6 50 763 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/94c7af9930b8fd081eee8daaa38561f2.pdf ef787b1d3973786a30ecccafcb3db7c9 PDF Text Text SLOVAK.IA 47 Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL. D., PH. D. mE CONSTITUTION OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC I Introductory Note "No Constitution can be considered perfect or permanent", says R. G. Gettell in his renowned work Political Science. "The final requisite for a good constitution is that the constitution shall correspond to actual conditions within the State" (1). Among the critics and adversaries of the Slovak Republic there were few, if any, who read the Slovak Constitution, the fundamental principles that determined the basic nature of the Slovak ,S tate and Government, the distribution of its severeign powers among the various organs of government and the relation of the government to the people over whom its authority was exercised. We, therefore, hardly find someone who based his criticism of the Slovak Republic on the constitutional or legal basis or on the constitutional form of the Slovak state. The Select Committee of the House of Representatives of the U. S., in its special report No. 8, prepared in co-operation with Georgetown University and a group of experts from various parts of the United States, expressed its opinion in the following terms: "The Constitution contained principles, which in some aspects combined features of the liberal state, the Christian democracy, and the authoritarian state. In the beginning all power of the Slovak Republic was vested in the Parliament but later on, in 1941, after Slovakia had entered the war against the ,soviet Union, the executive was to prevai I over the legislature. "The Slovak state was far from being a perfect democracy in the traditional sense. It reflected a compromise between the past and the present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central Europe. But, in general, it was an expression of the self-preservation instinct of the Slovak nation" (2). This statement, though basically true and expressing to a great extent the view of the writer, should be complemented by a political as well as juridical analysis of the text of the Constitution and of the circumstances in which �48 SLOVAKIA it was drafted and adopted by the Slovak Diet. The first question seems to be: from whence came the features of the liberal, the Christian democratic , and the authoritari an State? As for the democratic traditions in Slovakia, they antidated not only the attainment of political independen ce in 1939, but also the inclusion of Slovakia into the CzechoSlovak Republic in 1918. The Slovak nobility was assimilated by the Ma,gyars to a great extent before the Slovak national revival took place at the end of the 18th and in the first half of the 19th century, so that no aristocratic traditions could hinder the acceptance and developmen t of modern democratic ideas. In fact, Slovakia became the refuge of many lofty intellectual efforts during the 17th century and later it "revealed itself as a meeting-pla ce of practically all contempor ary currents of cultural and political ideas" (3). It is true that the policy of Budapest, after the Ausgleich of 1867, aimed at suppressing Slovak nationalism and Slovak political activities. This resulted in the reduction of the IS lovak representat ion in Budapest's Parliament to only two representat ives at the end of World War I. However, this situation cannot reasonably be used as a yardstick for Slovak disposition for political maturity. This became evident shortly after the creation of the CzechoSlovak Republic, when not only genuine Slovak political parties sprang up, but also, more or less, all the Czech parties extended their activities into Slovakia. Practically all political tendencies from socialism to agrarian democracy and communism found an echo in the Slovak poulation. The genuine and most representat ive Slovak parties were: 1) the Slovak People's Party, later called Hlinka's Slovak People's Party and the Party of National l:Jnity (since October 1938), representin g the bulk of the nationally conscious Catholic population, although some non-Catholics were among its members (the party never officially labeled its program as Catholic); and, 2) the Slovak National Party which organized those Slovak Protestants who remained faithful to the traditions of Slovak national- �SLOVAKIA 49 ism and to the idea of distinct Slovak culture and selfgovernment. All political parties in Slovakia developed during the period of 191'8-1938 along the lines of the Constitution of Czecho-Slovakia which is often praised as a model of modern democratic constitutions. It must, therefore, sound highly improbable and illogial when adversaries of the Slovak State assert that all this changed from one day to another, that all the democratic traditions of Czecho-Slovakia ,w ere so weak that they were transformed without any resistance into "fascist" and "nazi" tendencies by the simple act of the declaration of Slovakia's independence. It would certainly be safe to assume that democracy survived, in many respects, the Declaration of 1M arch 14, 19'39, and that the Slovak Constitution could not but reflect the principles of democratic thinking and institutions which were alive in Slovakia. Actually, they survived to such an extent that in many respects the Slovak Constitution has a strinking resemblance to the Constitution of the Czecho-Slovak Republic (4). Provisions referring to legislative powers of the Parliament, election and powers of the President of the Republic, the judiciary, and the whole legal structure of the Slovak State had much in common with the Constitution of Czecho..!Slovakia which, like the ,S lovak Constitution, adopted principles of Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, or the fundamental principles of French and American Constitutions. The authors of the Slovak Constitution were jurists and parliamentarians educated predominantly at the universities and in the Parliament of Czecho-:Slovakia; with one or two exceptions, they were men who studied law abroad and were mainly responsible for the liberal elements in the draft of the Slovak Constitution. There are, of course, striking differences, too, as far as the ideological bases of these two constitutions are concerned. The religiosity of the Slovak people and their Christian world outlook gave quite a different ideological basis to the Slovak constitution in general, and to its many provisions regarding social institutions, which reflect the ideas of the Papal encyclicals in particular. While the Slovak �50 SLOVAKIA Constitution presents God as the ultimate source of Law and declares that the function of the Slovak Republic is to unite all the moral and economic forces of the people in a Christian and national community in order to become the executor of social justice and the protector of common good, the ideological roots of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution were as far from God and religion as were Prague's leading politicians. On the other hand, the Slovak Constitution could not but differ in provisions or institutions which were imposed by the international situation and which are described as "authoritarian." As we mentioned before, the final requisite for a good Constitution, according to Gettell, is that the Constitution shall correspond to actual conditions within the State. While the Constitution of Czecho-Slovakia reflected certain ideological currents and political structures of the French Republic which was mainly responsible for the creation and existence of Czecho-Slovakia and for the new organization of Central Europe after First World War, the Slovak Constitution could not but reflect a new situation, new organization and a "new order" in Central Europe, created by Hitler's Germany in 1938-1939 with the consent of France and England. Considered objectively, one has to to recognize that it took courage and deep attachment to traditions to proclaim in Slovakia, in 1939, God as the ultimate source of Law and order and to use Papal encyclicals as the basis for social institutions, human and family rights on the one hand, and, on the other, "to produce a sort of Slovak edition of the Czechoslovak state" (5). When, in the summer of 1939, the committee appointed by the Slovak Parliament, labored on the draft of the Constitution, the political crisis in Europe was nearing its climax, and the ideological confusion attained irrational dimensions. The area of Central and Eastern Europe was exposed to ideological struggles and political ambitions of at least three Great Powers and, thus, Democracy, Communism, and Nazism as well as remnants of liberal tendencies were engaged in a rough competition for influence over the Central European peoples. Slovakia, in the middle of this ideological ferment and 1 �SLOVAKIA 51 international instability, found herself also threatened by aggression or territorial claims from her neighbors, so that even the very existence of the newly created state on the banks of the Danube and the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains was, from its beginning, endangered. To expect, in the midst of such political and ideological chaos, any uncompromis ing attitudes on the side of the Constitutiona l Committee would amount to expecting from it something humanly impossible. Slovakia had to take a compromising position politically and ideologically not only for reasons of good relations with her neighbors, but also, if not in the first place, in order to survive as a State, since Democracy was considered a provocation, and, in its classic form, in the summer of 1939, was already dying in all Central Eiuropean countries. An analysis of the main principles and fundamental rights will show how far the work of the Constitutiona l Committee of Slovakia - despite its compromising tenor reflects the tendencies and genuine traditions of the Slovak people. According to the expert opinion of several jurists, the Constitution adopted practically the whole sysb~m of democratic-lib eralistic constitutions of the 1'8th and 19th centuries and, though Slovakia was weighed in from the right and left between Godless bolshevism and anti-Christian neo-paganism , she brought forth a constitution "saturated with the Christian spirit and especially with the principles of the social encyclicals of the Holy See" (6). As for the features of Christian democracy, besides many institutions concerned with social life, family, attitude to work, and function of property, in which we can find the influence of modern Christian sociology, the Christian character was given to the whole Constitution by its Preamble which reads as follows: "The Slovak nation, under the protection of Almighty God, survived throughout the ages on the territory destined for its national development and there, with the help of God, Who is the Source of all Power and Law, established its independent Slovak State. "The SI ova k State unites, according to Natural Law, all the moral and economic forces of the Nation in a Christian and national community for the purpose of regulating clashing social aspirations and mutually opposed interests of all occupational and professional groups, and has for its goal the highest attainable degree of happi- �52 SLOVAKIA ness of society and the individual. This ideal can only be achieved through a moral and political process, initiated by the State, which in harmonious unity will function as an executor of social justice and a protector of common good." It would certainly be difficult to find among the constitutions of modern states any other which so clearly states that God must be recognized as the original source of Law and Order and that the function of the nation in a Christian and national community in order to become "an executor of social justice and protector of common good" (7). The accentuation of the social function of the State, which we find in the Preamble, and the emphasis placed on the happiness of both the individual and society, are an indication of the legislators' intention to build a modern welfare state on the principles of Christian social doctrines. We shall see below how principles of Christian social doctrines. We shall see below how these ideas found their expressions in particular provisions and institutions of the Slovak Constitution. n General Characteristics of the Slovak Constitution It is not necessary to be an expert in constitutional law to notice that the Slovak Constitution contains all the democratic devices which political science usually requires from democratic constitutions - such as the separation of powers, the doctrine of checks and balances, and the principle of rule by law. Even the most bitter adversaries of Slovak independence - the Communists and the supporters of Czechoslovakism - did not try to deny these features to the Slovak Constitution. "The Slovak State was intended to make a full show of independence," wrote Alexander IKunosi, one of today's communist diplomats of Czecho-,Slovakia, in 11944, from his London exile: "It was to be vested with all the institutions formerly possessed by the Czechoslovak State. Steps were taken to produce a sort of Slovak edition of the Czecho-Slovak State" (8). Admitting this, the adversaries of the Slovak Republic could not try to say that "the parlimentary facade of Government in Slovakia had, of course, no real signifi1 �SLOVAKIA 53 cance, " or that the "Diet did not express the will of the nation or the people," which, as we shall see further , hardly correspond with the truth since the Parliament in Slovakia was not only in theory but also in fact the suprem e organ of the State and the most essential powers were vested in Parliament from the beginning to the end. The Constitution was adopted by a legally constit uted Slovak Diet which was established in accordance with the Czecho-Slovak Constitution, and on the basis of the general election which took place on December 18, 19'38. According to Law No. 299, adopted on November 22, 1938, Slovakia became an autonomous part of Czecho-Slovakia, with her own Government and her own Diet composed of 63 members, vested with legislative powers goveerning not only internal affairs, but required also for ratification of Czecho-Slovak international agreements concerning Slovakia. This Diet, summoned to a session on March 14, 1939, by the President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, Dr. Emil H a c h a , declared Slovakia an independent State, and a special committee of the Diet prepared the draft of the Constitution which was adopted unanimously on July 31, 1939, as Law No. 185. The draft of the Constitution was preceded by a study of several existing modern constitutions with a view to giving the country a set of principles that would correspond with contemporary constitutional thinking and the practical needs and national traditions of the Slovak people. The text was prepared by two university professors of Law, Dr. V. Tuka and Dr. F. :Durcansky, and by several jurists and parliamentarians of young and old generations, Senator Dr. K. Mederly, Dr. M. Sokol, Dr. V. Tvrdy, and Dr. Cerhelyi. In 103 short articles (paragraphs) divided into 13 chapters, the Slovak Constitution gave a radical as well as social basis to the new State in Central Europe. The first article of the Constitution declared the Slovak State a Republic with a President as an elected head, with t erms, according to Gettell, are used to indicate a representative democracy (9) . According to articles 6, 7, 8, and 9, legislative power �54 SLOVAKIA for the entire country vested in the Parliament, composed of 80 members and elected in a general, direct, equal, and secret suffrage for a period of five years. The right to vote belonged to every citizen over 2'1 years of age, man and woman, without racial or religious discrimination. This right to be elected to Parliament belonged to citizens over 30 years of age. The Parliament was based on the unicameral system,. and the President of the Republic was obliged to convene the Parliament for regular sessions twice a year, and for extraordinary sessions whenever the majority of members. demanded such a session. Laws promulgated by the Parliament required the President's signature for their validity. Paragraph 26 provided, however, that laws could be promulgated despite the President's veto, if they were adopted by a three-fifths majority in the presence of a two-thirds majority of deputies. The right to appoint governments belonged to the President, but the Government was responsible to Parliament and subject to its vote of confidence. The Parliament also had the right of prosecution of the· President for high treason. Part IN of the Constitution deals with the powers and functions of the President, who was elected for a period of seven years. Any citizen, 40 years of age or over, was eligible for the office, and the election was valid if two. thirds of the members were present and the candidate obtained a three-fifths majority. A comparision of powers and functions of the Slovak ·P resident, as defined in the Constitution, with those of other parliamentary democracies will prove that his powers were somewhere between the extensive functions and powers of the American president and the purely representative functions of the Presidents of France (before De Gaulle). He represented the State internationally, had the right, with the consent of Parliament to declare wars and conclude peace, to appoint and dismiss ministers, to appoint, but not to dismiss university professors, judges, civil servants, and military officers of the three highest categories. He also had the right to be present at the sessions of the Government and Council of State, to request their convention under his chairmanship, �SLOVAKIA 55 to convene, dissolve and prologue Parliament, to sign or veto Parliament's acts, etc. While making the president a dominant figure of the executive, the Constitution, on the other hand, contained provisions which were designed to prevent dictatorial powers (10). The Parliament was able, as we have seen, to promulgate laws even if opposed by the President and according to paragraph 40, "any executive act of the president requires counter-signature by a competent cabinet minister for its validity." No person could be re-elected more than once to the presidential office and when the president died during his term, abdicated or was permanently unable to exercise his functions, it was the duty of the Prime Minister to assume temporary functions of the president. A new president had to be elected by the iParliament within thirty days. The President represented, together with the Cabinet, the executive of the !Slovak Republic and, consequently, the Slovak Government had some features of a presidential type of government and, at the same time, it also contained elements of parliamentary government. An expert on constitutional theories can prove both, because - while the essential characteristics of parliamentary government are: 1) a politically independent head of State; and, 2) a cabinet which is politically responsible to Parliament - "parliamentary Government may also develop in the opposite direction. The Cabinet can become the dominant political organ, able to control the government of the country and direct the work of the Parliament which assists it in the execution of its program," says Andre Mathiot in his ercellent treatise "The British Political System" (11). it is not, however, our intention to discuss theoretical issues here. One can easily prove that the executive in the Slovak Republic was also predominantly of the presidential type, because "every system of 'P arliamentary government has its own distinctive features, resulting from a complex of many different factors. History, the national temperament, beliefs and ideologies, conventions of political behavior, attempts to imitate a particular model or to avoid certain dangers, etc." - states Mathiot. All these factors �56 SLOVAKIA played their distinctive roles in the Slovak Constitution and made it a constitution "sui generis." As for the powers and constitution of the Slovak Cabinet, the President of the Republic appointed and dismissed the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet and determined which member would administer individual ministries (Article 41). The Parliament was also empowered to call the Cabinet and its individual members to political responsibility and to express lack of confidence which would result in the dissolution of the cabinet (Article 48) . Practical considerations demanded, on the other hand, a certain measure of delegation of legislative powers to the Cabinet. The jurisdiction of the Cabinet was limited to governmental orders, namely, during a national emergency, or orders pertaining to the execution of certain types of laws, and within the limits specified in the laws. Validity of such orders was conditional, since the Prime Minister was obliged to submit them within three months to the Parliament, which, in turn, could disallow such measures or could make whatever changes it deemed necessary, or pass it as its own law (12). Chapter V of the Slovak Constitution defined the functions and composition of the Council of State, a pecial body composed of outstanding personalities from various walks of life whose functions pertained to a sort of control of the political life in ,Slovakia. The Council was composed of 6 members appointed by the President of the Republic, ten members were chosen by the Slovak People's Party, two members by the registered parties of ethnic groups, and one was delegated by each estate. The Prime Minister and the President of the Assembly were also memb2rs of the Council. The functions of the Council were defined by the Article 52 and consisted in initiating legislation, controlling and prosecuting the President, Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers, and in advising the President and the government on matters of a political, cultural, and economic nature. The Council also prepared the list of candidates for parliamentary elections and made decisions concerning the loss of 0 �SLOVAKIA 57 parliamentary seats, following a request from the President of the Assembly. Politically, the reason for the existence of the Council was given by the desire to have, in the absence of a Senate, representatives in the political life of the new State from groups or professions who usually did not look for an election to Parliament, but whose advice, abilities, and moral stature were destined to help the Government in its endeavour to make the population happy and united behind the political leadership. The authors of the draft of the Constitution expressed their intention in stating that "the Council of State is the expression of political and national unity, and also joins the national and political life with the constitutional representatives, combining itself the function of legal initiation and control." Following the social doctrine of the Papal encyclicals, the authors of the Constitution also included in their draft certain institutions which characterize the so-called "corporative" systems. Chapter VII of the Slovak Constitution had foressen organization of Slovakia's inhabitants into six self-administered bodies called "stavy" (estates) according to occupation and profession: the association of workers and employers in agriculture, in industry, trade, commerce and banking; the association of the free professions and the association of State and public employees. "The associations included both employers and employees and they were assigned to take care of the economic, social, and cultural interests of their members, to solve labor and wage disputes and problems among employees and employers, and to help members of the association to achieve better results in their industries and occupations and a higher standard of living for the nation (Article 62). Acting on Law No. 297 of the Collection of Laws, the President of the Republic appointed the presidents on November 19, 1940, and the aim of the associations was again given as "to manifest the unity of the Slovak workers' community, without heed to classes and callings, and bearing in mind only the interests of the nation and the State" (13). As for the judiciary, we have already stated that the Slovak Constitution was based on the principle of separa- �58 SLOVAKIA tion of powers, as defined by modern political theories. There were three types of courts: courts of law, administrative courts, and military courts. The organization of courts and their legal competence were left to a special legislation. As in any modern constitutions, the Slovak Constitution provided that the courts of law were empowered to review any decision of administrative courts and, on the other hand, the jurisdiction of military courts could be extended over the civil population during wartime and for war crimes. "Judges are independent," states Article 67, "in their judicial functions and are bound only by law." The Constitution contained provisions that no person could be deprived of the judge designated by law to hear the case (Article 62), and Article 66 made the judiciary free of any interference either on the part of administrative or political leadership. The professional judges were appointed to their positions permanently and "they have held a highly privileged position, appropriate to their equally high office," states Judge A. Peltzner (14). The Chapter dealing with the rights and obligations of the citizens (Chapter X) can sustain comparision with any democratic and liberal constitution and a modern "Bill of Rights." The 1Slovak Constitution guaranteed full and equal rights to all citizens without distinction of sex, race, creed, occupation, or ethnic origin. The guarantees refer to personal freedoms, private ownership, religious freedom, freedom of expression of opinion, scientific research and arts (15), provided they were exercised within the limits of valid laws and did not come into conflict with public order and Christian morals [Article 85] - (16). The Constitution was based on the principle that "no person can be punished for behavior which is not in conflict with valid legal form and for which a punishment has not been previously determined," applying the old principle "nulla poena sine lege," and all inhabitants, regardless of origin, nationality, religion, or occupation, were entitled to the protection of life, liberty, and property (Article 81). There are, in the Slovak Constitution, even some particular provisions which intended to give to the Slovak State �SLOVAKIA 59 a progressive, modern, social and Christian character. Such provisions are as follows: Ownership has a social function and demands from the owner adminstration in the best interest of the common good (Article 79). Marriage, family and motherhood are under the· strict protection of the legal order (Article 86). Labor is protected. Exploitation of socially weak citizens is. prohibited. Wages should be adequate to the working effort and family status. Mental and physical work is a civil duty, etc. "All these provisions can be described," says Dr. Peltzner, "as an intensified care and protection of the family, social purpose of private ownership, protection of the working man, his wages, and social justice to all. All were aimed at achieving a new social order, where clashing social interests would be minimized and eventually abolished. This concept of social and labor legislation was greatly influenced by the encyclical letters of the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church, especially by Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno" (17). ln order to present a complete picture of the Slovak Constitution, we have to mention provisions regarding political parties. The chapter dealing with the political organization (Chapter Vil) merely legalized the existing situation which was created in Slovakia by the so-called Zilina .A:greement of October 6, 1938, long before Slovakia declared her independence and the Parliament adopted the Constitution. The provision referring to political parties consists of only two paragraphs, the first stating that "the Slovak people participate in political life through the medium of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (the Party of Slovak National Unity) ," and the second legalizing the political activities of ethnic groups, providing that "the ethnic groups participate in political life through a medium of their own political party, provided that such a party can be considered as a representative of the political will of the entire ethnic group" (Articles 58, 59). Since October, 1938, when the number of political parties was reduced due to internal and international circumstances and development, there were in Slovakia three po1 �60 SLOVAKIA litical parties, legally constituted and taking part in the political life of Slovakia. The Communist and the Social Democrat parties, representing only ten deputies, had been dissolved or suppressed following the Zilina Agreement. Six other parties merged into the Slovak National Unity Party, which remained the backbone of the political s y s t e m of autonomous Slovakia before March 1939, and of the Slovak Republic thereafter. The German and Magyar ethnic groups were represented by two minority parties, and the Ukrainian minority by a member of Parliament within Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, the Party of National Unity. The fact that the Slovak Constitution provided for only one party for the Slovak people caused certain criticism abroad and marked, according to some critics, the Slovak R e p u b 1 i c as an authoritarian state. For everybody who knows the Slovak political life between the years 1918-1939 and who is aware of the composition of the Slovak Diet in which representatives of practically all previous political parties except Communists and Social Democrats had their seats, such reproaches would seem to be more of a theoretical than practical nature. There is no doubt that without provisions restricting political life of the Slovak population to one party only, even if it was composed of fractions of many parties, the Constitution would have looked more democratic and beyond reproach, because a multiparty system is one of the main characteristics of modern representative democracies. However, war conditions and specific needs and dangers forced the Slovak political leaders to adopt many restrictions which are understandable only if we take into consideration all the problems and dangers which the Slovak Republic had to face from the first days of its existence to the end of the war from the outside and the inside. This as well as other features which marked the Slovak Constitution as "authoritarian" were or will be discussed later in this treatise. Before concluding our remarks on the general characteristics of the Slovak Constitution, it seems appropriate to analyze the formal features of the text and its contents. In this respect, we can say that from the point of view of political science and constitutional law, the Slo- �SLOVAKIA 61 vak Constitution conforms to all requirements which political science demands from modern constitutions. It can be classified as a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws covering the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power. It outlined the governmental organization, determined the relations of the governors and the governed, and provided a legal method for amendments, so that it might be changed when necessary by the prescribed majority in Parliament. m "Authoritarian" Features and Deviations The statement of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives mentions that the Slovak Constitution contained also principles of "an authoritarian state." There is, however, no indication in the report where these principles are to be found, except perhaps in the words that "the executive was to prevail over the legislature after Slovakia, in 1941, had entered the war against the Soviet Union," and that "the number of political parties was reduced - after the Communist and the Social Democrat parties. had been suppressed as subversive - in October, 1938, and the six other parties merged into the Slovak Unity Party, the backbone of the political system of the Slovak State." Actually, the Constitution did not reduce the number of Slovak political parties. It merely legalized a situation which was created in Slovakia in 1938, when Czecho-Slovakia became a federation. We have already explained in part how and why this happened and that unity was not forced on any political party as was later claimed. The representatives of all Slovak and Czecho-Slovak parties were happy that the victorious autonomist movement did not resort to reprisals, and the Slovak population, regardless of previous political affiliation or creed, also approved the new situation. Though the law and electoral system allowed participation of many parties and the autonomous government of Dr. Tiso published an announcement requiring political parties to file the list of their candidates for election, only the Slovak People's Party - the Party of National Unity filed a joint list of candidates which contained leading per- �62 SLOVAKIA sonalities of all previous parties except the Communist and Social Democrats. The new Slovak Parliament issued from this election, held on December 18, 1938, and conducted under the rules of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution and electoral system, was composed of 48 former Populists, 12 former agrarian, Artisans, Slovak Nationalists and even National Socialists (Dr. E. Benes's Party), two Germans, one Hungarian, and one Ukrainian. It was this Diet which unanimously proclaimed Slovakia on March 14, 1939, an independent State and adopted the Constitution of the Slovak Republic. There were no changes in Party system or in the composition of party representatives in 1939, and former adherents of Prague's centralism worked in the 1Slovak Parliament and Party organs quite happily together with former autonomists, Protestant ministers with the Catholic clergy, agrarians with artisans, etc. , until 1944, when the outcome of the War became clearly unfavorable to the further existence of the Slovak Republic and the restoration of Czecho.,Slovakia by the ,Soviets and Allies was in sight. There was, of course, a change in the structure of the Party of National Unity, which combined from March, 1939, nominations with election of Party functionaries on all levels, and the role of the Party altered considerably. The President of the Party, Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso, and this writer as Secretary General, insisted on avoiding imitation of foreign models either in ideology or organization, as had been admitted even by Communist and Czech adversaries (18). Some features and symbols of Italian and German party systems were nevertheless adopted, and on the surface there was an adaptation to the "New Order" in Central Europe, which in some respect was far from a parliamentarian or representative democracy in the traditional sense. In practice and ideologically Slovakia, however, continued the "decrepit democratic system of Benes' Republic," as Hitler stated in his reproach to the Slovak leaders in July, 1940, during the so-called "Salzburg Summons." After the Salzburg meeting which resulted in the forced resignation of the Minister of the Interior and Foreign Af- �SLOVAKIA 63 fairs, Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky, and of this writer a:s Secretary General of the Party, some measures were adopted which did not correspond either with the letter or with the spirit of the Slovak Constitution and which measures effected, in some respects, "the executive prevailed over the legislature." The Party's importance for some time considerably diminished and the Hlinka Guard, originally and according to the law a section of the ·P arty, tried to control the Party and political life, but this development did not bring about any constitutional changes, it did not last for any length of time, and was either challenged or disapproved and finally checked by the Parliament, the President and the Party leaders (19). It is a matter of fact that there were, in this period, attempts to introduce a sort of "Slovak National Socialism" in the administration of public affairs and there were arbitrary actions of irresponsible persons and groups against certain ,groups of population, but the Parliament and especally the President and the .P arty tried to stop these currents and transgressions and gained satisfactory control of the situation in this case, as in the first weeks after the declaration of independence. This, however, did not prevent the adversaries of the Slovak •S tate from an incorrect and often malicious interpretation of the intentions of the Slovak political leaders who centralized political institutions and also economic and administrative offices only because they were forced to do so by war conditions and by the desire to achieve unity of the nation which was before intentionally divided into many fractions by Prague's rulers who ruled Slovakia during twenty years according to the old dictum "divide et impera." They presented many institutions which were imposed upon Slovakia by war conditions and the international situation as a part of a "totalitarian or authoritative system," though, on the other hand, they admitted that "public offices and institutions which had not formerly existed in 1Slovakia, were introduced on a Czecho..Slovak model, among them the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Supreme Audit Department, the Post �64 SLOVAKIA Office Savings Bank, the National Bank, the Land Office, the Statistics Office, etc. " (20). The war imposed a number of new offices everywhere, in Great Britain, in the United States, and in Canada, such as: Price Control Office, Central :Eiconomic Office, Propaganda Office, etc. When similar offices were organized in Slovakia, the adversaries of Slovak independence, from their London or Washington asylums, denounced them as proofs and instruments of "authoritarian" or "nazi and fascist" systems and oppression. No doubt, the Slovak administration during the last years of the war had some offices and institutions which had names or structures similar to German or Italian institutions, but there was "a mixture of old and new elements," as admitted even by the Communists and Czech adversaries and definitely the democratic or "Czechoslovak" model prevailed and the intention of the responsible Slovak leaders behind all these institutions was not to introduce nazism or fascism, but to secure prosperity, security, and smooth functioning of the new State, or in other words, to save the Slovak people and its substance at a time when it was faced with physical and spiritual ruin. Some original "authoritarian" features of the !Slovak Constitution are due to the fact that the jurists and Parliamentarians who prepared the draft looked for inspirations in the countries which were in similar political or geographical situations and equally threatened either by the impact of nazism or communism. For this reason mainly the Constitution of Austria under Dolfuss-Schuschni gg and the Constitution of Portugal were studied by some members of the preparatory legislative committee and, while the Ausstrian Constitution showed them how to defend the country against infiltration of German National Socialist ideology, the Constitution of Portugal was studied because of the threat of Communist infiltration. Adversaries of Slovak independence who knew that this was the correct interpretation of the "authoritarian" elements in the Slovak Constitution, tried to prove, of course, the very opposite: they spoke and wrote of a deliberate introduction of "nazi" or "fascist" ideology and system, using for proof some short comings or measures imposed by the war and German pressure �SLOVAKIA 65 on Slovak Administration and Government. They also failed to realize that "the value of any form of government may be judged either by the success and efficiency with which it accomplishes its proper purposes or by the effect which it produces on its citizens and the degree of satisfaction and confidence that they feel toward it," as Gettel says. That there were problems and shortcomings, none among responsible Slovak leaders had ever denied. "Our constitutional o~gans, our legislation, executive, and judiciary are in their infancy," wrote the official newspaper Slovak. "We shall show no weakness if we admit that here and there various institutions are still very shaky." There was quite open criticism of all shortcomings and often violent attacks on institutions and leaders from many parts, even from President Tiso and the young leadership of the Party, because, while there was formally only one Slovak political party, the public heard critical voices, and public opinion was created outside Parliament by the Party press, Hlinka Guard press, German and Hungarian minority press, and clandestine Communist opposition. All of them wrote and spoke from their own angles and viewpoints. Certainly, too many voices for an "authoritarian" or "nazi" regime and State - a fact which was later recognized even by some adversaries. "The fact remains," reported Dr. M. Kvetko, one of the leaders of the "People's Democracy," installed in Slovakia in collaboration with the Communists, to American authorities in Germany in 1948, "that a significant number of the politicians of the Slovak People's Party, and especially of the populace, were not inclined to fascism and prevented its spread so effectively that, excepting the retaliations against Jews and Communists, no special actions were undertaken against the vast majority of the people. And so, with regard to the fact that Slovak people managed the affairs in Slovakia, we can hardly speak of treason and collaboration (with nazism) as the Communists tried to do in order to frighten the people and create chaos, so that they could come to power." This chapter was intended, however, to deal with the �66 SLOVAKIA Constitution of the Slovak Republic which, without being changed, remained the basis of legal system and ,governmental structure from 1939 to 1945, when Russians armies overran the country, raping and looting without precedence in Slovak history, and imposed on the Slovak people the new "people's democracy" and Czech domination within the framework of a restored Czecho-Slovakia. The Slovak Constituaion reflected old Slovak Christian and democratic traditions and there can hardly be any doubt that the responsible Slovak leaders endeavoured to govern in accordance with the Constitution, and only because of limitations imposed by the international situation and other circumstances which were beyond the control of the people and their leaders, t here were deviations from the Constitution. For this reason it can be admitted that "the Slovak State reflected a compromise between the past and present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central E' u rope." And for the same reason the Slovak Constitution "contained principles which in some aspects combined features of the liberal, the Christian Democratic, and the authoritarian State." 1. R. ,G. Gettell: Political Science, University of Calif., 1933, p. 244. 2. Cfr.: "Communist Takeover and Occupation of Czecho-Slovakia," Union Calendar No. 929, House Report No. 2684, Part 14, Washington, 1954. The Select Committee was composed of Congressmen, as well as a group of experts from Georgetown University and various parts of the United States. 3. Milan Hodza : Federation in Central Europe, London, 1942, p. 208-9. 4. Cfr . .Alexander Kunosi: The Basis of Czechoslovak Unity, London, 1944, p. 86; and H. Lee MdBain: The New Constitutions of Europe, New York, 1922, p. 307-342. 5. Even communist adversaries has to admit that "the Nazi model was not shamelessly imposed" and that "the n ew Slovak state was launched with all the paraphernalia of a national ideology apparently corporative and Christian," as wrote K. Kunosi in London, in 1944. 6. Joseph .A. Mikus: La Slovaquie dans le drame de !'Europe, Paris, 1955, p. 12.7-131; also article by J. F. Gleiman in symposium Slovenska Republika, ed. N. Sprinc, Scranton, Pa., 1949, p. 108-112, and the English translation in Slovakia, Middletown, Pa., Vol. II, No. 3, p. 20 . .An excellent analysis of the Slovak Constitution was also prepared by former judge .Anton Peltzner, DL. D., as a thesis for the M. .A. degree at the U niversity of Montreal in 1957. �SLOVAKIA 67 7. "This presentation of God as the ultimate ,s ource of Law, and the interdependence of human and divine order as reflected in the Preamble of the Slovak !Constitution can prompt one to question." says Dr. A. Peltzner in his analysis, "why the authors of the text considered it wise and appropriate to formulate the preface in such a sense and import." The answer, in his opinion and in the opinion of all who are familiar with the history of the Slovak people, is based on two elements: l) there was a long and sincere dedication of the Slovak people to their religion, and a mutually long and faithful service of the Slovak clergy to their nation ; and, 2) the geographical position of the Slovak Republic was such that, on the Eastern frontiers stood the might of ,M arxist atheism, and from the Western side there was a potential danger of spreading and infiltrating of modern paganism, as formulated and taught by ,o erman National Socialism. The political leaders of the Slovak people considered it, therefore, as highly desirable to state that '\Slovaks stood firmly by their national traditions, of which belief in God and His Omnipotence was the substance of the whole concept." - Cfr. Dr. A. Peltzner: The Slovak Constitution and Modern Political Theory, p . 105. 8. Ibidem, p. 8·6. 9. lbidem, p. 195. 10. Ibidem, p. 48. 11. Andre Mathiot: The Bri tish Political System , London, 1958, p . 13·5. 12. The Constitution empowered the Cabinet to issue a government order with -the legal force and effect of law when economic, financial or political interests of the State required immediate attention, and only when lack of action could cause irreparable damage to these interests. 13. Cfr. Kunosi: Opus cit., p. 86. 14. ilbidem, pp. 76-82. 15. See: Chapter X, articles 75-85. That some of these freedoms were later limited or in individual cases disregarded, nobody would deny. The war imposed restrictions on personal freedoms in every country. In Slovakia, one could hardly expect that ideological influences of Germany and the political and economic pressures of war conditions would not result in a restriction of civil rights, or in transgressions by some individuals or groups of individuals. This, however, was not the fault of the Constitution, and as for the President of the Slovak !Republic and the Parliament, they tried to apply restrictions with respect to human life and natural rights. 16. 'The measures adopted against Jewish citizens were in many regards unconstitutional and mainly a result of German interference and deceit, especially as far as the transfer of a part of Slovak Jews to Poland was concerned. They were destined for labor, not extermination. The President as well as other Slovak authorities tried to avoid the tragedy but were able to save only a portion of those to be transferred. On the attitude of the Slovak Population see Raport du Co mite In- �68 SLOVAKIA 17. 18. 19. 20. ternational de la Croix Rouge , Geneve, 1948, I-IL1, I-er vol., P. 674, and also J . A. Mikus, Opus. c it. , p. 136. Ibid em, p. 101. Cfr. A . Kuno si: Opus cit., and a lso Chap ter on Political parties. It is a m att er of controv ersy a mong experts of constitutional law if the preponderance of the executiv e over the legislature gives a n a uthorHaria n character to a State. "A domina nt exec utiv e can be defend ed on th eore ti cal grounds," says Andre Mathiot. " The Cabinet, no less than Parlia m ent, com es into being as the r esult of an elec tion which more or less d et ermines its composition. Thus, in Great Britain, the relationship between the Crown, Parliament and the Cabin et ha ve gra du a lly d eveloped to produce a uniqu e parliam entary regime in which the executiv e is now th e dominant organ. Parliamen t remains legally sovereign a nd in th eory the supreme organ in th e State, but it is 110 exagger ation to say that effective political power is nowa days concentrated in the small group of men who constitute th e Cabinet" (Opus cit. , p. 135). W e have, of course, no intention to rights, on theoretical grounds, and to compare the r egime in Great Britain with that in Slovakia. Cfr. Kunos i: opus cit., p. 89. • • • MARCH 14, 1939: SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE DAY By Andrew Pastor The day of independence of a nation represents the culminating point in what often was a long struggle for its achievement. Independence comes easy, but the road leading to it is strewn with hardships, sufferings, miseries, and oftentimes death. Whether that day be the 4th of July, or the 14th day of March, it is a day of recollection upon which each individual looks with pride, knowing that this day years ago marked the beginning of a new and brighter era in the historic evolution of one's nation. What is the historical background of Slovakia's independence? Briefly the political history of the Slovaks dates back to the 9th century when Rastislav, the ruler of Great Moravia (846-870), made himself known for the intensive christianization of their territory by inviting Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the Apostles of the Slovaks and the � SLOVAK.IA 47 Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL. D., PH. D. mE CONSTITUTION OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC I Introductory Note "No Constitution can be considered perfect or permanent", says R. G. Gettell in his renowned work Political Science. "The final requisite for a good constitution is that the constitution shall correspond to actual conditions within the State" (1). Among the critics and adversaries of the Slovak Republic there were few, if any, who read the Slovak Constitution, the fundamental principles that determined the basic nature of the Slovak ,S tate and Government, the distribution of its severeign powers among the various organs of government and the relation of the government to the people over whom its authority was exercised. We, therefore, hardly find someone who based his criticism of the Slovak Republic on the constitutional or legal basis or on the constitutional form of the Slovak state. The Select Committee of the House of Representatives of the U. S., in its special report No. 8, prepared in co-operation with Georgetown University and a group of experts from various parts of the United States, expressed its opinion in the following terms: "The Constitution contained principles, which in some aspects combined features of the liberal state, the Christian democracy, and the authoritarian state. In the beginning all power of the Slovak Republic was vested in the Parliament but later on, in 1941, after Slovakia had entered the war against the ,soviet Union, the executive was to prevai I over the legislature. "The Slovak state was far from being a perfect democracy in the traditional sense. It reflected a compromise between the past and the present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central Europe. But, in general, it was an expression of the self-preservation instinct of the Slovak nation" (2). This statement, though basically true and expressing to a great extent the view of the writer, should be complemented by a political as well as juridical analysis of the text of the Constitution and of the circumstances in which �48 SLOVAKIA it was drafted and adopted by the Slovak Diet. The first question seems to be: from whence came the features of the liberal, the Christian democratic , and the authoritari an State? As for the democratic traditions in Slovakia, they antidated not only the attainment of political independen ce in 1939, but also the inclusion of Slovakia into the CzechoSlovak Republic in 1918. The Slovak nobility was assimilated by the Ma,gyars to a great extent before the Slovak national revival took place at the end of the 18th and in the first half of the 19th century, so that no aristocratic traditions could hinder the acceptance and developmen t of modern democratic ideas. In fact, Slovakia became the refuge of many lofty intellectual efforts during the 17th century and later it "revealed itself as a meeting-pla ce of practically all contempor ary currents of cultural and political ideas" (3). It is true that the policy of Budapest, after the Ausgleich of 1867, aimed at suppressing Slovak nationalism and Slovak political activities. This resulted in the reduction of the IS lovak representat ion in Budapest's Parliament to only two representat ives at the end of World War I. However, this situation cannot reasonably be used as a yardstick for Slovak disposition for political maturity. This became evident shortly after the creation of the CzechoSlovak Republic, when not only genuine Slovak political parties sprang up, but also, more or less, all the Czech parties extended their activities into Slovakia. Practically all political tendencies from socialism to agrarian democracy and communism found an echo in the Slovak poulation. The genuine and most representat ive Slovak parties were: 1) the Slovak People's Party, later called Hlinka's Slovak People's Party and the Party of National l:Jnity (since October 1938), representin g the bulk of the nationally conscious Catholic population, although some non-Catholics were among its members (the party never officially labeled its program as Catholic); and, 2) the Slovak National Party which organized those Slovak Protestants who remained faithful to the traditions of Slovak national- �SLOVAKIA 49 ism and to the idea of distinct Slovak culture and selfgovernment. All political parties in Slovakia developed during the period of 191'8-1938 along the lines of the Constitution of Czecho-Slovakia which is often praised as a model of modern democratic constitutions. It must, therefore, sound highly improbable and illogial when adversaries of the Slovak State assert that all this changed from one day to another, that all the democratic traditions of Czecho-Slovakia ,w ere so weak that they were transformed without any resistance into "fascist" and "nazi" tendencies by the simple act of the declaration of Slovakia's independence. It would certainly be safe to assume that democracy survived, in many respects, the Declaration of 1M arch 14, 19'39, and that the Slovak Constitution could not but reflect the principles of democratic thinking and institutions which were alive in Slovakia. Actually, they survived to such an extent that in many respects the Slovak Constitution has a strinking resemblance to the Constitution of the Czecho-Slovak Republic (4). Provisions referring to legislative powers of the Parliament, election and powers of the President of the Republic, the judiciary, and the whole legal structure of the Slovak State had much in common with the Constitution of Czecho..!Slovakia which, like the ,S lovak Constitution, adopted principles of Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, or the fundamental principles of French and American Constitutions. The authors of the Slovak Constitution were jurists and parliamentarians educated predominantly at the universities and in the Parliament of Czecho-:Slovakia; with one or two exceptions, they were men who studied law abroad and were mainly responsible for the liberal elements in the draft of the Slovak Constitution. There are, of course, striking differences, too, as far as the ideological bases of these two constitutions are concerned. The religiosity of the Slovak people and their Christian world outlook gave quite a different ideological basis to the Slovak constitution in general, and to its many provisions regarding social institutions, which reflect the ideas of the Papal encyclicals in particular. While the Slovak �50 SLOVAKIA Constitution presents God as the ultimate source of Law and declares that the function of the Slovak Republic is to unite all the moral and economic forces of the people in a Christian and national community in order to become the executor of social justice and the protector of common good, the ideological roots of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution were as far from God and religion as were Prague's leading politicians. On the other hand, the Slovak Constitution could not but differ in provisions or institutions which were imposed by the international situation and which are described as "authoritarian." As we mentioned before, the final requisite for a good Constitution, according to Gettell, is that the Constitution shall correspond to actual conditions within the State. While the Constitution of Czecho-Slovakia reflected certain ideological currents and political structures of the French Republic which was mainly responsible for the creation and existence of Czecho-Slovakia and for the new organization of Central Europe after First World War, the Slovak Constitution could not but reflect a new situation, new organization and a "new order" in Central Europe, created by Hitler's Germany in 1938-1939 with the consent of France and England. Considered objectively, one has to to recognize that it took courage and deep attachment to traditions to proclaim in Slovakia, in 1939, God as the ultimate source of Law and order and to use Papal encyclicals as the basis for social institutions, human and family rights on the one hand, and, on the other, "to produce a sort of Slovak edition of the Czechoslovak state" (5). When, in the summer of 1939, the committee appointed by the Slovak Parliament, labored on the draft of the Constitution, the political crisis in Europe was nearing its climax, and the ideological confusion attained irrational dimensions. The area of Central and Eastern Europe was exposed to ideological struggles and political ambitions of at least three Great Powers and, thus, Democracy, Communism, and Nazism as well as remnants of liberal tendencies were engaged in a rough competition for influence over the Central European peoples. Slovakia, in the middle of this ideological ferment and 1 �SLOVAKIA 51 international instability, found herself also threatened by aggression or territorial claims from her neighbors, so that even the very existence of the newly created state on the banks of the Danube and the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains was, from its beginning, endangered. To expect, in the midst of such political and ideological chaos, any uncompromis ing attitudes on the side of the Constitutiona l Committee would amount to expecting from it something humanly impossible. Slovakia had to take a compromising position politically and ideologically not only for reasons of good relations with her neighbors, but also, if not in the first place, in order to survive as a State, since Democracy was considered a provocation, and, in its classic form, in the summer of 1939, was already dying in all Central Eiuropean countries. An analysis of the main principles and fundamental rights will show how far the work of the Constitutiona l Committee of Slovakia - despite its compromising tenor reflects the tendencies and genuine traditions of the Slovak people. According to the expert opinion of several jurists, the Constitution adopted practically the whole sysb~m of democratic-lib eralistic constitutions of the 1'8th and 19th centuries and, though Slovakia was weighed in from the right and left between Godless bolshevism and anti-Christian neo-paganism , she brought forth a constitution "saturated with the Christian spirit and especially with the principles of the social encyclicals of the Holy See" (6). As for the features of Christian democracy, besides many institutions concerned with social life, family, attitude to work, and function of property, in which we can find the influence of modern Christian sociology, the Christian character was given to the whole Constitution by its Preamble which reads as follows: "The Slovak nation, under the protection of Almighty God, survived throughout the ages on the territory destined for its national development and there, with the help of God, Who is the Source of all Power and Law, established its independent Slovak State. "The SI ova k State unites, according to Natural Law, all the moral and economic forces of the Nation in a Christian and national community for the purpose of regulating clashing social aspirations and mutually opposed interests of all occupational and professional groups, and has for its goal the highest attainable degree of happi- �52 SLOVAKIA ness of society and the individual. This ideal can only be achieved through a moral and political process, initiated by the State, which in harmonious unity will function as an executor of social justice and a protector of common good." It would certainly be difficult to find among the constitutions of modern states any other which so clearly states that God must be recognized as the original source of Law and Order and that the function of the nation in a Christian and national community in order to become "an executor of social justice and protector of common good" (7). The accentuation of the social function of the State, which we find in the Preamble, and the emphasis placed on the happiness of both the individual and society, are an indication of the legislators' intention to build a modern welfare state on the principles of Christian social doctrines. We shall see below how principles of Christian social doctrines. We shall see below how these ideas found their expressions in particular provisions and institutions of the Slovak Constitution. n General Characteristics of the Slovak Constitution It is not necessary to be an expert in constitutional law to notice that the Slovak Constitution contains all the democratic devices which political science usually requires from democratic constitutions - such as the separation of powers, the doctrine of checks and balances, and the principle of rule by law. Even the most bitter adversaries of Slovak independence - the Communists and the supporters of Czechoslovakism - did not try to deny these features to the Slovak Constitution. "The Slovak State was intended to make a full show of independence," wrote Alexander IKunosi, one of today's communist diplomats of Czecho-,Slovakia, in 11944, from his London exile: "It was to be vested with all the institutions formerly possessed by the Czechoslovak State. Steps were taken to produce a sort of Slovak edition of the Czecho-Slovak State" (8). Admitting this, the adversaries of the Slovak Republic could not try to say that "the parlimentary facade of Government in Slovakia had, of course, no real signifi1 �SLOVAKIA 53 cance, " or that the "Diet did not express the will of the nation or the people," which, as we shall see further , hardly correspond with the truth since the Parliament in Slovakia was not only in theory but also in fact the suprem e organ of the State and the most essential powers were vested in Parliament from the beginning to the end. The Constitution was adopted by a legally constit uted Slovak Diet which was established in accordance with the Czecho-Slovak Constitution, and on the basis of the general election which took place on December 18, 19'38. According to Law No. 299, adopted on November 22, 1938, Slovakia became an autonomous part of Czecho-Slovakia, with her own Government and her own Diet composed of 63 members, vested with legislative powers goveerning not only internal affairs, but required also for ratification of Czecho-Slovak international agreements concerning Slovakia. This Diet, summoned to a session on March 14, 1939, by the President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, Dr. Emil H a c h a , declared Slovakia an independent State, and a special committee of the Diet prepared the draft of the Constitution which was adopted unanimously on July 31, 1939, as Law No. 185. The draft of the Constitution was preceded by a study of several existing modern constitutions with a view to giving the country a set of principles that would correspond with contemporary constitutional thinking and the practical needs and national traditions of the Slovak people. The text was prepared by two university professors of Law, Dr. V. Tuka and Dr. F. :Durcansky, and by several jurists and parliamentarians of young and old generations, Senator Dr. K. Mederly, Dr. M. Sokol, Dr. V. Tvrdy, and Dr. Cerhelyi. In 103 short articles (paragraphs) divided into 13 chapters, the Slovak Constitution gave a radical as well as social basis to the new State in Central Europe. The first article of the Constitution declared the Slovak State a Republic with a President as an elected head, with t erms, according to Gettell, are used to indicate a representative democracy (9) . According to articles 6, 7, 8, and 9, legislative power �54 SLOVAKIA for the entire country vested in the Parliament, composed of 80 members and elected in a general, direct, equal, and secret suffrage for a period of five years. The right to vote belonged to every citizen over 2'1 years of age, man and woman, without racial or religious discrimination. This right to be elected to Parliament belonged to citizens over 30 years of age. The Parliament was based on the unicameral system,. and the President of the Republic was obliged to convene the Parliament for regular sessions twice a year, and for extraordinary sessions whenever the majority of members. demanded such a session. Laws promulgated by the Parliament required the President's signature for their validity. Paragraph 26 provided, however, that laws could be promulgated despite the President's veto, if they were adopted by a three-fifths majority in the presence of a two-thirds majority of deputies. The right to appoint governments belonged to the President, but the Government was responsible to Parliament and subject to its vote of confidence. The Parliament also had the right of prosecution of the· President for high treason. Part IN of the Constitution deals with the powers and functions of the President, who was elected for a period of seven years. Any citizen, 40 years of age or over, was eligible for the office, and the election was valid if two. thirds of the members were present and the candidate obtained a three-fifths majority. A comparision of powers and functions of the Slovak ·P resident, as defined in the Constitution, with those of other parliamentary democracies will prove that his powers were somewhere between the extensive functions and powers of the American president and the purely representative functions of the Presidents of France (before De Gaulle). He represented the State internationally, had the right, with the consent of Parliament to declare wars and conclude peace, to appoint and dismiss ministers, to appoint, but not to dismiss university professors, judges, civil servants, and military officers of the three highest categories. He also had the right to be present at the sessions of the Government and Council of State, to request their convention under his chairmanship, �SLOVAKIA 55 to convene, dissolve and prologue Parliament, to sign or veto Parliament's acts, etc. While making the president a dominant figure of the executive, the Constitution, on the other hand, contained provisions which were designed to prevent dictatorial powers (10). The Parliament was able, as we have seen, to promulgate laws even if opposed by the President and according to paragraph 40, "any executive act of the president requires counter-signature by a competent cabinet minister for its validity." No person could be re-elected more than once to the presidential office and when the president died during his term, abdicated or was permanently unable to exercise his functions, it was the duty of the Prime Minister to assume temporary functions of the president. A new president had to be elected by the iParliament within thirty days. The President represented, together with the Cabinet, the executive of the !Slovak Republic and, consequently, the Slovak Government had some features of a presidential type of government and, at the same time, it also contained elements of parliamentary government. An expert on constitutional theories can prove both, because - while the essential characteristics of parliamentary government are: 1) a politically independent head of State; and, 2) a cabinet which is politically responsible to Parliament - "parliamentary Government may also develop in the opposite direction. The Cabinet can become the dominant political organ, able to control the government of the country and direct the work of the Parliament which assists it in the execution of its program," says Andre Mathiot in his ercellent treatise "The British Political System" (11). it is not, however, our intention to discuss theoretical issues here. One can easily prove that the executive in the Slovak Republic was also predominantly of the presidential type, because "every system of 'P arliamentary government has its own distinctive features, resulting from a complex of many different factors. History, the national temperament, beliefs and ideologies, conventions of political behavior, attempts to imitate a particular model or to avoid certain dangers, etc." - states Mathiot. All these factors �56 SLOVAKIA played their distinctive roles in the Slovak Constitution and made it a constitution "sui generis." As for the powers and constitution of the Slovak Cabinet, the President of the Republic appointed and dismissed the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet and determined which member would administer individual ministries (Article 41). The Parliament was also empowered to call the Cabinet and its individual members to political responsibility and to express lack of confidence which would result in the dissolution of the cabinet (Article 48) . Practical considerations demanded, on the other hand, a certain measure of delegation of legislative powers to the Cabinet. The jurisdiction of the Cabinet was limited to governmental orders, namely, during a national emergency, or orders pertaining to the execution of certain types of laws, and within the limits specified in the laws. Validity of such orders was conditional, since the Prime Minister was obliged to submit them within three months to the Parliament, which, in turn, could disallow such measures or could make whatever changes it deemed necessary, or pass it as its own law (12). Chapter V of the Slovak Constitution defined the functions and composition of the Council of State, a pecial body composed of outstanding personalities from various walks of life whose functions pertained to a sort of control of the political life in ,Slovakia. The Council was composed of 6 members appointed by the President of the Republic, ten members were chosen by the Slovak People's Party, two members by the registered parties of ethnic groups, and one was delegated by each estate. The Prime Minister and the President of the Assembly were also memb2rs of the Council. The functions of the Council were defined by the Article 52 and consisted in initiating legislation, controlling and prosecuting the President, Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers, and in advising the President and the government on matters of a political, cultural, and economic nature. The Council also prepared the list of candidates for parliamentary elections and made decisions concerning the loss of 0 �SLOVAKIA 57 parliamentary seats, following a request from the President of the Assembly. Politically, the reason for the existence of the Council was given by the desire to have, in the absence of a Senate, representatives in the political life of the new State from groups or professions who usually did not look for an election to Parliament, but whose advice, abilities, and moral stature were destined to help the Government in its endeavour to make the population happy and united behind the political leadership. The authors of the draft of the Constitution expressed their intention in stating that "the Council of State is the expression of political and national unity, and also joins the national and political life with the constitutional representatives, combining itself the function of legal initiation and control." Following the social doctrine of the Papal encyclicals, the authors of the Constitution also included in their draft certain institutions which characterize the so-called "corporative" systems. Chapter VII of the Slovak Constitution had foressen organization of Slovakia's inhabitants into six self-administered bodies called "stavy" (estates) according to occupation and profession: the association of workers and employers in agriculture, in industry, trade, commerce and banking; the association of the free professions and the association of State and public employees. "The associations included both employers and employees and they were assigned to take care of the economic, social, and cultural interests of their members, to solve labor and wage disputes and problems among employees and employers, and to help members of the association to achieve better results in their industries and occupations and a higher standard of living for the nation (Article 62). Acting on Law No. 297 of the Collection of Laws, the President of the Republic appointed the presidents on November 19, 1940, and the aim of the associations was again given as "to manifest the unity of the Slovak workers' community, without heed to classes and callings, and bearing in mind only the interests of the nation and the State" (13). As for the judiciary, we have already stated that the Slovak Constitution was based on the principle of separa- �58 SLOVAKIA tion of powers, as defined by modern political theories. There were three types of courts: courts of law, administrative courts, and military courts. The organization of courts and their legal competence were left to a special legislation. As in any modern constitutions, the Slovak Constitution provided that the courts of law were empowered to review any decision of administrative courts and, on the other hand, the jurisdiction of military courts could be extended over the civil population during wartime and for war crimes. "Judges are independent," states Article 67, "in their judicial functions and are bound only by law." The Constitution contained provisions that no person could be deprived of the judge designated by law to hear the case (Article 62), and Article 66 made the judiciary free of any interference either on the part of administrative or political leadership. The professional judges were appointed to their positions permanently and "they have held a highly privileged position, appropriate to their equally high office," states Judge A. Peltzner (14). The Chapter dealing with the rights and obligations of the citizens (Chapter X) can sustain comparision with any democratic and liberal constitution and a modern "Bill of Rights." The 1Slovak Constitution guaranteed full and equal rights to all citizens without distinction of sex, race, creed, occupation, or ethnic origin. The guarantees refer to personal freedoms, private ownership, religious freedom, freedom of expression of opinion, scientific research and arts (15), provided they were exercised within the limits of valid laws and did not come into conflict with public order and Christian morals [Article 85] - (16). The Constitution was based on the principle that "no person can be punished for behavior which is not in conflict with valid legal form and for which a punishment has not been previously determined," applying the old principle "nulla poena sine lege," and all inhabitants, regardless of origin, nationality, religion, or occupation, were entitled to the protection of life, liberty, and property (Article 81). There are, in the Slovak Constitution, even some particular provisions which intended to give to the Slovak State �SLOVAKIA 59 a progressive, modern, social and Christian character. Such provisions are as follows: Ownership has a social function and demands from the owner adminstration in the best interest of the common good (Article 79). Marriage, family and motherhood are under the· strict protection of the legal order (Article 86). Labor is protected. Exploitation of socially weak citizens is. prohibited. Wages should be adequate to the working effort and family status. Mental and physical work is a civil duty, etc. "All these provisions can be described," says Dr. Peltzner, "as an intensified care and protection of the family, social purpose of private ownership, protection of the working man, his wages, and social justice to all. All were aimed at achieving a new social order, where clashing social interests would be minimized and eventually abolished. This concept of social and labor legislation was greatly influenced by the encyclical letters of the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church, especially by Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno" (17). ln order to present a complete picture of the Slovak Constitution, we have to mention provisions regarding political parties. The chapter dealing with the political organization (Chapter Vil) merely legalized the existing situation which was created in Slovakia by the so-called Zilina .A:greement of October 6, 1938, long before Slovakia declared her independence and the Parliament adopted the Constitution. The provision referring to political parties consists of only two paragraphs, the first stating that "the Slovak people participate in political life through the medium of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (the Party of Slovak National Unity) ," and the second legalizing the political activities of ethnic groups, providing that "the ethnic groups participate in political life through a medium of their own political party, provided that such a party can be considered as a representative of the political will of the entire ethnic group" (Articles 58, 59). Since October, 1938, when the number of political parties was reduced due to internal and international circumstances and development, there were in Slovakia three po1 �60 SLOVAKIA litical parties, legally constituted and taking part in the political life of Slovakia. The Communist and the Social Democrat parties, representing only ten deputies, had been dissolved or suppressed following the Zilina Agreement. Six other parties merged into the Slovak National Unity Party, which remained the backbone of the political s y s t e m of autonomous Slovakia before March 1939, and of the Slovak Republic thereafter. The German and Magyar ethnic groups were represented by two minority parties, and the Ukrainian minority by a member of Parliament within Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, the Party of National Unity. The fact that the Slovak Constitution provided for only one party for the Slovak people caused certain criticism abroad and marked, according to some critics, the Slovak R e p u b 1 i c as an authoritarian state. For everybody who knows the Slovak political life between the years 1918-1939 and who is aware of the composition of the Slovak Diet in which representatives of practically all previous political parties except Communists and Social Democrats had their seats, such reproaches would seem to be more of a theoretical than practical nature. There is no doubt that without provisions restricting political life of the Slovak population to one party only, even if it was composed of fractions of many parties, the Constitution would have looked more democratic and beyond reproach, because a multiparty system is one of the main characteristics of modern representative democracies. However, war conditions and specific needs and dangers forced the Slovak political leaders to adopt many restrictions which are understandable only if we take into consideration all the problems and dangers which the Slovak Republic had to face from the first days of its existence to the end of the war from the outside and the inside. This as well as other features which marked the Slovak Constitution as "authoritarian" were or will be discussed later in this treatise. Before concluding our remarks on the general characteristics of the Slovak Constitution, it seems appropriate to analyze the formal features of the text and its contents. In this respect, we can say that from the point of view of political science and constitutional law, the Slo- �SLOVAKIA 61 vak Constitution conforms to all requirements which political science demands from modern constitutions. It can be classified as a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws covering the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power. It outlined the governmental organization, determined the relations of the governors and the governed, and provided a legal method for amendments, so that it might be changed when necessary by the prescribed majority in Parliament. m "Authoritarian" Features and Deviations The statement of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives mentions that the Slovak Constitution contained also principles of "an authoritarian state." There is, however, no indication in the report where these principles are to be found, except perhaps in the words that "the executive was to prevail over the legislature after Slovakia, in 1941, had entered the war against the Soviet Union," and that "the number of political parties was reduced - after the Communist and the Social Democrat parties. had been suppressed as subversive - in October, 1938, and the six other parties merged into the Slovak Unity Party, the backbone of the political system of the Slovak State." Actually, the Constitution did not reduce the number of Slovak political parties. It merely legalized a situation which was created in Slovakia in 1938, when Czecho-Slovakia became a federation. We have already explained in part how and why this happened and that unity was not forced on any political party as was later claimed. The representatives of all Slovak and Czecho-Slovak parties were happy that the victorious autonomist movement did not resort to reprisals, and the Slovak population, regardless of previous political affiliation or creed, also approved the new situation. Though the law and electoral system allowed participation of many parties and the autonomous government of Dr. Tiso published an announcement requiring political parties to file the list of their candidates for election, only the Slovak People's Party - the Party of National Unity filed a joint list of candidates which contained leading per- �62 SLOVAKIA sonalities of all previous parties except the Communist and Social Democrats. The new Slovak Parliament issued from this election, held on December 18, 1938, and conducted under the rules of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution and electoral system, was composed of 48 former Populists, 12 former agrarian, Artisans, Slovak Nationalists and even National Socialists (Dr. E. Benes's Party), two Germans, one Hungarian, and one Ukrainian. It was this Diet which unanimously proclaimed Slovakia on March 14, 1939, an independent State and adopted the Constitution of the Slovak Republic. There were no changes in Party system or in the composition of party representatives in 1939, and former adherents of Prague's centralism worked in the 1Slovak Parliament and Party organs quite happily together with former autonomists, Protestant ministers with the Catholic clergy, agrarians with artisans, etc. , until 1944, when the outcome of the War became clearly unfavorable to the further existence of the Slovak Republic and the restoration of Czecho.,Slovakia by the ,Soviets and Allies was in sight. There was, of course, a change in the structure of the Party of National Unity, which combined from March, 1939, nominations with election of Party functionaries on all levels, and the role of the Party altered considerably. The President of the Party, Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso, and this writer as Secretary General, insisted on avoiding imitation of foreign models either in ideology or organization, as had been admitted even by Communist and Czech adversaries (18). Some features and symbols of Italian and German party systems were nevertheless adopted, and on the surface there was an adaptation to the "New Order" in Central Europe, which in some respect was far from a parliamentarian or representative democracy in the traditional sense. In practice and ideologically Slovakia, however, continued the "decrepit democratic system of Benes' Republic," as Hitler stated in his reproach to the Slovak leaders in July, 1940, during the so-called "Salzburg Summons." After the Salzburg meeting which resulted in the forced resignation of the Minister of the Interior and Foreign Af- �SLOVAKIA 63 fairs, Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky, and of this writer a:s Secretary General of the Party, some measures were adopted which did not correspond either with the letter or with the spirit of the Slovak Constitution and which measures effected, in some respects, "the executive prevailed over the legislature." The Party's importance for some time considerably diminished and the Hlinka Guard, originally and according to the law a section of the ·P arty, tried to control the Party and political life, but this development did not bring about any constitutional changes, it did not last for any length of time, and was either challenged or disapproved and finally checked by the Parliament, the President and the Party leaders (19). It is a matter of fact that there were, in this period, attempts to introduce a sort of "Slovak National Socialism" in the administration of public affairs and there were arbitrary actions of irresponsible persons and groups against certain ,groups of population, but the Parliament and especally the President and the .P arty tried to stop these currents and transgressions and gained satisfactory control of the situation in this case, as in the first weeks after the declaration of independence. This, however, did not prevent the adversaries of the Slovak •S tate from an incorrect and often malicious interpretation of the intentions of the Slovak political leaders who centralized political institutions and also economic and administrative offices only because they were forced to do so by war conditions and by the desire to achieve unity of the nation which was before intentionally divided into many fractions by Prague's rulers who ruled Slovakia during twenty years according to the old dictum "divide et impera." They presented many institutions which were imposed upon Slovakia by war conditions and the international situation as a part of a "totalitarian or authoritative system," though, on the other hand, they admitted that "public offices and institutions which had not formerly existed in 1Slovakia, were introduced on a Czecho..Slovak model, among them the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Supreme Audit Department, the Post �64 SLOVAKIA Office Savings Bank, the National Bank, the Land Office, the Statistics Office, etc. " (20). The war imposed a number of new offices everywhere, in Great Britain, in the United States, and in Canada, such as: Price Control Office, Central :Eiconomic Office, Propaganda Office, etc. When similar offices were organized in Slovakia, the adversaries of Slovak independence, from their London or Washington asylums, denounced them as proofs and instruments of "authoritarian" or "nazi and fascist" systems and oppression. No doubt, the Slovak administration during the last years of the war had some offices and institutions which had names or structures similar to German or Italian institutions, but there was "a mixture of old and new elements," as admitted even by the Communists and Czech adversaries and definitely the democratic or "Czechoslovak" model prevailed and the intention of the responsible Slovak leaders behind all these institutions was not to introduce nazism or fascism, but to secure prosperity, security, and smooth functioning of the new State, or in other words, to save the Slovak people and its substance at a time when it was faced with physical and spiritual ruin. Some original "authoritarian" features of the !Slovak Constitution are due to the fact that the jurists and Parliamentarians who prepared the draft looked for inspirations in the countries which were in similar political or geographical situations and equally threatened either by the impact of nazism or communism. For this reason mainly the Constitution of Austria under Dolfuss-Schuschni gg and the Constitution of Portugal were studied by some members of the preparatory legislative committee and, while the Ausstrian Constitution showed them how to defend the country against infiltration of German National Socialist ideology, the Constitution of Portugal was studied because of the threat of Communist infiltration. Adversaries of Slovak independence who knew that this was the correct interpretation of the "authoritarian" elements in the Slovak Constitution, tried to prove, of course, the very opposite: they spoke and wrote of a deliberate introduction of "nazi" or "fascist" ideology and system, using for proof some short comings or measures imposed by the war and German pressure �SLOVAKIA 65 on Slovak Administration and Government. They also failed to realize that "the value of any form of government may be judged either by the success and efficiency with which it accomplishes its proper purposes or by the effect which it produces on its citizens and the degree of satisfaction and confidence that they feel toward it," as Gettel says. That there were problems and shortcomings, none among responsible Slovak leaders had ever denied. "Our constitutional o~gans, our legislation, executive, and judiciary are in their infancy," wrote the official newspaper Slovak. "We shall show no weakness if we admit that here and there various institutions are still very shaky." There was quite open criticism of all shortcomings and often violent attacks on institutions and leaders from many parts, even from President Tiso and the young leadership of the Party, because, while there was formally only one Slovak political party, the public heard critical voices, and public opinion was created outside Parliament by the Party press, Hlinka Guard press, German and Hungarian minority press, and clandestine Communist opposition. All of them wrote and spoke from their own angles and viewpoints. Certainly, too many voices for an "authoritarian" or "nazi" regime and State - a fact which was later recognized even by some adversaries. "The fact remains," reported Dr. M. Kvetko, one of the leaders of the "People's Democracy," installed in Slovakia in collaboration with the Communists, to American authorities in Germany in 1948, "that a significant number of the politicians of the Slovak People's Party, and especially of the populace, were not inclined to fascism and prevented its spread so effectively that, excepting the retaliations against Jews and Communists, no special actions were undertaken against the vast majority of the people. And so, with regard to the fact that Slovak people managed the affairs in Slovakia, we can hardly speak of treason and collaboration (with nazism) as the Communists tried to do in order to frighten the people and create chaos, so that they could come to power." This chapter was intended, however, to deal with the �66 SLOVAKIA Constitution of the Slovak Republic which, without being changed, remained the basis of legal system and ,governmental structure from 1939 to 1945, when Russians armies overran the country, raping and looting without precedence in Slovak history, and imposed on the Slovak people the new "people's democracy" and Czech domination within the framework of a restored Czecho-Slovakia. The Slovak Constituaion reflected old Slovak Christian and democratic traditions and there can hardly be any doubt that the responsible Slovak leaders endeavoured to govern in accordance with the Constitution, and only because of limitations imposed by the international situation and other circumstances which were beyond the control of the people and their leaders, t here were deviations from the Constitution. For this reason it can be admitted that "the Slovak State reflected a compromise between the past and present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central E' u rope." And for the same reason the Slovak Constitution "contained principles which in some aspects combined features of the liberal, the Christian Democratic, and the authoritarian State." 1. R. ,G. Gettell: Political Science, University of Calif., 1933, p. 244. 2. Cfr.: "Communist Takeover and Occupation of Czecho-Slovakia," Union Calendar No. 929, House Report No. 2684, Part 14, Washington, 1954. The Select Committee was composed of Congressmen, as well as a group of experts from Georgetown University and various parts of the United States. 3. Milan Hodza : Federation in Central Europe, London, 1942, p. 208-9. 4. Cfr . .Alexander Kunosi: The Basis of Czechoslovak Unity, London, 1944, p. 86; and H. Lee MdBain: The New Constitutions of Europe, New York, 1922, p. 307-342. 5. Even communist adversaries has to admit that "the Nazi model was not shamelessly imposed" and that "the n ew Slovak state was launched with all the paraphernalia of a national ideology apparently corporative and Christian," as wrote K. Kunosi in London, in 1944. 6. Joseph .A. Mikus: La Slovaquie dans le drame de !'Europe, Paris, 1955, p. 12.7-131; also article by J. F. Gleiman in symposium Slovenska Republika, ed. N. Sprinc, Scranton, Pa., 1949, p. 108-112, and the English translation in Slovakia, Middletown, Pa., Vol. II, No. 3, p. 20 . .An excellent analysis of the Slovak Constitution was also prepared by former judge .Anton Peltzner, DL. D., as a thesis for the M. .A. degree at the U niversity of Montreal in 1957. �SLOVAKIA 67 7. "This presentation of God as the ultimate ,s ource of Law, and the interdependence of human and divine order as reflected in the Preamble of the Slovak !Constitution can prompt one to question." says Dr. A. Peltzner in his analysis, "why the authors of the text considered it wise and appropriate to formulate the preface in such a sense and import." The answer, in his opinion and in the opinion of all who are familiar with the history of the Slovak people, is based on two elements: l) there was a long and sincere dedication of the Slovak people to their religion, and a mutually long and faithful service of the Slovak clergy to their nation ; and, 2) the geographical position of the Slovak Republic was such that, on the Eastern frontiers stood the might of ,M arxist atheism, and from the Western side there was a potential danger of spreading and infiltrating of modern paganism, as formulated and taught by ,o erman National Socialism. The political leaders of the Slovak people considered it, therefore, as highly desirable to state that '\Slovaks stood firmly by their national traditions, of which belief in God and His Omnipotence was the substance of the whole concept." - Cfr. Dr. A. Peltzner: The Slovak Constitution and Modern Political Theory, p . 105. 8. Ibidem, p. 8·6. 9. lbidem, p. 195. 10. Ibidem, p. 48. 11. Andre Mathiot: The Bri tish Political System , London, 1958, p . 13·5. 12. The Constitution empowered the Cabinet to issue a government order with -the legal force and effect of law when economic, financial or political interests of the State required immediate attention, and only when lack of action could cause irreparable damage to these interests. 13. Cfr. Kunosi: Opus cit., p. 86. 14. ilbidem, pp. 76-82. 15. See: Chapter X, articles 75-85. That some of these freedoms were later limited or in individual cases disregarded, nobody would deny. The war imposed restrictions on personal freedoms in every country. In Slovakia, one could hardly expect that ideological influences of Germany and the political and economic pressures of war conditions would not result in a restriction of civil rights, or in transgressions by some individuals or groups of individuals. This, however, was not the fault of the Constitution, and as for the President of the Slovak !Republic and the Parliament, they tried to apply restrictions with respect to human life and natural rights. 16. 'The measures adopted against Jewish citizens were in many regards unconstitutional and mainly a result of German interference and deceit, especially as far as the transfer of a part of Slovak Jews to Poland was concerned. They were destined for labor, not extermination. The President as well as other Slovak authorities tried to avoid the tragedy but were able to save only a portion of those to be transferred. On the attitude of the Slovak Population see Raport du Co mite In- �68 SLOVAKIA 17. 18. 19. 20. ternational de la Croix Rouge , Geneve, 1948, I-IL1, I-er vol., P. 674, and also J . A. Mikus, Opus. c it. , p. 136. Ibid em, p. 101. Cfr. A . Kuno si: Opus cit., and a lso Chap ter on Political parties. It is a m att er of controv ersy a mong experts of constitutional law if the preponderance of the executiv e over the legislature gives a n a uthorHaria n character to a State. "A domina nt exec utiv e can be defend ed on th eore ti cal grounds," says Andre Mathiot. " The Cabinet, no less than Parlia m ent, com es into being as the r esult of an elec tion which more or less d et ermines its composition. Thus, in Great Britain, the relationship between the Crown, Parliament and the Cabin et ha ve gra du a lly d eveloped to produce a uniqu e parliam entary regime in which the executiv e is now th e dominant organ. Parliamen t remains legally sovereign a nd in th eory the supreme organ in th e State, but it is 110 exagger ation to say that effective political power is nowa days concentrated in the small group of men who constitute th e Cabinet" (Opus cit. , p. 135). W e have, of course, no intention to rights, on theoretical grounds, and to compare the r egime in Great Britain with that in Slovakia. Cfr. Kunos i: opus cit., p. 89. • • • MARCH 14, 1939: SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE DAY By Andrew Pastor The day of independence of a nation represents the culminating point in what often was a long struggle for its achievement. Independence comes easy, but the road leading to it is strewn with hardships, sufferings, miseries, and oftentimes death. Whether that day be the 4th of July, or the 14th day of March, it is a day of recollection upon which each individual looks with pride, knowing that this day years ago marked the beginning of a new and brighter era in the historic evolution of one's nation. What is the historical background of Slovakia's independence? Briefly the political history of the Slovaks dates back to the 9th century when Rastislav, the ruler of Great Moravia (846-870), made himself known for the intensive christianization of their territory by inviting Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the Apostles of the Slovaks and the � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 SLOVAK.IA 47 Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL. D., PH. D. mE CONSTITUTION OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC I Introductory Note "No Constitution can be considered perfect or permanent", says R. G. Gettell in his renowned work Political Science. "The final requisite for a good constitution is that the constitution shall correspond to actual conditions within the State" (1). Among the critics and adversaries of the Slovak Republic there were few, if any, who read the Slovak Constitution, the fundamental principles that determined the basic nature of the Slovak ,S tate and Government, the distribution of its severeign powers among the various organs of government and the relation of the government to the people over whom its authority was exercised. We, therefore, hardly find someone who based his criticism of the Slovak Republic on the constitutional or legal basis or on the constitutional form of the Slovak state. The Select Committee of the House of Representatives of the U. S., in its special report No. 8, prepared in co-operation with Georgetown University and a group of experts from various parts of the United States, expressed its opinion in the following terms: "The Constitution contained principles, which in some aspects combined features of the liberal state, the Christian democracy, and the authoritarian state. In the beginning all power of the Slovak Republic was vested in the Parliament but later on, in 1941, after Slovakia had entered the war against the ,soviet Union, the executive was to prevai I over the legislature. "The Slovak state was far from being a perfect democracy in the traditional sense. It reflected a compromise between the past and the present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central Europe. But, in general, it was an expression of the self-preservation instinct of the Slovak nation" (2). This statement, though basically true and expressing to a great extent the view of the writer, should be complemented by a political as well as juridical analysis of the text of the Constitution and of the circumstances in which 48 SLOVAKIA it was drafted and adopted by the Slovak Diet. The first question seems to be: from whence came the features of the liberal, the Christian democratic , and the authoritari an State? As for the democratic traditions in Slovakia, they antidated not only the attainment of political independen ce in 1939, but also the inclusion of Slovakia into the CzechoSlovak Republic in 1918. The Slovak nobility was assimilated by the Ma,gyars to a great extent before the Slovak national revival took place at the end of the 18th and in the first half of the 19th century, so that no aristocratic traditions could hinder the acceptance and developmen t of modern democratic ideas. In fact, Slovakia became the refuge of many lofty intellectual efforts during the 17th century and later it "revealed itself as a meeting-pla ce of practically all contempor ary currents of cultural and political ideas" (3). It is true that the policy of Budapest, after the Ausgleich of 1867, aimed at suppressing Slovak nationalism and Slovak political activities. This resulted in the reduction of the IS lovak representat ion in Budapest's Parliament to only two representat ives at the end of World War I. However, this situation cannot reasonably be used as a yardstick for Slovak disposition for political maturity. This became evident shortly after the creation of the CzechoSlovak Republic, when not only genuine Slovak political parties sprang up, but also, more or less, all the Czech parties extended their activities into Slovakia. Practically all political tendencies from socialism to agrarian democracy and communism found an echo in the Slovak poulation. The genuine and most representat ive Slovak parties were: 1) the Slovak People's Party, later called Hlinka's Slovak People's Party and the Party of National l:Jnity (since October 1938), representin g the bulk of the nationally conscious Catholic population, although some non-Catholics were among its members (the party never officially labeled its program as Catholic); and, 2) the Slovak National Party which organized those Slovak Protestants who remained faithful to the traditions of Slovak national- SLOVAKIA 49 ism and to the idea of distinct Slovak culture and selfgovernment. All political parties in Slovakia developed during the period of 191'8-1938 along the lines of the Constitution of Czecho-Slovakia which is often praised as a model of modern democratic constitutions. It must, therefore, sound highly improbable and illogial when adversaries of the Slovak State assert that all this changed from one day to another, that all the democratic traditions of Czecho-Slovakia ,w ere so weak that they were transformed without any resistance into "fascist" and "nazi" tendencies by the simple act of the declaration of Slovakia's independence. It would certainly be safe to assume that democracy survived, in many respects, the Declaration of 1M arch 14, 19'39, and that the Slovak Constitution could not but reflect the principles of democratic thinking and institutions which were alive in Slovakia. Actually, they survived to such an extent that in many respects the Slovak Constitution has a strinking resemblance to the Constitution of the Czecho-Slovak Republic (4). Provisions referring to legislative powers of the Parliament, election and powers of the President of the Republic, the judiciary, and the whole legal structure of the Slovak State had much in common with the Constitution of Czecho..!Slovakia which, like the ,S lovak Constitution, adopted principles of Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, or the fundamental principles of French and American Constitutions. The authors of the Slovak Constitution were jurists and parliamentarians educated predominantly at the universities and in the Parliament of Czecho-:Slovakia; with one or two exceptions, they were men who studied law abroad and were mainly responsible for the liberal elements in the draft of the Slovak Constitution. There are, of course, striking differences, too, as far as the ideological bases of these two constitutions are concerned. The religiosity of the Slovak people and their Christian world outlook gave quite a different ideological basis to the Slovak constitution in general, and to its many provisions regarding social institutions, which reflect the ideas of the Papal encyclicals in particular. While the Slovak 50 SLOVAKIA Constitution presents God as the ultimate source of Law and declares that the function of the Slovak Republic is to unite all the moral and economic forces of the people in a Christian and national community in order to become the executor of social justice and the protector of common good, the ideological roots of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution were as far from God and religion as were Prague's leading politicians. On the other hand, the Slovak Constitution could not but differ in provisions or institutions which were imposed by the international situation and which are described as "authoritarian." As we mentioned before, the final requisite for a good Constitution, according to Gettell, is that the Constitution shall correspond to actual conditions within the State. While the Constitution of Czecho-Slovakia reflected certain ideological currents and political structures of the French Republic which was mainly responsible for the creation and existence of Czecho-Slovakia and for the new organization of Central Europe after First World War, the Slovak Constitution could not but reflect a new situation, new organization and a "new order" in Central Europe, created by Hitler's Germany in 1938-1939 with the consent of France and England. Considered objectively, one has to to recognize that it took courage and deep attachment to traditions to proclaim in Slovakia, in 1939, God as the ultimate source of Law and order and to use Papal encyclicals as the basis for social institutions, human and family rights on the one hand, and, on the other, "to produce a sort of Slovak edition of the Czechoslovak state" (5). When, in the summer of 1939, the committee appointed by the Slovak Parliament, labored on the draft of the Constitution, the political crisis in Europe was nearing its climax, and the ideological confusion attained irrational dimensions. The area of Central and Eastern Europe was exposed to ideological struggles and political ambitions of at least three Great Powers and, thus, Democracy, Communism, and Nazism as well as remnants of liberal tendencies were engaged in a rough competition for influence over the Central European peoples. Slovakia, in the middle of this ideological ferment and 1 SLOVAKIA 51 international instability, found herself also threatened by aggression or territorial claims from her neighbors, so that even the very existence of the newly created state on the banks of the Danube and the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains was, from its beginning, endangered. To expect, in the midst of such political and ideological chaos, any uncompromis ing attitudes on the side of the Constitutiona l Committee would amount to expecting from it something humanly impossible. Slovakia had to take a compromising position politically and ideologically not only for reasons of good relations with her neighbors, but also, if not in the first place, in order to survive as a State, since Democracy was considered a provocation, and, in its classic form, in the summer of 1939, was already dying in all Central Eiuropean countries. An analysis of the main principles and fundamental rights will show how far the work of the Constitutiona l Committee of Slovakia - despite its compromising tenor reflects the tendencies and genuine traditions of the Slovak people. According to the expert opinion of several jurists, the Constitution adopted practically the whole sysb~m of democratic-lib eralistic constitutions of the 1'8th and 19th centuries and, though Slovakia was weighed in from the right and left between Godless bolshevism and anti-Christian neo-paganism , she brought forth a constitution "saturated with the Christian spirit and especially with the principles of the social encyclicals of the Holy See" (6). As for the features of Christian democracy, besides many institutions concerned with social life, family, attitude to work, and function of property, in which we can find the influence of modern Christian sociology, the Christian character was given to the whole Constitution by its Preamble which reads as follows: "The Slovak nation, under the protection of Almighty God, survived throughout the ages on the territory destined for its national development and there, with the help of God, Who is the Source of all Power and Law, established its independent Slovak State. "The SI ova k State unites, according to Natural Law, all the moral and economic forces of the Nation in a Christian and national community for the purpose of regulating clashing social aspirations and mutually opposed interests of all occupational and professional groups, and has for its goal the highest attainable degree of happi- 52 SLOVAKIA ness of society and the individual. This ideal can only be achieved through a moral and political process, initiated by the State, which in harmonious unity will function as an executor of social justice and a protector of common good." It would certainly be difficult to find among the constitutions of modern states any other which so clearly states that God must be recognized as the original source of Law and Order and that the function of the nation in a Christian and national community in order to become "an executor of social justice and protector of common good" (7). The accentuation of the social function of the State, which we find in the Preamble, and the emphasis placed on the happiness of both the individual and society, are an indication of the legislators' intention to build a modern welfare state on the principles of Christian social doctrines. We shall see below how principles of Christian social doctrines. We shall see below how these ideas found their expressions in particular provisions and institutions of the Slovak Constitution. n General Characteristics of the Slovak Constitution It is not necessary to be an expert in constitutional law to notice that the Slovak Constitution contains all the democratic devices which political science usually requires from democratic constitutions - such as the separation of powers, the doctrine of checks and balances, and the principle of rule by law. Even the most bitter adversaries of Slovak independence - the Communists and the supporters of Czechoslovakism - did not try to deny these features to the Slovak Constitution. "The Slovak State was intended to make a full show of independence," wrote Alexander IKunosi, one of today's communist diplomats of Czecho-,Slovakia, in 11944, from his London exile: "It was to be vested with all the institutions formerly possessed by the Czechoslovak State. Steps were taken to produce a sort of Slovak edition of the Czecho-Slovak State" (8). Admitting this, the adversaries of the Slovak Republic could not try to say that "the parlimentary facade of Government in Slovakia had, of course, no real signifi1 SLOVAKIA 53 cance, " or that the "Diet did not express the will of the nation or the people," which, as we shall see further , hardly correspond with the truth since the Parliament in Slovakia was not only in theory but also in fact the suprem e organ of the State and the most essential powers were vested in Parliament from the beginning to the end. The Constitution was adopted by a legally constit uted Slovak Diet which was established in accordance with the Czecho-Slovak Constitution, and on the basis of the general election which took place on December 18, 19'38. According to Law No. 299, adopted on November 22, 1938, Slovakia became an autonomous part of Czecho-Slovakia, with her own Government and her own Diet composed of 63 members, vested with legislative powers goveerning not only internal affairs, but required also for ratification of Czecho-Slovak international agreements concerning Slovakia. This Diet, summoned to a session on March 14, 1939, by the President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, Dr. Emil H a c h a , declared Slovakia an independent State, and a special committee of the Diet prepared the draft of the Constitution which was adopted unanimously on July 31, 1939, as Law No. 185. The draft of the Constitution was preceded by a study of several existing modern constitutions with a view to giving the country a set of principles that would correspond with contemporary constitutional thinking and the practical needs and national traditions of the Slovak people. The text was prepared by two university professors of Law, Dr. V. Tuka and Dr. F. :Durcansky, and by several jurists and parliamentarians of young and old generations, Senator Dr. K. Mederly, Dr. M. Sokol, Dr. V. Tvrdy, and Dr. Cerhelyi. In 103 short articles (paragraphs) divided into 13 chapters, the Slovak Constitution gave a radical as well as social basis to the new State in Central Europe. The first article of the Constitution declared the Slovak State a Republic with a President as an elected head, with t erms, according to Gettell, are used to indicate a representative democracy (9) . According to articles 6, 7, 8, and 9, legislative power 54 SLOVAKIA for the entire country vested in the Parliament, composed of 80 members and elected in a general, direct, equal, and secret suffrage for a period of five years. The right to vote belonged to every citizen over 2'1 years of age, man and woman, without racial or religious discrimination. This right to be elected to Parliament belonged to citizens over 30 years of age. The Parliament was based on the unicameral system,. and the President of the Republic was obliged to convene the Parliament for regular sessions twice a year, and for extraordinary sessions whenever the majority of members. demanded such a session. Laws promulgated by the Parliament required the President's signature for their validity. Paragraph 26 provided, however, that laws could be promulgated despite the President's veto, if they were adopted by a three-fifths majority in the presence of a two-thirds majority of deputies. The right to appoint governments belonged to the President, but the Government was responsible to Parliament and subject to its vote of confidence. The Parliament also had the right of prosecution of the· President for high treason. Part IN of the Constitution deals with the powers and functions of the President, who was elected for a period of seven years. Any citizen, 40 years of age or over, was eligible for the office, and the election was valid if two. thirds of the members were present and the candidate obtained a three-fifths majority. A comparision of powers and functions of the Slovak ·P resident, as defined in the Constitution, with those of other parliamentary democracies will prove that his powers were somewhere between the extensive functions and powers of the American president and the purely representative functions of the Presidents of France (before De Gaulle). He represented the State internationally, had the right, with the consent of Parliament to declare wars and conclude peace, to appoint and dismiss ministers, to appoint, but not to dismiss university professors, judges, civil servants, and military officers of the three highest categories. He also had the right to be present at the sessions of the Government and Council of State, to request their convention under his chairmanship, SLOVAKIA 55 to convene, dissolve and prologue Parliament, to sign or veto Parliament's acts, etc. While making the president a dominant figure of the executive, the Constitution, on the other hand, contained provisions which were designed to prevent dictatorial powers (10). The Parliament was able, as we have seen, to promulgate laws even if opposed by the President and according to paragraph 40, "any executive act of the president requires counter-signature by a competent cabinet minister for its validity." No person could be re-elected more than once to the presidential office and when the president died during his term, abdicated or was permanently unable to exercise his functions, it was the duty of the Prime Minister to assume temporary functions of the president. A new president had to be elected by the iParliament within thirty days. The President represented, together with the Cabinet, the executive of the !Slovak Republic and, consequently, the Slovak Government had some features of a presidential type of government and, at the same time, it also contained elements of parliamentary government. An expert on constitutional theories can prove both, because - while the essential characteristics of parliamentary government are: 1) a politically independent head of State; and, 2) a cabinet which is politically responsible to Parliament - "parliamentary Government may also develop in the opposite direction. The Cabinet can become the dominant political organ, able to control the government of the country and direct the work of the Parliament which assists it in the execution of its program," says Andre Mathiot in his ercellent treatise "The British Political System" (11). it is not, however, our intention to discuss theoretical issues here. One can easily prove that the executive in the Slovak Republic was also predominantly of the presidential type, because "every system of 'P arliamentary government has its own distinctive features, resulting from a complex of many different factors. History, the national temperament, beliefs and ideologies, conventions of political behavior, attempts to imitate a particular model or to avoid certain dangers, etc." - states Mathiot. All these factors 56 SLOVAKIA played their distinctive roles in the Slovak Constitution and made it a constitution "sui generis." As for the powers and constitution of the Slovak Cabinet, the President of the Republic appointed and dismissed the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet and determined which member would administer individual ministries (Article 41). The Parliament was also empowered to call the Cabinet and its individual members to political responsibility and to express lack of confidence which would result in the dissolution of the cabinet (Article 48) . Practical considerations demanded, on the other hand, a certain measure of delegation of legislative powers to the Cabinet. The jurisdiction of the Cabinet was limited to governmental orders, namely, during a national emergency, or orders pertaining to the execution of certain types of laws, and within the limits specified in the laws. Validity of such orders was conditional, since the Prime Minister was obliged to submit them within three months to the Parliament, which, in turn, could disallow such measures or could make whatever changes it deemed necessary, or pass it as its own law (12). Chapter V of the Slovak Constitution defined the functions and composition of the Council of State, a pecial body composed of outstanding personalities from various walks of life whose functions pertained to a sort of control of the political life in ,Slovakia. The Council was composed of 6 members appointed by the President of the Republic, ten members were chosen by the Slovak People's Party, two members by the registered parties of ethnic groups, and one was delegated by each estate. The Prime Minister and the President of the Assembly were also memb2rs of the Council. The functions of the Council were defined by the Article 52 and consisted in initiating legislation, controlling and prosecuting the President, Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers, and in advising the President and the government on matters of a political, cultural, and economic nature. The Council also prepared the list of candidates for parliamentary elections and made decisions concerning the loss of 0 SLOVAKIA 57 parliamentary seats, following a request from the President of the Assembly. Politically, the reason for the existence of the Council was given by the desire to have, in the absence of a Senate, representatives in the political life of the new State from groups or professions who usually did not look for an election to Parliament, but whose advice, abilities, and moral stature were destined to help the Government in its endeavour to make the population happy and united behind the political leadership. The authors of the draft of the Constitution expressed their intention in stating that "the Council of State is the expression of political and national unity, and also joins the national and political life with the constitutional representatives, combining itself the function of legal initiation and control." Following the social doctrine of the Papal encyclicals, the authors of the Constitution also included in their draft certain institutions which characterize the so-called "corporative" systems. Chapter VII of the Slovak Constitution had foressen organization of Slovakia's inhabitants into six self-administered bodies called "stavy" (estates) according to occupation and profession: the association of workers and employers in agriculture, in industry, trade, commerce and banking; the association of the free professions and the association of State and public employees. "The associations included both employers and employees and they were assigned to take care of the economic, social, and cultural interests of their members, to solve labor and wage disputes and problems among employees and employers, and to help members of the association to achieve better results in their industries and occupations and a higher standard of living for the nation (Article 62). Acting on Law No. 297 of the Collection of Laws, the President of the Republic appointed the presidents on November 19, 1940, and the aim of the associations was again given as "to manifest the unity of the Slovak workers' community, without heed to classes and callings, and bearing in mind only the interests of the nation and the State" (13). As for the judiciary, we have already stated that the Slovak Constitution was based on the principle of separa- 58 SLOVAKIA tion of powers, as defined by modern political theories. There were three types of courts: courts of law, administrative courts, and military courts. The organization of courts and their legal competence were left to a special legislation. As in any modern constitutions, the Slovak Constitution provided that the courts of law were empowered to review any decision of administrative courts and, on the other hand, the jurisdiction of military courts could be extended over the civil population during wartime and for war crimes. "Judges are independent," states Article 67, "in their judicial functions and are bound only by law." The Constitution contained provisions that no person could be deprived of the judge designated by law to hear the case (Article 62), and Article 66 made the judiciary free of any interference either on the part of administrative or political leadership. The professional judges were appointed to their positions permanently and "they have held a highly privileged position, appropriate to their equally high office," states Judge A. Peltzner (14). The Chapter dealing with the rights and obligations of the citizens (Chapter X) can sustain comparision with any democratic and liberal constitution and a modern "Bill of Rights." The 1Slovak Constitution guaranteed full and equal rights to all citizens without distinction of sex, race, creed, occupation, or ethnic origin. The guarantees refer to personal freedoms, private ownership, religious freedom, freedom of expression of opinion, scientific research and arts (15), provided they were exercised within the limits of valid laws and did not come into conflict with public order and Christian morals [Article 85] - (16). The Constitution was based on the principle that "no person can be punished for behavior which is not in conflict with valid legal form and for which a punishment has not been previously determined," applying the old principle "nulla poena sine lege," and all inhabitants, regardless of origin, nationality, religion, or occupation, were entitled to the protection of life, liberty, and property (Article 81). There are, in the Slovak Constitution, even some particular provisions which intended to give to the Slovak State SLOVAKIA 59 a progressive, modern, social and Christian character. Such provisions are as follows: Ownership has a social function and demands from the owner adminstration in the best interest of the common good (Article 79). Marriage, family and motherhood are under the· strict protection of the legal order (Article 86). Labor is protected. Exploitation of socially weak citizens is. prohibited. Wages should be adequate to the working effort and family status. Mental and physical work is a civil duty, etc. "All these provisions can be described," says Dr. Peltzner, "as an intensified care and protection of the family, social purpose of private ownership, protection of the working man, his wages, and social justice to all. All were aimed at achieving a new social order, where clashing social interests would be minimized and eventually abolished. This concept of social and labor legislation was greatly influenced by the encyclical letters of the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church, especially by Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno" (17). ln order to present a complete picture of the Slovak Constitution, we have to mention provisions regarding political parties. The chapter dealing with the political organization (Chapter Vil) merely legalized the existing situation which was created in Slovakia by the so-called Zilina .A:greement of October 6, 1938, long before Slovakia declared her independence and the Parliament adopted the Constitution. The provision referring to political parties consists of only two paragraphs, the first stating that "the Slovak people participate in political life through the medium of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (the Party of Slovak National Unity) ," and the second legalizing the political activities of ethnic groups, providing that "the ethnic groups participate in political life through a medium of their own political party, provided that such a party can be considered as a representative of the political will of the entire ethnic group" (Articles 58, 59). Since October, 1938, when the number of political parties was reduced due to internal and international circumstances and development, there were in Slovakia three po1 60 SLOVAKIA litical parties, legally constituted and taking part in the political life of Slovakia. The Communist and the Social Democrat parties, representing only ten deputies, had been dissolved or suppressed following the Zilina Agreement. Six other parties merged into the Slovak National Unity Party, which remained the backbone of the political s y s t e m of autonomous Slovakia before March 1939, and of the Slovak Republic thereafter. The German and Magyar ethnic groups were represented by two minority parties, and the Ukrainian minority by a member of Parliament within Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, the Party of National Unity. The fact that the Slovak Constitution provided for only one party for the Slovak people caused certain criticism abroad and marked, according to some critics, the Slovak R e p u b 1 i c as an authoritarian state. For everybody who knows the Slovak political life between the years 1918-1939 and who is aware of the composition of the Slovak Diet in which representatives of practically all previous political parties except Communists and Social Democrats had their seats, such reproaches would seem to be more of a theoretical than practical nature. There is no doubt that without provisions restricting political life of the Slovak population to one party only, even if it was composed of fractions of many parties, the Constitution would have looked more democratic and beyond reproach, because a multiparty system is one of the main characteristics of modern representative democracies. However, war conditions and specific needs and dangers forced the Slovak political leaders to adopt many restrictions which are understandable only if we take into consideration all the problems and dangers which the Slovak Republic had to face from the first days of its existence to the end of the war from the outside and the inside. This as well as other features which marked the Slovak Constitution as "authoritarian" were or will be discussed later in this treatise. Before concluding our remarks on the general characteristics of the Slovak Constitution, it seems appropriate to analyze the formal features of the text and its contents. In this respect, we can say that from the point of view of political science and constitutional law, the Slo- SLOVAKIA 61 vak Constitution conforms to all requirements which political science demands from modern constitutions. It can be classified as a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws covering the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power. It outlined the governmental organization, determined the relations of the governors and the governed, and provided a legal method for amendments, so that it might be changed when necessary by the prescribed majority in Parliament. m "Authoritarian" Features and Deviations The statement of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives mentions that the Slovak Constitution contained also principles of "an authoritarian state." There is, however, no indication in the report where these principles are to be found, except perhaps in the words that "the executive was to prevail over the legislature after Slovakia, in 1941, had entered the war against the Soviet Union," and that "the number of political parties was reduced - after the Communist and the Social Democrat parties. had been suppressed as subversive - in October, 1938, and the six other parties merged into the Slovak Unity Party, the backbone of the political system of the Slovak State." Actually, the Constitution did not reduce the number of Slovak political parties. It merely legalized a situation which was created in Slovakia in 1938, when Czecho-Slovakia became a federation. We have already explained in part how and why this happened and that unity was not forced on any political party as was later claimed. The representatives of all Slovak and Czecho-Slovak parties were happy that the victorious autonomist movement did not resort to reprisals, and the Slovak population, regardless of previous political affiliation or creed, also approved the new situation. Though the law and electoral system allowed participation of many parties and the autonomous government of Dr. Tiso published an announcement requiring political parties to file the list of their candidates for election, only the Slovak People's Party - the Party of National Unity filed a joint list of candidates which contained leading per- 62 SLOVAKIA sonalities of all previous parties except the Communist and Social Democrats. The new Slovak Parliament issued from this election, held on December 18, 1938, and conducted under the rules of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution and electoral system, was composed of 48 former Populists, 12 former agrarian, Artisans, Slovak Nationalists and even National Socialists (Dr. E. Benes's Party), two Germans, one Hungarian, and one Ukrainian. It was this Diet which unanimously proclaimed Slovakia on March 14, 1939, an independent State and adopted the Constitution of the Slovak Republic. There were no changes in Party system or in the composition of party representatives in 1939, and former adherents of Prague's centralism worked in the 1Slovak Parliament and Party organs quite happily together with former autonomists, Protestant ministers with the Catholic clergy, agrarians with artisans, etc. , until 1944, when the outcome of the War became clearly unfavorable to the further existence of the Slovak Republic and the restoration of Czecho.,Slovakia by the ,Soviets and Allies was in sight. There was, of course, a change in the structure of the Party of National Unity, which combined from March, 1939, nominations with election of Party functionaries on all levels, and the role of the Party altered considerably. The President of the Party, Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso, and this writer as Secretary General, insisted on avoiding imitation of foreign models either in ideology or organization, as had been admitted even by Communist and Czech adversaries (18). Some features and symbols of Italian and German party systems were nevertheless adopted, and on the surface there was an adaptation to the "New Order" in Central Europe, which in some respect was far from a parliamentarian or representative democracy in the traditional sense. In practice and ideologically Slovakia, however, continued the "decrepit democratic system of Benes' Republic," as Hitler stated in his reproach to the Slovak leaders in July, 1940, during the so-called "Salzburg Summons." After the Salzburg meeting which resulted in the forced resignation of the Minister of the Interior and Foreign Af- SLOVAKIA 63 fairs, Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky, and of this writer a:s Secretary General of the Party, some measures were adopted which did not correspond either with the letter or with the spirit of the Slovak Constitution and which measures effected, in some respects, "the executive prevailed over the legislature." The Party's importance for some time considerably diminished and the Hlinka Guard, originally and according to the law a section of the ·P arty, tried to control the Party and political life, but this development did not bring about any constitutional changes, it did not last for any length of time, and was either challenged or disapproved and finally checked by the Parliament, the President and the Party leaders (19). It is a matter of fact that there were, in this period, attempts to introduce a sort of "Slovak National Socialism" in the administration of public affairs and there were arbitrary actions of irresponsible persons and groups against certain ,groups of population, but the Parliament and especally the President and the .P arty tried to stop these currents and transgressions and gained satisfactory control of the situation in this case, as in the first weeks after the declaration of independence. This, however, did not prevent the adversaries of the Slovak •S tate from an incorrect and often malicious interpretation of the intentions of the Slovak political leaders who centralized political institutions and also economic and administrative offices only because they were forced to do so by war conditions and by the desire to achieve unity of the nation which was before intentionally divided into many fractions by Prague's rulers who ruled Slovakia during twenty years according to the old dictum "divide et impera." They presented many institutions which were imposed upon Slovakia by war conditions and the international situation as a part of a "totalitarian or authoritative system," though, on the other hand, they admitted that "public offices and institutions which had not formerly existed in 1Slovakia, were introduced on a Czecho..Slovak model, among them the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Supreme Audit Department, the Post 64 SLOVAKIA Office Savings Bank, the National Bank, the Land Office, the Statistics Office, etc. " (20). The war imposed a number of new offices everywhere, in Great Britain, in the United States, and in Canada, such as: Price Control Office, Central :Eiconomic Office, Propaganda Office, etc. When similar offices were organized in Slovakia, the adversaries of Slovak independence, from their London or Washington asylums, denounced them as proofs and instruments of "authoritarian" or "nazi and fascist" systems and oppression. No doubt, the Slovak administration during the last years of the war had some offices and institutions which had names or structures similar to German or Italian institutions, but there was "a mixture of old and new elements," as admitted even by the Communists and Czech adversaries and definitely the democratic or "Czechoslovak" model prevailed and the intention of the responsible Slovak leaders behind all these institutions was not to introduce nazism or fascism, but to secure prosperity, security, and smooth functioning of the new State, or in other words, to save the Slovak people and its substance at a time when it was faced with physical and spiritual ruin. Some original "authoritarian" features of the !Slovak Constitution are due to the fact that the jurists and Parliamentarians who prepared the draft looked for inspirations in the countries which were in similar political or geographical situations and equally threatened either by the impact of nazism or communism. For this reason mainly the Constitution of Austria under Dolfuss-Schuschni gg and the Constitution of Portugal were studied by some members of the preparatory legislative committee and, while the Ausstrian Constitution showed them how to defend the country against infiltration of German National Socialist ideology, the Constitution of Portugal was studied because of the threat of Communist infiltration. Adversaries of Slovak independence who knew that this was the correct interpretation of the "authoritarian" elements in the Slovak Constitution, tried to prove, of course, the very opposite: they spoke and wrote of a deliberate introduction of "nazi" or "fascist" ideology and system, using for proof some short comings or measures imposed by the war and German pressure SLOVAKIA 65 on Slovak Administration and Government. They also failed to realize that "the value of any form of government may be judged either by the success and efficiency with which it accomplishes its proper purposes or by the effect which it produces on its citizens and the degree of satisfaction and confidence that they feel toward it," as Gettel says. That there were problems and shortcomings, none among responsible Slovak leaders had ever denied. "Our constitutional o~gans, our legislation, executive, and judiciary are in their infancy," wrote the official newspaper Slovak. "We shall show no weakness if we admit that here and there various institutions are still very shaky." There was quite open criticism of all shortcomings and often violent attacks on institutions and leaders from many parts, even from President Tiso and the young leadership of the Party, because, while there was formally only one Slovak political party, the public heard critical voices, and public opinion was created outside Parliament by the Party press, Hlinka Guard press, German and Hungarian minority press, and clandestine Communist opposition. All of them wrote and spoke from their own angles and viewpoints. Certainly, too many voices for an "authoritarian" or "nazi" regime and State - a fact which was later recognized even by some adversaries. "The fact remains," reported Dr. M. Kvetko, one of the leaders of the "People's Democracy," installed in Slovakia in collaboration with the Communists, to American authorities in Germany in 1948, "that a significant number of the politicians of the Slovak People's Party, and especially of the populace, were not inclined to fascism and prevented its spread so effectively that, excepting the retaliations against Jews and Communists, no special actions were undertaken against the vast majority of the people. And so, with regard to the fact that Slovak people managed the affairs in Slovakia, we can hardly speak of treason and collaboration (with nazism) as the Communists tried to do in order to frighten the people and create chaos, so that they could come to power." This chapter was intended, however, to deal with the 66 SLOVAKIA Constitution of the Slovak Republic which, without being changed, remained the basis of legal system and ,governmental structure from 1939 to 1945, when Russians armies overran the country, raping and looting without precedence in Slovak history, and imposed on the Slovak people the new "people's democracy" and Czech domination within the framework of a restored Czecho-Slovakia. The Slovak Constituaion reflected old Slovak Christian and democratic traditions and there can hardly be any doubt that the responsible Slovak leaders endeavoured to govern in accordance with the Constitution, and only because of limitations imposed by the international situation and other circumstances which were beyond the control of the people and their leaders, t here were deviations from the Constitution. For this reason it can be admitted that "the Slovak State reflected a compromise between the past and present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central E' u rope." And for the same reason the Slovak Constitution "contained principles which in some aspects combined features of the liberal, the Christian Democratic, and the authoritarian State." 1. R. ,G. Gettell: Political Science, University of Calif., 1933, p. 244. 2. Cfr.: "Communist Takeover and Occupation of Czecho-Slovakia," Union Calendar No. 929, House Report No. 2684, Part 14, Washington, 1954. The Select Committee was composed of Congressmen, as well as a group of experts from Georgetown University and various parts of the United States. 3. Milan Hodza : Federation in Central Europe, London, 1942, p. 208-9. 4. Cfr . .Alexander Kunosi: The Basis of Czechoslovak Unity, London, 1944, p. 86; and H. Lee MdBain: The New Constitutions of Europe, New York, 1922, p. 307-342. 5. Even communist adversaries has to admit that "the Nazi model was not shamelessly imposed" and that "the n ew Slovak state was launched with all the paraphernalia of a national ideology apparently corporative and Christian," as wrote K. Kunosi in London, in 1944. 6. Joseph .A. Mikus: La Slovaquie dans le drame de !'Europe, Paris, 1955, p. 12.7-131; also article by J. F. Gleiman in symposium Slovenska Republika, ed. N. Sprinc, Scranton, Pa., 1949, p. 108-112, and the English translation in Slovakia, Middletown, Pa., Vol. II, No. 3, p. 20 . .An excellent analysis of the Slovak Constitution was also prepared by former judge .Anton Peltzner, DL. D., as a thesis for the M. .A. degree at the U niversity of Montreal in 1957. SLOVAKIA 67 7. "This presentation of God as the ultimate ,s ource of Law, and the interdependence of human and divine order as reflected in the Preamble of the Slovak !Constitution can prompt one to question." says Dr. A. Peltzner in his analysis, "why the authors of the text considered it wise and appropriate to formulate the preface in such a sense and import." The answer, in his opinion and in the opinion of all who are familiar with the history of the Slovak people, is based on two elements: l) there was a long and sincere dedication of the Slovak people to their religion, and a mutually long and faithful service of the Slovak clergy to their nation ; and, 2) the geographical position of the Slovak Republic was such that, on the Eastern frontiers stood the might of ,M arxist atheism, and from the Western side there was a potential danger of spreading and infiltrating of modern paganism, as formulated and taught by ,o erman National Socialism. The political leaders of the Slovak people considered it, therefore, as highly desirable to state that '\Slovaks stood firmly by their national traditions, of which belief in God and His Omnipotence was the substance of the whole concept." - Cfr. Dr. A. Peltzner: The Slovak Constitution and Modern Political Theory, p . 105. 8. Ibidem, p. 8·6. 9. lbidem, p. 195. 10. Ibidem, p. 48. 11. Andre Mathiot: The Bri tish Political System , London, 1958, p . 13·5. 12. The Constitution empowered the Cabinet to issue a government order with -the legal force and effect of law when economic, financial or political interests of the State required immediate attention, and only when lack of action could cause irreparable damage to these interests. 13. Cfr. Kunosi: Opus cit., p. 86. 14. ilbidem, pp. 76-82. 15. See: Chapter X, articles 75-85. That some of these freedoms were later limited or in individual cases disregarded, nobody would deny. The war imposed restrictions on personal freedoms in every country. In Slovakia, one could hardly expect that ideological influences of Germany and the political and economic pressures of war conditions would not result in a restriction of civil rights, or in transgressions by some individuals or groups of individuals. This, however, was not the fault of the Constitution, and as for the President of the Slovak !Republic and the Parliament, they tried to apply restrictions with respect to human life and natural rights. 16. 'The measures adopted against Jewish citizens were in many regards unconstitutional and mainly a result of German interference and deceit, especially as far as the transfer of a part of Slovak Jews to Poland was concerned. They were destined for labor, not extermination. The President as well as other Slovak authorities tried to avoid the tragedy but were able to save only a portion of those to be transferred. On the attitude of the Slovak Population see Raport du Co mite In- 68 SLOVAKIA 17. 18. 19. 20. ternational de la Croix Rouge , Geneve, 1948, I-IL1, I-er vol., P. 674, and also J . A. Mikus, Opus. c it. , p. 136. Ibid em, p. 101. Cfr. A . Kuno si: Opus cit., and a lso Chap ter on Political parties. It is a m att er of controv ersy a mong experts of constitutional law if the preponderance of the executiv e over the legislature gives a n a uthorHaria n character to a State. "A domina nt exec utiv e can be defend ed on th eore ti cal grounds," says Andre Mathiot. " The Cabinet, no less than Parlia m ent, com es into being as the r esult of an elec tion which more or less d et ermines its composition. Thus, in Great Britain, the relationship between the Crown, Parliament and the Cabin et ha ve gra du a lly d eveloped to produce a uniqu e parliam entary regime in which the executiv e is now th e dominant organ. Parliamen t remains legally sovereign a nd in th eory the supreme organ in th e State, but it is 110 exagger ation to say that effective political power is nowa days concentrated in the small group of men who constitute th e Cabinet" (Opus cit. , p. 135). W e have, of course, no intention to rights, on theoretical grounds, and to compare the r egime in Great Britain with that in Slovakia. Cfr. Kunos i: opus cit., p. 89. • • • MARCH 14, 1939: SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE DAY By Andrew Pastor The day of independence of a nation represents the culminating point in what often was a long struggle for its achievement. Independence comes easy, but the road leading to it is strewn with hardships, sufferings, miseries, and oftentimes death. Whether that day be the 4th of July, or the 14th day of March, it is a day of recollection upon which each individual looks with pride, knowing that this day years ago marked the beginning of a new and brighter era in the historic evolution of one's nation. What is the historical background of Slovakia's independence? Briefly the political history of the Slovaks dates back to the 9th century when Rastislav, the ruler of Great Moravia (846-870), made himself known for the intensive christianization of their territory by inviting Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the Apostles of the Slovaks and the  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Constitution of the Slovak Republic Description An account of the resource Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D.<br />Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 4 (29), March 1959<br />pp. 47-68<br /><ol type="I"><li>Introductory Note</li> <li>General Characteristics of the Slovak Constitution</li> <li>"Authoritarian" Features and Deviations</li> </ol> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1959 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d1cc0a93dbd95bd1b1fbd778b50e6325.pdf 65f52a16a669273bb3ae5d3524330cae PDF Text Text SL OV AK IA Published by the Slovak League of America VOrL. IX MARCH, 1959 NO. 4 (29) FACTS AND EVENTS BEHIND THE SCENES OF SLOVAKIA'S DEOLAR ATION OF INDEPE NDENCE (A chapter from the book "The Case of Slovakia" to be published on the occasion of the twentieth anniversar y of Slovakia's declaration of Independen ce ) By J. M. Kirschba um The presentat ion of events which led to Slovakia' s declaration of independe nce needs some comment s and explanation in order to be properly understoo d. Some American historian s accepted, without the necessary caution, the one-sided Czech presentat ion of the political causes, as well as of the activities of individua l Slovak politician s and their intentions . Three things are to be particula rly comment ed upon: 1) the imminent menace of Hungaria n occupatio n; 2) the visit of Keppler-S eyss-Inqu art-Biirck el to Bratislav a, or the so-called Sidor episode; and, 3) attitudes and activities of the prinicpal Slovak leaders. The writer, though too young according to the American standard s to play a role in national politics, was, in many respects, involved in the ,M arch imbroglio as a former member of the editorial staff of the Slovak People's Party newspape rs, as a leader of universit y and youth organizatio ns, and since October 1938 as the Executiv e Secretary to the Minister of Justice and, finally, as a close friend of Alexande r Mach and Dr. Ferdinan d Durcansk y. Being one of those on the list of the Prague's government who was supposed to be arrested on March 10, 1939, the writer was from the first moment in continuou s contact with Dr. Joseph Tiso and Karol 1Sidor, on the one hand, and with Dr. Durcansk y over the border in Vienna, on the other, and, of course, with Alexande r Mach and the leaders of the Universit y Hlinka Guards, as well. �SLOVAKIA 2 Was there any serious Hungarian menace? Did Ribbentrop use Horthy's telegram as part of a premeditated trick in order to influence Dr. Tiso and :Durcansky, or did the Hungarians really intend to occupy Slovakia? All documents and published memoirs prove that the Hungarian government undoubtedly aimed at the annexation of Slovakia in 1938-1939; this was a twenty-year effort on the part of Magyar politicians and diplomats, in 1938 strongly supported by Mussolini and Ciano, and never denied by any Magyar. The slogan of Magyar politics between the wars was "Mindent visza" - everything returned that Hungary "lost" at the 'P eace Conference of 1919 or prior to that time. In 1938-1939 the Magyars saw, for the first time, an opportunity for their dreams and desires to be realized. According to published documents of the Nurenberg Trials, the telegram sent to Hitler by Hungary's Regent Nicholas Horthy and mentioned during the conversations between the Chancellor Hitler and the Slovak representatives, reads as follows : Your Excellency: Heartfelt thanks. I cannot express how happy I am, for this headI dislike using big words water region is, in fact, for Hungary a vital question. Notwithstanding our recruits of but five weeks, we are tackling the matter with enthusiasm. The plans are already laid. On Thursday the 16th of this month a frontier incident will take place, to be followed on Saturday by the big thrust. I shall never forget this proof of friendship and Your Excellency can at all times ever rely steadfastly on my gratitude. In friendly devotion Horthy Budapest, March 13, 1939. The term "headwater region" means Slovakia, and, since the Slovak leaders were informed by Dr. Vehsenmeyer already in February of a planned invasion of Slovakia by Hungary about March 15, they definitely could not doubt the seriousness of the situation. In fact, the Hungarian menace played quite an important role before Dr. Tiso and Dr. :Durcansky were invited by Chancellor Hitler to Berlin. When President Ha.cha, on March 10, deposed the Slovak autonomous government and 1 �SLOVAKIA 3 issued orders for the arrest over 300 Slovak leaders, including the members of Dr. Tiso's government and the Slovak Diet, Dr. :Durcansky fled to Vienna in order to save Slovakia from Hungarian occupation or division among the neighbors. :Durcansky was one of the Slovak politicians who knew of German plans with regard to Bohemia, since he was also present at the meeting with Dr. Vehsenmeyer, on February 13, at which the latter informed Slovak leaders of Hungary's plans. After a long discussion with deposed premier Msgr. Tiso, the writer, on the afternoon of March 10, crossed the Danube in order to meet :Durcansky on Austrian territory and discuss the proper steps to be taken. There was no doubt that Germany would, within two or three days, occupy Bohemia and Slovakia's fate depended on Slovakia's decision and political adroitness. For :Durcansky and the writer it was clear that the hour of decision in regard to Slovakia's independence had arrived. In our eyes, it was one of the historical opportunities which numerically small, dominated peoples cannot bypass without paying heavy penalties. Long before March, we spoke and wrote on Slovakia's right to independence and definitely no hatred toward the Czechs or sympathy for Germany or Nazism played any role in our minds. As members of the conservative Slovak People's Party with a Christian democratic world outlook, we were opposed to the Nazi ideology or political system from all points of view. We were both former functionaries of Catholic University organizations (1), who received their political schooling in Paris and we were adherents to the philosophy of the natural right of peoples to self-government. In our opinion, and such was the case with many educated Slovaks of our generation, the March events presented to Slovaks the first international opportunity to apply the right to independence. When we saw that Slovakia could be saved at the same time from Hungarian occupation or division among the neighbors, we feverishly worked on preparing Slovakia's declaration of independence. A draft of a government of Independent Slovakia was prepared by :Durcansky, and we discussed what steps to take in Slova- �4 SLOVAKIA kia and what to do in Vienna and Berlin where, since Munich, there was undoubtedl y a new "Versailles " for Central Europe, with a German free hand in disposing of the future of Central European peoples. While Durcansky returned to Vienna, the writer crossed the Danube with the draft of the new governmen t and had a task to obtain Dr. Tiso's consent and to convince Karol Sidor that the hour had struck for declaring Slovakia's independen ce ; that it was the only way to save Slovakia and that we should not hesitate to seize a historical opportunity to achieve what peoples of the globe, including the Americans, tried to achieve by blood and bitter battle as the highest ideal of their national aspirations . Back in Bratislava I found the situation a little confused but no longer in the hands of the Czech gendarmer ie and army. The Hlinka Guards and university students were openly manifestat ing for independen ce. Dr. Tiso left Bratislava in the meantime, for his parish town Banovce, and I was able to reach him only through messengers and by the telephone. My long discussion with Karol Sidor, who was on the list of the future governmen t of independen t Slovakia as Prime Minister, was not successful He was reluctant to give a written statement that he was in favor of Slovakia's independen ce, though he agreed with our activities for independen ce. Sidor feared that I could be arrested and such a statement, if found by the police would cause more harm than good. He feared particularl y that the Czechs would execute the 300 Slovak political prisoners among whom he had many personal friends. ,Sidor was not against Slovakia's independen ce in principle and had previous contacts with German representat ives, the last on March 7 with Seyss-Inqu art with whom he discussed such a possibility. According to his views, expressed during our conversation, the situation was not yet ripe and, therefore, he said he would neither hinder nor help if anyone else were to try to make Slovakia independen t (2). Sidor's behavior was also caused, as I learned during my second conversatio n with him, by the fact that he knew that Prague would appoint him Prime Minister of the Slovak Autonomou s Governmen t. In the middle of our second �SLOVAKIA 5 discussion, Prague's radio actually announced that President Ha.cha nominated him head of the Slovak Autonomous Government. Sidor got off his seat after the news and sa~d to me: "For the time being, I am decided to accept this . premiership." My secretary and several officers of the A c a d e m 1 c Guard were waiting in front of Sidor's residence and one of them was sent to bring the news to Dr. :Durcansky who, in the firm hope that my mission was successful, in the meantime, informed the German representative s in Vienna that Slovakia would declare independence and handed them the draft of the proposed Slovak government headed by Dr. Tiso as President and Sidor as Prime Minister (3). The radio news of Sidor's acceptance of Hacha's nomination caused confusion in Vienna and Berlin about the Slovak situation and it was for this reason that Hitler send Keppler to Bratislava to learn from Sidor what was the intention of :Slovak leaders. W. Keppler, who was at that time Secretary of State, accompanied by Reichs Governor, Seyss-Inquart , the Gauleiter of Astria, Joseph Biirckel, Franz Karmasin, and Rudolf Vavra, an active leader of the Slovak group in Vienna, paid a midnight visit to Sidor in the government building in Bratislava. Sidor expected the visitors and to the contrary of what was unobjectively reported about impolite behavior and pressure, Keppler behaved politely, did not insist and did not threaten. He informed Sidor, apologizing for his late visit, that Chancellor Hitler received telegrams urging him to support Slovakia's claim for independence and, therefore, sent him to ascertain the real state of affairs. Sidor at first argued evasively through an interpreter and tried to convince his visitors that Slovakia was not yet prepared, according to his views, and that the Parliament and not individuals had the right to declare independence. The discussion became less diplomatic only when Biirckel, who was apparently under the influence of alcohol, began to talk loudly and showed Sidor the list of government which Dr. :Durcansky had sent to Berlin, relying on the success of my earlier discussions with Sidor. Bfirckel, undiplomatica lly and not quite in line with the truth, in- �6 SLOVAKIA sisted that Sidor had already given his consent "when Dr. Kirschbaum visited you". Sidor declared that it was not true. Biirckel, surprised and irate, retorted that "the Fuhrer must not be embarrasse d and deceived". Though Sidor tried to explain that he had neither embarrasse d nor deceived Chancellor Hitler, Keppler and his entourage seemed apparently diappointed and disillusioned, and Keppler later reported to Hitler that Sidor was a "soldier of Prague and had been bribed". It was this failure of Keppler's mission which motivated Hitler to send an invitation to Dr. Joseph Tiso. The writer was asked by :Durcansky from Vienna to find out if Tiso would accept such an invitation. I called Dr. Tiso at about midnight and mentioned that I wished to discuss matters of utmost importance with him. Dr. Tiso answered that it was too late to discuss serious matters and asked me to call the next morning. I immediatel y sent two reliable officers of the Acandemic Guards and my chauffeur with a message to Dr. Tiso's parish town and informed Dr. :Durcansky in Vienna. Another messenger was, however, also enroute with two formal invitations through Consular channels. Dr. Tiso asked the writer to inform the president of The Slovak Diet, the Slovak Governmen t and the leadership of the Hlinka Party that he would be back in Bratislava for consultatio n in the morning. At a joint meeting of all the leaders of Parliament , Governmen t, and the Party - it was decided, on the morning of March 13, to accept the invitation. Accompani ed by a member of Parliament , Dr. Tiso left for Vienna and from Vienna, joined by Dr. :Durcansky and Keppler, flew to Berlin. For truth's sake, the writer adds that Dr. Tiso and Dr. :Durcansky were received in Berlin in accordance with diplomatic protocol, as representat ives of foreign nations were accustomed to being received. From many discussions which the writer had with Dr. Tiso on this subject and from Dr. Tiso's report to the Slovak Diet on March 14, 1939, it is clear that the Slovak representat ives were received politely and no pressure or arrogant behavior (such as adversaries of Slovak independen ce tried to make the Western World believe) ( 4) was resorted to on that occasion. �SLOVAKIA 7 The news of Dr. Tiso's departure caused the t ension in Bratislava and in all of Slovakia to grow. There was now not only fear of Hungarian occupation, if Dr. Tiso's mission were to fail but also fear of occupation by the Germans whose troops were stationed on the banks of the Danube on the Austrian side. At the same time there was, however , also a strong hope that Slovakia finally would become an independent state and that the dreams, desires and wishes of many Slovak generations would come true. 1. T h e writer was vice-presiden t of Pax R oma na and Slavia Catholi ca a nd, for ma ny year s, pr esiden t of th e Catholic Fed e ration of Slovak Stud en ts. 2. Cfr. Sidor's: Poznamky k historickym dnom r. 1939 p u blish ed by Lettri ch's R egime, Br atislava, 1946, a nd a lso accounts in Slovenska Obrana, October , 1939. 3. T h e Governm en t was composed as follows : Presiden t - Dr . Joseph T iso ; Prime Minister K. Sid or ; For e ig n Affairs - D r . Durcansky; E du cation - M. Cerna k ; F ina n ce - A. Mederly; Economy - Dr . Pru'.ii ns ky; Communica tions - Dr. Kir schba um ; Nationa l Defense - Gen. ,C atlos; 1Propaganda - A. Mach ; Justice - D r . V. T uka. - See de ta ils in Slovenska Obrana, October 17, 1939 . 4. 'T h e minu tes of th e Slovak Diet. Als o S idor's r em a rks on the historic days (ma nuscr ip ts, no t th e excerpts p ublis h ed b y th e Comm u nists in order to cond emn Dr. Tiso) . • • • THE GERMAN ZONE OF PROTECTION IN SLOVAK.IA (A study in Slovak-German relations in March-August 1939) Frantisek Vnuk On March 14, 1939, the independence of Slovakia was proclaimed by the Slovak Assembly. Two days later Baron von Weizsiicker wired a circular to all German diplomatic missions informing them that Slovak Prime Minister Dr. Tiso had transmitted the following r equest to the Fuhrer by telegram: With full trust in you, the Flihrer and Chancellor of the Gret er German Reich, the Slovak State places itself under your protection. The 'Slovak State asks you to take over this protection (1). Hitler acknowledged the receipt of the telegram and complied with the request. For this purpose a treaty of protection between Germany and Slovakia was drawn up (2) . Article 2 of the treaty stipulated that "the German Wehrmacht shall at all times have the right to set up � SL OV AK IA Published by the Slovak League of America VOrL. IX MARCH, 1959 NO. 4 (29) FACTS AND EVENTS BEHIND THE SCENES OF SLOVAKIA'S DEOLAR ATION OF INDEPE NDENCE (A chapter from the book "The Case of Slovakia" to be published on the occasion of the twentieth anniversar y of Slovakia's declaration of Independen ce ) By J. M. Kirschba um The presentat ion of events which led to Slovakia' s declaration of independe nce needs some comment s and explanation in order to be properly understoo d. Some American historian s accepted, without the necessary caution, the one-sided Czech presentat ion of the political causes, as well as of the activities of individua l Slovak politician s and their intentions . Three things are to be particula rly comment ed upon: 1) the imminent menace of Hungaria n occupatio n; 2) the visit of Keppler-S eyss-Inqu art-Biirck el to Bratislav a, or the so-called Sidor episode; and, 3) attitudes and activities of the prinicpal Slovak leaders. The writer, though too young according to the American standard s to play a role in national politics, was, in many respects, involved in the ,M arch imbroglio as a former member of the editorial staff of the Slovak People's Party newspape rs, as a leader of universit y and youth organizatio ns, and since October 1938 as the Executiv e Secretary to the Minister of Justice and, finally, as a close friend of Alexande r Mach and Dr. Ferdinan d Durcansk y. Being one of those on the list of the Prague's government who was supposed to be arrested on March 10, 1939, the writer was from the first moment in continuou s contact with Dr. Joseph Tiso and Karol 1Sidor, on the one hand, and with Dr. Durcansk y over the border in Vienna, on the other, and, of course, with Alexande r Mach and the leaders of the Universit y Hlinka Guards, as well. �SLOVAKIA 2 Was there any serious Hungarian menace? Did Ribbentrop use Horthy's telegram as part of a premeditated trick in order to influence Dr. Tiso and :Durcansky, or did the Hungarians really intend to occupy Slovakia? All documents and published memoirs prove that the Hungarian government undoubtedly aimed at the annexation of Slovakia in 1938-1939; this was a twenty-year effort on the part of Magyar politicians and diplomats, in 1938 strongly supported by Mussolini and Ciano, and never denied by any Magyar. The slogan of Magyar politics between the wars was "Mindent visza" - everything returned that Hungary "lost" at the 'P eace Conference of 1919 or prior to that time. In 1938-1939 the Magyars saw, for the first time, an opportunity for their dreams and desires to be realized. According to published documents of the Nurenberg Trials, the telegram sent to Hitler by Hungary's Regent Nicholas Horthy and mentioned during the conversations between the Chancellor Hitler and the Slovak representatives, reads as follows : Your Excellency: Heartfelt thanks. I cannot express how happy I am, for this headI dislike using big words water region is, in fact, for Hungary a vital question. Notwithstanding our recruits of but five weeks, we are tackling the matter with enthusiasm. The plans are already laid. On Thursday the 16th of this month a frontier incident will take place, to be followed on Saturday by the big thrust. I shall never forget this proof of friendship and Your Excellency can at all times ever rely steadfastly on my gratitude. In friendly devotion Horthy Budapest, March 13, 1939. The term "headwater region" means Slovakia, and, since the Slovak leaders were informed by Dr. Vehsenmeyer already in February of a planned invasion of Slovakia by Hungary about March 15, they definitely could not doubt the seriousness of the situation. In fact, the Hungarian menace played quite an important role before Dr. Tiso and Dr. :Durcansky were invited by Chancellor Hitler to Berlin. When President Ha.cha, on March 10, deposed the Slovak autonomous government and 1 �SLOVAKIA 3 issued orders for the arrest over 300 Slovak leaders, including the members of Dr. Tiso's government and the Slovak Diet, Dr. :Durcansky fled to Vienna in order to save Slovakia from Hungarian occupation or division among the neighbors. :Durcansky was one of the Slovak politicians who knew of German plans with regard to Bohemia, since he was also present at the meeting with Dr. Vehsenmeyer, on February 13, at which the latter informed Slovak leaders of Hungary's plans. After a long discussion with deposed premier Msgr. Tiso, the writer, on the afternoon of March 10, crossed the Danube in order to meet :Durcansky on Austrian territory and discuss the proper steps to be taken. There was no doubt that Germany would, within two or three days, occupy Bohemia and Slovakia's fate depended on Slovakia's decision and political adroitness. For :Durcansky and the writer it was clear that the hour of decision in regard to Slovakia's independence had arrived. In our eyes, it was one of the historical opportunities which numerically small, dominated peoples cannot bypass without paying heavy penalties. Long before March, we spoke and wrote on Slovakia's right to independence and definitely no hatred toward the Czechs or sympathy for Germany or Nazism played any role in our minds. As members of the conservative Slovak People's Party with a Christian democratic world outlook, we were opposed to the Nazi ideology or political system from all points of view. We were both former functionaries of Catholic University organizations (1), who received their political schooling in Paris and we were adherents to the philosophy of the natural right of peoples to self-government. In our opinion, and such was the case with many educated Slovaks of our generation, the March events presented to Slovaks the first international opportunity to apply the right to independence. When we saw that Slovakia could be saved at the same time from Hungarian occupation or division among the neighbors, we feverishly worked on preparing Slovakia's declaration of independence. A draft of a government of Independent Slovakia was prepared by :Durcansky, and we discussed what steps to take in Slova- �4 SLOVAKIA kia and what to do in Vienna and Berlin where, since Munich, there was undoubtedl y a new "Versailles " for Central Europe, with a German free hand in disposing of the future of Central European peoples. While Durcansky returned to Vienna, the writer crossed the Danube with the draft of the new governmen t and had a task to obtain Dr. Tiso's consent and to convince Karol Sidor that the hour had struck for declaring Slovakia's independen ce ; that it was the only way to save Slovakia and that we should not hesitate to seize a historical opportunity to achieve what peoples of the globe, including the Americans, tried to achieve by blood and bitter battle as the highest ideal of their national aspirations . Back in Bratislava I found the situation a little confused but no longer in the hands of the Czech gendarmer ie and army. The Hlinka Guards and university students were openly manifestat ing for independen ce. Dr. Tiso left Bratislava in the meantime, for his parish town Banovce, and I was able to reach him only through messengers and by the telephone. My long discussion with Karol Sidor, who was on the list of the future governmen t of independen t Slovakia as Prime Minister, was not successful He was reluctant to give a written statement that he was in favor of Slovakia's independen ce, though he agreed with our activities for independen ce. Sidor feared that I could be arrested and such a statement, if found by the police would cause more harm than good. He feared particularl y that the Czechs would execute the 300 Slovak political prisoners among whom he had many personal friends. ,Sidor was not against Slovakia's independen ce in principle and had previous contacts with German representat ives, the last on March 7 with Seyss-Inqu art with whom he discussed such a possibility. According to his views, expressed during our conversation, the situation was not yet ripe and, therefore, he said he would neither hinder nor help if anyone else were to try to make Slovakia independen t (2). Sidor's behavior was also caused, as I learned during my second conversatio n with him, by the fact that he knew that Prague would appoint him Prime Minister of the Slovak Autonomou s Governmen t. In the middle of our second �SLOVAKIA 5 discussion, Prague's radio actually announced that President Ha.cha nominated him head of the Slovak Autonomous Government. Sidor got off his seat after the news and sa~d to me: "For the time being, I am decided to accept this . premiership." My secretary and several officers of the A c a d e m 1 c Guard were waiting in front of Sidor's residence and one of them was sent to bring the news to Dr. :Durcansky who, in the firm hope that my mission was successful, in the meantime, informed the German representative s in Vienna that Slovakia would declare independence and handed them the draft of the proposed Slovak government headed by Dr. Tiso as President and Sidor as Prime Minister (3). The radio news of Sidor's acceptance of Hacha's nomination caused confusion in Vienna and Berlin about the Slovak situation and it was for this reason that Hitler send Keppler to Bratislava to learn from Sidor what was the intention of :Slovak leaders. W. Keppler, who was at that time Secretary of State, accompanied by Reichs Governor, Seyss-Inquart , the Gauleiter of Astria, Joseph Biirckel, Franz Karmasin, and Rudolf Vavra, an active leader of the Slovak group in Vienna, paid a midnight visit to Sidor in the government building in Bratislava. Sidor expected the visitors and to the contrary of what was unobjectively reported about impolite behavior and pressure, Keppler behaved politely, did not insist and did not threaten. He informed Sidor, apologizing for his late visit, that Chancellor Hitler received telegrams urging him to support Slovakia's claim for independence and, therefore, sent him to ascertain the real state of affairs. Sidor at first argued evasively through an interpreter and tried to convince his visitors that Slovakia was not yet prepared, according to his views, and that the Parliament and not individuals had the right to declare independence. The discussion became less diplomatic only when Biirckel, who was apparently under the influence of alcohol, began to talk loudly and showed Sidor the list of government which Dr. :Durcansky had sent to Berlin, relying on the success of my earlier discussions with Sidor. Bfirckel, undiplomatica lly and not quite in line with the truth, in- �6 SLOVAKIA sisted that Sidor had already given his consent "when Dr. Kirschbaum visited you". Sidor declared that it was not true. Biirckel, surprised and irate, retorted that "the Fuhrer must not be embarrasse d and deceived". Though Sidor tried to explain that he had neither embarrasse d nor deceived Chancellor Hitler, Keppler and his entourage seemed apparently diappointed and disillusioned, and Keppler later reported to Hitler that Sidor was a "soldier of Prague and had been bribed". It was this failure of Keppler's mission which motivated Hitler to send an invitation to Dr. Joseph Tiso. The writer was asked by :Durcansky from Vienna to find out if Tiso would accept such an invitation. I called Dr. Tiso at about midnight and mentioned that I wished to discuss matters of utmost importance with him. Dr. Tiso answered that it was too late to discuss serious matters and asked me to call the next morning. I immediatel y sent two reliable officers of the Acandemic Guards and my chauffeur with a message to Dr. Tiso's parish town and informed Dr. :Durcansky in Vienna. Another messenger was, however, also enroute with two formal invitations through Consular channels. Dr. Tiso asked the writer to inform the president of The Slovak Diet, the Slovak Governmen t and the leadership of the Hlinka Party that he would be back in Bratislava for consultatio n in the morning. At a joint meeting of all the leaders of Parliament , Governmen t, and the Party - it was decided, on the morning of March 13, to accept the invitation. Accompani ed by a member of Parliament , Dr. Tiso left for Vienna and from Vienna, joined by Dr. :Durcansky and Keppler, flew to Berlin. For truth's sake, the writer adds that Dr. Tiso and Dr. :Durcansky were received in Berlin in accordance with diplomatic protocol, as representat ives of foreign nations were accustomed to being received. From many discussions which the writer had with Dr. Tiso on this subject and from Dr. Tiso's report to the Slovak Diet on March 14, 1939, it is clear that the Slovak representat ives were received politely and no pressure or arrogant behavior (such as adversaries of Slovak independen ce tried to make the Western World believe) ( 4) was resorted to on that occasion. �SLOVAKIA 7 The news of Dr. Tiso's departure caused the t ension in Bratislava and in all of Slovakia to grow. There was now not only fear of Hungarian occupation, if Dr. Tiso's mission were to fail but also fear of occupation by the Germans whose troops were stationed on the banks of the Danube on the Austrian side. At the same time there was, however , also a strong hope that Slovakia finally would become an independent state and that the dreams, desires and wishes of many Slovak generations would come true. 1. T h e writer was vice-presiden t of Pax R oma na and Slavia Catholi ca a nd, for ma ny year s, pr esiden t of th e Catholic Fed e ration of Slovak Stud en ts. 2. Cfr. Sidor's: Poznamky k historickym dnom r. 1939 p u blish ed by Lettri ch's R egime, Br atislava, 1946, a nd a lso accounts in Slovenska Obrana, October , 1939. 3. T h e Governm en t was composed as follows : Presiden t - Dr . Joseph T iso ; Prime Minister K. Sid or ; For e ig n Affairs - D r . Durcansky; E du cation - M. Cerna k ; F ina n ce - A. Mederly; Economy - Dr . Pru'.ii ns ky; Communica tions - Dr. Kir schba um ; Nationa l Defense - Gen. ,C atlos; 1Propaganda - A. Mach ; Justice - D r . V. T uka. - See de ta ils in Slovenska Obrana, October 17, 1939 . 4. 'T h e minu tes of th e Slovak Diet. Als o S idor's r em a rks on the historic days (ma nuscr ip ts, no t th e excerpts p ublis h ed b y th e Comm u nists in order to cond emn Dr. Tiso) . • • • THE GERMAN ZONE OF PROTECTION IN SLOVAK.IA (A study in Slovak-German relations in March-August 1939) Frantisek Vnuk On March 14, 1939, the independence of Slovakia was proclaimed by the Slovak Assembly. Two days later Baron von Weizsiicker wired a circular to all German diplomatic missions informing them that Slovak Prime Minister Dr. Tiso had transmitted the following r equest to the Fuhrer by telegram: With full trust in you, the Flihrer and Chancellor of the Gret er German Reich, the Slovak State places itself under your protection. The 'Slovak State asks you to take over this protection (1). Hitler acknowledged the receipt of the telegram and complied with the request. For this purpose a treaty of protection between Germany and Slovakia was drawn up (2) . Article 2 of the treaty stipulated that "the German Wehrmacht shall at all times have the right to set up � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 SL OV AK IA Published by the Slovak League of America VOrL. IX MARCH, 1959 NO. 4 (29) FACTS AND EVENTS BEHIND THE SCENES OF SLOVAKIA'S DEOLAR ATION OF INDEPE NDENCE (A chapter from the book "The Case of Slovakia" to be published on the occasion of the twentieth anniversar y of Slovakia's declaration of Independen ce ) By J. M. Kirschba um The presentat ion of events which led to Slovakia' s declaration of independe nce needs some comment s and explanation in order to be properly understoo d. Some American historian s accepted, without the necessary caution, the one-sided Czech presentat ion of the political causes, as well as of the activities of individua l Slovak politician s and their intentions . Three things are to be particula rly comment ed upon: 1) the imminent menace of Hungaria n occupatio n; 2) the visit of Keppler-S eyss-Inqu art-Biirck el to Bratislav a, or the so-called Sidor episode; and, 3) attitudes and activities of the prinicpal Slovak leaders. The writer, though too young according to the American standard s to play a role in national politics, was, in many respects, involved in the ,M arch imbroglio as a former member of the editorial staff of the Slovak People's Party newspape rs, as a leader of universit y and youth organizatio ns, and since October 1938 as the Executiv e Secretary to the Minister of Justice and, finally, as a close friend of Alexande r Mach and Dr. Ferdinan d Durcansk y. Being one of those on the list of the Prague's government who was supposed to be arrested on March 10, 1939, the writer was from the first moment in continuou s contact with Dr. Joseph Tiso and Karol 1Sidor, on the one hand, and with Dr. Durcansk y over the border in Vienna, on the other, and, of course, with Alexande r Mach and the leaders of the Universit y Hlinka Guards, as well. SLOVAKIA 2 Was there any serious Hungarian menace? Did Ribbentrop use Horthy's telegram as part of a premeditated trick in order to influence Dr. Tiso and :Durcansky, or did the Hungarians really intend to occupy Slovakia? All documents and published memoirs prove that the Hungarian government undoubtedly aimed at the annexation of Slovakia in 1938-1939; this was a twenty-year effort on the part of Magyar politicians and diplomats, in 1938 strongly supported by Mussolini and Ciano, and never denied by any Magyar. The slogan of Magyar politics between the wars was "Mindent visza" - everything returned that Hungary "lost" at the 'P eace Conference of 1919 or prior to that time. In 1938-1939 the Magyars saw, for the first time, an opportunity for their dreams and desires to be realized. According to published documents of the Nurenberg Trials, the telegram sent to Hitler by Hungary's Regent Nicholas Horthy and mentioned during the conversations between the Chancellor Hitler and the Slovak representatives, reads as follows : Your Excellency: Heartfelt thanks. I cannot express how happy I am, for this headI dislike using big words water region is, in fact, for Hungary a vital question. Notwithstanding our recruits of but five weeks, we are tackling the matter with enthusiasm. The plans are already laid. On Thursday the 16th of this month a frontier incident will take place, to be followed on Saturday by the big thrust. I shall never forget this proof of friendship and Your Excellency can at all times ever rely steadfastly on my gratitude. In friendly devotion Horthy Budapest, March 13, 1939. The term "headwater region" means Slovakia, and, since the Slovak leaders were informed by Dr. Vehsenmeyer already in February of a planned invasion of Slovakia by Hungary about March 15, they definitely could not doubt the seriousness of the situation. In fact, the Hungarian menace played quite an important role before Dr. Tiso and Dr. :Durcansky were invited by Chancellor Hitler to Berlin. When President Ha.cha, on March 10, deposed the Slovak autonomous government and 1 SLOVAKIA 3 issued orders for the arrest over 300 Slovak leaders, including the members of Dr. Tiso's government and the Slovak Diet, Dr. :Durcansky fled to Vienna in order to save Slovakia from Hungarian occupation or division among the neighbors. :Durcansky was one of the Slovak politicians who knew of German plans with regard to Bohemia, since he was also present at the meeting with Dr. Vehsenmeyer, on February 13, at which the latter informed Slovak leaders of Hungary's plans. After a long discussion with deposed premier Msgr. Tiso, the writer, on the afternoon of March 10, crossed the Danube in order to meet :Durcansky on Austrian territory and discuss the proper steps to be taken. There was no doubt that Germany would, within two or three days, occupy Bohemia and Slovakia's fate depended on Slovakia's decision and political adroitness. For :Durcansky and the writer it was clear that the hour of decision in regard to Slovakia's independence had arrived. In our eyes, it was one of the historical opportunities which numerically small, dominated peoples cannot bypass without paying heavy penalties. Long before March, we spoke and wrote on Slovakia's right to independence and definitely no hatred toward the Czechs or sympathy for Germany or Nazism played any role in our minds. As members of the conservative Slovak People's Party with a Christian democratic world outlook, we were opposed to the Nazi ideology or political system from all points of view. We were both former functionaries of Catholic University organizations (1), who received their political schooling in Paris and we were adherents to the philosophy of the natural right of peoples to self-government. In our opinion, and such was the case with many educated Slovaks of our generation, the March events presented to Slovaks the first international opportunity to apply the right to independence. When we saw that Slovakia could be saved at the same time from Hungarian occupation or division among the neighbors, we feverishly worked on preparing Slovakia's declaration of independence. A draft of a government of Independent Slovakia was prepared by :Durcansky, and we discussed what steps to take in Slova- 4 SLOVAKIA kia and what to do in Vienna and Berlin where, since Munich, there was undoubtedl y a new "Versailles " for Central Europe, with a German free hand in disposing of the future of Central European peoples. While Durcansky returned to Vienna, the writer crossed the Danube with the draft of the new governmen t and had a task to obtain Dr. Tiso's consent and to convince Karol Sidor that the hour had struck for declaring Slovakia's independen ce ; that it was the only way to save Slovakia and that we should not hesitate to seize a historical opportunity to achieve what peoples of the globe, including the Americans, tried to achieve by blood and bitter battle as the highest ideal of their national aspirations . Back in Bratislava I found the situation a little confused but no longer in the hands of the Czech gendarmer ie and army. The Hlinka Guards and university students were openly manifestat ing for independen ce. Dr. Tiso left Bratislava in the meantime, for his parish town Banovce, and I was able to reach him only through messengers and by the telephone. My long discussion with Karol Sidor, who was on the list of the future governmen t of independen t Slovakia as Prime Minister, was not successful He was reluctant to give a written statement that he was in favor of Slovakia's independen ce, though he agreed with our activities for independen ce. Sidor feared that I could be arrested and such a statement, if found by the police would cause more harm than good. He feared particularl y that the Czechs would execute the 300 Slovak political prisoners among whom he had many personal friends. ,Sidor was not against Slovakia's independen ce in principle and had previous contacts with German representat ives, the last on March 7 with Seyss-Inqu art with whom he discussed such a possibility. According to his views, expressed during our conversation, the situation was not yet ripe and, therefore, he said he would neither hinder nor help if anyone else were to try to make Slovakia independen t (2). Sidor's behavior was also caused, as I learned during my second conversatio n with him, by the fact that he knew that Prague would appoint him Prime Minister of the Slovak Autonomou s Governmen t. In the middle of our second SLOVAKIA 5 discussion, Prague's radio actually announced that President Ha.cha nominated him head of the Slovak Autonomous Government. Sidor got off his seat after the news and sa~d to me: "For the time being, I am decided to accept this . premiership." My secretary and several officers of the A c a d e m 1 c Guard were waiting in front of Sidor's residence and one of them was sent to bring the news to Dr. :Durcansky who, in the firm hope that my mission was successful, in the meantime, informed the German representative s in Vienna that Slovakia would declare independence and handed them the draft of the proposed Slovak government headed by Dr. Tiso as President and Sidor as Prime Minister (3). The radio news of Sidor's acceptance of Hacha's nomination caused confusion in Vienna and Berlin about the Slovak situation and it was for this reason that Hitler send Keppler to Bratislava to learn from Sidor what was the intention of :Slovak leaders. W. Keppler, who was at that time Secretary of State, accompanied by Reichs Governor, Seyss-Inquart , the Gauleiter of Astria, Joseph Biirckel, Franz Karmasin, and Rudolf Vavra, an active leader of the Slovak group in Vienna, paid a midnight visit to Sidor in the government building in Bratislava. Sidor expected the visitors and to the contrary of what was unobjectively reported about impolite behavior and pressure, Keppler behaved politely, did not insist and did not threaten. He informed Sidor, apologizing for his late visit, that Chancellor Hitler received telegrams urging him to support Slovakia's claim for independence and, therefore, sent him to ascertain the real state of affairs. Sidor at first argued evasively through an interpreter and tried to convince his visitors that Slovakia was not yet prepared, according to his views, and that the Parliament and not individuals had the right to declare independence. The discussion became less diplomatic only when Biirckel, who was apparently under the influence of alcohol, began to talk loudly and showed Sidor the list of government which Dr. :Durcansky had sent to Berlin, relying on the success of my earlier discussions with Sidor. Bfirckel, undiplomatica lly and not quite in line with the truth, in- 6 SLOVAKIA sisted that Sidor had already given his consent "when Dr. Kirschbaum visited you". Sidor declared that it was not true. Biirckel, surprised and irate, retorted that "the Fuhrer must not be embarrasse d and deceived". Though Sidor tried to explain that he had neither embarrasse d nor deceived Chancellor Hitler, Keppler and his entourage seemed apparently diappointed and disillusioned, and Keppler later reported to Hitler that Sidor was a "soldier of Prague and had been bribed". It was this failure of Keppler's mission which motivated Hitler to send an invitation to Dr. Joseph Tiso. The writer was asked by :Durcansky from Vienna to find out if Tiso would accept such an invitation. I called Dr. Tiso at about midnight and mentioned that I wished to discuss matters of utmost importance with him. Dr. Tiso answered that it was too late to discuss serious matters and asked me to call the next morning. I immediatel y sent two reliable officers of the Acandemic Guards and my chauffeur with a message to Dr. Tiso's parish town and informed Dr. :Durcansky in Vienna. Another messenger was, however, also enroute with two formal invitations through Consular channels. Dr. Tiso asked the writer to inform the president of The Slovak Diet, the Slovak Governmen t and the leadership of the Hlinka Party that he would be back in Bratislava for consultatio n in the morning. At a joint meeting of all the leaders of Parliament , Governmen t, and the Party - it was decided, on the morning of March 13, to accept the invitation. Accompani ed by a member of Parliament , Dr. Tiso left for Vienna and from Vienna, joined by Dr. :Durcansky and Keppler, flew to Berlin. For truth's sake, the writer adds that Dr. Tiso and Dr. :Durcansky were received in Berlin in accordance with diplomatic protocol, as representat ives of foreign nations were accustomed to being received. From many discussions which the writer had with Dr. Tiso on this subject and from Dr. Tiso's report to the Slovak Diet on March 14, 1939, it is clear that the Slovak representat ives were received politely and no pressure or arrogant behavior (such as adversaries of Slovak independen ce tried to make the Western World believe) ( 4) was resorted to on that occasion. SLOVAKIA 7 The news of Dr. Tiso's departure caused the t ension in Bratislava and in all of Slovakia to grow. There was now not only fear of Hungarian occupation, if Dr. Tiso's mission were to fail but also fear of occupation by the Germans whose troops were stationed on the banks of the Danube on the Austrian side. At the same time there was, however , also a strong hope that Slovakia finally would become an independent state and that the dreams, desires and wishes of many Slovak generations would come true. 1. T h e writer was vice-presiden t of Pax R oma na and Slavia Catholi ca a nd, for ma ny year s, pr esiden t of th e Catholic Fed e ration of Slovak Stud en ts. 2. Cfr. Sidor's: Poznamky k historickym dnom r. 1939 p u blish ed by Lettri ch's R egime, Br atislava, 1946, a nd a lso accounts in Slovenska Obrana, October , 1939. 3. T h e Governm en t was composed as follows : Presiden t - Dr . Joseph T iso ; Prime Minister K. Sid or ; For e ig n Affairs - D r . Durcansky; E du cation - M. Cerna k ; F ina n ce - A. Mederly; Economy - Dr . Pru'.ii ns ky; Communica tions - Dr. Kir schba um ; Nationa l Defense - Gen. ,C atlos; 1Propaganda - A. Mach ; Justice - D r . V. T uka. - See de ta ils in Slovenska Obrana, October 17, 1939 . 4. 'T h e minu tes of th e Slovak Diet. Als o S idor's r em a rks on the historic days (ma nuscr ip ts, no t th e excerpts p ublis h ed b y th e Comm u nists in order to cond emn Dr. Tiso) . • • • THE GERMAN ZONE OF PROTECTION IN SLOVAK.IA (A study in Slovak-German relations in March-August 1939) Frantisek Vnuk On March 14, 1939, the independence of Slovakia was proclaimed by the Slovak Assembly. Two days later Baron von Weizsiicker wired a circular to all German diplomatic missions informing them that Slovak Prime Minister Dr. Tiso had transmitted the following r equest to the Fuhrer by telegram: With full trust in you, the Flihrer and Chancellor of the Gret er German Reich, the Slovak State places itself under your protection. The 'Slovak State asks you to take over this protection (1). Hitler acknowledged the receipt of the telegram and complied with the request. For this purpose a treaty of protection between Germany and Slovakia was drawn up (2) . Article 2 of the treaty stipulated that "the German Wehrmacht shall at all times have the right to set up  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Facts and Events Behind the Scenes of Slovakia's Declaration of Independence Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 4 (29), March 1959 pp. 1-7 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1959 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/886167ef1a1fc77e9d8743d1aaad0299.pdf c029e6819c860e30343fced3a673dbfa PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 2."i CONTEMPORARY TENDENCIES IN SLOVAK PHILOLOGY Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. A reprint from SLAVIC AND E1AST EUROPEAN STUDIES Vol. IV, Part 3-4, Published by the University of Montreal, Department of Slavic Studies. A bibliographic review of Slovak linguistics and philology show that, in the la-st twenty years, philology in Slovakia has experienced an all round development and progress and is developing, both quantitatively and qualitatitvely, comparatively undisturbed, even since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet cultural and political sphere of influence. A complete picture of the contemporary state of Slovak phildlogy would require, of course, thorough research not only into the development of philology in Slovakia, which is exposed to Russian and Czech cultural influences, but also into that of the countries of the free world, where a comparatively large number of cultural and scientific workers use the Slovak language. For both ringuist and philologist such a research project would be interesting not only because in scores of Slovak periodicals and books, which are published in the free world, there are traces of the inrfluence of tihe Romance and the Anglo-Saxon languages, particularly in the syntax, but a research would be of interest also because in the free world, there were published several philological studies in which two tendencies are quite evident. The first tendency rejeets orthographic changes in the Slovak language; the second, representing the majority of cultural workers, at the recommendation of the leading Slovak philologist, Professor Henry Bartek, accepted in principle the orfuographic changes which were instituted by the philologists in Slovakia from the time of the Czecho-Russian occupation. However, the framework of this study is limited to research into the Soviet orbit and, therefore, we forego at this time, a research into the development of Slovak philology in the countries of the free world, even though some works of H. Bartek, Philip Hrobak, Joseph Konus, and others, �26 SLOVAKIA warrant the attention of a wider circle of Slavists. The following outline of the contemporary state of Slovak philology concerns itself only with the development in Slovakia. Sovietophil Tendencies and Their Extent As with literature and science, in general, philology, too, has been exposed, since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet sphere of influence, to political pressure by the Communist Party and is, therefore, gradually developing with considerable dependence on Soviet philology. This occurs particularly through the influence of some cultural workers who were elevated by the present regime to positions of importance in Slovak cultural life because of :their partisan adherence rather than their past scientific performances or professional qualifications. These "cultural commissioner s" from the very beginning tried to adapt to Slovak philology "the theoretical directives which were given Marxist philology by J. V. Stalin in his genial works Marxism and Problems of Linguistics and Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S. S. R.(1). However, a considerable number of true philologists ad!hered, in the first place, to scientific principles. The barefaced efforts to align Slovak philology with "the Marxist directives" and subjugate it to the contemvorary political regime come to light particularly in the introduction to the new Rules of Slovak Orthography (Pravidla. slovenskeho pravopisu), published in 1953. The editor-in-Chief, Dr. Stefan Peciar, and the majority of the members of the commission which prepared fue Rules, received their education and matured scientifically either in the bourgeois Czedho-Slovak Republic or between 19391945 in the Slovak Republic, but in the introduction to their work, which otherwise "in substance did not change the present orthography and its basic principle," according to their own admission, they deemed it necessary to pay homage to Stalin and to attack fue philologists who prepared the Rules of orthography in 1940. It would certainly be quite superfluous to try to prove bhat Marxism belongs to the sphere of political and social sciences, and that serious scholars know as yet neither "the �SLOVAKIA 27 Marxist philology ," nor the Marxist scientific method or principle in linguistic s and philology , but only the political and unscientif ic interferen ce by the regimes which subscribe to the Marx-Eng els' or Lenin's political and economic theories. In the same manner, philology does not recognize fascist principles in philology and linguistic s, which principles some of the contempo rary linguists in Slovakia are attemptin g to discover in the works of their predecessors or contempo raries living in the countries of the free world. Needless to say thaJt they are attemptin g to discover such "fascist" principles not on the basis of scholarly researoh, but in an effort to perform a service for the present political regime. There are, therefore , no serious suppositi ons in Slovakia that some "Marxist point of view" even if such a thing existed, could already have asserted itself in Slovak philology. The review of names of the scholarly active philologists shows that they are the ones with whom we have been familiar, particula rly during the period of the Slovak Republic. The bibliogra phy of philology in Slovakia of the years 1939-47 (2) serves as evidence that Dr. Peciar, as well as Dr. Pauliny, Jona, Horecky, Ruzicka, and others, grew intellectu ally and created mainly during the existence of the Slovak Republic; and, that while some of them could have been reproach ed during the Second World War for trying to bring into Slovak philology the Czech philological theories (see the polemic Peciar-U hlar in the pereoldical "Slovensk a rec" (Slovak Languag e), there was no ndticeabl e attempt at transferr ing the Russian philologic al theories. The generatio n educated under the present regime is sUll too young to make any serious contribut ion to scholarsh ip or science, as the attainme nt of a universit y degree does not signify scientific qualificat ion, but rather the confirma tion of the ability to undertak e scientific or scholarly work. Therefore , we find predomin ating even in the Bibliography of Slovak Philology for the Years 1948-1952 , compiled by Dr. Ladislav Dvonc, the names which became known during the previous period. Dvonc's bibliogra phy is a sequel to Elana.r's bibliogra phy, and in its 1500 entries �28 SLOVAKIA it deals with: 1. all linguistic contributions published in Slovakia; 2. contributions by Slovak philologists and linguists in non-Slovak periodicals; and 3. contributions of non-Slovak au1Jhors on Slovak language or their pholological works published in Slovakia. Results of a favorable development of Slovak philology are visible in Dvonc's bibliography not only in the number of entries (1500 within four years), but also in the number of fields covered. Slovak philology is no more restricted to reseavch into and perfection of the Slovak language alone. There is also a comparatively large number of works, studies, and articles on general linguistics, Indo-European languages, general Slavonic philology and linguistics, on artificial languages and on the organization of scholarly work in the field of philology and linguistics. Soviet pressure or impact of Soviet philology appears particularly in the group "General philology" which contains 79 entries, mostly translations from Russian or works of Slovak lesser linguists on Soviet and Marxist philology and Stalin's theories. Only three of the known Slovak philologists (Peciar, Horecky and Jona) take part in the Soviet attempt to impose "Marxist and Stalinist linguistic theories" upon Slovak philology. The most aggressive propagator of "Marxist philology," Alexander Isacenko, was broug,ht up in Slovakia as a son of White Russian emigres. He pays his debts now to Slovakia, which saved him and even gave him a university chair during the war, by serving Soviet aims as their most docile and obedient tool. (See his "Geniail contributions to t'he theory of Marx-Leninism" - For a Marxist Philology" - "An important discussion on philology in the Soviet Union," etc.). As for the Slovanic philology, it was dealt with in Slovakia, during the four years in question, in 229 entries. Slovak, and in translations foreign and other Slav scholars (Lehr-Splawinski, E. Knisza, Weingart, Dvozdec, Vinogradov, Pankevyc, Barchudarov) covered the field of Old Church Slovanic, Russian, Polish, Czech, and other Slovanic languages. Among Slovak philologists, the mos:t prolific and scholarly, according to the western standards, �SLOVAKIA 29 appears to be prof. Jan Stanislav (Polish and SouthernSlav philology) . Scholarly research into the Slovak language is, of course, still the principal field of interest. The number of works, studies and articles, referring to the Slovak language, its history and development, is close to 700, many of them written by highly qualified philologists and linguists either of Slovak or foreign origin (J. Stanislav, L. Novak, E. Pauliny, V. Uhlar, A. Janosik, S. Peciar, J. Horecky, V. Blanar, E. Jona, Kniesza, Vazny, Kuraly, Stieber, etc.). They cover the history of literary languages in Slovakia, historical grammar and historical dialectology, etymology, phonology, orthography, vocabulary, grammar, etc. Attack on Purism and Advocation of Slovanic Orientation The fact that Marxist methods are not considered seriously, even by the linguists who advocate them, is shown in the review of philological works published several years ago, as well as by the predominant condemnation of only those philologists who prepared the Rules of Slovak Orthography, in 1940. The older linguists, from Anthony Bernolak to Samuel Czambel, are highly esteemed; in fact, in certain instances, they are esteemed more highly than they were by the now proscribed philologists and literary historians of the period of the existence of the Slovak Republic (3). For example, in the introduction to the new Rules, we read the following: "A significant role in the perfection of the Slovak language was played by our national awakeners. They discovered the internal criteria of tJhe Slovak language, formulated then and laid strong foundations for our literary language and our lingual culture. Anton Bernolak took the first steps towards the stabilization of the Slovak literary language, its ovthography, morphology, and vocabulary. For stabilizing the Slovak literary language in its present form, and particularly its morphology and orthography, Martin Hattala and Samo Czambel and others are mainly responsible." ( 4). Among the classicists of Slovak literature, who "enriched, developed, and strengthened" the Slovak language, the "Marxist" commission also includes Jan Holly who, �30 SLOVAKIA with Berndlak and Hatta-la, was also a Catholic priest and who (together with the above-ment ioned) is credited with what even today is often reproachfu lly called "Slovak linguistic separatism " in English and French books, particuiarly if such books were inspired by Czech politicians or scholars. The attack on the philologists who compiled the Rules of 1940 is obviously p<Yliticaily motivaJted. The servants of the present communist regime in Slovakia condemn the compiler•s of the previous Rules, first, because they were supposedly "the servants of Eudak (Populist) separatism and went out of their way to mee't the demands of the treacherou s politicians, " and only in the second place, because "they strived to remove literary Sfovak as far as possible from Czech and to isolate it also from other Slovanic languages. " In other words, they were "puristicall y oriented" and marked the Rules with "a puristical tendency." However, the changes which have been made in Slovak orthograph y, and the review of the ph!ilological studies of the past few years, do not testify to the fact that the present "Marxist" philologists have very substantial ly removed themselves from "the purists" or that they have approached closer to Czech or other Slovanic languages, with the exception of the Russian language. The entire evolutionary line of Slovak philology - the founders of which were the national awakeners of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who had to defend the Slovak language against Hungarian assimilator y tendencies and the nationalistica lly oriented linguists and philologists of the last decades of this century, for whom it was necessary to defend the Slovak language against no less dangerous Czech tendencies - has not yet been too remarkably dented by contempor ary philologists in Slovakia. The thesis that the Slovak language tended to develop as a separate Slovanic language after the disappeara nce of the Old Slovanic language - and that the attempts to make it one of the dialects of the Czech language must only be considered as unscientific and political tendencies and aspirations - is practically proved by the scholarly works of the contempor ary �SLOVAKIA 31 philologists with alil the weight and consistency of methods which cannot be la:beled unscientific. In harmony with the general cultural growth of the Slovak nation, Slovak philology develops in scope and depth. During 1939-1945 alone over a thousand works, treatises, articles, and studies in the field of philology were published. The linguists and philologists did not concern themselves merely with research into and the stabilization of the Slovak language, but also with the wider problems of linguistics and ph'ilology, Slovanic and non-Slovanic IndoEuropean languages, and with tihe general philology (5) . During the war, there already was evident a promising development which was made in the formaition of Slovak scientific and technical terminology, particularly in the scientific disciplines and in the technical-economic sphere of Slovak life(6). The contemporary philologists continue diligently in this "purism," and Slovak scientific and technical terminology has, in the past few years, been considerably enriched by the newly-coined or adapted terms of other Slovanic languages, particularly Russian. Objectivity warrants the admission that the works of Slovak philologists are comparatively extensive; that the number of published books, studies and treatises in periodicals is considerable; and that the fields of scientific research are numerous. In the interest of truth, however, it is also necessary to add that this growth of scholarly works has no relation to, and is not to be credited to the contemporary political regime. Regardless of what regime might exist today in Slovakia, there would inevitably be more achievement in science, culture and arts than ever before. The explanation is to be found in the general development of Slovakia in the last forty years and particularly in the fact that, in the last years of the so-called bourgeois Czecho-Slovak Republic and especially during the period of the existence of the Slovak Republic, a large number of young S'lovaks studied in universities at home and abroad, not only the traditional disciplines - theology, law, and medicine - but the entire field of science. The inclusion of Slovakia i.nlto the Soviet orbit befell them in the years of their scientific productivity or in their years of �32 SLOVAKIA university studies. If, today, in Slovakia, more is produced and published in philology or in other scientific fields, it is because the Slovak nation reached that stage of development at which there are found entire cadres of scientific and culutral workers. These cadres are so large that, even after the departure of thousands into exile, it is possible today to publish in Slovakia more books than ever before in all fields of science. The communist regime, in certain respects, by the limitation of freedom alone, holds back scientific work, and supports development only of those fields in which the political aims of the Communist Party can be pursued. Philology is, for the communist regime, a neutral rather than a privileged field. As far as the linguistic side of the Slovak language is concerned, in :the Rules as in other works, there appears a trend towards a more consistent use of the principles of phonetic orthogr&phy and towards the simplification of writing Slovak and foreign expressions. In philological production alone there are represented dialectology, lexicology, comparative philology, morphology, phonology, orthoepy, phonetics, etc. Several works deal with questions of the Cyrilo--Methodian period, the development of philology in other Slovanic nations (Russia, Bulgaria) and the history of the Slovak language. A scholarly level has been attained, first of all, by the works of older linguists and philologists, but the possession of the qualifications and preparation for the professional philological work is evident in a large number of younger intellectuals, particularly in their criticism, polemics and commentaries on the new editions of older literary or philological works (for instance, in the introductions to the new editions of the works of Bernolak, Holly, Stur, etc.). End of the Controversy Regarding Literary Slovak and the Origin of the Slovak Language From the published works of philologists and literary historians it is also obvious t'hat the Czech theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language, and on the function of some foreign languages (Czech, Czechoslovak) in Slovak literature, which theses �SLOVAKIA were intended to support the political theses of a single Czechoslovak nation, have been definitely buried. In this respect, even some contemporary works of Czech philologists helped to support the scientific conclusions which have long been defended by Slovak philologists. Particularly noteworthy, on the Czech side is the work of Professor A. Dostal (7), and on the Slovak side, Pauliny's "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" History of Literary Slovak, Bratislava, 1948 (8) , and Mraz's "Dejiny slovenskej literatiiry" - History of Slovak Literature, Bra'tislava, 1948(9) , as well as the papers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. In this respect, particularly, the paper of Professor E. Pauliny on "Bilingualism in the History of the Slovak Literary Language," de-serves special at'tention. Papliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in S'lovakfa in the 15th and following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who did not apply "Marxist criteria" in philology, i.e., that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not stand compe'tition with the Slovak vernacular when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness: though the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, tried to maintain it even in the 19th century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majorit y a whole century before that time. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is therefore, even according to Pauliny, that of bilingualism (p. 43). A century-long controversy, as to whether Slovak is but a dialect of the Czech language, or a dis'tinct Slovanic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both the Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia. By a careful analysis of the fundamenital roots of both languages, Czech and Slovak, as well as through a comparative study of their later developments, contemporary scholars trained in philology have revealed the true basis of the Slovak language and have clas- �34 SLOVAKIA sified it properly as one of distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearance of the Old Slovanic language. The controversy was occasioned by two facts. On the one hand, some literary historians made no distinction between the language spoken by the Slovaks as their native tongue and 'their literary medium. The latter for some time wa:s (besides Latin) the old Czech liturgical language. On the other hand, most of the philo'logists and literary historians, predominantly of Czech origin, in formulating purely scientific views as to the proper relationship between the Czech and Slovak languages, were influenced by political aspira!tions. Recent studies based on scientific principles of philology, phonology, etymology lexicography, and grammar now show that the original Slovak terminology, wJth rare exceptions, goes back to the original roots of a native Slovak language essentially distinct from every other Slovanic tongue. The confusion created by the failure to draw a proper distinction between the native language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language was, however, only partly responsible for the erroneous view that Slovak was merely a dialect of the Czech language or that there was something like a "Czechoslovak language" (10). Theories on the existence of a "Czechoslovak language" were creat ed even after one hundred years of the existence of the Slovak literary language which was accepted by both Slovak Catholics and Lutherans in 1844, and after two hundred years' use by the Catholics of their own vernacular as the literary medium around the University of Trnava, founded in 1635. Consequently, the main reason for the confusion was of a political nature, even if presented in "scientific" form. Professor F. Travnicek, for instance, used geography as his main argument for his theory of the "Czechoslovak language." The fact that the Czechs and Slovaks inhabited the present area from the sixth century was used by him as an argumen1t that they had a common ,l anguage. In his "ffistoricka mluvnice ceskoslovenska" (Historic Czechoslovak Grammar) he stated: "The ancient Czechoslovak language lasted from the time of its inde- �SLOVAKIA 35 pendent establishment as a full-fledged language, from the siJd:h to the end of the tenth century, and is similar to the prehistoric tongue. The chief condition of this independent development was that our ancestors were separated geographically from the rest of the Slavs" (11). Geographical factors can hardly take precedence over linguistic data, and even if we accept this theory, another factor, the separation of Czechs and Siovaks from the ninth century, would be in favor of an independent development of the Slovak spoken tongue. Slovak philologists and linguists Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Sttanislav, Novak, etc. (12) rejected, therefore the Czech theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic form,s of the Slovak tongue and, by linguistic methods of phonology as we11 as by a comparative study, they arrived at new conclusions as to the origin and development of the S'lovak language. These conclusions were ultimately accepted by contemporary Czech as well as other Slovanic philologists and linguists (13). As a result of this development the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a refation between two Slavic but distinct languages. Czech poetry and prose are translated into the Slovak, and vice versa, as the Polish or Russian have always been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long ~ime ago, and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and phi'lologists to recognize the irrefutable. REFERENCES (1) Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu, Brat islava, Slov,e nska akadeania vied, 1953, p. 7. (2) IDr. Vincent Blanar: Bibliografia jazykovedy na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1947, Bratislava, Slovensika a1~ademia vied a umeni, 195'0, p. 210. This work ,contaiins 11,17 titles, Olf which aipprox.ilmatel,y 1000 were pulblished dudrug the existen-ce Olf the Slovak R~bl!i.'c . .Altogether Blanar presents an almost complete picture of Ling,ud,stic and philological w<ll'ks, pwblished in boo!k form or in periodicals, in the fiields olf ,g eneral philiodog,y, comparative linguistiics Olf lndoEuirQPean languages, Sl'O'Vanic philology and! the stu~ Olf the Slova!k lairugua,ge. See al!so Dr. L. Dvonc:1Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy za roky 1948-1952, Matica Slovenska, 1957. �36 SLOVAKIA (3) See, for examI?:le, the eval,uartion o.f U. Stur as a philo1o,gist in the book "l!udovit Stur, Slovencina" nasa," which was prepared and annotated by Dr. J. Ambms and has been evaliwa1ted lirug,uirstdlcailily by Dr. V. Blanar. According to Blanar, Stur kept pa,ce with the European philologic:d schools o.f that time and its foremosrt ip·h enomena, a,n d his studies at Hal!le predestined him to beco,me, in Slovanic and Slovaik cir,cwmstances, one of the frrst representatives of the newest methods on theories in phi'lology. (4) Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu, p. 6. Anton Bemo'1ak 01762--1813) codified the Slovak literary lang,ua,ge as used by the Slovak Catholics from tJhe time of the co-uniter-Reformation and esipeoi,a,1ly since .16315, the year Olf the fo.u,ndatJion of the second university in Slovakia. at Trnaiva. Bernolak gaive a solid fowndati-on to the Slovak literary .l!anguag,e, based on the Western Sllovaik dialecrt, in hiis works: Disserta,t io philologico-critica de litteris Slavorum : Linguae slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae usitatae compendiosa simul at facilis o,rthographia" (Bra1tislava, 1'7'3171); "Grammatica slavica" (1790), and in his huge pentalingual dictionary, pu1blished after his deatih, in 1825. Marbin Hattala (1821-1903'), who later became a professor at the University of Praigue, codid'ied the reform in'1:rod1uced by U. Stur, which was a,o cepted in, 1844 by both Slovak Oatholiics and Protestants. His "Kratka mluvnica slovenska" CShor.t Slovak Gr•aimlillar), p,wblished in 1852, gaive a scientific bas-is and for:m to Stur's reform. Saimuel Czaimbel (1856-1 909), one o.f the greatest Slovak philologists, enniiched Sl,o vak phi,lol1ogy by seveml scholarly wo·r'ks regardiillg dialectology, monphology, and lexicol-o,gy. His main woriks are "Slovensky pravopis" (Slovak Orithogra-phy, 1890) and "Rukovat' spisovnej reci slovenskej " QManual of the Slovalk Liternry Larug-uage, 1-902). For detai:ls concernirug Bernolak, Haittaila, and Czaimbel, see Prof. E. Pauliny: "Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny." (5) Colillipare V. Blanar: Biblografia. (6) Pioneer and valuable worik iin, this d'i rection was done partLcularliy by Professor Dr. Jul iius Led enyi-La1d ziansky in the termino:lo.gy o.f medical science. (7) Prof. Dr. A. Dostal: Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka, Prague, Statni pedagogicke naildiadatelstvi, 1:954. (8) (Prof. Dr. Eugen Pa,Ulliny: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, Bratisl-aiva, S1ovenska akadem!iia, vied a umeni, 19418. In the introduction to his book, Pa-wliny understands the history o.f the 1-angu,age as the history Olf the oriigin, disaippear ance and cha,n,ges Olf its i,ndi'Vidua1l styles. Ho:wever, in the book i ts-elf, he d'ivide:d the his-tor-y of the Slovak 1iitera['y laruguage accord!i,u,g to the languages which wer e used ,by the Slov,aiks as literary la~ua,ges in addition to the sipoken vern,a,culiar from the time of the Gr eater Moravia•. On page 5, he writes: "Al,thouglh, in this case, the p er,iod of the actual Sll,ovaik litera['y laillguaige ca,n. begin only with Bernolak, or with t he p eriod shortly befor e Bemolak, nevertheless it is not poss,iJble to begin the history of t he literary languages of the Slovaks either with Bernolak or Stur, but it is ,n,ecessa,r,y t,o go deep into 1Jhe pa st, aH the way to the ver y begin nings o.f the histor iical p er iod o.f our na-ti-on in the Gr eater Moravian epoch, na,y, in ceritain matters, it is ,necessary to go even 1 1 1 1 �SLOVAKIA 37 further, into the pre-histork period, when our ancestors were not yet baptized and did not particiiPate im, the European cul<ture whiich was introduced to us by Chrisit-iani:ty." (9) Prof. A. Mraz: Dej iny slovenskej literatury, Braitisfava, Slovenska akademia vied a UJ!l1eni, 1948. (lJl) F . Travnicek: Historicka mluvnice ceskoslovenska, Brno, 1935, p. 21-23. (10) This thesis wa,s propa•g ated by Dr. Ed'Uard Benes throurg h his pUJblication Detruisez I' Autriche, Paris, 11916, and, with the helip of Czech philologists, it penetrated also inito many western university oiTcles and was reoeated by the Slavists on this continent a·s well. (13) Besides aiuthors of Slovak origin, (Hrobak, Konus, Potocek, and others), the correct attitude towards the Slovak lang;uage, in the Englislh lan!guage works, was taken particUilarly by Professor Alfred Senn in the syunrposi,um A Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L. I. Strakhovsky, Camlbridlge, Massachu,s etts, Harvard UnLversity Press, 1949. (12) Profiessor Bartek pub1'ished, boith in Slovakia and in exiile, a numlber of prul. 0Iogica1! wo,r ks, S'Ome Off w,h ich were piulblished i,n, French and Eng-lish. Elana.r"s "Bibliografia" cites thirteen titles of his works. 'Ilhe best known philologists, besides B'artek, are S-tanislav and Novak. StaniS'lav is known parti<cUilarliy for his research i,n,to the OyriJoJMethodian period and for his works in toponyimy. Novak was siJenced by the cOJin1Inunist regime; Sitanislav is still actiive. Bartek performed a very meritorious service, pa-r ticular,l'Y by foundilllg the peri10dical "Slovenska rec" (Slovak Langua,ge), and by his uncOJinpramising stand in the so-called "ma1ticne" (Slovak [nstitu1:e) strwggles for the purity of the S1ov,a k language and its separate development since Vhe d isaippearance of the Old Slovanic laruguaige. 1 1 • • • WHO SAID IT? "President Benes was always of the opinion, and in his latest statemen!ts rulways stressed, tihait OUT pact of •a lliance with Soviet Russia and our friendshiJp with other Slav na,.. tions must not encroach on our friendly and cordial re1ations with other democratic states. This is the natural desire, shared by an enormous majority of our people, and nothing prevents us from keeping the confidence of the democratic states and strengthening and deepening our friendship with our great western Allies. Moscow, too, wa.Illts to fol4ow this line of poliicy. rt will, however, be necessary for certain prejudices of the West with regard to· the Soviet Union, which are still existing, to be swept away." - Premier Fierlinger of Czecho-Slovakia, O'WI Bulletin, June 1, 1945. � SLOVAKIA 2."i CONTEMPORARY TENDENCIES IN SLOVAK PHILOLOGY Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. A reprint from SLAVIC AND E1AST EUROPEAN STUDIES Vol. IV, Part 3-4, Published by the University of Montreal, Department of Slavic Studies. A bibliographic review of Slovak linguistics and philology show that, in the la-st twenty years, philology in Slovakia has experienced an all round development and progress and is developing, both quantitatively and qualitatitvely, comparatively undisturbed, even since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet cultural and political sphere of influence. A complete picture of the contemporary state of Slovak phildlogy would require, of course, thorough research not only into the development of philology in Slovakia, which is exposed to Russian and Czech cultural influences, but also into that of the countries of the free world, where a comparatively large number of cultural and scientific workers use the Slovak language. For both ringuist and philologist such a research project would be interesting not only because in scores of Slovak periodicals and books, which are published in the free world, there are traces of the inrfluence of tihe Romance and the Anglo-Saxon languages, particularly in the syntax, but a research would be of interest also because in the free world, there were published several philological studies in which two tendencies are quite evident. The first tendency rejeets orthographic changes in the Slovak language; the second, representing the majority of cultural workers, at the recommendation of the leading Slovak philologist, Professor Henry Bartek, accepted in principle the orfuographic changes which were instituted by the philologists in Slovakia from the time of the Czecho-Russian occupation. However, the framework of this study is limited to research into the Soviet orbit and, therefore, we forego at this time, a research into the development of Slovak philology in the countries of the free world, even though some works of H. Bartek, Philip Hrobak, Joseph Konus, and others, �26 SLOVAKIA warrant the attention of a wider circle of Slavists. The following outline of the contemporary state of Slovak philology concerns itself only with the development in Slovakia. Sovietophil Tendencies and Their Extent As with literature and science, in general, philology, too, has been exposed, since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet sphere of influence, to political pressure by the Communist Party and is, therefore, gradually developing with considerable dependence on Soviet philology. This occurs particularly through the influence of some cultural workers who were elevated by the present regime to positions of importance in Slovak cultural life because of :their partisan adherence rather than their past scientific performances or professional qualifications. These "cultural commissioner s" from the very beginning tried to adapt to Slovak philology "the theoretical directives which were given Marxist philology by J. V. Stalin in his genial works Marxism and Problems of Linguistics and Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S. S. R.(1). However, a considerable number of true philologists ad!hered, in the first place, to scientific principles. The barefaced efforts to align Slovak philology with "the Marxist directives" and subjugate it to the contemvorary political regime come to light particularly in the introduction to the new Rules of Slovak Orthography (Pravidla. slovenskeho pravopisu), published in 1953. The editor-in-Chief, Dr. Stefan Peciar, and the majority of the members of the commission which prepared fue Rules, received their education and matured scientifically either in the bourgeois Czedho-Slovak Republic or between 19391945 in the Slovak Republic, but in the introduction to their work, which otherwise "in substance did not change the present orthography and its basic principle," according to their own admission, they deemed it necessary to pay homage to Stalin and to attack fue philologists who prepared the Rules of orthography in 1940. It would certainly be quite superfluous to try to prove bhat Marxism belongs to the sphere of political and social sciences, and that serious scholars know as yet neither "the �SLOVAKIA 27 Marxist philology ," nor the Marxist scientific method or principle in linguistic s and philology , but only the political and unscientif ic interferen ce by the regimes which subscribe to the Marx-Eng els' or Lenin's political and economic theories. In the same manner, philology does not recognize fascist principles in philology and linguistic s, which principles some of the contempo rary linguists in Slovakia are attemptin g to discover in the works of their predecessors or contempo raries living in the countries of the free world. Needless to say thaJt they are attemptin g to discover such "fascist" principles not on the basis of scholarly researoh, but in an effort to perform a service for the present political regime. There are, therefore , no serious suppositi ons in Slovakia that some "Marxist point of view" even if such a thing existed, could already have asserted itself in Slovak philology. The review of names of the scholarly active philologists shows that they are the ones with whom we have been familiar, particula rly during the period of the Slovak Republic. The bibliogra phy of philology in Slovakia of the years 1939-47 (2) serves as evidence that Dr. Peciar, as well as Dr. Pauliny, Jona, Horecky, Ruzicka, and others, grew intellectu ally and created mainly during the existence of the Slovak Republic; and, that while some of them could have been reproach ed during the Second World War for trying to bring into Slovak philology the Czech philological theories (see the polemic Peciar-U hlar in the pereoldical "Slovensk a rec" (Slovak Languag e), there was no ndticeabl e attempt at transferr ing the Russian philologic al theories. The generatio n educated under the present regime is sUll too young to make any serious contribut ion to scholarsh ip or science, as the attainme nt of a universit y degree does not signify scientific qualificat ion, but rather the confirma tion of the ability to undertak e scientific or scholarly work. Therefore , we find predomin ating even in the Bibliography of Slovak Philology for the Years 1948-1952 , compiled by Dr. Ladislav Dvonc, the names which became known during the previous period. Dvonc's bibliogra phy is a sequel to Elana.r's bibliogra phy, and in its 1500 entries �28 SLOVAKIA it deals with: 1. all linguistic contributions published in Slovakia; 2. contributions by Slovak philologists and linguists in non-Slovak periodicals; and 3. contributions of non-Slovak au1Jhors on Slovak language or their pholological works published in Slovakia. Results of a favorable development of Slovak philology are visible in Dvonc's bibliography not only in the number of entries (1500 within four years), but also in the number of fields covered. Slovak philology is no more restricted to reseavch into and perfection of the Slovak language alone. There is also a comparatively large number of works, studies, and articles on general linguistics, Indo-European languages, general Slavonic philology and linguistics, on artificial languages and on the organization of scholarly work in the field of philology and linguistics. Soviet pressure or impact of Soviet philology appears particularly in the group "General philology" which contains 79 entries, mostly translations from Russian or works of Slovak lesser linguists on Soviet and Marxist philology and Stalin's theories. Only three of the known Slovak philologists (Peciar, Horecky and Jona) take part in the Soviet attempt to impose "Marxist and Stalinist linguistic theories" upon Slovak philology. The most aggressive propagator of "Marxist philology," Alexander Isacenko, was broug,ht up in Slovakia as a son of White Russian emigres. He pays his debts now to Slovakia, which saved him and even gave him a university chair during the war, by serving Soviet aims as their most docile and obedient tool. (See his "Geniail contributions to t'he theory of Marx-Leninism" - For a Marxist Philology" - "An important discussion on philology in the Soviet Union," etc.). As for the Slovanic philology, it was dealt with in Slovakia, during the four years in question, in 229 entries. Slovak, and in translations foreign and other Slav scholars (Lehr-Splawinski, E. Knisza, Weingart, Dvozdec, Vinogradov, Pankevyc, Barchudarov) covered the field of Old Church Slovanic, Russian, Polish, Czech, and other Slovanic languages. Among Slovak philologists, the mos:t prolific and scholarly, according to the western standards, �SLOVAKIA 29 appears to be prof. Jan Stanislav (Polish and SouthernSlav philology) . Scholarly research into the Slovak language is, of course, still the principal field of interest. The number of works, studies and articles, referring to the Slovak language, its history and development, is close to 700, many of them written by highly qualified philologists and linguists either of Slovak or foreign origin (J. Stanislav, L. Novak, E. Pauliny, V. Uhlar, A. Janosik, S. Peciar, J. Horecky, V. Blanar, E. Jona, Kniesza, Vazny, Kuraly, Stieber, etc.). They cover the history of literary languages in Slovakia, historical grammar and historical dialectology, etymology, phonology, orthography, vocabulary, grammar, etc. Attack on Purism and Advocation of Slovanic Orientation The fact that Marxist methods are not considered seriously, even by the linguists who advocate them, is shown in the review of philological works published several years ago, as well as by the predominant condemnation of only those philologists who prepared the Rules of Slovak Orthography, in 1940. The older linguists, from Anthony Bernolak to Samuel Czambel, are highly esteemed; in fact, in certain instances, they are esteemed more highly than they were by the now proscribed philologists and literary historians of the period of the existence of the Slovak Republic (3). For example, in the introduction to the new Rules, we read the following: "A significant role in the perfection of the Slovak language was played by our national awakeners. They discovered the internal criteria of tJhe Slovak language, formulated then and laid strong foundations for our literary language and our lingual culture. Anton Bernolak took the first steps towards the stabilization of the Slovak literary language, its ovthography, morphology, and vocabulary. For stabilizing the Slovak literary language in its present form, and particularly its morphology and orthography, Martin Hattala and Samo Czambel and others are mainly responsible." ( 4). Among the classicists of Slovak literature, who "enriched, developed, and strengthened" the Slovak language, the "Marxist" commission also includes Jan Holly who, �30 SLOVAKIA with Berndlak and Hatta-la, was also a Catholic priest and who (together with the above-ment ioned) is credited with what even today is often reproachfu lly called "Slovak linguistic separatism " in English and French books, particuiarly if such books were inspired by Czech politicians or scholars. The attack on the philologists who compiled the Rules of 1940 is obviously p<Yliticaily motivaJted. The servants of the present communist regime in Slovakia condemn the compiler•s of the previous Rules, first, because they were supposedly "the servants of Eudak (Populist) separatism and went out of their way to mee't the demands of the treacherou s politicians, " and only in the second place, because "they strived to remove literary Sfovak as far as possible from Czech and to isolate it also from other Slovanic languages. " In other words, they were "puristicall y oriented" and marked the Rules with "a puristical tendency." However, the changes which have been made in Slovak orthograph y, and the review of the ph!ilological studies of the past few years, do not testify to the fact that the present "Marxist" philologists have very substantial ly removed themselves from "the purists" or that they have approached closer to Czech or other Slovanic languages, with the exception of the Russian language. The entire evolutionary line of Slovak philology - the founders of which were the national awakeners of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who had to defend the Slovak language against Hungarian assimilator y tendencies and the nationalistica lly oriented linguists and philologists of the last decades of this century, for whom it was necessary to defend the Slovak language against no less dangerous Czech tendencies - has not yet been too remarkably dented by contempor ary philologists in Slovakia. The thesis that the Slovak language tended to develop as a separate Slovanic language after the disappeara nce of the Old Slovanic language - and that the attempts to make it one of the dialects of the Czech language must only be considered as unscientific and political tendencies and aspirations - is practically proved by the scholarly works of the contempor ary �SLOVAKIA 31 philologists with alil the weight and consistency of methods which cannot be la:beled unscientific. In harmony with the general cultural growth of the Slovak nation, Slovak philology develops in scope and depth. During 1939-1945 alone over a thousand works, treatises, articles, and studies in the field of philology were published. The linguists and philologists did not concern themselves merely with research into and the stabilization of the Slovak language, but also with the wider problems of linguistics and ph'ilology, Slovanic and non-Slovanic IndoEuropean languages, and with tihe general philology (5) . During the war, there already was evident a promising development which was made in the formaition of Slovak scientific and technical terminology, particularly in the scientific disciplines and in the technical-economic sphere of Slovak life(6). The contemporary philologists continue diligently in this "purism," and Slovak scientific and technical terminology has, in the past few years, been considerably enriched by the newly-coined or adapted terms of other Slovanic languages, particularly Russian. Objectivity warrants the admission that the works of Slovak philologists are comparatively extensive; that the number of published books, studies and treatises in periodicals is considerable; and that the fields of scientific research are numerous. In the interest of truth, however, it is also necessary to add that this growth of scholarly works has no relation to, and is not to be credited to the contemporary political regime. Regardless of what regime might exist today in Slovakia, there would inevitably be more achievement in science, culture and arts than ever before. The explanation is to be found in the general development of Slovakia in the last forty years and particularly in the fact that, in the last years of the so-called bourgeois Czecho-Slovak Republic and especially during the period of the existence of the Slovak Republic, a large number of young S'lovaks studied in universities at home and abroad, not only the traditional disciplines - theology, law, and medicine - but the entire field of science. The inclusion of Slovakia i.nlto the Soviet orbit befell them in the years of their scientific productivity or in their years of �32 SLOVAKIA university studies. If, today, in Slovakia, more is produced and published in philology or in other scientific fields, it is because the Slovak nation reached that stage of development at which there are found entire cadres of scientific and culutral workers. These cadres are so large that, even after the departure of thousands into exile, it is possible today to publish in Slovakia more books than ever before in all fields of science. The communist regime, in certain respects, by the limitation of freedom alone, holds back scientific work, and supports development only of those fields in which the political aims of the Communist Party can be pursued. Philology is, for the communist regime, a neutral rather than a privileged field. As far as the linguistic side of the Slovak language is concerned, in :the Rules as in other works, there appears a trend towards a more consistent use of the principles of phonetic orthogr&phy and towards the simplification of writing Slovak and foreign expressions. In philological production alone there are represented dialectology, lexicology, comparative philology, morphology, phonology, orthoepy, phonetics, etc. Several works deal with questions of the Cyrilo--Methodian period, the development of philology in other Slovanic nations (Russia, Bulgaria) and the history of the Slovak language. A scholarly level has been attained, first of all, by the works of older linguists and philologists, but the possession of the qualifications and preparation for the professional philological work is evident in a large number of younger intellectuals, particularly in their criticism, polemics and commentaries on the new editions of older literary or philological works (for instance, in the introductions to the new editions of the works of Bernolak, Holly, Stur, etc.). End of the Controversy Regarding Literary Slovak and the Origin of the Slovak Language From the published works of philologists and literary historians it is also obvious t'hat the Czech theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language, and on the function of some foreign languages (Czech, Czechoslovak) in Slovak literature, which theses �SLOVAKIA were intended to support the political theses of a single Czechoslovak nation, have been definitely buried. In this respect, even some contemporary works of Czech philologists helped to support the scientific conclusions which have long been defended by Slovak philologists. Particularly noteworthy, on the Czech side is the work of Professor A. Dostal (7), and on the Slovak side, Pauliny's "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" History of Literary Slovak, Bratislava, 1948 (8) , and Mraz's "Dejiny slovenskej literatiiry" - History of Slovak Literature, Bra'tislava, 1948(9) , as well as the papers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. In this respect, particularly, the paper of Professor E. Pauliny on "Bilingualism in the History of the Slovak Literary Language," de-serves special at'tention. Papliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in S'lovakfa in the 15th and following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who did not apply "Marxist criteria" in philology, i.e., that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not stand compe'tition with the Slovak vernacular when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness: though the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, tried to maintain it even in the 19th century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majorit y a whole century before that time. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is therefore, even according to Pauliny, that of bilingualism (p. 43). A century-long controversy, as to whether Slovak is but a dialect of the Czech language, or a dis'tinct Slovanic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both the Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia. By a careful analysis of the fundamenital roots of both languages, Czech and Slovak, as well as through a comparative study of their later developments, contemporary scholars trained in philology have revealed the true basis of the Slovak language and have clas- �34 SLOVAKIA sified it properly as one of distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearance of the Old Slovanic language. The controversy was occasioned by two facts. On the one hand, some literary historians made no distinction between the language spoken by the Slovaks as their native tongue and 'their literary medium. The latter for some time wa:s (besides Latin) the old Czech liturgical language. On the other hand, most of the philo'logists and literary historians, predominantly of Czech origin, in formulating purely scientific views as to the proper relationship between the Czech and Slovak languages, were influenced by political aspira!tions. Recent studies based on scientific principles of philology, phonology, etymology lexicography, and grammar now show that the original Slovak terminology, wJth rare exceptions, goes back to the original roots of a native Slovak language essentially distinct from every other Slovanic tongue. The confusion created by the failure to draw a proper distinction between the native language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language was, however, only partly responsible for the erroneous view that Slovak was merely a dialect of the Czech language or that there was something like a "Czechoslovak language" (10). Theories on the existence of a "Czechoslovak language" were creat ed even after one hundred years of the existence of the Slovak literary language which was accepted by both Slovak Catholics and Lutherans in 1844, and after two hundred years' use by the Catholics of their own vernacular as the literary medium around the University of Trnava, founded in 1635. Consequently, the main reason for the confusion was of a political nature, even if presented in "scientific" form. Professor F. Travnicek, for instance, used geography as his main argument for his theory of the "Czechoslovak language." The fact that the Czechs and Slovaks inhabited the present area from the sixth century was used by him as an argumen1t that they had a common ,l anguage. In his "ffistoricka mluvnice ceskoslovenska" (Historic Czechoslovak Grammar) he stated: "The ancient Czechoslovak language lasted from the time of its inde- �SLOVAKIA 35 pendent establishment as a full-fledged language, from the siJd:h to the end of the tenth century, and is similar to the prehistoric tongue. The chief condition of this independent development was that our ancestors were separated geographically from the rest of the Slavs" (11). Geographical factors can hardly take precedence over linguistic data, and even if we accept this theory, another factor, the separation of Czechs and Siovaks from the ninth century, would be in favor of an independent development of the Slovak spoken tongue. Slovak philologists and linguists Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Sttanislav, Novak, etc. (12) rejected, therefore the Czech theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic form,s of the Slovak tongue and, by linguistic methods of phonology as we11 as by a comparative study, they arrived at new conclusions as to the origin and development of the S'lovak language. These conclusions were ultimately accepted by contemporary Czech as well as other Slovanic philologists and linguists (13). As a result of this development the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a refation between two Slavic but distinct languages. Czech poetry and prose are translated into the Slovak, and vice versa, as the Polish or Russian have always been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long ~ime ago, and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and phi'lologists to recognize the irrefutable. REFERENCES (1) Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu, Brat islava, Slov,e nska akadeania vied, 1953, p. 7. (2) IDr. Vincent Blanar: Bibliografia jazykovedy na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1947, Bratislava, Slovensika a1~ademia vied a umeni, 195'0, p. 210. This work ,contaiins 11,17 titles, Olf which aipprox.ilmatel,y 1000 were pulblished dudrug the existen-ce Olf the Slovak R~bl!i.'c . .Altogether Blanar presents an almost complete picture of Ling,ud,stic and philological w<ll'ks, pwblished in boo!k form or in periodicals, in the fiields olf ,g eneral philiodog,y, comparative linguistiics Olf lndoEuirQPean languages, Sl'O'Vanic philology and! the stu~ Olf the Slova!k lairugua,ge. See al!so Dr. L. Dvonc:1Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy za roky 1948-1952, Matica Slovenska, 1957. �36 SLOVAKIA (3) See, for examI?:le, the eval,uartion o.f U. Stur as a philo1o,gist in the book "l!udovit Stur, Slovencina" nasa," which was prepared and annotated by Dr. J. Ambms and has been evaliwa1ted lirug,uirstdlcailily by Dr. V. Blanar. According to Blanar, Stur kept pa,ce with the European philologic:d schools o.f that time and its foremosrt ip·h enomena, a,n d his studies at Hal!le predestined him to beco,me, in Slovanic and Slovaik cir,cwmstances, one of the frrst representatives of the newest methods on theories in phi'lology. (4) Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu, p. 6. Anton Bemo'1ak 01762--1813) codified the Slovak literary lang,ua,ge as used by the Slovak Catholics from tJhe time of the co-uniter-Reformation and esipeoi,a,1ly since .16315, the year Olf the fo.u,ndatJion of the second university in Slovakia. at Trnaiva. Bernolak gaive a solid fowndati-on to the Slovak literary .l!anguag,e, based on the Western Sllovaik dialecrt, in hiis works: Disserta,t io philologico-critica de litteris Slavorum : Linguae slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae usitatae compendiosa simul at facilis o,rthographia" (Bra1tislava, 1'7'3171); "Grammatica slavica" (1790), and in his huge pentalingual dictionary, pu1blished after his deatih, in 1825. Marbin Hattala (1821-1903'), who later became a professor at the University of Praigue, codid'ied the reform in'1:rod1uced by U. Stur, which was a,o cepted in, 1844 by both Slovak Oatholiics and Protestants. His "Kratka mluvnica slovenska" CShor.t Slovak Gr•aimlillar), p,wblished in 1852, gaive a scientific bas-is and for:m to Stur's reform. Saimuel Czaimbel (1856-1 909), one o.f the greatest Slovak philologists, enniiched Sl,o vak phi,lol1ogy by seveml scholarly wo·r'ks regardiillg dialectology, monphology, and lexicol-o,gy. His main woriks are "Slovensky pravopis" (Slovak Orithogra-phy, 1890) and "Rukovat' spisovnej reci slovenskej " QManual of the Slovalk Liternry Larug-uage, 1-902). For detai:ls concernirug Bernolak, Haittaila, and Czaimbel, see Prof. E. Pauliny: "Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny." (5) Colillipare V. Blanar: Biblografia. (6) Pioneer and valuable worik iin, this d'i rection was done partLcularliy by Professor Dr. Jul iius Led enyi-La1d ziansky in the termino:lo.gy o.f medical science. (7) Prof. Dr. A. Dostal: Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka, Prague, Statni pedagogicke naildiadatelstvi, 1:954. (8) (Prof. Dr. Eugen Pa,Ulliny: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, Bratisl-aiva, S1ovenska akadem!iia, vied a umeni, 19418. In the introduction to his book, Pa-wliny understands the history o.f the 1-angu,age as the history Olf the oriigin, disaippear ance and cha,n,ges Olf its i,ndi'Vidua1l styles. Ho:wever, in the book i ts-elf, he d'ivide:d the his-tor-y of the Slovak 1iitera['y laruguage accord!i,u,g to the languages which wer e used ,by the Slov,aiks as literary la~ua,ges in addition to the sipoken vern,a,culiar from the time of the Gr eater Moravia•. On page 5, he writes: "Al,thouglh, in this case, the p er,iod of the actual Sll,ovaik litera['y laillguaige ca,n. begin only with Bernolak, or with t he p eriod shortly befor e Bemolak, nevertheless it is not poss,iJble to begin the history of t he literary languages of the Slovaks either with Bernolak or Stur, but it is ,n,ecessa,r,y t,o go deep into 1Jhe pa st, aH the way to the ver y begin nings o.f the histor iical p er iod o.f our na-ti-on in the Gr eater Moravian epoch, na,y, in ceritain matters, it is ,necessary to go even 1 1 1 1 �SLOVAKIA 37 further, into the pre-histork period, when our ancestors were not yet baptized and did not particiiPate im, the European cul<ture whiich was introduced to us by Chrisit-iani:ty." (9) Prof. A. Mraz: Dej iny slovenskej literatury, Braitisfava, Slovenska akademia vied a UJ!l1eni, 1948. (lJl) F . Travnicek: Historicka mluvnice ceskoslovenska, Brno, 1935, p. 21-23. (10) This thesis wa,s propa•g ated by Dr. Ed'Uard Benes throurg h his pUJblication Detruisez I' Autriche, Paris, 11916, and, with the helip of Czech philologists, it penetrated also inito many western university oiTcles and was reoeated by the Slavists on this continent a·s well. (13) Besides aiuthors of Slovak origin, (Hrobak, Konus, Potocek, and others), the correct attitude towards the Slovak lang;uage, in the Englislh lan!guage works, was taken particUilarly by Professor Alfred Senn in the syunrposi,um A Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L. I. Strakhovsky, Camlbridlge, Massachu,s etts, Harvard UnLversity Press, 1949. (12) Profiessor Bartek pub1'ished, boith in Slovakia and in exiile, a numlber of prul. 0Iogica1! wo,r ks, S'Ome Off w,h ich were piulblished i,n, French and Eng-lish. Elana.r"s "Bibliografia" cites thirteen titles of his works. 'Ilhe best known philologists, besides B'artek, are S-tanislav and Novak. StaniS'lav is known parti<cUilarliy for his research i,n,to the OyriJoJMethodian period and for his works in toponyimy. Novak was siJenced by the cOJin1Inunist regime; Sitanislav is still actiive. Bartek performed a very meritorious service, pa-r ticular,l'Y by foundilllg the peri10dical "Slovenska rec" (Slovak Langua,ge), and by his uncOJinpramising stand in the so-called "ma1ticne" (Slovak [nstitu1:e) strwggles for the purity of the S1ov,a k language and its separate development since Vhe d isaippearance of the Old Slovanic laruguaige. 1 1 • • • WHO SAID IT? "President Benes was always of the opinion, and in his latest statemen!ts rulways stressed, tihait OUT pact of •a lliance with Soviet Russia and our friendshiJp with other Slav na,.. tions must not encroach on our friendly and cordial re1ations with other democratic states. This is the natural desire, shared by an enormous majority of our people, and nothing prevents us from keeping the confidence of the democratic states and strengthening and deepening our friendship with our great western Allies. Moscow, too, wa.Illts to fol4ow this line of poliicy. rt will, however, be necessary for certain prejudices of the West with regard to· the Soviet Union, which are still existing, to be swept away." - Premier Fierlinger of Czecho-Slovakia, O'WI Bulletin, June 1, 1945. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 2."i CONTEMPORARY TENDENCIES IN SLOVAK PHILOLOGY Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. A reprint from SLAVIC AND E1AST EUROPEAN STUDIES Vol. IV, Part 3-4, Published by the University of Montreal, Department of Slavic Studies. A bibliographic review of Slovak linguistics and philology show that, in the la-st twenty years, philology in Slovakia has experienced an all round development and progress and is developing, both quantitatively and qualitatitvely, comparatively undisturbed, even since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet cultural and political sphere of influence. A complete picture of the contemporary state of Slovak phildlogy would require, of course, thorough research not only into the development of philology in Slovakia, which is exposed to Russian and Czech cultural influences, but also into that of the countries of the free world, where a comparatively large number of cultural and scientific workers use the Slovak language. For both ringuist and philologist such a research project would be interesting not only because in scores of Slovak periodicals and books, which are published in the free world, there are traces of the inrfluence of tihe Romance and the Anglo-Saxon languages, particularly in the syntax, but a research would be of interest also because in the free world, there were published several philological studies in which two tendencies are quite evident. The first tendency rejeets orthographic changes in the Slovak language; the second, representing the majority of cultural workers, at the recommendation of the leading Slovak philologist, Professor Henry Bartek, accepted in principle the orfuographic changes which were instituted by the philologists in Slovakia from the time of the Czecho-Russian occupation. However, the framework of this study is limited to research into the Soviet orbit and, therefore, we forego at this time, a research into the development of Slovak philology in the countries of the free world, even though some works of H. Bartek, Philip Hrobak, Joseph Konus, and others, 26 SLOVAKIA warrant the attention of a wider circle of Slavists. The following outline of the contemporary state of Slovak philology concerns itself only with the development in Slovakia. Sovietophil Tendencies and Their Extent As with literature and science, in general, philology, too, has been exposed, since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet sphere of influence, to political pressure by the Communist Party and is, therefore, gradually developing with considerable dependence on Soviet philology. This occurs particularly through the influence of some cultural workers who were elevated by the present regime to positions of importance in Slovak cultural life because of :their partisan adherence rather than their past scientific performances or professional qualifications. These "cultural commissioner s" from the very beginning tried to adapt to Slovak philology "the theoretical directives which were given Marxist philology by J. V. Stalin in his genial works Marxism and Problems of Linguistics and Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S. S. R.(1). However, a considerable number of true philologists ad!hered, in the first place, to scientific principles. The barefaced efforts to align Slovak philology with "the Marxist directives" and subjugate it to the contemvorary political regime come to light particularly in the introduction to the new Rules of Slovak Orthography (Pravidla. slovenskeho pravopisu), published in 1953. The editor-in-Chief, Dr. Stefan Peciar, and the majority of the members of the commission which prepared fue Rules, received their education and matured scientifically either in the bourgeois Czedho-Slovak Republic or between 19391945 in the Slovak Republic, but in the introduction to their work, which otherwise "in substance did not change the present orthography and its basic principle," according to their own admission, they deemed it necessary to pay homage to Stalin and to attack fue philologists who prepared the Rules of orthography in 1940. It would certainly be quite superfluous to try to prove bhat Marxism belongs to the sphere of political and social sciences, and that serious scholars know as yet neither "the SLOVAKIA 27 Marxist philology ," nor the Marxist scientific method or principle in linguistic s and philology , but only the political and unscientif ic interferen ce by the regimes which subscribe to the Marx-Eng els' or Lenin's political and economic theories. In the same manner, philology does not recognize fascist principles in philology and linguistic s, which principles some of the contempo rary linguists in Slovakia are attemptin g to discover in the works of their predecessors or contempo raries living in the countries of the free world. Needless to say thaJt they are attemptin g to discover such "fascist" principles not on the basis of scholarly researoh, but in an effort to perform a service for the present political regime. There are, therefore , no serious suppositi ons in Slovakia that some "Marxist point of view" even if such a thing existed, could already have asserted itself in Slovak philology. The review of names of the scholarly active philologists shows that they are the ones with whom we have been familiar, particula rly during the period of the Slovak Republic. The bibliogra phy of philology in Slovakia of the years 1939-47 (2) serves as evidence that Dr. Peciar, as well as Dr. Pauliny, Jona, Horecky, Ruzicka, and others, grew intellectu ally and created mainly during the existence of the Slovak Republic; and, that while some of them could have been reproach ed during the Second World War for trying to bring into Slovak philology the Czech philological theories (see the polemic Peciar-U hlar in the pereoldical "Slovensk a rec" (Slovak Languag e), there was no ndticeabl e attempt at transferr ing the Russian philologic al theories. The generatio n educated under the present regime is sUll too young to make any serious contribut ion to scholarsh ip or science, as the attainme nt of a universit y degree does not signify scientific qualificat ion, but rather the confirma tion of the ability to undertak e scientific or scholarly work. Therefore , we find predomin ating even in the Bibliography of Slovak Philology for the Years 1948-1952 , compiled by Dr. Ladislav Dvonc, the names which became known during the previous period. Dvonc's bibliogra phy is a sequel to Elana.r's bibliogra phy, and in its 1500 entries 28 SLOVAKIA it deals with: 1. all linguistic contributions published in Slovakia; 2. contributions by Slovak philologists and linguists in non-Slovak periodicals; and 3. contributions of non-Slovak au1Jhors on Slovak language or their pholological works published in Slovakia. Results of a favorable development of Slovak philology are visible in Dvonc's bibliography not only in the number of entries (1500 within four years), but also in the number of fields covered. Slovak philology is no more restricted to reseavch into and perfection of the Slovak language alone. There is also a comparatively large number of works, studies, and articles on general linguistics, Indo-European languages, general Slavonic philology and linguistics, on artificial languages and on the organization of scholarly work in the field of philology and linguistics. Soviet pressure or impact of Soviet philology appears particularly in the group "General philology" which contains 79 entries, mostly translations from Russian or works of Slovak lesser linguists on Soviet and Marxist philology and Stalin's theories. Only three of the known Slovak philologists (Peciar, Horecky and Jona) take part in the Soviet attempt to impose "Marxist and Stalinist linguistic theories" upon Slovak philology. The most aggressive propagator of "Marxist philology," Alexander Isacenko, was broug,ht up in Slovakia as a son of White Russian emigres. He pays his debts now to Slovakia, which saved him and even gave him a university chair during the war, by serving Soviet aims as their most docile and obedient tool. (See his "Geniail contributions to t'he theory of Marx-Leninism" - For a Marxist Philology" - "An important discussion on philology in the Soviet Union," etc.). As for the Slovanic philology, it was dealt with in Slovakia, during the four years in question, in 229 entries. Slovak, and in translations foreign and other Slav scholars (Lehr-Splawinski, E. Knisza, Weingart, Dvozdec, Vinogradov, Pankevyc, Barchudarov) covered the field of Old Church Slovanic, Russian, Polish, Czech, and other Slovanic languages. Among Slovak philologists, the mos:t prolific and scholarly, according to the western standards, SLOVAKIA 29 appears to be prof. Jan Stanislav (Polish and SouthernSlav philology) . Scholarly research into the Slovak language is, of course, still the principal field of interest. The number of works, studies and articles, referring to the Slovak language, its history and development, is close to 700, many of them written by highly qualified philologists and linguists either of Slovak or foreign origin (J. Stanislav, L. Novak, E. Pauliny, V. Uhlar, A. Janosik, S. Peciar, J. Horecky, V. Blanar, E. Jona, Kniesza, Vazny, Kuraly, Stieber, etc.). They cover the history of literary languages in Slovakia, historical grammar and historical dialectology, etymology, phonology, orthography, vocabulary, grammar, etc. Attack on Purism and Advocation of Slovanic Orientation The fact that Marxist methods are not considered seriously, even by the linguists who advocate them, is shown in the review of philological works published several years ago, as well as by the predominant condemnation of only those philologists who prepared the Rules of Slovak Orthography, in 1940. The older linguists, from Anthony Bernolak to Samuel Czambel, are highly esteemed; in fact, in certain instances, they are esteemed more highly than they were by the now proscribed philologists and literary historians of the period of the existence of the Slovak Republic (3). For example, in the introduction to the new Rules, we read the following: "A significant role in the perfection of the Slovak language was played by our national awakeners. They discovered the internal criteria of tJhe Slovak language, formulated then and laid strong foundations for our literary language and our lingual culture. Anton Bernolak took the first steps towards the stabilization of the Slovak literary language, its ovthography, morphology, and vocabulary. For stabilizing the Slovak literary language in its present form, and particularly its morphology and orthography, Martin Hattala and Samo Czambel and others are mainly responsible." ( 4). Among the classicists of Slovak literature, who "enriched, developed, and strengthened" the Slovak language, the "Marxist" commission also includes Jan Holly who, 30 SLOVAKIA with Berndlak and Hatta-la, was also a Catholic priest and who (together with the above-ment ioned) is credited with what even today is often reproachfu lly called "Slovak linguistic separatism " in English and French books, particuiarly if such books were inspired by Czech politicians or scholars. The attack on the philologists who compiled the Rules of 1940 is obviously p<Yliticaily motivaJted. The servants of the present communist regime in Slovakia condemn the compiler•s of the previous Rules, first, because they were supposedly "the servants of Eudak (Populist) separatism and went out of their way to mee't the demands of the treacherou s politicians, " and only in the second place, because "they strived to remove literary Sfovak as far as possible from Czech and to isolate it also from other Slovanic languages. " In other words, they were "puristicall y oriented" and marked the Rules with "a puristical tendency." However, the changes which have been made in Slovak orthograph y, and the review of the ph!ilological studies of the past few years, do not testify to the fact that the present "Marxist" philologists have very substantial ly removed themselves from "the purists" or that they have approached closer to Czech or other Slovanic languages, with the exception of the Russian language. The entire evolutionary line of Slovak philology - the founders of which were the national awakeners of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who had to defend the Slovak language against Hungarian assimilator y tendencies and the nationalistica lly oriented linguists and philologists of the last decades of this century, for whom it was necessary to defend the Slovak language against no less dangerous Czech tendencies - has not yet been too remarkably dented by contempor ary philologists in Slovakia. The thesis that the Slovak language tended to develop as a separate Slovanic language after the disappeara nce of the Old Slovanic language - and that the attempts to make it one of the dialects of the Czech language must only be considered as unscientific and political tendencies and aspirations - is practically proved by the scholarly works of the contempor ary SLOVAKIA 31 philologists with alil the weight and consistency of methods which cannot be la:beled unscientific. In harmony with the general cultural growth of the Slovak nation, Slovak philology develops in scope and depth. During 1939-1945 alone over a thousand works, treatises, articles, and studies in the field of philology were published. The linguists and philologists did not concern themselves merely with research into and the stabilization of the Slovak language, but also with the wider problems of linguistics and ph'ilology, Slovanic and non-Slovanic IndoEuropean languages, and with tihe general philology (5) . During the war, there already was evident a promising development which was made in the formaition of Slovak scientific and technical terminology, particularly in the scientific disciplines and in the technical-economic sphere of Slovak life(6). The contemporary philologists continue diligently in this "purism," and Slovak scientific and technical terminology has, in the past few years, been considerably enriched by the newly-coined or adapted terms of other Slovanic languages, particularly Russian. Objectivity warrants the admission that the works of Slovak philologists are comparatively extensive; that the number of published books, studies and treatises in periodicals is considerable; and that the fields of scientific research are numerous. In the interest of truth, however, it is also necessary to add that this growth of scholarly works has no relation to, and is not to be credited to the contemporary political regime. Regardless of what regime might exist today in Slovakia, there would inevitably be more achievement in science, culture and arts than ever before. The explanation is to be found in the general development of Slovakia in the last forty years and particularly in the fact that, in the last years of the so-called bourgeois Czecho-Slovak Republic and especially during the period of the existence of the Slovak Republic, a large number of young S'lovaks studied in universities at home and abroad, not only the traditional disciplines - theology, law, and medicine - but the entire field of science. The inclusion of Slovakia i.nlto the Soviet orbit befell them in the years of their scientific productivity or in their years of 32 SLOVAKIA university studies. If, today, in Slovakia, more is produced and published in philology or in other scientific fields, it is because the Slovak nation reached that stage of development at which there are found entire cadres of scientific and culutral workers. These cadres are so large that, even after the departure of thousands into exile, it is possible today to publish in Slovakia more books than ever before in all fields of science. The communist regime, in certain respects, by the limitation of freedom alone, holds back scientific work, and supports development only of those fields in which the political aims of the Communist Party can be pursued. Philology is, for the communist regime, a neutral rather than a privileged field. As far as the linguistic side of the Slovak language is concerned, in :the Rules as in other works, there appears a trend towards a more consistent use of the principles of phonetic orthogr&phy and towards the simplification of writing Slovak and foreign expressions. In philological production alone there are represented dialectology, lexicology, comparative philology, morphology, phonology, orthoepy, phonetics, etc. Several works deal with questions of the Cyrilo--Methodian period, the development of philology in other Slovanic nations (Russia, Bulgaria) and the history of the Slovak language. A scholarly level has been attained, first of all, by the works of older linguists and philologists, but the possession of the qualifications and preparation for the professional philological work is evident in a large number of younger intellectuals, particularly in their criticism, polemics and commentaries on the new editions of older literary or philological works (for instance, in the introductions to the new editions of the works of Bernolak, Holly, Stur, etc.). End of the Controversy Regarding Literary Slovak and the Origin of the Slovak Language From the published works of philologists and literary historians it is also obvious t'hat the Czech theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language, and on the function of some foreign languages (Czech, Czechoslovak) in Slovak literature, which theses SLOVAKIA were intended to support the political theses of a single Czechoslovak nation, have been definitely buried. In this respect, even some contemporary works of Czech philologists helped to support the scientific conclusions which have long been defended by Slovak philologists. Particularly noteworthy, on the Czech side is the work of Professor A. Dostal (7), and on the Slovak side, Pauliny's "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" History of Literary Slovak, Bratislava, 1948 (8) , and Mraz's "Dejiny slovenskej literatiiry" - History of Slovak Literature, Bra'tislava, 1948(9) , as well as the papers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. In this respect, particularly, the paper of Professor E. Pauliny on "Bilingualism in the History of the Slovak Literary Language," de-serves special at'tention. Papliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in S'lovakfa in the 15th and following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who did not apply "Marxist criteria" in philology, i.e., that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not stand compe'tition with the Slovak vernacular when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness: though the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, tried to maintain it even in the 19th century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majorit y a whole century before that time. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is therefore, even according to Pauliny, that of bilingualism (p. 43). A century-long controversy, as to whether Slovak is but a dialect of the Czech language, or a dis'tinct Slovanic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both the Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia. By a careful analysis of the fundamenital roots of both languages, Czech and Slovak, as well as through a comparative study of their later developments, contemporary scholars trained in philology have revealed the true basis of the Slovak language and have clas- 34 SLOVAKIA sified it properly as one of distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearance of the Old Slovanic language. The controversy was occasioned by two facts. On the one hand, some literary historians made no distinction between the language spoken by the Slovaks as their native tongue and 'their literary medium. The latter for some time wa:s (besides Latin) the old Czech liturgical language. On the other hand, most of the philo'logists and literary historians, predominantly of Czech origin, in formulating purely scientific views as to the proper relationship between the Czech and Slovak languages, were influenced by political aspira!tions. Recent studies based on scientific principles of philology, phonology, etymology lexicography, and grammar now show that the original Slovak terminology, wJth rare exceptions, goes back to the original roots of a native Slovak language essentially distinct from every other Slovanic tongue. The confusion created by the failure to draw a proper distinction between the native language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language was, however, only partly responsible for the erroneous view that Slovak was merely a dialect of the Czech language or that there was something like a "Czechoslovak language" (10). Theories on the existence of a "Czechoslovak language" were creat ed even after one hundred years of the existence of the Slovak literary language which was accepted by both Slovak Catholics and Lutherans in 1844, and after two hundred years' use by the Catholics of their own vernacular as the literary medium around the University of Trnava, founded in 1635. Consequently, the main reason for the confusion was of a political nature, even if presented in "scientific" form. Professor F. Travnicek, for instance, used geography as his main argument for his theory of the "Czechoslovak language." The fact that the Czechs and Slovaks inhabited the present area from the sixth century was used by him as an argumen1t that they had a common ,l anguage. In his "ffistoricka mluvnice ceskoslovenska" (Historic Czechoslovak Grammar) he stated: "The ancient Czechoslovak language lasted from the time of its inde- SLOVAKIA 35 pendent establishment as a full-fledged language, from the siJd:h to the end of the tenth century, and is similar to the prehistoric tongue. The chief condition of this independent development was that our ancestors were separated geographically from the rest of the Slavs" (11). Geographical factors can hardly take precedence over linguistic data, and even if we accept this theory, another factor, the separation of Czechs and Siovaks from the ninth century, would be in favor of an independent development of the Slovak spoken tongue. Slovak philologists and linguists Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Sttanislav, Novak, etc. (12) rejected, therefore the Czech theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic form,s of the Slovak tongue and, by linguistic methods of phonology as we11 as by a comparative study, they arrived at new conclusions as to the origin and development of the S'lovak language. These conclusions were ultimately accepted by contemporary Czech as well as other Slovanic philologists and linguists (13). As a result of this development the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a refation between two Slavic but distinct languages. Czech poetry and prose are translated into the Slovak, and vice versa, as the Polish or Russian have always been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long ~ime ago, and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and phi'lologists to recognize the irrefutable. REFERENCES (1) Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu, Brat islava, Slov,e nska akadeania vied, 1953, p. 7. (2) IDr. Vincent Blanar: Bibliografia jazykovedy na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1947, Bratislava, Slovensika a1~ademia vied a umeni, 195'0, p. 210. This work ,contaiins 11,17 titles, Olf which aipprox.ilmatel,y 1000 were pulblished dudrug the existen-ce Olf the Slovak R~bl!i.'c . .Altogether Blanar presents an almost complete picture of Ling,ud,stic and philological w<ll'ks, pwblished in boo!k form or in periodicals, in the fiields olf ,g eneral philiodog,y, comparative linguistiics Olf lndoEuirQPean languages, Sl'O'Vanic philology and! the stu~ Olf the Slova!k lairugua,ge. See al!so Dr. L. Dvonc:1Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy za roky 1948-1952, Matica Slovenska, 1957. 36 SLOVAKIA (3) See, for examI?:le, the eval,uartion o.f U. Stur as a philo1o,gist in the book "l!udovit Stur, Slovencina" nasa," which was prepared and annotated by Dr. J. Ambms and has been evaliwa1ted lirug,uirstdlcailily by Dr. V. Blanar. According to Blanar, Stur kept pa,ce with the European philologic:d schools o.f that time and its foremosrt ip·h enomena, a,n d his studies at Hal!le predestined him to beco,me, in Slovanic and Slovaik cir,cwmstances, one of the frrst representatives of the newest methods on theories in phi'lology. (4) Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu, p. 6. Anton Bemo'1ak 01762--1813) codified the Slovak literary lang,ua,ge as used by the Slovak Catholics from tJhe time of the co-uniter-Reformation and esipeoi,a,1ly since .16315, the year Olf the fo.u,ndatJion of the second university in Slovakia. at Trnaiva. Bernolak gaive a solid fowndati-on to the Slovak literary .l!anguag,e, based on the Western Sllovaik dialecrt, in hiis works: Disserta,t io philologico-critica de litteris Slavorum : Linguae slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae usitatae compendiosa simul at facilis o,rthographia" (Bra1tislava, 1'7'3171); "Grammatica slavica" (1790), and in his huge pentalingual dictionary, pu1blished after his deatih, in 1825. Marbin Hattala (1821-1903'), who later became a professor at the University of Praigue, codid'ied the reform in'1:rod1uced by U. Stur, which was a,o cepted in, 1844 by both Slovak Oatholiics and Protestants. His "Kratka mluvnica slovenska" CShor.t Slovak Gr•aimlillar), p,wblished in 1852, gaive a scientific bas-is and for:m to Stur's reform. Saimuel Czaimbel (1856-1 909), one o.f the greatest Slovak philologists, enniiched Sl,o vak phi,lol1ogy by seveml scholarly wo·r'ks regardiillg dialectology, monphology, and lexicol-o,gy. His main woriks are "Slovensky pravopis" (Slovak Orithogra-phy, 1890) and "Rukovat' spisovnej reci slovenskej " QManual of the Slovalk Liternry Larug-uage, 1-902). For detai:ls concernirug Bernolak, Haittaila, and Czaimbel, see Prof. E. Pauliny: "Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny." (5) Colillipare V. Blanar: Biblografia. (6) Pioneer and valuable worik iin, this d'i rection was done partLcularliy by Professor Dr. Jul iius Led enyi-La1d ziansky in the termino:lo.gy o.f medical science. (7) Prof. Dr. A. Dostal: Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka, Prague, Statni pedagogicke naildiadatelstvi, 1:954. (8) (Prof. Dr. Eugen Pa,Ulliny: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, Bratisl-aiva, S1ovenska akadem!iia, vied a umeni, 19418. In the introduction to his book, Pa-wliny understands the history o.f the 1-angu,age as the history Olf the oriigin, disaippear ance and cha,n,ges Olf its i,ndi'Vidua1l styles. Ho:wever, in the book i ts-elf, he d'ivide:d the his-tor-y of the Slovak 1iitera['y laruguage accord!i,u,g to the languages which wer e used ,by the Slov,aiks as literary la~ua,ges in addition to the sipoken vern,a,culiar from the time of the Gr eater Moravia•. On page 5, he writes: "Al,thouglh, in this case, the p er,iod of the actual Sll,ovaik litera['y laillguaige ca,n. begin only with Bernolak, or with t he p eriod shortly befor e Bemolak, nevertheless it is not poss,iJble to begin the history of t he literary languages of the Slovaks either with Bernolak or Stur, but it is ,n,ecessa,r,y t,o go deep into 1Jhe pa st, aH the way to the ver y begin nings o.f the histor iical p er iod o.f our na-ti-on in the Gr eater Moravian epoch, na,y, in ceritain matters, it is ,necessary to go even 1 1 1 1 SLOVAKIA 37 further, into the pre-histork period, when our ancestors were not yet baptized and did not particiiPate im, the European cul<ture whiich was introduced to us by Chrisit-iani:ty." (9) Prof. A. Mraz: Dej iny slovenskej literatury, Braitisfava, Slovenska akademia vied a UJ!l1eni, 1948. (lJl) F . Travnicek: Historicka mluvnice ceskoslovenska, Brno, 1935, p. 21-23. (10) This thesis wa,s propa•g ated by Dr. Ed'Uard Benes throurg h his pUJblication Detruisez I' Autriche, Paris, 11916, and, with the helip of Czech philologists, it penetrated also inito many western university oiTcles and was reoeated by the Slavists on this continent a·s well. (13) Besides aiuthors of Slovak origin, (Hrobak, Konus, Potocek, and others), the correct attitude towards the Slovak lang;uage, in the Englislh lan!guage works, was taken particUilarly by Professor Alfred Senn in the syunrposi,um A Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L. I. Strakhovsky, Camlbridlge, Massachu,s etts, Harvard UnLversity Press, 1949. (12) Profiessor Bartek pub1'ished, boith in Slovakia and in exiile, a numlber of prul. 0Iogica1! wo,r ks, S'Ome Off w,h ich were piulblished i,n, French and Eng-lish. Elana.r"s "Bibliografia" cites thirteen titles of his works. 'Ilhe best known philologists, besides B'artek, are S-tanislav and Novak. StaniS'lav is known parti<cUilarliy for his research i,n,to the OyriJoJMethodian period and for his works in toponyimy. Novak was siJenced by the cOJin1Inunist regime; Sitanislav is still actiive. Bartek performed a very meritorious service, pa-r ticular,l'Y by foundilllg the peri10dical "Slovenska rec" (Slovak Langua,ge), and by his uncOJinpramising stand in the so-called "ma1ticne" (Slovak [nstitu1:e) strwggles for the purity of the S1ov,a k language and its separate development since Vhe d isaippearance of the Old Slovanic laruguaige. 1 1 • • • WHO SAID IT? "President Benes was always of the opinion, and in his latest statemen!ts rulways stressed, tihait OUT pact of •a lliance with Soviet Russia and our friendshiJp with other Slav na,.. tions must not encroach on our friendly and cordial re1ations with other democratic states. This is the natural desire, shared by an enormous majority of our people, and nothing prevents us from keeping the confidence of the democratic states and strengthening and deepening our friendship with our great western Allies. Moscow, too, wa.Illts to fol4ow this line of poliicy. rt will, however, be necessary for certain prejudices of the West with regard to· the Soviet Union, which are still existing, to be swept away." - Premier Fierlinger of Czecho-Slovakia, O'WI Bulletin, June 1, 1945.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology Description An account of the resource Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 10, No. 7 (32), September-December 1960 pp. 25-37 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1960 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/193aa3e6bed980798598a513e471b3a3.pdf e90db9312e1a195c7ca61595a15824d3 PDF Text Text 14 SLOVAKIA MAGYAR EXILES AND SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum For the past fifteen years Slovak exiles have been concerned for the most part with Czech pol'iiticians and their adamant ·opposition to Slovak freedom and independence. As a resur.t, many people tlhink that the Slovaks have no pl'oblems with their other neighbors, particularly the Magyars, who consistently refer to themselves as "Hungarians." The fact of the matter i's, however, that even some Magyar exiles rather seem to enjoy presenting Slovakia and 1:Jhe S11ovaks in an unfavorable lig,ht, propagaJting tendencious stories and distorting :the truth in much the same way that the late Dr. Edward Benes dlid, and his followers are still doing. This policy of Czech chauvinists is readl'ly understandable : they are determined that !the Slovaks shall be dominated by the Czechs for aH time in the po1irtical monstrosity caMed Czec'ho-Slovakia. But irt is diffiicult to understand just what the Magyars hope to gain by their hostile attitude toward Slovak freedom and independence. Neither the western world nor tlhe Slovaks wiM accept any plan to return Sloviakia to Hungary to be dominated by the Magyars. Brofessor Tuka used to say that the interests of the neighbors of Slovakia wi:U help the Slovaks preserve their independence, because i1t is not in the interest of the Poles or Magyars that the Slovaks be dominated by the Czechs. Conversely, logical consideration of this mat'ter leads to the conclusion that bdth these neighbors of the Slovaks ,s hould, in their own ,i nterests, promorte the independence of Slovakia. Slovaks in exile have tried to develop friendly relations w'iith exiled representa'tives of other nationalities, including the Poles and Magyars. They were organized in the Slovak National Oouncil Abroad before February 25, 1948, when the Czech communists seized full power in Czecho-Slovakia and Czech and Czecho-Slovak officials soon after began a mass exodus from the "people's democracy" they had helped to create. ':Dhe SNCA was recognized by the Poliish government-in-exile and the Ma1 �15 SLOVAKIA gyar National Council in London. In 1:Jhe beginning of 1949, with the la'te Karol Sidor, at rthat time president of the SNCA, we had a meeting with Magyar representatives - Monsignor Bela Varga and Count G. Bakacs-Besseneyi - in Paris and we though't tha,t our efforts for f.riendly relations met with underst:anding. The situation changed, however, when certain influenlial political circles in America called into being the "National Councils" - and among t!hem also the so-called "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," whidh was created witlh the blessing of the U. S. State Department then under Dean Acheson. As a condition of moral and material support, the various nationality councils were required to work toge'ther in harmony. The Council of Free Czechoslovakia was completely dominated by the Benes Czedhs, the Czech National Socialists (Dr .Hubert Ripka, Dr. Peter Zenkl). As in the past, so even now, several Slov,ak personalities (Joseph Lettrich, Stephen Kocvara, George Slavik), completely subservient to t!he Czech group, were added fur window-dressing so thalt the appel1ation "Czechoslovak" mighrt continue to apply. It was thus that the Magyar National Council discontinued cooperating with the Slovak National Council Abroad and began to work together with t!he organ'iza!t'ion of Ripka, Zenkl, and Lettrich (the Council of F1ree Czechoslovakia) , who not only support the thesis of Czech hegemony over Slovakia, but are also held responsible for ,t he deporbwtion of hundreds of thousands of Magyars while they reigned with Benes in Prague and looked upon the leaders of the Magyar exile as Nazi collaborators and traitors. Strange ,bedfellows, indeed! The SloV1aks were not tlhe cause of this change of policy of the Magyar National Council, nor could they alter it. Of course, irt would be in the interest of the Magyars and the Slov:aks, as well as in the h'ig'hest interest of a better future of all the nations of Central Europe, if 1Jhe Magyar exile made an -e ffort to seek a more just and permanent soluili-o n of Cenrtral-European problems than that fur,c ed upon Central Europe, with the help of Czech poli'bicians, after the wars in 1918 and 1945 - the same solu1 �16 SLOVAKIA ti!on now being promoted by the Council of Firee Czechoslovakia which is dominated by the Czechs for the Czechs. It is noteworthy, thougfu, that some Magyar exiles, grouped around the periodiicail Nemzetor, have seen through the fraud of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia and are now on the right track toward solving the problems of • Centval Europe. But the Magy·a r National Council was not the on)y body indirectly aiding and aibetting Czech exiles and Czech tendencies. Magyar journalists and more or less known diplomats have also helped the Czech chauvinists. ]t is not easy to answer the question why they should write about the Slovak Republic so tendenciously, utterly disregarding facts and <listorting the truth. And this is all the more difficult to understand, because some of them wrote in suoh a fashion already a,s professors at American universities and their literary efforts are supposed to be scientific works. Objectively, as :far as 'the Slovaks were concerned, wenrt down the drain. Let's get down to cases. Andrew Gyovgy, assistant professor of potiticail sciences at Yale University, authored tJhe book "Governments of Danubian Europe" (Rinehart and Co., 1949). lit appears to be the best collection of the propaganda used by the Czech exiles during World War II; disregard for objectivity and reliability of sources is in full evidence in this conneotion. No less objective and anti-Slovak is the book "The Great Powers And Eastern Europe," authored by John A. Lukacs, (American Book Co., 1953). This book of 878 pages gives the impression of a serious work. As far as Slovakia is concerned, however, the most :fantastic falsehoods, half-1truths, and inaccwaoies of Czech propaganda are here repeated under tJhe guise of a scientific volume. The vrurious literary endeavors authored or edited by Professor Stephen D. Kert.esz of Notre Dame University unnecessarily characterize ilie S'1ovak Republic as "a German puppet State" and the Slovak Government as a "Nazi government." In the book "The Fate of East Central Europe" (Notre Dame Press, 1956), whic.h was edited by Dr. Kertesz, the chapter by Professor Robert H. Ferrell de- �SLOVAKIA 17 monstrates that the author has little first-hand knowledge about the Slovaks and their country. The chapter by Ivo Duchacek is a glaring example of typical Czech propaganda, replete with inaccuracies, un-truths, and distortions of fact. The book "The Triumph of Tyranny," written by Steplien Borsody, perhaps tops all literary works in this regard. The author was brought up in Slovakia; he was a Magyar journalist of some note, then, after the war, a diplomat of the Budapest government; now he is teaching at Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pa. What excuse is there for the anti-Slovak tendency of Borsody? Borsody's book is brilliantly written; it's aim is a new federative order in Central Europe. He takes an objectively negative stand toward the politics of Dr. Edward Benes, also to the deportation of the Magyars from Slovakia; on the whole he takes a sober outlook of the past and the necessity of a new solution of .the problems of Cen'tral Europe in the future. And yet, all objectivity seems to disappear when Borsody writes about the Slovak Republic. He was in Slovakia; he is acquainted with its problems, the will of the Slovak nation; and he had the facts firs't-hand. Why then did he resort to smearing the Slovaks and their country? This was not only not necessary, but also against the interests of the federative conception of Central Europe which Borsody defends so correctly and skillfully. Those who would deny the Slovaks their freedom and political independence demonstrate how little they value these very blessings for their own nations. What have the Czechs to ·g ain by joining Magyars who are opposed to the freedom and independence of the Slovaks? And vice-versa? How do Magyars and Czechs serve the ends of justice and democracy by denying to the Slovaks the very blessings of freedom which they claim for themselves? It is, the Slovaks believe, in the interests of all the nations of the Danubian Basin, nay, in the interests of all Europe, tha't the Slovaks be free of foreign and hostile rule and manage their own household. Exiles from European countries do harm to the cause of freedom and democracy when they deny the fruits of freedom to others; they are certa-inly not helping the. very cause they claim to represen't. � 14 SLOVAKIA MAGYAR EXILES AND SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum For the past fifteen years Slovak exiles have been concerned for the most part with Czech pol'iiticians and their adamant ·opposition to Slovak freedom and independence. As a resur.t, many people tlhink that the Slovaks have no pl'oblems with their other neighbors, particularly the Magyars, who consistently refer to themselves as "Hungarians." The fact of the matter i's, however, that even some Magyar exiles rather seem to enjoy presenting Slovakia and 1:Jhe S11ovaks in an unfavorable lig,ht, propagaJting tendencious stories and distorting :the truth in much the same way that the late Dr. Edward Benes dlid, and his followers are still doing. This policy of Czech chauvinists is readl'ly understandable : they are determined that !the Slovaks shall be dominated by the Czechs for aH time in the po1irtical monstrosity caMed Czec'ho-Slovakia. But irt is diffiicult to understand just what the Magyars hope to gain by their hostile attitude toward Slovak freedom and independence. Neither the western world nor tlhe Slovaks wiM accept any plan to return Sloviakia to Hungary to be dominated by the Magyars. Brofessor Tuka used to say that the interests of the neighbors of Slovakia wi:U help the Slovaks preserve their independence, because i1t is not in the interest of the Poles or Magyars that the Slovaks be dominated by the Czechs. Conversely, logical consideration of this mat'ter leads to the conclusion that bdth these neighbors of the Slovaks ,s hould, in their own ,i nterests, promorte the independence of Slovakia. Slovaks in exile have tried to develop friendly relations w'iith exiled representa'tives of other nationalities, including the Poles and Magyars. They were organized in the Slovak National Oouncil Abroad before February 25, 1948, when the Czech communists seized full power in Czecho-Slovakia and Czech and Czecho-Slovak officials soon after began a mass exodus from the "people's democracy" they had helped to create. ':Dhe SNCA was recognized by the Poliish government-in-exile and the Ma1 �15 SLOVAKIA gyar National Council in London. In 1:Jhe beginning of 1949, with the la'te Karol Sidor, at rthat time president of the SNCA, we had a meeting with Magyar representatives - Monsignor Bela Varga and Count G. Bakacs-Besseneyi - in Paris and we though't tha,t our efforts for f.riendly relations met with underst:anding. The situation changed, however, when certain influenlial political circles in America called into being the "National Councils" - and among t!hem also the so-called "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," whidh was created witlh the blessing of the U. S. State Department then under Dean Acheson. As a condition of moral and material support, the various nationality councils were required to work toge'ther in harmony. The Council of Free Czechoslovakia was completely dominated by the Benes Czedhs, the Czech National Socialists (Dr .Hubert Ripka, Dr. Peter Zenkl). As in the past, so even now, several Slov,ak personalities (Joseph Lettrich, Stephen Kocvara, George Slavik), completely subservient to t!he Czech group, were added fur window-dressing so thalt the appel1ation "Czechoslovak" mighrt continue to apply. It was thus that the Magyar National Council discontinued cooperating with the Slovak National Council Abroad and began to work together with t!he organ'iza!t'ion of Ripka, Zenkl, and Lettrich (the Council of F1ree Czechoslovakia) , who not only support the thesis of Czech hegemony over Slovakia, but are also held responsible for ,t he deporbwtion of hundreds of thousands of Magyars while they reigned with Benes in Prague and looked upon the leaders of the Magyar exile as Nazi collaborators and traitors. Strange ,bedfellows, indeed! The SloV1aks were not tlhe cause of this change of policy of the Magyar National Council, nor could they alter it. Of course, irt would be in the interest of the Magyars and the Slov:aks, as well as in the h'ig'hest interest of a better future of all the nations of Central Europe, if 1Jhe Magyar exile made an -e ffort to seek a more just and permanent soluili-o n of Cenrtral-European problems than that fur,c ed upon Central Europe, with the help of Czech poli'bicians, after the wars in 1918 and 1945 - the same solu1 �16 SLOVAKIA ti!on now being promoted by the Council of Firee Czechoslovakia which is dominated by the Czechs for the Czechs. It is noteworthy, thougfu, that some Magyar exiles, grouped around the periodiicail Nemzetor, have seen through the fraud of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia and are now on the right track toward solving the problems of • Centval Europe. But the Magy·a r National Council was not the on)y body indirectly aiding and aibetting Czech exiles and Czech tendencies. Magyar journalists and more or less known diplomats have also helped the Czech chauvinists. ]t is not easy to answer the question why they should write about the Slovak Republic so tendenciously, utterly disregarding facts and <listorting the truth. And this is all the more difficult to understand, because some of them wrote in suoh a fashion already a,s professors at American universities and their literary efforts are supposed to be scientific works. Objectively, as :far as 'the Slovaks were concerned, wenrt down the drain. Let's get down to cases. Andrew Gyovgy, assistant professor of potiticail sciences at Yale University, authored tJhe book "Governments of Danubian Europe" (Rinehart and Co., 1949). lit appears to be the best collection of the propaganda used by the Czech exiles during World War II; disregard for objectivity and reliability of sources is in full evidence in this conneotion. No less objective and anti-Slovak is the book "The Great Powers And Eastern Europe," authored by John A. Lukacs, (American Book Co., 1953). This book of 878 pages gives the impression of a serious work. As far as Slovakia is concerned, however, the most :fantastic falsehoods, half-1truths, and inaccwaoies of Czech propaganda are here repeated under tJhe guise of a scientific volume. The vrurious literary endeavors authored or edited by Professor Stephen D. Kert.esz of Notre Dame University unnecessarily characterize ilie S'1ovak Republic as "a German puppet State" and the Slovak Government as a "Nazi government." In the book "The Fate of East Central Europe" (Notre Dame Press, 1956), whic.h was edited by Dr. Kertesz, the chapter by Professor Robert H. Ferrell de- �SLOVAKIA 17 monstrates that the author has little first-hand knowledge about the Slovaks and their country. The chapter by Ivo Duchacek is a glaring example of typical Czech propaganda, replete with inaccuracies, un-truths, and distortions of fact. The book "The Triumph of Tyranny," written by Steplien Borsody, perhaps tops all literary works in this regard. The author was brought up in Slovakia; he was a Magyar journalist of some note, then, after the war, a diplomat of the Budapest government; now he is teaching at Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pa. What excuse is there for the anti-Slovak tendency of Borsody? Borsody's book is brilliantly written; it's aim is a new federative order in Central Europe. He takes an objectively negative stand toward the politics of Dr. Edward Benes, also to the deportation of the Magyars from Slovakia; on the whole he takes a sober outlook of the past and the necessity of a new solution of .the problems of Cen'tral Europe in the future. And yet, all objectivity seems to disappear when Borsody writes about the Slovak Republic. He was in Slovakia; he is acquainted with its problems, the will of the Slovak nation; and he had the facts firs't-hand. Why then did he resort to smearing the Slovaks and their country? This was not only not necessary, but also against the interests of the federative conception of Central Europe which Borsody defends so correctly and skillfully. Those who would deny the Slovaks their freedom and political independence demonstrate how little they value these very blessings for their own nations. What have the Czechs to ·g ain by joining Magyars who are opposed to the freedom and independence of the Slovaks? And vice-versa? How do Magyars and Czechs serve the ends of justice and democracy by denying to the Slovaks the very blessings of freedom which they claim for themselves? It is, the Slovaks believe, in the interests of all the nations of the Danubian Basin, nay, in the interests of all Europe, tha't the Slovaks be free of foreign and hostile rule and manage their own household. Exiles from European countries do harm to the cause of freedom and democracy when they deny the fruits of freedom to others; they are certa-inly not helping the. very cause they claim to represen't. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 14 SLOVAKIA MAGYAR EXILES AND SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum For the past fifteen years Slovak exiles have been concerned for the most part with Czech pol'iiticians and their adamant ·opposition to Slovak freedom and independence. As a resur.t, many people tlhink that the Slovaks have no pl'oblems with their other neighbors, particularly the Magyars, who consistently refer to themselves as "Hungarians." The fact of the matter i's, however, that even some Magyar exiles rather seem to enjoy presenting Slovakia and 1:Jhe S11ovaks in an unfavorable lig,ht, propagaJting tendencious stories and distorting :the truth in much the same way that the late Dr. Edward Benes dlid, and his followers are still doing. This policy of Czech chauvinists is readl'ly understandable : they are determined that !the Slovaks shall be dominated by the Czechs for aH time in the po1irtical monstrosity caMed Czec'ho-Slovakia. But irt is diffiicult to understand just what the Magyars hope to gain by their hostile attitude toward Slovak freedom and independence. Neither the western world nor tlhe Slovaks wiM accept any plan to return Sloviakia to Hungary to be dominated by the Magyars. Brofessor Tuka used to say that the interests of the neighbors of Slovakia wi:U help the Slovaks preserve their independence, because i1t is not in the interest of the Poles or Magyars that the Slovaks be dominated by the Czechs. Conversely, logical consideration of this mat'ter leads to the conclusion that bdth these neighbors of the Slovaks ,s hould, in their own ,i nterests, promorte the independence of Slovakia. Slovaks in exile have tried to develop friendly relations w'iith exiled representa'tives of other nationalities, including the Poles and Magyars. They were organized in the Slovak National Oouncil Abroad before February 25, 1948, when the Czech communists seized full power in Czecho-Slovakia and Czech and Czecho-Slovak officials soon after began a mass exodus from the "people's democracy" they had helped to create. ':Dhe SNCA was recognized by the Poliish government-in-exile and the Ma1 15 SLOVAKIA gyar National Council in London. In 1:Jhe beginning of 1949, with the la'te Karol Sidor, at rthat time president of the SNCA, we had a meeting with Magyar representatives - Monsignor Bela Varga and Count G. Bakacs-Besseneyi - in Paris and we though't tha,t our efforts for f.riendly relations met with underst:anding. The situation changed, however, when certain influenlial political circles in America called into being the "National Councils" - and among t!hem also the so-called "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," whidh was created witlh the blessing of the U. S. State Department then under Dean Acheson. As a condition of moral and material support, the various nationality councils were required to work toge'ther in harmony. The Council of Free Czechoslovakia was completely dominated by the Benes Czedhs, the Czech National Socialists (Dr .Hubert Ripka, Dr. Peter Zenkl). As in the past, so even now, several Slov,ak personalities (Joseph Lettrich, Stephen Kocvara, George Slavik), completely subservient to t!he Czech group, were added fur window-dressing so thalt the appel1ation "Czechoslovak" mighrt continue to apply. It was thus that the Magyar National Council discontinued cooperating with the Slovak National Council Abroad and began to work together with t!he organ'iza!t'ion of Ripka, Zenkl, and Lettrich (the Council of F1ree Czechoslovakia) , who not only support the thesis of Czech hegemony over Slovakia, but are also held responsible for ,t he deporbwtion of hundreds of thousands of Magyars while they reigned with Benes in Prague and looked upon the leaders of the Magyar exile as Nazi collaborators and traitors. Strange ,bedfellows, indeed! The SloV1aks were not tlhe cause of this change of policy of the Magyar National Council, nor could they alter it. Of course, irt would be in the interest of the Magyars and the Slov:aks, as well as in the h'ig'hest interest of a better future of all the nations of Central Europe, if 1Jhe Magyar exile made an -e ffort to seek a more just and permanent soluili-o n of Cenrtral-European problems than that fur,c ed upon Central Europe, with the help of Czech poli'bicians, after the wars in 1918 and 1945 - the same solu1 16 SLOVAKIA ti!on now being promoted by the Council of Firee Czechoslovakia which is dominated by the Czechs for the Czechs. It is noteworthy, thougfu, that some Magyar exiles, grouped around the periodiicail Nemzetor, have seen through the fraud of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia and are now on the right track toward solving the problems of • Centval Europe. But the Magy·a r National Council was not the on)y body indirectly aiding and aibetting Czech exiles and Czech tendencies. Magyar journalists and more or less known diplomats have also helped the Czech chauvinists. ]t is not easy to answer the question why they should write about the Slovak Republic so tendenciously, utterly disregarding facts and <listorting the truth. And this is all the more difficult to understand, because some of them wrote in suoh a fashion already a,s professors at American universities and their literary efforts are supposed to be scientific works. Objectively, as :far as 'the Slovaks were concerned, wenrt down the drain. Let's get down to cases. Andrew Gyovgy, assistant professor of potiticail sciences at Yale University, authored tJhe book "Governments of Danubian Europe" (Rinehart and Co., 1949). lit appears to be the best collection of the propaganda used by the Czech exiles during World War II; disregard for objectivity and reliability of sources is in full evidence in this conneotion. No less objective and anti-Slovak is the book "The Great Powers And Eastern Europe," authored by John A. Lukacs, (American Book Co., 1953). This book of 878 pages gives the impression of a serious work. As far as Slovakia is concerned, however, the most :fantastic falsehoods, half-1truths, and inaccwaoies of Czech propaganda are here repeated under tJhe guise of a scientific volume. The vrurious literary endeavors authored or edited by Professor Stephen D. Kert.esz of Notre Dame University unnecessarily characterize ilie S'1ovak Republic as "a German puppet State" and the Slovak Government as a "Nazi government." In the book "The Fate of East Central Europe" (Notre Dame Press, 1956), whic.h was edited by Dr. Kertesz, the chapter by Professor Robert H. Ferrell de- SLOVAKIA 17 monstrates that the author has little first-hand knowledge about the Slovaks and their country. The chapter by Ivo Duchacek is a glaring example of typical Czech propaganda, replete with inaccuracies, un-truths, and distortions of fact. The book "The Triumph of Tyranny," written by Steplien Borsody, perhaps tops all literary works in this regard. The author was brought up in Slovakia; he was a Magyar journalist of some note, then, after the war, a diplomat of the Budapest government; now he is teaching at Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pa. What excuse is there for the anti-Slovak tendency of Borsody? Borsody's book is brilliantly written; it's aim is a new federative order in Central Europe. He takes an objectively negative stand toward the politics of Dr. Edward Benes, also to the deportation of the Magyars from Slovakia; on the whole he takes a sober outlook of the past and the necessity of a new solution of .the problems of Cen'tral Europe in the future. And yet, all objectivity seems to disappear when Borsody writes about the Slovak Republic. He was in Slovakia; he is acquainted with its problems, the will of the Slovak nation; and he had the facts firs't-hand. Why then did he resort to smearing the Slovaks and their country? This was not only not necessary, but also against the interests of the federative conception of Central Europe which Borsody defends so correctly and skillfully. Those who would deny the Slovaks their freedom and political independence demonstrate how little they value these very blessings for their own nations. What have the Czechs to ·g ain by joining Magyars who are opposed to the freedom and independence of the Slovaks? And vice-versa? How do Magyars and Czechs serve the ends of justice and democracy by denying to the Slovaks the very blessings of freedom which they claim for themselves? It is, the Slovaks believe, in the interests of all the nations of the Danubian Basin, nay, in the interests of all Europe, tha't the Slovaks be free of foreign and hostile rule and manage their own household. Exiles from European countries do harm to the cause of freedom and democracy when they deny the fruits of freedom to others; they are certa-inly not helping the. very cause they claim to represen't.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Magyar Exiles and Slovakia Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 10, No. 7 (32), September-December 1960 pp. 14-17 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1960 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6e0e60bbf89ac23192966834393b8fe7.pdf 90f2698a568522dbb06c8615a60257e0 PDF Text Text 50 SLOVAKIA BRITISH POLICY AND SLOVAKIA - 1939-1945 J.M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. Diiploma,,tic recognition of the Slovak Republic by European Great Powers offers a student of modern political history an interesting field of research. In the official and semi-official memoranda and documents as well as in numerous works, published by political writers in America, we read that the Slovak Republic was recognized and established diplomatic or consular relations merely with "Germany and its satellites.; ' The fact that not only an European states, including the Vatican, Switzerland, Sweden, but also the Soviet Union, established regular diplomatic relations, and that Great Britain exchanged consuls with Slovakia, is as a rule overlooked (1). Why this glaring oversight on the part of practically all American writers on Czecho-Slovakia in the years 1939-1945, is a matter of an easy guess. Most of the information on Slovakia was supplied to the West by Czech exiles who under the leadership of Benes, labored for restoration of Czecho~Slovakia, and American historians and political writers did not question the reliability of their sources of information. A study of the international recognition of the Slovak Republic by European and non-European nations is, therefore, an interesting matter. It shows how easily world opinion can be fooled and how unreliable our "political science" can be even while dealing with current or contemporary events. Among the Great Powers, which never were mentioned in connection with Slovakia by American historians and writers on international events, is, in the first place, Great Britain. Readers of newspapers, periodicals, and books during the war, and later readers of modern history, were induced to believe that Great Britain firmly stood on the side of the Czech politicians who desired to rule Slovakia, and that the British Government never recognized the fact that the autonomous Slovak Diet within the framework of Czecho-Slovakia proclaimed Slovakia an independent State on March 14, 1939. �SLOVAKIA 51 The truth about Great Britain's attitude towards Slovakia is, of course, quite different. The British Government instructed its Consul, Peter Pares, to notify the Slovak Government that "His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom proposed to appoint him as Consul for Slovakia" on May 4, 1939, i.e., not later than six weeks after Slovakia's declaration of independence took place (2). The British Parliament accepted the proclamation of Slovakia's independence as a fait accompli against which Great Britain had no intention to protest, even sooner, on March 15, 1939, when Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced in the House of Commons that the British Government did not feel bound by the Agreement guaranteeing Czecho-Slovakia her frontiers "because, by the proclamation of the independence of Slovakia by the Slovak Diet, Czecho-Slovakia disintegrated from the inside." Lord Halifax expressed the attitude of the Foreign Office to the events, which took place in Slovakia, in diplomatic terms but did not leave any doubt that he agreed with his Prime Minister. On March 15, 1939, Lord Halifax instructed the British Ambassador in Berlin, Sir Neville Henderson, to inform the German Government that "His Majesty's Government has no desire to interfere unnecessarily in a matter with which other Govemments may be more directly concerned than His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom ... " (3). The German Ambassador to Great Britain, Dirksen, interpreted the above statements and reported to Berlin on March 14, 1939, that "aittitude of the British Government toward conflict between Czechia and Slovakia was clarified by Halifax's speech, statements by the new Department of the Foreign Office, as well as by attitudes of press itself" and that "British Government regarded constitutional settlement of relations between Slovakia and Czechia as an internal concern of the Czecho~lovak State in which Great Britain had no part." According to Dirksen ",the more the outward appearance of the right to selfdetermination of the people concerned was preserved, the greater would be the understanding among the public (in �52 SLOVAKIA Great Britain) for a new and stable settlement, especially as on all sides the desire existed to keep out of a remote affair which did not affeot British interests ... " ( 4). As a matter of fact, relations between Great Britain and the Slovak Republic developed so favorably that not later than July 4, 1939, the Slovak Government appointed, with the the consent of the British Government, the first Consul of Slovakia in Great Britain, Milan P. Harminc. The British Consul in Slovakia, Peter Pares, on July 6, 1939, handed a letter to Consul Harminc in which he asked the British authorities in Dover to grant the Slovak Consul "the usual facilities on landing which are customarily given to the consular representatives of a foreign state on their first arrival in the United Kingdom ... " (5). The Slovak Consul, who actually was in charge of the first Slovak Consulate General in the United Kingdom, notified the Foreign Office of his arrival and asked to be received on July 18, 1939. The Foreign Office in return advised him by letter of August 17, 1939, that there was "no objection on the part of His Majesty's Government to his entering forthwith upon his functions as Consul of Slovakia in London" (6). If we take into consideration the international situation in August 1939 and all possible demarches and intrigues of the former Czecho-Slovak politicians and diplomats, and especially of ex-president Dr. Edward Benes, who after March 14, 1939, addressed al'l governments and asked them not to recognize the Slovak Republic, the above attitude of Great Britain certainly allows to arrive at a conclusion that the British Government was certainly not on the side of the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for self~government and independence. International Law knows many forms of international recognition of new States, from de jure to de facto recognition, and to an exchange of diplomatic or consular representatives. Great Britain granted its recognition to the Slovak Republic by exchanging consuls within six weeks after proclamation of Slovakia's independence by the Slovak Diet. There hardly can be any doubt that an early normalization of diplomatic relations would have followed, if the Second World War �SLOVAKIA 53 had not started only six months after Slovakia decided to apply its right to self-determination. Great Britain's attitude towards Slovakia after the War broke out in Septem:ber 1939, offers according to some documents, even more conclusive proof of the British Government's inclination to maintain relations with the S'lovak Republic and not to commit itself prematurely to some other solution of the Slovak problem. Adversaries of Slovakia's independence were quite successful in spreading a general belief, when the Second World started, Great Britain ceased to recognize the existence of the Slovak Republic and that the Slovak Government simply took cognizance of that fact. Diplomatic documents, even those published from German archives, give some proof to the contrary. The first Slovak Consul, M. R. Harminc, received a telegram, on September 4, 1939, inviting him to Bratislava for consultation, but he understood that it was a move which the Slovak foreign minister had to make and, therefore, Harmine did not follow the instructions and remained in London, since he saw that the Government of Great Britain did not change its attitude towards Slovakia at the beginning or during the war against Poland. As a matter of fact, Great Britain did not change its stand towards Slovakia even after Poland was divided among her attackers - Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. The Foreign Office formally notified the Slovak Consul on October 12, 1939, that he "will continue to be recognized as the Slovak Consul in London" (7). For the middle of October 1939, in view of the general situation in Europe, this atitude of the British Government certainly indicates that Great Britain still recognized the Slovak Republic and did not intend to break relations with it. Why this attitude of Great Britain was not efficiently used either by the Slovak Consul or the Slovak Government, would call for a lengthy explanation. Documents on German Foreign Policy offer some proof that there were some attempts, on the side of Slovak diplomats, to maintain neutrality and to present Slovakia as a neutral State with regard to Great Britain. This is evident especially from the �54 SLOVAKIA document No. 205, published by the American and British Governments in "Series D" of the Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1845, in which we read that the Slovak Minister to Italy, J. M. Zvrskovec, on March 28, 1940, submitted a note to the Italian Foreign Ministry in which he stated that Slovakia was a neutral country. He requested to convey this to His Majesty's Government "in order that England may recognize Slovakia's neutrality with all its consequences ... " (8). Any attempt of the Slovak Government to keep Slovakia neutral was, of course, more an expression of feelings and desires of the Slovak people and its politicians than a real possibility. Soon after Slovakia proclaimed its independence, the territory of eastern Slovakia was attacked by Hungary and there were indications that also some Polish circles were inclined to make a deal with Germany and Hungary at the expense of Slovakia. "Therefore, in order to discourage Hungary," says a Special Report of the U. S. House of Representatives, "in her armed attack launched against eastern Slovakia, the Slovak Government concluded with Germany a Treaty of Protection (Schllltzvertrag) on March 23, 1939." By this theaty Slovakia tried to protect her independence an-d the integrity of her territory since, according to Article I of the Treaty, the Reich "undertook to protect the political independence of the Slovak State and the integrity of its territory," and the Slovak Government agreed in turn "to conduct its foreign policy in close understanding with the German Government" (9). This obligation prevented Slovakia from being formally neutral, and the Slovak diplomat who sent the a:bove mentioned note on Slovakia's neutrality had to pay for his step. So did also his Minister, Ferdinand :Durcansky. Great Britain, however, remained cautious in dealing with the Slovak problem even later. The British Government remained for some time reluctant to recognize the Czech group of exiled politicians led by Benes, who claimed that they were the official representatives of Czecho-Slovakia even though some of them previously resigned from their positions, like Dr. E. Benes, for instance (on October 5, 1938), or never took part in any Prague governments. The �SLOVAKIA 55 British Government "showed great caution in its attitude towards the Czecho-Slovak question," says C. A. Macartney, the British expert on Central Europe in the Foreign Office during the war. "It did not even recognize the Czecho-Slovak Committee until January 6, 1940." On February 24, Mr. Chamberlain spoke of restoring Czech independence, but on March 7, 1940, the London correspondent of the Pester Lloyd was authorized to telegraph the .following message: "British war aims in fact include the restoration of the independen<:e of Czechs and Slovaks. The British Government has, however, in no way committed itself with regard to the constitutional form the extent and the frontiers of the new State. As regards Slovakia, Britain leaves entirely open the question whether the Slovak State shall enjoy its independence in union with a Czech state, or in another form. This question is to be decided by the Slovaks themselves. Beyond the declaration in principle of this war aim, the British Government has entered into no obligations which might give grounds to complaints ... " (10). The Czecho-Slovak Committee, according to Macartney, was "a wartime organization carrying out certain pragmatically necessary duties, and the recognition of it, in that capacity, carried no implication about a future Czecho-Slovak State" (11). Such a formulation of Great Britain's war aims allows undoubtedly to assume that the Bdtish Government considered, even in 1940, further existence of the Slovak State conforms with Great Britain's war aims. The Foreign Office was quite explicit in this regard even in letters addressed to Dr. Benes. When Dr. Benes, in his letter of July 18, 1940, to Lord Halifax, expressed his thanks to His Majesty's Government for the stand which Great Britain took with regard to the events of March 15, 1939, and implied that the British Government "by so doing have solemnly emphasized the political and legal continuity of the Czecho-Slovak Republic," the Foreign Of£ice did not fail to correct Dr. Benes' "li1beral" interpretation. Lord Halifax on behalf of His Majesty's Government wrote emphatically to Dr. Benes that "it cannot be presumed that His Majesty's Government �56 SLOVAKIA necessarily share your conclusion, drawn in your letter: namely, that by their attitude after the events of March 15, 1939, His Majesty's Government have taken any particular attitude concerning the legal continuity of the CzechoSlovak Republic. The acts of His Majesty's Government had the significance that they protested against the changes brought about in Czecho-Slovakia by German military action, and that they stressed that in their opinion these changes had no legal basis ... " (12). In the same letter signed by Lord Halifax on July 18, 1940, there are also some other interesting points regarding Slovakia. His Majesty's Government were, according to Halifax, in principle ready to recognize the Provisional Czecho-Slovak Government," but it was added that "this Provisional Government is to be a representative government of the Czech and Slovak peoples and that it is intended that also the Czecho-Slovak State Council will be of fully representative character and will include the recognized Czech and Slovak leaders abroad, as far as they have not been included in the Provisional Government" (13). We can say, therefore, that the British Government paid, in view of the circumstances, unexpected attention to the Slovak question by stressing that it was ready to recognize Benes' exiled Provisional Government only on the condition of full Slovak participation, and by making a clear distinction between the Czechs and the Slovaks. From Dr. Benes' acts against Slovaks who did not share his political views and ambitions, we can conclude that he was aware of possible dangers for his plans on account of the above British attitude towards Slovakia and the Slovaks. Benes used all means (denunciation, false accusations, etc) to get rid of not only Slovaks advocating Slovakia's right to self-determination (14), but also of Slovaks like Dr. Milan Hod.fa and Dr. Stephen Osusky. Dr. Benes did his utmost to discredit both in England and in the U. S. A. simply because they did not share his views as to the future of Slovakia. The first Consul of the Slovak Republic, Milan P. Harminc, saved himself from vengeance and trouble only by volunteering into the British Army overseas thus abandoning all political activity. �SLOVAKIA 57 All this allows us to believe, even on the basis of documents which are far from complete, that there was a fair possibility to give Central Europe, and in it to the Slovak question, quite a different organiZiation from that advocated by. Dr. Benes and imposed in the end by the Soviet Union, had the British view prevailed. No doubt it would also have required a much clearer stand and understanding of Slovak politicians in Great Britain (Hodza, Osusky, Pauliny-Toth, etc.) who did not agree with Dr. Benes or denounced his machinations, undemocratic procedures, and utter disregard for Slovakia's aspirations (15), but did little or nothing positively to influence the Western Powers and to obtain a recognition of a Slovak exiled Committee or a Provisional Government. The first Slovak Consul apparently failed to use, for his country's future, all the good will and inclination of the British Government to recognize him, even after Poland was defeated, as Consul of Slovakia in London, which he probably would have been able to do, had the Slovak politicians in London supported him. Favorable British attitude towards Slovakia found its expression again before the end of the war when Dr. Benes travelled, in spite of clear hints of the British Government and Parliament, to Moscow and signed a treaty with the Soviet Union, which treaty later helped the Soviet to penetrate into Central Europe and to establish there Communist rule and statellite governments. The British Government allowed, in 1943, Slovak exiles, headed by Peter Pridavok, to organize the Slovak National Council in London which opposed Dr. Benes' policy and advocated independence for Slovakia (16). Unfortunately, it was too late for a change in the fate of Slovakia. Not only did international events help Dr. Benes to accomplish his plans of subjugation of Slovakia but also some Slovak politicians in London and in Slovakia gave a hand to Dr. Benes and Stalin in order to enslave the Slovak people and to rob them of statehood and independence. A study of the British attitude towards Slovakia's aspirations for self-government is, nevertheless, quite an interesting chapter in Slovakia's history of the period 1938-1945 and deserves further research. �58 SLOVAKIA REFERENCES AND DOCUMENTS (1) F'or information on the international recognition of the Slovak Repwblic see: J . M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Speller and Sons, New Yoii{, 1960; J. A. !Mikus: /La Slavaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, Paris, '195.5; J. M. Kirschbaum: Nal boj j o samostatnost', Oleveland, :1958; Gi,]bert Oddo: Slovakia and its People, Speller and Sons, New Ywk, 1960. ~2) See attached Document No. 'l. (3) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, 119118-1941.5, Series D; Vol. W, Document No. 234, attached ias Document No. 2. {4) Jlbidem, Document No. 220, attached as Document No. 3. (5) See attaohed Document No. 4. (~ See attached Document No. 5. {7) See attached Document No. 6. {8) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, lJ!ll!M.945, Series D; Document No. 205 or J. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Part IV, p. 280.281. (9) !For full text see J . M. KiTschlbaum, QIP. cit., p. 265. { 10) C. A. Ma~rtney: October Fifteenth, A History of Modern Hungary, Edinburgh University Press, 1957, Parit I, p. 376. {ltl) ]bidem, p . 377. r~l.12) !For foll text see Memoirs of Edward Bene!, London, 19.54, p. •108. On March 15, 1939, the Germans occupied only BohemiaM<Yl'cWia and, therefore, the British protest could not refer to SlovaJcia's proclamation cxf •i ndependence. -0:IJ3) Memoirs of Edward Benes, ,p. 1110. ,Cl4) iPeter Pridavok and several other Slovak!s were confined or int erned in concentration camps on the denun:Cilation cxf Dr. Benes and his supporters of beiIJJg Nazi agents, which, of course, was a malicious and false accusat ion which later was d,ismi ssed by British authorities. 015) See Dr. Osusky's pamphlet "Bene! and Slovakia" and also J. M. Kirschlbaum, op. cit., p. ,286. q16) See memoranda of the Slovak National Council in J . M. Ki~schlbaum's op. cit., pp. 289, 296, 298, 304. 309, etc. DOOUIMENT NO. 1 His EX1Cellency Mr. Ferdinand Durcansky M!inister of Foreign Affairs Bratis}ava Your Excellency: On the instruction Orf the Secretacy of St ate for Foreign .Afifairs I have the honour to inform you that His Majesty's Governmen,t in the United Kin gdom propose to appoint me as Consul for Slov-aki!a with residence in Bratislava. Pending preparation of my Commission I have the honour to request promsional recognition •by the Slov.a!k Government as ms Majesty's Consul for Slovakia. I avail myself of thi s opporturuity to ex;press to yowr Excellency the assurance of my highest consideration. PE'IlER PAIR.ES, M. P., H. M. Con'sul. 1 �SLOVAKIA 59 DOOUIMEN.l' NO. 2 Documents on Ger,man Foreign Policy, 1918-J1945, Series D, Vol. IV No. 2314' 1'94!].i/4{3'5217 " Ambassador Henderson to Foreign Minister Rilbbenitrop Berlin, Marc'h 15, 11939 Pol. 11V 1700 My Dear Reichminii,ster: Lord Ibli1f.ax has instructed me to take the earliest 01PP<>rtunity to convey the following message to the German Government: His Majesty's G01Vernment have no desire to illlteinfere unnecessarily in a matter with which other Governments may be more dixe'c tly conlcerned than His Majesty's G01Vernrnelllt in the United Kingdom. They are, however, -a s the German Go,vernment will surely aippreciJate, deeply concerned for t'he success of ahl efforts to restore coillfidence and a relaxat-ion of tension in Europe. This seems to them more particularily des-iraible at a moment when a start is being made with discussfoonis Oif economic swbjects to which His Majesty's Government believe, the Gel'llllan Goverrnment attach not less importance than they do themselves, and the fruitful development of which depends so directly upon a genel'al sta-te of confidence. From tha-t po.init of view t'hey would deplore any action in Central Europe which would cause a setback to the growth of th-is generial coillf,i dence on which all impro:vemerut in the economdc situation depends and to whic_h such imrprovement might i-n its turn contribute. · Yours sincere-ly, NIEV'.l!LI.iE HlEN!DIE.RSON. DOOlJlMENTI' NO. 3 Documents on Foreign Policy 191'8-ll945, Series D, Vol. IV NO. 220 [40/76461: The Ambassador in Great Britain to the Foreign Ministry TELEGRAM London, March 14, 1009 Urgent No. fJ7 of Ma!I"ch 114 Attitude of British Government toward co•Illflict between Czeichia and Slovaki:a was further clarified yesterday by HaJifax's speech, statements 1by the new Department of the Foreign Office, as well as by attitudes of press itself. British Government regards constitutional settlement of relations between Slovakia and Czechii.a as an internal concern of the Czechoslovak state in which Great Britain has nio part. The guarantee of the frontier-s O!f the CzechoslOV1aik State envisaged by Great Britain at Munich is reg-a rded as not yet in force, as the uontier it's elf has not yet 'been 1finally fixed, and the prerequisite for the Brutish ,g uarantee is the unde.rtaking of a like guarantee by other signatories to the Munieh Agreemerut. However, even -iif such a guarantee already existed, it could come into force, according to statements in the press, only "in the event of an �60 SLOVAKIA Ulllprovoked atta·ck" ~1). The mo.re the outward appearance of the right to self-determination, of the people concerned is preserved, the greater will be the understanding among the public here for a new and stable s·e ttlement, especially as on aU sides the desire exri sts to keep out of a remote afifair which does not affect Br.itish interests. D]RKSEN. 1 •~1 This attitude is confia-med hy Chamlberlain 1s reply to a question by Attlee on the same day in the House of Common,s (quoted in the GeI"man White Book, Document No. 257): "I am not sure what the Right Honoralble Gentleman thinks that we should do. I might remind him that the proposed ,g uarantee is one against uniprovoked aggression on Czechoslov,akia. No such ,aggression has yet taken place." DOOUMJENT NO. 4 Letter of the British Consulate in Bratislarva to the Chief Customs Officer in Do,v er, Great Britain Bratislava Slovakia July 6, 1939 Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the 'b earer of this letter, Mr. M. Paul Harminc, who is ,arriving by packet-'boat next week, on Wednesday or Thursday, has been appointed Slovak Consul in London to take up his duties there. No facilities exist here for giving him a dipiomatic visa since there is no diplomatic representative at the capital of the Slovak State. But 'I am furnishing Mr. Harminc with this letter ,as proof of his officiaJ position and shall be most grateful if he caru be granted the usual facilities on landing which are customarily given to the consular representatives of a foreign state on thek fiir,s t arI"ival in the United Kingdom. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, :PARiES, H. M. Consul. The Chief Customs Officer Dover. 1) DOCUMIENrf NO. 5 A letter of the Foreign Office to the Slovak Cornsul, regarding his official status Foreign Oiifice, S.W.I. August 117, :1009 Sir: With reference to your letter of August 9, I am directed by ¥iscount Halifax to inforun you that there is no objection on the part of His Majesty's Government to your entering forthwith upon your functions as Consul of Slovakia in London. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, R. DUNBAR. M. P . Harminc, Esq. Consul of Slovakia. �61 SLOVAKIA DOCUMiENT NO. 6 Great Britain reco_gnized the Slovak Oonsul even after the Second World War started No. C 1'5393/ 2875/ 12 Foreign O!fifice, S. W. I. October J2, '1 009 Dear Monsieur Haruninc: With referenice to ou:r conversation on September 28 regarding y,o ur position in this countr y, I am no:w alble to inform you that you will continue to be recognized as the Slorvak Consul in London. Yours sincerely, I. KI!RKPATRICK. • • • WHO SAID IT? Czecho-Slovakia, as created by the Paris Peace Conference is then a land of mino.rities, a country in which, in fact, there is no majority. By one of the oldest and most ironical of necess ities, the statesmen of Pa r is, who undertook to resolve the Hapsburg Monarchy info its ethn ic fractions in accordance with the rights of peoples, found themselves in the end condemned to create a new state in which the racial elements were as diverse and as irreconci lable as either the Austrian or Hungarian states of the pre-war era." - ~Frank H. Simonds: Can Europe Keep the Peace? - New York, London, '19311; p. 99) . • • • " . .. the Czechoslovak Republic was the least natural state created afte.r world War I. Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Ruthenia fo r med the parts of a long, unnatural, composite area, with varied rel ief, peoples, communicat ions and economic development." - (Ge·o rge W. >Hoffman: A Geography of Eu rope, University oif Texas, [G53; p. 567) . • • • " If one considers the question of the viability of Czechoslovakia from the strict point of view of geography and ethnography, there would indeed seem to be little hope for the futur e of this curiously composite state." (Herbert Adam Gibbons: Europe Since 1008; p. 258). • • • " From the beginning of the Republic the more e xt remist rulers in Prague asserted that the Czech and Slovak languages we re identical ; they argued that, in reality, the Slovak was only a d ialect of the Czech. The Slovaks, however, rejected this theory, and declared that thefr language, wh ile closely resembl ing the Czech, was a separate idiom." - M. W. Fodor: Plot and Counterplot in Cen ral Eu rope, p. 36). � 50 SLOVAKIA BRITISH POLICY AND SLOVAKIA - 1939-1945 J.M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. Diiploma,,tic recognition of the Slovak Republic by European Great Powers offers a student of modern political history an interesting field of research. In the official and semi-official memoranda and documents as well as in numerous works, published by political writers in America, we read that the Slovak Republic was recognized and established diplomatic or consular relations merely with "Germany and its satellites.; ' The fact that not only an European states, including the Vatican, Switzerland, Sweden, but also the Soviet Union, established regular diplomatic relations, and that Great Britain exchanged consuls with Slovakia, is as a rule overlooked (1). Why this glaring oversight on the part of practically all American writers on Czecho-Slovakia in the years 1939-1945, is a matter of an easy guess. Most of the information on Slovakia was supplied to the West by Czech exiles who under the leadership of Benes, labored for restoration of Czecho~Slovakia, and American historians and political writers did not question the reliability of their sources of information. A study of the international recognition of the Slovak Republic by European and non-European nations is, therefore, an interesting matter. It shows how easily world opinion can be fooled and how unreliable our "political science" can be even while dealing with current or contemporary events. Among the Great Powers, which never were mentioned in connection with Slovakia by American historians and writers on international events, is, in the first place, Great Britain. Readers of newspapers, periodicals, and books during the war, and later readers of modern history, were induced to believe that Great Britain firmly stood on the side of the Czech politicians who desired to rule Slovakia, and that the British Government never recognized the fact that the autonomous Slovak Diet within the framework of Czecho-Slovakia proclaimed Slovakia an independent State on March 14, 1939. �SLOVAKIA 51 The truth about Great Britain's attitude towards Slovakia is, of course, quite different. The British Government instructed its Consul, Peter Pares, to notify the Slovak Government that "His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom proposed to appoint him as Consul for Slovakia" on May 4, 1939, i.e., not later than six weeks after Slovakia's declaration of independence took place (2). The British Parliament accepted the proclamation of Slovakia's independence as a fait accompli against which Great Britain had no intention to protest, even sooner, on March 15, 1939, when Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced in the House of Commons that the British Government did not feel bound by the Agreement guaranteeing Czecho-Slovakia her frontiers "because, by the proclamation of the independence of Slovakia by the Slovak Diet, Czecho-Slovakia disintegrated from the inside." Lord Halifax expressed the attitude of the Foreign Office to the events, which took place in Slovakia, in diplomatic terms but did not leave any doubt that he agreed with his Prime Minister. On March 15, 1939, Lord Halifax instructed the British Ambassador in Berlin, Sir Neville Henderson, to inform the German Government that "His Majesty's Government has no desire to interfere unnecessarily in a matter with which other Govemments may be more directly concerned than His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom ... " (3). The German Ambassador to Great Britain, Dirksen, interpreted the above statements and reported to Berlin on March 14, 1939, that "aittitude of the British Government toward conflict between Czechia and Slovakia was clarified by Halifax's speech, statements by the new Department of the Foreign Office, as well as by attitudes of press itself" and that "British Government regarded constitutional settlement of relations between Slovakia and Czechia as an internal concern of the Czecho~lovak State in which Great Britain had no part." According to Dirksen ",the more the outward appearance of the right to selfdetermination of the people concerned was preserved, the greater would be the understanding among the public (in �52 SLOVAKIA Great Britain) for a new and stable settlement, especially as on all sides the desire existed to keep out of a remote affair which did not affeot British interests ... " ( 4). As a matter of fact, relations between Great Britain and the Slovak Republic developed so favorably that not later than July 4, 1939, the Slovak Government appointed, with the the consent of the British Government, the first Consul of Slovakia in Great Britain, Milan P. Harminc. The British Consul in Slovakia, Peter Pares, on July 6, 1939, handed a letter to Consul Harminc in which he asked the British authorities in Dover to grant the Slovak Consul "the usual facilities on landing which are customarily given to the consular representatives of a foreign state on their first arrival in the United Kingdom ... " (5). The Slovak Consul, who actually was in charge of the first Slovak Consulate General in the United Kingdom, notified the Foreign Office of his arrival and asked to be received on July 18, 1939. The Foreign Office in return advised him by letter of August 17, 1939, that there was "no objection on the part of His Majesty's Government to his entering forthwith upon his functions as Consul of Slovakia in London" (6). If we take into consideration the international situation in August 1939 and all possible demarches and intrigues of the former Czecho-Slovak politicians and diplomats, and especially of ex-president Dr. Edward Benes, who after March 14, 1939, addressed al'l governments and asked them not to recognize the Slovak Republic, the above attitude of Great Britain certainly allows to arrive at a conclusion that the British Government was certainly not on the side of the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for self~government and independence. International Law knows many forms of international recognition of new States, from de jure to de facto recognition, and to an exchange of diplomatic or consular representatives. Great Britain granted its recognition to the Slovak Republic by exchanging consuls within six weeks after proclamation of Slovakia's independence by the Slovak Diet. There hardly can be any doubt that an early normalization of diplomatic relations would have followed, if the Second World War �SLOVAKIA 53 had not started only six months after Slovakia decided to apply its right to self-determination. Great Britain's attitude towards Slovakia after the War broke out in Septem:ber 1939, offers according to some documents, even more conclusive proof of the British Government's inclination to maintain relations with the S'lovak Republic and not to commit itself prematurely to some other solution of the Slovak problem. Adversaries of Slovakia's independence were quite successful in spreading a general belief, when the Second World started, Great Britain ceased to recognize the existence of the Slovak Republic and that the Slovak Government simply took cognizance of that fact. Diplomatic documents, even those published from German archives, give some proof to the contrary. The first Slovak Consul, M. R. Harminc, received a telegram, on September 4, 1939, inviting him to Bratislava for consultation, but he understood that it was a move which the Slovak foreign minister had to make and, therefore, Harmine did not follow the instructions and remained in London, since he saw that the Government of Great Britain did not change its attitude towards Slovakia at the beginning or during the war against Poland. As a matter of fact, Great Britain did not change its stand towards Slovakia even after Poland was divided among her attackers - Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. The Foreign Office formally notified the Slovak Consul on October 12, 1939, that he "will continue to be recognized as the Slovak Consul in London" (7). For the middle of October 1939, in view of the general situation in Europe, this atitude of the British Government certainly indicates that Great Britain still recognized the Slovak Republic and did not intend to break relations with it. Why this attitude of Great Britain was not efficiently used either by the Slovak Consul or the Slovak Government, would call for a lengthy explanation. Documents on German Foreign Policy offer some proof that there were some attempts, on the side of Slovak diplomats, to maintain neutrality and to present Slovakia as a neutral State with regard to Great Britain. This is evident especially from the �54 SLOVAKIA document No. 205, published by the American and British Governments in "Series D" of the Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1845, in which we read that the Slovak Minister to Italy, J. M. Zvrskovec, on March 28, 1940, submitted a note to the Italian Foreign Ministry in which he stated that Slovakia was a neutral country. He requested to convey this to His Majesty's Government "in order that England may recognize Slovakia's neutrality with all its consequences ... " (8). Any attempt of the Slovak Government to keep Slovakia neutral was, of course, more an expression of feelings and desires of the Slovak people and its politicians than a real possibility. Soon after Slovakia proclaimed its independence, the territory of eastern Slovakia was attacked by Hungary and there were indications that also some Polish circles were inclined to make a deal with Germany and Hungary at the expense of Slovakia. "Therefore, in order to discourage Hungary," says a Special Report of the U. S. House of Representatives, "in her armed attack launched against eastern Slovakia, the Slovak Government concluded with Germany a Treaty of Protection (Schllltzvertrag) on March 23, 1939." By this theaty Slovakia tried to protect her independence an-d the integrity of her territory since, according to Article I of the Treaty, the Reich "undertook to protect the political independence of the Slovak State and the integrity of its territory," and the Slovak Government agreed in turn "to conduct its foreign policy in close understanding with the German Government" (9). This obligation prevented Slovakia from being formally neutral, and the Slovak diplomat who sent the a:bove mentioned note on Slovakia's neutrality had to pay for his step. So did also his Minister, Ferdinand :Durcansky. Great Britain, however, remained cautious in dealing with the Slovak problem even later. The British Government remained for some time reluctant to recognize the Czech group of exiled politicians led by Benes, who claimed that they were the official representatives of Czecho-Slovakia even though some of them previously resigned from their positions, like Dr. E. Benes, for instance (on October 5, 1938), or never took part in any Prague governments. The �SLOVAKIA 55 British Government "showed great caution in its attitude towards the Czecho-Slovak question," says C. A. Macartney, the British expert on Central Europe in the Foreign Office during the war. "It did not even recognize the Czecho-Slovak Committee until January 6, 1940." On February 24, Mr. Chamberlain spoke of restoring Czech independence, but on March 7, 1940, the London correspondent of the Pester Lloyd was authorized to telegraph the .following message: "British war aims in fact include the restoration of the independen<:e of Czechs and Slovaks. The British Government has, however, in no way committed itself with regard to the constitutional form the extent and the frontiers of the new State. As regards Slovakia, Britain leaves entirely open the question whether the Slovak State shall enjoy its independence in union with a Czech state, or in another form. This question is to be decided by the Slovaks themselves. Beyond the declaration in principle of this war aim, the British Government has entered into no obligations which might give grounds to complaints ... " (10). The Czecho-Slovak Committee, according to Macartney, was "a wartime organization carrying out certain pragmatically necessary duties, and the recognition of it, in that capacity, carried no implication about a future Czecho-Slovak State" (11). Such a formulation of Great Britain's war aims allows undoubtedly to assume that the Bdtish Government considered, even in 1940, further existence of the Slovak State conforms with Great Britain's war aims. The Foreign Office was quite explicit in this regard even in letters addressed to Dr. Benes. When Dr. Benes, in his letter of July 18, 1940, to Lord Halifax, expressed his thanks to His Majesty's Government for the stand which Great Britain took with regard to the events of March 15, 1939, and implied that the British Government "by so doing have solemnly emphasized the political and legal continuity of the Czecho-Slovak Republic," the Foreign Of£ice did not fail to correct Dr. Benes' "li1beral" interpretation. Lord Halifax on behalf of His Majesty's Government wrote emphatically to Dr. Benes that "it cannot be presumed that His Majesty's Government �56 SLOVAKIA necessarily share your conclusion, drawn in your letter: namely, that by their attitude after the events of March 15, 1939, His Majesty's Government have taken any particular attitude concerning the legal continuity of the CzechoSlovak Republic. The acts of His Majesty's Government had the significance that they protested against the changes brought about in Czecho-Slovakia by German military action, and that they stressed that in their opinion these changes had no legal basis ... " (12). In the same letter signed by Lord Halifax on July 18, 1940, there are also some other interesting points regarding Slovakia. His Majesty's Government were, according to Halifax, in principle ready to recognize the Provisional Czecho-Slovak Government," but it was added that "this Provisional Government is to be a representative government of the Czech and Slovak peoples and that it is intended that also the Czecho-Slovak State Council will be of fully representative character and will include the recognized Czech and Slovak leaders abroad, as far as they have not been included in the Provisional Government" (13). We can say, therefore, that the British Government paid, in view of the circumstances, unexpected attention to the Slovak question by stressing that it was ready to recognize Benes' exiled Provisional Government only on the condition of full Slovak participation, and by making a clear distinction between the Czechs and the Slovaks. From Dr. Benes' acts against Slovaks who did not share his political views and ambitions, we can conclude that he was aware of possible dangers for his plans on account of the above British attitude towards Slovakia and the Slovaks. Benes used all means (denunciation, false accusations, etc) to get rid of not only Slovaks advocating Slovakia's right to self-determination (14), but also of Slovaks like Dr. Milan Hod.fa and Dr. Stephen Osusky. Dr. Benes did his utmost to discredit both in England and in the U. S. A. simply because they did not share his views as to the future of Slovakia. The first Consul of the Slovak Republic, Milan P. Harminc, saved himself from vengeance and trouble only by volunteering into the British Army overseas thus abandoning all political activity. �SLOVAKIA 57 All this allows us to believe, even on the basis of documents which are far from complete, that there was a fair possibility to give Central Europe, and in it to the Slovak question, quite a different organiZiation from that advocated by. Dr. Benes and imposed in the end by the Soviet Union, had the British view prevailed. No doubt it would also have required a much clearer stand and understanding of Slovak politicians in Great Britain (Hodza, Osusky, Pauliny-Toth, etc.) who did not agree with Dr. Benes or denounced his machinations, undemocratic procedures, and utter disregard for Slovakia's aspirations (15), but did little or nothing positively to influence the Western Powers and to obtain a recognition of a Slovak exiled Committee or a Provisional Government. The first Slovak Consul apparently failed to use, for his country's future, all the good will and inclination of the British Government to recognize him, even after Poland was defeated, as Consul of Slovakia in London, which he probably would have been able to do, had the Slovak politicians in London supported him. Favorable British attitude towards Slovakia found its expression again before the end of the war when Dr. Benes travelled, in spite of clear hints of the British Government and Parliament, to Moscow and signed a treaty with the Soviet Union, which treaty later helped the Soviet to penetrate into Central Europe and to establish there Communist rule and statellite governments. The British Government allowed, in 1943, Slovak exiles, headed by Peter Pridavok, to organize the Slovak National Council in London which opposed Dr. Benes' policy and advocated independence for Slovakia (16). Unfortunately, it was too late for a change in the fate of Slovakia. Not only did international events help Dr. Benes to accomplish his plans of subjugation of Slovakia but also some Slovak politicians in London and in Slovakia gave a hand to Dr. Benes and Stalin in order to enslave the Slovak people and to rob them of statehood and independence. A study of the British attitude towards Slovakia's aspirations for self-government is, nevertheless, quite an interesting chapter in Slovakia's history of the period 1938-1945 and deserves further research. �58 SLOVAKIA REFERENCES AND DOCUMENTS (1) F'or information on the international recognition of the Slovak Repwblic see: J . M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Speller and Sons, New Yoii{, 1960; J. A. !Mikus: /La Slavaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, Paris, '195.5; J. M. Kirschbaum: Nal boj j o samostatnost', Oleveland, :1958; Gi,]bert Oddo: Slovakia and its People, Speller and Sons, New Ywk, 1960. ~2) See attached Document No. 'l. (3) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, 119118-1941.5, Series D; Vol. W, Document No. 234, attached ias Document No. 2. {4) Jlbidem, Document No. 220, attached as Document No. 3. (5) See attaohed Document No. 4. (~ See attached Document No. 5. {7) See attached Document No. 6. {8) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, lJ!ll!M.945, Series D; Document No. 205 or J. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Part IV, p. 280.281. (9) !For full text see J . M. KiTschlbaum, QIP. cit., p. 265. { 10) C. A. Ma~rtney: October Fifteenth, A History of Modern Hungary, Edinburgh University Press, 1957, Parit I, p. 376. {ltl) ]bidem, p . 377. r~l.12) !For foll text see Memoirs of Edward Bene!, London, 19.54, p. •108. On March 15, 1939, the Germans occupied only BohemiaM<Yl'cWia and, therefore, the British protest could not refer to SlovaJcia's proclamation cxf •i ndependence. -0:IJ3) Memoirs of Edward Benes, ,p. 1110. ,Cl4) iPeter Pridavok and several other Slovak!s were confined or int erned in concentration camps on the denun:Cilation cxf Dr. Benes and his supporters of beiIJJg Nazi agents, which, of course, was a malicious and false accusat ion which later was d,ismi ssed by British authorities. 015) See Dr. Osusky's pamphlet "Bene! and Slovakia" and also J. M. Kirschlbaum, op. cit., p. ,286. q16) See memoranda of the Slovak National Council in J . M. Ki~schlbaum's op. cit., pp. 289, 296, 298, 304. 309, etc. DOOUIMENT NO. 1 His EX1Cellency Mr. Ferdinand Durcansky M!inister of Foreign Affairs Bratis}ava Your Excellency: On the instruction Orf the Secretacy of St ate for Foreign .Afifairs I have the honour to inform you that His Majesty's Governmen,t in the United Kin gdom propose to appoint me as Consul for Slov-aki!a with residence in Bratislava. Pending preparation of my Commission I have the honour to request promsional recognition •by the Slov.a!k Government as ms Majesty's Consul for Slovakia. I avail myself of thi s opporturuity to ex;press to yowr Excellency the assurance of my highest consideration. PE'IlER PAIR.ES, M. P., H. M. Con'sul. 1 �SLOVAKIA 59 DOOUIMEN.l' NO. 2 Documents on Ger,man Foreign Policy, 1918-J1945, Series D, Vol. IV No. 2314' 1'94!].i/4{3'5217 " Ambassador Henderson to Foreign Minister Rilbbenitrop Berlin, Marc'h 15, 11939 Pol. 11V 1700 My Dear Reichminii,ster: Lord Ibli1f.ax has instructed me to take the earliest 01PP<>rtunity to convey the following message to the German Government: His Majesty's G01Vernment have no desire to illlteinfere unnecessarily in a matter with which other Governments may be more dixe'c tly conlcerned than His Majesty's G01Vernrnelllt in the United Kingdom. They are, however, -a s the German Go,vernment will surely aippreciJate, deeply concerned for t'he success of ahl efforts to restore coillfidence and a relaxat-ion of tension in Europe. This seems to them more particularily des-iraible at a moment when a start is being made with discussfoonis Oif economic swbjects to which His Majesty's Government believe, the Gel'llllan Goverrnment attach not less importance than they do themselves, and the fruitful development of which depends so directly upon a genel'al sta-te of confidence. From tha-t po.init of view t'hey would deplore any action in Central Europe which would cause a setback to the growth of th-is generial coillf,i dence on which all impro:vemerut in the economdc situation depends and to whic_h such imrprovement might i-n its turn contribute. · Yours sincere-ly, NIEV'.l!LI.iE HlEN!DIE.RSON. DOOlJlMENTI' NO. 3 Documents on Foreign Policy 191'8-ll945, Series D, Vol. IV NO. 220 [40/76461: The Ambassador in Great Britain to the Foreign Ministry TELEGRAM London, March 14, 1009 Urgent No. fJ7 of Ma!I"ch 114 Attitude of British Government toward co•Illflict between Czeichia and Slovaki:a was further clarified yesterday by HaJifax's speech, statements 1by the new Department of the Foreign Office, as well as by attitudes of press itself. British Government regards constitutional settlement of relations between Slovakia and Czechii.a as an internal concern of the Czechoslovak state in which Great Britain has nio part. The guarantee of the frontier-s O!f the CzechoslOV1aik State envisaged by Great Britain at Munich is reg-a rded as not yet in force, as the uontier it's elf has not yet 'been 1finally fixed, and the prerequisite for the Brutish ,g uarantee is the unde.rtaking of a like guarantee by other signatories to the Munieh Agreemerut. However, even -iif such a guarantee already existed, it could come into force, according to statements in the press, only "in the event of an �60 SLOVAKIA Ulllprovoked atta·ck" ~1). The mo.re the outward appearance of the right to self-determination, of the people concerned is preserved, the greater will be the understanding among the public here for a new and stable s·e ttlement, especially as on aU sides the desire exri sts to keep out of a remote afifair which does not affect Br.itish interests. D]RKSEN. 1 •~1 This attitude is confia-med hy Chamlberlain 1s reply to a question by Attlee on the same day in the House of Common,s (quoted in the GeI"man White Book, Document No. 257): "I am not sure what the Right Honoralble Gentleman thinks that we should do. I might remind him that the proposed ,g uarantee is one against uniprovoked aggression on Czechoslov,akia. No such ,aggression has yet taken place." DOOUMJENT NO. 4 Letter of the British Consulate in Bratislarva to the Chief Customs Officer in Do,v er, Great Britain Bratislava Slovakia July 6, 1939 Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the 'b earer of this letter, Mr. M. Paul Harminc, who is ,arriving by packet-'boat next week, on Wednesday or Thursday, has been appointed Slovak Consul in London to take up his duties there. No facilities exist here for giving him a dipiomatic visa since there is no diplomatic representative at the capital of the Slovak State. But 'I am furnishing Mr. Harminc with this letter ,as proof of his officiaJ position and shall be most grateful if he caru be granted the usual facilities on landing which are customarily given to the consular representatives of a foreign state on thek fiir,s t arI"ival in the United Kingdom. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, :PARiES, H. M. Consul. The Chief Customs Officer Dover. 1) DOCUMIENrf NO. 5 A letter of the Foreign Office to the Slovak Cornsul, regarding his official status Foreign Oiifice, S.W.I. August 117, :1009 Sir: With reference to your letter of August 9, I am directed by ¥iscount Halifax to inforun you that there is no objection on the part of His Majesty's Government to your entering forthwith upon your functions as Consul of Slovakia in London. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, R. DUNBAR. M. P . Harminc, Esq. Consul of Slovakia. �61 SLOVAKIA DOCUMiENT NO. 6 Great Britain reco_gnized the Slovak Oonsul even after the Second World War started No. C 1'5393/ 2875/ 12 Foreign O!fifice, S. W. I. October J2, '1 009 Dear Monsieur Haruninc: With referenice to ou:r conversation on September 28 regarding y,o ur position in this countr y, I am no:w alble to inform you that you will continue to be recognized as the Slorvak Consul in London. Yours sincerely, I. KI!RKPATRICK. • • • WHO SAID IT? Czecho-Slovakia, as created by the Paris Peace Conference is then a land of mino.rities, a country in which, in fact, there is no majority. By one of the oldest and most ironical of necess ities, the statesmen of Pa r is, who undertook to resolve the Hapsburg Monarchy info its ethn ic fractions in accordance with the rights of peoples, found themselves in the end condemned to create a new state in which the racial elements were as diverse and as irreconci lable as either the Austrian or Hungarian states of the pre-war era." - ~Frank H. Simonds: Can Europe Keep the Peace? - New York, London, '19311; p. 99) . • • • " . .. the Czechoslovak Republic was the least natural state created afte.r world War I. Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Ruthenia fo r med the parts of a long, unnatural, composite area, with varied rel ief, peoples, communicat ions and economic development." - (Ge·o rge W. >Hoffman: A Geography of Eu rope, University oif Texas, [G53; p. 567) . • • • " If one considers the question of the viability of Czechoslovakia from the strict point of view of geography and ethnography, there would indeed seem to be little hope for the futur e of this curiously composite state." (Herbert Adam Gibbons: Europe Since 1008; p. 258). • • • " From the beginning of the Republic the more e xt remist rulers in Prague asserted that the Czech and Slovak languages we re identical ; they argued that, in reality, the Slovak was only a d ialect of the Czech. The Slovaks, however, rejected this theory, and declared that thefr language, wh ile closely resembl ing the Czech, was a separate idiom." - M. W. Fodor: Plot and Counterplot in Cen ral Eu rope, p. 36). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 50 SLOVAKIA BRITISH POLICY AND SLOVAKIA - 1939-1945 J.M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. Diiploma,,tic recognition of the Slovak Republic by European Great Powers offers a student of modern political history an interesting field of research. In the official and semi-official memoranda and documents as well as in numerous works, published by political writers in America, we read that the Slovak Republic was recognized and established diplomatic or consular relations merely with "Germany and its satellites.; ' The fact that not only an European states, including the Vatican, Switzerland, Sweden, but also the Soviet Union, established regular diplomatic relations, and that Great Britain exchanged consuls with Slovakia, is as a rule overlooked (1). Why this glaring oversight on the part of practically all American writers on Czecho-Slovakia in the years 1939-1945, is a matter of an easy guess. Most of the information on Slovakia was supplied to the West by Czech exiles who under the leadership of Benes, labored for restoration of Czecho~Slovakia, and American historians and political writers did not question the reliability of their sources of information. A study of the international recognition of the Slovak Republic by European and non-European nations is, therefore, an interesting matter. It shows how easily world opinion can be fooled and how unreliable our "political science" can be even while dealing with current or contemporary events. Among the Great Powers, which never were mentioned in connection with Slovakia by American historians and writers on international events, is, in the first place, Great Britain. Readers of newspapers, periodicals, and books during the war, and later readers of modern history, were induced to believe that Great Britain firmly stood on the side of the Czech politicians who desired to rule Slovakia, and that the British Government never recognized the fact that the autonomous Slovak Diet within the framework of Czecho-Slovakia proclaimed Slovakia an independent State on March 14, 1939. SLOVAKIA 51 The truth about Great Britain's attitude towards Slovakia is, of course, quite different. The British Government instructed its Consul, Peter Pares, to notify the Slovak Government that "His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom proposed to appoint him as Consul for Slovakia" on May 4, 1939, i.e., not later than six weeks after Slovakia's declaration of independence took place (2). The British Parliament accepted the proclamation of Slovakia's independence as a fait accompli against which Great Britain had no intention to protest, even sooner, on March 15, 1939, when Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced in the House of Commons that the British Government did not feel bound by the Agreement guaranteeing Czecho-Slovakia her frontiers "because, by the proclamation of the independence of Slovakia by the Slovak Diet, Czecho-Slovakia disintegrated from the inside." Lord Halifax expressed the attitude of the Foreign Office to the events, which took place in Slovakia, in diplomatic terms but did not leave any doubt that he agreed with his Prime Minister. On March 15, 1939, Lord Halifax instructed the British Ambassador in Berlin, Sir Neville Henderson, to inform the German Government that "His Majesty's Government has no desire to interfere unnecessarily in a matter with which other Govemments may be more directly concerned than His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom ... " (3). The German Ambassador to Great Britain, Dirksen, interpreted the above statements and reported to Berlin on March 14, 1939, that "aittitude of the British Government toward conflict between Czechia and Slovakia was clarified by Halifax's speech, statements by the new Department of the Foreign Office, as well as by attitudes of press itself" and that "British Government regarded constitutional settlement of relations between Slovakia and Czechia as an internal concern of the Czecho~lovak State in which Great Britain had no part." According to Dirksen ",the more the outward appearance of the right to selfdetermination of the people concerned was preserved, the greater would be the understanding among the public (in 52 SLOVAKIA Great Britain) for a new and stable settlement, especially as on all sides the desire existed to keep out of a remote affair which did not affeot British interests ... " ( 4). As a matter of fact, relations between Great Britain and the Slovak Republic developed so favorably that not later than July 4, 1939, the Slovak Government appointed, with the the consent of the British Government, the first Consul of Slovakia in Great Britain, Milan P. Harminc. The British Consul in Slovakia, Peter Pares, on July 6, 1939, handed a letter to Consul Harminc in which he asked the British authorities in Dover to grant the Slovak Consul "the usual facilities on landing which are customarily given to the consular representatives of a foreign state on their first arrival in the United Kingdom ... " (5). The Slovak Consul, who actually was in charge of the first Slovak Consulate General in the United Kingdom, notified the Foreign Office of his arrival and asked to be received on July 18, 1939. The Foreign Office in return advised him by letter of August 17, 1939, that there was "no objection on the part of His Majesty's Government to his entering forthwith upon his functions as Consul of Slovakia in London" (6). If we take into consideration the international situation in August 1939 and all possible demarches and intrigues of the former Czecho-Slovak politicians and diplomats, and especially of ex-president Dr. Edward Benes, who after March 14, 1939, addressed al'l governments and asked them not to recognize the Slovak Republic, the above attitude of Great Britain certainly allows to arrive at a conclusion that the British Government was certainly not on the side of the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for self~government and independence. International Law knows many forms of international recognition of new States, from de jure to de facto recognition, and to an exchange of diplomatic or consular representatives. Great Britain granted its recognition to the Slovak Republic by exchanging consuls within six weeks after proclamation of Slovakia's independence by the Slovak Diet. There hardly can be any doubt that an early normalization of diplomatic relations would have followed, if the Second World War SLOVAKIA 53 had not started only six months after Slovakia decided to apply its right to self-determination. Great Britain's attitude towards Slovakia after the War broke out in Septem:ber 1939, offers according to some documents, even more conclusive proof of the British Government's inclination to maintain relations with the S'lovak Republic and not to commit itself prematurely to some other solution of the Slovak problem. Adversaries of Slovakia's independence were quite successful in spreading a general belief, when the Second World started, Great Britain ceased to recognize the existence of the Slovak Republic and that the Slovak Government simply took cognizance of that fact. Diplomatic documents, even those published from German archives, give some proof to the contrary. The first Slovak Consul, M. R. Harminc, received a telegram, on September 4, 1939, inviting him to Bratislava for consultation, but he understood that it was a move which the Slovak foreign minister had to make and, therefore, Harmine did not follow the instructions and remained in London, since he saw that the Government of Great Britain did not change its attitude towards Slovakia at the beginning or during the war against Poland. As a matter of fact, Great Britain did not change its stand towards Slovakia even after Poland was divided among her attackers - Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. The Foreign Office formally notified the Slovak Consul on October 12, 1939, that he "will continue to be recognized as the Slovak Consul in London" (7). For the middle of October 1939, in view of the general situation in Europe, this atitude of the British Government certainly indicates that Great Britain still recognized the Slovak Republic and did not intend to break relations with it. Why this attitude of Great Britain was not efficiently used either by the Slovak Consul or the Slovak Government, would call for a lengthy explanation. Documents on German Foreign Policy offer some proof that there were some attempts, on the side of Slovak diplomats, to maintain neutrality and to present Slovakia as a neutral State with regard to Great Britain. This is evident especially from the 54 SLOVAKIA document No. 205, published by the American and British Governments in "Series D" of the Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1845, in which we read that the Slovak Minister to Italy, J. M. Zvrskovec, on March 28, 1940, submitted a note to the Italian Foreign Ministry in which he stated that Slovakia was a neutral country. He requested to convey this to His Majesty's Government "in order that England may recognize Slovakia's neutrality with all its consequences ... " (8). Any attempt of the Slovak Government to keep Slovakia neutral was, of course, more an expression of feelings and desires of the Slovak people and its politicians than a real possibility. Soon after Slovakia proclaimed its independence, the territory of eastern Slovakia was attacked by Hungary and there were indications that also some Polish circles were inclined to make a deal with Germany and Hungary at the expense of Slovakia. "Therefore, in order to discourage Hungary," says a Special Report of the U. S. House of Representatives, "in her armed attack launched against eastern Slovakia, the Slovak Government concluded with Germany a Treaty of Protection (Schllltzvertrag) on March 23, 1939." By this theaty Slovakia tried to protect her independence an-d the integrity of her territory since, according to Article I of the Treaty, the Reich "undertook to protect the political independence of the Slovak State and the integrity of its territory," and the Slovak Government agreed in turn "to conduct its foreign policy in close understanding with the German Government" (9). This obligation prevented Slovakia from being formally neutral, and the Slovak diplomat who sent the a:bove mentioned note on Slovakia's neutrality had to pay for his step. So did also his Minister, Ferdinand :Durcansky. Great Britain, however, remained cautious in dealing with the Slovak problem even later. The British Government remained for some time reluctant to recognize the Czech group of exiled politicians led by Benes, who claimed that they were the official representatives of Czecho-Slovakia even though some of them previously resigned from their positions, like Dr. E. Benes, for instance (on October 5, 1938), or never took part in any Prague governments. The SLOVAKIA 55 British Government "showed great caution in its attitude towards the Czecho-Slovak question," says C. A. Macartney, the British expert on Central Europe in the Foreign Office during the war. "It did not even recognize the Czecho-Slovak Committee until January 6, 1940." On February 24, Mr. Chamberlain spoke of restoring Czech independence, but on March 7, 1940, the London correspondent of the Pester Lloyd was authorized to telegraph the .following message: "British war aims in fact include the restoration of the independen<:e of Czechs and Slovaks. The British Government has, however, in no way committed itself with regard to the constitutional form the extent and the frontiers of the new State. As regards Slovakia, Britain leaves entirely open the question whether the Slovak State shall enjoy its independence in union with a Czech state, or in another form. This question is to be decided by the Slovaks themselves. Beyond the declaration in principle of this war aim, the British Government has entered into no obligations which might give grounds to complaints ... " (10). The Czecho-Slovak Committee, according to Macartney, was "a wartime organization carrying out certain pragmatically necessary duties, and the recognition of it, in that capacity, carried no implication about a future Czecho-Slovak State" (11). Such a formulation of Great Britain's war aims allows undoubtedly to assume that the Bdtish Government considered, even in 1940, further existence of the Slovak State conforms with Great Britain's war aims. The Foreign Office was quite explicit in this regard even in letters addressed to Dr. Benes. When Dr. Benes, in his letter of July 18, 1940, to Lord Halifax, expressed his thanks to His Majesty's Government for the stand which Great Britain took with regard to the events of March 15, 1939, and implied that the British Government "by so doing have solemnly emphasized the political and legal continuity of the Czecho-Slovak Republic," the Foreign Of£ice did not fail to correct Dr. Benes' "li1beral" interpretation. Lord Halifax on behalf of His Majesty's Government wrote emphatically to Dr. Benes that "it cannot be presumed that His Majesty's Government 56 SLOVAKIA necessarily share your conclusion, drawn in your letter: namely, that by their attitude after the events of March 15, 1939, His Majesty's Government have taken any particular attitude concerning the legal continuity of the CzechoSlovak Republic. The acts of His Majesty's Government had the significance that they protested against the changes brought about in Czecho-Slovakia by German military action, and that they stressed that in their opinion these changes had no legal basis ... " (12). In the same letter signed by Lord Halifax on July 18, 1940, there are also some other interesting points regarding Slovakia. His Majesty's Government were, according to Halifax, in principle ready to recognize the Provisional Czecho-Slovak Government," but it was added that "this Provisional Government is to be a representative government of the Czech and Slovak peoples and that it is intended that also the Czecho-Slovak State Council will be of fully representative character and will include the recognized Czech and Slovak leaders abroad, as far as they have not been included in the Provisional Government" (13). We can say, therefore, that the British Government paid, in view of the circumstances, unexpected attention to the Slovak question by stressing that it was ready to recognize Benes' exiled Provisional Government only on the condition of full Slovak participation, and by making a clear distinction between the Czechs and the Slovaks. From Dr. Benes' acts against Slovaks who did not share his political views and ambitions, we can conclude that he was aware of possible dangers for his plans on account of the above British attitude towards Slovakia and the Slovaks. Benes used all means (denunciation, false accusations, etc) to get rid of not only Slovaks advocating Slovakia's right to self-determination (14), but also of Slovaks like Dr. Milan Hod.fa and Dr. Stephen Osusky. Dr. Benes did his utmost to discredit both in England and in the U. S. A. simply because they did not share his views as to the future of Slovakia. The first Consul of the Slovak Republic, Milan P. Harminc, saved himself from vengeance and trouble only by volunteering into the British Army overseas thus abandoning all political activity. SLOVAKIA 57 All this allows us to believe, even on the basis of documents which are far from complete, that there was a fair possibility to give Central Europe, and in it to the Slovak question, quite a different organiZiation from that advocated by. Dr. Benes and imposed in the end by the Soviet Union, had the British view prevailed. No doubt it would also have required a much clearer stand and understanding of Slovak politicians in Great Britain (Hodza, Osusky, Pauliny-Toth, etc.) who did not agree with Dr. Benes or denounced his machinations, undemocratic procedures, and utter disregard for Slovakia's aspirations (15), but did little or nothing positively to influence the Western Powers and to obtain a recognition of a Slovak exiled Committee or a Provisional Government. The first Slovak Consul apparently failed to use, for his country's future, all the good will and inclination of the British Government to recognize him, even after Poland was defeated, as Consul of Slovakia in London, which he probably would have been able to do, had the Slovak politicians in London supported him. Favorable British attitude towards Slovakia found its expression again before the end of the war when Dr. Benes travelled, in spite of clear hints of the British Government and Parliament, to Moscow and signed a treaty with the Soviet Union, which treaty later helped the Soviet to penetrate into Central Europe and to establish there Communist rule and statellite governments. The British Government allowed, in 1943, Slovak exiles, headed by Peter Pridavok, to organize the Slovak National Council in London which opposed Dr. Benes' policy and advocated independence for Slovakia (16). Unfortunately, it was too late for a change in the fate of Slovakia. Not only did international events help Dr. Benes to accomplish his plans of subjugation of Slovakia but also some Slovak politicians in London and in Slovakia gave a hand to Dr. Benes and Stalin in order to enslave the Slovak people and to rob them of statehood and independence. A study of the British attitude towards Slovakia's aspirations for self-government is, nevertheless, quite an interesting chapter in Slovakia's history of the period 1938-1945 and deserves further research. 58 SLOVAKIA REFERENCES AND DOCUMENTS (1) F'or information on the international recognition of the Slovak Repwblic see: J . M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Speller and Sons, New Yoii{, 1960; J. A. !Mikus: /La Slavaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, Paris, '195.5; J. M. Kirschbaum: Nal boj j o samostatnost', Oleveland, :1958; Gi,]bert Oddo: Slovakia and its People, Speller and Sons, New Ywk, 1960. ~2) See attached Document No. 'l. (3) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, 119118-1941.5, Series D; Vol. W, Document No. 234, attached ias Document No. 2. {4) Jlbidem, Document No. 220, attached as Document No. 3. (5) See attaohed Document No. 4. (~ See attached Document No. 5. {7) See attached Document No. 6. {8) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, lJ!ll!M.945, Series D; Document No. 205 or J. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Part IV, p. 280.281. (9) !For full text see J . M. KiTschlbaum, QIP. cit., p. 265. { 10) C. A. Ma~rtney: October Fifteenth, A History of Modern Hungary, Edinburgh University Press, 1957, Parit I, p. 376. {ltl) ]bidem, p . 377. r~l.12) !For foll text see Memoirs of Edward Bene!, London, 19.54, p. •108. On March 15, 1939, the Germans occupied only BohemiaM<Yl'cWia and, therefore, the British protest could not refer to SlovaJcia's proclamation cxf •i ndependence. -0:IJ3) Memoirs of Edward Benes, ,p. 1110. ,Cl4) iPeter Pridavok and several other Slovak!s were confined or int erned in concentration camps on the denun:Cilation cxf Dr. Benes and his supporters of beiIJJg Nazi agents, which, of course, was a malicious and false accusat ion which later was d,ismi ssed by British authorities. 015) See Dr. Osusky's pamphlet "Bene! and Slovakia" and also J. M. Kirschlbaum, op. cit., p. ,286. q16) See memoranda of the Slovak National Council in J . M. Ki~schlbaum's op. cit., pp. 289, 296, 298, 304. 309, etc. DOOUIMENT NO. 1 His EX1Cellency Mr. Ferdinand Durcansky M!inister of Foreign Affairs Bratis}ava Your Excellency: On the instruction Orf the Secretacy of St ate for Foreign .Afifairs I have the honour to inform you that His Majesty's Governmen,t in the United Kin gdom propose to appoint me as Consul for Slov-aki!a with residence in Bratislava. Pending preparation of my Commission I have the honour to request promsional recognition •by the Slov.a!k Government as ms Majesty's Consul for Slovakia. I avail myself of thi s opporturuity to ex;press to yowr Excellency the assurance of my highest consideration. PE'IlER PAIR.ES, M. P., H. M. Con'sul. 1 SLOVAKIA 59 DOOUIMEN.l' NO. 2 Documents on Ger,man Foreign Policy, 1918-J1945, Series D, Vol. IV No. 2314' 1'94!].i/4{3'5217 " Ambassador Henderson to Foreign Minister Rilbbenitrop Berlin, Marc'h 15, 11939 Pol. 11V 1700 My Dear Reichminii,ster: Lord Ibli1f.ax has instructed me to take the earliest 01PP<>rtunity to convey the following message to the German Government: His Majesty's G01Vernment have no desire to illlteinfere unnecessarily in a matter with which other Governments may be more dixe'c tly conlcerned than His Majesty's G01Vernrnelllt in the United Kingdom. They are, however, -a s the German Go,vernment will surely aippreciJate, deeply concerned for t'he success of ahl efforts to restore coillfidence and a relaxat-ion of tension in Europe. This seems to them more particularily des-iraible at a moment when a start is being made with discussfoonis Oif economic swbjects to which His Majesty's Government believe, the Gel'llllan Goverrnment attach not less importance than they do themselves, and the fruitful development of which depends so directly upon a genel'al sta-te of confidence. From tha-t po.init of view t'hey would deplore any action in Central Europe which would cause a setback to the growth of th-is generial coillf,i dence on which all impro:vemerut in the economdc situation depends and to whic_h such imrprovement might i-n its turn contribute. · Yours sincere-ly, NIEV'.l!LI.iE HlEN!DIE.RSON. DOOlJlMENTI' NO. 3 Documents on Foreign Policy 191'8-ll945, Series D, Vol. IV NO. 220 [40/76461: The Ambassador in Great Britain to the Foreign Ministry TELEGRAM London, March 14, 1009 Urgent No. fJ7 of Ma!I"ch 114 Attitude of British Government toward co•Illflict between Czeichia and Slovaki:a was further clarified yesterday by HaJifax's speech, statements 1by the new Department of the Foreign Office, as well as by attitudes of press itself. British Government regards constitutional settlement of relations between Slovakia and Czechii.a as an internal concern of the Czechoslovak state in which Great Britain has nio part. The guarantee of the frontier-s O!f the CzechoslOV1aik State envisaged by Great Britain at Munich is reg-a rded as not yet in force, as the uontier it's elf has not yet 'been 1finally fixed, and the prerequisite for the Brutish ,g uarantee is the unde.rtaking of a like guarantee by other signatories to the Munieh Agreemerut. However, even -iif such a guarantee already existed, it could come into force, according to statements in the press, only "in the event of an 60 SLOVAKIA Ulllprovoked atta·ck" ~1). The mo.re the outward appearance of the right to self-determination, of the people concerned is preserved, the greater will be the understanding among the public here for a new and stable s·e ttlement, especially as on aU sides the desire exri sts to keep out of a remote afifair which does not affect Br.itish interests. D]RKSEN. 1 •~1 This attitude is confia-med hy Chamlberlain 1s reply to a question by Attlee on the same day in the House of Common,s (quoted in the GeI"man White Book, Document No. 257): "I am not sure what the Right Honoralble Gentleman thinks that we should do. I might remind him that the proposed ,g uarantee is one against uniprovoked aggression on Czechoslov,akia. No such ,aggression has yet taken place." DOOUMJENT NO. 4 Letter of the British Consulate in Bratislarva to the Chief Customs Officer in Do,v er, Great Britain Bratislava Slovakia July 6, 1939 Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the 'b earer of this letter, Mr. M. Paul Harminc, who is ,arriving by packet-'boat next week, on Wednesday or Thursday, has been appointed Slovak Consul in London to take up his duties there. No facilities exist here for giving him a dipiomatic visa since there is no diplomatic representative at the capital of the Slovak State. But 'I am furnishing Mr. Harminc with this letter ,as proof of his officiaJ position and shall be most grateful if he caru be granted the usual facilities on landing which are customarily given to the consular representatives of a foreign state on thek fiir,s t arI"ival in the United Kingdom. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, :PARiES, H. M. Consul. The Chief Customs Officer Dover. 1) DOCUMIENrf NO. 5 A letter of the Foreign Office to the Slovak Cornsul, regarding his official status Foreign Oiifice, S.W.I. August 117, :1009 Sir: With reference to your letter of August 9, I am directed by ¥iscount Halifax to inforun you that there is no objection on the part of His Majesty's Government to your entering forthwith upon your functions as Consul of Slovakia in London. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, R. DUNBAR. M. P . Harminc, Esq. Consul of Slovakia. 61 SLOVAKIA DOCUMiENT NO. 6 Great Britain reco_gnized the Slovak Oonsul even after the Second World War started No. C 1'5393/ 2875/ 12 Foreign O!fifice, S. W. I. October J2, '1 009 Dear Monsieur Haruninc: With referenice to ou:r conversation on September 28 regarding y,o ur position in this countr y, I am no:w alble to inform you that you will continue to be recognized as the Slorvak Consul in London. Yours sincerely, I. KI!RKPATRICK. • • • WHO SAID IT? Czecho-Slovakia, as created by the Paris Peace Conference is then a land of mino.rities, a country in which, in fact, there is no majority. By one of the oldest and most ironical of necess ities, the statesmen of Pa r is, who undertook to resolve the Hapsburg Monarchy info its ethn ic fractions in accordance with the rights of peoples, found themselves in the end condemned to create a new state in which the racial elements were as diverse and as irreconci lable as either the Austrian or Hungarian states of the pre-war era." - ~Frank H. Simonds: Can Europe Keep the Peace? - New York, London, '19311; p. 99) . • • • " . .. the Czechoslovak Republic was the least natural state created afte.r world War I. Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Ruthenia fo r med the parts of a long, unnatural, composite area, with varied rel ief, peoples, communicat ions and economic development." - (Ge·o rge W. >Hoffman: A Geography of Eu rope, University oif Texas, [G53; p. 567) . • • • " If one considers the question of the viability of Czechoslovakia from the strict point of view of geography and ethnography, there would indeed seem to be little hope for the futur e of this curiously composite state." (Herbert Adam Gibbons: Europe Since 1008; p. 258). • • • " From the beginning of the Republic the more e xt remist rulers in Prague asserted that the Czech and Slovak languages we re identical ; they argued that, in reality, the Slovak was only a d ialect of the Czech. The Slovaks, however, rejected this theory, and declared that thefr language, wh ile closely resembl ing the Czech, was a separate idiom." - M. W. Fodor: Plot and Counterplot in Cen ral Eu rope, p. 36).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource British Policy and Slovakia - 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 10, No. 6 (31), March-June 1960 pp. 50-61 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1960 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/91bb2073abb8b07e12abe6e46955f225.pdf c706ea730e4f553db7404252c785bb38 PDF Text Text 22 SLOVAKIA MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK LITERATURE J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I American Slavists and Slovak Literature For the past two decades we have witnessed in America a fast growing interest in the Slavic world and Slavic culture. There is hardly a reputaJble American Uniiversi:ty which would not have organired a department of Slavic Studies, and the number of books published on Slavic subjects, as well as the number of periodicals('l) which deal entirely or pa:r,tly with the problems of East Centrial Europe, is without precedent in any other country. '.Dhere are, however, severa'l phenomena in this vast and fast development of Slavic Studies and in books and symposia about the Slavs, which indicate that American Slavic Studies may easily be pushed on a wrong track. American scholarship in this field of Slavic S:udies is predominantly in the hands of scholars, teachers or writers, who came from Europe during or after the Second World War, and who brought with them not only knowledge and a;bi-lities for academic work, but some of them brought also their prejudices, old rivalries, national prides and the nationa,l aspirations of their countries of origin. This is especially true with regard to some former politicians, diplomats, an!d civil servants from Eastern European countries who became teachers, lecturers, and professors at American universities or contrilbutors to periodicals and symposia published by universities. Institutions, books and periodicals deal1ing with Slavic Studies became for some of them new arenas for fighting lost cultural or political battles, for fostering cultural naitionalism or even poHtical chauvinism. They often use university positions or academic periodicals not for spreading objective scholarly knowledge about a very important area of the globe and about several vigorous peoples which represent the Slavic world, but rather try to prevent the �SLOVAKIA 23 truth to be known or ignorance and false propaganda to be exposed. This politkal element, though it is less apparent during the last yea-rs, certainly did some harm to American scholarshi,p in the field of Slavic Studies. How far unobjective and unscholarly some writers on Slavic subjeots can become, we can see best by anailyzing the contributions on Slovakia and on Slowk literature to the American symposia and books on Czecho-Slovakia(2). It is true that Slovak Hterature did not achieve a prominence such as some other Slavic literature did, but from various points of view it is an intereslting field for academic research. The history of Slovak literature did not begin in 1844, as some American symposia emphasize, but goes back to the ninth century to the Great Moravian Empire(3). After the collapse of the Great Moravian Empire in the ten'bh century, Slovakia became a part of the Central European cultura,l area in which a:11 peoples (Poles, Slovaks, Magyars, Czechs, Croats, etc.) used the Latin language as their literary medium and began to develop their cultures and literatures in their own vernacular only from the 17th or 18th century, if not later. And so did also the Slovaks, though we can find some literary writings or documents in the Slovak vernacular a long time before, and a Slovak professor at the University of Prague, Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery, reproached his Slovak countrymen for neglecting their Slovak language as early as in 1603. We can safely say that Slovakia and Silovak culture developed along the same pattern as the cultures and literatures of a!ll other Cenltra,l European peoples, mainly the Western Slavs, from Humanism to Olassi:cism, Romantism, Realism, and modern literary currents{4). Humanism found an early entry into Slovakia through the University of Bratislava (Academia Istropolitana, founlded in 1645), and through numerous students and professora studying or 'teaching abroad (Bologna, Padova, Prague, Cracow). It giave a meaningful impulse to 'literary production, especiaUy in. homiletic writings. The second university on the Slovak territory, the University of Trnava, founded in 1635, gave a strong impulse to the �24 SLOVAKIA cultural life in Slovakia both in the Latin and Slovak languages, but literary activities were mostly restrided to religion, history, geogrnphy, ma!thematics and jurisprudence(5). It was not before 1750 that a volume of original verses in the Slovak vernacufar was composed and published by Hugolin Gavlovic (1712-1787)). The first translation of the Bible was accomplished in 1756; the first LatinSlovak dictionary appeared in 1763; religious hymns were com posed by Jan Silvan in 1536 ; amd the first collection of religious songs, containing 227 iitems in the Slovak vernacu'lar, was published in the Cantus Catholici in 1655. Between this period and the date when the first novel in Slovak language appeared in 1783, there was more than a score of Slova,k scho'lars and writers who wrote grammars (V. Benedicti, D. Kriman), historical and apologetic works (D. Jacobeaus, D. Synapius Horcicka, J. Piscatoris Fischer, M. Szentivany, J. B. Magin, Samuel Timon, M. Bel, J. Severini, J. Fandly A. F. Kollar, etc) anld who defended in Latin 'the Slovak people,. its right to its own national life and nationail language, and developed also several theories on the past and origin of Slavs, on Slovak culture and the continuity of Slovakia with Great Moravia. The era of Enlightenment brought a general revival of national culture in Slovakia. The Protestants still used t he btblical Czech language also in secu[ar writings (besides German), but the Catholic Slovaks, abandoning Latin since the beginning of the Counter-Reformation, passed to 1:Jhe exclusive use of the Slovak vernacular, codified befor the end of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak in several scholarly works. Thus literature in the Slovak language was created continuously from the 17th century and produced, before the period of Romanticism, over 100 writers in Bernolak's school alone, among them the poet Jan Holly, whose genius according to many literary historians, was not surpassed by any Slovak poet except P. 0. Hviezdoslav in the 20th century. From the 18th century, Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, and aM dther literary currents which appeared in the European literatures, were represented also �SLOVAKIA 23 in Slovakia more or less in the same way as in other Slavic countrie s. Similar to other Slavic literatur es is also the dErvelopment under the impact of Soviet literatur e and Marxist theories on literary history(6 ). Despite the fact that this develop ment was for a long time scholarl y explored and support ed by a score of works in Slovak, as well as in foreign languag es, the history of Slovak literatur e has been an object of confuse d nad controversial interpre tations in books and symposi a publishe d by America n Slavis'~s . The best known America n and Canadia n symposi a are in basic disagree ment with this outline of Slovak literary history as we can see from the followin g: 1. Accordi ng to S. H. Thomso n, who in his book "Czechoslova kia in Europea n History" (?) attempt ed to give a fair picture of the Slovak past but was apparen tly misled by his sources, "The Slovaks had no opportu ity to develop (after the disappearance of the Great Moravian Empire in the 10th century ) their own culture, written languag e, political instituti ons or social concepts in any indepen dent way." This situation lasted for nine cen'turie s, accordin g to Prof. Thomso n's views. "A deli-bera te effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local diailect came from the Ca-tholire camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernola k publishe d a Gramati ca Slavica. " But "about the onlly follower s Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his gramma r and dictiona ry soon died out," writes Prof. Thomso n, stating that the year 1834-1835 is usually given as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although s':rictly speaking , ~tur did not make his first formal declarat ion until 1846." 2. The contribu ,~or to L. I. Strakho vsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies"(B), the Czech writer Otto Radl, gives even a more inaccura te and incompl ete piicture of Slovak literature. On page 491 he writes that "As early as 1635 in Trnava books were still printed in differen t Slovak dialects, more than two hundred years before the introduc tion of Slovak as a separate literary languag e," but three pages. further he sta,tes: �26 SLOVAKIA "While the quantity of Roma,rutrc literature in the Czech lang uage •was growing in Bohemia and Morarvia,, an illllPoritant ch•a nge was taking place in Slovakia. The heretofore common written langua:ge, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly originated Slovak literary la,ruguage. This movement had begun a,t the end of the 1.S'th century ,by the learned Slovak p'hilologist Antonin Bernolak who pufblished sever-al woi,ks in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefor•e use their own distinctive written la,ruguage based on dia'lect spoken in Western Slov>alkia. "Some of the mo·s t important writers• of Slo:vak origin, such as Kollar and Saifariik, were strong1y oppos·ed to this change. . . Opposing them stood siUICh S'lovak writers -as Stur and Hurban .. ... SlOIVak as a ·written language wa·s first introduced Ln, J r8 44." Slovak literatu~e begins for Ra-dl with I'... Stur in 1844, and no literary work or Slovak writer, except Bernonak, Kol,lar and Safarik (the :two later indluded by him in Czech literature) is mentioned in his study dea.Jing with Slovak literature for the periods preceeding Romanticism and Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language. 3. According to R. J. Kerner's "Czechoslovakia"(9) Slovak literature began only in 1845 anld that Slovak renaissance was linked with "what was going on in Bohemia and with the philosophy of Enlightenmen t and the Romanticism of Herder" and "had its center in Bratislava." "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create, with indifferent success at the time, a written Slovak dialect," says the book. Trnava is not at all mentioned. KoNar and Safarik are mentioned as Slovaks, hurt placed among the Czech writers. Altogether three S1ovak poets are mentioned (Samo Chaluka, J anko Krar, and Jan Botto) in the whole chapter dealing with the period from the battle of White Mountain (1620) to World War I, and three others (A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), P. 0. Hv:ie~doselav (1849-1921) and Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916) - in the chapter on "Czechoslovak" literature. For the after-war period the book gives four names: Ivan Krasko, Martin Razus, E. B. Lukac, and J. Gregor-Tajov sky. 4. The most recent symposium, V. Busek-N. SpuJber's "Czechoslovakia" Cl-0), did not try to dispel confusion and complete the knowledge on Slovak literature, although the work was published in 1957 by the Mid-European Studies Center and one of the editors, Professor V. Busek, spent many years in Slovakia. �SLOVAKIA 27 While the Marxist literary historians produced a book of 320 pages on the older Slovak literature and a bibliography on Bernolak's movement ( 410 pages) shows over 100 writers, Busek-Spulber's symposium has only the fo1lowing to say in the chapter on Czech and Slovak literature: ... "the first attempts were made ~asid,e from earlier sporad'ic venrtures' to esta1blish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 1'8th century by Anton Bernolak Cl 76Vlt81t3) who selected the Westenn, Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary me• dium : his suggestions, not elaJborated Hn-guistically, did not taike permanent hold. "The decisiN"e step towards the estatbHshment of a Sl'orvak lite,rary language was undertaken through the initJiative of the ProteSlttants. Uudovit Stur selected the centra.l Slovak dialect for the Sl.ovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, severa,l poets followed Stur a,n,d used the new literary language with great skHl." Jlt would appear from the above quotations that Amer- ican Slavists will have to revise many of their views and complete their knowledge{l l). It is evident that they generally regarid Slovak literature of the cen'turies preceding Sh'.ir's reform of the S'lovak literary language as not worth much attention. Outstanding figures of Slovak cultural life are eibher unknown or treated as quantite negligea'ble (Bernolak) by contributors to American or Canadian symposia. The periods of Baroque and Enlightenment, in whi~h erudite Slovaks wrote in their mother tongue besides Latin and biblical "Czech", were undoU'bted!ly important s tages in Slovak cultural life and national development. And yet, even the leading fitgures of the Slovak renaissance around Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Ho'11y are either unknown or greatly underestimated if at all mentioned. Such is also the case with regard to writers and scholars who in previous periods published high:ly interesting works on the origin of Slavs in genera,1, and on the past of 'the Slovaks in particular, as well as on Slavic languages, Slavic culture, and the significance of the Sfavs in European civHization. It has been more or less generally accepted that, for instance, Paul J. Safarik's or John Kollar's Slavic consciousness were awakened by German philosophers during their studies in Jena and that t:he idea of Slavic unity and greatness became known mostly by the merits of Safarik and Kol'lar. In fact, Safarik and Kollar had several pre1 �28 SLOVAKIA decessors among Slovak writers and scholars who developed their theories on the origin of the Slavs, on Slavic linguistic and racial unity and the "glorious past" in voluminous Latin works in the 17th and 18th centuries(12), and Jan Holly described the "glorious past" of the Slavs in his great epic works, written in Slovak, much better and with greater poetic talent than Jan Kollar. Safarik wrote his volume of poetry "Muza Tatranska s lyrou slovanskou" (The Tatrean Muse With Slavic Lyra) also a long time before he went to Jena, because the Slovak writers of the 17th and 18th centuries created an a'tmosphere of Slavic patriotism and mutuaiJ.ity in S'lovakia. This will certainly be new to many American Slavists although it is not new .in Slovakia or in some S:lavic and West European works on Slavic literatures. Not only the so-called "nationalist" Slovak scholars published many works and st udies in which they outlined the continuous development of Slovak culture and literature, but also some Americans of Slovak descent tried to acqua..int American scholars with the true picture of Srl ovakia's literary development,(13). Most recently the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians published severa'1 comprehensive works which besides 'their "Marxist interpretation" make an interesting contribution to Slavic studies(14). In aH American symposia from which we have quoted, it is, however, Bernolak's movement which has been presented most superficially and most unobjectively. Contributors to these symposia are in this regard even far behind the "Marxist" literary historians who, forgetting their customary prejudices against Catlholic clergymen, present Bernolak's scho()l and his movement as "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th cent ury," and expressed no doubts about the scholarly merits of Bernolak's linguistic works or Holly's poetic greatness. For this reason we feel that Bernolak's movement dzserves a more detailed ana'lysis in a separate chapter. �SLOVAKIA 29 II Bernolak's Movement and Its Importance In Slovak Literature Bernolak's movement is concurrent with the period of Enlightenmen't and represents a final phase of Slovak literary and national renaissance whfoh began in the seventeenth century. This has been recognized even by the Marxist literary historians who state that "the process of linguistic Slovakization in Slovak literature was on the upgrade mainly since the seventeenth century" and that the "nation-forming tendencies in the Slovak language and culture were best expressed in the movement led by Anton Bernolak (1763-1813) especially in his endeavor to raise to the status of a literary language the Western Slovak dialect"(l\5). Berno'lak's movement lasted over 60 years and comprised three genera1tions of writers who in their Slovak or Latin writings expressed comparatively strong Slovak and Slovanic (Slaviic) national consciousness. According to Jaroslav Vlcek, professor at the University of Prague, the literature of Bernolak's school "developed in al'l directions: it had scholarly and popular writers in the field of theology, it had linguists an!d aiuthors of diclJionaries, translators and editors of antiquities, successful popular writers and generous supporters. In Jan Holly the Bernolak school got also its poeta laureatus"(16). And it had also its historians. Vlcek wrote these lines on Bernolak's movement in 1890 and contemporary research proves that he was not overestimating its importance. According to Marxist histori'a ns, ,~he Slovak Learned Society, founded in Trnava in 1792 with numerous branches in Central and Eastern Slovakia, and even outside Slovakia, numlbered in Slovakia alone about 500 registered members, mainly Catholic clergymen, of whom about 100 were active authors and writers(l 7). Among its members and generous supporters was .Mexander Cardinal Rudnay, Primate of Hungary, who besides writing many sermons and translating Cicero into Slovak assisted the Society financially. Professor of theology Canon Jur Palkovic translated the Bible into Slo- �30 SLOVAKIA vak and financed Bernola.k's and Holly's works. Professors of theologic faculties from Ostrihom, Trnava, Nitra, also were members of the Learned Society. P. J. Safa.rik, who later favored a sort of a Slo,v ak lite,r ary language based on a Czech grammar, wrote in his first work, published in 1826~118), regarding Bernola.k's school: "their growing zeal for the development and advancement of Slovak literature cannot be praised enough." And Professor Vlcek wrote in 1890 that "what in literatures of all Slavic peoples appeared as an expression of an awakened national consciousness and nationail indivilduality, it logically appeared also aimong Slovaks. The firslt to express that as a firm literary principle was A. Bernola.k." Bernola.k "was not a literary revolutionary," continues Prof. Vlcek, "but a consequent codifier of what grew and ripened before him over one hundred years in the writings of Catholic Slovaks as a linguistic fact",('19). Of course, Prof. Vlcek does not share the opinion of American symposia stating that "Bernola.k's attempts to est31blish a distinct Slovak literary language were not elaiborated linguistically," or that he tried "with indif.ferent success to create a written Slovak dia~ec't." On the contrary, in his Dejiny literatiiry slovenskej, Prof. Vlcek states that Bernola.k was well acquainted with the work done in the field of linguistics by predecessors such as Matej Bel and Pavel Dolefal, both from the first half of the 18th century, as well as wiith the tendencies of Catholic writers associated with the University of Trnava. There can ha11dly be any doubt that Bernola.k's movement means an important stage in Sfovak cultural and national development. The first manifestation of this new era in the Slovak national life was the publication of Bernola.k's work Disser'tation Philologic<rCritica de Literis Slavorum (1787) in which Bernola.k formulated the principles of the Slovak literary language. His formal directives for the introduction of the Slovak language into literature Bernola.k gave in the same yeair in his work Linguae Slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae Usitatae Compendiosa simul et facilis Orthographia. In 1790 he published in Latin his grammar of the new Slovak Literary language, Gramatica �31 SLOVAKIA Slavica, which later appeared in two German translations; and in 1791 was published his work on the etymology of Slovak words, Ethymologia Vocum Slavicarum. Bernolak's main work Slowar Slovenski, Cesko-Latinsko..:Nemecko-Uherski, was published (1825-1827) after Bernolak's death by Canon Jur Palkovic in six volumes, 530 pp. The work, which reads in English translation "A Dictionary of the Slovak, Czech, Latin, German and Hungarian Tongues," contained also phraseology, etymology and synonyms of the new Slovak literary language. Bernolak's works "gave a stimulus to the development of modern Slovak literature growing up directly from the living sources of the Slovak people," as admitte'd even by Marxist critics, and his movement "was, on the whole, in agreement with similar contemporary trends current among the Ukrainians, the Bulgarians, the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes." His "Dissertatio" caused "a revolution in the development of Slovak language," says I. Kotvan, "and at the same time led to a desirable national advancement in the ideo1ogical development of Slovak nationa I consciousness; it also hastened the foundation of the Slovak Learned Society in 1792 which grouped in its ranks all ardent Slovaks, en'l:!husiastic for Slovak culture, social and economic progress and for the political and national fate of Slovakia"(20). 1 Bernolak and the members of hi's Slovak Learned Society, among whom most prominent were Juraj Fandly (1754-1811), Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836), Jan Holly (1785-1849), Juraj Papanek (1738-1802), Juraj Sklenar (1746-1790), .A!lexander Cardinal Rudnay, Canon Jur Palkovic, were faithful adherents of Enlightenment, sincerely attached to the Slovak people and working for its progress. Juraj Fandly was the leading organizer of the Society, author of popular educational writings and editor of a miscellany dealing with the history of the Slovaks (Compendiata Historiae Gentis Slavae - 1793) . J. I. Bajza wrote the first Slovak novel and a col'leotion of Slovak epigrams; J. Papanek is the author of Historia Gentis Slavae - DeRegno Regibusque Slavorum (1780) ; Juraj Sklenar is the �32 SLOVAKIA author of Vetustissimus Magnae Moraviae Situs (1784); Jan Holly is until now the greatest of Slovak poets who alone "created nearly all poetic genres: the epos, the elegy, the ode and the song, and in whose hanlds the cold form of antique poetry had warmth enough to express strongly the modern idea of national consciousness," as stated Prof. Vlcek in 1890. Actually, all writers of Bernolak's school expressed in their works strong national feelings and their views regarding Slavs, Slavic languages and the plaice of the Slavs in the world; this makes of them precursors of Kollar's and Safarik's ideas of Slavdom. Berno1ak himself regarded the Slavs as one nation with one language divided into "dia~ects" which conception was developed by P. J. Safarik in Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nearly 40 years later. In the introdu~tion to his Gramatica Slavica, published in 1790, Bernolak regarded the Slovak vernacular as one of the Sfavic dialects and urged his countrymen to use it as a literary medium in the same way as the Czechs, the Russians, the Croats and Poles used t heir respective vernaculars. Juraj Papanek in his Historia Gentis Slavae, Fandly in his Compendiata Historiae Slavae an'd in his other writings, and Holly in his poetic works, manirfested also fiery Slovak and Slavic consciousness and national feelings, so that we may see in Bernolak's movement not only a connecting link between his school and Safarik's and Kollar's conceptions of Slavdom, but also an organic and close relation with Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language and his nationalist movement. In this respect we can fully agree with the Marxist literc1ry historians that both movements "grew up from the same process, 1'rom the process of formaJtion of the Slovak nation and are but two different phases of Slovak cultural and national development:Q21). Wh:ile Bernolak's linguistic works substantially influenced the final form of Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language which accepted many 'linguistic elements, used in all parts of Slovakia only because there existed Bernolak's literary language before, ideologically Stu.r's group was influenced mainly by the epics of Jan Holly, poet laureate of Bernolak's school. �SLOVAKIA 33 Stu,r himself acknowledged Holly's dominant influence on the formation of Slovak national ideology and so did until now the " nationalist" as well as the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians(22). Accordtng to Jaroslav Vlcek: "Holly means many things in Slovak literature. He achieved alone wha;t the Czech and the Hungarian poets of classicism worked on a'H togetherC23). For another literary historian "Holly has not been surpassed by any S,l ovak poet, and nowhere else is there to be found such depth of national consciousness and such glory. In crystallized form Holly vigorously enounced the modern idea of nationalism, and this already in the 1800's, and his unsurpassable expression of the national soul has made him and will continue t o make him the grea;test of the Slovak poets"(24). And he is so judged also by contemporary Marxist historians. "Holly is a great poet," says prof. A. Mraz, the main Marxist authority on Slovak literary history, " an:d a cultivated and excellent translator of antique poetry, who synthetized in his works an'tique influences with European Classicism and philosophy of Enlightenmen t. He awakened nationa1 consciousness of his countrymen combining Slavic and Slovak elements in his conception of the Slovak nation. His works prove that even in Bernolak's movement Slavic components were strongly represented. Slovak and Slav unite in harmoneous accord in Holly's ideology"~25). Holly deserves this praise and recognition not only for his own works but also for his masterful transiaJtions from practically all renowned poets from Virgil, Ovid, Theocritus, Horace to Homer. The first volume of his translations was published in 1824, the translation of Virgiil's Aeneid in 1828; these were highly commended even of Jungmann, Safarik and Niederle. After having enriched Slovak literatures by his translations, Holly composed in cfa:ssic mold anld with many overtones of 'bhe antique poetry his three epics in which he proved that his talent and erudition were outstanding and that the new Slovak literary language was rioh and flexible enough for complex poetic creations. At the same time he also demonstrated to the Slovaks and to the out side world thait the Slovak past was great and glorious and that there is, therefore, also a future for the Slovak people. �34 SLOVAKIA To achieve this, Holly created in his poetic works a new national ideology, anchored in the traditions of the Great Moravian Empire and in the cultural achievements of SS. Cyril and Methddius, the founders of Slovanic letters. In 1833 he published his Svatopluk, a heroic epic about the life and glory of the powerf.Ull ruler of Great Moravia, in twelve cantos. In 1835 his Cyrilo-Methodiada, a poetic account of the achievements of the Apostles of Slovaks, was published in Budapest in six cantos, and to complete the ima:ge of a heroic past of his people, Holly crea1~ed also an epic in seven cantos about a mythical forefather of the Slovaks, Slav, and in his Elegies he 'lamented over the desb-uction of the Great Moravian Empire, 'bhe first kingdom of the Slovaks, ruined by treachery, villainy, and perfidy. The national and ideological components of Holly's poetry are strong also in his Odes and Idylles (1835), which, together with his epics, a,wakened to life a new generation that broke with the past not only in linguistic division of Slovaks but also in cultural and political orientation. "At a time," says Mraz, "when the Slovaks mostly felt the need to strengthen their national ideology by historic consciousness, Holly came in a monumenta,1 way with his support." He created by his works not only a Slovak national poetry and ideology, but urging the Slovaks to regard their past with pride he revived the present and encouraged the Slovaks to look to the future with hope. Holly achieved this "w~t:h nothing more than a nonliterary, formless dialect at his disposa[ which he molded and shaped into a rich poetic language." His poetry was not much influenced by European pseudo-Classicism and contemporary Romanticism. He g.r ew up f<rom an antique culture and poetry, and ideologically only he interpreted . the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak people of the period oif Enlightenment and t he f.irst decades of Romanticism. While his contemporary Jan KoHar "wandered on the expansive meadows of Slavdom," Holly devoted his talents to building Slovak national consciousness, culture and ideology which made him a precursor anld: a spiritual leader also for the coming generation of C. Stt'.ir's na- �SLOVAKIA 35 tionalist and romantic school. "HoHy's message lived also in the generation to come which refused his classicist forms but creatively clung to his ideological heritage," admits the Marxist literary historian A. Mraz, and adds that "Bernolak's movement triumphed in Holly's achievements and greatness; it found in his works the most creative and ideological culmination"(26). III Marxist Evaluation of Bernolak's Movement Unlike the contributors to American symposia who be1ittled A. Bernolak and his movement, Marxist literary historians write about Bernolak and his followers with high esteem. Although the works of the members of Bernolak's school and his Learned Societies clearly indica!te the tendency to reflect the national struggle and the awakening of a national consciousness among Slovaks - which is in conflict with the "Czechoslovak" tendencies of the Communist party - the Marxist literary historians were allowed to publish scores of books and studies on Bernolak and his movement. Among the first works which dealt with this period in a suvprisingly tolerant way was "A History of Slovak Literature" (Dejiny sfovenskej literatury) by Prof. A. Mraz, who for his services to the present regime in Slovakia was promoted to the rank of an "akademik" (academician). Other valuable works and studies were published by Dr. Imrich Kotvan and Jan Tiibensky, who apparently specializes in this period "ex offo." Kotvan's work Bernolakovci (1948) and Bibliografia Bernolakovcov (Bibliography of Bernolak's School) published in 1957, together with T. Ti'bensky's book J. Papanek-J. SklenarC27), also published in 1957, as well as a series of his stu!dies in periodi'caJs, give the impression that Marxist literary historians try to evaluate Bernolak's movement without the customary prejudice against Catholic writers, and that in many respects :they agree with the views expressed before by the "bourgeois and nationalist" scholars and literary historians (J. Vlcek, J. �36 SLOVAKIA Skultety, S. Krcmery, J. Kacka, A. A . Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, etc.) . This is evident especiaHy in Ti'bensky's controversy with Prof. Wollmann's uncritical deprecation of Bernolak's movement(28), but also in some recen :: studies of Mraz and in the new History of Slovak Literature, compiled by a " coHective" of younger historians under the direction of Prof. M. Pisut. In a comprehensive explanatory note to Kotvan's Bibliography, which on 400 pages gives an interesting picture of Bernolak's movement, we can read that the Marxist scholars "consider the second half of :the eighteenth and the first half od: the nineteenth century, which is the period of Bernolak's activities, "one of the interesting , not yet thoroughly investigated periods forming a milestone in Sfovak history"{29). In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak not only reformed and cddiified the Sfovak literary language and its orthography, but also started a vast national and cultural movement based on a t radition m,ore tJhan a hundred years old. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollossi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholid," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on whioh the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an in\dependent Slovak literary language. CrystallizaJtion of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777) , progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his foHowers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, t hey merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period"(30). Mraz also recognizes Bernolak's merits in the whole �SLOVAKIA 37 of Slovak cultural life. "Bernolak did not stop at writing his s,c holarly works," says Mraz. "He used them to push ahead Slovak national and cultural life on new tracks, which he attained by his cu]tural and organizatory activities." According to Tibensky, who made some original research into this period, Bernolak's movement was "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th century, and it undoubtedly played a progressive role in the Slovak naJtional development"1(®L). "There is no doubt whatsover," says Tibensky, "that Bernolak's literary language and his movement played a very important role in the Slovak national development. Their importance is far from being sufficiently explored and evaluated. Works published until now are merely the first step to the accomplishment of an imporitant task of Slovak scholarship." There is ndt, so far, much new in the Marxist writings on Bernolak's movement. The Marxist Academy of Sciences is merely compiling the scholaI"ly research which was going on for the last 25-30 years and in which scholars like A. A. Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, V. Gajdos and others, brought to light new manuscripts or additional information. 'Dhe Marxist literary historians, of course, at·tempt to give a new interpretation to what the "bourgeois" scholars said on Slovak literature, language, national consciousness and Slovak national aspirations. "While in the past !the researchers into the origin of Bernolak's movement and especialtly into its literary language considered in the first place ideological elements, for instance, the influence of the Counter-Reformation, the Marxist scholarship," says Ti1bensky, "endeavors to explain the origin of Bernolak's movement and of its literary medium in the context of the entire Slovak social and economic development in given centuries: it takes into account, in the first place, economic and pomico-cultural factors"(32). Ideological influences are considered by Marxist historians as seconldary in the formation of Bernolak's move- �38 SLOVAKIA ment. "The movement is an outstanding manifestation of 'the process of transformation of a feudal Slovak nationality into a modern bourgeois nation," conclu'des Tibensky. In view of this, Bernolak's movement is credited by Marxist historians also with the fact that, as a result of Bernolak's activities, "the process of the formation of the Slovak nation and cu~ture was entering a new stage, determined by the activities of r.. Stur (1815-1856), and by the creation, on the basis of a Central Slovak dialect, of the modern Slovak literary language"{G3). Prof. Eugen Pauliny, who apparently is regarded among contemporary Marxist Slovak phHologists as an authority on the history of the Slovak language, regards Bernolak's period as an important stage in the development of Slovak national life. "Bernolak's language and his conceptions of Slovak national life, conceptions in which his reform originated, mean an important milestone in Slovak nrubional development," says Pauliny in his "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" (A History of the Slovak Literary Language). "Bernolak's movement, even if represenlted only by Slovak Catholics, takes Slovak national individuality, in a clear and understandable formulation, as a fact and connects it with the whole of Slavdom in its contemporary as weH as historical context. As a tool of this ideology Bernolak brought his theoretically elaborated and practically tested Slovak literary language," continues Pauliny. According to Pauliny, Bernolak's language was not used only for religious purposes, as some Slavists assert. "There were in Bernolak's school also religious writings, but not of a polemic char8!Cter; they were didactic and, besides them, 'there was religious poetry and theological writings. However, the center of gravity of Bernolak's school lays in vafoable writings for the education of the large masses, and in poetry. Bernolak's language was a well elaborated literary language which the Catholic Slovaks useid for more than a ha:lf century, in fact, officially up to 1851, when unity was achieved in the literary language" (among CaJtholics and Protestants). From the philological point of view, Bernolak's re- �SLOVAKIA 39 form was based not only on the language, written and spoken by the educated Slovak strata in Western Slovakia and created in the cultural center of Trnava, but also on the dia'l ect of Bernolak's native province Orava, which belongs to the cenltral Slovak dialectical areas('36). In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vz€ahov Oechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernola:k codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Ca!bholic an!d. Protestant writings" (3r7). As for the connection of Bernolak'is school with Stiir's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxist literary historians and philologists. Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginilling of tJhe Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school," and he adds: "In Bernolak's school c,ulminates the older phase of Slovak natio nal diwelopment, but simultaneously it means also the beginning of a new epoch a,nd is very closely connected with the develo;pmen,t of nrutional consciousness of Stur's period. Bernolak''s movement tbuilds upon the feudail Slwak national con\Sdousness of the li8th century, but at the same time this movement enounces and consciously fo11mulates , for the first time, the modem Slovak nation,alism. "We find in the writings of the most important members oif Bernolak's Learned Society, Bernolak, Fandly, J HoMy, a compl~tely different ideology from that of the clergy of t he Gouniter-Uleformation of the 1"7:th and 18th century. It is an ideology of Slowk ,n,ationalism as derined and 11.mderstood by the Enlightenment, and it evci.1ved in bhe writings of the most out.Sitanding members of this group, Fan.dly an'd Jlolly, into the ideology of a modern Slovak nation. Stu.r's group used it as a foundation and developed it int o a mor•e modem conception in accordance with contemporary Euro·p ean ideological trends." 1 • Stur himself admitted this in his "Narecia slovenskuo," writing: "Our Catholic brothers did exactly what we are doing now and intend to do; they desired to a,chieve what we are desiring to achieve; they were concerned in their hearts a:bout the same matter that we cherish in our hearts''(3-8). �40 SLOVAKIA We hardly need any more convincing proof that Sb1r's group considered Bernolak's group as "older co-fighters on the same ideological battlefield," concludes Pauliny. To sum up, we can safely say that Bernolak's work and his school were an important factor in Slovak cultural and lilterary development and as such they deserve more attention and more objective anlaysis by scholars in the field of American Slavic studies. On the other hand, Slovak scholars in the free world have a moral duty to correct the mi,sconceptions which crept into Slavic studies largely because of a lack of English written studies on Slovak culture other than those supplied by Slavists of Czech origin and the works by Slovaks mentioned below. REFERENCE NOTES: '1. Journal of Central European Affairs, University of Colorado, The American Slavic and East European Review, Columbia University Press, The Slavic and East European Journal, Ln<liana UnLversity, Slavic and East European Studies, Un1versity of Montreal, Canadian Slavonic Pape.rs, University of Toronto Press. 2. Besides books edited· by Kerner, Strakhovsky, Busek-Spul1ber, and S. H. Thomson-, there are many misconceptions al-so in works w,rit-ten or edited by Prof. J. S. Rloucek, namely in his Cemral Entern Europe, or Slavonic Encyclopedi·a, by Felix Gross and C. E. BJ.ack. 3. The thesis that Great l\furarvian writings and culture belong to the cu1tural heritage of Slovaks has been sUJpported by both ,n.ationalist and Marxist Slovak literary ,h istorians. Cf. in English Jioseph Skultety: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, p. 229; J. M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation At the Crossroads of Cerwtral E·urope; and in the Slovak la,n guage: Dej iny star sei slovenskej literatury by M,axxist historfans (JI. MisianLk, J. Minarik, M. Mich'aloova, A. Melichercilk), Bratislava,, 1008, p. 3120. ,4. Cf. Dmitry Cizevsky: Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, AmerLcan Academy of Arts and Scienees, Boston, Mass., 1952; Lvalil J. Krarnoris: Chrono1ogic.al Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, 1946; Peter P. Yurchak : The SloYaks, J . J. Lach, Pulblications, Whiting, Indiiana•, 1947; J'. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia: Nation At the Crossroads of Central E-u rope, p. 35-00. 5. See University Traditions in Slovakia in J. M. · Kirsch:baUJm's op. cit.; and Stephen J. Palickar's Slovakian Culture in the Light of History, The Hampshire Press, Cambrid·ge, Mass., 1954. 6. Cf. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact in The Slavic and East EuT.opean Sltudies, Montreal, 1956, Part I, p. 4>:x54. 7. Published by Princeton University Press, 1943, 390 pp. A critical review from the Slovak poi.n-t of view see in Slovak Review, Vol. I, Nio. 2., by Ivan, J. Kra,rnoris. 8. Published by HarvaTd University Press, Cambridge, Mas•s .• �SLOVAKIA 41 1949. Chapter on Slovak linguistics by A. Senn is more in line with scholarly research. 9. Published by University of Oalifornia Press, 1949. A critical review froon the Slovak point df view in quarterly Slovakiia, Middletown, Pa .. , Vol. v,v,r, by Philiip A. Hrobak. 10. P;u!blished by Mid,,European Stu<lies Ce,n,t er of the Free Europe Commi>ttee, Inc., New Yol'k, 1957. The chapter on Slovaik literaiture was wz,iflten by Czech writers H. Kucera and E. lfovtun, who are unknown in Slovak literary history. 'lil. American presentation of Slovak literature is strangely d<iffererut also from European evaluation as ev,i denced in the works: Ernest Denis: Le probleme de l'Autriche-Les Slovaques, Piaris, 1917; A. Fischel: Pa,nslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and• Berlin, 191•9; Bruno Meriggi, Storia delle letterature ceca e Slovacca, University of Florence, 195'9. 112. Of. J. J:~obeus: Vii:a Gentis Slavicae, published in '164Q; introduction to B. Szollossi's Cantus Catholici, pu1b li5hed in 16>55; D. Sinapius Horcicka, Neoforum Latino-Slovenicum, 1679; J. Piscatori-sFischer: De origine, inre ac utilitatae linguae slavonicae, pulblished in 1697; J . B. Magin: ·Murices .. sive Apologia, pulblished in 1728; S. Timon: Imago an,t ique Hunga,riae, 11735; J. Papanek: Historia gen•: is slavae, '1'7•80; J. Fandly: Compendiata Historiae Slavae, 17193. 13. See op. cit. by P. P. Yurt:hak, S. J. Palickar, I. J . Kramoris, as well as articles by C. Piotocek ifil; Slovak Review, by Philip A. Hro\bak in Slovakia, by E. Podikrivac!Jcy in Slovakia, Vol. m, 3, a,n d J. Pombsky's book K stemu vyrociu literarnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), abrana Press, Scranlton, 1945, 290 pp. 'l><t. Cf. Prof. A. MTaz: Dejiny slovenskej literatury, S'1ovenska aikademia vied a umeni, Bratisla,va, 1948, Dejin.y star-lei slovenskej litel'a:u,ry, SA V, 1-959, Dejiny slovenskej Literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960; as well as works by I. Kotvan, Jlan 'J1i1bens'ky, etc., quoted farther. 16. Cf. Dr. :Emrich Kotvan: Biblografia Bernolakovcov, Ma·tica sl-ovensika, Martin, 195'7', p. 403-404. 16. Cf. Jarosla;v Vlcek: Dejiny litera,t ury slovenskej, 1st edition, 1,890, second edition by .Miatica slovenska, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923, p. 27-39, e tc. Prof. V'lcek's work is the first aicademic history of Slo;vak liternture and as such was incomplete. His views were, nevertheless, accepted by ma•n y contemporary histori-ans. Prof. V'lceik was born in Slovakia, but his main work is A History of Czech Literature. As a professor at the University of Prague he changed some of his views in favor of the official "Czechoslovak" thesis. 17. Cf. Dr. Imrich Kotvan, op. cit. p. 403-404. ·1.8. Geschichte der Slaiwischen Sprache und Literatur nach alien Mundar-ten, Offen, 1826, p. 373-300. ·w. Qp. cit. p 32-34. 20. Cf. limrich Kotvan: Bernol·a kovci, Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Trnaiva, 1'948, p. 4. '21. Cf. J·a n T~bensky's inrtrod-uc-tion to I. K,otvan's mbliografia Bernolaklovcov, p. 7-9. 22. Of. J. M. Kirschlbaum: l!udovit Stiur and His Place in the Sliavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg, 1956. Alccordfog to M. Pisut, a Marxist expert on Sttir's period, the fina-1 sta•ge of Slovak eMorts to build an independent national culture had its roots in t,he wol'ks· of �42 SLOVAKIA P. J. Safm-ik, Jan Holly, Kollar, a1nd Kuzmar..y. Mraz stresses Holly's significan:Ce in connection wLth Stur's movement. Cf. Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni sjezd slavisitu v Moskve, Priaha, 1958, p. 3313-345 and 4l2:l-46~. 23. Op. cit. p. 80. 124. Cf. Jioz,ef ~acka: Dejin,y literatury slovenskej, Rufomberok, li92L, pUJblished in English translation by the Nation·al News, Pittsburgh, Pa., '119441, quoted from P. P. Yurchak, op. cit. p. 103Jl.04. '25. Of. his artfole in Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. sjezd sla• vistu v Moskve. 26. ]bidem ,27. Cf. Jian T,ilbensky, J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej narodnOS11i v 18. sitoroci, Osveta, Martin, 1958. 28. Of. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia, Historicky cas()fpis, ViJ!I, 4, 1'959, p. 557~576. Tilbensky proves thia,t many views of Prof. WoUma,n n, in his Slovanstvi v ja11:ykovelite• rarnim obro11:eni Slovanu, Praha, 1'!)58, are prejudilced against S<Iovaiks and particularly a•g ainst Catho1ics. 29. Op. cit., p. 403-405. 3'0. Op. cit., p, 416-1108. :n. Historicky casqpis, ViII, 4, 574. 32. B~bUograd'ia bernolakoVICOV, p. 8. 3'3. ]bidem, p. 404. 34. Published: in '19418. 35. Eug,e n Paulin:y: Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, p . 65. 3·6. ]bLdem, p. 63. 37. p. 111'3. 38. Eugen Pawliny: 0 vzajomnych vzt'ahov Cechov a Slovakov, Slovenska AkadiemLa Vied, Bra1t;islav,a, 1956; pp. 1)1.3, 11115. 3•9. Among periodicals pulblished •b y Universities it is only the Slavic and Ea·Slt European Studies (University of Miontreal, Quebec, Canada) which sy,steana:tically comments Slovalk literary and cultur,al topics in an objective mar.iner. ANONYMOUS LETTERS, wri.tten, to Red leader,s in Slo,vak,ia, are causing some concern to tihe regime. 'I1he Bra1tiislav,a RJadii,o recently reminded its listeners that writers of .s uch le•uters, if revealed, ar,e in for stiff filnes and long jail sentences. T·he reaction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the collaborators of Red Prague. • • • IN THIE WOR<KERS' PAR.4.DISE, according to Radio Bratisfava: SI,ovakiia is behind in its milk quota 6,600,666 liiters (4'18-61,); the Trebisov district owes !!he S<tate 1,0815,000 lirter,s of milk this year (,3Jl0,6l'; Dolny Kubin, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did n-Olt produce even a deciliter per COIW (3-9-61); in Braltislav,a (S.tiree't of the Defenders of Peace) women waited for meat from 2:00 to 6:3,0 p. m. (3~20.,61); there is a· great abUJnd'ance o:f feed for cattle and calves, 'but it's all r,ot,ten; the people work the ·farms, but ste,al over haif the prodootion (~20-GL); we have no tires, 'i>ut why,? I heard the explanation that t he reason, for this is the war in Lao-s (2-0.11,61 1) . � 22 SLOVAKIA MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK LITERATURE J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I American Slavists and Slovak Literature For the past two decades we have witnessed in America a fast growing interest in the Slavic world and Slavic culture. There is hardly a reputaJble American Uniiversi:ty which would not have organired a department of Slavic Studies, and the number of books published on Slavic subjects, as well as the number of periodicals('l) which deal entirely or pa:r,tly with the problems of East Centrial Europe, is without precedent in any other country. '.Dhere are, however, severa'l phenomena in this vast and fast development of Slavic Studies and in books and symposia about the Slavs, which indicate that American Slavic Studies may easily be pushed on a wrong track. American scholarship in this field of Slavic S:udies is predominantly in the hands of scholars, teachers or writers, who came from Europe during or after the Second World War, and who brought with them not only knowledge and a;bi-lities for academic work, but some of them brought also their prejudices, old rivalries, national prides and the nationa,l aspirations of their countries of origin. This is especially true with regard to some former politicians, diplomats, an!d civil servants from Eastern European countries who became teachers, lecturers, and professors at American universities or contrilbutors to periodicals and symposia published by universities. Institutions, books and periodicals deal1ing with Slavic Studies became for some of them new arenas for fighting lost cultural or political battles, for fostering cultural naitionalism or even poHtical chauvinism. They often use university positions or academic periodicals not for spreading objective scholarly knowledge about a very important area of the globe and about several vigorous peoples which represent the Slavic world, but rather try to prevent the �SLOVAKIA 23 truth to be known or ignorance and false propaganda to be exposed. This politkal element, though it is less apparent during the last yea-rs, certainly did some harm to American scholarshi,p in the field of Slavic Studies. How far unobjective and unscholarly some writers on Slavic subjeots can become, we can see best by anailyzing the contributions on Slovakia and on Slowk literature to the American symposia and books on Czecho-Slovakia(2). It is true that Slovak Hterature did not achieve a prominence such as some other Slavic literature did, but from various points of view it is an intereslting field for academic research. The history of Slovak literature did not begin in 1844, as some American symposia emphasize, but goes back to the ninth century to the Great Moravian Empire(3). After the collapse of the Great Moravian Empire in the ten'bh century, Slovakia became a part of the Central European cultura,l area in which a:11 peoples (Poles, Slovaks, Magyars, Czechs, Croats, etc.) used the Latin language as their literary medium and began to develop their cultures and literatures in their own vernacular only from the 17th or 18th century, if not later. And so did also the Slovaks, though we can find some literary writings or documents in the Slovak vernacular a long time before, and a Slovak professor at the University of Prague, Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery, reproached his Slovak countrymen for neglecting their Slovak language as early as in 1603. We can safely say that Slovakia and Silovak culture developed along the same pattern as the cultures and literatures of a!ll other Cenltra,l European peoples, mainly the Western Slavs, from Humanism to Olassi:cism, Romantism, Realism, and modern literary currents{4). Humanism found an early entry into Slovakia through the University of Bratislava (Academia Istropolitana, founlded in 1645), and through numerous students and professora studying or 'teaching abroad (Bologna, Padova, Prague, Cracow). It giave a meaningful impulse to 'literary production, especiaUy in. homiletic writings. The second university on the Slovak territory, the University of Trnava, founded in 1635, gave a strong impulse to the �24 SLOVAKIA cultural life in Slovakia both in the Latin and Slovak languages, but literary activities were mostly restrided to religion, history, geogrnphy, ma!thematics and jurisprudence(5). It was not before 1750 that a volume of original verses in the Slovak vernacufar was composed and published by Hugolin Gavlovic (1712-1787)). The first translation of the Bible was accomplished in 1756; the first LatinSlovak dictionary appeared in 1763; religious hymns were com posed by Jan Silvan in 1536 ; amd the first collection of religious songs, containing 227 iitems in the Slovak vernacu'lar, was published in the Cantus Catholici in 1655. Between this period and the date when the first novel in Slovak language appeared in 1783, there was more than a score of Slova,k scho'lars and writers who wrote grammars (V. Benedicti, D. Kriman), historical and apologetic works (D. Jacobeaus, D. Synapius Horcicka, J. Piscatoris Fischer, M. Szentivany, J. B. Magin, Samuel Timon, M. Bel, J. Severini, J. Fandly A. F. Kollar, etc) anld who defended in Latin 'the Slovak people,. its right to its own national life and nationail language, and developed also several theories on the past and origin of Slavs, on Slovak culture and the continuity of Slovakia with Great Moravia. The era of Enlightenment brought a general revival of national culture in Slovakia. The Protestants still used t he btblical Czech language also in secu[ar writings (besides German), but the Catholic Slovaks, abandoning Latin since the beginning of the Counter-Reformation, passed to 1:Jhe exclusive use of the Slovak vernacular, codified befor the end of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak in several scholarly works. Thus literature in the Slovak language was created continuously from the 17th century and produced, before the period of Romanticism, over 100 writers in Bernolak's school alone, among them the poet Jan Holly, whose genius according to many literary historians, was not surpassed by any Slovak poet except P. 0. Hviezdoslav in the 20th century. From the 18th century, Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, and aM dther literary currents which appeared in the European literatures, were represented also �SLOVAKIA 23 in Slovakia more or less in the same way as in other Slavic countrie s. Similar to other Slavic literatur es is also the dErvelopment under the impact of Soviet literatur e and Marxist theories on literary history(6 ). Despite the fact that this develop ment was for a long time scholarl y explored and support ed by a score of works in Slovak, as well as in foreign languag es, the history of Slovak literatur e has been an object of confuse d nad controversial interpre tations in books and symposi a publishe d by America n Slavis'~s . The best known America n and Canadia n symposi a are in basic disagree ment with this outline of Slovak literary history as we can see from the followin g: 1. Accordi ng to S. H. Thomso n, who in his book "Czechoslova kia in Europea n History" (?) attempt ed to give a fair picture of the Slovak past but was apparen tly misled by his sources, "The Slovaks had no opportu ity to develop (after the disappearance of the Great Moravian Empire in the 10th century ) their own culture, written languag e, political instituti ons or social concepts in any indepen dent way." This situation lasted for nine cen'turie s, accordin g to Prof. Thomso n's views. "A deli-bera te effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local diailect came from the Ca-tholire camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernola k publishe d a Gramati ca Slavica. " But "about the onlly follower s Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his gramma r and dictiona ry soon died out," writes Prof. Thomso n, stating that the year 1834-1835 is usually given as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although s':rictly speaking , ~tur did not make his first formal declarat ion until 1846." 2. The contribu ,~or to L. I. Strakho vsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies"(B), the Czech writer Otto Radl, gives even a more inaccura te and incompl ete piicture of Slovak literature. On page 491 he writes that "As early as 1635 in Trnava books were still printed in differen t Slovak dialects, more than two hundred years before the introduc tion of Slovak as a separate literary languag e," but three pages. further he sta,tes: �26 SLOVAKIA "While the quantity of Roma,rutrc literature in the Czech lang uage •was growing in Bohemia and Morarvia,, an illllPoritant ch•a nge was taking place in Slovakia. The heretofore common written langua:ge, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly originated Slovak literary la,ruguage. This movement had begun a,t the end of the 1.S'th century ,by the learned Slovak p'hilologist Antonin Bernolak who pufblished sever-al woi,ks in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefor•e use their own distinctive written la,ruguage based on dia'lect spoken in Western Slov>alkia. "Some of the mo·s t important writers• of Slo:vak origin, such as Kollar and Saifariik, were strong1y oppos·ed to this change. . . Opposing them stood siUICh S'lovak writers -as Stur and Hurban .. ... SlOIVak as a ·written language wa·s first introduced Ln, J r8 44." Slovak literatu~e begins for Ra-dl with I'... Stur in 1844, and no literary work or Slovak writer, except Bernonak, Kol,lar and Safarik (the :two later indluded by him in Czech literature) is mentioned in his study dea.Jing with Slovak literature for the periods preceeding Romanticism and Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language. 3. According to R. J. Kerner's "Czechoslovakia"(9) Slovak literature began only in 1845 anld that Slovak renaissance was linked with "what was going on in Bohemia and with the philosophy of Enlightenmen t and the Romanticism of Herder" and "had its center in Bratislava." "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create, with indifferent success at the time, a written Slovak dialect," says the book. Trnava is not at all mentioned. KoNar and Safarik are mentioned as Slovaks, hurt placed among the Czech writers. Altogether three S1ovak poets are mentioned (Samo Chaluka, J anko Krar, and Jan Botto) in the whole chapter dealing with the period from the battle of White Mountain (1620) to World War I, and three others (A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), P. 0. Hv:ie~doselav (1849-1921) and Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916) - in the chapter on "Czechoslovak" literature. For the after-war period the book gives four names: Ivan Krasko, Martin Razus, E. B. Lukac, and J. Gregor-Tajov sky. 4. The most recent symposium, V. Busek-N. SpuJber's "Czechoslovakia" Cl-0), did not try to dispel confusion and complete the knowledge on Slovak literature, although the work was published in 1957 by the Mid-European Studies Center and one of the editors, Professor V. Busek, spent many years in Slovakia. �SLOVAKIA 27 While the Marxist literary historians produced a book of 320 pages on the older Slovak literature and a bibliography on Bernolak's movement ( 410 pages) shows over 100 writers, Busek-Spulber's symposium has only the fo1lowing to say in the chapter on Czech and Slovak literature: ... "the first attempts were made ~asid,e from earlier sporad'ic venrtures' to esta1blish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 1'8th century by Anton Bernolak Cl 76Vlt81t3) who selected the Westenn, Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary me• dium : his suggestions, not elaJborated Hn-guistically, did not taike permanent hold. "The decisiN"e step towards the estatbHshment of a Sl'orvak lite,rary language was undertaken through the initJiative of the ProteSlttants. Uudovit Stur selected the centra.l Slovak dialect for the Sl.ovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, severa,l poets followed Stur a,n,d used the new literary language with great skHl." Jlt would appear from the above quotations that Amer- ican Slavists will have to revise many of their views and complete their knowledge{l l). It is evident that they generally regarid Slovak literature of the cen'turies preceding Sh'.ir's reform of the S'lovak literary language as not worth much attention. Outstanding figures of Slovak cultural life are eibher unknown or treated as quantite negligea'ble (Bernolak) by contributors to American or Canadian symposia. The periods of Baroque and Enlightenment, in whi~h erudite Slovaks wrote in their mother tongue besides Latin and biblical "Czech", were undoU'bted!ly important s tages in Slovak cultural life and national development. And yet, even the leading fitgures of the Slovak renaissance around Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Ho'11y are either unknown or greatly underestimated if at all mentioned. Such is also the case with regard to writers and scholars who in previous periods published high:ly interesting works on the origin of Slavs in genera,1, and on the past of 'the Slovaks in particular, as well as on Slavic languages, Slavic culture, and the significance of the Sfavs in European civHization. It has been more or less generally accepted that, for instance, Paul J. Safarik's or John Kollar's Slavic consciousness were awakened by German philosophers during their studies in Jena and that t:he idea of Slavic unity and greatness became known mostly by the merits of Safarik and Kol'lar. In fact, Safarik and Kollar had several pre1 �28 SLOVAKIA decessors among Slovak writers and scholars who developed their theories on the origin of the Slavs, on Slavic linguistic and racial unity and the "glorious past" in voluminous Latin works in the 17th and 18th centuries(12), and Jan Holly described the "glorious past" of the Slavs in his great epic works, written in Slovak, much better and with greater poetic talent than Jan Kollar. Safarik wrote his volume of poetry "Muza Tatranska s lyrou slovanskou" (The Tatrean Muse With Slavic Lyra) also a long time before he went to Jena, because the Slovak writers of the 17th and 18th centuries created an a'tmosphere of Slavic patriotism and mutuaiJ.ity in S'lovakia. This will certainly be new to many American Slavists although it is not new .in Slovakia or in some S:lavic and West European works on Slavic literatures. Not only the so-called "nationalist" Slovak scholars published many works and st udies in which they outlined the continuous development of Slovak culture and literature, but also some Americans of Slovak descent tried to acqua..int American scholars with the true picture of Srl ovakia's literary development,(13). Most recently the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians published severa'1 comprehensive works which besides 'their "Marxist interpretation" make an interesting contribution to Slavic studies(14). In aH American symposia from which we have quoted, it is, however, Bernolak's movement which has been presented most superficially and most unobjectively. Contributors to these symposia are in this regard even far behind the "Marxist" literary historians who, forgetting their customary prejudices against Catlholic clergymen, present Bernolak's scho()l and his movement as "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th cent ury," and expressed no doubts about the scholarly merits of Bernolak's linguistic works or Holly's poetic greatness. For this reason we feel that Bernolak's movement dzserves a more detailed ana'lysis in a separate chapter. �SLOVAKIA 29 II Bernolak's Movement and Its Importance In Slovak Literature Bernolak's movement is concurrent with the period of Enlightenmen't and represents a final phase of Slovak literary and national renaissance whfoh began in the seventeenth century. This has been recognized even by the Marxist literary historians who state that "the process of linguistic Slovakization in Slovak literature was on the upgrade mainly since the seventeenth century" and that the "nation-forming tendencies in the Slovak language and culture were best expressed in the movement led by Anton Bernolak (1763-1813) especially in his endeavor to raise to the status of a literary language the Western Slovak dialect"(l\5). Berno'lak's movement lasted over 60 years and comprised three genera1tions of writers who in their Slovak or Latin writings expressed comparatively strong Slovak and Slovanic (Slaviic) national consciousness. According to Jaroslav Vlcek, professor at the University of Prague, the literature of Bernolak's school "developed in al'l directions: it had scholarly and popular writers in the field of theology, it had linguists an!d aiuthors of diclJionaries, translators and editors of antiquities, successful popular writers and generous supporters. In Jan Holly the Bernolak school got also its poeta laureatus"(16). And it had also its historians. Vlcek wrote these lines on Bernolak's movement in 1890 and contemporary research proves that he was not overestimating its importance. According to Marxist histori'a ns, ,~he Slovak Learned Society, founded in Trnava in 1792 with numerous branches in Central and Eastern Slovakia, and even outside Slovakia, numlbered in Slovakia alone about 500 registered members, mainly Catholic clergymen, of whom about 100 were active authors and writers(l 7). Among its members and generous supporters was .Mexander Cardinal Rudnay, Primate of Hungary, who besides writing many sermons and translating Cicero into Slovak assisted the Society financially. Professor of theology Canon Jur Palkovic translated the Bible into Slo- �30 SLOVAKIA vak and financed Bernola.k's and Holly's works. Professors of theologic faculties from Ostrihom, Trnava, Nitra, also were members of the Learned Society. P. J. Safa.rik, who later favored a sort of a Slo,v ak lite,r ary language based on a Czech grammar, wrote in his first work, published in 1826~118), regarding Bernola.k's school: "their growing zeal for the development and advancement of Slovak literature cannot be praised enough." And Professor Vlcek wrote in 1890 that "what in literatures of all Slavic peoples appeared as an expression of an awakened national consciousness and nationail indivilduality, it logically appeared also aimong Slovaks. The firslt to express that as a firm literary principle was A. Bernola.k." Bernola.k "was not a literary revolutionary," continues Prof. Vlcek, "but a consequent codifier of what grew and ripened before him over one hundred years in the writings of Catholic Slovaks as a linguistic fact",('19). Of course, Prof. Vlcek does not share the opinion of American symposia stating that "Bernola.k's attempts to est31blish a distinct Slovak literary language were not elaiborated linguistically," or that he tried "with indif.ferent success to create a written Slovak dia~ec't." On the contrary, in his Dejiny literatiiry slovenskej, Prof. Vlcek states that Bernola.k was well acquainted with the work done in the field of linguistics by predecessors such as Matej Bel and Pavel Dolefal, both from the first half of the 18th century, as well as wiith the tendencies of Catholic writers associated with the University of Trnava. There can ha11dly be any doubt that Bernola.k's movement means an important stage in Sfovak cultural and national development. The first manifestation of this new era in the Slovak national life was the publication of Bernola.k's work Disser'tation Philologic<rCritica de Literis Slavorum (1787) in which Bernola.k formulated the principles of the Slovak literary language. His formal directives for the introduction of the Slovak language into literature Bernola.k gave in the same yeair in his work Linguae Slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae Usitatae Compendiosa simul et facilis Orthographia. In 1790 he published in Latin his grammar of the new Slovak Literary language, Gramatica �31 SLOVAKIA Slavica, which later appeared in two German translations; and in 1791 was published his work on the etymology of Slovak words, Ethymologia Vocum Slavicarum. Bernolak's main work Slowar Slovenski, Cesko-Latinsko..:Nemecko-Uherski, was published (1825-1827) after Bernolak's death by Canon Jur Palkovic in six volumes, 530 pp. The work, which reads in English translation "A Dictionary of the Slovak, Czech, Latin, German and Hungarian Tongues," contained also phraseology, etymology and synonyms of the new Slovak literary language. Bernolak's works "gave a stimulus to the development of modern Slovak literature growing up directly from the living sources of the Slovak people," as admitte'd even by Marxist critics, and his movement "was, on the whole, in agreement with similar contemporary trends current among the Ukrainians, the Bulgarians, the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes." His "Dissertatio" caused "a revolution in the development of Slovak language," says I. Kotvan, "and at the same time led to a desirable national advancement in the ideo1ogical development of Slovak nationa I consciousness; it also hastened the foundation of the Slovak Learned Society in 1792 which grouped in its ranks all ardent Slovaks, en'l:!husiastic for Slovak culture, social and economic progress and for the political and national fate of Slovakia"(20). 1 Bernolak and the members of hi's Slovak Learned Society, among whom most prominent were Juraj Fandly (1754-1811), Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836), Jan Holly (1785-1849), Juraj Papanek (1738-1802), Juraj Sklenar (1746-1790), .A!lexander Cardinal Rudnay, Canon Jur Palkovic, were faithful adherents of Enlightenment, sincerely attached to the Slovak people and working for its progress. Juraj Fandly was the leading organizer of the Society, author of popular educational writings and editor of a miscellany dealing with the history of the Slovaks (Compendiata Historiae Gentis Slavae - 1793) . J. I. Bajza wrote the first Slovak novel and a col'leotion of Slovak epigrams; J. Papanek is the author of Historia Gentis Slavae - DeRegno Regibusque Slavorum (1780) ; Juraj Sklenar is the �32 SLOVAKIA author of Vetustissimus Magnae Moraviae Situs (1784); Jan Holly is until now the greatest of Slovak poets who alone "created nearly all poetic genres: the epos, the elegy, the ode and the song, and in whose hanlds the cold form of antique poetry had warmth enough to express strongly the modern idea of national consciousness," as stated Prof. Vlcek in 1890. Actually, all writers of Bernolak's school expressed in their works strong national feelings and their views regarding Slavs, Slavic languages and the plaice of the Slavs in the world; this makes of them precursors of Kollar's and Safarik's ideas of Slavdom. Berno1ak himself regarded the Slavs as one nation with one language divided into "dia~ects" which conception was developed by P. J. Safarik in Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nearly 40 years later. In the introdu~tion to his Gramatica Slavica, published in 1790, Bernolak regarded the Slovak vernacular as one of the Sfavic dialects and urged his countrymen to use it as a literary medium in the same way as the Czechs, the Russians, the Croats and Poles used t heir respective vernaculars. Juraj Papanek in his Historia Gentis Slavae, Fandly in his Compendiata Historiae Slavae an'd in his other writings, and Holly in his poetic works, manirfested also fiery Slovak and Slavic consciousness and national feelings, so that we may see in Bernolak's movement not only a connecting link between his school and Safarik's and Kollar's conceptions of Slavdom, but also an organic and close relation with Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language and his nationalist movement. In this respect we can fully agree with the Marxist literc1ry historians that both movements "grew up from the same process, 1'rom the process of formaJtion of the Slovak nation and are but two different phases of Slovak cultural and national development:Q21). Wh:ile Bernolak's linguistic works substantially influenced the final form of Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language which accepted many 'linguistic elements, used in all parts of Slovakia only because there existed Bernolak's literary language before, ideologically Stu.r's group was influenced mainly by the epics of Jan Holly, poet laureate of Bernolak's school. �SLOVAKIA 33 Stu,r himself acknowledged Holly's dominant influence on the formation of Slovak national ideology and so did until now the " nationalist" as well as the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians(22). Accordtng to Jaroslav Vlcek: "Holly means many things in Slovak literature. He achieved alone wha;t the Czech and the Hungarian poets of classicism worked on a'H togetherC23). For another literary historian "Holly has not been surpassed by any S,l ovak poet, and nowhere else is there to be found such depth of national consciousness and such glory. In crystallized form Holly vigorously enounced the modern idea of nationalism, and this already in the 1800's, and his unsurpassable expression of the national soul has made him and will continue t o make him the grea;test of the Slovak poets"(24). And he is so judged also by contemporary Marxist historians. "Holly is a great poet," says prof. A. Mraz, the main Marxist authority on Slovak literary history, " an:d a cultivated and excellent translator of antique poetry, who synthetized in his works an'tique influences with European Classicism and philosophy of Enlightenmen t. He awakened nationa1 consciousness of his countrymen combining Slavic and Slovak elements in his conception of the Slovak nation. His works prove that even in Bernolak's movement Slavic components were strongly represented. Slovak and Slav unite in harmoneous accord in Holly's ideology"~25). Holly deserves this praise and recognition not only for his own works but also for his masterful transiaJtions from practically all renowned poets from Virgil, Ovid, Theocritus, Horace to Homer. The first volume of his translations was published in 1824, the translation of Virgiil's Aeneid in 1828; these were highly commended even of Jungmann, Safarik and Niederle. After having enriched Slovak literatures by his translations, Holly composed in cfa:ssic mold anld with many overtones of 'bhe antique poetry his three epics in which he proved that his talent and erudition were outstanding and that the new Slovak literary language was rioh and flexible enough for complex poetic creations. At the same time he also demonstrated to the Slovaks and to the out side world thait the Slovak past was great and glorious and that there is, therefore, also a future for the Slovak people. �34 SLOVAKIA To achieve this, Holly created in his poetic works a new national ideology, anchored in the traditions of the Great Moravian Empire and in the cultural achievements of SS. Cyril and Methddius, the founders of Slovanic letters. In 1833 he published his Svatopluk, a heroic epic about the life and glory of the powerf.Ull ruler of Great Moravia, in twelve cantos. In 1835 his Cyrilo-Methodiada, a poetic account of the achievements of the Apostles of Slovaks, was published in Budapest in six cantos, and to complete the ima:ge of a heroic past of his people, Holly crea1~ed also an epic in seven cantos about a mythical forefather of the Slovaks, Slav, and in his Elegies he 'lamented over the desb-uction of the Great Moravian Empire, 'bhe first kingdom of the Slovaks, ruined by treachery, villainy, and perfidy. The national and ideological components of Holly's poetry are strong also in his Odes and Idylles (1835), which, together with his epics, a,wakened to life a new generation that broke with the past not only in linguistic division of Slovaks but also in cultural and political orientation. "At a time," says Mraz, "when the Slovaks mostly felt the need to strengthen their national ideology by historic consciousness, Holly came in a monumenta,1 way with his support." He created by his works not only a Slovak national poetry and ideology, but urging the Slovaks to regard their past with pride he revived the present and encouraged the Slovaks to look to the future with hope. Holly achieved this "w~t:h nothing more than a nonliterary, formless dialect at his disposa[ which he molded and shaped into a rich poetic language." His poetry was not much influenced by European pseudo-Classicism and contemporary Romanticism. He g.r ew up f<rom an antique culture and poetry, and ideologically only he interpreted . the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak people of the period oif Enlightenment and t he f.irst decades of Romanticism. While his contemporary Jan KoHar "wandered on the expansive meadows of Slavdom," Holly devoted his talents to building Slovak national consciousness, culture and ideology which made him a precursor anld: a spiritual leader also for the coming generation of C. Stt'.ir's na- �SLOVAKIA 35 tionalist and romantic school. "HoHy's message lived also in the generation to come which refused his classicist forms but creatively clung to his ideological heritage," admits the Marxist literary historian A. Mraz, and adds that "Bernolak's movement triumphed in Holly's achievements and greatness; it found in his works the most creative and ideological culmination"(26). III Marxist Evaluation of Bernolak's Movement Unlike the contributors to American symposia who be1ittled A. Bernolak and his movement, Marxist literary historians write about Bernolak and his followers with high esteem. Although the works of the members of Bernolak's school and his Learned Societies clearly indica!te the tendency to reflect the national struggle and the awakening of a national consciousness among Slovaks - which is in conflict with the "Czechoslovak" tendencies of the Communist party - the Marxist literary historians were allowed to publish scores of books and studies on Bernolak and his movement. Among the first works which dealt with this period in a suvprisingly tolerant way was "A History of Slovak Literature" (Dejiny sfovenskej literatury) by Prof. A. Mraz, who for his services to the present regime in Slovakia was promoted to the rank of an "akademik" (academician). Other valuable works and studies were published by Dr. Imrich Kotvan and Jan Tiibensky, who apparently specializes in this period "ex offo." Kotvan's work Bernolakovci (1948) and Bibliografia Bernolakovcov (Bibliography of Bernolak's School) published in 1957, together with T. Ti'bensky's book J. Papanek-J. SklenarC27), also published in 1957, as well as a series of his stu!dies in periodi'caJs, give the impression that Marxist literary historians try to evaluate Bernolak's movement without the customary prejudice against Catholic writers, and that in many respects :they agree with the views expressed before by the "bourgeois and nationalist" scholars and literary historians (J. Vlcek, J. �36 SLOVAKIA Skultety, S. Krcmery, J. Kacka, A. A . Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, etc.) . This is evident especiaHy in Ti'bensky's controversy with Prof. Wollmann's uncritical deprecation of Bernolak's movement(28), but also in some recen :: studies of Mraz and in the new History of Slovak Literature, compiled by a " coHective" of younger historians under the direction of Prof. M. Pisut. In a comprehensive explanatory note to Kotvan's Bibliography, which on 400 pages gives an interesting picture of Bernolak's movement, we can read that the Marxist scholars "consider the second half of :the eighteenth and the first half od: the nineteenth century, which is the period of Bernolak's activities, "one of the interesting , not yet thoroughly investigated periods forming a milestone in Sfovak history"{29). In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak not only reformed and cddiified the Sfovak literary language and its orthography, but also started a vast national and cultural movement based on a t radition m,ore tJhan a hundred years old. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollossi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholid," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on whioh the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an in\dependent Slovak literary language. CrystallizaJtion of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777) , progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his foHowers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, t hey merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period"(30). Mraz also recognizes Bernolak's merits in the whole �SLOVAKIA 37 of Slovak cultural life. "Bernolak did not stop at writing his s,c holarly works," says Mraz. "He used them to push ahead Slovak national and cultural life on new tracks, which he attained by his cu]tural and organizatory activities." According to Tibensky, who made some original research into this period, Bernolak's movement was "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th century, and it undoubtedly played a progressive role in the Slovak naJtional development"1(®L). "There is no doubt whatsover," says Tibensky, "that Bernolak's literary language and his movement played a very important role in the Slovak national development. Their importance is far from being sufficiently explored and evaluated. Works published until now are merely the first step to the accomplishment of an imporitant task of Slovak scholarship." There is ndt, so far, much new in the Marxist writings on Bernolak's movement. The Marxist Academy of Sciences is merely compiling the scholaI"ly research which was going on for the last 25-30 years and in which scholars like A. A. Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, V. Gajdos and others, brought to light new manuscripts or additional information. 'Dhe Marxist literary historians, of course, at·tempt to give a new interpretation to what the "bourgeois" scholars said on Slovak literature, language, national consciousness and Slovak national aspirations. "While in the past !the researchers into the origin of Bernolak's movement and especialtly into its literary language considered in the first place ideological elements, for instance, the influence of the Counter-Reformation, the Marxist scholarship," says Ti1bensky, "endeavors to explain the origin of Bernolak's movement and of its literary medium in the context of the entire Slovak social and economic development in given centuries: it takes into account, in the first place, economic and pomico-cultural factors"(32). Ideological influences are considered by Marxist historians as seconldary in the formation of Bernolak's move- �38 SLOVAKIA ment. "The movement is an outstanding manifestation of 'the process of transformation of a feudal Slovak nationality into a modern bourgeois nation," conclu'des Tibensky. In view of this, Bernolak's movement is credited by Marxist historians also with the fact that, as a result of Bernolak's activities, "the process of the formation of the Slovak nation and cu~ture was entering a new stage, determined by the activities of r.. Stur (1815-1856), and by the creation, on the basis of a Central Slovak dialect, of the modern Slovak literary language"{G3). Prof. Eugen Pauliny, who apparently is regarded among contemporary Marxist Slovak phHologists as an authority on the history of the Slovak language, regards Bernolak's period as an important stage in the development of Slovak national life. "Bernolak's language and his conceptions of Slovak national life, conceptions in which his reform originated, mean an important milestone in Slovak nrubional development," says Pauliny in his "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" (A History of the Slovak Literary Language). "Bernolak's movement, even if represenlted only by Slovak Catholics, takes Slovak national individuality, in a clear and understandable formulation, as a fact and connects it with the whole of Slavdom in its contemporary as weH as historical context. As a tool of this ideology Bernolak brought his theoretically elaborated and practically tested Slovak literary language," continues Pauliny. According to Pauliny, Bernolak's language was not used only for religious purposes, as some Slavists assert. "There were in Bernolak's school also religious writings, but not of a polemic char8!Cter; they were didactic and, besides them, 'there was religious poetry and theological writings. However, the center of gravity of Bernolak's school lays in vafoable writings for the education of the large masses, and in poetry. Bernolak's language was a well elaborated literary language which the Catholic Slovaks useid for more than a ha:lf century, in fact, officially up to 1851, when unity was achieved in the literary language" (among CaJtholics and Protestants). From the philological point of view, Bernolak's re- �SLOVAKIA 39 form was based not only on the language, written and spoken by the educated Slovak strata in Western Slovakia and created in the cultural center of Trnava, but also on the dia'l ect of Bernolak's native province Orava, which belongs to the cenltral Slovak dialectical areas('36). In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vz€ahov Oechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernola:k codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Ca!bholic an!d. Protestant writings" (3r7). As for the connection of Bernolak'is school with Stiir's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxist literary historians and philologists. Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginilling of tJhe Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school," and he adds: "In Bernolak's school c,ulminates the older phase of Slovak natio nal diwelopment, but simultaneously it means also the beginning of a new epoch a,nd is very closely connected with the develo;pmen,t of nrutional consciousness of Stur's period. Bernolak''s movement tbuilds upon the feudail Slwak national con\Sdousness of the li8th century, but at the same time this movement enounces and consciously fo11mulates , for the first time, the modem Slovak nation,alism. "We find in the writings of the most important members oif Bernolak's Learned Society, Bernolak, Fandly, J HoMy, a compl~tely different ideology from that of the clergy of t he Gouniter-Uleformation of the 1"7:th and 18th century. It is an ideology of Slowk ,n,ationalism as derined and 11.mderstood by the Enlightenment, and it evci.1ved in bhe writings of the most out.Sitanding members of this group, Fan.dly an'd Jlolly, into the ideology of a modern Slovak nation. Stu.r's group used it as a foundation and developed it int o a mor•e modem conception in accordance with contemporary Euro·p ean ideological trends." 1 • Stur himself admitted this in his "Narecia slovenskuo," writing: "Our Catholic brothers did exactly what we are doing now and intend to do; they desired to a,chieve what we are desiring to achieve; they were concerned in their hearts a:bout the same matter that we cherish in our hearts''(3-8). �40 SLOVAKIA We hardly need any more convincing proof that Sb1r's group considered Bernolak's group as "older co-fighters on the same ideological battlefield," concludes Pauliny. To sum up, we can safely say that Bernolak's work and his school were an important factor in Slovak cultural and lilterary development and as such they deserve more attention and more objective anlaysis by scholars in the field of American Slavic studies. On the other hand, Slovak scholars in the free world have a moral duty to correct the mi,sconceptions which crept into Slavic studies largely because of a lack of English written studies on Slovak culture other than those supplied by Slavists of Czech origin and the works by Slovaks mentioned below. REFERENCE NOTES: '1. Journal of Central European Affairs, University of Colorado, The American Slavic and East European Review, Columbia University Press, The Slavic and East European Journal, Ln<liana UnLversity, Slavic and East European Studies, Un1versity of Montreal, Canadian Slavonic Pape.rs, University of Toronto Press. 2. Besides books edited· by Kerner, Strakhovsky, Busek-Spul1ber, and S. H. Thomson-, there are many misconceptions al-so in works w,rit-ten or edited by Prof. J. S. Rloucek, namely in his Cemral Entern Europe, or Slavonic Encyclopedi·a, by Felix Gross and C. E. BJ.ack. 3. The thesis that Great l\furarvian writings and culture belong to the cu1tural heritage of Slovaks has been sUJpported by both ,n.ationalist and Marxist Slovak literary ,h istorians. Cf. in English Jioseph Skultety: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, p. 229; J. M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation At the Crossroads of Cerwtral E·urope; and in the Slovak la,n guage: Dej iny star sei slovenskej literatury by M,axxist historfans (JI. MisianLk, J. Minarik, M. Mich'aloova, A. Melichercilk), Bratislava,, 1008, p. 3120. ,4. Cf. Dmitry Cizevsky: Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, AmerLcan Academy of Arts and Scienees, Boston, Mass., 1952; Lvalil J. Krarnoris: Chrono1ogic.al Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, 1946; Peter P. Yurchak : The SloYaks, J . J. Lach, Pulblications, Whiting, Indiiana•, 1947; J'. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia: Nation At the Crossroads of Central E-u rope, p. 35-00. 5. See University Traditions in Slovakia in J. M. · Kirsch:baUJm's op. cit.; and Stephen J. Palickar's Slovakian Culture in the Light of History, The Hampshire Press, Cambrid·ge, Mass., 1954. 6. Cf. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact in The Slavic and East EuT.opean Sltudies, Montreal, 1956, Part I, p. 4>:x54. 7. Published by Princeton University Press, 1943, 390 pp. A critical review from the Slovak poi.n-t of view see in Slovak Review, Vol. I, Nio. 2., by Ivan, J. Kra,rnoris. 8. Published by HarvaTd University Press, Cambridge, Mas•s .• �SLOVAKIA 41 1949. Chapter on Slovak linguistics by A. Senn is more in line with scholarly research. 9. Published by University of Oalifornia Press, 1949. A critical review froon the Slovak point df view in quarterly Slovakiia, Middletown, Pa .. , Vol. v,v,r, by Philiip A. Hrobak. 10. P;u!blished by Mid,,European Stu<lies Ce,n,t er of the Free Europe Commi>ttee, Inc., New Yol'k, 1957. The chapter on Slovaik literaiture was wz,iflten by Czech writers H. Kucera and E. lfovtun, who are unknown in Slovak literary history. 'lil. American presentation of Slovak literature is strangely d<iffererut also from European evaluation as ev,i denced in the works: Ernest Denis: Le probleme de l'Autriche-Les Slovaques, Piaris, 1917; A. Fischel: Pa,nslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and• Berlin, 191•9; Bruno Meriggi, Storia delle letterature ceca e Slovacca, University of Florence, 195'9. 112. Of. J. J:~obeus: Vii:a Gentis Slavicae, published in '164Q; introduction to B. Szollossi's Cantus Catholici, pu1b li5hed in 16>55; D. Sinapius Horcicka, Neoforum Latino-Slovenicum, 1679; J. Piscatori-sFischer: De origine, inre ac utilitatae linguae slavonicae, pulblished in 1697; J . B. Magin: ·Murices .. sive Apologia, pulblished in 1728; S. Timon: Imago an,t ique Hunga,riae, 11735; J. Papanek: Historia gen•: is slavae, '1'7•80; J. Fandly: Compendiata Historiae Slavae, 17193. 13. See op. cit. by P. P. Yurt:hak, S. J. Palickar, I. J . Kramoris, as well as articles by C. Piotocek ifil; Slovak Review, by Philip A. Hro\bak in Slovakia, by E. Podikrivac!Jcy in Slovakia, Vol. m, 3, a,n d J. Pombsky's book K stemu vyrociu literarnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), abrana Press, Scranlton, 1945, 290 pp. 'l><t. Cf. Prof. A. MTaz: Dejiny slovenskej literatury, S'1ovenska aikademia vied a umeni, Bratisla,va, 1948, Dejin.y star-lei slovenskej litel'a:u,ry, SA V, 1-959, Dejiny slovenskej Literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960; as well as works by I. Kotvan, Jlan 'J1i1bens'ky, etc., quoted farther. 16. Cf. Dr. :Emrich Kotvan: Biblografia Bernolakovcov, Ma·tica sl-ovensika, Martin, 195'7', p. 403-404. 16. Cf. Jarosla;v Vlcek: Dejiny litera,t ury slovenskej, 1st edition, 1,890, second edition by .Miatica slovenska, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923, p. 27-39, e tc. Prof. V'lcek's work is the first aicademic history of Slo;vak liternture and as such was incomplete. His views were, nevertheless, accepted by ma•n y contemporary histori-ans. Prof. V'lceik was born in Slovakia, but his main work is A History of Czech Literature. As a professor at the University of Prague he changed some of his views in favor of the official "Czechoslovak" thesis. 17. Cf. Dr. Imrich Kotvan, op. cit. p. 403-404. ·1.8. Geschichte der Slaiwischen Sprache und Literatur nach alien Mundar-ten, Offen, 1826, p. 373-300. ·w. Qp. cit. p 32-34. 20. Cf. limrich Kotvan: Bernol·a kovci, Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Trnaiva, 1'948, p. 4. '21. Cf. J·a n T~bensky's inrtrod-uc-tion to I. K,otvan's mbliografia Bernolaklovcov, p. 7-9. 22. Of. J. M. Kirschlbaum: l!udovit Stiur and His Place in the Sliavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg, 1956. Alccordfog to M. Pisut, a Marxist expert on Sttir's period, the fina-1 sta•ge of Slovak eMorts to build an independent national culture had its roots in t,he wol'ks· of �42 SLOVAKIA P. J. Safm-ik, Jan Holly, Kollar, a1nd Kuzmar..y. Mraz stresses Holly's significan:Ce in connection wLth Stur's movement. Cf. Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni sjezd slavisitu v Moskve, Priaha, 1958, p. 3313-345 and 4l2:l-46~. 23. Op. cit. p. 80. 124. Cf. Jioz,ef ~acka: Dejin,y literatury slovenskej, Rufomberok, li92L, pUJblished in English translation by the Nation·al News, Pittsburgh, Pa., '119441, quoted from P. P. Yurchak, op. cit. p. 103Jl.04. '25. Of. his artfole in Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. sjezd sla• vistu v Moskve. 26. ]bidem ,27. Cf. Jian T,ilbensky, J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej narodnOS11i v 18. sitoroci, Osveta, Martin, 1958. 28. Of. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia, Historicky cas()fpis, ViJ!I, 4, 1'959, p. 557~576. Tilbensky proves thia,t many views of Prof. WoUma,n n, in his Slovanstvi v ja11:ykovelite• rarnim obro11:eni Slovanu, Praha, 1'!)58, are prejudilced against S<Iovaiks and particularly a•g ainst Catho1ics. 29. Op. cit., p. 403-405. 3'0. Op. cit., p, 416-1108. :n. Historicky casqpis, ViII, 4, 574. 32. B~bUograd'ia bernolakoVICOV, p. 8. 3'3. ]bidem, p. 404. 34. Published: in '19418. 35. Eug,e n Paulin:y: Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, p . 65. 3·6. ]bLdem, p. 63. 37. p. 111'3. 38. Eugen Pawliny: 0 vzajomnych vzt'ahov Cechov a Slovakov, Slovenska AkadiemLa Vied, Bra1t;islav,a, 1956; pp. 1)1.3, 11115. 3•9. Among periodicals pulblished •b y Universities it is only the Slavic and Ea·Slt European Studies (University of Miontreal, Quebec, Canada) which sy,steana:tically comments Slovalk literary and cultur,al topics in an objective mar.iner. ANONYMOUS LETTERS, wri.tten, to Red leader,s in Slo,vak,ia, are causing some concern to tihe regime. 'I1he Bra1tiislav,a RJadii,o recently reminded its listeners that writers of .s uch le•uters, if revealed, ar,e in for stiff filnes and long jail sentences. T·he reaction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the collaborators of Red Prague. • • • IN THIE WOR<KERS' PAR.4.DISE, according to Radio Bratisfava: SI,ovakiia is behind in its milk quota 6,600,666 liiters (4'18-61,); the Trebisov district owes !!he S<tate 1,0815,000 lirter,s of milk this year (,3Jl0,6l'; Dolny Kubin, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did n-Olt produce even a deciliter per COIW (3-9-61); in Braltislav,a (S.tiree't of the Defenders of Peace) women waited for meat from 2:00 to 6:3,0 p. m. (3~20.,61); there is a· great abUJnd'ance o:f feed for cattle and calves, 'but it's all r,ot,ten; the people work the ·farms, but ste,al over haif the prodootion (~20-GL); we have no tires, 'i>ut why,? I heard the explanation that t he reason, for this is the war in Lao-s (2-0.11,61 1) . � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 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 22 SLOVAKIA MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK LITERATURE J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I American Slavists and Slovak Literature For the past two decades we have witnessed in America a fast growing interest in the Slavic world and Slavic culture. There is hardly a reputaJble American Uniiversi:ty which would not have organired a department of Slavic Studies, and the number of books published on Slavic subjects, as well as the number of periodicals('l) which deal entirely or pa:r,tly with the problems of East Centrial Europe, is without precedent in any other country. '.Dhere are, however, severa'l phenomena in this vast and fast development of Slavic Studies and in books and symposia about the Slavs, which indicate that American Slavic Studies may easily be pushed on a wrong track. American scholarship in this field of Slavic S:udies is predominantly in the hands of scholars, teachers or writers, who came from Europe during or after the Second World War, and who brought with them not only knowledge and a;bi-lities for academic work, but some of them brought also their prejudices, old rivalries, national prides and the nationa,l aspirations of their countries of origin. This is especially true with regard to some former politicians, diplomats, an!d civil servants from Eastern European countries who became teachers, lecturers, and professors at American universities or contrilbutors to periodicals and symposia published by universities. Institutions, books and periodicals deal1ing with Slavic Studies became for some of them new arenas for fighting lost cultural or political battles, for fostering cultural naitionalism or even poHtical chauvinism. They often use university positions or academic periodicals not for spreading objective scholarly knowledge about a very important area of the globe and about several vigorous peoples which represent the Slavic world, but rather try to prevent the SLOVAKIA 23 truth to be known or ignorance and false propaganda to be exposed. This politkal element, though it is less apparent during the last yea-rs, certainly did some harm to American scholarshi,p in the field of Slavic Studies. How far unobjective and unscholarly some writers on Slavic subjeots can become, we can see best by anailyzing the contributions on Slovakia and on Slowk literature to the American symposia and books on Czecho-Slovakia(2). It is true that Slovak Hterature did not achieve a prominence such as some other Slavic literature did, but from various points of view it is an intereslting field for academic research. The history of Slovak literature did not begin in 1844, as some American symposia emphasize, but goes back to the ninth century to the Great Moravian Empire(3). After the collapse of the Great Moravian Empire in the ten'bh century, Slovakia became a part of the Central European cultura,l area in which a:11 peoples (Poles, Slovaks, Magyars, Czechs, Croats, etc.) used the Latin language as their literary medium and began to develop their cultures and literatures in their own vernacular only from the 17th or 18th century, if not later. And so did also the Slovaks, though we can find some literary writings or documents in the Slovak vernacular a long time before, and a Slovak professor at the University of Prague, Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery, reproached his Slovak countrymen for neglecting their Slovak language as early as in 1603. We can safely say that Slovakia and Silovak culture developed along the same pattern as the cultures and literatures of a!ll other Cenltra,l European peoples, mainly the Western Slavs, from Humanism to Olassi:cism, Romantism, Realism, and modern literary currents{4). Humanism found an early entry into Slovakia through the University of Bratislava (Academia Istropolitana, founlded in 1645), and through numerous students and professora studying or 'teaching abroad (Bologna, Padova, Prague, Cracow). It giave a meaningful impulse to 'literary production, especiaUy in. homiletic writings. The second university on the Slovak territory, the University of Trnava, founded in 1635, gave a strong impulse to the 24 SLOVAKIA cultural life in Slovakia both in the Latin and Slovak languages, but literary activities were mostly restrided to religion, history, geogrnphy, ma!thematics and jurisprudence(5). It was not before 1750 that a volume of original verses in the Slovak vernacufar was composed and published by Hugolin Gavlovic (1712-1787)). The first translation of the Bible was accomplished in 1756; the first LatinSlovak dictionary appeared in 1763; religious hymns were com posed by Jan Silvan in 1536 ; amd the first collection of religious songs, containing 227 iitems in the Slovak vernacu'lar, was published in the Cantus Catholici in 1655. Between this period and the date when the first novel in Slovak language appeared in 1783, there was more than a score of Slova,k scho'lars and writers who wrote grammars (V. Benedicti, D. Kriman), historical and apologetic works (D. Jacobeaus, D. Synapius Horcicka, J. Piscatoris Fischer, M. Szentivany, J. B. Magin, Samuel Timon, M. Bel, J. Severini, J. Fandly A. F. Kollar, etc) anld who defended in Latin 'the Slovak people,. its right to its own national life and nationail language, and developed also several theories on the past and origin of Slavs, on Slovak culture and the continuity of Slovakia with Great Moravia. The era of Enlightenment brought a general revival of national culture in Slovakia. The Protestants still used t he btblical Czech language also in secu[ar writings (besides German), but the Catholic Slovaks, abandoning Latin since the beginning of the Counter-Reformation, passed to 1:Jhe exclusive use of the Slovak vernacular, codified befor the end of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak in several scholarly works. Thus literature in the Slovak language was created continuously from the 17th century and produced, before the period of Romanticism, over 100 writers in Bernolak's school alone, among them the poet Jan Holly, whose genius according to many literary historians, was not surpassed by any Slovak poet except P. 0. Hviezdoslav in the 20th century. From the 18th century, Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, and aM dther literary currents which appeared in the European literatures, were represented also SLOVAKIA 23 in Slovakia more or less in the same way as in other Slavic countrie s. Similar to other Slavic literatur es is also the dErvelopment under the impact of Soviet literatur e and Marxist theories on literary history(6 ). Despite the fact that this develop ment was for a long time scholarl y explored and support ed by a score of works in Slovak, as well as in foreign languag es, the history of Slovak literatur e has been an object of confuse d nad controversial interpre tations in books and symposi a publishe d by America n Slavis'~s . The best known America n and Canadia n symposi a are in basic disagree ment with this outline of Slovak literary history as we can see from the followin g: 1. Accordi ng to S. H. Thomso n, who in his book "Czechoslova kia in Europea n History" (?) attempt ed to give a fair picture of the Slovak past but was apparen tly misled by his sources, "The Slovaks had no opportu ity to develop (after the disappearance of the Great Moravian Empire in the 10th century ) their own culture, written languag e, political instituti ons or social concepts in any indepen dent way." This situation lasted for nine cen'turie s, accordin g to Prof. Thomso n's views. "A deli-bera te effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local diailect came from the Ca-tholire camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernola k publishe d a Gramati ca Slavica. " But "about the onlly follower s Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his gramma r and dictiona ry soon died out," writes Prof. Thomso n, stating that the year 1834-1835 is usually given as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although s':rictly speaking , ~tur did not make his first formal declarat ion until 1846." 