom Desiderius Erasmus was a paradigmatic model. 13 This increase in the number of schools and the spread of humanist educational methods and concerns was not only a manifestation of a growing interest in and concern for education, especially among the urban population and the higher nobility, but also, together with the closure of domestic universities, helped to �SLOVAKIA 15 prepare the way for the Reformation and the educational reforms which it effected throughout Slovakia. THE REFORMATION AND EDUCATION In Slovakia a substantial transformation in both the number and the quality of schools occurred during the sixteenth century. After the invasion of Hungary by the Turks in the 1520' s, the subsequent tripartition of the country and the spread of the Reformation, the number, structure, curriculum and administration of the schools changed considerably. There is historical evidence for the existence of schools in at least fifty places in Slovakia before 1520. The majority of these were founded during the fifteenth century. To these were added, between 1520 and the end of the century, at least eighty-three schools, the majority of which, sixty-three, were established after 1550. Of these less than ten, including the academy founded by Mikulas Olah at Trnava after 1543, were Catholic. Over one hundred of these schools, reformed or newly founded, were Protestant, and most of these were Lutheran. They were supported by city or town councils or established by individual nobles who had converted to Lutheranism either in their primary residences or in one of the towns or villages under their jurisdiction. Almost all of the royal free cities and many of the mining cities had schools while nearly fifty additional towns and villages also had regularly established schools, some supported or aided by local noble families. The 11leshazy, Thurzo, Revay, Balasa, Radvan and Mariassi families all established or supported Evangelical schools and school masters. 14 The level of instruction in these Protestant schools in Slovakia differed according to the size of the school, the financial support provided, and the training and experience of the teachers. While some of them only offered rudimentary instruction in Latin or in German or Slovak, others, like the humanist school in Bardejov during the rectorate of Leonard Stockel, attained an international reputation. By the end of the sixteenth century at least sixteen of the city and eight of the noble schools can be classified as gymnasiums or higher Latin schools while by 1640 nearly 70 Protestant schools in Hungary can be considered to have achieved that status. 15 The records of these schools, as well as of many of the �16 SLOVAKIA schools in the smaller towns and some of the villages, had received some university training abroad . Large numbers of students from Hungary, including Slovaks as well as Germans and Magyars, attended universities in Germany. Of the one thousand students from Hungary who matriculated at the university of Wittenberg during the sixteenth century, 360 were from Slovakia. 16 The school established by Gregor Hovrath-Stansic, who had attended Strasbourg, in his castle at Strazky was one of the more important noble schools for Slovaks and became one of the citadels of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Unfortunately, no school order or plan of studies has yet been located for any of the castle or village schools. However, the scanty documentary evidence available does seem to indicate that their school masters were influenced by the same pedagogical concerns and followed the approach of their colleagues in the evangelical humanist schools established in the cities of Upper Hungary. The cities were the first centers of the Reformation in Slovakia. In them its course and the changes it wrought, particularly in the area of education, can be most readily identified and documented . The texts of several Protestant school orders and disciplinary regulations have been preserved. They reflect the strong influence of the educational program of the Lutheran reformation and especially of Melanchthon, Sturm and Trotzendorf upon the pedagogues in Slovakia. While the oldest preserved school order is Matthias Freundt's 1566 verbatim copy of the Zweibruecken-Neuberg order used in Banska Bystrica, the most systematic and extensive is the one prepared by John Mylius from Jihlava for the city school in Levoca in 1589. As had John Haunold, who compiled in 1587 a school order for Banska Stiavnica, Mylius used as his model the order prepared by Peter Vincentius from Wroclaw (Breslau) which was itself based on one prepared by the latter's mentor, Valentin Trotzendorf for Goldberg. Among the disciplinary regulations preserved the oldest is that prepared by Leonard Stockel for Bardejov. It was based upon the Eisleben order compiled by Johann Agricola and Herman Tulich, reflecting the three-class model recommended by Melanchthon in his instructions for the Saxon visitation of 1528. Stockel' s regulations were also adapted for use in Kezmarok and Presov. 1 7 �SLOVAKIA 17 The pedagogical influence of these and other German school orders upon those in Slovakia clearly indicates that by the second half of the sixteenth century the theology of the Lutheran Reformation and Evangelical humanist pedagogy was well grounded in Slovakia . While the three class or division model recommended by Melanchthon was initially followed, by the end of the sixteenth century, under the influence of Strum's Strasbourg school order, the number of class divisions had increased, first to five and then, in the larger schools, to nine or even ten as formal classes in Greek, theology and philosophy were added to the curriculum in order to prepare graduates to assume immediately positions as teachers and pastors. The two major goals of education were piety, the inculcation of pure Protestant doctrine and practice, and eloquence, the '' artes dicendi, scribendi, et lendi, '' the art of speaking, writing and reading Latin. As Leonard Stockel wrote in his Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540, "Because everything ought to be carried on in the name of God, especially among God's children, since apart from this nothing can prosper, the first concern of a teacher ought to be the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom." 18 Thus, the schools devoted as much attention to the moral and religious formation of their students as they did to instruction in language. However, since "grammar was the doorway to all knowledge" the curricula of these Latin schools was organized grammatically, that is following the accepted humanist pedagogical methods which were intended to lead the students, by precept, example, and imitation, from the rudiments of reading and writing through grammar and rhetoric to the knowledge of dialectic and, finally, theology. This confessionalization of education in Slovakia was accompanied by a laicization of the supervision and administration of the schools. Even before the new school orders were drawn up, the influence of the Reformation was manifested in the transformation of the older parish and cloister trivial schools into town or city schools supported and directly administered by laymen. Starting during the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the responsibility for financing and supervising the schools was exercised either by city or town councils or by individual nobles. These laymen claimed the right to appoint the rector and to supervise his activities, as well as those of any private teachers; they approved the school �18 SLOVAKIA orders and disciplinary regulations; they assessed and provided for the material needs of the school and its personnel; and they appointed or served as school visitors or examiners. 19 Thus, by the end of the sixteenth century the schools of Slovakia had school orders based upon those utilized by Lutheran schools or territories in Germany, they were administered and supported by Lutheran councils or nobles, and they employed Lutheran teachers who used both classic humanist and Lutheran texts or materials which they themselves had written. Not that this transformation had come easily. After mid-century, the Lutherans of Slovakia were challenged not only by post-Tridentine Catholicism and the entry of the Jesuits into Slovakia, but also by the spread of Reformed doctrines, especially those of Bullinger and the Second Helvetic Confession. Mikulas Olah, the Primate of Hungary, a learned humanist, and an industrious administrator, realized that the Reformation was becoming a popular movement in Slovakia. He was convinced that the defense of the Roman Catholic faith was possible only if it adopted and adapted the methods of education effectively employed by the Evangelicals. He therefore set out to increase the discipline and moral character of priests and to improve their education by strengthening existing schools and establishing new ones. In Trnava, to which the Archbishop Paul Varadi had transferred his episcopal court in 1543 after the fall of Buda and Esztergom to the Turks, Olah began his work of reorganization of Catholic education. 2° In 1554, with the agreement of the city council, he combined the administration of the local city school and the chapter school which had come with the episcopal bureaucracy to Trnava and prepared for it a plan of studies in the decree Concerning the reform of the Trnava School. " This situation lasted only several years and in 1558 Olah placed the school completely under the administration of the chapter . Thus while the administrator of the school was the canonical lector, the actual educational director of the six-class school was the sub-rector who was empowerd to appoint two teachers, one who spoke Slovak, the other German, and to engage a cantor for instruction in music . The Emperor and Hungarian King, Ferdinand I, not only provided materially for the well-being of the school by granting it ec11 �SLOVAKIA 19 clesiastical benefices, he also approved the request of Olah and Diego Laynez Lainer, the general superior of the Jesuit order, to found a Jesuit school in Trnava which was opened in 1561. However, this Jesuit academy lasted only six years and foundered as a result of the plague, fire, and the opposition of the local magistrates and pastor. Some of the community transferred their activities to Sala nad Vahom where they established a three-class Latin School. While other Catholic schools existed in Komarno, Nove Zamky, Zvolen and in Bratislava, the majority of the schools in Slovakia were and remained Protestant until the seventeenth century. The revival of post-Tridentine Catholicism was not the only challenge which confronted the Protestant schools. Within the Lutheran communities of eastern Slovakia confessional controversies raged for the last two decades of the century which were a manifestation of the influence of Reformed theology to which the majority of Magyar Protestants adhered. These debates focused on the acceptance of the Book of Concord as the norm of Lutheran teaching and, therefore, also a struggle for the control of the schools and for education. During these confessional controversies Slovaks, among them Severinus Sculteti and Elias Lani, who had received almost all of their education in Slovakia, began to emerge as major theological and ecclesiastical leaders within the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. This growing influence of Slovaks can also be seen in the elections of seniors at the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614), which established legally recognized ecclesiastical seniorats for the Lutherans in Slovakia.21 By the dawn of the seventeenth century Slovaks comprised the majority of the membership of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia and an increasing proportion of the pastors and teachers were of Slovak origin. These would be joined, especially after the battle of White Mountain of 1620, by a significant number of emigres from the Czech lands who sought refuge in Hungary, among them the hymnodist Juraj Tranovsky, and the noted educator Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius), whose pansophic philosophy and pedagogical ideas had considerable impact in middle Europe. This influx of emigres enriched the life of the schools and the Protestant communities in Slovakia and, at the same time, created �20 SLOVAKIA some difficulties for them since it contributed to and accentuated already existing confessional disputes or tensions. Especially significant for the Slovak-speaking Lutherans was the increasing availability of publications in Czech or Slovakicized Czech which served their worship and devotional needs . In addition to the translation of Luther' s Small Catechism, published in Bardejov in 1581, and the catechism of Jan Pruno-Frastacky (1583) and Daniel Pribis (1634), the devotional life of Slovak-speaking Lutherans was enriched by the hymn collection of Juraj Tranovsky, published in Levoca in 1636. Together with the translation of the Bible produced by the Unitas Fratrum in Moravia at the end of the sixteenth century, the so-called "Kralice Bible," these publications served the private and public worship and devotional needs of Slovak-speaking Lutherans. 22 While Protestant schools continued to be established or improved during the first half of the seventeenth century, they were confronted with significant challenges which increased substantially after mid-century despite the provisions of the Peace of Linz of 1645 which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary. The level of instruction in many of the schools was quite high. The rectors and teachers often received their university training abroad . This brought them into contact with the prevailing academic and cultural currents of thought . Some were also quite accomplished and widely recognized scholars. Among these were Elias Ladiver, Izak Caban, Jan Duchon and Jan Bayer to mention but a few .23 The number of scholarly and culturally significant works published in Hungary or abroad by the teachers active in Slovakia also grew substantially during the seventeenth century. From presses in Levoca and Bardejov came several editions of works by Comenius including his Janua Linguae Latinae, an innovative, illustrated textbook for learning Latin. 24 However, the Lutherans lacked a university of their own in Slovakia and the quality of their schools was still quite diverse and dependent both on the financial commitment of their patrons and the training and experience of their rectors. 25 To be sure, attempts were made by the Lutherans in Slovakia to resolve their internal difficulties. During the 1550' s and 1560's proposals were made to establish a unified school order but, aside from the approval of texts, little was accomplished . Moreover, after the Synod of Zilina in 1610, despite the support of Juraj Thurzo �SLOVAKIA 21 and Gaspar Illeshazy, the Lutherans were unable to establish their own academy or university during the first half of the seventeenth century. During the second half of the century, the Latin school in Presov was reorganized as a college according to the suggestion of Jan Bayer while other schools added additional advanced courses in both philosophy and theology. Despite these and other modifications to the curricula of the Lutheran schools, including the gradual acceptance of some of the pedagogical principles of Comenius, they continued to lose ground to the forces of the Counter-Reformation in Slovakia. 26 During the first half of the sevententh century the work anticipated by Mikulas Olah was carred on by his even more remarkable successor, the Hungarian Jesuit Peter Pazmany . He emerged as a major figure in the years following the Peace of Vienna in 1606 which granted Protestants religious toleration in Hungary. Pazmany was untiring in his opposition to the Reformation movement . His energy, combined with intellectual acuity and powerful connections, brought about the re-introduction of the Jesuit order into Hungary, despite the opposition of many of the nobility and cities. In 1615 Pazmany re-established the Jesuit academy or college in the Dominican cloister in Trnava as a three-class school. After receiving a dispensation which released him from his order, Pazmany became Archbishop and in this capacity set about establishing a Catholic university in Hungary . In 1635 he received approval to found a university in Trnava which would have, as one of its chief functions, combatting the spread of Protestantism and the fostering of Catholic doctrine and practice. The school was open to students of all faiths and instruction was without charge . It was organized according to the Jesuit program of education set down in the Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu issued by the general superior of the order, Claudius Aquaviva, in 1599. That this educational model was congruent with the program of studies advocated by the Evangelical Sturm in Strasbourg is understandable . The "Ratio" was based upon the educational ideas and programs of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, who had been a contemporary of Sturm at Louvain and Paris. 27 The Jesuit system of education, as established by the " Ratio, " �SLOVAKIA 22 was divided into two categories: the studia inferiora or lower school, which corresponded to the grammar or Latin schools of the cities, and the studia superiora" or higher studies, which was equivalent to university training. While the lower schools, which were open to all, were divided into five classes or grades which took between five and seven years to complete, the upper division or university level was divided into two levels, the general philosophical or liberal arts program and finally, the highest level, the study of theology . While the philosophy program lasted three years, those who wished to study theology completed at least four years of study and then, if a doctorate in theology was desired, an additional two years. The goal of this Jesuit educational system was piety and eloquence, the same as it had been for the Evangelical humanists of the sixteenth century. It was designed to achieve specific religious purposes and to serve as an agency for Catholic Reformation and to counter the spread of the Protestant Reformation. However, unlike other traditional universities, the Jesuit school at Trnava did not have a faculty of medicine or of law. The same program of studies was followed by Benedikt Kisdy, Bishop of Eger, who in 1657 organized a studium generale or university in Kosice .28 While these higher educational institutions were in the hands of the Jesuits, the Piarists were active, especially after the midseventeenth century, in establishing lower or basic schools which they founded or established in formerly Lutheran schools whose patrons had converted to Catholicism, or which were taken from the non-Catholics by force. The members of these orders proved to be effective educators and even adopted many of the same methods and materials which had been employed by the Protestants in their schools. The influence and excellence of the Jesuit and Piarist schools combined, after mid-century, with open persecution and military force, to bring about a substantial decline in the number of Lutheran schools in Slovakia . In addition, the re-conversion of many of the higher nobility to Catholicism, the rebellions of Thokoly and Rakoci, the Wesselenyi conspiracy and the growing power of the Habsburgs, who successfully campaigned against the Turks following the second siege of Vienna in 1683, together combined to create both the Habsburgs 11 11 II II 11 �SLOVAKIA 23 alliance with the Counter-Reformation and the peculiar Catholic Baroque culture in southeast central Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This effective alliance substantially reduced the number of Evangelicals in Hungary and led to a decline in the number and quality of the Lutheran schools in Slovakia. According to Jan Rezik, from the more than seventy Protestant schools in Hungary which could be considered gymnasiums in 1640, only 10 possessed that character at the dawn of the eighteenth century. Many of the former Evangelical city schools were taken from the Lutherans or lost their gymnasia! character and became grammar schools. Even though fewer in number and much constrained, Lutheran schools continued to function in Slovakia and to provide Slovaks with training both in the classical languages and in Lutheran doctrine and to prepare their students for university study, most often at universities in Germany or elsewhere in western and northern Europe. This meant that the graduates of these schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, like their sixteenth and seventeenth century predecessors, would become well acquainted with the broad intellectual currents of the day including the Enlightenment principles which fostered the national awakening of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. On the other hand, although they were co-creators of the peculiar Baroque culture of the Austrian Habsburg lands, the Catholic schools also actively cultivated the use of the Slovak language as part of the program of education and thereby also contributed to the eventual codification of Slovak as a literary language and the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. Thus, Lutheran and Catholic schools made it possible for a broad cross-section of the population, including many ethnic Slovaks, to gain an education and enter public life. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries these schools were among the chief agencies which aided the social and cultural advancement of the Slovaks . Although the development of Protestant and Catholic popular education in Slovakia during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries helped to create a Slovak intelligentsia and thereby laid the foundations for the Slovak cultural and literary revival of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it also created substan- �24 SLOVAKIA tial problems for the subsequent history of the Slovaks. The Slovak intelligentsia and the population were divided into two, often very hostile groups, Protestants and Catholics. Their education, historical development, traditions, and even their cultural awareness and perceptions of Slovak history were quite different. These differences would be manifested in the history of the Slovaks and Slovakia. The continuing heritage of the educational reform of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and the broader cultural and social changes these effected were evident not only during the period of the national cultural revival, but also in the subsequent attempts to foster an ethnic solidarity and a common political consciousness among the Slovaks in the struggle to define and create a Slovak nation and state. FOOTNOTES 1 [udovft Holotfk and Jan Tibensky, Dejiny 5/ovenska I (Bratislava, 1961), pp. 380-392, 456-478; Pavo! Mazak, Mikulas Gasparfk, Pavo! Petrus and Milan Pisut. Dejiny slovenskej literatun; 2 (Bratislava, 1984), pp. 9-86; Jan Hucko, Socialne zlozenie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava, 1974). 2 Contemporary scholars are debating whether or not Reformation schools were successful , a debate which focuses on th e question of whether or not an improvement in individual and/or public morality is the best standard by which the success or failure of the Reformation is to be ascertained. Some, like Gerald Strauss, conclude that the Reformation schools fai led because they did not effect a fundamental improvement in or transformation of the moral lives of their gradu ates. Others, however, question the use of the hermeneutical principle of moral transformation as a sta ndard for judging the success of the Reformation as a historical, ecclesiastical and theological movement . They argue that observable changes in theological formu lations, liturgical practices, ecclesiastical institutions and cu ltural development are more effective means to evaluate the impact of the Reformation. See especially Gerald Strauss, Luther's House of Leaming. Indoctrination of the Young in the Gennan Reformation (Baltimore, 1976); James M. Kittelson, " Successes and Failures of the German Reformation: The Report from Strasbourg," Arch iv fiir Refonna tionsgeschichte 73 (1982) and also his " The Confessional Age: The Late Reformation in Germany " pages 361-381 in Reformation Europe: A Guide to Research edited by Steven Ozment (St. Louis, 1982); Leif Crane (Ed.), University and Reformation: Lectures from the University of Copen hagen Symposium (Leiden, 1981). Also very useful is the older work of Georg Mertz, Das Schulwesen der deu tschen Reformation im 16. Jahrhundert (Heidelberg, 1902), and of Friedrich Paulson, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts �SLOVAKIA 25 auf den deutschen Schulen und Universitiiten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Gegenwart (Leipzig, 1919). 3 For a brief discussion of contemporary research questions see James D. Tracy, " Humanism and the Reformation," pages 33-57 in Reformation Europe: a Guide to Research. A very useful collection of essays on the various aspects of Humanism is Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms and Legacy, 3 volumes, Edited by Albert Rabil, Jr. (Philadelphia, 1988). See also Humanizmus a renesancia na Slovensku v. 15. - 16. storoci edited by tudovft Holoti'.k and Anton Vantuch (Bratislava, 1967) which contains several excellent essays touching on humanism and education in Slovakia. 4 The role of printing in the spread of the Reformation is another topic of great interest to contemporary Reformation historians. See especially Elizabeth L. Eisenstein , The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (New York, 1983); Miriam Usher Chrisman, Lay Culture and the Culture of the Learned: Books, Men and Ideas in Strasbourg, 1480-1599 (New Haven, 1982); Richard Crofts, "Books, Reform and the Reformation," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 71 (1980) : 21-35; Richard Cole, "The Reformation in Print: German Pamphlets and Propaganda," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 66 (1975): 93-102; and Louise W. Holborn, " Printing and the Growth of a Protestant Movement in Germany from 1517 to 1524," Church History 11 (1942): 123-137. s See especially Heinz Scheible, "Melanchthons Beziehungen zum DonauKarpaten-Rum bis 1546," pages 36-67 in Luther und Siebenbiirgen, Siebenbiirgisches Archiv 19, edited by George and Renate Weber (Koln, 1985); William Toth, " Highlights of the Hungarian Reformation," Church History 9 (1940):141-156, and also his "Luther's Frontier in Hungary," pages 75-91 in Reformation Studies, Essays in Honor of Roland H. Bainton, edited by Franklin H. Littel (Richmond, 1972); R.J. W. Evangs, "Calvinism in East Central Europe, Hungary and Her Neighbors," pages 167-196 in International Calvinism, 1541-1717, edited by Menna Prestwich (Oxford, 1985); and William Hammer, "Latin Instruction in the Schools of Transylvania from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," The Phoenix 8 (1954):92-108. 6 The literature on education in Hungary as a whole and on Slovakia in particular owes a great deal to several older works including the compilation of material gathered during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Jan Rezik and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziolfgia, Dejiny Gymnazii na Slovensku, edited by Vladislav Ruzicka (Bratislava, 1971). Also extremely useful is Vilmos Frankl (Fraknoi), A hazai es kiilfoldi iskolazas a XVI szazadban (Budapest, 1873) . A recent general survey was published by Josef Matej el al. Dejiny Ceskej a Slovenskej Pedagogiky (Bratislava, 1976). For the era of the Reformation and CounterReformation the following three works are indispensible: Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, studijne a skolske poriadky na Slovensku v XVI storoci (Bratislava, 1955); Istvan Meszaros, XVI. szazadi varosi iskolaink es a "studia humanitatis ", Humanizmus es Reformaci6, 11 (Budapest, 1981); and Vladislav Ruzicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobf neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974) which draws much from Rezik's �26 SLOVAKIA Gym naziol6gia but also provides many extensive and useful annotations. For individual schools especially helpful are : Janos Breznyik, A Se/mecbanya agost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyzeum tiirtenete (Selmecbanyan, 1883); Jan Gallo, Dejiny strednych skol v Gemeri do polovici 19. storocia (Martin, 1977); Jozsef Hi:irk, Az eperjesi ev. ker. collegium tiirtenete (Kassa, 1896); Pavo! Krizko, Kremnicke skolstvo v rokoch 1527-1 674 (Bratislava, 1975); Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischen Lyzeums A. B. in Kesmark, 400 Jahre (Kezmarok, 1933); and Jan Mikles, " Dejiny skolstva v Banskej Bystrici mestska latinska skola" Jednotna skola 10 (1955):308-343 . See also his " Obrazky z dejfn skolstva na pociatku reformacie v Banskej Bystrici . Dokumenty k dejinam mestskej skoly v Banskej Bystrici v 16. storoci" pp. 53-84 and " Vyznam pokrokovej tradicie bystrickych skolskych zakonov z roku 1617 a ich suvislost' s komenskeho ucebnicami v Kremnici av Banskej Bystrici" pp . 85-106 in Sbom{k vyssej pedagogickej skoly v Banskej Bystrici (Banska Bystrica, 1958). 7 8 For a concise review of the evidence concerning education in Slovakia during the high middle ages see Pavol Krizko, Kremn icke skolstvo v rokoch 1526-1674. (Bratislava, 1975), pp. 10-18. Julius Sopko, " O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku " Historicky casopis 36 (1968) :175-197. 9 Peter Vajcik, " Nizsie skolstvo na Slovensku v 15.-16. storocf," in Holotik and Vantuch, pp. 118-127 and Matej, pp . 51-53. 10 See Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp . 7-13. 11 Ivan Chalupecky, "Vzdelanost' a Kultura spisskych miest a mesteciek v 15.-18. storoff ' Historicky casopis 35 (1987) :427-435. 12 See especially the following articles in Holotik and Vantuch: Branislav Varsik, "Slovensko a eur6pska vzdelanost' v 15.-16. storocf'', pp . 128-135; Frantisek Kavda, " Slovensti studenti na prazske universite v 15. a 16. stoletf" , pp. 137-146; Endre Kovacs, " Vzt'ahy krakovskej univerzity k Slovensku za renesancie", pp. 147-161; Pavel Horvath, "Studenti zo Slovenska na krakovskej univerzite v 15. av prvej polovici 16. storocia, " pp. 162-172; and Matus Kucera, "Studenti zo Slovenska na viedenskej univerzite d o r. 1530," pp . 173-188. 13 Tibor Kard os, " Devotio Moderna na Academii Istropolitane, " pages 25-39 in Holotik and Vantuch . Adalbert Hudak, " Der Hofprediger Johannes Henckel und seine Beziehungen zu Erasmus von Rotterdam, " Ki rch e im Osten 2 (1959):106-133; Gustav Bauch, " Dr. Johann Henckel, der Hofprediger der Ki:inigin Maria von Ungarn," Ungarische Revue 4 (1884) :559-627; Jan Kvacala, "Kralovna Maria a jej ucast v dejoch reformacie" Viera a veda 1 (1930):10-22, 59-72, 97-105 . 14 Vajcik, Skolstvo pp . 10-24; Rezik and Matthaeides; Ruzicka, pp. 34-71. 15 See Ruzicka, Rezik and Matthaeides, and Frankl. The statistics are to be considered minimum figures since they only take into account schools fo r which written evidence currently exists. �SLOVAKIA 16 27 Geza Szabo, Geschichte des Ungarischen Coetus and der Universitiit Wittenberg, 155-1613 (Halle, 1941). Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 59-135; Ruzicka, pp. 72-123. See also Friedrich Paulsen, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts I, 3rd Ed . (Berlin and Leipzig, 1919) for a general introduction to school reforms in the German states during the era of the Reformation. 18 Vajcik, Skolstvo, p. 61. 19 Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 15-24. 20 Trnavska Univerzita v slovenskych dejinach . Edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). 21 David P . Daniel, "The Acceptance of the Formula of Concord in Slovakia,' Archive fiir Reformationsgeschichte 70 (1979):160-277 . 22 David P. Daniel, " The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia , 28 (1978-1979) :49-65. 23 For brief biographical sketches see Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k vols . 1-3 (Martin, 1986-1989). 24 In 1643 Valentine Brewer printed his first edition of the Janua Linguae Latinae. It was quickly followed by printings in 1644, 48, 49 and again in 1655. See Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia Tlacf vydanych na Slovensku do roku 1700. I (Martin, 1972), nos . 896, 906, 938, 957, 958, 1012. 25 Presovske kolegium v s/ovenskych dejinach, edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967). 26 Frantisek Bokes, "Rozvoj vyssieho skolstva na Slovensku v 17.-19. storoci," in Presovske kolegium , p. 13. 2 7 Ruzicka, p . 126. 2 8 Ruzicka, pp. 125-169. 17 � SLOVAKIA 9 The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Slovakia DAVID P. DANIEL National revival moments awakened the ethnic, linguistic and cultural consciousness of the various peoples of the Austrian Empire throughout east central Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These movements were manifestations of the influence of the Enlightenment which penetrated the region prior to and during the reign of Joseph II . Their leaders sought to define, express, and to realize the national aspirations of the peoples of the region. In Slovakia, the movement of national revival (narodne obrodenie) was particularly significant. It led to the codification of the Slovak language and the creation of a diverse body of literary works in Slovak and thus stimulated the emergence of the cultural and ethnic consciousness of the people and, ultimately, to expressions of their political aspirations. This movement can be considered one of the most significant events in the history of the Slovaks. Its leaders, among them Bel, Bernolak, Tablic, Holly, Palkovic, Safarik, Kollar, Kuzmany, Shir and Hurban, to name but a few, are rightly honored as major contributors to the development of the Slovak language, literature and culture. 1 While this national revival was primarily an expression of Enlightenment thought and was fostered by contacts with German universities and intellectuals, its roots can be traced to the transformation of education which occurred in Slovakia during the early modern era. Members of the Slovak intelligentsia of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were the intellectual and cultural heirs of traditions which can be traced back to the era of �10 SLOVAKIA the Reformation and the Counter or Catholic Reformation. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, both Protestants and Catholics contributed to the establishment of popular education . The schools in Slovakia, which were founded or reorganized during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, were local outputs of the broad intellectual and cultural currents of early modern European civilization. Their teachers and students had considerable influence, not only among the Magyar and German population of the major cities of Upper Hungary, but also among the Slovaks who comprised the largest proportion of the population in the region. Although often bitterly divided over religious issues, the faculty and graduates of those Protestant and Catholic schools were important agents both of religious reformation and cultural formation. The history of the transformation wrought in education during the Renaissance and Reformation has attracted much scholarly attention during the last twenty years. 2 Recent reformation research has devoted considerable attention to the influence of Renaissance humanism upon the curriculum of European universities and its subsequent impact upon the emergence and spread of the Reformation .3 Sharply criticizing what they considered the sterility of late medieval scholasticism, Renaisance humanists sought to engender eloquence, piety and civic responsibility. They emphasized the study of Latin, Greek, and for would-be theologians, Hebrew, as the necessary foundation for reading classic texts in their original languages. In addition, especially in its northern European manifestation, evangelical humanism also stressed religious morality and piety as well as the civic activity and responsibility which characterized Italian humanism. This influence of Renaissance humanism was not limited to the newly founded or reformed universities. It was clearly evident in the reform or founding of new grammar or middle schools throughout Europe . The education of the young was one of the primary concerns of the ecclesiastical reformers of the sixteenth century. The Protestant reformers and, following the Council of Trent, leaders of Catholic reform, urged that local institutions be established to inculcate pure doctrine and to foster piety as well as to train students in the so-called "studia humanitatis ." The reformers �SLOVAKIA 11 encouraged laymen to establish and support local schools as nurseries of humanist learning and of religious formation. In these schools, the form and substance of the traditional curricula was transformed . Evangelical humanist pedagogical methods were adopted by Protestant communities and used to inculcate Lutheran or Reformed theology. These methods were also adapted for use in Catholic schools where they were employed to counter the spread of Protestantism and regain the populace for post-Tridentine Catholicism. Aided by the contemporary growth in the number and variety of printed materials, these schools created a literate public by producing and disseminating religious literature as an aid to institutionalizing ecclesiastical reform. 4 This was true not merely for Germany or western Europe, where the Reformation began and was first consolidated. It also characterized developments in east and south east central Europe as a whole and in Hungary in particular. 5 In Hungary, and specifically in Upper Hungary, roughly congruent with modernday Slovakia, educational reform and the development of local schools was one of the major features of the history of the region during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest.6 These schools were particularly important for the population of the region since none of the universities founded in medieval Hungary endured into the sixteenth century . On the one hand, this meant that these local schools had to prepare students for study at foreign universities and therefore maintained close contacts with these universities . On the other hand, it not only meant that a substantial number of students, who could not afford to attend a university abroad, received all of their training in Slovakia but also that the founding of a local university or institution of higher learning eventually emerged as a major concern of both Protestant and Catholic educators. Both of these developments had considerable significance not only for the course of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Slovakia but also for the history of popular education and the emergence of a Slovak intelligentsia. MEDIEVAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Of course, the history of education in Hungary in general and �12 SLOVAKIA in Slovakia in particular did not begin with the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Both the Protestant and Catholic reformers built upon, enlarged and transformed educational institutions and traditions which had been established by the end of the fifteenth century . Indeed, in many respects, the way for the pedagogical reformers of the sixteenth century was paved by an increasing interest in education among the citizens, at the court and in the chancellery of Hungary during the time of Matthias Corvinus" Hunyadi. This growing concern for an education which went beyond that offered primarily in the older ecclesiastical institutions and schools was a manifestation both of changes in society and statecraft as well as of the influence of Italian humanism in Hungary. 7 While individual teachers could be found in Hungary during the early middle ages and although a school may have existed in the cathedral city of Nitra as early as the twelfth century, it was not until cities had begun to emerge as centers of economic and cultural activity that the existence of more than a handful of schools can be established. In addition, although a few nobles may have employed teachers in their courts, the higher nobility, as a group, did not show much interest in formal academic education prior to the sixteenth century and actually sought to inhibit the children of their serfs from attending school. Thus, most of the early schools were primarily ecclesiastical in character and emphasized the preparation of their students for functions within the church .8 The first schools to be established in the region were probably those of the three chapters, in Nitra, Bratislava and Spis and from the fragmentary documentary evidence available it is clear that each of these chapters had individuals who served as teachers by the end of the thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth centuries. These not only were charged with the instruction of members of the chapter but also taught a few lay students as well. While there may also have been rudimentary schools maintained at the chancellery and in the so-called vierohodne mies ta" or II trustworthy places, which served as repositories of important legal documents, the evidence for such is fragmentary. The same is true for schools which may have been supported by the various monastic communities in Slovakia. These schools served the specific needs 11 11 11 �SLOVAKIA 13 of the supporting community and taught, besides reading and writing, singing and rudimentary arithmetic or computation, necessary for determining the major, movable festivals of the ecclesiastical year. The Ars minor of Donatus and Priscian's Institutio de artica grammatica were used as the primary language instruction texts which prepared the students to read the Bible and the Church fathers. However, the reading of works by Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, usually in "Florilegia," collections of excerpts from their works, was not unknown. 9 More significant, at least in terms of the number that existed, were schools established as agencies of parish churches in the major towns of Slovakia. In northern Hungary, by the end of the fifteenth century, there were more than thirty such parish schools and eleven more towns established schools during the first two decades of the sixteenth century. Thus, at the beginning of the Reformation, most of the larger towns and at least thirteen villages in Slovakia had established schools. Although documentary evidence for the curriculum of these schools is also fragmentary, it does appear that they too were primarily concerned with meeting ecclesiastical needs and preparing students for participation in church services . However, it is reasonable to suppose that these schools were similar to "trivial" Latin schools elsewhere, especially in Germany. The "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric and logic were the foundations of the plan of studies which also included elements of the " quadrivium" of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. In addition to the rector who supervised the administration and established, with the approval of the ecclesiastical or municipal authorities, the curriculum, there were several assistants and a cantor was employed to give instruction in music. Especially important were schools founded at Kezmarok, Bardejov, Levoca and Kosice in eastern Slovakia as well as at Kremnica, Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica in central Slovakia . 10 The schools of eastern Slovakia had particularly strong connections with the University of Cracow. Leonard Cox, a former tutor of Henry VII of England, who had been honored as a poet at Cracow, taught at Levoca and then in Kosice while Valentin Eck served as rector in Bardejov. 11 These schools prepared many of their students �14 SLOVAKIA for subsequent university training. Indeed, during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the number of students from the territory inhabited by the Slovaks who attended universities in Italy, Austria, Bohemia and Poland steadily increased. While Italian universities, especially Bologna and Padua were the first to attract students from Hungary, ethnic Slovaks were particularly drawn to the University of Prague, founded by Charles IV in 1348, and then to Cracow where from 1492 the students from Hungary had their own bourse or foundation which provided financial assistance and their own matriculation book in which they registered as students . The University of Vienna also attracted a considerable number of students from Hungary where they were members of the Hungarian nation. 12 One reason that the number of students from Hungary at foreign Universities grew during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was that the number of city schools in Slovakia increased . Another reason was the closure of the universities which had been founded in Hungary, the chapter school at Veszprem, the University at Pees, which had close contacts with Bologna and was a center of Italian humnist influence, the short-lived university at Buda, and the Academia Istropolitana, founded by Matthias Corvinus in Bratislava in 1465 at which, in addition to humanism the influence of the "devotio moderna" was evident during its existence which lasted until 1493. Indeed, one of the noteworthy features of both the city schools founded in Slovakia during the decades prior to the inauguration of the Reformation and of the university training received at foreign or domestic universities, was the influence of Renaissance humanism. While Italian humanist influence predominated at Pees and in the court of Corvinus, the humanism which radiated from the Academia Istropolitana and Cracow, and whose influence was also evident in the court of Louis II and Mary, exhibited many of the particular concerns of the ''northern'' humanists for whom Desiderius Erasmus was a paradigmatic model. 13 This increase in the number of schools and the spread of humanist educational methods and concerns was not only a manifestation of a growing interest in and concern for education, especially among the urban population and the higher nobility, but also, together with the closure of domestic universities, helped to �SLOVAKIA 15 prepare the way for the Reformation and the educational reforms which it effected throughout Slovakia. THE REFORMATION AND EDUCATION In Slovakia a substantial transformation in both the number and the quality of schools occurred during the sixteenth century. After the invasion of Hungary by the Turks in the 1520' s, the subsequent tripartition of the country and the spread of the Reformation, the number, structure, curriculum and administration of the schools changed considerably. There is historical evidence for the existence of schools in at least fifty places in Slovakia before 1520. The majority of these were founded during the fifteenth century. To these were added, between 1520 and the end of the century, at least eighty-three schools, the majority of which, sixty-three, were established after 1550. Of these less than ten, including the academy founded by Mikulas Olah at Trnava after 1543, were Catholic. Over one hundred of these schools, reformed or newly founded, were Protestant, and most of these were Lutheran. They were supported by city or town councils or established by individual nobles who had converted to Lutheranism either in their primary residences or in one of the towns or villages under their jurisdiction. Almost all of the royal free cities and many of the mining cities had schools while nearly fifty additional towns and villages also had regularly established schools, some supported or aided by local noble families. The 11leshazy, Thurzo, Revay, Balasa, Radvan and Mariassi families all established or supported Evangelical schools and school masters. 14 The level of instruction in these Protestant schools in Slovakia differed according to the size of the school, the financial support provided, and the training and experience of the teachers. While some of them only offered rudimentary instruction in Latin or in German or Slovak, others, like the humanist school in Bardejov during the rectorate of Leonard Stockel, attained an international reputation. By the end of the sixteenth century at least sixteen of the city and eight of the noble schools can be classified as gymnasiums or higher Latin schools while by 1640 nearly 70 Protestant schools in Hungary can be considered to have achieved that status. 15 The records of these schools, as well as of many of the �16 SLOVAKIA schools in the smaller towns and some of the villages, had received some university training abroad . Large numbers of students from Hungary, including Slovaks as well as Germans and Magyars, attended universities in Germany. Of the one thousand students from Hungary who matriculated at the university of Wittenberg during the sixteenth century, 360 were from Slovakia. 16 The school established by Gregor Hovrath-Stansic, who had attended Strasbourg, in his castle at Strazky was one of the more important noble schools for Slovaks and became one of the citadels of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Unfortunately, no school order or plan of studies has yet been located for any of the castle or village schools. However, the scanty documentary evidence available does seem to indicate that their school masters were influenced by the same pedagogical concerns and followed the approach of their colleagues in the evangelical humanist schools established in the cities of Upper Hungary. The cities were the first centers of the Reformation in Slovakia. In them its course and the changes it wrought, particularly in the area of education, can be most readily identified and documented . The texts of several Protestant school orders and disciplinary regulations have been preserved. They reflect the strong influence of the educational program of the Lutheran reformation and especially of Melanchthon, Sturm and Trotzendorf upon the pedagogues in Slovakia. While the oldest preserved school order is Matthias Freundt's 1566 verbatim copy of the Zweibruecken-Neuberg order used in Banska Bystrica, the most systematic and extensive is the one prepared by John Mylius from Jihlava for the city school in Levoca in 1589. As had John Haunold, who compiled in 1587 a school order for Banska Stiavnica, Mylius used as his model the order prepared by Peter Vincentius from Wroclaw (Breslau) which was itself based on one prepared by the latter's mentor, Valentin Trotzendorf for Goldberg. Among the disciplinary regulations preserved the oldest is that prepared by Leonard Stockel for Bardejov. It was based upon the Eisleben order compiled by Johann Agricola and Herman Tulich, reflecting the three-class model recommended by Melanchthon in his instructions for the Saxon visitation of 1528. Stockel' s regulations were also adapted for use in Kezmarok and Presov. 1 7 �SLOVAKIA 17 The pedagogical influence of these and other German school orders upon those in Slovakia clearly indicates that by the second half of the sixteenth century the theology of the Lutheran Reformation and Evangelical humanist pedagogy was well grounded in Slovakia . While the three class or division model recommended by Melanchthon was initially followed, by the end of the sixteenth century, under the influence of Strum's Strasbourg school order, the number of class divisions had increased, first to five and then, in the larger schools, to nine or even ten as formal classes in Greek, theology and philosophy were added to the curriculum in order to prepare graduates to assume immediately positions as teachers and pastors. The two major goals of education were piety, the inculcation of pure Protestant doctrine and practice, and eloquence, the '' artes dicendi, scribendi, et lendi, '' the art of speaking, writing and reading Latin. As Leonard Stockel wrote in his Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540, "Because everything ought to be carried on in the name of God, especially among God's children, since apart from this nothing can prosper, the first concern of a teacher ought to be the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom." 18 Thus, the schools devoted as much attention to the moral and religious formation of their students as they did to instruction in language. However, since "grammar was the doorway to all knowledge" the curricula of these Latin schools was organized grammatically, that is following the accepted humanist pedagogical methods which were intended to lead the students, by precept, example, and imitation, from the rudiments of reading and writing through grammar and rhetoric to the knowledge of dialectic and, finally, theology. This confessionalization of education in Slovakia was accompanied by a laicization of the supervision and administration of the schools. Even before the new school orders were drawn up, the influence of the Reformation was manifested in the transformation of the older parish and cloister trivial schools into town or city schools supported and directly administered by laymen. Starting during the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the responsibility for financing and supervising the schools was exercised either by city or town councils or by individual nobles. These laymen claimed the right to appoint the rector and to supervise his activities, as well as those of any private teachers; they approved the school �18 SLOVAKIA orders and disciplinary regulations; they assessed and provided for the material needs of the school and its personnel; and they appointed or served as school visitors or examiners. 19 Thus, by the end of the sixteenth century the schools of Slovakia had school orders based upon those utilized by Lutheran schools or territories in Germany, they were administered and supported by Lutheran councils or nobles, and they employed Lutheran teachers who used both classic humanist and Lutheran texts or materials which they themselves had written. Not that this transformation had come easily. After mid-century, the Lutherans of Slovakia were challenged not only by post-Tridentine Catholicism and the entry of the Jesuits into Slovakia, but also by the spread of Reformed doctrines, especially those of Bullinger and the Second Helvetic Confession. Mikulas Olah, the Primate of Hungary, a learned humanist, and an industrious administrator, realized that the Reformation was becoming a popular movement in Slovakia. He was convinced that the defense of the Roman Catholic faith was possible only if it adopted and adapted the methods of education effectively employed by the Evangelicals. He therefore set out to increase the discipline and moral character of priests and to improve their education by strengthening existing schools and establishing new ones. In Trnava, to which the Archbishop Paul Varadi had transferred his episcopal court in 1543 after the fall of Buda and Esztergom to the Turks, Olah began his work of reorganization of Catholic education. 2° In 1554, with the agreement of the city council, he combined the administration of the local city school and the chapter school which had come with the episcopal bureaucracy to Trnava and prepared for it a plan of studies in the decree Concerning the reform of the Trnava School. " This situation lasted only several years and in 1558 Olah placed the school completely under the administration of the chapter . Thus while the administrator of the school was the canonical lector, the actual educational director of the six-class school was the sub-rector who was empowerd to appoint two teachers, one who spoke Slovak, the other German, and to engage a cantor for instruction in music . The Emperor and Hungarian King, Ferdinand I, not only provided materially for the well-being of the school by granting it ec11 �SLOVAKIA 19 clesiastical benefices, he also approved the request of Olah and Diego Laynez Lainer, the general superior of the Jesuit order, to found a Jesuit school in Trnava which was opened in 1561. However, this Jesuit academy lasted only six years and foundered as a result of the plague, fire, and the opposition of the local magistrates and pastor. Some of the community transferred their activities to Sala nad Vahom where they established a three-class Latin School. While other Catholic schools existed in Komarno, Nove Zamky, Zvolen and in Bratislava, the majority of the schools in Slovakia were and remained Protestant until the seventeenth century. The revival of post-Tridentine Catholicism was not the only challenge which confronted the Protestant schools. Within the Lutheran communities of eastern Slovakia confessional controversies raged for the last two decades of the century which were a manifestation of the influence of Reformed theology to which the majority of Magyar Protestants adhered. These debates focused on the acceptance of the Book of Concord as the norm of Lutheran teaching and, therefore, also a struggle for the control of the schools and for education. During these confessional controversies Slovaks, among them Severinus Sculteti and Elias Lani, who had received almost all of their education in Slovakia, began to emerge as major theological and ecclesiastical leaders within the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. This growing influence of Slovaks can also be seen in the elections of seniors at the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614), which established legally recognized ecclesiastical seniorats for the Lutherans in Slovakia.21 By the dawn of the seventeenth century Slovaks comprised the majority of the membership of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia and an increasing proportion of the pastors and teachers were of Slovak origin. These would be joined, especially after the battle of White Mountain of 1620, by a significant number of emigres from the Czech lands who sought refuge in Hungary, among them the hymnodist Juraj Tranovsky, and the noted educator Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius), whose pansophic philosophy and pedagogical ideas had considerable impact in middle Europe. This influx of emigres enriched the life of the schools and the Protestant communities in Slovakia and, at the same time, created �20 SLOVAKIA some difficulties for them since it contributed to and accentuated already existing confessional disputes or tensions. Especially significant for the Slovak-speaking Lutherans was the increasing availability of publications in Czech or Slovakicized Czech which served their worship and devotional needs . In addition to the translation of Luther' s Small Catechism, published in Bardejov in 1581, and the catechism of Jan Pruno-Frastacky (1583) and Daniel Pribis (1634), the devotional life of Slovak-speaking Lutherans was enriched by the hymn collection of Juraj Tranovsky, published in Levoca in 1636. Together with the translation of the Bible produced by the Unitas Fratrum in Moravia at the end of the sixteenth century, the so-called "Kralice Bible," these publications served the private and public worship and devotional needs of Slovak-speaking Lutherans. 22 While Protestant schools continued to be established or improved during the first half of the seventeenth century, they were confronted with significant challenges which increased substantially after mid-century despite the provisions of the Peace of Linz of 1645 which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary. The level of instruction in many of the schools was quite high. The rectors and teachers often received their university training abroad . This brought them into contact with the prevailing academic and cultural currents of thought . Some were also quite accomplished and widely recognized scholars. Among these were Elias Ladiver, Izak Caban, Jan Duchon and Jan Bayer to mention but a few .23 The number of scholarly and culturally significant works published in Hungary or abroad by the teachers active in Slovakia also grew substantially during the seventeenth century. From presses in Levoca and Bardejov came several editions of works by Comenius including his Janua Linguae Latinae, an innovative, illustrated textbook for learning Latin. 24 However, the Lutherans lacked a university of their own in Slovakia and the quality of their schools was still quite diverse and dependent both on the financial commitment of their patrons and the training and experience of their rectors. 25 To be sure, attempts were made by the Lutherans in Slovakia to resolve their internal difficulties. During the 1550' s and 1560's proposals were made to establish a unified school order but, aside from the approval of texts, little was accomplished . Moreover, after the Synod of Zilina in 1610, despite the support of Juraj Thurzo �SLOVAKIA 21 and Gaspar Illeshazy, the Lutherans were unable to establish their own academy or university during the first half of the seventeenth century. During the second half of the century, the Latin school in Presov was reorganized as a college according to the suggestion of Jan Bayer while other schools added additional advanced courses in both philosophy and theology. Despite these and other modifications to the curricula of the Lutheran schools, including the gradual acceptance of some of the pedagogical principles of Comenius, they continued to lose ground to the forces of the Counter-Reformation in Slovakia. 26 During the first half of the sevententh century the work anticipated by Mikulas Olah was carred on by his even more remarkable successor, the Hungarian Jesuit Peter Pazmany . He emerged as a major figure in the years following the Peace of Vienna in 1606 which granted Protestants religious toleration in Hungary. Pazmany was untiring in his opposition to the Reformation movement . His energy, combined with intellectual acuity and powerful connections, brought about the re-introduction of the Jesuit order into Hungary, despite the opposition of many of the nobility and cities. In 1615 Pazmany re-established the Jesuit academy or college in the Dominican cloister in Trnava as a three-class school. After receiving a dispensation which released him from his order, Pazmany became Archbishop and in this capacity set about establishing a Catholic university in Hungary . In 1635 he received approval to found a university in Trnava which would have, as one of its chief functions, combatting the spread of Protestantism and the fostering of Catholic doctrine and practice. The school was open to students of all faiths and instruction was without charge . It was organized according to the Jesuit program of education set down in the Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu issued by the general superior of the order, Claudius Aquaviva, in 1599. That this educational model was congruent with the program of studies advocated by the Evangelical Sturm in Strasbourg is understandable . The "Ratio" was based upon the educational ideas and programs of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, who had been a contemporary of Sturm at Louvain and Paris. 27 The Jesuit system of education, as established by the " Ratio, " �SLOVAKIA 22 was divided into two categories: the studia inferiora or lower school, which corresponded to the grammar or Latin schools of the cities, and the studia superiora" or higher studies, which was equivalent to university training. While the lower schools, which were open to all, were divided into five classes or grades which took between five and seven years to complete, the upper division or university level was divided into two levels, the general philosophical or liberal arts program and finally, the highest level, the study of theology . While the philosophy program lasted three years, those who wished to study theology completed at least four years of study and then, if a doctorate in theology was desired, an additional two years. The goal of this Jesuit educational system was piety and eloquence, the same as it had been for the Evangelical humanists of the sixteenth century. It was designed to achieve specific religious purposes and to serve as an agency for Catholic Reformation and to counter the spread of the Protestant Reformation. However, unlike other traditional universities, the Jesuit school at Trnava did not have a faculty of medicine or of law. The same program of studies was followed by Benedikt Kisdy, Bishop of Eger, who in 1657 organized a studium generale or university in Kosice .28 While these higher educational institutions were in the hands of the Jesuits, the Piarists were active, especially after the midseventeenth century, in establishing lower or basic schools which they founded or established in formerly Lutheran schools whose patrons had converted to Catholicism, or which were taken from the non-Catholics by force. The members of these orders proved to be effective educators and even adopted many of the same methods and materials which had been employed by the Protestants in their schools. The influence and excellence of the Jesuit and Piarist schools combined, after mid-century, with open persecution and military force, to bring about a substantial decline in the number of Lutheran schools in Slovakia . In addition, the re-conversion of many of the higher nobility to Catholicism, the rebellions of Thokoly and Rakoci, the Wesselenyi conspiracy and the growing power of the Habsburgs, who successfully campaigned against the Turks following the second siege of Vienna in 1683, together combined to create both the Habsburgs 11 11 II II 11 �SLOVAKIA 23 alliance with the Counter-Reformation and the peculiar Catholic Baroque culture in southeast central Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This effective alliance substantially reduced the number of Evangelicals in Hungary and led to a decline in the number and quality of the Lutheran schools in Slovakia. According to Jan Rezik, from the more than seventy Protestant schools in Hungary which could be considered gymnasiums in 1640, only 10 possessed that character at the dawn of the eighteenth century. Many of the former Evangelical city schools were taken from the Lutherans or lost their gymnasia! character and became grammar schools. Even though fewer in number and much constrained, Lutheran schools continued to function in Slovakia and to provide Slovaks with training both in the classical languages and in Lutheran doctrine and to prepare their students for university study, most often at universities in Germany or elsewhere in western and northern Europe. This meant that the graduates of these schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, like their sixteenth and seventeenth century predecessors, would become well acquainted with the broad intellectual currents of the day including the Enlightenment principles which fostered the national awakening of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. On the other hand, although they were co-creators of the peculiar Baroque culture of the Austrian Habsburg lands, the Catholic schools also actively cultivated the use of the Slovak language as part of the program of education and thereby also contributed to the eventual codification of Slovak as a literary language and the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. Thus, Lutheran and Catholic schools made it possible for a broad cross-section of the population, including many ethnic Slovaks, to gain an education and enter public life. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries these schools were among the chief agencies which aided the social and cultural advancement of the Slovaks . Although the development of Protestant and Catholic popular education in Slovakia during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries helped to create a Slovak intelligentsia and thereby laid the foundations for the Slovak cultural and literary revival of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it also created substan- �24 SLOVAKIA tial problems for the subsequent history of the Slovaks. The Slovak intelligentsia and the population were divided into two, often very hostile groups, Protestants and Catholics. Their education, historical development, traditions, and even their cultural awareness and perceptions of Slovak history were quite different. These differences would be manifested in the history of the Slovaks and Slovakia. The continuing heritage of the educational reform of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and the broader cultural and social changes these effected were evident not only during the period of the national cultural revival, but also in the subsequent attempts to foster an ethnic solidarity and a common political consciousness among the Slovaks in the struggle to define and create a Slovak nation and state. FOOTNOTES 1 [udovft Holotfk and Jan Tibensky, Dejiny 5/ovenska I (Bratislava, 1961), pp. 380-392, 456-478; Pavo! Mazak, Mikulas Gasparfk, Pavo! Petrus and Milan Pisut. Dejiny slovenskej literatun; 2 (Bratislava, 1984), pp. 9-86; Jan Hucko, Socialne zlozenie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava, 1974). 2 Contemporary scholars are debating whether or not Reformation schools were successful , a debate which focuses on th e question of whether or not an improvement in individual and/or public morality is the best standard by which the success or failure of the Reformation is to be ascertained. Some, like Gerald Strauss, conclude that the Reformation schools fai led because they did not effect a fundamental improvement in or transformation of the moral lives of their gradu ates. Others, however, question the use of the hermeneutical principle of moral transformation as a sta ndard for judging the success of the Reformation as a historical, ecclesiastical and theological movement . They argue that observable changes in theological formu lations, liturgical practices, ecclesiastical institutions and cu ltural development are more effective means to evaluate the impact of the Reformation. See especially Gerald Strauss, Luther's House of Leaming. Indoctrination of the Young in the Gennan Reformation (Baltimore, 1976); James M. Kittelson, " Successes and Failures of the German Reformation: The Report from Strasbourg," Arch iv fiir Refonna tionsgeschichte 73 (1982) and also his " The Confessional Age: The Late Reformation in Germany " pages 361-381 in Reformation Europe: A Guide to Research edited by Steven Ozment (St. Louis, 1982); Leif Crane (Ed.), University and Reformation: Lectures from the University of Copen hagen Symposium (Leiden, 1981). Also very useful is the older work of Georg Mertz, Das Schulwesen der deu tschen Reformation im 16. Jahrhundert (Heidelberg, 1902), and of Friedrich Paulson, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts �SLOVAKIA 25 auf den deutschen Schulen und Universitiiten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Gegenwart (Leipzig, 1919). 3 For a brief discussion of contemporary research questions see James D. Tracy, " Humanism and the Reformation," pages 33-57 in Reformation Europe: a Guide to Research. A very useful collection of essays on the various aspects of Humanism is Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms and Legacy, 3 volumes, Edited by Albert Rabil, Jr. (Philadelphia, 1988). See also Humanizmus a renesancia na Slovensku v. 15. - 16. storoci edited by tudovft Holoti'.k and Anton Vantuch (Bratislava, 1967) which contains several excellent essays touching on humanism and education in Slovakia. 4 The role of printing in the spread of the Reformation is another topic of great interest to contemporary Reformation historians. See especially Elizabeth L. Eisenstein , The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (New York, 1983); Miriam Usher Chrisman, Lay Culture and the Culture of the Learned: Books, Men and Ideas in Strasbourg, 1480-1599 (New Haven, 1982); Richard Crofts, "Books, Reform and the Reformation," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 71 (1980) : 21-35; Richard Cole, "The Reformation in Print: German Pamphlets and Propaganda," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 66 (1975): 93-102; and Louise W. Holborn, " Printing and the Growth of a Protestant Movement in Germany from 1517 to 1524," Church History 11 (1942): 123-137. s See especially Heinz Scheible, "Melanchthons Beziehungen zum DonauKarpaten-Rum bis 1546," pages 36-67 in Luther und Siebenbiirgen, Siebenbiirgisches Archiv 19, edited by George and Renate Weber (Koln, 1985); William Toth, " Highlights of the Hungarian Reformation," Church History 9 (1940):141-156, and also his "Luther's Frontier in Hungary," pages 75-91 in Reformation Studies, Essays in Honor of Roland H. Bainton, edited by Franklin H. Littel (Richmond, 1972); R.J. W. Evangs, "Calvinism in East Central Europe, Hungary and Her Neighbors," pages 167-196 in International Calvinism, 1541-1717, edited by Menna Prestwich (Oxford, 1985); and William Hammer, "Latin Instruction in the Schools of Transylvania from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," The Phoenix 8 (1954):92-108. 6 The literature on education in Hungary as a whole and on Slovakia in particular owes a great deal to several older works including the compilation of material gathered during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Jan Rezik and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziolfgia, Dejiny Gymnazii na Slovensku, edited by Vladislav Ruzicka (Bratislava, 1971). Also extremely useful is Vilmos Frankl (Fraknoi), A hazai es kiilfoldi iskolazas a XVI szazadban (Budapest, 1873) . A recent general survey was published by Josef Matej el al. Dejiny Ceskej a Slovenskej Pedagogiky (Bratislava, 1976). For the era of the Reformation and CounterReformation the following three works are indispensible: Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, studijne a skolske poriadky na Slovensku v XVI storoci (Bratislava, 1955); Istvan Meszaros, XVI. szazadi varosi iskolaink es a "studia humanitatis ", Humanizmus es Reformaci6, 11 (Budapest, 1981); and Vladislav Ruzicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobf neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974) which draws much from Rezik's �26 SLOVAKIA Gym naziol6gia but also provides many extensive and useful annotations. For individual schools especially helpful are : Janos Breznyik, A Se/mecbanya agost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyzeum tiirtenete (Selmecbanyan, 1883); Jan Gallo, Dejiny strednych skol v Gemeri do polovici 19. storocia (Martin, 1977); Jozsef Hi:irk, Az eperjesi ev. ker. collegium tiirtenete (Kassa, 1896); Pavo! Krizko, Kremnicke skolstvo v rokoch 1527-1 674 (Bratislava, 1975); Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischen Lyzeums A. B. in Kesmark, 400 Jahre (Kezmarok, 1933); and Jan Mikles, " Dejiny skolstva v Banskej Bystrici mestska latinska skola" Jednotna skola 10 (1955):308-343 . See also his " Obrazky z dejfn skolstva na pociatku reformacie v Banskej Bystrici . Dokumenty k dejinam mestskej skoly v Banskej Bystrici v 16. storoci" pp. 53-84 and " Vyznam pokrokovej tradicie bystrickych skolskych zakonov z roku 1617 a ich suvislost' s komenskeho ucebnicami v Kremnici av Banskej Bystrici" pp . 85-106 in Sbom{k vyssej pedagogickej skoly v Banskej Bystrici (Banska Bystrica, 1958). 7 8 For a concise review of the evidence concerning education in Slovakia during the high middle ages see Pavol Krizko, Kremn icke skolstvo v rokoch 1526-1674. (Bratislava, 1975), pp. 10-18. Julius Sopko, " O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku " Historicky casopis 36 (1968) :175-197. 9 Peter Vajcik, " Nizsie skolstvo na Slovensku v 15.-16. storocf," in Holotik and Vantuch, pp. 118-127 and Matej, pp . 51-53. 10 See Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp . 7-13. 11 Ivan Chalupecky, "Vzdelanost' a Kultura spisskych miest a mesteciek v 15.-18. storoff ' Historicky casopis 35 (1987) :427-435. 12 See especially the following articles in Holotik and Vantuch: Branislav Varsik, "Slovensko a eur6pska vzdelanost' v 15.-16. storocf'', pp . 128-135; Frantisek Kavda, " Slovensti studenti na prazske universite v 15. a 16. stoletf" , pp. 137-146; Endre Kovacs, " Vzt'ahy krakovskej univerzity k Slovensku za renesancie", pp. 147-161; Pavel Horvath, "Studenti zo Slovenska na krakovskej univerzite v 15. av prvej polovici 16. storocia, " pp. 162-172; and Matus Kucera, "Studenti zo Slovenska na viedenskej univerzite d o r. 1530," pp . 173-188. 13 Tibor Kard os, " Devotio Moderna na Academii Istropolitane, " pages 25-39 in Holotik and Vantuch . Adalbert Hudak, " Der Hofprediger Johannes Henckel und seine Beziehungen zu Erasmus von Rotterdam, " Ki rch e im Osten 2 (1959):106-133; Gustav Bauch, " Dr. Johann Henckel, der Hofprediger der Ki:inigin Maria von Ungarn," Ungarische Revue 4 (1884) :559-627; Jan Kvacala, "Kralovna Maria a jej ucast v dejoch reformacie" Viera a veda 1 (1930):10-22, 59-72, 97-105 . 14 Vajcik, Skolstvo pp . 10-24; Rezik and Matthaeides; Ruzicka, pp. 34-71. 15 See Ruzicka, Rezik and Matthaeides, and Frankl. The statistics are to be considered minimum figures since they only take into account schools fo r which written evidence currently exists. �SLOVAKIA 16 27 Geza Szabo, Geschichte des Ungarischen Coetus and der Universitiit Wittenberg, 155-1613 (Halle, 1941). Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 59-135; Ruzicka, pp. 72-123. See also Friedrich Paulsen, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts I, 3rd Ed . (Berlin and Leipzig, 1919) for a general introduction to school reforms in the German states during the era of the Reformation. 18 Vajcik, Skolstvo, p. 61. 19 Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 15-24. 20 Trnavska Univerzita v slovenskych dejinach . Edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). 21 David P . Daniel, "The Acceptance of the Formula of Concord in Slovakia,' Archive fiir Reformationsgeschichte 70 (1979):160-277 . 22 David P. Daniel, " The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia , 28 (1978-1979) :49-65. 23 For brief biographical sketches see Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k vols . 1-3 (Martin, 1986-1989). 24 In 1643 Valentine Brewer printed his first edition of the Janua Linguae Latinae. It was quickly followed by printings in 1644, 48, 49 and again in 1655. See Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia Tlacf vydanych na Slovensku do roku 1700. I (Martin, 1972), nos . 896, 906, 938, 957, 958, 1012. 25 Presovske kolegium v s/ovenskych dejinach, edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967). 26 Frantisek Bokes, "Rozvoj vyssieho skolstva na Slovensku v 17.-19. storoci," in Presovske kolegium , p. 13. 2 7 Ruzicka, p . 126. 2 8 Ruzicka, pp. 125-169. 17 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1989-90, Vol. 34 Description An account of the resource Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90. 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 1989-90 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 The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Slovakia DAVID P. DANIEL National revival moments awakened the ethnic, linguistic and cultural consciousness of the various peoples of the Austrian Empire throughout east central Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These movements were manifestations of the influence of the Enlightenment which penetrated the region prior to and during the reign of Joseph II . Their leaders sought to define, express, and to realize the national aspirations of the peoples of the region. In Slovakia, the movement of national revival (narodne obrodenie) was particularly significant. It led to the codification of the Slovak language and the creation of a diverse body of literary works in Slovak and thus stimulated the emergence of the cultural and ethnic consciousness of the people and, ultimately, to expressions of their political aspirations. This movement can be considered one of the most significant events in the history of the Slovaks. Its leaders, among them Bel, Bernolak, Tablic, Holly, Palkovic, Safarik, Kollar, Kuzmany, Shir and Hurban, to name but a few, are rightly honored as major contributors to the development of the Slovak language, literature and culture. 1 While this national revival was primarily an expression of Enlightenment thought and was fostered by contacts with German universities and intellectuals, its roots can be traced to the transformation of education which occurred in Slovakia during the early modern era. Members of the Slovak intelligentsia of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were the intellectual and cultural heirs of traditions which can be traced back to the era of 10 SLOVAKIA the Reformation and the Counter or Catholic Reformation. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, both Protestants and Catholics contributed to the establishment of popular education . The schools in Slovakia, which were founded or reorganized during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, were local outputs of the broad intellectual and cultural currents of early modern European civilization. Their teachers and students had considerable influence, not only among the Magyar and German population of the major cities of Upper Hungary, but also among the Slovaks who comprised the largest proportion of the population in the region. Although often bitterly divided over religious issues, the faculty and graduates of those Protestant and Catholic schools were important agents both of religious reformation and cultural formation. The history of the transformation wrought in education during the Renaissance and Reformation has attracted much scholarly attention during the last twenty years. 2 Recent reformation research has devoted considerable attention to the influence of Renaissance humanism upon the curriculum of European universities and its subsequent impact upon the emergence and spread of the Reformation .3 Sharply criticizing what they considered the sterility of late medieval scholasticism, Renaisance humanists sought to engender eloquence, piety and civic responsibility. They emphasized the study of Latin, Greek, and for would-be theologians, Hebrew, as the necessary foundation for reading classic texts in their original languages. In addition, especially in its northern European manifestation, evangelical humanism also stressed religious morality and piety as well as the civic activity and responsibility which characterized Italian humanism. This influence of Renaissance humanism was not limited to the newly founded or reformed universities. It was clearly evident in the reform or founding of new grammar or middle schools throughout Europe . The education of the young was one of the primary concerns of the ecclesiastical reformers of the sixteenth century. The Protestant reformers and, following the Council of Trent, leaders of Catholic reform, urged that local institutions be established to inculcate pure doctrine and to foster piety as well as to train students in the so-called "studia humanitatis ." The reformers SLOVAKIA 11 encouraged laymen to establish and support local schools as nurseries of humanist learning and of religious formation. In these schools, the form and substance of the traditional curricula was transformed . Evangelical humanist pedagogical methods were adopted by Protestant communities and used to inculcate Lutheran or Reformed theology. These methods were also adapted for use in Catholic schools where they were employed to counter the spread of Protestantism and regain the populace for post-Tridentine Catholicism. Aided by the contemporary growth in the number and variety of printed materials, these schools created a literate public by producing and disseminating religious literature as an aid to institutionalizing ecclesiastical reform. 4 This was true not merely for Germany or western Europe, where the Reformation began and was first consolidated. It also characterized developments in east and south east central Europe as a whole and in Hungary in particular. 5 In Hungary, and specifically in Upper Hungary, roughly congruent with modernday Slovakia, educational reform and the development of local schools was one of the major features of the history of the region during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest.6 These schools were particularly important for the population of the region since none of the universities founded in medieval Hungary endured into the sixteenth century . On the one hand, this meant that these local schools had to prepare students for study at foreign universities and therefore maintained close contacts with these universities . On the other hand, it not only meant that a substantial number of students, who could not afford to attend a university abroad, received all of their training in Slovakia but also that the founding of a local university or institution of higher learning eventually emerged as a major concern of both Protestant and Catholic educators. Both of these developments had considerable significance not only for the course of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Slovakia but also for the history of popular education and the emergence of a Slovak intelligentsia. MEDIEVAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Of course, the history of education in Hungary in general and 12 SLOVAKIA in Slovakia in particular did not begin with the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Both the Protestant and Catholic reformers built upon, enlarged and transformed educational institutions and traditions which had been established by the end of the fifteenth century . Indeed, in many respects, the way for the pedagogical reformers of the sixteenth century was paved by an increasing interest in education among the citizens, at the court and in the chancellery of Hungary during the time of Matthias Corvinus" Hunyadi. This growing concern for an education which went beyond that offered primarily in the older ecclesiastical institutions and schools was a manifestation both of changes in society and statecraft as well as of the influence of Italian humanism in Hungary. 7 While individual teachers could be found in Hungary during the early middle ages and although a school may have existed in the cathedral city of Nitra as early as the twelfth century, it was not until cities had begun to emerge as centers of economic and cultural activity that the existence of more than a handful of schools can be established. In addition, although a few nobles may have employed teachers in their courts, the higher nobility, as a group, did not show much interest in formal academic education prior to the sixteenth century and actually sought to inhibit the children of their serfs from attending school. Thus, most of the early schools were primarily ecclesiastical in character and emphasized the preparation of their students for functions within the church .8 The first schools to be established in the region were probably those of the three chapters, in Nitra, Bratislava and Spis and from the fragmentary documentary evidence available it is clear that each of these chapters had individuals who served as teachers by the end of the thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth centuries. These not only were charged with the instruction of members of the chapter but also taught a few lay students as well. While there may also have been rudimentary schools maintained at the chancellery and in the so-called vierohodne mies ta" or II trustworthy places, which served as repositories of important legal documents, the evidence for such is fragmentary. The same is true for schools which may have been supported by the various monastic communities in Slovakia. These schools served the specific needs 11 11 11 SLOVAKIA 13 of the supporting community and taught, besides reading and writing, singing and rudimentary arithmetic or computation, necessary for determining the major, movable festivals of the ecclesiastical year. The Ars minor of Donatus and Priscian's Institutio de artica grammatica were used as the primary language instruction texts which prepared the students to read the Bible and the Church fathers. However, the reading of works by Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, usually in "Florilegia," collections of excerpts from their works, was not unknown. 9 More significant, at least in terms of the number that existed, were schools established as agencies of parish churches in the major towns of Slovakia. In northern Hungary, by the end of the fifteenth century, there were more than thirty such parish schools and eleven more towns established schools during the first two decades of the sixteenth century. Thus, at the beginning of the Reformation, most of the larger towns and at least thirteen villages in Slovakia had established schools. Although documentary evidence for the curriculum of these schools is also fragmentary, it does appear that they too were primarily concerned with meeting ecclesiastical needs and preparing students for participation in church services . However, it is reasonable to suppose that these schools were similar to "trivial" Latin schools elsewhere, especially in Germany. The "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric and logic were the foundations of the plan of studies which also included elements of the " quadrivium" of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. In addition to the rector who supervised the administration and established, with the approval of the ecclesiastical or municipal authorities, the curriculum, there were several assistants and a cantor was employed to give instruction in music. Especially important were schools founded at Kezmarok, Bardejov, Levoca and Kosice in eastern Slovakia as well as at Kremnica, Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica in central Slovakia . 10 The schools of eastern Slovakia had particularly strong connections with the University of Cracow. Leonard Cox, a former tutor of Henry VII of England, who had been honored as a poet at Cracow, taught at Levoca and then in Kosice while Valentin Eck served as rector in Bardejov. 11 These schools prepared many of their students 14 SLOVAKIA for subsequent university training. Indeed, during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the number of students from the territory inhabited by the Slovaks who attended universities in Italy, Austria, Bohemia and Poland steadily increased. While Italian universities, especially Bologna and Padua were the first to attract students from Hungary, ethnic Slovaks were particularly drawn to the University of Prague, founded by Charles IV in 1348, and then to Cracow where from 1492 the students from Hungary had their own bourse or foundation which provided financial assistance and their own matriculation book in which they registered as students . The University of Vienna also attracted a considerable number of students from Hungary where they were members of the Hungarian nation. 12 One reason that the number of students from Hungary at foreign Universities grew during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was that the number of city schools in Slovakia increased . Another reason was the closure of the universities which had been founded in Hungary, the chapter school at Veszprem, the University at Pees, which had close contacts with Bologna and was a center of Italian humnist influence, the short-lived university at Buda, and the Academia Istropolitana, founded by Matthias Corvinus in Bratislava in 1465 at which, in addition to humanism the influence of the "devotio moderna" was evident during its existence which lasted until 1493. Indeed, one of the noteworthy features of both the city schools founded in Slovakia during the decades prior to the inauguration of the Reformation and of the university training received at foreign or domestic universities, was the influence of Renaissance humanism. While Italian humanist influence predominated at Pees and in the court of Corvinus, the humanism which radiated from the Academia Istropolitana and Cracow, and whose influence was also evident in the court of Louis II and Mary, exhibited many of the particular concerns of the ''northern'' humanists for whom Desiderius Erasmus was a paradigmatic model. 13 This increase in the number of schools and the spread of humanist educational methods and concerns was not only a manifestation of a growing interest in and concern for education, especially among the urban population and the higher nobility, but also, together with the closure of domestic universities, helped to SLOVAKIA 15 prepare the way for the Reformation and the educational reforms which it effected throughout Slovakia. THE REFORMATION AND EDUCATION In Slovakia a substantial transformation in both the number and the quality of schools occurred during the sixteenth century. After the invasion of Hungary by the Turks in the 1520' s, the subsequent tripartition of the country and the spread of the Reformation, the number, structure, curriculum and administration of the schools changed considerably. There is historical evidence for the existence of schools in at least fifty places in Slovakia before 1520. The majority of these were founded during the fifteenth century. To these were added, between 1520 and the end of the century, at least eighty-three schools, the majority of which, sixty-three, were established after 1550. Of these less than ten, including the academy founded by Mikulas Olah at Trnava after 1543, were Catholic. Over one hundred of these schools, reformed or newly founded, were Protestant, and most of these were Lutheran. They were supported by city or town councils or established by individual nobles who had converted to Lutheranism either in their primary residences or in one of the towns or villages under their jurisdiction. Almost all of the royal free cities and many of the mining cities had schools while nearly fifty additional towns and villages also had regularly established schools, some supported or aided by local noble families. The 11leshazy, Thurzo, Revay, Balasa, Radvan and Mariassi families all established or supported Evangelical schools and school masters. 14 The level of instruction in these Protestant schools in Slovakia differed according to the size of the school, the financial support provided, and the training and experience of the teachers. While some of them only offered rudimentary instruction in Latin or in German or Slovak, others, like the humanist school in Bardejov during the rectorate of Leonard Stockel, attained an international reputation. By the end of the sixteenth century at least sixteen of the city and eight of the noble schools can be classified as gymnasiums or higher Latin schools while by 1640 nearly 70 Protestant schools in Hungary can be considered to have achieved that status. 15 The records of these schools, as well as of many of the 16 SLOVAKIA schools in the smaller towns and some of the villages, had received some university training abroad . Large numbers of students from Hungary, including Slovaks as well as Germans and Magyars, attended universities in Germany. Of the one thousand students from Hungary who matriculated at the university of Wittenberg during the sixteenth century, 360 were from Slovakia. 16 The school established by Gregor Hovrath-Stansic, who had attended Strasbourg, in his castle at Strazky was one of the more important noble schools for Slovaks and became one of the citadels of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Unfortunately, no school order or plan of studies has yet been located for any of the castle or village schools. However, the scanty documentary evidence available does seem to indicate that their school masters were influenced by the same pedagogical concerns and followed the approach of their colleagues in the evangelical humanist schools established in the cities of Upper Hungary. The cities were the first centers of the Reformation in Slovakia. In them its course and the changes it wrought, particularly in the area of education, can be most readily identified and documented . The texts of several Protestant school orders and disciplinary regulations have been preserved. They reflect the strong influence of the educational program of the Lutheran reformation and especially of Melanchthon, Sturm and Trotzendorf upon the pedagogues in Slovakia. While the oldest preserved school order is Matthias Freundt's 1566 verbatim copy of the Zweibruecken-Neuberg order used in Banska Bystrica, the most systematic and extensive is the one prepared by John Mylius from Jihlava for the city school in Levoca in 1589. As had John Haunold, who compiled in 1587 a school order for Banska Stiavnica, Mylius used as his model the order prepared by Peter Vincentius from Wroclaw (Breslau) which was itself based on one prepared by the latter's mentor, Valentin Trotzendorf for Goldberg. Among the disciplinary regulations preserved the oldest is that prepared by Leonard Stockel for Bardejov. It was based upon the Eisleben order compiled by Johann Agricola and Herman Tulich, reflecting the three-class model recommended by Melanchthon in his instructions for the Saxon visitation of 1528. Stockel' s regulations were also adapted for use in Kezmarok and Presov. 1 7 SLOVAKIA 17 The pedagogical influence of these and other German school orders upon those in Slovakia clearly indicates that by the second half of the sixteenth century the theology of the Lutheran Reformation and Evangelical humanist pedagogy was well grounded in Slovakia . While the three class or division model recommended by Melanchthon was initially followed, by the end of the sixteenth century, under the influence of Strum's Strasbourg school order, the number of class divisions had increased, first to five and then, in the larger schools, to nine or even ten as formal classes in Greek, theology and philosophy were added to the curriculum in order to prepare graduates to assume immediately positions as teachers and pastors. The two major goals of education were piety, the inculcation of pure Protestant doctrine and practice, and eloquence, the '' artes dicendi, scribendi, et lendi, '' the art of speaking, writing and reading Latin. As Leonard Stockel wrote in his Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540, "Because everything ought to be carried on in the name of God, especially among God's children, since apart from this nothing can prosper, the first concern of a teacher ought to be the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom." 18 Thus, the schools devoted as much attention to the moral and religious formation of their students as they did to instruction in language. However, since "grammar was the doorway to all knowledge" the curricula of these Latin schools was organized grammatically, that is following the accepted humanist pedagogical methods which were intended to lead the students, by precept, example, and imitation, from the rudiments of reading and writing through grammar and rhetoric to the knowledge of dialectic and, finally, theology. This confessionalization of education in Slovakia was accompanied by a laicization of the supervision and administration of the schools. Even before the new school orders were drawn up, the influence of the Reformation was manifested in the transformation of the older parish and cloister trivial schools into town or city schools supported and directly administered by laymen. Starting during the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the responsibility for financing and supervising the schools was exercised either by city or town councils or by individual nobles. These laymen claimed the right to appoint the rector and to supervise his activities, as well as those of any private teachers; they approved the school 18 SLOVAKIA orders and disciplinary regulations; they assessed and provided for the material needs of the school and its personnel; and they appointed or served as school visitors or examiners. 19 Thus, by the end of the sixteenth century the schools of Slovakia had school orders based upon those utilized by Lutheran schools or territories in Germany, they were administered and supported by Lutheran councils or nobles, and they employed Lutheran teachers who used both classic humanist and Lutheran texts or materials which they themselves had written. Not that this transformation had come easily. After mid-century, the Lutherans of Slovakia were challenged not only by post-Tridentine Catholicism and the entry of the Jesuits into Slovakia, but also by the spread of Reformed doctrines, especially those of Bullinger and the Second Helvetic Confession. Mikulas Olah, the Primate of Hungary, a learned humanist, and an industrious administrator, realized that the Reformation was becoming a popular movement in Slovakia. He was convinced that the defense of the Roman Catholic faith was possible only if it adopted and adapted the methods of education effectively employed by the Evangelicals. He therefore set out to increase the discipline and moral character of priests and to improve their education by strengthening existing schools and establishing new ones. In Trnava, to which the Archbishop Paul Varadi had transferred his episcopal court in 1543 after the fall of Buda and Esztergom to the Turks, Olah began his work of reorganization of Catholic education. 2° In 1554, with the agreement of the city council, he combined the administration of the local city school and the chapter school which had come with the episcopal bureaucracy to Trnava and prepared for it a plan of studies in the decree Concerning the reform of the Trnava School. " This situation lasted only several years and in 1558 Olah placed the school completely under the administration of the chapter . Thus while the administrator of the school was the canonical lector, the actual educational director of the six-class school was the sub-rector who was empowerd to appoint two teachers, one who spoke Slovak, the other German, and to engage a cantor for instruction in music . The Emperor and Hungarian King, Ferdinand I, not only provided materially for the well-being of the school by granting it ec11 SLOVAKIA 19 clesiastical benefices, he also approved the request of Olah and Diego Laynez Lainer, the general superior of the Jesuit order, to found a Jesuit school in Trnava which was opened in 1561. However, this Jesuit academy lasted only six years and foundered as a result of the plague, fire, and the opposition of the local magistrates and pastor. Some of the community transferred their activities to Sala nad Vahom where they established a three-class Latin School. While other Catholic schools existed in Komarno, Nove Zamky, Zvolen and in Bratislava, the majority of the schools in Slovakia were and remained Protestant until the seventeenth century. The revival of post-Tridentine Catholicism was not the only challenge which confronted the Protestant schools. Within the Lutheran communities of eastern Slovakia confessional controversies raged for the last two decades of the century which were a manifestation of the influence of Reformed theology to which the majority of Magyar Protestants adhered. These debates focused on the acceptance of the Book of Concord as the norm of Lutheran teaching and, therefore, also a struggle for the control of the schools and for education. During these confessional controversies Slovaks, among them Severinus Sculteti and Elias Lani, who had received almost all of their education in Slovakia, began to emerge as major theological and ecclesiastical leaders within the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. This growing influence of Slovaks can also be seen in the elections of seniors at the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614), which established legally recognized ecclesiastical seniorats for the Lutherans in Slovakia.21 By the dawn of the seventeenth century Slovaks comprised the majority of the membership of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia and an increasing proportion of the pastors and teachers were of Slovak origin. These would be joined, especially after the battle of White Mountain of 1620, by a significant number of emigres from the Czech lands who sought refuge in Hungary, among them the hymnodist Juraj Tranovsky, and the noted educator Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius), whose pansophic philosophy and pedagogical ideas had considerable impact in middle Europe. This influx of emigres enriched the life of the schools and the Protestant communities in Slovakia and, at the same time, created 20 SLOVAKIA some difficulties for them since it contributed to and accentuated already existing confessional disputes or tensions. Especially significant for the Slovak-speaking Lutherans was the increasing availability of publications in Czech or Slovakicized Czech which served their worship and devotional needs . In addition to the translation of Luther' s Small Catechism, published in Bardejov in 1581, and the catechism of Jan Pruno-Frastacky (1583) and Daniel Pribis (1634), the devotional life of Slovak-speaking Lutherans was enriched by the hymn collection of Juraj Tranovsky, published in Levoca in 1636. Together with the translation of the Bible produced by the Unitas Fratrum in Moravia at the end of the sixteenth century, the so-called "Kralice Bible," these publications served the private and public worship and devotional needs of Slovak-speaking Lutherans. 22 While Protestant schools continued to be established or improved during the first half of the seventeenth century, they were confronted with significant challenges which increased substantially after mid-century despite the provisions of the Peace of Linz of 1645 which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary. The level of instruction in many of the schools was quite high. The rectors and teachers often received their university training abroad . This brought them into contact with the prevailing academic and cultural currents of thought . Some were also quite accomplished and widely recognized scholars. Among these were Elias Ladiver, Izak Caban, Jan Duchon and Jan Bayer to mention but a few .23 The number of scholarly and culturally significant works published in Hungary or abroad by the teachers active in Slovakia also grew substantially during the seventeenth century. From presses in Levoca and Bardejov came several editions of works by Comenius including his Janua Linguae Latinae, an innovative, illustrated textbook for learning Latin. 24 However, the Lutherans lacked a university of their own in Slovakia and the quality of their schools was still quite diverse and dependent both on the financial commitment of their patrons and the training and experience of their rectors. 25 To be sure, attempts were made by the Lutherans in Slovakia to resolve their internal difficulties. During the 1550' s and 1560's proposals were made to establish a unified school order but, aside from the approval of texts, little was accomplished . Moreover, after the Synod of Zilina in 1610, despite the support of Juraj Thurzo SLOVAKIA 21 and Gaspar Illeshazy, the Lutherans were unable to establish their own academy or university during the first half of the seventeenth century. During the second half of the century, the Latin school in Presov was reorganized as a college according to the suggestion of Jan Bayer while other schools added additional advanced courses in both philosophy and theology. Despite these and other modifications to the curricula of the Lutheran schools, including the gradual acceptance of some of the pedagogical principles of Comenius, they continued to lose ground to the forces of the Counter-Reformation in Slovakia. 26 During the first half of the sevententh century the work anticipated by Mikulas Olah was carred on by his even more remarkable successor, the Hungarian Jesuit Peter Pazmany . He emerged as a major figure in the years following the Peace of Vienna in 1606 which granted Protestants religious toleration in Hungary. Pazmany was untiring in his opposition to the Reformation movement . His energy, combined with intellectual acuity and powerful connections, brought about the re-introduction of the Jesuit order into Hungary, despite the opposition of many of the nobility and cities. In 1615 Pazmany re-established the Jesuit academy or college in the Dominican cloister in Trnava as a three-class school. After receiving a dispensation which released him from his order, Pazmany became Archbishop and in this capacity set about establishing a Catholic university in Hungary . In 1635 he received approval to found a university in Trnava which would have, as one of its chief functions, combatting the spread of Protestantism and the fostering of Catholic doctrine and practice. The school was open to students of all faiths and instruction was without charge . It was organized according to the Jesuit program of education set down in the Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu issued by the general superior of the order, Claudius Aquaviva, in 1599. That this educational model was congruent with the program of studies advocated by the Evangelical Sturm in Strasbourg is understandable . The "Ratio" was based upon the educational ideas and programs of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, who had been a contemporary of Sturm at Louvain and Paris. 27 The Jesuit system of education, as established by the " Ratio, " SLOVAKIA 22 was divided into two categories: the studia inferiora or lower school, which corresponded to the grammar or Latin schools of the cities, and the studia superiora" or higher studies, which was equivalent to university training. While the lower schools, which were open to all, were divided into five classes or grades which took between five and seven years to complete, the upper division or university level was divided into two levels, the general philosophical or liberal arts program and finally, the highest level, the study of theology . While the philosophy program lasted three years, those who wished to study theology completed at least four years of study and then, if a doctorate in theology was desired, an additional two years. The goal of this Jesuit educational system was piety and eloquence, the same as it had been for the Evangelical humanists of the sixteenth century. It was designed to achieve specific religious purposes and to serve as an agency for Catholic Reformation and to counter the spread of the Protestant Reformation. However, unlike other traditional universities, the Jesuit school at Trnava did not have a faculty of medicine or of law. The same program of studies was followed by Benedikt Kisdy, Bishop of Eger, who in 1657 organized a studium generale or university in Kosice .28 While these higher educational institutions were in the hands of the Jesuits, the Piarists were active, especially after the midseventeenth century, in establishing lower or basic schools which they founded or established in formerly Lutheran schools whose patrons had converted to Catholicism, or which were taken from the non-Catholics by force. The members of these orders proved to be effective educators and even adopted many of the same methods and materials which had been employed by the Protestants in their schools. The influence and excellence of the Jesuit and Piarist schools combined, after mid-century, with open persecution and military force, to bring about a substantial decline in the number of Lutheran schools in Slovakia . In addition, the re-conversion of many of the higher nobility to Catholicism, the rebellions of Thokoly and Rakoci, the Wesselenyi conspiracy and the growing power of the Habsburgs, who successfully campaigned against the Turks following the second siege of Vienna in 1683, together combined to create both the Habsburgs 11 11 II II 11 SLOVAKIA 23 alliance with the Counter-Reformation and the peculiar Catholic Baroque culture in southeast central Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This effective alliance substantially reduced the number of Evangelicals in Hungary and led to a decline in the number and quality of the Lutheran schools in Slovakia. According to Jan Rezik, from the more than seventy Protestant schools in Hungary which could be considered gymnasiums in 1640, only 10 possessed that character at the dawn of the eighteenth century. Many of the former Evangelical city schools were taken from the Lutherans or lost their gymnasia! character and became grammar schools. Even though fewer in number and much constrained, Lutheran schools continued to function in Slovakia and to provide Slovaks with training both in the classical languages and in Lutheran doctrine and to prepare their students for university study, most often at universities in Germany or elsewhere in western and northern Europe. This meant that the graduates of these schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, like their sixteenth and seventeenth century predecessors, would become well acquainted with the broad intellectual currents of the day including the Enlightenment principles which fostered the national awakening of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. On the other hand, although they were co-creators of the peculiar Baroque culture of the Austrian Habsburg lands, the Catholic schools also actively cultivated the use of the Slovak language as part of the program of education and thereby also contributed to the eventual codification of Slovak as a literary language and the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. Thus, Lutheran and Catholic schools made it possible for a broad cross-section of the population, including many ethnic Slovaks, to gain an education and enter public life. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries these schools were among the chief agencies which aided the social and cultural advancement of the Slovaks . Although the development of Protestant and Catholic popular education in Slovakia during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries helped to create a Slovak intelligentsia and thereby laid the foundations for the Slovak cultural and literary revival of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it also created substan- 24 SLOVAKIA tial problems for the subsequent history of the Slovaks. The Slovak intelligentsia and the population were divided into two, often very hostile groups, Protestants and Catholics. Their education, historical development, traditions, and even their cultural awareness and perceptions of Slovak history were quite different. These differences would be manifested in the history of the Slovaks and Slovakia. The continuing heritage of the educational reform of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and the broader cultural and social changes these effected were evident not only during the period of the national cultural revival, but also in the subsequent attempts to foster an ethnic solidarity and a common political consciousness among the Slovaks in the struggle to define and create a Slovak nation and state. FOOTNOTES 1 [udovft Holotfk and Jan Tibensky, Dejiny 5/ovenska I (Bratislava, 1961), pp. 380-392, 456-478; Pavo! Mazak, Mikulas Gasparfk, Pavo! Petrus and Milan Pisut. Dejiny slovenskej literatun; 2 (Bratislava, 1984), pp. 9-86; Jan Hucko, Socialne zlozenie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava, 1974). 2 Contemporary scholars are debating whether or not Reformation schools were successful , a debate which focuses on th e question of whether or not an improvement in individual and/or public morality is the best standard by which the success or failure of the Reformation is to be ascertained. Some, like Gerald Strauss, conclude that the Reformation schools fai led because they did not effect a fundamental improvement in or transformation of the moral lives of their gradu ates. Others, however, question the use of the hermeneutical principle of moral transformation as a sta ndard for judging the success of the Reformation as a historical, ecclesiastical and theological movement . They argue that observable changes in theological formu lations, liturgical practices, ecclesiastical institutions and cu ltural development are more effective means to evaluate the impact of the Reformation. See especially Gerald Strauss, Luther's House of Leaming. Indoctrination of the Young in the Gennan Reformation (Baltimore, 1976); James M. Kittelson, " Successes and Failures of the German Reformation: The Report from Strasbourg," Arch iv fiir Refonna tionsgeschichte 73 (1982) and also his " The Confessional Age: The Late Reformation in Germany " pages 361-381 in Reformation Europe: A Guide to Research edited by Steven Ozment (St. Louis, 1982); Leif Crane (Ed.), University and Reformation: Lectures from the University of Copen hagen Symposium (Leiden, 1981). Also very useful is the older work of Georg Mertz, Das Schulwesen der deu tschen Reformation im 16. Jahrhundert (Heidelberg, 1902), and of Friedrich Paulson, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts SLOVAKIA 25 auf den deutschen Schulen und Universitiiten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Gegenwart (Leipzig, 1919). 3 For a brief discussion of contemporary research questions see James D. Tracy, " Humanism and the Reformation," pages 33-57 in Reformation Europe: a Guide to Research. A very useful collection of essays on the various aspects of Humanism is Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms and Legacy, 3 volumes, Edited by Albert Rabil, Jr. (Philadelphia, 1988). See also Humanizmus a renesancia na Slovensku v. 15. - 16. storoci edited by tudovft Holoti'.k and Anton Vantuch (Bratislava, 1967) which contains several excellent essays touching on humanism and education in Slovakia. 4 The role of printing in the spread of the Reformation is another topic of great interest to contemporary Reformation historians. See especially Elizabeth L. Eisenstein , The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (New York, 1983); Miriam Usher Chrisman, Lay Culture and the Culture of the Learned: Books, Men and Ideas in Strasbourg, 1480-1599 (New Haven, 1982); Richard Crofts, "Books, Reform and the Reformation," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 71 (1980) : 21-35; Richard Cole, "The Reformation in Print: German Pamphlets and Propaganda," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 66 (1975): 93-102; and Louise W. Holborn, " Printing and the Growth of a Protestant Movement in Germany from 1517 to 1524," Church History 11 (1942): 123-137. s See especially Heinz Scheible, "Melanchthons Beziehungen zum DonauKarpaten-Rum bis 1546," pages 36-67 in Luther und Siebenbiirgen, Siebenbiirgisches Archiv 19, edited by George and Renate Weber (Koln, 1985); William Toth, " Highlights of the Hungarian Reformation," Church History 9 (1940):141-156, and also his "Luther's Frontier in Hungary," pages 75-91 in Reformation Studies, Essays in Honor of Roland H. Bainton, edited by Franklin H. Littel (Richmond, 1972); R.J. W. Evangs, "Calvinism in East Central Europe, Hungary and Her Neighbors," pages 167-196 in International Calvinism, 1541-1717, edited by Menna Prestwich (Oxford, 1985); and William Hammer, "Latin Instruction in the Schools of Transylvania from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," The Phoenix 8 (1954):92-108. 6 The literature on education in Hungary as a whole and on Slovakia in particular owes a great deal to several older works including the compilation of material gathered during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Jan Rezik and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziolfgia, Dejiny Gymnazii na Slovensku, edited by Vladislav Ruzicka (Bratislava, 1971). Also extremely useful is Vilmos Frankl (Fraknoi), A hazai es kiilfoldi iskolazas a XVI szazadban (Budapest, 1873) . A recent general survey was published by Josef Matej el al. Dejiny Ceskej a Slovenskej Pedagogiky (Bratislava, 1976). For the era of the Reformation and CounterReformation the following three works are indispensible: Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, studijne a skolske poriadky na Slovensku v XVI storoci (Bratislava, 1955); Istvan Meszaros, XVI. szazadi varosi iskolaink es a "studia humanitatis ", Humanizmus es Reformaci6, 11 (Budapest, 1981); and Vladislav Ruzicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobf neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974) which draws much from Rezik's 26 SLOVAKIA Gym naziol6gia but also provides many extensive and useful annotations. For individual schools especially helpful are : Janos Breznyik, A Se/mecbanya agost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyzeum tiirtenete (Selmecbanyan, 1883); Jan Gallo, Dejiny strednych skol v Gemeri do polovici 19. storocia (Martin, 1977); Jozsef Hi:irk, Az eperjesi ev. ker. collegium tiirtenete (Kassa, 1896); Pavo! Krizko, Kremnicke skolstvo v rokoch 1527-1 674 (Bratislava, 1975); Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischen Lyzeums A. B. in Kesmark, 400 Jahre (Kezmarok, 1933); and Jan Mikles, " Dejiny skolstva v Banskej Bystrici mestska latinska skola" Jednotna skola 10 (1955):308-343 . See also his " Obrazky z dejfn skolstva na pociatku reformacie v Banskej Bystrici . Dokumenty k dejinam mestskej skoly v Banskej Bystrici v 16. storoci" pp. 53-84 and " Vyznam pokrokovej tradicie bystrickych skolskych zakonov z roku 1617 a ich suvislost' s komenskeho ucebnicami v Kremnici av Banskej Bystrici" pp . 85-106 in Sbom{k vyssej pedagogickej skoly v Banskej Bystrici (Banska Bystrica, 1958). 7 8 For a concise review of the evidence concerning education in Slovakia during the high middle ages see Pavol Krizko, Kremn icke skolstvo v rokoch 1526-1674. (Bratislava, 1975), pp. 10-18. Julius Sopko, " O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku " Historicky casopis 36 (1968) :175-197. 9 Peter Vajcik, " Nizsie skolstvo na Slovensku v 15.-16. storocf," in Holotik and Vantuch, pp. 118-127 and Matej, pp . 51-53. 10 See Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp . 7-13. 11 Ivan Chalupecky, "Vzdelanost' a Kultura spisskych miest a mesteciek v 15.-18. storoff ' Historicky casopis 35 (1987) :427-435. 12 See especially the following articles in Holotik and Vantuch: Branislav Varsik, "Slovensko a eur6pska vzdelanost' v 15.-16. storocf'', pp . 128-135; Frantisek Kavda, " Slovensti studenti na prazske universite v 15. a 16. stoletf" , pp. 137-146; Endre Kovacs, " Vzt'ahy krakovskej univerzity k Slovensku za renesancie", pp. 147-161; Pavel Horvath, "Studenti zo Slovenska na krakovskej univerzite v 15. av prvej polovici 16. storocia, " pp. 162-172; and Matus Kucera, "Studenti zo Slovenska na viedenskej univerzite d o r. 1530," pp . 173-188. 13 Tibor Kard os, " Devotio Moderna na Academii Istropolitane, " pages 25-39 in Holotik and Vantuch . Adalbert Hudak, " Der Hofprediger Johannes Henckel und seine Beziehungen zu Erasmus von Rotterdam, " Ki rch e im Osten 2 (1959):106-133; Gustav Bauch, " Dr. Johann Henckel, der Hofprediger der Ki:inigin Maria von Ungarn," Ungarische Revue 4 (1884) :559-627; Jan Kvacala, "Kralovna Maria a jej ucast v dejoch reformacie" Viera a veda 1 (1930):10-22, 59-72, 97-105 . 14 Vajcik, Skolstvo pp . 10-24; Rezik and Matthaeides; Ruzicka, pp. 34-71. 15 See Ruzicka, Rezik and Matthaeides, and Frankl. The statistics are to be considered minimum figures since they only take into account schools fo r which written evidence currently exists. SLOVAKIA 16 27 Geza Szabo, Geschichte des Ungarischen Coetus and der Universitiit Wittenberg, 155-1613 (Halle, 1941). Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 59-135; Ruzicka, pp. 72-123. See also Friedrich Paulsen, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts I, 3rd Ed . (Berlin and Leipzig, 1919) for a general introduction to school reforms in the German states during the era of the Reformation. 18 Vajcik, Skolstvo, p. 61. 19 Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 15-24. 20 Trnavska Univerzita v slovenskych dejinach . Edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). 21 David P . Daniel, "The Acceptance of the Formula of Concord in Slovakia,' Archive fiir Reformationsgeschichte 70 (1979):160-277 . 22 David P. Daniel, " The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia , 28 (1978-1979) :49-65. 23 For brief biographical sketches see Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k vols . 1-3 (Martin, 1986-1989). 24 In 1643 Valentine Brewer printed his first edition of the Janua Linguae Latinae. It was quickly followed by printings in 1644, 48, 49 and again in 1655. See Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia Tlacf vydanych na Slovensku do roku 1700. I (Martin, 1972), nos . 896, 906, 938, 957, 958, 1012. 25 Presovske kolegium v s/ovenskych dejinach, edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967). 26 Frantisek Bokes, "Rozvoj vyssieho skolstva na Slovensku v 17.-19. storoci," in Presovske kolegium , p. 13. 2 7 Ruzicka, p . 126. 2 8 Ruzicka, pp. 125-169. 