2. The contribu ,~or to L. I. Strakho vsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies"(B), the Czech writer Otto Radl, gives even a more inaccura te and incompl ete piicture of Slovak literature. On page 491 he writes that "As early as 1635 in Trnava books were still printed in differen t Slovak dialects, more than two hundred years before the introduc tion of Slovak as a separate literary languag e," but three pages. further he sta,tes: 26 SLOVAKIA "While the quantity of Roma,rutrc literature in the Czech lang uage •was growing in Bohemia and Morarvia,, an illllPoritant ch•a nge was taking place in Slovakia. The heretofore common written langua:ge, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly originated Slovak literary la,ruguage. This movement had begun a,t the end of the 1.S'th century ,by the learned Slovak p'hilologist Antonin Bernolak who pufblished sever-al woi,ks in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefor•e use their own distinctive written la,ruguage based on dia'lect spoken in Western Slov>alkia. "Some of the mo·s t important writers• of Slo:vak origin, such as Kollar and Saifariik, were strong1y oppos·ed to this change. . . Opposing them stood siUICh S'lovak writers -as Stur and Hurban .. ... SlOIVak as a ·written language wa·s first introduced Ln, J r8 44." Slovak literatu~e begins for Ra-dl with I'... Stur in 1844, and no literary work or Slovak writer, except Bernonak, Kol,lar and Safarik (the :two later indluded by him in Czech literature) is mentioned in his study dea.Jing with Slovak literature for the periods preceeding Romanticism and Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language. 3. According to R. J. Kerner's "Czechoslovakia"(9) Slovak literature began only in 1845 anld that Slovak renaissance was linked with "what was going on in Bohemia and with the philosophy of Enlightenmen t and the Romanticism of Herder" and "had its center in Bratislava." "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create, with indifferent success at the time, a written Slovak dialect," says the book. Trnava is not at all mentioned. KoNar and Safarik are mentioned as Slovaks, hurt placed among the Czech writers. Altogether three S1ovak poets are mentioned (Samo Chaluka, J anko Krar, and Jan Botto) in the whole chapter dealing with the period from the battle of White Mountain (1620) to World War I, and three others (A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), P. 0. Hv:ie~doselav (1849-1921) and Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916) - in the chapter on "Czechoslovak" literature. For the after-war period the book gives four names: Ivan Krasko, Martin Razus, E. B. Lukac, and J. Gregor-Tajov sky. 4. The most recent symposium, V. Busek-N. SpuJber's "Czechoslovakia" Cl-0), did not try to dispel confusion and complete the knowledge on Slovak literature, although the work was published in 1957 by the Mid-European Studies Center and one of the editors, Professor V. Busek, spent many years in Slovakia. SLOVAKIA 27 While the Marxist literary historians produced a book of 320 pages on the older Slovak literature and a bibliography on Bernolak's movement ( 410 pages) shows over 100 writers, Busek-Spulber's symposium has only the fo1lowing to say in the chapter on Czech and Slovak literature: ... "the first attempts were made ~asid,e from earlier sporad'ic venrtures' to esta1blish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 1'8th century by Anton Bernolak Cl 76Vlt81t3) who selected the Westenn, Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary me• dium : his suggestions, not elaJborated Hn-guistically, did not taike permanent hold. "The decisiN"e step towards the estatbHshment of a Sl'orvak lite,rary language was undertaken through the initJiative of the ProteSlttants. Uudovit Stur selected the centra.l Slovak dialect for the Sl.ovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, severa,l poets followed Stur a,n,d used the new literary language with great skHl." Jlt would appear from the above quotations that Amer- ican Slavists will have to revise many of their views and complete their knowledge{l l). It is evident that they generally regarid Slovak literature of the cen'turies preceding Sh'.ir's reform of the S'lovak literary language as not worth much attention. Outstanding figures of Slovak cultural life are eibher unknown or treated as quantite negligea'ble (Bernolak) by contributors to American or Canadian symposia. The periods of Baroque and Enlightenment, in whi~h erudite Slovaks wrote in their mother tongue besides Latin and biblical "Czech", were undoU'bted!ly important s tages in Slovak cultural life and national development. And yet, even the leading fitgures of the Slovak renaissance around Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Ho'11y are either unknown or greatly underestimated if at all mentioned. Such is also the case with regard to writers and scholars who in previous periods published high:ly interesting works on the origin of Slavs in genera,1, and on the past of 'the Slovaks in particular, as well as on Slavic languages, Slavic culture, and the significance of the Sfavs in European civHization. It has been more or less generally accepted that, for instance, Paul J. Safarik's or John Kollar's Slavic consciousness were awakened by German philosophers during their studies in Jena and that t:he idea of Slavic unity and greatness became known mostly by the merits of Safarik and Kol'lar. In fact, Safarik and Kollar had several pre1 28 SLOVAKIA decessors among Slovak writers and scholars who developed their theories on the origin of the Slavs, on Slavic linguistic and racial unity and the "glorious past" in voluminous Latin works in the 17th and 18th centuries(12), and Jan Holly described the "glorious past" of the Slavs in his great epic works, written in Slovak, much better and with greater poetic talent than Jan Kollar. Safarik wrote his volume of poetry "Muza Tatranska s lyrou slovanskou" (The Tatrean Muse With Slavic Lyra) also a long time before he went to Jena, because the Slovak writers of the 17th and 18th centuries created an a'tmosphere of Slavic patriotism and mutuaiJ.ity in S'lovakia. This will certainly be new to many American Slavists although it is not new .in Slovakia or in some S:lavic and West European works on Slavic literatures. Not only the so-called "nationalist" Slovak scholars published many works and st udies in which they outlined the continuous development of Slovak culture and literature, but also some Americans of Slovak descent tried to acqua..int American scholars with the true picture of Srl ovakia's literary development,(13). Most recently the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians published severa'1 comprehensive works which besides 'their "Marxist interpretation" make an interesting contribution to Slavic studies(14). In aH American symposia from which we have quoted, it is, however, Bernolak's movement which has been presented most superficially and most unobjectively. Contributors to these symposia are in this regard even far behind the "Marxist" literary historians who, forgetting their customary prejudices against Catlholic clergymen, present Bernolak's scho()l and his movement as "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th cent ury," and expressed no doubts about the scholarly merits of Bernolak's linguistic works or Holly's poetic greatness. For this reason we feel that Bernolak's movement dzserves a more detailed ana'lysis in a separate chapter. SLOVAKIA 29 II Bernolak's Movement and Its Importance In Slovak Literature Bernolak's movement is concurrent with the period of Enlightenmen't and represents a final phase of Slovak literary and national renaissance whfoh began in the seventeenth century. This has been recognized even by the Marxist literary historians who state that "the process of linguistic Slovakization in Slovak literature was on the upgrade mainly since the seventeenth century" and that the "nation-forming tendencies in the Slovak language and culture were best expressed in the movement led by Anton Bernolak (1763-1813) especially in his endeavor to raise to the status of a literary language the Western Slovak dialect"(l\5). Berno'lak's movement lasted over 60 years and comprised three genera1tions of writers who in their Slovak or Latin writings expressed comparatively strong Slovak and Slovanic (Slaviic) national consciousness. According to Jaroslav Vlcek, professor at the University of Prague, the literature of Bernolak's school "developed in al'l directions: it had scholarly and popular writers in the field of theology, it had linguists an!d aiuthors of diclJionaries, translators and editors of antiquities, successful popular writers and generous supporters. In Jan Holly the Bernolak school got also its poeta laureatus"(16). And it had also its historians. Vlcek wrote these lines on Bernolak's movement in 1890 and contemporary research proves that he was not overestimating its importance. According to Marxist histori'a ns, ,~he Slovak Learned Society, founded in Trnava in 1792 with numerous branches in Central and Eastern Slovakia, and even outside Slovakia, numlbered in Slovakia alone about 500 registered members, mainly Catholic clergymen, of whom about 100 were active authors and writers(l 7). Among its members and generous supporters was .Mexander Cardinal Rudnay, Primate of Hungary, who besides writing many sermons and translating Cicero into Slovak assisted the Society financially. Professor of theology Canon Jur Palkovic translated the Bible into Slo- 30 SLOVAKIA vak and financed Bernola.k's and Holly's works. Professors of theologic faculties from Ostrihom, Trnava, Nitra, also were members of the Learned Society. P. J. Safa.rik, who later favored a sort of a Slo,v ak lite,r ary language based on a Czech grammar, wrote in his first work, published in 1826~118), regarding Bernola.k's school: "their growing zeal for the development and advancement of Slovak literature cannot be praised enough." And Professor Vlcek wrote in 1890 that "what in literatures of all Slavic peoples appeared as an expression of an awakened national consciousness and nationail indivilduality, it logically appeared also aimong Slovaks. The firslt to express that as a firm literary principle was A. Bernola.k." Bernola.k "was not a literary revolutionary," continues Prof. Vlcek, "but a consequent codifier of what grew and ripened before him over one hundred years in the writings of Catholic Slovaks as a linguistic fact",('19). Of course, Prof. Vlcek does not share the opinion of American symposia stating that "Bernola.k's attempts to est31blish a distinct Slovak literary language were not elaiborated linguistically," or that he tried "with indif.ferent success to create a written Slovak dia~ec't." On the contrary, in his Dejiny literatiiry slovenskej, Prof. Vlcek states that Bernola.k was well acquainted with the work done in the field of linguistics by predecessors such as Matej Bel and Pavel Dolefal, both from the first half of the 18th century, as well as wiith the tendencies of Catholic writers associated with the University of Trnava. There can ha11dly be any doubt that Bernola.k's movement means an important stage in Sfovak cultural and national development. The first manifestation of this new era in the Slovak national life was the publication of Bernola.k's work Disser'tation Philologic<rCritica de Literis Slavorum (1787) in which Bernola.k formulated the principles of the Slovak literary language. His formal directives for the introduction of the Slovak language into literature Bernola.k gave in the same yeair in his work Linguae Slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae Usitatae Compendiosa simul et facilis Orthographia. In 1790 he published in Latin his grammar of the new Slovak Literary language, Gramatica 31 SLOVAKIA Slavica, which later appeared in two German translations; and in 1791 was published his work on the etymology of Slovak words, Ethymologia Vocum Slavicarum. Bernolak's main work Slowar Slovenski, Cesko-Latinsko..:Nemecko-Uherski, was published (1825-1827) after Bernolak's death by Canon Jur Palkovic in six volumes, 530 pp. The work, which reads in English translation "A Dictionary of the Slovak, Czech, Latin, German and Hungarian Tongues," contained also phraseology, etymology and synonyms of the new Slovak literary language. Bernolak's works "gave a stimulus to the development of modern Slovak literature growing up directly from the living sources of the Slovak people," as admitte'd even by Marxist critics, and his movement "was, on the whole, in agreement with similar contemporary trends current among the Ukrainians, the Bulgarians, the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes." His "Dissertatio" caused "a revolution in the development of Slovak language," says I. Kotvan, "and at the same time led to a desirable national advancement in the ideo1ogical development of Slovak nationa I consciousness; it also hastened the foundation of the Slovak Learned Society in 1792 which grouped in its ranks all ardent Slovaks, en'l:!husiastic for Slovak culture, social and economic progress and for the political and national fate of Slovakia"(20). 1 Bernolak and the members of hi's Slovak Learned Society, among whom most prominent were Juraj Fandly (1754-1811), Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836), Jan Holly (1785-1849), Juraj Papanek (1738-1802), Juraj Sklenar (1746-1790), .A!lexander Cardinal Rudnay, Canon Jur Palkovic, were faithful adherents of Enlightenment, sincerely attached to the Slovak people and working for its progress. Juraj Fandly was the leading organizer of the Society, author of popular educational writings and editor of a miscellany dealing with the history of the Slovaks (Compendiata Historiae Gentis Slavae - 1793) . J. I. Bajza wrote the first Slovak novel and a col'leotion of Slovak epigrams; J. Papanek is the author of Historia Gentis Slavae - DeRegno Regibusque Slavorum (1780) ; Juraj Sklenar is the 32 SLOVAKIA author of Vetustissimus Magnae Moraviae Situs (1784); Jan Holly is until now the greatest of Slovak poets who alone "created nearly all poetic genres: the epos, the elegy, the ode and the song, and in whose hanlds the cold form of antique poetry had warmth enough to express strongly the modern idea of national consciousness," as stated Prof. Vlcek in 1890. Actually, all writers of Bernolak's school expressed in their works strong national feelings and their views regarding Slavs, Slavic languages and the plaice of the Slavs in the world; this makes of them precursors of Kollar's and Safarik's ideas of Slavdom. Berno1ak himself regarded the Slavs as one nation with one language divided into "dia~ects" which conception was developed by P. J. Safarik in Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nearly 40 years later. In the introdu~tion to his Gramatica Slavica, published in 1790, Bernolak regarded the Slovak vernacular as one of the Sfavic dialects and urged his countrymen to use it as a literary medium in the same way as the Czechs, the Russians, the Croats and Poles used t heir respective vernaculars. Juraj Papanek in his Historia Gentis Slavae, Fandly in his Compendiata Historiae Slavae an'd in his other writings, and Holly in his poetic works, manirfested also fiery Slovak and Slavic consciousness and national feelings, so that we may see in Bernolak's movement not only a connecting link between his school and Safarik's and Kollar's conceptions of Slavdom, but also an organic and close relation with Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language and his nationalist movement. In this respect we can fully agree with the Marxist literc1ry historians that both movements "grew up from the same process, 1'rom the process of formaJtion of the Slovak nation and are but two different phases of Slovak cultural and national development:Q21). Wh:ile Bernolak's linguistic works substantially influenced the final form of Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language which accepted many 'linguistic elements, used in all parts of Slovakia only because there existed Bernolak's literary language before, ideologically Stu.r's group was influenced mainly by the epics of Jan Holly, poet laureate of Bernolak's school. SLOVAKIA 33 Stu,r himself acknowledged Holly's dominant influence on the formation of Slovak national ideology and so did until now the " nationalist" as well as the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians(22). Accordtng to Jaroslav Vlcek: "Holly means many things in Slovak literature. He achieved alone wha;t the Czech and the Hungarian poets of classicism worked on a'H togetherC23). For another literary historian "Holly has not been surpassed by any S,l ovak poet, and nowhere else is there to be found such depth of national consciousness and such glory. In crystallized form Holly vigorously enounced the modern idea of nationalism, and this already in the 1800's, and his unsurpassable expression of the national soul has made him and will continue t o make him the grea;test of the Slovak poets"(24). And he is so judged also by contemporary Marxist historians. "Holly is a great poet," says prof. A. Mraz, the main Marxist authority on Slovak literary history, " an:d a cultivated and excellent translator of antique poetry, who synthetized in his works an'tique influences with European Classicism and philosophy of Enlightenmen t. He awakened nationa1 consciousness of his countrymen combining Slavic and Slovak elements in his conception of the Slovak nation. His works prove that even in Bernolak's movement Slavic components were strongly represented. Slovak and Slav unite in harmoneous accord in Holly's ideology"~25). Holly deserves this praise and recognition not only for his own works but also for his masterful transiaJtions from practically all renowned poets from Virgil, Ovid, Theocritus, Horace to Homer. The first volume of his translations was published in 1824, the translation of Virgiil's Aeneid in 1828; these were highly commended even of Jungmann, Safarik and Niederle. After having enriched Slovak literatures by his translations, Holly composed in cfa:ssic mold anld with many overtones of 'bhe antique poetry his three epics in which he proved that his talent and erudition were outstanding and that the new Slovak literary language was rioh and flexible enough for complex poetic creations. At the same time he also demonstrated to the Slovaks and to the out side world thait the Slovak past was great and glorious and that there is, therefore, also a future for the Slovak people. 34 SLOVAKIA To achieve this, Holly created in his poetic works a new national ideology, anchored in the traditions of the Great Moravian Empire and in the cultural achievements of SS. Cyril and Methddius, the founders of Slovanic letters. In 1833 he published his Svatopluk, a heroic epic about the life and glory of the powerf.Ull ruler of Great Moravia, in twelve cantos. In 1835 his Cyrilo-Methodiada, a poetic account of the achievements of the Apostles of Slovaks, was published in Budapest in six cantos, and to complete the ima:ge of a heroic past of his people, Holly crea1~ed also an epic in seven cantos about a mythical forefather of the Slovaks, Slav, and in his Elegies he 'lamented over the desb-uction of the Great Moravian Empire, 'bhe first kingdom of the Slovaks, ruined by treachery, villainy, and perfidy. The national and ideological components of Holly's poetry are strong also in his Odes and Idylles (1835), which, together with his epics, a,wakened to life a new generation that broke with the past not only in linguistic division of Slovaks but also in cultural and political orientation. "At a time," says Mraz, "when the Slovaks mostly felt the need to strengthen their national ideology by historic consciousness, Holly came in a monumenta,1 way with his support." He created by his works not only a Slovak national poetry and ideology, but urging the Slovaks to regard their past with pride he revived the present and encouraged the Slovaks to look to the future with hope. Holly achieved this "w~t:h nothing more than a nonliterary, formless dialect at his disposa[ which he molded and shaped into a rich poetic language." His poetry was not much influenced by European pseudo-Classicism and contemporary Romanticism. He g.r ew up f<rom an antique culture and poetry, and ideologically only he interpreted . the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak people of the period oif Enlightenment and t he f.irst decades of Romanticism. While his contemporary Jan KoHar "wandered on the expansive meadows of Slavdom," Holly devoted his talents to building Slovak national consciousness, culture and ideology which made him a precursor anld: a spiritual leader also for the coming generation of C. Stt'.ir's na- SLOVAKIA 35 tionalist and romantic school. "HoHy's message lived also in the generation to come which refused his classicist forms but creatively clung to his ideological heritage," admits the Marxist literary historian A. Mraz, and adds that "Bernolak's movement triumphed in Holly's achievements and greatness; it found in his works the most creative and ideological culmination"(26). III Marxist Evaluation of Bernolak's Movement Unlike the contributors to American symposia who be1ittled A. Bernolak and his movement, Marxist literary historians write about Bernolak and his followers with high esteem. Although the works of the members of Bernolak's school and his Learned Societies clearly indica!te the tendency to reflect the national struggle and the awakening of a national consciousness among Slovaks - which is in conflict with the "Czechoslovak" tendencies of the Communist party - the Marxist literary historians were allowed to publish scores of books and studies on Bernolak and his movement. Among the first works which dealt with this period in a suvprisingly tolerant way was "A History of Slovak Literature" (Dejiny sfovenskej literatury) by Prof. A. Mraz, who for his services to the present regime in Slovakia was promoted to the rank of an "akademik" (academician). Other valuable works and studies were published by Dr. Imrich Kotvan and Jan Tiibensky, who apparently specializes in this period "ex offo." Kotvan's work Bernolakovci (1948) and Bibliografia Bernolakovcov (Bibliography of Bernolak's School) published in 1957, together with T. Ti'bensky's book J. Papanek-J. SklenarC27), also published in 1957, as well as a series of his stu!dies in periodi'caJs, give the impression that Marxist literary historians try to evaluate Bernolak's movement without the customary prejudice against Catholic writers, and that in many respects :they agree with the views expressed before by the "bourgeois and nationalist" scholars and literary historians (J. Vlcek, J. 36 SLOVAKIA Skultety, S. Krcmery, J. Kacka, A. A . Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, etc.) . This is evident especiaHy in Ti'bensky's controversy with Prof. Wollmann's uncritical deprecation of Bernolak's movement(28), but also in some recen :: studies of Mraz and in the new History of Slovak Literature, compiled by a " coHective" of younger historians under the direction of Prof. M. Pisut. In a comprehensive explanatory note to Kotvan's Bibliography, which on 400 pages gives an interesting picture of Bernolak's movement, we can read that the Marxist scholars "consider the second half of :the eighteenth and the first half od: the nineteenth century, which is the period of Bernolak's activities, "one of the interesting , not yet thoroughly investigated periods forming a milestone in Sfovak history"{29). In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak not only reformed and cddiified the Sfovak literary language and its orthography, but also started a vast national and cultural movement based on a t radition m,ore tJhan a hundred years old. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollossi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholid," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on whioh the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an in\dependent Slovak literary language. CrystallizaJtion of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777) , progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his foHowers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, t hey merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period"(30). Mraz also recognizes Bernolak's merits in the whole SLOVAKIA 37 of Slovak cultural life. "Bernolak did not stop at writing his s,c holarly works," says Mraz. "He used them to push ahead Slovak national and cultural life on new tracks, which he attained by his cu]tural and organizatory activities." According to Tibensky, who made some original research into this period, Bernolak's movement was "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th century, and it undoubtedly played a progressive role in the Slovak naJtional development"1(®L). "There is no doubt whatsover," says Tibensky, "that Bernolak's literary language and his movement played a very important role in the Slovak national development. Their importance is far from being sufficiently explored and evaluated. Works published until now are merely the first step to the accomplishment of an imporitant task of Slovak scholarship." There is ndt, so far, much new in the Marxist writings on Bernolak's movement. The Marxist Academy of Sciences is merely compiling the scholaI"ly research which was going on for the last 25-30 years and in which scholars like A. A. Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, V. Gajdos and others, brought to light new manuscripts or additional information. 'Dhe Marxist literary historians, of course, at·tempt to give a new interpretation to what the "bourgeois" scholars said on Slovak literature, language, national consciousness and Slovak national aspirations. "While in the past !the researchers into the origin of Bernolak's movement and especialtly into its literary language considered in the first place ideological elements, for instance, the influence of the Counter-Reformation, the Marxist scholarship," says Ti1bensky, "endeavors to explain the origin of Bernolak's movement and of its literary medium in the context of the entire Slovak social and economic development in given centuries: it takes into account, in the first place, economic and pomico-cultural factors"(32). Ideological influences are considered by Marxist historians as seconldary in the formation of Bernolak's move- 38 SLOVAKIA ment. "The movement is an outstanding manifestation of 'the process of transformation of a feudal Slovak nationality into a modern bourgeois nation," conclu'des Tibensky. In view of this, Bernolak's movement is credited by Marxist historians also with the fact that, as a result of Bernolak's activities, "the process of the formation of the Slovak nation and cu~ture was entering a new stage, determined by the activities of r.. Stur (1815-1856), and by the creation, on the basis of a Central Slovak dialect, of the modern Slovak literary language"{G3). Prof. Eugen Pauliny, who apparently is regarded among contemporary Marxist Slovak phHologists as an authority on the history of the Slovak language, regards Bernolak's period as an important stage in the development of Slovak national life. "Bernolak's language and his conceptions of Slovak national life, conceptions in which his reform originated, mean an important milestone in Slovak nrubional development," says Pauliny in his "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" (A History of the Slovak Literary Language). "Bernolak's movement, even if represenlted only by Slovak Catholics, takes Slovak national individuality, in a clear and understandable formulation, as a fact and connects it with the whole of Slavdom in its contemporary as weH as historical context. As a tool of this ideology Bernolak brought his theoretically elaborated and practically tested Slovak literary language," continues Pauliny. According to Pauliny, Bernolak's language was not used only for religious purposes, as some Slavists assert. "There were in Bernolak's school also religious writings, but not of a polemic char8!Cter; they were didactic and, besides them, 'there was religious poetry and theological writings. However, the center of gravity of Bernolak's school lays in vafoable writings for the education of the large masses, and in poetry. Bernolak's language was a well elaborated literary language which the Catholic Slovaks useid for more than a ha:lf century, in fact, officially up to 1851, when unity was achieved in the literary language" (among CaJtholics and Protestants). From the philological point of view, Bernolak's re- SLOVAKIA 39 form was based not only on the language, written and spoken by the educated Slovak strata in Western Slovakia and created in the cultural center of Trnava, but also on the dia'l ect of Bernolak's native province Orava, which belongs to the cenltral Slovak dialectical areas('36). In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vz€ahov Oechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernola:k codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Ca!bholic an!d. Protestant writings" (3r7). As for the connection of Bernolak'is school with Stiir's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxist literary historians and philologists. Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginilling of tJhe Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school," and he adds: "In Bernolak's school c,ulminates the older phase of Slovak natio nal diwelopment, but simultaneously it means also the beginning of a new epoch a,nd is very closely connected with the develo;pmen,t of nrutional consciousness of Stur's period. Bernolak''s movement tbuilds upon the feudail Slwak national con\Sdousness of the li8th century, but at the same time this movement enounces and consciously fo11mulates , for the first time, the modem Slovak nation,alism. "We find in the writings of the most important members oif Bernolak's Learned Society, Bernolak, Fandly, J HoMy, a compl~tely different ideology from that of the clergy of t he Gouniter-Uleformation of the 1"7:th and 18th century. It is an ideology of Slowk ,n,ationalism as derined and 11.mderstood by the Enlightenment, and it evci.1ved in bhe writings of the most out.Sitanding members of this group, Fan.dly an'd Jlolly, into the ideology of a modern Slovak nation. Stu.r's group used it as a foundation and developed it int o a mor•e modem conception in accordance with contemporary Euro·p ean ideological trends." 1 • Stur himself admitted this in his "Narecia slovenskuo," writing: "Our Catholic brothers did exactly what we are doing now and intend to do; they desired to a,chieve what we are desiring to achieve; they were concerned in their hearts a:bout the same matter that we cherish in our hearts''(3-8). 40 SLOVAKIA We hardly need any more convincing proof that Sb1r's group considered Bernolak's group as "older co-fighters on the same ideological battlefield," concludes Pauliny. To sum up, we can safely say that Bernolak's work and his school were an important factor in Slovak cultural and lilterary development and as such they deserve more attention and more objective anlaysis by scholars in the field of American Slavic studies. On the other hand, Slovak scholars in the free world have a moral duty to correct the mi,sconceptions which crept into Slavic studies largely because of a lack of English written studies on Slovak culture other than those supplied by Slavists of Czech origin and the works by Slovaks mentioned below. REFERENCE NOTES: '1. Journal of Central European Affairs, University of Colorado, The American Slavic and East European Review, Columbia University Press, The Slavic and East European Journal, Ln<liana UnLversity, Slavic and East European Studies, Un1versity of Montreal, Canadian Slavonic Pape.rs, University of Toronto Press. 2. Besides books edited· by Kerner, Strakhovsky, Busek-Spul1ber, and S. H. Thomson-, there are many misconceptions al-so in works w,rit-ten or edited by Prof. J. S. Rloucek, namely in his Cemral Entern Europe, or Slavonic Encyclopedi·a, by Felix Gross and C. E. BJ.ack. 3. The thesis that Great l\furarvian writings and culture belong to the cu1tural heritage of Slovaks has been sUJpported by both ,n.ationalist and Marxist Slovak literary ,h istorians. Cf. in English Jioseph Skultety: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, p. 229; J. M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation At the Crossroads of Cerwtral E·urope; and in the Slovak la,n guage: Dej iny star sei slovenskej literatury by M,axxist historfans (JI. MisianLk, J. Minarik, M. Mich'aloova, A. Melichercilk), Bratislava,, 1008, p. 3120. ,4. Cf. Dmitry Cizevsky: Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, AmerLcan Academy of Arts and Scienees, Boston, Mass., 1952; Lvalil J. Krarnoris: Chrono1ogic.al Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, 1946; Peter P. Yurchak : The SloYaks, J . J. Lach, Pulblications, Whiting, Indiiana•, 1947; J'. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia: Nation At the Crossroads of Central E-u rope, p. 35-00. 5. See University Traditions in Slovakia in J. M. · Kirsch:baUJm's op. cit.; and Stephen J. Palickar's Slovakian Culture in the Light of History, The Hampshire Press, Cambrid·ge, Mass., 1954. 6. Cf. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact in The Slavic and East EuT.opean Sltudies, Montreal, 1956, Part I, p. 4>:x54. 7. Published by Princeton University Press, 1943, 390 pp. A critical review from the Slovak poi.n-t of view see in Slovak Review, Vol. I, Nio. 2., by Ivan, J. Kra,rnoris. 8. Published by HarvaTd University Press, Cambridge, Mas•s .• SLOVAKIA 41 1949. Chapter on Slovak linguistics by A. Senn is more in line with scholarly research. 9. Published by University of Oalifornia Press, 1949. A critical review froon the Slovak point df view in quarterly Slovakiia, Middletown, Pa .. , Vol. v,v,r, by Philiip A. Hrobak. 10. P;u!blished by Mid,,European Stu<lies Ce,n,t er of the Free Europe Commi>ttee, Inc., New Yol'k, 1957. The chapter on Slovaik literaiture was wz,iflten by Czech writers H. Kucera and E. lfovtun, who are unknown in Slovak literary history. 'lil. American presentation of Slovak literature is strangely d<iffererut also from European evaluation as ev,i denced in the works: Ernest Denis: Le probleme de l'Autriche-Les Slovaques, Piaris, 1917; A. Fischel: Pa,nslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and• Berlin, 191•9; Bruno Meriggi, Storia delle letterature ceca e Slovacca, University of Florence, 195'9. 112. Of. J. J:~obeus: Vii:a Gentis Slavicae, published in '164Q; introduction to B. Szollossi's Cantus Catholici, pu1b li5hed in 16>55; D. Sinapius Horcicka, Neoforum Latino-Slovenicum, 1679; J. Piscatori-sFischer: De origine, inre ac utilitatae linguae slavonicae, pulblished in 1697; J . B. Magin: ·Murices .. sive Apologia, pulblished in 1728; S. Timon: Imago an,t ique Hunga,riae, 11735; J. Papanek: Historia gen•: is slavae, '1'7•80; J. Fandly: Compendiata Historiae Slavae, 17193. 13. See op. cit. by P. P. Yurt:hak, S. J. Palickar, I. J . Kramoris, as well as articles by C. Piotocek ifil; Slovak Review, by Philip A. Hro\bak in Slovakia, by E. Podikrivac!Jcy in Slovakia, Vol. m, 3, a,n d J. Pombsky's book K stemu vyrociu literarnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), abrana Press, Scranlton, 1945, 290 pp. 'l><t. Cf. Prof. A. MTaz: Dejiny slovenskej literatury, S'1ovenska aikademia vied a umeni, Bratisla,va, 1948, Dejin.y star-lei slovenskej litel'a:u,ry, SA V, 1-959, Dejiny slovenskej Literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960; as well as works by I. Kotvan, Jlan 'J1i1bens'ky, etc., quoted farther. 16. Cf. Dr. :Emrich Kotvan: Biblografia Bernolakovcov, Ma·tica sl-ovensika, Martin, 195'7', p. 403-404. 16. Cf. Jarosla;v Vlcek: Dejiny litera,t ury slovenskej, 1st edition, 1,890, second edition by .Miatica slovenska, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923, p. 27-39, e tc. Prof. V'lcek's work is the first aicademic history of Slo;vak liternture and as such was incomplete. His views were, nevertheless, accepted by ma•n y contemporary histori-ans. Prof. V'lceik was born in Slovakia, but his main work is A History of Czech Literature. As a professor at the University of Prague he changed some of his views in favor of the official "Czechoslovak" thesis. 17. Cf. Dr. Imrich Kotvan, op. cit. p. 403-404. ·1.8. Geschichte der Slaiwischen Sprache und Literatur nach alien Mundar-ten, Offen, 1826, p. 373-300. ·w. Qp. cit. p 32-34. 20. Cf. limrich Kotvan: Bernol·a kovci, Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Trnaiva, 1'948, p. 4. '21. Cf. J·a n T~bensky's inrtrod-uc-tion to I. K,otvan's mbliografia Bernolaklovcov, p. 7-9. 22. Of. J. M. Kirschlbaum: l!udovit Stiur and His Place in the Sliavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg, 1956. Alccordfog to M. Pisut, a Marxist expert on Sttir's period, the fina-1 sta•ge of Slovak eMorts to build an independent national culture had its roots in t,he wol'ks· of 42 SLOVAKIA P. J. Safm-ik, Jan Holly, Kollar, a1nd Kuzmar..y. Mraz stresses Holly's significan:Ce in connection wLth Stur's movement. Cf. Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni sjezd slavisitu v Moskve, Priaha, 1958, p. 3313-345 and 4l2:l-46~. 23. Op. cit. p. 80. 124. Cf. Jioz,ef ~acka: Dejin,y literatury slovenskej, Rufomberok, li92L, pUJblished in English translation by the Nation·al News, Pittsburgh, Pa., '119441, quoted from P. P. Yurchak, op. cit. p. 103Jl.04. '25. Of. his artfole in Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. sjezd sla• vistu v Moskve. 26. ]bidem ,27. Cf. Jian T,ilbensky, J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej narodnOS11i v 18. sitoroci, Osveta, Martin, 1958. 28. Of. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia, Historicky cas()fpis, ViJ!I, 4, 1'959, p. 557~576. Tilbensky proves thia,t many views of Prof. WoUma,n n, in his Slovanstvi v ja11:ykovelite• rarnim obro11:eni Slovanu, Praha, 1'!)58, are prejudilced against S<Iovaiks and particularly a•g ainst Catho1ics. 29. Op. cit., p. 403-405. 3'0. Op. cit., p, 416-1108. :n. Historicky casqpis, ViII, 4, 574. 32. B~bUograd'ia bernolakoVICOV, p. 8. 3'3. ]bidem, p. 404. 34. Published: in '19418. 35. Eug,e n Paulin:y: Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, p . 65. 3·6. ]bLdem, p. 63. 37. p. 111'3. 38. Eugen Pawliny: 0 vzajomnych vzt'ahov Cechov a Slovakov, Slovenska AkadiemLa Vied, Bra1t;islav,a, 1956; pp. 1)1.3, 11115. 3•9. Among periodicals pulblished •b y Universities it is only the Slavic and Ea·Slt European Studies (University of Miontreal, Quebec, Canada) which sy,steana:tically comments Slovalk literary and cultur,al topics in an objective mar.iner. ANONYMOUS LETTERS, wri.tten, to Red leader,s in Slo,vak,ia, are causing some concern to tihe regime. 'I1he Bra1tiislav,a RJadii,o recently reminded its listeners that writers of .s uch le•uters, if revealed, ar,e in for stiff filnes and long jail sentences. T·he reaction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the collaborators of Red Prague. • • • IN THIE WOR<KERS' PAR.4.DISE, according to Radio Bratisfava: SI,ovakiia is behind in its milk quota 6,600,666 liiters (4'18-61,); the Trebisov district owes !!he S<tate 1,0815,000 lirter,s of milk this year (,3Jl0,6l'; Dolny Kubin, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did n-Olt produce even a deciliter per COIW (3-9-61); in Braltislav,a (S.tiree't of the Defenders of Peace) women waited for meat from 2:00 to 6:3,0 p. m. (3~20.,61); there is a· great abUJnd'ance o:f feed for cattle and calves, 'but it's all r,ot,ten; the people work the ·farms, but ste,al over haif the prodootion (~20-GL); we have no tires, 'i>ut why,? I heard the explanation that t he reason, for this is the war in Lao-s (2-0.11,61 1) .  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Misconceptions of American Slavists About Slovak Literature Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D.<br />Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961<br />pp. 22-42<br /><ol type="I"><li>American Slavists and Slovak Literature</li> <li>Bernolák's Movement and Its Importance In Slovak Literature</li> <li>Marxist Evaluation of Bernolák's Movement</li> </ol> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ebc83039c98c623e2ca1b8866838a176.pdf 2ba2ac3809f4d9acc9d737f9f01a7379 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 25 MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ON THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I Misconceptions of American Slavists on Slovak literature which have been discussed here previously <1 > had been caused to a great extent by the confusion of views regarding the Slovak language. The confusion was created, on the one hand, by Slavists and literary historians who failed to draw a proper distinction between the native or spoken language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language, which, as we have seen, was first the Old Church Slovanic, afterwards t he Latin language, then Biblical Czech, used mainly by the Slovak Protestant minority, and then the literary Slovak based on Slovak western dialects, and finally the revised present form, based on central Slovak dialects. On the other hand, the misconceptions have been intentionally spread by some Czech Philologists and literary historians who were influenced by political views and aspirations, which the American Slavists accepted without the necessary caution required in scholarly works. As a result, we find in many American symposia on the Slavic peoples or in works on philology and Slavic languages either the Czech thesis that the Slovak language is merely a dialect of the Czech, or that Slovak became a literary language only at the beginning or in the second half of the nineteenth century. We also find that the sources of information or reference used by American Slavists are rather scarce and obsolete and that the subject has been treated by scholars who hardly had an opportunity to be thoroughly acquainted with the history and development of the Slovak literary language and its position among Sla-wc languages. Before pointing out the misconceptions in American symposia and surveys of Slavic languages, we may perhaps say that the claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the �26 SLOVAKIA Czech language was not based on facts of history or philology. It was a biased opinion of those who tried to give a scholarly basis to political aspirations denying to the Slovaks the right to their independent national and cultural life. And there rest also the origins of the erroneous thesis that Slovak began to be used a·s a literary language only from the second half of the nineteenth century. In the views of European Slavists, including the Russian and Czech philologists, it is clear, as we shall see, tha't the Slovak language is by every right of its origin and development an independent tongue, having its rightful place of equality among Slavic languages. And it has also been accepted that Slovak has been used as the language of literature from the sixteenth century, and was codified before the end of the eighteenth century. Slovak philologists and linguists (Bernolak, Safarik, Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Stanislav, Novak, Pauliny) rejected, during the last two centuries, Czech theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic forms of the Slovak tongue and by scholarly methods and comparative study of Slavic languages they arrived at conclusions which were ultimately accepted by the present-day Czech as well as other Slavic philologists and linguists. Misconceptions of American Slavists refer, as we have said, to the relation of the Slovak and Czech, to the history of the Slovak literary language and to the role of foreign languages in Slovak literature. In this respect we -read not without surprise that even the well-known Roman Jakobson helped to spread the erroneous views. In his study Slavic Languages, he writes: ''Toward the middle of the same (i.e., the 19th) century, the Slo¥aks, who had used literary Czech (somewhat adapted to their own habits) inaugurated their own literary language based on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech" <2>. We shall also see that even Czech philologists recognize today that Slovaks "-inaugurated" their own literary language long before the middle of the 19th century, and �SLOVAKIA 27 that we can speak only about a reform of the Slovak literary language in the nineteenth century <3 >. Secondly, the 19th century reform, linked with the name of r..udovit Stur, was "not based on the dialect of any single area, but represented a kind of "koine" ('Cultural Slovak), based on the central Slovak dialects, eschewing features from both the eastern and western dialects <4 >. As for the usage of the Czech language, "Czech was sporadically used (with certain local modification) for administrative and still more occasionally, literary purposes," says correctly R. Auty <5 >. The reasons for this will be explained later. Prof. Alfred Senn, in Strakhovsky's Handbook of Slavic Studies, gives a more detailed and more ela:borate description of the Slovak literary language. His classification of Slovak is certainly correct, but we could hardly agree with all parts of his definition. Prof. Senn says: "Slovak ... forms a connecting link with the South Slavic Slovenian and is more archa,ic than Czech. Otherwise differen:ces between Czec.h and Slovak are not very great. Slovak became a literary language at the beginning of the nineteenth century .. . Czec.h and Slovak form the Czechoslovak group" <s>. In the same symposium another contributor, Otto Radl, admitted that "as early as 1635 in Trnava books were printed in different Slovak dialects,," but he states that it was only in 1844, in the period of Romanticism, that "the therefore common written language, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly-originated Slovak literary language." According to Radl "this ·m ovement had been begun at the end of the 18th century by the learned Slovak philologist Anton Bernolak who published several works in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefore use thir own distinctive written language based on dialects spoken in western Slovakia" <7 >. A similar version can be found in Prof. S. Harrison Thomson's book "Czechoslovakia in European History," who says that "a deliberate effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local dialect came from the "Catholic camp" only in 1790, when Anton Bernolak published a Grammatica slavica. However, �28 SLOVAKIA Prof. Thomson asserts, that " about the only followers Ber nolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his grammar and dictionary soon died out ... The year 1834-1835 is usually given," concludes Thomson, "as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although strictly speaking, Stur did not make his first formal declaration until 1856" ( R ) . In Prof. Robert J. K erner's symposium Czechoslovakia and in V. Busek-N. Spulber's Czechoslovakia Under Communism, we find only slightly modified or re-worded versions of the theses mentioned above. "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create with indifferent success a written Slovak dialect," we read in Kerner's symposium <9 >, and Busek-Spulber's symposium gives the following genesis of the Slovak literary language: ... "the firs,t attempts were made (aside from earlier sporadic ventures) to establish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak (1762-1813) who selected the western Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary medium; his suggestions, not elaborate linguistically, did not take permanent hold. "The decisive step towards the establishment of a Slovak litera.ry language was undertaken through the initiative of the Protestants. tudovit Shir selected the central Slovak dialect for the Slovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, several poets followed Shir and usEd the new literary language with great skill" r 10 J. This version admits "sporadic ventures to establish a distinct Slovak literary language" before the last decade of the 18th century, but considers Bernolak's "suggestions not elaborated linguistically" and credits the Protestants with the merits, while Radl says the opposite! All these misconceptions seem to be due, as we have mentioned before, in the first place to the uncritical acceptance of the politically motivated thesee of Czech or at the Prague University educated Slavists. In the second place, the use of sources either long before superseded by new works or unilaterally selected, might have misled those Slavists who were trying to be scholarly objective. In this respect even Prof. R. Jakobson's bibliography leaves much to be desired. We find in his bibliography only four works, two written by Slovaks and two by Czechs, �SLOVAKIA 29 but none of them dealing with the history of Slovak language or with the problem of its relation to the Czech language. To a Slavist of Jako'bson's renome the fact could not be unknown that already Paul. J. Safarik in 1826 wrote on the Slovak language and Slovak literature as being distinct from the Czech or other Slavic languages and literatures. Consequen tly the Slovaks could not "inaugurat e" their own literary language "toward the middle of the 19th century." Sources used by Prof. Senn, who undoubtedl y tried to be objective, were better selected, but three of them favor the Czech thesis of "one Czechoslov ak unit." He shows in his literature and references the following books: J. Victorin: Gramatik der Slowakisch en Sprache, 4th edition, Budapest, 1878; K. Meznik: Die Slowakisch e Spaltung, Euphorion, 1927; R. J ak~bson: Sur fhistoire et sur Jes relations mutuelles du tcheque et du slovaque, Le Monde Slave, XIV, 1937, 353-366; V. Vazny: Slovak Dialects, Ceskoslovens ka vlastiveda, Vol. III, 1934. Otto Radl, who contributed to Strakhovsk y's Handbook of Slavic Studies a chapter on Slovak literature, did not show in his bibliograph y any work in Slovak or in foreign languages which he used or in which the reader could check Rad-l's opinions or complete his knowledge. Closing our remarks we perhaps may say that not many American Slavists who wrote during the post 40 years on the Slovak language and literature speak or write Slovak or ever read Slovak literary works in the original. Some of them merely rephrased mistaken views published by Czech scholars and politicians; and several contributio ns to American symposia on Slovaks were written by Czechs. Reviewing the names of the Czech contriibutor s we could not, however, say that any of them made his name as as expert on Slovak language or literature before coming to the United States. II LITERARY SLOVAK AND THE SLAVIC LANGUAG ES Scholarly studies of phonology, etymology, lexicology and grammar show that the Slovak language is distinct �30 SLOVAKIA from any other Slavic tongue. Even though this was not so clear and evident to Slavists of the 19th century when philology was in its infancy and used primitive methods, Slovak philologists and linguists always maintained this point of view. After a century of clashes and discussions between the Czech linguists and - first the Slovak Catholic erudites who began to replace the Latin with Slovak already in the seventeenth century, and from the 1840's a-lso with the Protestant leaders - the Slovak language has been properly classified as the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history. The historical development of Slovakia and geographical factors account for the fact that the Slovak language not only conserved many archaic forms and expressions common to all Slavs, but, remaining for centuries only a spoken vernacular of the people, it was affected merely by the influence of neighboring Slavic peoples. When it was codified, this happened in the era of the revival of Slovanic peoples, and the Slovak cultural and political leaders saw to it that the Slovak language might conserve its central position and Slavic purity. Kollar himself argued, and some Slavists of that time accepted his idea, that the Slovak language "stands grammatically and geographically in the center of all Slav dialects," and the Tatra mountains are the "nest and cradle of all Slavs," which, of course, the modern science of history, archeology and ethnography challenges. However, the central position of the Slovak language, geographically or linguistically, is accepted to a great extent even by modern philology. Slovak is more archaic than Czech, which in turn is more archaic than Polish. Since Russian is considered the least removed from the primitive Slavic prototype, both Slovak and Russian are the most archaic and nearest to the common primitive Slavic. In fact, the Slovaks - either educated or common _people ..:..:_ do not experience much difficulty in communicating in Slovak with Poles, Ukrainians, Czechs, Russians, or Slovenes and Croats, as has been proven on the American. Con- �SLOVAKIA 31 tinent, since basica:lily there are no great dif.ferences among the Slavic languages, and, in the case of the Slovak language, history and geography made it close not only to Pole and Czech, but also to Ukrainian and South Sfavic Slovenian and Croat. Slovak intellectuals of the nineteenth century read not only Polish or Czech poets and writers in the original, but also in Russian and Ukrainian, Croat and Slovenian. Modern scientific and literary development drifts the twelve Slavic langua,ges apart. Nevertheless, even if we cannot agree with the nineteenth century poet that, . "with the Slovak language you may the earth's four corne;rs travel," the fact remains that Slovaks are able to communicate in their own vernacular with the majority of Slavic peoples. Linguistic analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and a comparative study of their developments showed that the Slovak language never was a part of the Czech or so-cailled "Czechoslovak" language. If we accept the thesis, supported by Trubecko <m, that in the ninth century the Old Sfavonic still was the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology, and that from the ninrth century different dialects _· developed into distinct Slavic languages, there is no historical or philological reason why it should not be claimed that at the time of disintegration of the Old Slavonic and of the rise of new independent Slavic languages, Slovak was among them and that its development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language. This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory was annexed by Hungary after the collapse of Great Moravia, and, hence the only contact the Slovaks had with Czechs, was through Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovak dialect <12 > in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West, and to the present time they have retained their own phonological structure. The relation between the Czech and Slovak languages became a matter of controversy because of political a:·s pirations of some Czech politiciap.s and scholars and not because of philological reasons. As early as the 16th century, �32 SLOVAKIA Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery (1555-1615), a learned Slovak philologist and professor at the Prague University, exhorted his Slovak countrymen to cultivate their native tongue. He wrote his appeal in a grammar he composed for Czechs, which makes it clear that already for him there were two different languages ( l 3 >. From the si:x;teenth century on, there are numerous proofs that Slovak erudites, with a few exceptions, considered the Slovaks as one of the "tribes" of the Slavic nation, but speaking their own "dialect" different from the Czech, Polish or Russian, using the word dialect for our term language. Slovak was used not only in homiletic writings but also in scholarly works and poetry especially since the middle of the 17th century around the University of Trnava (founded 1635). At the end of the 18th century, Anton Bernolak only codified, in his linguistic works Dissertatio Orthographia, Gramatica slavica, and in his huge pentalingual Dictionary, a language in use for more than a century <14>. The well-known Slavist P. J. Safarik, and initiailly also Jan Kollar, were aware of the fact that there had been a Slovak language and Slovak literature, different from the Czech or the other Slavic languages and literatures. Safarik gave testimony to it in his Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur in alien Mundarten (1826), and when some Czech leaders reproached Nm for his s·cholavly objectivity, Safarik indignantly announced that he would go even farther in stressing the differences than he did in his book <15 >. Jan Kollar was origina:lly also instrumental in preparing Stur's reform and later changed his mind and became an advocate of a common literary lamguage with the Czechs (which he called "old Slovak") because of reasons which Slovak literary historians avoid to discuss. The great poet of Pan-Slavism had also some human deficiencies like very high personal pride and a terrible temper, and took it as an insult that Stur and his group dared to do something in Slovak cultural life without consulting him or without his patronage ( lG>. This "crimen lesae majestatis" moved Kollar to oppose Stur's reform and the final acceptance of the Slovak �SLOVAKIA 33 literary language also by Slovak Protestants. Safarik did not change his scholarly views which he expressed in his Geschichte, but being employed in Prague and financially supported by Czech patriots, he tried to convince his Slovak countrymen that they should not move too far from the Czechs and suggested that the Czech should be adjusted to the Slovak linguistic phenomena and peculiarities. "The will of the Slovak groups to assert their own national individuality was, however, too strong," as admitted by Radl <17 >, and Stu.r's reform was victorious over Kollar's protests and Safarik's advices, because it was in line with the linguistic facts and centuries long Slovak national development. The reasons for the sporadic use of the Czech language for administrative and partly a:lso for literary purposes (mainly by the Slovak Protestants) have been recently reconsidered by several "Marxist" philologists and literary historians. There are at least three theories on the penetration of the Czech language into the Slovak territory. One refers to the continuation of relations between Slovaks and Moravians (who adopted the Czech language) from the time of Great Moravia, which relations survived the collapse of that state and developed between the Moravian cultural center Olomouc and Slovak religious centers. More acceptable and also more elaborated is the theory ascribing the use of the Czech language to the fact that Czech was a sort of diplomatic language and that Czech clerks were used at certain periods (the XV-XVIth century) not only in Slovak territory but also in Hungary and Poland, in state and city administration na>. In Slovakia, the use of Czech, adapted to local dialects, survived because of the Reformation which penetrated among Slovaks from Bohemia with the Bible and religious books written in the old Czech, and because during the Counter-Reformation "many Protestant Czechs found shelter in Slovakia and even printed books in Czech for the purpose of smuggling them into Bohemia" <19 >. Settled in Slovakia, the Czech refugees tried to keep all Slovak Protestants linked to Bohemia by language also in s ecular writings. Being a minority, the Protestants looked �34 SLOVAKIA to the Czechs first for he1p in religious and later also in literary and political matters <20 >. Around 1840, it became clear, however, to the leaders of the Protestant minority in Slovakia that the Czech language was not intelligible to the common people, that their writings could not reach the Slovak population and for reasons which r... Stur explained in his Narecia slovenskuo and other writings, they agreed with Catholics, on the reform, which based the literary language on the central Slovak dialects, and on the exclusive use of Slovak in Slovak literature. Stur's reform, by which the Slovak language was finally esta·b lished as a literary medium of all Slovaks, "has been accepted by the Slovak intelligentsia within a very short space of time" as correctly stated by Auty. By this reform, which received its final linguistic form in the grammar of a Catholic priest, Martin Hattala, the peculiar situation of bi-lingualism in modern Slovak literature was changed. As it is accepted now also by foreign Slavists, the first literary language (or language of literature) used by Slovaks was the Old Church Slavonic <21 >, and the Slovaks rightly claim the writings of the Great Moravian period as a part of their cultural heritage. Then for centuries Slovaks used Latin also in secular writings; and from the 16th century Slovak Catholics began to replace Latin with the Slovak vernacular, which Slovak Protestants replaced with Czech, adapted to local use. During all these centuries, the Slovak people spoke, of course, their own Slovak dialects which developed from the Old Slavonk after its disintegration into the modern Slovak language. History of the Slovak language and history of Slovak literature began at the same time, in the IXth century, but in literature Slovaks used various media (Church Slavonic, Latin, Czech and Slovak), while their native tongue was used in daily life until it was lifted to the position of a literary medium, which happened more or less at the same time at which other central European peoples began to use vernacular for literary purposes. On the position of Slovak among Slavic languages: foreign and Slovak philologists expressed various opinions .. �SLOVAKIA 35 V. J agic in his book Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache wrote: "in Great Moravia people must have spoken in the ninth century a tongue which in its fundamentals was identical with the Slovak language of today." J. Dobrovsky admitted that certain linguistic phenomena linked Slovak with South Slavic languages <22 >; and S. Czamlbel el~borated linguistic~lly a theory to prove that the questions as to whether Slovak is closer to western Slavic or to the southern Slavic group of languages deserved to be reconsidered by philologists. Stur viewed the position of the Slovak language as a central clearing house mainly because he was conscious of many of its similarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North, and South, especially noting the South Slavic dialects with which Slovak came into intimate contact during long centuries <23 >. III VIEWS OF CANADIAN AND EUROPEAN SLAVISTS Among European Slavists, including present-day Czech philologists, the erroneous views regarding the relation between Slovak and Czech, and the origin of the Slovak literary language, have been mostly corrected. Modern techniques in linguistics have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving us modified views that are advanced far beyond the htasty unwarranted conclusions of the amateur philologists or linguists influenced by political aspirations. For truth's sake we have to point out that also on the American continent we find Slavists who expressed correct views, and some of them did that before Slavic studies acquired the 'prominence which they enjoy now in the United States and in Canada. The well-known Canadian Slavist, Prof. W. Kirkconnell, wrote, for example, already in 1940, that the differences between Czech and Slovak are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German. "I have," says Kirkconnell, "on my shelves Miroslav KaJal's Slovak-Czech Dictionary (published in 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were �36 SLOVAKIA apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition" <24 >. Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki in his paper Discrimination and Bias in Two UNESCO Publications raised his voice against treating Slovak ,a nd Czech "as one unit." "From the linguistic point of view," says Prof. Sma.'l-Stocki, "it is inadmissible to mix state units with existing languages and to treat 'as one unit' Czech and Slovak, because the linguistic fact is that in existence are two separate units, Czech and Slovak" <25 >. Among European Slavists, the Polish scholar T. LehrSplawinski came with a new approach to the history of the Slovak literary language. He dates back the beginnings of the Slovak literary language to the IXth century which view has been held also by some other Slavists in recent years. "The beginnings of the literary language in Slovakia are connected with the period of activities of ConstantineCyril and Methodius in the Moravian state," says LehrSplawinski. "As the whole of Slovakia was, without any doUJbt, a part of that state, and the important centres of its political and cultural life were situated on the Slovak territory, writings in the old Church-Slavonic language must have been undoubtedly developed among the Slovaks in the last quarter of the IX th century" <26 >. R. Auty, from the University of Cambridge, in the pahe presented to the VIIIth Congress of the Inwhich per ternational Federation of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1960, corrected misconceptions on Bernolak and Stur and their reforms. "Anton Bernolak codified in 1870" a language which was already in use, and urrlike the American S1avists who minimized Bernolak's importance, Auty writes that "in the following fifty or sixty years a considera:ble number of literary and other works were published or written in this (Bernolak's) form of Slovak. The remarkable extent of the literature published in Bernolak's language has recently been revealed," says Auty, " by I. Kotvan, Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Martin, 1957"<27 >. The Czech language was, according to Auty, "spora- �SLOVAKIA 37 dically used in Slovakia (with certain local modification) for administrative and, still more occasionally, literary purposes." The reasons for this sporadic usage of Czech for administrative and "more occasionally" also for literary purposes, were explained by Auty only indirectly. He mentions that "since the Reformation the Czech had been the language of the Lutheran scriptures and Church Services in Slovakia," but he didn't say that as a result of this situation t he biblical Czech was used by the Slovak Protestant minority also in secular writings in the same way as the Catholics used the Latin, and that Czech was used for administrative purposes also in Hungary and Poland, the reason being the Monarchy, in which all those countries were included. Stur, Protestant though he was, acted against what he regarded as an unnatural linguistic situation which had been brought about by the hazards orf history. "His reaction was radical," says Auty, and gives a detailed picture of the changes which were brought about in the Slovak language by the agreement of the Catholics and Protestants in order to end bi-lingualism in Slovak literature. Auty's views on the reform of the Slovak literary language which took place in the 1840's, are fairly in line with the historical truth and recent research. .A!ccording to him "Catholic and Protestant Slovaks agreed to accept a new written form of their language for all purposes; this had been worked out by r... Stur in discussion with other Slovak intetlectual leaders in the period 1842-44 and was somewhat modified by M. M. Hodza and M. Hattala in subsequent years." Stur "on more than one occasion praised the work of Bernolak, and, above all, the poetry of Jan Holly and fully accepted one element of Bernolak's linguistic reform - the orthographical system" - continues Auty. "The general pattern of the language, as fashioned by Stur, was in accordance with the needs of Slovak Society and has proven itself - and Stur's genius - by its survival" <28 >. The contri-butors to the Encyclopedia Britannica published some correct and some incorrect views, but they �38 SLOVAKIA grasped the essential points of difference between the Czech and Slovak. "The Czech, as spoken and written today in Bohemia, diverges consideraibly from Slovak," says the Encyclopedia. "The disagreement is least marked in vocwbulary but ap• pears prominently in the phonetics; in particular the itacism so distinct a characteristic of Czech, is non-existant in Slovak, which has preserved the fuller diphthongs (ia, ie, iu, etc.) of the Slavonic languages; a further smaller point is the dz, from common Slav dj, is used (as in Polish) where Czech has z. In one point only is there a divergence which goes back beyond the time of the common ancestry of the two languages; S1ovak has not developed the f, which is characteristic of Czech and in that language occurs since the beginning of its literature. The Slovak palatalization of n, d, t and 1 aifter e, which does not occur in modern literary Czech, is a further point of disagreement, although this woU'.ld not be o:bvious from Slovak spelling which does not find it necessary to distinguish by diacritics; consonants are always softened in this position." The main contriibutor to the Encyclopedia, Prof. C. A. Macartney, refers also to a better selected bibliography than American Slavists and points out to the relation of Slovak with other Slavie languages as follows: "The dialectical development," says Macartney, "shows some characteristics identical with those in South Slavonic and Russian. Not everywhere, for example, have C.S. u and i been confused, and instead of the e, which is the norma:l result in Slovak as in Czech, we find in Eastern dialects an o from the u, thus agreeing with Russian. An agreement with South Slavonic is the occurrence of raz- and la- and lo-. Because of these and other phonetic and morphological reasons the grammarian Czambel, a keen opponent of the identity of Czech and Slovak, has asserted that Slovak should rightly be associated with South Slavonic"' 29 >. On Slovak literature Macartney says: "Slovak literature, which previously had only a local importance, bid fair to take a worthy place alongside that of its better known partner. The Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, by S. �SLOVAKIA 39 Krcmery, in Vol. vii, No. 19, pp. 160-170, of the Slavonic Review (London), gives useful literature statistics and a good account of the literature of the present century." His Bibliography shows the following works: Dictionaries J. Loos: Worterbuch der Slovakischen, Ungarischen and Magyarischen Sprache (Budapest, 1871) ; M. Kalal, Slovensky Slovnik, etc (1924), written for Czechs, is most valuable as dialect words are included. Grammar - S. Czambel: Rukovat spisovnej reci slovenskej (1919). This Handbook of Literary Slovak is the standard work. Czambel's other works, e.g.,Slovaci a ich rec, (Buda:pest 1903) and Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych jazykov (1906) are important for the dialects, but are ,biased; C. Dixon has written a Slovak Grammar For English Speaking Students (Pittsburgh, 1896). IV "MARXIST" CONCEPTIONS ON LITERARY SLOVAK AND THE ORIGINS OF THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE From the published works of the "Marxist" philologists and literary historians it is obvious that the Czech theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language, and on the function of some foreign languages (Czech, "Czechoslovak") in Slovak literature, which theses were intended to support the political theory of a single "Czechoslovak" nation, have been definitely buried <30 >. In this respect, some contemporary works of Czech philologists helped to support the scholarly conclusions which have long been defended by the Slovak philologists. Particularly noteworthy of the Czech school is the work of the University Professor A. Dostal, and of the Slovak school, Professor Eugene Pauliny's Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (History of Literary Slovak, Bratislava, 1948) , and Andrew Mra.z's Dejiny slovenskej literatury (History of Slovak Literature, Bratislava, 1948), as well as the pa'pers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. In this respect, the paper of Professor Pauliny on bilingualism in the history of the Slovak literary language de- �40 SLOVAKIA serves particular attention. Pauliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in Slovakia in the XVth and following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who d'id not apply "Marxist criteria" in phi'lology, i.e., that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not withstand competition of the Slovak vernacu1ar when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness. Literary Slovak won out despite the fact that the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, tried to maintain it even in the XIXth century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majority (80 % ) over a century ago. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is, therefore, according to Pauliny, that of bilingua'lism. In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vzt:ahoch Cechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the S1lovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernolak codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middleclass, the lower nobility and educaited Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Catholic and Protestant writings." As for the connection of Bernolak's school with Stur's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxi,s t literary historians and philologists. Stur's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginning of the Siovak literary language (in this respect even Jakdbson is mistaken), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school." In the opinion of Professor A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak reformed and codified the Slovak literary language and its orthography. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of the Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szolossi in 1655. �SLOVAKIA 41 The book Cantus Catholici," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on which the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an independent Slovak literary language. Crystallization of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777), progressed so far in accordance w'ith the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his followers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, they merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period ' 31 l . In the introduction to his Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Pauliny understands the history of the language as the history of the origin, disappearance and changes of its individual styles. However, in the book itself, he divided the history of the Slovak literary language according to the languages which were used by the Slovaks as literary languages in addition to the spoken vernacular from the time of Greater Moravia. H e writes: "Although, in this case, the period of the actua~ Slov.ak literary language can <begiin only wi'th Bernolak, or with the period shortly before Bern1-0lak, nevertheless it is not possible to !begin the hi&tocy of the literary language of t he Slovaks either with Bernolaik or Stoc, lbult ilt is netessa~y to go deep 'into the past, aM the way -to the vecy beginnings oif the •h istorical period of our nation in the Great Moravian epoch, nay, 1in certain imat:ters, it is necessary to go eiven further, into the prehistoric pe;riod, when- our ancestQil's were not yet bapti:z,ed and did not participate in the European culture which was introduced to us 1by Ohristianity"< 32). Professor A. Dostal, in his work "Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka," published in Prague in 1954, developed the following thesis on the Slovak literary language: "The Slovak language, whose development goes iback to ancienlt times, was ,estaf!Jlished as a literary language 'in connection with the formation of the Slovaks into a nation .. . the estalbH-s.hment oif the literary Slovak language can in no way be viewed as a sepa·r ation from ,t he literary Cze ch lang,uage, 1but ,only as a long, slow d evelopment towards a literairy language . .. " C33 l . Prof. Dostal goes even farther and says that the attempts to impose the Czech language upon Slovaks as a �42 SLOVAKIA literary medium must be considered "as a negation of hundreds of years long developmen t which in the 1840's was already a historical fact in Slovakia ... " A century-lon g debate, as to whether Slovak is a dialect of the older Czech language or a distinct Slavonic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inha:bitants of Slovakia. By a careful anaiysis of the fundament al roots of both languages, Slovak and Czech, as well as through a comparativ e study of their later developmen ts, even the "Marxist" scholars, trained in philology have properly classified the Slovak language as one of the distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearan ce of the Old Slavonic language. As a result of this developmen t the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a relation between two Slavic but distinct languages. Czech poetry and prose are translated into Slovak and vice versa, as the Polish and Russian have always been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long time ago and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and philologists to recognize their victory. NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Slovakia, Vol. XI, No. 1, (33), 1'961; pp. 22-42. 2. Roman J,ako'bson: Slavic Languages, Columbia Utn,iversity, De- partment oo Slavic Studies, 1~; p. 10. 3 . .See relference to the wol.1k oo Prof. A. Dostal: Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka, P!laha, 11954. 4. Eug.eni Pauliny: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, Bra'tislava, 1948; p. 7'2; and Robert Auty: Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Fo.rmation of Literary Slovak, in T.he Slavonic and East European R-eview, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 1961. 5. ]bidem: p . 34'2. 6. L. I. Strll!khovsky: Handbook of Slavic Studies; pp. 51-52. 7. ]bidem: p . 4194. 8. S. H. Thomson: Czechoslovakia in European History; pp. 258, 263. 9. ,pp. 36-3'9. l'O. V. Bu§ek•N. Spulber: Czechoslovakia Under Communism; pp. 173-197. �SLOVAKIA 43 11. Grundzuge der Phonologie, Pr'aigue, 1939. 12. J. Dolbrovsky and P. J. Saif{u:,ik dTew the dialectical l1ine sep•araitin,g SlQlVa'k and Czech d'i.al-ects in the middle cxf Moravm. Of. J. Skultety: SketchH From Slovak History, and his book S,todvadsat'pat' rokov zo slovenskeho iivota. 13. E. Pauliiniy: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, p. 41. Benedicti wro•te: "Neque tamen ego hie •e os ·ad Bohemicam linguam cogo, sed ad exeroitatJionem et cwltur-am iipsocum i<liiomatis i'llvito: presertim cum '110n tantum in eivitaiti:bus et oppidis, se<l etim in pagis scholis albundenlt." (GTammaticae Bohemicae lilbri duo. 1603). 141. E. Pauliny, Op. cit, p. 57 and 1'13; and A . Mraz: Dejiny slo• venskej literatury, p. 108. Flirst transratioo, of tfhe Bible dates from 1763, and -also the fir!lt dilctionaey was compiled at that time. 15. J. Skulitety, Op. cit.; and J,a roslav Vlceik : Medzi Vahom a Vltavou, pp. 228-234. 116. J. Skultety, Op. cit., pp. 20-30. 17. Op. cit., pp. 494-495. 18. E. Palllliny, Op. cit. , pp. 30-36. 19. 0. Radrr in Handbook of Slavic Studies, p. 491. 20. E. Pawliny, Op. cit., pp. 36-3,71 and '53. Pauliny is Off the opiniion that the occupation cxf Hungacy •b y the Turks (1526) he·bped the penetTation cxf the Cz,ech la1mguage since there was a sort of common border between Slova:kia and Moravia in the Habsburg Monarchy. 2r. T. LehraSlpla,winski: Przeglad i charakterystyka jaykow slo• wianskych, p. 71. 22. J . Dolbrovsky in 1875 wrote that Slovak is close to the Croat and Slovene languages in several respects. Zd. Stieber considers certain charaidteristics cxf tfhe S1'ovalk langua:g e as southerm- Slaivic e>lements (juhoslavizmy). Clf. Jan Starnislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, p. 387. 23. J. M. Wirschlbaum : l!udovit Stur and His Place in the Slavic World, pp. 13°17; and S. Czamlbel: Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slova.nskych jazykov, '!iurc. Sv. Martin, '1'906. 24. Watson Kirk'co nnel: Canada, E•urope, and Hitler, pp. 43-4.14. 25. •P•roif. R!om'a,n Sm al-Oto•c ki: Papers Dopovidi, Sevcenko Slcienbific Society,, Ne,w York, 1961. .26. Op. cit., p. 71. 27. iR01bert Aulty: Dialect, Koi•ne, and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak, The Slavoni:c and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, Lo.ndon, 1'961. 28. ]bidem, .p p. 3'42-346. 29. Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 20, 1959, pp. 799-800. 30. J. M. Ki.r,schlbaum: Cont&mporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, Slavic and Ea·st European Studies, Vol. W, No. 3-4, Monitrea,l , 11960; also in Offiprilrut. 31. Op. cit., pp. 46-108. 32. Op. cit., p. 5. ~- Op. cit., pp. 200-201. �44 SLOVAKIA BIBLIOGRAPHY of select.ed works in English, French, German, and Italian AUlty, Robert: The Evolution of Literary Slovak, Oambr'idlge, 1953. Reprinlt fr()IIIl Transadioru; of the P.hilologilcal Society, pp. 143-1:60. Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak. Waper preseir.:ted to the V]]lth Congress of the International Federa1Ji,on of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1,960, published in the Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 19611). Berndlak, A1nton: Slowakische Grammatik, Aus dem Lateinischein, ins Deutsche iibers·etzt, ,gedr. mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriiten, O.lifen, 1817. Bok•es, Frantisek: Literarische iibersicht des geschichtlichen Schaffens in der Slowakei, Leipziger Viertelja,hrsohr.iift fiir Siidost•europa 4, Leipzig, 1940. Cizevsky, Dmitr,y: Outline of Compara,t ive Slavic Literatures, American Academy of Arts and Scier.,ces, Boston, Mass., 1952. On Romanticism in Slavic Literatures, Gravenhage, Monton a.nd Co ., 1957. Aus Zwei Welten, Beitrage zur Geschieht-e der Slaiwischwes·thchen literarisohen Bezi•e hungen, 1956 Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral', in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Be:r,keley, 1'9516. A Bibliography of the Publica,t ions of' Dr. Dmitry Ciievsky in the Fields of Literature, Language, Philosophy and Culture, Gamlbridg·e, Mass., 1952. De Bray, R. G. A.:Guide to the Slavonic Languages, J. M. Denlt and Sons, Ltd., London, 1S31. ,Denis, Ernest: La question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques, Parus, 191'7, Ubrairie Delagrave. One of the best books on Slovaks before the •e nd of the Firrst Wo-11ld War. His views on. Bernolak, Stur, etc., are s1igh'Uy distorted by the id•e a olf the na,t ional and cultural unity of Czechs a nd Slovaks. Dixon, Oharlton: Slovak Grammar for English Speaking Students, 'Middll.etown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 11935. Fischel, Alfred: Pansl•avismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and BerJin, 19119. One of the best documented works on Pan-SlaviS'm in the German languag,e. Giusti, Wolrfgango: II Panslavismo, Mhlano, 194'1!, InstitUlto per gli studi di politica internazional-e. More a politi1Cal than scholarly :r,eview of the idea of Pan-Slavli-sm among Slavic peoples. Gross, Felix (•ed.): European Ideologies, New York, 194!8, Philosophicail. Lilbrary, W. Lednicki:'s chapter on Pan,Slavi·s m. Schola,rl(Y wriitten ltfleatise from the Polish point of view. Hrobak, Philip A.: Hrobak's English-Slovak Dictionary, Jednota Priintecry, MiiddleitC1wn, Pa., 1944. Slovak Lessons, Lakewood, Ohio, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printeriy, 1'935, 1•94'9. Slovak For Beginners, Books, I, H, Ifil, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1952. ·Let's Learn Slovak, Mrddlletown, Pa., 1'959. 1 �SLOVAKIA 45 Hrusovsky, Frantisek: Geschichte der Slowakei, Brati>sla'V'a, 1'942. This Is Slovakia, Scranton, Pa., 1953. J•akofbson, Roman: Sur l'histoire et sur les .re•lations mu,t uelles du· tcheque et du slovaque, Le Monde Slave, xmv, '19317, 3·5 3-366. Slavic Langu•a ges, Columbia Univ,ersity Press, 1949. ~fo:sch1baum, J. M.: Slovakia - N·a tion At the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Speller and Sons, 1960. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet lmpaGt, The Slaivic and East-(Euroipean Studi·es, Monltr,eail, 1956, Part 1, pp. 45{}4, l!udovit Stur and His Place in the Slavic World, Sla'Vli~tica No. 3•2, Winnipeg-Cleveland, 1'956. Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, An Offiprint from Slavic a.n d East~ropean Studies, Vol. liV, No. 3-4, Montreal, 1960. A Note On Two Slowak Translators of Mickiewicz in W. Led1J1;icki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Litertaure, Berkeley, Ca.Jiif., lt956. La Grand,Moravie et son heritage culture(, Etud,es slaves et est-europeeL-:•nes, Montreal, Viol. fil. 1957 pp. 694M>. Le centen•a ire d'un grand slaviste: P. J. ~afarik, Etudes slaves et est-eurorp eennes, Montreal, Vol. V, 1960, prp. 189-!1'99. Kni,ezsa, Stefan: Zur Geschichte der Jugoslawismen im Mittelslowakischen, Budapest, 1948, uire a part d~ Etudes slaves ·e t roumaines, V01l. 1, Fasc. 3. Kohn, Hans: Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology, University of Notre Dame Press. 1953. One of th,e most Olbjective books on Pa.n-Slavism . Konus, Joseph: Practical Slovak Grammar. A te!Xtbook; for hi,gh s.chooils, colleges and adult ,private students, Pirotsburgh, Pa., 1939. Slovak-English Dictionary, Mi·ddletOWIJJ,, Pa., 1930. New English-Slovak Dictionary, Pitts<burg,h, Pa., 1941. Kramoris, Iva•n J.: An Anthology of Slovak Poetry, Scranton, 194'7,. A selection of lJyric and narrative poems indludimrg some member~ rnf stur's group. Slovakia and Slovak Litera,t ure. Reprinted :firoon the Caltholic Encydopedia, New Yo,rk, 1960. A Chronological Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Pass.air::, N. J ., 1S4~. Krcmery, Stefan: A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, Of,fiprint from The Slavonic ReVliew, Viol. v.m:, N~. 19, 1-928"1929. Lednicki, Waiclaiw (ed.): Adam Mickiewicz in Wo.rld Literature, University of Calilfornia Press, 1956. Articles by D. Cirevsky aind J . M. Kirschbaum. Leger, Louis: Le panslavisme et l'interet francais, Parris, 1917', Ernest F1lammarion. A rellatJively Olbjec'tiv,e study of Pan.Slavism and Slovak contribution. French ipoint of view. Locher, T. J.: Die nationale Differenzierung und lntegrierunrg der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848, Harlem, 1931. Macartney, C. A.: Hungary and Her Successors, London-<Nerw York- T-0ronito, 1937. �SLOVAKIA 46 Maruniim,g, Claren'Ce A. (ed.): An Anthology of Czech and Slovak Poetry, New York, 11929, Oolumbia Uniiversity Press. Oontains translaibions by Prof. Ktln-kccmnell, Kramoris, Gallik, Manning, Slaibey, Ifotouc, etc. Merrigi,, Bruno: Storia delle letterature ceca e slovacca.~Univ,ersity of Florence, 1,959. Mikus, Joseph: La Slovaquie dans le drame de !'Europe, P.aris, Les Iles d'Or. 11955. La Slovaquie, lndividualite politi11ue de l'Europe Centrale, Paris, 11952. Mraz, Amdreas: Die Literatur der Slowaken, Wien-stu'ttgart, 194!3. A History olf Slovak lJiteralture by a contemporary scholar and professor at the Un1iviersity cif Bratislava. The work, comple'ted and edited in the Slova,k language in 11Hl8 by The S'lovak Academy df Sci1ences and All"ts, presents one oif the best works on the histo11y of Slovak liiterarture. Pastrnek, Fr.: Beitrage zur Lautlehre der Slowakischen Sprache in Ungarn (Aus d,eri, Sitzurugsberichten der philos.-hist. KJ.asse der K. Akademie der Wi.ssenschalften), Wien, 1888. Petrowch, Michael! B.: The Emergence of Russian Panslavism, Oolumbia Univ,ersity Press, 11956. Scotus, Viator (IR. W. Seton-WaJtson): Racial Problems in Hungary, Archilbaild Oonsta:ble and Oo., Ltd., London, 1908. Seton-Watson, R. W.: A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, London, 119413'.A schola1rl<y written history by one of the best de:t:enders of tlhe Slovak people at rthe beg~n,nimg of this centpcy (see his Racial Problems in Hungary) who later turned .i,gainst the Slovak mo•v,ement for autonomy and independence, being influenced by his Czedh friends. Slovak Studies 1, Hiistorica 11, Slovak InstiJtute, 'Rome, 1961. Salfarik, P. J .: Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Liter&tur nach alien Mundarten, Mit koni~l. ung. Universitatsschrid'ten, Ofifen, 1826. Sku!Jt:ety, Joseph: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, J 1ednota Press. Translation from the Slovak by 0. D. Koreff. Skluitety was professor at the University of Bratishwa and on,e of the m06t outstanding figures in the Slovak cultl.l['al lilfe Jn the first ha1f of tlhe 20th cen!tur,y. Stefanek, Anton: Zur Soziograph,ie der geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Bratislava, 11944. Strakihovsky, L. I. (ed.): A Ha,ndbook of Slavic Studies, Harv,a rd University Rriess, 1949, dhaipters by A. Senn and Otto Radl. Both artidles re.fleldt reicent research, though Radl's contnilbution is strongly pl'lo-Czech. Tourtzer, H.: Louis Stur et l'idee de !'independence slovaque, Cahors et Al-ehcon, Pari,s, 11913. Trobetzkoy, N. S.: Grundzuge der Phonolo9ie, Prag, 1939, (.on Slov.aik language, pp. 1117-UB, 1'36, 14!1, 1143, 16lt, 167, 170, 175, 208, 245). Vajda, Jiaroslav: Bloody Sonnets, transl. irom Hviezdoslav, P . 0 ., Scra1nton, Pa., 1900. Viktorin, J. K.: Grammatik de.r Slowakischen Sprache. Zurn Schul.:.. und SelJbst,untilvricht, Budapest, 1002. �SLOVAKIA 47 Yurchak, P,eiter P.: The Slovaks, Wh'iting, Ind., 1947, Lach editions, c,h,apters fu-om Slovak History and litemture for Americam·s Olf Slovak ortgin. BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLAVIC LANGUAGES iBartek, Heinrich: Anton Bernolak, Trnarva, 1,937. l!udovit Shir a slovencina, Turc. Sv. Martin, 194i3. Krest'anstvo a slovencin,a, Nad,ej vit'azna, Scranton, Pa., 1947. Slovensky pravopis s gramatickymi pouckami a slovnikom, Whiting, Ind., Lach Publications, 1956. Spravn,a vyslovnost' slovenska, Braltislava, 194J. Blanar, Vincerut: Bibliografia jazykovedy na, Slovensku v rokoch 19391947. Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1950. Bolbek, W.: Prehl'adne dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1939. Mickiewicz v literaturze slowackiej, Praha, lJ93il. Dzieje literatury slowackiej w arysie. A'Il annprint firom Slowacja i Sl'owlicy, Edit. W. Semkoiwica;, Krakow, 1008. Czamlbel, Samo: Prfspevky k dejinam jazyka slovenskeho, Budapest, 1887. Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych ja:z:ykov, '!1urc. Sv. MartLn,, 1906. Slovensky pravopis. Historiok-OJkriticky nmes. Bud,a pest, 1890. [)vonc, Ladislav: Bibliografia slovenskej ja:z:ykovedy :z:a roky 19481952, Matilca Slov-enska, 1'957. Gajdo§, V. J .: Slovenske glosy v latinskom missa,li zo XVI. storoci'a, Historica slovacca I-11, BratisJ.ava, 1'940-lMt pp. 241-24'3. Gralbowski, T. S. : Dwaja Slowaccy pioner:z:y oswiecenia i post&pu, Bernolak a Fandly, 195ll. Hl"'ltta!1a, Martin: Kratka mluvnica slovenska, Bratislava, 1:852. Grammatica linguae slovenicae, Schemnicii, 1850. Hodza, Michal M.: Vetin o slovencine, Levoca, 164!8. ,Isaceniko, A. V.: Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej rili, Jazykovedny sbornik, I.JI, 1947', 137-17'8. Jia,gic, I. V.: lstorija slavianskoj filologii, S. Petersburg, 1910, Jlankovic, V.: Prvy slovensky preklad celeho Pisma svateho, Ver.bum I, 19416-1947. Kondra§ov, N. A.: Kategoriia licnosti i nelicnosti v slovackom ja:z:yku, MGU, 11949. Programma po istoriji slovackogo jazyka. Programma po sovremennom slovackom ja:z:yku, Izdatelstvo Moskovsko,go univerziite'ta, '1001'. Slavinaskaja filologia, Stafi i monogrrufiji, Izdaltelstvo Mostkovskogo univerzfteta, 1951. Kotvam,, rmrich: Jozef lgnac Baiza a slovenska rec, Linguistica slovaca Ilil, 1'9411. Ju.l"aj Fandly, Trnava, 1946. Juraj Fandly a slovensky ja:z:yk, Linguistiea slovaca I-m, 1939. Be,rnolakovci, T\rnarva, 19418. Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Miati'&! Slovenska, Martin, 1957·_ Lehr-Sp}aiwin ski, T.: Pr:z:eglad i eharakterystyka je:z:ykow slowianskich, Warszaiwa, li9154·. 1 �48 SLOVAKIA Magnuszewski, J.: Mickiewicz wsrod Slowakow, Wir,oclaJW, 1956. Magiera, J.: Literatul"a czeska i slowacka, Obraz pismienniictwa. Warszawa, 1929. Misianik, Jan: Dejiny starsej slovenskei lite.ratury, SAN, Bratislava, 1958; Marxiisticky vy,kla,d st,arsej slov. litera'tury. Stran 320. Mraz, Andrej: Gavlovicova skola krest'anska. Prispev,ok k slov,enskemu literarnemu barolm, Bratislava, 11940. Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Slov. akad. v1ed a umeni, Bratislava, 194<8. Novak, I.!udovit: Cestina na Slovensku a vznik spisovnej slovenciny, Odtlafok zo Slovenskych pohl'adov, LEV, 193!8. Jazykovedne glosy k ceskoslovenskej otazke, Turc. Sv. Martin,, 11935. l!udovit Stur ako jazykovedec, Slovenske ipohl'ady, LiiI, 1936. Pastrnek, Fr.: Stara jazykova pamatka slovenska, Slbornik :liilologicky, ViIII, 1922. Pauliny, Eugen: Na okrai kama•ldulskeho Pisma, Vetibwm I, 1946-1947. Kulturnohistoricke podmienky a spolocenske funkcie biling.uizmu y dej inach spisovnej slovenciny, C-sl. prednaslcy pro sjezd slavistu v Mioskve, 11958. Glosy k pomeru: bernolactina a sturovcina, Kultura, XiJlV, 1942. Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1948. Pisut, Miilan (ed.): Dej iny slovenskej literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960, p. 680. ContrilbUltors J . Miisiia-niik, P. Petrus, J. Gregor~, P . Stevc,ek, (A Mairxist evaluation). Litera,tura narodneho obrodenia, SAY, Bratisla,V'a, 1'960, p. 490. Slovensky literarny romantizmus, C-sl. prednaslcy pro mezinarodni sj-ezd slavistu v Moslwe, 1'958. Sobolevskij, A. I.: Cerkovno-slavianskije texty moravskogo proischozd,e nija, Ruskij filoloigicesk!j vestnik, 1•900. Stanislav, Jan: K jazykovednemu dielu A. Bernolaka, Bratislava, 194/1. Pribinovi vel'moii, Linguistica slovaca I-II, 193·9-11940. Slovanski apostoli Cyril a Metod a ich cinnost' vo Vel'komoravskej risi, Bratislava, 1945. Spisovny jazyk slovensky, v sborir.,i ku Slovanske jazy,ky v dobe pfitomne, Praha, 1937. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Slovenska akademia wed, Bratislava, 1958. Stitibr, Zdisl'aiw: Zarys dialektologii jezykow zachodnio-slowanskich, W,arszarwa, 1'956. Skultety, Jozef: Stodvadsat'pat' rokov zo slovenskeho iivota 17901•914, Turc. Sv. Ma-rtin, 1920. 0 Slovakoch, Turc. Sv. M!a.rtin, 1928. Stur, I.!udovit: Nauka reci slovenskej, Bratislava, 1,846. Narecia slovenskuo, Bratislava, 1846. Slovo na case, (V uprav,e J . AIIIlibriusa), Bratislava, 1943. 'I1i!bensky, Jan: J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obr.incovia slovenskej narodnosti v XVlm. storoci, Osveta, Martin, 19.58. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho IYm.,tia, Histod'C'ky casopis, Vfil, 4, 1959. �49 SLOVAKIA Vznik, vyvoj a vyznam vel'komoraV5kej trad icie v s lovenskom narodnom obrodeni, Sbornik O vzajomnych vzt'ahodh Cechov a Slov:ikov, SAV, 1956. Vairsik, BranisJav: Slovaci na praiskej univerzite do konca stredoveku, 1Bratislava, 1926. Kulturne vzt'ahy Cechov a Slovakov v 16. a 17. storoc: i, Bratislava, 1956. Narodnostny problem trnavskej univerzity, Bratislava, 1,9 38. VH~ovsky, Jan : Cantus Catholici, Biratislava IX, 193'5. Vilcek, J·aToslav: Dejiny literatury slovenske j, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923. Medzi Vahom a Vl tavou, Slov. vyd .. krasnej literatury, Brabislava, 11957. Weingart, Milos: 0 nej starsich jazykovych pamatkach slovenskych, OMF, 1935. Rev. Milan Durica, SIXB, partici- j who made the arrangements. T\he pated in the sessions of the prepa- prayer was purblished in the Conrator,y commission for discipline gressiona1l Record of March 14. llt! llt! llt! of the ole11gy and fait,hiful for the I n. Vatican, Ecdlesiastical Assemlbly. I Bishop Andrew G. Grutka of Father Durica, a native Olf S1()1Va- 1 bhe diocese of Gary, Indiana, ackia, acts in an advisory capacito/. 1companied by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. M .K. Mlynarovic, president of the The meeting was early in Slovak Callholic Federation of ruary. Amenica, traveled to Rome early :!€! llt! :!€! Dr. John Novotny, a native Olf , in April (6-15) to review the plans Slovakia now res•idin,g im, London, : for the Slovak Institute which will successfully passed the medical be bui11t there. Plans were also examinations to !become a Memlber made for the celebration of the of the Royal College of Physi- l'lOOth anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers Cyril an,d cians. Methodius to the ancient homeland llt! llt! llt! According to Radio Bratislava of the Slovaks, Slovakia, in 1963, (Feb:mary 3', '1962), the exposition by Slovaks in the free world. Biof Czech~ovak bodks in Rome shop Grutka had an audience with was a great success. Our friends Pope John XXIIil!I on Aipril 14. The in Rome, however, inform us that Slovak Institute will cost rubout a it was far from being successful. halif million dollars, most of which And Slovak books were conspicu- is exipected to be donated by the ous by their albsence, only a/bout Slovaks in America. Almost half the amount is already pledged. te·n being displayed. Feb-I' I )lg )lg )lg )lg )lg )lg Rev. John E. ~englar, pastor of The Holy See, early in Apr:I, Sacred Heart Church, Phoenixville, Pa., opened bhe session of bhe U. S. Senate on 'March 14, 1962' - the -23'rd anniv,ersacy of the .pro>clamation rnf S1ov•aik Independence - with a special prayer. He was atccompanied to Washington by P . A. Hl.'obak, president o'f the Slovak League of America, 1962, appointed the Rev. Rudolph KOibela, C.,M., miss,i onary for t,he Slovaks in England, parUoolarly for the several hundred who reside in London and viiicinity. F,ather Kdbela had been attending to the spiritual needs of the Slova'ks in London, for several years prior to that time. � SLOVAKIA 25 MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ON THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I Misconceptions of American Slavists on Slovak literature which have been discussed here previously <1 > had been caused to a great extent by the confusion of views regarding the Slovak language. The confusion was created, on the one hand, by Slavists and literary historians who failed to draw a proper distinction between the native or spoken language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language, which, as we have seen, was first the Old Church Slovanic, afterwards t he Latin language, then Biblical Czech, used mainly by the Slovak Protestant minority, and then the literary Slovak based on Slovak western dialects, and finally the revised present form, based on central Slovak dialects. On the other hand, the misconceptions have been intentionally spread by some Czech Philologists and literary historians who were influenced by political views and aspirations, which the American Slavists accepted without the necessary caution required in scholarly works. As a result, we find in many American symposia on the Slavic peoples or in works on philology and Slavic languages either the Czech thesis that the Slovak language is merely a dialect of the Czech, or that Slovak became a literary language only at the beginning or in the second half of the nineteenth century. We also find that the sources of information or reference used by American Slavists are rather scarce and obsolete and that the subject has been treated by scholars who hardly had an opportunity to be thoroughly acquainted with the history and development of the Slovak literary language and its position among Sla-wc languages. Before pointing out the misconceptions in American symposia and surveys of Slavic languages, we may perhaps say that the claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the �26 SLOVAKIA Czech language was not based on facts of history or philology. It was a biased opinion of those who tried to give a scholarly basis to political aspirations denying to the Slovaks the right to their independent national and cultural life. And there rest also the origins of the erroneous thesis that Slovak began to be used a·s a literary language only from the second half of the nineteenth century. In the views of European Slavists, including the Russian and Czech philologists, it is clear, as we shall see, tha't the Slovak language is by every right of its origin and development an independent tongue, having its rightful place of equality among Slavic languages. And it has also been accepted that Slovak has been used as the language of literature from the sixteenth century, and was codified before the end of the eighteenth century. Slovak philologists and linguists (Bernolak, Safarik, Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Stanislav, Novak, Pauliny) rejected, during the last two centuries, Czech theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic forms of the Slovak tongue and by scholarly methods and comparative study of Slavic languages they arrived at conclusions which were ultimately accepted by the present-day Czech as well as other Slavic philologists and linguists. Misconceptions of American Slavists refer, as we have said, to the relation of the Slovak and Czech, to the history of the Slovak literary language and to the role of foreign languages in Slovak literature. In this respect we -read not without surprise that even the well-known Roman Jakobson helped to spread the erroneous views. In his study Slavic Languages, he writes: ''Toward the middle of the same (i.e., the 19th) century, the Slo¥aks, who had used literary Czech (somewhat adapted to their own habits) inaugurated their own literary language based on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech" <2>. We shall also see that even Czech philologists recognize today that Slovaks "-inaugurated" their own literary language long before the middle of the 19th century, and �SLOVAKIA 27 that we can speak only about a reform of the Slovak literary language in the nineteenth century <3 >. Secondly, the 19th century reform, linked with the name of r..udovit Stur, was "not based on the dialect of any single area, but represented a kind of "koine" ('Cultural Slovak), based on the central Slovak dialects, eschewing features from both the eastern and western dialects <4 >. As for the usage of the Czech language, "Czech was sporadically used (with certain local modification) for administrative and still more occasionally, literary purposes," says correctly R. Auty <5 >. The reasons for this will be explained later. Prof. Alfred Senn, in Strakhovsky's Handbook of Slavic Studies, gives a more detailed and more ela:borate description of the Slovak literary language. His classification of Slovak is certainly correct, but we could hardly agree with all parts of his definition. Prof. Senn says: "Slovak ... forms a connecting link with the South Slavic Slovenian and is more archa,ic than Czech. Otherwise differen:ces between Czec.h and Slovak are not very great. Slovak became a literary language at the beginning of the nineteenth century .. . Czec.h and Slovak form the Czechoslovak group" <s>. In the same symposium another contributor, Otto Radl, admitted that "as early as 1635 in Trnava books were printed in different Slovak dialects,," but he states that it was only in 1844, in the period of Romanticism, that "the therefore common written language, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly-originated Slovak literary language." According to Radl "this ·m ovement had been begun at the end of the 18th century by the learned Slovak philologist Anton Bernolak who published several works in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefore use thir own distinctive written language based on dialects spoken in western Slovakia" <7 >. A similar version can be found in Prof. S. Harrison Thomson's book "Czechoslovakia in European History," who says that "a deliberate effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local dialect came from the "Catholic camp" only in 1790, when Anton Bernolak published a Grammatica slavica. However, �28 SLOVAKIA Prof. Thomson asserts, that " about the only followers Ber nolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his grammar and dictionary soon died out ... The year 1834-1835 is usually given," concludes Thomson, "as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although strictly speaking, Stur did not make his first formal declaration until 1856" ( R ) . In Prof. Robert J. K erner's symposium Czechoslovakia and in V. Busek-N. Spulber's Czechoslovakia Under Communism, we find only slightly modified or re-worded versions of the theses mentioned above. "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create with indifferent success a written Slovak dialect," we read in Kerner's symposium <9 >, and Busek-Spulber's symposium gives the following genesis of the Slovak literary language: ... "the firs,t attempts were made (aside from earlier sporadic ventures) to establish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak (1762-1813) who selected the western Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary medium; his suggestions, not elaborate linguistically, did not take permanent hold. "The decisive step towards the establishment of a Slovak litera.ry language was undertaken through the initiative of the Protestants. tudovit Shir selected the central Slovak dialect for the Slovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, several poets followed Shir and usEd the new literary language with great skill" r 10 J. This version admits "sporadic ventures to establish a distinct Slovak literary language" before the last decade of the 18th century, but considers Bernolak's "suggestions not elaborated linguistically" and credits the Protestants with the merits, while Radl says the opposite! All these misconceptions seem to be due, as we have mentioned before, in the first place to the uncritical acceptance of the politically motivated thesee of Czech or at the Prague University educated Slavists. In the second place, the use of sources either long before superseded by new works or unilaterally selected, might have misled those Slavists who were trying to be scholarly objective. In this respect even Prof. R. Jakobson's bibliography leaves much to be desired. We find in his bibliography only four works, two written by Slovaks and two by Czechs, �SLOVAKIA 29 but none of them dealing with the history of Slovak language or with the problem of its relation to the Czech language. To a Slavist of Jako'bson's renome the fact could not be unknown that already Paul. J. Safarik in 1826 wrote on the Slovak language and Slovak literature as being distinct from the Czech or other Slavic languages and literatures. Consequen tly the Slovaks could not "inaugurat e" their own literary language "toward the middle of the 19th century." Sources used by Prof. Senn, who undoubtedl y tried to be objective, were better selected, but three of them favor the Czech thesis of "one Czechoslov ak unit." He shows in his literature and references the following books: J. Victorin: Gramatik der Slowakisch en Sprache, 4th edition, Budapest, 1878; K. Meznik: Die Slowakisch e Spaltung, Euphorion, 1927; R. J ak~bson: Sur fhistoire et sur Jes relations mutuelles du tcheque et du slovaque, Le Monde Slave, XIV, 1937, 353-366; V. Vazny: Slovak Dialects, Ceskoslovens ka vlastiveda, Vol. III, 1934. Otto Radl, who contributed to Strakhovsk y's Handbook of Slavic Studies a chapter on Slovak literature, did not show in his bibliograph y any work in Slovak or in foreign languages which he used or in which the reader could check Rad-l's opinions or complete his knowledge. Closing our remarks we perhaps may say that not many American Slavists who wrote during the post 40 years on the Slovak language and literature speak or write Slovak or ever read Slovak literary works in the original. Some of them merely rephrased mistaken views published by Czech scholars and politicians; and several contributio ns to American symposia on Slovaks were written by Czechs. Reviewing the names of the Czech contriibutor s we could not, however, say that any of them made his name as as expert on Slovak language or literature before coming to the United States. II LITERARY SLOVAK AND THE SLAVIC LANGUAG ES Scholarly studies of phonology, etymology, lexicology and grammar show that the Slovak language is distinct �30 SLOVAKIA from any other Slavic tongue. Even though this was not so clear and evident to Slavists of the 19th century when philology was in its infancy and used primitive methods, Slovak philologists and linguists always maintained this point of view. After a century of clashes and discussions between the Czech linguists and - first the Slovak Catholic erudites who began to replace the Latin with Slovak already in the seventeenth century, and from the 1840's a-lso with the Protestant leaders - the Slovak language has been properly classified as the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history. The historical development of Slovakia and geographical factors account for the fact that the Slovak language not only conserved many archaic forms and expressions common to all Slavs, but, remaining for centuries only a spoken vernacular of the people, it was affected merely by the influence of neighboring Slavic peoples. When it was codified, this happened in the era of the revival of Slovanic peoples, and the Slovak cultural and political leaders saw to it that the Slovak language might conserve its central position and Slavic purity. Kollar himself argued, and some Slavists of that time accepted his idea, that the Slovak language "stands grammatically and geographically in the center of all Slav dialects," and the Tatra mountains are the "nest and cradle of all Slavs," which, of course, the modern science of history, archeology and ethnography challenges. However, the central position of the Slovak language, geographically or linguistically, is accepted to a great extent even by modern philology. Slovak is more archaic than Czech, which in turn is more archaic than Polish. Since Russian is considered the least removed from the primitive Slavic prototype, both Slovak and Russian are the most archaic and nearest to the common primitive Slavic. In fact, the Slovaks - either educated or common _people ..:..:_ do not experience much difficulty in communicating in Slovak with Poles, Ukrainians, Czechs, Russians, or Slovenes and Croats, as has been proven on the American. Con- �SLOVAKIA 31 tinent, since basica:lily there are no great dif.ferences among the Slavic languages, and, in the case of the Slovak language, history and geography made it close not only to Pole and Czech, but also to Ukrainian and South Sfavic Slovenian and Croat. Slovak intellectuals of the nineteenth century read not only Polish or Czech poets and writers in the original, but also in Russian and Ukrainian, Croat and Slovenian. Modern scientific and literary development drifts the twelve Slavic langua,ges apart. Nevertheless, even if we cannot agree with the nineteenth century poet that, . "with the Slovak language you may the earth's four corne;rs travel," the fact remains that Slovaks are able to communicate in their own vernacular with the majority of Slavic peoples. Linguistic analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and a comparative study of their developments showed that the Slovak language never was a part of the Czech or so-cailled "Czechoslovak" language. If we accept the thesis, supported by Trubecko <m, that in the ninth century the Old Sfavonic still was the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology, and that from the ninrth century different dialects _· developed into distinct Slavic languages, there is no historical or philological reason why it should not be claimed that at the time of disintegration of the Old Slavonic and of the rise of new independent Slavic languages, Slovak was among them and that its development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language. This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory was annexed by Hungary after the collapse of Great Moravia, and, hence the only contact the Slovaks had with Czechs, was through Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovak dialect <12 > in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West, and to the present time they have retained their own phonological structure. The relation between the Czech and Slovak languages became a matter of controversy because of political a:·s pirations of some Czech politiciap.s and scholars and not because of philological reasons. As early as the 16th century, �32 SLOVAKIA Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery (1555-1615), a learned Slovak philologist and professor at the Prague University, exhorted his Slovak countrymen to cultivate their native tongue. He wrote his appeal in a grammar he composed for Czechs, which makes it clear that already for him there were two different languages ( l 3 >. From the si:x;teenth century on, there are numerous proofs that Slovak erudites, with a few exceptions, considered the Slovaks as one of the "tribes" of the Slavic nation, but speaking their own "dialect" different from the Czech, Polish or Russian, using the word dialect for our term language. Slovak was used not only in homiletic writings but also in scholarly works and poetry especially since the middle of the 17th century around the University of Trnava (founded 1635). At the end of the 18th century, Anton Bernolak only codified, in his linguistic works Dissertatio Orthographia, Gramatica slavica, and in his huge pentalingual Dictionary, a language in use for more than a century <14>. The well-known Slavist P. J. Safarik, and initiailly also Jan Kollar, were aware of the fact that there had been a Slovak language and Slovak literature, different from the Czech or the other Slavic languages and literatures. Safarik gave testimony to it in his Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur in alien Mundarten (1826), and when some Czech leaders reproached Nm for his s·cholavly objectivity, Safarik indignantly announced that he would go even farther in stressing the differences than he did in his book <15 >. Jan Kollar was origina:lly also instrumental in preparing Stur's reform and later changed his mind and became an advocate of a common literary lamguage with the Czechs (which he called "old Slovak") because of reasons which Slovak literary historians avoid to discuss. The great poet of Pan-Slavism had also some human deficiencies like very high personal pride and a terrible temper, and took it as an insult that Stur and his group dared to do something in Slovak cultural life without consulting him or without his patronage ( lG>. This "crimen lesae majestatis" moved Kollar to oppose Stur's reform and the final acceptance of the Slovak �SLOVAKIA 33 literary language also by Slovak Protestants. Safarik did not change his scholarly views which he expressed in his Geschichte, but being employed in Prague and financially supported by Czech patriots, he tried to convince his Slovak countrymen that they should not move too far from the Czechs and suggested that the Czech should be adjusted to the Slovak linguistic phenomena and peculiarities. "The will of the Slovak groups to assert their own national individuality was, however, too strong," as admitted by Radl <17 >, and Stu.r's reform was victorious over Kollar's protests and Safarik's advices, because it was in line with the linguistic facts and centuries long Slovak national development. The reasons for the sporadic use of the Czech language for administrative and partly a:lso for literary purposes (mainly by the Slovak Protestants) have been recently reconsidered by several "Marxist" philologists and literary historians. There are at least three theories on the penetration of the Czech language into the Slovak territory. One refers to the continuation of relations between Slovaks and Moravians (who adopted the Czech language) from the time of Great Moravia, which relations survived the collapse of that state and developed between the Moravian cultural center Olomouc and Slovak religious centers. More acceptable and also more elaborated is the theory ascribing the use of the Czech language to the fact that Czech was a sort of diplomatic language and that Czech clerks were used at certain periods (the XV-XVIth century) not only in Slovak territory but also in Hungary and Poland, in state and city administration na>. In Slovakia, the use of Czech, adapted to local dialects, survived because of the Reformation which penetrated among Slovaks from Bohemia with the Bible and religious books written in the old Czech, and because during the Counter-Reformation "many Protestant Czechs found shelter in Slovakia and even printed books in Czech for the purpose of smuggling them into Bohemia" <19 >. Settled in Slovakia, the Czech refugees tried to keep all Slovak Protestants linked to Bohemia by language also in s ecular writings. Being a minority, the Protestants looked �34 SLOVAKIA to the Czechs first for he1p in religious and later also in literary and political matters <20 >. Around 1840, it became clear, however, to the leaders of the Protestant minority in Slovakia that the Czech language was not intelligible to the common people, that their writings could not reach the Slovak population and for reasons which r... Stur explained in his Narecia slovenskuo and other writings, they agreed with Catholics, on the reform, which based the literary language on the central Slovak dialects, and on the exclusive use of Slovak in Slovak literature. Stur's reform, by which the Slovak language was finally esta·b lished as a literary medium of all Slovaks, "has been accepted by the Slovak intelligentsia within a very short space of time" as correctly stated by Auty. By this reform, which received its final linguistic form in the grammar of a Catholic priest, Martin Hattala, the peculiar situation of bi-lingualism in modern Slovak literature was changed. As it is accepted now also by foreign Slavists, the first literary language (or language of literature) used by Slovaks was the Old Church Slavonic <21 >, and the Slovaks rightly claim the writings of the Great Moravian period as a part of their cultural heritage. Then for centuries Slovaks used Latin also in secular writings; and from the 16th century Slovak Catholics began to replace Latin with the Slovak vernacular, which Slovak Protestants replaced with Czech, adapted to local use. During all these centuries, the Slovak people spoke, of course, their own Slovak dialects which developed from the Old Slavonk after its disintegration into the modern Slovak language. History of the Slovak language and history of Slovak literature began at the same time, in the IXth century, but in literature Slovaks used various media (Church Slavonic, Latin, Czech and Slovak), while their native tongue was used in daily life until it was lifted to the position of a literary medium, which happened more or less at the same time at which other central European peoples began to use vernacular for literary purposes. On the position of Slovak among Slavic languages: foreign and Slovak philologists expressed various opinions .. �SLOVAKIA 35 V. J agic in his book Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache wrote: "in Great Moravia people must have spoken in the ninth century a tongue which in its fundamentals was identical with the Slovak language of today." J. Dobrovsky admitted that certain linguistic phenomena linked Slovak with South Slavic languages <22 >; and S. Czamlbel el~borated linguistic~lly a theory to prove that the questions as to whether Slovak is closer to western Slavic or to the southern Slavic group of languages deserved to be reconsidered by philologists. Stur viewed the position of the Slovak language as a central clearing house mainly because he was conscious of many of its similarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North, and South, especially noting the South Slavic dialects with which Slovak came into intimate contact during long centuries <23 >. III VIEWS OF CANADIAN AND EUROPEAN SLAVISTS Among European Slavists, including present-day Czech philologists, the erroneous views regarding the relation between Slovak and Czech, and the origin of the Slovak literary language, have been mostly corrected. Modern techniques in linguistics have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving us modified views that are advanced far beyond the htasty unwarranted conclusions of the amateur philologists or linguists influenced by political aspirations. For truth's sake we have to point out that also on the American continent we find Slavists who expressed correct views, and some of them did that before Slavic studies acquired the 'prominence which they enjoy now in the United States and in Canada. The well-known Canadian Slavist, Prof. W. Kirkconnell, wrote, for example, already in 1940, that the differences between Czech and Slovak are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German. "I have," says Kirkconnell, "on my shelves Miroslav KaJal's Slovak-Czech Dictionary (published in 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were �36 SLOVAKIA apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition" <24 >. Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki in his paper Discrimination and Bias in Two UNESCO Publications raised his voice against treating Slovak ,a nd Czech "as one unit." "From the linguistic point of view," says Prof. Sma.'l-Stocki, "it is inadmissible to mix state units with existing languages and to treat 'as one unit' Czech and Slovak, because the linguistic fact is that in existence are two separate units, Czech and Slovak" <25 >. Among European Slavists, the Polish scholar T. LehrSplawinski came with a new approach to the history of the Slovak literary language. He dates back the beginnings of the Slovak literary language to the IXth century which view has been held also by some other Slavists in recent years. "The beginnings of the literary language in Slovakia are connected with the period of activities of ConstantineCyril and Methodius in the Moravian state," says LehrSplawinski. "As the whole of Slovakia was, without any doUJbt, a part of that state, and the important centres of its political and cultural life were situated on the Slovak territory, writings in the old Church-Slavonic language must have been undoubtedly developed among the Slovaks in the last quarter of the IX th century" <26 >. R. Auty, from the University of Cambridge, in the pahe presented to the VIIIth Congress of the Inwhich per ternational Federation of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1960, corrected misconceptions on Bernolak and Stur and their reforms. "Anton Bernolak codified in 1870" a language which was already in use, and urrlike the American S1avists who minimized Bernolak's importance, Auty writes that "in the following fifty or sixty years a considera:ble number of literary and other works were published or written in this (Bernolak's) form of Slovak. The remarkable extent of the literature published in Bernolak's language has recently been revealed," says Auty, " by I. Kotvan, Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Martin, 1957"<27 >. The Czech language was, according to Auty, "spora- �SLOVAKIA 37 dically used in Slovakia (with certain local modification) for administrative and, still more occasionally, literary purposes." The reasons for this sporadic usage of Czech for administrative and "more occasionally" also for literary purposes, were explained by Auty only indirectly. He mentions that "since the Reformation the Czech had been the language of the Lutheran scriptures and Church Services in Slovakia," but he didn't say that as a result of this situation t he biblical Czech was used by the Slovak Protestant minority also in secular writings in the same way as the Catholics used the Latin, and that Czech was used for administrative purposes also in Hungary and Poland, the reason being the Monarchy, in which all those countries were included. Stur, Protestant though he was, acted against what he regarded as an unnatural linguistic situation which had been brought about by the hazards orf history. "His reaction was radical," says Auty, and gives a detailed picture of the changes which were brought about in the Slovak language by the agreement of the Catholics and Protestants in order to end bi-lingualism in Slovak literature. Auty's views on the reform of the Slovak literary language which took place in the 1840's, are fairly in line with the historical truth and recent research. .A!ccording to him "Catholic and Protestant Slovaks agreed to accept a new written form of their language for all purposes; this had been worked out by r... Stur in discussion with other Slovak intetlectual leaders in the period 1842-44 and was somewhat modified by M. M. Hodza and M. Hattala in subsequent years." Stur "on more than one occasion praised the work of Bernolak, and, above all, the poetry of Jan Holly and fully accepted one element of Bernolak's linguistic reform - the orthographical system" - continues Auty. "The general pattern of the language, as fashioned by Stur, was in accordance with the needs of Slovak Society and has proven itself - and Stur's genius - by its survival" <28 >. The contri-butors to the Encyclopedia Britannica published some correct and some incorrect views, but they �38 SLOVAKIA grasped the essential points of difference between the Czech and Slovak. "The Czech, as spoken and written today in Bohemia, diverges consideraibly from Slovak," says the Encyclopedia. "The disagreement is least marked in vocwbulary but ap• pears prominently in the phonetics; in particular the itacism so distinct a characteristic of Czech, is non-existant in Slovak, which has preserved the fuller diphthongs (ia, ie, iu, etc.) of the Slavonic languages; a further smaller point is the dz, from common Slav dj, is used (as in Polish) where Czech has z. In one point only is there a divergence which goes back beyond the time of the common ancestry of the two languages; S1ovak has not developed the f, which is characteristic of Czech and in that language occurs since the beginning of its literature. The Slovak palatalization of n, d, t and 1 aifter e, which does not occur in modern literary Czech, is a further point of disagreement, although this woU'.ld not be o:bvious from Slovak spelling which does not find it necessary to distinguish by diacritics; consonants are always softened in this position." The main contriibutor to the Encyclopedia, Prof. C. A. Macartney, refers also to a better selected bibliography than American Slavists and points out to the relation of Slovak with other Slavie languages as follows: "The dialectical development," says Macartney, "shows some characteristics identical with those in South Slavonic and Russian. Not everywhere, for example, have C.S. u and i been confused, and instead of the e, which is the norma:l result in Slovak as in Czech, we find in Eastern dialects an o from the u, thus agreeing with Russian. An agreement with South Slavonic is the occurrence of raz- and la- and lo-. Because of these and other phonetic and morphological reasons the grammarian Czambel, a keen opponent of the identity of Czech and Slovak, has asserted that Slovak should rightly be associated with South Slavonic"' 29 >. On Slovak literature Macartney says: "Slovak literature, which previously had only a local importance, bid fair to take a worthy place alongside that of its better known partner. The Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, by S. �SLOVAKIA 39 Krcmery, in Vol. vii, No. 19, pp. 160-170, of the Slavonic Review (London), gives useful literature statistics and a good account of the literature of the present century." His Bibliography shows the following works: Dictionaries J. Loos: Worterbuch der Slovakischen, Ungarischen and Magyarischen Sprache (Budapest, 1871) ; M. Kalal, Slovensky Slovnik, etc (1924), written for Czechs, is most valuable as dialect words are included. Grammar - S. Czambel: Rukovat spisovnej reci slovenskej (1919). This Handbook of Literary Slovak is the standard work. Czambel's other works, e.g.,Slovaci a ich rec, (Buda:pest 1903) and Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych jazykov (1906) are important for the dialects, but are ,biased; C. Dixon has written a Slovak Grammar For English Speaking Students (Pittsburgh, 1896). IV "MARXIST" CONCEPTIONS ON LITERARY SLOVAK AND THE ORIGINS OF THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE From the published works of the "Marxist" philologists and literary historians it is obvious that the Czech theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language, and on the function of some foreign languages (Czech, "Czechoslovak") in Slovak literature, which theses were intended to support the political theory of a single "Czechoslovak" nation, have been definitely buried <30 >. In this respect, some contemporary works of Czech philologists helped to support the scholarly conclusions which have long been defended by the Slovak philologists. Particularly noteworthy of the Czech school is the work of the University Professor A. Dostal, and of the Slovak school, Professor Eugene Pauliny's Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (History of Literary Slovak, Bratislava, 1948) , and Andrew Mra.z's Dejiny slovenskej literatury (History of Slovak Literature, Bratislava, 1948), as well as the pa'pers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. In this respect, the paper of Professor Pauliny on bilingualism in the history of the Slovak literary language de- �40 SLOVAKIA serves particular attention. Pauliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in Slovakia in the XVth and following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who d'id not apply "Marxist criteria" in phi'lology, i.e., that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not withstand competition of the Slovak vernacu1ar when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness. Literary Slovak won out despite the fact that the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, tried to maintain it even in the XIXth century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majority (80 % ) over a century ago. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is, therefore, according to Pauliny, that of bilingua'lism. In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vzt:ahoch Cechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the S1lovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernolak codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middleclass, the lower nobility and educaited Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Catholic and Protestant writings." As for the connection of Bernolak's school with Stur's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxi,s t literary historians and philologists. Stur's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginning of the Siovak literary language (in this respect even Jakdbson is mistaken), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school." In the opinion of Professor A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak reformed and codified the Slovak literary language and its orthography. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of the Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szolossi in 1655. �SLOVAKIA 41 The book Cantus Catholici," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on which the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an independent Slovak literary language. Crystallization of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777), progressed so far in accordance w'ith the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his followers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, they merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period ' 31 l . In the introduction to his Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Pauliny understands the history of the language as the history of the origin, disappearance and changes of its individual styles. However, in the book itself, he divided the history of the Slovak literary language according to the languages which were used by the Slovaks as literary languages in addition to the spoken vernacular from the time of Greater Moravia. H e writes: "Although, in this case, the period of the actua~ Slov.ak literary language can <begiin only wi'th Bernolak, or with the period shortly before Bern1-0lak, nevertheless it is not possible to !begin the hi&tocy of the literary language of t he Slovaks either with Bernolaik or Stoc, lbult ilt is netessa~y to go deep 'into the past, aM the way -to the vecy beginnings oif the •h istorical period of our nation in the Great Moravian epoch, nay, 1in certain imat:ters, it is necessary to go eiven further, into the prehistoric pe;riod, when- our ancestQil's were not yet bapti:z,ed and did not participate in the European culture which was introduced to us 1by Ohristianity"< 32). Professor A. Dostal, in his work "Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka," published in Prague in 1954, developed the following thesis on the Slovak literary language: "The Slovak language, whose development goes iback to ancienlt times, was ,estaf!Jlished as a literary language 'in connection with the formation of the Slovaks into a nation .. . the estalbH-s.hment oif the literary Slovak language can in no way be viewed as a sepa·r ation from ,t he literary Cze ch lang,uage, 1but ,only as a long, slow d evelopment towards a literairy language . .. " C33 l . Prof. Dostal goes even farther and says that the attempts to impose the Czech language upon Slovaks as a �42 SLOVAKIA literary medium must be considered "as a negation of hundreds of years long developmen t which in the 1840's was already a historical fact in Slovakia ... " A century-lon g debate, as to whether Slovak is a dialect of the older Czech language or a distinct Slavonic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inha:bitants of Slovakia. By a careful anaiysis of the fundament al roots of both languages, Slovak and Czech, as well as through a comparativ e study of their later developmen ts, even the "Marxist" scholars, trained in philology have properly classified the Slovak language as one of the distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearan ce of the Old Slavonic language. As a result of this developmen t the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a relation between two Slavic but distinct languages. Czech poetry and prose are translated into Slovak and vice versa, as the Polish and Russian have always been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long time ago and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and philologists to recognize their victory. NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Slovakia, Vol. XI, No. 1, (33), 1'961; pp. 22-42. 2. Roman J,ako'bson: Slavic Languages, Columbia Utn,iversity, De- partment oo Slavic Studies, 1~; p. 10. 3 . .See relference to the wol.1k oo Prof. A. Dostal: Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka, P!laha, 11954. 4. Eug.eni Pauliny: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, Bra'tislava, 1948; p. 7'2; and Robert Auty: Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Fo.rmation of Literary Slovak, in T.he Slavonic and East European R-eview, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 1961. 5. ]bidem: p . 34'2. 6. L. I. Strll!khovsky: Handbook of Slavic Studies; pp. 51-52. 7. ]bidem: p . 4194. 8. S. H. Thomson: Czechoslovakia in European History; pp. 258, 263. 9. ,pp. 36-3'9. l'O. V. Bu§ek•N. Spulber: Czechoslovakia Under Communism; pp. 173-197. �SLOVAKIA 43 11. Grundzuge der Phonologie, Pr'aigue, 1939. 12. J. Dolbrovsky and P. J. Saif{u:,ik dTew the dialectical l1ine sep•araitin,g SlQlVa'k and Czech d'i.al-ects in the middle cxf Moravm. Of. J. Skultety: SketchH From Slovak History, and his book S,todvadsat'pat' rokov zo slovenskeho iivota. 13. E. Pauliiniy: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, p. 41. Benedicti wro•te: "Neque tamen ego hie •e os ·ad Bohemicam linguam cogo, sed ad exeroitatJionem et cwltur-am iipsocum i<liiomatis i'llvito: presertim cum '110n tantum in eivitaiti:bus et oppidis, se<l etim in pagis scholis albundenlt." (GTammaticae Bohemicae lilbri duo. 1603). 141. E. Pauliny, Op. cit, p. 57 and 1'13; and A . Mraz: Dejiny slo• venskej literatury, p. 108. Flirst transratioo, of tfhe Bible dates from 1763, and -also the fir!lt dilctionaey was compiled at that time. 15. J. Skulitety, Op. cit.; and J,a roslav Vlceik : Medzi Vahom a Vltavou, pp. 228-234. 116. J. Skultety, Op. cit., pp. 20-30. 17. Op. cit., pp. 494-495. 18. E. Palllliny, Op. cit. , pp. 30-36. 19. 0. Radrr in Handbook of Slavic Studies, p. 491. 20. E. Pawliny, Op. cit., pp. 36-3,71 and '53. Pauliny is Off the opiniion that the occupation cxf Hungacy •b y the Turks (1526) he·bped the penetTation cxf the Cz,ech la1mguage since there was a sort of common border between Slova:kia and Moravia in the Habsburg Monarchy. 2r. T. LehraSlpla,winski: Przeglad i charakterystyka jaykow slo• wianskych, p. 71. 22. J . Dolbrovsky in 1875 wrote that Slovak is close to the Croat and Slovene languages in several respects. Zd. Stieber considers certain charaidteristics cxf tfhe S1'ovalk langua:g e as southerm- Slaivic e>lements (juhoslavizmy). Clf. Jan Starnislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, p. 387. 23. J. M. Wirschlbaum : l!udovit Stur and His Place in the Slavic World, pp. 13°17; and S. Czamlbel: Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slova.nskych jazykov, '!iurc. Sv. Martin, '1'906. 24. Watson Kirk'co nnel: Canada, E•urope, and Hitler, pp. 43-4.14. 25. •P•roif. R!om'a,n Sm al-Oto•c ki: Papers Dopovidi, Sevcenko Slcienbific Society,, Ne,w York, 1961. .26. Op. cit., p. 71. 27. iR01bert Aulty: Dialect, Koi•ne, and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak, The Slavoni:c and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, Lo.ndon, 1'961. 28. ]bidem, .p p. 3'42-346. 29. Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 20, 1959, pp. 799-800. 30. J. M. Ki.r,schlbaum: Cont&mporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, Slavic and Ea·st European Studies, Vol. W, No. 3-4, Monitrea,l , 11960; also in Offiprilrut. 31. Op. cit., pp. 46-108. 32. Op. cit., p. 5. ~- Op. cit., pp. 200-201. �44 SLOVAKIA BIBLIOGRAPHY of select.ed works in English, French, German, and Italian AUlty, Robert: The Evolution of Literary Slovak, Oambr'idlge, 1953. Reprinlt fr()IIIl Transadioru; of the P.hilologilcal Society, pp. 143-1:60. Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak. Waper preseir.:ted to the V]]lth Congress of the International Federa1Ji,on of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1,960, published in the Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 19611). Berndlak, A1nton: Slowakische Grammatik, Aus dem Lateinischein, ins Deutsche iibers·etzt, ,gedr. mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriiten, O.lifen, 1817. Bok•es, Frantisek: Literarische iibersicht des geschichtlichen Schaffens in der Slowakei, Leipziger Viertelja,hrsohr.iift fiir Siidost•europa 4, Leipzig, 1940. Cizevsky, Dmitr,y: Outline of Compara,t ive Slavic Literatures, American Academy of Arts and Scier.,ces, Boston, Mass., 1952. On Romanticism in Slavic Literatures, Gravenhage, Monton a.nd Co ., 1957. Aus Zwei Welten, Beitrage zur Geschieht-e der Slaiwischwes·thchen literarisohen Bezi•e hungen, 1956 Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral', in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Be:r,keley, 1'9516. A Bibliography of the Publica,t ions of' Dr. Dmitry Ciievsky in the Fields of Literature, Language, Philosophy and Culture, Gamlbridg·e, Mass., 1952. De Bray, R. G. A.:Guide to the Slavonic Languages, J. M. Denlt and Sons, Ltd., London, 1S31. ,Denis, Ernest: La question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques, Parus, 191'7, Ubrairie Delagrave. One of the best books on Slovaks before the •e nd of the Firrst Wo-11ld War. His views on. Bernolak, Stur, etc., are s1igh'Uy distorted by the id•e a olf the na,t ional and cultural unity of Czechs a nd Slovaks. Dixon, Oharlton: Slovak Grammar for English Speaking Students, 'Middll.etown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 11935. Fischel, Alfred: Pansl•avismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and BerJin, 19119. One of the best documented works on Pan-SlaviS'm in the German languag,e. Giusti, Wolrfgango: II Panslavismo, Mhlano, 194'1!, InstitUlto per gli studi di politica internazional-e. More a politi1Cal than scholarly :r,eview of the idea of Pan-Slavli-sm among Slavic peoples. Gross, Felix (•ed.): European Ideologies, New York, 194!8, Philosophicail. Lilbrary, W. Lednicki:'s chapter on Pan,Slavi·s m. Schola,rl(Y wriitten ltfleatise from the Polish point of view. Hrobak, Philip A.: Hrobak's English-Slovak Dictionary, Jednota Priintecry, MiiddleitC1wn, Pa., 1944. Slovak Lessons, Lakewood, Ohio, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printeriy, 1'935, 1•94'9. Slovak For Beginners, Books, I, H, Ifil, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1952. ·Let's Learn Slovak, Mrddlletown, Pa., 1'959. 1 �SLOVAKIA 45 Hrusovsky, Frantisek: Geschichte der Slowakei, Brati>sla'V'a, 1'942. This Is Slovakia, Scranton, Pa., 1953. J•akofbson, Roman: Sur l'histoire et sur les .re•lations mu,t uelles du· tcheque et du slovaque, Le Monde Slave, xmv, '19317, 3·5 3-366. Slavic Langu•a ges, Columbia Univ,ersity Press, 1949. ~fo:sch1baum, J. M.: Slovakia - N·a tion At the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Speller and Sons, 1960. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet lmpaGt, The Slaivic and East-(Euroipean Studi·es, Monltr,eail, 1956, Part 1, pp. 45{}4, l!udovit Stur and His Place in the Slavic World, Sla'Vli~tica No. 3•2, Winnipeg-Cleveland, 1'956. Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, An Offiprint from Slavic a.n d East~ropean Studies, Vol. liV, No. 3-4, Montreal, 1960. A Note On Two Slowak Translators of Mickiewicz in W. Led1J1;icki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Litertaure, Berkeley, Ca.Jiif., lt956. La Grand,Moravie et son heritage culture(, Etud,es slaves et est-europeeL-:•nes, Montreal, Viol. fil. 1957 pp. 694M>. Le centen•a ire d'un grand slaviste: P. J. ~afarik, Etudes slaves et est-eurorp eennes, Montreal, Vol. V, 1960, prp. 189-!1'99. Kni,ezsa, Stefan: Zur Geschichte der Jugoslawismen im Mittelslowakischen, Budapest, 1948, uire a part d~ Etudes slaves ·e t roumaines, V01l. 1, Fasc. 3. Kohn, Hans: Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology, University of Notre Dame Press. 1953. One of th,e most Olbjective books on Pa.n-Slavism . Konus, Joseph: Practical Slovak Grammar. A te!Xtbook; for hi,gh s.chooils, colleges and adult ,private students, Pirotsburgh, Pa., 1939. Slovak-English Dictionary, Mi·ddletOWIJJ,, Pa., 1930. New English-Slovak Dictionary, Pitts<burg,h, Pa., 1941. Kramoris, Iva•n J.: An Anthology of Slovak Poetry, Scranton, 194'7,. A selection of lJyric and narrative poems indludimrg some member~ rnf stur's group. Slovakia and Slovak Litera,t ure. Reprinted :firoon the Caltholic Encydopedia, New Yo,rk, 1960. A Chronological Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Pass.air::, N. J ., 1S4~. Krcmery, Stefan: A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, Of,fiprint from The Slavonic ReVliew, Viol. v.m:, N~. 19, 1-928"1929. Lednicki, Waiclaiw (ed.): Adam Mickiewicz in Wo.rld Literature, University of Calilfornia Press, 1956. Articles by D. Cirevsky aind J . M. Kirschbaum. Leger, Louis: Le panslavisme et l'interet francais, Parris, 1917', Ernest F1lammarion. A rellatJively Olbjec'tiv,e study of Pan.Slavism and Slovak contribution. French ipoint of view. Locher, T. J.: Die nationale Differenzierung und lntegrierunrg der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848, Harlem, 1931. Macartney, C. A.: Hungary and Her Successors, London-<Nerw York- T-0ronito, 1937. �SLOVAKIA 46 Maruniim,g, Claren'Ce A. (ed.): An Anthology of Czech and Slovak Poetry, New York, 11929, Oolumbia Uniiversity Press. Oontains translaibions by Prof. Ktln-kccmnell, Kramoris, Gallik, Manning, Slaibey, Ifotouc, etc. Merrigi,, Bruno: Storia delle letterature ceca e slovacca.~Univ,ersity of Florence, 1,959. Mikus, Joseph: La Slovaquie dans le drame de !'Europe, P.aris, Les Iles d'Or. 11955. La Slovaquie, lndividualite politi11ue de l'Europe Centrale, Paris, 11952. Mraz, Amdreas: Die Literatur der Slowaken, Wien-stu'ttgart, 194!3. A History olf Slovak lJiteralture by a contemporary scholar and professor at the Un1iviersity cif Bratislava. The work, comple'ted and edited in the Slova,k language in 11Hl8 by The S'lovak Academy df Sci1ences and All"ts, presents one oif the best works on the histo11y of Slovak liiterarture. Pastrnek, Fr.: Beitrage zur Lautlehre der Slowakischen Sprache in Ungarn (Aus d,eri, Sitzurugsberichten der philos.-hist. KJ.asse der K. Akademie der Wi.ssenschalften), Wien, 1888. Petrowch, Michael! B.: The Emergence of Russian Panslavism, Oolumbia Univ,ersity Press, 11956. Scotus, Viator (IR. W. Seton-WaJtson): Racial Problems in Hungary, Archilbaild Oonsta:ble and Oo., Ltd., London, 1908. Seton-Watson, R. W.: A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, London, 119413'.A schola1rl<y written history by one of the best de:t:enders of tlhe Slovak people at rthe beg~n,nimg of this centpcy (see his Racial Problems in Hungary) who later turned .i,gainst the Slovak mo•v,ement for autonomy and independence, being influenced by his Czedh friends. Slovak Studies 1, Hiistorica 11, Slovak InstiJtute, 'Rome, 1961. Salfarik, P. J .: Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Liter&tur nach alien Mundarten, Mit koni~l. ung. Universitatsschrid'ten, Ofifen, 1826. Sku!Jt:ety, Joseph: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, J 1ednota Press. Translation from the Slovak by 0. D. Koreff. Skluitety was professor at the University of Bratishwa and on,e of the m06t outstanding figures in the Slovak cultl.l['al lilfe Jn the first ha1f of tlhe 20th cen!tur,y. Stefanek, Anton: Zur Soziograph,ie der geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Bratislava, 11944. Strakihovsky, L. I. (ed.): A Ha,ndbook of Slavic Studies, Harv,a rd University Rriess, 1949, dhaipters by A. Senn and Otto Radl. Both artidles re.fleldt reicent research, though Radl's contnilbution is strongly pl'lo-Czech. Tourtzer, H.: Louis Stur et l'idee de !'independence slovaque, Cahors et Al-ehcon, Pari,s, 11913. Trobetzkoy, N. S.: Grundzuge der Phonolo9ie, Prag, 1939, (.on Slov.aik language, pp. 1117-UB, 1'36, 14!1, 1143, 16lt, 167, 170, 175, 208, 245). Vajda, Jiaroslav: Bloody Sonnets, transl. irom Hviezdoslav, P . 0 ., Scra1nton, Pa., 1900. Viktorin, J. K.: Grammatik de.r Slowakischen Sprache. Zurn Schul.:.. und SelJbst,untilvricht, Budapest, 1002. �SLOVAKIA 47 Yurchak, P,eiter P.: The Slovaks, Wh'iting, Ind., 1947, Lach editions, c,h,apters fu-om Slovak History and litemture for Americam·s Olf Slovak ortgin. BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLAVIC LANGUAGES iBartek, Heinrich: Anton Bernolak, Trnarva, 1,937. l!udovit Shir a slovencina, Turc. Sv. Martin, 194i3. Krest'anstvo a slovencin,a, Nad,ej vit'azna, Scranton, Pa., 1947. Slovensky pravopis s gramatickymi pouckami a slovnikom, Whiting, Ind., Lach Publications, 1956. Spravn,a vyslovnost' slovenska, Braltislava, 194J. Blanar, Vincerut: Bibliografia jazykovedy na, Slovensku v rokoch 19391947. Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1950. Bolbek, W.: Prehl'adne dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1939. Mickiewicz v literaturze slowackiej, Praha, lJ93il. Dzieje literatury slowackiej w arysie. A'Il annprint firom Slowacja i Sl'owlicy, Edit. W. Semkoiwica;, Krakow, 1008. Czamlbel, Samo: Prfspevky k dejinam jazyka slovenskeho, Budapest, 1887. Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych ja:z:ykov, '!1urc. Sv. MartLn,, 1906. Slovensky pravopis. Historiok-OJkriticky nmes. Bud,a pest, 1890. [)vonc, Ladislav: Bibliografia slovenskej ja:z:ykovedy :z:a roky 19481952, Matilca Slov-enska, 1'957. Gajdo§, V. J .: Slovenske glosy v latinskom missa,li zo XVI. storoci'a, Historica slovacca I-11, BratisJ.ava, 1'940-lMt pp. 241-24'3. Gralbowski, T. S. : Dwaja Slowaccy pioner:z:y oswiecenia i post&pu, Bernolak a Fandly, 195ll. Hl"'ltta!1a, Martin: Kratka mluvnica slovenska, Bratislava, 1:852. Grammatica linguae slovenicae, Schemnicii, 1850. Hodza, Michal M.: Vetin o slovencine, Levoca, 164!8. ,Isaceniko, A. V.: Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej rili, Jazykovedny sbornik, I.JI, 1947', 137-17'8. Jia,gic, I. V.: lstorija slavianskoj filologii, S. Petersburg, 1910, Jlankovic, V.: Prvy slovensky preklad celeho Pisma svateho, Ver.bum I, 19416-1947. Kondra§ov, N. A.: Kategoriia licnosti i nelicnosti v slovackom ja:z:yku, MGU, 11949. Programma po istoriji slovackogo jazyka. Programma po sovremennom slovackom ja:z:yku, Izdatelstvo Moskovsko,go univerziite'ta, '1001'. Slavinaskaja filologia, Stafi i monogrrufiji, Izdaltelstvo Mostkovskogo univerzfteta, 1951. Kotvam,, rmrich: Jozef lgnac Baiza a slovenska rec, Linguistica slovaca Ilil, 1'9411. Ju.l"aj Fandly, Trnava, 1946. Juraj Fandly a slovensky ja:z:yk, Linguistiea slovaca I-m, 1939. Be,rnolakovci, T\rnarva, 19418. Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Miati'&! Slovenska, Martin, 1957·_ Lehr-Sp}aiwin ski, T.: Pr:z:eglad i eharakterystyka je:z:ykow slowianskich, Warszaiwa, li9154·. 1 �48 SLOVAKIA Magnuszewski, J.: Mickiewicz wsrod Slowakow, Wir,oclaJW, 1956. Magiera, J.: Literatul"a czeska i slowacka, Obraz pismienniictwa. Warszawa, 1929. Misianik, Jan: Dejiny starsej slovenskei lite.ratury, SAN, Bratislava, 1958; Marxiisticky vy,kla,d st,arsej slov. litera'tury. Stran 320. Mraz, Andrej: Gavlovicova skola krest'anska. Prispev,ok k slov,enskemu literarnemu barolm, Bratislava, 11940. Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Slov. akad. v1ed a umeni, Bratislava, 194<8. Novak, I.!udovit: Cestina na Slovensku a vznik spisovnej slovenciny, Odtlafok zo Slovenskych pohl'adov, LEV, 193!8. Jazykovedne glosy k ceskoslovenskej otazke, Turc. Sv. Martin,, 11935. l!udovit Stur ako jazykovedec, Slovenske ipohl'ady, LiiI, 1936. Pastrnek, Fr.: Stara jazykova pamatka slovenska, Slbornik :liilologicky, ViIII, 1922. Pauliny, Eugen: Na okrai kama•ldulskeho Pisma, Vetibwm I, 1946-1947. Kulturnohistoricke podmienky a spolocenske funkcie biling.uizmu y dej inach spisovnej slovenciny, C-sl. prednaslcy pro sjezd slavistu v Mioskve, 11958. Glosy k pomeru: bernolactina a sturovcina, Kultura, XiJlV, 1942. Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1948. Pisut, Miilan (ed.): Dej iny slovenskej literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960, p. 680. ContrilbUltors J . Miisiia-niik, P. Petrus, J. Gregor~, P . Stevc,ek, (A Mairxist evaluation). Litera,tura narodneho obrodenia, SAY, Bratisla,V'a, 1'960, p. 490. Slovensky literarny romantizmus, C-sl. prednaslcy pro mezinarodni sj-ezd slavistu v Moslwe, 1'958. Sobolevskij, A. I.: Cerkovno-slavianskije texty moravskogo proischozd,e nija, Ruskij filoloigicesk!j vestnik, 1•900. Stanislav, Jan: K jazykovednemu dielu A. Bernolaka, Bratislava, 194/1. Pribinovi vel'moii, Linguistica slovaca I-II, 193·9-11940. Slovanski apostoli Cyril a Metod a ich cinnost' vo Vel'komoravskej risi, Bratislava, 1945. Spisovny jazyk slovensky, v sborir.,i ku Slovanske jazy,ky v dobe pfitomne, Praha, 1937. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Slovenska akademia wed, Bratislava, 1958. Stitibr, Zdisl'aiw: Zarys dialektologii jezykow zachodnio-slowanskich, W,arszarwa, 1'956. Skultety, Jozef: Stodvadsat'pat' rokov zo slovenskeho iivota 17901•914, Turc. Sv. Ma-rtin, 1920. 0 Slovakoch, Turc. Sv. M!a.rtin, 1928. Stur, I.!udovit: Nauka reci slovenskej, Bratislava, 1,846. Narecia slovenskuo, Bratislava, 1846. Slovo na case, (V uprav,e J . AIIIlibriusa), Bratislava, 1943. 'I1i!bensky, Jan: J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obr.incovia slovenskej narodnosti v XVlm. storoci, Osveta, Martin, 19.58. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho IYm.,tia, Histod'C'ky casopis, Vfil, 4, 1959. �49 SLOVAKIA Vznik, vyvoj a vyznam vel'komoraV5kej trad icie v s lovenskom narodnom obrodeni, Sbornik O vzajomnych vzt'ahodh Cechov a Slov:ikov, SAV, 1956. Vairsik, BranisJav: Slovaci na praiskej univerzite do konca stredoveku, 1Bratislava, 1926. Kulturne vzt'ahy Cechov a Slovakov v 16. a 17. storoc: i, Bratislava, 1956. Narodnostny problem trnavskej univerzity, Bratislava, 1,9 38. VH~ovsky, Jan : Cantus Catholici, Biratislava IX, 193'5. Vilcek, J·aToslav: Dejiny literatury slovenske j, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923. Medzi Vahom a Vl tavou, Slov. vyd .. krasnej literatury, Brabislava, 11957. Weingart, Milos: 0 nej starsich jazykovych pamatkach slovenskych, OMF, 1935. Rev. Milan Durica, SIXB, partici- j who made the arrangements. T\he pated in the sessions of the prepa- prayer was purblished in the Conrator,y commission for discipline gressiona1l Record of March 14. llt! llt! llt! of the ole11gy and fait,hiful for the I n. Vatican, Ecdlesiastical Assemlbly. I Bishop Andrew G. Grutka of Father Durica, a native Olf S1()1Va- 1 bhe diocese of Gary, Indiana, ackia, acts in an advisory capacito/. 1companied by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. M .K. Mlynarovic, president of the The meeting was early in Slovak Callholic Federation of ruary. Amenica, traveled to Rome early :!€! llt! :!€! Dr. John Novotny, a native Olf , in April (6-15) to review the plans Slovakia now res•idin,g im, London, : for the Slovak Institute which will successfully passed the medical be bui11t there. Plans were also examinations to !become a Memlber made for the celebration of the of the Royal College of Physi- l'lOOth anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers Cyril an,d cians. Methodius to the ancient homeland llt! llt! llt! According to Radio Bratislava of the Slovaks, Slovakia, in 1963, (Feb:mary 3', '1962), the exposition by Slovaks in the free world. Biof Czech~ovak bodks in Rome shop Grutka had an audience with was a great success. Our friends Pope John XXIIil!I on Aipril 14. The in Rome, however, inform us that Slovak Institute will cost rubout a it was far from being successful. halif million dollars, most of which And Slovak books were conspicu- is exipected to be donated by the ous by their albsence, only a/bout Slovaks in America. Almost half the amount is already pledged. te·n being displayed. Feb-I' I )lg )lg )lg )lg )lg )lg Rev. John E. ~englar, pastor of The Holy See, early in Apr:I, Sacred Heart Church, Phoenixville, Pa., opened bhe session of bhe U. S. Senate on 'March 14, 1962' - the -23'rd anniv,ersacy of the .pro>clamation rnf S1ov•aik Independence - with a special prayer. He was atccompanied to Washington by P . A. Hl.'obak, president o'f the Slovak League of America, 1962, appointed the Rev. Rudolph KOibela, C.,M., miss,i onary for t,he Slovaks in England, parUoolarly for the several hundred who reside in London and viiicinity. F,ather Kdbela had been attending to the spiritual needs of the Slova'ks in London, for several years prior to that time. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1962, Vol. 12 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 35), March-June 1962. 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 1962 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 25 MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ON THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I Misconceptions of American Slavists on Slovak literature which have been discussed here previously <1 > had been caused to a great extent by the confusion of views regarding the Slovak language. The confusion was created, on the one hand, by Slavists and literary historians who failed to draw a proper distinction between the native or spoken language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language, which, as we have seen, was first the Old Church Slovanic, afterwards t he Latin language, then Biblical Czech, used mainly by the Slovak Protestant minority, and then the literary Slovak based on Slovak western dialects, and finally the revised present form, based on central Slovak dialects. On the other hand, the misconceptions have been intentionally spread by some Czech Philologists and literary historians who were influenced by political views and aspirations, which the American Slavists accepted without the necessary caution required in scholarly works. As a result, we find in many American symposia on the Slavic peoples or in works on philology and Slavic languages either the Czech thesis that the Slovak language is merely a dialect of the Czech, or that Slovak became a literary language only at the beginning or in the second half of the nineteenth century. We also find that the sources of information or reference used by American Slavists are rather scarce and obsolete and that the subject has been treated by scholars who hardly had an opportunity to be thoroughly acquainted with the history and development of the Slovak literary language and its position among Sla-wc languages. Before pointing out the misconceptions in American symposia and surveys of Slavic languages, we may perhaps say that the claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the 26 SLOVAKIA Czech language was not based on facts of history or philology. It was a biased opinion of those who tried to give a scholarly basis to political aspirations denying to the Slovaks the right to their independent national and cultural life. And there rest also the origins of the erroneous thesis that Slovak began to be used a·s a literary language only from the second half of the nineteenth century. In the views of European Slavists, including the Russian and Czech philologists, it is clear, as we shall see, tha't the Slovak language is by every right of its origin and development an independent tongue, having its rightful place of equality among Slavic languages. And it has also been accepted that Slovak has been used as the language of literature from the sixteenth century, and was codified before the end of the eighteenth century. Slovak philologists and linguists (Bernolak, Safarik, Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Stanislav, Novak, Pauliny) rejected, during the last two centuries, Czech theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic forms of the Slovak tongue and by scholarly methods and comparative study of Slavic languages they arrived at conclusions which were ultimately accepted by the present-day Czech as well as other Slavic philologists and linguists. Misconceptions of American Slavists refer, as we have said, to the relation of the Slovak and Czech, to the history of the Slovak literary language and to the role of foreign languages in Slovak literature. In this respect we -read not without surprise that even the well-known Roman Jakobson helped to spread the erroneous views. In his study Slavic Languages, he writes: ''Toward the middle of the same (i.e., the 19th) century, the Slo¥aks, who had used literary Czech (somewhat adapted to their own habits) inaugurated their own literary language based on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech" <2>. We shall also see that even Czech philologists recognize today that Slovaks "-inaugurated" their own literary language long before the middle of the 19th century, and SLOVAKIA 27 that we can speak only about a reform of the Slovak literary language in the nineteenth century <3 >. Secondly, the 19th century reform, linked with the name of r..udovit Stur, was "not based on the dialect of any single area, but represented a kind of "koine" ('Cultural Slovak), based on the central Slovak dialects, eschewing features from both the eastern and western dialects <4 >. As for the usage of the Czech language, "Czech was sporadically used (with certain local modification) for administrative and still more occasionally, literary purposes," says correctly R. Auty <5 >. The reasons for this will be explained later. Prof. Alfred Senn, in Strakhovsky's Handbook of Slavic Studies, gives a more detailed and more ela:borate description of the Slovak literary language. His classification of Slovak is certainly correct, but we could hardly agree with all parts of his definition. Prof. Senn says: "Slovak ... forms a connecting link with the South Slavic Slovenian and is more archa,ic than Czech. Otherwise differen:ces between Czec.h and Slovak are not very great. Slovak became a literary language at the beginning of the nineteenth century .. . Czec.h and Slovak form the Czechoslovak group" <s>. In the same symposium another contributor, Otto Radl, admitted that "as early as 1635 in Trnava books were printed in different Slovak dialects,," but he states that it was only in 1844, in the period of Romanticism, that "the therefore common written language, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly-originated Slovak literary language." According to Radl "this ·m ovement had been begun at the end of the 18th century by the learned Slovak philologist Anton Bernolak who published several works in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefore use thir own distinctive written language based on dialects spoken in western Slovakia" <7 >. A similar version can be found in Prof. S. Harrison Thomson's book "Czechoslovakia in European History," who says that "a deliberate effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local dialect came from the "Catholic camp" only in 1790, when Anton Bernolak published a Grammatica slavica. However, 28 SLOVAKIA Prof. Thomson asserts, that " about the only followers Ber nolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his grammar and dictionary soon died out ... The year 1834-1835 is usually given," concludes Thomson, "as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although strictly speaking, Stur did not make his first formal declaration until 1856" ( R ) . In Prof. Robert J. K erner's symposium Czechoslovakia and in V. Busek-N. Spulber's Czechoslovakia Under Communism, we find only slightly modified or re-worded versions of the theses mentioned above. "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create with indifferent success a written Slovak dialect," we read in Kerner's symposium <9 >, and Busek-Spulber's symposium gives the following genesis of the Slovak literary language: ... "the firs,t attempts were made (aside from earlier sporadic ventures) to establish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak (1762-1813) who selected the western Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary medium; his suggestions, not elaborate linguistically, did not take permanent hold. "The decisive step towards the establishment of a Slovak litera.ry language was undertaken through the initiative of the Protestants. tudovit Shir selected the central Slovak dialect for the Slovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, several poets followed Shir and usEd the new literary language with great skill" r 10 J. This version admits "sporadic ventures to establish a distinct Slovak literary language" before the last decade of the 18th century, but considers Bernolak's "suggestions not elaborated linguistically" and credits the Protestants with the merits, while Radl says the opposite! All these misconceptions seem to be due, as we have mentioned before, in the first place to the uncritical acceptance of the politically motivated thesee of Czech or at the Prague University educated Slavists. In the second place, the use of sources either long before superseded by new works or unilaterally selected, might have misled those Slavists who were trying to be scholarly objective. In this respect even Prof. R. Jakobson's bibliography leaves much to be desired. We find in his bibliography only four works, two written by Slovaks and two by Czechs, SLOVAKIA 29 but none of them dealing with the history of Slovak language or with the problem of its relation to the Czech language. To a Slavist of Jako'bson's renome the fact could not be unknown that already Paul. J. Safarik in 1826 wrote on the Slovak language and Slovak literature as being distinct from the Czech or other Slavic languages and literatures. Consequen tly the Slovaks could not "inaugurat e" their own literary language "toward the middle of the 19th century." Sources used by Prof. Senn, who undoubtedl y tried to be objective, were better selected, but three of them favor the Czech thesis of "one Czechoslov ak unit." He shows in his literature and references the following books: J. Victorin: Gramatik der Slowakisch en Sprache, 4th edition, Budapest, 1878; K. Meznik: Die Slowakisch e Spaltung, Euphorion, 1927; R. J ak~bson: Sur fhistoire et sur Jes relations mutuelles du tcheque et du slovaque, Le Monde Slave, XIV, 1937, 353-366; V. Vazny: Slovak Dialects, Ceskoslovens ka vlastiveda, Vol. III, 1934. Otto Radl, who contributed to Strakhovsk y's Handbook of Slavic Studies a chapter on Slovak literature, did not show in his bibliograph y any work in Slovak or in foreign languages which he used or in which the reader could check Rad-l's opinions or complete his knowledge. Closing our remarks we perhaps may say that not many American Slavists who wrote during the post 40 years on the Slovak language and literature speak or write Slovak or ever read Slovak literary works in the original. Some of them merely rephrased mistaken views published by Czech scholars and politicians; and several contributio ns to American symposia on Slovaks were written by Czechs. Reviewing the names of the Czech contriibutor s we could not, however, say that any of them made his name as as expert on Slovak language or literature before coming to the United States. II LITERARY SLOVAK AND THE SLAVIC LANGUAG ES Scholarly studies of phonology, etymology, lexicology and grammar show that the Slovak language is distinct 30 SLOVAKIA from any other Slavic tongue. Even though this was not so clear and evident to Slavists of the 19th century when philology was in its infancy and used primitive methods, Slovak philologists and linguists always maintained this point of view. After a century of clashes and discussions between the Czech linguists and - first the Slovak Catholic erudites who began to replace the Latin with Slovak already in the seventeenth century, and from the 1840's a-lso with the Protestant leaders - the Slovak language has been properly classified as the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history. The historical development of Slovakia and geographical factors account for the fact that the Slovak language not only conserved many archaic forms and expressions common to all Slavs, but, remaining for centuries only a spoken vernacular of the people, it was affected merely by the influence of neighboring Slavic peoples. When it was codified, this happened in the era of the revival of Slovanic peoples, and the Slovak cultural and political leaders saw to it that the Slovak language might conserve its central position and Slavic purity. Kollar himself argued, and some Slavists of that time accepted his idea, that the Slovak language "stands grammatically and geographically in the center of all Slav dialects," and the Tatra mountains are the "nest and cradle of all Slavs," which, of course, the modern science of history, archeology and ethnography challenges. However, the central position of the Slovak language, geographically or linguistically, is accepted to a great extent even by modern philology. Slovak is more archaic than Czech, which in turn is more archaic than Polish. Since Russian is considered the least removed from the primitive Slavic prototype, both Slovak and Russian are the most archaic and nearest to the common primitive Slavic. In fact, the Slovaks - either educated or common _people ..:..:_ do not experience much difficulty in communicating in Slovak with Poles, Ukrainians, Czechs, Russians, or Slovenes and Croats, as has been proven on the American. Con- SLOVAKIA 31 tinent, since basica:lily there are no great dif.ferences among the Slavic languages, and, in the case of the Slovak language, history and geography made it close not only to Pole and Czech, but also to Ukrainian and South Sfavic Slovenian and Croat. Slovak intellectuals of the nineteenth century read not only Polish or Czech poets and writers in the original, but also in Russian and Ukrainian, Croat and Slovenian. Modern scientific and literary development drifts the twelve Slavic langua,ges apart. Nevertheless, even if we cannot agree with the nineteenth century poet that, . "with the Slovak language you may the earth's four corne;rs travel," the fact remains that Slovaks are able to communicate in their own vernacular with the majority of Slavic peoples. Linguistic analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and a comparative study of their developments showed that the Slovak language never was a part of the Czech or so-cailled "Czechoslovak" language. If we accept the thesis, supported by Trubecko <m, that in the ninth century the Old Sfavonic still was the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology, and that from the ninrth century different dialects _· developed into distinct Slavic languages, there is no historical or philological reason why it should not be claimed that at the time of disintegration of the Old Slavonic and of the rise of new independent Slavic languages, Slovak was among them and that its development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language. This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory was annexed by Hungary after the collapse of Great Moravia, and, hence the only contact the Slovaks had with Czechs, was through Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovak dialect <12 > in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West, and to the present time they have retained their own phonological structure. The relation between the Czech and Slovak languages became a matter of controversy because of political a:·s pirations of some Czech politiciap.s and scholars and not because of philological reasons. As early as the 16th century, 32 SLOVAKIA Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery (1555-1615), a learned Slovak philologist and professor at the Prague University, exhorted his Slovak countrymen to cultivate their native tongue. He wrote his appeal in a grammar he composed for Czechs, which makes it clear that already for him there were two different languages ( l 3 >. From the si:x;teenth century on, there are numerous proofs that Slovak erudites, with a few exceptions, considered the Slovaks as one of the "tribes" of the Slavic nation, but speaking their own "dialect" different from the Czech, Polish or Russian, using the word dialect for our term language. Slovak was used not only in homiletic writings but also in scholarly works and poetry especially since the middle of the 17th century around the University of Trnava (founded 1635). At the end of the 18th century, Anton Bernolak only codified, in his linguistic works Dissertatio Orthographia, Gramatica slavica, and in his huge pentalingual Dictionary, a language in use for more than a century <14>. The well-known Slavist P. J. Safarik, and initiailly also Jan Kollar, were aware of the fact that there had been a Slovak language and Slovak literature, different from the Czech or the other Slavic languages and literatures. Safarik gave testimony to it in his Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur in alien Mundarten (1826), and when some Czech leaders reproached Nm for his s·cholavly objectivity, Safarik indignantly announced that he would go even farther in stressing the differences than he did in his book <15 >. Jan Kollar was origina:lly also instrumental in preparing Stur's reform and later changed his mind and became an advocate of a common literary lamguage with the Czechs (which he called "old Slovak") because of reasons which Slovak literary historians avoid to discuss. The great poet of Pan-Slavism had also some human deficiencies like very high personal pride and a terrible temper, and took it as an insult that Stur and his group dared to do something in Slovak cultural life without consulting him or without his patronage ( lG>. This "crimen lesae majestatis" moved Kollar to oppose Stur's reform and the final acceptance of the Slovak SLOVAKIA 33 literary language also by Slovak Protestants. Safarik did not change his scholarly views which he expressed in his Geschichte, but being employed in Prague and financially supported by Czech patriots, he tried to convince his Slovak countrymen that they should not move too far from the Czechs and suggested that the Czech should be adjusted to the Slovak linguistic phenomena and peculiarities. "The will of the Slovak groups to assert their own national individuality was, however, too strong," as admitted by Radl <17 >, and Stu.r's reform was victorious over Kollar's protests and Safarik's advices, because it was in line with the linguistic facts and centuries long Slovak national development. The reasons for the sporadic use of the Czech language for administrative and partly a:lso for literary purposes (mainly by the Slovak Protestants) have been recently reconsidered by several "Marxist" philologists and literary historians. There are at least three theories on the penetration of the Czech language into the Slovak territory. One refers to the continuation of relations between Slovaks and Moravians (who adopted the Czech language) from the time of Great Moravia, which relations survived the collapse of that state and developed between the Moravian cultural center Olomouc and Slovak religious centers. More acceptable and also more elaborated is the theory ascribing the use of the Czech language to the fact that Czech was a sort of diplomatic language and that Czech clerks were used at certain periods (the XV-XVIth century) not only in Slovak territory but also in Hungary and Poland, in state and city administration na>. In Slovakia, the use of Czech, adapted to local dialects, survived because of the Reformation which penetrated among Slovaks from Bohemia with the Bible and religious books written in the old Czech, and because during the Counter-Reformation "many Protestant Czechs found shelter in Slovakia and even printed books in Czech for the purpose of smuggling them into Bohemia" <19 >. Settled in Slovakia, the Czech refugees tried to keep all Slovak Protestants linked to Bohemia by language also in s ecular writings. Being a minority, the Protestants looked 34 SLOVAKIA to the Czechs first for he1p in religious and later also in literary and political matters <20 >. Around 1840, it became clear, however, to the leaders of the Protestant minority in Slovakia that the Czech language was not intelligible to the common people, that their writings could not reach the Slovak population and for reasons which r... Stur explained in his Narecia slovenskuo and other writings, they agreed with Catholics, on the reform, which based the literary language on the central Slovak dialects, and on the exclusive use of Slovak in Slovak literature. Stur's reform, by which the Slovak language was finally esta·b lished as a literary medium of all Slovaks, "has been accepted by the Slovak intelligentsia within a very short space of time" as correctly stated by Auty. By this reform, which received its final linguistic form in the grammar of a Catholic priest, Martin Hattala, the peculiar situation of bi-lingualism in modern Slovak literature was changed. As it is accepted now also by foreign Slavists, the first literary language (or language of literature) used by Slovaks was the Old Church Slavonic <21 >, and the Slovaks rightly claim the writings of the Great Moravian period as a part of their cultural heritage. Then for centuries Slovaks used Latin also in secular writings; and from the 16th century Slovak Catholics began to replace Latin with the Slovak vernacular, which Slovak Protestants replaced with Czech, adapted to local use. During all these centuries, the Slovak people spoke, of course, their own Slovak dialects which developed from the Old Slavonk after its disintegration into the modern Slovak language. History of the Slovak language and history of Slovak literature began at the same time, in the IXth century, but in literature Slovaks used various media (Church Slavonic, Latin, Czech and Slovak), while their native tongue was used in daily life until it was lifted to the position of a literary medium, which happened more or less at the same time at which other central European peoples began to use vernacular for literary purposes. On the position of Slovak among Slavic languages: foreign and Slovak philologists expressed various opinions .. SLOVAKIA 35 V. J agic in his book Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache wrote: "in Great Moravia people must have spoken in the ninth century a tongue which in its fundamentals was identical with the Slovak language of today." J. Dobrovsky admitted that certain linguistic phenomena linked Slovak with South Slavic languages <22 >; and S. Czamlbel el~borated linguistic~lly a theory to prove that the questions as to whether Slovak is closer to western Slavic or to the southern Slavic group of languages deserved to be reconsidered by philologists. Stur viewed the position of the Slovak language as a central clearing house mainly because he was conscious of many of its similarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North, and South, especially noting the South Slavic dialects with which Slovak came into intimate contact during long centuries <23 >. III VIEWS OF CANADIAN AND EUROPEAN SLAVISTS Among European Slavists, including present-day Czech philologists, the erroneous views regarding the relation between Slovak and Czech, and the origin of the Slovak literary language, have been mostly corrected. Modern techniques in linguistics have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving us modified views that are advanced far beyond the htasty unwarranted conclusions of the amateur philologists or linguists influenced by political aspirations. For truth's sake we have to point out that also on the American continent we find Slavists who expressed correct views, and some of them did that before Slavic studies acquired the 'prominence which they enjoy now in the United States and in Canada. The well-known Canadian Slavist, Prof. W. Kirkconnell, wrote, for example, already in 1940, that the differences between Czech and Slovak are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German. "I have," says Kirkconnell, "on my shelves Miroslav KaJal's Slovak-Czech Dictionary (published in 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were 36 SLOVAKIA apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition" <24 >. Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki in his paper Discrimination and Bias in Two UNESCO Publications raised his voice against treating Slovak ,a nd Czech "as one unit." "From the linguistic point of view," says Prof. Sma.'l-Stocki, "it is inadmissible to mix state units with existing languages and to treat 'as one unit' Czech and Slovak, because the linguistic fact is that in existence are two separate units, Czech and Slovak" <25 >. Among European Slavists, the Polish scholar T. LehrSplawinski came with a new approach to the history of the Slovak literary language. He dates back the beginnings of the Slovak literary language to the IXth century which view has been held also by some other Slavists in recent years. "The beginnings of the literary language in Slovakia are connected with the period of activities of ConstantineCyril and Methodius in the Moravian state," says LehrSplawinski. "As the whole of Slovakia was, without any doUJbt, a part of that state, and the important centres of its political and cultural life were situated on the Slovak territory, writings in the old Church-Slavonic language must have been undoubtedly developed among the Slovaks in the last quarter of the IX th century" <26 >. R. Auty, from the University of Cambridge, in the pahe presented to the VIIIth Congress of the Inwhich per ternational Federation of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1960, corrected misconceptions on Bernolak and Stur and their reforms. "Anton Bernolak codified in 1870" a language which was already in use, and urrlike the American S1avists who minimized Bernolak's importance, Auty writes that "in the following fifty or sixty years a considera:ble number of literary and other works were published or written in this (Bernolak's) form of Slovak. The remarkable extent of the literature published in Bernolak's language has recently been revealed," says Auty, " by I. Kotvan, Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Martin, 1957"<27 >. The Czech language was, according to Auty, "spora- SLOVAKIA 37 dically used in Slovakia (with certain local modification) for administrative and, still more occasionally, literary purposes." The reasons for this sporadic usage of Czech for administrative and "more occasionally" also for literary purposes, were explained by Auty only indirectly. He mentions that "since the Reformation the Czech had been the language of the Lutheran scriptures and Church Services in Slovakia," but he didn't say that as a result of this situation t he biblical Czech was used by the Slovak Protestant minority also in secular writings in the same way as the Catholics used the Latin, and that Czech was used for administrative purposes also in Hungary and Poland, the reason being the Monarchy, in which all those countries were included. Stur, Protestant though he was, acted against what he regarded as an unnatural linguistic situation which had been brought about by the hazards orf history. "His reaction was radical," says Auty, and gives a detailed picture of the changes which were brought about in the Slovak language by the agreement of the Catholics and Protestants in order to end bi-lingualism in Slovak literature. Auty's views on the reform of the Slovak literary language which took place in the 1840's, are fairly in line with the historical truth and recent research. .A!ccording to him "Catholic and Protestant Slovaks agreed to accept a new written form of their language for all purposes; this had been worked out by r... Stur in discussion with other Slovak intetlectual leaders in the period 1842-44 and was somewhat modified by M. M. Hodza and M. Hattala in subsequent years." Stur "on more than one occasion praised the work of Bernolak, and, above all, the poetry of Jan Holly and fully accepted one element of Bernolak's linguistic reform - the orthographical system" - continues Auty. "The general pattern of the language, as fashioned by Stur, was in accordance with the needs of Slovak Society and has proven itself - and Stur's genius - by its survival" <28 >. The contri-butors to the Encyclopedia Britannica published some correct and some incorrect views, but they 38 SLOVAKIA grasped the essential points of difference between the Czech and Slovak. "The Czech, as spoken and written today in Bohemia, diverges consideraibly from Slovak," says the Encyclopedia. "The disagreement is least marked in vocwbulary but ap• pears prominently in the phonetics; in particular the itacism so distinct a characteristic of Czech, is non-existant in Slovak, which has preserved the fuller diphthongs (ia, ie, iu, etc.) of the Slavonic languages; a further smaller point is the dz, from common Slav dj, is used (as in Polish) where Czech has z. In one point only is there a divergence which goes back beyond the time of the common ancestry of the two languages; S1ovak has not developed the f, which is characteristic of Czech and in that language occurs since the beginning of its literature. The Slovak palatalization of n, d, t and 1 aifter e, which does not occur in modern literary Czech, is a further point of disagreement, although this woU'.ld not be o:bvious from Slovak spelling which does not find it necessary to distinguish by diacritics; consonants are always softened in this position." The main contriibutor to the Encyclopedia, Prof. C. A. Macartney, refers also to a better selected bibliography than American Slavists and points out to the relation of Slovak with other Slavie languages as follows: "The dialectical development," says Macartney, "shows some characteristics identical with those in South Slavonic and Russian. Not everywhere, for example, have C.S. u and i been confused, and instead of the e, which is the norma:l result in Slovak as in Czech, we find in Eastern dialects an o from the u, thus agreeing with Russian. An agreement with South Slavonic is the occurrence of raz- and la- and lo-. Because of these and other phonetic and morphological reasons the grammarian Czambel, a keen opponent of the identity of Czech and Slovak, has asserted that Slovak should rightly be associated with South Slavonic"' 29 >. On Slovak literature Macartney says: "Slovak literature, which previously had only a local importance, bid fair to take a worthy place alongside that of its better known partner. The Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, by S. SLOVAKIA 39 Krcmery, in Vol. vii, No. 19, pp. 160-170, of the Slavonic Review (London), gives useful literature statistics and a good account of the literature of the present century." His Bibliography shows the following works: Dictionaries J. Loos: Worterbuch der Slovakischen, Ungarischen and Magyarischen Sprache (Budapest, 1871) ; M. Kalal, Slovensky Slovnik, etc (1924), written for Czechs, is most valuable as dialect words are included. Grammar - S. Czambel: Rukovat spisovnej reci slovenskej (1919). This Handbook of Literary Slovak is the standard work. Czambel's other works, e.g.,Slovaci a ich rec, (Buda:pest 1903) and Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych jazykov (1906) are important for the dialects, but are ,biased; C. Dixon has written a Slovak Grammar For English Speaking Students (Pittsburgh, 1896). IV "MARXIST" CONCEPTIONS ON LITERARY SLOVAK AND THE ORIGINS OF THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE From the published works of the "Marxist" philologists and literary historians it is obvious that the Czech theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language, and on the function of some foreign languages (Czech, "Czechoslovak") in Slovak literature, which theses were intended to support the political theory of a single "Czechoslovak" nation, have been definitely buried <30 >. In this respect, some contemporary works of Czech philologists helped to support the scholarly conclusions which have long been defended by the Slovak philologists. Particularly noteworthy of the Czech school is the work of the University Professor A. Dostal, and of the Slovak school, Professor Eugene Pauliny's Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (History of Literary Slovak, Bratislava, 1948) , and Andrew Mra.z's Dejiny slovenskej literatury (History of Slovak Literature, Bratislava, 1948), as well as the pa'pers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. In this respect, the paper of Professor Pauliny on bilingualism in the history of the Slovak literary language de- 40 SLOVAKIA serves particular attention. Pauliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in Slovakia in the XVth and following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who d'id not apply "Marxist criteria" in phi'lology, i.e., that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not withstand competition of the Slovak vernacu1ar when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness. Literary Slovak won out despite the fact that the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, tried to maintain it even in the XIXth century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majority (80 % ) over a century ago. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is, therefore, according to Pauliny, that of bilingua'lism. In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vzt:ahoch Cechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the S1lovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernolak codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middleclass, the lower nobility and educaited Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Catholic and Protestant writings." As for the connection of Bernolak's school with Stur's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxi,s t literary historians and philologists. Stur's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginning of the Siovak literary language (in this respect even Jakdbson is mistaken), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school." In the opinion of Professor A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak reformed and codified the Slovak literary language and its orthography. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of the Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szolossi in 1655. SLOVAKIA 41 The book Cantus Catholici," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on which the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an independent Slovak literary language. Crystallization of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777), progressed so far in accordance w'ith the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his followers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, they merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period ' 31 l . In the introduction to his Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Pauliny understands the history of the language as the history of the origin, disappearance and changes of its individual styles. However, in the book itself, he divided the history of the Slovak literary language according to the languages which were used by the Slovaks as literary languages in addition to the spoken vernacular from the time of Greater Moravia. H e writes: "Although, in this case, the period of the actua~ Slov.ak literary language can <begiin only wi'th Bernolak, or with the period shortly before Bern1-0lak, nevertheless it is not possible to !begin the hi&tocy of the literary language of t he Slovaks either with Bernolaik or Stoc, lbult ilt is netessa~y to go deep 'into the past, aM the way -to the vecy beginnings oif the •h istorical period of our nation in the Great Moravian epoch, nay, 1in certain imat:ters, it is necessary to go eiven further, into the prehistoric pe;riod, when- our ancestQil's were not yet bapti:z,ed and did not participate in the European culture which was introduced to us 1by Ohristianity"< 32). Professor A. Dostal, in his work "Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka," published in Prague in 1954, developed the following thesis on the Slovak literary language: "The Slovak language, whose development goes iback to ancienlt times, was ,estaf!Jlished as a literary language 'in connection with the formation of the Slovaks into a nation .. . the estalbH-s.hment oif the literary Slovak language can in no way be viewed as a sepa·r ation from ,t he literary Cze ch lang,uage, 1but ,only as a long, slow d evelopment towards a literairy language . .. " C33 l . Prof. Dostal goes even farther and says that the attempts to impose the Czech language upon Slovaks as a 42 SLOVAKIA literary medium must be considered "as a negation of hundreds of years long developmen t which in the 1840's was already a historical fact in Slovakia ... " A century-lon g debate, as to whether Slovak is a dialect of the older Czech language or a distinct Slavonic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inha:bitants of Slovakia. By a careful anaiysis of the fundament al roots of both languages, Slovak and Czech, as well as through a comparativ e study of their later developmen ts, even the "Marxist" scholars, trained in philology have properly classified the Slovak language as one of the distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearan ce of the Old Slavonic language. As a result of this developmen t the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a relation between two Slavic but distinct languages. Czech poetry and prose are translated into Slovak and vice versa, as the Polish and Russian have always been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long time ago and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and philologists to recognize their victory. NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Slovakia, Vol. XI, No. 1, (33), 1'961; pp. 22-42. 2. Roman J,ako'bson: Slavic Languages, Columbia Utn,iversity, De- partment oo Slavic Studies, 1~; p. 10. 3 . .See relference to the wol.1k oo Prof. A. Dostal: Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka, P!laha, 11954. 4. Eug.eni Pauliny: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, Bra'tislava, 1948; p. 7'2; and Robert Auty: Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Fo.rmation of Literary Slovak, in T.he Slavonic and East European R-eview, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 1961. 5. ]bidem: p . 34'2. 6. L. I. Strll!khovsky: Handbook of Slavic Studies; pp. 51-52. 7. ]bidem: p . 4194. 8. S. H. Thomson: Czechoslovakia in European History; pp. 258, 263. 9. ,pp. 36-3'9. l'O. V. Bu§ek•N. Spulber: Czechoslovakia Under Communism; pp. 173-197. SLOVAKIA 43 11. Grundzuge der Phonologie, Pr'aigue, 1939. 12. J. Dolbrovsky and P. J. Saif{u:,ik dTew the dialectical l1ine sep•araitin,g SlQlVa'k and Czech d'i.al-ects in the middle cxf Moravm. Of. J. Skultety: SketchH From Slovak History, and his book S,todvadsat'pat' rokov zo slovenskeho iivota. 13. E. Pauliiniy: Dej iny spisovnej slovenciny, p. 41. Benedicti wro•te: "Neque tamen ego hie •e os ·ad Bohemicam linguam cogo, sed ad exeroitatJionem et cwltur-am iipsocum i<liiomatis i'llvito: presertim cum '110n tantum in eivitaiti:bus et oppidis, se<l etim in pagis scholis albundenlt." (GTammaticae Bohemicae lilbri duo. 1603). 141. E. Pauliny, Op. cit, p. 57 and 1'13; and A . Mraz: Dejiny slo• venskej literatury, p. 108. Flirst transratioo, of tfhe Bible dates from 1763, and -also the fir!lt dilctionaey was compiled at that time. 15. J. Skulitety, Op. cit.; and J,a roslav Vlceik : Medzi Vahom a Vltavou, pp. 228-234. 116. J. Skultety, Op. cit., pp. 20-30. 17. Op. cit., pp. 494-495. 18. E. Palllliny, Op. cit. , pp. 30-36. 19. 0. Radrr in Handbook of Slavic Studies, p. 491. 20. E. Pawliny, Op. cit., pp. 36-3,71 and '53. Pauliny is Off the opiniion that the occupation cxf Hungacy •b y the Turks (1526) he·bped the penetTation cxf the Cz,ech la1mguage since there was a sort of common border between Slova:kia and Moravia in the Habsburg Monarchy. 2r. T. LehraSlpla,winski: Przeglad i charakterystyka jaykow slo• wianskych, p. 71. 22. J . Dolbrovsky in 1875 wrote that Slovak is close to the Croat and Slovene languages in several respects. Zd. Stieber considers certain charaidteristics cxf tfhe S1'ovalk langua:g e as southerm- Slaivic e>lements (juhoslavizmy). Clf. Jan Starnislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, p. 387. 23. J. M. Wirschlbaum : l!udovit Stur and His Place in the Slavic World, pp. 13°17; and S. Czamlbel: Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slova.nskych jazykov, '!iurc. Sv. Martin, '1'906. 24. Watson Kirk'co nnel: Canada, E•urope, and Hitler, pp. 43-4.14. 25. •P•roif. R!om'a,n Sm al-Oto•c ki: Papers Dopovidi, Sevcenko Slcienbific Society,, Ne,w York, 1961. .26. Op. cit., p. 71. 27. iR01bert Aulty: Dialect, Koi•ne, and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak, The Slavoni:c and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, Lo.ndon, 1'961. 28. ]bidem, .p p. 3'42-346. 29. Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 20, 1959, pp. 799-800. 30. J. M. Ki.r,schlbaum: Cont&mporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, Slavic and Ea·st European Studies, Vol. W, No. 3-4, Monitrea,l , 11960; also in Offiprilrut. 31. Op. cit., pp. 46-108. 32. Op. cit., p. 5. ~- Op. cit., pp. 200-201. 44 SLOVAKIA BIBLIOGRAPHY of select.ed works in English, French, German, and Italian AUlty, Robert: The Evolution of Literary Slovak, Oambr'idlge, 1953. Reprinlt fr()IIIl Transadioru; of the P.hilologilcal Society, pp. 143-1:60. Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak. Waper preseir.:ted to the V]]lth Congress of the International Federa1Ji,on of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1,960, published in the Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 19611). Berndlak, A1nton: Slowakische Grammatik, Aus dem Lateinischein, ins Deutsche iibers·etzt, ,gedr. mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriiten, O.lifen, 1817. Bok•es, Frantisek: Literarische iibersicht des geschichtlichen Schaffens in der Slowakei, Leipziger Viertelja,hrsohr.iift fiir Siidost•europa 4, Leipzig, 1940. Cizevsky, Dmitr,y: Outline of Compara,t ive Slavic Literatures, American Academy of Arts and Scier.,ces, Boston, Mass., 1952. On Romanticism in Slavic Literatures, Gravenhage, Monton a.nd Co ., 1957. Aus Zwei Welten, Beitrage zur Geschieht-e der Slaiwischwes·thchen literarisohen Bezi•e hungen, 1956 Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral', in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Be:r,keley, 1'9516. A Bibliography of the Publica,t ions of' Dr. Dmitry Ciievsky in the Fields of Literature, Language, Philosophy and Culture, Gamlbridg·e, Mass., 1952. De Bray, R. G. A.:Guide to the Slavonic Languages, J. M. Denlt and Sons, Ltd., London, 1S31. ,Denis, Ernest: La question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques, Parus, 191'7, Ubrairie Delagrave. One of the best books on Slovaks before the •e nd of the Firrst Wo-11ld War. His views on. Bernolak, Stur, etc., are s1igh'Uy distorted by the id•e a olf the na,t ional and cultural unity of Czechs a nd Slovaks. Dixon, Oharlton: Slovak Grammar for English Speaking Students, 'Middll.etown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 11935. Fischel, Alfred: Pansl•avismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and BerJin, 19119. One of the best documented works on Pan-SlaviS'm in the German languag,e. Giusti, Wolrfgango: II Panslavismo, Mhlano, 194'1!, InstitUlto per gli studi di politica internazional-e. More a politi1Cal than scholarly :r,eview of the idea of Pan-Slavli-sm among Slavic peoples. Gross, Felix (•ed.): European Ideologies, New York, 194!8, Philosophicail. Lilbrary, W. Lednicki:'s chapter on Pan,Slavi·s m. Schola,rl(Y wriitten ltfleatise from the Polish point of view. Hrobak, Philip A.: Hrobak's English-Slovak Dictionary, Jednota Priintecry, MiiddleitC1wn, Pa., 1944. Slovak Lessons, Lakewood, Ohio, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printeriy, 1'935, 1•94'9. Slovak For Beginners, Books, I, H, Ifil, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1952. ·Let's Learn Slovak, Mrddlletown, Pa., 1'959. 1 SLOVAKIA 45 Hrusovsky, Frantisek: Geschichte der Slowakei, Brati>sla'V'a, 1'942. This Is Slovakia, Scranton, Pa., 1953. J•akofbson, Roman: Sur l'histoire et sur les .re•lations mu,t uelles du· tcheque et du slovaque, Le Monde Slave, xmv, '19317, 3·5 3-366. Slavic Langu•a ges, Columbia Univ,ersity Press, 1949. ~fo:sch1baum, J. M.: Slovakia - N·a tion At the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Speller and Sons, 1960. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet lmpaGt, The Slaivic and East-(Euroipean Studi·es, Monltr,eail, 1956, Part 1, pp. 45{}4, l!udovit Stur and His Place in the Slavic World, Sla'Vli~tica No. 3•2, Winnipeg-Cleveland, 1'956. Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, An Offiprint from Slavic a.n d East~ropean Studies, Vol. liV, No. 3-4, Montreal, 1960. A Note On Two Slowak Translators of Mickiewicz in W. Led1J1;icki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Litertaure, Berkeley, Ca.Jiif., lt956. La Grand,Moravie et son heritage culture(, Etud,es slaves et est-europeeL-:•nes, Montreal, Viol. fil. 1957 pp. 694M>. Le centen•a ire d'un grand slaviste: P. J. ~afarik, Etudes slaves et est-eurorp eennes, Montreal, Vol. V, 1960, prp. 189-!1'99. Kni,ezsa, Stefan: Zur Geschichte der Jugoslawismen im Mittelslowakischen, Budapest, 1948, uire a part d~ Etudes slaves ·e t roumaines, V01l. 1, Fasc. 3. Kohn, Hans: Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology, University of Notre Dame Press. 1953. One of th,e most Olbjective books on Pa.n-Slavism . Konus, Joseph: Practical Slovak Grammar. A te!Xtbook; for hi,gh s.chooils, colleges and adult ,private students, Pirotsburgh, Pa., 1939. Slovak-English Dictionary, Mi·ddletOWIJJ,, Pa., 1930. New English-Slovak Dictionary, Pitts<burg,h, Pa., 1941. Kramoris, Iva•n J.: An Anthology of Slovak Poetry, Scranton, 194'7,. A selection of lJyric and narrative poems indludimrg some member~ rnf stur's group. Slovakia and Slovak Litera,t ure. Reprinted :firoon the Caltholic Encydopedia, New Yo,rk, 1960. A Chronological Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Pass.air::, N. J ., 1S4~. Krcmery, Stefan: A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, Of,fiprint from The Slavonic ReVliew, Viol. v.m:, N~. 19, 1-928"1929. Lednicki, Waiclaiw (ed.): Adam Mickiewicz in Wo.rld Literature, University of Calilfornia Press, 1956. Articles by D. Cirevsky aind J . M. Kirschbaum. Leger, Louis: Le panslavisme et l'interet francais, Parris, 1917', Ernest F1lammarion. A rellatJively Olbjec'tiv,e study of Pan.Slavism and Slovak contribution. French ipoint of view. Locher, T. J.: Die nationale Differenzierung und lntegrierunrg der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848, Harlem, 1931. Macartney, C. A.: Hungary and Her Successors, London-<Nerw York- T-0ronito, 1937. SLOVAKIA 46 Maruniim,g, Claren'Ce A. (ed.): An Anthology of Czech and Slovak Poetry, New York, 11929, Oolumbia Uniiversity Press. Oontains translaibions by Prof. Ktln-kccmnell, Kramoris, Gallik, Manning, Slaibey, Ifotouc, etc. Merrigi,, Bruno: Storia delle letterature ceca e slovacca.~Univ,ersity of Florence, 1,959. Mikus, Joseph: La Slovaquie dans le drame de !'Europe, P.aris, Les Iles d'Or. 11955. La Slovaquie, lndividualite politi11ue de l'Europe Centrale, Paris, 11952. Mraz, Amdreas: Die Literatur der Slowaken, Wien-stu'ttgart, 194!3. A History olf Slovak lJiteralture by a contemporary scholar and professor at the Un1iviersity cif Bratislava. The work, comple'ted and edited in the Slova,k language in 11Hl8 by The S'lovak Academy df Sci1ences and All"ts, presents one oif the best works on the histo11y of Slovak liiterarture. Pastrnek, Fr.: Beitrage zur Lautlehre der Slowakischen Sprache in Ungarn (Aus d,eri, Sitzurugsberichten der philos.-hist. KJ.asse der K. Akademie der Wi.ssenschalften), Wien, 1888. Petrowch, Michael! B.: The Emergence of Russian Panslavism, Oolumbia Univ,ersity Press, 11956. Scotus, Viator (IR. W. Seton-WaJtson): Racial Problems in Hungary, Archilbaild Oonsta:ble and Oo., Ltd., London, 1908. Seton-Watson, R. W.: A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, London, 119413'.A schola1rl<y written history by one of the best de:t:enders of tlhe Slovak people at rthe beg~n,nimg of this centpcy (see his Racial Problems in Hungary) who later turned .i,gainst the Slovak mo•v,ement for autonomy and independence, being influenced by his Czedh friends. Slovak Studies 1, Hiistorica 11, Slovak InstiJtute, 'Rome, 1961. Salfarik, P. J .: Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Liter&tur nach alien Mundarten, Mit koni~l. ung. Universitatsschrid'ten, Ofifen, 1826. Sku!Jt:ety, Joseph: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, J 1ednota Press. Translation from the Slovak by 0. D. Koreff. Skluitety was professor at the University of Bratishwa and on,e of the m06t outstanding figures in the Slovak cultl.l['al lilfe Jn the first ha1f of tlhe 20th cen!tur,y. Stefanek, Anton: Zur Soziograph,ie der geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Bratislava, 11944. Strakihovsky, L. I. (ed.): A Ha,ndbook of Slavic Studies, Harv,a rd University Rriess, 1949, dhaipters by A. Senn and Otto Radl. Both artidles re.fleldt reicent research, though Radl's contnilbution is strongly pl'lo-Czech. Tourtzer, H.: Louis Stur et l'idee de !'independence slovaque, Cahors et Al-ehcon, Pari,s, 11913. Trobetzkoy, N. S.: Grundzuge der Phonolo9ie, Prag, 1939, (.on Slov.aik language, pp. 1117-UB, 1'36, 14!1, 1143, 16lt, 167, 170, 175, 208, 245). Vajda, Jiaroslav: Bloody Sonnets, transl. irom Hviezdoslav, P . 0 ., Scra1nton, Pa., 1900. Viktorin, J. K.: Grammatik de.r Slowakischen Sprache. Zurn Schul.:.. und SelJbst,untilvricht, Budapest, 1002. SLOVAKIA 47 Yurchak, P,eiter P.: The Slovaks, Wh'iting, Ind., 1947, Lach editions, c,h,apters fu-om Slovak History and litemture for Americam·s Olf Slovak ortgin. BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLAVIC LANGUAGES iBartek, Heinrich: Anton Bernolak, Trnarva, 1,937. l!udovit Shir a slovencina, Turc. Sv. Martin, 194i3. Krest'anstvo a slovencin,a, Nad,ej vit'azna, Scranton, Pa., 1947. Slovensky pravopis s gramatickymi pouckami a slovnikom, Whiting, Ind., Lach Publications, 1956. Spravn,a vyslovnost' slovenska, Braltislava, 194J. Blanar, Vincerut: Bibliografia jazykovedy na, Slovensku v rokoch 19391947. Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1950. Bolbek, W.: Prehl'adne dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1939. Mickiewicz v literaturze slowackiej, Praha, lJ93il. Dzieje literatury slowackiej w arysie. A'Il annprint firom Slowacja i Sl'owlicy, Edit. W. Semkoiwica;, Krakow, 1008. Czamlbel, Samo: Prfspevky k dejinam jazyka slovenskeho, Budapest, 1887. Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych ja:z:ykov, '!1urc. Sv. MartLn,, 1906. Slovensky pravopis. Historiok-OJkriticky nmes. Bud,a pest, 1890. [)vonc, Ladislav: Bibliografia slovenskej ja:z:ykovedy :z:a roky 19481952, Matilca Slov-enska, 1'957. Gajdo§, V. J .: Slovenske glosy v latinskom missa,li zo XVI. storoci'a, Historica slovacca I-11, BratisJ.ava, 1'940-lMt pp. 241-24'3. Gralbowski, T. S. : Dwaja Slowaccy pioner:z:y oswiecenia i post&pu, Bernolak a Fandly, 195ll. Hl"'ltta!1a, Martin: Kratka mluvnica slovenska, Bratislava, 1:852. Grammatica linguae slovenicae, Schemnicii, 1850. Hodza, Michal M.: Vetin o slovencine, Levoca, 164!8. ,Isaceniko, A. V.: Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej rili, Jazykovedny sbornik, I.JI, 1947', 137-17'8. Jia,gic, I. V.: lstorija slavianskoj filologii, S. Petersburg, 1910, Jlankovic, V.: Prvy slovensky preklad celeho Pisma svateho, Ver.bum I, 19416-1947. Kondra§ov, N. A.: Kategoriia licnosti i nelicnosti v slovackom ja:z:yku, MGU, 11949. Programma po istoriji slovackogo jazyka. Programma po sovremennom slovackom ja:z:yku, Izdatelstvo Moskovsko,go univerziite'ta, '1001'. Slavinaskaja filologia, Stafi i monogrrufiji, Izdaltelstvo Mostkovskogo univerzfteta, 1951. Kotvam,, rmrich: Jozef lgnac Baiza a slovenska rec, Linguistica slovaca Ilil, 1'9411. Ju.l"aj Fandly, Trnava, 1946. Juraj Fandly a slovensky ja:z:yk, Linguistiea slovaca I-m, 1939. Be,rnolakovci, T\rnarva, 19418. Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Miati'&! Slovenska, Martin, 1957·_ Lehr-Sp}aiwin ski, T.: Pr:z:eglad i eharakterystyka je:z:ykow slowianskich, Warszaiwa, li9154·. 1 48 SLOVAKIA Magnuszewski, J.: Mickiewicz wsrod Slowakow, Wir,oclaJW, 1956. Magiera, J.: Literatul"a czeska i slowacka, Obraz pismienniictwa. Warszawa, 1929. Misianik, Jan: Dejiny starsej slovenskei lite.ratury, SAN, Bratislava, 1958; Marxiisticky vy,kla,d st,arsej slov. litera'tury. Stran 320. Mraz, Andrej: Gavlovicova skola krest'anska. Prispev,ok k slov,enskemu literarnemu barolm, Bratislava, 11940. Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Slov. akad. v1ed a umeni, Bratislava, 194<8. Novak, I.!udovit: Cestina na Slovensku a vznik spisovnej slovenciny, Odtlafok zo Slovenskych pohl'adov, LEV, 193!8. Jazykovedne glosy k ceskoslovenskej otazke, Turc. Sv. Martin,, 11935. l!udovit Stur ako jazykovedec, Slovenske ipohl'ady, LiiI, 1936. Pastrnek, Fr.: Stara jazykova pamatka slovenska, Slbornik :liilologicky, ViIII, 1922. Pauliny, Eugen: Na okrai kama•ldulskeho Pisma, Vetibwm I, 1946-1947. Kulturnohistoricke podmienky a spolocenske funkcie biling.uizmu y dej inach spisovnej slovenciny, C-sl. prednaslcy pro sjezd slavistu v Mioskve, 11958. Glosy k pomeru: bernolactina a sturovcina, Kultura, XiJlV, 1942. Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1948. Pisut, Miilan (ed.): Dej iny slovenskej literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960, p. 680. ContrilbUltors J . Miisiia-niik, P. Petrus, J. Gregor~, P . Stevc,ek, (A Mairxist evaluation). Litera,tura narodneho obrodenia, SAY, Bratisla,V'a, 1'960, p. 490. Slovensky literarny romantizmus, C-sl. prednaslcy pro mezinarodni sj-ezd slavistu v Moslwe, 1'958. Sobolevskij, A. I.: Cerkovno-slavianskije texty moravskogo proischozd,e nija, Ruskij filoloigicesk!j vestnik, 1•900. Stanislav, Jan: K jazykovednemu dielu A. Bernolaka, Bratislava, 194/1. Pribinovi vel'moii, Linguistica slovaca I-II, 193·9-11940. Slovanski apostoli Cyril a Metod a ich cinnost' vo Vel'komoravskej risi, Bratislava, 1945. Spisovny jazyk slovensky, v sborir.,i ku Slovanske jazy,ky v dobe pfitomne, Praha, 1937. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Slovenska akademia wed, Bratislava, 1958. Stitibr, Zdisl'aiw: Zarys dialektologii jezykow zachodnio-slowanskich, W,arszarwa, 1'956. Skultety, Jozef: Stodvadsat'pat' rokov zo slovenskeho iivota 17901•914, Turc. Sv. Ma-rtin, 1920. 0 Slovakoch, Turc. Sv. M!a.rtin, 1928. Stur, I.!udovit: Nauka reci slovenskej, Bratislava, 1,846. Narecia slovenskuo, Bratislava, 1846. Slovo na case, (V uprav,e J . AIIIlibriusa), Bratislava, 1943. 'I1i!bensky, Jan: J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obr.incovia slovenskej narodnosti v XVlm. storoci, Osveta, Martin, 19.58. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho IYm.,tia, Histod'C'ky casopis, Vfil, 4, 1959. 49 SLOVAKIA Vznik, vyvoj a vyznam vel'komoraV5kej trad icie v s lovenskom narodnom obrodeni, Sbornik O vzajomnych vzt'ahodh Cechov a Slov:ikov, SAV, 1956. Vairsik, BranisJav: Slovaci na praiskej univerzite do konca stredoveku, 1Bratislava, 1926. Kulturne vzt'ahy Cechov a Slovakov v 16. a 17. storoc: i, Bratislava, 1956. Narodnostny problem trnavskej univerzity, Bratislava, 1,9 38. VH~ovsky, Jan : Cantus Catholici, Biratislava IX, 193'5. Vilcek, J·aToslav: Dejiny literatury slovenske j, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923. Medzi Vahom a Vl tavou, Slov. vyd .. krasnej literatury, Brabislava, 11957. Weingart, Milos: 0 nej starsich jazykovych pamatkach slovenskych, OMF, 1935. Rev. Milan Durica, SIXB, partici- j who made the arrangements. T\he pated in the sessions of the prepa- prayer was purblished in the Conrator,y commission for discipline gressiona1l Record of March 14. llt! llt! llt! of the ole11gy and fait,hiful for the I n. Vatican, Ecdlesiastical Assemlbly. I Bishop Andrew G. Grutka of Father Durica, a native Olf S1()1Va- 1 bhe diocese of Gary, Indiana, ackia, acts in an advisory capacito/. 1companied by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. M .K. Mlynarovic, president of the The meeting was early in Slovak Callholic Federation of ruary. Amenica, traveled to Rome early :!€! llt! :!€! Dr. John Novotny, a native Olf , in April (6-15) to review the plans Slovakia now res•idin,g im, London, : for the Slovak Institute which will successfully passed the medical be bui11t there. Plans were also examinations to !become a Memlber made for the celebration of the of the Royal College of Physi- l'lOOth anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers Cyril an,d cians. Methodius to the ancient homeland llt! llt! llt! According to Radio Bratislava of the Slovaks, Slovakia, in 1963, (Feb:mary 3', '1962), the exposition by Slovaks in the free world. Biof Czech~ovak bodks in Rome shop Grutka had an audience with was a great success. Our friends Pope John XXIIil!I on Aipril 14. The in Rome, however, inform us that Slovak Institute will cost rubout a it was far from being successful. halif million dollars, most of which And Slovak books were conspicu- is exipected to be donated by the ous by their albsence, only a/bout Slovaks in America. Almost half the amount is already pledged. te·n being displayed. Feb-I' I )lg )lg )lg )lg )lg )lg Rev. John E. ~englar, pastor of The Holy See, early in Apr:I, Sacred Heart Church, Phoenixville, Pa., opened bhe session of bhe U. S. Senate on 'March 14, 1962' - the -23'rd anniv,ersacy of the .pro>clamation rnf S1ov•aik Independence - with a special prayer. He was atccompanied to Washington by P . A. Hl.'obak, president o'f the Slovak League of America, 1962, appointed the Rev. Rudolph KOibela, C.,M., miss,i onary for t,he Slovaks in England, parUoolarly for the several hundred who reside in London and viiicinity. F,ather Kdbela had been attending to the spiritual needs of the Slova'ks in London, for several years prior to that time.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Misconceptions of American Slavists on the Slovak Language Description An account of the resource Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 12, No. 1 (35), March-June 1962 pp. 25-49 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1962 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ccf3149bab4bb1fa3a838b0d4f2b07bc.pdf 04634cd0fe24fe554006b522b5beac7d PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 9 .CANADIAN TRANSLATOR OF SLOVAK POETRY PROFESSOR WATSON KIRKCONNELL J.M. Kirschbaum The American ~cholar R. A. Kann, writing on Slovak -cultural development said that "at the turn of the nineteenth century Slovak nationalism, as evidenced by a rich harvest of national culturail activities, came to .the fore within an incredi<bly short time. In its intensity of national emotion and fullness of cultural achievement ;it was se<!ond to none of the other Slav nationalities in the Habsburg empire" (1). Rare however were Western or American scholara who took cognizance of the development in such a positive way, and whose opinion on Slovak cultural life was as favorable as that expressed by Prof. R. A. Kann. For a long time it was merely a handful of Western scholars who were interested in Slovakia's existence, and .still lesser number of those who paid attention to Slowk cultural achievements. The famous Norwegian B. Bjornson, Scotus Viator (Prof. R. Seton-Watson), and Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne exhaust the lii:.t of prominent Western sdholars, and writers who, before 1918, drew the attention of the European and English-speaking world to the Slovak -culture. Scotus Viator in his book Racial Problems in Hungary, published several interesting essays on Slovak popular art and poetry (2). E. Denis gave an account of the whole Slovak cultural development before 1918, ,and found Slovak poetry worthy of reading, not only as far as the period of Romanticism is concerned, but also the classic epics and lyrics of Jan Holly (1785-1849) who enriched Slovak literature by his masterful translations from mainy Greek and Latin poets, and by his own poetic works as well (3). Nevertheless, we can s:ay that not earlier than after the First and again after the Second World War, the Western scholars made some sporadic and serious attempts to become ,acquainted with and to evaluate Slovak literature and its branch-poetry-in the context of Slavic or European literatures. We note with special interest that among them was also a Canadian scholar and translator of poetry of many European nations, Professor Watson Kirkcon- �10 SLOVAKIA nell ( 4) , who as early as in the first decade after the First World War -published three translations from Slovak poets. Professor Kirkconnell took a courageous attitude towards people immigrating to Canada and their cultural heritage and became a sort of cultural ambassador for European culture in Canada. In 1935, in the Preface to his book Canadian Overtones, his credo and the reasons why he became interested in the poetry and culture of other than Anglo-Saxon Canadians in the following lines : "Our national attitude towards them (i.e., Europea,n immigrants) has already passed through two ignorant and discreditable phases. In the first phase, we tended to despise them as European coolies, imported to do heavy work for which our hands had already grown too delicate. In the second and more recent phase, we have been patronizingly interested in their folk-costumes and folk-dances , picturesque incidentals which have about as much vital share in their lives as the kilt and the Highland fling have in that of the average Scotoh~Canadian. Their poetry, however, may help us to develop a third and much truer attitude towards them, as ~beings breathing tihoughtful breath', men and women as capable as any amongst us of appreciating the beauties and tihe .phiilosophies of thls world (5). "I foresee a further v,alue in this poetry," continues Kirkconnell. "It should help to develop lin succeeding genera:ions a Canadianism nourished by pride in the individual's racial past. There is nothing so shallow and sterile as the man who denies his ancestry. The 'one hundred per cent' American (or Canadian) is commonly one who has deliberately suppr essed an alien origin in order to reap the material benefits of a well-advertised loy,alty. There can be little hope of noble spiritual issues from such a prostituted patriotism. Unfortunately, it is abetted by the ignorant assumption of ma,ny an English-speaking citizen that alien origin is a natural mark of inferiority. He who thinks thus is a mental hooligan- whether he be lawyer, militia colonel, or bishop of the church. What we sorely need, on the contmry, is enough common intelligence to recognize both the rich diversity of racial gifts on this earth and the strength which racial roots can contribute to the individual" (6) . �SLOVAKIA 11 Kirkconnell wrote an inspired warning to new Canadians and to his Anglo-Saxon countrymen . as well with regard to hasty or forced integration and assimilation. "Prophetic hopes" - he wrote in the same book "would envisage a future Canada in which every individual would be thus inspired to fuller citizenship by his realization of h:s origin, whatever that might be. There is already, however, grave danger of the third and even the second generation of Swedish, Ukrainian, and other immigrant groups turning their backs on the language and history of their own people in a hasty act of renunciation. That they should be speedily integrated into loyal co-operation with our general Canadian population is, of course, of supreme national importance. But it would be tragic if there should at the same time by a clumsy stripping-'away of all those spiritual associations with the past which help to give depth and beauty to life" (7). To prov•e the righteousness of his convictions and conceptions, Prof. Kirkconnell published some 30 books, studies and essays and several volumes of translations (8). Dr. Kirkconnell's Translations of Slovak Poetry In the preface to his volume European Elegies, Prof. Kirkconnell wrote that his translations do not pretend to be "adequately representative" of European elegy. "As a matter of f:act," says Kirkconnell, "I have attempted "merely to translate those poems towards which I have felt the strongest emotional r eaction." He also says that the "limitation of this method has been intensified by the narrow range of my humble bookshelves" (9). We humbly assume that we may apply 1:!he above confession also to the translations from Slovak poetry. The three poems which Prof. Kirkconnell translated are certainly not "adequately representative" of Slovak poetry, but their choice was not unfortunate. Hviezdosl-av is the greatest of Slovak poets in many poetic genres and Vajansky's manifold literary activities made of him an outstanding represent•a tive Qf Slovak literature in prose and verse (10) . Literary historians or critics would certainly appreciate to know how this distinguished Canadian scholar was translating European poetry from 50 languages, having in com- �12 SLOVAKIA mon only their Indo-European origin. Prof. Kirkconnell answers this question in the following lines: "My method of translation is comparatively simple. First choosing some poem that had moved me in the original, I keep that original before me, mumbling it aloud and brooding over it until I have saturated my mind with its emotion. Then I endeavour to reproduce its form and spirit in English as accurately as possible, reserving only the conviction that a literal translation is inherently criminal and that my verse rendering which sacrifices beauty to philology is a blasphemous offence in its very existence" (11). Prof. Kirkconnell also explained w'hy he undertook the arduous task of translating from the poetry of so many nations. "Modern nations are unhappily isolated"-says Prof. Kirkconnell-"and estranged by their very loyalties to speech, kind, and faith. But in the presence of the ultimate they may all join hands in community of spirit. Beyond race and creed and language are the fundamental sanctities of human life, love, tenderness, sorrow, fortitude." The translations were done for the transla:tor at least, a Siloam of these healing waters, flowing in from fifty linguistic hillsides of human experience, and I gain strength from them in the hope that they may contribute its stream to the ocean of understanding that shall one day consummate its cleansing, reconciling task of pure ablution round earth's human shores" (12). The translation of the three Slovak poems (13) rendered by Dr. Kirkconnell follows: THE BLOODY SONNETS P. 0. Hviezdoslav Song has no place in these high days of pain: Fate calls for blood, that, splashed from heart to hand. Is cast a:broad to consecrate the land And from dead stones draw golden ears of grain, Blood brings the splendor of the sun again, Lighting our darkness with a flashing brand; Blood brings the dawn that men may understand; Blood brings the bread of Freedom to sustain. �SLOVAKIA 13 Only by blood, outpoured in rage and flame, Oan we destroy the stubble and the taresSweeping away our slavery and shame Like putrid flotsam that a swift stream bears. And while that cleansing tide leaps on in flood, Mer e song is silenced in the Song of Blood. wss P. 0. Hviezdoslav The spring has gone. And I have lost the flowers I might have gathered from its meadow-grass. I merely marked t he sudden sprig aspire Up through the turf in frost and golden fire , And, as I dallied, saw that glory pass As swiftly ias the rainbow of June showers. Ah, maiden beauty, fleeting are thy hours! Summer has gone. And I have missed the gleaning I might have gathered from its harvest-field. I merely marked the flaming wheat-waves swaying Across the leas where summer winds were playing; But as I gazed, time seized that yellow yield And fate forestalled by frantic interveningAh, love, at last I now thy tragic meaning! Autumn has come. Bare stubbled prairies taunt me In my sad brooding on what might have been. Across the sky the haggard mists are weaving A fog-shroud for the dying sun's receiving; And fears of these dark days, bereavement's keen Heart-hunger and deep thirst of spirit haunt me. Alas, the terrors of love's winter daunt me! HOPE Svetozar Hurban Vajansky (14) Snows are now deep in the valleys; Drifts lie in mountains appalling. What but the sunshine can slay them? What but the rain in its falling? Miseries cumber the nation, Weight the chilled earth and outwear it. �14 SLOVAKIA Woe to my pitiful people How are they able to bear it? But with sun comes rejoicing, Smiting the snows down with slaughter; See, where the drifts lay in rancor, Runnels of muddying water. Freedom's bright sun is now dawning, Wasting our woes with its glory; See, where oppression once crushed us, Vanish the murderous story! Dr. Kirkconnell's Attitude Towards Slovakb For one who knows that after 1918 the Prague government made great efforts and spent lots of money in order to hide the fact that Slovaks were not Czechs and that they were dissatisfied with the Czech rule and its assimilatory tendencies, Prof. Kirkconnell's interest in Slovakia will perhaps be surprising. But much more surprising, at least for the atmosphere of 1939, is his courageous stand with regard to the problem which pushed Slovaks and Czechs apart, and with regard to the Slovak language and Slovak national entity. W1th the exception of C. A. Macartney (15), Prague governments gained Anglo-Saxon writers, scholars and journalists to their side in presenting the Slovak problem to international public opinion. The differences between Czechs iand Slovaks were belittled: the Slovaks were presented as an ungrateful and unruly people, politically par ochial and underdeveloped, who were led by a "clerical clique" into an opposition towards ia government which was depicted as an example of democracy, progress and tolerance. Prof. Kirkconnell did not buy this picture of CzechoSlovakia and courageously pointed to the facts which were hidden by the clever propaganda of Prague governments. He saw in the correct historical perspective the origin of Czecho-Slovakia and the inherent differences between the Czechs and Slovaks. "There were two documents"-wrote Kirkconnell in 1939- " on the strength of which the Slovaks were included �SLOVAKIA 15 in the new state. The first was a resolution supporting union, drawn up by a private group of 106 men, meeting in the little Slovak town of Turciansky sv. Martin. The other was the so-called Pittsburgh Declaration, signed by Czech and Slovak immigrants at Pitts'b urgh, U.S.A., in support of a federal union of the Czechs and Slovaks. In the Slovak provinces, no plebiscite was ever t,aken; and a Slovak delegation to Paris, seeking to state the other side of the Slovak case, was arrested by the French police, on the instigation of Benesh, and deported. Monsieur Andre Tardieu, in his book LA PAIX, explains }aconically: "We had to choose between a plebiscite and the creation of Czecho-Slovakia" (16). Prof. Kirkconnell had a different view from the majority of Anglo-Saxon scholars and writers also with regard to the official Czech theory that Czechs and Slovaks were one ethnic unit and that the Slovak language was merely a dialect of the Czech tongue. "It cannot be too strongly emphasized"____.wrote Kirkconnell in the same book- "that the Slovaks are not Czechs, and that there is no such creature as a "Czechoslovak. While they speak closely related Slavic languages, Slovak is not a mere dialect of Czech. The differences are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German.- I have on my shelves Miroslav Kalal's Slovak-Czech dictionary (published 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition. As a matter of fact, many Slovak philologists find the closest relative of their language in the speech of the Slovenes, laying to the southwest of Hungary" (17). The reason of disagreement between the Czechs and Slovaks were, according to Prof. Kirkconnell, more serious than the Prague goverment or some scholars in the West were ready to admit in 1939. He boldly pointed out that Slovaks had serious reasons to be dissatisfied. "When the treaty makers of Paris"-says Kirkconnell -"linked Czechs and Slovaks together in a common state, it was assumed that the ,a rrangement would prove an ideal one; yet a visit to Middle Europe in 1938 found the Slovaks one of the most discontented of the republic's minorities. This is only intelligible if we realize the diverging past �16 SLOVAKIA histories of the Czechs and the SlovaJks, and the unfulfilled conditions under which the latter entered the Czech-dominated state in 1919" (18). Looking with scholarly objectivity at the origin and at the 20 years of political existance of Czecho-Slovakia, Prof. Kirkconnell could not but express different views also on the disintegration of that coontry and on the creation of the Slovak Republic. He wrote critically on some aspects of the first steps of the Slovak government ,and on the Slovak constitution, but with full understanding of the reasons which led the Slovak Parliament on March 14, 1939, to declare Slovakia's independence: "The creation, in March 1939, of a separate Slovak state under German auspices did not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the feeling existing between the Slovaks and the Czechs, and aware also of the Nazi eagerness to intensify and exploit such a situation for the furtherance of their own programme. A measure of Slovak autonomy had, it is true, been granted by Prague after the Munich settlement, but the ubiquitous presence of an intrenched Czech officialdom in state and school, backed by the Czech army, together with the difficulty of even gradually replacing them with Slov,ak officials and teachers, made exasperated impatience on the part of the Slovak nationalists inevitable" (19). Since 1939 Prof. Kirkconnell paid attention to the cultul"al activities of Canadians of Slovak origin and favorably commented in the University of Toronto Quarterly on two publications: Eudovit Srur and His Place in the Slavic World and Contemporary tende.ncies in Slovak Philology (20), quoting from the latter publication a corroboration of his views on Slovak language. In a personal letter he also congratulated the author of the book Slovakia -Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, considering it as "an imposing scholarly work on the subject." All this allows us to conclude that Slovakia, Slovak culture and poetry, as well as the Slovak struggle for freedom found in this outstanding Canadian-Slavist a keen observer and stanch defender of historical truth and scholly objectivity, who did not conform with half-truths even if they were fashionable. �SLOVAKIA 17 RE·FE·RENCES 1. Of R. A. Kann: The Multinational Empire, Rutgers University, 1950; p . 273. 2. Scotus Viator: Racial Problems in Hungary, London, 1908, contributions by S. H. Vajanskt (Chapter XIX); Dusan JurkovH!~ On Slovak Popular Art (Chapter XWII); and Slovak Popular Melodies (Chapter XX); ,p p. 362-392. In Vajanskt's contribution we find several good translations or Slovak songs or poetry. 3. Ernest Denis: Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917 ; p. 153-1'54; also J. -M. Kirschbaum, Misconceptions of American Slavists about Slovak Literature, in Slovakia, Vol. XI, Middletown, Pa., 1961; p. 22-42. 4. The Encyclopedia Cana:diana gives Olll Prof. W. KirkcOI11I1e1l the following account: Kirkconnell Watson, pr,o fessor a nd writer: born -May 16, 1895, wt Port Hope, Ontario. Educ-ated at the Collegiate Institute, Lindsay; ·Q ueen's University (lM.A. 1916); the Toronto Conservjj,tory df Music; and ; Lincoln College, Oxford. Profes-sor of Ernglish at Wesley (la,ter United) College, Winnipeg, 1922-310; O'f c1,assics 1000-40; head of th·e English department at MaoMas<ter University 1940-1948 ; became President oil' Acadia University 1948. He pubJi.shed neal'ly 30 works, ranging from learned treatises and poetry to short stories and children's tales. His fkst book of verse was The Tide of Life (1930); Lyra Sacra dates from 1939. An important scholarly work The Celestial Cycle: The Theme of Paradise Lost in World Literature, with Translations of the Major Analogues appeared in 1952. His versability manifes'ted itseld' in an exceptional linguistic ability: he pu,blished several collections of ve,r se translated fr-om Icelandia, Polish and Hungarian sources. Collaborated with ,Seraphim Marion in The Quebec Tradition (1946) and with A. S. P . Woodhouse in a survey, The Humanities in Canada ( 194 7) . Memlb er af many forei.gn learned societies; elected F iR.S.C . 1936; awarded the Loren Pierce Medal, 1942 . .5. Preface to Canadian Overtones, Winnipeg, 1935, The Columbia Press, Ltd.; p. 3-4. -~. Ibidem~ p. 4. 'l . Ibi(lem-p. 6. 8. Under the Utle European Elegies, Prof. Kirkc_pnnen has published 100 poems w•h ich he translated f.rom 50 languages. In his Canadian Overtones, he published translations from the Icelandic, Swedish, Nor,wegian, Hung,arian, rtalian and Greek poetry. 9. •See Preface 10. On Hviezdoslav, see Scatus Viator, op. cit., p. :!70-371; also W. Lednicki (ed.), Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature; also this w-r iter's contribution on "Two Slovak translators of Mickiewicz," p. 498-493. His "Bloody Sonets" were translated into English by Jarosl1av Vajda; Hviezdoslav, on the other hand, translated Shakespeare's Hamlet and Midsummer N!-ght's Dream into Slovak. �SLOVi\KI.,\ , 18 11. European Elegies. 12. Ibidem 13. All three translations were originally puibl!shed Anthology of Czechoslovak Poetry, New Press, 1929. An In C. A. Manning, York, Columbia 14.' · On ' s. ;H : Viaja~sky role b~ .Slovak lit-erature artd : 'n atio~~f !Jfe . se,e . Scotu~ .Viator;, op. cjt., p. 362; . L. I. StrakhoV1Sky ,( ed.), Cambrl!J'ge, ·. Mass., 1949, p: . 489; and ·r. · J. Kramoris, Slovakia and Slovak Literature, In The Catholic Encyclopedia, XVILiil, 1950. S. H. Vajansky was a poe t as well as novelist and national lead-er. His chief works are:' (a) Poetical: Tatry a more (The Tatras and the ·s ea), a · collection o.f poems; Zpod jarma (From under the <...:_ 1'oke); ·Besed.y .a ,,dumy ,. (Conv.ersa,tion ' and Mediations)';- (·IJ) Novels: Sucha ratolesf (The Dry Branch), by which is meant the Slovak nobles who had deserted -their nationality; Kotlfn; (c) · Stories and Sketches: ~alia (The Lily); Svietace Tiene (Glittering \Shadows); Husle (The Violin); Two Sisters; The Young Mini'ster. Ge11man translations have appeared ()Cf "Der Kandidat," "Der Nachltwacher," "Das Weib des Hol1shauers," Der sch,varze Idealist," "Das Heimatslied." May English translations soon follow! -,R.W JS-.W. l', , ' W~ihtbo1>l< of . SlaVic : Studies, Hi. Hungary and her Successors, Ox,f ord University and Problems of the Danube Basin, London, 1942. 16. W. Kirkconnell: Canada, Europe and Hitler, Oxiford University Press, 1939 ;· p. 44. 17. lrbidem~p. 43. 18. lbiciem- p.44. 19. lbidem- p. 47. 20. Press, 1937 University of Toronto Quarterly, July 1961, Letters in Canada. "Publications in Forei,g n Languages," p. 514 ; also his comment on "Misconceptions of American Slavists arbout Slovak Literature," in the same revue, July 1962, p. 582, wh.er-e · Prof. Kirkconnell writes : "Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, of the University od: Montreal, has contributed to Slovakia (!March-June 1961, 22-42) a heavily documented essay on '\Misconceptions of American Slavists .a:bout Slovak Literature. Whereas Czech propaganda has refused to adm_it tha_t there was any Slovak literaiture before 18·44. Marxist scholarshiIJ, without any Czech inhibitions, has recognized over one hundr ed Slovak authors in the eighteenth-century 'school' of Anton Bernolak, and th ere is evidence of a Slovak tradition going all the way back to the Great Moravian. Elmpire in the ninth cent<ury. Dr. Iimrich Kotvan's Bibliography of the School of Bernolak 11urns to some · four hundred pages." � SLOVAKIA 9 .CANADIAN TRANSLATOR OF SLOVAK POETRY PROFESSOR WATSON KIRKCONNELL J.M. Kirschbaum The American ~cholar R. A. Kann, writing on Slovak -cultural development said that "at the turn of the nineteenth century Slovak nationalism, as evidenced by a rich harvest of national culturail activities, came to .the fore within an incredi<bly short time. In its intensity of national emotion and fullness of cultural achievement ;it was se<!ond to none of the other Slav nationalities in the Habsburg empire" (1). Rare however were Western or American scholara who took cognizance of the development in such a positive way, and whose opinion on Slovak cultural life was as favorable as that expressed by Prof. R. A. Kann. For a long time it was merely a handful of Western scholars who were interested in Slovakia's existence, and .still lesser number of those who paid attention to Slowk cultural achievements. The famous Norwegian B. Bjornson, Scotus Viator (Prof. R. Seton-Watson), and Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne exhaust the lii:.t of prominent Western sdholars, and writers who, before 1918, drew the attention of the European and English-speaking world to the Slovak -culture. Scotus Viator in his book Racial Problems in Hungary, published several interesting essays on Slovak popular art and poetry (2). E. Denis gave an account of the whole Slovak cultural development before 1918, ,and found Slovak poetry worthy of reading, not only as far as the period of Romanticism is concerned, but also the classic epics and lyrics of Jan Holly (1785-1849) who enriched Slovak literature by his masterful translations from mainy Greek and Latin poets, and by his own poetic works as well (3). Nevertheless, we can s:ay that not earlier than after the First and again after the Second World War, the Western scholars made some sporadic and serious attempts to become ,acquainted with and to evaluate Slovak literature and its branch-poetry-in the context of Slavic or European literatures. We note with special interest that among them was also a Canadian scholar and translator of poetry of many European nations, Professor Watson Kirkcon- �10 SLOVAKIA nell ( 4) , who as early as in the first decade after the First World War -published three translations from Slovak poets. Professor Kirkconnell took a courageous attitude towards people immigrating to Canada and their cultural heritage and became a sort of cultural ambassador for European culture in Canada. In 1935, in the Preface to his book Canadian Overtones, his credo and the reasons why he became interested in the poetry and culture of other than Anglo-Saxon Canadians in the following lines : "Our national attitude towards them (i.e., Europea,n immigrants) has already passed through two ignorant and discreditable phases. In the first phase, we tended to despise them as European coolies, imported to do heavy work for which our hands had already grown too delicate. In the second and more recent phase, we have been patronizingly interested in their folk-costumes and folk-dances , picturesque incidentals which have about as much vital share in their lives as the kilt and the Highland fling have in that of the average Scotoh~Canadian. Their poetry, however, may help us to develop a third and much truer attitude towards them, as ~beings breathing tihoughtful breath', men and women as capable as any amongst us of appreciating the beauties and tihe .phiilosophies of thls world (5). "I foresee a further v,alue in this poetry," continues Kirkconnell. "It should help to develop lin succeeding genera:ions a Canadianism nourished by pride in the individual's racial past. There is nothing so shallow and sterile as the man who denies his ancestry. The 'one hundred per cent' American (or Canadian) is commonly one who has deliberately suppr essed an alien origin in order to reap the material benefits of a well-advertised loy,alty. There can be little hope of noble spiritual issues from such a prostituted patriotism. Unfortunately, it is abetted by the ignorant assumption of ma,ny an English-speaking citizen that alien origin is a natural mark of inferiority. He who thinks thus is a mental hooligan- whether he be lawyer, militia colonel, or bishop of the church. What we sorely need, on the contmry, is enough common intelligence to recognize both the rich diversity of racial gifts on this earth and the strength which racial roots can contribute to the individual" (6) . �SLOVAKIA 11 Kirkconnell wrote an inspired warning to new Canadians and to his Anglo-Saxon countrymen . as well with regard to hasty or forced integration and assimilation. "Prophetic hopes" - he wrote in the same book "would envisage a future Canada in which every individual would be thus inspired to fuller citizenship by his realization of h:s origin, whatever that might be. There is already, however, grave danger of the third and even the second generation of Swedish, Ukrainian, and other immigrant groups turning their backs on the language and history of their own people in a hasty act of renunciation. That they should be speedily integrated into loyal co-operation with our general Canadian population is, of course, of supreme national importance. But it would be tragic if there should at the same time by a clumsy stripping-'away of all those spiritual associations with the past which help to give depth and beauty to life" (7). To prov•e the righteousness of his convictions and conceptions, Prof. Kirkconnell published some 30 books, studies and essays and several volumes of translations (8). Dr. Kirkconnell's Translations of Slovak Poetry In the preface to his volume European Elegies, Prof. Kirkconnell wrote that his translations do not pretend to be "adequately representative" of European elegy. "As a matter of f:act," says Kirkconnell, "I have attempted "merely to translate those poems towards which I have felt the strongest emotional r eaction." He also says that the "limitation of this method has been intensified by the narrow range of my humble bookshelves" (9). We humbly assume that we may apply 1:!he above confession also to the translations from Slovak poetry. The three poems which Prof. Kirkconnell translated are certainly not "adequately representative" of Slovak poetry, but their choice was not unfortunate. Hviezdosl-av is the greatest of Slovak poets in many poetic genres and Vajansky's manifold literary activities made of him an outstanding represent•a tive Qf Slovak literature in prose and verse (10) . Literary historians or critics would certainly appreciate to know how this distinguished Canadian scholar was translating European poetry from 50 languages, having in com- �12 SLOVAKIA mon only their Indo-European origin. Prof. Kirkconnell answers this question in the following lines: "My method of translation is comparatively simple. First choosing some poem that had moved me in the original, I keep that original before me, mumbling it aloud and brooding over it until I have saturated my mind with its emotion. Then I endeavour to reproduce its form and spirit in English as accurately as possible, reserving only the conviction that a literal translation is inherently criminal and that my verse rendering which sacrifices beauty to philology is a blasphemous offence in its very existence" (11). Prof. Kirkconnell also explained w'hy he undertook the arduous task of translating from the poetry of so many nations. "Modern nations are unhappily isolated"-says Prof. Kirkconnell-"and estranged by their very loyalties to speech, kind, and faith. But in the presence of the ultimate they may all join hands in community of spirit. Beyond race and creed and language are the fundamental sanctities of human life, love, tenderness, sorrow, fortitude." The translations were done for the transla:tor at least, a Siloam of these healing waters, flowing in from fifty linguistic hillsides of human experience, and I gain strength from them in the hope that they may contribute its stream to the ocean of understanding that shall one day consummate its cleansing, reconciling task of pure ablution round earth's human shores" (12). The translation of the three Slovak poems (13) rendered by Dr. Kirkconnell follows: THE BLOODY SONNETS P. 0. Hviezdoslav Song has no place in these high days of pain: Fate calls for blood, that, splashed from heart to hand. Is cast a:broad to consecrate the land And from dead stones draw golden ears of grain, Blood brings the splendor of the sun again, Lighting our darkness with a flashing brand; Blood brings the dawn that men may understand; Blood brings the bread of Freedom to sustain. �SLOVAKIA 13 Only by blood, outpoured in rage and flame, Oan we destroy the stubble and the taresSweeping away our slavery and shame Like putrid flotsam that a swift stream bears. And while that cleansing tide leaps on in flood, Mer e song is silenced in the Song of Blood. wss P. 0. Hviezdoslav The spring has gone. And I have lost the flowers I might have gathered from its meadow-grass. I merely marked t he sudden sprig aspire Up through the turf in frost and golden fire , And, as I dallied, saw that glory pass As swiftly ias the rainbow of June showers. Ah, maiden beauty, fleeting are thy hours! Summer has gone. And I have missed the gleaning I might have gathered from its harvest-field. I merely marked the flaming wheat-waves swaying Across the leas where summer winds were playing; But as I gazed, time seized that yellow yield And fate forestalled by frantic interveningAh, love, at last I now thy tragic meaning! Autumn has come. Bare stubbled prairies taunt me In my sad brooding on what might have been. Across the sky the haggard mists are weaving A fog-shroud for the dying sun's receiving; And fears of these dark days, bereavement's keen Heart-hunger and deep thirst of spirit haunt me. Alas, the terrors of love's winter daunt me! HOPE Svetozar Hurban Vajansky (14) Snows are now deep in the valleys; Drifts lie in mountains appalling. What but the sunshine can slay them? What but the rain in its falling? Miseries cumber the nation, Weight the chilled earth and outwear it. �14 SLOVAKIA Woe to my pitiful people How are they able to bear it? But with sun comes rejoicing, Smiting the snows down with slaughter; See, where the drifts lay in rancor, Runnels of muddying water. Freedom's bright sun is now dawning, Wasting our woes with its glory; See, where oppression once crushed us, Vanish the murderous story! Dr. Kirkconnell's Attitude Towards Slovakb For one who knows that after 1918 the Prague government made great efforts and spent lots of money in order to hide the fact that Slovaks were not Czechs and that they were dissatisfied with the Czech rule and its assimilatory tendencies, Prof. Kirkconnell's interest in Slovakia will perhaps be surprising. But much more surprising, at least for the atmosphere of 1939, is his courageous stand with regard to the problem which pushed Slovaks and Czechs apart, and with regard to the Slovak language and Slovak national entity. W1th the exception of C. A. Macartney (15), Prague governments gained Anglo-Saxon writers, scholars and journalists to their side in presenting the Slovak problem to international public opinion. The differences between Czechs iand Slovaks were belittled: the Slovaks were presented as an ungrateful and unruly people, politically par ochial and underdeveloped, who were led by a "clerical clique" into an opposition towards ia government which was depicted as an example of democracy, progress and tolerance. Prof. Kirkconnell did not buy this picture of CzechoSlovakia and courageously pointed to the facts which were hidden by the clever propaganda of Prague governments. He saw in the correct historical perspective the origin of Czecho-Slovakia and the inherent differences between the Czechs and Slovaks. "There were two documents"-wrote Kirkconnell in 1939- " on the strength of which the Slovaks were included �SLOVAKIA 15 in the new state. The first was a resolution supporting union, drawn up by a private group of 106 men, meeting in the little Slovak town of Turciansky sv. Martin. The other was the so-called Pittsburgh Declaration, signed by Czech and Slovak immigrants at Pitts'b urgh, U.S.A., in support of a federal union of the Czechs and Slovaks. In the Slovak provinces, no plebiscite was ever t,aken; and a Slovak delegation to Paris, seeking to state the other side of the Slovak case, was arrested by the French police, on the instigation of Benesh, and deported. Monsieur Andre Tardieu, in his book LA PAIX, explains }aconically: "We had to choose between a plebiscite and the creation of Czecho-Slovakia" (16). Prof. Kirkconnell had a different view from the majority of Anglo-Saxon scholars and writers also with regard to the official Czech theory that Czechs and Slovaks were one ethnic unit and that the Slovak language was merely a dialect of the Czech tongue. "It cannot be too strongly emphasized"____.wrote Kirkconnell in the same book- "that the Slovaks are not Czechs, and that there is no such creature as a "Czechoslovak. While they speak closely related Slavic languages, Slovak is not a mere dialect of Czech. The differences are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German.- I have on my shelves Miroslav Kalal's Slovak-Czech dictionary (published 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition. As a matter of fact, many Slovak philologists find the closest relative of their language in the speech of the Slovenes, laying to the southwest of Hungary" (17). The reason of disagreement between the Czechs and Slovaks were, according to Prof. Kirkconnell, more serious than the Prague goverment or some scholars in the West were ready to admit in 1939. He boldly pointed out that Slovaks had serious reasons to be dissatisfied. "When the treaty makers of Paris"-says Kirkconnell -"linked Czechs and Slovaks together in a common state, it was assumed that the ,a rrangement would prove an ideal one; yet a visit to Middle Europe in 1938 found the Slovaks one of the most discontented of the republic's minorities. This is only intelligible if we realize the diverging past �16 SLOVAKIA histories of the Czechs and the SlovaJks, and the unfulfilled conditions under which the latter entered the Czech-dominated state in 1919" (18). Looking with scholarly objectivity at the origin and at the 20 years of political existance of Czecho-Slovakia, Prof. Kirkconnell could not but express different views also on the disintegration of that coontry and on the creation of the Slovak Republic. He wrote critically on some aspects of the first steps of the Slovak government ,and on the Slovak constitution, but with full understanding of the reasons which led the Slovak Parliament on March 14, 1939, to declare Slovakia's independence: "The creation, in March 1939, of a separate Slovak state under German auspices did not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the feeling existing between the Slovaks and the Czechs, and aware also of the Nazi eagerness to intensify and exploit such a situation for the furtherance of their own programme. A measure of Slovak autonomy had, it is true, been granted by Prague after the Munich settlement, but the ubiquitous presence of an intrenched Czech officialdom in state and school, backed by the Czech army, together with the difficulty of even gradually replacing them with Slov,ak officials and teachers, made exasperated impatience on the part of the Slovak nationalists inevitable" (19). Since 1939 Prof. Kirkconnell paid attention to the cultul"al activities of Canadians of Slovak origin and favorably commented in the University of Toronto Quarterly on two publications: Eudovit Srur and His Place in the Slavic World and Contemporary tende.ncies in Slovak Philology (20), quoting from the latter publication a corroboration of his views on Slovak language. In a personal letter he also congratulated the author of the book Slovakia -Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, considering it as "an imposing scholarly work on the subject." All this allows us to conclude that Slovakia, Slovak culture and poetry, as well as the Slovak struggle for freedom found in this outstanding Canadian-Slavist a keen observer and stanch defender of historical truth and scholly objectivity, who did not conform with half-truths even if they were fashionable. �SLOVAKIA 17 RE·FE·RENCES 1. Of R. A. Kann: The Multinational Empire, Rutgers University, 1950; p . 273. 2. Scotus Viator: Racial Problems in Hungary, London, 1908, contributions by S. H. Vajanskt (Chapter XIX); Dusan JurkovH!~ On Slovak Popular Art (Chapter XWII); and Slovak Popular Melodies (Chapter XX); ,p p. 362-392. In Vajanskt's contribution we find several good translations or Slovak songs or poetry. 3. Ernest Denis: Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917 ; p. 153-1'54; also J. -M. Kirschbaum, Misconceptions of American Slavists about Slovak Literature, in Slovakia, Vol. XI, Middletown, Pa., 1961; p. 22-42. 4. The Encyclopedia Cana:diana gives Olll Prof. W. KirkcOI11I1e1l the following account: Kirkconnell Watson, pr,o fessor a nd writer: born -May 16, 1895, wt Port Hope, Ontario. Educ-ated at the Collegiate Institute, Lindsay; ·Q ueen's University (lM.A. 1916); the Toronto Conservjj,tory df Music; and ; Lincoln College, Oxford. Profes-sor of Ernglish at Wesley (la,ter United) College, Winnipeg, 1922-310; O'f c1,assics 1000-40; head of th·e English department at MaoMas<ter University 1940-1948 ; became President oil' Acadia University 1948. He pubJi.shed neal'ly 30 works, ranging from learned treatises and poetry to short stories and children's tales. His fkst book of verse was The Tide of Life (1930); Lyra Sacra dates from 1939. An important scholarly work The Celestial Cycle: The Theme of Paradise Lost in World Literature, with Translations of the Major Analogues appeared in 1952. His versability manifes'ted itseld' in an exceptional linguistic ability: he pu,blished several collections of ve,r se translated fr-om Icelandia, Polish and Hungarian sources. Collaborated with ,Seraphim Marion in The Quebec Tradition (1946) and with A. S. P . Woodhouse in a survey, The Humanities in Canada ( 194 7) . Memlb er af many forei.gn learned societies; elected F iR.S.C . 1936; awarded the Loren Pierce Medal, 1942 . .5. Preface to Canadian Overtones, Winnipeg, 1935, The Columbia Press, Ltd.; p. 3-4. -~. Ibidem~ p. 4. 'l . Ibi(lem-p. 6. 8. Under the Utle European Elegies, Prof. Kirkc_pnnen has published 100 poems w•h ich he translated f.rom 50 languages. In his Canadian Overtones, he published translations from the Icelandic, Swedish, Nor,wegian, Hung,arian, rtalian and Greek poetry. 9. •See Preface 10. On Hviezdoslav, see Scatus Viator, op. cit., p. :!70-371; also W. Lednicki (ed.), Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature; also this w-r iter's contribution on "Two Slovak translators of Mickiewicz," p. 498-493. His "Bloody Sonets" were translated into English by Jarosl1av Vajda; Hviezdoslav, on the other hand, translated Shakespeare's Hamlet and Midsummer N!-ght's Dream into Slovak. �SLOVi\KI.,\ , 18 11. European Elegies. 12. Ibidem 13. All three translations were originally puibl!shed Anthology of Czechoslovak Poetry, New Press, 1929. An In C. A. Manning, York, Columbia 14.' · On ' s. ;H : Viaja~sky role b~ .Slovak lit-erature artd : 'n atio~~f !Jfe . se,e . Scotu~ .Viator;, op. cjt., p. 362; . L. I. StrakhoV1Sky ,( ed.), Cambrl!J'ge, ·. Mass., 1949, p: . 489; and ·r. · J. Kramoris, Slovakia and Slovak Literature, In The Catholic Encyclopedia, XVILiil, 1950. S. H. Vajansky was a poe t as well as novelist and national lead-er. His chief works are:' (a) Poetical: Tatry a more (The Tatras and the ·s ea), a · collection o.f poems; Zpod jarma (From under the <...:_ 1'oke); ·Besed.y .a ,,dumy ,. (Conv.ersa,tion ' and Mediations)';- (·IJ) Novels: Sucha ratolesf (The Dry Branch), by which is meant the Slovak nobles who had deserted -their nationality; Kotlfn; (c) · Stories and Sketches: ~alia (The Lily); Svietace Tiene (Glittering \Shadows); Husle (The Violin); Two Sisters; The Young Mini'ster. Ge11man translations have appeared ()Cf "Der Kandidat," "Der Nachltwacher," "Das Weib des Hol1shauers," Der sch,varze Idealist," "Das Heimatslied." May English translations soon follow! -,R.W JS-.W. l', , ' W~ihtbo1>l< of . SlaVic : Studies, Hi. Hungary and her Successors, Ox,f ord University and Problems of the Danube Basin, London, 1942. 16. W. Kirkconnell: Canada, Europe and Hitler, Oxiford University Press, 1939 ;· p. 44. 17. lrbidem~p. 43. 18. lbiciem- p.44. 19. lbidem- p. 47. 20. Press, 1937 University of Toronto Quarterly, July 1961, Letters in Canada. "Publications in Forei,g n Languages," p. 514 ; also his comment on "Misconceptions of American Slavists arbout Slovak Literature," in the same revue, July 1962, p. 582, wh.er-e · Prof. Kirkconnell writes : "Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, of the University od: Montreal, has contributed to Slovakia (!March-June 1961, 22-42) a heavily documented essay on '\Misconceptions of American Slavists .a:bout Slovak Literature. Whereas Czech propaganda has refused to adm_it tha_t there was any Slovak literaiture before 18·44. Marxist scholarshiIJ, without any Czech inhibitions, has recognized over one hundr ed Slovak authors in the eighteenth-century 'school' of Anton Bernolak, and th ere is evidence of a Slovak tradition going all the way back to the Great Moravian. Elmpire in the ninth cent<ury. Dr. Iimrich Kotvan's Bibliography of the School of Bernolak 11urns to some · four hundred pages." � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1964, Vol. 14 Description An account of the resource Vol. 14 (No. 37), 1964. 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 1964 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 .CANADIAN TRANSLATOR OF SLOVAK POETRY PROFESSOR WATSON KIRKCONNELL J.M. Kirschbaum The American ~cholar R. A. Kann, writing on Slovak -cultural development said that "at the turn of the nineteenth century Slovak nationalism, as evidenced by a rich harvest of national culturail activities, came to .the fore within an incredi<bly short time. In its intensity of national emotion and fullness of cultural achievement ;it was se<!ond to none of the other Slav nationalities in the Habsburg empire" (1). Rare however were Western or American scholara who took cognizance of the development in such a positive way, and whose opinion on Slovak cultural life was as favorable as that expressed by Prof. R. A. Kann. For a long time it was merely a handful of Western scholars who were interested in Slovakia's existence, and .still lesser number of those who paid attention to Slowk cultural achievements. The famous Norwegian B. Bjornson, Scotus Viator (Prof. R. Seton-Watson), and Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne exhaust the lii:.t of prominent Western sdholars, and writers who, before 1918, drew the attention of the European and English-speaking world to the Slovak -culture. Scotus Viator in his book Racial Problems in Hungary, published several interesting essays on Slovak popular art and poetry (2). E. Denis gave an account of the whole Slovak cultural development before 1918, ,and found Slovak poetry worthy of reading, not only as far as the period of Romanticism is concerned, but also the classic epics and lyrics of Jan Holly (1785-1849) who enriched Slovak literature by his masterful translations from mainy Greek and Latin poets, and by his own poetic works as well (3). Nevertheless, we can s:ay that not earlier than after the First and again after the Second World War, the Western scholars made some sporadic and serious attempts to become ,acquainted with and to evaluate Slovak literature and its branch-poetry-in the context of Slavic or European literatures. We note with special interest that among them was also a Canadian scholar and translator of poetry of many European nations, Professor Watson Kirkcon- 10 SLOVAKIA nell ( 4) , who as early as in the first decade after the First World War -published three translations from Slovak poets. Professor Kirkconnell took a courageous attitude towards people immigrating to Canada and their cultural heritage and became a sort of cultural ambassador for European culture in Canada. In 1935, in the Preface to his book Canadian Overtones, his credo and the reasons why he became interested in the poetry and culture of other than Anglo-Saxon Canadians in the following lines : "Our national attitude towards them (i.e., Europea,n immigrants) has already passed through two ignorant and discreditable phases. In the first phase, we tended to despise them as European coolies, imported to do heavy work for which our hands had already grown too delicate. In the second and more recent phase, we have been patronizingly interested in their folk-costumes and folk-dances , picturesque incidentals which have about as much vital share in their lives as the kilt and the Highland fling have in that of the average Scotoh~Canadian. Their poetry, however, may help us to develop a third and much truer attitude towards them, as ~beings breathing tihoughtful breath', men and women as capable as any amongst us of appreciating the beauties and tihe .phiilosophies of thls world (5). "I foresee a further v,alue in this poetry," continues Kirkconnell. "It should help to develop lin succeeding genera:ions a Canadianism nourished by pride in the individual's racial past. There is nothing so shallow and sterile as the man who denies his ancestry. The 'one hundred per cent' American (or Canadian) is commonly one who has deliberately suppr essed an alien origin in order to reap the material benefits of a well-advertised loy,alty. There can be little hope of noble spiritual issues from such a prostituted patriotism. Unfortunately, it is abetted by the ignorant assumption of ma,ny an English-speaking citizen that alien origin is a natural mark of inferiority. He who thinks thus is a mental hooligan- whether he be lawyer, militia colonel, or bishop of the church. What we sorely need, on the contmry, is enough common intelligence to recognize both the rich diversity of racial gifts on this earth and the strength which racial roots can contribute to the individual" (6) . SLOVAKIA 11 Kirkconnell wrote an inspired warning to new Canadians and to his Anglo-Saxon countrymen . as well with regard to hasty or forced integration and assimilation. "Prophetic hopes" - he wrote in the same book "would envisage a future Canada in which every individual would be thus inspired to fuller citizenship by his realization of h:s origin, whatever that might be. There is already, however, grave danger of the third and even the second generation of Swedish, Ukrainian, and other immigrant groups turning their backs on the language and history of their own people in a hasty act of renunciation. That they should be speedily integrated into loyal co-operation with our general Canadian population is, of course, of supreme national importance. But it would be tragic if there should at the same time by a clumsy stripping-'away of all those spiritual associations with the past which help to give depth and beauty to life" (7). To prov•e the righteousness of his convictions and conceptions, Prof. Kirkconnell published some 30 books, studies and essays and several volumes of translations (8). Dr. Kirkconnell's Translations of Slovak Poetry In the preface to his volume European Elegies, Prof. Kirkconnell wrote that his translations do not pretend to be "adequately representative" of European elegy. "As a matter of f:act," says Kirkconnell, "I have attempted "merely to translate those poems towards which I have felt the strongest emotional r eaction." He also says that the "limitation of this method has been intensified by the narrow range of my humble bookshelves" (9). We humbly assume that we may apply 1:!he above confession also to the translations from Slovak poetry. The three poems which Prof. Kirkconnell translated are certainly not "adequately representative" of Slovak poetry, but their choice was not unfortunate. Hviezdosl-av is the greatest of Slovak poets in many poetic genres and Vajansky's manifold literary activities made of him an outstanding represent•a tive Qf Slovak literature in prose and verse (10) . Literary historians or critics would certainly appreciate to know how this distinguished Canadian scholar was translating European poetry from 50 languages, having in com- 12 SLOVAKIA mon only their Indo-European origin. Prof. Kirkconnell answers this question in the following lines: "My method of translation is comparatively simple. First choosing some poem that had moved me in the original, I keep that original before me, mumbling it aloud and brooding over it until I have saturated my mind with its emotion. Then I endeavour to reproduce its form and spirit in English as accurately as possible, reserving only the conviction that a literal translation is inherently criminal and that my verse rendering which sacrifices beauty to philology is a blasphemous offence in its very existence" (11). Prof. Kirkconnell also explained w'hy he undertook the arduous task of translating from the poetry of so many nations. "Modern nations are unhappily isolated"-says Prof. Kirkconnell-"and estranged by their very loyalties to speech, kind, and faith. But in the presence of the ultimate they may all join hands in community of spirit. Beyond race and creed and language are the fundamental sanctities of human life, love, tenderness, sorrow, fortitude." The translations were done for the transla:tor at least, a Siloam of these healing waters, flowing in from fifty linguistic hillsides of human experience, and I gain strength from them in the hope that they may contribute its stream to the ocean of understanding that shall one day consummate its cleansing, reconciling task of pure ablution round earth's human shores" (12). The translation of the three Slovak poems (13) rendered by Dr. Kirkconnell follows: THE BLOODY SONNETS P. 0. Hviezdoslav Song has no place in these high days of pain: Fate calls for blood, that, splashed from heart to hand. Is cast a:broad to consecrate the land And from dead stones draw golden ears of grain, Blood brings the splendor of the sun again, Lighting our darkness with a flashing brand; Blood brings the dawn that men may understand; Blood brings the bread of Freedom to sustain. SLOVAKIA 13 Only by blood, outpoured in rage and flame, Oan we destroy the stubble and the taresSweeping away our slavery and shame Like putrid flotsam that a swift stream bears. And while that cleansing tide leaps on in flood, Mer e song is silenced in the Song of Blood. wss P. 0. Hviezdoslav The spring has gone. And I have lost the flowers I might have gathered from its meadow-grass. I merely marked t he sudden sprig aspire Up through the turf in frost and golden fire , And, as I dallied, saw that glory pass As swiftly ias the rainbow of June showers. Ah, maiden beauty, fleeting are thy hours! Summer has gone. And I have missed the gleaning I might have gathered from its harvest-field. I merely marked the flaming wheat-waves swaying Across the leas where summer winds were playing; But as I gazed, time seized that yellow yield And fate forestalled by frantic interveningAh, love, at last I now thy tragic meaning! Autumn has come. Bare stubbled prairies taunt me In my sad brooding on what might have been. Across the sky the haggard mists are weaving A fog-shroud for the dying sun's receiving; And fears of these dark days, bereavement's keen Heart-hunger and deep thirst of spirit haunt me. Alas, the terrors of love's winter daunt me! HOPE Svetozar Hurban Vajansky (14) Snows are now deep in the valleys; Drifts lie in mountains appalling. What but the sunshine can slay them? What but the rain in its falling? Miseries cumber the nation, Weight the chilled earth and outwear it. 14 SLOVAKIA Woe to my pitiful people How are they able to bear it? But with sun comes rejoicing, Smiting the snows down with slaughter; See, where the drifts lay in rancor, Runnels of muddying water. Freedom's bright sun is now dawning, Wasting our woes with its glory; See, where oppression once crushed us, Vanish the murderous story! Dr. Kirkconnell's Attitude Towards Slovakb For one who knows that after 1918 the Prague government made great efforts and spent lots of money in order to hide the fact that Slovaks were not Czechs and that they were dissatisfied with the Czech rule and its assimilatory tendencies, Prof. Kirkconnell's interest in Slovakia will perhaps be surprising. But much more surprising, at least for the atmosphere of 1939, is his courageous stand with regard to the problem which pushed Slovaks and Czechs apart, and with regard to the Slovak language and Slovak national entity. W1th the exception of C. A. Macartney (15), Prague governments gained Anglo-Saxon writers, scholars and journalists to their side in presenting the Slovak problem to international public opinion. The differences between Czechs iand Slovaks were belittled: the Slovaks were presented as an ungrateful and unruly people, politically par ochial and underdeveloped, who were led by a "clerical clique" into an opposition towards ia government which was depicted as an example of democracy, progress and tolerance. Prof. Kirkconnell did not buy this picture of CzechoSlovakia and courageously pointed to the facts which were hidden by the clever propaganda of Prague governments. He saw in the correct historical perspective the origin of Czecho-Slovakia and the inherent differences between the Czechs and Slovaks. "There were two documents"-wrote Kirkconnell in 1939- " on the strength of which the Slovaks were included SLOVAKIA 15 in the new state. The first was a resolution supporting union, drawn up by a private group of 106 men, meeting in the little Slovak town of Turciansky sv. Martin. The other was the so-called Pittsburgh Declaration, signed by Czech and Slovak immigrants at Pitts'b urgh, U.S.A., in support of a federal union of the Czechs and Slovaks. In the Slovak provinces, no plebiscite was ever t,aken; and a Slovak delegation to Paris, seeking to state the other side of the Slovak case, was arrested by the French police, on the instigation of Benesh, and deported. Monsieur Andre Tardieu, in his book LA PAIX, explains }aconically: "We had to choose between a plebiscite and the creation of Czecho-Slovakia" (16). Prof. Kirkconnell had a different view from the majority of Anglo-Saxon scholars and writers also with regard to the official Czech theory that Czechs and Slovaks were one ethnic unit and that the Slovak language was merely a dialect of the Czech tongue. "It cannot be too strongly emphasized"____.wrote Kirkconnell in the same book- "that the Slovaks are not Czechs, and that there is no such creature as a "Czechoslovak. While they speak closely related Slavic languages, Slovak is not a mere dialect of Czech. The differences are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German.- I have on my shelves Miroslav Kalal's Slovak-Czech dictionary (published 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition. As a matter of fact, many Slovak philologists find the closest relative of their language in the speech of the Slovenes, laying to the southwest of Hungary" (17). The reason of disagreement between the Czechs and Slovaks were, according to Prof. Kirkconnell, more serious than the Prague goverment or some scholars in the West were ready to admit in 1939. He boldly pointed out that Slovaks had serious reasons to be dissatisfied. "When the treaty makers of Paris"-says Kirkconnell -"linked Czechs and Slovaks together in a common state, it was assumed that the ,a rrangement would prove an ideal one; yet a visit to Middle Europe in 1938 found the Slovaks one of the most discontented of the republic's minorities. This is only intelligible if we realize the diverging past 16 SLOVAKIA histories of the Czechs and the SlovaJks, and the unfulfilled conditions under which the latter entered the Czech-dominated state in 1919" (18). Looking with scholarly objectivity at the origin and at the 20 years of political existance of Czecho-Slovakia, Prof. Kirkconnell could not but express different views also on the disintegration of that coontry and on the creation of the Slovak Republic. He wrote critically on some aspects of the first steps of the Slovak government ,and on the Slovak constitution, but with full understanding of the reasons which led the Slovak Parliament on March 14, 1939, to declare Slovakia's independence: "The creation, in March 1939, of a separate Slovak state under German auspices did not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the feeling existing between the Slovaks and the Czechs, and aware also of the Nazi eagerness to intensify and exploit such a situation for the furtherance of their own programme. A measure of Slovak autonomy had, it is true, been granted by Prague after the Munich settlement, but the ubiquitous presence of an intrenched Czech officialdom in state and school, backed by the Czech army, together with the difficulty of even gradually replacing them with Slov,ak officials and teachers, made exasperated impatience on the part of the Slovak nationalists inevitable" (19). Since 1939 Prof. Kirkconnell paid attention to the cultul"al activities of Canadians of Slovak origin and favorably commented in the University of Toronto Quarterly on two publications: Eudovit Srur and His Place in the Slavic World and Contemporary tende.ncies in Slovak Philology (20), quoting from the latter publication a corroboration of his views on Slovak language. In a personal letter he also congratulated the author of the book Slovakia -Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, considering it as "an imposing scholarly work on the subject." All this allows us to conclude that Slovakia, Slovak culture and poetry, as well as the Slovak struggle for freedom found in this outstanding Canadian-Slavist a keen observer and stanch defender of historical truth and scholly objectivity, who did not conform with half-truths even if they were fashionable. SLOVAKIA 17 RE·FE·RENCES 1. Of R. A. Kann: The Multinational Empire, Rutgers University, 1950; p . 273. 2. Scotus Viator: Racial Problems in Hungary, London, 1908, contributions by S. H. Vajanskt (Chapter XIX); Dusan JurkovH!~ On Slovak Popular Art (Chapter XWII); and Slovak Popular Melodies (Chapter XX); ,p p. 362-392. In Vajanskt's contribution we find several good translations or Slovak songs or poetry. 3. Ernest Denis: Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917 ; p. 153-1'54; also J. -M. Kirschbaum, Misconceptions of American Slavists about Slovak Literature, in Slovakia, Vol. XI, Middletown, Pa., 1961; p. 22-42. 4. The Encyclopedia Cana:diana gives Olll Prof. W. KirkcOI11I1e1l the following account: Kirkconnell Watson, pr,o fessor a nd writer: born -May 16, 1895, wt Port Hope, Ontario. Educ-ated at the Collegiate Institute, Lindsay; ·Q ueen's University (lM.A. 1916); the Toronto Conservjj,tory df Music; and ; Lincoln College, Oxford. Profes-sor of Ernglish at Wesley (la,ter United) College, Winnipeg, 1922-310; O'f c1,assics 1000-40; head of th·e English department at MaoMas<ter University 1940-1948 ; became President oil' Acadia University 1948. He pubJi.shed neal'ly 30 works, ranging from learned treatises and poetry to short stories and children's tales. His fkst book of verse was The Tide of Life (1930); Lyra Sacra dates from 1939. An important scholarly work The Celestial Cycle: The Theme of Paradise Lost in World Literature, with Translations of the Major Analogues appeared in 1952. His versability manifes'ted itseld' in an exceptional linguistic ability: he pu,blished several collections of ve,r se translated fr-om Icelandia, Polish and Hungarian sources. Collaborated with ,Seraphim Marion in The Quebec Tradition (1946) and with A. S. P . Woodhouse in a survey, The Humanities in Canada ( 194 7) . Memlb er af many forei.gn learned societies; elected F iR.S.C . 1936; awarded the Loren Pierce Medal, 1942 . .5. Preface to Canadian Overtones, Winnipeg, 1935, The Columbia Press, Ltd.; p. 3-4. -~. Ibidem~ p. 4. 'l . Ibi(lem-p. 6. 8. Under the Utle European Elegies, Prof. Kirkc_pnnen has published 100 poems w•h ich he translated f.rom 50 languages. In his Canadian Overtones, he published translations from the Icelandic, Swedish, Nor,wegian, Hung,arian, rtalian and Greek poetry. 9. •See Preface 10. On Hviezdoslav, see Scatus Viator, op. cit., p. :!70-371; also W. Lednicki (ed.), Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature; also this w-r iter's contribution on "Two Slovak translators of Mickiewicz," p. 498-493. His "Bloody Sonets" were translated into English by Jarosl1av Vajda; Hviezdoslav, on the other hand, translated Shakespeare's Hamlet and Midsummer N!-ght's Dream into Slovak. SLOVi\KI.,\ , 18 11. European Elegies. 12. Ibidem 13. All three translations were originally puibl!shed Anthology of Czechoslovak Poetry, New Press, 1929. An In C. A. Manning, York, Columbia 14.' · On ' s. ;H : Viaja~sky role b~ .Slovak lit-erature artd : 'n atio~~f !Jfe . se,e . Scotu~ .Viator;, op. cjt., p. 362; . L. I. StrakhoV1Sky ,( ed.), Cambrl!J'ge, ·. Mass., 1949, p: . 489; and ·r. · J. Kramoris, Slovakia and Slovak Literature, In The Catholic Encyclopedia, XVILiil, 1950. S. H. Vajansky was a poe t as well as novelist and national lead-er. His chief works are:' (a) Poetical: Tatry a more (The Tatras and the ·s ea), a · collection o.f poems; Zpod jarma (From under the <...:_ 1'oke); ·Besed.y .a ,,dumy ,. (Conv.ersa,tion ' and Mediations)';- (·IJ) Novels: Sucha ratolesf (The Dry Branch), by which is meant the Slovak nobles who had deserted -their nationality; Kotlfn; (c) · Stories and Sketches: ~alia (The Lily); Svietace Tiene (Glittering \Shadows); Husle (The Violin); Two Sisters; The Young Mini'ster. Ge11man translations have appeared ()Cf "Der Kandidat," "Der Nachltwacher," "Das Weib des Hol1shauers," Der sch,varze Idealist," "Das Heimatslied." May English translations soon follow! -,R.W JS-.W. l', , ' W~ihtbo1>l< of . SlaVic : Studies, Hi. Hungary and her Successors, Ox,f ord University and Problems of the Danube Basin, London, 1942. 16. W. Kirkconnell: Canada, Europe and Hitler, Oxiford University Press, 1939 ;· p. 44. 17. lrbidem~p. 43. 18. lbiciem- p.44. 19. lbidem- p. 47. 20. Press, 1937 University of Toronto Quarterly, July 1961, Letters in Canada. "Publications in Forei,g n Languages," p. 514 ; also his comment on "Misconceptions of American Slavists arbout Slovak Literature," in the same revue, July 1962, p. 582, wh.er-e · Prof. Kirkconnell writes : "Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, of the University od: Montreal, has contributed to Slovakia (!March-June 1961, 22-42) a heavily documented essay on '\Misconceptions of American Slavists .a:bout Slovak Literature. Whereas Czech propaganda has refused to adm_it tha_t there was any Slovak literaiture before 18·44. Marxist scholarshiIJ, without any Czech inhibitions, has recognized over one hundr ed Slovak authors in the eighteenth-century 'school' of Anton Bernolak, and th ere is evidence of a Slovak tradition going all the way back to the Great Moravian. Elmpire in the ninth cent<ury. Dr. Iimrich Kotvan's Bibliography of the School of Bernolak 11urns to some · four hundred pages."  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Canadian Translator of Slovak Poetry: Professor Watson Kirkconnell Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 14 (No. 37), 1964 pp. 9-18 includes: "The Bloody Sonnets" (P. O. Hviezdoslav); "Loss" (P. O. Hviezdoslav); "Hope" (Svetozár Hurban Vajanský) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1964 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/dc541fd2e71d2c00090d420de2da30a9.pdf cac54aba1bfb86d539c94e9176e54ead PDF Text Text 18 SLOVAKIA TWENTY YiEJAIRS OF CZECH .AJND COMMUNIST RULE 1N SLOVAK1!.A. J. M. Kirschbaum The manner in which Slova,kia, 20 years ago, became a part of the restored Czecho-'S lovakia ruled by the Czech:!! and by Communists, ·a nd the disappearaJilce of the Slovak r epu:blic from the maip of post-war Europe, offers the experts of mternational law and ,political science an interesting subject for study and analysis. Having been diplomaticrully recognized 1b y 30 states, of which more than 1half were on the side of the Allies, the Slovak republic became, according to intemational law, a member of the international community rund subject as such to the princiiples and customs of international law. Consequently, in 1945 the Slovak republic was de jure and de facto a defeated state, just as Hungary, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Finland. Due respect for international law aind for the principles declared in the Atlantic charter would have required that Slovakia receive the same treatment as Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria i.e., and that Slovakia's status as an existing state under military occupation be preserved :until Peace treaties had been concluded. Instead, the Allies favormg the Czech exiles, decided not to apply the right of self-determination and the principles of the Atlantic Oharter to the Slovak people amd, although recognition of a state cannot •b e revoked, they treated Slovakia as if the Slovaik .Republic had never existed. The British Government advised the Slovak Counsel General in London, Milan Harminc, on October 12, 1939, that "he will continue to be recognized as the Slovak Counsul in London. " 1 It showed great caution for a long time during the war in its attitude towards the Czecho-Slovak Committee which, after the fall of France, moved to London, and left "open the question whether the Slovak State shall enjoy its independence in union with a Czech State, or in another form". 2 Under pressure from Moscow, 3 the Allies neverthe-less recognized a group of Czech and Slovak refugees as the government-in-exile, allowed Dr. Benes to assume the �SLOVAKIA 79 functions of the President of Czechoslovakia-although he resigned on October 5, 1938 of his own will-and the Soviet armies saw to it that the Slovak territory was incorporated into the state, which, according to the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, had disintegrated from within on March 14, 1939, by the proclamation of the independence of Slovakia by the Slovak Diet.4 The disregard for the principles of international law, as well as for wartime declarations promising independence and territorial integrity after the victory, together with disrespect for the aspirations of the 'Slovak people, created in Slovakia a situation which, from the juridical point of view, allowed the formulation of the controversial views that: 1. The Slovak Republic legally did not cease to exist; 5 2. Slovakia should be considered a territory occupied by the Czechs and Soviets; 3. The legal representatives of the Slovak Republic are outside Slovakia, as President Tiso stressed in his broadcrust from the America,n Zone in Austria in A,pril 1945.6 These ·views were held very strongly among the Slovaks in exile in 1945, and the Slovak representatives even presented a memorandum to the Peace Conference in Paris, ask,i ng for a Peace Treaty witJh Slovakia. 7 It also was in line with these views that the Slovak Government surrendered to the American Army. Against these views, principles amd political aspirations, si.ands the fact of Slova,kia's incorporation into a restored Czecho-Slovakia, governed, except for a limited cultural autonomy, by the Czechs from Prague, or by the Communist Party, led :b y Czech Communists. Slovak diplomatic missions and consulates were closed; the symbols, orgams and the Government of the Slovak Republic disappeared; and the President was jailed and executed. The Slovak State remained only in the hearts and aspirations of the Slovak people. The manner in which this happened is a sad and bloody story. It is a tragedy of a small nation whose politiciams and ·people believed that high principles of justice, democracy, international law and equality of peoples would be respected after the war in Central Europe. The Russians were aware of the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak population, and tried to make a deal, first �80 SLOVAKIA with President Tiso, a,nd later in 1944, with the fo:r,mer Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Durcansky. Emissaries of the Soviet Government gave assurances that the Slovak Republic would not be a,bolished, amd that Slova:kia would remain an independent state if the Slovak Govenment came to term with Russia the way Rumaniia did. If Russia left a ruling k,i ng in IRumania-the Soviet emissaries :pointed out-it would also tolerate a Catholic monsignor in Slovakia. 8 Mainly because of their firm conviction that a compromise with Bolshevism was morally and politically unaccepta;ble for the Slovaik nation and its government; also because of their hopes that the Western !Powers would not, in their own interest, allow Communist domination of Central Europe; and would, therefore, enforce the principles of the Atlantic Charter, the leading Slovaik personalities refused any compromise with Communism. When the Red Army, in its fast advance from Hungary, approached the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, the President, Government, Parliarrnent, lea,ders of the party, army, gendarmerie and the Hlinka Guards' units, together with numerous civil servants, university professors, writers and youth organization Ieaiders, began moving west, to Austria, where provisional hea:dquarters of the Government were ,p repared in the monastery of Kremsmiinster. If capitulation was inevitable, the Slovaks wished to surrender or come to terms wiith the W estem AHies. "I left Slo,va,kia," declared President Tiso during his trial, "because I wished to make the claims of the Slovak illation to its own way of llfe better known and more understandable to the Western Powers." 9 Im1tead of renouncing the right to independence and self-government, or accepting Communism, the leading Slovak circles .p referred to leave their homeland in search of justice and respect for .Slovaikia's right to independence on the side of the Western Allies. It was along this line of reasoning that the Slov:ak Government and the American commander, General W. A. Collier, on May 8, 1945, signed a document of "protection" or "surrender" to the Allied High Command. 10 Coosideri!ng the circumstances, we can ha<rdly speak of surrender in the sense the word was used at the end of the �SLOVAKIA 81 war, because Slovakia was not at war with Western AlliesGrerut Br1baiin, Frrunce or the Unirte<l. States. 11 Dr. Benes and his supporters in the United States misused a report broad-cast by the German News Agency rD. N. B., and reprinted by the New York Times on Decemlber 13, 1941, according to whkh Slovakia had declared war on the United States and Great Britain. 'Dhe truth is that neither the President 11or the Parliament of the Slovak Republic~the only constitutional authorities which can declare war-ever dealt with any declaration of war on the United States or GTeat Britain. It haJS been proven amd recognized by the U. S. authol'ies that never, at any moment, and in no area., was there any military ,a ction between the 'S lovak and American or British units. Unscrupulous propaganda was, of course, unconcerned vl!ith the faiet:s, and Slovakia was presented time and again as a country at war with the Western Allies; this in spite of the fact that Slovakia tried to inform the Western Allies, through diplomatic chamnelis, that she wanted to remain neutral with regard to the Western Powers ;12 and in spite of the fact that the Slovak President, in his public speech to the district governors of Slova:kia, called even the participation in the war against the Soviet Union "but a symbolic one". 1 In view of this, we cannot speak of a military, but rather a political surrooder. The Slovak Gnvernment looked for political protection and recognition of the right of the Slovak people to freedom and self-government. They surrendered to the American military command because they expected maximum undenstandi!Ilg from the American authorities and also because it was the first Allied authority with which they came into contact. 13 For reasons which have never been explained, the doooment, signed on behalf of the Allied High Command iby three high-ranking American officers, was not honored in any form. The President of the Slovak Republic, members of the Slovak Government, Parliament, army officers, civil servant.s, writers, artists, etc., on the !basis of a simple denunciahon ·b y the Czech police and intelligence agents, who were sent by Dr. Benes to Austria for the ,p mipose of denouncing or kidnaping, were arrested, put into concentration C!limps, .and many of them were extradited to the Prague Govern- �82 SLOVAKIA ment. In November 1945, the President of the Slovak Republic, and all 1but one member of the Slovruk Government, together with their secretaries, were transported to Prague in chains and handcuffs like "criminals". The Communist people's courts, after humiliation amd mental torture, either liquidated them on the gallows (Dr. Tiso, Dr. Tuka), or shot them or condemned them to life imprisonment amd forced labor camps. The attempts to save Slovakia's status as an independent state and to obtain recognition of the right to self-government by the Western Allies failed tragically. Regardless of the will of the Slovak people, Slovakia became again a part of Czecho-Slovakia, ruled by Prague and by the Communist party. The Restoration of the Czech Rule in Slovakia and the Road to Enslavement of Slovaks While the origin of Czecho.JSlovakia in 1918 was due in the first place to the ,policy of the victorious Powers of the First World War, especially to France, the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 was ,undoubtedly due to the Soviet Union. Dr. Benes and his government-in-exile returned to Prague from London via Moscow on the heels of the Red Army. In Eastern Slovakia the Communists had him sign the so-called Kosice Pro~ram14 which stated that CzechoSlovrukia was to be ra state of two separate nations--C2echs and Slovaks-with Sla·vic orientation and a socialist system of economy. Back in Prague, Dr. Benes was ,a pproved in his new position by a "Parliament", from which were eliminated in advance all the parti~ and politicians suspected of resistance to the policy of "National Front" government and sub.servience to Moscow. Having been formally established, the new government, composed of Communist, Dr. Benes' Na'tional Secialists, Social Democrats and representatives ot the Czech peoples Party and the Slovli:k Democratic party, �SLOVAKIA 83 began to liquidate, by irregular "People's Courts," every.one who was suspected of some res-ervations towards the new political course. As president, Dr. Benes hereafter introduced, by a number of decress, the newstyled ",People's Democracy," and, gradually, also the socialist system of economy, freely applying the confiscation and "nationalization" of industries and private property. At first, the new Czec,ho-Slovak "People's Democracy" allowed only two political parties in Slovakia-Slovak Democratic /Party and Commll!Ilist Party. Although neither the Communists nor the small group of former Agrarians, who appointed themselves leaders of the Democratic Party, ever played a role of any importance in Slovak politics until the fall of 1944-- when they organized, in cooperation with ~oviet partisans, the t11prising~a,nd they imposed on .Slovakia a s ystem which ena,bled them. to share in ·a ll Slova;k political 1nstitutions on a /50-50 basis. The traditional conservative parties, such as the Slovak People's Party, the Agrariam Party, the Artisan Party, and S1ovak National Party, were suppressed. Favored by the Red Anmy which looted a,nd raped in Slovakia without precedent in Slovak history, both the Communists and the Democrats began to carry out the Kosice Agreement. The "Slova:k National Council," a revolutionary body of the organizers of the uprising, :b ecame the legislature and its presidium served as the executive. By Decr ee No. 33, they created organs of the so-called "people's justice," and freely used a charge of collaboration wit!h Germainy as pretext for imprisoning a,nd condemming all potential opposition. By Decree No. 51, they dissolved all associations expect those ~hich were enthusiastic for the new regime; they suppressed the religious (parochial) schools ( mostly Catholic), and institutions; a,nd confiscated their property and created forced labor camps (,Decree No. 33, .Article 5) for the re-education ·o f political adversaries. 15 Through these measures the way for tlhe Communist rule was paved in accordance with the agreement between Dr. Benes and Klement Gottwald. They decided in Moscow ,i n 1943 that the state administration would be replaced 'b y '.'national committees"-Soviets; the former right-of-center parties W?uld be eliminated; the Communist and tolerated �84 SLOVAKIA non-commUiilist parties would for,m a "governmen of· Na:tional Front", and ".p eople's courts" would be established to OOinmaJte "waT criminals." While the new regime was accepted with enthusi1a sm in Bohemia, there was only bitterness and uncertainty in Slovakia. The persecution of Catholic dergy and intelligentsia reached an inhuman fury; a wave of arrests took place throughout the country; and the leaders of the :Slova:k Republic died an gallows, in front of the firing squads, and filled jails and concentration camps. Thousands were deported to the Soviet Union in 1'945, many were executed by Soviet :partisans on simple Communist denunciation, and hundreds of Catholic intellectuals were arrested ibecause of "the conspiracy against the State and people's democracy." Occupying the most important positions in the Government, the Communists had no difficulty preparing the socalled "February Revolution" of 1948, since the Ozech nonCommunist politicians, including Dr. Benes, and the leaders of the Slovak Democratic Party offered or.ly a weak and insignificant ·opposition, if any at all. The Special Report of the U.S. Congress leaves no doubt in this regard: "It should be pointed out," says the report, "that the Communist advance in Czedhoslovakia was greatly facilitated by the behaviour of the non-Communist .p olitical .p arties and their lea:ders. Especially the naive 1b elief in the possibility of co-existence with the Communists, shared in different degrees by practically all Czech politicians, was responsilble for the extreme ease with which the Communist Party took power in 1948. The sig,ning of the Soviet-Czechoslovak agreement on December 12, 1943, and especially the proclamation of the Kosice program of April 5, 1945, opened the door for an ,unobserved drive on the part of the Communists to seize full power in the country." 16 In Slovakia the Communist Party obtained 30.4 % votes in the elections of 1946 and consequently garve a solid basis for establishment of a democratic regime. The situation in Bohemia and Morav1a was, however, quite different. Why the Czech population did not resist the complete Communist iake-over and practically voted the Communists into power by giving the communist and the Socialist Democrats, who united with the Communists, a majority of votes, 17 was ex~ �SLOVAKIA 85 plained by the Czech exiles18 ai well as iby several foreign writers. One interesting reason was given lby the English historian and exipert in Central European ,p roblems, Hugh Seton-Watson, who writes that it was fear of future Gernnan revenge for "the mass expulsion of the Gernnan population of the Bohemia borderlands (who lived there since the Middle Ages) which was accompanied by much brutality and led to tens of thousands of deaths" .19 H. Seton-Watson argues, of .course, with the validity of such an argument and writes: "But just •a s in Germany in 1932 there was no practical prospect of communists attaining power, so in Europe in 1948 there was no practical prospect of Germans revenging themselves on Czechs. The widespread Czech argument was that, as Germany would one day seek revenge, Czechoslovakia anust maintain ibs alliance with Russia, and as the Russians wanted the Communists in power in Czechoslovakia and this must be accepted. But this meant that in order to avoid a hypothetical revenge in the future, the Czech people must accept communist tyranny in the present; and in order to ensure their independence from a non-existent German menace, they must hand their country over to the agents of Soviet imperiialism. It was this that was decisive rather than the aJbsence of Western military aid against the Soviet Union. A few months later, •a .potential crisis arose in Finland through the same cause which had started the crisis in Czecho-Slovakia-packing of the .police by a communist Minister of Interior. Finland was militarily no less at the mercy of Russia than Czechoslovakia had been, and no Western aid was conceiv,able. But the :Fiinns refrused to be intimidated. They voted in parliament against the Minister, he resigned, there was no crisis and no Soviet intervention. The F.inns suffered from none of the iHu.sions a!bout Russia, that afflicted the Czechs. " 20 However, irrespective of the reason which led the Czech population to accept Communism, they he1ped to make of Czecho-Slovakia the most faithful satellite of Moscow. Slovakia suffered from now on not only for her opposition to Communism, but also under the revenge laws persecuting every Slovak who in the past or in the "new" Czecho-Slovakia showed any opposition to the Czech rule in Slovakia. �86 SLOVAKIA lit was for this reason thaJt the fiirst wave of Slovak exiles vvas followed in 1948 by those Slovaik ipoliticians who 1beHeved in co-operation with the Communists and since 1944 helped them to govern the country. ln their sub-servience to_Moscow and in their desire to i:m~tate, if not surpass, Stalin's methods and general ;policy, the Communist leaders in ,Prague went further than any other satellite. No enemy of Czecho-iSlovakia, the Canadian professor H. Gordon Skilling, after several long months study behind the Iron Curtain in 1961-1962, wrote that "Ozechoslovakia occUlpied the ll!Ilenvi~ble ,positiion of being unique in its rigidity -and uniformity, in its orthodoxy to the old ideas of Communism, and its loyaLty to IMoscow". 21 1 Ln his view Czechoslova,kia ,p resented "a picture sharply in contraJSt to that of 1Poland, iHUJI1.gary, and Yugoslavia, or even A1bania. Unlike these four states, eaoh of which has at various times resisted Moscow, there was no evtl.dence, in October 1961, or six months later, in April 1962, of any spark of resistance by Czechoslovakia to the general line of the U.S.S.R. in international affairs, or in bloc relations. On the contrary, Czechoslovakia had to he classified with East Germany, Rumania, and Bulgaria, in the category of the most loyal and subservient satellites. Neither was there any sign of a serious relaxation in domestic affairs, in the spirit of Khrushchev's de-Stalinization, such as has manifested itself in Poland and iHung,a ry, and even to some extent in Rumania and Bulgaria. In this respect, Czechoslovakia, O'Ilce regarded as an island of democracy in eastern Europe, had regretfully to be classified with Albania, East Germany, and Rumania, as a state tihat had hardly changed at all since the death of Stalin." III. After Tw~nty Years of the Czech and Communist Rule What kind of political regiim e Prague imposed on Slova'k we ca,n see best from recent conf<.IS5ions of Slovak communists themselves. 22 'Dhe Communist denunciations refer, of course, only to the ,period of so-called "personality cult" �SLOVAKIA 87 when for "bourgeois nationalism" they were hanged or put in prison (Novomesky, Husak, Oka.Ii etc.). This .p eriod of "personality cult" was, however, not much different from the other iperiods of the communist rule in Slovakia for noncommunists. It was "monstrous and horrible" as N ovomesky wrote recently and "wiped out trust, confidence, understanding, yes, even loyalty in the life and conciousness of thousands and thousands of ipeople".23 The "inhuman methods" denounced by the Slov·a k Wviters Congress in April, 1963, were applied against non-communists during the whole 20 years a,nd that "terrible curse on· the life of the country", as N ovamesky called the period of ;the so-called cult, for wh!i~h there will be "an eternal stain on the good name of everyone of us," as confessed •M:na,cko, does not refer to only a few years of Prague's persecution by Communists in Slovakia.2-l Prague and the Communist Party systematically used their power "to sweeip away from the !history of Slovak cul.: ture an entire past", to quote Novomesky again from the very beginning of the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia. 25 Reviewing the twenty years of Czech and Communist rule in Slovakia.; the political ,p ersecution of no1'l.-communist; the anti-religious measures and the tpersecution of clergy and believers alike; we can accept the conclusion of the leading Slovak intellectuals in exile tlhat "the Slovak ,p eople were ,n ever before subject to such political and religious oppression ,and economic exiploitation, a,nd life was never as hard in Slovakia as during the past 20 years". 26 In spite of this situation, there w~s no revolution similar to that ·in Hrungary and we can understand this only if we take into account the following facts: 1) Slovakia has been under constant occupation by Czech armed forces; 2) The true leaders of Slovak people were either. hanged, imprisoned or exiled; 3) 85,000 Slovak citi:zens were put mto labor and con-: centration campus; 4) 20,000 Slovaks were deported to the Soviet Union; 5) over 100,000 · Slovaik citizens of German ancestry, going back to the middle ages, were expelled from �88 SLOVAKIA Slovakia; over 120,000 Slovak citizens of Hungiarian ancestry were e~patniated, and close to 600,000 Slovaks were transferred into those parts of Bohemia and !Moravia from whicih the Czechs expelled over 3 mil1ion Sudeten Germans. 27 There is haroly a family which did not suffer under the organized terror of !P rague except those few "ruparatchiky" who helped the Communist and Czech occupation a.nd were not accused of bourgeois .nationalism. Only by means of tJhe gallows and firing squads, concentration camps and organized terror were Prague and Moscow able to keep ,a n appearance of tranquility aind maintain their rule in Slova:kia, against whiClh over 30 Slov-ak conspiracies were discovered, according to the Communists themselves, in the first decade. This treatment of Slovakia could not, of course, influence the Slovaks for Czecho.:s1ovakia or Communism. On the contrary. "Even the slight concessions of 1956-1B58 were bound to leave the Slovaks unimpressed and could in no way detract from Slovtak bitterness toward the treatment to which they had 1b een exiposed ever since the K!SC leaders abandoned their calculative support of Slovak autonomism in 1946. Ample evidence of continued Slovak resentment (against Czechs) is provided by recurrent warnmgs, criticisms, aind extortations deli'Vered by ,Party leaders and the communist press, ,a s well as by reports from underground Souivces" as admitted by Prof. E. Ta:borsky, 211 and those Czech ,i ntellectuals in exile who soberly analyze the situation (Prof. B. Chudoba etc.) "The touchy problem of Czecho.iSlova:k relations," writes Taboralky-and the ",p oison of 1bomgeois nationalism" ha.Ne figured high on the agenda of all the Slovak Communist Party congresses and Central Committee meetings held since 1948. The evidence was provided by t'he Commll.lil'ist themselves. "We ,are sbill frequently faced with dangerous ex,pression of .bourgeois nationalism in the shaipe of populd.st separatism del:i.beraJtely implanted Ml!d maintained in Slovakia by the church hierarchy," complained Siroky at the Con• gress of the ,Slovak P,a rty in April 1955. One year later, Pravda used the solemn occasion of the !May First festi'Vities 1 �SLOVAKIA 89 to deplore the "lack of confidence and the susp1c10n of fear" between the Czechs and the Slovaks and lay 1b lame on "the neglect of Leninist principles."28 According to bitter complaints made 'by the Slovak P ,a:r,ty',s Firat Seoretairy, Kar~l Ba!Cilek, at the session of the Central Committee in January 1958, "bourgeois nationalistic tendencies" have penetrated "various fields of our cultural, poliitical and scientific life; sports; the state apparatus; economic organs; and so on." They have infiltrated "the films, press, and radio" and "have recently appeared even in some ,commissioners' offices" and the Party itself. 30 Slovaks could not be gained for Czechoslovakia even by a sharp retrospective attack on "Czecho.!Slovak,i sm", the concept that the Slovaks and tihe Czechs were ethnically, linguiistieally and cUllturaHy one nation, which ia:Henated Slovaks to Mrusaryk's republic, and which Vaclav Kopecky, speaking on b'e half of the KSc's Czech hierarchy, called in 1958 "an imperialist conception of national oppression of the Slovaks". 31 "While such declaration might have flattered the Slov,a.,ks in 1945, they fell on deaf ears in 1958", writes Taborsky. Nor coUlld t:he commll!Ilist leaders de riive much comfort from the "improvement" in the Slovak class structure resulting from the communist .industrializatioo. and collectivization drive. The transfovmation of the 1p redominantly agraria.,n Slovakia of prewar days into a province where industrial output accounted for 70 percent of the iprovince's production by 1956, and over 80 percent of all aralble land was collectivi.zed 1by the end of 1959, did substantially increase the number of tih e industrial proletal'iat, who, together with the collective farmers, are supposed to be the backbone of the communi,s t system. But the communist hopes that these "two friendly <!lasses of workers and (collective) peasants" would rise in resolute defence of proletarian internationalism against the dire threat of "bourgeois natiionalis,m" have failed to ma teria:lize.32 On the contrary, Slovak Communist newspapers as well as speeches of the leading Czech communists comiplained time and again that t!here were conflicts among the Czech and Slovak workers and that even "some of the leading (Slo- �90 SLOVAKIA vak) personalities have . evinced a wrong and negative aittitude ,t owards the Czeohs." 33 We cannot but agree with the conclusion of Prof. E. Taborsky, who certainly has no sympathies for Slovak nationalism or for the Slovak aspirations for independence, when he writes that "aside from confiivmimg the obvfous fact that the communist fights ag,a inst Slovak nationalism had made no headway, aimong the Slovak peasaintry, these reports indicate that the communist industrial,1zation d~ive had backfired in am unexpected manner. By building up Slovakia's economic potential and bringing new industries to the province's backwoods areas, the regime has unwittingly prodded the Slovaks' pride and self-confidence, a'l'ld thus helped to underpin the same Slova:k nationalism it has been trying so hard to blot out. Having acquired the knowhow and the a:bility to run the system themselves, the Slovak-Communists and non-communists alike-resent being ordered around by their elder Czech brethern. " 34 To sum up, we might say with certainty that the exiled Slovak leadevs are right when they emphasize that "the Slovak ipeople did not renounce their rights to freedom and independence, ,b ecause there is no nation on earth which would prefer tyranny instead of freedom" and that "even if someone 'has a different view with regard to the Slovak republic ood her war-regime, there is no justification for enslaving Slovakia and for opposing the aspirations of the Slovak people to live free and independent according to their own traditions". (Appeal to the free World). FOOTNOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. See Document No. 23 in my book Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. p. 269. C. A. Macartney, October Fifteenth, Edinburg, 1956, p. 376. In 1940 Moscow advised the Slovak Communists "they should fight for a full sovereignty of the Slovak State" and "against the world imperialism and Benes", and tried to win on her side the Slovak Government even at a time when the Soviets had diplomatic relations with the Czechoslovak Government in exile, as we shall see further. Cf. Historicky casopis, XII, 3, Bratislava, 1964 Speech in the House of Commons on March 15, 1939. The former Minister for External Affairs, Dr. F. Durcansky, writes �SLOVAKIA 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. in this regards as follows : "Inasmuch as the Slovak Republic was formed in peace time, and was recognized by many countries, it can legally cease to exist only through a treaty in which its liquidation is established. Until such time the Slovak Republic should be considered as a territory occupied by the Soviets and the Czechs. This is valid, especially as the Slovaks are not willing to give up their independence."-F. Durcansky, The International Aspects of the Slovak Question, New York, 1954, p. 26. "The Slovaks at home and abroad know," declared President Tiso, "that their legal representatives today are abroad and those at present act as rulers at home are only usurpers of power aided by the Bolsheviks." Aide-Memoire sur l'existence de la Repub lique slovaque et sur la necessite de conclure le traite de paix avec eUe, Paris, Comite d'Action slovaque, 1946. K. Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi druha nasa hlava. (Biography of Dr. J . Tiso,) Middletown, Pa., 1947 p. 281 and J . A. Mikul;, La Slovaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, p. 202. Dr. Joseph Pauco, (Ed.) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe. (Dr. Jozef Tiso Speaks of Himself,) and article by J . M. Kirschbaum in Slovakia, Vol. 7, March 1957. See Document No. 38 in my book Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe . p. 295. See Documents of the Department of State No. 50, 51, 52. in my book Slovakia, p. 318-320. Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series D, Vol. X, No. 205, Document No. 30. in my book Slovakia, p. 280. Charles Murin, "A Belated Report," in Slovakia, Vol 7, June 1957, p. 34. (Dr. Tiso's secretary, professor Charles Murin, who accompanied the President not only to Austria, but also to prison, and was definitely a man possessing the President's confidence, later testified to this respect: "There were two points around which revolved the thinking of Dr. Joseph Tiso in regards to the future of the Slovak people. First, it was the confidence in the United States as to the country of Washington, Lincoln, etc., and last, but not least, as to the country of the American Slovaks. In other words, the Slovaks had expected that the Government of the United States would not oppose the will of a na tion to freedom. •Secondly, Dr. Tiso ruled out in his thinking the possibility of creating a political vacuum in Europe after the war, because he knew that any political vacuum would be but an invitation to the Soviets who would not fail to intervene, if not opposed by a military force superior to their own." For details and an analysis, favorable to the present regime, see William Diamond, Czechoslovakia between East and West, London, 1947. For the Slovak point of view, see J . A. Mikul;. Op. cit., pp. 205-254, as well as the English translation Slovakia....A Political History, Marquette University-Press, 1964. An objective description of the religious situation in Slovakia after 1945 is to be found in several scholarly works : Prof. T. Zubek, The Church of Silence in Slovakia, published by Rev. J . J. Lach, 1 14. 15. 91 �92 SLOVAKIA Whiting, Ind., Stefano Nahalka, La Slovacchia d'Oggi, Editrice Slovacca dei SS. Cirillo e Metodio, Roma, 1957, J . A. Mikus, Op. cit., and Dr. Joseph Pauco, Christian Slovakia, Valparaiso, Ind. 1959. 16. Special Report No. 8 of the Select Committee, House of Representatives, 83 Congress, Second Session, Washington, D.C., 1958. 17. For details See Wm. Diamond, Op. cit. and J. A. Mikus, SlovakiaA Political History. 18. See books by E. Taborsky, H. Ripka, y. Busek etc. 19. See Hugh Seton-Watson, Neither War nor Peace, p. 205. Ibidem. p. 205. See also K. Glaser, op. cit. and W. Jaksch, op. cit. 20. Op. cit. p. 205, See also K. Glaser, Op. cit. and W. Jaksch, Op. cit. 21. Ibidem, p. 32. 22. See H. Gordon Skilling, Communism National and International. chapter "Ferment among Czechs and Slovaks", pp. 113-130. 23. Ibidem, p. 114. 24. See the proceedings of the Slovak Writers Congress, published in Kulturny Zivot, April 27, and May 4, 1963. 25. "In Slovakia-as prof. Skilling confirms-the policy of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia (C.P.C.) after 1947 subordinated the Slovaks to increasingly centralist rule from Prague and trod underfoot the nationalist feelings even of Slovak communists" H. G. Skilling, op. cit. p. 88. 26. See Appeal of the Slovak Liberation Council to the World Opinion, March 1964 Munich 2, Germany, Signed by Dr. F. Durcansky and the writer. 27. See Kurt Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia-A Critical History, The Caxton Printers Limited Caldwell, Idaho, 1961 and Wenzel Jaksch, Europe's Road to Potsdam, New York, N. Y., 1963. 28. See Edward Taborsky, Communism in Czechoslovakia 1948-1960, Princeton, University Press, 1961, chapter Slovakia-the everdisgruntled stepdaughter. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. Pravda, May 1, 1956. Pravda, Jan. 10 and 11, 1958. See teskoslovensky prehled, V., 5. article by P. Berka. Ibidem. See also Bacilek's report at the Slovak Party Congress of April 1957, Prague News Letter 13, 10, May 11, 1957; teskoslovensky prehled III, 3 (1956), pp. 15If. Rocenka, 1960, p. 261. Pravda, March 30, 1958. English translation in East Europe, 7, 6, (1958), p. 37. Ceskoslovensky prehled, v, 2 (1958), pp. 12ff; also J . Safranek. op. cit. � 18 SLOVAKIA TWENTY YiEJAIRS OF CZECH .AJND COMMUNIST RULE 1N SLOVAK1!.A. J. M. Kirschbaum The manner in which Slova,kia, 20 years ago, became a part of the restored Czecho-'S lovakia ruled by the Czech:!! and by Communists, ·a nd the disappearaJilce of the Slovak r epu:blic from the maip of post-war Europe, offers the experts of mternational law and ,political science an interesting subject for study and analysis. Having been diplomaticrully recognized 1b y 30 states, of which more than 1half were on the side of the Allies, the Slovak republic became, according to intemational law, a member of the international community rund subject as such to the princiiples and customs of international law. Consequently, in 1945 the Slovak republic was de jure and de facto a defeated state, just as Hungary, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Finland. Due respect for international law aind for the principles declared in the Atlantic charter would have required that Slovakia receive the same treatment as Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria i.e., and that Slovakia's status as an existing state under military occupation be preserved :until Peace treaties had been concluded. Instead, the Allies favormg the Czech exiles, decided not to apply the right of self-determination and the principles of the Atlantic Oharter to the Slovak people amd, although recognition of a state cannot •b e revoked, they treated Slovakia as if the Slovaik .Republic had never existed. The British Government advised the Slovak Counsel General in London, Milan Harminc, on October 12, 1939, that "he will continue to be recognized as the Slovak Counsul in London. " 1 It showed great caution for a long time during the war in its attitude towards the Czecho-Slovak Committee which, after the fall of France, moved to London, and left "open the question whether the Slovak State shall enjoy its independence in union with a Czech State, or in another form". 2 Under pressure from Moscow, 3 the Allies neverthe-less recognized a group of Czech and Slovak refugees as the government-in-exile, allowed Dr. Benes to assume the �SLOVAKIA 79 functions of the President of Czechoslovakia-although he resigned on October 5, 1938 of his own will-and the Soviet armies saw to it that the Slovak territory was incorporated into the state, which, according to the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, had disintegrated from within on March 14, 1939, by the proclamation of the independence of Slovakia by the Slovak Diet.4 The disregard for the principles of international law, as well as for wartime declarations promising independence and territorial integrity after the victory, together with disrespect for the aspirations of the 'Slovak people, created in Slovakia a situation which, from the juridical point of view, allowed the formulation of the controversial views that: 1. The Slovak Republic legally did not cease to exist; 5 2. Slovakia should be considered a territory occupied by the Czechs and Soviets; 3. The legal representatives of the Slovak Republic are outside Slovakia, as President Tiso stressed in his broadcrust from the America,n Zone in Austria in A,pril 1945.6 These ·views were held very strongly among the Slovaks in exile in 1945, and the Slovak representatives even presented a memorandum to the Peace Conference in Paris, ask,i ng for a Peace Treaty witJh Slovakia. 7 It also was in line with these views that the Slovak Government surrendered to the American Army. Against these views, principles amd political aspirations, si.ands the fact of Slova,kia's incorporation into a restored Czecho-Slovakia, governed, except for a limited cultural autonomy, by the Czechs from Prague, or by the Communist Party, led :b y Czech Communists. Slovak diplomatic missions and consulates were closed; the symbols, orgams and the Government of the Slovak Republic disappeared; and the President was jailed and executed. The Slovak State remained only in the hearts and aspirations of the Slovak people. The manner in which this happened is a sad and bloody story. It is a tragedy of a small nation whose politiciams and ·people believed that high principles of justice, democracy, international law and equality of peoples would be respected after the war in Central Europe. The Russians were aware of the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak population, and tried to make a deal, first �80 SLOVAKIA with President Tiso, a,nd later in 1944, with the fo:r,mer Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Durcansky. Emissaries of the Soviet Government gave assurances that the Slovak Republic would not be a,bolished, amd that Slova:kia would remain an independent state if the Slovak Govenment came to term with Russia the way Rumaniia did. If Russia left a ruling k,i ng in IRumania-the Soviet emissaries :pointed out-it would also tolerate a Catholic monsignor in Slovakia. 8 Mainly because of their firm conviction that a compromise with Bolshevism was morally and politically unaccepta;ble for the Slovaik nation and its government; also because of their hopes that the Western !Powers would not, in their own interest, allow Communist domination of Central Europe; and would, therefore, enforce the principles of the Atlantic Charter, the leading Slovaik personalities refused any compromise with Communism. When the Red Army, in its fast advance from Hungary, approached the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, the President, Government, Parliarrnent, lea,ders of the party, army, gendarmerie and the Hlinka Guards' units, together with numerous civil servants, university professors, writers and youth organization Ieaiders, began moving west, to Austria, where provisional hea:dquarters of the Government were ,p repared in the monastery of Kremsmiinster. If capitulation was inevitable, the Slovaks wished to surrender or come to terms wiith the W estem AHies. "I left Slo,va,kia," declared President Tiso during his trial, "because I wished to make the claims of the Slovak illation to its own way of llfe better known and more understandable to the Western Powers." 9 Im1tead of renouncing the right to independence and self-government, or accepting Communism, the leading Slovak circles .p referred to leave their homeland in search of justice and respect for .Slovaikia's right to independence on the side of the Western Allies. It was along this line of reasoning that the Slov:ak Government and the American commander, General W. A. Collier, on May 8, 1945, signed a document of "protection" or "surrender" to the Allied High Command. 10 Coosideri!ng the circumstances, we can ha<rdly speak of surrender in the sense the word was used at the end of the �SLOVAKIA 81 war, because Slovakia was not at war with Western AlliesGrerut Br1baiin, Frrunce or the Unirte<l. States. 11 Dr. Benes and his supporters in the United States misused a report broad-cast by the German News Agency rD. N. B., and reprinted by the New York Times on Decemlber 13, 1941, according to whkh Slovakia had declared war on the United States and Great Britain. 'Dhe truth is that neither the President 11or the Parliament of the Slovak Republic~the only constitutional authorities which can declare war-ever dealt with any declaration of war on the United States or GTeat Britain. It haJS been proven amd recognized by the U. S. authol'ies that never, at any moment, and in no area., was there any military ,a ction between the 'S lovak and American or British units. Unscrupulous propaganda was, of course, unconcerned vl!ith the faiet:s, and Slovakia was presented time and again as a country at war with the Western Allies; this in spite of the fact that Slovakia tried to inform the Western Allies, through diplomatic chamnelis, that she wanted to remain neutral with regard to the Western Powers ;12 and in spite of the fact that the Slovak President, in his public speech to the district governors of Slova:kia, called even the participation in the war against the Soviet Union "but a symbolic one". 1 In view of this, we cannot speak of a military, but rather a political surrooder. The Slovak Gnvernment looked for political protection and recognition of the right of the Slovak people to freedom and self-government. They surrendered to the American military command because they expected maximum undenstandi!Ilg from the American authorities and also because it was the first Allied authority with which they came into contact. 13 For reasons which have never been explained, the doooment, signed on behalf of the Allied High Command iby three high-ranking American officers, was not honored in any form. The President of the Slovak Republic, members of the Slovak Government, Parliament, army officers, civil servant.s, writers, artists, etc., on the !basis of a simple denunciahon ·b y the Czech police and intelligence agents, who were sent by Dr. Benes to Austria for the ,p mipose of denouncing or kidnaping, were arrested, put into concentration C!limps, .and many of them were extradited to the Prague Govern- �82 SLOVAKIA ment. In November 1945, the President of the Slovak Republic, and all 1but one member of the Slovruk Government, together with their secretaries, were transported to Prague in chains and handcuffs like "criminals". The Communist people's courts, after humiliation amd mental torture, either liquidated them on the gallows (Dr. Tiso, Dr. Tuka), or shot them or condemned them to life imprisonment amd forced labor camps. The attempts to save Slovakia's status as an independent state and to obtain recognition of the right to self-government by the Western Allies failed tragically. Regardless of the will of the Slovak people, Slovakia became again a part of Czecho-Slovakia, ruled by Prague and by the Communist party. The Restoration of the Czech Rule in Slovakia and the Road to Enslavement of Slovaks While the origin of Czecho.JSlovakia in 1918 was due in the first place to the ,policy of the victorious Powers of the First World War, especially to France, the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 was ,undoubtedly due to the Soviet Union. Dr. Benes and his government-in-exile returned to Prague from London via Moscow on the heels of the Red Army. In Eastern Slovakia the Communists had him sign the so-called Kosice Pro~ram14 which stated that CzechoSlovrukia was to be ra state of two separate nations--C2echs and Slovaks-with Sla·vic orientation and a socialist system of economy. Back in Prague, Dr. Benes was ,a pproved in his new position by a "Parliament", from which were eliminated in advance all the parti~ and politicians suspected of resistance to the policy of "National Front" government and sub.servience to Moscow. Having been formally established, the new government, composed of Communist, Dr. Benes' Na'tional Secialists, Social Democrats and representatives ot the Czech peoples Party and the Slovli:k Democratic party, �SLOVAKIA 83 began to liquidate, by irregular "People's Courts," every.one who was suspected of some res-ervations towards the new political course. As president, Dr. Benes hereafter introduced, by a number of decress, the newstyled ",People's Democracy," and, gradually, also the socialist system of economy, freely applying the confiscation and "nationalization" of industries and private property. At first, the new Czec,ho-Slovak "People's Democracy" allowed only two political parties in Slovakia-Slovak Democratic /Party and Commll!Ilist Party. Although neither the Communists nor the small group of former Agrarians, who appointed themselves leaders of the Democratic Party, ever played a role of any importance in Slovak politics until the fall of 1944-- when they organized, in cooperation with ~oviet partisans, the t11prising~a,nd they imposed on .Slovakia a s ystem which ena,bled them. to share in ·a ll Slova;k political 1nstitutions on a /50-50 basis. The traditional conservative parties, such as the Slovak People's Party, the Agrariam Party, the Artisan Party, and S1ovak National Party, were suppressed. Favored by the Red Anmy which looted a,nd raped in Slovakia without precedent in Slovak history, both the Communists and the Democrats began to carry out the Kosice Agreement. The "Slova:k National Council," a revolutionary body of the organizers of the uprising, :b ecame the legislature and its presidium served as the executive. By Decr ee No. 33, they created organs of the so-called "people's justice," and freely used a charge of collaboration wit!h Germainy as pretext for imprisoning a,nd condemming all potential opposition. By Decree No. 51, they dissolved all associations expect those ~hich were enthusiastic for the new regime; they suppressed the religious (parochial) schools ( mostly Catholic), and institutions; a,nd confiscated their property and created forced labor camps (,Decree No. 33, .Article 5) for the re-education ·o f political adversaries. 15 Through these measures the way for tlhe Communist rule was paved in accordance with the agreement between Dr. Benes and Klement Gottwald. They decided in Moscow ,i n 1943 that the state administration would be replaced 'b y '.'national committees"-Soviets; the former right-of-center parties W?uld be eliminated; the Communist and tolerated �84 SLOVAKIA non-commUiilist parties would for,m a "governmen of· Na:tional Front", and ".p eople's courts" would be established to OOinmaJte "waT criminals." While the new regime was accepted with enthusi1a sm in Bohemia, there was only bitterness and uncertainty in Slovakia. The persecution of Catholic dergy and intelligentsia reached an inhuman fury; a wave of arrests took place throughout the country; and the leaders of the :Slova:k Republic died an gallows, in front of the firing squads, and filled jails and concentration camps. Thousands were deported to the Soviet Union in 1'945, many were executed by Soviet :partisans on simple Communist denunciation, and hundreds of Catholic intellectuals were arrested ibecause of "the conspiracy against the State and people's democracy." Occupying the most important positions in the Government, the Communists had no difficulty preparing the socalled "February Revolution" of 1948, since the Ozech nonCommunist politicians, including Dr. Benes, and the leaders of the Slovak Democratic Party offered or.ly a weak and insignificant ·opposition, if any at all. The Special Report of the U.S. Congress leaves no doubt in this regard: "It should be pointed out," says the report, "that the Communist advance in Czedhoslovakia was greatly facilitated by the behaviour of the non-Communist .p olitical .p arties and their lea:ders. Especially the naive 1b elief in the possibility of co-existence with the Communists, shared in different degrees by practically all Czech politicians, was responsilble for the extreme ease with which the Communist Party took power in 1948. The sig,ning of the Soviet-Czechoslovak agreement on December 12, 1943, and especially the proclamation of the Kosice program of April 5, 1945, opened the door for an ,unobserved drive on the part of the Communists to seize full power in the country." 16 In Slovakia the Communist Party obtained 30.4 % votes in the elections of 1946 and consequently garve a solid basis for establishment of a democratic regime. The situation in Bohemia and Morav1a was, however, quite different. Why the Czech population did not resist the complete Communist iake-over and practically voted the Communists into power by giving the communist and the Socialist Democrats, who united with the Communists, a majority of votes, 17 was ex~ �SLOVAKIA 85 plained by the Czech exiles18 ai well as iby several foreign writers. One interesting reason was given lby the English historian and exipert in Central European ,p roblems, Hugh Seton-Watson, who writes that it was fear of future Gernnan revenge for "the mass expulsion of the Gernnan population of the Bohemia borderlands (who lived there since the Middle Ages) which was accompanied by much brutality and led to tens of thousands of deaths" .19 H. Seton-Watson argues, of .course, with the validity of such an argument and writes: "But just •a s in Germany in 1932 there was no practical prospect of communists attaining power, so in Europe in 1948 there was no practical prospect of Germans revenging themselves on Czechs. The widespread Czech argument was that, as Germany would one day seek revenge, Czechoslovakia anust maintain ibs alliance with Russia, and as the Russians wanted the Communists in power in Czechoslovakia and this must be accepted. But this meant that in order to avoid a hypothetical revenge in the future, the Czech people must accept communist tyranny in the present; and in order to ensure their independence from a non-existent German menace, they must hand their country over to the agents of Soviet imperiialism. It was this that was decisive rather than the aJbsence of Western military aid against the Soviet Union. A few months later, •a .potential crisis arose in Finland through the same cause which had started the crisis in Czecho-Slovakia-packing of the .police by a communist Minister of Interior. Finland was militarily no less at the mercy of Russia than Czechoslovakia had been, and no Western aid was conceiv,able. But the :Fiinns refrused to be intimidated. They voted in parliament against the Minister, he resigned, there was no crisis and no Soviet intervention. The F.inns suffered from none of the iHu.sions a!bout Russia, that afflicted the Czechs. " 20 However, irrespective of the reason which led the Czech population to accept Communism, they he1ped to make of Czecho-Slovakia the most faithful satellite of Moscow. Slovakia suffered from now on not only for her opposition to Communism, but also under the revenge laws persecuting every Slovak who in the past or in the "new" Czecho-Slovakia showed any opposition to the Czech rule in Slovakia. �86 SLOVAKIA lit was for this reason thaJt the fiirst wave of Slovak exiles vvas followed in 1948 by those Slovaik ipoliticians who 1beHeved in co-operation with the Communists and since 1944 helped them to govern the country. ln their sub-servience to_Moscow and in their desire to i:m~tate, if not surpass, Stalin's methods and general ;policy, the Communist leaders in ,Prague went further than any other satellite. No enemy of Czecho-iSlovakia, the Canadian professor H. Gordon Skilling, after several long months study behind the Iron Curtain in 1961-1962, wrote that "Ozechoslovakia occUlpied the ll!Ilenvi~ble ,positiion of being unique in its rigidity -and uniformity, in its orthodoxy to the old ideas of Communism, and its loyaLty to IMoscow". 21 1 Ln his view Czechoslova,kia ,p resented "a picture sharply in contraJSt to that of 1Poland, iHUJI1.gary, and Yugoslavia, or even A1bania. Unlike these four states, eaoh of which has at various times resisted Moscow, there was no evtl.dence, in October 1961, or six months later, in April 1962, of any spark of resistance by Czechoslovakia to the general line of the U.S.S.R. in international affairs, or in bloc relations. On the contrary, Czechoslovakia had to he classified with East Germany, Rumania, and Bulgaria, in the category of the most loyal and subservient satellites. Neither was there any sign of a serious relaxation in domestic affairs, in the spirit of Khrushchev's de-Stalinization, such as has manifested itself in Poland and iHung,a ry, and even to some extent in Rumania and Bulgaria. In this respect, Czechoslovakia, O'Ilce regarded as an island of democracy in eastern Europe, had regretfully to be classified with Albania, East Germany, and Rumania, as a state tihat had hardly changed at all since the death of Stalin." III. After Tw~nty Years of the Czech and Communist Rule What kind of political regiim e Prague imposed on Slova'k we ca,n see best from recent conf<.IS5ions of Slovak communists themselves. 22 'Dhe Communist denunciations refer, of course, only to the ,period of so-called "personality cult" �SLOVAKIA 87 when for "bourgeois nationalism" they were hanged or put in prison (Novomesky, Husak, Oka.Ii etc.). This .p eriod of "personality cult" was, however, not much different from the other iperiods of the communist rule in Slovakia for noncommunists. It was "monstrous and horrible" as N ovomesky wrote recently and "wiped out trust, confidence, understanding, yes, even loyalty in the life and conciousness of thousands and thousands of ipeople".23 The "inhuman methods" denounced by the Slov·a k Wviters Congress in April, 1963, were applied against non-communists during the whole 20 years a,nd that "terrible curse on· the life of the country", as N ovamesky called the period of ;the so-called cult, for wh!i~h there will be "an eternal stain on the good name of everyone of us," as confessed •M:na,cko, does not refer to only a few years of Prague's persecution by Communists in Slovakia.2-l Prague and the Communist Party systematically used their power "to sweeip away from the !history of Slovak cul.: ture an entire past", to quote Novomesky again from the very beginning of the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia. 25 Reviewing the twenty years of Czech and Communist rule in Slovakia.; the political ,p ersecution of no1'l.-communist; the anti-religious measures and the tpersecution of clergy and believers alike; we can accept the conclusion of the leading Slovak intellectuals in exile tlhat "the Slovak ,p eople were ,n ever before subject to such political and religious oppression ,and economic exiploitation, a,nd life was never as hard in Slovakia as during the past 20 years". 26 In spite of this situation, there w~s no revolution similar to that ·in Hrungary and we can understand this only if we take into account the following facts: 1) Slovakia has been under constant occupation by Czech armed forces; 2) The true leaders of Slovak people were either. hanged, imprisoned or exiled; 3) 85,000 Slovak citi:zens were put mto labor and con-: centration campus; 4) 20,000 Slovaks were deported to the Soviet Union; 5) over 100,000 · Slovaik citizens of German ancestry, going back to the middle ages, were expelled from �88 SLOVAKIA Slovakia; over 120,000 Slovak citizens of Hungiarian ancestry were e~patniated, and close to 600,000 Slovaks were transferred into those parts of Bohemia and !Moravia from whicih the Czechs expelled over 3 mil1ion Sudeten Germans. 27 There is haroly a family which did not suffer under the organized terror of !P rague except those few "ruparatchiky" who helped the Communist and Czech occupation a.nd were not accused of bourgeois .nationalism. Only by means of tJhe gallows and firing squads, concentration camps and organized terror were Prague and Moscow able to keep ,a n appearance of tranquility aind maintain their rule in Slova:kia, against whiClh over 30 Slov-ak conspiracies were discovered, according to the Communists themselves, in the first decade. This treatment of Slovakia could not, of course, influence the Slovaks for Czecho.:s1ovakia or Communism. On the contrary. "Even the slight concessions of 1956-1B58 were bound to leave the Slovaks unimpressed and could in no way detract from Slovtak bitterness toward the treatment to which they had 1b een exiposed ever since the K!SC leaders abandoned their calculative support of Slovak autonomism in 1946. Ample evidence of continued Slovak resentment (against Czechs) is provided by recurrent warnmgs, criticisms, aind extortations deli'Vered by ,Party leaders and the communist press, ,a s well as by reports from underground Souivces" as admitted by Prof. E. Ta:borsky, 211 and those Czech ,i ntellectuals in exile who soberly analyze the situation (Prof. B. Chudoba etc.) "The touchy problem of Czecho.iSlova:k relations," writes Taboralky-and the ",p oison of 1bomgeois nationalism" ha.Ne figured high on the agenda of all the Slovak Communist Party congresses and Central Committee meetings held since 1948. The evidence was provided by t'he Commll.lil'ist themselves. "We ,are sbill frequently faced with dangerous ex,pression of .bourgeois nationalism in the shaipe of populd.st separatism del:i.beraJtely implanted Ml!d maintained in Slovakia by the church hierarchy," complained Siroky at the Con• gress of the ,Slovak P,a rty in April 1955. One year later, Pravda used the solemn occasion of the !May First festi'Vities 1 �SLOVAKIA 89 to deplore the "lack of confidence and the susp1c10n of fear" between the Czechs and the Slovaks and lay 1b lame on "the neglect of Leninist principles."28 According to bitter complaints made 'by the Slovak P ,a:r,ty',s Firat Seoretairy, Kar~l Ba!Cilek, at the session of the Central Committee in January 1958, "bourgeois nationalistic tendencies" have penetrated "various fields of our cultural, poliitical and scientific life; sports; the state apparatus; economic organs; and so on." They have infiltrated "the films, press, and radio" and "have recently appeared even in some ,commissioners' offices" and the Party itself. 30 Slovaks could not be gained for Czechoslovakia even by a sharp retrospective attack on "Czecho.!Slovak,i sm", the concept that the Slovaks and tihe Czechs were ethnically, linguiistieally and cUllturaHy one nation, which ia:Henated Slovaks to Mrusaryk's republic, and which Vaclav Kopecky, speaking on b'e half of the KSc's Czech hierarchy, called in 1958 "an imperialist conception of national oppression of the Slovaks". 31 "While such declaration might have flattered the Slov,a.,ks in 1945, they fell on deaf ears in 1958", writes Taborsky. Nor coUlld t:he commll!Ilist leaders de riive much comfort from the "improvement" in the Slovak class structure resulting from the communist .industrializatioo. and collectivization drive. The transfovmation of the 1p redominantly agraria.,n Slovakia of prewar days into a province where industrial output accounted for 70 percent of the iprovince's production by 1956, and over 80 percent of all aralble land was collectivi.zed 1by the end of 1959, did substantially increase the number of tih e industrial proletal'iat, who, together with the collective farmers, are supposed to be the backbone of the communi,s t system. But the communist hopes that these "two friendly <!lasses of workers and (collective) peasants" would rise in resolute defence of proletarian internationalism against the dire threat of "bourgeois natiionalis,m" have failed to ma teria:lize.32 On the contrary, Slovak Communist newspapers as well as speeches of the leading Czech communists comiplained time and again that t!here were conflicts among the Czech and Slovak workers and that even "some of the leading (Slo- �90 SLOVAKIA vak) personalities have . evinced a wrong and negative aittitude ,t owards the Czeohs." 33 We cannot but agree with the conclusion of Prof. E. Taborsky, who certainly has no sympathies for Slovak nationalism or for the Slovak aspirations for independence, when he writes that "aside from confiivmimg the obvfous fact that the communist fights ag,a inst Slovak nationalism had made no headway, aimong the Slovak peasaintry, these reports indicate that the communist industrial,1zation d~ive had backfired in am unexpected manner. By building up Slovakia's economic potential and bringing new industries to the province's backwoods areas, the regime has unwittingly prodded the Slovaks' pride and self-confidence, a'l'ld thus helped to underpin the same Slova:k nationalism it has been trying so hard to blot out. Having acquired the knowhow and the a:bility to run the system themselves, the Slovak-Communists and non-communists alike-resent being ordered around by their elder Czech brethern. " 34 To sum up, we might say with certainty that the exiled Slovak leadevs are right when they emphasize that "the Slovak ipeople did not renounce their rights to freedom and independence, ,b ecause there is no nation on earth which would prefer tyranny instead of freedom" and that "even if someone 'has a different view with regard to the Slovak republic ood her war-regime, there is no justification for enslaving Slovakia and for opposing the aspirations of the Slovak people to live free and independent according to their own traditions". (Appeal to the free World). FOOTNOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. See Document No. 23 in my book Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. p. 269. C. A. Macartney, October Fifteenth, Edinburg, 1956, p. 376. In 1940 Moscow advised the Slovak Communists "they should fight for a full sovereignty of the Slovak State" and "against the world imperialism and Benes", and tried to win on her side the Slovak Government even at a time when the Soviets had diplomatic relations with the Czechoslovak Government in exile, as we shall see further. Cf. Historicky casopis, XII, 3, Bratislava, 1964 Speech in the House of Commons on March 15, 1939. The former Minister for External Affairs, Dr. F. Durcansky, writes �SLOVAKIA 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. in this regards as follows : "Inasmuch as the Slovak Republic was formed in peace time, and was recognized by many countries, it can legally cease to exist only through a treaty in which its liquidation is established. Until such time the Slovak Republic should be considered as a territory occupied by the Soviets and the Czechs. This is valid, especially as the Slovaks are not willing to give up their independence."-F. Durcansky, The International Aspects of the Slovak Question, New York, 1954, p. 26. "The Slovaks at home and abroad know," declared President Tiso, "that their legal representatives today are abroad and those at present act as rulers at home are only usurpers of power aided by the Bolsheviks." Aide-Memoire sur l'existence de la Repub lique slovaque et sur la necessite de conclure le traite de paix avec eUe, Paris, Comite d'Action slovaque, 1946. K. Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi druha nasa hlava. (Biography of Dr. J . Tiso,) Middletown, Pa., 1947 p. 281 and J . A. Mikul;, La Slovaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, p. 202. Dr. Joseph Pauco, (Ed.) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe. (Dr. Jozef Tiso Speaks of Himself,) and article by J . M. Kirschbaum in Slovakia, Vol. 7, March 1957. See Document No. 38 in my book Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe . p. 295. See Documents of the Department of State No. 50, 51, 52. in my book Slovakia, p. 318-320. Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series D, Vol. X, No. 205, Document No. 30. in my book Slovakia, p. 280. Charles Murin, "A Belated Report," in Slovakia, Vol 7, June 1957, p. 34. (Dr. Tiso's secretary, professor Charles Murin, who accompanied the President not only to Austria, but also to prison, and was definitely a man possessing the President's confidence, later testified to this respect: "There were two points around which revolved the thinking of Dr. Joseph Tiso in regards to the future of the Slovak people. First, it was the confidence in the United States as to the country of Washington, Lincoln, etc., and last, but not least, as to the country of the American Slovaks. In other words, the Slovaks had expected that the Government of the United States would not oppose the will of a na tion to freedom. •Secondly, Dr. Tiso ruled out in his thinking the possibility of creating a political vacuum in Europe after the war, because he knew that any political vacuum would be but an invitation to the Soviets who would not fail to intervene, if not opposed by a military force superior to their own." For details and an analysis, favorable to the present regime, see William Diamond, Czechoslovakia between East and West, London, 1947. For the Slovak point of view, see J . A. Mikul;. Op. cit., pp. 205-254, as well as the English translation Slovakia....A Political History, Marquette University-Press, 1964. An objective description of the religious situation in Slovakia after 1945 is to be found in several scholarly works : Prof. T. Zubek, The Church of Silence in Slovakia, published by Rev. J . J. Lach, 1 14. 15. 91 �92 SLOVAKIA Whiting, Ind., Stefano Nahalka, La Slovacchia d'Oggi, Editrice Slovacca dei SS. Cirillo e Metodio, Roma, 1957, J . A. Mikus, Op. cit., and Dr. Joseph Pauco, Christian Slovakia, Valparaiso, Ind. 1959. 16. Special Report No. 8 of the Select Committee, House of Representatives, 83 Congress, Second Session, Washington, D.C., 1958. 17. For details See Wm. Diamond, Op. cit. and J. A. Mikus, SlovakiaA Political History. 18. See books by E. Taborsky, H. Ripka, y. Busek etc. 19. See Hugh Seton-Watson, Neither War nor Peace, p. 205. Ibidem. p. 205. See also K. Glaser, op. cit. and W. Jaksch, op. cit. 20. Op. cit. p. 205, See also K. Glaser, Op. cit. and W. Jaksch, Op. cit. 21. Ibidem, p. 32. 22. See H. Gordon Skilling, Communism National and International. chapter "Ferment among Czechs and Slovaks", pp. 113-130. 23. Ibidem, p. 114. 24. See the proceedings of the Slovak Writers Congress, published in Kulturny Zivot, April 27, and May 4, 1963. 25. "In Slovakia-as prof. Skilling confirms-the policy of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia (C.P.C.) after 1947 subordinated the Slovaks to increasingly centralist rule from Prague and trod underfoot the nationalist feelings even of Slovak communists" H. G. Skilling, op. cit. p. 88. 26. See Appeal of the Slovak Liberation Council to the World Opinion, March 1964 Munich 2, Germany, Signed by Dr. F. Durcansky and the writer. 27. See Kurt Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia-A Critical History, The Caxton Printers Limited Caldwell, Idaho, 1961 and Wenzel Jaksch, Europe's Road to Potsdam, New York, N. Y., 1963. 28. See Edward Taborsky, Communism in Czechoslovakia 1948-1960, Princeton, University Press, 1961, chapter Slovakia-the everdisgruntled stepdaughter. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. Pravda, May 1, 1956. Pravda, Jan. 10 and 11, 1958. See teskoslovensky prehled, V., 5. article by P. Berka. Ibidem. See also Bacilek's report at the Slovak Party Congress of April 1957, Prague News Letter 13, 10, May 11, 1957; teskoslovensky prehled III, 3 (1956), pp. 15If. Rocenka, 1960, p. 261. Pravda, March 30, 1958. English translation in East Europe, 7, 6, (1958), p. 37. Ceskoslovensky prehled, v, 2 (1958), pp. 12ff; also J . Safranek. op. cit. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1965, Vol. 15 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965. 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 1965 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 TWENTY YiEJAIRS OF CZECH .AJND COMMUNIST RULE 1N SLOVAK1!.A. J. M. Kirschbaum The manner in which Slova,kia, 20 years ago, became a part of the restored Czecho-'S lovakia ruled by the Czech:!! and by Communists, ·a nd the disappearaJilce of the Slovak r epu:blic from the maip of post-war Europe, offers the experts of mternational law and ,political science an interesting subject for study and analysis. Having been diplomaticrully recognized 1b y 30 states, of which more than 1half were on the side of the Allies, the Slovak republic became, according to intemational law, a member of the international community rund subject as such to the princiiples and customs of international law. Consequently, in 1945 the Slovak republic was de jure and de facto a defeated state, just as Hungary, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Finland. Due respect for international law aind for the principles declared in the Atlantic charter would have required that Slovakia receive the same treatment as Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria i.e., and that Slovakia's status as an existing state under military occupation be preserved :until Peace treaties had been concluded. Instead, the Allies favormg the Czech exiles, decided not to apply the right of self-determination and the principles of the Atlantic Oharter to the Slovak people amd, although recognition of a state cannot •b e revoked, they treated Slovakia as if the Slovaik .Republic had never existed. The British Government advised the Slovak Counsel General in London, Milan Harminc, on October 12, 1939, that "he will continue to be recognized as the Slovak Counsul in London. " 1 It showed great caution for a long time during the war in its attitude towards the Czecho-Slovak Committee which, after the fall of France, moved to London, and left "open the question whether the Slovak State shall enjoy its independence in union with a Czech State, or in another form". 2 Under pressure from Moscow, 3 the Allies neverthe-less recognized a group of Czech and Slovak refugees as the government-in-exile, allowed Dr. Benes to assume the SLOVAKIA 79 functions of the President of Czechoslovakia-although he resigned on October 5, 1938 of his own will-and the Soviet armies saw to it that the Slovak territory was incorporated into the state, which, according to the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, had disintegrated from within on March 14, 1939, by the proclamation of the independence of Slovakia by the Slovak Diet.4 The disregard for the principles of international law, as well as for wartime declarations promising independence and territorial integrity after the victory, together with disrespect for the aspirations of the 'Slovak people, created in Slovakia a situation which, from the juridical point of view, allowed the formulation of the controversial views that: 1. The Slovak Republic legally did not cease to exist; 5 2. Slovakia should be considered a territory occupied by the Czechs and Soviets; 3. The legal representatives of the Slovak Republic are outside Slovakia, as President Tiso stressed in his broadcrust from the America,n Zone in Austria in A,pril 1945.6 These ·views were held very strongly among the Slovaks in exile in 1945, and the Slovak representatives even presented a memorandum to the Peace Conference in Paris, ask,i ng for a Peace Treaty witJh Slovakia. 7 It also was in line with these views that the Slovak Government surrendered to the American Army. Against these views, principles amd political aspirations, si.ands the fact of Slova,kia's incorporation into a restored Czecho-Slovakia, governed, except for a limited cultural autonomy, by the Czechs from Prague, or by the Communist Party, led :b y Czech Communists. Slovak diplomatic missions and consulates were closed; the symbols, orgams and the Government of the Slovak Republic disappeared; and the President was jailed and executed. The Slovak State remained only in the hearts and aspirations of the Slovak people. The manner in which this happened is a sad and bloody story. It is a tragedy of a small nation whose politiciams and ·people believed that high principles of justice, democracy, international law and equality of peoples would be respected after the war in Central Europe. The Russians were aware of the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak population, and tried to make a deal, first 80 SLOVAKIA with President Tiso, a,nd later in 1944, with the fo:r,mer Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Durcansky. Emissaries of the Soviet Government gave assurances that the Slovak Republic would not be a,bolished, amd that Slova:kia would remain an independent state if the Slovak Govenment came to term with Russia the way Rumaniia did. If Russia left a ruling k,i ng in IRumania-the Soviet emissaries :pointed out-it would also tolerate a Catholic monsignor in Slovakia. 8 Mainly because of their firm conviction that a compromise with Bolshevism was morally and politically unaccepta;ble for the Slovaik nation and its government; also because of their hopes that the Western !Powers would not, in their own interest, allow Communist domination of Central Europe; and would, therefore, enforce the principles of the Atlantic Charter, the leading Slovaik personalities refused any compromise with Communism. When the Red Army, in its fast advance from Hungary, approached the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, the President, Government, Parliarrnent, lea,ders of the party, army, gendarmerie and the Hlinka Guards' units, together with numerous civil servants, university professors, writers and youth organization Ieaiders, began moving west, to Austria, where provisional hea:dquarters of the Government were ,p repared in the monastery of Kremsmiinster. If capitulation was inevitable, the Slovaks wished to surrender or come to terms wiith the W estem AHies. "I left Slo,va,kia," declared President Tiso during his trial, "because I wished to make the claims of the Slovak illation to its own way of llfe better known and more understandable to the Western Powers." 9 Im1tead of renouncing the right to independence and self-government, or accepting Communism, the leading Slovak circles .p referred to leave their homeland in search of justice and respect for .Slovaikia's right to independence on the side of the Western Allies. It was along this line of reasoning that the Slov:ak Government and the American commander, General W. A. Collier, on May 8, 1945, signed a document of "protection" or "surrender" to the Allied High Command. 10 Coosideri!ng the circumstances, we can ha<rdly speak of surrender in the sense the word was used at the end of the SLOVAKIA 81 war, because Slovakia was not at war with Western AlliesGrerut Br1baiin, Frrunce or the Unirte<l. States. 11 Dr. Benes and his supporters in the United States misused a report broad-cast by the German News Agency rD. N. B., and reprinted by the New York Times on Decemlber 13, 1941, according to whkh Slovakia had declared war on the United States and Great Britain. 'Dhe truth is that neither the President 11or the Parliament of the Slovak Republic~the only constitutional authorities which can declare war-ever dealt with any declaration of war on the United States or GTeat Britain. It haJS been proven amd recognized by the U. S. authol'ies that never, at any moment, and in no area., was there any military ,a ction between the 'S lovak and American or British units. Unscrupulous propaganda was, of course, unconcerned vl!ith the faiet:s, and Slovakia was presented time and again as a country at war with the Western Allies; this in spite of the fact that Slovakia tried to inform the Western Allies, through diplomatic chamnelis, that she wanted to remain neutral with regard to the Western Powers ;12 and in spite of the fact that the Slovak President, in his public speech to the district governors of Slova:kia, called even the participation in the war against the Soviet Union "but a symbolic one". 1 In view of this, we cannot speak of a military, but rather a political surrooder. The Slovak Gnvernment looked for political protection and recognition of the right of the Slovak people to freedom and self-government. They surrendered to the American military command because they expected maximum undenstandi!Ilg from the American authorities and also because it was the first Allied authority with which they came into contact. 13 For reasons which have never been explained, the doooment, signed on behalf of the Allied High Command iby three high-ranking American officers, was not honored in any form. The President of the Slovak Republic, members of the Slovak Government, Parliament, army officers, civil servant.s, writers, artists, etc., on the !basis of a simple denunciahon ·b y the Czech police and intelligence agents, who were sent by Dr. Benes to Austria for the ,p mipose of denouncing or kidnaping, were arrested, put into concentration C!limps, .and many of them were extradited to the Prague Govern- 82 SLOVAKIA ment. In November 1945, the President of the Slovak Republic, and all 1but one member of the Slovruk Government, together with their secretaries, were transported to Prague in chains and handcuffs like "criminals". The Communist people's courts, after humiliation amd mental torture, either liquidated them on the gallows (Dr. Tiso, Dr. Tuka), or shot them or condemned them to life imprisonment amd forced labor camps. The attempts to save Slovakia's status as an independent state and to obtain recognition of the right to self-government by the Western Allies failed tragically. Regardless of the will of the Slovak people, Slovakia became again a part of Czecho-Slovakia, ruled by Prague and by the Communist party. The Restoration of the Czech Rule in Slovakia and the Road to Enslavement of Slovaks While the origin of Czecho.JSlovakia in 1918 was due in the first place to the ,policy of the victorious Powers of the First World War, especially to France, the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 was ,undoubtedly due to the Soviet Union. Dr. Benes and his government-in-exile returned to Prague from London via Moscow on the heels of the Red Army. In Eastern Slovakia the Communists had him sign the so-called Kosice Pro~ram14 which stated that CzechoSlovrukia was to be ra state of two separate nations--C2echs and Slovaks-with Sla·vic orientation and a socialist system of economy. Back in Prague, Dr. Benes was ,a pproved in his new position by a "Parliament", from which were eliminated in advance all the parti~ and politicians suspected of resistance to the policy of "National Front" government and sub.servience to Moscow. Having been formally established, the new government, composed of Communist, Dr. Benes' Na'tional Secialists, Social Democrats and representatives ot the Czech peoples Party and the Slovli:k Democratic party, SLOVAKIA 83 began to liquidate, by irregular "People's Courts," every.one who was suspected of some res-ervations towards the new political course. As president, Dr. Benes hereafter introduced, by a number of decress, the newstyled ",People's Democracy," and, gradually, also the socialist system of economy, freely applying the confiscation and "nationalization" of industries and private property. At first, the new Czec,ho-Slovak "People's Democracy" allowed only two political parties in Slovakia-Slovak Democratic /Party and Commll!Ilist Party. Although neither the Communists nor the small group of former Agrarians, who appointed themselves leaders of the Democratic Party, ever played a role of any importance in Slovak politics until the fall of 1944-- when they organized, in cooperation with ~oviet partisans, the t11prising~a,nd they imposed on .Slovakia a s ystem which ena,bled them. to share in ·a ll Slova;k political 1nstitutions on a /50-50 basis. The traditional conservative parties, such as the Slovak People's Party, the Agrariam Party, the Artisan Party, and S1ovak National Party, were suppressed. Favored by the Red Anmy which looted a,nd raped in Slovakia without precedent in Slovak history, both the Communists and the Democrats began to carry out the Kosice Agreement. The "Slova:k National Council," a revolutionary body of the organizers of the uprising, :b ecame the legislature and its presidium served as the executive. By Decr ee No. 33, they created organs of the so-called "people's justice," and freely used a charge of collaboration wit!h Germainy as pretext for imprisoning a,nd condemming all potential opposition. By Decree No. 51, they dissolved all associations expect those ~hich were enthusiastic for the new regime; they suppressed the religious (parochial) schools ( mostly Catholic), and institutions; a,nd confiscated their property and created forced labor camps (,Decree No. 33, .Article 5) for the re-education ·o f political adversaries. 15 Through these measures the way for tlhe Communist rule was paved in accordance with the agreement between Dr. Benes and Klement Gottwald. They decided in Moscow ,i n 1943 that the state administration would be replaced 'b y '.'national committees"-Soviets; the former right-of-center parties W?uld be eliminated; the Communist and tolerated 84 SLOVAKIA non-commUiilist parties would for,m a "governmen of· Na:tional Front", and ".p eople's courts" would be established to OOinmaJte "waT criminals." While the new regime was accepted with enthusi1a sm in Bohemia, there was only bitterness and uncertainty in Slovakia. The persecution of Catholic dergy and intelligentsia reached an inhuman fury; a wave of arrests took place throughout the country; and the leaders of the :Slova:k Republic died an gallows, in front of the firing squads, and filled jails and concentration camps. Thousands were deported to the Soviet Union in 1'945, many were executed by Soviet :partisans on simple Communist denunciation, and hundreds of Catholic intellectuals were arrested ibecause of "the conspiracy against the State and people's democracy." Occupying the most important positions in the Government, the Communists had no difficulty preparing the socalled "February Revolution" of 1948, since the Ozech nonCommunist politicians, including Dr. Benes, and the leaders of the Slovak Democratic Party offered or.ly a weak and insignificant ·opposition, if any at all. The Special Report of the U.S. Congress leaves no doubt in this regard: "It should be pointed out," says the report, "that the Communist advance in Czedhoslovakia was greatly facilitated by the behaviour of the non-Communist .p olitical .p arties and their lea:ders. Especially the naive 1b elief in the possibility of co-existence with the Communists, shared in different degrees by practically all Czech politicians, was responsilble for the extreme ease with which the Communist Party took power in 1948. The sig,ning of the Soviet-Czechoslovak agreement on December 12, 1943, and especially the proclamation of the Kosice program of April 5, 1945, opened the door for an ,unobserved drive on the part of the Communists to seize full power in the country." 16 In Slovakia the Communist Party obtained 30.4 % votes in the elections of 1946 and consequently garve a solid basis for establishment of a democratic regime. The situation in Bohemia and Morav1a was, however, quite different. Why the Czech population did not resist the complete Communist iake-over and practically voted the Communists into power by giving the communist and the Socialist Democrats, who united with the Communists, a majority of votes, 17 was ex~ SLOVAKIA 85 plained by the Czech exiles18 ai well as iby several foreign writers. One interesting reason was given lby the English historian and exipert in Central European ,p roblems, Hugh Seton-Watson, who writes that it was fear of future Gernnan revenge for "the mass expulsion of the Gernnan population of the Bohemia borderlands (who lived there since the Middle Ages) which was accompanied by much brutality and led to tens of thousands of deaths" .19 H. Seton-Watson argues, of .course, with the validity of such an argument and writes: "But just •a s in Germany in 1932 there was no practical prospect of communists attaining power, so in Europe in 1948 there was no practical prospect of Germans revenging themselves on Czechs. The widespread Czech argument was that, as Germany would one day seek revenge, Czechoslovakia anust maintain ibs alliance with Russia, and as the Russians wanted the Communists in power in Czechoslovakia and this must be accepted. But this meant that in order to avoid a hypothetical revenge in the future, the Czech people must accept communist tyranny in the present; and in order to ensure their independence from a non-existent German menace, they must hand their country over to the agents of Soviet imperiialism. It was this that was decisive rather than the aJbsence of Western military aid against the Soviet Union. A few months later, •a .potential crisis arose in Finland through the same cause which had started the crisis in Czecho-Slovakia-packing of the .police by a communist Minister of Interior. Finland was militarily no less at the mercy of Russia than Czechoslovakia had been, and no Western aid was conceiv,able. But the :Fiinns refrused to be intimidated. They voted in parliament against the Minister, he resigned, there was no crisis and no Soviet intervention. The F.inns suffered from none of the iHu.sions a!bout Russia, that afflicted the Czechs. " 20 However, irrespective of the reason which led the Czech population to accept Communism, they he1ped to make of Czecho-Slovakia the most faithful satellite of Moscow. Slovakia suffered from now on not only for her opposition to Communism, but also under the revenge laws persecuting every Slovak who in the past or in the "new" Czecho-Slovakia showed any opposition to the Czech rule in Slovakia. 86 SLOVAKIA lit was for this reason thaJt the fiirst wave of Slovak exiles vvas followed in 1948 by those Slovaik ipoliticians who 1beHeved in co-operation with the Communists and since 1944 helped them to govern the country. ln their sub-servience to_Moscow and in their desire to i:m~tate, if not surpass, Stalin's methods and general ;policy, the Communist leaders in ,Prague went further than any other satellite. No enemy of Czecho-iSlovakia, the Canadian professor H. Gordon Skilling, after several long months study behind the Iron Curtain in 1961-1962, wrote that "Ozechoslovakia occUlpied the ll!Ilenvi~ble ,positiion of being unique in its rigidity -and uniformity, in its orthodoxy to the old ideas of Communism, and its loyaLty to IMoscow". 21 1 Ln his view Czechoslova,kia ,p resented "a picture sharply in contraJSt to that of 1Poland, iHUJI1.gary, and Yugoslavia, or even A1bania. Unlike these four states, eaoh of which has at various times resisted Moscow, there was no evtl.dence, in October 1961, or six months later, in April 1962, of any spark of resistance by Czechoslovakia to the general line of the U.S.S.R. in international affairs, or in bloc relations. On the contrary, Czechoslovakia had to he classified with East Germany, Rumania, and Bulgaria, in the category of the most loyal and subservient satellites. Neither was there any sign of a serious relaxation in domestic affairs, in the spirit of Khrushchev's de-Stalinization, such as has manifested itself in Poland and iHung,a ry, and even to some extent in Rumania and Bulgaria. In this respect, Czechoslovakia, O'Ilce regarded as an island of democracy in eastern Europe, had regretfully to be classified with Albania, East Germany, and Rumania, as a state tihat had hardly changed at all since the death of Stalin." III. After Tw~nty Years of the Czech and Communist Rule What kind of political regiim e Prague imposed on Slova'k we ca,n see best from recent conf<.IS5ions of Slovak communists themselves. 22 'Dhe Communist denunciations refer, of course, only to the ,period of so-called "personality cult" SLOVAKIA 87 when for "bourgeois nationalism" they were hanged or put in prison (Novomesky, Husak, Oka.Ii etc.). This .p eriod of "personality cult" was, however, not much different from the other iperiods of the communist rule in Slovakia for noncommunists. It was "monstrous and horrible" as N ovomesky wrote recently and "wiped out trust, confidence, understanding, yes, even loyalty in the life and conciousness of thousands and thousands of ipeople".23 The "inhuman methods" denounced by the Slov·a k Wviters Congress in April, 1963, were applied against non-communists during the whole 20 years a,nd that "terrible curse on· the life of the country", as N ovamesky called the period of ;the so-called cult, for wh!i~h there will be "an eternal stain on the good name of everyone of us," as confessed •M:na,cko, does not refer to only a few years of Prague's persecution by Communists in Slovakia.2-l Prague and the Communist Party systematically used their power "to sweeip away from the !history of Slovak cul.: ture an entire past", to quote Novomesky again from the very beginning of the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia. 25 Reviewing the twenty years of Czech and Communist rule in Slovakia.; the political ,p ersecution of no1'l.-communist; the anti-religious measures and the tpersecution of clergy and believers alike; we can accept the conclusion of the leading Slovak intellectuals in exile tlhat "the Slovak ,p eople were ,n ever before subject to such political and religious oppression ,and economic exiploitation, a,nd life was never as hard in Slovakia as during the past 20 years". 26 In spite of this situation, there w~s no revolution similar to that ·in Hrungary and we can understand this only if we take into account the following facts: 1) Slovakia has been under constant occupation by Czech armed forces; 2) The true leaders of Slovak people were either. hanged, imprisoned or exiled; 3) 85,000 Slovak citi:zens were put mto labor and con-: centration campus; 4) 20,000 Slovaks were deported to the Soviet Union; 5) over 100,000 · Slovaik citizens of German ancestry, going back to the middle ages, were expelled from 88 SLOVAKIA Slovakia; over 120,000 Slovak citizens of Hungiarian ancestry were e~patniated, and close to 600,000 Slovaks were transferred into those parts of Bohemia and !Moravia from whicih the Czechs expelled over 3 mil1ion Sudeten Germans. 27 There is haroly a family which did not suffer under the organized terror of !P rague except those few "ruparatchiky" who helped the Communist and Czech occupation a.nd were not accused of bourgeois .nationalism. Only by means of tJhe gallows and firing squads, concentration camps and organized terror were Prague and Moscow able to keep ,a n appearance of tranquility aind maintain their rule in Slova:kia, against whiClh over 30 Slov-ak conspiracies were discovered, according to the Communists themselves, in the first decade. This treatment of Slovakia could not, of course, influence the Slovaks for Czecho.:s1ovakia or Communism. On the contrary. "Even the slight concessions of 1956-1B58 were bound to leave the Slovaks unimpressed and could in no way detract from Slovtak bitterness toward the treatment to which they had 1b een exiposed ever since the K!SC leaders abandoned their calculative support of Slovak autonomism in 1946. Ample evidence of continued Slovak resentment (against Czechs) is provided by recurrent warnmgs, criticisms, aind extortations deli'Vered by ,Party leaders and the communist press, ,a s well as by reports from underground Souivces" as admitted by Prof. E. Ta:borsky, 211 and those Czech ,i ntellectuals in exile who soberly analyze the situation (Prof. B. Chudoba etc.) "The touchy problem of Czecho.iSlova:k relations," writes Taboralky-and the ",p oison of 1bomgeois nationalism" ha.Ne figured high on the agenda of all the Slovak Communist Party congresses and Central Committee meetings held since 1948. The evidence was provided by t'he Commll.lil'ist themselves. "We ,are sbill frequently faced with dangerous ex,pression of .bourgeois nationalism in the shaipe of populd.st separatism del:i.beraJtely implanted Ml!d maintained in Slovakia by the church hierarchy," complained Siroky at the Con• gress of the ,Slovak P,a rty in April 1955. One year later, Pravda used the solemn occasion of the !May First festi'Vities 1 SLOVAKIA 89 to deplore the "lack of confidence and the susp1c10n of fear" between the Czechs and the Slovaks and lay 1b lame on "the neglect of Leninist principles."28 According to bitter complaints made 'by the Slovak P ,a:r,ty',s Firat Seoretairy, Kar~l Ba!Cilek, at the session of the Central Committee in January 1958, "bourgeois nationalistic tendencies" have penetrated "various fields of our cultural, poliitical and scientific life; sports; the state apparatus; economic organs; and so on." They have infiltrated "the films, press, and radio" and "have recently appeared even in some ,commissioners' offices" and the Party itself. 30 Slovaks could not be gained for Czechoslovakia even by a sharp retrospective attack on "Czecho.!Slovak,i sm", the concept that the Slovaks and tihe Czechs were ethnically, linguiistieally and cUllturaHy one nation, which ia:Henated Slovaks to Mrusaryk's republic, and which Vaclav Kopecky, speaking on b'e half of the KSc's Czech hierarchy, called in 1958 "an imperialist conception of national oppression of the Slovaks". 31 "While such declaration might have flattered the Slov,a.,ks in 1945, they fell on deaf ears in 1958", writes Taborsky. Nor coUlld t:he commll!Ilist leaders de riive much comfort from the "improvement" in the Slovak class structure resulting from the communist .industrializatioo. and collectivization drive. The transfovmation of the 1p redominantly agraria.,n Slovakia of prewar days into a province where industrial output accounted for 70 percent of the iprovince's production by 1956, and over 80 percent of all aralble land was collectivi.zed 1by the end of 1959, did substantially increase the number of tih e industrial proletal'iat, who, together with the collective farmers, are supposed to be the backbone of the communi,s t system. But the communist hopes that these "two friendly <!lasses of workers and (collective) peasants" would rise in resolute defence of proletarian internationalism against the dire threat of "bourgeois natiionalis,m" have failed to ma teria:lize.32 On the contrary, Slovak Communist newspapers as well as speeches of the leading Czech communists comiplained time and again that t!here were conflicts among the Czech and Slovak workers and that even "some of the leading (Slo- 90 SLOVAKIA vak) personalities have . evinced a wrong and negative aittitude ,t owards the Czeohs." 33 We cannot but agree with the conclusion of Prof. E. Taborsky, who certainly has no sympathies for Slovak nationalism or for the Slovak aspirations for independence, when he writes that "aside from confiivmimg the obvfous fact that the communist fights ag,a inst Slovak nationalism had made no headway, aimong the Slovak peasaintry, these reports indicate that the communist industrial,1zation d~ive had backfired in am unexpected manner. By building up Slovakia's economic potential and bringing new industries to the province's backwoods areas, the regime has unwittingly prodded the Slovaks' pride and self-confidence, a'l'ld thus helped to underpin the same Slova:k nationalism it has been trying so hard to blot out. Having acquired the knowhow and the a:bility to run the system themselves, the Slovak-Communists and non-communists alike-resent being ordered around by their elder Czech brethern. " 34 To sum up, we might say with certainty that the exiled Slovak leadevs are right when they emphasize that "the Slovak ipeople did not renounce their rights to freedom and independence, ,b ecause there is no nation on earth which would prefer tyranny instead of freedom" and that "even if someone 'has a different view with regard to the Slovak republic ood her war-regime, there is no justification for enslaving Slovakia and for opposing the aspirations of the Slovak people to live free and independent according to their own traditions". (Appeal to the free World). FOOTNOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. See Document No. 23 in my book Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. p. 269. C. A. Macartney, October Fifteenth, Edinburg, 1956, p. 376. In 1940 Moscow advised the Slovak Communists "they should fight for a full sovereignty of the Slovak State" and "against the world imperialism and Benes", and tried to win on her side the Slovak Government even at a time when the Soviets had diplomatic relations with the Czechoslovak Government in exile, as we shall see further. Cf. Historicky casopis, XII, 3, Bratislava, 1964 Speech in the House of Commons on March 15, 1939. The former Minister for External Affairs, Dr. F. Durcansky, writes SLOVAKIA 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. in this regards as follows : "Inasmuch as the Slovak Republic was formed in peace time, and was recognized by many countries, it can legally cease to exist only through a treaty in which its liquidation is established. Until such time the Slovak Republic should be considered as a territory occupied by the Soviets and the Czechs. This is valid, especially as the Slovaks are not willing to give up their independence."-F. Durcansky, The International Aspects of the Slovak Question, New York, 1954, p. 26. "The Slovaks at home and abroad know," declared President Tiso, "that their legal representatives today are abroad and those at present act as rulers at home are only usurpers of power aided by the Bolsheviks." Aide-Memoire sur l'existence de la Repub lique slovaque et sur la necessite de conclure le traite de paix avec eUe, Paris, Comite d'Action slovaque, 1946. K. Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi druha nasa hlava. (Biography of Dr. J . Tiso,) Middletown, Pa., 1947 p. 281 and J . A. Mikul;, La Slovaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, p. 202. Dr. Joseph Pauco, (Ed.) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe. (Dr. Jozef Tiso Speaks of Himself,) and article by J . M. Kirschbaum in Slovakia, Vol. 7, March 1957. See Document No. 38 in my book Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe . p. 295. See Documents of the Department of State No. 50, 51, 52. in my book Slovakia, p. 318-320. Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series D, Vol. X, No. 205, Document No. 30. in my book Slovakia, p. 280. Charles Murin, "A Belated Report," in Slovakia, Vol 7, June 1957, p. 34. (Dr. Tiso's secretary, professor Charles Murin, who accompanied the President not only to Austria, but also to prison, and was definitely a man possessing the President's confidence, later testified to this respect: "There were two points around which revolved the thinking of Dr. Joseph Tiso in regards to the future of the Slovak people. First, it was the confidence in the United States as to the country of Washington, Lincoln, etc., and last, but not least, as to the country of the American Slovaks. In other words, the Slovaks had expected that the Government of the United States would not oppose the will of a na tion to freedom. •Secondly, Dr. Tiso ruled out in his thinking the possibility of creating a political vacuum in Europe after the war, because he knew that any political vacuum would be but an invitation to the Soviets who would not fail to intervene, if not opposed by a military force superior to their own." For details and an analysis, favorable to the present regime, see William Diamond, Czechoslovakia between East and West, London, 1947. For the Slovak point of view, see J . A. Mikul;. Op. cit., pp. 205-254, as well as the English translation Slovakia....A Political History, Marquette University-Press, 1964. An objective description of the religious situation in Slovakia after 1945 is to be found in several scholarly works : Prof. T. Zubek, The Church of Silence in Slovakia, published by Rev. J . J. Lach, 1 14. 15. 91 92 SLOVAKIA Whiting, Ind., Stefano Nahalka, La Slovacchia d'Oggi, Editrice Slovacca dei SS. Cirillo e Metodio, Roma, 1957, J . A. Mikus, Op. cit., and Dr. Joseph Pauco, Christian Slovakia, Valparaiso, Ind. 1959. 16. Special Report No. 8 of the Select Committee, House of Representatives, 83 Congress, Second Session, Washington, D.C., 1958. 17. For details See Wm. Diamond, Op. cit. and J. A. Mikus, SlovakiaA Political History. 18. See books by E. Taborsky, H. Ripka, y. Busek etc. 19. See Hugh Seton-Watson, Neither War nor Peace, p. 205. Ibidem. p. 205. See also K. Glaser, op. cit. and W. Jaksch, op. cit. 20. Op. cit. p. 205, See also K. Glaser, Op. cit. and W. Jaksch, Op. cit. 21. Ibidem, p. 32. 22. See H. Gordon Skilling, Communism National and International. chapter "Ferment among Czechs and Slovaks", pp. 113-130. 23. Ibidem, p. 114. 24. See the proceedings of the Slovak Writers Congress, published in Kulturny Zivot, April 27, and May 4, 1963. 25. "In Slovakia-as prof. Skilling confirms-the policy of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia (C.P.C.) after 1947 subordinated the Slovaks to increasingly centralist rule from Prague and trod underfoot the nationalist feelings even of Slovak communists" H. G. Skilling, op. cit. p. 88. 26. See Appeal of the Slovak Liberation Council to the World Opinion, March 1964 Munich 2, Germany, Signed by Dr. F. Durcansky and the writer. 27. See Kurt Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia-A Critical History, The Caxton Printers Limited Caldwell, Idaho, 1961 and Wenzel Jaksch, Europe's Road to Potsdam, New York, N. Y., 1963. 28. See Edward Taborsky, Communism in Czechoslovakia 1948-1960, Princeton, University Press, 1961, chapter Slovakia-the everdisgruntled stepdaughter. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. Pravda, May 1, 1956. Pravda, Jan. 10 and 11, 1958. See teskoslovensky prehled, V., 5. article by P. Berka. Ibidem. See also Bacilek's report at the Slovak Party Congress of April 1957, Prague News Letter 13, 10, May 11, 1957; teskoslovensky prehled III, 3 (1956), pp. 15If. Rocenka, 1960, p. 261. Pravda, March 30, 1958. English translation in East Europe, 7, 6, (1958), p. 37. Ceskoslovensky prehled, v, 2 (1958), pp. 12ff; also J . Safranek. op. cit.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Twenty Years of Czech and Communist Rule in Slovakia Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965 pp. 78-92 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/67406a640fb71c7f19f8eb1fdefe8c0e.pdf a2394ec21e2f99a13346f09b9ba36ddb PDF Text Text SLOV AKIA Pu-blished by the Slovak League of America VOL. XVI 1966 N O. 39 THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE AND ITS PLACE AM.ONG THE SLAVIC LANGUAGES J. M. Kirschbaum I. Introductory Note A review of symposia, surveys and handbooks,1 dealing with Slavs and their languages, indicates that there is a certain confusion as far as the language of the Slovaks and their literary media are concerned. The confusion seems to have been created, on one hand, by Slavists and literary historians who failed to draw a proper distinction between the native and spoken language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language. On the other hand, the misconceptions were intentionally spread by philologists and literary historians who were influenced by political views and aspirations, and some Slavists accepted them without the necessary caution required in scholarly works. As a result, we find in manuals and symposia on Slavic peoples or in works on philology and Slavic languages either the thesis that the Slovak language is merely a dialect of the Czech, or that Slovak became a literary language only at the beginning of the XIXth century. Some surveys speak even of a Czechoslovak language. Before analyzing these misconceptions, it may perhaps be stated that the claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the Czech language, was not based on facts of history or philology. It was a biased opinion of those who tried to give a scholarly basis to political aspirations denying to the Slovaks the right to their independent national and cultural life. And there lay also the origins of the erroneous thesis that Slovak began to be used as a literary language only from the second half of the nineteenth century. Slovak philologists and linguists (Bernolak, Safarik, Stur, Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Stanislav, Novak, Pauliny) �2 SLOVAKIA rejected, during the last two centuries, all these biased theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic forms of the Slovak tongue, and by scholarly methods and comparative study of Slavic languages determined the place of Slovak among Slavic languages. 2 Works of Slovak philologists, except for those of Safarik and partly Stur and Czambel, remained, however, for a long time ·e ither unknown to foreign Slavists, or were interpreted incorrectly. As a result, we find only recently in linguistic studies, published outside Slovakia, the proper distinction between the Slovak language and the literary media used by Slovaks, and a rejection of the thesis that Slovak has been but a dialect of the Czech language or that there is a Czechoslovak language. According to these studies, during long centuries, Slovak people spoke their own Slovak dialects, which developed from the primitive Slavic after its disintegration, into the modern Slovak language, but they used several literary media. It was first the Old Church Slavonic, in the 9th and 10th centuries, afterwards the Latin language, the Biblical Czech (used by the Protestant minority until the second half of the 19th century), the literary Slovak based on Slovak western dialects and finally the revised present form , based on central Slovak dialects.3 On the following pages, we shall attempt to p0int out and analyze the main misconceptions about the Slovak language and the literary media used in Slovakia and define the place of Slovak among Slavic languages in the light of recent linguistic research of European Slavists, including the Marxist philologists of Slavic countries.4 II. Views and conceptions of Slovak philologists In their scholarly studies of phonology, etymology, lexicology and grammar Slovak philologists and linguists maintained continuously the point of view that the Slovak language has been distinct from any other Slavic tongue. This was not so clear and evident to Slavists of the 19th century, according to Slovak philologists, because philology was in its infancy and used primitive methods.5 Recent research, how- �SLOVAKIA 3 ever, proves that Slovak language has been the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history, and the linguistic analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and a comparative study of their developments showed that Slovak language never was a part of the Czech or so-called "Czechoslovak" language.6 If we accept the theiiis, supported by Trubeckoj ,7 that in the ninth century the Old Slavonic &1:.ill was the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology, and that from the ninth century different dialects developed into distinct Slavic languages, it is to be assumed, according to Slovak philologists, that among them was also the Slovak tongue. There is no historical or philological reason why it should not be claimed that at the time of disintegration of the Old Slavonic and of the rise of new independent Slavic languages, Slovak was among them and that its development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language.8 This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory was annexed after the collapse of Great Moravia, by Hungary and, hence, the only contact the Slovaks had with Czechs was through Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovak dialect in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West, and to the p-resent time they have retained their own phonological structure. Consequently, the relation between the Czech and Slovak languages became a matter of controversy because of political aspirations of some Czech politicians and scholars and not because of philological reasons - is the view of Slovak philologists. In fact, as early as in the 16th century Vavrinec Benedikti z Nedozier (1555-1615), a learned Slovak philologist and professor at the Prague University exhorted his Slovak countrymen to cultivate their native tongue. He wrote his appeal in a grammar he composed for Czechs, which makes it clear that already for him there were two different languages. 9 From the sixteenth century on, there are numerous proofs that Slovak erudities, with the exception of a few protestants, considered Slovaks as one of the "tribes" of Slavic nation, but speaking their own "dialect" different from the Czech, Polish or Russian, using the word dialect for our term language. Slovak was used not only in homiletic �4 SLOVAKIA writings, but also in scholarly works and poetry, especially since the middle of the 17th century around the University of Trnava (founded 1635) and, at the end of the 18th century, Anton Bernolak only codified a language in use in his linguistic works Dissertatio, Gramatica slavica and his huge pentalingual Dictionary. 10 The well-known Slavist, P. J . Safarik, and initially also Jan Kollar, were aware of the fact that there had been a Slovak ~anguage and Slovak literature, different from the Czech or the other Slavic languages and literatures. Safarik gave testimony to it in his Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur in allen Mundarten (1826) , and when some Czech leaders reproached him and his scholarly objectivity, Safarik indignantly announced that he would go even farther in stressing the differences than he did in his book.11 Jan Kollar was also instrumental originally in preparing Sti'.lr's reform and later changed his mind and became an advocate of a common literary language with the Czechs (which he called "old Slovak" ) because of reasons which Slovak literary historians avoid to discuss. The great poet of Panslavism had also some human deficiencies like very high personal pride and terrible temper, and took it as an insult ,that Stur and his group dared to do something in Slovak cultural life without consulting him or without his patronage. 12 This "crimen lesae majestatis" moved Kollar to opose Stu.r's reform and the final acceotance of the Slovak literary language also by Slovak protest;nts. Safarik did not change his scholarly views which he expressed in his Geschichte, but being employed in Prague and financially supported by Czech patriots, he tried to convince his Slovak countrymen that they should not move too far from Czechs and suggested that the Czech should be adjusted to the Slovak linguistic phenomena and peculiarities. "The will of the Slovak groups to assert their own national individuality was, however, too strong", as admitted by Radl, 13 and Stu.r's reform was victorious over Kollar's protests and Safa:rik's advices, because it was in line with the linguistic facts and centuries' long Slovak national development. The reasons for a sporadic use of the Czech language for administrative and partly also for literary purposes (mainly by the Slovak Protestants) which some Czech philologists considered as a proof of national and linguistic unity of the �SLOVAKIA 5 Czechs and Slovaks, have been reconsidered by several "bourgeois" and "marxist" philologists and literary historians. There are at least three theories om the penetration of the Czech language into the Slovak territory. One theory refers to the continuation of relations between Slovaks and Moravians (who adopted the Czech language) from trhe time of Great Moravia, which relations survived the collapse of that state and developed between the Moravian cultural center Olomouc arnd Slovak religious centers. More acceptable and also more elaborated is the theory ascribing the use of the Czech language to the fact that Czech clerks were used at certain periods not only in the Slovak territory but also in Hungary and Poland in state and city-administration. 14 In Slovakia, the use of the Czech, adapted to local dialects, survived because of the Reformation which penetrated into Slovakia from Germany and Bohemia with Bible and religious books writteJ) in the old Czech, and because during the Counter-Reformation "many protestant Czechs found shelter in Slovakia and even printed books in Czech for the purpose of smuggling them into Bohemia" .15 Settled in Slovakia, the Czech refugees tried to keep all Slovak protestants linked to Bohemia by language also in secular writings. 16 Around 1840, it became, however, clear to the leaders of the Protestant minority in Slovakia that the Czech language was not intelligible to the common people, that their writings could not reach Slovak population and for reasons which U. Stur explained in his Narecia slovenskuo and other writings, they agreed with Catholics who used the Slovak for homiletic as well as for secular writings from the 16th century, on the reform taking for basis central Slovak dialects, and on the exclusive use of Slovak in Slovak literature. Stur's reform, by which the Slovak language was finally established as a literary medium of all Slovaks, has been accepted by the Slovak intelligentsia within a very short space of time, and it received its final linguistic , form in the grammar of a Catholic priest, Martin Hattala. Thus the peculiar situation of multilingualism in modern Slovak literature was changed. 17 During all these centuries, Slovak people spoke, as we mentioned before, their own Slovak dialects which developed from the Old Slavonic after its disintegration into modern Slovak language, which happened more or less at the same �6 SLOVAKIA time at which other central European peoples began to use vernacular for literary purposes. On the position of Slovak among Slavic languages, Slovak philologists expressed various opinions. 18 V. Jagic in his book Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache, wrote that "in Great Moravia people must have spoken in the ninth century a tongue which in its fundamentals was identical with the Slovak language of today". J . Dobrovsky admitted that certain linguistic phenomena linked Slovak with South Slavic languages and S. Czambel elaborated linguistically a theory to prove that the question as to whether Slovak is closer to Western Slavic or to the Southern Slavic group of languages deserves to be reconsidered by philologists. Stur viewed the position of the Slovak language as a central clearing house, mainly because he was conscious of many of its similiarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North and South, especially noting the South Slavic dialects with which Slovak came into intimate contact during long centuries. 19 Recent studies indicate that the Slovak language conserved many archaic forms and expr-essions common to all Slavs. Remaining for centuries only a spoken vernacular of the people, it was affected mainly by the influence of neighbouring Slavic peoples, and since it was codified in the era of the revival of Slavonic peoples, the Slovak cultural and political leaders saw to it that Slovak language might conserve its central position and Slavic purity. Kollar himself argued, and some Slavists of that time accepted his idea that the Slovak language "stands grammatically and geographically in the center of all Slav dialects" and the Tatra mountains are the "nest and cradle of all Slavs" which, of course, the modern science of history, archeology and ethnography challenges. However, U1.e central position of the Slovak language, geographically or linguistically, is accepted to a great extent even by modern philology. According to de Bray "the Slovaks have preserved a beautifully soft and musical language, which might well serve as a modern "Common Slav" or lingua franca among the Slavs today. For modern Slovak is the most comprehensible of the living Slavonic languages to all other Slavs. Just as the Slovaks occupy geographically a central position among the Slavs, so, too, their language, in its �SLOVAKIA 7 sounds and forms, is the nearest to an all-round compromise between the various Slavonic languages, having features which make it near both to East and South Slav, as well as to the other West Slav languages. 20 In fact, the Slovaks - either educated or common people - do not experience much difficulty in communicating in Slovak with Poles, Ukrainians, C:ziechs, Russians, or Slovenes and Croats, as has been proven even on the American Continent, since basically there ar,e no great differences among Slavic languages, and in the case of the Slovak language, history and geography made it close not only to Polish and Czech, but also to Ukrainian and South Slavic, Slovenian and Croat. 21 Slovak intellectuals of the nineteenth century read not only Polish or Czech poets and writers in original, but also Russian and Ukrainian, Croat and .Slovenian. Modern scientific and literary development drifts the twelve Slavic languages more apart. Nevertheless, even if we cannot agree with the nineteenth century poet that "with the Slovak language you may travel Earth's four corners", the fact remains that Slovaks are able to communicate in their own vernacular with the majority of the Slavic peoples. III. Views and conceptions of European Slavists As for European Slavists, including the present-day Czech philologists, some of their recent studies would indicate that they corrected many of the erroneous views they held on the relation between the Slovak and Czech and the origin of the Slovak literary language. It is evident that the modem techniques in linguistics and philology have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving modified conceptions that are far advanced beyond the hasty unwarranted conclusions of the amateur-philologists or linguists serving political aspirations. Noteworthy among the new conceptions are not only those which defend the distinct and ancient character of the Slovak among Slavic languages but also the views that the history of the Slovak literary language necessarily begins in the 9th century with the Old Church Slavonic as the first literary medium in Slovakia. This view has been held by Slovak literary historians .for a long time, but never was considered before by foreign �8 SLOVAKIA Slavists. Recently, howev,er, the well-known Polish philologist T. Lehr-Splawinski expressed the following view: "The beginnings of the literary language in Slovakia are connected with the period of activities of ConstantineCyril and Methodius in the Moravian state. As the whole of Slovakia was, without ,any doubt, a part of that state, and the important centers of its political and cultural life were situated on the Slovak territory, writings in the old ChurchSlavonian language must have undoubtedly developed among the Slovaks in the last quarter of the IXth century". 22 R. Auty, from the University of Cambridge, in his paper, presented to the VIIIth Congress of the International Federation of Modern Languages & Literatures at Liege, August 1960, corrected misconceptions on Bernolak and Stur and their reforms. Anton Bernolak codified in 1870 a language which was already in use, according to Auty, and "in the following fifty or sixty years a considerable number of literary and other works were published or written in this (Bernolak's) form of Slovak". 23 The Czech language was, according to Auty, "sporadicalin Slovakia (with certain local modification) for used ly administrative and, still more occasionally, literary purposes". The reasons for this sporadic usage of Czech for administrative and "mor,e occasionally" also for literary purposes, are explained by Auty in his statement that "since the Reformation the Czech had been the language of the Lutheran scriptures and Church Services in Slovakia". "Stur, Protestant though he was, acted against what he regarded as an unnatural linguistic situation which had been brought about by the hazards of history. His reaction was radical" - says Auty, and gives a detailed picture of the changes which were brought about in the Slovak language by the agreement of the Catholics and Protestants in order to end bilingualism in Slovak literature. Auty's views on the reform of the , Slovak literary language which took place in the 1840's are fairly in line with the historical truth and recent r-esearch. According to him "Catholic and Protestant Slovaks agreed to accept a new written form of their language for all purposes: this has been worked out by U. Stur in discussion with other Slovak intellectual leaders in the perfod 1842-44 and was somewhat modified by M. M. Hodza and M. Hattala in subsequent years". _,/ �SLOVAKIA 9 Stur "on more than one occasion praised the work of Bernolak, and above all, the poetry of Jan Holly and fully accepted one element of Bernolak's linguistic reform - the orthographical system" - continues Auty. The general pattern of the language, as fashioned by Stur, was in accordance with the needs of Slovak Society and has proven itself - and Stur's genius - by its survivor". 2 " R. G. A. de Bray, in his Guide to the Slavonic Languages, is equally close to the views of Slovak philologists and literary historians. "It is not true to say" - writes de Bray - "that Slovak was not written till the nineteenth century, as some assert. It is true that the modern literary language, as we know it today, was then first stabilized, but there are traces of the Slovak language in the local Latin documents from the elev,enth to the fifteenth centuries, Latin being the official language at the time". 25 On the relation between the Czech and Slovak de Bray expressed the following view: "While the phonetic system of Slovak is more conservative than that of Czech and so is nearer to that of Old Slavonic and other Slavonic languages, its morphological system has developed further than that of Czech, its nearest relative, mainly through the workiings of analogy and the generalization of certain standard endings, especially in the plural of nouns. Both the 1st and 2nd palatalization of gutturals occur less frequently in the declensions than they do in Czech, owing to the workings of analogy, as in Russian and Slov•enian. And in general Slovak morphology has fewer irregularities, exceptions, and archaic survivals, such as the declension of Kamen (- stone) in Czech. Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki in his paper Discrimination and Bias in Two Unesco Publications also raised his voice against treating Slovak and Czech "as one unit". "From the linguistic point of view" - says Prof. Smal-Stocki - "it js inadmissible to mix state units with existing languages and to treat "as one unit" Czech and Slovak, because the linguistic fact is that in existence are two separate units, Czech and Slovak". 26 The contributors to the Encyclopedia Britanica (1959, Vol. 20) published some correct and some incorrect views, �10 SLOVAKIA but they grasped the essential points of difference between the Czech and Slovak. 27 "The Czech, as spoken and written today in Bohemia, diverges considerably from Slovak - says the Encyclopedia. The disagreement is least marked in vocabulary but appears prominently in the phonetics; in particular the itacism so distinct a characteristic of Czech, is non-existent in Slovak, which has preserved the fuller diphthongs (ia, ie, iu etc.) of the Slavonic languages; a further small.er point is the dz, from Common Slav dj, is used (as in Polish) where Czech has z. In one point only is there a divergence which goes back beyond the time of the common ancestry of the two languages; Slovak has not developed the t, which is characteristic of Czech and in that language occurs since the beginning of its literature. The Slovak palatalization of n, d, t and 1 after e, which does not occur in modern literary Czech, is a further point of disagreement, although this would not be obvious from Slovak spelling which does not find it necessary to distinguish by diacritics; consonanrts are always softened in this position". The Encyclopedia also points out to the relation of Slovak with other Slavic languages. It says: "The dialectical development shows some characteristics identical with those in South Slavonic and Russian. Not everywhere, for example, have u and i been confused, and instead of the e, which is the normal result in Slovak as in Czech, we find in Eastern dialects an o from the u, thus agreeing with Russian. An agreement with South Slavonic is the occurrence of raz- and la- and lo-. Because of these and other phonetic and morphological reasons the grammarian Czambel, a keen opponent of the identity of Czech and Slovak, has asserted that Slovak should rightly be associated with South Slavonic". 28 It would appear from this brief survey that European Sl~vists are very close to the views of Slovak philologists and that misconceptions, which we still can find in American symposia, considered hereafter, are disappearing from European Slavic studies. Very close to the views of European Slavists is also the well-known Canadian Slavist Prof. W. Kirkconnell who already in 1939 stated: "It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the Slovaks are not Czechs, and that there is no such ciieature as a 'Czechoslovak'. While they speak closely related Slavic languages, Slovak is not �SLOVAKIA 11 a mere dialect of Czech. The differences are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German. I have on my shelves Miroslav Kalal's Slovak-Czech dictionary (published 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition." (d. Canada, Europe, and Hitler, p. 44) IV. Misconceptions in American symposia and surveys With the sudden development of Slavic Studies on the American continent came hand in hand a large number of symposia, handbooks and surveys on Slavic literatures and langutlges. They are, however, written predominantly by scholars and writers with European schooling and background and, therefore, it is more appropriate to speak, in this respe0t, rather of American symposia than of American Slavists. A survey of several such symposia indicates that there are misconceptions not only in the relation of the Slovak with the Czech, but also on the history of the Slovak literary language and the role of foreign languages in Slovak literature. In this respect, we read not without surprise that even the well-known Slavist, Roman Jakobson, helped to spread some erroneous views on the Slovak language. In his study Slavic Languages, he writes as follows: "Toward the middle of the same (i.e. the 19th) century, the Slovaks, who had used literary Czech (somewhat adapted to their own habits) inaugurated their own literary language based on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech". 29 Prof. A. Senn in Strakhovsky's Handbook of Slavic Studies, completed and modified Jakiobson's description of Slovak literary language. His classification of Slovak is correct, but we could hardly agree with certain parts of his definition. Prof. A. Senn says: "Slovak forms a connecting link with the South Slavic Slovenian and is more archaic than Czech. Otherwise differences between Czech and Slovak are not very great. Slovak became a literary language at the beginning of the nineteenth century . . . Slovak and Czech form one "Czechoslovak unit". �12 SLOVAKIA In the same symposium, another contributor, Otto Radl, admitted that "as early as 1635 in Trnava books were printed in different Slovak dialects", but he confusingly states further that it was only i,n 1844, in the period of Romanticism, that "the therefore common written language, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly-originated Slovak literary language". According to Radl "this movement had been begun at the end of the 18th century by the learned Slovak philologist Anton Bernolak who published several works in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefore use their own distinctive written language based on dialects spoken in Western Slovakia". 30 A similar version can be found in Prof. H. S. Thompson's book "Czechoslovakia in European History", who says that "a deliberate effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local dialect came from the Catholic camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernolak published a Gramatica slavica". However, he asserts further that "about the only followers Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his grammar and dictionary soon died out. The year 1834-1835 is usually given" - concludes Thompson - "as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although strictly speaking, Stur did not make his first formal declarartion until 1846". 31 In R. J. Kerner's symposium Czechoslovakia and in V. Busek-N. Spulber's Czechoslovakia under Communism, we find only slightly modified or re-worded versions of the views mentioned above. "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create with indifferent success a written Slovak dialect", we read in Kerner's symposium, and Busek-Spulber's symposium gives the following genesis of the Slovak literary language: " ... the first attempts were made (aside from earlier sporadic ventures) to establish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak (1762-1813) who selected the Western Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary medium: his suggestions, not elaborated linguistically, did not take permanent hold. "The decisive step towards the establishment of Slovak literary language was undertaken through the initiative of the Protestants. Ludovit St(ir selected the central Slovak dialect for the Slovak literary medium. Beginning in the �SLOVAKIA 13 1840's, several poets followed Stur and used the new literary language with great skill".32 It is perhaps not necessary to sum up all the mistaken assertions and impressions which we find in the symposia mentioned here. The foregoing views of European and Slovak philologists showed that Slovak was spoken by Slovak people from the dawn of their history and that it was in use for literary purposes from the 17th century, and Bernolak codified only a literary language used by the majority of Slovaks for more than 150 years. The function of the Czech language in Slovakia and the reasons for its sporadic use, besides Latin and Slovak, were also explained by Slovak as well as European Slavists. Responsibility for the lack of precision and mistaken views in American symposia might lay with the sources used by the contributors to these symposia. It would appear that they predominantly relied on old studies, which favoured the biased conceptions of linguistic, cultural -and political unity of Czechs and Slovaks, and which has been abandoned during the past two decades even by the Czech philologists, as we shall see from the survey of Czech and Slovak contemporary linguistic studies. Since all the symposia under review were edited or written by writers who specialized in Slavic studies, we might perhaps mention also at this point that academic precision would have required to say that before Stur's reform Slovaks used for literary purposes far more frequently Latin, on the Catholic side, and German, on the Protestant J.ide, than the Czech "somewhat adapted to their own hal>its". Bernolak codified Slovak language in Latin works, the first works on history of Slovakia were written by their Slovak authors also in Latin, and on the Protestant side Safarik wrote his first scholarly work in German, used Czech later only because he was forced to do it by unhappy circumstances, and Kollar also wrote in German his treatise on Slavic solidarity -Ober die Literarische Wechselseitigkeit zwischen den verschiedenen Stammen und Mundarten der slavischen Nation. Equally imprecise for a scholarly writer is to say that Stur's reform was based "on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech". Recent research proves that Stur relied on Bernolak in many respects and that the literary language, reformed by Stur, "was not based on the dialect of any single area, but represented a kind of 'koine' of the �14 SLOVAKIA central Slovak dialects, eschewing features from both the eastern and western dialects" - as R. Auty correctly says and new works on Slovak language confiirm. V. "Marxist" conceptions of literary Slovak and the origins of the Slovak language Slovak philology has been exposed, since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet political and cultural sphere, to the influence of Marxist criteria and method, and is gradually developing with considerable dependence on Soviet philology. There were strong attempts at the beginning to apply to Slovak philology "the theoretical directives given the Marxist philology by J. V. Stalin in his genial work Marxism and Problems of Linguistics"33 and later other Soviet examples were imitated. However, a considerable number of Slovak philologists adhered, in the first place, to scientific principles and methods and results of favourable development of Slovak philology are visible in two recent bibliographies, not only in the number of entries, but also in the number of fields covered. Scholarly research into the Slovak language is, of course, still the principal field of interest. The number of works, studies and articles referring to Slovak, its history and development during the period of 1939-1945 alone was over 1000 and amounts to 700 in Dvonc's Bibliography of Slovak philology which covers only the years 1948-1952. Many of these entries were written by highly qualified philologists of Slovak or foreign origin (J. Stanislav, L. Novak, E. Pauliny, V. Uhlar, A. Janosik, S. Peciar, J. Horecky, V. Blanar, E. Jona, Kniesza, Vazny, Kiraly, Stieber etc.) and they cover the history of literary languages in Slovakia, historical grammar, dialectology, ,etymology, phonology, orthography, vocabulary, etc. From the published works by the "marxist" philologists and literary historians it is obvious that the theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language and on the function of some fureign languages (Czech, Czechoslovak) in Slovak literature, which theses were intended to support the political theory of a single Czechoslovak nation, have been definitely buried. Particularly noteworthy in this regard is the work of the Czech University Profe~or A. Dostal, 34 and of the Slovak school, Prof. E. Pauliny's Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (History of Literary Slovak, Brati- �SLOVAKIA 15 slava, 1948), and A. Mraz's Dejiny slovenskej literatury (History of Slovak Literature, Bratislava, 1948), as well as the papers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. Professor A. Dostal, in his work "Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka" published in Prague in 1954, accepted not only the thesis that the Slovak is a distinct and ancient tongue, but he also condemned the traditional views of Czech philologists. "Slovak language whose development goes back to ancient times, was established as a literary language in connection with the formation of Slovaks into a nation", says Dostal. "Its establishment cannot at all be viewed as a separation from the literary Czech language, but as a long, slow development towards a literary language ... " Prof Dostal goes even further and says that the attempts to impose the Czech language upon Slovaks as literary medium must be considered "as a negation of centuries long development which in the 1840's was already a historical fact in Slovakia ... " 35 The paper of Prof. E. Pauliny on bilingualism in the history of the Slovak literary language, d_eserves particular attention. Pauliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in Slovakia in the XVth and the following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who did not apply "Marxist criteria" in philology, i.e. that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not stand competition with the Slovak vernacular when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness. Literary Slovak won in spite of the fact that the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, at that time tried to maintain it even in the XIXth century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majority (80%) over a century ago. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is, therefore, according to Pauliny, that of bilingualism. 36 In the introduction to his book Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Pauliny understands the history of the language as the history of the origin, disappearance and changes of its individual styles. However, in the book itself, he divided the history of the Slovak literary language according to the �HS SLOVAKIA languages which were used by the Slovaks as literary languages in addition to the spoken vernacular from the time of the Greater Moravia. He writes: "Although, in this case, the period of the actual Slovak literary language can begin only with Bernolak, or with the period shortly before Bernolak, nevertheless, it is not possible to begin the history of the literary languages of the Slovaks either with Bernolak or Stur, but it is necessary to go deep into the past, all the way to the very beginnings of the historical period of our nation in the Greater Moravian epoch, nay, in certain matters, it is necessary to go even further, into the prehistoric period, when our ancestors were not yet baptized and did not participate in the Eul'opean culture which was introduced to us by Chl'istianity". In his contribution to a volume O vzajomnych vzt'ahoch Cechov a Slovakov, published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states that "Bernolak codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Catholic and Protestant writings". 37 Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some Slavists as the beginning of the Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school". 38 In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history of Slovakia, Anton Bernolak reformed and codified the Slovak literary language and its orthography. 39 Mraz regards the activity which Ol'iginated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollosi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholici", says Mraz, "laid the foundation on which the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an independent Slovak literary language. Crystallization of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (16351777), progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his followers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea �SLOVAKIA 17 of an independent literary language, they merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period". 40 Scholarly basis to this conception of the development of the Slovak literary language was given by several philologists of today's Slovakia, among whom noteworthy is in the first place Prof. Jan Stanislav with his two volumes on the history of the Slovak language (Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka) and philological studies of J6na, Uhlar, Ruzicka, Peciar etc. 41 By a careful analysis of the fundamental roots of both languages, Czech and Slovak, as well as through the comparative study of their later developments, they revealed the true basis of the Slovak language and have classified it properly as one of the distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearance of the Old Slavonic language. As a result of this development the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a relation between two Slavic but distinct languages. The Czech poetry and prose are translated into the Slovak and vice versa as the Polish or Russian have been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long time ago, and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and philologists to recognize their victory. A century-long debate, as to whether Slovak is a dialect of the Czech language or a distinct Slavonic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia. NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY See the following symposia: R. J . Kerner, Czechoslovakia, (Berkeley, Calif., University of California Press, 1949), and L. I. Strakhovsky, ed. Handbook of Slavic Studies ( Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1949) the article by 0 . Rad!. The chapter on the Slavic languages by A. Senn in the same symposium is in accordance with recent research. Slavonic Encyclopedia, chapter by J. S. Roucek (New York, 1949) in the same category as Kerner's symposium. 2. See Eugen Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (Bratislava, Slovenska Akademia vied a umeni, 1948) . 3. Cf. A. Mraz, Die Literatur der Slovaken (Wien, 1943). 1. �18 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21 . SLOVAKIA Cf. Prof. A. Dostal, Ncistin dejin ceskeho a siovenskeho jazyka (Prague, 1954), pp. 200-206. Cf. J. M. Kirschbaum, "Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philoiogy", Etudes siaves et Est Europeennes, IV, (1959-60 ), pp. 163-174. Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., and Jan Stanislav, Dejiny siovenskeho jazyka (Bratislava, 1957), p. 326, also H. Bartek, siovensky pravopis, (Whiting, Ind., 1956). N. S. Toubetzkoy, Grundzuge der Phonofogie, (Prague, 1939), pp. 117, 136, 141. J. Dobrovsky and P. J. Safarik have traced the linguistic line which separated the Czech and Slovak dialects around the Moravia. Cf. J. Skultety, Sketches from siovak History, (Middetown, Pa., 1936) and his Stodvadsat'piit' rokov zo siovenskeho zivota, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1920. Cf. E. Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej siovenciny, p. 41. Benedicti Grammaticae Bohemicae iibri due, (Prague, 1603) p. VI, has written: "Neque tamen ego hie eos ad Bohemicam linguam cogo, sed ad exercitationem et culturam ipsorum idiomatis invito: praesertim cum non tantum in civitatibus et oppidis, sed etiam in pagis scholis abundent". Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., pp. 57 and 113, and A. Mraz, Dejiny siovenskej Hteratury, p. 108. See, J. Skultety, op. cit., p. 23, and Jaroslav Vlcek, Medzi Vcihom a Vitavou, (Bratislava 1957), pp. 228-234. J. Skultety, op. cit., pp. 20-30. L. I. Strakhovsky, op. cit., pp. 494-495. E. Pauliny, op. cit., pp. 30-36. 0. Radl, in L. I. Strakhovsky's Handbook of siavic Studies, p. 491. Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., p. 36-37 and 53. Pauliny is of the opinion that the occupation of Hungary by Turks (1526) helped the penetration of the Czech language, since there was a sort of common border between Slovakia and Moravia in the Habsburg Monarchy. E. Pauliny, op. cit., p. 17; A. Mraz, op. cit., pp. 12-16, and Jan Stanislav, op. cit. p. 12. J. Dobrovsky in 1875 wrote that Slovak is close to the Croat and Slovene languages in several respects. Zd. Stieber considers certain characteristics of the Slovak language as southern Slavic elements (juhoslavismy) . Cf. Jan Stanislav, Dejiny siovenskeho jazyka, p. 387. V. Jagic, Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchensiawischen Sprache (Wien, 1900), p. 19; E. Pauliny, 0 vzcijomnych vzt'ahoch cechov a Slovcikov (Bratislava, 1956), p. 101., and David Diringer, Cambridge Univ., England, article in The Encydopedia Americana, Can. Edition, 1963, p. 379-380. S. Czambel, siovenskci rec a jej miesto v rodine siovanskych jazykov, (Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1906), pp. 320, and J. M. Kirschbaum, I!udovit stur and His Piace in the siavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Cleveland, Ohio, 1956. A. Senn "Slavic Linguistics", in Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L. I. Strakhovsky, p. 116-139, and R. G. A. de Bray, Guide To The siavonic Languages (London & New York, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1951), p. 513. J . M. Kirschbaum, "A Note on Two Modern Slovak Translators �SLOVAKIA 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 19 of Mickiewicz" in Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, edited by W. Lednicki, (Berkeley & Los Angeles, Calif. University of Calif. Press, 1956) , p. 487-493. T. Lehr-Splawinski, Preglad i charakterystyka jezykow slowianskich (Warszawa, 1954,) p. 71. Robert Auty, "Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak", The Slav onic and East European Review, XXXIX, (1961), p . 331-356. Ibidem, pp. 342-346. R. G. A. de Bray, op. cit., pp. 513-515. Roman Smal-Stocki, Discrimination and Bias in Two UNESCO Publications, (New York, Shevchenko Scientific Society, 1961), p. 3. T. Lehr-Splawinski, op. cit. p. 71. Ibid. p. 800. Roman Jakobson, Slavic Languages (New York, Columbia University Press, 1949) , p. 10. L. I. Strakhovsky, op. cit. p. 491. See S. H . Thomson, Czechoslovakia in European History, (Prince: ton, University Press, 1943) , p. 242-258. V. Busek-Spulber, Czechoslov akia under Communism (New York Mid-European Study Center, 1957) , 193-197. See J. M. Kirschbaum "Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology", Etudes Slaves et Est-Europeennes, vol. IV, (1960), pp. 163-174. A. Dostal, Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenske ho jazyka (Prague, 1954), pp. 200-201. See also "Die Tschechoslowakische Sprachenwissenschaft in den Jahren 1933 bis 1944" - Zeitschrift fur Slavische Philologie, Band XXIX, XXX, XXXI, Heidelberg, 196263. See esp. Vol. XXX, 1. p. 164-180. A. Dostal, op. cit., pp. 200-201. E. Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (Bratislava, 1948) , p. 46-108. Symposium O vzajomnych vzt'ahoch techov a Slovakov, (Bratislava, Slovenska Akademia Vied, 1956) . teskoslovenske pfednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni zjezd slavistu v Moskve, ed. Ceskoslovensky komitet slavistu, (Praha, 1958). A. Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, (Bratislava, 1948) . Ibid. p. 101-118. See Bibliography. BIBLIOGRAPHY of selected works in English, French, German and Italian on Slovak Language and Literature Auty, Robert, The Evolution of Literary Slovak, Cambridge, 1953. Reprint from Transactions of the Philological Society, p. 143-160. Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak (Paper presented to the VIIIth Congress of the International Federation of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1960), published in The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 1961. �20 SLOVAKIA Bernolak, Anton, Slowakische Grammatik, Aus dem Lateinischen ins Deutsche iibersetzt, gedr. mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriften, Offen, 1817. Bokes, F., Literarische Vbersicht des geschichtlichen Schaffens in der Slowakei, Leipziger Vierteljahrschrift fiir Siidosteuropa 4, Leipzig, 1940. Bray de, R. G. A., Guide To The Slavonic Languages (London & New York, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1951) , p. 513. Cizevsky, Dmitry, Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, Mass., 1952. On Romanticism in Slavic Literatures, Gravenhage, Monton & Co., 1957. Aus Zwei Welten, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Slawisch-westlichen literarischen Beziehungen, 1956. Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral, in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Berkeley, 1956. A Bibliography of the Publications of Dr. Dmitry Cizevsky in the Fields of Literatiire, Language, Philosophy and Culture, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. Denis, Ernest, La question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917, Librairie Delagrave. One of the best books on Slovaks before the end of the First World War. His views on Bernolak, Stur, etc. are slightly distorted by the idea of the national and cultural unity of Czechs and Slovaks. Dixon, Charlton, Slovak Grammar for English speaking Students, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1935. Harkins, W. E. - Simoncic, K., Czech and Slovak Literature, Oxford, King's Crown Press, 1951. Fischel, Alfred, Panslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart und Berlin, 1919. One of the best documented works on Panslavism in the German language. Giusti, Walgango, Il Panslavismo, Milano, 1941, Instituto per gli studi di politica internazionale. Rather political than scholarly review of the idea of Panslavism among Slavic peoples. Gross, Felix (ed.), European Ideologies, New York, 1948, Philosophical Library, W. Lednicki's chapter on Panslavism. Scholarly written treatise from the Polish point of view. Hrobak, Philip A., Slovak Lessons, Lakewood, Ohio, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1935. The Slovak Language, Book I - II. Middletown, Pa. , Jednota, 1935-1936. Hrusovsky, F., Geschichte der Slowakei, Bratislava, 1942. This is Slovakia, Scranton, Pa., 1953. Jakobson, Roman, Sur l'histoire et sur les relations mutuelles du tcheque et du slovaque. Le Monde slave, XIV., 1937, 353-366. Slavic Languages, Columbia University Press, 1949. Kirschbaum, J . M., Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Speller & Sons, 1960. Slovak Literature under the Soviet Impact, The Slavic and EastEuropean Studies, Montreal, 1956, Part 1, p. 45-54. nudovit Stur and His Place in Slavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg-Cleveland, 1956. Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, An Offprint from �SLOVAKIA 21 Slavic and East-European Studies, Vol. IV, No. 3-4, Montreal, 1960. Pavel Jozef Safarik and His Contribution to Slavic Studies, The Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, 1962, Slavistica No. 43, p. 51. A Note on Two Slovak Translators of Mickiewicz in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Berkeley, 1956. Anton Bernolak - The First Codifier of the Slovak Language, Slavistica No. 52, Cleveland - Winnipeg, 1964. Slovak Literary History in Marxist and Western Interpretations. A reprint from Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. VI, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1964. The Role of the Cyrilo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak National and Political Life. An offprint from Slovak Studies III, Rome, 1963. La litterature de la periode cyrillo-methodienne et la slovaquie. An offprint from Slovak Studies III, Rome, 1963. La place du slovaque parmi les langues slaves. An offprint from Etudes slaves et est-europeennes, Vol. VIII. Fasc. 3-4, Universite de Montreal, 1963. Jan Kollar - Slovak Poet of Pan-Slavism, Slavistica No. 56, The Slovak Institute, Cleveland-Toronto-Winnipeg, 1966. Kohn, Hans, Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology, University of Notre Dame Press, 1953. One of the most objective books on Pan-Slavism. Konus, Joseph, Practical Slovak Grammar. A textbook for high schools, colleges and adult private students, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1939. New English-Slovak Dictionary, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1941. Kniezsa, Stefan, Zur Geschichte der Jugoslavismen im Mittelslowakischen, Budapest, 1948, tire a part des Etudes slaves et roumaines, Vol. 1, Fasc. 3. Kramoris, Ivan J., An Anthology of Slovak Poetry, Scranton, 1947. A selection of lyric and narrative poems including some members of Stur's group. Slovakia and Slovak Literature. Reprinted from the Catholic Encyclopedia, New York, 1950. A Chronological Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, N. J., 1946 Krcmery, Stefan, A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, Offprint from The Slavonic Review, Vol. VII, No. 19, 1928-1929. Lednicki, Waclaw (ed.), Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, University of California Press, 1956. Articles by D. Cizevsky and J. M. Kirschbaum. Leger, Louis, Le panslavisme et l'interet francais, Paris, 1917, Ernest Flammarion. Relatively objective study of pan-slavism and Slovak contribution. French point of view. Locher, T. J., Die nationale Differenzierung und Integrierung der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848, Harlem, 1931. Macartney, C. A ., Hungary and Her Successors, London-New York- Toronto, 1937. Manning, Clarence A. (ed.), An Anthology of Czech and Slovak Poetry, New York, 1929, Columbia University Press. Contains translations by Prof. Kirkconnell, Kramoris, Gallik, Manning, Slabey, Kotouc, etc. �22 SLOVAKIA Meriggi, Bruno, Storia deUe letterature ceca e slovacca. University of Florence, 1959. Mikus, J . A., La Slovaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, Paris, Les Iles d'Or, 1955. La Slovaquie, Individualite politique de l'Europe Centrale, Paris, 1952. Mraz, Andreas, Die Literatur der Slowaken, Wien-Stuttgart, 1943. A History of Slovak literature by a contemporary scholar and professor at the University of Bratislava. The work was completed and edited in the Slovak language in 1948 by The Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts and presents one of the best works on the history of Slovak literature. Pastrnek, Fr., Beitriige zur Lautlehre der Slowakischen Sprache in Ungarn (Aus dem Sitzungsberichten der philos.-hist. Klasse der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften), Wien, 1888. Petrovich, Michael B., The Emergence of Russian Panslavism, Columbia University Press, 1956. Rekem, John, The Origin and Dei;elopment of the Slovak Language, an offprint from Slovakia, Vol. XII, No. 35, Middletown, Pa., 1962. Slovak Literature and National Consciousness Before Bernolak, Cleveland, 1965. Seton-Watson, R. H. , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, London, 1943. Scholarly written history by one of the best defenders of the Slovak people at the beginning of this century (see his Racial Problems in Austria-Hungary) who turned against the Slovak movement for autonomy and independence being influenced by his Czech friends. Scotus, Viator, Racial Problems in Hungary, London, 1908. Slovak Studies I, Historica 1, Slovak Institute, Rome, 1961. Safarik, J . P., Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nach allen Mundarten. Mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriften, Offen, 1826. Skultety, Joseph, Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, Jednota Press. Translation from Slovak by 0 . D. Koreff. Skultety was professor at the University of Bratislava and one of the most outstanding figures in the Slovak cultural life in the first half of the century. Stefanek, Anton, Zur Soziographie der geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Bratislava, 1944. Strakhovsky, L. I. (ed.), A Handbook of Slavic Studies, Harvard University Press, 1949, chapters by A. Senn and Otto Radl. Both articles reflect recent research, though Radl's contribution is strongly pro-Czech. Vajda, Jaroslav, Bloody Sonets, transl. from Hviezdoslav, P. 0., Scranton, Pa., 1950. Viktorin, J. K. Gramatik der Slowakischen Sprache. Zurn Schul-und Selbstunterricht, Budapest, 1862. Tourtzer, H. Louis Stur et l'idee de !'independence slovaque, Cahoss et Alencon, Paris, 1913. Trubetzkoy, N. S., Grundzilge der Phonologie, Prag, 1939. (on Slovak language p. 117-118, 136, 141, 143, 161, 167, 170, 175, 208, 245.) Yourchak, Peter P., The Slovaks, Whiting, Ind., 1947, Lach editions, �SLOVAKIA 23 chapters from Slovak history and literature destined for Americans of Slovak origin. BIBLIOGRAPHY in Slavic Languages Bartek, Heinrich, Anton Bernolak, Trnava, 1937. £udovit Stur a slovencina, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943. Krest'anstvo a slovencina, in the Symposium Nadej vit'azna, Scranton, Pa., 1947. Slovensky pravopis s gramatickymi pouckami a slovnikom, Whiting, Ind., Lach Publications, 1956. Spravna vyslovnost' slovenska, Bratislava, 1943. Blanar, Vincent, Bibliografia jazykovedy na Slovensku v rokoch 19391947. Slovenska akademia vied a umeni. Bratislava, 1950. Bobek, W., Prehl'adne dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1939. Mickiewicz v literaturze slowackiej, Praha, 1931. Dzieje literatury slowackiej w zarysie. An offprint from Slowacja i Slowacy, Edit. W. Semkowicz, Krakow, 1938. Czambel, Samo, Prispevky k dejinam jazyka slovenskeho, Budapest, 1887. Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych jazykov, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1906. Slovensky pravopis. Historicko-kriticky nakres. Budapest', 1890. Dvonc, Ladislav, Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy za roky 1948- 1952. Matica slovenska, Martin, 1957. Gajdos, V. J. Slovenske glosy v latinskom missali za XVI. storocia, Historica slovacca I-II, Bratislava, 1940-1941, 221-243. Grabowski, T. S., Dwaja Slowaccy pionerzy oswiecenia i postepu, Bernolak i Fandly, 1951. Hattala, Martin, Kratka mluvnica slovenska, Bratislava, 1852. Gramatica linguae slovenicae, Schemnicii, 1850. Hodza, Michal M., Vetin o slovencine, Levoca, 1848. Isacenko, A. V. Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej risi, Jazykovedny sbornik I-II, 1947, 137-178. Jagic, I. V., Istorija slavianskoj filologii, S. Petersburg, 1910. Jankovic, V. "Prvy preklad slovensky celeho Pisma svateho", Verbum I, Bratislava, 1946-1947. Kondrasov, N. A., Kategorija licnosti i nelicnosti v slovackom jazyku, MGU, 1949. Programma po istoriji slovackogo jazyka. Programma po sovremennom slovackom jazyku, Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo universiteta, 1951. Slavianskaja filologia, Stati i monografiji, Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo univerziteta, 1951. Kotvan, Imrich, "Jozef Ignac Bajza a slovenska rec", Linguistica slovaca III, Bratislava, 1941. Juraj Fandly, Trnava, 1946. "Juraj Fandly a slovensky jazyk", Linguistica slovaca I-II, Bratislava, 1939. Bernolakovci, Trnava, 1948. Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Matica slovenska, Martin, 1957. �24 SLOVAKIA Magiera, J., Literatura czeska i slowacka, Obraz pismiennictwa, Warszawa, 1929. Magnuszewski, J., Mickiewicz wsr6d Slowakow. Wroclaw, 1956. Misianik, Jan, Dejiny starsej slovenskej literatury, SAV, Bratislava, 1958. Stran 320. Mraz, Andrej, Gavlovicova skola krest'anskci. Brati!lava, 1940. Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1948. Novak, l;udovit, Cestina na Slovensku a vznik spisovnej slovenciny. Odtlacok zo Slovenskych pohl'adov LIV, 1938. Jazykovedne glosy k ceskoslovenskej otcizke, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1935. ~udovit Stur ako jazykovedec, Slovenske pohl'ady III, 1936. Pastrnek, Fr., Starci jazykovci pamcitka slovenskci, Sbornik filologicky VII, 1922. Pauliny, Eugen, Na okraj kamaldulskeho Pisma, Verbum I, 1946-1947. Glosy k pomeru: bernolcictina a sturovcina, Kultura XIV, 1942. Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1948. Pisut, Milan, Literatura ncirodneho obrodenia, SAV, Bratislava, 1960, p. 490. Slovensky litercirny romantizmus, C-sl. prednasky pro medzinarodni sjezd slavistu v Moskve. Semkowicz, W., Slowacia i Slovacy, Krakow, 1937. Skultety, Jozef, Stodvadsat'piit' rokov zo slovenskeho zivota 1790-1914, Martin, 1920. 0 Slovcikoch, Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1936. Sobolevskij, A. I., Cerkovno-slavianskije texty moravskogo proischozdenija, Ruskij filologiceskij vestnik, 1900. Stanislav Jan, K jazykovednemu dielu A. Bernolcika, Bratislava, 1941. Pribinovi velmozi, Linguistica slovaca I-II, 1939-1940. "Spisovny jazyk slovensky", Symposium Slovanske jazy ky v dobe pfitomne, Praha, 1937. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka I-II, Slovenska akademia vied, Bratislava, 1958. Stiebr, Zdislaw, Zarys dialektologii jezykow zachodnio-slowianskich. Warszawa, 1956. Stur, l;udovit, Nauka reci slovenskej, Bratislava, 1846. Ncirecia slovenskuo, Bratislava, 1844. Tibensky, Jan, J. Papanek • J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej ncirodnosti v XVIII. storoci. Osveta, Martin, 1958. "K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia". Historicky casopis, VII., 4, 1959. "Vznik, vyvoj a vyznam vel'komoravskej tradicie v slovenskom narodnom obrodeni. Sbornik O vzcijomnych vzt'ahoch Cechov a Slovcikov, SAV., 1956. Varsik, Branislav, Slovcici na prazskej univerzite do konca stredoveku, Bratislava, 1926. Vilikovsky, Jan, Cantus Catholici, Bratislava, 1935. Vlcek, Jaroslav, Dejiny literatury slovenskej, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923. Weingart, Milos, 0 najstarsich jazykovych pamcitkach slovenskych, CMF., Prague 1935. � SLOV AKIA Pu-blished by the Slovak League of America VOL. XVI 1966 N O. 39 THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE AND ITS PLACE AM.ONG THE SLAVIC LANGUAGES J. M. Kirschbaum I. Introductory Note A review of symposia, surveys and handbooks,1 dealing with Slavs and their languages, indicates that there is a certain confusion as far as the language of the Slovaks and their literary media are concerned. The confusion seems to have been created, on one hand, by Slavists and literary historians who failed to draw a proper distinction between the native and spoken language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language. On the other hand, the misconceptions were intentionally spread by philologists and literary historians who were influenced by political views and aspirations, and some Slavists accepted them without the necessary caution required in scholarly works. As a result, we find in manuals and symposia on Slavic peoples or in works on philology and Slavic languages either the thesis that the Slovak language is merely a dialect of the Czech, or that Slovak became a literary language only at the beginning of the XIXth century. Some surveys speak even of a Czechoslovak language. Before analyzing these misconceptions, it may perhaps be stated that the claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the Czech language, was not based on facts of history or philology. It was a biased opinion of those who tried to give a scholarly basis to political aspirations denying to the Slovaks the right to their independent national and cultural life. And there lay also the origins of the erroneous thesis that Slovak began to be used as a literary language only from the second half of the nineteenth century. Slovak philologists and linguists (Bernolak, Safarik, Stur, Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Stanislav, Novak, Pauliny) �2 SLOVAKIA rejected, during the last two centuries, all these biased theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic forms of the Slovak tongue, and by scholarly methods and comparative study of Slavic languages determined the place of Slovak among Slavic languages. 2 Works of Slovak philologists, except for those of Safarik and partly Stur and Czambel, remained, however, for a long time ·e ither unknown to foreign Slavists, or were interpreted incorrectly. As a result, we find only recently in linguistic studies, published outside Slovakia, the proper distinction between the Slovak language and the literary media used by Slovaks, and a rejection of the thesis that Slovak has been but a dialect of the Czech language or that there is a Czechoslovak language. According to these studies, during long centuries, Slovak people spoke their own Slovak dialects, which developed from the primitive Slavic after its disintegration, into the modern Slovak language, but they used several literary media. It was first the Old Church Slavonic, in the 9th and 10th centuries, afterwards the Latin language, the Biblical Czech (used by the Protestant minority until the second half of the 19th century), the literary Slovak based on Slovak western dialects and finally the revised present form , based on central Slovak dialects.3 On the following pages, we shall attempt to p0int out and analyze the main misconceptions about the Slovak language and the literary media used in Slovakia and define the place of Slovak among Slavic languages in the light of recent linguistic research of European Slavists, including the Marxist philologists of Slavic countries.4 II. Views and conceptions of Slovak philologists In their scholarly studies of phonology, etymology, lexicology and grammar Slovak philologists and linguists maintained continuously the point of view that the Slovak language has been distinct from any other Slavic tongue. This was not so clear and evident to Slavists of the 19th century, according to Slovak philologists, because philology was in its infancy and used primitive methods.5 Recent research, how- �SLOVAKIA 3 ever, proves that Slovak language has been the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history, and the linguistic analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and a comparative study of their developments showed that Slovak language never was a part of the Czech or so-called "Czechoslovak" language.6 If we accept the theiiis, supported by Trubeckoj ,7 that in the ninth century the Old Slavonic &1:.ill was the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology, and that from the ninth century different dialects developed into distinct Slavic languages, it is to be assumed, according to Slovak philologists, that among them was also the Slovak tongue. There is no historical or philological reason why it should not be claimed that at the time of disintegration of the Old Slavonic and of the rise of new independent Slavic languages, Slovak was among them and that its development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language.8 This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory was annexed after the collapse of Great Moravia, by Hungary and, hence, the only contact the Slovaks had with Czechs was through Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovak dialect in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West, and to the p-resent time they have retained their own phonological structure. Consequently, the relation between the Czech and Slovak languages became a matter of controversy because of political aspirations of some Czech politicians and scholars and not because of philological reasons - is the view of Slovak philologists. In fact, as early as in the 16th century Vavrinec Benedikti z Nedozier (1555-1615), a learned Slovak philologist and professor at the Prague University exhorted his Slovak countrymen to cultivate their native tongue. He wrote his appeal in a grammar he composed for Czechs, which makes it clear that already for him there were two different languages. 9 From the sixteenth century on, there are numerous proofs that Slovak erudities, with the exception of a few protestants, considered Slovaks as one of the "tribes" of Slavic nation, but speaking their own "dialect" different from the Czech, Polish or Russian, using the word dialect for our term language. Slovak was used not only in homiletic �4 SLOVAKIA writings, but also in scholarly works and poetry, especially since the middle of the 17th century around the University of Trnava (founded 1635) and, at the end of the 18th century, Anton Bernolak only codified a language in use in his linguistic works Dissertatio, Gramatica slavica and his huge pentalingual Dictionary. 10 The well-known Slavist, P. J . Safarik, and initially also Jan Kollar, were aware of the fact that there had been a Slovak ~anguage and Slovak literature, different from the Czech or the other Slavic languages and literatures. Safarik gave testimony to it in his Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur in allen Mundarten (1826) , and when some Czech leaders reproached him and his scholarly objectivity, Safarik indignantly announced that he would go even farther in stressing the differences than he did in his book.11 Jan Kollar was also instrumental originally in preparing Sti'.lr's reform and later changed his mind and became an advocate of a common literary language with the Czechs (which he called "old Slovak" ) because of reasons which Slovak literary historians avoid to discuss. The great poet of Panslavism had also some human deficiencies like very high personal pride and terrible temper, and took it as an insult ,that Stur and his group dared to do something in Slovak cultural life without consulting him or without his patronage. 12 This "crimen lesae majestatis" moved Kollar to opose Stu.r's reform and the final acceotance of the Slovak literary language also by Slovak protest;nts. Safarik did not change his scholarly views which he expressed in his Geschichte, but being employed in Prague and financially supported by Czech patriots, he tried to convince his Slovak countrymen that they should not move too far from Czechs and suggested that the Czech should be adjusted to the Slovak linguistic phenomena and peculiarities. "The will of the Slovak groups to assert their own national individuality was, however, too strong", as admitted by Radl, 13 and Stu.r's reform was victorious over Kollar's protests and Safa:rik's advices, because it was in line with the linguistic facts and centuries' long Slovak national development. The reasons for a sporadic use of the Czech language for administrative and partly also for literary purposes (mainly by the Slovak Protestants) which some Czech philologists considered as a proof of national and linguistic unity of the �SLOVAKIA 5 Czechs and Slovaks, have been reconsidered by several "bourgeois" and "marxist" philologists and literary historians. There are at least three theories om the penetration of the Czech language into the Slovak territory. One theory refers to the continuation of relations between Slovaks and Moravians (who adopted the Czech language) from trhe time of Great Moravia, which relations survived the collapse of that state and developed between the Moravian cultural center Olomouc arnd Slovak religious centers. More acceptable and also more elaborated is the theory ascribing the use of the Czech language to the fact that Czech clerks were used at certain periods not only in the Slovak territory but also in Hungary and Poland in state and city-administration. 14 In Slovakia, the use of the Czech, adapted to local dialects, survived because of the Reformation which penetrated into Slovakia from Germany and Bohemia with Bible and religious books writteJ) in the old Czech, and because during the Counter-Reformation "many protestant Czechs found shelter in Slovakia and even printed books in Czech for the purpose of smuggling them into Bohemia" .15 Settled in Slovakia, the Czech refugees tried to keep all Slovak protestants linked to Bohemia by language also in secular writings. 16 Around 1840, it became, however, clear to the leaders of the Protestant minority in Slovakia that the Czech language was not intelligible to the common people, that their writings could not reach Slovak population and for reasons which U. Stur explained in his Narecia slovenskuo and other writings, they agreed with Catholics who used the Slovak for homiletic as well as for secular writings from the 16th century, on the reform taking for basis central Slovak dialects, and on the exclusive use of Slovak in Slovak literature. Stur's reform, by which the Slovak language was finally established as a literary medium of all Slovaks, has been accepted by the Slovak intelligentsia within a very short space of time, and it received its final linguistic , form in the grammar of a Catholic priest, Martin Hattala. Thus the peculiar situation of multilingualism in modern Slovak literature was changed. 17 During all these centuries, Slovak people spoke, as we mentioned before, their own Slovak dialects which developed from the Old Slavonic after its disintegration into modern Slovak language, which happened more or less at the same �6 SLOVAKIA time at which other central European peoples began to use vernacular for literary purposes. On the position of Slovak among Slavic languages, Slovak philologists expressed various opinions. 18 V. Jagic in his book Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache, wrote that "in Great Moravia people must have spoken in the ninth century a tongue which in its fundamentals was identical with the Slovak language of today". J . Dobrovsky admitted that certain linguistic phenomena linked Slovak with South Slavic languages and S. Czambel elaborated linguistically a theory to prove that the question as to whether Slovak is closer to Western Slavic or to the Southern Slavic group of languages deserves to be reconsidered by philologists. Stur viewed the position of the Slovak language as a central clearing house, mainly because he was conscious of many of its similiarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North and South, especially noting the South Slavic dialects with which Slovak came into intimate contact during long centuries. 19 Recent studies indicate that the Slovak language conserved many archaic forms and expr-essions common to all Slavs. Remaining for centuries only a spoken vernacular of the people, it was affected mainly by the influence of neighbouring Slavic peoples, and since it was codified in the era of the revival of Slavonic peoples, the Slovak cultural and political leaders saw to it that Slovak language might conserve its central position and Slavic purity. Kollar himself argued, and some Slavists of that time accepted his idea that the Slovak language "stands grammatically and geographically in the center of all Slav dialects" and the Tatra mountains are the "nest and cradle of all Slavs" which, of course, the modern science of history, archeology and ethnography challenges. However, U1.e central position of the Slovak language, geographically or linguistically, is accepted to a great extent even by modern philology. According to de Bray "the Slovaks have preserved a beautifully soft and musical language, which might well serve as a modern "Common Slav" or lingua franca among the Slavs today. For modern Slovak is the most comprehensible of the living Slavonic languages to all other Slavs. Just as the Slovaks occupy geographically a central position among the Slavs, so, too, their language, in its �SLOVAKIA 7 sounds and forms, is the nearest to an all-round compromise between the various Slavonic languages, having features which make it near both to East and South Slav, as well as to the other West Slav languages. 20 In fact, the Slovaks - either educated or common people - do not experience much difficulty in communicating in Slovak with Poles, Ukrainians, C:ziechs, Russians, or Slovenes and Croats, as has been proven even on the American Continent, since basically there ar,e no great differences among Slavic languages, and in the case of the Slovak language, history and geography made it close not only to Polish and Czech, but also to Ukrainian and South Slavic, Slovenian and Croat. 21 Slovak intellectuals of the nineteenth century read not only Polish or Czech poets and writers in original, but also Russian and Ukrainian, Croat and .Slovenian. Modern scientific and literary development drifts the twelve Slavic languages more apart. Nevertheless, even if we cannot agree with the nineteenth century poet that "with the Slovak language you may travel Earth's four corners", the fact remains that Slovaks are able to communicate in their own vernacular with the majority of the Slavic peoples. III. Views and conceptions of European Slavists As for European Slavists, including the present-day Czech philologists, some of their recent studies would indicate that they corrected many of the erroneous views they held on the relation between the Slovak and Czech and the origin of the Slovak literary language. It is evident that the modem techniques in linguistics and philology have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving modified conceptions that are far advanced beyond the hasty unwarranted conclusions of the amateur-philologists or linguists serving political aspirations. Noteworthy among the new conceptions are not only those which defend the distinct and ancient character of the Slovak among Slavic languages but also the views that the history of the Slovak literary language necessarily begins in the 9th century with the Old Church Slavonic as the first literary medium in Slovakia. This view has been held by Slovak literary historians .for a long time, but never was considered before by foreign �8 SLOVAKIA Slavists. Recently, howev,er, the well-known Polish philologist T. Lehr-Splawinski expressed the following view: "The beginnings of the literary language in Slovakia are connected with the period of activities of ConstantineCyril and Methodius in the Moravian state. As the whole of Slovakia was, without ,any doubt, a part of that state, and the important centers of its political and cultural life were situated on the Slovak territory, writings in the old ChurchSlavonian language must have undoubtedly developed among the Slovaks in the last quarter of the IXth century". 22 R. Auty, from the University of Cambridge, in his paper, presented to the VIIIth Congress of the International Federation of Modern Languages & Literatures at Liege, August 1960, corrected misconceptions on Bernolak and Stur and their reforms. Anton Bernolak codified in 1870 a language which was already in use, according to Auty, and "in the following fifty or sixty years a considerable number of literary and other works were published or written in this (Bernolak's) form of Slovak". 23 The Czech language was, according to Auty, "sporadicalin Slovakia (with certain local modification) for used ly administrative and, still more occasionally, literary purposes". The reasons for this sporadic usage of Czech for administrative and "mor,e occasionally" also for literary purposes, are explained by Auty in his statement that "since the Reformation the Czech had been the language of the Lutheran scriptures and Church Services in Slovakia". "Stur, Protestant though he was, acted against what he regarded as an unnatural linguistic situation which had been brought about by the hazards of history. His reaction was radical" - says Auty, and gives a detailed picture of the changes which were brought about in the Slovak language by the agreement of the Catholics and Protestants in order to end bilingualism in Slovak literature. Auty's views on the reform of the , Slovak literary language which took place in the 1840's are fairly in line with the historical truth and recent r-esearch. According to him "Catholic and Protestant Slovaks agreed to accept a new written form of their language for all purposes: this has been worked out by U. Stur in discussion with other Slovak intellectual leaders in the perfod 1842-44 and was somewhat modified by M. M. Hodza and M. Hattala in subsequent years". _,/ �SLOVAKIA 9 Stur "on more than one occasion praised the work of Bernolak, and above all, the poetry of Jan Holly and fully accepted one element of Bernolak's linguistic reform - the orthographical system" - continues Auty. The general pattern of the language, as fashioned by Stur, was in accordance with the needs of Slovak Society and has proven itself - and Stur's genius - by its survivor". 2 " R. G. A. de Bray, in his Guide to the Slavonic Languages, is equally close to the views of Slovak philologists and literary historians. "It is not true to say" - writes de Bray - "that Slovak was not written till the nineteenth century, as some assert. It is true that the modern literary language, as we know it today, was then first stabilized, but there are traces of the Slovak language in the local Latin documents from the elev,enth to the fifteenth centuries, Latin being the official language at the time". 25 On the relation between the Czech and Slovak de Bray expressed the following view: "While the phonetic system of Slovak is more conservative than that of Czech and so is nearer to that of Old Slavonic and other Slavonic languages, its morphological system has developed further than that of Czech, its nearest relative, mainly through the workiings of analogy and the generalization of certain standard endings, especially in the plural of nouns. Both the 1st and 2nd palatalization of gutturals occur less frequently in the declensions than they do in Czech, owing to the workings of analogy, as in Russian and Slov•enian. And in general Slovak morphology has fewer irregularities, exceptions, and archaic survivals, such as the declension of Kamen (- stone) in Czech. Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki in his paper Discrimination and Bias in Two Unesco Publications also raised his voice against treating Slovak and Czech "as one unit". "From the linguistic point of view" - says Prof. Smal-Stocki - "it js inadmissible to mix state units with existing languages and to treat "as one unit" Czech and Slovak, because the linguistic fact is that in existence are two separate units, Czech and Slovak". 26 The contributors to the Encyclopedia Britanica (1959, Vol. 20) published some correct and some incorrect views, �10 SLOVAKIA but they grasped the essential points of difference between the Czech and Slovak. 27 "The Czech, as spoken and written today in Bohemia, diverges considerably from Slovak - says the Encyclopedia. The disagreement is least marked in vocabulary but appears prominently in the phonetics; in particular the itacism so distinct a characteristic of Czech, is non-existent in Slovak, which has preserved the fuller diphthongs (ia, ie, iu etc.) of the Slavonic languages; a further small.er point is the dz, from Common Slav dj, is used (as in Polish) where Czech has z. In one point only is there a divergence which goes back beyond the time of the common ancestry of the two languages; Slovak has not developed the t, which is characteristic of Czech and in that language occurs since the beginning of its literature. The Slovak palatalization of n, d, t and 1 after e, which does not occur in modern literary Czech, is a further point of disagreement, although this would not be obvious from Slovak spelling which does not find it necessary to distinguish by diacritics; consonanrts are always softened in this position". The Encyclopedia also points out to the relation of Slovak with other Slavic languages. It says: "The dialectical development shows some characteristics identical with those in South Slavonic and Russian. Not everywhere, for example, have u and i been confused, and instead of the e, which is the normal result in Slovak as in Czech, we find in Eastern dialects an o from the u, thus agreeing with Russian. An agreement with South Slavonic is the occurrence of raz- and la- and lo-. Because of these and other phonetic and morphological reasons the grammarian Czambel, a keen opponent of the identity of Czech and Slovak, has asserted that Slovak should rightly be associated with South Slavonic". 28 It would appear from this brief survey that European Sl~vists are very close to the views of Slovak philologists and that misconceptions, which we still can find in American symposia, considered hereafter, are disappearing from European Slavic studies. Very close to the views of European Slavists is also the well-known Canadian Slavist Prof. W. Kirkconnell who already in 1939 stated: "It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the Slovaks are not Czechs, and that there is no such ciieature as a 'Czechoslovak'. While they speak closely related Slavic languages, Slovak is not �SLOVAKIA 11 a mere dialect of Czech. The differences are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German. I have on my shelves Miroslav Kalal's Slovak-Czech dictionary (published 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition." (d. Canada, Europe, and Hitler, p. 44) IV. Misconceptions in American symposia and surveys With the sudden development of Slavic Studies on the American continent came hand in hand a large number of symposia, handbooks and surveys on Slavic literatures and langutlges. They are, however, written predominantly by scholars and writers with European schooling and background and, therefore, it is more appropriate to speak, in this respe0t, rather of American symposia than of American Slavists. A survey of several such symposia indicates that there are misconceptions not only in the relation of the Slovak with the Czech, but also on the history of the Slovak literary language and the role of foreign languages in Slovak literature. In this respect, we read not without surprise that even the well-known Slavist, Roman Jakobson, helped to spread some erroneous views on the Slovak language. In his study Slavic Languages, he writes as follows: "Toward the middle of the same (i.e. the 19th) century, the Slovaks, who had used literary Czech (somewhat adapted to their own habits) inaugurated their own literary language based on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech". 29 Prof. A. Senn in Strakhovsky's Handbook of Slavic Studies, completed and modified Jakiobson's description of Slovak literary language. His classification of Slovak is correct, but we could hardly agree with certain parts of his definition. Prof. A. Senn says: "Slovak forms a connecting link with the South Slavic Slovenian and is more archaic than Czech. Otherwise differences between Czech and Slovak are not very great. Slovak became a literary language at the beginning of the nineteenth century . . . Slovak and Czech form one "Czechoslovak unit". �12 SLOVAKIA In the same symposium, another contributor, Otto Radl, admitted that "as early as 1635 in Trnava books were printed in different Slovak dialects", but he confusingly states further that it was only i,n 1844, in the period of Romanticism, that "the therefore common written language, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly-originated Slovak literary language". According to Radl "this movement had been begun at the end of the 18th century by the learned Slovak philologist Anton Bernolak who published several works in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefore use their own distinctive written language based on dialects spoken in Western Slovakia". 30 A similar version can be found in Prof. H. S. Thompson's book "Czechoslovakia in European History", who says that "a deliberate effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local dialect came from the Catholic camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernolak published a Gramatica slavica". However, he asserts further that "about the only followers Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his grammar and dictionary soon died out. The year 1834-1835 is usually given" - concludes Thompson - "as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although strictly speaking, Stur did not make his first formal declarartion until 1846". 31 In R. J. Kerner's symposium Czechoslovakia and in V. Busek-N. Spulber's Czechoslovakia under Communism, we find only slightly modified or re-worded versions of the views mentioned above. "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create with indifferent success a written Slovak dialect", we read in Kerner's symposium, and Busek-Spulber's symposium gives the following genesis of the Slovak literary language: " ... the first attempts were made (aside from earlier sporadic ventures) to establish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak (1762-1813) who selected the Western Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary medium: his suggestions, not elaborated linguistically, did not take permanent hold. "The decisive step towards the establishment of Slovak literary language was undertaken through the initiative of the Protestants. Ludovit St(ir selected the central Slovak dialect for the Slovak literary medium. Beginning in the �SLOVAKIA 13 1840's, several poets followed Stur and used the new literary language with great skill".32 It is perhaps not necessary to sum up all the mistaken assertions and impressions which we find in the symposia mentioned here. The foregoing views of European and Slovak philologists showed that Slovak was spoken by Slovak people from the dawn of their history and that it was in use for literary purposes from the 17th century, and Bernolak codified only a literary language used by the majority of Slovaks for more than 150 years. The function of the Czech language in Slovakia and the reasons for its sporadic use, besides Latin and Slovak, were also explained by Slovak as well as European Slavists. Responsibility for the lack of precision and mistaken views in American symposia might lay with the sources used by the contributors to these symposia. It would appear that they predominantly relied on old studies, which favoured the biased conceptions of linguistic, cultural -and political unity of Czechs and Slovaks, and which has been abandoned during the past two decades even by the Czech philologists, as we shall see from the survey of Czech and Slovak contemporary linguistic studies. Since all the symposia under review were edited or written by writers who specialized in Slavic studies, we might perhaps mention also at this point that academic precision would have required to say that before Stur's reform Slovaks used for literary purposes far more frequently Latin, on the Catholic side, and German, on the Protestant J.ide, than the Czech "somewhat adapted to their own hal>its". Bernolak codified Slovak language in Latin works, the first works on history of Slovakia were written by their Slovak authors also in Latin, and on the Protestant side Safarik wrote his first scholarly work in German, used Czech later only because he was forced to do it by unhappy circumstances, and Kollar also wrote in German his treatise on Slavic solidarity -Ober die Literarische Wechselseitigkeit zwischen den verschiedenen Stammen und Mundarten der slavischen Nation. Equally imprecise for a scholarly writer is to say that Stur's reform was based "on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech". Recent research proves that Stur relied on Bernolak in many respects and that the literary language, reformed by Stur, "was not based on the dialect of any single area, but represented a kind of 'koine' of the �14 SLOVAKIA central Slovak dialects, eschewing features from both the eastern and western dialects" - as R. Auty correctly says and new works on Slovak language confiirm. V. "Marxist" conceptions of literary Slovak and the origins of the Slovak language Slovak philology has been exposed, since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet political and cultural sphere, to the influence of Marxist criteria and method, and is gradually developing with considerable dependence on Soviet philology. There were strong attempts at the beginning to apply to Slovak philology "the theoretical directives given the Marxist philology by J. V. Stalin in his genial work Marxism and Problems of Linguistics"33 and later other Soviet examples were imitated. However, a considerable number of Slovak philologists adhered, in the first place, to scientific principles and methods and results of favourable development of Slovak philology are visible in two recent bibliographies, not only in the number of entries, but also in the number of fields covered. Scholarly research into the Slovak language is, of course, still the principal field of interest. The number of works, studies and articles referring to Slovak, its history and development during the period of 1939-1945 alone was over 1000 and amounts to 700 in Dvonc's Bibliography of Slovak philology which covers only the years 1948-1952. Many of these entries were written by highly qualified philologists of Slovak or foreign origin (J. Stanislav, L. Novak, E. Pauliny, V. Uhlar, A. Janosik, S. Peciar, J. Horecky, V. Blanar, E. Jona, Kniesza, Vazny, Kiraly, Stieber etc.) and they cover the history of literary languages in Slovakia, historical grammar, dialectology, ,etymology, phonology, orthography, vocabulary, etc. From the published works by the "marxist" philologists and literary historians it is obvious that the theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language and on the function of some fureign languages (Czech, Czechoslovak) in Slovak literature, which theses were intended to support the political theory of a single Czechoslovak nation, have been definitely buried. Particularly noteworthy in this regard is the work of the Czech University Profe~or A. Dostal, 34 and of the Slovak school, Prof. E. Pauliny's Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (History of Literary Slovak, Brati- �SLOVAKIA 15 slava, 1948), and A. Mraz's Dejiny slovenskej literatury (History of Slovak Literature, Bratislava, 1948), as well as the papers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. Professor A. Dostal, in his work "Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka" published in Prague in 1954, accepted not only the thesis that the Slovak is a distinct and ancient tongue, but he also condemned the traditional views of Czech philologists. "Slovak language whose development goes back to ancient times, was established as a literary language in connection with the formation of Slovaks into a nation", says Dostal. "Its establishment cannot at all be viewed as a separation from the literary Czech language, but as a long, slow development towards a literary language ... " Prof Dostal goes even further and says that the attempts to impose the Czech language upon Slovaks as literary medium must be considered "as a negation of centuries long development which in the 1840's was already a historical fact in Slovakia ... " 35 The paper of Prof. E. Pauliny on bilingualism in the history of the Slovak literary language, d_eserves particular attention. Pauliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in Slovakia in the XVth and the following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who did not apply "Marxist criteria" in philology, i.e. that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not stand competition with the Slovak vernacular when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness. Literary Slovak won in spite of the fact that the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, at that time tried to maintain it even in the XIXth century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majority (80%) over a century ago. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is, therefore, according to Pauliny, that of bilingualism. 36 In the introduction to his book Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Pauliny understands the history of the language as the history of the origin, disappearance and changes of its individual styles. However, in the book itself, he divided the history of the Slovak literary language according to the �HS SLOVAKIA languages which were used by the Slovaks as literary languages in addition to the spoken vernacular from the time of the Greater Moravia. He writes: "Although, in this case, the period of the actual Slovak literary language can begin only with Bernolak, or with the period shortly before Bernolak, nevertheless, it is not possible to begin the history of the literary languages of the Slovaks either with Bernolak or Stur, but it is necessary to go deep into the past, all the way to the very beginnings of the historical period of our nation in the Greater Moravian epoch, nay, in certain matters, it is necessary to go even further, into the prehistoric period, when our ancestors were not yet baptized and did not participate in the Eul'opean culture which was introduced to us by Chl'istianity". In his contribution to a volume O vzajomnych vzt'ahoch Cechov a Slovakov, published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states that "Bernolak codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Catholic and Protestant writings". 37 Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some Slavists as the beginning of the Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school". 38 In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history of Slovakia, Anton Bernolak reformed and codified the Slovak literary language and its orthography. 39 Mraz regards the activity which Ol'iginated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollosi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholici", says Mraz, "laid the foundation on which the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an independent Slovak literary language. Crystallization of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (16351777), progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his followers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea �SLOVAKIA 17 of an independent literary language, they merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period". 40 Scholarly basis to this conception of the development of the Slovak literary language was given by several philologists of today's Slovakia, among whom noteworthy is in the first place Prof. Jan Stanislav with his two volumes on the history of the Slovak language (Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka) and philological studies of J6na, Uhlar, Ruzicka, Peciar etc. 41 By a careful analysis of the fundamental roots of both languages, Czech and Slovak, as well as through the comparative study of their later developments, they revealed the true basis of the Slovak language and have classified it properly as one of the distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearance of the Old Slavonic language. As a result of this development the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a relation between two Slavic but distinct languages. The Czech poetry and prose are translated into the Slovak and vice versa as the Polish or Russian have been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long time ago, and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and philologists to recognize their victory. A century-long debate, as to whether Slovak is a dialect of the Czech language or a distinct Slavonic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia. NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY See the following symposia: R. J . Kerner, Czechoslovakia, (Berkeley, Calif., University of California Press, 1949), and L. I. Strakhovsky, ed. Handbook of Slavic Studies ( Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1949) the article by 0 . Rad!. The chapter on the Slavic languages by A. Senn in the same symposium is in accordance with recent research. Slavonic Encyclopedia, chapter by J. S. Roucek (New York, 1949) in the same category as Kerner's symposium. 2. See Eugen Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (Bratislava, Slovenska Akademia vied a umeni, 1948) . 3. Cf. A. Mraz, Die Literatur der Slovaken (Wien, 1943). 1. �18 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21 . SLOVAKIA Cf. Prof. A. Dostal, Ncistin dejin ceskeho a siovenskeho jazyka (Prague, 1954), pp. 200-206. Cf. J. M. Kirschbaum, "Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philoiogy", Etudes siaves et Est Europeennes, IV, (1959-60 ), pp. 163-174. Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., and Jan Stanislav, Dejiny siovenskeho jazyka (Bratislava, 1957), p. 326, also H. Bartek, siovensky pravopis, (Whiting, Ind., 1956). N. S. Toubetzkoy, Grundzuge der Phonofogie, (Prague, 1939), pp. 117, 136, 141. J. Dobrovsky and P. J. Safarik have traced the linguistic line which separated the Czech and Slovak dialects around the Moravia. Cf. J. Skultety, Sketches from siovak History, (Middetown, Pa., 1936) and his Stodvadsat'piit' rokov zo siovenskeho zivota, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1920. Cf. E. Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej siovenciny, p. 41. Benedicti Grammaticae Bohemicae iibri due, (Prague, 1603) p. VI, has written: "Neque tamen ego hie eos ad Bohemicam linguam cogo, sed ad exercitationem et culturam ipsorum idiomatis invito: praesertim cum non tantum in civitatibus et oppidis, sed etiam in pagis scholis abundent". Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., pp. 57 and 113, and A. Mraz, Dejiny siovenskej Hteratury, p. 108. See, J. Skultety, op. cit., p. 23, and Jaroslav Vlcek, Medzi Vcihom a Vitavou, (Bratislava 1957), pp. 228-234. J. Skultety, op. cit., pp. 20-30. L. I. Strakhovsky, op. cit., pp. 494-495. E. Pauliny, op. cit., pp. 30-36. 0. Radl, in L. I. Strakhovsky's Handbook of siavic Studies, p. 491. Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., p. 36-37 and 53. Pauliny is of the opinion that the occupation of Hungary by Turks (1526) helped the penetration of the Czech language, since there was a sort of common border between Slovakia and Moravia in the Habsburg Monarchy. E. Pauliny, op. cit., p. 17; A. Mraz, op. cit., pp. 12-16, and Jan Stanislav, op. cit. p. 12. J. Dobrovsky in 1875 wrote that Slovak is close to the Croat and Slovene languages in several respects. Zd. Stieber considers certain characteristics of the Slovak language as southern Slavic elements (juhoslavismy) . Cf. Jan Stanislav, Dejiny siovenskeho jazyka, p. 387. V. Jagic, Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchensiawischen Sprache (Wien, 1900), p. 19; E. Pauliny, 0 vzcijomnych vzt'ahoch cechov a Slovcikov (Bratislava, 1956), p. 101., and David Diringer, Cambridge Univ., England, article in The Encydopedia Americana, Can. Edition, 1963, p. 379-380. S. Czambel, siovenskci rec a jej miesto v rodine siovanskych jazykov, (Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1906), pp. 320, and J. M. Kirschbaum, I!udovit stur and His Piace in the siavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Cleveland, Ohio, 1956. A. Senn "Slavic Linguistics", in Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L. I. Strakhovsky, p. 116-139, and R. G. A. de Bray, Guide To The siavonic Languages (London & New York, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1951), p. 513. J . M. Kirschbaum, "A Note on Two Modern Slovak Translators �SLOVAKIA 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 19 of Mickiewicz" in Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, edited by W. Lednicki, (Berkeley & Los Angeles, Calif. University of Calif. Press, 1956) , p. 487-493. T. Lehr-Splawinski, Preglad i charakterystyka jezykow slowianskich (Warszawa, 1954,) p. 71. Robert Auty, "Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak", The Slav onic and East European Review, XXXIX, (1961), p . 331-356. Ibidem, pp. 342-346. R. G. A. de Bray, op. cit., pp. 513-515. Roman Smal-Stocki, Discrimination and Bias in Two UNESCO Publications, (New York, Shevchenko Scientific Society, 1961), p. 3. T. Lehr-Splawinski, op. cit. p. 71. Ibid. p. 800. Roman Jakobson, Slavic Languages (New York, Columbia University Press, 1949) , p. 10. L. I. Strakhovsky, op. cit. p. 491. See S. H . Thomson, Czechoslovakia in European History, (Prince: ton, University Press, 1943) , p. 242-258. V. Busek-Spulber, Czechoslov akia under Communism (New York Mid-European Study Center, 1957) , 193-197. See J. M. Kirschbaum "Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology", Etudes Slaves et Est-Europeennes, vol. IV, (1960), pp. 163-174. A. Dostal, Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenske ho jazyka (Prague, 1954), pp. 200-201. See also "Die Tschechoslowakische Sprachenwissenschaft in den Jahren 1933 bis 1944" - Zeitschrift fur Slavische Philologie, Band XXIX, XXX, XXXI, Heidelberg, 196263. See esp. Vol. XXX, 1. p. 164-180. A. Dostal, op. cit., pp. 200-201. E. Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (Bratislava, 1948) , p. 46-108. Symposium O vzajomnych vzt'ahoch techov a Slovakov, (Bratislava, Slovenska Akademia Vied, 1956) . teskoslovenske pfednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni zjezd slavistu v Moskve, ed. Ceskoslovensky komitet slavistu, (Praha, 1958). A. Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, (Bratislava, 1948) . Ibid. p. 101-118. See Bibliography. BIBLIOGRAPHY of selected works in English, French, German and Italian on Slovak Language and Literature Auty, Robert, The Evolution of Literary Slovak, Cambridge, 1953. Reprint from Transactions of the Philological Society, p. 143-160. Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak (Paper presented to the VIIIth Congress of the International Federation of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1960), published in The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 1961. �20 SLOVAKIA Bernolak, Anton, Slowakische Grammatik, Aus dem Lateinischen ins Deutsche iibersetzt, gedr. mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriften, Offen, 1817. Bokes, F., Literarische Vbersicht des geschichtlichen Schaffens in der Slowakei, Leipziger Vierteljahrschrift fiir Siidosteuropa 4, Leipzig, 1940. Bray de, R. G. A., Guide To The Slavonic Languages (London & New York, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1951) , p. 513. Cizevsky, Dmitry, Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, Mass., 1952. On Romanticism in Slavic Literatures, Gravenhage, Monton & Co., 1957. Aus Zwei Welten, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Slawisch-westlichen literarischen Beziehungen, 1956. Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral, in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Berkeley, 1956. A Bibliography of the Publications of Dr. Dmitry Cizevsky in the Fields of Literatiire, Language, Philosophy and Culture, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. Denis, Ernest, La question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917, Librairie Delagrave. One of the best books on Slovaks before the end of the First World War. His views on Bernolak, Stur, etc. are slightly distorted by the idea of the national and cultural unity of Czechs and Slovaks. Dixon, Charlton, Slovak Grammar for English speaking Students, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1935. Harkins, W. E. - Simoncic, K., Czech and Slovak Literature, Oxford, King's Crown Press, 1951. Fischel, Alfred, Panslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart und Berlin, 1919. One of the best documented works on Panslavism in the German language. Giusti, Walgango, Il Panslavismo, Milano, 1941, Instituto per gli studi di politica internazionale. Rather political than scholarly review of the idea of Panslavism among Slavic peoples. Gross, Felix (ed.), European Ideologies, New York, 1948, Philosophical Library, W. Lednicki's chapter on Panslavism. Scholarly written treatise from the Polish point of view. Hrobak, Philip A., Slovak Lessons, Lakewood, Ohio, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1935. The Slovak Language, Book I - II. Middletown, Pa. , Jednota, 1935-1936. Hrusovsky, F., Geschichte der Slowakei, Bratislava, 1942. This is Slovakia, Scranton, Pa., 1953. Jakobson, Roman, Sur l'histoire et sur les relations mutuelles du tcheque et du slovaque. Le Monde slave, XIV., 1937, 353-366. Slavic Languages, Columbia University Press, 1949. Kirschbaum, J . M., Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Speller & Sons, 1960. Slovak Literature under the Soviet Impact, The Slavic and EastEuropean Studies, Montreal, 1956, Part 1, p. 45-54. nudovit Stur and His Place in Slavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg-Cleveland, 1956. Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, An Offprint from �SLOVAKIA 21 Slavic and East-European Studies, Vol. IV, No. 3-4, Montreal, 1960. Pavel Jozef Safarik and His Contribution to Slavic Studies, The Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, 1962, Slavistica No. 43, p. 51. A Note on Two Slovak Translators of Mickiewicz in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Berkeley, 1956. Anton Bernolak - The First Codifier of the Slovak Language, Slavistica No. 52, Cleveland - Winnipeg, 1964. Slovak Literary History in Marxist and Western Interpretations. A reprint from Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. VI, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1964. The Role of the Cyrilo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak National and Political Life. An offprint from Slovak Studies III, Rome, 1963. La litterature de la periode cyrillo-methodienne et la slovaquie. An offprint from Slovak Studies III, Rome, 1963. La place du slovaque parmi les langues slaves. An offprint from Etudes slaves et est-europeennes, Vol. VIII. Fasc. 3-4, Universite de Montreal, 1963. Jan Kollar - Slovak Poet of Pan-Slavism, Slavistica No. 56, The Slovak Institute, Cleveland-Toronto-Winnipeg, 1966. Kohn, Hans, Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology, University of Notre Dame Press, 1953. One of the most objective books on Pan-Slavism. Konus, Joseph, Practical Slovak Grammar. A textbook for high schools, colleges and adult private students, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1939. New English-Slovak Dictionary, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1941. Kniezsa, Stefan, Zur Geschichte der Jugoslavismen im Mittelslowakischen, Budapest, 1948, tire a part des Etudes slaves et roumaines, Vol. 1, Fasc. 3. Kramoris, Ivan J., An Anthology of Slovak Poetry, Scranton, 1947. A selection of lyric and narrative poems including some members of Stur's group. Slovakia and Slovak Literature. Reprinted from the Catholic Encyclopedia, New York, 1950. A Chronological Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, N. J., 1946 Krcmery, Stefan, A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, Offprint from The Slavonic Review, Vol. VII, No. 19, 1928-1929. Lednicki, Waclaw (ed.), Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, University of California Press, 1956. Articles by D. Cizevsky and J. M. Kirschbaum. Leger, Louis, Le panslavisme et l'interet francais, Paris, 1917, Ernest Flammarion. Relatively objective study of pan-slavism and Slovak contribution. French point of view. Locher, T. J., Die nationale Differenzierung und Integrierung der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848, Harlem, 1931. Macartney, C. A ., Hungary and Her Successors, London-New York- Toronto, 1937. Manning, Clarence A. (ed.), An Anthology of Czech and Slovak Poetry, New York, 1929, Columbia University Press. Contains translations by Prof. Kirkconnell, Kramoris, Gallik, Manning, Slabey, Kotouc, etc. �22 SLOVAKIA Meriggi, Bruno, Storia deUe letterature ceca e slovacca. University of Florence, 1959. Mikus, J . A., La Slovaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, Paris, Les Iles d'Or, 1955. La Slovaquie, Individualite politique de l'Europe Centrale, Paris, 1952. Mraz, Andreas, Die Literatur der Slowaken, Wien-Stuttgart, 1943. A History of Slovak literature by a contemporary scholar and professor at the University of Bratislava. The work was completed and edited in the Slovak language in 1948 by The Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts and presents one of the best works on the history of Slovak literature. Pastrnek, Fr., Beitriige zur Lautlehre der Slowakischen Sprache in Ungarn (Aus dem Sitzungsberichten der philos.-hist. Klasse der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften), Wien, 1888. Petrovich, Michael B., The Emergence of Russian Panslavism, Columbia University Press, 1956. Rekem, John, The Origin and Dei;elopment of the Slovak Language, an offprint from Slovakia, Vol. XII, No. 35, Middletown, Pa., 1962. Slovak Literature and National Consciousness Before Bernolak, Cleveland, 1965. Seton-Watson, R. H. , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, London, 1943. Scholarly written history by one of the best defenders of the Slovak people at the beginning of this century (see his Racial Problems in Austria-Hungary) who turned against the Slovak movement for autonomy and independence being influenced by his Czech friends. Scotus, Viator, Racial Problems in Hungary, London, 1908. Slovak Studies I, Historica 1, Slovak Institute, Rome, 1961. Safarik, J . P., Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nach allen Mundarten. Mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriften, Offen, 1826. Skultety, Joseph, Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, Jednota Press. Translation from Slovak by 0 . D. Koreff. Skultety was professor at the University of Bratislava and one of the most outstanding figures in the Slovak cultural life in the first half of the century. Stefanek, Anton, Zur Soziographie der geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Bratislava, 1944. Strakhovsky, L. I. (ed.), A Handbook of Slavic Studies, Harvard University Press, 1949, chapters by A. Senn and Otto Radl. Both articles reflect recent research, though Radl's contribution is strongly pro-Czech. Vajda, Jaroslav, Bloody Sonets, transl. from Hviezdoslav, P. 0., Scranton, Pa., 1950. Viktorin, J. K. Gramatik der Slowakischen Sprache. Zurn Schul-und Selbstunterricht, Budapest, 1862. Tourtzer, H. Louis Stur et l'idee de !'independence slovaque, Cahoss et Alencon, Paris, 1913. Trubetzkoy, N. S., Grundzilge der Phonologie, Prag, 1939. (on Slovak language p. 117-118, 136, 141, 143, 161, 167, 170, 175, 208, 245.) Yourchak, Peter P., The Slovaks, Whiting, Ind., 1947, Lach editions, �SLOVAKIA 23 chapters from Slovak history and literature destined for Americans of Slovak origin. BIBLIOGRAPHY in Slavic Languages Bartek, Heinrich, Anton Bernolak, Trnava, 1937. £udovit Stur a slovencina, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943. Krest'anstvo a slovencina, in the Symposium Nadej vit'azna, Scranton, Pa., 1947. Slovensky pravopis s gramatickymi pouckami a slovnikom, Whiting, Ind., Lach Publications, 1956. Spravna vyslovnost' slovenska, Bratislava, 1943. Blanar, Vincent, Bibliografia jazykovedy na Slovensku v rokoch 19391947. Slovenska akademia vied a umeni. Bratislava, 1950. Bobek, W., Prehl'adne dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1939. Mickiewicz v literaturze slowackiej, Praha, 1931. Dzieje literatury slowackiej w zarysie. An offprint from Slowacja i Slowacy, Edit. W. Semkowicz, Krakow, 1938. Czambel, Samo, Prispevky k dejinam jazyka slovenskeho, Budapest, 1887. Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych jazykov, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1906. Slovensky pravopis. Historicko-kriticky nakres. Budapest', 1890. Dvonc, Ladislav, Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy za roky 1948- 1952. Matica slovenska, Martin, 1957. Gajdos, V. J. Slovenske glosy v latinskom missali za XVI. storocia, Historica slovacca I-II, Bratislava, 1940-1941, 221-243. Grabowski, T. S., Dwaja Slowaccy pionerzy oswiecenia i postepu, Bernolak i Fandly, 1951. Hattala, Martin, Kratka mluvnica slovenska, Bratislava, 1852. Gramatica linguae slovenicae, Schemnicii, 1850. Hodza, Michal M., Vetin o slovencine, Levoca, 1848. Isacenko, A. V. Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej risi, Jazykovedny sbornik I-II, 1947, 137-178. Jagic, I. V., Istorija slavianskoj filologii, S. Petersburg, 1910. Jankovic, V. "Prvy preklad slovensky celeho Pisma svateho", Verbum I, Bratislava, 1946-1947. Kondrasov, N. A., Kategorija licnosti i nelicnosti v slovackom jazyku, MGU, 1949. Programma po istoriji slovackogo jazyka. Programma po sovremennom slovackom jazyku, Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo universiteta, 1951. Slavianskaja filologia, Stati i monografiji, Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo univerziteta, 1951. Kotvan, Imrich, "Jozef Ignac Bajza a slovenska rec", Linguistica slovaca III, Bratislava, 1941. Juraj Fandly, Trnava, 1946. "Juraj Fandly a slovensky jazyk", Linguistica slovaca I-II, Bratislava, 1939. Bernolakovci, Trnava, 1948. Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Matica slovenska, Martin, 1957. �24 SLOVAKIA Magiera, J., Literatura czeska i slowacka, Obraz pismiennictwa, Warszawa, 1929. Magnuszewski, J., Mickiewicz wsr6d Slowakow. Wroclaw, 1956. Misianik, Jan, Dejiny starsej slovenskej literatury, SAV, Bratislava, 1958. Stran 320. Mraz, Andrej, Gavlovicova skola krest'anskci. Brati!lava, 1940. Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1948. Novak, l;udovit, Cestina na Slovensku a vznik spisovnej slovenciny. Odtlacok zo Slovenskych pohl'adov LIV, 1938. Jazykovedne glosy k ceskoslovenskej otcizke, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1935. ~udovit Stur ako jazykovedec, Slovenske pohl'ady III, 1936. Pastrnek, Fr., Starci jazykovci pamcitka slovenskci, Sbornik filologicky VII, 1922. Pauliny, Eugen, Na okraj kamaldulskeho Pisma, Verbum I, 1946-1947. Glosy k pomeru: bernolcictina a sturovcina, Kultura XIV, 1942. Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1948. Pisut, Milan, Literatura ncirodneho obrodenia, SAV, Bratislava, 1960, p. 490. Slovensky litercirny romantizmus, C-sl. prednasky pro medzinarodni sjezd slavistu v Moskve. Semkowicz, W., Slowacia i Slovacy, Krakow, 1937. Skultety, Jozef, Stodvadsat'piit' rokov zo slovenskeho zivota 1790-1914, Martin, 1920. 0 Slovcikoch, Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1936. Sobolevskij, A. I., Cerkovno-slavianskije texty moravskogo proischozdenija, Ruskij filologiceskij vestnik, 1900. Stanislav Jan, K jazykovednemu dielu A. Bernolcika, Bratislava, 1941. Pribinovi velmozi, Linguistica slovaca I-II, 1939-1940. "Spisovny jazyk slovensky", Symposium Slovanske jazy ky v dobe pfitomne, Praha, 1937. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka I-II, Slovenska akademia vied, Bratislava, 1958. Stiebr, Zdislaw, Zarys dialektologii jezykow zachodnio-slowianskich. Warszawa, 1956. Stur, l;udovit, Nauka reci slovenskej, Bratislava, 1846. Ncirecia slovenskuo, Bratislava, 1844. Tibensky, Jan, J. Papanek • J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej ncirodnosti v XVIII. storoci. Osveta, Martin, 1958. "K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia". Historicky casopis, VII., 4, 1959. "Vznik, vyvoj a vyznam vel'komoravskej tradicie v slovenskom narodnom obrodeni. Sbornik O vzcijomnych vzt'ahoch Cechov a Slovcikov, SAV., 1956. Varsik, Branislav, Slovcici na prazskej univerzite do konca stredoveku, Bratislava, 1926. Vilikovsky, Jan, Cantus Catholici, Bratislava, 1935. Vlcek, Jaroslav, Dejiny literatury slovenskej, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923. Weingart, Milos, 0 najstarsich jazykovych pamcitkach slovenskych, CMF., Prague 1935. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1966, Vol. 16 Description An account of the resource Vol. 16 (No. 39), 1966. 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 1966 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 SLOV AKIA Pu-blished by the Slovak League of America VOL. XVI 1966 N O. 39 THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE AND ITS PLACE AM.ONG THE SLAVIC LANGUAGES J. M. Kirschbaum I. Introductory Note A review of symposia, surveys and handbooks,1 dealing with Slavs and their languages, indicates that there is a certain confusion as far as the language of the Slovaks and their literary media are concerned. The confusion seems to have been created, on one hand, by Slavists and literary historians who failed to draw a proper distinction between the native and spoken language of the Slovaks and their written or literary language. On the other hand, the misconceptions were intentionally spread by philologists and literary historians who were influenced by political views and aspirations, and some Slavists accepted them without the necessary caution required in scholarly works. As a result, we find in manuals and symposia on Slavic peoples or in works on philology and Slavic languages either the thesis that the Slovak language is merely a dialect of the Czech, or that Slovak became a literary language only at the beginning of the XIXth century. Some surveys speak even of a Czechoslovak language. Before analyzing these misconceptions, it may perhaps be stated that the claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the Czech language, was not based on facts of history or philology. It was a biased opinion of those who tried to give a scholarly basis to political aspirations denying to the Slovaks the right to their independent national and cultural life. And there lay also the origins of the erroneous thesis that Slovak began to be used as a literary language only from the second half of the nineteenth century. Slovak philologists and linguists (Bernolak, Safarik, Stur, Czambel, Skultety, Bartek, Stanislav, Novak, Pauliny) 2 SLOVAKIA rejected, during the last two centuries, all these biased theories and looked for linguistic criteria to determine the origin and the main characteristics of the Slovak language. They reviewed the historic forms of the Slovak tongue, and by scholarly methods and comparative study of Slavic languages determined the place of Slovak among Slavic languages. 2 Works of Slovak philologists, except for those of Safarik and partly Stur and Czambel, remained, however, for a long time ·e ither unknown to foreign Slavists, or were interpreted incorrectly. As a result, we find only recently in linguistic studies, published outside Slovakia, the proper distinction between the Slovak language and the literary media used by Slovaks, and a rejection of the thesis that Slovak has been but a dialect of the Czech language or that there is a Czechoslovak language. According to these studies, during long centuries, Slovak people spoke their own Slovak dialects, which developed from the primitive Slavic after its disintegration, into the modern Slovak language, but they used several literary media. It was first the Old Church Slavonic, in the 9th and 10th centuries, afterwards the Latin language, the Biblical Czech (used by the Protestant minority until the second half of the 19th century), the literary Slovak based on Slovak western dialects and finally the revised present form , based on central Slovak dialects.3 On the following pages, we shall attempt to p0int out and analyze the main misconceptions about the Slovak language and the literary media used in Slovakia and define the place of Slovak among Slavic languages in the light of recent linguistic research of European Slavists, including the Marxist philologists of Slavic countries.4 II. Views and conceptions of Slovak philologists In their scholarly studies of phonology, etymology, lexicology and grammar Slovak philologists and linguists maintained continuously the point of view that the Slovak language has been distinct from any other Slavic tongue. This was not so clear and evident to Slavists of the 19th century, according to Slovak philologists, because philology was in its infancy and used primitive methods.5 Recent research, how- SLOVAKIA 3 ever, proves that Slovak language has been the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history, and the linguistic analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and a comparative study of their developments showed that Slovak language never was a part of the Czech or so-called "Czechoslovak" language.6 If we accept the theiiis, supported by Trubeckoj ,7 that in the ninth century the Old Slavonic &1:.ill was the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology, and that from the ninth century different dialects developed into distinct Slavic languages, it is to be assumed, according to Slovak philologists, that among them was also the Slovak tongue. There is no historical or philological reason why it should not be claimed that at the time of disintegration of the Old Slavonic and of the rise of new independent Slavic languages, Slovak was among them and that its development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language.8 This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory was annexed after the collapse of Great Moravia, by Hungary and, hence, the only contact the Slovaks had with Czechs was through Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovak dialect in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West, and to the p-resent time they have retained their own phonological structure. Consequently, the relation between the Czech and Slovak languages became a matter of controversy because of political aspirations of some Czech politicians and scholars and not because of philological reasons - is the view of Slovak philologists. In fact, as early as in the 16th century Vavrinec Benedikti z Nedozier (1555-1615), a learned Slovak philologist and professor at the Prague University exhorted his Slovak countrymen to cultivate their native tongue. He wrote his appeal in a grammar he composed for Czechs, which makes it clear that already for him there were two different languages. 9 From the sixteenth century on, there are numerous proofs that Slovak erudities, with the exception of a few protestants, considered Slovaks as one of the "tribes" of Slavic nation, but speaking their own "dialect" different from the Czech, Polish or Russian, using the word dialect for our term language. Slovak was used not only in homiletic 4 SLOVAKIA writings, but also in scholarly works and poetry, especially since the middle of the 17th century around the University of Trnava (founded 1635) and, at the end of the 18th century, Anton Bernolak only codified a language in use in his linguistic works Dissertatio, Gramatica slavica and his huge pentalingual Dictionary. 10 The well-known Slavist, P. J . Safarik, and initially also Jan Kollar, were aware of the fact that there had been a Slovak ~anguage and Slovak literature, different from the Czech or the other Slavic languages and literatures. Safarik gave testimony to it in his Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur in allen Mundarten (1826) , and when some Czech leaders reproached him and his scholarly objectivity, Safarik indignantly announced that he would go even farther in stressing the differences than he did in his book.11 Jan Kollar was also instrumental originally in preparing Sti'.lr's reform and later changed his mind and became an advocate of a common literary language with the Czechs (which he called "old Slovak" ) because of reasons which Slovak literary historians avoid to discuss. The great poet of Panslavism had also some human deficiencies like very high personal pride and terrible temper, and took it as an insult ,that Stur and his group dared to do something in Slovak cultural life without consulting him or without his patronage. 12 This "crimen lesae majestatis" moved Kollar to opose Stu.r's reform and the final acceotance of the Slovak literary language also by Slovak protest;nts. Safarik did not change his scholarly views which he expressed in his Geschichte, but being employed in Prague and financially supported by Czech patriots, he tried to convince his Slovak countrymen that they should not move too far from Czechs and suggested that the Czech should be adjusted to the Slovak linguistic phenomena and peculiarities. "The will of the Slovak groups to assert their own national individuality was, however, too strong", as admitted by Radl, 13 and Stu.r's reform was victorious over Kollar's protests and Safa:rik's advices, because it was in line with the linguistic facts and centuries' long Slovak national development. The reasons for a sporadic use of the Czech language for administrative and partly also for literary purposes (mainly by the Slovak Protestants) which some Czech philologists considered as a proof of national and linguistic unity of the SLOVAKIA 5 Czechs and Slovaks, have been reconsidered by several "bourgeois" and "marxist" philologists and literary historians. There are at least three theories om the penetration of the Czech language into the Slovak territory. One theory refers to the continuation of relations between Slovaks and Moravians (who adopted the Czech language) from trhe time of Great Moravia, which relations survived the collapse of that state and developed between the Moravian cultural center Olomouc arnd Slovak religious centers. More acceptable and also more elaborated is the theory ascribing the use of the Czech language to the fact that Czech clerks were used at certain periods not only in the Slovak territory but also in Hungary and Poland in state and city-administration. 14 In Slovakia, the use of the Czech, adapted to local dialects, survived because of the Reformation which penetrated into Slovakia from Germany and Bohemia with Bible and religious books writteJ) in the old Czech, and because during the Counter-Reformation "many protestant Czechs found shelter in Slovakia and even printed books in Czech for the purpose of smuggling them into Bohemia" .15 Settled in Slovakia, the Czech refugees tried to keep all Slovak protestants linked to Bohemia by language also in secular writings. 16 Around 1840, it became, however, clear to the leaders of the Protestant minority in Slovakia that the Czech language was not intelligible to the common people, that their writings could not reach Slovak population and for reasons which U. Stur explained in his Narecia slovenskuo and other writings, they agreed with Catholics who used the Slovak for homiletic as well as for secular writings from the 16th century, on the reform taking for basis central Slovak dialects, and on the exclusive use of Slovak in Slovak literature. Stur's reform, by which the Slovak language was finally established as a literary medium of all Slovaks, has been accepted by the Slovak intelligentsia within a very short space of time, and it received its final linguistic , form in the grammar of a Catholic priest, Martin Hattala. Thus the peculiar situation of multilingualism in modern Slovak literature was changed. 17 During all these centuries, Slovak people spoke, as we mentioned before, their own Slovak dialects which developed from the Old Slavonic after its disintegration into modern Slovak language, which happened more or less at the same 6 SLOVAKIA time at which other central European peoples began to use vernacular for literary purposes. On the position of Slovak among Slavic languages, Slovak philologists expressed various opinions. 18 V. Jagic in his book Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache, wrote that "in Great Moravia people must have spoken in the ninth century a tongue which in its fundamentals was identical with the Slovak language of today". J . Dobrovsky admitted that certain linguistic phenomena linked Slovak with South Slavic languages and S. Czambel elaborated linguistically a theory to prove that the question as to whether Slovak is closer to Western Slavic or to the Southern Slavic group of languages deserves to be reconsidered by philologists. Stur viewed the position of the Slovak language as a central clearing house, mainly because he was conscious of many of its similiarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North and South, especially noting the South Slavic dialects with which Slovak came into intimate contact during long centuries. 19 Recent studies indicate that the Slovak language conserved many archaic forms and expr-essions common to all Slavs. Remaining for centuries only a spoken vernacular of the people, it was affected mainly by the influence of neighbouring Slavic peoples, and since it was codified in the era of the revival of Slavonic peoples, the Slovak cultural and political leaders saw to it that Slovak language might conserve its central position and Slavic purity. Kollar himself argued, and some Slavists of that time accepted his idea that the Slovak language "stands grammatically and geographically in the center of all Slav dialects" and the Tatra mountains are the "nest and cradle of all Slavs" which, of course, the modern science of history, archeology and ethnography challenges. However, U1.e central position of the Slovak language, geographically or linguistically, is accepted to a great extent even by modern philology. According to de Bray "the Slovaks have preserved a beautifully soft and musical language, which might well serve as a modern "Common Slav" or lingua franca among the Slavs today. For modern Slovak is the most comprehensible of the living Slavonic languages to all other Slavs. Just as the Slovaks occupy geographically a central position among the Slavs, so, too, their language, in its SLOVAKIA 7 sounds and forms, is the nearest to an all-round compromise between the various Slavonic languages, having features which make it near both to East and South Slav, as well as to the other West Slav languages. 20 In fact, the Slovaks - either educated or common people - do not experience much difficulty in communicating in Slovak with Poles, Ukrainians, C:ziechs, Russians, or Slovenes and Croats, as has been proven even on the American Continent, since basically there ar,e no great differences among Slavic languages, and in the case of the Slovak language, history and geography made it close not only to Polish and Czech, but also to Ukrainian and South Slavic, Slovenian and Croat. 21 Slovak intellectuals of the nineteenth century read not only Polish or Czech poets and writers in original, but also Russian and Ukrainian, Croat and .Slovenian. Modern scientific and literary development drifts the twelve Slavic languages more apart. Nevertheless, even if we cannot agree with the nineteenth century poet that "with the Slovak language you may travel Earth's four corners", the fact remains that Slovaks are able to communicate in their own vernacular with the majority of the Slavic peoples. III. Views and conceptions of European Slavists As for European Slavists, including the present-day Czech philologists, some of their recent studies would indicate that they corrected many of the erroneous views they held on the relation between the Slovak and Czech and the origin of the Slovak literary language. It is evident that the modem techniques in linguistics and philology have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving modified conceptions that are far advanced beyond the hasty unwarranted conclusions of the amateur-philologists or linguists serving political aspirations. Noteworthy among the new conceptions are not only those which defend the distinct and ancient character of the Slovak among Slavic languages but also the views that the history of the Slovak literary language necessarily begins in the 9th century with the Old Church Slavonic as the first literary medium in Slovakia. This view has been held by Slovak literary historians .for a long time, but never was considered before by foreign 8 SLOVAKIA Slavists. Recently, howev,er, the well-known Polish philologist T. Lehr-Splawinski expressed the following view: "The beginnings of the literary language in Slovakia are connected with the period of activities of ConstantineCyril and Methodius in the Moravian state. As the whole of Slovakia was, without ,any doubt, a part of that state, and the important centers of its political and cultural life were situated on the Slovak territory, writings in the old ChurchSlavonian language must have undoubtedly developed among the Slovaks in the last quarter of the IXth century". 22 R. Auty, from the University of Cambridge, in his paper, presented to the VIIIth Congress of the International Federation of Modern Languages & Literatures at Liege, August 1960, corrected misconceptions on Bernolak and Stur and their reforms. Anton Bernolak codified in 1870 a language which was already in use, according to Auty, and "in the following fifty or sixty years a considerable number of literary and other works were published or written in this (Bernolak's) form of Slovak". 23 The Czech language was, according to Auty, "sporadicalin Slovakia (with certain local modification) for used ly administrative and, still more occasionally, literary purposes". The reasons for this sporadic usage of Czech for administrative and "mor,e occasionally" also for literary purposes, are explained by Auty in his statement that "since the Reformation the Czech had been the language of the Lutheran scriptures and Church Services in Slovakia". "Stur, Protestant though he was, acted against what he regarded as an unnatural linguistic situation which had been brought about by the hazards of history. His reaction was radical" - says Auty, and gives a detailed picture of the changes which were brought about in the Slovak language by the agreement of the Catholics and Protestants in order to end bilingualism in Slovak literature. Auty's views on the reform of the , Slovak literary language which took place in the 1840's are fairly in line with the historical truth and recent r-esearch. According to him "Catholic and Protestant Slovaks agreed to accept a new written form of their language for all purposes: this has been worked out by U. Stur in discussion with other Slovak intellectual leaders in the perfod 1842-44 and was somewhat modified by M. M. Hodza and M. Hattala in subsequent years". _,/ SLOVAKIA 9 Stur "on more than one occasion praised the work of Bernolak, and above all, the poetry of Jan Holly and fully accepted one element of Bernolak's linguistic reform - the orthographical system" - continues Auty. The general pattern of the language, as fashioned by Stur, was in accordance with the needs of Slovak Society and has proven itself - and Stur's genius - by its survivor". 2 " R. G. A. de Bray, in his Guide to the Slavonic Languages, is equally close to the views of Slovak philologists and literary historians. "It is not true to say" - writes de Bray - "that Slovak was not written till the nineteenth century, as some assert. It is true that the modern literary language, as we know it today, was then first stabilized, but there are traces of the Slovak language in the local Latin documents from the elev,enth to the fifteenth centuries, Latin being the official language at the time". 25 On the relation between the Czech and Slovak de Bray expressed the following view: "While the phonetic system of Slovak is more conservative than that of Czech and so is nearer to that of Old Slavonic and other Slavonic languages, its morphological system has developed further than that of Czech, its nearest relative, mainly through the workiings of analogy and the generalization of certain standard endings, especially in the plural of nouns. Both the 1st and 2nd palatalization of gutturals occur less frequently in the declensions than they do in Czech, owing to the workings of analogy, as in Russian and Slov•enian. And in general Slovak morphology has fewer irregularities, exceptions, and archaic survivals, such as the declension of Kamen (- stone) in Czech. Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki in his paper Discrimination and Bias in Two Unesco Publications also raised his voice against treating Slovak and Czech "as one unit". "From the linguistic point of view" - says Prof. Smal-Stocki - "it js inadmissible to mix state units with existing languages and to treat "as one unit" Czech and Slovak, because the linguistic fact is that in existence are two separate units, Czech and Slovak". 26 The contributors to the Encyclopedia Britanica (1959, Vol. 20) published some correct and some incorrect views, 10 SLOVAKIA but they grasped the essential points of difference between the Czech and Slovak. 27 "The Czech, as spoken and written today in Bohemia, diverges considerably from Slovak - says the Encyclopedia. The disagreement is least marked in vocabulary but appears prominently in the phonetics; in particular the itacism so distinct a characteristic of Czech, is non-existent in Slovak, which has preserved the fuller diphthongs (ia, ie, iu etc.) of the Slavonic languages; a further small.er point is the dz, from Common Slav dj, is used (as in Polish) where Czech has z. In one point only is there a divergence which goes back beyond the time of the common ancestry of the two languages; Slovak has not developed the t, which is characteristic of Czech and in that language occurs since the beginning of its literature. The Slovak palatalization of n, d, t and 1 after e, which does not occur in modern literary Czech, is a further point of disagreement, although this would not be obvious from Slovak spelling which does not find it necessary to distinguish by diacritics; consonanrts are always softened in this position". The Encyclopedia also points out to the relation of Slovak with other Slavic languages. It says: "The dialectical development shows some characteristics identical with those in South Slavonic and Russian. Not everywhere, for example, have u and i been confused, and instead of the e, which is the normal result in Slovak as in Czech, we find in Eastern dialects an o from the u, thus agreeing with Russian. An agreement with South Slavonic is the occurrence of raz- and la- and lo-. Because of these and other phonetic and morphological reasons the grammarian Czambel, a keen opponent of the identity of Czech and Slovak, has asserted that Slovak should rightly be associated with South Slavonic". 28 It would appear from this brief survey that European Sl~vists are very close to the views of Slovak philologists and that misconceptions, which we still can find in American symposia, considered hereafter, are disappearing from European Slavic studies. Very close to the views of European Slavists is also the well-known Canadian Slavist Prof. W. Kirkconnell who already in 1939 stated: "It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the Slovaks are not Czechs, and that there is no such ciieature as a 'Czechoslovak'. While they speak closely related Slavic languages, Slovak is not SLOVAKIA 11 a mere dialect of Czech. The differences are about as great as those between the similarly related languages, Dutch and German. I have on my shelves Miroslav Kalal's Slovak-Czech dictionary (published 1924), in which there are 35,000 Slovak words that were apparently unintelligible to a Czech and hence required definition." (d. Canada, Europe, and Hitler, p. 44) IV. Misconceptions in American symposia and surveys With the sudden development of Slavic Studies on the American continent came hand in hand a large number of symposia, handbooks and surveys on Slavic literatures and langutlges. They are, however, written predominantly by scholars and writers with European schooling and background and, therefore, it is more appropriate to speak, in this respe0t, rather of American symposia than of American Slavists. A survey of several such symposia indicates that there are misconceptions not only in the relation of the Slovak with the Czech, but also on the history of the Slovak literary language and the role of foreign languages in Slovak literature. In this respect, we read not without surprise that even the well-known Slavist, Roman Jakobson, helped to spread some erroneous views on the Slovak language. In his study Slavic Languages, he writes as follows: "Toward the middle of the same (i.e. the 19th) century, the Slovaks, who had used literary Czech (somewhat adapted to their own habits) inaugurated their own literary language based on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech". 29 Prof. A. Senn in Strakhovsky's Handbook of Slavic Studies, completed and modified Jakiobson's description of Slovak literary language. His classification of Slovak is correct, but we could hardly agree with certain parts of his definition. Prof. A. Senn says: "Slovak forms a connecting link with the South Slavic Slovenian and is more archaic than Czech. Otherwise differences between Czech and Slovak are not very great. Slovak became a literary language at the beginning of the nineteenth century . . . Slovak and Czech form one "Czechoslovak unit". 12 SLOVAKIA In the same symposium, another contributor, Otto Radl, admitted that "as early as 1635 in Trnava books were printed in different Slovak dialects", but he confusingly states further that it was only i,n 1844, in the period of Romanticism, that "the therefore common written language, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly-originated Slovak literary language". According to Radl "this movement had been begun at the end of the 18th century by the learned Slovak philologist Anton Bernolak who published several works in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefore use their own distinctive written language based on dialects spoken in Western Slovakia". 30 A similar version can be found in Prof. H. S. Thompson's book "Czechoslovakia in European History", who says that "a deliberate effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local dialect came from the Catholic camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernolak published a Gramatica slavica". However, he asserts further that "about the only followers Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his grammar and dictionary soon died out. The year 1834-1835 is usually given" - concludes Thompson - "as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although strictly speaking, Stur did not make his first formal declarartion until 1846". 31 In R. J. Kerner's symposium Czechoslovakia and in V. Busek-N. Spulber's Czechoslovakia under Communism, we find only slightly modified or re-worded versions of the views mentioned above. "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create with indifferent success a written Slovak dialect", we read in Kerner's symposium, and Busek-Spulber's symposium gives the following genesis of the Slovak literary language: " ... the first attempts were made (aside from earlier sporadic ventures) to establish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak (1762-1813) who selected the Western Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary medium: his suggestions, not elaborated linguistically, did not take permanent hold. "The decisive step towards the establishment of Slovak literary language was undertaken through the initiative of the Protestants. Ludovit St(ir selected the central Slovak dialect for the Slovak literary medium. Beginning in the SLOVAKIA 13 1840's, several poets followed Stur and used the new literary language with great skill".32 It is perhaps not necessary to sum up all the mistaken assertions and impressions which we find in the symposia mentioned here. The foregoing views of European and Slovak philologists showed that Slovak was spoken by Slovak people from the dawn of their history and that it was in use for literary purposes from the 17th century, and Bernolak codified only a literary language used by the majority of Slovaks for more than 150 years. The function of the Czech language in Slovakia and the reasons for its sporadic use, besides Latin and Slovak, were also explained by Slovak as well as European Slavists. Responsibility for the lack of precision and mistaken views in American symposia might lay with the sources used by the contributors to these symposia. It would appear that they predominantly relied on old studies, which favoured the biased conceptions of linguistic, cultural -and political unity of Czechs and Slovaks, and which has been abandoned during the past two decades even by the Czech philologists, as we shall see from the survey of Czech and Slovak contemporary linguistic studies. Since all the symposia under review were edited or written by writers who specialized in Slavic studies, we might perhaps mention also at this point that academic precision would have required to say that before Stur's reform Slovaks used for literary purposes far more frequently Latin, on the Catholic side, and German, on the Protestant J.ide, than the Czech "somewhat adapted to their own hal>its". Bernolak codified Slovak language in Latin works, the first works on history of Slovakia were written by their Slovak authors also in Latin, and on the Protestant side Safarik wrote his first scholarly work in German, used Czech later only because he was forced to do it by unhappy circumstances, and Kollar also wrote in German his treatise on Slavic solidarity -Ober die Literarische Wechselseitigkeit zwischen den verschiedenen Stammen und Mundarten der slavischen Nation. Equally imprecise for a scholarly writer is to say that Stur's reform was based "on the central Slovak dialect but patterned after standard Czech". Recent research proves that Stur relied on Bernolak in many respects and that the literary language, reformed by Stur, "was not based on the dialect of any single area, but represented a kind of 'koine' of the 14 SLOVAKIA central Slovak dialects, eschewing features from both the eastern and western dialects" - as R. Auty correctly says and new works on Slovak language confiirm. V. "Marxist" conceptions of literary Slovak and the origins of the Slovak language Slovak philology has been exposed, since the inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet political and cultural sphere, to the influence of Marxist criteria and method, and is gradually developing with considerable dependence on Soviet philology. There were strong attempts at the beginning to apply to Slovak philology "the theoretical directives given the Marxist philology by J. V. Stalin in his genial work Marxism and Problems of Linguistics"33 and later other Soviet examples were imitated. However, a considerable number of Slovak philologists adhered, in the first place, to scientific principles and methods and results of favourable development of Slovak philology are visible in two recent bibliographies, not only in the number of entries, but also in the number of fields covered. Scholarly research into the Slovak language is, of course, still the principal field of interest. The number of works, studies and articles referring to Slovak, its history and development during the period of 1939-1945 alone was over 1000 and amounts to 700 in Dvonc's Bibliography of Slovak philology which covers only the years 1948-1952. Many of these entries were written by highly qualified philologists of Slovak or foreign origin (J. Stanislav, L. Novak, E. Pauliny, V. Uhlar, A. Janosik, S. Peciar, J. Horecky, V. Blanar, E. Jona, Kniesza, Vazny, Kiraly, Stieber etc.) and they cover the history of literary languages in Slovakia, historical grammar, dialectology, ,etymology, phonology, orthography, vocabulary, etc. From the published works by the "marxist" philologists and literary historians it is obvious that the theses on the Slovak language, on the history of the Slovak literary language and on the function of some fureign languages (Czech, Czechoslovak) in Slovak literature, which theses were intended to support the political theory of a single Czechoslovak nation, have been definitely buried. Particularly noteworthy in this regard is the work of the Czech University Profe~or A. Dostal, 34 and of the Slovak school, Prof. E. Pauliny's Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (History of Literary Slovak, Brati- SLOVAKIA 15 slava, 1948), and A. Mraz's Dejiny slovenskej literatury (History of Slovak Literature, Bratislava, 1948), as well as the papers read at the Moscow Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958. Professor A. Dostal, in his work "Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenskeho jazyka" published in Prague in 1954, accepted not only the thesis that the Slovak is a distinct and ancient tongue, but he also condemned the traditional views of Czech philologists. "Slovak language whose development goes back to ancient times, was established as a literary language in connection with the formation of Slovaks into a nation", says Dostal. "Its establishment cannot at all be viewed as a separation from the literary Czech language, but as a long, slow development towards a literary language ... " Prof Dostal goes even further and says that the attempts to impose the Czech language upon Slovaks as literary medium must be considered "as a negation of centuries long development which in the 1840's was already a historical fact in Slovakia ... " 35 The paper of Prof. E. Pauliny on bilingualism in the history of the Slovak literary language, d_eserves particular attention. Pauliny tries to explain the function of the Czech language in Slovakia in the XVth and the following centuries on the basis of social and economic phenomena and changes. He has arrived, nevertheless, at the same conclusions as the philologists who did not apply "Marxist criteria" in philology, i.e. that the Czech language was a foreign language in Slovakia and could not stand competition with the Slovak vernacular when the Slovak ethnicum evolved in its national consciousness. Literary Slovak won in spite of the fact that the Protestant minority, predominantly of Czech origin, at that time tried to maintain it even in the XIXth century when the Slovak literary language was established by the Catholic majority (80%) over a century ago. The relation between the Czech and Slovak is, therefore, according to Pauliny, that of bilingualism. 36 In the introduction to his book Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Pauliny understands the history of the language as the history of the origin, disappearance and changes of its individual styles. However, in the book itself, he divided the history of the Slovak literary language according to the HS SLOVAKIA languages which were used by the Slovaks as literary languages in addition to the spoken vernacular from the time of the Greater Moravia. He writes: "Although, in this case, the period of the actual Slovak literary language can begin only with Bernolak, or with the period shortly before Bernolak, nevertheless, it is not possible to begin the history of the literary languages of the Slovaks either with Bernolak or Stur, but it is necessary to go deep into the past, all the way to the very beginnings of the historical period of our nation in the Greater Moravian epoch, nay, in certain matters, it is necessary to go even further, into the prehistoric period, when our ancestors were not yet baptized and did not participate in the Eul'opean culture which was introduced to us by Chl'istianity". In his contribution to a volume O vzajomnych vzt'ahoch Cechov a Slovakov, published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states that "Bernolak codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Catholic and Protestant writings". 37 Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some Slavists as the beginning of the Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school". 38 In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history of Slovakia, Anton Bernolak reformed and codified the Slovak literary language and its orthography. 39 Mraz regards the activity which Ol'iginated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollosi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholici", says Mraz, "laid the foundation on which the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an independent Slovak literary language. Crystallization of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (16351777), progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his followers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea SLOVAKIA 17 of an independent literary language, they merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period". 40 Scholarly basis to this conception of the development of the Slovak literary language was given by several philologists of today's Slovakia, among whom noteworthy is in the first place Prof. Jan Stanislav with his two volumes on the history of the Slovak language (Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka) and philological studies of J6na, Uhlar, Ruzicka, Peciar etc. 41 By a careful analysis of the fundamental roots of both languages, Czech and Slovak, as well as through the comparative study of their later developments, they revealed the true basis of the Slovak language and have classified it properly as one of the distinct Slavonic languages which developed after the disappearance of the Old Slavonic language. As a result of this development the relation between the two literary languages of today's Czecho-Slovakia is now officially accepted as a relation between two Slavic but distinct languages. The Czech poetry and prose are translated into the Slovak and vice versa as the Polish or Russian have been. Life and historical facts prevailed over artificial tendencies and theories a long time ago, and finally they have prevailed even over the reluctance of some politicians and philologists to recognize their victory. A century-long debate, as to whether Slovak is a dialect of the Czech language or a distinct Slavonic tongue, has thus been "officially" closed by the recognition on both Czech and Slovak sides that, from its earliest beginnings, the Slovak language has always manifested a distinct identity as a Slavonic tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia. NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY See the following symposia: R. J . Kerner, Czechoslovakia, (Berkeley, Calif., University of California Press, 1949), and L. I. Strakhovsky, ed. Handbook of Slavic Studies ( Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1949) the article by 0 . Rad!. The chapter on the Slavic languages by A. Senn in the same symposium is in accordance with recent research. Slavonic Encyclopedia, chapter by J. S. Roucek (New York, 1949) in the same category as Kerner's symposium. 2. See Eugen Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (Bratislava, Slovenska Akademia vied a umeni, 1948) . 3. Cf. A. Mraz, Die Literatur der Slovaken (Wien, 1943). 1. 18 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21 . SLOVAKIA Cf. Prof. A. Dostal, Ncistin dejin ceskeho a siovenskeho jazyka (Prague, 1954), pp. 200-206. Cf. J. M. Kirschbaum, "Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philoiogy", Etudes siaves et Est Europeennes, IV, (1959-60 ), pp. 163-174. Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., and Jan Stanislav, Dejiny siovenskeho jazyka (Bratislava, 1957), p. 326, also H. Bartek, siovensky pravopis, (Whiting, Ind., 1956). N. S. Toubetzkoy, Grundzuge der Phonofogie, (Prague, 1939), pp. 117, 136, 141. J. Dobrovsky and P. J. Safarik have traced the linguistic line which separated the Czech and Slovak dialects around the Moravia. Cf. J. Skultety, Sketches from siovak History, (Middetown, Pa., 1936) and his Stodvadsat'piit' rokov zo siovenskeho zivota, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1920. Cf. E. Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej siovenciny, p. 41. Benedicti Grammaticae Bohemicae iibri due, (Prague, 1603) p. VI, has written: "Neque tamen ego hie eos ad Bohemicam linguam cogo, sed ad exercitationem et culturam ipsorum idiomatis invito: praesertim cum non tantum in civitatibus et oppidis, sed etiam in pagis scholis abundent". Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., pp. 57 and 113, and A. Mraz, Dejiny siovenskej Hteratury, p. 108. See, J. Skultety, op. cit., p. 23, and Jaroslav Vlcek, Medzi Vcihom a Vitavou, (Bratislava 1957), pp. 228-234. J. Skultety, op. cit., pp. 20-30. L. I. Strakhovsky, op. cit., pp. 494-495. E. Pauliny, op. cit., pp. 30-36. 0. Radl, in L. I. Strakhovsky's Handbook of siavic Studies, p. 491. Cf. E. Pauliny, op. cit., p. 36-37 and 53. Pauliny is of the opinion that the occupation of Hungary by Turks (1526) helped the penetration of the Czech language, since there was a sort of common border between Slovakia and Moravia in the Habsburg Monarchy. E. Pauliny, op. cit., p. 17; A. Mraz, op. cit., pp. 12-16, and Jan Stanislav, op. cit. p. 12. J. Dobrovsky in 1875 wrote that Slovak is close to the Croat and Slovene languages in several respects. Zd. Stieber considers certain characteristics of the Slovak language as southern Slavic elements (juhoslavismy) . Cf. Jan Stanislav, Dejiny siovenskeho jazyka, p. 387. V. Jagic, Entstehungsgeschichte der Kirchensiawischen Sprache (Wien, 1900), p. 19; E. Pauliny, 0 vzcijomnych vzt'ahoch cechov a Slovcikov (Bratislava, 1956), p. 101., and David Diringer, Cambridge Univ., England, article in The Encydopedia Americana, Can. Edition, 1963, p. 379-380. S. Czambel, siovenskci rec a jej miesto v rodine siovanskych jazykov, (Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1906), pp. 320, and J. M. Kirschbaum, I!udovit stur and His Piace in the siavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Cleveland, Ohio, 1956. A. Senn "Slavic Linguistics", in Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L. I. Strakhovsky, p. 116-139, and R. G. A. de Bray, Guide To The siavonic Languages (London & New York, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1951), p. 513. J . M. Kirschbaum, "A Note on Two Modern Slovak Translators SLOVAKIA 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 19 of Mickiewicz" in Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, edited by W. Lednicki, (Berkeley & Los Angeles, Calif. University of Calif. Press, 1956) , p. 487-493. T. Lehr-Splawinski, Preglad i charakterystyka jezykow slowianskich (Warszawa, 1954,) p. 71. Robert Auty, "Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak", The Slav onic and East European Review, XXXIX, (1961), p . 331-356. Ibidem, pp. 342-346. R. G. A. de Bray, op. cit., pp. 513-515. Roman Smal-Stocki, Discrimination and Bias in Two UNESCO Publications, (New York, Shevchenko Scientific Society, 1961), p. 3. T. Lehr-Splawinski, op. cit. p. 71. Ibid. p. 800. Roman Jakobson, Slavic Languages (New York, Columbia University Press, 1949) , p. 10. L. I. Strakhovsky, op. cit. p. 491. See S. H . Thomson, Czechoslovakia in European History, (Prince: ton, University Press, 1943) , p. 242-258. V. Busek-Spulber, Czechoslov akia under Communism (New York Mid-European Study Center, 1957) , 193-197. See J. M. Kirschbaum "Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology", Etudes Slaves et Est-Europeennes, vol. IV, (1960), pp. 163-174. A. Dostal, Nastin dejin ceskeho a slovenske ho jazyka (Prague, 1954), pp. 200-201. See also "Die Tschechoslowakische Sprachenwissenschaft in den Jahren 1933 bis 1944" - Zeitschrift fur Slavische Philologie, Band XXIX, XXX, XXXI, Heidelberg, 196263. See esp. Vol. XXX, 1. p. 164-180. A. Dostal, op. cit., pp. 200-201. E. Pauliny, Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny (Bratislava, 1948) , p. 46-108. Symposium O vzajomnych vzt'ahoch techov a Slovakov, (Bratislava, Slovenska Akademia Vied, 1956) . teskoslovenske pfednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni zjezd slavistu v Moskve, ed. Ceskoslovensky komitet slavistu, (Praha, 1958). A. Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, (Bratislava, 1948) . Ibid. p. 101-118. See Bibliography. BIBLIOGRAPHY of selected works in English, French, German and Italian on Slovak Language and Literature Auty, Robert, The Evolution of Literary Slovak, Cambridge, 1953. Reprint from Transactions of the Philological Society, p. 143-160. Dialect, Koine and Tradition in the Formation of Literary Slovak (Paper presented to the VIIIth Congress of the International Federation of Modern Languages and Literatures at Liege, August 1960), published in The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 39, No. 93, London, 1961. 20 SLOVAKIA Bernolak, Anton, Slowakische Grammatik, Aus dem Lateinischen ins Deutsche iibersetzt, gedr. mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriften, Offen, 1817. Bokes, F., Literarische Vbersicht des geschichtlichen Schaffens in der Slowakei, Leipziger Vierteljahrschrift fiir Siidosteuropa 4, Leipzig, 1940. Bray de, R. G. A., Guide To The Slavonic Languages (London & New York, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1951) , p. 513. Cizevsky, Dmitry, Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, Mass., 1952. On Romanticism in Slavic Literatures, Gravenhage, Monton & Co., 1957. Aus Zwei Welten, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Slawisch-westlichen literarischen Beziehungen, 1956. Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral, in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Berkeley, 1956. A Bibliography of the Publications of Dr. Dmitry Cizevsky in the Fields of Literatiire, Language, Philosophy and Culture, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. Denis, Ernest, La question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917, Librairie Delagrave. One of the best books on Slovaks before the end of the First World War. His views on Bernolak, Stur, etc. are slightly distorted by the idea of the national and cultural unity of Czechs and Slovaks. Dixon, Charlton, Slovak Grammar for English speaking Students, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1935. Harkins, W. E. - Simoncic, K., Czech and Slovak Literature, Oxford, King's Crown Press, 1951. Fischel, Alfred, Panslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart und Berlin, 1919. One of the best documented works on Panslavism in the German language. Giusti, Walgango, Il Panslavismo, Milano, 1941, Instituto per gli studi di politica internazionale. Rather political than scholarly review of the idea of Panslavism among Slavic peoples. Gross, Felix (ed.), European Ideologies, New York, 1948, Philosophical Library, W. Lednicki's chapter on Panslavism. Scholarly written treatise from the Polish point of view. Hrobak, Philip A., Slovak Lessons, Lakewood, Ohio, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Printery, 1935. The Slovak Language, Book I - II. Middletown, Pa. , Jednota, 1935-1936. Hrusovsky, F., Geschichte der Slowakei, Bratislava, 1942. This is Slovakia, Scranton, Pa., 1953. Jakobson, Roman, Sur l'histoire et sur les relations mutuelles du tcheque et du slovaque. Le Monde slave, XIV., 1937, 353-366. Slavic Languages, Columbia University Press, 1949. Kirschbaum, J . M., Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Speller & Sons, 1960. Slovak Literature under the Soviet Impact, The Slavic and EastEuropean Studies, Montreal, 1956, Part 1, p. 45-54. nudovit Stur and His Place in Slavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg-Cleveland, 1956. Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology, An Offprint from SLOVAKIA 21 Slavic and East-European Studies, Vol. IV, No. 3-4, Montreal, 1960. Pavel Jozef Safarik and His Contribution to Slavic Studies, The Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, 1962, Slavistica No. 43, p. 51. A Note on Two Slovak Translators of Mickiewicz in W. Lednicki's Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, Berkeley, 1956. Anton Bernolak - The First Codifier of the Slovak Language, Slavistica No. 52, Cleveland - Winnipeg, 1964. Slovak Literary History in Marxist and Western Interpretations. A reprint from Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. VI, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1964. The Role of the Cyrilo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak National and Political Life. An offprint from Slovak Studies III, Rome, 1963. La litterature de la periode cyrillo-methodienne et la slovaquie. An offprint from Slovak Studies III, Rome, 1963. La place du slovaque parmi les langues slaves. An offprint from Etudes slaves et est-europeennes, Vol. VIII. Fasc. 3-4, Universite de Montreal, 1963. Jan Kollar - Slovak Poet of Pan-Slavism, Slavistica No. 56, The Slovak Institute, Cleveland-Toronto-Winnipeg, 1966. Kohn, Hans, Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology, University of Notre Dame Press, 1953. One of the most objective books on Pan-Slavism. Konus, Joseph, Practical Slovak Grammar. A textbook for high schools, colleges and adult private students, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1939. New English-Slovak Dictionary, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1941. Kniezsa, Stefan, Zur Geschichte der Jugoslavismen im Mittelslowakischen, Budapest, 1948, tire a part des Etudes slaves et roumaines, Vol. 1, Fasc. 3. Kramoris, Ivan J., An Anthology of Slovak Poetry, Scranton, 1947. A selection of lyric and narrative poems including some members of Stur's group. Slovakia and Slovak Literature. Reprinted from the Catholic Encyclopedia, New York, 1950. A Chronological Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, N. J., 1946 Krcmery, Stefan, A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature, Offprint from The Slavonic Review, Vol. VII, No. 19, 1928-1929. Lednicki, Waclaw (ed.), Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature, University of California Press, 1956. Articles by D. Cizevsky and J. M. Kirschbaum. Leger, Louis, Le panslavisme et l'interet francais, Paris, 1917, Ernest Flammarion. Relatively objective study of pan-slavism and Slovak contribution. French point of view. Locher, T. J., Die nationale Differenzierung und Integrierung der Slowaken und Tschechen in ihrem geschichtlichen Verlauf bis 1848, Harlem, 1931. Macartney, C. A ., Hungary and Her Successors, London-New York- Toronto, 1937. Manning, Clarence A. (ed.), An Anthology of Czech and Slovak Poetry, New York, 1929, Columbia University Press. Contains translations by Prof. Kirkconnell, Kramoris, Gallik, Manning, Slabey, Kotouc, etc. 22 SLOVAKIA Meriggi, Bruno, Storia deUe letterature ceca e slovacca. University of Florence, 1959. Mikus, J . A., La Slovaquie dans le drame de l'Europe, Paris, Les Iles d'Or, 1955. La Slovaquie, Individualite politique de l'Europe Centrale, Paris, 1952. Mraz, Andreas, Die Literatur der Slowaken, Wien-Stuttgart, 1943. A History of Slovak literature by a contemporary scholar and professor at the University of Bratislava. The work was completed and edited in the Slovak language in 1948 by The Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts and presents one of the best works on the history of Slovak literature. Pastrnek, Fr., Beitriige zur Lautlehre der Slowakischen Sprache in Ungarn (Aus dem Sitzungsberichten der philos.-hist. Klasse der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften), Wien, 1888. Petrovich, Michael B., The Emergence of Russian Panslavism, Columbia University Press, 1956. Rekem, John, The Origin and Dei;elopment of the Slovak Language, an offprint from Slovakia, Vol. XII, No. 35, Middletown, Pa., 1962. Slovak Literature and National Consciousness Before Bernolak, Cleveland, 1965. Seton-Watson, R. H. , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, London, 1943. Scholarly written history by one of the best defenders of the Slovak people at the beginning of this century (see his Racial Problems in Austria-Hungary) who turned against the Slovak movement for autonomy and independence being influenced by his Czech friends. Scotus, Viator, Racial Problems in Hungary, London, 1908. Slovak Studies I, Historica 1, Slovak Institute, Rome, 1961. Safarik, J . P., Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nach allen Mundarten. Mit konigl. ung. Universitatsschriften, Offen, 1826. Skultety, Joseph, Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, Jednota Press. Translation from Slovak by 0 . D. Koreff. Skultety was professor at the University of Bratislava and one of the most outstanding figures in the Slovak cultural life in the first half of the century. Stefanek, Anton, Zur Soziographie der geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Bratislava, 1944. Strakhovsky, L. I. (ed.), A Handbook of Slavic Studies, Harvard University Press, 1949, chapters by A. Senn and Otto Radl. Both articles reflect recent research, though Radl's contribution is strongly pro-Czech. Vajda, Jaroslav, Bloody Sonets, transl. from Hviezdoslav, P. 0., Scranton, Pa., 1950. Viktorin, J. K. Gramatik der Slowakischen Sprache. Zurn Schul-und Selbstunterricht, Budapest, 1862. Tourtzer, H. Louis Stur et l'idee de !'independence slovaque, Cahoss et Alencon, Paris, 1913. Trubetzkoy, N. S., Grundzilge der Phonologie, Prag, 1939. (on Slovak language p. 117-118, 136, 141, 143, 161, 167, 170, 175, 208, 245.) Yourchak, Peter P., The Slovaks, Whiting, Ind., 1947, Lach editions, SLOVAKIA 23 chapters from Slovak history and literature destined for Americans of Slovak origin. BIBLIOGRAPHY in Slavic Languages Bartek, Heinrich, Anton Bernolak, Trnava, 1937. £udovit Stur a slovencina, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943. Krest'anstvo a slovencina, in the Symposium Nadej vit'azna, Scranton, Pa., 1947. Slovensky pravopis s gramatickymi pouckami a slovnikom, Whiting, Ind., Lach Publications, 1956. Spravna vyslovnost' slovenska, Bratislava, 1943. Blanar, Vincent, Bibliografia jazykovedy na Slovensku v rokoch 19391947. Slovenska akademia vied a umeni. Bratislava, 1950. Bobek, W., Prehl'adne dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1939. Mickiewicz v literaturze slowackiej, Praha, 1931. Dzieje literatury slowackiej w zarysie. An offprint from Slowacja i Slowacy, Edit. W. Semkowicz, Krakow, 1938. Czambel, Samo, Prispevky k dejinam jazyka slovenskeho, Budapest, 1887. Slovenska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovanskych jazykov, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1906. Slovensky pravopis. Historicko-kriticky nakres. Budapest', 1890. Dvonc, Ladislav, Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy za roky 1948- 1952. Matica slovenska, Martin, 1957. Gajdos, V. J. Slovenske glosy v latinskom missali za XVI. storocia, Historica slovacca I-II, Bratislava, 1940-1941, 221-243. Grabowski, T. S., Dwaja Slowaccy pionerzy oswiecenia i postepu, Bernolak i Fandly, 1951. Hattala, Martin, Kratka mluvnica slovenska, Bratislava, 1852. Gramatica linguae slovenicae, Schemnicii, 1850. Hodza, Michal M., Vetin o slovencine, Levoca, 1848. Isacenko, A. V. Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej risi, Jazykovedny sbornik I-II, 1947, 137-178. Jagic, I. V., Istorija slavianskoj filologii, S. Petersburg, 1910. Jankovic, V. "Prvy preklad slovensky celeho Pisma svateho", Verbum I, Bratislava, 1946-1947. Kondrasov, N. A., Kategorija licnosti i nelicnosti v slovackom jazyku, MGU, 1949. Programma po istoriji slovackogo jazyka. Programma po sovremennom slovackom jazyku, Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo universiteta, 1951. Slavianskaja filologia, Stati i monografiji, Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo univerziteta, 1951. Kotvan, Imrich, "Jozef Ignac Bajza a slovenska rec", Linguistica slovaca III, Bratislava, 1941. Juraj Fandly, Trnava, 1946. "Juraj Fandly a slovensky jazyk", Linguistica slovaca I-II, Bratislava, 1939. Bernolakovci, Trnava, 1948. Bibliografia bernolakovcov, Matica slovenska, Martin, 1957. 24 SLOVAKIA Magiera, J., Literatura czeska i slowacka, Obraz pismiennictwa, Warszawa, 1929. Magnuszewski, J., Mickiewicz wsr6d Slowakow. Wroclaw, 1956. Misianik, Jan, Dejiny starsej slovenskej literatury, SAV, Bratislava, 1958. Stran 320. Mraz, Andrej, Gavlovicova skola krest'anskci. Brati!lava, 1940. Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, 1948. Novak, l;udovit, Cestina na Slovensku a vznik spisovnej slovenciny. Odtlacok zo Slovenskych pohl'adov LIV, 1938. Jazykovedne glosy k ceskoslovenskej otcizke, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1935. ~udovit Stur ako jazykovedec, Slovenske pohl'ady III, 1936. Pastrnek, Fr., Starci jazykovci pamcitka slovenskci, Sbornik filologicky VII, 1922. Pauliny, Eugen, Na okraj kamaldulskeho Pisma, Verbum I, 1946-1947. Glosy k pomeru: bernolcictina a sturovcina, Kultura XIV, 1942. Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, Slovenska akademia vied a umeni, Bratislava, 1948. Pisut, Milan, Literatura ncirodneho obrodenia, SAV, Bratislava, 1960, p. 490. Slovensky litercirny romantizmus, C-sl. prednasky pro medzinarodni sjezd slavistu v Moskve. Semkowicz, W., Slowacia i Slovacy, Krakow, 1937. Skultety, Jozef, Stodvadsat'piit' rokov zo slovenskeho zivota 1790-1914, Martin, 1920. 0 Slovcikoch, Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1936. Sobolevskij, A. I., Cerkovno-slavianskije texty moravskogo proischozdenija, Ruskij filologiceskij vestnik, 1900. Stanislav Jan, K jazykovednemu dielu A. Bernolcika, Bratislava, 1941. Pribinovi velmozi, Linguistica slovaca I-II, 1939-1940. "Spisovny jazyk slovensky", Symposium Slovanske jazy ky v dobe pfitomne, Praha, 1937. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka I-II, Slovenska akademia vied, Bratislava, 1958. Stiebr, Zdislaw, Zarys dialektologii jezykow zachodnio-slowianskich. Warszawa, 1956. Stur, l;udovit, Nauka reci slovenskej, Bratislava, 1846. Ncirecia slovenskuo, Bratislava, 1844. Tibensky, Jan, J. Papanek • J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej ncirodnosti v XVIII. storoci. Osveta, Martin, 1958. "K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia". Historicky casopis, VII., 4, 1959. "Vznik, vyvoj a vyznam vel'komoravskej tradicie v slovenskom narodnom obrodeni. Sbornik O vzcijomnych vzt'ahoch Cechov a Slovcikov, SAV., 1956. Varsik, Branislav, Slovcici na prazskej univerzite do konca stredoveku, Bratislava, 1926. Vilikovsky, Jan, Cantus Catholici, Bratislava, 1935. Vlcek, Jaroslav, Dejiny literatury slovenskej, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923. Weingart, Milos, 0 najstarsich jazykovych pamcitkach slovenskych, CMF., Prague 1935.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Language and its Place Among the Slavic Languages Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 16 (No. 39), 1966 pp. 1-24 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1966 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0b5d64855f73b86814c1701e758e50d5.pdf 3477b337422365a8252c90db4ec08f03 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 153 PROF. DR. F. DURcANSKY - POLITICIAN, SCHOLAR AND FIGHTER FOR SLOVAKIA'S INDEPENDENCE If one could say that Slovak politics were for a long time a domain of dedicated amateur politicians, in 1930' this period ended with the emergence of a new Slovak generation, educated at universities at home and abroad, who regarded politics not only as a patriotic duty towards their oppressed nation, but also as a profession requiring thorough preparation. One of the most prominent representatives of this new generation has been Prof. Ferdinand nurcansky, LL.D.,Dip.Sc.Pol., author of several scholarly writings and the first Foreign Minister of the Slovak Re-public, who was 60 years old on December 18, 1966. Whoever will write the history of Slovakia during the dramatic years 1938-1945, will be forced to come to grips with the impact this dynamic and highly educated personality left on the relations between Czechs and Slovaks in the last year of the pre-war Czecho-Slovakia. And ~imilarly no honest historian can omit the dominant role which Dr. Durcansky played in the emergence of the Slovak Republic and in her domestic and foreign policy in 19391940. Unlike some other politicians of his generation, Prof. nurcansky did not come into politics from student's organizations-the general preparatory school for politicians in Central Europe-but from behind an university chair. The years which other students spent in academic associations and party politics, Dr. f>urcansky was dedicated to studies abroad and to the preparation for an university career, specializing in political science and international law. The University of Bratislava was, however, not only dominated by Czech professors and administrators, but her aim was also to serve the official policy of Prague, directed at the political and economic domination of Slovakia and assimilation of Slovaks. Coming from a family of well known fighters for Slovakia's autonomy (his father was a senator and his older brother was a publisher of the political periodical Ndstup) , Dr. nurcansky could not get his "veniam docendi" at such university and the scholar was plunged into politics during the crucial years of his country. �154 SLOVAKIA !.>urcansky's education in law and political science at The Hague and in Paris, his knowledge of foreign languages, his elan and inexhaustible energy were welcomed by the leaders of the Slovak autonomist movement and he became overnight, at the age of 32, one of the leading politicians in Slovakia, cabinet minister in the first Slovak autonomous government and one of the main promoters of the idea of Slovak independence. Actually he marked very strongly the whole autonomist movement in its last phase, not only because the proposal of autonomy, submitted to Prague by the Hlinka Populist Party in June 1938, was his work, but also because he influenced the movement in its attitude towards Prague in the fall of 1938, mainly through the political periodical Ndstup, around which the young educated generation was grouped. When on October 6th, 1938, the Prague Government finally agreed to grant Slovakia political autonomy, which was stipulated to Slovaks before they entered into the union with the Czechs in 1918, it was only natural that Durcansky would be called upon by the leaders of the autonomist movement to be a member of the first Slovak government. In fact, he became very soon one of the leading members, since the international situation, the territorial demands of Slovakia's neighbors and very soon also Prague's manoeuvres aiming at undoing what they granted Slovaks when they agreed to federalize Czecho-Slovakia, required a man of his knowledge of law, foreign languages and his self-confidence. Since Germany was given practically a free hand in Central Europe by the Agreement of Munich, sanctioned by all European Great Powers, it was to Berlin that the Slovaks had to turn either in their defence of their territory against unjust claims of their neighbors or when economically pressed by Prague. From these contacts it became clear to the Slovak politicians that the situation created in Munich was a temporary one and that the peoples of Central Europe had to "make the best terms they could with the triumphant Nazi Power" as Churchill expressed it in the British Parliament on September 1938. As a member of Slovak delegations which defended the territory of �SLOVAKIA 155 Slovakia at the Vienna Conference or which looked for economic co-operation with Germany, :ourcansky naturally came in the forefront and, aware of the dangers faced by Slovaks if they remained inactive, became a staunch advocate of the idea of Slovakia's independence. As a result, the historical events which in March 1939 saved Slovakia from division among her neighbors and put it on the map of Europe as a Slovak Republic, are very hard to be dissociated from the foresight, courage and patriotism of Dr. :ourcansky. He also deserves credit as the first Minister of External Affairs for the rapid international recognition of the Slovak state by practically all European nations and the establishment of diplomatic relations, and, as Minister of interior, for peaceful transition to independence. An expert in international law and a patriot educated in the atmosphere of struggle for self-determination and self-government, :ourcansky understood, however, the notion of independence in its theoretical and legal connotations and inevitably came into conflict with the Government of the Third Reich from the beginning of the existence of the Slovak Republic. In 1940, not even a year and a half in his portfolio, nurcansky was forced to leave Slovak political life and, as prove the Documents on German Foreign Policy, published by the Government of the United States and England, it was for reasons of defending the Slovak interests, for trying to keep Slovakia neutral and for resisting introduction of Nazism in Slovakia. The wrath of Berlin against him was so intensive that the German Ambassador to Slovakia reported on August 19th, 1940: "the name t>urcansky and Kirschbaum should not appear anymore in any newspaper. If they do, I shall ask to forbid publication of the newspaper .. ." Ousted from politics, Dr. :ourcansky went back to the University, which at this time was in Slovak hands, and practiced law. At the end of the War he was, however, again on the political barricades and tried to save the Slovak Republic and Slovakia from catastrophy. Unwilling to make �156 SLOVAKIA deal with Moscow, he left for the West and for the past twenty years he was one of the anti-communist exiled leaders against whom the Communist regime in Prague organized the most vicious smear campaigns and on several occasions asked for his extradition. ~ Scholarly and Political Writings Originally set for a scholarly career, Dr. Durcansky used his education and knowledge for giving higher standards first to Slovak politics and later in exile to the struggle for Slovak independence. His book, Pohl'ad na slovensku minulost', ( A Look on the Slovak Past, Bratislava, 1943) many memoranda, his huge White book (Buenos Aires, 1954) and dozens of shorter studies in foreign languages published during the War or in exile, are marked by his academic background and large intelectual horizons . Given more favourable circumstances, Dr. f>urcansky would have certainly been one of the first Slovak politicians and statesmen who had not only formal education for politics but also scores of books elevating Slovak politics from provincialism to European standards. His first book M edzindrodnd intervencia (The international Intervention, Bratislava, 1936) was actually his academic thesis on the basis of which he was supposed to obtain "veniam docendi" - his professorship at the Faculty of Law of the Commenius University in Bratislava. There was no doubt whatsoever, that the scientific work met the requirements, it was nevertheless rejected because of Durcansky's political views on the relations between Czechs and Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. The work was the result of Durcansky's studies at the Institut de Hautes Etcodes Internacionales in Paris as well as the Academy of International Law at the Hague. Submitted again for acceptance in 1938 it became the basis for his teaching position first as "Docent" (Associate professor) and from 1941 as full professor. The first political work by nurcansky was his Pohl'ad na slovensk1i, minulost' ( A Look on the Slovak Past, Bratislava, 1943) in which he presented not only a new interpretation of the history of Slovaks and Slovakia, but in �SLOVAKIA 157 which was also searching for the meaning of various political actions of Slovak generations and found their logical culmination in the national independence. By its method, thorough knowledge of sources and literature and clear style the book deserves to be considered among the best political writings on Slovakia's past. An extensive summary in German made the book accesible also to scholars of other nationalities and there are references to it even now by foreign historians. Before the end of the War Durcansky published in English, French, Spanish and German several scholarly writings which aimed at acquainting the World with the Slovak problem and Slovakia's right to independence. Among them should be mentioned a historical study of the events which led to Slovakia's independence, The Way t o Slovak Freedom, published also in German as: Der Weg zur slowakischer Freiheit (Bratislava, 1944) and a political and juridicial essay on the right of small states to their existence: Die Existenzberechtigung der Kleinen Staaten (Bratislava, 1944) and a historical survey on Central Europe: Mitteleuropa in Vergangenheit und Zukunft (Bratislava, 1944). The last one was published also in Spanish in Madrid and in French by the Revue de droit international in Geneva (Vol. XXII, 1944) under the title "£'Europe Centrale dans le passe at dans l'avenir". The author advocated in it the idea of federation in Central Europe and the right of Slovak's to political equality with other Central European peoples. Equally in French Durcansky denied in the same periodical any right to existence of Czechoslovakia in a well written article: Le probleme de l'existencie de la TchecoSlovaquie, ( The Problem of Czecho-Slovakia's Existence, Vol. XXI, 1944 ) . Writings Published in Exile Even though circumstances after the Second World War have been for Slovak political exiles the most unfavourable, Durcansky disregarded the difficulties and serious danger to his own safety and fought from the first moment for Slovakia's right to independence in post-war Europe. Believing in justice and later in a possible clash between the Western Powers and the Soviets, who in spite of all �158 SLOVAKIA assurances and solemn declarations were imposing their rule and Communist system on Eastern European nations, Durcansky organized from Austria Slovak political refugees and presented several memoranda to the Peace Conference in Paris in French and English advocating either the necessity of a treaty of Peace with Slovakia, or a plebiscite, or arguing against the "rationality of the existence of CzechoSlovakia (Rome, 1946). Considering the fact that the Government of Prague was organizing an international hunt for his capture, Durcansky undoubtedly displayed an uncommon courage when he went personally to Paris or when, believing in the right of political asylum in neutral countries, he made a dangerous journey through the Alps to Geneva, and from there to Rome. In Rome he tried to write various factions of Slovak refugees into one organized body, but circumstances were not only unfavourable for such an endeavor but also dangerous and therefore he left Europe in 1947 for Argentina with a group of Slovak intellectuals, with whom he created the Slovak Action Committee. There he continued to publish books and studies until 1952 when he returned to Germany. Among the books and studies which Durcansky wrote or prepared in exile for publication, the huge volume of documents (998 pages) called Prdvo Slovdkov na samostatnost' vo svetle dokumentov, Biela kniha, (The Right of Slovaks to Independence in the Light of Documents, or White Book; Buenos Aires, in April 1954), deserves special consideration. Even though his fighting temperament led him to disregard or to misrepresent the activities of other exiled Slovak organizations (such as the Slovak National Council Abroad) and even if a smaller volume in some foreign language might have been more useful, one has to recognize the assiduous work, patience and knowledge which were required for publication of this first and most camplete collection of documents on the Slovak question. The work was published thanks to the financial support of two outstanding Slovaks: Stephen B. Roman from Canada and Rev. John J . Lach, from Whiting, Ind., U.S.A. A shorter, concise study of the international aspect of the Slovak question was published by Durcansky in 1954 �SLOVAKIA 159 in German, in 1955 in English and in 1957 in Spanish under the titles: Die Slovakische Frage als eine internationale Frage (Munich, 44 p.); The International Aspects of the Slovak Qu.estion (38 p.) and El aspecto internacional de la question eslovaca (Buenos Aires, 54 p.). As in all his writings nurcansky displayed in this booklet a thorough knowledge of political literature in several languages as well as his versatility in International Law. In addition to these publications Durcansky contributed from 1952, when he settled in Europe, to various leading political and scholarly periodicals, mostly German and Austrian, such as: Politische Studien (Munich), Donauraum (Vienna), Der Europiiische Osten (Munich) ect. All these contributions ( some 20 of them are listed in his bibliography) aim at explaining to the Western World basic Slovak political problems or defending Slovakia and Slovaks against the ruthless Czech and Communist propaganda. In style and contents they meet and sometimes even overpass the high standards of European political literature and the same can be said of the memoranda (15 altogether) which :ourcansky alone or in co-operation with others published in various foreign languages on the Slovak question. A Struggle Against Many Odds From the beginning of his political career Dr. :ourcansky was engaged in a struggle against many odds. Rarely in Slovak history any political leader faced so many times a serious danger to his own safety and hardly anyone's political conceptions were subject to such a barrage of lies and misrepresentations as it was the case of :ourcansky's fight for Slovakia's independence. He faced them all as a man and never failed to believe that Slovaks can achieve an equal status with other Central European nations if they fight and make sacrifices for it. By his own activities, courage and perseverance :ourcansky set an example which deserves recognition by everyone for whom freedom, justice and human progress have any value. History of Slovakia in the crucial years before and during the Second World War was shaped by him more than his friends or adversaries have been ready to admit. In the first Slovak �160 SLOVAKIA political exile he was undoubtedly spiritus moveus and at times regarded as the uncompromising leader if not by all, certainly by a great number of those who left Slovakia in 1945. If for some period of time his methods did not lead to the intergration of all Slovaks in the free world for a united action in favour of Slovakia's liberation, it would be unjust to put the blame on him alone. Exiled groups with greater political experience and waves of political emigrees before them, passed through the same phases of mutual struggles, distrust and disunity. Slovaks in the free world could not escape the special "climate" which the circumstances of the exile generate, but even in this regard, Slovaks achieved what no other exiled group achieved: intergration of both political Slovak representations in the free world into the Slovak Liberation Council, of which Dr. nurcansky became the first president of the Executive Committee. His sixtieth birthday finds Dr. nurcansky still in undiminished activity for the Slovak cause and with unbroken belief that the Slovak struggle - a struggle against many odds - will finally be victorious . We greet him in the same spirit and cordially wish him also on behalf of those who are silenced in Slovakia: Ad multos annos! J.M. Kirschbaum THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA condemns and unequivocally opposes all forms of tyranny, every form of totalitarian political system. The Slovak League of America has always recognized the Godless philosophy of materialir.tic Communism for the dread evil and conspiracy against free humanity that it is, as the political system which threatens mankind with utter enslavement and, therefore, has fought resolutely against it in and out of season and, today, is still determined to fight against it with all the means at its command until the dread plague of Communism is wiped off the face of the earth. � SLOVAKIA 153 PROF. DR. F. DURcANSKY - POLITICIAN, SCHOLAR AND FIGHTER FOR SLOVAKIA'S INDEPENDENCE If one could say that Slovak politics were for a long time a domain of dedicated amateur politicians, in 1930' this period ended with the emergence of a new Slovak generation, educated at universities at home and abroad, who regarded politics not only as a patriotic duty towards their oppressed nation, but also as a profession requiring thorough preparation. One of the most prominent representatives of this new generation has been Prof. Ferdinand nurcansky, LL.D.,Dip.Sc.Pol., author of several scholarly writings and the first Foreign Minister of the Slovak Re-public, who was 60 years old on December 18, 1966. Whoever will write the history of Slovakia during the dramatic years 1938-1945, will be forced to come to grips with the impact this dynamic and highly educated personality left on the relations between Czechs and Slovaks in the last year of the pre-war Czecho-Slovakia. And ~imilarly no honest historian can omit the dominant role which Dr. Durcansky played in the emergence of the Slovak Republic and in her domestic and foreign policy in 19391940. Unlike some other politicians of his generation, Prof. nurcansky did not come into politics from student's organizations-the general preparatory school for politicians in Central Europe-but from behind an university chair. The years which other students spent in academic associations and party politics, Dr. f>urcansky was dedicated to studies abroad and to the preparation for an university career, specializing in political science and international law. The University of Bratislava was, however, not only dominated by Czech professors and administrators, but her aim was also to serve the official policy of Prague, directed at the political and economic domination of Slovakia and assimilation of Slovaks. Coming from a family of well known fighters for Slovakia's autonomy (his father was a senator and his older brother was a publisher of the political periodical Ndstup) , Dr. nurcansky could not get his "veniam docendi" at such university and the scholar was plunged into politics during the crucial years of his country. �154 SLOVAKIA !.>urcansky's education in law and political science at The Hague and in Paris, his knowledge of foreign languages, his elan and inexhaustible energy were welcomed by the leaders of the Slovak autonomist movement and he became overnight, at the age of 32, one of the leading politicians in Slovakia, cabinet minister in the first Slovak autonomous government and one of the main promoters of the idea of Slovak independence. Actually he marked very strongly the whole autonomist movement in its last phase, not only because the proposal of autonomy, submitted to Prague by the Hlinka Populist Party in June 1938, was his work, but also because he influenced the movement in its attitude towards Prague in the fall of 1938, mainly through the political periodical Ndstup, around which the young educated generation was grouped. When on October 6th, 1938, the Prague Government finally agreed to grant Slovakia political autonomy, which was stipulated to Slovaks before they entered into the union with the Czechs in 1918, it was only natural that Durcansky would be called upon by the leaders of the autonomist movement to be a member of the first Slovak government. In fact, he became very soon one of the leading members, since the international situation, the territorial demands of Slovakia's neighbors and very soon also Prague's manoeuvres aiming at undoing what they granted Slovaks when they agreed to federalize Czecho-Slovakia, required a man of his knowledge of law, foreign languages and his self-confidence. Since Germany was given practically a free hand in Central Europe by the Agreement of Munich, sanctioned by all European Great Powers, it was to Berlin that the Slovaks had to turn either in their defence of their territory against unjust claims of their neighbors or when economically pressed by Prague. From these contacts it became clear to the Slovak politicians that the situation created in Munich was a temporary one and that the peoples of Central Europe had to "make the best terms they could with the triumphant Nazi Power" as Churchill expressed it in the British Parliament on September 1938. As a member of Slovak delegations which defended the territory of �SLOVAKIA 155 Slovakia at the Vienna Conference or which looked for economic co-operation with Germany, :ourcansky naturally came in the forefront and, aware of the dangers faced by Slovaks if they remained inactive, became a staunch advocate of the idea of Slovakia's independence. As a result, the historical events which in March 1939 saved Slovakia from division among her neighbors and put it on the map of Europe as a Slovak Republic, are very hard to be dissociated from the foresight, courage and patriotism of Dr. :ourcansky. He also deserves credit as the first Minister of External Affairs for the rapid international recognition of the Slovak state by practically all European nations and the establishment of diplomatic relations, and, as Minister of interior, for peaceful transition to independence. An expert in international law and a patriot educated in the atmosphere of struggle for self-determination and self-government, :ourcansky understood, however, the notion of independence in its theoretical and legal connotations and inevitably came into conflict with the Government of the Third Reich from the beginning of the existence of the Slovak Republic. In 1940, not even a year and a half in his portfolio, nurcansky was forced to leave Slovak political life and, as prove the Documents on German Foreign Policy, published by the Government of the United States and England, it was for reasons of defending the Slovak interests, for trying to keep Slovakia neutral and for resisting introduction of Nazism in Slovakia. The wrath of Berlin against him was so intensive that the German Ambassador to Slovakia reported on August 19th, 1940: "the name t>urcansky and Kirschbaum should not appear anymore in any newspaper. If they do, I shall ask to forbid publication of the newspaper .. ." Ousted from politics, Dr. :ourcansky went back to the University, which at this time was in Slovak hands, and practiced law. At the end of the War he was, however, again on the political barricades and tried to save the Slovak Republic and Slovakia from catastrophy. Unwilling to make �156 SLOVAKIA deal with Moscow, he left for the West and for the past twenty years he was one of the anti-communist exiled leaders against whom the Communist regime in Prague organized the most vicious smear campaigns and on several occasions asked for his extradition. ~ Scholarly and Political Writings Originally set for a scholarly career, Dr. Durcansky used his education and knowledge for giving higher standards first to Slovak politics and later in exile to the struggle for Slovak independence. His book, Pohl'ad na slovensku minulost', ( A Look on the Slovak Past, Bratislava, 1943) many memoranda, his huge White book (Buenos Aires, 1954) and dozens of shorter studies in foreign languages published during the War or in exile, are marked by his academic background and large intelectual horizons . Given more favourable circumstances, Dr. f>urcansky would have certainly been one of the first Slovak politicians and statesmen who had not only formal education for politics but also scores of books elevating Slovak politics from provincialism to European standards. His first book M edzindrodnd intervencia (The international Intervention, Bratislava, 1936) was actually his academic thesis on the basis of which he was supposed to obtain "veniam docendi" - his professorship at the Faculty of Law of the Commenius University in Bratislava. There was no doubt whatsoever, that the scientific work met the requirements, it was nevertheless rejected because of Durcansky's political views on the relations between Czechs and Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. The work was the result of Durcansky's studies at the Institut de Hautes Etcodes Internacionales in Paris as well as the Academy of International Law at the Hague. Submitted again for acceptance in 1938 it became the basis for his teaching position first as "Docent" (Associate professor) and from 1941 as full professor. The first political work by nurcansky was his Pohl'ad na slovensk1i, minulost' ( A Look on the Slovak Past, Bratislava, 1943) in which he presented not only a new interpretation of the history of Slovaks and Slovakia, but in �SLOVAKIA 157 which was also searching for the meaning of various political actions of Slovak generations and found their logical culmination in the national independence. By its method, thorough knowledge of sources and literature and clear style the book deserves to be considered among the best political writings on Slovakia's past. An extensive summary in German made the book accesible also to scholars of other nationalities and there are references to it even now by foreign historians. Before the end of the War Durcansky published in English, French, Spanish and German several scholarly writings which aimed at acquainting the World with the Slovak problem and Slovakia's right to independence. Among them should be mentioned a historical study of the events which led to Slovakia's independence, The Way t o Slovak Freedom, published also in German as: Der Weg zur slowakischer Freiheit (Bratislava, 1944) and a political and juridicial essay on the right of small states to their existence: Die Existenzberechtigung der Kleinen Staaten (Bratislava, 1944) and a historical survey on Central Europe: Mitteleuropa in Vergangenheit und Zukunft (Bratislava, 1944). The last one was published also in Spanish in Madrid and in French by the Revue de droit international in Geneva (Vol. XXII, 1944) under the title "£'Europe Centrale dans le passe at dans l'avenir". The author advocated in it the idea of federation in Central Europe and the right of Slovak's to political equality with other Central European peoples. Equally in French Durcansky denied in the same periodical any right to existence of Czechoslovakia in a well written article: Le probleme de l'existencie de la TchecoSlovaquie, ( The Problem of Czecho-Slovakia's Existence, Vol. XXI, 1944 ) . Writings Published in Exile Even though circumstances after the Second World War have been for Slovak political exiles the most unfavourable, Durcansky disregarded the difficulties and serious danger to his own safety and fought from the first moment for Slovakia's right to independence in post-war Europe. Believing in justice and later in a possible clash between the Western Powers and the Soviets, who in spite of all �158 SLOVAKIA assurances and solemn declarations were imposing their rule and Communist system on Eastern European nations, Durcansky organized from Austria Slovak political refugees and presented several memoranda to the Peace Conference in Paris in French and English advocating either the necessity of a treaty of Peace with Slovakia, or a plebiscite, or arguing against the "rationality of the existence of CzechoSlovakia (Rome, 1946). Considering the fact that the Government of Prague was organizing an international hunt for his capture, Durcansky undoubtedly displayed an uncommon courage when he went personally to Paris or when, believing in the right of political asylum in neutral countries, he made a dangerous journey through the Alps to Geneva, and from there to Rome. In Rome he tried to write various factions of Slovak refugees into one organized body, but circumstances were not only unfavourable for such an endeavor but also dangerous and therefore he left Europe in 1947 for Argentina with a group of Slovak intellectuals, with whom he created the Slovak Action Committee. There he continued to publish books and studies until 1952 when he returned to Germany. Among the books and studies which Durcansky wrote or prepared in exile for publication, the huge volume of documents (998 pages) called Prdvo Slovdkov na samostatnost' vo svetle dokumentov, Biela kniha, (The Right of Slovaks to Independence in the Light of Documents, or White Book; Buenos Aires, in April 1954), deserves special consideration. Even though his fighting temperament led him to disregard or to misrepresent the activities of other exiled Slovak organizations (such as the Slovak National Council Abroad) and even if a smaller volume in some foreign language might have been more useful, one has to recognize the assiduous work, patience and knowledge which were required for publication of this first and most camplete collection of documents on the Slovak question. The work was published thanks to the financial support of two outstanding Slovaks: Stephen B. Roman from Canada and Rev. John J . Lach, from Whiting, Ind., U.S.A. A shorter, concise study of the international aspect of the Slovak question was published by Durcansky in 1954 �SLOVAKIA 159 in German, in 1955 in English and in 1957 in Spanish under the titles: Die Slovakische Frage als eine internationale Frage (Munich, 44 p.); The International Aspects of the Slovak Qu.estion (38 p.) and El aspecto internacional de la question eslovaca (Buenos Aires, 54 p.). As in all his writings nurcansky displayed in this booklet a thorough knowledge of political literature in several languages as well as his versatility in International Law. In addition to these publications Durcansky contributed from 1952, when he settled in Europe, to various leading political and scholarly periodicals, mostly German and Austrian, such as: Politische Studien (Munich), Donauraum (Vienna), Der Europiiische Osten (Munich) ect. All these contributions ( some 20 of them are listed in his bibliography) aim at explaining to the Western World basic Slovak political problems or defending Slovakia and Slovaks against the ruthless Czech and Communist propaganda. In style and contents they meet and sometimes even overpass the high standards of European political literature and the same can be said of the memoranda (15 altogether) which :ourcansky alone or in co-operation with others published in various foreign languages on the Slovak question. A Struggle Against Many Odds From the beginning of his political career Dr. :ourcansky was engaged in a struggle against many odds. Rarely in Slovak history any political leader faced so many times a serious danger to his own safety and hardly anyone's political conceptions were subject to such a barrage of lies and misrepresentations as it was the case of :ourcansky's fight for Slovakia's independence. He faced them all as a man and never failed to believe that Slovaks can achieve an equal status with other Central European nations if they fight and make sacrifices for it. By his own activities, courage and perseverance :ourcansky set an example which deserves recognition by everyone for whom freedom, justice and human progress have any value. History of Slovakia in the crucial years before and during the Second World War was shaped by him more than his friends or adversaries have been ready to admit. In the first Slovak �160 SLOVAKIA political exile he was undoubtedly spiritus moveus and at times regarded as the uncompromising leader if not by all, certainly by a great number of those who left Slovakia in 1945. If for some period of time his methods did not lead to the intergration of all Slovaks in the free world for a united action in favour of Slovakia's liberation, it would be unjust to put the blame on him alone. Exiled groups with greater political experience and waves of political emigrees before them, passed through the same phases of mutual struggles, distrust and disunity. Slovaks in the free world could not escape the special "climate" which the circumstances of the exile generate, but even in this regard, Slovaks achieved what no other exiled group achieved: intergration of both political Slovak representations in the free world into the Slovak Liberation Council, of which Dr. nurcansky became the first president of the Executive Committee. His sixtieth birthday finds Dr. nurcansky still in undiminished activity for the Slovak cause and with unbroken belief that the Slovak struggle - a struggle against many odds - will finally be victorious . We greet him in the same spirit and cordially wish him also on behalf of those who are silenced in Slovakia: Ad multos annos! J.M. Kirschbaum THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA condemns and unequivocally opposes all forms of tyranny, every form of totalitarian political system. The Slovak League of America has always recognized the Godless philosophy of materialir.tic Communism for the dread evil and conspiracy against free humanity that it is, as the political system which threatens mankind with utter enslavement and, therefore, has fought resolutely against it in and out of season and, today, is still determined to fight against it with all the means at its command until the dread plague of Communism is wiped off the face of the earth. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 SLOVAKIA 153 PROF. DR. F. DURcANSKY - POLITICIAN, SCHOLAR AND FIGHTER FOR SLOVAKIA'S INDEPENDENCE If one could say that Slovak politics were for a long time a domain of dedicated amateur politicians, in 1930' this period ended with the emergence of a new Slovak generation, educated at universities at home and abroad, who regarded politics not only as a patriotic duty towards their oppressed nation, but also as a profession requiring thorough preparation. One of the most prominent representatives of this new generation has been Prof. Ferdinand nurcansky, LL.D.,Dip.Sc.Pol., author of several scholarly writings and the first Foreign Minister of the Slovak Re-public, who was 60 years old on December 18, 1966. Whoever will write the history of Slovakia during the dramatic years 1938-1945, will be forced to come to grips with the impact this dynamic and highly educated personality left on the relations between Czechs and Slovaks in the last year of the pre-war Czecho-Slovakia. And ~imilarly no honest historian can omit the dominant role which Dr. Durcansky played in the emergence of the Slovak Republic and in her domestic and foreign policy in 19391940. Unlike some other politicians of his generation, Prof. nurcansky did not come into politics from student's organizations-the general preparatory school for politicians in Central Europe-but from behind an university chair. The years which other students spent in academic associations and party politics, Dr. f>urcansky was dedicated to studies abroad and to the preparation for an university career, specializing in political science and international law. The University of Bratislava was, however, not only dominated by Czech professors and administrators, but her aim was also to serve the official policy of Prague, directed at the political and economic domination of Slovakia and assimilation of Slovaks. Coming from a family of well known fighters for Slovakia's autonomy (his father was a senator and his older brother was a publisher of the political periodical Ndstup) , Dr. nurcansky could not get his "veniam docendi" at such university and the scholar was plunged into politics during the crucial years of his country. 154 SLOVAKIA !.>urcansky's education in law and political science at The Hague and in Paris, his knowledge of foreign languages, his elan and inexhaustible energy were welcomed by the leaders of the Slovak autonomist movement and he became overnight, at the age of 32, one of the leading politicians in Slovakia, cabinet minister in the first Slovak autonomous government and one of the main promoters of the idea of Slovak independence. Actually he marked very strongly the whole autonomist movement in its last phase, not only because the proposal of autonomy, submitted to Prague by the Hlinka Populist Party in June 1938, was his work, but also because he influenced the movement in its attitude towards Prague in the fall of 1938, mainly through the political periodical Ndstup, around which the young educated generation was grouped. When on October 6th, 1938, the Prague Government finally agreed to grant Slovakia political autonomy, which was stipulated to Slovaks before they entered into the union with the Czechs in 1918, it was only natural that Durcansky would be called upon by the leaders of the autonomist movement to be a member of the first Slovak government. In fact, he became very soon one of the leading members, since the international situation, the territorial demands of Slovakia's neighbors and very soon also Prague's manoeuvres aiming at undoing what they granted Slovaks when they agreed to federalize Czecho-Slovakia, required a man of his knowledge of law, foreign languages and his self-confidence. Since Germany was given practically a free hand in Central Europe by the Agreement of Munich, sanctioned by all European Great Powers, it was to Berlin that the Slovaks had to turn either in their defence of their territory against unjust claims of their neighbors or when economically pressed by Prague. From these contacts it became clear to the Slovak politicians that the situation created in Munich was a temporary one and that the peoples of Central Europe had to "make the best terms they could with the triumphant Nazi Power" as Churchill expressed it in the British Parliament on September 1938. As a member of Slovak delegations which defended the territory of SLOVAKIA 155 Slovakia at the Vienna Conference or which looked for economic co-operation with Germany, :ourcansky naturally came in the forefront and, aware of the dangers faced by Slovaks if they remained inactive, became a staunch advocate of the idea of Slovakia's independence. As a result, the historical events which in March 1939 saved Slovakia from division among her neighbors and put it on the map of Europe as a Slovak Republic, are very hard to be dissociated from the foresight, courage and patriotism of Dr. :ourcansky. He also deserves credit as the first Minister of External Affairs for the rapid international recognition of the Slovak state by practically all European nations and the establishment of diplomatic relations, and, as Minister of interior, for peaceful transition to independence. An expert in international law and a patriot educated in the atmosphere of struggle for self-determination and self-government, :ourcansky understood, however, the notion of independence in its theoretical and legal connotations and inevitably came into conflict with the Government of the Third Reich from the beginning of the existence of the Slovak Republic. In 1940, not even a year and a half in his portfolio, nurcansky was forced to leave Slovak political life and, as prove the Documents on German Foreign Policy, published by the Government of the United States and England, it was for reasons of defending the Slovak interests, for trying to keep Slovakia neutral and for resisting introduction of Nazism in Slovakia. The wrath of Berlin against him was so intensive that the German Ambassador to Slovakia reported on August 19th, 1940: "the name t>urcansky and Kirschbaum should not appear anymore in any newspaper. If they do, I shall ask to forbid publication of the newspaper .. ." Ousted from politics, Dr. :ourcansky went back to the University, which at this time was in Slovak hands, and practiced law. At the end of the War he was, however, again on the political barricades and tried to save the Slovak Republic and Slovakia from catastrophy. Unwilling to make 156 SLOVAKIA deal with Moscow, he left for the West and for the past twenty years he was one of the anti-communist exiled leaders against whom the Communist regime in Prague organized the most vicious smear campaigns and on several occasions asked for his extradition. ~ Scholarly and Political Writings Originally set for a scholarly career, Dr. Durcansky used his education and knowledge for giving higher standards first to Slovak politics and later in exile to the struggle for Slovak independence. His book, Pohl'ad na slovensku minulost', ( A Look on the Slovak Past, Bratislava, 1943) many memoranda, his huge White book (Buenos Aires, 1954) and dozens of shorter studies in foreign languages published during the War or in exile, are marked by his academic background and large intelectual horizons . Given more favourable circumstances, Dr. f>urcansky would have certainly been one of the first Slovak politicians and statesmen who had not only formal education for politics but also scores of books elevating Slovak politics from provincialism to European standards. His first book M edzindrodnd intervencia (The international Intervention, Bratislava, 1936) was actually his academic thesis on the basis of which he was supposed to obtain "veniam docendi" - his professorship at the Faculty of Law of the Commenius University in Bratislava. There was no doubt whatsoever, that the scientific work met the requirements, it was nevertheless rejected because of Durcansky's political views on the relations between Czechs and Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. The work was the result of Durcansky's studies at the Institut de Hautes Etcodes Internacionales in Paris as well as the Academy of International Law at the Hague. Submitted again for acceptance in 1938 it became the basis for his teaching position first as "Docent" (Associate professor) and from 1941 as full professor. The first political work by nurcansky was his Pohl'ad na slovensk1i, minulost' ( A Look on the Slovak Past, Bratislava, 1943) in which he presented not only a new interpretation of the history of Slovaks and Slovakia, but in SLOVAKIA 157 which was also searching for the meaning of various political actions of Slovak generations and found their logical culmination in the national independence. By its method, thorough knowledge of sources and literature and clear style the book deserves to be considered among the best political writings on Slovakia's past. An extensive summary in German made the book accesible also to scholars of other nationalities and there are references to it even now by foreign historians. Before the end of the War Durcansky published in English, French, Spanish and German several scholarly writings which aimed at acquainting the World with the Slovak problem and Slovakia's right to independence. Among them should be mentioned a historical study of the events which led to Slovakia's independence, The Way t o Slovak Freedom, published also in German as: Der Weg zur slowakischer Freiheit (Bratislava, 1944) and a political and juridicial essay on the right of small states to their existence: Die Existenzberechtigung der Kleinen Staaten (Bratislava, 1944) and a historical survey on Central Europe: Mitteleuropa in Vergangenheit und Zukunft (Bratislava, 1944). The last one was published also in Spanish in Madrid and in French by the Revue de droit international in Geneva (Vol. XXII, 1944) under the title "£'Europe Centrale dans le passe at dans l'avenir". The author advocated in it the idea of federation in Central Europe and the right of Slovak's to political equality with other Central European peoples. Equally in French Durcansky denied in the same periodical any right to existence of Czechoslovakia in a well written article: Le probleme de l'existencie de la TchecoSlovaquie, ( The Problem of Czecho-Slovakia's Existence, Vol. XXI, 1944 ) . Writings Published in Exile Even though circumstances after the Second World War have been for Slovak political exiles the most unfavourable, Durcansky disregarded the difficulties and serious danger to his own safety and fought from the first moment for Slovakia's right to independence in post-war Europe. Believing in justice and later in a possible clash between the Western Powers and the Soviets, who in spite of all 158 SLOVAKIA assurances and solemn declarations were imposing their rule and Communist system on Eastern European nations, Durcansky organized from Austria Slovak political refugees and presented several memoranda to the Peace Conference in Paris in French and English advocating either the necessity of a treaty of Peace with Slovakia, or a plebiscite, or arguing against the "rationality of the existence of CzechoSlovakia (Rome, 1946). Considering the fact that the Government of Prague was organizing an international hunt for his capture, Durcansky undoubtedly displayed an uncommon courage when he went personally to Paris or when, believing in the right of political asylum in neutral countries, he made a dangerous journey through the Alps to Geneva, and from there to Rome. In Rome he tried to write various factions of Slovak refugees into one organized body, but circumstances were not only unfavourable for such an endeavor but also dangerous and therefore he left Europe in 1947 for Argentina with a group of Slovak intellectuals, with whom he created the Slovak Action Committee. There he continued to publish books and studies until 1952 when he returned to Germany. Among the books and studies which Durcansky wrote or prepared in exile for publication, the huge volume of documents (998 pages) called Prdvo Slovdkov na samostatnost' vo svetle dokumentov, Biela kniha, (The Right of Slovaks to Independence in the Light of Documents, or White Book; Buenos Aires, in April 1954), deserves special consideration. Even though his fighting temperament led him to disregard or to misrepresent the activities of other exiled Slovak organizations (such as the Slovak National Council Abroad) and even if a smaller volume in some foreign language might have been more useful, one has to recognize the assiduous work, patience and knowledge which were required for publication of this first and most camplete collection of documents on the Slovak question. The work was published thanks to the financial support of two outstanding Slovaks: Stephen B. Roman from Canada and Rev. John J . Lach, from Whiting, Ind., U.S.A. A shorter, concise study of the international aspect of the Slovak question was published by Durcansky in 1954 SLOVAKIA 159 in German, in 1955 in English and in 1957 in Spanish under the titles: Die Slovakische Frage als eine internationale Frage (Munich, 44 p.); The International Aspects of the Slovak Qu.estion (38 p.) and El aspecto internacional de la question eslovaca (Buenos Aires, 54 p.). As in all his writings nurcansky displayed in this booklet a thorough knowledge of political literature in several languages as well as his versatility in International Law. In addition to these publications Durcansky contributed from 1952, when he settled in Europe, to various leading political and scholarly periodicals, mostly German and Austrian, such as: Politische Studien (Munich), Donauraum (Vienna), Der Europiiische Osten (Munich) ect. All these contributions ( some 20 of them are listed in his bibliography) aim at explaining to the Western World basic Slovak political problems or defending Slovakia and Slovaks against the ruthless Czech and Communist propaganda. In style and contents they meet and sometimes even overpass the high standards of European political literature and the same can be said of the memoranda (15 altogether) which :ourcansky alone or in co-operation with others published in various foreign languages on the Slovak question. A Struggle Against Many Odds From the beginning of his political career Dr. :ourcansky was engaged in a struggle against many odds. Rarely in Slovak history any political leader faced so many times a serious danger to his own safety and hardly anyone's political conceptions were subject to such a barrage of lies and misrepresentations as it was the case of :ourcansky's fight for Slovakia's independence. He faced them all as a man and never failed to believe that Slovaks can achieve an equal status with other Central European nations if they fight and make sacrifices for it. By his own activities, courage and perseverance :ourcansky set an example which deserves recognition by everyone for whom freedom, justice and human progress have any value. History of Slovakia in the crucial years before and during the Second World War was shaped by him more than his friends or adversaries have been ready to admit. In the first Slovak 160 SLOVAKIA political exile he was undoubtedly spiritus moveus and at times regarded as the uncompromising leader if not by all, certainly by a great number of those who left Slovakia in 1945. If for some period of time his methods did not lead to the intergration of all Slovaks in the free world for a united action in favour of Slovakia's liberation, it would be unjust to put the blame on him alone. Exiled groups with greater political experience and waves of political emigrees before them, passed through the same phases of mutual struggles, distrust and disunity. Slovaks in the free world could not escape the special "climate" which the circumstances of the exile generate, but even in this regard, Slovaks achieved what no other exiled group achieved: intergration of both political Slovak representations in the free world into the Slovak Liberation Council, of which Dr. nurcansky became the first president of the Executive Committee. His sixtieth birthday finds Dr. nurcansky still in undiminished activity for the Slovak cause and with unbroken belief that the Slovak struggle - a struggle against many odds - will finally be victorious . We greet him in the same spirit and cordially wish him also on behalf of those who are silenced in Slovakia: Ad multos annos! J.M. Kirschbaum THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA condemns and unequivocally opposes all forms of tyranny, every form of totalitarian political system. The Slovak League of America has always recognized the Godless philosophy of materialir.tic Communism for the dread evil and conspiracy against free humanity that it is, as the political system which threatens mankind with utter enslavement and, therefore, has fought resolutely against it in and out of season and, today, is still determined to fight against it with all the means at its command until the dread plague of Communism is wiped off the face of the earth.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Prof. Dr. F. Ďurčansk - Politician, Scholar and Fighter for Slovakia’s Independence Description An account of the resource J.M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 17 (No. 40), 1967 pp. 153-160 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9ab8bdc821106ca98e9d57d4e79d69c2.pdf c1230fbe992a969dfabe930b35feb5d5 PDF Text Text 78 SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAK PRESS IN CANADA J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. For a long time the Slovak press in Canada was unknown even to such prominent experts on the life of the ethnic groups in Canada as Prof. Watson Kirkconnell. Writing in 1939 about the European-Canadians and their attitudes towards European problems during the 1938-1939 period, he made the following observation: The last census showed 30,401 Czechs and Slovaks, but did not subdivide these two distinct groups further. Until last spring there was a Czech weekly paper, ceske Noviny ("The Czech News"), published in Montreal, but it gave up the ghost about the time that Germany seized Bohemia, apparently expiring as a result of the withdrawal of financial support through the Czech Consulate-General, The Slovaks had no separate press, but there were many Canadian members of the Slovak League of America, which claims a membership of 300,000 and is bitterly anti-Czech and anti-Benesh.1 In fact, before 1939 there had existed, for shorter or longer periods of time, at least fourteen Slovak newspapers2 and periodicals. The first almanac of Canadian Slovaks, which included a short history of Slovak organizations in Canada had been published five years before the appearance of Prof. Kirkconnell's book; it seems, however, that Slovak newspapers and publications apparently had not come to the attention of Canadians. Speaking later to the annual meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, in his survey of the foreign language press, Prof. Kirkconnell drew quite a favorable picture of the Slovak press in Canada.3 It had existed, according to his report, before the Czechs or the Baltic peoples had their press in Canada and in "per capita" circulation before the Second World War, it ranked sixth among the foreign language newspapers. With 1.04 papers per home of four persons, it was ahead of Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, German, Italian press, and high above the national average. Prof. Kirkconnell explained this by remarking that "the height of the Finnish, Hungarian and Slovak figures is due to the fact that the bulk of these communities consist of post-war emigres, who brought with them political grievances that tend, at this short removal in time, to preserve their sense of identity." 4 He also pointed out that �SLOVAKIA 79 "in some cases the foreign language press reflected in Canada the political divisions within the European countries, and that that many of these papers were edited here by political exiles who are men of considerable education."5 Although Slovak newspapers and periodicals from the United States were available for the small and scattered Slovak ethnic group, it did not prevent Slovak immigrants from publishing their own newspapers, periodicals and almanacs. In fact the first Slovak newspaper appeared in Canada in 19106 when the number of Slovaks in Canada was still very small and practically no Canadian Slovak fraternal organization existed yet on Canadian soil. With the influx of immigrants after the First World War not only the number of newspapers increased, but also the quality of the Slovak language press constantly improved. There were not less than 13 newspapers and periodicals published for shorter or longer periods, before the Second World War. Altogether 30 newspapers and periodicals in the Slovak language appeared in Canada between 1910 and 1967.7 This certainly contradicts the myth that the Slovaks who came to Canada before the Second World War were mostly illiterate8 and uninterested in public affairs. While some of the newspapers were of little importance or service to the Slovak community in Canada, others performed very useful tasks. In many respects the Slovak language press is the only source of information for history of Slovaks in Canada. It relates the struggles, hardships, successes and political divisions of the Slovak ethnic group i.n this country. Many problems of the first groups of Slovak immigrants in Canada were recorded perhaps in a crude but sincere manner in these newspapers or monthlies. They were founded to serve the needs of the immigrants who did not read the English or French press, and reflected the problems of a community, struggling with difficulties created by the language barrier and unfamiliar surroundings. The papers were also the principal source of information on the activities of the associations, parishes as well as on the political views on Slovak and Canadian affairs. Slovak immigrants to Canada came divided along political, as well as religious lines, and continued to fight their old battles on Canadian soil in their press and in their associations. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find �80 SLOVAKIA a copy of some of the thirty periodicals and newspapers published in various parts of Canada during the past 57 years. It is only through indirect sources that the existence and political orientation of some periodicals has been known, for neither the Slovak organizations nor the Canadian libraries were interested in collecting them. In fact , Canadian libraries and press directories showed a lack of interest in the foreign language press and confined their attention to newspapers alone, neglecting minor publications. The need for a Slovak press in Canada, where vast distances separated the small, scattered communities of Slovak farmers and miners, is understandable. Their desire to communicate with their countrymen and the fear of loneliness and isolation explain why so many newspapers, publications, printed or mimeographed have appeared during the last 57 years . This also explains why the first Slovak newspaper, and even some later ones, started in Alberta's mining towns. Only from the 1930's on, when the second wave of Slovak immigrants moved from farms and mining towns to the industrial centres, Toronto and Montreal became the centres of the Slovak language press. The largest Slovak newspaper, Kanadsky Slovak began its publication in Montreal in 1942, then in 1952 it was moved for a few years to Winnipeg and finally settled in 1958, in Toronto. Of the thirty Slovak newspapers, periodicals and publications, fourteen were founded in Toronto and the three existing newspapers, the present almanacs and the monthly Maria, as well as books, have been published for the past eight years in Toronto. Seven Slovak publications were founded and published for some time in Montreal. The three existing newspapers are sponsored by the Slovak Canadian fraternal organizations; the Canadian Slovak League publishes Kanadsky Slovak; the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society publishes Slovensky Hlas, and the leftist Slovak Benefit Society of Canada publishes Eudove Zvesti. All three newspapers promote the aims of their association, however, they also perform certain other tasks, and each of them has a distinct political line in Slovak and Canadian affairs. We can apply to the Slovak . language press what has been said of the ethnic press in Canada in general: �SLOVAKIA 81 While the ethnic periodicals, by keeping up the reader's interest of his native country, emphasize his national consciousness and separate national identity, they help him at the same time to familiarize himself with the new country of his residence.9 From their modest beginning· when Slovak newspapers aimed at informing the scattered groups of miners or farmers of their problems and whereabouts, the Slovak language press progressed with years to more important and more diversified tasks. If the prime concern of the early Slovak newspapers was to make the life of immigrants, unfamiliar with their new country, its people, language and institutions, less lonely, by giving them information about their countrymen and opportunities for work in other parts of the country, the later newspapers helped to establish associations, parishes and became an important instrument of integration. At the same time the newspapers kept Slovak immigrants informed about their country of origin, by printing information which they could not find in Canadian press, and kept them also informed on Canada, because many did not read either English or French. In fact for a long time Slovak newspapers remained the principal source of information for Slovak immigrants about Canadian matters. Following the example of Slovak newspapers in the United States, the Slovak press in Canada began very soon to dedicate a substantial part of each newspaper to two issues: 1) the desire to keep alive or awaken national consciousness of Slovak immigrants, and 2) the necessity to fight the battles in which the Slovak people were involved in Czecho-Slovakia. The absence of censorship, which in Czecho-Slovakia silenced Slovak newspapers or permitted their publication with half-pages white 10 allowed Slovak newspapers in Canada to voice freely the grievances of the Slovak people and to fight vehemently for the political or social equality of Slovaks in their homeland. The feeling that they were allowed to express their views without hindrance, is reflected in all Slovak newspapers in Canada and one has to admire the warm patriotism and interest in cultural and political problems shown by the editors and contributors, whose education rarely went beyond high-school level. As was the case of the Slovak newspapers in the United States, the Slovak language press in Canada became an instrument which helped the immigrants to find more �82 SLOVAKIA comfortable places of living in their new country. On the other hand some Canadian Slovak newspapers also became advocates of autonomy and self-determination for Slovakia, while others followed the official policy of Prague governments or voiced their leanings to communism. In view of the role which Slovak associations and newspapers played in promoting the liberation of Slovakia from foreign domination, the publication and support of newspapers abroad was regarded by the Slovak people as a mark of patriotism, and to take a stand or to write in favor of freedom or equality of political rights for Slovakia was considered the moral duty of every Slovak abroad. This can partly explain the sacrifices which the Slovaks in Canada or in other parts of the world were willing to make to publish and maintain their press, and it also explains their continuous interest in the affairs of their country of origin. Long considered the free spokesmen of the Slovak nation, Slovaks abroad, including those in Canada, could not remain silent, especially after the Second World War when a communist system was imposed on the Slovak people. As a result, the Slovak press in Canada has reacted vehemently against the enslavement of their country of origin in the belief that by fighting communism it defended at the same time, freedom and democracy in Canada. Political involvement of Slovak language press in Canada after the Second World War became stronger than ever before, for another reason. Among the Slovak immigrants who came to Canada in the post-war period, many were not only interested in politics, but also left Slovakia for political reasons. Many of these new immigrants began to contribute political articles to the existing newspapers, and in both non-communist newspapers the new immigrants became editors (K. culen, J. Zvonar, J. Kutka and S. Reistetter in Kanadsky Slovak, M. Ferik, L. Gorekand, 0. M. Debnarkin in Slovensky Hlas). Slovak language press in Canada acquired more and more political character, and with the intensification of the Cold War and with the rising furror of the communist terror in Slovakia it became, once again, a spokesman for Slovakia. The influx of educated immigrants gave the Slovak newspapers at the same time, a higher level in cultural �SLOVAKIA 83 matters, since some of the known Slovak writers, poets and scholars used the newspapers for publishing their poetry, short novels and essays. Although not all immigrants of the previous waves liked the new face of their papers, the leaders and delegates of the Canadian Slovak League always approved the new line. During the past few years the Slovak newspapers and the almanacs or kalendars, published by the associations which sponsor the newspapers as well, have dedicated, however, more and more space to Canadian or organizational issues, and in order to interest the Canadian-born generations, the Kanadsky Slovak has regularly published an English corner. At times there have been articles in English even on the front page, if the issue treated was supposed to interest or to be brought to the attention of the Government or of other ethnic groups. This tendency to pay more attention to the problems of the community is a general trend among the ethnic press in Canada. 11 While conserving the right to speak for the countries enslaved by communism and to criticise the communist regimes, many ethnic newspapers acknowledged the fact that the ethnic groups are becoming closer to Canada than to their countries of origin. Some of them try to help their homelands by stressing their loyalty to Canada and by making appeals to the Canadian Government to voice their aspirations. 12 The Slovak language press assumed certain other duties-such as helping its readers to overcome educational shortcomings resulting from the political situation in Slovakia during the period of foreign rule, and also trying to preserve cultural values threatened by hostile pressures. The Slovak-Canadian periodicals performed these duties conscientiously, in addition to the standard functions of newspapers serving a certain area. This duality of function is perhaps the most striking feature of the Slovak-Canadian press. Practically all the newspapers and almanacs contained not only information, but also articles on cultural and historical matters as well as poetry, short novels, epigrams and other writings. For several Slovak writers, poets and politicians the Slovak language press has been the tribune for their ideas and has helped them to overcome the feelings of futility and discouragement, which many immig- �84 SLOVAKIA rant intellectuals have experienced after their arrival in Canada. And since the Slovak people in Slovakia expected that their countrymen everywhere, especially on the American continent, would not only maintain their national heritage but also help Slovakia to obtain political freedom, and after the Second World War to regain national independence, the newspapers and almanacs have been giving· much space to the general problems of communism and democracy and to specific Slovak problems. From the very beginning the Slovak press was kept alive mostly by the sacrifices and selfless dedication of editors and contributors, and by the generous support of its readers. Only later, it was maintained or subsidized by the Slovak associations. At that point, however, Slovak newspapers and periodicals became less independent and more differentiated in their political leanings, so that according to its political colouring and character, the Slovak language press can be divided into the following categories: (a ) The early informatory, non-political Slovak pubcations; (b ) Newspapers collaborating with the Czech group and favouring close ties with Prague, but autonomy for Slovakia; ( c ) Slovak press rejecting co-operation with the Czechs and advocating Slovak independence; (d) Pro-communist publications; (e) Economic, cultural and other short-lived publications; ( f) Religious publications. No doubt a lesser number of newspapers and fewer political divisions would have been preferable, but Slovaks came to Canada divided along political and religious lines. Furthermore, the political developments in Slovakia, the economic and social difficulties of the years of the economic depression and the communist take-over after World War II, perpetuated their disunity. Needless to say, the adversaries of the Slovaks' aspirations for autonomy and later for independence, supported by the consular and diplomatic representatives of Czechoslovakia, used all available means to keep them divided and fighting among themselves, and used the Slovak language press to this end. �SLOVAKIA 85 Newspapers and Periodicals The history of the Slovak language press in Canada begins with a newspaper called Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word ), published in Blairmore, Alta., by Andrew Lukca and Juraj Klesken13 in 1910. There is no evidence that the early Slovak immigrants in Canada published their own newspaper before this date. Slovak newspapers from the United States apparently satisfied the need of the scattered Slovak communities to read in their own language about Canada or Slovakia. Later, however, there was publishing activity which may surprise anyone who is acquainted with the difficulties of the Slovak immigrants in Canada, and with their small numbers. We can divide the survey of the Slovak newspapers into three periods, each corresponding with the individual waves of immigration. The first period was limited to the Canadian West and the Slovak Word is the only newspaper which was published and edited by Canadian Slovaks in that period. Modest in appearance and published at irregular intervals in a small tabloid form, the first issue of the Slovenske Slovo appeared in May 1910. Both the publisher and the editor came to Blairmore from Chicago, Ill., to join hundreds of Slovak miners who at that time worked in coal mines of the Crow's Nest Pass area. It was impossible to find out how long this first Slovak newspaper was published or how many issues appeared. As for the contents, the publication was written in a strong patriotic spirit, similar to that of Slovak newspapers in the United States before the First World War. The second period was not limited g·e ographically. Montreal and Toronto became the centres of Slovak publishing activity as well as of the successive disappearance of newspapers which had started with more enthusiasm than financial backing. Some of these newspapers, such as Kanadske Noviny for instance, ceased publication, but the newspapers which replaced them, did not start as new ones, but as a continuation of previous publications. As a result we find that Slovak v Kanade started as Volume VI, or Slovenske Bratstvo as Volume XII. The second period extends from 1928 to the end of the Second World War and was also marked by the birth of numerous religious periodicals, almanacs and tabloids. Juraj Klesken himself �86 SLOVAKIA made two more attempts at reviving a newspaper in the Canadian West, but failed, as did all individual undertakings in this field in Montreal or Toronto. The newspapers achieved more stability only when they became official organs of the fraternal organizations. At that time Slovak newspapers and periodicals also became divided along the political lines, and the divisions survive to this day. The second, as later the third period, was turbulent at times, full of polemics, bitter invective and in some instances even law suits resulting from partisan polemics and attacks. The atmosphere in the Slovak press was particularly poisoned by hate, denunciations and invectives in 1939 and during the war years, and again from 1948, when the Slovak and Czech political refugees arrived in Canada. In spite of denunciations by the Czech, communist and Czechoslovak press, no Canadian Slovak newspaper was prohibited by the Canadian Government except the communist one. The prohibition of the circulation of Slovak American newspapers, which was imposed upon the weekly Jednota and the bi-weekly Slovenskd Obrana as a result of false accusations, by the Czech and Czechoslovak newspapers, that they spread or advocated Nazism, was suspended14 shortly after it was put into effect. It created, however, an atmosphere of bitterness, and mutual accusations which divided the Slovak community for the entire period of the war. However, a positive result was forthcoming as far as Slovaks in Canada were concerned, as the Government authorities were skeptical from then on about subsequent denunciations of Slovaks by the Czech or communist newspapers. The First World War and the limited immigration to Canada from Slovakia until 1926 interrupted the publishing activity among Slovaks. Only the influx of Slovak immigrants around 1928, among whom many were involved in the post-war political and social clashes in Slovakia, led to the founding of new Slovak newspapers. The strongest centres for publishing activity in the period were Montreal, where from 1928 to 1939 five newspapers and one periodical were founded, and Toronto, where the small group of Slovak communists made three successive attempts at pub- �SLOVAKIA 87 lishing newspapers. All these newspapers represented political and ideological differentiation of Slovak immigrants and can be divided into three categories: ( 1) Newspapers with Slovak patriotic leanings, defending the right of the Slovak people to political autonomy and their own cultural development; (2) Newspapers supporting the official ideology of Prague governments and advocating Czechoslovak national, linguistic and cultural unity; (3) Newspapers with socialist and communist tendencies. Some newspapers changed their original political orientation, while others stood firmly on their ideological ground. Kanadske Noviny (Canadian News) was the first newspaper of this period. Published in Montreal from 1928 to 1933, the newspaper changed publishers, editors and political lines several times. The founder, J . Pribil, was the owner of a travel and colonization agency, and when faced with a deficit, he sold the newspaper to his employees. They in turn sold it to the publishers of New Yorksky Dennik and the last owner was Gabriel Kurdel, whom we mentioned in connection with the first Slovak organization in Canada. Originally the newspaper advocated a close political union between Slovaks and Czechs along the lines of the official policy of Prague's government and its subtitle was: "Czechoslovak Weekly". G. Kurdel, after taking over the ownership, changed not only the political orientation of the newspaper, but also its name, to Slovak v Kanade. The editors, Stanislav Zuber and Martin Dudak, were also replaced. Slovak v Kanade (The Slovak in Canada) was published in Montreal from 1933 to 1939 and in some way it may be considered as a forerunner of Kanadsky Slovak. 1~ Kurdel, the publisher as well as the editor, Frantisek Kvetan, endeavoured to give the Slovak immigrants in Canada a newspaper which would reflect their political orientation and clear the confusion created by the official Czechoslovak propaganda in the ranks of Slovak Canadians. Unfortunately the financial burden was too heavy on the publisher, and the newspaper ceased publication on the threshold of the Second World War. Slovensky Priekopnik (The Slovak Pioneer) was, according to some sources,16 the successor of Slovak v Kana- �88 SLOVAKIA de and its editor, Stanislav Zuber, tried to keep its con- tents in line with the feelings and thinking of the majority of Slovak immigrants, who were not willing to support blindly the Czecho-Slovak National Association, which served the aims of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile. A legal suit against the newspaper by the President of the Association added to its financial difficulties and the newspaper discontinued publication in October 1943.17 A tabloid called Obeznik Slovenskeho Priekopnika (The circular of the Slovak Pioneer) also ceased to exist after a few issues. Slovenske Bratstvo (Slovak Brotherhood) was also published in Montreal as "The Democratic organ of the Slovaks in Canada" and it claimed in its subtitle to be the successor to the weekly Slovak in Canada. For a short time the Canadian Slovak League used Slovenske Bratstvo as its official newspaper. The newspaper and its editor, Stefan Hreha, however, were unscrupulously attacked by the newspaper Nova Vlast' and denounced in Ottawa. The apparent aim of the newspaper Nova Vlast' as well as of the former Consul General of Czechoslovakia in Canada, was to obtain the prohibition of Slovenske Bratstvo as well as the suspension of the circulation of all Slovak newspapers from the United States which did not support the political program of Dr. Benes. 18 Nova Vlast' (New Homeland) was founded in 1934 with the apparent aim of fostering the official Czechoslovak ideology among Slovak and Czech immigrants in Canada. From 1928 there was among Slovak immigrants a clear political differentiation, and not only the large group of those who adhered to the Slovak autonomist movement, but also the communist group, were sometimes critical of Prague's official policy. Backed by the consular and diplomatic representatives of Czechoslovakia Nova Vlast' sought to keep Slovak immigrants "faithful" to the concept of the ethnic and linguistic unity of the Czechs and Slovaks and resulting assimilation of the Slovak people. For some time Nova Vlast' avoided an open clash and published the official news of the First Slovak Mutual Benefit Society of Kirkland Lake .19 From 1939 however, the newspaper became aggressive toward everyone who did not agree with the political program of the Czech and Slovak exiled groups in England. The members of the Canadian Slovak League �SLOVAKIA 89 and the editors of the newspapers which defended the right of Slovaks to self-determination were particularly attacked and unscrupulously denounced by Nova Vlast'. Until 1936 the newspaper had been edited by Stanislav Zuber, who for some time had been the editor of The Slovak Pioneer, But from 1936, an employee of the Bank of Commerce, Martin Dudak, was the responsible editor, and was helped by the former Consul General of Czechoslovakia, Dr. F. Pavlasek. In 1932 Juraj Kleskefl made another attempt at publishing a newspaper in the west. It was called Hlas Naroda (The Voice of the Nation) and was published in Blairmore, Alberta, from 1932 to 1934. Hlas Naroda was a small-sized publication on 4 pages, which included a supplement called Nasa Mladez (Our Youth). Financial difficulties caused the disappearance of both in 1934. However, Klesken was not a man to be easily discouraged. Since from 1934 not only the Czechoslovak newspaper Nova Vlast', but also the communist newspaper had attacked the patriotic group of Slovak immigrants, Kleskefl started publication in 1940, of Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word). The leading articles were written in English by well-known Slovaks from the United States and Canada: Dr. P. P. Hletko, S. Palickar and F . Zeman. The articles shed new light not only on the Slovak leaders of the pre-war period but also on the Slovak Republic and its President, Dr. J. Tiso, which the adversaries of Slovakia used as a pretext to accuse the publisher of spreading and advocating nazism. Kleskefl was cleared by Canadian authorities, but he discontinued publication of his newspaper. This was the third and last attempt at publishing a Slovak newspaper in the Canadian West. The small group of Slovak communists started publication of their first newspaper in 1931. The name of the mimeographed publication was Nase Slovo (Our Word) and it was published in Toronto. According to one of the editors of the Communist press in Canada, J . f>uriancik, this "labour-progressive" newspaper looked miserable, as miserable as those who contributed their last nickels for its first issue. It was mimeographed on simple sheets and not in newspaper size." 20 A year later its name was changed to Robotnicke Slovo (Workers' Word) and was printed as a regular newspaper. The publisher and editor of the Work- �90 SLOVAKIA ers' Word was J. Huska. These two first leftist newspapers were socialist rather than communist in their contents and orientation. When the Slovak communists organized their Slovenske Kulturne Sdruzenie (Slovak Cultural Association), the newspaper Robotnicke Slovo changed its name to Hlas Eudu (The People's Voice). It was published twice a week and both the Slovak Cultural Association and the newspapers adhered to communist ideology. The communist movement has never had many supporters among Slovak immigrants in Canada. To attract members they formed front organizations like Slovenske Kulturne Sdruzenie or various clubs 21 and used slogans of social justice, progress, peace and democracy. Around 1939 the newspaper Hlas Eudu edited by Cyprian Slimak, became, however, an agressive tool of communist propaganda among Slovak immigrants in Canada22 and as a result, the Canadian authorities ordered its suspension in 1940. The Canadian Government, using its war-time emergency powers, prohibited all communist newspapers and dissolved communist organizations. When the Soviet Union joined the camp of the Western Allies in 1941, Slovak leftist groups started publication of Nase Slovo (Our Word) as a continuation of Hlas Eudu. At the end of the war the newspaper changed its name to Eudove Zvesti ( People's News ) and has survived until the present time, edited by J. f>uriancik for the past two decades. The newspaper remained faithful to its program and to the Prague government even in the period of the socalled cult of personality, when the most prominent Slovak communists were either hanged or sent to jail for life by the Czechoslovakian leaders of the Communist Party. Unlike the other Slovak newspapers, the Slovak communist press in Canada did not gain any of the post-war educated immigrants as contributors or editors. Slovak communist newspapers were published and edited by devoted organizers of the communist movement whose partisan zeal overshadowed their education. How much financial help or how many articles for printing the communist press received from Czechoslovakia, is hard to say. Yet many articles seem to indicate that they were written by educated people. Eudove Zvesti never failed to publish �SLOVAKIA 91 attacks and smear propaganda, originated in Prague, against Slovaks in Canada who disagreed either with the communist or the Czech rule in Slovakia, which would indicate that the newspaper is more concerned with how to please the Prague government than to serve the interest of the Slovak immigrants in Canada. We may say about the Slovak language communist press what Turek recorded on the Polish language press in Canada, that: The Polish-language communist press in Canada, as well as the whole party organization, were always characterized by strict discipline, efficient organization and fanatical dedication on the part of the leaders. Needless to add, the general policy was always dictated from outside, and the local leadership was charged only with its execution. Thanks to this rigid organization and discipline, the communist group managed to maintain for thirty years its own press, even though it never had a wide circulation and could not rely on any substantial advertising revenue.23 The founding of Kanadsky Slovak in 1942 was the result of political struggles within the Slovak cummunity in Canada. After the communist group established its press and the Czechoslovak group received strong support from the Czech representatives of the exiled Czech politicians in London, the large part of Canadian Slovaks who were neither pro-communist nor pro-Czech felt an urgent need for their own newspaper. The leaders and members of the Canadian Slovak League were particularly anxious to have an instrument of defense against the combined attacks of the pro-communist and pro-Czech press. Not only did some of them suffer as a result of denunciations by the proCzech and pro-communist newspapers, but also they could not look on, inactive, at the political confusion created among Canadian Slovaks by portraying inaccurately the situation in Slovakia. The decision to publish their own newspaper was taken at the Fifth Congress of the Canadian Slovak League, held on September 8-10, 1941.24 The first issue was published on March 5, 1942 in Montreal and, as evidenced by its contents, there was no doubt that it was published in order to defend the members of the League against accusations by the leftist and Czechoslovak newspapers. It was decided that the newspaper should be published in Slovak "national and �92 SLOVAKIA Christian spirit",25 which the publication has endeavoured to do for the past 26 years. The first editor of Kanadsky Slovak was a young, courageous newspaperman, Stefan Hreha, who had previously edited Slovenske Bratstvo. During his military service he was replaced by Frantisek Kvetan until 1946, when Hreha again took up his duties. 26 In 1949 the Eight Congress of the League elected Konstantin Culen, a well-known journalist and author of numerous works on cultural and political history, 27 as assistant editor. In 1952 the newspaper was transferred to Winnipeg, where the League purchased a printing shop, and Culen became the editor-inchief of the newspaper, as well as of the Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, which began publication in 1953. From Winnipeg and from 1958 in Toronto, Kanadsky Slovak was edited exclusively by the political refugees. Among those in Winnipeg were the poet Jozef Zvonar-Tien, Jozef Kutka and for a decade now, Stefan Reistetter, whose original profession was teaching, but who had been attracted by politics and journalism in Slovakia. Also among the contributors for the past 20 years were mostly the postwar immigrants, even though the "old guard" - Andrew Kucera, Andrew Potocky, Pavol Blaho and others - regularly sent contributions on special occasions. The founding of Kanadsky Slovak closed the second period of the Slovak language press in Canada. A new period opened in 1949 when the second largest Slovak organization, the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society began publishing its official organ, Slovensky Hlas in Windsor. 2 " In the third period several periodicals started publication and some survived. The number of newspapers was stabilized, as were their political and ideological leanings and programs. The standards of the newspapers improved, except for the communist weekly, owing to a large number of contributors from among the political refugees . At the outset, Slovensky Hlas was published on four pages and was concerned primarily with organizational matters. In 1951 it was transferred to Toronto and enlarged to eight pages with varied contents, and has been published monthly. Without fighting party politics it informs its readers in an objective way on Canadian and Slovak problems. Rooted in tradition of Slovak newspapers �SLOVAKIA 93 as they originally appeared in Canada or in the United States, it dedicates a substantial part to Slovak cultural and national issues, in order to keep Slovak national consciousness alive, then to the matters of the association which is its sponsor and publisher. Slovensky Hlas was edited in Windsor by J.M. Gerez, Jr. , and :r.udovft Garek. After its transfer to Toronto, Mikulas Ferik and the poet Ondrej M. Debnarkin29 took over the editorial duties. Debnarkin also edited the almanacs published by the Canadian Slovak Benefit Soci ety while Garek became Secretary General of the Societ y . Both are postwar immigrants to Canada. Apart from Slovensky Hlas several short-lived mimeographed monthlies were published in the post-war period. In 1948 Stanislav Zuber began publishing a monthly under the name E konomia. According to cul en the original plan of Zuber was to put into the hands of Slovak immigrants a periodical dedicated to economic problems, but there was not enough interest for such an undertaking and the experiment did not prove successful. E konomia ceased to appear in its second year. 30 The second monthly was published in Toronto by Dr. Paul Fundarek, another member of the group of young educated Slovaks who preferred exile to the submission to communism. The name of the publication was Nds zivot ( Our Life) and it was considered an official organ of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Canada. Born of enthusiasm, but without funds, it was short-lived, ceasing publication with its tenth issue. In 1952 the group of members of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Toronto began to publish a mimeographed periodical Domovina ( Homeland ) . Its editor was a young lawyer, Julius Ksinan, who made a name for himsef in Slovakia in the post-war years by courageously defending one of the members of the Slovak government, Alexander Mach. His attempts at making a career in journalism were not, however, very successful. The publication reflected the turbulent period among Slovak exiles but without contributing positively to political or cultural activities of Slovaks in Canada, it suffered the fate of its predecessor Nds zivot and ceased to exist in 1954. In 1953 the Union of Slovak Combattants made an at- �94 SLOVAKIA tempt at founding a new periodical in a mimeographed form. The publication was called Domobrana (Home Defense) and was edited by the poet Jan Doransky in Montreal. Later it was transferred to Toronto and published at irregular intervals, in a printed form. After its transfer to Toronto Domobrana was even more intolerant and defamatory than Domovina in its attacks on the leaders of the Slovak exiles who disagreed with the methods and views of the Union of Slovak Combattants. It was later transferred to the United States. As A. R. Boyd wrote on ethnic press in Canada, the Slovak language press "has had a chequered career. The rates of birth and mortality have been high. [But] it was inevitable that [it] should have made its appearance." 31 It was kept alive mostly by idealism and unpaid work as well as monetary contributions by its readers, leaders of the associations and underpaid editors. Fund raising on every possible occasion, such as weddings, banquets, picnics, was for a long time one of the main sources of revenue for covering the publishing expenses. With a few exceptions all the editors had to have another job in order to earn enough money to live. Almanacs and Religious and Cultural Periodicals Among Slovak language publications in Canada, almanac or "kalendar", published by Slovak organizations, and religious monthlies or souvenir books published by parishes played an important part socially and in education. Both monthlies and almanacs were favoured reading of the Slovak rural population in Europe, and the habit of having something to read for the long winter evenings, was brought to Canada and preserved. It was, perhaps, even more important in Canada because the almanacs and souvenir books as well as the religious monthlies published information not only on the Slovak communities in Canada, but also articles and pictures about the life of Canadian Slovaks, in addition to the educational articles, short novels and patriotics, moralistic or religious poetry. If this kind of publication appeared in Canada in the Slovak language comparatively late (the first in 1934) or if it was not numerous, the reason can be found in the distribution of well-established publications of a similar type �SLOVAKIA 95 from the United States. Some Slovak immigrants also received almanacs and religious monthlies from Slovakia. As a result their publication in Canada began only after the Slovak associations and parishes were established. In their appearance and content, they followed the pattern of their Slovak American counterparts as well as that of almanacs published in Slovakia. The first almanac was published in 1934 under the title Prvy Kalenddr Kanadskych Slovdkov na rok 1934. It approached its readers with the slogan "May brotherhood and concord prevail among us" and was edited by a group of well-known organizers of Slovak community life: G. Kurdel, F. Zeman, J. Pavlovic, F. Kvetan and Rev. Urban Koval. According to the introductory note, the almanac was not sponsored by any fraternal organization, as was the case later, but by a "Slovak Publishing Company". This first almanac contains valuable information on the life and organizational activities of Slovak immigrants in Canada before 1934. There are articles from practically all provinces on the founding and activities of fraternal societies and parishes, with pictures of their leaders and members. The almanac also published a survey of the history of Canada with photographs of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Regina and Victoria and several general views of the cities of Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver, in addition to short novels and verses written either by poets in Slovakia or by Slovak immigrants in Canada. The contributions, even though written by people with limited education, except for F. Zeman, were written in a spirit of idealism and patriotism towards Slovakia but with a strong sense of attachment to Canada. Unfortunately, the Kalenddr was published only twice and several years passed before new almanacs appeared. The next almanac was published in 1939 by the leftist group under the name Eudovy Kalenddr pre Kanadu, ( People's Almanac for Canada) but died out with the first issue. It was concerned mainly with communism and Russia but also dealt with Slovaks and Canada, and contained some useful information on the small group of Slovaks who drifted away from the bulk of Slovak immigrants in Canada, as well as on the first leftist organizations. Slovak almanacs began to appear �96 SLOVAKIA as regular annual publications only after the Second World War. The largest Slovak fraternal organization in Canada, the Canadian Slovak League, began to publish its Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy in 1952. The place of publishing this time was in the west, in Winnipeg. The number of contributors from among the "older" immigrants was comparatively limited in the first issues of the Kalendar since there were already many Slovak writers of the post-war immigration who wrote for newspapers and almanacs published in Canada, the United States and elsewhere.32 The editor, Konstantin Culen, wrote a good deal of the material himself. The contents of the Kalendar were of an informative and educational nature and referred to the organizational life of Slovaks in Canada, as well as to cultural and political problems of Slovakia and Canada. The almanac was later transferred to Toronto and besides the leaders of the Canadian Slovak League many known Slovak writers and publicists regularly contributed articles on cultural or political matters as well as verses and short novels, making the Kalendar an interesting and valuable symposium. At the same time the Kalendar published articles on the hi.story of Slovaks in Canada in Slovak as well as in English and the first survey of the Slovak language press. 33 The Kalendar at all times manifested loyalty to Canada and interest in the fate of the Slovak people whose freedom and independence it strongly advocated. After Culen left for the United States, the Kalendar was edited by ~tefan Reistetter and an anonymous editorial board, composed of the main contributors. The administrative duties and problems with publication and distribution of the Kalendar were in Toronto, mostly in the hands of the Publishing Committee of the Canadian Slovak League. In 1957 the second largest Slovak fraternal organization, the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society, began to publish its yearly almanac. The first issue was published under the name Pamatnica Kanadskeho Slovenskeho Podporneho Spolku a Kalendar Slovenskeho Hlasu (Souvenir Book of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society and Almanac of the Slovak Voice for the year 1957 ). It seems to have been edited by 0 . M. Debnarkin, although a notice on the front page states that it was prepared by the editorial board of �SLOVAKIA 97 the newspaper Slovensky Hlas. The contents of the Pamiitnica deal mostly with the achievements and problems of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society which in 1952 celebrated its 25th anniversary. It contains articles and pictures of the founders and main leaders of the Society and its branches, and several verses by the editor. The following issues dedicated more space to literary and cultural contributions, though articles on the goals and achievements of the sponsoring society, and contributions by the leaders and members, were always more numerous than in the almanac of the Canadian Slovak League, whose contributors were predominantly the post-war immigrants. Conservative and educational rather than political and literary, the almanac of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society has fulfilled among its readers, the function of an organizational publication. The leftist Slovak Benefit Society did not issue any regular publication of the type of almanac except for one issue of Eudovy Kalenddr pre Kanadu in 1939 as previously mentioned. Slovak almanacs or "kalendars" in Canada had to compete with similar publications distributed by the Slovak fraternal organizations in the United States. The Canadian members of the First Catholic Slovak Union, have been receiving yearly a well-edited Kalenddr Jednota which, in its 200-300 pages brings articles and pictures from the life of Slovaks in both countries and many educational, literary and political articles referring to Slovakia and to the new homelands of Slovak immigrants. The gymnastical fraternal organization Slovak Catholic Sokol also provides its Canadian members with a yearly almanac of comparatively high literary value, as does the National Slo1Yak Society, which sends to its Canadian members not only a newspaper, but also an almanac, called Ndrodny Kalenddr, which was founded in 1893 and is considered one of the best Slovak almanacs. Slovak religious publications in Canada were not numerous and in view of the religious consciousness of the Slovak people, need some explanation. Basically it was for the same reason mentioned in connection with the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks: immigrants from Slovakia to Canada were either unmarried young men or those �98 SLOVAKIA who were married left their families at home. They moved from one mining camp to another or from the West to the East looking for jobs, and established their permanent home and place of residence very slowly. Another reason was the lack of Slovak priests who would have organized parishes and taken care of the religious needs of Slovak immigrants.34 As a result of this situation, the first Slovak Canadian religious monthly appeared only in 1938. It was published in Montreal, under the name Ave Maria, by J. Skoda, and was in elaborate form and large size, containing many pictures. J. skoda was assisted by an anonymous board of editors. Also called the Slovak Catholic Rosary News in English, it contained religious articles and news on Slovak Catholics in Canada. A new monthly was not published until 1955 when the Slovak priests of the Byzantine Rite came to Canada and began to organize Slovak Greek Catholic parishes. The founders of the monthly, published under the name Maria, were Rev. M. Rusnak, and Rev. Francis Fuga, pastor of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Hamilton.35 The publication found a generous supporter in Stephen B. Roman and survived all difficulties over the past eleven years. The circulation amounts to 1,500 copies and it has subscribers also in the United States and other parts of the free world. As all religious foreign language publications in Canada, these two monthlies served not only the religious needs of the Slovak immigrants, but also fulfilled cultural and social functions. They have recorded important events among Slovaks in Canada and in the world, but their main goal remains religious. Nearly all Slovak parishes published on the occasion of their inauguration, or for anniversaries, souvenir books, some of which, as the Souv enir Book of the Fifth Anniversary of the Church of the Visitation in Winnipeg, (Winnipeg, 1955) contained valuable information, not only on the church and its community, but also a short history of Slovak immigrants in Manitoba. Souvenir book of the dedication of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church of Ascension i n Montreal (Montreal, 1962), with many photographs, re- corded the history of the parish as well as of the building of the church. Pamiitnik Tridsat'rocneho Jubilea Zalozenia �SLOVAKIA 99 Slovenskej Evanjelickej Lutherdnskej Cirkvi vo Windsore, Ontario, ( Souvenir Book of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Nativity Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church in Windsor, Ontario) published in 1958 also brings a short his- torical outline of the life, organization and activities of the Slovak Lutheran community. The "Memorial Book" of the Slovak Lutheran Church of Ascension in Montreal was published in 1954 and contains a short history of the congregation in Slovak and English, as well as pictures from the life of the congregation. The inauguration of the Slovak Junior Seminary in Sarnia was also recorded by the publication of a Souvenir Book as were the inauguration of parishes or churches in Hamilton, Welland and others. The 25th Anniversary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic parish in Toronto recorded in 1959 in a special souvenir book, also records the history of the parish with many pictures, and is considered to be one of the best publications of its kind. The Slovak Jesuit missionary centre in Galt has produced, since 1958, an annual publication called Slovenski Jezuiti v Kanade, ( Slovak Jesuits in Canada). The publication contains mainly reports on the activities of Slovak Jesuits in Canada and the United States. There have also been, however, articles on general religious problems and in the issue for 1966, Rev. J. Moravsky published a valuable survey of the religious life and organizations of Slovak Catholics in Canada. The value of the publication for the history of Slovaks in Canada, may one day be considerable. In conclusion we may say about the Slovak religious press in Canada what is generally said of the ethnic religious press: The Slovak Canadian and Slovak religious press aimed at serving the religious needs of Slovak communities of various denominations and the papers are very similar to their French, English and other ethnic counterparts. Although some of these religious papers are small, unpretentious and at times published irregularly, their importance is far in excess of their physical characteristics. Like the foreign language press in general, the religious papers provide a link with the past life of the immigrants and thus serve as a stabilizing force in their new environment, particularly with regard to moral standards. 36 As for cultural publications, there was only one attempt at establishing a Slovak non-political, cultural and literary periodical in Canada. The young educated post-war �100 SLOVAKIA immigrants, whose university studies were interrupted by the communist occupation of Slovakia, began to publish in Montreal, in 1949, a monthly called Rozvoj (Progress ) of long standing among university students. 37 It was published in a large-size on 90 pages, and among its contributors were some of the most outstanding intellectuals, poets and writers. After a year the publication ceased to exist. The main reason for its disappearance was the hard beginning of the educated Slovak newcomers to Canada and to other countries. On the other hand, the newspapers and almanacs available in Canada were willing to publish any literary or cultural contribution and there was, therefore, no particular need for a new publication. 38 Along with Rozvoj publication was also discontinued of a series of literary works by young Slovak writers in exile, called Edicia Rozvoja, which started with a drama Krvavy Kriz (Bloody Cross), written by a Slovak poet, Karol Strmefl, under the nom de plume Milan Novak. Slovak-Czech Relations in the Slovak Press in Canada Analyzing the reasons for the founding of the foreign language newspapers in Canada, Allan R. Boyd writes, that primary factor in the establishment of an ethnic press was the growing national consciousness of certain groups whose European territories were under the rule of what they regarded as foreign powers. The pervading nationalism which germinated and grew throughout Europe during the nineteenth century had its reflection in the press established abroad. Ethnic groups abroad always have been concerned with events affecting their homeland, even when that homeland is not engaged in a struggle for liberation or independence. Thus one of the 'raison d'etre' of the press which came into being was the preoccupation with, and propagation of, ideals of national independence." 39 The Slovak language press has been no exception in this regard. Since 1928, when the first Slovak newspaper of the inter-war period appeared in Canada, the Slovak-language press was divided in its attitude towards the policy of Prague government with regard to Slovakia as well as toward the Czech emigrants in Canada. There were many attempts at keeping alive the false pretension that Czechs and Slovaks were one ethnic group and a few newspapers, �SLOVAKIA 101 published in the Slovak language, called themselves "Czecho-Slovak weeklies". Those papers, were, however, not many and there was usually behind them either Czech financial support or they served at the same time the needs of the Czech community in Canada. 40 These "Czechoslovak" newspapers defended the Czech policy in Slovakia and systematically wrote against Canadian Slovaks who were on the side of the Slovak political movement which aimed at autonomy and self-rule in Slovakia and stressed that Slovaks were a distinct ethnic and cultural entity. The debates on these subjects were often conducted in strong terms and with little respect for the facts and feelings. Shortly before and during the Second World War some "Czechoslovak" newspapers used demagogy and denunciations41 against those Slovaks who differed in their opinions from the Czech views on the policy of Prague or from the political aims of the Czech exiles in London. The controversy was fought not only in Slovak papers in Canada, but also in the United States, particularly when the Slovaks, who did not agree with the "Czechoslovak" political line, were accused of disloyalty towards Canada.42 As the War progressed the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs in Canada were more tense, and the polemics more heated in the Slovak language press. The continuous attacks by the Czech oriented and pro-Communist Slovak newspapers on the leaders and members of the Canadian Slovak League led finally to the founding of the Kanadsky Slovak, which reflects, from 1942, the other side of the tense Slovak - Czech relations. The fact that Slovakia after the War, instead of receiving independence, not only was returned under the Czech rule but also the Communist system was imposed upon the Slovak people, contributed to an increase of the proportion of space devoted by the Slovak language press in Canada to the problems of the "old country" or in other words to the Slovak-Czech relations. Moreover, the new enslavement of the Slovak people led to the foundation of some periodicals, devoted to the political objectives of Slovak exiles and refugees who arrived in Canada around 1950. They were, however, all short-lived and some of them appeared at irregular intervals, mostly when their anonymous contributors and editors felt the need to attack and slander other Slovak emigres or Slovak organizations. �102 SLOVAKIA Particularly, the contributions of the new immigrants to the older Slovak newspapers concentrated mainly on national problems and on the defence of the Slovak people's right to independence explaining the situation in Slovakia during the war, which has constantly been misrepresented abroad. They were the "forced migrants" about whom R. A. Boyd writes that "naturally their own fate and that of their homeland deeply concerns them." 43 The Slovak language press in Canada has strongly reflected this new situation. As always before, it helped the integration of Slovaks with the mainstream of Canadian life, as well as with other ethnic groups. Some post-war immigrants endeavored even to strengthen the positive attitude of the Slovak press in Canada toward other ethnic groups, which except for the Czechs, had always been friendly and most co-operative in their relations with Canadian Slovaks. This is especially true with regard to other Slavic groups with whom the Slovaks in Canada felt kinship, and basically understood their language. Polish, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Croatian, and other Slavic events in Canada have been registered in the Slovak Canadian press and Slovak representatives occupied the highest offices in the Canadian Ethnic Press Association or Canada Ethnic Press Federation. 44 The negative attitude toward the Czech group, which appeared in the 1930's and became stronger during and after the Second World War, as mentioned before, was mostly caused by the tendency of some Canadian Czechs, and later of their newspapers, to speak on behalf and in the name of Canadian Slovaks, which the Slovaks resented; secondly, it was caused by the difference of opinions on the policy of Prague governments and Slovak aspirations for self-government; thirdly, by vicious attacks on Slovaks who disagreed with Czechs. 45 Even before the Second World War, when the Slovak newspapers regarded Czechoslovakia as their motherland, they were opposed to the policy of the Prague government which aimed at assimilation of Slovaks and domination of Slovakia by Czechs. Since the Czech and Czechoslovak Communist papers in Canada stood behind the Prague government and opposed the aspirations of the Slovak people for autonomy within Czechoslovakia, denying the existence of a culturally and ethnically distinct Slovak entity, conflicts flared up and were discussed with vehemence in the Slovak press. �SLOVAKIA 103 The animosity and attacks were intensified especially during and after the Second World War. The proclamation of Slovakia's independence was considered by the Czech and Czechoslovak-oriented press as a treason, while for many Slovaks in Canada it was an achievement of national ideals. And because, soon after the proclamation of independence, Great Britain (and twenty-eight other states ) recognized the Slovak Republic and not only appointed a Consul of Her Majesty in Slovakia but also received a Slovak Consul-General in London, 46 many Canadian Slovaks and their press did not see anything wrong in looking favourably at the establishment of the Slovak Republic or did not see any reason to be against it. When the war started, the new Slovak government did not have, in their views, any choice and was therefore unwillingly on the side of Germany. Czech and Czechoslovak newspapers and organizations used however, this against the Slovaks in Canada and caused to many of them personal difficulties with Canadian authorities and a lot of injustice. 47 In fact, denunciations of Slovaks by some Czech newspapers and leftist Czechoslovak newspapers went too far not to be rejected or counter-acted. As a result, a part of the Slovak Canadian press was forced into the defensive and into a fight with the Czech and so-called Czechoslovak newspapers .48 If one wants to judge the relations between the Slovaks and the Czechs from these polemics or from the attacks by some Czech papers on Slovaks and, particularly on the Slovak aspirations for self-government, he will easily come to the conclusion that there is hardly any possibility for co-operation between these two groups in Canada, and that Slovaks and Czechs at home and abroad have little reason to support the further existence of Czechoslovakia. On this brief outline of the Slovak press in Canada in relation to the political, social and cultural needs of the Slovak ethnic group which it serves, we can apply what Victor Turek said about the Polish press, that "it cannot be accurately interpreted without constantly bearing in mind that it has been a press of an oppressed nation struggling for its full freedom. It may be that other ethnic groups, originating from more fortunate countries, enjoying more stability and security, have created in Canada a different type of press - with different aims and duties. �104 SLOVAKIA It may be that for such other groups the importance of maintaining their native language and national traditions was not as paramount."49 FOOTNOTES 1. Kirkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitier, (Toronto, 1939), p. 187. 2. The Canadian Almanac (1931) listed for the first time Slovak press in Canada with a circulation of 9,000. See Slavs in Canada, (Edmonton, 1966), p. 149. 3. See his contribution "The European-Canadians in their Press" in the Report of the annual meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, (Toronto, 1940), p. 86-87. 4. Ibid., p. 88. 5. Ibid., p. 91. 6. The first newspaper was published in Blairmore, Alta., under the name Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word). See K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade", Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy ( 1953), p. 98. 7. See the list of Slovak newspapers. 8. J. T. M. Anderson, The Education of the New Canadian, p. 84. 9. V. Turek, Polish-Language Press in Canada (Toronto, 1952), p. 22. 10. See E. Urban, "Censorship policies in Czecho-Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. XV, p. 93-133. 11. See V. Turek, Polish-Language Press, Op. cit., p. 22. 12. Among the Slovak newspapers in Canada, Kanadsky Slovak was one of the main ones to adopt this line. 13. On Klesken, whose publishing activity spread also into the 1930's and 1940's, see K. culen, "Zomrel Juraj Klesken", Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, ( 1960), p. 168-70. 14. See Slovenske Bratstvo, December 22, 1939. 15. See K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," (A brief survey of the history of Slovak journalism in Canada), Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy (1953), p. 104. 16. See "Zaznam o krajanskej tlaci v Kanade," Narodniarsky Kalendar (1966), p. 78. It seems that Slovenske Bratstvo was the real successor. 17. According to Narodniarsky Kalendar, loc. cit., it ceased to exist in 1941. K. Culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., gives the date October 1943. culen also comments on the legal action in which a Czech Consul Gardavsky was used as an expert in Slovak language even though he did not speak Slovak. �SLOVAKIA 105 18. See Slovenske Bratstvo "Este zije duch slovensky" (The Slovak spirit still lives) , December 29, 1939. 19. Ncirodniarsky Kalendcir, loc. cit., p. 79. The National Slovak Benefit Society also published a mimeographed publication Ncirodne Noviny (National News) on 4-6 pages, and edited by G. Surovsky. 20. J . f>uriancik, "Nase l'udove hnutie a jeho vznik", 13udovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu (1939), p . 22. 21. See 13udovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu (1939), p. 66-75. 22. Admiration for the Soviet Union, Spanish communists and hatred of capitalist countries, mixed with Slovak patriotism is apparent also in the calendar published by Hlas 13udu and called .Cudovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu . 23. V. Turek, Polish-Language Press, op. cit., p. 118. On the pro-communist ethnic press in Canada, A. R. Boyd, "The Foreign Language Press in Canada" in John Kosa (ed.) Immigrants in Canada (Montreal, 1955), p. 45. 24. See Pavol Blaho, "Ako doslo k zalozeniu Kanadskeho Slovaka" (How the Canadian Slovak was founded) Kalendcir Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy (1953), p. 111-4. 25. Ibid. , p. 112. 26. Ibid. 27. Both Hreha and Kvetan wrote plays and verseSI and Hreha was the author of the account on Slovaks in Canada published by the Encyclopedia Canadiana. 28. See Ncirodniarsky Kalendcir, (1966), p. 78. 29. On Debnarkin see the account on Slovak literature in Canada by Prof. Yaroslav Slawutych in the symposium Slavs in Canada; op. cit., p. 96. 30. K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., p. 108. 31. R. A. Boyd, in Kosa, Immigrants, op. cit., p. 44-45. 32. See list of Slovak publications outside Canada. 33. See K. Culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., p. 98-110. 34. See chapter on religious organization of Canadian Slovaks in SZovenski jezuiti v Kanade (1967). 35. See the chapter on Slovak religious organization in Canada; On Rev. Fuga see also Litercirny AZmanach SZovcika v Amerike (1967). �106 SLOVAKIA 36. See "The Foreign Language Press in Canada," Citizen, Vol. IV, No. 4. 37. The editor of Rozvoj was Kornel Piacek. 38. "All foreign language newspapers in Canada," according to the Citizen, "while they serve to introduce newcomers to life in Canada, also have an interest in keeping alive the native cultures of their readers. With this end in view, the papers encourage, publicize and promote cultural activities among the members of their respective ethnic groups and provide a medium of expression for literary and other cultural efforts. The editors believe that in this way their papers are making a contribution towards the enrichment of Canadian life." Citizen, Vol. IV, 4, p. 12. 39. A. R. Boyd, Zoe. cit. , p. 45. 40. Such was for instance the case of Nova Vlast' (Montreal, 1934-1948) replaced by the Czech weekly Novy Domov. 41. The favorite accusation was that of fascism and nazism. Unscrupulous attacks on the publisher of the Slovenske Slovo, led to investigations by Canadian authorities in 1940. The publisher, Juraj Kleskeii, was cleared, but refrained from further publishing of the newspaper. See K. culen, Zoe. cit., p. 101. 42. See Slovenska Obrana (Scranton, Pa.) , Nov. 3, 1939, Nov. 10, 1939, and Nov. 14, 1939, articles by Andrew Potocky, Secretary general of the Canadian Slovak League, M. Cano and Stefan J esenak as well as editorials. The newpapers which did not shy away from denunciations were according to Slovenska Obrana, Nova Vlast' and the leftist Hlas nudu. 43. Boyd, Zoe. cit., p. 46. 44. The author was for two terms President of the Canadian Ethnic Press Association and First Vice-President of the Canada Ethnic Press Federation, J. Novak, and others served on the board. 45. There were two cases of legal action as a result of these struggles. See K. culen "Slovaci v Kanade," Kalendar KSL for 1953, p. 102, Slovenske Bratstvo, Dec. 29, 1939 and Kanadsky Slovak, March 17, 1962 and fall . 46. See Kirschbaum, Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, p. 130-144 and p. 268-270. 47. See K. culen, Zoe. cit. , p. 101. 48. At the beginning of the War it was mainly the Slovak weekly Slovenske Bratstvo and from 1942 the Kanadsky Slovak which defended the Slovak point of view. The Czech and Czechoslovak point of view was advocated before and during the War by the weeklies Nova Vlast' and later by Nase Hlasy. 49. Cf. V. Turek, Op. cit., p. 27. �SLOVAKIA 107 SLOVAK LANGUAGE PRESS IN CANADA Newspapers (1910). Published by Andrew Lukca and Juraj Klesken in Blairmore, Alberta. Kanadske Noviny (Canadian News) (1928-1933). Published in Montreal. The newspaper changed publishers, editors and political lines several times. It was founded by J. Pribil. Nase Slovo (Our Word) (1931-1932). Published in Toronto, it was the first newspaper of Slovak communists. Robotnicke Slovo (Workers' Word) (1931-1932). Successor to Nase Slavo, it was published and edited by J. Huska. Hlas Dudu (The People's Voice) (1932-1940). Successor to Robotnicke Slovo, it was suspended in 1940 by Canadian authorities. Hlas Naroda (The Voice of the Nation) (1932-1934). I,t was published by Juraj Klesken in Blairmore. Nasa Mladez (Our Youth) (1932-1934). A supplement to Hlas Naroda and also published in Blairmore. Slovak v Kanade (The Slovak in Canada) (1933-1939). Published in Montreal by G. Kurdel and edited by F. Kvetan, it aimed at reflecting the political orientation of Slovak immigrants in Canada and opposed "Czechoslovak" theses. Nova Vlasf (New Homeland) (1934-1948). Founded in Montreal, its aims was to foster the official Czechoslovak ideology among Slovak and Czech immigrants in Canada. Slovensky Priekopnik (The Slovak Pioneer) (1939-1943). Edited by S. Zuber, it was considered by some to be the successor to Slovak Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word) v Kanade. Obeznik Slovenskeho Priekopnika (The Circular of the Slovak Pioneer) (1939). A tabloid which ceased to exist after a few issues. Slovenske Bratstvo (Slovak Brotherhood). Edited by Stefan Hreha, in its subtitle, it claimed to be the successor to Slovak v Kanade and for a short time was the official newspaper of the Canadian Slovak League. Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word) (1940-19 ). Published anew by Klesken in Blairmore, its purpose was to refute the attacks against the Slovak Republic made by Nova Vlast' and some communist newspapers. Nase Slovo (Our Word) (1941-1945). It succeeded Hlas Dudu when the Soviet Union joined the camp of the Allies. Dudove Zvesti (The People's News) (1945). Its present editor is J. f>uriancik and it is the mouthpiece of Slovak communists. Kanadsky Slovak (The Slovak Canadian) (1942). Founded during the war, it became the official organ of the Canadian Slovak League. It was founded in Montreal. In 1952 it was transferred to Winnipeg and in 1958 to Toronto. �108 SLOVAKIA Slovensky Hlas (The Slovak Voice) (1949). Founded in Windsor, Ontario, as the organ of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society. In 1951 it was transferred to Toronto. It is politically independent. Almanacs and Periodicals Prvy Kalendar Kanadskych Slovcikov (First Almanac of Slovak Canadians) (1934-1939) . It had only two issues. Cudovy Kalendar pre Kanadu (People's Almanac for Canada) (1939) . Died with the first issue. Neis Zivot (Our Life) (1950). Organ of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Canada, it was published by Dr. Paul Fundarek. Ekonomi ka ( Economics ) (1948-1949). Published by Stanislav Zuber in Toronto, this monthly's aim was to inform Slovaks in Canada on economic problems. Rozvoj (Progress) (1950-1951). A mimeographed monthly under the direction of K. Piacek for cultural and literary works. Domovina (Homeland) (1952-1954). Mimeographed periodical of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Toronto, it was edited by Julius Ksinan. Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy ( Almanac of the Canadian Slovak League) (1952). Published in Winnipeg, its first editor was Konstantin culen. Domobrana (Home Defense) (1953) . Organ of the Union of Slovak Combattants, it was first edited by Jan Doransky in Montreal, later transferred to Toronto and then to the United States. Pamiitnica Kanadskeho Slovenskeho Podporneho Spolku a Kalendar Slovenskeho Hlasu ( Souvenir Book of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society and Almanac of the Slovak Voice) (1957) . Edited by 0 . M. Debnarkin. Nase Snahy (Our Goals) (1965). Bi-monthly published in Toronto and sponsored by The Permanent Conference of Slovak Democratic Exiles. Religious Publications Ave Maria (1938-1939) . Published in Montreal by J . Skoda and an anonymous board of editors. Maria (1955- ) . Founded by Rev. M. Rusnak and Rev. F. Fuga, it serves the religious needs of Greek Catholic Slovaks in Canada and the U.S.A. Slovenski Jezuiti v Kanade (Slovak Jesuits in Canada) (1958). Published annually by the Slovak Jesuit Missionary Centre in Galt, Ontario. � 78 SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAK PRESS IN CANADA J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. For a long time the Slovak press in Canada was unknown even to such prominent experts on the life of the ethnic groups in Canada as Prof. Watson Kirkconnell. Writing in 1939 about the European-Canadians and their attitudes towards European problems during the 1938-1939 period, he made the following observation: The last census showed 30,401 Czechs and Slovaks, but did not subdivide these two distinct groups further. Until last spring there was a Czech weekly paper, ceske Noviny ("The Czech News"), published in Montreal, but it gave up the ghost about the time that Germany seized Bohemia, apparently expiring as a result of the withdrawal of financial support through the Czech Consulate-General, The Slovaks had no separate press, but there were many Canadian members of the Slovak League of America, which claims a membership of 300,000 and is bitterly anti-Czech and anti-Benesh.1 In fact, before 1939 there had existed, for shorter or longer periods of time, at least fourteen Slovak newspapers2 and periodicals. The first almanac of Canadian Slovaks, which included a short history of Slovak organizations in Canada had been published five years before the appearance of Prof. Kirkconnell's book; it seems, however, that Slovak newspapers and publications apparently had not come to the attention of Canadians. Speaking later to the annual meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, in his survey of the foreign language press, Prof. Kirkconnell drew quite a favorable picture of the Slovak press in Canada.3 It had existed, according to his report, before the Czechs or the Baltic peoples had their press in Canada and in "per capita" circulation before the Second World War, it ranked sixth among the foreign language newspapers. With 1.04 papers per home of four persons, it was ahead of Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, German, Italian press, and high above the national average. Prof. Kirkconnell explained this by remarking that "the height of the Finnish, Hungarian and Slovak figures is due to the fact that the bulk of these communities consist of post-war emigres, who brought with them political grievances that tend, at this short removal in time, to preserve their sense of identity." 4 He also pointed out that �SLOVAKIA 79 "in some cases the foreign language press reflected in Canada the political divisions within the European countries, and that that many of these papers were edited here by political exiles who are men of considerable education."5 Although Slovak newspapers and periodicals from the United States were available for the small and scattered Slovak ethnic group, it did not prevent Slovak immigrants from publishing their own newspapers, periodicals and almanacs. In fact the first Slovak newspaper appeared in Canada in 19106 when the number of Slovaks in Canada was still very small and practically no Canadian Slovak fraternal organization existed yet on Canadian soil. With the influx of immigrants after the First World War not only the number of newspapers increased, but also the quality of the Slovak language press constantly improved. There were not less than 13 newspapers and periodicals published for shorter or longer periods, before the Second World War. Altogether 30 newspapers and periodicals in the Slovak language appeared in Canada between 1910 and 1967.7 This certainly contradicts the myth that the Slovaks who came to Canada before the Second World War were mostly illiterate8 and uninterested in public affairs. While some of the newspapers were of little importance or service to the Slovak community in Canada, others performed very useful tasks. In many respects the Slovak language press is the only source of information for history of Slovaks in Canada. It relates the struggles, hardships, successes and political divisions of the Slovak ethnic group i.n this country. Many problems of the first groups of Slovak immigrants in Canada were recorded perhaps in a crude but sincere manner in these newspapers or monthlies. They were founded to serve the needs of the immigrants who did not read the English or French press, and reflected the problems of a community, struggling with difficulties created by the language barrier and unfamiliar surroundings. The papers were also the principal source of information on the activities of the associations, parishes as well as on the political views on Slovak and Canadian affairs. Slovak immigrants to Canada came divided along political, as well as religious lines, and continued to fight their old battles on Canadian soil in their press and in their associations. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find �80 SLOVAKIA a copy of some of the thirty periodicals and newspapers published in various parts of Canada during the past 57 years. It is only through indirect sources that the existence and political orientation of some periodicals has been known, for neither the Slovak organizations nor the Canadian libraries were interested in collecting them. In fact , Canadian libraries and press directories showed a lack of interest in the foreign language press and confined their attention to newspapers alone, neglecting minor publications. The need for a Slovak press in Canada, where vast distances separated the small, scattered communities of Slovak farmers and miners, is understandable. Their desire to communicate with their countrymen and the fear of loneliness and isolation explain why so many newspapers, publications, printed or mimeographed have appeared during the last 57 years . This also explains why the first Slovak newspaper, and even some later ones, started in Alberta's mining towns. Only from the 1930's on, when the second wave of Slovak immigrants moved from farms and mining towns to the industrial centres, Toronto and Montreal became the centres of the Slovak language press. The largest Slovak newspaper, Kanadsky Slovak began its publication in Montreal in 1942, then in 1952 it was moved for a few years to Winnipeg and finally settled in 1958, in Toronto. Of the thirty Slovak newspapers, periodicals and publications, fourteen were founded in Toronto and the three existing newspapers, the present almanacs and the monthly Maria, as well as books, have been published for the past eight years in Toronto. Seven Slovak publications were founded and published for some time in Montreal. The three existing newspapers are sponsored by the Slovak Canadian fraternal organizations; the Canadian Slovak League publishes Kanadsky Slovak; the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society publishes Slovensky Hlas, and the leftist Slovak Benefit Society of Canada publishes Eudove Zvesti. All three newspapers promote the aims of their association, however, they also perform certain other tasks, and each of them has a distinct political line in Slovak and Canadian affairs. We can apply to the Slovak . language press what has been said of the ethnic press in Canada in general: �SLOVAKIA 81 While the ethnic periodicals, by keeping up the reader's interest of his native country, emphasize his national consciousness and separate national identity, they help him at the same time to familiarize himself with the new country of his residence.9 From their modest beginning· when Slovak newspapers aimed at informing the scattered groups of miners or farmers of their problems and whereabouts, the Slovak language press progressed with years to more important and more diversified tasks. If the prime concern of the early Slovak newspapers was to make the life of immigrants, unfamiliar with their new country, its people, language and institutions, less lonely, by giving them information about their countrymen and opportunities for work in other parts of the country, the later newspapers helped to establish associations, parishes and became an important instrument of integration. At the same time the newspapers kept Slovak immigrants informed about their country of origin, by printing information which they could not find in Canadian press, and kept them also informed on Canada, because many did not read either English or French. In fact for a long time Slovak newspapers remained the principal source of information for Slovak immigrants about Canadian matters. Following the example of Slovak newspapers in the United States, the Slovak press in Canada began very soon to dedicate a substantial part of each newspaper to two issues: 1) the desire to keep alive or awaken national consciousness of Slovak immigrants, and 2) the necessity to fight the battles in which the Slovak people were involved in Czecho-Slovakia. The absence of censorship, which in Czecho-Slovakia silenced Slovak newspapers or permitted their publication with half-pages white 10 allowed Slovak newspapers in Canada to voice freely the grievances of the Slovak people and to fight vehemently for the political or social equality of Slovaks in their homeland. The feeling that they were allowed to express their views without hindrance, is reflected in all Slovak newspapers in Canada and one has to admire the warm patriotism and interest in cultural and political problems shown by the editors and contributors, whose education rarely went beyond high-school level. As was the case of the Slovak newspapers in the United States, the Slovak language press in Canada became an instrument which helped the immigrants to find more �82 SLOVAKIA comfortable places of living in their new country. On the other hand some Canadian Slovak newspapers also became advocates of autonomy and self-determination for Slovakia, while others followed the official policy of Prague governments or voiced their leanings to communism. In view of the role which Slovak associations and newspapers played in promoting the liberation of Slovakia from foreign domination, the publication and support of newspapers abroad was regarded by the Slovak people as a mark of patriotism, and to take a stand or to write in favor of freedom or equality of political rights for Slovakia was considered the moral duty of every Slovak abroad. This can partly explain the sacrifices which the Slovaks in Canada or in other parts of the world were willing to make to publish and maintain their press, and it also explains their continuous interest in the affairs of their country of origin. Long considered the free spokesmen of the Slovak nation, Slovaks abroad, including those in Canada, could not remain silent, especially after the Second World War when a communist system was imposed on the Slovak people. As a result, the Slovak press in Canada has reacted vehemently against the enslavement of their country of origin in the belief that by fighting communism it defended at the same time, freedom and democracy in Canada. Political involvement of Slovak language press in Canada after the Second World War became stronger than ever before, for another reason. Among the Slovak immigrants who came to Canada in the post-war period, many were not only interested in politics, but also left Slovakia for political reasons. Many of these new immigrants began to contribute political articles to the existing newspapers, and in both non-communist newspapers the new immigrants became editors (K. culen, J. Zvonar, J. Kutka and S. Reistetter in Kanadsky Slovak, M. Ferik, L. Gorekand, 0. M. Debnarkin in Slovensky Hlas). Slovak language press in Canada acquired more and more political character, and with the intensification of the Cold War and with the rising furror of the communist terror in Slovakia it became, once again, a spokesman for Slovakia. The influx of educated immigrants gave the Slovak newspapers at the same time, a higher level in cultural �SLOVAKIA 83 matters, since some of the known Slovak writers, poets and scholars used the newspapers for publishing their poetry, short novels and essays. Although not all immigrants of the previous waves liked the new face of their papers, the leaders and delegates of the Canadian Slovak League always approved the new line. During the past few years the Slovak newspapers and the almanacs or kalendars, published by the associations which sponsor the newspapers as well, have dedicated, however, more and more space to Canadian or organizational issues, and in order to interest the Canadian-born generations, the Kanadsky Slovak has regularly published an English corner. At times there have been articles in English even on the front page, if the issue treated was supposed to interest or to be brought to the attention of the Government or of other ethnic groups. This tendency to pay more attention to the problems of the community is a general trend among the ethnic press in Canada. 11 While conserving the right to speak for the countries enslaved by communism and to criticise the communist regimes, many ethnic newspapers acknowledged the fact that the ethnic groups are becoming closer to Canada than to their countries of origin. Some of them try to help their homelands by stressing their loyalty to Canada and by making appeals to the Canadian Government to voice their aspirations. 12 The Slovak language press assumed certain other duties-such as helping its readers to overcome educational shortcomings resulting from the political situation in Slovakia during the period of foreign rule, and also trying to preserve cultural values threatened by hostile pressures. The Slovak-Canadian periodicals performed these duties conscientiously, in addition to the standard functions of newspapers serving a certain area. This duality of function is perhaps the most striking feature of the Slovak-Canadian press. Practically all the newspapers and almanacs contained not only information, but also articles on cultural and historical matters as well as poetry, short novels, epigrams and other writings. For several Slovak writers, poets and politicians the Slovak language press has been the tribune for their ideas and has helped them to overcome the feelings of futility and discouragement, which many immig- �84 SLOVAKIA rant intellectuals have experienced after their arrival in Canada. And since the Slovak people in Slovakia expected that their countrymen everywhere, especially on the American continent, would not only maintain their national heritage but also help Slovakia to obtain political freedom, and after the Second World War to regain national independence, the newspapers and almanacs have been giving· much space to the general problems of communism and democracy and to specific Slovak problems. From the very beginning the Slovak press was kept alive mostly by the sacrifices and selfless dedication of editors and contributors, and by the generous support of its readers. Only later, it was maintained or subsidized by the Slovak associations. At that point, however, Slovak newspapers and periodicals became less independent and more differentiated in their political leanings, so that according to its political colouring and character, the Slovak language press can be divided into the following categories: (a ) The early informatory, non-political Slovak pubcations; (b ) Newspapers collaborating with the Czech group and favouring close ties with Prague, but autonomy for Slovakia; ( c ) Slovak press rejecting co-operation with the Czechs and advocating Slovak independence; (d) Pro-communist publications; (e) Economic, cultural and other short-lived publications; ( f) Religious publications. No doubt a lesser number of newspapers and fewer political divisions would have been preferable, but Slovaks came to Canada divided along political and religious lines. Furthermore, the political developments in Slovakia, the economic and social difficulties of the years of the economic depression and the communist take-over after World War II, perpetuated their disunity. Needless to say, the adversaries of the Slovaks' aspirations for autonomy and later for independence, supported by the consular and diplomatic representatives of Czechoslovakia, used all available means to keep them divided and fighting among themselves, and used the Slovak language press to this end. �SLOVAKIA 85 Newspapers and Periodicals The history of the Slovak language press in Canada begins with a newspaper called Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word ), published in Blairmore, Alta., by Andrew Lukca and Juraj Klesken13 in 1910. There is no evidence that the early Slovak immigrants in Canada published their own newspaper before this date. Slovak newspapers from the United States apparently satisfied the need of the scattered Slovak communities to read in their own language about Canada or Slovakia. Later, however, there was publishing activity which may surprise anyone who is acquainted with the difficulties of the Slovak immigrants in Canada, and with their small numbers. We can divide the survey of the Slovak newspapers into three periods, each corresponding with the individual waves of immigration. The first period was limited to the Canadian West and the Slovak Word is the only newspaper which was published and edited by Canadian Slovaks in that period. Modest in appearance and published at irregular intervals in a small tabloid form, the first issue of the Slovenske Slovo appeared in May 1910. Both the publisher and the editor came to Blairmore from Chicago, Ill., to join hundreds of Slovak miners who at that time worked in coal mines of the Crow's Nest Pass area. It was impossible to find out how long this first Slovak newspaper was published or how many issues appeared. As for the contents, the publication was written in a strong patriotic spirit, similar to that of Slovak newspapers in the United States before the First World War. The second period was not limited g·e ographically. Montreal and Toronto became the centres of Slovak publishing activity as well as of the successive disappearance of newspapers which had started with more enthusiasm than financial backing. Some of these newspapers, such as Kanadske Noviny for instance, ceased publication, but the newspapers which replaced them, did not start as new ones, but as a continuation of previous publications. As a result we find that Slovak v Kanade started as Volume VI, or Slovenske Bratstvo as Volume XII. The second period extends from 1928 to the end of the Second World War and was also marked by the birth of numerous religious periodicals, almanacs and tabloids. Juraj Klesken himself �86 SLOVAKIA made two more attempts at reviving a newspaper in the Canadian West, but failed, as did all individual undertakings in this field in Montreal or Toronto. The newspapers achieved more stability only when they became official organs of the fraternal organizations. At that time Slovak newspapers and periodicals also became divided along the political lines, and the divisions survive to this day. The second, as later the third period, was turbulent at times, full of polemics, bitter invective and in some instances even law suits resulting from partisan polemics and attacks. The atmosphere in the Slovak press was particularly poisoned by hate, denunciations and invectives in 1939 and during the war years, and again from 1948, when the Slovak and Czech political refugees arrived in Canada. In spite of denunciations by the Czech, communist and Czechoslovak press, no Canadian Slovak newspaper was prohibited by the Canadian Government except the communist one. The prohibition of the circulation of Slovak American newspapers, which was imposed upon the weekly Jednota and the bi-weekly Slovenskd Obrana as a result of false accusations, by the Czech and Czechoslovak newspapers, that they spread or advocated Nazism, was suspended14 shortly after it was put into effect. It created, however, an atmosphere of bitterness, and mutual accusations which divided the Slovak community for the entire period of the war. However, a positive result was forthcoming as far as Slovaks in Canada were concerned, as the Government authorities were skeptical from then on about subsequent denunciations of Slovaks by the Czech or communist newspapers. The First World War and the limited immigration to Canada from Slovakia until 1926 interrupted the publishing activity among Slovaks. Only the influx of Slovak immigrants around 1928, among whom many were involved in the post-war political and social clashes in Slovakia, led to the founding of new Slovak newspapers. The strongest centres for publishing activity in the period were Montreal, where from 1928 to 1939 five newspapers and one periodical were founded, and Toronto, where the small group of Slovak communists made three successive attempts at pub- �SLOVAKIA 87 lishing newspapers. All these newspapers represented political and ideological differentiation of Slovak immigrants and can be divided into three categories: ( 1) Newspapers with Slovak patriotic leanings, defending the right of the Slovak people to political autonomy and their own cultural development; (2) Newspapers supporting the official ideology of Prague governments and advocating Czechoslovak national, linguistic and cultural unity; (3) Newspapers with socialist and communist tendencies. Some newspapers changed their original political orientation, while others stood firmly on their ideological ground. Kanadske Noviny (Canadian News) was the first newspaper of this period. Published in Montreal from 1928 to 1933, the newspaper changed publishers, editors and political lines several times. The founder, J . Pribil, was the owner of a travel and colonization agency, and when faced with a deficit, he sold the newspaper to his employees. They in turn sold it to the publishers of New Yorksky Dennik and the last owner was Gabriel Kurdel, whom we mentioned in connection with the first Slovak organization in Canada. Originally the newspaper advocated a close political union between Slovaks and Czechs along the lines of the official policy of Prague's government and its subtitle was: "Czechoslovak Weekly". G. Kurdel, after taking over the ownership, changed not only the political orientation of the newspaper, but also its name, to Slovak v Kanade. The editors, Stanislav Zuber and Martin Dudak, were also replaced. Slovak v Kanade (The Slovak in Canada) was published in Montreal from 1933 to 1939 and in some way it may be considered as a forerunner of Kanadsky Slovak. 1~ Kurdel, the publisher as well as the editor, Frantisek Kvetan, endeavoured to give the Slovak immigrants in Canada a newspaper which would reflect their political orientation and clear the confusion created by the official Czechoslovak propaganda in the ranks of Slovak Canadians. Unfortunately the financial burden was too heavy on the publisher, and the newspaper ceased publication on the threshold of the Second World War. Slovensky Priekopnik (The Slovak Pioneer) was, according to some sources,16 the successor of Slovak v Kana- �88 SLOVAKIA de and its editor, Stanislav Zuber, tried to keep its con- tents in line with the feelings and thinking of the majority of Slovak immigrants, who were not willing to support blindly the Czecho-Slovak National Association, which served the aims of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile. A legal suit against the newspaper by the President of the Association added to its financial difficulties and the newspaper discontinued publication in October 1943.17 A tabloid called Obeznik Slovenskeho Priekopnika (The circular of the Slovak Pioneer) also ceased to exist after a few issues. Slovenske Bratstvo (Slovak Brotherhood) was also published in Montreal as "The Democratic organ of the Slovaks in Canada" and it claimed in its subtitle to be the successor to the weekly Slovak in Canada. For a short time the Canadian Slovak League used Slovenske Bratstvo as its official newspaper. The newspaper and its editor, Stefan Hreha, however, were unscrupulously attacked by the newspaper Nova Vlast' and denounced in Ottawa. The apparent aim of the newspaper Nova Vlast' as well as of the former Consul General of Czechoslovakia in Canada, was to obtain the prohibition of Slovenske Bratstvo as well as the suspension of the circulation of all Slovak newspapers from the United States which did not support the political program of Dr. Benes. 18 Nova Vlast' (New Homeland) was founded in 1934 with the apparent aim of fostering the official Czechoslovak ideology among Slovak and Czech immigrants in Canada. From 1928 there was among Slovak immigrants a clear political differentiation, and not only the large group of those who adhered to the Slovak autonomist movement, but also the communist group, were sometimes critical of Prague's official policy. Backed by the consular and diplomatic representatives of Czechoslovakia Nova Vlast' sought to keep Slovak immigrants "faithful" to the concept of the ethnic and linguistic unity of the Czechs and Slovaks and resulting assimilation of the Slovak people. For some time Nova Vlast' avoided an open clash and published the official news of the First Slovak Mutual Benefit Society of Kirkland Lake .19 From 1939 however, the newspaper became aggressive toward everyone who did not agree with the political program of the Czech and Slovak exiled groups in England. The members of the Canadian Slovak League �SLOVAKIA 89 and the editors of the newspapers which defended the right of Slovaks to self-determination were particularly attacked and unscrupulously denounced by Nova Vlast'. Until 1936 the newspaper had been edited by Stanislav Zuber, who for some time had been the editor of The Slovak Pioneer, But from 1936, an employee of the Bank of Commerce, Martin Dudak, was the responsible editor, and was helped by the former Consul General of Czechoslovakia, Dr. F. Pavlasek. In 1932 Juraj Kleskefl made another attempt at publishing a newspaper in the west. It was called Hlas Naroda (The Voice of the Nation) and was published in Blairmore, Alberta, from 1932 to 1934. Hlas Naroda was a small-sized publication on 4 pages, which included a supplement called Nasa Mladez (Our Youth). Financial difficulties caused the disappearance of both in 1934. However, Klesken was not a man to be easily discouraged. Since from 1934 not only the Czechoslovak newspaper Nova Vlast', but also the communist newspaper had attacked the patriotic group of Slovak immigrants, Kleskefl started publication in 1940, of Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word). The leading articles were written in English by well-known Slovaks from the United States and Canada: Dr. P. P. Hletko, S. Palickar and F . Zeman. The articles shed new light not only on the Slovak leaders of the pre-war period but also on the Slovak Republic and its President, Dr. J. Tiso, which the adversaries of Slovakia used as a pretext to accuse the publisher of spreading and advocating nazism. Kleskefl was cleared by Canadian authorities, but he discontinued publication of his newspaper. This was the third and last attempt at publishing a Slovak newspaper in the Canadian West. The small group of Slovak communists started publication of their first newspaper in 1931. The name of the mimeographed publication was Nase Slovo (Our Word) and it was published in Toronto. According to one of the editors of the Communist press in Canada, J . f>uriancik, this "labour-progressive" newspaper looked miserable, as miserable as those who contributed their last nickels for its first issue. It was mimeographed on simple sheets and not in newspaper size." 20 A year later its name was changed to Robotnicke Slovo (Workers' Word) and was printed as a regular newspaper. The publisher and editor of the Work- �90 SLOVAKIA ers' Word was J. Huska. These two first leftist newspapers were socialist rather than communist in their contents and orientation. When the Slovak communists organized their Slovenske Kulturne Sdruzenie (Slovak Cultural Association), the newspaper Robotnicke Slovo changed its name to Hlas Eudu (The People's Voice). It was published twice a week and both the Slovak Cultural Association and the newspapers adhered to communist ideology. The communist movement has never had many supporters among Slovak immigrants in Canada. To attract members they formed front organizations like Slovenske Kulturne Sdruzenie or various clubs 21 and used slogans of social justice, progress, peace and democracy. Around 1939 the newspaper Hlas Eudu edited by Cyprian Slimak, became, however, an agressive tool of communist propaganda among Slovak immigrants in Canada22 and as a result, the Canadian authorities ordered its suspension in 1940. The Canadian Government, using its war-time emergency powers, prohibited all communist newspapers and dissolved communist organizations. When the Soviet Union joined the camp of the Western Allies in 1941, Slovak leftist groups started publication of Nase Slovo (Our Word) as a continuation of Hlas Eudu. At the end of the war the newspaper changed its name to Eudove Zvesti ( People's News ) and has survived until the present time, edited by J. f>uriancik for the past two decades. The newspaper remained faithful to its program and to the Prague government even in the period of the socalled cult of personality, when the most prominent Slovak communists were either hanged or sent to jail for life by the Czechoslovakian leaders of the Communist Party. Unlike the other Slovak newspapers, the Slovak communist press in Canada did not gain any of the post-war educated immigrants as contributors or editors. Slovak communist newspapers were published and edited by devoted organizers of the communist movement whose partisan zeal overshadowed their education. How much financial help or how many articles for printing the communist press received from Czechoslovakia, is hard to say. Yet many articles seem to indicate that they were written by educated people. Eudove Zvesti never failed to publish �SLOVAKIA 91 attacks and smear propaganda, originated in Prague, against Slovaks in Canada who disagreed either with the communist or the Czech rule in Slovakia, which would indicate that the newspaper is more concerned with how to please the Prague government than to serve the interest of the Slovak immigrants in Canada. We may say about the Slovak language communist press what Turek recorded on the Polish language press in Canada, that: The Polish-language communist press in Canada, as well as the whole party organization, were always characterized by strict discipline, efficient organization and fanatical dedication on the part of the leaders. Needless to add, the general policy was always dictated from outside, and the local leadership was charged only with its execution. Thanks to this rigid organization and discipline, the communist group managed to maintain for thirty years its own press, even though it never had a wide circulation and could not rely on any substantial advertising revenue.23 The founding of Kanadsky Slovak in 1942 was the result of political struggles within the Slovak cummunity in Canada. After the communist group established its press and the Czechoslovak group received strong support from the Czech representatives of the exiled Czech politicians in London, the large part of Canadian Slovaks who were neither pro-communist nor pro-Czech felt an urgent need for their own newspaper. The leaders and members of the Canadian Slovak League were particularly anxious to have an instrument of defense against the combined attacks of the pro-communist and pro-Czech press. Not only did some of them suffer as a result of denunciations by the proCzech and pro-communist newspapers, but also they could not look on, inactive, at the political confusion created among Canadian Slovaks by portraying inaccurately the situation in Slovakia. The decision to publish their own newspaper was taken at the Fifth Congress of the Canadian Slovak League, held on September 8-10, 1941.24 The first issue was published on March 5, 1942 in Montreal and, as evidenced by its contents, there was no doubt that it was published in order to defend the members of the League against accusations by the leftist and Czechoslovak newspapers. It was decided that the newspaper should be published in Slovak "national and �92 SLOVAKIA Christian spirit",25 which the publication has endeavoured to do for the past 26 years. The first editor of Kanadsky Slovak was a young, courageous newspaperman, Stefan Hreha, who had previously edited Slovenske Bratstvo. During his military service he was replaced by Frantisek Kvetan until 1946, when Hreha again took up his duties. 26 In 1949 the Eight Congress of the League elected Konstantin Culen, a well-known journalist and author of numerous works on cultural and political history, 27 as assistant editor. In 1952 the newspaper was transferred to Winnipeg, where the League purchased a printing shop, and Culen became the editor-inchief of the newspaper, as well as of the Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, which began publication in 1953. From Winnipeg and from 1958 in Toronto, Kanadsky Slovak was edited exclusively by the political refugees. Among those in Winnipeg were the poet Jozef Zvonar-Tien, Jozef Kutka and for a decade now, Stefan Reistetter, whose original profession was teaching, but who had been attracted by politics and journalism in Slovakia. Also among the contributors for the past 20 years were mostly the postwar immigrants, even though the "old guard" - Andrew Kucera, Andrew Potocky, Pavol Blaho and others - regularly sent contributions on special occasions. The founding of Kanadsky Slovak closed the second period of the Slovak language press in Canada. A new period opened in 1949 when the second largest Slovak organization, the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society began publishing its official organ, Slovensky Hlas in Windsor. 2 " In the third period several periodicals started publication and some survived. The number of newspapers was stabilized, as were their political and ideological leanings and programs. The standards of the newspapers improved, except for the communist weekly, owing to a large number of contributors from among the political refugees . At the outset, Slovensky Hlas was published on four pages and was concerned primarily with organizational matters. In 1951 it was transferred to Toronto and enlarged to eight pages with varied contents, and has been published monthly. Without fighting party politics it informs its readers in an objective way on Canadian and Slovak problems. Rooted in tradition of Slovak newspapers �SLOVAKIA 93 as they originally appeared in Canada or in the United States, it dedicates a substantial part to Slovak cultural and national issues, in order to keep Slovak national consciousness alive, then to the matters of the association which is its sponsor and publisher. Slovensky Hlas was edited in Windsor by J.M. Gerez, Jr. , and :r.udovft Garek. After its transfer to Toronto, Mikulas Ferik and the poet Ondrej M. Debnarkin29 took over the editorial duties. Debnarkin also edited the almanacs published by the Canadian Slovak Benefit Soci ety while Garek became Secretary General of the Societ y . Both are postwar immigrants to Canada. Apart from Slovensky Hlas several short-lived mimeographed monthlies were published in the post-war period. In 1948 Stanislav Zuber began publishing a monthly under the name E konomia. According to cul en the original plan of Zuber was to put into the hands of Slovak immigrants a periodical dedicated to economic problems, but there was not enough interest for such an undertaking and the experiment did not prove successful. E konomia ceased to appear in its second year. 30 The second monthly was published in Toronto by Dr. Paul Fundarek, another member of the group of young educated Slovaks who preferred exile to the submission to communism. The name of the publication was Nds zivot ( Our Life) and it was considered an official organ of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Canada. Born of enthusiasm, but without funds, it was short-lived, ceasing publication with its tenth issue. In 1952 the group of members of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Toronto began to publish a mimeographed periodical Domovina ( Homeland ) . Its editor was a young lawyer, Julius Ksinan, who made a name for himsef in Slovakia in the post-war years by courageously defending one of the members of the Slovak government, Alexander Mach. His attempts at making a career in journalism were not, however, very successful. The publication reflected the turbulent period among Slovak exiles but without contributing positively to political or cultural activities of Slovaks in Canada, it suffered the fate of its predecessor Nds zivot and ceased to exist in 1954. In 1953 the Union of Slovak Combattants made an at- �94 SLOVAKIA tempt at founding a new periodical in a mimeographed form. The publication was called Domobrana (Home Defense) and was edited by the poet Jan Doransky in Montreal. Later it was transferred to Toronto and published at irregular intervals, in a printed form. After its transfer to Toronto Domobrana was even more intolerant and defamatory than Domovina in its attacks on the leaders of the Slovak exiles who disagreed with the methods and views of the Union of Slovak Combattants. It was later transferred to the United States. As A. R. Boyd wrote on ethnic press in Canada, the Slovak language press "has had a chequered career. The rates of birth and mortality have been high. [But] it was inevitable that [it] should have made its appearance." 31 It was kept alive mostly by idealism and unpaid work as well as monetary contributions by its readers, leaders of the associations and underpaid editors. Fund raising on every possible occasion, such as weddings, banquets, picnics, was for a long time one of the main sources of revenue for covering the publishing expenses. With a few exceptions all the editors had to have another job in order to earn enough money to live. Almanacs and Religious and Cultural Periodicals Among Slovak language publications in Canada, almanac or "kalendar", published by Slovak organizations, and religious monthlies or souvenir books published by parishes played an important part socially and in education. Both monthlies and almanacs were favoured reading of the Slovak rural population in Europe, and the habit of having something to read for the long winter evenings, was brought to Canada and preserved. It was, perhaps, even more important in Canada because the almanacs and souvenir books as well as the religious monthlies published information not only on the Slovak communities in Canada, but also articles and pictures about the life of Canadian Slovaks, in addition to the educational articles, short novels and patriotics, moralistic or religious poetry. If this kind of publication appeared in Canada in the Slovak language comparatively late (the first in 1934) or if it was not numerous, the reason can be found in the distribution of well-established publications of a similar type �SLOVAKIA 95 from the United States. Some Slovak immigrants also received almanacs and religious monthlies from Slovakia. As a result their publication in Canada began only after the Slovak associations and parishes were established. In their appearance and content, they followed the pattern of their Slovak American counterparts as well as that of almanacs published in Slovakia. The first almanac was published in 1934 under the title Prvy Kalenddr Kanadskych Slovdkov na rok 1934. It approached its readers with the slogan "May brotherhood and concord prevail among us" and was edited by a group of well-known organizers of Slovak community life: G. Kurdel, F. Zeman, J. Pavlovic, F. Kvetan and Rev. Urban Koval. According to the introductory note, the almanac was not sponsored by any fraternal organization, as was the case later, but by a "Slovak Publishing Company". This first almanac contains valuable information on the life and organizational activities of Slovak immigrants in Canada before 1934. There are articles from practically all provinces on the founding and activities of fraternal societies and parishes, with pictures of their leaders and members. The almanac also published a survey of the history of Canada with photographs of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Regina and Victoria and several general views of the cities of Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver, in addition to short novels and verses written either by poets in Slovakia or by Slovak immigrants in Canada. The contributions, even though written by people with limited education, except for F. Zeman, were written in a spirit of idealism and patriotism towards Slovakia but with a strong sense of attachment to Canada. Unfortunately, the Kalenddr was published only twice and several years passed before new almanacs appeared. The next almanac was published in 1939 by the leftist group under the name Eudovy Kalenddr pre Kanadu, ( People's Almanac for Canada) but died out with the first issue. It was concerned mainly with communism and Russia but also dealt with Slovaks and Canada, and contained some useful information on the small group of Slovaks who drifted away from the bulk of Slovak immigrants in Canada, as well as on the first leftist organizations. Slovak almanacs began to appear �96 SLOVAKIA as regular annual publications only after the Second World War. The largest Slovak fraternal organization in Canada, the Canadian Slovak League, began to publish its Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy in 1952. The place of publishing this time was in the west, in Winnipeg. The number of contributors from among the "older" immigrants was comparatively limited in the first issues of the Kalendar since there were already many Slovak writers of the post-war immigration who wrote for newspapers and almanacs published in Canada, the United States and elsewhere.32 The editor, Konstantin Culen, wrote a good deal of the material himself. The contents of the Kalendar were of an informative and educational nature and referred to the organizational life of Slovaks in Canada, as well as to cultural and political problems of Slovakia and Canada. The almanac was later transferred to Toronto and besides the leaders of the Canadian Slovak League many known Slovak writers and publicists regularly contributed articles on cultural or political matters as well as verses and short novels, making the Kalendar an interesting and valuable symposium. At the same time the Kalendar published articles on the hi.story of Slovaks in Canada in Slovak as well as in English and the first survey of the Slovak language press. 33 The Kalendar at all times manifested loyalty to Canada and interest in the fate of the Slovak people whose freedom and independence it strongly advocated. After Culen left for the United States, the Kalendar was edited by ~tefan Reistetter and an anonymous editorial board, composed of the main contributors. The administrative duties and problems with publication and distribution of the Kalendar were in Toronto, mostly in the hands of the Publishing Committee of the Canadian Slovak League. In 1957 the second largest Slovak fraternal organization, the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society, began to publish its yearly almanac. The first issue was published under the name Pamatnica Kanadskeho Slovenskeho Podporneho Spolku a Kalendar Slovenskeho Hlasu (Souvenir Book of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society and Almanac of the Slovak Voice for the year 1957 ). It seems to have been edited by 0 . M. Debnarkin, although a notice on the front page states that it was prepared by the editorial board of �SLOVAKIA 97 the newspaper Slovensky Hlas. The contents of the Pamiitnica deal mostly with the achievements and problems of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society which in 1952 celebrated its 25th anniversary. It contains articles and pictures of the founders and main leaders of the Society and its branches, and several verses by the editor. The following issues dedicated more space to literary and cultural contributions, though articles on the goals and achievements of the sponsoring society, and contributions by the leaders and members, were always more numerous than in the almanac of the Canadian Slovak League, whose contributors were predominantly the post-war immigrants. Conservative and educational rather than political and literary, the almanac of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society has fulfilled among its readers, the function of an organizational publication. The leftist Slovak Benefit Society did not issue any regular publication of the type of almanac except for one issue of Eudovy Kalenddr pre Kanadu in 1939 as previously mentioned. Slovak almanacs or "kalendars" in Canada had to compete with similar publications distributed by the Slovak fraternal organizations in the United States. The Canadian members of the First Catholic Slovak Union, have been receiving yearly a well-edited Kalenddr Jednota which, in its 200-300 pages brings articles and pictures from the life of Slovaks in both countries and many educational, literary and political articles referring to Slovakia and to the new homelands of Slovak immigrants. The gymnastical fraternal organization Slovak Catholic Sokol also provides its Canadian members with a yearly almanac of comparatively high literary value, as does the National Slo1Yak Society, which sends to its Canadian members not only a newspaper, but also an almanac, called Ndrodny Kalenddr, which was founded in 1893 and is considered one of the best Slovak almanacs. Slovak religious publications in Canada were not numerous and in view of the religious consciousness of the Slovak people, need some explanation. Basically it was for the same reason mentioned in connection with the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks: immigrants from Slovakia to Canada were either unmarried young men or those �98 SLOVAKIA who were married left their families at home. They moved from one mining camp to another or from the West to the East looking for jobs, and established their permanent home and place of residence very slowly. Another reason was the lack of Slovak priests who would have organized parishes and taken care of the religious needs of Slovak immigrants.34 As a result of this situation, the first Slovak Canadian religious monthly appeared only in 1938. It was published in Montreal, under the name Ave Maria, by J. Skoda, and was in elaborate form and large size, containing many pictures. J. skoda was assisted by an anonymous board of editors. Also called the Slovak Catholic Rosary News in English, it contained religious articles and news on Slovak Catholics in Canada. A new monthly was not published until 1955 when the Slovak priests of the Byzantine Rite came to Canada and began to organize Slovak Greek Catholic parishes. The founders of the monthly, published under the name Maria, were Rev. M. Rusnak, and Rev. Francis Fuga, pastor of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Hamilton.35 The publication found a generous supporter in Stephen B. Roman and survived all difficulties over the past eleven years. The circulation amounts to 1,500 copies and it has subscribers also in the United States and other parts of the free world. As all religious foreign language publications in Canada, these two monthlies served not only the religious needs of the Slovak immigrants, but also fulfilled cultural and social functions. They have recorded important events among Slovaks in Canada and in the world, but their main goal remains religious. Nearly all Slovak parishes published on the occasion of their inauguration, or for anniversaries, souvenir books, some of which, as the Souv enir Book of the Fifth Anniversary of the Church of the Visitation in Winnipeg, (Winnipeg, 1955) contained valuable information, not only on the church and its community, but also a short history of Slovak immigrants in Manitoba. Souvenir book of the dedication of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church of Ascension i n Montreal (Montreal, 1962), with many photographs, re- corded the history of the parish as well as of the building of the church. Pamiitnik Tridsat'rocneho Jubilea Zalozenia �SLOVAKIA 99 Slovenskej Evanjelickej Lutherdnskej Cirkvi vo Windsore, Ontario, ( Souvenir Book of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Nativity Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church in Windsor, Ontario) published in 1958 also brings a short his- torical outline of the life, organization and activities of the Slovak Lutheran community. The "Memorial Book" of the Slovak Lutheran Church of Ascension in Montreal was published in 1954 and contains a short history of the congregation in Slovak and English, as well as pictures from the life of the congregation. The inauguration of the Slovak Junior Seminary in Sarnia was also recorded by the publication of a Souvenir Book as were the inauguration of parishes or churches in Hamilton, Welland and others. The 25th Anniversary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic parish in Toronto recorded in 1959 in a special souvenir book, also records the history of the parish with many pictures, and is considered to be one of the best publications of its kind. The Slovak Jesuit missionary centre in Galt has produced, since 1958, an annual publication called Slovenski Jezuiti v Kanade, ( Slovak Jesuits in Canada). The publication contains mainly reports on the activities of Slovak Jesuits in Canada and the United States. There have also been, however, articles on general religious problems and in the issue for 1966, Rev. J. Moravsky published a valuable survey of the religious life and organizations of Slovak Catholics in Canada. The value of the publication for the history of Slovaks in Canada, may one day be considerable. In conclusion we may say about the Slovak religious press in Canada what is generally said of the ethnic religious press: The Slovak Canadian and Slovak religious press aimed at serving the religious needs of Slovak communities of various denominations and the papers are very similar to their French, English and other ethnic counterparts. Although some of these religious papers are small, unpretentious and at times published irregularly, their importance is far in excess of their physical characteristics. Like the foreign language press in general, the religious papers provide a link with the past life of the immigrants and thus serve as a stabilizing force in their new environment, particularly with regard to moral standards. 36 As for cultural publications, there was only one attempt at establishing a Slovak non-political, cultural and literary periodical in Canada. The young educated post-war �100 SLOVAKIA immigrants, whose university studies were interrupted by the communist occupation of Slovakia, began to publish in Montreal, in 1949, a monthly called Rozvoj (Progress ) of long standing among university students. 37 It was published in a large-size on 90 pages, and among its contributors were some of the most outstanding intellectuals, poets and writers. After a year the publication ceased to exist. The main reason for its disappearance was the hard beginning of the educated Slovak newcomers to Canada and to other countries. On the other hand, the newspapers and almanacs available in Canada were willing to publish any literary or cultural contribution and there was, therefore, no particular need for a new publication. 38 Along with Rozvoj publication was also discontinued of a series of literary works by young Slovak writers in exile, called Edicia Rozvoja, which started with a drama Krvavy Kriz (Bloody Cross), written by a Slovak poet, Karol Strmefl, under the nom de plume Milan Novak. Slovak-Czech Relations in the Slovak Press in Canada Analyzing the reasons for the founding of the foreign language newspapers in Canada, Allan R. Boyd writes, that primary factor in the establishment of an ethnic press was the growing national consciousness of certain groups whose European territories were under the rule of what they regarded as foreign powers. The pervading nationalism which germinated and grew throughout Europe during the nineteenth century had its reflection in the press established abroad. Ethnic groups abroad always have been concerned with events affecting their homeland, even when that homeland is not engaged in a struggle for liberation or independence. Thus one of the 'raison d'etre' of the press which came into being was the preoccupation with, and propagation of, ideals of national independence." 39 The Slovak language press has been no exception in this regard. Since 1928, when the first Slovak newspaper of the inter-war period appeared in Canada, the Slovak-language press was divided in its attitude towards the policy of Prague government with regard to Slovakia as well as toward the Czech emigrants in Canada. There were many attempts at keeping alive the false pretension that Czechs and Slovaks were one ethnic group and a few newspapers, �SLOVAKIA 101 published in the Slovak language, called themselves "Czecho-Slovak weeklies". Those papers, were, however, not many and there was usually behind them either Czech financial support or they served at the same time the needs of the Czech community in Canada. 40 These "Czechoslovak" newspapers defended the Czech policy in Slovakia and systematically wrote against Canadian Slovaks who were on the side of the Slovak political movement which aimed at autonomy and self-rule in Slovakia and stressed that Slovaks were a distinct ethnic and cultural entity. The debates on these subjects were often conducted in strong terms and with little respect for the facts and feelings. Shortly before and during the Second World War some "Czechoslovak" newspapers used demagogy and denunciations41 against those Slovaks who differed in their opinions from the Czech views on the policy of Prague or from the political aims of the Czech exiles in London. The controversy was fought not only in Slovak papers in Canada, but also in the United States, particularly when the Slovaks, who did not agree with the "Czechoslovak" political line, were accused of disloyalty towards Canada.42 As the War progressed the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs in Canada were more tense, and the polemics more heated in the Slovak language press. The continuous attacks by the Czech oriented and pro-Communist Slovak newspapers on the leaders and members of the Canadian Slovak League led finally to the founding of the Kanadsky Slovak, which reflects, from 1942, the other side of the tense Slovak - Czech relations. The fact that Slovakia after the War, instead of receiving independence, not only was returned under the Czech rule but also the Communist system was imposed upon the Slovak people, contributed to an increase of the proportion of space devoted by the Slovak language press in Canada to the problems of the "old country" or in other words to the Slovak-Czech relations. Moreover, the new enslavement of the Slovak people led to the foundation of some periodicals, devoted to the political objectives of Slovak exiles and refugees who arrived in Canada around 1950. They were, however, all short-lived and some of them appeared at irregular intervals, mostly when their anonymous contributors and editors felt the need to attack and slander other Slovak emigres or Slovak organizations. �102 SLOVAKIA Particularly, the contributions of the new immigrants to the older Slovak newspapers concentrated mainly on national problems and on the defence of the Slovak people's right to independence explaining the situation in Slovakia during the war, which has constantly been misrepresented abroad. They were the "forced migrants" about whom R. A. Boyd writes that "naturally their own fate and that of their homeland deeply concerns them." 43 The Slovak language press in Canada has strongly reflected this new situation. As always before, it helped the integration of Slovaks with the mainstream of Canadian life, as well as with other ethnic groups. Some post-war immigrants endeavored even to strengthen the positive attitude of the Slovak press in Canada toward other ethnic groups, which except for the Czechs, had always been friendly and most co-operative in their relations with Canadian Slovaks. This is especially true with regard to other Slavic groups with whom the Slovaks in Canada felt kinship, and basically understood their language. Polish, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Croatian, and other Slavic events in Canada have been registered in the Slovak Canadian press and Slovak representatives occupied the highest offices in the Canadian Ethnic Press Association or Canada Ethnic Press Federation. 44 The negative attitude toward the Czech group, which appeared in the 1930's and became stronger during and after the Second World War, as mentioned before, was mostly caused by the tendency of some Canadian Czechs, and later of their newspapers, to speak on behalf and in the name of Canadian Slovaks, which the Slovaks resented; secondly, it was caused by the difference of opinions on the policy of Prague governments and Slovak aspirations for self-government; thirdly, by vicious attacks on Slovaks who disagreed with Czechs. 45 Even before the Second World War, when the Slovak newspapers regarded Czechoslovakia as their motherland, they were opposed to the policy of the Prague government which aimed at assimilation of Slovaks and domination of Slovakia by Czechs. Since the Czech and Czechoslovak Communist papers in Canada stood behind the Prague government and opposed the aspirations of the Slovak people for autonomy within Czechoslovakia, denying the existence of a culturally and ethnically distinct Slovak entity, conflicts flared up and were discussed with vehemence in the Slovak press. �SLOVAKIA 103 The animosity and attacks were intensified especially during and after the Second World War. The proclamation of Slovakia's independence was considered by the Czech and Czechoslovak-oriented press as a treason, while for many Slovaks in Canada it was an achievement of national ideals. And because, soon after the proclamation of independence, Great Britain (and twenty-eight other states ) recognized the Slovak Republic and not only appointed a Consul of Her Majesty in Slovakia but also received a Slovak Consul-General in London, 46 many Canadian Slovaks and their press did not see anything wrong in looking favourably at the establishment of the Slovak Republic or did not see any reason to be against it. When the war started, the new Slovak government did not have, in their views, any choice and was therefore unwillingly on the side of Germany. Czech and Czechoslovak newspapers and organizations used however, this against the Slovaks in Canada and caused to many of them personal difficulties with Canadian authorities and a lot of injustice. 47 In fact, denunciations of Slovaks by some Czech newspapers and leftist Czechoslovak newspapers went too far not to be rejected or counter-acted. As a result, a part of the Slovak Canadian press was forced into the defensive and into a fight with the Czech and so-called Czechoslovak newspapers .48 If one wants to judge the relations between the Slovaks and the Czechs from these polemics or from the attacks by some Czech papers on Slovaks and, particularly on the Slovak aspirations for self-government, he will easily come to the conclusion that there is hardly any possibility for co-operation between these two groups in Canada, and that Slovaks and Czechs at home and abroad have little reason to support the further existence of Czechoslovakia. On this brief outline of the Slovak press in Canada in relation to the political, social and cultural needs of the Slovak ethnic group which it serves, we can apply what Victor Turek said about the Polish press, that "it cannot be accurately interpreted without constantly bearing in mind that it has been a press of an oppressed nation struggling for its full freedom. It may be that other ethnic groups, originating from more fortunate countries, enjoying more stability and security, have created in Canada a different type of press - with different aims and duties. �104 SLOVAKIA It may be that for such other groups the importance of maintaining their native language and national traditions was not as paramount."49 FOOTNOTES 1. Kirkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitier, (Toronto, 1939), p. 187. 2. The Canadian Almanac (1931) listed for the first time Slovak press in Canada with a circulation of 9,000. See Slavs in Canada, (Edmonton, 1966), p. 149. 3. See his contribution "The European-Canadians in their Press" in the Report of the annual meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, (Toronto, 1940), p. 86-87. 4. Ibid., p. 88. 5. Ibid., p. 91. 6. The first newspaper was published in Blairmore, Alta., under the name Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word). See K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade", Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy ( 1953), p. 98. 7. See the list of Slovak newspapers. 8. J. T. M. Anderson, The Education of the New Canadian, p. 84. 9. V. Turek, Polish-Language Press in Canada (Toronto, 1952), p. 22. 10. See E. Urban, "Censorship policies in Czecho-Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. XV, p. 93-133. 11. See V. Turek, Polish-Language Press, Op. cit., p. 22. 12. Among the Slovak newspapers in Canada, Kanadsky Slovak was one of the main ones to adopt this line. 13. On Klesken, whose publishing activity spread also into the 1930's and 1940's, see K. culen, "Zomrel Juraj Klesken", Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, ( 1960), p. 168-70. 14. See Slovenske Bratstvo, December 22, 1939. 15. See K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," (A brief survey of the history of Slovak journalism in Canada), Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy (1953), p. 104. 16. See "Zaznam o krajanskej tlaci v Kanade," Narodniarsky Kalendar (1966), p. 78. It seems that Slovenske Bratstvo was the real successor. 17. According to Narodniarsky Kalendar, loc. cit., it ceased to exist in 1941. K. Culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., gives the date October 1943. culen also comments on the legal action in which a Czech Consul Gardavsky was used as an expert in Slovak language even though he did not speak Slovak. �SLOVAKIA 105 18. See Slovenske Bratstvo "Este zije duch slovensky" (The Slovak spirit still lives) , December 29, 1939. 19. Ncirodniarsky Kalendcir, loc. cit., p. 79. The National Slovak Benefit Society also published a mimeographed publication Ncirodne Noviny (National News) on 4-6 pages, and edited by G. Surovsky. 20. J . f>uriancik, "Nase l'udove hnutie a jeho vznik", 13udovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu (1939), p . 22. 21. See 13udovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu (1939), p. 66-75. 22. Admiration for the Soviet Union, Spanish communists and hatred of capitalist countries, mixed with Slovak patriotism is apparent also in the calendar published by Hlas 13udu and called .Cudovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu . 23. V. Turek, Polish-Language Press, op. cit., p. 118. On the pro-communist ethnic press in Canada, A. R. Boyd, "The Foreign Language Press in Canada" in John Kosa (ed.) Immigrants in Canada (Montreal, 1955), p. 45. 24. See Pavol Blaho, "Ako doslo k zalozeniu Kanadskeho Slovaka" (How the Canadian Slovak was founded) Kalendcir Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy (1953), p. 111-4. 25. Ibid. , p. 112. 26. Ibid. 27. Both Hreha and Kvetan wrote plays and verseSI and Hreha was the author of the account on Slovaks in Canada published by the Encyclopedia Canadiana. 28. See Ncirodniarsky Kalendcir, (1966), p. 78. 29. On Debnarkin see the account on Slovak literature in Canada by Prof. Yaroslav Slawutych in the symposium Slavs in Canada; op. cit., p. 96. 30. K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., p. 108. 31. R. A. Boyd, in Kosa, Immigrants, op. cit., p. 44-45. 32. See list of Slovak publications outside Canada. 33. See K. Culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., p. 98-110. 34. See chapter on religious organization of Canadian Slovaks in SZovenski jezuiti v Kanade (1967). 35. See the chapter on Slovak religious organization in Canada; On Rev. Fuga see also Litercirny AZmanach SZovcika v Amerike (1967). �106 SLOVAKIA 36. See "The Foreign Language Press in Canada," Citizen, Vol. IV, No. 4. 37. The editor of Rozvoj was Kornel Piacek. 38. "All foreign language newspapers in Canada," according to the Citizen, "while they serve to introduce newcomers to life in Canada, also have an interest in keeping alive the native cultures of their readers. With this end in view, the papers encourage, publicize and promote cultural activities among the members of their respective ethnic groups and provide a medium of expression for literary and other cultural efforts. The editors believe that in this way their papers are making a contribution towards the enrichment of Canadian life." Citizen, Vol. IV, 4, p. 12. 39. A. R. Boyd, Zoe. cit. , p. 45. 40. Such was for instance the case of Nova Vlast' (Montreal, 1934-1948) replaced by the Czech weekly Novy Domov. 41. The favorite accusation was that of fascism and nazism. Unscrupulous attacks on the publisher of the Slovenske Slovo, led to investigations by Canadian authorities in 1940. The publisher, Juraj Kleskeii, was cleared, but refrained from further publishing of the newspaper. See K. culen, Zoe. cit., p. 101. 42. See Slovenska Obrana (Scranton, Pa.) , Nov. 3, 1939, Nov. 10, 1939, and Nov. 14, 1939, articles by Andrew Potocky, Secretary general of the Canadian Slovak League, M. Cano and Stefan J esenak as well as editorials. The newpapers which did not shy away from denunciations were according to Slovenska Obrana, Nova Vlast' and the leftist Hlas nudu. 43. Boyd, Zoe. cit., p. 46. 44. The author was for two terms President of the Canadian Ethnic Press Association and First Vice-President of the Canada Ethnic Press Federation, J. Novak, and others served on the board. 45. There were two cases of legal action as a result of these struggles. See K. culen "Slovaci v Kanade," Kalendar KSL for 1953, p. 102, Slovenske Bratstvo, Dec. 29, 1939 and Kanadsky Slovak, March 17, 1962 and fall . 46. See Kirschbaum, Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, p. 130-144 and p. 268-270. 47. See K. culen, Zoe. cit. , p. 101. 48. At the beginning of the War it was mainly the Slovak weekly Slovenske Bratstvo and from 1942 the Kanadsky Slovak which defended the Slovak point of view. The Czech and Czechoslovak point of view was advocated before and during the War by the weeklies Nova Vlast' and later by Nase Hlasy. 49. Cf. V. Turek, Op. cit., p. 27. �SLOVAKIA 107 SLOVAK LANGUAGE PRESS IN CANADA Newspapers (1910). Published by Andrew Lukca and Juraj Klesken in Blairmore, Alberta. Kanadske Noviny (Canadian News) (1928-1933). Published in Montreal. The newspaper changed publishers, editors and political lines several times. It was founded by J. Pribil. Nase Slovo (Our Word) (1931-1932). Published in Toronto, it was the first newspaper of Slovak communists. Robotnicke Slovo (Workers' Word) (1931-1932). Successor to Nase Slavo, it was published and edited by J. Huska. Hlas Dudu (The People's Voice) (1932-1940). Successor to Robotnicke Slovo, it was suspended in 1940 by Canadian authorities. Hlas Naroda (The Voice of the Nation) (1932-1934). I,t was published by Juraj Klesken in Blairmore. Nasa Mladez (Our Youth) (1932-1934). A supplement to Hlas Naroda and also published in Blairmore. Slovak v Kanade (The Slovak in Canada) (1933-1939). Published in Montreal by G. Kurdel and edited by F. Kvetan, it aimed at reflecting the political orientation of Slovak immigrants in Canada and opposed "Czechoslovak" theses. Nova Vlasf (New Homeland) (1934-1948). Founded in Montreal, its aims was to foster the official Czechoslovak ideology among Slovak and Czech immigrants in Canada. Slovensky Priekopnik (The Slovak Pioneer) (1939-1943). Edited by S. Zuber, it was considered by some to be the successor to Slovak Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word) v Kanade. Obeznik Slovenskeho Priekopnika (The Circular of the Slovak Pioneer) (1939). A tabloid which ceased to exist after a few issues. Slovenske Bratstvo (Slovak Brotherhood). Edited by Stefan Hreha, in its subtitle, it claimed to be the successor to Slovak v Kanade and for a short time was the official newspaper of the Canadian Slovak League. Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word) (1940-19 ). Published anew by Klesken in Blairmore, its purpose was to refute the attacks against the Slovak Republic made by Nova Vlast' and some communist newspapers. Nase Slovo (Our Word) (1941-1945). It succeeded Hlas Dudu when the Soviet Union joined the camp of the Allies. Dudove Zvesti (The People's News) (1945). Its present editor is J. f>uriancik and it is the mouthpiece of Slovak communists. Kanadsky Slovak (The Slovak Canadian) (1942). Founded during the war, it became the official organ of the Canadian Slovak League. It was founded in Montreal. In 1952 it was transferred to Winnipeg and in 1958 to Toronto. �108 SLOVAKIA Slovensky Hlas (The Slovak Voice) (1949). Founded in Windsor, Ontario, as the organ of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society. In 1951 it was transferred to Toronto. It is politically independent. Almanacs and Periodicals Prvy Kalendar Kanadskych Slovcikov (First Almanac of Slovak Canadians) (1934-1939) . It had only two issues. Cudovy Kalendar pre Kanadu (People's Almanac for Canada) (1939) . Died with the first issue. Neis Zivot (Our Life) (1950). Organ of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Canada, it was published by Dr. Paul Fundarek. Ekonomi ka ( Economics ) (1948-1949). Published by Stanislav Zuber in Toronto, this monthly's aim was to inform Slovaks in Canada on economic problems. Rozvoj (Progress) (1950-1951). A mimeographed monthly under the direction of K. Piacek for cultural and literary works. Domovina (Homeland) (1952-1954). Mimeographed periodical of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Toronto, it was edited by Julius Ksinan. Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy ( Almanac of the Canadian Slovak League) (1952). Published in Winnipeg, its first editor was Konstantin culen. Domobrana (Home Defense) (1953) . Organ of the Union of Slovak Combattants, it was first edited by Jan Doransky in Montreal, later transferred to Toronto and then to the United States. Pamiitnica Kanadskeho Slovenskeho Podporneho Spolku a Kalendar Slovenskeho Hlasu ( Souvenir Book of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society and Almanac of the Slovak Voice) (1957) . Edited by 0 . M. Debnarkin. Nase Snahy (Our Goals) (1965). Bi-monthly published in Toronto and sponsored by The Permanent Conference of Slovak Democratic Exiles. Religious Publications Ave Maria (1938-1939) . Published in Montreal by J . Skoda and an anonymous board of editors. Maria (1955- ) . Founded by Rev. M. Rusnak and Rev. F. Fuga, it serves the religious needs of Greek Catholic Slovaks in Canada and the U.S.A. Slovenski Jezuiti v Kanade (Slovak Jesuits in Canada) (1958). Published annually by the Slovak Jesuit Missionary Centre in Galt, Ontario. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1968, Vol. 18 Description An account of the resource Vol. 18 (No. 41), 1968. 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 1968 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 78 SLOVAKIA THE SLOVAK PRESS IN CANADA J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. For a long time the Slovak press in Canada was unknown even to such prominent experts on the life of the ethnic groups in Canada as Prof. Watson Kirkconnell. Writing in 1939 about the European-Canadians and their attitudes towards European problems during the 1938-1939 period, he made the following observation: The last census showed 30,401 Czechs and Slovaks, but did not subdivide these two distinct groups further. Until last spring there was a Czech weekly paper, ceske Noviny ("The Czech News"), published in Montreal, but it gave up the ghost about the time that Germany seized Bohemia, apparently expiring as a result of the withdrawal of financial support through the Czech Consulate-General, The Slovaks had no separate press, but there were many Canadian members of the Slovak League of America, which claims a membership of 300,000 and is bitterly anti-Czech and anti-Benesh.1 In fact, before 1939 there had existed, for shorter or longer periods of time, at least fourteen Slovak newspapers2 and periodicals. The first almanac of Canadian Slovaks, which included a short history of Slovak organizations in Canada had been published five years before the appearance of Prof. Kirkconnell's book; it seems, however, that Slovak newspapers and publications apparently had not come to the attention of Canadians. Speaking later to the annual meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, in his survey of the foreign language press, Prof. Kirkconnell drew quite a favorable picture of the Slovak press in Canada.3 It had existed, according to his report, before the Czechs or the Baltic peoples had their press in Canada and in "per capita" circulation before the Second World War, it ranked sixth among the foreign language newspapers. With 1.04 papers per home of four persons, it was ahead of Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, German, Italian press, and high above the national average. Prof. Kirkconnell explained this by remarking that "the height of the Finnish, Hungarian and Slovak figures is due to the fact that the bulk of these communities consist of post-war emigres, who brought with them political grievances that tend, at this short removal in time, to preserve their sense of identity." 4 He also pointed out that SLOVAKIA 79 "in some cases the foreign language press reflected in Canada the political divisions within the European countries, and that that many of these papers were edited here by political exiles who are men of considerable education."5 Although Slovak newspapers and periodicals from the United States were available for the small and scattered Slovak ethnic group, it did not prevent Slovak immigrants from publishing their own newspapers, periodicals and almanacs. In fact the first Slovak newspaper appeared in Canada in 19106 when the number of Slovaks in Canada was still very small and practically no Canadian Slovak fraternal organization existed yet on Canadian soil. With the influx of immigrants after the First World War not only the number of newspapers increased, but also the quality of the Slovak language press constantly improved. There were not less than 13 newspapers and periodicals published for shorter or longer periods, before the Second World War. Altogether 30 newspapers and periodicals in the Slovak language appeared in Canada between 1910 and 1967.7 This certainly contradicts the myth that the Slovaks who came to Canada before the Second World War were mostly illiterate8 and uninterested in public affairs. While some of the newspapers were of little importance or service to the Slovak community in Canada, others performed very useful tasks. In many respects the Slovak language press is the only source of information for history of Slovaks in Canada. It relates the struggles, hardships, successes and political divisions of the Slovak ethnic group i.n this country. Many problems of the first groups of Slovak immigrants in Canada were recorded perhaps in a crude but sincere manner in these newspapers or monthlies. They were founded to serve the needs of the immigrants who did not read the English or French press, and reflected the problems of a community, struggling with difficulties created by the language barrier and unfamiliar surroundings. The papers were also the principal source of information on the activities of the associations, parishes as well as on the political views on Slovak and Canadian affairs. Slovak immigrants to Canada came divided along political, as well as religious lines, and continued to fight their old battles on Canadian soil in their press and in their associations. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find 80 SLOVAKIA a copy of some of the thirty periodicals and newspapers published in various parts of Canada during the past 57 years. It is only through indirect sources that the existence and political orientation of some periodicals has been known, for neither the Slovak organizations nor the Canadian libraries were interested in collecting them. In fact , Canadian libraries and press directories showed a lack of interest in the foreign language press and confined their attention to newspapers alone, neglecting minor publications. The need for a Slovak press in Canada, where vast distances separated the small, scattered communities of Slovak farmers and miners, is understandable. Their desire to communicate with their countrymen and the fear of loneliness and isolation explain why so many newspapers, publications, printed or mimeographed have appeared during the last 57 years . This also explains why the first Slovak newspaper, and even some later ones, started in Alberta's mining towns. Only from the 1930's on, when the second wave of Slovak immigrants moved from farms and mining towns to the industrial centres, Toronto and Montreal became the centres of the Slovak language press. The largest Slovak newspaper, Kanadsky Slovak began its publication in Montreal in 1942, then in 1952 it was moved for a few years to Winnipeg and finally settled in 1958, in Toronto. Of the thirty Slovak newspapers, periodicals and publications, fourteen were founded in Toronto and the three existing newspapers, the present almanacs and the monthly Maria, as well as books, have been published for the past eight years in Toronto. Seven Slovak publications were founded and published for some time in Montreal. The three existing newspapers are sponsored by the Slovak Canadian fraternal organizations; the Canadian Slovak League publishes Kanadsky Slovak; the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society publishes Slovensky Hlas, and the leftist Slovak Benefit Society of Canada publishes Eudove Zvesti. All three newspapers promote the aims of their association, however, they also perform certain other tasks, and each of them has a distinct political line in Slovak and Canadian affairs. We can apply to the Slovak . language press what has been said of the ethnic press in Canada in general: SLOVAKIA 81 While the ethnic periodicals, by keeping up the reader's interest of his native country, emphasize his national consciousness and separate national identity, they help him at the same time to familiarize himself with the new country of his residence.9 From their modest beginning· when Slovak newspapers aimed at informing the scattered groups of miners or farmers of their problems and whereabouts, the Slovak language press progressed with years to more important and more diversified tasks. If the prime concern of the early Slovak newspapers was to make the life of immigrants, unfamiliar with their new country, its people, language and institutions, less lonely, by giving them information about their countrymen and opportunities for work in other parts of the country, the later newspapers helped to establish associations, parishes and became an important instrument of integration. At the same time the newspapers kept Slovak immigrants informed about their country of origin, by printing information which they could not find in Canadian press, and kept them also informed on Canada, because many did not read either English or French. In fact for a long time Slovak newspapers remained the principal source of information for Slovak immigrants about Canadian matters. Following the example of Slovak newspapers in the United States, the Slovak press in Canada began very soon to dedicate a substantial part of each newspaper to two issues: 1) the desire to keep alive or awaken national consciousness of Slovak immigrants, and 2) the necessity to fight the battles in which the Slovak people were involved in Czecho-Slovakia. The absence of censorship, which in Czecho-Slovakia silenced Slovak newspapers or permitted their publication with half-pages white 10 allowed Slovak newspapers in Canada to voice freely the grievances of the Slovak people and to fight vehemently for the political or social equality of Slovaks in their homeland. The feeling that they were allowed to express their views without hindrance, is reflected in all Slovak newspapers in Canada and one has to admire the warm patriotism and interest in cultural and political problems shown by the editors and contributors, whose education rarely went beyond high-school level. As was the case of the Slovak newspapers in the United States, the Slovak language press in Canada became an instrument which helped the immigrants to find more 82 SLOVAKIA comfortable places of living in their new country. On the other hand some Canadian Slovak newspapers also became advocates of autonomy and self-determination for Slovakia, while others followed the official policy of Prague governments or voiced their leanings to communism. In view of the role which Slovak associations and newspapers played in promoting the liberation of Slovakia from foreign domination, the publication and support of newspapers abroad was regarded by the Slovak people as a mark of patriotism, and to take a stand or to write in favor of freedom or equality of political rights for Slovakia was considered the moral duty of every Slovak abroad. This can partly explain the sacrifices which the Slovaks in Canada or in other parts of the world were willing to make to publish and maintain their press, and it also explains their continuous interest in the affairs of their country of origin. Long considered the free spokesmen of the Slovak nation, Slovaks abroad, including those in Canada, could not remain silent, especially after the Second World War when a communist system was imposed on the Slovak people. As a result, the Slovak press in Canada has reacted vehemently against the enslavement of their country of origin in the belief that by fighting communism it defended at the same time, freedom and democracy in Canada. Political involvement of Slovak language press in Canada after the Second World War became stronger than ever before, for another reason. Among the Slovak immigrants who came to Canada in the post-war period, many were not only interested in politics, but also left Slovakia for political reasons. Many of these new immigrants began to contribute political articles to the existing newspapers, and in both non-communist newspapers the new immigrants became editors (K. culen, J. Zvonar, J. Kutka and S. Reistetter in Kanadsky Slovak, M. Ferik, L. Gorekand, 0. M. Debnarkin in Slovensky Hlas). Slovak language press in Canada acquired more and more political character, and with the intensification of the Cold War and with the rising furror of the communist terror in Slovakia it became, once again, a spokesman for Slovakia. The influx of educated immigrants gave the Slovak newspapers at the same time, a higher level in cultural SLOVAKIA 83 matters, since some of the known Slovak writers, poets and scholars used the newspapers for publishing their poetry, short novels and essays. Although not all immigrants of the previous waves liked the new face of their papers, the leaders and delegates of the Canadian Slovak League always approved the new line. During the past few years the Slovak newspapers and the almanacs or kalendars, published by the associations which sponsor the newspapers as well, have dedicated, however, more and more space to Canadian or organizational issues, and in order to interest the Canadian-born generations, the Kanadsky Slovak has regularly published an English corner. At times there have been articles in English even on the front page, if the issue treated was supposed to interest or to be brought to the attention of the Government or of other ethnic groups. This tendency to pay more attention to the problems of the community is a general trend among the ethnic press in Canada. 11 While conserving the right to speak for the countries enslaved by communism and to criticise the communist regimes, many ethnic newspapers acknowledged the fact that the ethnic groups are becoming closer to Canada than to their countries of origin. Some of them try to help their homelands by stressing their loyalty to Canada and by making appeals to the Canadian Government to voice their aspirations. 12 The Slovak language press assumed certain other duties-such as helping its readers to overcome educational shortcomings resulting from the political situation in Slovakia during the period of foreign rule, and also trying to preserve cultural values threatened by hostile pressures. The Slovak-Canadian periodicals performed these duties conscientiously, in addition to the standard functions of newspapers serving a certain area. This duality of function is perhaps the most striking feature of the Slovak-Canadian press. Practically all the newspapers and almanacs contained not only information, but also articles on cultural and historical matters as well as poetry, short novels, epigrams and other writings. For several Slovak writers, poets and politicians the Slovak language press has been the tribune for their ideas and has helped them to overcome the feelings of futility and discouragement, which many immig- 84 SLOVAKIA rant intellectuals have experienced after their arrival in Canada. And since the Slovak people in Slovakia expected that their countrymen everywhere, especially on the American continent, would not only maintain their national heritage but also help Slovakia to obtain political freedom, and after the Second World War to regain national independence, the newspapers and almanacs have been giving· much space to the general problems of communism and democracy and to specific Slovak problems. From the very beginning the Slovak press was kept alive mostly by the sacrifices and selfless dedication of editors and contributors, and by the generous support of its readers. Only later, it was maintained or subsidized by the Slovak associations. At that point, however, Slovak newspapers and periodicals became less independent and more differentiated in their political leanings, so that according to its political colouring and character, the Slovak language press can be divided into the following categories: (a ) The early informatory, non-political Slovak pubcations; (b ) Newspapers collaborating with the Czech group and favouring close ties with Prague, but autonomy for Slovakia; ( c ) Slovak press rejecting co-operation with the Czechs and advocating Slovak independence; (d) Pro-communist publications; (e) Economic, cultural and other short-lived publications; ( f) Religious publications. No doubt a lesser number of newspapers and fewer political divisions would have been preferable, but Slovaks came to Canada divided along political and religious lines. Furthermore, the political developments in Slovakia, the economic and social difficulties of the years of the economic depression and the communist take-over after World War II, perpetuated their disunity. Needless to say, the adversaries of the Slovaks' aspirations for autonomy and later for independence, supported by the consular and diplomatic representatives of Czechoslovakia, used all available means to keep them divided and fighting among themselves, and used the Slovak language press to this end. SLOVAKIA 85 Newspapers and Periodicals The history of the Slovak language press in Canada begins with a newspaper called Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word ), published in Blairmore, Alta., by Andrew Lukca and Juraj Klesken13 in 1910. There is no evidence that the early Slovak immigrants in Canada published their own newspaper before this date. Slovak newspapers from the United States apparently satisfied the need of the scattered Slovak communities to read in their own language about Canada or Slovakia. Later, however, there was publishing activity which may surprise anyone who is acquainted with the difficulties of the Slovak immigrants in Canada, and with their small numbers. We can divide the survey of the Slovak newspapers into three periods, each corresponding with the individual waves of immigration. The first period was limited to the Canadian West and the Slovak Word is the only newspaper which was published and edited by Canadian Slovaks in that period. Modest in appearance and published at irregular intervals in a small tabloid form, the first issue of the Slovenske Slovo appeared in May 1910. Both the publisher and the editor came to Blairmore from Chicago, Ill., to join hundreds of Slovak miners who at that time worked in coal mines of the Crow's Nest Pass area. It was impossible to find out how long this first Slovak newspaper was published or how many issues appeared. As for the contents, the publication was written in a strong patriotic spirit, similar to that of Slovak newspapers in the United States before the First World War. The second period was not limited g·e ographically. Montreal and Toronto became the centres of Slovak publishing activity as well as of the successive disappearance of newspapers which had started with more enthusiasm than financial backing. Some of these newspapers, such as Kanadske Noviny for instance, ceased publication, but the newspapers which replaced them, did not start as new ones, but as a continuation of previous publications. As a result we find that Slovak v Kanade started as Volume VI, or Slovenske Bratstvo as Volume XII. The second period extends from 1928 to the end of the Second World War and was also marked by the birth of numerous religious periodicals, almanacs and tabloids. Juraj Klesken himself 86 SLOVAKIA made two more attempts at reviving a newspaper in the Canadian West, but failed, as did all individual undertakings in this field in Montreal or Toronto. The newspapers achieved more stability only when they became official organs of the fraternal organizations. At that time Slovak newspapers and periodicals also became divided along the political lines, and the divisions survive to this day. The second, as later the third period, was turbulent at times, full of polemics, bitter invective and in some instances even law suits resulting from partisan polemics and attacks. The atmosphere in the Slovak press was particularly poisoned by hate, denunciations and invectives in 1939 and during the war years, and again from 1948, when the Slovak and Czech political refugees arrived in Canada. In spite of denunciations by the Czech, communist and Czechoslovak press, no Canadian Slovak newspaper was prohibited by the Canadian Government except the communist one. The prohibition of the circulation of Slovak American newspapers, which was imposed upon the weekly Jednota and the bi-weekly Slovenskd Obrana as a result of false accusations, by the Czech and Czechoslovak newspapers, that they spread or advocated Nazism, was suspended14 shortly after it was put into effect. It created, however, an atmosphere of bitterness, and mutual accusations which divided the Slovak community for the entire period of the war. However, a positive result was forthcoming as far as Slovaks in Canada were concerned, as the Government authorities were skeptical from then on about subsequent denunciations of Slovaks by the Czech or communist newspapers. The First World War and the limited immigration to Canada from Slovakia until 1926 interrupted the publishing activity among Slovaks. Only the influx of Slovak immigrants around 1928, among whom many were involved in the post-war political and social clashes in Slovakia, led to the founding of new Slovak newspapers. The strongest centres for publishing activity in the period were Montreal, where from 1928 to 1939 five newspapers and one periodical were founded, and Toronto, where the small group of Slovak communists made three successive attempts at pub- SLOVAKIA 87 lishing newspapers. All these newspapers represented political and ideological differentiation of Slovak immigrants and can be divided into three categories: ( 1) Newspapers with Slovak patriotic leanings, defending the right of the Slovak people to political autonomy and their own cultural development; (2) Newspapers supporting the official ideology of Prague governments and advocating Czechoslovak national, linguistic and cultural unity; (3) Newspapers with socialist and communist tendencies. Some newspapers changed their original political orientation, while others stood firmly on their ideological ground. Kanadske Noviny (Canadian News) was the first newspaper of this period. Published in Montreal from 1928 to 1933, the newspaper changed publishers, editors and political lines several times. The founder, J . Pribil, was the owner of a travel and colonization agency, and when faced with a deficit, he sold the newspaper to his employees. They in turn sold it to the publishers of New Yorksky Dennik and the last owner was Gabriel Kurdel, whom we mentioned in connection with the first Slovak organization in Canada. Originally the newspaper advocated a close political union between Slovaks and Czechs along the lines of the official policy of Prague's government and its subtitle was: "Czechoslovak Weekly". G. Kurdel, after taking over the ownership, changed not only the political orientation of the newspaper, but also its name, to Slovak v Kanade. The editors, Stanislav Zuber and Martin Dudak, were also replaced. Slovak v Kanade (The Slovak in Canada) was published in Montreal from 1933 to 1939 and in some way it may be considered as a forerunner of Kanadsky Slovak. 1~ Kurdel, the publisher as well as the editor, Frantisek Kvetan, endeavoured to give the Slovak immigrants in Canada a newspaper which would reflect their political orientation and clear the confusion created by the official Czechoslovak propaganda in the ranks of Slovak Canadians. Unfortunately the financial burden was too heavy on the publisher, and the newspaper ceased publication on the threshold of the Second World War. Slovensky Priekopnik (The Slovak Pioneer) was, according to some sources,16 the successor of Slovak v Kana- 88 SLOVAKIA de and its editor, Stanislav Zuber, tried to keep its con- tents in line with the feelings and thinking of the majority of Slovak immigrants, who were not willing to support blindly the Czecho-Slovak National Association, which served the aims of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile. A legal suit against the newspaper by the President of the Association added to its financial difficulties and the newspaper discontinued publication in October 1943.17 A tabloid called Obeznik Slovenskeho Priekopnika (The circular of the Slovak Pioneer) also ceased to exist after a few issues. Slovenske Bratstvo (Slovak Brotherhood) was also published in Montreal as "The Democratic organ of the Slovaks in Canada" and it claimed in its subtitle to be the successor to the weekly Slovak in Canada. For a short time the Canadian Slovak League used Slovenske Bratstvo as its official newspaper. The newspaper and its editor, Stefan Hreha, however, were unscrupulously attacked by the newspaper Nova Vlast' and denounced in Ottawa. The apparent aim of the newspaper Nova Vlast' as well as of the former Consul General of Czechoslovakia in Canada, was to obtain the prohibition of Slovenske Bratstvo as well as the suspension of the circulation of all Slovak newspapers from the United States which did not support the political program of Dr. Benes. 18 Nova Vlast' (New Homeland) was founded in 1934 with the apparent aim of fostering the official Czechoslovak ideology among Slovak and Czech immigrants in Canada. From 1928 there was among Slovak immigrants a clear political differentiation, and not only the large group of those who adhered to the Slovak autonomist movement, but also the communist group, were sometimes critical of Prague's official policy. Backed by the consular and diplomatic representatives of Czechoslovakia Nova Vlast' sought to keep Slovak immigrants "faithful" to the concept of the ethnic and linguistic unity of the Czechs and Slovaks and resulting assimilation of the Slovak people. For some time Nova Vlast' avoided an open clash and published the official news of the First Slovak Mutual Benefit Society of Kirkland Lake .19 From 1939 however, the newspaper became aggressive toward everyone who did not agree with the political program of the Czech and Slovak exiled groups in England. The members of the Canadian Slovak League SLOVAKIA 89 and the editors of the newspapers which defended the right of Slovaks to self-determination were particularly attacked and unscrupulously denounced by Nova Vlast'. Until 1936 the newspaper had been edited by Stanislav Zuber, who for some time had been the editor of The Slovak Pioneer, But from 1936, an employee of the Bank of Commerce, Martin Dudak, was the responsible editor, and was helped by the former Consul General of Czechoslovakia, Dr. F. Pavlasek. In 1932 Juraj Kleskefl made another attempt at publishing a newspaper in the west. It was called Hlas Naroda (The Voice of the Nation) and was published in Blairmore, Alberta, from 1932 to 1934. Hlas Naroda was a small-sized publication on 4 pages, which included a supplement called Nasa Mladez (Our Youth). Financial difficulties caused the disappearance of both in 1934. However, Klesken was not a man to be easily discouraged. Since from 1934 not only the Czechoslovak newspaper Nova Vlast', but also the communist newspaper had attacked the patriotic group of Slovak immigrants, Kleskefl started publication in 1940, of Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word). The leading articles were written in English by well-known Slovaks from the United States and Canada: Dr. P. P. Hletko, S. Palickar and F . Zeman. The articles shed new light not only on the Slovak leaders of the pre-war period but also on the Slovak Republic and its President, Dr. J. Tiso, which the adversaries of Slovakia used as a pretext to accuse the publisher of spreading and advocating nazism. Kleskefl was cleared by Canadian authorities, but he discontinued publication of his newspaper. This was the third and last attempt at publishing a Slovak newspaper in the Canadian West. The small group of Slovak communists started publication of their first newspaper in 1931. The name of the mimeographed publication was Nase Slovo (Our Word) and it was published in Toronto. According to one of the editors of the Communist press in Canada, J . f>uriancik, this "labour-progressive" newspaper looked miserable, as miserable as those who contributed their last nickels for its first issue. It was mimeographed on simple sheets and not in newspaper size." 20 A year later its name was changed to Robotnicke Slovo (Workers' Word) and was printed as a regular newspaper. The publisher and editor of the Work- 90 SLOVAKIA ers' Word was J. Huska. These two first leftist newspapers were socialist rather than communist in their contents and orientation. When the Slovak communists organized their Slovenske Kulturne Sdruzenie (Slovak Cultural Association), the newspaper Robotnicke Slovo changed its name to Hlas Eudu (The People's Voice). It was published twice a week and both the Slovak Cultural Association and the newspapers adhered to communist ideology. The communist movement has never had many supporters among Slovak immigrants in Canada. To attract members they formed front organizations like Slovenske Kulturne Sdruzenie or various clubs 21 and used slogans of social justice, progress, peace and democracy. Around 1939 the newspaper Hlas Eudu edited by Cyprian Slimak, became, however, an agressive tool of communist propaganda among Slovak immigrants in Canada22 and as a result, the Canadian authorities ordered its suspension in 1940. The Canadian Government, using its war-time emergency powers, prohibited all communist newspapers and dissolved communist organizations. When the Soviet Union joined the camp of the Western Allies in 1941, Slovak leftist groups started publication of Nase Slovo (Our Word) as a continuation of Hlas Eudu. At the end of the war the newspaper changed its name to Eudove Zvesti ( People's News ) and has survived until the present time, edited by J. f>uriancik for the past two decades. The newspaper remained faithful to its program and to the Prague government even in the period of the socalled cult of personality, when the most prominent Slovak communists were either hanged or sent to jail for life by the Czechoslovakian leaders of the Communist Party. Unlike the other Slovak newspapers, the Slovak communist press in Canada did not gain any of the post-war educated immigrants as contributors or editors. Slovak communist newspapers were published and edited by devoted organizers of the communist movement whose partisan zeal overshadowed their education. How much financial help or how many articles for printing the communist press received from Czechoslovakia, is hard to say. Yet many articles seem to indicate that they were written by educated people. Eudove Zvesti never failed to publish SLOVAKIA 91 attacks and smear propaganda, originated in Prague, against Slovaks in Canada who disagreed either with the communist or the Czech rule in Slovakia, which would indicate that the newspaper is more concerned with how to please the Prague government than to serve the interest of the Slovak immigrants in Canada. We may say about the Slovak language communist press what Turek recorded on the Polish language press in Canada, that: The Polish-language communist press in Canada, as well as the whole party organization, were always characterized by strict discipline, efficient organization and fanatical dedication on the part of the leaders. Needless to add, the general policy was always dictated from outside, and the local leadership was charged only with its execution. Thanks to this rigid organization and discipline, the communist group managed to maintain for thirty years its own press, even though it never had a wide circulation and could not rely on any substantial advertising revenue.23 The founding of Kanadsky Slovak in 1942 was the result of political struggles within the Slovak cummunity in Canada. After the communist group established its press and the Czechoslovak group received strong support from the Czech representatives of the exiled Czech politicians in London, the large part of Canadian Slovaks who were neither pro-communist nor pro-Czech felt an urgent need for their own newspaper. The leaders and members of the Canadian Slovak League were particularly anxious to have an instrument of defense against the combined attacks of the pro-communist and pro-Czech press. Not only did some of them suffer as a result of denunciations by the proCzech and pro-communist newspapers, but also they could not look on, inactive, at the political confusion created among Canadian Slovaks by portraying inaccurately the situation in Slovakia. The decision to publish their own newspaper was taken at the Fifth Congress of the Canadian Slovak League, held on September 8-10, 1941.24 The first issue was published on March 5, 1942 in Montreal and, as evidenced by its contents, there was no doubt that it was published in order to defend the members of the League against accusations by the leftist and Czechoslovak newspapers. It was decided that the newspaper should be published in Slovak "national and 92 SLOVAKIA Christian spirit",25 which the publication has endeavoured to do for the past 26 years. The first editor of Kanadsky Slovak was a young, courageous newspaperman, Stefan Hreha, who had previously edited Slovenske Bratstvo. During his military service he was replaced by Frantisek Kvetan until 1946, when Hreha again took up his duties. 26 In 1949 the Eight Congress of the League elected Konstantin Culen, a well-known journalist and author of numerous works on cultural and political history, 27 as assistant editor. In 1952 the newspaper was transferred to Winnipeg, where the League purchased a printing shop, and Culen became the editor-inchief of the newspaper, as well as of the Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, which began publication in 1953. From Winnipeg and from 1958 in Toronto, Kanadsky Slovak was edited exclusively by the political refugees. Among those in Winnipeg were the poet Jozef Zvonar-Tien, Jozef Kutka and for a decade now, Stefan Reistetter, whose original profession was teaching, but who had been attracted by politics and journalism in Slovakia. Also among the contributors for the past 20 years were mostly the postwar immigrants, even though the "old guard" - Andrew Kucera, Andrew Potocky, Pavol Blaho and others - regularly sent contributions on special occasions. The founding of Kanadsky Slovak closed the second period of the Slovak language press in Canada. A new period opened in 1949 when the second largest Slovak organization, the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society began publishing its official organ, Slovensky Hlas in Windsor. 2 " In the third period several periodicals started publication and some survived. The number of newspapers was stabilized, as were their political and ideological leanings and programs. The standards of the newspapers improved, except for the communist weekly, owing to a large number of contributors from among the political refugees . At the outset, Slovensky Hlas was published on four pages and was concerned primarily with organizational matters. In 1951 it was transferred to Toronto and enlarged to eight pages with varied contents, and has been published monthly. Without fighting party politics it informs its readers in an objective way on Canadian and Slovak problems. Rooted in tradition of Slovak newspapers SLOVAKIA 93 as they originally appeared in Canada or in the United States, it dedicates a substantial part to Slovak cultural and national issues, in order to keep Slovak national consciousness alive, then to the matters of the association which is its sponsor and publisher. Slovensky Hlas was edited in Windsor by J.M. Gerez, Jr. , and :r.udovft Garek. After its transfer to Toronto, Mikulas Ferik and the poet Ondrej M. Debnarkin29 took over the editorial duties. Debnarkin also edited the almanacs published by the Canadian Slovak Benefit Soci ety while Garek became Secretary General of the Societ y . Both are postwar immigrants to Canada. Apart from Slovensky Hlas several short-lived mimeographed monthlies were published in the post-war period. In 1948 Stanislav Zuber began publishing a monthly under the name E konomia. According to cul en the original plan of Zuber was to put into the hands of Slovak immigrants a periodical dedicated to economic problems, but there was not enough interest for such an undertaking and the experiment did not prove successful. E konomia ceased to appear in its second year. 30 The second monthly was published in Toronto by Dr. Paul Fundarek, another member of the group of young educated Slovaks who preferred exile to the submission to communism. The name of the publication was Nds zivot ( Our Life) and it was considered an official organ of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Canada. Born of enthusiasm, but without funds, it was short-lived, ceasing publication with its tenth issue. In 1952 the group of members of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Toronto began to publish a mimeographed periodical Domovina ( Homeland ) . Its editor was a young lawyer, Julius Ksinan, who made a name for himsef in Slovakia in the post-war years by courageously defending one of the members of the Slovak government, Alexander Mach. His attempts at making a career in journalism were not, however, very successful. The publication reflected the turbulent period among Slovak exiles but without contributing positively to political or cultural activities of Slovaks in Canada, it suffered the fate of its predecessor Nds zivot and ceased to exist in 1954. In 1953 the Union of Slovak Combattants made an at- 94 SLOVAKIA tempt at founding a new periodical in a mimeographed form. The publication was called Domobrana (Home Defense) and was edited by the poet Jan Doransky in Montreal. Later it was transferred to Toronto and published at irregular intervals, in a printed form. After its transfer to Toronto Domobrana was even more intolerant and defamatory than Domovina in its attacks on the leaders of the Slovak exiles who disagreed with the methods and views of the Union of Slovak Combattants. It was later transferred to the United States. As A. R. Boyd wrote on ethnic press in Canada, the Slovak language press "has had a chequered career. The rates of birth and mortality have been high. [But] it was inevitable that [it] should have made its appearance." 31 It was kept alive mostly by idealism and unpaid work as well as monetary contributions by its readers, leaders of the associations and underpaid editors. Fund raising on every possible occasion, such as weddings, banquets, picnics, was for a long time one of the main sources of revenue for covering the publishing expenses. With a few exceptions all the editors had to have another job in order to earn enough money to live. Almanacs and Religious and Cultural Periodicals Among Slovak language publications in Canada, almanac or "kalendar", published by Slovak organizations, and religious monthlies or souvenir books published by parishes played an important part socially and in education. Both monthlies and almanacs were favoured reading of the Slovak rural population in Europe, and the habit of having something to read for the long winter evenings, was brought to Canada and preserved. It was, perhaps, even more important in Canada because the almanacs and souvenir books as well as the religious monthlies published information not only on the Slovak communities in Canada, but also articles and pictures about the life of Canadian Slovaks, in addition to the educational articles, short novels and patriotics, moralistic or religious poetry. If this kind of publication appeared in Canada in the Slovak language comparatively late (the first in 1934) or if it was not numerous, the reason can be found in the distribution of well-established publications of a similar type SLOVAKIA 95 from the United States. Some Slovak immigrants also received almanacs and religious monthlies from Slovakia. As a result their publication in Canada began only after the Slovak associations and parishes were established. In their appearance and content, they followed the pattern of their Slovak American counterparts as well as that of almanacs published in Slovakia. The first almanac was published in 1934 under the title Prvy Kalenddr Kanadskych Slovdkov na rok 1934. It approached its readers with the slogan "May brotherhood and concord prevail among us" and was edited by a group of well-known organizers of Slovak community life: G. Kurdel, F. Zeman, J. Pavlovic, F. Kvetan and Rev. Urban Koval. According to the introductory note, the almanac was not sponsored by any fraternal organization, as was the case later, but by a "Slovak Publishing Company". This first almanac contains valuable information on the life and organizational activities of Slovak immigrants in Canada before 1934. There are articles from practically all provinces on the founding and activities of fraternal societies and parishes, with pictures of their leaders and members. The almanac also published a survey of the history of Canada with photographs of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Regina and Victoria and several general views of the cities of Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver, in addition to short novels and verses written either by poets in Slovakia or by Slovak immigrants in Canada. The contributions, even though written by people with limited education, except for F. Zeman, were written in a spirit of idealism and patriotism towards Slovakia but with a strong sense of attachment to Canada. Unfortunately, the Kalenddr was published only twice and several years passed before new almanacs appeared. The next almanac was published in 1939 by the leftist group under the name Eudovy Kalenddr pre Kanadu, ( People's Almanac for Canada) but died out with the first issue. It was concerned mainly with communism and Russia but also dealt with Slovaks and Canada, and contained some useful information on the small group of Slovaks who drifted away from the bulk of Slovak immigrants in Canada, as well as on the first leftist organizations. Slovak almanacs began to appear 96 SLOVAKIA as regular annual publications only after the Second World War. The largest Slovak fraternal organization in Canada, the Canadian Slovak League, began to publish its Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy in 1952. The place of publishing this time was in the west, in Winnipeg. The number of contributors from among the "older" immigrants was comparatively limited in the first issues of the Kalendar since there were already many Slovak writers of the post-war immigration who wrote for newspapers and almanacs published in Canada, the United States and elsewhere.32 The editor, Konstantin Culen, wrote a good deal of the material himself. The contents of the Kalendar were of an informative and educational nature and referred to the organizational life of Slovaks in Canada, as well as to cultural and political problems of Slovakia and Canada. The almanac was later transferred to Toronto and besides the leaders of the Canadian Slovak League many known Slovak writers and publicists regularly contributed articles on cultural or political matters as well as verses and short novels, making the Kalendar an interesting and valuable symposium. At the same time the Kalendar published articles on the hi.story of Slovaks in Canada in Slovak as well as in English and the first survey of the Slovak language press. 33 The Kalendar at all times manifested loyalty to Canada and interest in the fate of the Slovak people whose freedom and independence it strongly advocated. After Culen left for the United States, the Kalendar was edited by ~tefan Reistetter and an anonymous editorial board, composed of the main contributors. The administrative duties and problems with publication and distribution of the Kalendar were in Toronto, mostly in the hands of the Publishing Committee of the Canadian Slovak League. In 1957 the second largest Slovak fraternal organization, the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society, began to publish its yearly almanac. The first issue was published under the name Pamatnica Kanadskeho Slovenskeho Podporneho Spolku a Kalendar Slovenskeho Hlasu (Souvenir Book of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society and Almanac of the Slovak Voice for the year 1957 ). It seems to have been edited by 0 . M. Debnarkin, although a notice on the front page states that it was prepared by the editorial board of SLOVAKIA 97 the newspaper Slovensky Hlas. The contents of the Pamiitnica deal mostly with the achievements and problems of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society which in 1952 celebrated its 25th anniversary. It contains articles and pictures of the founders and main leaders of the Society and its branches, and several verses by the editor. The following issues dedicated more space to literary and cultural contributions, though articles on the goals and achievements of the sponsoring society, and contributions by the leaders and members, were always more numerous than in the almanac of the Canadian Slovak League, whose contributors were predominantly the post-war immigrants. Conservative and educational rather than political and literary, the almanac of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society has fulfilled among its readers, the function of an organizational publication. The leftist Slovak Benefit Society did not issue any regular publication of the type of almanac except for one issue of Eudovy Kalenddr pre Kanadu in 1939 as previously mentioned. Slovak almanacs or "kalendars" in Canada had to compete with similar publications distributed by the Slovak fraternal organizations in the United States. The Canadian members of the First Catholic Slovak Union, have been receiving yearly a well-edited Kalenddr Jednota which, in its 200-300 pages brings articles and pictures from the life of Slovaks in both countries and many educational, literary and political articles referring to Slovakia and to the new homelands of Slovak immigrants. The gymnastical fraternal organization Slovak Catholic Sokol also provides its Canadian members with a yearly almanac of comparatively high literary value, as does the National Slo1Yak Society, which sends to its Canadian members not only a newspaper, but also an almanac, called Ndrodny Kalenddr, which was founded in 1893 and is considered one of the best Slovak almanacs. Slovak religious publications in Canada were not numerous and in view of the religious consciousness of the Slovak people, need some explanation. Basically it was for the same reason mentioned in connection with the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks: immigrants from Slovakia to Canada were either unmarried young men or those 98 SLOVAKIA who were married left their families at home. They moved from one mining camp to another or from the West to the East looking for jobs, and established their permanent home and place of residence very slowly. Another reason was the lack of Slovak priests who would have organized parishes and taken care of the religious needs of Slovak immigrants.34 As a result of this situation, the first Slovak Canadian religious monthly appeared only in 1938. It was published in Montreal, under the name Ave Maria, by J. Skoda, and was in elaborate form and large size, containing many pictures. J. skoda was assisted by an anonymous board of editors. Also called the Slovak Catholic Rosary News in English, it contained religious articles and news on Slovak Catholics in Canada. A new monthly was not published until 1955 when the Slovak priests of the Byzantine Rite came to Canada and began to organize Slovak Greek Catholic parishes. The founders of the monthly, published under the name Maria, were Rev. M. Rusnak, and Rev. Francis Fuga, pastor of the Slovak Greek Catholic parish in Hamilton.35 The publication found a generous supporter in Stephen B. Roman and survived all difficulties over the past eleven years. The circulation amounts to 1,500 copies and it has subscribers also in the United States and other parts of the free world. As all religious foreign language publications in Canada, these two monthlies served not only the religious needs of the Slovak immigrants, but also fulfilled cultural and social functions. They have recorded important events among Slovaks in Canada and in the world, but their main goal remains religious. Nearly all Slovak parishes published on the occasion of their inauguration, or for anniversaries, souvenir books, some of which, as the Souv enir Book of the Fifth Anniversary of the Church of the Visitation in Winnipeg, (Winnipeg, 1955) contained valuable information, not only on the church and its community, but also a short history of Slovak immigrants in Manitoba. Souvenir book of the dedication of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church of Ascension i n Montreal (Montreal, 1962), with many photographs, re- corded the history of the parish as well as of the building of the church. Pamiitnik Tridsat'rocneho Jubilea Zalozenia SLOVAKIA 99 Slovenskej Evanjelickej Lutherdnskej Cirkvi vo Windsore, Ontario, ( Souvenir Book of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Nativity Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church in Windsor, Ontario) published in 1958 also brings a short his- torical outline of the life, organization and activities of the Slovak Lutheran community. The "Memorial Book" of the Slovak Lutheran Church of Ascension in Montreal was published in 1954 and contains a short history of the congregation in Slovak and English, as well as pictures from the life of the congregation. The inauguration of the Slovak Junior Seminary in Sarnia was also recorded by the publication of a Souvenir Book as were the inauguration of parishes or churches in Hamilton, Welland and others. The 25th Anniversary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic parish in Toronto recorded in 1959 in a special souvenir book, also records the history of the parish with many pictures, and is considered to be one of the best publications of its kind. The Slovak Jesuit missionary centre in Galt has produced, since 1958, an annual publication called Slovenski Jezuiti v Kanade, ( Slovak Jesuits in Canada). The publication contains mainly reports on the activities of Slovak Jesuits in Canada and the United States. There have also been, however, articles on general religious problems and in the issue for 1966, Rev. J. Moravsky published a valuable survey of the religious life and organizations of Slovak Catholics in Canada. The value of the publication for the history of Slovaks in Canada, may one day be considerable. In conclusion we may say about the Slovak religious press in Canada what is generally said of the ethnic religious press: The Slovak Canadian and Slovak religious press aimed at serving the religious needs of Slovak communities of various denominations and the papers are very similar to their French, English and other ethnic counterparts. Although some of these religious papers are small, unpretentious and at times published irregularly, their importance is far in excess of their physical characteristics. Like the foreign language press in general, the religious papers provide a link with the past life of the immigrants and thus serve as a stabilizing force in their new environment, particularly with regard to moral standards. 36 As for cultural publications, there was only one attempt at establishing a Slovak non-political, cultural and literary periodical in Canada. The young educated post-war 100 SLOVAKIA immigrants, whose university studies were interrupted by the communist occupation of Slovakia, began to publish in Montreal, in 1949, a monthly called Rozvoj (Progress ) of long standing among university students. 37 It was published in a large-size on 90 pages, and among its contributors were some of the most outstanding intellectuals, poets and writers. After a year the publication ceased to exist. The main reason for its disappearance was the hard beginning of the educated Slovak newcomers to Canada and to other countries. On the other hand, the newspapers and almanacs available in Canada were willing to publish any literary or cultural contribution and there was, therefore, no particular need for a new publication. 38 Along with Rozvoj publication was also discontinued of a series of literary works by young Slovak writers in exile, called Edicia Rozvoja, which started with a drama Krvavy Kriz (Bloody Cross), written by a Slovak poet, Karol Strmefl, under the nom de plume Milan Novak. Slovak-Czech Relations in the Slovak Press in Canada Analyzing the reasons for the founding of the foreign language newspapers in Canada, Allan R. Boyd writes, that primary factor in the establishment of an ethnic press was the growing national consciousness of certain groups whose European territories were under the rule of what they regarded as foreign powers. The pervading nationalism which germinated and grew throughout Europe during the nineteenth century had its reflection in the press established abroad. Ethnic groups abroad always have been concerned with events affecting their homeland, even when that homeland is not engaged in a struggle for liberation or independence. Thus one of the 'raison d'etre' of the press which came into being was the preoccupation with, and propagation of, ideals of national independence." 39 The Slovak language press has been no exception in this regard. Since 1928, when the first Slovak newspaper of the inter-war period appeared in Canada, the Slovak-language press was divided in its attitude towards the policy of Prague government with regard to Slovakia as well as toward the Czech emigrants in Canada. There were many attempts at keeping alive the false pretension that Czechs and Slovaks were one ethnic group and a few newspapers, SLOVAKIA 101 published in the Slovak language, called themselves "Czecho-Slovak weeklies". Those papers, were, however, not many and there was usually behind them either Czech financial support or they served at the same time the needs of the Czech community in Canada. 40 These "Czechoslovak" newspapers defended the Czech policy in Slovakia and systematically wrote against Canadian Slovaks who were on the side of the Slovak political movement which aimed at autonomy and self-rule in Slovakia and stressed that Slovaks were a distinct ethnic and cultural entity. The debates on these subjects were often conducted in strong terms and with little respect for the facts and feelings. Shortly before and during the Second World War some "Czechoslovak" newspapers used demagogy and denunciations41 against those Slovaks who differed in their opinions from the Czech views on the policy of Prague or from the political aims of the Czech exiles in London. The controversy was fought not only in Slovak papers in Canada, but also in the United States, particularly when the Slovaks, who did not agree with the "Czechoslovak" political line, were accused of disloyalty towards Canada.42 As the War progressed the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs in Canada were more tense, and the polemics more heated in the Slovak language press. The continuous attacks by the Czech oriented and pro-Communist Slovak newspapers on the leaders and members of the Canadian Slovak League led finally to the founding of the Kanadsky Slovak, which reflects, from 1942, the other side of the tense Slovak - Czech relations. The fact that Slovakia after the War, instead of receiving independence, not only was returned under the Czech rule but also the Communist system was imposed upon the Slovak people, contributed to an increase of the proportion of space devoted by the Slovak language press in Canada to the problems of the "old country" or in other words to the Slovak-Czech relations. Moreover, the new enslavement of the Slovak people led to the foundation of some periodicals, devoted to the political objectives of Slovak exiles and refugees who arrived in Canada around 1950. They were, however, all short-lived and some of them appeared at irregular intervals, mostly when their anonymous contributors and editors felt the need to attack and slander other Slovak emigres or Slovak organizations. 102 SLOVAKIA Particularly, the contributions of the new immigrants to the older Slovak newspapers concentrated mainly on national problems and on the defence of the Slovak people's right to independence explaining the situation in Slovakia during the war, which has constantly been misrepresented abroad. They were the "forced migrants" about whom R. A. Boyd writes that "naturally their own fate and that of their homeland deeply concerns them." 43 The Slovak language press in Canada has strongly reflected this new situation. As always before, it helped the integration of Slovaks with the mainstream of Canadian life, as well as with other ethnic groups. Some post-war immigrants endeavored even to strengthen the positive attitude of the Slovak press in Canada toward other ethnic groups, which except for the Czechs, had always been friendly and most co-operative in their relations with Canadian Slovaks. This is especially true with regard to other Slavic groups with whom the Slovaks in Canada felt kinship, and basically understood their language. Polish, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Croatian, and other Slavic events in Canada have been registered in the Slovak Canadian press and Slovak representatives occupied the highest offices in the Canadian Ethnic Press Association or Canada Ethnic Press Federation. 44 The negative attitude toward the Czech group, which appeared in the 1930's and became stronger during and after the Second World War, as mentioned before, was mostly caused by the tendency of some Canadian Czechs, and later of their newspapers, to speak on behalf and in the name of Canadian Slovaks, which the Slovaks resented; secondly, it was caused by the difference of opinions on the policy of Prague governments and Slovak aspirations for self-government; thirdly, by vicious attacks on Slovaks who disagreed with Czechs. 45 Even before the Second World War, when the Slovak newspapers regarded Czechoslovakia as their motherland, they were opposed to the policy of the Prague government which aimed at assimilation of Slovaks and domination of Slovakia by Czechs. Since the Czech and Czechoslovak Communist papers in Canada stood behind the Prague government and opposed the aspirations of the Slovak people for autonomy within Czechoslovakia, denying the existence of a culturally and ethnically distinct Slovak entity, conflicts flared up and were discussed with vehemence in the Slovak press. SLOVAKIA 103 The animosity and attacks were intensified especially during and after the Second World War. The proclamation of Slovakia's independence was considered by the Czech and Czechoslovak-oriented press as a treason, while for many Slovaks in Canada it was an achievement of national ideals. And because, soon after the proclamation of independence, Great Britain (and twenty-eight other states ) recognized the Slovak Republic and not only appointed a Consul of Her Majesty in Slovakia but also received a Slovak Consul-General in London, 46 many Canadian Slovaks and their press did not see anything wrong in looking favourably at the establishment of the Slovak Republic or did not see any reason to be against it. When the war started, the new Slovak government did not have, in their views, any choice and was therefore unwillingly on the side of Germany. Czech and Czechoslovak newspapers and organizations used however, this against the Slovaks in Canada and caused to many of them personal difficulties with Canadian authorities and a lot of injustice. 47 In fact, denunciations of Slovaks by some Czech newspapers and leftist Czechoslovak newspapers went too far not to be rejected or counter-acted. As a result, a part of the Slovak Canadian press was forced into the defensive and into a fight with the Czech and so-called Czechoslovak newspapers .48 If one wants to judge the relations between the Slovaks and the Czechs from these polemics or from the attacks by some Czech papers on Slovaks and, particularly on the Slovak aspirations for self-government, he will easily come to the conclusion that there is hardly any possibility for co-operation between these two groups in Canada, and that Slovaks and Czechs at home and abroad have little reason to support the further existence of Czechoslovakia. On this brief outline of the Slovak press in Canada in relation to the political, social and cultural needs of the Slovak ethnic group which it serves, we can apply what Victor Turek said about the Polish press, that "it cannot be accurately interpreted without constantly bearing in mind that it has been a press of an oppressed nation struggling for its full freedom. It may be that other ethnic groups, originating from more fortunate countries, enjoying more stability and security, have created in Canada a different type of press - with different aims and duties. 104 SLOVAKIA It may be that for such other groups the importance of maintaining their native language and national traditions was not as paramount."49 FOOTNOTES 1. Kirkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitier, (Toronto, 1939), p. 187. 2. The Canadian Almanac (1931) listed for the first time Slovak press in Canada with a circulation of 9,000. See Slavs in Canada, (Edmonton, 1966), p. 149. 3. See his contribution "The European-Canadians in their Press" in the Report of the annual meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, (Toronto, 1940), p. 86-87. 4. Ibid., p. 88. 5. Ibid., p. 91. 6. The first newspaper was published in Blairmore, Alta., under the name Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word). See K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade", Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy ( 1953), p. 98. 7. See the list of Slovak newspapers. 8. J. T. M. Anderson, The Education of the New Canadian, p. 84. 9. V. Turek, Polish-Language Press in Canada (Toronto, 1952), p. 22. 10. See E. Urban, "Censorship policies in Czecho-Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. XV, p. 93-133. 11. See V. Turek, Polish-Language Press, Op. cit., p. 22. 12. Among the Slovak newspapers in Canada, Kanadsky Slovak was one of the main ones to adopt this line. 13. On Klesken, whose publishing activity spread also into the 1930's and 1940's, see K. culen, "Zomrel Juraj Klesken", Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, ( 1960), p. 168-70. 14. See Slovenske Bratstvo, December 22, 1939. 15. See K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," (A brief survey of the history of Slovak journalism in Canada), Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy (1953), p. 104. 16. See "Zaznam o krajanskej tlaci v Kanade," Narodniarsky Kalendar (1966), p. 78. It seems that Slovenske Bratstvo was the real successor. 17. According to Narodniarsky Kalendar, loc. cit., it ceased to exist in 1941. K. Culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., gives the date October 1943. culen also comments on the legal action in which a Czech Consul Gardavsky was used as an expert in Slovak language even though he did not speak Slovak. SLOVAKIA 105 18. See Slovenske Bratstvo "Este zije duch slovensky" (The Slovak spirit still lives) , December 29, 1939. 19. Ncirodniarsky Kalendcir, loc. cit., p. 79. The National Slovak Benefit Society also published a mimeographed publication Ncirodne Noviny (National News) on 4-6 pages, and edited by G. Surovsky. 20. J . f>uriancik, "Nase l'udove hnutie a jeho vznik", 13udovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu (1939), p . 22. 21. See 13udovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu (1939), p. 66-75. 22. Admiration for the Soviet Union, Spanish communists and hatred of capitalist countries, mixed with Slovak patriotism is apparent also in the calendar published by Hlas 13udu and called .Cudovy Kalendcir pre Kanadu . 23. V. Turek, Polish-Language Press, op. cit., p. 118. On the pro-communist ethnic press in Canada, A. R. Boyd, "The Foreign Language Press in Canada" in John Kosa (ed.) Immigrants in Canada (Montreal, 1955), p. 45. 24. See Pavol Blaho, "Ako doslo k zalozeniu Kanadskeho Slovaka" (How the Canadian Slovak was founded) Kalendcir Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy (1953), p. 111-4. 25. Ibid. , p. 112. 26. Ibid. 27. Both Hreha and Kvetan wrote plays and verseSI and Hreha was the author of the account on Slovaks in Canada published by the Encyclopedia Canadiana. 28. See Ncirodniarsky Kalendcir, (1966), p. 78. 29. On Debnarkin see the account on Slovak literature in Canada by Prof. Yaroslav Slawutych in the symposium Slavs in Canada; op. cit., p. 96. 30. K. culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., p. 108. 31. R. A. Boyd, in Kosa, Immigrants, op. cit., p. 44-45. 32. See list of Slovak publications outside Canada. 33. See K. Culen, "Strucny prehl'ad dejin slovenskeho casopisectva v Kanade," Zoe. cit., p. 98-110. 34. See chapter on religious organization of Canadian Slovaks in SZovenski jezuiti v Kanade (1967). 35. See the chapter on Slovak religious organization in Canada; On Rev. Fuga see also Litercirny AZmanach SZovcika v Amerike (1967). 106 SLOVAKIA 36. See "The Foreign Language Press in Canada," Citizen, Vol. IV, No. 4. 37. The editor of Rozvoj was Kornel Piacek. 38. "All foreign language newspapers in Canada," according to the Citizen, "while they serve to introduce newcomers to life in Canada, also have an interest in keeping alive the native cultures of their readers. With this end in view, the papers encourage, publicize and promote cultural activities among the members of their respective ethnic groups and provide a medium of expression for literary and other cultural efforts. The editors believe that in this way their papers are making a contribution towards the enrichment of Canadian life." Citizen, Vol. IV, 4, p. 12. 39. A. R. Boyd, Zoe. cit. , p. 45. 40. Such was for instance the case of Nova Vlast' (Montreal, 1934-1948) replaced by the Czech weekly Novy Domov. 41. The favorite accusation was that of fascism and nazism. Unscrupulous attacks on the publisher of the Slovenske Slovo, led to investigations by Canadian authorities in 1940. The publisher, Juraj Kleskeii, was cleared, but refrained from further publishing of the newspaper. See K. culen, Zoe. cit., p. 101. 42. See Slovenska Obrana (Scranton, Pa.) , Nov. 3, 1939, Nov. 10, 1939, and Nov. 14, 1939, articles by Andrew Potocky, Secretary general of the Canadian Slovak League, M. Cano and Stefan J esenak as well as editorials. The newpapers which did not shy away from denunciations were according to Slovenska Obrana, Nova Vlast' and the leftist Hlas nudu. 43. Boyd, Zoe. cit., p. 46. 44. The author was for two terms President of the Canadian Ethnic Press Association and First Vice-President of the Canada Ethnic Press Federation, J. Novak, and others served on the board. 45. There were two cases of legal action as a result of these struggles. See K. culen "Slovaci v Kanade," Kalendar KSL for 1953, p. 102, Slovenske Bratstvo, Dec. 29, 1939 and Kanadsky Slovak, March 17, 1962 and fall . 46. See Kirschbaum, Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, p. 130-144 and p. 268-270. 47. See K. culen, Zoe. cit. , p. 101. 48. At the beginning of the War it was mainly the Slovak weekly Slovenske Bratstvo and from 1942 the Kanadsky Slovak which defended the Slovak point of view. The Czech and Czechoslovak point of view was advocated before and during the War by the weeklies Nova Vlast' and later by Nase Hlasy. 49. Cf. V. Turek, Op. cit., p. 27. SLOVAKIA 107 SLOVAK LANGUAGE PRESS IN CANADA Newspapers (1910). Published by Andrew Lukca and Juraj Klesken in Blairmore, Alberta. Kanadske Noviny (Canadian News) (1928-1933). Published in Montreal. The newspaper changed publishers, editors and political lines several times. It was founded by J. Pribil. Nase Slovo (Our Word) (1931-1932). Published in Toronto, it was the first newspaper of Slovak communists. Robotnicke Slovo (Workers' Word) (1931-1932). Successor to Nase Slavo, it was published and edited by J. Huska. Hlas Dudu (The People's Voice) (1932-1940). Successor to Robotnicke Slovo, it was suspended in 1940 by Canadian authorities. Hlas Naroda (The Voice of the Nation) (1932-1934). I,t was published by Juraj Klesken in Blairmore. Nasa Mladez (Our Youth) (1932-1934). A supplement to Hlas Naroda and also published in Blairmore. Slovak v Kanade (The Slovak in Canada) (1933-1939). Published in Montreal by G. Kurdel and edited by F. Kvetan, it aimed at reflecting the political orientation of Slovak immigrants in Canada and opposed "Czechoslovak" theses. Nova Vlasf (New Homeland) (1934-1948). Founded in Montreal, its aims was to foster the official Czechoslovak ideology among Slovak and Czech immigrants in Canada. Slovensky Priekopnik (The Slovak Pioneer) (1939-1943). Edited by S. Zuber, it was considered by some to be the successor to Slovak Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word) v Kanade. Obeznik Slovenskeho Priekopnika (The Circular of the Slovak Pioneer) (1939). A tabloid which ceased to exist after a few issues. Slovenske Bratstvo (Slovak Brotherhood). Edited by Stefan Hreha, in its subtitle, it claimed to be the successor to Slovak v Kanade and for a short time was the official newspaper of the Canadian Slovak League. Slovenske Slovo (The Slovak Word) (1940-19 ). Published anew by Klesken in Blairmore, its purpose was to refute the attacks against the Slovak Republic made by Nova Vlast' and some communist newspapers. Nase Slovo (Our Word) (1941-1945). It succeeded Hlas Dudu when the Soviet Union joined the camp of the Allies. Dudove Zvesti (The People's News) (1945). Its present editor is J. f>uriancik and it is the mouthpiece of Slovak communists. Kanadsky Slovak (The Slovak Canadian) (1942). Founded during the war, it became the official organ of the Canadian Slovak League. It was founded in Montreal. In 1952 it was transferred to Winnipeg and in 1958 to Toronto. 108 SLOVAKIA Slovensky Hlas (The Slovak Voice) (1949). Founded in Windsor, Ontario, as the organ of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society. In 1951 it was transferred to Toronto. It is politically independent. Almanacs and Periodicals Prvy Kalendar Kanadskych Slovcikov (First Almanac of Slovak Canadians) (1934-1939) . It had only two issues. Cudovy Kalendar pre Kanadu (People's Almanac for Canada) (1939) . Died with the first issue. Neis Zivot (Our Life) (1950). Organ of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Canada, it was published by Dr. Paul Fundarek. Ekonomi ka ( Economics ) (1948-1949). Published by Stanislav Zuber in Toronto, this monthly's aim was to inform Slovaks in Canada on economic problems. Rozvoj (Progress) (1950-1951). A mimeographed monthly under the direction of K. Piacek for cultural and literary works. Domovina (Homeland) (1952-1954). Mimeographed periodical of the Slovak Liberation Committee in Toronto, it was edited by Julius Ksinan. Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy ( Almanac of the Canadian Slovak League) (1952). Published in Winnipeg, its first editor was Konstantin culen. Domobrana (Home Defense) (1953) . Organ of the Union of Slovak Combattants, it was first edited by Jan Doransky in Montreal, later transferred to Toronto and then to the United States. Pamiitnica Kanadskeho Slovenskeho Podporneho Spolku a Kalendar Slovenskeho Hlasu ( Souvenir Book of the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society and Almanac of the Slovak Voice) (1957) . Edited by 0 . M. Debnarkin. Nase Snahy (Our Goals) (1965). Bi-monthly published in Toronto and sponsored by The Permanent Conference of Slovak Democratic Exiles. Religious Publications Ave Maria (1938-1939) . Published in Montreal by J . Skoda and an anonymous board of editors. Maria (1955- ) . Founded by Rev. M. Rusnak and Rev. F. Fuga, it serves the religious needs of Greek Catholic Slovaks in Canada and the U.S.A. Slovenski Jezuiti v Kanade (Slovak Jesuits in Canada) (1958). Published annually by the Slovak Jesuit Missionary Centre in Galt, Ontario.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Press in Canada Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 18 (No. 41), 1968 pp. 78-108 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1968 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f386ca80d4e7dbf70894b8c15c69faad.pdf 96b612dbc0db79ba852efadef9c5bd9c PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 3 Slovakia in the Struggle for Liberalization and Federalization of Czecho-Slovakia J. M. Kirschbaum From the very beginning- of the restoration of CzechoSlovakia in 1945, Slovakia played, directly and indirectly, an important role in the internal policy of Czecho-Slovakia and in the fate of the Stalinist regime. Not ony was this role more important than is generally recognized, but it was also of primary significance in the imposition of the communist system and, since 1962, in its liberalization. Some western experts on Eastern Europe overlooked Slovakia's influence on the course of events in this "loyal" and "most faithful satellite" , as the post-War II CzechoSlovakia was called in the West. 1 From the communist take-over in 1948 to the liberalization and federalization process in 1967-68, they dealt extensively with the changes in Prague's internal and axternal policy, but their analysis of the elements of change involved was often biased, as Prof. S. Z. Pech recently pointed out: Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to make the West familiar with the entire panorama of the polyglot region, they have in practice often been selective in the favours they bestowed on each nation. They have incorporated in their work, in modified form, the outlook and the prejudices of the nations which they "adopted". To give the most conspicuous examples, they viewed Slovak history through Czech eyes and Ukrainian history through Polish (or Russian) eyes. In so doing, they have in fact created a second-class status for certain nations. The history of the Slovaks in the West has usually been presented from the point of view of "Czechoslovakism " and has appeared as hardly more than a postscript to C:&ech history.2 It is the purpose of this survey to record and to discuss the overlooked elements and to assess the role which Slovakia and her communist elite played, first in imposing the communist system and then in forcing the Stalinist regime of Antonin Novotny to loosen the iron grip, and finally to step down and to free the way for the liberaliza. tion of the regime and the federalization of the state. When Czecho-Slovakia was restored in 1945, an auto- �4 SLOVAKIA nomous status, with extensive powers for Slovak national organs-the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners-was ensured for Slovakia. In the so-called "Kosice programme" it was stated that "the Slovaks should be the masters in their Slovak land just as the Czechs in their Czech homeland" and that the government "will regard the Slovak National Council not only as the rightful representative of the individual Slovak nation, but also as bearer of sovereign right on Slovak territory". 3 Under the constitution of 1948, the National Council as well as the Board of Commissioners was given the powers of an autonomous government, so that Slovakia enjoyed "a special position in a system which was neither federal nor autonomous, but presented a peculiar form of 'dualism'."4 Rejected by a 70 per cent majority of the popular vote in the elections of 1946, the Slovak Communists changed, however, their attitude towards the political status of Slovakia. The defeat angered and surprised the Communist leadership and led them to abandon not only original idea of an independent Slovak Republic 5 or a Slovak Soviet Republic 6 , but also the autonomous status of Slovakia ,vithin a federated Czecho-Slovakia. After the coup d'etat of 1948, the Communists eliminated not only the Slovak Democratic representatives from the National Council and all public offices, but Slovakia lost systematically what was left of her original autono mous status, which underwent several changes by the socalled Prague Agreements. And if the population, especially the Catholic majority, suffered between 1945-48 for not siding with the Communis ts, in the new situation they had to experience persecution not only for political reasons, but also for religious affiliation and non-proletarian background7 or resistance to socialization and collectivization. The "people's democracy" and all that it implied: " socialist patriotism", looking at the Soviet Union as the "patria" of Slovak Communists, "socialist realism" 8 , and the "party spirit", was introduced in Slovakia as in the rest of East Europe in an effort to transform Slovaks into a new type of "socialist" men, who "would be loyal to the existing regime, and obedient to its commands, and faithful also to the Soviet Union and world communism". 9 Life was supposed to be "directed in the spirit of Marxism-Leninism" �SLOVAKIA 5 and the "scientific world outlook" and historical materialism were to replace religion and nationalism. From 1948 on, this transformation was forced upon Slovaks through brute force by the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia which left to the Communist Party of Slovakia practically no influence in the Slovak affairs. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia "after 1947 subordinated the Slovaks to increasingly centralist rule from Prague, and trod underfoot the nationalist feelings even of Slovak Communists". 10 Those who tried to defend " the gains of the Slovak uprising" or were suspected of such intentions, were, in 1950, removed from public life as "bourgeois nationalists", incarcerated (Husak, Novomesky, Okali, Rasla, etc .) or hanged (Clementis, zingor) and replaced by obedient persons of non-Slovak origin (Siroky, Bacilek) in the Party as well as in the government.11 At the same time in spite of the provisions of the Constitution of May 9, 1948, the legislative and executive powers of the Slovak National Council and of the Board of Commissioners were drastically reduced and both institutions became subordinated to the Prague government. The Board of Commissioners had first to "abide by the directives and instructions of the Cabinet" and later, in 1960, was completely abolished. The Slovak National Council could still legislate, but the Council's laws had to b e signed by the Prime Minister, who could summon, adjourn and even dissolve the Council. Since in the National Assembly and in the Prague government the Slovaks were in minority, there was nothing, not even a theoretical possibility to protect Slovakia against the rule of Prague, because the Constitution "failed to provide for any guarantee that would protect the Slovak minority against the Czech majority ... As more than three-fifths of Czechoslovak legislators came from the Czech provinces, anything could be done with the status of Slovakia, even if all the Slovak reprezentatives opposed it".12 Within a few years Czecho-Slovakia had become "a highly centralized state, and Slovak home rule reduced almost to nil. In the post-1956 climate, some gestures were made to broaden the authority of the Slovak bodies. Increasing emphasis was laid, however, on the necessity �6 SLOVAKIA of integrating Slovakia within a unified economy, and even the bare forms of Slovak autonomy were still the object of suspicion by the regime. The Constitution adopted in 1960 further weakened the position of Slovakia". 13 It was, however, the general political atmosphere, the brutality of the police, the concentration and forced labour camps, the persecution for "deviation" or religious beliefs, which characterized this period, called alternatively "period of dogmatism" , period of the "cult of personality" or period of "deformation" and "Stalinism". 14 Denouced later by L. Novomesky as "monstrous and horrible", this period "wiped out trust, confidence, understanding, yes even loyalty in the life and consciousness of thousands and thousands of people". 15 Slovak national feelings and pride were hurt in this period also by Prague's economic and cultural policy16 and by a transfer of some 400 to 500 thousand Slovaks to the Czech provinces from which the Sudeten Germans had been expelled and where the Slovaks became denationalized, being deprived of Slovak Schools and organizations. While the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, also numbering some 500,000 had schools of all categories, cultural organizations, newspapers and representation in the administration of the state, the Slovak minority in the Czech part of the country was destined for fast denationalization. The economic measures of N ovotny's government hurt Slovaks even more. Slovakia was industrialized mostly by old machinery, transferred from the Sudeten German areas, or large factories lacking raw materials in Slovakia, to serve rather Soviet and Czech, than Slovak needs. From 1960 on, industry was unable to compete or to meet required levels of production. As a result, Slovakia suffered by the lowering of standards, and Slovaks were hurt by the admonitions and reproaches of Prague, particularly after Novotny's regime had curtailed the power of the Slovak administrative organs and had concentrated the administration of Slovakia in Prague and in Czech hands . Thus the years after the coup d'etat present a story of drastic changes in forms and institutions as well as in their practical working. The actual situation was in flagrant contradiction with the promises of the Slovak Communist Party of the autonomous status proposed for �SLOVAKIA 7 Slovakia. It is also a story of the mutual mistrust between the Czechs and Slovaks and the resulting clashes of which the outside world learned very little. In their subservience to Moscow and in their desire to imitate, if not surpass, Stalin's methods and general policy, the Communist leaders in Prague went further than any other satellite. "The system of terror was no less severe than in Albania, Hungary and Bulgaria, and in some respects went even further than these classic practitioners of this art". " Even during the critical months of 1956, Czechoslovakia had remained a model of Stalinist orthodoxy and exhibited none of the "fever" which had infected other satellites, notably the closest neighbours north and south. From the Communist point of view, Czechoslovakia was a most faithful associate of the Soviet Union, showing no evidence of dangerous dissatisfaction or domestic instability, and giving her full support to the Moscow Gospel as interpreted by Krushchev" . "In fact in the year which followed the XXII Congress in October 1961, Czechoslovakia, unlike some of its neighbours, was hardly influenced at all by the new spirit of Moscow, and showed no signs of relaxing its strongly Stalinist course. Paradoxically, this country, almost unique in its devotion and subservience to Moscow, was increasingly out of step with Krushchev's polic)' of de-Stalinization. "Orthodoxy" seemed to envolve into " heterodoxy" . "17 With regard to Slovakia the Prague Government used their power "to sweep away from the history of Slovak culture an entire past", according to Novomesky, and brought "a terrible curse on the life of the country." 18 This treatment of Slovakia could not, of course, influence the Slovaks for Czecho-Slovakia or Communism. On the contrary, even "the slight concessions of 1956-1958 were bound to leave the Slovaks unimpressed and could in no way detract from Slovak bitterness toward the treatment to which they had been exposed ever since the KSc (Communist Party of Czechoslovakia) leaders abandoned their calculative support of Slovak autonomism in 1946."19 This did not remain unnoticed by the Government and its press which deplored the "lack of confidence and the suspicion of fear" between the Czechs and the Slovaks, but laid blame on "the neglect of Leninist principles," 28 and on Slovak "bourgeois nationalistic tendencies". These tendencies according to complaints made by the Slovak Party's First Secretary, Karel Bacilek, at the session of the Central Committee in January 1958, have penetrated �8 SLOVAKIA "various fields of our cultural, political and scientific life; sports; the state apparatus; economic organs; and so on". 21 Slovaks could not be gained for the regime even by retrospective attacks on "Czecho-Slovakism", the concept that the Slovaks and the Czechs were ethnically, linguistically and culturally one nation, which had alienated the Slovaks to Masaryk's republic, and which Vaclav Kopecky, speaking on behalf of the KSC's Czech hierarchy, called in 1958 "an imperialist conception of national oppression of the Slovaks " 22 Since the Slovaks felt even more oppressed, more humiliated and exploited under the Communist regime than by the "bourgeois" regimes of 1918-1938, !5uch proclamations could not change the feelings of Slovaks and their attitude towards Prague. From 1948, and for a great part of Slovak population from 1946, Prague hurt even the pride of the Slovak Communists too deeply to be able to heal the wounds by condemning "Czechoslovakism" of the pre-War years. There was no comparison with the treatment which Slovaks received from Prague between the Wars and from the Communist rule after 1946. And Slovak nationalism, 23 which is a force rarely understood or interpreted properly by Western Scholars, was stronger after the War than at any time before, because the leftist elements also wanted Slovakia governed by Slovaks.24 Already before the Second World War nationalism was a force among Slovaks "directed against any authority residing outside Slovakia". 25 The period of the Slovak republic (1939-1945) and the uprising of 1944 undoubtedly st.renghtened the aversion against any foreign domination of Slovakia. All the restrictions of the powers of Slovak national organs, the trials of the leaders of the uprising as "bourgeois nationalists" and harsh economic centralization by the Prague Communist regime could not but create strong feeling of oppressinn and compromised relations between the Czechs and Slovaks. By 1958 the relations between the Czechs and Slovaks deteriorated to such a degree that even according to E. Taborsky a close collaborator of Dr. E. Benes, " while such declaration as above might have flattered the Slovaks in 1945, they fell on deaf ears in 1958. Nor could the communist leaders derive much comfort from the "improvement" in the Slovak class �SLOVAKIA 9 structure resulting from the communist industrialization and collectivization drive. By building up Slovakia's backwoods areas, the regime has unwittingly prodded the Slovaks' pride and self-confidence, and thus helped to underpin the same Slovak nationalism it has been trying so hard to blot out. Having acquired the know-how and the ability to run the system themselves, the Slovaks Communists and non-communists alike-resent being ordered around by their elder Czech brethren." 26 This rule of party dictatorship and police terror is normally divided into two periods: in a period of strict Stalinist form of rule which in Czecho-Slovakia lasted until 1956 and a period of slow detachment from the Stalinist system, during which a lip service was paid to de-Stalinization, and lasted until 1963. There are many explanations as to why there was a lack of de-Stalinization in Czecho-Slovakia after the XXth and especially after the XXII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Krushchev's denunciation of Stalin and his rule. The Czech and Slovak press dealt from 1963 extensively with this problem and so did some foreign scholars. 27 There is, however, no unanimous explanation, as there is no unanimity in the designation of this period or in definitions of this particular labels, of which the label of "cult of personality" was used more generally than the others. 28 But there is no doubt that the first to attack the social and political aspects of this period and to call for changes were the Slovak Communist intellectuals. "Slovaks inspired by their memorable uprising of 1944 have taken the lead in the process of modernization of the regime, while the Czechs have, until recently, been more cautious or more lethargic." 29 '' The attacks and criticism of Slovak intellectuals were directed mainly against Antonin Novotny who succeeded Klement Gottwald as Secretary General of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia in 1953, and Antonin Zapotocky as President of the Republic in 1957. For ten years his iron grip on the Party and on the State did not allow to modify the totalitarian Stalinist features of the regime, and during his rule by "brute force" were liquidated or imprisoned Slovak Communist leaders, accused of " bourgeois nationalism" and tried in 1954. According to Communist sources, 30 the period of the cult of personality ended in 1953, but due to Novotny's repressive methods, use of police terror, and his brutal struggle against Slovak bourgeois nationalism, the cult of personality in the view �SLOVAKIA of Slovak intellectuals existed from 1949 to 1962.31 Only in the spring of 1963 serious efforts at de-Stalinization marked the political life in Czecho-Slovakia. Western specialists in Eastern Europe offered several answers to the question why the Stalinist regime survived for so many years, but their views do not seem to give a satisfactory explanation. The purge of the potential leader, Clementis, and the bogey of Slovak nationalism which hounded the Czech leadership of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia, as it did the democratic leaders before the second World War, are only partial explanations. The brutal Soviet repression of the Hungarian revolution and the fear of Germany, which is greater among Czech than in any other nation of Central Europe, may be other explanations, but on the whole, these reasons cannot explain why a country with old democratic traditions, with western culture, with a previously high standard of living, praised in the whole world, did not follow the example of Poland and Hungary, except in smallscale disturbances of workers in Pilsen in 1953, the demonstration of Slovak students, which also spread to Prague, 32 and the writers' protest of 1956.33 Nor the fact that the West did not help the East European countries, including Czecho-Slovakia, by a more moderate course in East-West relations can be even less responsible for the Czech obstinacy to de-Stalinize. It was doubtful then-and today it is certain-that any co-operation in Europe between West and East going beyond what has been done, would have "strengthened the ability of the East European states to follow a more independent course".34 The explanation that the Czech communist leaders "had long and open experience in politics prior to the accession to power and perhaps this fact accounts for their unity and their ability to survive"35 and continue to hold the Stalinist grip on the country, is also only partially satisfactory. In the Slansky's purge of 1952 were eliminated the representatives of a rigid Stalinism and not the revisionists, and as a result the new leaders could start a new course after Stalin's death, but they were apparently afraid to de-Stalinize without incriminating themselves. We can find the answer to the question of Stalinism �SLOVAKIA 11 in Czecho-Slovakia in the interplay of all these phenomena, but mainly in the fact, that "the completeness of Stalinist terror had brought about a situation where there was no one capable of giving leadership of a new anti-Stalinist course after 1956"36 and in the "realism" and in the "Good Soldier Schweik's" mentality of the Czech ruling majority of the population. Except for the small scale disturbances of workers in Pilsen, who were irked by the economic difficulties rather than by political oppression, and the students' demonstration in Bratislava and Prague, there was no sign of dissatifaction or open opposition among the Czech intellectuals or large masses.37 A a result the leaders of the Czechoslovak Communist Party were in no mood to depart from the Stalinist position, and the Soviet repression of the Hungarian revolution rather strengthened their belief that it was not necessary to modify their regime. The Czech and Slovak communist leaders "associated themselves with the Soviet verbal onslaught on Stalin, hoping, no doubt, that they might avoid necessity of taking genuine steps to modify their own Stalinism", 38 even later at the time of the clash between Moscow and Bucharest in 1961. The leaders of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia remained equally unnerved by the Sino-Soviet conflict and the idea of polycentricism. They saw in polycentricism a danger to internationalism of the Communist movement and considered the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as the "only center".39 Slovakia in the Struggle of de-Stalinization40 It is important to indicate at the outset, that after the execution of Clementis and the purges of 1954,41 the Communist leaders in Slovakia were handpicked by Prague, that they were neither intellectuals, nor theoreticians, and that some of them, like Siroky and Bacilek were even lacking in Slovak background. They were the hard-line " apparatchiks" of the Gottwald school and as such, unable to take a new course or to take part in the de-Stalinization process. Furthermore, "unlike their Czech comrades, the Slovaks have had no right to determine the fundamental lines of Party policy and, tactics, not even for Slovakia, or to adopt Party programs". 42 After the "Stalinist democratic centralism" was imposed upon Slovakia in 1948, decentral- �12 SLOVAKIA ization was replaced by the "centralizing tendencies, justified officially as being necessary for the successful construction of socialism. This centralization continued throughout the whole Stalinist era and was carried over into post-Stalin days. 43 "The statutory inferiority of the Slovak Party organs was amply corroborated by actual developments". 44 In addition, the Communists were very weak in membership in Slovakia in comparison with Bohemia-Moravia. Of the 2,311,966 members and candidates of the KSc in 1949 only 236,432 were from Slovakia, i.e. slightly over 10 percent, although more than one-quarter of Czecho-Slovakia's population lived in that area. Also, the Party's appeal to the youth was far less effective in Slovakia than in the rest of the country. While the over-all percentages of Party members below twenty-five years of age in 1949 was 14.5, the corresponding figure for Slovakia was only 9.7.45 Notwithstanding all these factors, it was in Slovakia where the open struggle for de-Stalinization began in April 1963,46 The interplay of political, psychological and economic reasons had made the Slovak communist intellectuals, mostly journalists and writers, bitter and they started to assail the Stalinist regime of Antonin Novotny on all three fronts: political, ideological and economic. The Slovaks were also irked by the fact that the resolutions of the XII Congress of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia, held in December 1962 spoke of the rehabilitation of the Communists who were sentenced between 1949-1953 , and disregarded the purges of Slovak "bourgeois nationalists", tried in 1954. The first outburst of open opposition took place at the Congress of Slovak Wr iters, held on April 21-22 in Bratislava, and a month later at the Congress of Slovak Journalists, also in Bratis1 ava, on May 27-28. While at the Congress of Slovak Writers, Karol Rosenbaum spoke of "inhuman methods" during the period of the "personality cult" and about forces sufficiently strong to prevent a return of the terror of that period,47 at the Congress of Slovak Journalists, M. Hysko, professor at the Slovak school of journalism, led the attack against the slowness of de-Stalinization by Novotny's government. Despite Novotny's warnings and personal attacks on Hysko and R. LIBRARY �SLOVAKIA 13 Kalisky a month later, these two Congresses unleashed forces which put the life Jf the country on the tracks of de-Stalinization and liberalization. There had been mounting dissatisfaction in Slovakia since the Congress of Slovak Writers in 1956 among the writers and journalists, who remained, after the imprisonment of the political leaders accused of "bourgeois nationalism", the only spokesmen for the Slovak people. In 1963 the spark for the open criticism of Novotny's regime and insistence on reforms was given by the return from jail of the "bourgeois nationalists". Their accounts 48 of brutality shook the conscience of Slovak writers and journalists, and they were shaken more than anyone else because some of them had contributed to the consideration of Husak and Novomesky, while others had praised the regime and its iron grip and were mute about brutality and persecution of innocent people in all walks of life. As Hysko said at the Congress of Slovak journalists, they also were partly guilty because they presented the innocent comrades as " criminals". 49 They now wanted to repair the damage done and from L. Mflacko, who became well-known abroad, to M. Hysko, V. Mihalik, V. Minac, Kalisky and others, the intellectuals denounced the Stalinist regime and its brutality and asked for reforms. 50 The Congress of Slovak Writers and the Congress of Slovak Journalists became more than mere meetings to discuss literary and cultural problems. As we see it now and as it was considered by many in 1963, it was the beginning of a serious effort to change the ruling system, to clear the atmosphere of the suffocating fear of oppression and to correct injustices and crime of the period of the cult of personality. Slovak writers and journalists played again the role of the "conscience of the nation" which the Stalinist terror not only silenced for many years but had found in some writers eager collaborators. 51 The editorials in Kulturny zivot before th6 Congress were entitled "Literature in the struggle for truth", 52 and the participants proved that they meant to have it thus. After the Congresses furthermore, they asked for "a clean table" and stated that "everything is not in order". 53 Slovak writers spoke in the same fighting spirit against the terror and for a "cult of truth" instead of a cult of 1 �14 SLOVAKIA personality also at the Congress of the Union of Czechoslovak Writers, held in Prague on May 22-24 of the same year. The words fear, falsification of facts, abuse of confidence were repeated time and again. Noteworthy were especially the outspoken speeches by the poets Vojtech Mihalik and Laco Novomesky, the dramatist Peter Karvas and the courageous writer V. Minac,54 the essayist M. Chorvat, Zora Jesenska and others. The Congress "revealed that the mood of discontent was not confined to Slovak writers only, but included their Czech colleagues. Almost without exception, the participants were critical in the extreme, not only of the worst evils prevailing in the cult period, but also of their continuance right down to the present. Speaker after speaker gave vent to the general public outrage at the horrors of the cult and the failure of the party to eliminate them since 1956, and spoke in individual ethical terms which had little to do with partymindedness. Truth and freedom were words frequently invoked". 55 The poet V. Mihalik spoke again about the duty of writers to be the "conscience of the nation" and bitterly critized the period of the cult of personality. 56 L. Mnacko, whose series "Belated Reports", well known for their exposure of the terror and injustices, began to appear in Kulturny zivot, spoke of the "mousetrap" and the "unrosy economic, political and moral situation of the country". 57 L. Novomesky whose contribution to the discussion was published under the heading "With comrade reason" and the contributions by Zora Jesenska and P. Karvas ("About one source of dogmatism") 58 completed the picture of dissatifaction with the past and present, insisting on the necessity of change and reforms. These congresses, as we now see launched CzechoSlovakia upon a new course, with consequences impredictable at that time. If until the early 1960's the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia could have served as a laboratory speciment of die hard dogmatism and appeared practically untouched by the winds of change stirring in the international Communist movement59 after these meetings it was not true any longer. The leaders of the Communist Party realized it and made some further steps in the direction of de-Stalinization �SLOVAKIA 15 but without serious efforts to change the nature of their totalitarian system. Novotny only reluctantly admitted that the cult of personality harmed the country and had such disastrous effects as claimed by the critics. He tried to put the blame on the purged Stalinist R. Shinsky or argued that many changes had already been made to conform with the resolutions of the XII Congress of the Party. In an angry speech in Slovak town of Kosice, on June 12, 1963, he rejected the accusations contained in the speeches of M. Hysko and Roman Kalisky, and categorically proclaimed that the Communist Party would not allow the Slovak newspaper Pravda to become "a tribune of attacks against the leadership of the Party". 60 Slovak Communist intellectuals, however, were not frightened by Novotny's threats and warnings. Throughout 1963 Novotny was subjected to vocal criticism for his failure to break the hold of Stalinism on national life, to rehabilitate publicly those who had suffered most in the era of repression, and to punish those who had borne the main burden of responsibility in that era. Most vehemently did the Slovak writers call for greater freedom in their national life, and for the erasing of the charges of "bourgeois nationalism" on which the purge of leading Slovak personalities had been based. They continued, especially in the organ of the Union of Slovak Writers, Kulturny zivot, to insist on the necessity of reforms and asked for a fair deal for Slovakia. In August they obtained full rehabilitation61 of the Slovak "bourgeois nationalists" whom the XII Congress of the Party in November 1962 had bypassed. In September, they scored another success in the removal of V. siroky62 from the Government as well as from his position in the Party and in the National Assembly. These concessions did not satisfy, however, the awakened conscience of Slovak Communist intellectuals63 and during the months to come they assailed the regime mercilessly, especially in Kulturny zivot. Novotny retaliated by forcing to resign in June 1964 the editor in chief of Kulturny zivot, Paul stevcek, and Roman Kalisky, member of the editorial board, who had fearlessly attacked �16 SLOVAKIA a year before the economic policy of N ovotny's regime in Slovakia. Instead of frightening the intellectuals, these measures added new fuel to the fire of their dissatisfaction. Slovak writers, journalists and economists began to point out the deformations of "socialist legality and morality" and the acts of discrimination against Slovaks in all field of public life. They asked for the revision of the Constitution of July 1960, which formally abolished the limited autonomy of Slovakia granted to Slovaks between 1945 and 1948. Furthermore, they asked for economic reforms, 64 for the re definition of certain principles of socialist ideology,65 for a new cultural policy66 and for the revaluation of the role of the Slovak uprising,67 which was ridiculed and degraded by Novotny's regime and some Czech writers during the imprisonment of the leaders of the uprising-Husak, Novomesky, Okali and others. The regime yielded in some fields, especially in cultural policy and new Minister, C. Cisar, allowed a degree of liberalization and restored some autonomy to universities. The economists could also quite freely discuss their plans from August to November, 1963, and their criticism and proposals were published,68 Novotny's position and Moscow's support for his regime seemed for some time to be in jeopardy. The struggle was, however, far from won. Novotny was re-elected not only as President of the Republic but, at the XIIIth Party Congress of 1966, also as First Secretary. And he was not only unable but also unwilling to proceed with basic reforms or to quiet down the antagonism between the Slovaks and Czechs which had erupted in 1963 and increased in intensity in the Slovak press and in Party meetings with every year. In fact , Novotny fought against the unrest in the minds of Slovaks, and was reluctant to grant any significant concessions. Some Czechs realized, however, that the problem existed and should be solved.69 Under fire by Slovaks, among whom the rehabilitated G. Husak and the Soviet educated Alexander Dubcek gained more and more influence, by the "revisionists" and "pragmatists", all of whom tried to humanize and reform the Party and government, Novotny tried at last to give a new image to Czecho-Slova- �SLOVAKIA 17 kia at home and especially in Western Europe. More personal freedom, including a limited religious freedom, was granted and some economic reforms were introduced. "Most important, the Communist Party, having largely abandoned its dogmatic positions, was no longer the allseeing, all-powerful, unquestioned authority that it once had been. " 70 Furthermore, the writers and journalists were soon joined in their opposition and outspoken criticism of the regime not only by the youth, which increasingly posed a serious problem to the government, but also by the workers and other segments of the population. People were no longer afraid to criticize and opposition was growing. Novotny and his Party apparatus tried to control the winds of change, but it was a hopeless struggle. William Siroky was replaced by the Moscow educated Jozef Lenart, former Secretary General of the Slovak Communist Party, who was not involved in the purges as were Bast'ovansky and Bacflek. 71 Novotny could not control these developments. Too many people suddenly realized that both a change of course and of people in leading functions was inevitable. The struggle for liberalization and federalization By 1967 the internal situation in the country and in the Party had matured to the point that it was possible to remove Novotny from his omnipotent position of First Secretary of the Party and on March 22, 1968 also from ,the Presidency of the country. The masterful co-operation of the factions which had called for reforms on both the Slovak and Czech side, resulted in the "impossible" becoming a fact, and Alexander Dubcek, at the age of 47, assumed the office of the First Secretary and launched the country upon the course of liberalization which surprised the whole world. While intellectuals in the Czech provinces centered their attention mostly on economic and ideological problems (the contribution by E . Lobl or E . Goldstticker, both from Slovakia, should not, however, be underestimated) , in Slovakia political leaders and intellectuals were deeply involved in the problem of humanization of the system �18 SLOVAKIA and the restoration to Slovakia of at least a part of the autonomy which she had enjoyed before 1948. With the political rehabilitation of the "bourgeois nationalists" and the amnesty granted to the military leaders of the 1944 uprising, the status of Slovakia and the "gains of the uprising" were once again the goals to be achieved. 72 Early in 1968 Slovak communist intellectuals were for a while involved in a discussion as to whether priority should be given to liberalization or to federalization, 73 but the controversy ended with the consensus that one does not exclude the other and that both aims should be pursued. A certain reluctance on the side of the Czechs towards federalization,74 nevertheless, led the Slovaks to put stress on the federalization. There also were still alive reminiscences on the "First Czechoslovak republic" when Slovakia suffered discrimination and exploitation inspite of the fact that the Prague governments were known as "the only true democracy in Central Europe between the Wars" . Furthermore, the manner in which all the agreements and declarations guaranteeing an autonomous status for Slovakia after 1945 were forgotten and disregarded, forced the Slovak leaders to put the emphasis on the necessity of constitutional reforms. In fact , Slovaks submitted a plan for a federalization of the Republic in 1963,75 and Alexander Dubcek, after assuming the leadership of the Party and starting the liberalization process, put the Slovak demands for an equal status with the Czechs high on the agenda of his reforms.76 Federalization was in the eyes of Slovak communist leaders, who were attacking Novotny's regime since 1956, and without reserve since 1963, an essential part of the demo cratization process which, on the other hand, was the prerequisite for liberalization. Only by the transformation of the political structure of the state could Slovaks achieve a position of full equality and control of further development of the situation in the right direction. The impression, created in the West by reports from Prague or by some Western analysts of the developments of the situations in Czecho-Slovakia, that the movement for giving communism "a human face" was an expression of the Czech "hussite traditions" and therefore a Czech and not a Slovak affair, is devoid of any serious foundation. �SLOVAKIA 19 Alexander Dubcek, the young Slovak leader of the liberalization movement who spent his formative years in the Soviet Union, hardly knew anything about the "hussite traditions" when he made his first major speech on February 1st, 1968 in which he promised "the development of socialist democracy" in the Party and the state. Nor did Edward Goldstticker, born and educated in Slovakia, who became elected the chairman of the Czechoslovak Writers Union and insisted that a way must be found how to reconcile individual freedom with the communist system, have any connection in his background with the "hussite traditions". 77 A group of Czech intellectuals, especially the youth of Prague, became undoubtedly more vociferous than Slovaks when the movement was launched. 78 It looked at times as if they had desired to make up for years of servile obedience to Novotny's regime. Czechs also were more provocative in their behaviour when the Soviet Union and her satellites condemned the movement after a meeting in Warsaw and as a result they contributed or gave more pretexts than the Slovaks to the final Soviet step which killed the liberalization movement. Objectively, both Slovaks and Czechs desired the changes. Slovaks more than Czechs because they suffered more-communists and non-communists alike-under the Novotny's regime. Slovaks therefore started the opposition and Slovakia gave to the struggle for the "human face of communism" not only the leader, Alexander Dubcek, but also it became the place of two historic conferences: on July 1st at cierna nad Tisou and on August 3rd, in Bratislava. 79 The liberalization process was largely publicized in the West. A survey of the Czech and Slovak press and of statements of the leaders of the movement would indicate, however, that the aims and goals of the liberalization were often magnified and misinterpreted by some Western analysts. To what extent such behaviour of the West contributed to the final decision of Moscow to go with the tanks against the wind of freedom, is of course a matter of conjecture. Skilling correctly assessed the aims of this "interrupted revolution": �20 SLOVAKIA In some respects, the reforms planned in Prague were more modest than analogous efforts in other communist countries. There was not. at least at the outset, a rejection of Soviet domination, as in the case of Yugoslavia, and other later revolts against Moscow ; nor were major changes in foreign orientation envisaged, as in the case of Rumania and others. There was to be no sharp break in relations with the communist camp, and no defection from Comecon or the Warsaw Pact. Nor was there an immediate and spontaneous rejection of collectivization, as in Hungary and Poland, or a radical reconstruction of the economy, such as followed the initial break by Yugoslavia.so It was only in the political realm that "the changes envisaged, and in part introduced were more drastic and more rapid than anything attempted elsewhere, and aimed at nothing less than a "socialist democracy".81 The leaders of the movement firmly indicated that it was the Communist party which should remain in power and rule, if possible, alone. Some intellectuals speculated about a representation of other parties or groups,82 but the leaders in power did not intend to introduce democracy on the basis of a multi-party system. They spoke and wrote about "socialist democracy" with freedom of expression,83 abolition of terror, abolition of censorship and more independence for state organs on the politburo. They also wanted more freedom of discussion in the Parliament, but without any opposition parties, it was particularly freedom only for the communist members of the Parliament, because the number of deputies of the National Front parties is negligible. All these reforms were basically contained in the Action Program of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, approved by the Central Committee on April 5, 1968. The Program confirmed the charges that have taken place since January 1968 and-what the population accepted with great acclaim-it promised legal and political guarantees of the personal and political rights of all citizens. There also was a promis of rehabilitation of those innocently jailed and persecuted and a pledge of constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly and association. 84 Still more significant than the official statement and programs were the views of writers freely expressed in journals like Kulturny zivot or Nove slovo which, after it had been banned when Husak was condemned as bourgeois nationalist, began to appear again. The writers asked for �SLOVAKIA 21 much more than the political leaders promised, and in hundreds of articles or answers to the question "what could be done to accelerate the process of democratization"85 they created an atmosphere that gave to the population the feeling of freedom and of big hopes for the future. At the same time they irritated, however, Moscow and her satellites. After the treatening letter from Warsaw not only Moscow but also the other communist countries reacted with increasing pressure. Dubcek, supported by the majority of the population, resisted the pressure and it seemed that after the Conference at cierna nad Tisou on July 14, and especially after the meeting of the representatives of all 5 communist countries in Bratislava on August 3rd, the differences were settled and the danger of an intervention avoided. Czechs and Slovaks were still engaged in a free discussion of the necessity of reforms86 and planned the congresses of both the Czechoslovak and Slovak Communist Parties, when during the night of August 20, the country was brutally invaded by the forces of the Warsaw Pact and the liberalization and democratization process was dramatically brought to an end.87 The planned reforms, the atmosphere of freedom, the abolition of censorship and terror, even if the Communist party was to remain in power, was unacceptable for Moscow. All this represented dangerous ideological innovations and seemed to be too contagious to be tolerated by the leaders of the Kremlin and the autocratic rulers in Warsaw, Budapest and East Germany. As it later appeared from Moscow's explanation of the invasion, Hitler's "Lebensraum doctrine" was replaced by Brezhnev's doctrine of the right of the Soviet Union to intervene in the socialist countries and to impose the Soviet system and social order on the lands within the Soviet zone of influence. While the liberalization process was aborted by the invasion, the federalization process was not basically affected. For some time it seemed that Moscow could convince G. Husak, who became leader of the Slovak Communist Party, to accept another solution: an "independent" Slovak Socialist Republic or a Slovak Soviet Republic within the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. This �22 SLOVAKIA solution of the 50 years old dispute over the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs was considered even in the West as highly probable, because both a Soviet socialist republic and an independent Slovak State were the aim of the Slovak uprising of 1944, in its original stage.BB The reaction to the invasion was, however, of such intensity and the feelings against Moscow were so strong, that neither Husak nor anybody else was ready to lead the Slovaks out of Czecho-Slovakia at this time. Husak accepted the function of the head of a commission in charge of preparing the transformation of Czecho-Slovakia into a confederation of two republics, the Czech and the Slovak Socialist Republic and he used all his perseverance and ability to this end. The constitutional law, transforming the centralist state ruled by the Czechs, was adopted by the Assembly on October 27, 1968, as Law No. 143. It was signed and solemnly proclaimed on October 30, at the Bratislava Castle in Slovakia, with the provision that it will take effect on January 1st, 1969. At the signing ceremonies the President of the Republic, Ludvik Svoboda, termed federalization a progressive and historic act that would improme the social order and welfare of both Czechs and Slovaks. Alexander Dubcek, the First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, and G. Husak, the Secretary of the Slovak Communist Party, spoke of federalization as strengthening the unity of the state and creating a basis for better future relations between the Czechs and Slovaks. Slovaks, especially Slovak youth of Bratislava, cheered outside the Bratislava Castle when the law was signed, even though its contents were not known in detail and the reminiscences of a similar law adopted in 1938 and its subsequent violation by Prague 6 months later, were not forgotten by the Slovak people. The fear of a possible inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet Union, if Slovakia completely separated from the Czechs, compels apparently even many of those Slovaks who do not believe that the Czechs would honor the new agreements, to accept federalization as a solution to the Slovak problem in the present international situation. The constitutional law signed in Bratislava, establishes �SLOVAKIA 23 the basic federal structure, leaving specific prov1s10ns about the rights and responsibilities of the federal organs to another law which was passed by the National Assembly in November. Basically, the constitutional changes solve the problem of the existence of two nations-the Czech and the Slovak-by setting up a federal National Assembly consisting of an Assembly of the People, elected on the basis of proportional representation, and an Assembly of Nations, in which Czechs and Slovaks will have equal representation. In this respect the Soviet constitution seemed to be the model while in other respects the federal structure of Czecho-Slovakia is similar to the structure of European and American constitutions. Law No. 143 reserves to the federal domain responsibilities for foreign policy, defense and curency and the areas of culture and education are reserved to the domain of the member-states to the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic. Both republics have equal status according to this Law and the sovereignty of both "national states" should be respected. However, this "sovereignty" is limited by the articles 7 to 28 of the Law to such an extent, that we can hardly compare the new Czecho-Slovakia with Switzerland or the Canadian Federation. Even less can the federal structure of Czecho-Slovakia be compared with Austria-Hungary after the Ausgleich of 1867, which historically and politically is the closest example. However, one of the interesting features of this constitutional reform is the provision of Law No. 143 about the "right of self-determination" which gives the Slovaks the right to secession. The political autonomy which the "Law on the Federation" provides for Slovakia is, on the other hand, limited by the fact that the Communist Party was not reorganized to reflect the federal structure of the State. As a result the political power remains concentrated in, and the most important decisions will be taken in Prague by bodies composed of a majority of Czech members. Since many Czechs accepted only reluctantly the federalization of the Republic, difficulties and dissensions are to be expected. For the second time in three decades the Slovak struggle for national rig·hts within a federalized Czecho-Slovakia was fought in the middle of an international crisis: in 1938 in the Munich crisis and in 1968 under the Soviet occupa- �24 SLOVAKIA tion. It remains to be seen whether Prague learned the lesson this time or whether there will be an aftermath as in 1939. Slovaks in the free world accepted the federalization with distrust and misgivings and did not ease to advocate the right of the Slovak people for an independent, democratic Slovak Republic. 89 Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum is former university professor and author of several books and studies on Slovakia in English and other languages. 1) See H. G. Skilling, Communism National and International (Toronto, 1964), pp. 86-95, and William E. Griffith, Communism in Europe ( Cambridge, Mass., 1966), II, pp. 257-65. 2) S. Z. Pech, "New Avenues in Eastern European History", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X, 1 ( 1968), 14-15. See also W. F . Griffith, "Myth and Reality in Czechoslovak History", Eastern European History, II, 3, 84. 3) See Wm. Diamond, Czechoslovakia Between East And West (London, 1947), p. 50 and Stefan Glejdura, Los Grandes Problemas Del Este Europeo: Eslovaquia (Madrid, 1968) , pp. 29-32. Slovak communists were supported in obtaining this especially by Gottwald, who proclaimed the agreement to the " Magna Charta of the Slovak Nation". See Griffith, Communism in Europe, pp. 183-93. 4 ) See Skilling, " The Czechoslovak Constitutional System: The Soviet Impact," Political Science Quarterly, LXVII, 2 (1952); Griffith , Communism in Europe, pp. 135 ff., and K. Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia: A Critical History ( Caldwell, Id., 1960), pp. 87-139. 5) G. Husak, one of the main leaders, declared at the beginning of the uprising: "It must be said openly that our people would welcome with enthusiasm the removal of frontiers and customs between us and the other Slav nations, especially between Slovaks and Russians," Nove Slovo, September 24, 1944. See also S. Falt'an, Historicky casopis, 4 (1966), 589. L. Novomesky, who was sent during the uprising from Slovakia to London, did not "conceal his doubts as to whether it was wise for Slovakia to remain within the small Czechoslovakia when it could join the great Soviet Union," J. Korbel, The Communist Subversion of Czechoslovakia, 1938-1948 (Princeton, 1959 ), p. 72. See also Griffith, Communism in Europe, pp. 179-85 and Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakia: A Political History 19181930 (Milwaukee, Wis., 1963) pp. 185-90. 6) Jozef Jablonicky, "Slovenske narodne povstanie - nova faza v rieseni vzt'ahov medzi cechmi a Slovakmi" (Slovak National Uprising: A New Phase in the Solution of the Relations between the Czechs and Slovaks) , Historicky casopis, XII, 3 (1964), 236. See also J . Korbel, The Communist Subversion, pp. 32, 68-72, and S. Falt'an, Historicky casopis, XII, 140, 2, 161-84. 7) For details on the religious situation in Slovakia after 1945 see �SLOVAKIA 8) 9) 10 ) 11 ) 12) 25 T. G. Zubek, The Church of Silence in Slovakia (Whiting, Indiana, 1956); Stefan Nahalka, La Slovacchia d'Oggi (Rome, 1957); Joseph Pauco, Christian Slovakia (Valparaiso, Ind. , 1959) ; J . A. Mikus, op. cit. p. 164-185 and P. Hnilica, S. J., "The Church under Totalitarian Rule" in Collier and Glaser (ed.), Elements of Change in Eastern Europe, (Chicago, 1968), pp. 136-149. See Kirschbaum, "Slovak Literature under the Soviet Impact", Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. 1, no. 1, and Imrich Kruzliak, Kulturne Slovensko v rokoch 1945-1966 (Culture in Slovakia in the years 1945-66), (Munich, 1967). Skilling, The Governments of Communist East Europe, op. cit., p. 202, and "People's Democracy, The Proletarian Dictatorship and the Czechoslovak Path to Socialism", The American Slavic and East European Review, X, 2 (April 1951) , 100-16. Skilling, Commimism national . .. , op. cit. , p. 88. The Communist Party of Slovakia was founded in May 1939 as an illegal party and was. recognized as an independent party by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, as well as by the leaders of the Czech Communist Party in Moscow. It maintained its independence until 1948. For more details see Z. Elias and J. Netik "Czechoslovakia" in W. E. Griffith Communism in Europe, (Cambridge, Mass., 1966) 2. volume pp. 174-186 and Bohuslav Graca "Komunisticka strana Slovenska" (The Communist Party of Slovakia), Nova Mysl, No. 5, May 1961. Even in the party the Slovaks were poorly represented at the center, with their chief spokesman the Prime Minister, Siroky, and the Slovak party chief, Bacilek, both only partly Slovak in origin. Pavol David was the only undisputed Slovak in the party command. Skilling, Communism National, op. cit. p. 94 ; See also Griffith, op. cit. pp. 210-215 and Miku~, op. cit., pp. 291-302. Taborsky, op cit. p. 336 and H. G. Skilling, "The Czechoslovak Constitution of 1960 and the transition to Communism", Journal of Politics, XXIV, 1, 1962, pp. 156-59. See also Edward Kucera, K nekterym otazkam autonomie a postaveni Slovenska v ramci ceskoslovenske Republiky (About Some Questions of Autonomy 13) 14) 15) 16) and the Position of Slovakia within the Framework of the Czechoslovak Republic) , (Prague, 1954). Jan Moura! Slovenske narodni organy (Slovak National Organs), (Prague, 1958) and Collection of Laws of the Slov ak National Council, (Bratislava, 1954) . Skilling, The Governments of Commimist East E urope, op. cit. p. 156 and Taborsky op. cit. pp. 338-240, and Griffith, op. cit. p. 235 and off. Several Slovak Communist intellectuals made attempts at definitions of this period. See Kulturny Zivot, April 27, 1963-Proceedings of the Congress of the Slovak Writers. After the execution of V. Clementis, Slovaks were withdrawn from practically all diplomatic posts abroad (out of 97 ambassadors only 5 were Slovaks) and writers, who served as cultural attaches were �26 17 ) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23 ) 24 ) 25 ) 26) 27 ) SLOVAKIA hit particularly hard. On Clementis see Griffith, op. cit. , p. 176 and Mikus, op. cit. , pp. 292-298. Skilling, Communism National . .. , op. cit. pp. 88, 85, 84 resp. and Glejdura , loc. cit. Novomesky, quoted by Skilling, ibid. p. 117. Taborsky, op cit. p. 344, See also Skilling, Communism national ... op. cit. pp. 94-96. Pravda, May 1st, 1956. Pravda, January 10 and 11, 1958, quoted in Taborsky, op. cit. p. 344. See Pavel Berka's article in c".:eskoslovensky prehled, vol. 5 ( 1958) , p. 27 and Taborsky, op. cit. p. 345. On Slovak Nationalism see B. S. Bue, Slovak Nationalism (Middletown, Pa .), 1960, R. A. Kann, The Multinational Empire (Rutgers University Press) , 1950, J. A. Mikus, La Slovaquie, individualite politique de l'Europ e centrale ( Centre de documentation internationale, Paris ) 1958, L . Gogolak, Beitriige zur Geschichte des Slowakischen Volkes (Munich) 196~ and E. Denis, La Question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques (Paris) , 1917. As Skilling writes, Western scholars "have failed to see that subjection of Slovaks to centralized Czech Communist rule has not dimmed the feeling of Slovak nationalism, even among Communists, and could produce a brave response. " See "Czechoslovakia", in A. Bromke (ed.) , The Communist states at the crossroads, (Praeger, New York, 1965) , p. 103. See Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, Communism in Europe, op. cit. p. 162. Taborsky, op. cit. pp. 345-6. See also Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. pp. 112-130. Among Canadian scholars it is especially Prof. H. Gordon Skilling who published several well documented studies on this period. In the United States S. D. Kertesz, Philip E . Mosley, William E Griffith and K. Glaser and D. S. Collier as editors or contributors to symposia brought the problems to the attention of Western readers. On the Slovak side the weekly Kulturny Zivot became the main tribune. The articles by M. Hysko, 0 . Pavlik, E. Lobl, L . Mnacko, G. Husak, F. Falt'an, L. Novomesky, V. Mihalik and others analyzed the period of the cult of personality. On the Czech side the periodical Nova Mys/., Litenirni Noviny and Literarni Listy offer a number of interesting articles by Czech intellectuals on this subject. 28 ) See articles in Kulturny Ziv ot by Ondrej Pavlik (April 27, and August 10, 1963 ) and by V. Mihalik and V. Pet'ko (May 25 and April 20 respectively, and an article by J . Fojtik in Rude Pravo (March 29, 1963) . 29 ) Philip E. Mosley, " Eastern Europe in World Power Politics", D. S. Collier and K. Glaser, (ed. ), Elem ents of Change in Eastern Europe, Chicago, 1966, pp. 61-62. '') As wrote prof. Mosley in 1965. 30 ) Usneseni a do kum enty ust fe dniho v yboru komunisticke strany Ceskoslovenska, Vol. II, (Prague, 1962), pp. 5-57. English excerpts of �SLOVAKIA 31) 32) 33) 34) 35 ) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40 ) 41 ) 42 ) 43) 44) 45 ) 27 this speech can be found in A. Dallin, Diversity in International Communism (Columbia U. P. New York) , 1963, pp. 298-313. See M . Hysko's speech at the Congress of Slovak journalists, published in Pravda, June 13, 1963. The first open student manifestation against the regime in 1956 occurred in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, during a student's festival, In a pocession through Bratislava's streets, Slovak university students carried a coffing with the following inscription: "Here lay buried democratic liberties". As the official radio Bratislava admitted , "this soon became a stirring and well-liked slogan." See Duchacek, Zoe. cit. p. 105. Duchacek, ibid., p. 103. H. G. Skilling " Eastern Europe and the West" in A. Bromke (ed.). The Communist States and the West, (A. Praeger. 1967) , p. 53. Duchacek, op. cit. p. 98, see also pp. 112-118. Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. p. 90. According to Elias and Netik: "The predominant mood among the masses was one of indolence, striving for the satisfaction of crass material desires, general mistrust, and a decline of civic morale. Pilfering in industrial and agricultural enterprises, negligence in consumer services, a sorry state of disrepair in buildings, roads, machinery, and the like, although constantly deplored in the press, came to be accepted as a matter of course. The slogan "He who does not steal from the state steals from his family" was entirely symptomatic to the popular mood of the period, in spite of the fact that the supply of food and consumer goods had improved sufficiently to satisfy most normal needs of the population. loc. cit. p. 275. Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. p. 194. See Rude Premo, November 24 and December 12, 1961. This survey concerns itself mainly with Slovakia and its role in the de-Stalinization process and, therefore, we will put the emphasis, without underestimating the Czech element, on the part which Slovakia and Slovaks played in this period. The Slovak Communist leaders, G. Husak, L. Novomesky, D. Okali and others, were actually imprisoned already in 1951-1952 and only their trials took place in 1954. For an interesting survey of the purges of Slovak "bourgeois nationalists" see " O nezakonnych procesoch a rehabilitacii od roku 1948" (About the illegal processes and rehabilitation since 1948). Vyber, June 1968 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. Taborsky, op cit. p. 66. See Hromada. Prehl'ad ceskoslovenskych statnych organov (A survey of Czechoslovak State Organs), (Bratislava, 1955) , p. 26, K. Glaser, op. cit. pp. 154-178, Z. Elias and J. Netik in W. E . Griffith, op. cit. p. 197 and ff, and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 227-302. J . Netik and J. Franko Communism and Slovakia (Evaluation Report of RF E Research Unit, November 17, 1960) . Taborsky, op. cit. p. 214. See also Mikus, op. cit. pp. 226-224. Rude Pravo, Ma y 27, 1950. See also his article in Pravda, June 16, �28 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) SLOVAKIA 1963 in which he charged that the personality cult "deformed life and violated our socialist humanism". This has been admitted also by some Czech writers in the West. "The wave of outspoken criticism clearly originated in Slovakia; but it was carried on, though in somewhat muted tones, at the Prague Writers' Third Congress on May 22-24, which heard a number of frank and courageous statements, particularly from the younger "literati". Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, op. cit. p. 262. See Kulturny Zivot, April 27 and May 4, 1963. G. Husak recently published his account in Nove Slovo, June 1968, but it was known right after his release from jail. L. Holdos published his account in Smena, March 23, 1968, and both these " memoirs" describe the most revolting brutalities to which human beings were ever subject. E. Lobl published his experiences in a book Svedectvo o procese (Testimony about the Process) Bratislava, 1968. For excerpts in English see The Telegram (Toronto) July 18-19, 1968. Pravda, Bratislava, June 3, 1963. With Husak working behind the scenes, they also became later the "brain trust" of Alexander Dubcek, who was educated in the Soviet Union as an apparatchik, but retained an understanding for the human desire for freedom. See F . Vnuk, Sedemncisf neitrodnych rokov ( Seventeen Barren Years), (An outline of Slovak Literature) in 1945-62, Middletown, Pa., 1965, and I. Kruzliak, Kulturne Slovensko v rokoch 1945-1966 ( Culture in Slovakia in the years 1945-1966), Munich 1967. Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 17, 1963, articles by P. Karvas, A. Plavka, L. Mnacko, M. Chorvath and others. K. Rosenbaum, ibidem, No. 18 and J. Bzoch, No. 20. Some writers had the courage to say even before the Congresses that "the cult of personality, closely knit with dogmatism, limited and hampered creative scientific work" and that "from the field of social sciences mostly suffered historiography of the recent period". Samo Falt'an, "Hist6ria a dnesok" (History and the Present), Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 12, 1963. At the Congress of Slovak Jounalists Hysko also said that " the socialist journalist should respect directions only if they are not in conflict with the fundamental principles of socialist morality". Pravda, June 13, 1963. The significance of Hysko's speech lies in the fact that he brought into the open many Slovak grievances, in particular the treatment of Slovaks at the hands of the Czech leadership. Minac created a storm of protests also in 1968 by accusing the policy of Dr Benes as an attempt "near genocide" of the Slovak people. See Vyber, July 5, 1968, pp.9-11. Skilling, Communism national, op. cit. pp. 114116. For the text of speeches and resolutions see Kulturny zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 21, 22 (resolutions) and 23. See also K. Greiner "Wurzeln der liberalisierung Tendenzen in der Tschecho-Slowakei" . In Entwicklungen im Kommunismits (Verband der Freien Presse), Munich, 1967, pp. 123-131. �SLOVAKIA 56) 57) 58) 59) 29 Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 21. Ibidem , No. 22. Ibidem. Z. Elias and J. Netik in Wm. E. Griffith, Communism in Eiirope , op. cit. p. 157. 60) Pravda, (B ratislava) , June 13, 1963. For fuller discussion see Skilling Commiinism national ... , op. cit. pp. 122-124. 61 ) See Riide Prcivo, August 22, 1963. On the purges of Slovak " Bourgeois nationalists" see E. Fris, Plamen, no. 8, August 1964, Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, op. cit. pp. 210-215 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. 62) See Pravda , (Bratislava ), September 23 , 1963. On Siroky and his role in Slovak politics see Mikus, op. cit. p. 298. 63) See H. Kuhn, "Czechoslovakia", in D. Vollier and K. Glaser (ed.) op. cit. pp. 161-164, and K. Greiner, Zoe. cit. pp. 117--148. 64) In the respect the economist Eugen Lobl who was imprisoned with R. Slansky, led the struggle in Kulturny Zivot, H . Koctuch in Slovenske pohl'ady: see also R. Selucky in Kiilturny Zivot, (August 10, 1963, September 28, 1963, November 2, 1963) , and Hospodcirske Noviny, ( November 8 and 15, 1963), for the Czech views. 65) Several intellectuals were dealing with the ideological deformation : 0. Pavlik, M. Kusy, J . Uher, G. Husak, L. Mnacko, K. Rosenbaum , M. Hamada, and others, not only in Kiilturny Zivot, but also in Pravda (Bratislava) , PLamen, and Smena (Bratislava) . 66) The sharpest attacks on Prague's cultural policy towards Slovakia were written by the poet V. Mihalik. See Kulturny Zivot, No. 49, 1965 and No. 8, 1966. 67) Against the misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Slovak history and of the role the Slovaks played during the War see the writings of Slovak intellec tua l,: in Historicky casopis (Historical Review ) as well as Kulturny Zivot. Among the best articles were those written by S. Falt'an, K. Luptak, J . Fabian, E. Fris. See also G. Husak, Svedectvo o slovenskom ncirodnom povstani (Testimony about the Slovak National Uprising), (Bratislava, 1964). 68) See E. Lobl, "O dogmatizme v ekonomickom mysleni" ( About Dogmatism in Economic Thinking), Kulturny Zivot, Sept. 28, No.39, and Oct. 12, No. 41, 1963. Ota Sik, " Akoby nemal vyzerat' antidogmatizmus" (What anti-dogmatism should not be like ), Kiilturny Zivot, No. 44, Nov. 2, 1963, and the proposals of the economists for the perfection and planned direction of the National Economy, Rude Prcivo, Oct. 17, 1964. 69) "The Slovak poblem does exist in our country- wrote in 1964 K. Bartoska-of a complexity and urgency that we failed to realize and did not want to admit. It turns out that the economic equalization of the Czech lands and of Slovakia is not the exhaustive solution of the Slovak complex question". Plamen, No. 5, 1964. 70 ) Elias and Netik, in Griffith, op. cit. p. 275. 71 ) For fuller discussion of the years following the Congress of Writers, see Z. Elias and Netik in Griffith, op. cit. pp. 260-277. 72 ) On Bacilek and his role in the persecution of Slovak "bourgeois �30 73) 74) 75) 76) 77) 78 ) SLOVAKIA nationalists" see Taborsky, op. cit. p. 344, Griffith, op. cit. p. 176 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. See Kulturny Zivot, May-July, 1968, and Jacques Marcelle, Le Deuxieme Coup de Prague (Les Editions Vie Ouvriere, Bruxelles, 1968), pp. 183-189. "The sense of urgency which the Slovaks felt about federalism was not matched in the Czech lands" , writes Skilling, "and there was dissatisfaction in Slovakia with the slow pace of planning. There was, however, considerable difference of opinion about the distribution of authority under the proposed federal constitution, with some Slovaks arguing for a very narrow range of federal authority, including only foreign affairs, defense, and finance, and others, mainly Czechs, seeking a much stronger central authority. Even more productive of controversy was the Slovak demand for Parity of representation in the central organs, both executive and legislative, a demand which most Czechs, in spite of their readiness to adopt provisions protecting vital Slovak interests against outvoting by the Czech majority, were unwilling to accept." See Skilling, 'Czecho-Slovakia's Interrupted Revolution" , Canadian Slavonic Papers, vol. X, 4, 1968, p. 419. The historian Milos Gosiorovsky is credited with the iniciative, but Novotny refused to discuss his proposal and ordered sanctions against him. See Vyber, July 19, 1968, pp. 7-8. According to Pravda (Bratislava), February 2, 1968, he said in his first major policy statement on February 1st, 1968: "The Czechs and the Slovaks are nations both equal and able to create their own states. It is our role to strengthen and, in practice, safeguard our people's belief that the Republic open to Czechs and Slovaks additional prospects ... " On the role of Slovakia see G. Husak, "Prinos k januarovym zmenam" (Slovak contribution to the post-January changes), Vyber, December 6, 1968. In this respect namely the so-called "Two Thousand Words" manifesto deserves mention. It provoked an angry reaction in Moscow and in Warsaw at the meeting of the communist parties, on July 15, at which five communist parties sent a threatening letter to Prague. The manifesto was published by Litercirni Listy on June 27, 1968 and was conceived by the communist writer Ludvik Vaculik. 79 ) For a survey of events and documentary articles see Pierre Desgraupes and Pierre Dumayet (ed.), Prague - l'ete des tanks, "L'Histoire a la Une", (Paris, 1968) , the monthly East Europe , January-September, 1968, and Jacques Marcelle, Le Deuxieme coup de Prague, (Editions Vie Ouvriere, Bruxelles, 1968). 80 ) Skilling, Joe cit. p. 4Q9. 81) Skilling, ibid. p. 410. 82 ) See M . Lakatos, " Some Problems of Socialist Democracy ... " Prcivn y Obzor, 3, (1968). According to J. Bob they wanted "cultural, humanistic, democratic" Socialism. See Kulturny Zivot, May 24, 1968. �SLOVAKIA 31 83) Openly anti-communist views were of course not allowed. Only the past policies of the Communist Party could be freely criticised. 84 ) Rehabilitation was embodied in a law passed in June, but it referred only to those who were tried between October 1948 and July 1965. It left out thousands of victims condemned for political reasons between 1945-1948 when anti-communists were systematically eliminated from public life, jailed or executed. See Mikus, op. cit. pp. 167-68. According to Skilling the Action Programme "was a relatively moderated programme, acceptable to the conservative and moderate reformers, but not satisfying the more radical ones". Loe. cit. p. 426. 85 ) See an answer by five Slovak writers in Kulturny Zivot, June 21 , 1968. See also G. Husak "Dejinna prilezitost'" (A Historical occasion) , Pravda (Bratislava, May 9, 1968). 86) On the reaction of Slovak intellectuals to the invasion see L. Mnacko, "Die siebente Nacht - Erkenntnis und Anklage eines.Kommunisten" (The Seventh Night - Confession and Accusation of a Communist), (Verlag Fritz Molden, Wien, Miinchen, Ziirich), October 1968, and Slovak journals of September-December. On the international implications see Adam Bromke "Czechoslovakia and the World: 1968", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X, 4, pp. 581-591. On the reaction of the Government and of the Communist Parties, see Dokumenty o okupacii CSR (Documents on the occupation of Czecho-Slovakia), Bratislava 1968. 87 ) Among the contributions to the discussion on democratization and federalization worth of mentioning are: H. Koctuch "Federacia? Konfederacia? ", Kulturny Zivot, March 22, 1968, and "Buduce moznosti a mozna buducnost"', Nove slovo, June 13, 1968; Julius Strinka "Federalizacia a demokratizacia", Kulturny zivot, April 5, 1968; Prof. K. Plank, "Niekol'ko uvah o federalizacii nasho statu" , Sloboda, June 28, 1968; Dr. M. Gaspar, "Aspekty federalizacie CSR", Sloboda, June 14, 1968; and "Federalizacia - Demokracia", Vyber, July 19, 1968. 88) See Historicky casopis (Historical Review), Vol. XII, 3, 1964, and Nove slovo, September 24, 1944, as well as part one of this survey. 89) See articles and comment on this subject in Slovak v Amerike (U.S.A.), Kanadsky Slovak (Canada), cernakov Odkaz (Germany) , Slovensky stit (Australia) etc. A8 AmeTic·arn,, me111ber 8 of the Nlon.1k l,eague of America fi1'Jnl,v bel ie ,·e that the Slon.tk nation, jnst as all nahomi, has a11 i11here11t. and God-given right to freedom and i11clepencle11cc. r['hey are dedicated to the cause of the A rn eri ra n way of life, Slornk freec1om and world peace and ,ne detm·mined to oppose the plague of Comnnrnisrn and all othi-ir totahtaTian political systernR. � SLOVAKIA 3 Slovakia in the Struggle for Liberalization and Federalization of Czecho-Slovakia J. M. Kirschbaum From the very beginning- of the restoration of CzechoSlovakia in 1945, Slovakia played, directly and indirectly, an important role in the internal policy of Czecho-Slovakia and in the fate of the Stalinist regime. Not ony was this role more important than is generally recognized, but it was also of primary significance in the imposition of the communist system and, since 1962, in its liberalization. Some western experts on Eastern Europe overlooked Slovakia's influence on the course of events in this "loyal" and "most faithful satellite" , as the post-War II CzechoSlovakia was called in the West. 1 From the communist take-over in 1948 to the liberalization and federalization process in 1967-68, they dealt extensively with the changes in Prague's internal and axternal policy, but their analysis of the elements of change involved was often biased, as Prof. S. Z. Pech recently pointed out: Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to make the West familiar with the entire panorama of the polyglot region, they have in practice often been selective in the favours they bestowed on each nation. They have incorporated in their work, in modified form, the outlook and the prejudices of the nations which they "adopted". To give the most conspicuous examples, they viewed Slovak history through Czech eyes and Ukrainian history through Polish (or Russian) eyes. In so doing, they have in fact created a second-class status for certain nations. The history of the Slovaks in the West has usually been presented from the point of view of "Czechoslovakism " and has appeared as hardly more than a postscript to C:&ech history.2 It is the purpose of this survey to record and to discuss the overlooked elements and to assess the role which Slovakia and her communist elite played, first in imposing the communist system and then in forcing the Stalinist regime of Antonin Novotny to loosen the iron grip, and finally to step down and to free the way for the liberaliza. tion of the regime and the federalization of the state. When Czecho-Slovakia was restored in 1945, an auto- �4 SLOVAKIA nomous status, with extensive powers for Slovak national organs-the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners-was ensured for Slovakia. In the so-called "Kosice programme" it was stated that "the Slovaks should be the masters in their Slovak land just as the Czechs in their Czech homeland" and that the government "will regard the Slovak National Council not only as the rightful representative of the individual Slovak nation, but also as bearer of sovereign right on Slovak territory". 3 Under the constitution of 1948, the National Council as well as the Board of Commissioners was given the powers of an autonomous government, so that Slovakia enjoyed "a special position in a system which was neither federal nor autonomous, but presented a peculiar form of 'dualism'."4 Rejected by a 70 per cent majority of the popular vote in the elections of 1946, the Slovak Communists changed, however, their attitude towards the political status of Slovakia. The defeat angered and surprised the Communist leadership and led them to abandon not only original idea of an independent Slovak Republic 5 or a Slovak Soviet Republic 6 , but also the autonomous status of Slovakia ,vithin a federated Czecho-Slovakia. After the coup d'etat of 1948, the Communists eliminated not only the Slovak Democratic representatives from the National Council and all public offices, but Slovakia lost systematically what was left of her original autono mous status, which underwent several changes by the socalled Prague Agreements. And if the population, especially the Catholic majority, suffered between 1945-48 for not siding with the Communis ts, in the new situation they had to experience persecution not only for political reasons, but also for religious affiliation and non-proletarian background7 or resistance to socialization and collectivization. The "people's democracy" and all that it implied: " socialist patriotism", looking at the Soviet Union as the "patria" of Slovak Communists, "socialist realism" 8 , and the "party spirit", was introduced in Slovakia as in the rest of East Europe in an effort to transform Slovaks into a new type of "socialist" men, who "would be loyal to the existing regime, and obedient to its commands, and faithful also to the Soviet Union and world communism". 9 Life was supposed to be "directed in the spirit of Marxism-Leninism" �SLOVAKIA 5 and the "scientific world outlook" and historical materialism were to replace religion and nationalism. From 1948 on, this transformation was forced upon Slovaks through brute force by the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia which left to the Communist Party of Slovakia practically no influence in the Slovak affairs. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia "after 1947 subordinated the Slovaks to increasingly centralist rule from Prague, and trod underfoot the nationalist feelings even of Slovak Communists". 10 Those who tried to defend " the gains of the Slovak uprising" or were suspected of such intentions, were, in 1950, removed from public life as "bourgeois nationalists", incarcerated (Husak, Novomesky, Okali, Rasla, etc .) or hanged (Clementis, zingor) and replaced by obedient persons of non-Slovak origin (Siroky, Bacilek) in the Party as well as in the government.11 At the same time in spite of the provisions of the Constitution of May 9, 1948, the legislative and executive powers of the Slovak National Council and of the Board of Commissioners were drastically reduced and both institutions became subordinated to the Prague government. The Board of Commissioners had first to "abide by the directives and instructions of the Cabinet" and later, in 1960, was completely abolished. The Slovak National Council could still legislate, but the Council's laws had to b e signed by the Prime Minister, who could summon, adjourn and even dissolve the Council. Since in the National Assembly and in the Prague government the Slovaks were in minority, there was nothing, not even a theoretical possibility to protect Slovakia against the rule of Prague, because the Constitution "failed to provide for any guarantee that would protect the Slovak minority against the Czech majority ... As more than three-fifths of Czechoslovak legislators came from the Czech provinces, anything could be done with the status of Slovakia, even if all the Slovak reprezentatives opposed it".12 Within a few years Czecho-Slovakia had become "a highly centralized state, and Slovak home rule reduced almost to nil. In the post-1956 climate, some gestures were made to broaden the authority of the Slovak bodies. Increasing emphasis was laid, however, on the necessity �6 SLOVAKIA of integrating Slovakia within a unified economy, and even the bare forms of Slovak autonomy were still the object of suspicion by the regime. The Constitution adopted in 1960 further weakened the position of Slovakia". 13 It was, however, the general political atmosphere, the brutality of the police, the concentration and forced labour camps, the persecution for "deviation" or religious beliefs, which characterized this period, called alternatively "period of dogmatism" , period of the "cult of personality" or period of "deformation" and "Stalinism". 14 Denouced later by L. Novomesky as "monstrous and horrible", this period "wiped out trust, confidence, understanding, yes even loyalty in the life and consciousness of thousands and thousands of people". 15 Slovak national feelings and pride were hurt in this period also by Prague's economic and cultural policy16 and by a transfer of some 400 to 500 thousand Slovaks to the Czech provinces from which the Sudeten Germans had been expelled and where the Slovaks became denationalized, being deprived of Slovak Schools and organizations. While the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, also numbering some 500,000 had schools of all categories, cultural organizations, newspapers and representation in the administration of the state, the Slovak minority in the Czech part of the country was destined for fast denationalization. The economic measures of N ovotny's government hurt Slovaks even more. Slovakia was industrialized mostly by old machinery, transferred from the Sudeten German areas, or large factories lacking raw materials in Slovakia, to serve rather Soviet and Czech, than Slovak needs. From 1960 on, industry was unable to compete or to meet required levels of production. As a result, Slovakia suffered by the lowering of standards, and Slovaks were hurt by the admonitions and reproaches of Prague, particularly after Novotny's regime had curtailed the power of the Slovak administrative organs and had concentrated the administration of Slovakia in Prague and in Czech hands . Thus the years after the coup d'etat present a story of drastic changes in forms and institutions as well as in their practical working. The actual situation was in flagrant contradiction with the promises of the Slovak Communist Party of the autonomous status proposed for �SLOVAKIA 7 Slovakia. It is also a story of the mutual mistrust between the Czechs and Slovaks and the resulting clashes of which the outside world learned very little. In their subservience to Moscow and in their desire to imitate, if not surpass, Stalin's methods and general policy, the Communist leaders in Prague went further than any other satellite. "The system of terror was no less severe than in Albania, Hungary and Bulgaria, and in some respects went even further than these classic practitioners of this art". " Even during the critical months of 1956, Czechoslovakia had remained a model of Stalinist orthodoxy and exhibited none of the "fever" which had infected other satellites, notably the closest neighbours north and south. From the Communist point of view, Czechoslovakia was a most faithful associate of the Soviet Union, showing no evidence of dangerous dissatisfaction or domestic instability, and giving her full support to the Moscow Gospel as interpreted by Krushchev" . "In fact in the year which followed the XXII Congress in October 1961, Czechoslovakia, unlike some of its neighbours, was hardly influenced at all by the new spirit of Moscow, and showed no signs of relaxing its strongly Stalinist course. Paradoxically, this country, almost unique in its devotion and subservience to Moscow, was increasingly out of step with Krushchev's polic)' of de-Stalinization. "Orthodoxy" seemed to envolve into " heterodoxy" . "17 With regard to Slovakia the Prague Government used their power "to sweep away from the history of Slovak culture an entire past", according to Novomesky, and brought "a terrible curse on the life of the country." 18 This treatment of Slovakia could not, of course, influence the Slovaks for Czecho-Slovakia or Communism. On the contrary, even "the slight concessions of 1956-1958 were bound to leave the Slovaks unimpressed and could in no way detract from Slovak bitterness toward the treatment to which they had been exposed ever since the KSc (Communist Party of Czechoslovakia) leaders abandoned their calculative support of Slovak autonomism in 1946."19 This did not remain unnoticed by the Government and its press which deplored the "lack of confidence and the suspicion of fear" between the Czechs and the Slovaks, but laid blame on "the neglect of Leninist principles," 28 and on Slovak "bourgeois nationalistic tendencies". These tendencies according to complaints made by the Slovak Party's First Secretary, Karel Bacilek, at the session of the Central Committee in January 1958, have penetrated �8 SLOVAKIA "various fields of our cultural, political and scientific life; sports; the state apparatus; economic organs; and so on". 21 Slovaks could not be gained for the regime even by retrospective attacks on "Czecho-Slovakism", the concept that the Slovaks and the Czechs were ethnically, linguistically and culturally one nation, which had alienated the Slovaks to Masaryk's republic, and which Vaclav Kopecky, speaking on behalf of the KSC's Czech hierarchy, called in 1958 "an imperialist conception of national oppression of the Slovaks " 22 Since the Slovaks felt even more oppressed, more humiliated and exploited under the Communist regime than by the "bourgeois" regimes of 1918-1938, !5uch proclamations could not change the feelings of Slovaks and their attitude towards Prague. From 1948, and for a great part of Slovak population from 1946, Prague hurt even the pride of the Slovak Communists too deeply to be able to heal the wounds by condemning "Czechoslovakism" of the pre-War years. There was no comparison with the treatment which Slovaks received from Prague between the Wars and from the Communist rule after 1946. And Slovak nationalism, 23 which is a force rarely understood or interpreted properly by Western Scholars, was stronger after the War than at any time before, because the leftist elements also wanted Slovakia governed by Slovaks.24 Already before the Second World War nationalism was a force among Slovaks "directed against any authority residing outside Slovakia". 25 The period of the Slovak republic (1939-1945) and the uprising of 1944 undoubtedly st.renghtened the aversion against any foreign domination of Slovakia. All the restrictions of the powers of Slovak national organs, the trials of the leaders of the uprising as "bourgeois nationalists" and harsh economic centralization by the Prague Communist regime could not but create strong feeling of oppressinn and compromised relations between the Czechs and Slovaks. By 1958 the relations between the Czechs and Slovaks deteriorated to such a degree that even according to E. Taborsky a close collaborator of Dr. E. Benes, " while such declaration as above might have flattered the Slovaks in 1945, they fell on deaf ears in 1958. Nor could the communist leaders derive much comfort from the "improvement" in the Slovak class �SLOVAKIA 9 structure resulting from the communist industrialization and collectivization drive. By building up Slovakia's backwoods areas, the regime has unwittingly prodded the Slovaks' pride and self-confidence, and thus helped to underpin the same Slovak nationalism it has been trying so hard to blot out. Having acquired the know-how and the ability to run the system themselves, the Slovaks Communists and non-communists alike-resent being ordered around by their elder Czech brethren." 26 This rule of party dictatorship and police terror is normally divided into two periods: in a period of strict Stalinist form of rule which in Czecho-Slovakia lasted until 1956 and a period of slow detachment from the Stalinist system, during which a lip service was paid to de-Stalinization, and lasted until 1963. There are many explanations as to why there was a lack of de-Stalinization in Czecho-Slovakia after the XXth and especially after the XXII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Krushchev's denunciation of Stalin and his rule. The Czech and Slovak press dealt from 1963 extensively with this problem and so did some foreign scholars. 27 There is, however, no unanimous explanation, as there is no unanimity in the designation of this period or in definitions of this particular labels, of which the label of "cult of personality" was used more generally than the others. 28 But there is no doubt that the first to attack the social and political aspects of this period and to call for changes were the Slovak Communist intellectuals. "Slovaks inspired by their memorable uprising of 1944 have taken the lead in the process of modernization of the regime, while the Czechs have, until recently, been more cautious or more lethargic." 29 '' The attacks and criticism of Slovak intellectuals were directed mainly against Antonin Novotny who succeeded Klement Gottwald as Secretary General of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia in 1953, and Antonin Zapotocky as President of the Republic in 1957. For ten years his iron grip on the Party and on the State did not allow to modify the totalitarian Stalinist features of the regime, and during his rule by "brute force" were liquidated or imprisoned Slovak Communist leaders, accused of " bourgeois nationalism" and tried in 1954. According to Communist sources, 30 the period of the cult of personality ended in 1953, but due to Novotny's repressive methods, use of police terror, and his brutal struggle against Slovak bourgeois nationalism, the cult of personality in the view �SLOVAKIA of Slovak intellectuals existed from 1949 to 1962.31 Only in the spring of 1963 serious efforts at de-Stalinization marked the political life in Czecho-Slovakia. Western specialists in Eastern Europe offered several answers to the question why the Stalinist regime survived for so many years, but their views do not seem to give a satisfactory explanation. The purge of the potential leader, Clementis, and the bogey of Slovak nationalism which hounded the Czech leadership of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia, as it did the democratic leaders before the second World War, are only partial explanations. The brutal Soviet repression of the Hungarian revolution and the fear of Germany, which is greater among Czech than in any other nation of Central Europe, may be other explanations, but on the whole, these reasons cannot explain why a country with old democratic traditions, with western culture, with a previously high standard of living, praised in the whole world, did not follow the example of Poland and Hungary, except in smallscale disturbances of workers in Pilsen in 1953, the demonstration of Slovak students, which also spread to Prague, 32 and the writers' protest of 1956.33 Nor the fact that the West did not help the East European countries, including Czecho-Slovakia, by a more moderate course in East-West relations can be even less responsible for the Czech obstinacy to de-Stalinize. It was doubtful then-and today it is certain-that any co-operation in Europe between West and East going beyond what has been done, would have "strengthened the ability of the East European states to follow a more independent course".34 The explanation that the Czech communist leaders "had long and open experience in politics prior to the accession to power and perhaps this fact accounts for their unity and their ability to survive"35 and continue to hold the Stalinist grip on the country, is also only partially satisfactory. In the Slansky's purge of 1952 were eliminated the representatives of a rigid Stalinism and not the revisionists, and as a result the new leaders could start a new course after Stalin's death, but they were apparently afraid to de-Stalinize without incriminating themselves. We can find the answer to the question of Stalinism �SLOVAKIA 11 in Czecho-Slovakia in the interplay of all these phenomena, but mainly in the fact, that "the completeness of Stalinist terror had brought about a situation where there was no one capable of giving leadership of a new anti-Stalinist course after 1956"36 and in the "realism" and in the "Good Soldier Schweik's" mentality of the Czech ruling majority of the population. Except for the small scale disturbances of workers in Pilsen, who were irked by the economic difficulties rather than by political oppression, and the students' demonstration in Bratislava and Prague, there was no sign of dissatifaction or open opposition among the Czech intellectuals or large masses.37 A a result the leaders of the Czechoslovak Communist Party were in no mood to depart from the Stalinist position, and the Soviet repression of the Hungarian revolution rather strengthened their belief that it was not necessary to modify their regime. The Czech and Slovak communist leaders "associated themselves with the Soviet verbal onslaught on Stalin, hoping, no doubt, that they might avoid necessity of taking genuine steps to modify their own Stalinism", 38 even later at the time of the clash between Moscow and Bucharest in 1961. The leaders of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia remained equally unnerved by the Sino-Soviet conflict and the idea of polycentricism. They saw in polycentricism a danger to internationalism of the Communist movement and considered the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as the "only center".39 Slovakia in the Struggle of de-Stalinization40 It is important to indicate at the outset, that after the execution of Clementis and the purges of 1954,41 the Communist leaders in Slovakia were handpicked by Prague, that they were neither intellectuals, nor theoreticians, and that some of them, like Siroky and Bacilek were even lacking in Slovak background. They were the hard-line " apparatchiks" of the Gottwald school and as such, unable to take a new course or to take part in the de-Stalinization process. Furthermore, "unlike their Czech comrades, the Slovaks have had no right to determine the fundamental lines of Party policy and, tactics, not even for Slovakia, or to adopt Party programs". 42 After the "Stalinist democratic centralism" was imposed upon Slovakia in 1948, decentral- �12 SLOVAKIA ization was replaced by the "centralizing tendencies, justified officially as being necessary for the successful construction of socialism. This centralization continued throughout the whole Stalinist era and was carried over into post-Stalin days. 43 "The statutory inferiority of the Slovak Party organs was amply corroborated by actual developments". 44 In addition, the Communists were very weak in membership in Slovakia in comparison with Bohemia-Moravia. Of the 2,311,966 members and candidates of the KSc in 1949 only 236,432 were from Slovakia, i.e. slightly over 10 percent, although more than one-quarter of Czecho-Slovakia's population lived in that area. Also, the Party's appeal to the youth was far less effective in Slovakia than in the rest of the country. While the over-all percentages of Party members below twenty-five years of age in 1949 was 14.5, the corresponding figure for Slovakia was only 9.7.45 Notwithstanding all these factors, it was in Slovakia where the open struggle for de-Stalinization began in April 1963,46 The interplay of political, psychological and economic reasons had made the Slovak communist intellectuals, mostly journalists and writers, bitter and they started to assail the Stalinist regime of Antonin Novotny on all three fronts: political, ideological and economic. The Slovaks were also irked by the fact that the resolutions of the XII Congress of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia, held in December 1962 spoke of the rehabilitation of the Communists who were sentenced between 1949-1953 , and disregarded the purges of Slovak "bourgeois nationalists", tried in 1954. The first outburst of open opposition took place at the Congress of Slovak Wr iters, held on April 21-22 in Bratislava, and a month later at the Congress of Slovak Journalists, also in Bratis1 ava, on May 27-28. While at the Congress of Slovak Writers, Karol Rosenbaum spoke of "inhuman methods" during the period of the "personality cult" and about forces sufficiently strong to prevent a return of the terror of that period,47 at the Congress of Slovak Journalists, M. Hysko, professor at the Slovak school of journalism, led the attack against the slowness of de-Stalinization by Novotny's government. Despite Novotny's warnings and personal attacks on Hysko and R. LIBRARY �SLOVAKIA 13 Kalisky a month later, these two Congresses unleashed forces which put the life Jf the country on the tracks of de-Stalinization and liberalization. There had been mounting dissatisfaction in Slovakia since the Congress of Slovak Writers in 1956 among the writers and journalists, who remained, after the imprisonment of the political leaders accused of "bourgeois nationalism", the only spokesmen for the Slovak people. In 1963 the spark for the open criticism of Novotny's regime and insistence on reforms was given by the return from jail of the "bourgeois nationalists". Their accounts 48 of brutality shook the conscience of Slovak writers and journalists, and they were shaken more than anyone else because some of them had contributed to the consideration of Husak and Novomesky, while others had praised the regime and its iron grip and were mute about brutality and persecution of innocent people in all walks of life. As Hysko said at the Congress of Slovak journalists, they also were partly guilty because they presented the innocent comrades as " criminals". 49 They now wanted to repair the damage done and from L. Mflacko, who became well-known abroad, to M. Hysko, V. Mihalik, V. Minac, Kalisky and others, the intellectuals denounced the Stalinist regime and its brutality and asked for reforms. 50 The Congress of Slovak Writers and the Congress of Slovak Journalists became more than mere meetings to discuss literary and cultural problems. As we see it now and as it was considered by many in 1963, it was the beginning of a serious effort to change the ruling system, to clear the atmosphere of the suffocating fear of oppression and to correct injustices and crime of the period of the cult of personality. Slovak writers and journalists played again the role of the "conscience of the nation" which the Stalinist terror not only silenced for many years but had found in some writers eager collaborators. 51 The editorials in Kulturny zivot before th6 Congress were entitled "Literature in the struggle for truth", 52 and the participants proved that they meant to have it thus. After the Congresses furthermore, they asked for "a clean table" and stated that "everything is not in order". 53 Slovak writers spoke in the same fighting spirit against the terror and for a "cult of truth" instead of a cult of 1 �14 SLOVAKIA personality also at the Congress of the Union of Czechoslovak Writers, held in Prague on May 22-24 of the same year. The words fear, falsification of facts, abuse of confidence were repeated time and again. Noteworthy were especially the outspoken speeches by the poets Vojtech Mihalik and Laco Novomesky, the dramatist Peter Karvas and the courageous writer V. Minac,54 the essayist M. Chorvat, Zora Jesenska and others. The Congress "revealed that the mood of discontent was not confined to Slovak writers only, but included their Czech colleagues. Almost without exception, the participants were critical in the extreme, not only of the worst evils prevailing in the cult period, but also of their continuance right down to the present. Speaker after speaker gave vent to the general public outrage at the horrors of the cult and the failure of the party to eliminate them since 1956, and spoke in individual ethical terms which had little to do with partymindedness. Truth and freedom were words frequently invoked". 55 The poet V. Mihalik spoke again about the duty of writers to be the "conscience of the nation" and bitterly critized the period of the cult of personality. 56 L. Mnacko, whose series "Belated Reports", well known for their exposure of the terror and injustices, began to appear in Kulturny zivot, spoke of the "mousetrap" and the "unrosy economic, political and moral situation of the country". 57 L. Novomesky whose contribution to the discussion was published under the heading "With comrade reason" and the contributions by Zora Jesenska and P. Karvas ("About one source of dogmatism") 58 completed the picture of dissatifaction with the past and present, insisting on the necessity of change and reforms. These congresses, as we now see launched CzechoSlovakia upon a new course, with consequences impredictable at that time. If until the early 1960's the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia could have served as a laboratory speciment of die hard dogmatism and appeared practically untouched by the winds of change stirring in the international Communist movement59 after these meetings it was not true any longer. The leaders of the Communist Party realized it and made some further steps in the direction of de-Stalinization �SLOVAKIA 15 but without serious efforts to change the nature of their totalitarian system. Novotny only reluctantly admitted that the cult of personality harmed the country and had such disastrous effects as claimed by the critics. He tried to put the blame on the purged Stalinist R. Shinsky or argued that many changes had already been made to conform with the resolutions of the XII Congress of the Party. In an angry speech in Slovak town of Kosice, on June 12, 1963, he rejected the accusations contained in the speeches of M. Hysko and Roman Kalisky, and categorically proclaimed that the Communist Party would not allow the Slovak newspaper Pravda to become "a tribune of attacks against the leadership of the Party". 60 Slovak Communist intellectuals, however, were not frightened by Novotny's threats and warnings. Throughout 1963 Novotny was subjected to vocal criticism for his failure to break the hold of Stalinism on national life, to rehabilitate publicly those who had suffered most in the era of repression, and to punish those who had borne the main burden of responsibility in that era. Most vehemently did the Slovak writers call for greater freedom in their national life, and for the erasing of the charges of "bourgeois nationalism" on which the purge of leading Slovak personalities had been based. They continued, especially in the organ of the Union of Slovak Writers, Kulturny zivot, to insist on the necessity of reforms and asked for a fair deal for Slovakia. In August they obtained full rehabilitation61 of the Slovak "bourgeois nationalists" whom the XII Congress of the Party in November 1962 had bypassed. In September, they scored another success in the removal of V. siroky62 from the Government as well as from his position in the Party and in the National Assembly. These concessions did not satisfy, however, the awakened conscience of Slovak Communist intellectuals63 and during the months to come they assailed the regime mercilessly, especially in Kulturny zivot. Novotny retaliated by forcing to resign in June 1964 the editor in chief of Kulturny zivot, Paul stevcek, and Roman Kalisky, member of the editorial board, who had fearlessly attacked �16 SLOVAKIA a year before the economic policy of N ovotny's regime in Slovakia. Instead of frightening the intellectuals, these measures added new fuel to the fire of their dissatisfaction. Slovak writers, journalists and economists began to point out the deformations of "socialist legality and morality" and the acts of discrimination against Slovaks in all field of public life. They asked for the revision of the Constitution of July 1960, which formally abolished the limited autonomy of Slovakia granted to Slovaks between 1945 and 1948. Furthermore, they asked for economic reforms, 64 for the re definition of certain principles of socialist ideology,65 for a new cultural policy66 and for the revaluation of the role of the Slovak uprising,67 which was ridiculed and degraded by Novotny's regime and some Czech writers during the imprisonment of the leaders of the uprising-Husak, Novomesky, Okali and others. The regime yielded in some fields, especially in cultural policy and new Minister, C. Cisar, allowed a degree of liberalization and restored some autonomy to universities. The economists could also quite freely discuss their plans from August to November, 1963, and their criticism and proposals were published,68 Novotny's position and Moscow's support for his regime seemed for some time to be in jeopardy. The struggle was, however, far from won. Novotny was re-elected not only as President of the Republic but, at the XIIIth Party Congress of 1966, also as First Secretary. And he was not only unable but also unwilling to proceed with basic reforms or to quiet down the antagonism between the Slovaks and Czechs which had erupted in 1963 and increased in intensity in the Slovak press and in Party meetings with every year. In fact , Novotny fought against the unrest in the minds of Slovaks, and was reluctant to grant any significant concessions. Some Czechs realized, however, that the problem existed and should be solved.69 Under fire by Slovaks, among whom the rehabilitated G. Husak and the Soviet educated Alexander Dubcek gained more and more influence, by the "revisionists" and "pragmatists", all of whom tried to humanize and reform the Party and government, Novotny tried at last to give a new image to Czecho-Slova- �SLOVAKIA 17 kia at home and especially in Western Europe. More personal freedom, including a limited religious freedom, was granted and some economic reforms were introduced. "Most important, the Communist Party, having largely abandoned its dogmatic positions, was no longer the allseeing, all-powerful, unquestioned authority that it once had been. " 70 Furthermore, the writers and journalists were soon joined in their opposition and outspoken criticism of the regime not only by the youth, which increasingly posed a serious problem to the government, but also by the workers and other segments of the population. People were no longer afraid to criticize and opposition was growing. Novotny and his Party apparatus tried to control the winds of change, but it was a hopeless struggle. William Siroky was replaced by the Moscow educated Jozef Lenart, former Secretary General of the Slovak Communist Party, who was not involved in the purges as were Bast'ovansky and Bacflek. 71 Novotny could not control these developments. Too many people suddenly realized that both a change of course and of people in leading functions was inevitable. The struggle for liberalization and federalization By 1967 the internal situation in the country and in the Party had matured to the point that it was possible to remove Novotny from his omnipotent position of First Secretary of the Party and on March 22, 1968 also from ,the Presidency of the country. The masterful co-operation of the factions which had called for reforms on both the Slovak and Czech side, resulted in the "impossible" becoming a fact, and Alexander Dubcek, at the age of 47, assumed the office of the First Secretary and launched the country upon the course of liberalization which surprised the whole world. While intellectuals in the Czech provinces centered their attention mostly on economic and ideological problems (the contribution by E . Lobl or E . Goldstticker, both from Slovakia, should not, however, be underestimated) , in Slovakia political leaders and intellectuals were deeply involved in the problem of humanization of the system �18 SLOVAKIA and the restoration to Slovakia of at least a part of the autonomy which she had enjoyed before 1948. With the political rehabilitation of the "bourgeois nationalists" and the amnesty granted to the military leaders of the 1944 uprising, the status of Slovakia and the "gains of the uprising" were once again the goals to be achieved. 72 Early in 1968 Slovak communist intellectuals were for a while involved in a discussion as to whether priority should be given to liberalization or to federalization, 73 but the controversy ended with the consensus that one does not exclude the other and that both aims should be pursued. A certain reluctance on the side of the Czechs towards federalization,74 nevertheless, led the Slovaks to put stress on the federalization. There also were still alive reminiscences on the "First Czechoslovak republic" when Slovakia suffered discrimination and exploitation inspite of the fact that the Prague governments were known as "the only true democracy in Central Europe between the Wars" . Furthermore, the manner in which all the agreements and declarations guaranteeing an autonomous status for Slovakia after 1945 were forgotten and disregarded, forced the Slovak leaders to put the emphasis on the necessity of constitutional reforms. In fact , Slovaks submitted a plan for a federalization of the Republic in 1963,75 and Alexander Dubcek, after assuming the leadership of the Party and starting the liberalization process, put the Slovak demands for an equal status with the Czechs high on the agenda of his reforms.76 Federalization was in the eyes of Slovak communist leaders, who were attacking Novotny's regime since 1956, and without reserve since 1963, an essential part of the demo cratization process which, on the other hand, was the prerequisite for liberalization. Only by the transformation of the political structure of the state could Slovaks achieve a position of full equality and control of further development of the situation in the right direction. The impression, created in the West by reports from Prague or by some Western analysts of the developments of the situations in Czecho-Slovakia, that the movement for giving communism "a human face" was an expression of the Czech "hussite traditions" and therefore a Czech and not a Slovak affair, is devoid of any serious foundation. �SLOVAKIA 19 Alexander Dubcek, the young Slovak leader of the liberalization movement who spent his formative years in the Soviet Union, hardly knew anything about the "hussite traditions" when he made his first major speech on February 1st, 1968 in which he promised "the development of socialist democracy" in the Party and the state. Nor did Edward Goldstticker, born and educated in Slovakia, who became elected the chairman of the Czechoslovak Writers Union and insisted that a way must be found how to reconcile individual freedom with the communist system, have any connection in his background with the "hussite traditions". 77 A group of Czech intellectuals, especially the youth of Prague, became undoubtedly more vociferous than Slovaks when the movement was launched. 78 It looked at times as if they had desired to make up for years of servile obedience to Novotny's regime. Czechs also were more provocative in their behaviour when the Soviet Union and her satellites condemned the movement after a meeting in Warsaw and as a result they contributed or gave more pretexts than the Slovaks to the final Soviet step which killed the liberalization movement. Objectively, both Slovaks and Czechs desired the changes. Slovaks more than Czechs because they suffered more-communists and non-communists alike-under the Novotny's regime. Slovaks therefore started the opposition and Slovakia gave to the struggle for the "human face of communism" not only the leader, Alexander Dubcek, but also it became the place of two historic conferences: on July 1st at cierna nad Tisou and on August 3rd, in Bratislava. 79 The liberalization process was largely publicized in the West. A survey of the Czech and Slovak press and of statements of the leaders of the movement would indicate, however, that the aims and goals of the liberalization were often magnified and misinterpreted by some Western analysts. To what extent such behaviour of the West contributed to the final decision of Moscow to go with the tanks against the wind of freedom, is of course a matter of conjecture. Skilling correctly assessed the aims of this "interrupted revolution": �20 SLOVAKIA In some respects, the reforms planned in Prague were more modest than analogous efforts in other communist countries. There was not. at least at the outset, a rejection of Soviet domination, as in the case of Yugoslavia, and other later revolts against Moscow ; nor were major changes in foreign orientation envisaged, as in the case of Rumania and others. There was to be no sharp break in relations with the communist camp, and no defection from Comecon or the Warsaw Pact. Nor was there an immediate and spontaneous rejection of collectivization, as in Hungary and Poland, or a radical reconstruction of the economy, such as followed the initial break by Yugoslavia.so It was only in the political realm that "the changes envisaged, and in part introduced were more drastic and more rapid than anything attempted elsewhere, and aimed at nothing less than a "socialist democracy".81 The leaders of the movement firmly indicated that it was the Communist party which should remain in power and rule, if possible, alone. Some intellectuals speculated about a representation of other parties or groups,82 but the leaders in power did not intend to introduce democracy on the basis of a multi-party system. They spoke and wrote about "socialist democracy" with freedom of expression,83 abolition of terror, abolition of censorship and more independence for state organs on the politburo. They also wanted more freedom of discussion in the Parliament, but without any opposition parties, it was particularly freedom only for the communist members of the Parliament, because the number of deputies of the National Front parties is negligible. All these reforms were basically contained in the Action Program of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, approved by the Central Committee on April 5, 1968. The Program confirmed the charges that have taken place since January 1968 and-what the population accepted with great acclaim-it promised legal and political guarantees of the personal and political rights of all citizens. There also was a promis of rehabilitation of those innocently jailed and persecuted and a pledge of constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly and association. 84 Still more significant than the official statement and programs were the views of writers freely expressed in journals like Kulturny zivot or Nove slovo which, after it had been banned when Husak was condemned as bourgeois nationalist, began to appear again. The writers asked for �SLOVAKIA 21 much more than the political leaders promised, and in hundreds of articles or answers to the question "what could be done to accelerate the process of democratization"85 they created an atmosphere that gave to the population the feeling of freedom and of big hopes for the future. At the same time they irritated, however, Moscow and her satellites. After the treatening letter from Warsaw not only Moscow but also the other communist countries reacted with increasing pressure. Dubcek, supported by the majority of the population, resisted the pressure and it seemed that after the Conference at cierna nad Tisou on July 14, and especially after the meeting of the representatives of all 5 communist countries in Bratislava on August 3rd, the differences were settled and the danger of an intervention avoided. Czechs and Slovaks were still engaged in a free discussion of the necessity of reforms86 and planned the congresses of both the Czechoslovak and Slovak Communist Parties, when during the night of August 20, the country was brutally invaded by the forces of the Warsaw Pact and the liberalization and democratization process was dramatically brought to an end.87 The planned reforms, the atmosphere of freedom, the abolition of censorship and terror, even if the Communist party was to remain in power, was unacceptable for Moscow. All this represented dangerous ideological innovations and seemed to be too contagious to be tolerated by the leaders of the Kremlin and the autocratic rulers in Warsaw, Budapest and East Germany. As it later appeared from Moscow's explanation of the invasion, Hitler's "Lebensraum doctrine" was replaced by Brezhnev's doctrine of the right of the Soviet Union to intervene in the socialist countries and to impose the Soviet system and social order on the lands within the Soviet zone of influence. While the liberalization process was aborted by the invasion, the federalization process was not basically affected. For some time it seemed that Moscow could convince G. Husak, who became leader of the Slovak Communist Party, to accept another solution: an "independent" Slovak Socialist Republic or a Slovak Soviet Republic within the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. This �22 SLOVAKIA solution of the 50 years old dispute over the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs was considered even in the West as highly probable, because both a Soviet socialist republic and an independent Slovak State were the aim of the Slovak uprising of 1944, in its original stage.BB The reaction to the invasion was, however, of such intensity and the feelings against Moscow were so strong, that neither Husak nor anybody else was ready to lead the Slovaks out of Czecho-Slovakia at this time. Husak accepted the function of the head of a commission in charge of preparing the transformation of Czecho-Slovakia into a confederation of two republics, the Czech and the Slovak Socialist Republic and he used all his perseverance and ability to this end. The constitutional law, transforming the centralist state ruled by the Czechs, was adopted by the Assembly on October 27, 1968, as Law No. 143. It was signed and solemnly proclaimed on October 30, at the Bratislava Castle in Slovakia, with the provision that it will take effect on January 1st, 1969. At the signing ceremonies the President of the Republic, Ludvik Svoboda, termed federalization a progressive and historic act that would improme the social order and welfare of both Czechs and Slovaks. Alexander Dubcek, the First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, and G. Husak, the Secretary of the Slovak Communist Party, spoke of federalization as strengthening the unity of the state and creating a basis for better future relations between the Czechs and Slovaks. Slovaks, especially Slovak youth of Bratislava, cheered outside the Bratislava Castle when the law was signed, even though its contents were not known in detail and the reminiscences of a similar law adopted in 1938 and its subsequent violation by Prague 6 months later, were not forgotten by the Slovak people. The fear of a possible inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet Union, if Slovakia completely separated from the Czechs, compels apparently even many of those Slovaks who do not believe that the Czechs would honor the new agreements, to accept federalization as a solution to the Slovak problem in the present international situation. The constitutional law signed in Bratislava, establishes �SLOVAKIA 23 the basic federal structure, leaving specific prov1s10ns about the rights and responsibilities of the federal organs to another law which was passed by the National Assembly in November. Basically, the constitutional changes solve the problem of the existence of two nations-the Czech and the Slovak-by setting up a federal National Assembly consisting of an Assembly of the People, elected on the basis of proportional representation, and an Assembly of Nations, in which Czechs and Slovaks will have equal representation. In this respect the Soviet constitution seemed to be the model while in other respects the federal structure of Czecho-Slovakia is similar to the structure of European and American constitutions. Law No. 143 reserves to the federal domain responsibilities for foreign policy, defense and curency and the areas of culture and education are reserved to the domain of the member-states to the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic. Both republics have equal status according to this Law and the sovereignty of both "national states" should be respected. However, this "sovereignty" is limited by the articles 7 to 28 of the Law to such an extent, that we can hardly compare the new Czecho-Slovakia with Switzerland or the Canadian Federation. Even less can the federal structure of Czecho-Slovakia be compared with Austria-Hungary after the Ausgleich of 1867, which historically and politically is the closest example. However, one of the interesting features of this constitutional reform is the provision of Law No. 143 about the "right of self-determination" which gives the Slovaks the right to secession. The political autonomy which the "Law on the Federation" provides for Slovakia is, on the other hand, limited by the fact that the Communist Party was not reorganized to reflect the federal structure of the State. As a result the political power remains concentrated in, and the most important decisions will be taken in Prague by bodies composed of a majority of Czech members. Since many Czechs accepted only reluctantly the federalization of the Republic, difficulties and dissensions are to be expected. For the second time in three decades the Slovak struggle for national rig·hts within a federalized Czecho-Slovakia was fought in the middle of an international crisis: in 1938 in the Munich crisis and in 1968 under the Soviet occupa- �24 SLOVAKIA tion. It remains to be seen whether Prague learned the lesson this time or whether there will be an aftermath as in 1939. Slovaks in the free world accepted the federalization with distrust and misgivings and did not ease to advocate the right of the Slovak people for an independent, democratic Slovak Republic. 89 Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum is former university professor and author of several books and studies on Slovakia in English and other languages. 1) See H. G. Skilling, Communism National and International (Toronto, 1964), pp. 86-95, and William E. Griffith, Communism in Europe ( Cambridge, Mass., 1966), II, pp. 257-65. 2) S. Z. Pech, "New Avenues in Eastern European History", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X, 1 ( 1968), 14-15. See also W. F . Griffith, "Myth and Reality in Czechoslovak History", Eastern European History, II, 3, 84. 3) See Wm. Diamond, Czechoslovakia Between East And West (London, 1947), p. 50 and Stefan Glejdura, Los Grandes Problemas Del Este Europeo: Eslovaquia (Madrid, 1968) , pp. 29-32. Slovak communists were supported in obtaining this especially by Gottwald, who proclaimed the agreement to the " Magna Charta of the Slovak Nation". See Griffith, Communism in Europe, pp. 183-93. 4 ) See Skilling, " The Czechoslovak Constitutional System: The Soviet Impact," Political Science Quarterly, LXVII, 2 (1952); Griffith , Communism in Europe, pp. 135 ff., and K. Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia: A Critical History ( Caldwell, Id., 1960), pp. 87-139. 5) G. Husak, one of the main leaders, declared at the beginning of the uprising: "It must be said openly that our people would welcome with enthusiasm the removal of frontiers and customs between us and the other Slav nations, especially between Slovaks and Russians," Nove Slovo, September 24, 1944. See also S. Falt'an, Historicky casopis, 4 (1966), 589. L. Novomesky, who was sent during the uprising from Slovakia to London, did not "conceal his doubts as to whether it was wise for Slovakia to remain within the small Czechoslovakia when it could join the great Soviet Union," J. Korbel, The Communist Subversion of Czechoslovakia, 1938-1948 (Princeton, 1959 ), p. 72. See also Griffith, Communism in Europe, pp. 179-85 and Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakia: A Political History 19181930 (Milwaukee, Wis., 1963) pp. 185-90. 6) Jozef Jablonicky, "Slovenske narodne povstanie - nova faza v rieseni vzt'ahov medzi cechmi a Slovakmi" (Slovak National Uprising: A New Phase in the Solution of the Relations between the Czechs and Slovaks) , Historicky casopis, XII, 3 (1964), 236. See also J . Korbel, The Communist Subversion, pp. 32, 68-72, and S. Falt'an, Historicky casopis, XII, 140, 2, 161-84. 7) For details on the religious situation in Slovakia after 1945 see �SLOVAKIA 8) 9) 10 ) 11 ) 12) 25 T. G. Zubek, The Church of Silence in Slovakia (Whiting, Indiana, 1956); Stefan Nahalka, La Slovacchia d'Oggi (Rome, 1957); Joseph Pauco, Christian Slovakia (Valparaiso, Ind. , 1959) ; J . A. Mikus, op. cit. p. 164-185 and P. Hnilica, S. J., "The Church under Totalitarian Rule" in Collier and Glaser (ed.), Elements of Change in Eastern Europe, (Chicago, 1968), pp. 136-149. See Kirschbaum, "Slovak Literature under the Soviet Impact", Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. 1, no. 1, and Imrich Kruzliak, Kulturne Slovensko v rokoch 1945-1966 (Culture in Slovakia in the years 1945-66), (Munich, 1967). Skilling, The Governments of Communist East Europe, op. cit., p. 202, and "People's Democracy, The Proletarian Dictatorship and the Czechoslovak Path to Socialism", The American Slavic and East European Review, X, 2 (April 1951) , 100-16. Skilling, Commimism national . .. , op. cit. , p. 88. The Communist Party of Slovakia was founded in May 1939 as an illegal party and was. recognized as an independent party by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, as well as by the leaders of the Czech Communist Party in Moscow. It maintained its independence until 1948. For more details see Z. Elias and J. Netik "Czechoslovakia" in W. E. Griffith Communism in Europe, (Cambridge, Mass., 1966) 2. volume pp. 174-186 and Bohuslav Graca "Komunisticka strana Slovenska" (The Communist Party of Slovakia), Nova Mysl, No. 5, May 1961. Even in the party the Slovaks were poorly represented at the center, with their chief spokesman the Prime Minister, Siroky, and the Slovak party chief, Bacilek, both only partly Slovak in origin. Pavol David was the only undisputed Slovak in the party command. Skilling, Communism National, op. cit. p. 94 ; See also Griffith, op. cit. pp. 210-215 and Miku~, op. cit., pp. 291-302. Taborsky, op cit. p. 336 and H. G. Skilling, "The Czechoslovak Constitution of 1960 and the transition to Communism", Journal of Politics, XXIV, 1, 1962, pp. 156-59. See also Edward Kucera, K nekterym otazkam autonomie a postaveni Slovenska v ramci ceskoslovenske Republiky (About Some Questions of Autonomy 13) 14) 15) 16) and the Position of Slovakia within the Framework of the Czechoslovak Republic) , (Prague, 1954). Jan Moura! Slovenske narodni organy (Slovak National Organs), (Prague, 1958) and Collection of Laws of the Slov ak National Council, (Bratislava, 1954) . Skilling, The Governments of Commimist East E urope, op. cit. p. 156 and Taborsky op. cit. pp. 338-240, and Griffith, op. cit. p. 235 and off. Several Slovak Communist intellectuals made attempts at definitions of this period. See Kulturny Zivot, April 27, 1963-Proceedings of the Congress of the Slovak Writers. After the execution of V. Clementis, Slovaks were withdrawn from practically all diplomatic posts abroad (out of 97 ambassadors only 5 were Slovaks) and writers, who served as cultural attaches were �26 17 ) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23 ) 24 ) 25 ) 26) 27 ) SLOVAKIA hit particularly hard. On Clementis see Griffith, op. cit. , p. 176 and Mikus, op. cit. , pp. 292-298. Skilling, Communism National . .. , op. cit. pp. 88, 85, 84 resp. and Glejdura , loc. cit. Novomesky, quoted by Skilling, ibid. p. 117. Taborsky, op cit. p. 344, See also Skilling, Communism national ... op. cit. pp. 94-96. Pravda, May 1st, 1956. Pravda, January 10 and 11, 1958, quoted in Taborsky, op. cit. p. 344. See Pavel Berka's article in c".:eskoslovensky prehled, vol. 5 ( 1958) , p. 27 and Taborsky, op. cit. p. 345. On Slovak Nationalism see B. S. Bue, Slovak Nationalism (Middletown, Pa .), 1960, R. A. Kann, The Multinational Empire (Rutgers University Press) , 1950, J. A. Mikus, La Slovaquie, individualite politique de l'Europ e centrale ( Centre de documentation internationale, Paris ) 1958, L . Gogolak, Beitriige zur Geschichte des Slowakischen Volkes (Munich) 196~ and E. Denis, La Question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques (Paris) , 1917. As Skilling writes, Western scholars "have failed to see that subjection of Slovaks to centralized Czech Communist rule has not dimmed the feeling of Slovak nationalism, even among Communists, and could produce a brave response. " See "Czechoslovakia", in A. Bromke (ed.) , The Communist states at the crossroads, (Praeger, New York, 1965) , p. 103. See Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, Communism in Europe, op. cit. p. 162. Taborsky, op. cit. pp. 345-6. See also Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. pp. 112-130. Among Canadian scholars it is especially Prof. H. Gordon Skilling who published several well documented studies on this period. In the United States S. D. Kertesz, Philip E . Mosley, William E Griffith and K. Glaser and D. S. Collier as editors or contributors to symposia brought the problems to the attention of Western readers. On the Slovak side the weekly Kulturny Zivot became the main tribune. The articles by M. Hysko, 0 . Pavlik, E. Lobl, L . Mnacko, G. Husak, F. Falt'an, L. Novomesky, V. Mihalik and others analyzed the period of the cult of personality. On the Czech side the periodical Nova Mys/., Litenirni Noviny and Literarni Listy offer a number of interesting articles by Czech intellectuals on this subject. 28 ) See articles in Kulturny Ziv ot by Ondrej Pavlik (April 27, and August 10, 1963 ) and by V. Mihalik and V. Pet'ko (May 25 and April 20 respectively, and an article by J . Fojtik in Rude Pravo (March 29, 1963) . 29 ) Philip E. Mosley, " Eastern Europe in World Power Politics", D. S. Collier and K. Glaser, (ed. ), Elem ents of Change in Eastern Europe, Chicago, 1966, pp. 61-62. '') As wrote prof. Mosley in 1965. 30 ) Usneseni a do kum enty ust fe dniho v yboru komunisticke strany Ceskoslovenska, Vol. II, (Prague, 1962), pp. 5-57. English excerpts of �SLOVAKIA 31) 32) 33) 34) 35 ) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40 ) 41 ) 42 ) 43) 44) 45 ) 27 this speech can be found in A. Dallin, Diversity in International Communism (Columbia U. P. New York) , 1963, pp. 298-313. See M . Hysko's speech at the Congress of Slovak journalists, published in Pravda, June 13, 1963. The first open student manifestation against the regime in 1956 occurred in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, during a student's festival, In a pocession through Bratislava's streets, Slovak university students carried a coffing with the following inscription: "Here lay buried democratic liberties". As the official radio Bratislava admitted , "this soon became a stirring and well-liked slogan." See Duchacek, Zoe. cit. p. 105. Duchacek, ibid., p. 103. H. G. Skilling " Eastern Europe and the West" in A. Bromke (ed.). The Communist States and the West, (A. Praeger. 1967) , p. 53. Duchacek, op. cit. p. 98, see also pp. 112-118. Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. p. 90. According to Elias and Netik: "The predominant mood among the masses was one of indolence, striving for the satisfaction of crass material desires, general mistrust, and a decline of civic morale. Pilfering in industrial and agricultural enterprises, negligence in consumer services, a sorry state of disrepair in buildings, roads, machinery, and the like, although constantly deplored in the press, came to be accepted as a matter of course. The slogan "He who does not steal from the state steals from his family" was entirely symptomatic to the popular mood of the period, in spite of the fact that the supply of food and consumer goods had improved sufficiently to satisfy most normal needs of the population. loc. cit. p. 275. Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. p. 194. See Rude Premo, November 24 and December 12, 1961. This survey concerns itself mainly with Slovakia and its role in the de-Stalinization process and, therefore, we will put the emphasis, without underestimating the Czech element, on the part which Slovakia and Slovaks played in this period. The Slovak Communist leaders, G. Husak, L. Novomesky, D. Okali and others, were actually imprisoned already in 1951-1952 and only their trials took place in 1954. For an interesting survey of the purges of Slovak "bourgeois nationalists" see " O nezakonnych procesoch a rehabilitacii od roku 1948" (About the illegal processes and rehabilitation since 1948). Vyber, June 1968 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. Taborsky, op cit. p. 66. See Hromada. Prehl'ad ceskoslovenskych statnych organov (A survey of Czechoslovak State Organs), (Bratislava, 1955) , p. 26, K. Glaser, op. cit. pp. 154-178, Z. Elias and J. Netik in W. E . Griffith, op. cit. p. 197 and ff, and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 227-302. J . Netik and J. Franko Communism and Slovakia (Evaluation Report of RF E Research Unit, November 17, 1960) . Taborsky, op. cit. p. 214. See also Mikus, op. cit. pp. 226-224. Rude Pravo, Ma y 27, 1950. See also his article in Pravda, June 16, �28 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) SLOVAKIA 1963 in which he charged that the personality cult "deformed life and violated our socialist humanism". This has been admitted also by some Czech writers in the West. "The wave of outspoken criticism clearly originated in Slovakia; but it was carried on, though in somewhat muted tones, at the Prague Writers' Third Congress on May 22-24, which heard a number of frank and courageous statements, particularly from the younger "literati". Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, op. cit. p. 262. See Kulturny Zivot, April 27 and May 4, 1963. G. Husak recently published his account in Nove Slovo, June 1968, but it was known right after his release from jail. L. Holdos published his account in Smena, March 23, 1968, and both these " memoirs" describe the most revolting brutalities to which human beings were ever subject. E. Lobl published his experiences in a book Svedectvo o procese (Testimony about the Process) Bratislava, 1968. For excerpts in English see The Telegram (Toronto) July 18-19, 1968. Pravda, Bratislava, June 3, 1963. With Husak working behind the scenes, they also became later the "brain trust" of Alexander Dubcek, who was educated in the Soviet Union as an apparatchik, but retained an understanding for the human desire for freedom. See F . Vnuk, Sedemncisf neitrodnych rokov ( Seventeen Barren Years), (An outline of Slovak Literature) in 1945-62, Middletown, Pa., 1965, and I. Kruzliak, Kulturne Slovensko v rokoch 1945-1966 ( Culture in Slovakia in the years 1945-1966), Munich 1967. Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 17, 1963, articles by P. Karvas, A. Plavka, L. Mnacko, M. Chorvath and others. K. Rosenbaum, ibidem, No. 18 and J. Bzoch, No. 20. Some writers had the courage to say even before the Congresses that "the cult of personality, closely knit with dogmatism, limited and hampered creative scientific work" and that "from the field of social sciences mostly suffered historiography of the recent period". Samo Falt'an, "Hist6ria a dnesok" (History and the Present), Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 12, 1963. At the Congress of Slovak Jounalists Hysko also said that " the socialist journalist should respect directions only if they are not in conflict with the fundamental principles of socialist morality". Pravda, June 13, 1963. The significance of Hysko's speech lies in the fact that he brought into the open many Slovak grievances, in particular the treatment of Slovaks at the hands of the Czech leadership. Minac created a storm of protests also in 1968 by accusing the policy of Dr Benes as an attempt "near genocide" of the Slovak people. See Vyber, July 5, 1968, pp.9-11. Skilling, Communism national, op. cit. pp. 114116. For the text of speeches and resolutions see Kulturny zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 21, 22 (resolutions) and 23. See also K. Greiner "Wurzeln der liberalisierung Tendenzen in der Tschecho-Slowakei" . In Entwicklungen im Kommunismits (Verband der Freien Presse), Munich, 1967, pp. 123-131. �SLOVAKIA 56) 57) 58) 59) 29 Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 21. Ibidem , No. 22. Ibidem. Z. Elias and J. Netik in Wm. E. Griffith, Communism in Eiirope , op. cit. p. 157. 60) Pravda, (B ratislava) , June 13, 1963. For fuller discussion see Skilling Commiinism national ... , op. cit. pp. 122-124. 61 ) See Riide Prcivo, August 22, 1963. On the purges of Slovak " Bourgeois nationalists" see E. Fris, Plamen, no. 8, August 1964, Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, op. cit. pp. 210-215 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. 62) See Pravda , (Bratislava ), September 23 , 1963. On Siroky and his role in Slovak politics see Mikus, op. cit. p. 298. 63) See H. Kuhn, "Czechoslovakia", in D. Vollier and K. Glaser (ed.) op. cit. pp. 161-164, and K. Greiner, Zoe. cit. pp. 117--148. 64) In the respect the economist Eugen Lobl who was imprisoned with R. Slansky, led the struggle in Kulturny Zivot, H . Koctuch in Slovenske pohl'ady: see also R. Selucky in Kiilturny Zivot, (August 10, 1963, September 28, 1963, November 2, 1963) , and Hospodcirske Noviny, ( November 8 and 15, 1963), for the Czech views. 65) Several intellectuals were dealing with the ideological deformation : 0. Pavlik, M. Kusy, J . Uher, G. Husak, L. Mnacko, K. Rosenbaum , M. Hamada, and others, not only in Kiilturny Zivot, but also in Pravda (Bratislava) , PLamen, and Smena (Bratislava) . 66) The sharpest attacks on Prague's cultural policy towards Slovakia were written by the poet V. Mihalik. See Kulturny Zivot, No. 49, 1965 and No. 8, 1966. 67) Against the misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Slovak history and of the role the Slovaks played during the War see the writings of Slovak intellec tua l,: in Historicky casopis (Historical Review ) as well as Kulturny Zivot. Among the best articles were those written by S. Falt'an, K. Luptak, J . Fabian, E. Fris. See also G. Husak, Svedectvo o slovenskom ncirodnom povstani (Testimony about the Slovak National Uprising), (Bratislava, 1964). 68) See E. Lobl, "O dogmatizme v ekonomickom mysleni" ( About Dogmatism in Economic Thinking), Kulturny Zivot, Sept. 28, No.39, and Oct. 12, No. 41, 1963. Ota Sik, " Akoby nemal vyzerat' antidogmatizmus" (What anti-dogmatism should not be like ), Kiilturny Zivot, No. 44, Nov. 2, 1963, and the proposals of the economists for the perfection and planned direction of the National Economy, Rude Prcivo, Oct. 17, 1964. 69) "The Slovak poblem does exist in our country- wrote in 1964 K. Bartoska-of a complexity and urgency that we failed to realize and did not want to admit. It turns out that the economic equalization of the Czech lands and of Slovakia is not the exhaustive solution of the Slovak complex question". Plamen, No. 5, 1964. 70 ) Elias and Netik, in Griffith, op. cit. p. 275. 71 ) For fuller discussion of the years following the Congress of Writers, see Z. Elias and Netik in Griffith, op. cit. pp. 260-277. 72 ) On Bacilek and his role in the persecution of Slovak "bourgeois �30 73) 74) 75) 76) 77) 78 ) SLOVAKIA nationalists" see Taborsky, op. cit. p. 344, Griffith, op. cit. p. 176 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. See Kulturny Zivot, May-July, 1968, and Jacques Marcelle, Le Deuxieme Coup de Prague (Les Editions Vie Ouvriere, Bruxelles, 1968), pp. 183-189. "The sense of urgency which the Slovaks felt about federalism was not matched in the Czech lands" , writes Skilling, "and there was dissatisfaction in Slovakia with the slow pace of planning. There was, however, considerable difference of opinion about the distribution of authority under the proposed federal constitution, with some Slovaks arguing for a very narrow range of federal authority, including only foreign affairs, defense, and finance, and others, mainly Czechs, seeking a much stronger central authority. Even more productive of controversy was the Slovak demand for Parity of representation in the central organs, both executive and legislative, a demand which most Czechs, in spite of their readiness to adopt provisions protecting vital Slovak interests against outvoting by the Czech majority, were unwilling to accept." See Skilling, 'Czecho-Slovakia's Interrupted Revolution" , Canadian Slavonic Papers, vol. X, 4, 1968, p. 419. The historian Milos Gosiorovsky is credited with the iniciative, but Novotny refused to discuss his proposal and ordered sanctions against him. See Vyber, July 19, 1968, pp. 7-8. According to Pravda (Bratislava), February 2, 1968, he said in his first major policy statement on February 1st, 1968: "The Czechs and the Slovaks are nations both equal and able to create their own states. It is our role to strengthen and, in practice, safeguard our people's belief that the Republic open to Czechs and Slovaks additional prospects ... " On the role of Slovakia see G. Husak, "Prinos k januarovym zmenam" (Slovak contribution to the post-January changes), Vyber, December 6, 1968. In this respect namely the so-called "Two Thousand Words" manifesto deserves mention. It provoked an angry reaction in Moscow and in Warsaw at the meeting of the communist parties, on July 15, at which five communist parties sent a threatening letter to Prague. The manifesto was published by Litercirni Listy on June 27, 1968 and was conceived by the communist writer Ludvik Vaculik. 79 ) For a survey of events and documentary articles see Pierre Desgraupes and Pierre Dumayet (ed.), Prague - l'ete des tanks, "L'Histoire a la Une", (Paris, 1968) , the monthly East Europe , January-September, 1968, and Jacques Marcelle, Le Deuxieme coup de Prague, (Editions Vie Ouvriere, Bruxelles, 1968). 80 ) Skilling, Joe cit. p. 4Q9. 81) Skilling, ibid. p. 410. 82 ) See M . Lakatos, " Some Problems of Socialist Democracy ... " Prcivn y Obzor, 3, (1968). According to J. Bob they wanted "cultural, humanistic, democratic" Socialism. See Kulturny Zivot, May 24, 1968. �SLOVAKIA 31 83) Openly anti-communist views were of course not allowed. Only the past policies of the Communist Party could be freely criticised. 84 ) Rehabilitation was embodied in a law passed in June, but it referred only to those who were tried between October 1948 and July 1965. It left out thousands of victims condemned for political reasons between 1945-1948 when anti-communists were systematically eliminated from public life, jailed or executed. See Mikus, op. cit. pp. 167-68. According to Skilling the Action Programme "was a relatively moderated programme, acceptable to the conservative and moderate reformers, but not satisfying the more radical ones". Loe. cit. p. 426. 85 ) See an answer by five Slovak writers in Kulturny Zivot, June 21 , 1968. See also G. Husak "Dejinna prilezitost'" (A Historical occasion) , Pravda (Bratislava, May 9, 1968). 86) On the reaction of Slovak intellectuals to the invasion see L. Mnacko, "Die siebente Nacht - Erkenntnis und Anklage eines.Kommunisten" (The Seventh Night - Confession and Accusation of a Communist), (Verlag Fritz Molden, Wien, Miinchen, Ziirich), October 1968, and Slovak journals of September-December. On the international implications see Adam Bromke "Czechoslovakia and the World: 1968", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X, 4, pp. 581-591. On the reaction of the Government and of the Communist Parties, see Dokumenty o okupacii CSR (Documents on the occupation of Czecho-Slovakia), Bratislava 1968. 87 ) Among the contributions to the discussion on democratization and federalization worth of mentioning are: H. Koctuch "Federacia? Konfederacia? ", Kulturny Zivot, March 22, 1968, and "Buduce moznosti a mozna buducnost"', Nove slovo, June 13, 1968; Julius Strinka "Federalizacia a demokratizacia", Kulturny zivot, April 5, 1968; Prof. K. Plank, "Niekol'ko uvah o federalizacii nasho statu" , Sloboda, June 28, 1968; Dr. M. Gaspar, "Aspekty federalizacie CSR", Sloboda, June 14, 1968; and "Federalizacia - Demokracia", Vyber, July 19, 1968. 88) See Historicky casopis (Historical Review), Vol. XII, 3, 1964, and Nove slovo, September 24, 1944, as well as part one of this survey. 89) See articles and comment on this subject in Slovak v Amerike (U.S.A.), Kanadsky Slovak (Canada), cernakov Odkaz (Germany) , Slovensky stit (Australia) etc. A8 AmeTic·arn,, me111ber 8 of the Nlon.1k l,eague of America fi1'Jnl,v bel ie ,·e that the Slon.tk nation, jnst as all nahomi, has a11 i11here11t. and God-given right to freedom and i11clepencle11cc. r['hey are dedicated to the cause of the A rn eri ra n way of life, Slornk freec1om and world peace and ,ne detm·mined to oppose the plague of Comnnrnisrn and all othi-ir totahtaTian political systernR. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1969, Vol. 19 Description An account of the resource Vol. 19 (No. 42), 1969. 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 1969 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 Slovakia in the Struggle for Liberalization and Federalization of Czecho-Slovakia J. M. Kirschbaum From the very beginning- of the restoration of CzechoSlovakia in 1945, Slovakia played, directly and indirectly, an important role in the internal policy of Czecho-Slovakia and in the fate of the Stalinist regime. Not ony was this role more important than is generally recognized, but it was also of primary significance in the imposition of the communist system and, since 1962, in its liberalization. Some western experts on Eastern Europe overlooked Slovakia's influence on the course of events in this "loyal" and "most faithful satellite" , as the post-War II CzechoSlovakia was called in the West. 1 From the communist take-over in 1948 to the liberalization and federalization process in 1967-68, they dealt extensively with the changes in Prague's internal and axternal policy, but their analysis of the elements of change involved was often biased, as Prof. S. Z. Pech recently pointed out: Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to make the West familiar with the entire panorama of the polyglot region, they have in practice often been selective in the favours they bestowed on each nation. They have incorporated in their work, in modified form, the outlook and the prejudices of the nations which they "adopted". To give the most conspicuous examples, they viewed Slovak history through Czech eyes and Ukrainian history through Polish (or Russian) eyes. In so doing, they have in fact created a second-class status for certain nations. The history of the Slovaks in the West has usually been presented from the point of view of "Czechoslovakism " and has appeared as hardly more than a postscript to C:&ech history.2 It is the purpose of this survey to record and to discuss the overlooked elements and to assess the role which Slovakia and her communist elite played, first in imposing the communist system and then in forcing the Stalinist regime of Antonin Novotny to loosen the iron grip, and finally to step down and to free the way for the liberaliza. tion of the regime and the federalization of the state. When Czecho-Slovakia was restored in 1945, an auto- 4 SLOVAKIA nomous status, with extensive powers for Slovak national organs-the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners-was ensured for Slovakia. In the so-called "Kosice programme" it was stated that "the Slovaks should be the masters in their Slovak land just as the Czechs in their Czech homeland" and that the government "will regard the Slovak National Council not only as the rightful representative of the individual Slovak nation, but also as bearer of sovereign right on Slovak territory". 3 Under the constitution of 1948, the National Council as well as the Board of Commissioners was given the powers of an autonomous government, so that Slovakia enjoyed "a special position in a system which was neither federal nor autonomous, but presented a peculiar form of 'dualism'."4 Rejected by a 70 per cent majority of the popular vote in the elections of 1946, the Slovak Communists changed, however, their attitude towards the political status of Slovakia. The defeat angered and surprised the Communist leadership and led them to abandon not only original idea of an independent Slovak Republic 5 or a Slovak Soviet Republic 6 , but also the autonomous status of Slovakia ,vithin a federated Czecho-Slovakia. After the coup d'etat of 1948, the Communists eliminated not only the Slovak Democratic representatives from the National Council and all public offices, but Slovakia lost systematically what was left of her original autono mous status, which underwent several changes by the socalled Prague Agreements. And if the population, especially the Catholic majority, suffered between 1945-48 for not siding with the Communis ts, in the new situation they had to experience persecution not only for political reasons, but also for religious affiliation and non-proletarian background7 or resistance to socialization and collectivization. The "people's democracy" and all that it implied: " socialist patriotism", looking at the Soviet Union as the "patria" of Slovak Communists, "socialist realism" 8 , and the "party spirit", was introduced in Slovakia as in the rest of East Europe in an effort to transform Slovaks into a new type of "socialist" men, who "would be loyal to the existing regime, and obedient to its commands, and faithful also to the Soviet Union and world communism". 9 Life was supposed to be "directed in the spirit of Marxism-Leninism" SLOVAKIA 5 and the "scientific world outlook" and historical materialism were to replace religion and nationalism. From 1948 on, this transformation was forced upon Slovaks through brute force by the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia which left to the Communist Party of Slovakia practically no influence in the Slovak affairs. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia "after 1947 subordinated the Slovaks to increasingly centralist rule from Prague, and trod underfoot the nationalist feelings even of Slovak Communists". 10 Those who tried to defend " the gains of the Slovak uprising" or were suspected of such intentions, were, in 1950, removed from public life as "bourgeois nationalists", incarcerated (Husak, Novomesky, Okali, Rasla, etc .) or hanged (Clementis, zingor) and replaced by obedient persons of non-Slovak origin (Siroky, Bacilek) in the Party as well as in the government.11 At the same time in spite of the provisions of the Constitution of May 9, 1948, the legislative and executive powers of the Slovak National Council and of the Board of Commissioners were drastically reduced and both institutions became subordinated to the Prague government. The Board of Commissioners had first to "abide by the directives and instructions of the Cabinet" and later, in 1960, was completely abolished. The Slovak National Council could still legislate, but the Council's laws had to b e signed by the Prime Minister, who could summon, adjourn and even dissolve the Council. Since in the National Assembly and in the Prague government the Slovaks were in minority, there was nothing, not even a theoretical possibility to protect Slovakia against the rule of Prague, because the Constitution "failed to provide for any guarantee that would protect the Slovak minority against the Czech majority ... As more than three-fifths of Czechoslovak legislators came from the Czech provinces, anything could be done with the status of Slovakia, even if all the Slovak reprezentatives opposed it".12 Within a few years Czecho-Slovakia had become "a highly centralized state, and Slovak home rule reduced almost to nil. In the post-1956 climate, some gestures were made to broaden the authority of the Slovak bodies. Increasing emphasis was laid, however, on the necessity 6 SLOVAKIA of integrating Slovakia within a unified economy, and even the bare forms of Slovak autonomy were still the object of suspicion by the regime. The Constitution adopted in 1960 further weakened the position of Slovakia". 13 It was, however, the general political atmosphere, the brutality of the police, the concentration and forced labour camps, the persecution for "deviation" or religious beliefs, which characterized this period, called alternatively "period of dogmatism" , period of the "cult of personality" or period of "deformation" and "Stalinism". 14 Denouced later by L. Novomesky as "monstrous and horrible", this period "wiped out trust, confidence, understanding, yes even loyalty in the life and consciousness of thousands and thousands of people". 15 Slovak national feelings and pride were hurt in this period also by Prague's economic and cultural policy16 and by a transfer of some 400 to 500 thousand Slovaks to the Czech provinces from which the Sudeten Germans had been expelled and where the Slovaks became denationalized, being deprived of Slovak Schools and organizations. While the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, also numbering some 500,000 had schools of all categories, cultural organizations, newspapers and representation in the administration of the state, the Slovak minority in the Czech part of the country was destined for fast denationalization. The economic measures of N ovotny's government hurt Slovaks even more. Slovakia was industrialized mostly by old machinery, transferred from the Sudeten German areas, or large factories lacking raw materials in Slovakia, to serve rather Soviet and Czech, than Slovak needs. From 1960 on, industry was unable to compete or to meet required levels of production. As a result, Slovakia suffered by the lowering of standards, and Slovaks were hurt by the admonitions and reproaches of Prague, particularly after Novotny's regime had curtailed the power of the Slovak administrative organs and had concentrated the administration of Slovakia in Prague and in Czech hands . Thus the years after the coup d'etat present a story of drastic changes in forms and institutions as well as in their practical working. The actual situation was in flagrant contradiction with the promises of the Slovak Communist Party of the autonomous status proposed for SLOVAKIA 7 Slovakia. It is also a story of the mutual mistrust between the Czechs and Slovaks and the resulting clashes of which the outside world learned very little. In their subservience to Moscow and in their desire to imitate, if not surpass, Stalin's methods and general policy, the Communist leaders in Prague went further than any other satellite. "The system of terror was no less severe than in Albania, Hungary and Bulgaria, and in some respects went even further than these classic practitioners of this art". " Even during the critical months of 1956, Czechoslovakia had remained a model of Stalinist orthodoxy and exhibited none of the "fever" which had infected other satellites, notably the closest neighbours north and south. From the Communist point of view, Czechoslovakia was a most faithful associate of the Soviet Union, showing no evidence of dangerous dissatisfaction or domestic instability, and giving her full support to the Moscow Gospel as interpreted by Krushchev" . "In fact in the year which followed the XXII Congress in October 1961, Czechoslovakia, unlike some of its neighbours, was hardly influenced at all by the new spirit of Moscow, and showed no signs of relaxing its strongly Stalinist course. Paradoxically, this country, almost unique in its devotion and subservience to Moscow, was increasingly out of step with Krushchev's polic)' of de-Stalinization. "Orthodoxy" seemed to envolve into " heterodoxy" . "17 With regard to Slovakia the Prague Government used their power "to sweep away from the history of Slovak culture an entire past", according to Novomesky, and brought "a terrible curse on the life of the country." 18 This treatment of Slovakia could not, of course, influence the Slovaks for Czecho-Slovakia or Communism. On the contrary, even "the slight concessions of 1956-1958 were bound to leave the Slovaks unimpressed and could in no way detract from Slovak bitterness toward the treatment to which they had been exposed ever since the KSc (Communist Party of Czechoslovakia) leaders abandoned their calculative support of Slovak autonomism in 1946."19 This did not remain unnoticed by the Government and its press which deplored the "lack of confidence and the suspicion of fear" between the Czechs and the Slovaks, but laid blame on "the neglect of Leninist principles," 28 and on Slovak "bourgeois nationalistic tendencies". These tendencies according to complaints made by the Slovak Party's First Secretary, Karel Bacilek, at the session of the Central Committee in January 1958, have penetrated 8 SLOVAKIA "various fields of our cultural, political and scientific life; sports; the state apparatus; economic organs; and so on". 21 Slovaks could not be gained for the regime even by retrospective attacks on "Czecho-Slovakism", the concept that the Slovaks and the Czechs were ethnically, linguistically and culturally one nation, which had alienated the Slovaks to Masaryk's republic, and which Vaclav Kopecky, speaking on behalf of the KSC's Czech hierarchy, called in 1958 "an imperialist conception of national oppression of the Slovaks " 22 Since the Slovaks felt even more oppressed, more humiliated and exploited under the Communist regime than by the "bourgeois" regimes of 1918-1938, !5uch proclamations could not change the feelings of Slovaks and their attitude towards Prague. From 1948, and for a great part of Slovak population from 1946, Prague hurt even the pride of the Slovak Communists too deeply to be able to heal the wounds by condemning "Czechoslovakism" of the pre-War years. There was no comparison with the treatment which Slovaks received from Prague between the Wars and from the Communist rule after 1946. And Slovak nationalism, 23 which is a force rarely understood or interpreted properly by Western Scholars, was stronger after the War than at any time before, because the leftist elements also wanted Slovakia governed by Slovaks.24 Already before the Second World War nationalism was a force among Slovaks "directed against any authority residing outside Slovakia". 25 The period of the Slovak republic (1939-1945) and the uprising of 1944 undoubtedly st.renghtened the aversion against any foreign domination of Slovakia. All the restrictions of the powers of Slovak national organs, the trials of the leaders of the uprising as "bourgeois nationalists" and harsh economic centralization by the Prague Communist regime could not but create strong feeling of oppressinn and compromised relations between the Czechs and Slovaks. By 1958 the relations between the Czechs and Slovaks deteriorated to such a degree that even according to E. Taborsky a close collaborator of Dr. E. Benes, " while such declaration as above might have flattered the Slovaks in 1945, they fell on deaf ears in 1958. Nor could the communist leaders derive much comfort from the "improvement" in the Slovak class SLOVAKIA 9 structure resulting from the communist industrialization and collectivization drive. By building up Slovakia's backwoods areas, the regime has unwittingly prodded the Slovaks' pride and self-confidence, and thus helped to underpin the same Slovak nationalism it has been trying so hard to blot out. Having acquired the know-how and the ability to run the system themselves, the Slovaks Communists and non-communists alike-resent being ordered around by their elder Czech brethren." 26 This rule of party dictatorship and police terror is normally divided into two periods: in a period of strict Stalinist form of rule which in Czecho-Slovakia lasted until 1956 and a period of slow detachment from the Stalinist system, during which a lip service was paid to de-Stalinization, and lasted until 1963. There are many explanations as to why there was a lack of de-Stalinization in Czecho-Slovakia after the XXth and especially after the XXII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Krushchev's denunciation of Stalin and his rule. The Czech and Slovak press dealt from 1963 extensively with this problem and so did some foreign scholars. 27 There is, however, no unanimous explanation, as there is no unanimity in the designation of this period or in definitions of this particular labels, of which the label of "cult of personality" was used more generally than the others. 28 But there is no doubt that the first to attack the social and political aspects of this period and to call for changes were the Slovak Communist intellectuals. "Slovaks inspired by their memorable uprising of 1944 have taken the lead in the process of modernization of the regime, while the Czechs have, until recently, been more cautious or more lethargic." 29 '' The attacks and criticism of Slovak intellectuals were directed mainly against Antonin Novotny who succeeded Klement Gottwald as Secretary General of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia in 1953, and Antonin Zapotocky as President of the Republic in 1957. For ten years his iron grip on the Party and on the State did not allow to modify the totalitarian Stalinist features of the regime, and during his rule by "brute force" were liquidated or imprisoned Slovak Communist leaders, accused of " bourgeois nationalism" and tried in 1954. According to Communist sources, 30 the period of the cult of personality ended in 1953, but due to Novotny's repressive methods, use of police terror, and his brutal struggle against Slovak bourgeois nationalism, the cult of personality in the view SLOVAKIA of Slovak intellectuals existed from 1949 to 1962.31 Only in the spring of 1963 serious efforts at de-Stalinization marked the political life in Czecho-Slovakia. Western specialists in Eastern Europe offered several answers to the question why the Stalinist regime survived for so many years, but their views do not seem to give a satisfactory explanation. The purge of the potential leader, Clementis, and the bogey of Slovak nationalism which hounded the Czech leadership of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia, as it did the democratic leaders before the second World War, are only partial explanations. The brutal Soviet repression of the Hungarian revolution and the fear of Germany, which is greater among Czech than in any other nation of Central Europe, may be other explanations, but on the whole, these reasons cannot explain why a country with old democratic traditions, with western culture, with a previously high standard of living, praised in the whole world, did not follow the example of Poland and Hungary, except in smallscale disturbances of workers in Pilsen in 1953, the demonstration of Slovak students, which also spread to Prague, 32 and the writers' protest of 1956.33 Nor the fact that the West did not help the East European countries, including Czecho-Slovakia, by a more moderate course in East-West relations can be even less responsible for the Czech obstinacy to de-Stalinize. It was doubtful then-and today it is certain-that any co-operation in Europe between West and East going beyond what has been done, would have "strengthened the ability of the East European states to follow a more independent course".34 The explanation that the Czech communist leaders "had long and open experience in politics prior to the accession to power and perhaps this fact accounts for their unity and their ability to survive"35 and continue to hold the Stalinist grip on the country, is also only partially satisfactory. In the Slansky's purge of 1952 were eliminated the representatives of a rigid Stalinism and not the revisionists, and as a result the new leaders could start a new course after Stalin's death, but they were apparently afraid to de-Stalinize without incriminating themselves. We can find the answer to the question of Stalinism SLOVAKIA 11 in Czecho-Slovakia in the interplay of all these phenomena, but mainly in the fact, that "the completeness of Stalinist terror had brought about a situation where there was no one capable of giving leadership of a new anti-Stalinist course after 1956"36 and in the "realism" and in the "Good Soldier Schweik's" mentality of the Czech ruling majority of the population. Except for the small scale disturbances of workers in Pilsen, who were irked by the economic difficulties rather than by political oppression, and the students' demonstration in Bratislava and Prague, there was no sign of dissatifaction or open opposition among the Czech intellectuals or large masses.37 A a result the leaders of the Czechoslovak Communist Party were in no mood to depart from the Stalinist position, and the Soviet repression of the Hungarian revolution rather strengthened their belief that it was not necessary to modify their regime. The Czech and Slovak communist leaders "associated themselves with the Soviet verbal onslaught on Stalin, hoping, no doubt, that they might avoid necessity of taking genuine steps to modify their own Stalinism", 38 even later at the time of the clash between Moscow and Bucharest in 1961. The leaders of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia remained equally unnerved by the Sino-Soviet conflict and the idea of polycentricism. They saw in polycentricism a danger to internationalism of the Communist movement and considered the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as the "only center".39 Slovakia in the Struggle of de-Stalinization40 It is important to indicate at the outset, that after the execution of Clementis and the purges of 1954,41 the Communist leaders in Slovakia were handpicked by Prague, that they were neither intellectuals, nor theoreticians, and that some of them, like Siroky and Bacilek were even lacking in Slovak background. They were the hard-line " apparatchiks" of the Gottwald school and as such, unable to take a new course or to take part in the de-Stalinization process. Furthermore, "unlike their Czech comrades, the Slovaks have had no right to determine the fundamental lines of Party policy and, tactics, not even for Slovakia, or to adopt Party programs". 42 After the "Stalinist democratic centralism" was imposed upon Slovakia in 1948, decentral- 12 SLOVAKIA ization was replaced by the "centralizing tendencies, justified officially as being necessary for the successful construction of socialism. This centralization continued throughout the whole Stalinist era and was carried over into post-Stalin days. 43 "The statutory inferiority of the Slovak Party organs was amply corroborated by actual developments". 44 In addition, the Communists were very weak in membership in Slovakia in comparison with Bohemia-Moravia. Of the 2,311,966 members and candidates of the KSc in 1949 only 236,432 were from Slovakia, i.e. slightly over 10 percent, although more than one-quarter of Czecho-Slovakia's population lived in that area. Also, the Party's appeal to the youth was far less effective in Slovakia than in the rest of the country. While the over-all percentages of Party members below twenty-five years of age in 1949 was 14.5, the corresponding figure for Slovakia was only 9.7.45 Notwithstanding all these factors, it was in Slovakia where the open struggle for de-Stalinization began in April 1963,46 The interplay of political, psychological and economic reasons had made the Slovak communist intellectuals, mostly journalists and writers, bitter and they started to assail the Stalinist regime of Antonin Novotny on all three fronts: political, ideological and economic. The Slovaks were also irked by the fact that the resolutions of the XII Congress of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia, held in December 1962 spoke of the rehabilitation of the Communists who were sentenced between 1949-1953 , and disregarded the purges of Slovak "bourgeois nationalists", tried in 1954. The first outburst of open opposition took place at the Congress of Slovak Wr iters, held on April 21-22 in Bratislava, and a month later at the Congress of Slovak Journalists, also in Bratis1 ava, on May 27-28. While at the Congress of Slovak Writers, Karol Rosenbaum spoke of "inhuman methods" during the period of the "personality cult" and about forces sufficiently strong to prevent a return of the terror of that period,47 at the Congress of Slovak Journalists, M. Hysko, professor at the Slovak school of journalism, led the attack against the slowness of de-Stalinization by Novotny's government. Despite Novotny's warnings and personal attacks on Hysko and R. LIBRARY SLOVAKIA 13 Kalisky a month later, these two Congresses unleashed forces which put the life Jf the country on the tracks of de-Stalinization and liberalization. There had been mounting dissatisfaction in Slovakia since the Congress of Slovak Writers in 1956 among the writers and journalists, who remained, after the imprisonment of the political leaders accused of "bourgeois nationalism", the only spokesmen for the Slovak people. In 1963 the spark for the open criticism of Novotny's regime and insistence on reforms was given by the return from jail of the "bourgeois nationalists". Their accounts 48 of brutality shook the conscience of Slovak writers and journalists, and they were shaken more than anyone else because some of them had contributed to the consideration of Husak and Novomesky, while others had praised the regime and its iron grip and were mute about brutality and persecution of innocent people in all walks of life. As Hysko said at the Congress of Slovak journalists, they also were partly guilty because they presented the innocent comrades as " criminals". 49 They now wanted to repair the damage done and from L. Mflacko, who became well-known abroad, to M. Hysko, V. Mihalik, V. Minac, Kalisky and others, the intellectuals denounced the Stalinist regime and its brutality and asked for reforms. 50 The Congress of Slovak Writers and the Congress of Slovak Journalists became more than mere meetings to discuss literary and cultural problems. As we see it now and as it was considered by many in 1963, it was the beginning of a serious effort to change the ruling system, to clear the atmosphere of the suffocating fear of oppression and to correct injustices and crime of the period of the cult of personality. Slovak writers and journalists played again the role of the "conscience of the nation" which the Stalinist terror not only silenced for many years but had found in some writers eager collaborators. 51 The editorials in Kulturny zivot before th6 Congress were entitled "Literature in the struggle for truth", 52 and the participants proved that they meant to have it thus. After the Congresses furthermore, they asked for "a clean table" and stated that "everything is not in order". 53 Slovak writers spoke in the same fighting spirit against the terror and for a "cult of truth" instead of a cult of 1 14 SLOVAKIA personality also at the Congress of the Union of Czechoslovak Writers, held in Prague on May 22-24 of the same year. The words fear, falsification of facts, abuse of confidence were repeated time and again. Noteworthy were especially the outspoken speeches by the poets Vojtech Mihalik and Laco Novomesky, the dramatist Peter Karvas and the courageous writer V. Minac,54 the essayist M. Chorvat, Zora Jesenska and others. The Congress "revealed that the mood of discontent was not confined to Slovak writers only, but included their Czech colleagues. Almost without exception, the participants were critical in the extreme, not only of the worst evils prevailing in the cult period, but also of their continuance right down to the present. Speaker after speaker gave vent to the general public outrage at the horrors of the cult and the failure of the party to eliminate them since 1956, and spoke in individual ethical terms which had little to do with partymindedness. Truth and freedom were words frequently invoked". 