17  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Slovakia Description An account of the resource David P. Daniel Slovakia, Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90 pp. 9-27 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 1989-90 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2d909cb69a653bba71ed2694b6634a63.pdf 39bf3de4330edf0c7818a25645cd2711 PDF Text Text fi6 SLOVAKIA THE SWVAK TONGUE John Dater After the Almighty had distributed tongues of speech to all peoples even as He thought ·b est for them, there came from somewhere a little nation <o stand before Him with pleading, tear-filled eyes - but not to ask for power, lands, or a great name. It was love and understanding the Slovaks sought for their weary hearts. The Lord gave ear to their humble pleadings and said: "Where had you been when I was distributing My gifts among men?" "Alas, forgive us, Father," the little Slovak nation meekly implored, "the crowds were too great for us and made up of stronger peoples than we. Being weak, we had to stand afar, You see. Even those of our own Slav progeny, for having given us a helpful hand, wanted to steal our liberty." "Ah!" the Lord replied, "what now, then? Do you not know that I have given all I had away?" Thereupon the Slovak people cried: "Alas, is naught of creation left for us?" And the Lord said: "Stay, have hope!" And, turning, He reached to the thrones of singing choirs of angels and took of the incense that wafted around the throne. And, bending, He placed His Hand in the Heaven's crystal waters, and with noble gentleness touched the tongues of the forgotten people. "Let this 1b e your language," the Lord, said; "such that no other can equal: as melodious as the music of heaven, as beautifttl as sparkling gems in the rays of the sun, as soothing as the lulling winds of May, as loving as the voice of a mother, as sweet as the smile of an infant babe, so tender and soft and smooth and true, its sound will make hearts of the old and bent and gray young once again." �SLOVAKIA Thus, with the tones of angelic voices, God made a balm for aching Slovak hearts. "This dowry," He said, "is for Slovak maids, that when they sing, their sadness may be changed to joy, that at their sound birds may cease their song to listen, the hills rise in glory, the fields bloom anew, the valleys with music ring, the brooks flow with ripples of melody, all the vales rejoice, and the very earth be changed to a paradise." Thus gloriously did God array the Slovak people and place them a,part in a world greedy for prominence, glory and power. Endowed with a heavenly gift, they cared not what awaited them among throngs greater than they. In God's hand they rest, and under His care they will always be. Sheltered in the protecting Tatra,s for long ages, they survive cruelty, tyranny, and power; to live and stand strong forever - a people of peace, beloved of God, may the Slovak people ever be! • • • "The treaties concluded at the Peace Conference (1918) made no reference to Slovak autonomy. After this episode the rift be!Jween the Centralists and the Autonomists was very deep. . . . The Czechs appear also to have objected to the validity of the document (Pittsburgh Pact) on th e ground that the Slovak League was not officialty recognized by the American authorities until 1919, although it was good enough for the advocacy of Czechoslovak claims (prior to that time.) . . . Slovakia was ruled by the two main Centralist parties •- the Agrarians and the Social Democrats with the support of the Czechs; and this continued to be the case even after the 1925 elections had shown the (Hlinka Slovak) People's Party to be at that time, much the strongest single Slovak party." (C. A. Macartney : HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS - London, 1937). WHO SAi D IT? - • • • "Great Moravia, after many centuries of peaceful burial, was dug up for the benefit of the Peace Conference in 1918, to be paraded as the earliest Czecho-Slovak State. . . The case for including Northern Hungary in Czecho-Slovakia does not rest on historical .rights, although the ghost of Svatopluk, ruler of Great Moravia, was made to serve its turn. But Svatopluk's historic claims were obviously less valid than those of Hungary, with her thousand-odd yeai;i;;.- of .u .ninterrupted possession . He was more important as supporting, by the evidence whi ch he gave of an early connection between the Czechs and Slovaks, the rea,I claim, which was that of self-determination." (C. A. Macartney: HUNGARY AND HER -~ljfiC~C~SSOR~ - London, 1937). WHO SAID IT? - � fi6 SLOVAKIA THE SWVAK TONGUE John Dater After the Almighty had distributed tongues of speech to all peoples even as He thought ·b est for them, there came from somewhere a little nation <o stand before Him with pleading, tear-filled eyes - but not to ask for power, lands, or a great name. It was love and understanding the Slovaks sought for their weary hearts. The Lord gave ear to their humble pleadings and said: "Where had you been when I was distributing My gifts among men?" "Alas, forgive us, Father," the little Slovak nation meekly implored, "the crowds were too great for us and made up of stronger peoples than we. Being weak, we had to stand afar, You see. Even those of our own Slav progeny, for having given us a helpful hand, wanted to steal our liberty." "Ah!" the Lord replied, "what now, then? Do you not know that I have given all I had away?" Thereupon the Slovak people cried: "Alas, is naught of creation left for us?" And the Lord said: "Stay, have hope!" And, turning, He reached to the thrones of singing choirs of angels and took of the incense that wafted around the throne. And, bending, He placed His Hand in the Heaven's crystal waters, and with noble gentleness touched the tongues of the forgotten people. "Let this 1b e your language," the Lord, said; "such that no other can equal: as melodious as the music of heaven, as beautifttl as sparkling gems in the rays of the sun, as soothing as the lulling winds of May, as loving as the voice of a mother, as sweet as the smile of an infant babe, so tender and soft and smooth and true, its sound will make hearts of the old and bent and gray young once again." �SLOVAKIA Thus, with the tones of angelic voices, God made a balm for aching Slovak hearts. "This dowry," He said, "is for Slovak maids, that when they sing, their sadness may be changed to joy, that at their sound birds may cease their song to listen, the hills rise in glory, the fields bloom anew, the valleys with music ring, the brooks flow with ripples of melody, all the vales rejoice, and the very earth be changed to a paradise." Thus gloriously did God array the Slovak people and place them a,part in a world greedy for prominence, glory and power. Endowed with a heavenly gift, they cared not what awaited them among throngs greater than they. In God's hand they rest, and under His care they will always be. Sheltered in the protecting Tatra,s for long ages, they survive cruelty, tyranny, and power; to live and stand strong forever - a people of peace, beloved of God, may the Slovak people ever be! • • • "The treaties concluded at the Peace Conference (1918) made no reference to Slovak autonomy. After this episode the rift be!Jween the Centralists and the Autonomists was very deep. . . . The Czechs appear also to have objected to the validity of the document (Pittsburgh Pact) on th e ground that the Slovak League was not officialty recognized by the American authorities until 1919, although it was good enough for the advocacy of Czechoslovak claims (prior to that time.) . . . Slovakia was ruled by the two main Centralist parties •- the Agrarians and the Social Democrats with the support of the Czechs; and this continued to be the case even after the 1925 elections had shown the (Hlinka Slovak) People's Party to be at that time, much the strongest single Slovak party." (C. A. Macartney : HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS - London, 1937). WHO SAi D IT? - • • • "Great Moravia, after many centuries of peaceful burial, was dug up for the benefit of the Peace Conference in 1918, to be paraded as the earliest Czecho-Slovak State. . . The case for including Northern Hungary in Czecho-Slovakia does not rest on historical .rights, although the ghost of Svatopluk, ruler of Great Moravia, was made to serve its turn. But Svatopluk's historic claims were obviously less valid than those of Hungary, with her thousand-odd yeai;i;;.- of .u .ninterrupted possession . He was more important as supporting, by the evidence whi ch he gave of an early connection between the Czechs and Slovaks, the rea,I claim, which was that of self-determination." (C. A. Macartney: HUNGARY AND HER -~ljfiC~C~SSOR~ - London, 1937). WHO SAID IT? - � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1953, Vol. 3 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 6), April 1953.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 7), July 1953.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 8), September 1953.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 9), December 1953.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1953 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 56 SLOVAKIA THE SWVAK TONGUE John Dater After the Almighty had distributed tongues of speech to all peoples even as He thought ·b est for them, there came from somewhere a little nation <o stand before Him with pleading, tear-filled eyes - but not to ask for power, lands, or a great name. It was love and understanding the Slovaks sought for their weary hearts. The Lord gave ear to their humble pleadings and said: "Where had you been when I was distributing My gifts among men?" "Alas, forgive us, Father," the little Slovak nation meekly implored, "the crowds were too great for us and made up of stronger peoples than we. Being weak, we had to stand afar, You see. Even those of our own Slav progeny, for having given us a helpful hand, wanted to steal our liberty." "Ah!" the Lord replied, "what now, then? Do you not know that I have given all I had away?" Thereupon the Slovak people cried: "Alas, is naught of creation left for us?" And the Lord said: "Stay, have hope!" And, turning, He reached to the thrones of singing choirs of angels and took of the incense that wafted around the throne. And, bending, He placed His Hand in the Heaven's crystal waters, and with noble gentleness touched the tongues of the forgotten people. "Let this 1b e your language," the Lord, said; "such that no other can equal: as melodious as the music of heaven, as beautifttl as sparkling gems in the rays of the sun, as soothing as the lulling winds of May, as loving as the voice of a mother, as sweet as the smile of an infant babe, so tender and soft and smooth and true, its sound will make hearts of the old and bent and gray young once again." SLOVAKIA Thus, with the tones of angelic voices, God made a balm for aching Slovak hearts. "This dowry," He said, "is for Slovak maids, that when they sing, their sadness may be changed to joy, that at their sound birds may cease their song to listen, the hills rise in glory, the fields bloom anew, the valleys with music ring, the brooks flow with ripples of melody, all the vales rejoice, and the very earth be changed to a paradise." Thus gloriously did God array the Slovak people and place them a,part in a world greedy for prominence, glory and power. Endowed with a heavenly gift, they cared not what awaited them among throngs greater than they. In God's hand they rest, and under His care they will always be. Sheltered in the protecting Tatra,s for long ages, they survive cruelty, tyranny, and power; to live and stand strong forever - a people of peace, beloved of God, may the Slovak people ever be! • • • "The treaties concluded at the Peace Conference (1918) made no reference to Slovak autonomy. After this episode the rift be!Jween the Centralists and the Autonomists was very deep. . . . The Czechs appear also to have objected to the validity of the document (Pittsburgh Pact) on th e ground that the Slovak League was not officialty recognized by the American authorities until 1919, although it was good enough for the advocacy of Czechoslovak claims (prior to that time.) . . . Slovakia was ruled by the two main Centralist parties •- the Agrarians and the Social Democrats with the support of the Czechs; and this continued to be the case even after the 1925 elections had shown the (Hlinka Slovak) People's Party to be at that time, much the strongest single Slovak party." (C. A. Macartney : HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS - London, 1937). WHO SAi D IT? - • • • "Great Moravia, after many centuries of peaceful burial, was dug up for the benefit of the Peace Conference in 1918, to be paraded as the earliest Czecho-Slovak State. . . The case for including Northern Hungary in Czecho-Slovakia does not rest on historical .rights, although the ghost of Svatopluk, ruler of Great Moravia, was made to serve its turn. But Svatopluk's historic claims were obviously less valid than those of Hungary, with her thousand-odd yeai;i;;.- of .u .ninterrupted possession . He was more important as supporting, by the evidence whi ch he gave of an early connection between the Czechs and Slovaks, the rea,I claim, which was that of self-determination." (C. A. Macartney: HUNGARY AND HER -~ljfiC~C~SSOR~ - London, 1937). WHO SAID IT? -  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Tongue Description An account of the resource John Ďateľ Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 1 (6), April 1953 pp. 56-57 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ďateľ, John Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 1953 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/68d96fd94c6a537f50454a0614b21e4a.pdf 7efb4f09b09f2369ded33cb58e1658f0 PDF Text Text 164 SLOVAKIA SLOVAKIA'S 2010 ELECTION AND ITS AFTERMATH 1 Kevin Deegan-Krause2 The academic publishing cycle is not known for being particularly quick, but it is usually fast enough to beat the electoral cycle in most countries and thereby allow articles considering the consequences of one election without immediately requiring consideration of the next one. Not so for Slovakia. The country's political change in the early 2010 's left no time for leisurely consideration and this article, which began its life as a review of Slovakia's 2010 election, must deal not only with the birth of Slovakia's 2010 government but also its early death in 2012. On 12 June 2010 citizens of Slovakia went to the polls for parliamentary elections for the seventh time since Communist Party rule ended in 1989. A plurality-more than one third-voted for the party of incumbent prime minister Robert Fico. However, Slovakia's system of proportional representation does not give any particular advantage to the largest party, and Fico again found it necessary to seek coalition partners to muster the 50%+ 1 of parliamentary votes necessary to form a government. Unfortunately for Fico, a decline in support for his past government partners and antagonistic relationships with all other parties made it impossible for him to muster the necessary 76 votes. Fico's opponents quickly arranged a majority coalition and on 8 July 2010, Iveta Radifova of the Slovak Democratic and 1 Large segments of this article were first published online at: http://themonkeycage.org/blog/20 I 0/07 / 13/20 IO slovak parliamentary elec/, http ://www.pozorblog.com/20 I 0/07 /20 I 0-slovak-parliamentary-elections-postelection-report/, http://www.pozorblog.com/2012/03/2012-parliamentary-electionsin-slovakia-the-building-blocs-of-success/ and as part of an interview in SME, http:/lwww.pozorblog.com/2012/03/slovakias-electoral-pol itics-an-i nterview-with-sme/. 2 1 am grateful to Sharon Fisher, Tim Haughton, Adrian Harmata, Carol Leff, Vladimir Krivy, Darina Malova, Marek Ryba!', Sharon Wolchik, the entire staff at the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava and many others who have helped me to understand Slovakia's politics over the past two decades. I am indebted to the Department of Political Science of Comenius University in Bratislava for logistical support and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for the financial support that contributed to this article. �SLOVAKIA 165 Christian Union (SDKU) became the prime minister of a coalition government consisting of four parties with pro-market orientations and relatively moderate views on intra-ethnic cooperation between Slovaks and Hungarians. Radicova was not only a new face in the premiership but a new kind of face in a country with relatively weak representation of women in positions of power. Slovakia differs little from its neighbors in this regard: the Visegrad Four-a regional grouping consisting of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary-has had only one other female prime minister in the last twenty years (Poland's Hanna Suchocka in the early 1990 ' s) and although several of the other countries in the region have had female presidents (Latvia) or prime ministers (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Croatia ) women still remain the exception in post-communist European politics and the incoming 2010 government of the neighboring Czech Republic was criticized for having no women at all. 3 Even Radicova's success did not extend to others: her own government had only one other female cabinet minister, and Slovakia's new parliament actually had fewer female deputies than it did in its previous term. And like every other female prime minister in the region, Radicova did not serve a full term. After just fifteen months in power, intra-coalition conflict produced a vote of no confidence that forced early elections and led to Radicova' s departure from politics, at least for the moment. The emergence and collapse of Radicova's government point to patterns more fundamental than the career path of any particular political leader. Slovakia' s political competition functions in three distinct dimensions-one related to economic questions, another to national questions and a third to the functioning of political systems. Analysis tends to settle at one of three levels, all of which have some claim to the truth, provided that we understand the context, and how we understand Slovakia's recent political shifts depends heavily on what we are looking for. This article works outward from the simplest of these to the most complex, looking at how the underlying dynamics shaped election results in 20 l 0 and the post-election trajectory of Radicova' s govemmet. 3 Appeltova, Michaela, 2010, "Ve vlade neni ani jedna zena, proc?", 30 June, available online: http://padesatprocent.cz/cz/zpravodajstvi/ve-vlade-neni-ani-jedna-zenaproc, last accessed 24 May 2012 . �SLOVAKIA 166 The Three Dimensions of Slovakia's Party Competition. Dimension One: Right Coalition Wins, Left Coalition Loses. The most superficial (but not unimportant) level of analysis looks at coalitions and oppositions and involves a one-dimensional space. "Left" and "right" have not always been useful in understanding Slovakia' s political space, but they have become more relevant in recent years, especially since the "right" neo-liberal reforms of the Dzurinda government between 2002 and 2006 and Fico's "left" response in the four years that followed. Using the left-right dimensions as shorthand reveals the 2010 election as a handover of power from one side to the other with a swing of seven seats in Slovakia's 150 seat parliament from Fico ' s coalition to Radicova' s. (Fico ' s coalition dropped from 85 seats in 2006 to 71 in 2010, though Fico's party itself grew by twelve seats). For the purposes of governing, this made all the difference, shifting the parliamentary majority from Fico to Radicova. Figure 1. Changes in relative bloc size in Slovakia, one-dimension, 2006-2012. Dark grey includes left and Slovak-national ( Fico 2006-2010, 2012-present). Light grey includes right and Hungarian- national ( Radicova, 2010-2012) . Left ( 'Mth Slovak National) Right ('Mth Hungarian National) Government: 85 seats Cpposition : 65 seats Cpposition : 71 seats Government: 79 seats Government: 83 seats Cpposi ti on : 67 seats 2006 2010 2012 That majority did not last, however, and early elections in 2012 moved the respective positions of the two blocs almost precisely back to where they had been in 2006. Although observers viewed these election results as a disaster for the right, the latter actually emerged with a stronger position in parliament than it had held during the first Fico government. The difference, of course, was that in 2006 the Fico government' s 85 voters were split between Fico and two not-so-docile coalition partners, whereas in 2012 all 83 seats of �SLOVAKIA 167 the governing majority lay in the hands of Fico's own well-disciplined political party. 4 Dimension Two: Left and Right Parties Gain, Slovak and Hungarian National Parties Lose. Of course "left" and "right" are not usually sufficient for understanding political competition, and in addition to the left-right axis of competition that has recently dominated governments, Slovakia has a clear competitive axis related to national questions. The current dominant dimension includes and overshadows another one related to national issues. According to this two-dimensional framework, Fico's first government represented a coalition between "anti-market left" and "Slovak national" whereas the Radicova government (like the Dzurinda government that preceded Fico before 2006) is a coalition between "pro-market right" and "Hungarian national." Analysis of election results according to the four blocs defined by these two dimensions produces a rather different set of judgments. Although the total vote share of "right" parties of the incoming government increased by five percentage points from 2006 to 2010, the vote share of the "left" party in the outgoing govemrnent- Fico's "Direction-Social Democracy"(Smer-SD)-increased by even more. Corresponding to the gains by both left and right were major losses in the "Slovak national" bloc: the Slovak National Party under Jan Slota fell catastrophically from 12% to 5%, squeaking over the barrier for parliamentary representation by just two thousand votes out of two-and-a-half million cast; and Vladimir Meciar, once the sun and the moon of Slovakia' s politics, continued a remarkably long and gradual slide into obscurity, falling below the barrier and out of parliament altogether. (In the 2012 election Meciar completed the slide with a drop to less than 1%; he resigned from the leadership of his party in April 2012). 5 Like Jaroslav Kaczynski in Poland in 2007, Fico could justifiably claim that it was not he, but rather his partners who had lost the election (though Meciar publicly suggested that, 4 Marek Rybar and Kevin Deegan-Krause, 2009, "Party Democracy and Party Competitiveness in Slovakia: Is There A Trade-Off?," Paper presented at the ECPR Joint Session of workshops, Lisbon. 5SME, 2012, "Vladimir Meciar odchadza bez nastupcu", 27 April, available online: http://www.sme.sk/c/6356308/vladimir-meciar-odchadza-bez-nastupcu.htrnl, last accessed, 24 May 2012. �168 SLOVAKIA having undermined his partners to maximize his own party' s gain, Fico deserved his fate) . Figure 2: Olanges in relative bloc size in Slovakia, two-dimensions, 2006-2012 . Figure indicates lost seats in light grey and gained seats in dark grey. 2006 2010 Hungarian National 2012 Hu ngarian National 67 I ■·-~- ,>It ! i :,; ,83 ..,, Slovak National Slovak National l " Slovak National Fico did not significantly alter his strategy for the 2012 election but he avoided the same fate because of his party' s own increased support. By mid-2011 Smer 's poll numbers were strong enough to suggest that it could potentially win a majority of seats by itself. In that circumstance, Smer had no further need for coalition partners and had an additional incentive to push its former partners fall below the threshold and take a share of seats that would originally have gone to them. The encouraging numbers also permitted Smer to run a careful and measured campaign designed to avoid losing voters rather than gaining new ones. The party's success in this regard can be measured in its addition of twenty-one new parliamentary seats, though this must be understood in the broader context that, although Smer alone achieved 83 seats, this was several seats fewer than Smer had achieved in its coalition with Slovak national parties in 2006. Although Fico clearly won the election of 2012, the parties of the right together obtained more seats than they had in 2006, in large part thanks to the decline of the national parties. Dimension Three: Slovak National Voters Move Left, Anti-Corruption Voters Move Right (for now). One of the most striking aspects of these shifts in electoral support is the finding of two opinion polls conducted before the election that the exodus of voters from Slovak national parties was not distributed evenly to left and right. In fact, nearly all of it went to the left, �SLOVAKIA 169 mainly to Fico's Smer.6 This is not surprising since Fico played on national themes for some time before the election. For the electoral math to work out, however, this must mean that some of Fico's voters also went elsewhere, and the polls suggest that at least some of them went to the new party of the right, SaS (Freedom and Solidarity). These shifts among blocs are hard to explain even using the twodimensional array of economic and national competition. The answer requires a third dimension, one that arrays voters according to their willingness to tolerate corruption and search for established leaders to resolve these problems. This dimension is hard to identify because its players change sides: the anti-corruption party of one election may become the corrupt but experienced party of the next election. 7 Adding this dimension can help make sense of a voter's jump from Smer, which in 2002 and 2006 attracted a significant share of the anti-corruption electorate, to the Freedom and Solidarity which shared few programmatic positions with Smer, but did promote itself as the answer to the country's corruption problems and, as a new party was itself not (or at least not yet) corrupt. Corruption sensitivity may also explain much of the shift from the two Slovak national parties to the by-no-means-clean but still less corrupt Smer, a shift which is less surprising because Fico had already gone quite far in adopting Slovak national themes. It also conforms to polls showing that younger voters and new voters within the Hungarian electorate shifted from the more established of two Hungarian parties to its newcomer alternative, Most-Hid (Bridge). Slovakia's political shift in 2010 thus reflects not a fundamental shift from left and right but only a left-to-right shift in the votes of those most highly sensitive to corruption. Such a shift endures for only one election until the emergence of another new anti-corruption party in the next election cycle. Smer 's return to relatively clean status during a period out of government ended with the "Gorilla" scandal that linked his political opponents with improper party funding 6 Institute for Public Affairs. 2010. "SaS berie hlasy Smeru a SDKU, Most ziskava volicov SMK." Available online: http ://www.ivo.sk/6082/sk/aktuality/sas-berie-hlasy-smeru-a-sdku-most-ziskava-volicov-smk, last accessed 7 May 2012 . 7 Haughton, Tim , Novotna, Tereza and Deegan-Krause, Kevin (2011) "The 2010 Czech and Slovak Parliamentary Elections: Red Cards to the 'Winners," West European Politics, 34: 2, 394-402 �170 SLOVAKIA from large economic interests.8 Nor do shifts in the nationally-oriented Slovak voters reflect a fundamental decline in the strength of the Slovak national position p er se, but rather a shift of Slovak national voters from the smaller parties with stronger emphasis on national questions to Fico's larger and more diffuse but sufficiently national and less corrupt alternative. Figure 3a below graphically illustrates the conjectured shift of the most "corruption intolerant" voters of SNS and HZDS to Smer (the arrow pointing up and left) and the corruption-intolerant Smer to SaS (the arrow pointing straight right) . (Shifts also occurred within the "right" (from SDKU to SaS) and within the Hungarian national (from MKP-SMK to Most-Hid) but for simplicity's sake those are not shown here.) Figure 3. Hypothesized shifts in party bloc support during Slovakia's most recent two election cycles a. 2006-2010 Hungarian Nation,:; Pro State Left Pro Mlrket Right 8 SME, 20 12, "Cast' spisu Gorila potvrdil policajt, ktory infonnova l Pentu", 3 January, avai lable online at http ://www.sme.sk/c/6203225/cast-spisu-gorila-potvrdil-policajt-ktory-infonnovalpentu.html#ixzz I w9o jAJgG, last accessed 24 May 20 12. �SLOVAKIA b. 171 2010-2012 Hun garian National Pro-Sta t e Left Pro- Mlrket Right The shifts between 2010 and 2012 were smaller but also important. Surveys suggest that a few additional voters shifted from Slovak-national parties such as SNS and HZDS to Smer and that some supporters of the SDKU and its coalition partners shifted back to Smer, while within the coalition voters also shifted to the new Ordinary People and Independents (O1'.aNO). Figure 3b depicts these shifts in the form of twin arrows pointing to the left, with new and returning party voters . SaS avoided the "government death" that has affected every new party entering government since 1994-the Association of Workers of Slovakia (ZRS), the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP), and the Party of the New Citizen (ANO)-but it came very close to failing. Even though SaS did not have to serve a full term in government and dropped out of visible participation in government in order to run as anti-political outsiders in late 2011 , it returned to parliament in 2012 with half of its 20 l O strength, less than one percentage point above the 5% threshold This third dimension of politics in Slovakia is not the main one or even the secondary one. It is likely that fewer voters care about corruption than the major national and economic issues, but because the economic and national blocs are narrowly balanced, corruption has a major impact on the creation of parliamentary majorities and the formation of governments. �172 SLOVAKIA 2010: Three Dimensions, One Government, Four (and a half) Parties. The conditions under which the 2010 government gained its majority had a clear impact on its form and, ultimately, its inability to endure. The dynamics that ultimately sank the coalition mixed questions of economic left and right with questions of national consciousness and the legacy of new party formation. Those who had little contact with Slovakia during the late 2000's might be excused for experiencing the 2010 Radicova government with a bit of deja vu. The names of some of the parties changed slightly from the 2002 Dzurinda government, but the general array was almost identical. Most-Hid replaced the Party of the Hungarian Coalition in the Hungarian national slot, and one new pro-market anti-corruption party "Freedom and Solidarity" (SaS) replaced another (the now defunct Alliance of the ew Citizen). Ten of the fifteen cabinet posts remained in the hands of the same party that controlled them in 2002 (or its analog) and seven of the fifteen ministers who took office in 2010 had served in the 2002-2006 cabinet (in several cases heading the same respective ministries that they had managed earlier in the decade). The actual performance of the government is difficult to assess because it lasted such a short time. Hardly a year passed between the government's appointment and the beginning of the Euro bailout crisis that absorbed its entire attention and brought about its demise. During its brief tenure, the government's ability to make change was further limited not only by a narrow political margin, but by constant threats of fragmentation. Particularly notable in this regard were the frequent shifts of four deputies associated with the aforementioned obscure civic movement called "Ordinary People" (OC). 9 These four 9 In a piquant sign of the tactics played during election campaigns in Slovakia, the leader of a defunct but still-formall y-registered party successfully changed its appellation to Ordinary People (01..'.) just hours before the parliamentary caucus came to register the same name. The leaders of the caucus were thus turned away at the party registration desk and forced to find an alternative, registering several weeks later as Ordinary People and Independents (OEaNO). See Pravda, 20 11 , "Morie, ktory si zaregistroval stranu Obyfajni l'udia, navrat nechysta", I November, available online: h ://s ra . ravda.sk/moric-kto -si-zare istroval-stranu-ob ca·ni-ludia-navratnech sta-1 n-/sk do mace.as ?c=A 11110 I 200428 sk do mace 29#ixzz 1wCSKUTuJ, last accessed 24 May 2012. �SLOVAKIA 173 deputies managed unexpectedly to leap into parliament from positions at the very bottom of the SaS list (thanks to preference votes gained from prominent spots in the local commercial inserts that were the main business enterprise of O~'s leader, Igor Matovic). Therefore, they owed little loyalty to SaS and were able to stall key government initiatives through repeated threats of departure. In economic affairs, Radicova ' s government was relatively unified but had limited space for policy innovation. Its efforts were forestalled in part by past successes: the Dzurinda government managed to demonstrate significant coalition discipline during its 20022006 term and, though possessed of a slight parliamentary majority, it managed to pass major economic reforms in taxation, health care, education, the labor market and other aspects of the foreign investment climate. Furthermore, although the Fico government between 2006 and 2010 engaged in high-profile increases in pensions and family benefits and made changes to the labor law, the party actually did little to alter the fundamental framework of the Dzurinda government and presented few opportunities for Radicova's government to reclaim lost ground. On the axis of cultural and religious questions the coalition had little hope of agreement, as it included the parties at both extremes of the axis: SaS supported gay marriage and drug legalization while the KDH (Christian Democratic Movement) supported traditional Christian values and a stronger relationship with the Vatican. Fortunately for the coalition, however, this axis did not constitute one of the more salient lines of conflict in Slovakia's politics, and the coalition simply stayed clear of most cultural issues in order not to create a deeper intra-coalition rift. On national identity and foreign policy Radicova's government was not so lucky. On taking office in 2010, the parties that formed the new government shared a common pro-Western outlook and (relatively) accommodating views on ethnic co-existence and national identity, but they found it difficult to translate these positions into policy. On minority-rights issues the coalition ' s Hungarian and Slovak parties differed over what should constitute "appropriate" support for minority culture. Most-Hid sought to reverse the more restrictive language and citizenship policies of the 2006-2010 Fico government, but the Slovak parties of the coalition sought to avoid appearing weak in their dealings with the assertively nationalist gov- �174 SLOVAKIA ernment in neighboring Hungary or, by extension, the Hungarian population with Slovakia. On international integration issues, the coalition also failed to find consensus. In this case the dissenting coalition party was SaS, whose generally pro-Western approach conflicted with its neoliberalism on the question of Slovakia's obligation as part of the Eurozone. After numerous "negotiated solutions" and apparent agreements between SaS and the other coalition parties, the leaders of Radifova' s SDKU raised the stakes and hoped to force SaS into compliance by linking the Eurozone bailout to a vote of confidence in the government, but the SaS refused to budge. Smer, which nominally supported the bailout, refused to prolong Radifova's government by voting in its favor. Once Radifova' s government collapsed and new elections were underway, Smer joined with Radifova's party and several others in ensuring passage of the bailout. 2012: Three Dimensions, One Government, One Party. The Eurozone-related vote of no confidence led to early elections on 10 March 2012. As the sections above suggest, the relatively small shifts in public opinion produced a significant difference in government orientation and an even more significant difference in government composition. Slovakia has its first one-party majority government since 1989 and the outcomes bear close attention. On economic questions, Smer retains a moderately pro-redistribution position, but the 2012 Fico government has acknowledged that it faces budgetary constraints that will limit its potential largesse, and some top party officials have interests in international finance that may (as with Slovakia's adoption of the Euro in 2009) encourage a relatively conservative fiscal policy. Indeed the party's budget for 2013 included a combination of austerity measures and tax increases that won praise from Western investors. 10 On national questions Smer has previously expressed wariness toward Hungary and the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, but the 2012 Fico government has appointed a moderate, professional diplomat as foreign minister, and as with financial questions, some of Fico's closest supporters have 10 Cienski, Jan, 2012, "Fico: Austerity rules," Financial Times, 23 May, available online: http://blogs. ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/05/23/fico-austerity-rules/#axzz I w9zH5aGM, last accessed 24 May 201 2. �SLOVAKIA 175 more moderate positions than others. On corruption questions, Fico's party has a less-than pristine record, but the revelations of the recent "Gorilla" scandal about connections between large firms and party finance on Slovakia's right allowed Smer to appear relatively clean by comparison. Complete control of government may in this regard prove somewhat disadvantageous as Smer will become the main focus of corruption allegations. In each case, Fico ' s own party faces internal divisions along the same lines as the party system as a whole. It is obviously not as deeply riven as Radicova' s coalition, but the exact same lines of stress sometimes (in obscure and ambiguous ways) produce cracks in the party's veneer of unity. While intra-party competition within Smer is highly imperfect as a mechanism of accountability, it will play a critical role during the coming Fico government. Like Vladimir Meciar in 1992 and 1994, Fico is returning to Slovakia's top position after a brief interlude of government by a coalition of strange bedfellows. Each time Meciar returned in the early 1990' s he engaged in bolder use (and frequently misuse) of government authority in an attempt to regain and maintain control. Fico, by contrast, began his return to government not with radical change but with calls for cooperation, and his personnel appointments in many areas seemed to reflect a turn toward moderation. As tempting as it is to compare Fico with Meciar, the two are not alike. And even if their personalities did incline them toward the same efforts, their experiences and constraints are different. On the one hand, Fico's political position is currently so strong that he has no need to hurry into any thing. At the same time, Fico may also be more aware of the need for caution: unlike Meciar in 1994, Fico was removed from the prime ministership in 2010 by the voters, and he may be more aware than Meciar of voters' ability to express displeasure. Regardless of the reason, the inauspicious example of political development in neighboring Hungary make it particularly reassuring that (as of this writing) Fico has not used his political strength to alter Slovakia's democratic institutions to his own advantage. As the very nature of this article suggests, however, change can come quickly. ��DOCUMENTATION �� 164 SLOVAKIA SLOVAKIA'S 2010 ELECTION AND ITS AFTERMATH 1 Kevin Deegan-Krause2 The academic publishing cycle is not known for being particularly quick, but it is usually fast enough to beat the electoral cycle in most countries and thereby allow articles considering the consequences of one election without immediately requiring consideration of the next one. Not so for Slovakia. The country's political change in the early 2010 's left no time for leisurely consideration and this article, which began its life as a review of Slovakia's 2010 election, must deal not only with the birth of Slovakia's 2010 government but also its early death in 2012. On 12 June 2010 citizens of Slovakia went to the polls for parliamentary elections for the seventh time since Communist Party rule ended in 1989. A plurality-more than one third-voted for the party of incumbent prime minister Robert Fico. However, Slovakia's system of proportional representation does not give any particular advantage to the largest party, and Fico again found it necessary to seek coalition partners to muster the 50%+ 1 of parliamentary votes necessary to form a government. Unfortunately for Fico, a decline in support for his past government partners and antagonistic relationships with all other parties made it impossible for him to muster the necessary 76 votes. Fico's opponents quickly arranged a majority coalition and on 8 July 2010, Iveta Radifova of the Slovak Democratic and 1 Large segments of this article were first published online at: http://themonkeycage.org/blog/20 I 0/07 / 13/20 IO slovak parliamentary elec/, http ://www.pozorblog.com/20 I 0/07 /20 I 0-slovak-parliamentary-elections-postelection-report/, http://www.pozorblog.com/2012/03/2012-parliamentary-electionsin-slovakia-the-building-blocs-of-success/ and as part of an interview in SME, http:/lwww.pozorblog.com/2012/03/slovakias-electoral-pol itics-an-i nterview-with-sme/. 2 1 am grateful to Sharon Fisher, Tim Haughton, Adrian Harmata, Carol Leff, Vladimir Krivy, Darina Malova, Marek Ryba!', Sharon Wolchik, the entire staff at the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava and many others who have helped me to understand Slovakia's politics over the past two decades. I am indebted to the Department of Political Science of Comenius University in Bratislava for logistical support and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for the financial support that contributed to this article. �SLOVAKIA 165 Christian Union (SDKU) became the prime minister of a coalition government consisting of four parties with pro-market orientations and relatively moderate views on intra-ethnic cooperation between Slovaks and Hungarians. Radicova was not only a new face in the premiership but a new kind of face in a country with relatively weak representation of women in positions of power. Slovakia differs little from its neighbors in this regard: the Visegrad Four-a regional grouping consisting of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary-has had only one other female prime minister in the last twenty years (Poland's Hanna Suchocka in the early 1990 ' s) and although several of the other countries in the region have had female presidents (Latvia) or prime ministers (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Croatia ) women still remain the exception in post-communist European politics and the incoming 2010 government of the neighboring Czech Republic was criticized for having no women at all. 3 Even Radicova's success did not extend to others: her own government had only one other female cabinet minister, and Slovakia's new parliament actually had fewer female deputies than it did in its previous term. And like every other female prime minister in the region, Radicova did not serve a full term. After just fifteen months in power, intra-coalition conflict produced a vote of no confidence that forced early elections and led to Radicova' s departure from politics, at least for the moment. The emergence and collapse of Radicova's government point to patterns more fundamental than the career path of any particular political leader. Slovakia' s political competition functions in three distinct dimensions-one related to economic questions, another to national questions and a third to the functioning of political systems. Analysis tends to settle at one of three levels, all of which have some claim to the truth, provided that we understand the context, and how we understand Slovakia's recent political shifts depends heavily on what we are looking for. This article works outward from the simplest of these to the most complex, looking at how the underlying dynamics shaped election results in 20 l 0 and the post-election trajectory of Radicova' s govemmet. 3 Appeltova, Michaela, 2010, "Ve vlade neni ani jedna zena, proc?", 30 June, available online: http://padesatprocent.cz/cz/zpravodajstvi/ve-vlade-neni-ani-jedna-zenaproc, last accessed 24 May 2012 . �SLOVAKIA 166 The Three Dimensions of Slovakia's Party Competition. Dimension One: Right Coalition Wins, Left Coalition Loses. The most superficial (but not unimportant) level of analysis looks at coalitions and oppositions and involves a one-dimensional space. "Left" and "right" have not always been useful in understanding Slovakia' s political space, but they have become more relevant in recent years, especially since the "right" neo-liberal reforms of the Dzurinda government between 2002 and 2006 and Fico's "left" response in the four years that followed. Using the left-right dimensions as shorthand reveals the 2010 election as a handover of power from one side to the other with a swing of seven seats in Slovakia's 150 seat parliament from Fico ' s coalition to Radicova' s. (Fico ' s coalition dropped from 85 seats in 2006 to 71 in 2010, though Fico's party itself grew by twelve seats). For the purposes of governing, this made all the difference, shifting the parliamentary majority from Fico to Radicova. Figure 1. Changes in relative bloc size in Slovakia, one-dimension, 2006-2012. Dark grey includes left and Slovak-national ( Fico 2006-2010, 2012-present). Light grey includes right and Hungarian- national ( Radicova, 2010-2012) . Left ( 'Mth Slovak National) Right ('Mth Hungarian National) Government: 85 seats Cpposition : 65 seats Cpposition : 71 seats Government: 79 seats Government: 83 seats Cpposi ti on : 67 seats 2006 2010 2012 That majority did not last, however, and early elections in 2012 moved the respective positions of the two blocs almost precisely back to where they had been in 2006. Although observers viewed these election results as a disaster for the right, the latter actually emerged with a stronger position in parliament than it had held during the first Fico government. The difference, of course, was that in 2006 the Fico government' s 85 voters were split between Fico and two not-so-docile coalition partners, whereas in 2012 all 83 seats of �SLOVAKIA 167 the governing majority lay in the hands of Fico's own well-disciplined political party. 4 Dimension Two: Left and Right Parties Gain, Slovak and Hungarian National Parties Lose. Of course "left" and "right" are not usually sufficient for understanding political competition, and in addition to the left-right axis of competition that has recently dominated governments, Slovakia has a clear competitive axis related to national questions. The current dominant dimension includes and overshadows another one related to national issues. According to this two-dimensional framework, Fico's first government represented a coalition between "anti-market left" and "Slovak national" whereas the Radicova government (like the Dzurinda government that preceded Fico before 2006) is a coalition between "pro-market right" and "Hungarian national." Analysis of election results according to the four blocs defined by these two dimensions produces a rather different set of judgments. Although the total vote share of "right" parties of the incoming government increased by five percentage points from 2006 to 2010, the vote share of the "left" party in the outgoing govemrnent- Fico's "Direction-Social Democracy"(Smer-SD)-increased by even more. Corresponding to the gains by both left and right were major losses in the "Slovak national" bloc: the Slovak National Party under Jan Slota fell catastrophically from 12% to 5%, squeaking over the barrier for parliamentary representation by just two thousand votes out of two-and-a-half million cast; and Vladimir Meciar, once the sun and the moon of Slovakia' s politics, continued a remarkably long and gradual slide into obscurity, falling below the barrier and out of parliament altogether. (In the 2012 election Meciar completed the slide with a drop to less than 1%; he resigned from the leadership of his party in April 2012). 5 Like Jaroslav Kaczynski in Poland in 2007, Fico could justifiably claim that it was not he, but rather his partners who had lost the election (though Meciar publicly suggested that, 4 Marek Rybar and Kevin Deegan-Krause, 2009, "Party Democracy and Party Competitiveness in Slovakia: Is There A Trade-Off?," Paper presented at the ECPR Joint Session of workshops, Lisbon. 5SME, 2012, "Vladimir Meciar odchadza bez nastupcu", 27 April, available online: http://www.sme.sk/c/6356308/vladimir-meciar-odchadza-bez-nastupcu.htrnl, last accessed, 24 May 2012. �168 SLOVAKIA having undermined his partners to maximize his own party' s gain, Fico deserved his fate) . Figure 2: Olanges in relative bloc size in Slovakia, two-dimensions, 2006-2012 . Figure indicates lost seats in light grey and gained seats in dark grey. 2006 2010 Hungarian National 2012 Hu ngarian National 67 I ■·-~- ,>It ! i :,; ,83 ..,, Slovak National Slovak National l " Slovak National Fico did not significantly alter his strategy for the 2012 election but he avoided the same fate because of his party' s own increased support. By mid-2011 Smer 's poll numbers were strong enough to suggest that it could potentially win a majority of seats by itself. In that circumstance, Smer had no further need for coalition partners and had an additional incentive to push its former partners fall below the threshold and take a share of seats that would originally have gone to them. The encouraging numbers also permitted Smer to run a careful and measured campaign designed to avoid losing voters rather than gaining new ones. The party's success in this regard can be measured in its addition of twenty-one new parliamentary seats, though this must be understood in the broader context that, although Smer alone achieved 83 seats, this was several seats fewer than Smer had achieved in its coalition with Slovak national parties in 2006. Although Fico clearly won the election of 2012, the parties of the right together obtained more seats than they had in 2006, in large part thanks to the decline of the national parties. Dimension Three: Slovak National Voters Move Left, Anti-Corruption Voters Move Right (for now). One of the most striking aspects of these shifts in electoral support is the finding of two opinion polls conducted before the election that the exodus of voters from Slovak national parties was not distributed evenly to left and right. In fact, nearly all of it went to the left, �SLOVAKIA 169 mainly to Fico's Smer.6 This is not surprising since Fico played on national themes for some time before the election. For the electoral math to work out, however, this must mean that some of Fico's voters also went elsewhere, and the polls suggest that at least some of them went to the new party of the right, SaS (Freedom and Solidarity). These shifts among blocs are hard to explain even using the twodimensional array of economic and national competition. The answer requires a third dimension, one that arrays voters according to their willingness to tolerate corruption and search for established leaders to resolve these problems. This dimension is hard to identify because its players change sides: the anti-corruption party of one election may become the corrupt but experienced party of the next election. 7 Adding this dimension can help make sense of a voter's jump from Smer, which in 2002 and 2006 attracted a significant share of the anti-corruption electorate, to the Freedom and Solidarity which shared few programmatic positions with Smer, but did promote itself as the answer to the country's corruption problems and, as a new party was itself not (or at least not yet) corrupt. Corruption sensitivity may also explain much of the shift from the two Slovak national parties to the by-no-means-clean but still less corrupt Smer, a shift which is less surprising because Fico had already gone quite far in adopting Slovak national themes. It also conforms to polls showing that younger voters and new voters within the Hungarian electorate shifted from the more established of two Hungarian parties to its newcomer alternative, Most-Hid (Bridge). Slovakia's political shift in 2010 thus reflects not a fundamental shift from left and right but only a left-to-right shift in the votes of those most highly sensitive to corruption. Such a shift endures for only one election until the emergence of another new anti-corruption party in the next election cycle. Smer 's return to relatively clean status during a period out of government ended with the "Gorilla" scandal that linked his political opponents with improper party funding 6 Institute for Public Affairs. 2010. "SaS berie hlasy Smeru a SDKU, Most ziskava volicov SMK." Available online: http ://www.ivo.sk/6082/sk/aktuality/sas-berie-hlasy-smeru-a-sdku-most-ziskava-volicov-smk, last accessed 7 May 2012 . 7 Haughton, Tim , Novotna, Tereza and Deegan-Krause, Kevin (2011) "The 2010 Czech and Slovak Parliamentary Elections: Red Cards to the 'Winners," West European Politics, 34: 2, 394-402 �170 SLOVAKIA from large economic interests.8 Nor do shifts in the nationally-oriented Slovak voters reflect a fundamental decline in the strength of the Slovak national position p er se, but rather a shift of Slovak national voters from the smaller parties with stronger emphasis on national questions to Fico's larger and more diffuse but sufficiently national and less corrupt alternative. Figure 3a below graphically illustrates the conjectured shift of the most "corruption intolerant" voters of SNS and HZDS to Smer (the arrow pointing up and left) and the corruption-intolerant Smer to SaS (the arrow pointing straight right) . (Shifts also occurred within the "right" (from SDKU to SaS) and within the Hungarian national (from MKP-SMK to Most-Hid) but for simplicity's sake those are not shown here.) Figure 3. Hypothesized shifts in party bloc support during Slovakia's most recent two election cycles a. 2006-2010 Hungarian Nation,:; Pro State Left Pro Mlrket Right 8 SME, 20 12, "Cast' spisu Gorila potvrdil policajt, ktory infonnova l Pentu", 3 January, avai lable online at http ://www.sme.sk/c/6203225/cast-spisu-gorila-potvrdil-policajt-ktory-infonnovalpentu.html#ixzz I w9o jAJgG, last accessed 24 May 20 12. �SLOVAKIA b. 171 2010-2012 Hun garian National Pro-Sta t e Left Pro- Mlrket Right The shifts between 2010 and 2012 were smaller but also important. Surveys suggest that a few additional voters shifted from Slovak-national parties such as SNS and HZDS to Smer and that some supporters of the SDKU and its coalition partners shifted back to Smer, while within the coalition voters also shifted to the new Ordinary People and Independents (O1'.aNO). Figure 3b depicts these shifts in the form of twin arrows pointing to the left, with new and returning party voters . SaS avoided the "government death" that has affected every new party entering government since 1994-the Association of Workers of Slovakia (ZRS), the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP), and the Party of the New Citizen (ANO)-but it came very close to failing. Even though SaS did not have to serve a full term in government and dropped out of visible participation in government in order to run as anti-political outsiders in late 2011 , it returned to parliament in 2012 with half of its 20 l O strength, less than one percentage point above the 5% threshold This third dimension of politics in Slovakia is not the main one or even the secondary one. It is likely that fewer voters care about corruption than the major national and economic issues, but because the economic and national blocs are narrowly balanced, corruption has a major impact on the creation of parliamentary majorities and the formation of governments. �172 SLOVAKIA 2010: Three Dimensions, One Government, Four (and a half) Parties. The conditions under which the 2010 government gained its majority had a clear impact on its form and, ultimately, its inability to endure. The dynamics that ultimately sank the coalition mixed questions of economic left and right with questions of national consciousness and the legacy of new party formation. Those who had little contact with Slovakia during the late 2000's might be excused for experiencing the 2010 Radicova government with a bit of deja vu. The names of some of the parties changed slightly from the 2002 Dzurinda government, but the general array was almost identical. Most-Hid replaced the Party of the Hungarian Coalition in the Hungarian national slot, and one new pro-market anti-corruption party "Freedom and Solidarity" (SaS) replaced another (the now defunct Alliance of the ew Citizen). Ten of the fifteen cabinet posts remained in the hands of the same party that controlled them in 2002 (or its analog) and seven of the fifteen ministers who took office in 2010 had served in the 2002-2006 cabinet (in several cases heading the same respective ministries that they had managed earlier in the decade). The actual performance of the government is difficult to assess because it lasted such a short time. Hardly a year passed between the government's appointment and the beginning of the Euro bailout crisis that absorbed its entire attention and brought about its demise. During its brief tenure, the government's ability to make change was further limited not only by a narrow political margin, but by constant threats of fragmentation. Particularly notable in this regard were the frequent shifts of four deputies associated with the aforementioned obscure civic movement called "Ordinary People" (OC). 9 These four 9 In a piquant sign of the tactics played during election campaigns in Slovakia, the leader of a defunct but still-formall y-registered party successfully changed its appellation to Ordinary People (01..'.) just hours before the parliamentary caucus came to register the same name. The leaders of the caucus were thus turned away at the party registration desk and forced to find an alternative, registering several weeks later as Ordinary People and Independents (OEaNO). See Pravda, 20 11 , "Morie, ktory si zaregistroval stranu Obyfajni l'udia, navrat nechysta", I November, available online: h ://s ra . ravda.sk/moric-kto -si-zare istroval-stranu-ob ca·ni-ludia-navratnech sta-1 n-/sk do mace.as ?c=A 11110 I 200428 sk do mace 29#ixzz 1wCSKUTuJ, last accessed 24 May 2012. �SLOVAKIA 173 deputies managed unexpectedly to leap into parliament from positions at the very bottom of the SaS list (thanks to preference votes gained from prominent spots in the local commercial inserts that were the main business enterprise of O~'s leader, Igor Matovic). Therefore, they owed little loyalty to SaS and were able to stall key government initiatives through repeated threats of departure. In economic affairs, Radicova ' s government was relatively unified but had limited space for policy innovation. Its efforts were forestalled in part by past successes: the Dzurinda government managed to demonstrate significant coalition discipline during its 20022006 term and, though possessed of a slight parliamentary majority, it managed to pass major economic reforms in taxation, health care, education, the labor market and other aspects of the foreign investment climate. Furthermore, although the Fico government between 2006 and 2010 engaged in high-profile increases in pensions and family benefits and made changes to the labor law, the party actually did little to alter the fundamental framework of the Dzurinda government and presented few opportunities for Radicova's government to reclaim lost ground. On the axis of cultural and religious questions the coalition had little hope of agreement, as it included the parties at both extremes of the axis: SaS supported gay marriage and drug legalization while the KDH (Christian Democratic Movement) supported traditional Christian values and a stronger relationship with the Vatican. Fortunately for the coalition, however, this axis did not constitute one of the more salient lines of conflict in Slovakia's politics, and the coalition simply stayed clear of most cultural issues in order not to create a deeper intra-coalition rift. On national identity and foreign policy Radicova's government was not so lucky. On taking office in 2010, the parties that formed the new government shared a common pro-Western outlook and (relatively) accommodating views on ethnic co-existence and national identity, but they found it difficult to translate these positions into policy. On minority-rights issues the coalition ' s Hungarian and Slovak parties differed over what should constitute "appropriate" support for minority culture. Most-Hid sought to reverse the more restrictive language and citizenship policies of the 2006-2010 Fico government, but the Slovak parties of the coalition sought to avoid appearing weak in their dealings with the assertively nationalist gov- �174 SLOVAKIA ernment in neighboring Hungary or, by extension, the Hungarian population with Slovakia. On international integration issues, the coalition also failed to find consensus. In this case the dissenting coalition party was SaS, whose generally pro-Western approach conflicted with its neoliberalism on the question of Slovakia's obligation as part of the Eurozone. After numerous "negotiated solutions" and apparent agreements between SaS and the other coalition parties, the leaders of Radifova' s SDKU raised the stakes and hoped to force SaS into compliance by linking the Eurozone bailout to a vote of confidence in the government, but the SaS refused to budge. Smer, which nominally supported the bailout, refused to prolong Radifova's government by voting in its favor. Once Radifova' s government collapsed and new elections were underway, Smer joined with Radifova's party and several others in ensuring passage of the bailout. 2012: Three Dimensions, One Government, One Party. The Eurozone-related vote of no confidence led to early elections on 10 March 2012. As the sections above suggest, the relatively small shifts in public opinion produced a significant difference in government orientation and an even more significant difference in government composition. Slovakia has its first one-party majority government since 1989 and the outcomes bear close attention. On economic questions, Smer retains a moderately pro-redistribution position, but the 2012 Fico government has acknowledged that it faces budgetary constraints that will limit its potential largesse, and some top party officials have interests in international finance that may (as with Slovakia's adoption of the Euro in 2009) encourage a relatively conservative fiscal policy. Indeed the party's budget for 2013 included a combination of austerity measures and tax increases that won praise from Western investors. 10 On national questions Smer has previously expressed wariness toward Hungary and the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, but the 2012 Fico government has appointed a moderate, professional diplomat as foreign minister, and as with financial questions, some of Fico's closest supporters have 10 Cienski, Jan, 2012, "Fico: Austerity rules," Financial Times, 23 May, available online: http://blogs. ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/05/23/fico-austerity-rules/#axzz I w9zH5aGM, last accessed 24 May 201 2. �SLOVAKIA 175 more moderate positions than others. On corruption questions, Fico's party has a less-than pristine record, but the revelations of the recent "Gorilla" scandal about connections between large firms and party finance on Slovakia's right allowed Smer to appear relatively clean by comparison. Complete control of government may in this regard prove somewhat disadvantageous as Smer will become the main focus of corruption allegations. In each case, Fico ' s own party faces internal divisions along the same lines as the party system as a whole. It is obviously not as deeply riven as Radicova' s coalition, but the exact same lines of stress sometimes (in obscure and ambiguous ways) produce cracks in the party's veneer of unity. While intra-party competition within Smer is highly imperfect as a mechanism of accountability, it will play a critical role during the coming Fico government. Like Vladimir Meciar in 1992 and 1994, Fico is returning to Slovakia's top position after a brief interlude of government by a coalition of strange bedfellows. Each time Meciar returned in the early 1990' s he engaged in bolder use (and frequently misuse) of government authority in an attempt to regain and maintain control. Fico, by contrast, began his return to government not with radical change but with calls for cooperation, and his personnel appointments in many areas seemed to reflect a turn toward moderation. As tempting as it is to compare Fico with Meciar, the two are not alike. And even if their personalities did incline them toward the same efforts, their experiences and constraints are different. On the one hand, Fico's political position is currently so strong that he has no need to hurry into any thing. At the same time, Fico may also be more aware of the need for caution: unlike Meciar in 1994, Fico was removed from the prime ministership in 2010 by the voters, and he may be more aware than Meciar of voters' ability to express displeasure. Regardless of the reason, the inauspicious example of political development in neighboring Hungary make it particularly reassuring that (as of this writing) Fico has not used his political strength to alter Slovakia's democratic institutions to his own advantage. As the very nature of this article suggests, however, change can come quickly. ��DOCUMENTATION �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2013, Vol. 41 Description An account of the resource Vol. 41 (No. 76-77), 2013. 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 2013 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 164 SLOVAKIA SLOVAKIA'S 2010 ELECTION AND ITS AFTERMATH 1 Kevin Deegan-Krause2 The academic publishing cycle is not known for being particularly quick, but it is usually fast enough to beat the electoral cycle in most countries and thereby allow articles considering the consequences of one election without immediately requiring consideration of the next one. Not so for Slovakia. The country's political change in the early 2010 's left no time for leisurely consideration and this article, which began its life as a review of Slovakia's 2010 election, must deal not only with the birth of Slovakia's 2010 government but also its early death in 2012. On 12 June 2010 citizens of Slovakia went to the polls for parliamentary elections for the seventh time since Communist Party rule ended in 1989. A plurality-more than one third-voted for the party of incumbent prime minister Robert Fico. However, Slovakia's system of proportional representation does not give any particular advantage to the largest party, and Fico again found it necessary to seek coalition partners to muster the 50%+ 1 of parliamentary votes necessary to form a government. Unfortunately for Fico, a decline in support for his past government partners and antagonistic relationships with all other parties made it impossible for him to muster the necessary 76 votes. Fico's opponents quickly arranged a majority coalition and on 8 July 2010, Iveta Radifova of the Slovak Democratic and 1 Large segments of this article were first published online at: http://themonkeycage.org/blog/20 I 0/07 / 13/20 IO slovak parliamentary elec/, http ://www.pozorblog.com/20 I 0/07 /20 I 0-slovak-parliamentary-elections-postelection-report/, http://www.pozorblog.com/2012/03/2012-parliamentary-electionsin-slovakia-the-building-blocs-of-success/ and as part of an interview in SME, http:/lwww.pozorblog.com/2012/03/slovakias-electoral-pol itics-an-i nterview-with-sme/. 2 1 am grateful to Sharon Fisher, Tim Haughton, Adrian Harmata, Carol Leff, Vladimir Krivy, Darina Malova, Marek Ryba!', Sharon Wolchik, the entire staff at the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava and many others who have helped me to understand Slovakia's politics over the past two decades. I am indebted to the Department of Political Science of Comenius University in Bratislava for logistical support and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for the financial support that contributed to this article. SLOVAKIA 165 Christian Union (SDKU) became the prime minister of a coalition government consisting of four parties with pro-market orientations and relatively moderate views on intra-ethnic cooperation between Slovaks and Hungarians. Radicova was not only a new face in the premiership but a new kind of face in a country with relatively weak representation of women in positions of power. Slovakia differs little from its neighbors in this regard: the Visegrad Four-a regional grouping consisting of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary-has had only one other female prime minister in the last twenty years (Poland's Hanna Suchocka in the early 1990 ' s) and although several of the other countries in the region have had female presidents (Latvia) or prime ministers (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Croatia ) women still remain the exception in post-communist European politics and the incoming 2010 government of the neighboring Czech Republic was criticized for having no women at all. 3 Even Radicova's success did not extend to others: her own government had only one other female cabinet minister, and Slovakia's new parliament actually had fewer female deputies than it did in its previous term. And like every other female prime minister in the region, Radicova did not serve a full term. After just fifteen months in power, intra-coalition conflict produced a vote of no confidence that forced early elections and led to Radicova' s departure from politics, at least for the moment. The emergence and collapse of Radicova's government point to patterns more fundamental than the career path of any particular political leader. Slovakia' s political competition functions in three distinct dimensions-one related to economic questions, another to national questions and a third to the functioning of political systems. Analysis tends to settle at one of three levels, all of which have some claim to the truth, provided that we understand the context, and how we understand Slovakia's recent political shifts depends heavily on what we are looking for. This article works outward from the simplest of these to the most complex, looking at how the underlying dynamics shaped election results in 20 l 0 and the post-election trajectory of Radicova' s govemmet. 3 Appeltova, Michaela, 2010, "Ve vlade neni ani jedna zena, proc?", 30 June, available online: http://padesatprocent.cz/cz/zpravodajstvi/ve-vlade-neni-ani-jedna-zenaproc, last accessed 24 May 2012 . SLOVAKIA 166 The Three Dimensions of Slovakia's Party Competition. Dimension One: Right Coalition Wins, Left Coalition Loses. The most superficial (but not unimportant) level of analysis looks at coalitions and oppositions and involves a one-dimensional space. "Left" and "right" have not always been useful in understanding Slovakia' s political space, but they have become more relevant in recent years, especially since the "right" neo-liberal reforms of the Dzurinda government between 2002 and 2006 and Fico's "left" response in the four years that followed. Using the left-right dimensions as shorthand reveals the 2010 election as a handover of power from one side to the other with a swing of seven seats in Slovakia's 150 seat parliament from Fico ' s coalition to Radicova' s. (Fico ' s coalition dropped from 85 seats in 2006 to 71 in 2010, though Fico's party itself grew by twelve seats). For the purposes of governing, this made all the difference, shifting the parliamentary majority from Fico to Radicova. Figure 1. Changes in relative bloc size in Slovakia, one-dimension, 2006-2012. Dark grey includes left and Slovak-national ( Fico 2006-2010, 2012-present). Light grey includes right and Hungarian- national ( Radicova, 2010-2012) . Left ( 'Mth Slovak National) Right ('Mth Hungarian National) Government: 85 seats Cpposition : 65 seats Cpposition : 71 seats Government: 79 seats Government: 83 seats Cpposi ti on : 67 seats 2006 2010 2012 That majority did not last, however, and early elections in 2012 moved the respective positions of the two blocs almost precisely back to where they had been in 2006. Although observers viewed these election results as a disaster for the right, the latter actually emerged with a stronger position in parliament than it had held during the first Fico government. The difference, of course, was that in 2006 the Fico government' s 85 voters were split between Fico and two not-so-docile coalition partners, whereas in 2012 all 83 seats of SLOVAKIA 167 the governing majority lay in the hands of Fico's own well-disciplined political party. 4 Dimension Two: Left and Right Parties Gain, Slovak and Hungarian National Parties Lose. Of course "left" and "right" are not usually sufficient for understanding political competition, and in addition to the left-right axis of competition that has recently dominated governments, Slovakia has a clear competitive axis related to national questions. The current dominant dimension includes and overshadows another one related to national issues. According to this two-dimensional framework, Fico's first government represented a coalition between "anti-market left" and "Slovak national" whereas the Radicova government (like the Dzurinda government that preceded Fico before 2006) is a coalition between "pro-market right" and "Hungarian national." Analysis of election results according to the four blocs defined by these two dimensions produces a rather different set of judgments. Although the total vote share of "right" parties of the incoming government increased by five percentage points from 2006 to 2010, the vote share of the "left" party in the outgoing govemrnent- Fico's "Direction-Social Democracy"(Smer-SD)-increased by even more. Corresponding to the gains by both left and right were major losses in the "Slovak national" bloc: the Slovak National Party under Jan Slota fell catastrophically from 12% to 5%, squeaking over the barrier for parliamentary representation by just two thousand votes out of two-and-a-half million cast; and Vladimir Meciar, once the sun and the moon of Slovakia' s politics, continued a remarkably long and gradual slide into obscurity, falling below the barrier and out of parliament altogether. (In the 2012 election Meciar completed the slide with a drop to less than 1%; he resigned from the leadership of his party in April 2012). 5 Like Jaroslav Kaczynski in Poland in 2007, Fico could justifiably claim that it was not he, but rather his partners who had lost the election (though Meciar publicly suggested that, 4 Marek Rybar and Kevin Deegan-Krause, 2009, "Party Democracy and Party Competitiveness in Slovakia: Is There A Trade-Off?," Paper presented at the ECPR Joint Session of workshops, Lisbon. 5SME, 2012, "Vladimir Meciar odchadza bez nastupcu", 27 April, available online: http://www.sme.sk/c/6356308/vladimir-meciar-odchadza-bez-nastupcu.htrnl, last accessed, 24 May 2012. 168 SLOVAKIA having undermined his partners to maximize his own party' s gain, Fico deserved his fate) . Figure 2: Olanges in relative bloc size in Slovakia, two-dimensions, 2006-2012 . Figure indicates lost seats in light grey and gained seats in dark grey. 2006 2010 Hungarian National 2012 Hu ngarian National 67 I ■·-~- ,>It ! i :,; ,83 ..,, Slovak National Slovak National l " Slovak National Fico did not significantly alter his strategy for the 2012 election but he avoided the same fate because of his party' s own increased support. By mid-2011 Smer 's poll numbers were strong enough to suggest that it could potentially win a majority of seats by itself. In that circumstance, Smer had no further need for coalition partners and had an additional incentive to push its former partners fall below the threshold and take a share of seats that would originally have gone to them. The encouraging numbers also permitted Smer to run a careful and measured campaign designed to avoid losing voters rather than gaining new ones. The party's success in this regard can be measured in its addition of twenty-one new parliamentary seats, though this must be understood in the broader context that, although Smer alone achieved 83 seats, this was several seats fewer than Smer had achieved in its coalition with Slovak national parties in 2006. Although Fico clearly won the election of 2012, the parties of the right together obtained more seats than they had in 2006, in large part thanks to the decline of the national parties. Dimension Three: Slovak National Voters Move Left, Anti-Corruption Voters Move Right (for now). One of the most striking aspects of these shifts in electoral support is the finding of two opinion polls conducted before the election that the exodus of voters from Slovak national parties was not distributed evenly to left and right. In fact, nearly all of it went to the left, SLOVAKIA 169 mainly to Fico's Smer.6 This is not surprising since Fico played on national themes for some time before the election. For the electoral math to work out, however, this must mean that some of Fico's voters also went elsewhere, and the polls suggest that at least some of them went to the new party of the right, SaS (Freedom and Solidarity). These shifts among blocs are hard to explain even using the twodimensional array of economic and national competition. The answer requires a third dimension, one that arrays voters according to their willingness to tolerate corruption and search for established leaders to resolve these problems. This dimension is hard to identify because its players change sides: the anti-corruption party of one election may become the corrupt but experienced party of the next election. 7 Adding this dimension can help make sense of a voter's jump from Smer, which in 2002 and 2006 attracted a significant share of the anti-corruption electorate, to the Freedom and Solidarity which shared few programmatic positions with Smer, but did promote itself as the answer to the country's corruption problems and, as a new party was itself not (or at least not yet) corrupt. Corruption sensitivity may also explain much of the shift from the two Slovak national parties to the by-no-means-clean but still less corrupt Smer, a shift which is less surprising because Fico had already gone quite far in adopting Slovak national themes. It also conforms to polls showing that younger voters and new voters within the Hungarian electorate shifted from the more established of two Hungarian parties to its newcomer alternative, Most-Hid (Bridge). Slovakia's political shift in 2010 thus reflects not a fundamental shift from left and right but only a left-to-right shift in the votes of those most highly sensitive to corruption. Such a shift endures for only one election until the emergence of another new anti-corruption party in the next election cycle. Smer 's return to relatively clean status during a period out of government ended with the "Gorilla" scandal that linked his political opponents with improper party funding 6 Institute for Public Affairs. 2010. "SaS berie hlasy Smeru a SDKU, Most ziskava volicov SMK." Available online: http ://www.ivo.sk/6082/sk/aktuality/sas-berie-hlasy-smeru-a-sdku-most-ziskava-volicov-smk, last accessed 7 May 2012 . 7 Haughton, Tim , Novotna, Tereza and Deegan-Krause, Kevin (2011) "The 2010 Czech and Slovak Parliamentary Elections: Red Cards to the 'Winners," West European Politics, 34: 2, 394-402 170 SLOVAKIA from large economic interests.8 Nor do shifts in the nationally-oriented Slovak voters reflect a fundamental decline in the strength of the Slovak national position p er se, but rather a shift of Slovak national voters from the smaller parties with stronger emphasis on national questions to Fico's larger and more diffuse but sufficiently national and less corrupt alternative. Figure 3a below graphically illustrates the conjectured shift of the most "corruption intolerant" voters of SNS and HZDS to Smer (the arrow pointing up and left) and the corruption-intolerant Smer to SaS (the arrow pointing straight right) . (Shifts also occurred within the "right" (from SDKU to SaS) and within the Hungarian national (from MKP-SMK to Most-Hid) but for simplicity's sake those are not shown here.) Figure 3. Hypothesized shifts in party bloc support during Slovakia's most recent two election cycles a. 2006-2010 Hungarian Nation,:; Pro State Left Pro Mlrket Right 8 SME, 20 12, "Cast' spisu Gorila potvrdil policajt, ktory infonnova l Pentu", 3 January, avai lable online at http ://www.sme.sk/c/6203225/cast-spisu-gorila-potvrdil-policajt-ktory-infonnovalpentu.html#ixzz I w9o jAJgG, last accessed 24 May 20 12. SLOVAKIA b. 171 2010-2012 Hun garian National Pro-Sta t e Left Pro- Mlrket Right The shifts between 2010 and 2012 were smaller but also important. Surveys suggest that a few additional voters shifted from Slovak-national parties such as SNS and HZDS to Smer and that some supporters of the SDKU and its coalition partners shifted back to Smer, while within the coalition voters also shifted to the new Ordinary People and Independents (O1'.aNO). Figure 3b depicts these shifts in the form of twin arrows pointing to the left, with new and returning party voters . SaS avoided the "government death" that has affected every new party entering government since 1994-the Association of Workers of Slovakia (ZRS), the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP), and the Party of the New Citizen (ANO)-but it came very close to failing. Even though SaS did not have to serve a full term in government and dropped out of visible participation in government in order to run as anti-political outsiders in late 2011 , it returned to parliament in 2012 with half of its 20 l O strength, less than one percentage point above the 5% threshold This third dimension of politics in Slovakia is not the main one or even the secondary one. It is likely that fewer voters care about corruption than the major national and economic issues, but because the economic and national blocs are narrowly balanced, corruption has a major impact on the creation of parliamentary majorities and the formation of governments. 172 SLOVAKIA 2010: Three Dimensions, One Government, Four (and a half) Parties. The conditions under which the 2010 government gained its majority had a clear impact on its form and, ultimately, its inability to endure. The dynamics that ultimately sank the coalition mixed questions of economic left and right with questions of national consciousness and the legacy of new party formation. Those who had little contact with Slovakia during the late 2000's might be excused for experiencing the 2010 Radicova government with a bit of deja vu. The names of some of the parties changed slightly from the 2002 Dzurinda government, but the general array was almost identical. Most-Hid replaced the Party of the Hungarian Coalition in the Hungarian national slot, and one new pro-market anti-corruption party "Freedom and Solidarity" (SaS) replaced another (the now defunct Alliance of the ew Citizen). Ten of the fifteen cabinet posts remained in the hands of the same party that controlled them in 2002 (or its analog) and seven of the fifteen ministers who took office in 2010 had served in the 2002-2006 cabinet (in several cases heading the same respective ministries that they had managed earlier in the decade). The actual performance of the government is difficult to assess because it lasted such a short time. Hardly a year passed between the government's appointment and the beginning of the Euro bailout crisis that absorbed its entire attention and brought about its demise. During its brief tenure, the government's ability to make change was further limited not only by a narrow political margin, but by constant threats of fragmentation. Particularly notable in this regard were the frequent shifts of four deputies associated with the aforementioned obscure civic movement called "Ordinary People" (OC). 9 These four 9 In a piquant sign of the tactics played during election campaigns in Slovakia, the leader of a defunct but still-formall y-registered party successfully changed its appellation to Ordinary People (01..'.) just hours before the parliamentary caucus came to register the same name. The leaders of the caucus were thus turned away at the party registration desk and forced to find an alternative, registering several weeks later as Ordinary People and Independents (OEaNO). See Pravda, 20 11 , "Morie, ktory si zaregistroval stranu Obyfajni l'udia, navrat nechysta", I November, available online: h ://s ra . ravda.sk/moric-kto -si-zare istroval-stranu-ob ca·ni-ludia-navratnech sta-1 n-/sk do mace.as ?c=A 11110 I 200428 sk do mace 29#ixzz 1wCSKUTuJ, last accessed 24 May 2012. SLOVAKIA 173 deputies managed unexpectedly to leap into parliament from positions at the very bottom of the SaS list (thanks to preference votes gained from prominent spots in the local commercial inserts that were the main business enterprise of O~'s leader, Igor Matovic). Therefore, they owed little loyalty to SaS and were able to stall key government initiatives through repeated threats of departure. In economic affairs, Radicova ' s government was relatively unified but had limited space for policy innovation. Its efforts were forestalled in part by past successes: the Dzurinda government managed to demonstrate significant coalition discipline during its 20022006 term and, though possessed of a slight parliamentary majority, it managed to pass major economic reforms in taxation, health care, education, the labor market and other aspects of the foreign investment climate. Furthermore, although the Fico government between 2006 and 2010 engaged in high-profile increases in pensions and family benefits and made changes to the labor law, the party actually did little to alter the fundamental framework of the Dzurinda government and presented few opportunities for Radicova's government to reclaim lost ground. On the axis of cultural and religious questions the coalition had little hope of agreement, as it included the parties at both extremes of the axis: SaS supported gay marriage and drug legalization while the KDH (Christian Democratic Movement) supported traditional Christian values and a stronger relationship with the Vatican. Fortunately for the coalition, however, this axis did not constitute one of the more salient lines of conflict in Slovakia's politics, and the coalition simply stayed clear of most cultural issues in order not to create a deeper intra-coalition rift. On national identity and foreign policy Radicova's government was not so lucky. On taking office in 2010, the parties that formed the new government shared a common pro-Western outlook and (relatively) accommodating views on ethnic co-existence and national identity, but they found it difficult to translate these positions into policy. On minority-rights issues the coalition ' s Hungarian and Slovak parties differed over what should constitute "appropriate" support for minority culture. Most-Hid sought to reverse the more restrictive language and citizenship policies of the 2006-2010 Fico government, but the Slovak parties of the coalition sought to avoid appearing weak in their dealings with the assertively nationalist gov- 174 SLOVAKIA ernment in neighboring Hungary or, by extension, the Hungarian population with Slovakia. On international integration issues, the coalition also failed to find consensus. In this case the dissenting coalition party was SaS, whose generally pro-Western approach conflicted with its neoliberalism on the question of Slovakia's obligation as part of the Eurozone. After numerous "negotiated solutions" and apparent agreements between SaS and the other coalition parties, the leaders of Radifova' s SDKU raised the stakes and hoped to force SaS into compliance by linking the Eurozone bailout to a vote of confidence in the government, but the SaS refused to budge. Smer, which nominally supported the bailout, refused to prolong Radifova's government by voting in its favor. Once Radifova' s government collapsed and new elections were underway, Smer joined with Radifova's party and several others in ensuring passage of the bailout. 2012: Three Dimensions, One Government, One Party. The Eurozone-related vote of no confidence led to early elections on 10 March 2012. As the sections above suggest, the relatively small shifts in public opinion produced a significant difference in government orientation and an even more significant difference in government composition. Slovakia has its first one-party majority government since 1989 and the outcomes bear close attention. On economic questions, Smer retains a moderately pro-redistribution position, but the 2012 Fico government has acknowledged that it faces budgetary constraints that will limit its potential largesse, and some top party officials have interests in international finance that may (as with Slovakia's adoption of the Euro in 2009) encourage a relatively conservative fiscal policy. Indeed the party's budget for 2013 included a combination of austerity measures and tax increases that won praise from Western investors. 10 On national questions Smer has previously expressed wariness toward Hungary and the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, but the 2012 Fico government has appointed a moderate, professional diplomat as foreign minister, and as with financial questions, some of Fico's closest supporters have 10 Cienski, Jan, 2012, "Fico: Austerity rules," Financial Times, 23 May, available online: http://blogs. ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/05/23/fico-austerity-rules/#axzz I w9zH5aGM, last accessed 24 May 201 2. SLOVAKIA 175 more moderate positions than others. On corruption questions, Fico's party has a less-than pristine record, but the revelations of the recent "Gorilla" scandal about connections between large firms and party finance on Slovakia's right allowed Smer to appear relatively clean by comparison. Complete control of government may in this regard prove somewhat disadvantageous as Smer will become the main focus of corruption allegations. In each case, Fico ' s own party faces internal divisions along the same lines as the party system as a whole. It is obviously not as deeply riven as Radicova' s coalition, but the exact same lines of stress sometimes (in obscure and ambiguous ways) produce cracks in the party's veneer of unity. While intra-party competition within Smer is highly imperfect as a mechanism of accountability, it will play a critical role during the coming Fico government. Like Vladimir Meciar in 1992 and 1994, Fico is returning to Slovakia's top position after a brief interlude of government by a coalition of strange bedfellows. Each time Meciar returned in the early 1990' s he engaged in bolder use (and frequently misuse) of government authority in an attempt to regain and maintain control. Fico, by contrast, began his return to government not with radical change but with calls for cooperation, and his personnel appointments in many areas seemed to reflect a turn toward moderation. As tempting as it is to compare Fico with Meciar, the two are not alike. And even if their personalities did incline them toward the same efforts, their experiences and constraints are different. On the one hand, Fico's political position is currently so strong that he has no need to hurry into any thing. At the same time, Fico may also be more aware of the need for caution: unlike Meciar in 1994, Fico was removed from the prime ministership in 2010 by the voters, and he may be more aware than Meciar of voters' ability to express displeasure. Regardless of the reason, the inauspicious example of political development in neighboring Hungary make it particularly reassuring that (as of this writing) Fico has not used his political strength to alter Slovakia's democratic institutions to his own advantage. As the very nature of this article suggests, however, change can come quickly. DOCUMENTATION  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovakia's 2010 Election and Its Aftermath Description An account of the resource Kevin Deegan-Krause Slovakia, Vol. 41 (No. 76-77), 2013 pp. 164-175 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Deegan-Krause, Kevin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/240911e14f80fa5ed63d8c7ff1008704.pdf 7da4603378f53dbfad11508d2b2dba57 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 1 THE BETRAYAL OF SWVAKIA E DWARD L. DELANEY {Internatlonally known novelist, speaker, publicist, foreign correspondent, news commentator and world traveler, Edward Delaney 1s now d!.~closing for audiences throughout the count.ry his on the spot observat!ons and persona) experlences durlng the war and the subsequent perlod ot "peace:· Many of the vital toplcs of our tlmes are dealt wlth - plalnly and forcefully. Although bom In Amerlca, he bas reslded abroad for almost two decades; four years In Asla, Australla, Hrltlsh India, Dutch East Indies and two years in Afrlca, followed by extenslve stay.s In Centra) America and several years in Europe. During the war his fact-flndlng travels were from the Baltlc Sea to the llalkans, trom Paris to Poland, In Germany, Italy, Rumanla, Bu1gana, Yugoslavla, Hungary and Czechoslovakla when the "Iron Curtaln" teli. His book "Europe in War Daze" was published In 1948.) T he presidentlal death rate In Czechoslovakla has been phenomenal. Eduard Benes was the last of three presldents to dle thP.re In sJlghtly more than three years. Slngularly enough there 1s a surprlsing analogy between certaln of hi.s acts and those ot Dr. Emil Hacha and Dr. Jozef Tlso. the two who prece<led hlm lnto eternity. Another singularity ls that Czechoslovakla had lts inceptlon in this country and lt was due to declsions made here that lt came to an ignominlous endlng thirty years later. On May 30, 1918, at whal was afterwards known as the Pittsburgh Conventio)'l, Czechoslovakia was born. The consensus of opinion among the foundlng fathers wa.s that by some feat ot Jegerdemain the age-old differences between Czech1i, Slovaks, Hungarians and Ger· mans, who comprised the populatlon, were now dlssolved. The agri· cultural area of Slovakia was fused wlth the industria) reglons ot Bo• hemia and Moravla and God would bless the bonds. But soon the slgners of that agreement found they had put too much falth In God and not enough checks on the natlonall.st alms ot thelr co-partners. Prague whlch had long been the Czech capltal began to assert authority over the whole state. The autonomy that bad been guaranteed tbe Slovaks never materlallzed. With the death of Thomas Masaryk, the couDltry's first president, Eduard Benes lnberlted hls offlce. The government under hls leader• shlp sought to relegate the Slovaks to what mlght be regarded as a pastora) communlty. lndustry, the buslness of government and all the petty offlclals were to a large extent Czech. The Czech language would supplant that ot the Slovak minority even in distrlcts where there were few Czecbs. The matter of "autonomy" could be shelve<1 for an lndeflnite perlod. As was to be expected there was opposltion from the Slovaks over the flagrant abandonment ot the pledges made at the Plttsburgh Conventlon. One fllmsy excuse offered by Prague for lgnorlng that agreement was that lt had been slgned on a legal hollday In Amerlca and was therefore not blndlng. Andrej Hlinka, a parlsh prlest In Ruzomberok, a town ot some rew thousand populatlon In western Slovak!a, was one ot those ldeallsts �2 SLOVAKIA who believed that the precepts or the Sermon on the Mount could be applied to a nation's problems. His supporters ga!ned nuruencal strengtb, formed tbe Hlinka Party and allied themselves c losely with 1he next largest political group which, oddly enough, was headed by a prominent Protestant clergyman. They did not seek to impose their wlll on the Czechs but regarded it as their patriotlc duty to figbt !or Slovak lnterests. As one observes tbroughont Europe there is usually a fine blending or pariotism and natlonallsm. There were arrests and prison sentences !or those wbo were too critical of the suzerainty exercised by the Prague govemment. Hlinka, Dr. Jozef Tiso, bis deputy, Professor Bela Tuka, later Slovak premier, and otbers tanded in jalls for various periods, cbarged with subversive actlvities. Had the Pragu.e politicians been more astute, they would have bridged the gap between Slovak aspirations and Czech impositions. I.ly not doing so, they pa ved the way for Hitler to $plit the country in two. The revolt of tbe Slovaks and the overtbrowing of Prague's authority on March 14, 1939, was ostensibly an interna! affair. It is ~ignificant, however, thait within twenty-four hours after asseľling their independence they recei ved recogn!tion and guarantee of protection by Gennany from "any foreign power," Hitler's forces marched into Prague. The sovereignty of Czecboslovakia ceased to exist. Bo• hemia and Moravla became the ·'Protectorate" of Germany. Slovakia was regarded as self-determinlng and independent. Eduard Benes had reslgned as presldent of Czechoslovakia on October 5, 1938. November thirtieth, following, Dr. Emil Hacha was elected president of the Republic wilh the felicitations of Benes who departed for England and later came to America. Dr. Hac ha had accepted a thankless post. lt was utterly hopeless for bim to oppose any clemands of Germany slnce France and England had reneged on their pledges of military alliance. Early in March, 1939, Hitler's scheme for splitting Czechoslovakia in two had been decided upon. Dr. Hacha was summoned to Berlin and told to sign on the dotted line. Hacha did not go to Berlin of bis own volition and make compromlslng terms wlth the Nazi dictator. He was glven no alternative. He submitted. When he returned to Prague he was but a flgurehead for the Czechs. Some called bim a collaborator. To associates he declared that •·co-operation under coerclon 1s not collaboratlon." He remalned as chief Czech executive after the German occupat!on, agalnst whlch he was powerless. Governor General Frank, sent there by Hitler, was supreme. It was generally regarded that Dr. Hacha occupied the position of puppet for the Nazi regime. The Czechs liked to belleve that Hacha Pxerclsed some influence in their behalf. Perhaps he dld, Cor the fact remains that until the end of tbe war living c-ondltlons in the "Protectorate" were better than in any part of Germany or Austria. For that reason many Germans contrived to go there and live. When the Red Army arrlved in Prague in May, 1945, Hacha was imprisoned. He was to bave been put through a form of tria! but he dled before being brought lnto court, thus cheatlng the Red gallows. For six years, from March 14, 1939 to April 5, 1945. there were two �SLOVAKIA 3 presidents in the country that had been and was again to be - In name at Ieast - Czechoslovak!a. Andrej Hlinka died in the autumn of 1938. Hls successor, Monsignor Jozef Tiso, deputy head of the Hlinka Party. was also summoned to Berlin that eventful week or .March 1939. Agreements were entered into a,t Berlin for the recognitíon of Slovakia as a self•determlning republic. Frontlers were established, Tiso was to be tbe provlslonal president with Bratislava as the capital. The Slovaks felt they had everything to galn by setting up their own state rather than to remaln part of Czechoslovakia whlcb Hitler was about to occupy. The phrase "self-determinaition for small nations" suddenly became a reality to them. Although the United States did not offlclally recognlze the new• bom Republir. of Slovakia, it rlid receive recognition from many countries. no less than seventeen of them opening consulates and leg:ttlons in Bratislava. People throughout Europe who were faced with realltles also recognlzed the fact that the state existed. Viewed dlspassionately and wlthout the bias that must lmpair a just perspectlve of the Slovak picture, there was glven the country at that tlme a new out!ook wblch was sometb!ng more than a mirage. Contrary ito expectations, Germany did not exercise control over the press, the radlo, their currency or customs. Certain of their national assets such as coal, timber, beet grow!ng. gotd and silľer mining and the production of steel and cellulose were brought to higher levels. Almost over night they began playing a,t the game of capitalism, natlonal!sm, Industria) expansion, educatlon anrl the extremely fntricate buslness of government. After a tria) and error period some sounrl progress was recorded. 'ľbe country 1s actually a melange of the medlaeval and modem. Trackless trollies of reťent vintage and motor c ars of lntrlnsic wortb sbared the streets of Bratislava wlth lumberlng mule carts. Lad!es in expensive furs rubbed sboulders witb peasant women In horne made sheep skin coats and cow bide boots. Because of their favorable trade balance witb other European countries the people of Slovakia did not want for neťessitles. On tbe contrary, all during the war. tbey barl many luxurles that were un• dreamed of by tbe people of Germany and, of course. many of the occupied areas. Coming from Austrla or Germanr lnto Slovakla was stepplng into a veritable paradise of food, drink, clotbing and other com.modities that had long since vanlsbed trom tbe Relch. Knowlng these things tbe people of Siovakia could not be blamed for declarlng tbat tbe course adopted by tbeir politlcal leaders had been the best for them. Tbey never had it so 11,"ood before - or since. Tbe state had been in existence for nearly four years berore I had an opportunlty to vlslt Presldent Tlso In the sumptuous old Hungarian palare tbat had been ronverted lnto bis offlclal resictenre. He was tben In bis mirl-fiftles. Hls black hair had but a few thre~<ls of grey and bis dark blue eyes radlated energy and keen intere1;t In whatever he was rloing at the moment After some general conversation I asked lf it was true. whicb was cbarged by bis critlcs, that tbe Slovak pollcles were dictate,t by Ger• many. "No," he lnsisted. "In forelgn aftairs 011r pollcies are shaped so tbey do not conflict wltb tbe Axis Powers. 'ľbey turround 118 com• �4 SLOV.AKIA pletely. lt would be suiclde to oppose them. But in domestic matters we form our own pollcies and programs and carry them out. In many instances they are not in accord with the polictes of Germauy." ln detail he cited several examples. Thetr system of ťood conser1•atlon and distributtng was VIU!tly different from oither Germany, the '·Protectorate" or Hungary. They were in disagreement with the Aryan edicts then in effect in Germany. There were other points on which they clashed. Some people in Europe, I told hlm, declared that he and the Slovak Repu,bllc were subject to instructiomi trom the V,a.tican. "The usual charge ot the uninformed," he replied. ·•1 have no connection with the Vatican, other than through the diplomatic channels, the same as other countrles. Any communications from Rome affect• ing the rellgious affairs or our people would be transmitted througb the blshops. In so far as matters of state are concerned, I am separated from the Church." Was lt likely, I asked, that the Slovaks would be united with the Czechs after the war? There was no direct answer to that question. He pointed out that the Slovaks had been discriminated agalnst by the Prague gov.ernment. He himself had been lmpľlsoned foľ many months because of his agitation Cor Slovak autonomy. Later he became Minister of Heatth in the Benes cablnet. The Slovaks desired to live in harmony with the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Poles and Germans. But they also believed they were entitled to the autonomy that had been denled them. Now, after efforts of nearly nine hundred years they were an independent country. He then made a comparison between Slovakia and Ireland. Both are largely agricultural, both had been under outside rule for centuries, both are predominantly Christian and both counted moľe or their people in America than in their horne lands. "Our gľeatest problem," he continued, •'is in getting technicians, instructors ln the schools, colleges and university and specialists foľ industria! projects. We are sufferlng from growlng pains. But I do hope we shall not have to call ln too many forelgn doctors." That remark was understood. Already there was resentment In the country agalnst the flood of Germans who had come to ald In thelr development. They would have welcomed more of some other nationallty. They had sent a small armed force agalnst the Soviet, but later t hey were recalled and developed lnto horne defenses and for lndustrles. I polnted out to hlm that they were Slavs, the same as the Russians. Should ,they ,not, therefore, be unltied with thelr blood brothers? "True, there is that racial kinship. But when those blood brothers are Bolsheviks and Communists," his fist pounded on the table 1n front of him, "then we'II oppose them to the last man." That deflant attitude and his unceasing battle agatnst the intiltratlon of Communist ideology tnto his country, explalns why he was anathema to Moscow. His rtoom was pre-ordained. It merely remained for the Amerlcan officlals to assist Stalin In carrylng lt out.',;· iTlso declared that closer co-operatlon lnvlted domlnatlon by thP Red reglme of Moscow. That meant obllteratton of all the polltlťal , rellgioW! and economic rreedom they enjoyed. Th?y had i;evolted �SLOVAKIA 6 agalnst lnjustices o! the Prague government. They_ dlď not c~mmlt the helnous crlme· of banlshlng the allen mlnorlťie-s· ·trom the country, as the Rediťhad done In the Balllc states (and were to do later In Czechoslovakla). Czechs were deposed froni lmportant poslllons in the Slova:k government, but 1hey were not deported, nor we11e the Polea, the Hungarlans, the Ukralnians, or the Germána. In fact many Czech lndustrlallsts fled from the German occupled areas of Bohemla and Moravla and re-establlshed themselves In Slovakla. Subsequently I had many discusslons wlth presldent Tlso, bis cousin Stefan Tlso, premler In the Jatter part of the state's exlstence, as well as others of hls offlclal famlly. To assert that they were donilnated by the Nazls does not check wlth the facts. Ot tlie hundred and flfty thou11and population in Bratislava, approxlmately twenty per cent were Germans. There were other cltie11 and areas throughout the country wlth substantlal Germa11 mlnorlties. One ot the Nazl methods for undermlnlng rellglous tralnlng was to schedule meetlngs of the Hitler Youth and Girls on Sunday mornlngs. That usually necessltated thelr absence from church on that day. To counter such measures a law or resolutlon was passed In S lovakla forblddlng group meetlngs of youths for sneh activltleR on Sunday un til after noon. When MuHolini waa demoted and the Badoglio government waa formed, the entire !talian dilpomatic and consular ataff In Slovakia declared their allegiance to Badoglio and the Alliea. Germany exerted preHure to have them sent into Northern ltaly - then still In the handa. of the Fascists. President Tiso and his miniatera opposed it. lnatead they were interned at the expense of the Slovak government for over a year in one of the beat hotela of Pieatany, a celebrated eure reaort in the country. "lnternment" meant that they had freedom to roam the country aide, retained thelr motor cara and were glven permiHlon to visit the capital whenever neceHary - even for such trlfling thlngs as an appointment with their dentista. Moreover, slnce they were cut off from their source of income, the Bratislava government provlded a limited amount of money for them durlng their fourteen month period of detentlon there in addltion to footing the bili for medlcal care and hoapitalization of those who needed it. After the !ll•advlsed "putsch" that was staged In nanska Bystrica by the antl-Nazl partlsans, most ot the rlng•leaders were evacuated to England by plane. Those who dld not escape were taken lnto custody by the Slovak mllltary authorltles. The Slovak courts, belng unsympathetlc to Germany sentenced the ring leaders to prlson. That seemed the slmplest way to kPep them safe untll they could be freed after the war. The imperioua Heinrlch Hlmmler came to Bratislava and In high dudgeon demanded the death penalty for them. The presldent and premler refuaed hla demands. The latter told me of the atormy scene with Himmler. "We have our own judlciary and trlbunals," he remlnded Hlmmler, "and we shall ablde by thelr declslons. Thelr sentences wlll not be made more severe, nor wlll we surrender them to you.'' The repulsed SS chleftaln returned to Berlin. The pigmy had vanqulshed the glant. �6 SLOVAKIA Even after the occupatlon or the country by the German m1litáry forces in September 1944, the Bratislava regime did not submit suplnely to all their demands. One or the resort hotels had been par• tially converted lnto a hospital wlth the appropriate Red Cross roark· ings on roof and walls. The German general staff for that area com· mandeered quarters in the hotel. The Slovak authorltles insisted tbat Red Cross markings or. the German offlcers be removed. After heated arguments the Germans remained but the Red Cross symbols of protectlon were removed. Puppets do not as a rule show such de• flance to thelr over-lords. The Red army advanced to the fľinge of the capltal. On April 6, 1946, President Tiso, the premier and vthers of the government fled into Austrla where they expected to be and wero? interned by the advancing American forces. Being unable to obtain transportatlon to Bava1ia, I evacua-ted on that same day from Piestauy to Pľ'ague. Five weeks later General Patton's army was In Pilsen, about fifty míles from Prague. Believing their day of liberation was near and confidently awaiting the arrival of the Americans, the Czechs re· volted. Thelr volunteer defense ťorce cons isted of old men and boys. women and girls. The only trained military help they r eceived was from the ani-Communlst Russian soldiers under General Vlassov who arrived four days after the revolution began. For six days the flghting contlnued w!th the loss of hundreds of lives and enormous property damage, while General Patton seethed in anger at being ordered to ignore the piteous pleas of th e Prague radio for ass1~tance and balt his tanks and military vehicles a rew miles outside Prague. The pseudo liberation of Prague by the Red army was one of the most ghastly travesties of the war. It was staged for the news-reels, the radlo broadcasts and tbe impression it would implant in the minds or the "liberated" slaves behind the Iron Curtaln. On bis own initlatlve Eduard Benes had made a pilgr!mage to Moscow and signed an agrePmPnt with Stalin which delivered his country lnto the Red orbít. Six years before Dr. Emil Hacha had journeyed to Berlin and put bis signature to tbe demand note handed him by Hitler. Just slx years before Jozef T!so flew to Berlin and entered into an agreement that established bis short-lived Republic of Slovakia. Now both or those presldents were deposed or lmprisoned. The modus ope randi of t he deals subm!tted to Hacha and Tiso by Hitler and the one entered into by Benes with Stalin are strikingly similar - but wlth one !mportant difference. Benes made his journey to Moscow volu ntarily. The t erms of surrender he signed with Stalin were not revealed to the Czechs or Slovaks at t h e time. Hitler's deals and objectives at least had the virtue of brutal frankness. But Hitler, the imitator of Communist and Fascist dictators. did not clamp control measures on the so-called puppet Republic of Slovakia as Stalln decreed for the reborn state of Czechoslovakia. Wlthln forty-eight hours of the Red army entry lnto Prague, the Czech radlo and press were under Communist domtnatlon. Wlnston Churchill directed a radio broadcast to the Czechs at that tíme, expresslng tbe deslre that the re-establlshed state be a democracy such as Britain and Amerlca understod that word. Hls s peech was omitted from two of the Prague newspapers. The third reported part of it but carefully deleted tbat irrltatlng paragraph. �SLOVAKI.A. 7 Before Benes arrived - ten days after the "liberation" - the MVD had taken possesslon of the former citadel of the Gestapo In Bre• dauergasse. They set up at once a police organizatíon even more ruth· les.s than the Germans. Communist cells wlthin the country pointed accuslng flngers at persona! enemies, business rival$ or hated rela· tlves and tbey were jailed without a hearing. The several jalls ln the city were Jlterally filled to overnowlng, Having been one ot those caught up ln their dragnets I can speak au• thoratlvely. The barred celi at Bartholomegasse lnto whlch I was ushered had been designed for elght persons. Twenty-slx occupled the space. Among them were the mayor or burgermelster, a professor ot the universlly, the governor of the clty's largest !ina,ncial lnstitutlon, also the director of the Union Bank, a colonel of the Czech gendarmerle, and two captalns. A newspaper man, an Au,;trian consultlng englneer, a physician, a flfteen-year-old boy, an orchestra leader and a wealthy industriallst shared one corner of the room. The slxty-seven· year-old mother of the industrialist was In an adjolnlng celi. They were capitallsts. Like the others they had been so lndlscreet as to express their lack of appreclatlon for the form of Reel Jlberatlon that had been imposed on them. Many young glrls and women were jalled in that sombre bullding. New arrivals came at all hours of the day and others were hauled away to destlnations unknown. Red soldiers made perlodic raids and took away those they wished. How many vanished without a trace, we shall never know. In the lll-fated state of Slovakia, even the all-powerful Hlmmler could not demand that prlsoners be released to bim. In the Moscow• managed Czechoslovakian state Red soldiers and MVD men took whom they wlshed without protest from the "democratlc" olflclals. Although the prison inmates were held without benefit of consul and incommunicado, an underground system of communication carried messages outside. The method of its operation was never quite clear to me, but I can attest to its effi ciency, as a scribbled message of mine reached the American Legation. Fear and terror gripped the people a\though th~ shocking !acts were convenlently suppressed, because to reveal them then wou\d be embarrassing to those who partlclpated ln the fraud. When the Communist premier Klement Gottwald handed Benes the tlnal papers of surrender ln Prague March 1948 and demanded that he sign on the dotted llne, lt was hut a routlne endlng to what was a fait accompll three years before. Presldent Hacha had died, thus escaplng executlon by the Reds. Presldent Tlso was delivered by the Unlted States forces to Stalln's henchmen and was hanged. The status of president Benes would have been helghtened and perhaps hls llfe lengthened had he not returned. Far better that he had remained away and exposed to the world what it knows now. That they had been sold lnto bondage at Teheran. The bias briga.de and pressure groups in Amerlra dlsgraced our country- qnd demanded President Tiso as a sacrlfice. Though our StateDepartment, llke Pilate, may wash lts hands, they permitted hhn to be t.ortured before de\lvering hlm to the Reds The bloocl or that Slovak patriot 1s on our heads. � SLOVAKIA 1 THE BETRAYAL OF SWVAKIA E DWARD L. DELANEY {Internatlonally known novelist, speaker, publicist, foreign correspondent, news commentator and world traveler, Edward Delaney 1s now d!.~closing for audiences throughout the count.ry his on the spot observat!ons and persona) experlences durlng the war and the subsequent perlod ot "peace:· Many of the vital toplcs of our tlmes are dealt wlth - plalnly and forcefully. Although bom In Amerlca, he bas reslded abroad for almost two decades; four years In Asla, Australla, Hrltlsh India, Dutch East Indies and two years in Afrlca, followed by extenslve stay.s In Centra) America and several years in Europe. During the war his fact-flndlng travels were from the Baltlc Sea to the llalkans, trom Paris to Poland, In Germany, Italy, Rumanla, Bu1gana, Yugoslavla, Hungary and Czechoslovakla when the "Iron Curtaln" teli. His book "Europe in War Daze" was published In 1948.) T he presidentlal death rate In Czechoslovakla has been phenomenal. Eduard Benes was the last of three presldents to dle thP.re In sJlghtly more than three years. Slngularly enough there 1s a surprlsing analogy between certaln of hi.s acts and those ot Dr. Emil Hacha and Dr. Jozef Tlso. the two who prece<led hlm lnto eternity. Another singularity ls that Czechoslovakla had lts inceptlon in this country and lt was due to declsions made here that lt came to an ignominlous endlng thirty years later. On May 30, 1918, at whal was afterwards known as the Pittsburgh Conventio)'l, Czechoslovakia was born. The consensus of opinion among the foundlng fathers wa.s that by some feat ot Jegerdemain the age-old differences between Czech1i, Slovaks, Hungarians and Ger· mans, who comprised the populatlon, were now dlssolved. The agri· cultural area of Slovakia was fused wlth the industria) reglons ot Bo• hemia and Moravla and God would bless the bonds. But soon the slgners of that agreement found they had put too much falth In God and not enough checks on the natlonall.st alms ot thelr co-partners. Prague whlch had long been the Czech capltal began to assert authority over the whole state. The autonomy that bad been guaranteed tbe Slovaks never materlallzed. With the death of Thomas Masaryk, the couDltry's first president, Eduard Benes lnberlted hls offlce. The government under hls leader• shlp sought to relegate the Slovaks to what mlght be regarded as a pastora) communlty. lndustry, the buslness of government and all the petty offlclals were to a large extent Czech. The Czech language would supplant that ot the Slovak minority even in distrlcts where there were few Czecbs. The matter of "autonomy" could be shelve<1 for an lndeflnite perlod. As was to be expected there was opposltion from the Slovaks over the flagrant abandonment ot the pledges made at the Plttsburgh Conventlon. One fllmsy excuse offered by Prague for lgnorlng that agreement was that lt had been slgned on a legal hollday In Amerlca and was therefore not blndlng. Andrej Hlinka, a parlsh prlest In Ruzomberok, a town ot some rew thousand populatlon In western Slovak!a, was one ot those ldeallsts �2 SLOVAKIA who believed that the precepts or the Sermon on the Mount could be applied to a nation's problems. His supporters ga!ned nuruencal strengtb, formed tbe Hlinka Party and allied themselves c losely with 1he next largest political group which, oddly enough, was headed by a prominent Protestant clergyman. They did not seek to impose their wlll on the Czechs but regarded it as their patriotlc duty to figbt !or Slovak lnterests. As one observes tbroughont Europe there is usually a fine blending or pariotism and natlonallsm. There were arrests and prison sentences !or those wbo were too critical of the suzerainty exercised by the Prague govemment. Hlinka, Dr. Jozef Tiso, bis deputy, Professor Bela Tuka, later Slovak premier, and otbers tanded in jalls for various periods, cbarged with subversive actlvities. Had the Pragu.e politicians been more astute, they would have bridged the gap between Slovak aspirations and Czech impositions. I.ly not doing so, they pa ved the way for Hitler to $plit the country in two. The revolt of tbe Slovaks and the overtbrowing of Prague's authority on March 14, 1939, was ostensibly an interna! affair. It is ~ignificant, however, thait within twenty-four hours after asseľling their independence they recei ved recogn!tion and guarantee of protection by Gennany from "any foreign power," Hitler's forces marched into Prague. The sovereignty of Czecboslovakia ceased to exist. Bo• hemia and Moravla became the ·'Protectorate" of Germany. Slovakia was regarded as self-determinlng and independent. Eduard Benes had reslgned as presldent of Czechoslovakia on October 5, 1938. November thirtieth, following, Dr. Emil Hacha was elected president of the Republic wilh the felicitations of Benes who departed for England and later came to America. Dr. Hac ha had accepted a thankless post. lt was utterly hopeless for bim to oppose any clemands of Germany slnce France and England had reneged on their pledges of military alliance. Early in March, 1939, Hitler's scheme for splitting Czechoslovakia in two had been decided upon. Dr. Hacha was summoned to Berlin and told to sign on the dotted line. Hacha did not go to Berlin of bis own volition and make compromlslng terms wlth the Nazi dictator. He was glven no alternative. He submitted. When he returned to Prague he was but a flgurehead for the Czechs. Some called bim a collaborator. To associates he declared that •·co-operation under coerclon 1s not collaboratlon." He remalned as chief Czech executive after the German occupat!on, agalnst whlch he was powerless. Governor General Frank, sent there by Hitler, was supreme. It was generally regarded that Dr. Hacha occupied the position of puppet for the Nazi regime. The Czechs liked to belleve that Hacha Pxerclsed some influence in their behalf. Perhaps he dld, Cor the fact remains that until the end of tbe war living c-ondltlons in the "Protectorate" were better than in any part of Germany or Austria. For that reason many Germans contrived to go there and live. When the Red Army arrlved in Prague in May, 1945, Hacha was imprisoned. He was to bave been put through a form of tria! but he dled before being brought lnto court, thus cheatlng the Red gallows. For six years, from March 14, 1939 to April 5, 1945. there were two �SLOVAKIA 3 presidents in the country that had been and was again to be - In name at Ieast - Czechoslovak!a. Andrej Hlinka died in the autumn of 1938. Hls successor, Monsignor Jozef Tiso, deputy head of the Hlinka Party. was also summoned to Berlin that eventful week or .March 1939. Agreements were entered into a,t Berlin for the recognitíon of Slovakia as a self•determlning republic. Frontlers were established, Tiso was to be tbe provlslonal president with Bratislava as the capital. The Slovaks felt they had everything to galn by setting up their own state rather than to remaln part of Czechoslovakia whlcb Hitler was about to occupy. The phrase "self-determinaition for small nations" suddenly became a reality to them. Although the United States did not offlclally recognlze the new• bom Republir. of Slovakia, it rlid receive recognition from many countries. no less than seventeen of them opening consulates and leg:ttlons in Bratislava. People throughout Europe who were faced with realltles also recognlzed the fact that the state existed. Viewed dlspassionately and wlthout the bias that must lmpair a just perspectlve of the Slovak picture, there was glven the country at that tlme a new out!ook wblch was sometb!ng more than a mirage. Contrary ito expectations, Germany did not exercise control over the press, the radlo, their currency or customs. Certain of their national assets such as coal, timber, beet grow!ng. gotd and silľer mining and the production of steel and cellulose were brought to higher levels. Almost over night they began playing a,t the game of capitalism, natlonal!sm, Industria) expansion, educatlon anrl the extremely fntricate buslness of government. After a tria) and error period some sounrl progress was recorded. 'ľbe country 1s actually a melange of the medlaeval and modem. Trackless trollies of reťent vintage and motor c ars of lntrlnsic wortb sbared the streets of Bratislava wlth lumberlng mule carts. Lad!es in expensive furs rubbed sboulders witb peasant women In horne made sheep skin coats and cow bide boots. Because of their favorable trade balance witb other European countries the people of Slovakia did not want for neťessitles. On tbe contrary, all during the war. tbey barl many luxurles that were un• dreamed of by tbe people of Germany and, of course. many of the occupied areas. Coming from Austrla or Germanr lnto Slovakla was stepplng into a veritable paradise of food, drink, clotbing and other com.modities that had long since vanlsbed trom tbe Relch. Knowlng these things tbe people of Siovakia could not be blamed for declarlng tbat tbe course adopted by tbeir politlcal leaders had been the best for them. Tbey never had it so 11,"ood before - or since. Tbe state had been in existence for nearly four years berore I had an opportunlty to vlslt Presldent Tlso In the sumptuous old Hungarian palare tbat had been ronverted lnto bis offlclal resictenre. He was tben In bis mirl-fiftles. Hls black hair had but a few thre~<ls of grey and bis dark blue eyes radlated energy and keen intere1;t In whatever he was rloing at the moment After some general conversation I asked lf it was true. whicb was cbarged by bis critlcs, that tbe Slovak pollcles were dictate,t by Ger• many. "No," he lnsisted. "In forelgn aftairs 011r pollcies are shaped so tbey do not conflict wltb tbe Axis Powers. 