55 The poet V. Mihalik spoke again about the duty of writers to be the "conscience of the nation" and bitterly critized the period of the cult of personality. 56 L. Mnacko, whose series "Belated Reports", well known for their exposure of the terror and injustices, began to appear in Kulturny zivot, spoke of the "mousetrap" and the "unrosy economic, political and moral situation of the country". 57 L. Novomesky whose contribution to the discussion was published under the heading "With comrade reason" and the contributions by Zora Jesenska and P. Karvas ("About one source of dogmatism") 58 completed the picture of dissatifaction with the past and present, insisting on the necessity of change and reforms. These congresses, as we now see launched CzechoSlovakia upon a new course, with consequences impredictable at that time. If until the early 1960's the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia could have served as a laboratory speciment of die hard dogmatism and appeared practically untouched by the winds of change stirring in the international Communist movement59 after these meetings it was not true any longer. The leaders of the Communist Party realized it and made some further steps in the direction of de-Stalinization SLOVAKIA 15 but without serious efforts to change the nature of their totalitarian system. Novotny only reluctantly admitted that the cult of personality harmed the country and had such disastrous effects as claimed by the critics. He tried to put the blame on the purged Stalinist R. Shinsky or argued that many changes had already been made to conform with the resolutions of the XII Congress of the Party. In an angry speech in Slovak town of Kosice, on June 12, 1963, he rejected the accusations contained in the speeches of M. Hysko and Roman Kalisky, and categorically proclaimed that the Communist Party would not allow the Slovak newspaper Pravda to become "a tribune of attacks against the leadership of the Party". 60 Slovak Communist intellectuals, however, were not frightened by Novotny's threats and warnings. Throughout 1963 Novotny was subjected to vocal criticism for his failure to break the hold of Stalinism on national life, to rehabilitate publicly those who had suffered most in the era of repression, and to punish those who had borne the main burden of responsibility in that era. Most vehemently did the Slovak writers call for greater freedom in their national life, and for the erasing of the charges of "bourgeois nationalism" on which the purge of leading Slovak personalities had been based. They continued, especially in the organ of the Union of Slovak Writers, Kulturny zivot, to insist on the necessity of reforms and asked for a fair deal for Slovakia. In August they obtained full rehabilitation61 of the Slovak "bourgeois nationalists" whom the XII Congress of the Party in November 1962 had bypassed. In September, they scored another success in the removal of V. siroky62 from the Government as well as from his position in the Party and in the National Assembly. These concessions did not satisfy, however, the awakened conscience of Slovak Communist intellectuals63 and during the months to come they assailed the regime mercilessly, especially in Kulturny zivot. Novotny retaliated by forcing to resign in June 1964 the editor in chief of Kulturny zivot, Paul stevcek, and Roman Kalisky, member of the editorial board, who had fearlessly attacked 16 SLOVAKIA a year before the economic policy of N ovotny's regime in Slovakia. Instead of frightening the intellectuals, these measures added new fuel to the fire of their dissatisfaction. Slovak writers, journalists and economists began to point out the deformations of "socialist legality and morality" and the acts of discrimination against Slovaks in all field of public life. They asked for the revision of the Constitution of July 1960, which formally abolished the limited autonomy of Slovakia granted to Slovaks between 1945 and 1948. Furthermore, they asked for economic reforms, 64 for the re definition of certain principles of socialist ideology,65 for a new cultural policy66 and for the revaluation of the role of the Slovak uprising,67 which was ridiculed and degraded by Novotny's regime and some Czech writers during the imprisonment of the leaders of the uprising-Husak, Novomesky, Okali and others. The regime yielded in some fields, especially in cultural policy and new Minister, C. Cisar, allowed a degree of liberalization and restored some autonomy to universities. The economists could also quite freely discuss their plans from August to November, 1963, and their criticism and proposals were published,68 Novotny's position and Moscow's support for his regime seemed for some time to be in jeopardy. The struggle was, however, far from won. Novotny was re-elected not only as President of the Republic but, at the XIIIth Party Congress of 1966, also as First Secretary. And he was not only unable but also unwilling to proceed with basic reforms or to quiet down the antagonism between the Slovaks and Czechs which had erupted in 1963 and increased in intensity in the Slovak press and in Party meetings with every year. In fact , Novotny fought against the unrest in the minds of Slovaks, and was reluctant to grant any significant concessions. Some Czechs realized, however, that the problem existed and should be solved.69 Under fire by Slovaks, among whom the rehabilitated G. Husak and the Soviet educated Alexander Dubcek gained more and more influence, by the "revisionists" and "pragmatists", all of whom tried to humanize and reform the Party and government, Novotny tried at last to give a new image to Czecho-Slova- SLOVAKIA 17 kia at home and especially in Western Europe. More personal freedom, including a limited religious freedom, was granted and some economic reforms were introduced. "Most important, the Communist Party, having largely abandoned its dogmatic positions, was no longer the allseeing, all-powerful, unquestioned authority that it once had been. " 70 Furthermore, the writers and journalists were soon joined in their opposition and outspoken criticism of the regime not only by the youth, which increasingly posed a serious problem to the government, but also by the workers and other segments of the population. People were no longer afraid to criticize and opposition was growing. Novotny and his Party apparatus tried to control the winds of change, but it was a hopeless struggle. William Siroky was replaced by the Moscow educated Jozef Lenart, former Secretary General of the Slovak Communist Party, who was not involved in the purges as were Bast'ovansky and Bacflek. 71 Novotny could not control these developments. Too many people suddenly realized that both a change of course and of people in leading functions was inevitable. The struggle for liberalization and federalization By 1967 the internal situation in the country and in the Party had matured to the point that it was possible to remove Novotny from his omnipotent position of First Secretary of the Party and on March 22, 1968 also from ,the Presidency of the country. The masterful co-operation of the factions which had called for reforms on both the Slovak and Czech side, resulted in the "impossible" becoming a fact, and Alexander Dubcek, at the age of 47, assumed the office of the First Secretary and launched the country upon the course of liberalization which surprised the whole world. While intellectuals in the Czech provinces centered their attention mostly on economic and ideological problems (the contribution by E . Lobl or E . Goldstticker, both from Slovakia, should not, however, be underestimated) , in Slovakia political leaders and intellectuals were deeply involved in the problem of humanization of the system 18 SLOVAKIA and the restoration to Slovakia of at least a part of the autonomy which she had enjoyed before 1948. With the political rehabilitation of the "bourgeois nationalists" and the amnesty granted to the military leaders of the 1944 uprising, the status of Slovakia and the "gains of the uprising" were once again the goals to be achieved. 72 Early in 1968 Slovak communist intellectuals were for a while involved in a discussion as to whether priority should be given to liberalization or to federalization, 73 but the controversy ended with the consensus that one does not exclude the other and that both aims should be pursued. A certain reluctance on the side of the Czechs towards federalization,74 nevertheless, led the Slovaks to put stress on the federalization. There also were still alive reminiscences on the "First Czechoslovak republic" when Slovakia suffered discrimination and exploitation inspite of the fact that the Prague governments were known as "the only true democracy in Central Europe between the Wars" . Furthermore, the manner in which all the agreements and declarations guaranteeing an autonomous status for Slovakia after 1945 were forgotten and disregarded, forced the Slovak leaders to put the emphasis on the necessity of constitutional reforms. In fact , Slovaks submitted a plan for a federalization of the Republic in 1963,75 and Alexander Dubcek, after assuming the leadership of the Party and starting the liberalization process, put the Slovak demands for an equal status with the Czechs high on the agenda of his reforms.76 Federalization was in the eyes of Slovak communist leaders, who were attacking Novotny's regime since 1956, and without reserve since 1963, an essential part of the demo cratization process which, on the other hand, was the prerequisite for liberalization. Only by the transformation of the political structure of the state could Slovaks achieve a position of full equality and control of further development of the situation in the right direction. The impression, created in the West by reports from Prague or by some Western analysts of the developments of the situations in Czecho-Slovakia, that the movement for giving communism "a human face" was an expression of the Czech "hussite traditions" and therefore a Czech and not a Slovak affair, is devoid of any serious foundation. SLOVAKIA 19 Alexander Dubcek, the young Slovak leader of the liberalization movement who spent his formative years in the Soviet Union, hardly knew anything about the "hussite traditions" when he made his first major speech on February 1st, 1968 in which he promised "the development of socialist democracy" in the Party and the state. Nor did Edward Goldstticker, born and educated in Slovakia, who became elected the chairman of the Czechoslovak Writers Union and insisted that a way must be found how to reconcile individual freedom with the communist system, have any connection in his background with the "hussite traditions". 77 A group of Czech intellectuals, especially the youth of Prague, became undoubtedly more vociferous than Slovaks when the movement was launched. 78 It looked at times as if they had desired to make up for years of servile obedience to Novotny's regime. Czechs also were more provocative in their behaviour when the Soviet Union and her satellites condemned the movement after a meeting in Warsaw and as a result they contributed or gave more pretexts than the Slovaks to the final Soviet step which killed the liberalization movement. Objectively, both Slovaks and Czechs desired the changes. Slovaks more than Czechs because they suffered more-communists and non-communists alike-under the Novotny's regime. Slovaks therefore started the opposition and Slovakia gave to the struggle for the "human face of communism" not only the leader, Alexander Dubcek, but also it became the place of two historic conferences: on July 1st at cierna nad Tisou and on August 3rd, in Bratislava. 79 The liberalization process was largely publicized in the West. A survey of the Czech and Slovak press and of statements of the leaders of the movement would indicate, however, that the aims and goals of the liberalization were often magnified and misinterpreted by some Western analysts. To what extent such behaviour of the West contributed to the final decision of Moscow to go with the tanks against the wind of freedom, is of course a matter of conjecture. Skilling correctly assessed the aims of this "interrupted revolution": 20 SLOVAKIA In some respects, the reforms planned in Prague were more modest than analogous efforts in other communist countries. There was not. at least at the outset, a rejection of Soviet domination, as in the case of Yugoslavia, and other later revolts against Moscow ; nor were major changes in foreign orientation envisaged, as in the case of Rumania and others. There was to be no sharp break in relations with the communist camp, and no defection from Comecon or the Warsaw Pact. Nor was there an immediate and spontaneous rejection of collectivization, as in Hungary and Poland, or a radical reconstruction of the economy, such as followed the initial break by Yugoslavia.so It was only in the political realm that "the changes envisaged, and in part introduced were more drastic and more rapid than anything attempted elsewhere, and aimed at nothing less than a "socialist democracy".81 The leaders of the movement firmly indicated that it was the Communist party which should remain in power and rule, if possible, alone. Some intellectuals speculated about a representation of other parties or groups,82 but the leaders in power did not intend to introduce democracy on the basis of a multi-party system. They spoke and wrote about "socialist democracy" with freedom of expression,83 abolition of terror, abolition of censorship and more independence for state organs on the politburo. They also wanted more freedom of discussion in the Parliament, but without any opposition parties, it was particularly freedom only for the communist members of the Parliament, because the number of deputies of the National Front parties is negligible. All these reforms were basically contained in the Action Program of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, approved by the Central Committee on April 5, 1968. The Program confirmed the charges that have taken place since January 1968 and-what the population accepted with great acclaim-it promised legal and political guarantees of the personal and political rights of all citizens. There also was a promis of rehabilitation of those innocently jailed and persecuted and a pledge of constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly and association. 84 Still more significant than the official statement and programs were the views of writers freely expressed in journals like Kulturny zivot or Nove slovo which, after it had been banned when Husak was condemned as bourgeois nationalist, began to appear again. The writers asked for SLOVAKIA 21 much more than the political leaders promised, and in hundreds of articles or answers to the question "what could be done to accelerate the process of democratization"85 they created an atmosphere that gave to the population the feeling of freedom and of big hopes for the future. At the same time they irritated, however, Moscow and her satellites. After the treatening letter from Warsaw not only Moscow but also the other communist countries reacted with increasing pressure. Dubcek, supported by the majority of the population, resisted the pressure and it seemed that after the Conference at cierna nad Tisou on July 14, and especially after the meeting of the representatives of all 5 communist countries in Bratislava on August 3rd, the differences were settled and the danger of an intervention avoided. Czechs and Slovaks were still engaged in a free discussion of the necessity of reforms86 and planned the congresses of both the Czechoslovak and Slovak Communist Parties, when during the night of August 20, the country was brutally invaded by the forces of the Warsaw Pact and the liberalization and democratization process was dramatically brought to an end.87 The planned reforms, the atmosphere of freedom, the abolition of censorship and terror, even if the Communist party was to remain in power, was unacceptable for Moscow. All this represented dangerous ideological innovations and seemed to be too contagious to be tolerated by the leaders of the Kremlin and the autocratic rulers in Warsaw, Budapest and East Germany. As it later appeared from Moscow's explanation of the invasion, Hitler's "Lebensraum doctrine" was replaced by Brezhnev's doctrine of the right of the Soviet Union to intervene in the socialist countries and to impose the Soviet system and social order on the lands within the Soviet zone of influence. While the liberalization process was aborted by the invasion, the federalization process was not basically affected. For some time it seemed that Moscow could convince G. Husak, who became leader of the Slovak Communist Party, to accept another solution: an "independent" Slovak Socialist Republic or a Slovak Soviet Republic within the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. This 22 SLOVAKIA solution of the 50 years old dispute over the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs was considered even in the West as highly probable, because both a Soviet socialist republic and an independent Slovak State were the aim of the Slovak uprising of 1944, in its original stage.BB The reaction to the invasion was, however, of such intensity and the feelings against Moscow were so strong, that neither Husak nor anybody else was ready to lead the Slovaks out of Czecho-Slovakia at this time. Husak accepted the function of the head of a commission in charge of preparing the transformation of Czecho-Slovakia into a confederation of two republics, the Czech and the Slovak Socialist Republic and he used all his perseverance and ability to this end. The constitutional law, transforming the centralist state ruled by the Czechs, was adopted by the Assembly on October 27, 1968, as Law No. 143. It was signed and solemnly proclaimed on October 30, at the Bratislava Castle in Slovakia, with the provision that it will take effect on January 1st, 1969. At the signing ceremonies the President of the Republic, Ludvik Svoboda, termed federalization a progressive and historic act that would improme the social order and welfare of both Czechs and Slovaks. Alexander Dubcek, the First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, and G. Husak, the Secretary of the Slovak Communist Party, spoke of federalization as strengthening the unity of the state and creating a basis for better future relations between the Czechs and Slovaks. Slovaks, especially Slovak youth of Bratislava, cheered outside the Bratislava Castle when the law was signed, even though its contents were not known in detail and the reminiscences of a similar law adopted in 1938 and its subsequent violation by Prague 6 months later, were not forgotten by the Slovak people. The fear of a possible inclusion of Slovakia into the Soviet Union, if Slovakia completely separated from the Czechs, compels apparently even many of those Slovaks who do not believe that the Czechs would honor the new agreements, to accept federalization as a solution to the Slovak problem in the present international situation. The constitutional law signed in Bratislava, establishes SLOVAKIA 23 the basic federal structure, leaving specific prov1s10ns about the rights and responsibilities of the federal organs to another law which was passed by the National Assembly in November. Basically, the constitutional changes solve the problem of the existence of two nations-the Czech and the Slovak-by setting up a federal National Assembly consisting of an Assembly of the People, elected on the basis of proportional representation, and an Assembly of Nations, in which Czechs and Slovaks will have equal representation. In this respect the Soviet constitution seemed to be the model while in other respects the federal structure of Czecho-Slovakia is similar to the structure of European and American constitutions. Law No. 143 reserves to the federal domain responsibilities for foreign policy, defense and curency and the areas of culture and education are reserved to the domain of the member-states to the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic. Both republics have equal status according to this Law and the sovereignty of both "national states" should be respected. However, this "sovereignty" is limited by the articles 7 to 28 of the Law to such an extent, that we can hardly compare the new Czecho-Slovakia with Switzerland or the Canadian Federation. Even less can the federal structure of Czecho-Slovakia be compared with Austria-Hungary after the Ausgleich of 1867, which historically and politically is the closest example. However, one of the interesting features of this constitutional reform is the provision of Law No. 143 about the "right of self-determination" which gives the Slovaks the right to secession. The political autonomy which the "Law on the Federation" provides for Slovakia is, on the other hand, limited by the fact that the Communist Party was not reorganized to reflect the federal structure of the State. As a result the political power remains concentrated in, and the most important decisions will be taken in Prague by bodies composed of a majority of Czech members. Since many Czechs accepted only reluctantly the federalization of the Republic, difficulties and dissensions are to be expected. For the second time in three decades the Slovak struggle for national rig·hts within a federalized Czecho-Slovakia was fought in the middle of an international crisis: in 1938 in the Munich crisis and in 1968 under the Soviet occupa- 24 SLOVAKIA tion. It remains to be seen whether Prague learned the lesson this time or whether there will be an aftermath as in 1939. Slovaks in the free world accepted the federalization with distrust and misgivings and did not ease to advocate the right of the Slovak people for an independent, democratic Slovak Republic. 89 Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum is former university professor and author of several books and studies on Slovakia in English and other languages. 1) See H. G. Skilling, Communism National and International (Toronto, 1964), pp. 86-95, and William E. Griffith, Communism in Europe ( Cambridge, Mass., 1966), II, pp. 257-65. 2) S. Z. Pech, "New Avenues in Eastern European History", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X, 1 ( 1968), 14-15. See also W. F . Griffith, "Myth and Reality in Czechoslovak History", Eastern European History, II, 3, 84. 3) See Wm. Diamond, Czechoslovakia Between East And West (London, 1947), p. 50 and Stefan Glejdura, Los Grandes Problemas Del Este Europeo: Eslovaquia (Madrid, 1968) , pp. 29-32. Slovak communists were supported in obtaining this especially by Gottwald, who proclaimed the agreement to the " Magna Charta of the Slovak Nation". See Griffith, Communism in Europe, pp. 183-93. 4 ) See Skilling, " The Czechoslovak Constitutional System: The Soviet Impact," Political Science Quarterly, LXVII, 2 (1952); Griffith , Communism in Europe, pp. 135 ff., and K. Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia: A Critical History ( Caldwell, Id., 1960), pp. 87-139. 5) G. Husak, one of the main leaders, declared at the beginning of the uprising: "It must be said openly that our people would welcome with enthusiasm the removal of frontiers and customs between us and the other Slav nations, especially between Slovaks and Russians," Nove Slovo, September 24, 1944. See also S. Falt'an, Historicky casopis, 4 (1966), 589. L. Novomesky, who was sent during the uprising from Slovakia to London, did not "conceal his doubts as to whether it was wise for Slovakia to remain within the small Czechoslovakia when it could join the great Soviet Union," J. Korbel, The Communist Subversion of Czechoslovakia, 1938-1948 (Princeton, 1959 ), p. 72. See also Griffith, Communism in Europe, pp. 179-85 and Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakia: A Political History 19181930 (Milwaukee, Wis., 1963) pp. 185-90. 6) Jozef Jablonicky, "Slovenske narodne povstanie - nova faza v rieseni vzt'ahov medzi cechmi a Slovakmi" (Slovak National Uprising: A New Phase in the Solution of the Relations between the Czechs and Slovaks) , Historicky casopis, XII, 3 (1964), 236. See also J . Korbel, The Communist Subversion, pp. 32, 68-72, and S. Falt'an, Historicky casopis, XII, 140, 2, 161-84. 7) For details on the religious situation in Slovakia after 1945 see SLOVAKIA 8) 9) 10 ) 11 ) 12) 25 T. G. Zubek, The Church of Silence in Slovakia (Whiting, Indiana, 1956); Stefan Nahalka, La Slovacchia d'Oggi (Rome, 1957); Joseph Pauco, Christian Slovakia (Valparaiso, Ind. , 1959) ; J . A. Mikus, op. cit. p. 164-185 and P. Hnilica, S. J., "The Church under Totalitarian Rule" in Collier and Glaser (ed.), Elements of Change in Eastern Europe, (Chicago, 1968), pp. 136-149. See Kirschbaum, "Slovak Literature under the Soviet Impact", Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. 1, no. 1, and Imrich Kruzliak, Kulturne Slovensko v rokoch 1945-1966 (Culture in Slovakia in the years 1945-66), (Munich, 1967). Skilling, The Governments of Communist East Europe, op. cit., p. 202, and "People's Democracy, The Proletarian Dictatorship and the Czechoslovak Path to Socialism", The American Slavic and East European Review, X, 2 (April 1951) , 100-16. Skilling, Commimism national . .. , op. cit. , p. 88. The Communist Party of Slovakia was founded in May 1939 as an illegal party and was. recognized as an independent party by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, as well as by the leaders of the Czech Communist Party in Moscow. It maintained its independence until 1948. For more details see Z. Elias and J. Netik "Czechoslovakia" in W. E. Griffith Communism in Europe, (Cambridge, Mass., 1966) 2. volume pp. 174-186 and Bohuslav Graca "Komunisticka strana Slovenska" (The Communist Party of Slovakia), Nova Mysl, No. 5, May 1961. Even in the party the Slovaks were poorly represented at the center, with their chief spokesman the Prime Minister, Siroky, and the Slovak party chief, Bacilek, both only partly Slovak in origin. Pavol David was the only undisputed Slovak in the party command. Skilling, Communism National, op. cit. p. 94 ; See also Griffith, op. cit. pp. 210-215 and Miku~, op. cit., pp. 291-302. Taborsky, op cit. p. 336 and H. G. Skilling, "The Czechoslovak Constitution of 1960 and the transition to Communism", Journal of Politics, XXIV, 1, 1962, pp. 156-59. See also Edward Kucera, K nekterym otazkam autonomie a postaveni Slovenska v ramci ceskoslovenske Republiky (About Some Questions of Autonomy 13) 14) 15) 16) and the Position of Slovakia within the Framework of the Czechoslovak Republic) , (Prague, 1954). Jan Moura! Slovenske narodni organy (Slovak National Organs), (Prague, 1958) and Collection of Laws of the Slov ak National Council, (Bratislava, 1954) . Skilling, The Governments of Commimist East E urope, op. cit. p. 156 and Taborsky op. cit. pp. 338-240, and Griffith, op. cit. p. 235 and off. Several Slovak Communist intellectuals made attempts at definitions of this period. See Kulturny Zivot, April 27, 1963-Proceedings of the Congress of the Slovak Writers. After the execution of V. Clementis, Slovaks were withdrawn from practically all diplomatic posts abroad (out of 97 ambassadors only 5 were Slovaks) and writers, who served as cultural attaches were 26 17 ) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23 ) 24 ) 25 ) 26) 27 ) SLOVAKIA hit particularly hard. On Clementis see Griffith, op. cit. , p. 176 and Mikus, op. cit. , pp. 292-298. Skilling, Communism National . .. , op. cit. pp. 88, 85, 84 resp. and Glejdura , loc. cit. Novomesky, quoted by Skilling, ibid. p. 117. Taborsky, op cit. p. 344, See also Skilling, Communism national ... op. cit. pp. 94-96. Pravda, May 1st, 1956. Pravda, January 10 and 11, 1958, quoted in Taborsky, op. cit. p. 344. See Pavel Berka's article in c".:eskoslovensky prehled, vol. 5 ( 1958) , p. 27 and Taborsky, op. cit. p. 345. On Slovak Nationalism see B. S. Bue, Slovak Nationalism (Middletown, Pa .), 1960, R. A. Kann, The Multinational Empire (Rutgers University Press) , 1950, J. A. Mikus, La Slovaquie, individualite politique de l'Europ e centrale ( Centre de documentation internationale, Paris ) 1958, L . Gogolak, Beitriige zur Geschichte des Slowakischen Volkes (Munich) 196~ and E. Denis, La Question d'Autriche - Les Slovaques (Paris) , 1917. As Skilling writes, Western scholars "have failed to see that subjection of Slovaks to centralized Czech Communist rule has not dimmed the feeling of Slovak nationalism, even among Communists, and could produce a brave response. " See "Czechoslovakia", in A. Bromke (ed.) , The Communist states at the crossroads, (Praeger, New York, 1965) , p. 103. See Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, Communism in Europe, op. cit. p. 162. Taborsky, op. cit. pp. 345-6. See also Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. pp. 112-130. Among Canadian scholars it is especially Prof. H. Gordon Skilling who published several well documented studies on this period. In the United States S. D. Kertesz, Philip E . Mosley, William E Griffith and K. Glaser and D. S. Collier as editors or contributors to symposia brought the problems to the attention of Western readers. On the Slovak side the weekly Kulturny Zivot became the main tribune. The articles by M. Hysko, 0 . Pavlik, E. Lobl, L . Mnacko, G. Husak, F. Falt'an, L. Novomesky, V. Mihalik and others analyzed the period of the cult of personality. On the Czech side the periodical Nova Mys/., Litenirni Noviny and Literarni Listy offer a number of interesting articles by Czech intellectuals on this subject. 28 ) See articles in Kulturny Ziv ot by Ondrej Pavlik (April 27, and August 10, 1963 ) and by V. Mihalik and V. Pet'ko (May 25 and April 20 respectively, and an article by J . Fojtik in Rude Pravo (March 29, 1963) . 29 ) Philip E. Mosley, " Eastern Europe in World Power Politics", D. S. Collier and K. Glaser, (ed. ), Elem ents of Change in Eastern Europe, Chicago, 1966, pp. 61-62. '') As wrote prof. Mosley in 1965. 30 ) Usneseni a do kum enty ust fe dniho v yboru komunisticke strany Ceskoslovenska, Vol. II, (Prague, 1962), pp. 5-57. English excerpts of SLOVAKIA 31) 32) 33) 34) 35 ) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40 ) 41 ) 42 ) 43) 44) 45 ) 27 this speech can be found in A. Dallin, Diversity in International Communism (Columbia U. P. New York) , 1963, pp. 298-313. See M . Hysko's speech at the Congress of Slovak journalists, published in Pravda, June 13, 1963. The first open student manifestation against the regime in 1956 occurred in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, during a student's festival, In a pocession through Bratislava's streets, Slovak university students carried a coffing with the following inscription: "Here lay buried democratic liberties". As the official radio Bratislava admitted , "this soon became a stirring and well-liked slogan." See Duchacek, Zoe. cit. p. 105. Duchacek, ibid., p. 103. H. G. Skilling " Eastern Europe and the West" in A. Bromke (ed.). The Communist States and the West, (A. Praeger. 1967) , p. 53. Duchacek, op. cit. p. 98, see also pp. 112-118. Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. p. 90. According to Elias and Netik: "The predominant mood among the masses was one of indolence, striving for the satisfaction of crass material desires, general mistrust, and a decline of civic morale. Pilfering in industrial and agricultural enterprises, negligence in consumer services, a sorry state of disrepair in buildings, roads, machinery, and the like, although constantly deplored in the press, came to be accepted as a matter of course. The slogan "He who does not steal from the state steals from his family" was entirely symptomatic to the popular mood of the period, in spite of the fact that the supply of food and consumer goods had improved sufficiently to satisfy most normal needs of the population. loc. cit. p. 275. Skilling, Communism national . .. , op. cit. p. 194. See Rude Premo, November 24 and December 12, 1961. This survey concerns itself mainly with Slovakia and its role in the de-Stalinization process and, therefore, we will put the emphasis, without underestimating the Czech element, on the part which Slovakia and Slovaks played in this period. The Slovak Communist leaders, G. Husak, L. Novomesky, D. Okali and others, were actually imprisoned already in 1951-1952 and only their trials took place in 1954. For an interesting survey of the purges of Slovak "bourgeois nationalists" see " O nezakonnych procesoch a rehabilitacii od roku 1948" (About the illegal processes and rehabilitation since 1948). Vyber, June 1968 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. Taborsky, op cit. p. 66. See Hromada. Prehl'ad ceskoslovenskych statnych organov (A survey of Czechoslovak State Organs), (Bratislava, 1955) , p. 26, K. Glaser, op. cit. pp. 154-178, Z. Elias and J. Netik in W. E . Griffith, op. cit. p. 197 and ff, and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 227-302. J . Netik and J. Franko Communism and Slovakia (Evaluation Report of RF E Research Unit, November 17, 1960) . Taborsky, op. cit. p. 214. See also Mikus, op. cit. pp. 226-224. Rude Pravo, Ma y 27, 1950. See also his article in Pravda, June 16, 28 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) SLOVAKIA 1963 in which he charged that the personality cult "deformed life and violated our socialist humanism". This has been admitted also by some Czech writers in the West. "The wave of outspoken criticism clearly originated in Slovakia; but it was carried on, though in somewhat muted tones, at the Prague Writers' Third Congress on May 22-24, which heard a number of frank and courageous statements, particularly from the younger "literati". Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, op. cit. p. 262. See Kulturny Zivot, April 27 and May 4, 1963. G. Husak recently published his account in Nove Slovo, June 1968, but it was known right after his release from jail. L. Holdos published his account in Smena, March 23, 1968, and both these " memoirs" describe the most revolting brutalities to which human beings were ever subject. E. Lobl published his experiences in a book Svedectvo o procese (Testimony about the Process) Bratislava, 1968. For excerpts in English see The Telegram (Toronto) July 18-19, 1968. Pravda, Bratislava, June 3, 1963. With Husak working behind the scenes, they also became later the "brain trust" of Alexander Dubcek, who was educated in the Soviet Union as an apparatchik, but retained an understanding for the human desire for freedom. See F . Vnuk, Sedemncisf neitrodnych rokov ( Seventeen Barren Years), (An outline of Slovak Literature) in 1945-62, Middletown, Pa., 1965, and I. Kruzliak, Kulturne Slovensko v rokoch 1945-1966 ( Culture in Slovakia in the years 1945-1966), Munich 1967. Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 17, 1963, articles by P. Karvas, A. Plavka, L. Mnacko, M. Chorvath and others. K. Rosenbaum, ibidem, No. 18 and J. Bzoch, No. 20. Some writers had the courage to say even before the Congresses that "the cult of personality, closely knit with dogmatism, limited and hampered creative scientific work" and that "from the field of social sciences mostly suffered historiography of the recent period". Samo Falt'an, "Hist6ria a dnesok" (History and the Present), Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 12, 1963. At the Congress of Slovak Jounalists Hysko also said that " the socialist journalist should respect directions only if they are not in conflict with the fundamental principles of socialist morality". Pravda, June 13, 1963. The significance of Hysko's speech lies in the fact that he brought into the open many Slovak grievances, in particular the treatment of Slovaks at the hands of the Czech leadership. Minac created a storm of protests also in 1968 by accusing the policy of Dr Benes as an attempt "near genocide" of the Slovak people. See Vyber, July 5, 1968, pp.9-11. Skilling, Communism national, op. cit. pp. 114116. For the text of speeches and resolutions see Kulturny zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 21, 22 (resolutions) and 23. See also K. Greiner "Wurzeln der liberalisierung Tendenzen in der Tschecho-Slowakei" . In Entwicklungen im Kommunismits (Verband der Freien Presse), Munich, 1967, pp. 123-131. SLOVAKIA 56) 57) 58) 59) 29 Kulturny Zivot, Vol. XVIII, No. 21. Ibidem , No. 22. Ibidem. Z. Elias and J. Netik in Wm. E. Griffith, Communism in Eiirope , op. cit. p. 157. 60) Pravda, (B ratislava) , June 13, 1963. For fuller discussion see Skilling Commiinism national ... , op. cit. pp. 122-124. 61 ) See Riide Prcivo, August 22, 1963. On the purges of Slovak " Bourgeois nationalists" see E. Fris, Plamen, no. 8, August 1964, Z. Elias and J . Netik in Griffith, op. cit. pp. 210-215 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. 62) See Pravda , (Bratislava ), September 23 , 1963. On Siroky and his role in Slovak politics see Mikus, op. cit. p. 298. 63) See H. Kuhn, "Czechoslovakia", in D. Vollier and K. Glaser (ed.) op. cit. pp. 161-164, and K. Greiner, Zoe. cit. pp. 117--148. 64) In the respect the economist Eugen Lobl who was imprisoned with R. Slansky, led the struggle in Kulturny Zivot, H . Koctuch in Slovenske pohl'ady: see also R. Selucky in Kiilturny Zivot, (August 10, 1963, September 28, 1963, November 2, 1963) , and Hospodcirske Noviny, ( November 8 and 15, 1963), for the Czech views. 65) Several intellectuals were dealing with the ideological deformation : 0. Pavlik, M. Kusy, J . Uher, G. Husak, L. Mnacko, K. Rosenbaum , M. Hamada, and others, not only in Kiilturny Zivot, but also in Pravda (Bratislava) , PLamen, and Smena (Bratislava) . 66) The sharpest attacks on Prague's cultural policy towards Slovakia were written by the poet V. Mihalik. See Kulturny Zivot, No. 49, 1965 and No. 8, 1966. 67) Against the misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Slovak history and of the role the Slovaks played during the War see the writings of Slovak intellec tua l,: in Historicky casopis (Historical Review ) as well as Kulturny Zivot. Among the best articles were those written by S. Falt'an, K. Luptak, J . Fabian, E. Fris. See also G. Husak, Svedectvo o slovenskom ncirodnom povstani (Testimony about the Slovak National Uprising), (Bratislava, 1964). 68) See E. Lobl, "O dogmatizme v ekonomickom mysleni" ( About Dogmatism in Economic Thinking), Kulturny Zivot, Sept. 28, No.39, and Oct. 12, No. 41, 1963. Ota Sik, " Akoby nemal vyzerat' antidogmatizmus" (What anti-dogmatism should not be like ), Kiilturny Zivot, No. 44, Nov. 2, 1963, and the proposals of the economists for the perfection and planned direction of the National Economy, Rude Prcivo, Oct. 17, 1964. 69) "The Slovak poblem does exist in our country- wrote in 1964 K. Bartoska-of a complexity and urgency that we failed to realize and did not want to admit. It turns out that the economic equalization of the Czech lands and of Slovakia is not the exhaustive solution of the Slovak complex question". Plamen, No. 5, 1964. 70 ) Elias and Netik, in Griffith, op. cit. p. 275. 71 ) For fuller discussion of the years following the Congress of Writers, see Z. Elias and Netik in Griffith, op. cit. pp. 260-277. 72 ) On Bacilek and his role in the persecution of Slovak "bourgeois 30 73) 74) 75) 76) 77) 78 ) SLOVAKIA nationalists" see Taborsky, op. cit. p. 344, Griffith, op. cit. p. 176 and Mikus, op. cit. pp. 291-302. See Kulturny Zivot, May-July, 1968, and Jacques Marcelle, Le Deuxieme Coup de Prague (Les Editions Vie Ouvriere, Bruxelles, 1968), pp. 183-189. "The sense of urgency which the Slovaks felt about federalism was not matched in the Czech lands" , writes Skilling, "and there was dissatisfaction in Slovakia with the slow pace of planning. There was, however, considerable difference of opinion about the distribution of authority under the proposed federal constitution, with some Slovaks arguing for a very narrow range of federal authority, including only foreign affairs, defense, and finance, and others, mainly Czechs, seeking a much stronger central authority. Even more productive of controversy was the Slovak demand for Parity of representation in the central organs, both executive and legislative, a demand which most Czechs, in spite of their readiness to adopt provisions protecting vital Slovak interests against outvoting by the Czech majority, were unwilling to accept." See Skilling, 'Czecho-Slovakia's Interrupted Revolution" , Canadian Slavonic Papers, vol. X, 4, 1968, p. 419. The historian Milos Gosiorovsky is credited with the iniciative, but Novotny refused to discuss his proposal and ordered sanctions against him. See Vyber, July 19, 1968, pp. 7-8. According to Pravda (Bratislava), February 2, 1968, he said in his first major policy statement on February 1st, 1968: "The Czechs and the Slovaks are nations both equal and able to create their own states. It is our role to strengthen and, in practice, safeguard our people's belief that the Republic open to Czechs and Slovaks additional prospects ... " On the role of Slovakia see G. Husak, "Prinos k januarovym zmenam" (Slovak contribution to the post-January changes), Vyber, December 6, 1968. In this respect namely the so-called "Two Thousand Words" manifesto deserves mention. It provoked an angry reaction in Moscow and in Warsaw at the meeting of the communist parties, on July 15, at which five communist parties sent a threatening letter to Prague. The manifesto was published by Litercirni Listy on June 27, 1968 and was conceived by the communist writer Ludvik Vaculik. 79 ) For a survey of events and documentary articles see Pierre Desgraupes and Pierre Dumayet (ed.), Prague - l'ete des tanks, "L'Histoire a la Une", (Paris, 1968) , the monthly East Europe , January-September, 1968, and Jacques Marcelle, Le Deuxieme coup de Prague, (Editions Vie Ouvriere, Bruxelles, 1968). 80 ) Skilling, Joe cit. p. 4Q9. 81) Skilling, ibid. p. 410. 82 ) See M . Lakatos, " Some Problems of Socialist Democracy ... " Prcivn y Obzor, 3, (1968). According to J. Bob they wanted "cultural, humanistic, democratic" Socialism. See Kulturny Zivot, May 24, 1968. SLOVAKIA 31 83) Openly anti-communist views were of course not allowed. Only the past policies of the Communist Party could be freely criticised. 84 ) Rehabilitation was embodied in a law passed in June, but it referred only to those who were tried between October 1948 and July 1965. It left out thousands of victims condemned for political reasons between 1945-1948 when anti-communists were systematically eliminated from public life, jailed or executed. See Mikus, op. cit. pp. 167-68. According to Skilling the Action Programme "was a relatively moderated programme, acceptable to the conservative and moderate reformers, but not satisfying the more radical ones". Loe. cit. p. 426. 85 ) See an answer by five Slovak writers in Kulturny Zivot, June 21 , 1968. See also G. Husak "Dejinna prilezitost'" (A Historical occasion) , Pravda (Bratislava, May 9, 1968). 86) On the reaction of Slovak intellectuals to the invasion see L. Mnacko, "Die siebente Nacht - Erkenntnis und Anklage eines.Kommunisten" (The Seventh Night - Confession and Accusation of a Communist), (Verlag Fritz Molden, Wien, Miinchen, Ziirich), October 1968, and Slovak journals of September-December. On the international implications see Adam Bromke "Czechoslovakia and the World: 1968", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X, 4, pp. 581-591. On the reaction of the Government and of the Communist Parties, see Dokumenty o okupacii CSR (Documents on the occupation of Czecho-Slovakia), Bratislava 1968. 87 ) Among the contributions to the discussion on democratization and federalization worth of mentioning are: H. Koctuch "Federacia? Konfederacia? ", Kulturny Zivot, March 22, 1968, and "Buduce moznosti a mozna buducnost"', Nove slovo, June 13, 1968; Julius Strinka "Federalizacia a demokratizacia", Kulturny zivot, April 5, 1968; Prof. K. Plank, "Niekol'ko uvah o federalizacii nasho statu" , Sloboda, June 28, 1968; Dr. M. Gaspar, "Aspekty federalizacie CSR", Sloboda, June 14, 1968; and "Federalizacia - Demokracia", Vyber, July 19, 1968. 88) See Historicky casopis (Historical Review), Vol. XII, 3, 1964, and Nove slovo, September 24, 1944, as well as part one of this survey. 89) See articles and comment on this subject in Slovak v Amerike (U.S.A.), Kanadsky Slovak (Canada), cernakov Odkaz (Germany) , Slovensky stit (Australia) etc. A8 AmeTic·arn,, me111ber 8 of the Nlon.1k l,eague of America fi1'Jnl,v bel ie ,·e that the Slon.tk nation, jnst as all nahomi, has a11 i11here11t. and God-given right to freedom and i11clepencle11cc. r['hey are dedicated to the cause of the A rn eri ra n way of life, Slornk freec1om and world peace and ,ne detm·mined to oppose the plague of Comnnrnisrn and all othi-ir totahtaTian political systernR.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 in the Struggle for Liberalization and Federalization of Czecho-Slovakia Description An account of the resource J.M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 19 (No. 42), 1969 pp. 3-31 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1969 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f8b7d7b39fabe52b38da5be643a5af68.pdf 23b85fe4fa9f0ab3c6b7b736f656811a PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 131 The Centenary of Bishop S. J\Ioyses J . M . Ki rs c h b au m Among all the prominent Slovaks of the 19th century, the Catholic Bishop Stephen Moyses seems to be the strongest personality even if the least known. He overI, shadowed Slovak leaders of previous decades not only by his education but also by his experience as a university professor, delegate to the ~ (~~ ) Diet, member of the diplomatic mission to the Impe~ rial Court and last but not least by his courage in the fight against the wave of -Magyarization. The reason for his relegation to obscurity between 1918 and 1938 was the official tendency of the inter-war Czecho-Slovak governments to recognize as good Slovaks and patriots only those who subscribed to the ideology of the "Czechoslovak nation" and belonged to the' Protestant church. Great figures of the Slovak past like Bernolak, Holly or even :Cudovit stlir, who was a Protestant but represented together with Bernolak and Holly the Slovak national aspirations for a distinct cultural, linguistic and political identity of Slovaks, were to be sent into oblivion. Bishop Moyses who waged a fierce struggle against the Hungarian policy of assimilation in the 1860's and was the first and the most successful President of Matica Slovenska, the institution which represented the best Slovak traditions, was not a person to be recognized by Prague and her representatives in Slovakia as a great figure of Slovak history. Even though he was a promoter of the Catholic-Protestant co-operation in Slovakia, his name, his activities and his patriotism were to be belittled or forgotten. ~7\f - �132 SLOVAKIA After the Second World War the atmosphere did not change for the better for the recognition of Slovak leaders who came from and represented the Catholic majority of Slovakia. Slovakia was ruled not only from Prague but for a short time by a coalition from which Catholics were practically excluded, and later by Communists. As a result, only after the 1968 political Spring, Moyses was accepted as one of the prominent figures of Slovak history and his centenary was duly remembered. 1 Before 1918 Moyses had been recognized even by the Slovak Protestant leaders as the most prominent national leader of his time. Svetozar Hurban-Vajansky, a prominent poet, writer and leader of the struggle for Slovak national rights at the turn of the 20th century, wrote about Bishop Moyses that Moyses was "the most outstanding head among Slovaks and possessed such an erudition and experience in life that prominent Slovak leaders had accepted his moderate, but definitive leadership without any resistance ... Not even the most radical Slovaks were more dedicated to the Slovak cause than Moyses ... " Vajansky wrote even more favourable statements about Moyses in the only biography which was until recently published in Slovakia. The recognition of Moyses' great personal qualities and dedication to the Slovak cause by Vajansky was of great importance if we take into consideration the fact that Vajansky was a prominent Protestant and Moyses a Catholic Bishop. However, Moyses fully deserved this recognition. He overlooked the confessional differences in the Slovak national life and forgot the quarrels of the past decades and together with the Lutheran Bishop Karol Kuzmany laid foundation to an exemplary co-operation of Slovak Catholics and Protestants in national offices. Each Slovak generation since the 1860's was reminded of the "Moyses-Kuzmany" tradition. In the 1930's this tradition was renewed for a short period by the prominent Slovak leaders, Andrew Hlinka and Martin Razus. Unfortunately it was abandoned after 1945 by the Protestants. Several other Protestant leaders of the past century also expressed great admiration for Moyses and recognized that he helped the Slovak cause a long time before he returned to Slovakia from Zagreb, Croatia, where he was �SLOVAKIA 133 a university professor and representative of the Croats at the Diet and at the Imperial Court in Vienna. According to Jan Francisci and M. Dohnany, the leaders of the Slovak uprising of 1848 received support from the Croatian "ban" Jelacic only thanks to the intervention of Bishop Moyses. 2 It was, however, during the period of his presidency of Matica Slovenska that Bishop Moyses became the most respected personality in Slovakia. When he was attacked by Magyar newspapers after his successful audience with the Emperor, prominent Slovaks of all walks of life expressed in hundreds of letters their admiration of and gratitude to Bishop Moyses. The role which Bishop Moyses played in Slovak national life at one of the crucial periods of Slovak history, deserved his nation's recognition. He gave an example of a courageous leadership in national, cultural and educational affairs at a time of concentrated efforts of the Hungarian Government to suppress Slovak political and cultural life and assimilate Slovaks. Among the most memorable actions of Bishop Moyses in this period was his protest to the Emperor Francis Joseph I in December 1861. In May of the same year, Slovak leaders adopted a "Memorandum of the Slovak Nation" in which they requested political, indicial and linguistic rights as a distinct national entity. The Budapest government disregarded the Memorandum and Moyses, hurt in his national feelings, decided to lead a delegation to the Emperor. He presented to the Emperor not only the Memorandum, but also his own "Memorial" which was later considered by historians as an example of great diplomatic skill. In spite of Magyar protests, Moyses obtained from Emperor the permission to organize a national cultural institution MATICA SLOVENSKA and even a gift of 1000 crowns for that purpose. 3 Moyses fought against great odds, but never discouraged he helped to organize Slovak schools, supported publications defending Slovak cultural heritage and renewed the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition which gave the Slovak nation moral strength and resistance in their struggle for survival. Honoured and respected until his death on July 6, 1869, Moyses passed in to the gallery of great Slovak figures of the 19th century. Only the anti-Slovak �134 SLOVAKIA and anti-Catholic policy of Prague government could temporarily deny him the place of honour among Slovaks. In 1969 even the Communist regime had to "rehabilitate" and revive this outstanding figure of the Slovak past. Bishop Moyses ' Role in the Views of Non-Slovaks While in the past fifty years the activities of Bishop Moyses on behalf of the Slovak nation were not recognized by the rulers of pre-war Czecho-Slovakia or by the Regime which was imposed on the Slovaks after the Second World War, we find in foreign languages an objective valuation of his work, especially of the period when he was the President of Matica Slovenska. Seton Watson, writing under the pseudonym Scotus Viator, was the first to praise the role which Bishop Moyses played amongst Slovaks in the 1860's. Moreover, Bishop Moyses had received recognition even from the Emperor Francis Joseph who appointed him in 1863 to the Imperial Court Council. In September 1863 Moyses led another delegation to Vienna and was received by the Emperor. The delegation assured the Emperor that the Slovak nation will contribute in the spirit of the "October Diploma" to the "strengthening of the empire internally as well as externally." On the same occasion the delegation was received by the Chancellor for Hungary, Count Forgach, whom Bishop Moyses greeted in Slovak. Seton Watson recorded the recognition given to Bishop Moyses, and as a historian praising Moyses' Memorial to the Emperor 4 as an example of good diplomacy wrote: "Roused by such unwarrantable action ( of the Magyars), Dr. Stephen Moyses, the Bishop of Banska Bystrica, one of the truest of Slovak patriots, decided to appeal to the monarch direct on behalf of his unfortunate countrymen; and on December 12, 1861, a Slovak deputation headed by the Bishop was actually received by Francis Joseph in the Hofburg at Vienna, and presented an address of grievances and requests. This address, and the memorial submitted by Bishop Moyses himself at the same time, mark a decided advance upon the manifestos of May 1848, and June 1861.5 They are at once more lucid and dignified, they avoid the verbosity and provocative tone of the Memorandum, show far more respect for existing institu- �SLOVAKIA 135 tions, and base their case upon law and fact. They lay stress upon the racial equality and concord which had prevailed in Hungary during former centuries, and contrast him with the Magyar hegemony which the legislation of the past seventy years established. The non-Magyars, they assert, are quite content to recognize the Magyar language in the higher administration, but they demand free play for their own tongues in church, school and local affairs, and in their direct contact with the authorities. The Magyars will not allow this, and try to 'cut off from the Slovaks every road to culture, and thus to let them languish in a condition of moral and social atrophy, as the prey of a future Magyarizing policy.' In effect, they put forward. the same claims as the Memorandists--the formation of Slovak Okolie, with a Slovak local assembly: the introduction of Slovak within this district as the official language of administration, justice and education: free control of the schools by 'the Slovak nation'-but at the same time they are careful to define the new territory of their dreams as 'an integral part of Hungary,' which would be subject to the central Parliament and to the supreme authorities. Moreover, they repair the most regrettable omission of the Memorandum: for while claiming Slovak as the official language of the Okolie, they specially exclude all places of other nationality, and express the wish that their communal affairs should be conducted without hindrance in the language of the majority. Bishop Moyses was inundated with addresses of thanks from the Slovak villages and corporations of North Hungary for his courageous advocacy of the Slovak cause." 6 FOOTNOTES 1) See Historicky casopis, No. 4, 1969 and Nove Slov o, June 26, 1969. The regime also allowed a public celebration of the centenary and a conference on the work and life of Moyses. 2) Moyses was born in Slovakia on October 27, 1797 and spent bis young years in his native country, but as a young priest he was sent by bis bishop first to Budapest and later he was appointed professor at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where he spent 21 years. Both Slovakia and Croatia were parts of the Kingdom of Hungary and of the Hahsburg Empire. 3) For more details on the life and activities of Bishop Moyses in Slovakia see J. M. Kirschbaum, "K storocnici biskupa Stefana Moysesa", Ncirodny Americko-slovensky Kalendcir, (Pittsburgh, Pa. 1970) , p. 39-44. �136 SLOVAKIA 4) See the text at the end of this article and commentary by Seton Watson (Scotus Viator) on the following pages. 5) The documents were published in Petitionen der Serben und Slo waken von Jahre 1861. (Vienna, 1862). 6) The Pe~tbudinske Vedomosti published no fewer than sixty-five of these addresses in the early months of 1862. And yet Bela Grunwald calmly asserted (Felvidek, p. 41) that "the majority of the Slovak population showed the greatest antipathy and indignation" toward Slovak national programme. MEMORIAL OF BISHOP STEPHEN MOYSES OF BANSKA BYSTRICA TO HIS MAJESTY EMPEROR FRANCIS JOSEPH I Your Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty! Most gracious sovereign lord: It is an undoubted historic fact that the kingdom of Hungary was not founded by Saint Stephen upon any one special nationality, but rather upon the Christian faith and upon the laws borrowed from pre-Christian peoples. So far as the written records of this kingdom show us, history knows nothing of a special privileged position of the Magyar people. Even the conquerors under Arpad were not Magyars alone, but came in company with Cumanes and Russians, who all spread themselves throughout the country. At the real foundation of the kingdom under Stephen, the predominant--our native history says, the exclusive-influence was exercised by foreigners, Italians, Germans and Slavs. King Stephen expressly declares himself for the equal rights of all the languages in use in the country. The various divisions of the country as well as the highest dignities of the kingdom have preserved even to the present day their Slav names. After the country had been completely Christianized, the various races, inhabiting it lived in brotherly concord, without any trace of a privileged position for the Magyars. Indeed, the Germans and Slavs from time to time gained the upper hand •to such an extent that the Magyars felt it necessary to seek the protection of the Diet against this. Even on such occasions the Diet always proclaimed the most complete equality, without the slightest privilege for the Magyars. This did not, however, prevent the Magyars from being either completely or at least parlially excluded from the magistracy of several municipalities, in accordance with the Royal privileges to the latter. Above all was this the .!ase in the city of Buda. The Latin language, which was employed for over eight hundred years in the legislature, administration and judicature, was specially qualified to arrest the jealousy of the various nationalities. This was, moreover, recognized by the municipalities* of the ~oul)try, .and w&s specially cited in defence of the Latin language against , *) Here used in the legal sense, to include town councils and county assemblies. �SLOVAKIA 137 the Germanizing efforts of the Emperor Joseph II of glorious memory. But it was the very efforts of the Emperor Joseph which awakened the national movements in Hungary: among the Slovaks, it is true, only in the field of literature: among the Magyars politically as well. Naturally the non-Magyar inhabitants of the country have no objection to raise against the efforts of the Magyars to develop their language on their own territory. Indeed, they are even ready to recognize cheerfully the privileged position of the Magyar language in the higher administrative spheres of the state, within limits prescribed by Your Majesty; they wish, however, free play for their own languages in church, school, communal and municipal administration, as well as in direct communication with ,t he organs of the public administration, in so far as is necessary for the assertion of their rights as men and as citizens. The Magyars, however, will not take into consideration these just and inalienable claims, but employ every means of violence in order to cut off the Slovak people from every path to culture and thus to let it languish in a state of moral and national unconsciousness, as a prey to future Magyarization. No wonder that the county committees and magistrates who have been active since October 20 of the last years up to the present day have by excesses of all kinds ruthlessly terrorized the unsuspecting Slovak people. The same is true of the Diet which assembled in the course of this year. It has none the less caused a painful impression upon your Majesty'., devoted servant, the petitioner, that even the Royal Palatinal Council has committed a similar injustice. Despite the clear wording of the Royal Rescript of October 20, 1860, addressed to the Chancellor of Hungary and providing for the protection of the various nationalities, the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council, by its decree of October 20, 1861 (No. 61, 917) , none the less threatens all Slovak and German Catholic elementary schools with the introduction of the Magyar language. Considering the circumstance that the diocese of Banska Bystrica which is entrusted to Your Majesty's most devoted petitioner contains thirteen parishes with pure German, ninety-three with pure Slo,ak, four with Slovak-German, and not a single one with Magyar population, the result of this threatened measure of the Royal Palatinal Council would be to reduce to zero the progress of the elementary schools within this diocese-which has in any case been slight, owing to the circumstances of the past eleven months--without the intended Magyarization of the people being thereby attained. Although 1he Royal Hungarian Chancellory by two separate decrees of October 5, 1861 (No. 13,583) solemnly enjoined the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council to satisfy so far as possible the claims of the various non-Magyar nationalities of the country, when provisionally reorganizing the Catholic gymnasiums (highschools); none the less the decree of October 21, 1861, issued to the governing bodies of the gymnasiums had the exact opposite effect, and indeed so far as the gymnasium of Banska Bystrica is concerned, stood in direct conflict with the opinions expressed (in compliance with official instructions), both by the diocesan court and the governing body of that gymnasium. As a result this gymnasium-as also those others where similar linguistic con- �138 SLOVAKIA ditions prevai:-has become involved in such incredible confusion. that alike the expenditure of the parents and the time of the pupils -time which can never be made good-are robbed of all their fruits. The regrettable partiality of the provisional organization of the gymnasiums is clearly shown, among other things, by the fact that though capable and well qualified men who have been employed for years as teachers but are free from ultra-Magyar tendencies, cannot be dispensed with altogether, they are placed in the lowest category in the matter of salary; while persons of doubtful and entirely untested capacity, if only they appear reliable in respect of such tendencies, are provided with the highest salaries. Since, moreover, the county officials show practically no consideration towards the non-Hungarian population, and in open violation of the already mentioned Rescript of H. M. sent on October 20, 1860, to the Royal Hungarian Chancellor, orders and instructions are sent to non-Magyar communes drawn up in Magyar only and hence wholly incomprehensible to the people; and since, moreover, protection against such excesses is to be found neither with the counties nor with the Hungarian Palatinal Council ; it is thus clear that the county authorities which are influenced by extremists and enemies of the harmless non-Magyar people, and also the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council, unscrupulously violate the most sacred rights of the non-Magyar peoples-among whom the Slovaks alone far exceed two million souls -although these peoples have ever shown inviolable loyalty to their king and although their rights have been asserted by solemn pronouncements of the sovereign. It is further clear that the intention unhappily prevails, of condemning -these non-Magyar inhabitants to the country to perpetual ignorance and brutalization by depriving them of every suitable instrument of culture, and thus to tread under foot their feelings of human dignity, in defiance not only of the whole course of our country's history in the days preceding the present terrorism, but also in defiance of that boastful ostentation with which the late Diet in Pest saught to acquire abroad an undeserved reputation of liberalism by employing the hollow phrase of "Equality". Since then Your Majesty's most devoted petitioner-in virtue of the Divine appointment to the Episcopal dignity, as expressed through the most gracious act of your I. R. A. Majesty-feels bound to regard himself as the natural advocate of the spiritual possessions of those committed to his charge: he therefore ventures-resting upon the inalienable rights of his diocesans and upon the services which they have rendered to the country alike in peace and before the enemy, calling to mind the country's history previous to the last twenty-five years, relying the sanctity of Your Most Gracious Majesty's word-to take refuge at the foot of Your Most Gracious Majesty's throne in the most unbounded confidence, most humbly being Your I. R. A. to deign to order, that in the sense of Your Majesty's Rescript of July 21, 1861, to the Hungarian Diet, the rights of nationality of the loyal non-Magyar people, both in regard to the development of their language and nationality and to their administrative conditions, be laid down and clearly formulated, and no less effectually and permanently assured. For the rest recommending himself most earnestly to Your Most �SLOVAKIA 139 Gracious Majesty's favour-in deepest reverence, Your Imperial Royal Apostolic Majesty's most loyal subject and submissive chaplain, Stephen Moyses, Bishop of Banska Bystrica Vienna, December 5, 1861. (Translated from "Petitionen der Serben und Slowaken von Jahre 1861", Vienna, 1862, and published in Scotus Viator, Raciai Probiems in Hungary, Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., London, 1908.) The Slovak League Finnly Believes ... Our primary interest is the welfare and security of the United States of America. We condemn all forms of tyranny, every form of totalitarian political system. We recognize the Godless philosophy of materialistic Communism as the dread evil and conspiracy against free humanity that it is, as a political system which threatens mankind with utter enslavement. We have fought consistently and resolutely against it in and out of season and, today, are more determined than ever to persevere in our fight against it with all possible means at our command until the plague of Communism is completely wiped off the face of the earth. We strongly recommend that all official, semi-official and private American institutions desiring any information on problems affecting the Slovak nation, consult with the Slovak League of America, an American institution which since 1907 has been advancing the cause of freedom and national rights of the Slovak nation. We heartily commend all efforts on the part of our Government, its agencies and Congressional Committees to ferret out, unmask and prosecute all subversive elements, specifically all communists and fellow-travelers, which propagate class hatreds, economic strife, chaos and anarchy. All persons and organizations, who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism, .s hould be thoroughly investigated by the proper organs of our Government. We approve the idea of a United Nations Organization which shall promote and preserve peace and prosperity in all countries of the world, as far as humanly possible. � SLOVAKIA 131 The Centenary of Bishop S. J\Ioyses J . M . Ki rs c h b au m Among all the prominent Slovaks of the 19th century, the Catholic Bishop Stephen Moyses seems to be the strongest personality even if the least known. He overI, shadowed Slovak leaders of previous decades not only by his education but also by his experience as a university professor, delegate to the ~ (~~ ) Diet, member of the diplomatic mission to the Impe~ rial Court and last but not least by his courage in the fight against the wave of -Magyarization. The reason for his relegation to obscurity between 1918 and 1938 was the official tendency of the inter-war Czecho-Slovak governments to recognize as good Slovaks and patriots only those who subscribed to the ideology of the "Czechoslovak nation" and belonged to the' Protestant church. Great figures of the Slovak past like Bernolak, Holly or even :Cudovit stlir, who was a Protestant but represented together with Bernolak and Holly the Slovak national aspirations for a distinct cultural, linguistic and political identity of Slovaks, were to be sent into oblivion. Bishop Moyses who waged a fierce struggle against the Hungarian policy of assimilation in the 1860's and was the first and the most successful President of Matica Slovenska, the institution which represented the best Slovak traditions, was not a person to be recognized by Prague and her representatives in Slovakia as a great figure of Slovak history. Even though he was a promoter of the Catholic-Protestant co-operation in Slovakia, his name, his activities and his patriotism were to be belittled or forgotten. ~7\f - �132 SLOVAKIA After the Second World War the atmosphere did not change for the better for the recognition of Slovak leaders who came from and represented the Catholic majority of Slovakia. Slovakia was ruled not only from Prague but for a short time by a coalition from which Catholics were practically excluded, and later by Communists. As a result, only after the 1968 political Spring, Moyses was accepted as one of the prominent figures of Slovak history and his centenary was duly remembered. 1 Before 1918 Moyses had been recognized even by the Slovak Protestant leaders as the most prominent national leader of his time. Svetozar Hurban-Vajansky, a prominent poet, writer and leader of the struggle for Slovak national rights at the turn of the 20th century, wrote about Bishop Moyses that Moyses was "the most outstanding head among Slovaks and possessed such an erudition and experience in life that prominent Slovak leaders had accepted his moderate, but definitive leadership without any resistance ... Not even the most radical Slovaks were more dedicated to the Slovak cause than Moyses ... " Vajansky wrote even more favourable statements about Moyses in the only biography which was until recently published in Slovakia. The recognition of Moyses' great personal qualities and dedication to the Slovak cause by Vajansky was of great importance if we take into consideration the fact that Vajansky was a prominent Protestant and Moyses a Catholic Bishop. However, Moyses fully deserved this recognition. He overlooked the confessional differences in the Slovak national life and forgot the quarrels of the past decades and together with the Lutheran Bishop Karol Kuzmany laid foundation to an exemplary co-operation of Slovak Catholics and Protestants in national offices. Each Slovak generation since the 1860's was reminded of the "Moyses-Kuzmany" tradition. In the 1930's this tradition was renewed for a short period by the prominent Slovak leaders, Andrew Hlinka and Martin Razus. Unfortunately it was abandoned after 1945 by the Protestants. Several other Protestant leaders of the past century also expressed great admiration for Moyses and recognized that he helped the Slovak cause a long time before he returned to Slovakia from Zagreb, Croatia, where he was �SLOVAKIA 133 a university professor and representative of the Croats at the Diet and at the Imperial Court in Vienna. According to Jan Francisci and M. Dohnany, the leaders of the Slovak uprising of 1848 received support from the Croatian "ban" Jelacic only thanks to the intervention of Bishop Moyses. 2 It was, however, during the period of his presidency of Matica Slovenska that Bishop Moyses became the most respected personality in Slovakia. When he was attacked by Magyar newspapers after his successful audience with the Emperor, prominent Slovaks of all walks of life expressed in hundreds of letters their admiration of and gratitude to Bishop Moyses. The role which Bishop Moyses played in Slovak national life at one of the crucial periods of Slovak history, deserved his nation's recognition. He gave an example of a courageous leadership in national, cultural and educational affairs at a time of concentrated efforts of the Hungarian Government to suppress Slovak political and cultural life and assimilate Slovaks. Among the most memorable actions of Bishop Moyses in this period was his protest to the Emperor Francis Joseph I in December 1861. In May of the same year, Slovak leaders adopted a "Memorandum of the Slovak Nation" in which they requested political, indicial and linguistic rights as a distinct national entity. The Budapest government disregarded the Memorandum and Moyses, hurt in his national feelings, decided to lead a delegation to the Emperor. He presented to the Emperor not only the Memorandum, but also his own "Memorial" which was later considered by historians as an example of great diplomatic skill. In spite of Magyar protests, Moyses obtained from Emperor the permission to organize a national cultural institution MATICA SLOVENSKA and even a gift of 1000 crowns for that purpose. 3 Moyses fought against great odds, but never discouraged he helped to organize Slovak schools, supported publications defending Slovak cultural heritage and renewed the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition which gave the Slovak nation moral strength and resistance in their struggle for survival. Honoured and respected until his death on July 6, 1869, Moyses passed in to the gallery of great Slovak figures of the 19th century. Only the anti-Slovak �134 SLOVAKIA and anti-Catholic policy of Prague government could temporarily deny him the place of honour among Slovaks. In 1969 even the Communist regime had to "rehabilitate" and revive this outstanding figure of the Slovak past. Bishop Moyses ' Role in the Views of Non-Slovaks While in the past fifty years the activities of Bishop Moyses on behalf of the Slovak nation were not recognized by the rulers of pre-war Czecho-Slovakia or by the Regime which was imposed on the Slovaks after the Second World War, we find in foreign languages an objective valuation of his work, especially of the period when he was the President of Matica Slovenska. Seton Watson, writing under the pseudonym Scotus Viator, was the first to praise the role which Bishop Moyses played amongst Slovaks in the 1860's. Moreover, Bishop Moyses had received recognition even from the Emperor Francis Joseph who appointed him in 1863 to the Imperial Court Council. In September 1863 Moyses led another delegation to Vienna and was received by the Emperor. The delegation assured the Emperor that the Slovak nation will contribute in the spirit of the "October Diploma" to the "strengthening of the empire internally as well as externally." On the same occasion the delegation was received by the Chancellor for Hungary, Count Forgach, whom Bishop Moyses greeted in Slovak. Seton Watson recorded the recognition given to Bishop Moyses, and as a historian praising Moyses' Memorial to the Emperor 4 as an example of good diplomacy wrote: "Roused by such unwarrantable action ( of the Magyars), Dr. Stephen Moyses, the Bishop of Banska Bystrica, one of the truest of Slovak patriots, decided to appeal to the monarch direct on behalf of his unfortunate countrymen; and on December 12, 1861, a Slovak deputation headed by the Bishop was actually received by Francis Joseph in the Hofburg at Vienna, and presented an address of grievances and requests. This address, and the memorial submitted by Bishop Moyses himself at the same time, mark a decided advance upon the manifestos of May 1848, and June 1861.5 They are at once more lucid and dignified, they avoid the verbosity and provocative tone of the Memorandum, show far more respect for existing institu- �SLOVAKIA 135 tions, and base their case upon law and fact. They lay stress upon the racial equality and concord which had prevailed in Hungary during former centuries, and contrast him with the Magyar hegemony which the legislation of the past seventy years established. The non-Magyars, they assert, are quite content to recognize the Magyar language in the higher administration, but they demand free play for their own tongues in church, school and local affairs, and in their direct contact with the authorities. The Magyars will not allow this, and try to 'cut off from the Slovaks every road to culture, and thus to let them languish in a condition of moral and social atrophy, as the prey of a future Magyarizing policy.' In effect, they put forward. the same claims as the Memorandists--the formation of Slovak Okolie, with a Slovak local assembly: the introduction of Slovak within this district as the official language of administration, justice and education: free control of the schools by 'the Slovak nation'-but at the same time they are careful to define the new territory of their dreams as 'an integral part of Hungary,' which would be subject to the central Parliament and to the supreme authorities. Moreover, they repair the most regrettable omission of the Memorandum: for while claiming Slovak as the official language of the Okolie, they specially exclude all places of other nationality, and express the wish that their communal affairs should be conducted without hindrance in the language of the majority. Bishop Moyses was inundated with addresses of thanks from the Slovak villages and corporations of North Hungary for his courageous advocacy of the Slovak cause." 6 FOOTNOTES 1) See Historicky casopis, No. 4, 1969 and Nove Slov o, June 26, 1969. The regime also allowed a public celebration of the centenary and a conference on the work and life of Moyses. 2) Moyses was born in Slovakia on October 27, 1797 and spent bis young years in his native country, but as a young priest he was sent by bis bishop first to Budapest and later he was appointed professor at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where he spent 21 years. Both Slovakia and Croatia were parts of the Kingdom of Hungary and of the Hahsburg Empire. 3) For more details on the life and activities of Bishop Moyses in Slovakia see J. M. Kirschbaum, "K storocnici biskupa Stefana Moysesa", Ncirodny Americko-slovensky Kalendcir, (Pittsburgh, Pa. 1970) , p. 39-44. �136 SLOVAKIA 4) See the text at the end of this article and commentary by Seton Watson (Scotus Viator) on the following pages. 5) The documents were published in Petitionen der Serben und Slo waken von Jahre 1861. (Vienna, 1862). 6) The Pe~tbudinske Vedomosti published no fewer than sixty-five of these addresses in the early months of 1862. And yet Bela Grunwald calmly asserted (Felvidek, p. 41) that "the majority of the Slovak population showed the greatest antipathy and indignation" toward Slovak national programme. MEMORIAL OF BISHOP STEPHEN MOYSES OF BANSKA BYSTRICA TO HIS MAJESTY EMPEROR FRANCIS JOSEPH I Your Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty! Most gracious sovereign lord: It is an undoubted historic fact that the kingdom of Hungary was not founded by Saint Stephen upon any one special nationality, but rather upon the Christian faith and upon the laws borrowed from pre-Christian peoples. So far as the written records of this kingdom show us, history knows nothing of a special privileged position of the Magyar people. Even the conquerors under Arpad were not Magyars alone, but came in company with Cumanes and Russians, who all spread themselves throughout the country. At the real foundation of the kingdom under Stephen, the predominant--our native history says, the exclusive-influence was exercised by foreigners, Italians, Germans and Slavs. King Stephen expressly declares himself for the equal rights of all the languages in use in the country. The various divisions of the country as well as the highest dignities of the kingdom have preserved even to the present day their Slav names. After the country had been completely Christianized, the various races, inhabiting it lived in brotherly concord, without any trace of a privileged position for the Magyars. Indeed, the Germans and Slavs from time to time gained the upper hand •to such an extent that the Magyars felt it necessary to seek the protection of the Diet against this. Even on such occasions the Diet always proclaimed the most complete equality, without the slightest privilege for the Magyars. This did not, however, prevent the Magyars from being either completely or at least parlially excluded from the magistracy of several municipalities, in accordance with the Royal privileges to the latter. Above all was this the .!ase in the city of Buda. The Latin language, which was employed for over eight hundred years in the legislature, administration and judicature, was specially qualified to arrest the jealousy of the various nationalities. This was, moreover, recognized by the municipalities* of the ~oul)try, .and w&s specially cited in defence of the Latin language against , *) Here used in the legal sense, to include town councils and county assemblies. �SLOVAKIA 137 the Germanizing efforts of the Emperor Joseph II of glorious memory. But it was the very efforts of the Emperor Joseph which awakened the national movements in Hungary: among the Slovaks, it is true, only in the field of literature: among the Magyars politically as well. Naturally the non-Magyar inhabitants of the country have no objection to raise against the efforts of the Magyars to develop their language on their own territory. Indeed, they are even ready to recognize cheerfully the privileged position of the Magyar language in the higher administrative spheres of the state, within limits prescribed by Your Majesty; they wish, however, free play for their own languages in church, school, communal and municipal administration, as well as in direct communication with ,t he organs of the public administration, in so far as is necessary for the assertion of their rights as men and as citizens. The Magyars, however, will not take into consideration these just and inalienable claims, but employ every means of violence in order to cut off the Slovak people from every path to culture and thus to let it languish in a state of moral and national unconsciousness, as a prey to future Magyarization. No wonder that the county committees and magistrates who have been active since October 20 of the last years up to the present day have by excesses of all kinds ruthlessly terrorized the unsuspecting Slovak people. The same is true of the Diet which assembled in the course of this year. It has none the less caused a painful impression upon your Majesty'., devoted servant, the petitioner, that even the Royal Palatinal Council has committed a similar injustice. Despite the clear wording of the Royal Rescript of October 20, 1860, addressed to the Chancellor of Hungary and providing for the protection of the various nationalities, the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council, by its decree of October 20, 1861 (No. 61, 917) , none the less threatens all Slovak and German Catholic elementary schools with the introduction of the Magyar language. Considering the circumstance that the diocese of Banska Bystrica which is entrusted to Your Majesty's most devoted petitioner contains thirteen parishes with pure German, ninety-three with pure Slo,ak, four with Slovak-German, and not a single one with Magyar population, the result of this threatened measure of the Royal Palatinal Council would be to reduce to zero the progress of the elementary schools within this diocese-which has in any case been slight, owing to the circumstances of the past eleven months--without the intended Magyarization of the people being thereby attained. Although 1he Royal Hungarian Chancellory by two separate decrees of October 5, 1861 (No. 13,583) solemnly enjoined the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council to satisfy so far as possible the claims of the various non-Magyar nationalities of the country, when provisionally reorganizing the Catholic gymnasiums (highschools); none the less the decree of October 21, 1861, issued to the governing bodies of the gymnasiums had the exact opposite effect, and indeed so far as the gymnasium of Banska Bystrica is concerned, stood in direct conflict with the opinions expressed (in compliance with official instructions), both by the diocesan court and the governing body of that gymnasium. As a result this gymnasium-as also those others where similar linguistic con- �138 SLOVAKIA ditions prevai:-has become involved in such incredible confusion. that alike the expenditure of the parents and the time of the pupils -time which can never be made good-are robbed of all their fruits. The regrettable partiality of the provisional organization of the gymnasiums is clearly shown, among other things, by the fact that though capable and well qualified men who have been employed for years as teachers but are free from ultra-Magyar tendencies, cannot be dispensed with altogether, they are placed in the lowest category in the matter of salary; while persons of doubtful and entirely untested capacity, if only they appear reliable in respect of such tendencies, are provided with the highest salaries. Since, moreover, the county officials show practically no consideration towards the non-Hungarian population, and in open violation of the already mentioned Rescript of H. M. sent on October 20, 1860, to the Royal Hungarian Chancellor, orders and instructions are sent to non-Magyar communes drawn up in Magyar only and hence wholly incomprehensible to the people; and since, moreover, protection against such excesses is to be found neither with the counties nor with the Hungarian Palatinal Council ; it is thus clear that the county authorities which are influenced by extremists and enemies of the harmless non-Magyar people, and also the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council, unscrupulously violate the most sacred rights of the non-Magyar peoples-among whom the Slovaks alone far exceed two million souls -although these peoples have ever shown inviolable loyalty to their king and although their rights have been asserted by solemn pronouncements of the sovereign. It is further clear that the intention unhappily prevails, of condemning -these non-Magyar inhabitants to the country to perpetual ignorance and brutalization by depriving them of every suitable instrument of culture, and thus to tread under foot their feelings of human dignity, in defiance not only of the whole course of our country's history in the days preceding the present terrorism, but also in defiance of that boastful ostentation with which the late Diet in Pest saught to acquire abroad an undeserved reputation of liberalism by employing the hollow phrase of "Equality". Since then Your Majesty's most devoted petitioner-in virtue of the Divine appointment to the Episcopal dignity, as expressed through the most gracious act of your I. R. A. Majesty-feels bound to regard himself as the natural advocate of the spiritual possessions of those committed to his charge: he therefore ventures-resting upon the inalienable rights of his diocesans and upon the services which they have rendered to the country alike in peace and before the enemy, calling to mind the country's history previous to the last twenty-five years, relying the sanctity of Your Most Gracious Majesty's word-to take refuge at the foot of Your Most Gracious Majesty's throne in the most unbounded confidence, most humbly being Your I. R. A. to deign to order, that in the sense of Your Majesty's Rescript of July 21, 1861, to the Hungarian Diet, the rights of nationality of the loyal non-Magyar people, both in regard to the development of their language and nationality and to their administrative conditions, be laid down and clearly formulated, and no less effectually and permanently assured. For the rest recommending himself most earnestly to Your Most �SLOVAKIA 139 Gracious Majesty's favour-in deepest reverence, Your Imperial Royal Apostolic Majesty's most loyal subject and submissive chaplain, Stephen Moyses, Bishop of Banska Bystrica Vienna, December 5, 1861. (Translated from "Petitionen der Serben und Slowaken von Jahre 1861", Vienna, 1862, and published in Scotus Viator, Raciai Probiems in Hungary, Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., London, 1908.) The Slovak League Finnly Believes ... Our primary interest is the welfare and security of the United States of America. We condemn all forms of tyranny, every form of totalitarian political system. We recognize the Godless philosophy of materialistic Communism as the dread evil and conspiracy against free humanity that it is, as a political system which threatens mankind with utter enslavement. We have fought consistently and resolutely against it in and out of season and, today, are more determined than ever to persevere in our fight against it with all possible means at our command until the plague of Communism is completely wiped off the face of the earth. We strongly recommend that all official, semi-official and private American institutions desiring any information on problems affecting the Slovak nation, consult with the Slovak League of America, an American institution which since 1907 has been advancing the cause of freedom and national rights of the Slovak nation. We heartily commend all efforts on the part of our Government, its agencies and Congressional Committees to ferret out, unmask and prosecute all subversive elements, specifically all communists and fellow-travelers, which propagate class hatreds, economic strife, chaos and anarchy. All persons and organizations, who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism, .s hould be thoroughly investigated by the proper organs of our Government. We approve the idea of a United Nations Organization which shall promote and preserve peace and prosperity in all countries of the world, as far as humanly possible. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 SLOVAKIA 131 The Centenary of Bishop S. J\Ioyses J . M . Ki rs c h b au m Among all the prominent Slovaks of the 19th century, the Catholic Bishop Stephen Moyses seems to be the strongest personality even if the least known. He overI, shadowed Slovak leaders of previous decades not only by his education but also by his experience as a university professor, delegate to the ~ (~~ ) Diet, member of the diplomatic mission to the Impe~ rial Court and last but not least by his courage in the fight against the wave of -Magyarization. The reason for his relegation to obscurity between 1918 and 1938 was the official tendency of the inter-war Czecho-Slovak governments to recognize as good Slovaks and patriots only those who subscribed to the ideology of the "Czechoslovak nation" and belonged to the' Protestant church. Great figures of the Slovak past like Bernolak, Holly or even :Cudovit stlir, who was a Protestant but represented together with Bernolak and Holly the Slovak national aspirations for a distinct cultural, linguistic and political identity of Slovaks, were to be sent into oblivion. Bishop Moyses who waged a fierce struggle against the Hungarian policy of assimilation in the 1860's and was the first and the most successful President of Matica Slovenska, the institution which represented the best Slovak traditions, was not a person to be recognized by Prague and her representatives in Slovakia as a great figure of Slovak history. Even though he was a promoter of the Catholic-Protestant co-operation in Slovakia, his name, his activities and his patriotism were to be belittled or forgotten. ~7\f - 132 SLOVAKIA After the Second World War the atmosphere did not change for the better for the recognition of Slovak leaders who came from and represented the Catholic majority of Slovakia. Slovakia was ruled not only from Prague but for a short time by a coalition from which Catholics were practically excluded, and later by Communists. As a result, only after the 1968 political Spring, Moyses was accepted as one of the prominent figures of Slovak history and his centenary was duly remembered. 1 Before 1918 Moyses had been recognized even by the Slovak Protestant leaders as the most prominent national leader of his time. Svetozar Hurban-Vajansky, a prominent poet, writer and leader of the struggle for Slovak national rights at the turn of the 20th century, wrote about Bishop Moyses that Moyses was "the most outstanding head among Slovaks and possessed such an erudition and experience in life that prominent Slovak leaders had accepted his moderate, but definitive leadership without any resistance ... Not even the most radical Slovaks were more dedicated to the Slovak cause than Moyses ... " Vajansky wrote even more favourable statements about Moyses in the only biography which was until recently published in Slovakia. The recognition of Moyses' great personal qualities and dedication to the Slovak cause by Vajansky was of great importance if we take into consideration the fact that Vajansky was a prominent Protestant and Moyses a Catholic Bishop. However, Moyses fully deserved this recognition. He overlooked the confessional differences in the Slovak national life and forgot the quarrels of the past decades and together with the Lutheran Bishop Karol Kuzmany laid foundation to an exemplary co-operation of Slovak Catholics and Protestants in national offices. Each Slovak generation since the 1860's was reminded of the "Moyses-Kuzmany" tradition. In the 1930's this tradition was renewed for a short period by the prominent Slovak leaders, Andrew Hlinka and Martin Razus. Unfortunately it was abandoned after 1945 by the Protestants. Several other Protestant leaders of the past century also expressed great admiration for Moyses and recognized that he helped the Slovak cause a long time before he returned to Slovakia from Zagreb, Croatia, where he was SLOVAKIA 133 a university professor and representative of the Croats at the Diet and at the Imperial Court in Vienna. According to Jan Francisci and M. Dohnany, the leaders of the Slovak uprising of 1848 received support from the Croatian "ban" Jelacic only thanks to the intervention of Bishop Moyses. 2 It was, however, during the period of his presidency of Matica Slovenska that Bishop Moyses became the most respected personality in Slovakia. When he was attacked by Magyar newspapers after his successful audience with the Emperor, prominent Slovaks of all walks of life expressed in hundreds of letters their admiration of and gratitude to Bishop Moyses. The role which Bishop Moyses played in Slovak national life at one of the crucial periods of Slovak history, deserved his nation's recognition. He gave an example of a courageous leadership in national, cultural and educational affairs at a time of concentrated efforts of the Hungarian Government to suppress Slovak political and cultural life and assimilate Slovaks. Among the most memorable actions of Bishop Moyses in this period was his protest to the Emperor Francis Joseph I in December 1861. In May of the same year, Slovak leaders adopted a "Memorandum of the Slovak Nation" in which they requested political, indicial and linguistic rights as a distinct national entity. The Budapest government disregarded the Memorandum and Moyses, hurt in his national feelings, decided to lead a delegation to the Emperor. He presented to the Emperor not only the Memorandum, but also his own "Memorial" which was later considered by historians as an example of great diplomatic skill. In spite of Magyar protests, Moyses obtained from Emperor the permission to organize a national cultural institution MATICA SLOVENSKA and even a gift of 1000 crowns for that purpose. 3 Moyses fought against great odds, but never discouraged he helped to organize Slovak schools, supported publications defending Slovak cultural heritage and renewed the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition which gave the Slovak nation moral strength and resistance in their struggle for survival. Honoured and respected until his death on July 6, 1869, Moyses passed in to the gallery of great Slovak figures of the 19th century. Only the anti-Slovak 134 SLOVAKIA and anti-Catholic policy of Prague government could temporarily deny him the place of honour among Slovaks. In 1969 even the Communist regime had to "rehabilitate" and revive this outstanding figure of the Slovak past. Bishop Moyses ' Role in the Views of Non-Slovaks While in the past fifty years the activities of Bishop Moyses on behalf of the Slovak nation were not recognized by the rulers of pre-war Czecho-Slovakia or by the Regime which was imposed on the Slovaks after the Second World War, we find in foreign languages an objective valuation of his work, especially of the period when he was the President of Matica Slovenska. Seton Watson, writing under the pseudonym Scotus Viator, was the first to praise the role which Bishop Moyses played amongst Slovaks in the 1860's. Moreover, Bishop Moyses had received recognition even from the Emperor Francis Joseph who appointed him in 1863 to the Imperial Court Council. In September 1863 Moyses led another delegation to Vienna and was received by the Emperor. The delegation assured the Emperor that the Slovak nation will contribute in the spirit of the "October Diploma" to the "strengthening of the empire internally as well as externally." On the same occasion the delegation was received by the Chancellor for Hungary, Count Forgach, whom Bishop Moyses greeted in Slovak. Seton Watson recorded the recognition given to Bishop Moyses, and as a historian praising Moyses' Memorial to the Emperor 4 as an example of good diplomacy wrote: "Roused by such unwarrantable action ( of the Magyars), Dr. Stephen Moyses, the Bishop of Banska Bystrica, one of the truest of Slovak patriots, decided to appeal to the monarch direct on behalf of his unfortunate countrymen; and on December 12, 1861, a Slovak deputation headed by the Bishop was actually received by Francis Joseph in the Hofburg at Vienna, and presented an address of grievances and requests. This address, and the memorial submitted by Bishop Moyses himself at the same time, mark a decided advance upon the manifestos of May 1848, and June 1861.5 They are at once more lucid and dignified, they avoid the verbosity and provocative tone of the Memorandum, show far more respect for existing institu- SLOVAKIA 135 tions, and base their case upon law and fact. They lay stress upon the racial equality and concord which had prevailed in Hungary during former centuries, and contrast him with the Magyar hegemony which the legislation of the past seventy years established. The non-Magyars, they assert, are quite content to recognize the Magyar language in the higher administration, but they demand free play for their own tongues in church, school and local affairs, and in their direct contact with the authorities. The Magyars will not allow this, and try to 'cut off from the Slovaks every road to culture, and thus to let them languish in a condition of moral and social atrophy, as the prey of a future Magyarizing policy.' In effect, they put forward. the same claims as the Memorandists--the formation of Slovak Okolie, with a Slovak local assembly: the introduction of Slovak within this district as the official language of administration, justice and education: free control of the schools by 'the Slovak nation'-but at the same time they are careful to define the new territory of their dreams as 'an integral part of Hungary,' which would be subject to the central Parliament and to the supreme authorities. Moreover, they repair the most regrettable omission of the Memorandum: for while claiming Slovak as the official language of the Okolie, they specially exclude all places of other nationality, and express the wish that their communal affairs should be conducted without hindrance in the language of the majority. Bishop Moyses was inundated with addresses of thanks from the Slovak villages and corporations of North Hungary for his courageous advocacy of the Slovak cause." 6 FOOTNOTES 1) See Historicky casopis, No. 4, 1969 and Nove Slov o, June 26, 1969. The regime also allowed a public celebration of the centenary and a conference on the work and life of Moyses. 2) Moyses was born in Slovakia on October 27, 1797 and spent bis young years in his native country, but as a young priest he was sent by bis bishop first to Budapest and later he was appointed professor at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where he spent 21 years. Both Slovakia and Croatia were parts of the Kingdom of Hungary and of the Hahsburg Empire. 3) For more details on the life and activities of Bishop Moyses in Slovakia see J. M. Kirschbaum, "K storocnici biskupa Stefana Moysesa", Ncirodny Americko-slovensky Kalendcir, (Pittsburgh, Pa. 1970) , p. 39-44. 136 SLOVAKIA 4) See the text at the end of this article and commentary by Seton Watson (Scotus Viator) on the following pages. 5) The documents were published in Petitionen der Serben und Slo waken von Jahre 1861. (Vienna, 1862). 6) The Pe~tbudinske Vedomosti published no fewer than sixty-five of these addresses in the early months of 1862. And yet Bela Grunwald calmly asserted (Felvidek, p. 41) that "the majority of the Slovak population showed the greatest antipathy and indignation" toward Slovak national programme. MEMORIAL OF BISHOP STEPHEN MOYSES OF BANSKA BYSTRICA TO HIS MAJESTY EMPEROR FRANCIS JOSEPH I Your Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty! Most gracious sovereign lord: It is an undoubted historic fact that the kingdom of Hungary was not founded by Saint Stephen upon any one special nationality, but rather upon the Christian faith and upon the laws borrowed from pre-Christian peoples. So far as the written records of this kingdom show us, history knows nothing of a special privileged position of the Magyar people. Even the conquerors under Arpad were not Magyars alone, but came in company with Cumanes and Russians, who all spread themselves throughout the country. At the real foundation of the kingdom under Stephen, the predominant--our native history says, the exclusive-influence was exercised by foreigners, Italians, Germans and Slavs. King Stephen expressly declares himself for the equal rights of all the languages in use in the country. The various divisions of the country as well as the highest dignities of the kingdom have preserved even to the present day their Slav names. After the country had been completely Christianized, the various races, inhabiting it lived in brotherly concord, without any trace of a privileged position for the Magyars. Indeed, the Germans and Slavs from time to time gained the upper hand •to such an extent that the Magyars felt it necessary to seek the protection of the Diet against this. Even on such occasions the Diet always proclaimed the most complete equality, without the slightest privilege for the Magyars. This did not, however, prevent the Magyars from being either completely or at least parlially excluded from the magistracy of several municipalities, in accordance with the Royal privileges to the latter. Above all was this the .!ase in the city of Buda. The Latin language, which was employed for over eight hundred years in the legislature, administration and judicature, was specially qualified to arrest the jealousy of the various nationalities. This was, moreover, recognized by the municipalities* of the ~oul)try, .and w&s specially cited in defence of the Latin language against , *) Here used in the legal sense, to include town councils and county assemblies. SLOVAKIA 137 the Germanizing efforts of the Emperor Joseph II of glorious memory. But it was the very efforts of the Emperor Joseph which awakened the national movements in Hungary: among the Slovaks, it is true, only in the field of literature: among the Magyars politically as well. Naturally the non-Magyar inhabitants of the country have no objection to raise against the efforts of the Magyars to develop their language on their own territory. Indeed, they are even ready to recognize cheerfully the privileged position of the Magyar language in the higher administrative spheres of the state, within limits prescribed by Your Majesty; they wish, however, free play for their own languages in church, school, communal and municipal administration, as well as in direct communication with ,t he organs of the public administration, in so far as is necessary for the assertion of their rights as men and as citizens. The Magyars, however, will not take into consideration these just and inalienable claims, but employ every means of violence in order to cut off the Slovak people from every path to culture and thus to let it languish in a state of moral and national unconsciousness, as a prey to future Magyarization. No wonder that the county committees and magistrates who have been active since October 20 of the last years up to the present day have by excesses of all kinds ruthlessly terrorized the unsuspecting Slovak people. The same is true of the Diet which assembled in the course of this year. It has none the less caused a painful impression upon your Majesty'., devoted servant, the petitioner, that even the Royal Palatinal Council has committed a similar injustice. Despite the clear wording of the Royal Rescript of October 20, 1860, addressed to the Chancellor of Hungary and providing for the protection of the various nationalities, the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council, by its decree of October 20, 1861 (No. 61, 917) , none the less threatens all Slovak and German Catholic elementary schools with the introduction of the Magyar language. Considering the circumstance that the diocese of Banska Bystrica which is entrusted to Your Majesty's most devoted petitioner contains thirteen parishes with pure German, ninety-three with pure Slo,ak, four with Slovak-German, and not a single one with Magyar population, the result of this threatened measure of the Royal Palatinal Council would be to reduce to zero the progress of the elementary schools within this diocese-which has in any case been slight, owing to the circumstances of the past eleven months--without the intended Magyarization of the people being thereby attained. Although 1he Royal Hungarian Chancellory by two separate decrees of October 5, 1861 (No. 13,583) solemnly enjoined the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council to satisfy so far as possible the claims of the various non-Magyar nationalities of the country, when provisionally reorganizing the Catholic gymnasiums (highschools); none the less the decree of October 21, 1861, issued to the governing bodies of the gymnasiums had the exact opposite effect, and indeed so far as the gymnasium of Banska Bystrica is concerned, stood in direct conflict with the opinions expressed (in compliance with official instructions), both by the diocesan court and the governing body of that gymnasium. As a result this gymnasium-as also those others where similar linguistic con- 138 SLOVAKIA ditions prevai:-has become involved in such incredible confusion. that alike the expenditure of the parents and the time of the pupils -time which can never be made good-are robbed of all their fruits. The regrettable partiality of the provisional organization of the gymnasiums is clearly shown, among other things, by the fact that though capable and well qualified men who have been employed for years as teachers but are free from ultra-Magyar tendencies, cannot be dispensed with altogether, they are placed in the lowest category in the matter of salary; while persons of doubtful and entirely untested capacity, if only they appear reliable in respect of such tendencies, are provided with the highest salaries. Since, moreover, the county officials show practically no consideration towards the non-Hungarian population, and in open violation of the already mentioned Rescript of H. M. sent on October 20, 1860, to the Royal Hungarian Chancellor, orders and instructions are sent to non-Magyar communes drawn up in Magyar only and hence wholly incomprehensible to the people; and since, moreover, protection against such excesses is to be found neither with the counties nor with the Hungarian Palatinal Council ; it is thus clear that the county authorities which are influenced by extremists and enemies of the harmless non-Magyar people, and also the Royal Hungarian Palatinal Council, unscrupulously violate the most sacred rights of the non-Magyar peoples-among whom the Slovaks alone far exceed two million souls -although these peoples have ever shown inviolable loyalty to their king and although their rights have been asserted by solemn pronouncements of the sovereign. It is further clear that the intention unhappily prevails, of condemning -these non-Magyar inhabitants to the country to perpetual ignorance and brutalization by depriving them of every suitable instrument of culture, and thus to tread under foot their feelings of human dignity, in defiance not only of the whole course of our country's history in the days preceding the present terrorism, but also in defiance of that boastful ostentation with which the late Diet in Pest saught to acquire abroad an undeserved reputation of liberalism by employing the hollow phrase of "Equality". Since then Your Majesty's most devoted petitioner-in virtue of the Divine appointment to the Episcopal dignity, as expressed through the most gracious act of your I. R. A. Majesty-feels bound to regard himself as the natural advocate of the spiritual possessions of those committed to his charge: he therefore ventures-resting upon the inalienable rights of his diocesans and upon the services which they have rendered to the country alike in peace and before the enemy, calling to mind the country's history previous to the last twenty-five years, relying the sanctity of Your Most Gracious Majesty's word-to take refuge at the foot of Your Most Gracious Majesty's throne in the most unbounded confidence, most humbly being Your I. R. A. to deign to order, that in the sense of Your Majesty's Rescript of July 21, 1861, to the Hungarian Diet, the rights of nationality of the loyal non-Magyar people, both in regard to the development of their language and nationality and to their administrative conditions, be laid down and clearly formulated, and no less effectually and permanently assured. For the rest recommending himself most earnestly to Your Most SLOVAKIA 139 Gracious Majesty's favour-in deepest reverence, Your Imperial Royal Apostolic Majesty's most loyal subject and submissive chaplain, Stephen Moyses, Bishop of Banska Bystrica Vienna, December 5, 1861. (Translated from "Petitionen der Serben und Slowaken von Jahre 1861", Vienna, 1862, and published in Scotus Viator, Raciai Probiems in Hungary, Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., London, 1908.) The Slovak League Finnly Believes ... Our primary interest is the welfare and security of the United States of America. We condemn all forms of tyranny, every form of totalitarian political system. We recognize the Godless philosophy of materialistic Communism as the dread evil and conspiracy against free humanity that it is, as a political system which threatens mankind with utter enslavement. We have fought consistently and resolutely against it in and out of season and, today, are more determined than ever to persevere in our fight against it with all possible means at our command until the plague of Communism is completely wiped off the face of the earth. We strongly recommend that all official, semi-official and private American institutions desiring any information on problems affecting the Slovak nation, consult with the Slovak League of America, an American institution which since 1907 has been advancing the cause of freedom and national rights of the Slovak nation. We heartily commend all efforts on the part of our Government, its agencies and Congressional Committees to ferret out, unmask and prosecute all subversive elements, specifically all communists and fellow-travelers, which propagate class hatreds, economic strife, chaos and anarchy. All persons and organizations, who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism, .s hould be thoroughly investigated by the proper organs of our Government. We approve the idea of a United Nations Organization which shall promote and preserve peace and prosperity in all countries of the world, as far as humanly possible.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Centenary of Bishop S. Moyses Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970 pp. 131-139 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/31e0c60f69f15d24ad7724109f4ac0c8.pdf 90c5be899b963ddadef1addb70cd7a93 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 35 The Politica] }\Iessage of l\'Iat(1s (:ernak By Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum On July 5. 1955 Matus cernak, a distinguished Slovak politician and diplomat, was assassinated in Munich, Germany. Forces rabid in opposing Slovak effort to secure to establish an independent Slovakia could have hardly struck a mere telling blow than was this dastardly attack, for by it they removed from active service an esteemed patriot, this cernak of whom it may be said that of all national movers currently in exile, he must closely approximated what relatively speaking, we might designate as the position of a non-accredited legate of the Slovak nation to the republic of Western Germany. And to him as such were paid final tributes and honors in death not only by the officials of that government but by the chancellor of Western Germany himself who expressed deep sympathy on the occasion of cernak's tragic death. In Germany Matus cernak signalized himself beyond his office as a deserving politician and diplomat. It was due mostly to his untiring diligence and interest that two noteworthy publications continued to appear after the departure of Dr . Jozef Pauco; viz., SLOBODNE SLOVENSKO (Free Slovakia, founded by Dr. Pauco ) and SLOWAKISCHE KORRESPONDENZ. Concern for the social wellbeing of hundreds of Slovak refugees who arrived in Germany alw came to devolve upon cernak, and his name is very closely associated with the Slovak Institute in Munich. Even this meager cut-and-dry survey of his major activities in exile yields us the realization that the foul political murder, which so unexpectedly wrested Matus cernak from our midst, is to all the Slovaks in the free world and to the struggle for a democratic independent Slovakia a much greater loss and a much more significant incident than we had appraised and accounted it in the earliest hours of our grief. After the cernova massacre of 1907, the murder of Stefanik in 1919 and of Dr. Jozef Tiso �36 SLOVAKI A in 1947, the attack of July 5, 1955 will be recorded in Slovak national annals as a historica lly vital event. The death of Matus Cernak marks not merely the passing of another exiled Slovak diplomat and patriot who dedicated all his mind and heart to the struggle to liberate Slovakia from ·commun ism and the Czech yoke. Matus Cerna.k's previous political backgrou nd, his personal characte r and talents, his uncompr omising doggedne ss and his tireless and successfu l activities within the territory of one of the most decisive powers affecting the fate of Slovakia -all this contribu ted tc make Cernak indispens able to the current state of our political efforts as well as a symbol for posterity . WHO WAS MATOS CERN.AK Matus Cernak was born on August 28, 1903 in the town of Vieska where his father was a miller. After his prelimin ary educatio n in Prievidza , Kezmaro k, and Banska Bystrica, he undertoo k universit y studies in Prague and subseque ntly in Leipzig, Germany . His courses were orientated toward a professor ship. Having attained his diploma, he spent several years in teaching at Trnava, and in 1930 he became a high school instructo r i.n Bratislav a. Until 1937 Cernak devoted himself almost exclusive ly to academic pursuits and to cultural interests. He was, however, one of the younger element, a member of that youthful and vitally consciou s generatio n of Slovaks who in the 1932 demonst rations at Trencian ske Teplice gave Prague incontrov ertible evidence of the fact that the spiritual and political developm ent of Slovakia will follow native inspirati on and bent and will not be trammele d by constrain ing directive s from Prague. As a youthful patriot, then, Cernak naturally found himself ah active participa nt in various political demonst rations supportin g Slovakia 's interests and deserts. It was the temper of the times that shaped his destiny. He made more and more public appearan ces and spirited pronounc ements but after his patriotic manifest o delivered in the Slovak National Theater in 1937, Cernak was overnigh t not only projected into popular acclaim but was also irrevocab ly commite d to his role as an outstand ing �SLOVAKIA 37 leader in the political arena. The keynote of his message on this occasion was "Ours is that portion of land beneath the Tatra and to us rightfully belongs all its yield." This cry and justification came to echo from innumerable speaker's platforms and it blazed its appeal throughout all the press houses of Slovakia. Within a year after this induction into public national life, Matus Cerrnik, despite his youthful thirty-five years, became a minister in the Prague government. Prague, long accustomed to an accord of fawning subservience and servility on the part of those to whom she had granted political ministries and various similar offices, soon realized that this Cernak who accepted a ministerial portfolio came as a representative of a new generation. H e was not a hireling. He was a public servant who bore the concerns of the Slovak nation deep in his heart, one to be touched neither by bribes nor by intimidation. He was upright as well as fearless and his attitude was undisguised . He understood that it served no purpose to temporize with the Czechs ; consequently, he had hardly established himself in his new office when, mincing no words, he demanded as by a 24-hour ultimatum that Dr. Benes examine the Slovak problem in the spirit of the Pittsburgh , Pact; i. e., Cerrn'i.k sought to activate Slovakia's autonomy as it had been guaranteed by the Czechs when Thomas G. Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact in 1918 and the unreserved ratification of the Parliament convened on November 12, 1918 had made the agreement binding both legally and morally. Benes was unwilling to meet Cerna.k's terms. Manfully and honorably, Cernak offered his resignation from ministerial duties and his decisive action hastened Slovakia's autonomy and later her complete independence. In the autonomous state of Slovakia (October 6, 1938 - March 14, 1939 ) 0 ernak became a prominent and popular personality. He was named minister of education and after the proclamation of independence, he was appointed the first Slovak envoy to Berlin. Berlin was not only the most significant, it was also tbe most difficult ambassadorial post. The very existence of the Slovak republic often hung by a hair there, and the Slovak diplomatic representative had to exercise consum- �38 SLOVAKIA mate tact while at the same time he preserved an inflexible devotion to his country and defended the interests committed to him in sacred trust. Matus cernak proved himself in this capacity. He again advanced the welfare of Slovakia with the same degree of ardor and uncompromising vigor which had characterized him formerly in Prague, and his mission was successful. So well, in fact, did he acquit himselr to his duties that he won for the Slovak cause the sympathies even of that power that came after the occupation of Germany, and in its eyes, too, he was accepted as a non-accredited envoy of the Slovak nation. Political reprisals meted out a prison sentence for Cernak, and after serving several years in Bratislava, he left Slovakia in 1948. His country was then degraded by the Communistic and Czech regimes. Cernak in exile dedicated himself to the struggle to secure a new freedom and independence for Slovakia, a sacred fight against Communism, a crusade for the triumph of democracy and liberty. For this reason, the brutal political murder of Matus Cernak, who ha.ct been favored by fate to assume in this national struggle for liberty and independence a role granted only tc heroes and to persons of uncommon historic stature, has shaken every worthy Slovak and every honorable person in the world. For in that little post office in Munich there fell at the hands of a cynical murderer and merely a member of the little Slovak nation but a wholly dedicated defender of the idea of freedom and democracy, and that at the very hour when the representatives of international Communism and of Czech imperialism were sporting the ma~k of surface smiles and pretending sugared speeches on peace and cooperation and coexistence. If the world's free press agencies, broadcasts and televised reports from Bonn to Washington, from Paris to Canada, Australia, Argentina, and all the free world circulated reports and commentaries on this despicable political crime, then it was in tribute to the victim cernak, a promoter of the ideal of freedom and democracy. Only the intervention and meddling of the forces of cowardly appeasement , of collaboration with Communism and Czechsown hatred of the Slovaks prevented the glorification �SLOVAKIA 39 of this sacrifice of Matus cernak as· a price demanded by the true instinct of Communism and of Czech chauvinism. Their malice alone precluded the hailing of Matus cern.ak as a martyr to the cause of liberty and democracy, blessings cherished by the universal free world. This honor Matus cernak fully deserves. Slovak nation and all loyal Slovaks now exiled and scattered throughout the far-flung countries of the free world can appraise this holocaus~ of Matus cernak in its full historic significance. WHY WAS MATO$ CERNAK SLAIN? Matus cernak fell because he was the foe of Communism and of Czech efforts to dominate Slovakia and to usurp her rights. He was singled out as one of the most unyielding exponents of the principle of liberty and a democratic way for Slovakia. For these reasons he became marked as a sworn enemy of the dual powers of international Communism and of Czech aggressive pretensions. Because he had already established a record of several years of successful service on the Slovak political front which has been in the recent past and which will very likely in the near future again be a paramount importance in the Slovak contest for liberty and independence, not only Communistic Prague but also the adherents of there-established Czech hegemony over Slovakia ranked him as the number one man on their list of resistance leaders active in exile to thwart their nefarious designs. He fell because of his love for Slovakia suffering under Czech domination, because of his friendly attitude toward the German nation, and because of the fruitful mission he was accomplishing in the Republic of Western Germany where he had all the prospects of continuing an eminently flourishing career. Whether the base assassin will be discovered as an individual or not, it is unmistakably clear to every thinking person just whose henchmen he must have been and in whose employ he accomplished his ambushed bloody deed. Since 1945 so great a number of outstanding Slovak patriots has been killed, deported anq deprivea of liberty that doubt concerning the mastermind of this vicious �40 SLOVAKIA crime would hardly be in place. Czechs, both of the Communist water-mark and non-Communist conformers, especially those who in the wake of unsuccessful collaboration with Communism escaped into the countries of western Europe, live in abnormal fears bred by guilt, the spawn of those crimes they perpetrated against Sudeten and Carpathian Germans. Their panic mounts as they see Germany now in the ascendancy as one of the influential nations in international politics. To both classes of Czechs it is clear that the existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, the question of Czech boundaries and conditions affecting the principles of life for the Czech nation in the future will come to depend in no small measure and in no negligible way on Germany and on this decisive factor whether or not Slovakia will succeed in winning the suppor t of influential powers which will further her endeavor for independence. Matus c ernak with over 15 years of residence in Germany an d very desirable contacts and personal acquaintance even among the highest of German dignitaries was undeniably instrumental in securing favor for the idea of Slovakia'~ independence. His personal integrity and his indefatigable efforts in behalf of his country, as posthumously appraised by the German press and attested to by hundreds of telegrams of condolence, won sympathetic response even in the highest levels of political power in Bonn and presaged ultimate success for the Slovak cause. It was primar ily for this reason that the foes of the Slovak nation and of the Slovak effort to attain national independence decided to liquidate cernak. THE POLITICAL MESSAGE OF MATO$ CERNA K cernak was felled in the heat of the national struggle. H e died with a conviction of Slovak truth, confident in the ultimate victory of the natural right of the Slovak p eople to enjoy their proper national life. He consummated his own supremf sacrifice in the spirit of his motto "To liberty through sacrifice" and he signed his political credo with his own life's blood. It is n ot difficult nor will be difficult to ascertain what would have been the final political message of cernak. �SLOVAKIA 41 He wrote it in 1938 in terms of his adamant resistance to compromise, his steadfastness and his patriotic ardor. You can find it recorded in hundreds of his articles and political manifestoes, in his life-long political career and in his heroic martyrdom . In the ranks of Slovak political figures, personages who have gone before us in death, cernak takes his place as the representative of a new political generation, one which has sought and which still seeks a solution of the Slovak problem on a broader European basis within the cadre of modern democratic and Christian powers. For his political mission in exile, Matus cernak was better prepared. than were most Slovaks, and by his educational background and his professional experience as well as by his personal endowments and characteristics he satisfactorily evidenced a Slovak; sense of balance and maturity and fitness for life. He also exemplified Slovakia's innate belonging to Europe and to European traditions. The most substantial and eloquent proof of his adequacy to fill the role he chose in the fight for a democratic and independent Slovakia is his very assassination, the tragic bomb which the antagonists of a Christian and independent Slovakia sent him. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is an AMERICAN INSTITUTION; it was organized May 26, 1907, at Cleveland, 0., by the Rev. Stephen Furdek. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA heartily commends all efforts of our governmental and other organs to ferret out and unmask all Communists and fellow travellers, as well as all persons and organizations who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism promoted by the Soviet Union. � SLOVAKIA 35 The Politica] }\Iessage of l\'Iat(1s (:ernak By Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum On July 5. 1955 Matus cernak, a distinguished Slovak politician and diplomat, was assassinated in Munich, Germany. Forces rabid in opposing Slovak effort to secure to establish an independent Slovakia could have hardly struck a mere telling blow than was this dastardly attack, for by it they removed from active service an esteemed patriot, this cernak of whom it may be said that of all national movers currently in exile, he must closely approximated what relatively speaking, we might designate as the position of a non-accredited legate of the Slovak nation to the republic of Western Germany. And to him as such were paid final tributes and honors in death not only by the officials of that government but by the chancellor of Western Germany himself who expressed deep sympathy on the occasion of cernak's tragic death. In Germany Matus cernak signalized himself beyond his office as a deserving politician and diplomat. It was due mostly to his untiring diligence and interest that two noteworthy publications continued to appear after the departure of Dr . Jozef Pauco; viz., SLOBODNE SLOVENSKO (Free Slovakia, founded by Dr. Pauco ) and SLOWAKISCHE KORRESPONDENZ. Concern for the social wellbeing of hundreds of Slovak refugees who arrived in Germany alw came to devolve upon cernak, and his name is very closely associated with the Slovak Institute in Munich. Even this meager cut-and-dry survey of his major activities in exile yields us the realization that the foul political murder, which so unexpectedly wrested Matus cernak from our midst, is to all the Slovaks in the free world and to the struggle for a democratic independent Slovakia a much greater loss and a much more significant incident than we had appraised and accounted it in the earliest hours of our grief. After the cernova massacre of 1907, the murder of Stefanik in 1919 and of Dr. Jozef Tiso �36 SLOVAKI A in 1947, the attack of July 5, 1955 will be recorded in Slovak national annals as a historica lly vital event. The death of Matus Cernak marks not merely the passing of another exiled Slovak diplomat and patriot who dedicated all his mind and heart to the struggle to liberate Slovakia from ·commun ism and the Czech yoke. Matus Cerna.k's previous political backgrou nd, his personal characte r and talents, his uncompr omising doggedne ss and his tireless and successfu l activities within the territory of one of the most decisive powers affecting the fate of Slovakia -all this contribu ted tc make Cernak indispens able to the current state of our political efforts as well as a symbol for posterity . WHO WAS MATOS CERN.AK Matus Cernak was born on August 28, 1903 in the town of Vieska where his father was a miller. After his prelimin ary educatio n in Prievidza , Kezmaro k, and Banska Bystrica, he undertoo k universit y studies in Prague and subseque ntly in Leipzig, Germany . His courses were orientated toward a professor ship. Having attained his diploma, he spent several years in teaching at Trnava, and in 1930 he became a high school instructo r i.n Bratislav a. Until 1937 Cernak devoted himself almost exclusive ly to academic pursuits and to cultural interests. He was, however, one of the younger element, a member of that youthful and vitally consciou s generatio n of Slovaks who in the 1932 demonst rations at Trencian ske Teplice gave Prague incontrov ertible evidence of the fact that the spiritual and political developm ent of Slovakia will follow native inspirati on and bent and will not be trammele d by constrain ing directive s from Prague. As a youthful patriot, then, Cernak naturally found himself ah active participa nt in various political demonst rations supportin g Slovakia 's interests and deserts. It was the temper of the times that shaped his destiny. He made more and more public appearan ces and spirited pronounc ements but after his patriotic manifest o delivered in the Slovak National Theater in 1937, Cernak was overnigh t not only projected into popular acclaim but was also irrevocab ly commite d to his role as an outstand ing �SLOVAKIA 37 leader in the political arena. The keynote of his message on this occasion was "Ours is that portion of land beneath the Tatra and to us rightfully belongs all its yield." This cry and justification came to echo from innumerable speaker's platforms and it blazed its appeal throughout all the press houses of Slovakia. Within a year after this induction into public national life, Matus Cerrnik, despite his youthful thirty-five years, became a minister in the Prague government. Prague, long accustomed to an accord of fawning subservience and servility on the part of those to whom she had granted political ministries and various similar offices, soon realized that this Cernak who accepted a ministerial portfolio came as a representative of a new generation. H e was not a hireling. He was a public servant who bore the concerns of the Slovak nation deep in his heart, one to be touched neither by bribes nor by intimidation. He was upright as well as fearless and his attitude was undisguised . He understood that it served no purpose to temporize with the Czechs ; consequently, he had hardly established himself in his new office when, mincing no words, he demanded as by a 24-hour ultimatum that Dr. Benes examine the Slovak problem in the spirit of the Pittsburgh , Pact; i. e., Cerrn'i.k sought to activate Slovakia's autonomy as it had been guaranteed by the Czechs when Thomas G. Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact in 1918 and the unreserved ratification of the Parliament convened on November 12, 1918 had made the agreement binding both legally and morally. Benes was unwilling to meet Cerna.k's terms. Manfully and honorably, Cernak offered his resignation from ministerial duties and his decisive action hastened Slovakia's autonomy and later her complete independence. In the autonomous state of Slovakia (October 6, 1938 - March 14, 1939 ) 0 ernak became a prominent and popular personality. He was named minister of education and after the proclamation of independence, he was appointed the first Slovak envoy to Berlin. Berlin was not only the most significant, it was also tbe most difficult ambassadorial post. The very existence of the Slovak republic often hung by a hair there, and the Slovak diplomatic representative had to exercise consum- �38 SLOVAKIA mate tact while at the same time he preserved an inflexible devotion to his country and defended the interests committed to him in sacred trust. Matus cernak proved himself in this capacity. He again advanced the welfare of Slovakia with the same degree of ardor and uncompromising vigor which had characterized him formerly in Prague, and his mission was successful. So well, in fact, did he acquit himselr to his duties that he won for the Slovak cause the sympathies even of that power that came after the occupation of Germany, and in its eyes, too, he was accepted as a non-accredited envoy of the Slovak nation. Political reprisals meted out a prison sentence for Cernak, and after serving several years in Bratislava, he left Slovakia in 1948. His country was then degraded by the Communistic and Czech regimes. Cernak in exile dedicated himself to the struggle to secure a new freedom and independence for Slovakia, a sacred fight against Communism, a crusade for the triumph of democracy and liberty. For this reason, the brutal political murder of Matus Cernak, who ha.ct been favored by fate to assume in this national struggle for liberty and independence a role granted only tc heroes and to persons of uncommon historic stature, has shaken every worthy Slovak and every honorable person in the world. For in that little post office in Munich there fell at the hands of a cynical murderer and merely a member of the little Slovak nation but a wholly dedicated defender of the idea of freedom and democracy, and that at the very hour when the representatives of international Communism and of Czech imperialism were sporting the ma~k of surface smiles and pretending sugared speeches on peace and cooperation and coexistence. If the world's free press agencies, broadcasts and televised reports from Bonn to Washington, from Paris to Canada, Australia, Argentina, and all the free world circulated reports and commentaries on this despicable political crime, then it was in tribute to the victim cernak, a promoter of the ideal of freedom and democracy. Only the intervention and meddling of the forces of cowardly appeasement , of collaboration with Communism and Czechsown hatred of the Slovaks prevented the glorification �SLOVAKIA 39 of this sacrifice of Matus cernak as· a price demanded by the true instinct of Communism and of Czech chauvinism. Their malice alone precluded the hailing of Matus cern.ak as a martyr to the cause of liberty and democracy, blessings cherished by the universal free world. This honor Matus cernak fully deserves. Slovak nation and all loyal Slovaks now exiled and scattered throughout the far-flung countries of the free world can appraise this holocaus~ of Matus cernak in its full historic significance. WHY WAS MATO$ CERNAK SLAIN? Matus cernak fell because he was the foe of Communism and of Czech efforts to dominate Slovakia and to usurp her rights. He was singled out as one of the most unyielding exponents of the principle of liberty and a democratic way for Slovakia. For these reasons he became marked as a sworn enemy of the dual powers of international Communism and of Czech aggressive pretensions. Because he had already established a record of several years of successful service on the Slovak political front which has been in the recent past and which will very likely in the near future again be a paramount importance in the Slovak contest for liberty and independence, not only Communistic Prague but also the adherents of there-established Czech hegemony over Slovakia ranked him as the number one man on their list of resistance leaders active in exile to thwart their nefarious designs. He fell because of his love for Slovakia suffering under Czech domination, because of his friendly attitude toward the German nation, and because of the fruitful mission he was accomplishing in the Republic of Western Germany where he had all the prospects of continuing an eminently flourishing career. Whether the base assassin will be discovered as an individual or not, it is unmistakably clear to every thinking person just whose henchmen he must have been and in whose employ he accomplished his ambushed bloody deed. Since 1945 so great a number of outstanding Slovak patriots has been killed, deported anq deprivea of liberty that doubt concerning the mastermind of this vicious �40 SLOVAKIA crime would hardly be in place. Czechs, both of the Communist water-mark and non-Communist conformers, especially those who in the wake of unsuccessful collaboration with Communism escaped into the countries of western Europe, live in abnormal fears bred by guilt, the spawn of those crimes they perpetrated against Sudeten and Carpathian Germans. Their panic mounts as they see Germany now in the ascendancy as one of the influential nations in international politics. To both classes of Czechs it is clear that the existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, the question of Czech boundaries and conditions affecting the principles of life for the Czech nation in the future will come to depend in no small measure and in no negligible way on Germany and on this decisive factor whether or not Slovakia will succeed in winning the suppor t of influential powers which will further her endeavor for independence. Matus c ernak with over 15 years of residence in Germany an d very desirable contacts and personal acquaintance even among the highest of German dignitaries was undeniably instrumental in securing favor for the idea of Slovakia'~ independence. His personal integrity and his indefatigable efforts in behalf of his country, as posthumously appraised by the German press and attested to by hundreds of telegrams of condolence, won sympathetic response even in the highest levels of political power in Bonn and presaged ultimate success for the Slovak cause. It was primar ily for this reason that the foes of the Slovak nation and of the Slovak effort to attain national independence decided to liquidate cernak. THE POLITICAL MESSAGE OF MATO$ CERNA K cernak was felled in the heat of the national struggle. H e died with a conviction of Slovak truth, confident in the ultimate victory of the natural right of the Slovak p eople to enjoy their proper national life. He consummated his own supremf sacrifice in the spirit of his motto "To liberty through sacrifice" and he signed his political credo with his own life's blood. It is n ot difficult nor will be difficult to ascertain what would have been the final political message of cernak. �SLOVAKIA 41 He wrote it in 1938 in terms of his adamant resistance to compromise, his steadfastness and his patriotic ardor. You can find it recorded in hundreds of his articles and political manifestoes, in his life-long political career and in his heroic martyrdom . In the ranks of Slovak political figures, personages who have gone before us in death, cernak takes his place as the representative of a new political generation, one which has sought and which still seeks a solution of the Slovak problem on a broader European basis within the cadre of modern democratic and Christian powers. For his political mission in exile, Matus cernak was better prepared. than were most Slovaks, and by his educational background and his professional experience as well as by his personal endowments and characteristics he satisfactorily evidenced a Slovak; sense of balance and maturity and fitness for life. He also exemplified Slovakia's innate belonging to Europe and to European traditions. The most substantial and eloquent proof of his adequacy to fill the role he chose in the fight for a democratic and independent Slovakia is his very assassination, the tragic bomb which the antagonists of a Christian and independent Slovakia sent him. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is an AMERICAN INSTITUTION; it was organized May 26, 1907, at Cleveland, 0., by the Rev. Stephen Furdek. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 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 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 SLOVAKIA 35 The Politica] }\Iessage of l\'Iat(1s (:ernak By Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum On July 5. 1955 Matus cernak, a distinguished Slovak politician and diplomat, was assassinated in Munich, Germany. Forces rabid in opposing Slovak effort to secure to establish an independent Slovakia could have hardly struck a mere telling blow than was this dastardly attack, for by it they removed from active service an esteemed patriot, this cernak of whom it may be said that of all national movers currently in exile, he must closely approximated what relatively speaking, we might designate as the position of a non-accredited legate of the Slovak nation to the republic of Western Germany. And to him as such were paid final tributes and honors in death not only by the officials of that government but by the chancellor of Western Germany himself who expressed deep sympathy on the occasion of cernak's tragic death. In Germany Matus cernak signalized himself beyond his office as a deserving politician and diplomat. It was due mostly to his untiring diligence and interest that two noteworthy publications continued to appear after the departure of Dr . Jozef Pauco; viz., SLOBODNE SLOVENSKO (Free Slovakia, founded by Dr. Pauco ) and SLOWAKISCHE KORRESPONDENZ. Concern for the social wellbeing of hundreds of Slovak refugees who arrived in Germany alw came to devolve upon cernak, and his name is very closely associated with the Slovak Institute in Munich. Even this meager cut-and-dry survey of his major activities in exile yields us the realization that the foul political murder, which so unexpectedly wrested Matus cernak from our midst, is to all the Slovaks in the free world and to the struggle for a democratic independent Slovakia a much greater loss and a much more significant incident than we had appraised and accounted it in the earliest hours of our grief. After the cernova massacre of 1907, the murder of Stefanik in 1919 and of Dr. Jozef Tiso 36 SLOVAKI A in 1947, the attack of July 5, 1955 will be recorded in Slovak national annals as a historica lly vital event. The death of Matus Cernak marks not merely the passing of another exiled Slovak diplomat and patriot who dedicated all his mind and heart to the struggle to liberate Slovakia from ·commun ism and the Czech yoke. Matus Cerna.k's previous political backgrou nd, his personal characte r and talents, his uncompr omising doggedne ss and his tireless and successfu l activities within the territory of one of the most decisive powers affecting the fate of Slovakia -all this contribu ted tc make Cernak indispens able to the current state of our political efforts as well as a symbol for posterity . WHO WAS MATOS CERN.AK Matus Cernak was born on August 28, 1903 in the town of Vieska where his father was a miller. After his prelimin ary educatio n in Prievidza , Kezmaro k, and Banska Bystrica, he undertoo k universit y studies in Prague and subseque ntly in Leipzig, Germany . His courses were orientated toward a professor ship. Having attained his diploma, he spent several years in teaching at Trnava, and in 1930 he became a high school instructo r i.n Bratislav a. Until 1937 Cernak devoted himself almost exclusive ly to academic pursuits and to cultural interests. He was, however, one of the younger element, a member of that youthful and vitally consciou s generatio n of Slovaks who in the 1932 demonst rations at Trencian ske Teplice gave Prague incontrov ertible evidence of the fact that the spiritual and political developm ent of Slovakia will follow native inspirati on and bent and will not be trammele d by constrain ing directive s from Prague. As a youthful patriot, then, Cernak naturally found himself ah active participa nt in various political demonst rations supportin g Slovakia 's interests and deserts. It was the temper of the times that shaped his destiny. He made more and more public appearan ces and spirited pronounc ements but after his patriotic manifest o delivered in the Slovak National Theater in 1937, Cernak was overnigh t not only projected into popular acclaim but was also irrevocab ly commite d to his role as an outstand ing SLOVAKIA 37 leader in the political arena. The keynote of his message on this occasion was "Ours is that portion of land beneath the Tatra and to us rightfully belongs all its yield." This cry and justification came to echo from innumerable speaker's platforms and it blazed its appeal throughout all the press houses of Slovakia. Within a year after this induction into public national life, Matus Cerrnik, despite his youthful thirty-five years, became a minister in the Prague government. Prague, long accustomed to an accord of fawning subservience and servility on the part of those to whom she had granted political ministries and various similar offices, soon realized that this Cernak who accepted a ministerial portfolio came as a representative of a new generation. H e was not a hireling. He was a public servant who bore the concerns of the Slovak nation deep in his heart, one to be touched neither by bribes nor by intimidation. He was upright as well as fearless and his attitude was undisguised . He understood that it served no purpose to temporize with the Czechs ; consequently, he had hardly established himself in his new office when, mincing no words, he demanded as by a 24-hour ultimatum that Dr. Benes examine the Slovak problem in the spirit of the Pittsburgh , Pact; i. e., Cerrn'i.k sought to activate Slovakia's autonomy as it had been guaranteed by the Czechs when Thomas G. Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact in 1918 and the unreserved ratification of the Parliament convened on November 12, 1918 had made the agreement binding both legally and morally. Benes was unwilling to meet Cerna.k's terms. Manfully and honorably, Cernak offered his resignation from ministerial duties and his decisive action hastened Slovakia's autonomy and later her complete independence. In the autonomous state of Slovakia (October 6, 1938 - March 14, 1939 ) 0 ernak became a prominent and popular personality. He was named minister of education and after the proclamation of independence, he was appointed the first Slovak envoy to Berlin. Berlin was not only the most significant, it was also tbe most difficult ambassadorial post. The very existence of the Slovak republic often hung by a hair there, and the Slovak diplomatic representative had to exercise consum- 38 SLOVAKIA mate tact while at the same time he preserved an inflexible devotion to his country and defended the interests committed to him in sacred trust. Matus cernak proved himself in this capacity. He again advanced the welfare of Slovakia with the same degree of ardor and uncompromising vigor which had characterized him formerly in Prague, and his mission was successful. So well, in fact, did he acquit himselr to his duties that he won for the Slovak cause the sympathies even of that power that came after the occupation of Germany, and in its eyes, too, he was accepted as a non-accredited envoy of the Slovak nation. Political reprisals meted out a prison sentence for Cernak, and after serving several years in Bratislava, he left Slovakia in 1948. His country was then degraded by the Communistic and Czech regimes. Cernak in exile dedicated himself to the struggle to secure a new freedom and independence for Slovakia, a sacred fight against Communism, a crusade for the triumph of democracy and liberty. For this reason, the brutal political murder of Matus Cernak, who ha.ct been favored by fate to assume in this national struggle for liberty and independence a role granted only tc heroes and to persons of uncommon historic stature, has shaken every worthy Slovak and every honorable person in the world. For in that little post office in Munich there fell at the hands of a cynical murderer and merely a member of the little Slovak nation but a wholly dedicated defender of the idea of freedom and democracy, and that at the very hour when the representatives of international Communism and of Czech imperialism were sporting the ma~k of surface smiles and pretending sugared speeches on peace and cooperation and coexistence. If the world's free press agencies, broadcasts and televised reports from Bonn to Washington, from Paris to Canada, Australia, Argentina, and all the free world circulated reports and commentaries on this despicable political crime, then it was in tribute to the victim cernak, a promoter of the ideal of freedom and democracy. Only the intervention and meddling of the forces of cowardly appeasement , of collaboration with Communism and Czechsown hatred of the Slovaks prevented the glorification SLOVAKIA 39 of this sacrifice of Matus cernak as· a price demanded by the true instinct of Communism and of Czech chauvinism. Their malice alone precluded the hailing of Matus cern.ak as a martyr to the cause of liberty and democracy, blessings cherished by the universal free world. This honor Matus cernak fully deserves. Slovak nation and all loyal Slovaks now exiled and scattered throughout the far-flung countries of the free world can appraise this holocaus~ of Matus cernak in its full historic significance. WHY WAS MATO$ CERNAK SLAIN? Matus cernak fell because he was the foe of Communism and of Czech efforts to dominate Slovakia and to usurp her rights. He was singled out as one of the most unyielding exponents of the principle of liberty and a democratic way for Slovakia. For these reasons he became marked as a sworn enemy of the dual powers of international Communism and of Czech aggressive pretensions. Because he had already established a record of several years of successful service on the Slovak political front which has been in the recent past and which will very likely in the near future again be a paramount importance in the Slovak contest for liberty and independence, not only Communistic Prague but also the adherents of there-established Czech hegemony over Slovakia ranked him as the number one man on their list of resistance leaders active in exile to thwart their nefarious designs. He fell because of his love for Slovakia suffering under Czech domination, because of his friendly attitude toward the German nation, and because of the fruitful mission he was accomplishing in the Republic of Western Germany where he had all the prospects of continuing an eminently flourishing career. Whether the base assassin will be discovered as an individual or not, it is unmistakably clear to every thinking person just whose henchmen he must have been and in whose employ he accomplished his ambushed bloody deed. Since 1945 so great a number of outstanding Slovak patriots has been killed, deported anq deprivea of liberty that doubt concerning the mastermind of this vicious 40 SLOVAKIA crime would hardly be in place. Czechs, both of the Communist water-mark and non-Communist conformers, especially those who in the wake of unsuccessful collaboration with Communism escaped into the countries of western Europe, live in abnormal fears bred by guilt, the spawn of those crimes they perpetrated against Sudeten and Carpathian Germans. Their panic mounts as they see Germany now in the ascendancy as one of the influential nations in international politics. To both classes of Czechs it is clear that the existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, the question of Czech boundaries and conditions affecting the principles of life for the Czech nation in the future will come to depend in no small measure and in no negligible way on Germany and on this decisive factor whether or not Slovakia will succeed in winning the suppor t of influential powers which will further her endeavor for independence. Matus c ernak with over 15 years of residence in Germany an d very desirable contacts and personal acquaintance even among the highest of German dignitaries was undeniably instrumental in securing favor for the idea of Slovakia'~ independence. His personal integrity and his indefatigable efforts in behalf of his country, as posthumously appraised by the German press and attested to by hundreds of telegrams of condolence, won sympathetic response even in the highest levels of political power in Bonn and presaged ultimate success for the Slovak cause. It was primar ily for this reason that the foes of the Slovak nation and of the Slovak effort to attain national independence decided to liquidate cernak. THE POLITICAL MESSAGE OF MATO$ CERNA K cernak was felled in the heat of the national struggle. H e died with a conviction of Slovak truth, confident in the ultimate victory of the natural right of the Slovak p eople to enjoy their proper national life. He consummated his own supremf sacrifice in the spirit of his motto "To liberty through sacrifice" and he signed his political credo with his own life's blood. It is n ot difficult nor will be difficult to ascertain what would have been the final political message of cernak. SLOVAKIA 41 He wrote it in 1938 in terms of his adamant resistance to compromise, his steadfastness and his patriotic ardor. You can find it recorded in hundreds of his articles and political manifestoes, in his life-long political career and in his heroic martyrdom . In the ranks of Slovak political figures, personages who have gone before us in death, cernak takes his place as the representative of a new political generation, one which has sought and which still seeks a solution of the Slovak problem on a broader European basis within the cadre of modern democratic and Christian powers. For his political mission in exile, Matus cernak was better prepared. than were most Slovaks, and by his educational background and his professional experience as well as by his personal endowments and characteristics he satisfactorily evidenced a Slovak; sense of balance and maturity and fitness for life. He also exemplified Slovakia's innate belonging to Europe and to European traditions. The most substantial and eloquent proof of his adequacy to fill the role he chose in the fight for a democratic and independent Slovakia is his very assassination, the tragic bomb which the antagonists of a Christian and independent Slovakia sent him. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is an AMERICAN INSTITUTION; it was organized May 26, 1907, at Cleveland, 0., by the Rev. Stephen Furdek. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 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 Political Message of Matúš Černák Description An account of the resource Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970 pp. 35-41 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/1bb283910ed6a8ea38ad73e24d74aa8e.pdf e82bddf6053a97a11377379245df8d8e PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 175 The 15th Anniversary of the Untimely Death of Prof. Franci Hrusovsky J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. On September 9, 1971, it wiil be 15 years since the Slovak cultural and political life in the free world lost one of its best representatives, Prof. Francis Hrusovsky. Even though he dedicated his life in Slovakia primarily to education and history, after leaving Slovakia in 1945, he became one of the most important political leaders among Slovaks in the free world. A very close personal and political friend of Karol Sidor who represented Slovakia during the War in the Vatican, Hrusovsky looked for contacts with Sidor a few months after leaving his native country and summoned him to organize political action of all Slovak exiles against the Communist and Czech rule in Slovakia. The message signed by several prominent Slovak politicians and intellectuals was sent first to me in Switzerland with the request to use the diplomatic channels of the Vatican to forward it to Minister Sidor. It was, therefore, only natural that later Hrusovsky became one of the closest co-operators of Karol Sidor when in 1948 we founded in the Vatican City the Slovak National Council Abroad. Being one of the first Slovak exiles admitted to the United States, Hrusovsky deserves recognition that the Slovak National Council Abroad was accepted by the main American Slovak organizations as the only representative of the Slovak exile movement for regaining freedom and independence. A man of outstanding qualities and warm personality, he gained friends very soon among all the Slovak leaders in the United States and used his time and enegy to help, on the one side, the Slovak refugees in Europe and, on the other side, he played an important role in Slovak political and cultural endeavors. He chose for his new home Cleveland, Ohio, one of the cities where the first important Slovak political document �176 SLOVAKIA was signed in the first World War and where the only Slovak religious Order, the Benedictine Fathers, had their headquarters and schools. Highly respected and liked by the Abbot of the Benedictine Fathers, Rt. Rev. T. Kojis, Hrusovsky became a professor again but, at the same time, he was working on several valuable historical works either on Slovakia ("This is Slovakia") or on the history of the religious Orders in the United States. He was also a cofounder of the Slovak Institute, of a Slovak newspaper in Cleveland, and whole-heartedly supported the activities of the Slovak National Council Abroad. When in 1953 Karol Sidor suddenly died, Prof. Hrusovsky took his place and became the leader of the Slovak exiles working for freedom, democracy and independence of their native country. Unfortunately, he did not stay for a long time at the helm of this struggle. On September 9, 1956, he left the scene of the Slovak exile life. It was the third tragic loss among Slovaks in exile and thousands of Slovaks livings on this side of the Iron Curtain were stunned by the unexpected news announcing the sudden death of Dr. Francis Hrusovsky. He was admired and deeply respected not only as the President of the Slovak National Council Abroad, but also as an outstanding patriot, eminent historian and educator, and a man of sterling moral calibre. Among prominent representatives of a Slovak generation to which it was given to see their cherished dream of Slovakia's independence and statehood fulfilled only to be ruthlessly destroyed within a few years, Dr. Hrusovsk}· personified the best traditions and characteristics which distinguished Slovak intellectuals, mercilessly hounded to extermination by the Communists. The loss of Dr. Hrusovsky was very keenly felt both because of what he was per se and because of what he meant to the nation. Because of these reasons Slovaks abroad realized that no blow could have been more grievous in their ranks than the death of Dr. Hrusovsky. It sorely afflicted all Slovak communities in the free world but �SLOVAKIA 177 especially Slovak emigres dedicated to the vindication of Slovakia's liberation from foreign rule. It has been an unhappy lot of Slovaks in the free world to suffer three irreparable losses within the span of three consecutive years: the passing of Karol Sidor, diplomat, politician, and key leader of the Slovak exile movement, the political assassination of Matus Cernak, a diplomat and the most valuable force among Slovak exiles in Germany; and then the untimely death of Dr. Hrusovsky, called in the prime of his career at the age of 53. Only a year before, when Dr. Hrusovsky accepted the chief executive responsibilities of the Slovak National Council Abroad, Slovaks abroad rejoiced in being under his capable leadership. We confidently fixed all our prospects on him as being the individual best qualified to effect a united effort of all Slovak exiled groups engaged in the struggle to attain Slovakia's liberation and independence. Mild-mannered and unassuming as he was, Dr. Hrusovsky commanded the respect of Slovaks of both the old and new immigrants. His personal inclination and preference were not for the tensions and strategems of a political career 1 but he did not decline wholehearted service to his nation in this difficult post when it was evident that the need of the hour required it of him. The Cleveland weekly SLOVAK NEWS wrote of him : "In less than a decade in his adopted country he became a beloved figure in Slovak circles everywhere. Everyone who met him was impressed by his personality. Those who knew him learned to admire his scholarship, to respect his unwavering devotion to principles and to love him for his boundless charity. Seldom can one expect to meet a man of his moral stature, dignity, idealism and faith." The primary interest of Dr. Hrusovsky's life was teaching-as we mentioned above-specifically the teaching of history and the pursuit of historical research. His innate love of his people and his instinctive devotion to youth prompted him to choose education as his profession. He attained distinction in this field and it was as an aducator and a historian that he entered the political arena. Here �178 SLOVAKIA he looked upon all his political functions and commitments as a service to his nation's highest interest and hence he worked with a sense of dedication to public duty. Specializing as he did in medieval history, Dr. Hrusovsky published several fully documented studies on Great Moravia, the first Slovak and Slav state on the Danube. He also prepared a Slovak history text for secondary schools which established a precedent in the Slovak publishing world. In its second edition this book was velcomed with such wide acclaim that it became a national best seller. Translated into Geman, the book was the first serious history book on Slovakia for scholars outside Slovakia. In the early part of his exile, during his sojourn in Rome and in the United States, Dr. Hrusovsky prepared a scholarly work on the earliest Slovak rulers and an exhaustive study investigating the relations of the Slovak rulers of Great Moravia with the Holy See, which was published first in Slovak and later in English translation in Slovak Studi es - Cyrillo-Methodian a (Slovak Institute, Rome, 1963 ). Slovak letters as well as American Slovak history were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and expansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. 3 This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural history of American citizens of Slovak descent, and would certainly deserve an edition in English.3 Besides these books, Dr. Hrusovsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numerous addresses delivered on various occasions. Unfortunately, so far no bibliography of his writings was published except that in Literarny Almanach.4 Reflecting on some of the work and life of Dr. Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond with the expression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultural life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for work and his unfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." We can safely say that all true Slovaks on both sides �SLOVAKIA 179 of the Iron Curtain bear with regret the loss of Dr. Hrusovsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovsky's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and liberties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die. Thus indeed will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live among us; his courage, his vision, his selflessness serving as an undying example for coming generations of Slovaks, inspiring them to win for their country that freedom, that independence and intenationally recognized state for which Hrusovsky worked literally to his dying breath. FOOTNOTES 1) Hrusovsky was best known in Slovakia as a director of a secondary Catholic school with old national traditions in Klafu>r pod Znievom. Slovenske Rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in America) , Slovensky ustav, Cleveland, Ohio, 1955. 3) His only book in English is: "This is Slovakia" (Obrana Press, Inc., Scranton, Pa.) 1953, which was the first objective presentation of Slovakia to Americans of Slovak origin as well as to all who read English. 2) 4) See Litercirny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Ed. Dr. J. Pauco, Middletown, Pa., 1967. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to American Democracy, the American way of life, and encourages Americans of Slovak descent to be loyal and alert citizens of America; it urges and aids Slovak emigrants to become U. S. citizens by publishing appropriate manuals and brochures in Slovak and English. " THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies .kwdliary, the "VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak cultttrai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festivals, social evenings, etc. Our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "V~ielky" in every large Slovak community. � SLOVAKIA 175 The 15th Anniversary of the Untimely Death of Prof. Franci Hrusovsky J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. On September 9, 1971, it wiil be 15 years since the Slovak cultural and political life in the free world lost one of its best representatives, Prof. Francis Hrusovsky. Even though he dedicated his life in Slovakia primarily to education and history, after leaving Slovakia in 1945, he became one of the most important political leaders among Slovaks in the free world. A very close personal and political friend of Karol Sidor who represented Slovakia during the War in the Vatican, Hrusovsky looked for contacts with Sidor a few months after leaving his native country and summoned him to organize political action of all Slovak exiles against the Communist and Czech rule in Slovakia. The message signed by several prominent Slovak politicians and intellectuals was sent first to me in Switzerland with the request to use the diplomatic channels of the Vatican to forward it to Minister Sidor. It was, therefore, only natural that later Hrusovsky became one of the closest co-operators of Karol Sidor when in 1948 we founded in the Vatican City the Slovak National Council Abroad. Being one of the first Slovak exiles admitted to the United States, Hrusovsky deserves recognition that the Slovak National Council Abroad was accepted by the main American Slovak organizations as the only representative of the Slovak exile movement for regaining freedom and independence. A man of outstanding qualities and warm personality, he gained friends very soon among all the Slovak leaders in the United States and used his time and enegy to help, on the one side, the Slovak refugees in Europe and, on the other side, he played an important role in Slovak political and cultural endeavors. He chose for his new home Cleveland, Ohio, one of the cities where the first important Slovak political document �176 SLOVAKIA was signed in the first World War and where the only Slovak religious Order, the Benedictine Fathers, had their headquarters and schools. Highly respected and liked by the Abbot of the Benedictine Fathers, Rt. Rev. T. Kojis, Hrusovsky became a professor again but, at the same time, he was working on several valuable historical works either on Slovakia ("This is Slovakia") or on the history of the religious Orders in the United States. He was also a cofounder of the Slovak Institute, of a Slovak newspaper in Cleveland, and whole-heartedly supported the activities of the Slovak National Council Abroad. When in 1953 Karol Sidor suddenly died, Prof. Hrusovsky took his place and became the leader of the Slovak exiles working for freedom, democracy and independence of their native country. Unfortunately, he did not stay for a long time at the helm of this struggle. On September 9, 1956, he left the scene of the Slovak exile life. It was the third tragic loss among Slovaks in exile and thousands of Slovaks livings on this side of the Iron Curtain were stunned by the unexpected news announcing the sudden death of Dr. Francis Hrusovsky. He was admired and deeply respected not only as the President of the Slovak National Council Abroad, but also as an outstanding patriot, eminent historian and educator, and a man of sterling moral calibre. Among prominent representatives of a Slovak generation to which it was given to see their cherished dream of Slovakia's independence and statehood fulfilled only to be ruthlessly destroyed within a few years, Dr. Hrusovsk}· personified the best traditions and characteristics which distinguished Slovak intellectuals, mercilessly hounded to extermination by the Communists. The loss of Dr. Hrusovsky was very keenly felt both because of what he was per se and because of what he meant to the nation. Because of these reasons Slovaks abroad realized that no blow could have been more grievous in their ranks than the death of Dr. Hrusovsky. It sorely afflicted all Slovak communities in the free world but �SLOVAKIA 177 especially Slovak emigres dedicated to the vindication of Slovakia's liberation from foreign rule. It has been an unhappy lot of Slovaks in the free world to suffer three irreparable losses within the span of three consecutive years: the passing of Karol Sidor, diplomat, politician, and key leader of the Slovak exile movement, the political assassination of Matus Cernak, a diplomat and the most valuable force among Slovak exiles in Germany; and then the untimely death of Dr. Hrusovsky, called in the prime of his career at the age of 53. Only a year before, when Dr. Hrusovsky accepted the chief executive responsibilities of the Slovak National Council Abroad, Slovaks abroad rejoiced in being under his capable leadership. We confidently fixed all our prospects on him as being the individual best qualified to effect a united effort of all Slovak exiled groups engaged in the struggle to attain Slovakia's liberation and independence. Mild-mannered and unassuming as he was, Dr. Hrusovsky commanded the respect of Slovaks of both the old and new immigrants. His personal inclination and preference were not for the tensions and strategems of a political career 1 but he did not decline wholehearted service to his nation in this difficult post when it was evident that the need of the hour required it of him. The Cleveland weekly SLOVAK NEWS wrote of him : "In less than a decade in his adopted country he became a beloved figure in Slovak circles everywhere. Everyone who met him was impressed by his personality. Those who knew him learned to admire his scholarship, to respect his unwavering devotion to principles and to love him for his boundless charity. Seldom can one expect to meet a man of his moral stature, dignity, idealism and faith." The primary interest of Dr. Hrusovsky's life was teaching-as we mentioned above-specifically the teaching of history and the pursuit of historical research. His innate love of his people and his instinctive devotion to youth prompted him to choose education as his profession. He attained distinction in this field and it was as an aducator and a historian that he entered the political arena. Here �178 SLOVAKIA he looked upon all his political functions and commitments as a service to his nation's highest interest and hence he worked with a sense of dedication to public duty. Specializing as he did in medieval history, Dr. Hrusovsky published several fully documented studies on Great Moravia, the first Slovak and Slav state on the Danube. He also prepared a Slovak history text for secondary schools which established a precedent in the Slovak publishing world. In its second edition this book was velcomed with such wide acclaim that it became a national best seller. Translated into Geman, the book was the first serious history book on Slovakia for scholars outside Slovakia. In the early part of his exile, during his sojourn in Rome and in the United States, Dr. Hrusovsky prepared a scholarly work on the earliest Slovak rulers and an exhaustive study investigating the relations of the Slovak rulers of Great Moravia with the Holy See, which was published first in Slovak and later in English translation in Slovak Studi es - Cyrillo-Methodian a (Slovak Institute, Rome, 1963 ). Slovak letters as well as American Slovak history were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and expansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. 3 This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural history of American citizens of Slovak descent, and would certainly deserve an edition in English.3 Besides these books, Dr. Hrusovsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numerous addresses delivered on various occasions. Unfortunately, so far no bibliography of his writings was published except that in Literarny Almanach.4 Reflecting on some of the work and life of Dr. Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond with the expression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultural life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for work and his unfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." We can safely say that all true Slovaks on both sides �SLOVAKIA 179 of the Iron Curtain bear with regret the loss of Dr. Hrusovsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovsky's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and liberties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die. Thus indeed will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live among us; his courage, his vision, his selflessness serving as an undying example for coming generations of Slovaks, inspiring them to win for their country that freedom, that independence and intenationally recognized state for which Hrusovsky worked literally to his dying breath. FOOTNOTES 1) Hrusovsky was best known in Slovakia as a director of a secondary Catholic school with old national traditions in Klafu>r pod Znievom. Slovenske Rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in America) , Slovensky ustav, Cleveland, Ohio, 1955. 3) His only book in English is: "This is Slovakia" (Obrana Press, Inc., Scranton, Pa.) 1953, which was the first objective presentation of Slovakia to Americans of Slovak origin as well as to all who read English. 2) 4) See Litercirny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Ed. Dr. J. Pauco, Middletown, Pa., 1967. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to American Democracy, the American way of life, and encourages Americans of Slovak descent to be loyal and alert citizens of America; it urges and aids Slovak emigrants to become U. S. citizens by publishing appropriate manuals and brochures in Slovak and English. " THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies .kwdliary, the "VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak cultttrai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festivals, social evenings, etc. Our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "V~ielky" in every large Slovak community. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1971, Vol. 21 Description An account of the resource Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971. 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 1971 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 175 The 15th Anniversary of the Untimely Death of Prof. Franci Hrusovsky J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. On September 9, 1971, it wiil be 15 years since the Slovak cultural and political life in the free world lost one of its best representatives, Prof. Francis Hrusovsky. Even though he dedicated his life in Slovakia primarily to education and history, after leaving Slovakia in 1945, he became one of the most important political leaders among Slovaks in the free world. A very close personal and political friend of Karol Sidor who represented Slovakia during the War in the Vatican, Hrusovsky looked for contacts with Sidor a few months after leaving his native country and summoned him to organize political action of all Slovak exiles against the Communist and Czech rule in Slovakia. The message signed by several prominent Slovak politicians and intellectuals was sent first to me in Switzerland with the request to use the diplomatic channels of the Vatican to forward it to Minister Sidor. It was, therefore, only natural that later Hrusovsky became one of the closest co-operators of Karol Sidor when in 1948 we founded in the Vatican City the Slovak National Council Abroad. Being one of the first Slovak exiles admitted to the United States, Hrusovsky deserves recognition that the Slovak National Council Abroad was accepted by the main American Slovak organizations as the only representative of the Slovak exile movement for regaining freedom and independence. A man of outstanding qualities and warm personality, he gained friends very soon among all the Slovak leaders in the United States and used his time and enegy to help, on the one side, the Slovak refugees in Europe and, on the other side, he played an important role in Slovak political and cultural endeavors. He chose for his new home Cleveland, Ohio, one of the cities where the first important Slovak political document 176 SLOVAKIA was signed in the first World War and where the only Slovak religious Order, the Benedictine Fathers, had their headquarters and schools. Highly respected and liked by the Abbot of the Benedictine Fathers, Rt. Rev. T. Kojis, Hrusovsky became a professor again but, at the same time, he was working on several valuable historical works either on Slovakia ("This is Slovakia") or on the history of the religious Orders in the United States. He was also a cofounder of the Slovak Institute, of a Slovak newspaper in Cleveland, and whole-heartedly supported the activities of the Slovak National Council Abroad. When in 1953 Karol Sidor suddenly died, Prof. Hrusovsky took his place and became the leader of the Slovak exiles working for freedom, democracy and independence of their native country. Unfortunately, he did not stay for a long time at the helm of this struggle. On September 9, 1956, he left the scene of the Slovak exile life. It was the third tragic loss among Slovaks in exile and thousands of Slovaks livings on this side of the Iron Curtain were stunned by the unexpected news announcing the sudden death of Dr. Francis Hrusovsky. He was admired and deeply respected not only as the President of the Slovak National Council Abroad, but also as an outstanding patriot, eminent historian and educator, and a man of sterling moral calibre. Among prominent representatives of a Slovak generation to which it was given to see their cherished dream of Slovakia's independence and statehood fulfilled only to be ruthlessly destroyed within a few years, Dr. Hrusovsk}· personified the best traditions and characteristics which distinguished Slovak intellectuals, mercilessly hounded to extermination by the Communists. The loss of Dr. Hrusovsky was very keenly felt both because of what he was per se and because of what he meant to the nation. Because of these reasons Slovaks abroad realized that no blow could have been more grievous in their ranks than the death of Dr. Hrusovsky. It sorely afflicted all Slovak communities in the free world but SLOVAKIA 177 especially Slovak emigres dedicated to the vindication of Slovakia's liberation from foreign rule. It has been an unhappy lot of Slovaks in the free world to suffer three irreparable losses within the span of three consecutive years: the passing of Karol Sidor, diplomat, politician, and key leader of the Slovak exile movement, the political assassination of Matus Cernak, a diplomat and the most valuable force among Slovak exiles in Germany; and then the untimely death of Dr. Hrusovsky, called in the prime of his career at the age of 53. Only a year before, when Dr. Hrusovsky accepted the chief executive responsibilities of the Slovak National Council Abroad, Slovaks abroad rejoiced in being under his capable leadership. We confidently fixed all our prospects on him as being the individual best qualified to effect a united effort of all Slovak exiled groups engaged in the struggle to attain Slovakia's liberation and independence. Mild-mannered and unassuming as he was, Dr. Hrusovsky commanded the respect of Slovaks of both the old and new immigrants. His personal inclination and preference were not for the tensions and strategems of a political career 1 but he did not decline wholehearted service to his nation in this difficult post when it was evident that the need of the hour required it of him. The Cleveland weekly SLOVAK NEWS wrote of him : "In less than a decade in his adopted country he became a beloved figure in Slovak circles everywhere. Everyone who met him was impressed by his personality. Those who knew him learned to admire his scholarship, to respect his unwavering devotion to principles and to love him for his boundless charity. Seldom can one expect to meet a man of his moral stature, dignity, idealism and faith." The primary interest of Dr. Hrusovsky's life was teaching-as we mentioned above-specifically the teaching of history and the pursuit of historical research. His innate love of his people and his instinctive devotion to youth prompted him to choose education as his profession. He attained distinction in this field and it was as an aducator and a historian that he entered the political arena. Here 178 SLOVAKIA he looked upon all his political functions and commitments as a service to his nation's highest interest and hence he worked with a sense of dedication to public duty. Specializing as he did in medieval history, Dr. Hrusovsky published several fully documented studies on Great Moravia, the first Slovak and Slav state on the Danube. He also prepared a Slovak history text for secondary schools which established a precedent in the Slovak publishing world. In its second edition this book was velcomed with such wide acclaim that it became a national best seller. Translated into Geman, the book was the first serious history book on Slovakia for scholars outside Slovakia. In the early part of his exile, during his sojourn in Rome and in the United States, Dr. Hrusovsky prepared a scholarly work on the earliest Slovak rulers and an exhaustive study investigating the relations of the Slovak rulers of Great Moravia with the Holy See, which was published first in Slovak and later in English translation in Slovak Studi es - Cyrillo-Methodian a (Slovak Institute, Rome, 1963 ). Slovak letters as well as American Slovak history were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and expansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. 3 This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural history of American citizens of Slovak descent, and would certainly deserve an edition in English.3 Besides these books, Dr. Hrusovsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numerous addresses delivered on various occasions. Unfortunately, so far no bibliography of his writings was published except that in Literarny Almanach.4 Reflecting on some of the work and life of Dr. Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond with the expression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultural life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for work and his unfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." We can safely say that all true Slovaks on both sides SLOVAKIA 179 of the Iron Curtain bear with regret the loss of Dr. Hrusovsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovsky's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and liberties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die. Thus indeed will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live among us; his courage, his vision, his selflessness serving as an undying example for coming generations of Slovaks, inspiring them to win for their country that freedom, that independence and intenationally recognized state for which Hrusovsky worked literally to his dying breath. FOOTNOTES 1) Hrusovsky was best known in Slovakia as a director of a secondary Catholic school with old national traditions in Klafu>r pod Znievom. Slovenske Rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in America) , Slovensky ustav, Cleveland, Ohio, 1955. 3) His only book in English is: "This is Slovakia" (Obrana Press, Inc., Scranton, Pa.) 1953, which was the first objective presentation of Slovakia to Americans of Slovak origin as well as to all who read English. 2) 4) See Litercirny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Ed. Dr. J. Pauco, Middletown, Pa., 1967. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to American Democracy, the American way of life, and encourages Americans of Slovak descent to be loyal and alert citizens of America; it urges and aids Slovak emigrants to become U. S. citizens by publishing appropriate manuals and brochures in Slovak and English. " THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies .kwdliary, the "VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak cultttrai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festivals, social evenings, etc. Our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "V~ielky" in every large Slovak community.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The 15th Anniversary of the Untimely Death of Prof. Francis Hrušovský Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971 pp. 175-179 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/fb40bfffdceeb97a931b9b25f09f126a.pdf 911fa8cfb7edca5158a25708177d2d32 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 79 The Assin1ilation Process of An1e rican Slovaks J . M . Ki rs c h b au m, Ph. D . Historians and sociologists have presented the United States during the past 200 years as a vast melting pot in which immigrants from many nations and continents were supposed to become Americans and lose their identity. This belief became a part of the national consciousness of the majority of Americans and foreign scholars have accepted uncritically the idea that successive waves of immigrants have been "digested" and have become an integral part of the American nation. During the past few year s, this hypothesis has been put in doubt by scholars and especially by sociologists dealing with today's America. Some of them assert that the melting pot was a romantic idea about something which happened only in the writings of historians who dealt with national ambitions and dreams and not with reality. Even 200 years after the enunciation of the melting pot idea, the ethnic groups continue to behave differently from the Anglo-Saxon element. According to recent studies, the melting pot concept extended chiefly to the political and economic spheres. In other areas, what sociologists call "structual separation," persists. In religion and in social relations, the ethnic groups resist amalgamation. In view of this situation, the Organization of American Historians dedicated a session during its annual meeting in 1969 to the topic : "Ethnicity: A Neglected Dimension of American History." At this meeting, some scholars challenged the traditional ways of interpreting American history and came to the conclusions which brought renewed academic interest in the problems of the ethnic groups .1 The historians were joined by sociologists and linguists and the results of their research contradicts to a great degree the idea of a melting pot and monolithic structure of the American nation. They found out that even Americans of western European origin (German, Norwegian, �80 SLOVAKIA Swedish, Irish, etc.) continue to this very day t.o recognize their ancestry and t.o partially define themselves in accordance with it. "For reasons that are not really well understood, these groups have not lost themselves entirely within their American surroundings even after three, four, or more generations, although they have had every opportunity to do so." 2 The ethnic groups preserved, however, not only the awareness of their European ancestry and cultural heritage, but many of them maintained the languages spoken by their fathers and fore-fathers. As a result, the idea of ethnicity and of language maintenance in America is becoming of interest not only to scholars but also to other Americans. "That third and subsequent generations frequently continue to think of themselves in partially ethnic terms and frequently maintain positive attitudes and interests with respect to the heritage of their grandparents, became a significant fact in American life." 3 Prof. Fishman in the recent book Language Loyalty in the United States which he edited together with several American scholars, deals especially with the maintenance and perpetuation of non-English mother tongues of American ethnic and religious groups. Through thorough research, Fishman and a group of American scholars came to startling results about present-day America. They also mention Slovaks and in view of the possibility that the statistics confused again Czechs and Slovaks, the new generation of Slovaks educated at American universities should carry out genuine research into the problems of the Slovak ethnic group in the United States. According to Fishman, the assimilation process of the Slovaks proceeds much faster than that of many other ethnic groups. They have assimilated much faster than, for instance, Poles, Magyars, Ukrainians, or Germans. According to the census data, there were 274,948 Slovaks in 1920 who were not born in the United States, whereas in 1940 only 171,580 and 125,000 in 1960. As for Slovaks born in the United States, the 1920 statistics show 344,918 as against 283,520 in 1940 and 125,000 in 1960, which means a considerable decrease from decade to decade. The number of Slovaks born in America who gave their mother tongue �SLOVAKIA 81 as Slovaks, according to the censuses of 1920 and 1940 is again percentagewise much smaller than in the case of other Slavs or even Magyars. The maintenance of mother tongues or the admission of Slovak parentage declines among the children of Slovak parents from generation to generation, according to American statistics. Thus the process of assimilation seems to be much stronger among Slovaks than among Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Magyars or Germans. For instance, in 1960, 125,000 first generation Slovaks claimed their mother tongue as Slovak. The same number of second generation Slovaks appear in the statistics, but in the third generation, only 10,000 Americans born to Slovak parents claimed Slovak as their mother tongue. As a result, only 260,000 persons born in the United States claimed in 1960 to be of Slovak origin or admitted that their mother tongue was Slovak. The total number of foreign and native born persons who claimed Slovak as their mother tongue was 484,360 in 1940 and only 260,0000 in 1960.4 The decrease or assimilation process among Slovaks in the United States is best shown by the following comparison with other central European immigrants: Slovaks decreased by 46.3 % Poles decreased by 9 .6 % Serbs and Croats decreased by 10.8 % Ukrainians increased by 202.6 % Prof. Fishman carefully mentions that mother tongue data on natives of foreign or mixed parentage does not necessarily reflect the real number of people born in the individual ethnic groups. Some demographic and some non-demographic factors account for the fact that some Americans of non Anglo-Saxon origin did not reveal their ethnic origin and mother tongue. Among the factors were a) "the varying prestige of the mother tongue both among its own speakers and among Americans in general," and b) tlile social mobility experienced by the second generation. Where the prestige of a particular mother tongue was low, and where the social mobility of its prospective claimants was high, it is likely the language less frequently �82 SLOVAKIA became the mother of American-born (second generation) offspring and was even less frequently claimed as such. "Unfortunately," concludes Fishman, "no census-type data are available on either of these variables and it has been necessary to study them by other means." 5 Generally, the immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe preserved their language and cultural heritage much better than immigrants from other parts of the European Continent. In the case of Slovaks, the statistics show that in spite of the greater number of parishes, organizations and newspapers compared to some other ethnic groups from Central Europe had in the past decades, the assimilation process was much stronger. As far as the mother tongue maintenance is concerned, American Slovaks are in twelfth place among the 23 ethnic groups in 1969, but for the period 1940-1960 in the 15th place. They are far ahead of Magyars, Russians, Poles, Croats, or Serbians in their integration into the AngloSaxon language group. There are no statistics about the number of Slovak newspapers and periodicals since these were shown under "other Slavic Groups" which includes Slovenes, Croatians, and Serbians. The statistics also show that the number of Slovaks is inferior during some decades to the number of Czechs and this could lead to the conclusion that the census takers may have confused the Czechs with Slovaks and vice-versa, as it happened according to the official admission in the Canadian census of 1961. The statistics quoted above and used in Fishman's book have been derived from U.S. Census of Population 1960: General Social and Economic Characteristics, United States Summary, Final Report PC ( 1 )-lC.6 The statistics do not add, however, correctly and they seem to be at odds with unofficial statistics and numbers of Slovaks who are at the present time organized in Slovak organizations in the United States. Although generally only 15 to 20 % of Americans or Canadians of East European origin are members of their fraternal or socio-cultural associations, the number of Slovaks organized in the United States amounted in 1969 to well over 450,000 according to the �SLOVAKIA 83 Secretary of the Slovak League of America, Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. In addition 'to this membership, we have to take into consideration social clubs and church organizations, as well as cultural centres which have been organized within Slovak Catholic and Protestant parishes or in larger American cities, and whose members are only partly organized in the fraternal Slovak organizations. According to Dr. Pauco, there is almost at each parish such a club or church organization and half of its membership does not belong to any Slovak fraternal organization. Since there are over 400 parishes in the United States, and taking into account that Slovak families are usually very large, counting five members as a f!1inimum, Dr. Pauco, as a long time Secretary of the Federation of Slovak Organizations in the United States, the Slovak League of America, assumes that the number of Americans of Slovak origin who to a great degree are still conscious of their ethnic background, amount to approximately two million. 7 However, if the official statistics are correct, then we cannot but come to the conclusion that the assimilation process of Slovaks is much stronger than we are willing to admit. On the other hand, if the statistics can be doubted, then there is only one remedy; the educated Slovaks whose numbers are not negligible, should begin a thorough research into the problems of American Slovaks. Their task will be now much easier than a few years ago since a joint commission cif the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association issued a statement on the writing and teaching of American history in the text books, stressing the fact that American ethnlc difference must be "faithfully portrayed." Also many other things reveal that a new tide of ethnic studies is at hand. The first sign is the growing interest of publishers and, second, new scholarship efforts are growing in American universities. The renewed interest in ethnic Americans was underscored by the Ford Foundation which announced in Ne,v York a new program of fellowships to encourage scholarships in the field of ethnic studies. A. national award of $288,052.00 will go to 87 doctoral candidacies at 58 graduate �SLOVAKIA 84 schools for the writing of dissertations on subjects dealing with the experience and culture of ethnic minorities in the United States. "The new program is designed to help stimulate the development of a body of knowledge on the history and culture of the nation's ethnic minorities, which is already becoming a subject of intense interest to a new generation of American students," according to F. Champion Ward, the Foundation's Vice-President for Higher Education and Research. 8 1) International Migration Rev.iew, an article by Dean Cincl, p. 58-63. 2) See Fishman et al, Language Loyalty in the United States (Mouton & Co., The Hague) , 1966. 3) Fishman, op. c. p. 31. 4 ) Fishman, ibid. p. 44. This figure shou}jd read 415,000 because Fishman shows 125,000 for foreign born (,p. 36) and 260,000 for native born ( p. 42) . 5 ) Ibid. , p. 40. 6 ) Published in Washington, D. C., by U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965. 7 ) Personal letter by Dr. Pauco /dated December 8, 1970. Dr. Pauco's estimate of the number of Slovaks in the United States is corroborated also by the figures on the emigration from Slovakia to the United States published recently by the Slovak Academy of Sciences. In the years 1880-1890, 122,479 persons left Slovakia for the United States; in the years 1901-1910, 215,292 persons, and in the years 1850-1921 529,949 persons; althogether 867,720 persons left for the United States. Even if i,t is true that many of these persons returned after two or three years spent in the United States, the statistics justify the estimate that about two million Americans are of Slovak origin. 8 ) The New York Times, November 27, 1970, page L. 41. " 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. � SLOVAKIA 79 The Assin1ilation Process of An1e rican Slovaks J . M . Ki rs c h b au m, Ph. D . Historians and sociologists have presented the United States during the past 200 years as a vast melting pot in which immigrants from many nations and continents were supposed to become Americans and lose their identity. This belief became a part of the national consciousness of the majority of Americans and foreign scholars have accepted uncritically the idea that successive waves of immigrants have been "digested" and have become an integral part of the American nation. During the past few year s, this hypothesis has been put in doubt by scholars and especially by sociologists dealing with today's America. Some of them assert that the melting pot was a romantic idea about something which happened only in the writings of historians who dealt with national ambitions and dreams and not with reality. Even 200 years after the enunciation of the melting pot idea, the ethnic groups continue to behave differently from the Anglo-Saxon element. According to recent studies, the melting pot concept extended chiefly to the political and economic spheres. In other areas, what sociologists call "structual separation," persists. In religion and in social relations, the ethnic groups resist amalgamation. In view of this situation, the Organization of American Historians dedicated a session during its annual meeting in 1969 to the topic : "Ethnicity: A Neglected Dimension of American History." At this meeting, some scholars challenged the traditional ways of interpreting American history and came to the conclusions which brought renewed academic interest in the problems of the ethnic groups .1 The historians were joined by sociologists and linguists and the results of their research contradicts to a great degree the idea of a melting pot and monolithic structure of the American nation. They found out that even Americans of western European origin (German, Norwegian, �80 SLOVAKIA Swedish, Irish, etc.) continue to this very day t.o recognize their ancestry and t.o partially define themselves in accordance with it. "For reasons that are not really well understood, these groups have not lost themselves entirely within their American surroundings even after three, four, or more generations, although they have had every opportunity to do so." 2 The ethnic groups preserved, however, not only the awareness of their European ancestry and cultural heritage, but many of them maintained the languages spoken by their fathers and fore-fathers. As a result, the idea of ethnicity and of language maintenance in America is becoming of interest not only to scholars but also to other Americans. "That third and subsequent generations frequently continue to think of themselves in partially ethnic terms and frequently maintain positive attitudes and interests with respect to the heritage of their grandparents, became a significant fact in American life." 3 Prof. Fishman in the recent book Language Loyalty in the United States which he edited together with several American scholars, deals especially with the maintenance and perpetuation of non-English mother tongues of American ethnic and religious groups. Through thorough research, Fishman and a group of American scholars came to startling results about present-day America. They also mention Slovaks and in view of the possibility that the statistics confused again Czechs and Slovaks, the new generation of Slovaks educated at American universities should carry out genuine research into the problems of the Slovak ethnic group in the United States. According to Fishman, the assimilation process of the Slovaks proceeds much faster than that of many other ethnic groups. They have assimilated much faster than, for instance, Poles, Magyars, Ukrainians, or Germans. According to the census data, there were 274,948 Slovaks in 1920 who were not born in the United States, whereas in 1940 only 171,580 and 125,000 in 1960. As for Slovaks born in the United States, the 1920 statistics show 344,918 as against 283,520 in 1940 and 125,000 in 1960, which means a considerable decrease from decade to decade. The number of Slovaks born in America who gave their mother tongue �SLOVAKIA 81 as Slovaks, according to the censuses of 1920 and 1940 is again percentagewise much smaller than in the case of other Slavs or even Magyars. The maintenance of mother tongues or the admission of Slovak parentage declines among the children of Slovak parents from generation to generation, according to American statistics. Thus the process of assimilation seems to be much stronger among Slovaks than among Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Magyars or Germans. For instance, in 1960, 125,000 first generation Slovaks claimed their mother tongue as Slovak. The same number of second generation Slovaks appear in the statistics, but in the third generation, only 10,000 Americans born to Slovak parents claimed Slovak as their mother tongue. As a result, only 260,000 persons born in the United States claimed in 1960 to be of Slovak origin or admitted that their mother tongue was Slovak. The total number of foreign and native born persons who claimed Slovak as their mother tongue was 484,360 in 1940 and only 260,0000 in 1960.4 The decrease or assimilation process among Slovaks in the United States is best shown by the following comparison with other central European immigrants: Slovaks decreased by 46.3 % Poles decreased by 9 .6 % Serbs and Croats decreased by 10.8 % Ukrainians increased by 202.6 % Prof. Fishman carefully mentions that mother tongue data on natives of foreign or mixed parentage does not necessarily reflect the real number of people born in the individual ethnic groups. Some demographic and some non-demographic factors account for the fact that some Americans of non Anglo-Saxon origin did not reveal their ethnic origin and mother tongue. Among the factors were a) "the varying prestige of the mother tongue both among its own speakers and among Americans in general," and b) tlile social mobility experienced by the second generation. Where the prestige of a particular mother tongue was low, and where the social mobility of its prospective claimants was high, it is likely the language less frequently �82 SLOVAKIA became the mother of American-born (second generation) offspring and was even less frequently claimed as such. "Unfortunately," concludes Fishman, "no census-type data are available on either of these variables and it has been necessary to study them by other means." 5 Generally, the immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe preserved their language and cultural heritage much better than immigrants from other parts of the European Continent. In the case of Slovaks, the statistics show that in spite of the greater number of parishes, organizations and newspapers compared to some other ethnic groups from Central Europe had in the past decades, the assimilation process was much stronger. As far as the mother tongue maintenance is concerned, American Slovaks are in twelfth place among the 23 ethnic groups in 1969, but for the period 1940-1960 in the 15th place. They are far ahead of Magyars, Russians, Poles, Croats, or Serbians in their integration into the AngloSaxon language group. There are no statistics about the number of Slovak newspapers and periodicals since these were shown under "other Slavic Groups" which includes Slovenes, Croatians, and Serbians. The statistics also show that the number of Slovaks is inferior during some decades to the number of Czechs and this could lead to the conclusion that the census takers may have confused the Czechs with Slovaks and vice-versa, as it happened according to the official admission in the Canadian census of 1961. The statistics quoted above and used in Fishman's book have been derived from U.S. Census of Population 1960: General Social and Economic Characteristics, United States Summary, Final Report PC ( 1 )-lC.6 The statistics do not add, however, correctly and they seem to be at odds with unofficial statistics and numbers of Slovaks who are at the present time organized in Slovak organizations in the United States. Although generally only 15 to 20 % of Americans or Canadians of East European origin are members of their fraternal or socio-cultural associations, the number of Slovaks organized in the United States amounted in 1969 to well over 450,000 according to the �SLOVAKIA 83 Secretary of the Slovak League of America, Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. In addition 'to this membership, we have to take into consideration social clubs and church organizations, as well as cultural centres which have been organized within Slovak Catholic and Protestant parishes or in larger American cities, and whose members are only partly organized in the fraternal Slovak organizations. According to Dr. Pauco, there is almost at each parish such a club or church organization and half of its membership does not belong to any Slovak fraternal organization. Since there are over 400 parishes in the United States, and taking into account that Slovak families are usually very large, counting five members as a f!1inimum, Dr. Pauco, as a long time Secretary of the Federation of Slovak Organizations in the United States, the Slovak League of America, assumes that the number of Americans of Slovak origin who to a great degree are still conscious of their ethnic background, amount to approximately two million. 7 However, if the official statistics are correct, then we cannot but come to the conclusion that the assimilation process of Slovaks is much stronger than we are willing to admit. On the other hand, if the statistics can be doubted, then there is only one remedy; the educated Slovaks whose numbers are not negligible, should begin a thorough research into the problems of American Slovaks. Their task will be now much easier than a few years ago since a joint commission cif the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association issued a statement on the writing and teaching of American history in the text books, stressing the fact that American ethnlc difference must be "faithfully portrayed." Also many other things reveal that a new tide of ethnic studies is at hand. The first sign is the growing interest of publishers and, second, new scholarship efforts are growing in American universities. The renewed interest in ethnic Americans was underscored by the Ford Foundation which announced in Ne,v York a new program of fellowships to encourage scholarships in the field of ethnic studies. A. national award of $288,052.00 will go to 87 doctoral candidacies at 58 graduate �SLOVAKIA 84 schools for the writing of dissertations on subjects dealing with the experience and culture of ethnic minorities in the United States. "The new program is designed to help stimulate the development of a body of knowledge on the history and culture of the nation's ethnic minorities, which is already becoming a subject of intense interest to a new generation of American students," according to F. Champion Ward, the Foundation's Vice-President for Higher Education and Research. 8 1) International Migration Rev.iew, an article by Dean Cincl, p. 58-63. 2) See Fishman et al, Language Loyalty in the United States (Mouton & Co., The Hague) , 1966. 3) Fishman, op. c. p. 31. 4 ) Fishman, ibid. p. 44. This figure shou}jd read 415,000 because Fishman shows 125,000 for foreign born (,p. 36) and 260,000 for native born ( p. 42) . 5 ) Ibid. , p. 40. 6 ) Published in Washington, D. C., by U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965. 7 ) Personal letter by Dr. Pauco /dated December 8, 1970. Dr. Pauco's estimate of the number of Slovaks in the United States is corroborated also by the figures on the emigration from Slovakia to the United States published recently by the Slovak Academy of Sciences. In the years 1880-1890, 122,479 persons left Slovakia for the United States; in the years 1901-1910, 215,292 persons, and in the years 1850-1921 529,949 persons; althogether 867,720 persons left for the United States. Even if i,t is true that many of these persons returned after two or three years spent in the United States, the statistics justify the estimate that about two million Americans are of Slovak origin. 8 ) The New York Times, November 27, 1970, page L. 41. " 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 1971, Vol. 21 Description An account of the resource Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971. 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 1971 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 79 The Assin1ilation Process of An1e rican Slovaks J . M . Ki rs c h b au m, Ph. D . Historians and sociologists have presented the United States during the past 200 years as a vast melting pot in which immigrants from many nations and continents were supposed to become Americans and lose their identity. This belief became a part of the national consciousness of the majority of Americans and foreign scholars have accepted uncritically the idea that successive waves of immigrants have been "digested" and have become an integral part of the American nation. During the past few year s, this hypothesis has been put in doubt by scholars and especially by sociologists dealing with today's America. Some of them assert that the melting pot was a romantic idea about something which happened only in the writings of historians who dealt with national ambitions and dreams and not with reality. Even 200 years after the enunciation of the melting pot idea, the ethnic groups continue to behave differently from the Anglo-Saxon element. According to recent studies, the melting pot concept extended chiefly to the political and economic spheres. In other areas, what sociologists call "structual separation," persists. In religion and in social relations, the ethnic groups resist amalgamation. In view of this situation, the Organization of American Historians dedicated a session during its annual meeting in 1969 to the topic : "Ethnicity: A Neglected Dimension of American History." At this meeting, some scholars challenged the traditional ways of interpreting American history and came to the conclusions which brought renewed academic interest in the problems of the ethnic groups .1 The historians were joined by sociologists and linguists and the results of their research contradicts to a great degree the idea of a melting pot and monolithic structure of the American nation. They found out that even Americans of western European origin (German, Norwegian, 80 SLOVAKIA Swedish, Irish, etc.) continue to this very day t.o recognize their ancestry and t.o partially define themselves in accordance with it. "For reasons that are not really well understood, these groups have not lost themselves entirely within their American surroundings even after three, four, or more generations, although they have had every opportunity to do so." 2 The ethnic groups preserved, however, not only the awareness of their European ancestry and cultural heritage, but many of them maintained the languages spoken by their fathers and fore-fathers. As a result, the idea of ethnicity and of language maintenance in America is becoming of interest not only to scholars but also to other Americans. "That third and subsequent generations frequently continue to think of themselves in partially ethnic terms and frequently maintain positive attitudes and interests with respect to the heritage of their grandparents, became a significant fact in American life." 3 Prof. Fishman in the recent book Language Loyalty in the United States which he edited together with several American scholars, deals especially with the maintenance and perpetuation of non-English mother tongues of American ethnic and religious groups. Through thorough research, Fishman and a group of American scholars came to startling results about present-day America. They also mention Slovaks and in view of the possibility that the statistics confused again Czechs and Slovaks, the new generation of Slovaks educated at American universities should carry out genuine research into the problems of the Slovak ethnic group in the United States. According to Fishman, the assimilation process of the Slovaks proceeds much faster than that of many other ethnic groups. They have assimilated much faster than, for instance, Poles, Magyars, Ukrainians, or Germans. According to the census data, there were 274,948 Slovaks in 1920 who were not born in the United States, whereas in 1940 only 171,580 and 125,000 in 1960. As for Slovaks born in the United States, the 1920 statistics show 344,918 as against 283,520 in 1940 and 125,000 in 1960, which means a considerable decrease from decade to decade. The number of Slovaks born in America who gave their mother tongue SLOVAKIA 81 as Slovaks, according to the censuses of 1920 and 1940 is again percentagewise much smaller than in the case of other Slavs or even Magyars. The maintenance of mother tongues or the admission of Slovak parentage declines among the children of Slovak parents from generation to generation, according to American statistics. Thus the process of assimilation seems to be much stronger among Slovaks than among Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Magyars or Germans. For instance, in 1960, 125,000 first generation Slovaks claimed their mother tongue as Slovak. The same number of second generation Slovaks appear in the statistics, but in the third generation, only 10,000 Americans born to Slovak parents claimed Slovak as their mother tongue. As a result, only 260,000 persons born in the United States claimed in 1960 to be of Slovak origin or admitted that their mother tongue was Slovak. The total number of foreign and native born persons who claimed Slovak as their mother tongue was 484,360 in 1940 and only 260,0000 in 1960.4 The decrease or assimilation process among Slovaks in the United States is best shown by the following comparison with other central European immigrants: Slovaks decreased by 46.3 % Poles decreased by 9 .6 % Serbs and Croats decreased by 10.8 % Ukrainians increased by 202.6 % Prof. Fishman carefully mentions that mother tongue data on natives of foreign or mixed parentage does not necessarily reflect the real number of people born in the individual ethnic groups. Some demographic and some non-demographic factors account for the fact that some Americans of non Anglo-Saxon origin did not reveal their ethnic origin and mother tongue. Among the factors were a) "the varying prestige of the mother tongue both among its own speakers and among Americans in general," and b) tlile social mobility experienced by the second generation. Where the prestige of a particular mother tongue was low, and where the social mobility of its prospective claimants was high, it is likely the language less frequently 82 SLOVAKIA became the mother of American-born (second generation) offspring and was even less frequently claimed as such. "Unfortunately," concludes Fishman, "no census-type data are available on either of these variables and it has been necessary to study them by other means." 5 Generally, the immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe preserved their language and cultural heritage much better than immigrants from other parts of the European Continent. In the case of Slovaks, the statistics show that in spite of the greater number of parishes, organizations and newspapers compared to some other ethnic groups from Central Europe had in the past decades, the assimilation process was much stronger. As far as the mother tongue maintenance is concerned, American Slovaks are in twelfth place among the 23 ethnic groups in 1969, but for the period 1940-1960 in the 15th place. They are far ahead of Magyars, Russians, Poles, Croats, or Serbians in their integration into the AngloSaxon language group. There are no statistics about the number of Slovak newspapers and periodicals since these were shown under "other Slavic Groups" which includes Slovenes, Croatians, and Serbians. The statistics also show that the number of Slovaks is inferior during some decades to the number of Czechs and this could lead to the conclusion that the census takers may have confused the Czechs with Slovaks and vice-versa, as it happened according to the official admission in the Canadian census of 1961. The statistics quoted above and used in Fishman's book have been derived from U.S. Census of Population 1960: General Social and Economic Characteristics, United States Summary, Final Report PC ( 1 )-lC.6 The statistics do not add, however, correctly and they seem to be at odds with unofficial statistics and numbers of Slovaks who are at the present time organized in Slovak organizations in the United States. Although generally only 15 to 20 % of Americans or Canadians of East European origin are members of their fraternal or socio-cultural associations, the number of Slovaks organized in the United States amounted in 1969 to well over 450,000 according to the SLOVAKIA 83 Secretary of the Slovak League of America, Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. In addition 'to this membership, we have to take into consideration social clubs and church organizations, as well as cultural centres which have been organized within Slovak Catholic and Protestant parishes or in larger American cities, and whose members are only partly organized in the fraternal Slovak organizations. According to Dr. Pauco, there is almost at each parish such a club or church organization and half of its membership does not belong to any Slovak fraternal organization. Since there are over 400 parishes in the United States, and taking into account that Slovak families are usually very large, counting five members as a f!1inimum, Dr. Pauco, as a long time Secretary of the Federation of Slovak Organizations in the United States, the Slovak League of America, assumes that the number of Americans of Slovak origin who to a great degree are still conscious of their ethnic background, amount to approximately two million. 7 However, if the official statistics are correct, then we cannot but come to the conclusion that the assimilation process of Slovaks is much stronger than we are willing to admit. On the other hand, if the statistics can be doubted, then there is only one remedy; the educated Slovaks whose numbers are not negligible, should begin a thorough research into the problems of American Slovaks. Their task will be now much easier than a few years ago since a joint commission cif the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association issued a statement on the writing and teaching of American history in the text books, stressing the fact that American ethnlc difference must be "faithfully portrayed." Also many other things reveal that a new tide of ethnic studies is at hand. The first sign is the growing interest of publishers and, second, new scholarship efforts are growing in American universities. The renewed interest in ethnic Americans was underscored by the Ford Foundation which announced in Ne,v York a new program of fellowships to encourage scholarships in the field of ethnic studies. A. national award of $288,052.00 will go to 87 doctoral candidacies at 58 graduate SLOVAKIA 84 schools for the writing of dissertations on subjects dealing with the experience and culture of ethnic minorities in the United States. "The new program is designed to help stimulate the development of a body of knowledge on the history and culture of the nation's ethnic minorities, which is already becoming a subject of intense interest to a new generation of American students," according to F. Champion Ward, the Foundation's Vice-President for Higher Education and Research. 8 1) International Migration Rev.iew, an article by Dean Cincl, p. 58-63. 2) See Fishman et al, Language Loyalty in the United States (Mouton & Co., The Hague) , 1966. 3) Fishman, op. c. p. 31. 4 ) Fishman, ibid. p. 44. This figure shou}jd read 415,000 because Fishman shows 125,000 for foreign born (,p. 36) and 260,000 for native born ( p. 42) . 5 ) Ibid. , p. 40. 6 ) Published in Washington, D. C., by U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965. 7 ) Personal letter by Dr. Pauco /dated December 8, 1970. Dr. Pauco's estimate of the number of Slovaks in the United States is corroborated also by the figures on the emigration from Slovakia to the United States published recently by the Slovak Academy of Sciences. In the years 1880-1890, 122,479 persons left Slovakia for the United States; in the years 1901-1910, 215,292 persons, and in the years 1850-1921 529,949 persons; althogether 867,720 persons left for the United States. Even if i,t is true that many of these persons returned after two or three years spent in the United States, the statistics justify the estimate that about two million Americans are of Slovak origin. 8 ) The New York Times, November 27, 1970, page L. 41. " 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 Assimilation Process of American Slovaks Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D Slovakia, Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971 pp. 79-84 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/86bf2d02aa25064a624b1220f105fe79.pdf 1399999b641e54eabac86c6715c9429e PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 7 Stephen B. Ro1nan - Slovak Tycoon J . M . Ki Ts C h b au m For more than ten years I was tempted to write something like "One of the most amazing characters I have met in my life," and a few years ago I prepared an outline for a book I thought should be entitled "The Defiant Tycoon." Odd circumstances prevented me from accomplishing either of these plans. On April 21, 1971, Stephen B. Roman will pass the threshold of the half-century mark of his extraordinary life, full of amazing success, uneven struggles and varied activities which made him nationally Stephen e. Roman and internationally known. The "Roman Story" re-written and re-published in numerous languages in Canada, Europe and the United States gives an example of one of the most spectacular careers in Canadian finance and industry and we will attempt to outline here at least the most interesting periods. Stephen B . Roman was born in Vel'ky Ruskov, Eastern Slovakia. According to his reminiscences, he grew up in a tightly knit family and his boyhood was happy and geared to farm life. An irresistible desire to see the world prompted him, however, as a teenager to leave his studies at the Agricultural College in a town near his home and to accompany his older brother George to Canada. They arrived in Canada on June 15, 1937, with two thousand dollars to buy a farm. For the following three years he worked for 50¢ a day on a farm near Port Perry, Ontario, �8 SLOVAKIA an experience about which he can talk with great humor. Then, after a short period of service in the Canadian Army, he worked on the assembly line at General Motors, but an awakening interest in the Canadian economy, in investments and in speculation led him to spend his time in a variety of studies from business to corporate law, history and politics. During this period, he became a Canadian citizen and in 1945 he married the former Betty Gardon, also a native of Slovakia. The following ten years skyrocketted him into wealth and fame. 1 On the treshold of his 50 birthday, we can say without any exaggeration that S. B. Roman made the most important and most spectacular contribution to the Canadian development of industry, finance and agriculture in the post-war II period. He over-shadowed the success of any Canadian of his generation and ranks with the nation's most successful and financially the most powerful Canadian, whose profiles were ably outlined in P. C. Newman's Flame of Power.2 In Canada's national economic community, the name of Stephen Roman became synonymous with the leadership of one of the richest and most powerful industrial organizations in the country, Denison Mines Limited and Roman Corporation Limited, both active in mining, oil and cement production and in a variety of other major enterprises. Denison Mines became universally known as the largest uranium mine in the world and its billion dollar asset together with the holdings of Roman Corporation hais often been called by financial journals the "Roman Empire." Together with its dynamic founder and chairman, Denison Mines have been the subject of numerous articles in Canadian and international financial publications, books, and newpapers. 3 Except for E. P. Taylor, there has not been a Canadian industrialist who has attracted as much of the attention of the national and international press, as did S. B. Roman, whose views on economic questions have been sought by the nation's press, radio and television, and respected for their candor and independence of thought. �SLOVAKIA 9 The Way to the Spectacular Success In the beginning, S. B. Roman's moves did not amount to much, hampered as he was by lack of capital and experience. His will to succeed, however, was stronger than the odds against which he had to fight and his persistence swept friends along with his enthusiasm. In 1946, he organized the Concord Mining Syndicate, converted it into Concord Mines Limited years later, and moved rapidly into oil exploration just as the oil industry was agog with the discovery of the Leduc fields in Alberta. In another move, he created a new company through further reorganization, the New Concord Development Corpora~ion, with himself as President. Success took on a broad dimension for Stephen B. Roman and his company's operations found profits not only in Alberta but also in the United States and provided funds of the size which would permit Roman to meet the test of his lifetime's greatest opportunity: uranium in the Blind River-Algom a Camp. The opportunity came when two independent stakers4 from the vast area of bush north of the Trans-Canada Highway between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, where Dr. F. R. Joubin discovered the largest deposits of uranium, turned to him for support. In January 1954, Roman made the critical decision to invest money in these Blind River -Algoma claims from the sale of his shares in Concord. Thus he fashioned Consolidated Denison Mines Limited. At 34 years of age, he began making mining history and the "Roman Story" was published in multiple variations more times on the American Continent and in Europe than any other in the past 20 years,5 Residing in a stately 17-roomed house with his family of four boys and three daughters in rolling farmland some 20 miles from Metropolitan Toronto, S. B. Roman made also noteworthy contribution to Canadian agriculture. On his 1,350 acres of choice farming land he proved as successful and imaginative in the breeding and development of Holstein-Frie sian cattle as in industry and finance. His Romandale herd is recognized throughout the world as a producer of oustanding breeding stock and many breeders in various countries have selected Romandale animals for their own breeding programs. He takes justifi- �10 SLOVAKIA able pride in the fact that his is the only herd in the breed's history which had the distinction of winning, more often than any other breed, both the Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor awards at all three major North American shows: in Canada, at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Toronto, Ontario; in the U.S. A. at the National Dairy Congress, Waterloo, Iowa, the International Dairy Exposition, Chicago, Illinois and All American Shows at Pittsburgh, Pa. S. B. Roman's Personality and Motivation Whoever knows S. B. Roman from his business or social contacts, cannot be but baffled by his complex personality, his easily changing mood from friendly laughter and smooth conversation to a temperamental eruption of criticism or rage--short lasting anyhow. "I never hold a grudge against anybody," is the frequent remark one can hear in conversation with him. Or insisting on the necessity of humility after an acerbic criticism of somebody-may it be the Pope, the President of the United States (not Nixon) or the Prime Minister of Canada-he would say: " I am, of course, sometime rough, but it is with a purpose in mind." Though one can make a guess, it is very hard to make a statement about Roman's motivation. Not only in the angry fight for the principle of free enterprise with Prime Minister Trudeau in March 1970, who stopped the sale of Denison Mines, but on many other occasions, S. B. Roman insisted that money was not his ultimate goal. A Toronto newspaper wrote on one occasion that it is the liberation of Slovakia, which has undoubtedly been very close to his heart, but even a close association with Roman provides only vague and uncertain hints about his motivation. As the most spectacularly successful Canadian of his generation-and the only non-Anglo-Saxon -who can be counted among the financial empire builders in Canada, he views, as the other Canadian magnates did, the free enterprise system as a fore-ordained to reward the most able.6 There are indications that he also shares with them other views. Like all of them, he regards the successful business corporation as the highest manifestation of man's �SLOVAKIA 11 superiority and many of his business ventures would indicate that he believes in large corporatio ns. Even though Roman's complex personality shows genuine features of his race, he also has many characteris tics in common with the other Canadian financial magnates. Of course, he is not the multi-milli onaire mine maker who spent long years prospectin g in the bush like Harry Oaks or Gilbert Labine. He belongs to the new generation of mine makers who used the promoters ' phone and the stock exchange, shrewd deals and good timing for developing Canadian industry and increasing his wealth. Among the Canadian "empire builders" Roman seems to be the closest to Sir James Dunn,7 the carpenter's son from Bathurst, N. B., who had "all the assets and all the liabilities of a promoter" , and though he was a totally self-made man and proud of it, he became Canada's most flamboyan t multi-milli onaire. Roman shares-pe rhaps unconscio usly-with Sir James Dunn the belief that handouts keep people from working. 11 Like Dunn, he gave large amounts of money to hospitals, churches and universitie s and received his first honorary degree from St. Francis University in Antigonish , N. S., as Sir James Dunn did. Furthermo re, he has in common with Dunn the love for "dreams that open new frontiers and build for greatness "-the dreams which are "not the thin vapourings of the idle mind, but rather the vision of a busy brain." In pursuing the realization of his dreams, Roman like Dunn seems to be hampered only by his impulses and always insists on his own way in all things, regardless of the number of enemies it may make him. Led by intuition and putting stress on "logic", sometimes his own logic, he would repeat: "Do not be afraid to be hurt or kicked, the time comes when you kick back." Roman's beautiful residence near Toronto, furnished with many rare pieces of furniture or paintings, as well as his palatial second residence in the millionaire 's oasis of Lyford Cay in Nassau9 , bring him also close to Sir James Dunn whose insistence on palatial surroundin gs reflected -accordin g to his biography -his efforts to compensat e �12 SLOVAKIA for the oppressive poverty of his childhood. Roman had a happy even if modest childhood, but his first years in Canada were undoubtedly those of immigrants working for 50¢ a day from dawn to late night and he never forgot them. In some other respects Roman reminds one of Sir Herbert Holt, as portrayed by P. Newman10 • H. Holt was not a business administrator and promoted his fortune by refining the sleight-of-hand process involved in the acquisition of corporate control through the trading and re-trading of stock. So was to a great degree S. B. Roman. He also likes sometimes to sit behind a desk at the end of his luxurious office and visitors leave with the impression that he has strong beliefs and does not accept easily to be contradicted. But he also meets his visitors in the reception room with a broad, friendly smile and a strong handshake, if he is in a good disposition, and sits with them around a coffee table. Roman's interest in politics and his warnings against Communism also resemble those of Sir Herbert Holt who, in 1931, said: "People do not realize the Russian menace. The spread of Communism is not a matter to laugh at." Roman was preaching anti-Communism since the outbreak of the Second World War and his visits to Moscow or to his native Slovakia, oppressed by Moscow, did not change his attitude. As a man convinced that only free enterprise can give people incentive for good work, and as a religious man, Roman could not remain indifferent to Communism. 11 Unlike Holt who according to his •c olleagues in the Conservative Party "really understood nothing about politics except how to manage ministers," Roman has been his whole life an ardent student of politics, national and international. His table conversations at home or elsewhere always ended in discussion on politics or religion-the second subject of his genuine interest. Of course, he can be sometimes an impatient listener, rather inclined to lecture authoritatively and arguing willingly on any subjeGt. On the other hand, he can be very warm and friendly in personal discussions. As a result, he appears a different personality in his office, at board meetings and in the seclusion of his residence where on weekends he invites �SLOVAKIA 13 his friends and quite often a bishop or a priest to celebrate a Sunday Mass and to share a dinner with his family. In his office a senior executive, referring to Roman's dynamism and impatience, used to say: "it takes a strong boiler which makes 15 pots to boil and sometimes even tremble." And he was not far from the truth. The Roman Legend Why around some persons legends grow fast or are created at all, nobody has yet explained. It is one of the mysterious gifts which the Lord gives at his pleasure and not always according to our human logic. In the life of many successful or outstanding men there are ingredients which can give birth to a legend, but only a few of them became legendary. Extraordinary deeds or success in many cases remain unknown or belittled by jealousy of associates or contemporaries, while in some cases everything is magnified by wishful thinking and creative fantasy into legendary proportions. The 'hero' is credited with deeds, connections and power he does not possess or, if he does, in a considerably diminished measure. In the life of S. B. Roman there have been no doubt many ingredients for a legend. God gave him also that rare gift of striking the imagination of people in a positive way. It is not only his wealth which attracts so many people in high positions to him. S. B. Roman together with his elegantly dressed wife, Betty, can also be superb hosts, and many people try to get close to the Romans and flatter them in order to gain some advantage. Roman's sharp eye can easily spot this, but he had a good laugh when a visitor tried to convince him that he should accept some function or to be a speaker because he will attract people. "Why do you think I will attract them?", asked Roman of his visitor. "You remember what happened to Moses when he led his flock from Egyptian captivity and went to the mountain to talk to the Lord", answered the visitor, "half of the flock began to worship the golden veal ... " Roman looked at his visitor with one eye and with a laugh told him: "Thank you very much." �14 SLOVAKIA Roman differs from many people who orbit the Stock Exchange and made money in the post-war boom in industry and speculation, also in some other respect. He is an avid reader and his lib:rary was built not only for the purpose of ornating his residence. Especially during the years of his ascension to wealth and social position he read diligently books from many fields and his conversations showed that his good memory helped him to learn more in some fields than many academics retained from university studies. Roman received from God among other gifts not only a good memory but also the gift of logic and ability to grasp the essentials of the problems. Discussions with him on many subjects were a pleasure in those years. From the discussions on religion which has been for years his second subject to politics-never business at table--one has the impression that the concept of eastern Christianity, with the stress on the spiritual and the mystical rather than the legalistic and the philosophical, is his religion not only formally-he belongs to the Byzantine Catholic Rite-but also conforms with his personality. It is not in carrying out the technical word that a Christian should participate in the world of God on the earth, but in fulfilling his specific role-seems to be his basic religious concept. Of many changes triggered by the Vatican Council at which he was one of the lay observers, Roman can be more critical than non-Catholics or dissident priests, being inclined to express his opinion in strong terms. Among other gifts Roman received from God also love for beautiful surroundings with a sense of proportion and good taste. If we believed in reincarnation, we could apply it to him and explain many things in the life of this extraordinary "farm boy from Slovakia." However, even without belief in reincarnation, one can explain some features of his life and character. Slovakia, that comperatively unknown land in Canada, is a romantic hilly country with hundreds of castles, fortresses, and former aristocratic domains. For centuries it was a bulwark in the defense of Europe against invasions from Asia. The Huns, the Magyars, the Tartars, the Turks overran the �SLOVAKIA 15 country and the aristocracy who ruled from castles and fortresses over the Slovak population was international rather than national. For some inexplicable reason, this historical heritage became apparent in Slovakia more abroad than in their own country. The leaders of the Hungarian struggle for independence, L. Kossuth and A. Pet6fi, or several Hungarian cardinals were of Slovak ancestry, the "king 0f Madagascar" M. Benovsky was from Slovakia, the founders of Pan-Slavism were of Slovak origin (but enriched Czech culture) as was T. G. Masaryk who freed Czechs from Austrian domination, and the famous astronomer and one of the youngest French generals, Milan R. t>tefanik who made a career outside his native country. Roman's life and character may have its roots in this peculiar feature of the Slovak people and in the history of Slovakia. Indeed, Jeanne Dixon, who had the ear-so rumor goes-of some American presidents and predicted J. F. Kennedy's death, gave one day a halting look at Roman, whom she had met for the first time, and exclaimed: "You are a descendant of Genghis Khan." Roman had a good laugh and some of his friends too, but in view of the invasions and history of Slovakia, even this far-fetched possibility is not excluded. S. B. Roman and Slovakia The "Roman Story" became a legend also in his native country after his two trips to Slovakia--one in his own jet plane. It made believe millions of Slovaks that Roman will help their country, suffering under Communism and foreign rule, to regain freedom and a better future and that he will use his great wealth for building mines, factories, hotels in the beautiful Tatra Mountains or churches in Slovak towns. For his activities among Slovaks abroad and for his successful tour of his native country, he became the best known Slovak of his generation among the Slovaks in the free world as well as in his native Slovakia and great hopes and expectations have surrounded his name. In fact Roman was genuinely interested in the organizational life of the Slovak group and from the end of the Second World War, also in the fate of Slovakia. He served �16 SLOVAKIA as the editor of a Slovak weekly, was active in the Canadian Slovak League, and was deeply involved in organizing cultural programmes for Slovak Canadians, setting up debates, concerts and trying to help his native country to freedom and independence. On his initiative in 1946 a memorandum was sent to the United Nations by Slovak organizations in Canada in which they proposed to the Delegates of the World Security Conference that, "since the Slovak People in Slovakia are a distinct and separate nation, the Security Conference provide and obtain either; "First, if the Conference choose, that the Slovak People of Slovakia could be granted complete independence from the Czech nation or state, and from any other nation in the anticipated European post-war organization of which she will be a part; "Or Second, that the Slovak people decide for themselves by a free and unhampered secret ballot under the supervision of the United Nations Military Committee, first whether they, the Slovak People of Slovakia desire to be completely independent and severed from the Czech nation and state and from any other nation in the anticipated post-war organization of Europe of which Slovakia will be a part, or second whether they desire to be an autonomous, self-governing part of the Czecho-Slovak dual State in the post-war organization of Europe of which she will be a part. N. B. In this latter case, the spelling of the name 'Czecho-Slovak' should be hyphenated and this should be its official spelling." Later he supported activities of Slovak political exiles and helped to publish books and became a sought-for speaker at celebrations, Slovak days or banquets. As he moved up in the social ladder, S. B. Roman used his connections to help the Slovak cause also on higheroften international levels. His relations with the Vatican12 helped not only the consolidation of the church organization of the Slovak Byzantine Catholics in Canada who obtained a bishop of their nationality, but also in Slovakia. He made great efforts in obtaining Slovak spiritual leaders for some 500,000 Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in the United States13 and memorable in this respect will remain �SLOVAKIA 17 the huge celebrations of the 11th Centennial of Christianity in Slovakia which took place in Toronto in 1963. The main ceremony was attended by 18 Archbishops and Bishops, representatives of the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments, as well as by the Apostolic delegate and some 20,000 persons. 14 If Canadian Slovaks played a role of greater importance than their number would warrant, either among the other ethnic groups or generally in Canadian life, it was due mostly to his continuous contributions. This has been acknowledged on many occasions by the ethnic press in which S. B. Roman yearly published elaborate messages on special occasions like Christmas, elections or national days. 15 He also supported academic periodicals and the Conferences on Canadian Slavs ,a nd earned great respect among the leaders of the ethnic groups in Canada. Believing in organized work and concentrated effort, S. B. Roman was also instrumental in organizing the First Slovak World Congress which took place in June 1970 and was one of the most successful events among Slovaks in the free world since the end of the Second World War. Unanimously, delegates of Slovak organizations from many countries around the world elected him as the First President of the Slovak World Congress. Roman's authority and popularity with the Slovak people grew incessantly since his appointment to the Vatican Council, his close acquaintance with President Nixon, his participation at a NATO meeting in Paris as a member of the Canadian delegation and his "red carpet" reception by the government representatives in Bratislava and Prague in 1968. For all this Slovaks surrounded Roman with great hopes and expectations. In fact, his connections and his wealth gave him better possibilities to further the Slovak cause in the free world than to any other Slovak of his generation and he has been aware of it. Looking back on the life and success of S. B. Roman , one becomes aware of the old truth that for societies as for men, there can be no growth without challenge. Progress �SLOVAKIA 18 is a battle just as life is a struggle. S. B. Roman has been winning the battles because he was not afraid of the challenge. On the threshold of his 50th birthday, a great number of Slovaks and many of his acquaintances of other ethnic backgrounds will undoubtedly wish him to continue winning his battles and contributing to progress and happiness of his fellowmen, as well as to freedom of his native Slovakia. 1) Fortune (New York) , September 1966. According to Fortune, the top-ranking international monthly for business executives, "In the last twenty years, Roman has wheeled and wildcatted his way to a business empire whose worth is conservatively estimated at 2.5 billion dollars." 2) Newman presents in his Flame of Power (Toronto, 1959) eleven intimate profiles of Canadian greatest businessmen. After reading the book one has a strong feeling that Roman belongs to this category of economic empire bui:tders. 3) Among the books see: D. H. LeBourdais, Canada and the Atomic Revolution, (Toronto, 1959), p. 111-2, George Lonn, About Men and Mines, (Toronto, 1962), and Builders of Fortune, (Toronto, 1963), p. 55-60 and Businessmen Around the Globe, by the editors of Fortune (Harrisburg, Pa. 1967), p. 69-70. Among Magazines: Fortune (New York) September 1966, Executive, January 1960, Monetary Times, April 1967. In French: Enterprise (Paris, April 1967), as well as Paris dailies of September 1966. Roman also received wide television, radio and press coverage behind the Iron Curtain when he visited his native Slovakta on his own plane in 1966. 4) The book Business Around the Globe mentions a mining engineer, Art Stollery, as one of the stakers and says: "In one of the complicated financial deals at which he excels, Roman bought the claims from Stollery and his frienlds for $30,000.00 and transferred them to North Denison Mines, an old copper-and-nickel company. In return he got one million shares in what eventually became Denison Mines Limited, which he divided with Stollery's group. Soon afterwards, uranium was struck, and Denison's stock shot up from 30¢ to $12.00 within a year." Op. cit., p. 60. In September 1967, it was quoted at $85.00 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 5) For more details on S. B. Roman's life anld success, see my book Slovaks in Canada (Canadian Ethnic Press Associaition, Toronto, 1967), pp. 374-380. 6) S. B. Roman's philosophy on free enterprise was reflected in his speech to the Rotary Club, '11oronto, in October 1970, as well as the Brief which Denison Mines submitted to the Federal Government in 1970 on the White Paper dealing with Capital Gains Tax. The Brief said that the proposal to tax economy is a form of "intellectual colonialism that ill befits a pioneering vigorous �SLOVAKIA 19 country." In S. B. Roman's opinion, in the economy of the next century, part of the profits will be divided between capital and labour. He admitted that Denison Mines does not share profits with employees because "we are as much coward as anybody else." See "The Telegram" June 23, 1970. On his speech at the Rotary Club, see 'The Northern Miner", October 29, 1970. 7) All quotations on Sir James Dunn are taken from Peter Newman's book Flame of Power. 8) See his speech in the Toronto Kiwanis Club, January 13, 1971, in which he said, among other things, "It is high time that we ~evise a formula that allows us to differentiate between people who really are not capable of looking after themselves and people who are lazy or not willing to work" . . . "I am certain every thinking Canadian must be disturbed by the developments they see occurring, developments leading to more and more irresponsibility and unwillingness to work. The ]danger is that it is a most infectious cancer in that ,i t can--and will--spread to those, now willing to work, who by seeing compatriots leaning on welfare, start to wonder about ,the wisdom of working themselves." See excerpts in The Toronto Telegram, January 14, 1971, as well as The Star, January 14, 1971. 9) See Zena Cherry, "Home Away from Home-Beach Lot for $1,000.00 a foot," Globe and Mail, May 2, 1968. 10) Ibid. 11) When the Soviets, together with their satellites, occupied CzechoSlovakia, he was the main speaker at a rally in Toronto denouncing the brutal act of Soviet impel'ialism. 12) He was not only the lay observer ,at the Vatican Council but in 1963 he also received the Order of the Knight Commander of Saint Gregory. On his participatioN at the Council, see my series of articles in Kana'.lsky Slovak and Slovak v Amerike, NovemberDecember 1966, and January 1967. 13) On this subject, he also published English and Slovak articles in the Slovak Press in Canada and the United States. 14) For more details, see my book Slovaks in Canada, op. cit., p. 263. 15) In one of such messages, he made the following appeal under the title "Democracy's Most Precious Gift": . .. "To those of us who have left our native lands for Canalda and its precious gifts of democracy, has fallen the privilege of citizenship and the responsibilities of the vote. To us has befallen the choice of government and its leadership and the survival of all that we hold dear. It has now become our task to listen and learn, that we may judge the posture of the party and the stature of the man, anld to decide and compare what is best in our own particular communities, for our own particular needs" ... � SLOVAKIA 7 Stephen B. Ro1nan - Slovak Tycoon J . M . Ki Ts C h b au m For more than ten years I was tempted to write something like "One of the most amazing characters I have met in my life," and a few years ago I prepared an outline for a book I thought should be entitled "The Defiant Tycoon." Odd circumstances prevented me from accomplishing either of these plans. On April 21, 1971, Stephen B. Roman will pass the threshold of the half-century mark of his extraordinary life, full of amazing success, uneven struggles and varied activities which made him nationally Stephen e. Roman and internationally known. The "Roman Story" re-written and re-published in numerous languages in Canada, Europe and the United States gives an example of one of the most spectacular careers in Canadian finance and industry and we will attempt to outline here at least the most interesting periods. Stephen B . Roman was born in Vel'ky Ruskov, Eastern Slovakia. According to his reminiscences, he grew up in a tightly knit family and his boyhood was happy and geared to farm life. An irresistible desire to see the world prompted him, however, as a teenager to leave his studies at the Agricultural College in a town near his home and to accompany his older brother George to Canada. They arrived in Canada on June 15, 1937, with two thousand dollars to buy a farm. For the following three years he worked for 50¢ a day on a farm near Port Perry, Ontario, �8 SLOVAKIA an experience about which he can talk with great humor. Then, after a short period of service in the Canadian Army, he worked on the assembly line at General Motors, but an awakening interest in the Canadian economy, in investments and in speculation led him to spend his time in a variety of studies from business to corporate law, history and politics. During this period, he became a Canadian citizen and in 1945 he married the former Betty Gardon, also a native of Slovakia. The following ten years skyrocketted him into wealth and fame. 1 On the treshold of his 50 birthday, we can say without any exaggeration that S. B. Roman made the most important and most spectacular contribution to the Canadian development of industry, finance and agriculture in the post-war II period. He over-shadowed the success of any Canadian of his generation and ranks with the nation's most successful and financially the most powerful Canadian, whose profiles were ably outlined in P. C. Newman's Flame of Power.2 In Canada's national economic community, the name of Stephen Roman became synonymous with the leadership of one of the richest and most powerful industrial organizations in the country, Denison Mines Limited and Roman Corporation Limited, both active in mining, oil and cement production and in a variety of other major enterprises. Denison Mines became universally known as the largest uranium mine in the world and its billion dollar asset together with the holdings of Roman Corporation hais often been called by financial journals the "Roman Empire." Together with its dynamic founder and chairman, Denison Mines have been the subject of numerous articles in Canadian and international financial publications, books, and newpapers. 3 Except for E. P. Taylor, there has not been a Canadian industrialist who has attracted as much of the attention of the national and international press, as did S. B. Roman, whose views on economic questions have been sought by the nation's press, radio and television, and respected for their candor and independence of thought. �SLOVAKIA 9 The Way to the Spectacular Success In the beginning, S. B. Roman's moves did not amount to much, hampered as he was by lack of capital and experience. His will to succeed, however, was stronger than the odds against which he had to fight and his persistence swept friends along with his enthusiasm. In 1946, he organized the Concord Mining Syndicate, converted it into Concord Mines Limited years later, and moved rapidly into oil exploration just as the oil industry was agog with the discovery of the Leduc fields in Alberta. In another move, he created a new company through further reorganization, the New Concord Development Corpora~ion, with himself as President. Success took on a broad dimension for Stephen B. Roman and his company's operations found profits not only in Alberta but also in the United States and provided funds of the size which would permit Roman to meet the test of his lifetime's greatest opportunity: uranium in the Blind River-Algom a Camp. The opportunity came when two independent stakers4 from the vast area of bush north of the Trans-Canada Highway between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, where Dr. F. R. Joubin discovered the largest deposits of uranium, turned to him for support. In January 1954, Roman made the critical decision to invest money in these Blind River -Algoma claims from the sale of his shares in Concord. Thus he fashioned Consolidated Denison Mines Limited. At 34 years of age, he began making mining history and the "Roman Story" was published in multiple variations more times on the American Continent and in Europe than any other in the past 20 years,5 Residing in a stately 17-roomed house with his family of four boys and three daughters in rolling farmland some 20 miles from Metropolitan Toronto, S. B. Roman made also noteworthy contribution to Canadian agriculture. On his 1,350 acres of choice farming land he proved as successful and imaginative in the breeding and development of Holstein-Frie sian cattle as in industry and finance. His Romandale herd is recognized throughout the world as a producer of oustanding breeding stock and many breeders in various countries have selected Romandale animals for their own breeding programs. He takes justifi- �10 SLOVAKIA able pride in the fact that his is the only herd in the breed's history which had the distinction of winning, more often than any other breed, both the Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor awards at all three major North American shows: in Canada, at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Toronto, Ontario; in the U.S. A. at the National Dairy Congress, Waterloo, Iowa, the International Dairy Exposition, Chicago, Illinois and All American Shows at Pittsburgh, Pa. S. B. Roman's Personality and Motivation Whoever knows S. B. Roman from his business or social contacts, cannot be but baffled by his complex personality, his easily changing mood from friendly laughter and smooth conversation to a temperamental eruption of criticism or rage--short lasting anyhow. "I never hold a grudge against anybody," is the frequent remark one can hear in conversation with him. Or insisting on the necessity of humility after an acerbic criticism of somebody-may it be the Pope, the President of the United States (not Nixon) or the Prime Minister of Canada-he would say: " I am, of course, sometime rough, but it is with a purpose in mind." Though one can make a guess, it is very hard to make a statement about Roman's motivation. Not only in the angry fight for the principle of free enterprise with Prime Minister Trudeau in March 1970, who stopped the sale of Denison Mines, but on many other occasions, S. B. Roman insisted that money was not his ultimate goal. A Toronto newspaper wrote on one occasion that it is the liberation of Slovakia, which has undoubtedly been very close to his heart, but even a close association with Roman provides only vague and uncertain hints about his motivation. As the most spectacularly successful Canadian of his generation-and the only non-Anglo-Saxon -who can be counted among the financial empire builders in Canada, he views, as the other Canadian magnates did, the free enterprise system as a fore-ordained to reward the most able.6 There are indications that he also shares with them other views. Like all of them, he regards the successful business corporation as the highest manifestation of man's �SLOVAKIA 11 superiority and many of his business ventures would indicate that he believes in large corporatio ns. Even though Roman's complex personality shows genuine features of his race, he also has many characteris tics in common with the other Canadian financial magnates. Of course, he is not the multi-milli onaire mine maker who spent long years prospectin g in the bush like Harry Oaks or Gilbert Labine. He belongs to the new generation of mine makers who used the promoters ' phone and the stock exchange, shrewd deals and good timing for developing Canadian industry and increasing his wealth. Among the Canadian "empire builders" Roman seems to be the closest to Sir James Dunn,7 the carpenter's son from Bathurst, N. B., who had "all the assets and all the liabilities of a promoter" , and though he was a totally self-made man and proud of it, he became Canada's most flamboyan t multi-milli onaire. Roman shares-pe rhaps unconscio usly-with Sir James Dunn the belief that handouts keep people from working. 11 Like Dunn, he gave large amounts of money to hospitals, churches and universitie s and received his first honorary degree from St. Francis University in Antigonish , N. S., as Sir James Dunn did. Furthermo re, he has in common with Dunn the love for "dreams that open new frontiers and build for greatness "-the dreams which are "not the thin vapourings of the idle mind, but rather the vision of a busy brain." In pursuing the realization of his dreams, Roman like Dunn seems to be hampered only by his impulses and always insists on his own way in all things, regardless of the number of enemies it may make him. Led by intuition and putting stress on "logic", sometimes his own logic, he would repeat: "Do not be afraid to be hurt or kicked, the time comes when you kick back." Roman's beautiful residence near Toronto, furnished with many rare pieces of furniture or paintings, as well as his palatial second residence in the millionaire 's oasis of Lyford Cay in Nassau9 , bring him also close to Sir James Dunn whose insistence on palatial surroundin gs reflected -accordin g to his biography -his efforts to compensat e �12 SLOVAKIA for the oppressive poverty of his childhood. Roman had a happy even if modest childhood, but his first years in Canada were undoubtedly those of immigrants working for 50¢ a day from dawn to late night and he never forgot them. In some other respects Roman reminds one of Sir Herbert Holt, as portrayed by P. Newman10 • H. Holt was not a business administrator and promoted his fortune by refining the sleight-of-hand process involved in the acquisition of corporate control through the trading and re-trading of stock. So was to a great degree S. B. Roman. He also likes sometimes to sit behind a desk at the end of his luxurious office and visitors leave with the impression that he has strong beliefs and does not accept easily to be contradicted. But he also meets his visitors in the reception room with a broad, friendly smile and a strong handshake, if he is in a good disposition, and sits with them around a coffee table. Roman's interest in politics and his warnings against Communism also resemble those of Sir Herbert Holt who, in 1931, said: "People do not realize the Russian menace. The spread of Communism is not a matter to laugh at." Roman was preaching anti-Communism since the outbreak of the Second World War and his visits to Moscow or to his native Slovakia, oppressed by Moscow, did not change his attitude. As a man convinced that only free enterprise can give people incentive for good work, and as a religious man, Roman could not remain indifferent to Communism. 11 Unlike Holt who according to his •c olleagues in the Conservative Party "really understood nothing about politics except how to manage ministers," Roman has been his whole life an ardent student of politics, national and international. His table conversations at home or elsewhere always ended in discussion on politics or religion-the second subject of his genuine interest. Of course, he can be sometimes an impatient listener, rather inclined to lecture authoritatively and arguing willingly on any subjeGt. On the other hand, he can be very warm and friendly in personal discussions. As a result, he appears a different personality in his office, at board meetings and in the seclusion of his residence where on weekends he invites �SLOVAKIA 13 his friends and quite often a bishop or a priest to celebrate a Sunday Mass and to share a dinner with his family. In his office a senior executive, referring to Roman's dynamism and impatience, used to say: "it takes a strong boiler which makes 15 pots to boil and sometimes even tremble." And he was not far from the truth. The Roman Legend Why around some persons legends grow fast or are created at all, nobody has yet explained. It is one of the mysterious gifts which the Lord gives at his pleasure and not always according to our human logic. In the life of many successful or outstanding men there are ingredients which can give birth to a legend, but only a few of them became legendary. Extraordinary deeds or success in many cases remain unknown or belittled by jealousy of associates or contemporaries, while in some cases everything is magnified by wishful thinking and creative fantasy into legendary proportions. The 'hero' is credited with deeds, connections and power he does not possess or, if he does, in a considerably diminished measure. In the life of S. B. Roman there have been no doubt many ingredients for a legend. God gave him also that rare gift of striking the imagination of people in a positive way. It is not only his wealth which attracts so many people in high positions to him. S. B. Roman together with his elegantly dressed wife, Betty, can also be superb hosts, and many people try to get close to the Romans and flatter them in order to gain some advantage. Roman's sharp eye can easily spot this, but he had a good laugh when a visitor tried to convince him that he should accept some function or to be a speaker because he will attract people. "Why do you think I will attract them?", asked Roman of his visitor. "You remember what happened to Moses when he led his flock from Egyptian captivity and went to the mountain to talk to the Lord", answered the visitor, "half of the flock began to worship the golden veal ... " Roman looked at his visitor with one eye and with a laugh told him: "Thank you very much." �14 SLOVAKIA Roman differs from many people who orbit the Stock Exchange and made money in the post-war boom in industry and speculation, also in some other respect. He is an avid reader and his lib:rary was built not only for the purpose of ornating his residence. Especially during the years of his ascension to wealth and social position he read diligently books from many fields and his conversations showed that his good memory helped him to learn more in some fields than many academics retained from university studies. Roman received from God among other gifts not only a good memory but also the gift of logic and ability to grasp the essentials of the problems. Discussions with him on many subjects were a pleasure in those years. From the discussions on religion which has been for years his second subject to politics-never business at table--one has the impression that the concept of eastern Christianity, with the stress on the spiritual and the mystical rather than the legalistic and the philosophical, is his religion not only formally-he belongs to the Byzantine Catholic Rite-but also conforms with his personality. It is not in carrying out the technical word that a Christian should participate in the world of God on the earth, but in fulfilling his specific role-seems to be his basic religious concept. Of many changes triggered by the Vatican Council at which he was one of the lay observers, Roman can be more critical than non-Catholics or dissident priests, being inclined to express his opinion in strong terms. Among other gifts Roman received from God also love for beautiful surroundings with a sense of proportion and good taste. If we believed in reincarnation, we could apply it to him and explain many things in the life of this extraordinary "farm boy from Slovakia." However, even without belief in reincarnation, one can explain some features of his life and character. Slovakia, that comperatively unknown land in Canada, is a romantic hilly country with hundreds of castles, fortresses, and former aristocratic domains. For centuries it was a bulwark in the defense of Europe against invasions from Asia. The Huns, the Magyars, the Tartars, the Turks overran the �SLOVAKIA 15 country and the aristocracy who ruled from castles and fortresses over the Slovak population was international rather than national. For some inexplicable reason, this historical heritage became apparent in Slovakia more abroad than in their own country. The leaders of the Hungarian struggle for independence, L. Kossuth and A. Pet6fi, or several Hungarian cardinals were of Slovak ancestry, the "king 0f Madagascar" M. Benovsky was from Slovakia, the founders of Pan-Slavism were of Slovak origin (but enriched Czech culture) as was T. G. Masaryk who freed Czechs from Austrian domination, and the famous astronomer and one of the youngest French generals, Milan R. t>tefanik who made a career outside his native country. Roman's life and character may have its roots in this peculiar feature of the Slovak people and in the history of Slovakia. Indeed, Jeanne Dixon, who had the ear-so rumor goes-of some American presidents and predicted J. F. Kennedy's death, gave one day a halting look at Roman, whom she had met for the first time, and exclaimed: "You are a descendant of Genghis Khan." Roman had a good laugh and some of his friends too, but in view of the invasions and history of Slovakia, even this far-fetched possibility is not excluded. S. B. Roman and Slovakia The "Roman Story" became a legend also in his native country after his two trips to Slovakia--one in his own jet plane. It made believe millions of Slovaks that Roman will help their country, suffering under Communism and foreign rule, to regain freedom and a better future and that he will use his great wealth for building mines, factories, hotels in the beautiful Tatra Mountains or churches in Slovak towns. For his activities among Slovaks abroad and for his successful tour of his native country, he became the best known Slovak of his generation among the Slovaks in the free world as well as in his native Slovakia and great hopes and expectations have surrounded his name. In fact Roman was genuinely interested in the organizational life of the Slovak group and from the end of the Second World War, also in the fate of Slovakia. He served �16 SLOVAKIA as the editor of a Slovak weekly, was active in the Canadian Slovak League, and was deeply involved in organizing cultural programmes for Slovak Canadians, setting up debates, concerts and trying to help his native country to freedom and independence. On his initiative in 1946 a memorandum was sent to the United Nations by Slovak organizations in Canada in which they proposed to the Delegates of the World Security Conference that, "since the Slovak People in Slovakia are a distinct and separate nation, the Security Conference provide and obtain either; "First, if the Conference choose, that the Slovak People of Slovakia could be granted complete independence from the Czech nation or state, and from any other nation in the anticipated European post-war organization of which she will be a part; "Or Second, that the Slovak people decide for themselves by a free and unhampered secret ballot under the supervision of the United Nations Military Committee, first whether they, the Slovak People of Slovakia desire to be completely independent and severed from the Czech nation and state and from any other nation in the anticipated post-war organization of Europe of which Slovakia will be a part, or second whether they desire to be an autonomous, self-governing part of the Czecho-Slovak dual State in the post-war organization of Europe of which she will be a part. N. B. In this latter case, the spelling of the name 'Czecho-Slovak' should be hyphenated and this should be its official spelling." Later he supported activities of Slovak political exiles and helped to publish books and became a sought-for speaker at celebrations, Slovak days or banquets. As he moved up in the social ladder, S. B. Roman used his connections to help the Slovak cause also on higheroften international levels. His relations with the Vatican12 helped not only the consolidation of the church organization of the Slovak Byzantine Catholics in Canada who obtained a bishop of their nationality, but also in Slovakia. He made great efforts in obtaining Slovak spiritual leaders for some 500,000 Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in the United States13 and memorable in this respect will remain �SLOVAKIA 17 the huge celebrations of the 11th Centennial of Christianity in Slovakia which took place in Toronto in 1963. The main ceremony was attended by 18 Archbishops and Bishops, representatives of the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments, as well as by the Apostolic delegate and some 20,000 persons. 14 If Canadian Slovaks played a role of greater importance than their number would warrant, either among the other ethnic groups or generally in Canadian life, it was due mostly to his continuous contributions. This has been acknowledged on many occasions by the ethnic press in which S. B. Roman yearly published elaborate messages on special occasions like Christmas, elections or national days. 15 He also supported academic periodicals and the Conferences on Canadian Slavs ,a nd earned great respect among the leaders of the ethnic groups in Canada. Believing in organized work and concentrated effort, S. B. Roman was also instrumental in organizing the First Slovak World Congress which took place in June 1970 and was one of the most successful events among Slovaks in the free world since the end of the Second World War. Unanimously, delegates of Slovak organizations from many countries around the world elected him as the First President of the Slovak World Congress. Roman's authority and popularity with the Slovak people grew incessantly since his appointment to the Vatican Council, his close acquaintance with President Nixon, his participation at a NATO meeting in Paris as a member of the Canadian delegation and his "red carpet" reception by the government representatives in Bratislava and Prague in 1968. For all this Slovaks surrounded Roman with great hopes and expectations. In fact, his connections and his wealth gave him better possibilities to further the Slovak cause in the free world than to any other Slovak of his generation and he has been aware of it. Looking back on the life and success of S. B. Roman , one becomes aware of the old truth that for societies as for men, there can be no growth without challenge. Progress �SLOVAKIA 18 is a battle just as life is a struggle. S. B. Roman has been winning the battles because he was not afraid of the challenge. On the threshold of his 50th birthday, a great number of Slovaks and many of his acquaintances of other ethnic backgrounds will undoubtedly wish him to continue winning his battles and contributing to progress and happiness of his fellowmen, as well as to freedom of his native Slovakia. 1) Fortune (New York) , September 1966. According to Fortune, the top-ranking international monthly for business executives, "In the last twenty years, Roman has wheeled and wildcatted his way to a business empire whose worth is conservatively estimated at 2.5 billion dollars." 2) Newman presents in his Flame of Power (Toronto, 1959) eleven intimate profiles of Canadian greatest businessmen. After reading the book one has a strong feeling that Roman belongs to this category of economic empire bui:tders. 3) Among the books see: D. H. LeBourdais, Canada and the Atomic Revolution, (Toronto, 1959), p. 111-2, George Lonn, About Men and Mines, (Toronto, 1962), and Builders of Fortune, (Toronto, 1963), p. 55-60 and Businessmen Around the Globe, by the editors of Fortune (Harrisburg, Pa. 1967), p. 69-70. Among Magazines: Fortune (New York) September 1966, Executive, January 1960, Monetary Times, April 1967. In French: Enterprise (Paris, April 1967), as well as Paris dailies of September 1966. Roman also received wide television, radio and press coverage behind the Iron Curtain when he visited his native Slovakta on his own plane in 1966. 4) The book Business Around the Globe mentions a mining engineer, Art Stollery, as one of the stakers and says: "In one of the complicated financial deals at which he excels, Roman bought the claims from Stollery and his frienlds for $30,000.00 and transferred them to North Denison Mines, an old copper-and-nickel company. In return he got one million shares in what eventually became Denison Mines Limited, which he divided with Stollery's group. Soon afterwards, uranium was struck, and Denison's stock shot up from 30¢ to $12.00 within a year." Op. cit., p. 60. In September 1967, it was quoted at $85.00 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 5) For more details on S. B. Roman's life anld success, see my book Slovaks in Canada (Canadian Ethnic Press Associaition, Toronto, 1967), pp. 374-380. 6) S. B. Roman's philosophy on free enterprise was reflected in his speech to the Rotary Club, '11oronto, in October 1970, as well as the Brief which Denison Mines submitted to the Federal Government in 1970 on the White Paper dealing with Capital Gains Tax. The Brief said that the proposal to tax economy is a form of "intellectual colonialism that ill befits a pioneering vigorous �SLOVAKIA 19 country." In S. B. Roman's opinion, in the economy of the next century, part of the profits will be divided between capital and labour. He admitted that Denison Mines does not share profits with employees because "we are as much coward as anybody else." See "The Telegram" June 23, 1970. On his speech at the Rotary Club, see 'The Northern Miner", October 29, 1970. 7) All quotations on Sir James Dunn are taken from Peter Newman's book Flame of Power. 8) See his speech in the Toronto Kiwanis Club, January 13, 1971, in which he said, among other things, "It is high time that we ~evise a formula that allows us to differentiate between people who really are not capable of looking after themselves and people who are lazy or not willing to work" . . . "I am certain every thinking Canadian must be disturbed by the developments they see occurring, developments leading to more and more irresponsibility and unwillingness to work. The ]danger is that it is a most infectious cancer in that ,i t can--and will--spread to those, now willing to work, who by seeing compatriots leaning on welfare, start to wonder about ,the wisdom of working themselves." See excerpts in The Toronto Telegram, January 14, 1971, as well as The Star, January 14, 1971. 9) See Zena Cherry, "Home Away from Home-Beach Lot for $1,000.00 a foot," Globe and Mail, May 2, 1968. 10) Ibid. 11) When the Soviets, together with their satellites, occupied CzechoSlovakia, he was the main speaker at a rally in Toronto denouncing the brutal act of Soviet impel'ialism. 12) He was not only the lay observer ,at the Vatican Council but in 1963 he also received the Order of the Knight Commander of Saint Gregory. On his participatioN at the Council, see my series of articles in Kana'.lsky Slovak and Slovak v Amerike, NovemberDecember 1966, and January 1967. 13) On this subject, he also published English and Slovak articles in the Slovak Press in Canada and the United States. 14) For more details, see my book Slovaks in Canada, op. cit., p. 263. 15) In one of such messages, he made the following appeal under the title "Democracy's Most Precious Gift": . .. "To those of us who have left our native lands for Canalda and its precious gifts of democracy, has fallen the privilege of citizenship and the responsibilities of the vote. To us has befallen the choice of government and its leadership and the survival of all that we hold dear. It has now become our task to listen and learn, that we may judge the posture of the party and the stature of the man, anld to decide and compare what is best in our own particular communities, for our own particular needs" ... � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1971, Vol. 21 Description An account of the resource Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971. 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 1971 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 7 Stephen B. Ro1nan - Slovak Tycoon J . M . Ki Ts C h b au m For more than ten years I was tempted to write something like "One of the most amazing characters I have met in my life," and a few years ago I prepared an outline for a book I thought should be entitled "The Defiant Tycoon." Odd circumstances prevented me from accomplishing either of these plans. On April 21, 1971, Stephen B. Roman will pass the threshold of the half-century mark of his extraordinary life, full of amazing success, uneven struggles and varied activities which made him nationally Stephen e. Roman and internationally known. The "Roman Story" re-written and re-published in numerous languages in Canada, Europe and the United States gives an example of one of the most spectacular careers in Canadian finance and industry and we will attempt to outline here at least the most interesting periods. Stephen B . Roman was born in Vel'ky Ruskov, Eastern Slovakia. According to his reminiscences, he grew up in a tightly knit family and his boyhood was happy and geared to farm life. An irresistible desire to see the world prompted him, however, as a teenager to leave his studies at the Agricultural College in a town near his home and to accompany his older brother George to Canada. They arrived in Canada on June 15, 1937, with two thousand dollars to buy a farm. For the following three years he worked for 50¢ a day on a farm near Port Perry, Ontario, 8 SLOVAKIA an experience about which he can talk with great humor. Then, after a short period of service in the Canadian Army, he worked on the assembly line at General Motors, but an awakening interest in the Canadian economy, in investments and in speculation led him to spend his time in a variety of studies from business to corporate law, history and politics. During this period, he became a Canadian citizen and in 1945 he married the former Betty Gardon, also a native of Slovakia. The following ten years skyrocketted him into wealth and fame. 1 On the treshold of his 50 birthday, we can say without any exaggeration that S. B. Roman made the most important and most spectacular contribution to the Canadian development of industry, finance and agriculture in the post-war II period. He over-shadowed the success of any Canadian of his generation and ranks with the nation's most successful and financially the most powerful Canadian, whose profiles were ably outlined in P. C. Newman's Flame of Power.2 In Canada's national economic community, the name of Stephen Roman became synonymous with the leadership of one of the richest and most powerful industrial organizations in the country, Denison Mines Limited and Roman Corporation Limited, both active in mining, oil and cement production and in a variety of other major enterprises. Denison Mines became universally known as the largest uranium mine in the world and its billion dollar asset together with the holdings of Roman Corporation hais often been called by financial journals the "Roman Empire." Together with its dynamic founder and chairman, Denison Mines have been the subject of numerous articles in Canadian and international financial publications, books, and newpapers. 3 Except for E. P. Taylor, there has not been a Canadian industrialist who has attracted as much of the attention of the national and international press, as did S. B. Roman, whose views on economic questions have been sought by the nation's press, radio and television, and respected for their candor and independence of thought. SLOVAKIA 9 The Way to the Spectacular Success In the beginning, S. B. Roman's moves did not amount to much, hampered as he was by lack of capital and experience. His will to succeed, however, was stronger than the odds against which he had to fight and his persistence swept friends along with his enthusiasm. In 1946, he organized the Concord Mining Syndicate, converted it into Concord Mines Limited years later, and moved rapidly into oil exploration just as the oil industry was agog with the discovery of the Leduc fields in Alberta. In another move, he created a new company through further reorganization, the New Concord Development Corpora~ion, with himself as President. Success took on a broad dimension for Stephen B. Roman and his company's operations found profits not only in Alberta but also in the United States and provided funds of the size which would permit Roman to meet the test of his lifetime's greatest opportunity: uranium in the Blind River-Algom a Camp. The opportunity came when two independent stakers4 from the vast area of bush north of the Trans-Canada Highway between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, where Dr. F. R. Joubin discovered the largest deposits of uranium, turned to him for support. In January 1954, Roman made the critical decision to invest money in these Blind River -Algoma claims from the sale of his shares in Concord. Thus he fashioned Consolidated Denison Mines Limited. At 34 years of age, he began making mining history and the "Roman Story" was published in multiple variations more times on the American Continent and in Europe than any other in the past 20 years,5 Residing in a stately 17-roomed house with his family of four boys and three daughters in rolling farmland some 20 miles from Metropolitan Toronto, S. B. Roman made also noteworthy contribution to Canadian agriculture. On his 1,350 acres of choice farming land he proved as successful and imaginative in the breeding and development of Holstein-Frie sian cattle as in industry and finance. His Romandale herd is recognized throughout the world as a producer of oustanding breeding stock and many breeders in various countries have selected Romandale animals for their own breeding programs. He takes justifi- 10 SLOVAKIA able pride in the fact that his is the only herd in the breed's history which had the distinction of winning, more often than any other breed, both the Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor awards at all three major North American shows: in Canada, at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Toronto, Ontario; in the U.S. A. at the National Dairy Congress, Waterloo, Iowa, the International Dairy Exposition, Chicago, Illinois and All American Shows at Pittsburgh, Pa. S. B. Roman's Personality and Motivation Whoever knows S. B. Roman from his business or social contacts, cannot be but baffled by his complex personality, his easily changing mood from friendly laughter and smooth conversation to a temperamental eruption of criticism or rage--short lasting anyhow. "I never hold a grudge against anybody," is the frequent remark one can hear in conversation with him. Or insisting on the necessity of humility after an acerbic criticism of somebody-may it be the Pope, the President of the United States (not Nixon) or the Prime Minister of Canada-he would say: " I am, of course, sometime rough, but it is with a purpose in mind." Though one can make a guess, it is very hard to make a statement about Roman's motivation. Not only in the angry fight for the principle of free enterprise with Prime Minister Trudeau in March 1970, who stopped the sale of Denison Mines, but on many other occasions, S. B. Roman insisted that money was not his ultimate goal. A Toronto newspaper wrote on one occasion that it is the liberation of Slovakia, which has undoubtedly been very close to his heart, but even a close association with Roman provides only vague and uncertain hints about his motivation. As the most spectacularly successful Canadian of his generation-and the only non-Anglo-Saxon -who can be counted among the financial empire builders in Canada, he views, as the other Canadian magnates did, the free enterprise system as a fore-ordained to reward the most able.6 There are indications that he also shares with them other views. Like all of them, he regards the successful business corporation as the highest manifestation of man's SLOVAKIA 11 superiority and many of his business ventures would indicate that he believes in large corporatio ns. Even though Roman's complex personality shows genuine features of his race, he also has many characteris tics in common with the other Canadian financial magnates. Of course, he is not the multi-milli onaire mine maker who spent long years prospectin g in the bush like Harry Oaks or Gilbert Labine. He belongs to the new generation of mine makers who used the promoters ' phone and the stock exchange, shrewd deals and good timing for developing Canadian industry and increasing his wealth. Among the Canadian "empire builders" Roman seems to be the closest to Sir James Dunn,7 the carpenter's son from Bathurst, N. B., who had "all the assets and all the liabilities of a promoter" , and though he was a totally self-made man and proud of it, he became Canada's most flamboyan t multi-milli onaire. Roman shares-pe rhaps unconscio usly-with Sir James Dunn the belief that handouts keep people from working. 11 Like Dunn, he gave large amounts of money to hospitals, churches and universitie s and received his first honorary degree from St. Francis University in Antigonish , N. S., as Sir James Dunn did. Furthermo re, he has in common with Dunn the love for "dreams that open new frontiers and build for greatness "-the dreams which are "not the thin vapourings of the idle mind, but rather the vision of a busy brain." In pursuing the realization of his dreams, Roman like Dunn seems to be hampered only by his impulses and always insists on his own way in all things, regardless of the number of enemies it may make him. Led by intuition and putting stress on "logic", sometimes his own logic, he would repeat: "Do not be afraid to be hurt or kicked, the time comes when you kick back." Roman's beautiful residence near Toronto, furnished with many rare pieces of furniture or paintings, as well as his palatial second residence in the millionaire 's oasis of Lyford Cay in Nassau9 , bring him also close to Sir James Dunn whose insistence on palatial surroundin gs reflected -accordin g to his biography -his efforts to compensat e 12 SLOVAKIA for the oppressive poverty of his childhood. Roman had a happy even if modest childhood, but his first years in Canada were undoubtedly those of immigrants working for 50¢ a day from dawn to late night and he never forgot them. In some other respects Roman reminds one of Sir Herbert Holt, as portrayed by P. Newman10 • H. Holt was not a business administrator and promoted his fortune by refining the sleight-of-hand process involved in the acquisition of corporate control through the trading and re-trading of stock. So was to a great degree S. B. Roman. He also likes sometimes to sit behind a desk at the end of his luxurious office and visitors leave with the impression that he has strong beliefs and does not accept easily to be contradicted. But he also meets his visitors in the reception room with a broad, friendly smile and a strong handshake, if he is in a good disposition, and sits with them around a coffee table. Roman's interest in politics and his warnings against Communism also resemble those of Sir Herbert Holt who, in 1931, said: "People do not realize the Russian menace. The spread of Communism is not a matter to laugh at." Roman was preaching anti-Communism since the outbreak of the Second World War and his visits to Moscow or to his native Slovakia, oppressed by Moscow, did not change his attitude. As a man convinced that only free enterprise can give people incentive for good work, and as a religious man, Roman could not remain indifferent to Communism. 11 Unlike Holt who according to his •c olleagues in the Conservative Party "really understood nothing about politics except how to manage ministers," Roman has been his whole life an ardent student of politics, national and international. His table conversations at home or elsewhere always ended in discussion on politics or religion-the second subject of his genuine interest. Of course, he can be sometimes an impatient listener, rather inclined to lecture authoritatively and arguing willingly on any subjeGt. On the other hand, he can be very warm and friendly in personal discussions. As a result, he appears a different personality in his office, at board meetings and in the seclusion of his residence where on weekends he invites SLOVAKIA 13 his friends and quite often a bishop or a priest to celebrate a Sunday Mass and to share a dinner with his family. In his office a senior executive, referring to Roman's dynamism and impatience, used to say: "it takes a strong boiler which makes 15 pots to boil and sometimes even tremble." And he was not far from the truth. The Roman Legend Why around some persons legends grow fast or are created at all, nobody has yet explained. It is one of the mysterious gifts which the Lord gives at his pleasure and not always according to our human logic. In the life of many successful or outstanding men there are ingredients which can give birth to a legend, but only a few of them became legendary. Extraordinary deeds or success in many cases remain unknown or belittled by jealousy of associates or contemporaries, while in some cases everything is magnified by wishful thinking and creative fantasy into legendary proportions. The 'hero' is credited with deeds, connections and power he does not possess or, if he does, in a considerably diminished measure. In the life of S. B. Roman there have been no doubt many ingredients for a legend. God gave him also that rare gift of striking the imagination of people in a positive way. It is not only his wealth which attracts so many people in high positions to him. S. B. Roman together with his elegantly dressed wife, Betty, can also be superb hosts, and many people try to get close to the Romans and flatter them in order to gain some advantage. Roman's sharp eye can easily spot this, but he had a good laugh when a visitor tried to convince him that he should accept some function or to be a speaker because he will attract people. "Why do you think I will attract them?", asked Roman of his visitor. "You remember what happened to Moses when he led his flock from Egyptian captivity and went to the mountain to talk to the Lord", answered the visitor, "half of the flock began to worship the golden veal ... " Roman looked at his visitor with one eye and with a laugh told him: "Thank you very much." 14 SLOVAKIA Roman differs from many people who orbit the Stock Exchange and made money in the post-war boom in industry and speculation, also in some other respect. He is an avid reader and his lib:rary was built not only for the purpose of ornating his residence. Especially during the years of his ascension to wealth and social position he read diligently books from many fields and his conversations showed that his good memory helped him to learn more in some fields than many academics retained from university studies. Roman received from God among other gifts not only a good memory but also the gift of logic and ability to grasp the essentials of the problems. Discussions with him on many subjects were a pleasure in those years. From the discussions on religion which has been for years his second subject to politics-never business at table--one has the impression that the concept of eastern Christianity, with the stress on the spiritual and the mystical rather than the legalistic and the philosophical, is his religion not only formally-he belongs to the Byzantine Catholic Rite-but also conforms with his personality. It is not in carrying out the technical word that a Christian should participate in the world of God on the earth, but in fulfilling his specific role-seems to be his basic religious concept. Of many changes triggered by the Vatican Council at which he was one of the lay observers, Roman can be more critical than non-Catholics or dissident priests, being inclined to express his opinion in strong terms. Among other gifts Roman received from God also love for beautiful surroundings with a sense of proportion and good taste. If we believed in reincarnation, we could apply it to him and explain many things in the life of this extraordinary "farm boy from Slovakia." However, even without belief in reincarnation, one can explain some features of his life and character. Slovakia, that comperatively unknown land in Canada, is a romantic hilly country with hundreds of castles, fortresses, and former aristocratic domains. For centuries it was a bulwark in the defense of Europe against invasions from Asia. The Huns, the Magyars, the Tartars, the Turks overran the SLOVAKIA 15 country and the aristocracy who ruled from castles and fortresses over the Slovak population was international rather than national. For some inexplicable reason, this historical heritage became apparent in Slovakia more abroad than in their own country. The leaders of the Hungarian struggle for independence, L. Kossuth and A. Pet6fi, or several Hungarian cardinals were of Slovak ancestry, the "king 0f Madagascar" M. Benovsky was from Slovakia, the founders of Pan-Slavism were of Slovak origin (but enriched Czech culture) as was T. G. Masaryk who freed Czechs from Austrian domination, and the famous astronomer and one of the youngest French generals, Milan R. t>tefanik who made a career outside his native country. Roman's life and character may have its roots in this peculiar feature of the Slovak people and in the history of Slovakia. Indeed, Jeanne Dixon, who had the ear-so rumor goes-of some American presidents and predicted J. F. Kennedy's death, gave one day a halting look at Roman, whom she had met for the first time, and exclaimed: "You are a descendant of Genghis Khan." Roman had a good laugh and some of his friends too, but in view of the invasions and history of Slovakia, even this far-fetched possibility is not excluded. S. B. Roman and Slovakia The "Roman Story" became a legend also in his native country after his two trips to Slovakia--one in his own jet plane. It made believe millions of Slovaks that Roman will help their country, suffering under Communism and foreign rule, to regain freedom and a better future and that he will use his great wealth for building mines, factories, hotels in the beautiful Tatra Mountains or churches in Slovak towns. For his activities among Slovaks abroad and for his successful tour of his native country, he became the best known Slovak of his generation among the Slovaks in the free world as well as in his native Slovakia and great hopes and expectations have surrounded his name. In fact Roman was genuinely interested in the organizational life of the Slovak group and from the end of the Second World War, also in the fate of Slovakia. He served 16 SLOVAKIA as the editor of a Slovak weekly, was active in the Canadian Slovak League, and was deeply involved in organizing cultural programmes for Slovak Canadians, setting up debates, concerts and trying to help his native country to freedom and independence. On his initiative in 1946 a memorandum was sent to the United Nations by Slovak organizations in Canada in which they proposed to the Delegates of the World Security Conference that, "since the Slovak People in Slovakia are a distinct and separate nation, the Security Conference provide and obtain either; "First, if the Conference choose, that the Slovak People of Slovakia could be granted complete independence from the Czech nation or state, and from any other nation in the anticipated European post-war organization of which she will be a part; "Or Second, that the Slovak people decide for themselves by a free and unhampered secret ballot under the supervision of the United Nations Military Committee, first whether they, the Slovak People of Slovakia desire to be completely independent and severed from the Czech nation and state and from any other nation in the anticipated post-war organization of Europe of which Slovakia will be a part, or second whether they desire to be an autonomous, self-governing part of the Czecho-Slovak dual State in the post-war organization of Europe of which she will be a part. N. B. In this latter case, the spelling of the name 'Czecho-Slovak' should be hyphenated and this should be its official spelling." Later he supported activities of Slovak political exiles and helped to publish books and became a sought-for speaker at celebrations, Slovak days or banquets. As he moved up in the social ladder, S. B. Roman used his connections to help the Slovak cause also on higheroften international levels. His relations with the Vatican12 helped not only the consolidation of the church organization of the Slovak Byzantine Catholics in Canada who obtained a bishop of their nationality, but also in Slovakia. He made great efforts in obtaining Slovak spiritual leaders for some 500,000 Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in the United States13 and memorable in this respect will remain SLOVAKIA 17 the huge celebrations of the 11th Centennial of Christianity in Slovakia which took place in Toronto in 1963. The main ceremony was attended by 18 Archbishops and Bishops, representatives of the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments, as well as by the Apostolic delegate and some 20,000 persons. 14 If Canadian Slovaks played a role of greater importance than their number would warrant, either among the other ethnic groups or generally in Canadian life, it was due mostly to his continuous contributions. This has been acknowledged on many occasions by the ethnic press in which S. B. Roman yearly published elaborate messages on special occasions like Christmas, elections or national days. 15 He also supported academic periodicals and the Conferences on Canadian Slavs ,a nd earned great respect among the leaders of the ethnic groups in Canada. Believing in organized work and concentrated effort, S. B. Roman was also instrumental in organizing the First Slovak World Congress which took place in June 1970 and was one of the most successful events among Slovaks in the free world since the end of the Second World War. Unanimously, delegates of Slovak organizations from many countries around the world elected him as the First President of the Slovak World Congress. Roman's authority and popularity with the Slovak people grew incessantly since his appointment to the Vatican Council, his close acquaintance with President Nixon, his participation at a NATO meeting in Paris as a member of the Canadian delegation and his "red carpet" reception by the government representatives in Bratislava and Prague in 1968. For all this Slovaks surrounded Roman with great hopes and expectations. In fact, his connections and his wealth gave him better possibilities to further the Slovak cause in the free world than to any other Slovak of his generation and he has been aware of it. Looking back on the life and success of S. B. Roman , one becomes aware of the old truth that for societies as for men, there can be no growth without challenge. Progress SLOVAKIA 18 is a battle just as life is a struggle. S. B. Roman has been winning the battles because he was not afraid of the challenge. On the threshold of his 50th birthday, a great number of Slovaks and many of his acquaintances of other ethnic backgrounds will undoubtedly wish him to continue winning his battles and contributing to progress and happiness of his fellowmen, as well as to freedom of his native Slovakia. 1) Fortune (New York) , September 1966. According to Fortune, the top-ranking international monthly for business executives, "In the last twenty years, Roman has wheeled and wildcatted his way to a business empire whose worth is conservatively estimated at 2.5 billion dollars." 2) Newman presents in his Flame of Power (Toronto, 1959) eleven intimate profiles of Canadian greatest businessmen. After reading the book one has a strong feeling that Roman belongs to this category of economic empire bui:tders. 3) Among the books see: D. H. LeBourdais, Canada and the Atomic Revolution, (Toronto, 1959), p. 111-2, George Lonn, About Men and Mines, (Toronto, 1962), and Builders of Fortune, (Toronto, 1963), p. 55-60 and Businessmen Around the Globe, by the editors of Fortune (Harrisburg, Pa. 1967), p. 69-70. Among Magazines: Fortune (New York) September 1966, Executive, January 1960, Monetary Times, April 1967. In French: Enterprise (Paris, April 1967), as well as Paris dailies of September 1966. Roman also received wide television, radio and press coverage behind the Iron Curtain when he visited his native Slovakta on his own plane in 1966. 4) The book Business Around the Globe mentions a mining engineer, Art Stollery, as one of the stakers and says: "In one of the complicated financial deals at which he excels, Roman bought the claims from Stollery and his frienlds for $30,000.00 and transferred them to North Denison Mines, an old copper-and-nickel company. In return he got one million shares in what eventually became Denison Mines Limited, which he divided with Stollery's group. Soon afterwards, uranium was struck, and Denison's stock shot up from 30¢ to $12.00 within a year." Op. cit., p. 60. In September 1967, it was quoted at $85.00 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 5) For more details on S. B. Roman's life anld success, see my book Slovaks in Canada (Canadian Ethnic Press Associaition, Toronto, 1967), pp. 374-380. 6) S. B. Roman's philosophy on free enterprise was reflected in his speech to the Rotary Club, '11oronto, in October 1970, as well as the Brief which Denison Mines submitted to the Federal Government in 1970 on the White Paper dealing with Capital Gains Tax. The Brief said that the proposal to tax economy is a form of "intellectual colonialism that ill befits a pioneering vigorous SLOVAKIA 19 country." In S. B. Roman's opinion, in the economy of the next century, part of the profits will be divided between capital and labour. He admitted that Denison Mines does not share profits with employees because "we are as much coward as anybody else." See "The Telegram" June 23, 1970. On his speech at the Rotary Club, see 'The Northern Miner", October 29, 1970. 7) All quotations on Sir James Dunn are taken from Peter Newman's book Flame of Power. 8) See his speech in the Toronto Kiwanis Club, January 13, 1971, in which he said, among other things, "It is high time that we ~evise a formula that allows us to differentiate between people who really are not capable of looking after themselves and people who are lazy or not willing to work" . . . "I am certain every thinking Canadian must be disturbed by the developments they see occurring, developments leading to more and more irresponsibility and unwillingness to work. The ]danger is that it is a most infectious cancer in that ,i t can--and will--spread to those, now willing to work, who by seeing compatriots leaning on welfare, start to wonder about ,the wisdom of working themselves." See excerpts in The Toronto Telegram, January 14, 1971, as well as The Star, January 14, 1971. 9) See Zena Cherry, "Home Away from Home-Beach Lot for $1,000.00 a foot," Globe and Mail, May 2, 1968. 10) Ibid. 11) When the Soviets, together with their satellites, occupied CzechoSlovakia, he was the main speaker at a rally in Toronto denouncing the brutal act of Soviet impel'ialism. 12) He was not only the lay observer ,at the Vatican Council but in 1963 he also received the Order of the Knight Commander of Saint Gregory. On his participatioN at the Council, see my series of articles in Kana'.lsky Slovak and Slovak v Amerike, NovemberDecember 1966, and January 1967. 13) On this subject, he also published English and Slovak articles in the Slovak Press in Canada and the United States. 14) For more details, see my book Slovaks in Canada, op. cit., p. 263. 15) In one of such messages, he made the following appeal under the title "Democracy's Most Precious Gift": . .. "To those of us who have left our native lands for Canalda and its precious gifts of democracy, has fallen the privilege of citizenship and the responsibilities of the vote. To us has befallen the choice of government and its leadership and the survival of all that we hold dear. It has now become our task to listen and learn, that we may judge the posture of the party and the stature of the man, anld to decide and compare what is best in our own particular communities, for our own particular needs" ...  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stephen B. Roman - Slovak Tycoon Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971 pp. 7-19 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/dbde9d29d97125296684855753e3b11b.pdf b79bbc59e21388cbb51d6e021352d1be PDF Text Text 60 SLOVAK.IA Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-ln Memoriam With a group of writers and poets who left Slovakia before the advancing Soviet armies in 1945, with the intention to fight for Slovak freedom and independence in the West, there were also literary critics and literary historians with established reputations. Among them, Prof. Stanislav Meciar, born on March 21, 1910, in Prievidza, was one of the most outstanding. His untimely death on November 23, 1971, in Buenos Aires , Argentina, has been . therefore, regretted with great sorrow everywhere in the free world where Slovaks live. In Stanislav Meciar, Slovak literary history and criticism had a well educated, eclectic literary critic, essayist and evaluator of Slovak cultural life. Meciar studied at the Universities of Bratislava, Prague, Leipzig and Warsaw, specializing in Slavic and German literatures and philology. Equipped with a solid academic preparation and a strong ambition to elevate Slovak literary and cultural life to European standards, he occupied during the War the prestigious position of the editor of Slovenske Pohl'ady and made it a tribune of intellectual ferment and struggle for national goals. His patriotism and nationalistic fervor marked not only the contents of Slovenske Pohl'ady but also his whole literary work. Like many other writers and literary critics, Meciar appeared on the literary scene first as a writer of literary comments, book reviews, short novels and verses. Subsequently he moved into the field of comparative literature and translations from Slavic, especially Polish, poetry and prose. By 1936 he emerged as a literary critic and aesthete with a solid knowledge of Slovak literature always bearing in mind specific hlstorical and cultural development of the Slovak people. His published works : Poetry and L i f e (1936 ); Unknown Verses of Janka Kral' (1938 ) ; Hviezdoslav's Forester's Wife (1939), and Beniak's Zofia (1941 ) proved that Meciar was a mature, erudite literary critic who applied scholarly methods in his evaluation of Slovak literature. �SLOVAKIA 61 On the basis of these literary works and Meciar's academic background, the President of the Slovak Republic nominated him in 1944 Professor at the University of Bratislava. The Soviet occupation of Slovakia prevented him, however, from contributing to Slovak scholarship at university level. Meciar's patriotism and nationalistic fervor grew even stronger in exile which can be easily understood if one takes into account that Slovaks, after a few years of independent cultural development, had to see their dreams of independence crashed and their traditional values destroyed by Communism imposed upon them from outside. He became an "ecrivain engage" opposed to any compromise in the Slovak national struggle. From 1949 to 1952 he edited the most nationalistic of all Slovak periodicals abroad Slovenskd Republika, a series of books "Slovenskd slobodnd kultura" (Slovak Free Culture, 1951-60) and Letopisy (Archives, 1963), the latter published by the Zahranicnd Matica Slovenskd which was organized in Buenos Aires by J. C. Hronsky with Meciar as secretary. Besides his many contributions to Slovak emigre newspapers on cultural and political matters, Meciar did not fail, however, to continue his scholarly work. His main literary achievement in exile has been two volume work on Martin Kukucin (Kukucin zivy, Buenos Aires, 1958-1960), the best Slovak novelist of the period of realism in Slovak literature, who also spent his life outside of his native country and died in Argentina. In the literary journals and almanacs (Most, Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, and in the symposium Vo Vyhnanstve), Meciar published essays on Slovak culture, on the leading Slovak post-war novelist Milo Urban, and on the most outstanding Slovak poets, Jan Holly and P. 0. Hviezdoslav. An intellectual with a proud national consciousness and dedicated to the struggle for freedom of the Slovak people, Meciar never hesitated to display his uncompromising attitude towards the foes of the Slovak striving for a free and independent cultural and political development. His death created a gap in the ranks of Slovak intellectuals abroad which will be very hard to fill. Slovak culture lost in Prof. Meciar a proud representative of a generation which helped the dream of Slovak independence to come true. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m � 60 SLOVAK.IA Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-ln Memoriam With a group of writers and poets who left Slovakia before the advancing Soviet armies in 1945, with the intention to fight for Slovak freedom and independence in the West, there were also literary critics and literary historians with established reputations. Among them, Prof. Stanislav Meciar, born on March 21, 1910, in Prievidza, was one of the most outstanding. His untimely death on November 23, 1971, in Buenos Aires , Argentina, has been . therefore, regretted with great sorrow everywhere in the free world where Slovaks live. In Stanislav Meciar, Slovak literary history and criticism had a well educated, eclectic literary critic, essayist and evaluator of Slovak cultural life. Meciar studied at the Universities of Bratislava, Prague, Leipzig and Warsaw, specializing in Slavic and German literatures and philology. Equipped with a solid academic preparation and a strong ambition to elevate Slovak literary and cultural life to European standards, he occupied during the War the prestigious position of the editor of Slovenske Pohl'ady and made it a tribune of intellectual ferment and struggle for national goals. His patriotism and nationalistic fervor marked not only the contents of Slovenske Pohl'ady but also his whole literary work. Like many other writers and literary critics, Meciar appeared on the literary scene first as a writer of literary comments, book reviews, short novels and verses. Subsequently he moved into the field of comparative literature and translations from Slavic, especially Polish, poetry and prose. By 1936 he emerged as a literary critic and aesthete with a solid knowledge of Slovak literature always bearing in mind specific hlstorical and cultural development of the Slovak people. His published works : Poetry and L i f e (1936 ); Unknown Verses of Janka Kral' (1938 ) ; Hviezdoslav's Forester's Wife (1939), and Beniak's Zofia (1941 ) proved that Meciar was a mature, erudite literary critic who applied scholarly methods in his evaluation of Slovak literature. �SLOVAKIA 61 On the basis of these literary works and Meciar's academic background, the President of the Slovak Republic nominated him in 1944 Professor at the University of Bratislava. The Soviet occupation of Slovakia prevented him, however, from contributing to Slovak scholarship at university level. Meciar's patriotism and nationalistic fervor grew even stronger in exile which can be easily understood if one takes into account that Slovaks, after a few years of independent cultural development, had to see their dreams of independence crashed and their traditional values destroyed by Communism imposed upon them from outside. He became an "ecrivain engage" opposed to any compromise in the Slovak national struggle. From 1949 to 1952 he edited the most nationalistic of all Slovak periodicals abroad Slovenskd Republika, a series of books "Slovenskd slobodnd kultura" (Slovak Free Culture, 1951-60) and Letopisy (Archives, 1963), the latter published by the Zahranicnd Matica Slovenskd which was organized in Buenos Aires by J. C. Hronsky with Meciar as secretary. Besides his many contributions to Slovak emigre newspapers on cultural and political matters, Meciar did not fail, however, to continue his scholarly work. His main literary achievement in exile has been two volume work on Martin Kukucin (Kukucin zivy, Buenos Aires, 1958-1960), the best Slovak novelist of the period of realism in Slovak literature, who also spent his life outside of his native country and died in Argentina. In the literary journals and almanacs (Most, Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, and in the symposium Vo Vyhnanstve), Meciar published essays on Slovak culture, on the leading Slovak post-war novelist Milo Urban, and on the most outstanding Slovak poets, Jan Holly and P. 0. Hviezdoslav. An intellectual with a proud national consciousness and dedicated to the struggle for freedom of the Slovak people, Meciar never hesitated to display his uncompromising attitude towards the foes of the Slovak striving for a free and independent cultural and political development. His death created a gap in the ranks of Slovak intellectuals abroad which will be very hard to fill. Slovak culture lost in Prof. Meciar a proud representative of a generation which helped the dream of Slovak independence to come true. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 60 SLOVAK.IA Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-ln Memoriam With a group of writers and poets who left Slovakia before the advancing Soviet armies in 1945, with the intention to fight for Slovak freedom and independence in the West, there were also literary critics and literary historians with established reputations. Among them, Prof. Stanislav Meciar, born on March 21, 1910, in Prievidza, was one of the most outstanding. His untimely death on November 23, 1971, in Buenos Aires , Argentina, has been . therefore, regretted with great sorrow everywhere in the free world where Slovaks live. In Stanislav Meciar, Slovak literary history and criticism had a well educated, eclectic literary critic, essayist and evaluator of Slovak cultural life. Meciar studied at the Universities of Bratislava, Prague, Leipzig and Warsaw, specializing in Slavic and German literatures and philology. Equipped with a solid academic preparation and a strong ambition to elevate Slovak literary and cultural life to European standards, he occupied during the War the prestigious position of the editor of Slovenske Pohl'ady and made it a tribune of intellectual ferment and struggle for national goals. His patriotism and nationalistic fervor marked not only the contents of Slovenske Pohl'ady but also his whole literary work. Like many other writers and literary critics, Meciar appeared on the literary scene first as a writer of literary comments, book reviews, short novels and verses. Subsequently he moved into the field of comparative literature and translations from Slavic, especially Polish, poetry and prose. By 1936 he emerged as a literary critic and aesthete with a solid knowledge of Slovak literature always bearing in mind specific hlstorical and cultural development of the Slovak people. His published works : Poetry and L i f e (1936 ); Unknown Verses of Janka Kral' (1938 ) ; Hviezdoslav's Forester's Wife (1939), and Beniak's Zofia (1941 ) proved that Meciar was a mature, erudite literary critic who applied scholarly methods in his evaluation of Slovak literature. SLOVAKIA 61 On the basis of these literary works and Meciar's academic background, the President of the Slovak Republic nominated him in 1944 Professor at the University of Bratislava. The Soviet occupation of Slovakia prevented him, however, from contributing to Slovak scholarship at university level. Meciar's patriotism and nationalistic fervor grew even stronger in exile which can be easily understood if one takes into account that Slovaks, after a few years of independent cultural development, had to see their dreams of independence crashed and their traditional values destroyed by Communism imposed upon them from outside. He became an "ecrivain engage" opposed to any compromise in the Slovak national struggle. From 1949 to 1952 he edited the most nationalistic of all Slovak periodicals abroad Slovenskd Republika, a series of books "Slovenskd slobodnd kultura" (Slovak Free Culture, 1951-60) and Letopisy (Archives, 1963), the latter published by the Zahranicnd Matica Slovenskd which was organized in Buenos Aires by J. C. Hronsky with Meciar as secretary. Besides his many contributions to Slovak emigre newspapers on cultural and political matters, Meciar did not fail, however, to continue his scholarly work. His main literary achievement in exile has been two volume work on Martin Kukucin (Kukucin zivy, Buenos Aires, 1958-1960), the best Slovak novelist of the period of realism in Slovak literature, who also spent his life outside of his native country and died in Argentina. In the literary journals and almanacs (Most, Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, and in the symposium Vo Vyhnanstve), Meciar published essays on Slovak culture, on the leading Slovak post-war novelist Milo Urban, and on the most outstanding Slovak poets, Jan Holly and P. 0. Hviezdoslav. An intellectual with a proud national consciousness and dedicated to the struggle for freedom of the Slovak people, Meciar never hesitated to display his uncompromising attitude towards the foes of the Slovak striving for a free and independent cultural and political development. His death created a gap in the ranks of Slovak intellectuals abroad which will be very hard to fill. Slovak culture lost in Prof. Meciar a proud representative of a generation which helped the dream of Slovak independence to come true. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Prof. Stanislav Mečiar (1910-1971) - In Memoriam Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 60-61 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/58b55ccc80d01f8f164dc7ee1430c6ab.pdf 6a33bd58852659e830704638b78c6719 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 5 Dr. Joseph Tiso The Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People J. M. Ki rs C h b au m Most wars in history have ended with the morally doubtful "vae victis"; the Second World War was no exception. Twenty-five years ago on April 18th in Bratislava, the picturesque site of the medieval University and later the crowning city of the Hapsburgs as kings of Hungary, a Catholic prelate with rosary in hand was led to the gallows and executed. Fearing German reprisals against the Slovak population, he had refused the Soviet demand to turn against the Germans, as the king of Rumania has done, and thus lost the first chance to save his life. By refusing to recommend Communism to his people and renounce their right to independence , he lost the last chance. It was an early chilling morning on the slopes of the Carpathians and on the shores of the Danube where Bratislava is situated. Only Czech troops and police detachment sent by Prague circulated the city to prevent an uprising or an attempt at freeing the incarcerated prelate. The country had been in a tense and grim mood for several months. Nothing except promises by the government composed of Communists and members of the Democratic Party that Dr. Tiso, President of the short-lived Slovak Republic, would be sentenced but not hanged, kept the population from revolting. Dr. E. Benes, President of the restored Czecho-Slova kia, refused, however, to spare the life of Dr. Tiso because, as he publicly said, "two Presidents could not live in one country," especially when the preferred one in Slovakia was not him but the incarcerated Dr. Tiso. When the news about the execution spread throughout the country, there was anger, sorrow and fear among the population. It was the first time that in Slovakia's long history a political leader had died on the gallows �6 SLOVAKIA for his convictions. Even during the Second World War no execution had been carried out in Slovakia because Dr. Tiso, as a priest, would not sign the order of execution. However, the shock was caused not only by the fact that the Slovaks were deceived, horrified and humiliated in their national pride. Dr. Tiso-until now little known abroad or presented in a distorted light-was the first President the Slovaks ever had. His policy could have been hard to understand or even abhorent to many people in the West, but the Slovak people looked at it from a different angle. He saved them from a division among their neighbors and from an occupation by the German Reich. He led his small Slovak Republic during the calamities of the Second World War without much damage and secured for the population the highest living standards in Europe, including neutral Switzerland. Furthermore, he was a Catholic prelate in a conservative and deeply religious land with over 80 ~'" of the population being devoted Catholics. The vast majority of the Slovak population considered, therefore, the execution as an act of political vengeance. In fact, the members of the government who represented the Democratic Party which, in the 1946 elections had won a 62 ~f, majority, urged Dr. Benes to give amnesty to Dr. Tiso. Only the Communists and the Prague government insisted on his execution. Dr. Tiso was accused of treason and collaboration with Germany. Since Czecho-Slovakia originated with the dismemberment of Austrio-Hungary by the activities of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Benes during the First World War, nobody in Slovakia could take seriously the charge of treason. Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia was not as much the result of the activities of Dr. Tiso, as of the international situation. Besides T. G. Masaryk himself, accused of treason, refuted as preposterous any charge of treason for activities leading to independence of an oppressed people. There are some learned paragraphs in his writings about this subject. 1 On the other side, the "collaboration" of Dr. Tiso with Berlin was not that of conspiracy or voluntary acceptance either of German supremacy in Central Europe, or of German Nazi ideology. He went for the first time to Berlin in order to defend Slovakia against Magyar territorial �SLOVAKIA 7 claims and saw Hitler for the first time on March 13, 1939, on the invitation of Hitler and with the consent of the Presidium of the Slovak parliament and the Slovak provincial government. His mission in Berlin was to save Slovakia from dismemberment and occupation and not to ask for German supremacy or for the introduction of the Nazi ideology in Slovakia. In fact, he opposed the introduction of Nazism into Slovakia, proof of which can be found in many official German documents published by the American and British governments.2 During the war Dr. Tiso publicly proclaimed that Slovak participation in the war was symbolic and that Slovakia fought Communism and Soviet expansion and not the Russian people. For these pronouncements he had difficulties with Berlin. His envoy in Rome in 1940 informed through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the British government that Slovakia desired to remain neutral. 3 The Secretary-General of the ruling Party of which Dr. Tiso was chairman, spoke publicly against the introduction of foreign ideologies and insisted on keeping Slovakia out of the conflict of the Great Powers. The pressure of Berlin, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany was, however, too strong to be fully resisted and Dr. Tiso had to deal with a government in Slovakia in which some members were acquiescent to the demands of the Third Reich, especially in solving some internal problems such as the Jewish problem. In this case Dr. Tiso did his best and saved many thousands of Slovak Jews. The international Red Cross report acknowledged that Slovakia had been at times a haven for the Jews of Poland. 4 But those who were saved, and even less Dr. Benes, were willing to consider the real situation in Slovakia during the Second World War. The speeches and addresses Dr. Tiso made during the war were those of a patriot, tempered by the realistic evaluation of Slovakia's situation, by his long political experience and knowledge of the Slovak mentality and, of course, by the precarious conditions of the war and German distrust. 5 According to all who knew Dr. Tiso, political power had no corrupting effect on this quiet, solidly build figure, whose goal in life was to serve God and his nation and who repeatedly proclaimed himself ready to retire to his �8 SLOVAKIA parish if it would serve the interests of his people. He remained what he always had been-a fighter for his beliefs on the pattern of Central European national leaders who combined strong patriotism with their religious vocation and intellectual distinction. 6 His distaste for democratic politics as practised between the two wars in CzechoSlovakia should be judged by taking into account the situation in Slovakia during the 20 years after the First World War. Ruled from Prague, with political power divided between some 30 splinter parties, Slovakia was certainly not happy 7 under a regime where democracy was often nothing less than a series of noisy and incoherent promise, impossible demands and hot-potch of unfortunate ideas and impractical plans. Dr. Tiso was not against criticism or opposition and even less against free discussion, but the war situation everywhere in the world imposed brakes on the democratic way of life. In addition, in Ttso's view, public opinion should have been formed on the basis of solid arguments and knowledge of indisputable and properly interpreted facts and disinterested attitudes, and not on the basis of passions and distortions of truth. He repeated this in many of his speeches and addresses which were based on the doctrine of the Papal encyclicals and works of Western and European sociologists with a mixture of patriotic ideas deeply rooted in Slovak tradition. He wanted to rally his fellow citizens to have them respond to an invocation of national destiny great enough to jolt them out of their passivity and submissivness. If he praised the Germans, as he sometimes did, it was because he felt that such was the price which would have to be paid for his people's salvation from German occupation and division among Slovakia's neighbors. He also had to do it in order to prevent subservient elements from taking into their hands complete power in Slovakia . German ambassadors in Bratislava sent many reports to Berlin against Tiso's politics and tried hard to have put in his place a man who would have been more obedient and more subservient to German demands and pressure.8 There was, in fact, a time when they tried to remove him by an attempt on his life. As a result, Tiso looks in historical perspective more as a Slovak Petain than as any other head �SLOVAKIA 9 of state who during the war had to be on the German side either because of geo-political reasons or by compulsion. II. DR. TISO'S CONCEPT OF SLOVAK POLITICS Dr. Tiso left no compact work about his views on Slovak national life or on the ideological foundations of Slovak politics. Always in the middle of obstinate struggles for the rights of the Slovak people and their national survival, in which he played the foremost role from 1918 on, Dr. Tiso had little time to write books. He postponed the task for a time when he would depart from the political arena, but this was denied him by his execution. Although he formulated the goals of the Slovak national struggle between 1920-1945 and in countless speeches and addresses developed the fundamental principles of a Slovak national ideology more systematically than any other Slovak leader had in this century or in the past, a systematic explanation of Tiso's political views and principles still awaits the efforts of a serious scholar. The first step in this direction was made by Dr. Stefan Polakovic during the lifetime of Dr. Tiso, when he expertly and systematically collected in the work Tiso's Doctrine and From Tiso 's Struggle9 the fundamental concepts of Dr. Tiso's views on the nation, nationalism, the state, religion, and social order. Even though the volumes bear the imprints of war conditions in Slovakia, they remain thus far, along with the final speech of Dr. Tiso before the Bratislava Court, which was edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco,10 the main source of knowledge of the fundamental ideas, aims, and efforts of Slovak political life in the first half of this century. In Slovakia and abroad, Dr. Tiso was accused after the Second World War of being against democracy, favoring dictatorship and of introducing during the war a fascist regime and immitating German Nazi ideology. The perusal of the articles, studies, parliamentary speeches and presidential messages make all these accusations not only foundless, but testify to the fact that Dr. Tiso's ideology was anchored in Papal Encyclicals, in Natural Law, in modern sociological thought. His ideal was a true democracy which he called Christian democracy. German pres- �SLOVAKIA sure, the circumstances of a war which seriously curtailed democracy in England, the U.S.A. or Canada, and many problems of a specific nature facing a new state in a precarious geo-political situation, did not allow Dr. Tiso to implement all his ideas. Furthermore, Dr. Tiso was a president with powers strictly defined by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic 11 and executive powers were vested largely in the hands of the government. Dr. Tiso pointed out this important fact in his last eloquent pladoyer before the Bratislava Court, but it was apparently overlooked by all foreign writers who wrote about Dr. Tiso and wartime Slovakia. As a cabinet minister in pre-war Czecho-Slovakia as well as one of the principal leaders of the Slovak Populist Party which fought for political autonomy within CzechoSlovakia, Dr. Tiso made numerous speeches on democracy and dictatorship, not only a long time before Hitler came to power but also when the Fuehrer's impact on European politics was strong and found imitators and sympathizers in many European countries. In 1936, when democracy in Europe and especially in Central Europe was passing through a crisis, Dr. Tiso, speaking on behalf of the Slovak Populist Party, proclaimed: We Slovaks are adherents of Christian democracy from the depth of our hearts and condemn any dictatorship regardless of its name. We have always been for democracy but a true democracy. We are criticizing our mystified (falsified) democracy exactly for the reaso n that at present, democracy in Czecho-Slovakia, by its methods, actually discredits democracy. At home it shatters faith in democracy in the hearts of the people, and elsewhere, especially abroad , it gives to the adversaries of democracy an efficient weapon against our democracy. We are for such a democracy which is blsed on equal rights for everybody, for a true and sincere democracy which serves the public and protects interests of the nation as a whole. 12 His adverse stand against the ideological principles of Nazism (national socialism) was expressed as late as 1942, when Germany ruled over Europe and tried to impose an ideological "Gleichaltung." In an address to diplomats accredited in Bratislava, Dr. Tiso as President of the Slovak Republic, said among other things: "We cannot accept and implement the political part of national socialism, but its economic and social goals and methods we can follow, because they are in accordance with Natural Law." 13 �SLOVAKIA 11 Social problems, especially just rewards for workers and the equitable distribution of national income were close to the heart of Dr. Tiso during his whole political career. It was apparently his life ambition to implement the social ideas and principles of the Papal Encyclical "Quadragesimo Anno" in the economic and social system of Slovakia. Certain social measures, especially those aiming at improving the lot of the working class, which the Germans had introduced in the late 1930's, were the economic and social goals which Dr. Tiso thought worthwhile to accept from national socialism. In fact, during his term of office, several reforms were introduced such as paid holidays for workers, family wages and a bill introducing the participation of workers on the profits of industrial enterprise. From his deep feeling for social justice stemmed also Dr. Tiso's views on the role of the capital and capitalists in Slovakia: The new Slovakia is not against capital, but she is against the unscrupulous capitalists who would like to continue exploiting Slovakia. Not every,body who has a lot of money is a capitalist in the bad sense of the word. A capitalist is a man who uses his money for personal enrichment and not for the common good. I did not abandon Ohristian principles when I declared that from the invested capital either in industry or in commerce or agriculture the owner can obtain only 10% and the rest he must use for improvement of the enterprise and mainly for the !improvement of the social standards of the employees. The profits should be divided in such a way that not only the investor but also the enterprise and the employees would obtain a proper share of it. This is Christian philosophy.14 Not only Tiso's views regarding social justice and the role of capital but his ideology in a broad sense was anchored in the philosophy of Natural Law and in Christian ethics. In a narrower sense, Slovak national traditions permeated with expressions of patriotism and a selfless dedication to the struggle for national rights, as defined in the political thought of European philosophers and ideologists of the 19th and 20th centuries, were other components of his political philosophy. As if following the Old Testament prophets, Dr. Tiso spoke of his approach to Slovak politics: In profound humility we are ,p aying tribute to our good Lord for the light we receive from the principles of Natural Law, �12 SLOVAKIA according to which we conducted ourselves in the fight for independence, as well as in our work of building our State. A return to the Natural Law can be the only foundation upon which a new world can be built, a world of contentment, order, and permanent peace.15 A practical manifestation of the Natural Law is and shall remain our old goal: Slovakia for the Slovaks. Slovakia in its entirety, indivisible and without reservations in the legal, cultural, economical, and social iields, so that the inde,p endent Slovak nation might be the living bearer of all power and the consumer of all that the Slovak country contains and represents. Placing the foundation of Slovak politics on Natural Law, Dr. Tiso on March 16, 1939, defined the ethical basis of Slovak politics as follows: Our Slovak State was not born out of hatred, but out of our great love for our homeland. Let us above all else be led by this thought: no hatred toward anyone, but love, and ardent love for our State, which inspires us to work and sacrifice .. _16 "Not force, but law which is founded on truth," was the philosophy of Dr. Joseph Tiso, and he followed it in the full sense of the word throughout his life, because he believed that "no one will be mistaken who builds on the nation and always has only the interests of his nation in mind. We have taken over this thesis from stirring times for the future so that we might strengthen ourselves in the old convictions that individuals pass away but the nation remains, and the person who, separated completely from his own interests, stands unconditionally in the service of the nation, knows how to hold his ground and is the only one fit to lead and to speak in the name of the nation." Regarding politics as a service to the nation, Dr. Tiso during his many years of political activity pleaded that political leaders learn to give priority to the interests of the nation over their own interests. His understanding of politics was that "the interest of the nation is the highest directive of political work." Politics is not supposed to be: A medium for several individuals to conceal their own materialistic interests. Politics serves the nation. The politician, more than any one else, must be the guardian of the traditional values of the nation and must be the ever ready intepreter of Natural Law in any given situation. Should any one lack the one or the other, he is not fit to be the representative ,of the nation, because he will either become a figure tossed about by contemporary political or social currents which have no connection with the living body of the nation, or else he will be a museum guardian of the nation who �SLOVAKIA 13 stands afar from contemporary routes along which life flows and on which the fate of the future of the nation is determined. Whoever boasts that he is a loyal son of the nation must also ponder what he is giving to his nation: an ideological infection which causes a fever, or bacteria which causes decay and can bring the nation to the grave; or does he contribute labor which shall forever remain in the nation as a cell of healthy social and cultural development. As Dr. Tiso saw it, "the State should serve the nation, therefore, it has the right to existence only insofar as it does not threaten the interests of the nation." As far as State order is concerned, this must "be subordinated to the principles of morality and law; the State must respect the rights of the individual, the family, society, and hold sacred the right of parents to educate their children, the right of conscience and religious affiliation; it guarantees the right of private ownership and safeguards the peaceful co-existence of labor and capital, of employer and employee." Every loyal son of the Slovak nation, according to Tiso, "sanctifies his nationalism with a Christian spirit, so that nationalism does not remain a slogan or a mantle of dubious aims, but an internal motivating force to create values for the benefit of the national whole. Love for the nation is a religious precept, and a person sins against the Fourth Commandment who does not love his nation. He bears a stigma not only as an earthly traitor, but also as a transgressor who does not keep the Divine Commandment. A nation whose sons do not know how to bear a blow and personal sacrifices, such a nation will not get far. The nation lives, the national whole lives, only by the fight and work of individuals." From the above quotations, it is quite evident that the main principles of Dr. Tiso's ideology were: 1) Natural Law; 2) Love in place of hatred; 3) Right in.stead of violence; 4) Respect for morality; 5) Nation above the State; 6) Loyalty to traditions; 7) The personal selflessness and sacrifice of political leaders; 8) Nationalism sanctified by Christianity; 9) Social justice, and 10) Religious tolerance. During the decades of his political activity, Dr. Tiso developed these ideas not only in his popular speeches to the people, but also in his addresses, parliamentary speeches, and presidential messages, so that a scholar �14 SLOVAKIA will have little difficulty in elaborating Dr. Tiso's ideology. Dr. Tiso himself indicated Christianity as the basis of his ideas, especially the philosophy of St. Thomas 17 and, in the social sphere, the Papal Encyclicals. On the question of nationalism Tiso said that "the symbol of Slovak nationalism was stur," 18 because "stur's nationalism was the dynamic force in individuals whom he prompted to work and sacrifice for the nation; it was the connecting link of individuals into a rock-firm whole with a united aim a united will . . ." 19 A study of Dr. Tiso's political speeches reveals that he frequently tied in his talks with the spiritual-political heritage of the followers of Louis stur, the 19th century Slovak patriot and the "father of modern Slovak nationalism." Dr. Tiso did this consciously to preserve the continuity in Slovak ideological-political development and so that the Slovaks could build on traditions. If we compare the basic ideas of stur's political and philosophical writing and speeches which are dealt with in several published works 20 with Tiso's, the latter, of course, shows more elaborate concepts and deeper sociological insights. Preserving ideological continuity with former Slovak generations, Dr. Tiso draws deeply from a Christian world outlook on the individual and his relation to the State, nation, family and society. His ideology is firmly founded on the principles of modern sociology and political science; it has solid philosophical foundations and a strictly logical system; it emanates from an idea and stresses the primacy of spirituality, but it depends on and respects the reality of life. Tiso's ideology is the result of long years study and political experience, drawn from daily contact with the people and from the unceasing struggle with Slovakia's adversaries. As a result, it is, as it were, an ideology forged in the fire of battles and tested in confrontation with the actual life of the nation in the phase of its political formation, but also in the phase of struggles for its natural rights, and, finally, also in the period of building its own state. In comparison with the ideology of :r.. stur and his followers, we are concerned in Tiso's case with an ideology whose foundations are not only broader but one which was more thought out, mature and tested by life. Dr. Tiso's �SLOVAKIA 15 political activity had almost been as long as Stu.r's entire life 0815-1856) and hence he could see the ideas which he professed and for which he labored and fought, materialized in national life. If we should compare Dr. Tiso as a politician and ideologue with other leaders of Slovak life, then objectively it can be said that during the last 100 year,s there was no political leader in Slovakia who could compare with his thorough preparation for political activity, either theoretically or from parliamentary experience. III. WRITINGS ON PRESIDENT TISO IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES In many West European countries, the President of the Slovak Republic was presented after the war in a distorted way. Journalists and scholars accepted Czech propaganda and Communist accusations and wrote about Slovakia and her President with a definite bias. After 25 years, this trend is changing, as all of us, who knew that the adverse propaganda was not based on facts, believed from the very beginning that it would. In books, periodicals and newpapers, the personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics appear today in a much different light than was the case immediately after the war. European Scholars About Msgr. Tiso In this respect, two recent articles deserve our attention. The French historian, Francois d'Orcival, who published an interesting book on Slovakia about three years ago under the title Le Danube Etait Noir, contributed to the periodical Miroir de l'Histoire (July 1971, No. 259), a lengthy essay in which he set the records straight and presented Dr. Tiso and his politics objectively. Dr. Tiso appears to the French historian as a patriot who did everything possible to save his people from disaster and who applied in his politics as many Christian and humanist principles as the intricate situation of the Second World War allowed him. The essay gives a brief historical background of Slovakia during the centuries and deals with the political events from 1918 to the proclamation of Slovakia's independence, ending with the execution of Msgr. Tiso in 1947. �16 SLOVAKIA The second article "Premesse ideologiche del Federalismo ceco-slovacco (La dottrina politico-sociale di Jozef Tiso)" appeared in Italy in the periodical fl Mondo Slavo (Vol. 2), published by the Centro di Studi Sull' Europa Orientale in Padova. It deals with the political and social doctrines of President Tiso, and was written by Lisa Guarda Nardini. It is a well-written analysis of the politics and ideology of Dr. Tiso. The author of the article also gives many biographical data on the President and dwells on his doctrine about the individual, the family, the nation and the State. The article is written on the basis of many sources published in English, German and Italian languages by foreign or Slovak authors. Writings by Slovak Authors in Foreign Languages Slovak writers, journalists and scholars published during the past 25 years scores of articles in the quarterlies Slovakia and Slowakei, or chapters in books dealing generally with Slovak history. The former Minister of External Affairs, Dr. F . t>urcansky, left some valuable information on Dr. Tiso in his contributions to German historical periodicals. In 1967 two publications appeared, one by Prof. Francis Vnuk and another by Prof. Milan S. Durica. Prof. Vnuk's publication, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic (The Association of Australian Slovaks, Sydney, 1967), is a well-balanced and well-written presentation of Dr. Tiso and his political career. After writing hundreds of articles and two books on political and cultural topics from modern Slovak history, Vnuk had become one of the best qualified persons to seriously tackle the subject. He displays a considerable knowledge of foreign and domestic sources on the crucial years of Slovakia's modern history and uses it with skill and good judgment in summarizing Dr. Tiso's achievements, his role in the struggle of the Slovak people for equality of rights in Czecho-Slovakia and finally for national independence in the troubled period before and during the Second World War. In the sub-title of his work, Prof. Vnuk mentions that it was published " In commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of his (Dr. Tiso's ) death at the hands of his �SLOVAKIA 17 enemies of Slovak independence," but it is not a current commemorative booklet. The author gives the reader in a nutshell a serious and well-documented analysis not only of Dr. Tiso's political life struggle, but also an excellent survey of Slovak politics and the treacheries and perfidy of the adversaries of Slovak independence. The booklet is divided into 15 chapters and also includes several photographs and a map of Slovakia. There could hardly be a better concised presentation of "the case of Tiso," as it has been done by Vnuk. In equally sober manner is written Prof. M. St. i'.>urica's analysis of Slovak politics "in the light of Tiso's political thought and teaching" - Die Slowakische Politik 1938/ 39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tiso 's (Emil Semmel Verlag, Bonn) , 1967. Both i'.>urica and Vnuk belong to the younger generation of Slovak scholars in the Free World and while they lived in Slovakia during the crucial years of her history, they were too young to be involved personally in politics, which is undoubtedly an advantage. Nobody can seriously accuse them of speaking "pro domo sua," as the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for freedom used to do with regard to other Slovak writers on political subjects. i'.>urica also has a thorough preparation for his work and is equipped with probably the best knowledge of German and other European diplomatic sources on Slovakia, as his Italian book and numerous studies in other languages indicate. The present publication is actually his lecture at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Bonn to the students of all Faculties on June 12, 1967. Like Vnuk, i'.>urica also gives first a survey of Slovak history to make his subject more intelligible to his readers. Then he speaks about the political thought (he uses the word Lehre-teaching) of Dr. Tiso and about the crisis of 1938/ 39. There are all the elements of a serious study in i'.>urica's publication, and it presents Dr. Tiso and Slovak politics to the Western world in an objective light, fighting only indirectly all the distortions and political propaganda which were spread by the Communists and non-Communists who adopted Czech and anti-Slovak conceptions about modern Slovak history. �18 SLOVAKIA The bulk of writings in the English language will be, of course, found in the American Slovak newspapers especially in Jednota and in the quarterly Oater annual) Slovakia. The late Philip Hrobak, editor of both Slovakia and Jednota was one of the most courageous defenders of the President of the Slovak Republic and there are many articles written by him personally and scores of essays which he translated and published. Some will be a valuable source for historians since they were written by persons who either knew President Tiso personally and worked in some political or cultural institution during the time he was President, or were acquainted with his trial and tragic and as politicians of the restored Czecho-Slovakia under the Soviet tutelage. Of documentary value will especially be two articles by President Tiso's Personal Secretary, Prof. Charles Murin: "Eight Fatal Days in the Life of Dr. Joseph Tiso," Slovakia, Vol. III, March 1957, pp. 13-18, and "A Belated Report," Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 31-36. Prof. Murin was Private Secretary to Dr. Tiso from 1938 until the latter's capture in Austria and extradition to Czecho-Slovakia, and the closest person in the President's entourage. The value of Prof. Murin's articles lies, in addition, in his intergrity and desire to portray the situation objectively. Another article of documentary value was written by an opponent of Slovakia's independence and indirectly of Dr. Tiso, Dr. Michael Zibrin, a member of Prague Parliament, under the title The Case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Vol. II, August 1952, pp. 1-24. For historians, two articles will be of interest, one by Prof. J. Zubek, O.F.M., S.T.D., Monsignor Jozef TisoControversial Personality, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and the other by Prof. Milan St. !>urica Dr'. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, Vol. VII, SeptemberDecember 1957, pp. 1-22. Neither Prof. Zubek nor Prof. !>urica were active in politics and their articles are a result of serious scholarly research. Among the articles by Slovaks who were close to some �SLOVAKIA 19 time to Dr. Tiso during the years 1938-1945, there are two by Dr. J. M. Kirschbaum The Tenth Anniversary of Dr. Joseph Tiso's Execution, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and Facts and Events Behind the Scenes of Slovakia's Declaration of Independence, Vol. IX, March 1959, pp. 1-7, and two by Dr. Joseph Pauco Dr. Joseph Tiso: Christian Democrat, Vol. VII, June 1957, pp. 37-49, and / was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 9-13. The quarterly Slovakia published many other articles which in one way or another shed further information on the personality and politics of Dr. Tiso. In 1957, an entire volume was devoted to the memory of Dr. Tiso and many articles were published in previous or in the following years. At least some of them should be mentioned: The First President of the Slovak Republic, by Dr. Joseph Cieker, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 1-29. Dr. Joseph Tiso: Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero of the Slovak Nation, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 45-46. Anniversary of a Murder, Vol. III, April 1953, pp. 28-30, and Dr. Joseph Tiso in Memoriam, Vol. XI, September-December 1961, pp. 1-2. Slovakia: Trial of Dr. Joseph Tiso, March 1957, pp. 19-21. All these writings are an important source of information not only for foreign historians interested in Eastern Europe, but also for the new generation of Slovaks. Nevertheless, there is still need for a comprehensive work on the remarkable personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics during the crucial years before and during the Second World War, as well as on his place in the history of Slovakia. If written without prejudice by an able historian, such a book can be of great service to the Slovak nation and of great value for understanding not only the struggle of a small nation between two great powers, but also of the Communist methods of enslaving people with old traditions and love of freedom and democracy. See T. G. Masaryk, Das neue Europa and Der Agramer Hock- verratsprozess, both published during his struggle fo r the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. 2) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series 'D', Vol. IX-X. 3) Ibid, Vol. X, No. 205. 1) 4) See the report of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Geneva, 1947, pp. 957- �20 SLOVAKIA 959, and Milan St. !>urica, "Dr, Jozef Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1957. See Francis Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic. (Sydney, 1967) and Th. J Zubek, "Monsignor J . Tiso-Controversial Personality," Slovakia, Vol. Vil, March, 1957. 6 ) See quotations from his speeches and addresses in this article, Part II. 7) See Watson Klrkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitler (Toronto, 1939) , pp. 47-48. 8) See J . M. Klrschbaum, Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (Speller & Sons, New York, 1960), p. 280-283, F . Vnuk, op. cit. , and Francois d'Orcival, Le Danube etait noir, (Paris, 1967 ) and his article in Mirroir de l'Histoire, (No. 259, July 1971). 5) 9 ) Dr. Stefan Polakovic, Tisova Nauka (Tiso's Political Philosophy), and Z Tisovho Boja (From Tiso's Struggle) , Bratislava, 1941. 10) Dr. Jozef Tiso o se be, edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco, Passaic, N. J . 1952. 11) On Slovak Constitution, see Kirschbaum, Slov aki11r-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, (Speller, New York, 1960) . 12) Published in the daily Slovak, No. 177-178, Bratislava, 1936. 13) Quoted from Dr. J . Pauco, op cit. , p. 243. 14) Polakovic, Tisova Nauka, op. cit., p. 324. Originally published in the daily Slovak, No. 283 , 1938. 15) This and the following quotations are taken from the books by Polakovic and Pauco. 16) See Polakovic, Z Tisovho Boja, op. cit. , p. 236-237. 17) "All who recall our thesis that 'the nation is the substance and the state only the form' should know that its state-political formula is the practical consequence of rtihe state-political theory which is built on the foundations of Thomistic philosophy ." - SLOVAK, 1935. 18 ) See "Prve posolstvo" (The First Message), Ruzomberok, August 16, 1939. Already in 1936 Dr. Tiso had proclaimed: "It is this amount of Louis Stur, built in the Banovce county, that shall be the visible proof of the fact that we have progressed so far that only we, Slovak Catholics, have not forgotten our Slovak past and we pay our respects to the memory of our national awakeners even when they are Evangelical (Lutherans) , as was Stur."-SLOVAK, 1936. 19) Dr. Tiso also characterized Stur's nationalism in this manner: " Stur's nationalism-built on the foundation of the independent Slovak nation and the genuine Slovak language, ,b ecause it acknowledges the law of God and the law .of nature-was the natural foundation of the life of the Slovak nation."-SLOVAK, 1936. 20 ) See the works by Profess.or Dr. Cizevsky, Stefan Polakovic, Dr. Samuel S. Osusky, Daniel Rapant, Joseph Pauco, and J . M. Kirschbaum's, ~udovit Slur and His Place in the Slavic World, (Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio), 1956. � SLOVAKIA 5 Dr. Joseph Tiso The Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People J. M. Ki rs C h b au m Most wars in history have ended with the morally doubtful "vae victis"; the Second World War was no exception. Twenty-five years ago on April 18th in Bratislava, the picturesque site of the medieval University and later the crowning city of the Hapsburgs as kings of Hungary, a Catholic prelate with rosary in hand was led to the gallows and executed. Fearing German reprisals against the Slovak population, he had refused the Soviet demand to turn against the Germans, as the king of Rumania has done, and thus lost the first chance to save his life. By refusing to recommend Communism to his people and renounce their right to independence , he lost the last chance. It was an early chilling morning on the slopes of the Carpathians and on the shores of the Danube where Bratislava is situated. Only Czech troops and police detachment sent by Prague circulated the city to prevent an uprising or an attempt at freeing the incarcerated prelate. The country had been in a tense and grim mood for several months. Nothing except promises by the government composed of Communists and members of the Democratic Party that Dr. Tiso, President of the short-lived Slovak Republic, would be sentenced but not hanged, kept the population from revolting. Dr. E. Benes, President of the restored Czecho-Slova kia, refused, however, to spare the life of Dr. Tiso because, as he publicly said, "two Presidents could not live in one country," especially when the preferred one in Slovakia was not him but the incarcerated Dr. Tiso. When the news about the execution spread throughout the country, there was anger, sorrow and fear among the population. It was the first time that in Slovakia's long history a political leader had died on the gallows �6 SLOVAKIA for his convictions. Even during the Second World War no execution had been carried out in Slovakia because Dr. Tiso, as a priest, would not sign the order of execution. However, the shock was caused not only by the fact that the Slovaks were deceived, horrified and humiliated in their national pride. Dr. Tiso-until now little known abroad or presented in a distorted light-was the first President the Slovaks ever had. His policy could have been hard to understand or even abhorent to many people in the West, but the Slovak people looked at it from a different angle. He saved them from a division among their neighbors and from an occupation by the German Reich. He led his small Slovak Republic during the calamities of the Second World War without much damage and secured for the population the highest living standards in Europe, including neutral Switzerland. Furthermore, he was a Catholic prelate in a conservative and deeply religious land with over 80 ~'" of the population being devoted Catholics. The vast majority of the Slovak population considered, therefore, the execution as an act of political vengeance. In fact, the members of the government who represented the Democratic Party which, in the 1946 elections had won a 62 ~f, majority, urged Dr. Benes to give amnesty to Dr. Tiso. Only the Communists and the Prague government insisted on his execution. Dr. Tiso was accused of treason and collaboration with Germany. Since Czecho-Slovakia originated with the dismemberment of Austrio-Hungary by the activities of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Benes during the First World War, nobody in Slovakia could take seriously the charge of treason. Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia was not as much the result of the activities of Dr. Tiso, as of the international situation. Besides T. G. Masaryk himself, accused of treason, refuted as preposterous any charge of treason for activities leading to independence of an oppressed people. There are some learned paragraphs in his writings about this subject. 1 On the other side, the "collaboration" of Dr. Tiso with Berlin was not that of conspiracy or voluntary acceptance either of German supremacy in Central Europe, or of German Nazi ideology. He went for the first time to Berlin in order to defend Slovakia against Magyar territorial �SLOVAKIA 7 claims and saw Hitler for the first time on March 13, 1939, on the invitation of Hitler and with the consent of the Presidium of the Slovak parliament and the Slovak provincial government. His mission in Berlin was to save Slovakia from dismemberment and occupation and not to ask for German supremacy or for the introduction of the Nazi ideology in Slovakia. In fact, he opposed the introduction of Nazism into Slovakia, proof of which can be found in many official German documents published by the American and British governments.2 During the war Dr. Tiso publicly proclaimed that Slovak participation in the war was symbolic and that Slovakia fought Communism and Soviet expansion and not the Russian people. For these pronouncements he had difficulties with Berlin. His envoy in Rome in 1940 informed through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the British government that Slovakia desired to remain neutral. 3 The Secretary-General of the ruling Party of which Dr. Tiso was chairman, spoke publicly against the introduction of foreign ideologies and insisted on keeping Slovakia out of the conflict of the Great Powers. The pressure of Berlin, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany was, however, too strong to be fully resisted and Dr. Tiso had to deal with a government in Slovakia in which some members were acquiescent to the demands of the Third Reich, especially in solving some internal problems such as the Jewish problem. In this case Dr. Tiso did his best and saved many thousands of Slovak Jews. The international Red Cross report acknowledged that Slovakia had been at times a haven for the Jews of Poland. 4 But those who were saved, and even less Dr. Benes, were willing to consider the real situation in Slovakia during the Second World War. The speeches and addresses Dr. Tiso made during the war were those of a patriot, tempered by the realistic evaluation of Slovakia's situation, by his long political experience and knowledge of the Slovak mentality and, of course, by the precarious conditions of the war and German distrust. 5 According to all who knew Dr. Tiso, political power had no corrupting effect on this quiet, solidly build figure, whose goal in life was to serve God and his nation and who repeatedly proclaimed himself ready to retire to his �8 SLOVAKIA parish if it would serve the interests of his people. He remained what he always had been-a fighter for his beliefs on the pattern of Central European national leaders who combined strong patriotism with their religious vocation and intellectual distinction. 6 His distaste for democratic politics as practised between the two wars in CzechoSlovakia should be judged by taking into account the situation in Slovakia during the 20 years after the First World War. Ruled from Prague, with political power divided between some 30 splinter parties, Slovakia was certainly not happy 7 under a regime where democracy was often nothing less than a series of noisy and incoherent promise, impossible demands and hot-potch of unfortunate ideas and impractical plans. Dr. Tiso was not against criticism or opposition and even less against free discussion, but the war situation everywhere in the world imposed brakes on the democratic way of life. In addition, in Ttso's view, public opinion should have been formed on the basis of solid arguments and knowledge of indisputable and properly interpreted facts and disinterested attitudes, and not on the basis of passions and distortions of truth. He repeated this in many of his speeches and addresses which were based on the doctrine of the Papal encyclicals and works of Western and European sociologists with a mixture of patriotic ideas deeply rooted in Slovak tradition. He wanted to rally his fellow citizens to have them respond to an invocation of national destiny great enough to jolt them out of their passivity and submissivness. If he praised the Germans, as he sometimes did, it was because he felt that such was the price which would have to be paid for his people's salvation from German occupation and division among Slovakia's neighbors. He also had to do it in order to prevent subservient elements from taking into their hands complete power in Slovakia . German ambassadors in Bratislava sent many reports to Berlin against Tiso's politics and tried hard to have put in his place a man who would have been more obedient and more subservient to German demands and pressure.8 There was, in fact, a time when they tried to remove him by an attempt on his life. As a result, Tiso looks in historical perspective more as a Slovak Petain than as any other head �SLOVAKIA 9 of state who during the war had to be on the German side either because of geo-political reasons or by compulsion. II. DR. TISO'S CONCEPT OF SLOVAK POLITICS Dr. Tiso left no compact work about his views on Slovak national life or on the ideological foundations of Slovak politics. Always in the middle of obstinate struggles for the rights of the Slovak people and their national survival, in which he played the foremost role from 1918 on, Dr. Tiso had little time to write books. He postponed the task for a time when he would depart from the political arena, but this was denied him by his execution. Although he formulated the goals of the Slovak national struggle between 1920-1945 and in countless speeches and addresses developed the fundamental principles of a Slovak national ideology more systematically than any other Slovak leader had in this century or in the past, a systematic explanation of Tiso's political views and principles still awaits the efforts of a serious scholar. The first step in this direction was made by Dr. Stefan Polakovic during the lifetime of Dr. Tiso, when he expertly and systematically collected in the work Tiso's Doctrine and From Tiso 's Struggle9 the fundamental concepts of Dr. Tiso's views on the nation, nationalism, the state, religion, and social order. Even though the volumes bear the imprints of war conditions in Slovakia, they remain thus far, along with the final speech of Dr. Tiso before the Bratislava Court, which was edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco,10 the main source of knowledge of the fundamental ideas, aims, and efforts of Slovak political life in the first half of this century. In Slovakia and abroad, Dr. Tiso was accused after the Second World War of being against democracy, favoring dictatorship and of introducing during the war a fascist regime and immitating German Nazi ideology. The perusal of the articles, studies, parliamentary speeches and presidential messages make all these accusations not only foundless, but testify to the fact that Dr. Tiso's ideology was anchored in Papal Encyclicals, in Natural Law, in modern sociological thought. His ideal was a true democracy which he called Christian democracy. German pres- �SLOVAKIA sure, the circumstances of a war which seriously curtailed democracy in England, the U.S.A. or Canada, and many problems of a specific nature facing a new state in a precarious geo-political situation, did not allow Dr. Tiso to implement all his ideas. Furthermore, Dr. Tiso was a president with powers strictly defined by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic 11 and executive powers were vested largely in the hands of the government. Dr. Tiso pointed out this important fact in his last eloquent pladoyer before the Bratislava Court, but it was apparently overlooked by all foreign writers who wrote about Dr. Tiso and wartime Slovakia. As a cabinet minister in pre-war Czecho-Slovakia as well as one of the principal leaders of the Slovak Populist Party which fought for political autonomy within CzechoSlovakia, Dr. Tiso made numerous speeches on democracy and dictatorship, not only a long time before Hitler came to power but also when the Fuehrer's impact on European politics was strong and found imitators and sympathizers in many European countries. In 1936, when democracy in Europe and especially in Central Europe was passing through a crisis, Dr. Tiso, speaking on behalf of the Slovak Populist Party, proclaimed: We Slovaks are adherents of Christian democracy from the depth of our hearts and condemn any dictatorship regardless of its name. We have always been for democracy but a true democracy. We are criticizing our mystified (falsified) democracy exactly for the reaso n that at present, democracy in Czecho-Slovakia, by its methods, actually discredits democracy. At home it shatters faith in democracy in the hearts of the people, and elsewhere, especially abroad , it gives to the adversaries of democracy an efficient weapon against our democracy. We are for such a democracy which is blsed on equal rights for everybody, for a true and sincere democracy which serves the public and protects interests of the nation as a whole. 12 His adverse stand against the ideological principles of Nazism (national socialism) was expressed as late as 1942, when Germany ruled over Europe and tried to impose an ideological "Gleichaltung." In an address to diplomats accredited in Bratislava, Dr. Tiso as President of the Slovak Republic, said among other things: "We cannot accept and implement the political part of national socialism, but its economic and social goals and methods we can follow, because they are in accordance with Natural Law." 13 �SLOVAKIA 11 Social problems, especially just rewards for workers and the equitable distribution of national income were close to the heart of Dr. Tiso during his whole political career. It was apparently his life ambition to implement the social ideas and principles of the Papal Encyclical "Quadragesimo Anno" in the economic and social system of Slovakia. Certain social measures, especially those aiming at improving the lot of the working class, which the Germans had introduced in the late 1930's, were the economic and social goals which Dr. Tiso thought worthwhile to accept from national socialism. In fact, during his term of office, several reforms were introduced such as paid holidays for workers, family wages and a bill introducing the participation of workers on the profits of industrial enterprise. From his deep feeling for social justice stemmed also Dr. Tiso's views on the role of the capital and capitalists in Slovakia: The new Slovakia is not against capital, but she is against the unscrupulous capitalists who would like to continue exploiting Slovakia. Not every,body who has a lot of money is a capitalist in the bad sense of the word. A capitalist is a man who uses his money for personal enrichment and not for the common good. I did not abandon Ohristian principles when I declared that from the invested capital either in industry or in commerce or agriculture the owner can obtain only 10% and the rest he must use for improvement of the enterprise and mainly for the !improvement of the social standards of the employees. The profits should be divided in such a way that not only the investor but also the enterprise and the employees would obtain a proper share of it. This is Christian philosophy.14 Not only Tiso's views regarding social justice and the role of capital but his ideology in a broad sense was anchored in the philosophy of Natural Law and in Christian ethics. In a narrower sense, Slovak national traditions permeated with expressions of patriotism and a selfless dedication to the struggle for national rights, as defined in the political thought of European philosophers and ideologists of the 19th and 20th centuries, were other components of his political philosophy. As if following the Old Testament prophets, Dr. Tiso spoke of his approach to Slovak politics: In profound humility we are ,p aying tribute to our good Lord for the light we receive from the principles of Natural Law, �12 SLOVAKIA according to which we conducted ourselves in the fight for independence, as well as in our work of building our State. A return to the Natural Law can be the only foundation upon which a new world can be built, a world of contentment, order, and permanent peace.15 A practical manifestation of the Natural Law is and shall remain our old goal: Slovakia for the Slovaks. Slovakia in its entirety, indivisible and without reservations in the legal, cultural, economical, and social iields, so that the inde,p endent Slovak nation might be the living bearer of all power and the consumer of all that the Slovak country contains and represents. Placing the foundation of Slovak politics on Natural Law, Dr. Tiso on March 16, 1939, defined the ethical basis of Slovak politics as follows: Our Slovak State was not born out of hatred, but out of our great love for our homeland. Let us above all else be led by this thought: no hatred toward anyone, but love, and ardent love for our State, which inspires us to work and sacrifice .. _16 "Not force, but law which is founded on truth," was the philosophy of Dr. Joseph Tiso, and he followed it in the full sense of the word throughout his life, because he believed that "no one will be mistaken who builds on the nation and always has only the interests of his nation in mind. We have taken over this thesis from stirring times for the future so that we might strengthen ourselves in the old convictions that individuals pass away but the nation remains, and the person who, separated completely from his own interests, stands unconditionally in the service of the nation, knows how to hold his ground and is the only one fit to lead and to speak in the name of the nation." Regarding politics as a service to the nation, Dr. Tiso during his many years of political activity pleaded that political leaders learn to give priority to the interests of the nation over their own interests. His understanding of politics was that "the interest of the nation is the highest directive of political work." Politics is not supposed to be: A medium for several individuals to conceal their own materialistic interests. Politics serves the nation. The politician, more than any one else, must be the guardian of the traditional values of the nation and must be the ever ready intepreter of Natural Law in any given situation. Should any one lack the one or the other, he is not fit to be the representative ,of the nation, because he will either become a figure tossed about by contemporary political or social currents which have no connection with the living body of the nation, or else he will be a museum guardian of the nation who �SLOVAKIA 13 stands afar from contemporary routes along which life flows and on which the fate of the future of the nation is determined. Whoever boasts that he is a loyal son of the nation must also ponder what he is giving to his nation: an ideological infection which causes a fever, or bacteria which causes decay and can bring the nation to the grave; or does he contribute labor which shall forever remain in the nation as a cell of healthy social and cultural development. As Dr. Tiso saw it, "the State should serve the nation, therefore, it has the right to existence only insofar as it does not threaten the interests of the nation." As far as State order is concerned, this must "be subordinated to the principles of morality and law; the State must respect the rights of the individual, the family, society, and hold sacred the right of parents to educate their children, the right of conscience and religious affiliation; it guarantees the right of private ownership and safeguards the peaceful co-existence of labor and capital, of employer and employee." Every loyal son of the Slovak nation, according to Tiso, "sanctifies his nationalism with a Christian spirit, so that nationalism does not remain a slogan or a mantle of dubious aims, but an internal motivating force to create values for the benefit of the national whole. Love for the nation is a religious precept, and a person sins against the Fourth Commandment who does not love his nation. He bears a stigma not only as an earthly traitor, but also as a transgressor who does not keep the Divine Commandment. A nation whose sons do not know how to bear a blow and personal sacrifices, such a nation will not get far. The nation lives, the national whole lives, only by the fight and work of individuals." From the above quotations, it is quite evident that the main principles of Dr. Tiso's ideology were: 1) Natural Law; 2) Love in place of hatred; 3) Right in.stead of violence; 4) Respect for morality; 5) Nation above the State; 6) Loyalty to traditions; 7) The personal selflessness and sacrifice of political leaders; 8) Nationalism sanctified by Christianity; 9) Social justice, and 10) Religious tolerance. During the decades of his political activity, Dr. Tiso developed these ideas not only in his popular speeches to the people, but also in his addresses, parliamentary speeches, and presidential messages, so that a scholar �14 SLOVAKIA will have little difficulty in elaborating Dr. Tiso's ideology. Dr. Tiso himself indicated Christianity as the basis of his ideas, especially the philosophy of St. Thomas 17 and, in the social sphere, the Papal Encyclicals. On the question of nationalism Tiso said that "the symbol of Slovak nationalism was stur," 18 because "stur's nationalism was the dynamic force in individuals whom he prompted to work and sacrifice for the nation; it was the connecting link of individuals into a rock-firm whole with a united aim a united will . . ." 19 A study of Dr. Tiso's political speeches reveals that he frequently tied in his talks with the spiritual-political heritage of the followers of Louis stur, the 19th century Slovak patriot and the "father of modern Slovak nationalism." Dr. Tiso did this consciously to preserve the continuity in Slovak ideological-political development and so that the Slovaks could build on traditions. If we compare the basic ideas of stur's political and philosophical writing and speeches which are dealt with in several published works 20 with Tiso's, the latter, of course, shows more elaborate concepts and deeper sociological insights. Preserving ideological continuity with former Slovak generations, Dr. Tiso draws deeply from a Christian world outlook on the individual and his relation to the State, nation, family and society. His ideology is firmly founded on the principles of modern sociology and political science; it has solid philosophical foundations and a strictly logical system; it emanates from an idea and stresses the primacy of spirituality, but it depends on and respects the reality of life. Tiso's ideology is the result of long years study and political experience, drawn from daily contact with the people and from the unceasing struggle with Slovakia's adversaries. As a result, it is, as it were, an ideology forged in the fire of battles and tested in confrontation with the actual life of the nation in the phase of its political formation, but also in the phase of struggles for its natural rights, and, finally, also in the period of building its own state. In comparison with the ideology of :r.. stur and his followers, we are concerned in Tiso's case with an ideology whose foundations are not only broader but one which was more thought out, mature and tested by life. Dr. Tiso's �SLOVAKIA 15 political activity had almost been as long as Stu.r's entire life 0815-1856) and hence he could see the ideas which he professed and for which he labored and fought, materialized in national life. If we should compare Dr. Tiso as a politician and ideologue with other leaders of Slovak life, then objectively it can be said that during the last 100 year,s there was no political leader in Slovakia who could compare with his thorough preparation for political activity, either theoretically or from parliamentary experience. III. WRITINGS ON PRESIDENT TISO IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES In many West European countries, the President of the Slovak Republic was presented after the war in a distorted way. Journalists and scholars accepted Czech propaganda and Communist accusations and wrote about Slovakia and her President with a definite bias. After 25 years, this trend is changing, as all of us, who knew that the adverse propaganda was not based on facts, believed from the very beginning that it would. In books, periodicals and newpapers, the personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics appear today in a much different light than was the case immediately after the war. European Scholars About Msgr. Tiso In this respect, two recent articles deserve our attention. The French historian, Francois d'Orcival, who published an interesting book on Slovakia about three years ago under the title Le Danube Etait Noir, contributed to the periodical Miroir de l'Histoire (July 1971, No. 259), a lengthy essay in which he set the records straight and presented Dr. Tiso and his politics objectively. Dr. Tiso appears to the French historian as a patriot who did everything possible to save his people from disaster and who applied in his politics as many Christian and humanist principles as the intricate situation of the Second World War allowed him. The essay gives a brief historical background of Slovakia during the centuries and deals with the political events from 1918 to the proclamation of Slovakia's independence, ending with the execution of Msgr. Tiso in 1947. �16 SLOVAKIA The second article "Premesse ideologiche del Federalismo ceco-slovacco (La dottrina politico-sociale di Jozef Tiso)" appeared in Italy in the periodical fl Mondo Slavo (Vol. 2), published by the Centro di Studi Sull' Europa Orientale in Padova. It deals with the political and social doctrines of President Tiso, and was written by Lisa Guarda Nardini. It is a well-written analysis of the politics and ideology of Dr. Tiso. The author of the article also gives many biographical data on the President and dwells on his doctrine about the individual, the family, the nation and the State. The article is written on the basis of many sources published in English, German and Italian languages by foreign or Slovak authors. Writings by Slovak Authors in Foreign Languages Slovak writers, journalists and scholars published during the past 25 years scores of articles in the quarterlies Slovakia and Slowakei, or chapters in books dealing generally with Slovak history. The former Minister of External Affairs, Dr. F . t>urcansky, left some valuable information on Dr. Tiso in his contributions to German historical periodicals. In 1967 two publications appeared, one by Prof. Francis Vnuk and another by Prof. Milan S. Durica. Prof. Vnuk's publication, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic (The Association of Australian Slovaks, Sydney, 1967), is a well-balanced and well-written presentation of Dr. Tiso and his political career. After writing hundreds of articles and two books on political and cultural topics from modern Slovak history, Vnuk had become one of the best qualified persons to seriously tackle the subject. He displays a considerable knowledge of foreign and domestic sources on the crucial years of Slovakia's modern history and uses it with skill and good judgment in summarizing Dr. Tiso's achievements, his role in the struggle of the Slovak people for equality of rights in Czecho-Slovakia and finally for national independence in the troubled period before and during the Second World War. In the sub-title of his work, Prof. Vnuk mentions that it was published " In commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of his (Dr. Tiso's ) death at the hands of his �SLOVAKIA 17 enemies of Slovak independence," but it is not a current commemorative booklet. The author gives the reader in a nutshell a serious and well-documented analysis not only of Dr. Tiso's political life struggle, but also an excellent survey of Slovak politics and the treacheries and perfidy of the adversaries of Slovak independence. The booklet is divided into 15 chapters and also includes several photographs and a map of Slovakia. There could hardly be a better concised presentation of "the case of Tiso," as it has been done by Vnuk. In equally sober manner is written Prof. M. St. i'.>urica's analysis of Slovak politics "in the light of Tiso's political thought and teaching" - Die Slowakische Politik 1938/ 39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tiso 's (Emil Semmel Verlag, Bonn) , 1967. Both i'.>urica and Vnuk belong to the younger generation of Slovak scholars in the Free World and while they lived in Slovakia during the crucial years of her history, they were too young to be involved personally in politics, which is undoubtedly an advantage. Nobody can seriously accuse them of speaking "pro domo sua," as the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for freedom used to do with regard to other Slovak writers on political subjects. i'.>urica also has a thorough preparation for his work and is equipped with probably the best knowledge of German and other European diplomatic sources on Slovakia, as his Italian book and numerous studies in other languages indicate. The present publication is actually his lecture at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Bonn to the students of all Faculties on June 12, 1967. Like Vnuk, i'.>urica also gives first a survey of Slovak history to make his subject more intelligible to his readers. Then he speaks about the political thought (he uses the word Lehre-teaching) of Dr. Tiso and about the crisis of 1938/ 39. There are all the elements of a serious study in i'.>urica's publication, and it presents Dr. Tiso and Slovak politics to the Western world in an objective light, fighting only indirectly all the distortions and political propaganda which were spread by the Communists and non-Communists who adopted Czech and anti-Slovak conceptions about modern Slovak history. �18 SLOVAKIA The bulk of writings in the English language will be, of course, found in the American Slovak newspapers especially in Jednota and in the quarterly Oater annual) Slovakia. The late Philip Hrobak, editor of both Slovakia and Jednota was one of the most courageous defenders of the President of the Slovak Republic and there are many articles written by him personally and scores of essays which he translated and published. Some will be a valuable source for historians since they were written by persons who either knew President Tiso personally and worked in some political or cultural institution during the time he was President, or were acquainted with his trial and tragic and as politicians of the restored Czecho-Slovakia under the Soviet tutelage. Of documentary value will especially be two articles by President Tiso's Personal Secretary, Prof. Charles Murin: "Eight Fatal Days in the Life of Dr. Joseph Tiso," Slovakia, Vol. III, March 1957, pp. 13-18, and "A Belated Report," Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 31-36. Prof. Murin was Private Secretary to Dr. Tiso from 1938 until the latter's capture in Austria and extradition to Czecho-Slovakia, and the closest person in the President's entourage. The value of Prof. Murin's articles lies, in addition, in his intergrity and desire to portray the situation objectively. Another article of documentary value was written by an opponent of Slovakia's independence and indirectly of Dr. Tiso, Dr. Michael Zibrin, a member of Prague Parliament, under the title The Case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Vol. II, August 1952, pp. 1-24. For historians, two articles will be of interest, one by Prof. J. Zubek, O.F.M., S.T.D., Monsignor Jozef TisoControversial Personality, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and the other by Prof. Milan St. !>urica Dr'. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, Vol. VII, SeptemberDecember 1957, pp. 1-22. Neither Prof. Zubek nor Prof. !>urica were active in politics and their articles are a result of serious scholarly research. Among the articles by Slovaks who were close to some �SLOVAKIA 19 time to Dr. Tiso during the years 1938-1945, there are two by Dr. J. M. Kirschbaum The Tenth Anniversary of Dr. Joseph Tiso's Execution, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and Facts and Events Behind the Scenes of Slovakia's Declaration of Independence, Vol. IX, March 1959, pp. 1-7, and two by Dr. Joseph Pauco Dr. Joseph Tiso: Christian Democrat, Vol. VII, June 1957, pp. 37-49, and / was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 9-13. The quarterly Slovakia published many other articles which in one way or another shed further information on the personality and politics of Dr. Tiso. In 1957, an entire volume was devoted to the memory of Dr. Tiso and many articles were published in previous or in the following years. At least some of them should be mentioned: The First President of the Slovak Republic, by Dr. Joseph Cieker, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 1-29. Dr. Joseph Tiso: Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero of the Slovak Nation, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 45-46. Anniversary of a Murder, Vol. III, April 1953, pp. 28-30, and Dr. Joseph Tiso in Memoriam, Vol. XI, September-December 1961, pp. 1-2. Slovakia: Trial of Dr. Joseph Tiso, March 1957, pp. 19-21. All these writings are an important source of information not only for foreign historians interested in Eastern Europe, but also for the new generation of Slovaks. Nevertheless, there is still need for a comprehensive work on the remarkable personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics during the crucial years before and during the Second World War, as well as on his place in the history of Slovakia. If written without prejudice by an able historian, such a book can be of great service to the Slovak nation and of great value for understanding not only the struggle of a small nation between two great powers, but also of the Communist methods of enslaving people with old traditions and love of freedom and democracy. See T. G. Masaryk, Das neue Europa and Der Agramer Hock- verratsprozess, both published during his struggle fo r the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. 2) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series 'D', Vol. IX-X. 3) Ibid, Vol. X, No. 205. 1) 4) See the report of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Geneva, 1947, pp. 957- �20 SLOVAKIA 959, and Milan St. !>urica, "Dr, Jozef Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1957. See Francis Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic. (Sydney, 1967) and Th. J Zubek, "Monsignor J . Tiso-Controversial Personality," Slovakia, Vol. Vil, March, 1957. 6 ) See quotations from his speeches and addresses in this article, Part II. 7) See Watson Klrkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitler (Toronto, 1939) , pp. 47-48. 8) See J . M. Klrschbaum, Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (Speller & Sons, New York, 1960), p. 280-283, F . Vnuk, op. cit. , and Francois d'Orcival, Le Danube etait noir, (Paris, 1967 ) and his article in Mirroir de l'Histoire, (No. 259, July 1971). 5) 9 ) Dr. Stefan Polakovic, Tisova Nauka (Tiso's Political Philosophy), and Z Tisovho Boja (From Tiso's Struggle) , Bratislava, 1941. 10) Dr. Jozef Tiso o se be, edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco, Passaic, N. J . 1952. 11) On Slovak Constitution, see Kirschbaum, Slov aki11r-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, (Speller, New York, 1960) . 12) Published in the daily Slovak, No. 177-178, Bratislava, 1936. 13) Quoted from Dr. J . Pauco, op cit. , p. 243. 14) Polakovic, Tisova Nauka, op. cit., p. 324. Originally published in the daily Slovak, No. 283 , 1938. 15) This and the following quotations are taken from the books by Polakovic and Pauco. 16) See Polakovic, Z Tisovho Boja, op. cit. , p. 236-237. 17) "All who recall our thesis that 'the nation is the substance and the state only the form' should know that its state-political formula is the practical consequence of rtihe state-political theory which is built on the foundations of Thomistic philosophy ." - SLOVAK, 1935. 18 ) See "Prve posolstvo" (The First Message), Ruzomberok, August 16, 1939. Already in 1936 Dr. Tiso had proclaimed: "It is this amount of Louis Stur, built in the Banovce county, that shall be the visible proof of the fact that we have progressed so far that only we, Slovak Catholics, have not forgotten our Slovak past and we pay our respects to the memory of our national awakeners even when they are Evangelical (Lutherans) , as was Stur."-SLOVAK, 1936. 19) Dr. Tiso also characterized Stur's nationalism in this manner: " Stur's nationalism-built on the foundation of the independent Slovak nation and the genuine Slovak language, ,b ecause it acknowledges the law of God and the law .of nature-was the natural foundation of the life of the Slovak nation."-SLOVAK, 1936. 20 ) See the works by Profess.or Dr. Cizevsky, Stefan Polakovic, Dr. Samuel S. Osusky, Daniel Rapant, Joseph Pauco, and J . M. Kirschbaum's, ~udovit Slur and His Place in the Slavic World, (Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio), 1956. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 5 Dr. Joseph Tiso The Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People J. M. Ki rs C h b au m Most wars in history have ended with the morally doubtful "vae victis"; the Second World War was no exception. Twenty-five years ago on April 18th in Bratislava, the picturesque site of the medieval University and later the crowning city of the Hapsburgs as kings of Hungary, a Catholic prelate with rosary in hand was led to the gallows and executed. Fearing German reprisals against the Slovak population, he had refused the Soviet demand to turn against the Germans, as the king of Rumania has done, and thus lost the first chance to save his life. By refusing to recommend Communism to his people and renounce their right to independence , he lost the last chance. It was an early chilling morning on the slopes of the Carpathians and on the shores of the Danube where Bratislava is situated. Only Czech troops and police detachment sent by Prague circulated the city to prevent an uprising or an attempt at freeing the incarcerated prelate. The country had been in a tense and grim mood for several months. Nothing except promises by the government composed of Communists and members of the Democratic Party that Dr. Tiso, President of the short-lived Slovak Republic, would be sentenced but not hanged, kept the population from revolting. Dr. E. Benes, President of the restored Czecho-Slova kia, refused, however, to spare the life of Dr. Tiso because, as he publicly said, "two Presidents could not live in one country," especially when the preferred one in Slovakia was not him but the incarcerated Dr. Tiso. When the news about the execution spread throughout the country, there was anger, sorrow and fear among the population. It was the first time that in Slovakia's long history a political leader had died on the gallows 6 SLOVAKIA for his convictions. Even during the Second World War no execution had been carried out in Slovakia because Dr. Tiso, as a priest, would not sign the order of execution. However, the shock was caused not only by the fact that the Slovaks were deceived, horrified and humiliated in their national pride. Dr. Tiso-until now little known abroad or presented in a distorted light-was the first President the Slovaks ever had. His policy could have been hard to understand or even abhorent to many people in the West, but the Slovak people looked at it from a different angle. He saved them from a division among their neighbors and from an occupation by the German Reich. He led his small Slovak Republic during the calamities of the Second World War without much damage and secured for the population the highest living standards in Europe, including neutral Switzerland. Furthermore, he was a Catholic prelate in a conservative and deeply religious land with over 80 ~'" of the population being devoted Catholics. The vast majority of the Slovak population considered, therefore, the execution as an act of political vengeance. In fact, the members of the government who represented the Democratic Party which, in the 1946 elections had won a 62 ~f, majority, urged Dr. Benes to give amnesty to Dr. Tiso. Only the Communists and the Prague government insisted on his execution. Dr. Tiso was accused of treason and collaboration with Germany. Since Czecho-Slovakia originated with the dismemberment of Austrio-Hungary by the activities of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Benes during the First World War, nobody in Slovakia could take seriously the charge of treason. Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia was not as much the result of the activities of Dr. Tiso, as of the international situation. Besides T. G. Masaryk himself, accused of treason, refuted as preposterous any charge of treason for activities leading to independence of an oppressed people. There are some learned paragraphs in his writings about this subject. 1 On the other side, the "collaboration" of Dr. Tiso with Berlin was not that of conspiracy or voluntary acceptance either of German supremacy in Central Europe, or of German Nazi ideology. He went for the first time to Berlin in order to defend Slovakia against Magyar territorial SLOVAKIA 7 claims and saw Hitler for the first time on March 13, 1939, on the invitation of Hitler and with the consent of the Presidium of the Slovak parliament and the Slovak provincial government. His mission in Berlin was to save Slovakia from dismemberment and occupation and not to ask for German supremacy or for the introduction of the Nazi ideology in Slovakia. In fact, he opposed the introduction of Nazism into Slovakia, proof of which can be found in many official German documents published by the American and British governments.2 During the war Dr. Tiso publicly proclaimed that Slovak participation in the war was symbolic and that Slovakia fought Communism and Soviet expansion and not the Russian people. For these pronouncements he had difficulties with Berlin. His envoy in Rome in 1940 informed through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the British government that Slovakia desired to remain neutral. 3 The Secretary-General of the ruling Party of which Dr. Tiso was chairman, spoke publicly against the introduction of foreign ideologies and insisted on keeping Slovakia out of the conflict of the Great Powers. The pressure of Berlin, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany was, however, too strong to be fully resisted and Dr. Tiso had to deal with a government in Slovakia in which some members were acquiescent to the demands of the Third Reich, especially in solving some internal problems such as the Jewish problem. In this case Dr. Tiso did his best and saved many thousands of Slovak Jews. The international Red Cross report acknowledged that Slovakia had been at times a haven for the Jews of Poland. 4 But those who were saved, and even less Dr. Benes, were willing to consider the real situation in Slovakia during the Second World War. The speeches and addresses Dr. Tiso made during the war were those of a patriot, tempered by the realistic evaluation of Slovakia's situation, by his long political experience and knowledge of the Slovak mentality and, of course, by the precarious conditions of the war and German distrust. 5 According to all who knew Dr. Tiso, political power had no corrupting effect on this quiet, solidly build figure, whose goal in life was to serve God and his nation and who repeatedly proclaimed himself ready to retire to his 8 SLOVAKIA parish if it would serve the interests of his people. He remained what he always had been-a fighter for his beliefs on the pattern of Central European national leaders who combined strong patriotism with their religious vocation and intellectual distinction. 6 His distaste for democratic politics as practised between the two wars in CzechoSlovakia should be judged by taking into account the situation in Slovakia during the 20 years after the First World War. Ruled from Prague, with political power divided between some 30 splinter parties, Slovakia was certainly not happy 7 under a regime where democracy was often nothing less than a series of noisy and incoherent promise, impossible demands and hot-potch of unfortunate ideas and impractical plans. Dr. Tiso was not against criticism or opposition and even less against free discussion, but the war situation everywhere in the world imposed brakes on the democratic way of life. In addition, in Ttso's view, public opinion should have been formed on the basis of solid arguments and knowledge of indisputable and properly interpreted facts and disinterested attitudes, and not on the basis of passions and distortions of truth. He repeated this in many of his speeches and addresses which were based on the doctrine of the Papal encyclicals and works of Western and European sociologists with a mixture of patriotic ideas deeply rooted in Slovak tradition. He wanted to rally his fellow citizens to have them respond to an invocation of national destiny great enough to jolt them out of their passivity and submissivness. If he praised the Germans, as he sometimes did, it was because he felt that such was the price which would have to be paid for his people's salvation from German occupation and division among Slovakia's neighbors. He also had to do it in order to prevent subservient elements from taking into their hands complete power in Slovakia . German ambassadors in Bratislava sent many reports to Berlin against Tiso's politics and tried hard to have put in his place a man who would have been more obedient and more subservient to German demands and pressure.8 There was, in fact, a time when they tried to remove him by an attempt on his life. As a result, Tiso looks in historical perspective more as a Slovak Petain than as any other head SLOVAKIA 9 of state who during the war had to be on the German side either because of geo-political reasons or by compulsion. II. DR. TISO'S CONCEPT OF SLOVAK POLITICS Dr. Tiso left no compact work about his views on Slovak national life or on the ideological foundations of Slovak politics. Always in the middle of obstinate struggles for the rights of the Slovak people and their national survival, in which he played the foremost role from 1918 on, Dr. Tiso had little time to write books. He postponed the task for a time when he would depart from the political arena, but this was denied him by his execution. Although he formulated the goals of the Slovak national struggle between 1920-1945 and in countless speeches and addresses developed the fundamental principles of a Slovak national ideology more systematically than any other Slovak leader had in this century or in the past, a systematic explanation of Tiso's political views and principles still awaits the efforts of a serious scholar. The first step in this direction was made by Dr. Stefan Polakovic during the lifetime of Dr. Tiso, when he expertly and systematically collected in the work Tiso's Doctrine and From Tiso 's Struggle9 the fundamental concepts of Dr. Tiso's views on the nation, nationalism, the state, religion, and social order. Even though the volumes bear the imprints of war conditions in Slovakia, they remain thus far, along with the final speech of Dr. Tiso before the Bratislava Court, which was edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco,10 the main source of knowledge of the fundamental ideas, aims, and efforts of Slovak political life in the first half of this century. In Slovakia and abroad, Dr. Tiso was accused after the Second World War of being against democracy, favoring dictatorship and of introducing during the war a fascist regime and immitating German Nazi ideology. The perusal of the articles, studies, parliamentary speeches and presidential messages make all these accusations not only foundless, but testify to the fact that Dr. Tiso's ideology was anchored in Papal Encyclicals, in Natural Law, in modern sociological thought. His ideal was a true democracy which he called Christian democracy. German pres- SLOVAKIA sure, the circumstances of a war which seriously curtailed democracy in England, the U.S.A. or Canada, and many problems of a specific nature facing a new state in a precarious geo-political situation, did not allow Dr. Tiso to implement all his ideas. Furthermore, Dr. Tiso was a president with powers strictly defined by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic 11 and executive powers were vested largely in the hands of the government. Dr. Tiso pointed out this important fact in his last eloquent pladoyer before the Bratislava Court, but it was apparently overlooked by all foreign writers who wrote about Dr. Tiso and wartime Slovakia. As a cabinet minister in pre-war Czecho-Slovakia as well as one of the principal leaders of the Slovak Populist Party which fought for political autonomy within CzechoSlovakia, Dr. Tiso made numerous speeches on democracy and dictatorship, not only a long time before Hitler came to power but also when the Fuehrer's impact on European politics was strong and found imitators and sympathizers in many European countries. In 1936, when democracy in Europe and especially in Central Europe was passing through a crisis, Dr. Tiso, speaking on behalf of the Slovak Populist Party, proclaimed: We Slovaks are adherents of Christian democracy from the depth of our hearts and condemn any dictatorship regardless of its name. We have always been for democracy but a true democracy. We are criticizing our mystified (falsified) democracy exactly for the reaso n that at present, democracy in Czecho-Slovakia, by its methods, actually discredits democracy. At home it shatters faith in democracy in the hearts of the people, and elsewhere, especially abroad , it gives to the adversaries of democracy an efficient weapon against our democracy. We are for such a democracy which is blsed on equal rights for everybody, for a true and sincere democracy which serves the public and protects interests of the nation as a whole. 12 His adverse stand against the ideological principles of Nazism (national socialism) was expressed as late as 1942, when Germany ruled over Europe and tried to impose an ideological "Gleichaltung." In an address to diplomats accredited in Bratislava, Dr. Tiso as President of the Slovak Republic, said among other things: "We cannot accept and implement the political part of national socialism, but its economic and social goals and methods we can follow, because they are in accordance with Natural Law." 13 SLOVAKIA 11 Social problems, especially just rewards for workers and the equitable distribution of national income were close to the heart of Dr. Tiso during his whole political career. It was apparently his life ambition to implement the social ideas and principles of the Papal Encyclical "Quadragesimo Anno" in the economic and social system of Slovakia. Certain social measures, especially those aiming at improving the lot of the working class, which the Germans had introduced in the late 1930's, were the economic and social goals which Dr. Tiso thought worthwhile to accept from national socialism. In fact, during his term of office, several reforms were introduced such as paid holidays for workers, family wages and a bill introducing the participation of workers on the profits of industrial enterprise. From his deep feeling for social justice stemmed also Dr. Tiso's views on the role of the capital and capitalists in Slovakia: The new Slovakia is not against capital, but she is against the unscrupulous capitalists who would like to continue exploiting Slovakia. Not every,body who has a lot of money is a capitalist in the bad sense of the word. A capitalist is a man who uses his money for personal enrichment and not for the common good. I did not abandon Ohristian principles when I declared that from the invested capital either in industry or in commerce or agriculture the owner can obtain only 10% and the rest he must use for improvement of the enterprise and mainly for the !improvement of the social standards of the employees. The profits should be divided in such a way that not only the investor but also the enterprise and the employees would obtain a proper share of it. This is Christian philosophy.14 Not only Tiso's views regarding social justice and the role of capital but his ideology in a broad sense was anchored in the philosophy of Natural Law and in Christian ethics. In a narrower sense, Slovak national traditions permeated with expressions of patriotism and a selfless dedication to the struggle for national rights, as defined in the political thought of European philosophers and ideologists of the 19th and 20th centuries, were other components of his political philosophy. As if following the Old Testament prophets, Dr. Tiso spoke of his approach to Slovak politics: In profound humility we are ,p aying tribute to our good Lord for the light we receive from the principles of Natural Law, 12 SLOVAKIA according to which we conducted ourselves in the fight for independence, as well as in our work of building our State. A return to the Natural Law can be the only foundation upon which a new world can be built, a world of contentment, order, and permanent peace.15 A practical manifestation of the Natural Law is and shall remain our old goal: Slovakia for the Slovaks. Slovakia in its entirety, indivisible and without reservations in the legal, cultural, economical, and social iields, so that the inde,p endent Slovak nation might be the living bearer of all power and the consumer of all that the Slovak country contains and represents. Placing the foundation of Slovak politics on Natural Law, Dr. Tiso on March 16, 1939, defined the ethical basis of Slovak politics as follows: Our Slovak State was not born out of hatred, but out of our great love for our homeland. Let us above all else be led by this thought: no hatred toward anyone, but love, and ardent love for our State, which inspires us to work and sacrifice .. _16 "Not force, but law which is founded on truth," was the philosophy of Dr. Joseph Tiso, and he followed it in the full sense of the word throughout his life, because he believed that "no one will be mistaken who builds on the nation and always has only the interests of his nation in mind. We have taken over this thesis from stirring times for the future so that we might strengthen ourselves in the old convictions that individuals pass away but the nation remains, and the person who, separated completely from his own interests, stands unconditionally in the service of the nation, knows how to hold his ground and is the only one fit to lead and to speak in the name of the nation." Regarding politics as a service to the nation, Dr. Tiso during his many years of political activity pleaded that political leaders learn to give priority to the interests of the nation over their own interests. His understanding of politics was that "the interest of the nation is the highest directive of political work." Politics is not supposed to be: A medium for several individuals to conceal their own materialistic interests. Politics serves the nation. The politician, more than any one else, must be the guardian of the traditional values of the nation and must be the ever ready intepreter of Natural Law in any given situation. Should any one lack the one or the other, he is not fit to be the representative ,of the nation, because he will either become a figure tossed about by contemporary political or social currents which have no connection with the living body of the nation, or else he will be a museum guardian of the nation who SLOVAKIA 13 stands afar from contemporary routes along which life flows and on which the fate of the future of the nation is determined. Whoever boasts that he is a loyal son of the nation must also ponder what he is giving to his nation: an ideological infection which causes a fever, or bacteria which causes decay and can bring the nation to the grave; or does he contribute labor which shall forever remain in the nation as a cell of healthy social and cultural development. As Dr. Tiso saw it, "the State should serve the nation, therefore, it has the right to existence only insofar as it does not threaten the interests of the nation." As far as State order is concerned, this must "be subordinated to the principles of morality and law; the State must respect the rights of the individual, the family, society, and hold sacred the right of parents to educate their children, the right of conscience and religious affiliation; it guarantees the right of private ownership and safeguards the peaceful co-existence of labor and capital, of employer and employee." Every loyal son of the Slovak nation, according to Tiso, "sanctifies his nationalism with a Christian spirit, so that nationalism does not remain a slogan or a mantle of dubious aims, but an internal motivating force to create values for the benefit of the national whole. Love for the nation is a religious precept, and a person sins against the Fourth Commandment who does not love his nation. He bears a stigma not only as an earthly traitor, but also as a transgressor who does not keep the Divine Commandment. A nation whose sons do not know how to bear a blow and personal sacrifices, such a nation will not get far. The nation lives, the national whole lives, only by the fight and work of individuals." From the above quotations, it is quite evident that the main principles of Dr. Tiso's ideology were: 1) Natural Law; 2) Love in place of hatred; 3) Right in.stead of violence; 4) Respect for morality; 5) Nation above the State; 6) Loyalty to traditions; 7) The personal selflessness and sacrifice of political leaders; 8) Nationalism sanctified by Christianity; 9) Social justice, and 10) Religious tolerance. During the decades of his political activity, Dr. Tiso developed these ideas not only in his popular speeches to the people, but also in his addresses, parliamentary speeches, and presidential messages, so that a scholar 14 SLOVAKIA will have little difficulty in elaborating Dr. Tiso's ideology. Dr. Tiso himself indicated Christianity as the basis of his ideas, especially the philosophy of St. Thomas 17 and, in the social sphere, the Papal Encyclicals. On the question of nationalism Tiso said that "the symbol of Slovak nationalism was stur," 18 because "stur's nationalism was the dynamic force in individuals whom he prompted to work and sacrifice for the nation; it was the connecting link of individuals into a rock-firm whole with a united aim a united will . . ." 19 A study of Dr. Tiso's political speeches reveals that he frequently tied in his talks with the spiritual-political heritage of the followers of Louis stur, the 19th century Slovak patriot and the "father of modern Slovak nationalism." Dr. Tiso did this consciously to preserve the continuity in Slovak ideological-political development and so that the Slovaks could build on traditions. If we compare the basic ideas of stur's political and philosophical writing and speeches which are dealt with in several published works 20 with Tiso's, the latter, of course, shows more elaborate concepts and deeper sociological insights. Preserving ideological continuity with former Slovak generations, Dr. Tiso draws deeply from a Christian world outlook on the individual and his relation to the State, nation, family and society. His ideology is firmly founded on the principles of modern sociology and political science; it has solid philosophical foundations and a strictly logical system; it emanates from an idea and stresses the primacy of spirituality, but it depends on and respects the reality of life. Tiso's ideology is the result of long years study and political experience, drawn from daily contact with the people and from the unceasing struggle with Slovakia's adversaries. As a result, it is, as it were, an ideology forged in the fire of battles and tested in confrontation with the actual life of the nation in the phase of its political formation, but also in the phase of struggles for its natural rights, and, finally, also in the period of building its own state. In comparison with the ideology of :r.. stur and his followers, we are concerned in Tiso's case with an ideology whose foundations are not only broader but one which was more thought out, mature and tested by life. Dr. Tiso's SLOVAKIA 15 political activity had almost been as long as Stu.r's entire life 0815-1856) and hence he could see the ideas which he professed and for which he labored and fought, materialized in national life. If we should compare Dr. Tiso as a politician and ideologue with other leaders of Slovak life, then objectively it can be said that during the last 100 year,s there was no political leader in Slovakia who could compare with his thorough preparation for political activity, either theoretically or from parliamentary experience. III. WRITINGS ON PRESIDENT TISO IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES In many West European countries, the President of the Slovak Republic was presented after the war in a distorted way. Journalists and scholars accepted Czech propaganda and Communist accusations and wrote about Slovakia and her President with a definite bias. After 25 years, this trend is changing, as all of us, who knew that the adverse propaganda was not based on facts, believed from the very beginning that it would. In books, periodicals and newpapers, the personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics appear today in a much different light than was the case immediately after the war. European Scholars About Msgr. Tiso In this respect, two recent articles deserve our attention. The French historian, Francois d'Orcival, who published an interesting book on Slovakia about three years ago under the title Le Danube Etait Noir, contributed to the periodical Miroir de l'Histoire (July 1971, No. 259), a lengthy essay in which he set the records straight and presented Dr. Tiso and his politics objectively. Dr. Tiso appears to the French historian as a patriot who did everything possible to save his people from disaster and who applied in his politics as many Christian and humanist principles as the intricate situation of the Second World War allowed him. The essay gives a brief historical background of Slovakia during the centuries and deals with the political events from 1918 to the proclamation of Slovakia's independence, ending with the execution of Msgr. Tiso in 1947. 16 SLOVAKIA The second article "Premesse ideologiche del Federalismo ceco-slovacco (La dottrina politico-sociale di Jozef Tiso)" appeared in Italy in the periodical fl Mondo Slavo (Vol. 2), published by the Centro di Studi Sull' Europa Orientale in Padova. It deals with the political and social doctrines of President Tiso, and was written by Lisa Guarda Nardini. It is a well-written analysis of the politics and ideology of Dr. Tiso. The author of the article also gives many biographical data on the President and dwells on his doctrine about the individual, the family, the nation and the State. The article is written on the basis of many sources published in English, German and Italian languages by foreign or Slovak authors. Writings by Slovak Authors in Foreign Languages Slovak writers, journalists and scholars published during the past 25 years scores of articles in the quarterlies Slovakia and Slowakei, or chapters in books dealing generally with Slovak history. The former Minister of External Affairs, Dr. F . t>urcansky, left some valuable information on Dr. Tiso in his contributions to German historical periodicals. In 1967 two publications appeared, one by Prof. Francis Vnuk and another by Prof. Milan S. Durica. Prof. Vnuk's publication, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic (The Association of Australian Slovaks, Sydney, 1967), is a well-balanced and well-written presentation of Dr. Tiso and his political career. After writing hundreds of articles and two books on political and cultural topics from modern Slovak history, Vnuk had become one of the best qualified persons to seriously tackle the subject. He displays a considerable knowledge of foreign and domestic sources on the crucial years of Slovakia's modern history and uses it with skill and good judgment in summarizing Dr. Tiso's achievements, his role in the struggle of the Slovak people for equality of rights in Czecho-Slovakia and finally for national independence in the troubled period before and during the Second World War. In the sub-title of his work, Prof. Vnuk mentions that it was published " In commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of his (Dr. Tiso's ) death at the hands of his SLOVAKIA 17 enemies of Slovak independence," but it is not a current commemorative booklet. The author gives the reader in a nutshell a serious and well-documented analysis not only of Dr. Tiso's political life struggle, but also an excellent survey of Slovak politics and the treacheries and perfidy of the adversaries of Slovak independence. The booklet is divided into 15 chapters and also includes several photographs and a map of Slovakia. There could hardly be a better concised presentation of "the case of Tiso," as it has been done by Vnuk. In equally sober manner is written Prof. M. St. i'.>urica's analysis of Slovak politics "in the light of Tiso's political thought and teaching" - Die Slowakische Politik 1938/ 39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tiso 's (Emil Semmel Verlag, Bonn) , 1967. Both i'.>urica and Vnuk belong to the younger generation of Slovak scholars in the Free World and while they lived in Slovakia during the crucial years of her history, they were too young to be involved personally in politics, which is undoubtedly an advantage. Nobody can seriously accuse them of speaking "pro domo sua," as the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for freedom used to do with regard to other Slovak writers on political subjects. i'.>urica also has a thorough preparation for his work and is equipped with probably the best knowledge of German and other European diplomatic sources on Slovakia, as his Italian book and numerous studies in other languages indicate. The present publication is actually his lecture at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Bonn to the students of all Faculties on June 12, 1967. Like Vnuk, i'.>urica also gives first a survey of Slovak history to make his subject more intelligible to his readers. Then he speaks about the political thought (he uses the word Lehre-teaching) of Dr. Tiso and about the crisis of 1938/ 39. There are all the elements of a serious study in i'.>urica's publication, and it presents Dr. Tiso and Slovak politics to the Western world in an objective light, fighting only indirectly all the distortions and political propaganda which were spread by the Communists and non-Communists who adopted Czech and anti-Slovak conceptions about modern Slovak history. 18 SLOVAKIA The bulk of writings in the English language will be, of course, found in the American Slovak newspapers especially in Jednota and in the quarterly Oater annual) Slovakia. The late Philip Hrobak, editor of both Slovakia and Jednota was one of the most courageous defenders of the President of the Slovak Republic and there are many articles written by him personally and scores of essays which he translated and published. Some will be a valuable source for historians since they were written by persons who either knew President Tiso personally and worked in some political or cultural institution during the time he was President, or were acquainted with his trial and tragic and as politicians of the restored Czecho-Slovakia under the Soviet tutelage. Of documentary value will especially be two articles by President Tiso's Personal Secretary, Prof. Charles Murin: "Eight Fatal Days in the Life of Dr. Joseph Tiso," Slovakia, Vol. III, March 1957, pp. 13-18, and "A Belated Report," Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 31-36. Prof. Murin was Private Secretary to Dr. Tiso from 1938 until the latter's capture in Austria and extradition to Czecho-Slovakia, and the closest person in the President's entourage. The value of Prof. Murin's articles lies, in addition, in his intergrity and desire to portray the situation objectively. Another article of documentary value was written by an opponent of Slovakia's independence and indirectly of Dr. Tiso, Dr. Michael Zibrin, a member of Prague Parliament, under the title The Case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Vol. II, August 1952, pp. 1-24. For historians, two articles will be of interest, one by Prof. J. Zubek, O.F.M., S.T.D., Monsignor Jozef TisoControversial Personality, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and the other by Prof. Milan St. !>urica Dr'. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, Vol. VII, SeptemberDecember 1957, pp. 1-22. Neither Prof. Zubek nor Prof. !>urica were active in politics and their articles are a result of serious scholarly research. Among the articles by Slovaks who were close to some SLOVAKIA 19 time to Dr. Tiso during the years 1938-1945, there are two by Dr. J. M. Kirschbaum The Tenth Anniversary of Dr. Joseph Tiso's Execution, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and Facts and Events Behind the Scenes of Slovakia's Declaration of Independence, Vol. IX, March 1959, pp. 1-7, and two by Dr. Joseph Pauco Dr. Joseph Tiso: Christian Democrat, Vol. VII, June 1957, pp. 37-49, and / was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 9-13. The quarterly Slovakia published many other articles which in one way or another shed further information on the personality and politics of Dr. Tiso. In 1957, an entire volume was devoted to the memory of Dr. Tiso and many articles were published in previous or in the following years. At least some of them should be mentioned: The First President of the Slovak Republic, by Dr. Joseph Cieker, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 1-29. Dr. Joseph Tiso: Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero of the Slovak Nation, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 45-46. Anniversary of a Murder, Vol. III, April 1953, pp. 28-30, and Dr. Joseph Tiso in Memoriam, Vol. XI, September-December 1961, pp. 1-2. Slovakia: Trial of Dr. Joseph Tiso, March 1957, pp. 19-21. All these writings are an important source of information not only for foreign historians interested in Eastern Europe, but also for the new generation of Slovaks. Nevertheless, there is still need for a comprehensive work on the remarkable personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics during the crucial years before and during the Second World War, as well as on his place in the history of Slovakia. If written without prejudice by an able historian, such a book can be of great service to the Slovak nation and of great value for understanding not only the struggle of a small nation between two great powers, but also of the Communist methods of enslaving people with old traditions and love of freedom and democracy. See T. G. Masaryk, Das neue Europa and Der Agramer Hock- verratsprozess, both published during his struggle fo r the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. 2) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series 'D', Vol. IX-X. 3) Ibid, Vol. X, No. 205. 1) 4) See the report of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Geneva, 1947, pp. 957- 20 SLOVAKIA 959, and Milan St. !>urica, "Dr, Jozef Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1957. See Francis Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic. (Sydney, 1967) and Th. J Zubek, "Monsignor J . Tiso-Controversial Personality," Slovakia, Vol. Vil, March, 1957. 6 ) See quotations from his speeches and addresses in this article, Part II. 7) See Watson Klrkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitler (Toronto, 1939) , pp. 47-48. 8) See J . M. Klrschbaum, Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (Speller & Sons, New York, 1960), p. 280-283, F . Vnuk, op. cit. , and Francois d'Orcival, Le Danube etait noir, (Paris, 1967 ) and his article in Mirroir de l'Histoire, (No. 259, July 1971). 5) 9 ) Dr. Stefan Polakovic, Tisova Nauka (Tiso's Political Philosophy), and Z Tisovho Boja (From Tiso's Struggle) , Bratislava, 1941. 10) Dr. Jozef Tiso o se be, edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco, Passaic, N. J . 1952. 11) On Slovak Constitution, see Kirschbaum, Slov aki11r-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, (Speller, New York, 1960) . 12) Published in the daily Slovak, No. 177-178, Bratislava, 1936. 13) Quoted from Dr. J . Pauco, op cit. , p. 243. 14) Polakovic, Tisova Nauka, op. cit., p. 324. Originally published in the daily Slovak, No. 283 , 1938. 15) This and the following quotations are taken from the books by Polakovic and Pauco. 16) See Polakovic, Z Tisovho Boja, op. cit. , p. 236-237. 17) "All who recall our thesis that 'the nation is the substance and the state only the form' should know that its state-political formula is the practical consequence of rtihe state-political theory which is built on the foundations of Thomistic philosophy ." - SLOVAK, 1935. 18 ) See "Prve posolstvo" (The First Message), Ruzomberok, August 16, 1939. Already in 1936 Dr. Tiso had proclaimed: "It is this amount of Louis Stur, built in the Banovce county, that shall be the visible proof of the fact that we have progressed so far that only we, Slovak Catholics, have not forgotten our Slovak past and we pay our respects to the memory of our national awakeners even when they are Evangelical (Lutherans) , as was Stur."-SLOVAK, 1936. 19) Dr. Tiso also characterized Stur's nationalism in this manner: " Stur's nationalism-built on the foundation of the independent Slovak nation and the genuine Slovak language, ,b ecause it acknowledges the law of God and the law .of nature-was the natural foundation of the life of the Slovak nation."-SLOVAK, 1936. 20 ) See the works by Profess.or Dr. Cizevsky, Stefan Polakovic, Dr. Samuel S. Osusky, Daniel Rapant, Joseph Pauco, and J . M. Kirschbaum's, ~udovit Slur and His Place in the Slavic World, (Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio), 1956.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Joseph Tiso: The Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 5-20 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/13e1ead008f51afd33e683243b6dd496.pdf 211e067bcaf3ba63edfd5f2a9cca90c0 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 111 Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States By J. M. K i r s c h b a u m, Ph.D. I. The emergence of the Slovak Republic in March 1939 has been for years presented by historians of Central Eastern Europe in accordance with the War propaganda rather than on the basis of historical facts. In the West, especially the propaganda of the "Czechoslovak governmentin-exile" crept into the history books and some misconceptions survived even the publication of secret documents and the opening of the War archives. It would, however, be unfair to blame Western historians alone for the inaccuracies and prejudices presentation of Slovakia's international status and diplomatic and consular relations. There was no serious attempt on the Slovak side to give historians of Central Eastern Europe sufficient information in foreign language, which could enable them to draw an objective picture of the Slovak Republic. Moreover, comprehensive work on international relations of Slovakia is missing even in Slovak historiography. The reason for not writing about the international relations of Slovakia with other countries by Communist historians is quite understandable: they were reluctant to admit that the Slovak Republic was also recognized by the Soviet Union and some 29 other countries, including the European Great Powers and neutral countries. According to the official "Czechoslovak" propaganda during the War, the Slovak Republic was recognized only by Germany and �112 SLOVAKIA her satellites and this distortion of historical facts suited the post-war Marxist historians. What is difficult to understand, however, is the neglect by Slovaks abroad, especially if we take into account that a number of former Slovak diplomats found refuge in the countries of the free world. During the War some articles surveying the first years of the Slovak Republic were published in Switzerland, but they discussed the international status of Slovakia only passingly. Such was the series of articles by Arnold Schwengeler in the daily Der Bund, and two French articles: one by the Swiss writer William Ritter in the Gazette de Lausanne and a contribution to the Revue de droit international de sciences diplomatiques et politiques by this writer under the pen-name Andre Cerisier.1 After the War, an English publication by F. nurcansky, The International Aspects of the Slovak Question, examined the subject from both the juridical and political points of view. The international relations of Slovakia with other countries were discussed, however, only briefly even in this study. Several other Slovak authors dealt with Slovakia's international relations in a general way by inserting a chapt.er or two in their books or in their articles on Slovakia. Such have been the contributions of this writer either in Slovak or foreign languages and especially a chapter on the diplomatic recognition of Slovakia in his book Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, and in his Slovak book Nds boj o samostatnost' Slovenska. 2 The Slovak diplomatic representative in Spain, Dr. J. A. Mikus, wrote on the subject in his book Slovakia A Political History and in the annuals published in the United States3 either in English or in Slovak, and F. Vnuk published a study based on the Vatican archives materials, 4 but all these writings are far from giving an adequat;e picture of the international relations of the Slovak Republic with European and non-European states which recognized Slovakia in 1939 as an independent state. As far as the memoirs are concerned, only Karol Sidor, the Slovak Envoy Extraordinary and Minist.er Plenipotentiary at the Vatican, published a full account of his years at the Holy See in his Slovak book sest' rokov pri Vatikdne (Six Years at the Vatican). This writer published reminis- �SLOVAKIA 113 cences on his years in Italy and as head of the legation of the Slovak Republic in Switzerland in various Slovak annuals, published in Canada and in the United States.5 More than a dozen former Slovak diplomats who live either in Western Europe or in other parts of the free world, are still expected to record the years of their diplomatic service to enable historians to present this chapter of modern Slovak history in an objective manner. In view of this, it will perhaps not be amiss to record some data and to answer the question of how the emergence of the Slovak Republic on March 14, 1939, was accepted by European and non-European public opinion and how the governments of European neutral countries received the proclamation of Slovakia's independence. In my book Slovakia- Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe a survey of the international recognition of the Slovak Republic has given general information on this subject with some documents to support the historical facts and to prove the utterly incorrect propaganda which for a period of the past 30 years bluntly disregarded the facts and asserted that the Slovak Republic was recognized only by Germany and her satellites. II. In the short period of liberalization in Czecho-Slovakia the Marxist historians who, for political reasons avoided writing about the international status of the Slovak Republic, admitted that: "In March 1939 appeared on the map of Europe a new state - Slovakia. With the exception of the United States all European Great Powers successively recognized the Slovak state de jure or at least de facto: Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and many smaller European and non-European countries: Poland, Hungary, the Vatican, Switzerland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Rumania, Bulgaria, Yougoslavia, Liberia, Ecuador, Costarica, Holland, Finland, Belgium, Croatia, the Chinese Government of Nanking, etc. The Slovak state became a member of various international conventions and agreements and in the first years of the War it was considered in many capital cities as a small, but as a not easily discarded part of the motley mosaic of European relations." 6 �114 SLOVAKIA Other Marxist historians recorded that the Soviet Union, who recognized the Slovak Republic on September 16, 1939, and established the largest embassy in the capitol city of Slovakia, counted until 1943 with the existence of the Slovak Republic also in the post-War European organization. According to the Communist party archives in March 1940 the illegal Central Committee of the Slovak Communist Party received the following directives: "Our pre-War slogans must be changed. Under the slogan "Restoration of Czechoslovak ia" are hidden at the present time imperialist and anti-Soviet plans. The problem of nationalities is today not the same; it is reduced to the problem of Czechs and Slovaks. We state explicitly that our Party is now for the slogan of the full right of selfdeterminatio n of Czechs and Slovaks. The right of self-determination means the right to an independent state. For the Czechs, we fight for a restoration of their national and political freedom. For the Slovaks, we fight for the full sovereignty of the present Slovak state. The fight for the right of self-determin ation makes our way different from that of world imperialism and Benes. The Slovak state is the given basis for the full freedom of Slovaks. The future relations between the Czech and Slovak states is the question of self-determin ation of both nations and depends on the events of the war (and on its results, remark by Dimitrov)." 7 This was only consistent with the speech of the Soviet Minister Plenipotentia ry and Envoy Extraordinar y, G. Pushkin, who, upon presenting his credentials to the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Jozef Tiso, said: "Presenting to you the documents which accredit me as Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry, appointted by the Presidency of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, I can announce to you with joy that the nations of the Soviet Union have taken cognizance of the establishmen t of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the Slovak Republic with deep satisfaction. Because of the war in Europe the establishmen t of these relations oversteps the framework of mutual interests of both our states." 8 Since 1960, when my survey of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic was published, some interesting �SLOVAKIA 115 documents pertaining to the attitude of the European Great Powers towards Slovakia were published also with regard to Great Britain. I found in 1960 documents and references which shed on the policy of Great Britain toward Slovakia quite a different light9 from that unscrupulously repeated in the War propaganda of the "Czechoslovak governmentin-exile," in the memoirs of Dr. E. Benes, and in the history books written by American and some European historians.10 On the basis of the British archives, F. Vnuk published a few years later a well documented insight into the British attitude which was far more favorable to Slovaks than it has been believed and recorded by Western histo:r.ians.11 However, the present survey aims at giving the basic data on the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic only by the European neutral countries and on the activities and political conceptions of Slovak diplomats accredited in those countries. Even that scope will be narrowed here because the Slovak representatives in Sweden and Spain are alive and work on their memoirs, and the relations between the Holy See and the Slovak Republic were sufficiently recorded in K. Sidor's book, mentioned above. III. NEUTRAL STATES WHICH RECOGNIZED THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC The first of all neutral states to recognize Slovakia diplomatically was Switzerland which gave full recognition to the Slovak Republic on April 19, 1939. Switzerland was followed by Spain on April 25, 1939, and by the Vatican on May 25, 1939. Sweden as the fourth neutral European state, recognized the Slovak Republic on July 26, 1939. Whereas between the Vatican, Switzerland and Spain, and Slovakia, diplomatic relations were de jure and de facto and existed from the very beginning, the relations with Sweden developed slowly and remained on the consular level. From the diplomatic point of view, the most important diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic was, of course, that by the Vatican. This recognition had not only a political but also a moral importance in Europe and in �116 SLOVAKIA the world before the Second World War. As mentioned, the Vatican gave diplomatic recognition to Slovakia on May 25, 1939, and the Slovak representativ e as Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry was accredited in July of the same year. The Holy See appointed first a Nuncio in Bratislava, Msgr. Xaverius Ritter, who had served previously in Prague, but due to some misunderstanding and misinterpreta tion of his credentials, Msgr. Giusepe Burzio, as Charge d'Affaires, represented the Holy See during the whole period of the War and fOT some time even after the War. In view of the fact that the War started just six months after the declaration of Slovakia's independence , the diploma.tic relations of Slovakia with the Vatican became even more important. The efforts of Czech exiles to induce the Vatican into breaking off relations were not successful1 2 and at the end of the War, the Slovak representative was the last one of all Slovak diplomats in neutral states to close his legation. The political, social and moral importance of the diplomatic relations with the Holy See is described in Sidor's book in which one can find not only some important documents, but also valuable information on political developments in Slovakia during the War. From Sidor's book and the above mentioned essay by Vnuk, historians can draw enough information to put into proper perspective the relations between Slovakia and the Holy See and prove incorrect the assertions spread in Western historiograph y. Spain was represented in Slovakia by an experienced career diplomat Juan Cano y Trueba, known generally in Bratislava as Count Bailen. He had the rank of Minister Plenipotentia ry and Envoy Extraordinar y. On the other hand, Slovakia was first represented in Spain by a Charge d'Affaires en pied and later by an Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry. The first Slovak diplomat to visit Madrid was Dr. Jozef M. Zvrskovec who represented Slovakia in Italy and who later became known for his note in which he spoke about a neutral status of Slovakia with regard to Great Britain.13 Zvrskovec, however, did not present his credentials in Spain. This was done in April 1940 by Dr. Joseph A. Mikus �SLOVAKIA 117 who was accredited as Charge d'Affaires en pied and presented his credentials to the Minister of External Affairs, General Cowit Jordana. Mikus remained in Spain from April 11, 1940 to March 24, 1944 and left his post on receiving the Honor of Commandador de la Order de Isabel la Catholica. He was replaced by Mister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary, Dr. Jozef Cieker, who remained in Spain witil his witimely death in 1969. Cieker also was a career diplomat and one of the leading Catholic intellectuals. He was active in Pax Romana and Slavia Catholica before he entered the diplomatic service in Prague. He served in Belgrade as Charge d' Affaires and in Zagreb as Minister of the Slovak Republic. In Spain, Cieker was quite succe~ful not only among the members of the Government but also in his relations with the Catholic hierarchy. His good relations proved very useful after the War when he became director of an international College for refugee students ( Collegio Major Santiago Apostol). In exile, Cieker was witil his death one of the leading figures of the Slovak National Cowicil Abroad and known as author of books and articles in Slovak as well as in foreign languages. 14 The relations between Spain and Slovakia will, however, be treated by Mikus in his memoirs. The diplomatic relations of the Slovak Republic with Switzerland were, from the political as well as economic point of view, of great importance. The capital city of Switzerland, Bern, was the second most important European center of diplomatic activities during the whole period of the War, as the Allies, the states which belonged to the Axis camp and all the neutral cowitries were represented in Switzerland. Slovakia established a legation in Bern in the summer of 1939, and Switzerland opened a Consulate General in Bratislava, indicating that a legation would be established later. Even though the Swiss recognition was on the diplomatic level, this wieven representation caused the Slovak Government to send to Switzerland diplomatic representatives with the title Charge d'Affairs en pied, who were duly accredited as handl5 of diplomatic missions but only socially were addressed as Ministers or Envoys. The first Slovak representative in Switzerland was Dr. Bohdan Galvanek who, after a short stay, was sent to Rome, Italy, �118 SLOVAKIA and replaced by a well-known Slovak writer, Tido J. Gaspar. Even though Gaspar was very successful in Bern's diplomatic circles and made for Slovakia a good name, he was replaced in the fall of 1940 by a career diplomat, Dr. Raduz Radlinsky. Well prepared for his role, Radlinsky made many friends among diplomats from various countries and increased the prestige of the Slovak legation. However, in 1942, he left the dir,lomatic service and the Slovak government accredited in his stead the writer of this survey, who remained in Bern until the end of the War. The relations between Slovakia and Switzerland were, from the very beginning, friendly. For Slovakia Bern was of great political importance; for Switzerland economic relations prevailed. In addition to current diplomatic activities the Slovak legation in Bern had the mission to acquaint diplomats and journalists of all countries with the existence of the Slovak Republic as a new state in Central Europe, and with the aspirations pf the Slovak people not only during the War, but also after the world conflict ended. On the part of the Swiss government, the stress was understandably on economic relations which developed very favorably for both countries, leaving at the end of the war a large amount of surplus money from ecQnomic exchanges in Bern.15 Switzerland was represented in Slovakia by Dr. Max Graessli, a career diplomat with the title of Consul General. The good relations between Switzerland and the Slovak Republic were reflected not only in extensive economic and commercial relations but also in the fact that the Swiss government allowed to appoint two honorary consuls for Slovakia in Switzerland. One of them was a wealthy industrialist who had some economic interests in Slovakia also before the war, Rudolf Eckenstein, from Basel. In Zurich was appointed Arthur Gaerrick, a wealthy businessman who represented before the war several Czech firms in Switzerland. During the first years of the War there were indications that the relations between Switzerland and the Slovak Republic would be normalized in the sense that Switzerland would also establish a legation in Bratislava, and the head of the Slovak legation in Bern would assume the title of �SLOVAKIA 119 Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary. During one of my visits with the Minister for External Affairs, Pilez-Golas, I had the impression that this normalization was imminent and I reported the good news to Bratislava with great satisfaction as one of my achievements. However, the luck of the German armies on the Russian front changed and they started to retreat after a terrible defeat at Stalingrad. This made the Swiss government more cautious in their foreign policy with regard to the countries which nolens volens were on the side of the Axis. When the retreat assumed catastrophic dimensions, Minister Pilez-Golas was replaced by a person who had previously no connections with foreign policy and was considered as friendly and acceptable for the Allies. The victory of the Allies was expected after the German retreats as certain, even though rumors persisted that the Allies can make a separate peace with Germany and turn together against the Soviet march toward the West. Only after the failure to kill Hitler by the att.empt on July 22, 1944, these rumors died down and diplomats accredited in Switzerland, as well as some members of the Swiss government, began openly speaking about the unconditional surrender of Germany and her allies. This logically was the end of any hope that Switzerland would establish in Bratislava a legation instead of a consulate general. 16 In view of the complex world situation and hostile propaganda against Slovakia in the West one of the main goals of Slovak diplomatic representatives in Bern was to put into proper perspective the aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom and independence regardless of the results of the military conflict. Therefore, many steps were made to counteract the hostile propaganda emanating from the exiled "Czechoslovak" circles in London and Washington and to inform the diplomats accredited in Switzerland about the true situation in Slovakia, and about the attitude of the Slovak people towards the West. Unfortunately, Western diplomats displayed very little understanding for the aspirations of the Slovak people and mostly adhered to the concept of the Czech exiled politicians headed by Dr. E. Benes. �120 SLOVAKIA For acquainting foreign diplomats and Swiss journalists with Slovakia and with the political aspirations of the Slovak people, the Slovak Legation in Bern published from August 1943 to January 1945 a bulletin in French and German, Correspondence slovaque, and organized trips for Swiss journalists to Slovakia. One of them, the editor of the prestigious daily "Der Bund," Arnold H. Schwengler, published from his visit to Slovakia a series of articles which, compiled in a booklet "Die slowakische Reise," gave a favorable picture of the economic as well as cultural situation in the Slovak Republic. For publishing the Correspondence slovaque and for maintaining contacts with the press was mainly responsible, until the summer of 1944, Dr. Arved Grebert, who served as Press Attache at the Legation. Some newspapers used the information they received from the Correspondence slovaque of which 23 issues were published. The Correspondence slovaque aimed in the first place to give basic information on economic and cultural matters, but each issue also contained political articles defending the right of Slovaks to independence and refuting the adverse propaganda of the Czech exiles in the West. The political articles were usually free of any mention of Slovakia's relations with Germany and were concerned with the preservation of Slovakia's independence after the war, advocating a sort of federative solution of the problems of the Central European nations. This political concept was advocated also by the Slovak Legation at the Vatican. Sidor's articles on Central European Federation also appeared in some French and German press in Switzerland. In the fall of 1944, an article advocating federalism in Central Europe was published also in the Revue de droit international, mentioned above, by the former Minister of External Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Prof. F. :t>urcanskyP The Slovak Legation in Bern also had a mission to co-operate with Slovak diplomats in neutral countries in order to co-ordinate the efforts aiming at a just solution of the Slovak problem at the end of the War. Very close co-operation developed especially between Karol Sidor, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Vatican, and the writer, for the concept of a Central European Federation conceived �SLOVAKIA 121 as a democratic and Christian block of states on the Soviet border. The idea met with some understanding in Swiss newspapers and in certain diplomatic circles in the West, but was not officially accepted by the Allies because of .agreement with the Soviet government in Teheran and Yalta. Swiss public opinion and the press were generally favorably disposed towards Slovakia during the first years of the War, and some newspapers did so also at the end of the War and after. Even though the "Czechoslovak government in exile" tried to use for their propaganda their old connections with Swiss newspapers and kept in Geneva a propagandist under the cover of an exiled journalist, only the Socialist and Communist press published here and there adverse articles on Slovakia. Generally the :picture was favorable to the Slovak Republic and to the striving of the Slovak people for independence. On the part of the Swiss government, the also was genuine understanding for the aspirations of the Slovak people. At the end of the War, the world situation and external pressures forced, however, the Swiss government to follow the political concepts of the Allies and to recognize Czecho-Slovakia. The end of diplomatic relations between the Slovak Republic and Switzerland occurred at the time when the Slovak government was forced to leave the capital city of Slovakia. A sort of consular relations continued until the very end of the War, practically until .June 1st, 1945. Excerpts from "Notes to Memoires." FOOTNOTES 1 ) See Vol. 2, 1944, p. 123-142. In Slovak I published an editorial in the daily Slovak, January 1st, 1944, under the title "tJlohy a problemy slovenskej diplomacie" (Goals and Problems of Slovak Diplomacy). 2) See also my articles: "International Recognition of the Slovak Republic," Slovakia, Vol. I, No. 1, 1951, pp. 23-31; "Diplomatic Documents on Slovakia's Declaration of Independence," Slovakia, Vol. IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 3-12; "British Policy and Slovakia 1939-1945," S lovakia, Vol. X, No. 6, 1960, p. 50-61. These articles were published also in a German version in the periodical Slowakei. 3) See Slovakia, Vol. II, No. 2, 1952, pp. 38-41. 4) F . Vnuk, " Collapse of Czecho-Slovakia in Vatican Documents," Slovak Studies III, Cleveland-Rome, 1965, pp. 239-256. �122 SLOVAKIA 5) See my contributions to J. Pauco (ed.) Karol Sidor, politik, novinar a spisovatel', (Middletown, Pa. 1962); Kalendar Jednota 1971, p. 109, 117; Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, 1968; Slowakei, Vol VII, No. 1-2, pp. 87-100. 6) L. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci (Slovakia in the 20th Century), Bratislava, 1968, p. 177. 7) See S. Falt'an, Slovenska otazka v Ceskoslovensku, Bratislava, 1968, p. 112. 8) Quoted from Kirschbaum, Slovakia- Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, op. cit., pp. 1931-1932. 9) See Kirschbaum, "British Policy and Slovakia 1939-1945," Slovakia, Vol. X, No. 6, 1960, pp. 50-61. 10) Distorted information can be found in W. Shirer's book Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by Gisevius and several specialists in East Central Europe. 11) F. Vnuk, "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Slovak Studies, Vol. IX, No. 6, Cleveland-Rome, 1969, pp. 49-73. 12) See A. Grebert, "Czech Intrigues Against the Slovak State," Slovakia, Vol. I, No. 2, 1951. 13) On March 29, 1940 Minister Zvrskovec sent a note to the Italian Foreign Ministry in which he stated that Slovakia was a neutral country and requested at the same time that the English Government be informed of this in order that England may recognize Slovakia's neutrality with all its consequences. See Documents on German Foreign PoHcy, Series 'D', Vol. X, reprinted in my book Slovakia, p. 281. 14) For details, see Liter6.rny Almanach for 1967, p. 125-126. 15) Unfortunately, the funds were transferred to Prague in the summer of 1945. Two officials of the Slovak National Bank, Pazman and Virsik, who sided with Dr . Benes, signed the transfer documents. 16) The failure of the attempt on Hitler's life and the outbreak of a communist inspired uprising in Central Slovakia in the Fall of 1944 created even a possibility for the interruption of the SwissSlovak relations. I received hints that the Swiss government would have welcome my defectien to Dr. Benes' camp and use it as a pretext for closing down our legation. On the other hand, Consul General Graessli tried to leave the responsibility for taking care of the affairs of the Consulate General to his subalter Consul Hans Keller. Both made after the War great careers in the Swiss di:i>lomatic services. Graessli was transferred to Washington and later became Ambassador to Sweden. Keller also moved fast and in the 1960's was Ambassador in Peking. 17) See Vol. XXII, No. 1. At the en.cl of August 1944, one of this writer's articles on the Federalist solution of Central European problems was published in the daily Slovak. Since it was a favorable analysis of Milan Hodza's book Federation in Central Europe, the German Embassy in Bratislava asked the newspaper to explain to the readers that the article was published by inadvertence and that the Slovak government and the newspaper did not agree with iti. contents. � SLOVAKIA 111 Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States By J. M. K i r s c h b a u m, Ph.D. I. The emergence of the Slovak Republic in March 1939 has been for years presented by historians of Central Eastern Europe in accordance with the War propaganda rather than on the basis of historical facts. In the West, especially the propaganda of the "Czechoslovak governmentin-exile" crept into the history books and some misconceptions survived even the publication of secret documents and the opening of the War archives. It would, however, be unfair to blame Western historians alone for the inaccuracies and prejudices presentation of Slovakia's international status and diplomatic and consular relations. There was no serious attempt on the Slovak side to give historians of Central Eastern Europe sufficient information in foreign language, which could enable them to draw an objective picture of the Slovak Republic. Moreover, comprehensive work on international relations of Slovakia is missing even in Slovak historiography. The reason for not writing about the international relations of Slovakia with other countries by Communist historians is quite understandable: they were reluctant to admit that the Slovak Republic was also recognized by the Soviet Union and some 29 other countries, including the European Great Powers and neutral countries. According to the official "Czechoslovak" propaganda during the War, the Slovak Republic was recognized only by Germany and �112 SLOVAKIA her satellites and this distortion of historical facts suited the post-war Marxist historians. What is difficult to understand, however, is the neglect by Slovaks abroad, especially if we take into account that a number of former Slovak diplomats found refuge in the countries of the free world. During the War some articles surveying the first years of the Slovak Republic were published in Switzerland, but they discussed the international status of Slovakia only passingly. Such was the series of articles by Arnold Schwengeler in the daily Der Bund, and two French articles: one by the Swiss writer William Ritter in the Gazette de Lausanne and a contribution to the Revue de droit international de sciences diplomatiques et politiques by this writer under the pen-name Andre Cerisier.1 After the War, an English publication by F. nurcansky, The International Aspects of the Slovak Question, examined the subject from both the juridical and political points of view. The international relations of Slovakia with other countries were discussed, however, only briefly even in this study. Several other Slovak authors dealt with Slovakia's international relations in a general way by inserting a chapt.er or two in their books or in their articles on Slovakia. Such have been the contributions of this writer either in Slovak or foreign languages and especially a chapter on the diplomatic recognition of Slovakia in his book Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, and in his Slovak book Nds boj o samostatnost' Slovenska. 2 The Slovak diplomatic representative in Spain, Dr. J. A. Mikus, wrote on the subject in his book Slovakia A Political History and in the annuals published in the United States3 either in English or in Slovak, and F. Vnuk published a study based on the Vatican archives materials, 4 but all these writings are far from giving an adequat;e picture of the international relations of the Slovak Republic with European and non-European states which recognized Slovakia in 1939 as an independent state. As far as the memoirs are concerned, only Karol Sidor, the Slovak Envoy Extraordinary and Minist.er Plenipotentiary at the Vatican, published a full account of his years at the Holy See in his Slovak book sest' rokov pri Vatikdne (Six Years at the Vatican). This writer published reminis- �SLOVAKIA 113 cences on his years in Italy and as head of the legation of the Slovak Republic in Switzerland in various Slovak annuals, published in Canada and in the United States.5 More than a dozen former Slovak diplomats who live either in Western Europe or in other parts of the free world, are still expected to record the years of their diplomatic service to enable historians to present this chapter of modern Slovak history in an objective manner. In view of this, it will perhaps not be amiss to record some data and to answer the question of how the emergence of the Slovak Republic on March 14, 1939, was accepted by European and non-European public opinion and how the governments of European neutral countries received the proclamation of Slovakia's independence. In my book Slovakia- Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe a survey of the international recognition of the Slovak Republic has given general information on this subject with some documents to support the historical facts and to prove the utterly incorrect propaganda which for a period of the past 30 years bluntly disregarded the facts and asserted that the Slovak Republic was recognized only by Germany and her satellites. II. In the short period of liberalization in Czecho-Slovakia the Marxist historians who, for political reasons avoided writing about the international status of the Slovak Republic, admitted that: "In March 1939 appeared on the map of Europe a new state - Slovakia. With the exception of the United States all European Great Powers successively recognized the Slovak state de jure or at least de facto: Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and many smaller European and non-European countries: Poland, Hungary, the Vatican, Switzerland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Rumania, Bulgaria, Yougoslavia, Liberia, Ecuador, Costarica, Holland, Finland, Belgium, Croatia, the Chinese Government of Nanking, etc. The Slovak state became a member of various international conventions and agreements and in the first years of the War it was considered in many capital cities as a small, but as a not easily discarded part of the motley mosaic of European relations." 6 �114 SLOVAKIA Other Marxist historians recorded that the Soviet Union, who recognized the Slovak Republic on September 16, 1939, and established the largest embassy in the capitol city of Slovakia, counted until 1943 with the existence of the Slovak Republic also in the post-War European organization. According to the Communist party archives in March 1940 the illegal Central Committee of the Slovak Communist Party received the following directives: "Our pre-War slogans must be changed. Under the slogan "Restoration of Czechoslovak ia" are hidden at the present time imperialist and anti-Soviet plans. The problem of nationalities is today not the same; it is reduced to the problem of Czechs and Slovaks. We state explicitly that our Party is now for the slogan of the full right of selfdeterminatio n of Czechs and Slovaks. The right of self-determination means the right to an independent state. For the Czechs, we fight for a restoration of their national and political freedom. For the Slovaks, we fight for the full sovereignty of the present Slovak state. The fight for the right of self-determin ation makes our way different from that of world imperialism and Benes. The Slovak state is the given basis for the full freedom of Slovaks. The future relations between the Czech and Slovak states is the question of self-determin ation of both nations and depends on the events of the war (and on its results, remark by Dimitrov)." 7 This was only consistent with the speech of the Soviet Minister Plenipotentia ry and Envoy Extraordinar y, G. Pushkin, who, upon presenting his credentials to the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Jozef Tiso, said: "Presenting to you the documents which accredit me as Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry, appointted by the Presidency of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, I can announce to you with joy that the nations of the Soviet Union have taken cognizance of the establishmen t of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the Slovak Republic with deep satisfaction. Because of the war in Europe the establishmen t of these relations oversteps the framework of mutual interests of both our states." 8 Since 1960, when my survey of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic was published, some interesting �SLOVAKIA 115 documents pertaining to the attitude of the European Great Powers towards Slovakia were published also with regard to Great Britain. I found in 1960 documents and references which shed on the policy of Great Britain toward Slovakia quite a different light9 from that unscrupulously repeated in the War propaganda of the "Czechoslovak governmentin-exile," in the memoirs of Dr. E. Benes, and in the history books written by American and some European historians.10 On the basis of the British archives, F. Vnuk published a few years later a well documented insight into the British attitude which was far more favorable to Slovaks than it has been believed and recorded by Western histo:r.ians.11 However, the present survey aims at giving the basic data on the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic only by the European neutral countries and on the activities and political conceptions of Slovak diplomats accredited in those countries. Even that scope will be narrowed here because the Slovak representatives in Sweden and Spain are alive and work on their memoirs, and the relations between the Holy See and the Slovak Republic were sufficiently recorded in K. Sidor's book, mentioned above. III. NEUTRAL STATES WHICH RECOGNIZED THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC The first of all neutral states to recognize Slovakia diplomatically was Switzerland which gave full recognition to the Slovak Republic on April 19, 1939. Switzerland was followed by Spain on April 25, 1939, and by the Vatican on May 25, 1939. Sweden as the fourth neutral European state, recognized the Slovak Republic on July 26, 1939. Whereas between the Vatican, Switzerland and Spain, and Slovakia, diplomatic relations were de jure and de facto and existed from the very beginning, the relations with Sweden developed slowly and remained on the consular level. From the diplomatic point of view, the most important diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic was, of course, that by the Vatican. This recognition had not only a political but also a moral importance in Europe and in �116 SLOVAKIA the world before the Second World War. As mentioned, the Vatican gave diplomatic recognition to Slovakia on May 25, 1939, and the Slovak representativ e as Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry was accredited in July of the same year. The Holy See appointed first a Nuncio in Bratislava, Msgr. Xaverius Ritter, who had served previously in Prague, but due to some misunderstanding and misinterpreta tion of his credentials, Msgr. Giusepe Burzio, as Charge d'Affaires, represented the Holy See during the whole period of the War and fOT some time even after the War. In view of the fact that the War started just six months after the declaration of Slovakia's independence , the diploma.tic relations of Slovakia with the Vatican became even more important. The efforts of Czech exiles to induce the Vatican into breaking off relations were not successful1 2 and at the end of the War, the Slovak representative was the last one of all Slovak diplomats in neutral states to close his legation. The political, social and moral importance of the diplomatic relations with the Holy See is described in Sidor's book in which one can find not only some important documents, but also valuable information on political developments in Slovakia during the War. From Sidor's book and the above mentioned essay by Vnuk, historians can draw enough information to put into proper perspective the relations between Slovakia and the Holy See and prove incorrect the assertions spread in Western historiograph y. Spain was represented in Slovakia by an experienced career diplomat Juan Cano y Trueba, known generally in Bratislava as Count Bailen. He had the rank of Minister Plenipotentia ry and Envoy Extraordinar y. On the other hand, Slovakia was first represented in Spain by a Charge d'Affaires en pied and later by an Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry. The first Slovak diplomat to visit Madrid was Dr. Jozef M. Zvrskovec who represented Slovakia in Italy and who later became known for his note in which he spoke about a neutral status of Slovakia with regard to Great Britain.13 Zvrskovec, however, did not present his credentials in Spain. This was done in April 1940 by Dr. Joseph A. Mikus �SLOVAKIA 117 who was accredited as Charge d'Affaires en pied and presented his credentials to the Minister of External Affairs, General Cowit Jordana. Mikus remained in Spain from April 11, 1940 to March 24, 1944 and left his post on receiving the Honor of Commandador de la Order de Isabel la Catholica. He was replaced by Mister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary, Dr. Jozef Cieker, who remained in Spain witil his witimely death in 1969. Cieker also was a career diplomat and one of the leading Catholic intellectuals. He was active in Pax Romana and Slavia Catholica before he entered the diplomatic service in Prague. He served in Belgrade as Charge d' Affaires and in Zagreb as Minister of the Slovak Republic. In Spain, Cieker was quite succe~ful not only among the members of the Government but also in his relations with the Catholic hierarchy. His good relations proved very useful after the War when he became director of an international College for refugee students ( Collegio Major Santiago Apostol). In exile, Cieker was witil his death one of the leading figures of the Slovak National Cowicil Abroad and known as author of books and articles in Slovak as well as in foreign languages. 14 The relations between Spain and Slovakia will, however, be treated by Mikus in his memoirs. The diplomatic relations of the Slovak Republic with Switzerland were, from the political as well as economic point of view, of great importance. The capital city of Switzerland, Bern, was the second most important European center of diplomatic activities during the whole period of the War, as the Allies, the states which belonged to the Axis camp and all the neutral cowitries were represented in Switzerland. Slovakia established a legation in Bern in the summer of 1939, and Switzerland opened a Consulate General in Bratislava, indicating that a legation would be established later. Even though the Swiss recognition was on the diplomatic level, this wieven representation caused the Slovak Government to send to Switzerland diplomatic representatives with the title Charge d'Affairs en pied, who were duly accredited as handl5 of diplomatic missions but only socially were addressed as Ministers or Envoys. The first Slovak representative in Switzerland was Dr. Bohdan Galvanek who, after a short stay, was sent to Rome, Italy, �118 SLOVAKIA and replaced by a well-known Slovak writer, Tido J. Gaspar. Even though Gaspar was very successful in Bern's diplomatic circles and made for Slovakia a good name, he was replaced in the fall of 1940 by a career diplomat, Dr. Raduz Radlinsky. Well prepared for his role, Radlinsky made many friends among diplomats from various countries and increased the prestige of the Slovak legation. However, in 1942, he left the dir,lomatic service and the Slovak government accredited in his stead the writer of this survey, who remained in Bern until the end of the War. The relations between Slovakia and Switzerland were, from the very beginning, friendly. For Slovakia Bern was of great political importance; for Switzerland economic relations prevailed. In addition to current diplomatic activities the Slovak legation in Bern had the mission to acquaint diplomats and journalists of all countries with the existence of the Slovak Republic as a new state in Central Europe, and with the aspirations pf the Slovak people not only during the War, but also after the world conflict ended. On the part of the Swiss government, the stress was understandably on economic relations which developed very favorably for both countries, leaving at the end of the war a large amount of surplus money from ecQnomic exchanges in Bern.15 Switzerland was represented in Slovakia by Dr. Max Graessli, a career diplomat with the title of Consul General. The good relations between Switzerland and the Slovak Republic were reflected not only in extensive economic and commercial relations but also in the fact that the Swiss government allowed to appoint two honorary consuls for Slovakia in Switzerland. One of them was a wealthy industrialist who had some economic interests in Slovakia also before the war, Rudolf Eckenstein, from Basel. In Zurich was appointed Arthur Gaerrick, a wealthy businessman who represented before the war several Czech firms in Switzerland. During the first years of the War there were indications that the relations between Switzerland and the Slovak Republic would be normalized in the sense that Switzerland would also establish a legation in Bratislava, and the head of the Slovak legation in Bern would assume the title of �SLOVAKIA 119 Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary. During one of my visits with the Minister for External Affairs, Pilez-Golas, I had the impression that this normalization was imminent and I reported the good news to Bratislava with great satisfaction as one of my achievements. However, the luck of the German armies on the Russian front changed and they started to retreat after a terrible defeat at Stalingrad. This made the Swiss government more cautious in their foreign policy with regard to the countries which nolens volens were on the side of the Axis. When the retreat assumed catastrophic dimensions, Minister Pilez-Golas was replaced by a person who had previously no connections with foreign policy and was considered as friendly and acceptable for the Allies. The victory of the Allies was expected after the German retreats as certain, even though rumors persisted that the Allies can make a separate peace with Germany and turn together against the Soviet march toward the West. Only after the failure to kill Hitler by the att.empt on July 22, 1944, these rumors died down and diplomats accredited in Switzerland, as well as some members of the Swiss government, began openly speaking about the unconditional surrender of Germany and her allies. This logically was the end of any hope that Switzerland would establish in Bratislava a legation instead of a consulate general. 16 In view of the complex world situation and hostile propaganda against Slovakia in the West one of the main goals of Slovak diplomatic representatives in Bern was to put into proper perspective the aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom and independence regardless of the results of the military conflict. Therefore, many steps were made to counteract the hostile propaganda emanating from the exiled "Czechoslovak" circles in London and Washington and to inform the diplomats accredited in Switzerland about the true situation in Slovakia, and about the attitude of the Slovak people towards the West. Unfortunately, Western diplomats displayed very little understanding for the aspirations of the Slovak people and mostly adhered to the concept of the Czech exiled politicians headed by Dr. E. Benes. �120 SLOVAKIA For acquainting foreign diplomats and Swiss journalists with Slovakia and with the political aspirations of the Slovak people, the Slovak Legation in Bern published from August 1943 to January 1945 a bulletin in French and German, Correspondence slovaque, and organized trips for Swiss journalists to Slovakia. One of them, the editor of the prestigious daily "Der Bund," Arnold H. Schwengler, published from his visit to Slovakia a series of articles which, compiled in a booklet "Die slowakische Reise," gave a favorable picture of the economic as well as cultural situation in the Slovak Republic. For publishing the Correspondence slovaque and for maintaining contacts with the press was mainly responsible, until the summer of 1944, Dr. Arved Grebert, who served as Press Attache at the Legation. Some newspapers used the information they received from the Correspondence slovaque of which 23 issues were published. The Correspondence slovaque aimed in the first place to give basic information on economic and cultural matters, but each issue also contained political articles defending the right of Slovaks to independence and refuting the adverse propaganda of the Czech exiles in the West. The political articles were usually free of any mention of Slovakia's relations with Germany and were concerned with the preservation of Slovakia's independence after the war, advocating a sort of federative solution of the problems of the Central European nations. This political concept was advocated also by the Slovak Legation at the Vatican. Sidor's articles on Central European Federation also appeared in some French and German press in Switzerland. In the fall of 1944, an article advocating federalism in Central Europe was published also in the Revue de droit international, mentioned above, by the former Minister of External Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Prof. F. :t>urcanskyP The Slovak Legation in Bern also had a mission to co-operate with Slovak diplomats in neutral countries in order to co-ordinate the efforts aiming at a just solution of the Slovak problem at the end of the War. Very close co-operation developed especially between Karol Sidor, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Vatican, and the writer, for the concept of a Central European Federation conceived �SLOVAKIA 121 as a democratic and Christian block of states on the Soviet border. The idea met with some understanding in Swiss newspapers and in certain diplomatic circles in the West, but was not officially accepted by the Allies because of .agreement with the Soviet government in Teheran and Yalta. Swiss public opinion and the press were generally favorably disposed towards Slovakia during the first years of the War, and some newspapers did so also at the end of the War and after. Even though the "Czechoslovak government in exile" tried to use for their propaganda their old connections with Swiss newspapers and kept in Geneva a propagandist under the cover of an exiled journalist, only the Socialist and Communist press published here and there adverse articles on Slovakia. Generally the :picture was favorable to the Slovak Republic and to the striving of the Slovak people for independence. On the part of the Swiss government, the also was genuine understanding for the aspirations of the Slovak people. At the end of the War, the world situation and external pressures forced, however, the Swiss government to follow the political concepts of the Allies and to recognize Czecho-Slovakia. The end of diplomatic relations between the Slovak Republic and Switzerland occurred at the time when the Slovak government was forced to leave the capital city of Slovakia. A sort of consular relations continued until the very end of the War, practically until .June 1st, 1945. Excerpts from "Notes to Memoires." FOOTNOTES 1 ) See Vol. 2, 1944, p. 123-142. In Slovak I published an editorial in the daily Slovak, January 1st, 1944, under the title "tJlohy a problemy slovenskej diplomacie" (Goals and Problems of Slovak Diplomacy). 2) See also my articles: "International Recognition of the Slovak Republic," Slovakia, Vol. I, No. 1, 1951, pp. 23-31; "Diplomatic Documents on Slovakia's Declaration of Independence," Slovakia, Vol. IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 3-12; "British Policy and Slovakia 1939-1945," S lovakia, Vol. X, No. 6, 1960, p. 50-61. These articles were published also in a German version in the periodical Slowakei. 3) See Slovakia, Vol. II, No. 2, 1952, pp. 38-41. 4) F . Vnuk, " Collapse of Czecho-Slovakia in Vatican Documents," Slovak Studies III, Cleveland-Rome, 1965, pp. 239-256. �122 SLOVAKIA 5) See my contributions to J. Pauco (ed.) Karol Sidor, politik, novinar a spisovatel', (Middletown, Pa. 1962); Kalendar Jednota 1971, p. 109, 117; Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, 1968; Slowakei, Vol VII, No. 1-2, pp. 87-100. 6) L. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci (Slovakia in the 20th Century), Bratislava, 1968, p. 177. 7) See S. Falt'an, Slovenska otazka v Ceskoslovensku, Bratislava, 1968, p. 112. 8) Quoted from Kirschbaum, Slovakia- Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, op. cit., pp. 1931-1932. 9) See Kirschbaum, "British Policy and Slovakia 1939-1945," Slovakia, Vol. X, No. 6, 1960, pp. 50-61. 10) Distorted information can be found in W. Shirer's book Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by Gisevius and several specialists in East Central Europe. 11) F. Vnuk, "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Slovak Studies, Vol. IX, No. 6, Cleveland-Rome, 1969, pp. 49-73. 12) See A. Grebert, "Czech Intrigues Against the Slovak State," Slovakia, Vol. I, No. 2, 1951. 13) On March 29, 1940 Minister Zvrskovec sent a note to the Italian Foreign Ministry in which he stated that Slovakia was a neutral country and requested at the same time that the English Government be informed of this in order that England may recognize Slovakia's neutrality with all its consequences. See Documents on German Foreign PoHcy, Series 'D', Vol. X, reprinted in my book Slovakia, p. 281. 14) For details, see Liter6.rny Almanach for 1967, p. 125-126. 15) Unfortunately, the funds were transferred to Prague in the summer of 1945. Two officials of the Slovak National Bank, Pazman and Virsik, who sided with Dr . Benes, signed the transfer documents. 16) The failure of the attempt on Hitler's life and the outbreak of a communist inspired uprising in Central Slovakia in the Fall of 1944 created even a possibility for the interruption of the SwissSlovak relations. I received hints that the Swiss government would have welcome my defectien to Dr. Benes' camp and use it as a pretext for closing down our legation. On the other hand, Consul General Graessli tried to leave the responsibility for taking care of the affairs of the Consulate General to his subalter Consul Hans Keller. Both made after the War great careers in the Swiss di:i>lomatic services. Graessli was transferred to Washington and later became Ambassador to Sweden. Keller also moved fast and in the 1960's was Ambassador in Peking. 17) See Vol. XXII, No. 1. At the en.cl of August 1944, one of this writer's articles on the Federalist solution of Central European problems was published in the daily Slovak. Since it was a favorable analysis of Milan Hodza's book Federation in Central Europe, the German Embassy in Bratislava asked the newspaper to explain to the readers that the article was published by inadvertence and that the Slovak government and the newspaper did not agree with iti. contents. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1973, Vol. 23 Description An account of the resource Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973. 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 1973 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 111 Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States By J. M. K i r s c h b a u m, Ph.D. I. The emergence of the Slovak Republic in March 1939 has been for years presented by historians of Central Eastern Europe in accordance with the War propaganda rather than on the basis of historical facts. In the West, especially the propaganda of the "Czechoslovak governmentin-exile" crept into the history books and some misconceptions survived even the publication of secret documents and the opening of the War archives. It would, however, be unfair to blame Western historians alone for the inaccuracies and prejudices presentation of Slovakia's international status and diplomatic and consular relations. There was no serious attempt on the Slovak side to give historians of Central Eastern Europe sufficient information in foreign language, which could enable them to draw an objective picture of the Slovak Republic. Moreover, comprehensive work on international relations of Slovakia is missing even in Slovak historiography. The reason for not writing about the international relations of Slovakia with other countries by Communist historians is quite understandable: they were reluctant to admit that the Slovak Republic was also recognized by the Soviet Union and some 29 other countries, including the European Great Powers and neutral countries. According to the official "Czechoslovak" propaganda during the War, the Slovak Republic was recognized only by Germany and 112 SLOVAKIA her satellites and this distortion of historical facts suited the post-war Marxist historians. What is difficult to understand, however, is the neglect by Slovaks abroad, especially if we take into account that a number of former Slovak diplomats found refuge in the countries of the free world. During the War some articles surveying the first years of the Slovak Republic were published in Switzerland, but they discussed the international status of Slovakia only passingly. Such was the series of articles by Arnold Schwengeler in the daily Der Bund, and two French articles: one by the Swiss writer William Ritter in the Gazette de Lausanne and a contribution to the Revue de droit international de sciences diplomatiques et politiques by this writer under the pen-name Andre Cerisier.1 After the War, an English publication by F. nurcansky, The International Aspects of the Slovak Question, examined the subject from both the juridical and political points of view. The international relations of Slovakia with other countries were discussed, however, only briefly even in this study. Several other Slovak authors dealt with Slovakia's international relations in a general way by inserting a chapt.er or two in their books or in their articles on Slovakia. Such have been the contributions of this writer either in Slovak or foreign languages and especially a chapter on the diplomatic recognition of Slovakia in his book Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, and in his Slovak book Nds boj o samostatnost' Slovenska. 2 The Slovak diplomatic representative in Spain, Dr. J. A. Mikus, wrote on the subject in his book Slovakia A Political History and in the annuals published in the United States3 either in English or in Slovak, and F. Vnuk published a study based on the Vatican archives materials, 4 but all these writings are far from giving an adequat;e picture of the international relations of the Slovak Republic with European and non-European states which recognized Slovakia in 1939 as an independent state. As far as the memoirs are concerned, only Karol Sidor, the Slovak Envoy Extraordinary and Minist.er Plenipotentiary at the Vatican, published a full account of his years at the Holy See in his Slovak book sest' rokov pri Vatikdne (Six Years at the Vatican). This writer published reminis- SLOVAKIA 113 cences on his years in Italy and as head of the legation of the Slovak Republic in Switzerland in various Slovak annuals, published in Canada and in the United States.5 More than a dozen former Slovak diplomats who live either in Western Europe or in other parts of the free world, are still expected to record the years of their diplomatic service to enable historians to present this chapter of modern Slovak history in an objective manner. In view of this, it will perhaps not be amiss to record some data and to answer the question of how the emergence of the Slovak Republic on March 14, 1939, was accepted by European and non-European public opinion and how the governments of European neutral countries received the proclamation of Slovakia's independence. In my book Slovakia- Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe a survey of the international recognition of the Slovak Republic has given general information on this subject with some documents to support the historical facts and to prove the utterly incorrect propaganda which for a period of the past 30 years bluntly disregarded the facts and asserted that the Slovak Republic was recognized only by Germany and her satellites. II. In the short period of liberalization in Czecho-Slovakia the Marxist historians who, for political reasons avoided writing about the international status of the Slovak Republic, admitted that: "In March 1939 appeared on the map of Europe a new state - Slovakia. With the exception of the United States all European Great Powers successively recognized the Slovak state de jure or at least de facto: Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and many smaller European and non-European countries: Poland, Hungary, the Vatican, Switzerland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Rumania, Bulgaria, Yougoslavia, Liberia, Ecuador, Costarica, Holland, Finland, Belgium, Croatia, the Chinese Government of Nanking, etc. The Slovak state became a member of various international conventions and agreements and in the first years of the War it was considered in many capital cities as a small, but as a not easily discarded part of the motley mosaic of European relations." 