'ľbey turround 118 com• �4 SLOV.AKIA pletely. lt would be suiclde to oppose them. But in domestic matters we form our own pollcies and programs and carry them out. In many instances they are not in accord with the polictes of Germauy." ln detail he cited several examples. Thetr system of ťood conser1•atlon and distributtng was VIU!tly different from oither Germany, the '·Protectorate" or Hungary. They were in disagreement with the Aryan edicts then in effect in Germany. There were other points on which they clashed. Some people in Europe, I told hlm, declared that he and the Slovak Repu,bllc were subject to instructiomi trom the V,a.tican. "The usual charge ot the uninformed," he replied. ·•1 have no connection with the Vatican, other than through the diplomatic channels, the same as other countrles. Any communications from Rome affect• ing the rellgious affairs or our people would be transmitted througb the blshops. In so far as matters of state are concerned, I am separated from the Church." Was lt likely, I asked, that the Slovaks would be united with the Czechs after the war? There was no direct answer to that question. He pointed out that the Slovaks had been discriminated agalnst by the Prague gov.ernment. He himself had been lmpľlsoned foľ many months because of his agitation Cor Slovak autonomy. Later he became Minister of Heatth in the Benes cablnet. The Slovaks desired to live in harmony with the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Poles and Germans. But they also believed they were entitled to the autonomy that had been denled them. Now, after efforts of nearly nine hundred years they were an independent country. He then made a comparison between Slovakia and Ireland. Both are largely agricultural, both had been under outside rule for centuries, both are predominantly Christian and both counted moľe or their people in America than in their horne lands. "Our gľeatest problem," he continued, •'is in getting technicians, instructors ln the schools, colleges and university and specialists foľ industria! projects. We are sufferlng from growlng pains. But I do hope we shall not have to call ln too many forelgn doctors." That remark was understood. Already there was resentment In the country agalnst the flood of Germans who had come to ald In thelr development. They would have welcomed more of some other nationallty. They had sent a small armed force agalnst the Soviet, but later t hey were recalled and developed lnto horne defenses and for lndustrles. I polnted out to hlm that they were Slavs, the same as the Russians. Should ,they ,not, therefore, be unltied with thelr blood brothers? "True, there is that racial kinship. But when those blood brothers are Bolsheviks and Communists," his fist pounded on the table 1n front of him, "then we'II oppose them to the last man." That deflant attitude and his unceasing battle agatnst the intiltratlon of Communist ideology tnto his country, explalns why he was anathema to Moscow. His rtoom was pre-ordained. It merely remained for the Amerlcan officlals to assist Stalin In carrylng lt out.',;· iTlso declared that closer co-operatlon lnvlted domlnatlon by thP Red reglme of Moscow. That meant obllteratton of all the polltlťal , rellgioW! and economic rreedom they enjoyed. Th?y had i;evolted �SLOVAKIA 6 agalnst lnjustices o! the Prague government. They_ dlď not c~mmlt the helnous crlme· of banlshlng the allen mlnorlťie-s· ·trom the country, as the Rediťhad done In the Balllc states (and were to do later In Czechoslovakla). Czechs were deposed froni lmportant poslllons in the Slova:k government, but 1hey were not deported, nor we11e the Polea, the Hungarlans, the Ukralnians, or the Germána. In fact many Czech lndustrlallsts fled from the German occupled areas of Bohemla and Moravla and re-establlshed themselves In Slovakla. Subsequently I had many discusslons wlth presldent Tlso, bis cousin Stefan Tlso, premler In the Jatter part of the state's exlstence, as well as others of hls offlclal famlly. To assert that they were donilnated by the Nazls does not check wlth the facts. Ot tlie hundred and flfty thou11and population in Bratislava, approxlmately twenty per cent were Germans. There were other cltie11 and areas throughout the country wlth substantlal Germa11 mlnorlties. One ot the Nazl methods for undermlnlng rellglous tralnlng was to schedule meetlngs of the Hitler Youth and Girls on Sunday mornlngs. That usually necessltated thelr absence from church on that day. To counter such measures a law or resolutlon was passed In S lovakla forblddlng group meetlngs of youths for sneh activltleR on Sunday un til after noon. When MuHolini waa demoted and the Badoglio government waa formed, the entire !talian dilpomatic and consular ataff In Slovakia declared their allegiance to Badoglio and the Alliea. Germany exerted preHure to have them sent into Northern ltaly - then still In the handa. of the Fascists. President Tiso and his miniatera opposed it. lnatead they were interned at the expense of the Slovak government for over a year in one of the beat hotela of Pieatany, a celebrated eure reaort in the country. "lnternment" meant that they had freedom to roam the country aide, retained thelr motor cara and were glven permiHlon to visit the capital whenever neceHary - even for such trlfling thlngs as an appointment with their dentista. Moreover, slnce they were cut off from their source of income, the Bratislava government provlded a limited amount of money for them durlng their fourteen month period of detentlon there in addltion to footing the bili for medlcal care and hoapitalization of those who needed it. After the !ll•advlsed "putsch" that was staged In nanska Bystrica by the antl-Nazl partlsans, most ot the rlng•leaders were evacuated to England by plane. Those who dld not escape were taken lnto custody by the Slovak mllltary authorltles. The Slovak courts, belng unsympathetlc to Germany sentenced the ring leaders to prlson. That seemed the slmplest way to kPep them safe untll they could be freed after the war. The imperioua Heinrlch Hlmmler came to Bratislava and In high dudgeon demanded the death penalty for them. The presldent and premler refuaed hla demands. The latter told me of the atormy scene with Himmler. "We have our own judlciary and trlbunals," he remlnded Hlmmler, "and we shall ablde by thelr declslons. Thelr sentences wlll not be made more severe, nor wlll we surrender them to you.'' The repulsed SS chleftaln returned to Berlin. The pigmy had vanqulshed the glant. �6 SLOVAKIA Even after the occupatlon or the country by the German m1litáry forces in September 1944, the Bratislava regime did not submit suplnely to all their demands. One or the resort hotels had been par• tially converted lnto a hospital wlth the appropriate Red Cross roark· ings on roof and walls. The German general staff for that area com· mandeered quarters in the hotel. The Slovak authorltles insisted tbat Red Cross markings or. the German offlcers be removed. After heated arguments the Germans remained but the Red Cross symbols of protectlon were removed. Puppets do not as a rule show such de• flance to thelr over-lords. The Red army advanced to the fľinge of the capltal. On April 6, 1946, President Tiso, the premier and vthers of the government fled into Austrla where they expected to be and wero? interned by the advancing American forces. Being unable to obtain transportatlon to Bava1ia, I evacua-ted on that same day from Piestauy to Pľ'ague. Five weeks later General Patton's army was In Pilsen, about fifty míles from Prague. Believing their day of liberation was near and confidently awaiting the arrival of the Americans, the Czechs re· volted. Thelr volunteer defense ťorce cons isted of old men and boys. women and girls. The only trained military help they r eceived was from the ani-Communlst Russian soldiers under General Vlassov who arrived four days after the revolution began. For six days the flghting contlnued w!th the loss of hundreds of lives and enormous property damage, while General Patton seethed in anger at being ordered to ignore the piteous pleas of th e Prague radio for ass1~tance and balt his tanks and military vehicles a rew miles outside Prague. The pseudo liberation of Prague by the Red army was one of the most ghastly travesties of the war. It was staged for the news-reels, the radlo broadcasts and tbe impression it would implant in the minds or the "liberated" slaves behind the Iron Curtaln. On bis own initlatlve Eduard Benes had made a pilgr!mage to Moscow and signed an agrePmPnt with Stalin which delivered his country lnto the Red orbít. Six years before Dr. Emil Hacha had journeyed to Berlin and put bis signature to tbe demand note handed him by Hitler. Just slx years before Jozef T!so flew to Berlin and entered into an agreement that established bis short-lived Republic of Slovakia. Now both or those presldents were deposed or lmprisoned. The modus ope randi of t he deals subm!tted to Hacha and Tiso by Hitler and the one entered into by Benes with Stalin are strikingly similar - but wlth one !mportant difference. Benes made his journey to Moscow volu ntarily. The t erms of surrender he signed with Stalin were not revealed to the Czechs or Slovaks at t h e time. Hitler's deals and objectives at least had the virtue of brutal frankness. But Hitler, the imitator of Communist and Fascist dictators. did not clamp control measures on the so-called puppet Republic of Slovakia as Stalln decreed for the reborn state of Czechoslovakia. Wlthln forty-eight hours of the Red army entry lnto Prague, the Czech radlo and press were under Communist domtnatlon. Wlnston Churchill directed a radio broadcast to the Czechs at that tíme, expresslng tbe deslre that the re-establlshed state be a democracy such as Britain and Amerlca understod that word. Hls s peech was omitted from two of the Prague newspapers. The third reported part of it but carefully deleted tbat irrltatlng paragraph. �SLOVAKI.A. 7 Before Benes arrived - ten days after the "liberation" - the MVD had taken possesslon of the former citadel of the Gestapo In Bre• dauergasse. They set up at once a police organizatíon even more ruth· les.s than the Germans. Communist cells wlthin the country pointed accuslng flngers at persona! enemies, business rival$ or hated rela· tlves and tbey were jailed without a hearing. The several jalls ln the city were Jlterally filled to overnowlng, Having been one ot those caught up ln their dragnets I can speak au• thoratlvely. The barred celi at Bartholomegasse lnto whlch I was ushered had been designed for elght persons. Twenty-slx occupled the space. Among them were the mayor or burgermelster, a professor ot the universlly, the governor of the clty's largest !ina,ncial lnstitutlon, also the director of the Union Bank, a colonel of the Czech gendarmerle, and two captalns. A newspaper man, an Au,;trian consultlng englneer, a physician, a flfteen-year-old boy, an orchestra leader and a wealthy industriallst shared one corner of the room. The slxty-seven· year-old mother of the industrialist was In an adjolnlng celi. They were capitallsts. Like the others they had been so lndlscreet as to express their lack of appreclatlon for the form of Reel Jlberatlon that had been imposed on them. Many young glrls and women were jalled in that sombre bullding. New arrivals came at all hours of the day and others were hauled away to destlnations unknown. Red soldiers made perlodic raids and took away those they wished. How many vanished without a trace, we shall never know. In the lll-fated state of Slovakia, even the all-powerful Hlmmler could not demand that prlsoners be released to bim. In the Moscow• managed Czechoslovakian state Red soldiers and MVD men took whom they wlshed without protest from the "democratlc" olflclals. Although the prison inmates were held without benefit of consul and incommunicado, an underground system of communication carried messages outside. The method of its operation was never quite clear to me, but I can attest to its effi ciency, as a scribbled message of mine reached the American Legation. Fear and terror gripped the people a\though th~ shocking !acts were convenlently suppressed, because to reveal them then wou\d be embarrassing to those who partlclpated ln the fraud. When the Communist premier Klement Gottwald handed Benes the tlnal papers of surrender ln Prague March 1948 and demanded that he sign on the dotted llne, lt was hut a routlne endlng to what was a fait accompll three years before. Presldent Hacha had died, thus escaplng executlon by the Reds. Presldent Tlso was delivered by the Unlted States forces to Stalln's henchmen and was hanged. The status of president Benes would have been helghtened and perhaps hls llfe lengthened had he not returned. Far better that he had remained away and exposed to the world what it knows now. That they had been sold lnto bondage at Teheran. The bias briga.de and pressure groups in Amerlra dlsgraced our country- qnd demanded President Tiso as a sacrlfice. Though our StateDepartment, llke Pilate, may wash lts hands, they permitted hhn to be t.ortured before de\lvering hlm to the Reds The bloocl or that Slovak patriot 1s on our heads. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1951, Vol. 1 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 1951 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 1), May 1951.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 2), December 1951.</li> </ul> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <ul><li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4</span></a></li> </ul> 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 1 THE BETRAYAL OF SWVAKIA E DWARD L. DELANEY {Internatlonally known novelist, speaker, publicist, foreign correspondent, news commentator and world traveler, Edward Delaney 1s now d!.~closing for audiences throughout the count.ry his on the spot observat!ons and persona) experlences durlng the war and the subsequent perlod ot "peace:· Many of the vital toplcs of our tlmes are dealt wlth - plalnly and forcefully. Although bom In Amerlca, he bas reslded abroad for almost two decades; four years In Asla, Australla, Hrltlsh India, Dutch East Indies and two years in Afrlca, followed by extenslve stay.s In Centra) America and several years in Europe. During the war his fact-flndlng travels were from the Baltlc Sea to the llalkans, trom Paris to Poland, In Germany, Italy, Rumanla, Bu1gana, Yugoslavla, Hungary and Czechoslovakla when the "Iron Curtaln" teli. His book "Europe in War Daze" was published In 1948.) T he presidentlal death rate In Czechoslovakla has been phenomenal. Eduard Benes was the last of three presldents to dle thP.re In sJlghtly more than three years. Slngularly enough there 1s a surprlsing analogy between certaln of hi.s acts and those ot Dr. Emil Hacha and Dr. Jozef Tlso. the two who prece<led hlm lnto eternity. Another singularity ls that Czechoslovakla had lts inceptlon in this country and lt was due to declsions made here that lt came to an ignominlous endlng thirty years later. On May 30, 1918, at whal was afterwards known as the Pittsburgh Conventio)'l, Czechoslovakia was born. The consensus of opinion among the foundlng fathers wa.s that by some feat ot Jegerdemain the age-old differences between Czech1i, Slovaks, Hungarians and Ger· mans, who comprised the populatlon, were now dlssolved. The agri· cultural area of Slovakia was fused wlth the industria) reglons ot Bo• hemia and Moravla and God would bless the bonds. But soon the slgners of that agreement found they had put too much falth In God and not enough checks on the natlonall.st alms ot thelr co-partners. Prague whlch had long been the Czech capltal began to assert authority over the whole state. The autonomy that bad been guaranteed tbe Slovaks never materlallzed. With the death of Thomas Masaryk, the couDltry's first president, Eduard Benes lnberlted hls offlce. The government under hls leader• shlp sought to relegate the Slovaks to what mlght be regarded as a pastora) communlty. lndustry, the buslness of government and all the petty offlclals were to a large extent Czech. The Czech language would supplant that ot the Slovak minority even in distrlcts where there were few Czecbs. The matter of "autonomy" could be shelve<1 for an lndeflnite perlod. As was to be expected there was opposltion from the Slovaks over the flagrant abandonment ot the pledges made at the Plttsburgh Conventlon. One fllmsy excuse offered by Prague for lgnorlng that agreement was that lt had been slgned on a legal hollday In Amerlca and was therefore not blndlng. Andrej Hlinka, a parlsh prlest In Ruzomberok, a town ot some rew thousand populatlon In western Slovak!a, was one ot those ldeallsts 2 SLOVAKIA who believed that the precepts or the Sermon on the Mount could be applied to a nation's problems. His supporters ga!ned nuruencal strengtb, formed tbe Hlinka Party and allied themselves c losely with 1he next largest political group which, oddly enough, was headed by a prominent Protestant clergyman. They did not seek to impose their wlll on the Czechs but regarded it as their patriotlc duty to figbt !or Slovak lnterests. As one observes tbroughont Europe there is usually a fine blending or pariotism and natlonallsm. There were arrests and prison sentences !or those wbo were too critical of the suzerainty exercised by the Prague govemment. Hlinka, Dr. Jozef Tiso, bis deputy, Professor Bela Tuka, later Slovak premier, and otbers tanded in jalls for various periods, cbarged with subversive actlvities. Had the Pragu.e politicians been more astute, they would have bridged the gap between Slovak aspirations and Czech impositions. I.ly not doing so, they pa ved the way for Hitler to $plit the country in two. The revolt of tbe Slovaks and the overtbrowing of Prague's authority on March 14, 1939, was ostensibly an interna! affair. It is ~ignificant, however, thait within twenty-four hours after asseľling their independence they recei ved recogn!tion and guarantee of protection by Gennany from "any foreign power," Hitler's forces marched into Prague. The sovereignty of Czecboslovakia ceased to exist. Bo• hemia and Moravla became the ·'Protectorate" of Germany. Slovakia was regarded as self-determinlng and independent. Eduard Benes had reslgned as presldent of Czechoslovakia on October 5, 1938. November thirtieth, following, Dr. Emil Hacha was elected president of the Republic wilh the felicitations of Benes who departed for England and later came to America. Dr. Hac ha had accepted a thankless post. lt was utterly hopeless for bim to oppose any clemands of Germany slnce France and England had reneged on their pledges of military alliance. Early in March, 1939, Hitler's scheme for splitting Czechoslovakia in two had been decided upon. Dr. Hacha was summoned to Berlin and told to sign on the dotted line. Hacha did not go to Berlin of bis own volition and make compromlslng terms wlth the Nazi dictator. He was glven no alternative. He submitted. When he returned to Prague he was but a flgurehead for the Czechs. Some called bim a collaborator. To associates he declared that •·co-operation under coerclon 1s not collaboratlon." He remalned as chief Czech executive after the German occupat!on, agalnst whlch he was powerless. Governor General Frank, sent there by Hitler, was supreme. It was generally regarded that Dr. Hacha occupied the position of puppet for the Nazi regime. The Czechs liked to belleve that Hacha Pxerclsed some influence in their behalf. Perhaps he dld, Cor the fact remains that until the end of tbe war living c-ondltlons in the "Protectorate" were better than in any part of Germany or Austria. For that reason many Germans contrived to go there and live. When the Red Army arrlved in Prague in May, 1945, Hacha was imprisoned. He was to bave been put through a form of tria! but he dled before being brought lnto court, thus cheatlng the Red gallows. For six years, from March 14, 1939 to April 5, 1945. there were two SLOVAKIA 3 presidents in the country that had been and was again to be - In name at Ieast - Czechoslovak!a. Andrej Hlinka died in the autumn of 1938. Hls successor, Monsignor Jozef Tiso, deputy head of the Hlinka Party. was also summoned to Berlin that eventful week or .March 1939. Agreements were entered into a,t Berlin for the recognitíon of Slovakia as a self•determlning republic. Frontlers were established, Tiso was to be tbe provlslonal president with Bratislava as the capital. The Slovaks felt they had everything to galn by setting up their own state rather than to remaln part of Czechoslovakia whlcb Hitler was about to occupy. The phrase "self-determinaition for small nations" suddenly became a reality to them. Although the United States did not offlclally recognlze the new• bom Republir. of Slovakia, it rlid receive recognition from many countries. no less than seventeen of them opening consulates and leg:ttlons in Bratislava. People throughout Europe who were faced with realltles also recognlzed the fact that the state existed. Viewed dlspassionately and wlthout the bias that must lmpair a just perspectlve of the Slovak picture, there was glven the country at that tlme a new out!ook wblch was sometb!ng more than a mirage. Contrary ito expectations, Germany did not exercise control over the press, the radlo, their currency or customs. Certain of their national assets such as coal, timber, beet grow!ng. gotd and silľer mining and the production of steel and cellulose were brought to higher levels. Almost over night they began playing a,t the game of capitalism, natlonal!sm, Industria) expansion, educatlon anrl the extremely fntricate buslness of government. After a tria) and error period some sounrl progress was recorded. 'ľbe country 1s actually a melange of the medlaeval and modem. Trackless trollies of reťent vintage and motor c ars of lntrlnsic wortb sbared the streets of Bratislava wlth lumberlng mule carts. Lad!es in expensive furs rubbed sboulders witb peasant women In horne made sheep skin coats and cow bide boots. Because of their favorable trade balance witb other European countries the people of Slovakia did not want for neťessitles. On tbe contrary, all during the war. tbey barl many luxurles that were un• dreamed of by tbe people of Germany and, of course. many of the occupied areas. Coming from Austrla or Germanr lnto Slovakla was stepplng into a veritable paradise of food, drink, clotbing and other com.modities that had long since vanlsbed trom tbe Relch. Knowlng these things tbe people of Siovakia could not be blamed for declarlng tbat tbe course adopted by tbeir politlcal leaders had been the best for them. Tbey never had it so 11,"ood before - or since. Tbe state had been in existence for nearly four years berore I had an opportunlty to vlslt Presldent Tlso In the sumptuous old Hungarian palare tbat had been ronverted lnto bis offlclal resictenre. He was tben In bis mirl-fiftles. Hls black hair had but a few thre~<ls of grey and bis dark blue eyes radlated energy and keen intere1;t In whatever he was rloing at the moment After some general conversation I asked lf it was true. whicb was cbarged by bis critlcs, that tbe Slovak pollcles were dictate,t by Ger• many. "No," he lnsisted. "In forelgn aftairs 011r pollcies are shaped so tbey do not conflict wltb tbe Axis Powers. 'ľbey turround 118 com• 4 SLOV.AKIA pletely. lt would be suiclde to oppose them. But in domestic matters we form our own pollcies and programs and carry them out. In many instances they are not in accord with the polictes of Germauy." ln detail he cited several examples. Thetr system of ťood conser1•atlon and distributtng was VIU!tly different from oither Germany, the '·Protectorate" or Hungary. They were in disagreement with the Aryan edicts then in effect in Germany. There were other points on which they clashed. Some people in Europe, I told hlm, declared that he and the Slovak Repu,bllc were subject to instructiomi trom the V,a.tican. "The usual charge ot the uninformed," he replied. ·•1 have no connection with the Vatican, other than through the diplomatic channels, the same as other countrles. Any communications from Rome affect• ing the rellgious affairs or our people would be transmitted througb the blshops. In so far as matters of state are concerned, I am separated from the Church." Was lt likely, I asked, that the Slovaks would be united with the Czechs after the war? There was no direct answer to that question. He pointed out that the Slovaks had been discriminated agalnst by the Prague gov.ernment. He himself had been lmpľlsoned foľ many months because of his agitation Cor Slovak autonomy. Later he became Minister of Heatth in the Benes cablnet. The Slovaks desired to live in harmony with the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Poles and Germans. But they also believed they were entitled to the autonomy that had been denled them. Now, after efforts of nearly nine hundred years they were an independent country. He then made a comparison between Slovakia and Ireland. Both are largely agricultural, both had been under outside rule for centuries, both are predominantly Christian and both counted moľe or their people in America than in their horne lands. "Our gľeatest problem," he continued, •'is in getting technicians, instructors ln the schools, colleges and university and specialists foľ industria! projects. We are sufferlng from growlng pains. But I do hope we shall not have to call ln too many forelgn doctors." That remark was understood. Already there was resentment In the country agalnst the flood of Germans who had come to ald In thelr development. They would have welcomed more of some other nationallty. They had sent a small armed force agalnst the Soviet, but later t hey were recalled and developed lnto horne defenses and for lndustrles. I polnted out to hlm that they were Slavs, the same as the Russians. Should ,they ,not, therefore, be unltied with thelr blood brothers? "True, there is that racial kinship. But when those blood brothers are Bolsheviks and Communists," his fist pounded on the table 1n front of him, "then we'II oppose them to the last man." That deflant attitude and his unceasing battle agatnst the intiltratlon of Communist ideology tnto his country, explalns why he was anathema to Moscow. His rtoom was pre-ordained. It merely remained for the Amerlcan officlals to assist Stalin In carrylng lt out.',;· iTlso declared that closer co-operatlon lnvlted domlnatlon by thP Red reglme of Moscow. That meant obllteratton of all the polltlťal , rellgioW! and economic rreedom they enjoyed. Th?y had i;evolted SLOVAKIA 6 agalnst lnjustices o! the Prague government. They_ dlď not c~mmlt the helnous crlme· of banlshlng the allen mlnorlťie-s· ·trom the country, as the Rediťhad done In the Balllc states (and were to do later In Czechoslovakla). Czechs were deposed froni lmportant poslllons in the Slova:k government, but 1hey were not deported, nor we11e the Polea, the Hungarlans, the Ukralnians, or the Germána. In fact many Czech lndustrlallsts fled from the German occupled areas of Bohemla and Moravla and re-establlshed themselves In Slovakla. Subsequently I had many discusslons wlth presldent Tlso, bis cousin Stefan Tlso, premler In the Jatter part of the state's exlstence, as well as others of hls offlclal famlly. To assert that they were donilnated by the Nazls does not check wlth the facts. Ot tlie hundred and flfty thou11and population in Bratislava, approxlmately twenty per cent were Germans. There were other cltie11 and areas throughout the country wlth substantlal Germa11 mlnorlties. One ot the Nazl methods for undermlnlng rellglous tralnlng was to schedule meetlngs of the Hitler Youth and Girls on Sunday mornlngs. That usually necessltated thelr absence from church on that day. To counter such measures a law or resolutlon was passed In S lovakla forblddlng group meetlngs of youths for sneh activltleR on Sunday un til after noon. When MuHolini waa demoted and the Badoglio government waa formed, the entire !talian dilpomatic and consular ataff In Slovakia declared their allegiance to Badoglio and the Alliea. Germany exerted preHure to have them sent into Northern ltaly - then still In the handa. of the Fascists. President Tiso and his miniatera opposed it. lnatead they were interned at the expense of the Slovak government for over a year in one of the beat hotela of Pieatany, a celebrated eure reaort in the country. "lnternment" meant that they had freedom to roam the country aide, retained thelr motor cara and were glven permiHlon to visit the capital whenever neceHary - even for such trlfling thlngs as an appointment with their dentista. Moreover, slnce they were cut off from their source of income, the Bratislava government provlded a limited amount of money for them durlng their fourteen month period of detentlon there in addltion to footing the bili for medlcal care and hoapitalization of those who needed it. After the !ll•advlsed "putsch" that was staged In nanska Bystrica by the antl-Nazl partlsans, most ot the rlng•leaders were evacuated to England by plane. Those who dld not escape were taken lnto custody by the Slovak mllltary authorltles. The Slovak courts, belng unsympathetlc to Germany sentenced the ring leaders to prlson. That seemed the slmplest way to kPep them safe untll they could be freed after the war. The imperioua Heinrlch Hlmmler came to Bratislava and In high dudgeon demanded the death penalty for them. The presldent and premler refuaed hla demands. The latter told me of the atormy scene with Himmler. "We have our own judlciary and trlbunals," he remlnded Hlmmler, "and we shall ablde by thelr declslons. Thelr sentences wlll not be made more severe, nor wlll we surrender them to you.'' The repulsed SS chleftaln returned to Berlin. The pigmy had vanqulshed the glant. 6 SLOVAKIA Even after the occupatlon or the country by the German m1litáry forces in September 1944, the Bratislava regime did not submit suplnely to all their demands. One or the resort hotels had been par• tially converted lnto a hospital wlth the appropriate Red Cross roark· ings on roof and walls. The German general staff for that area com· mandeered quarters in the hotel. The Slovak authorltles insisted tbat Red Cross markings or. the German offlcers be removed. After heated arguments the Germans remained but the Red Cross symbols of protectlon were removed. Puppets do not as a rule show such de• flance to thelr over-lords. The Red army advanced to the fľinge of the capltal. On April 6, 1946, President Tiso, the premier and vthers of the government fled into Austrla where they expected to be and wero? interned by the advancing American forces. Being unable to obtain transportatlon to Bava1ia, I evacua-ted on that same day from Piestauy to Pľ'ague. Five weeks later General Patton's army was In Pilsen, about fifty míles from Prague. Believing their day of liberation was near and confidently awaiting the arrival of the Americans, the Czechs re· volted. Thelr volunteer defense ťorce cons isted of old men and boys. women and girls. The only trained military help they r eceived was from the ani-Communlst Russian soldiers under General Vlassov who arrived four days after the revolution began. For six days the flghting contlnued w!th the loss of hundreds of lives and enormous property damage, while General Patton seethed in anger at being ordered to ignore the piteous pleas of th e Prague radio for ass1~tance and balt his tanks and military vehicles a rew miles outside Prague. The pseudo liberation of Prague by the Red army was one of the most ghastly travesties of the war. It was staged for the news-reels, the radlo broadcasts and tbe impression it would implant in the minds or the "liberated" slaves behind the Iron Curtaln. On bis own initlatlve Eduard Benes had made a pilgr!mage to Moscow and signed an agrePmPnt with Stalin which delivered his country lnto the Red orbít. Six years before Dr. Emil Hacha had journeyed to Berlin and put bis signature to tbe demand note handed him by Hitler. Just slx years before Jozef T!so flew to Berlin and entered into an agreement that established bis short-lived Republic of Slovakia. Now both or those presldents were deposed or lmprisoned. The modus ope randi of t he deals subm!tted to Hacha and Tiso by Hitler and the one entered into by Benes with Stalin are strikingly similar - but wlth one !mportant difference. Benes made his journey to Moscow volu ntarily. The t erms of surrender he signed with Stalin were not revealed to the Czechs or Slovaks at t h e time. Hitler's deals and objectives at least had the virtue of brutal frankness. But Hitler, the imitator of Communist and Fascist dictators. did not clamp control measures on the so-called puppet Republic of Slovakia as Stalln decreed for the reborn state of Czechoslovakia. Wlthln forty-eight hours of the Red army entry lnto Prague, the Czech radlo and press were under Communist domtnatlon. Wlnston Churchill directed a radio broadcast to the Czechs at that tíme, expresslng tbe deslre that the re-establlshed state be a democracy such as Britain and Amerlca understod that word. Hls s peech was omitted from two of the Prague newspapers. The third reported part of it but carefully deleted tbat irrltatlng paragraph. SLOVAKI.A. 7 Before Benes arrived - ten days after the "liberation" - the MVD had taken possesslon of the former citadel of the Gestapo In Bre• dauergasse. They set up at once a police organizatíon even more ruth· les.s than the Germans. Communist cells wlthin the country pointed accuslng flngers at persona! enemies, business rival$ or hated rela· tlves and tbey were jailed without a hearing. The several jalls ln the city were Jlterally filled to overnowlng, Having been one ot those caught up ln their dragnets I can speak au• thoratlvely. The barred celi at Bartholomegasse lnto whlch I was ushered had been designed for elght persons. Twenty-slx occupled the space. Among them were the mayor or burgermelster, a professor ot the universlly, the governor of the clty's largest !ina,ncial lnstitutlon, also the director of the Union Bank, a colonel of the Czech gendarmerle, and two captalns. A newspaper man, an Au,;trian consultlng englneer, a physician, a flfteen-year-old boy, an orchestra leader and a wealthy industriallst shared one corner of the room. The slxty-seven· year-old mother of the industrialist was In an adjolnlng celi. They were capitallsts. Like the others they had been so lndlscreet as to express their lack of appreclatlon for the form of Reel Jlberatlon that had been imposed on them. Many young glrls and women were jalled in that sombre bullding. New arrivals came at all hours of the day and others were hauled away to destlnations unknown. Red soldiers made perlodic raids and took away those they wished. How many vanished without a trace, we shall never know. In the lll-fated state of Slovakia, even the all-powerful Hlmmler could not demand that prlsoners be released to bim. In the Moscow• managed Czechoslovakian state Red soldiers and MVD men took whom they wlshed without protest from the "democratlc" olflclals. Although the prison inmates were held without benefit of consul and incommunicado, an underground system of communication carried messages outside. The method of its operation was never quite clear to me, but I can attest to its effi ciency, as a scribbled message of mine reached the American Legation. Fear and terror gripped the people a\though th~ shocking !acts were convenlently suppressed, because to reveal them then wou\d be embarrassing to those who partlclpated ln the fraud. When the Communist premier Klement Gottwald handed Benes the tlnal papers of surrender ln Prague March 1948 and demanded that he sign on the dotted llne, lt was hut a routlne endlng to what was a fait accompll three years before. Presldent Hacha had died, thus escaplng executlon by the Reds. Presldent Tlso was delivered by the Unlted States forces to Stalln's henchmen and was hanged. The status of president Benes would have been helghtened and perhaps hls llfe lengthened had he not returned. Far better that he had remained away and exposed to the world what it knows now. That they had been sold lnto bondage at Teheran. The bias briga.de and pressure groups in Amerlra dlsgraced our country- qnd demanded President Tiso as a sacrlfice. Though our StateDepartment, llke Pilate, may wash lts hands, they permitted hhn to be t.ortured before de\lvering hlm to the Reds The bloocl or that Slovak patriot 1s on our heads.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Betrayal of Slovakia Description An account of the resource Edward L. Delaney Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2), December 1951 pp. 1-7 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Delaney, Edward L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1951 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6245d95fd753fdc339b150d063a36d38.pdf cf8b49fe89d9bb9a208f47c468cbdf5d PDF Text Text 38 SLOVAKIA w.ho are not reliable, and it is surely our duty to lea..rn from the mistakes in this reS'l)eCt whi~h have been made in the .past. It must a!so be remembered tJhat the. Communists, who a1-e always much more actlve and quicker than tíheir democratic opponents in the West, have innumerable agent,; or their own among Czeol1 emigres. Western democracy should be wamed in tlme before it is too late. • • • • A NOTE ON TISO, HORTHY AND BENES E. L. DELANEY Admfral Hoľ,thy, Regen1t of Hungary, alleged collaborllltor with Germany and castlgated as a "Fasc,i st" by our Reds and "plnks," was given sanctuary by our Mil1tary Government in Bavaria a..fter the end of hoSltlU.ties, and rightly so. Had he been returned t o BudapeBt, he would have been execu<ted by the Communisit rabble. . But President Josef TisÔ in the adjoining state of Slovakia, even less a collaborator with Germany than Horthy but who was án implacable foe of Communism, also fled into Bavaria and what he thought was the sanctuary of the Americans. He was imprisoncd, mlstreated, manhandled and then delivered to the Reds by our Milit ary Government to be hanged by them in Bratislava. Duri-ng Lhe war, Presddent Tlso had delegated members of his own official family to provide the best care and hospl:tal!za1tl.on if necessary for the Amerlcan and Brltish flyers who were shot down or who made foreed Jandlngs in his counitry. Other Amerlcans were given sanctuary there, thls wrlter being one who knew Dr. Josef Tlso personally and who received such sanctuary. It was alleged by the mouthpieces of Moscow that Tiso was guilty of treasonaib1e actions when, for the flrst Ume in nine hundred years, he and his co-workere gained independence and "a better Ufe" for the Slovak people. "Self-determination" was what they had been told was their right, and now they were belng told it was their wrong. Wrong because, long before the beginning of the war, thelr president had a(•· cepted the protection of Berlin agalnst outside aggression. The aggression of tihe Soviiet. That was hls sin. But note the utlter i•nconslsitency and the convincing proof of col· Juslon and connlvance with the Communist cllque on the parit of our execut!ves and officdals. Dr. Eduard Benes Journeyed to Moscow with the approval and the ald of Frankl!n D. Roosevelt and there slgned with Josef Stálln the death warran1. of ,the Czecb and Slovak peoples. He represented nelther Czechs nor Slovaks at that t ime, altbough he had been president of their courutry and reslgned six years prevlously. He came to Prague with ihe blesslng of Washlngiton and the dlgnllty of an ambassador trom here. The betrayal of the entire country of Czechoslovakia by Benes, Churchill and Rooaevelt, far out-Heroďs anything Josef Tiso did to gain independence "and . a better life" for his people during the six years of their Republic. More con.temp,ti.ble duplieity on the part of any statesman could scarcely be lmagin1:,d. (REPUBLICANISM versus STATISM, ECA Press, 1950, Los Angeles, Catif.) � 38 SLOVAKIA w.ho are not reliable, and it is surely our duty to lea..rn from the mistakes in this reS'l)eCt whi~h have been made in the .past. It must a!so be remembered tJhat the. Communists, who a1-e always much more actlve and quicker than tíheir democratic opponents in the West, have innumerable agent,; or their own among Czeol1 emigres. Western democracy should be wamed in tlme before it is too late. • • • • A NOTE ON TISO, HORTHY AND BENES E. L. DELANEY Admfral Hoľ,thy, Regen1t of Hungary, alleged collaborllltor with Germany and castlgated as a "Fasc,i st" by our Reds and "plnks," was given sanctuary by our Mil1tary Government in Bavaria a..fter the end of hoSltlU.ties, and rightly so. Had he been returned t o BudapeBt, he would have been execu<ted by the Communisit rabble. . But President Josef TisÔ in the adjoining state of Slovakia, even less a collaborator with Germany than Horthy but who was án implacable foe of Communism, also fled into Bavaria and what he thought was the sanctuary of the Americans. He was imprisoncd, mlstreated, manhandled and then delivered to the Reds by our Milit ary Government to be hanged by them in Bratislava. Duri-ng Lhe war, Presddent Tlso had delegated members of his own official family to provide the best care and hospl:tal!za1tl.on if necessary for the Amerlcan and Brltish flyers who were shot down or who made foreed Jandlngs in his counitry. Other Amerlcans were given sanctuary there, thls wrlter being one who knew Dr. Josef Tlso personally and who received such sanctuary. It was alleged by the mouthpieces of Moscow that Tiso was guilty of treasonaib1e actions when, for the flrst Ume in nine hundred years, he and his co-workere gained independence and "a better Ufe" for the Slovak people. "Self-determination" was what they had been told was their right, and now they were belng told it was their wrong. Wrong because, long before the beginning of the war, thelr president had a(•· cepted the protection of Berlin agalnst outside aggression. The aggression of tihe Soviiet. That was hls sin. But note the utlter i•nconslsitency and the convincing proof of col· Juslon and connlvance with the Communist cllque on the parit of our execut!ves and officdals. Dr. Eduard Benes Journeyed to Moscow with the approval and the ald of Frankl!n D. Roosevelt and there slgned with Josef Stálln the death warran1. of ,the Czecb and Slovak peoples. He represented nelther Czechs nor Slovaks at that t ime, altbough he had been president of their courutry and reslgned six years prevlously. He came to Prague with ihe blesslng of Washlngiton and the dlgnllty of an ambassador trom here. The betrayal of the entire country of Czechoslovakia by Benes, Churchill and Rooaevelt, far out-Heroďs anything Josef Tiso did to gain independence "and . a better life" for his people during the six years of their Republic. More con.temp,ti.ble duplieity on the part of any statesman could scarcely be lmagin1:,d. (REPUBLICANISM versus STATISM, ECA Press, 1950, Los Angeles, Catif.) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1951, Vol. 1 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 1951 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 1), May 1951.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 2), December 1951.</li> </ul> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <ul><li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4</span></a></li> </ul> 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 38 SLOVAKIA w.ho are not reliable, and it is surely our duty to lea..rn from the mistakes in this reS'l)eCt whi~h have been made in the .past. It must a!so be remembered tJhat the. Communists, who a1-e always much more actlve and quicker than tíheir democratic opponents in the West, have innumerable agent,; or their own among Czeol1 emigres. Western democracy should be wamed in tlme before it is too late. • • • • A NOTE ON TISO, HORTHY AND BENES E. L. DELANEY Admfral Hoľ,thy, Regen1t of Hungary, alleged collaborllltor with Germany and castlgated as a "Fasc,i st" by our Reds and "plnks," was given sanctuary by our Mil1tary Government in Bavaria a..fter the end of hoSltlU.ties, and rightly so. Had he been returned t o BudapeBt, he would have been execu<ted by the Communisit rabble. . But President Josef TisÔ in the adjoining state of Slovakia, even less a collaborator with Germany than Horthy but who was án implacable foe of Communism, also fled into Bavaria and what he thought was the sanctuary of the Americans. He was imprisoncd, mlstreated, manhandled and then delivered to the Reds by our Milit ary Government to be hanged by them in Bratislava. Duri-ng Lhe war, Presddent Tlso had delegated members of his own official family to provide the best care and hospl:tal!za1tl.on if necessary for the Amerlcan and Brltish flyers who were shot down or who made foreed Jandlngs in his counitry. Other Amerlcans were given sanctuary there, thls wrlter being one who knew Dr. Josef Tlso personally and who received such sanctuary. It was alleged by the mouthpieces of Moscow that Tiso was guilty of treasonaib1e actions when, for the flrst Ume in nine hundred years, he and his co-workere gained independence and "a better Ufe" for the Slovak people. "Self-determination" was what they had been told was their right, and now they were belng told it was their wrong. Wrong because, long before the beginning of the war, thelr president had a(•· cepted the protection of Berlin agalnst outside aggression. The aggression of tihe Soviiet. That was hls sin. But note the utlter i•nconslsitency and the convincing proof of col· Juslon and connlvance with the Communist cllque on the parit of our execut!ves and officdals. Dr. Eduard Benes Journeyed to Moscow with the approval and the ald of Frankl!n D. Roosevelt and there slgned with Josef Stálln the death warran1. of ,the Czecb and Slovak peoples. He represented nelther Czechs nor Slovaks at that t ime, altbough he had been president of their courutry and reslgned six years prevlously. He came to Prague with ihe blesslng of Washlngiton and the dlgnllty of an ambassador trom here. The betrayal of the entire country of Czechoslovakia by Benes, Churchill and Rooaevelt, far out-Heroďs anything Josef Tiso did to gain independence "and . a better life" for his people during the six years of their Republic. More con.temp,ti.ble duplieity on the part of any statesman could scarcely be lmagin1:,d. (REPUBLICANISM versus STATISM, ECA Press, 1950, Los Angeles, Catif.)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Note on Tiso, Horthy and Beneš Description An account of the resource E. L. Delaney Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2), December 1951 p. 38 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Delaney, Edward L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1951 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8a07f8a0f63768f3250f2df46d174473.pdf 2ae7e0bca944237820e30c44ff57c0f7 PDF Text Text SLOVAKÍA Z5 1 WAS IN SWVAKJA Edward L. Delaney Many Slovaks in America, especially those horn in this country, have but a limited knowledge of their parents' or grandparents' !and. As for the millions of Americans who have no klnsbip with Slovak!a, the word is merely the latter half of Czecho-Slovakia, which had been impressed upon their consclousness by the propaganda bureaus ot tbe late Edward BAnes and bis predecessor Thomas Masaryk. One will search long In those propaganda papers for any paragraphs conveying the impresslon that the Slovaks are the political, cultural or industria! equals o! the Czechs. Perhaps one reason that the Czech rather than the Slovak part of the hyphenated name has been given greater publicity !s that the capital, Prague, is predomlnantly Czech and the majority or visitors from other parta of the world seldom get beyond that city. There is no denying that the Prague of pre-1945 days did possess an individua.l atmosphere and charm for those who are interested In the architectural treasures and historlcal landmarks of Europe's older ci ties. · It was this writer's good fortune to have vis!ted or reslded Cor extended periods in several ot the other European capitals before visiting Prague. Many months later I was afforded the opportunity for a stay of two years in Slovakia. At that Ume the synthetic CzechoSlovakia had ceased to exist. Following nine hundred years or struggling fot; independence, the Republic of Slovakla was establlshed and the people could say that they had attained somethlng approximating tbeir goal. Tbe evening of my arrival in Bratislava, capital of tbe new State, a Professor Doba! called on me at the Carlton Hotel. He lnformed me that he was connected with the State propaganda bureau and that their attache, Streiznic, at tbe Berlin Legatľon, had telegraphed that l was arrlvlng. Foreign correspondents and writers were sought out by them and efforts made to present their country In the best light. An appolntment was made ror me to meet bis cbief, Tido J. Gaspar. Tido J., as I soon learned, was the most photographed man in Slovakia. No news reel was complete witbout bim smiling or band· shaking 'bi~ way into the center of the picture. He was the official greeter An actor with the wbole country as bis stage. In bis !apel, winter or summer, was always a gardenia, a full bloom rose or a cluster of flowers In season. His attire was patterned on tbe rigorously correct Unes 'Óf New York's ófficial greeter, Grover Whalen. In fact one got the lmpresslon that T!do J. Gaspat may bave met or studied tbe life-and-times of Grover Wbalen or the late Jimmy Walker, the most popular mayor New York ever had. for he was their counterpart in Centra! Europe. What can I do for you ?" · he asked after we had exchanged the usua,I formalities of visitor and host. "Nothlng," I informed bim, except to suggest what would be In• teresting · for me from a scen!c as well as a hlstor!cal point ot �26 SLOVAKIA view. That appealed to him. The alert and competent young men or his travel department la!d out an !tlnerary for me whlch covered the pr!ncipal c!tles and !ncluded a short stay in the justly famed H!gh Tatra resorts of the Carpath!an Mounta!ns. Bratislava was at that tlme the Mecca for all who, by any maneuvering, could arrange to go there. World War II was in the early stages. Food restrictions and rationing had been !mposed on a large part of Western and Centra! Europe. A long bridge over the Danube connects Bratislava with Austrla, across which rolls the rail and motor traff!c to Vlenna some s!xty miles away. But !t ls no longer the Vienna of Johann Strauss and Franz Lehar music with food and rink to be enjoyed in lelsurely comfort. Even in those early days of the war all Au.stria and Germany were areas of dismal faces and unappetlzing meals. Bratislava - which many still referred to as Pressburg - was the magnet that drew vlsitors from all Centra! Europe. For in Slovakia was to be had food and rink, muslc and laughter w!thout let, stay, or hindrance. With the exception of the adjoining country of Hungary, no other part of Centra! Europe enjoyed the essentials and many of the luxuries of life, as did the people of Slovakla before the period when Stalin's hordes swarmed over the country like a swarm of locusts and literally laid lt to waste. In most of the propaganda that emanated from various sources in Europe and was eagerly snapped up and exaggerated by the sinlster influences in this country, the impression was conveyed that Germany syphoned off the food resources of Slovakia long before thelr armies actually occupled the country late in the year 1944. Even at the risk of being charged with attempting to mitigate the sins of the Nazi Reglme. I assert that, in those days it was regarded as rare good fortune if one could get lnto the Slovak paradise and there obtain a good meat wlth whatever was desired in the way of w!nes, spirits or liquors, all at prices which, even in those tlmes were reasonabl!l. Until the severe winter of 1944-45, citrus fruits, such as lemons and oranges from Italy or Spain, might he had in the public markets. Such delicacies had been off the markets in Austria and Germany for nearly five years. In addition to al! dairy products, poultry, beef, pork, sugar, <>onfectionery and tobacco wares were obta!nable in Slovak!a with but slight restrlctlons on the amount of certaln items that mlgbt be pur• chased. Also clotbing. s boes and dress materlals were to be had. At tbat time the shops of Austrla and Germany were bare of goods. Just over the Danube from Bratislava the sbops were emoty. Such stores as the Woolworth cbain were barren. Shelves and tables of empty cartons or a single item - usually a wooden toy or some article of glass. Rows of the same useless article. Nothing was to be found that contalned metal, cotton, rubber wool, s!lk - all of which materials were needed for the war supplies. After observing those empty shops in Vienna, Munich, Berlin. Frankfurt and Cologne, it was as a fairyland to enter business establlshments of the same type In Slovakia and f!nrl most anything one might expect to see in shops beyond the warrlng zone. �SLOVAKIA 27 The people or Slovakia knew they were enjoylng a verltable heaven of plenty as compared to thelr neighbors. T heir new status as an independent country began in the spring of 1939. Only a few rersons, whether in the cities. towns or villages, did not realize that they were the envy of people in their neighborlng states. Slovak inde• pendence and self-determinatlon was paying them divldends even in the material advantages they could see and understand. Small wonder that their political leaders were popular and their policles approved. Therefore it was not surprlsing that the majority of the people had only words or praise for President Joseph Tiso and the other of!icials of their young republic. What many dld not reallze was that Germany was syphonlng off thelr surplus or agrlcultural and manufactured products. In exchange the Slovaks dld recelve some goods, such as tools, machinery, electrical equipment and rallway supph es, but for the most part they got only promises to pay in such materials. The debt owing by Germany was increasing with staggerlng amounts each month. But the majority of the people enjoyed thelr temporary prosperity with scant worry about the future. Although there was little doubt in their minds as early as 1942, that the Axls Powers were doomed to defeat, they held to the hope that by somf! political magic they would escape the horrors of war and the pf!nalties to follow. In those days of the Republlc of Slovakla, it was a country or contrasts. Evidences of its centuries old clvilizatlon and customs were to be observed alongside products that were as up to the minute as tomorrow's newspaper. For example: the express tralns making daily trips to and from the high Tatra resorts were powered by Diesel electrlc locomotives, with Jounge. dining and observation cars comparable to those of other European railway systems. But in the country, through which the deluxe traln sped smoothly, one observed also the prlmltlve ox carts on winding dlrt roads. Oxen pulled the ploys and harrows In the fields. Moreover, the branch railway lines that wound around or over the mountains and dipped down into fertile valleys offered the traveler what comfort he might get from a bard wooden bench In a dlmly llgh ted coach behlnd a wood burnlng steam engine of the type used In the western mountain country of the Unlted States seventy-five years ago. Stepping from the modern express on the High Tatra run, to the minlature traln that huffed and puffed its way to Banska Stiavnica was like bridging a gap of t.hree quarters of a century. It chanced that my arrival in Banska Stiavnica synchronized with a heavy snow storm. After plodding through darkness and deep snow for what seemed to be a mlie, the youth. who had dragged my luggage on a sled. ushered me through the portals of a buildlng that had al\ the appearances of an old Roman ruln. It was old and the Romans had probably been there. but lt was not ruined and from the durable manner in which stone and mortar were put into buildings In those middle ages, it will not be in rulns for another few centuries. Tens of thousands of shoes or sandals had worn deep grooves In the stone door step. E lectrlc llghts replaced the candles or oil tapers that had _Iighted the way for guests who came there in other �SLQVAKIA 28 centuries, but that was a bout all the concesslon that had been made to the lJ!Odern world. The building, so l learned from the Sudeten German woman who operated it, was over three hundred years old. The cold room to which I was asslgned boasted a bed whlch was less than three centuries old, but it was about the only modem plece In the antique setting. Although appreciat!ng the charm of archltectural treasures and old Jandmarks, there are limes when one misses the creature comforts that are affored in our modern hotels and homes. Tbat was one of tbose times. But the warmlng effect of a "slivovica" and gobs or excellently roasted goose, i,olisbed off with another potent drink, served to banlsh the fear of \Vaking in that three hundred year old room to find tbat I was frozen to death. Oddly enough one seldom heard about the precious metals that were once part of Slovakia's contrlbutlon to the worlďs wealth. Much of the old currency and art objects in the Hungarian empire and Centra! Europe were made from gold and silver ores that were mined at Kremnica and near Banska Stiavnica. But witb tbe increaslng costs of production and the relatlvely cbeap prlce or the metal during tbe quarter of a century before tbe birth of the Republlc of Slovakia, those -mines had been practically abondoned. World War II altered tbe situation. Centra) Europe was cut off (rom tbe silver producing countries of North and South America. Mining of that metal was steppe<l up. The silver sm.iths of Slovakia again plied thelr trade and many articles of thelr handlwork appeared in the sbops. Througb the perfidlous acts of the signers of the agreements at Teheran and Yalta, Stalin's minions. the Communist confiscators, have no doubt taken possession of tbose sources of wealth. Whatever treasure ts taken from them now, finds its way into the coffers ot the Communists instead of belng rashioned into articles for the use ot people or for objects of art in the churcbes or Cbrist. Like other In• dustries, whicb were created or resulted after tbe establishment of the Republic or Slovakia. tbe mines or Stiavnica are servlng the needs of Stalin. Political charlatans. such as Edward Benes, who were lauded by tbe American press and propagandists. sold tbe Slovaks lnto bondage for less than the thirty pieces o! sllver, wbich was the prlce of J udas for betraying bis Master. Tbey wanted and for a Ume e njoyed persona) aggrandizement and polltlcal power as puppets of tbelr Moscow master. They silenťed any murmur of protest tbat mlgbt have been raised by the people who for nine bundred years had struggled for indepen?.encei · · S LO V A K IA - V ICTI M OF TE.H ERAN A N D Y A LTA Tbe Centra! European satellites around the Soviet star are often to as. being of Slavic origin. Some omnisctent ones give that as one reason why Stalin had little dlfflculty In merging them into tbe Red. orbít. Slovakia, as we know, was one or tbe countrie!\ sold lnto bondage at Teheran and Yalta - tbe completlon or the betrayal belng seen when Eduarq Benes returned in 1945 as puppet president of tbe socalled Czecho-Slovakia and for two years or so made grotesque referŕed �i LOVAKIA efforts to disguise tbe fact tbat Stalin, and not Benes or Klement Gottwahl, was tbe supreme belng In their capltal al Prague. Etbnologlcally lt is not lncorrect to group tbe peoples ot Russla. Poland, Czecboslovakia, Ukralnla, Bulgarla and Yugoslaľia into a Pan-Slav classlflcation. Tbe vast majority of the peoples In lhe socalled Slav nations bas llttle in common witb tbe Russa!ns. In past generations tbere was a bond of Cbristian religion wb!cb ran tbrough all tbe Slav countries, eitber tbe Ortbodox Greek-Russian Cburcb or, in tbe case of Slovakia, Poland, Croatia. lbe Roman Catbollc Cburcb. Tbe rise or atbelstlc Communlsm In Russla was t be deatb knell of Chrlstlanity tbere, bence a splltting wedge was d riven between most of the Balkan and Centra! European countries and t be great Slav domain of tbe Soviet. Slovakla, Poland and Croatla bave been predominantly Roman Catbollc for centuries. Only a small percentage are adherents ot tbe Ortbodox Cburcb. Hence, any contention tbat tbere is a racia! and religlous afflnity among the Slav peoples, wblcb simplifled tb elr enslavement by Moscow, 1s lacklng In support. F urthermore, lt is leaktng out tbrougb cracks and crinks In the Iro!l Curtaln that Stalln ls flnd· ing more tban a llttle dltficulty In merglng the Slovaks lnto bis godless domain. Wben for over eleven centuries a people, sucb as tbe Slovaks wbo bave prayed to God and H is Son, tbe Cbrlst, lt ls not llkely tbat tbe delty of tbe Kremlin can soon purge t belr mlnds or tbe OnA Supreme Being. THE SLOVAK$ ARE CELTS? Also - lf we were to accept the oplnlon of a learned professor it was my good fortune to meet in Banska Bystrica - tbere ls no RACIAL kinshlp between tbe Slovaks and tbe Russians. The Slovaks are not Slavs, asserted tbat student of blstory, but on the contrary ' they are Celts. A professor Doba! In Bratislava had given me a note ót lntroductlon to tbe curator of tbe museum In Banska Bysttica. It de· veloped tbat tbe gentleman knew more about the bistory ot manklnd tban Gl bbons, H. G. Wells, or any ot tbose wbo bave wtltten. 'Welgbty tomes on tbe origin or man, etc. ' 1• Tbls Slovak scbolar, well along In yt>ars, bad ·been lnstrúctor In a unlversity al Constantlnople (before it was called Istanbul) also in Budapest. His speclalty was Sanskrit Arabic, tbe Hebrew language and otber writings on tbe earlíest hlstory or manklnd. "You are Irisb," he said to me, after we had dlsposed of a slivovica and coffee, "and the Irlsh are Celts. A characteristlc ot tbe l rlsb is black halr with blue eyes. Tbat 1s observed among our people here In Slovakla." President Tiso, 1 have already mentioned had black bair and blue eyes. If the professor ,vas endeavorlng to make me feel a racia! kinshlp wlth the Slovaks - the Celtlsh background - he certatnly supported hls oplnion wlth more arguments than black and b lue for hair and eyes. lt was a lengthy thesls he expounded on tbe !:'Ubject, but the glst or lt was that au the people or Europe stem from the origlnal tn h abitants llvlng in tbe region around the Medlterranean, the Jordah, tbe �30 SLOVAKIA Hed and the Dead Sea. The garden of Paradise is supposed to have been in that general part of the Near East. The Celts - as part of the early human family of whlch we have any history, so the professor asserted - were brawny, pioneer lads, pagans in those days, of course, who hunted and explored and pushed their way westward. Some of them got as far as the western s hores of Europe, which we now know as the coast of Brittany in France. From there they launched boats and set up their cabeens in Ireland and Scotland, wbere they are today. Some of those early Ce!ts, acco rding to this student of the subject, decided tha,t the area just west of the Carpathian Mountalns - which is Slovakia - was a pretty good part of the earth to stake out for t heir children and grandchildren for generations to come. So there they stayed. Like the other Celts who went on to I reland, they were converted to Christ!anlty well over a thousand years ago and bave remained steadfast in their faith ever slnce, just as have the fightin' lrish. That, the Banska Bystrica gentleman lnformed me. is another evidence of the kinship, the similarlty in character and traditions. He then escorted me to a conical plie of stones towerlng four stories high, in which were kept many relics and articles that had been dug from the ground in Slovakia over th e past generations. There were cooking utensils, ornaments of solid gold and silver, bits of clothing, crude instruments for killing, such as tbe crusaders of the middle ages carried, and many other articles. Oddly enough, 1 had seen articles almost identically the same in the museum of Dublin, Ireland, on one of my visits there. Those in the Dublin museum had been unearthed in tbe peat bogs and fields of Ireland. The professor had a point there. The traces of clvllization, which we have found, do have similarity. The old gentleman then took me to his home and into the b asement or cellar under it. There were stacks of musty manuscripts, some on tbe oldest known kind of parchment. The signs and symbols on tbey were just hierog!yphics to me, but to that scholar they told stories and epics of hlstory wbich had been written in the mlddle ages. Whether or not tbe Slovaks are Celts and kin ot the Irish and Scots, instead of the Russians, I shall not attempt to prove. But that was the contention of one learned Slovak in Banska Bystrica. S LOV AKIA U NDER THE REDS Of course, now that the Communisl<i are in Slovakia, and Moscow is to be regarded as the fountain head of all culture and wisdom, it is likely that any reference to tbe Cbristian Celts as being remotely related to the Slovaks will be purged trom the people's minds and records. It would be interesting to know what the Communlsts have done to the sbrlne, the mausoleum of Fatber Andrej H linka In Ruzomberok, at wbich I had knelt in prayer a day or so before going to Banska Bystrica. It was Father Hlinka who, by bis zeal, tireless energy and strength of cbaracter, had brought about the political unity and solidarity wh!ch made possi ble tbe creation of the Slovak Republic. Al· thougb lt was short Jlved, it did demonstrate to the world that a �SLOVAKIA 31 Slovak state is feasible and may again be upon the maps of Europe. It would be incorrect to assert that everyone in the Slovak Repub• Ile, durlng the stx years of its exlstence, was enthuslastlcally 01>tlmistic as to lts future in the assembly of nations comprlsíng the European continent. In this connection, it shoula be mentioned, tbat tbe greatly_ publicized pian or proposal said to bave been urged by General Dwight Eisenhower, !or a United States of Europe, may be dlsmissed as wlshful thinking. Such a "United States" could not possibly function at thls stage of world history when half of Europe is free and half s lave, half Christlan and half under the ruthless dominatlon of pagan dictators. Until the situation 1s altered and Communism ls banished from Europe, there can be no lasting unity. To even dlscuss the matter be· fore that 1s accomplished, is utterly Cutile. A SLOVAK TEXAS RANGER SPEAKS HIS MIND A well-to-do industrialist in Bratislava pointed out to me about 1942 what was to be the fate of Slovakla and Europe in the postwar period. He iS not a Slovak but one who resided in Slovakla when it was part oľ the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. then under the gov· ernment of Czechoslovakia and remained to carry on under tbe Re· 1mblic, as did many of Hungarlan, Czecb, Austrian or German natlonality. All enjoyed equ al rights. As be may still be living there, it would be wrong to mentlon bis name, because reprisals might be inflicted on bim, should these words be brought to the attentlon of Red spies in tbis country. On my lnitial visit to bis home, the first objects that met my eyes were a western saddle and a Wlnchester rifle In a regulatlon leather holster. Very much American. Then I got tbe story. He had been a Texas Ranger in bis younger days! There were notches in bis leg from slugs of desperados, several of wbom he had killed in bis encounters wltb tbem along the borders of the Rio Grande. Speaklng five languages fluently and knowing thl! contlnent of Europe thorougbly, his opinions on the current and impending eventa were wor• thy of attentlon "Wbat a misfortune 'Teddy' Roosevelt isn't in the White House today," he said shortly after we met. "Things would be dlfferent. Tbe way lt appears now, Europe is being delivered stralgbt lnto chaos and Communism. You know what that means? I do. Durlng the bloody reign of terror under tbat so-and-so (expressive Texas Ranger term) Bela Kun, I witnessed enough of lt. I was !nterpreter before some ot the committees in Budapest and stared that 'so-and-so' In the eye many a tlme. ľd bave kllled bim if I got the chance, and he knew lt. What is the intention of Franklln Roosevelt? To dellver us over t<_> the Reds aga in?" It was necE>ssary to first destroy the forces or Hitler, I pointed out and then . . . "Then what? Thaťs tbe quest!on. True enougb the Nazl yoke on the German people must be broken and they be brought back to belp in the scheme of thlngs. But you mark my worda, Stalln is the only one who ia winning anything in thia war. He'a not winning it elther. lťs being given to him. Unless bis henchmen are thrown out of t.he �32 SLOVAKIA Balkans, the Baltic states, Poland and all the other spots he will take over soon; the whole of Europe and western civllizatlon wlll go back• ward tor ~ century or so." "You are not so badly off here in Slovakia at present," I ventured to say. "NQnsense. Our freedom here is but temporary, and so 1s the pros• períty, Fooľs gold. You know what tbat 1s? A flasb In the pan, a mi· rage. Can't make this country self-sufficient. It bas to be bltcbed on t& some other part of Europe. Always has been. Tbe Germans deve!• oped it at one period of bistory. It was part of tbe Hapsburg Man· archy, tben the neglected half of Czecho·Slovakla. It wlll be taken over by the Reds after the war - see if ľm not rlght. Could make it a self·determining state, if the otber European powers, supported by America, demanded it. But tbey won't, unless great pressure ls brougbt on the influences now in Washington, London and Paris. But ľm not leaving here. Sure, ľm what tbey cal\ a capitallst, an enemy of the Reds. rve gat that Wincbester and two Colt plstols. Wben they're empty the Reds can take wbaťs left. I won't know mucb about it tben." That was one man's opinion of wbat was transplring in Slovakia anct Centra! Europe at tbat time and wbat he thought tbe future beld far tbem. He was not always so explosive in bis observatlons. but in tbe two years and more I knew bim I learned to respect his estimate of the Europeao scene. though at times I may not have entlrPIY agreed with bim. But was be not right as regards the sell-out of Christianity in Cen· tral Europe? Was he not correct In bis predictlon that only Stalln was wiooing t he war and that bis greatest aldes were then oot In '.\toscow. but In London and Washington? In these days when we art! exhorted to strlve and save and struggle to rescue Europe and ourselves rrom the menace of Communlst cont.rol, let us reflect on tbe facts or tbose who - wltb wbat appears to bave been pre-determlnation - consigned Slovak:a and otber Christian nations to perdition. MEETING PRESIDENT TISO At a dinner party in Bratislava l flrst met Joseph Mracna, formerly Consul far Czecboslovakia in New York. lt developed, wben comparlng notes, t hat we had both salled from New York on the same day in Oecembr 1939. He on tbe Vulcania bound far Llsbon. wbile my voyage was on tbe Excalibur witb Genoa as my destinatlon. Mracna and bis wlfe, who was Viennese. were very pro-American an.d longed far the tlme when they migbt return to tbe Unitd States wher-e he ·had many frlends and acqualntaoces, several of whom were also my friends. Although born In Slovakia, Mracna had spent tbe greater part of bis life in other countries. He attended unlversities in Vienna and Par!s, following wb!ch he had been occup!ed In forelgn countrles even before becoming the Czecboslovakian Consul In New York. He was, at the time I knew him, a member of tbe Foreign Office of the new Sl_ovak .Republlc wbere hls experience and knowledge of affalrs in .several other countries was most usefuL I asked !f he could arrange an audience for me with the Pres!dent. He said he could; and did. �SLOVAKIA 33 When I arr!ved at the presldentlal palace at the time ap polnted for my a udlence, Ka rol Murin, persona) secretary for the Preslden t, cautioned me aga!nst detaining him too long and also mentioned that it would be inappropriate to questlon him on matters of foreign a nd domestlc policy. Mracna, it seems, had lnferred that !t was more of a persona) and human interest chat that I desired with the P res!den t, whlch was correct, but r was also most eager to interview bim on politlcal issues - domestic and foreign. Monsignor J oseph Tiso. or Pres!dent Tiso as he was then, rad!a ted those qua lities so often observed in the successful pol!tlc!an. An!mation, vigor, affability and the obvious desire to make frlends and please people, withont Jettlng it appear as a veneer to mask h!s real thoughts. He greeted me with a hearty llandshake and. after Karol Murin left us. he Jed the way to the corner of bis study in the palace. He was in perfect health, but a physical dlrector would undoubtedly have prescribed more exercise to guard agalnst overwelght whlch ls often the worry of those nearing the half-century mark. His black ha!r was but sparsely sprinkled wlth grey and a radiant tr!nkle llgh ted bis dark blue eyes. Slnce my knowledge of the Slovak language was limited to some dozen or more words and he spoke very little Engllsh, our interview was carried on in German. My openlng remark was that he had established history by belng the first Catholic priest to be the head of a sovere!gn state. "Oh, no," he replied, "there was Selpel in the former Austrian government." Monsi'gnor Seipel, 1 reminded bim, was prime minister but not president. "There was Richelieu." He, too, as l called to bis attention, was prime minister whiJe Louis of France was king. So it seemed that my reference to history was correct. After some minutes or general conversatlon I said that I had been cautioned not to question bim on matters of state, but that I would like to do so. "Please do. Any questions you ask, l'll try to answer the m." WHAT ABOUT POLICIES? Then 1 was free to touch on several topics that lnterested me and most anyone else who had any knowledge of the happen!ngs !nside Central Europe during these days. "It is true that your pol!cies are dictated by Germany?" '"No," he lnsfsted. "In forelgn matters our policies are formu• lated so that tbey do not conflict with those of the Axls Powers. Slnce we are within their orblt lt would be sulcidal to strongly oppose them. But in domestlc matters we form our own pollcles whlch, In many instances, do not coincide wlth those of Germany. German terr!tory as you know is just across the Danube. Only a bridge between us but it !s a long bridge." He smiled when he realized that. I grasvoo his none too subtle meaning. �34 SLOVAKIA "Some of your critics," I then said, "declare that you - and by that I mean the Slovak Republic - are subject to instructions from the Vatican." "The usual charge of the uninformed," he replied. "l have no connection with the Vatican, except through the diplomatic channels, the same as other countries to which the Vatican City has accredited representation. (T here was a Vatlcan diplomatic official resident in Bratislava.) Any communications affecting the religious affairs of our people would be transmitted through the bishops. I am not a bishop. In my capacity as president I have no counection with Rome, other than I have polnted out." All rellgious denominations were accorded the same right of worship, he pointed out. The largest Protestant group was the Lutheran Evangelical, of which Rev. Martin Razus was the accepted leader and who was not only cooperating with bim politically, but they were personal friends. In the eastern part of the state were also many Orthodox or Greek Catholics. AGAIN WITH THE CZECHS ? Was lt likely, l asked, that the Slovaks and Czechs would again llilite in a government after tbe war? That questinon did not receive a direct answer. He remlnded me that trom the very inception of the Czecho-Slovakian government, there had been dlscrimintalon against tbe Slovaks. The autonomy, which had been promlsed, had been denied them. Those who protested and agitated for Slovak rights, such as Hlinka and hlmself, were imprisoned. Something like nine months he had spent in a Czech jail for protestlng the injustices that were lnflicted on t he Slovak people and demanding that their rights be recognized. Later he had been Minister of Health in the Prague cabinet. The Slovaks. he assured me, de· s ired to live in peace and harmony wlth the Czechs, the Poles, the Hungarlans and the Germans, but they a lso believed they were entltled to the "self-determlnation" that had been loudly proclaimed and was said to be the lnalienable right even of all small nations. They were now, for the first Ume in hlstory, an independent country. The problems facing them were many and varied. President Tiso referred wlth considerable pleasure to hls vislt in the Unlted States in 1937. He expressed the wish that the thousands of Slovaks in Canada and the United States be informed of the prospects for bette rment which he felt was due their people through the enactment of the programs of development then under way. NEED OF TEACHERS AND TECHNICIANS Thelr greatest problem, he said, was in finding men and women for the jobs that had been created. "We need technlcians, instructors in t he schools and universities and speciallsts for industria! projects. Our hlgh schools are over-crowded. Students want education and want to get ahead, but we lack sufflcient teachers. Tbe same in many businesses. We bope to meet these needs in tlme." He made the remark that, although s peclallsts and technlclans were urgently needed. he boped tbey would not bave to rely too much on the Germans. Tbat and otber comments indicated hls disllke for �SLOVAKIA 36 tbe small army of German engineers and tecbnicians wbo had come into the country to aid In its development. THE SLOVAKS AND THE RUSSIANS There had been a small token Slovak force sent against the Soviet soon after the outbreak of the German-Soviet hostillties in 1941, but they were withdrawn and tbe men, for the most part, were work· Ing in various industries that contributed products for the war effort. l pointed out to the President that they and tbe Russians were Slavs and was it not consistent that they be on tbe side of tbeir blood brotbers? Tbere was a pause and bis face became very earnest. "Quite true, We are blood brothers. But when tbose blood brotbers are Bolsheviks and Communlsts," doubling his flst and pounding on the table in front of bim Tiso said, ''then we'll fight to tbe last man." Presldent Tiso, like the martyred Draja Mlhailovitcb of Yugosla• vla, Archbisbop Stepinac and Mindszenty of Budapest, did not hesitate to take a firm and defiant stand against the greatest menace Christian civlllzation was then facing - and is still facing today. But because he and tbose other courageous ones were not deceived by tbe propaganda, the pious platitudes and spurious pollcies of tbe Western Powers as regards tbe Soviet, he was marked for sacrifice. The Washington State Department, at tbe bebest of Stalln's puppets, actually delivered bim to tortures and to death. Deny it tbougb they would llke to do today - when Christian leaders llke J osepb Tiso are neetled to weld Central Europe into a strong bastion against the Communlst horde - the bald trutb remains that In 1945 our State Department, as a supine and subserv!ent tool of Stalin. cons!gned T!so and tbe Slovaks t_o Red domination and extermination. Regardless of all arguments to the contrary, Josepb Tiso was slncerely desirous of helping his people - the long oppressed country that for nine hundred years had kept the fires or Chrlstlanlty alive in Centra! Europe. How long those fires will smoulder under the ruth· less domination of Communist destroyers of religion and clvllizatlon, is a grave question. Wbether it was mistaken judgment for tbe Slovaks to accept the assistance of Germany, to achieve the measure of independence they enjoyed, is a matter of oplnion. There was no war in progress wben the Slovak Republlc was born and none was imminent. Tbey revolted against obvlous injustices of tbe Prague Government. The Czech majority could bave compromised and settled tbeir dlfferences. Tbey did not. Wben tbe interna] revolt came. Hitler took advantage of tbe situatlon and proffered bis migbt against outslde aggresslon. Slovakla accepted tbe offer. If Josepb Tiso was a traltor to bis country, then tbe same can be said of Eamon de Valera in Ireland, Mabatma Gbandi in India. or the gallant Marsball Mannerheim in brave little Flnland. AII were patriots fighting for tbeir people. All were persecuted, smeared and discredited, but tbeir names will live in tbe blstories yet to be wrltten. �36 SLOVAKlA TI SO HAD A SENSE OF H UMOR After furtber lengtby dlscussion of varlous toplcs, I was about to depart when Karol Murin came to Inform tbe President tbat tbe Finance Minister was waitlng to see bim. Tlso accompanled me lnto a vast room looklng out across a walled garden in wbicb he sald líe took dally walks. Little dld l know tben tbat, over two year.s later, he would be taking many long walks togetber in another walled enclosure and resume our discussions on tbe worlďs affairs. But tbat is another story. Tbe air of tbe room was cbilly. - A tbougbt occurred to me. "Your Excellency," I said, ·•some persons told me tbat you a re always very seriouJ and earnest. But tbere's a twlnkle ot mirtb In your eyes at times and I bave an Idea tbat there's conslderable humor In you." "Perbaps," he smlled. "Would lt be appropriate If I gave you a little present?" "Wbat, · for instance·?" "I tbougbt tbat in tbese cold days of winter, just for mediclnal purposes, of course, you migbt appreciate a half dozen bottles ot gflod Canadlan whisky." Tlso chuckled and bis eyes lígbted witb the mirth I had noted there before. "ľll be glad to get lt," be' ~'aid. · The half dozen bottles were duly delivered fróm a source In "Bra tislava wbere I knew it was obtainable. Later on Karol Murin ask-ečl me to call again at tbe palace, wben I was given the compllments ot the Presldent and a token of bis appreciation for the whisky. It lš a wonder!ully embroidered table c loth, one of the finest specimens ot Slovak rieedlework that could posslbly be found. It is today my most treasur-ed possession. Very recently a letter came to me trom Karol Murin who ls now a resident of Canada. He informed me that my friend Joseph Mracna, whom I got to know very well in tbe two years following our meeting, had been murdered by the Commnnists. The Slovak patriot, Monslgnor Joseph Tlso, was delivered to Benes and bi.s Red Government by. the United States autborlties to be exterminated, because he was the arch enemy of Communism. Jn 1946, the year when· that assistance to Communist deslgns was. rendered by our offlclals, lt was polltlcally unwise to declare one's 'undying opposition to the forces or antl-God even then seeklng our destruction. Presldent Tiso pald tbe supreme penalty for bis devotion to bis God and bis country. COMES MY TURN TO BE I NVESTIGATED Tbe Carlton Hotel, in Bratislava, where I had reslded for months, was a meeting place for German military officers, legation attaches and couriers, coming and going all the tíme. A physician llving in the hotel, wbom I had called on a tlme or two for professlonal services, informed· me tbat someone at the German Legatlon had quizzed bim about me. The pbyslcian was Slovak, bis wife Hungarlan, enougb to assure me they were not sympathetic to the German otflcials. "That American 1s no frlend ot Germany," the legation omclal sald to the physician. ·'Whaťs he dolng here and why is he permitted to stay ?" �SLOVAKIA 37 Just what the doctor said to dlvert suspicion, I do not know, but within a few days the local police inspectors came to question me a bout my stay in the country, my source ot income, what 1 was doing, and so on. My replles were vague, but apparently satlsfactory for the Slovak police. But it caused me considerable worry. Pressure mlght be brought to bear which would send me across that bridge into German territory. That I must escape at all costs. Again I sought out Joseph Mracna In the Foreign Office. We bad talked frankly before and I knew I could trust hlm. My permit to remaln in Slo· vakia was about to expire and also my passport. Would they deport me? Mracna conferred wlth the proper authoritles, then lnformed me that if I did not become a "public charge·• - that !s, if I had assets on which to live - they . would give me sanctuary. I -would not be detported even at the expiration of permits or passports. I assured him that my persona! assets were sufficient to maintaln me for an extended period. 1 GO TO PIESTAN Y At the suggestion of Mracna, I arranged to live in Piestany, a health resort about sixty mlles from Bratislava which !s famed for its hot baths. It was far enough from the capltal that the German mllitary officlals or Gestapo agents wer not prowling around. Al· though the Republic malntalned its own police and defense force, judiciary, customs and ·immigration officials - no one arrlving or departing without tbeir sanction - there seemed to be a tacit agreement that the German military and legation oftlcials could come there for extended holidays. They came malnly [or food and drink, which weré almost non-existent in Germany and Austria at that tlme. Piestany is world famed. The baths - mud and hÓt pools - are beneficial for those wlth rheumatlsm, arthritls and other ills. Before the war there were visitors from as far away as India, Africa and l;loth North and South America. The two largest hotels - one on an island of the Vah River, and on which are the hot springs had been taken over and operated by the Interior Department ot the Slovak State. Soon after I went there as a voluntary "internee," Piestany became tbe headquart.ers of many involuntary internees of the Slovak Government. First to arrive were twenty-six - including the children - ot the !talian dlplomatlc corps in Bratislava. The !talian Minister, Cortese. had declared his allegiance to the antl-Mussolini, or Badoglio government, which jolned forces with the Western Allies. Naturally, he and bis entlre staff who shared his sympathles were anathema to the Germans. With the setting up of the Fascist forces in Northern Haly, pressure was brought to bear on Slovakia to deport the anti Fascists to the northern part of Italy which was still occupied by Germany and cooperating with it. TISO, TH E H U MAN ITARIAN But. contrary to generally circulated statements that President Tiso was a puppet ot Germany, he deflnitely refused to llsten to the suggestlons or demands of the Germans. nor wonld he consent to the Itallan Legatlon staff belng interned In Germany, which was a �38 SLOVAK.IA later idea of the Germans. So wlthin six weeks or my taking up residence in the Grand Royal Hotel in Piestany as a lone "internee," twenty-slx Italians moved in together with two attaches of the Slovak Foreign Offlce a.s guardians or "watchers." Two of the arrivals were Count Giovanni Revedin and his Amerlcan-born wife with whom I had become acquainted previously. The question was put to the Countess and the Foreign omce "guardians" "Are internees being held incommunicado?" The answer was no. I was not restralned from associating with them. In ternment in Piestany was not so onerous for them, because, unofflcially, Slovakia was more pro-Allied than pro-Axis. It is doubt· ful if any of the Allied countries were as considerate of interned subjects of an "enemy" nation as Slovakla was for those ot the !talian Diplomatlc corps, now no longer officially welcome. Later on arrived some from the Rumanian and Bnlgarian legations also. They were quartered at the governmenťs expense in one of the country's best hotels, permitted to retain their motor cars. though restricted in the use of them. If, however, any member of the corps found it necessary to go to Bratislava. some slxty miles distant, the Foreign Office representative granted permlssion. Usuaiiy lt was for a trip there and return the same day. Otherwise they were free - as was the case wlth myself - to roam all about the countryside, to nearby villages, to go flshing, bathing In the splendld pool in summer or in the Vah River and getting what relaxation they might need by attending the Jocal movie theatres, uslng tbe s kating rinks in wlnter and the tennis courts In summer. Slnce they were cut off from their sources of income, the Slovak government advanced them a small amonnt of spending money at regular intervals, pald hospital bills for those who required sneh hospitalizatlon, and very large fees for speciallsts who performed operatlons on some members or the group. It was convenient for me that friends with diplomatic immunity were there. The manuscrlpts on which I was then working would have ticketed me into one of the Nazi concentration camps had they fallen into their hands. Bnt Count Revedin as well as members of the Minister's family kept them in their possession - safe from search and seizure. Another who had taken ,;anctuary there was Siegfried Geyer, a dramatlst well known in Germany, Austria and Hungary, whose plays had been performed in Switzerland, Sweden, London and New York. One of his comedles, "Candle Light," was presented in Londoo where it ran for a year. Later it was brought to New York. where lt had some success. then was purchased by Warner Brothers and filmed, as were other of bis plays. TISO NOT AN ANTI-SEMITE The purge or J ews In Austria forced GPyer to flee into Slovakia where he was given presidential permission to remain. That same permission was granted to others I knew personally. One of them was an official of the Slovak travel bureau and another was an engineer for the resort and bealth department who resided wlth bis wlfe in Piestany and whom I vlsited many Limes. Another was a physician attached to tbe government hospital. Hence the base accusatlons of �SLOVAKIA 39 anti-Sem!tism that were hurled against Tiso - when the Reds de• manded his death - were false and easily proven to be noth!ng but falsehoods. Siegfried Geyer and I were work!ng daily on some manuscrlpts. Through underground communication I had been warned that milltary forces were to occupy the country. Two nights later the w!fe or a Slovak cabinet minister came to inform me that in a few hours the Germans would be in Piestany. Geyer was with me at the time. He felt that it was h!s death knell. It was two weeks or more before any action was taken toward deportation of the Jews. On the night of September 8, 1944, Geyer Jeft me, saying that we would meet at eleven in the morning. I never saw bim again. Through an acquaintance I learned that he wa s picked off the street the morning after leaving me and was carted away in a blue motor van. Three others of my acquaintances vanished the same day. For years they had found sanctuary and In many instances exceptional employment in the Slovak Republic, and this is asserted in direct contradiction of generally circulated propaganda by pressure groups that President Tiso and bis cablnet members aided in tbe extermlnation of the J ews. WAR COMES TO S LOVAK I A - GERMANS TAKE OVER In the sixteen months of my residence tbere, before the German occupation I had observed growing resentment against their powerful nelghbor. Now it became more bitter though the people were prudent enough not to make any outward sign of it. A pigmy does not force a quarrel with a giant. Tbe !talian diplomatic internees merited the attentlon of the German occupatlon officials. First tbeir motor cars were lmpounded. Then they were moved to tbe other hotel an an island In the Vah River, the two bridges a cross the river being circled with barricades and sentries posted at eacb end. A curfew edict went lnto effect and miles of barbed wire barriers were thrown around the city. Trenches and embankments were dug on tbree sides of tbe city, fleld telephones and power cables being strung along the streets and far into the country side. Tbls front was to be held at all costs - so lt was said. Slovakla now began to realize that all war fronts were closing in on ber. For over five years tbey had boped and prayed that this destructlon would not be vislted on them. But now it was at tbelr door. Tbe morning following the German occupatlon I went to tbe office of Inspector Vavro of tbe Slovak police. Prevlously wben my twelve month residence permit had exp!red I had sougbt bim. He merely sm!led at my fears. "Are you loslng any sleep over lt?" he asked. "Go away from here. l've forgotten you're in Piestany." An "enemy" subject, wbicb technically I was, could not bope for greater consideratlon. But now Vavro was no longer in complete autbority. His advice. however, was tbe same as before. "Didn't I teli you long ago that l've forgotten that you are here?" he said. "Return to your bouse and stay out of sight for a wb!le. My report witb your name on lt bas been conveniently misla!d. It will be some tiroe before tbe Germans tlncl :,ou." �40 SLOVAKlA Tbree days later men visited me, saying that tbey were wlth tbe German State Police. Tbere was tbe usual routine question!ng. Identlfication papers; occupation; slnce wbat date and wby was I residing' In the country? Wbat ls contained In the luggage and what !s in the mass of manuscripts, papers, etc.? Joseph Mracna had given me a letter to be sbown at just such times. It came lnto view and served to substantlate my statement tbat tbe Slovak autborities were acquainted with the contents of my bulging brief case. After a tborougb searcb of the place in whlch tbey found no radio, camera, weapons, photograpbs or otber susplcious appearing articles, the three men departed. Tension tbrougboul the country was becoming more noticable. Reports ŕlltering through from the eastern boundaries of the country were terrlfying. The Germans, being forced westward, forced all the villagers to evacuate ·with them' - or be shot. Their houses were burned. But before doing so they were stripped of everythlng In the way of metal. Door hinges, locks, farm machinery, tools and lmplements were taken away. Long convoys of half starved and bedraggled evacuees from the eastern slde of Slovakla and also from Hungary woved westward by wagon and on foot. Sometimes for eight or ten hours at a time those wretched and homeless people were coming at snalľs pace over t he. pHls, through the fringe of Piestany, and then vanished over the western horizon. " LIBERATION" BY THE REDS But even worse fate awaited those who eluded the German evacuation decrees. The Red "liberators" advancing into the eastern areas of Slovakia confiscated what might have been overlooked by the Germans. They roundetl up and deported children; no one seemed to know wbere. It was rumored they were sent to Russia. So between the plague of Germany, and the terrorlsts of the Soviet, poor llttle Slovakla had little to choose. They were caught between two enemies. Pressure was brought to bear on tbe Slovak government to hand the interned diplomats over to Germany. I took a message for them to tbe Swlss Consulate In Bratislava, for transmission to the outside world. It was hoped that if publicity was given their pllght in the Swiss and other neutra! papers, it would have some reaction, and also become known to the Allied authorlties. The messages and reports in Switzerland did perhaps seŕve to alter the announced lntention of the Germans to dellver the Ital!ans lnto the hands of the Mussolini faction in North Italy, who mlght have shot them as traltors. Instead they were sent first to Vienna and then to Sllesia. Amerlcan flyers who made forced landings or were shot down over Slovakia were taken in hand by the Slovak authorities. Tbose who requlred bospitalization were given tbe best the capltal atrorded - whlch was excellent. Karol Murin told me on · one of my vlslts to the Palace that, on instructions trom Presldent Tlso, he and bis wlfe s ougbt out the Amerlcan prlsoiiers in the hospltals to see that nothlng was left undone for tbeir comfort. Even bouquets of flowers were sent to brighten tbelr rooms. ··· ~- ' �SLÔVlinA 41 What a contrast trom the shameful treatment that was accorded Pres!dent Tiso, Karol Murin and members of their cab!net when they voluntarlly sought sanctuary In the American zone of occupatlon. More on this will follow. The Germans ended all the consideration and special attention that was given war prisoners. The German military officials took them, as well as many Slovaks, despite protests from the President and Foreign Minister, Stephen Tiso. Again it was a case of the pigmy and the giant. Might was right. The story of tbe gbastly occupation and betrayal will be told later. THE BEGINNI N G OF THE END On New Year's Eve of 1945 I was wltb frlends In Piestany. 'ľbe forbidden {by the Germans) broadcasts of tbe London radlo w1:,re turned on for the latest news in Czecb, German and Englisb. Also that evening Adolf Hitler broadcast a brlef greeting to der Deutscber Volk - hls "friends." Some of the llsteners insisted that lt was not Hitler's voice. Otbers expressed the opinion tbat lt was "der Fubrer" but a very mucb changed volce. It was generally believed tbat the attempted assassination of six montbs previously had left some per• manent impaiľment. During tbe iatter part of 1944 motlon pictures of him - wblcb was unusual - were always taken at a distance and tbere was a no ticeable awkwardness of one arm. It was rumored that he sustained other injuries. The London radlo gave lengthy discussions on tbe plaos for the liberation and rehabilitation of Centra! Europe. We assumed that there was complete accord among the Allied Powers and that tbe views and oplnlons expressed represented tbose of tbe United States. The piana were thoae of the Red dominated group of Edwa rd Benes and foreto ld th e diaaster t hat was inevitab le. Anyone with even the most meagre knowledge of European history knew that the rulers of the Kremlin hoped to dominate and absorb all tbe S lav people. Therefore, it was alarmlng for the people in Centra! Europe to observe the manner in whlch the Allled Powers permitted the Soviet to occupy the Balkans, move up into Hungary and tben sweep lnto Slovakla. As my friends In Piestany and Bratislava pointed out re. peatedly, the Allied Powers, and particularly America, should have re• membered what bappened in the Ilaltlc states, In Flnland and in Poland. It was tbe pattern of Red absorb tion and complete control, once they planted foot on the soil o f a country. The only exceptlon was that of Spalo - the slngle country where the Communlsts ~uf• fered milltary defeat. Offlcial Washington, let us remem ber also, was cooperatlve with the Communist terrorists in Spain at that Ume - regardless of the denials that some or the hierarchy of the e lect now wish to read lnto the record. Moscow's deslgns in Spain, in the Baltic states, In the Balkans and no w in Centra! Europe were so obvious as the Pyramlds on the Sahara. The milltary o ccupatlon was but the prelude to permanen t lncorpo ration lnto the Red orblt. After the Red army occupied Budapest, whlch for centurles had been a bastlon of Chrlstlanlty against the antl-Christlan forces on the East, it left only Bratislava as the lmportant city of the Danube between Budapest and Vienna. Mlllions of kronen In materials and mil• �42 SLOVAK.IA lions of man-power hours were expended on the defenses. The Eastern Front, lt seemed, would soon be in our front yards. When the day and night booming of artlllery began to be hear d in Piestany, many felt it wise to move westward. A famlly I knew In Bratislava had obtalned a motor truck and fuel two precious thlngs - intending to flee into southern Bavaria. By phone from Piestany I arranged to share space in the Bavaria-bound truck. But when l arrived there by train trom Piestany the truck had a\ready left. Now, where to go or what to do? Huge artlllery pieces were being wheeled through the str eets westward. German milltary supplies in motor cars and wagons trundled westward. Cattle and horses were being driven in the directlon of Vienna. It is doubtful if they got far along that road before the Hed army captured and butchered them. OFF TO PRAGUE An acquaintance advised me to Jeave for Prague as rall transport was still operating in that direction. When I inquired about visa or permit to enter the ·'Protectorate" and officiaľs secretary informed me that "tbe bars are down; you may go anywhere you can obtain transportation." At tbe railway station J got a ticket for Prague. A train was scbeduled to leave that evening about six. Tbe station was a seething mad-house. Pandemonium, orrlerly confusion, bundreds of terrorstricken people with bundreds of bags. bundles and babies trying to get somewbere - anywbere. In tbe black-out, long after slx o'clock, tbere was an air-raid warning. Police herded people into a vast underground shelter that had been tunnelled into a rocky bili aero.ss the railway tracks. MorP .:onfusion, anxiety and wondering if we would ever get out of the stricken city. The train - scheduled for six o'clock - left in tbe thickening blackness of the night about eleven. People were packed in to suffocation. At a town called Cuty. on thP. Crontier, l transferred to anotber train tbat landed me in Brno, now Czechoslovakia, about eight in the morning. After snatching four hours sleep at the Grand Hotel, I contrived to board (without the special military permit) an express train which landed me in Prague about mldnight. All train service into Slovakia ended tbe morning after I de• parted. Had J delayed a few hours longer tbe Reds would have inc luded me in their spreading net of "liberation." Even the most unobservant person must bave sensed the uneasiness of the Germans then in Prague. Czechs and the evacuees from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland knew it was but a matter of weeks or days when the American and British forces would be in Berlin. Tb'at meant the end of the war. but what then? Every day motor trucks and cars of all kinds were being loacled with bousehold goods, cats, dogs, bird cages, German women and children. Then at evening they rolled off into the darkness. Branche.• of trees or other <'amouflaging uas used to disguise the vebicles as much as possible. They dld not chance mass movements or evacuees in dayl!gbt llours. �SLOVAKIA 43 REVOLUTION AND REVENGE Friday evening, May Fourtb, marked tbe beglnning ot tbe uprising against six long years ot German dictatorsbip. A mysterious and ominous atmospbere pervaded Prague. Crowds began convergmg in Wenselplatz - as it was then called_ For wbat? No one seemed to know. Sometbing was to bappen. A revolution was in tbe making. Little by little tbings occurred. Men, women and boys began defacing German words on tbe fronts of business establ!shments. Tbey commenced to alter tbe street signs - - which were in dual language - Czecb and German_ Tbe electric trams were halted by tbe crowd Then matters became more serious. Sirens screamed, military cars pushed througb tbe crowds, commands were barked over t.he loud speakers in the s quare. Small armoured tanks rolled into view. A plstol shot, a woman's scream, crowds surging back against tbe walls and the rattle of machlne guns Four days and nigbts tbe battle continued. The Prague raáio remained in Czech hands and was their greatest asset. Pleas from it were directed to the American forces, said to be thirty, tben twenty, tben ten miles away. Professor Matousek, director of tbe station, would beg in broken English for tbem to hurry. The Stars and Stripes waved from the top;, of buildings and in many windows. An enthusiastic welcome would be glven tbeir liberators. The question asked by hundreds was: '·When do you think tbe Americans wíll get here?" Little did they know then that they would never arrive_ That Prague and the Czechs, together with the millions of Slovaks, had b een sold down-river by Eduard Benes in a secret deal entered into with Stalin. A deal that had the benediction of Franklin D. Roosevelt who was even then loudly prating about saving the Western World from the Nazi destroyers of Christianity, only to be consigned to the Soviet, the greatest destroyers and enemies of Christian civilization since the Cruclfixion. THE SAD AWAKENING On the sixth day of the revolution in which bundreds or !!ves and millions in property was destroyed. General Vlassoff's troopers were s linking along the shattered fronts of buildings in Wenzelspaltz. These were the Russians, mostly from the Ukraine, who had first been equipped by the Germans to fight thP Communists. Now they turned on the Germans and were belping to drive tbem out of Prague. The thought came to me at the time: what will be tbe fate or these pol!tlcal pawns? They followed tbeir leader, General VlassofI against the Bolshevik terrorists, then they remainecl witb him when he turned agalnst the Germans. Would tbe Allied nations give them sanctuary and a cbance to live• They did not. General Vlassoff was dellvered to the Moscow '"liberators" just as was President Tiso and bis cabinet. After a mock tria! that followed the pattern of al! Red trlals. Vlassoff was put before a firing squad. But what ls the fate of tbe simple l{ussian farmeťs boy hundreds of them - wbo wore a uniform an carried a rifle, or drove a team of horses pulling a wagon Joad of supplles to aid In the war for tbe West? Any number or t.hem were hquldated and others are �SLOV~ .I A 110w slaves In Slberia. Not being articulate their story is never heard. And who delivered them to death or slavery? The same ones wbo dellvered the Slovaks to the Communlsts at Teheran and Yalta. By the end of the sixth or seventh day there came into the n1lnds or the beleagured people of Prague as well as the hundreds or Slovak, Pollsh and Hungarian evacuees, the susplclon that the Amerlcans were not coming. When for days the Amer!can rorces did not advance a step, but on the contrary moved away trom the city, they knew that something or a Mach!avelian nature had taken place behind the scenes. That they had been sold !nto bondage. All the p!ous words and pretty promlses that had been inade about guaranteeing their liberatlon - were just so many empty words. It became obvlous that political tricksters had ordained in secret conferences that Czecho-Slovakia was to be handed lnto the Red orbit. It was agaínst every tenet of their beliefs. part!cularly the Slovaks, who were avowed and m!l!tant foes or the Communist ideology and who w!th thelr then presldent, Joseph Tlso, had said they would t!ght to the !ast man. Now they realized that they were being conslgned to Red dominat!on. After another day of intermittent bombing and shell fire those of us In Prague heard a jubilant news announcer on the London radlo assure us that "the war in Europe !s over." That same inaccurate statement came from the American operated radlo stations In Germany and France and synchronized. ironlcally enough, with the staccato barking of machlne guns that raked Wenzelsplatz and the occasional deep toned thunder of an aerlal bomb or German shell that ~xploded somewhere too near ror comfort. For the people of Czecho-Slovakia the war was not over. We knew in tbe promises of the Western Powers, had been abandoned to t.he then that the Czechs and Slovaks. also the Hungarlans. the Poles and the other people of Chrlstian nations. who had placed thelr fatth benign brutallties and tyranny of Joseph Stalin. Innuences In Washington hari labored zealously to airl the Kremli n's effort for worldwide destruct!on of Chrl.stlan civllizatlon. and the Slovaks were another pawn In the game. Proof or that innuence and c!tations or those. who were lnstrumental In lntlict!ng that ruln on Centra! :E;urope. bave already been written tnto the publi<' records. Slovakia had enjoyed a measure of freedom only to have lt snatched away anrl her peopl~ consigned to oppression, spollatlon and deportation. far more ghastly than any they had endured in past bistory. But rbeir falth in God and their delermlnation to flght on has 1emalned. • • • WHO SAID IT? - "We are children or freedom. We cannot be s afe except in an environment of freedom. We belleve in freedom as fundamentally as we belleve anythlng In thls world. We belleve In it far everyone In our country. And we don't restrict thls belie! to freedom for ourselves. We belleve that all people in the world are entltled to as much freedom, to develop in thelr own way, as we want ourselves." - (Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, Aprll 22, 1950). � SLOVAKÍA Z5 1 WAS IN SWVAKJA Edward L. Delaney Many Slovaks in America, especially those horn in this country, have but a limited knowledge of their parents' or grandparents' !and. As for the millions of Americans who have no klnsbip with Slovak!a, the word is merely the latter half of Czecho-Slovakia, which had been impressed upon their consclousness by the propaganda bureaus ot tbe late Edward BAnes and bis predecessor Thomas Masaryk. One will search long In those propaganda papers for any paragraphs conveying the impresslon that the Slovaks are the political, cultural or industria! equals o! the Czechs. Perhaps one reason that the Czech rather than the Slovak part of the hyphenated name has been given greater publicity !s that the capital, Prague, is predomlnantly Czech and the majority or visitors from other parta of the world seldom get beyond that city. There is no denying that the Prague of pre-1945 days did possess an individua.l atmosphere and charm for those who are interested In the architectural treasures and historlcal landmarks of Europe's older ci ties. · It was this writer's good fortune to have vis!ted or reslded Cor extended periods in several ot the other European capitals before visiting Prague. Many months later I was afforded the opportunity for a stay of two years in Slovakia. At that Ume the synthetic CzechoSlovakia had ceased to exist. Following nine hundred years or struggling fot; independence, the Republic of Slovakla was establlshed and the people could say that they had attained somethlng approximating tbeir goal. Tbe evening of my arrival in Bratislava, capital of tbe new State, a Professor Doba! called on me at the Carlton Hotel. He lnformed me that he was connected with the State propaganda bureau and that their attache, Streiznic, at tbe Berlin Legatľon, had telegraphed that l was arrlvlng. Foreign correspondents and writers were sought out by them and efforts made to present their country In the best light. An appolntment was made ror me to meet bis cbief, Tido J. Gaspar. Tido J., as I soon learned, was the most photographed man in Slovakia. No news reel was complete witbout bim smiling or band· shaking 'bi~ way into the center of the picture. He was the official greeter An actor with the wbole country as bis stage. In bis !apel, winter or summer, was always a gardenia, a full bloom rose or a cluster of flowers In season. His attire was patterned on tbe rigorously correct Unes 'Óf New York's ófficial greeter, Grover Whalen. In fact one got the lmpresslon that T!do J. Gaspat may bave met or studied tbe life-and-times of Grover Wbalen or the late Jimmy Walker, the most popular mayor New York ever had. for he was their counterpart in Centra! Europe. What can I do for you ?" · he asked after we had exchanged the usua,I formalities of visitor and host. "Nothlng," I informed bim, except to suggest what would be In• teresting · for me from a scen!c as well as a hlstor!cal point ot �26 SLOVAKIA view. That appealed to him. The alert and competent young men or his travel department la!d out an !tlnerary for me whlch covered the pr!ncipal c!tles and !ncluded a short stay in the justly famed H!gh Tatra resorts of the Carpath!an Mounta!ns. Bratislava was at that tlme the Mecca for all who, by any maneuvering, could arrange to go there. World War II was in the early stages. Food restrictions and rationing had been !mposed on a large part of Western and Centra! Europe. A long bridge over the Danube connects Bratislava with Austrla, across which rolls the rail and motor traff!c to Vlenna some s!xty miles away. But !t ls no longer the Vienna of Johann Strauss and Franz Lehar music with food and rink to be enjoyed in lelsurely comfort. Even in those early days of the war all Au.stria and Germany were areas of dismal faces and unappetlzing meals. Bratislava - which many still referred to as Pressburg - was the magnet that drew vlsitors from all Centra! Europe. For in Slovakia was to be had food and rink, muslc and laughter w!thout let, stay, or hindrance. With the exception of the adjoining country of Hungary, no other part of Centra! Europe enjoyed the essentials and many of the luxuries of life, as did the people of Slovakla before the period when Stalin's hordes swarmed over the country like a swarm of locusts and literally laid lt to waste. In most of the propaganda that emanated from various sources in Europe and was eagerly snapped up and exaggerated by the sinlster influences in this country, the impression was conveyed that Germany syphoned off the food resources of Slovakia long before thelr armies actually occupled the country late in the year 1944. Even at the risk of being charged with attempting to mitigate the sins of the Nazi Reglme. I assert that, in those days it was regarded as rare good fortune if one could get lnto the Slovak paradise and there obtain a good meat wlth whatever was desired in the way of w!nes, spirits or liquors, all at prices which, even in those tlmes were reasonabl!l. Until the severe winter of 1944-45, citrus fruits, such as lemons and oranges from Italy or Spain, might he had in the public markets. Such delicacies had been off the markets in Austria and Germany for nearly five years. In addition to al! dairy products, poultry, beef, pork, sugar, <>onfectionery and tobacco wares were obta!nable in Slovak!a with but slight restrlctlons on the amount of certaln items that mlgbt be pur• chased. Also clotbing. s boes and dress materlals were to be had. At tbat time the shops of Austrla and Germany were bare of goods. Just over the Danube from Bratislava the sbops were emoty. Such stores as the Woolworth cbain were barren. Shelves and tables of empty cartons or a single item - usually a wooden toy or some article of glass. Rows of the same useless article. Nothing was to be found that contalned metal, cotton, rubber wool, s!lk - all of which materials were needed for the war supplies. After observing those empty shops in Vienna, Munich, Berlin. Frankfurt and Cologne, it was as a fairyland to enter business establlshments of the same type In Slovakia and f!nrl most anything one might expect to see in shops beyond the warrlng zone. �SLOVAKIA 27 The people or Slovakia knew they were enjoylng a verltable heaven of plenty as compared to thelr neighbors. T heir new status as an independent country began in the spring of 1939. Only a few rersons, whether in the cities. towns or villages, did not realize that they were the envy of people in their neighborlng states. Slovak inde• pendence and self-determinatlon was paying them divldends even in the material advantages they could see and understand. Small wonder that their political leaders were popular and their policles approved. Therefore it was not surprlsing that the majority of the people had only words or praise for President Joseph Tiso and the other of!icials of their young republic. What many dld not reallze was that Germany was syphonlng off thelr surplus or agrlcultural and manufactured products. In exchange the Slovaks dld recelve some goods, such as tools, machinery, electrical equipment and rallway supph es, but for the most part they got only promises to pay in such materials. The debt owing by Germany was increasing with staggerlng amounts each month. But the majority of the people enjoyed thelr temporary prosperity with scant worry about the future. Although there was little doubt in their minds as early as 1942, that the Axls Powers were doomed to defeat, they held to the hope that by somf! political magic they would escape the horrors of war and the pf!nalties to follow. In those days of the Republlc of Slovakla, it was a country or contrasts. Evidences of its centuries old clvilizatlon and customs were to be observed alongside products that were as up to the minute as tomorrow's newspaper. For example: the express tralns making daily trips to and from the high Tatra resorts were powered by Diesel electrlc locomotives, with Jounge. dining and observation cars comparable to those of other European railway systems. But in the country, through which the deluxe traln sped smoothly, one observed also the prlmltlve ox carts on winding dlrt roads. Oxen pulled the ploys and harrows In the fields. Moreover, the branch railway lines that wound around or over the mountains and dipped down into fertile valleys offered the traveler what comfort he might get from a bard wooden bench In a dlmly llgh ted coach behlnd a wood burnlng steam engine of the type used In the western mountain country of the Unlted States seventy-five years ago. Stepping from the modern express on the High Tatra run, to the minlature traln that huffed and puffed its way to Banska Stiavnica was like bridging a gap of t.hree quarters of a century. It chanced that my arrival in Banska Stiavnica synchronized with a heavy snow storm. After plodding through darkness and deep snow for what seemed to be a mlie, the youth. who had dragged my luggage on a sled. ushered me through the portals of a buildlng that had al\ the appearances of an old Roman ruln. It was old and the Romans had probably been there. but lt was not ruined and from the durable manner in which stone and mortar were put into buildings In those middle ages, it will not be in rulns for another few centuries. Tens of thousands of shoes or sandals had worn deep grooves In the stone door step. E lectrlc llghts replaced the candles or oil tapers that had _Iighted the way for guests who came there in other �SLQVAKIA 28 centuries, but that was a bout all the concesslon that had been made to the lJ!Odern world. The building, so l learned from the Sudeten German woman who operated it, was over three hundred years old. The cold room to which I was asslgned boasted a bed whlch was less than three centuries old, but it was about the only modem plece In the antique setting. Although appreciat!ng the charm of archltectural treasures and old Jandmarks, there are limes when one misses the creature comforts that are affored in our modern hotels and homes. Tbat was one of tbose times. But the warmlng effect of a "slivovica" and gobs or excellently roasted goose, i,olisbed off with another potent drink, served to banlsh the fear of \Vaking in that three hundred year old room to find tbat I was frozen to death. Oddly enough one seldom heard about the precious metals that were once part of Slovakia's contrlbutlon to the worlďs wealth. Much of the old currency and art objects in the Hungarian empire and Centra! Europe were made from gold and silver ores that were mined at Kremnica and near Banska Stiavnica. But witb tbe increaslng costs of production and the relatlvely cbeap prlce or the metal during tbe quarter of a century before tbe birth of the Republlc of Slovakia, those -mines had been practically abondoned. World War II altered tbe situation. Centra) Europe was cut off (rom tbe silver producing countries of North and South America. Mining of that metal was steppe<l up. The silver sm.iths of Slovakia again plied thelr trade and many articles of thelr handlwork appeared in the sbops. Througb the perfidlous acts of the signers of the agreements at Teheran and Yalta, Stalin's minions. the Communist confiscators, have no doubt taken possession of tbose sources of wealth. Whatever treasure ts taken from them now, finds its way into the coffers ot the Communists instead of belng rashioned into articles for the use ot people or for objects of art in the churcbes or Cbrist. Like other In• dustries, whicb were created or resulted after tbe establishment of the Republic or Slovakia. tbe mines or Stiavnica are servlng the needs of Stalin. Political charlatans. such as Edward Benes, who were lauded by tbe American press and propagandists. sold tbe Slovaks lnto bondage for less than the thirty pieces o! sllver, wbich was the prlce of J udas for betraying bis Master. Tbey wanted and for a Ume e njoyed persona) aggrandizement and polltlcal power as puppets of tbelr Moscow master. They silenťed any murmur of protest tbat mlgbt have been raised by the people who for nine bundred years had struggled for indepen?.encei · · S LO V A K IA - V ICTI M OF TE.H ERAN A N D Y A LTA Tbe Centra! European satellites around the Soviet star are often to as. being of Slavic origin. Some omnisctent ones give that as one reason why Stalin had little dlfflculty In merging them into tbe Red. orbít. Slovakia, as we know, was one or tbe countrie!\ sold lnto bondage at Teheran and Yalta - tbe completlon or the betrayal belng seen when Eduarq Benes returned in 1945 as puppet president of tbe socalled Czecho-Slovakia and for two years or so made grotesque referŕed �i LOVAKIA efforts to disguise tbe fact tbat Stalin, and not Benes or Klement Gottwahl, was tbe supreme belng In their capltal al Prague. Etbnologlcally lt is not lncorrect to group tbe peoples ot Russla. Poland, Czecboslovakia, Ukralnla, Bulgarla and Yugoslaľia into a Pan-Slav classlflcation. Tbe vast majority of the peoples In lhe socalled Slav nations bas llttle in common witb tbe Russa!ns. In past generations tbere was a bond of Cbristian religion wb!cb ran tbrough all tbe Slav countries, eitber tbe Ortbodox Greek-Russian Cburcb or, in tbe case of Slovakia, Poland, Croatia. lbe Roman Catbollc Cburcb. Tbe rise or atbelstlc Communlsm In Russla was t be deatb knell of Chrlstlanity tbere, bence a splltting wedge was d riven between most of the Balkan and Centra! European countries and t be great Slav domain of tbe Soviet. Slovakla, Poland and Croatla bave been predominantly Roman Catbollc for centuries. Only a small percentage are adherents ot tbe Ortbodox Cburcb. Hence, any contention tbat tbere is a racia! and religlous afflnity among the Slav peoples, wblcb simplifled tb elr enslavement by Moscow, 1s lacklng In support. F urthermore, lt is leaktng out tbrougb cracks and crinks In the Iro!l Curtaln that Stalln ls flnd· ing more tban a llttle dltficulty In merglng the Slovaks lnto bis godless domain. Wben for over eleven centuries a people, sucb as tbe Slovaks wbo bave prayed to God and H is Son, tbe Cbrlst, lt ls not llkely tbat tbe delty of tbe Kremlin can soon purge t belr mlnds or tbe OnA Supreme Being. THE SLOVAK$ ARE CELTS? Also - lf we were to accept the oplnlon of a learned professor it was my good fortune to meet in Banska Bystrica - tbere ls no RACIAL kinshlp between tbe Slovaks and tbe Russians. The Slovaks are not Slavs, asserted tbat student of blstory, but on the contrary ' they are Celts. A professor Doba! In Bratislava had given me a note ót lntroductlon to tbe curator of tbe museum In Banska Bysttica. It de· veloped tbat tbe gentleman knew more about the bistory ot manklnd tban Gl bbons, H. G. Wells, or any ot tbose wbo bave wtltten. 