6 114 SLOVAKIA Other Marxist historians recorded that the Soviet Union, who recognized the Slovak Republic on September 16, 1939, and established the largest embassy in the capitol city of Slovakia, counted until 1943 with the existence of the Slovak Republic also in the post-War European organization. According to the Communist party archives in March 1940 the illegal Central Committee of the Slovak Communist Party received the following directives: "Our pre-War slogans must be changed. Under the slogan "Restoration of Czechoslovak ia" are hidden at the present time imperialist and anti-Soviet plans. The problem of nationalities is today not the same; it is reduced to the problem of Czechs and Slovaks. We state explicitly that our Party is now for the slogan of the full right of selfdeterminatio n of Czechs and Slovaks. The right of self-determination means the right to an independent state. For the Czechs, we fight for a restoration of their national and political freedom. For the Slovaks, we fight for the full sovereignty of the present Slovak state. The fight for the right of self-determin ation makes our way different from that of world imperialism and Benes. The Slovak state is the given basis for the full freedom of Slovaks. The future relations between the Czech and Slovak states is the question of self-determin ation of both nations and depends on the events of the war (and on its results, remark by Dimitrov)." 7 This was only consistent with the speech of the Soviet Minister Plenipotentia ry and Envoy Extraordinar y, G. Pushkin, who, upon presenting his credentials to the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Jozef Tiso, said: "Presenting to you the documents which accredit me as Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry, appointted by the Presidency of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, I can announce to you with joy that the nations of the Soviet Union have taken cognizance of the establishmen t of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the Slovak Republic with deep satisfaction. Because of the war in Europe the establishmen t of these relations oversteps the framework of mutual interests of both our states." 8 Since 1960, when my survey of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic was published, some interesting SLOVAKIA 115 documents pertaining to the attitude of the European Great Powers towards Slovakia were published also with regard to Great Britain. I found in 1960 documents and references which shed on the policy of Great Britain toward Slovakia quite a different light9 from that unscrupulously repeated in the War propaganda of the "Czechoslovak governmentin-exile," in the memoirs of Dr. E. Benes, and in the history books written by American and some European historians.10 On the basis of the British archives, F. Vnuk published a few years later a well documented insight into the British attitude which was far more favorable to Slovaks than it has been believed and recorded by Western histo:r.ians.11 However, the present survey aims at giving the basic data on the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic only by the European neutral countries and on the activities and political conceptions of Slovak diplomats accredited in those countries. Even that scope will be narrowed here because the Slovak representatives in Sweden and Spain are alive and work on their memoirs, and the relations between the Holy See and the Slovak Republic were sufficiently recorded in K. Sidor's book, mentioned above. III. NEUTRAL STATES WHICH RECOGNIZED THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC The first of all neutral states to recognize Slovakia diplomatically was Switzerland which gave full recognition to the Slovak Republic on April 19, 1939. Switzerland was followed by Spain on April 25, 1939, and by the Vatican on May 25, 1939. Sweden as the fourth neutral European state, recognized the Slovak Republic on July 26, 1939. Whereas between the Vatican, Switzerland and Spain, and Slovakia, diplomatic relations were de jure and de facto and existed from the very beginning, the relations with Sweden developed slowly and remained on the consular level. From the diplomatic point of view, the most important diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic was, of course, that by the Vatican. This recognition had not only a political but also a moral importance in Europe and in 116 SLOVAKIA the world before the Second World War. As mentioned, the Vatican gave diplomatic recognition to Slovakia on May 25, 1939, and the Slovak representativ e as Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry was accredited in July of the same year. The Holy See appointed first a Nuncio in Bratislava, Msgr. Xaverius Ritter, who had served previously in Prague, but due to some misunderstanding and misinterpreta tion of his credentials, Msgr. Giusepe Burzio, as Charge d'Affaires, represented the Holy See during the whole period of the War and fOT some time even after the War. In view of the fact that the War started just six months after the declaration of Slovakia's independence , the diploma.tic relations of Slovakia with the Vatican became even more important. The efforts of Czech exiles to induce the Vatican into breaking off relations were not successful1 2 and at the end of the War, the Slovak representative was the last one of all Slovak diplomats in neutral states to close his legation. The political, social and moral importance of the diplomatic relations with the Holy See is described in Sidor's book in which one can find not only some important documents, but also valuable information on political developments in Slovakia during the War. From Sidor's book and the above mentioned essay by Vnuk, historians can draw enough information to put into proper perspective the relations between Slovakia and the Holy See and prove incorrect the assertions spread in Western historiograph y. Spain was represented in Slovakia by an experienced career diplomat Juan Cano y Trueba, known generally in Bratislava as Count Bailen. He had the rank of Minister Plenipotentia ry and Envoy Extraordinar y. On the other hand, Slovakia was first represented in Spain by a Charge d'Affaires en pied and later by an Envoy Extraordinar y and Minister Plenipotentia ry. The first Slovak diplomat to visit Madrid was Dr. Jozef M. Zvrskovec who represented Slovakia in Italy and who later became known for his note in which he spoke about a neutral status of Slovakia with regard to Great Britain.13 Zvrskovec, however, did not present his credentials in Spain. This was done in April 1940 by Dr. Joseph A. Mikus SLOVAKIA 117 who was accredited as Charge d'Affaires en pied and presented his credentials to the Minister of External Affairs, General Cowit Jordana. Mikus remained in Spain from April 11, 1940 to March 24, 1944 and left his post on receiving the Honor of Commandador de la Order de Isabel la Catholica. He was replaced by Mister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary, Dr. Jozef Cieker, who remained in Spain witil his witimely death in 1969. Cieker also was a career diplomat and one of the leading Catholic intellectuals. He was active in Pax Romana and Slavia Catholica before he entered the diplomatic service in Prague. He served in Belgrade as Charge d' Affaires and in Zagreb as Minister of the Slovak Republic. In Spain, Cieker was quite succe~ful not only among the members of the Government but also in his relations with the Catholic hierarchy. His good relations proved very useful after the War when he became director of an international College for refugee students ( Collegio Major Santiago Apostol). In exile, Cieker was witil his death one of the leading figures of the Slovak National Cowicil Abroad and known as author of books and articles in Slovak as well as in foreign languages. 14 The relations between Spain and Slovakia will, however, be treated by Mikus in his memoirs. The diplomatic relations of the Slovak Republic with Switzerland were, from the political as well as economic point of view, of great importance. The capital city of Switzerland, Bern, was the second most important European center of diplomatic activities during the whole period of the War, as the Allies, the states which belonged to the Axis camp and all the neutral cowitries were represented in Switzerland. Slovakia established a legation in Bern in the summer of 1939, and Switzerland opened a Consulate General in Bratislava, indicating that a legation would be established later. Even though the Swiss recognition was on the diplomatic level, this wieven representation caused the Slovak Government to send to Switzerland diplomatic representatives with the title Charge d'Affairs en pied, who were duly accredited as handl5 of diplomatic missions but only socially were addressed as Ministers or Envoys. The first Slovak representative in Switzerland was Dr. Bohdan Galvanek who, after a short stay, was sent to Rome, Italy, 118 SLOVAKIA and replaced by a well-known Slovak writer, Tido J. Gaspar. Even though Gaspar was very successful in Bern's diplomatic circles and made for Slovakia a good name, he was replaced in the fall of 1940 by a career diplomat, Dr. Raduz Radlinsky. Well prepared for his role, Radlinsky made many friends among diplomats from various countries and increased the prestige of the Slovak legation. However, in 1942, he left the dir,lomatic service and the Slovak government accredited in his stead the writer of this survey, who remained in Bern until the end of the War. The relations between Slovakia and Switzerland were, from the very beginning, friendly. For Slovakia Bern was of great political importance; for Switzerland economic relations prevailed. In addition to current diplomatic activities the Slovak legation in Bern had the mission to acquaint diplomats and journalists of all countries with the existence of the Slovak Republic as a new state in Central Europe, and with the aspirations pf the Slovak people not only during the War, but also after the world conflict ended. On the part of the Swiss government, the stress was understandably on economic relations which developed very favorably for both countries, leaving at the end of the war a large amount of surplus money from ecQnomic exchanges in Bern.15 Switzerland was represented in Slovakia by Dr. Max Graessli, a career diplomat with the title of Consul General. The good relations between Switzerland and the Slovak Republic were reflected not only in extensive economic and commercial relations but also in the fact that the Swiss government allowed to appoint two honorary consuls for Slovakia in Switzerland. One of them was a wealthy industrialist who had some economic interests in Slovakia also before the war, Rudolf Eckenstein, from Basel. In Zurich was appointed Arthur Gaerrick, a wealthy businessman who represented before the war several Czech firms in Switzerland. During the first years of the War there were indications that the relations between Switzerland and the Slovak Republic would be normalized in the sense that Switzerland would also establish a legation in Bratislava, and the head of the Slovak legation in Bern would assume the title of SLOVAKIA 119 Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary. During one of my visits with the Minister for External Affairs, Pilez-Golas, I had the impression that this normalization was imminent and I reported the good news to Bratislava with great satisfaction as one of my achievements. However, the luck of the German armies on the Russian front changed and they started to retreat after a terrible defeat at Stalingrad. This made the Swiss government more cautious in their foreign policy with regard to the countries which nolens volens were on the side of the Axis. When the retreat assumed catastrophic dimensions, Minister Pilez-Golas was replaced by a person who had previously no connections with foreign policy and was considered as friendly and acceptable for the Allies. The victory of the Allies was expected after the German retreats as certain, even though rumors persisted that the Allies can make a separate peace with Germany and turn together against the Soviet march toward the West. Only after the failure to kill Hitler by the att.empt on July 22, 1944, these rumors died down and diplomats accredited in Switzerland, as well as some members of the Swiss government, began openly speaking about the unconditional surrender of Germany and her allies. This logically was the end of any hope that Switzerland would establish in Bratislava a legation instead of a consulate general. 16 In view of the complex world situation and hostile propaganda against Slovakia in the West one of the main goals of Slovak diplomatic representatives in Bern was to put into proper perspective the aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom and independence regardless of the results of the military conflict. Therefore, many steps were made to counteract the hostile propaganda emanating from the exiled "Czechoslovak" circles in London and Washington and to inform the diplomats accredited in Switzerland about the true situation in Slovakia, and about the attitude of the Slovak people towards the West. Unfortunately, Western diplomats displayed very little understanding for the aspirations of the Slovak people and mostly adhered to the concept of the Czech exiled politicians headed by Dr. E. Benes. 120 SLOVAKIA For acquainting foreign diplomats and Swiss journalists with Slovakia and with the political aspirations of the Slovak people, the Slovak Legation in Bern published from August 1943 to January 1945 a bulletin in French and German, Correspondence slovaque, and organized trips for Swiss journalists to Slovakia. One of them, the editor of the prestigious daily "Der Bund," Arnold H. Schwengler, published from his visit to Slovakia a series of articles which, compiled in a booklet "Die slowakische Reise," gave a favorable picture of the economic as well as cultural situation in the Slovak Republic. For publishing the Correspondence slovaque and for maintaining contacts with the press was mainly responsible, until the summer of 1944, Dr. Arved Grebert, who served as Press Attache at the Legation. Some newspapers used the information they received from the Correspondence slovaque of which 23 issues were published. The Correspondence slovaque aimed in the first place to give basic information on economic and cultural matters, but each issue also contained political articles defending the right of Slovaks to independence and refuting the adverse propaganda of the Czech exiles in the West. The political articles were usually free of any mention of Slovakia's relations with Germany and were concerned with the preservation of Slovakia's independence after the war, advocating a sort of federative solution of the problems of the Central European nations. This political concept was advocated also by the Slovak Legation at the Vatican. Sidor's articles on Central European Federation also appeared in some French and German press in Switzerland. In the fall of 1944, an article advocating federalism in Central Europe was published also in the Revue de droit international, mentioned above, by the former Minister of External Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Prof. F. :t>urcanskyP The Slovak Legation in Bern also had a mission to co-operate with Slovak diplomats in neutral countries in order to co-ordinate the efforts aiming at a just solution of the Slovak problem at the end of the War. Very close co-operation developed especially between Karol Sidor, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Vatican, and the writer, for the concept of a Central European Federation conceived SLOVAKIA 121 as a democratic and Christian block of states on the Soviet border. The idea met with some understanding in Swiss newspapers and in certain diplomatic circles in the West, but was not officially accepted by the Allies because of .agreement with the Soviet government in Teheran and Yalta. Swiss public opinion and the press were generally favorably disposed towards Slovakia during the first years of the War, and some newspapers did so also at the end of the War and after. Even though the "Czechoslovak government in exile" tried to use for their propaganda their old connections with Swiss newspapers and kept in Geneva a propagandist under the cover of an exiled journalist, only the Socialist and Communist press published here and there adverse articles on Slovakia. Generally the :picture was favorable to the Slovak Republic and to the striving of the Slovak people for independence. On the part of the Swiss government, the also was genuine understanding for the aspirations of the Slovak people. At the end of the War, the world situation and external pressures forced, however, the Swiss government to follow the political concepts of the Allies and to recognize Czecho-Slovakia. The end of diplomatic relations between the Slovak Republic and Switzerland occurred at the time when the Slovak government was forced to leave the capital city of Slovakia. A sort of consular relations continued until the very end of the War, practically until .June 1st, 1945. Excerpts from "Notes to Memoires." FOOTNOTES 1 ) See Vol. 2, 1944, p. 123-142. In Slovak I published an editorial in the daily Slovak, January 1st, 1944, under the title "tJlohy a problemy slovenskej diplomacie" (Goals and Problems of Slovak Diplomacy). 2) See also my articles: "International Recognition of the Slovak Republic," Slovakia, Vol. I, No. 1, 1951, pp. 23-31; "Diplomatic Documents on Slovakia's Declaration of Independence," Slovakia, Vol. IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 3-12; "British Policy and Slovakia 1939-1945," S lovakia, Vol. X, No. 6, 1960, p. 50-61. These articles were published also in a German version in the periodical Slowakei. 3) See Slovakia, Vol. II, No. 2, 1952, pp. 38-41. 4) F . Vnuk, " Collapse of Czecho-Slovakia in Vatican Documents," Slovak Studies III, Cleveland-Rome, 1965, pp. 239-256. 122 SLOVAKIA 5) See my contributions to J. Pauco (ed.) Karol Sidor, politik, novinar a spisovatel', (Middletown, Pa. 1962); Kalendar Jednota 1971, p. 109, 117; Kalendar Kanadskej Slovenskej Ligy, 1968; Slowakei, Vol VII, No. 1-2, pp. 87-100. 6) L. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci (Slovakia in the 20th Century), Bratislava, 1968, p. 177. 7) See S. Falt'an, Slovenska otazka v Ceskoslovensku, Bratislava, 1968, p. 112. 8) Quoted from Kirschbaum, Slovakia- Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, op. cit., pp. 1931-1932. 9) See Kirschbaum, "British Policy and Slovakia 1939-1945," Slovakia, Vol. X, No. 6, 1960, pp. 50-61. 10) Distorted information can be found in W. Shirer's book Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by Gisevius and several specialists in East Central Europe. 11) F. Vnuk, "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Slovak Studies, Vol. IX, No. 6, Cleveland-Rome, 1969, pp. 49-73. 12) See A. Grebert, "Czech Intrigues Against the Slovak State," Slovakia, Vol. I, No. 2, 1951. 13) On March 29, 1940 Minister Zvrskovec sent a note to the Italian Foreign Ministry in which he stated that Slovakia was a neutral country and requested at the same time that the English Government be informed of this in order that England may recognize Slovakia's neutrality with all its consequences. See Documents on German Foreign PoHcy, Series 'D', Vol. X, reprinted in my book Slovakia, p. 281. 14) For details, see Liter6.rny Almanach for 1967, p. 125-126. 15) Unfortunately, the funds were transferred to Prague in the summer of 1945. Two officials of the Slovak National Bank, Pazman and Virsik, who sided with Dr . Benes, signed the transfer documents. 16) The failure of the attempt on Hitler's life and the outbreak of a communist inspired uprising in Central Slovakia in the Fall of 1944 created even a possibility for the interruption of the SwissSlovak relations. I received hints that the Swiss government would have welcome my defectien to Dr. Benes' camp and use it as a pretext for closing down our legation. On the other hand, Consul General Graessli tried to leave the responsibility for taking care of the affairs of the Consulate General to his subalter Consul Hans Keller. Both made after the War great careers in the Swiss di:i>lomatic services. Graessli was transferred to Washington and later became Ambassador to Sweden. Keller also moved fast and in the 1960's was Ambassador in Peking. 17) See Vol. XXII, No. 1. At the en.cl of August 1944, one of this writer's articles on the Federalist solution of Central European problems was published in the daily Slovak. Since it was a favorable analysis of Milan Hodza's book Federation in Central Europe, the German Embassy in Bratislava asked the newspaper to explain to the readers that the article was published by inadvertence and that the Slovak government and the newspaper did not agree with iti. contents.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973 pp. 111-122 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/329328bd44102fc8e3fc31826c3d7211.pdf ada238b3dd98531f7a084d213a4f9584 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 181 ,J.. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D.: Noted Slovak Jubilarians Andrej Z a r n o v "Les elites emigrees vivent tragiquement. Elles sont contraintes a une vie hasardeuse, solitaire, humiliee. Elles sont amenees par l'exil a l'epreuve a reviser leurs valeurs, et a en connaitre ou a en creer d'autres ... " Albert Thibaudet, Histoire de la litterature fra~aise de 1780 a nos jours, Paris, 1936. Since 1945, when Slovakia was overrun by the Soviet armies and subject to communist rule, a number of poets and writers left their native land in protest against political oppression in their homeland and with the intention of working in the free world for freedom and independence of their country. This political mission is especially true with regard to the emigre writers and poets who left Slovakia in 1945-1949 among whom were several of the leading Slovak writers and poets. A similar example can be found mutatis mutandis only in 19th century Poland, when after the revolution of 1830 the best Polish poets (Mickiewicz, Krasinski, Slowacki) and a number of writers and intellectuals escaped the Russians and made Paris the center of Polish literature. The fate of Slovak poets and writers was, of course, not as favorable as that of Polish "grande emigration." Some of the more prominent Slovak writers were soon captured in Austria and brought back to Slovakia and imprisoned (Milo Urban, A. zarnov, Tido J. Gaspar) while others had to fight against false denunciations and other pressures, in order to survive and create. In spite of this, "the 50 odd Slovak men of letters living on this side of the Iron Curtain kept the lights of Slovak culture burning while they were out of their native country. This may sound emotional or sentimental, yet it is a sad truth that in the years 1950-55 there hardly appeared in Slovakia a single book worthy of reading. In those years indeed the emigre literature was the contemporary Slovak literature." 1 �182 SLOVAKIA Slovak poets and writers in exile continued to play especially the role of the "conscience of the nation" and that of interpreters of the aspirations of the Slovak people, traditionally assumed by Slovak poets and writers. More than in any other nation, not only the national rebirth was the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the time when the poet Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors in the Great Moravian period, and by giving them hope for a better future, Slovak poetry was an instrument of the national struggle, an expression of the national ideals and hopes, of national sufferings and joy. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world, often being also social revolutionary leaders. This tradition was cultivated in Slovak literature over the past one hundred and fifty years and was even strengthened during the crucial years of Slovakia's national struggle in this century. Slovak poets and writers in exile have not considered themselves exempt from this special mission. On the contrary, exile made them more patriotic and the sufferings of the Slovak people more conscious of their duty to be the "conscience" of their nation and the interpreters of the aspiration of the Slovak people. In the countryside of New York State, one of the best contemporary Slovak poets, Andrej zarnov (by his own name Prof. Frantisek subik), attained on November 19, 1973 the prestigous age of 70. If the present Slovak generations owe a tribute to any poet for his participation in the struggle for national rights and equality with other nations, Andrej zarnov deserves such recognition from Slovaks abroad as well as in Slovakia. Born in 1903 in the village of Kuklov in Western Slovakia, zarnov remained proud of his rural heritage even when he achieved the position of University Professor of Pathology and high recognition from critics and readers for his literary work. He made his secondary studies in Skalica and Trnava and his study of medicine in Bratislava where he was active in student organizations and became �SLOVAKIA 183 well-known for his fiery verses already during his university years. In 1926, :2:arnov accompanied Msgr. Andrej Hlinka on the triumphant journey around the United States. At that time neither zarnov nor the American Slovaks could expect that after the dramatic events of the Second World War, he would return to the United States as an exile, persecuted for his patriotism and his part in the International Red Cross Commission which examined during the Second World War the brutal massacre of 10,000 Polish officers by the Soviets in Katyn. zarnov left Slovakia in 1945, but he was forcibly "repatriated" from Austria, arrested and jailed. In 1952 he left Slovakia in a dramatic flight and settled first near Washington and later at Wingdale, N. Y. where he lives presently with his family. 2 ZARNOV'S WORK AND PLACE IN SLOVAK LITERATURE Perhaps to no other country more than to Slovakia is the statement of historians applicable, that in Central and Eastern European national movements were the concern of poets, writers and scholars and that they created the nationalities. Not only was the national rebirth the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the first great Slovak poet, Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors and by giving them a strong faith in a better future of the Slovak people, Slovak poetry was an instrument of national struggle, an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, and hopes. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world; they were social revolutionaries and national leaders. This tradition was respected in Slovak literature over the past one hundred years, and during the crucial years of Slovak national struggle in this century the role was played by Andrej :2:arnov more prominently than by any other Slovak poet, except for Martin Razus. Andrej :2:arnov appeared in Slovak literature in a period when the Slovak people fought their harsh struggle (against �184 SLOVAKIA the Czech assimilatory tendencies) for preserving their language, national identity and cultural heritage. It was the period of the 20's and 30's of this century, when on one hand Slovakia experienced a strong cultural development, but was at the same time forced into an uneven struggle for her national future, for social justice and political and economic equality. The danger of this situation was not only in the preponderance of means and political power or in the fact that Slovaks were far outnumbered by Czechs, but also in the fact that the masses of the Slovak people were going through the final phase of the process of maturing politically and the Slovak intelligentsia was in cultural and ideological ferment. In this national struggle Zarnov came with his fiery verses full of faith in the Slovak people and his vitality, adYocating national solidarity and protesting against the Czech attempts to rule, exploit and denationalize the Slovak people. At the same time, his poetry dared Slovaks to defend themselves, to stand firmly on their feet and not bow, not to yield. It was a revolutionary call for political and social justice, for national pride and honor which very soon found a favorable echo among the young Slovak intelligentsia and made Zarnov, since he identified himself with his nation's aspirations, sorrows and sufferings, the poet of the Slovak national struggle, and of Slovak patriotism. There was an outburst of poetic production in Slovakia between the two wars, but only Zarnov (besides M. Razus) stood on the barricades of Slovak national struggle with his patriotic poems, his forceful indignation, with his spiritual roots in the national tradition and fervent belief in the victory of the Slovak cause. Zarnov's fiery poetry, after being largely recited and published in periodicals and dailies, had been edited in several volumes. The first one, Strdz pri Morave (The Guard on Morava, 1925) was composed of verses expressing the poet's and his generation's political and spiritual orientation and provoked even the political censors to intervene. The second volwne Brdzda cez uhory (The Furrow Through Fallows, 1929) contained rather meditative and lyrical poetry enquiring into the spiritual ferment and restlessness of the poet's generation. While in the first volwne Zarnov created of his poetry an effective instrument for Slovak �SLOVAKIA 185 national struggle, in the second volume he turned his eyes to the soul of the people he inflamed to struggle and bitterly analyzed its conscience. The third volume Hlas krvi (The Call of the Blood, 1932) and the following volume stit (The Shield, 1940) still contained verses of patriotic inspirations; his last volume Mftvy (The Dead, 1941) contains, however, poetry of deep personal sorrow and refine lyrics inspired by the untimely death of his young son. The profile of a patriotic revolutionary and interpreter of the nation's aspirations and struggle was thus completed in z arnov's last volume by poetry of deep human feelings and meditations. In all his volumes, zarnov preferred rather simple poetic forms, including the free verse. The rhythm of his poetry and his vocabulary were of great effectiveness and from the very beginning it indicated a strong talent. His books are, of course, on the index in Slovakia, but some of his verses are among the most recited by Slovaks in the free world, in which zarnov found refuge after the Communists seized power in Slovakia. ZARNOV'S TRANSLATIONS FROM WORLD LITERATURES zarnov enriched, however, Slovak literature also by many masterful translations of lyrics, epics and dramas. His first translations go back to 1933-34 at which time zarnov published in Slovak dailies and periodicals his version of Przerwa-Tetmajer Jdnosikove motivy (Janosik's Motives). In 1936 zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the well-known play from the life of F. Chopin and Georges Sand Leto v Nohante (The Summer in Nohant) by J. Iwaszkiewicz. A year after, Matica slovenska published Sophocles' Antigona in zarnov's translation and in 1941 King Oedipus. The same year zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the libretto of the opera Rusalka and in 1943 his translation of Zygmunt Krasinski's Nebozskd komedia (The Undivine Comedy) was published by Matica slovenska. After the Second World War, in the oppressive atmosphere of the Communist and Czech domination of Slovakia, zarnov was not allowed to publish his own poetry, but he did not cease creating and talking to his countrymen. In �186 SLOVAKIA 1949 the Society of St. Adalbert published his translation of Murphy's novel on Mary Magdalene The Scarlet Lily, in 1950 appeared the volume of translations from Adam Mickiewicz Poeezia, and in 1951 Hymny (The Hymns) of Jan Kasprowicz. The Communist regime did not, however, allow zarnov to use his pen-name on Kasprowicz's Hymns. They were published as translations by Francis ~ubik. Before his dramatic flight from Slovakia, zarnov prepared for publication his translation of Dante's Peklo (The Hell) and selections of poems by Leopold Staff Vyber z poezie (Selected Poems), but they remained in manusscript. zarnov's masterful translations were highly regarded by Slovak literary critics and by the readers and contributed especially to useful cultural relations of Slovakia with Poland. He received a Silver wreath from the Polish Academy of Literature for his pre-war translation U pol'sk'!}ch b<isnikov ( Among Polish Poets) and during the Second World War he prepared an entire book of translations from Adam Mickiewicz's works. 3 The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the work of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts, failures and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and all-Slavic poet." The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." We can say without exaggeration that zarnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight and Out of My Sight, thus presenting some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in zarnov's translation remain �SLOVAKIA 187 "a wonder," since he has preserved to a great degree the richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this collection. zarnov's poetic language is, naturally, modern, his verse and rhythm vivid, and the whole translation audacious. zarnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equalling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. zarnov is certainly no romantic in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest." zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation ( which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences with the Russian occupation of Slovakia. zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and summoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz had the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great question of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." zarnov attemped to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate �188 SLOVAKIA moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystalized." The real function of zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not only to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas. In exile he published a number of patriotic verses and a masterful transcription of several poems by Jan Holly into a modern Slovak language, to remind the Slovaks of their spiritual roots and national heritage, and to confirm once more that he was one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirits of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. On behalf of that generation, we are sending to the quiet countryside near New York our grateful: Ad multos annos. F OOTNOTES 1) See F. Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych ro kov . N acrt slovenske j li t eratury v rokoch 1945-62. (Middletown, Pa., 1965) , p . 277. 2) F or more details on 2arnov's work and life, see J . Pauco (ed .), L iterarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa. 1967. 3) On 2arnov's translations from Mickiewicz, see W. Lednicki, Adam . Micki ewicz in W orld Literature, University of California Press, 1956i contribution by J . M. Kirschbaum. lmrich K r u f I i a k The prose and poetry of Slovak emigre writers is varied in themes and literary styles and strongly reflects a deep sadness over the loss of their native country and over the treatment of their people under communism. This is especially characteristic of the writings of poets and writers who had played a prominent role in Slovak literary life before they left their native land. Strong national feelings and "heimweh''; however, can also be found in the works �SLOVAKIA 189 of poets who developed their talents far away from their native country. Prominent in this group of Slovak intellectuals is Dr. Imrich Kruzliak whose 60th birthday we will commemorate on December 8, 1974. Born in the romantic Detva, Kruzliak followed the path of educated Slovaks of his generation from villages and towns who went through secondary schools and universities by their own efforts and talents and, after helping the struggle for national independence, had to pay in jails or in exile for their patriotism. Kruzliak did not leave his native Slovakia in 1945. He decided to stay and fight with other Catholic intellectuals for the preservation of Slovak national traditions and for a place for Catholics in the post-war political life. When in 1947, the Communists began their persecution of Catholic intellectuals, he was arrested, tortured, and kept in jail for a year. To avoid a new arrest, he escaped in 1949 to Austria and in 1951 settled in Munich where he became employed by Radio Free Europe as a commentator on Slovak cultural matters. Writing mostly under the pen-name Marian ziar and initials I. K., mz, Dr. Kruzliak contributed in exile to emigre literature either in poetry or in literary criticism. Although Kruzliak had published verses and literary essays already before and during the war, it was in exile that he became known as a poet and mainly as a cultivated commentator and critic of Slovak literary and cultural life at home and abroad. His essays, comments and book reviews have been published mostly in the quarterly Most, Literdr ny Almanach, Rozhl'ady, but also in annuals and newspapers Jednota, Slovak v Amerike and for the past two years in Horizont of which he has been the editor in chief. His writings have been among the best in Slovak empire literature. We would mention especially his survey of Slovak literature under Communism (Most, 1958), anci essay "Shakespeare and Slovaks" (Most, 1964), a study on the "Literary and artistic cult of Sts. Cyril and Methodius among Slovaks" (Most, 1963) and ":C. stur" (Most, 1965) . In scores of book reviews, Kruzliak enriched Slovak emigre literature with new ideas, well-balanced opinions, and by an effort to keep Slovak cultural life abroad on a European level. �190 SLOVAKIA He also deserves recognition for editing and publishing two volumes of poetry of poets in communist jails Modlitby v putdch (Prayers in Shackles, Munich, 1955) and translations from Polish, Magyar and Russian poets of the period of "thaw" Podaj ndm ruku, Eur6pa ( Give us Helping Hand, Europe, Munich, 1957). One of his extensive surveys of Slovak culture under Communism was published in mimeographed book form and his contribution on Slovak culture since 1945 appeared in the symposium Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, published by the Slovak World Congress (Toronto, 1973). He also edited special volume of Arena (Vol. 16, 3-4) which the P.E.N. Centre for Writers in Exile published on Slovak literature in London, England in 1963. Dr. Kruzliak does not belong, however, to literary life alone. Since his university years he was among the most active intellectuals in the Slovak public life and a leading figure in the generation which dedicated talents and energies to the struggle of the Slovak people for an equal place among European nations. His literary beginnings are connected with students periodicals (Rozvoj, Svojet') in the 1930's, while his participation in public life began before he obtained his Ph.D. summa cum laude at the Bratislava University. As many members of his generation, he also was inspired by the idealism of ~udovit t5tur, represented in 1920's and 1930's in Slovak national struggle by Andrej Hlinka. Idealism and dedication of those years marked Dr. Kruzliak's whole life in Slovakia as well as in exile. On the threshold of his 60th birthday he continues his life struggle in the Slovak World Congress as the head of the cultural section. The upheavals and tragedies experienced by his generation, marked also his life, but did not break his spirit. Hardly any Slovak generation had to go through such trials. There were, however, also victories and uncomparable cultural and spiritual growth of the Slovak nation to' which that generation contributed at home and in exile. And no other generation had such opportunities to see the world, to learn foreign languages and to absorb cultural values of the most advanced nations. It is on behalf of those who from that generation survived the persecutions of the tyrannical regimes in �191 SLOVAKIA Slovakia and the trials of exile, that we cordially greet Dr. Kruzliak on the threshold of his 60th birthday, wishing him that the Lord may fulfill his desires to see Slovakia free, democratic and equal to other nations. Mikulas sp r i n C For the past 25 years, perhaps the most important role in the Slovak literary life in exile was played by the highly cultivated and sensitive poet, Rev. Mikulas sprinc, whose 60th birthday Slovaks abroad will commemorate on November 30th, 1974. Like Dilong and Strmen, sprinc also came from the "Catholic Moderna" group and was well-known in Slovakia as Secretary and later Director of the Slovak Catholic Academy and organizer of many cultural activities before and during the War. He published during the War two collections of his own poetry and four collections of translations : from Rilke, from several Italian poets, as well as from the works of P. Lippert and Giovanni Papini. At the same time he contributed to nearly all Slovak literary journals and periodicals, in addition to being the editor of the main Slovak Catholic literary monthly Kultiira <19431945 ). s princ left Slovakia later than other Slovak emigre poets and writers, and reached Rome through Austria and Germany. He was named by the Vatican a delegate for helping the Slovak refugees in Austria and Germany, but in 1946 he obtained a visa for the United States where he developed not only extensive organizational cultural activities, but also his talent so that he became one of the leading Slovak Catholic poets in Diaspora. A professor of modern languages and philosophy of arts by vocation, he deserves credit for keeping alive the Slovak literary journal Most , of which he has been editor since 1954, as well as for founding the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, whose President has been the poet Andrej zarnov. sprinc was also one of the founders of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland, and edited several symposia in addition to his own prolific and varied literary activities. Altogether sprinc published 18 collections of musical and highly cultivated poetry, and an English collection �192 SLOVAKIA Driftwood ( 1969), partly translated by himself and partly by one of his students and a well-known translator of Slovak poetry, Jaroslav Vajda. Those who appreciate a poetry rooted in the strong belief in the Creator without sounding too religious, and those who like the beauty of life in the song of birds, in the colors of flowers, in the sound of the wind, and blue skies or the colors of the rainbow, can find great enjoyment in sprinc's poetry. In his lyrical verses, sprinc echoes the art of Paul Verlaine and the spirit of St. Francis of Assissi. The musical and rhythmical quality of his poetry is rarely equalled by other Slovak emigre poets, except probably Gorazd Zvonicky. The translations of sprinc's verses are not an easy task for translators. Many of his volumes also contain fine poems with patriotic overtones, expressing his love for his lost and oppressed Slovakia. Recent volumes of sprinc's poetry have been artistically illustrated and carefully published, reflecting high artistic quality also in their technical presentation. As a result, reading his beautifully published collections is a double pleasure; they are written by a sensitive and gifted poet but, even more, by a man humbly and joyfully believing in God whose faith and glorification of the Creator sounds so natural and full of hope that one longs for the same beautiful world and the author's joyful soul and spirit. Even though Paul Verlaine seems to be his preferred poet (he wrote his M.A . thesis in French on Verlaine), sprinc is very well versed in Italian, German and Spanish poetry, and contributed to Slovak emigre literature by several excellent translations. To his large and varied cultural activities he has added more than 300 articles, book reviews, comments and contributions to Slovak periodicals, almanacs and newspapers. More than any other poet or writer, sprinc deserves credit for keeping Slovak culture abroad not only alive, but also reflecting the best Slovak national traditions. In spite of his many activities as professor, editor and secretary of the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, sprinc was able during the past two decades to publish nearly every year a volume of his poetry or a book in prose. Among his published works we find: Ozveny v samotdch (1940), Tak umieral bdsnik Pal'o Oliva (1942), 0 ldske �SLOVAKIA a bolesti (1942), Duinske elegie (1942), O Tebe spieva zem idc sdm 0943), K slobodnym pobreziam (1950), Na r:"•rFlo 'l J () • polnopi 'ti· · poludnfa Z (1955), slnku proti (1953), Tvdrou ')s'ted6~ putnie~±{~ moje Oci (1962), orla (1960), Mladost' a ffPk k?J s _ Brat~la'8 (1967), Andante (1952), kovia utrpenia ,a ~- ~1 • S'! 1 JI ora· ll:170 Palidora, z Piesne (1969), (1968), Driftwood 11 "' · j rn JC lovy ostrov (1973) etc.* t'f" : 'iOr.?.910 I'l Among his translation s we should metftionfGidva:aru Papini's work Witnesses of Suffering (Scraiitott CFA-{J'1i95!!) and among his foreign language writings hi M~..fthesi t Paul Verlaine: Etude de sa poesie religieuse,Wil'i-100',i stiill u v[ ,, , 1 ;. ,.... in manuscrip t. I 'di _Jj(,· ~-II sprinc also published an interesting narra,J;;':vp1!n,:prose about his escape and journey from Slovakia ~f?' ,1i0:Yr'l1Il,~9 States in a volume K slobodnym pobreziam ('J;R>t~'rr r;;~1e Shores), a book on St. Andrew Svorad as vv,:e, ~r~~d l. p~~lf dedicated to the Virgin Mary. For the llth -1 0~~t[;npial<: 0J Christianit y in Slovakia, he edited a collectiop."r~ ~!:5e-? by several Slovak poets under the title Zdravic0-; sp-"'qy j!oRi a Metodovi (Rome, 1963). He also contributec l:11f?: 1aurn~smr~ fully illustrated anthology Odkaz (The Legacy.., 197Jp in f.eJfg~ehte~. which leading Slovak poets and writers are ro "¼o"'"' 10· ""i In prose, he edited the memoirs of Msgr. Joze · KaB3-i a prominent Slovak diplomat at the Vatican du¥fh§ \ .war Spod Rohdcov po Vatikdn (From Rohace M9tiRtim to? · e Vatican, 1973) as well as two symposia comp.~~~ ,cif 'qop; C~ictrfn_tributions by Slovak emigre writers: Ndde7· vit'azria 1J 'R? 'fJf U?'f • -. ::;;_ 1939-1-.~4(} republika Slovenskd and 1947) Hope, ous ' ,.., Republic 1939-1949, Scranton, Pa., 1949). 9.i · V)\1)')1Sh'1 ·i•h ai 1~f'd2 c( aii~ Literary work of this envergure and 1 we -Iiifre > ; case; a does not need to be praised. It is again 1 • if'tceW!. Laudat'·a'¥f have to repeat the Latin dictum: Opus fivities It was a blessing for Slovak literature and cultubr-a~i abroad that sprinc left Slovakia. Therefore, ori~he~ooa §i6n of his 60th birthday, we cannot be more sincer.e"1wlierfJ,we - :>.r. ,h,i< say: Ad multos annos! 1 (JJ Jy3c-riqz~t{ :llC J *) :r-r::;m For more details on Sprinc and his work, see Literltrfi'y 11.lrMnbcn for 1967, p. 232-234, and Most, Vol. I, 2, 1954, and Vol. 13~ 4;-1956!!') �194 SLOVAKIA Teodorik Zubek To the ranks of prominent Slovak intellectuals in exile whose 60th birthday we will commemorate in 1974, also belongs Prof. T. J. Zubek, oustanding member of the Slovak Franciscan Order in Slovakia and the United States, who was born on April 4, 1914 in Malacky, Western Slovakia. Professor Zubek filled an important gap in exile activities by his theological writings and mainly by presenting the religious situation in post war Slovakia to the Western World. At the same time he deserves recognition for reviving the Order of Slovak Franciscan Fathers in the United States who under his leadership become active not only in the religious field but also in education and cultural life. Well educated at Slovak and foreign Universities (Zagreb, Croatia; Fribourg, Switzerland), Dr. Zubek played leading role in his Order in Slovakia, and had to pay under the Communist regime for his patriotism and service to God by detention in the concentration camp for priests in Svaty Benadik. After his escape in 1951, he found refuge in Austria and Rome, Italy, from where he came to the United States in 1952. Soon after his arrival to the U.S.A. Dr. Zubek became Professor of Theology at Seton Hall University, Newark, N. J. and published an authoritative work on the Communist persecution of religion in his native country Church of Silence in Slovakia (J. Lach Publ., Whiting, Ind., 1956). This book and his scholarly contributions to American religious and academic periodicals (Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Jurist, Ameri can Ecclesiastical Review, The Catholic Educator and others) performed an important service to the Slovak cause among Western intellectuals. Some of his studies rank among the best writings on contemporary theological and educational topics. From the Slovak point of view, of great importance among his English writings is also his presentation of the case of Msgr. Tiso and the fate of Slovak bishops (Slovak Bishops - Martyrs of Christ, 1963) to Western readers. Exposed to hostile propaganda during the War and after, many people in the free world maintained biased attitudes towards Slovakia even among clergy and in academic circles. Dr. Zubek was among the first Slovak emigre �SLOVAKIA 195 intellectuals who grasped the need for writing on Slovakia in English and in non-Slovak periodicals, and for doing it in a much more reserved manner than we can afford in our Slovak publications. Dr. Zubek contributed at the same time to Slovak periodicals and newspapers, to Slovak Studies, and edited the religious monthly Listy Sv. Frantiska (Leaflets of St. Francis) published by his Order of which he was the head as Provincial Delegate. He also took part in Slovak emigre cultural and organizational activities aiming at the unity and co-operation, namely in Slovak Liberation Council and Slovak World Congress, at the Conference on Slovakia held in Toronto in 1971 and elsewhere. From the very beginning of his exile has been considered as one of the most distinguished representatives of Slovak clergymen abroad. By his activities, high education and devotion to the work for God and bonum commune, Dr. Zubek upheld the noble tradition of the Franciscan Order in Slovakia, whose members belonged to the best educators, historians, writers and poets in the centuries of Slovak national revival as well as in this century. It is with sincere admiration for his work and great human qualities that we greet him on his sixtieth birthday with a heartfelt: Ad multos annos! Jozef Pa u co For more than a century, journalists and editors played in Slovak national life a role going far beyond their profession. Starting with Eudovit stur in the middle of the 19th century, leading Slovak journalists were also political leaders, poets, writers, historians, grammarians and organizers of cultural and political institutions. This phenomenon appeared in Slovakia as well as among Slovaks abroad, especially in the United States and Canada. After stur, S. H . Vajansky was an outstanding example of a journalist, who also was a prominent poet, novelist and fighter for the Slovak cause. In the following generation Karol Sidor and Konstantin Culen remained faithful to that tradition in Slovakia and on the American continent. Both of them were journalists by profession, but they also wrote a �[96 SLOVAKIA am lil,erary works and books dealing with the ofoSI~aks and their struggle for freedom. h'eq>ast 25 years, an austanding example of journalist who became a historian, political writer and organizer • .Joll!uraI &F.~ political activities, was Dr. Jozef Pauco, ~ '1We .1 2¥thday was celebrated by Slovaks abroad on ~ 8f.f9 r¥R~L 1974. Pauco's admiration for E. stur goes Bi~ 1t2,1r.. ,years when he wrote his Ph.D. thesis at the I}, ·1-ffi ·1i v~c13ratislava, which was later published under 9} yt • {,1J{!,OJJYChova u sturovcov (Popular Education in nt) . Since that time Dr. Pauco also followed ~ ' x' MB, ~ f8o}§jeps of K. Sidor and K. culen in his work as ~n !n eing a political exile, in his dedication to the ~ ~.HJ.Iijijle:iJer2 freecto111: , and independence for Slovakia and i - fillfp,tjfj>_n with American Slovaks and Slovak-American organizations. bibliography listed below indicates, Dr. As thej seJect ' ' r[J J)l [IQ[ f y Hjj r(~mgs are not only extensive, but also cover e.vera1' ~ cfs9!rom history to political science and belles 12t ,nw .fil~S.V O II . pub1·ished works . part of his 1l 1 :e~ . .tS s19.a y, th e maJor . t ct· f d t S {:_!(, ''IS I'I .'11 ' hJfiIH~W . , rAR?"ever, a e en mg he Slovak cause. This :a cr1°fsB~afiW even his works on American Slovaks, which !fh~ Y#1 ~9 ~fo~);'o his best writings and in their method and $I&»Jay flDif compare with standard works on the subj~cf.'."'i frer fof. F. Hrusovsky and K. culen, he actually deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. His books on their history atest to his great love for jjl_jz~ i 9_mt branch of the Slovak people. In addition, lzli-l ~ftlltl.futijsplayed in his works on American Slovaks, of Wlli.Plb :ti~cY~mninous history of the First Catholic Slovak ~smrubip rrecent book on Slovak Pioneers in America 4%fill:YJ O ~fkteular attention, that history was the field W~fttmt~ ld use his academic education and thorough fmID'{fflP.g.f~mf@lovak American organizational structure and ~ ~g:njfl~J:?.g ~ of individual leaders. As a result, whoever }Y!UsiYfOOl ~(tc,::omplete history of American Slovak~, will lff)lUiffifHfliiO.l:Wlfite authoritatively without ~sing Dr. Pauco's , ~f4J!!g)}V~rks. 110Ui-Bi¥unMjgl,lly, a larger number of books, essays an(\ MMtje b&;ia . Pauco deals, however, with Slova~a•s strugglaj::Rf!~~p.filldence l;l,nd with the _defense of leading Slovak h'i&j t> n; b~ �SLOVAKIA 197 personalities, especially Dr. Jozef Tiso, against whom many incorrect views and misconceptions were spread in the West during and after the Second World War. Slovakia and Slovaks suffered not only under Communism. There was a lot of injustice and descrimination against Slovaks also before the War and during the short period after the War when the Communists ruled together with their Czech and Slovak fellow-travelers from the non-communist parties. In his writings, Dr. Pauco endeavored to fight the falsehood and injustice of· both. It was, however, the communist misrule in Slovakia and the communist ideology which he exposed and fiercely criticized in his writings, advocating Christian democracy and the independence of Slovakia. Besides his own books, essays and thousands of articles, Dr. Pauco also published-as editor-the valuable documentary work Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso About Himself), containing the defense of the President of the Slovak Republic at his trial by the communist court, and a number of symposia on leading Slovak exiles (K. Sidor, J.C. Hronsky,· etc.). Furthermore, he deserves recognition for publishing and editing the Literdrny Almanach and the weekly Slovak v Amerike, both of which would have disappeared several years ago without his dedication and sacrifice as well that of his literary active wife. Last but not least, Dr. Pauco has rendered great service to the Slovak cause as the editor of the English periodical dealing with Slovak cultural and political matters, Slovakia. founded by Philip Hrobak. This editorial part of Dr. Pauco's work is of far reaching importance for the activities of Slovaks abroad and can be evaluated adequately only if we imagine how much poorer Slovak cultural life and the struggle for independence would be without these publications. In view of the fact that the historical and geopolitical situation of Slovakia made the Slovak cause a matter of controversy, Dr. Pauco's writings were bol,lild to provoke a strong reaction from the adversaries of the Slovak struggle for independence. His militant spirit, uncompromising attitude and fervor incited them to make denunciations, accusations and . undeserved attacks, but Pauco remained, in spite of all attacks on his person, one of 'the most dedicated defenders of the Slovak cause in his generation. �198 SLOVAKIA He also continues to be the most prolific Slovak journalist and writer on politics and history who remained faithful to stur's tradition and Hlinka-Tiso's ideology of Christian democracy and self-determination for the Slovaks. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLOVAK Popular Education ). Matica slovenska. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1943, pp. 151. Politicko-narodny program Hsns (Political Program of the Slovak People's Party ). Andrej uc. spol. Bratislava, 1944, pp. 96. co po komunizme? (After Communism What?) . Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1952, pp. 29. Dr. Jozef Ti so o sebe (Dr. Joseph Tiso About Himself) . Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, pp. 359. (Ed.) Tisov odkaz (Tiso's Message). Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1953, pp. 89. Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (Stephen Furdek and Slovak Immigration ). J ednota, Middletown, Pa., 1955, pp. 190. Slovcici a komunizmus (The Slovaks and Communism ). Rev. Jan Lach, Whiting, Ind., 1957, pp. 318. P-0d zcistavou krest'anskej demokracie (Under the Banner of the Christian Democracy). Slovenski krest'anski demokrati v Spojenych Statoch, Middletown, Pa. , 1957, pp. 30. Slovenskci rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Slovak Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius). Slovensky .Zensky Spolok sv. Anny, Wyoming Valley, Pa., 1957, pp. 32. Matus Jankola - knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola - A Priest and Patriot). Rad sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, Pa., 1959, pp. 174. Pamiatke Jozefa Cigra Hronskeho (In Memoriam Jozef Cig-er Hronsky) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1960, pp. 46. (Ed.) Martin Kopunek) . Laicky apostol Martin Kopunek (Lay Apostle Vychodna Oblast' Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov, Bethlehem, Pa., 1961, pp. 67. (Ed.) Neporazitel'ni (Unconquerables). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1961, pp. 190. Karol Sidor - politik novincir, spisovatel' (Karol Sidor - Politician, Newspaperman, and Writer) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1962, pp. 148. (Ed.) Piit'desiatnik Dr. J-0zef Kirschbaum (Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum - Fifty Years Old). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1963, pp. 171. (Ed.) Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Years of the First rokov 75 Catholic Slovak Union). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Cleveland, Ohio, 1965, pp. 560 and XIV. 80 pages of pictures. Na uteku (Flight to Wonderland; serialized in the Weekly Jednota) . Middletown, Pa., 1965. l}udovychova u sturovcov (Stur's Movement - �SLOVAKIA 199 Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 281. Illustra- tions. Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America). First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, pp. 358. Illustrations. IN ENGLISH Unconquerables, Vantage Press, New York, N. Y., 1958, pp. 225. Christian Slovakia Under Communism. The Slovak Catholic Federation, Valparaiso, Ind., 1959, pp. 31. Flight to Wonderland. Robert Speller and Sons, New York, N. Y., 1963, pp. 334. 'i0 Years of the Slovak League of America. Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 146. (Ed.) IN GERMAN Dr. Jozef Tiso: Die Wahrheit uber die Slowakei (The Truth About Slovakia). Tisovo Tovarisstvo, in the Emigration, 1948, pp. 187. Illustrated. ARTICLES IN ENGLISH The Practi cal Aspect of a Federation. Slovakia, III, No. 2, 1953, p. 26-36. American Slovaks and March 14, 1939. Slovakia, IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 17-22. The Slovak Republic and Communism. Slovakia, IV, No. 3-4, 1954, p. 35-38. Slovakia Viewed By American Historians. Most, I. No. 4, 1954, p . 17-25. The Failures of Communist Politics in Slovakia, Slovakia, V, No. 4, 1955, p. 3-20. Stu.r's Group in the Service of the People. Slovakia, VI, No. 1, 1956, p. 11-16. I Was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper. Slovakia, VII, No. 1, 1957, p. 9-12. Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat. Slovakia, VII, No. 2, 1957, p. 37-50. The Stirring Days of March 1939. Slovakia, IX, No. 4, 1959, p. 24-32. Slovakia Under Communism. Slovakia, IX, N-0. 5, 1959, p. 1-5; Slovakia, X, No. 6, 1960, p. 62-73 ; Slovakia, XI, No. 1, 1961, p. 13-21. Slovakia's Mid-Nineteenth Century Struggle for National Life. Slovak Studies I, 1961, p. 69-83. The Matica Slovenskd in America. Slovakia, XIII, No. 1, 1963, p. 77-82. American Slovaks and the Beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia. Slovakia, XVI, No. 39, 1966, p. 63-75. Slovak Pioneers in America. Slovakia, XIX, No. 42, 1969, p. l0S-124. Under Dynamic Leadership. 60 Years of the Slovak League of America, 1967, p. 112-146. The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio. Slovakia, XXII, No. 45, 1972, p. 92-97. Twenty Years of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 16-23. Cultural Revival of American and Canadian Slovaks. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 72-81. Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 123-128. �200 SLOVAKIA EVALUATION OF DR. PAUCO'S WRITINGS BY REVIEWERS The number of book reviews published on individual Pauco's works is too large to be listed in this survey. In general, we can say that extensive reviews and commentaries, written by known Slovak authors, scholars, poets and cultural workers, were published not only in newspapers, but also in literary and cultural periodicals (Most, Furdek, Slovakia) and almanacs. Book reviews in Slovak language prevail, but his major writings were evaluated and commented upon also in English, mostly by reviewers born or educated on the American continent. The majority of reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books evaluated his writings favorably not only because of their ideological contents and usefulness for preservation of Slovak cultural heritage but also for their literary, and in many instances, scholarly value, thorough research and vast knowledge of the Slovak past and present. Deeply involved in Slovak political and cultural life since his students years, Dr. Pauco was a participant in historical events or closely associated with persons he writes about in a majority of his books, which gives to some of his works particular significance. On the other hand, his books on the history of American Slovaks fill an important gap and therefore the reviewers valued them for their contribution to the neglected history of American Slovaks as well as for their documentation and objectivity with which Pauco approached his subjects. Among the reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books and publications edited by him were K. culen, Prof. F. Hrusovsky, J . E. Bor, M. Jankovsky, J. M. Kirschbaum, J. C. Krajsa, M. K. Mlynarovic, J. Mest'ancik, Prof. K. Murin, Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., Dr. B. Pissko, Dr. J. Rekem, Dr. J. Stasko, Rev. Mother Emerentia, Rev. Sister Tarcisia and many others. The book 75 Years of the FCSU was reviewed by 15 and his recent book Slovak Pioneers in America by 9 reviewers. All reviews were favorable . The evaluation by American born reviewers deserves, however special mention. Prof. V. R. Greene of the Kansas State University, who has learned to read and understand Slovak and wrote his �SLOVAKIA 201 Ph.D. thesis on East European immigrants in Pennsylvania , said on Pauco's 75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union: "Not only is it a complete and most comprehensiv e history of the Jednota and the Slovaks in America, but its many references, footnotes and bibliography will satisfy any serious reader and research historian." Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M. in her extensive review published in Jednota (June 30, 1965) referred to Matthew Arnold's statement that "Great creative works in literature result from happy concurence of two notable powers, the power of the man and the power of the moment," and wrote on Pauco's book: "Such a happy concurence of two notable powers has been strikingly exemplified before our eyes this year. For the power of the moment there was the 75th anniversary of the First Catholic Slovak Union in 1965, calling for the writing of the history of this remarkable organization. For the power of the man there was Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., a gifted author, historian and scholar, capable and willing to assume the task of writing this history. The result is a truly monumental contribution to Slovak history and literature, entitled 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty." The book Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another, 1967) attracted the attention of Slovak exiles as well as of American born Slovak intellectuals. "Dr. J. Pauco's Memoirs encompass - according to Sister M. Tarcisia - multiple and varied personal contacts as well as deep insight, broad vision and a skillful pen. The author is a scholar, a man of the people, an editor, a journalist, a lecturer, a politcian. The era he portrays was at once shatteringly disruptive and marvelously formative in its application to Central Europe and specifically to Slovakia. The men who played the leading roles in the drama of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) were true to human nature: some giants, some midgets, some heroes, some traitors. Tak sme sa poznali is a tremendously vital book. In recounting his experience in the Slovak Republic - all of which he saw, part of which he was - Dr. Pauco has written authentic history. As such it will live and flourish." �202 SLOVAKIA Pauco's last book Slovenskt priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America, 1972) was favorably reviewed and welcome as a valuable contribution to the history of American Slovaks by a dozen of Slovak writers, scholars, journalists and cultural workers. In the opinion of the American born editor of Jednota, J. C. Krajsa, "Pauco's work required serious research and documentation. In an objective manner he credits the life and work of the pioneers and categorizes them in their proper niche in the history of the American Slovaks, in America and the Slovak nation. He presents those leading pioneers who played the greatest role in the cultural field; those who organized fraternal societies, parishes, schools, and religious orders; those who preserved the literary culture with the publication of newspapers and books; and those who were fired with the ideal of liberty that even permeated to Slovakia." The book is in Krajsa's view "in itself a pioneer book. Nothing to date has been published in such documentary detail about American Slovak pioneers. The First Catholic Slovak Union is proud to publish this vital literary work of Dr. Joseph Pauco." According to another prominent American Slovak, Fr. J. A. Gajdosik "Pauco's book is one sure way to arousing interest in the Slovak heritage on a personal and individual basis, especially among our younger people. Hopefully, an English translation will be made in the near future, so that devotion to the Slovak ethnicity will be fostered. "The book should bolster Dr. Joseph Pauco's strong thoughts about the termination and death of the Slovak language in the United States. The book is also a warning to our fair-weather-Slovaks, who claim that they received little if anything from their Slovak ancestors, for it teaches that much Slovak affluence and prestige is directly the result of the conduct and work of our pioneers. "It behooves our brethren who are ashamed of their Slovak ethnicity, to study their history, and learn how everything they have was given to them, and that they should give themselves for others as our pioneers did. The ultimate lesson is that we, American of Slovak ancestry, should foster and serve the Slovak cause and ideal, at least as much, if not better than our pioneers in early America." �203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent � SLOVAKIA 181 ,J.. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D.: Noted Slovak Jubilarians Andrej Z a r n o v "Les elites emigrees vivent tragiquement. Elles sont contraintes a une vie hasardeuse, solitaire, humiliee. Elles sont amenees par l'exil a l'epreuve a reviser leurs valeurs, et a en connaitre ou a en creer d'autres ... " Albert Thibaudet, Histoire de la litterature fra~aise de 1780 a nos jours, Paris, 1936. Since 1945, when Slovakia was overrun by the Soviet armies and subject to communist rule, a number of poets and writers left their native land in protest against political oppression in their homeland and with the intention of working in the free world for freedom and independence of their country. This political mission is especially true with regard to the emigre writers and poets who left Slovakia in 1945-1949 among whom were several of the leading Slovak writers and poets. A similar example can be found mutatis mutandis only in 19th century Poland, when after the revolution of 1830 the best Polish poets (Mickiewicz, Krasinski, Slowacki) and a number of writers and intellectuals escaped the Russians and made Paris the center of Polish literature. The fate of Slovak poets and writers was, of course, not as favorable as that of Polish "grande emigration." Some of the more prominent Slovak writers were soon captured in Austria and brought back to Slovakia and imprisoned (Milo Urban, A. zarnov, Tido J. Gaspar) while others had to fight against false denunciations and other pressures, in order to survive and create. In spite of this, "the 50 odd Slovak men of letters living on this side of the Iron Curtain kept the lights of Slovak culture burning while they were out of their native country. This may sound emotional or sentimental, yet it is a sad truth that in the years 1950-55 there hardly appeared in Slovakia a single book worthy of reading. In those years indeed the emigre literature was the contemporary Slovak literature." 1 �182 SLOVAKIA Slovak poets and writers in exile continued to play especially the role of the "conscience of the nation" and that of interpreters of the aspirations of the Slovak people, traditionally assumed by Slovak poets and writers. More than in any other nation, not only the national rebirth was the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the time when the poet Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors in the Great Moravian period, and by giving them hope for a better future, Slovak poetry was an instrument of the national struggle, an expression of the national ideals and hopes, of national sufferings and joy. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world, often being also social revolutionary leaders. This tradition was cultivated in Slovak literature over the past one hundred and fifty years and was even strengthened during the crucial years of Slovakia's national struggle in this century. Slovak poets and writers in exile have not considered themselves exempt from this special mission. On the contrary, exile made them more patriotic and the sufferings of the Slovak people more conscious of their duty to be the "conscience" of their nation and the interpreters of the aspiration of the Slovak people. In the countryside of New York State, one of the best contemporary Slovak poets, Andrej zarnov (by his own name Prof. Frantisek subik), attained on November 19, 1973 the prestigous age of 70. If the present Slovak generations owe a tribute to any poet for his participation in the struggle for national rights and equality with other nations, Andrej zarnov deserves such recognition from Slovaks abroad as well as in Slovakia. Born in 1903 in the village of Kuklov in Western Slovakia, zarnov remained proud of his rural heritage even when he achieved the position of University Professor of Pathology and high recognition from critics and readers for his literary work. He made his secondary studies in Skalica and Trnava and his study of medicine in Bratislava where he was active in student organizations and became �SLOVAKIA 183 well-known for his fiery verses already during his university years. In 1926, :2:arnov accompanied Msgr. Andrej Hlinka on the triumphant journey around the United States. At that time neither zarnov nor the American Slovaks could expect that after the dramatic events of the Second World War, he would return to the United States as an exile, persecuted for his patriotism and his part in the International Red Cross Commission which examined during the Second World War the brutal massacre of 10,000 Polish officers by the Soviets in Katyn. zarnov left Slovakia in 1945, but he was forcibly "repatriated" from Austria, arrested and jailed. In 1952 he left Slovakia in a dramatic flight and settled first near Washington and later at Wingdale, N. Y. where he lives presently with his family. 2 ZARNOV'S WORK AND PLACE IN SLOVAK LITERATURE Perhaps to no other country more than to Slovakia is the statement of historians applicable, that in Central and Eastern European national movements were the concern of poets, writers and scholars and that they created the nationalities. Not only was the national rebirth the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the first great Slovak poet, Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors and by giving them a strong faith in a better future of the Slovak people, Slovak poetry was an instrument of national struggle, an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, and hopes. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world; they were social revolutionaries and national leaders. This tradition was respected in Slovak literature over the past one hundred years, and during the crucial years of Slovak national struggle in this century the role was played by Andrej :2:arnov more prominently than by any other Slovak poet, except for Martin Razus. Andrej :2:arnov appeared in Slovak literature in a period when the Slovak people fought their harsh struggle (against �184 SLOVAKIA the Czech assimilatory tendencies) for preserving their language, national identity and cultural heritage. It was the period of the 20's and 30's of this century, when on one hand Slovakia experienced a strong cultural development, but was at the same time forced into an uneven struggle for her national future, for social justice and political and economic equality. The danger of this situation was not only in the preponderance of means and political power or in the fact that Slovaks were far outnumbered by Czechs, but also in the fact that the masses of the Slovak people were going through the final phase of the process of maturing politically and the Slovak intelligentsia was in cultural and ideological ferment. In this national struggle Zarnov came with his fiery verses full of faith in the Slovak people and his vitality, adYocating national solidarity and protesting against the Czech attempts to rule, exploit and denationalize the Slovak people. At the same time, his poetry dared Slovaks to defend themselves, to stand firmly on their feet and not bow, not to yield. It was a revolutionary call for political and social justice, for national pride and honor which very soon found a favorable echo among the young Slovak intelligentsia and made Zarnov, since he identified himself with his nation's aspirations, sorrows and sufferings, the poet of the Slovak national struggle, and of Slovak patriotism. There was an outburst of poetic production in Slovakia between the two wars, but only Zarnov (besides M. Razus) stood on the barricades of Slovak national struggle with his patriotic poems, his forceful indignation, with his spiritual roots in the national tradition and fervent belief in the victory of the Slovak cause. Zarnov's fiery poetry, after being largely recited and published in periodicals and dailies, had been edited in several volumes. The first one, Strdz pri Morave (The Guard on Morava, 1925) was composed of verses expressing the poet's and his generation's political and spiritual orientation and provoked even the political censors to intervene. The second volwne Brdzda cez uhory (The Furrow Through Fallows, 1929) contained rather meditative and lyrical poetry enquiring into the spiritual ferment and restlessness of the poet's generation. While in the first volwne Zarnov created of his poetry an effective instrument for Slovak �SLOVAKIA 185 national struggle, in the second volume he turned his eyes to the soul of the people he inflamed to struggle and bitterly analyzed its conscience. The third volume Hlas krvi (The Call of the Blood, 1932) and the following volume stit (The Shield, 1940) still contained verses of patriotic inspirations; his last volume Mftvy (The Dead, 1941) contains, however, poetry of deep personal sorrow and refine lyrics inspired by the untimely death of his young son. The profile of a patriotic revolutionary and interpreter of the nation's aspirations and struggle was thus completed in z arnov's last volume by poetry of deep human feelings and meditations. In all his volumes, zarnov preferred rather simple poetic forms, including the free verse. The rhythm of his poetry and his vocabulary were of great effectiveness and from the very beginning it indicated a strong talent. His books are, of course, on the index in Slovakia, but some of his verses are among the most recited by Slovaks in the free world, in which zarnov found refuge after the Communists seized power in Slovakia. ZARNOV'S TRANSLATIONS FROM WORLD LITERATURES zarnov enriched, however, Slovak literature also by many masterful translations of lyrics, epics and dramas. His first translations go back to 1933-34 at which time zarnov published in Slovak dailies and periodicals his version of Przerwa-Tetmajer Jdnosikove motivy (Janosik's Motives). In 1936 zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the well-known play from the life of F. Chopin and Georges Sand Leto v Nohante (The Summer in Nohant) by J. Iwaszkiewicz. A year after, Matica slovenska published Sophocles' Antigona in zarnov's translation and in 1941 King Oedipus. The same year zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the libretto of the opera Rusalka and in 1943 his translation of Zygmunt Krasinski's Nebozskd komedia (The Undivine Comedy) was published by Matica slovenska. After the Second World War, in the oppressive atmosphere of the Communist and Czech domination of Slovakia, zarnov was not allowed to publish his own poetry, but he did not cease creating and talking to his countrymen. In �186 SLOVAKIA 1949 the Society of St. Adalbert published his translation of Murphy's novel on Mary Magdalene The Scarlet Lily, in 1950 appeared the volume of translations from Adam Mickiewicz Poeezia, and in 1951 Hymny (The Hymns) of Jan Kasprowicz. The Communist regime did not, however, allow zarnov to use his pen-name on Kasprowicz's Hymns. They were published as translations by Francis ~ubik. Before his dramatic flight from Slovakia, zarnov prepared for publication his translation of Dante's Peklo (The Hell) and selections of poems by Leopold Staff Vyber z poezie (Selected Poems), but they remained in manusscript. zarnov's masterful translations were highly regarded by Slovak literary critics and by the readers and contributed especially to useful cultural relations of Slovakia with Poland. He received a Silver wreath from the Polish Academy of Literature for his pre-war translation U pol'sk'!}ch b<isnikov ( Among Polish Poets) and during the Second World War he prepared an entire book of translations from Adam Mickiewicz's works. 3 The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the work of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts, failures and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and all-Slavic poet." The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." We can say without exaggeration that zarnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight and Out of My Sight, thus presenting some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in zarnov's translation remain �SLOVAKIA 187 "a wonder," since he has preserved to a great degree the richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this collection. zarnov's poetic language is, naturally, modern, his verse and rhythm vivid, and the whole translation audacious. zarnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equalling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. zarnov is certainly no romantic in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest." zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation ( which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences with the Russian occupation of Slovakia. zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and summoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz had the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great question of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." zarnov attemped to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate �188 SLOVAKIA moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystalized." The real function of zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not only to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas. In exile he published a number of patriotic verses and a masterful transcription of several poems by Jan Holly into a modern Slovak language, to remind the Slovaks of their spiritual roots and national heritage, and to confirm once more that he was one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirits of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. On behalf of that generation, we are sending to the quiet countryside near New York our grateful: Ad multos annos. F OOTNOTES 1) See F. Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych ro kov . N acrt slovenske j li t eratury v rokoch 1945-62. (Middletown, Pa., 1965) , p . 277. 2) F or more details on 2arnov's work and life, see J . Pauco (ed .), L iterarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa. 1967. 3) On 2arnov's translations from Mickiewicz, see W. Lednicki, Adam . Micki ewicz in W orld Literature, University of California Press, 1956i contribution by J . M. Kirschbaum. lmrich K r u f I i a k The prose and poetry of Slovak emigre writers is varied in themes and literary styles and strongly reflects a deep sadness over the loss of their native country and over the treatment of their people under communism. This is especially characteristic of the writings of poets and writers who had played a prominent role in Slovak literary life before they left their native land. Strong national feelings and "heimweh''; however, can also be found in the works �SLOVAKIA 189 of poets who developed their talents far away from their native country. Prominent in this group of Slovak intellectuals is Dr. Imrich Kruzliak whose 60th birthday we will commemorate on December 8, 1974. Born in the romantic Detva, Kruzliak followed the path of educated Slovaks of his generation from villages and towns who went through secondary schools and universities by their own efforts and talents and, after helping the struggle for national independence, had to pay in jails or in exile for their patriotism. Kruzliak did not leave his native Slovakia in 1945. He decided to stay and fight with other Catholic intellectuals for the preservation of Slovak national traditions and for a place for Catholics in the post-war political life. When in 1947, the Communists began their persecution of Catholic intellectuals, he was arrested, tortured, and kept in jail for a year. To avoid a new arrest, he escaped in 1949 to Austria and in 1951 settled in Munich where he became employed by Radio Free Europe as a commentator on Slovak cultural matters. Writing mostly under the pen-name Marian ziar and initials I. K., mz, Dr. Kruzliak contributed in exile to emigre literature either in poetry or in literary criticism. Although Kruzliak had published verses and literary essays already before and during the war, it was in exile that he became known as a poet and mainly as a cultivated commentator and critic of Slovak literary and cultural life at home and abroad. His essays, comments and book reviews have been published mostly in the quarterly Most, Literdr ny Almanach, Rozhl'ady, but also in annuals and newspapers Jednota, Slovak v Amerike and for the past two years in Horizont of which he has been the editor in chief. His writings have been among the best in Slovak empire literature. We would mention especially his survey of Slovak literature under Communism (Most, 1958), anci essay "Shakespeare and Slovaks" (Most, 1964), a study on the "Literary and artistic cult of Sts. Cyril and Methodius among Slovaks" (Most, 1963) and ":C. stur" (Most, 1965) . In scores of book reviews, Kruzliak enriched Slovak emigre literature with new ideas, well-balanced opinions, and by an effort to keep Slovak cultural life abroad on a European level. �190 SLOVAKIA He also deserves recognition for editing and publishing two volumes of poetry of poets in communist jails Modlitby v putdch (Prayers in Shackles, Munich, 1955) and translations from Polish, Magyar and Russian poets of the period of "thaw" Podaj ndm ruku, Eur6pa ( Give us Helping Hand, Europe, Munich, 1957). One of his extensive surveys of Slovak culture under Communism was published in mimeographed book form and his contribution on Slovak culture since 1945 appeared in the symposium Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, published by the Slovak World Congress (Toronto, 1973). He also edited special volume of Arena (Vol. 16, 3-4) which the P.E.N. Centre for Writers in Exile published on Slovak literature in London, England in 1963. Dr. Kruzliak does not belong, however, to literary life alone. Since his university years he was among the most active intellectuals in the Slovak public life and a leading figure in the generation which dedicated talents and energies to the struggle of the Slovak people for an equal place among European nations. His literary beginnings are connected with students periodicals (Rozvoj, Svojet') in the 1930's, while his participation in public life began before he obtained his Ph.D. summa cum laude at the Bratislava University. As many members of his generation, he also was inspired by the idealism of ~udovit t5tur, represented in 1920's and 1930's in Slovak national struggle by Andrej Hlinka. Idealism and dedication of those years marked Dr. Kruzliak's whole life in Slovakia as well as in exile. On the threshold of his 60th birthday he continues his life struggle in the Slovak World Congress as the head of the cultural section. The upheavals and tragedies experienced by his generation, marked also his life, but did not break his spirit. Hardly any Slovak generation had to go through such trials. There were, however, also victories and uncomparable cultural and spiritual growth of the Slovak nation to' which that generation contributed at home and in exile. And no other generation had such opportunities to see the world, to learn foreign languages and to absorb cultural values of the most advanced nations. It is on behalf of those who from that generation survived the persecutions of the tyrannical regimes in �191 SLOVAKIA Slovakia and the trials of exile, that we cordially greet Dr. Kruzliak on the threshold of his 60th birthday, wishing him that the Lord may fulfill his desires to see Slovakia free, democratic and equal to other nations. Mikulas sp r i n C For the past 25 years, perhaps the most important role in the Slovak literary life in exile was played by the highly cultivated and sensitive poet, Rev. Mikulas sprinc, whose 60th birthday Slovaks abroad will commemorate on November 30th, 1974. Like Dilong and Strmen, sprinc also came from the "Catholic Moderna" group and was well-known in Slovakia as Secretary and later Director of the Slovak Catholic Academy and organizer of many cultural activities before and during the War. He published during the War two collections of his own poetry and four collections of translations : from Rilke, from several Italian poets, as well as from the works of P. Lippert and Giovanni Papini. At the same time he contributed to nearly all Slovak literary journals and periodicals, in addition to being the editor of the main Slovak Catholic literary monthly Kultiira <19431945 ). s princ left Slovakia later than other Slovak emigre poets and writers, and reached Rome through Austria and Germany. He was named by the Vatican a delegate for helping the Slovak refugees in Austria and Germany, but in 1946 he obtained a visa for the United States where he developed not only extensive organizational cultural activities, but also his talent so that he became one of the leading Slovak Catholic poets in Diaspora. A professor of modern languages and philosophy of arts by vocation, he deserves credit for keeping alive the Slovak literary journal Most , of which he has been editor since 1954, as well as for founding the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, whose President has been the poet Andrej zarnov. sprinc was also one of the founders of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland, and edited several symposia in addition to his own prolific and varied literary activities. Altogether sprinc published 18 collections of musical and highly cultivated poetry, and an English collection �192 SLOVAKIA Driftwood ( 1969), partly translated by himself and partly by one of his students and a well-known translator of Slovak poetry, Jaroslav Vajda. Those who appreciate a poetry rooted in the strong belief in the Creator without sounding too religious, and those who like the beauty of life in the song of birds, in the colors of flowers, in the sound of the wind, and blue skies or the colors of the rainbow, can find great enjoyment in sprinc's poetry. In his lyrical verses, sprinc echoes the art of Paul Verlaine and the spirit of St. Francis of Assissi. The musical and rhythmical quality of his poetry is rarely equalled by other Slovak emigre poets, except probably Gorazd Zvonicky. The translations of sprinc's verses are not an easy task for translators. Many of his volumes also contain fine poems with patriotic overtones, expressing his love for his lost and oppressed Slovakia. Recent volumes of sprinc's poetry have been artistically illustrated and carefully published, reflecting high artistic quality also in their technical presentation. As a result, reading his beautifully published collections is a double pleasure; they are written by a sensitive and gifted poet but, even more, by a man humbly and joyfully believing in God whose faith and glorification of the Creator sounds so natural and full of hope that one longs for the same beautiful world and the author's joyful soul and spirit. Even though Paul Verlaine seems to be his preferred poet (he wrote his M.A . thesis in French on Verlaine), sprinc is very well versed in Italian, German and Spanish poetry, and contributed to Slovak emigre literature by several excellent translations. To his large and varied cultural activities he has added more than 300 articles, book reviews, comments and contributions to Slovak periodicals, almanacs and newspapers. More than any other poet or writer, sprinc deserves credit for keeping Slovak culture abroad not only alive, but also reflecting the best Slovak national traditions. In spite of his many activities as professor, editor and secretary of the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, sprinc was able during the past two decades to publish nearly every year a volume of his poetry or a book in prose. Among his published works we find: Ozveny v samotdch (1940), Tak umieral bdsnik Pal'o Oliva (1942), 0 ldske �SLOVAKIA a bolesti (1942), Duinske elegie (1942), O Tebe spieva zem idc sdm 0943), K slobodnym pobreziam (1950), Na r:"•rFlo 'l J () • polnopi 'ti· · poludnfa Z (1955), slnku proti (1953), Tvdrou ')s'ted6~ putnie~±{~ moje Oci (1962), orla (1960), Mladost' a ffPk k?J s _ Brat~la'8 (1967), Andante (1952), kovia utrpenia ,a ~- ~1 • S'! 1 JI ora· ll:170 Palidora, z Piesne (1969), (1968), Driftwood 11 "' · j rn JC lovy ostrov (1973) etc.* t'f" : 'iOr.?.910 I'l Among his translation s we should metftionfGidva:aru Papini's work Witnesses of Suffering (Scraiitott CFA-{J'1i95!!) and among his foreign language writings hi M~..fthesi t Paul Verlaine: Etude de sa poesie religieuse,Wil'i-100',i stiill u v[ ,, , 1 ;. ,.... in manuscrip t. I 'di _Jj(,· ~-II sprinc also published an interesting narra,J;;':vp1!n,:prose about his escape and journey from Slovakia ~f?' ,1i0:Yr'l1Il,~9 States in a volume K slobodnym pobreziam ('J;R>t~'rr r;;~1e Shores), a book on St. Andrew Svorad as vv,:e, ~r~~d l. p~~lf dedicated to the Virgin Mary. For the llth -1 0~~t[;npial<: 0J Christianit y in Slovakia, he edited a collectiop."r~ ~!:5e-? by several Slovak poets under the title Zdravic0-; sp-"'qy j!oRi a Metodovi (Rome, 1963). He also contributec l:11f?: 1aurn~smr~ fully illustrated anthology Odkaz (The Legacy.., 197Jp in f.eJfg~ehte~. which leading Slovak poets and writers are ro "¼o"'"' 10· ""i In prose, he edited the memoirs of Msgr. Joze · KaB3-i a prominent Slovak diplomat at the Vatican du¥fh§ \ .war Spod Rohdcov po Vatikdn (From Rohace M9tiRtim to? · e Vatican, 1973) as well as two symposia comp.~~~ ,cif 'qop; C~ictrfn_tributions by Slovak emigre writers: Ndde7· vit'azria 1J 'R? 'fJf U?'f • -. ::;;_ 1939-1-.~4(} republika Slovenskd and 1947) Hope, ous ' ,.., Republic 1939-1949, Scranton, Pa., 1949). 9.i · V)\1)')1Sh'1 ·i•h ai 1~f'd2 c( aii~ Literary work of this envergure and 1 we -Iiifre > ; case; a does not need to be praised. It is again 1 • if'tceW!. Laudat'·a'¥f have to repeat the Latin dictum: Opus fivities It was a blessing for Slovak literature and cultubr-a~i abroad that sprinc left Slovakia. Therefore, ori~he~ooa §i6n of his 60th birthday, we cannot be more sincer.e"1wlierfJ,we - :>.r. ,h,i< say: Ad multos annos! 1 (JJ Jy3c-riqz~t{ :llC J *) :r-r::;m For more details on Sprinc and his work, see Literltrfi'y 11.lrMnbcn for 1967, p. 232-234, and Most, Vol. I, 2, 1954, and Vol. 13~ 4;-1956!!') �194 SLOVAKIA Teodorik Zubek To the ranks of prominent Slovak intellectuals in exile whose 60th birthday we will commemorate in 1974, also belongs Prof. T. J. Zubek, oustanding member of the Slovak Franciscan Order in Slovakia and the United States, who was born on April 4, 1914 in Malacky, Western Slovakia. Professor Zubek filled an important gap in exile activities by his theological writings and mainly by presenting the religious situation in post war Slovakia to the Western World. At the same time he deserves recognition for reviving the Order of Slovak Franciscan Fathers in the United States who under his leadership become active not only in the religious field but also in education and cultural life. Well educated at Slovak and foreign Universities (Zagreb, Croatia; Fribourg, Switzerland), Dr. Zubek played leading role in his Order in Slovakia, and had to pay under the Communist regime for his patriotism and service to God by detention in the concentration camp for priests in Svaty Benadik. After his escape in 1951, he found refuge in Austria and Rome, Italy, from where he came to the United States in 1952. Soon after his arrival to the U.S.A. Dr. Zubek became Professor of Theology at Seton Hall University, Newark, N. J. and published an authoritative work on the Communist persecution of religion in his native country Church of Silence in Slovakia (J. Lach Publ., Whiting, Ind., 1956). This book and his scholarly contributions to American religious and academic periodicals (Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Jurist, Ameri can Ecclesiastical Review, The Catholic Educator and others) performed an important service to the Slovak cause among Western intellectuals. Some of his studies rank among the best writings on contemporary theological and educational topics. From the Slovak point of view, of great importance among his English writings is also his presentation of the case of Msgr. Tiso and the fate of Slovak bishops (Slovak Bishops - Martyrs of Christ, 1963) to Western readers. Exposed to hostile propaganda during the War and after, many people in the free world maintained biased attitudes towards Slovakia even among clergy and in academic circles. Dr. Zubek was among the first Slovak emigre �SLOVAKIA 195 intellectuals who grasped the need for writing on Slovakia in English and in non-Slovak periodicals, and for doing it in a much more reserved manner than we can afford in our Slovak publications. Dr. Zubek contributed at the same time to Slovak periodicals and newspapers, to Slovak Studies, and edited the religious monthly Listy Sv. Frantiska (Leaflets of St. Francis) published by his Order of which he was the head as Provincial Delegate. He also took part in Slovak emigre cultural and organizational activities aiming at the unity and co-operation, namely in Slovak Liberation Council and Slovak World Congress, at the Conference on Slovakia held in Toronto in 1971 and elsewhere. From the very beginning of his exile has been considered as one of the most distinguished representatives of Slovak clergymen abroad. By his activities, high education and devotion to the work for God and bonum commune, Dr. Zubek upheld the noble tradition of the Franciscan Order in Slovakia, whose members belonged to the best educators, historians, writers and poets in the centuries of Slovak national revival as well as in this century. It is with sincere admiration for his work and great human qualities that we greet him on his sixtieth birthday with a heartfelt: Ad multos annos! Jozef Pa u co For more than a century, journalists and editors played in Slovak national life a role going far beyond their profession. Starting with Eudovit stur in the middle of the 19th century, leading Slovak journalists were also political leaders, poets, writers, historians, grammarians and organizers of cultural and political institutions. This phenomenon appeared in Slovakia as well as among Slovaks abroad, especially in the United States and Canada. After stur, S. H . Vajansky was an outstanding example of a journalist, who also was a prominent poet, novelist and fighter for the Slovak cause. In the following generation Karol Sidor and Konstantin Culen remained faithful to that tradition in Slovakia and on the American continent. Both of them were journalists by profession, but they also wrote a �[96 SLOVAKIA am lil,erary works and books dealing with the ofoSI~aks and their struggle for freedom. h'eq>ast 25 years, an austanding example of journalist who became a historian, political writer and organizer • .Joll!uraI &F.~ political activities, was Dr. Jozef Pauco, ~ '1We .1 2¥thday was celebrated by Slovaks abroad on ~ 8f.f9 r¥R~L 1974. Pauco's admiration for E. stur goes Bi~ 1t2,1r.. ,years when he wrote his Ph.D. thesis at the I}, ·1-ffi ·1i v~c13ratislava, which was later published under 9} yt • {,1J{!,OJJYChova u sturovcov (Popular Education in nt) . Since that time Dr. Pauco also followed ~ ' x' MB, ~ f8o}§jeps of K. Sidor and K. culen in his work as ~n !n eing a political exile, in his dedication to the ~ ~.HJ.Iijijle:iJer2 freecto111: , and independence for Slovakia and i - fillfp,tjfj>_n with American Slovaks and Slovak-American organizations. bibliography listed below indicates, Dr. As thej seJect ' ' r[J J)l [IQ[ f y Hjj r(~mgs are not only extensive, but also cover e.vera1' ~ cfs9!rom history to political science and belles 12t ,nw .fil~S.V O II . pub1·ished works . part of his 1l 1 :e~ . .tS s19.a y, th e maJor . t ct· f d t S {:_!(, ''IS I'I .'11 ' hJfiIH~W . , rAR?"ever, a e en mg he Slovak cause. This :a cr1°fsB~afiW even his works on American Slovaks, which !fh~ Y#1 ~9 ~fo~);'o his best writings and in their method and $I&»Jay flDif compare with standard works on the subj~cf.'."'i frer fof. F. Hrusovsky and K. culen, he actually deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. His books on their history atest to his great love for jjl_jz~ i 9_mt branch of the Slovak people. In addition, lzli-l ~ftlltl.futijsplayed in his works on American Slovaks, of Wlli.Plb :ti~cY~mninous history of the First Catholic Slovak ~smrubip rrecent book on Slovak Pioneers in America 4%fill:YJ O ~fkteular attention, that history was the field W~fttmt~ ld use his academic education and thorough fmID'{fflP.g.f~mf@lovak American organizational structure and ~ ~g:njfl~J:?.g ~ of individual leaders. As a result, whoever }Y!UsiYfOOl ~(tc,::omplete history of American Slovak~, will lff)lUiffifHfliiO.l:Wlfite authoritatively without ~sing Dr. Pauco's , ~f4J!!g)}V~rks. 110Ui-Bi¥unMjgl,lly, a larger number of books, essays an(\ MMtje b&;ia . Pauco deals, however, with Slova~a•s strugglaj::Rf!~~p.filldence l;l,nd with the _defense of leading Slovak h'i&j t> n; b~ �SLOVAKIA 197 personalities, especially Dr. Jozef Tiso, against whom many incorrect views and misconceptions were spread in the West during and after the Second World War. Slovakia and Slovaks suffered not only under Communism. There was a lot of injustice and descrimination against Slovaks also before the War and during the short period after the War when the Communists ruled together with their Czech and Slovak fellow-travelers from the non-communist parties. In his writings, Dr. Pauco endeavored to fight the falsehood and injustice of· both. It was, however, the communist misrule in Slovakia and the communist ideology which he exposed and fiercely criticized in his writings, advocating Christian democracy and the independence of Slovakia. Besides his own books, essays and thousands of articles, Dr. Pauco also published-as editor-the valuable documentary work Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso About Himself), containing the defense of the President of the Slovak Republic at his trial by the communist court, and a number of symposia on leading Slovak exiles (K. Sidor, J.C. Hronsky,· etc.). Furthermore, he deserves recognition for publishing and editing the Literdrny Almanach and the weekly Slovak v Amerike, both of which would have disappeared several years ago without his dedication and sacrifice as well that of his literary active wife. Last but not least, Dr. Pauco has rendered great service to the Slovak cause as the editor of the English periodical dealing with Slovak cultural and political matters, Slovakia. founded by Philip Hrobak. This editorial part of Dr. Pauco's work is of far reaching importance for the activities of Slovaks abroad and can be evaluated adequately only if we imagine how much poorer Slovak cultural life and the struggle for independence would be without these publications. In view of the fact that the historical and geopolitical situation of Slovakia made the Slovak cause a matter of controversy, Dr. Pauco's writings were bol,lild to provoke a strong reaction from the adversaries of the Slovak struggle for independence. His militant spirit, uncompromising attitude and fervor incited them to make denunciations, accusations and . undeserved attacks, but Pauco remained, in spite of all attacks on his person, one of 'the most dedicated defenders of the Slovak cause in his generation. �198 SLOVAKIA He also continues to be the most prolific Slovak journalist and writer on politics and history who remained faithful to stur's tradition and Hlinka-Tiso's ideology of Christian democracy and self-determination for the Slovaks. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLOVAK Popular Education ). Matica slovenska. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1943, pp. 151. Politicko-narodny program Hsns (Political Program of the Slovak People's Party ). Andrej uc. spol. Bratislava, 1944, pp. 96. co po komunizme? (After Communism What?) . Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1952, pp. 29. Dr. Jozef Ti so o sebe (Dr. Joseph Tiso About Himself) . Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, pp. 359. (Ed.) Tisov odkaz (Tiso's Message). Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1953, pp. 89. Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (Stephen Furdek and Slovak Immigration ). J ednota, Middletown, Pa., 1955, pp. 190. Slovcici a komunizmus (The Slovaks and Communism ). Rev. Jan Lach, Whiting, Ind., 1957, pp. 318. P-0d zcistavou krest'anskej demokracie (Under the Banner of the Christian Democracy). Slovenski krest'anski demokrati v Spojenych Statoch, Middletown, Pa. , 1957, pp. 30. Slovenskci rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Slovak Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius). Slovensky .Zensky Spolok sv. Anny, Wyoming Valley, Pa., 1957, pp. 32. Matus Jankola - knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola - A Priest and Patriot). Rad sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, Pa., 1959, pp. 174. Pamiatke Jozefa Cigra Hronskeho (In Memoriam Jozef Cig-er Hronsky) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1960, pp. 46. (Ed.) Martin Kopunek) . Laicky apostol Martin Kopunek (Lay Apostle Vychodna Oblast' Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov, Bethlehem, Pa., 1961, pp. 67. (Ed.) Neporazitel'ni (Unconquerables). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1961, pp. 190. Karol Sidor - politik novincir, spisovatel' (Karol Sidor - Politician, Newspaperman, and Writer) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1962, pp. 148. (Ed.) Piit'desiatnik Dr. J-0zef Kirschbaum (Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum - Fifty Years Old). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1963, pp. 171. (Ed.) Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Years of the First rokov 75 Catholic Slovak Union). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Cleveland, Ohio, 1965, pp. 560 and XIV. 80 pages of pictures. Na uteku (Flight to Wonderland; serialized in the Weekly Jednota) . Middletown, Pa., 1965. l}udovychova u sturovcov (Stur's Movement - �SLOVAKIA 199 Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 281. Illustra- tions. Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America). First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, pp. 358. Illustrations. IN ENGLISH Unconquerables, Vantage Press, New York, N. Y., 1958, pp. 225. Christian Slovakia Under Communism. The Slovak Catholic Federation, Valparaiso, Ind., 1959, pp. 31. Flight to Wonderland. Robert Speller and Sons, New York, N. Y., 1963, pp. 334. 'i0 Years of the Slovak League of America. Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 146. (Ed.) IN GERMAN Dr. Jozef Tiso: Die Wahrheit uber die Slowakei (The Truth About Slovakia). Tisovo Tovarisstvo, in the Emigration, 1948, pp. 187. Illustrated. ARTICLES IN ENGLISH The Practi cal Aspect of a Federation. Slovakia, III, No. 2, 1953, p. 26-36. American Slovaks and March 14, 1939. Slovakia, IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 17-22. The Slovak Republic and Communism. Slovakia, IV, No. 3-4, 1954, p. 35-38. Slovakia Viewed By American Historians. Most, I. No. 4, 1954, p . 17-25. The Failures of Communist Politics in Slovakia, Slovakia, V, No. 4, 1955, p. 3-20. Stu.r's Group in the Service of the People. Slovakia, VI, No. 1, 1956, p. 11-16. I Was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper. Slovakia, VII, No. 1, 1957, p. 9-12. Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat. Slovakia, VII, No. 2, 1957, p. 37-50. The Stirring Days of March 1939. Slovakia, IX, No. 4, 1959, p. 24-32. Slovakia Under Communism. Slovakia, IX, N-0. 5, 1959, p. 1-5; Slovakia, X, No. 6, 1960, p. 62-73 ; Slovakia, XI, No. 1, 1961, p. 13-21. Slovakia's Mid-Nineteenth Century Struggle for National Life. Slovak Studies I, 1961, p. 69-83. The Matica Slovenskd in America. Slovakia, XIII, No. 1, 1963, p. 77-82. American Slovaks and the Beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia. Slovakia, XVI, No. 39, 1966, p. 63-75. Slovak Pioneers in America. Slovakia, XIX, No. 42, 1969, p. l0S-124. Under Dynamic Leadership. 60 Years of the Slovak League of America, 1967, p. 112-146. The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio. Slovakia, XXII, No. 45, 1972, p. 92-97. Twenty Years of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 16-23. Cultural Revival of American and Canadian Slovaks. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 72-81. Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 123-128. �200 SLOVAKIA EVALUATION OF DR. PAUCO'S WRITINGS BY REVIEWERS The number of book reviews published on individual Pauco's works is too large to be listed in this survey. In general, we can say that extensive reviews and commentaries, written by known Slovak authors, scholars, poets and cultural workers, were published not only in newspapers, but also in literary and cultural periodicals (Most, Furdek, Slovakia) and almanacs. Book reviews in Slovak language prevail, but his major writings were evaluated and commented upon also in English, mostly by reviewers born or educated on the American continent. The majority of reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books evaluated his writings favorably not only because of their ideological contents and usefulness for preservation of Slovak cultural heritage but also for their literary, and in many instances, scholarly value, thorough research and vast knowledge of the Slovak past and present. Deeply involved in Slovak political and cultural life since his students years, Dr. Pauco was a participant in historical events or closely associated with persons he writes about in a majority of his books, which gives to some of his works particular significance. On the other hand, his books on the history of American Slovaks fill an important gap and therefore the reviewers valued them for their contribution to the neglected history of American Slovaks as well as for their documentation and objectivity with which Pauco approached his subjects. Among the reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books and publications edited by him were K. culen, Prof. F. Hrusovsky, J . E. Bor, M. Jankovsky, J. M. Kirschbaum, J. C. Krajsa, M. K. Mlynarovic, J. Mest'ancik, Prof. K. Murin, Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., Dr. B. Pissko, Dr. J. Rekem, Dr. J. Stasko, Rev. Mother Emerentia, Rev. Sister Tarcisia and many others. The book 75 Years of the FCSU was reviewed by 15 and his recent book Slovak Pioneers in America by 9 reviewers. All reviews were favorable . The evaluation by American born reviewers deserves, however special mention. Prof. V. R. Greene of the Kansas State University, who has learned to read and understand Slovak and wrote his �SLOVAKIA 201 Ph.D. thesis on East European immigrants in Pennsylvania , said on Pauco's 75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union: "Not only is it a complete and most comprehensiv e history of the Jednota and the Slovaks in America, but its many references, footnotes and bibliography will satisfy any serious reader and research historian." Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M. in her extensive review published in Jednota (June 30, 1965) referred to Matthew Arnold's statement that "Great creative works in literature result from happy concurence of two notable powers, the power of the man and the power of the moment," and wrote on Pauco's book: "Such a happy concurence of two notable powers has been strikingly exemplified before our eyes this year. For the power of the moment there was the 75th anniversary of the First Catholic Slovak Union in 1965, calling for the writing of the history of this remarkable organization. For the power of the man there was Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., a gifted author, historian and scholar, capable and willing to assume the task of writing this history. The result is a truly monumental contribution to Slovak history and literature, entitled 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty." The book Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another, 1967) attracted the attention of Slovak exiles as well as of American born Slovak intellectuals. "Dr. J. Pauco's Memoirs encompass - according to Sister M. Tarcisia - multiple and varied personal contacts as well as deep insight, broad vision and a skillful pen. The author is a scholar, a man of the people, an editor, a journalist, a lecturer, a politcian. The era he portrays was at once shatteringly disruptive and marvelously formative in its application to Central Europe and specifically to Slovakia. The men who played the leading roles in the drama of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) were true to human nature: some giants, some midgets, some heroes, some traitors. Tak sme sa poznali is a tremendously vital book. In recounting his experience in the Slovak Republic - all of which he saw, part of which he was - Dr. Pauco has written authentic history. As such it will live and flourish." �202 SLOVAKIA Pauco's last book Slovenskt priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America, 1972) was favorably reviewed and welcome as a valuable contribution to the history of American Slovaks by a dozen of Slovak writers, scholars, journalists and cultural workers. In the opinion of the American born editor of Jednota, J. C. Krajsa, "Pauco's work required serious research and documentation. In an objective manner he credits the life and work of the pioneers and categorizes them in their proper niche in the history of the American Slovaks, in America and the Slovak nation. He presents those leading pioneers who played the greatest role in the cultural field; those who organized fraternal societies, parishes, schools, and religious orders; those who preserved the literary culture with the publication of newspapers and books; and those who were fired with the ideal of liberty that even permeated to Slovakia." The book is in Krajsa's view "in itself a pioneer book. Nothing to date has been published in such documentary detail about American Slovak pioneers. The First Catholic Slovak Union is proud to publish this vital literary work of Dr. Joseph Pauco." According to another prominent American Slovak, Fr. J. A. Gajdosik "Pauco's book is one sure way to arousing interest in the Slovak heritage on a personal and individual basis, especially among our younger people. Hopefully, an English translation will be made in the near future, so that devotion to the Slovak ethnicity will be fostered. "The book should bolster Dr. Joseph Pauco's strong thoughts about the termination and death of the Slovak language in the United States. The book is also a warning to our fair-weather-Slovaks, who claim that they received little if anything from their Slovak ancestors, for it teaches that much Slovak affluence and prestige is directly the result of the conduct and work of our pioneers. "It behooves our brethren who are ashamed of their Slovak ethnicity, to study their history, and learn how everything they have was given to them, and that they should give themselves for others as our pioneers did. The ultimate lesson is that we, American of Slovak ancestry, should foster and serve the Slovak cause and ideal, at least as much, if not better than our pioneers in early America." �203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 181 ,J.. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D.: Noted Slovak Jubilarians Andrej Z a r n o v "Les elites emigrees vivent tragiquement. Elles sont contraintes a une vie hasardeuse, solitaire, humiliee. Elles sont amenees par l'exil a l'epreuve a reviser leurs valeurs, et a en connaitre ou a en creer d'autres ... " Albert Thibaudet, Histoire de la litterature fra~aise de 1780 a nos jours, Paris, 1936. Since 1945, when Slovakia was overrun by the Soviet armies and subject to communist rule, a number of poets and writers left their native land in protest against political oppression in their homeland and with the intention of working in the free world for freedom and independence of their country. This political mission is especially true with regard to the emigre writers and poets who left Slovakia in 1945-1949 among whom were several of the leading Slovak writers and poets. A similar example can be found mutatis mutandis only in 19th century Poland, when after the revolution of 1830 the best Polish poets (Mickiewicz, Krasinski, Slowacki) and a number of writers and intellectuals escaped the Russians and made Paris the center of Polish literature. The fate of Slovak poets and writers was, of course, not as favorable as that of Polish "grande emigration." Some of the more prominent Slovak writers were soon captured in Austria and brought back to Slovakia and imprisoned (Milo Urban, A. zarnov, Tido J. Gaspar) while others had to fight against false denunciations and other pressures, in order to survive and create. In spite of this, "the 50 odd Slovak men of letters living on this side of the Iron Curtain kept the lights of Slovak culture burning while they were out of their native country. This may sound emotional or sentimental, yet it is a sad truth that in the years 1950-55 there hardly appeared in Slovakia a single book worthy of reading. In those years indeed the emigre literature was the contemporary Slovak literature." 1 182 SLOVAKIA Slovak poets and writers in exile continued to play especially the role of the "conscience of the nation" and that of interpreters of the aspirations of the Slovak people, traditionally assumed by Slovak poets and writers. More than in any other nation, not only the national rebirth was the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the time when the poet Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors in the Great Moravian period, and by giving them hope for a better future, Slovak poetry was an instrument of the national struggle, an expression of the national ideals and hopes, of national sufferings and joy. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world, often being also social revolutionary leaders. This tradition was cultivated in Slovak literature over the past one hundred and fifty years and was even strengthened during the crucial years of Slovakia's national struggle in this century. Slovak poets and writers in exile have not considered themselves exempt from this special mission. On the contrary, exile made them more patriotic and the sufferings of the Slovak people more conscious of their duty to be the "conscience" of their nation and the interpreters of the aspiration of the Slovak people. In the countryside of New York State, one of the best contemporary Slovak poets, Andrej zarnov (by his own name Prof. Frantisek subik), attained on November 19, 1973 the prestigous age of 70. If the present Slovak generations owe a tribute to any poet for his participation in the struggle for national rights and equality with other nations, Andrej zarnov deserves such recognition from Slovaks abroad as well as in Slovakia. Born in 1903 in the village of Kuklov in Western Slovakia, zarnov remained proud of his rural heritage even when he achieved the position of University Professor of Pathology and high recognition from critics and readers for his literary work. He made his secondary studies in Skalica and Trnava and his study of medicine in Bratislava where he was active in student organizations and became SLOVAKIA 183 well-known for his fiery verses already during his university years. In 1926, :2:arnov accompanied Msgr. Andrej Hlinka on the triumphant journey around the United States. At that time neither zarnov nor the American Slovaks could expect that after the dramatic events of the Second World War, he would return to the United States as an exile, persecuted for his patriotism and his part in the International Red Cross Commission which examined during the Second World War the brutal massacre of 10,000 Polish officers by the Soviets in Katyn. zarnov left Slovakia in 1945, but he was forcibly "repatriated" from Austria, arrested and jailed. In 1952 he left Slovakia in a dramatic flight and settled first near Washington and later at Wingdale, N. Y. where he lives presently with his family. 2 ZARNOV'S WORK AND PLACE IN SLOVAK LITERATURE Perhaps to no other country more than to Slovakia is the statement of historians applicable, that in Central and Eastern European national movements were the concern of poets, writers and scholars and that they created the nationalities. Not only was the national rebirth the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the first great Slovak poet, Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors and by giving them a strong faith in a better future of the Slovak people, Slovak poetry was an instrument of national struggle, an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, and hopes. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world; they were social revolutionaries and national leaders. This tradition was respected in Slovak literature over the past one hundred years, and during the crucial years of Slovak national struggle in this century the role was played by Andrej :2:arnov more prominently than by any other Slovak poet, except for Martin Razus. Andrej :2:arnov appeared in Slovak literature in a period when the Slovak people fought their harsh struggle (against 184 SLOVAKIA the Czech assimilatory tendencies) for preserving their language, national identity and cultural heritage. It was the period of the 20's and 30's of this century, when on one hand Slovakia experienced a strong cultural development, but was at the same time forced into an uneven struggle for her national future, for social justice and political and economic equality. The danger of this situation was not only in the preponderance of means and political power or in the fact that Slovaks were far outnumbered by Czechs, but also in the fact that the masses of the Slovak people were going through the final phase of the process of maturing politically and the Slovak intelligentsia was in cultural and ideological ferment. In this national struggle Zarnov came with his fiery verses full of faith in the Slovak people and his vitality, adYocating national solidarity and protesting against the Czech attempts to rule, exploit and denationalize the Slovak people. At the same time, his poetry dared Slovaks to defend themselves, to stand firmly on their feet and not bow, not to yield. It was a revolutionary call for political and social justice, for national pride and honor which very soon found a favorable echo among the young Slovak intelligentsia and made Zarnov, since he identified himself with his nation's aspirations, sorrows and sufferings, the poet of the Slovak national struggle, and of Slovak patriotism. There was an outburst of poetic production in Slovakia between the two wars, but only Zarnov (besides M. Razus) stood on the barricades of Slovak national struggle with his patriotic poems, his forceful indignation, with his spiritual roots in the national tradition and fervent belief in the victory of the Slovak cause. Zarnov's fiery poetry, after being largely recited and published in periodicals and dailies, had been edited in several volumes. The first one, Strdz pri Morave (The Guard on Morava, 1925) was composed of verses expressing the poet's and his generation's political and spiritual orientation and provoked even the political censors to intervene. The second volwne Brdzda cez uhory (The Furrow Through Fallows, 1929) contained rather meditative and lyrical poetry enquiring into the spiritual ferment and restlessness of the poet's generation. While in the first volwne Zarnov created of his poetry an effective instrument for Slovak SLOVAKIA 185 national struggle, in the second volume he turned his eyes to the soul of the people he inflamed to struggle and bitterly analyzed its conscience. The third volume Hlas krvi (The Call of the Blood, 1932) and the following volume stit (The Shield, 1940) still contained verses of patriotic inspirations; his last volume Mftvy (The Dead, 1941) contains, however, poetry of deep personal sorrow and refine lyrics inspired by the untimely death of his young son. The profile of a patriotic revolutionary and interpreter of the nation's aspirations and struggle was thus completed in z arnov's last volume by poetry of deep human feelings and meditations. In all his volumes, zarnov preferred rather simple poetic forms, including the free verse. The rhythm of his poetry and his vocabulary were of great effectiveness and from the very beginning it indicated a strong talent. His books are, of course, on the index in Slovakia, but some of his verses are among the most recited by Slovaks in the free world, in which zarnov found refuge after the Communists seized power in Slovakia. ZARNOV'S TRANSLATIONS FROM WORLD LITERATURES zarnov enriched, however, Slovak literature also by many masterful translations of lyrics, epics and dramas. His first translations go back to 1933-34 at which time zarnov published in Slovak dailies and periodicals his version of Przerwa-Tetmajer Jdnosikove motivy (Janosik's Motives). In 1936 zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the well-known play from the life of F. Chopin and Georges Sand Leto v Nohante (The Summer in Nohant) by J. Iwaszkiewicz. A year after, Matica slovenska published Sophocles' Antigona in zarnov's translation and in 1941 King Oedipus. The same year zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the libretto of the opera Rusalka and in 1943 his translation of Zygmunt Krasinski's Nebozskd komedia (The Undivine Comedy) was published by Matica slovenska. After the Second World War, in the oppressive atmosphere of the Communist and Czech domination of Slovakia, zarnov was not allowed to publish his own poetry, but he did not cease creating and talking to his countrymen. In 186 SLOVAKIA 1949 the Society of St. Adalbert published his translation of Murphy's novel on Mary Magdalene The Scarlet Lily, in 1950 appeared the volume of translations from Adam Mickiewicz Poeezia, and in 1951 Hymny (The Hymns) of Jan Kasprowicz. The Communist regime did not, however, allow zarnov to use his pen-name on Kasprowicz's Hymns. They were published as translations by Francis ~ubik. Before his dramatic flight from Slovakia, zarnov prepared for publication his translation of Dante's Peklo (The Hell) and selections of poems by Leopold Staff Vyber z poezie (Selected Poems), but they remained in manusscript. zarnov's masterful translations were highly regarded by Slovak literary critics and by the readers and contributed especially to useful cultural relations of Slovakia with Poland. He received a Silver wreath from the Polish Academy of Literature for his pre-war translation U pol'sk'!}ch b<isnikov ( Among Polish Poets) and during the Second World War he prepared an entire book of translations from Adam Mickiewicz's works. 3 The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the work of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts, failures and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and all-Slavic poet." The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." We can say without exaggeration that zarnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight and Out of My Sight, thus presenting some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in zarnov's translation remain SLOVAKIA 187 "a wonder," since he has preserved to a great degree the richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this collection. zarnov's poetic language is, naturally, modern, his verse and rhythm vivid, and the whole translation audacious. zarnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equalling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. zarnov is certainly no romantic in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest." zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation ( which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences with the Russian occupation of Slovakia. zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and summoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz had the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great question of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." zarnov attemped to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate 188 SLOVAKIA moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystalized." The real function of zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not only to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas. In exile he published a number of patriotic verses and a masterful transcription of several poems by Jan Holly into a modern Slovak language, to remind the Slovaks of their spiritual roots and national heritage, and to confirm once more that he was one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirits of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. On behalf of that generation, we are sending to the quiet countryside near New York our grateful: Ad multos annos. F OOTNOTES 1) See F. Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych ro kov . N acrt slovenske j li t eratury v rokoch 1945-62. (Middletown, Pa., 1965) , p . 277. 2) F or more details on 2arnov's work and life, see J . Pauco (ed .), L iterarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa. 1967. 3) On 2arnov's translations from Mickiewicz, see W. Lednicki, Adam . Micki ewicz in W orld Literature, University of California Press, 1956i contribution by J . M. Kirschbaum. lmrich K r u f I i a k The prose and poetry of Slovak emigre writers is varied in themes and literary styles and strongly reflects a deep sadness over the loss of their native country and over the treatment of their people under communism. This is especially characteristic of the writings of poets and writers who had played a prominent role in Slovak literary life before they left their native land. Strong national feelings and "heimweh''; however, can also be found in the works SLOVAKIA 189 of poets who developed their talents far away from their native country. Prominent in this group of Slovak intellectuals is Dr. Imrich Kruzliak whose 60th birthday we will commemorate on December 8, 1974. Born in the romantic Detva, Kruzliak followed the path of educated Slovaks of his generation from villages and towns who went through secondary schools and universities by their own efforts and talents and, after helping the struggle for national independence, had to pay in jails or in exile for their patriotism. Kruzliak did not leave his native Slovakia in 1945. He decided to stay and fight with other Catholic intellectuals for the preservation of Slovak national traditions and for a place for Catholics in the post-war political life. When in 1947, the Communists began their persecution of Catholic intellectuals, he was arrested, tortured, and kept in jail for a year. To avoid a new arrest, he escaped in 1949 to Austria and in 1951 settled in Munich where he became employed by Radio Free Europe as a commentator on Slovak cultural matters. Writing mostly under the pen-name Marian ziar and initials I. K., mz, Dr. Kruzliak contributed in exile to emigre literature either in poetry or in literary criticism. Although Kruzliak had published verses and literary essays already before and during the war, it was in exile that he became known as a poet and mainly as a cultivated commentator and critic of Slovak literary and cultural life at home and abroad. His essays, comments and book reviews have been published mostly in the quarterly Most, Literdr ny Almanach, Rozhl'ady, but also in annuals and newspapers Jednota, Slovak v Amerike and for the past two years in Horizont of which he has been the editor in chief. His writings have been among the best in Slovak empire literature. We would mention especially his survey of Slovak literature under Communism (Most, 1958), anci essay "Shakespeare and Slovaks" (Most, 1964), a study on the "Literary and artistic cult of Sts. Cyril and Methodius among Slovaks" (Most, 1963) and ":C. stur" (Most, 1965) . In scores of book reviews, Kruzliak enriched Slovak emigre literature with new ideas, well-balanced opinions, and by an effort to keep Slovak cultural life abroad on a European level. 190 SLOVAKIA He also deserves recognition for editing and publishing two volumes of poetry of poets in communist jails Modlitby v putdch (Prayers in Shackles, Munich, 1955) and translations from Polish, Magyar and Russian poets of the period of "thaw" Podaj ndm ruku, Eur6pa ( Give us Helping Hand, Europe, Munich, 1957). One of his extensive surveys of Slovak culture under Communism was published in mimeographed book form and his contribution on Slovak culture since 1945 appeared in the symposium Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, published by the Slovak World Congress (Toronto, 1973). He also edited special volume of Arena (Vol. 16, 3-4) which the P.E.N. Centre for Writers in Exile published on Slovak literature in London, England in 1963. Dr. Kruzliak does not belong, however, to literary life alone. Since his university years he was among the most active intellectuals in the Slovak public life and a leading figure in the generation which dedicated talents and energies to the struggle of the Slovak people for an equal place among European nations. His literary beginnings are connected with students periodicals (Rozvoj, Svojet') in the 1930's, while his participation in public life began before he obtained his Ph.D. summa cum laude at the Bratislava University. As many members of his generation, he also was inspired by the idealism of ~udovit t5tur, represented in 1920's and 1930's in Slovak national struggle by Andrej Hlinka. Idealism and dedication of those years marked Dr. Kruzliak's whole life in Slovakia as well as in exile. On the threshold of his 60th birthday he continues his life struggle in the Slovak World Congress as the head of the cultural section. The upheavals and tragedies experienced by his generation, marked also his life, but did not break his spirit. Hardly any Slovak generation had to go through such trials. There were, however, also victories and uncomparable cultural and spiritual growth of the Slovak nation to' which that generation contributed at home and in exile. And no other generation had such opportunities to see the world, to learn foreign languages and to absorb cultural values of the most advanced nations. It is on behalf of those who from that generation survived the persecutions of the tyrannical regimes in 191 SLOVAKIA Slovakia and the trials of exile, that we cordially greet Dr. Kruzliak on the threshold of his 60th birthday, wishing him that the Lord may fulfill his desires to see Slovakia free, democratic and equal to other nations. Mikulas sp r i n C For the past 25 years, perhaps the most important role in the Slovak literary life in exile was played by the highly cultivated and sensitive poet, Rev. Mikulas sprinc, whose 60th birthday Slovaks abroad will commemorate on November 30th, 1974. Like Dilong and Strmen, sprinc also came from the "Catholic Moderna" group and was well-known in Slovakia as Secretary and later Director of the Slovak Catholic Academy and organizer of many cultural activities before and during the War. He published during the War two collections of his own poetry and four collections of translations : from Rilke, from several Italian poets, as well as from the works of P. Lippert and Giovanni Papini. At the same time he contributed to nearly all Slovak literary journals and periodicals, in addition to being the editor of the main Slovak Catholic literary monthly Kultiira <19431945 ). s princ left Slovakia later than other Slovak emigre poets and writers, and reached Rome through Austria and Germany. He was named by the Vatican a delegate for helping the Slovak refugees in Austria and Germany, but in 1946 he obtained a visa for the United States where he developed not only extensive organizational cultural activities, but also his talent so that he became one of the leading Slovak Catholic poets in Diaspora. A professor of modern languages and philosophy of arts by vocation, he deserves credit for keeping alive the Slovak literary journal Most , of which he has been editor since 1954, as well as for founding the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, whose President has been the poet Andrej zarnov. sprinc was also one of the founders of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland, and edited several symposia in addition to his own prolific and varied literary activities. Altogether sprinc published 18 collections of musical and highly cultivated poetry, and an English collection 192 SLOVAKIA Driftwood ( 1969), partly translated by himself and partly by one of his students and a well-known translator of Slovak poetry, Jaroslav Vajda. Those who appreciate a poetry rooted in the strong belief in the Creator without sounding too religious, and those who like the beauty of life in the song of birds, in the colors of flowers, in the sound of the wind, and blue skies or the colors of the rainbow, can find great enjoyment in sprinc's poetry. In his lyrical verses, sprinc echoes the art of Paul Verlaine and the spirit of St. Francis of Assissi. The musical and rhythmical quality of his poetry is rarely equalled by other Slovak emigre poets, except probably Gorazd Zvonicky. The translations of sprinc's verses are not an easy task for translators. Many of his volumes also contain fine poems with patriotic overtones, expressing his love for his lost and oppressed Slovakia. Recent volumes of sprinc's poetry have been artistically illustrated and carefully published, reflecting high artistic quality also in their technical presentation. As a result, reading his beautifully published collections is a double pleasure; they are written by a sensitive and gifted poet but, even more, by a man humbly and joyfully believing in God whose faith and glorification of the Creator sounds so natural and full of hope that one longs for the same beautiful world and the author's joyful soul and spirit. Even though Paul Verlaine seems to be his preferred poet (he wrote his M.A . thesis in French on Verlaine), sprinc is very well versed in Italian, German and Spanish poetry, and contributed to Slovak emigre literature by several excellent translations. To his large and varied cultural activities he has added more than 300 articles, book reviews, comments and contributions to Slovak periodicals, almanacs and newspapers. More than any other poet or writer, sprinc deserves credit for keeping Slovak culture abroad not only alive, but also reflecting the best Slovak national traditions. In spite of his many activities as professor, editor and secretary of the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, sprinc was able during the past two decades to publish nearly every year a volume of his poetry or a book in prose. Among his published works we find: Ozveny v samotdch (1940), Tak umieral bdsnik Pal'o Oliva (1942), 0 ldske SLOVAKIA a bolesti (1942), Duinske elegie (1942), O Tebe spieva zem idc sdm 0943), K slobodnym pobreziam (1950), Na r:"•rFlo 'l J () • polnopi 'ti· · poludnfa Z (1955), slnku proti (1953), Tvdrou ')s'ted6~ putnie~±{~ moje Oci (1962), orla (1960), Mladost' a ffPk k?J s _ Brat~la'8 (1967), Andante (1952), kovia utrpenia ,a ~- ~1 • S'! 1 JI ora· ll:170 Palidora, z Piesne (1969), (1968), Driftwood 11 "' · j rn JC lovy ostrov (1973) etc.* t'f" : 'iOr.?.910 I'l Among his translation s we should metftionfGidva:aru Papini's work Witnesses of Suffering (Scraiitott CFA-{J'1i95!!) and among his foreign language writings hi M~..fthesi t Paul Verlaine: Etude de sa poesie religieuse,Wil'i-100',i stiill u v[ ,, , 1 ;. ,.... in manuscrip t. I 'di _Jj(,· ~-II sprinc also published an interesting narra,J;;':vp1!n,:prose about his escape and journey from Slovakia ~f?' ,1i0:Yr'l1Il,~9 States in a volume K slobodnym pobreziam ('J;R>t~'rr r;;~1e Shores), a book on St. Andrew Svorad as vv,:e, ~r~~d l. p~~lf dedicated to the Virgin Mary. For the llth -1 0~~t[;npial<: 0J Christianit y in Slovakia, he edited a collectiop."r~ ~!:5e-? by several Slovak poets under the title Zdravic0-; sp-"'qy j!oRi a Metodovi (Rome, 1963). He also contributec l:11f?: 1aurn~smr~ fully illustrated anthology Odkaz (The Legacy.., 197Jp in f.eJfg~ehte~. which leading Slovak poets and writers are ro "¼o"'"' 10· ""i In prose, he edited the memoirs of Msgr. Joze · KaB3-i a prominent Slovak diplomat at the Vatican du¥fh§ \ .war Spod Rohdcov po Vatikdn (From Rohace M9tiRtim to? · e Vatican, 1973) as well as two symposia comp.~~~ ,cif 'qop; C~ictrfn_tributions by Slovak emigre writers: Ndde7· vit'azria 1J 'R? 'fJf U?'f • -. ::;;_ 1939-1-.~4(} republika Slovenskd and 1947) Hope, ous ' ,.., Republic 1939-1949, Scranton, Pa., 1949). 9.i · V)\1)')1Sh'1 ·i•h ai 1~f'd2 c( aii~ Literary work of this envergure and 1 we -Iiifre > ; case; a does not need to be praised. It is again 1 • if'tceW!. Laudat'·a'¥f have to repeat the Latin dictum: Opus fivities It was a blessing for Slovak literature and cultubr-a~i abroad that sprinc left Slovakia. Therefore, ori~he~ooa §i6n of his 60th birthday, we cannot be more sincer.e"1wlierfJ,we - :>.r. ,h,i< say: Ad multos annos! 1 (JJ Jy3c-riqz~t{ :llC J *) :r-r::;m For more details on Sprinc and his work, see Literltrfi'y 11.lrMnbcn for 1967, p. 232-234, and Most, Vol. I, 2, 1954, and Vol. 13~ 4;-1956!!') 194 SLOVAKIA Teodorik Zubek To the ranks of prominent Slovak intellectuals in exile whose 60th birthday we will commemorate in 1974, also belongs Prof. T. J. Zubek, oustanding member of the Slovak Franciscan Order in Slovakia and the United States, who was born on April 4, 1914 in Malacky, Western Slovakia. Professor Zubek filled an important gap in exile activities by his theological writings and mainly by presenting the religious situation in post war Slovakia to the Western World. At the same time he deserves recognition for reviving the Order of Slovak Franciscan Fathers in the United States who under his leadership become active not only in the religious field but also in education and cultural life. Well educated at Slovak and foreign Universities (Zagreb, Croatia; Fribourg, Switzerland), Dr. Zubek played leading role in his Order in Slovakia, and had to pay under the Communist regime for his patriotism and service to God by detention in the concentration camp for priests in Svaty Benadik. After his escape in 1951, he found refuge in Austria and Rome, Italy, from where he came to the United States in 1952. Soon after his arrival to the U.S.A. Dr. Zubek became Professor of Theology at Seton Hall University, Newark, N. J. and published an authoritative work on the Communist persecution of religion in his native country Church of Silence in Slovakia (J. Lach Publ., Whiting, Ind., 1956). This book and his scholarly contributions to American religious and academic periodicals (Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Jurist, Ameri can Ecclesiastical Review, The Catholic Educator and others) performed an important service to the Slovak cause among Western intellectuals. Some of his studies rank among the best writings on contemporary theological and educational topics. From the Slovak point of view, of great importance among his English writings is also his presentation of the case of Msgr. Tiso and the fate of Slovak bishops (Slovak Bishops - Martyrs of Christ, 1963) to Western readers. Exposed to hostile propaganda during the War and after, many people in the free world maintained biased attitudes towards Slovakia even among clergy and in academic circles. Dr. Zubek was among the first Slovak emigre SLOVAKIA 195 intellectuals who grasped the need for writing on Slovakia in English and in non-Slovak periodicals, and for doing it in a much more reserved manner than we can afford in our Slovak publications. Dr. Zubek contributed at the same time to Slovak periodicals and newspapers, to Slovak Studies, and edited the religious monthly Listy Sv. Frantiska (Leaflets of St. Francis) published by his Order of which he was the head as Provincial Delegate. He also took part in Slovak emigre cultural and organizational activities aiming at the unity and co-operation, namely in Slovak Liberation Council and Slovak World Congress, at the Conference on Slovakia held in Toronto in 1971 and elsewhere. From the very beginning of his exile has been considered as one of the most distinguished representatives of Slovak clergymen abroad. By his activities, high education and devotion to the work for God and bonum commune, Dr. Zubek upheld the noble tradition of the Franciscan Order in Slovakia, whose members belonged to the best educators, historians, writers and poets in the centuries of Slovak national revival as well as in this century. It is with sincere admiration for his work and great human qualities that we greet him on his sixtieth birthday with a heartfelt: Ad multos annos! Jozef Pa u co For more than a century, journalists and editors played in Slovak national life a role going far beyond their profession. Starting with Eudovit stur in the middle of the 19th century, leading Slovak journalists were also political leaders, poets, writers, historians, grammarians and organizers of cultural and political institutions. This phenomenon appeared in Slovakia as well as among Slovaks abroad, especially in the United States and Canada. After stur, S. H . Vajansky was an outstanding example of a journalist, who also was a prominent poet, novelist and fighter for the Slovak cause. In the following generation Karol Sidor and Konstantin Culen remained faithful to that tradition in Slovakia and on the American continent. Both of them were journalists by profession, but they also wrote a [96 SLOVAKIA am lil,erary works and books dealing with the ofoSI~aks and their struggle for freedom. h'eq>ast 25 years, an austanding example of journalist who became a historian, political writer and organizer • .Joll!uraI &F.~ political activities, was Dr. Jozef Pauco, ~ '1We .1 2¥thday was celebrated by Slovaks abroad on ~ 8f.f9 r¥R~L 1974. Pauco's admiration for E. stur goes Bi~ 1t2,1r.. ,years when he wrote his Ph.D. thesis at the I}, ·1-ffi ·1i v~c13ratislava, which was later published under 9} yt • {,1J{!,OJJYChova u sturovcov (Popular Education in nt) . Since that time Dr. Pauco also followed ~ ' x' MB, ~ f8o}§jeps of K. Sidor and K. culen in his work as ~n !n eing a political exile, in his dedication to the ~ ~.HJ.Iijijle:iJer2 freecto111: , and independence for Slovakia and i - fillfp,tjfj>_n with American Slovaks and Slovak-American organizations. bibliography listed below indicates, Dr. As thej seJect ' ' r[J J)l [IQ[ f y Hjj r(~mgs are not only extensive, but also cover e.vera1' ~ cfs9!rom history to political science and belles 12t ,nw .fil~S.V O II . pub1·ished works . part of his 1l 1 :e~ . .tS s19.a y, th e maJor . t ct· f d t S {:_!(, ''IS I'I .'11 ' hJfiIH~W . , rAR?"ever, a e en mg he Slovak cause. This :a cr1°fsB~afiW even his works on American Slovaks, which !fh~ Y#1 ~9 ~fo~);'o his best writings and in their method and $I&»Jay flDif compare with standard works on the subj~cf.'."'i frer fof. F. Hrusovsky and K. culen, he actually deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. His books on their history atest to his great love for jjl_jz~ i 9_mt branch of the Slovak people. In addition, lzli-l ~ftlltl.futijsplayed in his works on American Slovaks, of Wlli.Plb :ti~cY~mninous history of the First Catholic Slovak ~smrubip rrecent book on Slovak Pioneers in America 4%fill:YJ O ~fkteular attention, that history was the field W~fttmt~ ld use his academic education and thorough fmID'{fflP.g.f~mf@lovak American organizational structure and ~ ~g:njfl~J:?.g ~ of individual leaders. As a result, whoever }Y!UsiYfOOl ~(tc,::omplete history of American Slovak~, will lff)lUiffifHfliiO.l:Wlfite authoritatively without ~sing Dr. Pauco's , ~f4J!!g)}V~rks. 110Ui-Bi¥unMjgl,lly, a larger number of books, essays an(\ MMtje b&;ia . Pauco deals, however, with Slova~a•s strugglaj::Rf!~~p.filldence l;l,nd with the _defense of leading Slovak h'i&j t> n; b~ SLOVAKIA 197 personalities, especially Dr. Jozef Tiso, against whom many incorrect views and misconceptions were spread in the West during and after the Second World War. Slovakia and Slovaks suffered not only under Communism. There was a lot of injustice and descrimination against Slovaks also before the War and during the short period after the War when the Communists ruled together with their Czech and Slovak fellow-travelers from the non-communist parties. In his writings, Dr. Pauco endeavored to fight the falsehood and injustice of· both. It was, however, the communist misrule in Slovakia and the communist ideology which he exposed and fiercely criticized in his writings, advocating Christian democracy and the independence of Slovakia. Besides his own books, essays and thousands of articles, Dr. Pauco also published-as editor-the valuable documentary work Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso About Himself), containing the defense of the President of the Slovak Republic at his trial by the communist court, and a number of symposia on leading Slovak exiles (K. Sidor, J.C. Hronsky,· etc.). Furthermore, he deserves recognition for publishing and editing the Literdrny Almanach and the weekly Slovak v Amerike, both of which would have disappeared several years ago without his dedication and sacrifice as well that of his literary active wife. Last but not least, Dr. Pauco has rendered great service to the Slovak cause as the editor of the English periodical dealing with Slovak cultural and political matters, Slovakia. founded by Philip Hrobak. This editorial part of Dr. Pauco's work is of far reaching importance for the activities of Slovaks abroad and can be evaluated adequately only if we imagine how much poorer Slovak cultural life and the struggle for independence would be without these publications. In view of the fact that the historical and geopolitical situation of Slovakia made the Slovak cause a matter of controversy, Dr. Pauco's writings were bol,lild to provoke a strong reaction from the adversaries of the Slovak struggle for independence. His militant spirit, uncompromising attitude and fervor incited them to make denunciations, accusations and . undeserved attacks, but Pauco remained, in spite of all attacks on his person, one of 'the most dedicated defenders of the Slovak cause in his generation. 198 SLOVAKIA He also continues to be the most prolific Slovak journalist and writer on politics and history who remained faithful to stur's tradition and Hlinka-Tiso's ideology of Christian democracy and self-determination for the Slovaks. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLOVAK Popular Education ). Matica slovenska. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1943, pp. 151. Politicko-narodny program Hsns (Political Program of the Slovak People's Party ). Andrej uc. spol. Bratislava, 1944, pp. 96. co po komunizme? (After Communism What?) . Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1952, pp. 29. Dr. Jozef Ti so o sebe (Dr. Joseph Tiso About Himself) . Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, pp. 359. (Ed.) Tisov odkaz (Tiso's Message). Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1953, pp. 89. Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (Stephen Furdek and Slovak Immigration ). J ednota, Middletown, Pa., 1955, pp. 190. Slovcici a komunizmus (The Slovaks and Communism ). Rev. Jan Lach, Whiting, Ind., 1957, pp. 318. P-0d zcistavou krest'anskej demokracie (Under the Banner of the Christian Democracy). Slovenski krest'anski demokrati v Spojenych Statoch, Middletown, Pa. , 1957, pp. 30. Slovenskci rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Slovak Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius). Slovensky .Zensky Spolok sv. Anny, Wyoming Valley, Pa., 1957, pp. 32. Matus Jankola - knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola - A Priest and Patriot). Rad sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, Pa., 1959, pp. 174. Pamiatke Jozefa Cigra Hronskeho (In Memoriam Jozef Cig-er Hronsky) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1960, pp. 46. (Ed.) Martin Kopunek) . Laicky apostol Martin Kopunek (Lay Apostle Vychodna Oblast' Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov, Bethlehem, Pa., 1961, pp. 67. (Ed.) Neporazitel'ni (Unconquerables). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1961, pp. 190. Karol Sidor - politik novincir, spisovatel' (Karol Sidor - Politician, Newspaperman, and Writer) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1962, pp. 148. (Ed.) Piit'desiatnik Dr. J-0zef Kirschbaum (Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum - Fifty Years Old). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1963, pp. 171. (Ed.) Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Years of the First rokov 75 Catholic Slovak Union). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Cleveland, Ohio, 1965, pp. 560 and XIV. 80 pages of pictures. Na uteku (Flight to Wonderland; serialized in the Weekly Jednota) . Middletown, Pa., 1965. l}udovychova u sturovcov (Stur's Movement - SLOVAKIA 199 Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 281. Illustra- tions. Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America). First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, pp. 358. Illustrations. IN ENGLISH Unconquerables, Vantage Press, New York, N. Y., 1958, pp. 225. Christian Slovakia Under Communism. The Slovak Catholic Federation, Valparaiso, Ind., 1959, pp. 31. Flight to Wonderland. Robert Speller and Sons, New York, N. Y., 1963, pp. 334. 'i0 Years of the Slovak League of America. Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 146. (Ed.) IN GERMAN Dr. Jozef Tiso: Die Wahrheit uber die Slowakei (The Truth About Slovakia). Tisovo Tovarisstvo, in the Emigration, 1948, pp. 187. Illustrated. ARTICLES IN ENGLISH The Practi cal Aspect of a Federation. Slovakia, III, No. 2, 1953, p. 26-36. American Slovaks and March 14, 1939. Slovakia, IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 17-22. The Slovak Republic and Communism. Slovakia, IV, No. 3-4, 1954, p. 35-38. Slovakia Viewed By American Historians. Most, I. No. 4, 1954, p . 17-25. The Failures of Communist Politics in Slovakia, Slovakia, V, No. 4, 1955, p. 3-20. Stu.r's Group in the Service of the People. Slovakia, VI, No. 1, 1956, p. 11-16. I Was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper. Slovakia, VII, No. 1, 1957, p. 9-12. Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat. Slovakia, VII, No. 2, 1957, p. 37-50. The Stirring Days of March 1939. Slovakia, IX, No. 4, 1959, p. 24-32. Slovakia Under Communism. Slovakia, IX, N-0. 5, 1959, p. 1-5; Slovakia, X, No. 6, 1960, p. 62-73 ; Slovakia, XI, No. 1, 1961, p. 13-21. Slovakia's Mid-Nineteenth Century Struggle for National Life. Slovak Studies I, 1961, p. 69-83. The Matica Slovenskd in America. Slovakia, XIII, No. 1, 1963, p. 77-82. American Slovaks and the Beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia. Slovakia, XVI, No. 39, 1966, p. 63-75. Slovak Pioneers in America. Slovakia, XIX, No. 42, 1969, p. l0S-124. Under Dynamic Leadership. 60 Years of the Slovak League of America, 1967, p. 112-146. The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio. Slovakia, XXII, No. 45, 1972, p. 92-97. Twenty Years of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 16-23. Cultural Revival of American and Canadian Slovaks. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 72-81. Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 123-128. 200 SLOVAKIA EVALUATION OF DR. PAUCO'S WRITINGS BY REVIEWERS The number of book reviews published on individual Pauco's works is too large to be listed in this survey. In general, we can say that extensive reviews and commentaries, written by known Slovak authors, scholars, poets and cultural workers, were published not only in newspapers, but also in literary and cultural periodicals (Most, Furdek, Slovakia) and almanacs. Book reviews in Slovak language prevail, but his major writings were evaluated and commented upon also in English, mostly by reviewers born or educated on the American continent. The majority of reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books evaluated his writings favorably not only because of their ideological contents and usefulness for preservation of Slovak cultural heritage but also for their literary, and in many instances, scholarly value, thorough research and vast knowledge of the Slovak past and present. Deeply involved in Slovak political and cultural life since his students years, Dr. Pauco was a participant in historical events or closely associated with persons he writes about in a majority of his books, which gives to some of his works particular significance. On the other hand, his books on the history of American Slovaks fill an important gap and therefore the reviewers valued them for their contribution to the neglected history of American Slovaks as well as for their documentation and objectivity with which Pauco approached his subjects. Among the reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books and publications edited by him were K. culen, Prof. F. Hrusovsky, J . E. Bor, M. Jankovsky, J. M. Kirschbaum, J. C. Krajsa, M. K. Mlynarovic, J. Mest'ancik, Prof. K. Murin, Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., Dr. B. Pissko, Dr. J. Rekem, Dr. J. Stasko, Rev. Mother Emerentia, Rev. Sister Tarcisia and many others. The book 75 Years of the FCSU was reviewed by 15 and his recent book Slovak Pioneers in America by 9 reviewers. All reviews were favorable . The evaluation by American born reviewers deserves, however special mention. Prof. V. R. Greene of the Kansas State University, who has learned to read and understand Slovak and wrote his SLOVAKIA 201 Ph.D. thesis on East European immigrants in Pennsylvania , said on Pauco's 75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union: "Not only is it a complete and most comprehensiv e history of the Jednota and the Slovaks in America, but its many references, footnotes and bibliography will satisfy any serious reader and research historian." Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M. in her extensive review published in Jednota (June 30, 1965) referred to Matthew Arnold's statement that "Great creative works in literature result from happy concurence of two notable powers, the power of the man and the power of the moment," and wrote on Pauco's book: "Such a happy concurence of two notable powers has been strikingly exemplified before our eyes this year. For the power of the moment there was the 75th anniversary of the First Catholic Slovak Union in 1965, calling for the writing of the history of this remarkable organization. For the power of the man there was Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., a gifted author, historian and scholar, capable and willing to assume the task of writing this history. The result is a truly monumental contribution to Slovak history and literature, entitled 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty." The book Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another, 1967) attracted the attention of Slovak exiles as well as of American born Slovak intellectuals. "Dr. J. Pauco's Memoirs encompass - according to Sister M. Tarcisia - multiple and varied personal contacts as well as deep insight, broad vision and a skillful pen. The author is a scholar, a man of the people, an editor, a journalist, a lecturer, a politcian. The era he portrays was at once shatteringly disruptive and marvelously formative in its application to Central Europe and specifically to Slovakia. The men who played the leading roles in the drama of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) were true to human nature: some giants, some midgets, some heroes, some traitors. Tak sme sa poznali is a tremendously vital book. In recounting his experience in the Slovak Republic - all of which he saw, part of which he was - Dr. Pauco has written authentic history. As such it will live and flourish." 202 SLOVAKIA Pauco's last book Slovenskt priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America, 1972) was favorably reviewed and welcome as a valuable contribution to the history of American Slovaks by a dozen of Slovak writers, scholars, journalists and cultural workers. In the opinion of the American born editor of Jednota, J. C. Krajsa, "Pauco's work required serious research and documentation. In an objective manner he credits the life and work of the pioneers and categorizes them in their proper niche in the history of the American Slovaks, in America and the Slovak nation. He presents those leading pioneers who played the greatest role in the cultural field; those who organized fraternal societies, parishes, schools, and religious orders; those who preserved the literary culture with the publication of newspapers and books; and those who were fired with the ideal of liberty that even permeated to Slovakia." The book is in Krajsa's view "in itself a pioneer book. Nothing to date has been published in such documentary detail about American Slovak pioneers. The First Catholic Slovak Union is proud to publish this vital literary work of Dr. Joseph Pauco." According to another prominent American Slovak, Fr. J. A. Gajdosik "Pauco's book is one sure way to arousing interest in the Slovak heritage on a personal and individual basis, especially among our younger people. Hopefully, an English translation will be made in the near future, so that devotion to the Slovak ethnicity will be fostered. "The book should bolster Dr. Joseph Pauco's strong thoughts about the termination and death of the Slovak language in the United States. The book is also a warning to our fair-weather-Slovaks, who claim that they received little if anything from their Slovak ancestors, for it teaches that much Slovak affluence and prestige is directly the result of the conduct and work of our pioneers. "It behooves our brethren who are ashamed of their Slovak ethnicity, to study their history, and learn how everything they have was given to them, and that they should give themselves for others as our pioneers did. The ultimate lesson is that we, American of Slovak ancestry, should foster and serve the Slovak cause and ideal, at least as much, if not better than our pioneers in early America." 203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Noted Slovak Jubilarians Description An account of the resource covers ndrej Žarnov, Imrich Kružliak, Mikuláš Šprinc, Teodorik Zúbek, Jozef Paučo incl. "Evaluation of Dr. Paučo's Writings by Reviewers" and "Reviews of Paučo's Writings in Leading Periodicals" J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 181-203 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/10aed17015a5abecf03124d945932fa2.pdf 13ba17b6c0a62ac1bcb8fadc80beabd4 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 63 Slovaks Abroad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle /or Freed om J. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D. National struggles for emancipation from foreign rule were fought in East Central Europe for more than a century on two fronts: at home, and by emigres abroad. During the first World War and again during the Second World War, leading Western Powers gave to various emigre groups formal recognition to become the official representatives of their native countries. In so doing, they helped to establish a tradition which, in time of political oppression, assigns to emigres the role of interpreters of the national aspirations of the people in their country of origin. Slovakia is one of the Central European countries in which this tradition has played an important role. At the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced. Political developments in Slovakia after the Second World War brought disappointment even to those who desired the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia and favored Soviet expansion in Central Europe. The introduction of a rigid centralism instead of the promised autonomy, the ruthless replacement of parliamentary democracy by the Stalinist system, political and religious persecution, economic discrimination and prohibition of contacts with Western countries, could not leave Slovaks abroad indifferent to the fate of the Slovak people. American Slovaks together with Slovaks in other Western countries, strengthened by thousands of political emigres as well as by those who were deceived in their attempts at co-operation with the Communists, resumed the role of interpreters of the �64 SLOVAKIA aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom, democracy and independence . In 1968 when the attempts to reform the political and economic system imposed on Slovakia by Moscow and Prague failed and "socialism with human face" was crushed under the tanks of the Warsaw Pact military forces, a new wave of Slovak emigrants found refuge in Western countries. This new situation prompted Slovaks abroad to rally their forces for intensified political and cultural activities within the framework of the Slovak World Congress, founded in the City of New York in June 1970. The aims and goals of the Congress were defined as follows: "Slovaks living throughout the entire world, many of whom were born in the United States and elsewhere, accept as a moral duty the necessity to unite in the struggle for the natural rights of the Slovak nation and for the complete freedom in the determinatio n of its destinies. We consider it our obligation to present to the world a true picture of the life and aspirations of the Slovak nation for a free and democratic way of life. Today we are more acutely aware of this duty in view of the fact that the regime which has been forced upon the Slovak nation is opposed to the national traditions of Slovakia and the country is occupied by the military forces of a foreign Great Power. Therefore, in view of the foregoing: We subscribe to the traditional values of Slovak history which have promoted the re-birth of our nation, its growth and its acceptance in western civilization among cultured nations; We contend that the Slovak question is an international problem and therefore we request that international justice be done Slovakia, justice that would be expressed in full democratic statehood; We take a positive attitude towards the process of integration in Europe and we demand that the Slovak nation be given the right to participate freely and directly in this process. �SLOVAKIA 65 We desire and hope that the situation in Central and Eastern Europe will change so that there will no longer be any obstacle towards establishing and maintaining cultural exchanges between the Slovaks at home and abroad which present conditions in Slovakia either make completely impossible, or allow only in a restricted sense." Among the main tasks of the Slovak World Congress are the activities aiming at acquainting the Western world with the history, culture and the present political situation in Slovakia. The Congress fulfills this task through the activities of its individual and constitutional members and their press. Some of the best known authors of books on Slovakia and political scientists and historians are leading figures of the Congress. The institutional members, mostly large Slovak organizations, help to fulfill this role in their press and, publishing activities, by memoranda and so on. Three publications by the Congress are destined to achieve the same aim. Before the Second General Meeting of the Congress in Toronto in 1971, the Slovak World Congress published its first publication: Slovakia - Historical and Cultural Background (Toronto, 1971). Two authors, Prof. J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, outlined in concise chapters the historical and cultural developments in Slovakia since the appearance of Slovaks in Central Europe in order to correct many misconceptions about the Slovak political and cultural history. The book gives, however, only basic information and, therefore, to fill the gap in presenting Slovakia to the West, the Congress organized a Conference on Slovakia, and the papers which were delivered at the Conference by more than 20 scholars were published in the volume: Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973).1 The aim of this book - as expressed in the Preface by S. B. Roman - is "to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-operation and only if each recognize the equal rights to independence that each has." 1) For evaluation of the book see Book reviews. �66 SLOVAKIA The book is divided into four parts which deal with Slovak national philosophy; Slovak politics in the 19th and 20th centuries; the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors, and with the attitude of Slovaks abroad towards Slovakia. All the authors, of whom four are of non-Slovak origin, examined in a scholarly manner Slovak political and cultural developments. The book presents at the same time "a confrontation of views on the Slovak past and present, as there are among the Slovak contributors two generations and two schools of thought," as the editor of the book stressed. The Slovak World Congress published also a German publication: Der Weltkongress der Slowaken - Seine Ziele und sein Program (Koln, 1973) 2 for informing political and cultural circles in Western Europe about the aims and goals of Slovaks abroad in their struggle for freedom and independence of Slovakia. In view of the fact that the fate of the peoples of Central Europe was decided in modern history by the Great Powers, it is by means of informing Western political and cultural circles about the national aspirations of the Slovak people that Slovaks abroad could help their native country to regain freedom and democracy. The above publications are destined to serve this aim, but they are hopefully only the beginning of a series of books by Slovak intellectuals in the democratic countries of the Western hemisphere. At the Third General Meeting of the Slovak World Congress, a survey of Slovaks active in various scientific fields, prepared by this writer, would indicate that at the present time there is a considerable number of scientists whose writings and activities have not yet been absorbed in this struggle for international recognition of political and cultural identity of the Slovak people. When this intellectual force will also be integrated into the activities for recognition of equal political and cultural rights of the Slovak people with other civilized nations, Slovaks abroad will remedy to a great degree the lack of communication between Slovakia and the Western countries, which has been caused by the policy of the regimes imposed on the Slovak people since 1945 by foreign powers. 2) For details see Book reviews. � SLOVAKIA 63 Slovaks Abroad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle /or Freed om J. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D. National struggles for emancipation from foreign rule were fought in East Central Europe for more than a century on two fronts: at home, and by emigres abroad. During the first World War and again during the Second World War, leading Western Powers gave to various emigre groups formal recognition to become the official representatives of their native countries. In so doing, they helped to establish a tradition which, in time of political oppression, assigns to emigres the role of interpreters of the national aspirations of the people in their country of origin. Slovakia is one of the Central European countries in which this tradition has played an important role. At the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced. Political developments in Slovakia after the Second World War brought disappointment even to those who desired the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia and favored Soviet expansion in Central Europe. The introduction of a rigid centralism instead of the promised autonomy, the ruthless replacement of parliamentary democracy by the Stalinist system, political and religious persecution, economic discrimination and prohibition of contacts with Western countries, could not leave Slovaks abroad indifferent to the fate of the Slovak people. American Slovaks together with Slovaks in other Western countries, strengthened by thousands of political emigres as well as by those who were deceived in their attempts at co-operation with the Communists, resumed the role of interpreters of the �64 SLOVAKIA aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom, democracy and independence . In 1968 when the attempts to reform the political and economic system imposed on Slovakia by Moscow and Prague failed and "socialism with human face" was crushed under the tanks of the Warsaw Pact military forces, a new wave of Slovak emigrants found refuge in Western countries. This new situation prompted Slovaks abroad to rally their forces for intensified political and cultural activities within the framework of the Slovak World Congress, founded in the City of New York in June 1970. The aims and goals of the Congress were defined as follows: "Slovaks living throughout the entire world, many of whom were born in the United States and elsewhere, accept as a moral duty the necessity to unite in the struggle for the natural rights of the Slovak nation and for the complete freedom in the determinatio n of its destinies. We consider it our obligation to present to the world a true picture of the life and aspirations of the Slovak nation for a free and democratic way of life. Today we are more acutely aware of this duty in view of the fact that the regime which has been forced upon the Slovak nation is opposed to the national traditions of Slovakia and the country is occupied by the military forces of a foreign Great Power. Therefore, in view of the foregoing: We subscribe to the traditional values of Slovak history which have promoted the re-birth of our nation, its growth and its acceptance in western civilization among cultured nations; We contend that the Slovak question is an international problem and therefore we request that international justice be done Slovakia, justice that would be expressed in full democratic statehood; We take a positive attitude towards the process of integration in Europe and we demand that the Slovak nation be given the right to participate freely and directly in this process. �SLOVAKIA 65 We desire and hope that the situation in Central and Eastern Europe will change so that there will no longer be any obstacle towards establishing and maintaining cultural exchanges between the Slovaks at home and abroad which present conditions in Slovakia either make completely impossible, or allow only in a restricted sense." Among the main tasks of the Slovak World Congress are the activities aiming at acquainting the Western world with the history, culture and the present political situation in Slovakia. The Congress fulfills this task through the activities of its individual and constitutional members and their press. Some of the best known authors of books on Slovakia and political scientists and historians are leading figures of the Congress. The institutional members, mostly large Slovak organizations, help to fulfill this role in their press and, publishing activities, by memoranda and so on. Three publications by the Congress are destined to achieve the same aim. Before the Second General Meeting of the Congress in Toronto in 1971, the Slovak World Congress published its first publication: Slovakia - Historical and Cultural Background (Toronto, 1971). Two authors, Prof. J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, outlined in concise chapters the historical and cultural developments in Slovakia since the appearance of Slovaks in Central Europe in order to correct many misconceptions about the Slovak political and cultural history. The book gives, however, only basic information and, therefore, to fill the gap in presenting Slovakia to the West, the Congress organized a Conference on Slovakia, and the papers which were delivered at the Conference by more than 20 scholars were published in the volume: Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973).1 The aim of this book - as expressed in the Preface by S. B. Roman - is "to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-operation and only if each recognize the equal rights to independence that each has." 1) For evaluation of the book see Book reviews. �66 SLOVAKIA The book is divided into four parts which deal with Slovak national philosophy; Slovak politics in the 19th and 20th centuries; the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors, and with the attitude of Slovaks abroad towards Slovakia. All the authors, of whom four are of non-Slovak origin, examined in a scholarly manner Slovak political and cultural developments. The book presents at the same time "a confrontation of views on the Slovak past and present, as there are among the Slovak contributors two generations and two schools of thought," as the editor of the book stressed. The Slovak World Congress published also a German publication: Der Weltkongress der Slowaken - Seine Ziele und sein Program (Koln, 1973) 2 for informing political and cultural circles in Western Europe about the aims and goals of Slovaks abroad in their struggle for freedom and independence of Slovakia. In view of the fact that the fate of the peoples of Central Europe was decided in modern history by the Great Powers, it is by means of informing Western political and cultural circles about the national aspirations of the Slovak people that Slovaks abroad could help their native country to regain freedom and democracy. The above publications are destined to serve this aim, but they are hopefully only the beginning of a series of books by Slovak intellectuals in the democratic countries of the Western hemisphere. At the Third General Meeting of the Slovak World Congress, a survey of Slovaks active in various scientific fields, prepared by this writer, would indicate that at the present time there is a considerable number of scientists whose writings and activities have not yet been absorbed in this struggle for international recognition of political and cultural identity of the Slovak people. When this intellectual force will also be integrated into the activities for recognition of equal political and cultural rights of the Slovak people with other civilized nations, Slovaks abroad will remedy to a great degree the lack of communication between Slovakia and the Western countries, which has been caused by the policy of the regimes imposed on the Slovak people since 1945 by foreign powers. 2) For details see Book reviews. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 63 Slovaks Abroad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle /or Freed om J. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D. National struggles for emancipation from foreign rule were fought in East Central Europe for more than a century on two fronts: at home, and by emigres abroad. During the first World War and again during the Second World War, leading Western Powers gave to various emigre groups formal recognition to become the official representatives of their native countries. In so doing, they helped to establish a tradition which, in time of political oppression, assigns to emigres the role of interpreters of the national aspirations of the people in their country of origin. Slovakia is one of the Central European countries in which this tradition has played an important role. At the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced. Political developments in Slovakia after the Second World War brought disappointment even to those who desired the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia and favored Soviet expansion in Central Europe. The introduction of a rigid centralism instead of the promised autonomy, the ruthless replacement of parliamentary democracy by the Stalinist system, political and religious persecution, economic discrimination and prohibition of contacts with Western countries, could not leave Slovaks abroad indifferent to the fate of the Slovak people. American Slovaks together with Slovaks in other Western countries, strengthened by thousands of political emigres as well as by those who were deceived in their attempts at co-operation with the Communists, resumed the role of interpreters of the 64 SLOVAKIA aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom, democracy and independence . In 1968 when the attempts to reform the political and economic system imposed on Slovakia by Moscow and Prague failed and "socialism with human face" was crushed under the tanks of the Warsaw Pact military forces, a new wave of Slovak emigrants found refuge in Western countries. This new situation prompted Slovaks abroad to rally their forces for intensified political and cultural activities within the framework of the Slovak World Congress, founded in the City of New York in June 1970. The aims and goals of the Congress were defined as follows: "Slovaks living throughout the entire world, many of whom were born in the United States and elsewhere, accept as a moral duty the necessity to unite in the struggle for the natural rights of the Slovak nation and for the complete freedom in the determinatio n of its destinies. We consider it our obligation to present to the world a true picture of the life and aspirations of the Slovak nation for a free and democratic way of life. Today we are more acutely aware of this duty in view of the fact that the regime which has been forced upon the Slovak nation is opposed to the national traditions of Slovakia and the country is occupied by the military forces of a foreign Great Power. Therefore, in view of the foregoing: We subscribe to the traditional values of Slovak history which have promoted the re-birth of our nation, its growth and its acceptance in western civilization among cultured nations; We contend that the Slovak question is an international problem and therefore we request that international justice be done Slovakia, justice that would be expressed in full democratic statehood; We take a positive attitude towards the process of integration in Europe and we demand that the Slovak nation be given the right to participate freely and directly in this process. SLOVAKIA 65 We desire and hope that the situation in Central and Eastern Europe will change so that there will no longer be any obstacle towards establishing and maintaining cultural exchanges between the Slovaks at home and abroad which present conditions in Slovakia either make completely impossible, or allow only in a restricted sense." Among the main tasks of the Slovak World Congress are the activities aiming at acquainting the Western world with the history, culture and the present political situation in Slovakia. The Congress fulfills this task through the activities of its individual and constitutional members and their press. Some of the best known authors of books on Slovakia and political scientists and historians are leading figures of the Congress. The institutional members, mostly large Slovak organizations, help to fulfill this role in their press and, publishing activities, by memoranda and so on. Three publications by the Congress are destined to achieve the same aim. Before the Second General Meeting of the Congress in Toronto in 1971, the Slovak World Congress published its first publication: Slovakia - Historical and Cultural Background (Toronto, 1971). Two authors, Prof. J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, outlined in concise chapters the historical and cultural developments in Slovakia since the appearance of Slovaks in Central Europe in order to correct many misconceptions about the Slovak political and cultural history. The book gives, however, only basic information and, therefore, to fill the gap in presenting Slovakia to the West, the Congress organized a Conference on Slovakia, and the papers which were delivered at the Conference by more than 20 scholars were published in the volume: Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973).1 The aim of this book - as expressed in the Preface by S. B. Roman - is "to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-operation and only if each recognize the equal rights to independence that each has." 1) For evaluation of the book see Book reviews. 66 SLOVAKIA The book is divided into four parts which deal with Slovak national philosophy; Slovak politics in the 19th and 20th centuries; the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors, and with the attitude of Slovaks abroad towards Slovakia. All the authors, of whom four are of non-Slovak origin, examined in a scholarly manner Slovak political and cultural developments. The book presents at the same time "a confrontation of views on the Slovak past and present, as there are among the Slovak contributors two generations and two schools of thought," as the editor of the book stressed. The Slovak World Congress published also a German publication: Der Weltkongress der Slowaken - Seine Ziele und sein Program (Koln, 1973) 2 for informing political and cultural circles in Western Europe about the aims and goals of Slovaks abroad in their struggle for freedom and independence of Slovakia. In view of the fact that the fate of the peoples of Central Europe was decided in modern history by the Great Powers, it is by means of informing Western political and cultural circles about the national aspirations of the Slovak people that Slovaks abroad could help their native country to regain freedom and democracy. The above publications are destined to serve this aim, but they are hopefully only the beginning of a series of books by Slovak intellectuals in the democratic countries of the Western hemisphere. At the Third General Meeting of the Slovak World Congress, a survey of Slovaks active in various scientific fields, prepared by this writer, would indicate that at the present time there is a considerable number of scientists whose writings and activities have not yet been absorbed in this struggle for international recognition of political and cultural identity of the Slovak people. When this intellectual force will also be integrated into the activities for recognition of equal political and cultural rights of the Slovak people with other civilized nations, Slovaks abroad will remedy to a great degree the lack of communication between Slovakia and the Western countries, which has been caused by the policy of the regimes imposed on the Slovak people since 1945 by foreign powers. 2) For details see Book reviews.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovaks Abroad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle for Freedom Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 63-66 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/a69c481a67fc36517452bab3674963dd.pdf 564073c57c0039e40b17f4e6621fbcd6 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 151 Scientific Literature by Slovaks Abroad* J. M. Ki r s c h b au m In the three waves of emigres who left Slovakia since the end of the Second World War, there have been many more scientists and a greater number of books published from various scientific fields than is generally known. The Slovak press abroad, including almanacs and kalendars, paid attention mostly to books, essays and articles which deal with humanities and social sciences or, in other words, with history, political science, philology, philosophy, th::ology, and so on. The vast field of applied science usually escaped the attention of the Slovak press abroad, except for the names and works of some scientists whose participation in international congresses or the results of their research were recorded on the pages of Slovak newpapers. Sometimes, the Slovak press, including periodicals, ignored even works from the field of history and political science if they dealt with Slovakia only indirectly. For instance, a successful book by Dr. Stefan Osusky, The Way of the Free , (New York, 1951), which was published also in Italian and Japanese translations, was never reviewed in Slovak publications. Another interesting book, The United States and Central Eastern Europe, by Prof. V. Mamatey (Princeton University Press, 1957), and his essay on Woodrow Wilson's policy, did not receive the attention they deserved. A number of books by Prof. Eugen Lobl, published in German and English, also remained known only to a limited number of Slovak intellectuals abroad, even though they attracted the attention of scholarly publications and political circles in Europe and on the American Continent. Theological and historical writings by Msgr. Joseph Tomko, well received • A summary of a paper delivered at the General Meeting of th e Slovak World Congress on June 28, 1973 in Chicago, Ill. �152 SLOVAKIA by critics in Europe, are also much less known among Slovaks than they deserve. The responsibility for the fact that scientific literature by Slovaks abroad is unknown, quite often to Slovaks themselves, lies in the first place in the lack of any organization of Slovak scientists and cultural workers . The Association of Slovak Writers and Artists undoubtedly deserves recognition for keeping alive Slovak literature abroad in one of the most crucial periods of Slovak literary life. The members of the Association are, however, mostly poets, writers and authors of books from political and literary history. The Slovak Institute in Cleveland and Rome performs the meritorious function of a library, and publishes especially in the field of humanities or belles lettres. Since scientists from the vast field of applied sciences remained unorganized, they have no publication which would record the results of their research or publish reviews of their writings. Two bibliographies - Slovak Bibliography Abroad 1945-1965, compiled by Prof. M. Lacko, and Literdrny Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, edited and published by Dr. J. Pauco in 1967 and 1968, contain some basic information on Slovak scientists and their work abroad. They do not, however, give an exhaustive picture either of Slovaks active in various scientific disciplines or of their published writings. Besides, since 1967, when the Bibliography and Almanachs were published, the ranks of Slovak scientists were enlarged not only by those who left Slovakia in 1968 and became active in academic life or scientific research, but also by a new generation of graduates of American, European and South American universities who made science their field of professional activity. The largest number of books, essays and articles in foreign languages by Slovaks abroad, covers the disciplines which belong to the category of the humanities and the social sciences. It is especially history, political science, literary history and philology which were cultivated by Slovak intellectuals abroad and attracted the attention of the Slovak press in a greater degree that other disciplines. While in 1945 there was hardly a book in foreign languages on Slovakia and the Slovaks, today there are a number of �SLOVAKIA 153 book, essays and articles in foreign language periodicals which have been accepted by critics in Europe as well as on the American Continent as "standard works ." The names of the authors in this field are better known, as I mentioned, than the names of scientists in other fields. In alphabetical order, we should mention at least those who published their writings in book form. In History : s. B. Bue, V. Bucko, J . Cieker, J . Cincik, K . c ulen, F. t:>urcansky, M. St. t:>urica, A. Grebert, s. Glejdura, F . Hrobak, F. Hrusovsky, J.M. Kirschbaum, M. Lacko, J . Lettrich, A. Macek, V. Mamatey, J. A. Mikus, s. Nahalka, J. Pauco, M. Stolarik, J. Tomko, F. Vnuk, G. Woytko and others. In Literary History and Linguistics: Prof. H . Bartek, J.M. Kirschbaum, J . Konus, I. Kruzliak, M. Lacko, J. Lihani, L. Luzbetak, s. Meciar, J. Mest'ancik, A. Pir, c. Potocek, J. Rekem, J. Vavrovic, F. Vnuk, J. E. Bor-Zat'ko. In Social Sciences : F. t:>urcansky, s. Glejdura, J. M. Kirschbaum, E . Lobl, J. Mikus, s. Polakovic, s. Osusky, J. Rudinsky, J. Stasko, James Zat'ko, T. G. Zubek. All these names, except for Luzbetak who published essays on the language of the residents of New Guinea, are generally known to the Slovak press. As far as Prof. M. Novak is concerned, we should perhaps mention that this author published a dozen books from the field of theology, philosophy and other social sciences, but he became well known to Slovaks a few years ago when he wrote about his Slovak origin in his successful book: The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics. There is no doubt that as time passes, we will have other similar cases among American Slovaks. The number of published books, essays and articles of the above-mentioned authors would amount to hundreds, the major part of which has been recorded in L9-cko 's Bibliography and in the two issues of the Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike. Books and essays of some authors were recorded, however, also in bibliographies published in Germany, the United States and Canada.* Bibliographies * Daniel Dorotich, A Bibliography of Canadian Slavist s, University of Saskatchewan (1972) ; Sudosteuropa Bibliographie (Munich, 1934); A. Gregorowich, Canadian Ethnic Bibliography (Toronto, 1972). �154 SLOVAKIA published in Slovakia - and there is a considerable number of them - did not, of course, mention books by Slovaks abroad except for one or two authors. Scientific works from the field of philosophy, theology, and religion in the broad sense of the word follows in the number of published books and articles on history and the social sciences. The important center in this respect has been Rome where a great number of foreign language studies were published by professors of universities in tha eternal city. Among the best known are Prof. Daniel Foltin, M. Lacko, Felix Litva, s . Nahalka, V. Pavlovsky, s . Porubcan, F . skoda, s . Smrzik, J. Tomko, F. Zeman and others. Rome will be remembered also for the series of Slovak Studi es published by the Slovak Institute and edited by some of the above mentioned authors. On the American Continent we have to mention especially the writings by the well-known theologian, Prof. Jaroslav Pelikan, J. Dieska, I:. Gleiman, K. Murin who published some of his studies also in France, Prof. F. Zeman, A. Zan, T. G. Zubek and Prof. J . Papin who became known as the editor of two volumes of papers delivered by prominent theologians at a symposium organized at Villanova University. The least known among Slovak intellectuals abroad remained those active in applied science even though r, number of Slovak scientists excelled in this field. The Bibliography compiled by Prof. Lacko recorded about 300 items published before 1965 in book form or as contributions to scientific periodicals and symposia. The Bibliography gives the names only of twenty authors. There is no doubt that already before 1965 and since that time, many more Slave.ks made their nam~ in these disciplines, especially in the United States, Canada and Europe. An interesting example in this respect is the successful book: Reliability Theory and Practice by Igor Bazovsky, published in Prentice-Hall Spaca Technology series in 1962. The book was published the same year in Japan, in 1965 in the Soviet Union, in 1966 in France, and in 1969 in Italy. Translations into other languages are in course of preparation. Bazovsky also published a number of studies in scientific periodicals and delivered papers at international conferences and congresses. Since 1963, he has been lecturing on Reliability Engineering at the University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona. �SLOVAKIA 155 Another example of a successful Slovak scientist hardly known among Slovaks is Prof. John P. Zubek (born in Slovakia in 1925), who made quite an impressive contribution in psychology as a professor, researcher and author of many academic papers. In cooperation with Peter A. Solberg, Prof. Zubek published two books : Doukhobors at War (1952) and Human Development (1954). His list of published scholarly articles and contributions to scientific periodicals and encyclopedias which he prepared alone or in cooperation with known scientists, contains 49 items. Together with T. J. Meyers, he has prepared a symposium: Censory Deprivation recently published in New York. He came to Canada at the age of 5 and was educated first at the University of British Columbia and later at the University of Toronto and at John Hopkins University . From 19G) he held academic positions at McGill University and the University of Manitoba as professor and chairman of the Department of Psychology. No doubt there are other similar cases. The number of Slovak scientists active in various disciplines from astronomy to nuclear physics who were not recorded by Slovak periodicals and newspapers would be surprising. Among those who are well-known through the Slovak press we have to mention Prof. A. Bugan, Prof. G. Bakos, Dr. J. Barboriak, Prof. J . Fabianek, G. Lazarcik, Prof. Julius Rudinsky, Prof. Otto , Anna Sirek, Prof. A. iitnak and others. The writings and names of many others remained unnoticed by the Slovak press even though they have been recognized by international scientific authorities. Writings by Slovak scientists active in applied science were mostly published in English, French, German and Swedish (Milan J. Simak) in scientific periodicals and occasionally also in book form. This survey does not aim, of course, at the evaluation of scientific works by Slovaks abroad. The fact that many of them were published in academic periodicals of wellknown universities, scientific institutions, or were delivered at international congresses and published in symposia, is perhaps sufficient proof that they satisfied scientific criteria. �156 SLOVAKIA Works by several Slovak authors were, however, reviewed and favorably evaluated also by foreign critics in the United States and Europe, and the list of books of some Slovak writers is impressive. Prof. Michael Novak, whom it he senior class at Stanford voted in 1967 one of the three most outstanding professors and in 1972 "distinguished lecturer" at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the best known American Slovak author. He also taught at Harvard University epistemology and ethics. The list of his publications reads as follows: BOOKS .A New Generation: American and Catholic (Herder & Herder: February, 1964). A collection of essays on American Catholicism. The Open Church: Vatican II: Act II (Macmillan: May, 1964) . The Experience of Marriage (Macmillan: Oct., 1964). Editor. Belief and Unbelief (Macmillan: 1965). Paperback edition published by New American Library, 1967. There is also a German edition. The Rise of Unmeltable Ethnics (Macmillan, 1972). A Book of Elements, with Karen Laub-Novak (Herder & Herder, 1972) . A Time to Build (Macmillan, 1967). American Philosophy and the Future (editor.). To appear. (Scribner's, 1968). ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN, FLIGHT OF THE DOVE: An Invitation to Religious Studies (Harper and Row, 1971) . POLITICS: Realism and Imagination (Herder & Herder, 1971) . Mr. Novak's books have appeared in overseas editions since 1962: France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain and England. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS Spirit as Inquiry ed. Frederick E . Crowe; Studies in honor of Bernard Lonergan, S. J. "Lonergan's Starting Place; The Performance of Asking Questions," pp. 82-101. Also in Continuum, Winter, 1965. ·"God in the Colleges: The Dehumanization of the University," in The New Student Left: An Anthology, Ed. by Mitchell Cohen and Dennis Hale, Beacon Press, Boston: 1966, pp. 258-270. Also in American Colloquy, Ed. by Leonard Liek and David Hawke, Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis: 1963, pp. 690-702. Reprinted also in Commitment Vol. 1, 4 (Nov. 22, 1966) , pp. 1-7. ·"Moral Society and Immoral Man," in Church-State Relations in Ec1imenical Prospective. Ed. by Elwyn A. Smith, Duquesne University Press, Pittsburgh: 1966, pp. 92-109. ·"The New Nuns," (abridged version) in The New Nuns, ed. by Sister �SLOVAKIA 157 M. Charles Borromeo, C.S.C., New American Library, New York : 1967, pp. 13-30. "The Christian and the Atheist,"· in The Meaning of the Death of GOlt , ed. by Berna rd Murchland, Random House, New York: 1937. MONOGRAPHS Editor of series of booklets Men Who Make the Council (portra its of Vatican II leaders), University of Notre Dame Press, 1964. A Lay View of the World We L ive I n; Reflections on the I nstitutional Church; The Gospels and the World. Chicago: Mundelein College, Sisters of the BVM, 1966, 67 pages. Vi etnam: Crisis of Conscience. New York : Association Press, Behrman House, and Herder & Herder; in collaboration with Robert McAfce Brown and Abraham Heschcl, 1967. Th e Secdar Saint, DeYoung lectures given at the Illinois State Univer- sity March 29 -31, 1967; to appear. " Toward a Positive Sexual Morality," in What Catholics Thi;ik About Birth Control, ed. by William Birmingham, Signet, 1964, pp. 109-128. "The Ever-Changi ng, Fallible Church" in Generation of the Third Eye, ed. by Daniel Callahan, Sheed and Ward : 1965, pp. 162-172. "Diversity of Structures and Freedom Within Structures of th e Church," in Concilium Dogma Vol. 1 The Church and Mankind, ed. by Edward Schi!lebeecky, O.P., Paulist Press: 1964, pp. 103-113. "The Break wit h Platonic Religion," The Church in the World , ed . by J ohn Deedey, 1965. Prof. Eugene Lobl (also Loe bl), who teaches economics at Vassar College, has an interesting career behind him in Government service of Czecho-Slovakia which ended in his five years solitary confinement by the Communist regime . After the Soviet invasion he left Slovakia and lectured in Germany, and in the United States at Princeton and som e twenty American universities before he settled at Vassar College, where he teaches "Critique of Theory and Practic~ of Marxist Thought," "Man and Society" and "Humanistic Economics." Among his writings published in exile are the following : In 1967, Dr. Lobl's manuscript, prepared while in soli tary confinement, was published under the title, M ental Worlc as the Re .1! Source of Wealth in: Czecho-Slovakia by the Academy of Sci ence. In Germany, by Econ Verlag, Dilsseldorf under the title Geistige Arbeit die wahre Quelle des Reichtums. He also published an analysis of the Soviet trials. In Czecho-Slovakia, the book was published shortly before the Soviet inva ::ion and became a bestseller. It has been translated and published in: AUSTRIA by Europa Verlag under the title: Die Revolution Rehabilitiert ihre Kinder (The Revolution Reh abilitates its Children). �158 SLOVAKIA BRAZIL, by Editora Laudes, Rio de Janeiro. FRANCE, by Editions Stock under the title: Proces ii Prague. GREAT BRITAIN, by Elek Publishing Company under the title: Sentenced and Tried. ITALY, by Vallecchi Editore under the titI,e, Testimonianza sui processo al centoro do conspirazione antistate capeggiatto da Rudolf Slansky. JAPAN, by Tuttle. UNITED STATES, by Grove Press under the title, Stalinism in Prague, The Loebl Story. Further, an analysis of the background of the Prague spring has been published in : Austria ·a nd Germany by Europa Verlag under the title : Die Intellectualle Revolution. It was also published in Izrael. Dr. Lobl's book, dealing with the problems of the student movement in the United States in the sixties, and exposing their philosophical shortcoming as the roots of the problems of contemporary society, has been published in: AUSTRIA and GERMANY by Econ Verlag, Diisseldorf under the title: Gesprache mit den Ratlosen. GREAT BRITAIN, by Allen and Unwin under the title: Conversations with the Bewildered. UNITED STATES, by Schenkman in Bo3ton und er the same title. An analysis and confrontation of theory and practice of applied Marxism has been published in: GERMANY, by Econ Verlag under the title : Marxismus Wegweiser und Irrweg (Marxism the Signpost and Dead End ). His manuscript on "A Few Blades of Grass," a recollection is being edited for publishing in 1974. Economics and Our Future, a critique of contemporary economics and an outline for a humanistic orientation of the economy, is in print in Germany. The English manuscript is being edited. Prof. Msgr. Jozef Tomko, who alternatively taught at the International University of Social Sciences, tlB Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana and Diplomatic Academy in Rome, is foremost Slovak scholar in Rome. His works in Latin and German were reviewed in several European countries. He also published in Slovak. Among his foreign language works we should mention the following: BOOKS De inhabitatione Spiritus Sancti ir anima iusti secundum B. Petrum de Tarantasia, Roma, 1951. Il rapporto di larnro in Cecoslovacchia negii anni 1945-1954, Roma, 1956. Die Errichtung der Diozesen Zips, Neusohl und Rosenau (1776) und da s konigliche Patronatsrecht in Ungarn, Wien, Herder, 1968. It w.1s �SLOVAKIA 159 reviewed in Archiv fur katholisches Kirchenrecht, Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie, Theol.-prakt. Quartalschrift Linz, Archiv fur Kirchenrecht, Sudostdeutsches Archiv, Bollettino bibliografico internazionale, Bibliographica de Salamanca. De Litteris Apostolicis "Matrimonia mixta," Napoli, D'Auria , 1970. Matrimoni misti, Napoli, Edizioni Dehoniane, 1971. The book was reviewed in La Civilta Cattolica, Apollinaris, La Famiglia, Rassegna di teologia, L'Osservatore Romano, A1;venire, La lib erte (Fribourg), Theologische Revue, Catholic Herald (London), etc. Svetlo narodov (The Light of Nations), Rome, 1972. Blazenstva, (Rome, 1973). Krest'an a svet (Christian and the World), Rome, 1974. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS EDITED IN COOPERATION WITH OTHER AUTHORS "Aspetti teologici della problematica dei matrimoni misti," in La collegialita episcopale per it futuro della Chiesa, Firenze, Valleccni, 1969, pp. 445-479. "II matrimonio dei battezzati non credenti," in Matrimonio famiglia e diverzio, Napoli, Edizioni Dehoniane, 1971 (Second edition 1973) , pp. 347-367. "De Sacra Congregatione pro Doctrina fidei," in Adnotationes Professorum, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Cursus renovationis canonicae, Roma, 1971, pp. 411-426. "De causis circa fidei privilegium," in Adnotationes Professorum, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Rome, 1972, pp. 379-406. ARTICLES "Celebrazioni rnmana in onore degli Apostoli degli Slavi," Rivista diocesana di Roma, 1963, pp. 634-637. "Historicko-pravna problematika a pramene k dejinam slovenskych diecez," Most 9 (1962), pp. 27-36. "Cirkevna pravomoc sv. Stefana, uhorskeho kral'a," Most 11 (1964), pp. 33-48. "La nuova disciplina dei matrimoni misti," L'Osservatore Romano, 1. maggio 1970. "S. Congregatio pro doctrina fidei, Agendi ratio in doctrinarum examine," Monitor Ecclesiasticus, 96 (1971). "La riforma del Sant' Uffizio," Rassegna di teologia 12 (1971) 4, pp. 209-215. "11 nuovo ve·golamento per l'esame delle dottrine," Vita consacrata 7 (1971) 5, pp. 404-409. Contributions in Lexikon fur Theologie and Kirche and Bibliographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Sudosteuropas (Mtinchen, 1973: L. Bartholomaeides). � SLOVAKIA 151 Scientific Literature by Slovaks Abroad* J. M. Ki r s c h b au m In the three waves of emigres who left Slovakia since the end of the Second World War, there have been many more scientists and a greater number of books published from various scientific fields than is generally known. The Slovak press abroad, including almanacs and kalendars, paid attention mostly to books, essays and articles which deal with humanities and social sciences or, in other words, with history, political science, philology, philosophy, th::ology, and so on. The vast field of applied science usually escaped the attention of the Slovak press abroad, except for the names and works of some scientists whose participation in international congresses or the results of their research were recorded on the pages of Slovak newpapers. Sometimes, the Slovak press, including periodicals, ignored even works from the field of history and political science if they dealt with Slovakia only indirectly. For instance, a successful book by Dr. Stefan Osusky, The Way of the Free , (New York, 1951), which was published also in Italian and Japanese translations, was never reviewed in Slovak publications. Another interesting book, The United States and Central Eastern Europe, by Prof. V. Mamatey (Princeton University Press, 1957), and his essay on Woodrow Wilson's policy, did not receive the attention they deserved. A number of books by Prof. Eugen Lobl, published in German and English, also remained known only to a limited number of Slovak intellectuals abroad, even though they attracted the attention of scholarly publications and political circles in Europe and on the American Continent. Theological and historical writings by Msgr. Joseph Tomko, well received • A summary of a paper delivered at the General Meeting of th e Slovak World Congress on June 28, 1973 in Chicago, Ill. �152 SLOVAKIA by critics in Europe, are also much less known among Slovaks than they deserve. The responsibility for the fact that scientific literature by Slovaks abroad is unknown, quite often to Slovaks themselves, lies in the first place in the lack of any organization of Slovak scientists and cultural workers . The Association of Slovak Writers and Artists undoubtedly deserves recognition for keeping alive Slovak literature abroad in one of the most crucial periods of Slovak literary life. The members of the Association are, however, mostly poets, writers and authors of books from political and literary history. The Slovak Institute in Cleveland and Rome performs the meritorious function of a library, and publishes especially in the field of humanities or belles lettres. Since scientists from the vast field of applied sciences remained unorganized, they have no publication which would record the results of their research or publish reviews of their writings. Two bibliographies - Slovak Bibliography Abroad 1945-1965, compiled by Prof. M. Lacko, and Literdrny Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, edited and published by Dr. J. Pauco in 1967 and 1968, contain some basic information on Slovak scientists and their work abroad. They do not, however, give an exhaustive picture either of Slovaks active in various scientific disciplines or of their published writings. Besides, since 1967, when the Bibliography and Almanachs were published, the ranks of Slovak scientists were enlarged not only by those who left Slovakia in 1968 and became active in academic life or scientific research, but also by a new generation of graduates of American, European and South American universities who made science their field of professional activity. The largest number of books, essays and articles in foreign languages by Slovaks abroad, covers the disciplines which belong to the category of the humanities and the social sciences. It is especially history, political science, literary history and philology which were cultivated by Slovak intellectuals abroad and attracted the attention of the Slovak press in a greater degree that other disciplines. While in 1945 there was hardly a book in foreign languages on Slovakia and the Slovaks, today there are a number of �SLOVAKIA 153 book, essays and articles in foreign language periodicals which have been accepted by critics in Europe as well as on the American Continent as "standard works ." The names of the authors in this field are better known, as I mentioned, than the names of scientists in other fields. In alphabetical order, we should mention at least those who published their writings in book form. In History : s. B. Bue, V. Bucko, J . Cieker, J . Cincik, K . c ulen, F. t:>urcansky, M. St. t:>urica, A. Grebert, s. Glejdura, F . Hrobak, F. Hrusovsky, J.M. Kirschbaum, M. Lacko, J . Lettrich, A. Macek, V. Mamatey, J. A. Mikus, s. Nahalka, J. Pauco, M. Stolarik, J. Tomko, F. Vnuk, G. Woytko and others. In Literary History and Linguistics: Prof. H . Bartek, J.M. Kirschbaum, J . Konus, I. Kruzliak, M. Lacko, J. Lihani, L. Luzbetak, s. Meciar, J. Mest'ancik, A. Pir, c. Potocek, J. Rekem, J. Vavrovic, F. Vnuk, J. E. Bor-Zat'ko. In Social Sciences : F. t:>urcansky, s. Glejdura, J. M. Kirschbaum, E . Lobl, J. Mikus, s. Polakovic, s. Osusky, J. Rudinsky, J. Stasko, James Zat'ko, T. G. Zubek. All these names, except for Luzbetak who published essays on the language of the residents of New Guinea, are generally known to the Slovak press. As far as Prof. M. Novak is concerned, we should perhaps mention that this author published a dozen books from the field of theology, philosophy and other social sciences, but he became well known to Slovaks a few years ago when he wrote about his Slovak origin in his successful book: The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics. There is no doubt that as time passes, we will have other similar cases among American Slovaks. The number of published books, essays and articles of the above-mentioned authors would amount to hundreds, the major part of which has been recorded in L9-cko 's Bibliography and in the two issues of the Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike. Books and essays of some authors were recorded, however, also in bibliographies published in Germany, the United States and Canada.* Bibliographies * Daniel Dorotich, A Bibliography of Canadian Slavist s, University of Saskatchewan (1972) ; Sudosteuropa Bibliographie (Munich, 1934); A. Gregorowich, Canadian Ethnic Bibliography (Toronto, 1972). �154 SLOVAKIA published in Slovakia - and there is a considerable number of them - did not, of course, mention books by Slovaks abroad except for one or two authors. Scientific works from the field of philosophy, theology, and religion in the broad sense of the word follows in the number of published books and articles on history and the social sciences. The important center in this respect has been Rome where a great number of foreign language studies were published by professors of universities in tha eternal city. Among the best known are Prof. Daniel Foltin, M. Lacko, Felix Litva, s . Nahalka, V. Pavlovsky, s . Porubcan, F . skoda, s . Smrzik, J. Tomko, F. Zeman and others. Rome will be remembered also for the series of Slovak Studi es published by the Slovak Institute and edited by some of the above mentioned authors. On the American Continent we have to mention especially the writings by the well-known theologian, Prof. Jaroslav Pelikan, J. Dieska, I:. Gleiman, K. Murin who published some of his studies also in France, Prof. F. Zeman, A. Zan, T. G. Zubek and Prof. J . Papin who became known as the editor of two volumes of papers delivered by prominent theologians at a symposium organized at Villanova University. The least known among Slovak intellectuals abroad remained those active in applied science even though r, number of Slovak scientists excelled in this field. The Bibliography compiled by Prof. Lacko recorded about 300 items published before 1965 in book form or as contributions to scientific periodicals and symposia. The Bibliography gives the names only of twenty authors. There is no doubt that already before 1965 and since that time, many more Slave.ks made their nam~ in these disciplines, especially in the United States, Canada and Europe. An interesting example in this respect is the successful book: Reliability Theory and Practice by Igor Bazovsky, published in Prentice-Hall Spaca Technology series in 1962. The book was published the same year in Japan, in 1965 in the Soviet Union, in 1966 in France, and in 1969 in Italy. Translations into other languages are in course of preparation. Bazovsky also published a number of studies in scientific periodicals and delivered papers at international conferences and congresses. Since 1963, he has been lecturing on Reliability Engineering at the University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona. �SLOVAKIA 155 Another example of a successful Slovak scientist hardly known among Slovaks is Prof. John P. Zubek (born in Slovakia in 1925), who made quite an impressive contribution in psychology as a professor, researcher and author of many academic papers. In cooperation with Peter A. Solberg, Prof. Zubek published two books : Doukhobors at War (1952) and Human Development (1954). His list of published scholarly articles and contributions to scientific periodicals and encyclopedias which he prepared alone or in cooperation with known scientists, contains 49 items. Together with T. J. Meyers, he has prepared a symposium: Censory Deprivation recently published in New York. He came to Canada at the age of 5 and was educated first at the University of British Columbia and later at the University of Toronto and at John Hopkins University . From 19G) he held academic positions at McGill University and the University of Manitoba as professor and chairman of the Department of Psychology. No doubt there are other similar cases. The number of Slovak scientists active in various disciplines from astronomy to nuclear physics who were not recorded by Slovak periodicals and newspapers would be surprising. Among those who are well-known through the Slovak press we have to mention Prof. A. Bugan, Prof. G. Bakos, Dr. J. Barboriak, Prof. J . Fabianek, G. Lazarcik, Prof. Julius Rudinsky, Prof. Otto , Anna Sirek, Prof. A. iitnak and others. The writings and names of many others remained unnoticed by the Slovak press even though they have been recognized by international scientific authorities. Writings by Slovak scientists active in applied science were mostly published in English, French, German and Swedish (Milan J. Simak) in scientific periodicals and occasionally also in book form. This survey does not aim, of course, at the evaluation of scientific works by Slovaks abroad. The fact that many of them were published in academic periodicals of wellknown universities, scientific institutions, or were delivered at international congresses and published in symposia, is perhaps sufficient proof that they satisfied scientific criteria. �156 SLOVAKIA Works by several Slovak authors were, however, reviewed and favorably evaluated also by foreign critics in the United States and Europe, and the list of books of some Slovak writers is impressive. Prof. Michael Novak, whom it he senior class at Stanford voted in 1967 one of the three most outstanding professors and in 1972 "distinguished lecturer" at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the best known American Slovak author. He also taught at Harvard University epistemology and ethics. The list of his publications reads as follows: BOOKS .A New Generation: American and Catholic (Herder & Herder: February, 1964). A collection of essays on American Catholicism. The Open Church: Vatican II: Act II (Macmillan: May, 1964) . The Experience of Marriage (Macmillan: Oct., 1964). Editor. Belief and Unbelief (Macmillan: 1965). Paperback edition published by New American Library, 1967. There is also a German edition. The Rise of Unmeltable Ethnics (Macmillan, 1972). A Book of Elements, with Karen Laub-Novak (Herder & Herder, 1972) . A Time to Build (Macmillan, 1967). American Philosophy and the Future (editor.). To appear. (Scribner's, 1968). ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN, FLIGHT OF THE DOVE: An Invitation to Religious Studies (Harper and Row, 1971) . POLITICS: Realism and Imagination (Herder & Herder, 1971) . Mr. Novak's books have appeared in overseas editions since 1962: France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain and England. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS Spirit as Inquiry ed. Frederick E . Crowe; Studies in honor of Bernard Lonergan, S. J. "Lonergan's Starting Place; The Performance of Asking Questions," pp. 82-101. Also in Continuum, Winter, 1965. ·"God in the Colleges: The Dehumanization of the University," in The New Student Left: An Anthology, Ed. by Mitchell Cohen and Dennis Hale, Beacon Press, Boston: 1966, pp. 258-270. Also in American Colloquy, Ed. by Leonard Liek and David Hawke, Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis: 1963, pp. 690-702. Reprinted also in Commitment Vol. 1, 4 (Nov. 22, 1966) , pp. 1-7. ·"Moral Society and Immoral Man," in Church-State Relations in Ec1imenical Prospective. Ed. by Elwyn A. Smith, Duquesne University Press, Pittsburgh: 1966, pp. 92-109. ·"The New Nuns," (abridged version) in The New Nuns, ed. by Sister �SLOVAKIA 157 M. Charles Borromeo, C.S.C., New American Library, New York : 1967, pp. 13-30. "The Christian and the Atheist,"· in The Meaning of the Death of GOlt , ed. by Berna rd Murchland, Random House, New York: 1937. MONOGRAPHS Editor of series of booklets Men Who Make the Council (portra its of Vatican II leaders), University of Notre Dame Press, 1964. A Lay View of the World We L ive I n; Reflections on the I nstitutional Church; The Gospels and the World. Chicago: Mundelein College, Sisters of the BVM, 1966, 67 pages. Vi etnam: Crisis of Conscience. New York : Association Press, Behrman House, and Herder & Herder; in collaboration with Robert McAfce Brown and Abraham Heschcl, 1967. Th e Secdar Saint, DeYoung lectures given at the Illinois State Univer- sity March 29 -31, 1967; to appear. " Toward a Positive Sexual Morality," in What Catholics Thi;ik About Birth Control, ed. by William Birmingham, Signet, 1964, pp. 109-128. "The Ever-Changi ng, Fallible Church" in Generation of the Third Eye, ed. by Daniel Callahan, Sheed and Ward : 1965, pp. 162-172. "Diversity of Structures and Freedom Within Structures of th e Church," in Concilium Dogma Vol. 1 The Church and Mankind, ed. by Edward Schi!lebeecky, O.P., Paulist Press: 1964, pp. 103-113. "The Break wit h Platonic Religion," The Church in the World , ed . by J ohn Deedey, 1965. Prof. Eugene Lobl (also Loe bl), who teaches economics at Vassar College, has an interesting career behind him in Government service of Czecho-Slovakia which ended in his five years solitary confinement by the Communist regime . After the Soviet invasion he left Slovakia and lectured in Germany, and in the United States at Princeton and som e twenty American universities before he settled at Vassar College, where he teaches "Critique of Theory and Practic~ of Marxist Thought," "Man and Society" and "Humanistic Economics." Among his writings published in exile are the following : In 1967, Dr. Lobl's manuscript, prepared while in soli tary confinement, was published under the title, M ental Worlc as the Re .1! Source of Wealth in: Czecho-Slovakia by the Academy of Sci ence. In Germany, by Econ Verlag, Dilsseldorf under the title Geistige Arbeit die wahre Quelle des Reichtums. He also published an analysis of the Soviet trials. In Czecho-Slovakia, the book was published shortly before the Soviet inva ::ion and became a bestseller. It has been translated and published in: AUSTRIA by Europa Verlag under the title: Die Revolution Rehabilitiert ihre Kinder (The Revolution Reh abilitates its Children). �158 SLOVAKIA BRAZIL, by Editora Laudes, Rio de Janeiro. FRANCE, by Editions Stock under the title: Proces ii Prague. GREAT BRITAIN, by Elek Publishing Company under the title: Sentenced and Tried. ITALY, by Vallecchi Editore under the titI,e, Testimonianza sui processo al centoro do conspirazione antistate capeggiatto da Rudolf Slansky. JAPAN, by Tuttle. UNITED STATES, by Grove Press under the title, Stalinism in Prague, The Loebl Story. Further, an analysis of the background of the Prague spring has been published in : Austria ·a nd Germany by Europa Verlag under the title : Die Intellectualle Revolution. It was also published in Izrael. Dr. Lobl's book, dealing with the problems of the student movement in the United States in the sixties, and exposing their philosophical shortcoming as the roots of the problems of contemporary society, has been published in: AUSTRIA and GERMANY by Econ Verlag, Diisseldorf under the title: Gesprache mit den Ratlosen. GREAT BRITAIN, by Allen and Unwin under the title: Conversations with the Bewildered. UNITED STATES, by Schenkman in Bo3ton und er the same title. An analysis and confrontation of theory and practice of applied Marxism has been published in: GERMANY, by Econ Verlag under the title : Marxismus Wegweiser und Irrweg (Marxism the Signpost and Dead End ). His manuscript on "A Few Blades of Grass," a recollection is being edited for publishing in 1974. Economics and Our Future, a critique of contemporary economics and an outline for a humanistic orientation of the economy, is in print in Germany. The English manuscript is being edited. Prof. Msgr. Jozef Tomko, who alternatively taught at the International University of Social Sciences, tlB Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana and Diplomatic Academy in Rome, is foremost Slovak scholar in Rome. His works in Latin and German were reviewed in several European countries. He also published in Slovak. Among his foreign language works we should mention the following: BOOKS De inhabitatione Spiritus Sancti ir anima iusti secundum B. Petrum de Tarantasia, Roma, 1951. Il rapporto di larnro in Cecoslovacchia negii anni 1945-1954, Roma, 1956. Die Errichtung der Diozesen Zips, Neusohl und Rosenau (1776) und da s konigliche Patronatsrecht in Ungarn, Wien, Herder, 1968. It w.1s �SLOVAKIA 159 reviewed in Archiv fur katholisches Kirchenrecht, Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie, Theol.-prakt. Quartalschrift Linz, Archiv fur Kirchenrecht, Sudostdeutsches Archiv, Bollettino bibliografico internazionale, Bibliographica de Salamanca. De Litteris Apostolicis "Matrimonia mixta," Napoli, D'Auria , 1970. Matrimoni misti, Napoli, Edizioni Dehoniane, 1971. The book was reviewed in La Civilta Cattolica, Apollinaris, La Famiglia, Rassegna di teologia, L'Osservatore Romano, A1;venire, La lib erte (Fribourg), Theologische Revue, Catholic Herald (London), etc. Svetlo narodov (The Light of Nations), Rome, 1972. Blazenstva, (Rome, 1973). Krest'an a svet (Christian and the World), Rome, 1974. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS EDITED IN COOPERATION WITH OTHER AUTHORS "Aspetti teologici della problematica dei matrimoni misti," in La collegialita episcopale per it futuro della Chiesa, Firenze, Valleccni, 1969, pp. 445-479. "II matrimonio dei battezzati non credenti," in Matrimonio famiglia e diverzio, Napoli, Edizioni Dehoniane, 1971 (Second edition 1973) , pp. 347-367. "De Sacra Congregatione pro Doctrina fidei," in Adnotationes Professorum, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Cursus renovationis canonicae, Roma, 1971, pp. 411-426. "De causis circa fidei privilegium," in Adnotationes Professorum, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Rome, 1972, pp. 379-406. ARTICLES "Celebrazioni rnmana in onore degli Apostoli degli Slavi," Rivista diocesana di Roma, 1963, pp. 634-637. "Historicko-pravna problematika a pramene k dejinam slovenskych diecez," Most 9 (1962), pp. 27-36. "Cirkevna pravomoc sv. Stefana, uhorskeho kral'a," Most 11 (1964), pp. 33-48. "La nuova disciplina dei matrimoni misti," L'Osservatore Romano, 1. maggio 1970. "S. Congregatio pro doctrina fidei, Agendi ratio in doctrinarum examine," Monitor Ecclesiasticus, 96 (1971). "La riforma del Sant' Uffizio," Rassegna di teologia 12 (1971) 4, pp. 209-215. "11 nuovo ve·golamento per l'esame delle dottrine," Vita consacrata 7 (1971) 5, pp. 404-409. Contributions in Lexikon fur Theologie and Kirche and Bibliographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Sudosteuropas (Mtinchen, 1973: L. Bartholomaeides). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 151 Scientific Literature by Slovaks Abroad* J. M. Ki r s c h b au m In the three waves of emigres who left Slovakia since the end of the Second World War, there have been many more scientists and a greater number of books published from various scientific fields than is generally known. The Slovak press abroad, including almanacs and kalendars, paid attention mostly to books, essays and articles which deal with humanities and social sciences or, in other words, with history, political science, philology, philosophy, th::ology, and so on. The vast field of applied science usually escaped the attention of the Slovak press abroad, except for the names and works of some scientists whose participation in international congresses or the results of their research were recorded on the pages of Slovak newpapers. Sometimes, the Slovak press, including periodicals, ignored even works from the field of history and political science if they dealt with Slovakia only indirectly. For instance, a successful book by Dr. Stefan Osusky, The Way of the Free , (New York, 1951), which was published also in Italian and Japanese translations, was never reviewed in Slovak publications. Another interesting book, The United States and Central Eastern Europe, by Prof. V. Mamatey (Princeton University Press, 1957), and his essay on Woodrow Wilson's policy, did not receive the attention they deserved. A number of books by Prof. Eugen Lobl, published in German and English, also remained known only to a limited number of Slovak intellectuals abroad, even though they attracted the attention of scholarly publications and political circles in Europe and on the American Continent. Theological and historical writings by Msgr. Joseph Tomko, well received • A summary of a paper delivered at the General Meeting of th e Slovak World Congress on June 28, 1973 in Chicago, Ill. 152 SLOVAKIA by critics in Europe, are also much less known among Slovaks than they deserve. The responsibility for the fact that scientific literature by Slovaks abroad is unknown, quite often to Slovaks themselves, lies in the first place in the lack of any organization of Slovak scientists and cultural workers . The Association of Slovak Writers and Artists undoubtedly deserves recognition for keeping alive Slovak literature abroad in one of the most crucial periods of Slovak literary life. The members of the Association are, however, mostly poets, writers and authors of books from political and literary history. The Slovak Institute in Cleveland and Rome performs the meritorious function of a library, and publishes especially in the field of humanities or belles lettres. Since scientists from the vast field of applied sciences remained unorganized, they have no publication which would record the results of their research or publish reviews of their writings. Two bibliographies - Slovak Bibliography Abroad 1945-1965, compiled by Prof. M. Lacko, and Literdrny Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, edited and published by Dr. J. Pauco in 1967 and 1968, contain some basic information on Slovak scientists and their work abroad. They do not, however, give an exhaustive picture either of Slovaks active in various scientific disciplines or of their published writings. Besides, since 1967, when the Bibliography and Almanachs were published, the ranks of Slovak scientists were enlarged not only by those who left Slovakia in 1968 and became active in academic life or scientific research, but also by a new generation of graduates of American, European and South American universities who made science their field of professional activity. The largest number of books, essays and articles in foreign languages by Slovaks abroad, covers the disciplines which belong to the category of the humanities and the social sciences. It is especially history, political science, literary history and philology which were cultivated by Slovak intellectuals abroad and attracted the attention of the Slovak press in a greater degree that other disciplines. While in 1945 there was hardly a book in foreign languages on Slovakia and the Slovaks, today there are a number of SLOVAKIA 153 book, essays and articles in foreign language periodicals which have been accepted by critics in Europe as well as on the American Continent as "standard works ." The names of the authors in this field are better known, as I mentioned, than the names of scientists in other fields. In alphabetical order, we should mention at least those who published their writings in book form. In History : s. B. Bue, V. Bucko, J . Cieker, J . Cincik, K . c ulen, F. t:>urcansky, M. St. t:>urica, A. Grebert, s. Glejdura, F . Hrobak, F. Hrusovsky, J.M. Kirschbaum, M. Lacko, J . Lettrich, A. Macek, V. Mamatey, J. A. Mikus, s. Nahalka, J. Pauco, M. Stolarik, J. Tomko, F. Vnuk, G. Woytko and others. In Literary History and Linguistics: Prof. H . Bartek, J.M. Kirschbaum, J . Konus, I. Kruzliak, M. Lacko, J. Lihani, L. Luzbetak, s. Meciar, J. Mest'ancik, A. Pir, c. Potocek, J. Rekem, J. Vavrovic, F. Vnuk, J. E. Bor-Zat'ko. In Social Sciences : F. t:>urcansky, s. Glejdura, J. M. Kirschbaum, E . Lobl, J. Mikus, s. Polakovic, s. Osusky, J. Rudinsky, J. Stasko, James Zat'ko, T. G. Zubek. All these names, except for Luzbetak who published essays on the language of the residents of New Guinea, are generally known to the Slovak press. As far as Prof. M. Novak is concerned, we should perhaps mention that this author published a dozen books from the field of theology, philosophy and other social sciences, but he became well known to Slovaks a few years ago when he wrote about his Slovak origin in his successful book: The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics. There is no doubt that as time passes, we will have other similar cases among American Slovaks. The number of published books, essays and articles of the above-mentioned authors would amount to hundreds, the major part of which has been recorded in L9-cko 's Bibliography and in the two issues of the Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike. Books and essays of some authors were recorded, however, also in bibliographies published in Germany, the United States and Canada.* Bibliographies * Daniel Dorotich, A Bibliography of Canadian Slavist s, University of Saskatchewan (1972) ; Sudosteuropa Bibliographie (Munich, 1934); A. Gregorowich, Canadian Ethnic Bibliography (Toronto, 1972). 154 SLOVAKIA published in Slovakia - and there is a considerable number of them - did not, of course, mention books by Slovaks abroad except for one or two authors. Scientific works from the field of philosophy, theology, and religion in the broad sense of the word follows in the number of published books and articles on history and the social sciences. The important center in this respect has been Rome where a great number of foreign language studies were published by professors of universities in tha eternal city. Among the best known are Prof. Daniel Foltin, M. Lacko, Felix Litva, s . Nahalka, V. Pavlovsky, s . Porubcan, F . skoda, s . Smrzik, J. Tomko, F. Zeman and others. Rome will be remembered also for the series of Slovak Studi es published by the Slovak Institute and edited by some of the above mentioned authors. On the American Continent we have to mention especially the writings by the well-known theologian, Prof. Jaroslav Pelikan, J. Dieska, I:. Gleiman, K. Murin who published some of his studies also in France, Prof. F. Zeman, A. Zan, T. G. Zubek and Prof. J . Papin who became known as the editor of two volumes of papers delivered by prominent theologians at a symposium organized at Villanova University. The least known among Slovak intellectuals abroad remained those active in applied science even though r, number of Slovak scientists excelled in this field. The Bibliography compiled by Prof. Lacko recorded about 300 items published before 1965 in book form or as contributions to scientific periodicals and symposia. The Bibliography gives the names only of twenty authors. There is no doubt that already before 1965 and since that time, many more Slave.ks made their nam~ in these disciplines, especially in the United States, Canada and Europe. An interesting example in this respect is the successful book: Reliability Theory and Practice by Igor Bazovsky, published in Prentice-Hall Spaca Technology series in 1962. The book was published the same year in Japan, in 1965 in the Soviet Union, in 1966 in France, and in 1969 in Italy. Translations into other languages are in course of preparation. Bazovsky also published a number of studies in scientific periodicals and delivered papers at international conferences and congresses. Since 1963, he has been lecturing on Reliability Engineering at the University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona. SLOVAKIA 155 Another example of a successful Slovak scientist hardly known among Slovaks is Prof. John P. Zubek (born in Slovakia in 1925), who made quite an impressive contribution in psychology as a professor, researcher and author of many academic papers. In cooperation with Peter A. Solberg, Prof. Zubek published two books : Doukhobors at War (1952) and Human Development (1954). His list of published scholarly articles and contributions to scientific periodicals and encyclopedias which he prepared alone or in cooperation with known scientists, contains 49 items. Together with T. J. Meyers, he has prepared a symposium: Censory Deprivation recently published in New York. He came to Canada at the age of 5 and was educated first at the University of British Columbia and later at the University of Toronto and at John Hopkins University . From 19G) he held academic positions at McGill University and the University of Manitoba as professor and chairman of the Department of Psychology. No doubt there are other similar cases. The number of Slovak scientists active in various disciplines from astronomy to nuclear physics who were not recorded by Slovak periodicals and newspapers would be surprising. Among those who are well-known through the Slovak press we have to mention Prof. A. Bugan, Prof. G. Bakos, Dr. J. Barboriak, Prof. J . Fabianek, G. Lazarcik, Prof. Julius Rudinsky, Prof. Otto , Anna Sirek, Prof. A. iitnak and others. The writings and names of many others remained unnoticed by the Slovak press even though they have been recognized by international scientific authorities. Writings by Slovak scientists active in applied science were mostly published in English, French, German and Swedish (Milan J. Simak) in scientific periodicals and occasionally also in book form. This survey does not aim, of course, at the evaluation of scientific works by Slovaks abroad. The fact that many of them were published in academic periodicals of wellknown universities, scientific institutions, or were delivered at international congresses and published in symposia, is perhaps sufficient proof that they satisfied scientific criteria. 156 SLOVAKIA Works by several Slovak authors were, however, reviewed and favorably evaluated also by foreign critics in the United States and Europe, and the list of books of some Slovak writers is impressive. Prof. Michael Novak, whom it he senior class at Stanford voted in 1967 one of the three most outstanding professors and in 1972 "distinguished lecturer" at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the best known American Slovak author. He also taught at Harvard University epistemology and ethics. The list of his publications reads as follows: BOOKS .A New Generation: American and Catholic (Herder & Herder: February, 1964). A collection of essays on American Catholicism. The Open Church: Vatican II: Act II (Macmillan: May, 1964) . The Experience of Marriage (Macmillan: Oct., 1964). Editor. Belief and Unbelief (Macmillan: 1965). Paperback edition published by New American Library, 1967. There is also a German edition. The Rise of Unmeltable Ethnics (Macmillan, 1972). A Book of Elements, with Karen Laub-Novak (Herder & Herder, 1972) . A Time to Build (Macmillan, 1967). American Philosophy and the Future (editor.). To appear. (Scribner's, 1968). ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN, FLIGHT OF THE DOVE: An Invitation to Religious Studies (Harper and Row, 1971) . POLITICS: Realism and Imagination (Herder & Herder, 1971) . Mr. Novak's books have appeared in overseas editions since 1962: France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain and England. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS Spirit as Inquiry ed. Frederick E . Crowe; Studies in honor of Bernard Lonergan, S. J. "Lonergan's Starting Place; The Performance of Asking Questions," pp. 82-101. Also in Continuum, Winter, 1965. ·"God in the Colleges: The Dehumanization of the University," in The New Student Left: An Anthology, Ed. by Mitchell Cohen and Dennis Hale, Beacon Press, Boston: 1966, pp. 258-270. Also in American Colloquy, Ed. by Leonard Liek and David Hawke, Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis: 1963, pp. 690-702. Reprinted also in Commitment Vol. 1, 4 (Nov. 22, 1966) , pp. 1-7. ·"Moral Society and Immoral Man," in Church-State Relations in Ec1imenical Prospective. Ed. by Elwyn A. Smith, Duquesne University Press, Pittsburgh: 1966, pp. 92-109. ·"The New Nuns," (abridged version) in The New Nuns, ed. by Sister SLOVAKIA 157 M. Charles Borromeo, C.S.C., New American Library, New York : 1967, pp. 13-30. "The Christian and the Atheist,"· in The Meaning of the Death of GOlt , ed. by Berna rd Murchland, Random House, New York: 1937. MONOGRAPHS Editor of series of booklets Men Who Make the Council (portra its of Vatican II leaders), University of Notre Dame Press, 1964. A Lay View of the World We L ive I n; Reflections on the I nstitutional Church; The Gospels and the World. Chicago: Mundelein College, Sisters of the BVM, 1966, 67 pages. Vi etnam: Crisis of Conscience. New York : Association Press, Behrman House, and Herder & Herder; in collaboration with Robert McAfce Brown and Abraham Heschcl, 1967. Th e Secdar Saint, DeYoung lectures given at the Illinois State Univer- sity March 29 -31, 1967; to appear. " Toward a Positive Sexual Morality," in What Catholics Thi;ik About Birth Control, ed. by William Birmingham, Signet, 1964, pp. 109-128. "The Ever-Changi ng, Fallible Church" in Generation of the Third Eye, ed. by Daniel Callahan, Sheed and Ward : 1965, pp. 162-172. "Diversity of Structures and Freedom Within Structures of th e Church," in Concilium Dogma Vol. 1 The Church and Mankind, ed. by Edward Schi!lebeecky, O.P., Paulist Press: 1964, pp. 103-113. "The Break wit h Platonic Religion," The Church in the World , ed . by J ohn Deedey, 1965. Prof. Eugene Lobl (also Loe bl), who teaches economics at Vassar College, has an interesting career behind him in Government service of Czecho-Slovakia which ended in his five years solitary confinement by the Communist regime . After the Soviet invasion he left Slovakia and lectured in Germany, and in the United States at Princeton and som e twenty American universities before he settled at Vassar College, where he teaches "Critique of Theory and Practic~ of Marxist Thought," "Man and Society" and "Humanistic Economics." Among his writings published in exile are the following : In 1967, Dr. Lobl's manuscript, prepared while in soli tary confinement, was published under the title, M ental Worlc as the Re .1! Source of Wealth in: Czecho-Slovakia by the Academy of Sci ence. In Germany, by Econ Verlag, Dilsseldorf under the title Geistige Arbeit die wahre Quelle des Reichtums. He also published an analysis of the Soviet trials. In Czecho-Slovakia, the book was published shortly before the Soviet inva ::ion and became a bestseller. It has been translated and published in: AUSTRIA by Europa Verlag under the title: Die Revolution Rehabilitiert ihre Kinder (The Revolution Reh abilitates its Children). 158 SLOVAKIA BRAZIL, by Editora Laudes, Rio de Janeiro. FRANCE, by Editions Stock under the title: Proces ii Prague. GREAT BRITAIN, by Elek Publishing Company under the title: Sentenced and Tried. ITALY, by Vallecchi Editore under the titI,e, Testimonianza sui processo al centoro do conspirazione antistate capeggiatto da Rudolf Slansky. JAPAN, by Tuttle. UNITED STATES, by Grove Press under the title, Stalinism in Prague, The Loebl Story. Further, an analysis of the background of the Prague spring has been published in : Austria ·a nd Germany by Europa Verlag under the title : Die Intellectualle Revolution. It was also published in Izrael. Dr. Lobl's book, dealing with the problems of the student movement in the United States in the sixties, and exposing their philosophical shortcoming as the roots of the problems of contemporary society, has been published in: AUSTRIA and GERMANY by Econ Verlag, Diisseldorf under the title: Gesprache mit den Ratlosen. GREAT BRITAIN, by Allen and Unwin under the title: Conversations with the Bewildered. UNITED STATES, by Schenkman in Bo3ton und er the same title. An analysis and confrontation of theory and practice of applied Marxism has been published in: GERMANY, by Econ Verlag under the title : Marxismus Wegweiser und Irrweg (Marxism the Signpost and Dead End ). His manuscript on "A Few Blades of Grass," a recollection is being edited for publishing in 1974. Economics and Our Future, a critique of contemporary economics and an outline for a humanistic orientation of the economy, is in print in Germany. The English manuscript is being edited. Prof. Msgr. Jozef Tomko, who alternatively taught at the International University of Social Sciences, tlB Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana and Diplomatic Academy in Rome, is foremost Slovak scholar in Rome. His works in Latin and German were reviewed in several European countries. He also published in Slovak. Among his foreign language works we should mention the following: BOOKS De inhabitatione Spiritus Sancti ir anima iusti secundum B. Petrum de Tarantasia, Roma, 1951. Il rapporto di larnro in Cecoslovacchia negii anni 1945-1954, Roma, 1956. Die Errichtung der Diozesen Zips, Neusohl und Rosenau (1776) und da s konigliche Patronatsrecht in Ungarn, Wien, Herder, 1968. It w.1s SLOVAKIA 159 reviewed in Archiv fur katholisches Kirchenrecht, Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie, Theol.-prakt. Quartalschrift Linz, Archiv fur Kirchenrecht, Sudostdeutsches Archiv, Bollettino bibliografico internazionale, Bibliographica de Salamanca. De Litteris Apostolicis "Matrimonia mixta," Napoli, D'Auria , 1970. Matrimoni misti, Napoli, Edizioni Dehoniane, 1971. The book was reviewed in La Civilta Cattolica, Apollinaris, La Famiglia, Rassegna di teologia, L'Osservatore Romano, A1;venire, La lib erte (Fribourg), Theologische Revue, Catholic Herald (London), etc. Svetlo narodov (The Light of Nations), Rome, 1972. Blazenstva, (Rome, 1973). Krest'an a svet (Christian and the World), Rome, 1974. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS EDITED IN COOPERATION WITH OTHER AUTHORS "Aspetti teologici della problematica dei matrimoni misti," in La collegialita episcopale per it futuro della Chiesa, Firenze, Valleccni, 1969, pp. 445-479. "II matrimonio dei battezzati non credenti," in Matrimonio famiglia e diverzio, Napoli, Edizioni Dehoniane, 1971 (Second edition 1973) , pp. 347-367. "De Sacra Congregatione pro Doctrina fidei," in Adnotationes Professorum, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Cursus renovationis canonicae, Roma, 1971, pp. 411-426. "De causis circa fidei privilegium," in Adnotationes Professorum, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Rome, 1972, pp. 379-406. ARTICLES "Celebrazioni rnmana in onore degli Apostoli degli Slavi," Rivista diocesana di Roma, 1963, pp. 634-637. "Historicko-pravna problematika a pramene k dejinam slovenskych diecez," Most 9 (1962), pp. 27-36. "Cirkevna pravomoc sv. Stefana, uhorskeho kral'a," Most 11 (1964), pp. 33-48. "La nuova disciplina dei matrimoni misti," L'Osservatore Romano, 1. maggio 1970. "S. Congregatio pro doctrina fidei, Agendi ratio in doctrinarum examine," Monitor Ecclesiasticus, 96 (1971). "La riforma del Sant' Uffizio," Rassegna di teologia 12 (1971) 4, pp. 209-215. "11 nuovo ve·golamento per l'esame delle dottrine," Vita consacrata 7 (1971) 5, pp. 404-409. Contributions in Lexikon fur Theologie and Kirche and Bibliographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Sudosteuropas (Mtinchen, 1973: L. Bartholomaeides).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Scientific Literature by Slovaks Abroad Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 25 (No. 48), 1975 pp. 151-159 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/65dc1a12000a9236ee24b833ac5ca939.pdf 8fed217fb702ba5847ba8d29b72814d3 PDF Text Text HISTORY ��SLOVAKIA 11 The .Slovak Republic and the Slovaks· . STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM INTRODUCTION There are very few topics in recent history that have been as much avoided, accidentally or deliberately, by Western as well as Communist scholars as the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) . The significance of this state in the period of its existence is certainly not central to an understanding of the more important world events that were taking place at the time, nor was its contribution to those events such that it required the attention of world powers. Historical surveys published in the West in the last forty years have thus not given Slovakia much attention; one can appreciate the reason for this, but one must also note that there are often serious inaccuracies, distortions, and misrepresentations in these works.I The task of writing this history of the Slovak Republic is, therefore, left to a few Western specialists or to Slovak Marxist historians. But here one is also left wanting; ideological preoccupations and problems of documentation explain this unusual state of affairs. The Republic of Slovakia found itself on the side of the vanquished powers at the end of the Second World War. Historians have been understandably more interested in recording the activities of the victorious, often applying ex post facto a devil theory to the defeated. In the wake of an ideological conflict like the Second World War, and with the ideological division of the world in the postwar years, the tendency to simplify in order better to glorify and I or condemn is understandable. It is not to be excused, however. Nevertheless Western, as well as Communist, historians have generally let their engagement get the better of their scholarship, or else they have conveniently cast intractable subjects to the Orwellian memory hole. For example, two Canadians, one of Czech, the other of • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies , New Haven, October, 1979. �12 SLOVAKIA Slovak origin, purporting to write the history of the Czechs and Slovaks in Canada, have actually suggested that Slovak separatism is " an aberration of the past , excusable perhaps under the circumstances of the day , but otherwise the sooner forgotten the better.' ' 2 Communist scholars have also generally avoided the Slovak Republic, with the only two works published in the 1950s3 followed by a few articles in the 1960s.4 Writing from their Marxist perspective , they have, however, shown a shift in accent and interpretation in their later writings.5 This shift corresponds to greater access to the documentation on the Slovak Republic for scholars in Slovakia. However, this documentation is not necessarily accessible to Western scholars . Access to original documents and other primary sources is in fact the greatest problem that Western scholars studying Slovakia face. All of the works on the period of the Slovak Republic published in the West show a minimal reliance on original Slovak documentation . At best, they have used three newspapers published in Slovakia that are available , namely Slovak , Gardista , and Grenzbote.6 Monographs which were published during the war and which found their way into Western European or American libraries are also available; but their number, as well as their importance , is limited. None gives a total picture of the Slovak Republic ; most were written during the war, and generally before the 1944 revolt. Finally, none of the political leaders or officials of the state has made public any documents in his possession 7 that cast additional light. With some exceptions, there are no detailed memoirs or diaries that one can draw upon.8 Finally, there is no indication that Prague or Bratislava is presently disposed to open Slovak archives to Western scholars, except perhaps for earlier periods and less explosive subjects like education. 9 There is , on the other hand, one documentary source that Western and Communist IO scholars have used widely, namely German documentation. The Allies published soon after the war the series Documents on German Foreign Policy ; those documents not found in this series are now available in Bonn at the\ Politisches Archiv des auswiirtigen Amtes . Also available are SS documents, namely from Himmler's Sicherheitsdienst, which John Conway has prudently characterized as "conscientious, though obviously one-sided. " 11 Conway's comments are indeed pertinent for much of German documentation ; it must be used with great care when applied to Slovakia. The scholar must remember that they are addressed to and written by people serving the Third Reich. A third, but unfortunately rather unreliable source of information, �SLOVAKIA 13 is the files of the British Foreign Office. These were at first composed of British diplomatic reports, especially from Consul to Slovakia Peter Pares, which are useful because of their detachment and scope. Pares, however, left Slovakia after the outbreak of the Second World War, and thereupon the reports fo'll{ld in the files of the Foreign Office ceased to come from agents in diplomatic representation abroad. Bruce Lockhart12 then set into motion the gathering of intelligence not only on Slovak, but also on Czech, affairs in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and thus thickened Foreign Office files with weekly and sundry reports. With the British de facto and later de jure recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London, headed by Edvard Bene§, the task of gathering intelligence and preparing situation reports fell on the Czech and Slovak exiles in London. The information in this documentation is rarely accurate, and to its discredit, extremely selective.13 The documents show quite plainly that Bene§ and his people used only information that damaged the Slovak Republic, especially Slovak politicians. Likewise, the weekly summaries of the Political Intelligence Department are not very useful because they were based upon reports emanating from Bene§'s people. However, the Foreign Office files also contain occasional letters or reports from other sources that paint a totally different picture; but they are too few and, unfortunately, rarely comprehensive enough to give scholars something concrete. This problem of inadequate documentary evidence makes the task of studying the Slovak Republic an extremely difficult one.14 Nevertheless a beginning must be made, if only to ask questions, examine existing interpretations, and seek to understand the motives and actions of the men at the center of events; there is indeed a real challenge of intellectual and documentary detection in this case. The documentation used in this article is neither specialized nor all-encompassing. I have examined closely most available secondary sources, both Western and Communist, read the memoir-like contributions of Slovaks in SlovakCanadian and Slovak-American newspapers and periodicals, and studied carefully the documents of the Foreign Office. Furthermore, I accept the writings of exiled Slovak scholars as those most likely to help us understand the Slovak Republic and the actions of its leaders, while taking note of their often defensive and apologetic nature. I am also aware of the fact that there exist many works disposed in an unfriendly, if not outright inimical, way to the Slovak Republic; I have sought to understand the arguments presented and have accepted at face value the facts given. But one should be skeptical toward them; a state where the President could walk on the streets of the capital city without a �14 SLOVAKIA bodyguard to protect him and where no attempt was ever made on his life is not a state where everything was evil and against the interests of the Slovak people, as some works suggest. The full history of the Slovak Republic will, however, not be written until all archival material is made available. Until then the present debate is likely to continue. Before examining the various aspects of this topic, a few words should be said about the broader perspective within which the Slovak Republic found itself. In his study of the impact of education in Slovakia in the 1920s and 1930s, Owen Johnson has shown that by the end of the second decade of the existence of the first Czechoslovak Republic not only had Prague's policy of Czechoslovak nation-building failed, but indeed its "program of Czechoslovak state building had turned into one of Slovak nation building."15 There is some irony in the fact that Prague's policies had the opposite effect of what had been expected; in this respect then, the activities of the Slovak Republic would be merely the continuation and the prolongation of this process with the difference that all decisions affecting the Slovaks would be taken by Slovaks in Bratislava and not in Prague. The fact that the Slovaks took their national life into their own hands, notwithstanding the circumstances that had led to this step, also reflected the problems created by the selective application of the policy of national self-determination in Central Europe. While recognizing on the one hand the right of nations to selfdetermination on the morrow of the Great War, the victorious powers were selective on the other in their granting of this right to the various nations of the Habsburg Empire. The Slovaks were not unaware of this discrepancy, and when the deleterious geopolitical arrangements of the Versailles settlement finally succumbed to German expansionism, Slovak independence was as much an act of nati~al self-determination as one of self-preservation. The ultimate tragedy of the Slovaks is that by 1945 the victorious powers once again applied in a selective fashion the principles of national self-determination as embodied in the Atlantic Charter. THE ACCEPTANCE OF SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE The declaration of Slovak independence was greeted with rejoicing by a great many Slovaks, although in Bratislava, as British Consul Peter Pares reported, there had not been many manifestations of that joy. The capital city of Slovakia was yet to become a primarily Slovak city, and its non-Slovak population did not show much enthusiasm. Pares sensed apathy or pessimism.16 Slovakia's declaration of independence had in fact come about under circumstances that differentiate it from �SLOVAKIA 15 similar events for other nations in recent times. Consul Pares's report not only singles out this ~ct, but it underlines one of the major tasks that the leaders of the new'state had to face. Slovakia's declaration of independence cannot be disassociated from the two previous decades when neither the political individuality of Slovakia nor the nationhood of its people had been acknowledged by the Czechoslovak Republic. Belatedly and grudgingly, Prague had granted Slovakia autonomy on October 6, 1938, under conditions that did not indicate the total and willing abandonment by the Czech elite of the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism. '' But for the Slovak people, autonomy represented the successful outcome of a twenty-year struggle, a hope that Slovak national development could now be carried out by the Slovak people. Autonomy brought about manifestations of popular gladness in the cities, towns, and villages of Slovakia. The Hlinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party, headed by Martin Razus, had been the main political forces not only behind autonomy, but above all, in the educational campaign that was essential for the Slovak people in order to handle their own affairs. After two decades of Czech local, as well as state administration, a policy that had brought about much bitterness in Slovakia, 17 the Slovaks looked upon autonomy as the fulfillment not only of original promises, but also of national aspirations. Independence and statehood had not been an alternative openly discussed and contemplated by Slovak leaders in the two decades before autonomy. This is not to say that they might not one day have considered it. Indeed, as Samo Falt'an, a Slovak Commwiist historian, has written: "Statehood as an expression of national liberty cannot be rejected and qualified as treason to the nation.'' He went on to add that independence was a logical outcome in the light of the Slovaks' status in the CSR: ''The creation of the Slovak State is not in conflict with national interests and efforts, all the more so, because in the twenty-year existence of the CSR there had been no successful attempt to reach a Czech-Slovak constitutional arrangement. "18 Nevertheless - and this is important in order to understand the problems that faced th,e new state - when independence was declared, it had not been the object of wide public discussion but rather came rapidly on the heels of autonomy when Slovakia had barely begun to enjoy its new status in Czecho-Slovakia. However, within the Hlinka party, reorganized since November 8, 1938 as the Slovak Party of National Unity, which other Slovak parties had been invited to join except for Slovak Communists and Social Democrats, there were elements that had been considering �16 SLOVAKIA independence, especially in the light of the changing international situation in Europe. The predominance of Germany and the fear that Prague might not be able to defend the integrity and existence of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks concerned them. In fact, from the very beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia, the Hlinka party had given Prague notice that the survival and interests of the Slovak nation were uppermost in its policy stand and actions.19 But in 1938-1939 the need to explore all avenues was paramount, for as Churchill declared in the House of Commons on October 5, 1938: "I venture to think that in the future the Czechoslovak state cannot be maintained as an independent entity. You will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured only by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi regime. "20 The Slovak elite was aware of this danger of engulfment and of the necessity to maneuver in such a way as to avoid it. As events would show and the history of the Slovak Republic would confirm, Slovak independence was the one solution that enabled Slovakia to avoid the total absorption that befell other Central European peoples and states. The events leading to independence need not he recounted here, since they have been examined elsewhere.21 Suffice it to say that in the light of European developments and the rapidity with which they were unfolding, the decision to opt for independence and the manner in which it was done showed courage on the part of the Slovak leaders. It was also the best solution, not only under the circumstances, but also for the Slovak nation.22 But at the moment of independence, and for the immediate future, this decision by the Slovak leaders had to be explained and shown to be viable both to the Slovak people and to the world at large. The Hlinka Party23 embarked on this task, calling upon all Slovaks to join it, as the Communist historian I:ubomir Liptak has written. The new regime in Slovakia did not exclude its political opponents from positions in the new state.24 In fact he pointed out: The populists did not come to power after an extreme collision of political trends in Slovakia, in the wake of a moderate civil war as was the case for example in Italy and Germany, but during an international crisis, when all existing political conceptions and currents failed, or did not have an oppottunity to influence developments. In this kind of internal political vacuum, when political opponents are eliminated, or do not have clear goals, or are isolated in the nation, the populists could get the support or at least the passive help of yesterday's political opponents.25 �SLOVAKIA 17 Although there was a single Slovak party (there was, however, also a Slovak German, and a small Slovak Hungarian, party) and the regime manifested certain visible authoritarian characteristics, the appearance of factions and policy directions in the Blinka Party, the division between the legislative and executive branches of government, and the role of the churches in the political life of the state26 were all factors that would influence Slovak political life and help the Blinka Party to carry out its program. In the words of Liptak, in the Slovak Republic there was a "certain 'liberalism' and carefulness in the introduction of authoritarian arrangements.' •27 This moderate liberalism was, however, not to be enjoyed by all citizens, and many individuals suffered, although on the whole there was none of the totalitarianism, terror, and ideological dogmatism that later befell the Slovaks under the Communist regime. These conditions also made it possible for opposing views to coexist and later influence events in Slovakia. For there existed three factors which had heavily mortgaged the viability of the Slovak Republic and which would in time take their place in the political life of the state and ultimately seal its fate; they were the activities of opposition groups, Slovak-German relations, and the world war. The appearance of a group opposing the Slovak Republic is something that British Consul Pares soon took notice of. In his July report on the Constitution of Slovakia, where he noted the unique position of the Blinka Party in the political system, he pointed out that the Catholic origin of this party probably meant the virtual exclusion of Slovak Protestants within it, as well as their relegation to the background of public affairs. He concluded from this that the ''insignificant position into which they have been thrust is sure to arouse their bitter resentment. "28 By mid-November he reported the "active revolt ... of a section of the Lutheran Community, which was the greatest source of strength of the former centralists or ''Czechoslovaks'' and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case, it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which has created bitter antagonism to the existing government .... "29 Despite the fact that a number of Protestant personalities occupied key positions in the state, that their economic influence in Slovakia did not diminish but in fact increased, and that their leaders publicly proclaimed their adherence and loyalty to the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Protestant community did indeed form an opposition group, whether for sectarian or political reasons, especially after Benes began to regroup his political partisans in London. As Pares noted in his last dispatch on Slovakia to London, the Protestants formed �18 SLOVAKIA at home and abroad an opposition link to the Slovak Republic and lent Benes support for his goal of recreating the first Czechoslovak Republic.30 By 1943 they would be actively involved in the restoration of Czechoslovak authority in Slovakia and would help a second main opposition group, the Communists, in preparing an armed revolt in Central Slovakia. The role of the Communists in Slovakia mirrored well the turgidity of their movement until the German attack on the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Soviet diplomatic recognition of Slovakia invalidated the slogans of national self-determination they propagated in 1939, while the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, by then resident in Moscow, ordered the abandonment of the slogan of a '' Soviet Slovak Republic,'' which began to appear in 1940. The Communist Party had been declared illegal in Slovakia so that its activities and organization were clandestine. The security services of the Slovak Republic occasionally rounded up Communists, but as both Falt'an and Liptak pointed out, not only were they quickly released from prison, but they were allowed to resume their positions in economic and state institutions. 31 In was not until late 1943 and 1944 that Communist activity became a major factor in Slovak political life, in part because the Communists were in touch with Soviet partisan units operating out of Kiev, and in part because they had worked out a new political program for Slovakia in the future of Czechoslovak Republic.32 Together with Slovak non-Communists, primarily Lutherans, they began to prepare the revolt of 1944, which I will examine below. The existence and activity of opposition groups to the Slovak Republic were enhanced by the nature of Slovak-German relations. The role of Germany in the destruction of Czechoslovakia had been a major factor in Slovakia's declaration of independence and as British Consul Pares noted, ''from the moment when indeflendence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. ,,33 Attempts to pursue an independent foreign policy by the Minister of External Affairs, Ferdinand Durcansky, resulted in his removal in July 1940 under German pressure and thereafter Germany made sure that Slovak political life did not go beyond certain limits, which for the most part were, however, not clearly defined; on the other hand Germany did not encourage Slovak pro-Nazi elements to take power, nor did Hitler back the attempted coup in 1941 against President Tiso, in which the German ambassador, M. von Killinger, was himself involved. Slovakia was nevertheless in the German sphere of interest; its existence �SLOVAKIA 19 was in fact tied to German political and economic activities, and despite the diplomatic recognition it had been granted by twenty-seven states, its juridical status did not\in fact extend much beyond Europe. British de facto and later de jure ·recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government in London, followed by Soviet and American recognition,34 as well as the Hungarian claims on Slovakia, further strengthened the ties between Slovakia and Germany which were not broken until the war's end. The outbreak of the Second World War was the third factor that heavily influenced the politics and the viability of the Slovak Republic. Although Slovakia would not experience the horrors of war until 1944, the fact that there was a war all around it enabled opposition groups to get involved in military activities on Slovak soil and do just what the Slovak leaders had so successfully avoided doing, namely bring the war into Slovakia with their 1944 revolt. Also, the war forced Slovakia into much closer cooperation with Germany, especially in the economic sphere, and brought about the deportation into Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jews. In the end Slovakia's existence became tied to the outcome of a war that Germany had begun. In spite of the weight of these three factors on the Slovak Republic, its political leaders determined to carry out policies that would enable the Slovak people to develop further their national life, or put in other terms, that would embark them upon a program of modernization that would dispel any doubts about Slovak political maturity. 35 In this respect, as the available evidence shows, the Slovak Republic represented a singular achievement that had not been equalled in the Czechoslovak state. THE POLICIES OF THE REGIME It was the misfortune of the Slovak Republic that it had to fight throughout its existence the battle of statehood. International law notwithstanding, the Slovaks came to realize that the international existence of their state was shaky, a situation which resulted in the blurring of the boundary lines between state and regime for many Slovaks and most observers.36 This blurring grew as the war developed and became prevalent by the time it became clear that the Allies, who by then had recognized the Czechoslovak government in London, were going to win the war. But in 1939 and for the next four years, until the German army was defeated at Stalingrad, and despite the need after July 1940 for Slovakia to align itself closer to Germany, the lines between state �20 SLOVAKIA and regime were quite closer. The notion of statehood was indeed understood by the Slovaks, as Peter Pares quite accurately reported to London in his last dispatch in January 1940: One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia' s need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the republic and goes far toward reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position.37 The Slovaks lost in fact very little time in setting up a constitution for their state. They proclaimed on July 21, 1939 a republic, drawing upon the constitutions of Austria, Portugal, and Czechoslovakia, to determine the balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.38 The constitutional text is divided into thirteen chapters of 103 articles forming "a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws concerning the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power.' •39 Worthy of note are also the articles dealing with the duties and general rights of the citizens, including the right of assembly and freedom of speech and the protection of the workers. As students of the Slovak constitution have noted, the social provisions were greatly influenced by Papal encyclicals, particularly Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno.40 The main authoritarian feature is to be found in the role of the Hlinka Party. As Pares pointed out in his description of the constitution to the Foreign Office, ''in spite of the mul~plication of the organs of government, it is easy to see that the Hlinka party itself will, under the new Constitution, be the most powerful factor"in the government of the country." 41 Changes in the Hlinka Party further enhanced the authoritarian character of the regime, as some features of the German and Italian party systems were adopted. The Hlinka Party did not, however, have a fascist or national-socialist program, although attempts were made to give it one, and it sought to direct political life along Slovak national traditions. 42 Like all political parties, the Hlinka Party was divided into factions. Throughout the six years of the Slovak Republic, the main faction, headed by Jozef Tiso, President of the Party and also President of the Republic from October 26, 1939, dominated the political life of the �SLOVAKIA 21 country. It was composed not only of long-standing members of the party, but also of representatives of other Slovak parties who had consented to run on the single ticket for the Diet during the elections of December 18, 1938.43 Th.is faction exercised its influence not only in the Presidency, but'also in ~he Slovak Parliament. 44 For the better part of the life of the Slovak Republic, the Tiso faction also had to make every effort to curb the pro-Nazi faction which sought indeed to give Slovakia a Slovak national-socialist regime. It was headed by Vojtech Tuka, who after July 1940 became Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs until the 1944 revolt. Tuka owed his position to Hitler who had summoned Tiso to Salzburg on July 28, 1940 to impose a closer alignment with Germany. Hitler also forced the dismissal of Durcansky, Minister of External Affairs. The Secretary-General of the Party, Jozef Kirschbaum, was also removed from his position shortly afterwards. Slovakia had lost some of the freedom it had enjoyed in the first seventeen months of its existence. Still, the Hlinka Party, whose main organizational opponent was the pro-Tuka Hlinka Guard, managed to carry through a series of policies that, with one exception, one can hardly qualify as Nazi or fascist.45 Likewise much of the posturing and outward imitation of Italian and German uniforms was more a matter of form to please Germany than an integral part of Slovak political culture. It would have been a different story if Tuka and Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, had succeeded in overthrowing Tiso. The country would most likely have been ruled by the Hlinka Guard, whose membership was not composed of the most enlightened segments of the population. 46 Of all the policies the regime of the Slovak Republic proposed and carried out, the most unfortunate and tragic were the confiscation of Slovak Jewish property, known as the policy of aryanization, and in 1942 on German urging, the deportation to Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jewish population. These policies found both support and opposition in Slovakia. The aryanization policy was introduced shortly after independence and was voted on by the Slovak Parliament in response to a mood that existed in public circles.47 The deportation policy, advocated by the Tuka faction, however, met with serious opposition, 48 and although it could be stopped only belatedly, Tiso and his supporters in Parliament were still able to limit its scope and save the lives of thousands of Slovak Jews.49 Nevertheless, one of the darkest chapters in Slovak history had been written, and it went a long way toward damaging the record of the Slovak Republic50 and the aspirations of the Slovak people for independence. �22 SLOVAKIA Foreign policy was another area where room for maneuver was limited. The Communist historian Liptak has argued that the Slovak Republic was a mere pawn in a German game in Europe, especially in the period following independence; it was not possible, he concluded, for Slovakia to pursue an independent foreign policy.51 The measure of the success or failure of Slovakia's foreign policy lies in the degree to which it could resist German dominance and obtain for itself some freedom of action and protection of its own interests. The test came early with the Hungarian attack on Eastern Slovakia in March 1939 and, as Milan Durica has shown, the Slovaks, led by Durcansky, were reasonably successful in minimizing the damage and protecting Slovak interests. 52 The Treaty of Protection (Schuetzvertrag) between Slovakia and Germany set the limits of Slovakia's room for maneuver in foreign relations, military, and economic affairs. With the outbreak of the war, Slovakia joined Germany in invading Poland but only to recapture Slovak territory lost in 1920 and 1938. Nevertheless, Durcansky attempted to widen his freedom of action, and one of his attempts to pursue an independent course failed due to an indiscretion by a Slovak diplomat53 and brought about his downfall in July of 1940.54 Thereafter, Prime Minister Tuka, who was also External Affairs Minister, aligned Slovakia closer to German foreign policy by joining the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1940 and by participating in the war against the Soviet Union. There is no indication in the documentation that there were military engagements between Slovak and British or American forces.55 The measure of the success of Durcansky' s foreign policy may perhaps best be gauged by the fact that he set parameters on German interference which enabled the regime to carry out a wide range of domestic policies. Even after his ouster in 1940, German interference was felt primarily in foreign, military, and economic policy and in the Jewish question. As Communist leader Gustav Husak, an eyewitness to the politics and policies of the Slovak Republic, pointed out in July 1944: ''German influence is great, but not\so great for independence to be a stupid mask. "56 The major achievements of the Slovak Republic were in the economic and socio-cultural fields. If adequate research is ever possible in these two areas, the results are likely to show that the regime was quite successful in taking the Slovak people far down the road of modernization and that, until the revolt of 1944, the Slovak government looked after its non-Jewish citizens through planned economic and social development. The Slovak Republic was the framework within which the Slovak people could and did attain a good measure of national and so- �SLOVAKIA 23 cial development even under the stringent diplomatic and military conditions their government found itself. As Gustav Husak wrote in 1944, distinguishing between regime and state: "If this state had another content and were l~d by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, there would be nothing to say against it from a Slovak point of view." 57 Husak, a Communist, was understandably not in favor of the regime; but he acknowledged the importance and benefits of statehood for the Slovaks. Certainly by 1944 there was no doubt about that anymore. There had been doubts, however, at the time of independence. They had arisen from some of the intitial difficulties the autonomous Slovak government had experienced in late 1938 and early 1939. As Peter Pares wrote in February 1939, there were difficulties in a series of sectors, especially in the economic, educational, and administrative ones, from which he concluded that the result ''must inevitably be the economic stagnation of Slovakia and might even mean a disastrous impoverishment." 58 But by April 1939, Pares reported that "the present state of affairs in Slovakia, after nearly a month of independence, seems to indicate that, in spite of the manner in which the declaration of independence was brought about and of the disturbing effects of the Hungarian invasion of Eastern Slovakia, conditions are more stable than anybody expected. "59 The situation in fact continued to improve so much that Husak could write in 1944 that there had been a definite improvement to what the situation had been in Czechoslovakia. He went on to add that in the first seventeen months of the Slovak Republic ''it also became evident that Slovakia could take care of itself economically, there was neither economic nor currency chaos, the standard of living did not go down, quite the contrary, a good number of people, especially the intelligentsia, got ahead .... '•60 A report in the Foreign Office files dated August 1943 also confirms the progress made with the following eyewitness account: '' A traveller who has recently returned from Slovakia was amazed to find how normal things were, not only in Bratislava, but also in other towns. There was no blackout and practically no restrictions. Food and clothing were plentiful and prices reasonable. There was little war talk. Life went on as usual everywhere, but there was a shortage of servants and indeed a general shortage of labour. "61 Before outlining the various aspects of socio-economic and cultural development that the documentation and the literature have permitted me to put together, a few words should be said about the parameters I am using to evaluate the contribution of the Slovak Republic to the life �24 SLOVAKIA of the Slovak people. Ideally, when a nation has acquired statehood it should be totally free to handle its own affairs; for small nations, however, reality is generally far removed from theory, especially when there are powerful neighboring states. Depending on the pressures the powerful put on a small state, the measure of realism must be not only the degree to which policies allow the people to enjoy a standard of living comparable to that of the neighboring nations, but also the perceivable cost, in the short and longer run of resistance and opposition to the pressure of the powerful neighbor. For example, the failure of Canadian nationalists to persuade the Canadian people to have their government limit the American domination of the Canadian economy - over 60 percent of Canadian industry is owned by Americans - is due to the refusal of the Canadian people to give up the standard of living this situation has brought them and to accept the cost of a policy of greater independence. There is little public discussion in Canada on American domination; it is a topic that is debated primarily in certain academic, intellectual, and political circles with hardly any echo elsewhere. The Canadian people do not hesitate, furthermore, to vote out a government which they perceive has not done enough not only to maintain, but to improve, their standard of living. These are the acceptable parameters of political realism in the second half of the twentieth century, not only for Canada, but for quite a few states, in the Western, as well as in the Communist, world. It is clear that the Slovak people found themselves in a similar situation until the revolt of 1944; it is my contention that the Slovak government was successful, especially in a war situation, in giving the Slovak people a good standard of living. Communist scholars do not hesitate to point out that the Slovak economy was dominated by Germany because of the secret protocol in the Treaty of Protection, which called for close economic cooperation and the increase of Slovakia's industrial and agriculture output. Other treaties followed to spell out in detail economic arrangements between Slovakia and Germany, and the Reich also sent advisers to help in various ministries. Liptak calculated that in 1938 the share of German and Austrian capital totaled only 5 percent in Sloyakia; by 1944 it had grown to 64 percent. This phenomenal growth is ~xplained by the fact that Germany took over the shares of Czech and foreign capital in Slovakia as they occupied the various financial centers of Europe. 62 At the same time Slovak capital grew from 2 percent in 1938 to 6 percent in 1944,63 and the number of companies in which Slovaks held a controlling interest rose from 40 to 74. Furthermore, from 1942 on, Slovak banks were successful in obtaining additional shares, especially in industry, that �SLOVAKIA 25 enabled them to operate a number of transfers of controlling interest from Germany to Slovakia. 64 It was this capital inflow which allowed for the development of Slovak industry. Some 4,855 million ks. were invested in five years, allowing for the creation of 250 new enterprises and the enlargement of SO-existing ones. The railways benefited from 95 km. of new tracks , while i 84 km. were rebuilt or repaired. Road paving, repair, and reconstruction were done on 1,100 km. , with 282 km. of new roads laid; telephone links, under and above ground, were greatly improved, adding 291 communities to the existing network, while 470 villages acquired electrification.65 The 12 ,000 kw. of hydroelectric power built between 1918 and 1939 was increased to 90,000 kw. between 1939 and 1945.66 Foreign Office files also give some statistics worthy of note. In 1942 the investment in chemical, textile, mining, metallurgy, and electrical industries represented close to half of that year's investment. The National Bank net profit in 1941 was 21.86 million ks. and 30.83 m. ks. in 1942.67 Trade statistics also show that Slovakia was by no means restricting the variety of goods and services available; in January-February 1942 Slovakia exported 400 m. ks. worth of goods while it imported 575 m. ks. For the same period in 1943, exports increased to 570 m. ks., and imports rose to 730 m. ks. A Slovak-Italian agreement valued at 800 m. ks. , with 60 m. ks. in Slovakia's favor, was signed in 1943. 68 There are very few agricultural statistics available; it seems that this was not a sector that encountered too many problems, even though the promised land reform of 1939 was not carried out. British reports note good fruit crops in 1942 and 1943 . The year 1943 was also reported as a good vintage year for Slovak wines. Communist authors indicate without hesitation that the social groups that benefited most from the economic expansion and growth in Slovakia were the middle and upper middle classes. The lot of workers also seems to have been satisfactory, except perhaps early on when worker discontent culminated in a strike fomented by Communists in Handlova in October 1940.69 The Slovak Parliament passed a number of bills to improve the social conditions of the working class, and salaries and wages showed a steady increase, 70 while unemployment disappeared. The autonomy and later independence of Slovakia brought about the availability of positions in the state as well as tertiary sectors which until then had been occupied primarily by Czechs. Education was another area which showed considerable activity and enabled educated Slovaks to move ahead. The University of Bratislava added two new fa- �26 SLOVAKIA culties , and a technical university was created in July 1939, taking up from the one created in Kosice in 1937 (but then under Magyar control). A school of economics was also founded, and by 1943 there were more than twice as many students enrolled in Slovak institutions of higher learning than there had been in 1938. An educational reform was also announced in July 1939, and Church-controlled schools were re-established. 71 These educational policies and reforms remedied in fact a major defect in Prague's educational program in Slovakia during the interwar years. As Owen Johnson has written: "What the Czechoslovak Republic / had / failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical and professional - that are required to conduct a modem nation."72 The founding of the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences and the modernization of the publication facilities of the Matica slovenska gave additional impetus to scientific and literary work. For the period 19391944, literary output, for example, totaled 709 works of which 437 were for prose, 169 for poetry, and 103 for plays. 73 Access to such works was made possible by a chain of bookstores operated by the Matica across the country. The statistics at my disposal are too incomplete to enable me to give an accurate survey of achievements but also of problems and failures. Nevertheless the picture that comes out is a positive one showing that"in five of the six years of the existence of the Slovak Republic, the Slovaks moved far down the road of modernization, dispelling any doubts about their ability to handle their own affairs. There is no better testimony to this fact than the report Gustav Husak prepared in July 1944 on the eve of the revolt he would lead as a member of the two opposition groups to the Slovak Republic. It is worthwhile to quote at length from it: In Slovakia today, there is sufficient merchandise, the system of distribution generally works well, and in comparison to adjacent territories (the Czech lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is best in Slovakia for the level of real salaries and their purchasing power. The salaries of employees and workers were raised many times, enterprises have all kinds of supply privileges and there cannot be any talk of a lack of basic commodities for consumers. The Slovak crown is the strongest currency in Central Europe , there is full confidence in it at home, �SLOVAKIA 27 people continue to save . . . and inflationary tendencies are sooner the result of German pressure on the economy than of internal conditions . . . : Problems are created by German demands, as a result of w}Uch Germany owes Slovakia today 6 billion ks ..... Slovak industry, given the circumstances of this war, was greatly modernized and some 2 billion ks. were invested in equipment (within 2 years), which in Slovakia is a huge sum .... In general one can say that on the basis of the experience of six years, Slovakia is able to exist as an independent unit economically and financially, can hold out on its own, has even today the necessary forces (including technical ones) and conditions of production for international competition . . . . The Slovaks are an independent nation, they have the same rights and expectations as any other nation. Today Slovak is the exclusive language of administration, all the formal attributes of a nation are there, and for this reason anyone who would like to return to the old conception of a united Czechoslovak nation will meet with opposition . . . . It is to be regretted that / the creation of the Slovak Republic / took place in combination with the worst political regime; still nothing will change the fact that on the national level there is a certain self-consciousness ''that we can take care of our own affairs" in political and economic affairs, that we can have our own army, our own administration, that one's own language is not inferior to that of former dominating nations, that Slovakia was a partner with whom states (the USSR and others) had relations, and to some degree still have today, in short that the Slovak nation can be the subject and not only the object of politics and other / activities / ... In these last six years, the development of a national consciousness and the completion of this development on the formal level are the most remarkable achievements that will not disappear with the fall of the regime . . . . It is a fact that this state is independent and has as much independence as a small state can have especially in time of war. 74 THE REVOLT OF 1944 Husak 's 1944 report on the conditions in Slovakia is in stark contrast with the twenty-seven page, top secret report ''The Revolt in Slovakia' ' found in Foreign Office files outlining the consequences of the fighting . 75 Likewise, one is struck by the difference between the provisional Czechoslovak government London broadcasts, especially �28 SLOVAKIA throughout 1944, inciting the Slovaks to acts of sabotage and destruction of life and property, and the Slovak press and media, when shorn of their ideological jargon and Germanophile phraseology, encouraging the population to ignore this incitement to violence. There was, in fact, partisan activity taking place sporadically throughout 1944; and, by the end of August the Slovaks found themselves almost overnight plunged into an abyss of violence and death which meant the end of their independence. One has to ask what brought about this shift from a relatively calm and stable situation to organized hostilities which resulted in German occupation and the inclusion of Slovakia in the European war. Was it a "Slovak National Uprising," as Communist historiography claims?76 Was it "an uprising for Czechoslovakia," as Wolfgang Venohr has suggested?77 Or was it an "incredible conspiracy," as Frantisek Vnuk has contended?78 The events of 1944 have already found their place in many versions in Slovak historiography, and they need not be recounted here at length. 79 But in the context of this study, two questions must be asked: Why did the revolt take place? and what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people? The reasons that were given after the fact by the leaders of the revolt, both Communist and non-Communist, seem like romanticized self-justifications in the light of the situation in Slovakia and the activities the partisans launched and the results they achieved.80 This is not to suggest that these men did not believe they were doing what they later claimed they had done. There is indeed a tragic irony in the fact that this was the way which insured that the Slovak people in the about-tobe restored Czechoslovak Republic would not be under a military dictatorship as Benes wanted,81 nor subjected to a renewed assimilation as had been attempted in the first CSR.82 Even the leaders of the Slovak Republic were also not unaware of the political situation of the Slovaks and the horns of the dilemma on which they found themselves. This is well illustrated by the following report that found its way into the files 11 of the Foreign Office; it was written by Kuhl de Borososhat, Hungarian Minister in Bratislava, a year before the revolt: Slovak politicians have held a conference at Rezsahegt I sic I (Ruzomberok) under the leadership of Blahos / sic I . Af- ter negotiations which lasted several days the opinion crystallized .that the Slovak people must, under all conditions, remain independent. As, after an Anglosaxon victory, the opinion of the politicians of today will no longer apply, the political leaders of �SLOVAKIA 29 Slovakia are entrusting the fate of their country to the hands of the American Slovaks. \ I asked the Minister of the Interior, Sano Mach, if the government adhered to the decision. He replied that the government had knowledge of it and would agree with it, but can neither adhere to it nor sanction it as this would imply that they had renounced belief in a German victozy - _a n open confession which Slovakia cannot and may not make. 83 The expectation of help from American Slovaks was, however, unrealistic; the resolution. of the Slovak dilemma lay in Europe. Thus, to answer the question why the revolt took place, one must go back to the three factors which had mortgaged the existence of the Republic of Slovakia. By 1944 they had come together in a way that made it impossible for the Slovak government to defend the integrity of the state and avoid the destruction that resulted. Germany was losing the war and progressively retreating from conquered territories, though not without resistance. German resistance was in fact dictated by strategic factors, and Slovakia played in this respect a major role on the Eastern front; for the Germans, Slovakia, with its mountains, barred the road to the Danubian plain for the Red Army, thus protecting the retreat of German armies from the Balkans; for the Soviet Union, the control of Slovakia meant access not only to the valley of the Danube, but also to Vienna and Prague. Also, the alliance with Germany, the second factor, had to be maintained in part because of the first factor but also because of the recognition of the Czechoslovak government in London by the Allies. To turn against Germany meant to be occupied by the Wehrmacht with no guarantee that help would be forthcoming in such a case either from the Soviet Union or the Western Allies. The Slovak government was, furthermore, anxious to avoid any Soviet involvement in Slovak affairs for the simple reason that Bolshevism ran against the Christian Slovak national traditions they upheld. Anti-German feeling had nevertheless begun to grow in Slovakia, and the government's pro-German policy was one of many arguments used to persuade Slovaks to go into opposition. 84 It was the activities of the Communist and non-Communist opposition groups, the third factor, which brought about the armed revolt in Central Slovakia that resulted in the German occupation of the country. The Germans then ordered the deportation of the majority of the Slovak Jews who had been spared the 1942 deportation, and there were sum- �30 SLOVAKIA mary executions on both sides as well as wanton destruction and violence. An additional tragic aspect to the entire episode is the fact that the revolt did not take place at a moment when it could benefit the Allied war effort and also scuttled the secret plans of the Slovak Army, prepared by the Minister of National Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos, and sent to Moscow, to help the Allied effort in Central Europe. Slovak army divisions would have been made available to partake in the sweep of the Red Army toward Budapest and Vienna.85 Catlos's plan, aside from its possible military usefulness, would have maintained the integrity of the Slovak Republic; this was unacceptable to the two opposition groups, the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, who in signing the Christmas Agreement of 1943 had agreed to work toward the restoration of Czechoslovakia. 86 The answer to the second question, namely what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people, is a little more complex. The revolt involved at first thousands of Slovaks, civilians and soldiers, because of the tremendous confusion that arose when it broke out. Apart from the German occupation, which had been the result of the shooting of a German military mission going through the Slovak town of Turciansky Sviity Martin, the most determining factor was the rumor that Tiso had been murdered by the Germans.87 But there were also Slovaks who had become disenchanted with the regime and joined the partisans for this reason. Husak indicated in his pre-revolt report that many Slovaks were ready to change the regime but to keep the state.88 The knowledge that the Allies had recognized Benes's Czechoslovak government - London broadcasts w~re frequently listened to89 - had helped to blur the line between regime and state to the point that in the proverbial sense , the baby was thrown out with the bath water. Except for those who had been working for the restoration of Czechoslovakia, it is not clear that many of those who joined the partisans realized that they were in a revolt not only against the regime, but also against the state. However, one must note that many Slovaks did not participate in the revolt and were even opposed to it because of their allegiance to the Slovak Republic. They realized that the revolt meant a return to the status quo antebellum . London broadcasts were making it perfectly clear that this was what awaited the Slovaks at the end of the war. But as Husak pointed out in a 1946 report, the Slovaks, both in government and in opposition, considered such a proposition to be ' 'rather ridiculous. " 90 The writer, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office of �SLOVAKIA 31 the Slovak government, expressed his opposition to the revolt as follows: It wasn't fear of the future, but fear of a renewed past. A return to the disgusting " Benesiada. " We were afraid of it. Benes was threatening us with revenge and promised to renew everything which had previously oppressed us Slovaks .. .. He did not recognize for us any n~tional rights . In fact he did not even recognize us as a nation. We were afraid of that. For this reason we did not see the Uprising as a liberation from the path of fascism , but rather as an unenticing overture to a new process of enslavement. 91 The revolt was basically put down within three months by German forces. 92 But Slovakia could not return to the normalcy of the pre-revolt years. The country was occupied. And even though the Slovak government continued to carry on with its policies both during and after the revolt,93 the link between the governing and the governed was not the same anymore . The end of the war was near. And, as members of the Slovak government fled to Austria in April 1946, the Slovak National Council, created out of the wartime collaboration between the Communists and the Democrats , took power in Slovakia on behalf of the restored Czechoslovak Republic. THE LEGACY OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC In the aftermath of the Second World War, Slovakia found itself caught in a double maelstrom of postwar politics. Czechoslovakia was in the Soviet military sphere of interest; within three years the Czechs and Slovaks would become part of the Soviet bloc. Secondly, Slovakia was granted a form of autonomy in the new Czechoslovak Republic; by the time the constitution became law in May 1948, only the formal attributes of autonomy remained. Thus the atmosphere and the politics of the postwar and the Communist period were ripe to give the Slovak Republic an historical blow. Its high officials, from the President of the Republic to members of Parliament and Department heads, were tried, often in absentia, and in the majority of cases convicted on various counts of treason against the Czechoslovak Republic. President Tiso and Prime Minister Tuka were condemned to death and executed in April 1947. Others were sent to serve long prison terms . The vengeance of Czechoslovak officials that Gaspar had feared was given free rein. In this way, a chapter in Slovak �32 SLOVAKIA history was closed and in the Communist period deliberately relegated to oblivion, or at best selectively examined to condemn it better. The situation is only slightly different in the Western world. Former officials of the Slovak Republic who found exile in the West have made an effort to explain the why and wherefore of Slovakia's first modern state. Their works have found only a limited audience, due in part to the vigilence of pro-Czechoslovak groups, both Czech and Slovak, who refuse to recognize that something positive might be said about the wartime period in Slovakia, especially about the Slovak Republic. No Western learned society, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, held a study session on this topic until 1979. It is, therefore, difficult to determine the legacy of the Slovak Republic. The idea of statehood that it represents has been accepted by most Slovak organizations in the West, such as the Slovak League of America and the Slovak World Congress; in their newspapers and periodicals, anniversaries and events are regularly mentioned and celebrated. Western scholarship has, unfortunately, not kept pace to give greater substance to the idea of statehood, for reasons I outlined at the beginning. Thus the pride hundreds of thousands of Slovaks have in this chapter of their history does not overflow into the world around them. More important, of course, is the legacy to the Slovaks in Slovakia. A perusal of Communist literature of the mid and late sixties suggests a tacit acceptance of the legacy of statehood; Slovak newpapers and periodicals often referred to the wartime period, especially as the drive to federalization became more pronounced. The publication of excerpts from Tido J . Gaspar's memoirs must also be seen as an important step in that direction . But the selective scholarship on the subject suggests that the Communist regime is still incapable of coming to terms with it. Time will undoubtedly cool passions, and curiosity will begin to take over. It is my belief that when Slovak archives become accessible to all scholars without restrictions, the record will show, as I have suggested in this article , that the Slovak Republic served the Slovaks well, especially in the social and cultural field, and that it played an extremely important role in the development of the national consciousness of the Slovak people. The federalization of Czechoslovakia, proposed at first in 1944 and made into law in 1968, could not have taken place if the Slovak Republic had been a dismal failure in the life of the Slovak people. But more research will have to be done, not only for scholarly reasons , but above all, to paraphrase the national motto of Slovakia's western neighbor, so that the truth might prevail. �SLOVAKIA 33 NOTES . 1 Of fourteen general histories puqlished since 1941 taken at random, the creation of the Slovak Republic has been presen\ed as follows : (1) no mention at all - J .B. Duroselle , L'Europe de 1815 a nosjours (Paris , 1970); Walter P. Hall and William G. Davis , The Course of Europe Since Waterloo (New York, 1941) ; and George Lichtheim, Europe in the Tw entieth Century (New York, 1972); (2) serious errors of presentation and interpretation - Martin Gilbert, The European Powers 1900-1945 (New York, 1965), p . 220 ; Carleton J .H . Hayes , Contemporary Europe Since 1870 (New York, 1953) , p . 631; Walter C. Langsam, The World Since 1914 (New York , 1943), p. 517 ; J .M . Roberts, Europe 1880-1945 (New York, 1972), p. 516; D.C . Watt, "Diplomatic History" in The New Cambridge Modern History , Vol. XIl: The Shifting Balances of 'World Forces, 1898-1945, edited by C.L. Mowat (Cambridge , 1968), p . 725; (3) minor errors of presentation and interpretation - Rene Albrecht-Carrie, A Dilpomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna (New York, 1958), pp . 529-30 ; C.E . Black and E .C. Helmreich, Twentieth Century Europe (New York, 1959), p . 529 ; James Joli, Europe Since 1870: An Introductory H istory (London, 1973), pp. 373 and 441; (4) reasonably accurate - A.J . Grant and H. Temperley , Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1789-1950) (London, 1952), p. 529; H . Stuart Hughes, Contemporary Europe: A History (Englewood Cliffs , 1966) , p . 318 ; and Elizabeth Wiskemann in Survey of International Affairs 1939-1946 - Hitler 's Europe , edited by Arnold Toynbee and Veronica M . Toynbee (London, 1954) , pp . 597-604 . 2 John Gellner and John Smerek, The Czechs and Slovaks in Canada (Toronto, 1968), p. viii. 3 Bohuslav Graca, 14. Maree 1939 (Bratislava, 1955) and lmrich Stanek , Zrada a pad, (Praha, 1958) . 4 See , for example, I.:ubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v politike Slovenskeho statu v rokoch 1939-1943," Historicky tasopis XI (1), 1967, pp . 1-35 ; --- , "Slovensky stat a protifasisticke hnutie v rokoch 1939-1943 ," Historicky tasopis XIV (2) , 1966, pp . 161-218; ---, "Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky fosopis XIII (3), 1965, pp. 329-65; --- , "Politicky rezim na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945" in Slovenske narodne povstanie roku 1944 (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 20-49 ; --- , Slovensko v 20, storoti (Bratislava, 1968), pp. 175265; Martin Vietor, " Prispevok k objasneniu fasistickeho charakteru tzv . Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky tasop is VIlI (4 ), 1960, pp , 483-508. 5 The two noticeable examples are : Samo Falt'an, Slovenskd otdka v Ceskoslovensku (Bratislava, 1968), pp . 92-103 and Ivan Kamenec, "Snem Slovenskej Republiky a jeho postoj k problemu zidovskeho obyvatefstva na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945," Historicky fosopis XVII (3) , 1969, pp , 329-62 , 6 There is a problem of availability ; the Library of Congress does not have the complete sets, nor does the British Library , 7 The late Ferdinand Durcansky once told me that he himself had destroyed documents because of the physical impossibility of taking them with him, especially to South America. 8 Many former Slovak politicians and officials have published vignettes of their activities in various Slovak publications in the West ; at present only two have published de- �34 SLOVAKIA tailed memoirs: Jozef Miku§, Pamliti slovenskeho diplomata (Middletown, 1978) and Karol Sidor, Sest'rokov pri Vatikane (Scranton, 1947), which also contains documents concerning Slovak foreign policy and diplomacy. The diary of Stefan Tiso, Prime Minister from September 1944 to April 1946, is presently at Stanford University, Hoover Institution on War and Peace ; access to it is however restricted. Excerpts from the diary were published by Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Dennfk Dr . Stefana Tisu," Historickj tasopis XVIIl (2), 1970, pp. 270-87. 9 Such an example is Owen Verne Johnson, Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 1918-1938: Education and Its Impact , unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1978. A recent exception is that of Dorothea El Mallakh, who succeeded in obtaining access to unpublished documents covering the years 1936 through October 1938 from the Ministry of the Interior archives in Prague. She had expected to fail in obtaining access to these documents when she visited Prague in January 1969. But as she writes: " Luck in timing and the helpfulness of individuals all coalesced to bring me almost 2600 frames of microfilms." Dorothea H. El Mallakh, The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939: A Study in Unrelenting Nationalism (Boulder, '1970) , p. xiv. 10 See Hans Dress, Slowakei und faschistische Neuordnung Eurpoas 1939-1941 (Berlin, 1972) . 11 John S. Conway, "The Churches, the Slovak State and the Jews 1939-1946," Slavonic Review Lil (126), 1974, p . 87. 12 In his autobiography, Lockhart makes it perfectly clear that he was devoted to Bene§ and that he had no qualms in working for him. See R.H. Bruce Lockhart, Comes the Reckoning (London, 1947), pp. 64ff. 13 In response to a request from the Central Department of the Foreign Office to comment on reports that Bruce Lockhart had put together from information he received from Czech and Slovak sources in London, Peter Pares foresaw from the very beginning the direction this information would go: " Many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition.' ' FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-68-12. Public Record Office, London. 14 This problem is compounded by the fact that there are very few general studies on the Slovak Republic published in a Western language, and none is detailed and comprehensive in scope. See Milan S. :C>urica, "Slovakia During World War II - the Slovak Republic' ' in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973), pp. 161-94; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1961) , pp . 111\76; Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia (New York, 1966), pp. 123-91; Josepli A. Mikus, Slovakia - A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee , 1963), pp. 67-164; 'and Anthony X. Sutherland, Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modem Slovakia (Middletown, 1978), pp. 81-102. Additional titles, particularly of specialized topics in Western and Slovak languages, may be found in Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) ," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, pp. 17-24. 16 Johnson, p . 466. 16 FO 417-39 , Doc. 3973-19-18. �SLOVAKIA 35 17 This is noted in a report by Pares to the Foreign Office. FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-712. 18 Falt'an, pp . 106-06. \ 19 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, "Die Stellung der Slowakischen Volkspartei zur Aussenpolitik Prags'' in Karl Bos!, ed., Gleichgewicht - Revision - Restauration. Die Aussenpolitik der Ersten Tschechoslowakischen Republik im Europasystem der Pariser Vorortsvertrtige (Muenchen, 1976), pp. 316-66. 20 House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates, 339 H.C. Deb. 6 s., pp. 366-6. 21 See especially FrantiAek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938 March 1939), " Slovak Studies IV, 1968, pp . 7-164; Joseph Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 98-146; Mikus , pp . 67-91 ; El Mallakh, pp. 113-44. A somewhat different version is found in Joerg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei undHitlers Ostpolitik (Koeln, 1966). 22 The Slovak struggle for autonomy in the First Czechoslovak Republic was a variation on the theme of national self-determination which was ultimately denied the Slovaks by the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism'' of the Prague government. Independence, if it could be achieved, was not only the logical outcome, but in the light of the "Czechoslovak" ideology of Prague, the only way for the Slovak nation to assert itself. Other solutions were not excluded so long as the Slovaks were recognized as a nation independent of the Czechs ; a Central European federation is often mentioned in this context. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 223-30 . 23 Though the Hlinka Party had become the Party of Slovak National Unity on October 6, 1938, the literature still refers to it as the Hlinka Party . I will conform to this usage. 24 Liptak, "Politicky rezim ... , " p . 24. See Also Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 169-73. 26 Liptak, Slovensko, p . 210. 26 Conway, p. 96. 27 Liptak, " Politicky rezim ... ," p. 26 . 28 FO 417-40 , Doc. C10876-7-12 . 29 FO 371-22900, Doc . C18636-7-12 . 30 See note 13 . 31 Falt'an, p . 114 and Liptak, " Politicky rezim . .. , "p. 36. 32 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, ''Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics,' ' Canadian Slavonic Papers XIX (4) , 1977, pp . 446-9. 33 FO 371-24290, Doc . C612-68-12 . 34 The British Government recognized Benes 's national committee as the " Provisional Czechoslovak Government" on July 21 , 1940. Full de jure recognition was granted on July 18, 1941 , the same day the Soviet Union granted de facto and de jure recognition. The United States followed suit on July 31 , 1941 . 36 In a report on conditions in Slovakia written in January 1939, George Kennan expressed the following opinion, which was widely held at that time: "Its (Slovakia's) native leaders are so sadly lacking in experience, in imagination, in breadth of view, and in depth of purpose that they cannot hope to maneuver successfully for very long �SLOVAKIA 36 amid the powerful national and ideological currents which are playing all around them in Central Europe. " George P. Kennan, From Prague After Munich: Diplomatic Papers 1938-1940 (Princeton, 1968), p. 27. 36 This is best illustrated by the fact that not only in the literature but also during the war, Slovakia was referred to as a " fascist state, " not in a descriptive but in a normative sense. 37 FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-58-12. 38 Joseph M . Kirschbaum , p . 163. 39 Ibid. , p. 159. 40 Ibid. , p . 168; Mikus, p. 94 ; Jan F . Gleiman, "Duch ustavy SR" in Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Slouenska Republika 1939-1949 (Scranton, 1949), p. 120. 41 FO 417-40, Doc. Cl0876-7-12. 42 The most comprehensive analysis of the program is found in Stefan Polakovit, Tisoua nauka (Bratislava, 1941). An English outline appears in Joseph M . Kirschbaum, Slouakia, pp. 170-3; a critical approach was taken by Yeshayahu Jelinek in The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slouak People's Party 1939-1945 (Boulder, 1976) . 43 Of the 63 deputies elected, 48 were from the Hlinka Party; 12 represented the Agrarian Party, the Slovak National Party, the Artisan Party, and the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party. See above, Kirschbaum, p . 169. 44 Kamenec, passim . 46 The Fuehrer principle was introduced in Slovak political life on October 22, 1942. It enabled President Tiso to consolidate his power and that of the Hlinka Party against Tuka and Mach and the Hlinka Guard. 46 According to Liptak, the Hlinka Guard represented the lumpenproletariat and the radical small bourgeoisie. Liptak, "Politicky reiim ... , "p. 26. 47 Some authors refer to a tradition of anti-Semitism as well as the activities of Slovak Jews in Slovak life to explain the early anti-Jewish policies. Mikus, pp. 96-6.; Sutherland, pp. 88-9. See also Kennan, pp. 22-3. 48 Conway, passim. 49 Kamenec, p . 363. 60 This is made quite clear by one of the leaders of the 1944 revolt. See Lettrich, passim . 61 Liptak, Slouensko , pp. 177-180. For a description of Slovak foreign policy, see Mikus, pp. 116-138. 62 Milan S. Ourica, La Slouaccia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania, 1938-1945 , (Padova, 1964), Vol. I, p . 107. 53 Mikus, pp. 135-6 and Ourica, p . 107. 64 The situation and events leading to the Salzburg' meeting Jlre described at length in Liptak, "Priprava a priebeh . . . . " 66 As to th~ question whether Slovakia declared war on the U.K. and the United States, there is also no documentary evidence that this did take place according to postwar re- �SLOVAKIA 37 search into the matter by State Ikpartment officials . The suggestion that Slovakia did declare war is based on a New York Times report of December 13, 1941 of a German broadcast from Bratislava that stated that Slovakia had declared war. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia , pp. 318-21. 66 Gustav Husak , " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," Svedectvi XV (68) , 1979, p . 377. 67 Ibid. 68 FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-7-12. 69 FO 417-39, Doc. C5201-7-12 . 60 Husak, p. 369. 61 FO 371-34337, Doc. C9206-372-12 . In his pre-revolt report, Husak indicates that some 60,000 Slovaks also worked in Germany. Husak, p. 373. 62 Liptak, Slovensko , p. 194. 63 I.:ubomir Liptak, Ovlddnutie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitdlom (Bratislava, 1960), p . 66. 64 Liptak, Slovensko, pp. 201-2. 65 Falt'an, pp. 108-9. See also FO 371-39121 , Doc. C877-877-18. 66 Sutherland, p. 87 . 67 FO 371-34446, Doc. C1066-160-18. 68 FO 371-34446, Doc . C6626-160-18. 69 Dress , p. 119. 70 Ibid ., p. 117. 71 It is interesting that the Slovaks met with no opposition from the Germans. As Conway writes: ''It should be noted that the abolition of religious instruction and the removal of crucifixes from the schools were two notable features of the Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church." Conway, p . 89 , note 11. 72 Owen V. Johnson, "The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, p . 42 . 73 Frantisek Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown, 1965), p. 12. 74 Husak, pp. 376-77. 76 FO 371-38942, Doc. C13551-1343-12 . 76 Husak's memoirs are entitled: " Testimony on the Slovak National Uprising." See Gustav Husak , Svedectvo o slovenskom narodnom povstani (Bratislava, 1964). A revised and amended version was published in 1969. 77 Wolfgang Venohr, Au/stand fuer die Tschechoslowakei (Hamburg, 1969). 78 Frantisek Vnuk, Neuveritefne sprisahanie (Middletown, 1964). 79 The most complete account in a Western language is by Venohr. 80 ' 'The political motive for an uprising was the desire to liberate Slovakia by its own efforts as soon as possible, to throw out the Germans , to destroy the dictatorship of the �SLOVAKIA 38 Slovak People's Party, reintroduce Czechoslovak democratic institutions, spare Slovakia the suffering of the war and assure its just place in a free Czechoslovakia.'' Lettrich, p. 200. 81 A. Benl!ik and J. Pivovarl!i, " Problemes militaires de llnsurrection nationale slovaque," Studia historica slovaca IV, 1966, p. 166. 82 Upon the restoration of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (Bene§'s party) prepared a document for the party faithful outlining how the Czechoslovak Government should go about successfully assimilating the Slovaks. It was published for the first time in 1968. See Pravda (Bratislava), March 29, 1968. 83 FO 371-34337, Doc. 9786-372-12. 84 According to Husak, some other arguments were "the class content of this state, its undemocratic fascist regime, its vassal link to Nazi Germany and its policies against the people." Husak, Svedectvo, p . 129. 85 There is a full German translation of Catlo§'s plan in Venohr, pp. 119-21. 86 See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Federalism .. . ," pp. 446-49. 87 M. Kuhar, a former communications officer in the Slovak Army, explained to me recently in an interview in Toronto, Canada, that his unit had been mobilized when the rumor of Tiso's death had reached it with the understanding that the Slovak Army would engage the Germans to defend Slovak independence. When the rumor proved to be untrue, his unit returned to its barracks . 88 Husak, "O vyvoji ... ," p. 377. 89 In 1942, at a ceremony for a new extension of the electrical network, President Tiso remarked: "You see, how, with more electricity we are giving you an opportunity to hear London and Moscow. In Russia they do not have such an opportunity, because there they give them a record player and thus they can hear only Moscow. The Slovak Republic is not afraid to hear foreign stations, because we know the truth and we are not afraid of the lies that London broadcasts.•• Slovak, May 19, 1942, quoted in Milan Stanislav l'>urica, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska Republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dej£n (Lausanne, 1976), p. 143, note 127. 90 Vilem Prel!an, Slovenske ntirodne povstanie (Bratislava, 1965), document 576, p. 950. 91 Tido J. Ga§par, "Z pamiiti, " Slovenske pohfady LXXXIV (12), 1968, p. 79. 92 At a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff in London on November 15, 1944, it was acknowledged that the revolt had collapsed. FO 371-38944, Doc. C15945-1343-12. \ 93 Liptak, "Politicky re!im . . . , " p. 48. � HISTORY ��SLOVAKIA 11 The .Slovak Republic and the Slovaks· . STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM INTRODUCTION There are very few topics in recent history that have been as much avoided, accidentally or deliberately, by Western as well as Communist scholars as the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) . The significance of this state in the period of its existence is certainly not central to an understanding of the more important world events that were taking place at the time, nor was its contribution to those events such that it required the attention of world powers. Historical surveys published in the West in the last forty years have thus not given Slovakia much attention; one can appreciate the reason for this, but one must also note that there are often serious inaccuracies, distortions, and misrepresentations in these works.I The task of writing this history of the Slovak Republic is, therefore, left to a few Western specialists or to Slovak Marxist historians. But here one is also left wanting; ideological preoccupations and problems of documentation explain this unusual state of affairs. The Republic of Slovakia found itself on the side of the vanquished powers at the end of the Second World War. Historians have been understandably more interested in recording the activities of the victorious, often applying ex post facto a devil theory to the defeated. In the wake of an ideological conflict like the Second World War, and with the ideological division of the world in the postwar years, the tendency to simplify in order better to glorify and I or condemn is understandable. It is not to be excused, however. Nevertheless Western, as well as Communist, historians have generally let their engagement get the better of their scholarship, or else they have conveniently cast intractable subjects to the Orwellian memory hole. For example, two Canadians, one of Czech, the other of • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies , New Haven, October, 1979. �12 SLOVAKIA Slovak origin, purporting to write the history of the Czechs and Slovaks in Canada, have actually suggested that Slovak separatism is " an aberration of the past , excusable perhaps under the circumstances of the day , but otherwise the sooner forgotten the better.' ' 2 Communist scholars have also generally avoided the Slovak Republic, with the only two works published in the 1950s3 followed by a few articles in the 1960s.4 Writing from their Marxist perspective , they have, however, shown a shift in accent and interpretation in their later writings.5 This shift corresponds to greater access to the documentation on the Slovak Republic for scholars in Slovakia. However, this documentation is not necessarily accessible to Western scholars . Access to original documents and other primary sources is in fact the greatest problem that Western scholars studying Slovakia face. All of the works on the period of the Slovak Republic published in the West show a minimal reliance on original Slovak documentation . At best, they have used three newspapers published in Slovakia that are available , namely Slovak , Gardista , and Grenzbote.6 Monographs which were published during the war and which found their way into Western European or American libraries are also available; but their number, as well as their importance , is limited. None gives a total picture of the Slovak Republic ; most were written during the war, and generally before the 1944 revolt. Finally, none of the political leaders or officials of the state has made public any documents in his possession 7 that cast additional light. With some exceptions, there are no detailed memoirs or diaries that one can draw upon.8 Finally, there is no indication that Prague or Bratislava is presently disposed to open Slovak archives to Western scholars, except perhaps for earlier periods and less explosive subjects like education. 9 There is , on the other hand, one documentary source that Western and Communist IO scholars have used widely, namely German documentation. The Allies published soon after the war the series Documents on German Foreign Policy ; those documents not found in this series are now available in Bonn at the\ Politisches Archiv des auswiirtigen Amtes . Also available are SS documents, namely from Himmler's Sicherheitsdienst, which John Conway has prudently characterized as "conscientious, though obviously one-sided. " 11 Conway's comments are indeed pertinent for much of German documentation ; it must be used with great care when applied to Slovakia. The scholar must remember that they are addressed to and written by people serving the Third Reich. A third, but unfortunately rather unreliable source of information, �SLOVAKIA 13 is the files of the British Foreign Office. These were at first composed of British diplomatic reports, especially from Consul to Slovakia Peter Pares, which are useful because of their detachment and scope. Pares, however, left Slovakia after the outbreak of the Second World War, and thereupon the reports fo'll{ld in the files of the Foreign Office ceased to come from agents in diplomatic representation abroad. Bruce Lockhart12 then set into motion the gathering of intelligence not only on Slovak, but also on Czech, affairs in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and thus thickened Foreign Office files with weekly and sundry reports. With the British de facto and later de jure recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London, headed by Edvard Bene§, the task of gathering intelligence and preparing situation reports fell on the Czech and Slovak exiles in London. The information in this documentation is rarely accurate, and to its discredit, extremely selective.13 The documents show quite plainly that Bene§ and his people used only information that damaged the Slovak Republic, especially Slovak politicians. Likewise, the weekly summaries of the Political Intelligence Department are not very useful because they were based upon reports emanating from Bene§'s people. However, the Foreign Office files also contain occasional letters or reports from other sources that paint a totally different picture; but they are too few and, unfortunately, rarely comprehensive enough to give scholars something concrete. This problem of inadequate documentary evidence makes the task of studying the Slovak Republic an extremely difficult one.14 Nevertheless a beginning must be made, if only to ask questions, examine existing interpretations, and seek to understand the motives and actions of the men at the center of events; there is indeed a real challenge of intellectual and documentary detection in this case. The documentation used in this article is neither specialized nor all-encompassing. I have examined closely most available secondary sources, both Western and Communist, read the memoir-like contributions of Slovaks in SlovakCanadian and Slovak-American newspapers and periodicals, and studied carefully the documents of the Foreign Office. Furthermore, I accept the writings of exiled Slovak scholars as those most likely to help us understand the Slovak Republic and the actions of its leaders, while taking note of their often defensive and apologetic nature. I am also aware of the fact that there exist many works disposed in an unfriendly, if not outright inimical, way to the Slovak Republic; I have sought to understand the arguments presented and have accepted at face value the facts given. But one should be skeptical toward them; a state where the President could walk on the streets of the capital city without a �14 SLOVAKIA bodyguard to protect him and where no attempt was ever made on his life is not a state where everything was evil and against the interests of the Slovak people, as some works suggest. The full history of the Slovak Republic will, however, not be written until all archival material is made available. Until then the present debate is likely to continue. Before examining the various aspects of this topic, a few words should be said about the broader perspective within which the Slovak Republic found itself. In his study of the impact of education in Slovakia in the 1920s and 1930s, Owen Johnson has shown that by the end of the second decade of the existence of the first Czechoslovak Republic not only had Prague's policy of Czechoslovak nation-building failed, but indeed its "program of Czechoslovak state building had turned into one of Slovak nation building."15 There is some irony in the fact that Prague's policies had the opposite effect of what had been expected; in this respect then, the activities of the Slovak Republic would be merely the continuation and the prolongation of this process with the difference that all decisions affecting the Slovaks would be taken by Slovaks in Bratislava and not in Prague. The fact that the Slovaks took their national life into their own hands, notwithstanding the circumstances that had led to this step, also reflected the problems created by the selective application of the policy of national self-determination in Central Europe. While recognizing on the one hand the right of nations to selfdetermination on the morrow of the Great War, the victorious powers were selective on the other in their granting of this right to the various nations of the Habsburg Empire. The Slovaks were not unaware of this discrepancy, and when the deleterious geopolitical arrangements of the Versailles settlement finally succumbed to German expansionism, Slovak independence was as much an act of nati~al self-determination as one of self-preservation. The ultimate tragedy of the Slovaks is that by 1945 the victorious powers once again applied in a selective fashion the principles of national self-determination as embodied in the Atlantic Charter. THE ACCEPTANCE OF SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE The declaration of Slovak independence was greeted with rejoicing by a great many Slovaks, although in Bratislava, as British Consul Peter Pares reported, there had not been many manifestations of that joy. The capital city of Slovakia was yet to become a primarily Slovak city, and its non-Slovak population did not show much enthusiasm. Pares sensed apathy or pessimism.16 Slovakia's declaration of independence had in fact come about under circumstances that differentiate it from �SLOVAKIA 15 similar events for other nations in recent times. Consul Pares's report not only singles out this ~ct, but it underlines one of the major tasks that the leaders of the new'state had to face. Slovakia's declaration of independence cannot be disassociated from the two previous decades when neither the political individuality of Slovakia nor the nationhood of its people had been acknowledged by the Czechoslovak Republic. Belatedly and grudgingly, Prague had granted Slovakia autonomy on October 6, 1938, under conditions that did not indicate the total and willing abandonment by the Czech elite of the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism. '' But for the Slovak people, autonomy represented the successful outcome of a twenty-year struggle, a hope that Slovak national development could now be carried out by the Slovak people. Autonomy brought about manifestations of popular gladness in the cities, towns, and villages of Slovakia. The Hlinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party, headed by Martin Razus, had been the main political forces not only behind autonomy, but above all, in the educational campaign that was essential for the Slovak people in order to handle their own affairs. After two decades of Czech local, as well as state administration, a policy that had brought about much bitterness in Slovakia, 17 the Slovaks looked upon autonomy as the fulfillment not only of original promises, but also of national aspirations. Independence and statehood had not been an alternative openly discussed and contemplated by Slovak leaders in the two decades before autonomy. This is not to say that they might not one day have considered it. Indeed, as Samo Falt'an, a Slovak Commwiist historian, has written: "Statehood as an expression of national liberty cannot be rejected and qualified as treason to the nation.'' He went on to add that independence was a logical outcome in the light of the Slovaks' status in the CSR: ''The creation of the Slovak State is not in conflict with national interests and efforts, all the more so, because in the twenty-year existence of the CSR there had been no successful attempt to reach a Czech-Slovak constitutional arrangement. "18 Nevertheless - and this is important in order to understand the problems that faced th,e new state - when independence was declared, it had not been the object of wide public discussion but rather came rapidly on the heels of autonomy when Slovakia had barely begun to enjoy its new status in Czecho-Slovakia. However, within the Hlinka party, reorganized since November 8, 1938 as the Slovak Party of National Unity, which other Slovak parties had been invited to join except for Slovak Communists and Social Democrats, there were elements that had been considering �16 SLOVAKIA independence, especially in the light of the changing international situation in Europe. The predominance of Germany and the fear that Prague might not be able to defend the integrity and existence of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks concerned them. In fact, from the very beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia, the Hlinka party had given Prague notice that the survival and interests of the Slovak nation were uppermost in its policy stand and actions.19 But in 1938-1939 the need to explore all avenues was paramount, for as Churchill declared in the House of Commons on October 5, 1938: "I venture to think that in the future the Czechoslovak state cannot be maintained as an independent entity. You will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured only by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi regime. "20 The Slovak elite was aware of this danger of engulfment and of the necessity to maneuver in such a way as to avoid it. As events would show and the history of the Slovak Republic would confirm, Slovak independence was the one solution that enabled Slovakia to avoid the total absorption that befell other Central European peoples and states. The events leading to independence need not he recounted here, since they have been examined elsewhere.21 Suffice it to say that in the light of European developments and the rapidity with which they were unfolding, the decision to opt for independence and the manner in which it was done showed courage on the part of the Slovak leaders. It was also the best solution, not only under the circumstances, but also for the Slovak nation.22 But at the moment of independence, and for the immediate future, this decision by the Slovak leaders had to be explained and shown to be viable both to the Slovak people and to the world at large. The Hlinka Party23 embarked on this task, calling upon all Slovaks to join it, as the Communist historian I:ubomir Liptak has written. The new regime in Slovakia did not exclude its political opponents from positions in the new state.24 In fact he pointed out: The populists did not come to power after an extreme collision of political trends in Slovakia, in the wake of a moderate civil war as was the case for example in Italy and Germany, but during an international crisis, when all existing political conceptions and currents failed, or did not have an oppottunity to influence developments. In this kind of internal political vacuum, when political opponents are eliminated, or do not have clear goals, or are isolated in the nation, the populists could get the support or at least the passive help of yesterday's political opponents.25 �SLOVAKIA 17 Although there was a single Slovak party (there was, however, also a Slovak German, and a small Slovak Hungarian, party) and the regime manifested certain visible authoritarian characteristics, the appearance of factions and policy directions in the Blinka Party, the division between the legislative and executive branches of government, and the role of the churches in the political life of the state26 were all factors that would influence Slovak political life and help the Blinka Party to carry out its program. In the words of Liptak, in the Slovak Republic there was a "certain 'liberalism' and carefulness in the introduction of authoritarian arrangements.' •27 This moderate liberalism was, however, not to be enjoyed by all citizens, and many individuals suffered, although on the whole there was none of the totalitarianism, terror, and ideological dogmatism that later befell the Slovaks under the Communist regime. These conditions also made it possible for opposing views to coexist and later influence events in Slovakia. For there existed three factors which had heavily mortgaged the viability of the Slovak Republic and which would in time take their place in the political life of the state and ultimately seal its fate; they were the activities of opposition groups, Slovak-German relations, and the world war. The appearance of a group opposing the Slovak Republic is something that British Consul Pares soon took notice of. In his July report on the Constitution of Slovakia, where he noted the unique position of the Blinka Party in the political system, he pointed out that the Catholic origin of this party probably meant the virtual exclusion of Slovak Protestants within it, as well as their relegation to the background of public affairs. He concluded from this that the ''insignificant position into which they have been thrust is sure to arouse their bitter resentment. "28 By mid-November he reported the "active revolt ... of a section of the Lutheran Community, which was the greatest source of strength of the former centralists or ''Czechoslovaks'' and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case, it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which has created bitter antagonism to the existing government .... "29 Despite the fact that a number of Protestant personalities occupied key positions in the state, that their economic influence in Slovakia did not diminish but in fact increased, and that their leaders publicly proclaimed their adherence and loyalty to the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Protestant community did indeed form an opposition group, whether for sectarian or political reasons, especially after Benes began to regroup his political partisans in London. As Pares noted in his last dispatch on Slovakia to London, the Protestants formed �18 SLOVAKIA at home and abroad an opposition link to the Slovak Republic and lent Benes support for his goal of recreating the first Czechoslovak Republic.30 By 1943 they would be actively involved in the restoration of Czechoslovak authority in Slovakia and would help a second main opposition group, the Communists, in preparing an armed revolt in Central Slovakia. The role of the Communists in Slovakia mirrored well the turgidity of their movement until the German attack on the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Soviet diplomatic recognition of Slovakia invalidated the slogans of national self-determination they propagated in 1939, while the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, by then resident in Moscow, ordered the abandonment of the slogan of a '' Soviet Slovak Republic,'' which began to appear in 1940. The Communist Party had been declared illegal in Slovakia so that its activities and organization were clandestine. The security services of the Slovak Republic occasionally rounded up Communists, but as both Falt'an and Liptak pointed out, not only were they quickly released from prison, but they were allowed to resume their positions in economic and state institutions. 31 In was not until late 1943 and 1944 that Communist activity became a major factor in Slovak political life, in part because the Communists were in touch with Soviet partisan units operating out of Kiev, and in part because they had worked out a new political program for Slovakia in the future of Czechoslovak Republic.32 Together with Slovak non-Communists, primarily Lutherans, they began to prepare the revolt of 1944, which I will examine below. The existence and activity of opposition groups to the Slovak Republic were enhanced by the nature of Slovak-German relations. The role of Germany in the destruction of Czechoslovakia had been a major factor in Slovakia's declaration of independence and as British Consul Pares noted, ''from the moment when indeflendence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. ,,33 Attempts to pursue an independent foreign policy by the Minister of External Affairs, Ferdinand Durcansky, resulted in his removal in July 1940 under German pressure and thereafter Germany made sure that Slovak political life did not go beyond certain limits, which for the most part were, however, not clearly defined; on the other hand Germany did not encourage Slovak pro-Nazi elements to take power, nor did Hitler back the attempted coup in 1941 against President Tiso, in which the German ambassador, M. von Killinger, was himself involved. Slovakia was nevertheless in the German sphere of interest; its existence �SLOVAKIA 19 was in fact tied to German political and economic activities, and despite the diplomatic recognition it had been granted by twenty-seven states, its juridical status did not\in fact extend much beyond Europe. British de facto and later de jure ·recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government in London, followed by Soviet and American recognition,34 as well as the Hungarian claims on Slovakia, further strengthened the ties between Slovakia and Germany which were not broken until the war's end. The outbreak of the Second World War was the third factor that heavily influenced the politics and the viability of the Slovak Republic. Although Slovakia would not experience the horrors of war until 1944, the fact that there was a war all around it enabled opposition groups to get involved in military activities on Slovak soil and do just what the Slovak leaders had so successfully avoided doing, namely bring the war into Slovakia with their 1944 revolt. Also, the war forced Slovakia into much closer cooperation with Germany, especially in the economic sphere, and brought about the deportation into Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jews. In the end Slovakia's existence became tied to the outcome of a war that Germany had begun. In spite of the weight of these three factors on the Slovak Republic, its political leaders determined to carry out policies that would enable the Slovak people to develop further their national life, or put in other terms, that would embark them upon a program of modernization that would dispel any doubts about Slovak political maturity. 35 In this respect, as the available evidence shows, the Slovak Republic represented a singular achievement that had not been equalled in the Czechoslovak state. THE POLICIES OF THE REGIME It was the misfortune of the Slovak Republic that it had to fight throughout its existence the battle of statehood. International law notwithstanding, the Slovaks came to realize that the international existence of their state was shaky, a situation which resulted in the blurring of the boundary lines between state and regime for many Slovaks and most observers.36 This blurring grew as the war developed and became prevalent by the time it became clear that the Allies, who by then had recognized the Czechoslovak government in London, were going to win the war. But in 1939 and for the next four years, until the German army was defeated at Stalingrad, and despite the need after July 1940 for Slovakia to align itself closer to Germany, the lines between state �20 SLOVAKIA and regime were quite closer. The notion of statehood was indeed understood by the Slovaks, as Peter Pares quite accurately reported to London in his last dispatch in January 1940: One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia' s need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the republic and goes far toward reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position.37 The Slovaks lost in fact very little time in setting up a constitution for their state. They proclaimed on July 21, 1939 a republic, drawing upon the constitutions of Austria, Portugal, and Czechoslovakia, to determine the balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.38 The constitutional text is divided into thirteen chapters of 103 articles forming "a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws concerning the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power.' •39 Worthy of note are also the articles dealing with the duties and general rights of the citizens, including the right of assembly and freedom of speech and the protection of the workers. As students of the Slovak constitution have noted, the social provisions were greatly influenced by Papal encyclicals, particularly Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno.40 The main authoritarian feature is to be found in the role of the Hlinka Party. As Pares pointed out in his description of the constitution to the Foreign Office, ''in spite of the mul~plication of the organs of government, it is easy to see that the Hlinka party itself will, under the new Constitution, be the most powerful factor"in the government of the country." 41 Changes in the Hlinka Party further enhanced the authoritarian character of the regime, as some features of the German and Italian party systems were adopted. The Hlinka Party did not, however, have a fascist or national-socialist program, although attempts were made to give it one, and it sought to direct political life along Slovak national traditions. 42 Like all political parties, the Hlinka Party was divided into factions. Throughout the six years of the Slovak Republic, the main faction, headed by Jozef Tiso, President of the Party and also President of the Republic from October 26, 1939, dominated the political life of the �SLOVAKIA 21 country. It was composed not only of long-standing members of the party, but also of representatives of other Slovak parties who had consented to run on the single ticket for the Diet during the elections of December 18, 1938.43 Th.is faction exercised its influence not only in the Presidency, but'also in ~he Slovak Parliament. 44 For the better part of the life of the Slovak Republic, the Tiso faction also had to make every effort to curb the pro-Nazi faction which sought indeed to give Slovakia a Slovak national-socialist regime. It was headed by Vojtech Tuka, who after July 1940 became Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs until the 1944 revolt. Tuka owed his position to Hitler who had summoned Tiso to Salzburg on July 28, 1940 to impose a closer alignment with Germany. Hitler also forced the dismissal of Durcansky, Minister of External Affairs. The Secretary-General of the Party, Jozef Kirschbaum, was also removed from his position shortly afterwards. Slovakia had lost some of the freedom it had enjoyed in the first seventeen months of its existence. Still, the Hlinka Party, whose main organizational opponent was the pro-Tuka Hlinka Guard, managed to carry through a series of policies that, with one exception, one can hardly qualify as Nazi or fascist.45 Likewise much of the posturing and outward imitation of Italian and German uniforms was more a matter of form to please Germany than an integral part of Slovak political culture. It would have been a different story if Tuka and Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, had succeeded in overthrowing Tiso. The country would most likely have been ruled by the Hlinka Guard, whose membership was not composed of the most enlightened segments of the population. 46 Of all the policies the regime of the Slovak Republic proposed and carried out, the most unfortunate and tragic were the confiscation of Slovak Jewish property, known as the policy of aryanization, and in 1942 on German urging, the deportation to Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jewish population. These policies found both support and opposition in Slovakia. The aryanization policy was introduced shortly after independence and was voted on by the Slovak Parliament in response to a mood that existed in public circles.47 The deportation policy, advocated by the Tuka faction, however, met with serious opposition, 48 and although it could be stopped only belatedly, Tiso and his supporters in Parliament were still able to limit its scope and save the lives of thousands of Slovak Jews.49 Nevertheless, one of the darkest chapters in Slovak history had been written, and it went a long way toward damaging the record of the Slovak Republic50 and the aspirations of the Slovak people for independence. �22 SLOVAKIA Foreign policy was another area where room for maneuver was limited. The Communist historian Liptak has argued that the Slovak Republic was a mere pawn in a German game in Europe, especially in the period following independence; it was not possible, he concluded, for Slovakia to pursue an independent foreign policy.51 The measure of the success or failure of Slovakia's foreign policy lies in the degree to which it could resist German dominance and obtain for itself some freedom of action and protection of its own interests. The test came early with the Hungarian attack on Eastern Slovakia in March 1939 and, as Milan Durica has shown, the Slovaks, led by Durcansky, were reasonably successful in minimizing the damage and protecting Slovak interests. 52 The Treaty of Protection (Schuetzvertrag) between Slovakia and Germany set the limits of Slovakia's room for maneuver in foreign relations, military, and economic affairs. With the outbreak of the war, Slovakia joined Germany in invading Poland but only to recapture Slovak territory lost in 1920 and 1938. Nevertheless, Durcansky attempted to widen his freedom of action, and one of his attempts to pursue an independent course failed due to an indiscretion by a Slovak diplomat53 and brought about his downfall in July of 1940.54 Thereafter, Prime Minister Tuka, who was also External Affairs Minister, aligned Slovakia closer to German foreign policy by joining the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1940 and by participating in the war against the Soviet Union. There is no indication in the documentation that there were military engagements between Slovak and British or American forces.55 The measure of the success of Durcansky' s foreign policy may perhaps best be gauged by the fact that he set parameters on German interference which enabled the regime to carry out a wide range of domestic policies. Even after his ouster in 1940, German interference was felt primarily in foreign, military, and economic policy and in the Jewish question. As Communist leader Gustav Husak, an eyewitness to the politics and policies of the Slovak Republic, pointed out in July 1944: ''German influence is great, but not\so great for independence to be a stupid mask. "56 The major achievements of the Slovak Republic were in the economic and socio-cultural fields. If adequate research is ever possible in these two areas, the results are likely to show that the regime was quite successful in taking the Slovak people far down the road of modernization and that, until the revolt of 1944, the Slovak government looked after its non-Jewish citizens through planned economic and social development. The Slovak Republic was the framework within which the Slovak people could and did attain a good measure of national and so- �SLOVAKIA 23 cial development even under the stringent diplomatic and military conditions their government found itself. As Gustav Husak wrote in 1944, distinguishing between regime and state: "If this state had another content and were l~d by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, there would be nothing to say against it from a Slovak point of view." 57 Husak, a Communist, was understandably not in favor of the regime; but he acknowledged the importance and benefits of statehood for the Slovaks. Certainly by 1944 there was no doubt about that anymore. There had been doubts, however, at the time of independence. They had arisen from some of the intitial difficulties the autonomous Slovak government had experienced in late 1938 and early 1939. As Peter Pares wrote in February 1939, there were difficulties in a series of sectors, especially in the economic, educational, and administrative ones, from which he concluded that the result ''must inevitably be the economic stagnation of Slovakia and might even mean a disastrous impoverishment." 58 But by April 1939, Pares reported that "the present state of affairs in Slovakia, after nearly a month of independence, seems to indicate that, in spite of the manner in which the declaration of independence was brought about and of the disturbing effects of the Hungarian invasion of Eastern Slovakia, conditions are more stable than anybody expected. "59 The situation in fact continued to improve so much that Husak could write in 1944 that there had been a definite improvement to what the situation had been in Czechoslovakia. He went on to add that in the first seventeen months of the Slovak Republic ''it also became evident that Slovakia could take care of itself economically, there was neither economic nor currency chaos, the standard of living did not go down, quite the contrary, a good number of people, especially the intelligentsia, got ahead .... '•60 A report in the Foreign Office files dated August 1943 also confirms the progress made with the following eyewitness account: '' A traveller who has recently returned from Slovakia was amazed to find how normal things were, not only in Bratislava, but also in other towns. There was no blackout and practically no restrictions. Food and clothing were plentiful and prices reasonable. There was little war talk. Life went on as usual everywhere, but there was a shortage of servants and indeed a general shortage of labour. "61 Before outlining the various aspects of socio-economic and cultural development that the documentation and the literature have permitted me to put together, a few words should be said about the parameters I am using to evaluate the contribution of the Slovak Republic to the life �24 SLOVAKIA of the Slovak people. Ideally, when a nation has acquired statehood it should be totally free to handle its own affairs; for small nations, however, reality is generally far removed from theory, especially when there are powerful neighboring states. Depending on the pressures the powerful put on a small state, the measure of realism must be not only the degree to which policies allow the people to enjoy a standard of living comparable to that of the neighboring nations, but also the perceivable cost, in the short and longer run of resistance and opposition to the pressure of the powerful neighbor. For example, the failure of Canadian nationalists to persuade the Canadian people to have their government limit the American domination of the Canadian economy - over 60 percent of Canadian industry is owned by Americans - is due to the refusal of the Canadian people to give up the standard of living this situation has brought them and to accept the cost of a policy of greater independence. There is little public discussion in Canada on American domination; it is a topic that is debated primarily in certain academic, intellectual, and political circles with hardly any echo elsewhere. The Canadian people do not hesitate, furthermore, to vote out a government which they perceive has not done enough not only to maintain, but to improve, their standard of living. These are the acceptable parameters of political realism in the second half of the twentieth century, not only for Canada, but for quite a few states, in the Western, as well as in the Communist, world. It is clear that the Slovak people found themselves in a similar situation until the revolt of 1944; it is my contention that the Slovak government was successful, especially in a war situation, in giving the Slovak people a good standard of living. Communist scholars do not hesitate to point out that the Slovak economy was dominated by Germany because of the secret protocol in the Treaty of Protection, which called for close economic cooperation and the increase of Slovakia's industrial and agriculture output. Other treaties followed to spell out in detail economic arrangements between Slovakia and Germany, and the Reich also sent advisers to help in various ministries. Liptak calculated that in 1938 the share of German and Austrian capital totaled only 5 percent in Sloyakia; by 1944 it had grown to 64 percent. This phenomenal growth is ~xplained by the fact that Germany took over the shares of Czech and foreign capital in Slovakia as they occupied the various financial centers of Europe. 62 At the same time Slovak capital grew from 2 percent in 1938 to 6 percent in 1944,63 and the number of companies in which Slovaks held a controlling interest rose from 40 to 74. Furthermore, from 1942 on, Slovak banks were successful in obtaining additional shares, especially in industry, that �SLOVAKIA 25 enabled them to operate a number of transfers of controlling interest from Germany to Slovakia. 64 It was this capital inflow which allowed for the development of Slovak industry. Some 4,855 million ks. were invested in five years, allowing for the creation of 250 new enterprises and the enlargement of SO-existing ones. The railways benefited from 95 km. of new tracks , while i 84 km. were rebuilt or repaired. Road paving, repair, and reconstruction were done on 1,100 km. , with 282 km. of new roads laid; telephone links, under and above ground, were greatly improved, adding 291 communities to the existing network, while 470 villages acquired electrification.65 The 12 ,000 kw. of hydroelectric power built between 1918 and 1939 was increased to 90,000 kw. between 1939 and 1945.66 Foreign Office files also give some statistics worthy of note. In 1942 the investment in chemical, textile, mining, metallurgy, and electrical industries represented close to half of that year's investment. The National Bank net profit in 1941 was 21.86 million ks. and 30.83 m. ks. in 1942.67 Trade statistics also show that Slovakia was by no means restricting the variety of goods and services available; in January-February 1942 Slovakia exported 400 m. ks. worth of goods while it imported 575 m. ks. For the same period in 1943, exports increased to 570 m. ks., and imports rose to 730 m. ks. A Slovak-Italian agreement valued at 800 m. ks. , with 60 m. ks. in Slovakia's favor, was signed in 1943. 68 There are very few agricultural statistics available; it seems that this was not a sector that encountered too many problems, even though the promised land reform of 1939 was not carried out. British reports note good fruit crops in 1942 and 1943 . The year 1943 was also reported as a good vintage year for Slovak wines. Communist authors indicate without hesitation that the social groups that benefited most from the economic expansion and growth in Slovakia were the middle and upper middle classes. The lot of workers also seems to have been satisfactory, except perhaps early on when worker discontent culminated in a strike fomented by Communists in Handlova in October 1940.69 The Slovak Parliament passed a number of bills to improve the social conditions of the working class, and salaries and wages showed a steady increase, 70 while unemployment disappeared. The autonomy and later independence of Slovakia brought about the availability of positions in the state as well as tertiary sectors which until then had been occupied primarily by Czechs. Education was another area which showed considerable activity and enabled educated Slovaks to move ahead. The University of Bratislava added two new fa- �26 SLOVAKIA culties , and a technical university was created in July 1939, taking up from the one created in Kosice in 1937 (but then under Magyar control). A school of economics was also founded, and by 1943 there were more than twice as many students enrolled in Slovak institutions of higher learning than there had been in 1938. An educational reform was also announced in July 1939, and Church-controlled schools were re-established. 71 These educational policies and reforms remedied in fact a major defect in Prague's educational program in Slovakia during the interwar years. As Owen Johnson has written: "What the Czechoslovak Republic / had / failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical and professional - that are required to conduct a modem nation."72 The founding of the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences and the modernization of the publication facilities of the Matica slovenska gave additional impetus to scientific and literary work. For the period 19391944, literary output, for example, totaled 709 works of which 437 were for prose, 169 for poetry, and 103 for plays. 73 Access to such works was made possible by a chain of bookstores operated by the Matica across the country. The statistics at my disposal are too incomplete to enable me to give an accurate survey of achievements but also of problems and failures. Nevertheless the picture that comes out is a positive one showing that"in five of the six years of the existence of the Slovak Republic, the Slovaks moved far down the road of modernization, dispelling any doubts about their ability to handle their own affairs. There is no better testimony to this fact than the report Gustav Husak prepared in July 1944 on the eve of the revolt he would lead as a member of the two opposition groups to the Slovak Republic. It is worthwhile to quote at length from it: In Slovakia today, there is sufficient merchandise, the system of distribution generally works well, and in comparison to adjacent territories (the Czech lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is best in Slovakia for the level of real salaries and their purchasing power. The salaries of employees and workers were raised many times, enterprises have all kinds of supply privileges and there cannot be any talk of a lack of basic commodities for consumers. The Slovak crown is the strongest currency in Central Europe , there is full confidence in it at home, �SLOVAKIA 27 people continue to save . . . and inflationary tendencies are sooner the result of German pressure on the economy than of internal conditions . . . : Problems are created by German demands, as a result of w}Uch Germany owes Slovakia today 6 billion ks ..... Slovak industry, given the circumstances of this war, was greatly modernized and some 2 billion ks. were invested in equipment (within 2 years), which in Slovakia is a huge sum .... In general one can say that on the basis of the experience of six years, Slovakia is able to exist as an independent unit economically and financially, can hold out on its own, has even today the necessary forces (including technical ones) and conditions of production for international competition . . . . The Slovaks are an independent nation, they have the same rights and expectations as any other nation. Today Slovak is the exclusive language of administration, all the formal attributes of a nation are there, and for this reason anyone who would like to return to the old conception of a united Czechoslovak nation will meet with opposition . . . . It is to be regretted that / the creation of the Slovak Republic / took place in combination with the worst political regime; still nothing will change the fact that on the national level there is a certain self-consciousness ''that we can take care of our own affairs" in political and economic affairs, that we can have our own army, our own administration, that one's own language is not inferior to that of former dominating nations, that Slovakia was a partner with whom states (the USSR and others) had relations, and to some degree still have today, in short that the Slovak nation can be the subject and not only the object of politics and other / activities / ... In these last six years, the development of a national consciousness and the completion of this development on the formal level are the most remarkable achievements that will not disappear with the fall of the regime . . . . It is a fact that this state is independent and has as much independence as a small state can have especially in time of war. 74 THE REVOLT OF 1944 Husak 's 1944 report on the conditions in Slovakia is in stark contrast with the twenty-seven page, top secret report ''The Revolt in Slovakia' ' found in Foreign Office files outlining the consequences of the fighting . 75 Likewise, one is struck by the difference between the provisional Czechoslovak government London broadcasts, especially �28 SLOVAKIA throughout 1944, inciting the Slovaks to acts of sabotage and destruction of life and property, and the Slovak press and media, when shorn of their ideological jargon and Germanophile phraseology, encouraging the population to ignore this incitement to violence. There was, in fact, partisan activity taking place sporadically throughout 1944; and, by the end of August the Slovaks found themselves almost overnight plunged into an abyss of violence and death which meant the end of their independence. One has to ask what brought about this shift from a relatively calm and stable situation to organized hostilities which resulted in German occupation and the inclusion of Slovakia in the European war. Was it a "Slovak National Uprising," as Communist historiography claims?76 Was it "an uprising for Czechoslovakia," as Wolfgang Venohr has suggested?77 Or was it an "incredible conspiracy," as Frantisek Vnuk has contended?78 The events of 1944 have already found their place in many versions in Slovak historiography, and they need not be recounted here at length. 79 But in the context of this study, two questions must be asked: Why did the revolt take place? and what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people? The reasons that were given after the fact by the leaders of the revolt, both Communist and non-Communist, seem like romanticized self-justifications in the light of the situation in Slovakia and the activities the partisans launched and the results they achieved.80 This is not to suggest that these men did not believe they were doing what they later claimed they had done. There is indeed a tragic irony in the fact that this was the way which insured that the Slovak people in the about-tobe restored Czechoslovak Republic would not be under a military dictatorship as Benes wanted,81 nor subjected to a renewed assimilation as had been attempted in the first CSR.82 Even the leaders of the Slovak Republic were also not unaware of the political situation of the Slovaks and the horns of the dilemma on which they found themselves. This is well illustrated by the following report that found its way into the files 11 of the Foreign Office; it was written by Kuhl de Borososhat, Hungarian Minister in Bratislava, a year before the revolt: Slovak politicians have held a conference at Rezsahegt I sic I (Ruzomberok) under the leadership of Blahos / sic I . Af- ter negotiations which lasted several days the opinion crystallized .that the Slovak people must, under all conditions, remain independent. As, after an Anglosaxon victory, the opinion of the politicians of today will no longer apply, the political leaders of �SLOVAKIA 29 Slovakia are entrusting the fate of their country to the hands of the American Slovaks. \ I asked the Minister of the Interior, Sano Mach, if the government adhered to the decision. He replied that the government had knowledge of it and would agree with it, but can neither adhere to it nor sanction it as this would imply that they had renounced belief in a German victozy - _a n open confession which Slovakia cannot and may not make. 83 The expectation of help from American Slovaks was, however, unrealistic; the resolution. of the Slovak dilemma lay in Europe. Thus, to answer the question why the revolt took place, one must go back to the three factors which had mortgaged the existence of the Republic of Slovakia. By 1944 they had come together in a way that made it impossible for the Slovak government to defend the integrity of the state and avoid the destruction that resulted. Germany was losing the war and progressively retreating from conquered territories, though not without resistance. German resistance was in fact dictated by strategic factors, and Slovakia played in this respect a major role on the Eastern front; for the Germans, Slovakia, with its mountains, barred the road to the Danubian plain for the Red Army, thus protecting the retreat of German armies from the Balkans; for the Soviet Union, the control of Slovakia meant access not only to the valley of the Danube, but also to Vienna and Prague. Also, the alliance with Germany, the second factor, had to be maintained in part because of the first factor but also because of the recognition of the Czechoslovak government in London by the Allies. To turn against Germany meant to be occupied by the Wehrmacht with no guarantee that help would be forthcoming in such a case either from the Soviet Union or the Western Allies. The Slovak government was, furthermore, anxious to avoid any Soviet involvement in Slovak affairs for the simple reason that Bolshevism ran against the Christian Slovak national traditions they upheld. Anti-German feeling had nevertheless begun to grow in Slovakia, and the government's pro-German policy was one of many arguments used to persuade Slovaks to go into opposition. 84 It was the activities of the Communist and non-Communist opposition groups, the third factor, which brought about the armed revolt in Central Slovakia that resulted in the German occupation of the country. The Germans then ordered the deportation of the majority of the Slovak Jews who had been spared the 1942 deportation, and there were sum- �30 SLOVAKIA mary executions on both sides as well as wanton destruction and violence. An additional tragic aspect to the entire episode is the fact that the revolt did not take place at a moment when it could benefit the Allied war effort and also scuttled the secret plans of the Slovak Army, prepared by the Minister of National Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos, and sent to Moscow, to help the Allied effort in Central Europe. Slovak army divisions would have been made available to partake in the sweep of the Red Army toward Budapest and Vienna.85 Catlos's plan, aside from its possible military usefulness, would have maintained the integrity of the Slovak Republic; this was unacceptable to the two opposition groups, the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, who in signing the Christmas Agreement of 1943 had agreed to work toward the restoration of Czechoslovakia. 86 The answer to the second question, namely what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people, is a little more complex. The revolt involved at first thousands of Slovaks, civilians and soldiers, because of the tremendous confusion that arose when it broke out. Apart from the German occupation, which had been the result of the shooting of a German military mission going through the Slovak town of Turciansky Sviity Martin, the most determining factor was the rumor that Tiso had been murdered by the Germans.87 But there were also Slovaks who had become disenchanted with the regime and joined the partisans for this reason. Husak indicated in his pre-revolt report that many Slovaks were ready to change the regime but to keep the state.88 The knowledge that the Allies had recognized Benes's Czechoslovak government - London broadcasts w~re frequently listened to89 - had helped to blur the line between regime and state to the point that in the proverbial sense , the baby was thrown out with the bath water. Except for those who had been working for the restoration of Czechoslovakia, it is not clear that many of those who joined the partisans realized that they were in a revolt not only against the regime, but also against the state. However, one must note that many Slovaks did not participate in the revolt and were even opposed to it because of their allegiance to the Slovak Republic. They realized that the revolt meant a return to the status quo antebellum . London broadcasts were making it perfectly clear that this was what awaited the Slovaks at the end of the war. But as Husak pointed out in a 1946 report, the Slovaks, both in government and in opposition, considered such a proposition to be ' 'rather ridiculous. " 90 The writer, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office of �SLOVAKIA 31 the Slovak government, expressed his opposition to the revolt as follows: It wasn't fear of the future, but fear of a renewed past. A return to the disgusting " Benesiada. " We were afraid of it. Benes was threatening us with revenge and promised to renew everything which had previously oppressed us Slovaks .. .. He did not recognize for us any n~tional rights . In fact he did not even recognize us as a nation. We were afraid of that. For this reason we did not see the Uprising as a liberation from the path of fascism , but rather as an unenticing overture to a new process of enslavement. 91 The revolt was basically put down within three months by German forces. 92 But Slovakia could not return to the normalcy of the pre-revolt years. The country was occupied. And even though the Slovak government continued to carry on with its policies both during and after the revolt,93 the link between the governing and the governed was not the same anymore . The end of the war was near. And, as members of the Slovak government fled to Austria in April 1946, the Slovak National Council, created out of the wartime collaboration between the Communists and the Democrats , took power in Slovakia on behalf of the restored Czechoslovak Republic. THE LEGACY OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC In the aftermath of the Second World War, Slovakia found itself caught in a double maelstrom of postwar politics. Czechoslovakia was in the Soviet military sphere of interest; within three years the Czechs and Slovaks would become part of the Soviet bloc. Secondly, Slovakia was granted a form of autonomy in the new Czechoslovak Republic; by the time the constitution became law in May 1948, only the formal attributes of autonomy remained. Thus the atmosphere and the politics of the postwar and the Communist period were ripe to give the Slovak Republic an historical blow. Its high officials, from the President of the Republic to members of Parliament and Department heads, were tried, often in absentia, and in the majority of cases convicted on various counts of treason against the Czechoslovak Republic. President Tiso and Prime Minister Tuka were condemned to death and executed in April 1947. Others were sent to serve long prison terms . The vengeance of Czechoslovak officials that Gaspar had feared was given free rein. In this way, a chapter in Slovak �32 SLOVAKIA history was closed and in the Communist period deliberately relegated to oblivion, or at best selectively examined to condemn it better. The situation is only slightly different in the Western world. Former officials of the Slovak Republic who found exile in the West have made an effort to explain the why and wherefore of Slovakia's first modern state. Their works have found only a limited audience, due in part to the vigilence of pro-Czechoslovak groups, both Czech and Slovak, who refuse to recognize that something positive might be said about the wartime period in Slovakia, especially about the Slovak Republic. No Western learned society, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, held a study session on this topic until 1979. It is, therefore, difficult to determine the legacy of the Slovak Republic. The idea of statehood that it represents has been accepted by most Slovak organizations in the West, such as the Slovak League of America and the Slovak World Congress; in their newspapers and periodicals, anniversaries and events are regularly mentioned and celebrated. Western scholarship has, unfortunately, not kept pace to give greater substance to the idea of statehood, for reasons I outlined at the beginning. Thus the pride hundreds of thousands of Slovaks have in this chapter of their history does not overflow into the world around them. More important, of course, is the legacy to the Slovaks in Slovakia. A perusal of Communist literature of the mid and late sixties suggests a tacit acceptance of the legacy of statehood; Slovak newpapers and periodicals often referred to the wartime period, especially as the drive to federalization became more pronounced. The publication of excerpts from Tido J . Gaspar's memoirs must also be seen as an important step in that direction . But the selective scholarship on the subject suggests that the Communist regime is still incapable of coming to terms with it. Time will undoubtedly cool passions, and curiosity will begin to take over. It is my belief that when Slovak archives become accessible to all scholars without restrictions, the record will show, as I have suggested in this article , that the Slovak Republic served the Slovaks well, especially in the social and cultural field, and that it played an extremely important role in the development of the national consciousness of the Slovak people. The federalization of Czechoslovakia, proposed at first in 1944 and made into law in 1968, could not have taken place if the Slovak Republic had been a dismal failure in the life of the Slovak people. But more research will have to be done, not only for scholarly reasons , but above all, to paraphrase the national motto of Slovakia's western neighbor, so that the truth might prevail. �SLOVAKIA 33 NOTES . 1 Of fourteen general histories puqlished since 1941 taken at random, the creation of the Slovak Republic has been presen\ed as follows : (1) no mention at all - J .B. Duroselle , L'Europe de 1815 a nosjours (Paris , 1970); Walter P. Hall and William G. Davis , The Course of Europe Since Waterloo (New York, 1941) ; and George Lichtheim, Europe in the Tw entieth Century (New York, 1972); (2) serious errors of presentation and interpretation - Martin Gilbert, The European Powers 1900-1945 (New York, 1965), p . 220 ; Carleton J .H . Hayes , Contemporary Europe Since 1870 (New York, 1953) , p . 631; Walter C. Langsam, The World Since 1914 (New York , 1943), p. 517 ; J .M . Roberts, Europe 1880-1945 (New York, 1972), p. 516; D.C . Watt, "Diplomatic History" in The New Cambridge Modern History , Vol. XIl: The Shifting Balances of 'World Forces, 1898-1945, edited by C.L. Mowat (Cambridge , 1968), p . 725; (3) minor errors of presentation and interpretation - Rene Albrecht-Carrie, A Dilpomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna (New York, 1958), pp . 529-30 ; C.E . Black and E .C. Helmreich, Twentieth Century Europe (New York, 1959), p . 529 ; James Joli, Europe Since 1870: An Introductory H istory (London, 1973), pp. 373 and 441; (4) reasonably accurate - A.J . Grant and H. Temperley , Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1789-1950) (London, 1952), p. 529; H . Stuart Hughes, Contemporary Europe: A History (Englewood Cliffs , 1966) , p . 318 ; and Elizabeth Wiskemann in Survey of International Affairs 1939-1946 - Hitler 's Europe , edited by Arnold Toynbee and Veronica M . Toynbee (London, 1954) , pp . 597-604 . 2 John Gellner and John Smerek, The Czechs and Slovaks in Canada (Toronto, 1968), p. viii. 3 Bohuslav Graca, 14. Maree 1939 (Bratislava, 1955) and lmrich Stanek , Zrada a pad, (Praha, 1958) . 4 See , for example, I.:ubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v politike Slovenskeho statu v rokoch 1939-1943," Historicky tasopis XI (1), 1967, pp . 1-35 ; --- , "Slovensky stat a protifasisticke hnutie v rokoch 1939-1943 ," Historicky tasopis XIV (2) , 1966, pp . 161-218; ---, "Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky fosopis XIII (3), 1965, pp. 329-65; --- , "Politicky rezim na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945" in Slovenske narodne povstanie roku 1944 (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 20-49 ; --- , Slovensko v 20, storoti (Bratislava, 1968), pp. 175265; Martin Vietor, " Prispevok k objasneniu fasistickeho charakteru tzv . Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky tasop is VIlI (4 ), 1960, pp , 483-508. 5 The two noticeable examples are : Samo Falt'an, Slovenskd otdka v Ceskoslovensku (Bratislava, 1968), pp . 92-103 and Ivan Kamenec, "Snem Slovenskej Republiky a jeho postoj k problemu zidovskeho obyvatefstva na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945," Historicky fosopis XVII (3) , 1969, pp , 329-62 , 6 There is a problem of availability ; the Library of Congress does not have the complete sets, nor does the British Library , 7 The late Ferdinand Durcansky once told me that he himself had destroyed documents because of the physical impossibility of taking them with him, especially to South America. 8 Many former Slovak politicians and officials have published vignettes of their activities in various Slovak publications in the West ; at present only two have published de- �34 SLOVAKIA tailed memoirs: Jozef Miku§, Pamliti slovenskeho diplomata (Middletown, 1978) and Karol Sidor, Sest'rokov pri Vatikane (Scranton, 1947), which also contains documents concerning Slovak foreign policy and diplomacy. The diary of Stefan Tiso, Prime Minister from September 1944 to April 1946, is presently at Stanford University, Hoover Institution on War and Peace ; access to it is however restricted. Excerpts from the diary were published by Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Dennfk Dr . Stefana Tisu," Historickj tasopis XVIIl (2), 1970, pp. 270-87. 9 Such an example is Owen Verne Johnson, Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 1918-1938: Education and Its Impact , unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1978. A recent exception is that of Dorothea El Mallakh, who succeeded in obtaining access to unpublished documents covering the years 1936 through October 1938 from the Ministry of the Interior archives in Prague. She had expected to fail in obtaining access to these documents when she visited Prague in January 1969. But as she writes: " Luck in timing and the helpfulness of individuals all coalesced to bring me almost 2600 frames of microfilms." Dorothea H. El Mallakh, The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939: A Study in Unrelenting Nationalism (Boulder, '1970) , p. xiv. 10 See Hans Dress, Slowakei und faschistische Neuordnung Eurpoas 1939-1941 (Berlin, 1972) . 11 John S. Conway, "The Churches, the Slovak State and the Jews 1939-1946," Slavonic Review Lil (126), 1974, p . 87. 12 In his autobiography, Lockhart makes it perfectly clear that he was devoted to Bene§ and that he had no qualms in working for him. See R.H. Bruce Lockhart, Comes the Reckoning (London, 1947), pp. 64ff. 13 In response to a request from the Central Department of the Foreign Office to comment on reports that Bruce Lockhart had put together from information he received from Czech and Slovak sources in London, Peter Pares foresaw from the very beginning the direction this information would go: " Many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition.' ' FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-68-12. Public Record Office, London. 14 This problem is compounded by the fact that there are very few general studies on the Slovak Republic published in a Western language, and none is detailed and comprehensive in scope. See Milan S. :C>urica, "Slovakia During World War II - the Slovak Republic' ' in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973), pp. 161-94; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1961) , pp . 111\76; Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia (New York, 1966), pp. 123-91; Josepli A. Mikus, Slovakia - A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee , 1963), pp. 67-164; 'and Anthony X. Sutherland, Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modem Slovakia (Middletown, 1978), pp. 81-102. Additional titles, particularly of specialized topics in Western and Slovak languages, may be found in Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) ," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, pp. 17-24. 16 Johnson, p . 466. 16 FO 417-39 , Doc. 3973-19-18. �SLOVAKIA 35 17 This is noted in a report by Pares to the Foreign Office. FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-712. 18 Falt'an, pp . 106-06. \ 19 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, "Die Stellung der Slowakischen Volkspartei zur Aussenpolitik Prags'' in Karl Bos!, ed., Gleichgewicht - Revision - Restauration. Die Aussenpolitik der Ersten Tschechoslowakischen Republik im Europasystem der Pariser Vorortsvertrtige (Muenchen, 1976), pp. 316-66. 20 House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates, 339 H.C. Deb. 6 s., pp. 366-6. 21 See especially FrantiAek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938 March 1939), " Slovak Studies IV, 1968, pp . 7-164; Joseph Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 98-146; Mikus , pp . 67-91 ; El Mallakh, pp. 113-44. A somewhat different version is found in Joerg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei undHitlers Ostpolitik (Koeln, 1966). 22 The Slovak struggle for autonomy in the First Czechoslovak Republic was a variation on the theme of national self-determination which was ultimately denied the Slovaks by the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism'' of the Prague government. Independence, if it could be achieved, was not only the logical outcome, but in the light of the "Czechoslovak" ideology of Prague, the only way for the Slovak nation to assert itself. Other solutions were not excluded so long as the Slovaks were recognized as a nation independent of the Czechs ; a Central European federation is often mentioned in this context. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 223-30 . 23 Though the Hlinka Party had become the Party of Slovak National Unity on October 6, 1938, the literature still refers to it as the Hlinka Party . I will conform to this usage. 24 Liptak, "Politicky rezim ... , " p . 24. See Also Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 169-73. 26 Liptak, Slovensko, p . 210. 26 Conway, p. 96. 27 Liptak, " Politicky rezim ... ," p. 26 . 28 FO 417-40 , Doc. C10876-7-12 . 29 FO 371-22900, Doc . C18636-7-12 . 30 See note 13 . 31 Falt'an, p . 114 and Liptak, " Politicky rezim . .. , "p. 36. 32 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, ''Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics,' ' Canadian Slavonic Papers XIX (4) , 1977, pp . 446-9. 33 FO 371-24290, Doc . C612-68-12 . 34 The British Government recognized Benes 's national committee as the " Provisional Czechoslovak Government" on July 21 , 1940. Full de jure recognition was granted on July 18, 1941 , the same day the Soviet Union granted de facto and de jure recognition. The United States followed suit on July 31 , 1941 . 36 In a report on conditions in Slovakia written in January 1939, George Kennan expressed the following opinion, which was widely held at that time: "Its (Slovakia's) native leaders are so sadly lacking in experience, in imagination, in breadth of view, and in depth of purpose that they cannot hope to maneuver successfully for very long �SLOVAKIA 36 amid the powerful national and ideological currents which are playing all around them in Central Europe. " George P. Kennan, From Prague After Munich: Diplomatic Papers 1938-1940 (Princeton, 1968), p. 27. 36 This is best illustrated by the fact that not only in the literature but also during the war, Slovakia was referred to as a " fascist state, " not in a descriptive but in a normative sense. 37 FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-58-12. 38 Joseph M . Kirschbaum , p . 163. 39 Ibid. , p. 159. 40 Ibid. , p . 168; Mikus, p. 94 ; Jan F . Gleiman, "Duch ustavy SR" in Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Slouenska Republika 1939-1949 (Scranton, 1949), p. 120. 41 FO 417-40, Doc. Cl0876-7-12. 42 The most comprehensive analysis of the program is found in Stefan Polakovit, Tisoua nauka (Bratislava, 1941). An English outline appears in Joseph M . Kirschbaum, Slouakia, pp. 170-3; a critical approach was taken by Yeshayahu Jelinek in The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slouak People's Party 1939-1945 (Boulder, 1976) . 43 Of the 63 deputies elected, 48 were from the Hlinka Party; 12 represented the Agrarian Party, the Slovak National Party, the Artisan Party, and the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party. See above, Kirschbaum, p . 169. 44 Kamenec, passim . 46 The Fuehrer principle was introduced in Slovak political life on October 22, 1942. It enabled President Tiso to consolidate his power and that of the Hlinka Party against Tuka and Mach and the Hlinka Guard. 46 According to Liptak, the Hlinka Guard represented the lumpenproletariat and the radical small bourgeoisie. Liptak, "Politicky reiim ... , "p. 26. 47 Some authors refer to a tradition of anti-Semitism as well as the activities of Slovak Jews in Slovak life to explain the early anti-Jewish policies. Mikus, pp. 96-6.; Sutherland, pp. 88-9. See also Kennan, pp. 22-3. 48 Conway, passim. 49 Kamenec, p . 363. 60 This is made quite clear by one of the leaders of the 1944 revolt. See Lettrich, passim . 61 Liptak, Slouensko , pp. 177-180. For a description of Slovak foreign policy, see Mikus, pp. 116-138. 62 Milan S. Ourica, La Slouaccia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania, 1938-1945 , (Padova, 1964), Vol. I, p . 107. 53 Mikus, pp. 135-6 and Ourica, p . 107. 64 The situation and events leading to the Salzburg' meeting Jlre described at length in Liptak, "Priprava a priebeh . . . . " 66 As to th~ question whether Slovakia declared war on the U.K. and the United States, there is also no documentary evidence that this did take place according to postwar re- �SLOVAKIA 37 search into the matter by State Ikpartment officials . The suggestion that Slovakia did declare war is based on a New York Times report of December 13, 1941 of a German broadcast from Bratislava that stated that Slovakia had declared war. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia , pp. 318-21. 66 Gustav Husak , " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," Svedectvi XV (68) , 1979, p . 377. 67 Ibid. 68 FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-7-12. 69 FO 417-39, Doc. C5201-7-12 . 60 Husak, p. 369. 61 FO 371-34337, Doc. C9206-372-12 . In his pre-revolt report, Husak indicates that some 60,000 Slovaks also worked in Germany. Husak, p. 373. 62 Liptak, Slovensko , p. 194. 63 I.:ubomir Liptak, Ovlddnutie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitdlom (Bratislava, 1960), p . 66. 64 Liptak, Slovensko, pp. 201-2. 65 Falt'an, pp. 108-9. See also FO 371-39121 , Doc. C877-877-18. 66 Sutherland, p. 87 . 67 FO 371-34446, Doc. C1066-160-18. 68 FO 371-34446, Doc . C6626-160-18. 69 Dress , p. 119. 70 Ibid ., p. 117. 71 It is interesting that the Slovaks met with no opposition from the Germans. As Conway writes: ''It should be noted that the abolition of religious instruction and the removal of crucifixes from the schools were two notable features of the Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church." Conway, p . 89 , note 11. 72 Owen V. Johnson, "The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, p . 42 . 73 Frantisek Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown, 1965), p. 12. 74 Husak, pp. 376-77. 76 FO 371-38942, Doc. C13551-1343-12 . 76 Husak's memoirs are entitled: " Testimony on the Slovak National Uprising." See Gustav Husak , Svedectvo o slovenskom narodnom povstani (Bratislava, 1964). A revised and amended version was published in 1969. 77 Wolfgang Venohr, Au/stand fuer die Tschechoslowakei (Hamburg, 1969). 78 Frantisek Vnuk, Neuveritefne sprisahanie (Middletown, 1964). 79 The most complete account in a Western language is by Venohr. 80 ' 'The political motive for an uprising was the desire to liberate Slovakia by its own efforts as soon as possible, to throw out the Germans , to destroy the dictatorship of the �SLOVAKIA 38 Slovak People's Party, reintroduce Czechoslovak democratic institutions, spare Slovakia the suffering of the war and assure its just place in a free Czechoslovakia.'' Lettrich, p. 200. 81 A. Benl!ik and J. Pivovarl!i, " Problemes militaires de llnsurrection nationale slovaque," Studia historica slovaca IV, 1966, p. 166. 82 Upon the restoration of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (Bene§'s party) prepared a document for the party faithful outlining how the Czechoslovak Government should go about successfully assimilating the Slovaks. It was published for the first time in 1968. See Pravda (Bratislava), March 29, 1968. 83 FO 371-34337, Doc. 9786-372-12. 84 According to Husak, some other arguments were "the class content of this state, its undemocratic fascist regime, its vassal link to Nazi Germany and its policies against the people." Husak, Svedectvo, p . 129. 85 There is a full German translation of Catlo§'s plan in Venohr, pp. 119-21. 86 See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Federalism .. . ," pp. 446-49. 87 M. Kuhar, a former communications officer in the Slovak Army, explained to me recently in an interview in Toronto, Canada, that his unit had been mobilized when the rumor of Tiso's death had reached it with the understanding that the Slovak Army would engage the Germans to defend Slovak independence. When the rumor proved to be untrue, his unit returned to its barracks . 88 Husak, "O vyvoji ... ," p. 377. 89 In 1942, at a ceremony for a new extension of the electrical network, President Tiso remarked: "You see, how, with more electricity we are giving you an opportunity to hear London and Moscow. In Russia they do not have such an opportunity, because there they give them a record player and thus they can hear only Moscow. The Slovak Republic is not afraid to hear foreign stations, because we know the truth and we are not afraid of the lies that London broadcasts.•• Slovak, May 19, 1942, quoted in Milan Stanislav l'>urica, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska Republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dej£n (Lausanne, 1976), p. 143, note 127. 90 Vilem Prel!an, Slovenske ntirodne povstanie (Bratislava, 1965), document 576, p. 950. 91 Tido J. Ga§par, "Z pamiiti, " Slovenske pohfady LXXXIV (12), 1968, p. 79. 92 At a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff in London on November 15, 1944, it was acknowledged that the revolt had collapsed. FO 371-38944, Doc. C15945-1343-12. \ 93 Liptak, "Politicky re!im . . . , " p. 48. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document HISTORY SLOVAKIA 11 The .Slovak Republic and the Slovaks· . STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM INTRODUCTION There are very few topics in recent history that have been as much avoided, accidentally or deliberately, by Western as well as Communist scholars as the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) . The significance of this state in the period of its existence is certainly not central to an understanding of the more important world events that were taking place at the time, nor was its contribution to those events such that it required the attention of world powers. Historical surveys published in the West in the last forty years have thus not given Slovakia much attention; one can appreciate the reason for this, but one must also note that there are often serious inaccuracies, distortions, and misrepresentations in these works.I The task of writing this history of the Slovak Republic is, therefore, left to a few Western specialists or to Slovak Marxist historians. But here one is also left wanting; ideological preoccupations and problems of documentation explain this unusual state of affairs. The Republic of Slovakia found itself on the side of the vanquished powers at the end of the Second World War. Historians have been understandably more interested in recording the activities of the victorious, often applying ex post facto a devil theory to the defeated. In the wake of an ideological conflict like the Second World War, and with the ideological division of the world in the postwar years, the tendency to simplify in order better to glorify and I or condemn is understandable. It is not to be excused, however. Nevertheless Western, as well as Communist, historians have generally let their engagement get the better of their scholarship, or else they have conveniently cast intractable subjects to the Orwellian memory hole. For example, two Canadians, one of Czech, the other of • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies , New Haven, October, 1979. 12 SLOVAKIA Slovak origin, purporting to write the history of the Czechs and Slovaks in Canada, have actually suggested that Slovak separatism is " an aberration of the past , excusable perhaps under the circumstances of the day , but otherwise the sooner forgotten the better.' ' 2 Communist scholars have also generally avoided the Slovak Republic, with the only two works published in the 1950s3 followed by a few articles in the 1960s.4 Writing from their Marxist perspective , they have, however, shown a shift in accent and interpretation in their later writings.5 This shift corresponds to greater access to the documentation on the Slovak Republic for scholars in Slovakia. However, this documentation is not necessarily accessible to Western scholars . Access to original documents and other primary sources is in fact the greatest problem that Western scholars studying Slovakia face. All of the works on the period of the Slovak Republic published in the West show a minimal reliance on original Slovak documentation . At best, they have used three newspapers published in Slovakia that are available , namely Slovak , Gardista , and Grenzbote.6 Monographs which were published during the war and which found their way into Western European or American libraries are also available; but their number, as well as their importance , is limited. None gives a total picture of the Slovak Republic ; most were written during the war, and generally before the 1944 revolt. Finally, none of the political leaders or officials of the state has made public any documents in his possession 7 that cast additional light. With some exceptions, there are no detailed memoirs or diaries that one can draw upon.8 Finally, there is no indication that Prague or Bratislava is presently disposed to open Slovak archives to Western scholars, except perhaps for earlier periods and less explosive subjects like education. 9 There is , on the other hand, one documentary source that Western and Communist IO scholars have used widely, namely German documentation. The Allies published soon after the war the series Documents on German Foreign Policy ; those documents not found in this series are now available in Bonn at the\ Politisches Archiv des auswiirtigen Amtes . Also available are SS documents, namely from Himmler's Sicherheitsdienst, which John Conway has prudently characterized as "conscientious, though obviously one-sided. " 11 Conway's comments are indeed pertinent for much of German documentation ; it must be used with great care when applied to Slovakia. The scholar must remember that they are addressed to and written by people serving the Third Reich. A third, but unfortunately rather unreliable source of information, SLOVAKIA 13 is the files of the British Foreign Office. These were at first composed of British diplomatic reports, especially from Consul to Slovakia Peter Pares, which are useful because of their detachment and scope. Pares, however, left Slovakia after the outbreak of the Second World War, and thereupon the reports fo'll{ld in the files of the Foreign Office ceased to come from agents in diplomatic representation abroad. Bruce Lockhart12 then set into motion the gathering of intelligence not only on Slovak, but also on Czech, affairs in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and thus thickened Foreign Office files with weekly and sundry reports. With the British de facto and later de jure recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London, headed by Edvard Bene§, the task of gathering intelligence and preparing situation reports fell on the Czech and Slovak exiles in London. The information in this documentation is rarely accurate, and to its discredit, extremely selective.13 The documents show quite plainly that Bene§ and his people used only information that damaged the Slovak Republic, especially Slovak politicians. Likewise, the weekly summaries of the Political Intelligence Department are not very useful because they were based upon reports emanating from Bene§'s people. However, the Foreign Office files also contain occasional letters or reports from other sources that paint a totally different picture; but they are too few and, unfortunately, rarely comprehensive enough to give scholars something concrete. This problem of inadequate documentary evidence makes the task of studying the Slovak Republic an extremely difficult one.14 Nevertheless a beginning must be made, if only to ask questions, examine existing interpretations, and seek to understand the motives and actions of the men at the center of events; there is indeed a real challenge of intellectual and documentary detection in this case. The documentation used in this article is neither specialized nor all-encompassing. I have examined closely most available secondary sources, both Western and Communist, read the memoir-like contributions of Slovaks in SlovakCanadian and Slovak-American newspapers and periodicals, and studied carefully the documents of the Foreign Office. Furthermore, I accept the writings of exiled Slovak scholars as those most likely to help us understand the Slovak Republic and the actions of its leaders, while taking note of their often defensive and apologetic nature. I am also aware of the fact that there exist many works disposed in an unfriendly, if not outright inimical, way to the Slovak Republic; I have sought to understand the arguments presented and have accepted at face value the facts given. But one should be skeptical toward them; a state where the President could walk on the streets of the capital city without a 14 SLOVAKIA bodyguard to protect him and where no attempt was ever made on his life is not a state where everything was evil and against the interests of the Slovak people, as some works suggest. The full history of the Slovak Republic will, however, not be written until all archival material is made available. Until then the present debate is likely to continue. Before examining the various aspects of this topic, a few words should be said about the broader perspective within which the Slovak Republic found itself. In his study of the impact of education in Slovakia in the 1920s and 1930s, Owen Johnson has shown that by the end of the second decade of the existence of the first Czechoslovak Republic not only had Prague's policy of Czechoslovak nation-building failed, but indeed its "program of Czechoslovak state building had turned into one of Slovak nation building."15 There is some irony in the fact that Prague's policies had the opposite effect of what had been expected; in this respect then, the activities of the Slovak Republic would be merely the continuation and the prolongation of this process with the difference that all decisions affecting the Slovaks would be taken by Slovaks in Bratislava and not in Prague. The fact that the Slovaks took their national life into their own hands, notwithstanding the circumstances that had led to this step, also reflected the problems created by the selective application of the policy of national self-determination in Central Europe. While recognizing on the one hand the right of nations to selfdetermination on the morrow of the Great War, the victorious powers were selective on the other in their granting of this right to the various nations of the Habsburg Empire. The Slovaks were not unaware of this discrepancy, and when the deleterious geopolitical arrangements of the Versailles settlement finally succumbed to German expansionism, Slovak independence was as much an act of nati~al self-determination as one of self-preservation. The ultimate tragedy of the Slovaks is that by 1945 the victorious powers once again applied in a selective fashion the principles of national self-determination as embodied in the Atlantic Charter. THE ACCEPTANCE OF SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE The declaration of Slovak independence was greeted with rejoicing by a great many Slovaks, although in Bratislava, as British Consul Peter Pares reported, there had not been many manifestations of that joy. The capital city of Slovakia was yet to become a primarily Slovak city, and its non-Slovak population did not show much enthusiasm. Pares sensed apathy or pessimism.16 Slovakia's declaration of independence had in fact come about under circumstances that differentiate it from SLOVAKIA 15 similar events for other nations in recent times. Consul Pares's report not only singles out this ~ct, but it underlines one of the major tasks that the leaders of the new'state had to face. Slovakia's declaration of independence cannot be disassociated from the two previous decades when neither the political individuality of Slovakia nor the nationhood of its people had been acknowledged by the Czechoslovak Republic. Belatedly and grudgingly, Prague had granted Slovakia autonomy on October 6, 1938, under conditions that did not indicate the total and willing abandonment by the Czech elite of the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism. '' But for the Slovak people, autonomy represented the successful outcome of a twenty-year struggle, a hope that Slovak national development could now be carried out by the Slovak people. Autonomy brought about manifestations of popular gladness in the cities, towns, and villages of Slovakia. The Hlinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party, headed by Martin Razus, had been the main political forces not only behind autonomy, but above all, in the educational campaign that was essential for the Slovak people in order to handle their own affairs. After two decades of Czech local, as well as state administration, a policy that had brought about much bitterness in Slovakia, 17 the Slovaks looked upon autonomy as the fulfillment not only of original promises, but also of national aspirations. Independence and statehood had not been an alternative openly discussed and contemplated by Slovak leaders in the two decades before autonomy. This is not to say that they might not one day have considered it. Indeed, as Samo Falt'an, a Slovak Commwiist historian, has written: "Statehood as an expression of national liberty cannot be rejected and qualified as treason to the nation.'' He went on to add that independence was a logical outcome in the light of the Slovaks' status in the CSR: ''The creation of the Slovak State is not in conflict with national interests and efforts, all the more so, because in the twenty-year existence of the CSR there had been no successful attempt to reach a Czech-Slovak constitutional arrangement. "18 Nevertheless - and this is important in order to understand the problems that faced th,e new state - when independence was declared, it had not been the object of wide public discussion but rather came rapidly on the heels of autonomy when Slovakia had barely begun to enjoy its new status in Czecho-Slovakia. However, within the Hlinka party, reorganized since November 8, 1938 as the Slovak Party of National Unity, which other Slovak parties had been invited to join except for Slovak Communists and Social Democrats, there were elements that had been considering 16 SLOVAKIA independence, especially in the light of the changing international situation in Europe. The predominance of Germany and the fear that Prague might not be able to defend the integrity and existence of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks concerned them. In fact, from the very beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia, the Hlinka party had given Prague notice that the survival and interests of the Slovak nation were uppermost in its policy stand and actions.19 But in 1938-1939 the need to explore all avenues was paramount, for as Churchill declared in the House of Commons on October 5, 1938: "I venture to think that in the future the Czechoslovak state cannot be maintained as an independent entity. You will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured only by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi regime. "20 The Slovak elite was aware of this danger of engulfment and of the necessity to maneuver in such a way as to avoid it. As events would show and the history of the Slovak Republic would confirm, Slovak independence was the one solution that enabled Slovakia to avoid the total absorption that befell other Central European peoples and states. The events leading to independence need not he recounted here, since they have been examined elsewhere.21 Suffice it to say that in the light of European developments and the rapidity with which they were unfolding, the decision to opt for independence and the manner in which it was done showed courage on the part of the Slovak leaders. It was also the best solution, not only under the circumstances, but also for the Slovak nation.22 But at the moment of independence, and for the immediate future, this decision by the Slovak leaders had to be explained and shown to be viable both to the Slovak people and to the world at large. The Hlinka Party23 embarked on this task, calling upon all Slovaks to join it, as the Communist historian I:ubomir Liptak has written. The new regime in Slovakia did not exclude its political opponents from positions in the new state.24 In fact he pointed out: The populists did not come to power after an extreme collision of political trends in Slovakia, in the wake of a moderate civil war as was the case for example in Italy and Germany, but during an international crisis, when all existing political conceptions and currents failed, or did not have an oppottunity to influence developments. In this kind of internal political vacuum, when political opponents are eliminated, or do not have clear goals, or are isolated in the nation, the populists could get the support or at least the passive help of yesterday's political opponents.25 SLOVAKIA 17 Although there was a single Slovak party (there was, however, also a Slovak German, and a small Slovak Hungarian, party) and the regime manifested certain visible authoritarian characteristics, the appearance of factions and policy directions in the Blinka Party, the division between the legislative and executive branches of government, and the role of the churches in the political life of the state26 were all factors that would influence Slovak political life and help the Blinka Party to carry out its program. In the words of Liptak, in the Slovak Republic there was a "certain 'liberalism' and carefulness in the introduction of authoritarian arrangements.' •27 This moderate liberalism was, however, not to be enjoyed by all citizens, and many individuals suffered, although on the whole there was none of the totalitarianism, terror, and ideological dogmatism that later befell the Slovaks under the Communist regime. These conditions also made it possible for opposing views to coexist and later influence events in Slovakia. For there existed three factors which had heavily mortgaged the viability of the Slovak Republic and which would in time take their place in the political life of the state and ultimately seal its fate; they were the activities of opposition groups, Slovak-German relations, and the world war. The appearance of a group opposing the Slovak Republic is something that British Consul Pares soon took notice of. In his July report on the Constitution of Slovakia, where he noted the unique position of the Blinka Party in the political system, he pointed out that the Catholic origin of this party probably meant the virtual exclusion of Slovak Protestants within it, as well as their relegation to the background of public affairs. He concluded from this that the ''insignificant position into which they have been thrust is sure to arouse their bitter resentment. "28 By mid-November he reported the "active revolt ... of a section of the Lutheran Community, which was the greatest source of strength of the former centralists or ''Czechoslovaks'' and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case, it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which has created bitter antagonism to the existing government .... "29 Despite the fact that a number of Protestant personalities occupied key positions in the state, that their economic influence in Slovakia did not diminish but in fact increased, and that their leaders publicly proclaimed their adherence and loyalty to the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Protestant community did indeed form an opposition group, whether for sectarian or political reasons, especially after Benes began to regroup his political partisans in London. As Pares noted in his last dispatch on Slovakia to London, the Protestants formed 18 SLOVAKIA at home and abroad an opposition link to the Slovak Republic and lent Benes support for his goal of recreating the first Czechoslovak Republic.30 By 1943 they would be actively involved in the restoration of Czechoslovak authority in Slovakia and would help a second main opposition group, the Communists, in preparing an armed revolt in Central Slovakia. The role of the Communists in Slovakia mirrored well the turgidity of their movement until the German attack on the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Soviet diplomatic recognition of Slovakia invalidated the slogans of national self-determination they propagated in 1939, while the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, by then resident in Moscow, ordered the abandonment of the slogan of a '' Soviet Slovak Republic,'' which began to appear in 1940. The Communist Party had been declared illegal in Slovakia so that its activities and organization were clandestine. The security services of the Slovak Republic occasionally rounded up Communists, but as both Falt'an and Liptak pointed out, not only were they quickly released from prison, but they were allowed to resume their positions in economic and state institutions. 31 In was not until late 1943 and 1944 that Communist activity became a major factor in Slovak political life, in part because the Communists were in touch with Soviet partisan units operating out of Kiev, and in part because they had worked out a new political program for Slovakia in the future of Czechoslovak Republic.32 Together with Slovak non-Communists, primarily Lutherans, they began to prepare the revolt of 1944, which I will examine below. The existence and activity of opposition groups to the Slovak Republic were enhanced by the nature of Slovak-German relations. The role of Germany in the destruction of Czechoslovakia had been a major factor in Slovakia's declaration of independence and as British Consul Pares noted, ''from the moment when indeflendence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. ,,33 Attempts to pursue an independent foreign policy by the Minister of External Affairs, Ferdinand Durcansky, resulted in his removal in July 1940 under German pressure and thereafter Germany made sure that Slovak political life did not go beyond certain limits, which for the most part were, however, not clearly defined; on the other hand Germany did not encourage Slovak pro-Nazi elements to take power, nor did Hitler back the attempted coup in 1941 against President Tiso, in which the German ambassador, M. von Killinger, was himself involved. Slovakia was nevertheless in the German sphere of interest; its existence SLOVAKIA 19 was in fact tied to German political and economic activities, and despite the diplomatic recognition it had been granted by twenty-seven states, its juridical status did not\in fact extend much beyond Europe. British de facto and later de jure ·recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government in London, followed by Soviet and American recognition,34 as well as the Hungarian claims on Slovakia, further strengthened the ties between Slovakia and Germany which were not broken until the war's end. The outbreak of the Second World War was the third factor that heavily influenced the politics and the viability of the Slovak Republic. Although Slovakia would not experience the horrors of war until 1944, the fact that there was a war all around it enabled opposition groups to get involved in military activities on Slovak soil and do just what the Slovak leaders had so successfully avoided doing, namely bring the war into Slovakia with their 1944 revolt. Also, the war forced Slovakia into much closer cooperation with Germany, especially in the economic sphere, and brought about the deportation into Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jews. In the end Slovakia's existence became tied to the outcome of a war that Germany had begun. In spite of the weight of these three factors on the Slovak Republic, its political leaders determined to carry out policies that would enable the Slovak people to develop further their national life, or put in other terms, that would embark them upon a program of modernization that would dispel any doubts about Slovak political maturity. 35 In this respect, as the available evidence shows, the Slovak Republic represented a singular achievement that had not been equalled in the Czechoslovak state. THE POLICIES OF THE REGIME It was the misfortune of the Slovak Republic that it had to fight throughout its existence the battle of statehood. International law notwithstanding, the Slovaks came to realize that the international existence of their state was shaky, a situation which resulted in the blurring of the boundary lines between state and regime for many Slovaks and most observers.36 This blurring grew as the war developed and became prevalent by the time it became clear that the Allies, who by then had recognized the Czechoslovak government in London, were going to win the war. But in 1939 and for the next four years, until the German army was defeated at Stalingrad, and despite the need after July 1940 for Slovakia to align itself closer to Germany, the lines between state 20 SLOVAKIA and regime were quite closer. The notion of statehood was indeed understood by the Slovaks, as Peter Pares quite accurately reported to London in his last dispatch in January 1940: One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia' s need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the republic and goes far toward reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position.37 The Slovaks lost in fact very little time in setting up a constitution for their state. They proclaimed on July 21, 1939 a republic, drawing upon the constitutions of Austria, Portugal, and Czechoslovakia, to determine the balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.38 The constitutional text is divided into thirteen chapters of 103 articles forming "a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws concerning the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power.' •39 Worthy of note are also the articles dealing with the duties and general rights of the citizens, including the right of assembly and freedom of speech and the protection of the workers. As students of the Slovak constitution have noted, the social provisions were greatly influenced by Papal encyclicals, particularly Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno.40 The main authoritarian feature is to be found in the role of the Hlinka Party. As Pares pointed out in his description of the constitution to the Foreign Office, ''in spite of the mul~plication of the organs of government, it is easy to see that the Hlinka party itself will, under the new Constitution, be the most powerful factor"in the government of the country." 41 Changes in the Hlinka Party further enhanced the authoritarian character of the regime, as some features of the German and Italian party systems were adopted. The Hlinka Party did not, however, have a fascist or national-socialist program, although attempts were made to give it one, and it sought to direct political life along Slovak national traditions. 42 Like all political parties, the Hlinka Party was divided into factions. Throughout the six years of the Slovak Republic, the main faction, headed by Jozef Tiso, President of the Party and also President of the Republic from October 26, 1939, dominated the political life of the SLOVAKIA 21 country. It was composed not only of long-standing members of the party, but also of representatives of other Slovak parties who had consented to run on the single ticket for the Diet during the elections of December 18, 1938.43 Th.is faction exercised its influence not only in the Presidency, but'also in ~he Slovak Parliament. 44 For the better part of the life of the Slovak Republic, the Tiso faction also had to make every effort to curb the pro-Nazi faction which sought indeed to give Slovakia a Slovak national-socialist regime. It was headed by Vojtech Tuka, who after July 1940 became Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs until the 1944 revolt. Tuka owed his position to Hitler who had summoned Tiso to Salzburg on July 28, 1940 to impose a closer alignment with Germany. Hitler also forced the dismissal of Durcansky, Minister of External Affairs. The Secretary-General of the Party, Jozef Kirschbaum, was also removed from his position shortly afterwards. Slovakia had lost some of the freedom it had enjoyed in the first seventeen months of its existence. Still, the Hlinka Party, whose main organizational opponent was the pro-Tuka Hlinka Guard, managed to carry through a series of policies that, with one exception, one can hardly qualify as Nazi or fascist.45 Likewise much of the posturing and outward imitation of Italian and German uniforms was more a matter of form to please Germany than an integral part of Slovak political culture. It would have been a different story if Tuka and Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, had succeeded in overthrowing Tiso. The country would most likely have been ruled by the Hlinka Guard, whose membership was not composed of the most enlightened segments of the population. 46 Of all the policies the regime of the Slovak Republic proposed and carried out, the most unfortunate and tragic were the confiscation of Slovak Jewish property, known as the policy of aryanization, and in 1942 on German urging, the deportation to Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jewish population. These policies found both support and opposition in Slovakia. The aryanization policy was introduced shortly after independence and was voted on by the Slovak Parliament in response to a mood that existed in public circles.47 The deportation policy, advocated by the Tuka faction, however, met with serious opposition, 48 and although it could be stopped only belatedly, Tiso and his supporters in Parliament were still able to limit its scope and save the lives of thousands of Slovak Jews.49 Nevertheless, one of the darkest chapters in Slovak history had been written, and it went a long way toward damaging the record of the Slovak Republic50 and the aspirations of the Slovak people for independence. 22 SLOVAKIA Foreign policy was another area where room for maneuver was limited. The Communist historian Liptak has argued that the Slovak Republic was a mere pawn in a German game in Europe, especially in the period following independence; it was not possible, he concluded, for Slovakia to pursue an independent foreign policy.51 The measure of the success or failure of Slovakia's foreign policy lies in the degree to which it could resist German dominance and obtain for itself some freedom of action and protection of its own interests. The test came early with the Hungarian attack on Eastern Slovakia in March 1939 and, as Milan Durica has shown, the Slovaks, led by Durcansky, were reasonably successful in minimizing the damage and protecting Slovak interests. 52 The Treaty of Protection (Schuetzvertrag) between Slovakia and Germany set the limits of Slovakia's room for maneuver in foreign relations, military, and economic affairs. With the outbreak of the war, Slovakia joined Germany in invading Poland but only to recapture Slovak territory lost in 1920 and 1938. Nevertheless, Durcansky attempted to widen his freedom of action, and one of his attempts to pursue an independent course failed due to an indiscretion by a Slovak diplomat53 and brought about his downfall in July of 1940.54 Thereafter, Prime Minister Tuka, who was also External Affairs Minister, aligned Slovakia closer to German foreign policy by joining the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1940 and by participating in the war against the Soviet Union. There is no indication in the documentation that there were military engagements between Slovak and British or American forces.55 The measure of the success of Durcansky' s foreign policy may perhaps best be gauged by the fact that he set parameters on German interference which enabled the regime to carry out a wide range of domestic policies. Even after his ouster in 1940, German interference was felt primarily in foreign, military, and economic policy and in the Jewish question. As Communist leader Gustav Husak, an eyewitness to the politics and policies of the Slovak Republic, pointed out in July 1944: ''German influence is great, but not\so great for independence to be a stupid mask. "56 The major achievements of the Slovak Republic were in the economic and socio-cultural fields. If adequate research is ever possible in these two areas, the results are likely to show that the regime was quite successful in taking the Slovak people far down the road of modernization and that, until the revolt of 1944, the Slovak government looked after its non-Jewish citizens through planned economic and social development. The Slovak Republic was the framework within which the Slovak people could and did attain a good measure of national and so- SLOVAKIA 23 cial development even under the stringent diplomatic and military conditions their government found itself. As Gustav Husak wrote in 1944, distinguishing between regime and state: "If this state had another content and were l~d by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, there would be nothing to say against it from a Slovak point of view." 57 Husak, a Communist, was understandably not in favor of the regime; but he acknowledged the importance and benefits of statehood for the Slovaks. Certainly by 1944 there was no doubt about that anymore. There had been doubts, however, at the time of independence. They had arisen from some of the intitial difficulties the autonomous Slovak government had experienced in late 1938 and early 1939. As Peter Pares wrote in February 1939, there were difficulties in a series of sectors, especially in the economic, educational, and administrative ones, from which he concluded that the result ''must inevitably be the economic stagnation of Slovakia and might even mean a disastrous impoverishment." 58 But by April 1939, Pares reported that "the present state of affairs in Slovakia, after nearly a month of independence, seems to indicate that, in spite of the manner in which the declaration of independence was brought about and of the disturbing effects of the Hungarian invasion of Eastern Slovakia, conditions are more stable than anybody expected. "59 The situation in fact continued to improve so much that Husak could write in 1944 that there had been a definite improvement to what the situation had been in Czechoslovakia. He went on to add that in the first seventeen months of the Slovak Republic ''it also became evident that Slovakia could take care of itself economically, there was neither economic nor currency chaos, the standard of living did not go down, quite the contrary, a good number of people, especially the intelligentsia, got ahead .... '•60 A report in the Foreign Office files dated August 1943 also confirms the progress made with the following eyewitness account: '' A traveller who has recently returned from Slovakia was amazed to find how normal things were, not only in Bratislava, but also in other towns. There was no blackout and practically no restrictions. Food and clothing were plentiful and prices reasonable. There was little war talk. Life went on as usual everywhere, but there was a shortage of servants and indeed a general shortage of labour. "61 Before outlining the various aspects of socio-economic and cultural development that the documentation and the literature have permitted me to put together, a few words should be said about the parameters I am using to evaluate the contribution of the Slovak Republic to the life 24 SLOVAKIA of the Slovak people. Ideally, when a nation has acquired statehood it should be totally free to handle its own affairs; for small nations, however, reality is generally far removed from theory, especially when there are powerful neighboring states. Depending on the pressures the powerful put on a small state, the measure of realism must be not only the degree to which policies allow the people to enjoy a standard of living comparable to that of the neighboring nations, but also the perceivable cost, in the short and longer run of resistance and opposition to the pressure of the powerful neighbor. For example, the failure of Canadian nationalists to persuade the Canadian people to have their government limit the American domination of the Canadian economy - over 60 percent of Canadian industry is owned by Americans - is due to the refusal of the Canadian people to give up the standard of living this situation has brought them and to accept the cost of a policy of greater independence. There is little public discussion in Canada on American domination; it is a topic that is debated primarily in certain academic, intellectual, and political circles with hardly any echo elsewhere. The Canadian people do not hesitate, furthermore, to vote out a government which they perceive has not done enough not only to maintain, but to improve, their standard of living. These are the acceptable parameters of political realism in the second half of the twentieth century, not only for Canada, but for quite a few states, in the Western, as well as in the Communist, world. It is clear that the Slovak people found themselves in a similar situation until the revolt of 1944; it is my contention that the Slovak government was successful, especially in a war situation, in giving the Slovak people a good standard of living. Communist scholars do not hesitate to point out that the Slovak economy was dominated by Germany because of the secret protocol in the Treaty of Protection, which called for close economic cooperation and the increase of Slovakia's industrial and agriculture output. Other treaties followed to spell out in detail economic arrangements between Slovakia and Germany, and the Reich also sent advisers to help in various ministries. Liptak calculated that in 1938 the share of German and Austrian capital totaled only 5 percent in Sloyakia; by 1944 it had grown to 64 percent. This phenomenal growth is ~xplained by the fact that Germany took over the shares of Czech and foreign capital in Slovakia as they occupied the various financial centers of Europe. 62 At the same time Slovak capital grew from 2 percent in 1938 to 6 percent in 1944,63 and the number of companies in which Slovaks held a controlling interest rose from 40 to 74. Furthermore, from 1942 on, Slovak banks were successful in obtaining additional shares, especially in industry, that SLOVAKIA 25 enabled them to operate a number of transfers of controlling interest from Germany to Slovakia. 64 It was this capital inflow which allowed for the development of Slovak industry. Some 4,855 million ks. were invested in five years, allowing for the creation of 250 new enterprises and the enlargement of SO-existing ones. The railways benefited from 95 km. of new tracks , while i 84 km. were rebuilt or repaired. Road paving, repair, and reconstruction were done on 1,100 km. , with 282 km. of new roads laid; telephone links, under and above ground, were greatly improved, adding 291 communities to the existing network, while 470 villages acquired electrification.65 The 12 ,000 kw. of hydroelectric power built between 1918 and 1939 was increased to 90,000 kw. between 1939 and 1945.66 Foreign Office files also give some statistics worthy of note. In 1942 the investment in chemical, textile, mining, metallurgy, and electrical industries represented close to half of that year's investment. The National Bank net profit in 1941 was 21.86 million ks. and 30.83 m. ks. in 1942.67 Trade statistics also show that Slovakia was by no means restricting the variety of goods and services available; in January-February 1942 Slovakia exported 400 m. ks. worth of goods while it imported 575 m. ks. For the same period in 1943, exports increased to 570 m. ks., and imports rose to 730 m. ks. A Slovak-Italian agreement valued at 800 m. ks. , with 60 m. ks. in Slovakia's favor, was signed in 1943. 68 There are very few agricultural statistics available; it seems that this was not a sector that encountered too many problems, even though the promised land reform of 1939 was not carried out. British reports note good fruit crops in 1942 and 1943 . The year 1943 was also reported as a good vintage year for Slovak wines. Communist authors indicate without hesitation that the social groups that benefited most from the economic expansion and growth in Slovakia were the middle and upper middle classes. The lot of workers also seems to have been satisfactory, except perhaps early on when worker discontent culminated in a strike fomented by Communists in Handlova in October 1940.69 The Slovak Parliament passed a number of bills to improve the social conditions of the working class, and salaries and wages showed a steady increase, 70 while unemployment disappeared. The autonomy and later independence of Slovakia brought about the availability of positions in the state as well as tertiary sectors which until then had been occupied primarily by Czechs. Education was another area which showed considerable activity and enabled educated Slovaks to move ahead. The University of Bratislava added two new fa- 26 SLOVAKIA culties , and a technical university was created in July 1939, taking up from the one created in Kosice in 1937 (but then under Magyar control). A school of economics was also founded, and by 1943 there were more than twice as many students enrolled in Slovak institutions of higher learning than there had been in 1938. An educational reform was also announced in July 1939, and Church-controlled schools were re-established. 71 These educational policies and reforms remedied in fact a major defect in Prague's educational program in Slovakia during the interwar years. As Owen Johnson has written: "What the Czechoslovak Republic / had / failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical and professional - that are required to conduct a modem nation."72 The founding of the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences and the modernization of the publication facilities of the Matica slovenska gave additional impetus to scientific and literary work. For the period 19391944, literary output, for example, totaled 709 works of which 437 were for prose, 169 for poetry, and 103 for plays. 73 Access to such works was made possible by a chain of bookstores operated by the Matica across the country. The statistics at my disposal are too incomplete to enable me to give an accurate survey of achievements but also of problems and failures. Nevertheless the picture that comes out is a positive one showing that"in five of the six years of the existence of the Slovak Republic, the Slovaks moved far down the road of modernization, dispelling any doubts about their ability to handle their own affairs. There is no better testimony to this fact than the report Gustav Husak prepared in July 1944 on the eve of the revolt he would lead as a member of the two opposition groups to the Slovak Republic. It is worthwhile to quote at length from it: In Slovakia today, there is sufficient merchandise, the system of distribution generally works well, and in comparison to adjacent territories (the Czech lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is best in Slovakia for the level of real salaries and their purchasing power. The salaries of employees and workers were raised many times, enterprises have all kinds of supply privileges and there cannot be any talk of a lack of basic commodities for consumers. The Slovak crown is the strongest currency in Central Europe , there is full confidence in it at home, SLOVAKIA 27 people continue to save . . . and inflationary tendencies are sooner the result of German pressure on the economy than of internal conditions . . . : Problems are created by German demands, as a result of w}Uch Germany owes Slovakia today 6 billion ks ..... Slovak industry, given the circumstances of this war, was greatly modernized and some 2 billion ks. were invested in equipment (within 2 years), which in Slovakia is a huge sum .... In general one can say that on the basis of the experience of six years, Slovakia is able to exist as an independent unit economically and financially, can hold out on its own, has even today the necessary forces (including technical ones) and conditions of production for international competition . . . . The Slovaks are an independent nation, they have the same rights and expectations as any other nation. Today Slovak is the exclusive language of administration, all the formal attributes of a nation are there, and for this reason anyone who would like to return to the old conception of a united Czechoslovak nation will meet with opposition . . . . It is to be regretted that / the creation of the Slovak Republic / took place in combination with the worst political regime; still nothing will change the fact that on the national level there is a certain self-consciousness ''that we can take care of our own affairs" in political and economic affairs, that we can have our own army, our own administration, that one's own language is not inferior to that of former dominating nations, that Slovakia was a partner with whom states (the USSR and others) had relations, and to some degree still have today, in short that the Slovak nation can be the subject and not only the object of politics and other / activities / ... In these last six years, the development of a national consciousness and the completion of this development on the formal level are the most remarkable achievements that will not disappear with the fall of the regime . . . . It is a fact that this state is independent and has as much independence as a small state can have especially in time of war. 74 THE REVOLT OF 1944 Husak 's 1944 report on the conditions in Slovakia is in stark contrast with the twenty-seven page, top secret report ''The Revolt in Slovakia' ' found in Foreign Office files outlining the consequences of the fighting . 75 Likewise, one is struck by the difference between the provisional Czechoslovak government London broadcasts, especially 28 SLOVAKIA throughout 1944, inciting the Slovaks to acts of sabotage and destruction of life and property, and the Slovak press and media, when shorn of their ideological jargon and Germanophile phraseology, encouraging the population to ignore this incitement to violence. There was, in fact, partisan activity taking place sporadically throughout 1944; and, by the end of August the Slovaks found themselves almost overnight plunged into an abyss of violence and death which meant the end of their independence. One has to ask what brought about this shift from a relatively calm and stable situation to organized hostilities which resulted in German occupation and the inclusion of Slovakia in the European war. Was it a "Slovak National Uprising," as Communist historiography claims?76 Was it "an uprising for Czechoslovakia," as Wolfgang Venohr has suggested?77 Or was it an "incredible conspiracy," as Frantisek Vnuk has contended?78 The events of 1944 have already found their place in many versions in Slovak historiography, and they need not be recounted here at length. 79 But in the context of this study, two questions must be asked: Why did the revolt take place? and what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people? The reasons that were given after the fact by the leaders of the revolt, both Communist and non-Communist, seem like romanticized self-justifications in the light of the situation in Slovakia and the activities the partisans launched and the results they achieved.80 This is not to suggest that these men did not believe they were doing what they later claimed they had done. There is indeed a tragic irony in the fact that this was the way which insured that the Slovak people in the about-tobe restored Czechoslovak Republic would not be under a military dictatorship as Benes wanted,81 nor subjected to a renewed assimilation as had been attempted in the first CSR.82 Even the leaders of the Slovak Republic were also not unaware of the political situation of the Slovaks and the horns of the dilemma on which they found themselves. This is well illustrated by the following report that found its way into the files 11 of the Foreign Office; it was written by Kuhl de Borososhat, Hungarian Minister in Bratislava, a year before the revolt: Slovak politicians have held a conference at Rezsahegt I sic I (Ruzomberok) under the leadership of Blahos / sic I . Af- ter negotiations which lasted several days the opinion crystallized .that the Slovak people must, under all conditions, remain independent. As, after an Anglosaxon victory, the opinion of the politicians of today will no longer apply, the political leaders of SLOVAKIA 29 Slovakia are entrusting the fate of their country to the hands of the American Slovaks. \ I asked the Minister of the Interior, Sano Mach, if the government adhered to the decision. He replied that the government had knowledge of it and would agree with it, but can neither adhere to it nor sanction it as this would imply that they had renounced belief in a German victozy - _a n open confession which Slovakia cannot and may not make. 83 The expectation of help from American Slovaks was, however, unrealistic; the resolution. of the Slovak dilemma lay in Europe. Thus, to answer the question why the revolt took place, one must go back to the three factors which had mortgaged the existence of the Republic of Slovakia. By 1944 they had come together in a way that made it impossible for the Slovak government to defend the integrity of the state and avoid the destruction that resulted. Germany was losing the war and progressively retreating from conquered territories, though not without resistance. German resistance was in fact dictated by strategic factors, and Slovakia played in this respect a major role on the Eastern front; for the Germans, Slovakia, with its mountains, barred the road to the Danubian plain for the Red Army, thus protecting the retreat of German armies from the Balkans; for the Soviet Union, the control of Slovakia meant access not only to the valley of the Danube, but also to Vienna and Prague. Also, the alliance with Germany, the second factor, had to be maintained in part because of the first factor but also because of the recognition of the Czechoslovak government in London by the Allies. To turn against Germany meant to be occupied by the Wehrmacht with no guarantee that help would be forthcoming in such a case either from the Soviet Union or the Western Allies. The Slovak government was, furthermore, anxious to avoid any Soviet involvement in Slovak affairs for the simple reason that Bolshevism ran against the Christian Slovak national traditions they upheld. Anti-German feeling had nevertheless begun to grow in Slovakia, and the government's pro-German policy was one of many arguments used to persuade Slovaks to go into opposition. 84 It was the activities of the Communist and non-Communist opposition groups, the third factor, which brought about the armed revolt in Central Slovakia that resulted in the German occupation of the country. The Germans then ordered the deportation of the majority of the Slovak Jews who had been spared the 1942 deportation, and there were sum- 30 SLOVAKIA mary executions on both sides as well as wanton destruction and violence. An additional tragic aspect to the entire episode is the fact that the revolt did not take place at a moment when it could benefit the Allied war effort and also scuttled the secret plans of the Slovak Army, prepared by the Minister of National Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos, and sent to Moscow, to help the Allied effort in Central Europe. Slovak army divisions would have been made available to partake in the sweep of the Red Army toward Budapest and Vienna.85 Catlos's plan, aside from its possible military usefulness, would have maintained the integrity of the Slovak Republic; this was unacceptable to the two opposition groups, the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, who in signing the Christmas Agreement of 1943 had agreed to work toward the restoration of Czechoslovakia. 86 The answer to the second question, namely what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people, is a little more complex. The revolt involved at first thousands of Slovaks, civilians and soldiers, because of the tremendous confusion that arose when it broke out. Apart from the German occupation, which had been the result of the shooting of a German military mission going through the Slovak town of Turciansky Sviity Martin, the most determining factor was the rumor that Tiso had been murdered by the Germans.87 But there were also Slovaks who had become disenchanted with the regime and joined the partisans for this reason. Husak indicated in his pre-revolt report that many Slovaks were ready to change the regime but to keep the state.88 The knowledge that the Allies had recognized Benes's Czechoslovak government - London broadcasts w~re frequently listened to89 - had helped to blur the line between regime and state to the point that in the proverbial sense , the baby was thrown out with the bath water. Except for those who had been working for the restoration of Czechoslovakia, it is not clear that many of those who joined the partisans realized that they were in a revolt not only against the regime, but also against the state. However, one must note that many Slovaks did not participate in the revolt and were even opposed to it because of their allegiance to the Slovak Republic. They realized that the revolt meant a return to the status quo antebellum . London broadcasts were making it perfectly clear that this was what awaited the Slovaks at the end of the war. But as Husak pointed out in a 1946 report, the Slovaks, both in government and in opposition, considered such a proposition to be ' 'rather ridiculous. " 90 The writer, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office of SLOVAKIA 31 the Slovak government, expressed his opposition to the revolt as follows: It wasn't fear of the future, but fear of a renewed past. A return to the disgusting " Benesiada. " We were afraid of it. Benes was threatening us with revenge and promised to renew everything which had previously oppressed us Slovaks .. .. He did not recognize for us any n~tional rights . In fact he did not even recognize us as a nation. We were afraid of that. For this reason we did not see the Uprising as a liberation from the path of fascism , but rather as an unenticing overture to a new process of enslavement. 91 The revolt was basically put down within three months by German forces. 92 But Slovakia could not return to the normalcy of the pre-revolt years. The country was occupied. And even though the Slovak government continued to carry on with its policies both during and after the revolt,93 the link between the governing and the governed was not the same anymore . The end of the war was near. And, as members of the Slovak government fled to Austria in April 1946, the Slovak National Council, created out of the wartime collaboration between the Communists and the Democrats , took power in Slovakia on behalf of the restored Czechoslovak Republic. THE LEGACY OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC In the aftermath of the Second World War, Slovakia found itself caught in a double maelstrom of postwar politics. Czechoslovakia was in the Soviet military sphere of interest; within three years the Czechs and Slovaks would become part of the Soviet bloc. Secondly, Slovakia was granted a form of autonomy in the new Czechoslovak Republic; by the time the constitution became law in May 1948, only the formal attributes of autonomy remained. Thus the atmosphere and the politics of the postwar and the Communist period were ripe to give the Slovak Republic an historical blow. Its high officials, from the President of the Republic to members of Parliament and Department heads, were tried, often in absentia, and in the majority of cases convicted on various counts of treason against the Czechoslovak Republic. President Tiso and Prime Minister Tuka were condemned to death and executed in April 1947. Others were sent to serve long prison terms . The vengeance of Czechoslovak officials that Gaspar had feared was given free rein. In this way, a chapter in Slovak 32 SLOVAKIA history was closed and in the Communist period deliberately relegated to oblivion, or at best selectively examined to condemn it better. The situation is only slightly different in the Western world. Former officials of the Slovak Republic who found exile in the West have made an effort to explain the why and wherefore of Slovakia's first modern state. Their works have found only a limited audience, due in part to the vigilence of pro-Czechoslovak groups, both Czech and Slovak, who refuse to recognize that something positive might be said about the wartime period in Slovakia, especially about the Slovak Republic. No Western learned society, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, held a study session on this topic until 1979. It is, therefore, difficult to determine the legacy of the Slovak Republic. The idea of statehood that it represents has been accepted by most Slovak organizations in the West, such as the Slovak League of America and the Slovak World Congress; in their newspapers and periodicals, anniversaries and events are regularly mentioned and celebrated. Western scholarship has, unfortunately, not kept pace to give greater substance to the idea of statehood, for reasons I outlined at the beginning. Thus the pride hundreds of thousands of Slovaks have in this chapter of their history does not overflow into the world around them. More important, of course, is the legacy to the Slovaks in Slovakia. A perusal of Communist literature of the mid and late sixties suggests a tacit acceptance of the legacy of statehood; Slovak newpapers and periodicals often referred to the wartime period, especially as the drive to federalization became more pronounced. The publication of excerpts from Tido J . Gaspar's memoirs must also be seen as an important step in that direction . But the selective scholarship on the subject suggests that the Communist regime is still incapable of coming to terms with it. Time will undoubtedly cool passions, and curiosity will begin to take over. It is my belief that when Slovak archives become accessible to all scholars without restrictions, the record will show, as I have suggested in this article , that the Slovak Republic served the Slovaks well, especially in the social and cultural field, and that it played an extremely important role in the development of the national consciousness of the Slovak people. The federalization of Czechoslovakia, proposed at first in 1944 and made into law in 1968, could not have taken place if the Slovak Republic had been a dismal failure in the life of the Slovak people. But more research will have to be done, not only for scholarly reasons , but above all, to paraphrase the national motto of Slovakia's western neighbor, so that the truth might prevail. SLOVAKIA 33 NOTES . 1 Of fourteen general histories puqlished since 1941 taken at random, the creation of the Slovak Republic has been presen\ed as follows : (1) no mention at all - J .B. Duroselle , L'Europe de 1815 a nosjours (Paris , 1970); Walter P. Hall and William G. Davis , The Course of Europe Since Waterloo (New York, 1941) ; and George Lichtheim, Europe in the Tw entieth Century (New York, 1972); (2) serious errors of presentation and interpretation - Martin Gilbert, The European Powers 1900-1945 (New York, 1965), p . 220 ; Carleton J .H . Hayes , Contemporary Europe Since 1870 (New York, 1953) , p . 631; Walter C. Langsam, The World Since 1914 (New York , 1943), p. 517 ; J .M . Roberts, Europe 1880-1945 (New York, 1972), p. 516; D.C . Watt, "Diplomatic History" in The New Cambridge Modern History , Vol. XIl: The Shifting Balances of 'World Forces, 1898-1945, edited by C.L. Mowat (Cambridge , 1968), p . 725; (3) minor errors of presentation and interpretation - Rene Albrecht-Carrie, A Dilpomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna (New York, 1958), pp . 529-30 ; C.E . Black and E .C. Helmreich, Twentieth Century Europe (New York, 1959), p . 529 ; James Joli, Europe Since 1870: An Introductory H istory (London, 1973), pp. 373 and 441; (4) reasonably accurate - A.J . Grant and H. Temperley , Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1789-1950) (London, 1952), p. 529; H . Stuart Hughes, Contemporary Europe: A History (Englewood Cliffs , 1966) , p . 318 ; and Elizabeth Wiskemann in Survey of International Affairs 1939-1946 - Hitler 's Europe , edited by Arnold Toynbee and Veronica M . Toynbee (London, 1954) , pp . 597-604 . 2 John Gellner and John Smerek, The Czechs and Slovaks in Canada (Toronto, 1968), p. viii. 3 Bohuslav Graca, 14. Maree 1939 (Bratislava, 1955) and lmrich Stanek , Zrada a pad, (Praha, 1958) . 4 See , for example, I.:ubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v politike Slovenskeho statu v rokoch 1939-1943," Historicky tasopis XI (1), 1967, pp . 1-35 ; --- , "Slovensky stat a protifasisticke hnutie v rokoch 1939-1943 ," Historicky tasopis XIV (2) , 1966, pp . 161-218; ---, "Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky fosopis XIII (3), 1965, pp. 329-65; --- , "Politicky rezim na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945" in Slovenske narodne povstanie roku 1944 (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 20-49 ; --- , Slovensko v 20, storoti (Bratislava, 1968), pp. 175265; Martin Vietor, " Prispevok k objasneniu fasistickeho charakteru tzv . Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky tasop is VIlI (4 ), 1960, pp , 483-508. 5 The two noticeable examples are : Samo Falt'an, Slovenskd otdka v Ceskoslovensku (Bratislava, 1968), pp . 92-103 and Ivan Kamenec, "Snem Slovenskej Republiky a jeho postoj k problemu zidovskeho obyvatefstva na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945," Historicky fosopis XVII (3) , 1969, pp , 329-62 , 6 There is a problem of availability ; the Library of Congress does not have the complete sets, nor does the British Library , 7 The late Ferdinand Durcansky once told me that he himself had destroyed documents because of the physical impossibility of taking them with him, especially to South America. 8 Many former Slovak politicians and officials have published vignettes of their activities in various Slovak publications in the West ; at present only two have published de- 34 SLOVAKIA tailed memoirs: Jozef Miku§, Pamliti slovenskeho diplomata (Middletown, 1978) and Karol Sidor, Sest'rokov pri Vatikane (Scranton, 1947), which also contains documents concerning Slovak foreign policy and diplomacy. The diary of Stefan Tiso, Prime Minister from September 1944 to April 1946, is presently at Stanford University, Hoover Institution on War and Peace ; access to it is however restricted. Excerpts from the diary were published by Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Dennfk Dr . Stefana Tisu," Historickj tasopis XVIIl (2), 1970, pp. 270-87. 9 Such an example is Owen Verne Johnson, Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 1918-1938: Education and Its Impact , unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1978. A recent exception is that of Dorothea El Mallakh, who succeeded in obtaining access to unpublished documents covering the years 1936 through October 1938 from the Ministry of the Interior archives in Prague. She had expected to fail in obtaining access to these documents when she visited Prague in January 1969. But as she writes: " Luck in timing and the helpfulness of individuals all coalesced to bring me almost 2600 frames of microfilms." Dorothea H. El Mallakh, The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939: A Study in Unrelenting Nationalism (Boulder, '1970) , p. xiv. 10 See Hans Dress, Slowakei und faschistische Neuordnung Eurpoas 1939-1941 (Berlin, 1972) . 11 John S. Conway, "The Churches, the Slovak State and the Jews 1939-1946," Slavonic Review Lil (126), 1974, p . 87. 12 In his autobiography, Lockhart makes it perfectly clear that he was devoted to Bene§ and that he had no qualms in working for him. See R.H. Bruce Lockhart, Comes the Reckoning (London, 1947), pp. 64ff. 13 In response to a request from the Central Department of the Foreign Office to comment on reports that Bruce Lockhart had put together from information he received from Czech and Slovak sources in London, Peter Pares foresaw from the very beginning the direction this information would go: " Many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition.' ' FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-68-12. Public Record Office, London. 14 This problem is compounded by the fact that there are very few general studies on the Slovak Republic published in a Western language, and none is detailed and comprehensive in scope. See Milan S. :C>urica, "Slovakia During World War II - the Slovak Republic' ' in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973), pp. 161-94; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1961) , pp . 111\76; Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia (New York, 1966), pp. 123-91; Josepli A. Mikus, Slovakia - A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee , 1963), pp. 67-164; 'and Anthony X. Sutherland, Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modem Slovakia (Middletown, 1978), pp. 81-102. Additional titles, particularly of specialized topics in Western and Slovak languages, may be found in Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) ," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, pp. 17-24. 16 Johnson, p . 466. 16 FO 417-39 , Doc. 3973-19-18. SLOVAKIA 35 17 This is noted in a report by Pares to the Foreign Office. FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-712. 18 Falt'an, pp . 106-06. \ 19 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, "Die Stellung der Slowakischen Volkspartei zur Aussenpolitik Prags'' in Karl Bos!, ed., Gleichgewicht - Revision - Restauration. Die Aussenpolitik der Ersten Tschechoslowakischen Republik im Europasystem der Pariser Vorortsvertrtige (Muenchen, 1976), pp. 316-66. 20 House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates, 339 H.C. Deb. 6 s., pp. 366-6. 21 See especially FrantiAek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938 March 1939), " Slovak Studies IV, 1968, pp . 7-164; Joseph Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 98-146; Mikus , pp . 67-91 ; El Mallakh, pp. 113-44. A somewhat different version is found in Joerg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei undHitlers Ostpolitik (Koeln, 1966). 22 The Slovak struggle for autonomy in the First Czechoslovak Republic was a variation on the theme of national self-determination which was ultimately denied the Slovaks by the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism'' of the Prague government. Independence, if it could be achieved, was not only the logical outcome, but in the light of the "Czechoslovak" ideology of Prague, the only way for the Slovak nation to assert itself. Other solutions were not excluded so long as the Slovaks were recognized as a nation independent of the Czechs ; a Central European federation is often mentioned in this context. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 223-30 . 23 Though the Hlinka Party had become the Party of Slovak National Unity on October 6, 1938, the literature still refers to it as the Hlinka Party . I will conform to this usage. 24 Liptak, "Politicky rezim ... , " p . 24. See Also Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 169-73. 26 Liptak, Slovensko, p . 210. 26 Conway, p. 96. 27 Liptak, " Politicky rezim ... ," p. 26 . 28 FO 417-40 , Doc. C10876-7-12 . 29 FO 371-22900, Doc . C18636-7-12 . 30 See note 13 . 31 Falt'an, p . 114 and Liptak, " Politicky rezim . .. , "p. 36. 32 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, ''Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics,' ' Canadian Slavonic Papers XIX (4) , 1977, pp . 446-9. 33 FO 371-24290, Doc . C612-68-12 . 34 The British Government recognized Benes 's national committee as the " Provisional Czechoslovak Government" on July 21 , 1940. Full de jure recognition was granted on July 18, 1941 , the same day the Soviet Union granted de facto and de jure recognition. The United States followed suit on July 31 , 1941 . 36 In a report on conditions in Slovakia written in January 1939, George Kennan expressed the following opinion, which was widely held at that time: "Its (Slovakia's) native leaders are so sadly lacking in experience, in imagination, in breadth of view, and in depth of purpose that they cannot hope to maneuver successfully for very long SLOVAKIA 36 amid the powerful national and ideological currents which are playing all around them in Central Europe. " George P. Kennan, From Prague After Munich: Diplomatic Papers 1938-1940 (Princeton, 1968), p. 27. 36 This is best illustrated by the fact that not only in the literature but also during the war, Slovakia was referred to as a " fascist state, " not in a descriptive but in a normative sense. 37 FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-58-12. 38 Joseph M . Kirschbaum , p . 163. 39 Ibid. , p. 159. 40 Ibid. , p . 168; Mikus, p. 94 ; Jan F . Gleiman, "Duch ustavy SR" in Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Slouenska Republika 1939-1949 (Scranton, 1949), p. 120. 41 FO 417-40, Doc. Cl0876-7-12. 42 The most comprehensive analysis of the program is found in Stefan Polakovit, Tisoua nauka (Bratislava, 1941). An English outline appears in Joseph M . Kirschbaum, Slouakia, pp. 170-3; a critical approach was taken by Yeshayahu Jelinek in The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slouak People's Party 1939-1945 (Boulder, 1976) . 43 Of the 63 deputies elected, 48 were from the Hlinka Party; 12 represented the Agrarian Party, the Slovak National Party, the Artisan Party, and the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party. See above, Kirschbaum, p . 169. 44 Kamenec, passim . 46 The Fuehrer principle was introduced in Slovak political life on October 22, 1942. It enabled President Tiso to consolidate his power and that of the Hlinka Party against Tuka and Mach and the Hlinka Guard. 46 According to Liptak, the Hlinka Guard represented the lumpenproletariat and the radical small bourgeoisie. Liptak, "Politicky reiim ... , "p. 26. 47 Some authors refer to a tradition of anti-Semitism as well as the activities of Slovak Jews in Slovak life to explain the early anti-Jewish policies. Mikus, pp. 96-6.; Sutherland, pp. 88-9. See also Kennan, pp. 22-3. 48 Conway, passim. 49 Kamenec, p . 363. 60 This is made quite clear by one of the leaders of the 1944 revolt. See Lettrich, passim . 61 Liptak, Slouensko , pp. 177-180. For a description of Slovak foreign policy, see Mikus, pp. 116-138. 62 Milan S. Ourica, La Slouaccia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania, 1938-1945 , (Padova, 1964), Vol. I, p . 107. 53 Mikus, pp. 135-6 and Ourica, p . 107. 64 The situation and events leading to the Salzburg' meeting Jlre described at length in Liptak, "Priprava a priebeh . . . . " 66 As to th~ question whether Slovakia declared war on the U.K. and the United States, there is also no documentary evidence that this did take place according to postwar re- SLOVAKIA 37 search into the matter by State Ikpartment officials . The suggestion that Slovakia did declare war is based on a New York Times report of December 13, 1941 of a German broadcast from Bratislava that stated that Slovakia had declared war. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia , pp. 318-21. 66 Gustav Husak , " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," Svedectvi XV (68) , 1979, p . 377. 67 Ibid. 68 FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-7-12. 69 FO 417-39, Doc. C5201-7-12 . 60 Husak, p. 369. 61 FO 371-34337, Doc. C9206-372-12 . In his pre-revolt report, Husak indicates that some 60,000 Slovaks also worked in Germany. Husak, p. 373. 62 Liptak, Slovensko , p. 194. 63 I.:ubomir Liptak, Ovlddnutie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitdlom (Bratislava, 1960), p . 66. 64 Liptak, Slovensko, pp. 201-2. 65 Falt'an, pp. 108-9. See also FO 371-39121 , Doc. C877-877-18. 66 Sutherland, p. 87 . 67 FO 371-34446, Doc. C1066-160-18. 68 FO 371-34446, Doc . C6626-160-18. 69 Dress , p. 119. 70 Ibid ., p. 117. 71 It is interesting that the Slovaks met with no opposition from the Germans. As Conway writes: ''It should be noted that the abolition of religious instruction and the removal of crucifixes from the schools were two notable features of the Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church." Conway, p . 89 , note 11. 72 Owen V. Johnson, "The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, p . 42 . 73 Frantisek Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown, 1965), p. 12. 74 Husak, pp. 376-77. 76 FO 371-38942, Doc. C13551-1343-12 . 76 Husak's memoirs are entitled: " Testimony on the Slovak National Uprising." See Gustav Husak , Svedectvo o slovenskom narodnom povstani (Bratislava, 1964). A revised and amended version was published in 1969. 77 Wolfgang Venohr, Au/stand fuer die Tschechoslowakei (Hamburg, 1969). 78 Frantisek Vnuk, Neuveritefne sprisahanie (Middletown, 1964). 79 The most complete account in a Western language is by Venohr. 80 ' 'The political motive for an uprising was the desire to liberate Slovakia by its own efforts as soon as possible, to throw out the Germans , to destroy the dictatorship of the SLOVAKIA 38 Slovak People's Party, reintroduce Czechoslovak democratic institutions, spare Slovakia the suffering of the war and assure its just place in a free Czechoslovakia.'' Lettrich, p. 200. 81 A. Benl!ik and J. Pivovarl!i, " Problemes militaires de llnsurrection nationale slovaque," Studia historica slovaca IV, 1966, p. 166. 82 Upon the restoration of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (Bene§'s party) prepared a document for the party faithful outlining how the Czechoslovak Government should go about successfully assimilating the Slovaks. It was published for the first time in 1968. See Pravda (Bratislava), March 29, 1968. 83 FO 371-34337, Doc. 9786-372-12. 84 According to Husak, some other arguments were "the class content of this state, its undemocratic fascist regime, its vassal link to Nazi Germany and its policies against the people." Husak, Svedectvo, p . 129. 85 There is a full German translation of Catlo§'s plan in Venohr, pp. 119-21. 86 See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Federalism .. . ," pp. 446-49. 87 M. Kuhar, a former communications officer in the Slovak Army, explained to me recently in an interview in Toronto, Canada, that his unit had been mobilized when the rumor of Tiso's death had reached it with the understanding that the Slovak Army would engage the Germans to defend Slovak independence. When the rumor proved to be untrue, his unit returned to its barracks . 88 Husak, "O vyvoji ... ," p. 377. 89 In 1942, at a ceremony for a new extension of the electrical network, President Tiso remarked: "You see, how, with more electricity we are giving you an opportunity to hear London and Moscow. In Russia they do not have such an opportunity, because there they give them a record player and thus they can hear only Moscow. The Slovak Republic is not afraid to hear foreign stations, because we know the truth and we are not afraid of the lies that London broadcasts.•• Slovak, May 19, 1942, quoted in Milan Stanislav l'>urica, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska Republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dej£n (Lausanne, 1976), p. 143, note 127. 90 Vilem Prel!an, Slovenske ntirodne povstanie (Bratislava, 1965), document 576, p. 950. 91 Tido J. Ga§par, "Z pamiiti, " Slovenske pohfady LXXXIV (12), 1968, p. 79. 92 At a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff in London on November 15, 1944, it was acknowledged that the revolt had collapsed. FO 371-38944, Doc. C15945-1343-12. \ 93 Liptak, "Politicky re!im . . . , " p. 48.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Slovak Republic and the Slovaks Description An account of the resource Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 11-38 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/dc25287d923f3da4f3e7d39fb40371c6.pdf 1346e9056beedbc61545e79207995a4e PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 77 Letter from Bishop J. Ch. Karee To Czechoslovak Television Concerning the Programme ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' J. CH. KOREC The directors, Ceskoslovenska televizia, Mlynska dolina, Asmolovova 28 841 04 Bratislava From March 6 to March 13, 1989, Bratislava television broadcast the five-part series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" which ended on March 14 with the discussion entitled "Clericalism and Clem-Fascism in Slovakia". The series was shown on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Slovak State. In the words of the narrators of the programme, it was meant mainly for the younger generation so that it might be informed about the events which took place half a century ago and whose consequences, it is claimed, are still to be felt today between the faithful and the Church in Slovakia in the so-called lay apostolate and in illegal ecclesiastical structures . The names mentioned in the introduction were those of 0. Danyi, J. Celko, V. Hudeckova, 0. Vyhlfdal, V. Nedbal and others. The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," by its very title, already indicated what it was all about - not the personality of politicians, nor the history of a political party, rather about the Catholic Church, the bishops, the priests and the faithful in Slovakia, in fact about the entire Church with the Pope at its head . The contents corresponded to the intention - to put everything in such a light that the outcome would be ridicule, irony and sarcasm. As a result, one found in this "series", which was a collage �78 SLOVAKIA of photographs, parts cut from old films, journals and newspapers, accompanied by a one-sided and aggressive political commentary read on occasion in a theatrical pathetic tone, just about everything associated with the Catholic Church - Popes Pius XI and XII, the encyclicals, Bishops Jantausch, Kmet'ko, Vojtassak, Carsky, Gojdic, Necsey, Skrabik and Lazik, Slovak churches from the outside and the inside, pilgrimages, first communions and masses. All these elements were invariably accompanied by the appropriate political commentary which ridiculed them. Pictures from Slovakia, interspersed with mass graves, shootings, human bones, horses with a ploughman not far from a field cross going as far as to include the ridiculing of confession and the repeated shooting of people which ended with a theatrical and blasphemous "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" alternated with pictures of [Adolf] Hitler from 1930, or before. A seventeen year-old high school student's comment on all of this was: "Satanic Verses the Slovak way." And a student who stood beside her added: " If there were a hundred Muslims in Slovakia, the authors of the series would probably have to hide in the mountains for the rest of their lives." Truly, according to the series, Slovakia and especially Catholicism, were the source of all things evil and only evil. Neither in the state, nor in the Church was there anything human; all gatherings, from confirmation through religious exercises to the meetings of bishops in Prague, were in the service of the bourgeoisie or especially Hitler. According to the series, this was applicable to the First CSR, and later, particularly to Slovakia. One had the feeling at times that when Slovak boys rang the bells in the belfry, the Japanese immediately attacked Manchuria. And when A. Hlinka spoke in the Prague Parliament, [Benito] Mussolini immediately proceeded to attack Abyssinia. No historian was involved in the preparation of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power." Although it concerned explicitly a historical theme, it was prepared by members of the Institute for Scientific Atheism of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Pravda also published on 15 March 1939 an article from a member of the Institute of Historical Sciences entitled "The Tragic Consequences of the Munich Diktat,'' once more on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Slovak State . This article was in- �SLOVAKIA 79 deed written without passion, in a sober and comparatively more factual and responsible way. In the journal Ogonok, issue 50, December 1988, the editor and writer, A. Nezhny, in an interview with K.M. Kharchev, director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR Council of Ministers, criticized the abstract manner in which people wrote about religion and the Church in 1933. In the book Under the Mask of Religion, one reads that all metropolitans, bishops, priests, monks and church elders ... "deceive the faithful and carry out their terrible fascist plots." In the same interview, K.M. Kharchev indicated that "for about 70 years, year after year, one heard repeated like a tape recorder that the Church was the carrier of an ideology inimical to our society, that it was important to see in priests a foreign element and that the faithful were people of "the third degree" ... An unchangeable stereotype was created in the consciousness of the majority of party and state workers." In addition - in the same issue of Ogonok, the editor and writer A. Nezhny, pilloried severely the newest antireligious book, whose author "from the outset is not ashamed to bend the facts so that they fit into his scheme of things.'' These last words pertain directly to the Bratislava series "The Cross in the Snares of Power." It presented pictures taken out of context, quotations, and film cuts, pasted together according to its defined aim, without regard for the historical circumstances of the time, and without any evaluation of historical conditions and possibilities; it was put together almost as if the specialists of dialectics had completely forgotten that there is unity and clash in contradictions, that an individual is not omnipotent in history, and that in Europe from 1938 on, Hitler's activities created dangerous conditions in which even the Great Powers did not know what to do. The authors have forgotten that as long as a small nation and state is caught in the middle of giants, politics is the art of the possible. They disregarded all human activities possible in very many, openly catastrophic situations, and did not deviate from their goal right to the end in accordance with the theme of "clericalism and elem-fascism''; in fact they pursued their goal mercilessly and without scruples even though this clericalism gave them, their fathers and three million Slovaks work and relative peace for six �80 SLOVAKIA years through the worst war in history and saved the lives of many. The television series of March 1989 represents another myth born in Slovakia in the minds of biased and fanatic individuals . It is not the only one . A contemporary writer and historian recently said in an interview for a journal: "I am 50 years old and in that time I heard about Stefanik .. . in at least five different versions and each was false and not historical. You can really blame our historiography for quite a few things . .. It renounced living persons and replaced them with schemes and generalities. It is terrible to read about the red threads of development, how they go through history" (Litertirny tyzdennfk, 10/88). Fortunately, the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" was not prepared by qualified specialists - historians . It would seem however that schemes and the red threads of development had already penetrated the blood of many Slovak intellectuals. Rare are the small nations which today can maim and defame their own history and in this way destroy the national consciousness of future generations as we know how to do in Slovakia. The average educated person is unable to speak intelligently and w ith pride about Sts. Cyril and Methodius, these scientists of the first rank who stood at the very beginning of our national history, language and culture. He is unable to be proud of the fact that of all the places where they worked in the Empire of Great Moravia our old Nitra, Devin and Zobor are definitely mentioned in old sources. He cannot be proud of the University of Trnava which for 150 years opened the world to us. The average Slovak began to speak Magyar in Hungary and in the First Republic he denied the Slovak in him and accepted the thesis of the single [Czechoslovak] nation. He forgot Bernolak, Holly and Shir and refuses to accept Moyses and Stefanik . And he forgot that in this way, he hurts not only his nation the most, but also the Republic . Today, his colleagues laugh at those who - even with their many human faults and weaknesses - brought the nation to life in Hungary and in the First CSR, defended its rights and freedoms, language and individuality, whether they were Skultety, Hlinka, Razus or others. As a result, there remains very little from our history from which we could give our younger generations a feeling of Slovak national pride. Thus, �SLOVAKIA 81 for many, our position in the Republic is also without interest and pride and we lack interest in the Republic. Slovak history cannot be understood without Christianity and the Catholic Church. If this cannot be avoided, then the tendency is to blacken all. Everything that is Christian, and especially Catholic, is suspicious, ridiculous and ironic. When we nevertheless wish to speak about this in positive terms, we look around as if we were stealing. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' reached new heights in ridiculing our history. The authors were not satisfied with criticizing individual politicians or political parties - they ridiculed religion, Christian images, symbols, mysteries [of the faith] and the Church, from mass, first communion through pilgrimages of the faithful, priests, bishops, right up to the popes. A year ago, Bratislava television was convincing us in the programme "Current themes" that the faithful have exactly as many rights in our country as do non-believers . After the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," the faithful were asking "Where can we respond to this intensive 6-part caricature of the Church in Slovakia and in the world?" Nowhere. It is not possible publicly to answer public insults - either in the press, on the radio or on television . If I have decided to write you this letter, I have done so only very reluctantly. It concerns historical events which are still considered political even though they are half a century behind us. I took this decision out of a sense of responsibility dictated by my conscience because it concerns the faithful who make up more than half of the nation in Slovakia just as it concerns an important part of the faithful inhabiting the Czech Lands and Moravia who were also very offended. It concerns non-Catholics and non-believers as well who from a Christian or human point of view could hardly have been impressed by the stifling blasphemies of the series and its destructive influence within the nation, the state and the world. Having decided to write, I regret that I am not a Slovak historian, a writer or a poet who could have such an impact in this national affair that it would awaken the conscience of each Slovak and encourage him to seek the paths of understanding and unity in matters that are fundamental for the nation and the state, to accept �82 SLOVAKIA variety in others matters, and to seek ways of cooperation with all, showing respect for his own history, respect for other faiths and respect for the future of the nation and the state. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' not only did not take such an approach, but rejected that aim without compassion. This was clear in the preparation of each theme the First CSR, autonomy, the question of the Slovak State, and in the end in the discussion by the authors of all that is evil: the series included the popes, the bishops, the priests, the entire Church with her encyclicals, churches, masses, processions, crosses. I was particularly struck by one approach: the events of 50 years ago were not as simple as the authors of the series made them to be. They were much more complex. I would like to point to the complexity of the situation and the events. These are events that belong to history. Indeed, I will refer to them as historical facts. I will not evaluate them, but I will use documents from the period. The development of a comprehensive and critical evaluation that is factual and objective is also expected. We hope that historians will be able to do this without bias. The journal Vyber (13/89) introduced the written version of the text of the series as follows: "Majestic tones resound. The vault of a magnificent cathedral emerges filled with a sublime "Te Deum. '' Black boots glitter. Black uniforms. Looking at the picture, a commentator says : "They marched ... they marched on 6 October 1938 and 14 March 1936 (?) to work together in the break up of the Czechoslovak Republic . In this series, we will march along the path of facts. They marched to the deportations, to the burning of partizan villages, communities and settlements in the winter of 1944-1945 . . . They suppressed basic human rights ... The Catholic Action of Pius XI came to the aid of the Populists. In the elections of 1925, they emerged stronger, they doubled the number of deputies in Parliament . . . They gave up opposition and entered the government of the gentlemen's coalition . . . '' Already the text of these first sentences is confused. The aim of the Populists was to break up the Republic. Yet they entered the government. They were against the Republic, yet they achieved that "which Hlinka had once desired ... to be a state-building party" according to a quotation in the article. In order to demean �SLOVAKIA 83 the Populists, the authors of the series write and say that they entered a "gentlemen's coalition." The Populists were against the people, yet the people strengthened their position in the elections. In the first part of the series, a great deal is said about Andrej Hlinka - from the year 1918 to his death in 1938. According to the series, Hlinka was arrogant, he was against the CSR and he played cards with his enemies. He was almost an enemy of the Slovak nation; in a word, he was a "clerical." This expression was once used for practical reasons to denote political movements in which there were also priests or which were guided by Christian principles - much in the same way as one spoke in a shortened fashion of "Agrarians," "Nationalists," "Socialists." Today one adds to this expression an exclusively defamatory meaning " clericalism and elem-fascism." What was Andrej Hlinka really like? One finds in Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k that Andrej Hlinka (born on 27 September 1864) had become active in Slovak affairs in the year 1895 with the aim of '' setting the people free from social oppression . . . and winning them for the national movement." He wrote in Narodne noviny, founded tudove noviny, founded farmers' organizations, food cooperatives, temperance leagues and reading groups. In 1906 he was condemned to two years imprisonment in Segedin for his activities. "In the summer of 1917, he accepted the idea of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks, which he confirmed again in October 1918 as a member of the Slovak national Council and a signatory of the Martin Declaration of the Slovak Nation and he even asked his clerical movement to support the new state" (Vol. II, p. 338) . A contemporary Slovak historian writes: "Hlinka together with [Vavro] Srobar was one of the most capable personalities fighting for Czechoslovak statehood" (Litertirny tyzdenn{k, 2/88). The television series is pathetically ironic about the agreement between the '' spiritual leader'' of the state and the Church in the way it manifested itself already in 1919 in Zilina. The series also mentioned ecclesiastical properties. Of course, there was no mention of the fact that these properties were acquired gradually from donations from believers or rulers for direct services, that the Church since time immemorial built on these properties schools, �84 SLOVAKIA orphanages, teacher's colleges, universities and hospitals of which the state as such took no care. The Church maintained everything on these properties in the same way as the Ministry of Finance does today from the taxes of the workers. When these properties were taken from the Church in Slovakia, one of the people who was close to Bishop [Jan] Vojtassak was asked what the bishop would do now, he replied: "Until now he ate svabka with kiska, from now on he will eat kiska with svabka." On a number of occasions the television series judged the activities of the People's Party as inimical to the First Republic because of its demand for autonomy. This is an over-simplification. Hlinka and his party based themselves on the Pittsburgh Agreement which was signed on 31 May 1918 by the representatives of the Slovak League [of America], the Czech National Council, the Association of Czech Catholics, and the President of the Czechoslovak National Council, Professor [Tomas G.] Masaryk. One reads in the Agreement: "Slovakia will have its own administration, its own parliament and courts ." In the so-called Cleveland Agreement of 22-23 October 1915, there was reference to "a federal union of states with full national autonomy for Slovakia, with her own parliament and her own state administration." It was on this basis that the Hlinka Slovak People 's Party [HSPP] developed the defence of Slovak needs and national demands . When people in the CSR began officially to speak of a single Czechoslovak nation and when the demand for autonomy was refused, there were harsh political debates in Parliament and in the daily press . Certainly, it is not true that the "clericals" wanted to break up the republic. They wanted a republic that gave autonomy to Slovakia. At certain times, the People's Party was not alone in this struggle. The leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia [CPCS], B. Smeral said in Parliament on 18 December 1925 after the general election: "Each nation has the right to determine freely its own destiny up to separation through its representative committees elected by the working masses. We will support even the demand for autonomy . . . '' The reception that the people gave to Hlinka' s policies was shown in election results. In the election of 1925, the People's Party received 34.31 % of the vote, the Social Democrat 4.25%, the �SLOVAKIA 85 Agrarians 20.29%, the CPCS 13.27% and the National Party 2.49%. The claim repeated in the series that " priest and the hierarchy" were against the Republic is not based on historical reality. In his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947, Archbishop [Karol] Kmet'ko was asked the following question: "How did you explain [Jozef] Tiso's moderation after the elections of 1925?" Dr. Kmet'ko replied: 'We were all pleased especially because now even the Czechoslovak government recognized the People's Party as one which they had to invite into the government." If later the People 's Party left the government and returned to the opposition benches, it as not a result of enmity towards the Republic. It was the continuation of the struggle for the recognition of the individuality of the Slovak nation and for the attainment of autonomy. In the democratic atmosphere of the time, the speeches and articles of politicians were certainly often aggressive, harsh and combative. But such was the free atmosphere of the period . Other politicians also wrote in equal, even harsher, tones. In the 1926 November issue of Proletarkd, the author of an article asked : ''What does the proletariat have in common with October 28? Does it even have some enthusiasm for it? Certainly not! Only the bourgeoisie can celebrate this anniversary ... " In 1931, in the heat of criticism, [CPCS member] L. Novomesky wrote that the creation of the Republic was the game of " the financial captains from Paris, London, New York and elsewhere who rule the scene in capitalist Europe ... " Only later was there talk of "ancient hopes, Cyrillo-Methodian legends, the Martin Declaration" and so forth (Slovenske pohl'ady, 11/88). In the heat of a political battle, the young 30-year old Klement Gottwald sought to win over the Slovaks in Zilina in 1926 with the appeal: "Clear Slovakia of the oppressive power of the Czech bourgeoisie! " (Historicky casopis, 4/1965, p . 510). This was said during the same period when Dr. Tiso became Minister of Health in the coalition government of the Czechoslovak Republic on 15 January 1927. The life of the First CSR was constantly changing and A. Hlinka and his party oscillated between a positive acceptance of the Republic and the struggle for the rights of the Slovaks. After 1930, the party was back in opposition. There were many reasons for �86 SLOVAKIA this. In 1931, new Slovak grammar rules were published in the spirit of the unitary Czechoslovak nation and the brutal rapprochement of the languages (lahev, nabidka, preca, dvacat' ... ). The Ministry of Education ordered the use of these rules in all schools and all offices were to accept them. These rules were turned down by many Slovaks including the head of the Matica slovenska, J. Skultety and, of course, the People's Party. And even in the theses of the Vlth Congress of the CPCS, there was talk of the "criminal attack of the bourgeoisie" and reference was made to "political and cultural pressure." In addition we find: "We demand the right of selfdetermination for the Slovak nation." (Prehl'ad dejfn KSC na Slovensku, Bratislava, 1971, p. 174). The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" greatly simplified historical reality when it constantly repeated that "clericals" were against the Republic. This is evident even from the meeting of 370 young Slovak intellectuals that was held to defend Slovak rights on 25-26 June 1932 in Trencianske Teplice, where [Jozef] Lettrich, [Vladimir] Clementis, LDaniel] Okali and Novomesky were there along with [Ferdinand] Durcansky. All favoured the autonomy of Slovakia for various reasons (Dav, 6/32, p. 76). Here and there some did so for reasons dictated by changing circumstances while A. Hlinka and Dr. Tiso did so out of conviction. Finally, on 16 October 1932, in Zvolen, the National Party of Martin Razus, an outstanding cultural figure in Slovakia from the Lutheran community, joined the People's Party . Razus declared in Zvolen: "We are celebrating the feast of national unity . We want for our nation what belongs to it, we want the administration of our affairs in our own hands" (Slovak, 18 October 1932). In the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," the statement that the clericals, the senior Catholic hierarchy and the priests were against the Republic, against the working class, that they followed papal encyclicals and were against socialism is constantly repeated. Yet the faithful could not accept anything else. If they were against socialism and the USSR, then it was because of the way they were presented to the world by the uncritical atheists of the time. In Slovakia, Jan Ponican wrote verses: "People, destroy the churches of God!" Neither the faithful, nor the bishops and the priests, nor the People's Party could be very enthusiastic about �SLOVAKIA 87 this. Nor could they be enthusiastic about what was already known at that time about the way atheism was being spread in the USSR. The authors of the series again forgot that everything is related to everything. The persecution of Eastern believers was already known in the 1930s. Today they are writing openly about this in the pages of Soviet journals. At the beginning of 1988, K.M. Kharchev, director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR Council of Ministers wrote in the article '' Anchoring the Freedom of Conscience'': ''The negative phenomena of the thirties - the cult of personality, the violations of legality, the arrests and the repression had their negative impact even on the policies toward religion, the Church and the faithful. Voluntary administrative and executive decisions based on interdictions and limitations were supported and justified. The result was the collective and unjustified closing of churches, the arbitrary treatment of the clergy, the indifference toward the legal rights of the faithful and religious feeling, things that one cannot speak of today without bitterness" (Tyzdenn{k aktualit, No. 11/1988, pp. 4-5) The authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" should have known that if the faithful, the People's Party and the church hierarchy had apprehensions about socialism and if they warned against it, it was for very serious reasons. Horrible things were done in the name of socialism and the world knew about them. Today people are writing about them even here. At the beginning of March 1989, Tyzdenn{k aktualit published the article "The Mills of God Grind Slowly" (No. 10, 6-12 March 1989). This is one passage among many: "Lazar Moyseyev Kaganovich was born in 1893 in a poor Jewish family in the Kiev gubernia ... He joined the Party in 1911 .. . He was elected to the Central Committee in 1918 . . . In 1933-34, he was responsible for a purge in the Party . . . From 1935 on, he was People's Commissar for Transport . .. Heavy Industry . . . He was awarded the Order of Lenin four times ... In 1962, he was excluded from the Party . .. In November 1988, he celebrated his 95th birthday.'' The article on L.M. Kaganovich was written by members of the Institute of the History of the CPSU. According to the article, L.M. Kaganovich was excluded unanimously at the meeting of the Bureau of the Moscow Com- �SLOVAKIA 88 mittee of the Party on 23 May 1962. At his exclusion, one of the members of the Bureau said directly to Kaganovich: ''Your signature is on the files of more than 30,000 members of the Party, the Soviets, the Army, heavy industries and transportation who were sentenced to death by shooting . . . One finds further in the article: "According to the documents signed by Stalin, Kaganovich and Beria, some 230,000 people were shot." N. Dygaj, another member of the Bureau said to Kaganovich: "I remember how, after your visit in Nizhny Tagif, the head of the NKVD shot himself. He did not kill himself, he lived a number of days and explained his act: ' I cannot manufacture enemies anymore' (Tyzdennz'k aktualit, 10/89, pp. 12-13). The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' said with pathos that Pope Pius XI with his encyclical Divini redemptoris about Communism blessed all measures by the People's Party against socialism. The series does not say, of course, that it was published against the type of socialism in which Stalin, Kaganovich and Beria transformed hundreds of churches into museums, coffee houses, archives and barns (Ogonok, 50/88, pp. 3-5). At that time, the Pope also published Mit brennender Sorge, the encyclical against Nazism. According to the series, 2000 priests were supposedly presidents or secretaries of organizations of the HSPP . That was about the total number of priests in Slovakia . Hundreds of them were not involved in this type of activity; others, like Bishop Kmet' ko, were attracted to the Slovak branch of the Czech People's Party. There were serious historical reasons for the involvement of priests in political activity. The authors of the series did not take this into consideration. They saw in these activities only a struggle for power at a time when Hitler was still being informed about the historical realities in Slovakia so that he could respect them. In a report sent to Berlin in February 1943, one reads : "The front rank that the clergy has in the Slovak nation can be explained on the basis of historical development . . . When the Slovaks were in Hungary . .. the clergy was directly in contact with the nation . .. It was given the leading role in the Slovak nation. And in the Slovak People's Party, founded at the beginning of the century, 11 11 �SLOVAKIA 89 the clergy had a position of pre-eminence" (Slovenske ntirodne povstanie. Dokumenty, Bratislava, 1965, p. 52). The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not attack only bishops, priests and the faithful in Slovakia. It also attacked bishops and the Church in the Czechs Lands and Moravia, Czechs and generally the First Republic, so that few were spared. According to the series, the Czech Catholic hierarchy cooperated with the Slovak bourgeoisie . There was, according to the series, almost nothing good in the First Republic. The chimneys of factories belched forth and people were exploited. The global economic crisis with which the entire world was dealing was simplified beyond recognition. The relations between Czechs and Slovaks were also simplified. The Czechs were enemies who were closing Slovak industries. In the meantime, the Slovaks were in fact reading [works by] Karel Capek and other worthwhile Czech books, Slovak Catholics were working together with the Czechs in many areas, their annual Catholic day was celebrated in Prague in the presence of [Jean] Cardinal Verdier from Paris, and there were good Czech educators and professors in Slovakia who helped the Slovaks a great deal . Of course, the television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" saw in these relations only "the bourgeoisie and clericalism". In the innumerable shots of vaults, churches, religious services, the figures of bishops, A. Hlinka and others, they repeated that the Slovak clericals wanted to break up the Republic and that, in the end, they did break it up . In actual fact, to the extent that the People's Party did continuously fight for the autonomy of Slovakia, it was not against the CSR. When T. G. Masaryk stepped down in 1935, on 14 December of that year, E. Benes was elected the next President as a result "of the votes of the Populists and the Slovak Agrarians,' according to a historian (Slovensko, Dejiny, Bratislava, 1971, p. 693 - hereafter Dejiny). Among the Populists, Dr. Tiso had the merit of achieving this result, something that would some years later cost him his life. The new President, who had promised autonomy within a year, did not bring it about. The situation had not changed, the struggle continued. According to the same historian: "some months later, the opposition could publish statistics which showed that if the government maintained the rate �90 SLOVAKIA with which they filled positions in central offices, which at that time were occupied by 1.13% of Slovaks, it would take the Slovaks a few hundred years to fill enough of them to attain the level to which they were entitled on the basis of population ... It is not easy to explain the unbelievable passivity of the government's social policy in the Slovak case at such a critical time ... "(Dejiny, p. 693). The year 1938 was to be a jubilee year in the CSR - the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Republic. Officially, the accent was supposed to be on the unity of the Czechoslovak state and the Czechoslovak nation. The Slovaks did not accept Czechoslovak national unity and pushed for the individuality of the Slovak nation living together with the Czech nation. They based themselves on the Pittsburgh Agreement and the constant will of the Slovak nation. The most thoughtful people in the Czech Lands and Moravia made an effort to understand this national feeling and did so also for the good of their mutual life in the Republic. There were many major changes in Central Europe in 1938. In March, Austria was annexed to the German Reich . Slovakia became its immediate neighbor and the entire CSR found herself encircled. Germany became the leading power in Central Europe. Courting her favour were such countries as Hungary, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia ... To connect the Slovak struggle for autonomy with Hitler is a historically false perspective - this struggle had begun before Hitler and would have continued without him. The politicians of the People 's Party rejected Nazi neopaganism and after the assassination of [Austrian Chancellor Engelbert] Dollfuss in Austria, they wrote: "These swastika national socialists are the worst danger that can upset the uncertain balance in Europe ... and peace in Europe" (Slovak, 1 August 1934). When in June 1938 the People's Party submitted another proposal for the autonomy of Slovakia which was also made in order to strengthen the domestic situation in a Republic caught in the middle of a Europe threatened by the spectre of Hitler, it received help from of a delegation of Slovak associations in the USA which, on a visit to Slovakia, brought along the original copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement. A. Hlinka appeared in public with them for the last time on 5 June; he died on 16 August 1938 in Ru.fomberok. �SLOVAKIA 91 The demand for autonomy was welcomed by the nation. When the votes for the CPCS fell in Bratislava in the election of 1938 from 5,000 to 2,800 - some 45% - V. Siroky explained that they [the Communists] had not defended national interests at a time when "in Slovakia the representatives of the national interests of the Slovak people continued to be the Hlinka Party" (F. Beer, A. Bencik, B. Graca, J. !Gen, Dejinna krizovatka, Bratislava, 1964, p. 27). Hitler's strong anti-Czechoslovak speech of 12 September 1938 was a signal for some Sudeten Germans, the Henlein group, to take action. On 13 September, groups favorably inclined to Hitler created disturbances in frontier territories, occupied railway stations, post offices and so forth. The Czechoslovak government responded with the imposition of martial law. [Konrad] Henlein, the leader of the Sudeten Germans, sent a written request to Hitler that he immediately occupy the frontier territories of Czechoslovakia . Hitler included the territorial demands of Poland and Hungary on the CSR ... On 23 September 1938, the Czechoslovak government issued a mobilization decree (Dejiny, p. 704). The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" claimed that the People's Party agreed and collaborated with the Henlein Party to break up the Republic. An historian writes: "The People's Party ... after the Henlein putsch, in a public declaration took its distance from such a violent solution" (Dejiny, p. 706). An avalanche of events began to occur in September 1938. [British and French] Foreign Ministers [Neville] Chamberlain and [Edouard] Daladier, by offering concessions, wanted to save Europe from war. The Czechoslovak government accepted a proposal of mediation by four great powers; Italy, Germany, England and France. Their conference was held on 29 September 1938 in Munich. The result was the ceding of the Sudetenland to Germany . An additional article to the agreement obliged the CSR to reach an agreement with the Polish and Hungarian governments about their demands . . . ''The Czechoslovak government decided on 30 September, in the presence of President Benes, to accept the Munich diktat ... " (Dejiny, p. 705). The series " The Cross in the Snares of Power" strengthened its attack with pictures and comments against ' ' clericalism and the �92 SLOVAKIA Church in Slovakia," especially in connection with the proclamation of autonomy. According to the series, the "clericals" made a pact with the fascists to break up the CSR. An historian nevertheless notes: "Throughout 1938, the HSPP negotiated regularly with the government, with Benes, to broaden the selfadministration of Slovakia, to achieve autonomy and to enter the government. That is the difference in the positions of the HSPP and the Henlein Party who basically did not want the government to fulfill their demands . .. " (Dejiny, p. 700). In October 1938, the autonomy of Slovakia became the aim of all political parties and all Slovaks. A national meeting of the representatives of the HSPP was called on 6 October 1938 in Zilina to which the representatives of other parties also came uninvited. Already on 4 October, Dr. I. Derer, once its greatest opponent, had proposed autonomy in Bratislava. The Agrarian Party submitted two proposals on autonomy on 4 and 5 October. Dr. Vladimir Clementis was negotiating with the president of the National Party to allow members of the CPCS to join through it the all-Slovak autonomy government. This did not happen (Testimony of M. Korman, editor-in-chief of Robotn{cke noviny, Cas, 7 January 1947). The representatives of Slovakia present in Zilina prepared the so-called Zilina Agreement on which the autonomy of Slovakia was based and the first autonomous Slovak government was formed. From its five members, two were from the People's Party (Tiso and Durcansky, two from the Agrarian Party ([Pavol] Teplansky and [Jan] Lichner), and one from the National Party (M. Cernak). The negotiations were quite spontaneous and old enmities were forgotten. A national reconciliation took place which had no precedent in Slovakia. The newspapers of all political parties singled out this generosity. There was a feeling of satisfaction in the Czech Lands that the Republic had been saved. Ferdinand Petroutka, one of the leading journalists, wrote in the journal Pr{tomnost': "We have to be ... grateful that the Slovaks, so long as they are led by the People's Party, are completely determined to stay in the Republic, to be a part of its framework, even if more loose. This is something which we must value deeply" (L. Lipscher, tudacka auton6mia, Bratislava 1957, p. 143). Autonomy came about in Slovakia without �SLOVAKIA 93 repression against the former enemies, without arrests, without blood and without forced emigration. Immediately after the proclamation of the autonomy of Slovakia, the autonomous government left for Prague. President Benes had already resigned on 5 October. In his parting speech, influenced by the events that had fallen over Europe, he said: "It is unavoidable above all to come to an agreement with the Slovaks .. . irrespective of this or that circumstance" (S. Osusky, Benes a Slovensko, London, 1943) . The central government in Prague immediately approved the decisions taken in Zilina, the autonomy of Slovakia and the autonomous Slovak government. Already on 6 October, the government of General [Jan] Sirovy in Prague had approved by telegram Dr. Jozef Tiso as Minister for Slovakia. On the following day, it approved the other members of the autonomous government. A similar government was formed in Ruthenia. It is with these actions that Slovakia achieved autonomy in the CSR. Archbishop Kmet'ko was asked the following question during his testimony on 7 January 1947: "Did you consider the agreement of 6 October as the beginning of the break up of the CSR or as an attempt to save the Republic?". He answered: ''The HSPP at the end of these developments had achieved the most it had hoped for and at the meeting of the deputies there was a declaration to the effect that we would not go any further.'' All of this was taking place, for the CSR but especially for Slovakia, in the shadow of the unsuccessful negotiations in Komarno. In Germany, the so-called Vienna Award followed, according to which [Foreign] Ministers [Joachim von] Ribbentrop [of Germany] and [Galeazzo] Ciano [of Italy] decided to annex the southern territories of Slovakia to Hungary. This happened on 2 November 1938. On 8 November, there was an agreement between representatives of the Slovak People's and the Agrarian Parties. The declaration and creation of an all-national party were also signed by the Czechoslovak People' s party, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party and the Czechoslovak National Democratic party. This is how a Party of Slovak National Unity was created. During the election for the autonomous Slovak Diet, 97.5% of voters voted "yes". Shortly thereafter, so-called state secretariats were created in Prague in all ministries and the central government promised to create 4000 �94 SLOVAKIA positions in the army for Slovak officers "because up to that point, only 4% of the officer corps was Slovak" (Dejiny, p. 709). Slovakia's relations with the Republic at the end of these struggles remained open and correct. During the Christmas holidays, when the President, Dr. E. Ha.cha, with members of the central government from Prague, came to Slovakia on the invitation of the Slovak government, he was welcomed in Bratislava with attention and respect as head of state; this was a sign of brotherly peace. This was also the basic approach of priests and lay believers toward the Republic, toward the Czech Lands and Moravia after the attainment of autonomy. Unfortunately, the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not know anything about these positive historical facts and did not show any of them to the public. The series showed the greatest degree of fantasy in describing the events around the Slovak State, its creation and life in it. Everything was directed against religion and the Church. Here pictures flashed even faster - pictures of churches and masses, figures of bishops alternating with shootings and dead bodies, as the supposed fruits of the Church in Slovakia . Everything here was simplified as reprehensible and commented upon one-sidedly. The only answer to this wave of pictures and words dictated by hatred is the immutable testimony of historical documents. Historians have concluded that the immediate result of the Munich Agreement of 30 September was an outright change in the political conditions in Central Europe. It ceased to be the sphere of interest and influence of the Western powers and came under the exclusive influence of Hitler. In this way, the fate of the states of this area was sealed. Upon acquiring power, Hitler became literally feared . If statesmen could not incur his favour, there wasn't one who would have wanted to be in conflict with him. If Slovak or Czech politicians had tried to do so after Munich, they would have put their nations in direct mortal danger. The President of the CSR, E. Benes, gave up his office in the face of such a hopeless situation and emigrated to Great Britain. Historians know that Hitler, who had set his goals long before, continued, even after the Munich Conference, in his policy of breaking up Central Europe. In various ways, he encouraged the Slovaks to go beyond autonomy, then he warned the Czechs about the �SLOVAKIA 95 Slovaks and indirectly incited the former against the latter. In this kind of atmosphere, a number of ministers in Prague were preparing as early as December 1938 the military overthrow of the autonomous government of Slovakia. The preparations were described by one of the participants (L. Feierabend, Ve vltiddch Dru.he republiky, New York, 1961, pp. 110, 122, 137). On the other hand, Hitler was giving hopes to Hungary and Poland about the possible partition of Slovakia. In this way, he created an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty in the entire area, in which he was the deciding factor. In this unclear situation, the government in Prague and President Ha.cha decided during the night of 10 March 1939 to take an exceptionally serious step to strengthen the Republic: they overthrew the Slovak antonomous government and established a military dictatorship in Slovakia (Dejiny, p. 712). Up to 300 people, ministers, senior bureaucrats, deputies and others were brought to Moravia and imprisoned. The military coup of 10 March 1939, the imprisonment of members of the autonomous government and of deputies, without regard for their parliamentary immunity, martial law and shootings, these were all unfortunate acts which Hitler not only observed, but also supported and used for his purposes. In the meantime, he gave a free hand to the Czech Lands and in this way encouraged the Czechs. To the Slovaks, he offered himself as a saviour before the Czechs and other neighbours. After the military coup of 10 March, the Slovaks, of course, did not turn officially to Hitler for help as many expected and as has since been falsely claimed. Amazingly, the Slovaks kept their heads. Dr. Tiso accepted his dismissal and took off with his briefcase in hand for Banovce. President Ha.cha then named a new autonomous government led by [Karol] Sidor. The latter refused Hitler's demand that he proclaim the independence of Slovakia. Only then did Hitler invite Dr. Tiso to Berlin. After consultation with government officials and with their consent, he accepted the invitation on 13 March 1939 and flew to Berlin. Half a century later on 15 March 1989, an historian wrote about the meeting between Hitler and Dr. Tiso: " During a 35-minute discussion, Hitler put him before the following alternative: either you declare Slovakia's independence, or he (Hitler) will leave �96 SLOVAKIA Slovakia to her fate . . . " In addition, he gave Tiso for signature a prepared text for a declaration of independence. During the discussion, Ribbentrop brought the news that Hungarian troops were being assembled on the southern borders of Slovakia ... Hitler then said to Tiso that it was important to act "blitzschnell - with lightning speed". The historian concludes: "J. Tiso, sticking to his evolutionary theory, refused to take upon himself the responsibility. He left the decision to the Slovak Diet" (Pravda , March 1989). This meant making a call to the new Prime Minister of the autonomous government, K. Sidor, with the request that President Ha.cha summon the Slovak Diet into session in Bratislava in accordance with the Constitution. Only then, by a decision of the Slovak Diet, under these difficult circumstances and the pressure of time, it came on 14 March to a unanimous vote and after the hour of noon to the declaration of the Slovak State . Only a few hours after Dr. Tiso [met Hitler], President Ha.cha and his Foreign Minister, [Frantisek] Chvalkovsky, experienced how difficult it was to deal with the dictator Hitler in Berlin. After brutal pressure and threats, they signed the text submitted to them for the liquidation of the CSR and the capitulation of her army. Dr. Chvalkovsky then said, with tears in his eyes, that they had saved the nation from ruin because Hitler's armies were already at the frontiers of the Republic. It will remain forever a historical fact that a Catholic priest, a member of the People's Party and a responsible politician, was able in these horrible times to resist Hitler's pressure to declare the independence of Slovakia and the creation of a state and to leave this decision to the constitutional Slovak Diet which had been called into session by the President of the CSR. President Ha.cha, by then a broken man, and the Foreign Minister of the Republic did not have in this situation of pressure and threats enough strength to oppose the dictator; they signed the destruction of the state . This is all part of inalterable history . On 15 March 1939, the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia was created and Ruthenia also declared her independence. On 15 March, even before the return of Dr. Ha.cha, Hitler and his army showed up in Prague . Hungarian forces appeared in Ruthenia and occupied the country. They also penetrated Slovakia and bombarded Spisska Nova Yes. Hitler supported all along their demands �SLOVAKIA 97 and the barely-born Slovak Republic had to give up part of her territory in the east up to Sobrance [to Hungary]. If the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed the creation of the Slovak State only through images of horror, this has nothing in common with historical facts. A few pictures of broken windows had nothing to do with the Slovak Republic, but rather with the military coup of 10 March 1939. An historian writes: "The new ... Slovak government, led by Tiso, which achieved power on 14 March 1939, did not meet with any opposition. Even the commanders of military units in Slovakia accepted its authority, as did the police, and state officials" (Dejiny, p. 713). When an historian thinks of the conditions and the different ways under which states were created in recent history, what bloodletting accompanied the creation of the states of India and Pakistan, what loss of life accompanies the liberation movements in San Salvador or in the Philippines, how much blood was shed to change the regimes in Iran, Ethiopia or in Pol Pot's Cambodia, then one thing must be clear to him : whatever may have been the pressures or the threats from outside when the Slovak Republic was created, within Slovakia it happened without a single shot, without the loss of blood and with the summons from legal Slovak politicians for national unification. Even if the television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" could have put together the worst possible pictures, it could not have changed this basic historical reality. It is not possible in one letter to take a position on all of the half-truths and untruths about the Slovak State, life in it, especially concerning its relations with the Church, the bishops, priests and the faithful which the series presented in a disfigured form. Nevertheless, there are certain points that must be made. In the first place, there was not a priest in any Slovak government. The President was a priest, whose power was constitutionally different from the executive power of the government. The members of the government were lay people who had not received a mandate from the Church, rather whose mandate came from elections. Neither in the Slovak Parliament, nor in the government were there only Catholics. In actual fact, in the confused situation of the time, not only Catholics but also many other Slovaks saw in the nomination �98 SLOVAKIA of Dr. Tiso as President the best guarantee against the danger of Nazism. As far as the relations between the Church and the Slovak State are concerned, Archbishop Kmet' ko described the Church's position in his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947 as follows : " When we belonged to the Hungarian State, we had to recognize it and behave accordingly. When the Czechoslovak Republic was created, we honored and recognized it also. When the Slovak State came into existence, a state which was internationally recognized, among others also by Russia, we recognized it too" (The entire text of this testimony was published in Katolicke noviny in the spring of 1947). Bishops, priests and believers could not recognize this state as "so-called." In his testimony, Archbishop Kmet'ko stated that ''If someone had said of that state that he does not recognize it, they would have taken care of him. " The Church had, however, not only internal reasons for recognizing the Slovak Republic, but also international ones. From the approximately 50 existing states at that time, the Slovak Republic was recognized by thirty . Among them were Switzerland, Great Britain, France, China, Belgium, Sweden, Liberia, Ecuador and others . Later, when the SovietGerman agreement was signed on 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union recognized the Slovak Republic de facto and de jure and established diplomatic relations with it. At that same time, the Czechoslovak embassy in Moscow was closed and Ambassador Z. Fierlinger was dismissed. He left for London. The Soviet Embassy opened its doors in January 1940 in Bratislava, headed by the career diplomat G. Pushkin. The question of the absolute independence or the relative freedom of action of the government of the Slovak Republic was not a decisive factor in the attitude of the Church toward that state. Since the time of Great Moravia, neither the Czech Lands, nor Moravia nor Slovakia enjoyed absolute independence and freedom, given their geopolitical position between East and West. Nevertheless, the states in which our nations lived had to be inevitably respected . One could not dismiss the Slovak State simply because it did not have the attributes of absolute independence. Dr. Kmet'ko expressed this before the tribunal as follo ws: " If you do not ac- �SLOVAKIA 99 cept [independence], we will divide you into three parts." Half a century later, it is possible to attack and compile the deficiencies, errors and the offenses of the authors of that state, but at the time, its recognition was the only responsible o.etion even for the Church. Before the National Tribunal, Dr. [Juraj] Sujan put to Archbishop Kmet'ko on 6 January 1947 the following question: "What did the Slovak State give the Slovak nation from the moral point of view? Did it give anything positive?" Dr. Kmet'ko answered: "Is there such a nation that would not want to have independence? Can you imagine a poor man who would not like to have his own little house but would rather depend on someone else? The answer that everyone would give is that it is impossible to imagine such a nation, such an individual." Dr. Sujan continued: "But that independence was a dependence." Dr. Kmet'ko answered: "But it was ten times better than the Protectorate [of Bohemia-Moravia]." The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' collected reproaches and judgments, qualified the Slovak State as "clero-fascist" and presented events in such a way as to suggest that it had enthusiastically sent Slovak soldiers into Poland. The historical reality was much more complex, and was such that the Slovak State had to live and develop in the terrible conditions of the Europe of the time, conditions which were complicated and downright confused. On 23 August 1939, [Soviet Foreign Minister Vycheslav] Molotov and Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression pact in which there was also a clause about Poland. Hitler attacked Poland on 1 September 1939, from the west and the south. The Soviet Union entered Poland from the east on 17 September 1939. Military engagements lasted barely three weeks before Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR. The battle for Poland started the Second World War. The Slovak Republic did not seek conquests, refused to improve its frontiers with Poland and took only some small territories lost in 1918 and 1938. One can only regret the participation of Slovak soldiers in the battles in Poland. Unfortunately, even before and after, the armies of fraternal nations attacked a country from both sides, not only when the nations but also their governments were decidedly opposed. The domestic life of the Slovak Republic was not without problems. As in other nations, there were also individuals in Slovakia �100 SLOVAKIA who were too radical, who began to complicate life by cooperating with the Nazis, whether out of national or personal motives. Vojtech Tuka and his group belonged to this radical wing. And in the cities and in the towns there were always egotistical and rough individuals of various backgrounds ready to serve anyone. The radicals pressured for the solution of the question of Slovakia's Jewish citizens. The President and the majority in the government were opposed to this . The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" reproached the Slovak State and the Church hierarchy in Slovakia for being guided by the encyclicals. The Nazis made the same reproach . The German envoy [Hans] Bernard sent a report to Berlin, dated 30 June 1940, indicating that Slovak legislation was based on Quadragesimo anno, and that "that in itself is against the interests of the Reich, just like the Jewish legislation which rejects the racial idea is against the interests of Germany." This brought about a negative reaction from [German Nazi leaders Heinrich] Himmler and [Martin] Bormann. When envoy Bernard was recalled to Berlin on 28 May 1940 and did not return to Bratislava, a feeling of uncertainty developed in Slovakia as to what would happen; people were counting with the worst. In order to keep the radical groups under control, President Tiso introduced an authoritarian system in January 1940, something for which the series reproached him derisively. According to him and to many others, it was the only way at the time for the President to keep radical centrifugal attempts within tolerable bounds, especially where Prime Minister Tuka and certain people in the Hlinka Guard were concerned. On 21 January 1940, in an address, the President spoke severely of [the need for] discipline . When Ribbentrop recalled the German envoy from Bratislava in May 1940 as a form of protest for the slowness on the part of the Slovak government in the introduction of [certain] measures, especially towards the Jews, the President argued for the need for order in the state. He sought to alleviate the suspicions on the German side with the words: "I personally guarantee the completely friendly attitude of Slovakia towards Germany .'' One can laugh at these words today, but at that time, when everything was at stake, when radical individuals presented the President to German officials as �SLOVAKIA 101 unreliable and wanted to reinforce [the position of] V. Tuka, the President did not have any other option than to defend the Slovak nation (Documents on German Foreign Policy, 371/208155). All of this was taking place at the time when Hitler began his major offensive against the West on 10 May 1940 - on 13 May, Holland capitulated, Belgium on 28 May and France on 22 June. In the middle of these events, President Tiso stated on 30 June 1940 at a meeting of Catholic university students in Presov: "We Catholics do not have to learn anything from anyone, we have our own system ... Catholicism and not Nazism has to penetrate all aspects of our life ... Our politics must be led by Catholicism. Any other politics would be gangster politics and the Slovak nation will not allow gangster politics because it knows where such politics lead ... Without Catholic morality there is no culture, no humanity. In spiritual needs, we Catholics have to be self-sufficient so that in these very needs we are not condemned to import foreign ideologies" (Slovak, 2 July 1940). At the time of Hitler's victories in the West, these were far too courageous words and they expressed a far too moderate style of politics . His enemies used them against him. It is under these circumstances and because of the tension between the moderate President and the radical V. Tuka that an invitation to come to Salzburg on 27 and 28 July July 1940 was made where the President was humiliated and where the power of Tuka grew, immediately after a meeting with Hitler. Upon his return from Salzburg, V. Tuka announced at a demonstration in Bratislava that "a new era of Slovak National Socialism had begun." The President, humiliated and scorned, seriously thought for the first time of resigning his office. Only after many entreaties did he change his intention. Among others, Laco Novomesky said to one of the deputies of the Slovak parliament : "For God's sake, do everything so that the President does not resign. This would mean the end of us all." It was only after the Salzburg defeat of the President and the strengthening of the position of Prime Minister Tuka that the latter was able to pass a stronger law for the solution of the Jewish question by the government. It is in this way that a free government was able to publish the so-called Jewish Code in September �102 SLOVAKIA 1940 in the form of a governmental decree, without the signature of the President. The Code was against all basic human and Christian principles. There remained only a small hope; in comparison with the anti-Jewish laws of Germany and states like Italy, France, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Holland, Denmark, Norway, saying nothing of states directly incorporated into the Reich like Austria, the protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and the Polish General Government, the Slovak Code had two elements that were different : the president of the Republic was provided with the right to grant administrative exceptions to this law to anyone (Paragraph X, Article 225) and secondly to put into effect all exceptions which he had previously granted (Article 256) . This was the only not unmeaningful dam, in the given situation of pressure and violence, against the torrent of injustice. And this was the reason why the President, upon the entreaties of many people, did not, for thesecond time, resign his office. On 7 October 1941, Catholic Bishops submitted to the President a memorandum of protest after the publication of the so-called Jewish Code. A similar memorandum was submitted to the President and to Parliament by the Association of Lutheran Pastors . On 12 March 1942, Catholic Bishops addressed another letter of protest to the government against the contemplated deportation of the Jews from Slovakia. At the session of the State Council on 23 March 1942, Jan Postenyi, together with J. Balko expressed a very critical and oppositional point of view against the contemplated deportation of Jewish citizens from Slovakia. Then came the interventions from the Vatican . When the first transports of Jewish citizens began to leave in March and April for Poland, Catholic newspapers published on 26 April 1942, on the demand of the bishops, an article defending the Jews. The deportations were considered by them to be an anticonstitutional and immoral act of collective punishment without a judicial sentence on guilt or innocence. At that time, no one knew that the condemned Jewish citizens were not leaving for work, but that they would be the victims of a diabolical liquidation in Hitler' s death camps. German officials considered the measures against the Jew s in Slovakia to be sluggish. In the telegram that envoy Ludin sent to �SLOVAKIA 103 Berlin, dated 26 June 1942, one reads: "The actual evacuation of the Jews from Slovakia has for the moment reached a dead point. Under ecclesiastical influence, and the initiative of individual officials, some 35,000 Jews received special dispensations according to which they must not be evacuated''. Dr. [Anton] Neumann, head of the President's office, had the responsibility for processing and acquiescing to the exceptions. According to him, the President granted 10,000 exceptions, which with immediate family members represented approximately some 35,000 people. In the matter of the Jewish citizens, the Church did not satisfy itself merely with the writing of memoranda and letters of protest. Dr. Kmet'ko was asked by the National Tribunal the following question: "Are you aware of the fact that through your diocesan office many exceptions for Jews were arranged?" Dr. Kmet'ko replied: "Yes, we did so through a certain professor of theology." Dr. [Jan] Zabkay asked: "Who was he?" The answer: "Dr. Ivan Murin." Dr. [Michal] Buzalka testified before the tribunal about similar demands for exceptions. In addition, Archbishop Kmet'ko said the following about Dr. Tiso in his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947: "It is a proven fact that as President he did not sign the publication of the Jewish Code ... I know that Jews said even to me that it is necessary that Tiso remain as President, because if he is not there, every Jew to the last one will perish ... " (Katolicke noviny, 1947). Adolf Eichmann, one of the greatest criminal actors in the persecution of the Jews, during his interrogation at his trial in Israel on 22 June 1960, as noted in the minutes, spoke the following words which did not simplify his position, rather damaged it: "Tiso . .. once even said: 'I am a Catholic priest and I do not want to have anything to do with it'." In the fall of 1942, one could read in the Reich party newsletter that the definitive liquidation of the Jews [was proceeding] "mit riicksichtloser Harte - with ruthless toughness. " At that time, not a single Jewish citizen left Slovakia for resettlement in Poland . Envoy Ludin reported from Bratislava to Berlin that the Jewish question in Slovakia was being solved "in the opposite direction" as the initiative for a proposition to change the Jewish Code shows. The bishops in Slovakia published a new document on 8 March 1943 - a pastoral letter on the Jewish question. The letter stated �104 SLOVAKIA that no one can be punished without the establishment of guilt. Guilt must be proven first in each individual case according to given legal norms. This letter was read at all religious celebrations by priests. Even Dr. Tiso read it in Banovce and he asked his chaplains to read it. In the first days of March 1943, Bishop Vojtassak received a report from Jewish refugees from Poland about what was happening with Slovak Jews - they were being killed shamefully and diabolically in gas chambers. Bishop Vojtassak immediately sent an urgent letter about this matter to the Minister of the Interior and a copy to the Papal Nuncio. The government discussed the matter at once and put an end to all further transports to Poland. When German officials refused the government's request to send a government delegation to Poland to see the actual situation on the spot, the transports were stopped permanently . The news of the criminal murder of the Jews in Poland in the 20th century, the century of civilization, sounded truly unbelievable. When [Dr. Gerhard] Riegner, representative of the Jewish World Congress, expressed for the first time in July 1942 the apprehension whether the deportation of Jews for work in Poland did not hide something worse, the American envoy in Switzerland, L. Harrison considered his memorandum as [spreading] "wild rumors ." When Riegner also turned to E. Benes in London, the latter considered his report to be untrue and did not recommend that it be published. Later, on 6 November 1942, Benes notified the Jewish World Congress that after examining the matter, [he had concluded that] "the Germans were not preparing a plan for the wholesale extermination of the Jews" (W. Laqueur, The Terrible Secret, London, 1980, p. 163). The solution of the Jewish question by the Slovak state is one of the worst stains that appeared at that time. Already the deportation of Jewish citizens with the initial aim of [using them for] work was against Christian morality because it was a collective punishment without the establishment of individual guilt. It is not possible to find the appropriate words of horror and condemnation for the criminal murder of these people which later followed in the gas chambers . �SLOVAKIA 105 As far as the guilt of the President or even of the Church in Slovakia is concerned in this matter, historians, after studying a multitude of facts, are far more objective today than were the authors of the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power.'' This series showed the worst brutality against the Jews along with pictures and movie clips of churches, masses, bishops and the religious ceremonies of the Church. In fact, the series even showed the terrible picture of a bulldozer piling together human bones . The authors did not say, however, that the bulldozer was neither Slovak nor Catholic. Pol Pot probably used similar bulldozers in Cambodia when he introduced his version of atheism and the new social order for which he liquidated physically up to two milion people. Several Jewish authors in the examination of the question of Jewish citizens in Slovakia are more impartial. H . Arendt, in her book Eichmann in Jerusalem, wrote that the attitude toward the Jewish population in the Slovak State "differed both in style and content from Hitler's racism. " According to her, the biggest reproach made to the Jews was not that they belonged to another race, but rather that they were rich, that representing 4% of the population, they owned 38% of the national wealth. When [high Nazi official Edmund] Weesenmayer came to Bratislava in December 1943 with a strict command from Hitler to continue the transports, according to H. Arendt, "Tiso did not agree to the deportations. " And when Weesenmayer reappeared in 1944 and demanded that the Jews be deported, "Tiso refused again" (H. Arendt, Eichmann in Jeru salem, New York, 1963, pp. 184-186.) In the report of the international conference of the Red Cross about its activities in the years 1939-1947, there was reference to the deportation of Jewish citizens from Slovakia, but it was also stated that "at the same time, a big part of the Jewish minority could stay in the country and at certain times, Slovakia was even considered as a relative haven for Jews from Poland . Those Jews who stayed in Slovakia were comparatively safe until the uprising ... at the end of August 1944" (XVI Conference internationale de la Croix Rouge, Stockholm, 1948, Vol. 1). Another rare peculiarity of Slovakia was the rabbinical institute in Nitra with a garden and courtyard where, with the knowledge of officials and the help of the bishop's office, Jewish students �106 SLOVAKIA studied theology throughout the existence of the Slovak State right up to the outbreak of the uprising . It was there that family members and acguaintances and Jewish refugees met (Vestn{k zidov. naboz. obci v CSSR, XXXI, March 1977, p. 6). It was in this way that many in the Slovak State, in particular Church workers, sought to follow the advice of the President who had said on 20 January 1940 to the radicals in a speech on the theme: "The Slovak nation must remain true to its traditions": "I know that in Slovakia, . .. 99% [of the population] stand behind the idea that our programme has to be a people's Slovakia and therefore not a Nazi Slovakia. There is no reason why we should change our colours ... We have our own Christian social programme and we will see it carried out." The next day, on 21 January 1941, Slovak published a letter from "a Slovak German from Bratislava" who wrote "German National Socialism, according to the statements of Reich Chancellor Hitler, was created in Germany for Germans and is not an article for export . . . Only political opportunists and those who want to flatter and thus achieve advancement are importing it to Slovakia" (Slovak, 21 January 1941). When the new German envoy H.E. Ludin visited the President after 30 January 1941 and advised him against counting on the defeat of Germany, Dr. Tiso replied: "This is the tragedy of my situation: I have the feeling that I have less and less the support of the representatives of the Reich ... It would, however, be intolerable for me to have to win this confidence with acts for which I would lose support in my nation . I would then rather give up any public activity" (Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1258/338145). Throughout, the televison series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not take into consideration any aspect of the brutal struggle against the wave of evil which flooded Europe in the worst war the world has known. Everything was lumped together in the series - politicians, the government, the bishops and the Church who, according to the series, all wanted to do evil and did evil . They were " clero-fascists" according to the series. This is not a term from historiography; its usage is political and as such, objective historians consider it useless. If Dr. Tiso shook hands with Hitler or with Ribbontrop, as the series showed on many occasions, �SLOVAKIA 107 he did so out of the necessity of his office. But this does not mean that in so doing he became a Nazi. When the President of Czechoslovakia shakes hands with officials from the Vatican or from the U.S.A., it does not mean that he becomes a believer or a capitalist. As a public official of the state, President Tiso had to meet even Nazis, he had to cover moderate acts with strong words. Even today, politicians speak somewhat differently and act differently. Yet in the shadow of the President and many members of the government, Slovak farmers plowed and sowed in peace, professors lectured, students studied, mothers cooked for their children, and poets and writers published books like never before. And all of these took place on an island around which the worst war raged . If it is the duty of politicians to protect their nation, who would have in such a desperate situation done better! Later I will refer to the evaluations by the opposition. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed life in the Slovak State to be directed by traitors to the nation, criminals who exploited and surrendered their country to the Germans and sent their people to their death, all with the blessing of high officials and the Church. In fact, there was not one execution in the Slovak State because the President did not sign even one death warrant. This was not self-evident - during this cruel war, in the years 1939-45, even in Switzerland thirty condemned people were executed for threatening the state economically, militarily or politically (Nachrichtenzentrum Schweiz, Franefeld n. Stuttgart, 1972, p. 24). The series also attacked the supposed connection between the bishops and clergy and the Nazis and the fact that in the Catholic university residence "Svoradov" they were educating young intellectuals to become Nazis. In fact, in the report of the German envoy in Bratislava to Berlin in February 1943, one reads; "the bastion ... of anti-German feeling is the Catholic student residence Svoradov ... "There was also a comment about the Jesuits in the report: "It is not necessary to underline that the position of the Jesuits is absolutely anti-German ... " Bishop Buzalka, head of the Catholic Action, is also mentioned as one "whose anti-German feeling is known" (Slovenske Ndrodne Povstanie, Dokumenty, [no. 3], Bratislava, 1965, p. 52ff. Hereafter Dokumenty). In contemporary �108 SLOVAKIA terminology, the term ''anti-German'' evidently meant '' antiN azi". One can also see from the same report to Berlin how closely thinking in Slovakia was being followed. In annex no. 11, there was for example a summary of quotations from Slovak Catholic and Lutheran journals "which seemed to the Nazis to be in conflict with Nazi ideology" (Dokumenty, [no. 3], p. 45 and underlined in the original). If the television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed and with comments described after fifty years the Slovak State as having been evil and nothing else but evil, contemporary opposition [groups] saw matters much more soberly. In a report to Czechoslovak circles in London dated 5 March 1943 from [Viliam] Radakovfc in Istanbul, we read: "The government is still divided into two groups .. . The Tiso faction, to whom it seems that the interests of the Slovak people do matter after all, has a different tactic . It gives to the Germans only what it must and is governed by the motto: "Let the wolf eat enough and the lamb will survive" ... On the basis of available evidence, one can say in general, that even though not much, the Tiso faction dominates anyway" (Dokumenty, [no . 5], p .61). In a report sent at the end of 1943 to Czechoslovak circles in London, Milos Ruppeldt, a member of one of the opposition groups, studying in Madrid, wrote: "Members of Svoradov are trying to be in favor of the state and would like to keep at any cost full state independence. They agree with the others only in their opposition to the Germans ... It is a generation with a new [national] consciousness and they come principally from rural Catholic families .. . Politically they try to be tolerant toward Slovaks of other political persuasions, as well as towards the Czechs . .. Today, more than 300 university students study abroad among whom only a small percentage is recruited from this group " (Dokumenty, [no. 55], p. 183). Some years ago, historians had already concluded about the Slovak Republic that " the regime was moderate within the framework of its type ... liberal towards those who had the luck of being born in a Slovak or German as well as a Christian family." It represented 95.66% of the population (L. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava, 1968, p. 211). S. Falt'an wrote: "A specific �SLOVAKIA 109 Slovak characteristic was that on the one hand Communists were imprisoned and tortured but after being charged they were released and let free. And they were even able to stay in economic and state institutions after their release" (Slovenskd otdzka v Ceskoslovensku, Bratislava, 1968, p. 114). In intelligence reports from Istanbul from September 1944 for Czechoslovak circles in London, one reads that according to the judgment of Laco Novomesky [which he expressed] in 1944 "the last five years were not years of stagnation either in culture or in the economy in Slovakia. The Slovaks educated a solid stratum of the intelligentsia" (Dokumenty, [no. 260], p . 457). In the above-mentioned report for Czechoslovak circles in London from the end of 1943, M. Ruppeldt writes the following in conclusion: "In many respects, in the last five years, Slovakia moved ahead. Today it is in a very anti-German mood ... The Slovak government still has a strong enough position to resist the Germans . It is thanks to this position, for example, that after [Field Marshal Wilhelm] Keitel's visit there was no general mobilization, which is what the visit was all about . .. Ruling circles ... follow a policy of utilitarian nationalism ... It cannot be denied that under the influence of today's favorable economic situation in Slovakia the conviction reigns in broad strata [of the population] that even after the war Slovakia would be able to survive independently. The idea of a Czechoslovak nation will hardly find any ground even among the former representatives of this idea among us. It would be dangerous to want all of a sudden by legislative action to carry out something against which current developments and circumstances have worked" (Dokumenty, [no . 55], p . 186). According to the same report: " literature and art have not shown a visible decline. Theatre seems to have the greatest difficulties. In drama and opera there are beautiful translations by Razusova-Martakova. New plays: Jdnosz'k . .. Tanec nad placom, Stodola's piece Mravci a cvrckovia ... Rysul' a has put out nice novels ... Dominik Tatarka had success with his llzkosti hl'adania, new editions of old works are being published (Hronsky, Urban, Figuli, Razus) ... Closet pacifists ... come forward in literary journals (Eldn, Tvorba, Pohl'ady). Among them are Milos Krno, Stiavnicky, Prochazka. From the older generation, one hears more often today from Smrek, Lukac, Kostra . .. In music, Suchon, young Cikker ... also Kar- �110 SLOVAKIA dos and Mayzes have noticeable success" (Dokumenty, [no. 55], p . 182). Among active artists during the Slovak State one finds also Martin Benka. He returned to [Turciansky Svaty] Martin from Prague in 1939. During the years 1940-41, he directed the art and drawing section of the SVST in Bratislava and presided over the Association of Slovak Creative Artists. Many other poets also published their literary works during the Slovak State: Jan Ponican published in 1941 his composition Divny Janka, in 1943 Senna medzi. Laco Novomesky published in 1939 his collection Sviity za dedinou, in the years 1940-41 he published in Elan a cycle of poems which came out later under the title Pasovanou ceruskou. Jan Kostra published the collections Moja rodna, Ozubeny cas, Vsetko je dobre tak, Puknuta vaza, A ve Eva, Vietor nad cestou, and all of this in the years 1939-43. Others who published were I'.,udo Ondrejov, Margita Figuli. Andrej Plavka published in 1941 his novel Obratenie Pavla and in 1942 the collection Tri pruty Liptova . In 1942, Frantisek Hecko published the collection Na prave poludnie. Also active poetically was Pavol Horov - he published Nioba, nasa matka and Zradne vody spodne (1941, 1942) and then in 1944 Nav raty. All of the surrealists also published during the Slovak State - V. Reisel, J. Lenka, Stefan Zary, Jan Rak, Pavel Buncak, Jan Brezina, Ivan Kupec . Some of their collective works were also published. Among prose writers, D. Tatarka and others published their works . Jan Smrek edited Elan for which A. Matuska, M. Povazan M . Charvat and others wrote essays . If the series ' ' The Cross in the Snares of Power'' described the life of the nation in the Slovak State as life under the leadership of criminals who with the help of the Church despoiled everything and took the nation to the bottom, historical documents speak otherwise. In the collection of documents that was published in 1984 one also finds the " Report of the V illegal Central Committee of the CPS [Communist Party of Slovakia] on developments in Slovakia after 6 October 1938 which Karol Bacilek brought to Moscow for the information of the Moscow leadership of the CPCS for discussion." It was written on 7 July 1944 and we find in it among other things: "Today, there are enough goods in Slovakia, the supply of food is generally good and compared to other lands �SLOVAKIA 111 (the Czech Lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is the best in Slovakia, and this also includes the level of salaries as well as the possibility of purchasing goods. The wages of employees and workers were raised many times, factories have many supply privileges and one cannot even speak of a shortage of basic consumer goods. The Slovak crown is the best currency in commercial Europe and enjoys at home for the moment complete confidence. People are saving money and there is no move to a barter system such as one observes in surrounding countries ... The prices of essential goods on the black market are on average 20% more than official prices, and are often at the official level whereas for example in the Czech Lands they are 100-200% higher ... Slovak industry in certain favorable circumstances .. . was greatly modernized ... Czech currency is completely ruined whereas Slovak currency is properly holding its own" (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944, Bratislava 1984, Vol. III, Document 228, p. 338). When the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' reached the outbreak of the uprising, it raised the tone of the organ music and the frequency of pictures with crosses, altars, statues and religious offices. The announcer said that the entire Church hierarchy was tied to the clero-fascist state and that all efforts of cooperation with the bishops for the beginning of the struggle against Fascism failed. It was ironically stated that Bishop [Andrej] Skrabik refused to cooperate because he was interested in the salvation of souls. The irony was out of place . During the war years, the bishops rarely dealt with politics, only when it was inevitable. The absolute majority of priests were dedicated to their spiritual activities - they took care of churches, celebrated religious offices, baptized, performed marriage ceremonies and funerals, prepared their sermons and heard confessions, taught religion in schools, offered spiritual renewal, retreats and popular missions . Slovak bishops protested against the breaking of laws and rights in the same way bishops are doing today in South Africa and elsewhere; it was not their vocation to take up arms, not anymore than it is that of the bishops of Africa. If they were against Nazism and its nee-paganism and against the introduction of its methods and ideas in the Slovak Republic, they did so with the spoken word; it was not their voca- �112 SLOVAKIA tion to be in revolt against their Republic. Even later in the re-created CSR they had reservations against many things but they never advocated violent opposition because it does not concur with their vocation. They could not join the uprising because at the beginning it was unclear, it was not known who was behind it and what goals it was following. The main leaders of the opposition did not know of its outbreak and it started with various political aims. Dr. Gustav Husak wrote in his report of 5 February 1945 to the leadership of the CPCS: "The uprising did not break out at a favorable time for us, its start was forced upon us by the Germans and the partizans" (Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 576] p. 975). In the documentation, the following comment is added to the orders of the high command of the army of 31 August 1944 and signed by General [Rudolf] Viest: "Naturally Viest was not in [Banska] Bystrica ... his name was signed at headquarters so the order would have greater weight" ( Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 206] p. 381 [note 4]). The motives of the leading personalities and the average person were different. Some were saying that Slovakia had been attacked by German and Hungarian soldiers (Dokumenty, [nos 188, 189] pp. 363-364). One reads in the report of Dr. Husak: "Many soldiers announced that they would not fight for the CSR and many Communists and others demanded the annexation [of Slovakia] to the USSR .. . In London there was not a word about the Slovak nation" (Dokumenty, [no. 576] p. 951). General Viest spoke of the restoration of the CSR because: "the Czech worker and the Czech craftsman are known in the world for their industry ... [and] capabilities whereas the Slovaks . .. are a little primitive ... hardworking agricultural nation . . . the top intellectual stratum in Slovakia is more than thin ... they have to send their sons to study abroad . .. However, the Slovak peasant has no great inclination for this . . . " For this reason General Viest opposed the Slovak State (Dokumenty, no . 587, pp. 1101-2). On the other hand, in Dr. Husak's report of 5 February 1945 to Moscow after the uprising we read: "The Slovak nation fought simultaneously against Hitler, Tiso and Benes and secured the status of an independent nation on whose behalf no one else will ever be able to speak" (Dokumenty, [no. 576] p. 976). One reads in the report of 14 December 1944 about the situation during the uprising by Deputy V. Uhlir upon his return from a trip as member �SLOVAKIA 113 of a governmental delegation to the USSR and Slovakia: "The officer corps .. . was not homogeneous .. . it did not do any good that many officers tried to get to rear units and to army offices . . . The men did not have the appropriate training and there existed among them such helplessness and disunity about the ultimate aims of the struggle . . . one found the Czechoslovak, the Communist and the independent Slovak orientation" (Dokumenty, no. 563, p. 877). The SNU (Slovak National Uprising) almost brought about a general opposition in Slovakia against the ideology and the inhuman ways of Nazism and it is in this way that it is known in the world. The authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" were guilty of an irreparable error in showing the whole uprising to national and world opinion as an attack against the Church and today's faithful. It will be very difficult to repair this error. The faithful at home were horrified by it and the rest of the world will hardly be cheered up by this one-sidedness. The historical problems of Slovakia are also being studied in foreign institutions and according to the rigorous principles of scientific work. The television series put the SNU in the inappropriate sphere of atheistic propaganda and in this way damaged many things in Slovakia and abroad. It compels the faithful to defend themselves, to study situations and obstinately to seek the truth. It was pathetic how the series played with pictures and film cuttings, how it showed the shootings, dead bodies, burned homes and how it mixed all of this with film shots of churches, masses, crucifixes and bishops and the comments of the commentator: "see how far clerofascism under the priest president took things. '' The peak of tendentiousness was reached with the descriptions of the trials of the SUHG [Special Units of the Hlinka Guard]. Everything was pointed against the Church "against priests who educate murderers " and so forth. The unspoken claim which came out of all this is that "priests" were primarily responsible for nearly all of the murders during the period September-November 1944, that they were responsible for all the destruction and suffering because "they were bringing up murderers. " The producers constantly illustrated this view and almost imposed it [upon viewers] with frequent pictures of altars and religious offices. In their tenden- �114 SLOVAKIA tiousness, the authors eliminated any sense of moderation and it will be very difficult for them to repair this error. Every lost life of those times was and remains an irreparable tragedy and every destroyed human habitation was also a tragedy. But to attribute this as a fault of churches, altars, bishops and the Church is not historical and unfair. One has to keep in mind that until August 1944 no one was executed in Slovakia and that no life was taken violently. Churches, crosses, masses and bishops had nothing in common with the military operations in whose midst Slovakia found herself suddenly after August 1944. Armed opposition to Hitler counted on battles and their consequences. The horrible logic of war applied to the uprising. In this imposed logic of war, the high command of the German Army immediately reacted as did the high command of the uprising as soon as the uprising broke out. According to the documentation, the sender "Za slovensku slobodu" [For Slovak freedom] on 30 August 1944 was announcing: "Blowing up bridges, tunnels, destroy railways, telephone and telegraph lines, destroy factories and other strategic objects, kill Germans" (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944, Bratislava, 1984, p. 372) . In an operational command, General Viest on 24 October 1944 decreed: "I warn most strongly that the destruction of communications must be done very thoroughly" (Dokumenty, no. 486, p. 754). In the comprehensive report of 1 December 1944 about the combat activities of the partizan units one reads: "Blown up: 24 railway bridges, 33 road bridges ... 46 locomotives destroyed, 548 wagons, 1 tunnel ... 273 cars and tractors, 2 railway yards, 5 mines, the locomotive depot and train station in Poltar, 2 electrical generators" (Dokumenty, no. 557, p. 759). Such was the inexorable logic of war. The television series aimed it all at the Church. The pictures of dead bodies and graves were particularly painful, alternating again and again with religious symbols, altars and crosses. The dead were, however, the horrible consequence of a horrible war which also reached Slovakia! If until August 1944 there were no violent deaths in Slovakia, then they appeared in great numbers on both sides. When I open [the book] Dejiny, I can read: "In the last two weeks of August, the partizans intensified their activities to such a degree that open partizan welfare broke out in Slovakia. The partizans attacked communication lines, depots of �SLOVAKIA 115 materials, they liquidated the Hitlerites and their collaborators" (Slovensko, Dejiny, Bratislava, 1971, p. 768 - hereafter Dejiny), Then one reads about actions in Turany, Skalka, Harmanec, Vrutky. According to the text: "The partizans liquidated a group of German field gendarmes ... Near Strecno, they destroyed a German automobile convoy ... In Brezno, they liquidated Slamen, Deputy for the HSPP, with a group of people ... They captured in [Turciansky Svaty] Martin a German military mission from an international rapid train ... on the next day, during an attempt at resistance, they shot [the members of] the mission ... Ludin announced that the development of partizan warfare in Slovakia did not allow the Germans to wait anymore, that it was inevitable to bring in the army' (Dejiny, p. 770). Those were wartime events and the series could have presented them as such - without masses, without crosses, without the presence of Slovak bishops. Faced with the still powerful military machine of Hitler, even Slovak officials were almost completely powerless. The German Army did not tolerate opposition behind its lines and attacked . A quarter of a century later an historian wrote about this situation: " From a historical perspective, it is clear that Tiso did not bring the Germans into Slovakia, indeed the German forces would have invaded us and attacked the uprising in any event" (E. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava 1968, p. 248). The television series did not help the reputation of the SNU by surrounding it with pictures of statues, churches, altars and with the sounds of organs and in the name of aggressive atheism directing it almost exclusively against the Church and the faithful. This could only provoke exasperation among the faithful. And among historians and others, definite disagreement. It was a military affair and it should have been shown as such. The battles were then merciless on both sides, people died from shots on both sides, graves appeared in Sklene and Nemecka Lupca, and later in other places. It was pitiful, however, when the series showed the unveiling of the face of a corpse with the comment: "this is how far the priest president went." If German soldiers in this warlike situation were indiscriminately hard, and they were, the soldiers of the uprising defended themselves also with toughness. The Church as such had no role in this. Anyone who �116 SLOVAKIA knows the situation from his own experience or knows about it from documents does not involve the Church in these actions and counter-actions. By then, the law of war was at work. On 8 December 1944, the high command of the partizan movement published Order no. 30 whose text reads as follows: "A merciless fight with the traitors among the population and the partizans, soldiers and officers who went to serve the German occupants this is the most important task of the offensive actions of the units. Liquidate all of these enemies mercilessly and spread the news about this in all the areas from where they come" (Dokumenty, no. 338, p. 860). The idea of opposition to Nazism, like every great idea, was carried out by people. Among them, besides known personalities, there were average people, even very simple people. The latter created for the uprising many problems and worries . However painful it is, the misuse of the SNU by the television series against the Church requires the quoting of further passages from the very same Order no. 30: "In many villages, mountains and forests there is an important multitude of dispersed units and groups of partizans, soldiers and officers ... The majority of them ... are simply waiting ... The others, who call themselves "partizans" terrorize the population". Similarly in the report of Deputy Uhlir for London of 14 December 1944 we read: "The commander of the staff of Soviet partizans, Colonel [A.N.] Asmolov, described to us the situation in the partizan movement ... from his partizan brigades, three are the best . .. Even among the partizans there were cases of unlawful actions, so that three partizans had to be publicly executed for murder and pillage ... There were among the partizans such individuals who did not have anything in common with the partizan movement. The population was clearly afraid of some of these elements" (Dokum enty, no. 563, p. 890). The attempt to place the SNU in the service of an anti-religious struggle and against the Church, in the way done by the authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power, " is to serve badly the nation, and to evaluate wrongly proper sacrifices and personal heroism and will force historians and believers as well to study these questions thoroughly, directly from sources and not from the superficial propaganda of atheism . �SLOVAKIA 117 The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' tried finally to attack the Catholic Church in Slovakia with a description of the trials of the so-called Special Units of the HG [Hlinka Guard] which took place in Bratislava and Banska Bystrica in 1958 and in all of which a priest was also tried. The priest A.H. had been invited on Christmas Eve to a group in the HG and spoke to them about Christmas. Some of the accused claimed that "he had encouraged them to kill and that later in the confessional they easily obtained absolution with five Our Fathers .'' The priest denied this strongly before the court. The accused almost tried to outdo each other with their confessions. However, the fourth one directly accused them of "absolutely not speaking the truth." They had deprived far more people of their life; he had made a mistake. According to the series, many accused spoke before the court primarily of priests. In fact, one of them with raised voice and gestures said: "My mother did not bring me up as a murderer, the priests did!" This was meant to be proof of how priests and the Church were against the uprising and how they preached murder. This reminds one of the trials from the early fifties when the accused almost raced to confess. It seemed from the testimony that the Church had honored the uprising. This was in 1958, when Dr. Husak, one of the leaders of the uprising, was still in jail while other leaders, L. Novomesky and D. Oka.Ii, had returned from jail shortly before. Other leaders of the uprising like R. Slansky, Major [Viliam] Zingor and companions, [Jozef] Trojan and companions had been condemned to death six years earlier and General L. Svoboda, the main leader in the liberation struggle, who had been until 1948 Minister of National Defence, had lost his rank and worked during the years 1952-55 as an accountant on a collective farm. After 1960, when in jail in Valdice, I met many of those condemned in the trials of the SUHG, including the two priests, the situation became clear. The condemned indicated that as a result of entreaties and threats they had signed confessions and had repeated them before the court. When this did not alleviate matters for them, and they were still given severe sentences, some recanted their confessions before the Supreme Court, but, by then, no one was listening to them. In jail, many of them apologized to the two priests who had been falsely condemned and jailed. �118 SLOVAKIA After the pictures of the courtroom of the trials of the SUHG, there were pictures of shootings, corpses and graves, pictures of a little church on a mountain top, then sculptures of a church interior and a cross which the producers had presented with the head upside down. Following all of this was the crudest blasphemy of the series: there was no face or body, but a hand holding in two fingers a host and a voice declaring pathetically: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." It is in this way that murders were connected with holy masses, the most holy of mysteries for Christians. It is at this point that the seventeen yearold student exclaimed: "Satanic Verses the Slovak way ... " Although the series was entitled ''a documentary'', this was clearly not a document, but theatre. The hand held a small host whereas a priest holds a big one. Besides in 1958, no priest celebrated mass in Slovak but in Latin, [saying] "Ecce Agnus Dei . . . "Long after 1963, after the [Vatican] Council, Slovak was used in the liturgy. The scene was therefore filmed as theatre for the purpose of ridicule .. . As far as Church circles are concerned, including the President, there is historical evidence that they were not on the side of Hitler and against the Slovak people in the uprising; rather, they tried to help the unfortunate wherever they could. Before the National Tribunal in Bratislava on 6 January 1947 Dr. [Igor] Daxner said to Archbishop Kmet'ko: "you said something about a certain German general who was also accompanied by Tiso. This German general demanded that a pastoral letter against Communism be published." Dr. Kmet'ko replied: "Yes, Tiso did indeed come with this German general and I found it very surprising that when the general made the request, Tiso sat beside him and did not say a word, he simply kept quiet" (Katolfcke noviny, spring 1947) . The attitude of the President toward the partizans was also made clear before the National Tribunal in additional testimony as published in the daily Slaboda. The President of the court, Dr. Daxner, asked the witness, Dr. K. Murin, personal secretary of the President: "Were you in Banska Bystrica with the President after the uprising?" Dr. Murin replied: "I was." Dr. Daxner asked: "Did Dr. Tiso free the partizans or did he intervene on their behalf?" Dr. Murin replied: "when we were on our way to the archbishop's �SLOVAKIA 119 palace, at that moment a column of our own arrested soldiers marched by. Dr. Tiso went among them, spoke with them and told them that he would do everything for them that was within his power. The Germans were shocked that he was speaking with partizans. In the evening, Dr. Tiso, Dr. Jan Durcansky and a German superior officer were together and there I heard with my own ears Dr. Tiso, in the presence of Dr. Durcansky, ask the German officer to send these boys back to Slovakia and to set them free. The Germans agreed and Durcansky was to negotiate with them" (Slaboda, 28 January 1947). There are historical documents which show that upon the request of the President, the Germans began to send some deported Slovaks back from the Reich. In fact, at the beginning of December 1944 Tiso wrote a personal letter to Hitler and complained that German officials were not respecting the financial agreements concluded and were using public and private Slovak property to such an extent '' that is not acceptable for my nation and intolerable for me and my government." Himmler reacted to this letter: " . .. effrontery. There is no other word for it ... " (Slovenske narodne povstanie. Nemci a Slovensko 1944. Dokumenty, Bratislava 1970, p. 619, doc. 223, p. 450, doc. 233, pp . 474-5) Z. Fierlinger reported in a dispatch to London dated 25 November 1944: "The Bratislava government will forgive all soldiers from the former Slovak army who return" ... (Slovenkse Narodne Povstanie. Dokumenty, Bratislava 1965, [no. 552] p. 849). And in his report to London, Dr. J. Kopecky was reporting as early as 25 September 1944 from Geneva: "The Germans disarmed everywhere where the Slovak army was garrisoned except the units in barracks in the centre of town in Nitra and Trencin. Everywhere the Gestapo began immediately arresting and deporting Jews who were still free. Tiso was the first to intervene on their behalf and received assurances that although they would be brought together, they would not be taken from the territory of Slovakia. The Jews from Nitra were ... taken in the direction of the city of Sered'. Archbishop Kmet'ko tried to intervene with the commander of the German garrison who told him that he could do nothing against the Gestapo. Kmet'ko went to the Gestapo who told him that they were carrying out orders and that nothing could be changed. The �120 SLOVAKIA Jewish Central Agency continues to be active m Bratislava" (Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 578] p. 578). The possibilities of those who wanted to come to the help of our people, of soldiers, of partizans and of Jewish citizens in these terrible weeks were accordingly very limited. Still there was certainly an attempt also on the part of the Church to help . Yet the hardness on one side and the impotence to help on the other were at times far too great. And thus it happened that during the uprising, Nazi officials in Rufomberok took from the Jesuits, about whom it was later written that they had in those times a great deal of influence, the convert Tomas Munka directly from the novitiate, who after his secondary studies had entered the Society of Jesus, and sent him, together with his parents and younger brother, to Germany where they all perished . The television series ' 'The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' simplified historical facts and distorted many of them. It saw the SNU only within the context of its own struggle against the Church and the faithful, thus placing it in a false light, and as a result badly served our mutual coexistence in the present and in the future. According to the series, everything in the Slovak State was evil, everything was criminal and the fault was the Church' s. This is an untrue simplification. Serious participants in the opposition and in the struggle saw the situation otherwise at that time . In the report of the V illegal leadership of the CPS dated 7 July 1944, "About the developments in Slovakia after 6 October 1838," which K. Smidke took to Moscow, the following was written about the situation in the Slovak State : "Emigration, in particular that in London, is either badly informed about the situation or else is deliberately misinterpreting facts. The fact is that this state has independence and it has the kind of independence that is possible for a small nation and in time of war ... Internal affairs are handled only by the regime itself. The economy is taken care of by the [Slovak] people. Legislation, schools and so forth are in the hands of the [Slovak] people . German influence is great, but not so great for independence to be a stupid mask . For example, in less than five rears, the Gestapo did not arrest even one Slovak citizen. Viliam Siroky, who was taken from prison in Bratislava to Brno for crossexamination, was sent back although the Germans wanted badly �SLOVAKIA 121 to get rid of him there. German pressure, which is to be found at the level of inter-state relations, whether political or economic, does not touch the average citizen on the street, in public life . Hitler is still respecting [Slovak] independence and in the course of the past year, the Germans from the Reich have behaved especially politely. If this state were of another orientation and governed by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, then from the Slovak point of view there would be nothing to say against it. It comes therefore as no surprise that honest-thinking people here in Slovakia entertain the idea of retaining the state after the existing regime is replaced and the state is given a new social content. We say this for the sake of a complete report. London, which attacks the state and its independence, thinking that in this way it is attacking the regime, is in fact missing its target . The kind of state certain people wish to live in is a matter of one's strong opinion and of the wish of the people; however, the form of the state, the land and the language - and the political regime are two different things. This relative independence Slovakia enjoys has today an overwhelming importance for all levels of the liberation struggle, for the preparations and the leadership of the struggle. This is true not only for Slovakia, but also for the Czech Lands, as will be seen when it will be possible to speak openly about certain matters. It is not reasonable to underestimate (as London does) the desire of statehood of a small nation even if it is obtained through a politically stupid regime and at a time when other nations are losing their independence. It insults national pride." (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944. Dokumenty, Vol. 3, Bratislava 1984, doc. 228, pp. 340-341). There is another historical document about the conversation Lutheran Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt had with a British diplomat. It is found in the diplomatic dispatch of British Consul J.A. Grant, dated 18 June 1947, numbered 25. 5.1/7-44 and addressed to the British Foreign Secretary. The conversation took place two months after the execution of Dr. J. Tiso. The essential passage goes as follows: "Sir, I had a talk with the Lutheran Bishop Ruppeldt yesterday ... As you know Ruppeldt is a man of strong Slovak feeling and emphatic opinions: but he is well informed and has no small influence and I think you may like to know what he told me . He �122 SLOVAKIA considers the execution of Tiso as a political blunder of the first order ... The execution has strengthened the barriers between [ . . . ] Slovaks and Czechs . . . Bishop Ruppeldt said that he tried for two hours to explain this to Dr. Benes before the execution, and that his colleague of Liptovsky Mikulas had made a similar effort . . . He said that Tiso' s defence was similar to that of Marshal Petain's, and with good grounds. The Slovak people were undoubtedly saved by the establishment of the Slovak State from partition between Germany, Hungary and Poland; and until the Rising Slovakia, puppet state or not, was indeed an oasis of rest and plenty in a troubled Europe. Tiso had been blamed for not associating himself with the Rising: but if he had the Germans would assuredly have laid waste the country, massacred the people and destroyed Slovakia ... Tiso' s political course still kept Slovakia intact .. . The Bishop also pointed out that under Tiso' s regime, not a single sentence of capital punishment was carried out. I report these opinions for what they may be worth. Ruppeldt has been described to me as the "Niemoller of Slovakia" and was himself, a you know, imprisoned under the Slovak State. His views might easily be so much harsher that I am inclined to listen to what he says . . . " [Michael] Cardinal [von] Faulhaber, one of the greatest oppponents of Nazism in Germany, in a letter dated 2 November 1951 wrote that even if Dr. Tiso had been in Hitler's sphere of influence and in contact with him out of political and contemporary necessity, "he kept his independence in his discussions with Hitler and never lowered himself to be Hitler's lackey". The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" took the acount beyond 1948, in fact until 1958. In the subsequent discussion, four of its participants (0. Danyi, J. Celko, J. Siles and L. Dupkala) spoke of the present - of Catholic Action, of the illegal structures of the Church in Slovakia in which they say "clero-fascism" is still surviving. Many practicing believers had already been described as "the posthumous children of elem-fascism" by these same authors. This expression is strange. I was fifteen years old when the Slovak State was proclaimed. Today's believers who are fifty were hardly ten weeks old on 14 March 1939. And tens of thousands of young believers can hardly be posthumous children when they hardly �SLOVAKIA 123 know anything about those past events. The series was evidently interested only in one thing - today's Church in Slovakia and the awakening of faith in the Church among the young generation. This took the authors down a blind alley where, in many instances, they confused history with fantasy . The aim was clear - to create pressure on today's believers, to drive into them the idea that the Church was the source of all evil in Slovakia - and that, for this reason, the faithful should keep quiet. According to the series, Pope Pius XII supported Fascism in Slovakia by elevating Dr. Kmet'ko to the rank of archbishop. The faithful have thought and think otherwise: "We did not have a Slovak archbishop for centuries because someone did not wish us to have one and we do not have one even today, but Pius XII gave us one then." Elsewhere, according to the series, "the crowning achievement of all reactionary activities" was realized by the Vatican in 1949 when it supposedly excommunicated "all those who supported the government of the people's democracy ." In actual fact, in 1949 the Vatican excommunicated the members of the so-called schismatic Catholic Action, a political movement that fell apart shortly thereafter. And it excommunicated those believers who joined atheistic organizations. Later, these very organizations forbade their members from belonging to the Church and from taking part in religious offices. This is how matters were settled. The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" wanted to explain events that took place fifty years ago. It explained them badly, in the same way as those events that are taking place right before our eyes are often explained. It called Slovak Catholics "clerofascists" and indicated that this was the reason why the Church lost her seminaries, schools, journals and religious orders and even the Greek Catholics. In the Czech Lands, however, there were no " elem-fascists" and the Church also lost everything. Bishops Trochta and Zela went from German concentration camps into new jails together with the Slovak Bishops Vojtassak, Gojdic, Hopko, Buzalka and Barnas. The then Czech Bishops Hlouch and Skoupy and Archbishop Beran were interned for a number of years or else confined together with the Slovak Bishops Dr. Pobozny, Necsey and Lazik. This evidently did not concern elem-fascism. This concerned atheism and the question of justice and freedom. Such an �124 SLOVAKIA honest man and writer as Vaclav Havel and his friends did not have anything to do with " elem-fascism" and yet they still ended up twice in jail. Some people put [in the same group of enemies of socialism, Catholics, other Christians, non-Christians and defenders of socialism.] In the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power,'' six to seven people insulted in six programs of thirty minutes each hundreds of thousands of believers in Slovakia. According to the authors of the discussion, half of the population of Slovakia is Catholic. Even this would be enough to ask the serious question whether it makes sense to insult half the population for three hours on state television. According to the statistics of the journal Ateizmus (5/88) which is published by the authors of the series, there is above average religiosity in 11 districts in Slovakia. It is definitely above average in a further 14 districts - baptisms account for 78%, Church marriages for 58% and Church funerals for 85%. Very above average religiosity is found in a further 12 districts - they have 86% baptisms, 84% Church marriages, 92% Church funerals. Accordingly, the authors of the series insulted more than 50% of the population of Slovakia who produce conscientiously bread, meat, milk, vegetable and fruits for the villages, and again clothing and footwear in the cities and build us apartments. The Church has been in Slovakia for 1100 years and survived many a historical catastrophe. May God allow that she will live another thousand years. It is a pity that such a struggle against her and the faithful is connected with the name of the CSSR. Today in the world, the idea of the cooperation of all peoples in the spirit of toleration, the idea of mutual faith and a common home is gaining ground. Even in Slovakia and in the CSSR there is a need for cooperation among all inhabitants - Catholics with Lutherans, Christians with non-Christians, Slovaks w ith Czechs, all together with our neighbours. In this country, and especially in Slovakia, Catholics and the Church were oppressed again and again for many years. Some dioceses in Slovakia, in the Czech Lands and in Moravia were without a bishop for 30 years, some for 38 years, something which has no analogy in history and nowhere else in the world today. In the Czech Lands, Charter 77 and the CDUP [Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Persecuted] have in �SLOVAKIA 125 the past few years openly defended the Catholic Church and the faithful for which they have earned sincere thanks. In 1988, the faithful of other Christian Churches in the Czech Lands defended Catholics and the Catholic Church in this Republic in letters to the government, for which they have also earned sincere thanks. Catholics and the Catholic Church were also defended by socialist thinkers whom the faithful also thank sincerely. A solidarity was born which augurs well for the future. All those who opposed Slovak Catholicism rendered and continue to render a bad service to the nation and the Republic. They undermine their own common home as their predecessors had already done. They attack the Church and the believers, while, after many years, believers who are theoretically equal to non-believers do not have the opportunity to answer and to defend themselves. K.M. Kharchev, Director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR, has written that many prejudices have to be shed in the effort to obtain true freedom of conscience for all citizens. According to him, "this touches positively the feelings of believers and atheists" (Tyzdenn{k aktualit 11/88, pp. 4-8). The faithful in Slovakia read such words only with quiet envy. Or is it with hope? In the past forty years, we have had many affirmations and opinions which we later retracted, many condemnations which we had to overturn with rehabilitations. We had many so-called "important people" whose glory died and who today are not remembered. The members of the Institute for Scientific Atheism over the years presented us believers as suspicious citizens. And this still goes on. A recent example is the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power.'' However, the faithful still live here, and more and more young people who are looking for the truth are joining the Church . On top of all the words and pictures in the series, which were glued together without any regard for the truth, for true history and for the future of the nation, I want to quote the words of the poet: " Who will save my soul from the avalanche of people's words? From afar they seem like a xylophone, from close they are only tin bells. They are like wild waters, which produce only their howling noise. Today they are the cradle of truth, tomorrow its grave. They reach us with their hands - only God can seize our soul. They fill us with wine changed into vinegar, but the soul requires truth and eternity . . . �126 SLOVAKIA It is becoming clearer to me that everything human built without love is exposed to destruction. Where a garden blooms today, tomorrow it is a wilderness. And where people work in the morning, destruction thunders at night .... " With these thoughts, I became even more deeply aware what the Church, which educated us for a thousand years, means for the faithful. It has prayers which hear the fields and the forests. It knows how to bless water and bread. And while my generation will disappear like sand into nothingness, the Church towers like a peak into eternity. She embraces nations and continents and her breath blows through all generations. The measure of her faithfulness is not human faithfulness and the measures of her years known no autumn. Everything that she does not change is put aside by death . . . she forgives even enemies, she is willing to serve them and to heal wounds . The Church is the way of all of our ways and along these roads, people have been walking to God for thousands of years. This is why I live in her, this is why I defend her and this is why I wrote this long letter. Respectfully, J. Ch. Karee, Bratislava, 7 April 1989 Translated from the Slovak by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum �REVIEW ESSAY �� SLOVAKIA 77 Letter from Bishop J. Ch. Karee To Czechoslovak Television Concerning the Programme ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' J. CH. KOREC The directors, Ceskoslovenska televizia, Mlynska dolina, Asmolovova 28 841 04 Bratislava From March 6 to March 13, 1989, Bratislava television broadcast the five-part series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" which ended on March 14 with the discussion entitled "Clericalism and Clem-Fascism in Slovakia". The series was shown on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Slovak State. In the words of the narrators of the programme, it was meant mainly for the younger generation so that it might be informed about the events which took place half a century ago and whose consequences, it is claimed, are still to be felt today between the faithful and the Church in Slovakia in the so-called lay apostolate and in illegal ecclesiastical structures . The names mentioned in the introduction were those of 0. Danyi, J. Celko, V. Hudeckova, 0. Vyhlfdal, V. Nedbal and others. The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," by its very title, already indicated what it was all about - not the personality of politicians, nor the history of a political party, rather about the Catholic Church, the bishops, the priests and the faithful in Slovakia, in fact about the entire Church with the Pope at its head . The contents corresponded to the intention - to put everything in such a light that the outcome would be ridicule, irony and sarcasm. As a result, one found in this "series", which was a collage �78 SLOVAKIA of photographs, parts cut from old films, journals and newspapers, accompanied by a one-sided and aggressive political commentary read on occasion in a theatrical pathetic tone, just about everything associated with the Catholic Church - Popes Pius XI and XII, the encyclicals, Bishops Jantausch, Kmet'ko, Vojtassak, Carsky, Gojdic, Necsey, Skrabik and Lazik, Slovak churches from the outside and the inside, pilgrimages, first communions and masses. All these elements were invariably accompanied by the appropriate political commentary which ridiculed them. Pictures from Slovakia, interspersed with mass graves, shootings, human bones, horses with a ploughman not far from a field cross going as far as to include the ridiculing of confession and the repeated shooting of people which ended with a theatrical and blasphemous "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" alternated with pictures of [Adolf] Hitler from 1930, or before. A seventeen year-old high school student's comment on all of this was: "Satanic Verses the Slovak way." And a student who stood beside her added: " If there were a hundred Muslims in Slovakia, the authors of the series would probably have to hide in the mountains for the rest of their lives." Truly, according to the series, Slovakia and especially Catholicism, were the source of all things evil and only evil. Neither in the state, nor in the Church was there anything human; all gatherings, from confirmation through religious exercises to the meetings of bishops in Prague, were in the service of the bourgeoisie or especially Hitler. According to the series, this was applicable to the First CSR, and later, particularly to Slovakia. One had the feeling at times that when Slovak boys rang the bells in the belfry, the Japanese immediately attacked Manchuria. And when A. Hlinka spoke in the Prague Parliament, [Benito] Mussolini immediately proceeded to attack Abyssinia. No historian was involved in the preparation of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power." Although it concerned explicitly a historical theme, it was prepared by members of the Institute for Scientific Atheism of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Pravda also published on 15 March 1939 an article from a member of the Institute of Historical Sciences entitled "The Tragic Consequences of the Munich Diktat,'' once more on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Slovak State . This article was in- �SLOVAKIA 79 deed written without passion, in a sober and comparatively more factual and responsible way. In the journal Ogonok, issue 50, December 1988, the editor and writer, A. Nezhny, in an interview with K.M. Kharchev, director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR Council of Ministers, criticized the abstract manner in which people wrote about religion and the Church in 1933. In the book Under the Mask of Religion, one reads that all metropolitans, bishops, priests, monks and church elders ... "deceive the faithful and carry out their terrible fascist plots." In the same interview, K.M. Kharchev indicated that "for about 70 years, year after year, one heard repeated like a tape recorder that the Church was the carrier of an ideology inimical to our society, that it was important to see in priests a foreign element and that the faithful were people of "the third degree" ... An unchangeable stereotype was created in the consciousness of the majority of party and state workers." In addition - in the same issue of Ogonok, the editor and writer A. Nezhny, pilloried severely the newest antireligious book, whose author "from the outset is not ashamed to bend the facts so that they fit into his scheme of things.'' These last words pertain directly to the Bratislava series "The Cross in the Snares of Power." It presented pictures taken out of context, quotations, and film cuts, pasted together according to its defined aim, without regard for the historical circumstances of the time, and without any evaluation of historical conditions and possibilities; it was put together almost as if the specialists of dialectics had completely forgotten that there is unity and clash in contradictions, that an individual is not omnipotent in history, and that in Europe from 1938 on, Hitler's activities created dangerous conditions in which even the Great Powers did not know what to do. The authors have forgotten that as long as a small nation and state is caught in the middle of giants, politics is the art of the possible. They disregarded all human activities possible in very many, openly catastrophic situations, and did not deviate from their goal right to the end in accordance with the theme of "clericalism and elem-fascism''; in fact they pursued their goal mercilessly and without scruples even though this clericalism gave them, their fathers and three million Slovaks work and relative peace for six �80 SLOVAKIA years through the worst war in history and saved the lives of many. The television series of March 1989 represents another myth born in Slovakia in the minds of biased and fanatic individuals . It is not the only one . A contemporary writer and historian recently said in an interview for a journal: "I am 50 years old and in that time I heard about Stefanik .. . in at least five different versions and each was false and not historical. You can really blame our historiography for quite a few things . .. It renounced living persons and replaced them with schemes and generalities. It is terrible to read about the red threads of development, how they go through history" (Litertirny tyzdennfk, 10/88). Fortunately, the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" was not prepared by qualified specialists - historians . It would seem however that schemes and the red threads of development had already penetrated the blood of many Slovak intellectuals. Rare are the small nations which today can maim and defame their own history and in this way destroy the national consciousness of future generations as we know how to do in Slovakia. The average educated person is unable to speak intelligently and w ith pride about Sts. Cyril and Methodius, these scientists of the first rank who stood at the very beginning of our national history, language and culture. He is unable to be proud of the fact that of all the places where they worked in the Empire of Great Moravia our old Nitra, Devin and Zobor are definitely mentioned in old sources. He cannot be proud of the University of Trnava which for 150 years opened the world to us. The average Slovak began to speak Magyar in Hungary and in the First Republic he denied the Slovak in him and accepted the thesis of the single [Czechoslovak] nation. He forgot Bernolak, Holly and Shir and refuses to accept Moyses and Stefanik . And he forgot that in this way, he hurts not only his nation the most, but also the Republic . Today, his colleagues laugh at those who - even with their many human faults and weaknesses - brought the nation to life in Hungary and in the First CSR, defended its rights and freedoms, language and individuality, whether they were Skultety, Hlinka, Razus or others. As a result, there remains very little from our history from which we could give our younger generations a feeling of Slovak national pride. Thus, �SLOVAKIA 81 for many, our position in the Republic is also without interest and pride and we lack interest in the Republic. Slovak history cannot be understood without Christianity and the Catholic Church. If this cannot be avoided, then the tendency is to blacken all. Everything that is Christian, and especially Catholic, is suspicious, ridiculous and ironic. When we nevertheless wish to speak about this in positive terms, we look around as if we were stealing. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' reached new heights in ridiculing our history. The authors were not satisfied with criticizing individual politicians or political parties - they ridiculed religion, Christian images, symbols, mysteries [of the faith] and the Church, from mass, first communion through pilgrimages of the faithful, priests, bishops, right up to the popes. A year ago, Bratislava television was convincing us in the programme "Current themes" that the faithful have exactly as many rights in our country as do non-believers . After the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," the faithful were asking "Where can we respond to this intensive 6-part caricature of the Church in Slovakia and in the world?" Nowhere. It is not possible publicly to answer public insults - either in the press, on the radio or on television . If I have decided to write you this letter, I have done so only very reluctantly. It concerns historical events which are still considered political even though they are half a century behind us. I took this decision out of a sense of responsibility dictated by my conscience because it concerns the faithful who make up more than half of the nation in Slovakia just as it concerns an important part of the faithful inhabiting the Czech Lands and Moravia who were also very offended. It concerns non-Catholics and non-believers as well who from a Christian or human point of view could hardly have been impressed by the stifling blasphemies of the series and its destructive influence within the nation, the state and the world. Having decided to write, I regret that I am not a Slovak historian, a writer or a poet who could have such an impact in this national affair that it would awaken the conscience of each Slovak and encourage him to seek the paths of understanding and unity in matters that are fundamental for the nation and the state, to accept �82 SLOVAKIA variety in others matters, and to seek ways of cooperation with all, showing respect for his own history, respect for other faiths and respect for the future of the nation and the state. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' not only did not take such an approach, but rejected that aim without compassion. This was clear in the preparation of each theme the First CSR, autonomy, the question of the Slovak State, and in the end in the discussion by the authors of all that is evil: the series included the popes, the bishops, the priests, the entire Church with her encyclicals, churches, masses, processions, crosses. I was particularly struck by one approach: the events of 50 years ago were not as simple as the authors of the series made them to be. They were much more complex. I would like to point to the complexity of the situation and the events. These are events that belong to history. Indeed, I will refer to them as historical facts. I will not evaluate them, but I will use documents from the period. The development of a comprehensive and critical evaluation that is factual and objective is also expected. We hope that historians will be able to do this without bias. The journal Vyber (13/89) introduced the written version of the text of the series as follows: "Majestic tones resound. The vault of a magnificent cathedral emerges filled with a sublime "Te Deum. '' Black boots glitter. Black uniforms. Looking at the picture, a commentator says : "They marched ... they marched on 6 October 1938 and 14 March 1936 (?) to work together in the break up of the Czechoslovak Republic . In this series, we will march along the path of facts. They marched to the deportations, to the burning of partizan villages, communities and settlements in the winter of 1944-1945 . . . They suppressed basic human rights ... The Catholic Action of Pius XI came to the aid of the Populists. In the elections of 1925, they emerged stronger, they doubled the number of deputies in Parliament . . . They gave up opposition and entered the government of the gentlemen's coalition . . . '' Already the text of these first sentences is confused. The aim of the Populists was to break up the Republic. Yet they entered the government. They were against the Republic, yet they achieved that "which Hlinka had once desired ... to be a state-building party" according to a quotation in the article. In order to demean �SLOVAKIA 83 the Populists, the authors of the series write and say that they entered a "gentlemen's coalition." The Populists were against the people, yet the people strengthened their position in the elections. In the first part of the series, a great deal is said about Andrej Hlinka - from the year 1918 to his death in 1938. According to the series, Hlinka was arrogant, he was against the CSR and he played cards with his enemies. He was almost an enemy of the Slovak nation; in a word, he was a "clerical." This expression was once used for practical reasons to denote political movements in which there were also priests or which were guided by Christian principles - much in the same way as one spoke in a shortened fashion of "Agrarians," "Nationalists," "Socialists." Today one adds to this expression an exclusively defamatory meaning " clericalism and elem-fascism." What was Andrej Hlinka really like? One finds in Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k that Andrej Hlinka (born on 27 September 1864) had become active in Slovak affairs in the year 1895 with the aim of '' setting the people free from social oppression . . . and winning them for the national movement." He wrote in Narodne noviny, founded tudove noviny, founded farmers' organizations, food cooperatives, temperance leagues and reading groups. In 1906 he was condemned to two years imprisonment in Segedin for his activities. "In the summer of 1917, he accepted the idea of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks, which he confirmed again in October 1918 as a member of the Slovak national Council and a signatory of the Martin Declaration of the Slovak Nation and he even asked his clerical movement to support the new state" (Vol. II, p. 338) . A contemporary Slovak historian writes: "Hlinka together with [Vavro] Srobar was one of the most capable personalities fighting for Czechoslovak statehood" (Litertirny tyzdenn{k, 2/88). The television series is pathetically ironic about the agreement between the '' spiritual leader'' of the state and the Church in the way it manifested itself already in 1919 in Zilina. The series also mentioned ecclesiastical properties. Of course, there was no mention of the fact that these properties were acquired gradually from donations from believers or rulers for direct services, that the Church since time immemorial built on these properties schools, �84 SLOVAKIA orphanages, teacher's colleges, universities and hospitals of which the state as such took no care. The Church maintained everything on these properties in the same way as the Ministry of Finance does today from the taxes of the workers. When these properties were taken from the Church in Slovakia, one of the people who was close to Bishop [Jan] Vojtassak was asked what the bishop would do now, he replied: "Until now he ate svabka with kiska, from now on he will eat kiska with svabka." On a number of occasions the television series judged the activities of the People's Party as inimical to the First Republic because of its demand for autonomy. This is an over-simplification. Hlinka and his party based themselves on the Pittsburgh Agreement which was signed on 31 May 1918 by the representatives of the Slovak League [of America], the Czech National Council, the Association of Czech Catholics, and the President of the Czechoslovak National Council, Professor [Tomas G.] Masaryk. One reads in the Agreement: "Slovakia will have its own administration, its own parliament and courts ." In the so-called Cleveland Agreement of 22-23 October 1915, there was reference to "a federal union of states with full national autonomy for Slovakia, with her own parliament and her own state administration." It was on this basis that the Hlinka Slovak People 's Party [HSPP] developed the defence of Slovak needs and national demands . When people in the CSR began officially to speak of a single Czechoslovak nation and when the demand for autonomy was refused, there were harsh political debates in Parliament and in the daily press . Certainly, it is not true that the "clericals" wanted to break up the republic. They wanted a republic that gave autonomy to Slovakia. At certain times, the People's Party was not alone in this struggle. The leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia [CPCS], B. Smeral said in Parliament on 18 December 1925 after the general election: "Each nation has the right to determine freely its own destiny up to separation through its representative committees elected by the working masses. We will support even the demand for autonomy . . . '' The reception that the people gave to Hlinka' s policies was shown in election results. In the election of 1925, the People's Party received 34.31 % of the vote, the Social Democrat 4.25%, the �SLOVAKIA 85 Agrarians 20.29%, the CPCS 13.27% and the National Party 2.49%. The claim repeated in the series that " priest and the hierarchy" were against the Republic is not based on historical reality. In his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947, Archbishop [Karol] Kmet'ko was asked the following question: "How did you explain [Jozef] Tiso's moderation after the elections of 1925?" Dr. Kmet'ko replied: 'We were all pleased especially because now even the Czechoslovak government recognized the People's Party as one which they had to invite into the government." If later the People 's Party left the government and returned to the opposition benches, it as not a result of enmity towards the Republic. It was the continuation of the struggle for the recognition of the individuality of the Slovak nation and for the attainment of autonomy. In the democratic atmosphere of the time, the speeches and articles of politicians were certainly often aggressive, harsh and combative. But such was the free atmosphere of the period . Other politicians also wrote in equal, even harsher, tones. In the 1926 November issue of Proletarkd, the author of an article asked : ''What does the proletariat have in common with October 28? Does it even have some enthusiasm for it? Certainly not! Only the bourgeoisie can celebrate this anniversary ... " In 1931, in the heat of criticism, [CPCS member] L. Novomesky wrote that the creation of the Republic was the game of " the financial captains from Paris, London, New York and elsewhere who rule the scene in capitalist Europe ... " Only later was there talk of "ancient hopes, Cyrillo-Methodian legends, the Martin Declaration" and so forth (Slovenske pohl'ady, 11/88). In the heat of a political battle, the young 30-year old Klement Gottwald sought to win over the Slovaks in Zilina in 1926 with the appeal: "Clear Slovakia of the oppressive power of the Czech bourgeoisie! " (Historicky casopis, 4/1965, p . 510). This was said during the same period when Dr. Tiso became Minister of Health in the coalition government of the Czechoslovak Republic on 15 January 1927. The life of the First CSR was constantly changing and A. Hlinka and his party oscillated between a positive acceptance of the Republic and the struggle for the rights of the Slovaks. After 1930, the party was back in opposition. There were many reasons for �86 SLOVAKIA this. In 1931, new Slovak grammar rules were published in the spirit of the unitary Czechoslovak nation and the brutal rapprochement of the languages (lahev, nabidka, preca, dvacat' ... ). The Ministry of Education ordered the use of these rules in all schools and all offices were to accept them. These rules were turned down by many Slovaks including the head of the Matica slovenska, J. Skultety and, of course, the People's Party. And even in the theses of the Vlth Congress of the CPCS, there was talk of the "criminal attack of the bourgeoisie" and reference was made to "political and cultural pressure." In addition we find: "We demand the right of selfdetermination for the Slovak nation." (Prehl'ad dejfn KSC na Slovensku, Bratislava, 1971, p. 174). The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" greatly simplified historical reality when it constantly repeated that "clericals" were against the Republic. This is evident even from the meeting of 370 young Slovak intellectuals that was held to defend Slovak rights on 25-26 June 1932 in Trencianske Teplice, where [Jozef] Lettrich, [Vladimir] Clementis, LDaniel] Okali and Novomesky were there along with [Ferdinand] Durcansky. All favoured the autonomy of Slovakia for various reasons (Dav, 6/32, p. 76). Here and there some did so for reasons dictated by changing circumstances while A. Hlinka and Dr. Tiso did so out of conviction. Finally, on 16 October 1932, in Zvolen, the National Party of Martin Razus, an outstanding cultural figure in Slovakia from the Lutheran community, joined the People's Party . Razus declared in Zvolen: "We are celebrating the feast of national unity . We want for our nation what belongs to it, we want the administration of our affairs in our own hands" (Slovak, 18 October 1932). In the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," the statement that the clericals, the senior Catholic hierarchy and the priests were against the Republic, against the working class, that they followed papal encyclicals and were against socialism is constantly repeated. Yet the faithful could not accept anything else. If they were against socialism and the USSR, then it was because of the way they were presented to the world by the uncritical atheists of the time. In Slovakia, Jan Ponican wrote verses: "People, destroy the churches of God!" Neither the faithful, nor the bishops and the priests, nor the People's Party could be very enthusiastic about �SLOVAKIA 87 this. Nor could they be enthusiastic about what was already known at that time about the way atheism was being spread in the USSR. The authors of the series again forgot that everything is related to everything. The persecution of Eastern believers was already known in the 1930s. Today they are writing openly about this in the pages of Soviet journals. At the beginning of 1988, K.M. Kharchev, director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR Council of Ministers wrote in the article '' Anchoring the Freedom of Conscience'': ''The negative phenomena of the thirties - the cult of personality, the violations of legality, the arrests and the repression had their negative impact even on the policies toward religion, the Church and the faithful. Voluntary administrative and executive decisions based on interdictions and limitations were supported and justified. The result was the collective and unjustified closing of churches, the arbitrary treatment of the clergy, the indifference toward the legal rights of the faithful and religious feeling, things that one cannot speak of today without bitterness" (Tyzdenn{k aktualit, No. 11/1988, pp. 4-5) The authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" should have known that if the faithful, the People's Party and the church hierarchy had apprehensions about socialism and if they warned against it, it was for very serious reasons. Horrible things were done in the name of socialism and the world knew about them. Today people are writing about them even here. At the beginning of March 1989, Tyzdenn{k aktualit published the article "The Mills of God Grind Slowly" (No. 10, 6-12 March 1989). This is one passage among many: "Lazar Moyseyev Kaganovich was born in 1893 in a poor Jewish family in the Kiev gubernia ... He joined the Party in 1911 .. . He was elected to the Central Committee in 1918 . . . In 1933-34, he was responsible for a purge in the Party . . . From 1935 on, he was People's Commissar for Transport . .. Heavy Industry . . . He was awarded the Order of Lenin four times ... In 1962, he was excluded from the Party . .. In November 1988, he celebrated his 95th birthday.'' The article on L.M. Kaganovich was written by members of the Institute of the History of the CPSU. According to the article, L.M. Kaganovich was excluded unanimously at the meeting of the Bureau of the Moscow Com- �SLOVAKIA 88 mittee of the Party on 23 May 1962. At his exclusion, one of the members of the Bureau said directly to Kaganovich: ''Your signature is on the files of more than 30,000 members of the Party, the Soviets, the Army, heavy industries and transportation who were sentenced to death by shooting . . . One finds further in the article: "According to the documents signed by Stalin, Kaganovich and Beria, some 230,000 people were shot." N. Dygaj, another member of the Bureau said to Kaganovich: "I remember how, after your visit in Nizhny Tagif, the head of the NKVD shot himself. He did not kill himself, he lived a number of days and explained his act: ' I cannot manufacture enemies anymore' (Tyzdennz'k aktualit, 10/89, pp. 12-13). The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' said with pathos that Pope Pius XI with his encyclical Divini redemptoris about Communism blessed all measures by the People's Party against socialism. The series does not say, of course, that it was published against the type of socialism in which Stalin, Kaganovich and Beria transformed hundreds of churches into museums, coffee houses, archives and barns (Ogonok, 50/88, pp. 3-5). At that time, the Pope also published Mit brennender Sorge, the encyclical against Nazism. According to the series, 2000 priests were supposedly presidents or secretaries of organizations of the HSPP . That was about the total number of priests in Slovakia . Hundreds of them were not involved in this type of activity; others, like Bishop Kmet' ko, were attracted to the Slovak branch of the Czech People's Party. There were serious historical reasons for the involvement of priests in political activity. The authors of the series did not take this into consideration. They saw in these activities only a struggle for power at a time when Hitler was still being informed about the historical realities in Slovakia so that he could respect them. In a report sent to Berlin in February 1943, one reads : "The front rank that the clergy has in the Slovak nation can be explained on the basis of historical development . . . When the Slovaks were in Hungary . .. the clergy was directly in contact with the nation . .. It was given the leading role in the Slovak nation. And in the Slovak People's Party, founded at the beginning of the century, 11 11 �SLOVAKIA 89 the clergy had a position of pre-eminence" (Slovenske ntirodne povstanie. Dokumenty, Bratislava, 1965, p. 52). The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not attack only bishops, priests and the faithful in Slovakia. It also attacked bishops and the Church in the Czechs Lands and Moravia, Czechs and generally the First Republic, so that few were spared. According to the series, the Czech Catholic hierarchy cooperated with the Slovak bourgeoisie . There was, according to the series, almost nothing good in the First Republic. The chimneys of factories belched forth and people were exploited. The global economic crisis with which the entire world was dealing was simplified beyond recognition. The relations between Czechs and Slovaks were also simplified. The Czechs were enemies who were closing Slovak industries. In the meantime, the Slovaks were in fact reading [works by] Karel Capek and other worthwhile Czech books, Slovak Catholics were working together with the Czechs in many areas, their annual Catholic day was celebrated in Prague in the presence of [Jean] Cardinal Verdier from Paris, and there were good Czech educators and professors in Slovakia who helped the Slovaks a great deal . Of course, the television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" saw in these relations only "the bourgeoisie and clericalism". In the innumerable shots of vaults, churches, religious services, the figures of bishops, A. Hlinka and others, they repeated that the Slovak clericals wanted to break up the Republic and that, in the end, they did break it up . In actual fact, to the extent that the People's Party did continuously fight for the autonomy of Slovakia, it was not against the CSR. When T. G. Masaryk stepped down in 1935, on 14 December of that year, E. Benes was elected the next President as a result "of the votes of the Populists and the Slovak Agrarians,' according to a historian (Slovensko, Dejiny, Bratislava, 1971, p. 693 - hereafter Dejiny). Among the Populists, Dr. Tiso had the merit of achieving this result, something that would some years later cost him his life. The new President, who had promised autonomy within a year, did not bring it about. The situation had not changed, the struggle continued. According to the same historian: "some months later, the opposition could publish statistics which showed that if the government maintained the rate �90 SLOVAKIA with which they filled positions in central offices, which at that time were occupied by 1.13% of Slovaks, it would take the Slovaks a few hundred years to fill enough of them to attain the level to which they were entitled on the basis of population ... It is not easy to explain the unbelievable passivity of the government's social policy in the Slovak case at such a critical time ... "(Dejiny, p. 693). The year 1938 was to be a jubilee year in the CSR - the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Republic. Officially, the accent was supposed to be on the unity of the Czechoslovak state and the Czechoslovak nation. The Slovaks did not accept Czechoslovak national unity and pushed for the individuality of the Slovak nation living together with the Czech nation. They based themselves on the Pittsburgh Agreement and the constant will of the Slovak nation. The most thoughtful people in the Czech Lands and Moravia made an effort to understand this national feeling and did so also for the good of their mutual life in the Republic. There were many major changes in Central Europe in 1938. In March, Austria was annexed to the German Reich . Slovakia became its immediate neighbor and the entire CSR found herself encircled. Germany became the leading power in Central Europe. Courting her favour were such countries as Hungary, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia ... To connect the Slovak struggle for autonomy with Hitler is a historically false perspective - this struggle had begun before Hitler and would have continued without him. The politicians of the People 's Party rejected Nazi neopaganism and after the assassination of [Austrian Chancellor Engelbert] Dollfuss in Austria, they wrote: "These swastika national socialists are the worst danger that can upset the uncertain balance in Europe ... and peace in Europe" (Slovak, 1 August 1934). When in June 1938 the People's Party submitted another proposal for the autonomy of Slovakia which was also made in order to strengthen the domestic situation in a Republic caught in the middle of a Europe threatened by the spectre of Hitler, it received help from of a delegation of Slovak associations in the USA which, on a visit to Slovakia, brought along the original copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement. A. Hlinka appeared in public with them for the last time on 5 June; he died on 16 August 1938 in Ru.fomberok. �SLOVAKIA 91 The demand for autonomy was welcomed by the nation. When the votes for the CPCS fell in Bratislava in the election of 1938 from 5,000 to 2,800 - some 45% - V. Siroky explained that they [the Communists] had not defended national interests at a time when "in Slovakia the representatives of the national interests of the Slovak people continued to be the Hlinka Party" (F. Beer, A. Bencik, B. Graca, J. !Gen, Dejinna krizovatka, Bratislava, 1964, p. 27). Hitler's strong anti-Czechoslovak speech of 12 September 1938 was a signal for some Sudeten Germans, the Henlein group, to take action. On 13 September, groups favorably inclined to Hitler created disturbances in frontier territories, occupied railway stations, post offices and so forth. The Czechoslovak government responded with the imposition of martial law. [Konrad] Henlein, the leader of the Sudeten Germans, sent a written request to Hitler that he immediately occupy the frontier territories of Czechoslovakia . Hitler included the territorial demands of Poland and Hungary on the CSR ... On 23 September 1938, the Czechoslovak government issued a mobilization decree (Dejiny, p. 704). The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" claimed that the People's Party agreed and collaborated with the Henlein Party to break up the Republic. An historian writes: "The People's Party ... after the Henlein putsch, in a public declaration took its distance from such a violent solution" (Dejiny, p. 706). An avalanche of events began to occur in September 1938. [British and French] Foreign Ministers [Neville] Chamberlain and [Edouard] Daladier, by offering concessions, wanted to save Europe from war. The Czechoslovak government accepted a proposal of mediation by four great powers; Italy, Germany, England and France. Their conference was held on 29 September 1938 in Munich. The result was the ceding of the Sudetenland to Germany . An additional article to the agreement obliged the CSR to reach an agreement with the Polish and Hungarian governments about their demands . . . ''The Czechoslovak government decided on 30 September, in the presence of President Benes, to accept the Munich diktat ... " (Dejiny, p. 705). The series " The Cross in the Snares of Power" strengthened its attack with pictures and comments against ' ' clericalism and the �92 SLOVAKIA Church in Slovakia," especially in connection with the proclamation of autonomy. According to the series, the "clericals" made a pact with the fascists to break up the CSR. An historian nevertheless notes: "Throughout 1938, the HSPP negotiated regularly with the government, with Benes, to broaden the selfadministration of Slovakia, to achieve autonomy and to enter the government. That is the difference in the positions of the HSPP and the Henlein Party who basically did not want the government to fulfill their demands . .. " (Dejiny, p. 700). In October 1938, the autonomy of Slovakia became the aim of all political parties and all Slovaks. A national meeting of the representatives of the HSPP was called on 6 October 1938 in Zilina to which the representatives of other parties also came uninvited. Already on 4 October, Dr. I. Derer, once its greatest opponent, had proposed autonomy in Bratislava. The Agrarian Party submitted two proposals on autonomy on 4 and 5 October. Dr. Vladimir Clementis was negotiating with the president of the National Party to allow members of the CPCS to join through it the all-Slovak autonomy government. This did not happen (Testimony of M. Korman, editor-in-chief of Robotn{cke noviny, Cas, 7 January 1947). The representatives of Slovakia present in Zilina prepared the so-called Zilina Agreement on which the autonomy of Slovakia was based and the first autonomous Slovak government was formed. From its five members, two were from the People's Party (Tiso and Durcansky, two from the Agrarian Party ([Pavol] Teplansky and [Jan] Lichner), and one from the National Party (M. Cernak). The negotiations were quite spontaneous and old enmities were forgotten. A national reconciliation took place which had no precedent in Slovakia. The newspapers of all political parties singled out this generosity. There was a feeling of satisfaction in the Czech Lands that the Republic had been saved. Ferdinand Petroutka, one of the leading journalists, wrote in the journal Pr{tomnost': "We have to be ... grateful that the Slovaks, so long as they are led by the People's Party, are completely determined to stay in the Republic, to be a part of its framework, even if more loose. This is something which we must value deeply" (L. Lipscher, tudacka auton6mia, Bratislava 1957, p. 143). Autonomy came about in Slovakia without �SLOVAKIA 93 repression against the former enemies, without arrests, without blood and without forced emigration. Immediately after the proclamation of the autonomy of Slovakia, the autonomous government left for Prague. President Benes had already resigned on 5 October. In his parting speech, influenced by the events that had fallen over Europe, he said: "It is unavoidable above all to come to an agreement with the Slovaks .. . irrespective of this or that circumstance" (S. Osusky, Benes a Slovensko, London, 1943) . The central government in Prague immediately approved the decisions taken in Zilina, the autonomy of Slovakia and the autonomous Slovak government. Already on 6 October, the government of General [Jan] Sirovy in Prague had approved by telegram Dr. Jozef Tiso as Minister for Slovakia. On the following day, it approved the other members of the autonomous government. A similar government was formed in Ruthenia. It is with these actions that Slovakia achieved autonomy in the CSR. Archbishop Kmet'ko was asked the following question during his testimony on 7 January 1947: "Did you consider the agreement of 6 October as the beginning of the break up of the CSR or as an attempt to save the Republic?". He answered: ''The HSPP at the end of these developments had achieved the most it had hoped for and at the meeting of the deputies there was a declaration to the effect that we would not go any further.'' All of this was taking place, for the CSR but especially for Slovakia, in the shadow of the unsuccessful negotiations in Komarno. In Germany, the so-called Vienna Award followed, according to which [Foreign] Ministers [Joachim von] Ribbentrop [of Germany] and [Galeazzo] Ciano [of Italy] decided to annex the southern territories of Slovakia to Hungary. This happened on 2 November 1938. On 8 November, there was an agreement between representatives of the Slovak People's and the Agrarian Parties. The declaration and creation of an all-national party were also signed by the Czechoslovak People' s party, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party and the Czechoslovak National Democratic party. This is how a Party of Slovak National Unity was created. During the election for the autonomous Slovak Diet, 97.5% of voters voted "yes". Shortly thereafter, so-called state secretariats were created in Prague in all ministries and the central government promised to create 4000 �94 SLOVAKIA positions in the army for Slovak officers "because up to that point, only 4% of the officer corps was Slovak" (Dejiny, p. 709). Slovakia's relations with the Republic at the end of these struggles remained open and correct. During the Christmas holidays, when the President, Dr. E. Ha.cha, with members of the central government from Prague, came to Slovakia on the invitation of the Slovak government, he was welcomed in Bratislava with attention and respect as head of state; this was a sign of brotherly peace. This was also the basic approach of priests and lay believers toward the Republic, toward the Czech Lands and Moravia after the attainment of autonomy. Unfortunately, the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not know anything about these positive historical facts and did not show any of them to the public. The series showed the greatest degree of fantasy in describing the events around the Slovak State, its creation and life in it. Everything was directed against religion and the Church. Here pictures flashed even faster - pictures of churches and masses, figures of bishops alternating with shootings and dead bodies, as the supposed fruits of the Church in Slovakia . Everything here was simplified as reprehensible and commented upon one-sidedly. The only answer to this wave of pictures and words dictated by hatred is the immutable testimony of historical documents. Historians have concluded that the immediate result of the Munich Agreement of 30 September was an outright change in the political conditions in Central Europe. It ceased to be the sphere of interest and influence of the Western powers and came under the exclusive influence of Hitler. In this way, the fate of the states of this area was sealed. Upon acquiring power, Hitler became literally feared . If statesmen could not incur his favour, there wasn't one who would have wanted to be in conflict with him. If Slovak or Czech politicians had tried to do so after Munich, they would have put their nations in direct mortal danger. The President of the CSR, E. Benes, gave up his office in the face of such a hopeless situation and emigrated to Great Britain. Historians know that Hitler, who had set his goals long before, continued, even after the Munich Conference, in his policy of breaking up Central Europe. In various ways, he encouraged the Slovaks to go beyond autonomy, then he warned the Czechs about the �SLOVAKIA 95 Slovaks and indirectly incited the former against the latter. In this kind of atmosphere, a number of ministers in Prague were preparing as early as December 1938 the military overthrow of the autonomous government of Slovakia. The preparations were described by one of the participants (L. Feierabend, Ve vltiddch Dru.he republiky, New York, 1961, pp. 110, 122, 137). On the other hand, Hitler was giving hopes to Hungary and Poland about the possible partition of Slovakia. In this way, he created an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty in the entire area, in which he was the deciding factor. In this unclear situation, the government in Prague and President Ha.cha decided during the night of 10 March 1939 to take an exceptionally serious step to strengthen the Republic: they overthrew the Slovak antonomous government and established a military dictatorship in Slovakia (Dejiny, p. 712). Up to 300 people, ministers, senior bureaucrats, deputies and others were brought to Moravia and imprisoned. The military coup of 10 March 1939, the imprisonment of members of the autonomous government and of deputies, without regard for their parliamentary immunity, martial law and shootings, these were all unfortunate acts which Hitler not only observed, but also supported and used for his purposes. In the meantime, he gave a free hand to the Czech Lands and in this way encouraged the Czechs. To the Slovaks, he offered himself as a saviour before the Czechs and other neighbours. After the military coup of 10 March, the Slovaks, of course, did not turn officially to Hitler for help as many expected and as has since been falsely claimed. Amazingly, the Slovaks kept their heads. Dr. Tiso accepted his dismissal and took off with his briefcase in hand for Banovce. President Ha.cha then named a new autonomous government led by [Karol] Sidor. The latter refused Hitler's demand that he proclaim the independence of Slovakia. Only then did Hitler invite Dr. Tiso to Berlin. After consultation with government officials and with their consent, he accepted the invitation on 13 March 1939 and flew to Berlin. Half a century later on 15 March 1989, an historian wrote about the meeting between Hitler and Dr. Tiso: " During a 35-minute discussion, Hitler put him before the following alternative: either you declare Slovakia's independence, or he (Hitler) will leave �96 SLOVAKIA Slovakia to her fate . . . " In addition, he gave Tiso for signature a prepared text for a declaration of independence. During the discussion, Ribbentrop brought the news that Hungarian troops were being assembled on the southern borders of Slovakia ... Hitler then said to Tiso that it was important to act "blitzschnell - with lightning speed". The historian concludes: "J. Tiso, sticking to his evolutionary theory, refused to take upon himself the responsibility. He left the decision to the Slovak Diet" (Pravda , March 1989). This meant making a call to the new Prime Minister of the autonomous government, K. Sidor, with the request that President Ha.cha summon the Slovak Diet into session in Bratislava in accordance with the Constitution. Only then, by a decision of the Slovak Diet, under these difficult circumstances and the pressure of time, it came on 14 March to a unanimous vote and after the hour of noon to the declaration of the Slovak State . Only a few hours after Dr. Tiso [met Hitler], President Ha.cha and his Foreign Minister, [Frantisek] Chvalkovsky, experienced how difficult it was to deal with the dictator Hitler in Berlin. After brutal pressure and threats, they signed the text submitted to them for the liquidation of the CSR and the capitulation of her army. Dr. Chvalkovsky then said, with tears in his eyes, that they had saved the nation from ruin because Hitler's armies were already at the frontiers of the Republic. It will remain forever a historical fact that a Catholic priest, a member of the People's Party and a responsible politician, was able in these horrible times to resist Hitler's pressure to declare the independence of Slovakia and the creation of a state and to leave this decision to the constitutional Slovak Diet which had been called into session by the President of the CSR. President Ha.cha, by then a broken man, and the Foreign Minister of the Republic did not have in this situation of pressure and threats enough strength to oppose the dictator; they signed the destruction of the state . This is all part of inalterable history . On 15 March 1939, the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia was created and Ruthenia also declared her independence. On 15 March, even before the return of Dr. Ha.cha, Hitler and his army showed up in Prague . Hungarian forces appeared in Ruthenia and occupied the country. They also penetrated Slovakia and bombarded Spisska Nova Yes. Hitler supported all along their demands �SLOVAKIA 97 and the barely-born Slovak Republic had to give up part of her territory in the east up to Sobrance [to Hungary]. If the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed the creation of the Slovak State only through images of horror, this has nothing in common with historical facts. A few pictures of broken windows had nothing to do with the Slovak Republic, but rather with the military coup of 10 March 1939. An historian writes: "The new ... Slovak government, led by Tiso, which achieved power on 14 March 1939, did not meet with any opposition. Even the commanders of military units in Slovakia accepted its authority, as did the police, and state officials" (Dejiny, p. 713). When an historian thinks of the conditions and the different ways under which states were created in recent history, what bloodletting accompanied the creation of the states of India and Pakistan, what loss of life accompanies the liberation movements in San Salvador or in the Philippines, how much blood was shed to change the regimes in Iran, Ethiopia or in Pol Pot's Cambodia, then one thing must be clear to him : whatever may have been the pressures or the threats from outside when the Slovak Republic was created, within Slovakia it happened without a single shot, without the loss of blood and with the summons from legal Slovak politicians for national unification. Even if the television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" could have put together the worst possible pictures, it could not have changed this basic historical reality. It is not possible in one letter to take a position on all of the half-truths and untruths about the Slovak State, life in it, especially concerning its relations with the Church, the bishops, priests and the faithful which the series presented in a disfigured form. Nevertheless, there are certain points that must be made. In the first place, there was not a priest in any Slovak government. The President was a priest, whose power was constitutionally different from the executive power of the government. The members of the government were lay people who had not received a mandate from the Church, rather whose mandate came from elections. Neither in the Slovak Parliament, nor in the government were there only Catholics. In actual fact, in the confused situation of the time, not only Catholics but also many other Slovaks saw in the nomination �98 SLOVAKIA of Dr. Tiso as President the best guarantee against the danger of Nazism. As far as the relations between the Church and the Slovak State are concerned, Archbishop Kmet' ko described the Church's position in his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947 as follows : " When we belonged to the Hungarian State, we had to recognize it and behave accordingly. When the Czechoslovak Republic was created, we honored and recognized it also. When the Slovak State came into existence, a state which was internationally recognized, among others also by Russia, we recognized it too" (The entire text of this testimony was published in Katolicke noviny in the spring of 1947). Bishops, priests and believers could not recognize this state as "so-called." In his testimony, Archbishop Kmet'ko stated that ''If someone had said of that state that he does not recognize it, they would have taken care of him. " The Church had, however, not only internal reasons for recognizing the Slovak Republic, but also international ones. From the approximately 50 existing states at that time, the Slovak Republic was recognized by thirty . Among them were Switzerland, Great Britain, France, China, Belgium, Sweden, Liberia, Ecuador and others . Later, when the SovietGerman agreement was signed on 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union recognized the Slovak Republic de facto and de jure and established diplomatic relations with it. At that same time, the Czechoslovak embassy in Moscow was closed and Ambassador Z. Fierlinger was dismissed. He left for London. The Soviet Embassy opened its doors in January 1940 in Bratislava, headed by the career diplomat G. Pushkin. The question of the absolute independence or the relative freedom of action of the government of the Slovak Republic was not a decisive factor in the attitude of the Church toward that state. Since the time of Great Moravia, neither the Czech Lands, nor Moravia nor Slovakia enjoyed absolute independence and freedom, given their geopolitical position between East and West. Nevertheless, the states in which our nations lived had to be inevitably respected . One could not dismiss the Slovak State simply because it did not have the attributes of absolute independence. Dr. Kmet'ko expressed this before the tribunal as follo ws: " If you do not ac- �SLOVAKIA 99 cept [independence], we will divide you into three parts." Half a century later, it is possible to attack and compile the deficiencies, errors and the offenses of the authors of that state, but at the time, its recognition was the only responsible o.etion even for the Church. Before the National Tribunal, Dr. [Juraj] Sujan put to Archbishop Kmet'ko on 6 January 1947 the following question: "What did the Slovak State give the Slovak nation from the moral point of view? Did it give anything positive?" Dr. Kmet'ko answered: "Is there such a nation that would not want to have independence? Can you imagine a poor man who would not like to have his own little house but would rather depend on someone else? The answer that everyone would give is that it is impossible to imagine such a nation, such an individual." Dr. Sujan continued: "But that independence was a dependence." Dr. Kmet'ko answered: "But it was ten times better than the Protectorate [of Bohemia-Moravia]." The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' collected reproaches and judgments, qualified the Slovak State as "clero-fascist" and presented events in such a way as to suggest that it had enthusiastically sent Slovak soldiers into Poland. The historical reality was much more complex, and was such that the Slovak State had to live and develop in the terrible conditions of the Europe of the time, conditions which were complicated and downright confused. On 23 August 1939, [Soviet Foreign Minister Vycheslav] Molotov and Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression pact in which there was also a clause about Poland. Hitler attacked Poland on 1 September 1939, from the west and the south. The Soviet Union entered Poland from the east on 17 September 1939. Military engagements lasted barely three weeks before Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR. The battle for Poland started the Second World War. The Slovak Republic did not seek conquests, refused to improve its frontiers with Poland and took only some small territories lost in 1918 and 1938. One can only regret the participation of Slovak soldiers in the battles in Poland. Unfortunately, even before and after, the armies of fraternal nations attacked a country from both sides, not only when the nations but also their governments were decidedly opposed. The domestic life of the Slovak Republic was not without problems. As in other nations, there were also individuals in Slovakia �100 SLOVAKIA who were too radical, who began to complicate life by cooperating with the Nazis, whether out of national or personal motives. Vojtech Tuka and his group belonged to this radical wing. And in the cities and in the towns there were always egotistical and rough individuals of various backgrounds ready to serve anyone. The radicals pressured for the solution of the question of Slovakia's Jewish citizens. The President and the majority in the government were opposed to this . The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" reproached the Slovak State and the Church hierarchy in Slovakia for being guided by the encyclicals. The Nazis made the same reproach . The German envoy [Hans] Bernard sent a report to Berlin, dated 30 June 1940, indicating that Slovak legislation was based on Quadragesimo anno, and that "that in itself is against the interests of the Reich, just like the Jewish legislation which rejects the racial idea is against the interests of Germany." This brought about a negative reaction from [German Nazi leaders Heinrich] Himmler and [Martin] Bormann. When envoy Bernard was recalled to Berlin on 28 May 1940 and did not return to Bratislava, a feeling of uncertainty developed in Slovakia as to what would happen; people were counting with the worst. In order to keep the radical groups under control, President Tiso introduced an authoritarian system in January 1940, something for which the series reproached him derisively. According to him and to many others, it was the only way at the time for the President to keep radical centrifugal attempts within tolerable bounds, especially where Prime Minister Tuka and certain people in the Hlinka Guard were concerned. On 21 January 1940, in an address, the President spoke severely of [the need for] discipline . When Ribbentrop recalled the German envoy from Bratislava in May 1940 as a form of protest for the slowness on the part of the Slovak government in the introduction of [certain] measures, especially towards the Jews, the President argued for the need for order in the state. He sought to alleviate the suspicions on the German side with the words: "I personally guarantee the completely friendly attitude of Slovakia towards Germany .'' One can laugh at these words today, but at that time, when everything was at stake, when radical individuals presented the President to German officials as �SLOVAKIA 101 unreliable and wanted to reinforce [the position of] V. Tuka, the President did not have any other option than to defend the Slovak nation (Documents on German Foreign Policy, 371/208155). All of this was taking place at the time when Hitler began his major offensive against the West on 10 May 1940 - on 13 May, Holland capitulated, Belgium on 28 May and France on 22 June. In the middle of these events, President Tiso stated on 30 June 1940 at a meeting of Catholic university students in Presov: "We Catholics do not have to learn anything from anyone, we have our own system ... Catholicism and not Nazism has to penetrate all aspects of our life ... Our politics must be led by Catholicism. Any other politics would be gangster politics and the Slovak nation will not allow gangster politics because it knows where such politics lead ... Without Catholic morality there is no culture, no humanity. In spiritual needs, we Catholics have to be self-sufficient so that in these very needs we are not condemned to import foreign ideologies" (Slovak, 2 July 1940). At the time of Hitler's victories in the West, these were far too courageous words and they expressed a far too moderate style of politics . His enemies used them against him. It is under these circumstances and because of the tension between the moderate President and the radical V. Tuka that an invitation to come to Salzburg on 27 and 28 July July 1940 was made where the President was humiliated and where the power of Tuka grew, immediately after a meeting with Hitler. Upon his return from Salzburg, V. Tuka announced at a demonstration in Bratislava that "a new era of Slovak National Socialism had begun." The President, humiliated and scorned, seriously thought for the first time of resigning his office. Only after many entreaties did he change his intention. Among others, Laco Novomesky said to one of the deputies of the Slovak parliament : "For God's sake, do everything so that the President does not resign. This would mean the end of us all." It was only after the Salzburg defeat of the President and the strengthening of the position of Prime Minister Tuka that the latter was able to pass a stronger law for the solution of the Jewish question by the government. It is in this way that a free government was able to publish the so-called Jewish Code in September �102 SLOVAKIA 1940 in the form of a governmental decree, without the signature of the President. The Code was against all basic human and Christian principles. There remained only a small hope; in comparison with the anti-Jewish laws of Germany and states like Italy, France, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Holland, Denmark, Norway, saying nothing of states directly incorporated into the Reich like Austria, the protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and the Polish General Government, the Slovak Code had two elements that were different : the president of the Republic was provided with the right to grant administrative exceptions to this law to anyone (Paragraph X, Article 225) and secondly to put into effect all exceptions which he had previously granted (Article 256) . This was the only not unmeaningful dam, in the given situation of pressure and violence, against the torrent of injustice. And this was the reason why the President, upon the entreaties of many people, did not, for thesecond time, resign his office. On 7 October 1941, Catholic Bishops submitted to the President a memorandum of protest after the publication of the so-called Jewish Code. A similar memorandum was submitted to the President and to Parliament by the Association of Lutheran Pastors . On 12 March 1942, Catholic Bishops addressed another letter of protest to the government against the contemplated deportation of the Jews from Slovakia. At the session of the State Council on 23 March 1942, Jan Postenyi, together with J. Balko expressed a very critical and oppositional point of view against the contemplated deportation of Jewish citizens from Slovakia. Then came the interventions from the Vatican . When the first transports of Jewish citizens began to leave in March and April for Poland, Catholic newspapers published on 26 April 1942, on the demand of the bishops, an article defending the Jews. The deportations were considered by them to be an anticonstitutional and immoral act of collective punishment without a judicial sentence on guilt or innocence. At that time, no one knew that the condemned Jewish citizens were not leaving for work, but that they would be the victims of a diabolical liquidation in Hitler' s death camps. German officials considered the measures against the Jew s in Slovakia to be sluggish. In the telegram that envoy Ludin sent to �SLOVAKIA 103 Berlin, dated 26 June 1942, one reads: "The actual evacuation of the Jews from Slovakia has for the moment reached a dead point. Under ecclesiastical influence, and the initiative of individual officials, some 35,000 Jews received special dispensations according to which they must not be evacuated''. Dr. [Anton] Neumann, head of the President's office, had the responsibility for processing and acquiescing to the exceptions. According to him, the President granted 10,000 exceptions, which with immediate family members represented approximately some 35,000 people. In the matter of the Jewish citizens, the Church did not satisfy itself merely with the writing of memoranda and letters of protest. Dr. Kmet'ko was asked by the National Tribunal the following question: "Are you aware of the fact that through your diocesan office many exceptions for Jews were arranged?" Dr. Kmet'ko replied: "Yes, we did so through a certain professor of theology." Dr. [Jan] Zabkay asked: "Who was he?" The answer: "Dr. Ivan Murin." Dr. [Michal] Buzalka testified before the tribunal about similar demands for exceptions. In addition, Archbishop Kmet'ko said the following about Dr. Tiso in his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947: "It is a proven fact that as President he did not sign the publication of the Jewish Code ... I know that Jews said even to me that it is necessary that Tiso remain as President, because if he is not there, every Jew to the last one will perish ... " (Katolicke noviny, 1947). Adolf Eichmann, one of the greatest criminal actors in the persecution of the Jews, during his interrogation at his trial in Israel on 22 June 1960, as noted in the minutes, spoke the following words which did not simplify his position, rather damaged it: "Tiso . .. once even said: 'I am a Catholic priest and I do not want to have anything to do with it'." In the fall of 1942, one could read in the Reich party newsletter that the definitive liquidation of the Jews [was proceeding] "mit riicksichtloser Harte - with ruthless toughness. " At that time, not a single Jewish citizen left Slovakia for resettlement in Poland . Envoy Ludin reported from Bratislava to Berlin that the Jewish question in Slovakia was being solved "in the opposite direction" as the initiative for a proposition to change the Jewish Code shows. The bishops in Slovakia published a new document on 8 March 1943 - a pastoral letter on the Jewish question. The letter stated �104 SLOVAKIA that no one can be punished without the establishment of guilt. Guilt must be proven first in each individual case according to given legal norms. This letter was read at all religious celebrations by priests. Even Dr. Tiso read it in Banovce and he asked his chaplains to read it. In the first days of March 1943, Bishop Vojtassak received a report from Jewish refugees from Poland about what was happening with Slovak Jews - they were being killed shamefully and diabolically in gas chambers. Bishop Vojtassak immediately sent an urgent letter about this matter to the Minister of the Interior and a copy to the Papal Nuncio. The government discussed the matter at once and put an end to all further transports to Poland. When German officials refused the government's request to send a government delegation to Poland to see the actual situation on the spot, the transports were stopped permanently . The news of the criminal murder of the Jews in Poland in the 20th century, the century of civilization, sounded truly unbelievable. When [Dr. Gerhard] Riegner, representative of the Jewish World Congress, expressed for the first time in July 1942 the apprehension whether the deportation of Jews for work in Poland did not hide something worse, the American envoy in Switzerland, L. Harrison considered his memorandum as [spreading] "wild rumors ." When Riegner also turned to E. Benes in London, the latter considered his report to be untrue and did not recommend that it be published. Later, on 6 November 1942, Benes notified the Jewish World Congress that after examining the matter, [he had concluded that] "the Germans were not preparing a plan for the wholesale extermination of the Jews" (W. Laqueur, The Terrible Secret, London, 1980, p. 163). The solution of the Jewish question by the Slovak state is one of the worst stains that appeared at that time. Already the deportation of Jewish citizens with the initial aim of [using them for] work was against Christian morality because it was a collective punishment without the establishment of individual guilt. It is not possible to find the appropriate words of horror and condemnation for the criminal murder of these people which later followed in the gas chambers . �SLOVAKIA 105 As far as the guilt of the President or even of the Church in Slovakia is concerned in this matter, historians, after studying a multitude of facts, are far more objective today than were the authors of the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power.'' This series showed the worst brutality against the Jews along with pictures and movie clips of churches, masses, bishops and the religious ceremonies of the Church. In fact, the series even showed the terrible picture of a bulldozer piling together human bones . The authors did not say, however, that the bulldozer was neither Slovak nor Catholic. Pol Pot probably used similar bulldozers in Cambodia when he introduced his version of atheism and the new social order for which he liquidated physically up to two milion people. Several Jewish authors in the examination of the question of Jewish citizens in Slovakia are more impartial. H . Arendt, in her book Eichmann in Jerusalem, wrote that the attitude toward the Jewish population in the Slovak State "differed both in style and content from Hitler's racism. " According to her, the biggest reproach made to the Jews was not that they belonged to another race, but rather that they were rich, that representing 4% of the population, they owned 38% of the national wealth. When [high Nazi official Edmund] Weesenmayer came to Bratislava in December 1943 with a strict command from Hitler to continue the transports, according to H. Arendt, "Tiso did not agree to the deportations. " And when Weesenmayer reappeared in 1944 and demanded that the Jews be deported, "Tiso refused again" (H. Arendt, Eichmann in Jeru salem, New York, 1963, pp. 184-186.) In the report of the international conference of the Red Cross about its activities in the years 1939-1947, there was reference to the deportation of Jewish citizens from Slovakia, but it was also stated that "at the same time, a big part of the Jewish minority could stay in the country and at certain times, Slovakia was even considered as a relative haven for Jews from Poland . Those Jews who stayed in Slovakia were comparatively safe until the uprising ... at the end of August 1944" (XVI Conference internationale de la Croix Rouge, Stockholm, 1948, Vol. 1). Another rare peculiarity of Slovakia was the rabbinical institute in Nitra with a garden and courtyard where, with the knowledge of officials and the help of the bishop's office, Jewish students �106 SLOVAKIA studied theology throughout the existence of the Slovak State right up to the outbreak of the uprising . It was there that family members and acguaintances and Jewish refugees met (Vestn{k zidov. naboz. obci v CSSR, XXXI, March 1977, p. 6). It was in this way that many in the Slovak State, in particular Church workers, sought to follow the advice of the President who had said on 20 January 1940 to the radicals in a speech on the theme: "The Slovak nation must remain true to its traditions": "I know that in Slovakia, . .. 99% [of the population] stand behind the idea that our programme has to be a people's Slovakia and therefore not a Nazi Slovakia. There is no reason why we should change our colours ... We have our own Christian social programme and we will see it carried out." The next day, on 21 January 1941, Slovak published a letter from "a Slovak German from Bratislava" who wrote "German National Socialism, according to the statements of Reich Chancellor Hitler, was created in Germany for Germans and is not an article for export . . . Only political opportunists and those who want to flatter and thus achieve advancement are importing it to Slovakia" (Slovak, 21 January 1941). When the new German envoy H.E. Ludin visited the President after 30 January 1941 and advised him against counting on the defeat of Germany, Dr. Tiso replied: "This is the tragedy of my situation: I have the feeling that I have less and less the support of the representatives of the Reich ... It would, however, be intolerable for me to have to win this confidence with acts for which I would lose support in my nation . I would then rather give up any public activity" (Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1258/338145). Throughout, the televison series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not take into consideration any aspect of the brutal struggle against the wave of evil which flooded Europe in the worst war the world has known. Everything was lumped together in the series - politicians, the government, the bishops and the Church who, according to the series, all wanted to do evil and did evil . They were " clero-fascists" according to the series. This is not a term from historiography; its usage is political and as such, objective historians consider it useless. If Dr. Tiso shook hands with Hitler or with Ribbontrop, as the series showed on many occasions, �SLOVAKIA 107 he did so out of the necessity of his office. But this does not mean that in so doing he became a Nazi. When the President of Czechoslovakia shakes hands with officials from the Vatican or from the U.S.A., it does not mean that he becomes a believer or a capitalist. As a public official of the state, President Tiso had to meet even Nazis, he had to cover moderate acts with strong words. Even today, politicians speak somewhat differently and act differently. Yet in the shadow of the President and many members of the government, Slovak farmers plowed and sowed in peace, professors lectured, students studied, mothers cooked for their children, and poets and writers published books like never before. And all of these took place on an island around which the worst war raged . If it is the duty of politicians to protect their nation, who would have in such a desperate situation done better! Later I will refer to the evaluations by the opposition. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed life in the Slovak State to be directed by traitors to the nation, criminals who exploited and surrendered their country to the Germans and sent their people to their death, all with the blessing of high officials and the Church. In fact, there was not one execution in the Slovak State because the President did not sign even one death warrant. This was not self-evident - during this cruel war, in the years 1939-45, even in Switzerland thirty condemned people were executed for threatening the state economically, militarily or politically (Nachrichtenzentrum Schweiz, Franefeld n. Stuttgart, 1972, p. 24). The series also attacked the supposed connection between the bishops and clergy and the Nazis and the fact that in the Catholic university residence "Svoradov" they were educating young intellectuals to become Nazis. In fact, in the report of the German envoy in Bratislava to Berlin in February 1943, one reads; "the bastion ... of anti-German feeling is the Catholic student residence Svoradov ... "There was also a comment about the Jesuits in the report: "It is not necessary to underline that the position of the Jesuits is absolutely anti-German ... " Bishop Buzalka, head of the Catholic Action, is also mentioned as one "whose anti-German feeling is known" (Slovenske Ndrodne Povstanie, Dokumenty, [no. 3], Bratislava, 1965, p. 52ff. Hereafter Dokumenty). In contemporary �108 SLOVAKIA terminology, the term ''anti-German'' evidently meant '' antiN azi". One can also see from the same report to Berlin how closely thinking in Slovakia was being followed. In annex no. 11, there was for example a summary of quotations from Slovak Catholic and Lutheran journals "which seemed to the Nazis to be in conflict with Nazi ideology" (Dokumenty, [no. 3], p. 45 and underlined in the original). If the television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed and with comments described after fifty years the Slovak State as having been evil and nothing else but evil, contemporary opposition [groups] saw matters much more soberly. In a report to Czechoslovak circles in London dated 5 March 1943 from [Viliam] Radakovfc in Istanbul, we read: "The government is still divided into two groups .. . The Tiso faction, to whom it seems that the interests of the Slovak people do matter after all, has a different tactic . It gives to the Germans only what it must and is governed by the motto: "Let the wolf eat enough and the lamb will survive" ... On the basis of available evidence, one can say in general, that even though not much, the Tiso faction dominates anyway" (Dokumenty, [no . 5], p .61). In a report sent at the end of 1943 to Czechoslovak circles in London, Milos Ruppeldt, a member of one of the opposition groups, studying in Madrid, wrote: "Members of Svoradov are trying to be in favor of the state and would like to keep at any cost full state independence. They agree with the others only in their opposition to the Germans ... It is a generation with a new [national] consciousness and they come principally from rural Catholic families .. . Politically they try to be tolerant toward Slovaks of other political persuasions, as well as towards the Czechs . .. Today, more than 300 university students study abroad among whom only a small percentage is recruited from this group " (Dokumenty, [no. 55], p. 183). Some years ago, historians had already concluded about the Slovak Republic that " the regime was moderate within the framework of its type ... liberal towards those who had the luck of being born in a Slovak or German as well as a Christian family." It represented 95.66% of the population (L. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava, 1968, p. 211). S. Falt'an wrote: "A specific �SLOVAKIA 109 Slovak characteristic was that on the one hand Communists were imprisoned and tortured but after being charged they were released and let free. And they were even able to stay in economic and state institutions after their release" (Slovenskd otdzka v Ceskoslovensku, Bratislava, 1968, p. 114). In intelligence reports from Istanbul from September 1944 for Czechoslovak circles in London, one reads that according to the judgment of Laco Novomesky [which he expressed] in 1944 "the last five years were not years of stagnation either in culture or in the economy in Slovakia. The Slovaks educated a solid stratum of the intelligentsia" (Dokumenty, [no. 260], p . 457). In the above-mentioned report for Czechoslovak circles in London from the end of 1943, M. Ruppeldt writes the following in conclusion: "In many respects, in the last five years, Slovakia moved ahead. Today it is in a very anti-German mood ... The Slovak government still has a strong enough position to resist the Germans . It is thanks to this position, for example, that after [Field Marshal Wilhelm] Keitel's visit there was no general mobilization, which is what the visit was all about . .. Ruling circles ... follow a policy of utilitarian nationalism ... It cannot be denied that under the influence of today's favorable economic situation in Slovakia the conviction reigns in broad strata [of the population] that even after the war Slovakia would be able to survive independently. The idea of a Czechoslovak nation will hardly find any ground even among the former representatives of this idea among us. It would be dangerous to want all of a sudden by legislative action to carry out something against which current developments and circumstances have worked" (Dokumenty, [no . 55], p . 186). According to the same report: " literature and art have not shown a visible decline. Theatre seems to have the greatest difficulties. In drama and opera there are beautiful translations by Razusova-Martakova. New plays: Jdnosz'k . .. Tanec nad placom, Stodola's piece Mravci a cvrckovia ... Rysul' a has put out nice novels ... Dominik Tatarka had success with his llzkosti hl'adania, new editions of old works are being published (Hronsky, Urban, Figuli, Razus) ... Closet pacifists ... come forward in literary journals (Eldn, Tvorba, Pohl'ady). Among them are Milos Krno, Stiavnicky, Prochazka. From the older generation, one hears more often today from Smrek, Lukac, Kostra . .. In music, Suchon, young Cikker ... also Kar- �110 SLOVAKIA dos and Mayzes have noticeable success" (Dokumenty, [no. 55], p . 182). Among active artists during the Slovak State one finds also Martin Benka. He returned to [Turciansky Svaty] Martin from Prague in 1939. During the years 1940-41, he directed the art and drawing section of the SVST in Bratislava and presided over the Association of Slovak Creative Artists. Many other poets also published their literary works during the Slovak State: Jan Ponican published in 1941 his composition Divny Janka, in 1943 Senna medzi. Laco Novomesky published in 1939 his collection Sviity za dedinou, in the years 1940-41 he published in Elan a cycle of poems which came out later under the title Pasovanou ceruskou. Jan Kostra published the collections Moja rodna, Ozubeny cas, Vsetko je dobre tak, Puknuta vaza, A ve Eva, Vietor nad cestou, and all of this in the years 1939-43. Others who published were I'.,udo Ondrejov, Margita Figuli. Andrej Plavka published in 1941 his novel Obratenie Pavla and in 1942 the collection Tri pruty Liptova . In 1942, Frantisek Hecko published the collection Na prave poludnie. Also active poetically was Pavol Horov - he published Nioba, nasa matka and Zradne vody spodne (1941, 1942) and then in 1944 Nav raty. All of the surrealists also published during the Slovak State - V. Reisel, J. Lenka, Stefan Zary, Jan Rak, Pavel Buncak, Jan Brezina, Ivan Kupec . Some of their collective works were also published. Among prose writers, D. Tatarka and others published their works . Jan Smrek edited Elan for which A. Matuska, M. Povazan M . Charvat and others wrote essays . If the series ' ' The Cross in the Snares of Power'' described the life of the nation in the Slovak State as life under the leadership of criminals who with the help of the Church despoiled everything and took the nation to the bottom, historical documents speak otherwise. In the collection of documents that was published in 1984 one also finds the " Report of the V illegal Central Committee of the CPS [Communist Party of Slovakia] on developments in Slovakia after 6 October 1938 which Karol Bacilek brought to Moscow for the information of the Moscow leadership of the CPCS for discussion." It was written on 7 July 1944 and we find in it among other things: "Today, there are enough goods in Slovakia, the supply of food is generally good and compared to other lands �SLOVAKIA 111 (the Czech Lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is the best in Slovakia, and this also includes the level of salaries as well as the possibility of purchasing goods. The wages of employees and workers were raised many times, factories have many supply privileges and one cannot even speak of a shortage of basic consumer goods. The Slovak crown is the best currency in commercial Europe and enjoys at home for the moment complete confidence. People are saving money and there is no move to a barter system such as one observes in surrounding countries ... The prices of essential goods on the black market are on average 20% more than official prices, and are often at the official level whereas for example in the Czech Lands they are 100-200% higher ... Slovak industry in certain favorable circumstances .. . was greatly modernized ... Czech currency is completely ruined whereas Slovak currency is properly holding its own" (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944, Bratislava 1984, Vol. III, Document 228, p. 338). When the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' reached the outbreak of the uprising, it raised the tone of the organ music and the frequency of pictures with crosses, altars, statues and religious offices. The announcer said that the entire Church hierarchy was tied to the clero-fascist state and that all efforts of cooperation with the bishops for the beginning of the struggle against Fascism failed. It was ironically stated that Bishop [Andrej] Skrabik refused to cooperate because he was interested in the salvation of souls. The irony was out of place . During the war years, the bishops rarely dealt with politics, only when it was inevitable. The absolute majority of priests were dedicated to their spiritual activities - they took care of churches, celebrated religious offices, baptized, performed marriage ceremonies and funerals, prepared their sermons and heard confessions, taught religion in schools, offered spiritual renewal, retreats and popular missions . Slovak bishops protested against the breaking of laws and rights in the same way bishops are doing today in South Africa and elsewhere; it was not their vocation to take up arms, not anymore than it is that of the bishops of Africa. If they were against Nazism and its nee-paganism and against the introduction of its methods and ideas in the Slovak Republic, they did so with the spoken word; it was not their voca- �112 SLOVAKIA tion to be in revolt against their Republic. Even later in the re-created CSR they had reservations against many things but they never advocated violent opposition because it does not concur with their vocation. They could not join the uprising because at the beginning it was unclear, it was not known who was behind it and what goals it was following. The main leaders of the opposition did not know of its outbreak and it started with various political aims. Dr. Gustav Husak wrote in his report of 5 February 1945 to the leadership of the CPCS: "The uprising did not break out at a favorable time for us, its start was forced upon us by the Germans and the partizans" (Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 576] p. 975). In the documentation, the following comment is added to the orders of the high command of the army of 31 August 1944 and signed by General [Rudolf] Viest: "Naturally Viest was not in [Banska] Bystrica ... his name was signed at headquarters so the order would have greater weight" ( Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 206] p. 381 [note 4]). The motives of the leading personalities and the average person were different. Some were saying that Slovakia had been attacked by German and Hungarian soldiers (Dokumenty, [nos 188, 189] pp. 363-364). One reads in the report of Dr. Husak: "Many soldiers announced that they would not fight for the CSR and many Communists and others demanded the annexation [of Slovakia] to the USSR .. . In London there was not a word about the Slovak nation" (Dokumenty, [no. 576] p. 951). General Viest spoke of the restoration of the CSR because: "the Czech worker and the Czech craftsman are known in the world for their industry ... [and] capabilities whereas the Slovaks . .. are a little primitive ... hardworking agricultural nation . . . the top intellectual stratum in Slovakia is more than thin ... they have to send their sons to study abroad . .. However, the Slovak peasant has no great inclination for this . . . " For this reason General Viest opposed the Slovak State (Dokumenty, no . 587, pp. 1101-2). On the other hand, in Dr. Husak's report of 5 February 1945 to Moscow after the uprising we read: "The Slovak nation fought simultaneously against Hitler, Tiso and Benes and secured the status of an independent nation on whose behalf no one else will ever be able to speak" (Dokumenty, [no. 576] p. 976). One reads in the report of 14 December 1944 about the situation during the uprising by Deputy V. Uhlir upon his return from a trip as member �SLOVAKIA 113 of a governmental delegation to the USSR and Slovakia: "The officer corps .. . was not homogeneous .. . it did not do any good that many officers tried to get to rear units and to army offices . . . The men did not have the appropriate training and there existed among them such helplessness and disunity about the ultimate aims of the struggle . . . one found the Czechoslovak, the Communist and the independent Slovak orientation" (Dokumenty, no. 563, p. 877). The SNU (Slovak National Uprising) almost brought about a general opposition in Slovakia against the ideology and the inhuman ways of Nazism and it is in this way that it is known in the world. The authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" were guilty of an irreparable error in showing the whole uprising to national and world opinion as an attack against the Church and today's faithful. It will be very difficult to repair this error. The faithful at home were horrified by it and the rest of the world will hardly be cheered up by this one-sidedness. The historical problems of Slovakia are also being studied in foreign institutions and according to the rigorous principles of scientific work. The television series put the SNU in the inappropriate sphere of atheistic propaganda and in this way damaged many things in Slovakia and abroad. It compels the faithful to defend themselves, to study situations and obstinately to seek the truth. It was pathetic how the series played with pictures and film cuttings, how it showed the shootings, dead bodies, burned homes and how it mixed all of this with film shots of churches, masses, crucifixes and bishops and the comments of the commentator: "see how far clerofascism under the priest president took things. '' The peak of tendentiousness was reached with the descriptions of the trials of the SUHG [Special Units of the Hlinka Guard]. Everything was pointed against the Church "against priests who educate murderers " and so forth. The unspoken claim which came out of all this is that "priests" were primarily responsible for nearly all of the murders during the period September-November 1944, that they were responsible for all the destruction and suffering because "they were bringing up murderers. " The producers constantly illustrated this view and almost imposed it [upon viewers] with frequent pictures of altars and religious offices. In their tenden- �114 SLOVAKIA tiousness, the authors eliminated any sense of moderation and it will be very difficult for them to repair this error. Every lost life of those times was and remains an irreparable tragedy and every destroyed human habitation was also a tragedy. But to attribute this as a fault of churches, altars, bishops and the Church is not historical and unfair. One has to keep in mind that until August 1944 no one was executed in Slovakia and that no life was taken violently. Churches, crosses, masses and bishops had nothing in common with the military operations in whose midst Slovakia found herself suddenly after August 1944. Armed opposition to Hitler counted on battles and their consequences. The horrible logic of war applied to the uprising. In this imposed logic of war, the high command of the German Army immediately reacted as did the high command of the uprising as soon as the uprising broke out. According to the documentation, the sender "Za slovensku slobodu" [For Slovak freedom] on 30 August 1944 was announcing: "Blowing up bridges, tunnels, destroy railways, telephone and telegraph lines, destroy factories and other strategic objects, kill Germans" (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944, Bratislava, 1984, p. 372) . In an operational command, General Viest on 24 October 1944 decreed: "I warn most strongly that the destruction of communications must be done very thoroughly" (Dokumenty, no. 486, p. 754). In the comprehensive report of 1 December 1944 about the combat activities of the partizan units one reads: "Blown up: 24 railway bridges, 33 road bridges ... 46 locomotives destroyed, 548 wagons, 1 tunnel ... 273 cars and tractors, 2 railway yards, 5 mines, the locomotive depot and train station in Poltar, 2 electrical generators" (Dokumenty, no. 557, p. 759). Such was the inexorable logic of war. The television series aimed it all at the Church. The pictures of dead bodies and graves were particularly painful, alternating again and again with religious symbols, altars and crosses. The dead were, however, the horrible consequence of a horrible war which also reached Slovakia! If until August 1944 there were no violent deaths in Slovakia, then they appeared in great numbers on both sides. When I open [the book] Dejiny, I can read: "In the last two weeks of August, the partizans intensified their activities to such a degree that open partizan welfare broke out in Slovakia. The partizans attacked communication lines, depots of �SLOVAKIA 115 materials, they liquidated the Hitlerites and their collaborators" (Slovensko, Dejiny, Bratislava, 1971, p. 768 - hereafter Dejiny), Then one reads about actions in Turany, Skalka, Harmanec, Vrutky. According to the text: "The partizans liquidated a group of German field gendarmes ... Near Strecno, they destroyed a German automobile convoy ... In Brezno, they liquidated Slamen, Deputy for the HSPP, with a group of people ... They captured in [Turciansky Svaty] Martin a German military mission from an international rapid train ... on the next day, during an attempt at resistance, they shot [the members of] the mission ... Ludin announced that the development of partizan warfare in Slovakia did not allow the Germans to wait anymore, that it was inevitable to bring in the army' (Dejiny, p. 770). Those were wartime events and the series could have presented them as such - without masses, without crosses, without the presence of Slovak bishops. Faced with the still powerful military machine of Hitler, even Slovak officials were almost completely powerless. The German Army did not tolerate opposition behind its lines and attacked . A quarter of a century later an historian wrote about this situation: " From a historical perspective, it is clear that Tiso did not bring the Germans into Slovakia, indeed the German forces would have invaded us and attacked the uprising in any event" (E. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava 1968, p. 248). The television series did not help the reputation of the SNU by surrounding it with pictures of statues, churches, altars and with the sounds of organs and in the name of aggressive atheism directing it almost exclusively against the Church and the faithful. This could only provoke exasperation among the faithful. And among historians and others, definite disagreement. It was a military affair and it should have been shown as such. The battles were then merciless on both sides, people died from shots on both sides, graves appeared in Sklene and Nemecka Lupca, and later in other places. It was pitiful, however, when the series showed the unveiling of the face of a corpse with the comment: "this is how far the priest president went." If German soldiers in this warlike situation were indiscriminately hard, and they were, the soldiers of the uprising defended themselves also with toughness. The Church as such had no role in this. Anyone who �116 SLOVAKIA knows the situation from his own experience or knows about it from documents does not involve the Church in these actions and counter-actions. By then, the law of war was at work. On 8 December 1944, the high command of the partizan movement published Order no. 30 whose text reads as follows: "A merciless fight with the traitors among the population and the partizans, soldiers and officers who went to serve the German occupants this is the most important task of the offensive actions of the units. Liquidate all of these enemies mercilessly and spread the news about this in all the areas from where they come" (Dokumenty, no. 338, p. 860). The idea of opposition to Nazism, like every great idea, was carried out by people. Among them, besides known personalities, there were average people, even very simple people. The latter created for the uprising many problems and worries . However painful it is, the misuse of the SNU by the television series against the Church requires the quoting of further passages from the very same Order no. 30: "In many villages, mountains and forests there is an important multitude of dispersed units and groups of partizans, soldiers and officers ... The majority of them ... are simply waiting ... The others, who call themselves "partizans" terrorize the population". Similarly in the report of Deputy Uhlir for London of 14 December 1944 we read: "The commander of the staff of Soviet partizans, Colonel [A.N.] Asmolov, described to us the situation in the partizan movement ... from his partizan brigades, three are the best . .. Even among the partizans there were cases of unlawful actions, so that three partizans had to be publicly executed for murder and pillage ... There were among the partizans such individuals who did not have anything in common with the partizan movement. The population was clearly afraid of some of these elements" (Dokum enty, no. 563, p. 890). The attempt to place the SNU in the service of an anti-religious struggle and against the Church, in the way done by the authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power, " is to serve badly the nation, and to evaluate wrongly proper sacrifices and personal heroism and will force historians and believers as well to study these questions thoroughly, directly from sources and not from the superficial propaganda of atheism . �SLOVAKIA 117 The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' tried finally to attack the Catholic Church in Slovakia with a description of the trials of the so-called Special Units of the HG [Hlinka Guard] which took place in Bratislava and Banska Bystrica in 1958 and in all of which a priest was also tried. The priest A.H. had been invited on Christmas Eve to a group in the HG and spoke to them about Christmas. Some of the accused claimed that "he had encouraged them to kill and that later in the confessional they easily obtained absolution with five Our Fathers .'' The priest denied this strongly before the court. The accused almost tried to outdo each other with their confessions. However, the fourth one directly accused them of "absolutely not speaking the truth." They had deprived far more people of their life; he had made a mistake. According to the series, many accused spoke before the court primarily of priests. In fact, one of them with raised voice and gestures said: "My mother did not bring me up as a murderer, the priests did!" This was meant to be proof of how priests and the Church were against the uprising and how they preached murder. This reminds one of the trials from the early fifties when the accused almost raced to confess. It seemed from the testimony that the Church had honored the uprising. This was in 1958, when Dr. Husak, one of the leaders of the uprising, was still in jail while other leaders, L. Novomesky and D. Oka.Ii, had returned from jail shortly before. Other leaders of the uprising like R. Slansky, Major [Viliam] Zingor and companions, [Jozef] Trojan and companions had been condemned to death six years earlier and General L. Svoboda, the main leader in the liberation struggle, who had been until 1948 Minister of National Defence, had lost his rank and worked during the years 1952-55 as an accountant on a collective farm. After 1960, when in jail in Valdice, I met many of those condemned in the trials of the SUHG, including the two priests, the situation became clear. The condemned indicated that as a result of entreaties and threats they had signed confessions and had repeated them before the court. When this did not alleviate matters for them, and they were still given severe sentences, some recanted their confessions before the Supreme Court, but, by then, no one was listening to them. In jail, many of them apologized to the two priests who had been falsely condemned and jailed. �118 SLOVAKIA After the pictures of the courtroom of the trials of the SUHG, there were pictures of shootings, corpses and graves, pictures of a little church on a mountain top, then sculptures of a church interior and a cross which the producers had presented with the head upside down. Following all of this was the crudest blasphemy of the series: there was no face or body, but a hand holding in two fingers a host and a voice declaring pathetically: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." It is in this way that murders were connected with holy masses, the most holy of mysteries for Christians. It is at this point that the seventeen yearold student exclaimed: "Satanic Verses the Slovak way ... " Although the series was entitled ''a documentary'', this was clearly not a document, but theatre. The hand held a small host whereas a priest holds a big one. Besides in 1958, no priest celebrated mass in Slovak but in Latin, [saying] "Ecce Agnus Dei . . . "Long after 1963, after the [Vatican] Council, Slovak was used in the liturgy. The scene was therefore filmed as theatre for the purpose of ridicule .. . As far as Church circles are concerned, including the President, there is historical evidence that they were not on the side of Hitler and against the Slovak people in the uprising; rather, they tried to help the unfortunate wherever they could. Before the National Tribunal in Bratislava on 6 January 1947 Dr. [Igor] Daxner said to Archbishop Kmet'ko: "you said something about a certain German general who was also accompanied by Tiso. This German general demanded that a pastoral letter against Communism be published." Dr. Kmet'ko replied: "Yes, Tiso did indeed come with this German general and I found it very surprising that when the general made the request, Tiso sat beside him and did not say a word, he simply kept quiet" (Katolfcke noviny, spring 1947) . The attitude of the President toward the partizans was also made clear before the National Tribunal in additional testimony as published in the daily Slaboda. The President of the court, Dr. Daxner, asked the witness, Dr. K. Murin, personal secretary of the President: "Were you in Banska Bystrica with the President after the uprising?" Dr. Murin replied: "I was." Dr. Daxner asked: "Did Dr. Tiso free the partizans or did he intervene on their behalf?" Dr. Murin replied: "when we were on our way to the archbishop's �SLOVAKIA 119 palace, at that moment a column of our own arrested soldiers marched by. Dr. Tiso went among them, spoke with them and told them that he would do everything for them that was within his power. The Germans were shocked that he was speaking with partizans. In the evening, Dr. Tiso, Dr. Jan Durcansky and a German superior officer were together and there I heard with my own ears Dr. Tiso, in the presence of Dr. Durcansky, ask the German officer to send these boys back to Slovakia and to set them free. The Germans agreed and Durcansky was to negotiate with them" (Slaboda, 28 January 1947). There are historical documents which show that upon the request of the President, the Germans began to send some deported Slovaks back from the Reich. In fact, at the beginning of December 1944 Tiso wrote a personal letter to Hitler and complained that German officials were not respecting the financial agreements concluded and were using public and private Slovak property to such an extent '' that is not acceptable for my nation and intolerable for me and my government." Himmler reacted to this letter: " . .. effrontery. There is no other word for it ... " (Slovenske narodne povstanie. Nemci a Slovensko 1944. Dokumenty, Bratislava 1970, p. 619, doc. 223, p. 450, doc. 233, pp . 474-5) Z. Fierlinger reported in a dispatch to London dated 25 November 1944: "The Bratislava government will forgive all soldiers from the former Slovak army who return" ... (Slovenkse Narodne Povstanie. Dokumenty, Bratislava 1965, [no. 552] p. 849). And in his report to London, Dr. J. Kopecky was reporting as early as 25 September 1944 from Geneva: "The Germans disarmed everywhere where the Slovak army was garrisoned except the units in barracks in the centre of town in Nitra and Trencin. Everywhere the Gestapo began immediately arresting and deporting Jews who were still free. Tiso was the first to intervene on their behalf and received assurances that although they would be brought together, they would not be taken from the territory of Slovakia. The Jews from Nitra were ... taken in the direction of the city of Sered'. Archbishop Kmet'ko tried to intervene with the commander of the German garrison who told him that he could do nothing against the Gestapo. Kmet'ko went to the Gestapo who told him that they were carrying out orders and that nothing could be changed. The �120 SLOVAKIA Jewish Central Agency continues to be active m Bratislava" (Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 578] p. 578). The possibilities of those who wanted to come to the help of our people, of soldiers, of partizans and of Jewish citizens in these terrible weeks were accordingly very limited. Still there was certainly an attempt also on the part of the Church to help . Yet the hardness on one side and the impotence to help on the other were at times far too great. And thus it happened that during the uprising, Nazi officials in Rufomberok took from the Jesuits, about whom it was later written that they had in those times a great deal of influence, the convert Tomas Munka directly from the novitiate, who after his secondary studies had entered the Society of Jesus, and sent him, together with his parents and younger brother, to Germany where they all perished . The television series ' 'The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' simplified historical facts and distorted many of them. It saw the SNU only within the context of its own struggle against the Church and the faithful, thus placing it in a false light, and as a result badly served our mutual coexistence in the present and in the future. According to the series, everything in the Slovak State was evil, everything was criminal and the fault was the Church' s. This is an untrue simplification. Serious participants in the opposition and in the struggle saw the situation otherwise at that time . In the report of the V illegal leadership of the CPS dated 7 July 1944, "About the developments in Slovakia after 6 October 1838," which K. Smidke took to Moscow, the following was written about the situation in the Slovak State : "Emigration, in particular that in London, is either badly informed about the situation or else is deliberately misinterpreting facts. The fact is that this state has independence and it has the kind of independence that is possible for a small nation and in time of war ... Internal affairs are handled only by the regime itself. The economy is taken care of by the [Slovak] people. Legislation, schools and so forth are in the hands of the [Slovak] people . German influence is great, but not so great for independence to be a stupid mask . For example, in less than five rears, the Gestapo did not arrest even one Slovak citizen. Viliam Siroky, who was taken from prison in Bratislava to Brno for crossexamination, was sent back although the Germans wanted badly �SLOVAKIA 121 to get rid of him there. German pressure, which is to be found at the level of inter-state relations, whether political or economic, does not touch the average citizen on the street, in public life . Hitler is still respecting [Slovak] independence and in the course of the past year, the Germans from the Reich have behaved especially politely. If this state were of another orientation and governed by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, then from the Slovak point of view there would be nothing to say against it. It comes therefore as no surprise that honest-thinking people here in Slovakia entertain the idea of retaining the state after the existing regime is replaced and the state is given a new social content. We say this for the sake of a complete report. London, which attacks the state and its independence, thinking that in this way it is attacking the regime, is in fact missing its target . The kind of state certain people wish to live in is a matter of one's strong opinion and of the wish of the people; however, the form of the state, the land and the language - and the political regime are two different things. This relative independence Slovakia enjoys has today an overwhelming importance for all levels of the liberation struggle, for the preparations and the leadership of the struggle. This is true not only for Slovakia, but also for the Czech Lands, as will be seen when it will be possible to speak openly about certain matters. It is not reasonable to underestimate (as London does) the desire of statehood of a small nation even if it is obtained through a politically stupid regime and at a time when other nations are losing their independence. It insults national pride." (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944. Dokumenty, Vol. 3, Bratislava 1984, doc. 228, pp. 340-341). There is another historical document about the conversation Lutheran Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt had with a British diplomat. It is found in the diplomatic dispatch of British Consul J.A. Grant, dated 18 June 1947, numbered 25. 5.1/7-44 and addressed to the British Foreign Secretary. The conversation took place two months after the execution of Dr. J. Tiso. The essential passage goes as follows: "Sir, I had a talk with the Lutheran Bishop Ruppeldt yesterday ... As you know Ruppeldt is a man of strong Slovak feeling and emphatic opinions: but he is well informed and has no small influence and I think you may like to know what he told me . He �122 SLOVAKIA considers the execution of Tiso as a political blunder of the first order ... The execution has strengthened the barriers between [ . . . ] Slovaks and Czechs . . . Bishop Ruppeldt said that he tried for two hours to explain this to Dr. Benes before the execution, and that his colleague of Liptovsky Mikulas had made a similar effort . . . He said that Tiso' s defence was similar to that of Marshal Petain's, and with good grounds. The Slovak people were undoubtedly saved by the establishment of the Slovak State from partition between Germany, Hungary and Poland; and until the Rising Slovakia, puppet state or not, was indeed an oasis of rest and plenty in a troubled Europe. Tiso had been blamed for not associating himself with the Rising: but if he had the Germans would assuredly have laid waste the country, massacred the people and destroyed Slovakia ... Tiso' s political course still kept Slovakia intact .. . The Bishop also pointed out that under Tiso' s regime, not a single sentence of capital punishment was carried out. I report these opinions for what they may be worth. Ruppeldt has been described to me as the "Niemoller of Slovakia" and was himself, a you know, imprisoned under the Slovak State. His views might easily be so much harsher that I am inclined to listen to what he says . . . " [Michael] Cardinal [von] Faulhaber, one of the greatest oppponents of Nazism in Germany, in a letter dated 2 November 1951 wrote that even if Dr. Tiso had been in Hitler's sphere of influence and in contact with him out of political and contemporary necessity, "he kept his independence in his discussions with Hitler and never lowered himself to be Hitler's lackey". The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" took the acount beyond 1948, in fact until 1958. In the subsequent discussion, four of its participants (0. Danyi, J. Celko, J. Siles and L. Dupkala) spoke of the present - of Catholic Action, of the illegal structures of the Church in Slovakia in which they say "clero-fascism" is still surviving. Many practicing believers had already been described as "the posthumous children of elem-fascism" by these same authors. This expression is strange. I was fifteen years old when the Slovak State was proclaimed. Today's believers who are fifty were hardly ten weeks old on 14 March 1939. And tens of thousands of young believers can hardly be posthumous children when they hardly �SLOVAKIA 123 know anything about those past events. The series was evidently interested only in one thing - today's Church in Slovakia and the awakening of faith in the Church among the young generation. This took the authors down a blind alley where, in many instances, they confused history with fantasy . The aim was clear - to create pressure on today's believers, to drive into them the idea that the Church was the source of all evil in Slovakia - and that, for this reason, the faithful should keep quiet. According to the series, Pope Pius XII supported Fascism in Slovakia by elevating Dr. Kmet'ko to the rank of archbishop. The faithful have thought and think otherwise: "We did not have a Slovak archbishop for centuries because someone did not wish us to have one and we do not have one even today, but Pius XII gave us one then." Elsewhere, according to the series, "the crowning achievement of all reactionary activities" was realized by the Vatican in 1949 when it supposedly excommunicated "all those who supported the government of the people's democracy ." In actual fact, in 1949 the Vatican excommunicated the members of the so-called schismatic Catholic Action, a political movement that fell apart shortly thereafter. And it excommunicated those believers who joined atheistic organizations. Later, these very organizations forbade their members from belonging to the Church and from taking part in religious offices. This is how matters were settled. The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" wanted to explain events that took place fifty years ago. It explained them badly, in the same way as those events that are taking place right before our eyes are often explained. It called Slovak Catholics "clerofascists" and indicated that this was the reason why the Church lost her seminaries, schools, journals and religious orders and even the Greek Catholics. In the Czech Lands, however, there were no " elem-fascists" and the Church also lost everything. Bishops Trochta and Zela went from German concentration camps into new jails together with the Slovak Bishops Vojtassak, Gojdic, Hopko, Buzalka and Barnas. The then Czech Bishops Hlouch and Skoupy and Archbishop Beran were interned for a number of years or else confined together with the Slovak Bishops Dr. Pobozny, Necsey and Lazik. This evidently did not concern elem-fascism. This concerned atheism and the question of justice and freedom. Such an �124 SLOVAKIA honest man and writer as Vaclav Havel and his friends did not have anything to do with " elem-fascism" and yet they still ended up twice in jail. Some people put [in the same group of enemies of socialism, Catholics, other Christians, non-Christians and defenders of socialism.] In the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power,'' six to seven people insulted in six programs of thirty minutes each hundreds of thousands of believers in Slovakia. According to the authors of the discussion, half of the population of Slovakia is Catholic. Even this would be enough to ask the serious question whether it makes sense to insult half the population for three hours on state television. According to the statistics of the journal Ateizmus (5/88) which is published by the authors of the series, there is above average religiosity in 11 districts in Slovakia. It is definitely above average in a further 14 districts - baptisms account for 78%, Church marriages for 58% and Church funerals for 85%. Very above average religiosity is found in a further 12 districts - they have 86% baptisms, 84% Church marriages, 92% Church funerals. Accordingly, the authors of the series insulted more than 50% of the population of Slovakia who produce conscientiously bread, meat, milk, vegetable and fruits for the villages, and again clothing and footwear in the cities and build us apartments. The Church has been in Slovakia for 1100 years and survived many a historical catastrophe. May God allow that she will live another thousand years. It is a pity that such a struggle against her and the faithful is connected with the name of the CSSR. Today in the world, the idea of the cooperation of all peoples in the spirit of toleration, the idea of mutual faith and a common home is gaining ground. Even in Slovakia and in the CSSR there is a need for cooperation among all inhabitants - Catholics with Lutherans, Christians with non-Christians, Slovaks w ith Czechs, all together with our neighbours. In this country, and especially in Slovakia, Catholics and the Church were oppressed again and again for many years. Some dioceses in Slovakia, in the Czech Lands and in Moravia were without a bishop for 30 years, some for 38 years, something which has no analogy in history and nowhere else in the world today. In the Czech Lands, Charter 77 and the CDUP [Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Persecuted] have in �SLOVAKIA 125 the past few years openly defended the Catholic Church and the faithful for which they have earned sincere thanks. In 1988, the faithful of other Christian Churches in the Czech Lands defended Catholics and the Catholic Church in this Republic in letters to the government, for which they have also earned sincere thanks. Catholics and the Catholic Church were also defended by socialist thinkers whom the faithful also thank sincerely. A solidarity was born which augurs well for the future. All those who opposed Slovak Catholicism rendered and continue to render a bad service to the nation and the Republic. They undermine their own common home as their predecessors had already done. They attack the Church and the believers, while, after many years, believers who are theoretically equal to non-believers do not have the opportunity to answer and to defend themselves. K.M. Kharchev, Director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR, has written that many prejudices have to be shed in the effort to obtain true freedom of conscience for all citizens. According to him, "this touches positively the feelings of believers and atheists" (Tyzdenn{k aktualit 11/88, pp. 4-8). The faithful in Slovakia read such words only with quiet envy. Or is it with hope? In the past forty years, we have had many affirmations and opinions which we later retracted, many condemnations which we had to overturn with rehabilitations. We had many so-called "important people" whose glory died and who today are not remembered. The members of the Institute for Scientific Atheism over the years presented us believers as suspicious citizens. And this still goes on. A recent example is the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power.'' However, the faithful still live here, and more and more young people who are looking for the truth are joining the Church . On top of all the words and pictures in the series, which were glued together without any regard for the truth, for true history and for the future of the nation, I want to quote the words of the poet: " Who will save my soul from the avalanche of people's words? From afar they seem like a xylophone, from close they are only tin bells. They are like wild waters, which produce only their howling noise. Today they are the cradle of truth, tomorrow its grave. They reach us with their hands - only God can seize our soul. They fill us with wine changed into vinegar, but the soul requires truth and eternity . . . �126 SLOVAKIA It is becoming clearer to me that everything human built without love is exposed to destruction. Where a garden blooms today, tomorrow it is a wilderness. And where people work in the morning, destruction thunders at night .... " With these thoughts, I became even more deeply aware what the Church, which educated us for a thousand years, means for the faithful. It has prayers which hear the fields and the forests. It knows how to bless water and bread. And while my generation will disappear like sand into nothingness, the Church towers like a peak into eternity. She embraces nations and continents and her breath blows through all generations. The measure of her faithfulness is not human faithfulness and the measures of her years known no autumn. Everything that she does not change is put aside by death . . . she forgives even enemies, she is willing to serve them and to heal wounds . The Church is the way of all of our ways and along these roads, people have been walking to God for thousands of years. This is why I live in her, this is why I defend her and this is why I wrote this long letter. Respectfully, J. Ch. Karee, Bratislava, 7 April 1989 Translated from the Slovak by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum �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 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 77 Letter from Bishop J. Ch. Karee To Czechoslovak Television Concerning the Programme ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' J. CH. KOREC The directors, Ceskoslovenska televizia, Mlynska dolina, Asmolovova 28 841 04 Bratislava From March 6 to March 13, 1989, Bratislava television broadcast the five-part series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" which ended on March 14 with the discussion entitled "Clericalism and Clem-Fascism in Slovakia". The series was shown on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Slovak State. In the words of the narrators of the programme, it was meant mainly for the younger generation so that it might be informed about the events which took place half a century ago and whose consequences, it is claimed, are still to be felt today between the faithful and the Church in Slovakia in the so-called lay apostolate and in illegal ecclesiastical structures . The names mentioned in the introduction were those of 0. Danyi, J. Celko, V. Hudeckova, 0. Vyhlfdal, V. Nedbal and others. The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," by its very title, already indicated what it was all about - not the personality of politicians, nor the history of a political party, rather about the Catholic Church, the bishops, the priests and the faithful in Slovakia, in fact about the entire Church with the Pope at its head . The contents corresponded to the intention - to put everything in such a light that the outcome would be ridicule, irony and sarcasm. As a result, one found in this "series", which was a collage 78 SLOVAKIA of photographs, parts cut from old films, journals and newspapers, accompanied by a one-sided and aggressive political commentary read on occasion in a theatrical pathetic tone, just about everything associated with the Catholic Church - Popes Pius XI and XII, the encyclicals, Bishops Jantausch, Kmet'ko, Vojtassak, Carsky, Gojdic, Necsey, Skrabik and Lazik, Slovak churches from the outside and the inside, pilgrimages, first communions and masses. All these elements were invariably accompanied by the appropriate political commentary which ridiculed them. Pictures from Slovakia, interspersed with mass graves, shootings, human bones, horses with a ploughman not far from a field cross going as far as to include the ridiculing of confession and the repeated shooting of people which ended with a theatrical and blasphemous "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" alternated with pictures of [Adolf] Hitler from 1930, or before. A seventeen year-old high school student's comment on all of this was: "Satanic Verses the Slovak way." And a student who stood beside her added: " If there were a hundred Muslims in Slovakia, the authors of the series would probably have to hide in the mountains for the rest of their lives." Truly, according to the series, Slovakia and especially Catholicism, were the source of all things evil and only evil. Neither in the state, nor in the Church was there anything human; all gatherings, from confirmation through religious exercises to the meetings of bishops in Prague, were in the service of the bourgeoisie or especially Hitler. According to the series, this was applicable to the First CSR, and later, particularly to Slovakia. One had the feeling at times that when Slovak boys rang the bells in the belfry, the Japanese immediately attacked Manchuria. And when A. Hlinka spoke in the Prague Parliament, [Benito] Mussolini immediately proceeded to attack Abyssinia. No historian was involved in the preparation of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power." Although it concerned explicitly a historical theme, it was prepared by members of the Institute for Scientific Atheism of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Pravda also published on 15 March 1939 an article from a member of the Institute of Historical Sciences entitled "The Tragic Consequences of the Munich Diktat,'' once more on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Slovak State . This article was in- SLOVAKIA 79 deed written without passion, in a sober and comparatively more factual and responsible way. In the journal Ogonok, issue 50, December 1988, the editor and writer, A. Nezhny, in an interview with K.M. Kharchev, director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR Council of Ministers, criticized the abstract manner in which people wrote about religion and the Church in 1933. In the book Under the Mask of Religion, one reads that all metropolitans, bishops, priests, monks and church elders ... "deceive the faithful and carry out their terrible fascist plots." In the same interview, K.M. Kharchev indicated that "for about 70 years, year after year, one heard repeated like a tape recorder that the Church was the carrier of an ideology inimical to our society, that it was important to see in priests a foreign element and that the faithful were people of "the third degree" ... An unchangeable stereotype was created in the consciousness of the majority of party and state workers." In addition - in the same issue of Ogonok, the editor and writer A. Nezhny, pilloried severely the newest antireligious book, whose author "from the outset is not ashamed to bend the facts so that they fit into his scheme of things.'' These last words pertain directly to the Bratislava series "The Cross in the Snares of Power." It presented pictures taken out of context, quotations, and film cuts, pasted together according to its defined aim, without regard for the historical circumstances of the time, and without any evaluation of historical conditions and possibilities; it was put together almost as if the specialists of dialectics had completely forgotten that there is unity and clash in contradictions, that an individual is not omnipotent in history, and that in Europe from 1938 on, Hitler's activities created dangerous conditions in which even the Great Powers did not know what to do. The authors have forgotten that as long as a small nation and state is caught in the middle of giants, politics is the art of the possible. They disregarded all human activities possible in very many, openly catastrophic situations, and did not deviate from their goal right to the end in accordance with the theme of "clericalism and elem-fascism''; in fact they pursued their goal mercilessly and without scruples even though this clericalism gave them, their fathers and three million Slovaks work and relative peace for six 80 SLOVAKIA years through the worst war in history and saved the lives of many. The television series of March 1989 represents another myth born in Slovakia in the minds of biased and fanatic individuals . It is not the only one . A contemporary writer and historian recently said in an interview for a journal: "I am 50 years old and in that time I heard about Stefanik .. . in at least five different versions and each was false and not historical. You can really blame our historiography for quite a few things . .. It renounced living persons and replaced them with schemes and generalities. It is terrible to read about the red threads of development, how they go through history" (Litertirny tyzdennfk, 10/88). Fortunately, the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" was not prepared by qualified specialists - historians . It would seem however that schemes and the red threads of development had already penetrated the blood of many Slovak intellectuals. Rare are the small nations which today can maim and defame their own history and in this way destroy the national consciousness of future generations as we know how to do in Slovakia. The average educated person is unable to speak intelligently and w ith pride about Sts. Cyril and Methodius, these scientists of the first rank who stood at the very beginning of our national history, language and culture. He is unable to be proud of the fact that of all the places where they worked in the Empire of Great Moravia our old Nitra, Devin and Zobor are definitely mentioned in old sources. He cannot be proud of the University of Trnava which for 150 years opened the world to us. The average Slovak began to speak Magyar in Hungary and in the First Republic he denied the Slovak in him and accepted the thesis of the single [Czechoslovak] nation. He forgot Bernolak, Holly and Shir and refuses to accept Moyses and Stefanik . And he forgot that in this way, he hurts not only his nation the most, but also the Republic . Today, his colleagues laugh at those who - even with their many human faults and weaknesses - brought the nation to life in Hungary and in the First CSR, defended its rights and freedoms, language and individuality, whether they were Skultety, Hlinka, Razus or others. As a result, there remains very little from our history from which we could give our younger generations a feeling of Slovak national pride. Thus, SLOVAKIA 81 for many, our position in the Republic is also without interest and pride and we lack interest in the Republic. Slovak history cannot be understood without Christianity and the Catholic Church. If this cannot be avoided, then the tendency is to blacken all. Everything that is Christian, and especially Catholic, is suspicious, ridiculous and ironic. When we nevertheless wish to speak about this in positive terms, we look around as if we were stealing. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' reached new heights in ridiculing our history. The authors were not satisfied with criticizing individual politicians or political parties - they ridiculed religion, Christian images, symbols, mysteries [of the faith] and the Church, from mass, first communion through pilgrimages of the faithful, priests, bishops, right up to the popes. A year ago, Bratislava television was convincing us in the programme "Current themes" that the faithful have exactly as many rights in our country as do non-believers . After the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," the faithful were asking "Where can we respond to this intensive 6-part caricature of the Church in Slovakia and in the world?" Nowhere. It is not possible publicly to answer public insults - either in the press, on the radio or on television . If I have decided to write you this letter, I have done so only very reluctantly. It concerns historical events which are still considered political even though they are half a century behind us. I took this decision out of a sense of responsibility dictated by my conscience because it concerns the faithful who make up more than half of the nation in Slovakia just as it concerns an important part of the faithful inhabiting the Czech Lands and Moravia who were also very offended. It concerns non-Catholics and non-believers as well who from a Christian or human point of view could hardly have been impressed by the stifling blasphemies of the series and its destructive influence within the nation, the state and the world. Having decided to write, I regret that I am not a Slovak historian, a writer or a poet who could have such an impact in this national affair that it would awaken the conscience of each Slovak and encourage him to seek the paths of understanding and unity in matters that are fundamental for the nation and the state, to accept 82 SLOVAKIA variety in others matters, and to seek ways of cooperation with all, showing respect for his own history, respect for other faiths and respect for the future of the nation and the state. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' not only did not take such an approach, but rejected that aim without compassion. This was clear in the preparation of each theme the First CSR, autonomy, the question of the Slovak State, and in the end in the discussion by the authors of all that is evil: the series included the popes, the bishops, the priests, the entire Church with her encyclicals, churches, masses, processions, crosses. I was particularly struck by one approach: the events of 50 years ago were not as simple as the authors of the series made them to be. They were much more complex. I would like to point to the complexity of the situation and the events. These are events that belong to history. Indeed, I will refer to them as historical facts. I will not evaluate them, but I will use documents from the period. The development of a comprehensive and critical evaluation that is factual and objective is also expected. We hope that historians will be able to do this without bias. The journal Vyber (13/89) introduced the written version of the text of the series as follows: "Majestic tones resound. The vault of a magnificent cathedral emerges filled with a sublime "Te Deum. '' Black boots glitter. Black uniforms. Looking at the picture, a commentator says : "They marched ... they marched on 6 October 1938 and 14 March 1936 (?) to work together in the break up of the Czechoslovak Republic . In this series, we will march along the path of facts. They marched to the deportations, to the burning of partizan villages, communities and settlements in the winter of 1944-1945 . . . They suppressed basic human rights ... The Catholic Action of Pius XI came to the aid of the Populists. In the elections of 1925, they emerged stronger, they doubled the number of deputies in Parliament . . . They gave up opposition and entered the government of the gentlemen's coalition . . . '' Already the text of these first sentences is confused. The aim of the Populists was to break up the Republic. Yet they entered the government. They were against the Republic, yet they achieved that "which Hlinka had once desired ... to be a state-building party" according to a quotation in the article. In order to demean SLOVAKIA 83 the Populists, the authors of the series write and say that they entered a "gentlemen's coalition." The Populists were against the people, yet the people strengthened their position in the elections. In the first part of the series, a great deal is said about Andrej Hlinka - from the year 1918 to his death in 1938. According to the series, Hlinka was arrogant, he was against the CSR and he played cards with his enemies. He was almost an enemy of the Slovak nation; in a word, he was a "clerical." This expression was once used for practical reasons to denote political movements in which there were also priests or which were guided by Christian principles - much in the same way as one spoke in a shortened fashion of "Agrarians," "Nationalists," "Socialists." Today one adds to this expression an exclusively defamatory meaning " clericalism and elem-fascism." What was Andrej Hlinka really like? One finds in Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k that Andrej Hlinka (born on 27 September 1864) had become active in Slovak affairs in the year 1895 with the aim of '' setting the people free from social oppression . . . and winning them for the national movement." He wrote in Narodne noviny, founded tudove noviny, founded farmers' organizations, food cooperatives, temperance leagues and reading groups. In 1906 he was condemned to two years imprisonment in Segedin for his activities. "In the summer of 1917, he accepted the idea of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks, which he confirmed again in October 1918 as a member of the Slovak national Council and a signatory of the Martin Declaration of the Slovak Nation and he even asked his clerical movement to support the new state" (Vol. II, p. 338) . A contemporary Slovak historian writes: "Hlinka together with [Vavro] Srobar was one of the most capable personalities fighting for Czechoslovak statehood" (Litertirny tyzdenn{k, 2/88). The television series is pathetically ironic about the agreement between the '' spiritual leader'' of the state and the Church in the way it manifested itself already in 1919 in Zilina. The series also mentioned ecclesiastical properties. Of course, there was no mention of the fact that these properties were acquired gradually from donations from believers or rulers for direct services, that the Church since time immemorial built on these properties schools, 84 SLOVAKIA orphanages, teacher's colleges, universities and hospitals of which the state as such took no care. The Church maintained everything on these properties in the same way as the Ministry of Finance does today from the taxes of the workers. When these properties were taken from the Church in Slovakia, one of the people who was close to Bishop [Jan] Vojtassak was asked what the bishop would do now, he replied: "Until now he ate svabka with kiska, from now on he will eat kiska with svabka." On a number of occasions the television series judged the activities of the People's Party as inimical to the First Republic because of its demand for autonomy. This is an over-simplification. Hlinka and his party based themselves on the Pittsburgh Agreement which was signed on 31 May 1918 by the representatives of the Slovak League [of America], the Czech National Council, the Association of Czech Catholics, and the President of the Czechoslovak National Council, Professor [Tomas G.] Masaryk. One reads in the Agreement: "Slovakia will have its own administration, its own parliament and courts ." In the so-called Cleveland Agreement of 22-23 October 1915, there was reference to "a federal union of states with full national autonomy for Slovakia, with her own parliament and her own state administration." It was on this basis that the Hlinka Slovak People 's Party [HSPP] developed the defence of Slovak needs and national demands . When people in the CSR began officially to speak of a single Czechoslovak nation and when the demand for autonomy was refused, there were harsh political debates in Parliament and in the daily press . Certainly, it is not true that the "clericals" wanted to break up the republic. They wanted a republic that gave autonomy to Slovakia. At certain times, the People's Party was not alone in this struggle. The leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia [CPCS], B. Smeral said in Parliament on 18 December 1925 after the general election: "Each nation has the right to determine freely its own destiny up to separation through its representative committees elected by the working masses. We will support even the demand for autonomy . . . '' The reception that the people gave to Hlinka' s policies was shown in election results. In the election of 1925, the People's Party received 34.31 % of the vote, the Social Democrat 4.25%, the SLOVAKIA 85 Agrarians 20.29%, the CPCS 13.27% and the National Party 2.49%. The claim repeated in the series that " priest and the hierarchy" were against the Republic is not based on historical reality. In his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947, Archbishop [Karol] Kmet'ko was asked the following question: "How did you explain [Jozef] Tiso's moderation after the elections of 1925?" Dr. Kmet'ko replied: 'We were all pleased especially because now even the Czechoslovak government recognized the People's Party as one which they had to invite into the government." If later the People 's Party left the government and returned to the opposition benches, it as not a result of enmity towards the Republic. It was the continuation of the struggle for the recognition of the individuality of the Slovak nation and for the attainment of autonomy. In the democratic atmosphere of the time, the speeches and articles of politicians were certainly often aggressive, harsh and combative. But such was the free atmosphere of the period . Other politicians also wrote in equal, even harsher, tones. In the 1926 November issue of Proletarkd, the author of an article asked : ''What does the proletariat have in common with October 28? Does it even have some enthusiasm for it? Certainly not! Only the bourgeoisie can celebrate this anniversary ... " In 1931, in the heat of criticism, [CPCS member] L. Novomesky wrote that the creation of the Republic was the game of " the financial captains from Paris, London, New York and elsewhere who rule the scene in capitalist Europe ... " Only later was there talk of "ancient hopes, Cyrillo-Methodian legends, the Martin Declaration" and so forth (Slovenske pohl'ady, 11/88). In the heat of a political battle, the young 30-year old Klement Gottwald sought to win over the Slovaks in Zilina in 1926 with the appeal: "Clear Slovakia of the oppressive power of the Czech bourgeoisie! " (Historicky casopis, 4/1965, p . 510). This was said during the same period when Dr. Tiso became Minister of Health in the coalition government of the Czechoslovak Republic on 15 January 1927. The life of the First CSR was constantly changing and A. Hlinka and his party oscillated between a positive acceptance of the Republic and the struggle for the rights of the Slovaks. After 1930, the party was back in opposition. There were many reasons for 86 SLOVAKIA this. In 1931, new Slovak grammar rules were published in the spirit of the unitary Czechoslovak nation and the brutal rapprochement of the languages (lahev, nabidka, preca, dvacat' ... ). The Ministry of Education ordered the use of these rules in all schools and all offices were to accept them. These rules were turned down by many Slovaks including the head of the Matica slovenska, J. Skultety and, of course, the People's Party. And even in the theses of the Vlth Congress of the CPCS, there was talk of the "criminal attack of the bourgeoisie" and reference was made to "political and cultural pressure." In addition we find: "We demand the right of selfdetermination for the Slovak nation." (Prehl'ad dejfn KSC na Slovensku, Bratislava, 1971, p. 174). The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" greatly simplified historical reality when it constantly repeated that "clericals" were against the Republic. This is evident even from the meeting of 370 young Slovak intellectuals that was held to defend Slovak rights on 25-26 June 1932 in Trencianske Teplice, where [Jozef] Lettrich, [Vladimir] Clementis, LDaniel] Okali and Novomesky were there along with [Ferdinand] Durcansky. All favoured the autonomy of Slovakia for various reasons (Dav, 6/32, p. 76). Here and there some did so for reasons dictated by changing circumstances while A. Hlinka and Dr. Tiso did so out of conviction. Finally, on 16 October 1932, in Zvolen, the National Party of Martin Razus, an outstanding cultural figure in Slovakia from the Lutheran community, joined the People's Party . Razus declared in Zvolen: "We are celebrating the feast of national unity . We want for our nation what belongs to it, we want the administration of our affairs in our own hands" (Slovak, 18 October 1932). In the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power," the statement that the clericals, the senior Catholic hierarchy and the priests were against the Republic, against the working class, that they followed papal encyclicals and were against socialism is constantly repeated. Yet the faithful could not accept anything else. If they were against socialism and the USSR, then it was because of the way they were presented to the world by the uncritical atheists of the time. In Slovakia, Jan Ponican wrote verses: "People, destroy the churches of God!" Neither the faithful, nor the bishops and the priests, nor the People's Party could be very enthusiastic about SLOVAKIA 87 this. Nor could they be enthusiastic about what was already known at that time about the way atheism was being spread in the USSR. The authors of the series again forgot that everything is related to everything. The persecution of Eastern believers was already known in the 1930s. Today they are writing openly about this in the pages of Soviet journals. At the beginning of 1988, K.M. Kharchev, director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR Council of Ministers wrote in the article '' Anchoring the Freedom of Conscience'': ''The negative phenomena of the thirties - the cult of personality, the violations of legality, the arrests and the repression had their negative impact even on the policies toward religion, the Church and the faithful. Voluntary administrative and executive decisions based on interdictions and limitations were supported and justified. The result was the collective and unjustified closing of churches, the arbitrary treatment of the clergy, the indifference toward the legal rights of the faithful and religious feeling, things that one cannot speak of today without bitterness" (Tyzdenn{k aktualit, No. 11/1988, pp. 4-5) The authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" should have known that if the faithful, the People's Party and the church hierarchy had apprehensions about socialism and if they warned against it, it was for very serious reasons. Horrible things were done in the name of socialism and the world knew about them. Today people are writing about them even here. At the beginning of March 1989, Tyzdenn{k aktualit published the article "The Mills of God Grind Slowly" (No. 10, 6-12 March 1989). This is one passage among many: "Lazar Moyseyev Kaganovich was born in 1893 in a poor Jewish family in the Kiev gubernia ... He joined the Party in 1911 .. . He was elected to the Central Committee in 1918 . . . In 1933-34, he was responsible for a purge in the Party . . . From 1935 on, he was People's Commissar for Transport . .. Heavy Industry . . . He was awarded the Order of Lenin four times ... In 1962, he was excluded from the Party . .. In November 1988, he celebrated his 95th birthday.'' The article on L.M. Kaganovich was written by members of the Institute of the History of the CPSU. According to the article, L.M. Kaganovich was excluded unanimously at the meeting of the Bureau of the Moscow Com- SLOVAKIA 88 mittee of the Party on 23 May 1962. At his exclusion, one of the members of the Bureau said directly to Kaganovich: ''Your signature is on the files of more than 30,000 members of the Party, the Soviets, the Army, heavy industries and transportation who were sentenced to death by shooting . . . One finds further in the article: "According to the documents signed by Stalin, Kaganovich and Beria, some 230,000 people were shot." N. Dygaj, another member of the Bureau said to Kaganovich: "I remember how, after your visit in Nizhny Tagif, the head of the NKVD shot himself. He did not kill himself, he lived a number of days and explained his act: ' I cannot manufacture enemies anymore' (Tyzdennz'k aktualit, 10/89, pp. 12-13). The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' said with pathos that Pope Pius XI with his encyclical Divini redemptoris about Communism blessed all measures by the People's Party against socialism. The series does not say, of course, that it was published against the type of socialism in which Stalin, Kaganovich and Beria transformed hundreds of churches into museums, coffee houses, archives and barns (Ogonok, 50/88, pp. 3-5). At that time, the Pope also published Mit brennender Sorge, the encyclical against Nazism. According to the series, 2000 priests were supposedly presidents or secretaries of organizations of the HSPP . That was about the total number of priests in Slovakia . Hundreds of them were not involved in this type of activity; others, like Bishop Kmet' ko, were attracted to the Slovak branch of the Czech People's Party. There were serious historical reasons for the involvement of priests in political activity. The authors of the series did not take this into consideration. They saw in these activities only a struggle for power at a time when Hitler was still being informed about the historical realities in Slovakia so that he could respect them. In a report sent to Berlin in February 1943, one reads : "The front rank that the clergy has in the Slovak nation can be explained on the basis of historical development . . . When the Slovaks were in Hungary . .. the clergy was directly in contact with the nation . .. It was given the leading role in the Slovak nation. And in the Slovak People's Party, founded at the beginning of the century, 11 11 SLOVAKIA 89 the clergy had a position of pre-eminence" (Slovenske ntirodne povstanie. Dokumenty, Bratislava, 1965, p. 52). The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not attack only bishops, priests and the faithful in Slovakia. It also attacked bishops and the Church in the Czechs Lands and Moravia, Czechs and generally the First Republic, so that few were spared. According to the series, the Czech Catholic hierarchy cooperated with the Slovak bourgeoisie . There was, according to the series, almost nothing good in the First Republic. The chimneys of factories belched forth and people were exploited. The global economic crisis with which the entire world was dealing was simplified beyond recognition. The relations between Czechs and Slovaks were also simplified. The Czechs were enemies who were closing Slovak industries. In the meantime, the Slovaks were in fact reading [works by] Karel Capek and other worthwhile Czech books, Slovak Catholics were working together with the Czechs in many areas, their annual Catholic day was celebrated in Prague in the presence of [Jean] Cardinal Verdier from Paris, and there were good Czech educators and professors in Slovakia who helped the Slovaks a great deal . Of course, the television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" saw in these relations only "the bourgeoisie and clericalism". In the innumerable shots of vaults, churches, religious services, the figures of bishops, A. Hlinka and others, they repeated that the Slovak clericals wanted to break up the Republic and that, in the end, they did break it up . In actual fact, to the extent that the People's Party did continuously fight for the autonomy of Slovakia, it was not against the CSR. When T. G. Masaryk stepped down in 1935, on 14 December of that year, E. Benes was elected the next President as a result "of the votes of the Populists and the Slovak Agrarians,' according to a historian (Slovensko, Dejiny, Bratislava, 1971, p. 693 - hereafter Dejiny). Among the Populists, Dr. Tiso had the merit of achieving this result, something that would some years later cost him his life. The new President, who had promised autonomy within a year, did not bring it about. The situation had not changed, the struggle continued. According to the same historian: "some months later, the opposition could publish statistics which showed that if the government maintained the rate 90 SLOVAKIA with which they filled positions in central offices, which at that time were occupied by 1.13% of Slovaks, it would take the Slovaks a few hundred years to fill enough of them to attain the level to which they were entitled on the basis of population ... It is not easy to explain the unbelievable passivity of the government's social policy in the Slovak case at such a critical time ... "(Dejiny, p. 693). The year 1938 was to be a jubilee year in the CSR - the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Republic. Officially, the accent was supposed to be on the unity of the Czechoslovak state and the Czechoslovak nation. The Slovaks did not accept Czechoslovak national unity and pushed for the individuality of the Slovak nation living together with the Czech nation. They based themselves on the Pittsburgh Agreement and the constant will of the Slovak nation. The most thoughtful people in the Czech Lands and Moravia made an effort to understand this national feeling and did so also for the good of their mutual life in the Republic. There were many major changes in Central Europe in 1938. In March, Austria was annexed to the German Reich . Slovakia became its immediate neighbor and the entire CSR found herself encircled. Germany became the leading power in Central Europe. Courting her favour were such countries as Hungary, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia ... To connect the Slovak struggle for autonomy with Hitler is a historically false perspective - this struggle had begun before Hitler and would have continued without him. The politicians of the People 's Party rejected Nazi neopaganism and after the assassination of [Austrian Chancellor Engelbert] Dollfuss in Austria, they wrote: "These swastika national socialists are the worst danger that can upset the uncertain balance in Europe ... and peace in Europe" (Slovak, 1 August 1934). When in June 1938 the People's Party submitted another proposal for the autonomy of Slovakia which was also made in order to strengthen the domestic situation in a Republic caught in the middle of a Europe threatened by the spectre of Hitler, it received help from of a delegation of Slovak associations in the USA which, on a visit to Slovakia, brought along the original copy of the Pittsburgh Agreement. A. Hlinka appeared in public with them for the last time on 5 June; he died on 16 August 1938 in Ru.fomberok. SLOVAKIA 91 The demand for autonomy was welcomed by the nation. When the votes for the CPCS fell in Bratislava in the election of 1938 from 5,000 to 2,800 - some 45% - V. Siroky explained that they [the Communists] had not defended national interests at a time when "in Slovakia the representatives of the national interests of the Slovak people continued to be the Hlinka Party" (F. Beer, A. Bencik, B. Graca, J. !Gen, Dejinna krizovatka, Bratislava, 1964, p. 27). Hitler's strong anti-Czechoslovak speech of 12 September 1938 was a signal for some Sudeten Germans, the Henlein group, to take action. On 13 September, groups favorably inclined to Hitler created disturbances in frontier territories, occupied railway stations, post offices and so forth. The Czechoslovak government responded with the imposition of martial law. [Konrad] Henlein, the leader of the Sudeten Germans, sent a written request to Hitler that he immediately occupy the frontier territories of Czechoslovakia . Hitler included the territorial demands of Poland and Hungary on the CSR ... On 23 September 1938, the Czechoslovak government issued a mobilization decree (Dejiny, p. 704). The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" claimed that the People's Party agreed and collaborated with the Henlein Party to break up the Republic. An historian writes: "The People's Party ... after the Henlein putsch, in a public declaration took its distance from such a violent solution" (Dejiny, p. 706). An avalanche of events began to occur in September 1938. [British and French] Foreign Ministers [Neville] Chamberlain and [Edouard] Daladier, by offering concessions, wanted to save Europe from war. The Czechoslovak government accepted a proposal of mediation by four great powers; Italy, Germany, England and France. Their conference was held on 29 September 1938 in Munich. The result was the ceding of the Sudetenland to Germany . An additional article to the agreement obliged the CSR to reach an agreement with the Polish and Hungarian governments about their demands . . . ''The Czechoslovak government decided on 30 September, in the presence of President Benes, to accept the Munich diktat ... " (Dejiny, p. 705). The series " The Cross in the Snares of Power" strengthened its attack with pictures and comments against ' ' clericalism and the 92 SLOVAKIA Church in Slovakia," especially in connection with the proclamation of autonomy. According to the series, the "clericals" made a pact with the fascists to break up the CSR. An historian nevertheless notes: "Throughout 1938, the HSPP negotiated regularly with the government, with Benes, to broaden the selfadministration of Slovakia, to achieve autonomy and to enter the government. That is the difference in the positions of the HSPP and the Henlein Party who basically did not want the government to fulfill their demands . .. " (Dejiny, p. 700). In October 1938, the autonomy of Slovakia became the aim of all political parties and all Slovaks. A national meeting of the representatives of the HSPP was called on 6 October 1938 in Zilina to which the representatives of other parties also came uninvited. Already on 4 October, Dr. I. Derer, once its greatest opponent, had proposed autonomy in Bratislava. The Agrarian Party submitted two proposals on autonomy on 4 and 5 October. Dr. Vladimir Clementis was negotiating with the president of the National Party to allow members of the CPCS to join through it the all-Slovak autonomy government. This did not happen (Testimony of M. Korman, editor-in-chief of Robotn{cke noviny, Cas, 7 January 1947). The representatives of Slovakia present in Zilina prepared the so-called Zilina Agreement on which the autonomy of Slovakia was based and the first autonomous Slovak government was formed. From its five members, two were from the People's Party (Tiso and Durcansky, two from the Agrarian Party ([Pavol] Teplansky and [Jan] Lichner), and one from the National Party (M. Cernak). The negotiations were quite spontaneous and old enmities were forgotten. A national reconciliation took place which had no precedent in Slovakia. The newspapers of all political parties singled out this generosity. There was a feeling of satisfaction in the Czech Lands that the Republic had been saved. Ferdinand Petroutka, one of the leading journalists, wrote in the journal Pr{tomnost': "We have to be ... grateful that the Slovaks, so long as they are led by the People's Party, are completely determined to stay in the Republic, to be a part of its framework, even if more loose. This is something which we must value deeply" (L. Lipscher, tudacka auton6mia, Bratislava 1957, p. 143). Autonomy came about in Slovakia without SLOVAKIA 93 repression against the former enemies, without arrests, without blood and without forced emigration. Immediately after the proclamation of the autonomy of Slovakia, the autonomous government left for Prague. President Benes had already resigned on 5 October. In his parting speech, influenced by the events that had fallen over Europe, he said: "It is unavoidable above all to come to an agreement with the Slovaks .. . irrespective of this or that circumstance" (S. Osusky, Benes a Slovensko, London, 1943) . The central government in Prague immediately approved the decisions taken in Zilina, the autonomy of Slovakia and the autonomous Slovak government. Already on 6 October, the government of General [Jan] Sirovy in Prague had approved by telegram Dr. Jozef Tiso as Minister for Slovakia. On the following day, it approved the other members of the autonomous government. A similar government was formed in Ruthenia. It is with these actions that Slovakia achieved autonomy in the CSR. Archbishop Kmet'ko was asked the following question during his testimony on 7 January 1947: "Did you consider the agreement of 6 October as the beginning of the break up of the CSR or as an attempt to save the Republic?". He answered: ''The HSPP at the end of these developments had achieved the most it had hoped for and at the meeting of the deputies there was a declaration to the effect that we would not go any further.'' All of this was taking place, for the CSR but especially for Slovakia, in the shadow of the unsuccessful negotiations in Komarno. In Germany, the so-called Vienna Award followed, according to which [Foreign] Ministers [Joachim von] Ribbentrop [of Germany] and [Galeazzo] Ciano [of Italy] decided to annex the southern territories of Slovakia to Hungary. This happened on 2 November 1938. On 8 November, there was an agreement between representatives of the Slovak People's and the Agrarian Parties. The declaration and creation of an all-national party were also signed by the Czechoslovak People' s party, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party and the Czechoslovak National Democratic party. This is how a Party of Slovak National Unity was created. During the election for the autonomous Slovak Diet, 97.5% of voters voted "yes". Shortly thereafter, so-called state secretariats were created in Prague in all ministries and the central government promised to create 4000 94 SLOVAKIA positions in the army for Slovak officers "because up to that point, only 4% of the officer corps was Slovak" (Dejiny, p. 709). Slovakia's relations with the Republic at the end of these struggles remained open and correct. During the Christmas holidays, when the President, Dr. E. Ha.cha, with members of the central government from Prague, came to Slovakia on the invitation of the Slovak government, he was welcomed in Bratislava with attention and respect as head of state; this was a sign of brotherly peace. This was also the basic approach of priests and lay believers toward the Republic, toward the Czech Lands and Moravia after the attainment of autonomy. Unfortunately, the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not know anything about these positive historical facts and did not show any of them to the public. The series showed the greatest degree of fantasy in describing the events around the Slovak State, its creation and life in it. Everything was directed against religion and the Church. Here pictures flashed even faster - pictures of churches and masses, figures of bishops alternating with shootings and dead bodies, as the supposed fruits of the Church in Slovakia . Everything here was simplified as reprehensible and commented upon one-sidedly. The only answer to this wave of pictures and words dictated by hatred is the immutable testimony of historical documents. Historians have concluded that the immediate result of the Munich Agreement of 30 September was an outright change in the political conditions in Central Europe. It ceased to be the sphere of interest and influence of the Western powers and came under the exclusive influence of Hitler. In this way, the fate of the states of this area was sealed. Upon acquiring power, Hitler became literally feared . If statesmen could not incur his favour, there wasn't one who would have wanted to be in conflict with him. If Slovak or Czech politicians had tried to do so after Munich, they would have put their nations in direct mortal danger. The President of the CSR, E. Benes, gave up his office in the face of such a hopeless situation and emigrated to Great Britain. Historians know that Hitler, who had set his goals long before, continued, even after the Munich Conference, in his policy of breaking up Central Europe. In various ways, he encouraged the Slovaks to go beyond autonomy, then he warned the Czechs about the SLOVAKIA 95 Slovaks and indirectly incited the former against the latter. In this kind of atmosphere, a number of ministers in Prague were preparing as early as December 1938 the military overthrow of the autonomous government of Slovakia. The preparations were described by one of the participants (L. Feierabend, Ve vltiddch Dru.he republiky, New York, 1961, pp. 110, 122, 137). On the other hand, Hitler was giving hopes to Hungary and Poland about the possible partition of Slovakia. In this way, he created an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty in the entire area, in which he was the deciding factor. In this unclear situation, the government in Prague and President Ha.cha decided during the night of 10 March 1939 to take an exceptionally serious step to strengthen the Republic: they overthrew the Slovak antonomous government and established a military dictatorship in Slovakia (Dejiny, p. 712). Up to 300 people, ministers, senior bureaucrats, deputies and others were brought to Moravia and imprisoned. The military coup of 10 March 1939, the imprisonment of members of the autonomous government and of deputies, without regard for their parliamentary immunity, martial law and shootings, these were all unfortunate acts which Hitler not only observed, but also supported and used for his purposes. In the meantime, he gave a free hand to the Czech Lands and in this way encouraged the Czechs. To the Slovaks, he offered himself as a saviour before the Czechs and other neighbours. After the military coup of 10 March, the Slovaks, of course, did not turn officially to Hitler for help as many expected and as has since been falsely claimed. Amazingly, the Slovaks kept their heads. Dr. Tiso accepted his dismissal and took off with his briefcase in hand for Banovce. President Ha.cha then named a new autonomous government led by [Karol] Sidor. The latter refused Hitler's demand that he proclaim the independence of Slovakia. Only then did Hitler invite Dr. Tiso to Berlin. After consultation with government officials and with their consent, he accepted the invitation on 13 March 1939 and flew to Berlin. Half a century later on 15 March 1989, an historian wrote about the meeting between Hitler and Dr. Tiso: " During a 35-minute discussion, Hitler put him before the following alternative: either you declare Slovakia's independence, or he (Hitler) will leave 96 SLOVAKIA Slovakia to her fate . . . " In addition, he gave Tiso for signature a prepared text for a declaration of independence. During the discussion, Ribbentrop brought the news that Hungarian troops were being assembled on the southern borders of Slovakia ... Hitler then said to Tiso that it was important to act "blitzschnell - with lightning speed". The historian concludes: "J. Tiso, sticking to his evolutionary theory, refused to take upon himself the responsibility. He left the decision to the Slovak Diet" (Pravda , March 1989). This meant making a call to the new Prime Minister of the autonomous government, K. Sidor, with the request that President Ha.cha summon the Slovak Diet into session in Bratislava in accordance with the Constitution. Only then, by a decision of the Slovak Diet, under these difficult circumstances and the pressure of time, it came on 14 March to a unanimous vote and after the hour of noon to the declaration of the Slovak State . Only a few hours after Dr. Tiso [met Hitler], President Ha.cha and his Foreign Minister, [Frantisek] Chvalkovsky, experienced how difficult it was to deal with the dictator Hitler in Berlin. After brutal pressure and threats, they signed the text submitted to them for the liquidation of the CSR and the capitulation of her army. Dr. Chvalkovsky then said, with tears in his eyes, that they had saved the nation from ruin because Hitler's armies were already at the frontiers of the Republic. It will remain forever a historical fact that a Catholic priest, a member of the People's Party and a responsible politician, was able in these horrible times to resist Hitler's pressure to declare the independence of Slovakia and the creation of a state and to leave this decision to the constitutional Slovak Diet which had been called into session by the President of the CSR. President Ha.cha, by then a broken man, and the Foreign Minister of the Republic did not have in this situation of pressure and threats enough strength to oppose the dictator; they signed the destruction of the state . This is all part of inalterable history . On 15 March 1939, the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia was created and Ruthenia also declared her independence. On 15 March, even before the return of Dr. Ha.cha, Hitler and his army showed up in Prague . Hungarian forces appeared in Ruthenia and occupied the country. They also penetrated Slovakia and bombarded Spisska Nova Yes. Hitler supported all along their demands SLOVAKIA 97 and the barely-born Slovak Republic had to give up part of her territory in the east up to Sobrance [to Hungary]. If the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed the creation of the Slovak State only through images of horror, this has nothing in common with historical facts. A few pictures of broken windows had nothing to do with the Slovak Republic, but rather with the military coup of 10 March 1939. An historian writes: "The new ... Slovak government, led by Tiso, which achieved power on 14 March 1939, did not meet with any opposition. Even the commanders of military units in Slovakia accepted its authority, as did the police, and state officials" (Dejiny, p. 713). When an historian thinks of the conditions and the different ways under which states were created in recent history, what bloodletting accompanied the creation of the states of India and Pakistan, what loss of life accompanies the liberation movements in San Salvador or in the Philippines, how much blood was shed to change the regimes in Iran, Ethiopia or in Pol Pot's Cambodia, then one thing must be clear to him : whatever may have been the pressures or the threats from outside when the Slovak Republic was created, within Slovakia it happened without a single shot, without the loss of blood and with the summons from legal Slovak politicians for national unification. Even if the television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" could have put together the worst possible pictures, it could not have changed this basic historical reality. It is not possible in one letter to take a position on all of the half-truths and untruths about the Slovak State, life in it, especially concerning its relations with the Church, the bishops, priests and the faithful which the series presented in a disfigured form. Nevertheless, there are certain points that must be made. In the first place, there was not a priest in any Slovak government. The President was a priest, whose power was constitutionally different from the executive power of the government. The members of the government were lay people who had not received a mandate from the Church, rather whose mandate came from elections. Neither in the Slovak Parliament, nor in the government were there only Catholics. In actual fact, in the confused situation of the time, not only Catholics but also many other Slovaks saw in the nomination 98 SLOVAKIA of Dr. Tiso as President the best guarantee against the danger of Nazism. As far as the relations between the Church and the Slovak State are concerned, Archbishop Kmet' ko described the Church's position in his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947 as follows : " When we belonged to the Hungarian State, we had to recognize it and behave accordingly. When the Czechoslovak Republic was created, we honored and recognized it also. When the Slovak State came into existence, a state which was internationally recognized, among others also by Russia, we recognized it too" (The entire text of this testimony was published in Katolicke noviny in the spring of 1947). Bishops, priests and believers could not recognize this state as "so-called." In his testimony, Archbishop Kmet'ko stated that ''If someone had said of that state that he does not recognize it, they would have taken care of him. " The Church had, however, not only internal reasons for recognizing the Slovak Republic, but also international ones. From the approximately 50 existing states at that time, the Slovak Republic was recognized by thirty . Among them were Switzerland, Great Britain, France, China, Belgium, Sweden, Liberia, Ecuador and others . Later, when the SovietGerman agreement was signed on 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union recognized the Slovak Republic de facto and de jure and established diplomatic relations with it. At that same time, the Czechoslovak embassy in Moscow was closed and Ambassador Z. Fierlinger was dismissed. He left for London. The Soviet Embassy opened its doors in January 1940 in Bratislava, headed by the career diplomat G. Pushkin. The question of the absolute independence or the relative freedom of action of the government of the Slovak Republic was not a decisive factor in the attitude of the Church toward that state. Since the time of Great Moravia, neither the Czech Lands, nor Moravia nor Slovakia enjoyed absolute independence and freedom, given their geopolitical position between East and West. Nevertheless, the states in which our nations lived had to be inevitably respected . One could not dismiss the Slovak State simply because it did not have the attributes of absolute independence. Dr. Kmet'ko expressed this before the tribunal as follo ws: " If you do not ac- SLOVAKIA 99 cept [independence], we will divide you into three parts." Half a century later, it is possible to attack and compile the deficiencies, errors and the offenses of the authors of that state, but at the time, its recognition was the only responsible o.etion even for the Church. Before the National Tribunal, Dr. [Juraj] Sujan put to Archbishop Kmet'ko on 6 January 1947 the following question: "What did the Slovak State give the Slovak nation from the moral point of view? Did it give anything positive?" Dr. Kmet'ko answered: "Is there such a nation that would not want to have independence? Can you imagine a poor man who would not like to have his own little house but would rather depend on someone else? The answer that everyone would give is that it is impossible to imagine such a nation, such an individual." Dr. Sujan continued: "But that independence was a dependence." Dr. Kmet'ko answered: "But it was ten times better than the Protectorate [of Bohemia-Moravia]." The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' collected reproaches and judgments, qualified the Slovak State as "clero-fascist" and presented events in such a way as to suggest that it had enthusiastically sent Slovak soldiers into Poland. The historical reality was much more complex, and was such that the Slovak State had to live and develop in the terrible conditions of the Europe of the time, conditions which were complicated and downright confused. On 23 August 1939, [Soviet Foreign Minister Vycheslav] Molotov and Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression pact in which there was also a clause about Poland. Hitler attacked Poland on 1 September 1939, from the west and the south. The Soviet Union entered Poland from the east on 17 September 1939. Military engagements lasted barely three weeks before Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR. The battle for Poland started the Second World War. The Slovak Republic did not seek conquests, refused to improve its frontiers with Poland and took only some small territories lost in 1918 and 1938. One can only regret the participation of Slovak soldiers in the battles in Poland. Unfortunately, even before and after, the armies of fraternal nations attacked a country from both sides, not only when the nations but also their governments were decidedly opposed. The domestic life of the Slovak Republic was not without problems. As in other nations, there were also individuals in Slovakia 100 SLOVAKIA who were too radical, who began to complicate life by cooperating with the Nazis, whether out of national or personal motives. Vojtech Tuka and his group belonged to this radical wing. And in the cities and in the towns there were always egotistical and rough individuals of various backgrounds ready to serve anyone. The radicals pressured for the solution of the question of Slovakia's Jewish citizens. The President and the majority in the government were opposed to this . The television series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" reproached the Slovak State and the Church hierarchy in Slovakia for being guided by the encyclicals. The Nazis made the same reproach . The German envoy [Hans] Bernard sent a report to Berlin, dated 30 June 1940, indicating that Slovak legislation was based on Quadragesimo anno, and that "that in itself is against the interests of the Reich, just like the Jewish legislation which rejects the racial idea is against the interests of Germany." This brought about a negative reaction from [German Nazi leaders Heinrich] Himmler and [Martin] Bormann. When envoy Bernard was recalled to Berlin on 28 May 1940 and did not return to Bratislava, a feeling of uncertainty developed in Slovakia as to what would happen; people were counting with the worst. In order to keep the radical groups under control, President Tiso introduced an authoritarian system in January 1940, something for which the series reproached him derisively. According to him and to many others, it was the only way at the time for the President to keep radical centrifugal attempts within tolerable bounds, especially where Prime Minister Tuka and certain people in the Hlinka Guard were concerned. On 21 January 1940, in an address, the President spoke severely of [the need for] discipline . When Ribbentrop recalled the German envoy from Bratislava in May 1940 as a form of protest for the slowness on the part of the Slovak government in the introduction of [certain] measures, especially towards the Jews, the President argued for the need for order in the state. He sought to alleviate the suspicions on the German side with the words: "I personally guarantee the completely friendly attitude of Slovakia towards Germany .'' One can laugh at these words today, but at that time, when everything was at stake, when radical individuals presented the President to German officials as SLOVAKIA 101 unreliable and wanted to reinforce [the position of] V. Tuka, the President did not have any other option than to defend the Slovak nation (Documents on German Foreign Policy, 371/208155). All of this was taking place at the time when Hitler began his major offensive against the West on 10 May 1940 - on 13 May, Holland capitulated, Belgium on 28 May and France on 22 June. In the middle of these events, President Tiso stated on 30 June 1940 at a meeting of Catholic university students in Presov: "We Catholics do not have to learn anything from anyone, we have our own system ... Catholicism and not Nazism has to penetrate all aspects of our life ... Our politics must be led by Catholicism. Any other politics would be gangster politics and the Slovak nation will not allow gangster politics because it knows where such politics lead ... Without Catholic morality there is no culture, no humanity. In spiritual needs, we Catholics have to be self-sufficient so that in these very needs we are not condemned to import foreign ideologies" (Slovak, 2 July 1940). At the time of Hitler's victories in the West, these were far too courageous words and they expressed a far too moderate style of politics . His enemies used them against him. It is under these circumstances and because of the tension between the moderate President and the radical V. Tuka that an invitation to come to Salzburg on 27 and 28 July July 1940 was made where the President was humiliated and where the power of Tuka grew, immediately after a meeting with Hitler. Upon his return from Salzburg, V. Tuka announced at a demonstration in Bratislava that "a new era of Slovak National Socialism had begun." The President, humiliated and scorned, seriously thought for the first time of resigning his office. Only after many entreaties did he change his intention. Among others, Laco Novomesky said to one of the deputies of the Slovak parliament : "For God's sake, do everything so that the President does not resign. This would mean the end of us all." It was only after the Salzburg defeat of the President and the strengthening of the position of Prime Minister Tuka that the latter was able to pass a stronger law for the solution of the Jewish question by the government. It is in this way that a free government was able to publish the so-called Jewish Code in September 102 SLOVAKIA 1940 in the form of a governmental decree, without the signature of the President. The Code was against all basic human and Christian principles. There remained only a small hope; in comparison with the anti-Jewish laws of Germany and states like Italy, France, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Holland, Denmark, Norway, saying nothing of states directly incorporated into the Reich like Austria, the protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and the Polish General Government, the Slovak Code had two elements that were different : the president of the Republic was provided with the right to grant administrative exceptions to this law to anyone (Paragraph X, Article 225) and secondly to put into effect all exceptions which he had previously granted (Article 256) . This was the only not unmeaningful dam, in the given situation of pressure and violence, against the torrent of injustice. And this was the reason why the President, upon the entreaties of many people, did not, for thesecond time, resign his office. On 7 October 1941, Catholic Bishops submitted to the President a memorandum of protest after the publication of the so-called Jewish Code. A similar memorandum was submitted to the President and to Parliament by the Association of Lutheran Pastors . On 12 March 1942, Catholic Bishops addressed another letter of protest to the government against the contemplated deportation of the Jews from Slovakia. At the session of the State Council on 23 March 1942, Jan Postenyi, together with J. Balko expressed a very critical and oppositional point of view against the contemplated deportation of Jewish citizens from Slovakia. Then came the interventions from the Vatican . When the first transports of Jewish citizens began to leave in March and April for Poland, Catholic newspapers published on 26 April 1942, on the demand of the bishops, an article defending the Jews. The deportations were considered by them to be an anticonstitutional and immoral act of collective punishment without a judicial sentence on guilt or innocence. At that time, no one knew that the condemned Jewish citizens were not leaving for work, but that they would be the victims of a diabolical liquidation in Hitler' s death camps. German officials considered the measures against the Jew s in Slovakia to be sluggish. In the telegram that envoy Ludin sent to SLOVAKIA 103 Berlin, dated 26 June 1942, one reads: "The actual evacuation of the Jews from Slovakia has for the moment reached a dead point. Under ecclesiastical influence, and the initiative of individual officials, some 35,000 Jews received special dispensations according to which they must not be evacuated''. Dr. [Anton] Neumann, head of the President's office, had the responsibility for processing and acquiescing to the exceptions. According to him, the President granted 10,000 exceptions, which with immediate family members represented approximately some 35,000 people. In the matter of the Jewish citizens, the Church did not satisfy itself merely with the writing of memoranda and letters of protest. Dr. Kmet'ko was asked by the National Tribunal the following question: "Are you aware of the fact that through your diocesan office many exceptions for Jews were arranged?" Dr. Kmet'ko replied: "Yes, we did so through a certain professor of theology." Dr. [Jan] Zabkay asked: "Who was he?" The answer: "Dr. Ivan Murin." Dr. [Michal] Buzalka testified before the tribunal about similar demands for exceptions. In addition, Archbishop Kmet'ko said the following about Dr. Tiso in his testimony before the National Tribunal on 6 January 1947: "It is a proven fact that as President he did not sign the publication of the Jewish Code ... I know that Jews said even to me that it is necessary that Tiso remain as President, because if he is not there, every Jew to the last one will perish ... " (Katolicke noviny, 1947). Adolf Eichmann, one of the greatest criminal actors in the persecution of the Jews, during his interrogation at his trial in Israel on 22 June 1960, as noted in the minutes, spoke the following words which did not simplify his position, rather damaged it: "Tiso . .. once even said: 'I am a Catholic priest and I do not want to have anything to do with it'." In the fall of 1942, one could read in the Reich party newsletter that the definitive liquidation of the Jews [was proceeding] "mit riicksichtloser Harte - with ruthless toughness. " At that time, not a single Jewish citizen left Slovakia for resettlement in Poland . Envoy Ludin reported from Bratislava to Berlin that the Jewish question in Slovakia was being solved "in the opposite direction" as the initiative for a proposition to change the Jewish Code shows. The bishops in Slovakia published a new document on 8 March 1943 - a pastoral letter on the Jewish question. The letter stated 104 SLOVAKIA that no one can be punished without the establishment of guilt. Guilt must be proven first in each individual case according to given legal norms. This letter was read at all religious celebrations by priests. Even Dr. Tiso read it in Banovce and he asked his chaplains to read it. In the first days of March 1943, Bishop Vojtassak received a report from Jewish refugees from Poland about what was happening with Slovak Jews - they were being killed shamefully and diabolically in gas chambers. Bishop Vojtassak immediately sent an urgent letter about this matter to the Minister of the Interior and a copy to the Papal Nuncio. The government discussed the matter at once and put an end to all further transports to Poland. When German officials refused the government's request to send a government delegation to Poland to see the actual situation on the spot, the transports were stopped permanently . The news of the criminal murder of the Jews in Poland in the 20th century, the century of civilization, sounded truly unbelievable. When [Dr. Gerhard] Riegner, representative of the Jewish World Congress, expressed for the first time in July 1942 the apprehension whether the deportation of Jews for work in Poland did not hide something worse, the American envoy in Switzerland, L. Harrison considered his memorandum as [spreading] "wild rumors ." When Riegner also turned to E. Benes in London, the latter considered his report to be untrue and did not recommend that it be published. Later, on 6 November 1942, Benes notified the Jewish World Congress that after examining the matter, [he had concluded that] "the Germans were not preparing a plan for the wholesale extermination of the Jews" (W. Laqueur, The Terrible Secret, London, 1980, p. 163). The solution of the Jewish question by the Slovak state is one of the worst stains that appeared at that time. Already the deportation of Jewish citizens with the initial aim of [using them for] work was against Christian morality because it was a collective punishment without the establishment of individual guilt. It is not possible to find the appropriate words of horror and condemnation for the criminal murder of these people which later followed in the gas chambers . SLOVAKIA 105 As far as the guilt of the President or even of the Church in Slovakia is concerned in this matter, historians, after studying a multitude of facts, are far more objective today than were the authors of the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power.'' This series showed the worst brutality against the Jews along with pictures and movie clips of churches, masses, bishops and the religious ceremonies of the Church. In fact, the series even showed the terrible picture of a bulldozer piling together human bones . The authors did not say, however, that the bulldozer was neither Slovak nor Catholic. Pol Pot probably used similar bulldozers in Cambodia when he introduced his version of atheism and the new social order for which he liquidated physically up to two milion people. Several Jewish authors in the examination of the question of Jewish citizens in Slovakia are more impartial. H . Arendt, in her book Eichmann in Jerusalem, wrote that the attitude toward the Jewish population in the Slovak State "differed both in style and content from Hitler's racism. " According to her, the biggest reproach made to the Jews was not that they belonged to another race, but rather that they were rich, that representing 4% of the population, they owned 38% of the national wealth. When [high Nazi official Edmund] Weesenmayer came to Bratislava in December 1943 with a strict command from Hitler to continue the transports, according to H. Arendt, "Tiso did not agree to the deportations. " And when Weesenmayer reappeared in 1944 and demanded that the Jews be deported, "Tiso refused again" (H. Arendt, Eichmann in Jeru salem, New York, 1963, pp. 184-186.) In the report of the international conference of the Red Cross about its activities in the years 1939-1947, there was reference to the deportation of Jewish citizens from Slovakia, but it was also stated that "at the same time, a big part of the Jewish minority could stay in the country and at certain times, Slovakia was even considered as a relative haven for Jews from Poland . Those Jews who stayed in Slovakia were comparatively safe until the uprising ... at the end of August 1944" (XVI Conference internationale de la Croix Rouge, Stockholm, 1948, Vol. 1). Another rare peculiarity of Slovakia was the rabbinical institute in Nitra with a garden and courtyard where, with the knowledge of officials and the help of the bishop's office, Jewish students 106 SLOVAKIA studied theology throughout the existence of the Slovak State right up to the outbreak of the uprising . It was there that family members and acguaintances and Jewish refugees met (Vestn{k zidov. naboz. obci v CSSR, XXXI, March 1977, p. 6). It was in this way that many in the Slovak State, in particular Church workers, sought to follow the advice of the President who had said on 20 January 1940 to the radicals in a speech on the theme: "The Slovak nation must remain true to its traditions": "I know that in Slovakia, . .. 99% [of the population] stand behind the idea that our programme has to be a people's Slovakia and therefore not a Nazi Slovakia. There is no reason why we should change our colours ... We have our own Christian social programme and we will see it carried out." The next day, on 21 January 1941, Slovak published a letter from "a Slovak German from Bratislava" who wrote "German National Socialism, according to the statements of Reich Chancellor Hitler, was created in Germany for Germans and is not an article for export . . . Only political opportunists and those who want to flatter and thus achieve advancement are importing it to Slovakia" (Slovak, 21 January 1941). When the new German envoy H.E. Ludin visited the President after 30 January 1941 and advised him against counting on the defeat of Germany, Dr. Tiso replied: "This is the tragedy of my situation: I have the feeling that I have less and less the support of the representatives of the Reich ... It would, however, be intolerable for me to have to win this confidence with acts for which I would lose support in my nation . I would then rather give up any public activity" (Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1258/338145). Throughout, the televison series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" did not take into consideration any aspect of the brutal struggle against the wave of evil which flooded Europe in the worst war the world has known. Everything was lumped together in the series - politicians, the government, the bishops and the Church who, according to the series, all wanted to do evil and did evil . They were " clero-fascists" according to the series. This is not a term from historiography; its usage is political and as such, objective historians consider it useless. If Dr. Tiso shook hands with Hitler or with Ribbontrop, as the series showed on many occasions, SLOVAKIA 107 he did so out of the necessity of his office. But this does not mean that in so doing he became a Nazi. When the President of Czechoslovakia shakes hands with officials from the Vatican or from the U.S.A., it does not mean that he becomes a believer or a capitalist. As a public official of the state, President Tiso had to meet even Nazis, he had to cover moderate acts with strong words. Even today, politicians speak somewhat differently and act differently. Yet in the shadow of the President and many members of the government, Slovak farmers plowed and sowed in peace, professors lectured, students studied, mothers cooked for their children, and poets and writers published books like never before. And all of these took place on an island around which the worst war raged . If it is the duty of politicians to protect their nation, who would have in such a desperate situation done better! Later I will refer to the evaluations by the opposition. The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed life in the Slovak State to be directed by traitors to the nation, criminals who exploited and surrendered their country to the Germans and sent their people to their death, all with the blessing of high officials and the Church. In fact, there was not one execution in the Slovak State because the President did not sign even one death warrant. This was not self-evident - during this cruel war, in the years 1939-45, even in Switzerland thirty condemned people were executed for threatening the state economically, militarily or politically (Nachrichtenzentrum Schweiz, Franefeld n. Stuttgart, 1972, p. 24). The series also attacked the supposed connection between the bishops and clergy and the Nazis and the fact that in the Catholic university residence "Svoradov" they were educating young intellectuals to become Nazis. In fact, in the report of the German envoy in Bratislava to Berlin in February 1943, one reads; "the bastion ... of anti-German feeling is the Catholic student residence Svoradov ... "There was also a comment about the Jesuits in the report: "It is not necessary to underline that the position of the Jesuits is absolutely anti-German ... " Bishop Buzalka, head of the Catholic Action, is also mentioned as one "whose anti-German feeling is known" (Slovenske Ndrodne Povstanie, Dokumenty, [no. 3], Bratislava, 1965, p. 52ff. Hereafter Dokumenty). In contemporary 108 SLOVAKIA terminology, the term ''anti-German'' evidently meant '' antiN azi". One can also see from the same report to Berlin how closely thinking in Slovakia was being followed. In annex no. 11, there was for example a summary of quotations from Slovak Catholic and Lutheran journals "which seemed to the Nazis to be in conflict with Nazi ideology" (Dokumenty, [no. 3], p. 45 and underlined in the original). If the television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' showed and with comments described after fifty years the Slovak State as having been evil and nothing else but evil, contemporary opposition [groups] saw matters much more soberly. In a report to Czechoslovak circles in London dated 5 March 1943 from [Viliam] Radakovfc in Istanbul, we read: "The government is still divided into two groups .. . The Tiso faction, to whom it seems that the interests of the Slovak people do matter after all, has a different tactic . It gives to the Germans only what it must and is governed by the motto: "Let the wolf eat enough and the lamb will survive" ... On the basis of available evidence, one can say in general, that even though not much, the Tiso faction dominates anyway" (Dokumenty, [no . 5], p .61). In a report sent at the end of 1943 to Czechoslovak circles in London, Milos Ruppeldt, a member of one of the opposition groups, studying in Madrid, wrote: "Members of Svoradov are trying to be in favor of the state and would like to keep at any cost full state independence. They agree with the others only in their opposition to the Germans ... It is a generation with a new [national] consciousness and they come principally from rural Catholic families .. . Politically they try to be tolerant toward Slovaks of other political persuasions, as well as towards the Czechs . .. Today, more than 300 university students study abroad among whom only a small percentage is recruited from this group " (Dokumenty, [no. 55], p. 183). Some years ago, historians had already concluded about the Slovak Republic that " the regime was moderate within the framework of its type ... liberal towards those who had the luck of being born in a Slovak or German as well as a Christian family." It represented 95.66% of the population (L. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava, 1968, p. 211). S. Falt'an wrote: "A specific SLOVAKIA 109 Slovak characteristic was that on the one hand Communists were imprisoned and tortured but after being charged they were released and let free. And they were even able to stay in economic and state institutions after their release" (Slovenskd otdzka v Ceskoslovensku, Bratislava, 1968, p. 114). In intelligence reports from Istanbul from September 1944 for Czechoslovak circles in London, one reads that according to the judgment of Laco Novomesky [which he expressed] in 1944 "the last five years were not years of stagnation either in culture or in the economy in Slovakia. The Slovaks educated a solid stratum of the intelligentsia" (Dokumenty, [no. 260], p . 457). In the above-mentioned report for Czechoslovak circles in London from the end of 1943, M. Ruppeldt writes the following in conclusion: "In many respects, in the last five years, Slovakia moved ahead. Today it is in a very anti-German mood ... The Slovak government still has a strong enough position to resist the Germans . It is thanks to this position, for example, that after [Field Marshal Wilhelm] Keitel's visit there was no general mobilization, which is what the visit was all about . .. Ruling circles ... follow a policy of utilitarian nationalism ... It cannot be denied that under the influence of today's favorable economic situation in Slovakia the conviction reigns in broad strata [of the population] that even after the war Slovakia would be able to survive independently. The idea of a Czechoslovak nation will hardly find any ground even among the former representatives of this idea among us. It would be dangerous to want all of a sudden by legislative action to carry out something against which current developments and circumstances have worked" (Dokumenty, [no . 55], p . 186). According to the same report: " literature and art have not shown a visible decline. Theatre seems to have the greatest difficulties. In drama and opera there are beautiful translations by Razusova-Martakova. New plays: Jdnosz'k . .. Tanec nad placom, Stodola's piece Mravci a cvrckovia ... Rysul' a has put out nice novels ... Dominik Tatarka had success with his llzkosti hl'adania, new editions of old works are being published (Hronsky, Urban, Figuli, Razus) ... Closet pacifists ... come forward in literary journals (Eldn, Tvorba, Pohl'ady). Among them are Milos Krno, Stiavnicky, Prochazka. From the older generation, one hears more often today from Smrek, Lukac, Kostra . .. In music, Suchon, young Cikker ... also Kar- 110 SLOVAKIA dos and Mayzes have noticeable success" (Dokumenty, [no. 55], p . 182). Among active artists during the Slovak State one finds also Martin Benka. He returned to [Turciansky Svaty] Martin from Prague in 1939. During the years 1940-41, he directed the art and drawing section of the SVST in Bratislava and presided over the Association of Slovak Creative Artists. Many other poets also published their literary works during the Slovak State: Jan Ponican published in 1941 his composition Divny Janka, in 1943 Senna medzi. Laco Novomesky published in 1939 his collection Sviity za dedinou, in the years 1940-41 he published in Elan a cycle of poems which came out later under the title Pasovanou ceruskou. Jan Kostra published the collections Moja rodna, Ozubeny cas, Vsetko je dobre tak, Puknuta vaza, A ve Eva, Vietor nad cestou, and all of this in the years 1939-43. Others who published were I'.,udo Ondrejov, Margita Figuli. Andrej Plavka published in 1941 his novel Obratenie Pavla and in 1942 the collection Tri pruty Liptova . In 1942, Frantisek Hecko published the collection Na prave poludnie. Also active poetically was Pavol Horov - he published Nioba, nasa matka and Zradne vody spodne (1941, 1942) and then in 1944 Nav raty. All of the surrealists also published during the Slovak State - V. Reisel, J. Lenka, Stefan Zary, Jan Rak, Pavel Buncak, Jan Brezina, Ivan Kupec . Some of their collective works were also published. Among prose writers, D. Tatarka and others published their works . Jan Smrek edited Elan for which A. Matuska, M. Povazan M . Charvat and others wrote essays . If the series ' ' The Cross in the Snares of Power'' described the life of the nation in the Slovak State as life under the leadership of criminals who with the help of the Church despoiled everything and took the nation to the bottom, historical documents speak otherwise. In the collection of documents that was published in 1984 one also finds the " Report of the V illegal Central Committee of the CPS [Communist Party of Slovakia] on developments in Slovakia after 6 October 1938 which Karol Bacilek brought to Moscow for the information of the Moscow leadership of the CPCS for discussion." It was written on 7 July 1944 and we find in it among other things: "Today, there are enough goods in Slovakia, the supply of food is generally good and compared to other lands SLOVAKIA 111 (the Czech Lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is the best in Slovakia, and this also includes the level of salaries as well as the possibility of purchasing goods. The wages of employees and workers were raised many times, factories have many supply privileges and one cannot even speak of a shortage of basic consumer goods. The Slovak crown is the best currency in commercial Europe and enjoys at home for the moment complete confidence. People are saving money and there is no move to a barter system such as one observes in surrounding countries ... The prices of essential goods on the black market are on average 20% more than official prices, and are often at the official level whereas for example in the Czech Lands they are 100-200% higher ... Slovak industry in certain favorable circumstances .. . was greatly modernized ... Czech currency is completely ruined whereas Slovak currency is properly holding its own" (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944, Bratislava 1984, Vol. III, Document 228, p. 338). When the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' reached the outbreak of the uprising, it raised the tone of the organ music and the frequency of pictures with crosses, altars, statues and religious offices. The announcer said that the entire Church hierarchy was tied to the clero-fascist state and that all efforts of cooperation with the bishops for the beginning of the struggle against Fascism failed. It was ironically stated that Bishop [Andrej] Skrabik refused to cooperate because he was interested in the salvation of souls. The irony was out of place . During the war years, the bishops rarely dealt with politics, only when it was inevitable. The absolute majority of priests were dedicated to their spiritual activities - they took care of churches, celebrated religious offices, baptized, performed marriage ceremonies and funerals, prepared their sermons and heard confessions, taught religion in schools, offered spiritual renewal, retreats and popular missions . Slovak bishops protested against the breaking of laws and rights in the same way bishops are doing today in South Africa and elsewhere; it was not their vocation to take up arms, not anymore than it is that of the bishops of Africa. If they were against Nazism and its nee-paganism and against the introduction of its methods and ideas in the Slovak Republic, they did so with the spoken word; it was not their voca- 112 SLOVAKIA tion to be in revolt against their Republic. Even later in the re-created CSR they had reservations against many things but they never advocated violent opposition because it does not concur with their vocation. They could not join the uprising because at the beginning it was unclear, it was not known who was behind it and what goals it was following. The main leaders of the opposition did not know of its outbreak and it started with various political aims. Dr. Gustav Husak wrote in his report of 5 February 1945 to the leadership of the CPCS: "The uprising did not break out at a favorable time for us, its start was forced upon us by the Germans and the partizans" (Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 576] p. 975). In the documentation, the following comment is added to the orders of the high command of the army of 31 August 1944 and signed by General [Rudolf] Viest: "Naturally Viest was not in [Banska] Bystrica ... his name was signed at headquarters so the order would have greater weight" ( Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 206] p. 381 [note 4]). The motives of the leading personalities and the average person were different. Some were saying that Slovakia had been attacked by German and Hungarian soldiers (Dokumenty, [nos 188, 189] pp. 363-364). One reads in the report of Dr. Husak: "Many soldiers announced that they would not fight for the CSR and many Communists and others demanded the annexation [of Slovakia] to the USSR .. . In London there was not a word about the Slovak nation" (Dokumenty, [no. 576] p. 951). General Viest spoke of the restoration of the CSR because: "the Czech worker and the Czech craftsman are known in the world for their industry ... [and] capabilities whereas the Slovaks . .. are a little primitive ... hardworking agricultural nation . . . the top intellectual stratum in Slovakia is more than thin ... they have to send their sons to study abroad . .. However, the Slovak peasant has no great inclination for this . . . " For this reason General Viest opposed the Slovak State (Dokumenty, no . 587, pp. 1101-2). On the other hand, in Dr. Husak's report of 5 February 1945 to Moscow after the uprising we read: "The Slovak nation fought simultaneously against Hitler, Tiso and Benes and secured the status of an independent nation on whose behalf no one else will ever be able to speak" (Dokumenty, [no. 576] p. 976). One reads in the report of 14 December 1944 about the situation during the uprising by Deputy V. Uhlir upon his return from a trip as member SLOVAKIA 113 of a governmental delegation to the USSR and Slovakia: "The officer corps .. . was not homogeneous .. . it did not do any good that many officers tried to get to rear units and to army offices . . . The men did not have the appropriate training and there existed among them such helplessness and disunity about the ultimate aims of the struggle . . . one found the Czechoslovak, the Communist and the independent Slovak orientation" (Dokumenty, no. 563, p. 877). The SNU (Slovak National Uprising) almost brought about a general opposition in Slovakia against the ideology and the inhuman ways of Nazism and it is in this way that it is known in the world. The authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" were guilty of an irreparable error in showing the whole uprising to national and world opinion as an attack against the Church and today's faithful. It will be very difficult to repair this error. The faithful at home were horrified by it and the rest of the world will hardly be cheered up by this one-sidedness. The historical problems of Slovakia are also being studied in foreign institutions and according to the rigorous principles of scientific work. The television series put the SNU in the inappropriate sphere of atheistic propaganda and in this way damaged many things in Slovakia and abroad. It compels the faithful to defend themselves, to study situations and obstinately to seek the truth. It was pathetic how the series played with pictures and film cuttings, how it showed the shootings, dead bodies, burned homes and how it mixed all of this with film shots of churches, masses, crucifixes and bishops and the comments of the commentator: "see how far clerofascism under the priest president took things. '' The peak of tendentiousness was reached with the descriptions of the trials of the SUHG [Special Units of the Hlinka Guard]. Everything was pointed against the Church "against priests who educate murderers " and so forth. The unspoken claim which came out of all this is that "priests" were primarily responsible for nearly all of the murders during the period September-November 1944, that they were responsible for all the destruction and suffering because "they were bringing up murderers. " The producers constantly illustrated this view and almost imposed it [upon viewers] with frequent pictures of altars and religious offices. In their tenden- 114 SLOVAKIA tiousness, the authors eliminated any sense of moderation and it will be very difficult for them to repair this error. Every lost life of those times was and remains an irreparable tragedy and every destroyed human habitation was also a tragedy. But to attribute this as a fault of churches, altars, bishops and the Church is not historical and unfair. One has to keep in mind that until August 1944 no one was executed in Slovakia and that no life was taken violently. Churches, crosses, masses and bishops had nothing in common with the military operations in whose midst Slovakia found herself suddenly after August 1944. Armed opposition to Hitler counted on battles and their consequences. The horrible logic of war applied to the uprising. In this imposed logic of war, the high command of the German Army immediately reacted as did the high command of the uprising as soon as the uprising broke out. According to the documentation, the sender "Za slovensku slobodu" [For Slovak freedom] on 30 August 1944 was announcing: "Blowing up bridges, tunnels, destroy railways, telephone and telegraph lines, destroy factories and other strategic objects, kill Germans" (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944, Bratislava, 1984, p. 372) . In an operational command, General Viest on 24 October 1944 decreed: "I warn most strongly that the destruction of communications must be done very thoroughly" (Dokumenty, no. 486, p. 754). In the comprehensive report of 1 December 1944 about the combat activities of the partizan units one reads: "Blown up: 24 railway bridges, 33 road bridges ... 46 locomotives destroyed, 548 wagons, 1 tunnel ... 273 cars and tractors, 2 railway yards, 5 mines, the locomotive depot and train station in Poltar, 2 electrical generators" (Dokumenty, no. 557, p. 759). Such was the inexorable logic of war. The television series aimed it all at the Church. The pictures of dead bodies and graves were particularly painful, alternating again and again with religious symbols, altars and crosses. The dead were, however, the horrible consequence of a horrible war which also reached Slovakia! If until August 1944 there were no violent deaths in Slovakia, then they appeared in great numbers on both sides. When I open [the book] Dejiny, I can read: "In the last two weeks of August, the partizans intensified their activities to such a degree that open partizan welfare broke out in Slovakia. The partizans attacked communication lines, depots of SLOVAKIA 115 materials, they liquidated the Hitlerites and their collaborators" (Slovensko, Dejiny, Bratislava, 1971, p. 768 - hereafter Dejiny), Then one reads about actions in Turany, Skalka, Harmanec, Vrutky. According to the text: "The partizans liquidated a group of German field gendarmes ... Near Strecno, they destroyed a German automobile convoy ... In Brezno, they liquidated Slamen, Deputy for the HSPP, with a group of people ... They captured in [Turciansky Svaty] Martin a German military mission from an international rapid train ... on the next day, during an attempt at resistance, they shot [the members of] the mission ... Ludin announced that the development of partizan warfare in Slovakia did not allow the Germans to wait anymore, that it was inevitable to bring in the army' (Dejiny, p. 770). Those were wartime events and the series could have presented them as such - without masses, without crosses, without the presence of Slovak bishops. Faced with the still powerful military machine of Hitler, even Slovak officials were almost completely powerless. The German Army did not tolerate opposition behind its lines and attacked . A quarter of a century later an historian wrote about this situation: " From a historical perspective, it is clear that Tiso did not bring the Germans into Slovakia, indeed the German forces would have invaded us and attacked the uprising in any event" (E. Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava 1968, p. 248). The television series did not help the reputation of the SNU by surrounding it with pictures of statues, churches, altars and with the sounds of organs and in the name of aggressive atheism directing it almost exclusively against the Church and the faithful. This could only provoke exasperation among the faithful. And among historians and others, definite disagreement. It was a military affair and it should have been shown as such. The battles were then merciless on both sides, people died from shots on both sides, graves appeared in Sklene and Nemecka Lupca, and later in other places. It was pitiful, however, when the series showed the unveiling of the face of a corpse with the comment: "this is how far the priest president went." If German soldiers in this warlike situation were indiscriminately hard, and they were, the soldiers of the uprising defended themselves also with toughness. The Church as such had no role in this. Anyone who 116 SLOVAKIA knows the situation from his own experience or knows about it from documents does not involve the Church in these actions and counter-actions. By then, the law of war was at work. On 8 December 1944, the high command of the partizan movement published Order no. 30 whose text reads as follows: "A merciless fight with the traitors among the population and the partizans, soldiers and officers who went to serve the German occupants this is the most important task of the offensive actions of the units. Liquidate all of these enemies mercilessly and spread the news about this in all the areas from where they come" (Dokumenty, no. 338, p. 860). The idea of opposition to Nazism, like every great idea, was carried out by people. Among them, besides known personalities, there were average people, even very simple people. The latter created for the uprising many problems and worries . However painful it is, the misuse of the SNU by the television series against the Church requires the quoting of further passages from the very same Order no. 30: "In many villages, mountains and forests there is an important multitude of dispersed units and groups of partizans, soldiers and officers ... The majority of them ... are simply waiting ... The others, who call themselves "partizans" terrorize the population". Similarly in the report of Deputy Uhlir for London of 14 December 1944 we read: "The commander of the staff of Soviet partizans, Colonel [A.N.] Asmolov, described to us the situation in the partizan movement ... from his partizan brigades, three are the best . .. Even among the partizans there were cases of unlawful actions, so that three partizans had to be publicly executed for murder and pillage ... There were among the partizans such individuals who did not have anything in common with the partizan movement. The population was clearly afraid of some of these elements" (Dokum enty, no. 563, p. 890). The attempt to place the SNU in the service of an anti-religious struggle and against the Church, in the way done by the authors of the series "The Cross in the Snares of Power, " is to serve badly the nation, and to evaluate wrongly proper sacrifices and personal heroism and will force historians and believers as well to study these questions thoroughly, directly from sources and not from the superficial propaganda of atheism . SLOVAKIA 117 The television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' tried finally to attack the Catholic Church in Slovakia with a description of the trials of the so-called Special Units of the HG [Hlinka Guard] which took place in Bratislava and Banska Bystrica in 1958 and in all of which a priest was also tried. The priest A.H. had been invited on Christmas Eve to a group in the HG and spoke to them about Christmas. Some of the accused claimed that "he had encouraged them to kill and that later in the confessional they easily obtained absolution with five Our Fathers .'' The priest denied this strongly before the court. The accused almost tried to outdo each other with their confessions. However, the fourth one directly accused them of "absolutely not speaking the truth." They had deprived far more people of their life; he had made a mistake. According to the series, many accused spoke before the court primarily of priests. In fact, one of them with raised voice and gestures said: "My mother did not bring me up as a murderer, the priests did!" This was meant to be proof of how priests and the Church were against the uprising and how they preached murder. This reminds one of the trials from the early fifties when the accused almost raced to confess. It seemed from the testimony that the Church had honored the uprising. This was in 1958, when Dr. Husak, one of the leaders of the uprising, was still in jail while other leaders, L. Novomesky and D. Oka.Ii, had returned from jail shortly before. Other leaders of the uprising like R. Slansky, Major [Viliam] Zingor and companions, [Jozef] Trojan and companions had been condemned to death six years earlier and General L. Svoboda, the main leader in the liberation struggle, who had been until 1948 Minister of National Defence, had lost his rank and worked during the years 1952-55 as an accountant on a collective farm. After 1960, when in jail in Valdice, I met many of those condemned in the trials of the SUHG, including the two priests, the situation became clear. The condemned indicated that as a result of entreaties and threats they had signed confessions and had repeated them before the court. When this did not alleviate matters for them, and they were still given severe sentences, some recanted their confessions before the Supreme Court, but, by then, no one was listening to them. In jail, many of them apologized to the two priests who had been falsely condemned and jailed. 118 SLOVAKIA After the pictures of the courtroom of the trials of the SUHG, there were pictures of shootings, corpses and graves, pictures of a little church on a mountain top, then sculptures of a church interior and a cross which the producers had presented with the head upside down. Following all of this was the crudest blasphemy of the series: there was no face or body, but a hand holding in two fingers a host and a voice declaring pathetically: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." It is in this way that murders were connected with holy masses, the most holy of mysteries for Christians. It is at this point that the seventeen yearold student exclaimed: "Satanic Verses the Slovak way ... " Although the series was entitled ''a documentary'', this was clearly not a document, but theatre. The hand held a small host whereas a priest holds a big one. Besides in 1958, no priest celebrated mass in Slovak but in Latin, [saying] "Ecce Agnus Dei . . . "Long after 1963, after the [Vatican] Council, Slovak was used in the liturgy. The scene was therefore filmed as theatre for the purpose of ridicule .. . As far as Church circles are concerned, including the President, there is historical evidence that they were not on the side of Hitler and against the Slovak people in the uprising; rather, they tried to help the unfortunate wherever they could. Before the National Tribunal in Bratislava on 6 January 1947 Dr. [Igor] Daxner said to Archbishop Kmet'ko: "you said something about a certain German general who was also accompanied by Tiso. This German general demanded that a pastoral letter against Communism be published." Dr. Kmet'ko replied: "Yes, Tiso did indeed come with this German general and I found it very surprising that when the general made the request, Tiso sat beside him and did not say a word, he simply kept quiet" (Katolfcke noviny, spring 1947) . The attitude of the President toward the partizans was also made clear before the National Tribunal in additional testimony as published in the daily Slaboda. The President of the court, Dr. Daxner, asked the witness, Dr. K. Murin, personal secretary of the President: "Were you in Banska Bystrica with the President after the uprising?" Dr. Murin replied: "I was." Dr. Daxner asked: "Did Dr. Tiso free the partizans or did he intervene on their behalf?" Dr. Murin replied: "when we were on our way to the archbishop's SLOVAKIA 119 palace, at that moment a column of our own arrested soldiers marched by. Dr. Tiso went among them, spoke with them and told them that he would do everything for them that was within his power. The Germans were shocked that he was speaking with partizans. In the evening, Dr. Tiso, Dr. Jan Durcansky and a German superior officer were together and there I heard with my own ears Dr. Tiso, in the presence of Dr. Durcansky, ask the German officer to send these boys back to Slovakia and to set them free. The Germans agreed and Durcansky was to negotiate with them" (Slaboda, 28 January 1947). There are historical documents which show that upon the request of the President, the Germans began to send some deported Slovaks back from the Reich. In fact, at the beginning of December 1944 Tiso wrote a personal letter to Hitler and complained that German officials were not respecting the financial agreements concluded and were using public and private Slovak property to such an extent '' that is not acceptable for my nation and intolerable for me and my government." Himmler reacted to this letter: " . .. effrontery. There is no other word for it ... " (Slovenske narodne povstanie. Nemci a Slovensko 1944. Dokumenty, Bratislava 1970, p. 619, doc. 223, p. 450, doc. 233, pp . 474-5) Z. Fierlinger reported in a dispatch to London dated 25 November 1944: "The Bratislava government will forgive all soldiers from the former Slovak army who return" ... (Slovenkse Narodne Povstanie. Dokumenty, Bratislava 1965, [no. 552] p. 849). And in his report to London, Dr. J. Kopecky was reporting as early as 25 September 1944 from Geneva: "The Germans disarmed everywhere where the Slovak army was garrisoned except the units in barracks in the centre of town in Nitra and Trencin. Everywhere the Gestapo began immediately arresting and deporting Jews who were still free. Tiso was the first to intervene on their behalf and received assurances that although they would be brought together, they would not be taken from the territory of Slovakia. The Jews from Nitra were ... taken in the direction of the city of Sered'. Archbishop Kmet'ko tried to intervene with the commander of the German garrison who told him that he could do nothing against the Gestapo. Kmet'ko went to the Gestapo who told him that they were carrying out orders and that nothing could be changed. The 120 SLOVAKIA Jewish Central Agency continues to be active m Bratislava" (Dokumenty, 1965, [no. 578] p. 578). The possibilities of those who wanted to come to the help of our people, of soldiers, of partizans and of Jewish citizens in these terrible weeks were accordingly very limited. Still there was certainly an attempt also on the part of the Church to help . Yet the hardness on one side and the impotence to help on the other were at times far too great. And thus it happened that during the uprising, Nazi officials in Rufomberok took from the Jesuits, about whom it was later written that they had in those times a great deal of influence, the convert Tomas Munka directly from the novitiate, who after his secondary studies had entered the Society of Jesus, and sent him, together with his parents and younger brother, to Germany where they all perished . The television series ' 'The Cross in the Snares of Power' ' simplified historical facts and distorted many of them. It saw the SNU only within the context of its own struggle against the Church and the faithful, thus placing it in a false light, and as a result badly served our mutual coexistence in the present and in the future. According to the series, everything in the Slovak State was evil, everything was criminal and the fault was the Church' s. This is an untrue simplification. Serious participants in the opposition and in the struggle saw the situation otherwise at that time . In the report of the V illegal leadership of the CPS dated 7 July 1944, "About the developments in Slovakia after 6 October 1838," which K. Smidke took to Moscow, the following was written about the situation in the Slovak State : "Emigration, in particular that in London, is either badly informed about the situation or else is deliberately misinterpreting facts. The fact is that this state has independence and it has the kind of independence that is possible for a small nation and in time of war ... Internal affairs are handled only by the regime itself. The economy is taken care of by the [Slovak] people. Legislation, schools and so forth are in the hands of the [Slovak] people . German influence is great, but not so great for independence to be a stupid mask . For example, in less than five rears, the Gestapo did not arrest even one Slovak citizen. Viliam Siroky, who was taken from prison in Bratislava to Brno for crossexamination, was sent back although the Germans wanted badly SLOVAKIA 121 to get rid of him there. German pressure, which is to be found at the level of inter-state relations, whether political or economic, does not touch the average citizen on the street, in public life . Hitler is still respecting [Slovak] independence and in the course of the past year, the Germans from the Reich have behaved especially politely. If this state were of another orientation and governed by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, then from the Slovak point of view there would be nothing to say against it. It comes therefore as no surprise that honest-thinking people here in Slovakia entertain the idea of retaining the state after the existing regime is replaced and the state is given a new social content. We say this for the sake of a complete report. London, which attacks the state and its independence, thinking that in this way it is attacking the regime, is in fact missing its target . The kind of state certain people wish to live in is a matter of one's strong opinion and of the wish of the people; however, the form of the state, the land and the language - and the political regime are two different things. This relative independence Slovakia enjoys has today an overwhelming importance for all levels of the liberation struggle, for the preparations and the leadership of the struggle. This is true not only for Slovakia, but also for the Czech Lands, as will be seen when it will be possible to speak openly about certain matters. It is not reasonable to underestimate (as London does) the desire of statehood of a small nation even if it is obtained through a politically stupid regime and at a time when other nations are losing their independence. It insults national pride." (Dejiny Slovenskeho ntirodneho povstania 1944. Dokumenty, Vol. 3, Bratislava 1984, doc. 228, pp. 340-341). There is another historical document about the conversation Lutheran Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt had with a British diplomat. It is found in the diplomatic dispatch of British Consul J.A. Grant, dated 18 June 1947, numbered 25. 5.1/7-44 and addressed to the British Foreign Secretary. The conversation took place two months after the execution of Dr. J. Tiso. The essential passage goes as follows: "Sir, I had a talk with the Lutheran Bishop Ruppeldt yesterday ... As you know Ruppeldt is a man of strong Slovak feeling and emphatic opinions: but he is well informed and has no small influence and I think you may like to know what he told me . He 122 SLOVAKIA considers the execution of Tiso as a political blunder of the first order ... The execution has strengthened the barriers between [ . . . ] Slovaks and Czechs . . . Bishop Ruppeldt said that he tried for two hours to explain this to Dr. Benes before the execution, and that his colleague of Liptovsky Mikulas had made a similar effort . . . He said that Tiso' s defence was similar to that of Marshal Petain's, and with good grounds. The Slovak people were undoubtedly saved by the establishment of the Slovak State from partition between Germany, Hungary and Poland; and until the Rising Slovakia, puppet state or not, was indeed an oasis of rest and plenty in a troubled Europe. Tiso had been blamed for not associating himself with the Rising: but if he had the Germans would assuredly have laid waste the country, massacred the people and destroyed Slovakia ... Tiso' s political course still kept Slovakia intact .. . The Bishop also pointed out that under Tiso' s regime, not a single sentence of capital punishment was carried out. I report these opinions for what they may be worth. Ruppeldt has been described to me as the "Niemoller of Slovakia" and was himself, a you know, imprisoned under the Slovak State. His views might easily be so much harsher that I am inclined to listen to what he says . . . " [Michael] Cardinal [von] Faulhaber, one of the greatest oppponents of Nazism in Germany, in a letter dated 2 November 1951 wrote that even if Dr. Tiso had been in Hitler's sphere of influence and in contact with him out of political and contemporary necessity, "he kept his independence in his discussions with Hitler and never lowered himself to be Hitler's lackey". The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" took the acount beyond 1948, in fact until 1958. In the subsequent discussion, four of its participants (0. Danyi, J. Celko, J. Siles and L. Dupkala) spoke of the present - of Catholic Action, of the illegal structures of the Church in Slovakia in which they say "clero-fascism" is still surviving. Many practicing believers had already been described as "the posthumous children of elem-fascism" by these same authors. This expression is strange. I was fifteen years old when the Slovak State was proclaimed. Today's believers who are fifty were hardly ten weeks old on 14 March 1939. And tens of thousands of young believers can hardly be posthumous children when they hardly SLOVAKIA 123 know anything about those past events. The series was evidently interested only in one thing - today's Church in Slovakia and the awakening of faith in the Church among the young generation. This took the authors down a blind alley where, in many instances, they confused history with fantasy . The aim was clear - to create pressure on today's believers, to drive into them the idea that the Church was the source of all evil in Slovakia - and that, for this reason, the faithful should keep quiet. According to the series, Pope Pius XII supported Fascism in Slovakia by elevating Dr. Kmet'ko to the rank of archbishop. The faithful have thought and think otherwise: "We did not have a Slovak archbishop for centuries because someone did not wish us to have one and we do not have one even today, but Pius XII gave us one then." Elsewhere, according to the series, "the crowning achievement of all reactionary activities" was realized by the Vatican in 1949 when it supposedly excommunicated "all those who supported the government of the people's democracy ." In actual fact, in 1949 the Vatican excommunicated the members of the so-called schismatic Catholic Action, a political movement that fell apart shortly thereafter. And it excommunicated those believers who joined atheistic organizations. Later, these very organizations forbade their members from belonging to the Church and from taking part in religious offices. This is how matters were settled. The series "The Cross in the Snares of Power" wanted to explain events that took place fifty years ago. It explained them badly, in the same way as those events that are taking place right before our eyes are often explained. It called Slovak Catholics "clerofascists" and indicated that this was the reason why the Church lost her seminaries, schools, journals and religious orders and even the Greek Catholics. In the Czech Lands, however, there were no " elem-fascists" and the Church also lost everything. Bishops Trochta and Zela went from German concentration camps into new jails together with the Slovak Bishops Vojtassak, Gojdic, Hopko, Buzalka and Barnas. The then Czech Bishops Hlouch and Skoupy and Archbishop Beran were interned for a number of years or else confined together with the Slovak Bishops Dr. Pobozny, Necsey and Lazik. This evidently did not concern elem-fascism. This concerned atheism and the question of justice and freedom. Such an 124 SLOVAKIA honest man and writer as Vaclav Havel and his friends did not have anything to do with " elem-fascism" and yet they still ended up twice in jail. Some people put [in the same group of enemies of socialism, Catholics, other Christians, non-Christians and defenders of socialism.] In the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power,'' six to seven people insulted in six programs of thirty minutes each hundreds of thousands of believers in Slovakia. According to the authors of the discussion, half of the population of Slovakia is Catholic. Even this would be enough to ask the serious question whether it makes sense to insult half the population for three hours on state television. According to the statistics of the journal Ateizmus (5/88) which is published by the authors of the series, there is above average religiosity in 11 districts in Slovakia. It is definitely above average in a further 14 districts - baptisms account for 78%, Church marriages for 58% and Church funerals for 85%. Very above average religiosity is found in a further 12 districts - they have 86% baptisms, 84% Church marriages, 92% Church funerals. Accordingly, the authors of the series insulted more than 50% of the population of Slovakia who produce conscientiously bread, meat, milk, vegetable and fruits for the villages, and again clothing and footwear in the cities and build us apartments. The Church has been in Slovakia for 1100 years and survived many a historical catastrophe. May God allow that she will live another thousand years. It is a pity that such a struggle against her and the faithful is connected with the name of the CSSR. Today in the world, the idea of the cooperation of all peoples in the spirit of toleration, the idea of mutual faith and a common home is gaining ground. Even in Slovakia and in the CSSR there is a need for cooperation among all inhabitants - Catholics with Lutherans, Christians with non-Christians, Slovaks w ith Czechs, all together with our neighbours. In this country, and especially in Slovakia, Catholics and the Church were oppressed again and again for many years. Some dioceses in Slovakia, in the Czech Lands and in Moravia were without a bishop for 30 years, some for 38 years, something which has no analogy in history and nowhere else in the world today. In the Czech Lands, Charter 77 and the CDUP [Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Persecuted] have in SLOVAKIA 125 the past few years openly defended the Catholic Church and the faithful for which they have earned sincere thanks. In 1988, the faithful of other Christian Churches in the Czech Lands defended Catholics and the Catholic Church in this Republic in letters to the government, for which they have also earned sincere thanks. Catholics and the Catholic Church were also defended by socialist thinkers whom the faithful also thank sincerely. A solidarity was born which augurs well for the future. All those who opposed Slovak Catholicism rendered and continue to render a bad service to the nation and the Republic. They undermine their own common home as their predecessors had already done. They attack the Church and the believers, while, after many years, believers who are theoretically equal to non-believers do not have the opportunity to answer and to defend themselves. K.M. Kharchev, Director of the Office for Church Affairs in the USSR, has written that many prejudices have to be shed in the effort to obtain true freedom of conscience for all citizens. According to him, "this touches positively the feelings of believers and atheists" (Tyzdenn{k aktualit 11/88, pp. 4-8). The faithful in Slovakia read such words only with quiet envy. Or is it with hope? In the past forty years, we have had many affirmations and opinions which we later retracted, many condemnations which we had to overturn with rehabilitations. We had many so-called "important people" whose glory died and who today are not remembered. The members of the Institute for Scientific Atheism over the years presented us believers as suspicious citizens. And this still goes on. A recent example is the series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power.'' However, the faithful still live here, and more and more young people who are looking for the truth are joining the Church . On top of all the words and pictures in the series, which were glued together without any regard for the truth, for true history and for the future of the nation, I want to quote the words of the poet: " Who will save my soul from the avalanche of people's words? From afar they seem like a xylophone, from close they are only tin bells. They are like wild waters, which produce only their howling noise. Today they are the cradle of truth, tomorrow its grave. They reach us with their hands - only God can seize our soul. They fill us with wine changed into vinegar, but the soul requires truth and eternity . . . 126 SLOVAKIA It is becoming clearer to me that everything human built without love is exposed to destruction. Where a garden blooms today, tomorrow it is a wilderness. And where people work in the morning, destruction thunders at night .... " With these thoughts, I became even more deeply aware what the Church, which educated us for a thousand years, means for the faithful. It has prayers which hear the fields and the forests. It knows how to bless water and bread. And while my generation will disappear like sand into nothingness, the Church towers like a peak into eternity. She embraces nations and continents and her breath blows through all generations. The measure of her faithfulness is not human faithfulness and the measures of her years known no autumn. Everything that she does not change is put aside by death . . . she forgives even enemies, she is willing to serve them and to heal wounds . The Church is the way of all of our ways and along these roads, people have been walking to God for thousands of years. This is why I live in her, this is why I defend her and this is why I wrote this long letter. Respectfully, J. Ch. Karee, Bratislava, 7 April 1989 Translated from the Slovak by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum 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 Letter from Bishop J. Ch. Korec To Czechoslovak Television Concerning the Programme: "The Cross in the Snares of Power" Description An account of the resource J. Ch. Korec trans. by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90 pp. 77-126 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Korec, Ján Chryzostom, 1924-2015 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/3937fe16529be6098e88c2b0615f23cb.pdf bafc3ea731f697e216983d10a4845f97 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 61 An Act of Faith and Integrity: Bishop Korec' s Letter to Czechoslovak Television (Introduction) STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM The following letter by a Slovak Catholic bishop to Czechoslovak Television objecting to the contents of the television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' is a document of great historical importance . Although it is quite different from other documents with explicit political goals, it shares with them a similar message and an appropriate sense of timing. It appeared at a time (April, 1989) when East European politics were once again undergoing change. But it is also, by virtue of content as well as timing, a declaration of Slovak national individuality. It reaffirms the vitality of the Slovak people and informs the world of their refusal to bow to internal as well as external oppression. Previous documents of similar historical importance carried a comparable message. Four are of particular interest. In May 1848, as the Austrian Empire was being shaken by national and social revolutions, the leaders of the Slovak nation published a declaration which was sent to the Emperor in Vienna; it was their first political manifesto. In June 1861, when constitutional changes were being contemplated in Vienna, Slovak leaders published the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation, another document outlining their objectives . Each clearly stated the desire of the Slovaks to be recognized as a nation and to run their own affairs, goals that were not incompatible with the possibilities of the period. In October 1918, as the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was disintegrating, Slovak leaders outlined in the Martin Declaration the political arrangement they wished to have with the Czechs �62 SLOVAKJA in a new state in order to ensure the further development of their people. Finally in March 1968, during the short-lived liberalization period in Communist Czechoslovakia, in a declaration published by the Slovak National Council, Slovak leaders clearly stated under what conditions their nation was willing to continue sharing a state with the Czechs in a Communist regime. In these, and other documents, there is one clear message: the aim of the Slovaks was to achieve national self-determination. 1 The fact that the Slovaks rarely reached all their stated objectives did not discourage them; it merely meant that they would have to try again. By doing so, their leaders were showing that they understood that for a small nation at the crossroads of Central Europe politics is the art of the possible .2 As the bishop's letter states, this lesson is still valid and applicable today. Bishop Jan Ch. Karee wrote to Bratislava Television at a time when many nations in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union were showing the political will to modify, if not change outright, the existing political system by, among other things, putting an end to political falsification. In the Soviet Union this is known as glasnost, a policy encouraged by the Kremlin not only for the Soviet peoples, but also for the peoples of Eastern Europe. It means telling the truth, not just about the deficiencies of the Communist system, but also about significant periods in a people's history. It is this latter theme that the letter addresses . It looks primarily at one of the most critical periods in Slovak history when, during a world war, the Slovaks were independent and governed themselves in the Slovak Republic. By refuting the falsifications around that period, the letter underlines the refusal of the Slovak people to have their national life determined by others . This is its implicit message. Equally important in the letter is the absence of direct political demands, showing once again how well the Slovaks understand politics as the art of the possible. At the time when the letter was written and began to circulate in Slovakia, the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia was one of the most conservative and repressive in Eastern Europe. Bishop Karee was well aware of the fact that it served no purpose to go beyond a refutation of the falsehoods so blatantly stated in the television programme broadcast on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Slovak In- �SLOVAKIA 63 dependence. The fact that a Catholic bishop who strongly defends the political neutrality of the Church published this letter means that an overt political message was automatically excluded . But it would seem that the lesson of the 1960s was also remembered: the road to the federalization of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic had been paved with the refutation of earlier distortions around the activities and the political goals of those involved in the 1944 events about which more is said below. The letter celebrates recent Slovak history in its refutation of the arguments and interpretations found in the television series. It does so because Bishop Korec and others around him know to what depths of ignorance about their history many Slovaks have sunk and to what distortions they have been exposed. In one of the more poignant passages, he writes: 'Rare are the small nations which today can maim and defame their own history and in this way destroy the national consciousness of future generations as we know how to do in Slovakia." The letter is eloquent testimony to the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the Communist regime. The contents of the letter also raised questions about broadcasting and cultural policies in Communist Czechoslovakia. This is evident in the description of the series ' ' The Cross in the Snares of Power." The reader who has not seen it is made fully aware of the malicious fabrications and fantasies found in the programme's contents, presentation and approach . Whatever were the programme' s political motives, they could not possibly have been achieved, for it is clear that it attacked the intelligence of every viewer except perhaps the least discriminating and the most primitive. The response of the two students makes the point forcefully . The effort to mislead the Slovak public with this television series was so blatant that it left one wondering about the control the Slovaks have over their own television . The same question must be asked about Slovak membership in the Institute for Scientific Atheism of the Slovak Academy of Sciences to whom authorship of the programme is attributed. If, as has been suggested in a Slovak-American newspaper, 3 the majority of the programme's authors were non-Slovaks, then the publication of the letter takes on additional meaning. �64 SLOVAKIA In the letter, Bishop Korec comes to the defence of the Slovak nation by defending the Catholic Church, its clergy and the faithful. Two factors account for such an approach; first, the television series unabashedly held the Church responsible for all that its authors perceived to have been either wrong or evil in Slovakia during the period 1918-1945. Secondly, the Catholic clergy did in fact play a role in this period of Slovak history. But more important, as Bishop Korec writes, "Slovak history cannot be understood without Christianity and the Catholic Church". Thus, to defend the Church is to defend the nation. Bishop Korec divides the period under consideration into three phases. The approach is quite simple. First, an outline of the series' interpretation is given and then a refutation is offered which for all intents and purposes also rejects the Communist regime's official version of Slovak history. The refutations are not exhaustive, nor are they meant to be. But they are to the point and they open the door to a further examination of events and their current interpretations by Marxist and Western historians. Bishop Korec 's letter is, in fact, a direct challenge to most contemporary historical works . Our purpose is to highlight the interpretations in the letter which mark a major departure from conventional wisdom about Slovak history. The first phase of the letter deals with the twenty years of the First Czechoslovak Republic (CSR). According to the series, both the clergy and the Slovak People's Party, in which some priests were active, were against the state and sought its breakup . In addition to being simply untrue, this kind of interpretation is also dangerous because it reflects the over-simplification of history . The emphasis that the letter puts on the complexity of events is not unimportant, nor is it meant simply to state the obvious. The fact is that much of what is written about the Slovaks - and not just in the First CSR - is unfortunately over-simplified in one way or another. There are not many serious studies, especially in Western languages, of the history of the First CSR. Let us look at three of them. While their authors recognize that relations between the Czechs and Slovaks were not always harmonious, the explanations given only too often lack sophistication or insight. The American �SLOVAKIA 65 Czech Josef Korbel, for example, reduces the differences between the two peoples to Slovak conservatism and Czech progressivism and to the clash of personalities in Slovak political life. As in the television series, to the Reverend Andrej Hlinka is attributed much of the responsibility for the difficult relations, because, according to Korbel, he was "fascinated by his own words ... and a fanatic Catholic priest" who wanted to be named a bishop. 4 Korbel adds: Hlinka's suspicions and bitterness in this personal matter [of not being named a bishop] grew into a political hostility that engulfed both Czechs and Slovaks . In the eyes of Hlinka's followers, [Vavro] Srobar and the Czechs were the very incarnation of evil: atheists, socialists, liberals, and anticlericalists, who would bring untold misfortunes upon the country if Slovakia were not guaranteed an autonomy that assured the preservation of her own culture. 5 Korbel shows very little understanding of the Slovaks and their desire to ensure by themselves and for themselves their national development . In the second work, written during the Second World War, the Scot Robert W. Seton-Watson, who was one of the first Western scholars to write about the First CSR, also takes a reductionist approach even though he seeks in great detail to understand and explain the complexities of its political life and especially the position and role of the Slovaks. He writes : There was from the first a profound " incompatibility of temper" between the two kinsmen [Slovaks and Czechs], due to long centuries of Slovak isolation from Western currents, followed by two generations of assimilation and " Magyarone " outlook .. .. the personal element [also] played an important part; and Slovak questions were only too soon grouped round the rivalry of two men who had first entered the political arena in close accord, in their native town of Rufomberok - Father Andrew Hlinka, eloquent, passionate, a churchman of the twelfth rather than the twentieth century and Dr. Vavro Srobar, a doctor of �66 SLOVAKIA progressive and even sceptical outlook, already identified with strongly Czechophil and centralist views. 6 Seton-Watson, like Korbel, deplores the fact that the Slovaks refused to accept the Czech agenda for their common state and reduces the tensions between the two nations to this refusal. He dedicated his book to the Czech nation. In the third volume, a collection of essays on the Czechoslovak Republic by Western scholars, the American Slovak Victor S. Mametey sees the history of the First CSR as one of a state which sought to achieve political and economic modernization but which also had problems because of a debate between Slovaks. He writes: While the struggle between the political right and left was the basic feature of Czech politics, the fundamental issue of Slovak politics was centralism versus autonomy and its cultural concomitant, Czechoslovak unity versus Slovak distinctness ("one nation or two?").7 Mamatey further suggests that there was no Czech-Slovak conflict, rather "one between two Slovak political factions, not between Czech and Slovak politicians, let alone the Czech and Slovak peoples as a whole". Yet a few lines earlier he writes: "sincerely believing that the centralists alone represented authentic Slovak opinion, the Czech politicians steadfastly backed them . They themselves, however, rarely interfered in the conflict". 8 Interpreted properly, this last sentence clearly indicates the nature of the dilemna for the Slovaks . The Czechs in fact controlled the outcome of the debate, namely the national non-recognition of the Slovaks and their assimilation into the Czech nation, which is the reason why they did not need to interfere. To suggest that there was no conflict between Czech and Slovaks is therefore, not only absurd, but it is also to distort the essence of the history of the Czechoslovak Republic, namely the unsuccessful attempts to balance CzechSlovak relations politically and constitutionally to the benefit of both nations. That, more than anything else, is what the history of the Czechoslovak state, whether democratic or communist, is all about. As this involves both nations, one cannot reduce the responsibility of finding solutions uniquely to the Slovaks as Marnatey does. �SLOVAKIA 67 As far as Slovak works are concerned, particularly in the postwar period which is dominated by Marxist scholarship, the situation is rather singular. There are many books but only one approach. The reason for this, in the words of the editor of a comprehensive Marxist study of Slovak history for the period 1918-1948, is that Marxist scholars write about Slovak history thoroughly, they try to evaluate in their organic relation the principal components of the economic, social and cultural life of the people in all its breadth and complexity. 9 Be that as it may, they also simplify, because they focus on other and sometimes quite marginal aspects of the history of the First CSR. They take a class struggle approach which makes them concentrate primarily on the failures or successes of the working class, which did not constitute a majority of the population, and some of its political representatives, in particular the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPCS). Their approach is also dictated by later successful developments, namely the seizure of power, with Soviet help, by the Communists at the end of the Second World War. Examination by Marxist scholars of Czech-Slovak relations in the First CSR is, therefore, subsumed in the analysis of class relations in the state. They recognize that the Slovak People's Party was the most important political party in Slovakia; This party, which had the interest of the Slovak bourgeoisie at heart and which was dissatisfied with its political power and economic position, also influenced larger groups of Slovak citizens with a policy of sharp opposition against the Czechoslovak government, with attacks against centralism and with a policy which put the Slovak question at the heart of its intense political endeavors, a question that by law interested not only the nationalist bourgeoisie, but also other classes and groups in society. 10 But when it comes to evaluating the Slovak People's Party's activities, they simplify both its role and impact on Slovak society: �68 SLOVAKIA However, the People's Party's main aim was to solve the Slovak question conservatively, something which was harmful to the nation because it appealed to backward groups and deepened their social and religious prejudices. 11 Given their approach, and in particular the subsequent seizure of power in Czechoslovakia by the Communists, the conclusion by Marxist scholars that in the late 30' s none of the political parties fought for the safety of the First CSR, except "the CPCS which organized and systematically led the battle for the defense of the Republic, for the national interests of the Czechs and Slovaks" 12 comes as no surprise. Other studies, particularly by emigre Slovak scholars, and others, analyze and present Slovak politics in the First CSR . 13 However, they do not seek to indicate how the Slovak question fits into the complexity of political life in the state . As a result, a history of the First CSR which takes fully and accurately into account the participation of the Slovaks remains yet to be written, whether in a Western or in the Slovak language. 14 It must be pointed out that the history of the inter-war years is not central to Bishop Korec's presentation. Rather, he focuses on the struggle to achieve the autonomy of Slovakia, and his interpretation is one of the most accurate and balanced to be found thus far. It contrasts in particular with those authors referred to above who take a pro-Czech or "Czechoslovak" approach. He thereby also sets the tone for the analysis of the next, and rather critical phase, that of the Slovak Republic of 1939-1945. In this phase, Bishop Korec looks at two important themes. The first concerns the Slovak Republic, in particular its creation and independence. According to Bishop Korec, the series showed the creation of the Slovak State only through images of horror. '' Once again, it would seem that the presentation of these events was over-simplified. If over-simplification is a problem that also concerns this period of Slovak history, there is a second one which is equally serious. It is the problem of approach; in most Western and Marxist studies, it is triumphalist. The fact that the Slovak Republic found itself on the losing side of the war determines the judgment and interpreta11 �SLOVAKIA 69 tion of its involvement in this period of European history. No allowance is made for the dilemmas Slovak politicians faced in their attempts to save the Slovak nation from harm, nor for the fact that they did not have unlimited ways and means at their disposal. As a result, what in other circumstances and for other nations would be acknowledged as acts of statesmanship are either misinterpreted, dismissed or ignored at best. Bishop Korec' s account of the events leading to independence shows a great deal of detachment and balance that even as thorough an account as that of Hoensch 15 does not match. And in one sentence he indicates how a Slovak should look at those six eventful months (October 1938-March 1939) as Vnuk 16 calls them: "Amazingly, the Slovaks kept their heads." The comparisons he suggests with more recent political upheavals and independence movements makes one wonder at the motives behind the numerous blanket condemnations of Slovak actions during this period that are found in many history books. There is no thorough account of life in the Slovak Republic in the bishop's letter. On the other hand, he does raise the question of the degree of independence of the Slovak state. The attitude of the Church and its hierarchy is linked to this question. One cannot but be amazed that Bishop Korec has to explain what are simple facts of political life in any state, namely that the Church does not take a position for or against a state, but rather accepts to work within it, defending the faithful and taking care of their spiritual, and sometimes even their temporal needs. What he says about the degree of independence of the Slovak Republic in fact applies not only to the Church, but also to its citizens and today to historians: "One could not dismiss the Slovak State simply because it did not have the attributes of absolute independence." It is only in the matter of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic that there may be an error; it is generally accepted that 28 and not 30 states granted it de jure or de facto recognition . 17 As can be expected, there is a strong defense of the Slovak Republic in the letter. Two reasons account for this; first the series itself. As Bishop Korec writes, it "showed life in the Slovak State to be directed by traitors to the nation, criminals who exploited and surrendered their country to the Germans and sent their peo- �70 SLOVAKIA ple to their death, all with the blessings of high officials and the Church". It is interesting to note that Edvard Benes, as President of the Provisional Czechoslovak Government-in-exile in London, used similar images with regards to Slovak leaders in his broadcasts to Slovakia during the war. 18 Secondly, there is the testimony of eyewitnesses who worked toward its destruction. This testimony as well as the description of its cultural output indicate that the Slovak Republic deserves to be examined in other than desultory or defamatory terms. 19 Bishop Korec' s letter also suggests new criteria that should be used to evaluate and judge properly the role of President Tiso. 20 He was a man who had, among many other tasks, the responsibility of keeping the Germans and their Slovak supporters from taking over and transforming the internal affairs of the state to the detriment of the nation. Bishop Korec indicates that Tiso did so with courage and adroitness in word and in deed, an evaluation that is backed with statements from contemporaries, including Communists. 2 1 The same can be said with regards to the second theme in this phase, namely the Jewish question. Anyone familiar with the Second World War must agree with the following passage in the letter: "It is not possible to find the appropriate words of horror and condemnation for the criminal murder of these people [the Slovak Jews deported to Poland] which later followed in the gas chambers." Bishop Korec is also one of the 24 signatories of a document of contrition in this matter which reflects the feelings of a great many people in the Slovak nation .22 At the same time, as the letter indicates, the involvement of Slovak authorities in this tragedy is not one of clear-cut collaboration, rather one of courageous resistance, at least until the events of September 1944. There is a great body of literature on the tragedy of European Jewry, particularly from Jewish scholars .23 In the Slovak case, they stress primarily, if not uniquely, the theme of collaboration. This can perhaps be best illustrated with a quotation from each of the two Jewish authors referred to in the letter, Hanna Arendt and Walter Laqueur. According to Arendt, "Slovakia, like Croatia, was an invention of the German Foreign Office." 24 In the passages that follow �SLOVAKIA 71 where she describes the Slovak handling of the Jewish question, she stresses the differences with the German way, yet still leaves the impression that, even with these differences of approach and deed, the Slovaks did not do anything else but collaborate in the tragedy that befell Europe's Jews. Laqueur, for his part writes: "Slovakia had been the first satellite to participate in the 'final solution.' " 25 Yet in the pages that precede, even with all the evidence he has at his disposal or to which he refers, he does not indicate or explain the halt to the deportations or the use of Presidential exemptions by Tiso . There are others who share this approach 26 and those who seek to explain the halt to the deportations attribute them to internal and external factors but not to Tiso. 27 The tragedy that befell the Jewish people during the Second World War accounts to a great extent for the unrelenting singleminded approach of Jewish scholars with regards to this human tragedy . But as Milan S. Durica indicates, the evidence leads to other conclusions. 28 This is what Bishop Korec also tells us in his letter. The Slovaks, like other peoples in the Western world, proposed policies, passed laws and participated in activities that discriminated against Jews; during the war, German anti-Jewish policies resulted in the extermination of millions of European Jews . It is to the discredit of the Slovaks that they allowed themselves to be involved in this tragedy by unlawful deportations; yet at the same time, their President, using the powers the Slovak Constitution gave him, and other officials, just like many individual Slovaks, 29 were actively engaged in saving tens of thousands of Jews, and, until September 1944, in making Slovakia a haven for them and their co-religionists from other parts of Central Europe. Tiso and the Slovak Republic are entitled at least to have this mentioned. It is not surprising that the television series did not give the Slovak Republic any recognition; paradoxically, it did not do so also for the third phase, the one which Marxist scholars call the Slovak National Uprising. Bishop Korec also refers to the events of September 1944 in the same way, but then, one could not expect anything else given the circumstances. What were the events of September 1944? Were they an "incredible conspiracy" as Vnuk labels them, 30 or were they a Slovak National Uprising as Corn- �72 SLOVAKIA munist historiography has canonized them? It is certrainly one of the episodes in Slovak history most researched by Marxist historians. 31 It also makes up one of the main elements of the official ideology of the Communist regime in federal Czechoslovakia and its anniversary is celebrated annually. This explains why Bishop Korec is careful in handing it. It seems that the television series allowed itself much license in interpreting this event in Slovak history. Referring to trials connected with it shown in the series, Bishop Korec writes that The unspoken claim which came out of all this [the trials] is that ''priests'' were primarily responsible for nearly all of the murders during the period September-November 1944, that they were responsible for all the destruction and suffering because "they were bringing up murders." Bishop Korec rejects this interpretation but he does not defend the uprising as do Slovak Marxist historians. In one sentence he explains what it was all about: "The horrible logic of war applied to the uprising." He marshals a great deal of evidence to illustrate his point. He also comes to the defense of the Church and of President Tiso in their handling of the tragic events of September, 1944. These events still await their proper evaluation by historians. Once again, Bishop Korec hints at the criteria which should be used. It will not be an easy task. Bishop Korec refers often to a number of items in his letter that pertain to the Church. It is interesting to note his reference to current Soviet history and to Soviet publications which now admit the harm of religious persecution. He defends the Church not only because the attacks in the series were unfounded, but especially because he wishes to underline the suffering believers have endured under Communism. Their numbers, furthermore, are not insignificant, as he points out. Certain religious events in Slovakia that preceded the broadcast of the series showed that the Catholic faith was by no means losing ground, especially among the youth. Bishop Korec ends his letter not only by affirming his own faith, but also by emphasizing that the Church stands for something greater than everything and anything represented by the regime: �SLOVAKIA 73 The Church towers like a peak into eternity. She embraces nations and continents and her breath blows through all generations. The measure of her faithfulness is not human faithfulness ... she forgives even enemies, she is willing to serve them and to heal wounds. The Church is the way of all of our ways and along these roads, people have been walking to God for thousands of years. Bishop Karee's letter to Czechoslovak Television testifies to his faith in God and in the Slovak nation which gave him the courage to write it. FOOTNOTES The main historical documents can be found in German translation in Jorg K. Hoensch, Dokumente zur Autonomiepolitik der Slowakischen Volkspartei Hlinkas, Miichen, R. Oldenbourgh Verlag, 1984, pp . 71-276. Some of these documents are published in English translation in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Robert Speller & Sons, 1960, pp . 231-237. 2 For more on the theme of the art of the possible in Slovak politics and history see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "East European Politics and the Art of the Possible. The Case of the Slovaks" in Manuel J. Pelaez, ed. , Papers on Regimes and Political Systems in Eastern Europe, in press. 1 3 See Joseph C. Krajsa, "Truth at my Table. The Cross in Shackles", Jednota, 25 October, 1989. 4 Josef Korbel, Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia. The Meanings of Its History , New York, Columbia University Press, 1977, p . 100. 5 Ibid., p. 104. R.W . Seton-Watson, A Histon; of the Czechs and Slovaks, Hamden, CT, Archon Books, 1965 (originally published in London by Hutchinson & Co. Ltd., 1943), p. 333. 7 Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy, 1920-1938" in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1973, p. 120. 6 8 Ibid., p. 126. 9 Miroslav Kropilak, "Uvod " in M. Kropilak et al, Dejiny Slovenska V (1918-1945), Bratisiava, Veda, Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1985, p. 12. 10 11 12 Ibid., p. 92. Ibid. , p. 94. Ibid. , p . 250. �74 SLOVAKIA 13 See for example Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakia. A Political History 1918-1950, Milwaukee, Marquette University Press, 1963; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia . Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Robert Speller & Sons Publishers, 1960; Kurt Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia. A Critical History, Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd ., 1961; and Frantisek Vnuk, "Slovakia in Pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia" in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries, 2nd edition, Toronto, Slovak World Congress, 1973, pp. 101-127. 14 There is a recent study that looks at Czecho-Slovak relations since the creation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic from the point of view of minority management. See Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia. The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1988. s Jorg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei und Hitlers Ostpolitik, Koln-Wien, Bohlau Verlag, 1965. 16 Frantisek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938-March 1939)", Slovak Studies, IV, 1964, pp. 7-164. 1 17 On the question of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic, see Milan S. !Jurica, " The Foreign Policy of the Slovak Republic" in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics. Essays on Slovak History in Honour of Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Cleveland, Slovak Institute, 1983, p . 273 and especially p . 283, note 114. The dilemmas concerning the diplomatic status of the Slovak Republic are examined by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Slovak Republic, Britain, France and the Principle of Self-determination", Slovak Studies, XXIII, 1983, pp. 149-170. The best study of the relations between Slovakia and another state is by Stefan Parak, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat 1939-1945, Bern, Peter Lang, 1987. The diplomatic relations between Slovakia and the Third Reich are examined by Milan S. !Jurica, La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politische con la Germania 1938-1945, Vol. I, Padova, Marsilio Ed., 1964. s See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, " The Revolt of 1944" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp. 292-294. 1 19 To this day, there is no exhaustive history of life in the Sovak Republic. Essays were published shortly after the war by people who had lived and worked in that state; see M. Sprinc, ed ., Slovenska Republika, Scranton, PA, Jednota, 1949. There are however some overviews; see Milan S. !Jurica, "The Republic of Slovakia," Slovak Studies, I, 1961, pp. 105-121; by the same author, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin , Lausanne, Liber, 1976, pp. 123-153; and Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Slovak Republic and the Slovaks, " Slovakia , XXIX (53-54), 1980-1981, pp. 11-38. Political life in the Slovak Republic is examined by the same author in "The Slovak Republic 1939-1945" in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum and Anne C. Roman, eds., Reflections in Slovak History, Toronto, Slovak World Congress, 1987, pp . 89-109; other interpretations are offered by Yeshayahu Jelinek, The Parish Republic, Boulder, East European Monographs, 1976, and �SLOVAKIA 75 by Jorg K. Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945" in Mamatey and Luza, pp. 271-295. 20 Tiso ' s philosophy and political programme are outlined in Lisa Guarda Nardini, Tiso: Una terza proposta, Padova, Ceseo-Liviana editrice, 1977, and by the same author, " The Political Programme of President Tiso" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp . 221-250. 21 Communist historians offer, however, a different and opposite evaluation; see Jozef Klimko, Tretia Risa a l'udacky rezim na Slovensku , Bratislava, Obzor, 1986. 22 " Vyhlasenie k deportaciam zidov zo Slovenska" , Horizont, XVI (6), 1987, p. 2. For an English translation of this declaration, see " Deportation of Jews From Slovakia. Declaration," Cross Currents, 9, 1990, pp . 269-270. The publication of this declaration also found a very favourable echo among Slovaks in exile. See "Solidarizuju sa, " Horizont, VXII (1), 1988, p . 2. 23 Until now, the most exhaustive study is by Raul Hilberg, Th e Destruction of the European Jews , Revised and Definitive Edition, 3 Vols ., New York, Holmes and Meyer, 1985. For an assessment of earlier studies on the tragedy of the Slovak Jews by an Israeli historian, see Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Holocaust of Slovakian Jewry," East Central Europe, X (1-2), 1983, pp. 14-23. 24 Hanna Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem. A Report on the Banality of Evil, New York, The Viking Press, 1963, p. 184. 25 Walter Laqueur, The Terrible Secret. Suppression of the Truth about Hitler's " Final Solution ", Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1980, p. 146. 26 See for example, Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The 'Final Solution' : The Slovak Version," East European Quarterly, IX (4), 1970, pp . 431-444. Jelinek modifies his approach somewhat later. See note 27. 27 Livia Rothkirchen, "The Slovak Enigma : A Reassessment of the Halt to the Deportations," East Central Europe, X (1-2), 1983, pp . 3-13; and Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Slovaks, Germans, the 'Satellites,' and Jews, " Cross Currents, 9, 1990, pp . 261-268. For his part, Michael R. Marrus, who also mentions the halt to the deportations, wonders: " Did these moves reflect serious second thoughts? Among some, including possibly Tiso himself, this may have been the case;" see Michael R. Marrus, The Holocaust in History, Toronto, Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited , 1987, p . 79. 28 Milan S. Durica, "Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, " Slovakia, VII (3-4), 1957, pp. 1-22. See also his The Slovak Involvement in the Tragedy of the European Jews, Abano Terme, Piovan Editore, 1989. 29 See Kurt Neumann, "The Slovak Republic: A Lived Experience" in Kirschbaum and Roman, pp. 110-124. 3 ° Frantisek Vnuk, Neu verite/'ne sprisahanie, Middletown, PA, Literarny almanach Slovaka v Amerike, 1964. �76 31 SLOVAKIA There is, on the other hand, only one monograph in a Western language on the 1944 events; see Wolfgang Vehnor, Aufstand fur die Tschechos/owakei. Der s/owakische Freiheitskampf van 1944, Hamburg, Christian Wegner Verlag, 1969. See also Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Revolt of 1944" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp. 286-313; and Anna Josko, "The Slovak Resistance Movement" in Mamatey and Luza, pp. 362-384. � SLOVAKIA 61 An Act of Faith and Integrity: Bishop Korec' s Letter to Czechoslovak Television (Introduction) STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM The following letter by a Slovak Catholic bishop to Czechoslovak Television objecting to the contents of the television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' is a document of great historical importance . Although it is quite different from other documents with explicit political goals, it shares with them a similar message and an appropriate sense of timing. It appeared at a time (April, 1989) when East European politics were once again undergoing change. But it is also, by virtue of content as well as timing, a declaration of Slovak national individuality. It reaffirms the vitality of the Slovak people and informs the world of their refusal to bow to internal as well as external oppression. Previous documents of similar historical importance carried a comparable message. Four are of particular interest. In May 1848, as the Austrian Empire was being shaken by national and social revolutions, the leaders of the Slovak nation published a declaration which was sent to the Emperor in Vienna; it was their first political manifesto. In June 1861, when constitutional changes were being contemplated in Vienna, Slovak leaders published the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation, another document outlining their objectives . Each clearly stated the desire of the Slovaks to be recognized as a nation and to run their own affairs, goals that were not incompatible with the possibilities of the period. In October 1918, as the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was disintegrating, Slovak leaders outlined in the Martin Declaration the political arrangement they wished to have with the Czechs �62 SLOVAKJA in a new state in order to ensure the further development of their people. Finally in March 1968, during the short-lived liberalization period in Communist Czechoslovakia, in a declaration published by the Slovak National Council, Slovak leaders clearly stated under what conditions their nation was willing to continue sharing a state with the Czechs in a Communist regime. In these, and other documents, there is one clear message: the aim of the Slovaks was to achieve national self-determination. 1 The fact that the Slovaks rarely reached all their stated objectives did not discourage them; it merely meant that they would have to try again. By doing so, their leaders were showing that they understood that for a small nation at the crossroads of Central Europe politics is the art of the possible .2 As the bishop's letter states, this lesson is still valid and applicable today. Bishop Jan Ch. Karee wrote to Bratislava Television at a time when many nations in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union were showing the political will to modify, if not change outright, the existing political system by, among other things, putting an end to political falsification. In the Soviet Union this is known as glasnost, a policy encouraged by the Kremlin not only for the Soviet peoples, but also for the peoples of Eastern Europe. It means telling the truth, not just about the deficiencies of the Communist system, but also about significant periods in a people's history. It is this latter theme that the letter addresses . It looks primarily at one of the most critical periods in Slovak history when, during a world war, the Slovaks were independent and governed themselves in the Slovak Republic. By refuting the falsifications around that period, the letter underlines the refusal of the Slovak people to have their national life determined by others . This is its implicit message. Equally important in the letter is the absence of direct political demands, showing once again how well the Slovaks understand politics as the art of the possible. At the time when the letter was written and began to circulate in Slovakia, the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia was one of the most conservative and repressive in Eastern Europe. Bishop Karee was well aware of the fact that it served no purpose to go beyond a refutation of the falsehoods so blatantly stated in the television programme broadcast on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Slovak In- �SLOVAKIA 63 dependence. The fact that a Catholic bishop who strongly defends the political neutrality of the Church published this letter means that an overt political message was automatically excluded . But it would seem that the lesson of the 1960s was also remembered: the road to the federalization of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic had been paved with the refutation of earlier distortions around the activities and the political goals of those involved in the 1944 events about which more is said below. The letter celebrates recent Slovak history in its refutation of the arguments and interpretations found in the television series. It does so because Bishop Korec and others around him know to what depths of ignorance about their history many Slovaks have sunk and to what distortions they have been exposed. In one of the more poignant passages, he writes: 'Rare are the small nations which today can maim and defame their own history and in this way destroy the national consciousness of future generations as we know how to do in Slovakia." The letter is eloquent testimony to the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the Communist regime. The contents of the letter also raised questions about broadcasting and cultural policies in Communist Czechoslovakia. This is evident in the description of the series ' ' The Cross in the Snares of Power." The reader who has not seen it is made fully aware of the malicious fabrications and fantasies found in the programme's contents, presentation and approach . Whatever were the programme' s political motives, they could not possibly have been achieved, for it is clear that it attacked the intelligence of every viewer except perhaps the least discriminating and the most primitive. The response of the two students makes the point forcefully . The effort to mislead the Slovak public with this television series was so blatant that it left one wondering about the control the Slovaks have over their own television . The same question must be asked about Slovak membership in the Institute for Scientific Atheism of the Slovak Academy of Sciences to whom authorship of the programme is attributed. If, as has been suggested in a Slovak-American newspaper, 3 the majority of the programme's authors were non-Slovaks, then the publication of the letter takes on additional meaning. �64 SLOVAKIA In the letter, Bishop Korec comes to the defence of the Slovak nation by defending the Catholic Church, its clergy and the faithful. Two factors account for such an approach; first, the television series unabashedly held the Church responsible for all that its authors perceived to have been either wrong or evil in Slovakia during the period 1918-1945. Secondly, the Catholic clergy did in fact play a role in this period of Slovak history. But more important, as Bishop Korec writes, "Slovak history cannot be understood without Christianity and the Catholic Church". Thus, to defend the Church is to defend the nation. Bishop Korec divides the period under consideration into three phases. The approach is quite simple. First, an outline of the series' interpretation is given and then a refutation is offered which for all intents and purposes also rejects the Communist regime's official version of Slovak history. The refutations are not exhaustive, nor are they meant to be. But they are to the point and they open the door to a further examination of events and their current interpretations by Marxist and Western historians. Bishop Korec 's letter is, in fact, a direct challenge to most contemporary historical works . Our purpose is to highlight the interpretations in the letter which mark a major departure from conventional wisdom about Slovak history. The first phase of the letter deals with the twenty years of the First Czechoslovak Republic (CSR). According to the series, both the clergy and the Slovak People's Party, in which some priests were active, were against the state and sought its breakup . In addition to being simply untrue, this kind of interpretation is also dangerous because it reflects the over-simplification of history . The emphasis that the letter puts on the complexity of events is not unimportant, nor is it meant simply to state the obvious. The fact is that much of what is written about the Slovaks - and not just in the First CSR - is unfortunately over-simplified in one way or another. There are not many serious studies, especially in Western languages, of the history of the First CSR. Let us look at three of them. While their authors recognize that relations between the Czechs and Slovaks were not always harmonious, the explanations given only too often lack sophistication or insight. The American �SLOVAKIA 65 Czech Josef Korbel, for example, reduces the differences between the two peoples to Slovak conservatism and Czech progressivism and to the clash of personalities in Slovak political life. As in the television series, to the Reverend Andrej Hlinka is attributed much of the responsibility for the difficult relations, because, according to Korbel, he was "fascinated by his own words ... and a fanatic Catholic priest" who wanted to be named a bishop. 4 Korbel adds: Hlinka's suspicions and bitterness in this personal matter [of not being named a bishop] grew into a political hostility that engulfed both Czechs and Slovaks . In the eyes of Hlinka's followers, [Vavro] Srobar and the Czechs were the very incarnation of evil: atheists, socialists, liberals, and anticlericalists, who would bring untold misfortunes upon the country if Slovakia were not guaranteed an autonomy that assured the preservation of her own culture. 5 Korbel shows very little understanding of the Slovaks and their desire to ensure by themselves and for themselves their national development . In the second work, written during the Second World War, the Scot Robert W. Seton-Watson, who was one of the first Western scholars to write about the First CSR, also takes a reductionist approach even though he seeks in great detail to understand and explain the complexities of its political life and especially the position and role of the Slovaks. He writes : There was from the first a profound " incompatibility of temper" between the two kinsmen [Slovaks and Czechs], due to long centuries of Slovak isolation from Western currents, followed by two generations of assimilation and " Magyarone " outlook .. .. the personal element [also] played an important part; and Slovak questions were only too soon grouped round the rivalry of two men who had first entered the political arena in close accord, in their native town of Rufomberok - Father Andrew Hlinka, eloquent, passionate, a churchman of the twelfth rather than the twentieth century and Dr. Vavro Srobar, a doctor of �66 SLOVAKIA progressive and even sceptical outlook, already identified with strongly Czechophil and centralist views. 6 Seton-Watson, like Korbel, deplores the fact that the Slovaks refused to accept the Czech agenda for their common state and reduces the tensions between the two nations to this refusal. He dedicated his book to the Czech nation. In the third volume, a collection of essays on the Czechoslovak Republic by Western scholars, the American Slovak Victor S. Mametey sees the history of the First CSR as one of a state which sought to achieve political and economic modernization but which also had problems because of a debate between Slovaks. He writes: While the struggle between the political right and left was the basic feature of Czech politics, the fundamental issue of Slovak politics was centralism versus autonomy and its cultural concomitant, Czechoslovak unity versus Slovak distinctness ("one nation or two?").7 Mamatey further suggests that there was no Czech-Slovak conflict, rather "one between two Slovak political factions, not between Czech and Slovak politicians, let alone the Czech and Slovak peoples as a whole". Yet a few lines earlier he writes: "sincerely believing that the centralists alone represented authentic Slovak opinion, the Czech politicians steadfastly backed them . They themselves, however, rarely interfered in the conflict". 8 Interpreted properly, this last sentence clearly indicates the nature of the dilemna for the Slovaks . The Czechs in fact controlled the outcome of the debate, namely the national non-recognition of the Slovaks and their assimilation into the Czech nation, which is the reason why they did not need to interfere. To suggest that there was no conflict between Czech and Slovaks is therefore, not only absurd, but it is also to distort the essence of the history of the Czechoslovak Republic, namely the unsuccessful attempts to balance CzechSlovak relations politically and constitutionally to the benefit of both nations. That, more than anything else, is what the history of the Czechoslovak state, whether democratic or communist, is all about. As this involves both nations, one cannot reduce the responsibility of finding solutions uniquely to the Slovaks as Marnatey does. �SLOVAKIA 67 As far as Slovak works are concerned, particularly in the postwar period which is dominated by Marxist scholarship, the situation is rather singular. There are many books but only one approach. The reason for this, in the words of the editor of a comprehensive Marxist study of Slovak history for the period 1918-1948, is that Marxist scholars write about Slovak history thoroughly, they try to evaluate in their organic relation the principal components of the economic, social and cultural life of the people in all its breadth and complexity. 9 Be that as it may, they also simplify, because they focus on other and sometimes quite marginal aspects of the history of the First CSR. They take a class struggle approach which makes them concentrate primarily on the failures or successes of the working class, which did not constitute a majority of the population, and some of its political representatives, in particular the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPCS). Their approach is also dictated by later successful developments, namely the seizure of power, with Soviet help, by the Communists at the end of the Second World War. Examination by Marxist scholars of Czech-Slovak relations in the First CSR is, therefore, subsumed in the analysis of class relations in the state. They recognize that the Slovak People's Party was the most important political party in Slovakia; This party, which had the interest of the Slovak bourgeoisie at heart and which was dissatisfied with its political power and economic position, also influenced larger groups of Slovak citizens with a policy of sharp opposition against the Czechoslovak government, with attacks against centralism and with a policy which put the Slovak question at the heart of its intense political endeavors, a question that by law interested not only the nationalist bourgeoisie, but also other classes and groups in society. 10 But when it comes to evaluating the Slovak People's Party's activities, they simplify both its role and impact on Slovak society: �68 SLOVAKIA However, the People's Party's main aim was to solve the Slovak question conservatively, something which was harmful to the nation because it appealed to backward groups and deepened their social and religious prejudices. 11 Given their approach, and in particular the subsequent seizure of power in Czechoslovakia by the Communists, the conclusion by Marxist scholars that in the late 30' s none of the political parties fought for the safety of the First CSR, except "the CPCS which organized and systematically led the battle for the defense of the Republic, for the national interests of the Czechs and Slovaks" 12 comes as no surprise. Other studies, particularly by emigre Slovak scholars, and others, analyze and present Slovak politics in the First CSR . 13 However, they do not seek to indicate how the Slovak question fits into the complexity of political life in the state . As a result, a history of the First CSR which takes fully and accurately into account the participation of the Slovaks remains yet to be written, whether in a Western or in the Slovak language. 14 It must be pointed out that the history of the inter-war years is not central to Bishop Korec's presentation. Rather, he focuses on the struggle to achieve the autonomy of Slovakia, and his interpretation is one of the most accurate and balanced to be found thus far. It contrasts in particular with those authors referred to above who take a pro-Czech or "Czechoslovak" approach. He thereby also sets the tone for the analysis of the next, and rather critical phase, that of the Slovak Republic of 1939-1945. In this phase, Bishop Korec looks at two important themes. The first concerns the Slovak Republic, in particular its creation and independence. According to Bishop Korec, the series showed the creation of the Slovak State only through images of horror. '' Once again, it would seem that the presentation of these events was over-simplified. If over-simplification is a problem that also concerns this period of Slovak history, there is a second one which is equally serious. It is the problem of approach; in most Western and Marxist studies, it is triumphalist. The fact that the Slovak Republic found itself on the losing side of the war determines the judgment and interpreta11 �SLOVAKIA 69 tion of its involvement in this period of European history. No allowance is made for the dilemmas Slovak politicians faced in their attempts to save the Slovak nation from harm, nor for the fact that they did not have unlimited ways and means at their disposal. As a result, what in other circumstances and for other nations would be acknowledged as acts of statesmanship are either misinterpreted, dismissed or ignored at best. Bishop Korec' s account of the events leading to independence shows a great deal of detachment and balance that even as thorough an account as that of Hoensch 15 does not match. And in one sentence he indicates how a Slovak should look at those six eventful months (October 1938-March 1939) as Vnuk 16 calls them: "Amazingly, the Slovaks kept their heads." The comparisons he suggests with more recent political upheavals and independence movements makes one wonder at the motives behind the numerous blanket condemnations of Slovak actions during this period that are found in many history books. There is no thorough account of life in the Slovak Republic in the bishop's letter. On the other hand, he does raise the question of the degree of independence of the Slovak state. The attitude of the Church and its hierarchy is linked to this question. One cannot but be amazed that Bishop Korec has to explain what are simple facts of political life in any state, namely that the Church does not take a position for or against a state, but rather accepts to work within it, defending the faithful and taking care of their spiritual, and sometimes even their temporal needs. What he says about the degree of independence of the Slovak Republic in fact applies not only to the Church, but also to its citizens and today to historians: "One could not dismiss the Slovak State simply because it did not have the attributes of absolute independence." It is only in the matter of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic that there may be an error; it is generally accepted that 28 and not 30 states granted it de jure or de facto recognition . 17 As can be expected, there is a strong defense of the Slovak Republic in the letter. Two reasons account for this; first the series itself. As Bishop Korec writes, it "showed life in the Slovak State to be directed by traitors to the nation, criminals who exploited and surrendered their country to the Germans and sent their peo- �70 SLOVAKIA ple to their death, all with the blessings of high officials and the Church". It is interesting to note that Edvard Benes, as President of the Provisional Czechoslovak Government-in-exile in London, used similar images with regards to Slovak leaders in his broadcasts to Slovakia during the war. 18 Secondly, there is the testimony of eyewitnesses who worked toward its destruction. This testimony as well as the description of its cultural output indicate that the Slovak Republic deserves to be examined in other than desultory or defamatory terms. 19 Bishop Korec' s letter also suggests new criteria that should be used to evaluate and judge properly the role of President Tiso. 20 He was a man who had, among many other tasks, the responsibility of keeping the Germans and their Slovak supporters from taking over and transforming the internal affairs of the state to the detriment of the nation. Bishop Korec indicates that Tiso did so with courage and adroitness in word and in deed, an evaluation that is backed with statements from contemporaries, including Communists. 2 1 The same can be said with regards to the second theme in this phase, namely the Jewish question. Anyone familiar with the Second World War must agree with the following passage in the letter: "It is not possible to find the appropriate words of horror and condemnation for the criminal murder of these people [the Slovak Jews deported to Poland] which later followed in the gas chambers." Bishop Korec is also one of the 24 signatories of a document of contrition in this matter which reflects the feelings of a great many people in the Slovak nation .22 At the same time, as the letter indicates, the involvement of Slovak authorities in this tragedy is not one of clear-cut collaboration, rather one of courageous resistance, at least until the events of September 1944. There is a great body of literature on the tragedy of European Jewry, particularly from Jewish scholars .23 In the Slovak case, they stress primarily, if not uniquely, the theme of collaboration. This can perhaps be best illustrated with a quotation from each of the two Jewish authors referred to in the letter, Hanna Arendt and Walter Laqueur. According to Arendt, "Slovakia, like Croatia, was an invention of the German Foreign Office." 24 In the passages that follow �SLOVAKIA 71 where she describes the Slovak handling of the Jewish question, she stresses the differences with the German way, yet still leaves the impression that, even with these differences of approach and deed, the Slovaks did not do anything else but collaborate in the tragedy that befell Europe's Jews. Laqueur, for his part writes: "Slovakia had been the first satellite to participate in the 'final solution.' " 25 Yet in the pages that precede, even with all the evidence he has at his disposal or to which he refers, he does not indicate or explain the halt to the deportations or the use of Presidential exemptions by Tiso . There are others who share this approach 26 and those who seek to explain the halt to the deportations attribute them to internal and external factors but not to Tiso. 27 The tragedy that befell the Jewish people during the Second World War accounts to a great extent for the unrelenting singleminded approach of Jewish scholars with regards to this human tragedy . But as Milan S. Durica indicates, the evidence leads to other conclusions. 28 This is what Bishop Korec also tells us in his letter. The Slovaks, like other peoples in the Western world, proposed policies, passed laws and participated in activities that discriminated against Jews; during the war, German anti-Jewish policies resulted in the extermination of millions of European Jews . It is to the discredit of the Slovaks that they allowed themselves to be involved in this tragedy by unlawful deportations; yet at the same time, their President, using the powers the Slovak Constitution gave him, and other officials, just like many individual Slovaks, 29 were actively engaged in saving tens of thousands of Jews, and, until September 1944, in making Slovakia a haven for them and their co-religionists from other parts of Central Europe. Tiso and the Slovak Republic are entitled at least to have this mentioned. It is not surprising that the television series did not give the Slovak Republic any recognition; paradoxically, it did not do so also for the third phase, the one which Marxist scholars call the Slovak National Uprising. Bishop Korec also refers to the events of September 1944 in the same way, but then, one could not expect anything else given the circumstances. What were the events of September 1944? Were they an "incredible conspiracy" as Vnuk labels them, 30 or were they a Slovak National Uprising as Corn- �72 SLOVAKIA munist historiography has canonized them? It is certrainly one of the episodes in Slovak history most researched by Marxist historians. 31 It also makes up one of the main elements of the official ideology of the Communist regime in federal Czechoslovakia and its anniversary is celebrated annually. This explains why Bishop Korec is careful in handing it. It seems that the television series allowed itself much license in interpreting this event in Slovak history. Referring to trials connected with it shown in the series, Bishop Korec writes that The unspoken claim which came out of all this [the trials] is that ''priests'' were primarily responsible for nearly all of the murders during the period September-November 1944, that they were responsible for all the destruction and suffering because "they were bringing up murders." Bishop Korec rejects this interpretation but he does not defend the uprising as do Slovak Marxist historians. In one sentence he explains what it was all about: "The horrible logic of war applied to the uprising." He marshals a great deal of evidence to illustrate his point. He also comes to the defense of the Church and of President Tiso in their handling of the tragic events of September, 1944. These events still await their proper evaluation by historians. Once again, Bishop Korec hints at the criteria which should be used. It will not be an easy task. Bishop Korec refers often to a number of items in his letter that pertain to the Church. It is interesting to note his reference to current Soviet history and to Soviet publications which now admit the harm of religious persecution. He defends the Church not only because the attacks in the series were unfounded, but especially because he wishes to underline the suffering believers have endured under Communism. Their numbers, furthermore, are not insignificant, as he points out. Certain religious events in Slovakia that preceded the broadcast of the series showed that the Catholic faith was by no means losing ground, especially among the youth. Bishop Korec ends his letter not only by affirming his own faith, but also by emphasizing that the Church stands for something greater than everything and anything represented by the regime: �SLOVAKIA 73 The Church towers like a peak into eternity. She embraces nations and continents and her breath blows through all generations. The measure of her faithfulness is not human faithfulness ... she forgives even enemies, she is willing to serve them and to heal wounds. The Church is the way of all of our ways and along these roads, people have been walking to God for thousands of years. Bishop Karee's letter to Czechoslovak Television testifies to his faith in God and in the Slovak nation which gave him the courage to write it. FOOTNOTES The main historical documents can be found in German translation in Jorg K. Hoensch, Dokumente zur Autonomiepolitik der Slowakischen Volkspartei Hlinkas, Miichen, R. Oldenbourgh Verlag, 1984, pp . 71-276. Some of these documents are published in English translation in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Robert Speller & Sons, 1960, pp . 231-237. 2 For more on the theme of the art of the possible in Slovak politics and history see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "East European Politics and the Art of the Possible. The Case of the Slovaks" in Manuel J. Pelaez, ed. , Papers on Regimes and Political Systems in Eastern Europe, in press. 1 3 See Joseph C. Krajsa, "Truth at my Table. The Cross in Shackles", Jednota, 25 October, 1989. 4 Josef Korbel, Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia. The Meanings of Its History , New York, Columbia University Press, 1977, p . 100. 5 Ibid., p. 104. R.W . Seton-Watson, A Histon; of the Czechs and Slovaks, Hamden, CT, Archon Books, 1965 (originally published in London by Hutchinson & Co. Ltd., 1943), p. 333. 7 Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy, 1920-1938" in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1973, p. 120. 6 8 Ibid., p. 126. 9 Miroslav Kropilak, "Uvod " in M. Kropilak et al, Dejiny Slovenska V (1918-1945), Bratisiava, Veda, Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1985, p. 12. 10 11 12 Ibid., p. 92. Ibid. , p. 94. Ibid. , p . 250. �74 SLOVAKIA 13 See for example Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakia. A Political History 1918-1950, Milwaukee, Marquette University Press, 1963; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia . Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Robert Speller & Sons Publishers, 1960; Kurt Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia. A Critical History, Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd ., 1961; and Frantisek Vnuk, "Slovakia in Pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia" in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries, 2nd edition, Toronto, Slovak World Congress, 1973, pp. 101-127. 14 There is a recent study that looks at Czecho-Slovak relations since the creation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic from the point of view of minority management. See Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia. The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1988. s Jorg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei und Hitlers Ostpolitik, Koln-Wien, Bohlau Verlag, 1965. 16 Frantisek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938-March 1939)", Slovak Studies, IV, 1964, pp. 7-164. 1 17 On the question of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic, see Milan S. !Jurica, " The Foreign Policy of the Slovak Republic" in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics. Essays on Slovak History in Honour of Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Cleveland, Slovak Institute, 1983, p . 273 and especially p . 283, note 114. The dilemmas concerning the diplomatic status of the Slovak Republic are examined by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Slovak Republic, Britain, France and the Principle of Self-determination", Slovak Studies, XXIII, 1983, pp. 149-170. The best study of the relations between Slovakia and another state is by Stefan Parak, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat 1939-1945, Bern, Peter Lang, 1987. The diplomatic relations between Slovakia and the Third Reich are examined by Milan S. !Jurica, La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politische con la Germania 1938-1945, Vol. I, Padova, Marsilio Ed., 1964. s See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, " The Revolt of 1944" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp. 292-294. 1 19 To this day, there is no exhaustive history of life in the Sovak Republic. Essays were published shortly after the war by people who had lived and worked in that state; see M. Sprinc, ed ., Slovenska Republika, Scranton, PA, Jednota, 1949. There are however some overviews; see Milan S. !Jurica, "The Republic of Slovakia," Slovak Studies, I, 1961, pp. 105-121; by the same author, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin , Lausanne, Liber, 1976, pp. 123-153; and Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Slovak Republic and the Slovaks, " Slovakia , XXIX (53-54), 1980-1981, pp. 11-38. Political life in the Slovak Republic is examined by the same author in "The Slovak Republic 1939-1945" in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum and Anne C. Roman, eds., Reflections in Slovak History, Toronto, Slovak World Congress, 1987, pp . 89-109; other interpretations are offered by Yeshayahu Jelinek, The Parish Republic, Boulder, East European Monographs, 1976, and �SLOVAKIA 75 by Jorg K. Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945" in Mamatey and Luza, pp. 271-295. 20 Tiso ' s philosophy and political programme are outlined in Lisa Guarda Nardini, Tiso: Una terza proposta, Padova, Ceseo-Liviana editrice, 1977, and by the same author, " The Political Programme of President Tiso" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp . 221-250. 21 Communist historians offer, however, a different and opposite evaluation; see Jozef Klimko, Tretia Risa a l'udacky rezim na Slovensku , Bratislava, Obzor, 1986. 22 " Vyhlasenie k deportaciam zidov zo Slovenska" , Horizont, XVI (6), 1987, p. 2. For an English translation of this declaration, see " Deportation of Jews From Slovakia. Declaration," Cross Currents, 9, 1990, pp . 269-270. The publication of this declaration also found a very favourable echo among Slovaks in exile. See "Solidarizuju sa, " Horizont, VXII (1), 1988, p . 2. 23 Until now, the most exhaustive study is by Raul Hilberg, Th e Destruction of the European Jews , Revised and Definitive Edition, 3 Vols ., New York, Holmes and Meyer, 1985. For an assessment of earlier studies on the tragedy of the Slovak Jews by an Israeli historian, see Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Holocaust of Slovakian Jewry," East Central Europe, X (1-2), 1983, pp. 14-23. 24 Hanna Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem. A Report on the Banality of Evil, New York, The Viking Press, 1963, p. 184. 25 Walter Laqueur, The Terrible Secret. Suppression of the Truth about Hitler's " Final Solution ", Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1980, p. 146. 26 See for example, Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The 'Final Solution' : The Slovak Version," East European Quarterly, IX (4), 1970, pp . 431-444. Jelinek modifies his approach somewhat later. See note 27. 27 Livia Rothkirchen, "The Slovak Enigma : A Reassessment of the Halt to the Deportations," East Central Europe, X (1-2), 1983, pp . 3-13; and Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Slovaks, Germans, the 'Satellites,' and Jews, " Cross Currents, 9, 1990, pp . 261-268. For his part, Michael R. Marrus, who also mentions the halt to the deportations, wonders: " Did these moves reflect serious second thoughts? Among some, including possibly Tiso himself, this may have been the case;" see Michael R. Marrus, The Holocaust in History, Toronto, Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited , 1987, p . 79. 28 Milan S. Durica, "Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, " Slovakia, VII (3-4), 1957, pp. 1-22. See also his The Slovak Involvement in the Tragedy of the European Jews, Abano Terme, Piovan Editore, 1989. 29 See Kurt Neumann, "The Slovak Republic: A Lived Experience" in Kirschbaum and Roman, pp. 110-124. 3 ° Frantisek Vnuk, Neu verite/'ne sprisahanie, Middletown, PA, Literarny almanach Slovaka v Amerike, 1964. �76 31 SLOVAKIA There is, on the other hand, only one monograph in a Western language on the 1944 events; see Wolfgang Vehnor, Aufstand fur die Tschechos/owakei. Der s/owakische Freiheitskampf van 1944, Hamburg, Christian Wegner Verlag, 1969. See also Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Revolt of 1944" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp. 286-313; and Anna Josko, "The Slovak Resistance Movement" in Mamatey and Luza, pp. 362-384. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 61 An Act of Faith and Integrity: Bishop Korec' s Letter to Czechoslovak Television (Introduction) STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM The following letter by a Slovak Catholic bishop to Czechoslovak Television objecting to the contents of the television series ''The Cross in the Snares of Power'' is a document of great historical importance . Although it is quite different from other documents with explicit political goals, it shares with them a similar message and an appropriate sense of timing. It appeared at a time (April, 1989) when East European politics were once again undergoing change. But it is also, by virtue of content as well as timing, a declaration of Slovak national individuality. It reaffirms the vitality of the Slovak people and informs the world of their refusal to bow to internal as well as external oppression. Previous documents of similar historical importance carried a comparable message. Four are of particular interest. In May 1848, as the Austrian Empire was being shaken by national and social revolutions, the leaders of the Slovak nation published a declaration which was sent to the Emperor in Vienna; it was their first political manifesto. In June 1861, when constitutional changes were being contemplated in Vienna, Slovak leaders published the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation, another document outlining their objectives . Each clearly stated the desire of the Slovaks to be recognized as a nation and to run their own affairs, goals that were not incompatible with the possibilities of the period. In October 1918, as the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was disintegrating, Slovak leaders outlined in the Martin Declaration the political arrangement they wished to have with the Czechs 62 SLOVAKJA in a new state in order to ensure the further development of their people. Finally in March 1968, during the short-lived liberalization period in Communist Czechoslovakia, in a declaration published by the Slovak National Council, Slovak leaders clearly stated under what conditions their nation was willing to continue sharing a state with the Czechs in a Communist regime. In these, and other documents, there is one clear message: the aim of the Slovaks was to achieve national self-determination. 1 The fact that the Slovaks rarely reached all their stated objectives did not discourage them; it merely meant that they would have to try again. By doing so, their leaders were showing that they understood that for a small nation at the crossroads of Central Europe politics is the art of the possible .2 As the bishop's letter states, this lesson is still valid and applicable today. Bishop Jan Ch. Karee wrote to Bratislava Television at a time when many nations in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union were showing the political will to modify, if not change outright, the existing political system by, among other things, putting an end to political falsification. In the Soviet Union this is known as glasnost, a policy encouraged by the Kremlin not only for the Soviet peoples, but also for the peoples of Eastern Europe. It means telling the truth, not just about the deficiencies of the Communist system, but also about significant periods in a people's history. It is this latter theme that the letter addresses . It looks primarily at one of the most critical periods in Slovak history when, during a world war, the Slovaks were independent and governed themselves in the Slovak Republic. By refuting the falsifications around that period, the letter underlines the refusal of the Slovak people to have their national life determined by others . This is its implicit message. Equally important in the letter is the absence of direct political demands, showing once again how well the Slovaks understand politics as the art of the possible. At the time when the letter was written and began to circulate in Slovakia, the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia was one of the most conservative and repressive in Eastern Europe. Bishop Karee was well aware of the fact that it served no purpose to go beyond a refutation of the falsehoods so blatantly stated in the television programme broadcast on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Slovak In- SLOVAKIA 63 dependence. The fact that a Catholic bishop who strongly defends the political neutrality of the Church published this letter means that an overt political message was automatically excluded . But it would seem that the lesson of the 1960s was also remembered: the road to the federalization of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic had been paved with the refutation of earlier distortions around the activities and the political goals of those involved in the 1944 events about which more is said below. The letter celebrates recent Slovak history in its refutation of the arguments and interpretations found in the television series. It does so because Bishop Korec and others around him know to what depths of ignorance about their history many Slovaks have sunk and to what distortions they have been exposed. In one of the more poignant passages, he writes: 'Rare are the small nations which today can maim and defame their own history and in this way destroy the national consciousness of future generations as we know how to do in Slovakia." The letter is eloquent testimony to the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the Communist regime. The contents of the letter also raised questions about broadcasting and cultural policies in Communist Czechoslovakia. This is evident in the description of the series ' ' The Cross in the Snares of Power." The reader who has not seen it is made fully aware of the malicious fabrications and fantasies found in the programme's contents, presentation and approach . Whatever were the programme' s political motives, they could not possibly have been achieved, for it is clear that it attacked the intelligence of every viewer except perhaps the least discriminating and the most primitive. The response of the two students makes the point forcefully . The effort to mislead the Slovak public with this television series was so blatant that it left one wondering about the control the Slovaks have over their own television . The same question must be asked about Slovak membership in the Institute for Scientific Atheism of the Slovak Academy of Sciences to whom authorship of the programme is attributed. If, as has been suggested in a Slovak-American newspaper, 3 the majority of the programme's authors were non-Slovaks, then the publication of the letter takes on additional meaning. 64 SLOVAKIA In the letter, Bishop Korec comes to the defence of the Slovak nation by defending the Catholic Church, its clergy and the faithful. Two factors account for such an approach; first, the television series unabashedly held the Church responsible for all that its authors perceived to have been either wrong or evil in Slovakia during the period 1918-1945. Secondly, the Catholic clergy did in fact play a role in this period of Slovak history. But more important, as Bishop Korec writes, "Slovak history cannot be understood without Christianity and the Catholic Church". Thus, to defend the Church is to defend the nation. Bishop Korec divides the period under consideration into three phases. The approach is quite simple. First, an outline of the series' interpretation is given and then a refutation is offered which for all intents and purposes also rejects the Communist regime's official version of Slovak history. The refutations are not exhaustive, nor are they meant to be. But they are to the point and they open the door to a further examination of events and their current interpretations by Marxist and Western historians. Bishop Korec 's letter is, in fact, a direct challenge to most contemporary historical works . Our purpose is to highlight the interpretations in the letter which mark a major departure from conventional wisdom about Slovak history. The first phase of the letter deals with the twenty years of the First Czechoslovak Republic (CSR). According to the series, both the clergy and the Slovak People's Party, in which some priests were active, were against the state and sought its breakup . In addition to being simply untrue, this kind of interpretation is also dangerous because it reflects the over-simplification of history . The emphasis that the letter puts on the complexity of events is not unimportant, nor is it meant simply to state the obvious. The fact is that much of what is written about the Slovaks - and not just in the First CSR - is unfortunately over-simplified in one way or another. There are not many serious studies, especially in Western languages, of the history of the First CSR. Let us look at three of them. While their authors recognize that relations between the Czechs and Slovaks were not always harmonious, the explanations given only too often lack sophistication or insight. The American SLOVAKIA 65 Czech Josef Korbel, for example, reduces the differences between the two peoples to Slovak conservatism and Czech progressivism and to the clash of personalities in Slovak political life. As in the television series, to the Reverend Andrej Hlinka is attributed much of the responsibility for the difficult relations, because, according to Korbel, he was "fascinated by his own words ... and a fanatic Catholic priest" who wanted to be named a bishop. 4 Korbel adds: Hlinka's suspicions and bitterness in this personal matter [of not being named a bishop] grew into a political hostility that engulfed both Czechs and Slovaks . In the eyes of Hlinka's followers, [Vavro] Srobar and the Czechs were the very incarnation of evil: atheists, socialists, liberals, and anticlericalists, who would bring untold misfortunes upon the country if Slovakia were not guaranteed an autonomy that assured the preservation of her own culture. 5 Korbel shows very little understanding of the Slovaks and their desire to ensure by themselves and for themselves their national development . In the second work, written during the Second World War, the Scot Robert W. Seton-Watson, who was one of the first Western scholars to write about the First CSR, also takes a reductionist approach even though he seeks in great detail to understand and explain the complexities of its political life and especially the position and role of the Slovaks. He writes : There was from the first a profound " incompatibility of temper" between the two kinsmen [Slovaks and Czechs], due to long centuries of Slovak isolation from Western currents, followed by two generations of assimilation and " Magyarone " outlook .. .. the personal element [also] played an important part; and Slovak questions were only too soon grouped round the rivalry of two men who had first entered the political arena in close accord, in their native town of Rufomberok - Father Andrew Hlinka, eloquent, passionate, a churchman of the twelfth rather than the twentieth century and Dr. Vavro Srobar, a doctor of 66 SLOVAKIA progressive and even sceptical outlook, already identified with strongly Czechophil and centralist views. 6 Seton-Watson, like Korbel, deplores the fact that the Slovaks refused to accept the Czech agenda for their common state and reduces the tensions between the two nations to this refusal. He dedicated his book to the Czech nation. In the third volume, a collection of essays on the Czechoslovak Republic by Western scholars, the American Slovak Victor S. Mametey sees the history of the First CSR as one of a state which sought to achieve political and economic modernization but which also had problems because of a debate between Slovaks. He writes: While the struggle between the political right and left was the basic feature of Czech politics, the fundamental issue of Slovak politics was centralism versus autonomy and its cultural concomitant, Czechoslovak unity versus Slovak distinctness ("one nation or two?").7 Mamatey further suggests that there was no Czech-Slovak conflict, rather "one between two Slovak political factions, not between Czech and Slovak politicians, let alone the Czech and Slovak peoples as a whole". Yet a few lines earlier he writes: "sincerely believing that the centralists alone represented authentic Slovak opinion, the Czech politicians steadfastly backed them . They themselves, however, rarely interfered in the conflict". 8 Interpreted properly, this last sentence clearly indicates the nature of the dilemna for the Slovaks . The Czechs in fact controlled the outcome of the debate, namely the national non-recognition of the Slovaks and their assimilation into the Czech nation, which is the reason why they did not need to interfere. To suggest that there was no conflict between Czech and Slovaks is therefore, not only absurd, but it is also to distort the essence of the history of the Czechoslovak Republic, namely the unsuccessful attempts to balance CzechSlovak relations politically and constitutionally to the benefit of both nations. That, more than anything else, is what the history of the Czechoslovak state, whether democratic or communist, is all about. As this involves both nations, one cannot reduce the responsibility of finding solutions uniquely to the Slovaks as Marnatey does. SLOVAKIA 67 As far as Slovak works are concerned, particularly in the postwar period which is dominated by Marxist scholarship, the situation is rather singular. There are many books but only one approach. The reason for this, in the words of the editor of a comprehensive Marxist study of Slovak history for the period 1918-1948, is that Marxist scholars write about Slovak history thoroughly, they try to evaluate in their organic relation the principal components of the economic, social and cultural life of the people in all its breadth and complexity. 9 Be that as it may, they also simplify, because they focus on other and sometimes quite marginal aspects of the history of the First CSR. They take a class struggle approach which makes them concentrate primarily on the failures or successes of the working class, which did not constitute a majority of the population, and some of its political representatives, in particular the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPCS). Their approach is also dictated by later successful developments, namely the seizure of power, with Soviet help, by the Communists at the end of the Second World War. Examination by Marxist scholars of Czech-Slovak relations in the First CSR is, therefore, subsumed in the analysis of class relations in the state. They recognize that the Slovak People's Party was the most important political party in Slovakia; This party, which had the interest of the Slovak bourgeoisie at heart and which was dissatisfied with its political power and economic position, also influenced larger groups of Slovak citizens with a policy of sharp opposition against the Czechoslovak government, with attacks against centralism and with a policy which put the Slovak question at the heart of its intense political endeavors, a question that by law interested not only the nationalist bourgeoisie, but also other classes and groups in society. 10 But when it comes to evaluating the Slovak People's Party's activities, they simplify both its role and impact on Slovak society: 68 SLOVAKIA However, the People's Party's main aim was to solve the Slovak question conservatively, something which was harmful to the nation because it appealed to backward groups and deepened their social and religious prejudices. 11 Given their approach, and in particular the subsequent seizure of power in Czechoslovakia by the Communists, the conclusion by Marxist scholars that in the late 30' s none of the political parties fought for the safety of the First CSR, except "the CPCS which organized and systematically led the battle for the defense of the Republic, for the national interests of the Czechs and Slovaks" 12 comes as no surprise. Other studies, particularly by emigre Slovak scholars, and others, analyze and present Slovak politics in the First CSR . 13 However, they do not seek to indicate how the Slovak question fits into the complexity of political life in the state . As a result, a history of the First CSR which takes fully and accurately into account the participation of the Slovaks remains yet to be written, whether in a Western or in the Slovak language. 14 It must be pointed out that the history of the inter-war years is not central to Bishop Korec's presentation. Rather, he focuses on the struggle to achieve the autonomy of Slovakia, and his interpretation is one of the most accurate and balanced to be found thus far. It contrasts in particular with those authors referred to above who take a pro-Czech or "Czechoslovak" approach. He thereby also sets the tone for the analysis of the next, and rather critical phase, that of the Slovak Republic of 1939-1945. In this phase, Bishop Korec looks at two important themes. The first concerns the Slovak Republic, in particular its creation and independence. According to Bishop Korec, the series showed the creation of the Slovak State only through images of horror. '' Once again, it would seem that the presentation of these events was over-simplified. If over-simplification is a problem that also concerns this period of Slovak history, there is a second one which is equally serious. It is the problem of approach; in most Western and Marxist studies, it is triumphalist. The fact that the Slovak Republic found itself on the losing side of the war determines the judgment and interpreta11 SLOVAKIA 69 tion of its involvement in this period of European history. No allowance is made for the dilemmas Slovak politicians faced in their attempts to save the Slovak nation from harm, nor for the fact that they did not have unlimited ways and means at their disposal. As a result, what in other circumstances and for other nations would be acknowledged as acts of statesmanship are either misinterpreted, dismissed or ignored at best. Bishop Korec' s account of the events leading to independence shows a great deal of detachment and balance that even as thorough an account as that of Hoensch 15 does not match. And in one sentence he indicates how a Slovak should look at those six eventful months (October 1938-March 1939) as Vnuk 16 calls them: "Amazingly, the Slovaks kept their heads." The comparisons he suggests with more recent political upheavals and independence movements makes one wonder at the motives behind the numerous blanket condemnations of Slovak actions during this period that are found in many history books. There is no thorough account of life in the Slovak Republic in the bishop's letter. On the other hand, he does raise the question of the degree of independence of the Slovak state. The attitude of the Church and its hierarchy is linked to this question. One cannot but be amazed that Bishop Korec has to explain what are simple facts of political life in any state, namely that the Church does not take a position for or against a state, but rather accepts to work within it, defending the faithful and taking care of their spiritual, and sometimes even their temporal needs. What he says about the degree of independence of the Slovak Republic in fact applies not only to the Church, but also to its citizens and today to historians: "One could not dismiss the Slovak State simply because it did not have the attributes of absolute independence." It is only in the matter of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic that there may be an error; it is generally accepted that 28 and not 30 states granted it de jure or de facto recognition . 17 As can be expected, there is a strong defense of the Slovak Republic in the letter. Two reasons account for this; first the series itself. As Bishop Korec writes, it "showed life in the Slovak State to be directed by traitors to the nation, criminals who exploited and surrendered their country to the Germans and sent their peo- 70 SLOVAKIA ple to their death, all with the blessings of high officials and the Church". It is interesting to note that Edvard Benes, as President of the Provisional Czechoslovak Government-in-exile in London, used similar images with regards to Slovak leaders in his broadcasts to Slovakia during the war. 18 Secondly, there is the testimony of eyewitnesses who worked toward its destruction. This testimony as well as the description of its cultural output indicate that the Slovak Republic deserves to be examined in other than desultory or defamatory terms. 19 Bishop Korec' s letter also suggests new criteria that should be used to evaluate and judge properly the role of President Tiso. 20 He was a man who had, among many other tasks, the responsibility of keeping the Germans and their Slovak supporters from taking over and transforming the internal affairs of the state to the detriment of the nation. Bishop Korec indicates that Tiso did so with courage and adroitness in word and in deed, an evaluation that is backed with statements from contemporaries, including Communists. 2 1 The same can be said with regards to the second theme in this phase, namely the Jewish question. Anyone familiar with the Second World War must agree with the following passage in the letter: "It is not possible to find the appropriate words of horror and condemnation for the criminal murder of these people [the Slovak Jews deported to Poland] which later followed in the gas chambers." Bishop Korec is also one of the 24 signatories of a document of contrition in this matter which reflects the feelings of a great many people in the Slovak nation .22 At the same time, as the letter indicates, the involvement of Slovak authorities in this tragedy is not one of clear-cut collaboration, rather one of courageous resistance, at least until the events of September 1944. There is a great body of literature on the tragedy of European Jewry, particularly from Jewish scholars .23 In the Slovak case, they stress primarily, if not uniquely, the theme of collaboration. This can perhaps be best illustrated with a quotation from each of the two Jewish authors referred to in the letter, Hanna Arendt and Walter Laqueur. According to Arendt, "Slovakia, like Croatia, was an invention of the German Foreign Office." 24 In the passages that follow SLOVAKIA 71 where she describes the Slovak handling of the Jewish question, she stresses the differences with the German way, yet still leaves the impression that, even with these differences of approach and deed, the Slovaks did not do anything else but collaborate in the tragedy that befell Europe's Jews. Laqueur, for his part writes: "Slovakia had been the first satellite to participate in the 'final solution.' " 25 Yet in the pages that precede, even with all the evidence he has at his disposal or to which he refers, he does not indicate or explain the halt to the deportations or the use of Presidential exemptions by Tiso . There are others who share this approach 26 and those who seek to explain the halt to the deportations attribute them to internal and external factors but not to Tiso. 27 The tragedy that befell the Jewish people during the Second World War accounts to a great extent for the unrelenting singleminded approach of Jewish scholars with regards to this human tragedy . But as Milan S. Durica indicates, the evidence leads to other conclusions. 28 This is what Bishop Korec also tells us in his letter. The Slovaks, like other peoples in the Western world, proposed policies, passed laws and participated in activities that discriminated against Jews; during the war, German anti-Jewish policies resulted in the extermination of millions of European Jews . It is to the discredit of the Slovaks that they allowed themselves to be involved in this tragedy by unlawful deportations; yet at the same time, their President, using the powers the Slovak Constitution gave him, and other officials, just like many individual Slovaks, 29 were actively engaged in saving tens of thousands of Jews, and, until September 1944, in making Slovakia a haven for them and their co-religionists from other parts of Central Europe. Tiso and the Slovak Republic are entitled at least to have this mentioned. It is not surprising that the television series did not give the Slovak Republic any recognition; paradoxically, it did not do so also for the third phase, the one which Marxist scholars call the Slovak National Uprising. Bishop Korec also refers to the events of September 1944 in the same way, but then, one could not expect anything else given the circumstances. What were the events of September 1944? Were they an "incredible conspiracy" as Vnuk labels them, 30 or were they a Slovak National Uprising as Corn- 72 SLOVAKIA munist historiography has canonized them? It is certrainly one of the episodes in Slovak history most researched by Marxist historians. 31 It also makes up one of the main elements of the official ideology of the Communist regime in federal Czechoslovakia and its anniversary is celebrated annually. This explains why Bishop Korec is careful in handing it. It seems that the television series allowed itself much license in interpreting this event in Slovak history. Referring to trials connected with it shown in the series, Bishop Korec writes that The unspoken claim which came out of all this [the trials] is that ''priests'' were primarily responsible for nearly all of the murders during the period September-November 1944, that they were responsible for all the destruction and suffering because "they were bringing up murders." Bishop Korec rejects this interpretation but he does not defend the uprising as do Slovak Marxist historians. In one sentence he explains what it was all about: "The horrible logic of war applied to the uprising." He marshals a great deal of evidence to illustrate his point. He also comes to the defense of the Church and of President Tiso in their handling of the tragic events of September, 1944. These events still await their proper evaluation by historians. Once again, Bishop Korec hints at the criteria which should be used. It will not be an easy task. Bishop Korec refers often to a number of items in his letter that pertain to the Church. It is interesting to note his reference to current Soviet history and to Soviet publications which now admit the harm of religious persecution. He defends the Church not only because the attacks in the series were unfounded, but especially because he wishes to underline the suffering believers have endured under Communism. Their numbers, furthermore, are not insignificant, as he points out. Certain religious events in Slovakia that preceded the broadcast of the series showed that the Catholic faith was by no means losing ground, especially among the youth. Bishop Korec ends his letter not only by affirming his own faith, but also by emphasizing that the Church stands for something greater than everything and anything represented by the regime: SLOVAKIA 73 The Church towers like a peak into eternity. She embraces nations and continents and her breath blows through all generations. The measure of her faithfulness is not human faithfulness ... she forgives even enemies, she is willing to serve them and to heal wounds. The Church is the way of all of our ways and along these roads, people have been walking to God for thousands of years. Bishop Karee's letter to Czechoslovak Television testifies to his faith in God and in the Slovak nation which gave him the courage to write it. FOOTNOTES The main historical documents can be found in German translation in Jorg K. Hoensch, Dokumente zur Autonomiepolitik der Slowakischen Volkspartei Hlinkas, Miichen, R. Oldenbourgh Verlag, 1984, pp . 71-276. Some of these documents are published in English translation in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Robert Speller & Sons, 1960, pp . 231-237. 2 For more on the theme of the art of the possible in Slovak politics and history see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "East European Politics and the Art of the Possible. The Case of the Slovaks" in Manuel J. Pelaez, ed. , Papers on Regimes and Political Systems in Eastern Europe, in press. 1 3 See Joseph C. Krajsa, "Truth at my Table. The Cross in Shackles", Jednota, 25 October, 1989. 4 Josef Korbel, Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia. The Meanings of Its History , New York, Columbia University Press, 1977, p . 100. 5 Ibid., p. 104. R.W . Seton-Watson, A Histon; of the Czechs and Slovaks, Hamden, CT, Archon Books, 1965 (originally published in London by Hutchinson & Co. Ltd., 1943), p. 333. 7 Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy, 1920-1938" in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1973, p. 120. 6 8 Ibid., p. 126. 9 Miroslav Kropilak, "Uvod " in M. Kropilak et al, Dejiny Slovenska V (1918-1945), Bratisiava, Veda, Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1985, p. 12. 10 11 12 Ibid., p. 92. Ibid. , p. 94. Ibid. , p . 250. 74 SLOVAKIA 13 See for example Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakia. A Political History 1918-1950, Milwaukee, Marquette University Press, 1963; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia . Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, New York, Robert Speller & Sons Publishers, 1960; Kurt Glaser, Czecho-Slovakia. A Critical History, Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd ., 1961; and Frantisek Vnuk, "Slovakia in Pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia" in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries, 2nd edition, Toronto, Slovak World Congress, 1973, pp. 101-127. 14 There is a recent study that looks at Czecho-Slovak relations since the creation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic from the point of view of minority management. See Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia. The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1988. s Jorg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei und Hitlers Ostpolitik, Koln-Wien, Bohlau Verlag, 1965. 16 Frantisek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938-March 1939)", Slovak Studies, IV, 1964, pp. 7-164. 1 17 On the question of the diplomatic recognition of the Slovak Republic, see Milan S. !Jurica, " The Foreign Policy of the Slovak Republic" in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics. Essays on Slovak History in Honour of Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Cleveland, Slovak Institute, 1983, p . 273 and especially p . 283, note 114. The dilemmas concerning the diplomatic status of the Slovak Republic are examined by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Slovak Republic, Britain, France and the Principle of Self-determination", Slovak Studies, XXIII, 1983, pp. 149-170. The best study of the relations between Slovakia and another state is by Stefan Parak, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat 1939-1945, Bern, Peter Lang, 1987. The diplomatic relations between Slovakia and the Third Reich are examined by Milan S. !Jurica, La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politische con la Germania 1938-1945, Vol. I, Padova, Marsilio Ed., 1964. s See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, " The Revolt of 1944" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp. 292-294. 1 19 To this day, there is no exhaustive history of life in the Sovak Republic. Essays were published shortly after the war by people who had lived and worked in that state; see M. Sprinc, ed ., Slovenska Republika, Scranton, PA, Jednota, 1949. There are however some overviews; see Milan S. !Jurica, "The Republic of Slovakia," Slovak Studies, I, 1961, pp. 105-121; by the same author, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin , Lausanne, Liber, 1976, pp. 123-153; and Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Slovak Republic and the Slovaks, " Slovakia , XXIX (53-54), 1980-1981, pp. 11-38. Political life in the Slovak Republic is examined by the same author in "The Slovak Republic 1939-1945" in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum and Anne C. Roman, eds., Reflections in Slovak History, Toronto, Slovak World Congress, 1987, pp . 89-109; other interpretations are offered by Yeshayahu Jelinek, The Parish Republic, Boulder, East European Monographs, 1976, and SLOVAKIA 75 by Jorg K. Hoensch, "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945" in Mamatey and Luza, pp. 271-295. 20 Tiso ' s philosophy and political programme are outlined in Lisa Guarda Nardini, Tiso: Una terza proposta, Padova, Ceseo-Liviana editrice, 1977, and by the same author, " The Political Programme of President Tiso" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp . 221-250. 21 Communist historians offer, however, a different and opposite evaluation; see Jozef Klimko, Tretia Risa a l'udacky rezim na Slovensku , Bratislava, Obzor, 1986. 22 " Vyhlasenie k deportaciam zidov zo Slovenska" , Horizont, XVI (6), 1987, p. 2. For an English translation of this declaration, see " Deportation of Jews From Slovakia. Declaration," Cross Currents, 9, 1990, pp . 269-270. The publication of this declaration also found a very favourable echo among Slovaks in exile. See "Solidarizuju sa, " Horizont, VXII (1), 1988, p . 2. 23 Until now, the most exhaustive study is by Raul Hilberg, Th e Destruction of the European Jews , Revised and Definitive Edition, 3 Vols ., New York, Holmes and Meyer, 1985. For an assessment of earlier studies on the tragedy of the Slovak Jews by an Israeli historian, see Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Holocaust of Slovakian Jewry," East Central Europe, X (1-2), 1983, pp. 14-23. 24 Hanna Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem. A Report on the Banality of Evil, New York, The Viking Press, 1963, p. 184. 25 Walter Laqueur, The Terrible Secret. Suppression of the Truth about Hitler's " Final Solution ", Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1980, p. 146. 26 See for example, Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The 'Final Solution' : The Slovak Version," East European Quarterly, IX (4), 1970, pp . 431-444. Jelinek modifies his approach somewhat later. See note 27. 27 Livia Rothkirchen, "The Slovak Enigma : A Reassessment of the Halt to the Deportations," East Central Europe, X (1-2), 1983, pp . 3-13; and Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Slovaks, Germans, the 'Satellites,' and Jews, " Cross Currents, 9, 1990, pp . 261-268. For his part, Michael R. Marrus, who also mentions the halt to the deportations, wonders: " Did these moves reflect serious second thoughts? Among some, including possibly Tiso himself, this may have been the case;" see Michael R. Marrus, The Holocaust in History, Toronto, Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited , 1987, p . 79. 28 Milan S. Durica, "Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, " Slovakia, VII (3-4), 1957, pp. 1-22. See also his The Slovak Involvement in the Tragedy of the European Jews, Abano Terme, Piovan Editore, 1989. 29 See Kurt Neumann, "The Slovak Republic: A Lived Experience" in Kirschbaum and Roman, pp. 110-124. 3 ° Frantisek Vnuk, Neu verite/'ne sprisahanie, Middletown, PA, Literarny almanach Slovaka v Amerike, 1964. 76 31 SLOVAKIA There is, on the other hand, only one monograph in a Western language on the 1944 events; see Wolfgang Vehnor, Aufstand fur die Tschechos/owakei. Der s/owakische Freiheitskampf van 1944, Hamburg, Christian Wegner Verlag, 1969. See also Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "The Revolt of 1944" in Kirschbaum, Slovak Politics, pp. 286-313; and Anna Josko, "The Slovak Resistance Movement" in Mamatey and Luza, pp. 362-384.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource An Act of Faith and Integrity: Bishop Korec's Letter to Czechoslovak Television (Introduction) Description An account of the resource Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90 pp. 61-76 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-90 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8f82b142b04278bd07dbb6849afe0c55.pdf a6e0a2ff98b268bf6f148328ce71cc1e PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 97 The Czech Question in Slovakia in the Post-War Years STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM It is not a simple task to describe the role of the "Czech question" in Slovakia in the post-war period, especially under the Communist regime (1948-1989). The difficulties in understanding it are not unlike the dilemmas faced by a man who is looking for a comfortable place to rest at night in a dark room in which a black panther is sleeping: he knows that he must not disturb it and each movement he makes is influenced by its unseen presence. Similarly, the best way to understand the role the Czech question has played in Slovakia is to examine the twists and turns of Slovak politics in this period. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1945 meant that the Slovaks would once again have to come to terms with the Czech control of the state. For most Czech politicians, in particular Edvard Bend, the re-created state was to be identical to the pre-Munich First Republic . Many declarations to that effect had been made during the war. At first glance it seems therefore that the war had merely been an interruption. However, the political situation at its end was quite different from what it had been in the twenties and thirties. The six-year existence of the first Slovak Republic (19391945) had brought about such changes in Slovak national life that Slovakia's re-incorporation into Czechoslovakia had to take place on new terms. What was not clear were not only the terms, but above �98 SLOVAKIA all the room for manoeuvre that the Slovaks would have to negotiate and maintain the new relationship with the Czechs. Slovak leaders had to deal with two factors that influenced postwar politics: first of all, the war-time resistance movement that the Allies recognized had been organized and led by Czech politicians with Benes at their head in the name of the Czechoslovak Republic. Slovak non-Communist politicians who joined them had no choice but to accept Czech leadership . Even Slovak Communists, who initially went their own way by creating the Communist Party of Slovakia (CPS) and propagating the idea of a Slovak Soviet Republic attached to the USSR, accepted it not only in the state, but in the end also in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPCS). The second factor had to do with the existence of the Slovak Republic. Jozef Lettrich, one of the Slovak non-Communist leaders, writes that "Slovak separatism was not only anti-Czech; it was also anti-democratic" .45 We can question the accuracy of this statement; in 1945, however, it had validity and justified the decision of the Allies to have the Slovak Republic disappear at the end of hostilities. These were the arguments invoked not only to maintain the decision to deny the Slovaks the right to their own state but above all to allow the Czechs a relatively free hand in dealing with them. As a result, as the Slovak writer, Peter Zig man, put it recently, "After the renewal of the CSR in 1945, it was not possible to renew the pre-war autonomy [of Slovakia], rather certain political forces whose particular representative was President Edvard Benes preferred to apply against Slovakia and the Slovaks the principle of collective guilt (the only problem was that, unlike the Sudeten Germans, there was no place where to deport them)" .46 The Czech question in Slovakia thus came to be identified with these two factors. They created a political situation which for all intents and purposes subjected the Slovaks to a Czech agenda which 45 Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia, New York, Frederick A. Praeger, 1955 , p. 110. 46 Peter Zigman, •Cesko-slovenske s1Htatie", Slovenske narodne noviny, 44/3 November 1992. �SLOVAKIA 99 once again was defined as "Czechoslovak", notwithstanding the Kosice Programme of April 1945 which officially recognized the Slovak nation. This meant that there was no question of Slovakia's equality with the Czech Lands nor of equal Slovak participation in the running of the state. This situation was in total disregard of the slogan "equal partners" (rovnf s rovnfm) which the leaders of the Slovak resistance movement propagated during the 1944 Revolt in order to gain support among the Slovak people. The Revolt was a military action whose aim had been not only to overthrow the Slovak Republic and tie the Slovaks to the anti-Nazi movements in Europe, but above all to proclaim their allegiance to Czechoslovakia. 47 The first and clearest indication that they would have limited room for manoeuvre came during the negotiations that took place in Moscow in March 1945 between the Czechoslovak government-in-exile and Slovak representatives; the latter failed to have their main demand implemented, namely the transformation of Czechoslovakia into a federal state .48 Nevertheless, in the Czechoslovak government's first post-war programme, known as the Kosice Programme, the Slovaks were given relatively broad political and administrative autonomy. The institutions created during the Revolt, the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners , took over the legislative and executive functions of the Parliament and Government of the Slovak Republic. For a short while, Slovakia was a state within a state. This was a situation that could not last. In a process reminiscent of the first years of the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Czech agenda was swiftly imposed on the Slovaks by the government once it was back in Prague: first, it 47 On the events of August 1944, see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , 'The Re volt of 1944', in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum , ed ., Slovak Politics , Cleveland, Slovak Institute , 1983 , pp . 286-313 . 48 For more on this and subsequent events, see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , "Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics", Canadian Slavonic Papers, XIX (4), 1977 , pp . 444451. �100 SLOVAKIA forced the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners to sign the three Prague Agreements of 1945 and 1946 which seriously curtailed Slovak political and administrative autonomy; secondly, it sanctioned the trials of officials of the Slovak Republic, in particular President Jozef Tiso and Prime Minister Vojtech Tuka, most of whom were condemned either to death or prison terms. The political struggle between the Communist and Democratic Parties in Slovakia gave additional leverage to the government to control Slovakia. The elections of 1946 were won by the Democratic Party. As a result, the Communists , in the political battle that ensued, abandoned the nationalist stance they had taken during the elections, aligned themselves with the CPCS and ceased to oppose the centralizing tendencies of the Prague government. By the time the CPCS won power in a coup in February 1948 (with a dry-run in Slovakia in November 1947), Czechoslovakia had become a unitary centralized state in all but name, a situation which the Constitution of 1948 recognized. What this meant for the Slovaks, in the words of the Slovak historian C'ubomfr Liptak, was that "Slovak politics was replaced by politics in Slovakia" .49 For all intents and purposes, the Czech agenda, writ large as "Czechoslovak", was once again in place throughout the state. The Communists who ended up in charge of Slovak affairs in the first decade of the regime were not those who had participated in the 1944 Revolt. The latter, who were known as "povstalci", had lost a power struggle within the CPS to comrades who gave their total allegiance to the Czech leadership of the CPCS. The "povstalci" became the victims of the Stalinist purges that befell Eastern Europe in the late forties and early fifties. The "centralists", as those in power were called, proceeded to implement the Czech agenda. Their programme was an economic one: to industrialize Slovakia to the level of the Czech Lands. They allowed Slovak national institutions to be all but stripped of their remaining powers, they conducted campaigns against Slovak nationalism not only during the Stalinist 49 1:ubomfr Liptlik, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava, Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury , 1968 , p. 296. �SLOVAKIA purges, but also in the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and in 1960, together with their Czech colleagues, they celebrated the achievements of socialism in Czechoslovakia with the promulgation of a socialist constitution. The second Soviet destalinization in 1961 and an economic crisis in the early 1960s made possible a challenge to the regime, in particular its handling of Czech-Slovak relations. First came the pressure to free and rehabilitate the condemned "povstalci". However, as Zigman writes, "The suppression of Slovak interests did not end even in the 1960s, a period which in the Czech Lands was perceived as a political thaw. This was particularly evident in the activities of [CPCS First Secretary] Antonfn Novotny and his followers as head of the state and the party" .50 Therefore, when Slovak Communists challenged the Czech agenda, they did so only in a veiled way. They allowed and even encouraged the rehabilitated "povstalci" to refer to the goals of the 1944 Revolt, namely the transformation of the state into a federation. The Slovak press as well as academic journals published new and revised histories of the 1944 events, called officially the Slovak National Uprising, and argued for the implementation of their goals .s I This challenge, which culminated in the federalization of the state on 28 October 1968, was successful only because it was shown to have ideological validity. This is the message in the memorandum52 Milo~ Gosiorovsky submitted to the Central Committee of the CPCS in 1963 which provoked an angry reaction from Novotny. Nevertheless, even with clearly acceptable ideological arguments, it took five years before a law federalizing the state could be passed. Novotny and his supporters had to be removed from office, a 50 see note 2. 51For more on this period , see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , "National Self-Assertion in Slovakia" in George Simmonds, ed ., Nationalism in the U.S.S.R . and Eastern Europe in the Era of Brezhnev and Kosygin, Detroit , University of Detroit Press , 1977 , pp. 380-400. 52 Milo~ Gosiorovsky, "K niektorym otazkam vziahu Cechov a Slovakov v politike KSC ", Historicky casopis XVI (3), 1968, pp . 370-396. �102 SLOVAKIA removal which also made possible for a reform process to be introduced in the political life of the state _53 Under the leadership of Novotny's successor, the Slovak Alexander Dubcek, an effort was made during the spring and summer of 1968 to introduce "socialism with a human face" in the political life of the Czechs and Slovaks . The federalization of the state was one of the reforms envisaged and was the object of intensive discussions.54 However, Czechoslovakia's neighbours did not approve of this experiment in political liberalization 55 and cut it short with a military intervention in August. Of all the reforms, only the federalization of the state survived. Compared with the first decade and a half of the regime, the years leading up to the liberalization process were a period of relative freedom of expression which enabled the Slovaks to renegotiate their status in the state. They were not, on the other hand, permitted to put its existence in question.56 Put another way, there could be no discussion of the "Czech question". It is not surprising therefore that the federalization law ended up being a compromise that reflected far more the limits of Czech tolerance of constitutional change than the successful implementation of Slovak objectives or 53For an examination of the reform process of the 1960s, see Galia Golan, The Czechoslovak Reform Movement, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1971. 54For an analysis of the debate around the federal solution, see H. Gordon Skilling, Czechoslovakia 's Interrupted Revolution, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1976), pp . 451-489 . 55 For more on the reform movement of 1968 see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Kontinuitat und politischer Wechsel in der "Tschechoslowakei 1968"", Bohemia , XV, 1974, pp . 378-395 and Galia Golan , Reform Rule in Czechoslovakia 1968-1969, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1973). 56 However, as Robert W. Dean writes, "While nothing indicated that separatism was actively being considered as an altemat_ive by responsible Slovak politicians, discussions of it appreared in the press regularly". See Robert W. Dean, Nationalism and Political Change in Eastern Europe: the Slovak Question and the Czechoslovak Reform Movement, The Social Science Foundation and Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, Monograph Series in World Affairs, Vol. 10, Denver, University of Denver, 1973, p. 31. �SLOVAKIA 103 even a definition of mutually acceptable goals. The two decades that followed the Warsaw Pact intervention of August 1968 , the period known as normalization, saw the wine of centralization being poured out of a federal bottle. The fact that a Slovak, Gustav Husak, had replaced Dubcek as head of the party and was from 1975 on also head of state seemed to suggest that an acceptable constitutional relationship had been found between the two nations. In actual fact, the regime was pursuing new ideological goals which once again reflected Czech interests and which were not dissimilar to the ideology of Czechoslovakism of the First Republic. As Viliam Plevza, the leading Slovak scholar of the normalization regime, writes: "It is evidently only a question of time for the prerequisites to develop, under new and most favourable conditions, based on the recent history of mutual relations , which will lead to the acceleration of the total development and rapprochement of the Czechs and Slovaks and the nationalities living in the republic, and to the attainment of such a synthesis that the notion of a "Czechoslovak people" will be the symbol of a new qualitative unity of all the citizens of the CSSR" _57 On the constitutional level, the results of the policy of normalization on the federal system were quite dramatic, as Zigman points out: "Progressively , with the argument of making the central organs more effective, a number of laws were passed which transformed the Czech Socialist and the Slovak Socialist Republics into unequal provinces in the CSSR whose republican institutions merely carried out orders from above. Every social movement was frozen and officially the theory of proletarian internationalism prevailed. In this way - with the help Soviet conservatives - this situation was maintained for twenty years and nothing modified it, not even cosmetic changes under [CPCS Secretary-General Milos] Jakes or the [political] game of "glasnost'" _58 Nevertheless , federalism did allow initially for a Slovak national 57 Viliam Plevza, Socialisticke premeny Ceskoslovenska, Bratislava, Pravda , 1983 , p. 420 . 5 8s ee note 2. �104 SLOVAKIA cultural renaissance; but given the political climate, it was quickly halted. Carol Skalnik Leff notes that in the mid-1970s there were warnings and threats about bourgeois nationalism, reminiscent of those uttered in the 1950s, which signalled a move away from the earlier enthusiastic recovery of the national heritage in cultural and academic publications. She writes that "It is unlikely that this noticeable shift reflects a diminution of Slovak national sentiment - quite the contrary, it suggests a concern that such sentiment was getting out of hand" .59 Clearly, anything in Slovakia that threatened the Czech agenda had to be eliminated; and it was. The Husak policy of normalization faced increased opposition both in Slovakia and in the Czech Lands after the Czechoslovak government signed the Helsinki Final Act in 1975. The Czechs, in particular academics, artists and writers, formed a loose movement called Charter 77 which attacked the ideology and policies of the regime. 60 Only a very small number of Slovak Communist dissidents adhered to it. The more significant Slovak opposition to the regime found its outlet primarily in religious demonstrations which had a broad mass appeal. This opposition was in fact a challenge to the continued imposition of the Czech agenda in Slovakia. The regime responded with a policy of open repression to both movements, especially the Slovak one. As far as it was concerned, there could be no discussion of anything but its own agenda while it was in power. It is only with the fall of Communism in November 1989 that a discussion of the Czech question could finally begin to take place in Slovakia. The first signal that there would be such a discussion came with the motion proposed by Slovak deputies to the Czechoslovak Federal Parliament on 30 March 1990 to return the hyphen to Czechoslovakia, the short name of the country. This spelling had been used in the Peace Treaties when the country was formed in 1918. 59 carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia. The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1988, p. 268. 60 on this movement see H. Gordon Skilling, Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia, London, George Allen & Unwin, 1981. �SLOVAKIA 105 Officially the country was still the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The motion was defeated by the Czech majority (with the help of some Slovak deputies). The compromise title of Czech and Slovak Federative Republic with the authorization of using the hyphen in Slovakia on the short form adopted a fortnight later was also not satisfactory. As a result, a campaign to influence Slovak public opinion on Czech-Slovak relations began in earnest. However, unlike the immediate post-war years and the Communist period when one outcome, the separation of Slovakia, was excluded, all solutions were now possible. This debate around the name of the common state strengthened the resolve of many Slovaks to initiate discussions on constitutional reform and helped to clarify the different positions. According to Zigman, "Suddenly, along with other problems, the question of a constitutional arrangement came to the surface. On the Czech side in particular, voices came to be heard shortly after the revolution [suggesting] that in the interest of the transformation of our economy the already centralized pseudo-federation should be further centralized and replaced by a unitary state (part of Civic Forum and [also] Public Against Violence). On the other hand , parties and movements appeared in Slovakia which sought greater rights for the republics and the breaking up of the federal moloch which crushed every national political movement. They demanded that it be replaced with a flexible system of institutions whose task it would be to coordinate the activities of the republics (part of the Slovak National Party and later part of the Christian Democratic Movement)" .6 1 The constitutional debate went on for two years 62 and indicated a desire to find a solution to the Czech question in Slovak political life. It was, however, only one aspect of a wider public debate, 61 See note 2. 62 For an examination of this debate, see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Les Slovaques et le droit des peuples a disposer d'eux-m~mes: a la recherche d'une solution", in Andre Liebich et Andre Reszler, eds ., L 'Europe centrale et ses minorites: vers une solution europeenne?, (Geneve , Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales) , Paris , Presses universitaires de France , 1993, pp . 92-10 I. �106 SLOVAK.IA initiated by the Czech writer Ludvik Vaculfk when he published in May 1990 an article entitled "Our Slovak Problem". In an at times bitter tone, Vaculfk railed at the fact that the Slovaks, to whom he referred as little brothers, refused to share the common bed with the Czechs. He did not think, furthermore, that they were ready to sleep in their own. In his rejection of a Slovak approach and in his steadfast conviction of the importance of Czechoslovak statehood he wrote; "To develop our own Czech state - it is after all a step backwards. Not long ago I went to Bratislava and all my friends said to me why are you getting so agitated because those nationalist noises come from carrierists, idiots or else intrigue-makers. I heard this with pleasure" _63 Among the many who responded, it was Vladimir Minac, a Slovak writer, who best took Vaculfk to task in an article entitled "Our Czecho-Slovak Problem". Rejecting the notion of a "little brother" and examining generally the meaning of Czechoslovakism, Minac added: "Vaculik writes that "it is an honest duty to be a Czechoslovak". However, what you find behind a Czechoslovak is a badly covered pure Czech who in some peculiar way made the land of the Slovaks his own; and if he hasn't done so, then he wants to do so. But a Slovak doesn't want to be a Czechoslovak, he doesn't want to be shoved behind a foreign facade, he wants to be himself, independent and equal. Is that so difficult to understand?" .64 Minac did not propose a solution; he left that to the politicians. The parameters, on the other hand, had been made quite clear. During the twenty-four months that separate the first two free elections in post-Communist Czechoslovakia, Slovak politicians, while pushing for the transformation of the state, made every effort to come to terms with the Czechs. A parallel with the 1968 constitutional discussions comes to mind. There is, however, an important difference this time, namely the absence of a superpower to influ63Ludv0c VaculOc, "Na§e slovenska otazka", Literami noviny, 5/1990, 3 May 1990, reprinted in Nove slovo 21/1990, 24 May 1990. 64 Vladimfr Minac, "Na§a cesko-slovenska otlizka", Nove s/ovo, 21/1990, 24 May 1990 . �SLOVAKIA 107 ence, if not determine the outcome. As a result, the Czech parties were able to indicate very clearly that they were unwilling to abandon their historical perception of Czechoslovakia as a Czech state with which the Slovaks were asked to identify and accept. At best, the status quo, in other words the federal law of 1968, was acceptable. As far as most Slovaks were concerned, despite a certain lack of unity , there had to be major constitutional reforms. There were many meetings and many propositions,65 including a number of interventions from President Vaclav Havel, yet no constitutional agreement was reached before the elections of June 1992. As a result, an important percentage of the electorate in each republic cast votes for parties that articulated a parallel message: if the other nation will not accept our terms, then let us make a go of it alone. This paved the way for the Czechs to rid themselves of the "Slovak question" while the Slovaks, many reluctantly, came to the conclusion that they might be better off without a "Czech question". After the Slovak National Council declared the sovereignty of the Slovak nation in July 1992, Prime Ministers Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic and Vladimfr Meciar of the Slovak Republic agreed that Czechoslovakia would be dissolved and two states would come into existence on 1 January 1993; on 25 November 1992, the Federal Parliament passed a law approving the dissolution. Thereafter, until the break up, both sides negotiated the division of federal property and other assets. Did the independence of Slovakia and the creation of a Czech Republic put to rest the "Czech question" in Slovak politics? Two factors suggest that one cannot give a categorical answer. First, public opinion polls preceding the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in the Czech and Slovak Republics suggested that if a referendum had been held at that time on the acceptance of the break-up of Czechoslovakia into two independent national states it would most likely not have won a majority. One may well ask whether this means that 65 These are described in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Czechoslovakia: The Creation, Federalisation and Disolution of a Nation-State", Regional Politics and Policy, III (I), 1993, pp . 69-95. �108 SLOVAKIA the Slovaks, after 68 years in a common state, when shove comes to push, saw living with a "Czech question", however intractable it was, as acceptable and perhaps even preferable to an uncertain future in an independent state? There is probably no simple answer to this question. What is certain, however, is that democratic politicians, unlike Communist ones, who treat public opinion as quantite negligeable do so at their own risk. It is possible that these polls reflected some degree of nostalgia as much as a fear of the future. But then again, they may have reflected the recognition of a second factor , the close relations that the two nations developed over the years. As Zigman indicated when these polls were taken, this factor placed the Slovaks before a choice: "The economic relations [with the Czechs] which were created during the recent period of development will remain and will become a significant element in a future European integration [process]. We [the Slovaks] are at a crossroads and have to decide between a Czecho-Slovak state and Czech-Slovak cooperation. I think that the starting point out of this dilemma is clear" .66 To return to our image of the beginning, after many attempts to find a comfortable place for themselves, the Slovaks found in the end that it was better to leave the room which they shared with the allegorical black panther. But they did so only after first seeking to come to an understanding with it. They also made a choice for a different kind of Czech-Slovak cooperation. Therefore, as they proceed to develop their own state, for the foreseeable future at any rate, the Slovaks will have to pay attention to a "Czech question". It is not clear what, if any, influence it will have on Slovak political life. It will, however, have ceased to be that which had been the main challenge to Slovak politics in the common state, namely an unhyphenated "Czechoslovak question" which they had not been allowed either to define or influence. 66 see note 2. � SLOVAKIA 97 The Czech Question in Slovakia in the Post-War Years STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM It is not a simple task to describe the role of the "Czech question" in Slovakia in the post-war period, especially under the Communist regime (1948-1989). The difficulties in understanding it are not unlike the dilemmas faced by a man who is looking for a comfortable place to rest at night in a dark room in which a black panther is sleeping: he knows that he must not disturb it and each movement he makes is influenced by its unseen presence. Similarly, the best way to understand the role the Czech question has played in Slovakia is to examine the twists and turns of Slovak politics in this period. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1945 meant that the Slovaks would once again have to come to terms with the Czech control of the state. For most Czech politicians, in particular Edvard Bend, the re-created state was to be identical to the pre-Munich First Republic . Many declarations to that effect had been made during the war. At first glance it seems therefore that the war had merely been an interruption. However, the political situation at its end was quite different from what it had been in the twenties and thirties. The six-year existence of the first Slovak Republic (19391945) had brought about such changes in Slovak national life that Slovakia's re-incorporation into Czechoslovakia had to take place on new terms. What was not clear were not only the terms, but above �98 SLOVAKIA all the room for manoeuvre that the Slovaks would have to negotiate and maintain the new relationship with the Czechs. Slovak leaders had to deal with two factors that influenced postwar politics: first of all, the war-time resistance movement that the Allies recognized had been organized and led by Czech politicians with Benes at their head in the name of the Czechoslovak Republic. Slovak non-Communist politicians who joined them had no choice but to accept Czech leadership . Even Slovak Communists, who initially went their own way by creating the Communist Party of Slovakia (CPS) and propagating the idea of a Slovak Soviet Republic attached to the USSR, accepted it not only in the state, but in the end also in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPCS). The second factor had to do with the existence of the Slovak Republic. Jozef Lettrich, one of the Slovak non-Communist leaders, writes that "Slovak separatism was not only anti-Czech; it was also anti-democratic" .45 We can question the accuracy of this statement; in 1945, however, it had validity and justified the decision of the Allies to have the Slovak Republic disappear at the end of hostilities. These were the arguments invoked not only to maintain the decision to deny the Slovaks the right to their own state but above all to allow the Czechs a relatively free hand in dealing with them. As a result, as the Slovak writer, Peter Zig man, put it recently, "After the renewal of the CSR in 1945, it was not possible to renew the pre-war autonomy [of Slovakia], rather certain political forces whose particular representative was President Edvard Benes preferred to apply against Slovakia and the Slovaks the principle of collective guilt (the only problem was that, unlike the Sudeten Germans, there was no place where to deport them)" .46 The Czech question in Slovakia thus came to be identified with these two factors. They created a political situation which for all intents and purposes subjected the Slovaks to a Czech agenda which 45 Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia, New York, Frederick A. Praeger, 1955 , p. 110. 46 Peter Zigman, •Cesko-slovenske s1Htatie", Slovenske narodne noviny, 44/3 November 1992. �SLOVAKIA 99 once again was defined as "Czechoslovak", notwithstanding the Kosice Programme of April 1945 which officially recognized the Slovak nation. This meant that there was no question of Slovakia's equality with the Czech Lands nor of equal Slovak participation in the running of the state. This situation was in total disregard of the slogan "equal partners" (rovnf s rovnfm) which the leaders of the Slovak resistance movement propagated during the 1944 Revolt in order to gain support among the Slovak people. The Revolt was a military action whose aim had been not only to overthrow the Slovak Republic and tie the Slovaks to the anti-Nazi movements in Europe, but above all to proclaim their allegiance to Czechoslovakia. 47 The first and clearest indication that they would have limited room for manoeuvre came during the negotiations that took place in Moscow in March 1945 between the Czechoslovak government-in-exile and Slovak representatives; the latter failed to have their main demand implemented, namely the transformation of Czechoslovakia into a federal state .48 Nevertheless, in the Czechoslovak government's first post-war programme, known as the Kosice Programme, the Slovaks were given relatively broad political and administrative autonomy. The institutions created during the Revolt, the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners , took over the legislative and executive functions of the Parliament and Government of the Slovak Republic. For a short while, Slovakia was a state within a state. This was a situation that could not last. In a process reminiscent of the first years of the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Czech agenda was swiftly imposed on the Slovaks by the government once it was back in Prague: first, it 47 On the events of August 1944, see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , 'The Re volt of 1944', in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum , ed ., Slovak Politics , Cleveland, Slovak Institute , 1983 , pp . 286-313 . 48 For more on this and subsequent events, see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , "Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics", Canadian Slavonic Papers, XIX (4), 1977 , pp . 444451. �100 SLOVAKIA forced the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners to sign the three Prague Agreements of 1945 and 1946 which seriously curtailed Slovak political and administrative autonomy; secondly, it sanctioned the trials of officials of the Slovak Republic, in particular President Jozef Tiso and Prime Minister Vojtech Tuka, most of whom were condemned either to death or prison terms. The political struggle between the Communist and Democratic Parties in Slovakia gave additional leverage to the government to control Slovakia. The elections of 1946 were won by the Democratic Party. As a result, the Communists , in the political battle that ensued, abandoned the nationalist stance they had taken during the elections, aligned themselves with the CPCS and ceased to oppose the centralizing tendencies of the Prague government. By the time the CPCS won power in a coup in February 1948 (with a dry-run in Slovakia in November 1947), Czechoslovakia had become a unitary centralized state in all but name, a situation which the Constitution of 1948 recognized. What this meant for the Slovaks, in the words of the Slovak historian C'ubomfr Liptak, was that "Slovak politics was replaced by politics in Slovakia" .49 For all intents and purposes, the Czech agenda, writ large as "Czechoslovak", was once again in place throughout the state. The Communists who ended up in charge of Slovak affairs in the first decade of the regime were not those who had participated in the 1944 Revolt. The latter, who were known as "povstalci", had lost a power struggle within the CPS to comrades who gave their total allegiance to the Czech leadership of the CPCS. The "povstalci" became the victims of the Stalinist purges that befell Eastern Europe in the late forties and early fifties. The "centralists", as those in power were called, proceeded to implement the Czech agenda. Their programme was an economic one: to industrialize Slovakia to the level of the Czech Lands. They allowed Slovak national institutions to be all but stripped of their remaining powers, they conducted campaigns against Slovak nationalism not only during the Stalinist 49 1:ubomfr Liptlik, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava, Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury , 1968 , p. 296. �SLOVAKIA purges, but also in the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and in 1960, together with their Czech colleagues, they celebrated the achievements of socialism in Czechoslovakia with the promulgation of a socialist constitution. The second Soviet destalinization in 1961 and an economic crisis in the early 1960s made possible a challenge to the regime, in particular its handling of Czech-Slovak relations. First came the pressure to free and rehabilitate the condemned "povstalci". However, as Zigman writes, "The suppression of Slovak interests did not end even in the 1960s, a period which in the Czech Lands was perceived as a political thaw. This was particularly evident in the activities of [CPCS First Secretary] Antonfn Novotny and his followers as head of the state and the party" .50 Therefore, when Slovak Communists challenged the Czech agenda, they did so only in a veiled way. They allowed and even encouraged the rehabilitated "povstalci" to refer to the goals of the 1944 Revolt, namely the transformation of the state into a federation. The Slovak press as well as academic journals published new and revised histories of the 1944 events, called officially the Slovak National Uprising, and argued for the implementation of their goals .s I This challenge, which culminated in the federalization of the state on 28 October 1968, was successful only because it was shown to have ideological validity. This is the message in the memorandum52 Milo~ Gosiorovsky submitted to the Central Committee of the CPCS in 1963 which provoked an angry reaction from Novotny. Nevertheless, even with clearly acceptable ideological arguments, it took five years before a law federalizing the state could be passed. Novotny and his supporters had to be removed from office, a 50 see note 2. 51For more on this period , see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , "National Self-Assertion in Slovakia" in George Simmonds, ed ., Nationalism in the U.S.S.R . and Eastern Europe in the Era of Brezhnev and Kosygin, Detroit , University of Detroit Press , 1977 , pp. 380-400. 52 Milo~ Gosiorovsky, "K niektorym otazkam vziahu Cechov a Slovakov v politike KSC ", Historicky casopis XVI (3), 1968, pp . 370-396. �102 SLOVAKIA removal which also made possible for a reform process to be introduced in the political life of the state _53 Under the leadership of Novotny's successor, the Slovak Alexander Dubcek, an effort was made during the spring and summer of 1968 to introduce "socialism with a human face" in the political life of the Czechs and Slovaks . The federalization of the state was one of the reforms envisaged and was the object of intensive discussions.54 However, Czechoslovakia's neighbours did not approve of this experiment in political liberalization 55 and cut it short with a military intervention in August. Of all the reforms, only the federalization of the state survived. Compared with the first decade and a half of the regime, the years leading up to the liberalization process were a period of relative freedom of expression which enabled the Slovaks to renegotiate their status in the state. They were not, on the other hand, permitted to put its existence in question.56 Put another way, there could be no discussion of the "Czech question". It is not surprising therefore that the federalization law ended up being a compromise that reflected far more the limits of Czech tolerance of constitutional change than the successful implementation of Slovak objectives or 53For an examination of the reform process of the 1960s, see Galia Golan, The Czechoslovak Reform Movement, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1971. 54For an analysis of the debate around the federal solution, see H. Gordon Skilling, Czechoslovakia 's Interrupted Revolution, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1976), pp . 451-489 . 55 For more on the reform movement of 1968 see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Kontinuitat und politischer Wechsel in der "Tschechoslowakei 1968"", Bohemia , XV, 1974, pp . 378-395 and Galia Golan , Reform Rule in Czechoslovakia 1968-1969, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1973). 56 However, as Robert W. Dean writes, "While nothing indicated that separatism was actively being considered as an altemat_ive by responsible Slovak politicians, discussions of it appreared in the press regularly". See Robert W. Dean, Nationalism and Political Change in Eastern Europe: the Slovak Question and the Czechoslovak Reform Movement, The Social Science Foundation and Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, Monograph Series in World Affairs, Vol. 10, Denver, University of Denver, 1973, p. 31. �SLOVAKIA 103 even a definition of mutually acceptable goals. The two decades that followed the Warsaw Pact intervention of August 1968 , the period known as normalization, saw the wine of centralization being poured out of a federal bottle. The fact that a Slovak, Gustav Husak, had replaced Dubcek as head of the party and was from 1975 on also head of state seemed to suggest that an acceptable constitutional relationship had been found between the two nations. In actual fact, the regime was pursuing new ideological goals which once again reflected Czech interests and which were not dissimilar to the ideology of Czechoslovakism of the First Republic. As Viliam Plevza, the leading Slovak scholar of the normalization regime, writes: "It is evidently only a question of time for the prerequisites to develop, under new and most favourable conditions, based on the recent history of mutual relations , which will lead to the acceleration of the total development and rapprochement of the Czechs and Slovaks and the nationalities living in the republic, and to the attainment of such a synthesis that the notion of a "Czechoslovak people" will be the symbol of a new qualitative unity of all the citizens of the CSSR" _57 On the constitutional level, the results of the policy of normalization on the federal system were quite dramatic, as Zigman points out: "Progressively , with the argument of making the central organs more effective, a number of laws were passed which transformed the Czech Socialist and the Slovak Socialist Republics into unequal provinces in the CSSR whose republican institutions merely carried out orders from above. Every social movement was frozen and officially the theory of proletarian internationalism prevailed. In this way - with the help Soviet conservatives - this situation was maintained for twenty years and nothing modified it, not even cosmetic changes under [CPCS Secretary-General Milos] Jakes or the [political] game of "glasnost'" _58 Nevertheless , federalism did allow initially for a Slovak national 57 Viliam Plevza, Socialisticke premeny Ceskoslovenska, Bratislava, Pravda , 1983 , p. 420 . 5 8s ee note 2. �104 SLOVAKIA cultural renaissance; but given the political climate, it was quickly halted. Carol Skalnik Leff notes that in the mid-1970s there were warnings and threats about bourgeois nationalism, reminiscent of those uttered in the 1950s, which signalled a move away from the earlier enthusiastic recovery of the national heritage in cultural and academic publications. She writes that "It is unlikely that this noticeable shift reflects a diminution of Slovak national sentiment - quite the contrary, it suggests a concern that such sentiment was getting out of hand" .59 Clearly, anything in Slovakia that threatened the Czech agenda had to be eliminated; and it was. The Husak policy of normalization faced increased opposition both in Slovakia and in the Czech Lands after the Czechoslovak government signed the Helsinki Final Act in 1975. The Czechs, in particular academics, artists and writers, formed a loose movement called Charter 77 which attacked the ideology and policies of the regime. 60 Only a very small number of Slovak Communist dissidents adhered to it. The more significant Slovak opposition to the regime found its outlet primarily in religious demonstrations which had a broad mass appeal. This opposition was in fact a challenge to the continued imposition of the Czech agenda in Slovakia. The regime responded with a policy of open repression to both movements, especially the Slovak one. As far as it was concerned, there could be no discussion of anything but its own agenda while it was in power. It is only with the fall of Communism in November 1989 that a discussion of the Czech question could finally begin to take place in Slovakia. The first signal that there would be such a discussion came with the motion proposed by Slovak deputies to the Czechoslovak Federal Parliament on 30 March 1990 to return the hyphen to Czechoslovakia, the short name of the country. This spelling had been used in the Peace Treaties when the country was formed in 1918. 59 carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia. The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1988, p. 268. 60 on this movement see H. Gordon Skilling, Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia, London, George Allen & Unwin, 1981. �SLOVAKIA 105 Officially the country was still the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The motion was defeated by the Czech majority (with the help of some Slovak deputies). The compromise title of Czech and Slovak Federative Republic with the authorization of using the hyphen in Slovakia on the short form adopted a fortnight later was also not satisfactory. As a result, a campaign to influence Slovak public opinion on Czech-Slovak relations began in earnest. However, unlike the immediate post-war years and the Communist period when one outcome, the separation of Slovakia, was excluded, all solutions were now possible. This debate around the name of the common state strengthened the resolve of many Slovaks to initiate discussions on constitutional reform and helped to clarify the different positions. According to Zigman, "Suddenly, along with other problems, the question of a constitutional arrangement came to the surface. On the Czech side in particular, voices came to be heard shortly after the revolution [suggesting] that in the interest of the transformation of our economy the already centralized pseudo-federation should be further centralized and replaced by a unitary state (part of Civic Forum and [also] Public Against Violence). On the other hand , parties and movements appeared in Slovakia which sought greater rights for the republics and the breaking up of the federal moloch which crushed every national political movement. They demanded that it be replaced with a flexible system of institutions whose task it would be to coordinate the activities of the republics (part of the Slovak National Party and later part of the Christian Democratic Movement)" .6 1 The constitutional debate went on for two years 62 and indicated a desire to find a solution to the Czech question in Slovak political life. It was, however, only one aspect of a wider public debate, 61 See note 2. 62 For an examination of this debate, see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Les Slovaques et le droit des peuples a disposer d'eux-m~mes: a la recherche d'une solution", in Andre Liebich et Andre Reszler, eds ., L 'Europe centrale et ses minorites: vers une solution europeenne?, (Geneve , Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales) , Paris , Presses universitaires de France , 1993, pp . 92-10 I. �106 SLOVAK.IA initiated by the Czech writer Ludvik Vaculfk when he published in May 1990 an article entitled "Our Slovak Problem". In an at times bitter tone, Vaculfk railed at the fact that the Slovaks, to whom he referred as little brothers, refused to share the common bed with the Czechs. He did not think, furthermore, that they were ready to sleep in their own. In his rejection of a Slovak approach and in his steadfast conviction of the importance of Czechoslovak statehood he wrote; "To develop our own Czech state - it is after all a step backwards. Not long ago I went to Bratislava and all my friends said to me why are you getting so agitated because those nationalist noises come from carrierists, idiots or else intrigue-makers. I heard this with pleasure" _63 Among the many who responded, it was Vladimir Minac, a Slovak writer, who best took Vaculfk to task in an article entitled "Our Czecho-Slovak Problem". Rejecting the notion of a "little brother" and examining generally the meaning of Czechoslovakism, Minac added: "Vaculik writes that "it is an honest duty to be a Czechoslovak". However, what you find behind a Czechoslovak is a badly covered pure Czech who in some peculiar way made the land of the Slovaks his own; and if he hasn't done so, then he wants to do so. But a Slovak doesn't want to be a Czechoslovak, he doesn't want to be shoved behind a foreign facade, he wants to be himself, independent and equal. Is that so difficult to understand?" .64 Minac did not propose a solution; he left that to the politicians. The parameters, on the other hand, had been made quite clear. During the twenty-four months that separate the first two free elections in post-Communist Czechoslovakia, Slovak politicians, while pushing for the transformation of the state, made every effort to come to terms with the Czechs. A parallel with the 1968 constitutional discussions comes to mind. There is, however, an important difference this time, namely the absence of a superpower to influ63Ludv0c VaculOc, "Na§e slovenska otazka", Literami noviny, 5/1990, 3 May 1990, reprinted in Nove slovo 21/1990, 24 May 1990. 64 Vladimfr Minac, "Na§a cesko-slovenska otlizka", Nove s/ovo, 21/1990, 24 May 1990 . �SLOVAKIA 107 ence, if not determine the outcome. As a result, the Czech parties were able to indicate very clearly that they were unwilling to abandon their historical perception of Czechoslovakia as a Czech state with which the Slovaks were asked to identify and accept. At best, the status quo, in other words the federal law of 1968, was acceptable. As far as most Slovaks were concerned, despite a certain lack of unity , there had to be major constitutional reforms. There were many meetings and many propositions,65 including a number of interventions from President Vaclav Havel, yet no constitutional agreement was reached before the elections of June 1992. As a result, an important percentage of the electorate in each republic cast votes for parties that articulated a parallel message: if the other nation will not accept our terms, then let us make a go of it alone. This paved the way for the Czechs to rid themselves of the "Slovak question" while the Slovaks, many reluctantly, came to the conclusion that they might be better off without a "Czech question". After the Slovak National Council declared the sovereignty of the Slovak nation in July 1992, Prime Ministers Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic and Vladimfr Meciar of the Slovak Republic agreed that Czechoslovakia would be dissolved and two states would come into existence on 1 January 1993; on 25 November 1992, the Federal Parliament passed a law approving the dissolution. Thereafter, until the break up, both sides negotiated the division of federal property and other assets. Did the independence of Slovakia and the creation of a Czech Republic put to rest the "Czech question" in Slovak politics? Two factors suggest that one cannot give a categorical answer. First, public opinion polls preceding the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in the Czech and Slovak Republics suggested that if a referendum had been held at that time on the acceptance of the break-up of Czechoslovakia into two independent national states it would most likely not have won a majority. One may well ask whether this means that 65 These are described in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Czechoslovakia: The Creation, Federalisation and Disolution of a Nation-State", Regional Politics and Policy, III (I), 1993, pp . 69-95. �108 SLOVAKIA the Slovaks, after 68 years in a common state, when shove comes to push, saw living with a "Czech question", however intractable it was, as acceptable and perhaps even preferable to an uncertain future in an independent state? There is probably no simple answer to this question. What is certain, however, is that democratic politicians, unlike Communist ones, who treat public opinion as quantite negligeable do so at their own risk. It is possible that these polls reflected some degree of nostalgia as much as a fear of the future. But then again, they may have reflected the recognition of a second factor , the close relations that the two nations developed over the years. As Zigman indicated when these polls were taken, this factor placed the Slovaks before a choice: "The economic relations [with the Czechs] which were created during the recent period of development will remain and will become a significant element in a future European integration [process]. We [the Slovaks] are at a crossroads and have to decide between a Czecho-Slovak state and Czech-Slovak cooperation. I think that the starting point out of this dilemma is clear" .66 To return to our image of the beginning, after many attempts to find a comfortable place for themselves, the Slovaks found in the end that it was better to leave the room which they shared with the allegorical black panther. But they did so only after first seeking to come to an understanding with it. They also made a choice for a different kind of Czech-Slovak cooperation. Therefore, as they proceed to develop their own state, for the foreseeable future at any rate, the Slovaks will have to pay attention to a "Czech question". It is not clear what, if any, influence it will have on Slovak political life. It will, however, have ceased to be that which had been the main challenge to Slovak politics in the common state, namely an unhyphenated "Czechoslovak question" which they had not been allowed either to define or influence. 66 see note 2. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1991-92, Vol. 35 Description An account of the resource Vol. 35 (No. 64-65), 1991-92. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Slovak League of America Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available 1991-92 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 97 The Czech Question in Slovakia in the Post-War Years STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM It is not a simple task to describe the role of the "Czech question" in Slovakia in the post-war period, especially under the Communist regime (1948-1989). The difficulties in understanding it are not unlike the dilemmas faced by a man who is looking for a comfortable place to rest at night in a dark room in which a black panther is sleeping: he knows that he must not disturb it and each movement he makes is influenced by its unseen presence. Similarly, the best way to understand the role the Czech question has played in Slovakia is to examine the twists and turns of Slovak politics in this period. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1945 meant that the Slovaks would once again have to come to terms with the Czech control of the state. For most Czech politicians, in particular Edvard Bend, the re-created state was to be identical to the pre-Munich First Republic . Many declarations to that effect had been made during the war. At first glance it seems therefore that the war had merely been an interruption. However, the political situation at its end was quite different from what it had been in the twenties and thirties. The six-year existence of the first Slovak Republic (19391945) had brought about such changes in Slovak national life that Slovakia's re-incorporation into Czechoslovakia had to take place on new terms. What was not clear were not only the terms, but above 98 SLOVAKIA all the room for manoeuvre that the Slovaks would have to negotiate and maintain the new relationship with the Czechs. Slovak leaders had to deal with two factors that influenced postwar politics: first of all, the war-time resistance movement that the Allies recognized had been organized and led by Czech politicians with Benes at their head in the name of the Czechoslovak Republic. Slovak non-Communist politicians who joined them had no choice but to accept Czech leadership . Even Slovak Communists, who initially went their own way by creating the Communist Party of Slovakia (CPS) and propagating the idea of a Slovak Soviet Republic attached to the USSR, accepted it not only in the state, but in the end also in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPCS). The second factor had to do with the existence of the Slovak Republic. Jozef Lettrich, one of the Slovak non-Communist leaders, writes that "Slovak separatism was not only anti-Czech; it was also anti-democratic" .45 We can question the accuracy of this statement; in 1945, however, it had validity and justified the decision of the Allies to have the Slovak Republic disappear at the end of hostilities. These were the arguments invoked not only to maintain the decision to deny the Slovaks the right to their own state but above all to allow the Czechs a relatively free hand in dealing with them. As a result, as the Slovak writer, Peter Zig man, put it recently, "After the renewal of the CSR in 1945, it was not possible to renew the pre-war autonomy [of Slovakia], rather certain political forces whose particular representative was President Edvard Benes preferred to apply against Slovakia and the Slovaks the principle of collective guilt (the only problem was that, unlike the Sudeten Germans, there was no place where to deport them)" .46 The Czech question in Slovakia thus came to be identified with these two factors. They created a political situation which for all intents and purposes subjected the Slovaks to a Czech agenda which 45 Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia, New York, Frederick A. Praeger, 1955 , p. 110. 46 Peter Zigman, •Cesko-slovenske s1Htatie", Slovenske narodne noviny, 44/3 November 1992. SLOVAKIA 99 once again was defined as "Czechoslovak", notwithstanding the Kosice Programme of April 1945 which officially recognized the Slovak nation. This meant that there was no question of Slovakia's equality with the Czech Lands nor of equal Slovak participation in the running of the state. This situation was in total disregard of the slogan "equal partners" (rovnf s rovnfm) which the leaders of the Slovak resistance movement propagated during the 1944 Revolt in order to gain support among the Slovak people. The Revolt was a military action whose aim had been not only to overthrow the Slovak Republic and tie the Slovaks to the anti-Nazi movements in Europe, but above all to proclaim their allegiance to Czechoslovakia. 