'Welgbty tomes on tbe origin or man, etc. ' 1• Tbls Slovak scbolar, well along In yt>ars, bad ·been lnstrúctor In a unlversity al Constantlnople (before it was called Istanbul) also in Budapest. His speclalty was Sanskrit Arabic, tbe Hebrew language and otber writings on tbe earlíest hlstory or manklnd. "You are Irisb," he said to me, after we had dlsposed of a slivovica and coffee, "and the Irlsh are Celts. A characteristlc ot tbe l rlsb is black halr with blue eyes. Tbat 1s observed among our people here In Slovakla." President Tiso, 1 have already mentioned had black bair and blue eyes. If the professor ,vas endeavorlng to make me feel a racia! kinshlp wlth the Slovaks - the Celtlsh background - he certatnly supported hls oplnion wlth more arguments than black and b lue for hair and eyes. lt was a lengthy thesls he expounded on tbe !:'Ubject, but the glst or lt was that au the people or Europe stem from the origlnal tn h abitants llvlng in tbe region around the Medlterranean, the Jordah, tbe �30 SLOVAKIA Hed and the Dead Sea. The garden of Paradise is supposed to have been in that general part of the Near East. The Celts - as part of the early human family of whlch we have any history, so the professor asserted - were brawny, pioneer lads, pagans in those days, of course, who hunted and explored and pushed their way westward. Some of them got as far as the western s hores of Europe, which we now know as the coast of Brittany in France. From there they launched boats and set up their cabeens in Ireland and Scotland, wbere they are today. Some of those early Ce!ts, acco rding to this student of the subject, decided tha,t the area just west of the Carpathian Mountalns - which is Slovakia - was a pretty good part of the earth to stake out for t heir children and grandchildren for generations to come. So there they stayed. Like the other Celts who went on to I reland, they were converted to Christ!anlty well over a thousand years ago and bave remained steadfast in their faith ever slnce, just as have the fightin' lrish. That, the Banska Bystrica gentleman lnformed me. is another evidence of the kinship, the similarlty in character and traditions. He then escorted me to a conical plie of stones towerlng four stories high, in which were kept many relics and articles that had been dug from the ground in Slovakia over th e past generations. There were cooking utensils, ornaments of solid gold and silver, bits of clothing, crude instruments for killing, such as tbe crusaders of the middle ages carried, and many other articles. Oddly enough, 1 had seen articles almost identically the same in the museum of Dublin, Ireland, on one of my visits there. Those in the Dublin museum had been unearthed in tbe peat bogs and fields of Ireland. The professor had a point there. The traces of clvllization, which we have found, do have similarity. The old gentleman then took me to his home and into the b asement or cellar under it. There were stacks of musty manuscripts, some on tbe oldest known kind of parchment. The signs and symbols on tbey were just hierog!yphics to me, but to that scholar they told stories and epics of hlstory wbich had been written in the mlddle ages. Whether or not tbe Slovaks are Celts and kin ot the Irish and Scots, instead of the Russians, I shall not attempt to prove. But that was the contention of one learned Slovak in Banska Bystrica. S LOV AKIA U NDER THE REDS Of course, now that the Communisl<i are in Slovakia, and Moscow is to be regarded as the fountain head of all culture and wisdom, it is likely that any reference to tbe Cbristian Celts as being remotely related to the Slovaks will be purged trom the people's minds and records. It would be interesting to know what the Communlsts have done to the sbrlne, the mausoleum of Fatber Andrej H linka In Ruzomberok, at wbich I had knelt in prayer a day or so before going to Banska Bystrica. It was Father Hlinka who, by bis zeal, tireless energy and strength of cbaracter, had brought about the political unity and solidarity wh!ch made possi ble tbe creation of the Slovak Republic. Al· thougb lt was short Jlved, it did demonstrate to the world that a �SLOVAKIA 31 Slovak state is feasible and may again be upon the maps of Europe. It would be incorrect to assert that everyone in the Slovak Repub• Ile, durlng the stx years of its exlstence, was enthuslastlcally 01>tlmistic as to lts future in the assembly of nations comprlsíng the European continent. In this connection, it shoula be mentioned, tbat tbe greatly_ publicized pian or proposal said to bave been urged by General Dwight Eisenhower, !or a United States of Europe, may be dlsmissed as wlshful thinking. Such a "United States" could not possibly function at thls stage of world history when half of Europe is free and half s lave, half Christlan and half under the ruthless dominatlon of pagan dictators. Until the situation 1s altered and Communism ls banished from Europe, there can be no lasting unity. To even dlscuss the matter be· fore that 1s accomplished, is utterly Cutile. A SLOVAK TEXAS RANGER SPEAKS HIS MIND A well-to-do industrialist in Bratislava pointed out to me about 1942 what was to be the fate of Slovakla and Europe in the postwar period. He iS not a Slovak but one who resided in Slovakla when it was part oľ the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. then under the gov· ernment of Czechoslovakia and remained to carry on under tbe Re· 1mblic, as did many of Hungarlan, Czecb, Austrian or German natlonality. All enjoyed equ al rights. As be may still be living there, it would be wrong to mentlon bis name, because reprisals might be inflicted on bim, should these words be brought to the attentlon of Red spies in tbis country. On my lnitial visit to bis home, the first objects that met my eyes were a western saddle and a Wlnchester rifle In a regulatlon leather holster. Very much American. Then I got tbe story. He had been a Texas Ranger in bis younger days! There were notches in bis leg from slugs of desperados, several of wbom he had killed in bis encounters wltb tbem along the borders of the Rio Grande. Speaklng five languages fluently and knowing thl! contlnent of Europe thorougbly, his opinions on the current and impending eventa were wor• thy of attentlon "Wbat a misfortune 'Teddy' Roosevelt isn't in the White House today," he said shortly after we met. "Things would be dlfferent. Tbe way lt appears now, Europe is being delivered stralgbt lnto chaos and Communism. You know what that means? I do. Durlng the bloody reign of terror under tbat so-and-so (expressive Texas Ranger term) Bela Kun, I witnessed enough of lt. I was !nterpreter before some ot the committees in Budapest and stared that 'so-and-so' In the eye many a tlme. ľd bave kllled bim if I got the chance, and he knew lt. What is the intention of Franklln Roosevelt? To dellver us over t<_> the Reds aga in?" It was necE>ssary to first destroy the forces or Hitler, I pointed out and then . . . "Then what? Thaťs tbe quest!on. True enougb the Nazl yoke on the German people must be broken and they be brought back to belp in the scheme of thlngs. But you mark my worda, Stalln is the only one who ia winning anything in thia war. He'a not winning it elther. lťs being given to him. Unless bis henchmen are thrown out of t.he �32 SLOVAKIA Balkans, the Baltic states, Poland and all the other spots he will take over soon; the whole of Europe and western civllizatlon wlll go back• ward tor ~ century or so." "You are not so badly off here in Slovakia at present," I ventured to say. "NQnsense. Our freedom here is but temporary, and so 1s the pros• períty, Fooľs gold. You know what tbat 1s? A flasb In the pan, a mi· rage. Can't make this country self-sufficient. It bas to be bltcbed on t& some other part of Europe. Always has been. Tbe Germans deve!• oped it at one period of bistory. It was part of tbe Hapsburg Man· archy, tben the neglected half of Czecho·Slovakla. It wlll be taken over by the Reds after the war - see if ľm not rlght. Could make it a self·determining state, if the otber European powers, supported by America, demanded it. But tbey won't, unless great pressure ls brougbt on the influences now in Washington, London and Paris. But ľm not leaving here. Sure, ľm what tbey cal\ a capitallst, an enemy of the Reds. rve gat that Wincbester and two Colt plstols. Wben they're empty the Reds can take wbaťs left. I won't know mucb about it tben." That was one man's opinion of wbat was transplring in Slovakia anct Centra! Europe at tbat time and wbat he thought tbe future beld far tbem. He was not always so explosive in bis observatlons. but in tbe two years and more I knew bim I learned to respect his estimate of the Europeao scene. though at times I may not have entlrPIY agreed with bim. But was be not right as regards the sell-out of Christianity in Cen· tral Europe? Was he not correct In bis predictlon that only Stalln was wiooing t he war and that bis greatest aldes were then oot In '.\toscow. but In London and Washington? In these days when we art! exhorted to strlve and save and struggle to rescue Europe and ourselves rrom the menace of Communlst cont.rol, let us reflect on tbe facts or tbose who - wltb wbat appears to bave been pre-determlnation - consigned Slovak:a and otber Christian nations to perdition. MEETING PRESIDENT TISO At a dinner party in Bratislava l flrst met Joseph Mracna, formerly Consul far Czecboslovakia in New York. lt developed, wben comparlng notes, t hat we had both salled from New York on the same day in Oecembr 1939. He on tbe Vulcania bound far Llsbon. wbile my voyage was on tbe Excalibur witb Genoa as my destinatlon. Mracna and bis wlfe, who was Viennese. were very pro-American an.d longed far the tlme when they migbt return to tbe Unitd States wher-e he ·had many frlends and acqualntaoces, several of whom were also my friends. Although born In Slovakia, Mracna had spent tbe greater part of bis life in other countries. He attended unlversities in Vienna and Par!s, following wb!ch he had been occup!ed In forelgn countrles even before becoming the Czecboslovakian Consul In New York. He was, at the time I knew him, a member of tbe Foreign Office of the new Sl_ovak .Republlc wbere hls experience and knowledge of affalrs in .several other countries was most usefuL I asked !f he could arrange an audience for me with the Pres!dent. He said he could; and did. �SLOVAKIA 33 When I arr!ved at the presldentlal palace at the time ap polnted for my a udlence, Ka rol Murin, persona) secretary for the Preslden t, cautioned me aga!nst detaining him too long and also mentioned that it would be inappropriate to questlon him on matters of foreign a nd domestlc policy. Mracna, it seems, had lnferred that !t was more of a persona) and human interest chat that I desired with the P res!den t, whlch was correct, but r was also most eager to interview bim on politlcal issues - domestic and foreign. Monsignor J oseph Tiso. or Pres!dent Tiso as he was then, rad!a ted those qua lities so often observed in the successful pol!tlc!an. An!mation, vigor, affability and the obvious desire to make frlends and please people, withont Jettlng it appear as a veneer to mask h!s real thoughts. He greeted me with a hearty llandshake and. after Karol Murin left us. he Jed the way to the corner of bis study in the palace. He was in perfect health, but a physical dlrector would undoubtedly have prescribed more exercise to guard agalnst overwelght whlch ls often the worry of those nearing the half-century mark. His black ha!r was but sparsely sprinkled wlth grey and a radiant tr!nkle llgh ted bis dark blue eyes. Slnce my knowledge of the Slovak language was limited to some dozen or more words and he spoke very little Engllsh, our interview was carried on in German. My openlng remark was that he had established history by belng the first Catholic priest to be the head of a sovere!gn state. "Oh, no," he replied, "there was Selpel in the former Austrian government." Monsi'gnor Seipel, 1 reminded bim, was prime minister but not president. "There was Richelieu." He, too, as l called to bis attention, was prime minister whiJe Louis of France was king. So it seemed that my reference to history was correct. After some minutes or general conversatlon I said that I had been cautioned not to question bim on matters of state, but that I would like to do so. "Please do. Any questions you ask, l'll try to answer the m." WHAT ABOUT POLICIES? Then 1 was free to touch on several topics that lnterested me and most anyone else who had any knowledge of the happen!ngs !nside Central Europe during these days. "It is true that your pol!cies are dictated by Germany?" '"No," he lnsfsted. "In forelgn matters our policies are formu• lated so that tbey do not conflict with those of the Axls Powers. Slnce we are within their orblt lt would be sulcidal to strongly oppose them. But in domestlc matters we form our own pollcles whlch, In many instances, do not coincide wlth those of Germany. German terr!tory as you know is just across the Danube. Only a bridge between us but it !s a long bridge." He smiled when he realized that. I grasvoo his none too subtle meaning. �34 SLOVAKIA "Some of your critics," I then said, "declare that you - and by that I mean the Slovak Republic - are subject to instructions from the Vatican." "The usual charge of the uninformed," he replied. "l have no connection with the Vatican, except through the diplomatic channels, the same as other countries to which the Vatican City has accredited representation. (T here was a Vatlcan diplomatic official resident in Bratislava.) Any communications affecting the religious affairs of our people would be transmitted through the bishops. I am not a bishop. In my capacity as president I have no counection with Rome, other than I have polnted out." All rellgious denominations were accorded the same right of worship, he pointed out. The largest Protestant group was the Lutheran Evangelical, of which Rev. Martin Razus was the accepted leader and who was not only cooperating with bim politically, but they were personal friends. In the eastern part of the state were also many Orthodox or Greek Catholics. AGAIN WITH THE CZECHS ? Was lt likely, l asked, that the Slovaks and Czechs would again llilite in a government after tbe war? That questinon did not receive a direct answer. He remlnded me that trom the very inception of the Czecho-Slovakian government, there had been dlscrimintalon against tbe Slovaks. The autonomy, which had been promlsed, had been denied them. Those who protested and agitated for Slovak rights, such as Hlinka and hlmself, were imprisoned. Something like nine months he had spent in a Czech jail for protestlng the injustices that were lnflicted on t he Slovak people and demanding that their rights be recognized. Later he had been Minister of Health in the Prague cabinet. The Slovaks. he assured me, de· s ired to live in peace and harmony wlth the Czechs, the Poles, the Hungarlans and the Germans, but they a lso believed they were entltled to the "self-determlnation" that had been loudly proclaimed and was said to be the lnalienable right even of all small nations. They were now, for the first Ume in hlstory, an independent country. The problems facing them were many and varied. President Tiso referred wlth considerable pleasure to hls vislt in the Unlted States in 1937. He expressed the wish that the thousands of Slovaks in Canada and the United States be informed of the prospects for bette rment which he felt was due their people through the enactment of the programs of development then under way. NEED OF TEACHERS AND TECHNICIANS Thelr greatest problem, he said, was in finding men and women for the jobs that had been created. "We need technlcians, instructors in t he schools and universities and speciallsts for industria! projects. Our hlgh schools are over-crowded. Students want education and want to get ahead, but we lack sufflcient teachers. Tbe same in many businesses. We bope to meet these needs in tlme." He made the remark that, although s peclallsts and technlclans were urgently needed. he boped tbey would not bave to rely too much on the Germans. Tbat and otber comments indicated hls disllke for �SLOVAKIA 36 tbe small army of German engineers and tecbnicians wbo had come into the country to aid In its development. THE SLOVAKS AND THE RUSSIANS There had been a small token Slovak force sent against the Soviet soon after the outbreak of the German-Soviet hostillties in 1941, but they were withdrawn and tbe men, for the most part, were work· Ing in various industries that contributed products for the war effort. l pointed out to the President that they and tbe Russians were Slavs and was it not consistent that they be on tbe side of tbeir blood brotbers? Tbere was a pause and bis face became very earnest. "Quite true, We are blood brothers. But when tbose blood brotbers are Bolsheviks and Communlsts," doubling his flst and pounding on the table in front of bim Tiso said, ''then we'll fight to tbe last man." Presldent Tiso, like the martyred Draja Mlhailovitcb of Yugosla• vla, Archbisbop Stepinac and Mindszenty of Budapest, did not hesitate to take a firm and defiant stand against the greatest menace Christian civlllzation was then facing - and is still facing today. But because he and tbose other courageous ones were not deceived by tbe propaganda, the pious platitudes and spurious pollcies of tbe Western Powers as regards tbe Soviet, he was marked for sacrifice. The Washington State Department, at tbe bebest of Stalln's puppets, actually delivered bim to tortures and to death. Deny it tbougb they would llke to do today - when Christian leaders llke J osepb Tiso are neetled to weld Central Europe into a strong bastion against the Communlst horde - the bald trutb remains that In 1945 our State Department, as a supine and subserv!ent tool of Stalin. cons!gned T!so and tbe Slovaks t_o Red domination and extermination. Regardless of all arguments to the contrary, Josepb Tiso was slncerely desirous of helping his people - the long oppressed country that for nine hundred years had kept the fires or Chrlstlanlty alive in Centra! Europe. How long those fires will smoulder under the ruth· less domination of Communist destroyers of religion and clvllizatlon, is a grave question. Wbether it was mistaken judgment for tbe Slovaks to accept the assistance of Germany, to achieve the measure of independence they enjoyed, is a matter of oplnion. There was no war in progress wben the Slovak Republlc was born and none was imminent. Tbey revolted against obvlous injustices of tbe Prague Government. The Czech majority could bave compromised and settled tbeir dlfferences. Tbey did not. Wben tbe interna] revolt came. Hitler took advantage of tbe situatlon and proffered bis migbt against outslde aggresslon. Slovakla accepted tbe offer. If Josepb Tiso was a traltor to bis country, then tbe same can be said of Eamon de Valera in Ireland, Mabatma Gbandi in India. or the gallant Marsball Mannerheim in brave little Flnland. AII were patriots fighting for tbeir people. All were persecuted, smeared and discredited, but tbeir names will live in tbe blstories yet to be wrltten. �36 SLOVAKlA TI SO HAD A SENSE OF H UMOR After furtber lengtby dlscussion of varlous toplcs, I was about to depart when Karol Murin came to Inform tbe President tbat tbe Finance Minister was waitlng to see bim. Tlso accompanled me lnto a vast room looklng out across a walled garden in wbicb he sald líe took dally walks. Little dld l know tben tbat, over two year.s later, he would be taking many long walks togetber in another walled enclosure and resume our discussions on tbe worlďs affairs. But tbat is another story. Tbe air of tbe room was cbilly. - A tbougbt occurred to me. "Your Excellency," I said, ·•some persons told me tbat you a re always very seriouJ and earnest. But tbere's a twlnkle ot mirtb In your eyes at times and I bave an Idea tbat there's conslderable humor In you." "Perbaps," he smlled. "Would lt be appropriate If I gave you a little present?" "Wbat, · for instance·?" "I tbougbt tbat in tbese cold days of winter, just for mediclnal purposes, of course, you migbt appreciate a half dozen bottles ot gflod Canadlan whisky." Tlso chuckled and bis eyes lígbted witb the mirth I had noted there before. "ľll be glad to get lt," be' ~'aid. · The half dozen bottles were duly delivered fróm a source In "Bra tislava wbere I knew it was obtainable. Later on Karol Murin ask-ečl me to call again at tbe palace, wben I was given the compllments ot the Presldent and a token of bis appreciation for the whisky. It lš a wonder!ully embroidered table c loth, one of the finest specimens ot Slovak rieedlework that could posslbly be found. It is today my most treasur-ed possession. Very recently a letter came to me trom Karol Murin who ls now a resident of Canada. He informed me that my friend Joseph Mracna, whom I got to know very well in tbe two years following our meeting, had been murdered by the Commnnists. The Slovak patriot, Monslgnor Joseph Tlso, was delivered to Benes and bi.s Red Government by. the United States autborlties to be exterminated, because he was the arch enemy of Communism. Jn 1946, the year when· that assistance to Communist deslgns was. rendered by our offlclals, lt was polltlcally unwise to declare one's 'undying opposition to the forces or antl-God even then seeklng our destruction. Presldent Tiso pald tbe supreme penalty for bis devotion to bis God and bis country. COMES MY TURN TO BE I NVESTIGATED Tbe Carlton Hotel, in Bratislava, where I had reslded for months, was a meeting place for German military officers, legation attaches and couriers, coming and going all the tíme. A physician llving in the hotel, wbom I had called on a tlme or two for professlonal services, informed· me tbat someone at the German Legatlon had quizzed bim about me. The pbyslcian was Slovak, bis wife Hungarlan, enougb to assure me they were not sympathetic to the German otflcials. "That American 1s no frlend ot Germany," the legation omclal sald to the physician. ·'Whaťs he dolng here and why is he permitted to stay ?" �SLOVAKIA 37 Just what the doctor said to dlvert suspicion, I do not know, but within a few days the local police inspectors came to question me a bout my stay in the country, my source ot income, what 1 was doing, and so on. My replles were vague, but apparently satlsfactory for the Slovak police. But it caused me considerable worry. Pressure mlght be brought to bear which would send me across that bridge into German territory. That I must escape at all costs. Again I sought out Joseph Mracna In the Foreign Office. We bad talked frankly before and I knew I could trust hlm. My permit to remaln in Slo· vakia was about to expire and also my passport. Would they deport me? Mracna conferred wlth the proper authoritles, then lnformed me that if I did not become a "public charge·• - that !s, if I had assets on which to live - they . would give me sanctuary. I -would not be detported even at the expiration of permits or passports. I assured him that my persona! assets were sufficient to maintaln me for an extended period. 1 GO TO PIESTAN Y At the suggestion of Mracna, I arranged to live in Piestany, a health resort about sixty mlles from Bratislava which !s famed for its hot baths. It was far enough from the capltal that the German mllitary officlals or Gestapo agents wer not prowling around. Al· though the Republic malntalned its own police and defense force, judiciary, customs and ·immigration officials - no one arrlving or departing without tbeir sanction - there seemed to be a tacit agreement that the German military and legation oftlcials could come there for extended holidays. They came malnly [or food and drink, which weré almost non-existent in Germany and Austria at that tlme. Piestany is world famed. The baths - mud and hÓt pools - are beneficial for those wlth rheumatlsm, arthritls and other ills. Before the war there were visitors from as far away as India, Africa and l;loth North and South America. The two largest hotels - one on an island of the Vah River, and on which are the hot springs had been taken over and operated by the Interior Department ot the Slovak State. Soon after I went there as a voluntary "internee," Piestany became tbe headquart.ers of many involuntary internees of the Slovak Government. First to arrive were twenty-six - including the children - ot the !talian dlplomatlc corps in Bratislava. The !talian Minister, Cortese. had declared his allegiance to the antl-Mussolini, or Badoglio government, which jolned forces with the Western Allies. Naturally, he and bis entlre staff who shared his sympathles were anathema to the Germans. With the setting up of the Fascist forces in Northern Haly, pressure was brought to bear on Slovakia to deport the anti Fascists to the northern part of Italy which was still occupied by Germany and cooperating with it. TISO, TH E H U MAN ITARIAN But. contrary to generally circulated statements that President Tiso was a puppet ot Germany, he deflnitely refused to llsten to the suggestlons or demands of the Germans. nor wonld he consent to the Itallan Legatlon staff belng interned In Germany, which was a �38 SLOVAK.IA later idea of the Germans. So wlthin six weeks or my taking up residence in the Grand Royal Hotel in Piestany as a lone "internee," twenty-slx Italians moved in together with two attaches of the Slovak Foreign Offlce a.s guardians or "watchers." Two of the arrivals were Count Giovanni Revedin and his Amerlcan-born wife with whom I had become acquainted previously. The question was put to the Countess and the Foreign omce "guardians" "Are internees being held incommunicado?" The answer was no. I was not restralned from associating with them. In ternment in Piestany was not so onerous for them, because, unofflcially, Slovakia was more pro-Allied than pro-Axis. It is doubt· ful if any of the Allied countries were as considerate of interned subjects of an "enemy" nation as Slovakla was for those ot the !talian Diplomatlc corps, now no longer officially welcome. Later on arrived some from the Rumanian and Bnlgarian legations also. They were quartered at the governmenťs expense in one of the country's best hotels, permitted to retain their motor cars. though restricted in the use of them. If, however, any member of the corps found it necessary to go to Bratislava. some slxty miles distant, the Foreign Office representative granted permlssion. Usuaiiy lt was for a trip there and return the same day. Otherwise they were free - as was the case wlth myself - to roam all about the countryside, to nearby villages, to go flshing, bathing In the splendld pool in summer or in the Vah River and getting what relaxation they might need by attending the Jocal movie theatres, uslng tbe s kating rinks in wlnter and the tennis courts In summer. Slnce they were cut off from their sources of income, the Slovak government advanced them a small amonnt of spending money at regular intervals, pald hospital bills for those who required sneh hospitalizatlon, and very large fees for speciallsts who performed operatlons on some members or the group. It was convenient for me that friends with diplomatic immunity were there. The manuscrlpts on which I was then working would have ticketed me into one of the Nazi concentration camps had they fallen into their hands. Bnt Count Revedin as well as members of the Minister's family kept them in their possession - safe from search and seizure. Another who had taken ,;anctuary there was Siegfried Geyer, a dramatlst well known in Germany, Austria and Hungary, whose plays had been performed in Switzerland, Sweden, London and New York. One of his comedles, "Candle Light," was presented in Londoo where it ran for a year. Later it was brought to New York. where lt had some success. then was purchased by Warner Brothers and filmed, as were other of bis plays. TISO NOT AN ANTI-SEMITE The purge or J ews In Austria forced GPyer to flee into Slovakia where he was given presidential permission to remain. That same permission was granted to others I knew personally. One of them was an official of the Slovak travel bureau and another was an engineer for the resort and bealth department who resided wlth bis wlfe in Piestany and whom I vlsited many Limes. Another was a physician attached to tbe government hospital. Hence the base accusatlons of �SLOVAKIA 39 anti-Sem!tism that were hurled against Tiso - when the Reds de• manded his death - were false and easily proven to be noth!ng but falsehoods. Siegfried Geyer and I were work!ng daily on some manuscrlpts. Through underground communication I had been warned that milltary forces were to occupy the country. Two nights later the w!fe or a Slovak cabinet minister came to inform me that in a few hours the Germans would be in Piestany. Geyer was with me at the time. He felt that it was h!s death knell. It was two weeks or more before any action was taken toward deportation of the Jews. On the night of September 8, 1944, Geyer Jeft me, saying that we would meet at eleven in the morning. I never saw bim again. Through an acquaintance I learned that he wa s picked off the street the morning after leaving me and was carted away in a blue motor van. Three others of my acquaintances vanished the same day. For years they had found sanctuary and In many instances exceptional employment in the Slovak Republic, and this is asserted in direct contradiction of generally circulated propaganda by pressure groups that President Tiso and bis cablnet members aided in tbe extermlnation of the J ews. WAR COMES TO S LOVAK I A - GERMANS TAKE OVER In the sixteen months of my residence tbere, before the German occupation I had observed growing resentment against their powerful nelghbor. Now it became more bitter though the people were prudent enough not to make any outward sign of it. A pigmy does not force a quarrel with a giant. Tbe !talian diplomatic internees merited the attentlon of the German occupatlon officials. First tbeir motor cars were lmpounded. Then they were moved to tbe other hotel an an island In the Vah River, the two bridges a cross the river being circled with barricades and sentries posted at eacb end. A curfew edict went lnto effect and miles of barbed wire barriers were thrown around the city. Trenches and embankments were dug on tbree sides of tbe city, fleld telephones and power cables being strung along the streets and far into the country side. Tbls front was to be held at all costs - so lt was said. Slovakla now began to realize that all war fronts were closing in on ber. For over five years tbey had boped and prayed that this destructlon would not be vislted on them. But now it was at tbelr door. Tbe morning following the German occupatlon I went to tbe office of Inspector Vavro of tbe Slovak police. Prevlously wben my twelve month residence permit had exp!red I had sougbt bim. He merely sm!led at my fears. "Are you loslng any sleep over lt?" he asked. "Go away from here. l've forgotten you're in Piestany." An "enemy" subject, wbicb technically I was, could not bope for greater consideratlon. But now Vavro was no longer in complete autbority. His advice. however, was tbe same as before. "Didn't I teli you long ago that l've forgotten that you are here?" he said. "Return to your bouse and stay out of sight for a wb!le. My report witb your name on lt bas been conveniently misla!d. It will be some tiroe before tbe Germans tlncl :,ou." �40 SLOVAKlA Tbree days later men visited me, saying that tbey were wlth tbe German State Police. Tbere was tbe usual routine question!ng. Identlfication papers; occupation; slnce wbat date and wby was I residing' In the country? Wbat ls contained In the luggage and what !s in the mass of manuscripts, papers, etc.? Joseph Mracna had given me a letter to be sbown at just such times. It came lnto view and served to substantlate my statement tbat tbe Slovak autborities were acquainted with the contents of my bulging brief case. After a tborougb searcb of the place in whlch tbey found no radio, camera, weapons, photograpbs or otber susplcious appearing articles, the three men departed. Tension tbrougboul the country was becoming more noticable. Reports ŕlltering through from the eastern boundaries of the country were terrlfying. The Germans, being forced westward, forced all the villagers to evacuate ·with them' - or be shot. Their houses were burned. But before doing so they were stripped of everythlng In the way of metal. Door hinges, locks, farm machinery, tools and lmplements were taken away. Long convoys of half starved and bedraggled evacuees from the eastern slde of Slovakla and also from Hungary woved westward by wagon and on foot. Sometimes for eight or ten hours at a time those wretched and homeless people were coming at snalľs pace over t he. pHls, through the fringe of Piestany, and then vanished over the western horizon. " LIBERATION" BY THE REDS But even worse fate awaited those who eluded the German evacuation decrees. The Red "liberators" advancing into the eastern areas of Slovakia confiscated what might have been overlooked by the Germans. They roundetl up and deported children; no one seemed to know wbere. It was rumored they were sent to Russia. So between the plague of Germany, and the terrorlsts of the Soviet, poor llttle Slovakla had little to choose. They were caught between two enemies. Pressure was brought to bear on tbe Slovak government to hand the interned diplomats over to Germany. I took a message for them to tbe Swlss Consulate In Bratislava, for transmission to the outside world. It was hoped that if publicity was given their pllght in the Swiss and other neutra! papers, it would have some reaction, and also become known to the Allied authorlties. The messages and reports in Switzerland did perhaps seŕve to alter the announced lntention of the Germans to dellver the Ital!ans lnto the hands of the Mussolini faction in North Italy, who mlght have shot them as traltors. Instead they were sent first to Vienna and then to Sllesia. Amerlcan flyers who made forced landings or were shot down over Slovakia were taken in hand by the Slovak authorities. Tbose who requlred bospitalization were given tbe best the capltal atrorded - whlch was excellent. Karol Murin told me on · one of my vlslts to the Palace that, on instructions trom Presldent Tlso, he and bis wlfe s ougbt out the Amerlcan prlsoiiers in the hospltals to see that nothlng was left undone for tbeir comfort. Even bouquets of flowers were sent to brighten tbelr rooms. ··· ~- ' �SLÔVlinA 41 What a contrast trom the shameful treatment that was accorded Pres!dent Tiso, Karol Murin and members of their cab!net when they voluntarlly sought sanctuary In the American zone of occupatlon. More on this will follow. The Germans ended all the consideration and special attention that was given war prisoners. The German military officials took them, as well as many Slovaks, despite protests from the President and Foreign Minister, Stephen Tiso. Again it was a case of the pigmy and the giant. Might was right. The story of tbe gbastly occupation and betrayal will be told later. THE BEGINNI N G OF THE END On New Year's Eve of 1945 I was wltb frlends In Piestany. 'ľbe forbidden {by the Germans) broadcasts of tbe London radlo w1:,re turned on for the latest news in Czecb, German and Englisb. Also that evening Adolf Hitler broadcast a brlef greeting to der Deutscber Volk - hls "friends." Some of the llsteners insisted that lt was not Hitler's voice. Otbers expressed the opinion tbat lt was "der Fubrer" but a very mucb changed volce. It was generally believed tbat the attempted assassination of six montbs previously had left some per• manent impaiľment. During tbe iatter part of 1944 motlon pictures of him - wblcb was unusual - were always taken at a distance and tbere was a no ticeable awkwardness of one arm. It was rumored that he sustained other injuries. The London radlo gave lengthy discussions on tbe plaos for the liberation and rehabilitation of Centra! Europe. We assumed that there was complete accord among the Allied Powers and that tbe views and oplnlons expressed represented tbose of tbe United States. The piana were thoae of the Red dominated group of Edwa rd Benes and foreto ld th e diaaster t hat was inevitab le. Anyone with even the most meagre knowledge of European history knew that the rulers of the Kremlin hoped to dominate and absorb all tbe S lav people. Therefore, it was alarmlng for the people in Centra! Europe to observe the manner in whlch the Allled Powers permitted the Soviet to occupy the Balkans, move up into Hungary and tben sweep lnto Slovakla. As my friends In Piestany and Bratislava pointed out re. peatedly, the Allied Powers, and particularly America, should have re• membered what bappened in the Ilaltlc states, In Flnland and in Poland. It was tbe pattern of Red absorb tion and complete control, once they planted foot on the soil o f a country. The only exceptlon was that of Spalo - the slngle country where the Communlsts ~uf• fered milltary defeat. Offlcial Washington, let us remem ber also, was cooperatlve with the Communist terrorists in Spain at that Ume - regardless of the denials that some or the hierarchy of the e lect now wish to read lnto the record. Moscow's deslgns in Spain, in the Baltic states, In the Balkans and no w in Centra! Europe were so obvious as the Pyramlds on the Sahara. The milltary o ccupatlon was but the prelude to permanen t lncorpo ration lnto the Red orblt. After the Red army occupied Budapest, whlch for centurles had been a bastlon of Chrlstlanlty against the antl-Christlan forces on the East, it left only Bratislava as the lmportant city of the Danube between Budapest and Vienna. Mlllions of kronen In materials and mil• �42 SLOVAK.IA lions of man-power hours were expended on the defenses. The Eastern Front, lt seemed, would soon be in our front yards. When the day and night booming of artlllery began to be hear d in Piestany, many felt it wise to move westward. A famlly I knew In Bratislava had obtalned a motor truck and fuel two precious thlngs - intending to flee into southern Bavaria. By phone from Piestany I arranged to share space in the Bavaria-bound truck. But when l arrived there by train trom Piestany the truck had a\ready left. Now, where to go or what to do? Huge artlllery pieces were being wheeled through the str eets westward. German milltary supplies in motor cars and wagons trundled westward. Cattle and horses were being driven in the directlon of Vienna. It is doubtful if they got far along that road before the Hed army captured and butchered them. OFF TO PRAGUE An acquaintance advised me to Jeave for Prague as rall transport was still operating in that direction. When I inquired about visa or permit to enter the ·'Protectorate" and officiaľs secretary informed me that "tbe bars are down; you may go anywhere you can obtain transportation." At tbe railway station J got a ticket for Prague. A train was scbeduled to leave that evening about six. Tbe station was a seething mad-house. Pandemonium, orrlerly confusion, bundreds of terrorstricken people with bundreds of bags. bundles and babies trying to get somewbere - anywbere. In tbe black-out, long after slx o'clock, tbere was an air-raid warning. Police herded people into a vast underground shelter that had been tunnelled into a rocky bili aero.ss the railway tracks. MorP .:onfusion, anxiety and wondering if we would ever get out of the stricken city. The train - scheduled for six o'clock - left in tbe thickening blackness of the night about eleven. People were packed in to suffocation. At a town called Cuty. on thP. Crontier, l transferred to anotber train tbat landed me in Brno, now Czechoslovakia, about eight in the morning. After snatching four hours sleep at the Grand Hotel, I contrived to board (without the special military permit) an express train which landed me in Prague about mldnight. All train service into Slovakia ended tbe morning after I de• parted. Had J delayed a few hours longer tbe Reds would have inc luded me in their spreading net of "liberation." Even the most unobservant person must bave sensed the uneasiness of the Germans then in Prague. Czechs and the evacuees from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland knew it was but a matter of weeks or days when the American and British forces would be in Berlin. Tb'at meant the end of the war. but what then? Every day motor trucks and cars of all kinds were being loacled with bousehold goods, cats, dogs, bird cages, German women and children. Then at evening they rolled off into the darkness. Branche.• of trees or other <'amouflaging uas used to disguise the vebicles as much as possible. They dld not chance mass movements or evacuees in dayl!gbt llours. �SLOVAKIA 43 REVOLUTION AND REVENGE Friday evening, May Fourtb, marked tbe beglnning ot tbe uprising against six long years ot German dictatorsbip. A mysterious and ominous atmospbere pervaded Prague. Crowds began convergmg in Wenselplatz - as it was then called_ For wbat? No one seemed to know. Sometbing was to bappen. A revolution was in tbe making. Little by little tbings occurred. Men, women and boys began defacing German words on tbe fronts of business establ!shments. Tbey commenced to alter tbe street signs - - which were in dual language - Czecb and German_ Tbe electric trams were halted by tbe crowd Then matters became more serious. Sirens screamed, military cars pushed througb tbe crowds, commands were barked over t.he loud speakers in the s quare. Small armoured tanks rolled into view. A plstol shot, a woman's scream, crowds surging back against tbe walls and the rattle of machlne guns Four days and nigbts tbe battle continued. The Prague raáio remained in Czech hands and was their greatest asset. Pleas from it were directed to the American forces, said to be thirty, tben twenty, tben ten miles away. Professor Matousek, director of tbe station, would beg in broken English for tbem to hurry. The Stars and Stripes waved from the top;, of buildings and in many windows. An enthusiastic welcome would be glven tbeir liberators. The question asked by hundreds was: '·When do you think tbe Americans wíll get here?" Little did they know then that they would never arrive_ That Prague and the Czechs, together with the millions of Slovaks, had b een sold down-river by Eduard Benes in a secret deal entered into with Stalin. A deal that had the benediction of Franklin D. Roosevelt who was even then loudly prating about saving the Western World from the Nazi destroyers of Christianity, only to be consigned to the Soviet, the greatest destroyers and enemies of Christian civilization since the Cruclfixion. THE SAD AWAKENING On the sixth day of the revolution in which bundreds or !!ves and millions in property was destroyed. General Vlassoff's troopers were s linking along the shattered fronts of buildings in Wenzelspaltz. These were the Russians, mostly from the Ukraine, who had first been equipped by the Germans to fight thP Communists. Now they turned on the Germans and were belping to drive tbem out of Prague. The thought came to me at the time: what will be tbe fate or these pol!tlcal pawns? They followed tbeir leader, General VlassofI against the Bolshevik terrorists, then they remainecl witb him when he turned agalnst the Germans. Would tbe Allied nations give them sanctuary and a cbance to live• They did not. General Vlassoff was dellvered to the Moscow '"liberators" just as was President Tiso and bis cabinet. After a mock tria! that followed the pattern of al! Red trlals. Vlassoff was put before a firing squad. But what ls the fate of tbe simple l{ussian farmeťs boy hundreds of them - wbo wore a uniform an carried a rifle, or drove a team of horses pulling a wagon Joad of supplles to aid In the war for tbe West? Any number or t.hem were hquldated and others are �SLOV~ .I A 110w slaves In Slberia. Not being articulate their story is never heard. And who delivered them to death or slavery? The same ones wbo dellvered the Slovaks to the Communlsts at Teheran and Yalta. By the end of the sixth or seventh day there came into the n1lnds or the beleagured people of Prague as well as the hundreds or Slovak, Pollsh and Hungarian evacuees, the susplclon that the Amerlcans were not coming. When for days the Amer!can rorces did not advance a step, but on the contrary moved away trom the city, they knew that something or a Mach!avelian nature had taken place behind the scenes. That they had been sold !nto bondage. All the p!ous words and pretty promlses that had been inade about guaranteeing their liberatlon - were just so many empty words. It became obvlous that political tricksters had ordained in secret conferences that Czecho-Slovakia was to be handed lnto the Red orbit. It was agaínst every tenet of their beliefs. part!cularly the Slovaks, who were avowed and m!l!tant foes or the Communist ideology and who w!th thelr then presldent, Joseph Tlso, had said they would t!ght to the !ast man. Now they realized that they were being conslgned to Red dominat!on. After another day of intermittent bombing and shell fire those of us In Prague heard a jubilant news announcer on the London radlo assure us that "the war in Europe !s over." That same inaccurate statement came from the American operated radlo stations In Germany and France and synchronized. ironlcally enough, with the staccato barking of machlne guns that raked Wenzelsplatz and the occasional deep toned thunder of an aerlal bomb or German shell that ~xploded somewhere too near ror comfort. For the people of Czecho-Slovakia the war was not over. We knew in tbe promises of the Western Powers, had been abandoned to t.he then that the Czechs and Slovaks. also the Hungarlans. the Poles and the other people of Chrlstian nations. who had placed thelr fatth benign brutallties and tyranny of Joseph Stalin. Innuences In Washington hari labored zealously to airl the Kremli n's effort for worldwide destruct!on of Chrl.stlan civllizatlon. and the Slovaks were another pawn In the game. Proof or that innuence and c!tations or those. who were lnstrumental In lntlict!ng that ruln on Centra! :E;urope. bave already been written tnto the publi<' records. Slovakia had enjoyed a measure of freedom only to have lt snatched away anrl her peopl~ consigned to oppression, spollatlon and deportation. far more ghastly than any they had endured in past bistory. But rbeir falth in God and their delermlnation to flght on has 1emalned. • • • WHO SAID IT? - "We are children or freedom. We cannot be s afe except in an environment of freedom. We belleve in freedom as fundamentally as we belleve anythlng In thls world. We belleve In it far everyone In our country. And we don't restrict thls belie! to freedom for ourselves. We belleve that all people in the world are entltled to as much freedom, to develop in thelr own way, as we want ourselves." - (Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, Aprll 22, 1950). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1952, Vol. 2 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 1952 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 3), March 1952.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 4), August 1952.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 5), December 1952.</li> </ul> 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 SLOVAKÍA Z5 1 WAS IN SWVAKJA Edward L. Delaney Many Slovaks in America, especially those horn in this country, have but a limited knowledge of their parents' or grandparents' !and. As for the millions of Americans who have no klnsbip with Slovak!a, the word is merely the latter half of Czecho-Slovakia, which had been impressed upon their consclousness by the propaganda bureaus ot tbe late Edward BAnes and bis predecessor Thomas Masaryk. One will search long In those propaganda papers for any paragraphs conveying the impresslon that the Slovaks are the political, cultural or industria! equals o! the Czechs. Perhaps one reason that the Czech rather than the Slovak part of the hyphenated name has been given greater publicity !s that the capital, Prague, is predomlnantly Czech and the majority or visitors from other parta of the world seldom get beyond that city. There is no denying that the Prague of pre-1945 days did possess an individua.l atmosphere and charm for those who are interested In the architectural treasures and historlcal landmarks of Europe's older ci ties. · It was this writer's good fortune to have vis!ted or reslded Cor extended periods in several ot the other European capitals before visiting Prague. Many months later I was afforded the opportunity for a stay of two years in Slovakia. At that Ume the synthetic CzechoSlovakia had ceased to exist. Following nine hundred years or struggling fot; independence, the Republic of Slovakla was establlshed and the people could say that they had attained somethlng approximating tbeir goal. Tbe evening of my arrival in Bratislava, capital of tbe new State, a Professor Doba! called on me at the Carlton Hotel. He lnformed me that he was connected with the State propaganda bureau and that their attache, Streiznic, at tbe Berlin Legatľon, had telegraphed that l was arrlvlng. Foreign correspondents and writers were sought out by them and efforts made to present their country In the best light. An appolntment was made ror me to meet bis cbief, Tido J. Gaspar. Tido J., as I soon learned, was the most photographed man in Slovakia. No news reel was complete witbout bim smiling or band· shaking 'bi~ way into the center of the picture. He was the official greeter An actor with the wbole country as bis stage. In bis !apel, winter or summer, was always a gardenia, a full bloom rose or a cluster of flowers In season. His attire was patterned on tbe rigorously correct Unes 'Óf New York's ófficial greeter, Grover Whalen. In fact one got the lmpresslon that T!do J. Gaspat may bave met or studied tbe life-and-times of Grover Wbalen or the late Jimmy Walker, the most popular mayor New York ever had. for he was their counterpart in Centra! Europe. What can I do for you ?" · he asked after we had exchanged the usua,I formalities of visitor and host. "Nothlng," I informed bim, except to suggest what would be In• teresting · for me from a scen!c as well as a hlstor!cal point ot 26 SLOVAKIA view. That appealed to him. The alert and competent young men or his travel department la!d out an !tlnerary for me whlch covered the pr!ncipal c!tles and !ncluded a short stay in the justly famed H!gh Tatra resorts of the Carpath!an Mounta!ns. Bratislava was at that tlme the Mecca for all who, by any maneuvering, could arrange to go there. World War II was in the early stages. Food restrictions and rationing had been !mposed on a large part of Western and Centra! Europe. A long bridge over the Danube connects Bratislava with Austrla, across which rolls the rail and motor traff!c to Vlenna some s!xty miles away. But !t ls no longer the Vienna of Johann Strauss and Franz Lehar music with food and rink to be enjoyed in lelsurely comfort. Even in those early days of the war all Au.stria and Germany were areas of dismal faces and unappetlzing meals. Bratislava - which many still referred to as Pressburg - was the magnet that drew vlsitors from all Centra! Europe. For in Slovakia was to be had food and rink, muslc and laughter w!thout let, stay, or hindrance. With the exception of the adjoining country of Hungary, no other part of Centra! Europe enjoyed the essentials and many of the luxuries of life, as did the people of Slovakla before the period when Stalin's hordes swarmed over the country like a swarm of locusts and literally laid lt to waste. In most of the propaganda that emanated from various sources in Europe and was eagerly snapped up and exaggerated by the sinlster influences in this country, the impression was conveyed that Germany syphoned off the food resources of Slovakia long before thelr armies actually occupled the country late in the year 1944. Even at the risk of being charged with attempting to mitigate the sins of the Nazi Reglme. I assert that, in those days it was regarded as rare good fortune if one could get lnto the Slovak paradise and there obtain a good meat wlth whatever was desired in the way of w!nes, spirits or liquors, all at prices which, even in those tlmes were reasonabl!l. Until the severe winter of 1944-45, citrus fruits, such as lemons and oranges from Italy or Spain, might he had in the public markets. Such delicacies had been off the markets in Austria and Germany for nearly five years. In addition to al! dairy products, poultry, beef, pork, sugar, <>onfectionery and tobacco wares were obta!nable in Slovak!a with but slight restrlctlons on the amount of certaln items that mlgbt be pur• chased. Also clotbing. s boes and dress materlals were to be had. At tbat time the shops of Austrla and Germany were bare of goods. Just over the Danube from Bratislava the sbops were emoty. Such stores as the Woolworth cbain were barren. Shelves and tables of empty cartons or a single item - usually a wooden toy or some article of glass. Rows of the same useless article. Nothing was to be found that contalned metal, cotton, rubber wool, s!lk - all of which materials were needed for the war supplies. After observing those empty shops in Vienna, Munich, Berlin. Frankfurt and Cologne, it was as a fairyland to enter business establlshments of the same type In Slovakia and f!nrl most anything one might expect to see in shops beyond the warrlng zone. SLOVAKIA 27 The people or Slovakia knew they were enjoylng a verltable heaven of plenty as compared to thelr neighbors. T heir new status as an independent country began in the spring of 1939. Only a few rersons, whether in the cities. towns or villages, did not realize that they were the envy of people in their neighborlng states. Slovak inde• pendence and self-determinatlon was paying them divldends even in the material advantages they could see and understand. Small wonder that their political leaders were popular and their policles approved. Therefore it was not surprlsing that the majority of the people had only words or praise for President Joseph Tiso and the other of!icials of their young republic. What many dld not reallze was that Germany was syphonlng off thelr surplus or agrlcultural and manufactured products. In exchange the Slovaks dld recelve some goods, such as tools, machinery, electrical equipment and rallway supph es, but for the most part they got only promises to pay in such materials. The debt owing by Germany was increasing with staggerlng amounts each month. But the majority of the people enjoyed thelr temporary prosperity with scant worry about the future. Although there was little doubt in their minds as early as 1942, that the Axls Powers were doomed to defeat, they held to the hope that by somf! political magic they would escape the horrors of war and the pf!nalties to follow. In those days of the Republlc of Slovakla, it was a country or contrasts. Evidences of its centuries old clvilizatlon and customs were to be observed alongside products that were as up to the minute as tomorrow's newspaper. For example: the express tralns making daily trips to and from the high Tatra resorts were powered by Diesel electrlc locomotives, with Jounge. dining and observation cars comparable to those of other European railway systems. But in the country, through which the deluxe traln sped smoothly, one observed also the prlmltlve ox carts on winding dlrt roads. Oxen pulled the ploys and harrows In the fields. Moreover, the branch railway lines that wound around or over the mountains and dipped down into fertile valleys offered the traveler what comfort he might get from a bard wooden bench In a dlmly llgh ted coach behlnd a wood burnlng steam engine of the type used In the western mountain country of the Unlted States seventy-five years ago. Stepping from the modern express on the High Tatra run, to the minlature traln that huffed and puffed its way to Banska Stiavnica was like bridging a gap of t.hree quarters of a century. It chanced that my arrival in Banska Stiavnica synchronized with a heavy snow storm. After plodding through darkness and deep snow for what seemed to be a mlie, the youth. who had dragged my luggage on a sled. ushered me through the portals of a buildlng that had al\ the appearances of an old Roman ruln. It was old and the Romans had probably been there. but lt was not ruined and from the durable manner in which stone and mortar were put into buildings In those middle ages, it will not be in rulns for another few centuries. Tens of thousands of shoes or sandals had worn deep grooves In the stone door step. E lectrlc llghts replaced the candles or oil tapers that had _Iighted the way for guests who came there in other SLQVAKIA 28 centuries, but that was a bout all the concesslon that had been made to the lJ!Odern world. The building, so l learned from the Sudeten German woman who operated it, was over three hundred years old. The cold room to which I was asslgned boasted a bed whlch was less than three centuries old, but it was about the only modem plece In the antique setting. Although appreciat!ng the charm of archltectural treasures and old Jandmarks, there are limes when one misses the creature comforts that are affored in our modern hotels and homes. Tbat was one of tbose times. But the warmlng effect of a "slivovica" and gobs or excellently roasted goose, i,olisbed off with another potent drink, served to banlsh the fear of \Vaking in that three hundred year old room to find tbat I was frozen to death. Oddly enough one seldom heard about the precious metals that were once part of Slovakia's contrlbutlon to the worlďs wealth. Much of the old currency and art objects in the Hungarian empire and Centra! Europe were made from gold and silver ores that were mined at Kremnica and near Banska Stiavnica. But witb tbe increaslng costs of production and the relatlvely cbeap prlce or the metal during tbe quarter of a century before tbe birth of the Republlc of Slovakia, those -mines had been practically abondoned. World War II altered tbe situation. Centra) Europe was cut off (rom tbe silver producing countries of North and South America. Mining of that metal was steppe<l up. The silver sm.iths of Slovakia again plied thelr trade and many articles of thelr handlwork appeared in the sbops. Througb the perfidlous acts of the signers of the agreements at Teheran and Yalta, Stalin's minions. the Communist confiscators, have no doubt taken possession of tbose sources of wealth. Whatever treasure ts taken from them now, finds its way into the coffers ot the Communists instead of belng rashioned into articles for the use ot people or for objects of art in the churcbes or Cbrist. Like other In• dustries, whicb were created or resulted after tbe establishment of the Republic or Slovakia. tbe mines or Stiavnica are servlng the needs of Stalin. Political charlatans. such as Edward Benes, who were lauded by tbe American press and propagandists. sold tbe Slovaks lnto bondage for less than the thirty pieces o! sllver, wbich was the prlce of J udas for betraying bis Master. Tbey wanted and for a Ume e njoyed persona) aggrandizement and polltlcal power as puppets of tbelr Moscow master. They silenťed any murmur of protest tbat mlgbt have been raised by the people who for nine bundred years had struggled for indepen?.encei · · S LO V A K IA - V ICTI M OF TE.H ERAN A N D Y A LTA Tbe Centra! European satellites around the Soviet star are often to as. being of Slavic origin. Some omnisctent ones give that as one reason why Stalin had little dlfflculty In merging them into tbe Red. orbít. Slovakia, as we know, was one or tbe countrie!\ sold lnto bondage at Teheran and Yalta - tbe completlon or the betrayal belng seen when Eduarq Benes returned in 1945 as puppet president of tbe socalled Czecho-Slovakia and for two years or so made grotesque referŕed i LOVAKIA efforts to disguise tbe fact tbat Stalin, and not Benes or Klement Gottwahl, was tbe supreme belng In their capltal al Prague. Etbnologlcally lt is not lncorrect to group tbe peoples ot Russla. Poland, Czecboslovakia, Ukralnla, Bulgarla and Yugoslaľia into a Pan-Slav classlflcation. Tbe vast majority of the peoples In lhe socalled Slav nations bas llttle in common witb tbe Russa!ns. In past generations tbere was a bond of Cbristian religion wb!cb ran tbrough all tbe Slav countries, eitber tbe Ortbodox Greek-Russian Cburcb or, in tbe case of Slovakia, Poland, Croatia. lbe Roman Catbollc Cburcb. Tbe rise or atbelstlc Communlsm In Russla was t be deatb knell of Chrlstlanity tbere, bence a splltting wedge was d riven between most of the Balkan and Centra! European countries and t be great Slav domain of tbe Soviet. Slovakla, Poland and Croatla bave been predominantly Roman Catbollc for centuries. Only a small percentage are adherents ot tbe Ortbodox Cburcb. Hence, any contention tbat tbere is a racia! and religlous afflnity among the Slav peoples, wblcb simplifled tb elr enslavement by Moscow, 1s lacklng In support. F urthermore, lt is leaktng out tbrougb cracks and crinks In the Iro!l Curtaln that Stalln ls flnd· ing more tban a llttle dltficulty In merglng the Slovaks lnto bis godless domain. Wben for over eleven centuries a people, sucb as tbe Slovaks wbo bave prayed to God and H is Son, tbe Cbrlst, lt ls not llkely tbat tbe delty of tbe Kremlin can soon purge t belr mlnds or tbe OnA Supreme Being. THE SLOVAK$ ARE CELTS? Also - lf we were to accept the oplnlon of a learned professor it was my good fortune to meet in Banska Bystrica - tbere ls no RACIAL kinshlp between tbe Slovaks and tbe Russians. The Slovaks are not Slavs, asserted tbat student of blstory, but on the contrary ' they are Celts. A professor Doba! In Bratislava had given me a note ót lntroductlon to tbe curator of tbe museum In Banska Bysttica. It de· veloped tbat tbe gentleman knew more about the bistory ot manklnd tban Gl bbons, H. G. Wells, or any ot tbose wbo bave wtltten. 