47 The first and clearest indication that they would have limited room for manoeuvre came during the negotiations that took place in Moscow in March 1945 between the Czechoslovak government-in-exile and Slovak representatives; the latter failed to have their main demand implemented, namely the transformation of Czechoslovakia into a federal state .48 Nevertheless, in the Czechoslovak government's first post-war programme, known as the Kosice Programme, the Slovaks were given relatively broad political and administrative autonomy. The institutions created during the Revolt, the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners , took over the legislative and executive functions of the Parliament and Government of the Slovak Republic. For a short while, Slovakia was a state within a state. This was a situation that could not last. In a process reminiscent of the first years of the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Czech agenda was swiftly imposed on the Slovaks by the government once it was back in Prague: first, it 47 On the events of August 1944, see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , 'The Re volt of 1944', in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum , ed ., Slovak Politics , Cleveland, Slovak Institute , 1983 , pp . 286-313 . 48 For more on this and subsequent events, see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , "Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics", Canadian Slavonic Papers, XIX (4), 1977 , pp . 444451. 100 SLOVAKIA forced the Slovak National Council and the Board of Commissioners to sign the three Prague Agreements of 1945 and 1946 which seriously curtailed Slovak political and administrative autonomy; secondly, it sanctioned the trials of officials of the Slovak Republic, in particular President Jozef Tiso and Prime Minister Vojtech Tuka, most of whom were condemned either to death or prison terms. The political struggle between the Communist and Democratic Parties in Slovakia gave additional leverage to the government to control Slovakia. The elections of 1946 were won by the Democratic Party. As a result, the Communists , in the political battle that ensued, abandoned the nationalist stance they had taken during the elections, aligned themselves with the CPCS and ceased to oppose the centralizing tendencies of the Prague government. By the time the CPCS won power in a coup in February 1948 (with a dry-run in Slovakia in November 1947), Czechoslovakia had become a unitary centralized state in all but name, a situation which the Constitution of 1948 recognized. What this meant for the Slovaks, in the words of the Slovak historian C'ubomfr Liptak, was that "Slovak politics was replaced by politics in Slovakia" .49 For all intents and purposes, the Czech agenda, writ large as "Czechoslovak", was once again in place throughout the state. The Communists who ended up in charge of Slovak affairs in the first decade of the regime were not those who had participated in the 1944 Revolt. The latter, who were known as "povstalci", had lost a power struggle within the CPS to comrades who gave their total allegiance to the Czech leadership of the CPCS. The "povstalci" became the victims of the Stalinist purges that befell Eastern Europe in the late forties and early fifties. The "centralists", as those in power were called, proceeded to implement the Czech agenda. Their programme was an economic one: to industrialize Slovakia to the level of the Czech Lands. They allowed Slovak national institutions to be all but stripped of their remaining powers, they conducted campaigns against Slovak nationalism not only during the Stalinist 49 1:ubomfr Liptlik, Slovensko v 20. storoci, Bratislava, Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury , 1968 , p. 296. SLOVAKIA purges, but also in the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and in 1960, together with their Czech colleagues, they celebrated the achievements of socialism in Czechoslovakia with the promulgation of a socialist constitution. The second Soviet destalinization in 1961 and an economic crisis in the early 1960s made possible a challenge to the regime, in particular its handling of Czech-Slovak relations. First came the pressure to free and rehabilitate the condemned "povstalci". However, as Zigman writes, "The suppression of Slovak interests did not end even in the 1960s, a period which in the Czech Lands was perceived as a political thaw. This was particularly evident in the activities of [CPCS First Secretary] Antonfn Novotny and his followers as head of the state and the party" .50 Therefore, when Slovak Communists challenged the Czech agenda, they did so only in a veiled way. They allowed and even encouraged the rehabilitated "povstalci" to refer to the goals of the 1944 Revolt, namely the transformation of the state into a federation. The Slovak press as well as academic journals published new and revised histories of the 1944 events, called officially the Slovak National Uprising, and argued for the implementation of their goals .s I This challenge, which culminated in the federalization of the state on 28 October 1968, was successful only because it was shown to have ideological validity. This is the message in the memorandum52 Milo~ Gosiorovsky submitted to the Central Committee of the CPCS in 1963 which provoked an angry reaction from Novotny. Nevertheless, even with clearly acceptable ideological arguments, it took five years before a law federalizing the state could be passed. Novotny and his supporters had to be removed from office, a 50 see note 2. 51For more on this period , see Stanislav J . Kirschbaum , "National Self-Assertion in Slovakia" in George Simmonds, ed ., Nationalism in the U.S.S.R . and Eastern Europe in the Era of Brezhnev and Kosygin, Detroit , University of Detroit Press , 1977 , pp. 380-400. 52 Milo~ Gosiorovsky, "K niektorym otazkam vziahu Cechov a Slovakov v politike KSC ", Historicky casopis XVI (3), 1968, pp . 370-396. 102 SLOVAKIA removal which also made possible for a reform process to be introduced in the political life of the state _53 Under the leadership of Novotny's successor, the Slovak Alexander Dubcek, an effort was made during the spring and summer of 1968 to introduce "socialism with a human face" in the political life of the Czechs and Slovaks . The federalization of the state was one of the reforms envisaged and was the object of intensive discussions.54 However, Czechoslovakia's neighbours did not approve of this experiment in political liberalization 55 and cut it short with a military intervention in August. Of all the reforms, only the federalization of the state survived. Compared with the first decade and a half of the regime, the years leading up to the liberalization process were a period of relative freedom of expression which enabled the Slovaks to renegotiate their status in the state. They were not, on the other hand, permitted to put its existence in question.56 Put another way, there could be no discussion of the "Czech question". It is not surprising therefore that the federalization law ended up being a compromise that reflected far more the limits of Czech tolerance of constitutional change than the successful implementation of Slovak objectives or 53For an examination of the reform process of the 1960s, see Galia Golan, The Czechoslovak Reform Movement, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1971. 54For an analysis of the debate around the federal solution, see H. Gordon Skilling, Czechoslovakia 's Interrupted Revolution, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1976), pp . 451-489 . 55 For more on the reform movement of 1968 see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Kontinuitat und politischer Wechsel in der "Tschechoslowakei 1968"", Bohemia , XV, 1974, pp . 378-395 and Galia Golan , Reform Rule in Czechoslovakia 1968-1969, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1973). 56 However, as Robert W. Dean writes, "While nothing indicated that separatism was actively being considered as an altemat_ive by responsible Slovak politicians, discussions of it appreared in the press regularly". See Robert W. Dean, Nationalism and Political Change in Eastern Europe: the Slovak Question and the Czechoslovak Reform Movement, The Social Science Foundation and Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, Monograph Series in World Affairs, Vol. 10, Denver, University of Denver, 1973, p. 31. SLOVAKIA 103 even a definition of mutually acceptable goals. The two decades that followed the Warsaw Pact intervention of August 1968 , the period known as normalization, saw the wine of centralization being poured out of a federal bottle. The fact that a Slovak, Gustav Husak, had replaced Dubcek as head of the party and was from 1975 on also head of state seemed to suggest that an acceptable constitutional relationship had been found between the two nations. In actual fact, the regime was pursuing new ideological goals which once again reflected Czech interests and which were not dissimilar to the ideology of Czechoslovakism of the First Republic. As Viliam Plevza, the leading Slovak scholar of the normalization regime, writes: "It is evidently only a question of time for the prerequisites to develop, under new and most favourable conditions, based on the recent history of mutual relations , which will lead to the acceleration of the total development and rapprochement of the Czechs and Slovaks and the nationalities living in the republic, and to the attainment of such a synthesis that the notion of a "Czechoslovak people" will be the symbol of a new qualitative unity of all the citizens of the CSSR" _57 On the constitutional level, the results of the policy of normalization on the federal system were quite dramatic, as Zigman points out: "Progressively , with the argument of making the central organs more effective, a number of laws were passed which transformed the Czech Socialist and the Slovak Socialist Republics into unequal provinces in the CSSR whose republican institutions merely carried out orders from above. Every social movement was frozen and officially the theory of proletarian internationalism prevailed. In this way - with the help Soviet conservatives - this situation was maintained for twenty years and nothing modified it, not even cosmetic changes under [CPCS Secretary-General Milos] Jakes or the [political] game of "glasnost'" _58 Nevertheless , federalism did allow initially for a Slovak national 57 Viliam Plevza, Socialisticke premeny Ceskoslovenska, Bratislava, Pravda , 1983 , p. 420 . 5 8s ee note 2. 104 SLOVAKIA cultural renaissance; but given the political climate, it was quickly halted. Carol Skalnik Leff notes that in the mid-1970s there were warnings and threats about bourgeois nationalism, reminiscent of those uttered in the 1950s, which signalled a move away from the earlier enthusiastic recovery of the national heritage in cultural and academic publications. She writes that "It is unlikely that this noticeable shift reflects a diminution of Slovak national sentiment - quite the contrary, it suggests a concern that such sentiment was getting out of hand" .59 Clearly, anything in Slovakia that threatened the Czech agenda had to be eliminated; and it was. The Husak policy of normalization faced increased opposition both in Slovakia and in the Czech Lands after the Czechoslovak government signed the Helsinki Final Act in 1975. The Czechs, in particular academics, artists and writers, formed a loose movement called Charter 77 which attacked the ideology and policies of the regime. 60 Only a very small number of Slovak Communist dissidents adhered to it. The more significant Slovak opposition to the regime found its outlet primarily in religious demonstrations which had a broad mass appeal. This opposition was in fact a challenge to the continued imposition of the Czech agenda in Slovakia. The regime responded with a policy of open repression to both movements, especially the Slovak one. As far as it was concerned, there could be no discussion of anything but its own agenda while it was in power. It is only with the fall of Communism in November 1989 that a discussion of the Czech question could finally begin to take place in Slovakia. The first signal that there would be such a discussion came with the motion proposed by Slovak deputies to the Czechoslovak Federal Parliament on 30 March 1990 to return the hyphen to Czechoslovakia, the short name of the country. This spelling had been used in the Peace Treaties when the country was formed in 1918. 59 carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia. The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1988, p. 268. 60 on this movement see H. Gordon Skilling, Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia, London, George Allen & Unwin, 1981. SLOVAKIA 105 Officially the country was still the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The motion was defeated by the Czech majority (with the help of some Slovak deputies). The compromise title of Czech and Slovak Federative Republic with the authorization of using the hyphen in Slovakia on the short form adopted a fortnight later was also not satisfactory. As a result, a campaign to influence Slovak public opinion on Czech-Slovak relations began in earnest. However, unlike the immediate post-war years and the Communist period when one outcome, the separation of Slovakia, was excluded, all solutions were now possible. This debate around the name of the common state strengthened the resolve of many Slovaks to initiate discussions on constitutional reform and helped to clarify the different positions. According to Zigman, "Suddenly, along with other problems, the question of a constitutional arrangement came to the surface. On the Czech side in particular, voices came to be heard shortly after the revolution [suggesting] that in the interest of the transformation of our economy the already centralized pseudo-federation should be further centralized and replaced by a unitary state (part of Civic Forum and [also] Public Against Violence). On the other hand , parties and movements appeared in Slovakia which sought greater rights for the republics and the breaking up of the federal moloch which crushed every national political movement. They demanded that it be replaced with a flexible system of institutions whose task it would be to coordinate the activities of the republics (part of the Slovak National Party and later part of the Christian Democratic Movement)" .6 1 The constitutional debate went on for two years 62 and indicated a desire to find a solution to the Czech question in Slovak political life. It was, however, only one aspect of a wider public debate, 61 See note 2. 62 For an examination of this debate, see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Les Slovaques et le droit des peuples a disposer d'eux-m~mes: a la recherche d'une solution", in Andre Liebich et Andre Reszler, eds ., L 'Europe centrale et ses minorites: vers une solution europeenne?, (Geneve , Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales) , Paris , Presses universitaires de France , 1993, pp . 92-10 I. 106 SLOVAK.IA initiated by the Czech writer Ludvik Vaculfk when he published in May 1990 an article entitled "Our Slovak Problem". In an at times bitter tone, Vaculfk railed at the fact that the Slovaks, to whom he referred as little brothers, refused to share the common bed with the Czechs. He did not think, furthermore, that they were ready to sleep in their own. In his rejection of a Slovak approach and in his steadfast conviction of the importance of Czechoslovak statehood he wrote; "To develop our own Czech state - it is after all a step backwards. Not long ago I went to Bratislava and all my friends said to me why are you getting so agitated because those nationalist noises come from carrierists, idiots or else intrigue-makers. I heard this with pleasure" _63 Among the many who responded, it was Vladimir Minac, a Slovak writer, who best took Vaculfk to task in an article entitled "Our Czecho-Slovak Problem". Rejecting the notion of a "little brother" and examining generally the meaning of Czechoslovakism, Minac added: "Vaculik writes that "it is an honest duty to be a Czechoslovak". However, what you find behind a Czechoslovak is a badly covered pure Czech who in some peculiar way made the land of the Slovaks his own; and if he hasn't done so, then he wants to do so. But a Slovak doesn't want to be a Czechoslovak, he doesn't want to be shoved behind a foreign facade, he wants to be himself, independent and equal. Is that so difficult to understand?" .64 Minac did not propose a solution; he left that to the politicians. The parameters, on the other hand, had been made quite clear. During the twenty-four months that separate the first two free elections in post-Communist Czechoslovakia, Slovak politicians, while pushing for the transformation of the state, made every effort to come to terms with the Czechs. A parallel with the 1968 constitutional discussions comes to mind. There is, however, an important difference this time, namely the absence of a superpower to influ63Ludv0c VaculOc, "Na§e slovenska otazka", Literami noviny, 5/1990, 3 May 1990, reprinted in Nove slovo 21/1990, 24 May 1990. 64 Vladimfr Minac, "Na§a cesko-slovenska otlizka", Nove s/ovo, 21/1990, 24 May 1990 . SLOVAKIA 107 ence, if not determine the outcome. As a result, the Czech parties were able to indicate very clearly that they were unwilling to abandon their historical perception of Czechoslovakia as a Czech state with which the Slovaks were asked to identify and accept. At best, the status quo, in other words the federal law of 1968, was acceptable. As far as most Slovaks were concerned, despite a certain lack of unity , there had to be major constitutional reforms. There were many meetings and many propositions,65 including a number of interventions from President Vaclav Havel, yet no constitutional agreement was reached before the elections of June 1992. As a result, an important percentage of the electorate in each republic cast votes for parties that articulated a parallel message: if the other nation will not accept our terms, then let us make a go of it alone. This paved the way for the Czechs to rid themselves of the "Slovak question" while the Slovaks, many reluctantly, came to the conclusion that they might be better off without a "Czech question". After the Slovak National Council declared the sovereignty of the Slovak nation in July 1992, Prime Ministers Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic and Vladimfr Meciar of the Slovak Republic agreed that Czechoslovakia would be dissolved and two states would come into existence on 1 January 1993; on 25 November 1992, the Federal Parliament passed a law approving the dissolution. Thereafter, until the break up, both sides negotiated the division of federal property and other assets. Did the independence of Slovakia and the creation of a Czech Republic put to rest the "Czech question" in Slovak politics? Two factors suggest that one cannot give a categorical answer. First, public opinion polls preceding the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in the Czech and Slovak Republics suggested that if a referendum had been held at that time on the acceptance of the break-up of Czechoslovakia into two independent national states it would most likely not have won a majority. One may well ask whether this means that 65 These are described in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Czechoslovakia: The Creation, Federalisation and Disolution of a Nation-State", Regional Politics and Policy, III (I), 1993, pp . 69-95. 108 SLOVAKIA the Slovaks, after 68 years in a common state, when shove comes to push, saw living with a "Czech question", however intractable it was, as acceptable and perhaps even preferable to an uncertain future in an independent state? There is probably no simple answer to this question. What is certain, however, is that democratic politicians, unlike Communist ones, who treat public opinion as quantite negligeable do so at their own risk. It is possible that these polls reflected some degree of nostalgia as much as a fear of the future. But then again, they may have reflected the recognition of a second factor , the close relations that the two nations developed over the years. As Zigman indicated when these polls were taken, this factor placed the Slovaks before a choice: "The economic relations [with the Czechs] which were created during the recent period of development will remain and will become a significant element in a future European integration [process]. We [the Slovaks] are at a crossroads and have to decide between a Czecho-Slovak state and Czech-Slovak cooperation. I think that the starting point out of this dilemma is clear" .66 To return to our image of the beginning, after many attempts to find a comfortable place for themselves, the Slovaks found in the end that it was better to leave the room which they shared with the allegorical black panther. But they did so only after first seeking to come to an understanding with it. They also made a choice for a different kind of Czech-Slovak cooperation. Therefore, as they proceed to develop their own state, for the foreseeable future at any rate, the Slovaks will have to pay attention to a "Czech question". It is not clear what, if any, influence it will have on Slovak political life. It will, however, have ceased to be that which had been the main challenge to Slovak politics in the common state, namely an unhyphenated "Czechoslovak question" which they had not been allowed either to define or influence. 66 see note 2.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Czech Question in Slovakia in the Post-War Years Description An account of the resource Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 35 (No. 64-65), 1991-92 pp. 97-108 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-92 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/519648dadecc38cef230b824faf0ad73.pdf eba3066bdd46cab2fc8fde4fea24b341 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 61 A Century and a half of Czech-Slovak Relations A Slovak Perspective STANISLAV J . KIRSCHBAUM In the fall of 1991, when two American and two Canadian academics agreed to participate in a roundtable on Czech-Slovak relations a year later at the annual Conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, none could foresee that the end of an historical period would be at hand. By the time the roundtable took place in Phoenix in November 1992, it was clear that the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks would soon be dissolved; the Federal Parliament of Czechoslovakia passed a law approving the dissolution shortly thereafter. On 1 January 1993, two new states appeared in Central Europe, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A study of Czech-Slovak relations had thus ceased to be an examination of one of the main issues in the common state. It had become a question of the historical record. As long as the Slovaks lived in a common state with the Czechs, Western scholars specializing in Slovak history and Slovak politics fully knew under what handicap they had to labour. Western scholarship tended to favour the Czech perception, as Stanley Z. Pech noted two decades ago: Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to make the West familiar with the entire ethnic panorama of the polyglot region, they have in practice often been selective in the favours they have bestowed on each nation. They have incorporated in their work, in modified form, the outlook and the preju- �62 SLOVAKIA dices of the nations which they "adopted". To give the most conspicuous examples, they viewed Slovak history through Czech eyes and Ukrainian history through Polish (or Russian) eyes. In so doing, they have in fact created a second-class status for certain nations . The history of the Slovaks in the West has usually been presented from the point of view of "Czechoslovakism" and has appeared as hardly more than a postscript to Czech history .1 There is no theme that has enjoyed such a one-sided approach as that of Czech-Slovak relations , in particular in their common state. The following papers do not seek so much to redress the balance as to offer a Slovak perspective on a question that also has a Czech one and that is likely to be debated for some time. They are not exhaustive examinations, rather they are interpretative essays of three important periods, the first on seven decades preceding the creation of the common state in 1918 written by Edita Bosak, the second on the first two decades of Czechoslovakia, which were characterized by a democratic regime, written by Susan Mikula and the third on the post-war decades of communist rule and the three years that preceded the dissolution of the state written by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. In each, the theme is the Slovak definition of and response to what might be termed the "Czech question " in Slovak political life. Carol Skalnik Leff offers a commentary of the three papers . Each text was revised by its author and edited for publication by the writer of this introduction. 1stanley Z. Pech, "New Avenues in East European History", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X (1), 1968, pp. 14-15. � SLOVAKIA 61 A Century and a half of Czech-Slovak Relations A Slovak Perspective STANISLAV J . KIRSCHBAUM In the fall of 1991, when two American and two Canadian academics agreed to participate in a roundtable on Czech-Slovak relations a year later at the annual Conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, none could foresee that the end of an historical period would be at hand. By the time the roundtable took place in Phoenix in November 1992, it was clear that the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks would soon be dissolved; the Federal Parliament of Czechoslovakia passed a law approving the dissolution shortly thereafter. On 1 January 1993, two new states appeared in Central Europe, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A study of Czech-Slovak relations had thus ceased to be an examination of one of the main issues in the common state. It had become a question of the historical record. As long as the Slovaks lived in a common state with the Czechs, Western scholars specializing in Slovak history and Slovak politics fully knew under what handicap they had to labour. Western scholarship tended to favour the Czech perception, as Stanley Z. Pech noted two decades ago: Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to make the West familiar with the entire ethnic panorama of the polyglot region, they have in practice often been selective in the favours they have bestowed on each nation. They have incorporated in their work, in modified form, the outlook and the preju- �62 SLOVAKIA dices of the nations which they "adopted". To give the most conspicuous examples, they viewed Slovak history through Czech eyes and Ukrainian history through Polish (or Russian) eyes. In so doing, they have in fact created a second-class status for certain nations . The history of the Slovaks in the West has usually been presented from the point of view of "Czechoslovakism" and has appeared as hardly more than a postscript to Czech history .1 There is no theme that has enjoyed such a one-sided approach as that of Czech-Slovak relations , in particular in their common state. The following papers do not seek so much to redress the balance as to offer a Slovak perspective on a question that also has a Czech one and that is likely to be debated for some time. They are not exhaustive examinations, rather they are interpretative essays of three important periods, the first on seven decades preceding the creation of the common state in 1918 written by Edita Bosak, the second on the first two decades of Czechoslovakia, which were characterized by a democratic regime, written by Susan Mikula and the third on the post-war decades of communist rule and the three years that preceded the dissolution of the state written by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. In each, the theme is the Slovak definition of and response to what might be termed the "Czech question " in Slovak political life. Carol Skalnik Leff offers a commentary of the three papers . Each text was revised by its author and edited for publication by the writer of this introduction. 1stanley Z. Pech, "New Avenues in East European History", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X (1), 1968, pp. 14-15. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1991-92, Vol. 35 Description An account of the resource Vol. 35 (No. 64-65), 1991-92. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Slovak League of America Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available 1991-92 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 A Century and a half of Czech-Slovak Relations A Slovak Perspective STANISLAV J . KIRSCHBAUM In the fall of 1991, when two American and two Canadian academics agreed to participate in a roundtable on Czech-Slovak relations a year later at the annual Conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, none could foresee that the end of an historical period would be at hand. By the time the roundtable took place in Phoenix in November 1992, it was clear that the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks would soon be dissolved; the Federal Parliament of Czechoslovakia passed a law approving the dissolution shortly thereafter. On 1 January 1993, two new states appeared in Central Europe, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A study of Czech-Slovak relations had thus ceased to be an examination of one of the main issues in the common state. It had become a question of the historical record. As long as the Slovaks lived in a common state with the Czechs, Western scholars specializing in Slovak history and Slovak politics fully knew under what handicap they had to labour. Western scholarship tended to favour the Czech perception, as Stanley Z. Pech noted two decades ago: Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to make the West familiar with the entire ethnic panorama of the polyglot region, they have in practice often been selective in the favours they have bestowed on each nation. They have incorporated in their work, in modified form, the outlook and the preju- 62 SLOVAKIA dices of the nations which they "adopted". To give the most conspicuous examples, they viewed Slovak history through Czech eyes and Ukrainian history through Polish (or Russian) eyes. In so doing, they have in fact created a second-class status for certain nations . The history of the Slovaks in the West has usually been presented from the point of view of "Czechoslovakism" and has appeared as hardly more than a postscript to Czech history .1 There is no theme that has enjoyed such a one-sided approach as that of Czech-Slovak relations , in particular in their common state. The following papers do not seek so much to redress the balance as to offer a Slovak perspective on a question that also has a Czech one and that is likely to be debated for some time. They are not exhaustive examinations, rather they are interpretative essays of three important periods, the first on seven decades preceding the creation of the common state in 1918 written by Edita Bosak, the second on the first two decades of Czechoslovakia, which were characterized by a democratic regime, written by Susan Mikula and the third on the post-war decades of communist rule and the three years that preceded the dissolution of the state written by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. In each, the theme is the Slovak definition of and response to what might be termed the "Czech question " in Slovak political life. Carol Skalnik Leff offers a commentary of the three papers . Each text was revised by its author and edited for publication by the writer of this introduction. 1stanley Z. Pech, "New Avenues in East European History", Canadian Slavonic Papers, X (1), 1968, pp. 14-15.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Century and a half of Czech-Slovak Relations: A Slovak Perspective Description An account of the resource Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 35 (No. 64-65), 1991-92 pp. 61-62 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-92 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/04d889eb437b60c6ff07a9e7ed381a70.pdf b0af527f0b6ff4be550df0241e33abc7 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 81 The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Documents Stanislav J. Kirschbaum In the two centuries since the beginning of the French Revolution and the fall of Communism in Central Europe, Slovak political life has centered around the attainment of three political objectives: autonomy, federation, and independence. The first two are linked to the question of the relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks in a common state while the third reflects the teleological objectives of the principle of selfdetermination whose origins go back to the French Revolution but whose implementation was proposed only on the morrow of the First World War. It was to implement this principle that Central Europe was reorganized from the break-up of the Habsburg, Hohenzollern, Ottoman, and Romanov empires. Each one of these objectives was preceded by a series of declarations, memoranda, resolutions, pacts, and agreements that paved the way for their implementation. It is a singularity of Slovak history that there are very few such documents in this two-centuries span; Jorg K. Hoensch presents 57 that are linked to the objective of autonomy,' Karol Rebro puts together 27 that he L See Jorg K. Hoensch, Hrsg. Dokumente zur A utonomiepolitik der Slowakischen Vo/kspartei Hlinkas. Miinchen: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1984, pp. 71-257 . Hoen sch also includes three additional documents that deal with �82 SLOVAKIA associates with the drive to federalization,2 while Jaroslav Chovanec and Peter Mozolfk offer 32 documents that deal with or are connected to independence. 3 The difference in the numbers is explained by the fact that many of the documents that were chosen are specific to the objective sought; nevertheless, there are two that appear in all three volumes: the Cleveland Agreement and the Pittsburgh Pact. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate their importance in the attainment of Slovak political objectives in the twentieth century. It is their link to the three objectives that explains their interest. Still, one Slovak historian, Anton Spiesz, 4 and one Western scholar, Hoensch,5 have seen fit not to mention either; in all other works, they find their place in the history of the nation. Both documents share four principal characteristics. First, they embody the essence of Slovak political activity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, namely the attainment of selfdetermination; second, both seek the same objective: the creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks at the end of the Great War; third, they are laconic texts, in some respects even imprecise in their content; and fourth, they are linked to Slovaks living not in Slovakia, but in the United States. It is the differences between them, the reasons for these differences, and 2 independence, thus bringing the total to 60 documents. Karol Rebro, The Road to Federation. Bratislava: Tatrapress, 1970, pp. 64-130. It should be noted that Rebro includes also the text of the Treaty of Protection of 1939 between Slovakia and Germany, thus bringing the total to 28 . 1 Jaroslav Chovanec a Peter Mozolik, Historicke a statopnivne korene samostatnosti Slovenskej republiky. Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Procom, 1994, pp. 67-216. The two authors include six additional documents that pertain to Slovak history prior to the nineteenth century. •- Anton Spiesz, Dejiny Slo venska. Na ceste k sebauvedomeniu. Brati slava : Yydavatefstvo Respekt, I 992. 1 Jorg K. Hoensch, Geschichte der Tschechoslowakischen Republik 1918 bis 1965. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Verlag, 1966. �SLOVAKIA 83 the impact that they had that make them so interesting and that have also made them the object not only of political but also scholarly controversy. Until the international context of a world war offered the Slovaks the possibility of leaving Austria-Hungary, the main Slovak objective, shared by American Slovaks, was the attainment of a form of self-determination through self-administration. From the time of the French Revolution, three proposals embodied this objective. The first is Ignac Martinovic's democratic constitution, which he worked out at the time of the French Revolution, and which included the nationality principle; its application would have turned Slovakia into an independent administrative unit called Slavonica. As Slovak Marxist historians write: "It is in fact the first proposal to include Slovakia as an independent national administrative unit within the framework of Hungary. 116 The second is the Ziadosti slovenskeho naroda (The Demands of the Slovak Nation), worked out in May 1848; the Slovak nation demanded the recognition and guarantee of national identity; the transformation of Hungary into a state composed of equal nations, each with its own parliament and equal representation in the Hungarian Diet; and the use of Slovak in all Slovak county offices. In addition, it insisted on democratic rights, including universal and equal suffrage, the total abolition of serfdom, and the return of the land to the peasants from whom it had been taken away. 7 The third is the Memorandum slovenskeho naroda (Memorandum of the Slovak Nation) adopted in Turciansky Svaty Martin in June 1861; it sought equal rights with the Magyars, the recognition of their national individuality by law, the formation of a North Hungarian Slovak ~ Dejiny S/ovenska II. Bratislava: Veda, Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej akademie vied, I 987, p. 48 I. 1 • For the text in English, see Rebro, pp. 64-67, in Slovak, Chovanec and Mozolfk, pp. 74-77, and in German, Hoensch, pp. 71 -74. �84 SLOVAKIA District (Okolie in Slovak), Slovak as the official language of adminstration of this district, a Slovak Academy of Law and a chair of Slavonic studies in Pest, and the repeal of all Hungarian laws that infringed on the principles of the equality of the nationalities. 8 In the words of Slovak historians, the memorandum "became the basic Slovak constitutional programme even if it was not worked out in detail and contained merely basic principles about a certain Slovak autonomy within the framework of Hungary." 9 American Slovaks were familiar with Slovak objectives in Hungary, since most were immigrants to the United States, forced out by Budapest's policy of Magyarization and Hungary's slow economic development. Their main organization, the Slovak League of America, prepared a memorandum in May 1914 on the occasion of an earlier visit by Hungarian Count Mihaly Karolyi in the United States. The memorandum reiterated the demands of the 1861 Memorandum, thus in effect seeking a solution in Austria-Hungary. But it became the object of some controversy 10 as it underwent certain changes before it was · published in its final version on 2 September 1914 as the Memorandum o krivdach a JX)iiadavkach slovenskfch (Memorandum on Slovak Injustices and Demands). 11 No specific conFor the text in English, see Rebro, pp. 73-76, in Slovak, Chovanec and Mozolik, pp. 81-89, and in German, Hoensch, pp. 92-99. 9 • R. Marsina et. al., Slovenske dejiny. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1992, p. 173. n This is described in Konstantfn Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda . Bratislava: Knfhtlaciarell Andreja uc. spol., 1937, pp. 20-32. 11 • The original and modified versions are found in ibid., pp. 42-52. According to Ivan Markovic: "It was a political error and an indication of insufficient political foresight on the part of the Slovak League to publish this memorandum." See Ivan Markovic, Slovaci v zahranicnej revolucii. Bratislava: no publisher, no date; lecture given on 16 April 1923, p. 13. As for its publication date, Milan Getting writes that it was published on 24 September. See Milan Getting, Americkf Slovaci a vjvin ceskoslovenskej myslienky v rokoch 1914-1918. Pittsburgh: Slovenska Telocvicna Jednota & �SLOVAKIA 85 stitutional solution was put forth for Slovakia, but there was a demand for full self-administration and self-determination. In the discussions around this document the idea of Czecho-Slovak unity had also been mentioned. 12 This document opened the way for Slovak American organizations thereafter to examine a number of options that would be the object of debate for some time: 13 Slovakia in a federated Slavic state in Austria-Hungary; a Slovak-Polish union ; a Slovak-Russian union ; autonomy in a reorganized Hungary; and the creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. 14 Clearly, the objective had been redefined and had become one of national emancipation. The Cleveland Agreement _ With the outbreak of war, American Slovaks opted for cooperation with the Czechs in their struggle for national emancipation. But their approaches differed. The latter directed their efforts at the creation of a Czech state. However, according to Chovanec and Mozolfk, "the representatives of the Slovak organizations in the United States fought against the attempts of their Czech partners to attach the Slovaks as a sort of appendage to the basic Czech anti-Habsburg programme." 15 The Slovaks were seeking a solution that was in the spirit of previous Slovak demands and that would ensure national development. After months of discussions, 16 an attempt was made to create a common front and a meeting was organized in Cleveland on 22 Sokol v Amerike, 1933, p. 40. Ibid., p. 40. 13. See Markovit, p. 13. 14 • Some of these options are examined in Stanislav Matou~ek, Vznik a vfvoj spolecneho statu Cechu a Slovakii . Praha: Academia, 1980, pp. 57-60. u. Chovanec a Mozolfk, p. 19. "' For more on these discussions, see Marian Mark Stolarik, "The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of Czecho-Slovakia, 1914-19 I 8," Slovak Studies, VIII ( 1968), pp. 23-26. ll �86 SLOVAKIA October 1915 between representatives of Czech and Slovak American organizations. Cubomfr Liptak writes that "[t]he decision of American Slovaks to support the struggle for the creation of a common state with the Czechs - and its worth is found here - was taken after long and often bitter discussions in which the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution were weighed, including the possibilities and limits of Slovak activity." 17 The Czechs proposed a text that was only slightly modified by the Slovaks present. It has since become known as the Cleveland Agreement. Short and imprecise as it is, this text is, perhaps because of these characteristics, the object of some controversy. Composed of five points, its only two concrete proposals are found in points one and three on the independence of the Czech Lands and Slovakia and secret universal suffrage. It is the second point that has historians trying to figure out what the authors had in mind when they proposed "a union of the Czech and Slovak nations in a federative union of states with complete national autonomy for Slovakia, with its own parliament, its own state administration, complete cultural freedom, that is to say with the full right to use the Slovak language, its own financial and political administration, and an official Slovak state language." 18 Was this a federal proposal, if so, what kind, and if not, what was it, given its language? There are two schools of thought on this question. One rejects outright the affirmation that this was federal solution for a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. Stanislav Matousek suggests that what was proposed was a union within a federalized monarchy. He bases his argument not only on the phrase 11 • 1& Cubomir Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci. Bratislava: Vydavatet'stvo politickej literatury, 1968, p. 64. Rebro, p. 80. Stol~rik, on the other hand, translates "vo federatfvnom zviizku ~t~tov" as "in a federal state." StolMik, p. 55. �SLOVAKIA 87 "in a federative union of states" ( vo federativnom sviizku stitov), but also on the reference to Slovakia's autonomy. According to him, such a reference would not have been necessary if a federation between the Czechs and Slovaks had been envisaged; it would have been assumed for both nations. He also suggests that the authors based their understanding of federalism on their American experience. 19 The latter is also the view of some Slovak historians.'.!) Finally, to strengthen this approach, Viliam Plevza shows that reactions in the months that followed support this interpretation? Others, on the other hand, recognize the document as proposing a federal arrangement between the two nations. Rebro writes that "[t]he Cleveland Agreement represents a clear federative model of two equal nations on the basis of partnership." 22 Josef Kalvoda understands the text to mean that "[b]oth the Czechs and Slovaks were to have autonomy in the federative state to be established after the war."n Konstantin Culen indicates that the agreement "announced the federalization of the future republic". 24 Ivan Markovic and Marian Mark Stolarik perceive it as expressing a federal solution for two nationally autonomous entities. 75 Not surprisingly, some historians pass no judgment and limit themselves simply to quoting or using directly the text of the agreement. 26 Such use of the text is 19 • Matousek, pp. 61-62. n Marsina et al., p. 197. 21 • Viliam Plevza, Ceskos/ovenska statnosf a sl ovenska otazka v politike KSC. Bratislava: Praca, 1971 , pp. 49-50. n Rebro, p. 22. 21. Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs, 1986, p. 70. ll Culen, p. 81 . 21 Markovit, p. 25; Stolarik, p. 26. li Among those who pass no judgment are Chovanec and Mozolik, p. 19, Liptak, p. 63, Franti~ek Bokes, Dejiny S/ovenska a Slovakov od najstarsfch cias po os/obodenie. Bratislava: Slovenska akademia vied a umen1, 1946, p. 350 and �88 SLOVAKIA interpreted by at least one author as a tacit acknowledgement of this interpretation.Zl Of the two, the second interpretation seems more acceptable than the first for a number of reasons. First of all, the language of the agreement suggests that its authors were not experts in political and constitutional terminology; otherwise the language would have been precise. This allows us to infer that a federation of the two nations was the objective as this was the reason for the meeting: to decide on the framework of an arrangement between them. Those who make the claim that the authors were influenced by American federalism project their own expertise and historical experience on men of a generation that had recently emigrated to the United States and whose education was not likely to have included constitutional law and political science or specialized knowledge of the American constitution. Secondly, the reference to Slovak autonomy must be seen as understandable given the Slovak political struggle in Hungary and the demands made in the documents of 1848 and 1861. For most Slovaks, this was their main point of reference in the national struggle. It is unlikely that the document would have obtained the support from American Slovaks that it did obtain had it not included a specific reference to autonomy.28 Thirdly, subsequent events indicate that American Slovaks understood that their nation would enter into a common state with the Czechs in a federal arrangement. Dusan Kovac\ Slovaci - Cesi - Dejiny. Bratislava: Academic Electronic Press, 1997, p. 65. n. Plevza considers Liptak as belonging to those who accept the federal interpretation. See Plevza, p. 49n. 2& It is interesting to note that Albert Mamatey, President of the Slovak League in America, who would be present when the agreement was signed the next day, wrote on 21 October 1915 in Narodne noviny that the League "is for [Slovak] independence regardless of the greater state organization in which we find ourselves." Quoted in Getting, p. 63. �SLOVAKIA 89 The agreement was generally well received, but Slovak Marxist historians also note that "[i]n France, the periodical Ceskoslovenska samostatnosf, as the "organ of political emigration" presented the Cleveland agreement in the spirit of Czechoslovakism - as the attainment of Czechoslovak national unity. This point of view resulted in protests because American Slovaks had begun to support all of the activities of the external struggle on the principle of two equal nations as outlined in the Cleveland agreement. "29 Slovak Americans were not unaware of Czech objectives, and in particular the role that Czechoslovak unity was playing in these objectives. They knew that they had to counter this. In addition, Frantisek Bokes writes that the agreement "did not eliminate distrust and the possibility of misunderstanding between Czechs and Slovaks. "D This uncertainty resulted in the Slovak League of America sending in April 1916 two representatives to Europe, Stefan Osusky and Gustav Kosfk, "to meet Professor [T.G.] Masaryk and to explain the Slovak program to the British and French foreign ministries."31 Nevertheless, as Culen writes: "from this meeting [in Cleveland] on, Czechs and Slovaks begin to appear together throughout the United States. "32 Such behaviour again strongly points to a Slovak understanding of what the agreement meant to them and also their determination to achieve their objective, a federation of the two nations. However, it must aso be pointed out that some American Slovaks saw the agreement as having brought forth "Czechoslovak unity" 33 . Equally interesting is that fact that 29 • Dejiny S/ovenska JI, p. 429. Italics added. Bokes, p. 35 I. 3 1. Kalvoda, p. 83. For an analysis of the Osusky-Ko§ik mission to Europe, see Stolarik, pp. 28-30. See also the interview with Osusky in ibid., pp. 59-61. :u Culen, p. 83. n Getting, p. 66. :n �90 SLOVAKIA Masaryk, despite his later behaviour, is said to have approved of it.34 The Pittsburgh Pact A series of developments soon made it clear that the Cleveland Agreement would have to be revisited, if not revised. In the first place, there was vigorous debate on the question of Czechoslovak unity and the nature of the future state in Slovak publications in the United States and abroad throughout 1916 and 1917. 35 Furthermore, according to Stolarik, in 1916 American Slovaks had "split into Slovak and Czechoslovak camps. "36 Secondly, there was the evolution of the Czech agenda and its transformation into a Czechoslovak one. 37 The creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks had to be seen as embodying the principle of self-determination, as inferred from President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points38 and, above all, had to be sold to the Allied Powers. The second development put American Slovaks in a very difficult position; while they did not want to give up their objective, they needed Czech support to achieve it and they also had to ensure that their mutual project of a common state did not fail because of their demands or because of serious disputes with Ibid., p. 84. Rebro also writes that Masaryk "tried to find comprise formulations that would not contradict his own conceptions. But he could not simply refuse the terms of the Cleveland agreement because they were supported by the moral, financial and first of all voluntary help of the Slovaks abroad." Rebro, pp. 24-25. 35. Getting, pp. 85-86. 36. Stolarik, p. 22. n. For more on this see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, A History of Slovakia. The Struggle for Survival. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995, pp. 144-152. 31!. On the question of the role of the principle of self-determination in the Fourteen Points, see Dov Ronen, The Challenge of Ethnic Conflict, Democracy and Self-Determination in Central Europe. London: Frank Cass, 1997, pp. 48-53 . 34. �SLOVAKIA 91 the Czechs. For Masaryk, the best solution to this dilemma was Czechoslovakism, that is to say the fusion of the Czechs and Slovaks into one nation. This was a concept that not only had historical roots (it was first proposed in 1848), but that could easily be proposed within the framework of the principle of selfdetermination. In addition, as the English historian A.J.P. Taylor wrote, "Masaryk knew little of the Slovaks; others knew even less. That was his strength in dealing with the allied leaders. "39 What Masaryk also had to do was to overcome the suspicions and disagreements that had arisen between Czechs and Slovaks in the United States and bring the latter to accept the necessity for a common front that would persuade the Allied Powers to create the new state.'° He achieved this with the document called the Pittsburgh Pact (also called the Pittsburgh Agreement) which he himself signed on two occasions, the hand-written copy on 31 May 1918, and the calligraphic copy on 14 November, the day he was elected president of Czecho-Slovakia in Prague by the Revolutionary National Assembly. The Pittsburgh document is composed of six resolutions approved by the representatives of the Slovak League of America, the Czech National Alliance, the Federation of Czech Catholics, and the Czecho-Slovak National Council in the person of Masaryk himself. Of importance to Slovakia is the acknowledgement of its own institutions, namely a state administration, a parliament, and a judiciary and the status of the Slovak language as the official language in the schools, in the public offices and in public life generally. In addition to approving a union of the two nations in an independent state, the document specifies that the state shall be a republic and that its constitution shall be 39 • CJ. A.J.P. Taylor, The Habsburg Monarchy 1809-1918. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 1967, p. 258. Stolarik also points out that "[t]he attitude of American Slovaks towards the Czechs changed radically in 1917." Stolarik, p. 32. �92 SLOVAKIA democratic. There is reference to "the organization of the cooperation between Czechs and Slovaks," but the most important point refers to the relegation of the "detailed provisions" to the "liberated Czechs and Slovaks and to their duly accredited representatives. 1141 The most important difference between the Cleveland and Pittsburgh texts is found in the political objectives each proposes; there was a shift from a federal solution to the autonomy of Slovakia. The Pittsburgh document not only leaves out any direct reference to the type of arrangement there would be between the Czechs and Slovaks as the Cleveland Agreement had done, but it also gives the responsibility of finding an arrangement to the "liberated Czechs and Slovaks and to their duly accredited representatives." Simply put, the agreement avoids the issue of the future constitutional make-up of the common state. It should also be noted that there is no direct use of the term autonomy; while this is clearly evident in the enumeration of the powers Slovakia would exercise, its non-mention is not without significance. It is linked directly to the avoidance of defining the future constitutional set-up of Czecho-Slovakia. Why did Masaryk, the author of the Pittsburgh Pact, propose such a text and why did the American Slovaks accept it? Aware of the differences of opinion there existed between the Czechs and Slovaks in the United States, Masaryk came to the United States in order to find a common ground and eliminate any argument that might put his cause in doubt. 42 In addition, as a •1. ~ Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia . Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York, Robert A Speller & Sons Publisher, Inc., 1960, p. 326. Stolarik, translates "pravoplatnym predstavitefom" as "legal representatives" which is more correct. Stolarik, p. 56. Catholic American Slovaks, under the leadership of Jozef Hu~k. editor of Jednota , the publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest single Slovak organization in the United States, were distrustful of Masaryk. For more on Hu~ek's role, especially with regards to the Pittsburgh document, see �SLOVAKIA 93 Slovak historian writes: "The need for legitimacy brought forth the Pittsburgh Pact. When Masaryk left for the United States at the end of April 1918, he went there with the clear objective of trying to overcome the President Wilson's mistrust of the plan to destroy Austria-Hungary. One of the arguments had to be a newly documented unity of the objectives of the Czech and Slovak citizens of the United States. "43 But Masaryk had a second, less evident objective: the acceptance of a document that would not put anything in his way in the achievement of the policy of Czechoslovakism. The Pittsburgh text, unlike the Cleveland one, made this possible, as Marxist historians point out: "Masaryk formulated the union of the Czechs and Slovaks in one state on the basis of equality but side-stepped the original -demand on the Slovak side, that is to say a federal constitutional organization linked to the recognition of two independent nations - the Czechs and the Slovaks. "44 The result was that "he changed the aim of the resistance movement abroad [by] leaving out the sentences about the federal structure of the Czechoslovak Republic."45 American Slovaks accepted Masaryk's text for two reasons: first they accepted his argument about the need for a document that he could show President Wilson that would convince the American president and the American public of Czech and Slovak American support for his objectives. The search for such support from the American people was made even more forcefully with the Washington Declaration of October 1918 which addressed the link between democracy and the new state: "Another document that was meant to mobilize the American public in favour of the Czecho-Slovak cause was the declaration StolArik, pp. 47-50. Koviic, p. 66 . .._ Dejiny, p. 464. -0. 4.i. Rebro, p. 25. �94 SLOVAKIA of sovereignty known as the Washington Declaration. Both documents [the Pittsburgh Pact and the Washington Declaration] fulfilled their objectives. "46 The second reason is linked to the person of Masaryk himself. He was the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, the leader of the resistance movement who was received by the heads of state and government of the Allied Powers; American Slovaks had reason to trust him. In addition, the text of the Pittsburgh document did not suggest the absence of equality between the Czechs and Slovaks. Little did they suspect that he had very definite ideas about their nation which he had expressed as early as 1915 in a memorandum to the Foreign Office: "The Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their using their dialect as their literary language. The Slovaks strive also for independence and accept the programme of union with Bohemia. "47 In addition, Masaryk also reflected an attitude toward the Slovaks that was prevalent among the Czechs: "at that time, no one among the Czechs understood the Slovak_ problem in its full importance and implication nor thought about the constitutional position of Slovakia in a Czecho-Slovak state, about the way of respecting Slovak individuality in a unitary state, not to say anything of a federation. Concrete approaches did not correspond to the sentimental-patriarchal feelings of the Czech public. "48 There was no Slovak leader, at home or abroad, who could counter Masaryk's influence and articulate properly and forcefully Slovak demands. Milan R. Stefanik was the most influential Slovak, but he was ill placed to represent the Slovaks. 46 Kovlit, p. 66. For more on the Washington Declaration, see J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918. Praha: Melantrich, 1968 . ~- Quoted in R. W. Seton-Watson, Masaryk in England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1943, p. 125. In the United States, Hu~k was one American Slovak who was suspicious of Masaryk's motives. See Stollirik, p. 47. • Chovanec a Mozolik, p. 20. �SLOVAKIA 95 As Jaroslav Sole writes about him: "The first Slovak in the struggle against the Habsburgs was a Czechoslovak -this was not only a definite paradox from the Slovak point of view, but also one of the formative conditions of the Czech approach!. "49 Masaryk had come to Pittsburgh to tell the Slovaks that he needed their support to achieve an aim that was also theirs, national emancipation. The Pittsburgh Pact, as had the Cleveland Agreement, helped to attain this objective; but that was all. There was nothing else as far as he was concerned, as later events would show. Much ink has flowed about the Pittsburgh Pact, especially about its binding character.:xi Two days before Masaryk signed the calligraphic copy, on 12 November 1918, the Revolutionary National Assembly in Prague had ratified all of the commitments that he had made during the war. Despite this ratification, the literature stresses the non-binding character of the Pittsburgh document based on one of its paragraphs. As Seton-Watson writes: "the final clause made the whole arrangement contingent upon its endorsement by constitutionally elected representatives of both Czechs and Slovaks at home after the war. "51 It was such a legal-constitutional argument that justified not only the Czechoslovak government's refusal to honour the clauses of the Pittsburgh document but also Masaryk's own repudiation of it as "a local understanding between American Czechs and Slovaks upon the policy they were prepared to advocate." 52 There was 111 - Jaroslav Sole, Slovensko v ceskej politike. Banska Bystrica: M.O. Enterprise, 1993, p. 43 . n Vavro Srobar went so far as to claim that the Czechoslovak Republic gave the Slovaks rights that went beyond the autonomy provisions of the Pittsburgh Pact. See Plevza, p. 75. 5 '- R.W. Seton-Watson, A History of Czechs and Slovaks. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1965, p. 306. 52 Thomas G. Masaryk, The Making of a State. Memories and Observations /914-1918, An English version, arranged and prepared with an introduction �96 SLOVAKIA also a political reason according to Stolarik: "Masaryk rejected the Pittsburgh Agreement partly because all Slovaks did not support it. "53 Whatever the legal justifications, it was an error on the part of Masaryk to ignore the Pittsburgh Pact's political ramification and importance. Masaryk was not unaware of the meaning of both documents, and not just for the Slovaks in the United States. As Seton-Watson wrote shortly after the creation of Czecho-Slovakia: if the Pittsburgh document was in no sense a treaty, it may fairly be taken as representing the mental attitude and political aspiration of most Czechs and Slovaks in America and (what is more important) of the chief shaper of Czechoslovak policy at the supreme crisis in 1918. To this extent it has, not a legal, but a moral, value. Moreover it may safely be claimed that in the first days of the new Republic it coincided with the general feeling in the "historic lands", that the Slovaks were fully entitled to make their own terms of union. The course of events, however, inevitably gave a different tum to the question. 54 The failure to honour it, indeed the failure of the Czechoslovak government to heed the demands of the Slovak People's Party during the two decades of interwar Czechoslovakia to implement it, 55 was, in the end, paid at the price of the First Czechoslovak Republic. by Henry Wickham Steed. New York: Frederick A Stokes Co., 1927, p. 220 . Masaryk also wrote a letter to Andrej Hlinka declaring the pact a "falsum ;" the text of the letter is found in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 238-240. n Stolarik, p. 54. Italics in the original. " R.W. Seton-Watson, The New Slovakia . Prague: Fr. Borovy, 1924, p. 21. 51 This is examined in detail in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, pp. I 55- I 83. �SLOVAKIA 97 Conclusion Both documents represent important milestones in the history of the Slovak search for self-determination in the twentieth century. Their chronology is important in this respect. The Pittsburgh Pact does indicate a retreat in political objectives when compared to those proposed in the Cleveland Agreement. But it also represents a willingness on the part of the Slovaks to accept autonomy if historical and international conditions made only that option possible; what was important was to have an opportunity to leave Hungary and proceed with national development. If the Cleveland Agreement was repudiated, it also served notice of an alternative. The drive to federalization in 1968 came as a result of the experience with autonomy, from the failure to implement it in 1918- I938 to the experience of its implementation in 1938-1939 and 1945-1968. Slovak independence in 1993 was achieved as a result of the experience with the federal system since 1968. Ultimately, both documents succumbed to the Czech agenda in Czechoslovakia and its failure to accommodate properly and adequately their objectives, thus making Slovak independence the only option left. Put another way: If neither document was acceptable, then neither was what they had in common, a state of the Czechs and Slovaks. In this sense, these two documents were also precursors of Slovak independence. � SLOVAKIA 81 The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Documents Stanislav J. Kirschbaum In the two centuries since the beginning of the French Revolution and the fall of Communism in Central Europe, Slovak political life has centered around the attainment of three political objectives: autonomy, federation, and independence. The first two are linked to the question of the relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks in a common state while the third reflects the teleological objectives of the principle of selfdetermination whose origins go back to the French Revolution but whose implementation was proposed only on the morrow of the First World War. It was to implement this principle that Central Europe was reorganized from the break-up of the Habsburg, Hohenzollern, Ottoman, and Romanov empires. Each one of these objectives was preceded by a series of declarations, memoranda, resolutions, pacts, and agreements that paved the way for their implementation. It is a singularity of Slovak history that there are very few such documents in this two-centuries span; Jorg K. Hoensch presents 57 that are linked to the objective of autonomy,' Karol Rebro puts together 27 that he L See Jorg K. Hoensch, Hrsg. Dokumente zur A utonomiepolitik der Slowakischen Vo/kspartei Hlinkas. Miinchen: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1984, pp. 71-257 . Hoen sch also includes three additional documents that deal with �82 SLOVAKIA associates with the drive to federalization,2 while Jaroslav Chovanec and Peter Mozolfk offer 32 documents that deal with or are connected to independence. 3 The difference in the numbers is explained by the fact that many of the documents that were chosen are specific to the objective sought; nevertheless, there are two that appear in all three volumes: the Cleveland Agreement and the Pittsburgh Pact. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate their importance in the attainment of Slovak political objectives in the twentieth century. It is their link to the three objectives that explains their interest. Still, one Slovak historian, Anton Spiesz, 4 and one Western scholar, Hoensch,5 have seen fit not to mention either; in all other works, they find their place in the history of the nation. Both documents share four principal characteristics. First, they embody the essence of Slovak political activity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, namely the attainment of selfdetermination; second, both seek the same objective: the creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks at the end of the Great War; third, they are laconic texts, in some respects even imprecise in their content; and fourth, they are linked to Slovaks living not in Slovakia, but in the United States. It is the differences between them, the reasons for these differences, and 2 independence, thus bringing the total to 60 documents. Karol Rebro, The Road to Federation. Bratislava: Tatrapress, 1970, pp. 64-130. It should be noted that Rebro includes also the text of the Treaty of Protection of 1939 between Slovakia and Germany, thus bringing the total to 28 . 1 Jaroslav Chovanec a Peter Mozolik, Historicke a statopnivne korene samostatnosti Slovenskej republiky. Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Procom, 1994, pp. 67-216. The two authors include six additional documents that pertain to Slovak history prior to the nineteenth century. •- Anton Spiesz, Dejiny Slo venska. Na ceste k sebauvedomeniu. Brati slava : Yydavatefstvo Respekt, I 992. 1 Jorg K. Hoensch, Geschichte der Tschechoslowakischen Republik 1918 bis 1965. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Verlag, 1966. �SLOVAKIA 83 the impact that they had that make them so interesting and that have also made them the object not only of political but also scholarly controversy. Until the international context of a world war offered the Slovaks the possibility of leaving Austria-Hungary, the main Slovak objective, shared by American Slovaks, was the attainment of a form of self-determination through self-administration. From the time of the French Revolution, three proposals embodied this objective. The first is Ignac Martinovic's democratic constitution, which he worked out at the time of the French Revolution, and which included the nationality principle; its application would have turned Slovakia into an independent administrative unit called Slavonica. As Slovak Marxist historians write: "It is in fact the first proposal to include Slovakia as an independent national administrative unit within the framework of Hungary. 116 The second is the Ziadosti slovenskeho naroda (The Demands of the Slovak Nation), worked out in May 1848; the Slovak nation demanded the recognition and guarantee of national identity; the transformation of Hungary into a state composed of equal nations, each with its own parliament and equal representation in the Hungarian Diet; and the use of Slovak in all Slovak county offices. In addition, it insisted on democratic rights, including universal and equal suffrage, the total abolition of serfdom, and the return of the land to the peasants from whom it had been taken away. 7 The third is the Memorandum slovenskeho naroda (Memorandum of the Slovak Nation) adopted in Turciansky Svaty Martin in June 1861; it sought equal rights with the Magyars, the recognition of their national individuality by law, the formation of a North Hungarian Slovak ~ Dejiny S/ovenska II. Bratislava: Veda, Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej akademie vied, I 987, p. 48 I. 1 • For the text in English, see Rebro, pp. 64-67, in Slovak, Chovanec and Mozolfk, pp. 74-77, and in German, Hoensch, pp. 71 -74. �84 SLOVAKIA District (Okolie in Slovak), Slovak as the official language of adminstration of this district, a Slovak Academy of Law and a chair of Slavonic studies in Pest, and the repeal of all Hungarian laws that infringed on the principles of the equality of the nationalities. 8 In the words of Slovak historians, the memorandum "became the basic Slovak constitutional programme even if it was not worked out in detail and contained merely basic principles about a certain Slovak autonomy within the framework of Hungary." 9 American Slovaks were familiar with Slovak objectives in Hungary, since most were immigrants to the United States, forced out by Budapest's policy of Magyarization and Hungary's slow economic development. Their main organization, the Slovak League of America, prepared a memorandum in May 1914 on the occasion of an earlier visit by Hungarian Count Mihaly Karolyi in the United States. The memorandum reiterated the demands of the 1861 Memorandum, thus in effect seeking a solution in Austria-Hungary. But it became the object of some controversy 10 as it underwent certain changes before it was · published in its final version on 2 September 1914 as the Memorandum o krivdach a JX)iiadavkach slovenskfch (Memorandum on Slovak Injustices and Demands). 11 No specific conFor the text in English, see Rebro, pp. 73-76, in Slovak, Chovanec and Mozolik, pp. 81-89, and in German, Hoensch, pp. 92-99. 9 • R. Marsina et. al., Slovenske dejiny. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1992, p. 173. n This is described in Konstantfn Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda . Bratislava: Knfhtlaciarell Andreja uc. spol., 1937, pp. 20-32. 11 • The original and modified versions are found in ibid., pp. 42-52. According to Ivan Markovic: "It was a political error and an indication of insufficient political foresight on the part of the Slovak League to publish this memorandum." See Ivan Markovic, Slovaci v zahranicnej revolucii. Bratislava: no publisher, no date; lecture given on 16 April 1923, p. 13. As for its publication date, Milan Getting writes that it was published on 24 September. See Milan Getting, Americkf Slovaci a vjvin ceskoslovenskej myslienky v rokoch 1914-1918. Pittsburgh: Slovenska Telocvicna Jednota & �SLOVAKIA 85 stitutional solution was put forth for Slovakia, but there was a demand for full self-administration and self-determination. In the discussions around this document the idea of Czecho-Slovak unity had also been mentioned. 12 This document opened the way for Slovak American organizations thereafter to examine a number of options that would be the object of debate for some time: 13 Slovakia in a federated Slavic state in Austria-Hungary; a Slovak-Polish union ; a Slovak-Russian union ; autonomy in a reorganized Hungary; and the creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. 14 Clearly, the objective had been redefined and had become one of national emancipation. The Cleveland Agreement _ With the outbreak of war, American Slovaks opted for cooperation with the Czechs in their struggle for national emancipation. But their approaches differed. The latter directed their efforts at the creation of a Czech state. However, according to Chovanec and Mozolfk, "the representatives of the Slovak organizations in the United States fought against the attempts of their Czech partners to attach the Slovaks as a sort of appendage to the basic Czech anti-Habsburg programme." 15 The Slovaks were seeking a solution that was in the spirit of previous Slovak demands and that would ensure national development. After months of discussions, 16 an attempt was made to create a common front and a meeting was organized in Cleveland on 22 Sokol v Amerike, 1933, p. 40. Ibid., p. 40. 13. See Markovit, p. 13. 14 • Some of these options are examined in Stanislav Matou~ek, Vznik a vfvoj spolecneho statu Cechu a Slovakii . Praha: Academia, 1980, pp. 57-60. u. Chovanec a Mozolfk, p. 19. "' For more on these discussions, see Marian Mark Stolarik, "The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of Czecho-Slovakia, 1914-19 I 8," Slovak Studies, VIII ( 1968), pp. 23-26. ll �86 SLOVAKIA October 1915 between representatives of Czech and Slovak American organizations. Cubomfr Liptak writes that "[t]he decision of American Slovaks to support the struggle for the creation of a common state with the Czechs - and its worth is found here - was taken after long and often bitter discussions in which the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution were weighed, including the possibilities and limits of Slovak activity." 17 The Czechs proposed a text that was only slightly modified by the Slovaks present. It has since become known as the Cleveland Agreement. Short and imprecise as it is, this text is, perhaps because of these characteristics, the object of some controversy. Composed of five points, its only two concrete proposals are found in points one and three on the independence of the Czech Lands and Slovakia and secret universal suffrage. It is the second point that has historians trying to figure out what the authors had in mind when they proposed "a union of the Czech and Slovak nations in a federative union of states with complete national autonomy for Slovakia, with its own parliament, its own state administration, complete cultural freedom, that is to say with the full right to use the Slovak language, its own financial and political administration, and an official Slovak state language." 18 Was this a federal proposal, if so, what kind, and if not, what was it, given its language? There are two schools of thought on this question. One rejects outright the affirmation that this was federal solution for a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. Stanislav Matousek suggests that what was proposed was a union within a federalized monarchy. He bases his argument not only on the phrase 11 • 1& Cubomir Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci. Bratislava: Vydavatet'stvo politickej literatury, 1968, p. 64. Rebro, p. 80. Stol~rik, on the other hand, translates "vo federatfvnom zviizku ~t~tov" as "in a federal state." StolMik, p. 55. �SLOVAKIA 87 "in a federative union of states" ( vo federativnom sviizku stitov), but also on the reference to Slovakia's autonomy. According to him, such a reference would not have been necessary if a federation between the Czechs and Slovaks had been envisaged; it would have been assumed for both nations. He also suggests that the authors based their understanding of federalism on their American experience. 19 The latter is also the view of some Slovak historians.'.!) Finally, to strengthen this approach, Viliam Plevza shows that reactions in the months that followed support this interpretation? Others, on the other hand, recognize the document as proposing a federal arrangement between the two nations. Rebro writes that "[t]he Cleveland Agreement represents a clear federative model of two equal nations on the basis of partnership." 22 Josef Kalvoda understands the text to mean that "[b]oth the Czechs and Slovaks were to have autonomy in the federative state to be established after the war."n Konstantin Culen indicates that the agreement "announced the federalization of the future republic". 24 Ivan Markovic and Marian Mark Stolarik perceive it as expressing a federal solution for two nationally autonomous entities. 75 Not surprisingly, some historians pass no judgment and limit themselves simply to quoting or using directly the text of the agreement. 26 Such use of the text is 19 • Matousek, pp. 61-62. n Marsina et al., p. 197. 21 • Viliam Plevza, Ceskos/ovenska statnosf a sl ovenska otazka v politike KSC. Bratislava: Praca, 1971 , pp. 49-50. n Rebro, p. 22. 21. Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs, 1986, p. 70. ll Culen, p. 81 . 21 Markovit, p. 25; Stolarik, p. 26. li Among those who pass no judgment are Chovanec and Mozolik, p. 19, Liptak, p. 63, Franti~ek Bokes, Dejiny S/ovenska a Slovakov od najstarsfch cias po os/obodenie. Bratislava: Slovenska akademia vied a umen1, 1946, p. 350 and �88 SLOVAKIA interpreted by at least one author as a tacit acknowledgement of this interpretation.Zl Of the two, the second interpretation seems more acceptable than the first for a number of reasons. First of all, the language of the agreement suggests that its authors were not experts in political and constitutional terminology; otherwise the language would have been precise. This allows us to infer that a federation of the two nations was the objective as this was the reason for the meeting: to decide on the framework of an arrangement between them. Those who make the claim that the authors were influenced by American federalism project their own expertise and historical experience on men of a generation that had recently emigrated to the United States and whose education was not likely to have included constitutional law and political science or specialized knowledge of the American constitution. Secondly, the reference to Slovak autonomy must be seen as understandable given the Slovak political struggle in Hungary and the demands made in the documents of 1848 and 1861. For most Slovaks, this was their main point of reference in the national struggle. It is unlikely that the document would have obtained the support from American Slovaks that it did obtain had it not included a specific reference to autonomy.28 Thirdly, subsequent events indicate that American Slovaks understood that their nation would enter into a common state with the Czechs in a federal arrangement. Dusan Kovac\ Slovaci - Cesi - Dejiny. Bratislava: Academic Electronic Press, 1997, p. 65. n. Plevza considers Liptak as belonging to those who accept the federal interpretation. See Plevza, p. 49n. 2& It is interesting to note that Albert Mamatey, President of the Slovak League in America, who would be present when the agreement was signed the next day, wrote on 21 October 1915 in Narodne noviny that the League "is for [Slovak] independence regardless of the greater state organization in which we find ourselves." Quoted in Getting, p. 63. �SLOVAKIA 89 The agreement was generally well received, but Slovak Marxist historians also note that "[i]n France, the periodical Ceskoslovenska samostatnosf, as the "organ of political emigration" presented the Cleveland agreement in the spirit of Czechoslovakism - as the attainment of Czechoslovak national unity. This point of view resulted in protests because American Slovaks had begun to support all of the activities of the external struggle on the principle of two equal nations as outlined in the Cleveland agreement. "29 Slovak Americans were not unaware of Czech objectives, and in particular the role that Czechoslovak unity was playing in these objectives. They knew that they had to counter this. In addition, Frantisek Bokes writes that the agreement "did not eliminate distrust and the possibility of misunderstanding between Czechs and Slovaks. "D This uncertainty resulted in the Slovak League of America sending in April 1916 two representatives to Europe, Stefan Osusky and Gustav Kosfk, "to meet Professor [T.G.] Masaryk and to explain the Slovak program to the British and French foreign ministries."31 Nevertheless, as Culen writes: "from this meeting [in Cleveland] on, Czechs and Slovaks begin to appear together throughout the United States. "32 Such behaviour again strongly points to a Slovak understanding of what the agreement meant to them and also their determination to achieve their objective, a federation of the two nations. However, it must aso be pointed out that some American Slovaks saw the agreement as having brought forth "Czechoslovak unity" 33 . Equally interesting is that fact that 29 • Dejiny S/ovenska JI, p. 429. Italics added. Bokes, p. 35 I. 3 1. Kalvoda, p. 83. For an analysis of the Osusky-Ko§ik mission to Europe, see Stolarik, pp. 28-30. See also the interview with Osusky in ibid., pp. 59-61. :u Culen, p. 83. n Getting, p. 66. :n �90 SLOVAKIA Masaryk, despite his later behaviour, is said to have approved of it.34 The Pittsburgh Pact A series of developments soon made it clear that the Cleveland Agreement would have to be revisited, if not revised. In the first place, there was vigorous debate on the question of Czechoslovak unity and the nature of the future state in Slovak publications in the United States and abroad throughout 1916 and 1917. 35 Furthermore, according to Stolarik, in 1916 American Slovaks had "split into Slovak and Czechoslovak camps. "36 Secondly, there was the evolution of the Czech agenda and its transformation into a Czechoslovak one. 37 The creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks had to be seen as embodying the principle of self-determination, as inferred from President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points38 and, above all, had to be sold to the Allied Powers. The second development put American Slovaks in a very difficult position; while they did not want to give up their objective, they needed Czech support to achieve it and they also had to ensure that their mutual project of a common state did not fail because of their demands or because of serious disputes with Ibid., p. 84. Rebro also writes that Masaryk "tried to find comprise formulations that would not contradict his own conceptions. But he could not simply refuse the terms of the Cleveland agreement because they were supported by the moral, financial and first of all voluntary help of the Slovaks abroad." Rebro, pp. 24-25. 35. Getting, pp. 85-86. 36. Stolarik, p. 22. n. For more on this see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, A History of Slovakia. The Struggle for Survival. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995, pp. 144-152. 31!. On the question of the role of the principle of self-determination in the Fourteen Points, see Dov Ronen, The Challenge of Ethnic Conflict, Democracy and Self-Determination in Central Europe. London: Frank Cass, 1997, pp. 48-53 . 34. �SLOVAKIA 91 the Czechs. For Masaryk, the best solution to this dilemma was Czechoslovakism, that is to say the fusion of the Czechs and Slovaks into one nation. This was a concept that not only had historical roots (it was first proposed in 1848), but that could easily be proposed within the framework of the principle of selfdetermination. In addition, as the English historian A.J.P. Taylor wrote, "Masaryk knew little of the Slovaks; others knew even less. That was his strength in dealing with the allied leaders. "39 What Masaryk also had to do was to overcome the suspicions and disagreements that had arisen between Czechs and Slovaks in the United States and bring the latter to accept the necessity for a common front that would persuade the Allied Powers to create the new state.'° He achieved this with the document called the Pittsburgh Pact (also called the Pittsburgh Agreement) which he himself signed on two occasions, the hand-written copy on 31 May 1918, and the calligraphic copy on 14 November, the day he was elected president of Czecho-Slovakia in Prague by the Revolutionary National Assembly. The Pittsburgh document is composed of six resolutions approved by the representatives of the Slovak League of America, the Czech National Alliance, the Federation of Czech Catholics, and the Czecho-Slovak National Council in the person of Masaryk himself. Of importance to Slovakia is the acknowledgement of its own institutions, namely a state administration, a parliament, and a judiciary and the status of the Slovak language as the official language in the schools, in the public offices and in public life generally. In addition to approving a union of the two nations in an independent state, the document specifies that the state shall be a republic and that its constitution shall be 39 • CJ. A.J.P. Taylor, The Habsburg Monarchy 1809-1918. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 1967, p. 258. Stolarik also points out that "[t]he attitude of American Slovaks towards the Czechs changed radically in 1917." Stolarik, p. 32. �92 SLOVAKIA democratic. There is reference to "the organization of the cooperation between Czechs and Slovaks," but the most important point refers to the relegation of the "detailed provisions" to the "liberated Czechs and Slovaks and to their duly accredited representatives. 1141 The most important difference between the Cleveland and Pittsburgh texts is found in the political objectives each proposes; there was a shift from a federal solution to the autonomy of Slovakia. The Pittsburgh document not only leaves out any direct reference to the type of arrangement there would be between the Czechs and Slovaks as the Cleveland Agreement had done, but it also gives the responsibility of finding an arrangement to the "liberated Czechs and Slovaks and to their duly accredited representatives." Simply put, the agreement avoids the issue of the future constitutional make-up of the common state. It should also be noted that there is no direct use of the term autonomy; while this is clearly evident in the enumeration of the powers Slovakia would exercise, its non-mention is not without significance. It is linked directly to the avoidance of defining the future constitutional set-up of Czecho-Slovakia. Why did Masaryk, the author of the Pittsburgh Pact, propose such a text and why did the American Slovaks accept it? Aware of the differences of opinion there existed between the Czechs and Slovaks in the United States, Masaryk came to the United States in order to find a common ground and eliminate any argument that might put his cause in doubt. 42 In addition, as a •1. ~ Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia . Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York, Robert A Speller & Sons Publisher, Inc., 1960, p. 326. Stolarik, translates "pravoplatnym predstavitefom" as "legal representatives" which is more correct. Stolarik, p. 56. Catholic American Slovaks, under the leadership of Jozef Hu~k. editor of Jednota , the publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest single Slovak organization in the United States, were distrustful of Masaryk. For more on Hu~ek's role, especially with regards to the Pittsburgh document, see �SLOVAKIA 93 Slovak historian writes: "The need for legitimacy brought forth the Pittsburgh Pact. When Masaryk left for the United States at the end of April 1918, he went there with the clear objective of trying to overcome the President Wilson's mistrust of the plan to destroy Austria-Hungary. One of the arguments had to be a newly documented unity of the objectives of the Czech and Slovak citizens of the United States. "43 But Masaryk had a second, less evident objective: the acceptance of a document that would not put anything in his way in the achievement of the policy of Czechoslovakism. The Pittsburgh text, unlike the Cleveland one, made this possible, as Marxist historians point out: "Masaryk formulated the union of the Czechs and Slovaks in one state on the basis of equality but side-stepped the original -demand on the Slovak side, that is to say a federal constitutional organization linked to the recognition of two independent nations - the Czechs and the Slovaks. "44 The result was that "he changed the aim of the resistance movement abroad [by] leaving out the sentences about the federal structure of the Czechoslovak Republic."45 American Slovaks accepted Masaryk's text for two reasons: first they accepted his argument about the need for a document that he could show President Wilson that would convince the American president and the American public of Czech and Slovak American support for his objectives. The search for such support from the American people was made even more forcefully with the Washington Declaration of October 1918 which addressed the link between democracy and the new state: "Another document that was meant to mobilize the American public in favour of the Czecho-Slovak cause was the declaration StolArik, pp. 47-50. Koviic, p. 66 . .._ Dejiny, p. 464. -0. 4.i. Rebro, p. 25. �94 SLOVAKIA of sovereignty known as the Washington Declaration. Both documents [the Pittsburgh Pact and the Washington Declaration] fulfilled their objectives. "46 The second reason is linked to the person of Masaryk himself. He was the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, the leader of the resistance movement who was received by the heads of state and government of the Allied Powers; American Slovaks had reason to trust him. In addition, the text of the Pittsburgh document did not suggest the absence of equality between the Czechs and Slovaks. Little did they suspect that he had very definite ideas about their nation which he had expressed as early as 1915 in a memorandum to the Foreign Office: "The Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their using their dialect as their literary language. The Slovaks strive also for independence and accept the programme of union with Bohemia. "47 In addition, Masaryk also reflected an attitude toward the Slovaks that was prevalent among the Czechs: "at that time, no one among the Czechs understood the Slovak_ problem in its full importance and implication nor thought about the constitutional position of Slovakia in a Czecho-Slovak state, about the way of respecting Slovak individuality in a unitary state, not to say anything of a federation. Concrete approaches did not correspond to the sentimental-patriarchal feelings of the Czech public. "48 There was no Slovak leader, at home or abroad, who could counter Masaryk's influence and articulate properly and forcefully Slovak demands. Milan R. Stefanik was the most influential Slovak, but he was ill placed to represent the Slovaks. 46 Kovlit, p. 66. For more on the Washington Declaration, see J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918. Praha: Melantrich, 1968 . ~- Quoted in R. W. Seton-Watson, Masaryk in England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1943, p. 125. In the United States, Hu~k was one American Slovak who was suspicious of Masaryk's motives. See Stollirik, p. 47. • Chovanec a Mozolik, p. 20. �SLOVAKIA 95 As Jaroslav Sole writes about him: "The first Slovak in the struggle against the Habsburgs was a Czechoslovak -this was not only a definite paradox from the Slovak point of view, but also one of the formative conditions of the Czech approach!. "49 Masaryk had come to Pittsburgh to tell the Slovaks that he needed their support to achieve an aim that was also theirs, national emancipation. The Pittsburgh Pact, as had the Cleveland Agreement, helped to attain this objective; but that was all. There was nothing else as far as he was concerned, as later events would show. Much ink has flowed about the Pittsburgh Pact, especially about its binding character.:xi Two days before Masaryk signed the calligraphic copy, on 12 November 1918, the Revolutionary National Assembly in Prague had ratified all of the commitments that he had made during the war. Despite this ratification, the literature stresses the non-binding character of the Pittsburgh document based on one of its paragraphs. As Seton-Watson writes: "the final clause made the whole arrangement contingent upon its endorsement by constitutionally elected representatives of both Czechs and Slovaks at home after the war. "51 It was such a legal-constitutional argument that justified not only the Czechoslovak government's refusal to honour the clauses of the Pittsburgh document but also Masaryk's own repudiation of it as "a local understanding between American Czechs and Slovaks upon the policy they were prepared to advocate." 52 There was 111 - Jaroslav Sole, Slovensko v ceskej politike. Banska Bystrica: M.O. Enterprise, 1993, p. 43 . n Vavro Srobar went so far as to claim that the Czechoslovak Republic gave the Slovaks rights that went beyond the autonomy provisions of the Pittsburgh Pact. See Plevza, p. 75. 5 '- R.W. Seton-Watson, A History of Czechs and Slovaks. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1965, p. 306. 52 Thomas G. Masaryk, The Making of a State. Memories and Observations /914-1918, An English version, arranged and prepared with an introduction �96 SLOVAKIA also a political reason according to Stolarik: "Masaryk rejected the Pittsburgh Agreement partly because all Slovaks did not support it. "53 Whatever the legal justifications, it was an error on the part of Masaryk to ignore the Pittsburgh Pact's political ramification and importance. Masaryk was not unaware of the meaning of both documents, and not just for the Slovaks in the United States. As Seton-Watson wrote shortly after the creation of Czecho-Slovakia: if the Pittsburgh document was in no sense a treaty, it may fairly be taken as representing the mental attitude and political aspiration of most Czechs and Slovaks in America and (what is more important) of the chief shaper of Czechoslovak policy at the supreme crisis in 1918. To this extent it has, not a legal, but a moral, value. Moreover it may safely be claimed that in the first days of the new Republic it coincided with the general feeling in the "historic lands", that the Slovaks were fully entitled to make their own terms of union. The course of events, however, inevitably gave a different tum to the question. 54 The failure to honour it, indeed the failure of the Czechoslovak government to heed the demands of the Slovak People's Party during the two decades of interwar Czechoslovakia to implement it, 55 was, in the end, paid at the price of the First Czechoslovak Republic. by Henry Wickham Steed. New York: Frederick A Stokes Co., 1927, p. 220 . Masaryk also wrote a letter to Andrej Hlinka declaring the pact a "falsum ;" the text of the letter is found in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 238-240. n Stolarik, p. 54. Italics in the original. " R.W. Seton-Watson, The New Slovakia . Prague: Fr. Borovy, 1924, p. 21. 51 This is examined in detail in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, pp. I 55- I 83. �SLOVAKIA 97 Conclusion Both documents represent important milestones in the history of the Slovak search for self-determination in the twentieth century. Their chronology is important in this respect. The Pittsburgh Pact does indicate a retreat in political objectives when compared to those proposed in the Cleveland Agreement. But it also represents a willingness on the part of the Slovaks to accept autonomy if historical and international conditions made only that option possible; what was important was to have an opportunity to leave Hungary and proceed with national development. If the Cleveland Agreement was repudiated, it also served notice of an alternative. The drive to federalization in 1968 came as a result of the experience with autonomy, from the failure to implement it in 1918- I938 to the experience of its implementation in 1938-1939 and 1945-1968. Slovak independence in 1993 was achieved as a result of the experience with the federal system since 1968. Ultimately, both documents succumbed to the Czech agenda in Czechoslovakia and its failure to accommodate properly and adequately their objectives, thus making Slovak independence the only option left. Put another way: If neither document was acceptable, then neither was what they had in common, a state of the Czechs and Slovaks. In this sense, these two documents were also precursors of Slovak independence. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 SLOVAKIA 81 The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Documents Stanislav J. Kirschbaum In the two centuries since the beginning of the French Revolution and the fall of Communism in Central Europe, Slovak political life has centered around the attainment of three political objectives: autonomy, federation, and independence. The first two are linked to the question of the relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks in a common state while the third reflects the teleological objectives of the principle of selfdetermination whose origins go back to the French Revolution but whose implementation was proposed only on the morrow of the First World War. It was to implement this principle that Central Europe was reorganized from the break-up of the Habsburg, Hohenzollern, Ottoman, and Romanov empires. Each one of these objectives was preceded by a series of declarations, memoranda, resolutions, pacts, and agreements that paved the way for their implementation. It is a singularity of Slovak history that there are very few such documents in this two-centuries span; Jorg K. Hoensch presents 57 that are linked to the objective of autonomy,' Karol Rebro puts together 27 that he L See Jorg K. Hoensch, Hrsg. Dokumente zur A utonomiepolitik der Slowakischen Vo/kspartei Hlinkas. Miinchen: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1984, pp. 71-257 . Hoen sch also includes three additional documents that deal with 82 SLOVAKIA associates with the drive to federalization,2 while Jaroslav Chovanec and Peter Mozolfk offer 32 documents that deal with or are connected to independence. 3 The difference in the numbers is explained by the fact that many of the documents that were chosen are specific to the objective sought; nevertheless, there are two that appear in all three volumes: the Cleveland Agreement and the Pittsburgh Pact. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate their importance in the attainment of Slovak political objectives in the twentieth century. It is their link to the three objectives that explains their interest. Still, one Slovak historian, Anton Spiesz, 4 and one Western scholar, Hoensch,5 have seen fit not to mention either; in all other works, they find their place in the history of the nation. Both documents share four principal characteristics. First, they embody the essence of Slovak political activity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, namely the attainment of selfdetermination; second, both seek the same objective: the creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks at the end of the Great War; third, they are laconic texts, in some respects even imprecise in their content; and fourth, they are linked to Slovaks living not in Slovakia, but in the United States. It is the differences between them, the reasons for these differences, and 2 independence, thus bringing the total to 60 documents. Karol Rebro, The Road to Federation. Bratislava: Tatrapress, 1970, pp. 64-130. It should be noted that Rebro includes also the text of the Treaty of Protection of 1939 between Slovakia and Germany, thus bringing the total to 28 . 1 Jaroslav Chovanec a Peter Mozolik, Historicke a statopnivne korene samostatnosti Slovenskej republiky. Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Procom, 1994, pp. 67-216. The two authors include six additional documents that pertain to Slovak history prior to the nineteenth century. •- Anton Spiesz, Dejiny Slo venska. Na ceste k sebauvedomeniu. Brati slava : Yydavatefstvo Respekt, I 992. 1 Jorg K. Hoensch, Geschichte der Tschechoslowakischen Republik 1918 bis 1965. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Verlag, 1966. SLOVAKIA 83 the impact that they had that make them so interesting and that have also made them the object not only of political but also scholarly controversy. Until the international context of a world war offered the Slovaks the possibility of leaving Austria-Hungary, the main Slovak objective, shared by American Slovaks, was the attainment of a form of self-determination through self-administration. From the time of the French Revolution, three proposals embodied this objective. The first is Ignac Martinovic's democratic constitution, which he worked out at the time of the French Revolution, and which included the nationality principle; its application would have turned Slovakia into an independent administrative unit called Slavonica. As Slovak Marxist historians write: "It is in fact the first proposal to include Slovakia as an independent national administrative unit within the framework of Hungary. 116 The second is the Ziadosti slovenskeho naroda (The Demands of the Slovak Nation), worked out in May 1848; the Slovak nation demanded the recognition and guarantee of national identity; the transformation of Hungary into a state composed of equal nations, each with its own parliament and equal representation in the Hungarian Diet; and the use of Slovak in all Slovak county offices. In addition, it insisted on democratic rights, including universal and equal suffrage, the total abolition of serfdom, and the return of the land to the peasants from whom it had been taken away. 7 The third is the Memorandum slovenskeho naroda (Memorandum of the Slovak Nation) adopted in Turciansky Svaty Martin in June 1861; it sought equal rights with the Magyars, the recognition of their national individuality by law, the formation of a North Hungarian Slovak ~ Dejiny S/ovenska II. Bratislava: Veda, Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej akademie vied, I 987, p. 48 I. 1 • For the text in English, see Rebro, pp. 64-67, in Slovak, Chovanec and Mozolfk, pp. 74-77, and in German, Hoensch, pp. 71 -74. 84 SLOVAKIA District (Okolie in Slovak), Slovak as the official language of adminstration of this district, a Slovak Academy of Law and a chair of Slavonic studies in Pest, and the repeal of all Hungarian laws that infringed on the principles of the equality of the nationalities. 8 In the words of Slovak historians, the memorandum "became the basic Slovak constitutional programme even if it was not worked out in detail and contained merely basic principles about a certain Slovak autonomy within the framework of Hungary." 9 American Slovaks were familiar with Slovak objectives in Hungary, since most were immigrants to the United States, forced out by Budapest's policy of Magyarization and Hungary's slow economic development. Their main organization, the Slovak League of America, prepared a memorandum in May 1914 on the occasion of an earlier visit by Hungarian Count Mihaly Karolyi in the United States. The memorandum reiterated the demands of the 1861 Memorandum, thus in effect seeking a solution in Austria-Hungary. But it became the object of some controversy 10 as it underwent certain changes before it was · published in its final version on 2 September 1914 as the Memorandum o krivdach a JX)iiadavkach slovenskfch (Memorandum on Slovak Injustices and Demands). 11 No specific conFor the text in English, see Rebro, pp. 73-76, in Slovak, Chovanec and Mozolik, pp. 81-89, and in German, Hoensch, pp. 92-99. 9 • R. Marsina et. al., Slovenske dejiny. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1992, p. 173. n This is described in Konstantfn Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda . Bratislava: Knfhtlaciarell Andreja uc. spol., 1937, pp. 20-32. 11 • The original and modified versions are found in ibid., pp. 42-52. According to Ivan Markovic: "It was a political error and an indication of insufficient political foresight on the part of the Slovak League to publish this memorandum." See Ivan Markovic, Slovaci v zahranicnej revolucii. Bratislava: no publisher, no date; lecture given on 16 April 1923, p. 13. As for its publication date, Milan Getting writes that it was published on 24 September. See Milan Getting, Americkf Slovaci a vjvin ceskoslovenskej myslienky v rokoch 1914-1918. Pittsburgh: Slovenska Telocvicna Jednota & SLOVAKIA 85 stitutional solution was put forth for Slovakia, but there was a demand for full self-administration and self-determination. In the discussions around this document the idea of Czecho-Slovak unity had also been mentioned. 12 This document opened the way for Slovak American organizations thereafter to examine a number of options that would be the object of debate for some time: 13 Slovakia in a federated Slavic state in Austria-Hungary; a Slovak-Polish union ; a Slovak-Russian union ; autonomy in a reorganized Hungary; and the creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. 14 Clearly, the objective had been redefined and had become one of national emancipation. The Cleveland Agreement _ With the outbreak of war, American Slovaks opted for cooperation with the Czechs in their struggle for national emancipation. But their approaches differed. The latter directed their efforts at the creation of a Czech state. However, according to Chovanec and Mozolfk, "the representatives of the Slovak organizations in the United States fought against the attempts of their Czech partners to attach the Slovaks as a sort of appendage to the basic Czech anti-Habsburg programme." 15 The Slovaks were seeking a solution that was in the spirit of previous Slovak demands and that would ensure national development. After months of discussions, 16 an attempt was made to create a common front and a meeting was organized in Cleveland on 22 Sokol v Amerike, 1933, p. 40. Ibid., p. 40. 13. See Markovit, p. 13. 14 • Some of these options are examined in Stanislav Matou~ek, Vznik a vfvoj spolecneho statu Cechu a Slovakii . Praha: Academia, 1980, pp. 57-60. u. Chovanec a Mozolfk, p. 19. "' For more on these discussions, see Marian Mark Stolarik, "The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of Czecho-Slovakia, 1914-19 I 8," Slovak Studies, VIII ( 1968), pp. 23-26. ll 86 SLOVAKIA October 1915 between representatives of Czech and Slovak American organizations. Cubomfr Liptak writes that "[t]he decision of American Slovaks to support the struggle for the creation of a common state with the Czechs - and its worth is found here - was taken after long and often bitter discussions in which the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution were weighed, including the possibilities and limits of Slovak activity." 17 The Czechs proposed a text that was only slightly modified by the Slovaks present. It has since become known as the Cleveland Agreement. Short and imprecise as it is, this text is, perhaps because of these characteristics, the object of some controversy. Composed of five points, its only two concrete proposals are found in points one and three on the independence of the Czech Lands and Slovakia and secret universal suffrage. It is the second point that has historians trying to figure out what the authors had in mind when they proposed "a union of the Czech and Slovak nations in a federative union of states with complete national autonomy for Slovakia, with its own parliament, its own state administration, complete cultural freedom, that is to say with the full right to use the Slovak language, its own financial and political administration, and an official Slovak state language." 18 Was this a federal proposal, if so, what kind, and if not, what was it, given its language? There are two schools of thought on this question. One rejects outright the affirmation that this was federal solution for a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. Stanislav Matousek suggests that what was proposed was a union within a federalized monarchy. He bases his argument not only on the phrase 11 • 1& Cubomir Liptak, Slovensko v 20. storoci. Bratislava: Vydavatet'stvo politickej literatury, 1968, p. 64. Rebro, p. 80. Stol~rik, on the other hand, translates "vo federatfvnom zviizku ~t~tov" as "in a federal state." StolMik, p. 55. SLOVAKIA 87 "in a federative union of states" ( vo federativnom sviizku stitov), but also on the reference to Slovakia's autonomy. According to him, such a reference would not have been necessary if a federation between the Czechs and Slovaks had been envisaged; it would have been assumed for both nations. He also suggests that the authors based their understanding of federalism on their American experience. 19 The latter is also the view of some Slovak historians.'.!) Finally, to strengthen this approach, Viliam Plevza shows that reactions in the months that followed support this interpretation? Others, on the other hand, recognize the document as proposing a federal arrangement between the two nations. Rebro writes that "[t]he Cleveland Agreement represents a clear federative model of two equal nations on the basis of partnership." 22 Josef Kalvoda understands the text to mean that "[b]oth the Czechs and Slovaks were to have autonomy in the federative state to be established after the war."n Konstantin Culen indicates that the agreement "announced the federalization of the future republic". 24 Ivan Markovic and Marian Mark Stolarik perceive it as expressing a federal solution for two nationally autonomous entities. 75 Not surprisingly, some historians pass no judgment and limit themselves simply to quoting or using directly the text of the agreement. 26 Such use of the text is 19 • Matousek, pp. 61-62. n Marsina et al., p. 197. 21 • Viliam Plevza, Ceskos/ovenska statnosf a sl ovenska otazka v politike KSC. Bratislava: Praca, 1971 , pp. 49-50. n Rebro, p. 22. 21. Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs, 1986, p. 70. ll Culen, p. 81 . 21 Markovit, p. 25; Stolarik, p. 26. li Among those who pass no judgment are Chovanec and Mozolik, p. 19, Liptak, p. 63, Franti~ek Bokes, Dejiny S/ovenska a Slovakov od najstarsfch cias po os/obodenie. Bratislava: Slovenska akademia vied a umen1, 1946, p. 350 and 88 SLOVAKIA interpreted by at least one author as a tacit acknowledgement of this interpretation.Zl Of the two, the second interpretation seems more acceptable than the first for a number of reasons. First of all, the language of the agreement suggests that its authors were not experts in political and constitutional terminology; otherwise the language would have been precise. This allows us to infer that a federation of the two nations was the objective as this was the reason for the meeting: to decide on the framework of an arrangement between them. Those who make the claim that the authors were influenced by American federalism project their own expertise and historical experience on men of a generation that had recently emigrated to the United States and whose education was not likely to have included constitutional law and political science or specialized knowledge of the American constitution. Secondly, the reference to Slovak autonomy must be seen as understandable given the Slovak political struggle in Hungary and the demands made in the documents of 1848 and 1861. For most Slovaks, this was their main point of reference in the national struggle. It is unlikely that the document would have obtained the support from American Slovaks that it did obtain had it not included a specific reference to autonomy.28 Thirdly, subsequent events indicate that American Slovaks understood that their nation would enter into a common state with the Czechs in a federal arrangement. Dusan Kovac\ Slovaci - Cesi - Dejiny. Bratislava: Academic Electronic Press, 1997, p. 65. n. Plevza considers Liptak as belonging to those who accept the federal interpretation. See Plevza, p. 49n. 2& It is interesting to note that Albert Mamatey, President of the Slovak League in America, who would be present when the agreement was signed the next day, wrote on 21 October 1915 in Narodne noviny that the League "is for [Slovak] independence regardless of the greater state organization in which we find ourselves." Quoted in Getting, p. 63. SLOVAKIA 89 The agreement was generally well received, but Slovak Marxist historians also note that "[i]n France, the periodical Ceskoslovenska samostatnosf, as the "organ of political emigration" presented the Cleveland agreement in the spirit of Czechoslovakism - as the attainment of Czechoslovak national unity. This point of view resulted in protests because American Slovaks had begun to support all of the activities of the external struggle on the principle of two equal nations as outlined in the Cleveland agreement. "29 Slovak Americans were not unaware of Czech objectives, and in particular the role that Czechoslovak unity was playing in these objectives. They knew that they had to counter this. In addition, Frantisek Bokes writes that the agreement "did not eliminate distrust and the possibility of misunderstanding between Czechs and Slovaks. "D This uncertainty resulted in the Slovak League of America sending in April 1916 two representatives to Europe, Stefan Osusky and Gustav Kosfk, "to meet Professor [T.G.] Masaryk and to explain the Slovak program to the British and French foreign ministries."31 Nevertheless, as Culen writes: "from this meeting [in Cleveland] on, Czechs and Slovaks begin to appear together throughout the United States. "32 Such behaviour again strongly points to a Slovak understanding of what the agreement meant to them and also their determination to achieve their objective, a federation of the two nations. However, it must aso be pointed out that some American Slovaks saw the agreement as having brought forth "Czechoslovak unity" 33 . Equally interesting is that fact that 29 • Dejiny S/ovenska JI, p. 429. Italics added. Bokes, p. 35 I. 3 1. Kalvoda, p. 83. For an analysis of the Osusky-Ko§ik mission to Europe, see Stolarik, pp. 28-30. See also the interview with Osusky in ibid., pp. 59-61. :u Culen, p. 83. n Getting, p. 66. :n 90 SLOVAKIA Masaryk, despite his later behaviour, is said to have approved of it.34 The Pittsburgh Pact A series of developments soon made it clear that the Cleveland Agreement would have to be revisited, if not revised. In the first place, there was vigorous debate on the question of Czechoslovak unity and the nature of the future state in Slovak publications in the United States and abroad throughout 1916 and 1917. 35 Furthermore, according to Stolarik, in 1916 American Slovaks had "split into Slovak and Czechoslovak camps. "36 Secondly, there was the evolution of the Czech agenda and its transformation into a Czechoslovak one. 37 The creation of a common state of the Czechs and Slovaks had to be seen as embodying the principle of self-determination, as inferred from President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points38 and, above all, had to be sold to the Allied Powers. The second development put American Slovaks in a very difficult position; while they did not want to give up their objective, they needed Czech support to achieve it and they also had to ensure that their mutual project of a common state did not fail because of their demands or because of serious disputes with Ibid., p. 84. Rebro also writes that Masaryk "tried to find comprise formulations that would not contradict his own conceptions. But he could not simply refuse the terms of the Cleveland agreement because they were supported by the moral, financial and first of all voluntary help of the Slovaks abroad." Rebro, pp. 24-25. 35. Getting, pp. 85-86. 36. Stolarik, p. 22. n. For more on this see Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, A History of Slovakia. The Struggle for Survival. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995, pp. 144-152. 31!. On the question of the role of the principle of self-determination in the Fourteen Points, see Dov Ronen, The Challenge of Ethnic Conflict, Democracy and Self-Determination in Central Europe. London: Frank Cass, 1997, pp. 48-53 . 34. SLOVAKIA 91 the Czechs. For Masaryk, the best solution to this dilemma was Czechoslovakism, that is to say the fusion of the Czechs and Slovaks into one nation. This was a concept that not only had historical roots (it was first proposed in 1848), but that could easily be proposed within the framework of the principle of selfdetermination. In addition, as the English historian A.J.P. Taylor wrote, "Masaryk knew little of the Slovaks; others knew even less. That was his strength in dealing with the allied leaders. "39 What Masaryk also had to do was to overcome the suspicions and disagreements that had arisen between Czechs and Slovaks in the United States and bring the latter to accept the necessity for a common front that would persuade the Allied Powers to create the new state.'° He achieved this with the document called the Pittsburgh Pact (also called the Pittsburgh Agreement) which he himself signed on two occasions, the hand-written copy on 31 May 1918, and the calligraphic copy on 14 November, the day he was elected president of Czecho-Slovakia in Prague by the Revolutionary National Assembly. The Pittsburgh document is composed of six resolutions approved by the representatives of the Slovak League of America, the Czech National Alliance, the Federation of Czech Catholics, and the Czecho-Slovak National Council in the person of Masaryk himself. Of importance to Slovakia is the acknowledgement of its own institutions, namely a state administration, a parliament, and a judiciary and the status of the Slovak language as the official language in the schools, in the public offices and in public life generally. In addition to approving a union of the two nations in an independent state, the document specifies that the state shall be a republic and that its constitution shall be 39 • CJ. A.J.P. Taylor, The Habsburg Monarchy 1809-1918. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 1967, p. 258. Stolarik also points out that "[t]he attitude of American Slovaks towards the Czechs changed radically in 1917." Stolarik, p. 32. 92 SLOVAKIA democratic. There is reference to "the organization of the cooperation between Czechs and Slovaks," but the most important point refers to the relegation of the "detailed provisions" to the "liberated Czechs and Slovaks and to their duly accredited representatives. 1141 The most important difference between the Cleveland and Pittsburgh texts is found in the political objectives each proposes; there was a shift from a federal solution to the autonomy of Slovakia. The Pittsburgh document not only leaves out any direct reference to the type of arrangement there would be between the Czechs and Slovaks as the Cleveland Agreement had done, but it also gives the responsibility of finding an arrangement to the "liberated Czechs and Slovaks and to their duly accredited representatives." Simply put, the agreement avoids the issue of the future constitutional make-up of the common state. It should also be noted that there is no direct use of the term autonomy; while this is clearly evident in the enumeration of the powers Slovakia would exercise, its non-mention is not without significance. It is linked directly to the avoidance of defining the future constitutional set-up of Czecho-Slovakia. Why did Masaryk, the author of the Pittsburgh Pact, propose such a text and why did the American Slovaks accept it? Aware of the differences of opinion there existed between the Czechs and Slovaks in the United States, Masaryk came to the United States in order to find a common ground and eliminate any argument that might put his cause in doubt. 42 In addition, as a •1. ~ Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia . Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York, Robert A Speller & Sons Publisher, Inc., 1960, p. 326. Stolarik, translates "pravoplatnym predstavitefom" as "legal representatives" which is more correct. Stolarik, p. 56. Catholic American Slovaks, under the leadership of Jozef Hu~k. editor of Jednota , the publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest single Slovak organization in the United States, were distrustful of Masaryk. For more on Hu~ek's role, especially with regards to the Pittsburgh document, see SLOVAKIA 93 Slovak historian writes: "The need for legitimacy brought forth the Pittsburgh Pact. When Masaryk left for the United States at the end of April 1918, he went there with the clear objective of trying to overcome the President Wilson's mistrust of the plan to destroy Austria-Hungary. One of the arguments had to be a newly documented unity of the objectives of the Czech and Slovak citizens of the United States. "43 But Masaryk had a second, less evident objective: the acceptance of a document that would not put anything in his way in the achievement of the policy of Czechoslovakism. The Pittsburgh text, unlike the Cleveland one, made this possible, as Marxist historians point out: "Masaryk formulated the union of the Czechs and Slovaks in one state on the basis of equality but side-stepped the original -demand on the Slovak side, that is to say a federal constitutional organization linked to the recognition of two independent nations - the Czechs and the Slovaks. "44 The result was that "he changed the aim of the resistance movement abroad [by] leaving out the sentences about the federal structure of the Czechoslovak Republic."45 American Slovaks accepted Masaryk's text for two reasons: first they accepted his argument about the need for a document that he could show President Wilson that would convince the American president and the American public of Czech and Slovak American support for his objectives. The search for such support from the American people was made even more forcefully with the Washington Declaration of October 1918 which addressed the link between democracy and the new state: "Another document that was meant to mobilize the American public in favour of the Czecho-Slovak cause was the declaration StolArik, pp. 47-50. Koviic, p. 66 . .._ Dejiny, p. 464. -0. 4.i. Rebro, p. 25. 94 SLOVAKIA of sovereignty known as the Washington Declaration. Both documents [the Pittsburgh Pact and the Washington Declaration] fulfilled their objectives. "46 The second reason is linked to the person of Masaryk himself. He was the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, the leader of the resistance movement who was received by the heads of state and government of the Allied Powers; American Slovaks had reason to trust him. In addition, the text of the Pittsburgh document did not suggest the absence of equality between the Czechs and Slovaks. Little did they suspect that he had very definite ideas about their nation which he had expressed as early as 1915 in a memorandum to the Foreign Office: "The Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their using their dialect as their literary language. The Slovaks strive also for independence and accept the programme of union with Bohemia. "47 In addition, Masaryk also reflected an attitude toward the Slovaks that was prevalent among the Czechs: "at that time, no one among the Czechs understood the Slovak_ problem in its full importance and implication nor thought about the constitutional position of Slovakia in a Czecho-Slovak state, about the way of respecting Slovak individuality in a unitary state, not to say anything of a federation. Concrete approaches did not correspond to the sentimental-patriarchal feelings of the Czech public. "48 There was no Slovak leader, at home or abroad, who could counter Masaryk's influence and articulate properly and forcefully Slovak demands. Milan R. Stefanik was the most influential Slovak, but he was ill placed to represent the Slovaks. 46 Kovlit, p. 66. For more on the Washington Declaration, see J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918. Praha: Melantrich, 1968 . ~- Quoted in R. W. Seton-Watson, Masaryk in England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1943, p. 125. In the United States, Hu~k was one American Slovak who was suspicious of Masaryk's motives. See Stollirik, p. 47. • Chovanec a Mozolik, p. 20. SLOVAKIA 95 As Jaroslav Sole writes about him: "The first Slovak in the struggle against the Habsburgs was a Czechoslovak -this was not only a definite paradox from the Slovak point of view, but also one of the formative conditions of the Czech approach!. "49 Masaryk had come to Pittsburgh to tell the Slovaks that he needed their support to achieve an aim that was also theirs, national emancipation. The Pittsburgh Pact, as had the Cleveland Agreement, helped to attain this objective; but that was all. There was nothing else as far as he was concerned, as later events would show. Much ink has flowed about the Pittsburgh Pact, especially about its binding character.:xi Two days before Masaryk signed the calligraphic copy, on 12 November 1918, the Revolutionary National Assembly in Prague had ratified all of the commitments that he had made during the war. Despite this ratification, the literature stresses the non-binding character of the Pittsburgh document based on one of its paragraphs. As Seton-Watson writes: "the final clause made the whole arrangement contingent upon its endorsement by constitutionally elected representatives of both Czechs and Slovaks at home after the war. "51 It was such a legal-constitutional argument that justified not only the Czechoslovak government's refusal to honour the clauses of the Pittsburgh document but also Masaryk's own repudiation of it as "a local understanding between American Czechs and Slovaks upon the policy they were prepared to advocate." 52 There was 111 - Jaroslav Sole, Slovensko v ceskej politike. Banska Bystrica: M.O. Enterprise, 1993, p. 43 . n Vavro Srobar went so far as to claim that the Czechoslovak Republic gave the Slovaks rights that went beyond the autonomy provisions of the Pittsburgh Pact. See Plevza, p. 75. 5 '- R.W. Seton-Watson, A History of Czechs and Slovaks. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1965, p. 306. 52 Thomas G. Masaryk, The Making of a State. Memories and Observations /914-1918, An English version, arranged and prepared with an introduction 96 SLOVAKIA also a political reason according to Stolarik: "Masaryk rejected the Pittsburgh Agreement partly because all Slovaks did not support it. "53 Whatever the legal justifications, it was an error on the part of Masaryk to ignore the Pittsburgh Pact's political ramification and importance. Masaryk was not unaware of the meaning of both documents, and not just for the Slovaks in the United States. As Seton-Watson wrote shortly after the creation of Czecho-Slovakia: if the Pittsburgh document was in no sense a treaty, it may fairly be taken as representing the mental attitude and political aspiration of most Czechs and Slovaks in America and (what is more important) of the chief shaper of Czechoslovak policy at the supreme crisis in 1918. To this extent it has, not a legal, but a moral, value. Moreover it may safely be claimed that in the first days of the new Republic it coincided with the general feeling in the "historic lands", that the Slovaks were fully entitled to make their own terms of union. The course of events, however, inevitably gave a different tum to the question. 54 The failure to honour it, indeed the failure of the Czechoslovak government to heed the demands of the Slovak People's Party during the two decades of interwar Czechoslovakia to implement it, 55 was, in the end, paid at the price of the First Czechoslovak Republic. by Henry Wickham Steed. New York: Frederick A Stokes Co., 1927, p. 220 . Masaryk also wrote a letter to Andrej Hlinka declaring the pact a "falsum ;" the text of the letter is found in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 238-240. n Stolarik, p. 54. Italics in the original. " R.W. Seton-Watson, The New Slovakia . Prague: Fr. Borovy, 1924, p. 21. 51 This is examined in detail in Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, pp. I 55- I 83. SLOVAKIA 97 Conclusion Both documents represent important milestones in the history of the Slovak search for self-determination in the twentieth century. Their chronology is important in this respect. The Pittsburgh Pact does indicate a retreat in political objectives when compared to those proposed in the Cleveland Agreement. But it also represents a willingness on the part of the Slovaks to accept autonomy if historical and international conditions made only that option possible; what was important was to have an opportunity to leave Hungary and proceed with national development. If the Cleveland Agreement was repudiated, it also served notice of an alternative. The drive to federalization in 1968 came as a result of the experience with autonomy, from the failure to implement it in 1918- I938 to the experience of its implementation in 1938-1939 and 1945-1968. Slovak independence in 1993 was achieved as a result of the experience with the federal system since 1968. Ultimately, both documents succumbed to the Czech agenda in Czechoslovakia and its failure to accommodate properly and adequately their objectives, thus making Slovak independence the only option left. Put another way: If neither document was acceptable, then neither was what they had in common, a state of the Czechs and Slovaks. In this sense, these two documents were also precursors of Slovak independence.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Cleveland and Pittsburgh Documents Description An account of the resource Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 36 (No. 66-67), 1998 pp. 81-97 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e25920766948699563a0acbdefd75be7.pdf 311692e45aaaa2d1efd87f6847f19be0 PDF Text Text SLOV AKIA-2015 7 THE 1919 CENSUS ON THE TERRITORY OF SLOV AKIA 1 Rebekah Klein-Pejsova When the First World War ended in 1918, the four empires that had determined the shape of state and social relations within and beyond their borders - the Habsburg, the German, the Russian, and the Ottoman - had dissolved. A state system based on the principle of national self-determination took their place in East Central Europe, in which citizenship and state belonging were seen through a national lens. Unrest and anarchy were characteristic of the prevailing atmosphere in many regions of the collapsing Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in the fall of 1918. In Slovakia, that instability was part of the larger struggle for the future of the newly bounded territory . Unlike other regions of former Hungary being incorporated into the new or transformed successor states, like Croatia (Yugoslavia) or Transylvania (Romania), Slovakia had never been administratively defined on its own, but solely as sixteen counties and four municipalities of northern Hungary. By the end of the war, the collapse of the old order without replacement by the new left Slovakia in a chaotic condition. Amid the upheaval, looting, and anti-Jewish excesses that typified the period, local National Councils had formed with the goal of consolidating the new state. But they were too weak to decisively resist regional Hungarian opposition and Budapest's efforts to maintain the territory. 2 While Czechoslovakia's birth was announced in Prague on October 28, 1918, the view from Slovakia was far less definitive. It was not a foregone conclusion that Slovakia would indeed be incorporated into the new state. Slovakia was in a precarious position, loosened from defeated Hungary, but not yet officially joined with Bohemia and Moravia. 1 This article is a version of a chapter originally published in my book Mapping Jewish Loyalties in !nterwar Slovakia (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 20 I 5). This material appears courtesy of Indiana University Press. All rights reserved. 2 Cubomir Liptak, "Slovakia in the 20 th Century," in Elena Mannova, ed ., A Concise History of Slovakia. Studia Historica Slovaca XXI (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SA V, 2000), 239 . �8 SLOV AKIA-2015 Slovak historians characterize the unstable "Prevrat " era as the "Struggle for Slovakia," a view that highlights Slovakia's contested status between the Magyars and the Czechs. Save for a handful of Slovak national leaders, the Slovaks themselves moved through this picture as a frustrated underclass, taking advantage of the volatile, chaotic climate to set upon state administrators, notaries, policemen, shopkeepers, innkeepers, and the propertied . Slovaks found themselves in a moment of great release. It offered them a chance to vent their anger and frustration at the war and the Hungarian system . The newly-formed local National Councils sought to mitigate these widespread outbreaks of violence. Yet these local organs had little control, or the ability to quell Hungarian resistance to the power transfer, which was further impeded by the power structure of the old state, still in place . A Hungarian demand for a referendum on the changes surfaced, relying on the fragmentation of the population along regional and social lines, degrees of national consciousness, and lack of information about the political transformation . It was the first time Budapest asked Slovaks for their opinions . The views of ordinary people, "varied from enthusiastic welcoming of the new state and the 'liberation' of Slovakia, through apathy and desire for peace, to fear of a new unknown situation, of uncertain permanence and threaten3 ing new bloodshed and military solutions. " The Hungarian National Council in Budapest came into being only on October 25, 1918, somewhat later than those of the national minorities. It was established by Count Mihaly Karolyi, who was widely believed to be the emperor-king's obvious choice for the new Prime Minister. Oszkar Jaszi, the progressive Hungarian social scientist, historian, and politician, drafted the Hungarian National Council's twelve-point program. It called for Hungarian independence, an immediate and separate peace treaty with the Allies, universal suffrage with a secret ballot, land reform, and recognition of the 4 rights of the national minorities within a federalized Hungary . When Emperor-King Charles appointed Count Janos Hadik instead, massive anti-government demonstrations broke out, demanding Karolyi. 5 3 Ibid. Peter Hanak, ed. , The Corvina History of Hungary: From Earliest Times Until lhe Present Day (Budapest: Corvina Books, 1991 ), 164. 5 Laszl6 Kontler, A History of Hungary (New York, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), 328. 4 �SLOV AKIA-2015 9 It was October 28, the same day as the declaration of the new Czechoslovak Republic in Prague. By the night of October 30 through 31, crowds of soldiers and civilians demonstrated in the streets of Budapest. They later occupied public buildings, prevented troops loyal to Karolyi from moving out of the city, captured Budapest's military governor, and freed political prisoners as in 1848. Soldiers tore off the emblems on their uniforms and replaced them with asters and rosettes. Emperor-King Charles retreated and Karolyi formed a new independent Hungarian government. Vanquished Hungary appeared to be on the path to democratization. 6 Meanwhile, Slovak national leaders, mostly from central Slovakia converged in Turciansky Svaty Martin, the seat of the Slovak national movement and established the Slovak National Council. They had little news of what was happening in Prague, Budapest, or Europe more broadly . The Council wished, however, to take a stand on the dramatically unfolding events . The Slovak politician Milan Hodza had been negotiating with Karolyi in Budapest. He arrived in Martin on October 30 just as the Council was about to issue the Martin Declaration, announcing the secession of Slovakia from Hungary, Slovak self-determination and a desire for inclusion in the Czechoslovak state, which fulfilled Prague's wishes .7 The Slovak National Council had no army, so it could not enforce its program or maintain order. Individual militias sprang up in towns and cities across Slovakia, engaging in a power struggle with the newly-formed Hungarian National Councils. It was a highly unstable environment. Demobilized Slovak soldiers (from the Hungarian army) formed the mainstay of active Slovak participation in the evolving power struggle. They created paramilitary groups in the forests, especially in western Slovakia, with about four thousand soldiers active around Bratislava. To dispel the threat of anarchy and establish control over the territory, the Czechoslovak National Council brought Slovak representatives into the newly formed National Assembly in Prague in early November of 1918. 8 Slovakia's first provisional "Slovak Government" was set up in Western Slovakia near the Moravia-Slovak border by the Czechoslo6 Hanak, ed ., Corvino History of Hungary , 164-5. Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1 987 (New Jersey: Princeton Uni versity Press, 1988), 40-41 . 8 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in th e 20 th Century," in Concise History of Slovakia, 239 . 7 �10 SLOV AKIA-2015 vak government in Prague, and began to function on November 6. It was led by Vavro Srobar, Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia. On Decemberl2, it was replaced by a Ministry for Slovakia, which Srobar established in Zilina in the midst of a combined Czech, French and Italian effort to drive Hungarian troops out of Slovak territory. 9 Less than two weeks later, on December 21, Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Edvard Benes successfully negotiated French 10 recognition of a demarcation line of the Slovak territory . Entente forces would drive Hungarian troops past the demarcation line on January 20, 1919. That line more or less became the country's official border with the signing of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. 11 When Srobar's administration grew too large for Zilina, he deliberated with Samuel Zoch, a Lutheran clergyman from Modra near Pressburg (later Bratislava) who was the principal author of the Martin Declaration of October 30, 1918, on where Slovakia's central government should be moved . They decided in early January of 1919 to move the capital to Pressburg on February 4, 1919. Zoch was placed in charge of the Pressburg district administration (zupan), and orchestrated the Czechoslovak takeover of the city from January 1, 1919. "Bratislava" became the city's standard official name in March of 1919. 12 Hungary would make one more sustained military effort toward maintaining its prewar borders. Under Bela Kun's short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic, lasting for 133 days beginning March 21, 1919, the Hungarian Red Army made significant inroads into Slovakia. It was driven out following an ultimatum by the Entente powers at the end of June 1919. The Hungarian Red Army finally retreated from Slovakia on June 30, 1919, and by July 24 the Czechoslovak government held the entire territory. 13 9 Peter Bugge, "The Making of a Slovak City: The Czechoslovak Renaming of Pressburg/Pozsony/Presporok, I 918-19," Austrian History Yearbook 35 (2004 ): 221. IOibid ., 213. 11 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in the 20 th Century," in Concise History of Slovakia, 243. 12 Bugge, "The Making of a Slovak City," 221 . 13 For a detailed discussion of the series of revolutions in Hungary see: Laszlo Kontler, A History of Hungary (New York, Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) chapter VII "In Search of an Identity" , 324-344; Ivan Volgyes, ed., Hungary in Revolution, 1918-1919. Nine Essays (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1971 ); Andras Sikl6s, Revolution in Hungary and the Dissolution of the Multinational State 1918 (Budapest: Akademiai Kiad6, 1988); Rudolf I. Tokes, Bela Kun and the Hungarian �SLOV AKIA-2015 11 On the Czechoslovak state level, the Struggle for Slovakia entailed not only the physical, geographic aspect of territorial incorporation, but also the more slippery aspect of drawing the multinational population of Slovakia into the mental landscape of the new state. Coming to terms with the World War I Czech argument that the Czechs and Slovaks were two branches of the same Czechoslovak nation, and so should together form the dominant national group within the Czechoslovak nation-state, required a shift in direction . The events of the "Prevrat" underscore the tense relations between, first and foremost, Hungarians and Slovaks, and Jews and Slovaks, but also, increasingly between Czechs and Slovaks. These relationships would influence shifts in overall understandings of nationhood and nationality, as well as national political programs within the new state. Czechoslovakia was a nation-state in formation. Successful Czechoslovak state building required incorporating the territory and peoples of Slovakia. This was not to be accomplished by gradually building popular consensus, but through military engagement and diplomatic maneuvering. 14 Drawing the borders in this way would have significant implications for Czechoslovakia's domestic and international nationalities problems. Prague needed the Slovaks, a "state forming nation," 15 or there would be no independent Czechoslovakia. Without the Slovaks, the Czechs could not form a majority in the parliament and legitimately create a viable state. The Slovaks likewise needed the Czechs to help them leave Hungary. They needed the Czechs to help them establish a functioning civil and governmental infrastructure in Slovakia, and to create an educational system for producing Slovak national elites ready to take control of the developing infrastructure. The help the Slovaks desired was temporary_ 16 Soviet Republic (published for the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University by New York: Praeger Publishers, 1967). 14 Aviel Roshwald, Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires (Lo ndon, NY: Routledge, 200 I), I 62. 15 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in the 20°1 Century," in A Concise History of Slovakia, 245. Czechs alone formed only 49 percent of the total Czechoslovak state population without the Slovaks. Whereas, accordin g to the 1921 Czechoslovak census, "Czechoslovaks" formed 65 .51 percent of the total Czechoslovak state population, and "Germans" 23.36 percent. 16 Liptak, "Vll. Slovakia in the 20°1 Century," in A Concise History of Slovakia, 245. �12 SLOV AKIA-2015 In the introduction to hi s memoir on the formative years 1918 through 1920, Osvobodene Slovensko (Liberated Slovakia), Vavro Srobar recounted hi s first meeting with R.W. Seton-Watson, the influential British historian and political activist who brought nationality questions in Austria-Hungary to the world's attention. In 1907 Seton-Watson came to R6zsahegy (Ruzomberok) in the central Slovak Low Tatra region, where Srobar was then working, while researching the national question for what would be his first major work, Racial Problems in Hungary. 17 Due to the objectivity and calm with which Seton-Watson di scussed Magyarization, Srobar found himself unable to discern where his visitor stood on the issue. Before they parted, Seton-Watson surprised Srobar with a question : "And what is your state program?" he asked. After a moment's hesitation, Srobar replied, "Great Moravia, 18 with Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia, and Pannonia," which Seton-Watson "accepted without commentary." "That [conversation] took place seven years before the outbreak of the world war," continued Srobar, "and eleven years afterward 'Great Moravia' received the name the 'Czechoslovak State."' 19 Language was the connection between the "Czechoslovak tribes" that Srobar professed in his memoir, from their ancient roots to the present. Even the establishment of a new literary language in Slovakia, thanks to I:udovit Stur's nineteenth century codification of the central Slovak dialect, "did not for a moment disturb the consciousness of Czechoslovak tribal unity," he asserted. "The longing for close cultural, economic, and political unity increased yearly in proportion to the growing pressure of brutal Magyarization," he added. 20 Srobar underscored a romantic one-thousand year story of the unitary Czechoslovak nation/tribe - focusing on shared language, history, 17 London : Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., 1908 . "Great Moravia," a large Slavic state that existed between 833 and 906, was an important component of the Czechoslovak romantic national idea as well as the development of Slovak nationalism. Considered to have bridged the western Slavs with the Slavonic tribes in the Balkans and with Byzantium, the weakening state collapsed under attack by the Magyar tribes who settled in the Danube Basin in approximately 896. The Czech and Slovak tribes then underwent separate development. For more on Great Moravia see Jan Dekan, Vel'ka Morava: Doba a umenie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1976). 19 Vavro Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko. Pamdti z rokov 191 8-1920, Svazok Prvy (Prague, 1928), 7-8. 20 Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko, 11. 18 �SLOV AKIA-2015 13 interests, and ancestral ties - that had been so successful in garnering international support for the Czechoslovak state building project during the war in his celebratory and didactic jubilee year volume. While the idea of a unitary Czechoslovak nation prevailed internationally, the most compelling connection between the Czechs and Slovaks for the prospects of independent statehood was demographic. Though Czechs constituted a majority in Bohemia and Moravia, they feared that the collapse of Austria-Hungary would spell their incorporation into a Greater Germany, due to the existence of a substantial German minority in these lands . At the beginning of the war, Czech leaders first sought a reorganization of the Monarchy along federal lines with a large degree of autonomy for the Czechs, though soon discarded the plan as unfeasib!e.21 In working toward the ultimate goal of independence, the idea of incorporating the estimated three million strong Slovak population became an increasingly attractive solution to counterbalancing the significant German minority in Bohemia and Moravia. 22 By the end of the war T.G. Masaryk and Benes had the commitment of the Entente powers to an independent Czechoslovakia. The Slovak population became the key to the Czechoslovak nation's demographic legitimacy in its new multinational national state. The Paris Peace Conference called upon the Czechoslovak delegation to statistically demonstrate the dominance of the Slovaks in the multinational territory of Slovakia. The viability of the Czechoslovak state depended upon it. In order to collect the necessary data, the Czechoslovak government organized a provisional census for Slovakia. Such a census could not be carried out until the borders of the territory were defined and secured, and military upheavals had ceased . This meant waiting until the ultimatum given by the Entente powers had driven Bela Kun's Red Army troops out of Slovakia at the end of June 1919, and until the Czechoslovak government had control over the territory at the end of July. While the change of regimes was not officially over, and the borders were not fixed by law until Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon on June 4, I 920, Czechoslovakia held the de facto borders securely enough by August 1919 that it was feasible to set the census in motion. The primary goal of the census was : 21 Joseph Rothschild, East Central Europe between the Two World Wars. A History o[. East Central Europe, vol. 9 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1974), 76. 2 Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia, 35. �14 SLOV AKIA-2015 [To gather] the necessary information for the Peace Conference concerning how many Slovaks there [were] in the occupied territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary, so that it would be possible to correct and prove false the Hungarian census of 1910, as well as to ascertain other general national proportions in Slovak communities, namely the [extent of] the Magyarization of these communities, the Magyarization of schools and churches. "23 The 1919 census was the first attempt by the Czechoslovak government to map the territory of Slovakia for state building purposes. Mapping Slovakia meant reframing the national ratios of multinational/ethnic/linguistic Slovakia in terms of Slovak, and thus Czechoslovak, dominance. The Czechoslovak government had to prove that the former government sought to create Magyar demographic superiority in the same lands through forced assimilation and manipulation of statistics. The aim of the census was, in other words, to find the ethnic Slovaks whose numbers would prove that a "falsification," or deliberate Magyarization of the nationalities had taken place in the decades before the war. Josef Mraz of the newly-created Czechoslovak State Statistical Office24 set out from Prague to Zilina, 25 the provisional capital of Slovakia, in mid-January 1919 to propose his ideas for the upcoming Slovak census to Vavro Srobar, the Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia.26 His talks with Srobar lasted an exhausting four days, during which time they debated how the structure, method, and concept of the census could best meet its chief goal: to find out how many Slovaks there were in Slovakia. Upon his arrival in Prague, he wrote up a report of the Zilina proceedings and the census instructions up23 Slovensky narodny archiv (hereafter SNA), file : Ministerstvo s plnou mocou pre spravu Slovenska, hereafter MPS, box 277, inv. no. 74. "Prozatimni scitani lidu na Slovensku." In this transitional period before the signing of the Treaty of Trianon, Slovakia was often denoted as the "occupied territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary." 24 Josef Mraz (1882-1934) was one of the co-founders of the Czechoslovak State Statistical Office, who had begun his work as a statistician for the Provincial Statistical Office of the Bohemian Kingdom. He is noted for his work on the first census in Slovakia ( I 9 I 9), as well as on statistical theory and agricultural statistics. Federalni statisticky ui'ad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky (Praha, 1989), 194. 25 :Z:ilina was the provisional capital of Slovakia from December 12, 1918 through February 4, 1919, when Bratislava (Pozsony, Pressburg) became the capital. 26 Vavro Srobar was the Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia (Ministers plnou mocou pre spravu Slovenska, MPS). �SLOV AKIA-2015 15 on which they had agreed. He sent the instructions to be translated into Slovak, Magyar, and German. 27 Mraz included in hi s report a new, subjective definition of nationality that would challenge prewar methods of counting and classifyi ng th e population based on language. This definition would be th e point of departure for fresh debates and reevaluations of nationhood in the evolving circumstances of the interwar Czechoslovak state. He argued that, "In contrast to [mother tongue], the concept 'nationality' means adherence to a certain internal conviction, which cannot be explained in an ambi guous way, similar to reli gious conviction," and that it follows from this conclusion that Jews should have the option of declaring either for their own Jewish nationality, or for the nationality of others, without regard for religious affiliation.28 Debates over "Jewish nationali ty" formed the centerpiece of the overall reevaluation of nationality and nationhood in Czechoslovakia. Jewi sh nationality came to be used as an exceptional example in formulating opposing positions on the meaning, classification, and function of nationality in the new state. Through it, Czechoslovakia shifted the concept of nationality closer to an ethnic or racial understanding of the term, rather than a linguistic or cultural one. The Czechoslovak government, together with the multinational population of the state, initiated th e process of actualizing theoretical concepts of nationality and nationhood through the 1919 census in Slovakia. Responses to the 1919 census gave nationality meaning in the postwar environment, in the context of new states created on the principle of national self-determination . In the process of creating the 1919 Slovak census, Czechoslovak demographers also came to a preliminary decision regarding how 29 Czechoslovakia would "see" and count Jewish nationality . The Jewish case was especially problematic because Czechoslovakia did not consider the Jewish population in Czechoslovakia to possess its own national language, even in Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia where Yiddish language usage was more widespread, but never27 SNA, f. MPS, box 277, inv. no. IOI. From the report by Josef Mraz, "Prozatfmnf scftanf lidu na Slovensku," February 8, 1919 . 28 SNA, f. MPS , box 277, inv. No. 76 . "Prozatfmnf scitani lidu na Slovensku" 29 See: James C. Scott, Seeing Like a State: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed (New Haven, Ct.: Yale University Press, 1998), for thinking about ways the state "sees" the populat ion and makes it "legible." �16 SLOV AKIA-2015 theless did not dispute Jewish national status within the state. An influential work on national questions published in Prague in early 1919 declared: "Language forms the distinguishing characteristic of the nation : a nation must have its own language, otherwise it is not a nation." 30 How would the Czechoslovak state square its recognition of Jewish national status with the alleged lack of a distinctive national language among the Jews of Czechoslovakia? Debates surrounding Jewish nationality and its codification for census purposes lay at the core of a Czechoslovak reevaluation of the overall meaning of nationality in the postwar period . Decisions regarding the meaning and function of Jewish nationality within the Czechoslovak context went hand in hand with the process of integrating Slovakia into the Czechoslovak state. The Jewish case illuminates the way the process of Czechoslovak state building - including the interrelated efforts to arrive at the true number of Slovaks and Czechs, and to reconcile the dissonant linguistic-national circumstances of the Jewish population so as to codify Jewish nationality within Czechoslovakia - led to an increased unbundling of language from nationality as an absolute indicator of national belonging, and movement toward a definition of nationality as an internal conviction. To begin, it is helpful to take a step back to look at the relationship between language, nationalism, and nationhood; and then to consider their relationship as applied to the institutionalized collection of data for census purposes. First of all, for the peoples of East Central Europe, including the Jews, the nation building process was a fundamental component of modem politics. Nation building required raising the national consciousness of the members of the group, as well as making a convincing case to the world that the group was indeed a real nationality. The most important proof of national existence was language: a special, unique language belonging to the national group alone.31 Nineteenth century nationalism deemed language the most important characteristic marking one nation from another. Language 30 Bohdan Klineberger, Ncirod a ncirodnost (Praha, 1919), 53 . Ezra Mendelsohn, On Modern Jewish Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 128. 31 �SLOV AKIA-2015 17 was the primary determinant of nationhood .32 Nationalism assumes that people naturally group themselves into nations, that these nations have identifiable characteristics, and that their only legitimate form of government is self-government. 33 Making language central to nationalism, argues Elie Kedourie, erases the distinction between linguistic and racial nationalism, because then the conception of nationalism itself contains all linguistic, racial, religious and other features. The connection between language and ethnicity is also heightened. 34 Nation - "one of the most puzzling and tendentious items in the political lexicon" 35 - has been variously defined as dependent more on "objective" factors including language, religion and customs, territory and institutions; and alternatively as coalescing from "subjective" factors like attitudes, perceptions, and sentiments. 36 The features deemed "objective" have been conceived to mark the boundaries of nations, and features deemed "subjective" to give it internal cohesion and solidarity. "Objective" criteria like language are not enough in and of themselves to establish whether a group is a nation or not. Rather, suggests Walker Connor, "the essence of the nation is a psychological bond that joins a people and differentiates it, in the subconscious conviction of its members, from all nonmembers in a most vital way." 37 His conception closely agrees with Ernest Gellner's, where a common language does not bind a group into a nation without mutual recognition of each other. "A mere category of persons (say, occupants of a given territory or speakers of a given language, for example) becomes a nation if and when the members of the category firmly recognize certain mutual rights and duties to 32 "Let us fo llow our own path ... let all men speak we ll or ill of our nati on, our literature, our language: they are ours, they are ourselves, and let that be enough," 8 . Suphan, ed. , Johann Gottfried Herder, Sdmmtliche Werke (Berlin: Weidmann), in Smith, Nationalism, 27. 33 Elie Kedourie, Nationalism (London : Hutchinson, 1961 ), 68. 34 1bid. 35 Charles Tilly, The Formation of National States in Western Europe (Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 1975 ), 6. 36 Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History (Malden, MA : Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2001 ), I I. 37 Walker Connor, Ethnonationalism: The Quest fo r Understanding (Princeton University Press, 1994 ), 197. �18 SLOV AKIA-2015 each other in virtue of their shared membership in it. "38 A people must feel its nationhood. That feeling of nationhood, the condition of being a nation, has been theorized in two main ways in its European context. The first is considered to derive more from a sense of mutual belonging to a political community in which equal citizens participate in a common culture; while the second is regarded as more related to a sense of mutual belonging to an ethnocultural community of descent with political ambitions.39 Neither is exclusive, nor analogous to the state. States can be defined by their autonomous institutional activity, and by their "legitimate monopoly of coercion and extraction in a given territory," but the state itself is not the national political community. 40 Anthony Smith's paired conceptions of nation and ethnie highlight the group's internal cohesion, solidarity, and mutual loyalty. Smith defines nation as "a named human community occupying a homeland, and having common myths and a shared history, a common public culture, a single economy and common rights and duties for all members;" as distinguished from ethnie "a named human community connected to a homeland, possessing common myths of ancestry, shared memories, one or more elements of shared culture, and a measure of solidarity, at least among the elites."41 Smith's concept of the ethnie is especially important in the Jewish case for understanding the coherence of the group without territory and without a special, unique, shared vernacular. Late nineteenth century Jewish nationalism relied on "subjective" characteristics for modem Jewish nation building; above all a common heritage and shared historical experience. Language was conspicuously absent from the short list. "Who amongst us has a sufficient acquaintance with Hebrew to ask for a railway ticket in that language?" Theodor Herzl famously asked in 1896.42 38 Ernest Geitner, Nations and Natio nalism (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983), 7. 39 Marsha L. Rozenblit, Reconstructing a National Identity: The Jews of Habsburg Austria during World War I (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 7. 40 Smith, Nationalism, 12. 41 Ibid ., 13 . 42 Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State (New York: American Zionist Emergency Council, 1946), 145. �SLOV AKIA-2015 19 How then do you count "nationality" on the census? What, in fact, is being counted? Census-creating demographers differ from theorists in their need to count and quantify, classify and categorize state populations. Definitions of nation push and pull against the institutional demands of the state. The real question here is how the complex and fluctuating "nation" is tagged and boxed and bureaucratized for use by the state. What does it mean and how is it used ? Nation indeed becomes, as Rogers Brubaker explains, a "practical category, institutionalized form, contingent event, and category of prac43 tice." "We should not ask 'what is a nation,"' he writes, "but rather: how is nationhood as a political and cultural form institutionalized within and among states? How does nation work as a practical category, as classificatory scheme, as cognitive frame?" 44 The crystallization of Jewish nationality in Czechoslovakia exemplifies the process by which nation is bureaucratized and given institutional form in interwar East Central Europe. Jewish nationality became an exceptional category of practice within the borders of interwar Czechoslovakia; it was the only nationality in East Central Europe not bound by language . Demographers began to answer the question of how to count nationality on the census at the meeting of the International Statistical Congress in St. Petersburg in 1872. There, they agreed that language was the primary marker of nationality, and that counting nationality according to language was the most effective means of capturing and recording nationality for the interests of the state. The question of how to codify nationality in a state census had first been debated at the 1857 Congress in Vienna, but without conclusive results. The St. Petersburg Congress decided that language was the best objective indicator of nationality, the most reliable one, and the least confusing, as "each perfectly knows the language used since childhood to think and express oneself." 45 But how should the census ask about language? The conclusions of the St. Petersburg conference point to 43 Rogers Brubaker, Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1996), 7. 44 1bid, 16. 45 Dominique Arel , "Language categories in censuses : backward- or forward-looking?" David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel , eds. , Census and Identity. The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Censuses. (Cambridge: Cambridge Un iversity Press, 2002), 95. �20 SLOV AKIA-2015 an acceptance of mother tongue as the most valid language situation type to use in codifying nationality for the census. Other language situation types include, but are not limited to: language most commonly used, language of daily use, family language, language in which one prays, and the language that one speaks with one's children. 46 Language was first counted on the Austrian and the Hungarian census in 1880. In Austria, language was counted according to "language of daily use" (Umgangssprache); while in the Kingdom of Hungary, language was counted according to "mother tongue" (anyanyelv). When Czechoslovakia came into existence after the First World War, it brought together two traditions of national codification through language proxy.In discussing the relationship of language to nationality for the development of the census, Czechoslovak demographers favored "mother tongue," as nationality was counted in the Kingdom of Hungary, over "language of daily use," as it was done in Austria. They argued that counting according to language of daily use had led to an under representation of Czechs on the Austrian census, and inherently underestimated the numbers of minority national groups where the official language was that of the dominant national group . The dependent position of the Czechs had resulted in more Czechs declaring themselves as Germans when counted this way, they asserted, because a Czech in a German language environment would indeed have used that language on a daily basis. Counting according to mother tongue had led to even greater statistical manipulations in the Kingdom of Hungary. Czechoslovak demographers contended that corruption of the census process in Hungary for the purpose of statistically increasing the number of Magyars had resulted in a gross underestimation of the number of ethnic Slovaks. Consequently, Slovaks as a people suffered more in Hungary than the Czechs in Austria. Yet they agreed that if the census were carried out properly, counting nationality by mother tongue would yield the most accurate and objective picture of 46 David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel, "Censuses, Identity formation and the struggle for political power," in Kertzer and Arel, eds., 26, and Dominique Arel, "Language categories in censuses: backward- or forward-looking?" in Kertzer and Arel, eds. , 97. �SLOVAKIA-2015 21 47 the demographic composition of the state. Czechoslovak demographers accepted the definition of mother tongue as "the language which is most familiar to a person since childhood and with which they think, or simply the language which their parents taught them in their earliest youth. "48 Josef Mraz worked with the definition of mother tongue as well as its caveat, used on the 1910 census of the Kingdom of Hungary to make the mother tongue category as broad as possible, in reformulating the conception of nationality for the 1919 Slovak census. He did not dispute the Hungarian definition's core: mother tongue is the language "to which one confesses as one's own and with which one best and most gladly speaks. "49 It was the caveat that troubled him: Although mother tongue is identical with the language which everyone learned in their childhood in the majority of cases, usually from their mother, it can nevertheless happen that a child has another mother tongue than the mother, especially when the child acquired it in child-care (!), in school (!), or as a result of circumstances by which the parents have different mother tongues, another language than the language of the child's mother. 50 By broadening the definition of mother tongue so that it became disengaged from the language one's mother actually spoke, Hungarian demographers allowed for a greater number of people to declare for the Magyar mother tongue than would have otherwise been possible. While this definition may have obtained in a number of cases due to widespread linguistic assimilation in the Kingdom of Hungary, it left the door open for abuses . ... (Co ntinuation: Next page with Statistical Tables) 47 Jan Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?" Ceskoslovensky statisticky vestnik (CSV) II ( 1921 ): 49, and Antonin Bohac, "Slovensko ve svetle statistiky -kniha Josefa Mraza," CSV II (1921): 225-6. 48 Cyril Horacek, "Narodnostni statistika," CSV II ( 1921 ): 187. 49 JosefMraz, Slovensko ve svetle statistiky (Praze, 1920), 33 . 50 Jbid. Exclamation marks in the original. �SLOV AKIA-2015 22 Table 2.1: Mother Tongue of the Hungarian Population According to Religion in 1910 According to Absolute Number Hungarian Total 10,888,138 5,924,665 Roman Catholic 304,570 2,025,508 Greek Catholic 2,573,683 2,621,329 Calvinist 418,449 1,340,143 Lutheran 2,987, 163 40,851 Greek Orthodox 74,296 73,267 Unitarian 932,458 705,488 Jewish 9,602 17,452 Other 20,886,487 10,050,5 75 Total Rusvn Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other Total German Slovak Romanian 1,372,103 1,406,207 8,531 1,785 79,338 1,133,671 26,964 429,687 2,494 10,645 463,912 706 1,412 1,592 1,799,255 168 203,230 1,004 2,037,435 64 5,830 1,268 1,967,9 70 559 991 3,021 2,949,032 Croatian Other Serbian 5,109 1,810,302 3,892 357,329 463,604 9,511 1,908 31,121 57 56 1,03 1 1,028 791 860 49 128 1,099,386 7,491 25,528 42,580 4 2,702 24 472,587 7 10,387 276 1,833,162 21 91 996 1,106,471 206 3,739 3,739 469,255 According to Absolute Percentage Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other Total Total 52.1 Hungarian 54.4 German 12.6 9.7 15.0 0.1 3.9 56.0 12.6 6.4 14.3 98.2 31.2 1.4 1.0 32.1 0.1 0.4 34.6 0.0 0.1 0.1 60.3 0.3 4.5 0.1 100 98.6 75.7 55.0 0.2 21.8 5.8 0.1 0.6 7.3 0.8 0.1 17.3 Slovak Romanian 12.9 0.1 �SLOV AKIA-2015 Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other 23 0.1 16.6 0.0 3.3 22.9 0.5 0.1 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 36.8 0.3 1.9 1.4 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.0 1.1 1.6 0.0 0.0 5.7 0.3 0.4 7.2 Magyar Statisztikai Evkonyv. Uj Folyam XXIII. I 9 I 5 (Budapest, 1918), 20, chart 13, "A nepesseg anyanyelve vallasok szerint 1910-ben." Table 2.2: Mother Tongue of the Hungarian Population in 1900 and 1910 Total Population Mother Tongue of the Population Hungary Magyar Geman Slovak Romanian Rusyn Croatian Serbian Other Total non Magyar Total 1900 absolute number 1910 percentage 8,651,520 1,999,060 2,002,165 2,798,559 424,774 191,432 437,737 333,008 8,186,735 16,838,255 absolute number 51.4 11.9 11.9 16.6 2.5 1.1 2.6 2.0 48.6 100 Percentage 9,944,627 1,903,357 1,946,357 2,948,186 464,270 194,808 461,516 401,412 8,319,906 18,264,533 54.4 10.4 10.7 16.1 2.5 1.1 2.5 2.9 45.5 100 CroatiaSlavonia Magyar German Slovak Romanian Rusyn Croatian Serbian Other 90,781 136,121 17,476 920 4,673 1,490,672 610,908 64,753 3.8 5.6 0.7 0.0 0.2 61.7 25.3 2.7 105,948 134,078 21,613 846 8,317 1,638,354 644,955 67,843 4.1 5.1 0.8 0.0 0.3 62.5 24.6 2.6 �24 Total non-Magyar Total SLOV AKIA-2015 2,325,523 96.2 2,516,006 95.9 2,416,304 100 2,621,954 100 Hungarian Kingdom Magyar 8,742,301 45.4 10,050,575 48.1 German 2,135,181 2,037,435 11.1 9.8 Slovak 2,019.641 10.5 1,967,970 9.4 Romanian 2,799,479 2,949,032 14.5 14.1 Rusyn 429,447 2.2 472,587 2.3 Croatian 1,682,104 8.7 1,833,162 8.8 Serbian 1,048,645 1,106,471 5.5 5.3 Other 397,761 469,255 2.1 2.2 Total 10,512,258 54.6 10,835,912 51.9 non-Magyar Total 19,254,559 100 20,886,487 100 Magyar Statisztikai Evkonyv. Uj Folyam XXl/l. 1915 (Budapest, 1918), 15, chart 11 , "A nepesseg anyanyelve es magyarul tudasa 1900-ban es 19 I 0-ben." In their analysis, and in their own efforts to bolster Slovak mnnbers, Czechoslovak demographers were uninterested in linguistic assimilation, seeking instead to strip the inhabitants of Slovakia down to their national skins . Their efforts illustrate what Dominique Arel has explained as a backward looking orientation toward language categories in censuses. Arel argues that, even though nationalists portray linguistic assimilation as "forced, unnatural, and fundamentally illegitimate, the result of destructive policies by an 'imperialist' state," it is in reality a normal and expected occurrence. Among speakers of a less prestigious language, there are individuals who will choose to linguistically assimilate for social advancement. 51 In those cases declaration of mother tongue as the "language one best and most gladly speaks" may well differ from the language of one's mother. According to this reasoning, Czechoslovak demographers were backwards-looking because they sought to discover the "real" nationality of the inhabitants of Slovakia, their "true group belong- 51 Arel, "Language categories in censuses," in Census and Identity, Kertzer and Arel, eds., 93 . �SLOV AKIA-2015 25 ing" based on their ancestral origins, rather than linguistic assimilation: whether coerced, statistically falsified, or voluntary. Czechoslovak demographers sought to demonstrate the unreliability of the 1910 census of the Kingdom of Hungary through critical comparative examination of the data collected within the language categories of "mother tongue" and "language knowledge. "52 In a typical example, Jan Auerhan 53 pointed to the 301,694 Magyars with knowledge of Slovak counted on the 1910 census within the sixteen counties and four municipalities of the Kingdom of Hungary which in whole or part became Slovakia. Two-thirds of them were likely to be ethnic Slovaks, he concluded. Counting them as Slovaks, instead of as Magyars with Slovak language knowledge, would raise the ethnic Slovak number from 1,708,592 to 1,900,000.54 The likelihood that a Slovak would be proficient in the Magyar language in an environment where Magyar was the official language - the language of instruction in schools, the language used in government offices and the court system - was incomparably greater than a Magyar proficient in Slovak. Mother tongue was not a perfect indicator of nationality, but what could be offered in its stead to collect national data? Mraz, in his Zilina report, strikingly concluded that "nationality" alone be used. Rather than employ language proxy, the census should ask the people directly for their nationality. This was a controversial method due its high level of subjectivity. Nationality declaration would not be linked to language as an external marker. Considering the ways in which Czechoslovak demographers regarded mother tongue to have been manipulated on the censuses of the Kingdom of Hungary, Mraz wrote: 52 Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?"; Mraz,"Dva dukazy o falesnosti mad'arskych dat o feci matefske na zaklade dat o znalosti feci," ; and Hora.eek, "Narodnostni statistika," all in CSV II (1921). 53 Jan Auerhan (1880-1942) worked as a statistician for the Provincial Statistical Office of the Bohemian Kingdom from 1906, and became the undersecretary to the president of the Czechoslovak State Statistical Office at its founding in January 1919. He is most noted for his work in the demographic and anthro-geographic fields, the study of Czech and Slovak minorities abroad, and minority questions more generally. Federalni statisticky ufad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky, 186. 54 Jan Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?" CSV II ( 1921 ): 51 . �26 SLOV AKIA-2015 In contrast to [mother tongue], the concept "nationality" means confession to a certain internal conviction, which cannot be explained in an ambiguous way, similar to religious conviction . That confession to a certain nationality is the only correct one for ascertaining national ratios. "Mother tongue" has for this reason been eliminated from the demographic markers and as a surrogate question for "nationality." In connection with this is the question at hand, whether a separate "Jewish nationality" should be accepted without regard to religious affiliation. It follows from the concept of nationality described that it is not possible to force someone to declare a separate Jewish nationality, if [that declaration] is to express their internal conviction; because the Jews indeed form a separate race, there will, however, be no recommendation in the instructions for this procedure, except that Jewish nationality shall be left to the rubric of "Other nationality." The Jews should be left the option of declaring themselves either for their own separate nationality or for the nationality of others, which with the influence of environment and education or the like they have accepted as their own. For the stating of the Jewish race the remaining rules of the statement of affiliation to the Jewish confession shall suffice.55 Mraz's interpretation of nationality as an "internal conviction" was most closely related to the definition advanced by Karoly Keleti at the International Statistical Congress meeting in St. Petersburg in 1872. Keleti was the first director of the Hungarian Statistical Bureau founded one year earlier. He helped create the 1867 and the 1880 censuses for the Kingdom of Hungary. 56 The 1872 St. Petersburg Congress not only debated nationality enumeration on the census, but the meaning of nationality itself. Three conceptions of nationality emerged from the deliberations : I) political, in which nationality is equivalent to state belonging; 2) physical, in which nationality is defined racially; and 3) psychical, in which nationality is understood as a psychological community penetrating individual feeling and collective endeavors. 57 Keleti took the 55 SNA, f. MPS, box 277, inv. no. 76. Italics added. Karoly Keleti (born 1833, Pozsony [Pressburg, Bratislava] - died 1892, Budapest) Eletrajzi lexikon. www.kereso.hu-yrk-Ryrgenwm/7502 accessed June 17, 2005 . 57 Bohac, "Narodnost ci jazyk?" CSV II (1921 ): 50. 56 �SLOV AKIA-2015 27 position that nationality cannot be equivalent to state belonging, as that is so-called political nationality, common in Western Europe, but not in the multinational states of Central and Eastern Europe. Nor does ethnic (Stamm) belonging answer to nationality, even if its main marker is language. Nationality was best defined, according to Keleti, as a "subjective state internal to the individual, a feeling analogous to religion that depends on origin and the environment in which a person lives and grows ."58 Keleti's definition was based on social-psychological criteria for which it is difficult to secure an objective external marker. It moved away from language as a definite indicator of nationality, leav ing room for belonging to a nationality whose language one may not use daily or that is not considered a viable national language (like Hebrew or Yiddish in the view of the Czechoslovak state). This was a big plus for Mraz and hi s colleagues, but also ambiguous enough to allow for pressures and fal sifications, like those they presumed embedded in the last Hungarian census before the war. Yet Keleti 's definition was attractive to the Czechoslovak demographers preparing the 1919 Slovak census. This definition would enable the indivi dual to confess nationality as directly as religion, as an expression of his/her internal conviction and self-understanding. Czechoslovak demographers hoped it would un cover the numbers of ethnic Slovaks who had previously been hidden from view because they were counted as Magyar-speakers. They would now be recorded under the banner of their "real" nationality, free to directly profess their "true" group belonging. Jews, too, would be able to declare their "true" group belonging for the first time; not only as a religion, but also as a distinct nationality . Antonin Bohac 59 found Keleti's definition to coincide with concepts of ethno-racial group belonging. "Since the means for express58 Ibid. , 49. Keleti publ is hed his views on nationality in 1880 in the Stalistische Monatschrift under the title "Zur Frage der Volksziihlung." [Cyril Horacek, "Narodnostni statistika," CSV I ( 1920): 187.] 59 Antonin Bohac ( 1882-1 950) is regarded as the fo under of Czechoslovak demographics, especially with regard to questi ons of nationality. He was a member of the Czechoslovak delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 19 19, and worked fo r the Czechos lovak State Statistical Office upon his return. Bohac was the deputy chairman of the Society for the Study of Nationality Questi ons. Federalni statisticky ufad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky (Prague, 1989), 195. Bohac was also associate professor of demography at the Charles Uni versity Faculty of Science where he lee- �28 SLOV AKIA-2015 ing psychological states is language," Bohac wrote, "as Keleti [elsewhere] has stated, the concept of nationality in this sense is quite close to the concept of nationality as ethnic/racial belonging (kmenova prislusnost), for which language is the main connecting bond and main external marker."60 Bohac was correct to observe that Keleti's definition bore a strong resemblance to a physical understanding of nationality, which gave race and/or ethnicity an expanded role. Language remained the main outward indicator of nationality, but was no longer considered identical to nationality itself. Espousing this conception moved nationality closer to ethnicity. It elevated ethnic understandings of the self and the group . The final formulation of the 1919 census shows that the Czechoslovak administration and its demographers accepted Mraz's definition of nationality, based on Keleti's: "an individual national-political conviction according to ethnic belonging to a certain national unit or nation ."61 Five sub-headings were placed under Nationality on the form: Slovaks and Czechs, Rusyns, Magyars, Germans, and Others .62 Czechoslovak demographers understood Jewish nationality to be included under the subheading "Others." While "Jewish nationality" was an available option, though not a requirement, for the Jewish population, the category remained invisible on the actual census form in 1919. The 1919 census asked directly for nationality without the intermediary of language. *** In the late August heat of 1919, census takers dispersed across the territory of Slovakia to ask the people about their nationality. Many complained that the whole endeavor was disorganized and insufficiently thought through. Census takers expressed frustration that they had not received the census forms with time enough to look tured on the "Basics of Population Science." He introduced the usage of punch card technology for processing Czechoslovak census data."Historie statistiky v Cechach po roce 1918," The Czech Statistical Office http ://www.czso.cz/csu/redakce.ns£'i/historie_statistiky_ v_cechach_po_roce_ l 918 (accessed January 9, 2012). 60 Federalni statisticky urad, 50. 61 Ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora 1921, 77* (cast textova). 62 SNA, f. MPS, box 277 . This carton contains the original hand-written forms used for collecting the raw data for the 1919 census. �SLOV AKIA-2015 29 them over, nor so that they could fill one out to use as an example. Due to lack of funds and inadequate organization, many found themselves forced to sleep in train stations and on park benches during the census period, which surely affected their ability to fulfill their duties. One census taker reported that his census materials were stolen from him while he slept! The population, and oftentimes even local community officials, had not been informed about the purpose of the census, nor when it would take place.63 If these complaints are accurate, they undermine the seriousness with which the Czechoslovak administrators prepared the foundation of the 1919 census, as well as the importance they placed upon it as a means of accurately proving national ratios in Slovakia. Yet last minute pre-census agitation to prepare the Slovak population did take place. The prominent Slovak national newspaper Narodnie noviny called on Slovaks " ... to consciously and openly confess their Slovak stock ... to let the beautiful words: 'I am Slovak' 64 consciously and boldly sound from the mouths of loyal citizens. " This example is atypical, however, as the agitation took place in the central Slovak town of Turciansky Svaty Martin, the seat of the Slovak national movement and home to the Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural society. Narodnie noviny explained that the purpose of the census was to prove that Slovakia was Slovak, and that it was essential for building its own independent country. Every citizen could participate in building that independent state through the census, the article stressed, an idea meant to reinforce the democratic spirit of the new era.65 "You have no reason to be ashamed of [declaring Slovak nationality]," counseled the leading newspaper in Saris county, a region of eastern Slovakia where national consciousness remained weak, "the Czechoslovak name has the best reputation not only in Europe, but also in America and Asia." The paper ran boldface announcements at the foot of its pages urging all Slovaks to proudly declare to the census taker that they were Slovaks. 66 These reassurances did little to assuage prevalent Slovak fears about the real purpose of the census. This terribly urgent appeal itself 63 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. nos. 7, 8-9. Scitani lidu na Slovensku 1919. Anketa mezi popisujicimi povei'niky. 64 "Scitanie l'udu," Nizrodnie noviny (Turciansky Svaty Martin), August 22, 1919. 65 Ibid. 66 "Slovaci!" Sari.fake hlasy (Presov), August 24, 1919. �30 SLOVAKIA-2015 may have caused anxiety for a population with a low-level of national consciousness. Suspicions ranged from the belief that the goal was to raise or introduce new taxes, undertake military recruitment, or to carry out a plebiscite to divide the territory . The military rumor was the most widespread. Many Slovaks worried that a war would soon break out between the Poles and Magyars, and the job of the census takers was to find able-bodied men to fight. Whoever declared Slovak nationality would be conscripted to fight once again, while other nationalities would be freed from that duty. While it was later revealed that the rumor began in Magyar circles, many people in the border counties still held back from declaring themselves Slovak. Others believed the census to be connected to imminent requisitioning of cattle and grain. Some, more optimistically, believed more satisfactory food and fuel distribution would follow, and possibly a more advantageous land distribution. Still others imagined the census to be an exercise in identifying foreigners (especially Magyars, Poles, and Magyarone Slovaks) and expelling them from Czechoslovakia.67 Widespread fears and suspicions about the real intentions of the 1919 census underscored the atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity in Slovakia at the beginning of the Czechoslovak state building project, as well as contributed to a certain level of inaccuracy in the results. Of the four national groups which were the most interesting to the state: Slovaks, Magyars, Germans, and Jews, the greatest difficulties arose in recording the nationality of the Slovaks and the Jews. Magyars and Germans were by-and-large ready for the census and decisive in their national declarations. Within the ethnic Magyar population, only state and municipal employees exhibited uncertainty in their national declarations. 68 Magyar language use, national uncertainty, fear and mistrust accounted for the greatest difficulties in recording the highest possible number of Slovaks on the 1919 census. Magyar or Magyarone Slovak census takers were known to record entire ethnic Slovak or mixed nationality villages as Magyar, or count individuals as Magyar because they were able to communicate with Magyar-speaking cen67 Mraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (1921 ): 133134. 68 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. no. 4. "O Mad'arech, Nemcich a zidech" �SLOV AKIA-2015 31 sus takers without the help of an interpreter. 69 The latter illustrates precisely what Mraz and his colleagues had hoped to avoid in bypassing language as identical with or as a surrogate for nationality . They did not want ethnic Slovaks counted as Magyars based on their Magyar language proficiency. Other problems stemmed from uncertainty surrounding the meaning of nationality (primarily in eastern Slovakia). Many Slovaks feared what might happen to them if they did not declare themselves as Magyars. They distrusted the "godless Czechs" and "false prophets from Prague" who came to their doors. 70 The Slovak population tended to be more religious than the highly secularized Czech one, and Slovak national leaders expressed wari71 ness about the "agnostic progressivism" of the Czech intelligentsia. Common answers among Slovaks when asked about their nationality included: Slovak and Magyar ("aji Slovak, aji Mad'ar"), it doesn't matter ("to vsetko jedno"), and Hungarian Slovak ("Uhorsky Slovak"). 72 In eastern Slovakia, other answers included : I speak Slovak and Magyar ("hutorim 73 po slovensky i po mad'arsky"), I pray in Slovak ("modlim sa po slovensky"), and Catholic ("katolik") . Mraz noted in his analysis of the results that Slovaks often confused religion with nationality. 74 Interestingly, this observation recalls the proximity of religious and national feeling within Czechoslovakia's re-conceptualization of nationality, as well as the fine distinction made between them in rec69 Ibid., 7. "O opravnych navrzich pro pfisti scitani. Ibid., 5. "O nepfistojnostech pfi scitani," and Josef Mraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (1921): 135 . 71 Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia, 23. 72 All the Slavic languages differentiate the word "Hungarian" from ,,Magyar." The former refers to citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary, whereas the latter refers to the predominant ethnic group in that Kingdom. In Slovak, these terms are "Mad'ar" (ethnic Hungarian), Uhorsko (the Kingdom of Hungary), and uhorsky (deriving from the Kingdom of Hungary) . In the early 19 th century, Magyar nationalists followed the lead of Count Istvan Szechenyi in equating "Magyar" and "Hungarian" in foreign languages as part of their drive to assimilate all the non-Magyar nationalities into Magyar language and culture. The non-Magyar nationalities of Hungary rejected the equating of "Magyar" with "Hungarian" and still do. For more on Szechyni ' s activities see Dejiny S/ovenska II ( 1526-1848), ed. Samuel Cambel (Bratislava: VEDA, 1987), 488-90. 73 "Hutorit'" is the Saris form of "hovorit'," to speak. 74 JosefMraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II ( 192 1): 135. II 70 �32 SLOV AKIA-2015 ognizing "Jewish nationality." Nationality was something to be understood and felt as an "internal conviction, similar to religious confession," but consciously separated, and given a higher position than religion in the hierarchy of self and group values of definition. One's nationality, not one's religion, was of the greatest interest to the state. One's nationality, not one's religion, was the primary indicator of one's most strongly held inner values and loyalties. For the Jewish population, answers to the question of nationality were most striking for their variety. Census takers disparaged the eclecticism of the Jewish response, attributing it to opportunism . In some cases, they remarked, national declarations among Jews reached comical proportions: the head of one household declared as a Slovak, his wife as a German, and the children as Hungarians . They noted, however, that often Jews stuck to Jewish nationality so that they would not have to affiliate with any of the other nationality choices.75 The majority of Jews in Slovakia chose the Jewish nationality option on the 1919 census, officially recorded as "Other." Census takers recommended that a separate column be made available on the next census for Jewish nationality because so many Jews had expressly asked for it. 76 In the uncertain environment which prevailed in Slovakia in August 1919, shortly after the rollback of Bela Kun's Hungarian Red Army forces but before the de jure securing of the Czechoslovak borders, Jews in Slovakia wished to avoid a difficult and possibly treacherous national affiliation decision through declaring Jewish nationality. Many Jews viewed Jewish nationality as an escape from the nationality conflict. Choosing Jewish nationality appeared to be a good way to opt out, to take a neutral position, to make the safest bet on an unpredictable future. Basing the decision to declare for Jewish nationality on these criteria made it more a strategic and less a heart-felt choice. For the time being, at least, it had less to do with deep-seated feelings of belonging to a Jewish national group, and more to do with trying to make the best possible choice in 75 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. no. 4. "Mad'arech, Nemcich a zidech." JosefMniz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (192 1): 129. Unfortunately, the demographic breakdown of those who chose "Other" on the 1919 Slovak census is unavailable, so the conclusion that the majority of Jews declared for Jewish nationality comes from census taker reports and their insistence that it be included as a separate column on the next census. See footnote : Statni ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora 1921, 77*. 76 �SLOV AKIA-2015 33 a high-stakes gamble. The Jewish population in Slovakia overall, counted by religion and nationality, numbered 135,918 according to the 1921 statewide Czechoslovak census, and 354,342 in the state as a whole. 77 Slovaks, counted only under the nationality rubric "Czechoslovak" on the interwar censuses, numbered 1,954,446 in 1919 and 2,025,003 in 1921, a positive change of 3.61 percent. 78 The popularity of the Jewish nationality declaration on the 1919 Slovak census (as "Other"), combined with a majority of ethnic Slovaks declaring as "Slovak" 79 led to a significant decrease in the number of Magyars recorded in Slovakia compared with the last prewar census. This decline heightened the Czechoslovak administration's awareness of further potential benefits rendered to the state by Jewish nationality . If the Jews, who traditionally affiliated with Germanspeakers in Bohemia and Moravia, and Magyar-speakers in Slovakia, declared for Jewish nationality, then the statistical legitimacy of the Czechoslovak nation-state would rise as the numbers of Germans and Hungarians fell. "Jewish nationality" would work to the advantage of the dominant "Czechoslovak" nationality and national state. If, as this argument goes, Jewish nationality favored the Czechoslovak nationality in solving the state's nationalities problems, then declaring Jewish nationality was not really a way of opting out. It was not a neutral position. It could not be an escape from the nationality conflict if it meant - once again - casting one's lot with the dominant state nationality. Jewish nationality may have seemed like an exit, but this was an illusion. One could not avoid taking sides in the interwar nationality conflicts . *** It is a valid and important point that the Czechoslovak government would favor Jewish nationality for its ability to statistically reduce the number of Germans and Magyars in the state. But that con77 Antonin Bohac, Narodnostni mapa republiky ceskoslovenske. Podrobny popis narodnostnich hranic, ostrovu a mensin (Prague, 1926), pp. 148-155 . 78 Ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora I 92 / Prague, 19240, Table 74: Narodnosti na Slovensku podle scitani lidu z roku 1919 a 1921 . 79 Slovaks who declared as Slovak, according to the options presented on the 1919 Slovak census, were recorded as "Czechoslovak." Slovaks were not recorded as "Slovak" until the 1930 statewide census. �34 SLOV AKIA-2015 clusion neglects the deeper meaning of its inclusion beyond the statistical benefits it could render. Creating a Jewish nationality category manifested the ways in which the meaning of national affiliation had transformed through the cataclysm of the First World War and the establishment of East Central European successor states based on the national principle. Josef Mraz elegantly and succinctly summed up these changes when he stated that declaring for a certain nationality was an expression of internal conviction . Because the very meaning of national affiliation had changed, "Jewish nationality" emerged as a recognized nationality category . Nationality had taken on the problematic role of the manifestation of one's personal convictions, inner values, and ultimate loyalty . Nationality moved ever closer to an essential ethnic or racial understandings of "true" group belonging. The methods and results of the 1919 special census in Slovakia were useful in providing a tested model of nationality investigation based on subjective, internal, ethnic/racial criteria, already approved before an international body (the Paris Peace Conference). The 1919 census had been an experiment in bringing methods of counting and recording the population into line with the new postwar vision of the national state. The 1921 census would build on 1919 methods in circumstances which required more than securing the new borders; they required filling the demarcated territory with meaning, as well as answering the dual questions of what Czechoslovakia was and how nationality and nationhood would function in this state. Examining the 1919 Slovak census offers insight into how Czechoslovakia understood itself as the manifestation of Czechoslovak: self-determination, and the place of the rights of the other nationalities to their own self-determination within this framework. � SLOV AKIA-2015 7 THE 1919 CENSUS ON THE TERRITORY OF SLOV AKIA 1 Rebekah Klein-Pejsova When the First World War ended in 1918, the four empires that had determined the shape of state and social relations within and beyond their borders - the Habsburg, the German, the Russian, and the Ottoman - had dissolved. A state system based on the principle of national self-determination took their place in East Central Europe, in which citizenship and state belonging were seen through a national lens. Unrest and anarchy were characteristic of the prevailing atmosphere in many regions of the collapsing Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in the fall of 1918. In Slovakia, that instability was part of the larger struggle for the future of the newly bounded territory . Unlike other regions of former Hungary being incorporated into the new or transformed successor states, like Croatia (Yugoslavia) or Transylvania (Romania), Slovakia had never been administratively defined on its own, but solely as sixteen counties and four municipalities of northern Hungary. By the end of the war, the collapse of the old order without replacement by the new left Slovakia in a chaotic condition. Amid the upheaval, looting, and anti-Jewish excesses that typified the period, local National Councils had formed with the goal of consolidating the new state. But they were too weak to decisively resist regional Hungarian opposition and Budapest's efforts to maintain the territory. 2 While Czechoslovakia's birth was announced in Prague on October 28, 1918, the view from Slovakia was far less definitive. It was not a foregone conclusion that Slovakia would indeed be incorporated into the new state. Slovakia was in a precarious position, loosened from defeated Hungary, but not yet officially joined with Bohemia and Moravia. 1 This article is a version of a chapter originally published in my book Mapping Jewish Loyalties in !nterwar Slovakia (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 20 I 5). This material appears courtesy of Indiana University Press. All rights reserved. 2 Cubomir Liptak, "Slovakia in the 20 th Century," in Elena Mannova, ed ., A Concise History of Slovakia. Studia Historica Slovaca XXI (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SA V, 2000), 239 . �8 SLOV AKIA-2015 Slovak historians characterize the unstable "Prevrat " era as the "Struggle for Slovakia," a view that highlights Slovakia's contested status between the Magyars and the Czechs. Save for a handful of Slovak national leaders, the Slovaks themselves moved through this picture as a frustrated underclass, taking advantage of the volatile, chaotic climate to set upon state administrators, notaries, policemen, shopkeepers, innkeepers, and the propertied . Slovaks found themselves in a moment of great release. It offered them a chance to vent their anger and frustration at the war and the Hungarian system . The newly-formed local National Councils sought to mitigate these widespread outbreaks of violence. Yet these local organs had little control, or the ability to quell Hungarian resistance to the power transfer, which was further impeded by the power structure of the old state, still in place . A Hungarian demand for a referendum on the changes surfaced, relying on the fragmentation of the population along regional and social lines, degrees of national consciousness, and lack of information about the political transformation . It was the first time Budapest asked Slovaks for their opinions . The views of ordinary people, "varied from enthusiastic welcoming of the new state and the 'liberation' of Slovakia, through apathy and desire for peace, to fear of a new unknown situation, of uncertain permanence and threaten3 ing new bloodshed and military solutions. " The Hungarian National Council in Budapest came into being only on October 25, 1918, somewhat later than those of the national minorities. It was established by Count Mihaly Karolyi, who was widely believed to be the emperor-king's obvious choice for the new Prime Minister. Oszkar Jaszi, the progressive Hungarian social scientist, historian, and politician, drafted the Hungarian National Council's twelve-point program. It called for Hungarian independence, an immediate and separate peace treaty with the Allies, universal suffrage with a secret ballot, land reform, and recognition of the 4 rights of the national minorities within a federalized Hungary . When Emperor-King Charles appointed Count Janos Hadik instead, massive anti-government demonstrations broke out, demanding Karolyi. 5 3 Ibid. Peter Hanak, ed. , The Corvina History of Hungary: From Earliest Times Until lhe Present Day (Budapest: Corvina Books, 1991 ), 164. 5 Laszl6 Kontler, A History of Hungary (New York, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), 328. 4 �SLOV AKIA-2015 9 It was October 28, the same day as the declaration of the new Czechoslovak Republic in Prague. By the night of October 30 through 31, crowds of soldiers and civilians demonstrated in the streets of Budapest. They later occupied public buildings, prevented troops loyal to Karolyi from moving out of the city, captured Budapest's military governor, and freed political prisoners as in 1848. Soldiers tore off the emblems on their uniforms and replaced them with asters and rosettes. Emperor-King Charles retreated and Karolyi formed a new independent Hungarian government. Vanquished Hungary appeared to be on the path to democratization. 6 Meanwhile, Slovak national leaders, mostly from central Slovakia converged in Turciansky Svaty Martin, the seat of the Slovak national movement and established the Slovak National Council. They had little news of what was happening in Prague, Budapest, or Europe more broadly . The Council wished, however, to take a stand on the dramatically unfolding events . The Slovak politician Milan Hodza had been negotiating with Karolyi in Budapest. He arrived in Martin on October 30 just as the Council was about to issue the Martin Declaration, announcing the secession of Slovakia from Hungary, Slovak self-determination and a desire for inclusion in the Czechoslovak state, which fulfilled Prague's wishes .7 The Slovak National Council had no army, so it could not enforce its program or maintain order. Individual militias sprang up in towns and cities across Slovakia, engaging in a power struggle with the newly-formed Hungarian National Councils. It was a highly unstable environment. Demobilized Slovak soldiers (from the Hungarian army) formed the mainstay of active Slovak participation in the evolving power struggle. They created paramilitary groups in the forests, especially in western Slovakia, with about four thousand soldiers active around Bratislava. To dispel the threat of anarchy and establish control over the territory, the Czechoslovak National Council brought Slovak representatives into the newly formed National Assembly in Prague in early November of 1918. 8 Slovakia's first provisional "Slovak Government" was set up in Western Slovakia near the Moravia-Slovak border by the Czechoslo6 Hanak, ed ., Corvino History of Hungary , 164-5. Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1 987 (New Jersey: Princeton Uni versity Press, 1988), 40-41 . 8 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in th e 20 th Century," in Concise History of Slovakia, 239 . 7 �10 SLOV AKIA-2015 vak government in Prague, and began to function on November 6. It was led by Vavro Srobar, Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia. On Decemberl2, it was replaced by a Ministry for Slovakia, which Srobar established in Zilina in the midst of a combined Czech, French and Italian effort to drive Hungarian troops out of Slovak territory. 9 Less than two weeks later, on December 21, Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Edvard Benes successfully negotiated French 10 recognition of a demarcation line of the Slovak territory . Entente forces would drive Hungarian troops past the demarcation line on January 20, 1919. That line more or less became the country's official border with the signing of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. 11 When Srobar's administration grew too large for Zilina, he deliberated with Samuel Zoch, a Lutheran clergyman from Modra near Pressburg (later Bratislava) who was the principal author of the Martin Declaration of October 30, 1918, on where Slovakia's central government should be moved . They decided in early January of 1919 to move the capital to Pressburg on February 4, 1919. Zoch was placed in charge of the Pressburg district administration (zupan), and orchestrated the Czechoslovak takeover of the city from January 1, 1919. "Bratislava" became the city's standard official name in March of 1919. 12 Hungary would make one more sustained military effort toward maintaining its prewar borders. Under Bela Kun's short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic, lasting for 133 days beginning March 21, 1919, the Hungarian Red Army made significant inroads into Slovakia. It was driven out following an ultimatum by the Entente powers at the end of June 1919. The Hungarian Red Army finally retreated from Slovakia on June 30, 1919, and by July 24 the Czechoslovak government held the entire territory. 13 9 Peter Bugge, "The Making of a Slovak City: The Czechoslovak Renaming of Pressburg/Pozsony/Presporok, I 918-19," Austrian History Yearbook 35 (2004 ): 221. IOibid ., 213. 11 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in the 20 th Century," in Concise History of Slovakia, 243. 12 Bugge, "The Making of a Slovak City," 221 . 13 For a detailed discussion of the series of revolutions in Hungary see: Laszlo Kontler, A History of Hungary (New York, Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) chapter VII "In Search of an Identity" , 324-344; Ivan Volgyes, ed., Hungary in Revolution, 1918-1919. Nine Essays (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1971 ); Andras Sikl6s, Revolution in Hungary and the Dissolution of the Multinational State 1918 (Budapest: Akademiai Kiad6, 1988); Rudolf I. Tokes, Bela Kun and the Hungarian �SLOV AKIA-2015 11 On the Czechoslovak state level, the Struggle for Slovakia entailed not only the physical, geographic aspect of territorial incorporation, but also the more slippery aspect of drawing the multinational population of Slovakia into the mental landscape of the new state. Coming to terms with the World War I Czech argument that the Czechs and Slovaks were two branches of the same Czechoslovak nation, and so should together form the dominant national group within the Czechoslovak nation-state, required a shift in direction . The events of the "Prevrat" underscore the tense relations between, first and foremost, Hungarians and Slovaks, and Jews and Slovaks, but also, increasingly between Czechs and Slovaks. These relationships would influence shifts in overall understandings of nationhood and nationality, as well as national political programs within the new state. Czechoslovakia was a nation-state in formation. Successful Czechoslovak state building required incorporating the territory and peoples of Slovakia. This was not to be accomplished by gradually building popular consensus, but through military engagement and diplomatic maneuvering. 14 Drawing the borders in this way would have significant implications for Czechoslovakia's domestic and international nationalities problems. Prague needed the Slovaks, a "state forming nation," 15 or there would be no independent Czechoslovakia. Without the Slovaks, the Czechs could not form a majority in the parliament and legitimately create a viable state. The Slovaks likewise needed the Czechs to help them leave Hungary. They needed the Czechs to help them establish a functioning civil and governmental infrastructure in Slovakia, and to create an educational system for producing Slovak national elites ready to take control of the developing infrastructure. The help the Slovaks desired was temporary_ 16 Soviet Republic (published for the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University by New York: Praeger Publishers, 1967). 14 Aviel Roshwald, Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires (Lo ndon, NY: Routledge, 200 I), I 62. 15 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in the 20°1 Century," in A Concise History of Slovakia, 245. Czechs alone formed only 49 percent of the total Czechoslovak state population without the Slovaks. Whereas, accordin g to the 1921 Czechoslovak census, "Czechoslovaks" formed 65 .51 percent of the total Czechoslovak state population, and "Germans" 23.36 percent. 16 Liptak, "Vll. Slovakia in the 20°1 Century," in A Concise History of Slovakia, 245. �12 SLOV AKIA-2015 In the introduction to hi s memoir on the formative years 1918 through 1920, Osvobodene Slovensko (Liberated Slovakia), Vavro Srobar recounted hi s first meeting with R.W. Seton-Watson, the influential British historian and political activist who brought nationality questions in Austria-Hungary to the world's attention. In 1907 Seton-Watson came to R6zsahegy (Ruzomberok) in the central Slovak Low Tatra region, where Srobar was then working, while researching the national question for what would be his first major work, Racial Problems in Hungary. 17 Due to the objectivity and calm with which Seton-Watson di scussed Magyarization, Srobar found himself unable to discern where his visitor stood on the issue. Before they parted, Seton-Watson surprised Srobar with a question : "And what is your state program?" he asked. After a moment's hesitation, Srobar replied, "Great Moravia, 18 with Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia, and Pannonia," which Seton-Watson "accepted without commentary." "That [conversation] took place seven years before the outbreak of the world war," continued Srobar, "and eleven years afterward 'Great Moravia' received the name the 'Czechoslovak State."' 19 Language was the connection between the "Czechoslovak tribes" that Srobar professed in his memoir, from their ancient roots to the present. Even the establishment of a new literary language in Slovakia, thanks to I:udovit Stur's nineteenth century codification of the central Slovak dialect, "did not for a moment disturb the consciousness of Czechoslovak tribal unity," he asserted. "The longing for close cultural, economic, and political unity increased yearly in proportion to the growing pressure of brutal Magyarization," he added. 20 Srobar underscored a romantic one-thousand year story of the unitary Czechoslovak nation/tribe - focusing on shared language, history, 17 London : Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., 1908 . "Great Moravia," a large Slavic state that existed between 833 and 906, was an important component of the Czechoslovak romantic national idea as well as the development of Slovak nationalism. Considered to have bridged the western Slavs with the Slavonic tribes in the Balkans and with Byzantium, the weakening state collapsed under attack by the Magyar tribes who settled in the Danube Basin in approximately 896. The Czech and Slovak tribes then underwent separate development. For more on Great Moravia see Jan Dekan, Vel'ka Morava: Doba a umenie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1976). 19 Vavro Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko. Pamdti z rokov 191 8-1920, Svazok Prvy (Prague, 1928), 7-8. 20 Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko, 11. 18 �SLOV AKIA-2015 13 interests, and ancestral ties - that had been so successful in garnering international support for the Czechoslovak state building project during the war in his celebratory and didactic jubilee year volume. While the idea of a unitary Czechoslovak nation prevailed internationally, the most compelling connection between the Czechs and Slovaks for the prospects of independent statehood was demographic. Though Czechs constituted a majority in Bohemia and Moravia, they feared that the collapse of Austria-Hungary would spell their incorporation into a Greater Germany, due to the existence of a substantial German minority in these lands . At the beginning of the war, Czech leaders first sought a reorganization of the Monarchy along federal lines with a large degree of autonomy for the Czechs, though soon discarded the plan as unfeasib!e.21 In working toward the ultimate goal of independence, the idea of incorporating the estimated three million strong Slovak population became an increasingly attractive solution to counterbalancing the significant German minority in Bohemia and Moravia. 22 By the end of the war T.G. Masaryk and Benes had the commitment of the Entente powers to an independent Czechoslovakia. The Slovak population became the key to the Czechoslovak nation's demographic legitimacy in its new multinational national state. The Paris Peace Conference called upon the Czechoslovak delegation to statistically demonstrate the dominance of the Slovaks in the multinational territory of Slovakia. The viability of the Czechoslovak state depended upon it. In order to collect the necessary data, the Czechoslovak government organized a provisional census for Slovakia. Such a census could not be carried out until the borders of the territory were defined and secured, and military upheavals had ceased . This meant waiting until the ultimatum given by the Entente powers had driven Bela Kun's Red Army troops out of Slovakia at the end of June 1919, and until the Czechoslovak government had control over the territory at the end of July. While the change of regimes was not officially over, and the borders were not fixed by law until Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon on June 4, I 920, Czechoslovakia held the de facto borders securely enough by August 1919 that it was feasible to set the census in motion. The primary goal of the census was : 21 Joseph Rothschild, East Central Europe between the Two World Wars. A History o[. East Central Europe, vol. 9 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1974), 76. 2 Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia, 35. �14 SLOV AKIA-2015 [To gather] the necessary information for the Peace Conference concerning how many Slovaks there [were] in the occupied territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary, so that it would be possible to correct and prove false the Hungarian census of 1910, as well as to ascertain other general national proportions in Slovak communities, namely the [extent of] the Magyarization of these communities, the Magyarization of schools and churches. "23 The 1919 census was the first attempt by the Czechoslovak government to map the territory of Slovakia for state building purposes. Mapping Slovakia meant reframing the national ratios of multinational/ethnic/linguistic Slovakia in terms of Slovak, and thus Czechoslovak, dominance. The Czechoslovak government had to prove that the former government sought to create Magyar demographic superiority in the same lands through forced assimilation and manipulation of statistics. The aim of the census was, in other words, to find the ethnic Slovaks whose numbers would prove that a "falsification," or deliberate Magyarization of the nationalities had taken place in the decades before the war. Josef Mraz of the newly-created Czechoslovak State Statistical Office24 set out from Prague to Zilina, 25 the provisional capital of Slovakia, in mid-January 1919 to propose his ideas for the upcoming Slovak census to Vavro Srobar, the Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia.26 His talks with Srobar lasted an exhausting four days, during which time they debated how the structure, method, and concept of the census could best meet its chief goal: to find out how many Slovaks there were in Slovakia. Upon his arrival in Prague, he wrote up a report of the Zilina proceedings and the census instructions up23 Slovensky narodny archiv (hereafter SNA), file : Ministerstvo s plnou mocou pre spravu Slovenska, hereafter MPS, box 277, inv. no. 74. "Prozatimni scitani lidu na Slovensku." In this transitional period before the signing of the Treaty of Trianon, Slovakia was often denoted as the "occupied territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary." 24 Josef Mraz (1882-1934) was one of the co-founders of the Czechoslovak State Statistical Office, who had begun his work as a statistician for the Provincial Statistical Office of the Bohemian Kingdom. He is noted for his work on the first census in Slovakia ( I 9 I 9), as well as on statistical theory and agricultural statistics. Federalni statisticky ui'ad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky (Praha, 1989), 194. 25 :Z:ilina was the provisional capital of Slovakia from December 12, 1918 through February 4, 1919, when Bratislava (Pozsony, Pressburg) became the capital. 26 Vavro Srobar was the Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia (Ministers plnou mocou pre spravu Slovenska, MPS). �SLOV AKIA-2015 15 on which they had agreed. He sent the instructions to be translated into Slovak, Magyar, and German. 27 Mraz included in hi s report a new, subjective definition of nationality that would challenge prewar methods of counting and classifyi ng th e population based on language. This definition would be th e point of departure for fresh debates and reevaluations of nationhood in the evolving circumstances of the interwar Czechoslovak state. He argued that, "In contrast to [mother tongue], the concept 'nationality' means adherence to a certain internal conviction, which cannot be explained in an ambi guous way, similar to reli gious conviction," and that it follows from this conclusion that Jews should have the option of declaring either for their own Jewish nationality, or for the nationality of others, without regard for religious affiliation.28 Debates over "Jewish nationali ty" formed the centerpiece of the overall reevaluation of nationality and nationhood in Czechoslovakia. Jewi sh nationality came to be used as an exceptional example in formulating opposing positions on the meaning, classification, and function of nationality in the new state. Through it, Czechoslovakia shifted the concept of nationality closer to an ethnic or racial understanding of the term, rather than a linguistic or cultural one. The Czechoslovak government, together with the multinational population of the state, initiated th e process of actualizing theoretical concepts of nationality and nationhood through the 1919 census in Slovakia. Responses to the 1919 census gave nationality meaning in the postwar environment, in the context of new states created on the principle of national self-determination . In the process of creating the 1919 Slovak census, Czechoslovak demographers also came to a preliminary decision regarding how 29 Czechoslovakia would "see" and count Jewish nationality . The Jewish case was especially problematic because Czechoslovakia did not consider the Jewish population in Czechoslovakia to possess its own national language, even in Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia where Yiddish language usage was more widespread, but never27 SNA, f. MPS, box 277, inv. no. IOI. From the report by Josef Mraz, "Prozatfmnf scftanf lidu na Slovensku," February 8, 1919 . 28 SNA, f. MPS , box 277, inv. No. 76 . "Prozatfmnf scitani lidu na Slovensku" 29 See: James C. Scott, Seeing Like a State: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed (New Haven, Ct.: Yale University Press, 1998), for thinking about ways the state "sees" the populat ion and makes it "legible." �16 SLOV AKIA-2015 theless did not dispute Jewish national status within the state. An influential work on national questions published in Prague in early 1919 declared: "Language forms the distinguishing characteristic of the nation : a nation must have its own language, otherwise it is not a nation." 30 How would the Czechoslovak state square its recognition of Jewish national status with the alleged lack of a distinctive national language among the Jews of Czechoslovakia? Debates surrounding Jewish nationality and its codification for census purposes lay at the core of a Czechoslovak reevaluation of the overall meaning of nationality in the postwar period . Decisions regarding the meaning and function of Jewish nationality within the Czechoslovak context went hand in hand with the process of integrating Slovakia into the Czechoslovak state. The Jewish case illuminates the way the process of Czechoslovak state building - including the interrelated efforts to arrive at the true number of Slovaks and Czechs, and to reconcile the dissonant linguistic-national circumstances of the Jewish population so as to codify Jewish nationality within Czechoslovakia - led to an increased unbundling of language from nationality as an absolute indicator of national belonging, and movement toward a definition of nationality as an internal conviction. To begin, it is helpful to take a step back to look at the relationship between language, nationalism, and nationhood; and then to consider their relationship as applied to the institutionalized collection of data for census purposes. First of all, for the peoples of East Central Europe, including the Jews, the nation building process was a fundamental component of modem politics. Nation building required raising the national consciousness of the members of the group, as well as making a convincing case to the world that the group was indeed a real nationality. The most important proof of national existence was language: a special, unique language belonging to the national group alone.31 Nineteenth century nationalism deemed language the most important characteristic marking one nation from another. Language 30 Bohdan Klineberger, Ncirod a ncirodnost (Praha, 1919), 53 . Ezra Mendelsohn, On Modern Jewish Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 128. 31 �SLOV AKIA-2015 17 was the primary determinant of nationhood .32 Nationalism assumes that people naturally group themselves into nations, that these nations have identifiable characteristics, and that their only legitimate form of government is self-government. 33 Making language central to nationalism, argues Elie Kedourie, erases the distinction between linguistic and racial nationalism, because then the conception of nationalism itself contains all linguistic, racial, religious and other features. The connection between language and ethnicity is also heightened. 34 Nation - "one of the most puzzling and tendentious items in the political lexicon" 35 - has been variously defined as dependent more on "objective" factors including language, religion and customs, territory and institutions; and alternatively as coalescing from "subjective" factors like attitudes, perceptions, and sentiments. 36 The features deemed "objective" have been conceived to mark the boundaries of nations, and features deemed "subjective" to give it internal cohesion and solidarity. "Objective" criteria like language are not enough in and of themselves to establish whether a group is a nation or not. Rather, suggests Walker Connor, "the essence of the nation is a psychological bond that joins a people and differentiates it, in the subconscious conviction of its members, from all nonmembers in a most vital way." 37 His conception closely agrees with Ernest Gellner's, where a common language does not bind a group into a nation without mutual recognition of each other. "A mere category of persons (say, occupants of a given territory or speakers of a given language, for example) becomes a nation if and when the members of the category firmly recognize certain mutual rights and duties to 32 "Let us fo llow our own path ... let all men speak we ll or ill of our nati on, our literature, our language: they are ours, they are ourselves, and let that be enough," 8 . Suphan, ed. , Johann Gottfried Herder, Sdmmtliche Werke (Berlin: Weidmann), in Smith, Nationalism, 27. 33 Elie Kedourie, Nationalism (London : Hutchinson, 1961 ), 68. 34 1bid. 35 Charles Tilly, The Formation of National States in Western Europe (Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 1975 ), 6. 36 Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History (Malden, MA : Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2001 ), I I. 37 Walker Connor, Ethnonationalism: The Quest fo r Understanding (Princeton University Press, 1994 ), 197. �18 SLOV AKIA-2015 each other in virtue of their shared membership in it. "38 A people must feel its nationhood. That feeling of nationhood, the condition of being a nation, has been theorized in two main ways in its European context. The first is considered to derive more from a sense of mutual belonging to a political community in which equal citizens participate in a common culture; while the second is regarded as more related to a sense of mutual belonging to an ethnocultural community of descent with political ambitions.39 Neither is exclusive, nor analogous to the state. States can be defined by their autonomous institutional activity, and by their "legitimate monopoly of coercion and extraction in a given territory," but the state itself is not the national political community. 40 Anthony Smith's paired conceptions of nation and ethnie highlight the group's internal cohesion, solidarity, and mutual loyalty. Smith defines nation as "a named human community occupying a homeland, and having common myths and a shared history, a common public culture, a single economy and common rights and duties for all members;" as distinguished from ethnie "a named human community connected to a homeland, possessing common myths of ancestry, shared memories, one or more elements of shared culture, and a measure of solidarity, at least among the elites."41 Smith's concept of the ethnie is especially important in the Jewish case for understanding the coherence of the group without territory and without a special, unique, shared vernacular. Late nineteenth century Jewish nationalism relied on "subjective" characteristics for modem Jewish nation building; above all a common heritage and shared historical experience. Language was conspicuously absent from the short list. "Who amongst us has a sufficient acquaintance with Hebrew to ask for a railway ticket in that language?" Theodor Herzl famously asked in 1896.42 38 Ernest Geitner, Nations and Natio nalism (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983), 7. 39 Marsha L. Rozenblit, Reconstructing a National Identity: The Jews of Habsburg Austria during World War I (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 7. 40 Smith, Nationalism, 12. 41 Ibid ., 13 . 42 Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State (New York: American Zionist Emergency Council, 1946), 145. �SLOV AKIA-2015 19 How then do you count "nationality" on the census? What, in fact, is being counted? Census-creating demographers differ from theorists in their need to count and quantify, classify and categorize state populations. Definitions of nation push and pull against the institutional demands of the state. The real question here is how the complex and fluctuating "nation" is tagged and boxed and bureaucratized for use by the state. What does it mean and how is it used ? Nation indeed becomes, as Rogers Brubaker explains, a "practical category, institutionalized form, contingent event, and category of prac43 tice." "We should not ask 'what is a nation,"' he writes, "but rather: how is nationhood as a political and cultural form institutionalized within and among states? How does nation work as a practical category, as classificatory scheme, as cognitive frame?" 44 The crystallization of Jewish nationality in Czechoslovakia exemplifies the process by which nation is bureaucratized and given institutional form in interwar East Central Europe. Jewish nationality became an exceptional category of practice within the borders of interwar Czechoslovakia; it was the only nationality in East Central Europe not bound by language . Demographers began to answer the question of how to count nationality on the census at the meeting of the International Statistical Congress in St. Petersburg in 1872. There, they agreed that language was the primary marker of nationality, and that counting nationality according to language was the most effective means of capturing and recording nationality for the interests of the state. The question of how to codify nationality in a state census had first been debated at the 1857 Congress in Vienna, but without conclusive results. The St. Petersburg Congress decided that language was the best objective indicator of nationality, the most reliable one, and the least confusing, as "each perfectly knows the language used since childhood to think and express oneself." 45 But how should the census ask about language? The conclusions of the St. Petersburg conference point to 43 Rogers Brubaker, Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1996), 7. 44 1bid, 16. 45 Dominique Arel , "Language categories in censuses : backward- or forward-looking?" David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel , eds. , Census and Identity. The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Censuses. (Cambridge: Cambridge Un iversity Press, 2002), 95. �20 SLOV AKIA-2015 an acceptance of mother tongue as the most valid language situation type to use in codifying nationality for the census. Other language situation types include, but are not limited to: language most commonly used, language of daily use, family language, language in which one prays, and the language that one speaks with one's children. 46 Language was first counted on the Austrian and the Hungarian census in 1880. In Austria, language was counted according to "language of daily use" (Umgangssprache); while in the Kingdom of Hungary, language was counted according to "mother tongue" (anyanyelv). When Czechoslovakia came into existence after the First World War, it brought together two traditions of national codification through language proxy.In discussing the relationship of language to nationality for the development of the census, Czechoslovak demographers favored "mother tongue," as nationality was counted in the Kingdom of Hungary, over "language of daily use," as it was done in Austria. They argued that counting according to language of daily use had led to an under representation of Czechs on the Austrian census, and inherently underestimated the numbers of minority national groups where the official language was that of the dominant national group . The dependent position of the Czechs had resulted in more Czechs declaring themselves as Germans when counted this way, they asserted, because a Czech in a German language environment would indeed have used that language on a daily basis. Counting according to mother tongue had led to even greater statistical manipulations in the Kingdom of Hungary. Czechoslovak demographers contended that corruption of the census process in Hungary for the purpose of statistically increasing the number of Magyars had resulted in a gross underestimation of the number of ethnic Slovaks. Consequently, Slovaks as a people suffered more in Hungary than the Czechs in Austria. Yet they agreed that if the census were carried out properly, counting nationality by mother tongue would yield the most accurate and objective picture of 46 David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel, "Censuses, Identity formation and the struggle for political power," in Kertzer and Arel, eds., 26, and Dominique Arel, "Language categories in censuses: backward- or forward-looking?" in Kertzer and Arel, eds. , 97. �SLOVAKIA-2015 21 47 the demographic composition of the state. Czechoslovak demographers accepted the definition of mother tongue as "the language which is most familiar to a person since childhood and with which they think, or simply the language which their parents taught them in their earliest youth. "48 Josef Mraz worked with the definition of mother tongue as well as its caveat, used on the 1910 census of the Kingdom of Hungary to make the mother tongue category as broad as possible, in reformulating the conception of nationality for the 1919 Slovak census. He did not dispute the Hungarian definition's core: mother tongue is the language "to which one confesses as one's own and with which one best and most gladly speaks. "49 It was the caveat that troubled him: Although mother tongue is identical with the language which everyone learned in their childhood in the majority of cases, usually from their mother, it can nevertheless happen that a child has another mother tongue than the mother, especially when the child acquired it in child-care (!), in school (!), or as a result of circumstances by which the parents have different mother tongues, another language than the language of the child's mother. 50 By broadening the definition of mother tongue so that it became disengaged from the language one's mother actually spoke, Hungarian demographers allowed for a greater number of people to declare for the Magyar mother tongue than would have otherwise been possible. While this definition may have obtained in a number of cases due to widespread linguistic assimilation in the Kingdom of Hungary, it left the door open for abuses . ... (Co ntinuation: Next page with Statistical Tables) 47 Jan Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?" Ceskoslovensky statisticky vestnik (CSV) II ( 1921 ): 49, and Antonin Bohac, "Slovensko ve svetle statistiky -kniha Josefa Mraza," CSV II (1921): 225-6. 48 Cyril Horacek, "Narodnostni statistika," CSV II ( 1921 ): 187. 49 JosefMraz, Slovensko ve svetle statistiky (Praze, 1920), 33 . 50 Jbid. Exclamation marks in the original. �SLOV AKIA-2015 22 Table 2.1: Mother Tongue of the Hungarian Population According to Religion in 1910 According to Absolute Number Hungarian Total 10,888,138 5,924,665 Roman Catholic 304,570 2,025,508 Greek Catholic 2,573,683 2,621,329 Calvinist 418,449 1,340,143 Lutheran 2,987, 163 40,851 Greek Orthodox 74,296 73,267 Unitarian 932,458 705,488 Jewish 9,602 17,452 Other 20,886,487 10,050,5 75 Total Rusvn Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other Total German Slovak Romanian 1,372,103 1,406,207 8,531 1,785 79,338 1,133,671 26,964 429,687 2,494 10,645 463,912 706 1,412 1,592 1,799,255 168 203,230 1,004 2,037,435 64 5,830 1,268 1,967,9 70 559 991 3,021 2,949,032 Croatian Other Serbian 5,109 1,810,302 3,892 357,329 463,604 9,511 1,908 31,121 57 56 1,03 1 1,028 791 860 49 128 1,099,386 7,491 25,528 42,580 4 2,702 24 472,587 7 10,387 276 1,833,162 21 91 996 1,106,471 206 3,739 3,739 469,255 According to Absolute Percentage Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other Total Total 52.1 Hungarian 54.4 German 12.6 9.7 15.0 0.1 3.9 56.0 12.6 6.4 14.3 98.2 31.2 1.4 1.0 32.1 0.1 0.4 34.6 0.0 0.1 0.1 60.3 0.3 4.5 0.1 100 98.6 75.7 55.0 0.2 21.8 5.8 0.1 0.6 7.3 0.8 0.1 17.3 Slovak Romanian 12.9 0.1 �SLOV AKIA-2015 Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other 23 0.1 16.6 0.0 3.3 22.9 0.5 0.1 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 36.8 0.3 1.9 1.4 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.0 1.1 1.6 0.0 0.0 5.7 0.3 0.4 7.2 Magyar Statisztikai Evkonyv. Uj Folyam XXIII. I 9 I 5 (Budapest, 1918), 20, chart 13, "A nepesseg anyanyelve vallasok szerint 1910-ben." Table 2.2: Mother Tongue of the Hungarian Population in 1900 and 1910 Total Population Mother Tongue of the Population Hungary Magyar Geman Slovak Romanian Rusyn Croatian Serbian Other Total non Magyar Total 1900 absolute number 1910 percentage 8,651,520 1,999,060 2,002,165 2,798,559 424,774 191,432 437,737 333,008 8,186,735 16,838,255 absolute number 51.4 11.9 11.9 16.6 2.5 1.1 2.6 2.0 48.6 100 Percentage 9,944,627 1,903,357 1,946,357 2,948,186 464,270 194,808 461,516 401,412 8,319,906 18,264,533 54.4 10.4 10.7 16.1 2.5 1.1 2.5 2.9 45.5 100 CroatiaSlavonia Magyar German Slovak Romanian Rusyn Croatian Serbian Other 90,781 136,121 17,476 920 4,673 1,490,672 610,908 64,753 3.8 5.6 0.7 0.0 0.2 61.7 25.3 2.7 105,948 134,078 21,613 846 8,317 1,638,354 644,955 67,843 4.1 5.1 0.8 0.0 0.3 62.5 24.6 2.6 �24 Total non-Magyar Total SLOV AKIA-2015 2,325,523 96.2 2,516,006 95.9 2,416,304 100 2,621,954 100 Hungarian Kingdom Magyar 8,742,301 45.4 10,050,575 48.1 German 2,135,181 2,037,435 11.1 9.8 Slovak 2,019.641 10.5 1,967,970 9.4 Romanian 2,799,479 2,949,032 14.5 14.1 Rusyn 429,447 2.2 472,587 2.3 Croatian 1,682,104 8.7 1,833,162 8.8 Serbian 1,048,645 1,106,471 5.5 5.3 Other 397,761 469,255 2.1 2.2 Total 10,512,258 54.6 10,835,912 51.9 non-Magyar Total 19,254,559 100 20,886,487 100 Magyar Statisztikai Evkonyv. Uj Folyam XXl/l. 1915 (Budapest, 1918), 15, chart 11 , "A nepesseg anyanyelve es magyarul tudasa 1900-ban es 19 I 0-ben." In their analysis, and in their own efforts to bolster Slovak mnnbers, Czechoslovak demographers were uninterested in linguistic assimilation, seeking instead to strip the inhabitants of Slovakia down to their national skins . Their efforts illustrate what Dominique Arel has explained as a backward looking orientation toward language categories in censuses. Arel argues that, even though nationalists portray linguistic assimilation as "forced, unnatural, and fundamentally illegitimate, the result of destructive policies by an 'imperialist' state," it is in reality a normal and expected occurrence. Among speakers of a less prestigious language, there are individuals who will choose to linguistically assimilate for social advancement. 51 In those cases declaration of mother tongue as the "language one best and most gladly speaks" may well differ from the language of one's mother. According to this reasoning, Czechoslovak demographers were backwards-looking because they sought to discover the "real" nationality of the inhabitants of Slovakia, their "true group belong- 51 Arel, "Language categories in censuses," in Census and Identity, Kertzer and Arel, eds., 93 . �SLOV AKIA-2015 25 ing" based on their ancestral origins, rather than linguistic assimilation: whether coerced, statistically falsified, or voluntary. Czechoslovak demographers sought to demonstrate the unreliability of the 1910 census of the Kingdom of Hungary through critical comparative examination of the data collected within the language categories of "mother tongue" and "language knowledge. "52 In a typical example, Jan Auerhan 53 pointed to the 301,694 Magyars with knowledge of Slovak counted on the 1910 census within the sixteen counties and four municipalities of the Kingdom of Hungary which in whole or part became Slovakia. Two-thirds of them were likely to be ethnic Slovaks, he concluded. Counting them as Slovaks, instead of as Magyars with Slovak language knowledge, would raise the ethnic Slovak number from 1,708,592 to 1,900,000.54 The likelihood that a Slovak would be proficient in the Magyar language in an environment where Magyar was the official language - the language of instruction in schools, the language used in government offices and the court system - was incomparably greater than a Magyar proficient in Slovak. Mother tongue was not a perfect indicator of nationality, but what could be offered in its stead to collect national data? Mraz, in his Zilina report, strikingly concluded that "nationality" alone be used. Rather than employ language proxy, the census should ask the people directly for their nationality. This was a controversial method due its high level of subjectivity. Nationality declaration would not be linked to language as an external marker. Considering the ways in which Czechoslovak demographers regarded mother tongue to have been manipulated on the censuses of the Kingdom of Hungary, Mraz wrote: 52 Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?"; Mraz,"Dva dukazy o falesnosti mad'arskych dat o feci matefske na zaklade dat o znalosti feci," ; and Hora.eek, "Narodnostni statistika," all in CSV II (1921). 53 Jan Auerhan (1880-1942) worked as a statistician for the Provincial Statistical Office of the Bohemian Kingdom from 1906, and became the undersecretary to the president of the Czechoslovak State Statistical Office at its founding in January 1919. He is most noted for his work in the demographic and anthro-geographic fields, the study of Czech and Slovak minorities abroad, and minority questions more generally. Federalni statisticky ufad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky, 186. 54 Jan Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?" CSV II ( 1921 ): 51 . �26 SLOV AKIA-2015 In contrast to [mother tongue], the concept "nationality" means confession to a certain internal conviction, which cannot be explained in an ambiguous way, similar to religious conviction . That confession to a certain nationality is the only correct one for ascertaining national ratios. "Mother tongue" has for this reason been eliminated from the demographic markers and as a surrogate question for "nationality." In connection with this is the question at hand, whether a separate "Jewish nationality" should be accepted without regard to religious affiliation. It follows from the concept of nationality described that it is not possible to force someone to declare a separate Jewish nationality, if [that declaration] is to express their internal conviction; because the Jews indeed form a separate race, there will, however, be no recommendation in the instructions for this procedure, except that Jewish nationality shall be left to the rubric of "Other nationality." The Jews should be left the option of declaring themselves either for their own separate nationality or for the nationality of others, which with the influence of environment and education or the like they have accepted as their own. For the stating of the Jewish race the remaining rules of the statement of affiliation to the Jewish confession shall suffice.55 Mraz's interpretation of nationality as an "internal conviction" was most closely related to the definition advanced by Karoly Keleti at the International Statistical Congress meeting in St. Petersburg in 1872. Keleti was the first director of the Hungarian Statistical Bureau founded one year earlier. He helped create the 1867 and the 1880 censuses for the Kingdom of Hungary. 56 The 1872 St. Petersburg Congress not only debated nationality enumeration on the census, but the meaning of nationality itself. Three conceptions of nationality emerged from the deliberations : I) political, in which nationality is equivalent to state belonging; 2) physical, in which nationality is defined racially; and 3) psychical, in which nationality is understood as a psychological community penetrating individual feeling and collective endeavors. 57 Keleti took the 55 SNA, f. MPS, box 277, inv. no. 76. Italics added. Karoly Keleti (born 1833, Pozsony [Pressburg, Bratislava] - died 1892, Budapest) Eletrajzi lexikon. www.kereso.hu-yrk-Ryrgenwm/7502 accessed June 17, 2005 . 57 Bohac, "Narodnost ci jazyk?" CSV II (1921 ): 50. 56 �SLOV AKIA-2015 27 position that nationality cannot be equivalent to state belonging, as that is so-called political nationality, common in Western Europe, but not in the multinational states of Central and Eastern Europe. Nor does ethnic (Stamm) belonging answer to nationality, even if its main marker is language. Nationality was best defined, according to Keleti, as a "subjective state internal to the individual, a feeling analogous to religion that depends on origin and the environment in which a person lives and grows ."58 Keleti's definition was based on social-psychological criteria for which it is difficult to secure an objective external marker. It moved away from language as a definite indicator of nationality, leav ing room for belonging to a nationality whose language one may not use daily or that is not considered a viable national language (like Hebrew or Yiddish in the view of the Czechoslovak state). This was a big plus for Mraz and hi s colleagues, but also ambiguous enough to allow for pressures and fal sifications, like those they presumed embedded in the last Hungarian census before the war. Yet Keleti 's definition was attractive to the Czechoslovak demographers preparing the 1919 Slovak census. This definition would enable the indivi dual to confess nationality as directly as religion, as an expression of his/her internal conviction and self-understanding. Czechoslovak demographers hoped it would un cover the numbers of ethnic Slovaks who had previously been hidden from view because they were counted as Magyar-speakers. They would now be recorded under the banner of their "real" nationality, free to directly profess their "true" group belonging. Jews, too, would be able to declare their "true" group belonging for the first time; not only as a religion, but also as a distinct nationality . Antonin Bohac 59 found Keleti's definition to coincide with concepts of ethno-racial group belonging. "Since the means for express58 Ibid. , 49. Keleti publ is hed his views on nationality in 1880 in the Stalistische Monatschrift under the title "Zur Frage der Volksziihlung." [Cyril Horacek, "Narodnostni statistika," CSV I ( 1920): 187.] 59 Antonin Bohac ( 1882-1 950) is regarded as the fo under of Czechoslovak demographics, especially with regard to questi ons of nationality. He was a member of the Czechoslovak delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 19 19, and worked fo r the Czechos lovak State Statistical Office upon his return. Bohac was the deputy chairman of the Society for the Study of Nationality Questi ons. Federalni statisticky ufad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky (Prague, 1989), 195. Bohac was also associate professor of demography at the Charles Uni versity Faculty of Science where he lee- �28 SLOV AKIA-2015 ing psychological states is language," Bohac wrote, "as Keleti [elsewhere] has stated, the concept of nationality in this sense is quite close to the concept of nationality as ethnic/racial belonging (kmenova prislusnost), for which language is the main connecting bond and main external marker."60 Bohac was correct to observe that Keleti's definition bore a strong resemblance to a physical understanding of nationality, which gave race and/or ethnicity an expanded role. Language remained the main outward indicator of nationality, but was no longer considered identical to nationality itself. Espousing this conception moved nationality closer to ethnicity. It elevated ethnic understandings of the self and the group . The final formulation of the 1919 census shows that the Czechoslovak administration and its demographers accepted Mraz's definition of nationality, based on Keleti's: "an individual national-political conviction according to ethnic belonging to a certain national unit or nation ."61 Five sub-headings were placed under Nationality on the form: Slovaks and Czechs, Rusyns, Magyars, Germans, and Others .62 Czechoslovak demographers understood Jewish nationality to be included under the subheading "Others." While "Jewish nationality" was an available option, though not a requirement, for the Jewish population, the category remained invisible on the actual census form in 1919. The 1919 census asked directly for nationality without the intermediary of language. *** In the late August heat of 1919, census takers dispersed across the territory of Slovakia to ask the people about their nationality. Many complained that the whole endeavor was disorganized and insufficiently thought through. Census takers expressed frustration that they had not received the census forms with time enough to look tured on the "Basics of Population Science." He introduced the usage of punch card technology for processing Czechoslovak census data."Historie statistiky v Cechach po roce 1918," The Czech Statistical Office http ://www.czso.cz/csu/redakce.ns£'i/historie_statistiky_ v_cechach_po_roce_ l 918 (accessed January 9, 2012). 60 Federalni statisticky urad, 50. 61 Ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora 1921, 77* (cast textova). 62 SNA, f. MPS, box 277 . This carton contains the original hand-written forms used for collecting the raw data for the 1919 census. �SLOV AKIA-2015 29 them over, nor so that they could fill one out to use as an example. Due to lack of funds and inadequate organization, many found themselves forced to sleep in train stations and on park benches during the census period, which surely affected their ability to fulfill their duties. One census taker reported that his census materials were stolen from him while he slept! The population, and oftentimes even local community officials, had not been informed about the purpose of the census, nor when it would take place.63 If these complaints are accurate, they undermine the seriousness with which the Czechoslovak administrators prepared the foundation of the 1919 census, as well as the importance they placed upon it as a means of accurately proving national ratios in Slovakia. Yet last minute pre-census agitation to prepare the Slovak population did take place. The prominent Slovak national newspaper Narodnie noviny called on Slovaks " ... to consciously and openly confess their Slovak stock ... to let the beautiful words: 'I am Slovak' 64 consciously and boldly sound from the mouths of loyal citizens. " This example is atypical, however, as the agitation took place in the central Slovak town of Turciansky Svaty Martin, the seat of the Slovak national movement and home to the Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural society. Narodnie noviny explained that the purpose of the census was to prove that Slovakia was Slovak, and that it was essential for building its own independent country. Every citizen could participate in building that independent state through the census, the article stressed, an idea meant to reinforce the democratic spirit of the new era.65 "You have no reason to be ashamed of [declaring Slovak nationality]," counseled the leading newspaper in Saris county, a region of eastern Slovakia where national consciousness remained weak, "the Czechoslovak name has the best reputation not only in Europe, but also in America and Asia." The paper ran boldface announcements at the foot of its pages urging all Slovaks to proudly declare to the census taker that they were Slovaks. 66 These reassurances did little to assuage prevalent Slovak fears about the real purpose of the census. This terribly urgent appeal itself 63 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. nos. 7, 8-9. Scitani lidu na Slovensku 1919. Anketa mezi popisujicimi povei'niky. 64 "Scitanie l'udu," Nizrodnie noviny (Turciansky Svaty Martin), August 22, 1919. 65 Ibid. 66 "Slovaci!" Sari.fake hlasy (Presov), August 24, 1919. �30 SLOVAKIA-2015 may have caused anxiety for a population with a low-level of national consciousness. Suspicions ranged from the belief that the goal was to raise or introduce new taxes, undertake military recruitment, or to carry out a plebiscite to divide the territory . The military rumor was the most widespread. Many Slovaks worried that a war would soon break out between the Poles and Magyars, and the job of the census takers was to find able-bodied men to fight. Whoever declared Slovak nationality would be conscripted to fight once again, while other nationalities would be freed from that duty. While it was later revealed that the rumor began in Magyar circles, many people in the border counties still held back from declaring themselves Slovak. Others believed the census to be connected to imminent requisitioning of cattle and grain. Some, more optimistically, believed more satisfactory food and fuel distribution would follow, and possibly a more advantageous land distribution. Still others imagined the census to be an exercise in identifying foreigners (especially Magyars, Poles, and Magyarone Slovaks) and expelling them from Czechoslovakia.67 Widespread fears and suspicions about the real intentions of the 1919 census underscored the atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity in Slovakia at the beginning of the Czechoslovak state building project, as well as contributed to a certain level of inaccuracy in the results. Of the four national groups which were the most interesting to the state: Slovaks, Magyars, Germans, and Jews, the greatest difficulties arose in recording the nationality of the Slovaks and the Jews. Magyars and Germans were by-and-large ready for the census and decisive in their national declarations. Within the ethnic Magyar population, only state and municipal employees exhibited uncertainty in their national declarations. 68 Magyar language use, national uncertainty, fear and mistrust accounted for the greatest difficulties in recording the highest possible number of Slovaks on the 1919 census. Magyar or Magyarone Slovak census takers were known to record entire ethnic Slovak or mixed nationality villages as Magyar, or count individuals as Magyar because they were able to communicate with Magyar-speaking cen67 Mraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (1921 ): 133134. 68 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. no. 4. "O Mad'arech, Nemcich a zidech" �SLOV AKIA-2015 31 sus takers without the help of an interpreter. 69 The latter illustrates precisely what Mraz and his colleagues had hoped to avoid in bypassing language as identical with or as a surrogate for nationality . They did not want ethnic Slovaks counted as Magyars based on their Magyar language proficiency. Other problems stemmed from uncertainty surrounding the meaning of nationality (primarily in eastern Slovakia). Many Slovaks feared what might happen to them if they did not declare themselves as Magyars. They distrusted the "godless Czechs" and "false prophets from Prague" who came to their doors. 70 The Slovak population tended to be more religious than the highly secularized Czech one, and Slovak national leaders expressed wari71 ness about the "agnostic progressivism" of the Czech intelligentsia. Common answers among Slovaks when asked about their nationality included: Slovak and Magyar ("aji Slovak, aji Mad'ar"), it doesn't matter ("to vsetko jedno"), and Hungarian Slovak ("Uhorsky Slovak"). 72 In eastern Slovakia, other answers included : I speak Slovak and Magyar ("hutorim 73 po slovensky i po mad'arsky"), I pray in Slovak ("modlim sa po slovensky"), and Catholic ("katolik") . Mraz noted in his analysis of the results that Slovaks often confused religion with nationality. 74 Interestingly, this observation recalls the proximity of religious and national feeling within Czechoslovakia's re-conceptualization of nationality, as well as the fine distinction made between them in rec69 Ibid., 7. "O opravnych navrzich pro pfisti scitani. Ibid., 5. "O nepfistojnostech pfi scitani," and Josef Mraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (1921): 135 . 71 Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia, 23. 72 All the Slavic languages differentiate the word "Hungarian" from ,,Magyar." The former refers to citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary, whereas the latter refers to the predominant ethnic group in that Kingdom. In Slovak, these terms are "Mad'ar" (ethnic Hungarian), Uhorsko (the Kingdom of Hungary), and uhorsky (deriving from the Kingdom of Hungary) . In the early 19 th century, Magyar nationalists followed the lead of Count Istvan Szechenyi in equating "Magyar" and "Hungarian" in foreign languages as part of their drive to assimilate all the non-Magyar nationalities into Magyar language and culture. The non-Magyar nationalities of Hungary rejected the equating of "Magyar" with "Hungarian" and still do. For more on Szechyni ' s activities see Dejiny S/ovenska II ( 1526-1848), ed. Samuel Cambel (Bratislava: VEDA, 1987), 488-90. 73 "Hutorit'" is the Saris form of "hovorit'," to speak. 74 JosefMraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II ( 192 1): 135. II 70 �32 SLOV AKIA-2015 ognizing "Jewish nationality." Nationality was something to be understood and felt as an "internal conviction, similar to religious confession," but consciously separated, and given a higher position than religion in the hierarchy of self and group values of definition. One's nationality, not one's religion, was of the greatest interest to the state. One's nationality, not one's religion, was the primary indicator of one's most strongly held inner values and loyalties. For the Jewish population, answers to the question of nationality were most striking for their variety. Census takers disparaged the eclecticism of the Jewish response, attributing it to opportunism . In some cases, they remarked, national declarations among Jews reached comical proportions: the head of one household declared as a Slovak, his wife as a German, and the children as Hungarians . They noted, however, that often Jews stuck to Jewish nationality so that they would not have to affiliate with any of the other nationality choices.75 The majority of Jews in Slovakia chose the Jewish nationality option on the 1919 census, officially recorded as "Other." Census takers recommended that a separate column be made available on the next census for Jewish nationality because so many Jews had expressly asked for it. 76 In the uncertain environment which prevailed in Slovakia in August 1919, shortly after the rollback of Bela Kun's Hungarian Red Army forces but before the de jure securing of the Czechoslovak borders, Jews in Slovakia wished to avoid a difficult and possibly treacherous national affiliation decision through declaring Jewish nationality. Many Jews viewed Jewish nationality as an escape from the nationality conflict. Choosing Jewish nationality appeared to be a good way to opt out, to take a neutral position, to make the safest bet on an unpredictable future. Basing the decision to declare for Jewish nationality on these criteria made it more a strategic and less a heart-felt choice. For the time being, at least, it had less to do with deep-seated feelings of belonging to a Jewish national group, and more to do with trying to make the best possible choice in 75 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. no. 4. "Mad'arech, Nemcich a zidech." JosefMniz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (192 1): 129. Unfortunately, the demographic breakdown of those who chose "Other" on the 1919 Slovak census is unavailable, so the conclusion that the majority of Jews declared for Jewish nationality comes from census taker reports and their insistence that it be included as a separate column on the next census. See footnote : Statni ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora 1921, 77*. 76 �SLOV AKIA-2015 33 a high-stakes gamble. The Jewish population in Slovakia overall, counted by religion and nationality, numbered 135,918 according to the 1921 statewide Czechoslovak census, and 354,342 in the state as a whole. 77 Slovaks, counted only under the nationality rubric "Czechoslovak" on the interwar censuses, numbered 1,954,446 in 1919 and 2,025,003 in 1921, a positive change of 3.61 percent. 78 The popularity of the Jewish nationality declaration on the 1919 Slovak census (as "Other"), combined with a majority of ethnic Slovaks declaring as "Slovak" 79 led to a significant decrease in the number of Magyars recorded in Slovakia compared with the last prewar census. This decline heightened the Czechoslovak administration's awareness of further potential benefits rendered to the state by Jewish nationality . If the Jews, who traditionally affiliated with Germanspeakers in Bohemia and Moravia, and Magyar-speakers in Slovakia, declared for Jewish nationality, then the statistical legitimacy of the Czechoslovak nation-state would rise as the numbers of Germans and Hungarians fell. "Jewish nationality" would work to the advantage of the dominant "Czechoslovak" nationality and national state. If, as this argument goes, Jewish nationality favored the Czechoslovak nationality in solving the state's nationalities problems, then declaring Jewish nationality was not really a way of opting out. It was not a neutral position. It could not be an escape from the nationality conflict if it meant - once again - casting one's lot with the dominant state nationality. Jewish nationality may have seemed like an exit, but this was an illusion. One could not avoid taking sides in the interwar nationality conflicts . *** It is a valid and important point that the Czechoslovak government would favor Jewish nationality for its ability to statistically reduce the number of Germans and Magyars in the state. But that con77 Antonin Bohac, Narodnostni mapa republiky ceskoslovenske. Podrobny popis narodnostnich hranic, ostrovu a mensin (Prague, 1926), pp. 148-155 . 78 Ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora I 92 / Prague, 19240, Table 74: Narodnosti na Slovensku podle scitani lidu z roku 1919 a 1921 . 79 Slovaks who declared as Slovak, according to the options presented on the 1919 Slovak census, were recorded as "Czechoslovak." Slovaks were not recorded as "Slovak" until the 1930 statewide census. �34 SLOV AKIA-2015 clusion neglects the deeper meaning of its inclusion beyond the statistical benefits it could render. Creating a Jewish nationality category manifested the ways in which the meaning of national affiliation had transformed through the cataclysm of the First World War and the establishment of East Central European successor states based on the national principle. Josef Mraz elegantly and succinctly summed up these changes when he stated that declaring for a certain nationality was an expression of internal conviction . Because the very meaning of national affiliation had changed, "Jewish nationality" emerged as a recognized nationality category . Nationality had taken on the problematic role of the manifestation of one's personal convictions, inner values, and ultimate loyalty . Nationality moved ever closer to an essential ethnic or racial understandings of "true" group belonging. The methods and results of the 1919 special census in Slovakia were useful in providing a tested model of nationality investigation based on subjective, internal, ethnic/racial criteria, already approved before an international body (the Paris Peace Conference). The 1919 census had been an experiment in bringing methods of counting and recording the population into line with the new postwar vision of the national state. The 1921 census would build on 1919 methods in circumstances which required more than securing the new borders; they required filling the demarcated territory with meaning, as well as answering the dual questions of what Czechoslovakia was and how nationality and nationhood would function in this state. Examining the 1919 Slovak census offers insight into how Czechoslovakia understood itself as the manifestation of Czechoslovak: self-determination, and the place of the rights of the other nationalities to their own self-determination within this framework. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 SLOV AKIA-2015 7 THE 1919 CENSUS ON THE TERRITORY OF SLOV AKIA 1 Rebekah Klein-Pejsova When the First World War ended in 1918, the four empires that had determined the shape of state and social relations within and beyond their borders - the Habsburg, the German, the Russian, and the Ottoman - had dissolved. A state system based on the principle of national self-determination took their place in East Central Europe, in which citizenship and state belonging were seen through a national lens. Unrest and anarchy were characteristic of the prevailing atmosphere in many regions of the collapsing Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in the fall of 1918. In Slovakia, that instability was part of the larger struggle for the future of the newly bounded territory . Unlike other regions of former Hungary being incorporated into the new or transformed successor states, like Croatia (Yugoslavia) or Transylvania (Romania), Slovakia had never been administratively defined on its own, but solely as sixteen counties and four municipalities of northern Hungary. By the end of the war, the collapse of the old order without replacement by the new left Slovakia in a chaotic condition. Amid the upheaval, looting, and anti-Jewish excesses that typified the period, local National Councils had formed with the goal of consolidating the new state. But they were too weak to decisively resist regional Hungarian opposition and Budapest's efforts to maintain the territory. 2 While Czechoslovakia's birth was announced in Prague on October 28, 1918, the view from Slovakia was far less definitive. It was not a foregone conclusion that Slovakia would indeed be incorporated into the new state. Slovakia was in a precarious position, loosened from defeated Hungary, but not yet officially joined with Bohemia and Moravia. 1 This article is a version of a chapter originally published in my book Mapping Jewish Loyalties in !nterwar Slovakia (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 20 I 5). This material appears courtesy of Indiana University Press. All rights reserved. 2 Cubomir Liptak, "Slovakia in the 20 th Century," in Elena Mannova, ed ., A Concise History of Slovakia. Studia Historica Slovaca XXI (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SA V, 2000), 239 . 8 SLOV AKIA-2015 Slovak historians characterize the unstable "Prevrat " era as the "Struggle for Slovakia," a view that highlights Slovakia's contested status between the Magyars and the Czechs. Save for a handful of Slovak national leaders, the Slovaks themselves moved through this picture as a frustrated underclass, taking advantage of the volatile, chaotic climate to set upon state administrators, notaries, policemen, shopkeepers, innkeepers, and the propertied . Slovaks found themselves in a moment of great release. It offered them a chance to vent their anger and frustration at the war and the Hungarian system . The newly-formed local National Councils sought to mitigate these widespread outbreaks of violence. Yet these local organs had little control, or the ability to quell Hungarian resistance to the power transfer, which was further impeded by the power structure of the old state, still in place . A Hungarian demand for a referendum on the changes surfaced, relying on the fragmentation of the population along regional and social lines, degrees of national consciousness, and lack of information about the political transformation . It was the first time Budapest asked Slovaks for their opinions . The views of ordinary people, "varied from enthusiastic welcoming of the new state and the 'liberation' of Slovakia, through apathy and desire for peace, to fear of a new unknown situation, of uncertain permanence and threaten3 ing new bloodshed and military solutions. " The Hungarian National Council in Budapest came into being only on October 25, 1918, somewhat later than those of the national minorities. It was established by Count Mihaly Karolyi, who was widely believed to be the emperor-king's obvious choice for the new Prime Minister. Oszkar Jaszi, the progressive Hungarian social scientist, historian, and politician, drafted the Hungarian National Council's twelve-point program. It called for Hungarian independence, an immediate and separate peace treaty with the Allies, universal suffrage with a secret ballot, land reform, and recognition of the 4 rights of the national minorities within a federalized Hungary . When Emperor-King Charles appointed Count Janos Hadik instead, massive anti-government demonstrations broke out, demanding Karolyi. 5 3 Ibid. Peter Hanak, ed. , The Corvina History of Hungary: From Earliest Times Until lhe Present Day (Budapest: Corvina Books, 1991 ), 164. 5 Laszl6 Kontler, A History of Hungary (New York, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), 328. 4 SLOV AKIA-2015 9 It was October 28, the same day as the declaration of the new Czechoslovak Republic in Prague. By the night of October 30 through 31, crowds of soldiers and civilians demonstrated in the streets of Budapest. They later occupied public buildings, prevented troops loyal to Karolyi from moving out of the city, captured Budapest's military governor, and freed political prisoners as in 1848. Soldiers tore off the emblems on their uniforms and replaced them with asters and rosettes. Emperor-King Charles retreated and Karolyi formed a new independent Hungarian government. Vanquished Hungary appeared to be on the path to democratization. 6 Meanwhile, Slovak national leaders, mostly from central Slovakia converged in Turciansky Svaty Martin, the seat of the Slovak national movement and established the Slovak National Council. They had little news of what was happening in Prague, Budapest, or Europe more broadly . The Council wished, however, to take a stand on the dramatically unfolding events . The Slovak politician Milan Hodza had been negotiating with Karolyi in Budapest. He arrived in Martin on October 30 just as the Council was about to issue the Martin Declaration, announcing the secession of Slovakia from Hungary, Slovak self-determination and a desire for inclusion in the Czechoslovak state, which fulfilled Prague's wishes .7 The Slovak National Council had no army, so it could not enforce its program or maintain order. Individual militias sprang up in towns and cities across Slovakia, engaging in a power struggle with the newly-formed Hungarian National Councils. It was a highly unstable environment. Demobilized Slovak soldiers (from the Hungarian army) formed the mainstay of active Slovak participation in the evolving power struggle. They created paramilitary groups in the forests, especially in western Slovakia, with about four thousand soldiers active around Bratislava. To dispel the threat of anarchy and establish control over the territory, the Czechoslovak National Council brought Slovak representatives into the newly formed National Assembly in Prague in early November of 1918. 8 Slovakia's first provisional "Slovak Government" was set up in Western Slovakia near the Moravia-Slovak border by the Czechoslo6 Hanak, ed ., Corvino History of Hungary , 164-5. Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1 987 (New Jersey: Princeton Uni versity Press, 1988), 40-41 . 8 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in th e 20 th Century," in Concise History of Slovakia, 239 . 7 10 SLOV AKIA-2015 vak government in Prague, and began to function on November 6. It was led by Vavro Srobar, Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia. On Decemberl2, it was replaced by a Ministry for Slovakia, which Srobar established in Zilina in the midst of a combined Czech, French and Italian effort to drive Hungarian troops out of Slovak territory. 9 Less than two weeks later, on December 21, Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Edvard Benes successfully negotiated French 10 recognition of a demarcation line of the Slovak territory . Entente forces would drive Hungarian troops past the demarcation line on January 20, 1919. That line more or less became the country's official border with the signing of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. 11 When Srobar's administration grew too large for Zilina, he deliberated with Samuel Zoch, a Lutheran clergyman from Modra near Pressburg (later Bratislava) who was the principal author of the Martin Declaration of October 30, 1918, on where Slovakia's central government should be moved . They decided in early January of 1919 to move the capital to Pressburg on February 4, 1919. Zoch was placed in charge of the Pressburg district administration (zupan), and orchestrated the Czechoslovak takeover of the city from January 1, 1919. "Bratislava" became the city's standard official name in March of 1919. 12 Hungary would make one more sustained military effort toward maintaining its prewar borders. Under Bela Kun's short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic, lasting for 133 days beginning March 21, 1919, the Hungarian Red Army made significant inroads into Slovakia. It was driven out following an ultimatum by the Entente powers at the end of June 1919. The Hungarian Red Army finally retreated from Slovakia on June 30, 1919, and by July 24 the Czechoslovak government held the entire territory. 13 9 Peter Bugge, "The Making of a Slovak City: The Czechoslovak Renaming of Pressburg/Pozsony/Presporok, I 918-19," Austrian History Yearbook 35 (2004 ): 221. IOibid ., 213. 11 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in the 20 th Century," in Concise History of Slovakia, 243. 12 Bugge, "The Making of a Slovak City," 221 . 13 For a detailed discussion of the series of revolutions in Hungary see: Laszlo Kontler, A History of Hungary (New York, Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) chapter VII "In Search of an Identity" , 324-344; Ivan Volgyes, ed., Hungary in Revolution, 1918-1919. Nine Essays (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1971 ); Andras Sikl6s, Revolution in Hungary and the Dissolution of the Multinational State 1918 (Budapest: Akademiai Kiad6, 1988); Rudolf I. Tokes, Bela Kun and the Hungarian SLOV AKIA-2015 11 On the Czechoslovak state level, the Struggle for Slovakia entailed not only the physical, geographic aspect of territorial incorporation, but also the more slippery aspect of drawing the multinational population of Slovakia into the mental landscape of the new state. Coming to terms with the World War I Czech argument that the Czechs and Slovaks were two branches of the same Czechoslovak nation, and so should together form the dominant national group within the Czechoslovak nation-state, required a shift in direction . The events of the "Prevrat" underscore the tense relations between, first and foremost, Hungarians and Slovaks, and Jews and Slovaks, but also, increasingly between Czechs and Slovaks. These relationships would influence shifts in overall understandings of nationhood and nationality, as well as national political programs within the new state. Czechoslovakia was a nation-state in formation. Successful Czechoslovak state building required incorporating the territory and peoples of Slovakia. This was not to be accomplished by gradually building popular consensus, but through military engagement and diplomatic maneuvering. 14 Drawing the borders in this way would have significant implications for Czechoslovakia's domestic and international nationalities problems. Prague needed the Slovaks, a "state forming nation," 15 or there would be no independent Czechoslovakia. Without the Slovaks, the Czechs could not form a majority in the parliament and legitimately create a viable state. The Slovaks likewise needed the Czechs to help them leave Hungary. They needed the Czechs to help them establish a functioning civil and governmental infrastructure in Slovakia, and to create an educational system for producing Slovak national elites ready to take control of the developing infrastructure. The help the Slovaks desired was temporary_ 16 Soviet Republic (published for the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University by New York: Praeger Publishers, 1967). 14 Aviel Roshwald, Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires (Lo ndon, NY: Routledge, 200 I), I 62. 15 Liptak, "VII. Slovakia in the 20°1 Century," in A Concise History of Slovakia, 245. Czechs alone formed only 49 percent of the total Czechoslovak state population without the Slovaks. Whereas, accordin g to the 1921 Czechoslovak census, "Czechoslovaks" formed 65 .51 percent of the total Czechoslovak state population, and "Germans" 23.36 percent. 16 Liptak, "Vll. Slovakia in the 20°1 Century," in A Concise History of Slovakia, 245. 12 SLOV AKIA-2015 In the introduction to hi s memoir on the formative years 1918 through 1920, Osvobodene Slovensko (Liberated Slovakia), Vavro Srobar recounted hi s first meeting with R.W. Seton-Watson, the influential British historian and political activist who brought nationality questions in Austria-Hungary to the world's attention. In 1907 Seton-Watson came to R6zsahegy (Ruzomberok) in the central Slovak Low Tatra region, where Srobar was then working, while researching the national question for what would be his first major work, Racial Problems in Hungary. 17 Due to the objectivity and calm with which Seton-Watson di scussed Magyarization, Srobar found himself unable to discern where his visitor stood on the issue. Before they parted, Seton-Watson surprised Srobar with a question : "And what is your state program?" he asked. After a moment's hesitation, Srobar replied, "Great Moravia, 18 with Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia, and Pannonia," which Seton-Watson "accepted without commentary." "That [conversation] took place seven years before the outbreak of the world war," continued Srobar, "and eleven years afterward 'Great Moravia' received the name the 'Czechoslovak State."' 19 Language was the connection between the "Czechoslovak tribes" that Srobar professed in his memoir, from their ancient roots to the present. Even the establishment of a new literary language in Slovakia, thanks to I:udovit Stur's nineteenth century codification of the central Slovak dialect, "did not for a moment disturb the consciousness of Czechoslovak tribal unity," he asserted. "The longing for close cultural, economic, and political unity increased yearly in proportion to the growing pressure of brutal Magyarization," he added. 20 Srobar underscored a romantic one-thousand year story of the unitary Czechoslovak nation/tribe - focusing on shared language, history, 17 London : Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., 1908 . "Great Moravia," a large Slavic state that existed between 833 and 906, was an important component of the Czechoslovak romantic national idea as well as the development of Slovak nationalism. Considered to have bridged the western Slavs with the Slavonic tribes in the Balkans and with Byzantium, the weakening state collapsed under attack by the Magyar tribes who settled in the Danube Basin in approximately 896. The Czech and Slovak tribes then underwent separate development. For more on Great Moravia see Jan Dekan, Vel'ka Morava: Doba a umenie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1976). 19 Vavro Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko. Pamdti z rokov 191 8-1920, Svazok Prvy (Prague, 1928), 7-8. 20 Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko, 11. 18 SLOV AKIA-2015 13 interests, and ancestral ties - that had been so successful in garnering international support for the Czechoslovak state building project during the war in his celebratory and didactic jubilee year volume. While the idea of a unitary Czechoslovak nation prevailed internationally, the most compelling connection between the Czechs and Slovaks for the prospects of independent statehood was demographic. Though Czechs constituted a majority in Bohemia and Moravia, they feared that the collapse of Austria-Hungary would spell their incorporation into a Greater Germany, due to the existence of a substantial German minority in these lands . At the beginning of the war, Czech leaders first sought a reorganization of the Monarchy along federal lines with a large degree of autonomy for the Czechs, though soon discarded the plan as unfeasib!e.21 In working toward the ultimate goal of independence, the idea of incorporating the estimated three million strong Slovak population became an increasingly attractive solution to counterbalancing the significant German minority in Bohemia and Moravia. 22 By the end of the war T.G. Masaryk and Benes had the commitment of the Entente powers to an independent Czechoslovakia. The Slovak population became the key to the Czechoslovak nation's demographic legitimacy in its new multinational national state. The Paris Peace Conference called upon the Czechoslovak delegation to statistically demonstrate the dominance of the Slovaks in the multinational territory of Slovakia. The viability of the Czechoslovak state depended upon it. In order to collect the necessary data, the Czechoslovak government organized a provisional census for Slovakia. Such a census could not be carried out until the borders of the territory were defined and secured, and military upheavals had ceased . This meant waiting until the ultimatum given by the Entente powers had driven Bela Kun's Red Army troops out of Slovakia at the end of June 1919, and until the Czechoslovak government had control over the territory at the end of July. While the change of regimes was not officially over, and the borders were not fixed by law until Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon on June 4, I 920, Czechoslovakia held the de facto borders securely enough by August 1919 that it was feasible to set the census in motion. The primary goal of the census was : 21 Joseph Rothschild, East Central Europe between the Two World Wars. A History o[. East Central Europe, vol. 9 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1974), 76. 2 Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia, 35. 14 SLOV AKIA-2015 [To gather] the necessary information for the Peace Conference concerning how many Slovaks there [were] in the occupied territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary, so that it would be possible to correct and prove false the Hungarian census of 1910, as well as to ascertain other general national proportions in Slovak communities, namely the [extent of] the Magyarization of these communities, the Magyarization of schools and churches. "23 The 1919 census was the first attempt by the Czechoslovak government to map the territory of Slovakia for state building purposes. Mapping Slovakia meant reframing the national ratios of multinational/ethnic/linguistic Slovakia in terms of Slovak, and thus Czechoslovak, dominance. The Czechoslovak government had to prove that the former government sought to create Magyar demographic superiority in the same lands through forced assimilation and manipulation of statistics. The aim of the census was, in other words, to find the ethnic Slovaks whose numbers would prove that a "falsification," or deliberate Magyarization of the nationalities had taken place in the decades before the war. Josef Mraz of the newly-created Czechoslovak State Statistical Office24 set out from Prague to Zilina, 25 the provisional capital of Slovakia, in mid-January 1919 to propose his ideas for the upcoming Slovak census to Vavro Srobar, the Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia.26 His talks with Srobar lasted an exhausting four days, during which time they debated how the structure, method, and concept of the census could best meet its chief goal: to find out how many Slovaks there were in Slovakia. Upon his arrival in Prague, he wrote up a report of the Zilina proceedings and the census instructions up23 Slovensky narodny archiv (hereafter SNA), file : Ministerstvo s plnou mocou pre spravu Slovenska, hereafter MPS, box 277, inv. no. 74. "Prozatimni scitani lidu na Slovensku." In this transitional period before the signing of the Treaty of Trianon, Slovakia was often denoted as the "occupied territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary." 24 Josef Mraz (1882-1934) was one of the co-founders of the Czechoslovak State Statistical Office, who had begun his work as a statistician for the Provincial Statistical Office of the Bohemian Kingdom. He is noted for his work on the first census in Slovakia ( I 9 I 9), as well as on statistical theory and agricultural statistics. Federalni statisticky ui'ad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky (Praha, 1989), 194. 25 :Z:ilina was the provisional capital of Slovakia from December 12, 1918 through February 4, 1919, when Bratislava (Pozsony, Pressburg) became the capital. 26 Vavro Srobar was the Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia (Ministers plnou mocou pre spravu Slovenska, MPS). SLOV AKIA-2015 15 on which they had agreed. He sent the instructions to be translated into Slovak, Magyar, and German. 27 Mraz included in hi s report a new, subjective definition of nationality that would challenge prewar methods of counting and classifyi ng th e population based on language. This definition would be th e point of departure for fresh debates and reevaluations of nationhood in the evolving circumstances of the interwar Czechoslovak state. He argued that, "In contrast to [mother tongue], the concept 'nationality' means adherence to a certain internal conviction, which cannot be explained in an ambi guous way, similar to reli gious conviction," and that it follows from this conclusion that Jews should have the option of declaring either for their own Jewish nationality, or for the nationality of others, without regard for religious affiliation.28 Debates over "Jewish nationali ty" formed the centerpiece of the overall reevaluation of nationality and nationhood in Czechoslovakia. Jewi sh nationality came to be used as an exceptional example in formulating opposing positions on the meaning, classification, and function of nationality in the new state. Through it, Czechoslovakia shifted the concept of nationality closer to an ethnic or racial understanding of the term, rather than a linguistic or cultural one. The Czechoslovak government, together with the multinational population of the state, initiated th e process of actualizing theoretical concepts of nationality and nationhood through the 1919 census in Slovakia. Responses to the 1919 census gave nationality meaning in the postwar environment, in the context of new states created on the principle of national self-determination . In the process of creating the 1919 Slovak census, Czechoslovak demographers also came to a preliminary decision regarding how 29 Czechoslovakia would "see" and count Jewish nationality . The Jewish case was especially problematic because Czechoslovakia did not consider the Jewish population in Czechoslovakia to possess its own national language, even in Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia where Yiddish language usage was more widespread, but never27 SNA, f. MPS, box 277, inv. no. IOI. From the report by Josef Mraz, "Prozatfmnf scftanf lidu na Slovensku," February 8, 1919 . 28 SNA, f. MPS , box 277, inv. No. 76 . "Prozatfmnf scitani lidu na Slovensku" 29 See: James C. Scott, Seeing Like a State: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed (New Haven, Ct.: Yale University Press, 1998), for thinking about ways the state "sees" the populat ion and makes it "legible." 16 SLOV AKIA-2015 theless did not dispute Jewish national status within the state. An influential work on national questions published in Prague in early 1919 declared: "Language forms the distinguishing characteristic of the nation : a nation must have its own language, otherwise it is not a nation." 30 How would the Czechoslovak state square its recognition of Jewish national status with the alleged lack of a distinctive national language among the Jews of Czechoslovakia? Debates surrounding Jewish nationality and its codification for census purposes lay at the core of a Czechoslovak reevaluation of the overall meaning of nationality in the postwar period . Decisions regarding the meaning and function of Jewish nationality within the Czechoslovak context went hand in hand with the process of integrating Slovakia into the Czechoslovak state. The Jewish case illuminates the way the process of Czechoslovak state building - including the interrelated efforts to arrive at the true number of Slovaks and Czechs, and to reconcile the dissonant linguistic-national circumstances of the Jewish population so as to codify Jewish nationality within Czechoslovakia - led to an increased unbundling of language from nationality as an absolute indicator of national belonging, and movement toward a definition of nationality as an internal conviction. To begin, it is helpful to take a step back to look at the relationship between language, nationalism, and nationhood; and then to consider their relationship as applied to the institutionalized collection of data for census purposes. First of all, for the peoples of East Central Europe, including the Jews, the nation building process was a fundamental component of modem politics. Nation building required raising the national consciousness of the members of the group, as well as making a convincing case to the world that the group was indeed a real nationality. The most important proof of national existence was language: a special, unique language belonging to the national group alone.31 Nineteenth century nationalism deemed language the most important characteristic marking one nation from another. Language 30 Bohdan Klineberger, Ncirod a ncirodnost (Praha, 1919), 53 . Ezra Mendelsohn, On Modern Jewish Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 128. 31 SLOV AKIA-2015 17 was the primary determinant of nationhood .32 Nationalism assumes that people naturally group themselves into nations, that these nations have identifiable characteristics, and that their only legitimate form of government is self-government. 33 Making language central to nationalism, argues Elie Kedourie, erases the distinction between linguistic and racial nationalism, because then the conception of nationalism itself contains all linguistic, racial, religious and other features. The connection between language and ethnicity is also heightened. 34 Nation - "one of the most puzzling and tendentious items in the political lexicon" 35 - has been variously defined as dependent more on "objective" factors including language, religion and customs, territory and institutions; and alternatively as coalescing from "subjective" factors like attitudes, perceptions, and sentiments. 36 The features deemed "objective" have been conceived to mark the boundaries of nations, and features deemed "subjective" to give it internal cohesion and solidarity. "Objective" criteria like language are not enough in and of themselves to establish whether a group is a nation or not. Rather, suggests Walker Connor, "the essence of the nation is a psychological bond that joins a people and differentiates it, in the subconscious conviction of its members, from all nonmembers in a most vital way." 37 His conception closely agrees with Ernest Gellner's, where a common language does not bind a group into a nation without mutual recognition of each other. "A mere category of persons (say, occupants of a given territory or speakers of a given language, for example) becomes a nation if and when the members of the category firmly recognize certain mutual rights and duties to 32 "Let us fo llow our own path ... let all men speak we ll or ill of our nati on, our literature, our language: they are ours, they are ourselves, and let that be enough," 8 . Suphan, ed. , Johann Gottfried Herder, Sdmmtliche Werke (Berlin: Weidmann), in Smith, Nationalism, 27. 33 Elie Kedourie, Nationalism (London : Hutchinson, 1961 ), 68. 34 1bid. 35 Charles Tilly, The Formation of National States in Western Europe (Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 1975 ), 6. 36 Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History (Malden, MA : Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2001 ), I I. 37 Walker Connor, Ethnonationalism: The Quest fo r Understanding (Princeton University Press, 1994 ), 197. 18 SLOV AKIA-2015 each other in virtue of their shared membership in it. "38 A people must feel its nationhood. That feeling of nationhood, the condition of being a nation, has been theorized in two main ways in its European context. The first is considered to derive more from a sense of mutual belonging to a political community in which equal citizens participate in a common culture; while the second is regarded as more related to a sense of mutual belonging to an ethnocultural community of descent with political ambitions.39 Neither is exclusive, nor analogous to the state. States can be defined by their autonomous institutional activity, and by their "legitimate monopoly of coercion and extraction in a given territory," but the state itself is not the national political community. 40 Anthony Smith's paired conceptions of nation and ethnie highlight the group's internal cohesion, solidarity, and mutual loyalty. Smith defines nation as "a named human community occupying a homeland, and having common myths and a shared history, a common public culture, a single economy and common rights and duties for all members;" as distinguished from ethnie "a named human community connected to a homeland, possessing common myths of ancestry, shared memories, one or more elements of shared culture, and a measure of solidarity, at least among the elites."41 Smith's concept of the ethnie is especially important in the Jewish case for understanding the coherence of the group without territory and without a special, unique, shared vernacular. Late nineteenth century Jewish nationalism relied on "subjective" characteristics for modem Jewish nation building; above all a common heritage and shared historical experience. Language was conspicuously absent from the short list. "Who amongst us has a sufficient acquaintance with Hebrew to ask for a railway ticket in that language?" Theodor Herzl famously asked in 1896.42 38 Ernest Geitner, Nations and Natio nalism (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983), 7. 39 Marsha L. Rozenblit, Reconstructing a National Identity: The Jews of Habsburg Austria during World War I (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 7. 40 Smith, Nationalism, 12. 41 Ibid ., 13 . 42 Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State (New York: American Zionist Emergency Council, 1946), 145. SLOV AKIA-2015 19 How then do you count "nationality" on the census? What, in fact, is being counted? Census-creating demographers differ from theorists in their need to count and quantify, classify and categorize state populations. Definitions of nation push and pull against the institutional demands of the state. The real question here is how the complex and fluctuating "nation" is tagged and boxed and bureaucratized for use by the state. What does it mean and how is it used ? Nation indeed becomes, as Rogers Brubaker explains, a "practical category, institutionalized form, contingent event, and category of prac43 tice." "We should not ask 'what is a nation,"' he writes, "but rather: how is nationhood as a political and cultural form institutionalized within and among states? How does nation work as a practical category, as classificatory scheme, as cognitive frame?" 44 The crystallization of Jewish nationality in Czechoslovakia exemplifies the process by which nation is bureaucratized and given institutional form in interwar East Central Europe. Jewish nationality became an exceptional category of practice within the borders of interwar Czechoslovakia; it was the only nationality in East Central Europe not bound by language . Demographers began to answer the question of how to count nationality on the census at the meeting of the International Statistical Congress in St. Petersburg in 1872. There, they agreed that language was the primary marker of nationality, and that counting nationality according to language was the most effective means of capturing and recording nationality for the interests of the state. The question of how to codify nationality in a state census had first been debated at the 1857 Congress in Vienna, but without conclusive results. The St. Petersburg Congress decided that language was the best objective indicator of nationality, the most reliable one, and the least confusing, as "each perfectly knows the language used since childhood to think and express oneself." 45 But how should the census ask about language? The conclusions of the St. Petersburg conference point to 43 Rogers Brubaker, Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1996), 7. 44 1bid, 16. 45 Dominique Arel , "Language categories in censuses : backward- or forward-looking?" David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel , eds. , Census and Identity. The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Censuses. (Cambridge: Cambridge Un iversity Press, 2002), 95. 20 SLOV AKIA-2015 an acceptance of mother tongue as the most valid language situation type to use in codifying nationality for the census. Other language situation types include, but are not limited to: language most commonly used, language of daily use, family language, language in which one prays, and the language that one speaks with one's children. 46 Language was first counted on the Austrian and the Hungarian census in 1880. In Austria, language was counted according to "language of daily use" (Umgangssprache); while in the Kingdom of Hungary, language was counted according to "mother tongue" (anyanyelv). When Czechoslovakia came into existence after the First World War, it brought together two traditions of national codification through language proxy.In discussing the relationship of language to nationality for the development of the census, Czechoslovak demographers favored "mother tongue," as nationality was counted in the Kingdom of Hungary, over "language of daily use," as it was done in Austria. They argued that counting according to language of daily use had led to an under representation of Czechs on the Austrian census, and inherently underestimated the numbers of minority national groups where the official language was that of the dominant national group . The dependent position of the Czechs had resulted in more Czechs declaring themselves as Germans when counted this way, they asserted, because a Czech in a German language environment would indeed have used that language on a daily basis. Counting according to mother tongue had led to even greater statistical manipulations in the Kingdom of Hungary. Czechoslovak demographers contended that corruption of the census process in Hungary for the purpose of statistically increasing the number of Magyars had resulted in a gross underestimation of the number of ethnic Slovaks. Consequently, Slovaks as a people suffered more in Hungary than the Czechs in Austria. Yet they agreed that if the census were carried out properly, counting nationality by mother tongue would yield the most accurate and objective picture of 46 David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel, "Censuses, Identity formation and the struggle for political power," in Kertzer and Arel, eds., 26, and Dominique Arel, "Language categories in censuses: backward- or forward-looking?" in Kertzer and Arel, eds. , 97. SLOVAKIA-2015 21 47 the demographic composition of the state. Czechoslovak demographers accepted the definition of mother tongue as "the language which is most familiar to a person since childhood and with which they think, or simply the language which their parents taught them in their earliest youth. "48 Josef Mraz worked with the definition of mother tongue as well as its caveat, used on the 1910 census of the Kingdom of Hungary to make the mother tongue category as broad as possible, in reformulating the conception of nationality for the 1919 Slovak census. He did not dispute the Hungarian definition's core: mother tongue is the language "to which one confesses as one's own and with which one best and most gladly speaks. "49 It was the caveat that troubled him: Although mother tongue is identical with the language which everyone learned in their childhood in the majority of cases, usually from their mother, it can nevertheless happen that a child has another mother tongue than the mother, especially when the child acquired it in child-care (!), in school (!), or as a result of circumstances by which the parents have different mother tongues, another language than the language of the child's mother. 50 By broadening the definition of mother tongue so that it became disengaged from the language one's mother actually spoke, Hungarian demographers allowed for a greater number of people to declare for the Magyar mother tongue than would have otherwise been possible. While this definition may have obtained in a number of cases due to widespread linguistic assimilation in the Kingdom of Hungary, it left the door open for abuses . ... (Co ntinuation: Next page with Statistical Tables) 47 Jan Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?" Ceskoslovensky statisticky vestnik (CSV) II ( 1921 ): 49, and Antonin Bohac, "Slovensko ve svetle statistiky -kniha Josefa Mraza," CSV II (1921): 225-6. 48 Cyril Horacek, "Narodnostni statistika," CSV II ( 1921 ): 187. 49 JosefMraz, Slovensko ve svetle statistiky (Praze, 1920), 33 . 50 Jbid. Exclamation marks in the original. SLOV AKIA-2015 22 Table 2.1: Mother Tongue of the Hungarian Population According to Religion in 1910 According to Absolute Number Hungarian Total 10,888,138 5,924,665 Roman Catholic 304,570 2,025,508 Greek Catholic 2,573,683 2,621,329 Calvinist 418,449 1,340,143 Lutheran 2,987, 163 40,851 Greek Orthodox 74,296 73,267 Unitarian 932,458 705,488 Jewish 9,602 17,452 Other 20,886,487 10,050,5 75 Total Rusvn Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other Total German Slovak Romanian 1,372,103 1,406,207 8,531 1,785 79,338 1,133,671 26,964 429,687 2,494 10,645 463,912 706 1,412 1,592 1,799,255 168 203,230 1,004 2,037,435 64 5,830 1,268 1,967,9 70 559 991 3,021 2,949,032 Croatian Other Serbian 5,109 1,810,302 3,892 357,329 463,604 9,511 1,908 31,121 57 56 1,03 1 1,028 791 860 49 128 1,099,386 7,491 25,528 42,580 4 2,702 24 472,587 7 10,387 276 1,833,162 21 91 996 1,106,471 206 3,739 3,739 469,255 According to Absolute Percentage Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other Total Total 52.1 Hungarian 54.4 German 12.6 9.7 15.0 0.1 3.9 56.0 12.6 6.4 14.3 98.2 31.2 1.4 1.0 32.1 0.1 0.4 34.6 0.0 0.1 0.1 60.3 0.3 4.5 0.1 100 98.6 75.7 55.0 0.2 21.8 5.8 0.1 0.6 7.3 0.8 0.1 17.3 Slovak Romanian 12.9 0.1 SLOV AKIA-2015 Roman Catholic Greek Catholic Calvinist Lutheran Greek Orthodox Unitarian Jewish Other 23 0.1 16.6 0.0 3.3 22.9 0.5 0.1 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 36.8 0.3 1.9 1.4 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.0 1.1 1.6 0.0 0.0 5.7 0.3 0.4 7.2 Magyar Statisztikai Evkonyv. Uj Folyam XXIII. I 9 I 5 (Budapest, 1918), 20, chart 13, "A nepesseg anyanyelve vallasok szerint 1910-ben." Table 2.2: Mother Tongue of the Hungarian Population in 1900 and 1910 Total Population Mother Tongue of the Population Hungary Magyar Geman Slovak Romanian Rusyn Croatian Serbian Other Total non Magyar Total 1900 absolute number 1910 percentage 8,651,520 1,999,060 2,002,165 2,798,559 424,774 191,432 437,737 333,008 8,186,735 16,838,255 absolute number 51.4 11.9 11.9 16.6 2.5 1.1 2.6 2.0 48.6 100 Percentage 9,944,627 1,903,357 1,946,357 2,948,186 464,270 194,808 461,516 401,412 8,319,906 18,264,533 54.4 10.4 10.7 16.1 2.5 1.1 2.5 2.9 45.5 100 CroatiaSlavonia Magyar German Slovak Romanian Rusyn Croatian Serbian Other 90,781 136,121 17,476 920 4,673 1,490,672 610,908 64,753 3.8 5.6 0.7 0.0 0.2 61.7 25.3 2.7 105,948 134,078 21,613 846 8,317 1,638,354 644,955 67,843 4.1 5.1 0.8 0.0 0.3 62.5 24.6 2.6 24 Total non-Magyar Total SLOV AKIA-2015 2,325,523 96.2 2,516,006 95.9 2,416,304 100 2,621,954 100 Hungarian Kingdom Magyar 8,742,301 45.4 10,050,575 48.1 German 2,135,181 2,037,435 11.1 9.8 Slovak 2,019.641 10.5 1,967,970 9.4 Romanian 2,799,479 2,949,032 14.5 14.1 Rusyn 429,447 2.2 472,587 2.3 Croatian 1,682,104 8.7 1,833,162 8.8 Serbian 1,048,645 1,106,471 5.5 5.3 Other 397,761 469,255 2.1 2.2 Total 10,512,258 54.6 10,835,912 51.9 non-Magyar Total 19,254,559 100 20,886,487 100 Magyar Statisztikai Evkonyv. Uj Folyam XXl/l. 1915 (Budapest, 1918), 15, chart 11 , "A nepesseg anyanyelve es magyarul tudasa 1900-ban es 19 I 0-ben." In their analysis, and in their own efforts to bolster Slovak mnnbers, Czechoslovak demographers were uninterested in linguistic assimilation, seeking instead to strip the inhabitants of Slovakia down to their national skins . Their efforts illustrate what Dominique Arel has explained as a backward looking orientation toward language categories in censuses. Arel argues that, even though nationalists portray linguistic assimilation as "forced, unnatural, and fundamentally illegitimate, the result of destructive policies by an 'imperialist' state," it is in reality a normal and expected occurrence. Among speakers of a less prestigious language, there are individuals who will choose to linguistically assimilate for social advancement. 51 In those cases declaration of mother tongue as the "language one best and most gladly speaks" may well differ from the language of one's mother. According to this reasoning, Czechoslovak demographers were backwards-looking because they sought to discover the "real" nationality of the inhabitants of Slovakia, their "true group belong- 51 Arel, "Language categories in censuses," in Census and Identity, Kertzer and Arel, eds., 93 . SLOV AKIA-2015 25 ing" based on their ancestral origins, rather than linguistic assimilation: whether coerced, statistically falsified, or voluntary. Czechoslovak demographers sought to demonstrate the unreliability of the 1910 census of the Kingdom of Hungary through critical comparative examination of the data collected within the language categories of "mother tongue" and "language knowledge. "52 In a typical example, Jan Auerhan 53 pointed to the 301,694 Magyars with knowledge of Slovak counted on the 1910 census within the sixteen counties and four municipalities of the Kingdom of Hungary which in whole or part became Slovakia. Two-thirds of them were likely to be ethnic Slovaks, he concluded. Counting them as Slovaks, instead of as Magyars with Slovak language knowledge, would raise the ethnic Slovak number from 1,708,592 to 1,900,000.54 The likelihood that a Slovak would be proficient in the Magyar language in an environment where Magyar was the official language - the language of instruction in schools, the language used in government offices and the court system - was incomparably greater than a Magyar proficient in Slovak. Mother tongue was not a perfect indicator of nationality, but what could be offered in its stead to collect national data? Mraz, in his Zilina report, strikingly concluded that "nationality" alone be used. Rather than employ language proxy, the census should ask the people directly for their nationality. This was a controversial method due its high level of subjectivity. Nationality declaration would not be linked to language as an external marker. Considering the ways in which Czechoslovak demographers regarded mother tongue to have been manipulated on the censuses of the Kingdom of Hungary, Mraz wrote: 52 Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?"; Mraz,"Dva dukazy o falesnosti mad'arskych dat o feci matefske na zaklade dat o znalosti feci," ; and Hora.eek, "Narodnostni statistika," all in CSV II (1921). 53 Jan Auerhan (1880-1942) worked as a statistician for the Provincial Statistical Office of the Bohemian Kingdom from 1906, and became the undersecretary to the president of the Czechoslovak State Statistical Office at its founding in January 1919. He is most noted for his work in the demographic and anthro-geographic fields, the study of Czech and Slovak minorities abroad, and minority questions more generally. Federalni statisticky ufad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky, 186. 54 Jan Auerhan, "Kolik je cechoslovaku?" CSV II ( 1921 ): 51 . 26 SLOV AKIA-2015 In contrast to [mother tongue], the concept "nationality" means confession to a certain internal conviction, which cannot be explained in an ambiguous way, similar to religious conviction . That confession to a certain nationality is the only correct one for ascertaining national ratios. "Mother tongue" has for this reason been eliminated from the demographic markers and as a surrogate question for "nationality." In connection with this is the question at hand, whether a separate "Jewish nationality" should be accepted without regard to religious affiliation. It follows from the concept of nationality described that it is not possible to force someone to declare a separate Jewish nationality, if [that declaration] is to express their internal conviction; because the Jews indeed form a separate race, there will, however, be no recommendation in the instructions for this procedure, except that Jewish nationality shall be left to the rubric of "Other nationality." The Jews should be left the option of declaring themselves either for their own separate nationality or for the nationality of others, which with the influence of environment and education or the like they have accepted as their own. For the stating of the Jewish race the remaining rules of the statement of affiliation to the Jewish confession shall suffice.55 Mraz's interpretation of nationality as an "internal conviction" was most closely related to the definition advanced by Karoly Keleti at the International Statistical Congress meeting in St. Petersburg in 1872. Keleti was the first director of the Hungarian Statistical Bureau founded one year earlier. He helped create the 1867 and the 1880 censuses for the Kingdom of Hungary. 56 The 1872 St. Petersburg Congress not only debated nationality enumeration on the census, but the meaning of nationality itself. Three conceptions of nationality emerged from the deliberations : I) political, in which nationality is equivalent to state belonging; 2) physical, in which nationality is defined racially; and 3) psychical, in which nationality is understood as a psychological community penetrating individual feeling and collective endeavors. 57 Keleti took the 55 SNA, f. MPS, box 277, inv. no. 76. Italics added. Karoly Keleti (born 1833, Pozsony [Pressburg, Bratislava] - died 1892, Budapest) Eletrajzi lexikon. www.kereso.hu-yrk-Ryrgenwm/7502 accessed June 17, 2005 . 57 Bohac, "Narodnost ci jazyk?" CSV II (1921 ): 50. 56 SLOV AKIA-2015 27 position that nationality cannot be equivalent to state belonging, as that is so-called political nationality, common in Western Europe, but not in the multinational states of Central and Eastern Europe. Nor does ethnic (Stamm) belonging answer to nationality, even if its main marker is language. Nationality was best defined, according to Keleti, as a "subjective state internal to the individual, a feeling analogous to religion that depends on origin and the environment in which a person lives and grows ."58 Keleti's definition was based on social-psychological criteria for which it is difficult to secure an objective external marker. It moved away from language as a definite indicator of nationality, leav ing room for belonging to a nationality whose language one may not use daily or that is not considered a viable national language (like Hebrew or Yiddish in the view of the Czechoslovak state). This was a big plus for Mraz and hi s colleagues, but also ambiguous enough to allow for pressures and fal sifications, like those they presumed embedded in the last Hungarian census before the war. Yet Keleti 's definition was attractive to the Czechoslovak demographers preparing the 1919 Slovak census. This definition would enable the indivi dual to confess nationality as directly as religion, as an expression of his/her internal conviction and self-understanding. Czechoslovak demographers hoped it would un cover the numbers of ethnic Slovaks who had previously been hidden from view because they were counted as Magyar-speakers. They would now be recorded under the banner of their "real" nationality, free to directly profess their "true" group belonging. Jews, too, would be able to declare their "true" group belonging for the first time; not only as a religion, but also as a distinct nationality . Antonin Bohac 59 found Keleti's definition to coincide with concepts of ethno-racial group belonging. "Since the means for express58 Ibid. , 49. Keleti publ is hed his views on nationality in 1880 in the Stalistische Monatschrift under the title "Zur Frage der Volksziihlung." [Cyril Horacek, "Narodnostni statistika," CSV I ( 1920): 187.] 59 Antonin Bohac ( 1882-1 950) is regarded as the fo under of Czechoslovak demographics, especially with regard to questi ons of nationality. He was a member of the Czechoslovak delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 19 19, and worked fo r the Czechos lovak State Statistical Office upon his return. Bohac was the deputy chairman of the Society for the Study of Nationality Questi ons. Federalni statisticky ufad, 70 let ceskoslovenske statni statistiky (Prague, 1989), 195. Bohac was also associate professor of demography at the Charles Uni versity Faculty of Science where he lee- 28 SLOV AKIA-2015 ing psychological states is language," Bohac wrote, "as Keleti [elsewhere] has stated, the concept of nationality in this sense is quite close to the concept of nationality as ethnic/racial belonging (kmenova prislusnost), for which language is the main connecting bond and main external marker."60 Bohac was correct to observe that Keleti's definition bore a strong resemblance to a physical understanding of nationality, which gave race and/or ethnicity an expanded role. Language remained the main outward indicator of nationality, but was no longer considered identical to nationality itself. Espousing this conception moved nationality closer to ethnicity. It elevated ethnic understandings of the self and the group . The final formulation of the 1919 census shows that the Czechoslovak administration and its demographers accepted Mraz's definition of nationality, based on Keleti's: "an individual national-political conviction according to ethnic belonging to a certain national unit or nation ."61 Five sub-headings were placed under Nationality on the form: Slovaks and Czechs, Rusyns, Magyars, Germans, and Others .62 Czechoslovak demographers understood Jewish nationality to be included under the subheading "Others." While "Jewish nationality" was an available option, though not a requirement, for the Jewish population, the category remained invisible on the actual census form in 1919. The 1919 census asked directly for nationality without the intermediary of language. *** In the late August heat of 1919, census takers dispersed across the territory of Slovakia to ask the people about their nationality. Many complained that the whole endeavor was disorganized and insufficiently thought through. Census takers expressed frustration that they had not received the census forms with time enough to look tured on the "Basics of Population Science." He introduced the usage of punch card technology for processing Czechoslovak census data."Historie statistiky v Cechach po roce 1918," The Czech Statistical Office http ://www.czso.cz/csu/redakce.ns£'i/historie_statistiky_ v_cechach_po_roce_ l 918 (accessed January 9, 2012). 60 Federalni statisticky urad, 50. 61 Ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora 1921, 77* (cast textova). 62 SNA, f. MPS, box 277 . This carton contains the original hand-written forms used for collecting the raw data for the 1919 census. SLOV AKIA-2015 29 them over, nor so that they could fill one out to use as an example. Due to lack of funds and inadequate organization, many found themselves forced to sleep in train stations and on park benches during the census period, which surely affected their ability to fulfill their duties. One census taker reported that his census materials were stolen from him while he slept! The population, and oftentimes even local community officials, had not been informed about the purpose of the census, nor when it would take place.63 If these complaints are accurate, they undermine the seriousness with which the Czechoslovak administrators prepared the foundation of the 1919 census, as well as the importance they placed upon it as a means of accurately proving national ratios in Slovakia. Yet last minute pre-census agitation to prepare the Slovak population did take place. The prominent Slovak national newspaper Narodnie noviny called on Slovaks " ... to consciously and openly confess their Slovak stock ... to let the beautiful words: 'I am Slovak' 64 consciously and boldly sound from the mouths of loyal citizens. " This example is atypical, however, as the agitation took place in the central Slovak town of Turciansky Svaty Martin, the seat of the Slovak national movement and home to the Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural society. Narodnie noviny explained that the purpose of the census was to prove that Slovakia was Slovak, and that it was essential for building its own independent country. Every citizen could participate in building that independent state through the census, the article stressed, an idea meant to reinforce the democratic spirit of the new era.65 "You have no reason to be ashamed of [declaring Slovak nationality]," counseled the leading newspaper in Saris county, a region of eastern Slovakia where national consciousness remained weak, "the Czechoslovak name has the best reputation not only in Europe, but also in America and Asia." The paper ran boldface announcements at the foot of its pages urging all Slovaks to proudly declare to the census taker that they were Slovaks. 66 These reassurances did little to assuage prevalent Slovak fears about the real purpose of the census. This terribly urgent appeal itself 63 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. nos. 7, 8-9. Scitani lidu na Slovensku 1919. Anketa mezi popisujicimi povei'niky. 64 "Scitanie l'udu," Nizrodnie noviny (Turciansky Svaty Martin), August 22, 1919. 65 Ibid. 66 "Slovaci!" Sari.fake hlasy (Presov), August 24, 1919. 30 SLOVAKIA-2015 may have caused anxiety for a population with a low-level of national consciousness. Suspicions ranged from the belief that the goal was to raise or introduce new taxes, undertake military recruitment, or to carry out a plebiscite to divide the territory . The military rumor was the most widespread. Many Slovaks worried that a war would soon break out between the Poles and Magyars, and the job of the census takers was to find able-bodied men to fight. Whoever declared Slovak nationality would be conscripted to fight once again, while other nationalities would be freed from that duty. While it was later revealed that the rumor began in Magyar circles, many people in the border counties still held back from declaring themselves Slovak. Others believed the census to be connected to imminent requisitioning of cattle and grain. Some, more optimistically, believed more satisfactory food and fuel distribution would follow, and possibly a more advantageous land distribution. Still others imagined the census to be an exercise in identifying foreigners (especially Magyars, Poles, and Magyarone Slovaks) and expelling them from Czechoslovakia.67 Widespread fears and suspicions about the real intentions of the 1919 census underscored the atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity in Slovakia at the beginning of the Czechoslovak state building project, as well as contributed to a certain level of inaccuracy in the results. Of the four national groups which were the most interesting to the state: Slovaks, Magyars, Germans, and Jews, the greatest difficulties arose in recording the nationality of the Slovaks and the Jews. Magyars and Germans were by-and-large ready for the census and decisive in their national declarations. Within the ethnic Magyar population, only state and municipal employees exhibited uncertainty in their national declarations. 68 Magyar language use, national uncertainty, fear and mistrust accounted for the greatest difficulties in recording the highest possible number of Slovaks on the 1919 census. Magyar or Magyarone Slovak census takers were known to record entire ethnic Slovak or mixed nationality villages as Magyar, or count individuals as Magyar because they were able to communicate with Magyar-speaking cen67 Mraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (1921 ): 133134. 68 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. no. 4. "O Mad'arech, Nemcich a zidech" SLOV AKIA-2015 31 sus takers without the help of an interpreter. 69 The latter illustrates precisely what Mraz and his colleagues had hoped to avoid in bypassing language as identical with or as a surrogate for nationality . They did not want ethnic Slovaks counted as Magyars based on their Magyar language proficiency. Other problems stemmed from uncertainty surrounding the meaning of nationality (primarily in eastern Slovakia). Many Slovaks feared what might happen to them if they did not declare themselves as Magyars. They distrusted the "godless Czechs" and "false prophets from Prague" who came to their doors. 70 The Slovak population tended to be more religious than the highly secularized Czech one, and Slovak national leaders expressed wari71 ness about the "agnostic progressivism" of the Czech intelligentsia. Common answers among Slovaks when asked about their nationality included: Slovak and Magyar ("aji Slovak, aji Mad'ar"), it doesn't matter ("to vsetko jedno"), and Hungarian Slovak ("Uhorsky Slovak"). 72 In eastern Slovakia, other answers included : I speak Slovak and Magyar ("hutorim 73 po slovensky i po mad'arsky"), I pray in Slovak ("modlim sa po slovensky"), and Catholic ("katolik") . Mraz noted in his analysis of the results that Slovaks often confused religion with nationality. 74 Interestingly, this observation recalls the proximity of religious and national feeling within Czechoslovakia's re-conceptualization of nationality, as well as the fine distinction made between them in rec69 Ibid., 7. "O opravnych navrzich pro pfisti scitani. Ibid., 5. "O nepfistojnostech pfi scitani," and Josef Mraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (1921): 135 . 71 Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia, 23. 72 All the Slavic languages differentiate the word "Hungarian" from ,,Magyar." The former refers to citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary, whereas the latter refers to the predominant ethnic group in that Kingdom. In Slovak, these terms are "Mad'ar" (ethnic Hungarian), Uhorsko (the Kingdom of Hungary), and uhorsky (deriving from the Kingdom of Hungary) . In the early 19 th century, Magyar nationalists followed the lead of Count Istvan Szechenyi in equating "Magyar" and "Hungarian" in foreign languages as part of their drive to assimilate all the non-Magyar nationalities into Magyar language and culture. The non-Magyar nationalities of Hungary rejected the equating of "Magyar" with "Hungarian" and still do. For more on Szechyni ' s activities see Dejiny S/ovenska II ( 1526-1848), ed. Samuel Cambel (Bratislava: VEDA, 1987), 488-90. 73 "Hutorit'" is the Saris form of "hovorit'," to speak. 74 JosefMraz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II ( 192 1): 135. II 70 32 SLOV AKIA-2015 ognizing "Jewish nationality." Nationality was something to be understood and felt as an "internal conviction, similar to religious confession," but consciously separated, and given a higher position than religion in the hierarchy of self and group values of definition. One's nationality, not one's religion, was of the greatest interest to the state. One's nationality, not one's religion, was the primary indicator of one's most strongly held inner values and loyalties. For the Jewish population, answers to the question of nationality were most striking for their variety. Census takers disparaged the eclecticism of the Jewish response, attributing it to opportunism . In some cases, they remarked, national declarations among Jews reached comical proportions: the head of one household declared as a Slovak, his wife as a German, and the children as Hungarians . They noted, however, that often Jews stuck to Jewish nationality so that they would not have to affiliate with any of the other nationality choices.75 The majority of Jews in Slovakia chose the Jewish nationality option on the 1919 census, officially recorded as "Other." Census takers recommended that a separate column be made available on the next census for Jewish nationality because so many Jews had expressly asked for it. 76 In the uncertain environment which prevailed in Slovakia in August 1919, shortly after the rollback of Bela Kun's Hungarian Red Army forces but before the de jure securing of the Czechoslovak borders, Jews in Slovakia wished to avoid a difficult and possibly treacherous national affiliation decision through declaring Jewish nationality. Many Jews viewed Jewish nationality as an escape from the nationality conflict. Choosing Jewish nationality appeared to be a good way to opt out, to take a neutral position, to make the safest bet on an unpredictable future. Basing the decision to declare for Jewish nationality on these criteria made it more a strategic and less a heart-felt choice. For the time being, at least, it had less to do with deep-seated feelings of belonging to a Jewish national group, and more to do with trying to make the best possible choice in 75 SNA, f. MPS , box 380, inv. no. 4. "Mad'arech, Nemcich a zidech." JosefMniz, "O pfedbeznem scitani lidu na Slovensku roku 1919," CSV II (192 1): 129. Unfortunately, the demographic breakdown of those who chose "Other" on the 1919 Slovak census is unavailable, so the conclusion that the majority of Jews declared for Jewish nationality comes from census taker reports and their insistence that it be included as a separate column on the next census. See footnote : Statni ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora 1921, 77*. 76 SLOV AKIA-2015 33 a high-stakes gamble. The Jewish population in Slovakia overall, counted by religion and nationality, numbered 135,918 according to the 1921 statewide Czechoslovak census, and 354,342 in the state as a whole. 77 Slovaks, counted only under the nationality rubric "Czechoslovak" on the interwar censuses, numbered 1,954,446 in 1919 and 2,025,003 in 1921, a positive change of 3.61 percent. 78 The popularity of the Jewish nationality declaration on the 1919 Slovak census (as "Other"), combined with a majority of ethnic Slovaks declaring as "Slovak" 79 led to a significant decrease in the number of Magyars recorded in Slovakia compared with the last prewar census. This decline heightened the Czechoslovak administration's awareness of further potential benefits rendered to the state by Jewish nationality . If the Jews, who traditionally affiliated with Germanspeakers in Bohemia and Moravia, and Magyar-speakers in Slovakia, declared for Jewish nationality, then the statistical legitimacy of the Czechoslovak nation-state would rise as the numbers of Germans and Hungarians fell. "Jewish nationality" would work to the advantage of the dominant "Czechoslovak" nationality and national state. If, as this argument goes, Jewish nationality favored the Czechoslovak nationality in solving the state's nationalities problems, then declaring Jewish nationality was not really a way of opting out. It was not a neutral position. It could not be an escape from the nationality conflict if it meant - once again - casting one's lot with the dominant state nationality. Jewish nationality may have seemed like an exit, but this was an illusion. One could not avoid taking sides in the interwar nationality conflicts . *** It is a valid and important point that the Czechoslovak government would favor Jewish nationality for its ability to statistically reduce the number of Germans and Magyars in the state. But that con77 Antonin Bohac, Narodnostni mapa republiky ceskoslovenske. Podrobny popis narodnostnich hranic, ostrovu a mensin (Prague, 1926), pp. 148-155 . 78 Ufad statisticky, Scitani lidu v republice ceskoslovenske ze dne 15. unora I 92 / Prague, 19240, Table 74: Narodnosti na Slovensku podle scitani lidu z roku 1919 a 1921 . 79 Slovaks who declared as Slovak, according to the options presented on the 1919 Slovak census, were recorded as "Czechoslovak." Slovaks were not recorded as "Slovak" until the 1930 statewide census. 34 SLOV AKIA-2015 clusion neglects the deeper meaning of its inclusion beyond the statistical benefits it could render. Creating a Jewish nationality category manifested the ways in which the meaning of national affiliation had transformed through the cataclysm of the First World War and the establishment of East Central European successor states based on the national principle. Josef Mraz elegantly and succinctly summed up these changes when he stated that declaring for a certain nationality was an expression of internal conviction . Because the very meaning of national affiliation had changed, "Jewish nationality" emerged as a recognized nationality category . Nationality had taken on the problematic role of the manifestation of one's personal convictions, inner values, and ultimate loyalty . Nationality moved ever closer to an essential ethnic or racial understandings of "true" group belonging. The methods and results of the 1919 special census in Slovakia were useful in providing a tested model of nationality investigation based on subjective, internal, ethnic/racial criteria, already approved before an international body (the Paris Peace Conference). The 1919 census had been an experiment in bringing methods of counting and recording the population into line with the new postwar vision of the national state. The 1921 census would build on 1919 methods in circumstances which required more than securing the new borders; they required filling the demarcated territory with meaning, as well as answering the dual questions of what Czechoslovakia was and how nationality and nationhood would function in this state. Examining the 1919 Slovak census offers insight into how Czechoslovakia understood itself as the manifestation of Czechoslovak: self-determination, and the place of the rights of the other nationalities to their own self-determination within this framework.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 1919 Census on the Territory of Slovakia Description An account of the resource Rebekah Klein-Pejšová Slovakia, Vol. 42 (No. 78-79), 2015 pp. 7-34 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Klein-Pejšová, Rebekah, 1972- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5c313bfa13cf9069d823447544071007.pdf 71baa88f67621894f9b45c50dc7e2861 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 177 SLOVAK SOM JA Stephen John Knoblock This is not going to be a composition about our great patrons Saint Cyril and Methodius, nor about the first President the Slovaks had, Dr. Joseph Tiso. I will not write about the founder of the Sisters of Saint Cyril and Methodius, Father Matthew Jankola or of any other great Slovak leader about whom I have only read. Instead I will write about my great-grandparent s who were born in Slovakia and journeyed to this country at the turn of the century. I will tell about their strong love of God, traditions, and the variety of songs which they brought with them, along with stories I have heard from them and my parents. All their traditions today are an integral part of my life. The people of central, southern, and eastern Europe constantly looked toward the United States as a haven free from social injustice, economic serfdom and the threat of national liquidation. The Slovak was no exception. Harassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought to deprive them of their national character and identity, thousands of Slovak families, including my great-grandparent s, sought refuge in the new world. My great-grandparent s came to the United States on a passenger ship called "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in nineteen hundred, wearing their babuskies and carrying their loved possessions from the old country. Along with goose feathers, perinas, beautifully and artistically embroidered towels and linens, and some fine China pieces, they brought with them most importantly, their strong faith and immense love of God. They settled in little Slovak communities and shared apartments with relatives and friends. Many found work here in Yonkers at the hat factory, Sugar House, or at the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills. It was hard for them in the beginning, but just as any one of the many immigrant groups we can say that they "have made it" in America. They didn't want charity but worked hard and saved their money. They help found our beautiful Church, Most Holy Trinity, and denied themselves many luxuries and pleasures to build a fine school which still stands as a monument to these fine people. �178 SLOVAKIA At that time the Church was the center of their lives. Life revolved around all parish activities. There was no television, airplanes, or mini skirts. Most husbands and wives with their families attended High Mass and Vespers on Sunday afternoon (after their polievka), which was a must. After Vespers many would walk to Glen Park to watch local clubs and teams play soft ball. The Church sponsored many summer outings, Slovak plays and musicals. The Slovak people were a humble close-knit group with an innate reverence, love, and respect for their church and pastors. They were a praying people who always knelt to say morning and evening prayers and the men were not ashamed to be seen praying from their Slovak prayer books and fingering their rosaries. Every Holy Day or well known saint's day was a day for prayer and celebration. Seldom did they miss rosary devotions during the months of May and October or the Stations of the Cross during the season of Lent. Since their lives were so closely related to the church, so too many of their traditions are religious orientated. On the day before Christmas it was considered good luck if a man was the first person to enter a home. The man was expected to Vinsovat' . One major and very loving custom is the traditional Christmas Eve supper. This supper consists of the blessed oblatky, honey, kozare soup (mushroom and sauerkraut), bobal'ky, roshky and kapustnica. This symbolic meal always began and finished with prayers and blessings from the head of the family. The blest oblatky (or Christmas wafers) symbolized the manna that God sent to His people as they sojourned in the desert. Jesus also said that He was the "bread of life." He left us His Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine in the Eucharist. The word oblatky derives from the Latin word oblata, which simply means 'offerings'. Blessed bread, associated with Mass and yet distinct from the Eucharist continues to be an important food at our holy meal. We as Slovaks are fortunate in preserving this custom at Christmas, as an aid to worthy reception of Holy Communion as well as a family spiritual communion on this most joyous of feasts. Later that evening they went to Midnight Mass which was always preceeded by the "Koledy" or Slovak Christmas �SLOVAKIA 179 carols. Even today we sing these simple melodic hymns which tell of the events that occured at Bethlehem.Co To Za Krdsne Diet'atko?, Dnesny Den sa Radujme, Narodil Sa Spasitel', Prisli Sme Ku Tebe, are only but a few. My favorite is Novinu Radostnu, a glorious and moving piece written by the late Vendel Galik, organist and choir director of our parish for forty years. Now I am a member of the Most Holy Trinity Choir and am becoming familiar with these simple, yet beautiful hymns. After the solemn, quiet, prayerful season of Post (Lent) came the joyous and happy time of the church year Vel'ka Noc (Easter). When our forefathers sang Aleluja, Radujme Sa, Pan Jezis Kristus Vstal Z Mftvych, they truly were happy and joyfully secure in their faith. Palm Sunday began the holy week with processions of the blessing of the palm branches. Every Slovak, young and old, wore a cross of palms on his lapel, and reverently displayed them at home. Very few missed Mass on Holy Thursday. The procession of priests, altar boys and children venerating the Blessed Sacrament was and is a spiritual experience. It was the custom to visit as many different churches as possible and offer prayers at their altars. Good Friday then was taken a little more seriously. It was a day of prayers and silence. A day to make a visit to Church and say the Way of the Cross. It was a busy day in the kitchen with paskas, nut and poppyseed cakes to be baked and the syrek to be cooked. Dedo usually got the job of grating of horseradish for the making of chren. It was always done outdoors because the aroma was so pungent it actually brought him to tears. On Holy Saturday we always bring our food to church to be blessed by the priest. The food is carried in a basket covered by a specially embroidered cloth or doily. The basket contains baked ham, klobasy, some lamb, decorated hard boiled eggs, chren, butter, paska and my favorite, syrek. The church, filled with hundreds of baskets of food, smelled so good, I could hardly wait for our Easter break~ fast. My great-grandfa ther, so my Mother .tells me, always circled the house with the basket to bring us blessings all year. Now, my Father and I still follow this ritual. I'm not alwas sure why we do all the things we do or �180 SLOVAKIA follow our special customs, but I know without them life would be dull and we wouldn't have much to look forward to. Take any large or small group of Slovak people at a wed.ding, social outing, banquet, family get-to-gether or a bus ride and they invariably start to sing. The man will start with Ja Parobok z Kapusian, and then you'll always hear Pod Tym Nasim Okieneckom, Ked' Komara zenili and the ladies all love Tancuj, Tancuj. Have you ever noticed how the proud Slovak people stand straighter, sing with more gusto and feeling and renewed faith when Hej, Slovaci is played? I always do and I too feel proud and happy to be of Slovak descent. On the)Whole we, too, are happy, singing musical family, and I recall the first few lines of a song, Slovak Som Ja, Slovak Budem and this is the theme of my paper. "Slovak I am and Slovak I will be" and very proud and happy too, if someday I can accomplish as much as my ancestors, and be so well remembered. True, my great-grandparents biographies will never be published, televised or reiterated by great speakers, but the Slovak traditions, customs, and ideals will remain a part of my life. The greatest heritage bequeathed to me is my Catholic Faith ... (First place - High School) No people or nation can blossom culturally, socially, financially and politically without its own state or country. This is true for little or big nations. This is true for America and for Slovakia. THE OLD KR.AEOVIANSKY TUNNEL serves as a warehouse for 50,000 kilograms of the famed bryndza cheese beginning with May each year. � SLOVAKIA 177 SLOVAK SOM JA Stephen John Knoblock This is not going to be a composition about our great patrons Saint Cyril and Methodius, nor about the first President the Slovaks had, Dr. Joseph Tiso. I will not write about the founder of the Sisters of Saint Cyril and Methodius, Father Matthew Jankola or of any other great Slovak leader about whom I have only read. Instead I will write about my great-grandparent s who were born in Slovakia and journeyed to this country at the turn of the century. I will tell about their strong love of God, traditions, and the variety of songs which they brought with them, along with stories I have heard from them and my parents. All their traditions today are an integral part of my life. The people of central, southern, and eastern Europe constantly looked toward the United States as a haven free from social injustice, economic serfdom and the threat of national liquidation. The Slovak was no exception. Harassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought to deprive them of their national character and identity, thousands of Slovak families, including my great-grandparent s, sought refuge in the new world. My great-grandparent s came to the United States on a passenger ship called "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in nineteen hundred, wearing their babuskies and carrying their loved possessions from the old country. Along with goose feathers, perinas, beautifully and artistically embroidered towels and linens, and some fine China pieces, they brought with them most importantly, their strong faith and immense love of God. They settled in little Slovak communities and shared apartments with relatives and friends. Many found work here in Yonkers at the hat factory, Sugar House, or at the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills. It was hard for them in the beginning, but just as any one of the many immigrant groups we can say that they "have made it" in America. They didn't want charity but worked hard and saved their money. They help found our beautiful Church, Most Holy Trinity, and denied themselves many luxuries and pleasures to build a fine school which still stands as a monument to these fine people. �178 SLOVAKIA At that time the Church was the center of their lives. Life revolved around all parish activities. There was no television, airplanes, or mini skirts. Most husbands and wives with their families attended High Mass and Vespers on Sunday afternoon (after their polievka), which was a must. After Vespers many would walk to Glen Park to watch local clubs and teams play soft ball. The Church sponsored many summer outings, Slovak plays and musicals. The Slovak people were a humble close-knit group with an innate reverence, love, and respect for their church and pastors. They were a praying people who always knelt to say morning and evening prayers and the men were not ashamed to be seen praying from their Slovak prayer books and fingering their rosaries. Every Holy Day or well known saint's day was a day for prayer and celebration. Seldom did they miss rosary devotions during the months of May and October or the Stations of the Cross during the season of Lent. Since their lives were so closely related to the church, so too many of their traditions are religious orientated. On the day before Christmas it was considered good luck if a man was the first person to enter a home. The man was expected to Vinsovat' . One major and very loving custom is the traditional Christmas Eve supper. This supper consists of the blessed oblatky, honey, kozare soup (mushroom and sauerkraut), bobal'ky, roshky and kapustnica. This symbolic meal always began and finished with prayers and blessings from the head of the family. The blest oblatky (or Christmas wafers) symbolized the manna that God sent to His people as they sojourned in the desert. Jesus also said that He was the "bread of life." He left us His Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine in the Eucharist. The word oblatky derives from the Latin word oblata, which simply means 'offerings'. Blessed bread, associated with Mass and yet distinct from the Eucharist continues to be an important food at our holy meal. We as Slovaks are fortunate in preserving this custom at Christmas, as an aid to worthy reception of Holy Communion as well as a family spiritual communion on this most joyous of feasts. Later that evening they went to Midnight Mass which was always preceeded by the "Koledy" or Slovak Christmas �SLOVAKIA 179 carols. Even today we sing these simple melodic hymns which tell of the events that occured at Bethlehem.Co To Za Krdsne Diet'atko?, Dnesny Den sa Radujme, Narodil Sa Spasitel', Prisli Sme Ku Tebe, are only but a few. My favorite is Novinu Radostnu, a glorious and moving piece written by the late Vendel Galik, organist and choir director of our parish for forty years. Now I am a member of the Most Holy Trinity Choir and am becoming familiar with these simple, yet beautiful hymns. After the solemn, quiet, prayerful season of Post (Lent) came the joyous and happy time of the church year Vel'ka Noc (Easter). When our forefathers sang Aleluja, Radujme Sa, Pan Jezis Kristus Vstal Z Mftvych, they truly were happy and joyfully secure in their faith. Palm Sunday began the holy week with processions of the blessing of the palm branches. Every Slovak, young and old, wore a cross of palms on his lapel, and reverently displayed them at home. Very few missed Mass on Holy Thursday. The procession of priests, altar boys and children venerating the Blessed Sacrament was and is a spiritual experience. It was the custom to visit as many different churches as possible and offer prayers at their altars. Good Friday then was taken a little more seriously. It was a day of prayers and silence. A day to make a visit to Church and say the Way of the Cross. It was a busy day in the kitchen with paskas, nut and poppyseed cakes to be baked and the syrek to be cooked. Dedo usually got the job of grating of horseradish for the making of chren. It was always done outdoors because the aroma was so pungent it actually brought him to tears. On Holy Saturday we always bring our food to church to be blessed by the priest. The food is carried in a basket covered by a specially embroidered cloth or doily. The basket contains baked ham, klobasy, some lamb, decorated hard boiled eggs, chren, butter, paska and my favorite, syrek. The church, filled with hundreds of baskets of food, smelled so good, I could hardly wait for our Easter break~ fast. My great-grandfa ther, so my Mother .tells me, always circled the house with the basket to bring us blessings all year. Now, my Father and I still follow this ritual. I'm not alwas sure why we do all the things we do or �180 SLOVAKIA follow our special customs, but I know without them life would be dull and we wouldn't have much to look forward to. Take any large or small group of Slovak people at a wed.ding, social outing, banquet, family get-to-gether or a bus ride and they invariably start to sing. The man will start with Ja Parobok z Kapusian, and then you'll always hear Pod Tym Nasim Okieneckom, Ked' Komara zenili and the ladies all love Tancuj, Tancuj. Have you ever noticed how the proud Slovak people stand straighter, sing with more gusto and feeling and renewed faith when Hej, Slovaci is played? I always do and I too feel proud and happy to be of Slovak descent. On the)Whole we, too, are happy, singing musical family, and I recall the first few lines of a song, Slovak Som Ja, Slovak Budem and this is the theme of my paper. "Slovak I am and Slovak I will be" and very proud and happy too, if someday I can accomplish as much as my ancestors, and be so well remembered. True, my great-grandparents biographies will never be published, televised or reiterated by great speakers, but the Slovak traditions, customs, and ideals will remain a part of my life. The greatest heritage bequeathed to me is my Catholic Faith ... (First place - High School) No people or nation can blossom culturally, socially, financially and politically without its own state or country. This is true for little or big nations. This is true for America and for Slovakia. THE OLD KR.AEOVIANSKY TUNNEL serves as a warehouse for 50,000 kilograms of the famed bryndza cheese beginning with May each year. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 177 SLOVAK SOM JA Stephen John Knoblock This is not going to be a composition about our great patrons Saint Cyril and Methodius, nor about the first President the Slovaks had, Dr. Joseph Tiso. I will not write about the founder of the Sisters of Saint Cyril and Methodius, Father Matthew Jankola or of any other great Slovak leader about whom I have only read. Instead I will write about my great-grandparent s who were born in Slovakia and journeyed to this country at the turn of the century. I will tell about their strong love of God, traditions, and the variety of songs which they brought with them, along with stories I have heard from them and my parents. All their traditions today are an integral part of my life. The people of central, southern, and eastern Europe constantly looked toward the United States as a haven free from social injustice, economic serfdom and the threat of national liquidation. The Slovak was no exception. Harassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought to deprive them of their national character and identity, thousands of Slovak families, including my great-grandparent s, sought refuge in the new world. My great-grandparent s came to the United States on a passenger ship called "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in nineteen hundred, wearing their babuskies and carrying their loved possessions from the old country. Along with goose feathers, perinas, beautifully and artistically embroidered towels and linens, and some fine China pieces, they brought with them most importantly, their strong faith and immense love of God. They settled in little Slovak communities and shared apartments with relatives and friends. Many found work here in Yonkers at the hat factory, Sugar House, or at the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills. It was hard for them in the beginning, but just as any one of the many immigrant groups we can say that they "have made it" in America. They didn't want charity but worked hard and saved their money. They help found our beautiful Church, Most Holy Trinity, and denied themselves many luxuries and pleasures to build a fine school which still stands as a monument to these fine people. 178 SLOVAKIA At that time the Church was the center of their lives. Life revolved around all parish activities. There was no television, airplanes, or mini skirts. Most husbands and wives with their families attended High Mass and Vespers on Sunday afternoon (after their polievka), which was a must. After Vespers many would walk to Glen Park to watch local clubs and teams play soft ball. The Church sponsored many summer outings, Slovak plays and musicals. The Slovak people were a humble close-knit group with an innate reverence, love, and respect for their church and pastors. They were a praying people who always knelt to say morning and evening prayers and the men were not ashamed to be seen praying from their Slovak prayer books and fingering their rosaries. Every Holy Day or well known saint's day was a day for prayer and celebration. Seldom did they miss rosary devotions during the months of May and October or the Stations of the Cross during the season of Lent. Since their lives were so closely related to the church, so too many of their traditions are religious orientated. On the day before Christmas it was considered good luck if a man was the first person to enter a home. The man was expected to Vinsovat' . One major and very loving custom is the traditional Christmas Eve supper. This supper consists of the blessed oblatky, honey, kozare soup (mushroom and sauerkraut), bobal'ky, roshky and kapustnica. This symbolic meal always began and finished with prayers and blessings from the head of the family. The blest oblatky (or Christmas wafers) symbolized the manna that God sent to His people as they sojourned in the desert. Jesus also said that He was the "bread of life." He left us His Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine in the Eucharist. The word oblatky derives from the Latin word oblata, which simply means 'offerings'. Blessed bread, associated with Mass and yet distinct from the Eucharist continues to be an important food at our holy meal. We as Slovaks are fortunate in preserving this custom at Christmas, as an aid to worthy reception of Holy Communion as well as a family spiritual communion on this most joyous of feasts. Later that evening they went to Midnight Mass which was always preceeded by the "Koledy" or Slovak Christmas SLOVAKIA 179 carols. Even today we sing these simple melodic hymns which tell of the events that occured at Bethlehem.Co To Za Krdsne Diet'atko?, Dnesny Den sa Radujme, Narodil Sa Spasitel', Prisli Sme Ku Tebe, are only but a few. My favorite is Novinu Radostnu, a glorious and moving piece written by the late Vendel Galik, organist and choir director of our parish for forty years. Now I am a member of the Most Holy Trinity Choir and am becoming familiar with these simple, yet beautiful hymns. After the solemn, quiet, prayerful season of Post (Lent) came the joyous and happy time of the church year Vel'ka Noc (Easter). When our forefathers sang Aleluja, Radujme Sa, Pan Jezis Kristus Vstal Z Mftvych, they truly were happy and joyfully secure in their faith. Palm Sunday began the holy week with processions of the blessing of the palm branches. Every Slovak, young and old, wore a cross of palms on his lapel, and reverently displayed them at home. Very few missed Mass on Holy Thursday. The procession of priests, altar boys and children venerating the Blessed Sacrament was and is a spiritual experience. It was the custom to visit as many different churches as possible and offer prayers at their altars. Good Friday then was taken a little more seriously. It was a day of prayers and silence. A day to make a visit to Church and say the Way of the Cross. It was a busy day in the kitchen with paskas, nut and poppyseed cakes to be baked and the syrek to be cooked. Dedo usually got the job of grating of horseradish for the making of chren. It was always done outdoors because the aroma was so pungent it actually brought him to tears. On Holy Saturday we always bring our food to church to be blessed by the priest. The food is carried in a basket covered by a specially embroidered cloth or doily. The basket contains baked ham, klobasy, some lamb, decorated hard boiled eggs, chren, butter, paska and my favorite, syrek. The church, filled with hundreds of baskets of food, smelled so good, I could hardly wait for our Easter break~ fast. My great-grandfa ther, so my Mother .tells me, always circled the house with the basket to bring us blessings all year. Now, my Father and I still follow this ritual. I'm not alwas sure why we do all the things we do or 180 SLOVAKIA follow our special customs, but I know without them life would be dull and we wouldn't have much to look forward to. Take any large or small group of Slovak people at a wed.ding, social outing, banquet, family get-to-gether or a bus ride and they invariably start to sing. The man will start with Ja Parobok z Kapusian, and then you'll always hear Pod Tym Nasim Okieneckom, Ked' Komara zenili and the ladies all love Tancuj, Tancuj. Have you ever noticed how the proud Slovak people stand straighter, sing with more gusto and feeling and renewed faith when Hej, Slovaci is played? I always do and I too feel proud and happy to be of Slovak descent. On the)Whole we, too, are happy, singing musical family, and I recall the first few lines of a song, Slovak Som Ja, Slovak Budem and this is the theme of my paper. "Slovak I am and Slovak I will be" and very proud and happy too, if someday I can accomplish as much as my ancestors, and be so well remembered. True, my great-grandparents biographies will never be published, televised or reiterated by great speakers, but the Slovak traditions, customs, and ideals will remain a part of my life. The greatest heritage bequeathed to me is my Catholic Faith ... (First place - High School) No people or nation can blossom culturally, socially, financially and politically without its own state or country. This is true for little or big nations. This is true for America and for Slovakia. THE OLD KR.AEOVIANSKY TUNNEL serves as a warehouse for 50,000 kilograms of the famed bryndza cheese beginning with May each year.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovák som ja Description An account of the resource Stephen John Knoblock Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 177-180 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Knoblock, Stephen John Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2ecc22003e340494d16672f75b3e886e.pdf f0656e0dfac0a8c287850f471ea88f7c PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 119 The· Sorrows of Marienka ' V. S. KOBAN It was lonely in the house after the wedding. Marienka never thought she would miss Jacka the way she did. She missed Jacka's soft, smiling way - walking around the rooms, not saying much. She'd thought having Jacka around was almost like having nobody at all. But now she found she even missed the work that Jacka had done. It was hard to pack all the lunches in the morning. She had to get up earlier than ever. She missed Michal, too. She'd catch herself starting to say something as she came down the stairs, suddenly to realize that Michal wasn't sitting in front of the stove with his wooden leg propped on a bench. Then her unfinished sentence would hang on the air like an echo . The baby Jurko fretted and whined. He was used to being petted and played with. A year passed, and it was December. Two years since Michal's accident. Jozef had been just a baby then, and now he was nearly three years old, walking around the house and getting in the way. Time went on and on . Marienka was twenty-eight, but a thousand years different from that day in Kamienka when she married Ivan. They were all different. She remembered how the sun had shone on Michal's fair hair as she laid him between the rows of wheat in Jarabina . Michal's hair had turned dark through the years, and now it was almost black, like Ivan's. He would be thirteen in the spring. He was a tall, serious boy , and although he looked like his father, he didn 't have Ivan's reckless good humor. He tried hard to please, and a rebuke from Marienka would bring tears to his eyes. Mikulas and Janik both went to school now . It was Janik ' s first year. Marienka thought with tenderness of the baby chubbiness his face still had as she buttoned his coat in the mornings. A coat that had been Michal's, and had been three times patched and made over to fit the younger boys . She had trouble buttoning the jacket, because she V. S. Kohan was born near Johnstown, Pennsylvania , and based his novel, recently published by Jednota Press, on the life of his mother, who came to America in 1890, married twice, bore 11 sons and 2 daughters, and experienced the violent deaths of both her husbands and six sons. The present selection represents the novel 's concluding pages. �120 SLOVAKIA never was good at making button holes. No matter how she tried to fix them, the holes were too large for the buttons. She worried about Janik walking to school in the cold with his coat open. Ivan was the same. Only last night he 'd told that joke again about the priest - that was the joke she'd warned him never to tell - he told it right at the table in front of the children and the boarders and everybody. Then he'd tipped back his head and laughed till even she had to laugh with him. Then one of the boarders brought out a bottle. It was American whiskey, and she never liked the taste of it. But Ivan liked it well enough, and he told again how he'd been an officer in the army and for the first time in years, showed the scar where he had been bitten by a wolf. Of course, he was grouchy when he had to wake up that morning. Marienka didn't mind much any more. Marienka paused in her work, thinking about Ivan. He hadn't changed, except that he was a steady worker and came home evenings. She didn't usually think much about herself, but now she wondered if she had changed too. Her hands were hard from heavy work. She was sharp with the children and sharp with Ivan. Her clothes were indifferent. Had she gotten ugly? She dropped the broom in the middle of the floor and went to the small , wavy mirror tacked on the wall near the sink. This was where the boarders combed their hair in the morning. She blinked at herself in the mirror. She looked the same - but such a frown on her face. She realized the frown was a habit. She didn't often look at herself in the mirror . She tried a smile , then looked around guiltily, feeling silly. There was no one to watch her except the two babies, and Jozef was playing with the broom she 'd dropped on the floor, trying to pull out a screw. She turned and looked again. There was no gray in her hair. Her eyes were still clear in her fair face. The heat from the stove had flushed her cheeks , and there were no creases in her neck. Deliberately she went upstairs and took a comb from the bedroom, and a blue satin ribbon that was left over from a baby dress she'd made for Jurko. Then she went back to the mirror ~She let down her long hair and combed it slowly, noticing that it hungbelow her apron strings in long, auburn ripples. She braided it carefully 'and tiecl the ribbon in her hair. �SLOVAKIA 121 She wasn 't quite clear in her mind why she 'd done this, but it made her feel different. She heard the boys ' shoes clattering on the steps as they came home f~om school, and she turned around with a little laugh, feeling suddenly light and young. The boys burst into the room like a sudden explosion, tracking mud as they came. Mikulas slung his books at the table. They hit with a bump, and one of them slid off to the floor . Mikulas didn 't pick it up. Instead he grabbed Janik by the collar. " You stepped on my foot!" he yelled. Janik poked his elbow in Mikulas ' s ribs and wrenched himself loose. Michal marched up to Marienka, his face very stem. "Mother, you got to whip Mikulas. " "Tattle-tale!" yelled Mikulas. He began jumping up and down in the middle of the room so that Marienka couldn't hear what Michal was saying. She grabbed Mikulas by the shoulders. " What did you do?" she said. Mikulas looked sullen. He stood still without answering. " I'll tell you what he did, " said Michal. "He talked in class, and the teacher sent him to the cloakroom - ' ' Mikulas began wiggling in Marienka's grip . He looked up at his mother out of the comers of his eyes, a cock-eyed grin coming over his face . " The teacher said he had to stay in the cloakroom an hour, and you know what he did?" Michal stared at Marienka, outraged. "Do you know what he did?'' Mikulas began jumping again. " I'll tell you what I did," he burst out . ' 'I ate all the kids' lunch_e s while I was in there, that ' s what I did." He was out of Marienka's hands now, jumping around the room . " All of them? " cried Marienka. " He ate all of them," said Michal. " It took me a whole hour," said Mikulas. " He ate mine ," said Janik . " And I'm hungry." " But Mikulas, you 'll be sick! " ' 'That's what the teacher said, but I just ate the parts I wanted and threw the rest out the window. '' He stopped suddenly in the middle of the floor . " Don 't whip me, Mother," he said. " The teacher whipped me already, so don 't whip me again. " Michal tugged at Marienka's sleeve . " Mother, the teacher whipped him because he said he wasn't sorry . And look at him grinning over there . He 's still not sorry. " �122 SLOVAKIA Marienka looked at Mikulas. Mikulas struggled with himself, and with considerable effort, erased the smile from his face. "I am too sorry," he said. Marienka's right hand itched to get the switch . Janik looked from one side to the other with round eyes . "You whip a lot harder than the teacher,'' he said . " All right!" snapped Marienka. " He's had one whipping, and that 's enough. Now get busy, all of you! Michal, build up the fire . Then you can clean the coal scuttle and fill it again. You Janik and Mikulas , get a bucket and go down by the tracks and fill it with coal. Get going, now!'' Marienka watched them go. Then she smoothed the ribbon in her hair. The baby Jurko was fussing . She carried him over to the rocking chair and held him close. Still , he complained, thumping his head against her breast. He kicked his feet against her legs . It hurt, and she realized how big he was getting . " Shhh," she whispered, rocking back and forth. " Shhhhh." He still struggled in her arms. "You 're a spoiled baby," she said in a crooning voice . " Hush, now, papa's coming soon." She began to chant it, like a little song in time to the motion of the rocker. " Papa 's coming soon - papa's coming soon . " The chair squeaked as she rocked back and forth. It was the only sound in the room, except for some spools that Jozef was rolling on the floor. The windows were filling with the early winter twilight, and she knew she ought to put Jurko down , even if he cried. Jurko 's body relaxed, his head falling heavily against her shoulder as he slept . Still she sat and rocked, growing more and more drowsy. She was startled suddenly by the sound of feet on the steps. The door opened before she could get up , and ,Ivan come in. He looked around the room, and then saw her sitting in €he dark " Marienka, are you sick? " " Of course not. Here it is dark already, and the children not home. '' She got up and went to the table to light the lamp . When she looked up , he was still standing there, looking at her. " Supper will be ready in a minute. Go wash your hands , don 't just stand there ." She hesitated. ' ' I was rocking Jurko .'' Ivan still stood there, frowning . " What you got the baby 's ribbon in your hair for? " he said in a puzzled voice . �SLOVAKIA 123 "Oh, shut up!" She banged the dishes onto the table. Then hurrying to lift a pot of pirohy from the stove , she scalded her arm. She began to swear under her breath. Ivan smothered a grin and went out in the back to wash his hands. The other boarders began to come in now , stamping their feet and blowing on their hands . "Dinner's going to be late ," said Marienka, yanking the bread from the oven. The pan rasped against the iron stove. One of the boarders threw his arms over his face , as if to ward off a blow . " Don't get mad," he said. " Sure is cold, '. ' said ai:i,other, edging close to the stove. " Looks like snow .'' Marienka glanced out ihe window with an uneasy feeling . What could be keeping the boys · so long? Ivan came up to her side , rubbing his face with a towel. His eyes laughed at her over the towel. " I gave my girl a ribbon ," he sang in a sweet falsetto. " And she gave me a rose - " " Get out of my way! " said Marienka, flushing. "You keep throwing those dishes at the table, you 're going to break one ,'' said I van, rub bing his neck with the towel. ''When I need your advice on how to set the table, you can light a candle at my head. " Ivan chuckled. "Now , that would look real pretty. " Marienka glared at him struggling for an answer. Just then the door swung open , blowing the lamp flame and bringing in a gust of cold air. " Look what I found, Mama," cried Mikulas in a shrill voice. He labored with a large, broken cart wheel, and Michal carried two more. ''I found some wheels, Mama, and nobody wants them . '' " Shut that door!" said Marienka. " Where ' s the coal I sent you for?' ' '' You know what I'm going to do, Mama? I'm going to make one of these automobiles, that ' s what. " " You 're crazy ," said Michal. "You can 't make a horseless carriage. ' ' " I said shut that door!" Mikulas turned on Michal , outraged. ''I can too make one if I want to.'' One of the boarders shut the door. "Where's my coal?" said Marienka. "And where ' s Janik? " Michal shook his head at Mikulas . " You're just a little boy, and boys can't make horseless carriages. I'm going to make a cart that we can pull. " �124 SLOVAKIA ''They're my wheels,' ' said Mikulas . ' 'I found them, and I can make anything I want to." Michal threw the two wheels on the floor in disgust. " You're crazy!'' Just then Marienka heard a small, slight bumping on the door. She ran to open it. On the steps stood Janik, his eyes and nose watering with the cold. He struggled to lift the heavy coal scuttle over the top step. Seeing Marienka, he looked up with round eyes . ' 'They said I had to carry it, ' ' he said, sniffing. Marienka took the coal scuttle out of his hands and pushed him into the house, slamming the door after him. " For shame! " she cried, turning to the boys. "Making your little brother carry that heavy bucket all by himself. Just look at his hands they 're all blue and raw. " She flung the coal scuttle down by the stove with a crash. Everybody in the room got quiet. Michal's face took on a stricken look. " I never thought I'd raise boys to be so lazy and cruel and thoughtless and - ' ' "But Mama," said Mikulas. "We couldn't carry the coal because we had to carry the wheels." " Damn the wheels!" said Marienka. "I don 't want them in the house. Bringing in trash - ' ' "Now, wait a minute, Marienka," said Ivan. " They're just kids. " He drew Mikulas to his side . "Son, you can't make a horseless carriage with three wheels . You got to have four , at least. " " I know it," said Mikulas scornfully. " You think I'm dumb? " Ivan grinned and shrugged, avoiding Marienka's eyes . " Well, let's eat," said Marienka. The men came to the table in silence , trying not to scrape the benches as they sat down, and picked up their silver self-consciously. Marienka never sat down to eat until the men were through. She was busy serving from the stove , and she also·needed to help Jurko eat. Her anger and the heat of the stove had brought wisps of hair from her braids that curled in damp ringlets against her face. Her face was flushed. As she turned from the stove , she caught Ivan 's eyes on her face. Just looking at her, not eating. As soon as their eyes met, he looked down at his plate . Marienka paused on her way to the table . Ivan didn't often look at her that way any more . Then she pushed the ringlets away from her cheeks with the back of her hand. �SLOVAKIA 125 " Say , Marienka, " said one of the boarders, "we got to get up earlier tomorrow . It's two miles farther to the new mine.'' "What new mine? " " The one they!re starting over on East Hill. The old one's played out.' ' \ " Don 't wake me up any' earlier," said Ivan. "I'm still working in the old mine. '' Marienka stared at him. " Why? " " We're taking out the pillars tomorrow, " he said, breaking off a hunk of bread. His big knuckles were grimed with the dust from coal that never quite came off, no matter how he washed. Marienka didn't notice it ordinarily, but against the white bread she could see the gray dust in the creases of his skin. Marienka snorted. ''I guess they pick out the men with the biggest families , and get them to take out the pillars. '' Ivan tipped back his head and laughed. Then he winked at the men around the table . "Trust a woman to worry , that's what's she's for." " Well, if I don 't , who will? " Ivan shook his head, still laughing. "Marienka, I've told you before, there ' s no danger. We take all the coal out of the rooms we can get, but when we hear those props 'ping,' man, we run! " One of the boarders grunted non-committally. " Gimme some of that bread, " said another. ' 'Boys, into bed! '' said Marienka. Even with her back turned, even as she shooed her children up the stairs, she was conscious of Ivan's eyes . She guessed it was the ribbon . But they were noticing eyes, different from the usual - different from the occasional hunger at night, or the fumbling from habit in bed . She was just starting down the stairs for the last time when he caught her arm . He had been waiting for her at the top of the stairs. She tried to pull loose. ''I have to get the clock.'' " Forget the clock ," he said. " Now , isn't that just like a man, " she started to say , but his mouth stopped her. For all that her voice was hard, when his lips moved to her collar bone and to her breast, her body was soft and shimery as smoke. It didn 't snow that night. Instead, it turned warmer. The clouds that had threatened snow produced a thin drizzle . The men hunched their shoulders as they left and bent their heads down . In the dull light Marienka watched them walk down the street, the rain making beads �126 SLOVAKIA on the shoulders of their wool jackets,. little drops without brilliance that began forming dark streaks down the cloth . By the time the boys left for school the rain had dwindled to a fine mist that melted downward from the close-hanging, yellowish clouds . The curious light made everything look hollow , the same way it did sometimes at dusk when the sun shone from behind the mountains. Marienka watched the boys saunter down the street , swinging their lunches. She wondered if she ought to chance it, going to church with the babies. It was the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple . She had planned to go to church and light a candle. She put her hand to her hair, pushing it back from her forehead , and her fingers brushed against the ribbon she'd bound in her braids yesterday. It brought to mind Ivan 's eyes as he had watched her last night. No matter what else changed they were the same as they had been twelve years ago in Kamienka - dark , curious, and full of lustre. All at once the memory of that day was close around her. She could almost smell the hot wax from the candles and the sweet, stifling odor of incense. She remembered the hot darkness of the church, and the smell of the priest's robes - a little musty, smelling of old things . Marienka made a sudden decision. She began putting Jozef's winter clothes on him. If she wrapped Jurko in her heaviest shawl, it would be all right. She picked the baby up and tucked Jozef's hand firmly in her own. Outside it was a damp , windless chill. The cold mud wet their shoes and made Marienka 's toes ache. On the distant hill, the lifeless trees made a tangle of gray branches that looked like smoke. Still, it was good to be out. Other women were going to the church, too . They called out greetings , smiling broadly to show their good will, but not stopping to talk. It was too cold. It was cold in the church . Marienka shivered as she entered , looking around the great dark room which was bare except for the altar, and for a few benches against the walls . Several women were already kneeling, their shawl-wrapped heads tuckec:l down-- and their hands folded tight under their chins. The candles they had lighted cast a feeble glow over their heads, and threw their shadows against the dusk of the corners. Marienka took Jurko to one of the benches and gave him a toy horse Ivan had carved, and a piece of 'kolac.' " Stay here and be quiet," she whispered. Then she bought a candle, and leading Jozef with one hand, went to the altar. �SLOVAKIA 127 She heard feet scurrying across the floor. '' Mama, Mama, what doing'?" . . " Be still, JurRo!" sai~ Marienka in a fierce whisper. With Jurko tugging at her skirts, she , had a hard time lighting the candle and putting it in place. Then she turned to him . He had finished the 'kolac,' and his face was smeared with crumbs. He stood watching the candles with solemn pleasure. Marienka pushed him down gently. "Now, be quiet," she said as she knelt beside him . He nodded. Then, turning to stare at some people coming in , he dropped his horse. It fell to the floor with a clatter. Marienka could see everybody staring at her. Some of the women smiled a little, and others looked reprovingly. She began to wish she hadn 't come . It was hard to think of the prayer she wanted to say. Jurko started babbling out loud, and drooled on her shoulder. Except that the wood of the church was new, she might have been · back in Kamienka. There was the same darkness , the same hush. Without realizing it, she began to pray. Not a prayer with words. It was just a feeling . She prayed with love , as a woman who had borne sons, to the Virgin Mary. The loved filled her. She gazed up at the image of the virgin, and tears spilled over from her eyes and wet her cheeks. She heard feet pounding on the wooden steps of the church. A gust of cold air burst in from the door. " Mama! Mama!" a voice cried. She started suddenly. It was Michal's voice. The boy reached her before she could tum around. He flung his arms around her, his face buried in her shawl as she knelt there , sobs tearing his body . The other women jumped to their feet and gathered around Marienka. "Michal!" Marienka tried to get up, but she couldn't with Jurko clinging to her. She tried to pull up Michal's face so that she could look at him, but he pushed it deeper into her clothes. "Michal, what is it? Michal, answer me! " One of the other woman knelt beside Michal, her face white. ''Boy, speak up! Is it the mines - '' She mentioned the one thing the women dreaded. They gathered even closer. Marienka wrenched herself loose from Michal, and turned around. His face was smeared and swollen. "Michal, stop crying! Is it your papa - '' �128 SLOVAKIA " The mine caved in!" Michal's voice was almost a scream. "It caved in on Papa!" Several of the women began running for the door. They had husbands or sons who worked with Ivan. Others began pounding him with questions, their hands clutched tight, their faces drawing closer with every word. ''Did they say who else was in the mine? '' "Did you see my husband?" ''Boy, who else - ' ' Marienka stood up, trembling. ''Now, all of you - hush! ' ' she said. The women hushed, looking at her in surprise. " Now, Michal, " she said as gently as she could. "You have to be brave. I need you to help me . Stop crying now. You've got to help me , so stop crying. ' ' Michal looked up at her, his eyes imploring, as if she could tell him that it was all right, that the whole thing would go away. "Michal, I want you to take your brothers home and look after them for me. " She took J urko by the hand and placed it in Michal's . "Go on, now. Take them home." Tears came to Michal's eyes again. "Where are you going?" "I'm going to the mine," said Marienka. Marienka walked past Michal, past his eyes that clung to her, even though he didn't try to follow. She reached the steps and started down the street. She didn 't run . Once she looked back. Michal was walking away from the church, holding Jozef by the hand. One of the women from the church was walking with them, carrying Jurko, her arm about Michal's shoulders. Marienka turned back to the steep hill that led to the mines . It was a hard climb. Her breath came short. Stones slipped from beneath her feet . She turned her ankle and nearly fell, but she didn't feel the pain. When she was almost to the mine, she could see the men gathered about the opening. Outside the mine were piles of slag, stacks of wooden mine supports, and a small section of mining cars stopped on the rails that led inside. The mules stood listlessly, their heads hanging down. ., "Where 's Ivan? " she called out as soon'as she reached the tracks . " Where ' s my husband? " Some of the men turned around , recognizing her. They nodded toward the mine. " He's in there." " Is he dead? " �SLOVAKIA 129 ' 'Mrs. Kinda, they' re trying to get to him now.'' ''But is he dead?'' ' "Now, try to be calm, Mrs . Kinda. They're doing all they can." She shoved past the men and walked toward the mine opening. She was shaking all over. "Mrs. Kinda, where're you going?" She didn't answer. She felt a miner's hand on her arm, pulling her back from the mine. "You can't go in there. You know that, Mrs . Kinda. Come back from there .'' She shook her head, trying to walk past. The miner's voice grew exasperated. She couldn't see his face clearly because of tears that blinded her. " You can't help him, Mrs. Kinda," he said. "They're trying to dig him out. You'd just be in the way." "Besides," said another man, "you don't know the mine. You'd kill yourself.'' They were all talking at once. She didn't hear what they said any more. She let herself be led to one of the stacks of wooden supports. "Sit down here," someone said. "Sit down. It won't be long, now. All you can do is wait.'' She sank down, her legs suddenly helpless and weak. The crowd outside the mines was growing larger every minute. Several mine officials arrived, and also a large number of idlers from the town, dogs, curious children, and women anxious about their husbands . Some of the women tried to comfort her, but she shook her head. She couldn't speak, for tears that clogged her throat. She began to understand from their talk that Ivan wasn't the only man caught in the cave-in. There was also another man, the husband of a young girl named Katarina who was pregnant with her first baby. She was hardly more than a bride . Marienka caught a glimpse of her toiling up the hill. She was a slight girl, her waist only a little thickened. Then the crowd closed her from view , but Marienka could hear her crying. Waiting was terrible . She put her hands over her eyes and tried not to think. It was well past noon. The sun began to slope toward afternoon , making a pale spot in the thin, dull clouds that covered the sky. A hush fell over the crowd. Marienka heard the grinding of a coal car from inside the mine and the plodding of a mule 's hooves. Mine officials walked out first, their faces grim. A couple of miners were with them , coal blackening their faces , smeared outward from their deepened eye-sockets . Another miner led the mule . The girl �130 SLOVAKIA Katarina screamed and rushed forward, but was held back by some of the women. Then the coal car groaned out of the mine. There was no holding Katarina now. She tore away from the women and ran to the car. Marienka jumped to her feet. A sudden pain in her right ankle jolted her and sent her sprawling over the tracks . Hands helped her to her feet . She could see her ankle, swollen and ugly from the twist she'd had coming up the mountain . She tried to walk, but her foot wouldn't hold her weight. She almost fell again. Two miners held her, grabbing her by the elbows . One of the women came up to Marienka. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she put her arms around Marienka 's shoulders. " Never mind, Marienka," she said. "Don 't look at him, my dear.'' "She 's right," said the men, trying to urge her away . "Don't look. It won 't do any good." That' s how Marienka knew he was dead . She pushed on anyway, hobbling along, with the men supporting her. When she saw him, he looked pitiful and limp. Except for the blood that spilled in a sticky mess over his chest and ran in two dried , blackened rivulets from his nostrils , he looked exactly as he did when he was drunk . Except that he lay in the black, casket-shaped coal car, blood and coal smeared on his hands , which lay by his sides , loose, cupped upward . The other man lay beside him , but he was not dead . There was a pushed-in place just below his hairline . His eyes were open, but they showed no recognition of his weeping wife who leaned above him. Even as they lifted him out of the car to take him to the hospital, he vomited a great gush of blood . Marienka, who had seen everything till this moment in a sort of confusion , saw with great clarity now . It was the same vividness of a nightmare. The cords of Katerina 's neck tightened as she screamed and screamed . Her young face looked strangely contorted under her smooth black braids that were still in perfect order. Marienka allowed herself to be lifted in\o the wagon that was to carry Ivan home. Marienka sat by the window, looking out at the gray twilight that the clouds made of the winter sun. It was about ten in the morning . �SLOVAKIA . 131 . Downstairs she could hear~ shuffling of feet and scraping of furniture. They were carrying Ivan t() · the church. It would probably snow, she thought. It was better when it snowed, when you couldn't see the raw, newturned earth the next day. New graves were like wounds in the skin that had not healed. It had snowed on Janik's grave. Janik and Matka were gone. And old otec dead in his shriveled, strange world. And now Ivan was leaving in his one good pair of socks and the not-too-new coat he'd worn to church on Sundays. Her glance fell on the dresser top, and she started suddenly. Rolled in a neat ball beside her tray of pins was Ivan's wool scarf. She started to get up, and then forced herself back into the chair. He wouldn't need the scarf. She began to cry, the tears falling on her hard, brown fingers cupped upward in her lap. It hadn't been an easy life, hers and Ivan's. They'd been thrown together, like it OF-»ot ; before they even met. But now, remembering those far away, hot days in the wheat fields and the lonely nights when she waited for him to come home from the tavern, it seemed slight, almost sweet, like a lover's quarrel that was soon over. She heard someone calling her from downstairs. "Marienka! It's time to go. Come on, the children are ready." She wiped her face with the back of her hand, and pulled herself to her feet. Her ankle had healed enough so that she could walk on it, hobbling a little . She leaned on Michal on the way to church. The children were silent in a forced solemnity. They were cold, too. She could hear Janik's teeth chattering. " Corne here, Janik, " she said. "Let me button your coat. " Jozef's nose was running, and she gave him her handkerchief. "Mikulas, if you walk in that puddle , I'll spank you," she said. One of her neighbors was keeping Jurko while she went to the funeral. People had been kind, helping her through the days of the wake , and feeding the boarders and the children. "Look, Marna! Red birds!" Janik shrilled, pointing. " Shhh," said Marienka. "Be quiet, Janik . " "See what you did, " said Mikulas disgustedly , " you scared them away!' ' "We've got to go in, now," said Marienka. "Now , be quiet , all of you .' ' The church was full. Marienka knelt on the hard floor in front of I �132 SLOVAKIA the altar, glad to be on her knees instead of her feet. She felt weak and sick . Katarina clutched the rail with agonized fingers . She sniffed softly as she entered, and gradually grew more racked as the funeral progressed. Her cries grew more penetrating till Marienka's stomach muscles tightened to a wad of nausea. There was a quality in age, she realized. You could stand things better. Katarina was only seventeen. When the terrible service was over at last, the families of the two men filed by the caskets to take a last look at the bodies. Marienka touched the wood of Ivan's casket for a moment, but she didn't really look at him. She closed her eyes and tried to blot the moment out. But she couldn't. The image swam, not oflvan's face, but of little Michal's . A face so white and drawn with huge , dark eyes staring behind tears. She fumbled for him with her hand, and hugged his shoulders. Then Katarina 's cries jogged her out of her own thoughts. She looked over at the girl with horrified pity. Katarina was leaning into the casket, her arms around her husband, kissing him on the lips again and again. The priest stared at her in dismay. It was hard to tell whether she was trying to drag her husband out of the casket or to climb in with him. People pulled her away. She collapsed on the floor. But Marienka followed after the casket with her sons, limping still from her twisted ankle, and holding on to Michal. She was glad she wasn't seventeen, like Katarina. She wouldn't like to have to live through all those years again. She remembered the funeral they'd had for the baby Janik. His grave was the first to be dug in this churchyard. No, she wouldn't like to go through that again. It had grown colder. The shovel rang, and the frozen earth fell on Ivan ' s casket like stones. She began to tremble violently. She wept for his sweet foolishness, for the guilty look he had when he'd done something wrong, and for the warmth of him. Like Katarina, she would like to drag him out of the casket. Of the two, she had always been the strong one . It wouldn't be easy to raise five sons without his help . But already her mind turned to plans of how she would manage by keeping boarders. And the older boys would help . So she did what she had to do. She waited while the men shoveled in the dirt, and the first flakes of snow crisped the mound that covered what was left of Ivan. Then she turned home. � SLOVAKIA 119 The· Sorrows of Marienka ' V. S. KOBAN It was lonely in the house after the wedding. Marienka never thought she would miss Jacka the way she did. She missed Jacka's soft, smiling way - walking around the rooms, not saying much. She'd thought having Jacka around was almost like having nobody at all. But now she found she even missed the work that Jacka had done. It was hard to pack all the lunches in the morning. She had to get up earlier than ever. She missed Michal, too. She'd catch herself starting to say something as she came down the stairs, suddenly to realize that Michal wasn't sitting in front of the stove with his wooden leg propped on a bench. Then her unfinished sentence would hang on the air like an echo . The baby Jurko fretted and whined. He was used to being petted and played with. A year passed, and it was December. Two years since Michal's accident. Jozef had been just a baby then, and now he was nearly three years old, walking around the house and getting in the way. Time went on and on . Marienka was twenty-eight, but a thousand years different from that day in Kamienka when she married Ivan. They were all different. She remembered how the sun had shone on Michal's fair hair as she laid him between the rows of wheat in Jarabina . Michal's hair had turned dark through the years, and now it was almost black, like Ivan's. He would be thirteen in the spring. He was a tall, serious boy , and although he looked like his father, he didn 't have Ivan's reckless good humor. He tried hard to please, and a rebuke from Marienka would bring tears to his eyes. Mikulas and Janik both went to school now . It was Janik ' s first year. Marienka thought with tenderness of the baby chubbiness his face still had as she buttoned his coat in the mornings. A coat that had been Michal's, and had been three times patched and made over to fit the younger boys . She had trouble buttoning the jacket, because she V. S. Kohan was born near Johnstown, Pennsylvania , and based his novel, recently published by Jednota Press, on the life of his mother, who came to America in 1890, married twice, bore 11 sons and 2 daughters, and experienced the violent deaths of both her husbands and six sons. The present selection represents the novel 's concluding pages. �120 SLOVAKIA never was good at making button holes. No matter how she tried to fix them, the holes were too large for the buttons. She worried about Janik walking to school in the cold with his coat open. Ivan was the same. Only last night he 'd told that joke again about the priest - that was the joke she'd warned him never to tell - he told it right at the table in front of the children and the boarders and everybody. Then he'd tipped back his head and laughed till even she had to laugh with him. Then one of the boarders brought out a bottle. It was American whiskey, and she never liked the taste of it. But Ivan liked it well enough, and he told again how he'd been an officer in the army and for the first time in years, showed the scar where he had been bitten by a wolf. Of course, he was grouchy when he had to wake up that morning. Marienka didn't mind much any more. Marienka paused in her work, thinking about Ivan. He hadn't changed, except that he was a steady worker and came home evenings. She didn't usually think much about herself, but now she wondered if she had changed too. Her hands were hard from heavy work. She was sharp with the children and sharp with Ivan. Her clothes were indifferent. Had she gotten ugly? She dropped the broom in the middle of the floor and went to the small , wavy mirror tacked on the wall near the sink. This was where the boarders combed their hair in the morning. She blinked at herself in the mirror. She looked the same - but such a frown on her face. She realized the frown was a habit. She didn't often look at herself in the mirror . She tried a smile , then looked around guiltily, feeling silly. There was no one to watch her except the two babies, and Jozef was playing with the broom she 'd dropped on the floor, trying to pull out a screw. She turned and looked again. There was no gray in her hair. Her eyes were still clear in her fair face. The heat from the stove had flushed her cheeks , and there were no creases in her neck. Deliberately she went upstairs and took a comb from the bedroom, and a blue satin ribbon that was left over from a baby dress she'd made for Jurko. Then she went back to the mirror ~She let down her long hair and combed it slowly, noticing that it hungbelow her apron strings in long, auburn ripples. She braided it carefully 'and tiecl the ribbon in her hair. �SLOVAKIA 121 She wasn 't quite clear in her mind why she 'd done this, but it made her feel different. She heard the boys ' shoes clattering on the steps as they came home f~om school, and she turned around with a little laugh, feeling suddenly light and young. The boys burst into the room like a sudden explosion, tracking mud as they came. Mikulas slung his books at the table. They hit with a bump, and one of them slid off to the floor . Mikulas didn 't pick it up. Instead he grabbed Janik by the collar. " You stepped on my foot!" he yelled. Janik poked his elbow in Mikulas ' s ribs and wrenched himself loose. Michal marched up to Marienka, his face very stem. "Mother, you got to whip Mikulas. " "Tattle-tale!" yelled Mikulas. He began jumping up and down in the middle of the room so that Marienka couldn't hear what Michal was saying. She grabbed Mikulas by the shoulders. " What did you do?" she said. Mikulas looked sullen. He stood still without answering. " I'll tell you what he did, " said Michal. "He talked in class, and the teacher sent him to the cloakroom - ' ' Mikulas began wiggling in Marienka's grip . He looked up at his mother out of the comers of his eyes, a cock-eyed grin coming over his face . " The teacher said he had to stay in the cloakroom an hour, and you know what he did?" Michal stared at Marienka, outraged. "Do you know what he did?'' Mikulas began jumping again. " I'll tell you what I did," he burst out . ' 'I ate all the kids' lunch_e s while I was in there, that ' s what I did." He was out of Marienka's hands now, jumping around the room . " All of them? " cried Marienka. " He ate all of them," said Michal. " It took me a whole hour," said Mikulas. " He ate mine ," said Janik . " And I'm hungry." " But Mikulas, you 'll be sick! " ' 'That's what the teacher said, but I just ate the parts I wanted and threw the rest out the window. '' He stopped suddenly in the middle of the floor . " Don 't whip me, Mother," he said. " The teacher whipped me already, so don 't whip me again. " Michal tugged at Marienka's sleeve . " Mother, the teacher whipped him because he said he wasn't sorry . And look at him grinning over there . He 's still not sorry. " �122 SLOVAKIA Marienka looked at Mikulas. Mikulas struggled with himself, and with considerable effort, erased the smile from his face. "I am too sorry," he said. Marienka's right hand itched to get the switch . Janik looked from one side to the other with round eyes . "You whip a lot harder than the teacher,'' he said . " All right!" snapped Marienka. " He's had one whipping, and that 's enough. Now get busy, all of you! Michal, build up the fire . Then you can clean the coal scuttle and fill it again. You Janik and Mikulas , get a bucket and go down by the tracks and fill it with coal. Get going, now!'' Marienka watched them go. Then she smoothed the ribbon in her hair. The baby Jurko was fussing . She carried him over to the rocking chair and held him close. Still , he complained, thumping his head against her breast. He kicked his feet against her legs . It hurt, and she realized how big he was getting . " Shhh," she whispered, rocking back and forth. " Shhhhh." He still struggled in her arms. "You 're a spoiled baby," she said in a crooning voice . " Hush, now, papa's coming soon." She began to chant it, like a little song in time to the motion of the rocker. " Papa 's coming soon - papa's coming soon . " The chair squeaked as she rocked back and forth. It was the only sound in the room, except for some spools that Jozef was rolling on the floor. The windows were filling with the early winter twilight, and she knew she ought to put Jurko down , even if he cried. Jurko 's body relaxed, his head falling heavily against her shoulder as he slept . Still she sat and rocked, growing more and more drowsy. She was startled suddenly by the sound of feet on the steps. The door opened before she could get up , and ,Ivan come in. He looked around the room, and then saw her sitting in €he dark " Marienka, are you sick? " " Of course not. Here it is dark already, and the children not home. '' She got up and went to the table to light the lamp . When she looked up , he was still standing there, looking at her. " Supper will be ready in a minute. Go wash your hands , don 't just stand there ." She hesitated. ' ' I was rocking Jurko .'' Ivan still stood there, frowning . " What you got the baby 's ribbon in your hair for? " he said in a puzzled voice . �SLOVAKIA 123 "Oh, shut up!" She banged the dishes onto the table. Then hurrying to lift a pot of pirohy from the stove , she scalded her arm. She began to swear under her breath. Ivan smothered a grin and went out in the back to wash his hands. The other boarders began to come in now , stamping their feet and blowing on their hands . "Dinner's going to be late ," said Marienka, yanking the bread from the oven. The pan rasped against the iron stove. One of the boarders threw his arms over his face , as if to ward off a blow . " Don't get mad," he said. " Sure is cold, '. ' said ai:i,other, edging close to the stove. " Looks like snow .'' Marienka glanced out ihe window with an uneasy feeling . What could be keeping the boys · so long? Ivan came up to her side , rubbing his face with a towel. His eyes laughed at her over the towel. " I gave my girl a ribbon ," he sang in a sweet falsetto. " And she gave me a rose - " " Get out of my way! " said Marienka, flushing. "You keep throwing those dishes at the table, you 're going to break one ,'' said I van, rub bing his neck with the towel. ''When I need your advice on how to set the table, you can light a candle at my head. " Ivan chuckled. "Now , that would look real pretty. " Marienka glared at him struggling for an answer. Just then the door swung open , blowing the lamp flame and bringing in a gust of cold air. " Look what I found, Mama," cried Mikulas in a shrill voice. He labored with a large, broken cart wheel, and Michal carried two more. ''I found some wheels, Mama, and nobody wants them . '' " Shut that door!" said Marienka. " Where ' s the coal I sent you for?' ' '' You know what I'm going to do, Mama? I'm going to make one of these automobiles, that ' s what. " " You 're crazy ," said Michal. "You can 't make a horseless carriage. ' ' " I said shut that door!" Mikulas turned on Michal , outraged. ''I can too make one if I want to.'' One of the boarders shut the door. "Where's my coal?" said Marienka. "And where ' s Janik? " Michal shook his head at Mikulas . " You're just a little boy, and boys can't make horseless carriages. I'm going to make a cart that we can pull. " �124 SLOVAKIA ''They're my wheels,' ' said Mikulas . ' 'I found them, and I can make anything I want to." Michal threw the two wheels on the floor in disgust. " You're crazy!'' Just then Marienka heard a small, slight bumping on the door. She ran to open it. On the steps stood Janik, his eyes and nose watering with the cold. He struggled to lift the heavy coal scuttle over the top step. Seeing Marienka, he looked up with round eyes . ' 'They said I had to carry it, ' ' he said, sniffing. Marienka took the coal scuttle out of his hands and pushed him into the house, slamming the door after him. " For shame! " she cried, turning to the boys. "Making your little brother carry that heavy bucket all by himself. Just look at his hands they 're all blue and raw. " She flung the coal scuttle down by the stove with a crash. Everybody in the room got quiet. Michal's face took on a stricken look. " I never thought I'd raise boys to be so lazy and cruel and thoughtless and - ' ' "But Mama," said Mikulas. "We couldn't carry the coal because we had to carry the wheels." " Damn the wheels!" said Marienka. "I don 't want them in the house. Bringing in trash - ' ' "Now, wait a minute, Marienka," said Ivan. " They're just kids. " He drew Mikulas to his side . "Son, you can't make a horseless carriage with three wheels . You got to have four , at least. " " I know it," said Mikulas scornfully. " You think I'm dumb? " Ivan grinned and shrugged, avoiding Marienka's eyes . " Well, let's eat," said Marienka. The men came to the table in silence , trying not to scrape the benches as they sat down, and picked up their silver self-consciously. Marienka never sat down to eat until the men were through. She was busy serving from the stove , and she also·needed to help Jurko eat. Her anger and the heat of the stove had brought wisps of hair from her braids that curled in damp ringlets against her face. Her face was flushed. As she turned from the stove , she caught Ivan 's eyes on her face. Just looking at her, not eating. As soon as their eyes met, he looked down at his plate . Marienka paused on her way to the table . Ivan didn't often look at her that way any more . Then she pushed the ringlets away from her cheeks with the back of her hand. �SLOVAKIA 125 " Say , Marienka, " said one of the boarders, "we got to get up earlier tomorrow . It's two miles farther to the new mine.'' "What new mine? " " The one they!re starting over on East Hill. The old one's played out.' ' \ " Don 't wake me up any' earlier," said Ivan. "I'm still working in the old mine. '' Marienka stared at him. " Why? " " We're taking out the pillars tomorrow, " he said, breaking off a hunk of bread. His big knuckles were grimed with the dust from coal that never quite came off, no matter how he washed. Marienka didn't notice it ordinarily, but against the white bread she could see the gray dust in the creases of his skin. Marienka snorted. ''I guess they pick out the men with the biggest families , and get them to take out the pillars. '' Ivan tipped back his head and laughed. Then he winked at the men around the table . "Trust a woman to worry , that's what's she's for." " Well, if I don 't , who will? " Ivan shook his head, still laughing. "Marienka, I've told you before, there ' s no danger. We take all the coal out of the rooms we can get, but when we hear those props 'ping,' man, we run! " One of the boarders grunted non-committally. " Gimme some of that bread, " said another. ' 'Boys, into bed! '' said Marienka. Even with her back turned, even as she shooed her children up the stairs, she was conscious of Ivan's eyes . She guessed it was the ribbon . But they were noticing eyes, different from the usual - different from the occasional hunger at night, or the fumbling from habit in bed . She was just starting down the stairs for the last time when he caught her arm . He had been waiting for her at the top of the stairs. She tried to pull loose. ''I have to get the clock.'' " Forget the clock ," he said. " Now , isn't that just like a man, " she started to say , but his mouth stopped her. For all that her voice was hard, when his lips moved to her collar bone and to her breast, her body was soft and shimery as smoke. It didn 't snow that night. Instead, it turned warmer. The clouds that had threatened snow produced a thin drizzle . The men hunched their shoulders as they left and bent their heads down . In the dull light Marienka watched them walk down the street, the rain making beads �126 SLOVAKIA on the shoulders of their wool jackets,. little drops without brilliance that began forming dark streaks down the cloth . By the time the boys left for school the rain had dwindled to a fine mist that melted downward from the close-hanging, yellowish clouds . The curious light made everything look hollow , the same way it did sometimes at dusk when the sun shone from behind the mountains. Marienka watched the boys saunter down the street , swinging their lunches. She wondered if she ought to chance it, going to church with the babies. It was the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple . She had planned to go to church and light a candle. She put her hand to her hair, pushing it back from her forehead , and her fingers brushed against the ribbon she'd bound in her braids yesterday. It brought to mind Ivan 's eyes as he had watched her last night. No matter what else changed they were the same as they had been twelve years ago in Kamienka - dark , curious, and full of lustre. All at once the memory of that day was close around her. She could almost smell the hot wax from the candles and the sweet, stifling odor of incense. She remembered the hot darkness of the church, and the smell of the priest's robes - a little musty, smelling of old things . Marienka made a sudden decision. She began putting Jozef's winter clothes on him. If she wrapped Jurko in her heaviest shawl, it would be all right. She picked the baby up and tucked Jozef's hand firmly in her own. Outside it was a damp , windless chill. The cold mud wet their shoes and made Marienka 's toes ache. On the distant hill, the lifeless trees made a tangle of gray branches that looked like smoke. Still, it was good to be out. Other women were going to the church, too . They called out greetings , smiling broadly to show their good will, but not stopping to talk. It was too cold. It was cold in the church . Marienka shivered as she entered , looking around the great dark room which was bare except for the altar, and for a few benches against the walls . Several women were already kneeling, their shawl-wrapped heads tuckec:l down-- and their hands folded tight under their chins. The candles they had lighted cast a feeble glow over their heads, and threw their shadows against the dusk of the corners. Marienka took Jurko to one of the benches and gave him a toy horse Ivan had carved, and a piece of 'kolac.' " Stay here and be quiet," she whispered. Then she bought a candle, and leading Jozef with one hand, went to the altar. �SLOVAKIA 127 She heard feet scurrying across the floor. '' Mama, Mama, what doing'?" . . " Be still, JurRo!" sai~ Marienka in a fierce whisper. With Jurko tugging at her skirts, she , had a hard time lighting the candle and putting it in place. Then she turned to him . He had finished the 'kolac,' and his face was smeared with crumbs. He stood watching the candles with solemn pleasure. Marienka pushed him down gently. "Now, be quiet," she said as she knelt beside him . He nodded. Then, turning to stare at some people coming in , he dropped his horse. It fell to the floor with a clatter. Marienka could see everybody staring at her. Some of the women smiled a little, and others looked reprovingly. She began to wish she hadn 't come . It was hard to think of the prayer she wanted to say. Jurko started babbling out loud, and drooled on her shoulder. Except that the wood of the church was new, she might have been · back in Kamienka. There was the same darkness , the same hush. Without realizing it, she began to pray. Not a prayer with words. It was just a feeling . She prayed with love , as a woman who had borne sons, to the Virgin Mary. The loved filled her. She gazed up at the image of the virgin, and tears spilled over from her eyes and wet her cheeks. She heard feet pounding on the wooden steps of the church. A gust of cold air burst in from the door. " Mama! Mama!" a voice cried. She started suddenly. It was Michal's voice. The boy reached her before she could tum around. He flung his arms around her, his face buried in her shawl as she knelt there , sobs tearing his body . The other women jumped to their feet and gathered around Marienka. "Michal!" Marienka tried to get up, but she couldn't with Jurko clinging to her. She tried to pull up Michal's face so that she could look at him, but he pushed it deeper into her clothes. "Michal, what is it? Michal, answer me! " One of the other woman knelt beside Michal, her face white. ''Boy, speak up! Is it the mines - '' She mentioned the one thing the women dreaded. They gathered even closer. Marienka wrenched herself loose from Michal, and turned around. His face was smeared and swollen. "Michal, stop crying! Is it your papa - '' �128 SLOVAKIA " The mine caved in!" Michal's voice was almost a scream. "It caved in on Papa!" Several of the women began running for the door. They had husbands or sons who worked with Ivan. Others began pounding him with questions, their hands clutched tight, their faces drawing closer with every word. ''Did they say who else was in the mine? '' "Did you see my husband?" ''Boy, who else - ' ' Marienka stood up, trembling. ''Now, all of you - hush! ' ' she said. The women hushed, looking at her in surprise. " Now, Michal, " she said as gently as she could. "You have to be brave. I need you to help me . Stop crying now. You've got to help me , so stop crying. ' ' Michal looked up at her, his eyes imploring, as if she could tell him that it was all right, that the whole thing would go away. "Michal, I want you to take your brothers home and look after them for me. " She took J urko by the hand and placed it in Michal's . "Go on, now. Take them home." Tears came to Michal's eyes again. "Where are you going?" "I'm going to the mine," said Marienka. Marienka walked past Michal, past his eyes that clung to her, even though he didn't try to follow. She reached the steps and started down the street. She didn 't run . Once she looked back. Michal was walking away from the church, holding Jozef by the hand. One of the women from the church was walking with them, carrying Jurko, her arm about Michal's shoulders. Marienka turned back to the steep hill that led to the mines . It was a hard climb. Her breath came short. Stones slipped from beneath her feet . She turned her ankle and nearly fell, but she didn't feel the pain. When she was almost to the mine, she could see the men gathered about the opening. Outside the mine were piles of slag, stacks of wooden mine supports, and a small section of mining cars stopped on the rails that led inside. The mules stood listlessly, their heads hanging down. ., "Where 's Ivan? " she called out as soon'as she reached the tracks . " Where ' s my husband? " Some of the men turned around , recognizing her. They nodded toward the mine. " He's in there." " Is he dead? " �SLOVAKIA 129 ' 'Mrs. Kinda, they' re trying to get to him now.'' ''But is he dead?'' ' "Now, try to be calm, Mrs . Kinda. They're doing all they can." She shoved past the men and walked toward the mine opening. She was shaking all over. "Mrs. Kinda, where're you going?" She didn't answer. She felt a miner's hand on her arm, pulling her back from the mine. "You can't go in there. You know that, Mrs . Kinda. Come back from there .'' She shook her head, trying to walk past. The miner's voice grew exasperated. She couldn't see his face clearly because of tears that blinded her. " You can't help him, Mrs. Kinda," he said. "They're trying to dig him out. You'd just be in the way." "Besides," said another man, "you don't know the mine. You'd kill yourself.'' They were all talking at once. She didn't hear what they said any more. She let herself be led to one of the stacks of wooden supports. "Sit down here," someone said. "Sit down. It won't be long, now. All you can do is wait.'' She sank down, her legs suddenly helpless and weak. The crowd outside the mines was growing larger every minute. Several mine officials arrived, and also a large number of idlers from the town, dogs, curious children, and women anxious about their husbands . Some of the women tried to comfort her, but she shook her head. She couldn't speak, for tears that clogged her throat. She began to understand from their talk that Ivan wasn't the only man caught in the cave-in. There was also another man, the husband of a young girl named Katarina who was pregnant with her first baby. She was hardly more than a bride . Marienka caught a glimpse of her toiling up the hill. She was a slight girl, her waist only a little thickened. Then the crowd closed her from view , but Marienka could hear her crying. Waiting was terrible . She put her hands over her eyes and tried not to think. It was well past noon. The sun began to slope toward afternoon , making a pale spot in the thin, dull clouds that covered the sky. A hush fell over the crowd. Marienka heard the grinding of a coal car from inside the mine and the plodding of a mule 's hooves. Mine officials walked out first, their faces grim. A couple of miners were with them , coal blackening their faces , smeared outward from their deepened eye-sockets . Another miner led the mule . The girl �130 SLOVAKIA Katarina screamed and rushed forward, but was held back by some of the women. Then the coal car groaned out of the mine. There was no holding Katarina now. She tore away from the women and ran to the car. Marienka jumped to her feet. A sudden pain in her right ankle jolted her and sent her sprawling over the tracks . Hands helped her to her feet . She could see her ankle, swollen and ugly from the twist she'd had coming up the mountain . She tried to walk, but her foot wouldn't hold her weight. She almost fell again. Two miners held her, grabbing her by the elbows . One of the women came up to Marienka. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she put her arms around Marienka 's shoulders. " Never mind, Marienka," she said. "Don 't look at him, my dear.'' "She 's right," said the men, trying to urge her away . "Don't look. It won 't do any good." That' s how Marienka knew he was dead . She pushed on anyway, hobbling along, with the men supporting her. When she saw him, he looked pitiful and limp. Except for the blood that spilled in a sticky mess over his chest and ran in two dried , blackened rivulets from his nostrils , he looked exactly as he did when he was drunk . Except that he lay in the black, casket-shaped coal car, blood and coal smeared on his hands , which lay by his sides , loose, cupped upward . The other man lay beside him , but he was not dead . There was a pushed-in place just below his hairline . His eyes were open, but they showed no recognition of his weeping wife who leaned above him. Even as they lifted him out of the car to take him to the hospital, he vomited a great gush of blood . Marienka, who had seen everything till this moment in a sort of confusion , saw with great clarity now . It was the same vividness of a nightmare. The cords of Katerina 's neck tightened as she screamed and screamed . Her young face looked strangely contorted under her smooth black braids that were still in perfect order. Marienka allowed herself to be lifted in\o the wagon that was to carry Ivan home. Marienka sat by the window, looking out at the gray twilight that the clouds made of the winter sun. It was about ten in the morning . �SLOVAKIA . 131 . Downstairs she could hear~ shuffling of feet and scraping of furniture. They were carrying Ivan t() · the church. It would probably snow, she thought. It was better when it snowed, when you couldn't see the raw, newturned earth the next day. New graves were like wounds in the skin that had not healed. It had snowed on Janik's grave. Janik and Matka were gone. And old otec dead in his shriveled, strange world. And now Ivan was leaving in his one good pair of socks and the not-too-new coat he'd worn to church on Sundays. Her glance fell on the dresser top, and she started suddenly. Rolled in a neat ball beside her tray of pins was Ivan's wool scarf. She started to get up, and then forced herself back into the chair. He wouldn't need the scarf. She began to cry, the tears falling on her hard, brown fingers cupped upward in her lap. It hadn't been an easy life, hers and Ivan's. They'd been thrown together, like it OF-»ot ; before they even met. But now, remembering those far away, hot days in the wheat fields and the lonely nights when she waited for him to come home from the tavern, it seemed slight, almost sweet, like a lover's quarrel that was soon over. She heard someone calling her from downstairs. "Marienka! It's time to go. Come on, the children are ready." She wiped her face with the back of her hand, and pulled herself to her feet. Her ankle had healed enough so that she could walk on it, hobbling a little . She leaned on Michal on the way to church. The children were silent in a forced solemnity. They were cold, too. She could hear Janik's teeth chattering. " Corne here, Janik, " she said. "Let me button your coat. " Jozef's nose was running, and she gave him her handkerchief. "Mikulas, if you walk in that puddle , I'll spank you," she said. One of her neighbors was keeping Jurko while she went to the funeral. People had been kind, helping her through the days of the wake , and feeding the boarders and the children. "Look, Marna! Red birds!" Janik shrilled, pointing. " Shhh," said Marienka. "Be quiet, Janik . " "See what you did, " said Mikulas disgustedly , " you scared them away!' ' "We've got to go in, now," said Marienka. "Now , be quiet , all of you .' ' The church was full. Marienka knelt on the hard floor in front of I �132 SLOVAKIA the altar, glad to be on her knees instead of her feet. She felt weak and sick . Katarina clutched the rail with agonized fingers . She sniffed softly as she entered, and gradually grew more racked as the funeral progressed. Her cries grew more penetrating till Marienka's stomach muscles tightened to a wad of nausea. There was a quality in age, she realized. You could stand things better. Katarina was only seventeen. When the terrible service was over at last, the families of the two men filed by the caskets to take a last look at the bodies. Marienka touched the wood of Ivan's casket for a moment, but she didn't really look at him. She closed her eyes and tried to blot the moment out. But she couldn't. The image swam, not oflvan's face, but of little Michal's . A face so white and drawn with huge , dark eyes staring behind tears. She fumbled for him with her hand, and hugged his shoulders. Then Katarina 's cries jogged her out of her own thoughts. She looked over at the girl with horrified pity. Katarina was leaning into the casket, her arms around her husband, kissing him on the lips again and again. The priest stared at her in dismay. It was hard to tell whether she was trying to drag her husband out of the casket or to climb in with him. People pulled her away. She collapsed on the floor. But Marienka followed after the casket with her sons, limping still from her twisted ankle, and holding on to Michal. She was glad she wasn't seventeen, like Katarina. She wouldn't like to have to live through all those years again. She remembered the funeral they'd had for the baby Janik. His grave was the first to be dug in this churchyard. No, she wouldn't like to go through that again. It had grown colder. The shovel rang, and the frozen earth fell on Ivan ' s casket like stones. She began to tremble violently. She wept for his sweet foolishness, for the guilty look he had when he'd done something wrong, and for the warmth of him. Like Katarina, she would like to drag him out of the casket. Of the two, she had always been the strong one . It wouldn't be easy to raise five sons without his help . But already her mind turned to plans of how she would manage by keeping boarders. And the older boys would help . So she did what she had to do. She waited while the men shoveled in the dirt, and the first flakes of snow crisped the mound that covered what was left of Ivan. Then she turned 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 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 119 The· Sorrows of Marienka ' V. S. KOBAN It was lonely in the house after the wedding. Marienka never thought she would miss Jacka the way she did. She missed Jacka's soft, smiling way - walking around the rooms, not saying much. She'd thought having Jacka around was almost like having nobody at all. But now she found she even missed the work that Jacka had done. It was hard to pack all the lunches in the morning. She had to get up earlier than ever. She missed Michal, too. She'd catch herself starting to say something as she came down the stairs, suddenly to realize that Michal wasn't sitting in front of the stove with his wooden leg propped on a bench. Then her unfinished sentence would hang on the air like an echo . The baby Jurko fretted and whined. He was used to being petted and played with. A year passed, and it was December. Two years since Michal's accident. Jozef had been just a baby then, and now he was nearly three years old, walking around the house and getting in the way. Time went on and on . Marienka was twenty-eight, but a thousand years different from that day in Kamienka when she married Ivan. They were all different. She remembered how the sun had shone on Michal's fair hair as she laid him between the rows of wheat in Jarabina . Michal's hair had turned dark through the years, and now it was almost black, like Ivan's. He would be thirteen in the spring. He was a tall, serious boy , and although he looked like his father, he didn 't have Ivan's reckless good humor. He tried hard to please, and a rebuke from Marienka would bring tears to his eyes. Mikulas and Janik both went to school now . It was Janik ' s first year. Marienka thought with tenderness of the baby chubbiness his face still had as she buttoned his coat in the mornings. A coat that had been Michal's, and had been three times patched and made over to fit the younger boys . She had trouble buttoning the jacket, because she V. S. Kohan was born near Johnstown, Pennsylvania , and based his novel, recently published by Jednota Press, on the life of his mother, who came to America in 1890, married twice, bore 11 sons and 2 daughters, and experienced the violent deaths of both her husbands and six sons. The present selection represents the novel 's concluding pages. 120 SLOVAKIA never was good at making button holes. No matter how she tried to fix them, the holes were too large for the buttons. She worried about Janik walking to school in the cold with his coat open. Ivan was the same. Only last night he 'd told that joke again about the priest - that was the joke she'd warned him never to tell - he told it right at the table in front of the children and the boarders and everybody. Then he'd tipped back his head and laughed till even she had to laugh with him. Then one of the boarders brought out a bottle. It was American whiskey, and she never liked the taste of it. But Ivan liked it well enough, and he told again how he'd been an officer in the army and for the first time in years, showed the scar where he had been bitten by a wolf. Of course, he was grouchy when he had to wake up that morning. Marienka didn't mind much any more. Marienka paused in her work, thinking about Ivan. He hadn't changed, except that he was a steady worker and came home evenings. She didn't usually think much about herself, but now she wondered if she had changed too. Her hands were hard from heavy work. She was sharp with the children and sharp with Ivan. Her clothes were indifferent. Had she gotten ugly? She dropped the broom in the middle of the floor and went to the small , wavy mirror tacked on the wall near the sink. This was where the boarders combed their hair in the morning. She blinked at herself in the mirror. She looked the same - but such a frown on her face. She realized the frown was a habit. She didn't often look at herself in the mirror . She tried a smile , then looked around guiltily, feeling silly. There was no one to watch her except the two babies, and Jozef was playing with the broom she 'd dropped on the floor, trying to pull out a screw. She turned and looked again. There was no gray in her hair. Her eyes were still clear in her fair face. The heat from the stove had flushed her cheeks , and there were no creases in her neck. Deliberately she went upstairs and took a comb from the bedroom, and a blue satin ribbon that was left over from a baby dress she'd made for Jurko. Then she went back to the mirror ~She let down her long hair and combed it slowly, noticing that it hungbelow her apron strings in long, auburn ripples. She braided it carefully 'and tiecl the ribbon in her hair. SLOVAKIA 121 She wasn 't quite clear in her mind why she 'd done this, but it made her feel different. She heard the boys ' shoes clattering on the steps as they came home f~om school, and she turned around with a little laugh, feeling suddenly light and young. The boys burst into the room like a sudden explosion, tracking mud as they came. Mikulas slung his books at the table. They hit with a bump, and one of them slid off to the floor . Mikulas didn 't pick it up. Instead he grabbed Janik by the collar. " You stepped on my foot!" he yelled. Janik poked his elbow in Mikulas ' s ribs and wrenched himself loose. Michal marched up to Marienka, his face very stem. "Mother, you got to whip Mikulas. " "Tattle-tale!" yelled Mikulas. He began jumping up and down in the middle of the room so that Marienka couldn't hear what Michal was saying. She grabbed Mikulas by the shoulders. " What did you do?" she said. Mikulas looked sullen. He stood still without answering. " I'll tell you what he did, " said Michal. "He talked in class, and the teacher sent him to the cloakroom - ' ' Mikulas began wiggling in Marienka's grip . He looked up at his mother out of the comers of his eyes, a cock-eyed grin coming over his face . " The teacher said he had to stay in the cloakroom an hour, and you know what he did?" Michal stared at Marienka, outraged. "Do you know what he did?'' Mikulas began jumping again. " I'll tell you what I did," he burst out . ' 'I ate all the kids' lunch_e s while I was in there, that ' s what I did." He was out of Marienka's hands now, jumping around the room . " All of them? " cried Marienka. " He ate all of them," said Michal. " It took me a whole hour," said Mikulas. " He ate mine ," said Janik . " And I'm hungry." " But Mikulas, you 'll be sick! " ' 'That's what the teacher said, but I just ate the parts I wanted and threw the rest out the window. '' He stopped suddenly in the middle of the floor . " Don 't whip me, Mother," he said. " The teacher whipped me already, so don 't whip me again. " Michal tugged at Marienka's sleeve . " Mother, the teacher whipped him because he said he wasn't sorry . And look at him grinning over there . He 's still not sorry. " 122 SLOVAKIA Marienka looked at Mikulas. Mikulas struggled with himself, and with considerable effort, erased the smile from his face. "I am too sorry," he said. Marienka's right hand itched to get the switch . Janik looked from one side to the other with round eyes . "You whip a lot harder than the teacher,'' he said . " All right!" snapped Marienka. " He's had one whipping, and that 's enough. Now get busy, all of you! Michal, build up the fire . Then you can clean the coal scuttle and fill it again. You Janik and Mikulas , get a bucket and go down by the tracks and fill it with coal. Get going, now!'' Marienka watched them go. Then she smoothed the ribbon in her hair. The baby Jurko was fussing . She carried him over to the rocking chair and held him close. Still , he complained, thumping his head against her breast. He kicked his feet against her legs . It hurt, and she realized how big he was getting . " Shhh," she whispered, rocking back and forth. " Shhhhh." He still struggled in her arms. "You 're a spoiled baby," she said in a crooning voice . " Hush, now, papa's coming soon." She began to chant it, like a little song in time to the motion of the rocker. " Papa 's coming soon - papa's coming soon . " The chair squeaked as she rocked back and forth. It was the only sound in the room, except for some spools that Jozef was rolling on the floor. The windows were filling with the early winter twilight, and she knew she ought to put Jurko down , even if he cried. Jurko 's body relaxed, his head falling heavily against her shoulder as he slept . Still she sat and rocked, growing more and more drowsy. She was startled suddenly by the sound of feet on the steps. The door opened before she could get up , and ,Ivan come in. He looked around the room, and then saw her sitting in €he dark " Marienka, are you sick? " " Of course not. Here it is dark already, and the children not home. '' She got up and went to the table to light the lamp . When she looked up , he was still standing there, looking at her. " Supper will be ready in a minute. Go wash your hands , don 't just stand there ." She hesitated. ' ' I was rocking Jurko .'' Ivan still stood there, frowning . " What you got the baby 's ribbon in your hair for? " he said in a puzzled voice . SLOVAKIA 123 "Oh, shut up!" She banged the dishes onto the table. Then hurrying to lift a pot of pirohy from the stove , she scalded her arm. She began to swear under her breath. Ivan smothered a grin and went out in the back to wash his hands. The other boarders began to come in now , stamping their feet and blowing on their hands . "Dinner's going to be late ," said Marienka, yanking the bread from the oven. The pan rasped against the iron stove. One of the boarders threw his arms over his face , as if to ward off a blow . " Don't get mad," he said. " Sure is cold, '. ' said ai:i,other, edging close to the stove. " Looks like snow .'' Marienka glanced out ihe window with an uneasy feeling . What could be keeping the boys · so long? Ivan came up to her side , rubbing his face with a towel. His eyes laughed at her over the towel. " I gave my girl a ribbon ," he sang in a sweet falsetto. " And she gave me a rose - " " Get out of my way! " said Marienka, flushing. "You keep throwing those dishes at the table, you 're going to break one ,'' said I van, rub bing his neck with the towel. ''When I need your advice on how to set the table, you can light a candle at my head. " Ivan chuckled. "Now , that would look real pretty. " Marienka glared at him struggling for an answer. Just then the door swung open , blowing the lamp flame and bringing in a gust of cold air. " Look what I found, Mama," cried Mikulas in a shrill voice. He labored with a large, broken cart wheel, and Michal carried two more. ''I found some wheels, Mama, and nobody wants them . '' " Shut that door!" said Marienka. " Where ' s the coal I sent you for?' ' '' You know what I'm going to do, Mama? I'm going to make one of these automobiles, that ' s what. " " You 're crazy ," said Michal. "You can 't make a horseless carriage. ' ' " I said shut that door!" Mikulas turned on Michal , outraged. ''I can too make one if I want to.'' One of the boarders shut the door. "Where's my coal?" said Marienka. "And where ' s Janik? " Michal shook his head at Mikulas . " You're just a little boy, and boys can't make horseless carriages. I'm going to make a cart that we can pull. " 124 SLOVAKIA ''They're my wheels,' ' said Mikulas . ' 'I found them, and I can make anything I want to." Michal threw the two wheels on the floor in disgust. " You're crazy!'' Just then Marienka heard a small, slight bumping on the door. She ran to open it. On the steps stood Janik, his eyes and nose watering with the cold. He struggled to lift the heavy coal scuttle over the top step. Seeing Marienka, he looked up with round eyes . ' 'They said I had to carry it, ' ' he said, sniffing. Marienka took the coal scuttle out of his hands and pushed him into the house, slamming the door after him. " For shame! " she cried, turning to the boys. "Making your little brother carry that heavy bucket all by himself. Just look at his hands they 're all blue and raw. " She flung the coal scuttle down by the stove with a crash. Everybody in the room got quiet. Michal's face took on a stricken look. " I never thought I'd raise boys to be so lazy and cruel and thoughtless and - ' ' "But Mama," said Mikulas. "We couldn't carry the coal because we had to carry the wheels." " Damn the wheels!" said Marienka. "I don 't want them in the house. Bringing in trash - ' ' "Now, wait a minute, Marienka," said Ivan. " They're just kids. " He drew Mikulas to his side . "Son, you can't make a horseless carriage with three wheels . You got to have four , at least. " " I know it," said Mikulas scornfully. " You think I'm dumb? " Ivan grinned and shrugged, avoiding Marienka's eyes . " Well, let's eat," said Marienka. The men came to the table in silence , trying not to scrape the benches as they sat down, and picked up their silver self-consciously. Marienka never sat down to eat until the men were through. She was busy serving from the stove , and she also·needed to help Jurko eat. Her anger and the heat of the stove had brought wisps of hair from her braids that curled in damp ringlets against her face. Her face was flushed. As she turned from the stove , she caught Ivan 's eyes on her face. Just looking at her, not eating. As soon as their eyes met, he looked down at his plate . Marienka paused on her way to the table . Ivan didn't often look at her that way any more . Then she pushed the ringlets away from her cheeks with the back of her hand. SLOVAKIA 125 " Say , Marienka, " said one of the boarders, "we got to get up earlier tomorrow . It's two miles farther to the new mine.'' "What new mine? " " The one they!re starting over on East Hill. The old one's played out.' ' \ " Don 't wake me up any' earlier," said Ivan. "I'm still working in the old mine. '' Marienka stared at him. " Why? " " We're taking out the pillars tomorrow, " he said, breaking off a hunk of bread. His big knuckles were grimed with the dust from coal that never quite came off, no matter how he washed. Marienka didn't notice it ordinarily, but against the white bread she could see the gray dust in the creases of his skin. Marienka snorted. ''I guess they pick out the men with the biggest families , and get them to take out the pillars. '' Ivan tipped back his head and laughed. Then he winked at the men around the table . "Trust a woman to worry , that's what's she's for." " Well, if I don 't , who will? " Ivan shook his head, still laughing. "Marienka, I've told you before, there ' s no danger. We take all the coal out of the rooms we can get, but when we hear those props 'ping,' man, we run! " One of the boarders grunted non-committally. " Gimme some of that bread, " said another. ' 'Boys, into bed! '' said Marienka. Even with her back turned, even as she shooed her children up the stairs, she was conscious of Ivan's eyes . She guessed it was the ribbon . But they were noticing eyes, different from the usual - different from the occasional hunger at night, or the fumbling from habit in bed . She was just starting down the stairs for the last time when he caught her arm . He had been waiting for her at the top of the stairs. She tried to pull loose. ''I have to get the clock.'' " Forget the clock ," he said. " Now , isn't that just like a man, " she started to say , but his mouth stopped her. For all that her voice was hard, when his lips moved to her collar bone and to her breast, her body was soft and shimery as smoke. It didn 't snow that night. Instead, it turned warmer. The clouds that had threatened snow produced a thin drizzle . The men hunched their shoulders as they left and bent their heads down . In the dull light Marienka watched them walk down the street, the rain making beads 126 SLOVAKIA on the shoulders of their wool jackets,. little drops without brilliance that began forming dark streaks down the cloth . By the time the boys left for school the rain had dwindled to a fine mist that melted downward from the close-hanging, yellowish clouds . The curious light made everything look hollow , the same way it did sometimes at dusk when the sun shone from behind the mountains. Marienka watched the boys saunter down the street , swinging their lunches. She wondered if she ought to chance it, going to church with the babies. It was the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple . She had planned to go to church and light a candle. She put her hand to her hair, pushing it back from her forehead , and her fingers brushed against the ribbon she'd bound in her braids yesterday. It brought to mind Ivan 's eyes as he had watched her last night. No matter what else changed they were the same as they had been twelve years ago in Kamienka - dark , curious, and full of lustre. All at once the memory of that day was close around her. She could almost smell the hot wax from the candles and the sweet, stifling odor of incense. She remembered the hot darkness of the church, and the smell of the priest's robes - a little musty, smelling of old things . Marienka made a sudden decision. She began putting Jozef's winter clothes on him. If she wrapped Jurko in her heaviest shawl, it would be all right. She picked the baby up and tucked Jozef's hand firmly in her own. Outside it was a damp , windless chill. The cold mud wet their shoes and made Marienka 's toes ache. On the distant hill, the lifeless trees made a tangle of gray branches that looked like smoke. Still, it was good to be out. Other women were going to the church, too . They called out greetings , smiling broadly to show their good will, but not stopping to talk. It was too cold. It was cold in the church . Marienka shivered as she entered , looking around the great dark room which was bare except for the altar, and for a few benches against the walls . Several women were already kneeling, their shawl-wrapped heads tuckec:l down-- and their hands folded tight under their chins. The candles they had lighted cast a feeble glow over their heads, and threw their shadows against the dusk of the corners. Marienka took Jurko to one of the benches and gave him a toy horse Ivan had carved, and a piece of 'kolac.' " Stay here and be quiet," she whispered. Then she bought a candle, and leading Jozef with one hand, went to the altar. SLOVAKIA 127 She heard feet scurrying across the floor. '' Mama, Mama, what doing'?" . . " Be still, JurRo!" sai~ Marienka in a fierce whisper. With Jurko tugging at her skirts, she , had a hard time lighting the candle and putting it in place. Then she turned to him . He had finished the 'kolac,' and his face was smeared with crumbs. He stood watching the candles with solemn pleasure. Marienka pushed him down gently. "Now, be quiet," she said as she knelt beside him . He nodded. Then, turning to stare at some people coming in , he dropped his horse. It fell to the floor with a clatter. Marienka could see everybody staring at her. Some of the women smiled a little, and others looked reprovingly. She began to wish she hadn 't come . It was hard to think of the prayer she wanted to say. Jurko started babbling out loud, and drooled on her shoulder. Except that the wood of the church was new, she might have been · back in Kamienka. There was the same darkness , the same hush. Without realizing it, she began to pray. Not a prayer with words. It was just a feeling . She prayed with love , as a woman who had borne sons, to the Virgin Mary. The loved filled her. She gazed up at the image of the virgin, and tears spilled over from her eyes and wet her cheeks. She heard feet pounding on the wooden steps of the church. A gust of cold air burst in from the door. " Mama! Mama!" a voice cried. She started suddenly. It was Michal's voice. The boy reached her before she could tum around. He flung his arms around her, his face buried in her shawl as she knelt there , sobs tearing his body . The other women jumped to their feet and gathered around Marienka. "Michal!" Marienka tried to get up, but she couldn't with Jurko clinging to her. She tried to pull up Michal's face so that she could look at him, but he pushed it deeper into her clothes. "Michal, what is it? Michal, answer me! " One of the other woman knelt beside Michal, her face white. ''Boy, speak up! Is it the mines - '' She mentioned the one thing the women dreaded. They gathered even closer. Marienka wrenched herself loose from Michal, and turned around. His face was smeared and swollen. "Michal, stop crying! Is it your papa - '' 128 SLOVAKIA " The mine caved in!" Michal's voice was almost a scream. "It caved in on Papa!" Several of the women began running for the door. They had husbands or sons who worked with Ivan. Others began pounding him with questions, their hands clutched tight, their faces drawing closer with every word. ''Did they say who else was in the mine? '' "Did you see my husband?" ''Boy, who else - ' ' Marienka stood up, trembling. ''Now, all of you - hush! ' ' she said. The women hushed, looking at her in surprise. " Now, Michal, " she said as gently as she could. "You have to be brave. I need you to help me . Stop crying now. You've got to help me , so stop crying. ' ' Michal looked up at her, his eyes imploring, as if she could tell him that it was all right, that the whole thing would go away. "Michal, I want you to take your brothers home and look after them for me. " She took J urko by the hand and placed it in Michal's . "Go on, now. Take them home." Tears came to Michal's eyes again. "Where are you going?" "I'm going to the mine," said Marienka. Marienka walked past Michal, past his eyes that clung to her, even though he didn't try to follow. She reached the steps and started down the street. She didn 't run . Once she looked back. Michal was walking away from the church, holding Jozef by the hand. One of the women from the church was walking with them, carrying Jurko, her arm about Michal's shoulders. Marienka turned back to the steep hill that led to the mines . It was a hard climb. Her breath came short. Stones slipped from beneath her feet . She turned her ankle and nearly fell, but she didn't feel the pain. When she was almost to the mine, she could see the men gathered about the opening. Outside the mine were piles of slag, stacks of wooden mine supports, and a small section of mining cars stopped on the rails that led inside. The mules stood listlessly, their heads hanging down. ., "Where 's Ivan? " she called out as soon'as she reached the tracks . " Where ' s my husband? " Some of the men turned around , recognizing her. They nodded toward the mine. " He's in there." " Is he dead? " SLOVAKIA 129 ' 'Mrs. Kinda, they' re trying to get to him now.'' ''But is he dead?'' ' "Now, try to be calm, Mrs . Kinda. They're doing all they can." She shoved past the men and walked toward the mine opening. She was shaking all over. "Mrs. Kinda, where're you going?" She didn't answer. She felt a miner's hand on her arm, pulling her back from the mine. "You can't go in there. You know that, Mrs . Kinda. Come back from there .'' She shook her head, trying to walk past. The miner's voice grew exasperated. She couldn't see his face clearly because of tears that blinded her. " You can't help him, Mrs. Kinda," he said. "They're trying to dig him out. You'd just be in the way." "Besides," said another man, "you don't know the mine. You'd kill yourself.'' They were all talking at once. She didn't hear what they said any more. She let herself be led to one of the stacks of wooden supports. "Sit down here," someone said. "Sit down. It won't be long, now. All you can do is wait.'' She sank down, her legs suddenly helpless and weak. The crowd outside the mines was growing larger every minute. Several mine officials arrived, and also a large number of idlers from the town, dogs, curious children, and women anxious about their husbands . Some of the women tried to comfort her, but she shook her head. She couldn't speak, for tears that clogged her throat. She began to understand from their talk that Ivan wasn't the only man caught in the cave-in. There was also another man, the husband of a young girl named Katarina who was pregnant with her first baby. She was hardly more than a bride . Marienka caught a glimpse of her toiling up the hill. She was a slight girl, her waist only a little thickened. Then the crowd closed her from view , but Marienka could hear her crying. Waiting was terrible . She put her hands over her eyes and tried not to think. It was well past noon. The sun began to slope toward afternoon , making a pale spot in the thin, dull clouds that covered the sky. A hush fell over the crowd. Marienka heard the grinding of a coal car from inside the mine and the plodding of a mule 's hooves. Mine officials walked out first, their faces grim. A couple of miners were with them , coal blackening their faces , smeared outward from their deepened eye-sockets . Another miner led the mule . The girl 130 SLOVAKIA Katarina screamed and rushed forward, but was held back by some of the women. Then the coal car groaned out of the mine. There was no holding Katarina now. She tore away from the women and ran to the car. Marienka jumped to her feet. A sudden pain in her right ankle jolted her and sent her sprawling over the tracks . Hands helped her to her feet . She could see her ankle, swollen and ugly from the twist she'd had coming up the mountain . She tried to walk, but her foot wouldn't hold her weight. She almost fell again. Two miners held her, grabbing her by the elbows . One of the women came up to Marienka. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she put her arms around Marienka 's shoulders. " Never mind, Marienka," she said. "Don 't look at him, my dear.'' "She 's right," said the men, trying to urge her away . "Don't look. It won 't do any good." That' s how Marienka knew he was dead . She pushed on anyway, hobbling along, with the men supporting her. When she saw him, he looked pitiful and limp. Except for the blood that spilled in a sticky mess over his chest and ran in two dried , blackened rivulets from his nostrils , he looked exactly as he did when he was drunk . Except that he lay in the black, casket-shaped coal car, blood and coal smeared on his hands , which lay by his sides , loose, cupped upward . The other man lay beside him , but he was not dead . There was a pushed-in place just below his hairline . His eyes were open, but they showed no recognition of his weeping wife who leaned above him. Even as they lifted him out of the car to take him to the hospital, he vomited a great gush of blood . Marienka, who had seen everything till this moment in a sort of confusion , saw with great clarity now . It was the same vividness of a nightmare. The cords of Katerina 's neck tightened as she screamed and screamed . Her young face looked strangely contorted under her smooth black braids that were still in perfect order. Marienka allowed herself to be lifted in\o the wagon that was to carry Ivan home. Marienka sat by the window, looking out at the gray twilight that the clouds made of the winter sun. It was about ten in the morning . SLOVAKIA . 