'Welgbty tomes on tbe origin or man, etc. ' 1• Tbls Slovak scbolar, well along In yt>ars, bad ·been lnstrúctor In a unlversity al Constantlnople (before it was called Istanbul) also in Budapest. His speclalty was Sanskrit Arabic, tbe Hebrew language and otber writings on tbe earlíest hlstory or manklnd. "You are Irisb," he said to me, after we had dlsposed of a slivovica and coffee, "and the Irlsh are Celts. A characteristlc ot tbe l rlsb is black halr with blue eyes. Tbat 1s observed among our people here In Slovakla." President Tiso, 1 have already mentioned had black bair and blue eyes. If the professor ,vas endeavorlng to make me feel a racia! kinshlp wlth the Slovaks - the Celtlsh background - he certatnly supported hls oplnion wlth more arguments than black and b lue for hair and eyes. lt was a lengthy thesls he expounded on tbe !:'Ubject, but the glst or lt was that au the people or Europe stem from the origlnal tn h abitants llvlng in tbe region around the Medlterranean, the Jordah, tbe 30 SLOVAKIA Hed and the Dead Sea. The garden of Paradise is supposed to have been in that general part of the Near East. The Celts - as part of the early human family of whlch we have any history, so the professor asserted - were brawny, pioneer lads, pagans in those days, of course, who hunted and explored and pushed their way westward. Some of them got as far as the western s hores of Europe, which we now know as the coast of Brittany in France. From there they launched boats and set up their cabeens in Ireland and Scotland, wbere they are today. Some of those early Ce!ts, acco rding to this student of the subject, decided tha,t the area just west of the Carpathian Mountalns - which is Slovakia - was a pretty good part of the earth to stake out for t heir children and grandchildren for generations to come. So there they stayed. Like the other Celts who went on to I reland, they were converted to Christ!anlty well over a thousand years ago and bave remained steadfast in their faith ever slnce, just as have the fightin' lrish. That, the Banska Bystrica gentleman lnformed me. is another evidence of the kinship, the similarlty in character and traditions. He then escorted me to a conical plie of stones towerlng four stories high, in which were kept many relics and articles that had been dug from the ground in Slovakia over th e past generations. There were cooking utensils, ornaments of solid gold and silver, bits of clothing, crude instruments for killing, such as tbe crusaders of the middle ages carried, and many other articles. Oddly enough, 1 had seen articles almost identically the same in the museum of Dublin, Ireland, on one of my visits there. Those in the Dublin museum had been unearthed in tbe peat bogs and fields of Ireland. The professor had a point there. The traces of clvllization, which we have found, do have similarity. The old gentleman then took me to his home and into the b asement or cellar under it. There were stacks of musty manuscripts, some on tbe oldest known kind of parchment. The signs and symbols on tbey were just hierog!yphics to me, but to that scholar they told stories and epics of hlstory wbich had been written in the mlddle ages. Whether or not tbe Slovaks are Celts and kin ot the Irish and Scots, instead of the Russians, I shall not attempt to prove. But that was the contention of one learned Slovak in Banska Bystrica. S LOV AKIA U NDER THE REDS Of course, now that the Communisl<i are in Slovakia, and Moscow is to be regarded as the fountain head of all culture and wisdom, it is likely that any reference to tbe Cbristian Celts as being remotely related to the Slovaks will be purged trom the people's minds and records. It would be interesting to know what the Communlsts have done to the sbrlne, the mausoleum of Fatber Andrej H linka In Ruzomberok, at wbich I had knelt in prayer a day or so before going to Banska Bystrica. It was Father Hlinka who, by bis zeal, tireless energy and strength of cbaracter, had brought about the political unity and solidarity wh!ch made possi ble tbe creation of the Slovak Republic. Al· thougb lt was short Jlved, it did demonstrate to the world that a SLOVAKIA 31 Slovak state is feasible and may again be upon the maps of Europe. It would be incorrect to assert that everyone in the Slovak Repub• Ile, durlng the stx years of its exlstence, was enthuslastlcally 01>tlmistic as to lts future in the assembly of nations comprlsíng the European continent. In this connection, it shoula be mentioned, tbat tbe greatly_ publicized pian or proposal said to bave been urged by General Dwight Eisenhower, !or a United States of Europe, may be dlsmissed as wlshful thinking. Such a "United States" could not possibly function at thls stage of world history when half of Europe is free and half s lave, half Christlan and half under the ruthless dominatlon of pagan dictators. Until the situation 1s altered and Communism ls banished from Europe, there can be no lasting unity. To even dlscuss the matter be· fore that 1s accomplished, is utterly Cutile. A SLOVAK TEXAS RANGER SPEAKS HIS MIND A well-to-do industrialist in Bratislava pointed out to me about 1942 what was to be the fate of Slovakla and Europe in the postwar period. He iS not a Slovak but one who resided in Slovakla when it was part oľ the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. then under the gov· ernment of Czechoslovakia and remained to carry on under tbe Re· 1mblic, as did many of Hungarlan, Czecb, Austrian or German natlonality. All enjoyed equ al rights. As be may still be living there, it would be wrong to mentlon bis name, because reprisals might be inflicted on bim, should these words be brought to the attentlon of Red spies in tbis country. On my lnitial visit to bis home, the first objects that met my eyes were a western saddle and a Wlnchester rifle In a regulatlon leather holster. Very much American. Then I got tbe story. He had been a Texas Ranger in bis younger days! There were notches in bis leg from slugs of desperados, several of wbom he had killed in bis encounters wltb tbem along the borders of the Rio Grande. Speaklng five languages fluently and knowing thl! contlnent of Europe thorougbly, his opinions on the current and impending eventa were wor• thy of attentlon "Wbat a misfortune 'Teddy' Roosevelt isn't in the White House today," he said shortly after we met. "Things would be dlfferent. Tbe way lt appears now, Europe is being delivered stralgbt lnto chaos and Communism. You know what that means? I do. Durlng the bloody reign of terror under tbat so-and-so (expressive Texas Ranger term) Bela Kun, I witnessed enough of lt. I was !nterpreter before some ot the committees in Budapest and stared that 'so-and-so' In the eye many a tlme. ľd bave kllled bim if I got the chance, and he knew lt. What is the intention of Franklln Roosevelt? To dellver us over t<_> the Reds aga in?" It was necE>ssary to first destroy the forces or Hitler, I pointed out and then . . . "Then what? Thaťs tbe quest!on. True enougb the Nazl yoke on the German people must be broken and they be brought back to belp in the scheme of thlngs. But you mark my worda, Stalln is the only one who ia winning anything in thia war. He'a not winning it elther. lťs being given to him. Unless bis henchmen are thrown out of t.he 32 SLOVAKIA Balkans, the Baltic states, Poland and all the other spots he will take over soon; the whole of Europe and western civllizatlon wlll go back• ward tor ~ century or so." "You are not so badly off here in Slovakia at present," I ventured to say. "NQnsense. Our freedom here is but temporary, and so 1s the pros• períty, Fooľs gold. You know what tbat 1s? A flasb In the pan, a mi· rage. Can't make this country self-sufficient. It bas to be bltcbed on t& some other part of Europe. Always has been. Tbe Germans deve!• oped it at one period of bistory. It was part of tbe Hapsburg Man· archy, tben the neglected half of Czecho·Slovakla. It wlll be taken over by the Reds after the war - see if ľm not rlght. Could make it a self·determining state, if the otber European powers, supported by America, demanded it. But tbey won't, unless great pressure ls brougbt on the influences now in Washington, London and Paris. But ľm not leaving here. Sure, ľm what tbey cal\ a capitallst, an enemy of the Reds. rve gat that Wincbester and two Colt plstols. Wben they're empty the Reds can take wbaťs left. I won't know mucb about it tben." That was one man's opinion of wbat was transplring in Slovakia anct Centra! Europe at tbat time and wbat he thought tbe future beld far tbem. He was not always so explosive in bis observatlons. but in tbe two years and more I knew bim I learned to respect his estimate of the Europeao scene. though at times I may not have entlrPIY agreed with bim. But was be not right as regards the sell-out of Christianity in Cen· tral Europe? Was he not correct In bis predictlon that only Stalln was wiooing t he war and that bis greatest aldes were then oot In '.\toscow. but In London and Washington? In these days when we art! exhorted to strlve and save and struggle to rescue Europe and ourselves rrom the menace of Communlst cont.rol, let us reflect on tbe facts or tbose who - wltb wbat appears to bave been pre-determlnation - consigned Slovak:a and otber Christian nations to perdition. MEETING PRESIDENT TISO At a dinner party in Bratislava l flrst met Joseph Mracna, formerly Consul far Czecboslovakia in New York. lt developed, wben comparlng notes, t hat we had both salled from New York on the same day in Oecembr 1939. He on tbe Vulcania bound far Llsbon. wbile my voyage was on tbe Excalibur witb Genoa as my destinatlon. Mracna and bis wlfe, who was Viennese. were very pro-American an.d longed far the tlme when they migbt return to tbe Unitd States wher-e he ·had many frlends and acqualntaoces, several of whom were also my friends. Although born In Slovakia, Mracna had spent tbe greater part of bis life in other countries. He attended unlversities in Vienna and Par!s, following wb!ch he had been occup!ed In forelgn countrles even before becoming the Czecboslovakian Consul In New York. He was, at the time I knew him, a member of tbe Foreign Office of the new Sl_ovak .Republlc wbere hls experience and knowledge of affalrs in .several other countries was most usefuL I asked !f he could arrange an audience for me with the Pres!dent. He said he could; and did. SLOVAKIA 33 When I arr!ved at the presldentlal palace at the time ap polnted for my a udlence, Ka rol Murin, persona) secretary for the Preslden t, cautioned me aga!nst detaining him too long and also mentioned that it would be inappropriate to questlon him on matters of foreign a nd domestlc policy. Mracna, it seems, had lnferred that !t was more of a persona) and human interest chat that I desired with the P res!den t, whlch was correct, but r was also most eager to interview bim on politlcal issues - domestic and foreign. Monsignor J oseph Tiso. or Pres!dent Tiso as he was then, rad!a ted those qua lities so often observed in the successful pol!tlc!an. An!mation, vigor, affability and the obvious desire to make frlends and please people, withont Jettlng it appear as a veneer to mask h!s real thoughts. He greeted me with a hearty llandshake and. after Karol Murin left us. he Jed the way to the corner of bis study in the palace. He was in perfect health, but a physical dlrector would undoubtedly have prescribed more exercise to guard agalnst overwelght whlch ls often the worry of those nearing the half-century mark. His black ha!r was but sparsely sprinkled wlth grey and a radiant tr!nkle llgh ted bis dark blue eyes. Slnce my knowledge of the Slovak language was limited to some dozen or more words and he spoke very little Engllsh, our interview was carried on in German. My openlng remark was that he had established history by belng the first Catholic priest to be the head of a sovere!gn state. "Oh, no," he replied, "there was Selpel in the former Austrian government." Monsi'gnor Seipel, 1 reminded bim, was prime minister but not president. "There was Richelieu." He, too, as l called to bis attention, was prime minister whiJe Louis of France was king. So it seemed that my reference to history was correct. After some minutes or general conversatlon I said that I had been cautioned not to question bim on matters of state, but that I would like to do so. "Please do. Any questions you ask, l'll try to answer the m." WHAT ABOUT POLICIES? Then 1 was free to touch on several topics that lnterested me and most anyone else who had any knowledge of the happen!ngs !nside Central Europe during these days. "It is true that your pol!cies are dictated by Germany?" '"No," he lnsfsted. "In forelgn matters our policies are formu• lated so that tbey do not conflict with those of the Axls Powers. Slnce we are within their orblt lt would be sulcidal to strongly oppose them. But in domestlc matters we form our own pollcles whlch, In many instances, do not coincide wlth those of Germany. German terr!tory as you know is just across the Danube. Only a bridge between us but it !s a long bridge." He smiled when he realized that. I grasvoo his none too subtle meaning. 34 SLOVAKIA "Some of your critics," I then said, "declare that you - and by that I mean the Slovak Republic - are subject to instructions from the Vatican." "The usual charge of the uninformed," he replied. "l have no connection with the Vatican, except through the diplomatic channels, the same as other countries to which the Vatican City has accredited representation. (T here was a Vatlcan diplomatic official resident in Bratislava.) Any communications affecting the religious affairs of our people would be transmitted through the bishops. I am not a bishop. In my capacity as president I have no counection with Rome, other than I have polnted out." All rellgious denominations were accorded the same right of worship, he pointed out. The largest Protestant group was the Lutheran Evangelical, of which Rev. Martin Razus was the accepted leader and who was not only cooperating with bim politically, but they were personal friends. In the eastern part of the state were also many Orthodox or Greek Catholics. AGAIN WITH THE CZECHS ? Was lt likely, l asked, that the Slovaks and Czechs would again llilite in a government after tbe war? That questinon did not receive a direct answer. He remlnded me that trom the very inception of the Czecho-Slovakian government, there had been dlscrimintalon against tbe Slovaks. The autonomy, which had been promlsed, had been denied them. Those who protested and agitated for Slovak rights, such as Hlinka and hlmself, were imprisoned. Something like nine months he had spent in a Czech jail for protestlng the injustices that were lnflicted on t he Slovak people and demanding that their rights be recognized. Later he had been Minister of Health in the Prague cabinet. The Slovaks. he assured me, de· s ired to live in peace and harmony wlth the Czechs, the Poles, the Hungarlans and the Germans, but they a lso believed they were entltled to the "self-determlnation" that had been loudly proclaimed and was said to be the lnalienable right even of all small nations. They were now, for the first Ume in hlstory, an independent country. The problems facing them were many and varied. President Tiso referred wlth considerable pleasure to hls vislt in the Unlted States in 1937. He expressed the wish that the thousands of Slovaks in Canada and the United States be informed of the prospects for bette rment which he felt was due their people through the enactment of the programs of development then under way. NEED OF TEACHERS AND TECHNICIANS Thelr greatest problem, he said, was in finding men and women for the jobs that had been created. "We need technlcians, instructors in t he schools and universities and speciallsts for industria! projects. Our hlgh schools are over-crowded. Students want education and want to get ahead, but we lack sufflcient teachers. Tbe same in many businesses. We bope to meet these needs in tlme." He made the remark that, although s peclallsts and technlclans were urgently needed. he boped tbey would not bave to rely too much on the Germans. Tbat and otber comments indicated hls disllke for SLOVAKIA 36 tbe small army of German engineers and tecbnicians wbo had come into the country to aid In its development. THE SLOVAKS AND THE RUSSIANS There had been a small token Slovak force sent against the Soviet soon after the outbreak of the German-Soviet hostillties in 1941, but they were withdrawn and tbe men, for the most part, were work· Ing in various industries that contributed products for the war effort. l pointed out to the President that they and tbe Russians were Slavs and was it not consistent that they be on tbe side of tbeir blood brotbers? Tbere was a pause and bis face became very earnest. "Quite true, We are blood brothers. But when tbose blood brotbers are Bolsheviks and Communlsts," doubling his flst and pounding on the table in front of bim Tiso said, ''then we'll fight to tbe last man." Presldent Tiso, like the martyred Draja Mlhailovitcb of Yugosla• vla, Archbisbop Stepinac and Mindszenty of Budapest, did not hesitate to take a firm and defiant stand against the greatest menace Christian civlllzation was then facing - and is still facing today. But because he and tbose other courageous ones were not deceived by tbe propaganda, the pious platitudes and spurious pollcies of tbe Western Powers as regards tbe Soviet, he was marked for sacrifice. The Washington State Department, at tbe bebest of Stalln's puppets, actually delivered bim to tortures and to death. Deny it tbougb they would llke to do today - when Christian leaders llke J osepb Tiso are neetled to weld Central Europe into a strong bastion against the Communlst horde - the bald trutb remains that In 1945 our State Department, as a supine and subserv!ent tool of Stalin. cons!gned T!so and tbe Slovaks t_o Red domination and extermination. Regardless of all arguments to the contrary, Josepb Tiso was slncerely desirous of helping his people - the long oppressed country that for nine hundred years had kept the fires or Chrlstlanlty alive in Centra! Europe. How long those fires will smoulder under the ruth· less domination of Communist destroyers of religion and clvllizatlon, is a grave question. Wbether it was mistaken judgment for tbe Slovaks to accept the assistance of Germany, to achieve the measure of independence they enjoyed, is a matter of oplnion. There was no war in progress wben the Slovak Republlc was born and none was imminent. Tbey revolted against obvlous injustices of tbe Prague Government. The Czech majority could bave compromised and settled tbeir dlfferences. Tbey did not. Wben tbe interna] revolt came. Hitler took advantage of tbe situatlon and proffered bis migbt against outslde aggresslon. Slovakla accepted tbe offer. If Josepb Tiso was a traltor to bis country, then tbe same can be said of Eamon de Valera in Ireland, Mabatma Gbandi in India. or the gallant Marsball Mannerheim in brave little Flnland. AII were patriots fighting for tbeir people. All were persecuted, smeared and discredited, but tbeir names will live in tbe blstories yet to be wrltten. 36 SLOVAKlA TI SO HAD A SENSE OF H UMOR After furtber lengtby dlscussion of varlous toplcs, I was about to depart when Karol Murin came to Inform tbe President tbat tbe Finance Minister was waitlng to see bim. Tlso accompanled me lnto a vast room looklng out across a walled garden in wbicb he sald líe took dally walks. Little dld l know tben tbat, over two year.s later, he would be taking many long walks togetber in another walled enclosure and resume our discussions on tbe worlďs affairs. But tbat is another story. Tbe air of tbe room was cbilly. - A tbougbt occurred to me. "Your Excellency," I said, ·•some persons told me tbat you a re always very seriouJ and earnest. But tbere's a twlnkle ot mirtb In your eyes at times and I bave an Idea tbat there's conslderable humor In you." "Perbaps," he smlled. "Would lt be appropriate If I gave you a little present?" "Wbat, · for instance·?" "I tbougbt tbat in tbese cold days of winter, just for mediclnal purposes, of course, you migbt appreciate a half dozen bottles ot gflod Canadlan whisky." Tlso chuckled and bis eyes lígbted witb the mirth I had noted there before. "ľll be glad to get lt," be' ~'aid. · The half dozen bottles were duly delivered fróm a source In "Bra tislava wbere I knew it was obtainable. Later on Karol Murin ask-ečl me to call again at tbe palace, wben I was given the compllments ot the Presldent and a token of bis appreciation for the whisky. It lš a wonder!ully embroidered table c loth, one of the finest specimens ot Slovak rieedlework that could posslbly be found. It is today my most treasur-ed possession. Very recently a letter came to me trom Karol Murin who ls now a resident of Canada. He informed me that my friend Joseph Mracna, whom I got to know very well in tbe two years following our meeting, had been murdered by the Commnnists. The Slovak patriot, Monslgnor Joseph Tlso, was delivered to Benes and bi.s Red Government by. the United States autborlties to be exterminated, because he was the arch enemy of Communism. Jn 1946, the year when· that assistance to Communist deslgns was. rendered by our offlclals, lt was polltlcally unwise to declare one's 'undying opposition to the forces or antl-God even then seeklng our destruction. Presldent Tiso pald tbe supreme penalty for bis devotion to bis God and bis country. COMES MY TURN TO BE I NVESTIGATED Tbe Carlton Hotel, in Bratislava, where I had reslded for months, was a meeting place for German military officers, legation attaches and couriers, coming and going all the tíme. A physician llving in the hotel, wbom I had called on a tlme or two for professlonal services, informed· me tbat someone at the German Legatlon had quizzed bim about me. The pbyslcian was Slovak, bis wife Hungarlan, enougb to assure me they were not sympathetic to the German otflcials. "That American 1s no frlend ot Germany," the legation omclal sald to the physician. ·'Whaťs he dolng here and why is he permitted to stay ?" SLOVAKIA 37 Just what the doctor said to dlvert suspicion, I do not know, but within a few days the local police inspectors came to question me a bout my stay in the country, my source ot income, what 1 was doing, and so on. My replles were vague, but apparently satlsfactory for the Slovak police. But it caused me considerable worry. Pressure mlght be brought to bear which would send me across that bridge into German territory. That I must escape at all costs. Again I sought out Joseph Mracna In the Foreign Office. We bad talked frankly before and I knew I could trust hlm. My permit to remaln in Slo· vakia was about to expire and also my passport. Would they deport me? Mracna conferred wlth the proper authoritles, then lnformed me that if I did not become a "public charge·• - that !s, if I had assets on which to live - they . would give me sanctuary. I -would not be detported even at the expiration of permits or passports. I assured him that my persona! assets were sufficient to maintaln me for an extended period. 1 GO TO PIESTAN Y At the suggestion of Mracna, I arranged to live in Piestany, a health resort about sixty mlles from Bratislava which !s famed for its hot baths. It was far enough from the capltal that the German mllitary officlals or Gestapo agents wer not prowling around. Al· though the Republic malntalned its own police and defense force, judiciary, customs and ·immigration officials - no one arrlving or departing without tbeir sanction - there seemed to be a tacit agreement that the German military and legation oftlcials could come there for extended holidays. They came malnly [or food and drink, which weré almost non-existent in Germany and Austria at that tlme. Piestany is world famed. The baths - mud and hÓt pools - are beneficial for those wlth rheumatlsm, arthritls and other ills. Before the war there were visitors from as far away as India, Africa and l;loth North and South America. The two largest hotels - one on an island of the Vah River, and on which are the hot springs had been taken over and operated by the Interior Department ot the Slovak State. Soon after I went there as a voluntary "internee," Piestany became tbe headquart.ers of many involuntary internees of the Slovak Government. First to arrive were twenty-six - including the children - ot the !talian dlplomatlc corps in Bratislava. The !talian Minister, Cortese. had declared his allegiance to the antl-Mussolini, or Badoglio government, which jolned forces with the Western Allies. Naturally, he and bis entlre staff who shared his sympathles were anathema to the Germans. With the setting up of the Fascist forces in Northern Haly, pressure was brought to bear on Slovakia to deport the anti Fascists to the northern part of Italy which was still occupied by Germany and cooperating with it. TISO, TH E H U MAN ITARIAN But. contrary to generally circulated statements that President Tiso was a puppet ot Germany, he deflnitely refused to llsten to the suggestlons or demands of the Germans. nor wonld he consent to the Itallan Legatlon staff belng interned In Germany, which was a 38 SLOVAK.IA later idea of the Germans. So wlthin six weeks or my taking up residence in the Grand Royal Hotel in Piestany as a lone "internee," twenty-slx Italians moved in together with two attaches of the Slovak Foreign Offlce a.s guardians or "watchers." Two of the arrivals were Count Giovanni Revedin and his Amerlcan-born wife with whom I had become acquainted previously. The question was put to the Countess and the Foreign omce "guardians" "Are internees being held incommunicado?" The answer was no. I was not restralned from associating with them. In ternment in Piestany was not so onerous for them, because, unofflcially, Slovakia was more pro-Allied than pro-Axis. It is doubt· ful if any of the Allied countries were as considerate of interned subjects of an "enemy" nation as Slovakla was for those ot the !talian Diplomatlc corps, now no longer officially welcome. Later on arrived some from the Rumanian and Bnlgarian legations also. They were quartered at the governmenťs expense in one of the country's best hotels, permitted to retain their motor cars. though restricted in the use of them. If, however, any member of the corps found it necessary to go to Bratislava. some slxty miles distant, the Foreign Office representative granted permlssion. Usuaiiy lt was for a trip there and return the same day. Otherwise they were free - as was the case wlth myself - to roam all about the countryside, to nearby villages, to go flshing, bathing In the splendld pool in summer or in the Vah River and getting what relaxation they might need by attending the Jocal movie theatres, uslng tbe s kating rinks in wlnter and the tennis courts In summer. Slnce they were cut off from their sources of income, the Slovak government advanced them a small amonnt of spending money at regular intervals, pald hospital bills for those who required sneh hospitalizatlon, and very large fees for speciallsts who performed operatlons on some members or the group. It was convenient for me that friends with diplomatic immunity were there. The manuscrlpts on which I was then working would have ticketed me into one of the Nazi concentration camps had they fallen into their hands. Bnt Count Revedin as well as members of the Minister's family kept them in their possession - safe from search and seizure. Another who had taken ,;anctuary there was Siegfried Geyer, a dramatlst well known in Germany, Austria and Hungary, whose plays had been performed in Switzerland, Sweden, London and New York. One of his comedles, "Candle Light," was presented in Londoo where it ran for a year. Later it was brought to New York. where lt had some success. then was purchased by Warner Brothers and filmed, as were other of bis plays. TISO NOT AN ANTI-SEMITE The purge or J ews In Austria forced GPyer to flee into Slovakia where he was given presidential permission to remain. That same permission was granted to others I knew personally. One of them was an official of the Slovak travel bureau and another was an engineer for the resort and bealth department who resided wlth bis wlfe in Piestany and whom I vlsited many Limes. Another was a physician attached to tbe government hospital. Hence the base accusatlons of SLOVAKIA 39 anti-Sem!tism that were hurled against Tiso - when the Reds de• manded his death - were false and easily proven to be noth!ng but falsehoods. Siegfried Geyer and I were work!ng daily on some manuscrlpts. Through underground communication I had been warned that milltary forces were to occupy the country. Two nights later the w!fe or a Slovak cabinet minister came to inform me that in a few hours the Germans would be in Piestany. Geyer was with me at the time. He felt that it was h!s death knell. It was two weeks or more before any action was taken toward deportation of the Jews. On the night of September 8, 1944, Geyer Jeft me, saying that we would meet at eleven in the morning. I never saw bim again. Through an acquaintance I learned that he wa s picked off the street the morning after leaving me and was carted away in a blue motor van. Three others of my acquaintances vanished the same day. For years they had found sanctuary and In many instances exceptional employment in the Slovak Republic, and this is asserted in direct contradiction of generally circulated propaganda by pressure groups that President Tiso and bis cablnet members aided in tbe extermlnation of the J ews. WAR COMES TO S LOVAK I A - GERMANS TAKE OVER In the sixteen months of my residence tbere, before the German occupation I had observed growing resentment against their powerful nelghbor. Now it became more bitter though the people were prudent enough not to make any outward sign of it. A pigmy does not force a quarrel with a giant. Tbe !talian diplomatic internees merited the attentlon of the German occupatlon officials. First tbeir motor cars were lmpounded. Then they were moved to tbe other hotel an an island In the Vah River, the two bridges a cross the river being circled with barricades and sentries posted at eacb end. A curfew edict went lnto effect and miles of barbed wire barriers were thrown around the city. Trenches and embankments were dug on tbree sides of tbe city, fleld telephones and power cables being strung along the streets and far into the country side. Tbls front was to be held at all costs - so lt was said. Slovakla now began to realize that all war fronts were closing in on ber. For over five years tbey had boped and prayed that this destructlon would not be vislted on them. But now it was at tbelr door. Tbe morning following the German occupatlon I went to tbe office of Inspector Vavro of tbe Slovak police. Prevlously wben my twelve month residence permit had exp!red I had sougbt bim. He merely sm!led at my fears. "Are you loslng any sleep over lt?" he asked. "Go away from here. l've forgotten you're in Piestany." An "enemy" subject, wbicb technically I was, could not bope for greater consideratlon. But now Vavro was no longer in complete autbority. His advice. however, was tbe same as before. "Didn't I teli you long ago that l've forgotten that you are here?" he said. "Return to your bouse and stay out of sight for a wb!le. My report witb your name on lt bas been conveniently misla!d. It will be some tiroe before tbe Germans tlncl :,ou." 40 SLOVAKlA Tbree days later men visited me, saying that tbey were wlth tbe German State Police. Tbere was tbe usual routine question!ng. Identlfication papers; occupation; slnce wbat date and wby was I residing' In the country? Wbat ls contained In the luggage and what !s in the mass of manuscripts, papers, etc.? Joseph Mracna had given me a letter to be sbown at just such times. It came lnto view and served to substantlate my statement tbat tbe Slovak autborities were acquainted with the contents of my bulging brief case. After a tborougb searcb of the place in whlch tbey found no radio, camera, weapons, photograpbs or otber susplcious appearing articles, the three men departed. Tension tbrougboul the country was becoming more noticable. Reports ŕlltering through from the eastern boundaries of the country were terrlfying. The Germans, being forced westward, forced all the villagers to evacuate ·with them' - or be shot. Their houses were burned. But before doing so they were stripped of everythlng In the way of metal. Door hinges, locks, farm machinery, tools and lmplements were taken away. Long convoys of half starved and bedraggled evacuees from the eastern slde of Slovakla and also from Hungary woved westward by wagon and on foot. Sometimes for eight or ten hours at a time those wretched and homeless people were coming at snalľs pace over t he. pHls, through the fringe of Piestany, and then vanished over the western horizon. " LIBERATION" BY THE REDS But even worse fate awaited those who eluded the German evacuation decrees. The Red "liberators" advancing into the eastern areas of Slovakia confiscated what might have been overlooked by the Germans. They roundetl up and deported children; no one seemed to know wbere. It was rumored they were sent to Russia. So between the plague of Germany, and the terrorlsts of the Soviet, poor llttle Slovakla had little to choose. They were caught between two enemies. Pressure was brought to bear on tbe Slovak government to hand the interned diplomats over to Germany. I took a message for them to tbe Swlss Consulate In Bratislava, for transmission to the outside world. It was hoped that if publicity was given their pllght in the Swiss and other neutra! papers, it would have some reaction, and also become known to the Allied authorlties. The messages and reports in Switzerland did perhaps seŕve to alter the announced lntention of the Germans to dellver the Ital!ans lnto the hands of the Mussolini faction in North Italy, who mlght have shot them as traltors. Instead they were sent first to Vienna and then to Sllesia. Amerlcan flyers who made forced landings or were shot down over Slovakia were taken in hand by the Slovak authorities. Tbose who requlred bospitalization were given tbe best the capltal atrorded - whlch was excellent. Karol Murin told me on · one of my vlslts to the Palace that, on instructions trom Presldent Tlso, he and bis wlfe s ougbt out the Amerlcan prlsoiiers in the hospltals to see that nothlng was left undone for tbeir comfort. Even bouquets of flowers were sent to brighten tbelr rooms. ··· ~- ' SLÔVlinA 41 What a contrast trom the shameful treatment that was accorded Pres!dent Tiso, Karol Murin and members of their cab!net when they voluntarlly sought sanctuary In the American zone of occupatlon. More on this will follow. The Germans ended all the consideration and special attention that was given war prisoners. The German military officials took them, as well as many Slovaks, despite protests from the President and Foreign Minister, Stephen Tiso. Again it was a case of the pigmy and the giant. Might was right. The story of tbe gbastly occupation and betrayal will be told later. THE BEGINNI N G OF THE END On New Year's Eve of 1945 I was wltb frlends In Piestany. 'ľbe forbidden {by the Germans) broadcasts of tbe London radlo w1:,re turned on for the latest news in Czecb, German and Englisb. Also that evening Adolf Hitler broadcast a brlef greeting to der Deutscber Volk - hls "friends." Some of the llsteners insisted that lt was not Hitler's voice. Otbers expressed the opinion tbat lt was "der Fubrer" but a very mucb changed volce. It was generally believed tbat the attempted assassination of six montbs previously had left some per• manent impaiľment. During tbe iatter part of 1944 motlon pictures of him - wblcb was unusual - were always taken at a distance and tbere was a no ticeable awkwardness of one arm. It was rumored that he sustained other injuries. The London radlo gave lengthy discussions on tbe plaos for the liberation and rehabilitation of Centra! Europe. We assumed that there was complete accord among the Allied Powers and that tbe views and oplnlons expressed represented tbose of tbe United States. The piana were thoae of the Red dominated group of Edwa rd Benes and foreto ld th e diaaster t hat was inevitab le. Anyone with even the most meagre knowledge of European history knew that the rulers of the Kremlin hoped to dominate and absorb all tbe S lav people. Therefore, it was alarmlng for the people in Centra! Europe to observe the manner in whlch the Allled Powers permitted the Soviet to occupy the Balkans, move up into Hungary and tben sweep lnto Slovakla. As my friends In Piestany and Bratislava pointed out re. peatedly, the Allied Powers, and particularly America, should have re• membered what bappened in the Ilaltlc states, In Flnland and in Poland. It was tbe pattern of Red absorb tion and complete control, once they planted foot on the soil o f a country. The only exceptlon was that of Spalo - the slngle country where the Communlsts ~uf• fered milltary defeat. Offlcial Washington, let us remem ber also, was cooperatlve with the Communist terrorists in Spain at that Ume - regardless of the denials that some or the hierarchy of the e lect now wish to read lnto the record. Moscow's deslgns in Spain, in the Baltic states, In the Balkans and no w in Centra! Europe were so obvious as the Pyramlds on the Sahara. The milltary o ccupatlon was but the prelude to permanen t lncorpo ration lnto the Red orblt. After the Red army occupied Budapest, whlch for centurles had been a bastlon of Chrlstlanlty against the antl-Christlan forces on the East, it left only Bratislava as the lmportant city of the Danube between Budapest and Vienna. Mlllions of kronen In materials and mil• 42 SLOVAK.IA lions of man-power hours were expended on the defenses. The Eastern Front, lt seemed, would soon be in our front yards. When the day and night booming of artlllery began to be hear d in Piestany, many felt it wise to move westward. A famlly I knew In Bratislava had obtalned a motor truck and fuel two precious thlngs - intending to flee into southern Bavaria. By phone from Piestany I arranged to share space in the Bavaria-bound truck. But when l arrived there by train trom Piestany the truck had a\ready left. Now, where to go or what to do? Huge artlllery pieces were being wheeled through the str eets westward. German milltary supplies in motor cars and wagons trundled westward. Cattle and horses were being driven in the directlon of Vienna. It is doubtful if they got far along that road before the Hed army captured and butchered them. OFF TO PRAGUE An acquaintance advised me to Jeave for Prague as rall transport was still operating in that direction. When I inquired about visa or permit to enter the ·'Protectorate" and officiaľs secretary informed me that "tbe bars are down; you may go anywhere you can obtain transportation." At tbe railway station J got a ticket for Prague. A train was scbeduled to leave that evening about six. Tbe station was a seething mad-house. Pandemonium, orrlerly confusion, bundreds of terrorstricken people with bundreds of bags. bundles and babies trying to get somewbere - anywbere. In tbe black-out, long after slx o'clock, tbere was an air-raid warning. Police herded people into a vast underground shelter that had been tunnelled into a rocky bili aero.ss the railway tracks. MorP .:onfusion, anxiety and wondering if we would ever get out of the stricken city. The train - scheduled for six o'clock - left in tbe thickening blackness of the night about eleven. People were packed in to suffocation. At a town called Cuty. on thP. Crontier, l transferred to anotber train tbat landed me in Brno, now Czechoslovakia, about eight in the morning. After snatching four hours sleep at the Grand Hotel, I contrived to board (without the special military permit) an express train which landed me in Prague about mldnight. All train service into Slovakia ended tbe morning after I de• parted. Had J delayed a few hours longer tbe Reds would have inc luded me in their spreading net of "liberation." Even the most unobservant person must bave sensed the uneasiness of the Germans then in Prague. Czechs and the evacuees from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland knew it was but a matter of weeks or days when the American and British forces would be in Berlin. Tb'at meant the end of the war. but what then? Every day motor trucks and cars of all kinds were being loacled with bousehold goods, cats, dogs, bird cages, German women and children. Then at evening they rolled off into the darkness. Branche.• of trees or other <'amouflaging uas used to disguise the vebicles as much as possible. They dld not chance mass movements or evacuees in dayl!gbt llours. SLOVAKIA 43 REVOLUTION AND REVENGE Friday evening, May Fourtb, marked tbe beglnning ot tbe uprising against six long years ot German dictatorsbip. A mysterious and ominous atmospbere pervaded Prague. Crowds began convergmg in Wenselplatz - as it was then called_ For wbat? No one seemed to know. Sometbing was to bappen. A revolution was in tbe making. Little by little tbings occurred. Men, women and boys began defacing German words on tbe fronts of business establ!shments. Tbey commenced to alter tbe street signs - - which were in dual language - Czecb and German_ Tbe electric trams were halted by tbe crowd Then matters became more serious. Sirens screamed, military cars pushed througb tbe crowds, commands were barked over t.he loud speakers in the s quare. Small armoured tanks rolled into view. A plstol shot, a woman's scream, crowds surging back against tbe walls and the rattle of machlne guns Four days and nigbts tbe battle continued. The Prague raáio remained in Czech hands and was their greatest asset. Pleas from it were directed to the American forces, said to be thirty, tben twenty, tben ten miles away. Professor Matousek, director of tbe station, would beg in broken English for tbem to hurry. The Stars and Stripes waved from the top;, of buildings and in many windows. An enthusiastic welcome would be glven tbeir liberators. The question asked by hundreds was: '·When do you think tbe Americans wíll get here?" Little did they know then that they would never arrive_ That Prague and the Czechs, together with the millions of Slovaks, had b een sold down-river by Eduard Benes in a secret deal entered into with Stalin. A deal that had the benediction of Franklin D. Roosevelt who was even then loudly prating about saving the Western World from the Nazi destroyers of Christianity, only to be consigned to the Soviet, the greatest destroyers and enemies of Christian civilization since the Cruclfixion. THE SAD AWAKENING On the sixth day of the revolution in which bundreds or !!ves and millions in property was destroyed. General Vlassoff's troopers were s linking along the shattered fronts of buildings in Wenzelspaltz. These were the Russians, mostly from the Ukraine, who had first been equipped by the Germans to fight thP Communists. Now they turned on the Germans and were belping to drive tbem out of Prague. The thought came to me at the time: what will be tbe fate or these pol!tlcal pawns? They followed tbeir leader, General VlassofI against the Bolshevik terrorists, then they remainecl witb him when he turned agalnst the Germans. Would tbe Allied nations give them sanctuary and a cbance to live• They did not. General Vlassoff was dellvered to the Moscow '"liberators" just as was President Tiso and bis cabinet. After a mock tria! that followed the pattern of al! Red trlals. Vlassoff was put before a firing squad. But what ls the fate of tbe simple l{ussian farmeťs boy hundreds of them - wbo wore a uniform an carried a rifle, or drove a team of horses pulling a wagon Joad of supplles to aid In the war for tbe West? Any number or t.hem were hquldated and others are SLOV~ .I A 110w slaves In Slberia. Not being articulate their story is never heard. And who delivered them to death or slavery? The same ones wbo dellvered the Slovaks to the Communlsts at Teheran and Yalta. By the end of the sixth or seventh day there came into the n1lnds or the beleagured people of Prague as well as the hundreds or Slovak, Pollsh and Hungarian evacuees, the susplclon that the Amerlcans were not coming. When for days the Amer!can rorces did not advance a step, but on the contrary moved away trom the city, they knew that something or a Mach!avelian nature had taken place behind the scenes. That they had been sold !nto bondage. All the p!ous words and pretty promlses that had been inade about guaranteeing their liberatlon - were just so many empty words. It became obvlous that political tricksters had ordained in secret conferences that Czecho-Slovakia was to be handed lnto the Red orbit. It was agaínst every tenet of their beliefs. part!cularly the Slovaks, who were avowed and m!l!tant foes or the Communist ideology and who w!th thelr then presldent, Joseph Tlso, had said they would t!ght to the !ast man. Now they realized that they were being conslgned to Red dominat!on. After another day of intermittent bombing and shell fire those of us In Prague heard a jubilant news announcer on the London radlo assure us that "the war in Europe !s over." That same inaccurate statement came from the American operated radlo stations In Germany and France and synchronized. ironlcally enough, with the staccato barking of machlne guns that raked Wenzelsplatz and the occasional deep toned thunder of an aerlal bomb or German shell that ~xploded somewhere too near ror comfort. For the people of Czecho-Slovakia the war was not over. We knew in tbe promises of the Western Powers, had been abandoned to t.he then that the Czechs and Slovaks. also the Hungarlans. the Poles and the other people of Chrlstian nations. who had placed thelr fatth benign brutallties and tyranny of Joseph Stalin. Innuences In Washington hari labored zealously to airl the Kremli n's effort for worldwide destruct!on of Chrl.stlan civllizatlon. and the Slovaks were another pawn In the game. Proof or that innuence and c!tations or those. who were lnstrumental In lntlict!ng that ruln on Centra! :E;urope. bave already been written tnto the publi<' records. Slovakia had enjoyed a measure of freedom only to have lt snatched away anrl her peopl~ consigned to oppression, spollatlon and deportation. far more ghastly than any they had endured in past bistory. But rbeir falth in God and their delermlnation to flght on has 1emalned. • • • WHO SAID IT? - "We are children or freedom. We cannot be s afe except in an environment of freedom. We belleve in freedom as fundamentally as we belleve anythlng In thls world. We belleve In it far everyone In our country. And we don't restrict thls belie! to freedom for ourselves. We belleve that all people in the world are entltled to as much freedom, to develop in thelr own way, as we want ourselves." - (Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, Aprll 22, 1950).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource I Was in Slovakia Description An account of the resource Edward L. Delaney Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 1 (3), March 1952 pp. 25-44 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Delaney, Edward L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1952 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2459d0887b7c2d09ce8339baaf28b113.pdf cd98f5cf7cc4c1791d3ad267c8c81987 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 51 SOVIET RUSSIAN PUPPETS By Edward Delaney No better example can today than the oft repeated .seizure of Czecho-Slovakia, column in the Congressional A-4447. be spotlighted for the record lie concerning the Communist which is the heading on a Record of May 25, 1960, page In that column is the text of a letter written to the "'New York Times" by Dr. Peter Zenkl. The letter makes reference to the demand by the Czecho-Slovak government that our Secretary of State, Christian Herter, apologize for a remark recen:tly malde, to the effect that Communists seized power in that country by force in February 1948. It certainly is a brazen attempt to rewrite history, because the Communists seized power in Czecho-Slovakia in May 1945 and not in February 1948. Moreover, it was not necessary to use force. Communist control was accomplished months before, when .the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Dr. Eduard Benes, went to Moscow and there signed an agreement with Josef Stalin, in which he betrayed his country and his people to Communist serfdom. As a reward for that gesture and aid to Soviet de.signs, Stalin permitted him to return to Prague in the guise of a "liberator." He was the "front" for the Soviet Union, contrary to volumes of words from his sychophants in an unsuccessful effort to show that he was not a willing collaborator with Moscow. In the Prague government headed by the Communist leader Klement Gottwald, was Peter Zenkl as his deputy or vice premier. Anti-Communists were either liquidated or imprisoned. So when Zenkl returned to Prague to begin his close association with the perfidious Benes he certainly was not one of the anti-Communists, or he would have been jailed wi1:h the genuine patriots who refused to be subservient to Moscow. It was reported that some thirty thousand anti-Com- �52 SLOVAKIA munists were rounded up and jailed. I cannot assert thaJ: number is correct, but I can declare that BartholomewStreet prison, one of the three largest in the city, was filled to severa:l times its capacity, for I was among the an:i-Communists incarcerated in that prison for a'bout six weeks. In the large cell in which I was confined, with prisoners being brought in or taken out all hours of the day and night, were, at various times, the former Mayor of Prague, leading bankers, industrialists, a colonel, a capt ain and two lieutenants of the local militia, who refused t o bow to the Reds, professional athletes, musicians, merchants and other genuine patriots. Zenkl was not among those freedom fighters. Most of the prisoners were Czechs. While Zenk! was vice-premier the most barbarous. terrorism and atrocities were inflicted on the anti-Commu-nists. Special inhumanities were imposed on the Slovaks who were and still are fiercely anti-Communist and on the Sudeten Germans. Zenk! cannot wash his hands of the blood that was. shed by the real patriots during the long period when he was deputy premier for the Communist dictator, Gottwald. He was a reliruble colh1:borator and vassal of Moscow ag. long as the Communists needeid his services. There is a striking contrast between Zenkl and other political leaders in that country who were and are unplacable and militant foes of Communists, whether they be Soviet or of any other nationality. Proposals were made by Moscow to the President, the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia - the independent state that existed from March 1939 to May 1945 - to re-· main in their respective offices and "front" for the Soviet Union, precisely as Benes had agreed to do in Prague. Because those leaders refused to betray their God and their people by collaborating with atheistic Communists of the Kremlin, they were marked for liquidation. It is a disgraceful chapter in the recorded events of those days, but it is indelliibly written on those pages that 1those Slovak pa:riots, those defiant anti-Communists, were delivered to Stalin and Benes by American military and civilian autho- �SLOVAKIA 53 rities- some to be executed and others for lifelong imprisonment. Dr. Peter Zenkl was high in the Communist councils of Czecho-Slovakia at that time. There is no record of him working for the freedom of those valiant antiCommunists. On .the contrary - he - now referred to as a leading Czech patriot - by his silence, gave tacit approval to the destruction of those genuine patriots. For the past fifteen years those of us who witnessed or are familiar with the incidents connected wilth the so-called seizure of Czecho~Slovakia, have stated in print and in public that it became a Soviet satellite in May 1945. The so~called "coup" said to have taken place in February 1948, was merely the consummation of a Soviet design for complete control of thaJt country. It is also a matter of record that the delivery of that country to the Soviet Union, in 1945, was with the approval of the hierar,c hy of our elect in Washington. Deny that charge though they will - they cannot erase the disgraceful reco11d. Those like Zenkl and certain other co-collaborationists with the Communists in that oppressed country, who through devious means and through the influence of certain elements gained admission to this country would like to perpetuate the fiction of a "coup" in 1948, which they say resulted in the seizure of Czecho-Slovakia by the Communists. It will then appear easier for them to whitewash themselves of the guilt they shared in the Communist crimes for the three years 1945 to 1948. Singularly enough, a coterie of those Communist collaborators from Prague has long been identified with the twin frauds , Radio Free Europe and Crusade for Freedom, where they carried on their proselyting for what they preferred to call the "socialist" State of Czecho-Slovakia - which is their verbal camouflage for a Communist state. For that reason we spotlight that column of the Congressional Record - at this time. THE SLOVAKS - their history and traditions - by Peter P. Yurchak; 312 pages, hard cover, bound In cloth - $3.00; paper cover - $2.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY - by Joseph Skultety; 229 pages, well documented; hard cover, bound in cloth $2.00; paper cover - $1.00. � SLOVAKIA 51 SOVIET RUSSIAN PUPPETS By Edward Delaney No better example can today than the oft repeated .seizure of Czecho-Slovakia, column in the Congressional A-4447. be spotlighted for the record lie concerning the Communist which is the heading on a Record of May 25, 1960, page In that column is the text of a letter written to the "'New York Times" by Dr. Peter Zenkl. The letter makes reference to the demand by the Czecho-Slovak government that our Secretary of State, Christian Herter, apologize for a remark recen:tly malde, to the effect that Communists seized power in that country by force in February 1948. It certainly is a brazen attempt to rewrite history, because the Communists seized power in Czecho-Slovakia in May 1945 and not in February 1948. Moreover, it was not necessary to use force. Communist control was accomplished months before, when .the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Dr. Eduard Benes, went to Moscow and there signed an agreement with Josef Stalin, in which he betrayed his country and his people to Communist serfdom. As a reward for that gesture and aid to Soviet de.signs, Stalin permitted him to return to Prague in the guise of a "liberator." He was the "front" for the Soviet Union, contrary to volumes of words from his sychophants in an unsuccessful effort to show that he was not a willing collaborator with Moscow. In the Prague government headed by the Communist leader Klement Gottwald, was Peter Zenkl as his deputy or vice premier. Anti-Communists were either liquidated or imprisoned. So when Zenkl returned to Prague to begin his close association with the perfidious Benes he certainly was not one of the anti-Communists, or he would have been jailed wi1:h the genuine patriots who refused to be subservient to Moscow. It was reported that some thirty thousand anti-Com- �52 SLOVAKIA munists were rounded up and jailed. I cannot assert thaJ: number is correct, but I can declare that BartholomewStreet prison, one of the three largest in the city, was filled to severa:l times its capacity, for I was among the an:i-Communists incarcerated in that prison for a'bout six weeks. In the large cell in which I was confined, with prisoners being brought in or taken out all hours of the day and night, were, at various times, the former Mayor of Prague, leading bankers, industrialists, a colonel, a capt ain and two lieutenants of the local militia, who refused t o bow to the Reds, professional athletes, musicians, merchants and other genuine patriots. Zenkl was not among those freedom fighters. Most of the prisoners were Czechs. While Zenk! was vice-premier the most barbarous. terrorism and atrocities were inflicted on the anti-Commu-nists. Special inhumanities were imposed on the Slovaks who were and still are fiercely anti-Communist and on the Sudeten Germans. Zenk! cannot wash his hands of the blood that was. shed by the real patriots during the long period when he was deputy premier for the Communist dictator, Gottwald. He was a reliruble colh1:borator and vassal of Moscow ag. long as the Communists needeid his services. There is a striking contrast between Zenkl and other political leaders in that country who were and are unplacable and militant foes of Communists, whether they be Soviet or of any other nationality. Proposals were made by Moscow to the President, the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia - the independent state that existed from March 1939 to May 1945 - to re-· main in their respective offices and "front" for the Soviet Union, precisely as Benes had agreed to do in Prague. Because those leaders refused to betray their God and their people by collaborating with atheistic Communists of the Kremlin, they were marked for liquidation. It is a disgraceful chapter in the recorded events of those days, but it is indelliibly written on those pages that 1those Slovak pa:riots, those defiant anti-Communists, were delivered to Stalin and Benes by American military and civilian autho- �SLOVAKIA 53 rities- some to be executed and others for lifelong imprisonment. Dr. Peter Zenkl was high in the Communist councils of Czecho-Slovakia at that time. There is no record of him working for the freedom of those valiant antiCommunists. On .the contrary - he - now referred to as a leading Czech patriot - by his silence, gave tacit approval to the destruction of those genuine patriots. For the past fifteen years those of us who witnessed or are familiar with the incidents connected wilth the so-called seizure of Czecho~Slovakia, have stated in print and in public that it became a Soviet satellite in May 1945. The so~called "coup" said to have taken place in February 1948, was merely the consummation of a Soviet design for complete control of thaJt country. It is also a matter of record that the delivery of that country to the Soviet Union, in 1945, was with the approval of the hierar,c hy of our elect in Washington. Deny that charge though they will - they cannot erase the disgraceful reco11d. Those like Zenkl and certain other co-collaborationists with the Communists in that oppressed country, who through devious means and through the influence of certain elements gained admission to this country would like to perpetuate the fiction of a "coup" in 1948, which they say resulted in the seizure of Czecho-Slovakia by the Communists. It will then appear easier for them to whitewash themselves of the guilt they shared in the Communist crimes for the three years 1945 to 1948. Singularly enough, a coterie of those Communist collaborators from Prague has long been identified with the twin frauds , Radio Free Europe and Crusade for Freedom, where they carried on their proselyting for what they preferred to call the "socialist" State of Czecho-Slovakia - which is their verbal camouflage for a Communist state. For that reason we spotlight that column of the Congressional Record - at this time. THE SLOVAKS - their history and traditions - by Peter P. Yurchak; 312 pages, hard cover, bound In cloth - $3.00; paper cover - $2.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY - by Joseph Skultety; 229 pages, well documented; hard cover, bound in cloth $2.00; paper cover - $1.00. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 51 SOVIET RUSSIAN PUPPETS By Edward Delaney No better example can today than the oft repeated .seizure of Czecho-Slovakia, column in the Congressional A-4447. be spotlighted for the record lie concerning the Communist which is the heading on a Record of May 25, 1960, page In that column is the text of a letter written to the "'New York Times" by Dr. Peter Zenkl. The letter makes reference to the demand by the Czecho-Slovak government that our Secretary of State, Christian Herter, apologize for a remark recen:tly malde, to the effect that Communists seized power in that country by force in February 1948. It certainly is a brazen attempt to rewrite history, because the Communists seized power in Czecho-Slovakia in May 1945 and not in February 1948. Moreover, it was not necessary to use force. Communist control was accomplished months before, when .the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Dr. Eduard Benes, went to Moscow and there signed an agreement with Josef Stalin, in which he betrayed his country and his people to Communist serfdom. As a reward for that gesture and aid to Soviet de.signs, Stalin permitted him to return to Prague in the guise of a "liberator." He was the "front" for the Soviet Union, contrary to volumes of words from his sychophants in an unsuccessful effort to show that he was not a willing collaborator with Moscow. In the Prague government headed by the Communist leader Klement Gottwald, was Peter Zenkl as his deputy or vice premier. Anti-Communists were either liquidated or imprisoned. So when Zenkl returned to Prague to begin his close association with the perfidious Benes he certainly was not one of the anti-Communists, or he would have been jailed wi1:h the genuine patriots who refused to be subservient to Moscow. It was reported that some thirty thousand anti-Com- 52 SLOVAKIA munists were rounded up and jailed. I cannot assert thaJ: number is correct, but I can declare that BartholomewStreet prison, one of the three largest in the city, was filled to severa:l times its capacity, for I was among the an:i-Communists incarcerated in that prison for a'bout six weeks. In the large cell in which I was confined, with prisoners being brought in or taken out all hours of the day and night, were, at various times, the former Mayor of Prague, leading bankers, industrialists, a colonel, a capt ain and two lieutenants of the local militia, who refused t o bow to the Reds, professional athletes, musicians, merchants and other genuine patriots. Zenkl was not among those freedom fighters. Most of the prisoners were Czechs. While Zenk! was vice-premier the most barbarous. terrorism and atrocities were inflicted on the anti-Commu-nists. Special inhumanities were imposed on the Slovaks who were and still are fiercely anti-Communist and on the Sudeten Germans. Zenk! cannot wash his hands of the blood that was. shed by the real patriots during the long period when he was deputy premier for the Communist dictator, Gottwald. He was a reliruble colh1:borator and vassal of Moscow ag. long as the Communists needeid his services. There is a striking contrast between Zenkl and other political leaders in that country who were and are unplacable and militant foes of Communists, whether they be Soviet or of any other nationality. Proposals were made by Moscow to the President, the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia - the independent state that existed from March 1939 to May 1945 - to re-· main in their respective offices and "front" for the Soviet Union, precisely as Benes had agreed to do in Prague. Because those leaders refused to betray their God and their people by collaborating with atheistic Communists of the Kremlin, they were marked for liquidation. It is a disgraceful chapter in the recorded events of those days, but it is indelliibly written on those pages that 1those Slovak pa:riots, those defiant anti-Communists, were delivered to Stalin and Benes by American military and civilian autho- SLOVAKIA 53 rities- some to be executed and others for lifelong imprisonment. Dr. Peter Zenkl was high in the Communist councils of Czecho-Slovakia at that time. There is no record of him working for the freedom of those valiant antiCommunists. On .the contrary - he - now referred to as a leading Czech patriot - by his silence, gave tacit approval to the destruction of those genuine patriots. For the past fifteen years those of us who witnessed or are familiar with the incidents connected wilth the so-called seizure of Czecho~Slovakia, have stated in print and in public that it became a Soviet satellite in May 1945. The so~called "coup" said to have taken place in February 1948, was merely the consummation of a Soviet design for complete control of thaJt country. It is also a matter of record that the delivery of that country to the Soviet Union, in 1945, was with the approval of the hierar,c hy of our elect in Washington. Deny that charge though they will - they cannot erase the disgraceful reco11d. Those like Zenkl and certain other co-collaborationists with the Communists in that oppressed country, who through devious means and through the influence of certain elements gained admission to this country would like to perpetuate the fiction of a "coup" in 1948, which they say resulted in the seizure of Czecho-Slovakia by the Communists. It will then appear easier for them to whitewash themselves of the guilt they shared in the Communist crimes for the three years 1945 to 1948. Singularly enough, a coterie of those Communist collaborators from Prague has long been identified with the twin frauds , Radio Free Europe and Crusade for Freedom, where they carried on their proselyting for what they preferred to call the "socialist" State of Czecho-Slovakia - which is their verbal camouflage for a Communist state. For that reason we spotlight that column of the Congressional Record - at this time. THE SLOVAKS - their history and traditions - by Peter P. Yurchak; 312 pages, hard cover, bound In cloth - $3.00; paper cover - $2.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY - by Joseph Skultety; 229 pages, well documented; hard cover, bound in cloth $2.00; paper cover - $1.00.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Soviet Russian Puppets Description An account of the resource Edward Delaney Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 51-53 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Delaney, Edward L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 LCNAF