131 . Downstairs she could hear~ shuffling of feet and scraping of furniture. They were carrying Ivan t() · the church. It would probably snow, she thought. It was better when it snowed, when you couldn't see the raw, newturned earth the next day. New graves were like wounds in the skin that had not healed. It had snowed on Janik's grave. Janik and Matka were gone. And old otec dead in his shriveled, strange world. And now Ivan was leaving in his one good pair of socks and the not-too-new coat he'd worn to church on Sundays. Her glance fell on the dresser top, and she started suddenly. Rolled in a neat ball beside her tray of pins was Ivan's wool scarf. She started to get up, and then forced herself back into the chair. He wouldn't need the scarf. She began to cry, the tears falling on her hard, brown fingers cupped upward in her lap. It hadn't been an easy life, hers and Ivan's. They'd been thrown together, like it OF-»ot ; before they even met. But now, remembering those far away, hot days in the wheat fields and the lonely nights when she waited for him to come home from the tavern, it seemed slight, almost sweet, like a lover's quarrel that was soon over. She heard someone calling her from downstairs. "Marienka! It's time to go. Come on, the children are ready." She wiped her face with the back of her hand, and pulled herself to her feet. Her ankle had healed enough so that she could walk on it, hobbling a little . She leaned on Michal on the way to church. The children were silent in a forced solemnity. They were cold, too. She could hear Janik's teeth chattering. " Corne here, Janik, " she said. "Let me button your coat. " Jozef's nose was running, and she gave him her handkerchief. "Mikulas, if you walk in that puddle , I'll spank you," she said. One of her neighbors was keeping Jurko while she went to the funeral. People had been kind, helping her through the days of the wake , and feeding the boarders and the children. "Look, Marna! Red birds!" Janik shrilled, pointing. " Shhh," said Marienka. "Be quiet, Janik . " "See what you did, " said Mikulas disgustedly , " you scared them away!' ' "We've got to go in, now," said Marienka. "Now , be quiet , all of you .' ' The church was full. Marienka knelt on the hard floor in front of I 132 SLOVAKIA the altar, glad to be on her knees instead of her feet. She felt weak and sick . Katarina clutched the rail with agonized fingers . She sniffed softly as she entered, and gradually grew more racked as the funeral progressed. Her cries grew more penetrating till Marienka's stomach muscles tightened to a wad of nausea. There was a quality in age, she realized. You could stand things better. Katarina was only seventeen. When the terrible service was over at last, the families of the two men filed by the caskets to take a last look at the bodies. Marienka touched the wood of Ivan's casket for a moment, but she didn't really look at him. She closed her eyes and tried to blot the moment out. But she couldn't. The image swam, not oflvan's face, but of little Michal's . A face so white and drawn with huge , dark eyes staring behind tears. She fumbled for him with her hand, and hugged his shoulders. Then Katarina 's cries jogged her out of her own thoughts. She looked over at the girl with horrified pity. Katarina was leaning into the casket, her arms around her husband, kissing him on the lips again and again. The priest stared at her in dismay. It was hard to tell whether she was trying to drag her husband out of the casket or to climb in with him. People pulled her away. She collapsed on the floor. But Marienka followed after the casket with her sons, limping still from her twisted ankle, and holding on to Michal. She was glad she wasn't seventeen, like Katarina. She wouldn't like to have to live through all those years again. She remembered the funeral they'd had for the baby Janik. His grave was the first to be dug in this churchyard. No, she wouldn't like to go through that again. It had grown colder. The shovel rang, and the frozen earth fell on Ivan ' s casket like stones. She began to tremble violently. She wept for his sweet foolishness, for the guilty look he had when he'd done something wrong, and for the warmth of him. Like Katarina, she would like to drag him out of the casket. Of the two, she had always been the strong one . It wouldn't be easy to raise five sons without his help . But already her mind turned to plans of how she would manage by keeping boarders. And the older boys would help . So she did what she had to do. She waited while the men shoveled in the dirt, and the first flakes of snow crisped the mound that covered what was left of Ivan. Then she turned 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 The Sorrows of Marienka Description An account of the resource V. S. Koban Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 pp. 119-132 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Koban, Vasil S. (Vasil Stefan), 1918-2007 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/31714ad1d6b23fd43bd6f8538cf2d938.pdf b187a10d4dac6e68a438fb9bf008f94f PDF Text Text \ LITERATURE ��SLOVAKIA 105 Excerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 VASIL S. KOBAN CHAPTER 1 - ONE MORE SPRAG Thursday, May 24, 1906 It was just after two o'clock when Michal Kohan , mule skinner at Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, started down the incline pulling the three coal cars out of the mine behind two mules. " You got three sprags on the three cars, Kelly? " he asked in Rusin . He put up three fingers so Kelly could not fail to understand. Kelly, an Irishman just turned sixteen and starting on his new job in the mines, rubbed his alcohol-bleared head. ''Sure , sure , begorrah, I got enough sprags, '' he said in a half stupor. He put up two fingers and shook them at Michal . The mules would never hold the downhill run of the three coal cars unless there were enough tapered wooden sprags between the wheels to drag on the cars like brakes and hold them back. " You need three!" Michal yelled in Rusin. "Three, you lummox! Or else she 'll never hold ." The Irishman waved cheerfully, " G'wan!" (Two fingers) Michal fumed: (Three fingers!) Kelly laughed: (Two fingers!) Michal withheld his curse because the cars were already starting down , and he had to whip the mules to keep them ahead. As the cars gathered speed Michal struggled to keep the mules ahead of the surging coal projectiles. "Prekliaty blbec/" Michal yelled. "She won't hold, you idiot! " The cars gathered momentum and pushed up against the struggling mules , Michal slashing away at them with the whip to push them ahead . "Son of a bitch! " he yelled. " You 'll kill them! " '' Harrarrarrahh ! ' ' he yelled at the mules , urging them on to do the impossible. The Irish kid just laughed. �106 SLOVAKIA As Michal got half-way down the grade he saw it would be impossible to hold the cars back with only two sprags. He did the only thing left for him to do. He leaped for his life. The coal cars smashed into the mules and ground them into instant hamburger of broken flesh and spitting blood. The mules screamed and clawed for what seemed like hours, but which only lasted a few seconds. They were soon mangled mounds of bloody mash. Michal lay beside the track, his leg caught under the coal cars as they passed by. "God damn bastard!" he yelled in outraged disbelief at what had happened. Then he blacked out. Michal woke up in a lily-white hospital room in Johnstown, three miles downriver from Conemaugh and site of the famous Johnstown flood of 1889. Michal looked around dazedly, his heart mounting in his throat. He was only 21, and had been in America since he was 15 in 1900. This was his first experience in a hospital. A pert little nurse in a peaked cap came in to take his pulse and speak to him reassuringly in his native Rusin. "Nurse, I --" "Now, now, just be calm. You survived the accident," she said cheerfully, '' and that 's most of the battle right there I ' ' " How - how long have I been here?" "Just a day or two," she shrugged. "You were kept under sedation. " Michal plucked at the white sheet with his fingers , his little mustache twitching nervously. "How long will I be here? I have to get back to work. I have to pay my rent.'' The nurse smiled. "That will take a little while ," she said. " But don 't worry about the time or the expense. The Cambria Coal Mine is taking care of everything. ' ' Michal frowned. " But -- " " Ohl" she exclaimed, glad to change the subject , "you have visitors.'' She stepped aside and the little round face of Marienka Kinda appeared, followed by her husband Ivan, grumpy and straight-backed. " How are you , Michal? " she asked .with concern in Slovak, her only language. \ , '' All right , I think. But why did you come here just for me? I will be out in a few hours at the most. " Marienka smiled through her tears, and Ivan grumped, "Sure, �SLOVAKIA 107 son, just a short time. But you have to do what the doctors tell you. My God, what is that sickly swe~ smell_around here?" The nurse left nervously to seek the doctor. Ivan stuck his nose up, sniffed, and marched around the room like the old Hussar he was - a veteran of the Austrian Emperor's army. Michal had met Marienka, along with Marienka's sister, Jacka, on the ship taking them to America six years before. Marienka had left Ivan in the United States to see her sick father in Slovakia and had returned with her younger sister. Michal fell in love with Jacka at first sight. So he boarded with the Kindas to be near his love while he worked as a mule skinner in the coal mine. "Where's Jacka?" "Uh -- she had to make sandwiches for the men," Marienka said hastily. "And besides, you'll be out of here so fast it would not give Jacka time to come over!" The door opened and a doctor in a white jacket hurried in, '' sluchatko'' hanging from his side pocket to indicate the badge of this profession. He wrinkled his nose and tugged at his little beard, then pulled back the bedclothes to examine Michal's leg. "Hmmm," he said, "this doesn't look good at all." It was in English, so Ivan could understand only dimly. The nurse hurried over to interpret. They did not have Slovak or Rusin doctors to talk to the immigrants in their own language. "Nurse," said the doctor, sighing, "you'll have to tell this young man his leg has to go.'' He palpated the pulpy black right leg, drew a line with his finger above the knee. "Right here," the doctor said. "Now you tell him," and he hurried away. The nurse gulped. Then she took a deep breath and told Michal the doctor's decision in halting Rusin. ''Cut off my leg? No, never! Oh, God, no!'' Michal tried to struggle out of bed to run away, to get away from here where they would take away his leg and his chance to make a living and to marry Jacka. Marienka and Ivan moved quickly to hold him down. "Please, Michal," said Marienka in great concern. "If it must be done to save your life, then it will be for the best. You'll see that everything will turn out all right.'' But Michal's face froze in a faraway look. The look of death. Where he came from, most of the people who had their legs cut off �108 SLOVAKIA - died. And the rest were beggars and the laughingstock of the uneasy townspeople. One-legged people were better off dead. And Michal wanted to die. There was nothing left for him, even in America. Nothing. CHAPTER2 - ONE LEG, PEGLEG Friday, May 25 , 1906 Michal came out of a daze like dragging himself doggedly out of the depths of a deep coal mine, with a white light shining at the top. He groped his way up and up, his brain hitching itself from one ladder rung to the other, until he finally broke out into the light and found himself in the brightly lit hospital room, whiter still than it had been the first time. And there was the tugging, nagging, pulling pain in his right leg, straight down to his toes. He tried to feel them, but his mind swirled as he sat up. He gasped and fell back on the pillows, sweating. A little boy ran in the room, tugging at his mother's hand. "Where's daddy?" he said in English. She pulled him back into the hall. "Otec is down further," she said in Slovak. But the boy broke away and staggerred onto Michal's bed, right over his right leg. Michal howled in pain . The mother hastily pulled the child away with abject Slovak humiliation, and said in English: " Don 't you know this man had his leg taken off?'' The child stared , and ran to her in tears . Michal could only make out half the conversation , but he was more concerned with the pain in his leg. The little nurse hurried in and clucked about Michal like a mother hen. "You will be fine in a little while, just you see." ''But my leg - it hurts so much, '' Michal said . The nurse looked at the blank space where his leg had been , and she looked at Michal's intense face. "You have to know," she said deliberately, ''that the doctor had to stop the anesthetics and that you feel the pain of your leg being taken off. You have a stump right above your right knee , and it is the nerve there that hurts you and makes you think you still have the leg." Michal was horrified. " Then my leg is. gone!" For the first time the word "operation" really struck home to ltm, an<l he knew that now he was only half a man. ''I can't live with one leg,'' he· sobbed. ''I can't work, I can't get married, I can 't make a living, I can't do anything." �SLOVAKIA 109 \ He hid his face in his hands and sobbed like a broken-hearted little boy . The nurse left him alone for a while. She let him cry it out . It would be better for him . Then she gently put her arm around his shoulder and cradled his head against her breast. " You will be fine , my priatel'," she said softly. " Just give yourself a little time. You will get a new leg and you will walk almost as well as you ever did. And you will live and marry and have children and enjoy life . You'll see. " Just then the door flew open and a giant of a man strode in, all 6 feet 4 inches of him; he looked around briefly, saw Michal Kohan , and strode over. He stuck out a hammy paw. " McCloskey's the name ," he roared . "Mike McCloskey . I'm your superintendent at Mine No. 1, in case you forgot .'' The flustered nurse translated the gist of what he said. Michal smiled at McCloskey and for an instant a flicker of happiness came over him, but then he remembered the situation and became glum again. McCloskey pulled up a chair. ' 'Don't let this get you down, Bonnie Michal. We 've got a place for you at the mine for the rest of your life. We 'll find you a job you can do well - and you 're set, believe me ." The nurse translated breathlessly. · '' And I see the company has got you a private room and nurse , and you 're getting the best of everything. The company doesn 't usually do this, my lad, you can bet; those bastards wouldn't pay for their mothers ' funeral if they could get away with it. But I went to bat for you - you fully deserve it - and I'll see you come off as well as possible from all this. But I hate to talk to you through an interpreter. You 're the kind of determined man I like to chaw with man-to-man. ' ' And maybe you can get chances for promotion. Now, if you could talk my language - really talk my language , English - we could boost you some more, eh lad? '' He winked , got up as abruptly as he sat down, and barrelled out of the room with a roar and a laugh and a mighty wave of his hand . The nurse beamed. " You see , Michal , things aren 't as bad as you thought, " she said. " You 'll have a job , and you can get better jobs as you learn more English and learn how to get along in America - the real land of opportunity . '' Michal looked up at her. ''You really believe America is the land of opportunity, no matter what happens to you?" " Of course , or I wouldn 't be here . I'd still be slopping hogs in Galicia. " The days wore on. Michal clung to the new idea of a job and maybe �110 SLOVAKIA - maybe a chance to make something of himself. Maybe it wasn't too late, and if he learned English . . . Michal's thoughts went back to his origins , and how far he had travelled since. He was born in Habowa, a little village in the Galician area of Austria, one of four children - two boys and two girls. At 12 he was put out as a servant on a farm, to work from sunup to sundown. He remembered how he cried, not wanting to leave home, but it was a way of life for the poor peasants of the 1880s. Then at 15, in 1900, he had a chance to put his meager resources together and migrate to America. He boarded in Marienka Kinda's house - Marienka, who was nine years older - and stuck close to his love, Jacka. In 1905 he and other Galicians put up some money and proudly helped build the Russian Orthodox Church, St. John the Baptist, in Conemaugh. He was beginning to feel a real part of the community. Now he had lost his leg, and McCloskey said he could learn English and work again. He clung to the idea as his leg stump sometimes almost pulled him from the bed with throbbing and pain. And he had Marienka, who came to visit him religiously, and held his hand shyly. " Come, Marienka," said Michal jokingly. "You 're a married woman, you know.'' "Veru , and you had better remember, too ," she said, smiling, and patted his arm. "But I must take care of my star boarder. And remember," she added, her eyes twinkling, "Jacka is still there making the sandwiches for the men." "Oh, she asked about me? " Michal asked eagerly. Marienka looked away . ' 'She talks about you, and the other men. You know how busy she is. " " And so are you, Marienka. But you find time to see me ." Michal was now convinced he would really have to impress Jacka with his new knowledge of English to get her to notice him. The next morning, after his breakfast and bath, Michal grimly decided to start on the long road back. He took the crutches from behind his bed, eased himself up , and sat on the bed with his left leg dangling close to the floor . Then he slipped on the crutches and turned around, facing the bed, and eased himself upright, standing wobbily on his left leg and his two crutches. The blood drained from his head and. he swayed dizzily. He felt himself falling when a strong arm caught his elbow and pushed him back, sprawling across the bed . �SLOVAKIA 111 \ A young black-haired girl with an oval face stood there glaring at him and stomping her foot in anger. " Don't you ever do that again without someone to help you! ' ' she cried. Michal looked at her and realized that she had spoken Rusin. "You are Rusin? " he asked. " Oh!" she said, her hand flying to her mouth . " I forget myself and speak Rusin when I get angry. I really want to speak American English, I mean - as much as I can . I'm an English teacher, you know. " Michal's ears perked up and he pulled himself up painfully on the bed , his eyes staying on her oval face all the while . " You - you speak English well? " ' ' Perfectly, '' she said, with a proud toss of her head. She answered his unspoken question, "I came here from Eastern Galicia with my family in 1890, when I was four . So I spoke Rusin and Slovak at home and learned English almost from the cradle. Now I teach it to the children here and to any adult who wants to learn English and become a part of this great America - with all its challenges and its benefits and its great heart." She lowered her eyes shyly. " I speak too much when I speak about being part of America.'' " No , no, go on, go on ," said Michal, bobbing his head in agreement as a plan to learn English formed in his mind. Here was McCloskey' s idea come true! " Would - would you teach me English? " '' Of course ,'' she said. ' 'Oh - my name is Tressa Hruska. ' ' '' And mine is Michal Ko ban.'' '' I will give you a short lesson right now, Michal, and when you can leave the hospital you can come and learn in my little school in Conemaugh while you get better so you can go back to work . Michal agreed enthusiastically with this little animated doll of a girl. A heaven-sent opportunity to get ahead and make a new life for himself! ' ' All right.'' Tressa was suddenly all business. ' 'I give you one lesson here - and I teach English a special way so you can learn fast.'' She switched to English. " Do you know what this is? " she asked, patting the bed . Michal stared. " I don 't know what you said. Please translate it for me into Rusin. " Tressa crossed her arms and glared at Michal. "No, Michal , I translate nothing. You have to learn from - like they say here scratch." �112 SLOVAKIA Michal looked bewildered again, so she returned to Rusin. ''Okay, okay - I will explain once in Rusin, and then you will learn by doing." " Huh?" Tressa said with some patience: "Michal, when you learned Rusin did you translate from anything?" ' ' No - I did not know any language. ''Correct. So now you do the same thing. You learn English just as you learned Rusin, and you will learn it just as well - with perhaps a small accent." Michal nodded slowly. "I see. It makes sense. But it would be so much easier to '' - no, it wouldn't,' ' she finished firmly. ' 'Now, watch.'' And she slipped into English. Tressa patted the bed and said slowly : "Michal, this is a B-E-D." And she motioned for him to repeat. " Dis - Bett," said Michal in English. " This is a bed." " This is - bed. " '' Good! Great!' ' She clapped her hands in enthusiasm. ''Now, this is a bed post." " Na-o-w, dis is - " " - This is - " ''This is a bed host . ' ' "Bed post." '' Bed post. ' ' Tressa squealed in delight and clapped her hands . Michal was making a very good student. She looked around, then bent to the floor and patted her hand on the floor. " This is the floor - f-1-o-o-r, " she said distinctly and spelled it out. Michal saw her lovely round rear end, with her dress hitched up as she bent in concentration towards the floor, and he said distinctly in Rusin : ''This is a pretty panty . '' " No - this is .. . ! " Tressa suddenly realized what had happened and straightened up in confusion , her face flaming a dark, brilliant red. Michal laughed heartily for the first time since the accident. Then Tressa broke down and smiled, giggled , and soon both were laughing hysterically. People from the ward across the hall shuffled over in their bathrobes to see what was going on in th'is crazy room. �SLOVAKIA 113 CHAPTER 3 - JACKA DECIDES Monday, September 10 Summer arrived and turned into fall before Michal could go home. He returned that day to Marienka Kinda's boarding house, carefully placing one crutch ahead of the other as the doctors had told him, keeping weight off his pegleg. A farmer had given him a buggy lift almost to the door, so he was that much ahead. He squared his shoulders and tried to walk with great decision, heartened by the fact that he would soon see Jacka for the first time in months. As he started in the door it was suddenly opened wide, and Jacka swept out on Adam Drotar's arm. Caught by surprise as she brushed past him, Michal dropped one crutch to grasp the porch post as he staggered to one side. "Sorry, Michal," Jacka said. "I didn't see you." "H-Hello, Jacka," Michal said shyly. Jacka stared through him. "You're going back to work in those things?" she said. ''Oh yes. And soon. But I'll get rid of these crutches with a little more practice - you'll see." "I'm sure," she said mechanically. Then Jacka turned away and smiled at Adam as he swept her down the steps and into the street. Michal stared after them for a long time, a lump forming in his throat and tears in his eyes, wondering if he would ever be worthy of Jacka truly becoming his friend and, and - wife. Just wait till he got his English diploma, he thought. Then Jacka would know he was truly someone important and she would come to him. He stood there staring at the rapidly disappearing figures who were laughing at some private joke. The laughter finally died down, and Michal still kept staring after them. ''Michal.'' Michal turned around. Marienka stood at the door, all round and rosy-cheeked. She was a truly handsome girl, with a twinkle in her eye that was lost on Michal. "Come in and take a rest," she said. " You shouldn 't stand up so long at the beginning." Michal nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be taken inside , where he sank into the living-room chair usually occupied by Marienka' s husband , Ivan, who was now away at work. Michal propped his chin in the palm of his hand. "Marienka, will Jacka ever - like me? " Marienka cleared her throat but before she �114 SLOVAKIA could answer, Michal had answered himself. "Yes she will, when I learn English well and will be an important man in the mines. Then she will like me - won't she?" Marienka patted his arm. "Of course," she said. "What's there not to like about you?'' The next days were hectic. Michal went down by hitched buggy ride to Tressa's little schoolhouse in Conemaugh, a mile away from Marienka's boarding house. When he reached the door he straightened up , took both crutches in his left hand, and opened the door and walked in as straight as possible on his pegleg, trying not to wince at the pain. "Here's Pegleg Mike! " yelled two of the children. Tressa looked around from the blackboard, and she spoke sharply to the two children: "That's not a polite way to talk. Now apologize to Mr. Kohan." The children looked contrite. "We' re sorry, Mr. Ko ban." Michal waved a hand. "It's nothing. And it's true, isn't it? I do have a pegleg. But this won't stop me from succeeding in America. When you grow up things will happen to you too, but they should never stop you from succeeding in this fine country.'' The children looked even more contrite. Tressa's face broke into a broad smile. "Well said, Michal!" she exclaimed. "Come in and make yourself at home at one of the desks in the back. Use two of them if you want.' ' There were 22 children of various ages in the room, all following schooling of their own, each in different classes following different subjects under Tressa's supervision. They learned not only from the books and the teacher, but also from each other, as they watched others in the throes of learning Eng_lish, history, arithmetic, and a brush-up on customs of the Old World. There were children from every possible group in Central, Western, and Eastern Europe - Slovaks, Irish, Rusins, Poles, Germans all learning to be Americans and take advantage of the glorious American opportunity to better themselves . Now they stared at Michal and snickered. ''Children! ' ' Now they simply stared, but with their hands over their mouths. "Michal Kohan is a little older than most of you" - laughter ' 'but give him credit, because he too wants to be part of the American dream, and he has as much right to do it as any of you have ." Anger rose in Tressa's throat. "And don't you forge6'_ it!" �SLOVAKIA 115 '' Sit down, Michal,'' Tressa indicated, '' and I will be with you in a moment. Michal eased himself into a little chair and put his crutches out of sight on the floor. Tressa had spoken Rusin to him, but her words to the children were in English, so he had understood little but the snickers. No matter. Only his job and Jacka mattered. He had to learn English for them. " Michal got an hour's special instruction that day and stayed the rest of the time listening to the children recite their lessons and learning the cadence and rhythm of English. He was surprised to catch the meaning of a word or two and to feel the English idiom as they babbled on. It was a weary day. Michal felt his leg throbbing as it wore on, and he finally made his excuses and left. Outside, weary beyond words at dragging himself along, he decided to try something new. He put both crutches under his left shoulder and took the pressure off his right leg by bearing down on his left side. It seemed crazy - it was just what the doctors had told him not to do - but it worked! The doctors told him he would have to use both crutches for a long while, but Michal was forever trying things out for himself. Why not take advantage of the newness of America and try out new things? He found that now he could work his way down the street much better, and with a minimum of pain. "Hey, Michal! Wait a minute!" Michal did not recognize the Slovak voice, so he turned around. A fattish man with white hair hobbled up to him on a pegleg just like his, but on the left leg. "You don't know me, Michal, but I heard about you in town. I've been retired for a while and - here, let's go in this "karchma" and talk. I want to ask you something." Puzzled, Michal followed. The tavern was a mishmash of Old World nationalities even more pronounced than in the schoolhouse, but with a definite bent toward the Slovak. Stale beer smells and the choking pile and cigarette smoke filled the polluted air as they made their way to their chairs. Michal wondered what the man wanted, but he felt he would have to order a drink. He fingered the change in his pocket and tried to count them with his fingers. "Slivovica," ordered the white-haired man. Michal nodded the same. At least he knew he could drink plum brandy, the Slovak national drink. �116 SLOVAKIA The waiter waved his towel, disappeared and reappeared as if by magic with the two drinks. You never got served so fast when you ordered food, thought Michal . " So, Michal, " the man said, putting a hand on his arm. "My name ' s Bodnak, and I come from a region of Galicia not too far from where I hear you come from . Habowa, isn't it?' ' Michal nodded, but said nothing. " Well, what I want to say was - I notice you limp too, and because of a pegleg on your right side. Right? ' ' "Yes. " ''Well, I had my left leg amputated above the knee , another stupid mine accident , and I wear a pegleg too. " Michal looked down and noticed his pegleg for the first time. He had been so preoccupied with his own problem he had failed to recognize the other man's . And he thought he was the only pegleg in the world. Bodnak leaned over. " Maybe we can help each other, friend ." He took a slurp of slivovica. " I need new shoes, and I'm sure you 'll be needing shoes too pretty soon. What do you wear? '' "Size eight, " said Michal. Bodnak slapped him delightedly on the back . " Good! Good! I thought so! So do I," he enthused. " Don 't you realize we can buy one pair of shoes for both of us and save a lot of money each time?' ' The light dawned on Michal. Of course! "A very good idea," he said . ' 'Then we have only to worry about some way to keep our peglegs from slipping so much. Bodnak winked broadly . " Easily fixed , my friend . I've had this problem for years, and I've worked out the angles. I just take the rubber from an old bicycle tire on the tip , and that old tire will last for up to a year!' ' Michal returned home all fired up and at last ready to face life again. He had learned more English, his shoe problem had been solved, and he could walk with only one crutch! And all this had happened in one day . Soon he could use only a cane for support - then nothing! Exhilaration surged through him as life pumped back into his tired body and mind. The next weeks were a growing revelation to Michal as he learned more and more English, until he found he could talk English to the English group of miners and be actual~y understood. Tressa 's patience was remarkable. \ " You feel the table ," she said. ''I feel the table ,' ' said Michal, feeling the table . �SLOVAKIA 117 \ "Very good!" She clapped her hands in glee. "Now how do you feel about your English?'' Michal looked bewildered. ' 'Feel table - feel English? How can I feel English?" "No," said Tressa. "Feel is also an emotion, something inside us.'' "How can that be?" asked Michal. "How can the same word 'feel' mean touch the table and touch English?" Tressa laughed. ''That's one of the problems about studying a new language . Things don 't always make sense. There are many words like that in Rusin, too, but you've never thought about it, and you take them for granted. English is the same!" Six weeks later Michal was walking with only a cane, and using it very little, and his leg was almost healed. He could speak English so well that Tressa had met him that morning with the announcement that this was his last day in class because he had earned his "Diploma" in English. · She whisked out a Diploma from behind her back, all inscribed with '' MICHAL KO BAN'' on it and attesting to the fact that Michal could speak English! "Of course you can always come back for questions and help whenever you need it," said Tressa in English, "but now you can speak English well enough to get along. And this Diploma is your going-away present . '' Michal shook hands delightedly with her, then hurried away to tell the great news to Jacka. He shot through the door , almost falling as he balanced on one leg, and danced the surprised Marienka around in a Slovak knee-slapper. " I have my Diploma! " he shouted. " Now I can speak English. I will run up and tell Jacka and she will be proud of me.'' '' . .. but Michal, '' said Marienka. Michal did not hear her. He hurried up the steps , pulling himself up hand over hand on the railing, and hurried to Jacka's room and knocked on the door. ' 'Jacka , Jacka! I have something wonderful to tell you! ' ' No answer. " Jacka! Look at my English Diploma! " He pushed the door open, diploma in hand, with Marienka right behind him, and stared dumbfounded at the empty room, stripped of all clothes . Even the curtains had been taken down. �118 SLOVAKIA Michal turned to Marienka like a hurt little boy whose mother isn 't home to hear of his success in school. " What . . . what? " " Michal," said Marienka softly , her hand on his arm . " Jacka is gone. " " Gone? " " Jacka ran away today with Adam Drotar to get married and go with him to the iron ore mines in Minnesota. '' CHAPTER 4 - BONEY COME , BONEY STAY Monday, Junell, 1906 Michal turned without a word and shuffled out towards his own room at the rear. He closed the door behind the anxious, hovering Marienka, and sat down heavily on the bed. He stared out the window at the gathering gray sky, the black roofs and the black streets and the black lawns and the black feelings he had about the coal-black town of Conemaugh. Life was a bucket of coal ash. The girl of his dreams had gone had left him for another man. Or was she ever his except in his own imagination? He was worthless and useless. Why had he come to America? Why had he bothered to do anything with his life? What dreams were there in America that he could fulfill? It was all a farce . A sham. A deception! He was 21, in a strange country, with nothing to look forward to but a bleak future of shattered dreams. He lay back on the bed , covered his eyes, and his jumbled thoughts turned to new crazy, jumbled dreams. He slept fitfully until the gray dawn struggled to show itself about the ugly piles of slag everywhere in town. Michal woke up with a start to the tune of a bird singing squeakily outside his window . The coal dust had gotten to its little lungs , and the best it could do was a poor imitation of a chirp . But the bird tried! And Michal would try too. His natural positive attitude reasserted itself. He looked again on the bright side of t~ ngs. He had his health, a chance for a job in the mines , and the ability to speak the language of the land of opportunity - English! · Heartened , he got up , washed and dressed , and went down to breakfast with the boarders - all miners getting ready for work . �SLOVAKIA 119 Marienka had to work overtime making the sandwiches and preparing the table, because Jacka had left her job as completely as she had left Michal. ''I'll help you, Marienka,'' he said. And he pitched in, feeding the hungry men at the table and hurrying to fill their dinner pails with sandwiches and the precious water they would need in the mine. Ivan, Marienka's husband, was the first to leave for his job in the mine. His life was divided between working at the mine and working overtime drinking at the ''karchma'' in town. He loved to tell the stories of his days as a horse soldier in the Emperor's army and regale the men with well-told tales through the evening - while ignoring work at home. After the last man had left, Marienka was alone with Michal and her three sons: young Michal, 13; Mikulas, 11; and Janik, nine. The three boys adored Michal and wanted to stay and play with him. But they had to go to school. "And don't forget to learn English well," Michal called after them. "It will be the foundation of all your success in life." "I'm glad you sound better," said Marienka. "I was really worried last night. " Michal looked at her. "It is strange to have someone worry about me." Marienka blushed. ''Oh - you know what I mean.'' Michal sighed. "Yes, I know. I only wish Jacka had worried just a little. She is my first love, and I will never forget her - but that part of my life is over. Now I start out all over, really start out, with a new language and a new chance in the land of opportunity. America doesn't give you only one chance to get ahead. It gives you many. And if you miss the first one - why, then, you can take the next, and the next." Michal laughed. "Maybe then you can start out by being my sandwich-maker," said Marienka. "And I will give you a discount on your rent, too," she said, winking. After all, he wasn't getting much disability pay from the company, even with McCloskey's help. Michal sobered up. ''Thank you, Marienka, but no thank you.'' He put a hand on her shoulder in a friendly fashion . '' I must get away from here,'' he said. '' From this house. I will get another room where I can forget these events more quickly , but of course I will never forget your kindness. Already I sense a kind of distant dislike of some men, because of my pegleg, and I have to work that out in my own mind and fight it and get the better of myself in my own way.'' �120 SLOVAKIA Marienka nodded. ''If that is to be, then let it be .'' Michal got a room in a boarding house a few blocks from Marienka and Ivan, and within a half mile of Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh. The next morning he checked his carbide lamp, with the kernels of carbon at the bottom, all about half the size of a peanut. He put some water in the top and watched the water drip onto the kernels, forming a gas. Then he lit the gas and checked the flame coming out about three inches through a fine hole in the center of the reflector. There was no glass in the front - a constant danger of fire. But this was one of the dangers of a coal miner's life. He got paid well for this dangerous work six days a week, and who else among working men could command so much money? Many men got killed and maimed for life, but they still kept working in the mines, because it was the best way they could provide for their families - at least while they could work. Michal felt the old pride in his work returning as he adjusted the lamp and watched it flare brightly. Then he switched it down, put it on his head, and dressed in his miner's clothes so he could feel more and more like the miner he was going to continue to be! After all, McCloskey had promised him a job for life - and he had to start by looking the part, even with his pegleg. He cocked his lamp at a jaunty angle, squared his shoulders, and stepped out the door. "Ahh, there's my little bairn Michal," yelled McCloskey when he looked up to see the slight man with a mustache walk steadily up to him. "It's a fine man you look like," he said, grabbing Michal by both his shoulders. "And I feel fine," said Michal in good English. McCloskey's eyes opened wide. "You talk great! You talk real English!'' Michal bobbed his head happily. "That I do. I do that," he said. '' How could you learn in so short a time?'' ''I had a good teacher,'' said Michal. ''Tressa Hruska.'' "And I have a good job for you," McCloskey winked, "just like I promised. How would you like to be a mule skinner?" Michal's jaw dropped. That he could never do. McCloskey laughed. "No, no, not the k\nd you think . That's the old-fashioned method. Now we have just started to use modern mule skinners. But we don't call them mule skinners anymore, even though they haul the men and the coal into and out of the mine just like before. �SLOVAKIA 121 ' ' Now we call them Hoist Engineers . '' Michal look bewildered. "What 's a Hoist Engineer? " McCloskey gestured to him. "Come on , Michal. I'll show you. It's the perfect job for you. It 'll put you right in the middle of the men, many of them Rusins and Slovaks , and you can talk to them and interpret to the supers , and act as a go-between while you do your job. It'll be a very important step up in the mine. ' ' The two men walked into the dry drift mine, and up - slowly. Michal tried not to look tired and he tried not to puff, but it wasn't easy. " Take it easy, lad, " said McCloskey. " We'll soon be there . You see , the man who had this job was just here for a short time, and he didn't know the ropes too well - and couldn 't speak English - so you'll be the perfect man. " They arrived at a clearing in the mine, with a huge machine hung with ropes and levers standing there like an iron monster. ' ' With this you can control the coal cars going down the slope to the outside , and you also bring the men up in the morning and let them down at night. You have to be here very early so you can do that, and when they get to your hoist they disperse to the various coal rooms along the pathways. "So this is called the Hoist , and you will be the Hoist Engineer." ''It is like being a mule skinner, but without the mules! '' "Right!" McCloskey laughed. And Michal worked the levers to and fro, testing the machinery for cars going up and down until he soon had them working almost to perfection . "See, it's easy! I knew you were the man . Now you 've got yourself a good job, just like I promised you," said McCloskey . He winked. "Don 't tell them, but you'll soon get a raise." Michal's eyes widened. He could put away more money, and maybe make some of his new dreams come true. America was truly going to be the land of opportunity! CHAPTER 5 - CA VE IN! Tuesday, December 7, 1909 ''Cave-in!' ' The cry roared and pounded through Conemaugh like the cold wind of death. Everyone knew what it meant - it meant only one thing - and the women and children surged out of their homes and hurried to the billowing clouds that pointed to the position of the mine. �122 SLOVAKIA Marienka was in the Catholic church for the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. She heard the terrible cry and her throat tightened. "Oh Jesus, Mary, Joseph," she cried, crossing herself quickly, "please don 't make it serious. Please!" Then she hurried to the house and gathered her children together, as the women did in these times of stress. Michal, Janik, and Mikulas, with Jozef toddling at her heels. She swept up the baby Jurko and held him at her breast as she hurried the children down to the mine site. The large crowd already there saw Marienka at a distance and parted for her like the Red Sea for Moses - except that this was not an escape for Marienka. It was a descent into hell. Her heart pounding, she made her way through, feeling more and more dread as she approached her goal. A hand took her arm, and she looked up into Michal Koban's sympathetic eyes. "Thank God you're safe," cried Marienka. "I'm glad nothing happened to you! " ' ' Marienka, '' said Michal quietly, ''nothing happened to the other men either. Most of them. They had all moved on to new passages this morning - all except Ivan." Marienka felt faint. The boys cried at her side, and she shushed them. Ivan had been told to stay on at the old passage to pound out the props before moving on. So Michal nodded. " Ivan knocked out a prop and the roof fell in on him. I'm so sorry. But there may still be a chance. " There was a commotion at the entrance of the dust-choked mine, and two men came out carrying a stretcher. Marienka ran up to them, leaving the children with Michal. "Don't look, Mrs . Kinda," one of the men said. "He was - pretty badly mangled by the cave-in. He 's dead." Michal came up and put an arm on her sobbing shoulder, and gathered the five children around him as Marienka wept uncontrollably. He took Jurko from his mother' s failing arm. " Janik, hold on to Jozef," he said. "Yes , otec ," said Janik without thinking. Otec was the Slovak name for father. Slovak wakes seemed to have been developed by the Devil himself, with the express purpose of causing the wife and family of the deceased as much trouble and mental anguish as possible . Of course, it really wasn 't done that way ,on purpose. It was simply ''tradition,'• and tradition has to be served\ Ivan was laid out in the small living room ; with flowers all around �SLOVAKIA 123 \ the casket, and exposed for viewing to all the friends and relatives and any curious stranger in town. They would come up to the casket, genuflect, and kneel on the prie-dieu and pray while gazing at the mortal remains of the exposed. And at the photo behind the casket of Ivan Kinda in full Hussar regalia. Then they would get up and turn to their friends and whisper, ''He looks so natural, almost as if he were sleeping." This was too painful for Marienka to see. She had ushered her children in to see their "otec" at the begining, and then told them to stay away. The large kitchen then became the center of activities for three days and nights. People straggled in at all hours, paid their respects to the deceased, then quickly returned to the kitchen for a meal and to hear various ribald and obscene stories told by several expert storytellers. Marienka spent her time at the hot stove, damp hair hanging down in strands over her forehead, and made eggs and little Slovak pancakes, and cutting "kolace" and ladling out the butter, and setting the table, and clearing the table, and washing the dishes, and setting up the table, and ... It was an endless round of senseless meal-serving, night and day, for three days. "Marienka, you've got to take a rest," Michal said, after hours of feeding starving miners. He had helped a lot. And so had the three older boys - Michal, Mikulas, and Janik. Marienka shook her head. "I can't," she said. "I have to feed them as come in and view Ivan. It is the tradition." ''Damn the tradition!'' Michal exploded. ''You go to bed right now and get some sleep. I'll handle this for a while." Marienka allowed herself to be led away, protesting feebly, stumbling, bleary-eyed. But she knew she was exhausted, so she did not protest too much. "So Michal, you already take over, eh?" roared a miner as he saw Michal put on the apron. Michal had a hot answer ready, but he just turned beet-red and doggedly said nothing. ' 'Lemme have three eggs, sunny-side up, lots of Slovak bread and butter, and - make it six pancakes. I've got to remember poor Ivan Kinda the best way I can, by eating." Michal seethed. "You'll remember him with a bump on your noggin from my skillet if you don't shut up." "Oh, ho ," the miner said amiably. "We do have a temper, don't �124 SLOVAKIA we? Maybe you 'll feel better when I tell you this joke about the miner and the Irish whore. Seems she spread out her goodies - ' ' he winked - "on the table, when ... " " Oh, shut up!" growled Michal, his mustache bristling. "Don't you realize a man is lying dead in the next room, and his family is going through a trying time. They 'll be destitute after this. Haven't you stopped to think of that? " The miner sobered up, and several others joined in. "We know all that, Michal," they said, with some care in their voices. " We know, but we laugh so we will not cry. Who knows - tomorrow it may happen to us." Michal bit his lip. They were right. He had no right to lecture them. They meant well. They were just rough men living a rough life, and the wake was a traditional part of their lives, where the people could come together and joke and laugh so they could forget what had happened . But they remembered still. Marienka somehow got through the next three days, and Michal escorted her and the children to the funeral in the little Catholic church Marienka and Ivan had helped to build in 1901. That afternoon was also a trial. The women of Conemaugh, which was 90 percent Slavic, came parading into the house to see Marienka and leave their condolences and their little Slovak "kolace" - jelly rolls with nuts and apples - that they had cooked for the occasion . '' God bless you, Marienka.'' · " May God be with you, Marienka." '' Everything will be all right , Marienka. God will provide.' ' Marienka nodded mechanically to all, as if in a daze. Finally the ordeal was over and the house was empty. Too empty. Even Jurko wasn't crying. And Jozef played quietly in the comer. The other three boys were in school. Michal stopped by after work . '' How are things going? '' he asked. " All right, " said Marienka, forcing a smile . " The insurance company paid for all the funeral expenses , plus $50 left. But no benefits , of course. '' " Of course . Nice of them. Now they pay nothing. You get no widow ' s benefits and you 're entirely on your own ." ''I have five children to help me ,'' Marienka grinned . Michal did not grin. " What I meant to .say is, what with the children and - and everything - you will neec:N o get something to - to tide you over a bit.'' · ' '' Michal - '' �SLOVAKIA 125 " - No, please. He heh;! up a hand. "What I meant is the children will need food and things while you get yourself together , and I thought - " His hand went into his pocket , and he took out a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. " Well, here 's a little something to help you. '' " Michal! " Marienka cried as she took the bundle dumbly. This was the first useful gesture anyone had made to her since Ivan 's death. Tears welled in her eyes, finally trickled down her cheeks. She took out her hankie and blew mightily. The three boys poured through the door and happily embraced Michal . " Put that away - quickly," said Michal . And he got up. At the door he paused. ''Things aren't easy for a widow woman without a man to support her, " he said. "I mean , people will look down on you , just as they have looked down on me for my pegleg . What I want to say is , I understand what will happen. And I know you can pull through it . I know . ' ' He took her hand. " I'll see you again, Marienka, God willing. " Mikulas piped up, in his boyish soprano . "Why don 't you and matka marry, and you can stay here with us always? '' Marienka choked. The boys all laughed and clapped . They danced around the bewildered couple with their flaming cheeks . ' ' Boys , stop it! ' ' commanded Marienka in her voice that they knew had to be obeyed . They stopped and stood with their hands behind their backs, trying to look regretful. " Now go outside this minute ," commanded Marienka, " and don 't you dare say a word about this to anybody, hear? '' The boys filed out, and Michal started to follow. '' Not you, Michal! I'm sorry for their actions . It was really uncalled for ." Michal shrugged, a string in his heart still tugging for his old love, Jacka . " People will talk about single people ," he said . " People always talk. It is the way of the world .'' � \ LITERATURE ��SLOVAKIA 105 Excerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 VASIL S. KOBAN CHAPTER 1 - ONE MORE SPRAG Thursday, May 24, 1906 It was just after two o'clock when Michal Kohan , mule skinner at Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, started down the incline pulling the three coal cars out of the mine behind two mules. " You got three sprags on the three cars, Kelly? " he asked in Rusin . He put up three fingers so Kelly could not fail to understand. Kelly, an Irishman just turned sixteen and starting on his new job in the mines, rubbed his alcohol-bleared head. ''Sure , sure , begorrah, I got enough sprags, '' he said in a half stupor. He put up two fingers and shook them at Michal . The mules would never hold the downhill run of the three coal cars unless there were enough tapered wooden sprags between the wheels to drag on the cars like brakes and hold them back. " You need three!" Michal yelled in Rusin. "Three, you lummox! Or else she 'll never hold ." The Irishman waved cheerfully, " G'wan!" (Two fingers) Michal fumed: (Three fingers!) Kelly laughed: (Two fingers!) Michal withheld his curse because the cars were already starting down , and he had to whip the mules to keep them ahead. As the cars gathered speed Michal struggled to keep the mules ahead of the surging coal projectiles. "Prekliaty blbec/" Michal yelled. "She won't hold, you idiot! " The cars gathered momentum and pushed up against the struggling mules , Michal slashing away at them with the whip to push them ahead . "Son of a bitch! " he yelled. " You 'll kill them! " '' Harrarrarrahh ! ' ' he yelled at the mules , urging them on to do the impossible. The Irish kid just laughed. �106 SLOVAKIA As Michal got half-way down the grade he saw it would be impossible to hold the cars back with only two sprags. He did the only thing left for him to do. He leaped for his life. The coal cars smashed into the mules and ground them into instant hamburger of broken flesh and spitting blood. The mules screamed and clawed for what seemed like hours, but which only lasted a few seconds. They were soon mangled mounds of bloody mash. Michal lay beside the track, his leg caught under the coal cars as they passed by. "God damn bastard!" he yelled in outraged disbelief at what had happened. Then he blacked out. Michal woke up in a lily-white hospital room in Johnstown, three miles downriver from Conemaugh and site of the famous Johnstown flood of 1889. Michal looked around dazedly, his heart mounting in his throat. He was only 21, and had been in America since he was 15 in 1900. This was his first experience in a hospital. A pert little nurse in a peaked cap came in to take his pulse and speak to him reassuringly in his native Rusin. "Nurse, I --" "Now, now, just be calm. You survived the accident," she said cheerfully, '' and that 's most of the battle right there I ' ' " How - how long have I been here?" "Just a day or two," she shrugged. "You were kept under sedation. " Michal plucked at the white sheet with his fingers , his little mustache twitching nervously. "How long will I be here? I have to get back to work. I have to pay my rent.'' The nurse smiled. "That will take a little while ," she said. " But don 't worry about the time or the expense. The Cambria Coal Mine is taking care of everything. ' ' Michal frowned. " But -- " " Ohl" she exclaimed, glad to change the subject , "you have visitors.'' She stepped aside and the little round face of Marienka Kinda appeared, followed by her husband Ivan, grumpy and straight-backed. " How are you , Michal? " she asked .with concern in Slovak, her only language. \ , '' All right , I think. But why did you come here just for me? I will be out in a few hours at the most. " Marienka smiled through her tears, and Ivan grumped, "Sure, �SLOVAKIA 107 son, just a short time. But you have to do what the doctors tell you. My God, what is that sickly swe~ smell_around here?" The nurse left nervously to seek the doctor. Ivan stuck his nose up, sniffed, and marched around the room like the old Hussar he was - a veteran of the Austrian Emperor's army. Michal had met Marienka, along with Marienka's sister, Jacka, on the ship taking them to America six years before. Marienka had left Ivan in the United States to see her sick father in Slovakia and had returned with her younger sister. Michal fell in love with Jacka at first sight. So he boarded with the Kindas to be near his love while he worked as a mule skinner in the coal mine. "Where's Jacka?" "Uh -- she had to make sandwiches for the men," Marienka said hastily. "And besides, you'll be out of here so fast it would not give Jacka time to come over!" The door opened and a doctor in a white jacket hurried in, '' sluchatko'' hanging from his side pocket to indicate the badge of this profession. He wrinkled his nose and tugged at his little beard, then pulled back the bedclothes to examine Michal's leg. "Hmmm," he said, "this doesn't look good at all." It was in English, so Ivan could understand only dimly. The nurse hurried over to interpret. They did not have Slovak or Rusin doctors to talk to the immigrants in their own language. "Nurse," said the doctor, sighing, "you'll have to tell this young man his leg has to go.'' He palpated the pulpy black right leg, drew a line with his finger above the knee. "Right here," the doctor said. "Now you tell him," and he hurried away. The nurse gulped. Then she took a deep breath and told Michal the doctor's decision in halting Rusin. ''Cut off my leg? No, never! Oh, God, no!'' Michal tried to struggle out of bed to run away, to get away from here where they would take away his leg and his chance to make a living and to marry Jacka. Marienka and Ivan moved quickly to hold him down. "Please, Michal," said Marienka in great concern. "If it must be done to save your life, then it will be for the best. You'll see that everything will turn out all right.'' But Michal's face froze in a faraway look. The look of death. Where he came from, most of the people who had their legs cut off �108 SLOVAKIA - died. And the rest were beggars and the laughingstock of the uneasy townspeople. One-legged people were better off dead. And Michal wanted to die. There was nothing left for him, even in America. Nothing. CHAPTER2 - ONE LEG, PEGLEG Friday, May 25 , 1906 Michal came out of a daze like dragging himself doggedly out of the depths of a deep coal mine, with a white light shining at the top. He groped his way up and up, his brain hitching itself from one ladder rung to the other, until he finally broke out into the light and found himself in the brightly lit hospital room, whiter still than it had been the first time. And there was the tugging, nagging, pulling pain in his right leg, straight down to his toes. He tried to feel them, but his mind swirled as he sat up. He gasped and fell back on the pillows, sweating. A little boy ran in the room, tugging at his mother's hand. "Where's daddy?" he said in English. She pulled him back into the hall. "Otec is down further," she said in Slovak. But the boy broke away and staggerred onto Michal's bed, right over his right leg. Michal howled in pain . The mother hastily pulled the child away with abject Slovak humiliation, and said in English: " Don 't you know this man had his leg taken off?'' The child stared , and ran to her in tears . Michal could only make out half the conversation , but he was more concerned with the pain in his leg. The little nurse hurried in and clucked about Michal like a mother hen. "You will be fine in a little while, just you see." ''But my leg - it hurts so much, '' Michal said . The nurse looked at the blank space where his leg had been , and she looked at Michal's intense face. "You have to know," she said deliberately, ''that the doctor had to stop the anesthetics and that you feel the pain of your leg being taken off. You have a stump right above your right knee , and it is the nerve there that hurts you and makes you think you still have the leg." Michal was horrified. " Then my leg is. gone!" For the first time the word "operation" really struck home to ltm, an<l he knew that now he was only half a man. ''I can't live with one leg,'' he· sobbed. ''I can't work, I can't get married, I can 't make a living, I can't do anything." �SLOVAKIA 109 \ He hid his face in his hands and sobbed like a broken-hearted little boy . The nurse left him alone for a while. She let him cry it out . It would be better for him . Then she gently put her arm around his shoulder and cradled his head against her breast. " You will be fine , my priatel'," she said softly. " Just give yourself a little time. You will get a new leg and you will walk almost as well as you ever did. And you will live and marry and have children and enjoy life . You'll see. " Just then the door flew open and a giant of a man strode in, all 6 feet 4 inches of him; he looked around briefly, saw Michal Kohan , and strode over. He stuck out a hammy paw. " McCloskey's the name ," he roared . "Mike McCloskey . I'm your superintendent at Mine No. 1, in case you forgot .'' The flustered nurse translated the gist of what he said. Michal smiled at McCloskey and for an instant a flicker of happiness came over him, but then he remembered the situation and became glum again. McCloskey pulled up a chair. ' 'Don't let this get you down, Bonnie Michal. We 've got a place for you at the mine for the rest of your life. We 'll find you a job you can do well - and you 're set, believe me ." The nurse translated breathlessly. · '' And I see the company has got you a private room and nurse , and you 're getting the best of everything. The company doesn 't usually do this, my lad, you can bet; those bastards wouldn't pay for their mothers ' funeral if they could get away with it. But I went to bat for you - you fully deserve it - and I'll see you come off as well as possible from all this. But I hate to talk to you through an interpreter. You 're the kind of determined man I like to chaw with man-to-man. ' ' And maybe you can get chances for promotion. Now, if you could talk my language - really talk my language , English - we could boost you some more, eh lad? '' He winked , got up as abruptly as he sat down, and barrelled out of the room with a roar and a laugh and a mighty wave of his hand . The nurse beamed. " You see , Michal , things aren 't as bad as you thought, " she said. " You 'll have a job , and you can get better jobs as you learn more English and learn how to get along in America - the real land of opportunity . '' Michal looked up at her. ''You really believe America is the land of opportunity, no matter what happens to you?" " Of course , or I wouldn 't be here . I'd still be slopping hogs in Galicia. " The days wore on. Michal clung to the new idea of a job and maybe �110 SLOVAKIA - maybe a chance to make something of himself. Maybe it wasn't too late, and if he learned English . . . Michal's thoughts went back to his origins , and how far he had travelled since. He was born in Habowa, a little village in the Galician area of Austria, one of four children - two boys and two girls. At 12 he was put out as a servant on a farm, to work from sunup to sundown. He remembered how he cried, not wanting to leave home, but it was a way of life for the poor peasants of the 1880s. Then at 15, in 1900, he had a chance to put his meager resources together and migrate to America. He boarded in Marienka Kinda's house - Marienka, who was nine years older - and stuck close to his love, Jacka. In 1905 he and other Galicians put up some money and proudly helped build the Russian Orthodox Church, St. John the Baptist, in Conemaugh. He was beginning to feel a real part of the community. Now he had lost his leg, and McCloskey said he could learn English and work again. He clung to the idea as his leg stump sometimes almost pulled him from the bed with throbbing and pain. And he had Marienka, who came to visit him religiously, and held his hand shyly. " Come, Marienka," said Michal jokingly. "You 're a married woman, you know.'' "Veru , and you had better remember, too ," she said, smiling, and patted his arm. "But I must take care of my star boarder. And remember," she added, her eyes twinkling, "Jacka is still there making the sandwiches for the men." "Oh, she asked about me? " Michal asked eagerly. Marienka looked away . ' 'She talks about you, and the other men. You know how busy she is. " " And so are you, Marienka. But you find time to see me ." Michal was now convinced he would really have to impress Jacka with his new knowledge of English to get her to notice him. The next morning, after his breakfast and bath, Michal grimly decided to start on the long road back. He took the crutches from behind his bed, eased himself up , and sat on the bed with his left leg dangling close to the floor . Then he slipped on the crutches and turned around, facing the bed, and eased himself upright, standing wobbily on his left leg and his two crutches. The blood drained from his head and. he swayed dizzily. He felt himself falling when a strong arm caught his elbow and pushed him back, sprawling across the bed . �SLOVAKIA 111 \ A young black-haired girl with an oval face stood there glaring at him and stomping her foot in anger. " Don't you ever do that again without someone to help you! ' ' she cried. Michal looked at her and realized that she had spoken Rusin. "You are Rusin? " he asked. " Oh!" she said, her hand flying to her mouth . " I forget myself and speak Rusin when I get angry. I really want to speak American English, I mean - as much as I can . I'm an English teacher, you know. " Michal's ears perked up and he pulled himself up painfully on the bed , his eyes staying on her oval face all the while . " You - you speak English well? " ' ' Perfectly, '' she said, with a proud toss of her head. She answered his unspoken question, "I came here from Eastern Galicia with my family in 1890, when I was four . So I spoke Rusin and Slovak at home and learned English almost from the cradle. Now I teach it to the children here and to any adult who wants to learn English and become a part of this great America - with all its challenges and its benefits and its great heart." She lowered her eyes shyly. " I speak too much when I speak about being part of America.'' " No , no, go on, go on ," said Michal, bobbing his head in agreement as a plan to learn English formed in his mind. Here was McCloskey' s idea come true! " Would - would you teach me English? " '' Of course ,'' she said. ' 'Oh - my name is Tressa Hruska. ' ' '' And mine is Michal Ko ban.'' '' I will give you a short lesson right now, Michal, and when you can leave the hospital you can come and learn in my little school in Conemaugh while you get better so you can go back to work . Michal agreed enthusiastically with this little animated doll of a girl. A heaven-sent opportunity to get ahead and make a new life for himself! ' ' All right.'' Tressa was suddenly all business. ' 'I give you one lesson here - and I teach English a special way so you can learn fast.'' She switched to English. " Do you know what this is? " she asked, patting the bed . Michal stared. " I don 't know what you said. Please translate it for me into Rusin. " Tressa crossed her arms and glared at Michal. "No, Michal , I translate nothing. You have to learn from - like they say here scratch." �112 SLOVAKIA Michal looked bewildered again, so she returned to Rusin. ''Okay, okay - I will explain once in Rusin, and then you will learn by doing." " Huh?" Tressa said with some patience: "Michal, when you learned Rusin did you translate from anything?" ' ' No - I did not know any language. ''Correct. So now you do the same thing. You learn English just as you learned Rusin, and you will learn it just as well - with perhaps a small accent." Michal nodded slowly. "I see. It makes sense. But it would be so much easier to '' - no, it wouldn't,' ' she finished firmly. ' 'Now, watch.'' And she slipped into English. Tressa patted the bed and said slowly : "Michal, this is a B-E-D." And she motioned for him to repeat. " Dis - Bett," said Michal in English. " This is a bed." " This is - bed. " '' Good! Great!' ' She clapped her hands in enthusiasm. ''Now, this is a bed post." " Na-o-w, dis is - " " - This is - " ''This is a bed host . ' ' "Bed post." '' Bed post. ' ' Tressa squealed in delight and clapped her hands . Michal was making a very good student. She looked around, then bent to the floor and patted her hand on the floor. " This is the floor - f-1-o-o-r, " she said distinctly and spelled it out. Michal saw her lovely round rear end, with her dress hitched up as she bent in concentration towards the floor, and he said distinctly in Rusin : ''This is a pretty panty . '' " No - this is .. . ! " Tressa suddenly realized what had happened and straightened up in confusion , her face flaming a dark, brilliant red. Michal laughed heartily for the first time since the accident. Then Tressa broke down and smiled, giggled , and soon both were laughing hysterically. People from the ward across the hall shuffled over in their bathrobes to see what was going on in th'is crazy room. �SLOVAKIA 113 CHAPTER 3 - JACKA DECIDES Monday, September 10 Summer arrived and turned into fall before Michal could go home. He returned that day to Marienka Kinda's boarding house, carefully placing one crutch ahead of the other as the doctors had told him, keeping weight off his pegleg. A farmer had given him a buggy lift almost to the door, so he was that much ahead. He squared his shoulders and tried to walk with great decision, heartened by the fact that he would soon see Jacka for the first time in months. As he started in the door it was suddenly opened wide, and Jacka swept out on Adam Drotar's arm. Caught by surprise as she brushed past him, Michal dropped one crutch to grasp the porch post as he staggered to one side. "Sorry, Michal," Jacka said. "I didn't see you." "H-Hello, Jacka," Michal said shyly. Jacka stared through him. "You're going back to work in those things?" she said. ''Oh yes. And soon. But I'll get rid of these crutches with a little more practice - you'll see." "I'm sure," she said mechanically. Then Jacka turned away and smiled at Adam as he swept her down the steps and into the street. Michal stared after them for a long time, a lump forming in his throat and tears in his eyes, wondering if he would ever be worthy of Jacka truly becoming his friend and, and - wife. Just wait till he got his English diploma, he thought. Then Jacka would know he was truly someone important and she would come to him. He stood there staring at the rapidly disappearing figures who were laughing at some private joke. The laughter finally died down, and Michal still kept staring after them. ''Michal.'' Michal turned around. Marienka stood at the door, all round and rosy-cheeked. She was a truly handsome girl, with a twinkle in her eye that was lost on Michal. "Come in and take a rest," she said. " You shouldn 't stand up so long at the beginning." Michal nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be taken inside , where he sank into the living-room chair usually occupied by Marienka' s husband , Ivan, who was now away at work. Michal propped his chin in the palm of his hand. "Marienka, will Jacka ever - like me? " Marienka cleared her throat but before she �114 SLOVAKIA could answer, Michal had answered himself. "Yes she will, when I learn English well and will be an important man in the mines. Then she will like me - won't she?" Marienka patted his arm. "Of course," she said. "What's there not to like about you?'' The next days were hectic. Michal went down by hitched buggy ride to Tressa's little schoolhouse in Conemaugh, a mile away from Marienka's boarding house. When he reached the door he straightened up , took both crutches in his left hand, and opened the door and walked in as straight as possible on his pegleg, trying not to wince at the pain. "Here's Pegleg Mike! " yelled two of the children. Tressa looked around from the blackboard, and she spoke sharply to the two children: "That's not a polite way to talk. Now apologize to Mr. Kohan." The children looked contrite. "We' re sorry, Mr. Ko ban." Michal waved a hand. "It's nothing. And it's true, isn't it? I do have a pegleg. But this won't stop me from succeeding in America. When you grow up things will happen to you too, but they should never stop you from succeeding in this fine country.'' The children looked even more contrite. Tressa's face broke into a broad smile. "Well said, Michal!" she exclaimed. "Come in and make yourself at home at one of the desks in the back. Use two of them if you want.' ' There were 22 children of various ages in the room, all following schooling of their own, each in different classes following different subjects under Tressa's supervision. They learned not only from the books and the teacher, but also from each other, as they watched others in the throes of learning Eng_lish, history, arithmetic, and a brush-up on customs of the Old World. There were children from every possible group in Central, Western, and Eastern Europe - Slovaks, Irish, Rusins, Poles, Germans all learning to be Americans and take advantage of the glorious American opportunity to better themselves . Now they stared at Michal and snickered. ''Children! ' ' Now they simply stared, but with their hands over their mouths. "Michal Kohan is a little older than most of you" - laughter ' 'but give him credit, because he too wants to be part of the American dream, and he has as much right to do it as any of you have ." Anger rose in Tressa's throat. "And don't you forge6'_ it!" �SLOVAKIA 115 '' Sit down, Michal,'' Tressa indicated, '' and I will be with you in a moment. Michal eased himself into a little chair and put his crutches out of sight on the floor. Tressa had spoken Rusin to him, but her words to the children were in English, so he had understood little but the snickers. No matter. Only his job and Jacka mattered. He had to learn English for them. " Michal got an hour's special instruction that day and stayed the rest of the time listening to the children recite their lessons and learning the cadence and rhythm of English. He was surprised to catch the meaning of a word or two and to feel the English idiom as they babbled on. It was a weary day. Michal felt his leg throbbing as it wore on, and he finally made his excuses and left. Outside, weary beyond words at dragging himself along, he decided to try something new. He put both crutches under his left shoulder and took the pressure off his right leg by bearing down on his left side. It seemed crazy - it was just what the doctors had told him not to do - but it worked! The doctors told him he would have to use both crutches for a long while, but Michal was forever trying things out for himself. Why not take advantage of the newness of America and try out new things? He found that now he could work his way down the street much better, and with a minimum of pain. "Hey, Michal! Wait a minute!" Michal did not recognize the Slovak voice, so he turned around. A fattish man with white hair hobbled up to him on a pegleg just like his, but on the left leg. "You don't know me, Michal, but I heard about you in town. I've been retired for a while and - here, let's go in this "karchma" and talk. I want to ask you something." Puzzled, Michal followed. The tavern was a mishmash of Old World nationalities even more pronounced than in the schoolhouse, but with a definite bent toward the Slovak. Stale beer smells and the choking pile and cigarette smoke filled the polluted air as they made their way to their chairs. Michal wondered what the man wanted, but he felt he would have to order a drink. He fingered the change in his pocket and tried to count them with his fingers. "Slivovica," ordered the white-haired man. Michal nodded the same. At least he knew he could drink plum brandy, the Slovak national drink. �116 SLOVAKIA The waiter waved his towel, disappeared and reappeared as if by magic with the two drinks. You never got served so fast when you ordered food, thought Michal . " So, Michal, " the man said, putting a hand on his arm. "My name ' s Bodnak, and I come from a region of Galicia not too far from where I hear you come from . Habowa, isn't it?' ' Michal nodded, but said nothing. " Well, what I want to say was - I notice you limp too, and because of a pegleg on your right side. Right? ' ' "Yes. " ''Well, I had my left leg amputated above the knee , another stupid mine accident , and I wear a pegleg too. " Michal looked down and noticed his pegleg for the first time. He had been so preoccupied with his own problem he had failed to recognize the other man's . And he thought he was the only pegleg in the world. Bodnak leaned over. " Maybe we can help each other, friend ." He took a slurp of slivovica. " I need new shoes, and I'm sure you 'll be needing shoes too pretty soon. What do you wear? '' "Size eight, " said Michal. Bodnak slapped him delightedly on the back . " Good! Good! I thought so! So do I," he enthused. " Don 't you realize we can buy one pair of shoes for both of us and save a lot of money each time?' ' The light dawned on Michal. Of course! "A very good idea," he said . ' 'Then we have only to worry about some way to keep our peglegs from slipping so much. Bodnak winked broadly . " Easily fixed , my friend . I've had this problem for years, and I've worked out the angles. I just take the rubber from an old bicycle tire on the tip , and that old tire will last for up to a year!' ' Michal returned home all fired up and at last ready to face life again. He had learned more English, his shoe problem had been solved, and he could walk with only one crutch! And all this had happened in one day . Soon he could use only a cane for support - then nothing! Exhilaration surged through him as life pumped back into his tired body and mind. The next weeks were a growing revelation to Michal as he learned more and more English, until he found he could talk English to the English group of miners and be actual~y understood. Tressa 's patience was remarkable. \ " You feel the table ," she said. ''I feel the table ,' ' said Michal, feeling the table . �SLOVAKIA 117 \ "Very good!" She clapped her hands in glee. "Now how do you feel about your English?'' Michal looked bewildered. ' 'Feel table - feel English? How can I feel English?" "No," said Tressa. "Feel is also an emotion, something inside us.'' "How can that be?" asked Michal. "How can the same word 'feel' mean touch the table and touch English?" Tressa laughed. ''That's one of the problems about studying a new language . Things don 't always make sense. There are many words like that in Rusin, too, but you've never thought about it, and you take them for granted. English is the same!" Six weeks later Michal was walking with only a cane, and using it very little, and his leg was almost healed. He could speak English so well that Tressa had met him that morning with the announcement that this was his last day in class because he had earned his "Diploma" in English. · She whisked out a Diploma from behind her back, all inscribed with '' MICHAL KO BAN'' on it and attesting to the fact that Michal could speak English! "Of course you can always come back for questions and help whenever you need it," said Tressa in English, "but now you can speak English well enough to get along. And this Diploma is your going-away present . '' Michal shook hands delightedly with her, then hurried away to tell the great news to Jacka. He shot through the door , almost falling as he balanced on one leg, and danced the surprised Marienka around in a Slovak knee-slapper. " I have my Diploma! " he shouted. " Now I can speak English. I will run up and tell Jacka and she will be proud of me.'' '' . .. but Michal, '' said Marienka. Michal did not hear her. He hurried up the steps , pulling himself up hand over hand on the railing, and hurried to Jacka's room and knocked on the door. ' 'Jacka , Jacka! I have something wonderful to tell you! ' ' No answer. " Jacka! Look at my English Diploma! " He pushed the door open, diploma in hand, with Marienka right behind him, and stared dumbfounded at the empty room, stripped of all clothes . Even the curtains had been taken down. �118 SLOVAKIA Michal turned to Marienka like a hurt little boy whose mother isn 't home to hear of his success in school. " What . . . what? " " Michal," said Marienka softly , her hand on his arm . " Jacka is gone. " " Gone? " " Jacka ran away today with Adam Drotar to get married and go with him to the iron ore mines in Minnesota. '' CHAPTER 4 - BONEY COME , BONEY STAY Monday, Junell, 1906 Michal turned without a word and shuffled out towards his own room at the rear. He closed the door behind the anxious, hovering Marienka, and sat down heavily on the bed. He stared out the window at the gathering gray sky, the black roofs and the black streets and the black lawns and the black feelings he had about the coal-black town of Conemaugh. Life was a bucket of coal ash. The girl of his dreams had gone had left him for another man. Or was she ever his except in his own imagination? He was worthless and useless. Why had he come to America? Why had he bothered to do anything with his life? What dreams were there in America that he could fulfill? It was all a farce . A sham. A deception! He was 21, in a strange country, with nothing to look forward to but a bleak future of shattered dreams. He lay back on the bed , covered his eyes, and his jumbled thoughts turned to new crazy, jumbled dreams. He slept fitfully until the gray dawn struggled to show itself about the ugly piles of slag everywhere in town. Michal woke up with a start to the tune of a bird singing squeakily outside his window . The coal dust had gotten to its little lungs , and the best it could do was a poor imitation of a chirp . But the bird tried! And Michal would try too. His natural positive attitude reasserted itself. He looked again on the bright side of t~ ngs. He had his health, a chance for a job in the mines , and the ability to speak the language of the land of opportunity - English! · Heartened , he got up , washed and dressed , and went down to breakfast with the boarders - all miners getting ready for work . �SLOVAKIA 119 Marienka had to work overtime making the sandwiches and preparing the table, because Jacka had left her job as completely as she had left Michal. ''I'll help you, Marienka,'' he said. And he pitched in, feeding the hungry men at the table and hurrying to fill their dinner pails with sandwiches and the precious water they would need in the mine. Ivan, Marienka's husband, was the first to leave for his job in the mine. His life was divided between working at the mine and working overtime drinking at the ''karchma'' in town. He loved to tell the stories of his days as a horse soldier in the Emperor's army and regale the men with well-told tales through the evening - while ignoring work at home. After the last man had left, Marienka was alone with Michal and her three sons: young Michal, 13; Mikulas, 11; and Janik, nine. The three boys adored Michal and wanted to stay and play with him. But they had to go to school. "And don't forget to learn English well," Michal called after them. "It will be the foundation of all your success in life." "I'm glad you sound better," said Marienka. "I was really worried last night. " Michal looked at her. "It is strange to have someone worry about me." Marienka blushed. ''Oh - you know what I mean.'' Michal sighed. "Yes, I know. I only wish Jacka had worried just a little. She is my first love, and I will never forget her - but that part of my life is over. Now I start out all over, really start out, with a new language and a new chance in the land of opportunity. America doesn't give you only one chance to get ahead. It gives you many. And if you miss the first one - why, then, you can take the next, and the next." Michal laughed. "Maybe then you can start out by being my sandwich-maker," said Marienka. "And I will give you a discount on your rent, too," she said, winking. After all, he wasn't getting much disability pay from the company, even with McCloskey's help. Michal sobered up. ''Thank you, Marienka, but no thank you.'' He put a hand on her shoulder in a friendly fashion . '' I must get away from here,'' he said. '' From this house. I will get another room where I can forget these events more quickly , but of course I will never forget your kindness. Already I sense a kind of distant dislike of some men, because of my pegleg, and I have to work that out in my own mind and fight it and get the better of myself in my own way.'' �120 SLOVAKIA Marienka nodded. ''If that is to be, then let it be .'' Michal got a room in a boarding house a few blocks from Marienka and Ivan, and within a half mile of Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh. The next morning he checked his carbide lamp, with the kernels of carbon at the bottom, all about half the size of a peanut. He put some water in the top and watched the water drip onto the kernels, forming a gas. Then he lit the gas and checked the flame coming out about three inches through a fine hole in the center of the reflector. There was no glass in the front - a constant danger of fire. But this was one of the dangers of a coal miner's life. He got paid well for this dangerous work six days a week, and who else among working men could command so much money? Many men got killed and maimed for life, but they still kept working in the mines, because it was the best way they could provide for their families - at least while they could work. Michal felt the old pride in his work returning as he adjusted the lamp and watched it flare brightly. Then he switched it down, put it on his head, and dressed in his miner's clothes so he could feel more and more like the miner he was going to continue to be! After all, McCloskey had promised him a job for life - and he had to start by looking the part, even with his pegleg. He cocked his lamp at a jaunty angle, squared his shoulders, and stepped out the door. "Ahh, there's my little bairn Michal," yelled McCloskey when he looked up to see the slight man with a mustache walk steadily up to him. "It's a fine man you look like," he said, grabbing Michal by both his shoulders. "And I feel fine," said Michal in good English. McCloskey's eyes opened wide. "You talk great! You talk real English!'' Michal bobbed his head happily. "That I do. I do that," he said. '' How could you learn in so short a time?'' ''I had a good teacher,'' said Michal. ''Tressa Hruska.'' "And I have a good job for you," McCloskey winked, "just like I promised. How would you like to be a mule skinner?" Michal's jaw dropped. That he could never do. McCloskey laughed. "No, no, not the k\nd you think . That's the old-fashioned method. Now we have just started to use modern mule skinners. But we don't call them mule skinners anymore, even though they haul the men and the coal into and out of the mine just like before. �SLOVAKIA 121 ' ' Now we call them Hoist Engineers . '' Michal look bewildered. "What 's a Hoist Engineer? " McCloskey gestured to him. "Come on , Michal. I'll show you. It's the perfect job for you. It 'll put you right in the middle of the men, many of them Rusins and Slovaks , and you can talk to them and interpret to the supers , and act as a go-between while you do your job. It'll be a very important step up in the mine. ' ' The two men walked into the dry drift mine, and up - slowly. Michal tried not to look tired and he tried not to puff, but it wasn't easy. " Take it easy, lad, " said McCloskey. " We'll soon be there . You see , the man who had this job was just here for a short time, and he didn't know the ropes too well - and couldn 't speak English - so you'll be the perfect man. " They arrived at a clearing in the mine, with a huge machine hung with ropes and levers standing there like an iron monster. ' ' With this you can control the coal cars going down the slope to the outside , and you also bring the men up in the morning and let them down at night. You have to be here very early so you can do that, and when they get to your hoist they disperse to the various coal rooms along the pathways. "So this is called the Hoist , and you will be the Hoist Engineer." ''It is like being a mule skinner, but without the mules! '' "Right!" McCloskey laughed. And Michal worked the levers to and fro, testing the machinery for cars going up and down until he soon had them working almost to perfection . "See, it's easy! I knew you were the man . Now you 've got yourself a good job, just like I promised you," said McCloskey . He winked. "Don 't tell them, but you'll soon get a raise." Michal's eyes widened. He could put away more money, and maybe make some of his new dreams come true. America was truly going to be the land of opportunity! CHAPTER 5 - CA VE IN! Tuesday, December 7, 1909 ''Cave-in!' ' The cry roared and pounded through Conemaugh like the cold wind of death. Everyone knew what it meant - it meant only one thing - and the women and children surged out of their homes and hurried to the billowing clouds that pointed to the position of the mine. �122 SLOVAKIA Marienka was in the Catholic church for the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. She heard the terrible cry and her throat tightened. "Oh Jesus, Mary, Joseph," she cried, crossing herself quickly, "please don 't make it serious. Please!" Then she hurried to the house and gathered her children together, as the women did in these times of stress. Michal, Janik, and Mikulas, with Jozef toddling at her heels. She swept up the baby Jurko and held him at her breast as she hurried the children down to the mine site. The large crowd already there saw Marienka at a distance and parted for her like the Red Sea for Moses - except that this was not an escape for Marienka. It was a descent into hell. Her heart pounding, she made her way through, feeling more and more dread as she approached her goal. A hand took her arm, and she looked up into Michal Koban's sympathetic eyes. "Thank God you're safe," cried Marienka. "I'm glad nothing happened to you! " ' ' Marienka, '' said Michal quietly, ''nothing happened to the other men either. Most of them. They had all moved on to new passages this morning - all except Ivan." Marienka felt faint. The boys cried at her side, and she shushed them. Ivan had been told to stay on at the old passage to pound out the props before moving on. So Michal nodded. " Ivan knocked out a prop and the roof fell in on him. I'm so sorry. But there may still be a chance. " There was a commotion at the entrance of the dust-choked mine, and two men came out carrying a stretcher. Marienka ran up to them, leaving the children with Michal. "Don't look, Mrs . Kinda," one of the men said. "He was - pretty badly mangled by the cave-in. He 's dead." Michal came up and put an arm on her sobbing shoulder, and gathered the five children around him as Marienka wept uncontrollably. He took Jurko from his mother' s failing arm. " Janik, hold on to Jozef," he said. "Yes , otec ," said Janik without thinking. Otec was the Slovak name for father. Slovak wakes seemed to have been developed by the Devil himself, with the express purpose of causing the wife and family of the deceased as much trouble and mental anguish as possible . Of course, it really wasn 't done that way ,on purpose. It was simply ''tradition,'• and tradition has to be served\ Ivan was laid out in the small living room ; with flowers all around �SLOVAKIA 123 \ the casket, and exposed for viewing to all the friends and relatives and any curious stranger in town. They would come up to the casket, genuflect, and kneel on the prie-dieu and pray while gazing at the mortal remains of the exposed. And at the photo behind the casket of Ivan Kinda in full Hussar regalia. Then they would get up and turn to their friends and whisper, ''He looks so natural, almost as if he were sleeping." This was too painful for Marienka to see. She had ushered her children in to see their "otec" at the begining, and then told them to stay away. The large kitchen then became the center of activities for three days and nights. People straggled in at all hours, paid their respects to the deceased, then quickly returned to the kitchen for a meal and to hear various ribald and obscene stories told by several expert storytellers. Marienka spent her time at the hot stove, damp hair hanging down in strands over her forehead, and made eggs and little Slovak pancakes, and cutting "kolace" and ladling out the butter, and setting the table, and clearing the table, and washing the dishes, and setting up the table, and ... It was an endless round of senseless meal-serving, night and day, for three days. "Marienka, you've got to take a rest," Michal said, after hours of feeding starving miners. He had helped a lot. And so had the three older boys - Michal, Mikulas, and Janik. Marienka shook her head. "I can't," she said. "I have to feed them as come in and view Ivan. It is the tradition." ''Damn the tradition!'' Michal exploded. ''You go to bed right now and get some sleep. I'll handle this for a while." Marienka allowed herself to be led away, protesting feebly, stumbling, bleary-eyed. But she knew she was exhausted, so she did not protest too much. "So Michal, you already take over, eh?" roared a miner as he saw Michal put on the apron. Michal had a hot answer ready, but he just turned beet-red and doggedly said nothing. ' 'Lemme have three eggs, sunny-side up, lots of Slovak bread and butter, and - make it six pancakes. I've got to remember poor Ivan Kinda the best way I can, by eating." Michal seethed. "You'll remember him with a bump on your noggin from my skillet if you don't shut up." "Oh, ho ," the miner said amiably. "We do have a temper, don't �124 SLOVAKIA we? Maybe you 'll feel better when I tell you this joke about the miner and the Irish whore. Seems she spread out her goodies - ' ' he winked - "on the table, when ... " " Oh, shut up!" growled Michal, his mustache bristling. "Don't you realize a man is lying dead in the next room, and his family is going through a trying time. They 'll be destitute after this. Haven't you stopped to think of that? " The miner sobered up, and several others joined in. "We know all that, Michal," they said, with some care in their voices. " We know, but we laugh so we will not cry. Who knows - tomorrow it may happen to us." Michal bit his lip. They were right. He had no right to lecture them. They meant well. They were just rough men living a rough life, and the wake was a traditional part of their lives, where the people could come together and joke and laugh so they could forget what had happened . But they remembered still. Marienka somehow got through the next three days, and Michal escorted her and the children to the funeral in the little Catholic church Marienka and Ivan had helped to build in 1901. That afternoon was also a trial. The women of Conemaugh, which was 90 percent Slavic, came parading into the house to see Marienka and leave their condolences and their little Slovak "kolace" - jelly rolls with nuts and apples - that they had cooked for the occasion . '' God bless you, Marienka.'' · " May God be with you, Marienka." '' Everything will be all right , Marienka. God will provide.' ' Marienka nodded mechanically to all, as if in a daze. Finally the ordeal was over and the house was empty. Too empty. Even Jurko wasn't crying. And Jozef played quietly in the comer. The other three boys were in school. Michal stopped by after work . '' How are things going? '' he asked. " All right, " said Marienka, forcing a smile . " The insurance company paid for all the funeral expenses , plus $50 left. But no benefits , of course. '' " Of course . Nice of them. Now they pay nothing. You get no widow ' s benefits and you 're entirely on your own ." ''I have five children to help me ,'' Marienka grinned . Michal did not grin. " What I meant to .say is, what with the children and - and everything - you will neec:N o get something to - to tide you over a bit.'' · ' '' Michal - '' �SLOVAKIA 125 " - No, please. He heh;! up a hand. "What I meant is the children will need food and things while you get yourself together , and I thought - " His hand went into his pocket , and he took out a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. " Well, here 's a little something to help you. '' " Michal! " Marienka cried as she took the bundle dumbly. This was the first useful gesture anyone had made to her since Ivan 's death. Tears welled in her eyes, finally trickled down her cheeks. She took out her hankie and blew mightily. The three boys poured through the door and happily embraced Michal . " Put that away - quickly," said Michal . And he got up. At the door he paused. ''Things aren't easy for a widow woman without a man to support her, " he said. "I mean , people will look down on you , just as they have looked down on me for my pegleg . What I want to say is , I understand what will happen. And I know you can pull through it . I know . ' ' He took her hand. " I'll see you again, Marienka, God willing. " Mikulas piped up, in his boyish soprano . "Why don 't you and matka marry, and you can stay here with us always? '' Marienka choked. The boys all laughed and clapped . They danced around the bewildered couple with their flaming cheeks . ' ' Boys , stop it! ' ' commanded Marienka in her voice that they knew had to be obeyed . They stopped and stood with their hands behind their backs, trying to look regretful. " Now go outside this minute ," commanded Marienka, " and don 't you dare say a word about this to anybody, hear? '' The boys filed out, and Michal started to follow. '' Not you, Michal! I'm sorry for their actions . It was really uncalled for ." Michal shrugged, a string in his heart still tugging for his old love, Jacka . " People will talk about single people ," he said . " People always talk. It is the way of the world .'' � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document \ LITERATURE SLOVAKIA 105 Excerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 VASIL S. KOBAN CHAPTER 1 - ONE MORE SPRAG Thursday, May 24, 1906 It was just after two o'clock when Michal Kohan , mule skinner at Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, started down the incline pulling the three coal cars out of the mine behind two mules. " You got three sprags on the three cars, Kelly? " he asked in Rusin . He put up three fingers so Kelly could not fail to understand. Kelly, an Irishman just turned sixteen and starting on his new job in the mines, rubbed his alcohol-bleared head. ''Sure , sure , begorrah, I got enough sprags, '' he said in a half stupor. He put up two fingers and shook them at Michal . The mules would never hold the downhill run of the three coal cars unless there were enough tapered wooden sprags between the wheels to drag on the cars like brakes and hold them back. " You need three!" Michal yelled in Rusin. "Three, you lummox! Or else she 'll never hold ." The Irishman waved cheerfully, " G'wan!" (Two fingers) Michal fumed: (Three fingers!) Kelly laughed: (Two fingers!) Michal withheld his curse because the cars were already starting down , and he had to whip the mules to keep them ahead. As the cars gathered speed Michal struggled to keep the mules ahead of the surging coal projectiles. "Prekliaty blbec/" Michal yelled. "She won't hold, you idiot! " The cars gathered momentum and pushed up against the struggling mules , Michal slashing away at them with the whip to push them ahead . "Son of a bitch! " he yelled. " You 'll kill them! " '' Harrarrarrahh ! ' ' he yelled at the mules , urging them on to do the impossible. The Irish kid just laughed. 106 SLOVAKIA As Michal got half-way down the grade he saw it would be impossible to hold the cars back with only two sprags. He did the only thing left for him to do. He leaped for his life. The coal cars smashed into the mules and ground them into instant hamburger of broken flesh and spitting blood. The mules screamed and clawed for what seemed like hours, but which only lasted a few seconds. They were soon mangled mounds of bloody mash. Michal lay beside the track, his leg caught under the coal cars as they passed by. "God damn bastard!" he yelled in outraged disbelief at what had happened. Then he blacked out. Michal woke up in a lily-white hospital room in Johnstown, three miles downriver from Conemaugh and site of the famous Johnstown flood of 1889. Michal looked around dazedly, his heart mounting in his throat. He was only 21, and had been in America since he was 15 in 1900. This was his first experience in a hospital. A pert little nurse in a peaked cap came in to take his pulse and speak to him reassuringly in his native Rusin. "Nurse, I --" "Now, now, just be calm. You survived the accident," she said cheerfully, '' and that 's most of the battle right there I ' ' " How - how long have I been here?" "Just a day or two," she shrugged. "You were kept under sedation. " Michal plucked at the white sheet with his fingers , his little mustache twitching nervously. "How long will I be here? I have to get back to work. I have to pay my rent.'' The nurse smiled. "That will take a little while ," she said. " But don 't worry about the time or the expense. The Cambria Coal Mine is taking care of everything. ' ' Michal frowned. " But -- " " Ohl" she exclaimed, glad to change the subject , "you have visitors.'' She stepped aside and the little round face of Marienka Kinda appeared, followed by her husband Ivan, grumpy and straight-backed. " How are you , Michal? " she asked .with concern in Slovak, her only language. \ , '' All right , I think. But why did you come here just for me? I will be out in a few hours at the most. " Marienka smiled through her tears, and Ivan grumped, "Sure, SLOVAKIA 107 son, just a short time. But you have to do what the doctors tell you. My God, what is that sickly swe~ smell_around here?" The nurse left nervously to seek the doctor. Ivan stuck his nose up, sniffed, and marched around the room like the old Hussar he was - a veteran of the Austrian Emperor's army. Michal had met Marienka, along with Marienka's sister, Jacka, on the ship taking them to America six years before. Marienka had left Ivan in the United States to see her sick father in Slovakia and had returned with her younger sister. Michal fell in love with Jacka at first sight. So he boarded with the Kindas to be near his love while he worked as a mule skinner in the coal mine. "Where's Jacka?" "Uh -- she had to make sandwiches for the men," Marienka said hastily. "And besides, you'll be out of here so fast it would not give Jacka time to come over!" The door opened and a doctor in a white jacket hurried in, '' sluchatko'' hanging from his side pocket to indicate the badge of this profession. He wrinkled his nose and tugged at his little beard, then pulled back the bedclothes to examine Michal's leg. "Hmmm," he said, "this doesn't look good at all." It was in English, so Ivan could understand only dimly. The nurse hurried over to interpret. They did not have Slovak or Rusin doctors to talk to the immigrants in their own language. "Nurse," said the doctor, sighing, "you'll have to tell this young man his leg has to go.'' He palpated the pulpy black right leg, drew a line with his finger above the knee. "Right here," the doctor said. "Now you tell him," and he hurried away. The nurse gulped. Then she took a deep breath and told Michal the doctor's decision in halting Rusin. ''Cut off my leg? No, never! Oh, God, no!'' Michal tried to struggle out of bed to run away, to get away from here where they would take away his leg and his chance to make a living and to marry Jacka. Marienka and Ivan moved quickly to hold him down. "Please, Michal," said Marienka in great concern. "If it must be done to save your life, then it will be for the best. You'll see that everything will turn out all right.'' But Michal's face froze in a faraway look. The look of death. Where he came from, most of the people who had their legs cut off 108 SLOVAKIA - died. And the rest were beggars and the laughingstock of the uneasy townspeople. One-legged people were better off dead. And Michal wanted to die. There was nothing left for him, even in America. Nothing. CHAPTER2 - ONE LEG, PEGLEG Friday, May 25 , 1906 Michal came out of a daze like dragging himself doggedly out of the depths of a deep coal mine, with a white light shining at the top. He groped his way up and up, his brain hitching itself from one ladder rung to the other, until he finally broke out into the light and found himself in the brightly lit hospital room, whiter still than it had been the first time. And there was the tugging, nagging, pulling pain in his right leg, straight down to his toes. He tried to feel them, but his mind swirled as he sat up. He gasped and fell back on the pillows, sweating. A little boy ran in the room, tugging at his mother's hand. "Where's daddy?" he said in English. She pulled him back into the hall. "Otec is down further," she said in Slovak. But the boy broke away and staggerred onto Michal's bed, right over his right leg. Michal howled in pain . The mother hastily pulled the child away with abject Slovak humiliation, and said in English: " Don 't you know this man had his leg taken off?'' The child stared , and ran to her in tears . Michal could only make out half the conversation , but he was more concerned with the pain in his leg. The little nurse hurried in and clucked about Michal like a mother hen. "You will be fine in a little while, just you see." ''But my leg - it hurts so much, '' Michal said . The nurse looked at the blank space where his leg had been , and she looked at Michal's intense face. "You have to know," she said deliberately, ''that the doctor had to stop the anesthetics and that you feel the pain of your leg being taken off. You have a stump right above your right knee , and it is the nerve there that hurts you and makes you think you still have the leg." Michal was horrified. " Then my leg is. gone!" For the first time the word "operation" really struck home to ltm, an<l he knew that now he was only half a man. ''I can't live with one leg,'' he· sobbed. ''I can't work, I can't get married, I can 't make a living, I can't do anything." SLOVAKIA 109 \ He hid his face in his hands and sobbed like a broken-hearted little boy . The nurse left him alone for a while. She let him cry it out . It would be better for him . Then she gently put her arm around his shoulder and cradled his head against her breast. " You will be fine , my priatel'," she said softly. " Just give yourself a little time. You will get a new leg and you will walk almost as well as you ever did. And you will live and marry and have children and enjoy life . You'll see. " Just then the door flew open and a giant of a man strode in, all 6 feet 4 inches of him; he looked around briefly, saw Michal Kohan , and strode over. He stuck out a hammy paw. " McCloskey's the name ," he roared . "Mike McCloskey . I'm your superintendent at Mine No. 1, in case you forgot .'' The flustered nurse translated the gist of what he said. Michal smiled at McCloskey and for an instant a flicker of happiness came over him, but then he remembered the situation and became glum again. McCloskey pulled up a chair. ' 'Don't let this get you down, Bonnie Michal. We 've got a place for you at the mine for the rest of your life. We 'll find you a job you can do well - and you 're set, believe me ." The nurse translated breathlessly. · '' And I see the company has got you a private room and nurse , and you 're getting the best of everything. The company doesn 't usually do this, my lad, you can bet; those bastards wouldn't pay for their mothers ' funeral if they could get away with it. But I went to bat for you - you fully deserve it - and I'll see you come off as well as possible from all this. But I hate to talk to you through an interpreter. You 're the kind of determined man I like to chaw with man-to-man. ' ' And maybe you can get chances for promotion. Now, if you could talk my language - really talk my language , English - we could boost you some more, eh lad? '' He winked , got up as abruptly as he sat down, and barrelled out of the room with a roar and a laugh and a mighty wave of his hand . The nurse beamed. " You see , Michal , things aren 't as bad as you thought, " she said. " You 'll have a job , and you can get better jobs as you learn more English and learn how to get along in America - the real land of opportunity . '' Michal looked up at her. ''You really believe America is the land of opportunity, no matter what happens to you?" " Of course , or I wouldn 't be here . I'd still be slopping hogs in Galicia. " The days wore on. Michal clung to the new idea of a job and maybe 110 SLOVAKIA - maybe a chance to make something of himself. Maybe it wasn't too late, and if he learned English . . . Michal's thoughts went back to his origins , and how far he had travelled since. He was born in Habowa, a little village in the Galician area of Austria, one of four children - two boys and two girls. At 12 he was put out as a servant on a farm, to work from sunup to sundown. He remembered how he cried, not wanting to leave home, but it was a way of life for the poor peasants of the 1880s. Then at 15, in 1900, he had a chance to put his meager resources together and migrate to America. He boarded in Marienka Kinda's house - Marienka, who was nine years older - and stuck close to his love, Jacka. In 1905 he and other Galicians put up some money and proudly helped build the Russian Orthodox Church, St. John the Baptist, in Conemaugh. He was beginning to feel a real part of the community. Now he had lost his leg, and McCloskey said he could learn English and work again. He clung to the idea as his leg stump sometimes almost pulled him from the bed with throbbing and pain. And he had Marienka, who came to visit him religiously, and held his hand shyly. " Come, Marienka," said Michal jokingly. "You 're a married woman, you know.'' "Veru , and you had better remember, too ," she said, smiling, and patted his arm. "But I must take care of my star boarder. And remember," she added, her eyes twinkling, "Jacka is still there making the sandwiches for the men." "Oh, she asked about me? " Michal asked eagerly. Marienka looked away . ' 'She talks about you, and the other men. You know how busy she is. " " And so are you, Marienka. But you find time to see me ." Michal was now convinced he would really have to impress Jacka with his new knowledge of English to get her to notice him. The next morning, after his breakfast and bath, Michal grimly decided to start on the long road back. He took the crutches from behind his bed, eased himself up , and sat on the bed with his left leg dangling close to the floor . Then he slipped on the crutches and turned around, facing the bed, and eased himself upright, standing wobbily on his left leg and his two crutches. The blood drained from his head and. he swayed dizzily. He felt himself falling when a strong arm caught his elbow and pushed him back, sprawling across the bed . SLOVAKIA 111 \ A young black-haired girl with an oval face stood there glaring at him and stomping her foot in anger. " Don't you ever do that again without someone to help you! ' ' she cried. Michal looked at her and realized that she had spoken Rusin. "You are Rusin? " he asked. " Oh!" she said, her hand flying to her mouth . " I forget myself and speak Rusin when I get angry. I really want to speak American English, I mean - as much as I can . I'm an English teacher, you know. " Michal's ears perked up and he pulled himself up painfully on the bed , his eyes staying on her oval face all the while . " You - you speak English well? " ' ' Perfectly, '' she said, with a proud toss of her head. She answered his unspoken question, "I came here from Eastern Galicia with my family in 1890, when I was four . So I spoke Rusin and Slovak at home and learned English almost from the cradle. Now I teach it to the children here and to any adult who wants to learn English and become a part of this great America - with all its challenges and its benefits and its great heart." She lowered her eyes shyly. " I speak too much when I speak about being part of America.'' " No , no, go on, go on ," said Michal, bobbing his head in agreement as a plan to learn English formed in his mind. Here was McCloskey' s idea come true! " Would - would you teach me English? " '' Of course ,'' she said. ' 'Oh - my name is Tressa Hruska. ' ' '' And mine is Michal Ko ban.'' '' I will give you a short lesson right now, Michal, and when you can leave the hospital you can come and learn in my little school in Conemaugh while you get better so you can go back to work . Michal agreed enthusiastically with this little animated doll of a girl. A heaven-sent opportunity to get ahead and make a new life for himself! ' ' All right.'' Tressa was suddenly all business. ' 'I give you one lesson here - and I teach English a special way so you can learn fast.'' She switched to English. " Do you know what this is? " she asked, patting the bed . Michal stared. " I don 't know what you said. Please translate it for me into Rusin. " Tressa crossed her arms and glared at Michal. "No, Michal , I translate nothing. You have to learn from - like they say here scratch." 112 SLOVAKIA Michal looked bewildered again, so she returned to Rusin. ''Okay, okay - I will explain once in Rusin, and then you will learn by doing." " Huh?" Tressa said with some patience: "Michal, when you learned Rusin did you translate from anything?" ' ' No - I did not know any language. ''Correct. So now you do the same thing. You learn English just as you learned Rusin, and you will learn it just as well - with perhaps a small accent." Michal nodded slowly. "I see. It makes sense. But it would be so much easier to '' - no, it wouldn't,' ' she finished firmly. ' 'Now, watch.'' And she slipped into English. Tressa patted the bed and said slowly : "Michal, this is a B-E-D." And she motioned for him to repeat. " Dis - Bett," said Michal in English. " This is a bed." " This is - bed. " '' Good! Great!' ' She clapped her hands in enthusiasm. ''Now, this is a bed post." " Na-o-w, dis is - " " - This is - " ''This is a bed host . ' ' "Bed post." '' Bed post. ' ' Tressa squealed in delight and clapped her hands . Michal was making a very good student. She looked around, then bent to the floor and patted her hand on the floor. " This is the floor - f-1-o-o-r, " she said distinctly and spelled it out. Michal saw her lovely round rear end, with her dress hitched up as she bent in concentration towards the floor, and he said distinctly in Rusin : ''This is a pretty panty . '' " No - this is .. . ! " Tressa suddenly realized what had happened and straightened up in confusion , her face flaming a dark, brilliant red. Michal laughed heartily for the first time since the accident. Then Tressa broke down and smiled, giggled , and soon both were laughing hysterically. People from the ward across the hall shuffled over in their bathrobes to see what was going on in th'is crazy room. SLOVAKIA 113 CHAPTER 3 - JACKA DECIDES Monday, September 10 Summer arrived and turned into fall before Michal could go home. He returned that day to Marienka Kinda's boarding house, carefully placing one crutch ahead of the other as the doctors had told him, keeping weight off his pegleg. A farmer had given him a buggy lift almost to the door, so he was that much ahead. He squared his shoulders and tried to walk with great decision, heartened by the fact that he would soon see Jacka for the first time in months. As he started in the door it was suddenly opened wide, and Jacka swept out on Adam Drotar's arm. Caught by surprise as she brushed past him, Michal dropped one crutch to grasp the porch post as he staggered to one side. "Sorry, Michal," Jacka said. "I didn't see you." "H-Hello, Jacka," Michal said shyly. Jacka stared through him. "You're going back to work in those things?" she said. ''Oh yes. And soon. But I'll get rid of these crutches with a little more practice - you'll see." "I'm sure," she said mechanically. Then Jacka turned away and smiled at Adam as he swept her down the steps and into the street. Michal stared after them for a long time, a lump forming in his throat and tears in his eyes, wondering if he would ever be worthy of Jacka truly becoming his friend and, and - wife. Just wait till he got his English diploma, he thought. Then Jacka would know he was truly someone important and she would come to him. He stood there staring at the rapidly disappearing figures who were laughing at some private joke. The laughter finally died down, and Michal still kept staring after them. ''Michal.'' Michal turned around. Marienka stood at the door, all round and rosy-cheeked. She was a truly handsome girl, with a twinkle in her eye that was lost on Michal. "Come in and take a rest," she said. " You shouldn 't stand up so long at the beginning." Michal nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be taken inside , where he sank into the living-room chair usually occupied by Marienka' s husband , Ivan, who was now away at work. Michal propped his chin in the palm of his hand. "Marienka, will Jacka ever - like me? " Marienka cleared her throat but before she 114 SLOVAKIA could answer, Michal had answered himself. "Yes she will, when I learn English well and will be an important man in the mines. Then she will like me - won't she?" Marienka patted his arm. "Of course," she said. "What's there not to like about you?'' The next days were hectic. Michal went down by hitched buggy ride to Tressa's little schoolhouse in Conemaugh, a mile away from Marienka's boarding house. When he reached the door he straightened up , took both crutches in his left hand, and opened the door and walked in as straight as possible on his pegleg, trying not to wince at the pain. "Here's Pegleg Mike! " yelled two of the children. Tressa looked around from the blackboard, and she spoke sharply to the two children: "That's not a polite way to talk. Now apologize to Mr. Kohan." The children looked contrite. "We' re sorry, Mr. Ko ban." Michal waved a hand. "It's nothing. And it's true, isn't it? I do have a pegleg. But this won't stop me from succeeding in America. When you grow up things will happen to you too, but they should never stop you from succeeding in this fine country.'' The children looked even more contrite. Tressa's face broke into a broad smile. "Well said, Michal!" she exclaimed. "Come in and make yourself at home at one of the desks in the back. Use two of them if you want.' ' There were 22 children of various ages in the room, all following schooling of their own, each in different classes following different subjects under Tressa's supervision. They learned not only from the books and the teacher, but also from each other, as they watched others in the throes of learning Eng_lish, history, arithmetic, and a brush-up on customs of the Old World. There were children from every possible group in Central, Western, and Eastern Europe - Slovaks, Irish, Rusins, Poles, Germans all learning to be Americans and take advantage of the glorious American opportunity to better themselves . Now they stared at Michal and snickered. ''Children! ' ' Now they simply stared, but with their hands over their mouths. "Michal Kohan is a little older than most of you" - laughter ' 'but give him credit, because he too wants to be part of the American dream, and he has as much right to do it as any of you have ." Anger rose in Tressa's throat. "And don't you forge6'_ it!" SLOVAKIA 115 '' Sit down, Michal,'' Tressa indicated, '' and I will be with you in a moment. Michal eased himself into a little chair and put his crutches out of sight on the floor. Tressa had spoken Rusin to him, but her words to the children were in English, so he had understood little but the snickers. No matter. Only his job and Jacka mattered. He had to learn English for them. " Michal got an hour's special instruction that day and stayed the rest of the time listening to the children recite their lessons and learning the cadence and rhythm of English. He was surprised to catch the meaning of a word or two and to feel the English idiom as they babbled on. It was a weary day. Michal felt his leg throbbing as it wore on, and he finally made his excuses and left. Outside, weary beyond words at dragging himself along, he decided to try something new. He put both crutches under his left shoulder and took the pressure off his right leg by bearing down on his left side. It seemed crazy - it was just what the doctors had told him not to do - but it worked! The doctors told him he would have to use both crutches for a long while, but Michal was forever trying things out for himself. Why not take advantage of the newness of America and try out new things? He found that now he could work his way down the street much better, and with a minimum of pain. "Hey, Michal! Wait a minute!" Michal did not recognize the Slovak voice, so he turned around. A fattish man with white hair hobbled up to him on a pegleg just like his, but on the left leg. "You don't know me, Michal, but I heard about you in town. I've been retired for a while and - here, let's go in this "karchma" and talk. I want to ask you something." Puzzled, Michal followed. The tavern was a mishmash of Old World nationalities even more pronounced than in the schoolhouse, but with a definite bent toward the Slovak. Stale beer smells and the choking pile and cigarette smoke filled the polluted air as they made their way to their chairs. Michal wondered what the man wanted, but he felt he would have to order a drink. He fingered the change in his pocket and tried to count them with his fingers. "Slivovica," ordered the white-haired man. Michal nodded the same. At least he knew he could drink plum brandy, the Slovak national drink. 116 SLOVAKIA The waiter waved his towel, disappeared and reappeared as if by magic with the two drinks. You never got served so fast when you ordered food, thought Michal . " So, Michal, " the man said, putting a hand on his arm. "My name ' s Bodnak, and I come from a region of Galicia not too far from where I hear you come from . Habowa, isn't it?' ' Michal nodded, but said nothing. " Well, what I want to say was - I notice you limp too, and because of a pegleg on your right side. Right? ' ' "Yes. " ''Well, I had my left leg amputated above the knee , another stupid mine accident , and I wear a pegleg too. " Michal looked down and noticed his pegleg for the first time. He had been so preoccupied with his own problem he had failed to recognize the other man's . And he thought he was the only pegleg in the world. Bodnak leaned over. " Maybe we can help each other, friend ." He took a slurp of slivovica. " I need new shoes, and I'm sure you 'll be needing shoes too pretty soon. What do you wear? '' "Size eight, " said Michal. Bodnak slapped him delightedly on the back . " Good! Good! I thought so! So do I," he enthused. " Don 't you realize we can buy one pair of shoes for both of us and save a lot of money each time?' ' The light dawned on Michal. Of course! "A very good idea," he said . ' 'Then we have only to worry about some way to keep our peglegs from slipping so much. Bodnak winked broadly . " Easily fixed , my friend . I've had this problem for years, and I've worked out the angles. I just take the rubber from an old bicycle tire on the tip , and that old tire will last for up to a year!' ' Michal returned home all fired up and at last ready to face life again. He had learned more English, his shoe problem had been solved, and he could walk with only one crutch! And all this had happened in one day . Soon he could use only a cane for support - then nothing! Exhilaration surged through him as life pumped back into his tired body and mind. The next weeks were a growing revelation to Michal as he learned more and more English, until he found he could talk English to the English group of miners and be actual~y understood. Tressa 's patience was remarkable. \ " You feel the table ," she said. ''I feel the table ,' ' said Michal, feeling the table . SLOVAKIA 117 \ "Very good!" She clapped her hands in glee. "Now how do you feel about your English?'' Michal looked bewildered. ' 'Feel table - feel English? How can I feel English?" "No," said Tressa. "Feel is also an emotion, something inside us.'' "How can that be?" asked Michal. "How can the same word 'feel' mean touch the table and touch English?" Tressa laughed. ''That's one of the problems about studying a new language . Things don 't always make sense. There are many words like that in Rusin, too, but you've never thought about it, and you take them for granted. English is the same!" Six weeks later Michal was walking with only a cane, and using it very little, and his leg was almost healed. He could speak English so well that Tressa had met him that morning with the announcement that this was his last day in class because he had earned his "Diploma" in English. · She whisked out a Diploma from behind her back, all inscribed with '' MICHAL KO BAN'' on it and attesting to the fact that Michal could speak English! "Of course you can always come back for questions and help whenever you need it," said Tressa in English, "but now you can speak English well enough to get along. And this Diploma is your going-away present . '' Michal shook hands delightedly with her, then hurried away to tell the great news to Jacka. He shot through the door , almost falling as he balanced on one leg, and danced the surprised Marienka around in a Slovak knee-slapper. " I have my Diploma! " he shouted. " Now I can speak English. I will run up and tell Jacka and she will be proud of me.'' '' . .. but Michal, '' said Marienka. Michal did not hear her. He hurried up the steps , pulling himself up hand over hand on the railing, and hurried to Jacka's room and knocked on the door. ' 'Jacka , Jacka! I have something wonderful to tell you! ' ' No answer. " Jacka! Look at my English Diploma! " He pushed the door open, diploma in hand, with Marienka right behind him, and stared dumbfounded at the empty room, stripped of all clothes . Even the curtains had been taken down. 118 SLOVAKIA Michal turned to Marienka like a hurt little boy whose mother isn 't home to hear of his success in school. " What . . . what? " " Michal," said Marienka softly , her hand on his arm . " Jacka is gone. " " Gone? " " Jacka ran away today with Adam Drotar to get married and go with him to the iron ore mines in Minnesota. '' CHAPTER 4 - BONEY COME , BONEY STAY Monday, Junell, 1906 Michal turned without a word and shuffled out towards his own room at the rear. He closed the door behind the anxious, hovering Marienka, and sat down heavily on the bed. He stared out the window at the gathering gray sky, the black roofs and the black streets and the black lawns and the black feelings he had about the coal-black town of Conemaugh. Life was a bucket of coal ash. The girl of his dreams had gone had left him for another man. Or was she ever his except in his own imagination? He was worthless and useless. Why had he come to America? Why had he bothered to do anything with his life? What dreams were there in America that he could fulfill? It was all a farce . A sham. A deception! He was 21, in a strange country, with nothing to look forward to but a bleak future of shattered dreams. He lay back on the bed , covered his eyes, and his jumbled thoughts turned to new crazy, jumbled dreams. He slept fitfully until the gray dawn struggled to show itself about the ugly piles of slag everywhere in town. Michal woke up with a start to the tune of a bird singing squeakily outside his window . The coal dust had gotten to its little lungs , and the best it could do was a poor imitation of a chirp . But the bird tried! And Michal would try too. His natural positive attitude reasserted itself. He looked again on the bright side of t~ ngs. He had his health, a chance for a job in the mines , and the ability to speak the language of the land of opportunity - English! · Heartened , he got up , washed and dressed , and went down to breakfast with the boarders - all miners getting ready for work . SLOVAKIA 119 Marienka had to work overtime making the sandwiches and preparing the table, because Jacka had left her job as completely as she had left Michal. ''I'll help you, Marienka,'' he said. And he pitched in, feeding the hungry men at the table and hurrying to fill their dinner pails with sandwiches and the precious water they would need in the mine. Ivan, Marienka's husband, was the first to leave for his job in the mine. His life was divided between working at the mine and working overtime drinking at the ''karchma'' in town. He loved to tell the stories of his days as a horse soldier in the Emperor's army and regale the men with well-told tales through the evening - while ignoring work at home. After the last man had left, Marienka was alone with Michal and her three sons: young Michal, 13; Mikulas, 11; and Janik, nine. The three boys adored Michal and wanted to stay and play with him. But they had to go to school. "And don't forget to learn English well," Michal called after them. "It will be the foundation of all your success in life." "I'm glad you sound better," said Marienka. "I was really worried last night. " Michal looked at her. "It is strange to have someone worry about me." Marienka blushed. ''Oh - you know what I mean.'' Michal sighed. "Yes, I know. I only wish Jacka had worried just a little. She is my first love, and I will never forget her - but that part of my life is over. Now I start out all over, really start out, with a new language and a new chance in the land of opportunity. America doesn't give you only one chance to get ahead. It gives you many. And if you miss the first one - why, then, you can take the next, and the next." Michal laughed. "Maybe then you can start out by being my sandwich-maker," said Marienka. "And I will give you a discount on your rent, too," she said, winking. After all, he wasn't getting much disability pay from the company, even with McCloskey's help. Michal sobered up. ''Thank you, Marienka, but no thank you.'' He put a hand on her shoulder in a friendly fashion . '' I must get away from here,'' he said. '' From this house. I will get another room where I can forget these events more quickly , but of course I will never forget your kindness. Already I sense a kind of distant dislike of some men, because of my pegleg, and I have to work that out in my own mind and fight it and get the better of myself in my own way.'' 120 SLOVAKIA Marienka nodded. ''If that is to be, then let it be .'' Michal got a room in a boarding house a few blocks from Marienka and Ivan, and within a half mile of Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh. The next morning he checked his carbide lamp, with the kernels of carbon at the bottom, all about half the size of a peanut. He put some water in the top and watched the water drip onto the kernels, forming a gas. Then he lit the gas and checked the flame coming out about three inches through a fine hole in the center of the reflector. There was no glass in the front - a constant danger of fire. But this was one of the dangers of a coal miner's life. He got paid well for this dangerous work six days a week, and who else among working men could command so much money? Many men got killed and maimed for life, but they still kept working in the mines, because it was the best way they could provide for their families - at least while they could work. Michal felt the old pride in his work returning as he adjusted the lamp and watched it flare brightly. Then he switched it down, put it on his head, and dressed in his miner's clothes so he could feel more and more like the miner he was going to continue to be! After all, McCloskey had promised him a job for life - and he had to start by looking the part, even with his pegleg. He cocked his lamp at a jaunty angle, squared his shoulders, and stepped out the door. "Ahh, there's my little bairn Michal," yelled McCloskey when he looked up to see the slight man with a mustache walk steadily up to him. "It's a fine man you look like," he said, grabbing Michal by both his shoulders. "And I feel fine," said Michal in good English. McCloskey's eyes opened wide. "You talk great! You talk real English!'' Michal bobbed his head happily. "That I do. I do that," he said. '' How could you learn in so short a time?'' ''I had a good teacher,'' said Michal. ''Tressa Hruska.'' "And I have a good job for you," McCloskey winked, "just like I promised. How would you like to be a mule skinner?" Michal's jaw dropped. That he could never do. McCloskey laughed. "No, no, not the k\nd you think . That's the old-fashioned method. Now we have just started to use modern mule skinners. But we don't call them mule skinners anymore, even though they haul the men and the coal into and out of the mine just like before. SLOVAKIA 121 ' ' Now we call them Hoist Engineers . '' Michal look bewildered. "What 's a Hoist Engineer? " McCloskey gestured to him. "Come on , Michal. I'll show you. It's the perfect job for you. It 'll put you right in the middle of the men, many of them Rusins and Slovaks , and you can talk to them and interpret to the supers , and act as a go-between while you do your job. It'll be a very important step up in the mine. ' ' The two men walked into the dry drift mine, and up - slowly. Michal tried not to look tired and he tried not to puff, but it wasn't easy. " Take it easy, lad, " said McCloskey. " We'll soon be there . You see , the man who had this job was just here for a short time, and he didn't know the ropes too well - and couldn 't speak English - so you'll be the perfect man. " They arrived at a clearing in the mine, with a huge machine hung with ropes and levers standing there like an iron monster. ' ' With this you can control the coal cars going down the slope to the outside , and you also bring the men up in the morning and let them down at night. You have to be here very early so you can do that, and when they get to your hoist they disperse to the various coal rooms along the pathways. "So this is called the Hoist , and you will be the Hoist Engineer." ''It is like being a mule skinner, but without the mules! '' "Right!" McCloskey laughed. And Michal worked the levers to and fro, testing the machinery for cars going up and down until he soon had them working almost to perfection . "See, it's easy! I knew you were the man . Now you 've got yourself a good job, just like I promised you," said McCloskey . He winked. "Don 't tell them, but you'll soon get a raise." Michal's eyes widened. He could put away more money, and maybe make some of his new dreams come true. America was truly going to be the land of opportunity! CHAPTER 5 - CA VE IN! Tuesday, December 7, 1909 ''Cave-in!' ' The cry roared and pounded through Conemaugh like the cold wind of death. Everyone knew what it meant - it meant only one thing - and the women and children surged out of their homes and hurried to the billowing clouds that pointed to the position of the mine. 122 SLOVAKIA Marienka was in the Catholic church for the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. She heard the terrible cry and her throat tightened. "Oh Jesus, Mary, Joseph," she cried, crossing herself quickly, "please don 't make it serious. Please!" Then she hurried to the house and gathered her children together, as the women did in these times of stress. Michal, Janik, and Mikulas, with Jozef toddling at her heels. She swept up the baby Jurko and held him at her breast as she hurried the children down to the mine site. The large crowd already there saw Marienka at a distance and parted for her like the Red Sea for Moses - except that this was not an escape for Marienka. It was a descent into hell. Her heart pounding, she made her way through, feeling more and more dread as she approached her goal. A hand took her arm, and she looked up into Michal Koban's sympathetic eyes. "Thank God you're safe," cried Marienka. "I'm glad nothing happened to you! " ' ' Marienka, '' said Michal quietly, ''nothing happened to the other men either. Most of them. They had all moved on to new passages this morning - all except Ivan." Marienka felt faint. The boys cried at her side, and she shushed them. Ivan had been told to stay on at the old passage to pound out the props before moving on. So Michal nodded. " Ivan knocked out a prop and the roof fell in on him. I'm so sorry. But there may still be a chance. " There was a commotion at the entrance of the dust-choked mine, and two men came out carrying a stretcher. Marienka ran up to them, leaving the children with Michal. "Don't look, Mrs . Kinda," one of the men said. "He was - pretty badly mangled by the cave-in. He 's dead." Michal came up and put an arm on her sobbing shoulder, and gathered the five children around him as Marienka wept uncontrollably. He took Jurko from his mother' s failing arm. " Janik, hold on to Jozef," he said. "Yes , otec ," said Janik without thinking. Otec was the Slovak name for father. Slovak wakes seemed to have been developed by the Devil himself, with the express purpose of causing the wife and family of the deceased as much trouble and mental anguish as possible . Of course, it really wasn 't done that way ,on purpose. It was simply ''tradition,'• and tradition has to be served\ Ivan was laid out in the small living room ; with flowers all around SLOVAKIA 123 \ the casket, and exposed for viewing to all the friends and relatives and any curious stranger in town. They would come up to the casket, genuflect, and kneel on the prie-dieu and pray while gazing at the mortal remains of the exposed. And at the photo behind the casket of Ivan Kinda in full Hussar regalia. Then they would get up and turn to their friends and whisper, ''He looks so natural, almost as if he were sleeping." This was too painful for Marienka to see. She had ushered her children in to see their "otec" at the begining, and then told them to stay away. The large kitchen then became the center of activities for three days and nights. People straggled in at all hours, paid their respects to the deceased, then quickly returned to the kitchen for a meal and to hear various ribald and obscene stories told by several expert storytellers. Marienka spent her time at the hot stove, damp hair hanging down in strands over her forehead, and made eggs and little Slovak pancakes, and cutting "kolace" and ladling out the butter, and setting the table, and clearing the table, and washing the dishes, and setting up the table, and ... It was an endless round of senseless meal-serving, night and day, for three days. "Marienka, you've got to take a rest," Michal said, after hours of feeding starving miners. He had helped a lot. And so had the three older boys - Michal, Mikulas, and Janik. Marienka shook her head. "I can't," she said. "I have to feed them as come in and view Ivan. It is the tradition." ''Damn the tradition!'' Michal exploded. ''You go to bed right now and get some sleep. I'll handle this for a while." Marienka allowed herself to be led away, protesting feebly, stumbling, bleary-eyed. But she knew she was exhausted, so she did not protest too much. "So Michal, you already take over, eh?" roared a miner as he saw Michal put on the apron. Michal had a hot answer ready, but he just turned beet-red and doggedly said nothing. ' 'Lemme have three eggs, sunny-side up, lots of Slovak bread and butter, and - make it six pancakes. I've got to remember poor Ivan Kinda the best way I can, by eating." Michal seethed. "You'll remember him with a bump on your noggin from my skillet if you don't shut up." "Oh, ho ," the miner said amiably. "We do have a temper, don't 124 SLOVAKIA we? Maybe you 'll feel better when I tell you this joke about the miner and the Irish whore. Seems she spread out her goodies - ' ' he winked - "on the table, when ... " " Oh, shut up!" growled Michal, his mustache bristling. "Don't you realize a man is lying dead in the next room, and his family is going through a trying time. They 'll be destitute after this. Haven't you stopped to think of that? " The miner sobered up, and several others joined in. "We know all that, Michal," they said, with some care in their voices. " We know, but we laugh so we will not cry. Who knows - tomorrow it may happen to us." Michal bit his lip. They were right. He had no right to lecture them. They meant well. They were just rough men living a rough life, and the wake was a traditional part of their lives, where the people could come together and joke and laugh so they could forget what had happened . But they remembered still. Marienka somehow got through the next three days, and Michal escorted her and the children to the funeral in the little Catholic church Marienka and Ivan had helped to build in 1901. That afternoon was also a trial. The women of Conemaugh, which was 90 percent Slavic, came parading into the house to see Marienka and leave their condolences and their little Slovak "kolace" - jelly rolls with nuts and apples - that they had cooked for the occasion . '' God bless you, Marienka.'' · " May God be with you, Marienka." '' Everything will be all right , Marienka. God will provide.' ' Marienka nodded mechanically to all, as if in a daze. Finally the ordeal was over and the house was empty. Too empty. Even Jurko wasn't crying. And Jozef played quietly in the comer. The other three boys were in school. Michal stopped by after work . '' How are things going? '' he asked. " All right, " said Marienka, forcing a smile . " The insurance company paid for all the funeral expenses , plus $50 left. But no benefits , of course. '' " Of course . Nice of them. Now they pay nothing. You get no widow ' s benefits and you 're entirely on your own ." ''I have five children to help me ,'' Marienka grinned . Michal did not grin. " What I meant to .say is, what with the children and - and everything - you will neec:N o get something to - to tide you over a bit.'' · ' '' Michal - '' SLOVAKIA 125 " - No, please. He heh;! up a hand. "What I meant is the children will need food and things while you get yourself together , and I thought - " His hand went into his pocket , and he took out a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. " Well, here 's a little something to help you. '' " Michal! " Marienka cried as she took the bundle dumbly. This was the first useful gesture anyone had made to her since Ivan 's death. Tears welled in her eyes, finally trickled down her cheeks. She took out her hankie and blew mightily. The three boys poured through the door and happily embraced Michal . " Put that away - quickly," said Michal . And he got up. At the door he paused. ''Things aren't easy for a widow woman without a man to support her, " he said. "I mean , people will look down on you , just as they have looked down on me for my pegleg . What I want to say is , I understand what will happen. And I know you can pull through it . I know . ' ' He took her hand. " I'll see you again, Marienka, God willing. " Mikulas piped up, in his boyish soprano . "Why don 't you and matka marry, and you can stay here with us always? '' Marienka choked. The boys all laughed and clapped . They danced around the bewildered couple with their flaming cheeks . ' ' Boys , stop it! ' ' commanded Marienka in her voice that they knew had to be obeyed . They stopped and stood with their hands behind their backs, trying to look regretful. " Now go outside this minute ," commanded Marienka, " and don 't you dare say a word about this to anybody, hear? '' The boys filed out, and Michal started to follow. '' Not you, Michal! I'm sorry for their actions . It was really uncalled for ." Michal shrugged, a string in his heart still tugging for his old love, Jacka . " People will talk about single people ," he said . " People always talk. It is the way of the world .''  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Exerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 Description An account of the resource Vasil S. Koban Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 105-125 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Koban, Vasil S. (Vasil Stefan), 1918-2007 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/37c3d0b4b904f6008dc60d3f8a957baa.pdf 984ee428331824dc82654ac63902b1b1 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -- 24 The Inflectional Morphology of Standard Slovak: A Descriptive Analysis John Michael Koch i k , Ph.D. Research on this topic grew out of a desire to present Standard Slovak anew in a particularly modern linguistic form. The work was performed and completed at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of the late Doctor Charles E. Bidwell, Professor of Linguistics and Slavic Linguistics. The aim of this work is to give English-speakers interested in the Slovak language a concise, consistent, and structurally-oriented description in the analysts of Standard Slovak inflectional morphology. The theoretical approach is primarily that of American structural descriptivism ( in this case neo-Bloomfieldian). The study commences with a general introduction in which a definition of the variety of Slovak analyzed, the approximate number of contemporaneous speakers, and its linguistic locale are provided. A brief history of the language from earliest to modern times is presented, listing some of the outstanding proponents of the modern literary form and contributors to its development. Previous structural treatments of the language are outlined, implemented by the author's original treatments projected into the sections on morphophonemics and on the verb, with certain original features produced in the methods of noun classification, special-type classification of many adjectives, the illustration of similarities among some of the noun, pronoun and adjective endings, the arrangements of paradigms to illustrate identical endings, the use of synoptic tables to exhibit the endings, and the analysis of the comparative formant into two morphemes. The symbols and conventions, the phonemic notation, the primary �SLOVAKIA 25 sources consulted, the acknowledgments as well as the abbreviations utilized in the work complete section one. Section two lists the phonemes of the language: the vowels and the consonants, and adds a paragraph on the primary and secondary stresses in the language. Section three treats morphophonemics, both automatic and non-automatic (here an original treatment, as stated above). Under automatic morphophonemics are presented: voicing assimilation, simplification of double consonants, simplification of consonant clusters, sibilant assimilation, and the sequence of (j) plus (i) plus a vowel [other than (i) ] . Under non-automatic morphophonemics are these: the classification of consonantal stems as "hard" and "soft", the morphophonemic length correspondences of vowels, the alternation of vowel and zero, the "Rhythmic Law" concerning vowel length, the intercalation of -jbefore verbal suffixes, and the substitutive softening of certain consonants , and the dental/ palatal changes. Section four begins the morphology ( that is, the inflection of endings). The noun is treated first. Nouns are divided into various classes, principally feminine, neuter and masculine. These in turn are divided into subclasses according to their inflectional peculiarities. Feminine nouns have the subclasses: zena (hard stem), ulica-dlan (soft stem), kost' and pani. Neuter nouns have subclasses exemplified by the words: mesto (hard stem), plece (soft stem), vysvedcenie, and dievca. Masculine nouns are subclassified according to the sample words: chlap (hard stem animate), dub (hard stem inanimate), priatel' (soft stem animate), mec (soft stem inanimate), ujko (masculine o-noun), and the mixed declension: sluha. Next follow the mixed mesto/ kost' (oko, ucho) nouns, the mixed neuter noun di et'a, and the mixed noun/ adjective declensions exemplified by ujcirui and mufti. A synoptic table of nountype endings is included. Section five consists of the adjectives: novy (hard declension), cudzi (soft declension) , substantivized adjectives, short-form adjectives, special adjectives: possessives from nouns like bratov, and pronominal possessives like m6j, and jeden. A synoptic table of adjective-type endings is incorporated. Finally, the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs is treated. �26 SLOVAKIA Section six comprises the personal pronouns and the interrogative/ relative pronouns. Section seven presents the cardinal (plus the compound) and the collective numerals. Section eight describes the verb. Its introduction defines the verb in this study. Given next are the endings of the finite forms. The formants are presented in this order: the imperative, the gerund and present active participle, the infinitive, the l-forms, the past active participle, the past passive participle and the verbal noun. The verb is classified according to the thematic vowel in the present- and the infinitive-stems. All verbs are subdivided into Class I which has the same thematic vowel in all forms, and Class II which has in most cases different thematic vowels in the present- and the infinitive-stems and in all cases thematic zero in present-stem forms other than first singular to second plural. Within Class I there are two subclasses: the a-type with thematic a (volat', vracat', citat') and the ie 1-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e (rozumiet', mudriet'). Class II contains the following subtypes with the combination of thematic vowels in the present- and infinitivestem: ei2-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e in the infinitive stem and the present tense (except 3 pl.), (triet', mliet'), ie/0- (niest', minut'), ie/ a- (brat', hnat'); e/ 0- (bit', priat', zat', kradnut'), e/a- (hrabat', cesat', pracovat', klat'); i-type with thematic i in the infinitive stem and present tense (except 3 pl.), (hovorit', kupit'); i / e( vidiet'), i / a- (lezat', spat', stat'); and the special e/ ie-verb chciet'. Base suffixes are provided as the next feature. Then, presented are the alternations in the base which include the base-final consonant change, substitutive softening alternations, change in the infinitive formant, alternation of the root-final nasal consonant with the vowel in a certain verb-type, root alternations including one vowel alternating with another vowel, simple root-vowel lengthening in a certain verb-type, the alternation of a vowel and zero, and certain irregularities in verb-types. �SLOVAKIA 27 Aspect derivation exemplified by perfectivization and imperfectivization follow next. Perfectivization is described according to the technique of prefixation, the addition of certain suffixes, and suppletion. Imperfectivization methods are explained, followed by the characterization of frequentative verbs. The section on the verb is concluded with the verbal constructions in which are listed and clarified: the future of imperfective verbs; the l-form constructions which embrace the simple past, the pluperfect, the conditional, the conditional past, and the negation of the l-form constructions; the passive constructions; and, the word-order of elements in verbal constructions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartek Henrich. 1944. Spravna vyslcnmost' slovenska. Bratislava-Turc. Sv. Martin, Jan Horacek. 1956. Slovensky pravopis. Gilnzburg/Donau, G. Jantsch. Belie, Jaromir, et al. 1964. Slovenstina. Praha, SPN. Bidwell, Charles E. 1958. "The Morphophonemics of Polish". General Linguistics 2. 71-99. 1959. "The Serbo-Croatian Comparative". La,i,guage 35. 259-63. 1960. "The Polish Verb". General Linguistics 4. 771964. "The Serbo-Croatian Verb". Language 4. 532-50. 1969a. Outline of Slovenian Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969b. A Morpho-Syntactic Characterization of the Modern Slavic Languages. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969c. The Structure of Russian in Outline. Pittsburgh. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1970. Outline of Bielorussian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971a. Outline of Ukrainian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971b. Outline of Czech Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1965. Outline of Polish Nominal Morphology. Pittsburgh, Unpublished pre-print, Univ. of Pittsburgh. Czambel, Samo. 1919. Rukovi:it' spisovnej reci slovenskej. (3d ed.). Turc. Sv. Martin. 1'.>urovic, ~ubomir. 1964. Paradigmatika spisovnej rustiny. Bratislava, SPN. Dvonc, Ladislav. 1955. Rytmicky zakon v spisovnej slovencine. Bratislava, SAV. Ga§parikova, Z. and A. Kami§. 1967. Slovensko-cesky slovni k. Praha, SPN. Habov§tiak, A. 1965. Oravske narecia. Bratislava, SAV. �28 SLOVAKIA Hodge, C. T. 1945. Spoken Serbo-Croatian. Madison, Linguistic Society of America. Horecky, Jan. 1964. Morfematicka struktura slovenciny. Bratislava, SAV. Isacenko, Aleksandr V. 1964. "The Morphology of the Slovak Verb". Travaux linguistiques de Prague. 1. 183-201. 1965. Grammaticeskij stroj russkogo jazyka v sopostavlenii s slovackim. I. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1968. Spektograficka analyza slovenskych hlasok. Bratislava, SAV. Jakobson, Roman. 1931. "Z fonologie spisovne sloven~tiny". Slovens/ca miscellanea. 155-63. 1962. " Phonemic Notes on Standard Slovak". Roman Jakobson 1896- Selected Writings. The Hague, Mouton. 1. 221-30. Kotek, Ludvik (ed.). 1968. Dejiny ceskoslovenska v datech. (1st ed.) Praha, Svoboda. Kucera, Henry. 1961. The Phonology of Czech. The Hague, Mouton. Kurylowicz, J. 1962. "Personal and Animate Genders in Slavic". Lingua 11. 249-56. Machek, Vaclav. 1957. Etymologicky slovnik jaZ1/ka ceskeho a slovenskeho. Praha, CSAV. Miko, Franmek. 1962. Rod, cisla a pad podstatnych mien. Bratislava, SAV. Necas, J. and M. Kopecky. 1964. Slovensko-cesky, cesko-slovensk11 slovnik rozdilnych vyrazu. Praha, SPN. Novak, I.:udovit. 1934. Fonol6gia a studium slovenciny. Turc. Sv. Martin, Matica slovenska. Ondrus, Pavel. 1964. Morfol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Orlovsky, J. and L. Arany. 1946. Gramatika jaZ11ka slovenskeho. Bratislava-Nitra, Pravda. Pauliny, Eugen. 1963. Kratka gramatika slovenska. Bratislava, SPN. 1968. Fonol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Pauliny, E.; Stolz, J.; Ruzicka, J. 1963. Slovenska gramatika. (4th ed.) Martin, Osveta. Peciar, Stefan (ed.) 1964. Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu. (5th ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1959-1968. Slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. 1-6. Bratislava, SAV. Ruzicka, Jozef (ed.). 1966. Morfol6gia slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Simko, Jan. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky slovnik. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SPN. Smejkalova, J ., et al. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky a slovensko-anglicky vreckovy slovnik. Bratislava, SPN. Stanislav, Jan. 1953. Slovenska vyslovnost'. Martin, Osveta. 1967. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka. 1-3. (2d rev. ed.) Bratislava, SAV. Stole, Jozef (ed.). 1968. Atlas slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Trubetzkoj, N. S. 1937. "Gedanken Uber die Slowakische Deklination". Readings in Linguistics. 2.96-103. Vilikovska, J .; Vilikovsky, J.; Simko, J. 1966. Slovensko-anglicky slovnik. (3d ed.) Bratislava, Obzor. Zauner, Alfonz. 1966. Prakticka prirucka slovenskeho pravopisu. Banska Bystrica, Obzor. � SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -- 24 The Inflectional Morphology of Standard Slovak: A Descriptive Analysis John Michael Koch i k , Ph.D. Research on this topic grew out of a desire to present Standard Slovak anew in a particularly modern linguistic form. The work was performed and completed at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of the late Doctor Charles E. Bidwell, Professor of Linguistics and Slavic Linguistics. The aim of this work is to give English-speakers interested in the Slovak language a concise, consistent, and structurally-oriented description in the analysts of Standard Slovak inflectional morphology. The theoretical approach is primarily that of American structural descriptivism ( in this case neo-Bloomfieldian). The study commences with a general introduction in which a definition of the variety of Slovak analyzed, the approximate number of contemporaneous speakers, and its linguistic locale are provided. A brief history of the language from earliest to modern times is presented, listing some of the outstanding proponents of the modern literary form and contributors to its development. Previous structural treatments of the language are outlined, implemented by the author's original treatments projected into the sections on morphophonemics and on the verb, with certain original features produced in the methods of noun classification, special-type classification of many adjectives, the illustration of similarities among some of the noun, pronoun and adjective endings, the arrangements of paradigms to illustrate identical endings, the use of synoptic tables to exhibit the endings, and the analysis of the comparative formant into two morphemes. The symbols and conventions, the phonemic notation, the primary �SLOVAKIA 25 sources consulted, the acknowledgments as well as the abbreviations utilized in the work complete section one. Section two lists the phonemes of the language: the vowels and the consonants, and adds a paragraph on the primary and secondary stresses in the language. Section three treats morphophonemics, both automatic and non-automatic (here an original treatment, as stated above). Under automatic morphophonemics are presented: voicing assimilation, simplification of double consonants, simplification of consonant clusters, sibilant assimilation, and the sequence of (j) plus (i) plus a vowel [other than (i) ] . Under non-automatic morphophonemics are these: the classification of consonantal stems as "hard" and "soft", the morphophonemic length correspondences of vowels, the alternation of vowel and zero, the "Rhythmic Law" concerning vowel length, the intercalation of -jbefore verbal suffixes, and the substitutive softening of certain consonants , and the dental/ palatal changes. Section four begins the morphology ( that is, the inflection of endings). The noun is treated first. Nouns are divided into various classes, principally feminine, neuter and masculine. These in turn are divided into subclasses according to their inflectional peculiarities. Feminine nouns have the subclasses: zena (hard stem), ulica-dlan (soft stem), kost' and pani. Neuter nouns have subclasses exemplified by the words: mesto (hard stem), plece (soft stem), vysvedcenie, and dievca. Masculine nouns are subclassified according to the sample words: chlap (hard stem animate), dub (hard stem inanimate), priatel' (soft stem animate), mec (soft stem inanimate), ujko (masculine o-noun), and the mixed declension: sluha. Next follow the mixed mesto/ kost' (oko, ucho) nouns, the mixed neuter noun di et'a, and the mixed noun/ adjective declensions exemplified by ujcirui and mufti. A synoptic table of nountype endings is included. Section five consists of the adjectives: novy (hard declension), cudzi (soft declension) , substantivized adjectives, short-form adjectives, special adjectives: possessives from nouns like bratov, and pronominal possessives like m6j, and jeden. A synoptic table of adjective-type endings is incorporated. Finally, the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs is treated. �26 SLOVAKIA Section six comprises the personal pronouns and the interrogative/ relative pronouns. Section seven presents the cardinal (plus the compound) and the collective numerals. Section eight describes the verb. Its introduction defines the verb in this study. Given next are the endings of the finite forms. The formants are presented in this order: the imperative, the gerund and present active participle, the infinitive, the l-forms, the past active participle, the past passive participle and the verbal noun. The verb is classified according to the thematic vowel in the present- and the infinitive-stems. All verbs are subdivided into Class I which has the same thematic vowel in all forms, and Class II which has in most cases different thematic vowels in the present- and the infinitive-stems and in all cases thematic zero in present-stem forms other than first singular to second plural. Within Class I there are two subclasses: the a-type with thematic a (volat', vracat', citat') and the ie 1-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e (rozumiet', mudriet'). Class II contains the following subtypes with the combination of thematic vowels in the present- and infinitivestem: ei2-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e in the infinitive stem and the present tense (except 3 pl.), (triet', mliet'), ie/0- (niest', minut'), ie/ a- (brat', hnat'); e/ 0- (bit', priat', zat', kradnut'), e/a- (hrabat', cesat', pracovat', klat'); i-type with thematic i in the infinitive stem and present tense (except 3 pl.), (hovorit', kupit'); i / e( vidiet'), i / a- (lezat', spat', stat'); and the special e/ ie-verb chciet'. Base suffixes are provided as the next feature. Then, presented are the alternations in the base which include the base-final consonant change, substitutive softening alternations, change in the infinitive formant, alternation of the root-final nasal consonant with the vowel in a certain verb-type, root alternations including one vowel alternating with another vowel, simple root-vowel lengthening in a certain verb-type, the alternation of a vowel and zero, and certain irregularities in verb-types. �SLOVAKIA 27 Aspect derivation exemplified by perfectivization and imperfectivization follow next. Perfectivization is described according to the technique of prefixation, the addition of certain suffixes, and suppletion. Imperfectivization methods are explained, followed by the characterization of frequentative verbs. The section on the verb is concluded with the verbal constructions in which are listed and clarified: the future of imperfective verbs; the l-form constructions which embrace the simple past, the pluperfect, the conditional, the conditional past, and the negation of the l-form constructions; the passive constructions; and, the word-order of elements in verbal constructions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartek Henrich. 1944. Spravna vyslcnmost' slovenska. Bratislava-Turc. Sv. Martin, Jan Horacek. 1956. Slovensky pravopis. Gilnzburg/Donau, G. Jantsch. Belie, Jaromir, et al. 1964. Slovenstina. Praha, SPN. Bidwell, Charles E. 1958. "The Morphophonemics of Polish". General Linguistics 2. 71-99. 1959. "The Serbo-Croatian Comparative". La,i,guage 35. 259-63. 1960. "The Polish Verb". General Linguistics 4. 771964. "The Serbo-Croatian Verb". Language 4. 532-50. 1969a. Outline of Slovenian Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969b. A Morpho-Syntactic Characterization of the Modern Slavic Languages. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969c. The Structure of Russian in Outline. Pittsburgh. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1970. Outline of Bielorussian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971a. Outline of Ukrainian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971b. Outline of Czech Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1965. Outline of Polish Nominal Morphology. Pittsburgh, Unpublished pre-print, Univ. of Pittsburgh. Czambel, Samo. 1919. Rukovi:it' spisovnej reci slovenskej. (3d ed.). Turc. Sv. Martin. 1'.>urovic, ~ubomir. 1964. Paradigmatika spisovnej rustiny. Bratislava, SPN. Dvonc, Ladislav. 1955. Rytmicky zakon v spisovnej slovencine. Bratislava, SAV. Ga§parikova, Z. and A. Kami§. 1967. Slovensko-cesky slovni k. Praha, SPN. Habov§tiak, A. 1965. Oravske narecia. Bratislava, SAV. �28 SLOVAKIA Hodge, C. T. 1945. Spoken Serbo-Croatian. Madison, Linguistic Society of America. Horecky, Jan. 1964. Morfematicka struktura slovenciny. Bratislava, SAV. Isacenko, Aleksandr V. 1964. "The Morphology of the Slovak Verb". Travaux linguistiques de Prague. 1. 183-201. 1965. Grammaticeskij stroj russkogo jazyka v sopostavlenii s slovackim. I. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1968. Spektograficka analyza slovenskych hlasok. Bratislava, SAV. Jakobson, Roman. 1931. "Z fonologie spisovne sloven~tiny". Slovens/ca miscellanea. 155-63. 1962. " Phonemic Notes on Standard Slovak". Roman Jakobson 1896- Selected Writings. The Hague, Mouton. 1. 221-30. Kotek, Ludvik (ed.). 1968. Dejiny ceskoslovenska v datech. (1st ed.) Praha, Svoboda. Kucera, Henry. 1961. The Phonology of Czech. The Hague, Mouton. Kurylowicz, J. 1962. "Personal and Animate Genders in Slavic". Lingua 11. 249-56. Machek, Vaclav. 1957. Etymologicky slovnik jaZ1/ka ceskeho a slovenskeho. Praha, CSAV. Miko, Franmek. 1962. Rod, cisla a pad podstatnych mien. Bratislava, SAV. Necas, J. and M. Kopecky. 1964. Slovensko-cesky, cesko-slovensk11 slovnik rozdilnych vyrazu. Praha, SPN. Novak, I.:udovit. 1934. Fonol6gia a studium slovenciny. Turc. Sv. Martin, Matica slovenska. Ondrus, Pavel. 1964. Morfol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Orlovsky, J. and L. Arany. 1946. Gramatika jaZ11ka slovenskeho. Bratislava-Nitra, Pravda. Pauliny, Eugen. 1963. Kratka gramatika slovenska. Bratislava, SPN. 1968. Fonol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Pauliny, E.; Stolz, J.; Ruzicka, J. 1963. Slovenska gramatika. (4th ed.) Martin, Osveta. Peciar, Stefan (ed.) 1964. Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu. (5th ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1959-1968. Slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. 1-6. Bratislava, SAV. Ruzicka, Jozef (ed.). 1966. Morfol6gia slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Simko, Jan. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky slovnik. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SPN. Smejkalova, J ., et al. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky a slovensko-anglicky vreckovy slovnik. Bratislava, SPN. Stanislav, Jan. 1953. Slovenska vyslovnost'. Martin, Osveta. 1967. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka. 1-3. (2d rev. ed.) Bratislava, SAV. Stole, Jozef (ed.). 1968. Atlas slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Trubetzkoj, N. S. 1937. "Gedanken Uber die Slowakische Deklination". Readings in Linguistics. 2.96-103. Vilikovska, J .; Vilikovsky, J.; Simko, J. 1966. Slovensko-anglicky slovnik. (3d ed.) Bratislava, Obzor. Zauner, Alfonz. 1966. Prakticka prirucka slovenskeho pravopisu. Banska Bystrica, Obzor. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1973, Vol. 23 Description An account of the resource Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973. 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 1973 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 - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -- 24 The Inflectional Morphology of Standard Slovak: A Descriptive Analysis John Michael Koch i k , Ph.D. Research on this topic grew out of a desire to present Standard Slovak anew in a particularly modern linguistic form. The work was performed and completed at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of the late Doctor Charles E. Bidwell, Professor of Linguistics and Slavic Linguistics. The aim of this work is to give English-speakers interested in the Slovak language a concise, consistent, and structurally-oriented description in the analysts of Standard Slovak inflectional morphology. The theoretical approach is primarily that of American structural descriptivism ( in this case neo-Bloomfieldian). The study commences with a general introduction in which a definition of the variety of Slovak analyzed, the approximate number of contemporaneous speakers, and its linguistic locale are provided. A brief history of the language from earliest to modern times is presented, listing some of the outstanding proponents of the modern literary form and contributors to its development. Previous structural treatments of the language are outlined, implemented by the author's original treatments projected into the sections on morphophonemics and on the verb, with certain original features produced in the methods of noun classification, special-type classification of many adjectives, the illustration of similarities among some of the noun, pronoun and adjective endings, the arrangements of paradigms to illustrate identical endings, the use of synoptic tables to exhibit the endings, and the analysis of the comparative formant into two morphemes. The symbols and conventions, the phonemic notation, the primary SLOVAKIA 25 sources consulted, the acknowledgments as well as the abbreviations utilized in the work complete section one. Section two lists the phonemes of the language: the vowels and the consonants, and adds a paragraph on the primary and secondary stresses in the language. Section three treats morphophonemics, both automatic and non-automatic (here an original treatment, as stated above). Under automatic morphophonemics are presented: voicing assimilation, simplification of double consonants, simplification of consonant clusters, sibilant assimilation, and the sequence of (j) plus (i) plus a vowel [other than (i) ] . Under non-automatic morphophonemics are these: the classification of consonantal stems as "hard" and "soft", the morphophonemic length correspondences of vowels, the alternation of vowel and zero, the "Rhythmic Law" concerning vowel length, the intercalation of -jbefore verbal suffixes, and the substitutive softening of certain consonants , and the dental/ palatal changes. Section four begins the morphology ( that is, the inflection of endings). The noun is treated first. Nouns are divided into various classes, principally feminine, neuter and masculine. These in turn are divided into subclasses according to their inflectional peculiarities. Feminine nouns have the subclasses: zena (hard stem), ulica-dlan (soft stem), kost' and pani. Neuter nouns have subclasses exemplified by the words: mesto (hard stem), plece (soft stem), vysvedcenie, and dievca. Masculine nouns are subclassified according to the sample words: chlap (hard stem animate), dub (hard stem inanimate), priatel' (soft stem animate), mec (soft stem inanimate), ujko (masculine o-noun), and the mixed declension: sluha. Next follow the mixed mesto/ kost' (oko, ucho) nouns, the mixed neuter noun di et'a, and the mixed noun/ adjective declensions exemplified by ujcirui and mufti. A synoptic table of nountype endings is included. Section five consists of the adjectives: novy (hard declension), cudzi (soft declension) , substantivized adjectives, short-form adjectives, special adjectives: possessives from nouns like bratov, and pronominal possessives like m6j, and jeden. A synoptic table of adjective-type endings is incorporated. Finally, the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs is treated. 26 SLOVAKIA Section six comprises the personal pronouns and the interrogative/ relative pronouns. Section seven presents the cardinal (plus the compound) and the collective numerals. Section eight describes the verb. Its introduction defines the verb in this study. Given next are the endings of the finite forms. The formants are presented in this order: the imperative, the gerund and present active participle, the infinitive, the l-forms, the past active participle, the past passive participle and the verbal noun. The verb is classified according to the thematic vowel in the present- and the infinitive-stems. All verbs are subdivided into Class I which has the same thematic vowel in all forms, and Class II which has in most cases different thematic vowels in the present- and the infinitive-stems and in all cases thematic zero in present-stem forms other than first singular to second plural. Within Class I there are two subclasses: the a-type with thematic a (volat', vracat', citat') and the ie 1-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e (rozumiet', mudriet'). Class II contains the following subtypes with the combination of thematic vowels in the present- and infinitivestem: ei2-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e in the infinitive stem and the present tense (except 3 pl.), (triet', mliet'), ie/0- (niest', minut'), ie/ a- (brat', hnat'); e/ 0- (bit', priat', zat', kradnut'), e/a- (hrabat', cesat', pracovat', klat'); i-type with thematic i in the infinitive stem and present tense (except 3 pl.), (hovorit', kupit'); i / e( vidiet'), i / a- (lezat', spat', stat'); and the special e/ ie-verb chciet'. Base suffixes are provided as the next feature. Then, presented are the alternations in the base which include the base-final consonant change, substitutive softening alternations, change in the infinitive formant, alternation of the root-final nasal consonant with the vowel in a certain verb-type, root alternations including one vowel alternating with another vowel, simple root-vowel lengthening in a certain verb-type, the alternation of a vowel and zero, and certain irregularities in verb-types. SLOVAKIA 27 Aspect derivation exemplified by perfectivization and imperfectivization follow next. Perfectivization is described according to the technique of prefixation, the addition of certain suffixes, and suppletion. Imperfectivization methods are explained, followed by the characterization of frequentative verbs. The section on the verb is concluded with the verbal constructions in which are listed and clarified: the future of imperfective verbs; the l-form constructions which embrace the simple past, the pluperfect, the conditional, the conditional past, and the negation of the l-form constructions; the passive constructions; and, the word-order of elements in verbal constructions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartek Henrich. 1944. Spravna vyslcnmost' slovenska. Bratislava-Turc. Sv. Martin, Jan Horacek. 1956. Slovensky pravopis. Gilnzburg/Donau, G. Jantsch. Belie, Jaromir, et al. 1964. Slovenstina. Praha, SPN. Bidwell, Charles E. 1958. "The Morphophonemics of Polish". General Linguistics 2. 71-99. 1959. "The Serbo-Croatian Comparative". La,i,guage 35. 259-63. 1960. "The Polish Verb". General Linguistics 4. 771964. "The Serbo-Croatian Verb". Language 4. 532-50. 1969a. Outline of Slovenian Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969b. A Morpho-Syntactic Characterization of the Modern Slavic Languages. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969c. The Structure of Russian in Outline. Pittsburgh. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1970. Outline of Bielorussian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971a. Outline of Ukrainian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971b. Outline of Czech Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1965. Outline of Polish Nominal Morphology. Pittsburgh, Unpublished pre-print, Univ. of Pittsburgh. Czambel, Samo. 1919. Rukovi:it' spisovnej reci slovenskej. (3d ed.). Turc. Sv. Martin. 1'.>urovic, ~ubomir. 1964. Paradigmatika spisovnej rustiny. Bratislava, SPN. Dvonc, Ladislav. 1955. Rytmicky zakon v spisovnej slovencine. Bratislava, SAV. Ga§parikova, Z. and A. Kami§. 1967. Slovensko-cesky slovni k. Praha, SPN. Habov§tiak, A. 1965. Oravske narecia. Bratislava, SAV. 28 SLOVAKIA Hodge, C. T. 1945. Spoken Serbo-Croatian. Madison, Linguistic Society of America. Horecky, Jan. 1964. Morfematicka struktura slovenciny. Bratislava, SAV. Isacenko, Aleksandr V. 1964. "The Morphology of the Slovak Verb". Travaux linguistiques de Prague. 1. 183-201. 1965. Grammaticeskij stroj russkogo jazyka v sopostavlenii s slovackim. I. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1968. Spektograficka analyza slovenskych hlasok. Bratislava, SAV. Jakobson, Roman. 1931. "Z fonologie spisovne sloven~tiny". Slovens/ca miscellanea. 155-63. 1962. " Phonemic Notes on Standard Slovak". Roman Jakobson 1896- Selected Writings. The Hague, Mouton. 1. 221-30. Kotek, Ludvik (ed.). 1968. Dejiny ceskoslovenska v datech. (1st ed.) Praha, Svoboda. Kucera, Henry. 1961. The Phonology of Czech. The Hague, Mouton. Kurylowicz, J. 1962. "Personal and Animate Genders in Slavic". Lingua 11. 249-56. Machek, Vaclav. 1957. Etymologicky slovnik jaZ1/ka ceskeho a slovenskeho. Praha, CSAV. Miko, Franmek. 1962. Rod, cisla a pad podstatnych mien. Bratislava, SAV. Necas, J. and M. Kopecky. 1964. Slovensko-cesky, cesko-slovensk11 slovnik rozdilnych vyrazu. Praha, SPN. Novak, I.:udovit. 1934. Fonol6gia a studium slovenciny. Turc. Sv. Martin, Matica slovenska. Ondrus, Pavel. 1964. Morfol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Orlovsky, J. and L. Arany. 1946. Gramatika jaZ11ka slovenskeho. Bratislava-Nitra, Pravda. Pauliny, Eugen. 1963. Kratka gramatika slovenska. Bratislava, SPN. 1968. Fonol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Pauliny, E.; Stolz, J.; Ruzicka, J. 1963. Slovenska gramatika. (4th ed.) Martin, Osveta. Peciar, Stefan (ed.) 1964. Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu. (5th ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1959-1968. Slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. 1-6. Bratislava, SAV. Ruzicka, Jozef (ed.). 1966. Morfol6gia slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Simko, Jan. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky slovnik. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SPN. Smejkalova, J ., et al. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky a slovensko-anglicky vreckovy slovnik. Bratislava, SPN. Stanislav, Jan. 1953. Slovenska vyslovnost'. Martin, Osveta. 1967. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka. 1-3. (2d rev. ed.) Bratislava, SAV. Stole, Jozef (ed.). 1968. Atlas slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Trubetzkoj, N. S. 1937. "Gedanken Uber die Slowakische Deklination". Readings in Linguistics. 2.96-103. Vilikovska, J .; Vilikovsky, J.; Simko, J. 1966. Slovensko-anglicky slovnik. (3d ed.) Bratislava, Obzor. Zauner, Alfonz. 1966. Prakticka prirucka slovenskeho pravopisu. Banska Bystrica, Obzor.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Inflectional Morphology of Standard Slovak: A Descriptive Analysis Description An account of the resource John Michael Kochik, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973 pp. 24-28 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kochik, John Michael Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/48cd8179fceefdb5990449726e0ac633.pdf 75fa46edc88348103f8357b702562767 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 105 ma. The poor attendance which Czech lands and Moravia report at Slovak films is attributed to the comprehension problem-among other factors. For this reason, dubbing Czech onto Slovak films is now under serious consideration." Dr. Andrew Kubina translated by Sister M . Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. The Slovak Dictionary of 1648 The discovery of a Latin-Magyar-Slovak dictionary published by the univerzity press in Trnava in 1648 brings proof that a Slovak literary language existed i~ Slovakia as early as two hundred years before Anton Bernolak, the scholar who codified Slovak grammar in 1787. The earliest listing of this book is found in Csery's catalogue of books published by the Trnava university press (Historia C. R. Scientiarum universitatis Pestiensis, fasc. III ab anno 1641-1660) . It is dated 1648: "Typographia in domo S. Adalberti in platea Pistorum collocata est, et expressit: Vocabularium Ungarico-Slavico-Latinum. Tyrnaviae 1649 in 8° ." In his study A Bibliography of Slovak Writings compiled in 1946, Jan Misianik called attention to this entry in Csery's accmmt. He concluded, however, that the dictionary itself had not been preserved since he was not able to find it anywhere. 1 Finally this work, so significant in the field of Slovak letters was most fortunately discovered by the eminent historian Msgr. Jan Postenyi, a papal prelate, who had searched long years for some trace of it. In 1967, with the help of devoted scholarly friends, he had the good fortune to come upon it in the library of Brno university. The volume is titled "Verborum in institutione gramatica contentorum in ungaricum et sclavonicum translatio. Secundum ordinem Alphabeticum, Tyrnaviae Typis Academicis, per Philippum Jacobum Mayr, Anno 1648."2 The words "Monasterij Rayhrad" are written in ink on the cover of the book. Apparently the book originally belonged to the Benedictine library in Rajhrad. This fifty-page dictionary with words recorded in Slovak is the oldest known Slovak dictionary. �106 SLOVAKIA , ~ ,.~ . ; • ·• "~:- w• . ,I . }\\i;(. ,: ~ •• ·,:: I f· • 'l' ~ . l!dgariti / ¼· g'niic~ . re/I.Iii' ·,~n,aul ; s-~~hd . . ,g,rz.,,. • .Senedu~> v/nfti • .. · ~e-oiw•~-- . .· .. ·. Stnar.us · ... ,f;,uth ~.· senatus.con-,a~uiph .vlgez:.ts · . · .JiJl·w11 -· . · Slavo11IU, ' ~ · s,den raz. . .:·r.1da. . -: r.d i wipowicd. . . . ... ~ .. {lar9ft. ir2..t~rn(,'g . ·, •., 1 ·:.. ;,qti~ · er'·u1,,,,1.1:1l!,m, ,;,ilt.:m ·cuim. Sc:orfu rn _ . _li_f,, im, •, msrgfin· ·. ·· . .)utlranu. 5.c.nfo.~ ' .... eocio · ' ,.Srp,1r~nm · -,.Je,n . ~1 um'etem . · ·Sc-pd10 be foven1ez..e111. · . .··_SepiO . · fovmy S . ps . ·sl!ps . September s, pt u.a.x · . Sequor '. mergu J.jgJ" .idem. ·-po.chowa~,-. . ,•. obhrazugorn: plot. . : ·gedo'fiU had. f:..en/mt fJ.llJ havli ·.. lazi. J 4. lotu. 14. l.uos . . ·: . · ~o··.i~um · · · na11edugem. • recz. Sermo · · · bcfz.cd , r~gem. ' h1nrnn, -c:tltm Sero, is. be lrtk.:_uo_z.om, urom,- za'u1ikam. · Sero, as. · ·had., Serpcu · k.z..~yo · iluzebnolt. ' fz..olni!.tt SC'rvnus (!) _ trype_nizc. ScHcmnm hu'i'om pbJ.'t.eI . . · . ·4- loci. Sexr.rns . 11,e_r lt11os Jkur,ei. · 1'f.mmt',mintfi.inre ' .· _gak:.g~koi.llo. · . It /ttlti:d:lz. >.. ~ ·. .::,p«'pJd,ml fa,dolu .,.)ido · ·· . " ' ·.. · · · ··. kladem~ ,S'ignifer· · z..Afi..lo.t11fio . ·. ·. ·: . ·' ·. zatlat-nik. · ....... .·· ·sitcr ·~ <} �SLOVAKIA 107 Why was it not possible to find this work in Slovakia though it had been published in Trnava? One ready explanation can be found in the train of a host of events that took place within Slovak borders in the period 1536-1711 when invading and rebelling armies were finally subdued. All this era was marked by wars, disorders and rebellions that erupted in almost every alternating decade and succeeded one another with only brief respites to mark off one episode from the next. The armies of these insurgents destroyed the libraries housed in monasteries and castles; as a matter of fact, they spared not even the private book collections of parish priests. In these upheavals, the territories of present day Czech and Moravian lands were not so seriously threatened as were the lands of the Slovaks and the regions of the Danubian basin. Because of these inauspicious conditions here, it was Prague and Brno that at this time attracted men of learning and culture and encouraged them with the support and promotion of publishing houses and libraries. Yet in spite of all these hardships, the university of Trnava did bequeath to the future a goodly number of works that had been printed in the prime years of its existence 1635-1777, even though these publications are all too often not found within Slovakia proper. Researchers and scholars can find them more readily in Czech and Moravian libraries today. Msgr. Jan Postenyi deserves recognition and credit for his indefatigable efforts to trace this priceless book which brings proof positive that a literary Slovak language existed even long before Bernolak. The accompanying photostatic copy of p. 43 of this dictionary indicates that the words bear the characteristics of western Slovak and that many of the expressions favor the linguistic traits of central Slovak. Unfortunately, the title page of this work does not record the name of the author-compiler of the dictionary. Fr. Bartholomew Koltner, 0. F. M. Translated by Sr. M . Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. 1) Msgr. Jan Postenyi, " Spomienka na trnavsku univerzitu," in the magazine Duchovny Pastier, April 1967. 2 ) Peter Ratkos, " Svedectvo narodnej kontinuity," in the periodical . Kulturny iivot, July 1967. � SLOVAKIA 105 ma. The poor attendance which Czech lands and Moravia report at Slovak films is attributed to the comprehension problem-among other factors. For this reason, dubbing Czech onto Slovak films is now under serious consideration." Dr. Andrew Kubina translated by Sister M . Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. The Slovak Dictionary of 1648 The discovery of a Latin-Magyar-Slovak dictionary published by the univerzity press in Trnava in 1648 brings proof that a Slovak literary language existed i~ Slovakia as early as two hundred years before Anton Bernolak, the scholar who codified Slovak grammar in 1787. The earliest listing of this book is found in Csery's catalogue of books published by the Trnava university press (Historia C. R. Scientiarum universitatis Pestiensis, fasc. III ab anno 1641-1660) . It is dated 1648: "Typographia in domo S. Adalberti in platea Pistorum collocata est, et expressit: Vocabularium Ungarico-Slavico-Latinum. Tyrnaviae 1649 in 8° ." In his study A Bibliography of Slovak Writings compiled in 1946, Jan Misianik called attention to this entry in Csery's accmmt. He concluded, however, that the dictionary itself had not been preserved since he was not able to find it anywhere. 1 Finally this work, so significant in the field of Slovak letters was most fortunately discovered by the eminent historian Msgr. Jan Postenyi, a papal prelate, who had searched long years for some trace of it. In 1967, with the help of devoted scholarly friends, he had the good fortune to come upon it in the library of Brno university. The volume is titled "Verborum in institutione gramatica contentorum in ungaricum et sclavonicum translatio. Secundum ordinem Alphabeticum, Tyrnaviae Typis Academicis, per Philippum Jacobum Mayr, Anno 1648."2 The words "Monasterij Rayhrad" are written in ink on the cover of the book. Apparently the book originally belonged to the Benedictine library in Rajhrad. This fifty-page dictionary with words recorded in Slovak is the oldest known Slovak dictionary. �106 SLOVAKIA , ~ ,.~ . ; • ·• "~:- w• . ,I . }\\i;(. ,: ~ •• ·,:: I f· • 'l' ~ . l!dgariti / ¼· g'niic~ . re/I.Iii' ·,~n,aul ; s-~~hd . . ,g,rz.,,. • .Senedu~> v/nfti • .. · ~e-oiw•~-- . .· .. ·. Stnar.us · ... ,f;,uth ~.· senatus.con-,a~uiph .vlgez:.ts · . · .JiJl·w11 -· . · Slavo11IU, ' ~ · s,den raz. . .:·r.1da. . -: r.d i wipowicd. . . . ... ~ .. {lar9ft. ir2..t~rn(,'g . ·, •., 1 ·:.. ;,qti~ · er'·u1,,,,1.1:1l!,m, ,;,ilt.:m ·cuim. Sc:orfu rn _ . _li_f,, im, •, msrgfin· ·. ·· . .)utlranu. 5.c.nfo.~ ' .... eocio · ' ,.Srp,1r~nm · -,.Je,n . ~1 um'etem . · ·Sc-pd10 be foven1ez..e111. · . .··_SepiO . · fovmy S . ps . ·sl!ps . September s, pt u.a.x · . Sequor '. mergu J.jgJ" .idem. ·-po.chowa~,-. . ,•. obhrazugorn: plot. . : ·gedo'fiU had. f:..en/mt fJ.llJ havli ·.. lazi. J 4. lotu. 14. l.uos . . ·: . · ~o··.i~um · · · na11edugem. • recz. Sermo · · · bcfz.cd , r~gem. ' h1nrnn, -c:tltm Sero, is. be lrtk.:_uo_z.om, urom,- za'u1ikam. · Sero, as. · ·had., Serpcu · k.z..~yo · iluzebnolt. ' fz..olni!.tt SC'rvnus (!) _ trype_nizc. ScHcmnm hu'i'om pbJ.'t.eI . . · . ·4- loci. Sexr.rns . 11,e_r lt11os Jkur,ei. · 1'f.mmt',mintfi.inre ' .· _gak:.g~koi.llo. · . It /ttlti:d:lz. >.. ~ ·. .::,p«'pJd,ml fa,dolu .,.)ido · ·· . " ' ·.. · · · ··. kladem~ ,S'ignifer· · z..Afi..lo.t11fio . ·. ·. ·: . ·' ·. zatlat-nik. · ....... .·· ·sitcr ·~ <} �SLOVAKIA 107 Why was it not possible to find this work in Slovakia though it had been published in Trnava? One ready explanation can be found in the train of a host of events that took place within Slovak borders in the period 1536-1711 when invading and rebelling armies were finally subdued. All this era was marked by wars, disorders and rebellions that erupted in almost every alternating decade and succeeded one another with only brief respites to mark off one episode from the next. The armies of these insurgents destroyed the libraries housed in monasteries and castles; as a matter of fact, they spared not even the private book collections of parish priests. In these upheavals, the territories of present day Czech and Moravian lands were not so seriously threatened as were the lands of the Slovaks and the regions of the Danubian basin. Because of these inauspicious conditions here, it was Prague and Brno that at this time attracted men of learning and culture and encouraged them with the support and promotion of publishing houses and libraries. Yet in spite of all these hardships, the university of Trnava did bequeath to the future a goodly number of works that had been printed in the prime years of its existence 1635-1777, even though these publications are all too often not found within Slovakia proper. Researchers and scholars can find them more readily in Czech and Moravian libraries today. Msgr. Jan Postenyi deserves recognition and credit for his indefatigable efforts to trace this priceless book which brings proof positive that a literary Slovak language existed even long before Bernolak. The accompanying photostatic copy of p. 43 of this dictionary indicates that the words bear the characteristics of western Slovak and that many of the expressions favor the linguistic traits of central Slovak. Unfortunately, the title page of this work does not record the name of the author-compiler of the dictionary. Fr. Bartholomew Koltner, 0. F. M. Translated by Sr. M . Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. 1) Msgr. Jan Postenyi, " Spomienka na trnavsku univerzitu," in the magazine Duchovny Pastier, April 1967. 2 ) Peter Ratkos, " Svedectvo narodnej kontinuity," in the periodical . Kulturny iivot, July 1967. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1969, Vol. 19 Description An account of the resource Vol. 19 (No. 42), 1969. 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 1969 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 105 ma. The poor attendance which Czech lands and Moravia report at Slovak films is attributed to the comprehension problem-among other factors. For this reason, dubbing Czech onto Slovak films is now under serious consideration." Dr. Andrew Kubina translated by Sister M . Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. The Slovak Dictionary of 1648 The discovery of a Latin-Magyar-Slovak dictionary published by the univerzity press in Trnava in 1648 brings proof that a Slovak literary language existed i~ Slovakia as early as two hundred years before Anton Bernolak, the scholar who codified Slovak grammar in 1787. The earliest listing of this book is found in Csery's catalogue of books published by the Trnava university press (Historia C. R. Scientiarum universitatis Pestiensis, fasc. III ab anno 1641-1660) . It is dated 1648: "Typographia in domo S. Adalberti in platea Pistorum collocata est, et expressit: Vocabularium Ungarico-Slavico-Latinum. Tyrnaviae 1649 in 8° ." In his study A Bibliography of Slovak Writings compiled in 1946, Jan Misianik called attention to this entry in Csery's accmmt. He concluded, however, that the dictionary itself had not been preserved since he was not able to find it anywhere. 1 Finally this work, so significant in the field of Slovak letters was most fortunately discovered by the eminent historian Msgr. Jan Postenyi, a papal prelate, who had searched long years for some trace of it. In 1967, with the help of devoted scholarly friends, he had the good fortune to come upon it in the library of Brno university. The volume is titled "Verborum in institutione gramatica contentorum in ungaricum et sclavonicum translatio. Secundum ordinem Alphabeticum, Tyrnaviae Typis Academicis, per Philippum Jacobum Mayr, Anno 1648."2 The words "Monasterij Rayhrad" are written in ink on the cover of the book. Apparently the book originally belonged to the Benedictine library in Rajhrad. This fifty-page dictionary with words recorded in Slovak is the oldest known Slovak dictionary. 106 SLOVAKIA , ~ ,.~ . ; • ·• "~:- w• . ,I . }\\i;(. ,: ~ •• ·,:: I f· • 'l' ~ . l!dgariti / ¼· g'niic~ . re/I.Iii' ·,~n,aul ; s-~~hd . . ,g,rz.,,. • .Senedu~> v/nfti • .. · ~e-oiw•~-- . .· .. ·. Stnar.us · ... ,f;,uth ~.· senatus.con-,a~uiph .vlgez:.ts · . · .JiJl·w11 -· . · Slavo11IU, ' ~ · s,den raz. . .:·r.1da. . -: r.d i wipowicd. . . . ... ~ .. {lar9ft. ir2..t~rn(,'g . ·, •., 1 ·:.. ;,qti~ · er'·u1,,,,1.1:1l!,m, ,;,ilt.:m ·cuim. Sc:orfu rn _ . _li_f,, im, •, msrgfin· ·. ·· . .)utlranu. 5.c.nfo.~ ' .... eocio · ' ,.Srp,1r~nm · -,.Je,n . ~1 um'etem . · ·Sc-pd10 be foven1ez..e111. · . .··_SepiO . · fovmy S . ps . ·sl!ps . September s, pt u.a.x · . Sequor '. mergu J.jgJ" .idem. ·-po.chowa~,-. . ,•. obhrazugorn: plot. . : ·gedo'fiU had. f:..en/mt fJ.llJ havli ·.. lazi. J 4. lotu. 14. l.uos . . ·: . · ~o··.i~um · · · na11edugem. • recz. Sermo · · · bcfz.cd , r~gem. ' h1nrnn, -c:tltm Sero, is. be lrtk.:_uo_z.om, urom,- za'u1ikam. · Sero, as. · ·had., Serpcu · k.z..~yo · iluzebnolt. ' fz..olni!.tt SC'rvnus (!) _ trype_nizc. ScHcmnm hu'i'om pbJ.'t.eI . . · . ·4- loci. Sexr.rns . 11,e_r lt11os Jkur,ei. · 1'f.mmt',mintfi.inre ' .· _gak:.g~koi.llo. · . It /ttlti:d:lz. >.. ~ ·. .::,p«'pJd,ml fa,dolu .,.)ido · ·· . " ' ·.. · · · ··. kladem~ ,S'ignifer· · z..Afi..lo.t11fio . ·. ·. ·: . ·' ·. zatlat-nik. · ....... .·· ·sitcr ·~ <} SLOVAKIA 107 Why was it not possible to find this work in Slovakia though it had been published in Trnava? One ready explanation can be found in the train of a host of events that took place within Slovak borders in the period 1536-1711 when invading and rebelling armies were finally subdued. All this era was marked by wars, disorders and rebellions that erupted in almost every alternating decade and succeeded one another with only brief respites to mark off one episode from the next. The armies of these insurgents destroyed the libraries housed in monasteries and castles; as a matter of fact, they spared not even the private book collections of parish priests. In these upheavals, the territories of present day Czech and Moravian lands were not so seriously threatened as were the lands of the Slovaks and the regions of the Danubian basin. Because of these inauspicious conditions here, it was Prague and Brno that at this time attracted men of learning and culture and encouraged them with the support and promotion of publishing houses and libraries. Yet in spite of all these hardships, the university of Trnava did bequeath to the future a goodly number of works that had been printed in the prime years of its existence 1635-1777, even though these publications are all too often not found within Slovakia proper. Researchers and scholars can find them more readily in Czech and Moravian libraries today. Msgr. Jan Postenyi deserves recognition and credit for his indefatigable efforts to trace this priceless book which brings proof positive that a literary Slovak language existed even long before Bernolak. The accompanying photostatic copy of p. 43 of this dictionary indicates that the words bear the characteristics of western Slovak and that many of the expressions favor the linguistic traits of central Slovak. Unfortunately, the title page of this work does not record the name of the author-compiler of the dictionary. Fr. Bartholomew Koltner, 0. F. M. Translated by Sr. M . Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. 1) Msgr. Jan Postenyi, " Spomienka na trnavsku univerzitu," in the magazine Duchovny Pastier, April 1967. 2 ) Peter Ratkos, " Svedectvo narodnej kontinuity," in the periodical . Kulturny iivot, July 1967.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Slovak Dictionary of 1648 Description An account of the resource Fr. Bartholomew Koltner, O.F.M. Slovakia, Vol. 19 (No. 42), 1969 pp. 105-107 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Koltner, Bartholomew Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1969 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8307ba24c297d17dd69519720c1ad56f.pdf d071e42e8f9dcea825f7d0a61cf0f561 PDF Text Text 38 SLOVAKIA William Kana, M. A . THE OLDEST SLOV.AJK NEWSP.AJPIDR IN 'TIRE U.S.A. "Slovaik v Amerike" is the oldest Slovak newspaper continuously published in the United States. It has survived seventy-five hard years in the service of Slovaik immigrants who were hungry for news from ,theiir native Slovakia as well as fur the news of their adopted !homeland. Slovak journalism in the United States was launched on October 21, 1886 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the publication of "Amerikan,szko.,S,zlovensZJke Noviny" (The Amerioan SlovaJk News) . 'I'he ipubHsher of this newspaper was Janka Slovensky, who served at the time as a clerk in the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Pi,ttsburgn. 'I'he second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called "Nova Vlasf" ('Dhe New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streaitor, Illinois. It merged with "AmerikianszkoSzlovenszke Noviny" shortly after it appeared. At that time, an era when the Slovak nation wais being severely oppressed by the government of Budapest, the free ,p ress in America provided political refugees and emigrants with information about happenings in Slovakia as well ,as in the United States. The town of Plymouth, Pennsylvia.nia is the cradle of "Slovak v Ameri-ke", whi~h is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaiper in the world. As American history is connected with the City of Plymouth, Massachusetts, so the history of tlle Slovafos in the United States is closely related to this Pennsylvanian town. The founder of "Slovak v Amerike" was Albert S. Ambrose. He describes the beginnings of this newspaper in the June 1936 issues of "New Yorksky Dennik" (The New York Daily). In Plymouth, Pennsylvania the Reverend Joseph Kossalko had published a newspaiper called "Zastava" (The Flag) in a pro-Hungarian spirit and in the Eastern Slovak dialect, a venture which lasted only nine months. After t'he demise of "Za:stava" Edmund Gretschell, an immigrant from Silesia, bought its printing press from Reverend �SLOVAKIA 39 Kossaliko. He planned to establish a printing business of his own among the Sloviarks living in Plymouth. However, these immigrants were workers and laborer~, who rarely needed such work, and his lack of facility in writing English precluded his doing any extensive business with the English-speaking re&idents of the town. Albert Ambrose proofreaJCl the Siovak and English ,p rintings, and from this business association grew 1::he idea of publishtng a newspaper for Slovaiks in Pennsylvania. The need wais great: Slovaks in America did not understand English, and furthermore, American newspapers pu1blished little news from their homeland. The first issue of "Slovak v Amerike", •r eleased on December 21, 1889, had only four pages. 'Ilhe most interesting part of the whole issue was the editorial, wihich read in part: "We have come to the conclusion that there is a need for a purely Slovak cultural newspaper. We have therefore decided to publish one. The purpose of t,h is newspaper will be : 1. To lead our countrymen; to help them; to propagate love among them; to educrute them. 2. To publish some entertaining stories for children, so as to encourage them to read Slovak at home, it being lmpossi•ble for them to study their mother's tongue in the schools . The first issue is small. Growth of the newspaper will depend on you. Arouse your eyes from sleep and darkness, and follow the voice of your country. Otherwise your descendants will curse you for not caring for yourself, your soul, and the welfare o! your country" . "Slovak v Amerike" wa~ Ambrose's property, but Gret.schell was its publisher. At aibout this time John Gostony, a resident of Bhoen1xville, Pennsylvania, was planning to publish a Slovak new~paper, and :h e asked Ambrose to ,become its editor. They signed a contract agreeing that the new publisher of "Slovak v Amerike" would be Gostony, and its editor would be Ambrose. Gretschell could continue to ,print the paper, if he should be willing to move ibis shop to Phoenixville. Greteohell agreed and itlhe newspaper was moved to Phoenixville. The new company hired as typeietters two young Slovaks, Frano Razny and Ferdinand Ursiny, who had learned their trade in tlrn printery of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. When Ambrose left Phoenixville in the fall of 1890 �40 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Pucher Cernovodsky became editor of "Slovak v Amerlke". Subsequently Jan Spevak -became owner and editor of "Slovak v Amerike", and under his direction notable gains were made in circulation. Spevak had emigrated to the United States in 1887. He first worked in a printing shop in Pittsburgh, and later came to Phoenixville to work for "Slovak v Amerike". He made many innovations, the most important being the change from the Eastern dialect to standard Slovak. He retained the original humorous column "R1p and Racik" for Eastern Slovaks. The charges of former publisher Gostony that the change in language WaJS sudden ahd that the newspaper therefore lost many subscribers 1are not substantiated by the facts. Statistics in Ayer's "Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals" actually disclose an increiase in the nuimber of sUJbscribers. For example "Slovak v Amerike" had 3,000 subscribers in 1894, but eleven years later, in 1905, when Spevak died, it had grown to 20,000 subscribers. Another of Spevak's innovations was more news from Slovakia, literally transcribed from "Narodnie Noviny". Naturally the news was old, because the newspaper from Slova!kia arrived in the United States one month late. However, this circumstance created no problem: the Slovak immigrant was interested in the substance of the news, not its age. The editors knew the psychology of their readers and therefore they cliassified all news from Slovakia by the province of origin. Later, as the circle of subscribers grew the publishers organized a group of correspondents in Slovaikia to provide original news from different parts of Slovakia. Spevak also published editorials from "Narodnie Noviny", particularly such as carried political significance in the Slovak resistance to the strong onsl,a ughts of Magyari2iation. · After the death of Jan Spevak, owner, publisher and _e ditor of "Slovak v Amerike", on May 31, 1905, his wife carried on for a short Ume as publisher. On June 13, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" announced that the new publishers were Reverend Christopher Leo OrbaC'h, a Lutheran minister, and A. G. Tvrdy. On the editoria.'l page of December 8, 1905 C. L. Orbach and Compa:ny were captioned as publishers. As of December 21, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" was published by C. L. Orbach only. Towards the end of Decem- �SLOVAKIA 41 ber 1905 a new pulblishing company bearing an English name came into existence. It was · called the Slovak Press. The company was incorporated on December 30, 1905 in the state of New York. Orbach, Faybik and Molitoris were its incorporators. On January 26, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" listed the following officers: C. L. Orbach, president; Andrew Faybik, vice-president; J. C. Molitoris, secretary. Orbach also held the position of editor-in-chief. Everybody who worked for the newipaper boug,ht some preferred stock with dividends warrantied at 6 % . On February 2, 1906 the front -p age carried a picture of the incorporators. The next editor of "Slovak v Amerike" was Anton Bielek, one-time editor of the old-world newspaper "Katolicke Noviny" (The Catholic News) and "r.udove Noviny" (The People's News), who left his homeland because of political persecution. He aNived in the United States in September 1906 with his family of ten. Bielek's name was well known to American Slovaiks. He had written a history of the Slovak people, which was published in Pittsburgh by the Slovak National Society in 1897. It is altogether likely that Orbaoh 1he1ped finance his trip to the United States and had offered him tJhe post of editor in the newspaper. Bielek's first editorial appeared on October 2, 1906: "I will defend the people agains,t persecution, I will teach the truth, I will guide our readers to a pious life, I will call a nd cry: give the workers a dec ent way of life; I will rais e a cry ror freedom, ror education and for enlightenment. I will be an enemy of the slave drivers and of the destroyers of the people, an enemy of darkness; I will not change the purpose of my work, and always I will have as my aim: the welfare of ,tlhe Slovak people." Under the editorsh1p of Anton Bielek "Slovak v Amerike" published several criticisms of the cultural stagnation of Slovaks in the United States. On April 2, 1907 Bielek says in his editorial: "We have many societies, but no libraries. We have no educational lectures. We lack nobility of purpose." Editor Bielek was also responsible for organizing the so-oalled indignation meetings against Hungarian oppression of Slovaks in their homeland. These meetings were •held in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Olyphant, Pa., Schenectady, N. Y., Houtzdale, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and in other American towns. �42 SLOVAKIA The editorials of "Slovak v Amerike" reflected the varied needs and problems of Slovaks in America. The editors fully participated in and O'bserved American life. They avoided the atmosphere of a national ghetto. When a league against foreigners was organized in Chicago "Slovaik v Amerike" prnmptly editorialized against its purposes: " ... America should be grateful to foreigners for their ·s ervices, especially for the heavy la1bor whic:h forms the ba:sis for other, lighter work ... " (March, 1910). "Slovak v Amerike" was panslavistically oriented. The editors anticipated that Slovak liberation would come from Russian Cziardom. This policy was reflected in the newspaper. The editors rose to the defense of all Slav:s in reaction to Woodrow Wilson's statement in his "History of the American People" (Volume 5, Page 212), in which he advocates forbidding Slavic immigration to the United States. (November 3, 1910). At the beginning of World War I the daily "Slovak v Amerike" cautioned Slovaks to keep out of the war against Slavdom (July 31, 1914). American Slovaks in the years 1914-1915 had strong pro-Russian sympathies. The roots of this Russophilism lay in the desperate plight of the Slovaks - in Hungary in the face of severe Magyarizia.tion. During this period ~he editors of "Slovak v Am~rike" had no clear image of the direction which the Slov:aks, in Europe ought to take to .resolve their national plig,ht. Their first concern wa:s total liberiation from Hungarian rule. 'Dhomas Capek, •a prominent Czech of New· York City, speaking at a great meeting of Slavs held in New York on January 17, 1915, under the chairmanship of Michael I . Pupin, made the following remarks about the Slovak situation: "The Slovaks, as 'they work for their independence, face three a lternatives: 1. They can seek complete freedom. 2. They can join politically with the Magyars. 3. They can assure their future with their brotherly tribe, the Czechs." (Slovak v Amerike, J anuary 20, 1915). The political struggle with the Hungarians and negotiations with Czech spokesmen, were reflected faithfully in the newspaper. Devotion to truth in newspaper report- �SLOVAKIA 43 ing was expressed in an editorial at the outbreak of the war: "Our duty to God ,and before the face of the world is to present tr.uthful news." ("Slovak v Amerike", August 27, 1914). "Slovak v Amerrke" preserves a record of historical events affecting Slovaks not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Czech politicians were interested in Slovakia mainly for three reasons: 1. Bohemia would become larger if united with Slov,akia; 2. The Czechs would acquire a bridge to Russia; 3. In the United States Slovak immigrants far outnumbered the Czechs, and as a result they represented a large financial potentiial for underwriting the liberation movement. The extent of the Slovak community in the United States was reflected by statistics published in "Slovak v Amerike" on August 27, 1907, which broke down immigration figures for the years 1898-1904 as follows: SLOVAKS 173,775, Irish 199,799, Italians 929,308, Polish 338,741, ,and Bohemians 34,444. "Slovak v Amerike" jealously guarded the right of Slovaks to their national identity. Slovaks in America were greatly disturbed by a statement in a Czech manifesto which defined the Slovak people as ,an integral part of the Bohemian nation. On April 5, 1915 "Slovak T Amerike" answered this manifesto on its editorial page. Ivan Daxner, secretary o! the Slovak League of America, wrote in "Slovak v Amerrke" on April 14, 1915: "From the ve ry beginning the Czech political manifesto carefully avoided r eferring to the Slovak people as a. NtATION. Later they dearly an d unequivocally declared that only ,th e Slovak people and the Bohemian race together could form a nation." The editors were so eager to serve truth that they even published an editorial from a Hungarian newspaper "Amerikai Magyar Nepszava" on the problems of minorities in Hungary (June 22, 1915). However, the resolution of these problems was pretty well tied to the outcome of the war: the editors were familiar with Allied opinion about the Austro-Hungarian Empire - this jail of nations was to be dismantled. "Slovak v Amerike" supported American policy and American war efforts. On March 16, 1917 it started to publish ,a column titled "Loyal Slovaks" in whioh it featured letters from readers expres~ing support for the war effort of the United States. �44 SLOVAKIA The Cleveland Agreement between the Slovak League of Amerka and the Czech National Alliance was extensively discussed in seve:r,al issues of "Slovak v Amerike". On February 27, 1916 "Slovak v Amerike" published an account of the Congress of the Slovak League held in Chicago on February 22 and 23, 1916. In this article Gustav Marshall-Petrovsky recommended that the Congress send representatives to Europe to discuss the developing situi,tion with Slovak and Czech leaders. Gustav Kosik and Stefan Osusky were •c ommissioned to this task by the Slovak League, and they left for Europe - Kosik on May 29, 1916, and Osusky on May 31. Their purpose was to investigate all Slovak and Czech committees and to determine whether they worked in the spirit of the Cleveland Agreement between .t he Slovaks and the Czechs. After Kosik returned to the United States from Russia, the American Slovaks started a one million dollar fundraising campaign for the liberation of Slovakia. On May 23, 1917 "Slovak v Amerike" said: "It is believed that iat lea:st one million Slovaks live in the United States. If eac<h of them were to contribute but one dollar, we would have a million." Among the Czechs were many pan-Czechists who sought the formation of a Great Pan-Czeohia. They acted in disregard of the rights of the Slovak nation. Seton-Watson writes that great indignation was aroused among Slovaks when Thomas Masaryk, acting in the capacity of president of the Czecho-Slovak Council, sent a confidential memorandum to the English government which stated that "the Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their use of their dialect as a literary language." Later, when 1:lhe Slovaks of Russia and America withdrew their support of the Czecho-Slovak Council, Masaryk worked frantically to regain their support. After all, the Slovaks in America had financed the whole liberation movement. Miasaryk himself ,p acified the Slovaks of Russia with .the Moscow Agreement (August 15, 1917), and the American Slovaks with the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918, in which he gave broad -assuramces of recognition of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" printed several long articles about the meeting in Pittsburgh between Slovaks and Czechs, �SLOVAKIA 45 under the chairmanship of Thomas Masaryk (June 6, 7, and 8, 1918). It wrote more about the pact on June 28, 1918: "Some of our brothers feared that the Czechs were not sincere in their dealings with us, and that they planned to ,Czechize us later. Our brothers protested against the statements of some shortsig,hted and badly-informed Czechs thwt the Slovaks are only a branch or the Bohemian nation, and that the •Slovak language is only a dialect of Czech. Our standpoint is that the Slovaks are not merely an appendix of the Czech nation, but •t hat they themselves constitute an individual nation." The Pittsburgh Pact was one of ijhe hottest political issues of the Czecho-Slovak Republic during the first twenty years of its existence. American Slovaks did what tJhey could for the liberation of their homeland. The Czechs failed to fulfil both their agreements with the Slov,2Jks, and their promises to the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference. The end of the war brought to a close the political struggle with the Magyars and saw the beginning of a new struggle - against Czech encroachments of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" guided Slovak thought and effort in this battle with as much vehemence as it had previously devoted to the battle with Austro-Hungarian suppression. TECHNICAL NOTES ON THE FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENT OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1905 Masthead: Slovak v Ameri:ke (in the English translation: Slovak American). Subtitle: A Laborite and National Newspaper. Motto: Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law. On the left side of tJhe masthead, written in Slovak: Founded in 1889. "Slovak v Amerike" is an independent, genuinely Slovak national paper, published every Tuesday and Friday. The purpose of this newspaper is to defend with dignity, to teach, and to amuse the Slovak people living in the United States of America. The surbscr1ption price for one ye•ar is $2.00; for half a year $1.00. Send all letters and money to this address: Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York, N. Y. �46 SLOVAKIA On the right side of the masthead, written in English, appears: Established in 1889. Slovak v Amerike, published every Tuesday and Friday, is the only Slovak Newspaper in the Metropolis and its vicinity, and is the largest and sole SIDMI-WEEKLY in the United States. It reaches every state in the Union and Canada and has the largest circulation of any newspaiper among Slovaiks, or so-called Hungarians, in the new world. Inasmuch as all the other Slovak newspapers are weeklies, Slovak v Amerike is the best advertising medium. Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York City. Telephone: 2466 Orchard. Under the semicircle of the titular caption "Slovak v Amerike" there is a picture depicting on the left side two miners, and on the right side a farmer plowing with two horses, and in the background a farmhouse. In the middle of the picture appear two figures: on the left a man in Slovak national costume holding a flag, and on the right a young woman depicting Freedom, with an American flag. Between them stands an eagle. THE MASTHEAD OF " SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1906 In 1906 the newspaper changed its masthead: under "Slovak v Amerike" there appeared a Slovak peasant couple dressed in Slovak national costume; in front of the couple is an eagle with two flags, one American, the other Slovak, stri,p ed in white blue and red. Behind th~ couple rise the three Slovak mountain peaks of the Slovaik coat-of-arms, and above them shines the sun. On the left side of the picture appea.rs a farmer ,s owing grain; on the right a miner. To the side of the central picture there is a short note d escribing the services offered by the newspaper. "Slovak v Amerike" flourished with the establishment of the new publishing company. On November 23, 1906 it announced the acquisition of a new ,p rinting press from the Goss Printing Press Company. The editor-in-chief was happy to have the new machine: ''With the avalanche of immigration Slovak business grows, too. In i.America nobody who works, who is industrious, has cause to fear bun~er, because h e can face the future confidently." �SLOVAKIA 47 There were many varied advertisements featured in "Slovak v Amerike". Banks, travel bureaus, physicians, real estate agencies, taverns, funeral homes, hotels, photographers, jewellers, pharmacists . . . all found it desirable to advertize there. The attractiveness of the newspaper was enhanced with diversified pictures, both photogrruphs and drawings. It was ia big event when the first photographic picture appeared in the July 6, 1906 issue. The influence of American newspapers is noticeable in some less significant news. On April 3, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" pictured ,s even ladies's hats with the commentary that for the first time in its i6 year existence it was publishing something exciting for the ladies. On January 11, 1907 the newspaper was printed for the first time on a huge new rotary press. THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1910 With business increasing the purblishers planned to improve the newspaper not only in content but also in appearance. On March 8, 1910 "Slovak v Amerike" appeared wi!h. a new masthead. In the center were two figures, one depicting a Slovak youth ·with a "Valaska" (hatcbet) and the Slovak flag, 1:Jhe other a young woman, symbolizing A· merica, with the American flag. Between them stands an eagle guarding the respective coat-of-arms. Above the eagle hovers the rising sun. · On the left side is a miner, on the right a farmer in the act of plowing. Captioned above is the title of the newspaper: Slovak v Amerike: below, in English: Slovak American. On · the left side of the masthead is inscribed the slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National N_e wspaper); on the right side: "Spasa narodna ,bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the nation's salvation be the highest law.) 1911 was a memorable year for "Slovak v Amerike''.. On April 4, 1911 the complete business, including the printing shop, was transferred to permanent quarters in a newly acquired building at 166 Ave. A., New York City. In the following year "Slovak v Amerike" acquired a new printing machine, manufactured by Goss Company, New York and Chicago, for $8,000.00. �48 SLOVAKIA THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1912 With the new machine the masthead of the newspaper was changed again. The ·c entral figure in the new masthead was a girl sitting with a book, who symbolized Slovakia. She leans with her left arm on a globe of Amerioa. Under the globe is an American flag. On the right side stands a boy with a liberty forch, ,and next to him a globe of Europe. The boy holds a hammer in his right hand and under his feet is a worm-wheel. Between the two figures is an eagle holding the coat-of-arms of America and Slovakia. On the left side of the central picture there is a panorama of New York City; on the right a farmer and two miners are depicted in an oblong picture. Captioned above is the inscriiption: Slovak v Amerike; below: Slovak American. Semi~weekly, 166 Ave. A., New York, N. Y. On the left side is the old slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National newspaper); on the right side the motto: "Spa.sa :narodna 1bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law.) Not long after the change in quarters came another change in editors. On March 26, 1912 "Slovak v Amerike" published the names of the whole personnel-staff of the newspa;per and the print shop. C. L. Orbach was listed as president and editor-in-chief. Associate editors were: Jan Culen and Karol Still!sny. The newspaper now introduced the services of a travel agency and ia law department, including a notary public. It was a natural and useful step forward. Many immigrants had no acquaintances but their factory friends and roommates. They were in need of these ser vices to send money to their wives in Slovakia, or tickets for pll!ssage to the United States. This business expanded and with time branches were established in Yonkers, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Wallington, New Jersey; and Hooversville, Pennsylv,ania. T4ere were also changes in the staff. Culen left and only Orbach and Stiasny r emained as editors. On November 13, 1913 "Slovak v Amerike" published the following important news: �SLOVAKIA 49 On January 1, 1914 Slovak v Amerike will be published daily on four pa,ges, except once a week, when it will appear on eight pages. In the masthead of the newspa,per wais a small change: the Slovak word "Dennik" (Daily) was placed over the panorama of New York City, and over the drawing of the farmer and miner was pl aced the English word "Daily". On January 10, 1914 "Slovak v Amerike" quoted from an editorial in the Slovak newspaper "Hlas" (The Voice) from Cleveland: 1 On January first "Slov:ik v Amerike" became a daily. We now h.av,e four dailies in America, and two more are in prepa ration. The Slovaks are progressing faster in the United States than in tihe old country, where they have only one daily and even this one has a hard tim e surviving. On April 1, 1915 "Slovak v Amerike" aippeared with a new masthead. The new version was similar to the old, except that the lateral figures were dropped. A few days later there was a big turnover in the editorial office. On November 6, 1915 the following editors were listed: Orbach, Stiasny; on November 8, Orbaoh, Stiasny, Culen; on November 9, Orbach, Stiasny; on November 11, Orbach, Stiaisny, Jan Galbavy. The printing shop of "Slovak v Amerike" was also growing. An announcement was made on August 5, 1915 that it had acquired a new linotype, a model 14 - multiple magazine linotype machine, manufactuJred by Mergenthaler Linoty;pe Company, Brooklyn, New York. On December 16, 1915 red ink was used for t!he first time in a headline: "Allies Fortify City of Salonika". Never again did "Slova;k v Amerike" use red ink in its headlines. No further technical changes occured in the publi<!ation of the daily "Slovak v Amerike". APPENDIX THE CIRCULATION OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE"l Year 1889-1893 1894 1895 Listed Under Sclavonic Sclavonic Circulation Not available 3,000 Not a vaila'ble �50 SLOVAKIA 1896 1897-1899 1900 1901-1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911-1918 Sclavonic-Slo:venic Slavonic and Slovenic Siavonic and Slovenic Slavonic and Slovenic Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovak Slovak Slovak 4,000 Not available 8,900 Not available 20,000 20,000 30,000 Not available 30,000 36,000 Not available FOOTNOTES l. N. W. Ayer & Sons, DIRIDCTORY O,F PERIODICALS, (Philadelphia, 1894-1918). NEWSIPAPERS ANID BIBLIOGRAPHY Autonomlst, An . S'LO¥AKIA'S PLEA F10R A,UTONO>MY. N . p., Slovak Literary Society, 1,935. Ayer, N. W. & Sons. DIRElCTORY OF NEWSPAiP.ERiS AND PIDRIODICALS. Philadelphia, 1894-19-18. Bonsal, Stephen. SUITORS ANID SUPRLIANTS; 'I1HE LITTLE N.AT~ONS AT ¥ERSAILIJES. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1946. Capek, Thomas. THE SlJOVA~S OF HUNGARY. New York, The Knicker-Bocker Press, 1906. Culen, Konstantin. JANKO SIJOV·ENSKY. Winnipeg, Kanadsky Slovak, 1954. Durcansky, Ferdinand. PiOHI'..AiD NA SLOVENSKU POLITICKU MINULOST. Bratislava, By the author, 1943. Kohn, Hans. PANSLAVI-SM. Notre Dame, Ind ., Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1953. Lengyel, Emil. Al\f•E lRlCANS F1RIOM HUNGA!RY. P1hiladelphla, Llppincobt, 1948. Mackenzie, Compton. DR. BfilNiE~. London, Harrap, 1946. Mraz, Andrej . DEJIINY SIJOY.ENSKEJ LIT,ERATUiRY. Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slovaca, 1948. NEW YORKSKY DElNNiK, June, 1936. (New York) Palickar, Stephen J. SLO¥AKJI.A!N CULTURE . Cambridge, Mass., Hempshire Press, 19:H. Seton,Watson, R . W. A HISTORY OF '11HE CZEJCHS ANiD SLOVAKS. New York, Hutchinson, 1943. Seton-Watson, R. W . MASAIRYK IN ENGLAND. Cambridge, Engl., Univ. Press, 1943. Sidor, Karol. SLOVACI V ZAIH!RAiNICNOM ODBOJI. Bratislava, By the author, 1928. SLOVAK V AMIDRIKE, 1905-1918. New York. Yurchak, Peter: T,H,E SLOVAKS; THEllR HISTORY AND TRADITION . Whioting, Ind., J. J. Lach, 194-6. � 38 SLOVAKIA William Kana, M. A . THE OLDEST SLOV.AJK NEWSP.AJPIDR IN 'TIRE U.S.A. "Slovaik v Amerike" is the oldest Slovak newspaper continuously published in the United States. It has survived seventy-five hard years in the service of Slovaik immigrants who were hungry for news from ,theiir native Slovakia as well as fur the news of their adopted !homeland. Slovak journalism in the United States was launched on October 21, 1886 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the publication of "Amerikan,szko.,S,zlovensZJke Noviny" (The Amerioan SlovaJk News) . 'I'he ipubHsher of this newspaper was Janka Slovensky, who served at the time as a clerk in the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Pi,ttsburgn. 'I'he second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called "Nova Vlasf" ('Dhe New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streaitor, Illinois. It merged with "AmerikianszkoSzlovenszke Noviny" shortly after it appeared. At that time, an era when the Slovak nation wais being severely oppressed by the government of Budapest, the free ,p ress in America provided political refugees and emigrants with information about happenings in Slovakia as well ,as in the United States. The town of Plymouth, Pennsylvia.nia is the cradle of "Slovak v Ameri-ke", whi~h is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaiper in the world. As American history is connected with the City of Plymouth, Massachusetts, so the history of tlle Slovafos in the United States is closely related to this Pennsylvanian town. The founder of "Slovak v Amerike" was Albert S. Ambrose. He describes the beginnings of this newspaper in the June 1936 issues of "New Yorksky Dennik" (The New York Daily). In Plymouth, Pennsylvania the Reverend Joseph Kossalko had published a newspaiper called "Zastava" (The Flag) in a pro-Hungarian spirit and in the Eastern Slovak dialect, a venture which lasted only nine months. After t'he demise of "Za:stava" Edmund Gretschell, an immigrant from Silesia, bought its printing press from Reverend �SLOVAKIA 39 Kossaliko. He planned to establish a printing business of his own among the Sloviarks living in Plymouth. However, these immigrants were workers and laborer~, who rarely needed such work, and his lack of facility in writing English precluded his doing any extensive business with the English-speaking re&idents of the town. Albert Ambrose proofreaJCl the Siovak and English ,p rintings, and from this business association grew 1::he idea of publishtng a newspaper for Slovaiks in Pennsylvania. The need wais great: Slovaks in America did not understand English, and furthermore, American newspapers pu1blished little news from their homeland. The first issue of "Slovak v Amerike", •r eleased on December 21, 1889, had only four pages. 'Ilhe most interesting part of the whole issue was the editorial, wihich read in part: "We have come to the conclusion that there is a need for a purely Slovak cultural newspaper. We have therefore decided to publish one. The purpose of t,h is newspaper will be : 1. To lead our countrymen; to help them; to propagate love among them; to educrute them. 2. To publish some entertaining stories for children, so as to encourage them to read Slovak at home, it being lmpossi•ble for them to study their mother's tongue in the schools . The first issue is small. Growth of the newspaper will depend on you. Arouse your eyes from sleep and darkness, and follow the voice of your country. Otherwise your descendants will curse you for not caring for yourself, your soul, and the welfare o! your country" . "Slovak v Amerike" wa~ Ambrose's property, but Gret.schell was its publisher. At aibout this time John Gostony, a resident of Bhoen1xville, Pennsylvania, was planning to publish a Slovak new~paper, and :h e asked Ambrose to ,become its editor. They signed a contract agreeing that the new publisher of "Slovak v Amerike" would be Gostony, and its editor would be Ambrose. Gretschell could continue to ,print the paper, if he should be willing to move ibis shop to Phoenixville. Greteohell agreed and itlhe newspaper was moved to Phoenixville. The new company hired as typeietters two young Slovaks, Frano Razny and Ferdinand Ursiny, who had learned their trade in tlrn printery of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. When Ambrose left Phoenixville in the fall of 1890 �40 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Pucher Cernovodsky became editor of "Slovak v Amerlke". Subsequently Jan Spevak -became owner and editor of "Slovak v Amerike", and under his direction notable gains were made in circulation. Spevak had emigrated to the United States in 1887. He first worked in a printing shop in Pittsburgh, and later came to Phoenixville to work for "Slovak v Amerike". He made many innovations, the most important being the change from the Eastern dialect to standard Slovak. He retained the original humorous column "R1p and Racik" for Eastern Slovaks. The charges of former publisher Gostony that the change in language WaJS sudden ahd that the newspaper therefore lost many subscribers 1are not substantiated by the facts. Statistics in Ayer's "Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals" actually disclose an increiase in the nuimber of sUJbscribers. For example "Slovak v Amerike" had 3,000 subscribers in 1894, but eleven years later, in 1905, when Spevak died, it had grown to 20,000 subscribers. Another of Spevak's innovations was more news from Slovakia, literally transcribed from "Narodnie Noviny". Naturally the news was old, because the newspaper from Slova!kia arrived in the United States one month late. However, this circumstance created no problem: the Slovak immigrant was interested in the substance of the news, not its age. The editors knew the psychology of their readers and therefore they cliassified all news from Slovakia by the province of origin. Later, as the circle of subscribers grew the publishers organized a group of correspondents in Slovaikia to provide original news from different parts of Slovakia. Spevak also published editorials from "Narodnie Noviny", particularly such as carried political significance in the Slovak resistance to the strong onsl,a ughts of Magyari2iation. · After the death of Jan Spevak, owner, publisher and _e ditor of "Slovak v Amerike", on May 31, 1905, his wife carried on for a short Ume as publisher. On June 13, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" announced that the new publishers were Reverend Christopher Leo OrbaC'h, a Lutheran minister, and A. G. Tvrdy. On the editoria.'l page of December 8, 1905 C. L. Orbach and Compa:ny were captioned as publishers. As of December 21, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" was published by C. L. Orbach only. Towards the end of Decem- �SLOVAKIA 41 ber 1905 a new pulblishing company bearing an English name came into existence. It was · called the Slovak Press. The company was incorporated on December 30, 1905 in the state of New York. Orbach, Faybik and Molitoris were its incorporators. On January 26, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" listed the following officers: C. L. Orbach, president; Andrew Faybik, vice-president; J. C. Molitoris, secretary. Orbach also held the position of editor-in-chief. Everybody who worked for the newipaper boug,ht some preferred stock with dividends warrantied at 6 % . On February 2, 1906 the front -p age carried a picture of the incorporators. The next editor of "Slovak v Amerike" was Anton Bielek, one-time editor of the old-world newspaper "Katolicke Noviny" (The Catholic News) and "r.udove Noviny" (The People's News), who left his homeland because of political persecution. He aNived in the United States in September 1906 with his family of ten. Bielek's name was well known to American Slovaiks. He had written a history of the Slovak people, which was published in Pittsburgh by the Slovak National Society in 1897. It is altogether likely that Orbaoh 1he1ped finance his trip to the United States and had offered him tJhe post of editor in the newspaper. Bielek's first editorial appeared on October 2, 1906: "I will defend the people agains,t persecution, I will teach the truth, I will guide our readers to a pious life, I will call a nd cry: give the workers a dec ent way of life; I will rais e a cry ror freedom, ror education and for enlightenment. I will be an enemy of the slave drivers and of the destroyers of the people, an enemy of darkness; I will not change the purpose of my work, and always I will have as my aim: the welfare of ,tlhe Slovak people." Under the editorsh1p of Anton Bielek "Slovak v Amerike" published several criticisms of the cultural stagnation of Slovaks in the United States. On April 2, 1907 Bielek says in his editorial: "We have many societies, but no libraries. We have no educational lectures. We lack nobility of purpose." Editor Bielek was also responsible for organizing the so-oalled indignation meetings against Hungarian oppression of Slovaks in their homeland. These meetings were •held in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Olyphant, Pa., Schenectady, N. Y., Houtzdale, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and in other American towns. �42 SLOVAKIA The editorials of "Slovak v Amerike" reflected the varied needs and problems of Slovaks in America. The editors fully participated in and O'bserved American life. They avoided the atmosphere of a national ghetto. When a league against foreigners was organized in Chicago "Slovaik v Amerike" prnmptly editorialized against its purposes: " ... America should be grateful to foreigners for their ·s ervices, especially for the heavy la1bor whic:h forms the ba:sis for other, lighter work ... " (March, 1910). "Slovak v Amerike" was panslavistically oriented. The editors anticipated that Slovak liberation would come from Russian Cziardom. This policy was reflected in the newspaper. The editors rose to the defense of all Slav:s in reaction to Woodrow Wilson's statement in his "History of the American People" (Volume 5, Page 212), in which he advocates forbidding Slavic immigration to the United States. (November 3, 1910). At the beginning of World War I the daily "Slovak v Amerike" cautioned Slovaks to keep out of the war against Slavdom (July 31, 1914). American Slovaks in the years 1914-1915 had strong pro-Russian sympathies. The roots of this Russophilism lay in the desperate plight of the Slovaks - in Hungary in the face of severe Magyarizia.tion. During this period ~he editors of "Slovak v Am~rike" had no clear image of the direction which the Slov:aks, in Europe ought to take to .resolve their national plig,ht. Their first concern wa:s total liberiation from Hungarian rule. 'Dhomas Capek, •a prominent Czech of New· York City, speaking at a great meeting of Slavs held in New York on January 17, 1915, under the chairmanship of Michael I . Pupin, made the following remarks about the Slovak situation: "The Slovaks, as 'they work for their independence, face three a lternatives: 1. They can seek complete freedom. 2. They can join politically with the Magyars. 3. They can assure their future with their brotherly tribe, the Czechs." (Slovak v Amerike, J anuary 20, 1915). The political struggle with the Hungarians and negotiations with Czech spokesmen, were reflected faithfully in the newspaper. Devotion to truth in newspaper report- �SLOVAKIA 43 ing was expressed in an editorial at the outbreak of the war: "Our duty to God ,and before the face of the world is to present tr.uthful news." ("Slovak v Amerike", August 27, 1914). "Slovak v Amerrke" preserves a record of historical events affecting Slovaks not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Czech politicians were interested in Slovakia mainly for three reasons: 1. Bohemia would become larger if united with Slov,akia; 2. The Czechs would acquire a bridge to Russia; 3. In the United States Slovak immigrants far outnumbered the Czechs, and as a result they represented a large financial potentiial for underwriting the liberation movement. The extent of the Slovak community in the United States was reflected by statistics published in "Slovak v Amerike" on August 27, 1907, which broke down immigration figures for the years 1898-1904 as follows: SLOVAKS 173,775, Irish 199,799, Italians 929,308, Polish 338,741, ,and Bohemians 34,444. "Slovak v Amerike" jealously guarded the right of Slovaks to their national identity. Slovaks in America were greatly disturbed by a statement in a Czech manifesto which defined the Slovak people as ,an integral part of the Bohemian nation. On April 5, 1915 "Slovak T Amerike" answered this manifesto on its editorial page. Ivan Daxner, secretary o! the Slovak League of America, wrote in "Slovak v Amerrke" on April 14, 1915: "From the ve ry beginning the Czech political manifesto carefully avoided r eferring to the Slovak people as a. NtATION. Later they dearly an d unequivocally declared that only ,th e Slovak people and the Bohemian race together could form a nation." The editors were so eager to serve truth that they even published an editorial from a Hungarian newspaper "Amerikai Magyar Nepszava" on the problems of minorities in Hungary (June 22, 1915). However, the resolution of these problems was pretty well tied to the outcome of the war: the editors were familiar with Allied opinion about the Austro-Hungarian Empire - this jail of nations was to be dismantled. "Slovak v Amerike" supported American policy and American war efforts. On March 16, 1917 it started to publish ,a column titled "Loyal Slovaks" in whioh it featured letters from readers expres~ing support for the war effort of the United States. �44 SLOVAKIA The Cleveland Agreement between the Slovak League of Amerka and the Czech National Alliance was extensively discussed in seve:r,al issues of "Slovak v Amerike". On February 27, 1916 "Slovak v Amerike" published an account of the Congress of the Slovak League held in Chicago on February 22 and 23, 1916. In this article Gustav Marshall-Petrovsky recommended that the Congress send representatives to Europe to discuss the developing situi,tion with Slovak and Czech leaders. Gustav Kosik and Stefan Osusky were •c ommissioned to this task by the Slovak League, and they left for Europe - Kosik on May 29, 1916, and Osusky on May 31. Their purpose was to investigate all Slovak and Czech committees and to determine whether they worked in the spirit of the Cleveland Agreement between .t he Slovaks and the Czechs. After Kosik returned to the United States from Russia, the American Slovaks started a one million dollar fundraising campaign for the liberation of Slovakia. On May 23, 1917 "Slovak v Amerike" said: "It is believed that iat lea:st one million Slovaks live in the United States. If eac<h of them were to contribute but one dollar, we would have a million." Among the Czechs were many pan-Czechists who sought the formation of a Great Pan-Czeohia. They acted in disregard of the rights of the Slovak nation. Seton-Watson writes that great indignation was aroused among Slovaks when Thomas Masaryk, acting in the capacity of president of the Czecho-Slovak Council, sent a confidential memorandum to the English government which stated that "the Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their use of their dialect as a literary language." Later, when 1:lhe Slovaks of Russia and America withdrew their support of the Czecho-Slovak Council, Masaryk worked frantically to regain their support. After all, the Slovaks in America had financed the whole liberation movement. Miasaryk himself ,p acified the Slovaks of Russia with .the Moscow Agreement (August 15, 1917), and the American Slovaks with the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918, in which he gave broad -assuramces of recognition of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" printed several long articles about the meeting in Pittsburgh between Slovaks and Czechs, �SLOVAKIA 45 under the chairmanship of Thomas Masaryk (June 6, 7, and 8, 1918). It wrote more about the pact on June 28, 1918: "Some of our brothers feared that the Czechs were not sincere in their dealings with us, and that they planned to ,Czechize us later. Our brothers protested against the statements of some shortsig,hted and badly-informed Czechs thwt the Slovaks are only a branch or the Bohemian nation, and that the •Slovak language is only a dialect of Czech. Our standpoint is that the Slovaks are not merely an appendix of the Czech nation, but •t hat they themselves constitute an individual nation." The Pittsburgh Pact was one of ijhe hottest political issues of the Czecho-Slovak Republic during the first twenty years of its existence. American Slovaks did what tJhey could for the liberation of their homeland. The Czechs failed to fulfil both their agreements with the Slov,2Jks, and their promises to the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference. The end of the war brought to a close the political struggle with the Magyars and saw the beginning of a new struggle - against Czech encroachments of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" guided Slovak thought and effort in this battle with as much vehemence as it had previously devoted to the battle with Austro-Hungarian suppression. TECHNICAL NOTES ON THE FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENT OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1905 Masthead: Slovak v Ameri:ke (in the English translation: Slovak American). Subtitle: A Laborite and National Newspaper. Motto: Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law. On the left side of tJhe masthead, written in Slovak: Founded in 1889. "Slovak v Amerike" is an independent, genuinely Slovak national paper, published every Tuesday and Friday. The purpose of this newspaper is to defend with dignity, to teach, and to amuse the Slovak people living in the United States of America. The surbscr1ption price for one ye•ar is $2.00; for half a year $1.00. Send all letters and money to this address: Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York, N. Y. �46 SLOVAKIA On the right side of the masthead, written in English, appears: Established in 1889. Slovak v Amerike, published every Tuesday and Friday, is the only Slovak Newspaper in the Metropolis and its vicinity, and is the largest and sole SIDMI-WEEKLY in the United States. It reaches every state in the Union and Canada and has the largest circulation of any newspaiper among Slovaiks, or so-called Hungarians, in the new world. Inasmuch as all the other Slovak newspapers are weeklies, Slovak v Amerike is the best advertising medium. Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York City. Telephone: 2466 Orchard. Under the semicircle of the titular caption "Slovak v Amerike" there is a picture depicting on the left side two miners, and on the right side a farmer plowing with two horses, and in the background a farmhouse. In the middle of the picture appear two figures: on the left a man in Slovak national costume holding a flag, and on the right a young woman depicting Freedom, with an American flag. Between them stands an eagle. THE MASTHEAD OF " SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1906 In 1906 the newspaper changed its masthead: under "Slovak v Amerike" there appeared a Slovak peasant couple dressed in Slovak national costume; in front of the couple is an eagle with two flags, one American, the other Slovak, stri,p ed in white blue and red. Behind th~ couple rise the three Slovak mountain peaks of the Slovaik coat-of-arms, and above them shines the sun. On the left side of the picture appea.rs a farmer ,s owing grain; on the right a miner. To the side of the central picture there is a short note d escribing the services offered by the newspaper. "Slovak v Amerike" flourished with the establishment of the new publishing company. On November 23, 1906 it announced the acquisition of a new ,p rinting press from the Goss Printing Press Company. The editor-in-chief was happy to have the new machine: ''With the avalanche of immigration Slovak business grows, too. In i.America nobody who works, who is industrious, has cause to fear bun~er, because h e can face the future confidently." �SLOVAKIA 47 There were many varied advertisements featured in "Slovak v Amerike". Banks, travel bureaus, physicians, real estate agencies, taverns, funeral homes, hotels, photographers, jewellers, pharmacists . . . all found it desirable to advertize there. The attractiveness of the newspaper was enhanced with diversified pictures, both photogrruphs and drawings. It was ia big event when the first photographic picture appeared in the July 6, 1906 issue. The influence of American newspapers is noticeable in some less significant news. On April 3, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" pictured ,s even ladies's hats with the commentary that for the first time in its i6 year existence it was publishing something exciting for the ladies. On January 11, 1907 the newspaper was printed for the first time on a huge new rotary press. THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1910 With business increasing the purblishers planned to improve the newspaper not only in content but also in appearance. On March 8, 1910 "Slovak v Amerike" appeared wi!h. a new masthead. In the center were two figures, one depicting a Slovak youth ·with a "Valaska" (hatcbet) and the Slovak flag, 1:Jhe other a young woman, symbolizing A· merica, with the American flag. Between them stands an eagle guarding the respective coat-of-arms. Above the eagle hovers the rising sun. · On the left side is a miner, on the right a farmer in the act of plowing. Captioned above is the title of the newspaper: Slovak v Amerike: below, in English: Slovak American. On · the left side of the masthead is inscribed the slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National N_e wspaper); on the right side: "Spasa narodna ,bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the nation's salvation be the highest law.) 1911 was a memorable year for "Slovak v Amerike''.. On April 4, 1911 the complete business, including the printing shop, was transferred to permanent quarters in a newly acquired building at 166 Ave. A., New York City. In the following year "Slovak v Amerike" acquired a new printing machine, manufactured by Goss Company, New York and Chicago, for $8,000.00. �48 SLOVAKIA THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1912 With the new machine the masthead of the newspaper was changed again. The ·c entral figure in the new masthead was a girl sitting with a book, who symbolized Slovakia. She leans with her left arm on a globe of Amerioa. Under the globe is an American flag. On the right side stands a boy with a liberty forch, ,and next to him a globe of Europe. The boy holds a hammer in his right hand and under his feet is a worm-wheel. Between the two figures is an eagle holding the coat-of-arms of America and Slovakia. On the left side of the central picture there is a panorama of New York City; on the right a farmer and two miners are depicted in an oblong picture. Captioned above is the inscriiption: Slovak v Amerike; below: Slovak American. Semi~weekly, 166 Ave. A., New York, N. Y. On the left side is the old slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National newspaper); on the right side the motto: "Spa.sa :narodna 1bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law.) Not long after the change in quarters came another change in editors. On March 26, 1912 "Slovak v Amerike" published the names of the whole personnel-staff of the newspa;per and the print shop. C. L. Orbach was listed as president and editor-in-chief. Associate editors were: Jan Culen and Karol Still!sny. The newspaper now introduced the services of a travel agency and ia law department, including a notary public. It was a natural and useful step forward. Many immigrants had no acquaintances but their factory friends and roommates. They were in need of these ser vices to send money to their wives in Slovakia, or tickets for pll!ssage to the United States. This business expanded and with time branches were established in Yonkers, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Wallington, New Jersey; and Hooversville, Pennsylv,ania. T4ere were also changes in the staff. Culen left and only Orbach and Stiasny r emained as editors. On November 13, 1913 "Slovak v Amerike" published the following important news: �SLOVAKIA 49 On January 1, 1914 Slovak v Amerike will be published daily on four pa,ges, except once a week, when it will appear on eight pages. In the masthead of the newspa,per wais a small change: the Slovak word "Dennik" (Daily) was placed over the panorama of New York City, and over the drawing of the farmer and miner was pl aced the English word "Daily". On January 10, 1914 "Slovak v Amerike" quoted from an editorial in the Slovak newspaper "Hlas" (The Voice) from Cleveland: 1 On January first "Slov:ik v Amerike" became a daily. We now h.av,e four dailies in America, and two more are in prepa ration. The Slovaks are progressing faster in the United States than in tihe old country, where they have only one daily and even this one has a hard tim e surviving. On April 1, 1915 "Slovak v Amerike" aippeared with a new masthead. The new version was similar to the old, except that the lateral figures were dropped. A few days later there was a big turnover in the editorial office. On November 6, 1915 the following editors were listed: Orbach, Stiasny; on November 8, Orbaoh, Stiasny, Culen; on November 9, Orbach, Stiasny; on November 11, Orbach, Stiaisny, Jan Galbavy. The printing shop of "Slovak v Amerike" was also growing. An announcement was made on August 5, 1915 that it had acquired a new linotype, a model 14 - multiple magazine linotype machine, manufactuJred by Mergenthaler Linoty;pe Company, Brooklyn, New York. On December 16, 1915 red ink was used for t!he first time in a headline: "Allies Fortify City of Salonika". Never again did "Slova;k v Amerike" use red ink in its headlines. No further technical changes occured in the publi<!ation of the daily "Slovak v Amerike". APPENDIX THE CIRCULATION OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE"l Year 1889-1893 1894 1895 Listed Under Sclavonic Sclavonic Circulation Not available 3,000 Not a vaila'ble �50 SLOVAKIA 1896 1897-1899 1900 1901-1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911-1918 Sclavonic-Slo:venic Slavonic and Slovenic Siavonic and Slovenic Slavonic and Slovenic Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovak Slovak Slovak 4,000 Not available 8,900 Not available 20,000 20,000 30,000 Not available 30,000 36,000 Not available FOOTNOTES l. N. W. Ayer & Sons, DIRIDCTORY O,F PERIODICALS, (Philadelphia, 1894-1918). NEWSIPAPERS ANID BIBLIOGRAPHY Autonomlst, An . S'LO¥AKIA'S PLEA F10R A,UTONO>MY. N . p., Slovak Literary Society, 1,935. Ayer, N. W. & Sons. DIRElCTORY OF NEWSPAiP.ERiS AND PIDRIODICALS. Philadelphia, 1894-19-18. Bonsal, Stephen. SUITORS ANID SUPRLIANTS; 'I1HE LITTLE N.AT~ONS AT ¥ERSAILIJES. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1946. Capek, Thomas. THE SlJOVA~S OF HUNGARY. New York, The Knicker-Bocker Press, 1906. Culen, Konstantin. JANKO SIJOV·ENSKY. Winnipeg, Kanadsky Slovak, 1954. Durcansky, Ferdinand. PiOHI'..AiD NA SLOVENSKU POLITICKU MINULOST. Bratislava, By the author, 1943. Kohn, Hans. PANSLAVI-SM. Notre Dame, Ind ., Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1953. Lengyel, Emil. Al\f•E lRlCANS F1RIOM HUNGA!RY. P1hiladelphla, Llppincobt, 1948. Mackenzie, Compton. DR. BfilNiE~. London, Harrap, 1946. Mraz, Andrej . DEJIINY SIJOY.ENSKEJ LIT,ERATUiRY. Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slovaca, 1948. NEW YORKSKY DElNNiK, June, 1936. (New York) Palickar, Stephen J. SLO¥AKJI.A!N CULTURE . Cambridge, Mass., Hempshire Press, 19:H. Seton,Watson, R . W. A HISTORY OF '11HE CZEJCHS ANiD SLOVAKS. New York, Hutchinson, 1943. Seton-Watson, R. W . MASAIRYK IN ENGLAND. Cambridge, Engl., Univ. Press, 1943. Sidor, Karol. SLOVACI V ZAIH!RAiNICNOM ODBOJI. Bratislava, By the author, 1928. SLOVAK V AMIDRIKE, 1905-1918. New York. Yurchak, Peter: T,H,E SLOVAKS; THEllR HISTORY AND TRADITION . Whioting, Ind., J. J. Lach, 194-6. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1965, Vol. 15 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965. 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 1965 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 William Kana, M. A . THE OLDEST SLOV.AJK NEWSP.AJPIDR IN 'TIRE U.S.A. "Slovaik v Amerike" is the oldest Slovak newspaper continuously published in the United States. It has survived seventy-five hard years in the service of Slovaik immigrants who were hungry for news from ,theiir native Slovakia as well as fur the news of their adopted !homeland. Slovak journalism in the United States was launched on October 21, 1886 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the publication of "Amerikan,szko.,S,zlovensZJke Noviny" (The Amerioan SlovaJk News) . 'I'he ipubHsher of this newspaper was Janka Slovensky, who served at the time as a clerk in the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Pi,ttsburgn. 'I'he second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called "Nova Vlasf" ('Dhe New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streaitor, Illinois. It merged with "AmerikianszkoSzlovenszke Noviny" shortly after it appeared. At that time, an era when the Slovak nation wais being severely oppressed by the government of Budapest, the free ,p ress in America provided political refugees and emigrants with information about happenings in Slovakia as well ,as in the United States. The town of Plymouth, Pennsylvia.nia is the cradle of "Slovak v Ameri-ke", whi~h is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaiper in the world. As American history is connected with the City of Plymouth, Massachusetts, so the history of tlle Slovafos in the United States is closely related to this Pennsylvanian town. The founder of "Slovak v Amerike" was Albert S. Ambrose. He describes the beginnings of this newspaper in the June 1936 issues of "New Yorksky Dennik" (The New York Daily). In Plymouth, Pennsylvania the Reverend Joseph Kossalko had published a newspaiper called "Zastava" (The Flag) in a pro-Hungarian spirit and in the Eastern Slovak dialect, a venture which lasted only nine months. After t'he demise of "Za:stava" Edmund Gretschell, an immigrant from Silesia, bought its printing press from Reverend SLOVAKIA 39 Kossaliko. He planned to establish a printing business of his own among the Sloviarks living in Plymouth. However, these immigrants were workers and laborer~, who rarely needed such work, and his lack of facility in writing English precluded his doing any extensive business with the English-speaking re&idents of the town. Albert Ambrose proofreaJCl the Siovak and English ,p rintings, and from this business association grew 1::he idea of publishtng a newspaper for Slovaiks in Pennsylvania. The need wais great: Slovaks in America did not understand English, and furthermore, American newspapers pu1blished little news from their homeland. The first issue of "Slovak v Amerike", •r eleased on December 21, 1889, had only four pages. 'Ilhe most interesting part of the whole issue was the editorial, wihich read in part: "We have come to the conclusion that there is a need for a purely Slovak cultural newspaper. We have therefore decided to publish one. The purpose of t,h is newspaper will be : 1. To lead our countrymen; to help them; to propagate love among them; to educrute them. 2. To publish some entertaining stories for children, so as to encourage them to read Slovak at home, it being lmpossi•ble for them to study their mother's tongue in the schools . The first issue is small. Growth of the newspaper will depend on you. Arouse your eyes from sleep and darkness, and follow the voice of your country. Otherwise your descendants will curse you for not caring for yourself, your soul, and the welfare o! your country" . "Slovak v Amerike" wa~ Ambrose's property, but Gret.schell was its publisher. At aibout this time John Gostony, a resident of Bhoen1xville, Pennsylvania, was planning to publish a Slovak new~paper, and :h e asked Ambrose to ,become its editor. They signed a contract agreeing that the new publisher of "Slovak v Amerike" would be Gostony, and its editor would be Ambrose. Gretschell could continue to ,print the paper, if he should be willing to move ibis shop to Phoenixville. Greteohell agreed and itlhe newspaper was moved to Phoenixville. The new company hired as typeietters two young Slovaks, Frano Razny and Ferdinand Ursiny, who had learned their trade in tlrn printery of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. When Ambrose left Phoenixville in the fall of 1890 40 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Pucher Cernovodsky became editor of "Slovak v Amerlke". Subsequently Jan Spevak -became owner and editor of "Slovak v Amerike", and under his direction notable gains were made in circulation. Spevak had emigrated to the United States in 1887. He first worked in a printing shop in Pittsburgh, and later came to Phoenixville to work for "Slovak v Amerike". He made many innovations, the most important being the change from the Eastern dialect to standard Slovak. He retained the original humorous column "R1p and Racik" for Eastern Slovaks. The charges of former publisher Gostony that the change in language WaJS sudden ahd that the newspaper therefore lost many subscribers 1are not substantiated by the facts. Statistics in Ayer's "Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals" actually disclose an increiase in the nuimber of sUJbscribers. For example "Slovak v Amerike" had 3,000 subscribers in 1894, but eleven years later, in 1905, when Spevak died, it had grown to 20,000 subscribers. Another of Spevak's innovations was more news from Slovakia, literally transcribed from "Narodnie Noviny". Naturally the news was old, because the newspaper from Slova!kia arrived in the United States one month late. However, this circumstance created no problem: the Slovak immigrant was interested in the substance of the news, not its age. The editors knew the psychology of their readers and therefore they cliassified all news from Slovakia by the province of origin. Later, as the circle of subscribers grew the publishers organized a group of correspondents in Slovaikia to provide original news from different parts of Slovakia. Spevak also published editorials from "Narodnie Noviny", particularly such as carried political significance in the Slovak resistance to the strong onsl,a ughts of Magyari2iation. · After the death of Jan Spevak, owner, publisher and _e ditor of "Slovak v Amerike", on May 31, 1905, his wife carried on for a short Ume as publisher. On June 13, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" announced that the new publishers were Reverend Christopher Leo OrbaC'h, a Lutheran minister, and A. G. Tvrdy. On the editoria.'l page of December 8, 1905 C. L. Orbach and Compa:ny were captioned as publishers. As of December 21, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" was published by C. L. Orbach only. Towards the end of Decem- SLOVAKIA 41 ber 1905 a new pulblishing company bearing an English name came into existence. It was · called the Slovak Press. The company was incorporated on December 30, 1905 in the state of New York. Orbach, Faybik and Molitoris were its incorporators. On January 26, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" listed the following officers: C. L. Orbach, president; Andrew Faybik, vice-president; J. C. Molitoris, secretary. Orbach also held the position of editor-in-chief. Everybody who worked for the newipaper boug,ht some preferred stock with dividends warrantied at 6 % . On February 2, 1906 the front -p age carried a picture of the incorporators. The next editor of "Slovak v Amerike" was Anton Bielek, one-time editor of the old-world newspaper "Katolicke Noviny" (The Catholic News) and "r.udove Noviny" (The People's News), who left his homeland because of political persecution. He aNived in the United States in September 1906 with his family of ten. Bielek's name was well known to American Slovaiks. He had written a history of the Slovak people, which was published in Pittsburgh by the Slovak National Society in 1897. It is altogether likely that Orbaoh 1he1ped finance his trip to the United States and had offered him tJhe post of editor in the newspaper. Bielek's first editorial appeared on October 2, 1906: "I will defend the people agains,t persecution, I will teach the truth, I will guide our readers to a pious life, I will call a nd cry: give the workers a dec ent way of life; I will rais e a cry ror freedom, ror education and for enlightenment. I will be an enemy of the slave drivers and of the destroyers of the people, an enemy of darkness; I will not change the purpose of my work, and always I will have as my aim: the welfare of ,tlhe Slovak people." Under the editorsh1p of Anton Bielek "Slovak v Amerike" published several criticisms of the cultural stagnation of Slovaks in the United States. On April 2, 1907 Bielek says in his editorial: "We have many societies, but no libraries. We have no educational lectures. We lack nobility of purpose." Editor Bielek was also responsible for organizing the so-oalled indignation meetings against Hungarian oppression of Slovaks in their homeland. These meetings were •held in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Olyphant, Pa., Schenectady, N. Y., Houtzdale, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and in other American towns. 42 SLOVAKIA The editorials of "Slovak v Amerike" reflected the varied needs and problems of Slovaks in America. The editors fully participated in and O'bserved American life. They avoided the atmosphere of a national ghetto. When a league against foreigners was organized in Chicago "Slovaik v Amerike" prnmptly editorialized against its purposes: " ... America should be grateful to foreigners for their ·s ervices, especially for the heavy la1bor whic:h forms the ba:sis for other, lighter work ... " (March, 1910). "Slovak v Amerike" was panslavistically oriented. The editors anticipated that Slovak liberation would come from Russian Cziardom. This policy was reflected in the newspaper. The editors rose to the defense of all Slav:s in reaction to Woodrow Wilson's statement in his "History of the American People" (Volume 5, Page 212), in which he advocates forbidding Slavic immigration to the United States. (November 3, 1910). At the beginning of World War I the daily "Slovak v Amerike" cautioned Slovaks to keep out of the war against Slavdom (July 31, 1914). American Slovaks in the years 1914-1915 had strong pro-Russian sympathies. The roots of this Russophilism lay in the desperate plight of the Slovaks - in Hungary in the face of severe Magyarizia.tion. During this period ~he editors of "Slovak v Am~rike" had no clear image of the direction which the Slov:aks, in Europe ought to take to .resolve their national plig,ht. Their first concern wa:s total liberiation from Hungarian rule. 'Dhomas Capek, •a prominent Czech of New· York City, speaking at a great meeting of Slavs held in New York on January 17, 1915, under the chairmanship of Michael I . Pupin, made the following remarks about the Slovak situation: "The Slovaks, as 'they work for their independence, face three a lternatives: 1. They can seek complete freedom. 2. They can join politically with the Magyars. 3. They can assure their future with their brotherly tribe, the Czechs." (Slovak v Amerike, J anuary 20, 1915). The political struggle with the Hungarians and negotiations with Czech spokesmen, were reflected faithfully in the newspaper. Devotion to truth in newspaper report- SLOVAKIA 43 ing was expressed in an editorial at the outbreak of the war: "Our duty to God ,and before the face of the world is to present tr.uthful news." ("Slovak v Amerike", August 27, 1914). "Slovak v Amerrke" preserves a record of historical events affecting Slovaks not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Czech politicians were interested in Slovakia mainly for three reasons: 1. Bohemia would become larger if united with Slov,akia; 2. The Czechs would acquire a bridge to Russia; 3. In the United States Slovak immigrants far outnumbered the Czechs, and as a result they represented a large financial potentiial for underwriting the liberation movement. The extent of the Slovak community in the United States was reflected by statistics published in "Slovak v Amerike" on August 27, 1907, which broke down immigration figures for the years 1898-1904 as follows: SLOVAKS 173,775, Irish 199,799, Italians 929,308, Polish 338,741, ,and Bohemians 34,444. "Slovak v Amerike" jealously guarded the right of Slovaks to their national identity. Slovaks in America were greatly disturbed by a statement in a Czech manifesto which defined the Slovak people as ,an integral part of the Bohemian nation. On April 5, 1915 "Slovak T Amerike" answered this manifesto on its editorial page. Ivan Daxner, secretary o! the Slovak League of America, wrote in "Slovak v Amerrke" on April 14, 1915: "From the ve ry beginning the Czech political manifesto carefully avoided r eferring to the Slovak people as a. NtATION. Later they dearly an d unequivocally declared that only ,th e Slovak people and the Bohemian race together could form a nation." The editors were so eager to serve truth that they even published an editorial from a Hungarian newspaper "Amerikai Magyar Nepszava" on the problems of minorities in Hungary (June 22, 1915). However, the resolution of these problems was pretty well tied to the outcome of the war: the editors were familiar with Allied opinion about the Austro-Hungarian Empire - this jail of nations was to be dismantled. "Slovak v Amerike" supported American policy and American war efforts. On March 16, 1917 it started to publish ,a column titled "Loyal Slovaks" in whioh it featured letters from readers expres~ing support for the war effort of the United States. 44 SLOVAKIA The Cleveland Agreement between the Slovak League of Amerka and the Czech National Alliance was extensively discussed in seve:r,al issues of "Slovak v Amerike". On February 27, 1916 "Slovak v Amerike" published an account of the Congress of the Slovak League held in Chicago on February 22 and 23, 1916. In this article Gustav Marshall-Petrovsky recommended that the Congress send representatives to Europe to discuss the developing situi,tion with Slovak and Czech leaders. Gustav Kosik and Stefan Osusky were •c ommissioned to this task by the Slovak League, and they left for Europe - Kosik on May 29, 1916, and Osusky on May 31. Their purpose was to investigate all Slovak and Czech committees and to determine whether they worked in the spirit of the Cleveland Agreement between .t he Slovaks and the Czechs. After Kosik returned to the United States from Russia, the American Slovaks started a one million dollar fundraising campaign for the liberation of Slovakia. On May 23, 1917 "Slovak v Amerike" said: "It is believed that iat lea:st one million Slovaks live in the United States. If eac<h of them were to contribute but one dollar, we would have a million." Among the Czechs were many pan-Czechists who sought the formation of a Great Pan-Czeohia. They acted in disregard of the rights of the Slovak nation. Seton-Watson writes that great indignation was aroused among Slovaks when Thomas Masaryk, acting in the capacity of president of the Czecho-Slovak Council, sent a confidential memorandum to the English government which stated that "the Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their use of their dialect as a literary language." Later, when 1:lhe Slovaks of Russia and America withdrew their support of the Czecho-Slovak Council, Masaryk worked frantically to regain their support. After all, the Slovaks in America had financed the whole liberation movement. Miasaryk himself ,p acified the Slovaks of Russia with .the Moscow Agreement (August 15, 1917), and the American Slovaks with the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918, in which he gave broad -assuramces of recognition of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" printed several long articles about the meeting in Pittsburgh between Slovaks and Czechs, SLOVAKIA 45 under the chairmanship of Thomas Masaryk (June 6, 7, and 8, 1918). It wrote more about the pact on June 28, 1918: "Some of our brothers feared that the Czechs were not sincere in their dealings with us, and that they planned to ,Czechize us later. Our brothers protested against the statements of some shortsig,hted and badly-informed Czechs thwt the Slovaks are only a branch or the Bohemian nation, and that the •Slovak language is only a dialect of Czech. Our standpoint is that the Slovaks are not merely an appendix of the Czech nation, but •t hat they themselves constitute an individual nation." The Pittsburgh Pact was one of ijhe hottest political issues of the Czecho-Slovak Republic during the first twenty years of its existence. American Slovaks did what tJhey could for the liberation of their homeland. The Czechs failed to fulfil both their agreements with the Slov,2Jks, and their promises to the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference. The end of the war brought to a close the political struggle with the Magyars and saw the beginning of a new struggle - against Czech encroachments of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" guided Slovak thought and effort in this battle with as much vehemence as it had previously devoted to the battle with Austro-Hungarian suppression. TECHNICAL NOTES ON THE FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENT OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1905 Masthead: Slovak v Ameri:ke (in the English translation: Slovak American). Subtitle: A Laborite and National Newspaper. Motto: Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law. On the left side of tJhe masthead, written in Slovak: Founded in 1889. "Slovak v Amerike" is an independent, genuinely Slovak national paper, published every Tuesday and Friday. The purpose of this newspaper is to defend with dignity, to teach, and to amuse the Slovak people living in the United States of America. The surbscr1ption price for one ye•ar is $2.00; for half a year $1.00. Send all letters and money to this address: Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York, N. Y. 46 SLOVAKIA On the right side of the masthead, written in English, appears: Established in 1889. Slovak v Amerike, published every Tuesday and Friday, is the only Slovak Newspaper in the Metropolis and its vicinity, and is the largest and sole SIDMI-WEEKLY in the United States. It reaches every state in the Union and Canada and has the largest circulation of any newspaiper among Slovaiks, or so-called Hungarians, in the new world. Inasmuch as all the other Slovak newspapers are weeklies, Slovak v Amerike is the best advertising medium. Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York City. Telephone: 2466 Orchard. Under the semicircle of the titular caption "Slovak v Amerike" there is a picture depicting on the left side two miners, and on the right side a farmer plowing with two horses, and in the background a farmhouse. In the middle of the picture appear two figures: on the left a man in Slovak national costume holding a flag, and on the right a young woman depicting Freedom, with an American flag. Between them stands an eagle. THE MASTHEAD OF " SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1906 In 1906 the newspaper changed its masthead: under "Slovak v Amerike" there appeared a Slovak peasant couple dressed in Slovak national costume; in front of the couple is an eagle with two flags, one American, the other Slovak, stri,p ed in white blue and red. Behind th~ couple rise the three Slovak mountain peaks of the Slovaik coat-of-arms, and above them shines the sun. On the left side of the picture appea.rs a farmer ,s owing grain; on the right a miner. To the side of the central picture there is a short note d escribing the services offered by the newspaper. "Slovak v Amerike" flourished with the establishment of the new publishing company. On November 23, 1906 it announced the acquisition of a new ,p rinting press from the Goss Printing Press Company. The editor-in-chief was happy to have the new machine: ''With the avalanche of immigration Slovak business grows, too. In i.America nobody who works, who is industrious, has cause to fear bun~er, because h e can face the future confidently." SLOVAKIA 47 There were many varied advertisements featured in "Slovak v Amerike". Banks, travel bureaus, physicians, real estate agencies, taverns, funeral homes, hotels, photographers, jewellers, pharmacists . . . all found it desirable to advertize there. The attractiveness of the newspaper was enhanced with diversified pictures, both photogrruphs and drawings. It was ia big event when the first photographic picture appeared in the July 6, 1906 issue. The influence of American newspapers is noticeable in some less significant news. On April 3, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" pictured ,s even ladies's hats with the commentary that for the first time in its i6 year existence it was publishing something exciting for the ladies. On January 11, 1907 the newspaper was printed for the first time on a huge new rotary press. THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1910 With business increasing the purblishers planned to improve the newspaper not only in content but also in appearance. On March 8, 1910 "Slovak v Amerike" appeared wi!h. a new masthead. In the center were two figures, one depicting a Slovak youth ·with a "Valaska" (hatcbet) and the Slovak flag, 1:Jhe other a young woman, symbolizing A· merica, with the American flag. Between them stands an eagle guarding the respective coat-of-arms. Above the eagle hovers the rising sun. · On the left side is a miner, on the right a farmer in the act of plowing. Captioned above is the title of the newspaper: Slovak v Amerike: below, in English: Slovak American. On · the left side of the masthead is inscribed the slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National N_e wspaper); on the right side: "Spasa narodna ,bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the nation's salvation be the highest law.) 1911 was a memorable year for "Slovak v Amerike''.. On April 4, 1911 the complete business, including the printing shop, was transferred to permanent quarters in a newly acquired building at 166 Ave. A., New York City. In the following year "Slovak v Amerike" acquired a new printing machine, manufactured by Goss Company, New York and Chicago, for $8,000.00. 48 SLOVAKIA THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1912 With the new machine the masthead of the newspaper was changed again. The ·c entral figure in the new masthead was a girl sitting with a book, who symbolized Slovakia. She leans with her left arm on a globe of Amerioa. Under the globe is an American flag. On the right side stands a boy with a liberty forch, ,and next to him a globe of Europe. The boy holds a hammer in his right hand and under his feet is a worm-wheel. Between the two figures is an eagle holding the coat-of-arms of America and Slovakia. On the left side of the central picture there is a panorama of New York City; on the right a farmer and two miners are depicted in an oblong picture. Captioned above is the inscriiption: Slovak v Amerike; below: Slovak American. Semi~weekly, 166 Ave. A., New York, N. Y. On the left side is the old slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National newspaper); on the right side the motto: "Spa.sa :narodna 1bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law.) Not long after the change in quarters came another change in editors. On March 26, 1912 "Slovak v Amerike" published the names of the whole personnel-staff of the newspa;per and the print shop. C. L. Orbach was listed as president and editor-in-chief. Associate editors were: Jan Culen and Karol Still!sny. The newspaper now introduced the services of a travel agency and ia law department, including a notary public. It was a natural and useful step forward. Many immigrants had no acquaintances but their factory friends and roommates. They were in need of these ser vices to send money to their wives in Slovakia, or tickets for pll!ssage to the United States. This business expanded and with time branches were established in Yonkers, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Wallington, New Jersey; and Hooversville, Pennsylv,ania. T4ere were also changes in the staff. Culen left and only Orbach and Stiasny r emained as editors. On November 13, 1913 "Slovak v Amerike" published the following important news: SLOVAKIA 49 On January 1, 1914 Slovak v Amerike will be published daily on four pa,ges, except once a week, when it will appear on eight pages. In the masthead of the newspa,per wais a small change: the Slovak word "Dennik" (Daily) was placed over the panorama of New York City, and over the drawing of the farmer and miner was pl aced the English word "Daily". On January 10, 1914 "Slovak v Amerike" quoted from an editorial in the Slovak newspaper "Hlas" (The Voice) from Cleveland: 1 On January first "Slov:ik v Amerike" became a daily. We now h.av,e four dailies in America, and two more are in prepa ration. The Slovaks are progressing faster in the United States than in tihe old country, where they have only one daily and even this one has a hard tim e surviving. On April 1, 1915 "Slovak v Amerike" aippeared with a new masthead. The new version was similar to the old, except that the lateral figures were dropped. A few days later there was a big turnover in the editorial office. On November 6, 1915 the following editors were listed: Orbach, Stiasny; on November 8, Orbaoh, Stiasny, Culen; on November 9, Orbach, Stiasny; on November 11, Orbach, Stiaisny, Jan Galbavy. The printing shop of "Slovak v Amerike" was also growing. An announcement was made on August 5, 1915 that it had acquired a new linotype, a model 14 - multiple magazine linotype machine, manufactuJred by Mergenthaler Linoty;pe Company, Brooklyn, New York. On December 16, 1915 red ink was used for t!he first time in a headline: "Allies Fortify City of Salonika". Never again did "Slova;k v Amerike" use red ink in its headlines. No further technical changes occured in the publi<!ation of the daily "Slovak v Amerike". APPENDIX THE CIRCULATION OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE"l Year 1889-1893 1894 1895 Listed Under Sclavonic Sclavonic Circulation Not available 3,000 Not a vaila'ble 50 SLOVAKIA 1896 1897-1899 1900 1901-1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911-1918 Sclavonic-Slo:venic Slavonic and Slovenic Siavonic and Slovenic Slavonic and Slovenic Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovak Slovak Slovak 4,000 Not available 8,900 Not available 20,000 20,000 30,000 Not available 30,000 36,000 Not available FOOTNOTES l. N. W. Ayer & Sons, DIRIDCTORY O,F PERIODICALS, (Philadelphia, 1894-1918). NEWSIPAPERS ANID BIBLIOGRAPHY Autonomlst, An . S'LO¥AKIA'S PLEA F10R A,UTONO>MY. N . p., Slovak Literary Society, 1,935. Ayer, N. W. & Sons. DIRElCTORY OF NEWSPAiP.ERiS AND PIDRIODICALS. Philadelphia, 1894-19-18. Bonsal, Stephen. SUITORS ANID SUPRLIANTS; 'I1HE LITTLE N.AT~ONS AT ¥ERSAILIJES. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1946. Capek, Thomas. THE SlJOVA~S OF HUNGARY. New York, The Knicker-Bocker Press, 1906. Culen, Konstantin. JANKO SIJOV·ENSKY. Winnipeg, Kanadsky Slovak, 1954. Durcansky, Ferdinand. PiOHI'..AiD NA SLOVENSKU POLITICKU MINULOST. Bratislava, By the author, 1943. Kohn, Hans. PANSLAVI-SM. Notre Dame, Ind ., Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1953. Lengyel, Emil. Al\f•E lRlCANS F1RIOM HUNGA!RY. P1hiladelphla, Llppincobt, 1948. Mackenzie, Compton. DR. BfilNiE~. London, Harrap, 1946. Mraz, Andrej . DEJIINY SIJOY.ENSKEJ LIT,ERATUiRY. Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slovaca, 1948. NEW YORKSKY DElNNiK, June, 1936. (New York) Palickar, Stephen J. SLO¥AKJI.A!N CULTURE . Cambridge, Mass., Hempshire Press, 19:H. Seton,Watson, R . W. A HISTORY OF '11HE CZEJCHS ANiD SLOVAKS. New York, Hutchinson, 1943. Seton-Watson, R. W . MASAIRYK IN ENGLAND. Cambridge, Engl., Univ. Press, 1943. Sidor, Karol. SLOVACI V ZAIH!RAiNICNOM ODBOJI. Bratislava, By the author, 1928. SLOVAK V AMIDRIKE, 1905-1918. New York. Yurchak, Peter: T,H,E SLOVAKS; THEllR HISTORY AND TRADITION . Whioting, Ind., J. J. Lach, 194-6.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Oldest Slovak Newspaper in the U.S.A. Description An account of the resource William Kona, M.A. Slovakia, Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965 pp. 38-50 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kona, Viliam, 1920-1989 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/3a823f2f39ca0ebe74a15054e883f343.pdf b4b83f53dbab03ee2267a07c3949cb2e PDF Text Text 56 SLOVAKIA Reflections on the Downfall of Communism and the Transition to Capitalism Jan Chryzostom Cardinal Korec (Address of His Eminence on the Occasion of the Conferral on him of the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, by Sacred Heart University, Bridgeport, CT February 22, 1992) Eminences, Excellencies, Reverend Fathers, Mr. President, venerable members of the Board of Trustees, professors, students, honourable guests, dear American friends, beloved Slovak compatriots! I would like to say a few words about my life in bondage over the last forty years, and about our current search for a new way of life in our reborn democracy. I will not address you as a teacher--you have here excellent professors and competent lecturers. Instead, I would like to bear witness to an experience which did not arise from academia, but from sweatshops where I labored for the last twenty years, and from jail cells which I and others inhabited during our fight against the forces of totalitarianism. I was secretly consecrated a bishop during severe persecutions forty years ago, in a time when the prisons were overcrowded, and people were being executed. At that time I tried to promote a Christian way of life, especially among students and families. As a worker, I clandestinely wrote books that are still �SLOVAKIA 57 being read today-books that defended life and faith in order to raise people's hopes and spread the message of love. Only today do we realize how many things we were deprived of by the Marxist-atheists for forty years, and how backward we are today. Our teachers lack solid knowledge, the new politicians do not have the necessary experience of life, many writers are mindless, others have no conscience or character. We live in a country whose ecology and spiritual life has been devastated. We face the huge task of educating a new generation of young people, fathers and mothers, intellectuals and leaders of the nation. It will have to be an all-embracing education, which will not consider people to be merely cogs in a machine, or mute faces in the hands of powerful dictators and tyrants. Such an education will have to seek its inspiration in the Gospels, in our only true teacher Jesus Christ, and in our mother Church, which has experienced the true Spirit of God for twenty centuries. As we approached the end of the twentieth century, we were surprised by unexpected events. Communism collapsed in most of the world. This collapse was preceded by the disintegration of an artificial and inhumane ideology which had propped it up. Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, the president of Germany, recently said at a symposium in Bratislava that, "The year 1989 will never be forgotten. Six states in eastern Europe experienced revolutions that led to their freedom. In five of these countries, it happened without any bloodshed, which is unique in history. This road to freedom is an unforseen and exciting gift. But, in the long run, it is in danger. 11 Mr. Weizsacker then expressed some concerns about this freedom: Economic freedom became one of the most important events. But, does the market economy solve social problems? Is it able, for instance, to prevent our living space from being destroyed? The social and economic order, as well as that of our living space, are determined within the framework of the �58 SLOVAKIA state. But there is not only one state in the world. It is humanity as a whole that must face the problems of the modem world. But how? The first necessity is to change people's consciousness. Thus, Germany's president has also expressed the main goal of education--to change people's way of thinking about themselves and the world in which they live. Economic freedom alone cannot solve our problems. The market economy is essentially restricted in itself--because of the egoism of its practitioners. This danger was revealed very emphatically in all of the papal social encyclicals, including the "Centesimus Annus." It's one thing to be ambitious and diligent; it's quite another to be egotistical. The latter is a menace to every community. Egoism, which rejects concern for one's neighbor, is not only un-Christian, but it is inhuman and even stupid. Society cannot be better than the capacity of all its members to look at each other respectfully. This is man's fundamental calling. If we have to create new laws, then let us do so with the goal of changing people's minds and consciences. This is the mission of the Church. Just as the market economy will not save us in our new-found freedom, so too will technology not save us. Technology is dangerous if it does not consider the good of all nations and of all of humankind. That is why we need a good moral education, in addition to technical expertise, in order to change our ways of thinking. In eastern Europe there exist nations, which were almost destroyed by Communism, that are experiencing a rebirth. It is important to note that this is not a re-awakening of the "masses," but of nations. This is a phenomenon that is not always acknowledged or understood in the west. For us it is very evident. Once there existed only tribes, towns, principalities and empires. After �SLOVAKIA 59 that nations with a Christian tradition were formed. Today the term "nation" is unavoidable. The French, the Germans and the Italians are nations. The Croats and the Slovaks are nations as well. The largest organization in the world bears the name "United Nations." It is a natural right and desire of every nation to be independent. This right is also embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. We know that Communism tried to be international but it did not work. Communist internationalism nearly destroyed our country's national traditions and devastated our lives. Now our nation has experienced a revival and has rediscovered its Christian tradition. Nations, as such, must not succumb to chauvinism. They must be open to each other, without barbed-wire frontiers, and they must also develop a mutual exchange of spiritual and economic goods. This should hold true not only in a united Europe, but in a united world. Since 1948 in central and eastern Europe we experienced a harsh rule of selfish and unscrupulous regimes that considered people as mere cogs in machines. Everything was moral which served those in power. Everybody had to accept Marxist ideology. Those who refused lost their jobs because the state was the only employer. The Communist Party directed the school curriculum, controlled radio and television programs, as well as the press and culture in general. The Church was regarded as Communism's greatest enemy. All of its institutionsmonasteries, schools, seminaries and publishing houses-were closed. Almost all the bishops, many priests and laypersons were imprisoned, and the Greek Catholic Church was dissolved. In this situation, at the age of 27, I was secretly consecrated a bishop in 1951. For the next 20 years I lived the life of a worker. Since the visible Church was controlled by the Communists, I did my religious work underground. Meanwhile, the cruelty of the regime spread. Even Communist ministers were imprisoned! Everybody suspected everybody else. Many people informed on �60 SLOVAKIA each other. In this way, the atheistic regime poisoned our lives. Politicians ruled in the name of the "working class," but from my experience as a worker I can attest to the fact that the workers toiled in dirty factories while the ruling class lived in palaces, villas and hunting lodges. Any kind of criticism was dangerous, and many critics were executed. When in 1960 I was discovered and sentenced to twelve years of prison for my pastoral work, I met six other bishops and 200 priests in jail! After the failure of the experiment to create "socialism with a human face" in 1968, resistance against totalitarianism began in earnest. Some former Communists, who had fallen into disgrace, became dissidents, but their number was small. The main resistance to Communism in Slovakia was still organized by believers. They defended the dignity of the human person, and demanded the freedom to educate their children as they pleased. They risked a lot. Many were imprisoned, faced discrimination at school, in their professions and in public life in general. They could not teach, become historians or philosophers, were never given any responsible jobs, whether in civilian life or in the army. But, they did not give up. They met in the privacy of their homes, or in the woods. Later on they participated 'en masse' in pilgrimages, sometimes attracting over 200,000 followers! On March 25th, 1988, many thousands held a public prayer-meeting at Hviezdoslav square in Bratislava. They were attacked by police armed with truncheons and water-cannons. A Marxist dissident described it as a unique manifestation because it was not for better wages but rather for human rights. State atheism, with its cruelty and emptiness, had awakened the force of faith and the immense dynamism of the Church! The fight for freedom and human rights in our country was closely linked with the defense of the nation and its Christian traditions. Nowadays it quite often happens that the reality which �SLOVAKIA 61 we call a nation is regarded with suspicion. In our country the existence of the nation always fulfilled, and continues to fulfil, a positive role. Pope John Paul II had a similar experience in Poland and he expressed it to UNESCO in the following words: I am the son of a nation that has overcome the most horrible experience in history .. .It has preserved its Christian identity ... only with the help of its own national culture which has proved to be stronger than any other numerical superiority ... This is not a remote echo of nationalism, but a permanent element of human experience and humanistic perspective on the whole subsequent development of man! Eastern Europe was quite fortunate to find, at first, individuals, then groups, and finally hundreds and thousands of people who resisted the humiliation of Communism. At first, after 1948, there were only tiny pockets of resistance among believers. A great many, however, resisted quietly, but firmly. In 1946 the anti-Communist Democratic Party won 62% of the vote in Slovakia. Now, in 1991, 65% of the population of Slovakia reported that they were practicing Catholics. What helped our people to keep their faith during the last 40 years of persecution? There are several reasons. The proclamation of Sts. Cyril and Methodius as co-parton Saints of Europe by Pope John Paul II in 1980 certainly helped. Indeed, the interventions of Pope Paul VI and John Paul II, who publicly addressed us on several occasions, gave us great encouragement. By citing the Gospels, the Church defended humanity and freedom, and it helped the workers to stand up against the only employer under Communism, the state with all of its power. What can we learn from our experiences? Marxism brought with it only totalitarianism and inhumanity. A person can develop his real abilities and his moral being only if he is free. �62 SLOVAKIA Communism interpreted this freedom as submitting oneself to the necessity of history. This necessity was determined by a few leaders of the Party. Everyone else had to obey and fill the quotas. Hatred became the principle of life. The enemy of the working class had to be destroyed, even if that enemy was your father, your brother or sister. Human life in such a system became slavery. The roots of morality were severed by atheism. People became an anonymous herd, in the beginning filled with enthusiasm and many promises, later becoming cowardly, and finally frightened and powerless in the merciless grip of the well-paid police. During the era of Communism, people lost their individuality. Children did not belong to their parents, but to the state. The student was not allowed to think independently. He had to embrace the convictions of the state. He had to be an atheist. Only atheists were allowed to become teachers, professors, military officers, government officials, and so on. Therefore, some people conformed to the system, others played along, and society was deformed. People were not allowed to o._wn property, or even to possess themselves. In public everybody had to speak the language of the state. So, people were alienated. Only in private could people speak their minds. The following joke summed it up: At a political screening, an employee was asked for his reaction to a recent government measure. He professed to agree with it. His bosses wanted him to elaborate. He answered, "Even if I had an opinion, I could not agree with it!" Nobody could publicly agree with his own convictions. This state of permanent hypocrisy was terrible. But what is offered to us in the post-Communist era? Some people think it is liberalism in its economic, political, cultural and ethical forms. What does this mean? If it means "everything goes," it is but another route to the cemetery. Dostoevski once said that if atheism and life without God took over, it would no �SLOVAKIA 63 longer be possible to determine what is good and what is bad, and in the end everything would be allowed. Communism sanctioned everything, even the murder of tens of thousands of people. Hitler did the same thing. Without God there was no morality. And, without morality, society is destroyed. Dostoevski wrote that, if that moment arrived, such a darkness would come over us that the whole structure would collapse under the burden of human blasphemy. The structure of Communism fell in the same way as Nazism. Whenever life lost its conscience, good and evil lost their meaning. The only measure of morality was usefulness--either to the pure race or to the working-class. What are we offered now? If we conceive of liberalism as a system where everything is allowed, we have a new reason to worry. Francis Fukuzama writes that the fall of Communism does not spell the victory of economic and political liberalism, and therefore, he does not foresee a new golden age for mankind; he even fears the end of history, where the spirit of sacrifice for an ideal or a moral value will perish. The struggle for ideas requiring courage and enthusiasm will be replaced by purely economic calculations and technological solutions. Everything will be concentrated on care for the environment, on consumer claims, and on unlimited entertainment. If Communism maintained that it marked the end of history, and that afterwards there was nothing else to be expected, it represented something like the end of history. Time came to a standstill, the system blocked all new ideas, and dead precepts no longer worked. We withdrew from history for decades. Now that we have abandoned Communism, we can re-enter into history and can help to re-build it. But which road should we now follow? Pure liberalism, as some people assert, is the offer of some kind of new paradise. We are offered the market economy, free enterprise, private ownership, a share in the profits, respect for a plurality of ideas in matters of morality, art, �64 SLOVAKIA culture, and all that goes with them without any inhibitions. We are offered consumer goodies of every kind, starting with food of all sorts, holidays by the sea, as well as pornography and sex without any barriers. Liberal well-being without any limits is being offered to us. And this is supposed to bring us happiness? Our believers did not resist Communist tyranny for this kind of happiness. We resisted in the name of God and for the respect of the human being! Communism failed because it did not understand man, either in his greatness, or in his weakness. At the same time, it sought to create a new man. But it did not. It produced some tyrants, many egotists and a great many cowards. Liberalism, which some people are trying to introduce into our country, is a faulty system which does not understand man, and makes many of the same mistakes as Communism. A man is not a man because he has many choices in what he eats. Consumption is not enough. And, man is a sinner--he can be ferocious, selfish and uncaring. That is why he has to set limits for himself. If he does not do it by himself, then society must do it for him. Therefore, Communism cannot just be replaced by a boundless liberalism where a few thousand people live in luxury, as they had under Communism, while the great majority toil in factories without question. Christianity offers us a much fuller life, one of liberty but guided by our consciences as ordered by God. During the Communist era history seemed to stop. Mankind had reached the last stage of its development, according to Marxist theory. Collective ownership was the key to paradise. But there was no paradise. Instead, there was hell. Stalin gave orders to execute thousands of workers, then hundreds of thousands of his own soldiers, among them Marshal Tuchacevski, and others. Together with Molotov and Lazar M. Kaganovich, he signed a list ordering the execution of about 230,000 people at once! Similar things happened in Poland, Czecho- �SLOVAKIA 65 Slovakia, Hungary, in Cambodia and Ethiopia later on. Man was valued only for his capacity to work. If he disagreed with those in power, he lost his value and was shot. This was the horror of Christian Europe. What was moral and just was what served the so-called working class, and this was decided by three or four people in power. Everybody else trembled with fear, even among co-workers or friends. The atheist totalitarian state tried to buy everyone off, especially the young. It constructed an open morality. It tried to awake base passions. It created slogans such as "Whoever is not with us, is against us!" or "Down with religion! It is the opiate of the people!" and "Man must redeem himself. Paradise is here on earth. The Soviet Union is our model!" It was all done by force. Prisons were overcrowded, labor camps were organized, and false accusations abounded: "collaborator," "saboteur," "enemy of the working-class," "spy," "traitor," "subversive," "reactionary," "clerical," and so on were hurled about. If a worker criticized his master, it was considered an attack upon socialism and the whole Republic. Therefore, workers stayed quiet and were the most wretched class of people. I toiled among them for about twenty-five years, whether at liberty or in prison. In my last job I repaired elevators. The workers I knew had minds of their own, but during official meetings they said not a word. How did this dehumanized life shape our people? It deformed them. It affected families, workers, officials, prisoners and even children, because everyone was encouraged to become an informer! In his Gulag Archipelago Solzhenitsyn describes the effects of this suffocating atheism. In 1955 the writer A.A. Fadeev committed suicide in the USSR. He explained his action in the following words: "The best writers died all too soon ... they did not even make it to age forty or fifty ... My life as a writer has lost its purpose and I am running away from an existence where man is turned over to emptiness and lies." �66 SLOVAKIA The Slovak writer Dominik Tatarka wrote similarly before his death: "All the authorities who were blaspheming God were humiliating us." Another writer who supported the atheistic regime for decades wrote in 1990: "Marxism has been dead for a long time .. .It could not stand up to the social or personal test of time. The blackboard of hope is empty." Still another wrote in 1992 after he was hospitalized: "And suddenly it has dawned! Without being aware of it, you realize that you have changed. Everything that you mocked yesterday you understand today. And you start to enjoy God's blessings in order not to walk alone with empty hands on such a long journey ... " These are no longer complaints. They reflect the search for and the discovery of life in God and His Church. What are our experiences and attitudes after the collapse of 40 years totalitarianism? We face a lot of shortcomings and diseases. But neither the country, not the nation is dead, although they have been severely weakened by many vices. Every society is beset by vices. The important thing is to recognize our vices, and to try to overcome them. The Church, which viewed man as the personification of God, played a major role in the struggle with atheistic regimes. It never ceased to stress the dignity and greatness of the human being, who cannot be altered into an obedient tool of tyrants, or into a mere worker or a powerless sheep in a large herd. Man is born free, made into the image and likeness of God, and is on his way to eternity with Him. The Church has to remind man of his greatness, it must educate and protect him. This is the Church's mission, whether it is practiced at Masses or at universities. This is the only road to true freedom and happiness. During the last forty years we had to fight against atheistic slavery for freedom. Again and again we preached that "Man does not live by bread alone." Without freedom even well-fed people committed suicide. Freedom is not found in material �SLOVAKIA 67 goods, but in people. That is the message we preached. Our goal was always clear, and it was worth every sacrifice. We now face a new problem. Our people are divided on how to interpret and live in the new freedom. That is because two generations were educated in atheistic Marxism. To many intellectuals the idea that man was created in the image of God is a foreign concept. They still conceive of man as a product of his environment. To them it is very difficult to define what is a "conscience," what are "ethics," what is "responsibility" and what is man's goal in life? In such a confused state, they mistake freedom for wilfulness, and decide that everything is permitted. Thus, there are no limits of morality in art, science, in sexual practices, and so on. That is why it is so difficult to have a dialogue with them. That is why we often have to begin it with pragmatic and practical arguments. However, we cannot stop here. We have to convince everyone that it is wrong to attack or to kill someone; it is anti-social and destructive to spread drugs; it is wilful to use guns just as it is forbidden to poison wells. The freedom of the individual has limits; certain principles must be accepted. The state is bound by laws, just as the whole world community is bound by conventions based on moral principles. After a forty-year struggle for the lower limit of freedom, we are now struggling with the upper limit of human freedom. But at which point can man become happy in his freedom? We have learned that not everything that can be done by man is moral. Life teaches us that. I will conclude with a reference to science and technology. If people doubt the validity of Christian principles in matters of abortion or euthanasia, then surely they must face other situations where they are confronted by the matter of morals and ethics. Nowadays we have to ask ourselves if humankind is permitted to do all that it is capable of doing physically with nuclear weapons and biogenetics. We already have international agreements that prohibit the use of chemical �68 SLOVAKIA weapons, that prohibit nuclear testing, and that provide for the gradual reduction of the nuclear arsenal. It is at this point that science runs into religion, and Christianity in particular. A meeting of the two could prove useful in reconciling these opposite poles. In his unrestrained desire for power, man could devastate our planet. This must never happen! Here is where the dialogue between people of good will must begin. A common formulation and elaboration of questions would be a good starting point. Shortly before his death in 1973, the Nobel Prize-winner Werner Heisenberg wrote in Der Tei] und das Ganze (The Part and the Whole): While in our western world we often ask the question what is good and bad, what is worth fighting for and what must be refused, we still run into Christianity's measures of values, even when many people do not understand the images and allegories used by this religion. Should this magnetic force directing the compass of our life ever disappear, then I am afraid that many terrible things would occur, even more terrible than concentration camps and nuclear bombs ... After our experience of life without God for over forty years, we can appreciate these words of warning. Christianity has something to say about man, about nations and about the world. In 1945 Europe was liberated from the horrors of Nazism. But this liberation did not bring us liberty. It brought us a new slavery called Communism. Now we are liberated from this slavery as well. Some of the new programs that are offered to us keep repeating the same mistakes as before. Real freedom is not self-will. This is what threatens us all, whether in the economic sphere or in culture. Our experience tells us that real freedom can only take root in a ground that is based upon truth. And only the �SLOVAKIA 69 truth as revealed by Gcxt will make us free. It is the task of those of us who are believers to spread this truth, and to build our lives upon it in our quest for eternal happiness. This is exactly what your famous University tries to teach, as your president Mr. Cemera wrote to me a few weeks ago: "The University aims to assist in the development of people, knowledge of self, rooted in faith, educated in mind, compassionate in heart, responsive to social and civic obligations, and able to respond to an everchanging world." Envy is a sin and we must avoid it. However, if there exists something outwardly similar, in reality it is admiration and the desire to achieve the same result. In this sense we admire you and your University and in our hearts we long for all that you have here. It is an excellent gift of Gcxt and an important means of education for new generations of scholars. � 56 SLOVAKIA Reflections on the Downfall of Communism and the Transition to Capitalism Jan Chryzostom Cardinal Korec (Address of His Eminence on the Occasion of the Conferral on him of the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, by Sacred Heart University, Bridgeport, CT February 22, 1992) Eminences, Excellencies, Reverend Fathers, Mr. President, venerable members of the Board of Trustees, professors, students, honourable guests, dear American friends, beloved Slovak compatriots! I would like to say a few words about my life in bondage over the last forty years, and about our current search for a new way of life in our reborn democracy. I will not address you as a teacher--you have here excellent professors and competent lecturers. Instead, I would like to bear witness to an experience which did not arise from academia, but from sweatshops where I labored for the last twenty years, and from jail cells which I and others inhabited during our fight against the forces of totalitarianism. I was secretly consecrated a bishop during severe persecutions forty years ago, in a time when the prisons were overcrowded, and people were being executed. At that time I tried to promote a Christian way of life, especially among students and families. As a worker, I clandestinely wrote books that are still �SLOVAKIA 57 being read today-books that defended life and faith in order to raise people's hopes and spread the message of love. Only today do we realize how many things we were deprived of by the Marxist-atheists for forty years, and how backward we are today. Our teachers lack solid knowledge, the new politicians do not have the necessary experience of life, many writers are mindless, others have no conscience or character. We live in a country whose ecology and spiritual life has been devastated. We face the huge task of educating a new generation of young people, fathers and mothers, intellectuals and leaders of the nation. It will have to be an all-embracing education, which will not consider people to be merely cogs in a machine, or mute faces in the hands of powerful dictators and tyrants. Such an education will have to seek its inspiration in the Gospels, in our only true teacher Jesus Christ, and in our mother Church, which has experienced the true Spirit of God for twenty centuries. As we approached the end of the twentieth century, we were surprised by unexpected events. Communism collapsed in most of the world. This collapse was preceded by the disintegration of an artificial and inhumane ideology which had propped it up. Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, the president of Germany, recently said at a symposium in Bratislava that, "The year 1989 will never be forgotten. Six states in eastern Europe experienced revolutions that led to their freedom. In five of these countries, it happened without any bloodshed, which is unique in history. This road to freedom is an unforseen and exciting gift. But, in the long run, it is in danger. 11 Mr. Weizsacker then expressed some concerns about this freedom: Economic freedom became one of the most important events. But, does the market economy solve social problems? Is it able, for instance, to prevent our living space from being destroyed? The social and economic order, as well as that of our living space, are determined within the framework of the �58 SLOVAKIA state. But there is not only one state in the world. It is humanity as a whole that must face the problems of the modem world. But how? The first necessity is to change people's consciousness. Thus, Germany's president has also expressed the main goal of education--to change people's way of thinking about themselves and the world in which they live. Economic freedom alone cannot solve our problems. The market economy is essentially restricted in itself--because of the egoism of its practitioners. This danger was revealed very emphatically in all of the papal social encyclicals, including the "Centesimus Annus." It's one thing to be ambitious and diligent; it's quite another to be egotistical. The latter is a menace to every community. Egoism, which rejects concern for one's neighbor, is not only un-Christian, but it is inhuman and even stupid. Society cannot be better than the capacity of all its members to look at each other respectfully. This is man's fundamental calling. If we have to create new laws, then let us do so with the goal of changing people's minds and consciences. This is the mission of the Church. Just as the market economy will not save us in our new-found freedom, so too will technology not save us. Technology is dangerous if it does not consider the good of all nations and of all of humankind. That is why we need a good moral education, in addition to technical expertise, in order to change our ways of thinking. In eastern Europe there exist nations, which were almost destroyed by Communism, that are experiencing a rebirth. It is important to note that this is not a re-awakening of the "masses," but of nations. This is a phenomenon that is not always acknowledged or understood in the west. For us it is very evident. Once there existed only tribes, towns, principalities and empires. After �SLOVAKIA 59 that nations with a Christian tradition were formed. Today the term "nation" is unavoidable. The French, the Germans and the Italians are nations. The Croats and the Slovaks are nations as well. The largest organization in the world bears the name "United Nations." It is a natural right and desire of every nation to be independent. This right is also embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. We know that Communism tried to be international but it did not work. Communist internationalism nearly destroyed our country's national traditions and devastated our lives. Now our nation has experienced a revival and has rediscovered its Christian tradition. Nations, as such, must not succumb to chauvinism. They must be open to each other, without barbed-wire frontiers, and they must also develop a mutual exchange of spiritual and economic goods. This should hold true not only in a united Europe, but in a united world. Since 1948 in central and eastern Europe we experienced a harsh rule of selfish and unscrupulous regimes that considered people as mere cogs in machines. Everything was moral which served those in power. Everybody had to accept Marxist ideology. Those who refused lost their jobs because the state was the only employer. The Communist Party directed the school curriculum, controlled radio and television programs, as well as the press and culture in general. The Church was regarded as Communism's greatest enemy. All of its institutionsmonasteries, schools, seminaries and publishing houses-were closed. Almost all the bishops, many priests and laypersons were imprisoned, and the Greek Catholic Church was dissolved. In this situation, at the age of 27, I was secretly consecrated a bishop in 1951. For the next 20 years I lived the life of a worker. Since the visible Church was controlled by the Communists, I did my religious work underground. Meanwhile, the cruelty of the regime spread. Even Communist ministers were imprisoned! Everybody suspected everybody else. Many people informed on �60 SLOVAKIA each other. In this way, the atheistic regime poisoned our lives. Politicians ruled in the name of the "working class," but from my experience as a worker I can attest to the fact that the workers toiled in dirty factories while the ruling class lived in palaces, villas and hunting lodges. Any kind of criticism was dangerous, and many critics were executed. When in 1960 I was discovered and sentenced to twelve years of prison for my pastoral work, I met six other bishops and 200 priests in jail! After the failure of the experiment to create "socialism with a human face" in 1968, resistance against totalitarianism began in earnest. Some former Communists, who had fallen into disgrace, became dissidents, but their number was small. The main resistance to Communism in Slovakia was still organized by believers. They defended the dignity of the human person, and demanded the freedom to educate their children as they pleased. They risked a lot. Many were imprisoned, faced discrimination at school, in their professions and in public life in general. They could not teach, become historians or philosophers, were never given any responsible jobs, whether in civilian life or in the army. But, they did not give up. They met in the privacy of their homes, or in the woods. Later on they participated 'en masse' in pilgrimages, sometimes attracting over 200,000 followers! On March 25th, 1988, many thousands held a public prayer-meeting at Hviezdoslav square in Bratislava. They were attacked by police armed with truncheons and water-cannons. A Marxist dissident described it as a unique manifestation because it was not for better wages but rather for human rights. State atheism, with its cruelty and emptiness, had awakened the force of faith and the immense dynamism of the Church! The fight for freedom and human rights in our country was closely linked with the defense of the nation and its Christian traditions. Nowadays it quite often happens that the reality which �SLOVAKIA 61 we call a nation is regarded with suspicion. In our country the existence of the nation always fulfilled, and continues to fulfil, a positive role. Pope John Paul II had a similar experience in Poland and he expressed it to UNESCO in the following words: I am the son of a nation that has overcome the most horrible experience in history .. .It has preserved its Christian identity ... only with the help of its own national culture which has proved to be stronger than any other numerical superiority ... This is not a remote echo of nationalism, but a permanent element of human experience and humanistic perspective on the whole subsequent development of man! Eastern Europe was quite fortunate to find, at first, individuals, then groups, and finally hundreds and thousands of people who resisted the humiliation of Communism. At first, after 1948, there were only tiny pockets of resistance among believers. A great many, however, resisted quietly, but firmly. In 1946 the anti-Communist Democratic Party won 62% of the vote in Slovakia. Now, in 1991, 65% of the population of Slovakia reported that they were practicing Catholics. What helped our people to keep their faith during the last 40 years of persecution? There are several reasons. The proclamation of Sts. Cyril and Methodius as co-parton Saints of Europe by Pope John Paul II in 1980 certainly helped. Indeed, the interventions of Pope Paul VI and John Paul II, who publicly addressed us on several occasions, gave us great encouragement. By citing the Gospels, the Church defended humanity and freedom, and it helped the workers to stand up against the only employer under Communism, the state with all of its power. What can we learn from our experiences? Marxism brought with it only totalitarianism and inhumanity. A person can develop his real abilities and his moral being only if he is free. �62 SLOVAKIA Communism interpreted this freedom as submitting oneself to the necessity of history. This necessity was determined by a few leaders of the Party. Everyone else had to obey and fill the quotas. Hatred became the principle of life. The enemy of the working class had to be destroyed, even if that enemy was your father, your brother or sister. Human life in such a system became slavery. The roots of morality were severed by atheism. People became an anonymous herd, in the beginning filled with enthusiasm and many promises, later becoming cowardly, and finally frightened and powerless in the merciless grip of the well-paid police. During the era of Communism, people lost their individuality. Children did not belong to their parents, but to the state. The student was not allowed to think independently. He had to embrace the convictions of the state. He had to be an atheist. Only atheists were allowed to become teachers, professors, military officers, government officials, and so on. Therefore, some people conformed to the system, others played along, and society was deformed. People were not allowed to o._wn property, or even to possess themselves. In public everybody had to speak the language of the state. So, people were alienated. Only in private could people speak their minds. The following joke summed it up: At a political screening, an employee was asked for his reaction to a recent government measure. He professed to agree with it. His bosses wanted him to elaborate. He answered, "Even if I had an opinion, I could not agree with it!" Nobody could publicly agree with his own convictions. This state of permanent hypocrisy was terrible. But what is offered to us in the post-Communist era? Some people think it is liberalism in its economic, political, cultural and ethical forms. What does this mean? If it means "everything goes," it is but another route to the cemetery. Dostoevski once said that if atheism and life without God took over, it would no �SLOVAKIA 63 longer be possible to determine what is good and what is bad, and in the end everything would be allowed. Communism sanctioned everything, even the murder of tens of thousands of people. Hitler did the same thing. Without God there was no morality. And, without morality, society is destroyed. Dostoevski wrote that, if that moment arrived, such a darkness would come over us that the whole structure would collapse under the burden of human blasphemy. The structure of Communism fell in the same way as Nazism. Whenever life lost its conscience, good and evil lost their meaning. The only measure of morality was usefulness--either to the pure race or to the working-class. What are we offered now? If we conceive of liberalism as a system where everything is allowed, we have a new reason to worry. Francis Fukuzama writes that the fall of Communism does not spell the victory of economic and political liberalism, and therefore, he does not foresee a new golden age for mankind; he even fears the end of history, where the spirit of sacrifice for an ideal or a moral value will perish. The struggle for ideas requiring courage and enthusiasm will be replaced by purely economic calculations and technological solutions. Everything will be concentrated on care for the environment, on consumer claims, and on unlimited entertainment. If Communism maintained that it marked the end of history, and that afterwards there was nothing else to be expected, it represented something like the end of history. Time came to a standstill, the system blocked all new ideas, and dead precepts no longer worked. We withdrew from history for decades. Now that we have abandoned Communism, we can re-enter into history and can help to re-build it. But which road should we now follow? Pure liberalism, as some people assert, is the offer of some kind of new paradise. We are offered the market economy, free enterprise, private ownership, a share in the profits, respect for a plurality of ideas in matters of morality, art, �64 SLOVAKIA culture, and all that goes with them without any inhibitions. We are offered consumer goodies of every kind, starting with food of all sorts, holidays by the sea, as well as pornography and sex without any barriers. Liberal well-being without any limits is being offered to us. And this is supposed to bring us happiness? Our believers did not resist Communist tyranny for this kind of happiness. We resisted in the name of God and for the respect of the human being! Communism failed because it did not understand man, either in his greatness, or in his weakness. At the same time, it sought to create a new man. But it did not. It produced some tyrants, many egotists and a great many cowards. Liberalism, which some people are trying to introduce into our country, is a faulty system which does not understand man, and makes many of the same mistakes as Communism. A man is not a man because he has many choices in what he eats. Consumption is not enough. And, man is a sinner--he can be ferocious, selfish and uncaring. That is why he has to set limits for himself. If he does not do it by himself, then society must do it for him. Therefore, Communism cannot just be replaced by a boundless liberalism where a few thousand people live in luxury, as they had under Communism, while the great majority toil in factories without question. Christianity offers us a much fuller life, one of liberty but guided by our consciences as ordered by God. During the Communist era history seemed to stop. Mankind had reached the last stage of its development, according to Marxist theory. Collective ownership was the key to paradise. But there was no paradise. Instead, there was hell. Stalin gave orders to execute thousands of workers, then hundreds of thousands of his own soldiers, among them Marshal Tuchacevski, and others. Together with Molotov and Lazar M. Kaganovich, he signed a list ordering the execution of about 230,000 people at once! Similar things happened in Poland, Czecho- �SLOVAKIA 65 Slovakia, Hungary, in Cambodia and Ethiopia later on. Man was valued only for his capacity to work. If he disagreed with those in power, he lost his value and was shot. This was the horror of Christian Europe. What was moral and just was what served the so-called working class, and this was decided by three or four people in power. Everybody else trembled with fear, even among co-workers or friends. The atheist totalitarian state tried to buy everyone off, especially the young. It constructed an open morality. It tried to awake base passions. It created slogans such as "Whoever is not with us, is against us!" or "Down with religion! It is the opiate of the people!" and "Man must redeem himself. Paradise is here on earth. The Soviet Union is our model!" It was all done by force. Prisons were overcrowded, labor camps were organized, and false accusations abounded: "collaborator," "saboteur," "enemy of the working-class," "spy," "traitor," "subversive," "reactionary," "clerical," and so on were hurled about. If a worker criticized his master, it was considered an attack upon socialism and the whole Republic. Therefore, workers stayed quiet and were the most wretched class of people. I toiled among them for about twenty-five years, whether at liberty or in prison. In my last job I repaired elevators. The workers I knew had minds of their own, but during official meetings they said not a word. How did this dehumanized life shape our people? It deformed them. It affected families, workers, officials, prisoners and even children, because everyone was encouraged to become an informer! In his Gulag Archipelago Solzhenitsyn describes the effects of this suffocating atheism. In 1955 the writer A.A. Fadeev committed suicide in the USSR. He explained his action in the following words: "The best writers died all too soon ... they did not even make it to age forty or fifty ... My life as a writer has lost its purpose and I am running away from an existence where man is turned over to emptiness and lies." �66 SLOVAKIA The Slovak writer Dominik Tatarka wrote similarly before his death: "All the authorities who were blaspheming God were humiliating us." Another writer who supported the atheistic regime for decades wrote in 1990: "Marxism has been dead for a long time .. .It could not stand up to the social or personal test of time. The blackboard of hope is empty." Still another wrote in 1992 after he was hospitalized: "And suddenly it has dawned! Without being aware of it, you realize that you have changed. Everything that you mocked yesterday you understand today. And you start to enjoy God's blessings in order not to walk alone with empty hands on such a long journey ... " These are no longer complaints. They reflect the search for and the discovery of life in God and His Church. What are our experiences and attitudes after the collapse of 40 years totalitarianism? We face a lot of shortcomings and diseases. But neither the country, not the nation is dead, although they have been severely weakened by many vices. Every society is beset by vices. The important thing is to recognize our vices, and to try to overcome them. The Church, which viewed man as the personification of God, played a major role in the struggle with atheistic regimes. It never ceased to stress the dignity and greatness of the human being, who cannot be altered into an obedient tool of tyrants, or into a mere worker or a powerless sheep in a large herd. Man is born free, made into the image and likeness of God, and is on his way to eternity with Him. The Church has to remind man of his greatness, it must educate and protect him. This is the Church's mission, whether it is practiced at Masses or at universities. This is the only road to true freedom and happiness. During the last forty years we had to fight against atheistic slavery for freedom. Again and again we preached that "Man does not live by bread alone." Without freedom even well-fed people committed suicide. Freedom is not found in material �SLOVAKIA 67 goods, but in people. That is the message we preached. Our goal was always clear, and it was worth every sacrifice. We now face a new problem. Our people are divided on how to interpret and live in the new freedom. That is because two generations were educated in atheistic Marxism. To many intellectuals the idea that man was created in the image of God is a foreign concept. They still conceive of man as a product of his environment. To them it is very difficult to define what is a "conscience," what are "ethics," what is "responsibility" and what is man's goal in life? In such a confused state, they mistake freedom for wilfulness, and decide that everything is permitted. Thus, there are no limits of morality in art, science, in sexual practices, and so on. That is why it is so difficult to have a dialogue with them. That is why we often have to begin it with pragmatic and practical arguments. However, we cannot stop here. We have to convince everyone that it is wrong to attack or to kill someone; it is anti-social and destructive to spread drugs; it is wilful to use guns just as it is forbidden to poison wells. The freedom of the individual has limits; certain principles must be accepted. The state is bound by laws, just as the whole world community is bound by conventions based on moral principles. After a forty-year struggle for the lower limit of freedom, we are now struggling with the upper limit of human freedom. But at which point can man become happy in his freedom? We have learned that not everything that can be done by man is moral. Life teaches us that. I will conclude with a reference to science and technology. If people doubt the validity of Christian principles in matters of abortion or euthanasia, then surely they must face other situations where they are confronted by the matter of morals and ethics. Nowadays we have to ask ourselves if humankind is permitted to do all that it is capable of doing physically with nuclear weapons and biogenetics. We already have international agreements that prohibit the use of chemical �68 SLOVAKIA weapons, that prohibit nuclear testing, and that provide for the gradual reduction of the nuclear arsenal. It is at this point that science runs into religion, and Christianity in particular. A meeting of the two could prove useful in reconciling these opposite poles. In his unrestrained desire for power, man could devastate our planet. This must never happen! Here is where the dialogue between people of good will must begin. A common formulation and elaboration of questions would be a good starting point. Shortly before his death in 1973, the Nobel Prize-winner Werner Heisenberg wrote in Der Tei] und das Ganze (The Part and the Whole): While in our western world we often ask the question what is good and bad, what is worth fighting for and what must be refused, we still run into Christianity's measures of values, even when many people do not understand the images and allegories used by this religion. Should this magnetic force directing the compass of our life ever disappear, then I am afraid that many terrible things would occur, even more terrible than concentration camps and nuclear bombs ... After our experience of life without God for over forty years, we can appreciate these words of warning. Christianity has something to say about man, about nations and about the world. In 1945 Europe was liberated from the horrors of Nazism. But this liberation did not bring us liberty. It brought us a new slavery called Communism. Now we are liberated from this slavery as well. Some of the new programs that are offered to us keep repeating the same mistakes as before. Real freedom is not self-will. This is what threatens us all, whether in the economic sphere or in culture. Our experience tells us that real freedom can only take root in a ground that is based upon truth. And only the �SLOVAKIA 69 truth as revealed by Gcxt will make us free. It is the task of those of us who are believers to spread this truth, and to build our lives upon it in our quest for eternal happiness. This is exactly what your famous University tries to teach, as your president Mr. Cemera wrote to me a few weeks ago: "The University aims to assist in the development of people, knowledge of self, rooted in faith, educated in mind, compassionate in heart, responsive to social and civic obligations, and able to respond to an everchanging world." Envy is a sin and we must avoid it. However, if there exists something outwardly similar, in reality it is admiration and the desire to achieve the same result. In this sense we admire you and your University and in our hearts we long for all that you have here. It is an excellent gift of Gcxt and an important means of education for new generations of scholars. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 56 SLOVAKIA Reflections on the Downfall of Communism and the Transition to Capitalism Jan Chryzostom Cardinal Korec (Address of His Eminence on the Occasion of the Conferral on him of the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, by Sacred Heart University, Bridgeport, CT February 22, 1992) Eminences, Excellencies, Reverend Fathers, Mr. President, venerable members of the Board of Trustees, professors, students, honourable guests, dear American friends, beloved Slovak compatriots! I would like to say a few words about my life in bondage over the last forty years, and about our current search for a new way of life in our reborn democracy. I will not address you as a teacher--you have here excellent professors and competent lecturers. Instead, I would like to bear witness to an experience which did not arise from academia, but from sweatshops where I labored for the last twenty years, and from jail cells which I and others inhabited during our fight against the forces of totalitarianism. I was secretly consecrated a bishop during severe persecutions forty years ago, in a time when the prisons were overcrowded, and people were being executed. At that time I tried to promote a Christian way of life, especially among students and families. As a worker, I clandestinely wrote books that are still SLOVAKIA 57 being read today-books that defended life and faith in order to raise people's hopes and spread the message of love. Only today do we realize how many things we were deprived of by the Marxist-atheists for forty years, and how backward we are today. Our teachers lack solid knowledge, the new politicians do not have the necessary experience of life, many writers are mindless, others have no conscience or character. We live in a country whose ecology and spiritual life has been devastated. We face the huge task of educating a new generation of young people, fathers and mothers, intellectuals and leaders of the nation. It will have to be an all-embracing education, which will not consider people to be merely cogs in a machine, or mute faces in the hands of powerful dictators and tyrants. Such an education will have to seek its inspiration in the Gospels, in our only true teacher Jesus Christ, and in our mother Church, which has experienced the true Spirit of God for twenty centuries. As we approached the end of the twentieth century, we were surprised by unexpected events. Communism collapsed in most of the world. This collapse was preceded by the disintegration of an artificial and inhumane ideology which had propped it up. Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, the president of Germany, recently said at a symposium in Bratislava that, "The year 1989 will never be forgotten. Six states in eastern Europe experienced revolutions that led to their freedom. In five of these countries, it happened without any bloodshed, which is unique in history. This road to freedom is an unforseen and exciting gift. But, in the long run, it is in danger. 11 Mr. Weizsacker then expressed some concerns about this freedom: Economic freedom became one of the most important events. But, does the market economy solve social problems? Is it able, for instance, to prevent our living space from being destroyed? The social and economic order, as well as that of our living space, are determined within the framework of the 58 SLOVAKIA state. But there is not only one state in the world. It is humanity as a whole that must face the problems of the modem world. But how? The first necessity is to change people's consciousness. Thus, Germany's president has also expressed the main goal of education--to change people's way of thinking about themselves and the world in which they live. Economic freedom alone cannot solve our problems. The market economy is essentially restricted in itself--because of the egoism of its practitioners. This danger was revealed very emphatically in all of the papal social encyclicals, including the "Centesimus Annus." It's one thing to be ambitious and diligent; it's quite another to be egotistical. The latter is a menace to every community. Egoism, which rejects concern for one's neighbor, is not only un-Christian, but it is inhuman and even stupid. Society cannot be better than the capacity of all its members to look at each other respectfully. This is man's fundamental calling. If we have to create new laws, then let us do so with the goal of changing people's minds and consciences. This is the mission of the Church. Just as the market economy will not save us in our new-found freedom, so too will technology not save us. Technology is dangerous if it does not consider the good of all nations and of all of humankind. That is why we need a good moral education, in addition to technical expertise, in order to change our ways of thinking. In eastern Europe there exist nations, which were almost destroyed by Communism, that are experiencing a rebirth. It is important to note that this is not a re-awakening of the "masses," but of nations. This is a phenomenon that is not always acknowledged or understood in the west. For us it is very evident. Once there existed only tribes, towns, principalities and empires. After SLOVAKIA 59 that nations with a Christian tradition were formed. Today the term "nation" is unavoidable. The French, the Germans and the Italians are nations. The Croats and the Slovaks are nations as well. The largest organization in the world bears the name "United Nations." It is a natural right and desire of every nation to be independent. This right is also embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. We know that Communism tried to be international but it did not work. Communist internationalism nearly destroyed our country's national traditions and devastated our lives. Now our nation has experienced a revival and has rediscovered its Christian tradition. Nations, as such, must not succumb to chauvinism. They must be open to each other, without barbed-wire frontiers, and they must also develop a mutual exchange of spiritual and economic goods. This should hold true not only in a united Europe, but in a united world. Since 1948 in central and eastern Europe we experienced a harsh rule of selfish and unscrupulous regimes that considered people as mere cogs in machines. Everything was moral which served those in power. Everybody had to accept Marxist ideology. Those who refused lost their jobs because the state was the only employer. The Communist Party directed the school curriculum, controlled radio and television programs, as well as the press and culture in general. The Church was regarded as Communism's greatest enemy. All of its institutionsmonasteries, schools, seminaries and publishing houses-were closed. Almost all the bishops, many priests and laypersons were imprisoned, and the Greek Catholic Church was dissolved. In this situation, at the age of 27, I was secretly consecrated a bishop in 1951. For the next 20 years I lived the life of a worker. Since the visible Church was controlled by the Communists, I did my religious work underground. Meanwhile, the cruelty of the regime spread. Even Communist ministers were imprisoned! Everybody suspected everybody else. Many people informed on 60 SLOVAKIA each other. In this way, the atheistic regime poisoned our lives. Politicians ruled in the name of the "working class," but from my experience as a worker I can attest to the fact that the workers toiled in dirty factories while the ruling class lived in palaces, villas and hunting lodges. Any kind of criticism was dangerous, and many critics were executed. When in 1960 I was discovered and sentenced to twelve years of prison for my pastoral work, I met six other bishops and 200 priests in jail! After the failure of the experiment to create "socialism with a human face" in 1968, resistance against totalitarianism began in earnest. Some former Communists, who had fallen into disgrace, became dissidents, but their number was small. The main resistance to Communism in Slovakia was still organized by believers. They defended the dignity of the human person, and demanded the freedom to educate their children as they pleased. They risked a lot. Many were imprisoned, faced discrimination at school, in their professions and in public life in general. They could not teach, become historians or philosophers, were never given any responsible jobs, whether in civilian life or in the army. But, they did not give up. They met in the privacy of their homes, or in the woods. Later on they participated 'en masse' in pilgrimages, sometimes attracting over 200,000 followers! On March 25th, 1988, many thousands held a public prayer-meeting at Hviezdoslav square in Bratislava. They were attacked by police armed with truncheons and water-cannons. A Marxist dissident described it as a unique manifestation because it was not for better wages but rather for human rights. State atheism, with its cruelty and emptiness, had awakened the force of faith and the immense dynamism of the Church! The fight for freedom and human rights in our country was closely linked with the defense of the nation and its Christian traditions. Nowadays it quite often happens that the reality which SLOVAKIA 61 we call a nation is regarded with suspicion. In our country the existence of the nation always fulfilled, and continues to fulfil, a positive role. Pope John Paul II had a similar experience in Poland and he expressed it to UNESCO in the following words: I am the son of a nation that has overcome the most horrible experience in history .. .It has preserved its Christian identity ... only with the help of its own national culture which has proved to be stronger than any other numerical superiority ... This is not a remote echo of nationalism, but a permanent element of human experience and humanistic perspective on the whole subsequent development of man! Eastern Europe was quite fortunate to find, at first, individuals, then groups, and finally hundreds and thousands of people who resisted the humiliation of Communism. At first, after 1948, there were only tiny pockets of resistance among believers. A great many, however, resisted quietly, but firmly. In 1946 the anti-Communist Democratic Party won 62% of the vote in Slovakia. Now, in 1991, 65% of the population of Slovakia reported that they were practicing Catholics. What helped our people to keep their faith during the last 40 years of persecution? There are several reasons. The proclamation of Sts. Cyril and Methodius as co-parton Saints of Europe by Pope John Paul II in 1980 certainly helped. Indeed, the interventions of Pope Paul VI and John Paul II, who publicly addressed us on several occasions, gave us great encouragement. By citing the Gospels, the Church defended humanity and freedom, and it helped the workers to stand up against the only employer under Communism, the state with all of its power. What can we learn from our experiences? Marxism brought with it only totalitarianism and inhumanity. A person can develop his real abilities and his moral being only if he is free. 62 SLOVAKIA Communism interpreted this freedom as submitting oneself to the necessity of history. This necessity was determined by a few leaders of the Party. Everyone else had to obey and fill the quotas. Hatred became the principle of life. The enemy of the working class had to be destroyed, even if that enemy was your father, your brother or sister. Human life in such a system became slavery. The roots of morality were severed by atheism. People became an anonymous herd, in the beginning filled with enthusiasm and many promises, later becoming cowardly, and finally frightened and powerless in the merciless grip of the well-paid police. During the era of Communism, people lost their individuality. Children did not belong to their parents, but to the state. The student was not allowed to think independently. He had to embrace the convictions of the state. He had to be an atheist. Only atheists were allowed to become teachers, professors, military officers, government officials, and so on. Therefore, some people conformed to the system, others played along, and society was deformed. People were not allowed to o._wn property, or even to possess themselves. In public everybody had to speak the language of the state. So, people were alienated. Only in private could people speak their minds. The following joke summed it up: At a political screening, an employee was asked for his reaction to a recent government measure. He professed to agree with it. His bosses wanted him to elaborate. He answered, "Even if I had an opinion, I could not agree with it!" Nobody could publicly agree with his own convictions. This state of permanent hypocrisy was terrible. But what is offered to us in the post-Communist era? Some people think it is liberalism in its economic, political, cultural and ethical forms. What does this mean? If it means "everything goes," it is but another route to the cemetery. Dostoevski once said that if atheism and life without God took over, it would no SLOVAKIA 63 longer be possible to determine what is good and what is bad, and in the end everything would be allowed. Communism sanctioned everything, even the murder of tens of thousands of people. Hitler did the same thing. Without God there was no morality. And, without morality, society is destroyed. Dostoevski wrote that, if that moment arrived, such a darkness would come over us that the whole structure would collapse under the burden of human blasphemy. The structure of Communism fell in the same way as Nazism. Whenever life lost its conscience, good and evil lost their meaning. The only measure of morality was usefulness--either to the pure race or to the working-class. What are we offered now? If we conceive of liberalism as a system where everything is allowed, we have a new reason to worry. Francis Fukuzama writes that the fall of Communism does not spell the victory of economic and political liberalism, and therefore, he does not foresee a new golden age for mankind; he even fears the end of history, where the spirit of sacrifice for an ideal or a moral value will perish. The struggle for ideas requiring courage and enthusiasm will be replaced by purely economic calculations and technological solutions. Everything will be concentrated on care for the environment, on consumer claims, and on unlimited entertainment. If Communism maintained that it marked the end of history, and that afterwards there was nothing else to be expected, it represented something like the end of history. Time came to a standstill, the system blocked all new ideas, and dead precepts no longer worked. We withdrew from history for decades. Now that we have abandoned Communism, we can re-enter into history and can help to re-build it. But which road should we now follow? Pure liberalism, as some people assert, is the offer of some kind of new paradise. We are offered the market economy, free enterprise, private ownership, a share in the profits, respect for a plurality of ideas in matters of morality, art, 64 SLOVAKIA culture, and all that goes with them without any inhibitions. We are offered consumer goodies of every kind, starting with food of all sorts, holidays by the sea, as well as pornography and sex without any barriers. Liberal well-being without any limits is being offered to us. And this is supposed to bring us happiness? Our believers did not resist Communist tyranny for this kind of happiness. We resisted in the name of God and for the respect of the human being! Communism failed because it did not understand man, either in his greatness, or in his weakness. At the same time, it sought to create a new man. But it did not. It produced some tyrants, many egotists and a great many cowards. Liberalism, which some people are trying to introduce into our country, is a faulty system which does not understand man, and makes many of the same mistakes as Communism. A man is not a man because he has many choices in what he eats. Consumption is not enough. And, man is a sinner--he can be ferocious, selfish and uncaring. That is why he has to set limits for himself. If he does not do it by himself, then society must do it for him. Therefore, Communism cannot just be replaced by a boundless liberalism where a few thousand people live in luxury, as they had under Communism, while the great majority toil in factories without question. Christianity offers us a much fuller life, one of liberty but guided by our consciences as ordered by God. During the Communist era history seemed to stop. Mankind had reached the last stage of its development, according to Marxist theory. Collective ownership was the key to paradise. But there was no paradise. Instead, there was hell. Stalin gave orders to execute thousands of workers, then hundreds of thousands of his own soldiers, among them Marshal Tuchacevski, and others. Together with Molotov and Lazar M. Kaganovich, he signed a list ordering the execution of about 230,000 people at once! Similar things happened in Poland, Czecho- SLOVAKIA 65 Slovakia, Hungary, in Cambodia and Ethiopia later on. Man was valued only for his capacity to work. If he disagreed with those in power, he lost his value and was shot. This was the horror of Christian Europe. What was moral and just was what served the so-called working class, and this was decided by three or four people in power. Everybody else trembled with fear, even among co-workers or friends. The atheist totalitarian state tried to buy everyone off, especially the young. It constructed an open morality. It tried to awake base passions. It created slogans such as "Whoever is not with us, is against us!" or "Down with religion! It is the opiate of the people!" and "Man must redeem himself. Paradise is here on earth. The Soviet Union is our model!" It was all done by force. Prisons were overcrowded, labor camps were organized, and false accusations abounded: "collaborator," "saboteur," "enemy of the working-class," "spy," "traitor," "subversive," "reactionary," "clerical," and so on were hurled about. If a worker criticized his master, it was considered an attack upon socialism and the whole Republic. Therefore, workers stayed quiet and were the most wretched class of people. I toiled among them for about twenty-five years, whether at liberty or in prison. In my last job I repaired elevators. The workers I knew had minds of their own, but during official meetings they said not a word. How did this dehumanized life shape our people? It deformed them. It affected families, workers, officials, prisoners and even children, because everyone was encouraged to become an informer! In his Gulag Archipelago Solzhenitsyn describes the effects of this suffocating atheism. In 1955 the writer A.A. Fadeev committed suicide in the USSR. He explained his action in the following words: "The best writers died all too soon ... they did not even make it to age forty or fifty ... My life as a writer has lost its purpose and I am running away from an existence where man is turned over to emptiness and lies." 66 SLOVAKIA The Slovak writer Dominik Tatarka wrote similarly before his death: "All the authorities who were blaspheming God were humiliating us." Another writer who supported the atheistic regime for decades wrote in 1990: "Marxism has been dead for a long time .. .It could not stand up to the social or personal test of time. The blackboard of hope is empty." Still another wrote in 1992 after he was hospitalized: "And suddenly it has dawned! Without being aware of it, you realize that you have changed. Everything that you mocked yesterday you understand today. And you start to enjoy God's blessings in order not to walk alone with empty hands on such a long journey ... " These are no longer complaints. They reflect the search for and the discovery of life in God and His Church. What are our experiences and attitudes after the collapse of 40 years totalitarianism? We face a lot of shortcomings and diseases. But neither the country, not the nation is dead, although they have been severely weakened by many vices. Every society is beset by vices. The important thing is to recognize our vices, and to try to overcome them. The Church, which viewed man as the personification of God, played a major role in the struggle with atheistic regimes. It never ceased to stress the dignity and greatness of the human being, who cannot be altered into an obedient tool of tyrants, or into a mere worker or a powerless sheep in a large herd. Man is born free, made into the image and likeness of God, and is on his way to eternity with Him. The Church has to remind man of his greatness, it must educate and protect him. This is the Church's mission, whether it is practiced at Masses or at universities. This is the only road to true freedom and happiness. During the last forty years we had to fight against atheistic slavery for freedom. Again and again we preached that "Man does not live by bread alone." Without freedom even well-fed people committed suicide. Freedom is not found in material SLOVAKIA 67 goods, but in people. That is the message we preached. Our goal was always clear, and it was worth every sacrifice. We now face a new problem. Our people are divided on how to interpret and live in the new freedom. That is because two generations were educated in atheistic Marxism. To many intellectuals the idea that man was created in the image of God is a foreign concept. They still conceive of man as a product of his environment. To them it is very difficult to define what is a "conscience," what are "ethics," what is "responsibility" and what is man's goal in life? In such a confused state, they mistake freedom for wilfulness, and decide that everything is permitted. Thus, there are no limits of morality in art, science, in sexual practices, and so on. That is why it is so difficult to have a dialogue with them. That is why we often have to begin it with pragmatic and practical arguments. However, we cannot stop here. We have to convince everyone that it is wrong to attack or to kill someone; it is anti-social and destructive to spread drugs; it is wilful to use guns just as it is forbidden to poison wells. The freedom of the individual has limits; certain principles must be accepted. The state is bound by laws, just as the whole world community is bound by conventions based on moral principles. After a forty-year struggle for the lower limit of freedom, we are now struggling with the upper limit of human freedom. But at which point can man become happy in his freedom? We have learned that not everything that can be done by man is moral. Life teaches us that. I will conclude with a reference to science and technology. If people doubt the validity of Christian principles in matters of abortion or euthanasia, then surely they must face other situations where they are confronted by the matter of morals and ethics. Nowadays we have to ask ourselves if humankind is permitted to do all that it is capable of doing physically with nuclear weapons and biogenetics. We already have international agreements that prohibit the use of chemical 68 SLOVAKIA weapons, that prohibit nuclear testing, and that provide for the gradual reduction of the nuclear arsenal. It is at this point that science runs into religion, and Christianity in particular. A meeting of the two could prove useful in reconciling these opposite poles. In his unrestrained desire for power, man could devastate our planet. This must never happen! Here is where the dialogue between people of good will must begin. A common formulation and elaboration of questions would be a good starting point. Shortly before his death in 1973, the Nobel Prize-winner Werner Heisenberg wrote in Der Tei] und das Ganze (The Part and the Whole): While in our western world we often ask the question what is good and bad, what is worth fighting for and what must be refused, we still run into Christianity's measures of values, even when many people do not understand the images and allegories used by this religion. Should this magnetic force directing the compass of our life ever disappear, then I am afraid that many terrible things would occur, even more terrible than concentration camps and nuclear bombs ... After our experience of life without God for over forty years, we can appreciate these words of warning. Christianity has something to say about man, about nations and about the world. In 1945 Europe was liberated from the horrors of Nazism. But this liberation did not bring us liberty. It brought us a new slavery called Communism. Now we are liberated from this slavery as well. Some of the new programs that are offered to us keep repeating the same mistakes as before. Real freedom is not self-will. This is what threatens us all, whether in the economic sphere or in culture. Our experience tells us that real freedom can only take root in a ground that is based upon truth. And only the SLOVAKIA 69 truth as revealed by Gcxt will make us free. It is the task of those of us who are believers to spread this truth, and to build our lives upon it in our quest for eternal happiness. This is exactly what your famous University tries to teach, as your president Mr. Cemera wrote to me a few weeks ago: "The University aims to assist in the development of people, knowledge of self, rooted in faith, educated in mind, compassionate in heart, responsive to social and civic obligations, and able to respond to an everchanging world." Envy is a sin and we must avoid it. However, if there exists something outwardly similar, in reality it is admiration and the desire to achieve the same result. In this sense we admire you and your University and in our hearts we long for all that you have here. It is an excellent gift of Gcxt and an important means of education for new generations of scholars.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reflections on the Downfall of Communism and the Transition to Capitalism Description An account of the resource Ján Chryzostom Cardinal Korec Slovakia, Vol. 36 (No. 66-67), 1998 pp. 56-69 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Korec, Ján Chryzostom, 1924-2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/1083d6d498234d7874c406ae540dc203.pdf 47e2fdd7c39c9fd2079a1811941768a0 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 113 13) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 14) Vladimir Nosek, p. 309. 15) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 16) Dr. Mojmir Otruba and Dr. Zdenek Pe~at, ed., Th e Linden Tre es - An Anthology of Czech and Slov ak L i terature 1890-1960 (Prague, 1962) , p . 316. 17) Dr. E. .Zatko, " Slovenska duchovna tvorba" in Slov enska r epublika 1939-1945, Obrana Press, Scranton, Pa., 1949, pp. 202-210. F . Vnuk, " Sedemnast' neurodn ych rokov slovenskej li teratury" , in L i t erarny Almanach 1966, Middletown, Pa., 1965, pp. 19-28. 18) "Slovak Literature," p. 195. 19) F . Vnuk, "A Poet in Exile," Slovakia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-148. 20) Dr. Mojmir Otruba, p. 21. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ha rkins, William E. Czech and Slovak L i terature. New York, 1950. Nosek, Vladimir. The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak H istory, Music, and L i terature. London, 1926. Otruba, Mojmir, and Zdenek Pefat, ed. The Linden Tree- A n Anthology of Czech and Slovak L i terature 1890-1960. Prague, 1962. " Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1966. Seton-Watson, R. W. arranger.Slov akia Then And Now. Prague, 1931. Vnuk, F . "A Poet in Exile, " Slov akia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-152. J\1atica Slovenska ( Second Prize Award) In the year 1963, Matica Slovenska, the cultural institution of the Slovaks, celebrated its hundredth anniversary. At this time, the citizens of the entire CzechoSlovak Republic recalled the history of the Slovak national and social fight for their very existence and for a cultural revolution. "Matica Slovenska" is the name of a central and highest Slovak Institute of culture, literature, art and science. "Matica Slovenska" means "Slovak Mother," the word "Matica" being an endearing as well as dignified form for mother. It was founded in the city of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. The Matica elected as its firs t President a distinguished Slovak leader, Bishop Stefan �114 SLOVAKIA Moyses of Banska Bystrica. Lutheran Bishop Karol Kuzmany was elected Vice President. The Matica commenced the comprehensive activities in the sphere of educationissuing books, school publications and newspapers, providing support for students and giving prizes for literary and scientific works. The Emperor Francis Joseph himself gave a donation to this fund, while the foundation of its resources was laid by gifts from the broad masses of the Slovak people. During the years 1863 to 1875, the Matica represented the culmination of the Slovak cultural effort and united all elements of the nation, irrespective of religious influence or political conviction. The years 1875 to 1918, on the other hand, marked a period of silence, for the Matica was prohibited by the Hungarian government and its property was entirely confiscated. It was not until the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918 that its activities could be renewed. It is of interest that at the very outset of their national "reawakening" at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Slovaks had their literary societies, and at the Lyceum in the city of Bratislava (now Capitol of Slovakia), they had a society for scientific research. The activities of these organizations, however, were limited to a small number of educated persons. There was a definite call for a popular academy. For that reason the Matica Slovenska, a Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, was found . Before 1870, the Slovaks had a large number of elementary schools and three higher schools. These schools were founded and maintained with the funds provided for by the broad masses of the Slovak people. After 1870, there commenced among the Magyars a system of forcible alienation of all the non-Magyars from their own particular nationalities. The most oppressive period was the era of the government under Count Koloman Tisza (1875-1890), when the non-Magyar races were deprived of all their national, linguistic, and cultural rights. Even their national institutions were destroyed. Thus, in the year 1875, the Magyar government closed the three Slovak higher schools and by a decision of the Cabinet Council all the activities of Matica �SLOVAKIA 115 Slovenska were prohibited once and for all. In destroying the Matica and confiscating its property, the Magyar government perpetrated one of the most barbarous acts, and one which has done them the most injury in the eyes of public opinion in Europe. Even a well known Hungarian publicist, Ladislaus Domokos, wrote many years ago that there was no ground whatever for the dissolution of the Matica Slovenska when he stated that "Poor and starving Slovak peasants built up the funds of the Matica Slovensk:i mite by mite-and this considerable sum of more than one hundred thousand florin was taken from them by the Hungarian State in an entirely arbitrary way." Count Tisza, however, insisted that "a Slovak nation does not exist" and threatened to crush all these who would say otherwise. In 1914, the World War started, which spelled death to tyrants and freedom to the oppressed nations. In 1918 the Slovaks were liberated mainly through the efforts of the American Slovaks. One of the first steps taken by the liberated Slovaks was to restore the activities of the Matica Slovenska, which was done on the first of January, 1919. Hviezdoslav, one of the great poets in the history of Slovak literature, was chosen as the first President of the resurrected Matica. The Matica Slovenska erected in Turciansky Svaty Martin a building in which over 300,000 Slovak books were gathered. It issued a series of Slovak classics, a large bibliography of Slovak literature, a register of folklore , tales, customs, and libraries of books for school children and youth in general. The Institute collected antiques and specimens of peasant art, made ethnographical researches on a broad scale, even employing a film titled "Zem Spieva" ("The Earth Sings"), for this purpose. It has also gathered over 40,000 folksongs. Of the seven sections of the Matica, the Language Section is the one which accomplished the most work, carrying out researches about the Slovak dialects and working on the compilation of an etymological dictionary of the Slovak language. The Matica thus pro• vided a wealth of material for the learned and scientific societies and universities. The activities of the Matica in the sphere of popular �116 SLOVAKIA education were just as comprehensive. Its headquarters and branches arranged thousands of lectures, entertainments, and celebrations; giving numerous courses and about five thousand amateur theatrical performances every year. It has founded or helped to keep up local libraries in more than 3,500 towns and parishes. In all these activities, the Matica has always maintained friendly relations with other countries, particularly with the United States, where over one million Slovaks reside. Thus, Matica Slovenska has passed from its foundation in 1863 through a complicated evolution. It was the only state cultural association of the Slovaks in the years of national and social oppression which later evolved into a scientific and cultural institution and expanded widely its activity. After 1945, with the new divisions of tasks in Slovak national science and culture, Matica ceased to be an association and became a state scientific institution which was charged with the function of the national library and bibliographic institute. Although the history of the Matica Slovenska and especially its activity since 1945 was misinterpreted, the Matica Slovenska will always be remembered for the progressive task which it has played in the Slovak history. Joseph S. Kos t Our C_vrilo-)Iethodiau 1-Ieritagc ( Third Prize Award) "The heritage of our ancestors preserve for us O Lord" unites the Slovak's love of God and his love of the Slovak nation. This Cyrilo-Methodian invocation reflects the accomplishments of Saints Cyril and Methodius that have affected Slovak life from its beginnings in Slovak Great Moravia in the ninth century to the present twentieth century. The missionary endeavors of the Holy Brothers were significant not only in promoting the Catholic faith among Slovak forefathers; equally important were their accomplishments on behalf of the cultural and political � SLOVAKIA 113 13) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 14) Vladimir Nosek, p. 309. 15) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 16) Dr. Mojmir Otruba and Dr. Zdenek Pe~at, ed., Th e Linden Tre es - An Anthology of Czech and Slov ak L i terature 1890-1960 (Prague, 1962) , p . 316. 17) Dr. E. .Zatko, " Slovenska duchovna tvorba" in Slov enska r epublika 1939-1945, Obrana Press, Scranton, Pa., 1949, pp. 202-210. F . Vnuk, " Sedemnast' neurodn ych rokov slovenskej li teratury" , in L i t erarny Almanach 1966, Middletown, Pa., 1965, pp. 19-28. 18) "Slovak Literature," p. 195. 19) F . Vnuk, "A Poet in Exile," Slovakia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-148. 20) Dr. Mojmir Otruba, p. 21. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ha rkins, William E. Czech and Slovak L i terature. New York, 1950. Nosek, Vladimir. The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak H istory, Music, and L i terature. London, 1926. Otruba, Mojmir, and Zdenek Pefat, ed. The Linden Tree- A n Anthology of Czech and Slovak L i terature 1890-1960. Prague, 1962. " Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1966. Seton-Watson, R. W. arranger.Slov akia Then And Now. Prague, 1931. Vnuk, F . "A Poet in Exile, " Slov akia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-152. J\1atica Slovenska ( Second Prize Award) In the year 1963, Matica Slovenska, the cultural institution of the Slovaks, celebrated its hundredth anniversary. At this time, the citizens of the entire CzechoSlovak Republic recalled the history of the Slovak national and social fight for their very existence and for a cultural revolution. "Matica Slovenska" is the name of a central and highest Slovak Institute of culture, literature, art and science. "Matica Slovenska" means "Slovak Mother," the word "Matica" being an endearing as well as dignified form for mother. It was founded in the city of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. The Matica elected as its firs t President a distinguished Slovak leader, Bishop Stefan �114 SLOVAKIA Moyses of Banska Bystrica. Lutheran Bishop Karol Kuzmany was elected Vice President. The Matica commenced the comprehensive activities in the sphere of educationissuing books, school publications and newspapers, providing support for students and giving prizes for literary and scientific works. The Emperor Francis Joseph himself gave a donation to this fund, while the foundation of its resources was laid by gifts from the broad masses of the Slovak people. During the years 1863 to 1875, the Matica represented the culmination of the Slovak cultural effort and united all elements of the nation, irrespective of religious influence or political conviction. The years 1875 to 1918, on the other hand, marked a period of silence, for the Matica was prohibited by the Hungarian government and its property was entirely confiscated. It was not until the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918 that its activities could be renewed. It is of interest that at the very outset of their national "reawakening" at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Slovaks had their literary societies, and at the Lyceum in the city of Bratislava (now Capitol of Slovakia), they had a society for scientific research. The activities of these organizations, however, were limited to a small number of educated persons. There was a definite call for a popular academy. For that reason the Matica Slovenska, a Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, was found . Before 1870, the Slovaks had a large number of elementary schools and three higher schools. These schools were founded and maintained with the funds provided for by the broad masses of the Slovak people. After 1870, there commenced among the Magyars a system of forcible alienation of all the non-Magyars from their own particular nationalities. The most oppressive period was the era of the government under Count Koloman Tisza (1875-1890), when the non-Magyar races were deprived of all their national, linguistic, and cultural rights. Even their national institutions were destroyed. Thus, in the year 1875, the Magyar government closed the three Slovak higher schools and by a decision of the Cabinet Council all the activities of Matica �SLOVAKIA 115 Slovenska were prohibited once and for all. In destroying the Matica and confiscating its property, the Magyar government perpetrated one of the most barbarous acts, and one which has done them the most injury in the eyes of public opinion in Europe. Even a well known Hungarian publicist, Ladislaus Domokos, wrote many years ago that there was no ground whatever for the dissolution of the Matica Slovenska when he stated that "Poor and starving Slovak peasants built up the funds of the Matica Slovensk:i mite by mite-and this considerable sum of more than one hundred thousand florin was taken from them by the Hungarian State in an entirely arbitrary way." Count Tisza, however, insisted that "a Slovak nation does not exist" and threatened to crush all these who would say otherwise. In 1914, the World War started, which spelled death to tyrants and freedom to the oppressed nations. In 1918 the Slovaks were liberated mainly through the efforts of the American Slovaks. One of the first steps taken by the liberated Slovaks was to restore the activities of the Matica Slovenska, which was done on the first of January, 1919. Hviezdoslav, one of the great poets in the history of Slovak literature, was chosen as the first President of the resurrected Matica. The Matica Slovenska erected in Turciansky Svaty Martin a building in which over 300,000 Slovak books were gathered. It issued a series of Slovak classics, a large bibliography of Slovak literature, a register of folklore , tales, customs, and libraries of books for school children and youth in general. The Institute collected antiques and specimens of peasant art, made ethnographical researches on a broad scale, even employing a film titled "Zem Spieva" ("The Earth Sings"), for this purpose. It has also gathered over 40,000 folksongs. Of the seven sections of the Matica, the Language Section is the one which accomplished the most work, carrying out researches about the Slovak dialects and working on the compilation of an etymological dictionary of the Slovak language. The Matica thus pro• vided a wealth of material for the learned and scientific societies and universities. The activities of the Matica in the sphere of popular �116 SLOVAKIA education were just as comprehensive. Its headquarters and branches arranged thousands of lectures, entertainments, and celebrations; giving numerous courses and about five thousand amateur theatrical performances every year. It has founded or helped to keep up local libraries in more than 3,500 towns and parishes. In all these activities, the Matica has always maintained friendly relations with other countries, particularly with the United States, where over one million Slovaks reside. Thus, Matica Slovenska has passed from its foundation in 1863 through a complicated evolution. It was the only state cultural association of the Slovaks in the years of national and social oppression which later evolved into a scientific and cultural institution and expanded widely its activity. After 1945, with the new divisions of tasks in Slovak national science and culture, Matica ceased to be an association and became a state scientific institution which was charged with the function of the national library and bibliographic institute. Although the history of the Matica Slovenska and especially its activity since 1945 was misinterpreted, the Matica Slovenska will always be remembered for the progressive task which it has played in the Slovak history. Joseph S. Kos t Our C_vrilo-)Iethodiau 1-Ieritagc ( Third Prize Award) "The heritage of our ancestors preserve for us O Lord" unites the Slovak's love of God and his love of the Slovak nation. This Cyrilo-Methodian invocation reflects the accomplishments of Saints Cyril and Methodius that have affected Slovak life from its beginnings in Slovak Great Moravia in the ninth century to the present twentieth century. The missionary endeavors of the Holy Brothers were significant not only in promoting the Catholic faith among Slovak forefathers; equally important were their accomplishments on behalf of the cultural and political � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 SLOVAKIA 113 13) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 14) Vladimir Nosek, p. 309. 15) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 16) Dr. Mojmir Otruba and Dr. Zdenek Pe~at, ed., Th e Linden Tre es - An Anthology of Czech and Slov ak L i terature 1890-1960 (Prague, 1962) , p . 316. 17) Dr. E. .Zatko, " Slovenska duchovna tvorba" in Slov enska r epublika 1939-1945, Obrana Press, Scranton, Pa., 1949, pp. 202-210. F . Vnuk, " Sedemnast' neurodn ych rokov slovenskej li teratury" , in L i t erarny Almanach 1966, Middletown, Pa., 1965, pp. 19-28. 18) "Slovak Literature," p. 195. 19) F . Vnuk, "A Poet in Exile," Slovakia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-148. 20) Dr. Mojmir Otruba, p. 21. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ha rkins, William E. Czech and Slovak L i terature. New York, 1950. Nosek, Vladimir. The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak H istory, Music, and L i terature. London, 1926. Otruba, Mojmir, and Zdenek Pefat, ed. The Linden Tree- A n Anthology of Czech and Slovak L i terature 1890-1960. Prague, 1962. " Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1966. Seton-Watson, R. W. arranger.Slov akia Then And Now. Prague, 1931. Vnuk, F . "A Poet in Exile, " Slov akia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-152. J\1atica Slovenska ( Second Prize Award) In the year 1963, Matica Slovenska, the cultural institution of the Slovaks, celebrated its hundredth anniversary. At this time, the citizens of the entire CzechoSlovak Republic recalled the history of the Slovak national and social fight for their very existence and for a cultural revolution. "Matica Slovenska" is the name of a central and highest Slovak Institute of culture, literature, art and science. "Matica Slovenska" means "Slovak Mother," the word "Matica" being an endearing as well as dignified form for mother. It was founded in the city of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. The Matica elected as its firs t President a distinguished Slovak leader, Bishop Stefan 114 SLOVAKIA Moyses of Banska Bystrica. Lutheran Bishop Karol Kuzmany was elected Vice President. The Matica commenced the comprehensive activities in the sphere of educationissuing books, school publications and newspapers, providing support for students and giving prizes for literary and scientific works. The Emperor Francis Joseph himself gave a donation to this fund, while the foundation of its resources was laid by gifts from the broad masses of the Slovak people. During the years 1863 to 1875, the Matica represented the culmination of the Slovak cultural effort and united all elements of the nation, irrespective of religious influence or political conviction. The years 1875 to 1918, on the other hand, marked a period of silence, for the Matica was prohibited by the Hungarian government and its property was entirely confiscated. It was not until the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918 that its activities could be renewed. It is of interest that at the very outset of their national "reawakening" at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Slovaks had their literary societies, and at the Lyceum in the city of Bratislava (now Capitol of Slovakia), they had a society for scientific research. The activities of these organizations, however, were limited to a small number of educated persons. There was a definite call for a popular academy. For that reason the Matica Slovenska, a Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, was found . Before 1870, the Slovaks had a large number of elementary schools and three higher schools. These schools were founded and maintained with the funds provided for by the broad masses of the Slovak people. After 1870, there commenced among the Magyars a system of forcible alienation of all the non-Magyars from their own particular nationalities. The most oppressive period was the era of the government under Count Koloman Tisza (1875-1890), when the non-Magyar races were deprived of all their national, linguistic, and cultural rights. Even their national institutions were destroyed. Thus, in the year 1875, the Magyar government closed the three Slovak higher schools and by a decision of the Cabinet Council all the activities of Matica SLOVAKIA 115 Slovenska were prohibited once and for all. In destroying the Matica and confiscating its property, the Magyar government perpetrated one of the most barbarous acts, and one which has done them the most injury in the eyes of public opinion in Europe. Even a well known Hungarian publicist, Ladislaus Domokos, wrote many years ago that there was no ground whatever for the dissolution of the Matica Slovenska when he stated that "Poor and starving Slovak peasants built up the funds of the Matica Slovensk:i mite by mite-and this considerable sum of more than one hundred thousand florin was taken from them by the Hungarian State in an entirely arbitrary way." Count Tisza, however, insisted that "a Slovak nation does not exist" and threatened to crush all these who would say otherwise. In 1914, the World War started, which spelled death to tyrants and freedom to the oppressed nations. In 1918 the Slovaks were liberated mainly through the efforts of the American Slovaks. One of the first steps taken by the liberated Slovaks was to restore the activities of the Matica Slovenska, which was done on the first of January, 1919. Hviezdoslav, one of the great poets in the history of Slovak literature, was chosen as the first President of the resurrected Matica. The Matica Slovenska erected in Turciansky Svaty Martin a building in which over 300,000 Slovak books were gathered. It issued a series of Slovak classics, a large bibliography of Slovak literature, a register of folklore , tales, customs, and libraries of books for school children and youth in general. The Institute collected antiques and specimens of peasant art, made ethnographical researches on a broad scale, even employing a film titled "Zem Spieva" ("The Earth Sings"), for this purpose. It has also gathered over 40,000 folksongs. Of the seven sections of the Matica, the Language Section is the one which accomplished the most work, carrying out researches about the Slovak dialects and working on the compilation of an etymological dictionary of the Slovak language. The Matica thus pro• vided a wealth of material for the learned and scientific societies and universities. The activities of the Matica in the sphere of popular 116 SLOVAKIA education were just as comprehensive. Its headquarters and branches arranged thousands of lectures, entertainments, and celebrations; giving numerous courses and about five thousand amateur theatrical performances every year. It has founded or helped to keep up local libraries in more than 3,500 towns and parishes. In all these activities, the Matica has always maintained friendly relations with other countries, particularly with the United States, where over one million Slovaks reside. Thus, Matica Slovenska has passed from its foundation in 1863 through a complicated evolution. It was the only state cultural association of the Slovaks in the years of national and social oppression which later evolved into a scientific and cultural institution and expanded widely its activity. After 1945, with the new divisions of tasks in Slovak national science and culture, Matica ceased to be an association and became a state scientific institution which was charged with the function of the national library and bibliographic institute. Although the history of the Matica Slovenska and especially its activity since 1945 was misinterpreted, the Matica Slovenska will always be remembered for the progressive task which it has played in the Slovak history. Joseph S. Kos t Our C_vrilo-)Iethodiau 1-Ieritagc ( Third Prize Award) "The heritage of our ancestors preserve for us O Lord" unites the Slovak's love of God and his love of the Slovak nation. This Cyrilo-Methodian invocation reflects the accomplishments of Saints Cyril and Methodius that have affected Slovak life from its beginnings in Slovak Great Moravia in the ninth century to the present twentieth century. The missionary endeavors of the Holy Brothers were significant not only in promoting the Catholic faith among Slovak forefathers; equally important were their accomplishments on behalf of the cultural and political  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Matica Slovenská Description An account of the resource Joseph S. Kost Slovakia, Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970 pp. 113-116 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kost, Joseph S. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/46f7719561d5a9523bbc834413c603c8.pdf b87783ced96c0fdd5eb428f9b801ad00 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 7 Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK The year 1988 marks the three-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Juraj Janosik, traditionally considered by Slovaks to be their national hero. Preparations for the anniversary celebrations included the publishing of a study entitled Neznamy Janosik (1986) by Jozef Kocis, which expands on previotis knowledge about the historical Janosik and complements scholarly works such as Andrej Melichercik's comprehensive monographJanosikovska tradicia na Slovensku (1952) and the superb folklore studies and collections of Viera Gasparikova. 1 A major work on Janosik by Gasparikova, Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v l'udovej kulture (1988), and a double issue of the journal Slovensky narodopis (3-4, 1988), devoted exclusively to the brigand theme, are also new publications contributing to the celebration. Among the numerous festivities during the course of 1988 has been unveiling of a sevenmeter high sculpture of Janosik by national artist Jan Kulich in Terchova,2 and an exhibit of folk art portraying Janosik, sponsored by the Slovak National Gallery. Appropriately , the exhibit was installed during the summer months in Liptovsky (Svaty) Mikulas - the city in central Slovakia that witnessed Janosik's trial and execution in mid-March of 1713. As one Slovak ethnographer has put it: ''This year all of Slovakia lives with the anniversary of its beloved Janosik .' '3 The question why Janosik, who was one of a number of eighteenth-century Slovak peasants tried and executed as brigands and murderers, emerged as the national hero has long daunted Janosik scholars. Likewise, the historical figure himself has continually escaped scholars and remains today but a shadowy profile sketched in by their research and educated suppositions. While Janosik in folklore is a bold bandit, harassing members of the rich �8 SLOVAKIA and noble classes of society, and always thrilling his people with daring and dangerous exploits, the historical figure , as much as we can know him, appears very human. Clearly, he was a strong, adventurous young man caught up in some of the most tumultuous moments of his nation's life and, like everyone else, subject to the rule of the tough, often brutal authorities occupying Slovak territory at the time . We can best become acquainted with the Juraj Janosik beloved of the Slovak people through Janosik folklore and literary depictions, dramas , films, and folk art and portraiture , for it is through these that he and his exploits are most widely known. But how can we come to know the real Janosik, the one whose birth we celebrate in 1988? For this we must turn to information drawn from a small file of historical documents concerning his life, both directly and indirectly. Juraj Janosik was a young man of twenty-five when he was brought from his cell in the sixteenth-century Vranov castle , just outside Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, and placed before a county government tribunal in that city on March 17, 1713. He was exhausted from questioning by representatives of both the Liptov and Trencin county governments, and suffered from wounds inflicted during his interrogation by torture which could have included any combination of the following customary practices: fire burns on the skin, penetration of red-hot pincers under the nails , crushing of the bones , stretching on the rack, and the ripping of tendons in the limbs. 4 After enduring all of this , he stood to hear the following verdict and sentence: Because the aforementioned accused , Jura Janosik, having rejected both the commandments of God and the law of the state, two years ago turned to banditry and became a brigand captain; and with his comrades on the highways robbed many people of their belongings ; and as it appears from his own confession, his comrades in his presence shot and killed in an ungodly fashion a priest from Domaniza; and since he also committed other such crimes; therefore , for such grave and evil deeds and transgressions of the law , he is to be thrust onto the hook through the left side and thus as an example to other criminals of this type , he is to be hanged. 5 �SLOVAKIA 9 Janosik's execution was most likely carried out the next day, perhaps in the city square or the market place near today's Janka Kral' Museum which is located in an old mansion once owned by the Hanzely-Seligovy family. 6 Janosik's actual interrogation possibly took place in the back of that mansion which was purchased for such use by Liptov county officials in 1712 or 1713.7 It is thought that his body was removed to a cemetery about four kilometers from Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in a settlement called Cemice which contained an unhallowed graveyard for insurrectionists (kuruci), many of whom had fallen in the uprising of Prince Ferenz Rakoczy II against the Austrian Habsburgs from 1703-11, in which Janosik had briefly participated. 8 While the execution put an end to Janosik the man, his legend was born in folk tradition which was ripe for the glorification and idealization of a noble brigand who had come to represent revenge for wrongs perpetrated against the common folk under the harsh conditions of the time. The eighteenth century throughout Europe was, in fact, the "golden age" of brigandage, when those discontented with the ever more intolerable burdens of foreign occupation, serfdom, and forced conscription, fled to the hills and formed small outlaw bands for survival and for the harrassment of the wealthy and powerful. 9 These social bandits, considered criminals by the authorities, represented to their people free spirits and were perceived as champions of the poor and oppressed. Conditions in Slovakia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were likewise conducive to the emergence of social brigandage. Slovakia constituted the northern counties of the Hungarian Kingdom, and increasingly restless Slovak serfs served Hungarian overlords , who themselves in turn were held in voluntary or sometimes compulsory allegiance to the Habsburg Court. In these volatile times, Janosik took his place among the social bandits, and within decades of his execution, a rich oral tradition had begun to crystallize around him. Over the past two centuries, through the process of mythicization in folklore and literature, the legendary Janosik has flourished. He and his mountain lads (h6rni chlapci) are celebrated in numerous short folktales , lyric and lyrico-epic songs and ballads, and the plastic arts - ceramics, wood-carving, painting on glass. �10 SLOVAKIA The brigand dance, odzemok, with its exhilirating music and leaping over bonfires, is the most exciting of those performed by Slovak folk ensembles to this day - and reflects the scenarios brilliantly envisioned in artistic depictions of Janosik and his men. 10 The great Russian folklorist and researcher in Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn folklore, Petr Bogatyrev, has stated that the more beloved a folk hero is, the more elaborately is his image embellished with the elements of fairytale magic and fantasy. 11 Janosik demonstrates that this is indeed so, for his figure, especially in the folktales, shares numerous features with international fairytale heroes. He is invulnerable to harm and capture, with supernatural strength residing alternately in his magical belt, magical mountain axe (valaska), magical string , hair , or herbs each acquired from witches or forest nymphs (vily). Like many other heroes, Janosik is nursed by his mother until boyhood, and appears lazy until he obtains his magical objects. In the folktales, Janosik engages in a series of exploits designed to expose and punish the arrogant lords, as well as common passers-by who speak against him , fear him, or lie to him. Like the English Robin Hood , he dons a series of disguises in order to penetrate lordly estates or to patrol the highways incognito, teaching proper morality to cruel noblemen and less than noble common folk alike. 12 Alongside folktales are folksongs and ballads which praise his dashing , masculine beauty, celebrate the free outlaw life , bemoan the struggles and death of the brigand at the gallows , and express his motivatipns for becoming a bandit. 13 Each literary age has also depicted Janosik according to its own needs and tastes. 14 Late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century Slovak literature portrays a Janosik derived most likely from market or bazaar song lore Uarmocne p iesn e) as a young brigand wh o tells h is tragic story while languishing in prison. 15 Nineteenth-century Romanticists, especially the Sturovci, extolled Janosik as a symbol of liberation, of Slovak nationalism, of Slovakia itself. Later Romanticism , partly under the influence of foreign models, gradually added love motifs, romance, and more adventure to his legend. In Socialist society, Janosik has been portrayed as an early fighter for the rights of peasants and workers. During World War II Janosik, as the "mountain eagle," was again �SLOVAKIA 11 evoked, this time by partisans who formed themselves into a "Janosik brigade'' in 1944. Other partisans in 1943 and 1944 circulated an underground anti-government journal entitled Janosik. 16 Through changing times and conditions, there has been no doubt about the power of Janosik as a symbol of defiance and freedom. Modern-day Slovakia, particularly in its theater, has dealt somewhat harshly with the noble image of Janosik inherited from folklore and literary traditions. On the contemporary Slovak stage he has been depicted as an earthy, sensual young male, struggling not only with social justice, but also with his desire.for a woman as in the Polish playwright Ernst Bryll's musical, "Mal'ovany na skle" (premiered in October 1974), so popular in Slovakia. In I.:ubomir Feldek's "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho," 17 Janosik is an attractive if somewhat vacuous young man who achieves fame as a noble brigand by accident when the real fame should have gone to his comrade Uhorcik. Finally, in Stanislav Stepka's "Jaaanosiiik, " 18 he is a weak-willed outlaw whose comrade Uhorcik, a homosexual, outshines him and is the real and delightfully humorous leader of the little band, preoccupied with gathering good-quality loot from victims, especially foreign-made items. 19 In emigre writings, as well as in films about Janosik we see mainly traces of the folklore and the romanticized literary figure. If a "historical" figure is discussed, it is also usually derived from folklore and literary sources, rather than from actual historical documents. Almost any typical reference in emigre literature presents the following story: As a young man, Janosik was studying for the priesthood when he returned home, having learned that his mother was ill. He found her dead, and discovered his father beaten by the overseer of the estate, one Sandor, for having missed work in the fields in order to minister to his dying wife. When his father then dies from the beating, a furious Janosik somehow forces Sandor's own men to beat the overseer as a punishment and warning for the future . Now, as an outlaw, Janosik flees to the hills, gathering about himself a band of mountain lads who harass cruel lords and rob the rich to give to the poor. He is finally betrayed to the authorities by a comrade, jealous of his love for the beautiful Anicka, by being lured to a tavern rendez- �12 SLOVAKIA vous with her. Here he is apprehended by the authorities, not because he cannot fight his way free, but because an old Gypsy woman tosses dried peas to the floor and causes him to lose his balance and slip into the clutches of waiting soldiers. His folklore death - execution by hanging on the hook - while often elaborated by heroic motifs, coincides with his historical death. 20 Faced with this these images of Janosik, we turn finally to the historical prototype of Juraj Janosik. There are three major sources from which we can reconstruct a life of Janosik. First is the baptismal matrika or registry from the town of Varin, about 25 kilometers from Terchova. In this document, as in all baptismal matriky, the priest recorded the date of the baptism rather than the birth, as well as the names of the infant, the parents, and the godparents. Such registries are a rich source of information, but unfortunately, they are not always continuous . This situation has complicated the Janosik history, and has made difficult the reconstruction of the Janosik family tree. 21 The second source of information about the historical Janosik consists of documents surrounding his criminal trial on March 16-17, 1713 , in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. These documents include a record of (a) Janosik's interrogation by county authorities , (b) his brief questioning by two robbery victims from Zilina , and (c) his interrogation under torture. 2 2 In the days before the actual trial, Janosik was questioned on a number of points by representatives of Liptov and Trencin counties. The minutes of this first interrogation contain questions presented to Janosik, along with a third-person rendering of the answers he gave, and also indicate which questions he did not answer. Of the twenty-nine questions presented by the Liptov representative, Janosik answered only sixteen, while he made some attempt at a response to all seventeen questions of the Trencin representative. In answer to accusations of robbery by Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos and Zilina jeweler Skalka, Janosik admitted robbing both and described what he did with the loot. A brief list of Uhorcik's comrades is also appended to this interrogation. Minutes of Janosik's questioning under torture show him responding to seven items. None of these minutes indicate how long the proceedings lasted. Among the trail documents is also a record of the trial itself which covers the ex- �SLOVAKIA 13 change between the prosecutor, Alexander Cemicky, and the defense lawyer assigned to Janosik, Baltazar Palugyay, about which more will be said later. The third source of documents essential to our acquaintance with the historical Janosik are the records of (a) criminal trial proceedings against Janosik's comrade Tomas Uhorcik which also took place in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas on April 19-20, only a month after Janosik's execution (Uhorcik was executed on April 21), and (b) a written complaint lodged against Janosik's older brother Jan in November, 1713, by the Strecno estate administrator for the Lowenburgs, Martin Florek. We have as well the subsequent criminal trial proceedings against Jan which took place on December 18-22 of the same year, when he was tried for brigandage by the landowners' court of Count Lowenburg at the Lowenburg residence in Teplicka-on-the-Vah and later hanged. 23 Included in this third category may also be records which show that Terchova, Janosik's hometown, and all of its residents, were challenged in August of 1712 by the Teplicka court to answer charges of secretly aiding outlaws. 24 From the documents we know that Janosik was born in one of the many small mountain settlements, called "U Janosov," located to the east of the city of Zilina near the village of Terchova in the mountainous area of north central Slovakia. The region is known for its thick patches of pine forest, craggy cliffs and caves , and rugged beauty. Janosik's childhood familiarity with this terrain no doubt served him well in his later years as a brigand when he was forced to move quickly and easily through such country and to seek the natural shelter it offered. Since Terchova had no operating church or pastor at that time, but belonged to the Varin parish, Janosik's baptism, as well as those of other children from Terchova and surrounding settlements, is recorded in the Varin baptismal registry. In his Janosfkovska tradfcia, the well-known Janosik scholar Andrej Melichercik refers to an entry in the registry indicating that Juraj Janosik was baptized on January 25, 1688; was the son of Martin Janosik and Anna Cisnikova; and had two younger brothers Martin (baptized 1692) and Adam (baptized 1697). 25 In a later study, Melichercik says that updated research indicated that Janosik also had an older brother, Jan. But here �14 SLOVAKIA Melicherc:ik neither provides a baptismal date for Jan nor explains the absence of a date.26 According to Rudolf Brtan, who himself has analyzed the baptismal registry scrupulously, this Juraj Janosik identified by Melicherc:ik and others is not the famous bandit.27 In the registry, which had been interrupted for several years and then resumed in 1686 by Roman Catholic priest Michal Smutko, Melicherc:ik's Janosik happens to be the first Juraj Janosik listed as baptized. 28 But Brtan says that between this first baptism on January 25, 1688, and September, 1694, there were in fact five Juraj Janosiks listed in the registry, four of whom were baptized between these years and whose ages would have ranged from 19 to 25 at the time of the execution in 1713 - making them all potential candidates for the famous brigand. After grouping parents and children into the four Janosik family units, each of which contained a son Juraj (one Juraj was listed as the father of a son by the same name), Brtan, contrary to Melicherc:ik, points to Juraj, son of Michal Janosik and Barbara Cingel'ova, baptized on May 16, 1688, as the real brigand. 29 He derives his conclusion not only on the basis of the registry but also from crucial information in the documents of 1713 stating the charges brought against Juraj's brother Jan who is described as having, among other children, a daughter Dorota born in 1699. 30 The parents of Melicherc:ik's Janosik, Martin and Anna Cisnikova, according to Brtan, had sons Martin and Adam, and also a son Jan, but he is listed in the registry as having been baptized in 1689, a year after their son Juraj. Thus he was not an older brother to Juraj, whereas the court documents clearly state that Jan was older. Furthermore, he would have been only 10 years old in 1699 hardly old enough to be married and a father. The parents of yet another Juraj Janosik (baptized in 1691), Juraj, Sr., and Anna Chorvatikova, also had a son Jan baptized in 1689. But this date makes him younger than Juraj as well and disqualifies him as the real Juraj's older brother Jan. How then does Brtan convincingly support his contention that Michal and Barbara Cingel'ova are the parents of the real brigand Juraj? Brtan says that Michal and Barbara had a daughter Barbara, listed as having been baptized in April 1691 , as well as Juraj hap- �SLOVAKIA 15 tized May 16, 1688, and believes that they had still another son Jan who was older than Juraj, but whom we do not find in the registry simply because there was no registry between the years 1673 and 1686, precisely the years during which the older brother Jan was born and baptized. 31 Brtan thus explains what Melichercik passed over in silence - why there is no baptismal date for Jan - and he thus rules out Melichercik's couple Martin and Anna Cfsnikova as the brigand Juraj's parents. Brtan traces the source of the mistake to an inaccurate initial identification of Janosik's actual baptismal entry by a Varin priest from whom the information was first requested in the late 1920s. 32 The priest located the first possible Juraj Janosik listed in the registry, which had been resumed after a period by his distant predecessor Smutko, and most likely looked no further. According to Brtan, this erroneously identified Juraj Janosik has been handed down mechanically from scholar to scholar since then. 33 The young Janosik, born sometime in late spring 1688, lived in his family's settlement with his parents, Michal and Barbara. Count Jan Jakub Lowenburg, lord of the Strecno domain to which Terchova belonged, is known to have sent some young boys of peasant origin to school in connection with therecatholicization of the area which he strongly supported and it would not have been impossible that Janosik was given some education. 34 But this is doubtful, Brtan says, since his home was five kilometers from Terchova, a hard road to travel in winter, and since his father might have hesitated to send his youngest son and helper away. The older son Jan was already married with one child and it is not known whether he was still living in his parents' home by 1699 when Janosik was 11 years old.35 In 1703 when Prince Ferenz Rak6czy II, one of a series of Hungarian nobles who over the years had attempted to limit or throw off Austrian Habsburg power, published his proclamation inciting insurrection against Vienna, Janosik was 15 years old. Along with thousands of other Slovak serfs attracted by Rak6czy's repeated calls for liberation from Austrian overloads, freedom for serfs, and religious tolerance - and perhaps caught up as an enthusiastic youth desiring adventure - Janosik joined Rak6czy's troops at the summons of one of his officers, Viliam Vinkler, in �16 SLOVAKIA December 1707. 36 He was later among approximately 400 insurrectionists or kuruci taken prisoner, and subsequently released, after a battle near Trencin on August 3, 1708, which dealt a severe blow to the uprising. By 1711 the insurrection had worn down considerably, and shortly after the death of Austrian Emperor Joseph I, Hungarian leaders of the moderate wing of the insurrectionist movement finally made peace with the new emperor Charles VI at Szatmar. 3 7 Already after the Trencin battle in 1708, however, Janosik returned home and , as his trial records state, lived with his older brother Jan for a short time. Then, either on Lowenburg's insistence or on the initiative of Imperial Army officers who compelled former insurrectionist prisoners with promises and threats to enlist, 38 Janosik joined the Austrian Imperial service and was stationed as a guard at the prison in the Bytca castle. During the heat of the uprising, many brigands, vagrants, deserters, and even students had joined Rak6czy's troops, and in turn toward the end of the uprising and afterwards, former kuruci were identified by county and state authorities as bandits and criminals - so that officially the line between insurrectionists and brigands was essentially obliterated. It was among a group of these imprisoned insurrectionists and bandits at the Bytca castle in prison in 1710 that Janosik met and befriended Tomas Uhorcik of Turzovka, a brigand captain, probably about five years his senior, 39 who had also served for a time in Rak6czy 's army. 40 Court records state that Janosik often showed special favors toward Uhorcik, perhaps easing up prison rules for him, bringing him better fare, or helping him maintain contact with his outlawed comrades. 41 In the autumn of 1710, Janosik helped Uhorcik to escape. Less than a month later, in November of 1710, with living conditions worsening at Bytca castle, illness spreading, and food in dangerously short supply, Janosik's father, probably without much difficulty given these circumstances, paid a sum to the castle commander and had his son released from the Imperial Army. 42 Janosik went home to his parents in Terchova, but apparently met with Uhorcik several times during the winter of 1710-1711, and together with other members of Uhorcik's band, they robbed some merchants in Moravia in September, 1711, tak- �SLOVAKIA 17 ing, among other items, a good deal of cloth. 4 3 This was both Uhorcik's last move as a bandit captain and Janosik's first such action. On St. Michael's Day, September 29, 1711, Uhorcik swore Janosik into the band according to custom. 44 Thus began Janosik's brief career as a brigand. Shortly after Janosik joined the group, Uhorcik left the band, married in October, 1711, and taking the name Martin Mravec, settled in the village of Klenovec in the county of Malohont. Here he became a shepherd, eventually acquiring the reputation of a fine citizen. After this he participated in only one robbery with Janosik and others, the attack on baron Pavol Revay of Turiec. 45 Uhorcik himself handed over leadership of the band to Janosik, who inherited what was a loose-knit and apparently difficult group to control. Membership was fluid, and included Moravians, Poles, and Rusyns , but largely Slovaks, many of whom came from the mountainous Kysuca region of northeastern Slovakia. 46 Janosik spent most of the winter of 1711-12 at Uhorcik's home, since brigands customarily dispersed for the winter, and he resumed his activity during the spring of 1712. He and his men robbed noblemen, merchants, a priest and a pastor's wife on the river Vah , and among others , a Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos, a rich Zilina goldsmith and jeweler Skalka, a wealthy Imperial Army officer's wife, Schardonka, and her entourage on the road between Vazec and Vychodna, as well as an Orava squire named Ladislav Zmeskal. They took everything from money, cloth, rich and fancy pieces of clothing, jewelry, weapons, wigs , and wine. When later questioned about the only murder - that of a priest from Domaniza - Janosik denied involvement, stating that two comrades were responsible. In the end, the court was able to insist in the verdict only that Janosik had been present when the murder took place. When Uhorcik was interrogated a month later he confessed things which Janosik himself had clearly withheld during his trial, information which also sheds light on their activity as bandits and on their character. For one thing, Uhorcik demonstrated that there was widespread support of Janosik by naming several persons who helped him , such as the Terchova schoolmaster who gave him shelter and the Terchova innkeeper Rafaj who provided him with �18 SLOVAKIA food.47 Janosik's withholding of such information to protect comrades and supporters characterizes the records of his own interrogation. Secondly, Uhorcik spoke of "insurrectionist booty" which was stored at the home of a comrade, again something which Janosik had never mentioned. He disclosed that Janosik and his men had attacked smaller Imperial Army units in order to capture weapons. Most importantly, Uhorcik revealed that Janosik told him that in Cicmany he had hidden cloth for the clothing of three hundred men, as well as money, and had hidden weapons by a stream near Terchova. Jozef Kocis raises the question whether Janosik was perhaps involved in preparations for some potentially larger armed action connected with the only recently-liquidated uprising , the spirit of which could still be alive in him as a former kuruc. Likewise, Janosik must have been suspected by the authorities of keeping contact with other insurrectionists. A former Rak6czy officer Viliam Vinkler, who had recruited Janosik into Rak6czy's army some years earlier, was known to be operating secretly in northwestern Slovakia, preparing a new uprising even after the Szatmar Peace of 1711. 48 And when Janosik was asked by his Liptov interrogator if he had contact with exiles in Poland who were "traitors of the country and government of Hungary" (that is, Rak6czy insurrectionists, many of whom had fled north) , he flatly refused to answer. 49 The piecing together of such information sheds new light on Janosik 's illegal activity, suggesting that he and others like him may indeed have had some very serious and far-reaching goals in mind to which they devoted their actions. 50 In October, 1712, both Janosik and Uhorcik were apprehended in one of the many sweeps undertaken by officials to round up former insurrectionists and brigands, and were imprisoned for a few days in the castle at Hrachovo . Malohont county's deputy chief administrator, Pavol Lani, who was an acquaintance of Uhorcik and Janosik, apparently was sympathetic with the Rak6czy uprising and h elped facilitate their release. Trial documents later revealed that in repayment to Lani and his sheriff, Uhorcik and Janosik gave them fox furs and several cheeses. 51 The pursuit, prosecution, and execution of bandits , in hopes of squelching all public disorder surrounding and echoing the �SLOVAKIA 19 Rak.6czy uprising, received top priority among officials of several counties, including Trencin, Turiec, Orava, Liptov, Hont, and Malohont, and also in Spis and Saris. Perhaps it was these general and ongoing investigations, along with information gleaned from the interrogations of other bandits, that led to the second and final apprehension of both Janosik and Uhorcik in February or early March of 1713, most likely in the latter's village of Klenovec. Perhaps information concerning the whereabouts of Janosik and Uhorcik provided voluntarily to authorities by the discontented outlaw Turiak-Huncaga may also have helped lead to their arrest. 52 In shackles they were taken to Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, imprisoned, and tried, and both executed a month apart. The court records indicate that Janosik's defense lawyer Palagyay tried to argue that his client had killed no one, had left Rak.6czy's army on his own, had served in the Imperial Army , and had become a bandit as a vulnerable young man, and not by his own will, but under the strong influence of Uhorcik. He begged for mercy and for Janosik's release. The prosecutor insisted that not only had Janosik participated in Rak6czy's uprising, but that his thievery alone subjected him to the law of the land, the Tripartitum, and specifically Article 15 on brigands (supported by subsequent imperial decrees) which clearly said that bandits were to be hung, broken on the wheel, impaled on a stake, or decapitated as a warning to others. In the end, the prosecutor was victorious, and Janosik was found guilty and executed. Did Janosik's Gypsy friends come to play while he danced under the gallows before throwing himself on the hook to die! Did he really smoke two pounds of tobacco in his infamous bandit pipe to astound and shame his people's oppressors while hanging on the hook? Probably not, but who can know with certainty? There may indeed have been a number of cruel estate overseers named Sandor, and although there is no mention in historical documents of a special Anicka in his life , Janosik admitted to having given stolen jewelry to certain young Terchova women. That Janosik might have been betrayed by a comrade may well be close to historical truth. His slipping into the authorities' hands on dried peas scattered by an old woman in a tavern, however, rather than an actual event, may be a kind of mythical expression of ultimate �20 SLOVAKIA helplessness on the part of one people held in bondage by another. Clearly, the Janosik of legend and the Janosik of history are different figures, although some traces of the latter peek through the former. The historical Janosik is in some ways no less interesting to us now than the legend. True, the historical figure gave rise to the legend, but where the historical narrative is fragmentary, fails to explain actions, and fails to satisfy curiosity about a famous personality, human longing and creativity step in to flesh out the hero, to contour and recontour him as the need arises. And it is, after all, the legendary figure, dynamic , capable of change, and radiating an irresistible power, which has kept Janosik alive and well through the centuries. NOTES 1 Viera Gasparikova, Povesti o zbojnfkoch zo slovenskych a pol'skych Tatier, Klenotnica slovenskej l'udovej kultury , vol. 11 (Bratislava: VEDA, 1979). Besides this major collection of Janosik tales, Gasparikova has a number of other publications on the subject of brigands . 2 Ladislav Hruby, "Tri storot':ia Janosika," Slovensko, no . 4 (april 1988) , pp. 18-19. 3 From the letter of a personal friend . 4 Andrej Melicher_9ik, JAnoMkovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Bratislava: SAV, 1952), p. 44. 5 Melichert':ik, Juraj JAno§fk: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho l'udu, 2d ed . rev. and en!. (Martin: Osveta , 1963), p. 167. Translation of the verdict and sentence is mine . - P.K . 6 Rudolf Brta:i'I., "Slovenski zbojnici v Sliezsku i na Morave, " Slezsky sbornik, 64 (1966) , p. 376. 7 Ibid; Melichert':ik, JanoMkovska tradfcia, p . 55 . 8 A. Rendek, "Kde je pochovany Janosik?," Smer, 27 January 1968, p . 5. 9 Eric Hobsbawn, Bandits (New York: Pantheon, 1981). The entire book is devoted to a study of the social bandit phenomenon. 10 See a number of Janosik glass paintings in Irena Pisutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 20th Century (Bratislava : Tatran, 1983). 11 P.G. Bogatyrev, Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy i liro-epiceskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl") (Moskva : AN SSSR, 1963), p. 25. 12 See tales in the Gasparikova collection in footnote 1, as well as in the Bogatyrev study in footnote 11, Appendix 1, pp. 150-62. 13 See examples in Jifi Horak a Karel Plicka, Zbojnicke piesne slovenskeho l'udu (Bratislava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury, 1965). �SLOVAKIA 21 14 Bogatyrev, pp. 125-29; Melichercik, J(moMkovska tradicia, pp. 93-165; Peter Liba, "Janosikovske premeny, alebo: reflexie o jednej teme," Slovenske pohl'ady, No . 8 (1983), pp. 1-8, 15 Jan Vilikovsky, "Tfi nejstarsi slovenske zbojnicke pisnl'l," Casopis pro vyzkum Slovenska a Podkarpatske Rusi, XI, No. 5 (Bratislava, 1935), pp. 550-73. 16 "Janosik - partizanska brigada," and "Janosik Slovenska, Vol. II, 1978. 17 I.:ubomir Feldek, "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho, " Smutne komedie (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1982), pp . 79-118. ilegalny l::asopis," Encyklopedia Stanislav Stepka, Jaaanosfiik: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970) . 19 The script ends when Janosik goes off to join Uhorcik in brigandage . After this, Uhorcik takes center stage with a spontaneous address to the audience, broken by brief interactions with Janosik and other characters . Presumably, the spontaneous address could include any number of topics, depending on the actor and audience ~sponse at the time. 18 20 Among some emigre renderings of Janosik's story are the following: Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1946), pp. 75-87; Joseph A. Mikus, Pride in Slovak Origin, 2d ed. enl. (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1973), p. 21; Mikus, Slovakia and the Slovaks (Three Continents Press, 1977), p. 147; George J. Krajsa, "Janosik," Furdek (1978). Krajsa's article on Janosik appears to be only a slightly revised version of Yurchak's. It is interesting to note that the first novel ever about Janosik was written by the Slovak-American newspaper editor and writer Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky in New York City in 1894 and published that year by Slovl1k v Amerike (for information see the issue of February 13, 1896, p . 6) . I am grateful to Mark Stolarik for having provided the information concerning Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky. The first film about Janosik was also produced by Slovak-Americans, the Siakel' brothers, in the early 1920s. MarsallPetrovsky collected many of the legends about Janosik that later appeared in the famous 1936 film , directed by Martin Frie, which starred Pal'o Bielik, tales which Peter Yurchak then incorporated into his book cited above . Bielik himself directed the 1962-63 color film Janosik, containing and embellishing all the legends about the brigand . 21 Brtail, "Neznamy, ale skutocny Juraj Janosik z Terchovej alebo Kral'ovej." Predvoj, 3 March 1966, pp. 8-9 . 22 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 61 . According to an early Janosik researcher, Ivan Houdek, the original record of Janosik's interrogations mysteriously vanished in the third quarter of the nineteenth century , but what appears to be an authentic copy, called the "Fassio Janossikiana ," most likely penned by the Slovak writer Janka Kral', remains . The documents of Janosik's interrogations and trial proceedings appear in Melichercik's Janosikovska tradicia (pp . 248-59), and they appear along with a copy of Uhorcik's trial proceedings in Melichercik's Juraj Janosik (pp . 165-76). All further direct references to documentary material in this article are taken from these studies. 23 See Brtail , "Neznamy, ale skutocny Janosik, " p . 9, where he refers to the document of complaint; and Jozef Kocis, Neznamy Janosik (Martin : Osveta, 1986) , pp. 87-90, where he briefly summarizes Jan's interrogation . 24 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 62 . 25 Melicherclk , Janosikovska tradicia , p . 41. 2s Melichercik, Juraj Janosik , p . 60 . �22 SLOVAKIA 27 Brta:11., "Neznamy, ale skutofoy JanoMk." His entire article is devoted to correcting this error. 28 Ibid., p. 9. Ibid. 29 Ibid. In Strefoo estate administrator Florek's allegations, Jan Janosik is said to have had four children, baptized from 1699 to 1712 . The birth registry lists no children born to this Jan after 1712, further lending support to the fact that he was the Jan executed in 1713. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 30 33 Even Kocis in his Neznamy Janosik identifies the wrong Juraj Janosik (p . 87, and footnote 150). It is somewhat surprising that Kocis' bibliography does not include any references to the handful of insightful research articles on Janosik by Brtan. 34 Brta:11., "Neznamy , ale skutocny Janosik," p. 9 . Brta:11. suggests that the possibility that Janosik had some schooling may have given rise to the tradition that he was a divinity student. Brtan also offers other possible factors for this legend . As in other Slavic cultures, it was customary for a young married man to live for a time with his family in his father 's house. By at least 1708, however, if not earlier, Janosfk's older brother Jan must have been living with his wife and children in his own home. Court records clearly indicate that Janosik stayed for a time that year with him, rather than with their parents, after leaving Rak6czy's army. 36 Kocis, p. 27 . 35 37 Robert A. Kann, A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918 (Berkeley: University of California Press , 1977). p. 75 . 38 Brtan, "Slovenski zbojnici," p . 377 ; Kocis , p. 29 . Both discuss this issue. Kocis , p. 77. 40 Ibid. , pp . 46-47''. 39 41 42 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 67. Kocis, p. 47. Ibid., p . 48; Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67 . 44 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67. 45 See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp. 72-74, for a summary of Janosik's offenses . 43 48 Lists of bandit group members have been compiled from court records. See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp . 71-72; Kocis, pp . 72-74; also Bogatyrev's commentary in Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy, p . 5. 47 See Kocis, pp . 61-62 and pp . 75-76, for Uhorcik's testimony vis-a-vis Janosik's . 48 Ibid., p . 76. 49 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 167 (see interrogation question #2) . °Kocis, p . 76. 5 51 52 Ibid., pp . 52-54. Ibid., p . 56. � SLOVAKIA 7 Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK The year 1988 marks the three-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Juraj Janosik, traditionally considered by Slovaks to be their national hero. Preparations for the anniversary celebrations included the publishing of a study entitled Neznamy Janosik (1986) by Jozef Kocis, which expands on previotis knowledge about the historical Janosik and complements scholarly works such as Andrej Melichercik's comprehensive monographJanosikovska tradicia na Slovensku (1952) and the superb folklore studies and collections of Viera Gasparikova. 1 A major work on Janosik by Gasparikova, Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v l'udovej kulture (1988), and a double issue of the journal Slovensky narodopis (3-4, 1988), devoted exclusively to the brigand theme, are also new publications contributing to the celebration. Among the numerous festivities during the course of 1988 has been unveiling of a sevenmeter high sculpture of Janosik by national artist Jan Kulich in Terchova,2 and an exhibit of folk art portraying Janosik, sponsored by the Slovak National Gallery. Appropriately , the exhibit was installed during the summer months in Liptovsky (Svaty) Mikulas - the city in central Slovakia that witnessed Janosik's trial and execution in mid-March of 1713. As one Slovak ethnographer has put it: ''This year all of Slovakia lives with the anniversary of its beloved Janosik .' '3 The question why Janosik, who was one of a number of eighteenth-century Slovak peasants tried and executed as brigands and murderers, emerged as the national hero has long daunted Janosik scholars. Likewise, the historical figure himself has continually escaped scholars and remains today but a shadowy profile sketched in by their research and educated suppositions. While Janosik in folklore is a bold bandit, harassing members of the rich �8 SLOVAKIA and noble classes of society, and always thrilling his people with daring and dangerous exploits, the historical figure , as much as we can know him, appears very human. Clearly, he was a strong, adventurous young man caught up in some of the most tumultuous moments of his nation's life and, like everyone else, subject to the rule of the tough, often brutal authorities occupying Slovak territory at the time . We can best become acquainted with the Juraj Janosik beloved of the Slovak people through Janosik folklore and literary depictions, dramas , films, and folk art and portraiture , for it is through these that he and his exploits are most widely known. But how can we come to know the real Janosik, the one whose birth we celebrate in 1988? For this we must turn to information drawn from a small file of historical documents concerning his life, both directly and indirectly. Juraj Janosik was a young man of twenty-five when he was brought from his cell in the sixteenth-century Vranov castle , just outside Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, and placed before a county government tribunal in that city on March 17, 1713. He was exhausted from questioning by representatives of both the Liptov and Trencin county governments, and suffered from wounds inflicted during his interrogation by torture which could have included any combination of the following customary practices: fire burns on the skin, penetration of red-hot pincers under the nails , crushing of the bones , stretching on the rack, and the ripping of tendons in the limbs. 4 After enduring all of this , he stood to hear the following verdict and sentence: Because the aforementioned accused , Jura Janosik, having rejected both the commandments of God and the law of the state, two years ago turned to banditry and became a brigand captain; and with his comrades on the highways robbed many people of their belongings ; and as it appears from his own confession, his comrades in his presence shot and killed in an ungodly fashion a priest from Domaniza; and since he also committed other such crimes; therefore , for such grave and evil deeds and transgressions of the law , he is to be thrust onto the hook through the left side and thus as an example to other criminals of this type , he is to be hanged. 5 �SLOVAKIA 9 Janosik's execution was most likely carried out the next day, perhaps in the city square or the market place near today's Janka Kral' Museum which is located in an old mansion once owned by the Hanzely-Seligovy family. 6 Janosik's actual interrogation possibly took place in the back of that mansion which was purchased for such use by Liptov county officials in 1712 or 1713.7 It is thought that his body was removed to a cemetery about four kilometers from Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in a settlement called Cemice which contained an unhallowed graveyard for insurrectionists (kuruci), many of whom had fallen in the uprising of Prince Ferenz Rakoczy II against the Austrian Habsburgs from 1703-11, in which Janosik had briefly participated. 8 While the execution put an end to Janosik the man, his legend was born in folk tradition which was ripe for the glorification and idealization of a noble brigand who had come to represent revenge for wrongs perpetrated against the common folk under the harsh conditions of the time. The eighteenth century throughout Europe was, in fact, the "golden age" of brigandage, when those discontented with the ever more intolerable burdens of foreign occupation, serfdom, and forced conscription, fled to the hills and formed small outlaw bands for survival and for the harrassment of the wealthy and powerful. 9 These social bandits, considered criminals by the authorities, represented to their people free spirits and were perceived as champions of the poor and oppressed. Conditions in Slovakia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were likewise conducive to the emergence of social brigandage. Slovakia constituted the northern counties of the Hungarian Kingdom, and increasingly restless Slovak serfs served Hungarian overlords , who themselves in turn were held in voluntary or sometimes compulsory allegiance to the Habsburg Court. In these volatile times, Janosik took his place among the social bandits, and within decades of his execution, a rich oral tradition had begun to crystallize around him. Over the past two centuries, through the process of mythicization in folklore and literature, the legendary Janosik has flourished. He and his mountain lads (h6rni chlapci) are celebrated in numerous short folktales , lyric and lyrico-epic songs and ballads, and the plastic arts - ceramics, wood-carving, painting on glass. �10 SLOVAKIA The brigand dance, odzemok, with its exhilirating music and leaping over bonfires, is the most exciting of those performed by Slovak folk ensembles to this day - and reflects the scenarios brilliantly envisioned in artistic depictions of Janosik and his men. 10 The great Russian folklorist and researcher in Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn folklore, Petr Bogatyrev, has stated that the more beloved a folk hero is, the more elaborately is his image embellished with the elements of fairytale magic and fantasy. 11 Janosik demonstrates that this is indeed so, for his figure, especially in the folktales, shares numerous features with international fairytale heroes. He is invulnerable to harm and capture, with supernatural strength residing alternately in his magical belt, magical mountain axe (valaska), magical string , hair , or herbs each acquired from witches or forest nymphs (vily). Like many other heroes, Janosik is nursed by his mother until boyhood, and appears lazy until he obtains his magical objects. In the folktales, Janosik engages in a series of exploits designed to expose and punish the arrogant lords, as well as common passers-by who speak against him , fear him, or lie to him. Like the English Robin Hood , he dons a series of disguises in order to penetrate lordly estates or to patrol the highways incognito, teaching proper morality to cruel noblemen and less than noble common folk alike. 12 Alongside folktales are folksongs and ballads which praise his dashing , masculine beauty, celebrate the free outlaw life , bemoan the struggles and death of the brigand at the gallows , and express his motivatipns for becoming a bandit. 13 Each literary age has also depicted Janosik according to its own needs and tastes. 14 Late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century Slovak literature portrays a Janosik derived most likely from market or bazaar song lore Uarmocne p iesn e) as a young brigand wh o tells h is tragic story while languishing in prison. 15 Nineteenth-century Romanticists, especially the Sturovci, extolled Janosik as a symbol of liberation, of Slovak nationalism, of Slovakia itself. Later Romanticism , partly under the influence of foreign models, gradually added love motifs, romance, and more adventure to his legend. In Socialist society, Janosik has been portrayed as an early fighter for the rights of peasants and workers. During World War II Janosik, as the "mountain eagle," was again �SLOVAKIA 11 evoked, this time by partisans who formed themselves into a "Janosik brigade'' in 1944. Other partisans in 1943 and 1944 circulated an underground anti-government journal entitled Janosik. 16 Through changing times and conditions, there has been no doubt about the power of Janosik as a symbol of defiance and freedom. Modern-day Slovakia, particularly in its theater, has dealt somewhat harshly with the noble image of Janosik inherited from folklore and literary traditions. On the contemporary Slovak stage he has been depicted as an earthy, sensual young male, struggling not only with social justice, but also with his desire.for a woman as in the Polish playwright Ernst Bryll's musical, "Mal'ovany na skle" (premiered in October 1974), so popular in Slovakia. In I.:ubomir Feldek's "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho," 17 Janosik is an attractive if somewhat vacuous young man who achieves fame as a noble brigand by accident when the real fame should have gone to his comrade Uhorcik. Finally, in Stanislav Stepka's "Jaaanosiiik, " 18 he is a weak-willed outlaw whose comrade Uhorcik, a homosexual, outshines him and is the real and delightfully humorous leader of the little band, preoccupied with gathering good-quality loot from victims, especially foreign-made items. 19 In emigre writings, as well as in films about Janosik we see mainly traces of the folklore and the romanticized literary figure. If a "historical" figure is discussed, it is also usually derived from folklore and literary sources, rather than from actual historical documents. Almost any typical reference in emigre literature presents the following story: As a young man, Janosik was studying for the priesthood when he returned home, having learned that his mother was ill. He found her dead, and discovered his father beaten by the overseer of the estate, one Sandor, for having missed work in the fields in order to minister to his dying wife. When his father then dies from the beating, a furious Janosik somehow forces Sandor's own men to beat the overseer as a punishment and warning for the future . Now, as an outlaw, Janosik flees to the hills, gathering about himself a band of mountain lads who harass cruel lords and rob the rich to give to the poor. He is finally betrayed to the authorities by a comrade, jealous of his love for the beautiful Anicka, by being lured to a tavern rendez- �12 SLOVAKIA vous with her. Here he is apprehended by the authorities, not because he cannot fight his way free, but because an old Gypsy woman tosses dried peas to the floor and causes him to lose his balance and slip into the clutches of waiting soldiers. His folklore death - execution by hanging on the hook - while often elaborated by heroic motifs, coincides with his historical death. 20 Faced with this these images of Janosik, we turn finally to the historical prototype of Juraj Janosik. There are three major sources from which we can reconstruct a life of Janosik. First is the baptismal matrika or registry from the town of Varin, about 25 kilometers from Terchova. In this document, as in all baptismal matriky, the priest recorded the date of the baptism rather than the birth, as well as the names of the infant, the parents, and the godparents. Such registries are a rich source of information, but unfortunately, they are not always continuous . This situation has complicated the Janosik history, and has made difficult the reconstruction of the Janosik family tree. 21 The second source of information about the historical Janosik consists of documents surrounding his criminal trial on March 16-17, 1713 , in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. These documents include a record of (a) Janosik's interrogation by county authorities , (b) his brief questioning by two robbery victims from Zilina , and (c) his interrogation under torture. 2 2 In the days before the actual trial, Janosik was questioned on a number of points by representatives of Liptov and Trencin counties. The minutes of this first interrogation contain questions presented to Janosik, along with a third-person rendering of the answers he gave, and also indicate which questions he did not answer. Of the twenty-nine questions presented by the Liptov representative, Janosik answered only sixteen, while he made some attempt at a response to all seventeen questions of the Trencin representative. In answer to accusations of robbery by Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos and Zilina jeweler Skalka, Janosik admitted robbing both and described what he did with the loot. A brief list of Uhorcik's comrades is also appended to this interrogation. Minutes of Janosik's questioning under torture show him responding to seven items. None of these minutes indicate how long the proceedings lasted. Among the trail documents is also a record of the trial itself which covers the ex- �SLOVAKIA 13 change between the prosecutor, Alexander Cemicky, and the defense lawyer assigned to Janosik, Baltazar Palugyay, about which more will be said later. The third source of documents essential to our acquaintance with the historical Janosik are the records of (a) criminal trial proceedings against Janosik's comrade Tomas Uhorcik which also took place in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas on April 19-20, only a month after Janosik's execution (Uhorcik was executed on April 21), and (b) a written complaint lodged against Janosik's older brother Jan in November, 1713, by the Strecno estate administrator for the Lowenburgs, Martin Florek. We have as well the subsequent criminal trial proceedings against Jan which took place on December 18-22 of the same year, when he was tried for brigandage by the landowners' court of Count Lowenburg at the Lowenburg residence in Teplicka-on-the-Vah and later hanged. 23 Included in this third category may also be records which show that Terchova, Janosik's hometown, and all of its residents, were challenged in August of 1712 by the Teplicka court to answer charges of secretly aiding outlaws. 24 From the documents we know that Janosik was born in one of the many small mountain settlements, called "U Janosov," located to the east of the city of Zilina near the village of Terchova in the mountainous area of north central Slovakia. The region is known for its thick patches of pine forest, craggy cliffs and caves , and rugged beauty. Janosik's childhood familiarity with this terrain no doubt served him well in his later years as a brigand when he was forced to move quickly and easily through such country and to seek the natural shelter it offered. Since Terchova had no operating church or pastor at that time, but belonged to the Varin parish, Janosik's baptism, as well as those of other children from Terchova and surrounding settlements, is recorded in the Varin baptismal registry. In his Janosfkovska tradfcia, the well-known Janosik scholar Andrej Melichercik refers to an entry in the registry indicating that Juraj Janosik was baptized on January 25, 1688; was the son of Martin Janosik and Anna Cisnikova; and had two younger brothers Martin (baptized 1692) and Adam (baptized 1697). 25 In a later study, Melichercik says that updated research indicated that Janosik also had an older brother, Jan. But here �14 SLOVAKIA Melicherc:ik neither provides a baptismal date for Jan nor explains the absence of a date.26 According to Rudolf Brtan, who himself has analyzed the baptismal registry scrupulously, this Juraj Janosik identified by Melicherc:ik and others is not the famous bandit.27 In the registry, which had been interrupted for several years and then resumed in 1686 by Roman Catholic priest Michal Smutko, Melicherc:ik's Janosik happens to be the first Juraj Janosik listed as baptized. 28 But Brtan says that between this first baptism on January 25, 1688, and September, 1694, there were in fact five Juraj Janosiks listed in the registry, four of whom were baptized between these years and whose ages would have ranged from 19 to 25 at the time of the execution in 1713 - making them all potential candidates for the famous brigand. After grouping parents and children into the four Janosik family units, each of which contained a son Juraj (one Juraj was listed as the father of a son by the same name), Brtan, contrary to Melicherc:ik, points to Juraj, son of Michal Janosik and Barbara Cingel'ova, baptized on May 16, 1688, as the real brigand. 29 He derives his conclusion not only on the basis of the registry but also from crucial information in the documents of 1713 stating the charges brought against Juraj's brother Jan who is described as having, among other children, a daughter Dorota born in 1699. 30 The parents of Melicherc:ik's Janosik, Martin and Anna Cisnikova, according to Brtan, had sons Martin and Adam, and also a son Jan, but he is listed in the registry as having been baptized in 1689, a year after their son Juraj. Thus he was not an older brother to Juraj, whereas the court documents clearly state that Jan was older. Furthermore, he would have been only 10 years old in 1699 hardly old enough to be married and a father. The parents of yet another Juraj Janosik (baptized in 1691), Juraj, Sr., and Anna Chorvatikova, also had a son Jan baptized in 1689. But this date makes him younger than Juraj as well and disqualifies him as the real Juraj's older brother Jan. How then does Brtan convincingly support his contention that Michal and Barbara Cingel'ova are the parents of the real brigand Juraj? Brtan says that Michal and Barbara had a daughter Barbara, listed as having been baptized in April 1691 , as well as Juraj hap- �SLOVAKIA 15 tized May 16, 1688, and believes that they had still another son Jan who was older than Juraj, but whom we do not find in the registry simply because there was no registry between the years 1673 and 1686, precisely the years during which the older brother Jan was born and baptized. 31 Brtan thus explains what Melichercik passed over in silence - why there is no baptismal date for Jan - and he thus rules out Melichercik's couple Martin and Anna Cfsnikova as the brigand Juraj's parents. Brtan traces the source of the mistake to an inaccurate initial identification of Janosik's actual baptismal entry by a Varin priest from whom the information was first requested in the late 1920s. 32 The priest located the first possible Juraj Janosik listed in the registry, which had been resumed after a period by his distant predecessor Smutko, and most likely looked no further. According to Brtan, this erroneously identified Juraj Janosik has been handed down mechanically from scholar to scholar since then. 33 The young Janosik, born sometime in late spring 1688, lived in his family's settlement with his parents, Michal and Barbara. Count Jan Jakub Lowenburg, lord of the Strecno domain to which Terchova belonged, is known to have sent some young boys of peasant origin to school in connection with therecatholicization of the area which he strongly supported and it would not have been impossible that Janosik was given some education. 34 But this is doubtful, Brtan says, since his home was five kilometers from Terchova, a hard road to travel in winter, and since his father might have hesitated to send his youngest son and helper away. The older son Jan was already married with one child and it is not known whether he was still living in his parents' home by 1699 when Janosik was 11 years old.35 In 1703 when Prince Ferenz Rak6czy II, one of a series of Hungarian nobles who over the years had attempted to limit or throw off Austrian Habsburg power, published his proclamation inciting insurrection against Vienna, Janosik was 15 years old. Along with thousands of other Slovak serfs attracted by Rak6czy's repeated calls for liberation from Austrian overloads, freedom for serfs, and religious tolerance - and perhaps caught up as an enthusiastic youth desiring adventure - Janosik joined Rak6czy's troops at the summons of one of his officers, Viliam Vinkler, in �16 SLOVAKIA December 1707. 36 He was later among approximately 400 insurrectionists or kuruci taken prisoner, and subsequently released, after a battle near Trencin on August 3, 1708, which dealt a severe blow to the uprising. By 1711 the insurrection had worn down considerably, and shortly after the death of Austrian Emperor Joseph I, Hungarian leaders of the moderate wing of the insurrectionist movement finally made peace with the new emperor Charles VI at Szatmar. 3 7 Already after the Trencin battle in 1708, however, Janosik returned home and , as his trial records state, lived with his older brother Jan for a short time. Then, either on Lowenburg's insistence or on the initiative of Imperial Army officers who compelled former insurrectionist prisoners with promises and threats to enlist, 38 Janosik joined the Austrian Imperial service and was stationed as a guard at the prison in the Bytca castle. During the heat of the uprising, many brigands, vagrants, deserters, and even students had joined Rak6czy's troops, and in turn toward the end of the uprising and afterwards, former kuruci were identified by county and state authorities as bandits and criminals - so that officially the line between insurrectionists and brigands was essentially obliterated. It was among a group of these imprisoned insurrectionists and bandits at the Bytca castle in prison in 1710 that Janosik met and befriended Tomas Uhorcik of Turzovka, a brigand captain, probably about five years his senior, 39 who had also served for a time in Rak6czy 's army. 40 Court records state that Janosik often showed special favors toward Uhorcik, perhaps easing up prison rules for him, bringing him better fare, or helping him maintain contact with his outlawed comrades. 41 In the autumn of 1710, Janosik helped Uhorcik to escape. Less than a month later, in November of 1710, with living conditions worsening at Bytca castle, illness spreading, and food in dangerously short supply, Janosik's father, probably without much difficulty given these circumstances, paid a sum to the castle commander and had his son released from the Imperial Army. 42 Janosik went home to his parents in Terchova, but apparently met with Uhorcik several times during the winter of 1710-1711, and together with other members of Uhorcik's band, they robbed some merchants in Moravia in September, 1711, tak- �SLOVAKIA 17 ing, among other items, a good deal of cloth. 4 3 This was both Uhorcik's last move as a bandit captain and Janosik's first such action. On St. Michael's Day, September 29, 1711, Uhorcik swore Janosik into the band according to custom. 44 Thus began Janosik's brief career as a brigand. Shortly after Janosik joined the group, Uhorcik left the band, married in October, 1711, and taking the name Martin Mravec, settled in the village of Klenovec in the county of Malohont. Here he became a shepherd, eventually acquiring the reputation of a fine citizen. After this he participated in only one robbery with Janosik and others, the attack on baron Pavol Revay of Turiec. 45 Uhorcik himself handed over leadership of the band to Janosik, who inherited what was a loose-knit and apparently difficult group to control. Membership was fluid, and included Moravians, Poles, and Rusyns , but largely Slovaks, many of whom came from the mountainous Kysuca region of northeastern Slovakia. 46 Janosik spent most of the winter of 1711-12 at Uhorcik's home, since brigands customarily dispersed for the winter, and he resumed his activity during the spring of 1712. He and his men robbed noblemen, merchants, a priest and a pastor's wife on the river Vah , and among others , a Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos, a rich Zilina goldsmith and jeweler Skalka, a wealthy Imperial Army officer's wife, Schardonka, and her entourage on the road between Vazec and Vychodna, as well as an Orava squire named Ladislav Zmeskal. They took everything from money, cloth, rich and fancy pieces of clothing, jewelry, weapons, wigs , and wine. When later questioned about the only murder - that of a priest from Domaniza - Janosik denied involvement, stating that two comrades were responsible. In the end, the court was able to insist in the verdict only that Janosik had been present when the murder took place. When Uhorcik was interrogated a month later he confessed things which Janosik himself had clearly withheld during his trial, information which also sheds light on their activity as bandits and on their character. For one thing, Uhorcik demonstrated that there was widespread support of Janosik by naming several persons who helped him , such as the Terchova schoolmaster who gave him shelter and the Terchova innkeeper Rafaj who provided him with �18 SLOVAKIA food.47 Janosik's withholding of such information to protect comrades and supporters characterizes the records of his own interrogation. Secondly, Uhorcik spoke of "insurrectionist booty" which was stored at the home of a comrade, again something which Janosik had never mentioned. He disclosed that Janosik and his men had attacked smaller Imperial Army units in order to capture weapons. Most importantly, Uhorcik revealed that Janosik told him that in Cicmany he had hidden cloth for the clothing of three hundred men, as well as money, and had hidden weapons by a stream near Terchova. Jozef Kocis raises the question whether Janosik was perhaps involved in preparations for some potentially larger armed action connected with the only recently-liquidated uprising , the spirit of which could still be alive in him as a former kuruc. Likewise, Janosik must have been suspected by the authorities of keeping contact with other insurrectionists. A former Rak6czy officer Viliam Vinkler, who had recruited Janosik into Rak6czy's army some years earlier, was known to be operating secretly in northwestern Slovakia, preparing a new uprising even after the Szatmar Peace of 1711. 48 And when Janosik was asked by his Liptov interrogator if he had contact with exiles in Poland who were "traitors of the country and government of Hungary" (that is, Rak6czy insurrectionists, many of whom had fled north) , he flatly refused to answer. 49 The piecing together of such information sheds new light on Janosik 's illegal activity, suggesting that he and others like him may indeed have had some very serious and far-reaching goals in mind to which they devoted their actions. 50 In October, 1712, both Janosik and Uhorcik were apprehended in one of the many sweeps undertaken by officials to round up former insurrectionists and brigands, and were imprisoned for a few days in the castle at Hrachovo . Malohont county's deputy chief administrator, Pavol Lani, who was an acquaintance of Uhorcik and Janosik, apparently was sympathetic with the Rak6czy uprising and h elped facilitate their release. Trial documents later revealed that in repayment to Lani and his sheriff, Uhorcik and Janosik gave them fox furs and several cheeses. 51 The pursuit, prosecution, and execution of bandits , in hopes of squelching all public disorder surrounding and echoing the �SLOVAKIA 19 Rak.6czy uprising, received top priority among officials of several counties, including Trencin, Turiec, Orava, Liptov, Hont, and Malohont, and also in Spis and Saris. Perhaps it was these general and ongoing investigations, along with information gleaned from the interrogations of other bandits, that led to the second and final apprehension of both Janosik and Uhorcik in February or early March of 1713, most likely in the latter's village of Klenovec. Perhaps information concerning the whereabouts of Janosik and Uhorcik provided voluntarily to authorities by the discontented outlaw Turiak-Huncaga may also have helped lead to their arrest. 52 In shackles they were taken to Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, imprisoned, and tried, and both executed a month apart. The court records indicate that Janosik's defense lawyer Palagyay tried to argue that his client had killed no one, had left Rak.6czy's army on his own, had served in the Imperial Army , and had become a bandit as a vulnerable young man, and not by his own will, but under the strong influence of Uhorcik. He begged for mercy and for Janosik's release. The prosecutor insisted that not only had Janosik participated in Rak6czy's uprising, but that his thievery alone subjected him to the law of the land, the Tripartitum, and specifically Article 15 on brigands (supported by subsequent imperial decrees) which clearly said that bandits were to be hung, broken on the wheel, impaled on a stake, or decapitated as a warning to others. In the end, the prosecutor was victorious, and Janosik was found guilty and executed. Did Janosik's Gypsy friends come to play while he danced under the gallows before throwing himself on the hook to die! Did he really smoke two pounds of tobacco in his infamous bandit pipe to astound and shame his people's oppressors while hanging on the hook? Probably not, but who can know with certainty? There may indeed have been a number of cruel estate overseers named Sandor, and although there is no mention in historical documents of a special Anicka in his life , Janosik admitted to having given stolen jewelry to certain young Terchova women. That Janosik might have been betrayed by a comrade may well be close to historical truth. His slipping into the authorities' hands on dried peas scattered by an old woman in a tavern, however, rather than an actual event, may be a kind of mythical expression of ultimate �20 SLOVAKIA helplessness on the part of one people held in bondage by another. Clearly, the Janosik of legend and the Janosik of history are different figures, although some traces of the latter peek through the former. The historical Janosik is in some ways no less interesting to us now than the legend. True, the historical figure gave rise to the legend, but where the historical narrative is fragmentary, fails to explain actions, and fails to satisfy curiosity about a famous personality, human longing and creativity step in to flesh out the hero, to contour and recontour him as the need arises. And it is, after all, the legendary figure, dynamic , capable of change, and radiating an irresistible power, which has kept Janosik alive and well through the centuries. NOTES 1 Viera Gasparikova, Povesti o zbojnfkoch zo slovenskych a pol'skych Tatier, Klenotnica slovenskej l'udovej kultury , vol. 11 (Bratislava: VEDA, 1979). Besides this major collection of Janosik tales, Gasparikova has a number of other publications on the subject of brigands . 2 Ladislav Hruby, "Tri storot':ia Janosika," Slovensko, no . 4 (april 1988) , pp. 18-19. 3 From the letter of a personal friend . 4 Andrej Melicher_9ik, JAnoMkovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Bratislava: SAV, 1952), p. 44. 5 Melichert':ik, Juraj JAno§fk: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho l'udu, 2d ed . rev. and en!. (Martin: Osveta , 1963), p. 167. Translation of the verdict and sentence is mine . - P.K . 6 Rudolf Brta:i'I., "Slovenski zbojnici v Sliezsku i na Morave, " Slezsky sbornik, 64 (1966) , p. 376. 7 Ibid; Melichert':ik, JanoMkovska tradfcia, p . 55 . 8 A. Rendek, "Kde je pochovany Janosik?," Smer, 27 January 1968, p . 5. 9 Eric Hobsbawn, Bandits (New York: Pantheon, 1981). The entire book is devoted to a study of the social bandit phenomenon. 10 See a number of Janosik glass paintings in Irena Pisutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 20th Century (Bratislava : Tatran, 1983). 11 P.G. Bogatyrev, Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy i liro-epiceskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl") (Moskva : AN SSSR, 1963), p. 25. 12 See tales in the Gasparikova collection in footnote 1, as well as in the Bogatyrev study in footnote 11, Appendix 1, pp. 150-62. 13 See examples in Jifi Horak a Karel Plicka, Zbojnicke piesne slovenskeho l'udu (Bratislava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury, 1965). �SLOVAKIA 21 14 Bogatyrev, pp. 125-29; Melichercik, J(moMkovska tradicia, pp. 93-165; Peter Liba, "Janosikovske premeny, alebo: reflexie o jednej teme," Slovenske pohl'ady, No . 8 (1983), pp. 1-8, 15 Jan Vilikovsky, "Tfi nejstarsi slovenske zbojnicke pisnl'l," Casopis pro vyzkum Slovenska a Podkarpatske Rusi, XI, No. 5 (Bratislava, 1935), pp. 550-73. 16 "Janosik - partizanska brigada," and "Janosik Slovenska, Vol. II, 1978. 17 I.:ubomir Feldek, "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho, " Smutne komedie (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1982), pp . 79-118. ilegalny l::asopis," Encyklopedia Stanislav Stepka, Jaaanosfiik: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970) . 19 The script ends when Janosik goes off to join Uhorcik in brigandage . After this, Uhorcik takes center stage with a spontaneous address to the audience, broken by brief interactions with Janosik and other characters . Presumably, the spontaneous address could include any number of topics, depending on the actor and audience ~sponse at the time. 18 20 Among some emigre renderings of Janosik's story are the following: Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1946), pp. 75-87; Joseph A. Mikus, Pride in Slovak Origin, 2d ed. enl. (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1973), p. 21; Mikus, Slovakia and the Slovaks (Three Continents Press, 1977), p. 147; George J. Krajsa, "Janosik," Furdek (1978). Krajsa's article on Janosik appears to be only a slightly revised version of Yurchak's. It is interesting to note that the first novel ever about Janosik was written by the Slovak-American newspaper editor and writer Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky in New York City in 1894 and published that year by Slovl1k v Amerike (for information see the issue of February 13, 1896, p . 6) . I am grateful to Mark Stolarik for having provided the information concerning Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky. The first film about Janosik was also produced by Slovak-Americans, the Siakel' brothers, in the early 1920s. MarsallPetrovsky collected many of the legends about Janosik that later appeared in the famous 1936 film , directed by Martin Frie, which starred Pal'o Bielik, tales which Peter Yurchak then incorporated into his book cited above . Bielik himself directed the 1962-63 color film Janosik, containing and embellishing all the legends about the brigand . 21 Brtail, "Neznamy, ale skutocny Juraj Janosik z Terchovej alebo Kral'ovej." Predvoj, 3 March 1966, pp. 8-9 . 22 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 61 . According to an early Janosik researcher, Ivan Houdek, the original record of Janosik's interrogations mysteriously vanished in the third quarter of the nineteenth century , but what appears to be an authentic copy, called the "Fassio Janossikiana ," most likely penned by the Slovak writer Janka Kral', remains . The documents of Janosik's interrogations and trial proceedings appear in Melichercik's Janosikovska tradicia (pp . 248-59), and they appear along with a copy of Uhorcik's trial proceedings in Melichercik's Juraj Janosik (pp . 165-76). All further direct references to documentary material in this article are taken from these studies. 23 See Brtail , "Neznamy, ale skutocny Janosik, " p . 9, where he refers to the document of complaint; and Jozef Kocis, Neznamy Janosik (Martin : Osveta, 1986) , pp. 87-90, where he briefly summarizes Jan's interrogation . 24 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 62 . 25 Melicherclk , Janosikovska tradicia , p . 41. 2s Melichercik, Juraj Janosik , p . 60 . �22 SLOVAKIA 27 Brta:11., "Neznamy, ale skutofoy JanoMk." His entire article is devoted to correcting this error. 28 Ibid., p. 9. Ibid. 29 Ibid. In Strefoo estate administrator Florek's allegations, Jan Janosik is said to have had four children, baptized from 1699 to 1712 . The birth registry lists no children born to this Jan after 1712, further lending support to the fact that he was the Jan executed in 1713. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 30 33 Even Kocis in his Neznamy Janosik identifies the wrong Juraj Janosik (p . 87, and footnote 150). It is somewhat surprising that Kocis' bibliography does not include any references to the handful of insightful research articles on Janosik by Brtan. 34 Brta:11., "Neznamy , ale skutocny Janosik," p. 9 . Brta:11. suggests that the possibility that Janosik had some schooling may have given rise to the tradition that he was a divinity student. Brtan also offers other possible factors for this legend . As in other Slavic cultures, it was customary for a young married man to live for a time with his family in his father 's house. By at least 1708, however, if not earlier, Janosfk's older brother Jan must have been living with his wife and children in his own home. Court records clearly indicate that Janosik stayed for a time that year with him, rather than with their parents, after leaving Rak6czy's army. 36 Kocis, p. 27 . 35 37 Robert A. Kann, A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918 (Berkeley: University of California Press , 1977). p. 75 . 38 Brtan, "Slovenski zbojnici," p . 377 ; Kocis , p. 29 . Both discuss this issue. Kocis , p. 77. 40 Ibid. , pp . 46-47''. 39 41 42 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 67. Kocis, p. 47. Ibid., p . 48; Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67 . 44 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67. 45 See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp. 72-74, for a summary of Janosik's offenses . 43 48 Lists of bandit group members have been compiled from court records. See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp . 71-72; Kocis, pp . 72-74; also Bogatyrev's commentary in Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy, p . 5. 47 See Kocis, pp . 61-62 and pp . 75-76, for Uhorcik's testimony vis-a-vis Janosik's . 48 Ibid., p . 76. 49 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 167 (see interrogation question #2) . °Kocis, p . 76. 5 51 52 Ibid., pp . 52-54. Ibid., p . 56. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 7 Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK The year 1988 marks the three-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Juraj Janosik, traditionally considered by Slovaks to be their national hero. Preparations for the anniversary celebrations included the publishing of a study entitled Neznamy Janosik (1986) by Jozef Kocis, which expands on previotis knowledge about the historical Janosik and complements scholarly works such as Andrej Melichercik's comprehensive monographJanosikovska tradicia na Slovensku (1952) and the superb folklore studies and collections of Viera Gasparikova. 1 A major work on Janosik by Gasparikova, Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v l'udovej kulture (1988), and a double issue of the journal Slovensky narodopis (3-4, 1988), devoted exclusively to the brigand theme, are also new publications contributing to the celebration. Among the numerous festivities during the course of 1988 has been unveiling of a sevenmeter high sculpture of Janosik by national artist Jan Kulich in Terchova,2 and an exhibit of folk art portraying Janosik, sponsored by the Slovak National Gallery. Appropriately , the exhibit was installed during the summer months in Liptovsky (Svaty) Mikulas - the city in central Slovakia that witnessed Janosik's trial and execution in mid-March of 1713. As one Slovak ethnographer has put it: ''This year all of Slovakia lives with the anniversary of its beloved Janosik .' '3 The question why Janosik, who was one of a number of eighteenth-century Slovak peasants tried and executed as brigands and murderers, emerged as the national hero has long daunted Janosik scholars. Likewise, the historical figure himself has continually escaped scholars and remains today but a shadowy profile sketched in by their research and educated suppositions. While Janosik in folklore is a bold bandit, harassing members of the rich 8 SLOVAKIA and noble classes of society, and always thrilling his people with daring and dangerous exploits, the historical figure , as much as we can know him, appears very human. Clearly, he was a strong, adventurous young man caught up in some of the most tumultuous moments of his nation's life and, like everyone else, subject to the rule of the tough, often brutal authorities occupying Slovak territory at the time . We can best become acquainted with the Juraj Janosik beloved of the Slovak people through Janosik folklore and literary depictions, dramas , films, and folk art and portraiture , for it is through these that he and his exploits are most widely known. But how can we come to know the real Janosik, the one whose birth we celebrate in 1988? For this we must turn to information drawn from a small file of historical documents concerning his life, both directly and indirectly. Juraj Janosik was a young man of twenty-five when he was brought from his cell in the sixteenth-century Vranov castle , just outside Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, and placed before a county government tribunal in that city on March 17, 1713. He was exhausted from questioning by representatives of both the Liptov and Trencin county governments, and suffered from wounds inflicted during his interrogation by torture which could have included any combination of the following customary practices: fire burns on the skin, penetration of red-hot pincers under the nails , crushing of the bones , stretching on the rack, and the ripping of tendons in the limbs. 4 After enduring all of this , he stood to hear the following verdict and sentence: Because the aforementioned accused , Jura Janosik, having rejected both the commandments of God and the law of the state, two years ago turned to banditry and became a brigand captain; and with his comrades on the highways robbed many people of their belongings ; and as it appears from his own confession, his comrades in his presence shot and killed in an ungodly fashion a priest from Domaniza; and since he also committed other such crimes; therefore , for such grave and evil deeds and transgressions of the law , he is to be thrust onto the hook through the left side and thus as an example to other criminals of this type , he is to be hanged. 5 SLOVAKIA 9 Janosik's execution was most likely carried out the next day, perhaps in the city square or the market place near today's Janka Kral' Museum which is located in an old mansion once owned by the Hanzely-Seligovy family. 6 Janosik's actual interrogation possibly took place in the back of that mansion which was purchased for such use by Liptov county officials in 1712 or 1713.7 It is thought that his body was removed to a cemetery about four kilometers from Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in a settlement called Cemice which contained an unhallowed graveyard for insurrectionists (kuruci), many of whom had fallen in the uprising of Prince Ferenz Rakoczy II against the Austrian Habsburgs from 1703-11, in which Janosik had briefly participated. 8 While the execution put an end to Janosik the man, his legend was born in folk tradition which was ripe for the glorification and idealization of a noble brigand who had come to represent revenge for wrongs perpetrated against the common folk under the harsh conditions of the time. The eighteenth century throughout Europe was, in fact, the "golden age" of brigandage, when those discontented with the ever more intolerable burdens of foreign occupation, serfdom, and forced conscription, fled to the hills and formed small outlaw bands for survival and for the harrassment of the wealthy and powerful. 9 These social bandits, considered criminals by the authorities, represented to their people free spirits and were perceived as champions of the poor and oppressed. Conditions in Slovakia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were likewise conducive to the emergence of social brigandage. Slovakia constituted the northern counties of the Hungarian Kingdom, and increasingly restless Slovak serfs served Hungarian overlords , who themselves in turn were held in voluntary or sometimes compulsory allegiance to the Habsburg Court. In these volatile times, Janosik took his place among the social bandits, and within decades of his execution, a rich oral tradition had begun to crystallize around him. Over the past two centuries, through the process of mythicization in folklore and literature, the legendary Janosik has flourished. He and his mountain lads (h6rni chlapci) are celebrated in numerous short folktales , lyric and lyrico-epic songs and ballads, and the plastic arts - ceramics, wood-carving, painting on glass. 10 SLOVAKIA The brigand dance, odzemok, with its exhilirating music and leaping over bonfires, is the most exciting of those performed by Slovak folk ensembles to this day - and reflects the scenarios brilliantly envisioned in artistic depictions of Janosik and his men. 10 The great Russian folklorist and researcher in Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn folklore, Petr Bogatyrev, has stated that the more beloved a folk hero is, the more elaborately is his image embellished with the elements of fairytale magic and fantasy. 11 Janosik demonstrates that this is indeed so, for his figure, especially in the folktales, shares numerous features with international fairytale heroes. He is invulnerable to harm and capture, with supernatural strength residing alternately in his magical belt, magical mountain axe (valaska), magical string , hair , or herbs each acquired from witches or forest nymphs (vily). Like many other heroes, Janosik is nursed by his mother until boyhood, and appears lazy until he obtains his magical objects. In the folktales, Janosik engages in a series of exploits designed to expose and punish the arrogant lords, as well as common passers-by who speak against him , fear him, or lie to him. Like the English Robin Hood , he dons a series of disguises in order to penetrate lordly estates or to patrol the highways incognito, teaching proper morality to cruel noblemen and less than noble common folk alike. 12 Alongside folktales are folksongs and ballads which praise his dashing , masculine beauty, celebrate the free outlaw life , bemoan the struggles and death of the brigand at the gallows , and express his motivatipns for becoming a bandit. 13 Each literary age has also depicted Janosik according to its own needs and tastes. 14 Late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century Slovak literature portrays a Janosik derived most likely from market or bazaar song lore Uarmocne p iesn e) as a young brigand wh o tells h is tragic story while languishing in prison. 15 Nineteenth-century Romanticists, especially the Sturovci, extolled Janosik as a symbol of liberation, of Slovak nationalism, of Slovakia itself. Later Romanticism , partly under the influence of foreign models, gradually added love motifs, romance, and more adventure to his legend. In Socialist society, Janosik has been portrayed as an early fighter for the rights of peasants and workers. During World War II Janosik, as the "mountain eagle," was again SLOVAKIA 11 evoked, this time by partisans who formed themselves into a "Janosik brigade'' in 1944. Other partisans in 1943 and 1944 circulated an underground anti-government journal entitled Janosik. 16 Through changing times and conditions, there has been no doubt about the power of Janosik as a symbol of defiance and freedom. Modern-day Slovakia, particularly in its theater, has dealt somewhat harshly with the noble image of Janosik inherited from folklore and literary traditions. On the contemporary Slovak stage he has been depicted as an earthy, sensual young male, struggling not only with social justice, but also with his desire.for a woman as in the Polish playwright Ernst Bryll's musical, "Mal'ovany na skle" (premiered in October 1974), so popular in Slovakia. In I.:ubomir Feldek's "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho," 17 Janosik is an attractive if somewhat vacuous young man who achieves fame as a noble brigand by accident when the real fame should have gone to his comrade Uhorcik. Finally, in Stanislav Stepka's "Jaaanosiiik, " 18 he is a weak-willed outlaw whose comrade Uhorcik, a homosexual, outshines him and is the real and delightfully humorous leader of the little band, preoccupied with gathering good-quality loot from victims, especially foreign-made items. 19 In emigre writings, as well as in films about Janosik we see mainly traces of the folklore and the romanticized literary figure. If a "historical" figure is discussed, it is also usually derived from folklore and literary sources, rather than from actual historical documents. Almost any typical reference in emigre literature presents the following story: As a young man, Janosik was studying for the priesthood when he returned home, having learned that his mother was ill. He found her dead, and discovered his father beaten by the overseer of the estate, one Sandor, for having missed work in the fields in order to minister to his dying wife. When his father then dies from the beating, a furious Janosik somehow forces Sandor's own men to beat the overseer as a punishment and warning for the future . Now, as an outlaw, Janosik flees to the hills, gathering about himself a band of mountain lads who harass cruel lords and rob the rich to give to the poor. He is finally betrayed to the authorities by a comrade, jealous of his love for the beautiful Anicka, by being lured to a tavern rendez- 12 SLOVAKIA vous with her. Here he is apprehended by the authorities, not because he cannot fight his way free, but because an old Gypsy woman tosses dried peas to the floor and causes him to lose his balance and slip into the clutches of waiting soldiers. His folklore death - execution by hanging on the hook - while often elaborated by heroic motifs, coincides with his historical death. 20 Faced with this these images of Janosik, we turn finally to the historical prototype of Juraj Janosik. There are three major sources from which we can reconstruct a life of Janosik. First is the baptismal matrika or registry from the town of Varin, about 25 kilometers from Terchova. In this document, as in all baptismal matriky, the priest recorded the date of the baptism rather than the birth, as well as the names of the infant, the parents, and the godparents. Such registries are a rich source of information, but unfortunately, they are not always continuous . This situation has complicated the Janosik history, and has made difficult the reconstruction of the Janosik family tree. 21 The second source of information about the historical Janosik consists of documents surrounding his criminal trial on March 16-17, 1713 , in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. These documents include a record of (a) Janosik's interrogation by county authorities , (b) his brief questioning by two robbery victims from Zilina , and (c) his interrogation under torture. 2 2 In the days before the actual trial, Janosik was questioned on a number of points by representatives of Liptov and Trencin counties. The minutes of this first interrogation contain questions presented to Janosik, along with a third-person rendering of the answers he gave, and also indicate which questions he did not answer. Of the twenty-nine questions presented by the Liptov representative, Janosik answered only sixteen, while he made some attempt at a response to all seventeen questions of the Trencin representative. In answer to accusations of robbery by Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos and Zilina jeweler Skalka, Janosik admitted robbing both and described what he did with the loot. A brief list of Uhorcik's comrades is also appended to this interrogation. Minutes of Janosik's questioning under torture show him responding to seven items. None of these minutes indicate how long the proceedings lasted. Among the trail documents is also a record of the trial itself which covers the ex- SLOVAKIA 13 change between the prosecutor, Alexander Cemicky, and the defense lawyer assigned to Janosik, Baltazar Palugyay, about which more will be said later. The third source of documents essential to our acquaintance with the historical Janosik are the records of (a) criminal trial proceedings against Janosik's comrade Tomas Uhorcik which also took place in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas on April 19-20, only a month after Janosik's execution (Uhorcik was executed on April 21), and (b) a written complaint lodged against Janosik's older brother Jan in November, 1713, by the Strecno estate administrator for the Lowenburgs, Martin Florek. We have as well the subsequent criminal trial proceedings against Jan which took place on December 18-22 of the same year, when he was tried for brigandage by the landowners' court of Count Lowenburg at the Lowenburg residence in Teplicka-on-the-Vah and later hanged. 23 Included in this third category may also be records which show that Terchova, Janosik's hometown, and all of its residents, were challenged in August of 1712 by the Teplicka court to answer charges of secretly aiding outlaws. 24 From the documents we know that Janosik was born in one of the many small mountain settlements, called "U Janosov," located to the east of the city of Zilina near the village of Terchova in the mountainous area of north central Slovakia. The region is known for its thick patches of pine forest, craggy cliffs and caves , and rugged beauty. Janosik's childhood familiarity with this terrain no doubt served him well in his later years as a brigand when he was forced to move quickly and easily through such country and to seek the natural shelter it offered. Since Terchova had no operating church or pastor at that time, but belonged to the Varin parish, Janosik's baptism, as well as those of other children from Terchova and surrounding settlements, is recorded in the Varin baptismal registry. In his Janosfkovska tradfcia, the well-known Janosik scholar Andrej Melichercik refers to an entry in the registry indicating that Juraj Janosik was baptized on January 25, 1688; was the son of Martin Janosik and Anna Cisnikova; and had two younger brothers Martin (baptized 1692) and Adam (baptized 1697). 25 In a later study, Melichercik says that updated research indicated that Janosik also had an older brother, Jan. But here 14 SLOVAKIA Melicherc:ik neither provides a baptismal date for Jan nor explains the absence of a date.26 According to Rudolf Brtan, who himself has analyzed the baptismal registry scrupulously, this Juraj Janosik identified by Melicherc:ik and others is not the famous bandit.27 In the registry, which had been interrupted for several years and then resumed in 1686 by Roman Catholic priest Michal Smutko, Melicherc:ik's Janosik happens to be the first Juraj Janosik listed as baptized. 28 But Brtan says that between this first baptism on January 25, 1688, and September, 1694, there were in fact five Juraj Janosiks listed in the registry, four of whom were baptized between these years and whose ages would have ranged from 19 to 25 at the time of the execution in 1713 - making them all potential candidates for the famous brigand. After grouping parents and children into the four Janosik family units, each of which contained a son Juraj (one Juraj was listed as the father of a son by the same name), Brtan, contrary to Melicherc:ik, points to Juraj, son of Michal Janosik and Barbara Cingel'ova, baptized on May 16, 1688, as the real brigand. 29 He derives his conclusion not only on the basis of the registry but also from crucial information in the documents of 1713 stating the charges brought against Juraj's brother Jan who is described as having, among other children, a daughter Dorota born in 1699. 30 The parents of Melicherc:ik's Janosik, Martin and Anna Cisnikova, according to Brtan, had sons Martin and Adam, and also a son Jan, but he is listed in the registry as having been baptized in 1689, a year after their son Juraj. Thus he was not an older brother to Juraj, whereas the court documents clearly state that Jan was older. Furthermore, he would have been only 10 years old in 1699 hardly old enough to be married and a father. The parents of yet another Juraj Janosik (baptized in 1691), Juraj, Sr., and Anna Chorvatikova, also had a son Jan baptized in 1689. But this date makes him younger than Juraj as well and disqualifies him as the real Juraj's older brother Jan. How then does Brtan convincingly support his contention that Michal and Barbara Cingel'ova are the parents of the real brigand Juraj? Brtan says that Michal and Barbara had a daughter Barbara, listed as having been baptized in April 1691 , as well as Juraj hap- SLOVAKIA 15 tized May 16, 1688, and believes that they had still another son Jan who was older than Juraj, but whom we do not find in the registry simply because there was no registry between the years 1673 and 1686, precisely the years during which the older brother Jan was born and baptized. 31 Brtan thus explains what Melichercik passed over in silence - why there is no baptismal date for Jan - and he thus rules out Melichercik's couple Martin and Anna Cfsnikova as the brigand Juraj's parents. Brtan traces the source of the mistake to an inaccurate initial identification of Janosik's actual baptismal entry by a Varin priest from whom the information was first requested in the late 1920s. 32 The priest located the first possible Juraj Janosik listed in the registry, which had been resumed after a period by his distant predecessor Smutko, and most likely looked no further. According to Brtan, this erroneously identified Juraj Janosik has been handed down mechanically from scholar to scholar since then. 33 The young Janosik, born sometime in late spring 1688, lived in his family's settlement with his parents, Michal and Barbara. Count Jan Jakub Lowenburg, lord of the Strecno domain to which Terchova belonged, is known to have sent some young boys of peasant origin to school in connection with therecatholicization of the area which he strongly supported and it would not have been impossible that Janosik was given some education. 34 But this is doubtful, Brtan says, since his home was five kilometers from Terchova, a hard road to travel in winter, and since his father might have hesitated to send his youngest son and helper away. The older son Jan was already married with one child and it is not known whether he was still living in his parents' home by 1699 when Janosik was 11 years old.35 In 1703 when Prince Ferenz Rak6czy II, one of a series of Hungarian nobles who over the years had attempted to limit or throw off Austrian Habsburg power, published his proclamation inciting insurrection against Vienna, Janosik was 15 years old. Along with thousands of other Slovak serfs attracted by Rak6czy's repeated calls for liberation from Austrian overloads, freedom for serfs, and religious tolerance - and perhaps caught up as an enthusiastic youth desiring adventure - Janosik joined Rak6czy's troops at the summons of one of his officers, Viliam Vinkler, in 16 SLOVAKIA December 1707. 36 He was later among approximately 400 insurrectionists or kuruci taken prisoner, and subsequently released, after a battle near Trencin on August 3, 1708, which dealt a severe blow to the uprising. By 1711 the insurrection had worn down considerably, and shortly after the death of Austrian Emperor Joseph I, Hungarian leaders of the moderate wing of the insurrectionist movement finally made peace with the new emperor Charles VI at Szatmar. 3 7 Already after the Trencin battle in 1708, however, Janosik returned home and , as his trial records state, lived with his older brother Jan for a short time. Then, either on Lowenburg's insistence or on the initiative of Imperial Army officers who compelled former insurrectionist prisoners with promises and threats to enlist, 38 Janosik joined the Austrian Imperial service and was stationed as a guard at the prison in the Bytca castle. During the heat of the uprising, many brigands, vagrants, deserters, and even students had joined Rak6czy's troops, and in turn toward the end of the uprising and afterwards, former kuruci were identified by county and state authorities as bandits and criminals - so that officially the line between insurrectionists and brigands was essentially obliterated. It was among a group of these imprisoned insurrectionists and bandits at the Bytca castle in prison in 1710 that Janosik met and befriended Tomas Uhorcik of Turzovka, a brigand captain, probably about five years his senior, 39 who had also served for a time in Rak6czy 's army. 40 Court records state that Janosik often showed special favors toward Uhorcik, perhaps easing up prison rules for him, bringing him better fare, or helping him maintain contact with his outlawed comrades. 41 In the autumn of 1710, Janosik helped Uhorcik to escape. Less than a month later, in November of 1710, with living conditions worsening at Bytca castle, illness spreading, and food in dangerously short supply, Janosik's father, probably without much difficulty given these circumstances, paid a sum to the castle commander and had his son released from the Imperial Army. 42 Janosik went home to his parents in Terchova, but apparently met with Uhorcik several times during the winter of 1710-1711, and together with other members of Uhorcik's band, they robbed some merchants in Moravia in September, 1711, tak- SLOVAKIA 17 ing, among other items, a good deal of cloth. 4 3 This was both Uhorcik's last move as a bandit captain and Janosik's first such action. On St. Michael's Day, September 29, 1711, Uhorcik swore Janosik into the band according to custom. 44 Thus began Janosik's brief career as a brigand. Shortly after Janosik joined the group, Uhorcik left the band, married in October, 1711, and taking the name Martin Mravec, settled in the village of Klenovec in the county of Malohont. Here he became a shepherd, eventually acquiring the reputation of a fine citizen. After this he participated in only one robbery with Janosik and others, the attack on baron Pavol Revay of Turiec. 45 Uhorcik himself handed over leadership of the band to Janosik, who inherited what was a loose-knit and apparently difficult group to control. Membership was fluid, and included Moravians, Poles, and Rusyns , but largely Slovaks, many of whom came from the mountainous Kysuca region of northeastern Slovakia. 46 Janosik spent most of the winter of 1711-12 at Uhorcik's home, since brigands customarily dispersed for the winter, and he resumed his activity during the spring of 1712. He and his men robbed noblemen, merchants, a priest and a pastor's wife on the river Vah , and among others , a Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos, a rich Zilina goldsmith and jeweler Skalka, a wealthy Imperial Army officer's wife, Schardonka, and her entourage on the road between Vazec and Vychodna, as well as an Orava squire named Ladislav Zmeskal. They took everything from money, cloth, rich and fancy pieces of clothing, jewelry, weapons, wigs , and wine. When later questioned about the only murder - that of a priest from Domaniza - Janosik denied involvement, stating that two comrades were responsible. In the end, the court was able to insist in the verdict only that Janosik had been present when the murder took place. When Uhorcik was interrogated a month later he confessed things which Janosik himself had clearly withheld during his trial, information which also sheds light on their activity as bandits and on their character. For one thing, Uhorcik demonstrated that there was widespread support of Janosik by naming several persons who helped him , such as the Terchova schoolmaster who gave him shelter and the Terchova innkeeper Rafaj who provided him with 18 SLOVAKIA food.47 Janosik's withholding of such information to protect comrades and supporters characterizes the records of his own interrogation. Secondly, Uhorcik spoke of "insurrectionist booty" which was stored at the home of a comrade, again something which Janosik had never mentioned. He disclosed that Janosik and his men had attacked smaller Imperial Army units in order to capture weapons. Most importantly, Uhorcik revealed that Janosik told him that in Cicmany he had hidden cloth for the clothing of three hundred men, as well as money, and had hidden weapons by a stream near Terchova. Jozef Kocis raises the question whether Janosik was perhaps involved in preparations for some potentially larger armed action connected with the only recently-liquidated uprising , the spirit of which could still be alive in him as a former kuruc. Likewise, Janosik must have been suspected by the authorities of keeping contact with other insurrectionists. A former Rak6czy officer Viliam Vinkler, who had recruited Janosik into Rak6czy's army some years earlier, was known to be operating secretly in northwestern Slovakia, preparing a new uprising even after the Szatmar Peace of 1711. 48 And when Janosik was asked by his Liptov interrogator if he had contact with exiles in Poland who were "traitors of the country and government of Hungary" (that is, Rak6czy insurrectionists, many of whom had fled north) , he flatly refused to answer. 49 The piecing together of such information sheds new light on Janosik 's illegal activity, suggesting that he and others like him may indeed have had some very serious and far-reaching goals in mind to which they devoted their actions. 50 In October, 1712, both Janosik and Uhorcik were apprehended in one of the many sweeps undertaken by officials to round up former insurrectionists and brigands, and were imprisoned for a few days in the castle at Hrachovo . Malohont county's deputy chief administrator, Pavol Lani, who was an acquaintance of Uhorcik and Janosik, apparently was sympathetic with the Rak6czy uprising and h elped facilitate their release. Trial documents later revealed that in repayment to Lani and his sheriff, Uhorcik and Janosik gave them fox furs and several cheeses. 51 The pursuit, prosecution, and execution of bandits , in hopes of squelching all public disorder surrounding and echoing the SLOVAKIA 19 Rak.6czy uprising, received top priority among officials of several counties, including Trencin, Turiec, Orava, Liptov, Hont, and Malohont, and also in Spis and Saris. Perhaps it was these general and ongoing investigations, along with information gleaned from the interrogations of other bandits, that led to the second and final apprehension of both Janosik and Uhorcik in February or early March of 1713, most likely in the latter's village of Klenovec. Perhaps information concerning the whereabouts of Janosik and Uhorcik provided voluntarily to authorities by the discontented outlaw Turiak-Huncaga may also have helped lead to their arrest. 52 In shackles they were taken to Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, imprisoned, and tried, and both executed a month apart. The court records indicate that Janosik's defense lawyer Palagyay tried to argue that his client had killed no one, had left Rak.6czy's army on his own, had served in the Imperial Army , and had become a bandit as a vulnerable young man, and not by his own will, but under the strong influence of Uhorcik. He begged for mercy and for Janosik's release. The prosecutor insisted that not only had Janosik participated in Rak6czy's uprising, but that his thievery alone subjected him to the law of the land, the Tripartitum, and specifically Article 15 on brigands (supported by subsequent imperial decrees) which clearly said that bandits were to be hung, broken on the wheel, impaled on a stake, or decapitated as a warning to others. In the end, the prosecutor was victorious, and Janosik was found guilty and executed. Did Janosik's Gypsy friends come to play while he danced under the gallows before throwing himself on the hook to die! Did he really smoke two pounds of tobacco in his infamous bandit pipe to astound and shame his people's oppressors while hanging on the hook? Probably not, but who can know with certainty? There may indeed have been a number of cruel estate overseers named Sandor, and although there is no mention in historical documents of a special Anicka in his life , Janosik admitted to having given stolen jewelry to certain young Terchova women. That Janosik might have been betrayed by a comrade may well be close to historical truth. His slipping into the authorities' hands on dried peas scattered by an old woman in a tavern, however, rather than an actual event, may be a kind of mythical expression of ultimate 20 SLOVAKIA helplessness on the part of one people held in bondage by another. Clearly, the Janosik of legend and the Janosik of history are different figures, although some traces of the latter peek through the former. The historical Janosik is in some ways no less interesting to us now than the legend. True, the historical figure gave rise to the legend, but where the historical narrative is fragmentary, fails to explain actions, and fails to satisfy curiosity about a famous personality, human longing and creativity step in to flesh out the hero, to contour and recontour him as the need arises. And it is, after all, the legendary figure, dynamic , capable of change, and radiating an irresistible power, which has kept Janosik alive and well through the centuries. NOTES 1 Viera Gasparikova, Povesti o zbojnfkoch zo slovenskych a pol'skych Tatier, Klenotnica slovenskej l'udovej kultury , vol. 11 (Bratislava: VEDA, 1979). Besides this major collection of Janosik tales, Gasparikova has a number of other publications on the subject of brigands . 2 Ladislav Hruby, "Tri storot':ia Janosika," Slovensko, no . 4 (april 1988) , pp. 18-19. 3 From the letter of a personal friend . 4 Andrej Melicher_9ik, JAnoMkovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Bratislava: SAV, 1952), p. 44. 5 Melichert':ik, Juraj JAno§fk: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho l'udu, 2d ed . rev. and en!. (Martin: Osveta , 1963), p. 167. Translation of the verdict and sentence is mine . - P.K . 6 Rudolf Brta:i'I., "Slovenski zbojnici v Sliezsku i na Morave, " Slezsky sbornik, 64 (1966) , p. 376. 7 Ibid; Melichert':ik, JanoMkovska tradfcia, p . 55 . 8 A. Rendek, "Kde je pochovany Janosik?," Smer, 27 January 1968, p . 5. 9 Eric Hobsbawn, Bandits (New York: Pantheon, 1981). The entire book is devoted to a study of the social bandit phenomenon. 10 See a number of Janosik glass paintings in Irena Pisutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 20th Century (Bratislava : Tatran, 1983). 11 P.G. Bogatyrev, Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy i liro-epiceskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl") (Moskva : AN SSSR, 1963), p. 25. 12 See tales in the Gasparikova collection in footnote 1, as well as in the Bogatyrev study in footnote 11, Appendix 1, pp. 150-62. 13 See examples in Jifi Horak a Karel Plicka, Zbojnicke piesne slovenskeho l'udu (Bratislava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury, 1965). SLOVAKIA 21 14 Bogatyrev, pp. 125-29; Melichercik, J(moMkovska tradicia, pp. 93-165; Peter Liba, "Janosikovske premeny, alebo: reflexie o jednej teme," Slovenske pohl'ady, No . 8 (1983), pp. 1-8, 15 Jan Vilikovsky, "Tfi nejstarsi slovenske zbojnicke pisnl'l," Casopis pro vyzkum Slovenska a Podkarpatske Rusi, XI, No. 5 (Bratislava, 1935), pp. 550-73. 16 "Janosik - partizanska brigada," and "Janosik Slovenska, Vol. II, 1978. 17 I.:ubomir Feldek, "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho, " Smutne komedie (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1982), pp . 79-118. ilegalny l::asopis," Encyklopedia Stanislav Stepka, Jaaanosfiik: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970) . 19 The script ends when Janosik goes off to join Uhorcik in brigandage . After this, Uhorcik takes center stage with a spontaneous address to the audience, broken by brief interactions with Janosik and other characters . Presumably, the spontaneous address could include any number of topics, depending on the actor and audience ~sponse at the time. 18 20 Among some emigre renderings of Janosik's story are the following: Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1946), pp. 75-87; Joseph A. Mikus, Pride in Slovak Origin, 2d ed. enl. (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1973), p. 21; Mikus, Slovakia and the Slovaks (Three Continents Press, 1977), p. 147; George J. Krajsa, "Janosik," Furdek (1978). Krajsa's article on Janosik appears to be only a slightly revised version of Yurchak's. It is interesting to note that the first novel ever about Janosik was written by the Slovak-American newspaper editor and writer Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky in New York City in 1894 and published that year by Slovl1k v Amerike (for information see the issue of February 13, 1896, p . 6) . I am grateful to Mark Stolarik for having provided the information concerning Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky. The first film about Janosik was also produced by Slovak-Americans, the Siakel' brothers, in the early 1920s. MarsallPetrovsky collected many of the legends about Janosik that later appeared in the famous 1936 film , directed by Martin Frie, which starred Pal'o Bielik, tales which Peter Yurchak then incorporated into his book cited above . Bielik himself directed the 1962-63 color film Janosik, containing and embellishing all the legends about the brigand . 21 Brtail, "Neznamy, ale skutocny Juraj Janosik z Terchovej alebo Kral'ovej." Predvoj, 3 March 1966, pp. 8-9 . 22 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 61 . According to an early Janosik researcher, Ivan Houdek, the original record of Janosik's interrogations mysteriously vanished in the third quarter of the nineteenth century , but what appears to be an authentic copy, called the "Fassio Janossikiana ," most likely penned by the Slovak writer Janka Kral', remains . The documents of Janosik's interrogations and trial proceedings appear in Melichercik's Janosikovska tradicia (pp . 248-59), and they appear along with a copy of Uhorcik's trial proceedings in Melichercik's Juraj Janosik (pp . 165-76). All further direct references to documentary material in this article are taken from these studies. 23 See Brtail , "Neznamy, ale skutocny Janosik, " p . 9, where he refers to the document of complaint; and Jozef Kocis, Neznamy Janosik (Martin : Osveta, 1986) , pp. 87-90, where he briefly summarizes Jan's interrogation . 24 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 62 . 25 Melicherclk , Janosikovska tradicia , p . 41. 2s Melichercik, Juraj Janosik , p . 60 . 22 SLOVAKIA 27 Brta:11., "Neznamy, ale skutofoy JanoMk." His entire article is devoted to correcting this error. 28 Ibid., p. 9. Ibid. 29 Ibid. In Strefoo estate administrator Florek's allegations, Jan Janosik is said to have had four children, baptized from 1699 to 1712 . The birth registry lists no children born to this Jan after 1712, further lending support to the fact that he was the Jan executed in 1713. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 30 33 Even Kocis in his Neznamy Janosik identifies the wrong Juraj Janosik (p . 87, and footnote 150). It is somewhat surprising that Kocis' bibliography does not include any references to the handful of insightful research articles on Janosik by Brtan. 34 Brta:11., "Neznamy , ale skutocny Janosik," p. 9 . Brta:11. suggests that the possibility that Janosik had some schooling may have given rise to the tradition that he was a divinity student. Brtan also offers other possible factors for this legend . As in other Slavic cultures, it was customary for a young married man to live for a time with his family in his father 's house. By at least 1708, however, if not earlier, Janosfk's older brother Jan must have been living with his wife and children in his own home. Court records clearly indicate that Janosik stayed for a time that year with him, rather than with their parents, after leaving Rak6czy's army. 36 Kocis, p. 27 . 35 37 Robert A. Kann, A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918 (Berkeley: University of California Press , 1977). p. 75 . 38 Brtan, "Slovenski zbojnici," p . 377 ; Kocis , p. 29 . Both discuss this issue. Kocis , p. 77. 40 Ibid. , pp . 46-47''. 39 41 42 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 67. Kocis, p. 47. Ibid., p . 48; Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67 . 44 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67. 45 See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp. 72-74, for a summary of Janosik's offenses . 43 48 Lists of bandit group members have been compiled from court records. See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp . 71-72; Kocis, pp . 72-74; also Bogatyrev's commentary in Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy, p . 5. 47 See Kocis, pp . 61-62 and pp . 75-76, for Uhorcik's testimony vis-a-vis Janosik's . 48 Ibid., p . 76. 49 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 167 (see interrogation question #2) . °Kocis, p . 76. 5 51 52 Ibid., pp . 52-54. Ibid., p . 56.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Jánošík: Unraveling the Man from the Legend Description An account of the resource Patricia A. Krafcik Slovakia, Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88 pp. 7-22 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krafcik, Patricia Ann, 1949- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c374b16744dd148fe28258d5532cc0d9.pdf 9762bbd6824bc1ff069d948c46a42d14 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA ,, 63 V,, JANOSIK AS A SYMBOL OFFREDOMIN COMMUNIST SLOVAK.IA Patricia A. Krafcik The new millennium has witnessed a continued fascination in Central Europe with the figure of Janosfk, the well-known eighteenth-century Slovak brigand hero. Among the works relating to Janosfk that have appeared thus far, Polish scholar Joanna Goszczynska 's study, Mit Janosika w folklorze i literaturze Slowackiej XIX wieku (The Janosfk Myth in Slovak Folklore and Literature of the Nineteenth Century), examines the emergence of Janosfk from Slovak popular folklore and other sources, as well as the evolution of his figure in nineteenth-century Slovak literature. 1 Geroi iii zboinik? Obraz razboinika v fol 'klore Karpatskogo regiona (Heroes or Bandits? Outlaw Traditions in the Carpathian Region) , edited by Slovak ethnographer Viera Gasparfkova and Russian folklorist Boris N. Putilov, offers a comparative study of Carpathian bandit traditions, including that of Janosfk. 2 In a more popular vein, Zuzana Krizkova 's and Margareta Horvathova's popu lar collection of Janosfk folktales, Jura) Janosik: Rozpnivanie o zbojnfckom kapitanovi (Juraj Janosik : Tales of the Brigand Captain) , intersperses several texts with summaries of historical information from the mid-seventeeth century to just after Janosfk' s execution in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in 1713, and is replete with dozens of miniature historical and art prints relating to Slovak hi story prior to and during Janosfk's time.3 In 2005-2006, the Slovak National Gallery and the Slovak National Museum co-sponsored an ex hibition entitled "S lovensky mytu s" 1 Joanna Goszczynska, Mit Janosika w folklorze i literaturze Sfowackiej XIX wieku (Warszawa: Uniwersytet Warszawski , Lnsty tut Filologii Stowianskiej , 200 I). 2 Viera Gasparfkova and Boris N. Putilov, eds. , Geroi iii zboinik ? Obraz razboinika v fol'klore Kmpatskogo regiona (B udapest: European Folklore Insti tute, 2002). This work is published in Russian with a substantial summary in English. 3 Zuzana Kri zkova and Margareta Horvathova, Juraj Janosik: Rozprtivanie o zbojnickom kapittinovi (Bratislava: Perfekt, 2004). �64 SLOVAKIA (Slovak Myth), which included a prominent exhibit devoted to Janosfk: "Mytu s Juraj Janosfk , alebo Janosfko mani a v slove nskom vytvarnom umenf" (The Myth of Juraj Janosfk or Janosfk Mania in Slovak Creati ve Art). 4 As part of this "Janosfk mania" in Slovaki a, two mu sical plays, Poli sh pl ay wright Ernes t Bryll ' s and co mposer Katarzy na Gartnerova's Na skle malbvane: Spevohra v 3 castiach (Painted on Glass: A Musical Play in Three Parts, 1970)5 and Stani slav Stepka's Jaaanosfffk : Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Jaaanosfffk : News about the hero or a play on the hero , 1970)6 have been rev itali zed and restaged. When they first appeared in co mmunist Czechoslovakia of the 1970s-80s, these mu sica l pl ays were wildl y popular. Along with 4 Slovak Nati onal Ga llery at www s ng sk (accessed August 5, 2006). The ex hib ition's accompanying catalog contains an arti cle devoted to Janosik: Hana Hl6skova, "Narodny hrdina Ju raj Janosfk," My ty Nase Slovenske, eds. Edu ard Krekovic, Elena Mannova, and Eva Krekov icova, (Bratislava: Academic Electro nic Press, 2005), 94103 . 5 M albvane na skle premiered in Warsaw in 1970; in Czechoslovaki a in 1972 at the Statni divadl o in Brno under the title Z bojn fci a iandafi ; and in 1974 in Bratislava at the Slovak Natio nal T heater. Perfo rm ances resum ed again fro m October 2005 in Bratislava' s Nova scena theater in a new translation from the Polish by Slovak playwright J.:ubomfr Feldek, with singers and dancers from SCUK, Sl ove nsky l'udovy umelecky ko lektfv (S lovak Folk Artisti c Ensemble). See: http ://mu zikaly .szm.sk/nsm html (accessed August 4, 2006), and more on SCU K's ro le can be found in "I.:udovy umelec ky kolektfv koprodukcny partner di ela" at: http: //www nova-sce ne.sk/ index/php?page-page& itemid-15 (accessed August 6, 2006). For a brief descri ption of the revitalized musical' s fir st-night perform ance on September 22, 2005 at Brati slava's Nova scena theater, see "Prem iera Na skle ma lbvane mala us pech," at : http://koktail pravda sk/sk kfilm.asp?r=sk kfi lm&c-A050923 114927 sk kfi lm p 1Q (accessed Aug ust 6, 2006). The rev iew mentio ns that the spectac ul ar performance was attended by me mbers of the Nati onal Co unc il of the Slovak Repu blic, including its speaker Pavol Hrusovsky. The play is avai lab le on DVD; see: http://www panorama.sk/i ndex.asp?kam-/go/mapa.asp&lang-en&sv-2&mc- I430 &m id=l. 6 Jaaanosfffk premiered in 1970 in Rados ina' s Klu b ml adyc h (fou nded 1963) in th e hometow n of the Radosina Na'ive Theater (RND) which moved its operations that year to Brati slava. http: //www.rnd.sk/?i-program&id- J022 . The play is now run as "Jaaanosfffk (po tridsiatich rokoch)" (Janosik [after thirty years)), thi s rev ised title given to it during an earlier revival in 2000 in Kezmarok. The musical has continued to play in theaters through this past year: see, fo r instance, about a perform ance of the play in Rufo mberok in 2006 at : http ://www.ruzomberok.sk/index novinky.php?novinka-15 3. �SLOVAKIA 65 a third production - I.:ubomfr Feldek's Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho (Jano sfk According to Vivaldi , 1979)7 - they employed in an innovative way folksong, folk dance, and classical mu sic, as well as contemporary rock mu sic elements, and were rife with raucous humor, language play, and scarcely veiled social and political criticism. In them the figure of Janosfk, so beloved in Slovak folklore and literature and so exploited by the communist regime for its own purposes, was demythologized and parodied. By daring to manipulate a fi gure and a myth solidified and sanctified by the regime, the mu sicals in fact functioned as a form of resistance to the communist regime in Czechoslovakia and to its many "myths" and false promises. Yet even in a demythologized form, the subversive nature of the bri gand hero as a sy mbol of freedom from oppression and as a challenge to the social order still served as a liberating force .8 The evolution of the Janosik fi gure over the past four centuries is complex, as Martin Votruba demon strates in hi s recent article, "Hang Him High: The Elevation of Janosfk to an Ethnic Icon . "9 Inspired in part by the fate of the hi storical eighteenth-century Juraj Janosik, the folklore and literary fi gure was shaped over the years by many sources: Slovak mythology, pre-eighteenth-century Slovak brigand songs and tales, medieval anecdotes about bandits, eighteenthcentury Slovak "market songs," and the nineteenth-century Romantic literary movement in Europe. As an expression of their zealous patriotism during the mid-nineteenth century's national awakening in Central Europe, the younger generation of Slovak poets surrounding Cudovft Stur adopted and furth er shaped the image of Janosik and hi s "mountain lads" as the nation al sy mbol of the Slovak people 's 7 The play premiered I 979 at Statne divadlo in Kos ice under th e direction of Vaclav Martinec, music by Jaroslav Fi lip. The script was published along with other Feldek plays in the fo llowing vo lume: I.:ubomfr Feldek, Smutne komedie (Brati slava : Slovensky spi sovatel', 1982) 79- 11 9. 8 Eri c Hobsbawm , Bandits (London : Weidenfeld & Nico lson, 2000). Hobsbawm ' s landmark study is devoted to defi ning the archetypal figure of the bri gand hero as a perpetually liberating force. He refers to Janosik as one of the "noble robber" types (47). 9 Martin Yotruba, "Hang Him H igh: The Elevation of Janosik to an Ethnic Icon, " Slavic Review 65: I (2006): 24-44. For more on the historical Janosik, see Patricia A. Krafc ik , "Janosfk: Unrave ling the M an from the Legend, " Slovakia XXX III : 606 I ( 1987- I 988) : 7-22. A lso see Jozef K oc is, Neznamy Janosfk (Marti n: Osveta, I 986) for a more detai led study of Janosik's historical context. �66 SLOVAKIA struggle for liberation from the domination of Austrian and Hungarian rule. Beautiful in their language and hi ghl y emotive in their imagery, poems by Stefan Marko Daxner (1822-92), Samo Chalupka (1812-83), and Jan Botto (1829-81) are still today memorized, recited , and loved by Slovaks. Early twentieth-century Slovak prose writers ' attempts at further romanticizing hi s image by playing up the motifs of Janosfk's gi rlfriend and Janosfk as a seminary student did not tarni sh the Stur poets' image of Janosfk as a noble outlaw, a representati ve of freedom and defender of the oppressed. In the mid-twentieth century, communist Czec hoslovakia embraced the Janosfk myth co ntoured large ly by the Stur poets. Bas ing their version on selected folklore and the Sturists' vision of the hero, communist propagandists attempted to demonstrate that Janosi'.k, honored as the Slovak national sy mbol , had in fact been a proto-revolutionary who advocated preci sely what the communist government advocated: both the destruction of the bourgeo isie and aristocracy and the redi stribution of wealth in the spirit of socialism. After all , in both the folklore and nineteenth -ce ntury literature, Janosfk, the "mountain eagle," was depicted , like Robin Hood , confronting and humiliating noblemen and rich merchants and aiding and rewarding his supporters. Genuine hi storical court documents from his trial also clearly showed that Janosfk had never killed anyone, and had actually given gifts of jewelry to the young women of Terchova. 1 Furthermore, Janosfk's name and hi s image as a defender of the Slovak people had just recently been invoked among Slovak partisans in the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. 11 Finally, Soviet scholars did not shy away from the subj ect of social bandits in these decades, thu s affording it a further official stamp of approva l. Di stingui shed Russian folklori st Petr Grigor' evich Bogatyrev (1893- 1971 ) wrote about brigands before the 1950s and publi shed two excellent books about ° 10 see Andrej M elichercfk, Janosikovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Brati slava : SA YU. 1952) 248-59, for texts of the court documents revea ling inform ation about Janosik's activities. 11 M eli chercfk, Juraj Janosfk: Hrdina Protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho J'udu, 2nd ed. (Martin: Osveta, 1963) 16 1- 164. See also "Janosfk-partizanska brigada" and "Janosfk- ilegalny casopis protifasisti ckeho frontu," Encyklopedia Slovenska 11 (Bratislava, 1978): 478-479. �SLOVAKIA 67 Slovak outlaws in 1963 and 1976. 12 Even earlier, nineteenth-century Russian revolutionaries and Lenin himself had perceived in the Cossac k-bri gands, such as Sten ' ka Razin and Emeliian Pugachev, the people 's inherent revo lutionary spirit. 13 Janosik, in short, was thought to be a safe subject in communist Czechoslovakia, as well as advantageou s to the regime 's ideology, and thu s could be researched and celebrated by a host of writers, poets, artists, dramatists, composers, and scholars during the l 950s- l 980s . Through the ir work, he was elevated to communist sainthood. In Slovakia, the "father of Janosik studies," ethnographer Andrej Melichercfk (1917-1966) , was unquestionabl y the most ardent of them all. Born in the year of the Ru ssian revolution s, Melichercfk was educated at the Philosophical Faculty of Comenius University in Brati slava and was mentored in hi s chosen field of ethnography by Bogatyrev himself. 14 He served as an assistant professo r in ethnography at the university , was a "docent" from 1947, and lectured there to the end of hi s life. He also worked at the Matica slovenska, the key institution for the preservation of Slovak culture, from 1945, and served as its secretary from 1948. At the same time, as a tru sted sudruh (comrade), Melichercfk was asked to organize the Ethnographic Division (N arodnopisny ustav) in the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts and became president of that division in 1950. It was his responsibility in the new communist Slovakia to organize a unified body from diverse individuals, to critique the so-called bourgeois school s of folklore (that is, all folklore studies up to the communist ascend anc y in Czecho slovakia), and to align the work of hi s Academy sc holars with the "progress ive" Soviet ethnographic 12 P. G. Bogatyrev, S/ova tskie epicheskie rasskazy i /iro-epicheskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl ") (Moskva: AN SSSR , 1963) and Slovatskie narodnye razbojnich 'i pesni i ballady (Moskva: Khudozhestvenna ia literatura, 1976). Bogatyrev helped pave the way for the stud y of the Carpathian brigand phenomenon in such articles as the fo llow ing about the "oprishki " or brigands and their legends in Western Ukraine: P. G. Bogatyrev , "Fo llklornye skazanija ob oprishkakh Zapadnoi Ukra iny," Sove tskaia etnografiia: Sbornik statei V ( 1941 ): 59-80. 13 Patricia A. Krafc ik, "Sten 'ka Ra zin in Ru ss ian Hi storical Fo lksongs : A Robin Hood of the Volga" (PhD diss., Columbia Uni versity, l 980), 3-6. 14 Jan Mjartan, "Za Prof. Dr. And rejom Melichercfkom , l 9I7-I966," Slovensky mirodopis XIV : 4 (1966): 501-505 . Subsequent biographical information is taken from thi s brief artic le. �68 SLOVAKIA school. The Soviet Union, after all , provided a model to be em ulated by the satellite countries in all fields. 15 Melichercfk energetically threw himself into thi s task, publishing a compilation of transl ations into Slovak of selected ethnographic studies from Soviet folklorists which were to serve as a methodolog ical aid for Slovak communist scholars, followed by the publication of a volume of exemplary Soviet-type studies by Slovak folklorists the mselves. Melichercik's personal history helps us understand his determination to do the right thing, to make certain that Slovak fo lkl ore sc holarship approached the folk tradition "correctly," and that it serve not just to inform but also to educate, to shape Slovak citi zens in a proper understanding of their past and "for the building of socialism" in Slovakia. 16 Indeed , thi s is what, according to Soviet culture tsar Andrei Zhdanov ( 18961948), Socialist Realist literature, art, and schol arship were supposed 17 to do. Melichercfk began publishin g hi s research on Janosfk in the 1950s. Until hi s untimely death in I 966 at age forty-nine as a result of so me fatal illness, perhaps contracted during a fi e ld trip with students near Rufomberok, he produced books and articles on the subject of the Slovak brigand hero. 18 He publi shed hi s defi nitive work on Janosfk in 1952, which was, in fact, the first major scholarl y study of the tradition in general , entitled Janos1ko vska tradfcia na 19 Slovensku (The Janosfk Tradition in Slovakia). Here, in great detail , Meli chercfk covered the historical backgro und of soc ial brigandage in Slovakia, the hi storical Juraj Janosfk on whom the image of the ideal brigand was based, and the Janosfk tradition in folklore and in Slovak formal literature. He also included several pages of folksong and folktale texts, as well as documents connected with Janosfk's trial and exec ution in I 7 I 3, and some literary texts. In 1956 Me li chercfk publi shed another major study of the Janosik tradition wh ich appeared in both Slovak and Czech editi ons. It was entitled Juraj Janosik: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenske- 15 Mjartan, 501-502. Mjartan, 502. 17 Gleb Struve, Russian Literature Under Lenin and Stalin 1917-1953 (Norman: Un iversity of Oklahoma Press, 197 1) 26 1-262. 18 Martjan, 503. 19 Melichercik, Janosfkovska tradfcia. 16 �SLOVAKIA 69 ho J'udu (Juraj Janosfk: Hero of the Anti-Feudal Struggle of the Slovak People) .20 This time, while repeating some material from his first study, he placed even greater emphasis on the socio-economic conditions that gave ri se to the brigand phenomenon in Slovakia and in the greater Carpathian region. In hi s chapter on the comparative study of the bandit tradition in the Carpathian context, he was a pioneer in widening the scope of the study of that tradition in Slovak scholarship.21 Indeed, from the 1970s to the present, the most fruitful work on the brigand theme has been the comparative study of the bandit tradition within the Carpathian area, supported by the International Commission for the Study of Popular Culture in the Carpathian and Balkan Region , founded in 1976.22 Melichercfk 's study, Juraj Janosfk: Hrdina , was published in a second revised and enlarged edition in 1963 for the 250 th anniversary of Janosfk 's execution.23 Although after this he wrote a few articles and some short pieces about Janosik and other bandits, as well as a substantial textbook on Slovak folklore in general , this second edition of Juraj 24 Janosfk: hrdina was hi s last major statement about his beloved idol. In providing what became the official and definitive description of Janosfk in communist Slovakia, Melichercfk wrote with an almost religious fervor: Janosfk's struggle ended tragically, but the idea of struggle against exp loiters for the truth and for justice and a more beautiful life for the simple working people shone in the consciousness of our people like a bright star in the evening sky. Decades went by, centuries passed, and that struggle - even though its conditions changed - continued. In the memory of the people the figure of Juraj Janosfk revived afresh, and a 20 Juraj Janosik: Hrdina protifeuda/neho odboja s/ovenskeho J'udu (Praha : Nase vojsko, 1956). 21 Melichercfk pursued comparative study a lso in two separate articles: "K otazke vzn iku zbojnfctva v Karpatoc h," Slovensky narodopi s IV: 2 ( I 956) I 63-194 and "Slovensko-Ukrajinske vztahy v zbojnfckom folkl6re ," Slovanske studie I (Bratislava, 1957) 539-548. 22 Milan Lescak, CSc. , ed., lnteretnicke vztahy vo folk/6re karpatskej oblasti (Bratislava: Veda, 1980). Also see note 2 for Gasparfkova and Putilov , eds. , Geroi iii zboinik? Gasparfkova herself has contributed in a major way to brigand study with books and articles over the past several decades, including: Zbojn[k Michal Vdovec v hist6rii a folk/6re gemerskeho l'udu (Bratislava: SA V, 1964 ); Povesti o zbojnikoch zo slovenskych a pol's ky ch Tatier (Bratislava: Veda, 1979); and Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v narodnej kulture (Bratislava: Tatran, 1988). 23 Melichercfk, Juraj Janos{k: Hrdina, 2nd ed. 24 Melichercfk, Slovensky fo lk/6r: Chrestomatia (Bratislava : SA V, 1959). �70 SLOVAKIA beautiful poe m abo ut freedom linked to hi s life took shape and was 25 ex pressed in the Janosfk tradition for over two centuries. Melichercfk offered a biography of the hi storical Juraj Janosfk drawn from ex tant court documents connected to his trial in Liptovsky Mikul as, and viewed Janosfk in folklore and literature as a composite hero whose figure was influenced by many sources. As a communist sc holar, Melichercik emphasized Janosfk 's image as a product of hi storical conditions, that is, an image born of the struggle of the masses of serfs and peasants against their feudal lords. He also recognized the role of the human creative imagination in the contouring of thi s image, shaped by the people as "one of the most beautiful and humani stic types of hero ," reflecting the experience 26 and yearning of the masses for freedom from feudal exploitation. Like mantras, such statements are repeated over and over throughout all of Melichercfk 's writings about Janosfk . Melichercfk 's adoration of Janosik as a proto-revolutionary hero helps explain hi s high praise for the young Stur poets. Their work, he stressed, preserved the simple and pure lines of the folk hero who engaged in an elemental struggle for hi s people and who in a sense died a martyr's terribl e death - executed by being hung on a meat 27 hook piercing the left side of his rib cage. Melichercfk's unwavering devotion to this perception of Janosik also accounts for hi s extraordinarily harsh criticism of prose writers and dramatists from the end of the nineteenth and first few decades of the twentieth century . These writers, he claimed, intentionally di storted and falsified the Janosik tradition by playing down or eliminating the revolutionary content of the tradition and clothing the brigand in "adventure, sentimentality, megalomania, [and] day-dreaming. "28 He had in mind writers such as Pa vol Beblavy in Janosik: Po vest' o hrdinovi a dobrodincovi J'udu (Janosik: Tale of the People' s Hero and Benefactor), 25 Melichercfk , Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 7. M elichercfk, Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 158. 27 Yotruba describes how the bri gand fi gure from Slovak fo lklore was adapted by the Stur poets from fo lklore and other sources and further recontoured to fit their purposes, adapting some attributes of the Romantic bri gand hero well-known throu ghout Europe and eliminating a motif found in some previous folklore and poetry which harshly judged the bandits' deeds. The Stur poets, that is, pl ayed a significant role in manipul atin g the figure, rather th an simply "preserving" some sacred original image from the folklore. See Yotruba, 42-43. 28 Melichercfk , Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 143. 26 �SLOVAKIA 71 which first appeared in installments in Slovenske pohl'ady (IX, 1889); Dobry Slovak in Janosfk, junak slobody (Janosfk, Hero of Freedom) (l 893); Gu stav Marsall-Petrovsky in his two-volume novel Janos[k (1894); and Emo Bohun in his two novel s, Janos1kov poklad (Ja no sfk 's Treasure Hoard ) (1926) and Dedics tvo Janostkovho pokladu (The Legacy of Jano sfk's Treasure Hoard) . About these, 29 Melichercfk had only the most negative observations. Melichercfk adopted the bitter tone of a real zealot when he focused on Slovak drama , in much of which he saw further destruction of what he considered the authentic folk tradition . He lashed out at Viliam Pauliny-T6th, for example, as the first to recontour Janosik in hi s play Janosik (1862) as a Roman Catholic seminary student, the so n of wealthy peasants, and an educated "gentleman bri ga nd ," 30 thereby di storting the "authentic " brigand figure. Evoking the language of di sease, he insisted that these bourgeoi s writers tried to "infect" the people 's consciousness "with traditions that are entirely harmful and hostile" because they wanted to divert the attention of the working masses away from their most important interests, that is, away from the class strugg le, and to "prevent them from correctly recognizing and assessi ng their own capabilities for resistance and 31 their successes in the past. " He added further: It is eno ugh o nl y to reca ll what efforts the Slovak bourgeoisie expended in order to infect our people with the idea th at the ir basic characteristics were humility, co mpli ance, resignation to the will of God , that they were a so{!, patient, God-fearing people, humbl y obli gated to the lords, and so on. - Melichercfk injected a positive note, however, pointing out a few works which he considered reflected the genuine folk hero who "goes into brigandage with stron g conviction to puni sh injustice perpetrated by the lords on the poor Slovak people, "33 as in Jiff Mahen 's play Janos[k. Tragedie o peti dejstv[ch (Janosfk - A Tragedy in Five Acts.) 34 He was pleased that these elements in Mahen 's play served as a basis for so me other dramatic and mu sical re-wor- 29 Melichercfk. Jura) Janosfk: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 142-147. Melichercfk. Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 150. 31 Melichercfk , Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 157. 32 Melichercfk . Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 157. 33 Melichercfk. Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 15 I. 34 Jirf Mahen, Janosfk. Tragedie o peti dejstvfch (Prah a, 1910). 30 �72 SLOVAKIA 35 kings of the Janosfk story. Jan Cikker's 1953 opera Jura Janosik, according to Melichercfk, captured so accurately the "entire magnitude of the concept the Janosfk rebellion and its revolutionary message" that in hi s estimation it qualified as a folk opera - that is, an authentic expression of the masses - in terms of its theme and 36 music. Melichercfk ended hi s di sc uss ion of Janosfk in literature and the arts with the hope that arti sts would produce an abundance of Janosfk images so that these "will decorate buildings, parks, and squares of our nation and Janosfk wi ll live everywhere as a sy mbol of struggle and freedom , as a great message from the past for us and 37 for future generations. " He also offered a challenge to Slovak dramati sts that they take up the task of writing a "genuine Slovak folk play" about Janosfk. 38 Although thi s last task would indeed be taken up and fulfilled by dramatists, it would not be carried out in the way Melichercfk had hoped. In the cynical years after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, dram atists responded to Melichercfk 's call and wrote musical plays about Janosfk. Stepka's Jaaanosfffk: News About the Hero or a Play on the Hero, Bryll 's and Gartnerova's Painted on Glass, and Feldek's Janosik According to Vivaldi were produced and performed for co untl ess Slovak audiences. These plays, however, manipul ated the conventi onal image defined by Melichercfk and offered audiences radically new ways of considering not only the figure of Janosfk and the brigand tradition, but their own social, political, and existential reality. As for the depiction of Janosfk him self, it was as if tired of occ upying the glorious, but increas ingly cramped role of the almost superhum an hero officially sanctioned by the communist governme nt, he broke free from th at role 's confines and assumed another g ui se - as an ordinary man with ordinary weaknesses, coming from a well-meaning, but simple-minded family, and, at best, a reluctant bandit. The debunking and parodying of the conventional and officially approved myth of Janosfk in the musicals occurred in the context of a broad postmodern movement apparent throughout Central Europe 35 Jan Cikker, Juro Janosik: Opera v 6 obrazoch (Libretto: Stefan Hoza), l 953 . Melichercfk, Jura) Janosik: hrdina, 2nd ed ., 153. 37 Melichercfk , Jura) Janosik: hrdina, 2nd ed. , 154. 38 Melichercfk, Jura) Janosfk: hrdina, 2nd ed. , 152. 36 �SLOVAKIA 73 which had begun at the end of the 1950s. Slovak literary scholar Peter Petro refers to the period of the I 960s as a "turbulent decade," a period of experimentation , which gradua lly undercut the official Socialist Realism and pushed the limits of the permissible in literature. 39 The impul se to parody and debunk carried over into the 1970s and 1980s. It was strengthened by pressures of the "normalization," which took place directly after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and was connected to the reemergence of surrealism influenced by the surrealist movement during World War 11. 40 Central to thi s movement was new activity in the theater and in dramatic productions. Playwrights, utilizing the language of surrealism and the grotesque, sought to expose the absurdity of the political system by undermining its values and utopian premises which had claimed that "it is possible to control everything, even the dreams and hopes of the citizens. "41 Productions were characterized by fragmentation of the main motifs into parts and the insertion of poetry, mu sic , and dance. Humor, irony, skepticism , interaction with the spectators, direct appeals to the audience's imagination, word games, verbal improvisation-and all of this intended to unmask falsehoods, to shatter ideological stereotypes--characterized plays of this pe42 riod. It was in this context that Bryll, Feldek, and Stepka conceived their musicals and chose the officially sanctioned and exploited image of the Slovak national hero in their subversive work. Bryll's Painted on Glass was translated from the 1970 original Polish libretto and performed in Slovakia from the mid-l 970s. 43 Its title refers to the widespread folk art of painting colorful images on glass, popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and well 39 Peter Petro, A History of Sl ovak Literature (Montreal & Kingston, London , Buffalo: McGill-Queens University Press), 143-44. 40 Petro, 143. 41 Halina Janaszek-lvanicov, "Post-Modernism in the West Slavonic Literature in the Context of Euro-Atlantic Changes of the Postmodern Paradigms," Part Ill : "Five tides of postmodernism in Polish, Czech, and Slovak Literature," at: http: //src- h. sla v. hokuda i.ac. jp/pub Iictn/N o.64/ janaszek/ janaszek. htm I. 42 Janaszek-I van icov. 43 111 Slovakia the play premiered at the Slovak National Theater Oct. 19, 1974, where it ran for three decades. It was pulled from the stage briefly in 1983 when Ernest Bryll was forced to leave Poland for crit icizi ng the political situatio n. Bratislava's Novii scena theater has staged the play in an updated form since 2005. http://mu zikal y. szm.sk/nsm.html �74 SLOVAKIA known for preserving images of Janosik and hi s brigands and various 44 moments related to the conventional myth. Reproducing these images in dramatic action with song and dance, Painted on Glass broke with Melichercik 's communist definition of the myth by disclosing both Janosik's very ordinary human yearnings and failings. Janosfk's love for Anicka is unfulfilled, the gendarmes are not the hero 's eternal class enemies, but also human beings; and Death personified awaits the hero, as it does all of us. Light humor, rousing folk dance, memorable songs, and poking holes in the conventional myth all blended in Painted on Glass, and the figure of Janosfk was endeared to the audience which identified with the demythologized hero. The music of Bryll' s play, composed by Katarzyna Gartnerova, was a delightful hybrid of rhythmic rock and folk, and gave new voice to the expression of the Janosik tradition in the 1970s and 1980s. Feldek chose the title for hi s play, Janosik According to Vivaldi, because he wanted to indicate that in the eighteenth century Slovaks li ved "not only in Yratna dolina (ie., in the isolated depth s of Slovakia) but also in Europe. "45 Action in the play alternates between Slovakia and the Viennese court of Charles YI (d. 1740), where the emperor's daughter, the young Maria Theresa (1717- 1780), is heard in the background playing the mu sic of Antonio Vivaldi (16801743), then popular throughout Europe. Feldek worked from actu al hi storical documents linked to Janosfk's trial , but wove an amusing and fantastical version of the myth . Here, Uhorcfk is portrayed as the real bandit hero, and he and hi s wife Katarfnka manipulate Janosik into becoming the brigand captain. In quick order, however, Janosfk tires of stealing, as he tell s Katarfnka in very contemporary sounding terms: "We rob from morning to night and then again from night to morning and I'm as tired as a dog. And I swear that people would do better if they didn 't carry all thi s silly gold with them" (Zbfjame od rana do vecera a potom este aj od vecera do rana, unaveny so m ako pes. Prisaham bohu, casto si hovorfm , ze by tf 44 See introductory texts and reproductions of glass-painted images of Janosfk and brigands in IIena Pi sutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 2dh Century (Bratislava: Tatran, 1983), and Katarfna Ciema, Janosik v Slovenskom vytvamom umenf (Bratislava: Slovenska narodna galeria, 1988). This last is the catalog to an exhibition of the same name, held in March - May 1988. 45 Feldek, 125. �SLOVAKIA 75 l'udi a urobili Iepsie, keby so sebou nenosili tolko toho poondiateho zlata.)46 In the end Katarfnka angri ly insi sts that the people should celebrate Uhorcfk ' s memory, not Janosik's. At the same time, in the absence of a male heir to the throne, Charles VI decides that Uhorcik is his illegitimate son and should be the next emperor. Feldek plays with the myth , the hi story, and language, as, fo r instance, in Charles Vi 's interview with the w idow of one of hi s Au stri an genera ls, Madame Schardonova, whose existence is attested in the hi storical doc uments since she actuall y was robbed by Janosfk in Slovakia. Her stilted Slovak, prono unced with a German acce nt, is hil ario us, because a ll of her mi stake s ac tu a ll y convey other ridiculous meanings. Instead of saying "I am a widow " (som vdova), she says "I 47 am water" (som voda) ; instead of complimenting Charles for his nobility (s l'achetn y), she compliments him for being "tendinous" (... 48 aky ste sl'achovity). Painted on Glass offers great humor and new twists on the convention al elements of the communist interpretation of Janosfk so well defi ned by Melichercik. Perhaps most radical in its depiction of Janosfk and the brigand myth is Stepka 's Jaaanosfffk, pl ayed by his own troupe, the Rados inske naivne divadlo (Radosi na Nai·ve Theater). Its unu sual title was inspired by Slovak actor and director Pal'o Bielik 's famo us two-part film , Janosik ( 1963), in which Janosik's name is called out in the mountains and echoes lo udl y with a prolonged stress on the vowels. Whil e Melichercfk had approached the Janosik tradition with the utmo st gravity, Stepka kept hi s co mmuni st-era audience laughing throughout the entire musical. His language is rich with puns and humorously distorted references from fo lkl ore, literature, and especiall y from dail y life in com munist Slovakia. Ribald sex ual innuendoes are woven into the entire script. Janosik appears onl y in the last third of the play , during which the punning continues. Hi s family members - mothe r Dag mar, fathe r Jon athan , and sister He len a occ upy center stage through the play and are depicted as slow, thickwitted , shrewd, but also likeab le peasants. Their plight as serfs under the control of a Hungarian count, Artus Revay, is treated with humor and irony. The Radosina Na"ive Theater company performed and still 46 Feldek, 96. Feldek, 93. 48 Feldek, 93 . 47 �76 SLOVAKIA performs the play with few props and simple Slovak folk costumes with so me ac tors wearing regular contemporary clothes . The tone and atmosphere, free and characterized by improvisation , suggests an amateur village production with simple, barel y literate actors - but in fact the theater' s actors are professionals who bring their ro les to li fe exceedingly well. 49 The writer of thi s article attended a performance of Jaaanosfffk in Slovakia in 1983, which was played with great g usto and hilarious improvi sation . That perform ance diverged somewhat from the published script of 1970, but thi s is to be expected , considering that improvisation is integra l to the pl ay, contributing to its "amateur" quality , and insurin g that there be room for some actor-audience interaction. The very first lines of Jaaanosfffk immediatel y set the tone for the ling ui stic and cultu ral manipulation to come: Instead of the co nventional opening of a Slovak fo lktale - "Kde bolo, tam bolo" (Once upon a time ... ; litera ll y: Where it was, there it was) - two narrators begin with "Kde bolelo, tam bolelo" (Where it hurt, there it hurt), a play on the traditional phrase and suggesting that much more would be turned on its head before the end of the performance.so Janosfk's Slovak mother and father are given spurious genealogies by the narrators - Pani Dagmar Janosfkov a, nee Trautenbergerova, and Jon ath an Jano sfk , whose real s urname, we are told , is Weissmann_s, To suggest th at the Slovak national hero is actually of German de sce nt is, of course, hi ghly ironical and am usin g. When Helena and Dagmar are visited by a local constable sent by the count, they are pleased to welcome him in, having locked father in the cellar. The constable tell s Dagmar that he is on the lookout for a rebel , specifically her hu sband , who is inciting or rou sing the serfs (" Poddanych buri .. . "), and she responds cynicall y that her husband 49 Stanis lav Stepka's Radosinske naivne div adlo produced a CD of Jaacinosfffk and a DVD of three pl ays, including Jaaanosffik. For availability, see : http://www. panorama. sk/index.asp?kam-/go/mapa.asp&lan g-s k&sv-2&mc- 12 I9 ~. 50 Stani slav Stepka, Jaaanosfffk: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran , 1983) 19. All quotes are take n from the publi shed sc ript. Ac tors in the perfo rmance attended by the writer of this artic le fo llowed thi s sc ript closely, but not exactly. And this published script differs slightl y from the DVD version of the musical from 2004. 51 Jaaanosfffk, 23. �SLOVAKIA 77 "no longer arouses anything" ("Prosfm vas, on uz nic nevzburi. . ") and is willing to sign her name to that. 52 The constable summons Dagmar and Helena to the manor house, informing them that the Count Revay, a "candidate of the amorous sciences" (kandidat milostnych vied) - a satirical reference to scholarl y titles in communist Slovakia - wants them to come and "sew sacks" (obsfvat' vrecia), connoting here some kind of sex ual activity. In response, Helena blithely asks: "Which amorous lord ordered this, the young one or the old one?" When the constable says "the old one," Helena responds with complete confidence: "Mamicka, then that must mean the invitation 's for you. "53 Unlike in the conventional myth, the women here clearly do not feel threatened by the count's demand , and in fact they act as though it has happened repeatedly and welcome it eagerly. When the constable leaves, Helena and Dagmar di scuss how fine it is that the aristocracy, the lords, want only what is good for the serfs - surely a satirical reference to the contemporary situation with the communist government as the aristocracy and the serfs as the ordinary citizens. Helena means to say "They come here, advise us, and look around (pride, poradf, pohl'adf)," but, to the audience's surprise and amusement, in her simple-mindedness she says instead that "they come, advise us, and caress" (pride, poradi, pohladf)." 54 Dagmar then echoes, anachronistically for the eighteenth century, the sentiments of contemporary communist brigade workers perpetually urged to find ways to work harder, ways to over-fulfill the Plan: Let me pose this question to you, my daughter: are we really working on the estate like we should? Are we working a full eighteen hours? Couldn't we manage to work more? Sometimes we sing. Couldn't we work another eight or nine hours? We work only six days. And the seventh is the Sabbath. But couldn 't we work thirty-six days a month and then celebrate the Sabbath with whatever is left? And what about order at the workplace? Do we keep all our bundles in one place? So, see. We 55 need to think all thi s over sometime. 52 J aaanosifik, 22. Jaaanosffik, 22. 54 Jaaanosffik, 23. 55 Jti:i:inos([fk, 23. As an example of d ivergence from the written script of 1970, the 1983 viny l disc recordi ng of the musical , for instance, prov ides an al ternati ve statement in thi s section of the play. Dagmar asks: "Couldn 't we work six days a week and celebrate for seven?" This, again, is reflective of the improvisational nature of the script. 53 �78 SLOVAKIA These words, all too familiar to the audience daily subjected to pressure to achieve communist "excellence," provoked uproarious laughter from the audience. More bitter self-recognition for the Slovak audience in communist times - oftentimes struggling to procure even the basics, yet reassured by the government that they had the best possible living situation - resulted from Dagmar' s observation that they already had acquired everything they could possibly need: "We already have everything - a table, a chair, a bowl , a crucifix, and eventually even a house with doors. My God!" (A mame uz vsetko, aha - stol, stolicka, miska, krfzik , pomaly uz aj <lorn s dvermi. Boze!)56 Only after all this does the youthful Janosfk appear. Sister Helena, a family friend Samo, as well as Janosfk ' s girlfriend Anicka, and eventually his own mother all push him to become a brigand for the material benefits this will bring them, echoing a situation again all too familiar to the audience: that the only way to acquire goods , especially luxury goods, is by theft in one way or another. Janosfk acquiesces reluctantly, and only after complaining: Do I have to be a man? Do I have to be a hero? Do I have to be an example? You'll be at home lying in your feather quilts, and I have to offer up my kidneys [to the executioner's hook]? I don't want to be a hero, I want to be an ordinary man. . . I don't want to enter into reading books, I want to live out my life beautifully . . . This literature will live off me for 300 years , but I won ' t make it to thirty . . . I don ' t want to 57 enter history with a bullet between my shoulders. Janosfk, however, appears in the final scene with Uhorcfk, grudgingly about to begin his career, while Uhorcfk berates him for tossing aside his weapon and for showing no interest in banditry . Uhorcfk then initiates the highway robbery of two aristocratic travelers, a mother and daughter, with the traditional demand found in folktale s: "Your money or your life. . . " (Bohu dusu a nam dukaty. Literally: Hand over your soul to God and your money to us.) , but add s "and your citizenship documents" (a obcianske preukazy), much like the police could demand of anyone on the street in communist Slovakia. 58 The women, instead of fearing or hating Janosik, are enamored with hi s dashing appearance and charm - "Mama, so these are those famous brigands! My God, what beau56 Jaaanosfffk, 23. Jaaanosfffk, 33. 58 Jaaanosfffk, 34. 57 �SLOVAKIA 79 tiful folk garb they have" (Mamicka, tak toto su tf zbojnfci? Boze, ake krasne kroje maju.) - and he and Uhorcfk treat the robbery like a customs check. This certainly resonated with Slovaks, as well as foreigners, who passed repeatedly through Czechoslovak customs in communist times and often felt robbed and violated. 59 During the robbery, however, Janosik begins to wax poetic about the bandit life, and Uhorcik again reprimands him for getting distracted, but in a way which again sounds ironical in reference to brigandage and echoes a typical warning to the communist worker: "Duri, you keep forgetting your obligation" (Duri, zabudas na povinnost:)60 This Janosik is not Melichercfk's noble social brigand, a fighter against feudal lords, protector of the poor and oppressed. Stepka 's musical, as well as Bryll's and Feldek's, presented the Slovak public in the 1970s and 1980s not with a communist superhero, but with an ordinary guy, much of whose life and environment resonated with those of the audience. Janosik's experiences and the struggles of his time depicted in the musicals were a reflection of their own life. The outlines of the conventional myth were brought into question and turned upside down , and social and political issues that could not be criticized openly were spoofed. Audiences who experienced the plays together could leave the theater, having, in a sense, expressed and shared publicly their plight under the communist regime. Through irony and laughter, they could feel stronger in their resolve to resist. By employing the Janosik figure and myth, wrenching it free from the regime's ideology, the dramatists held up a mirror to the audience so that they could see themselves more clearly and could come to an understanding about how they might better deal with their social and political reality. Through humor and satire and breaking with the Soviet - and communist-approved conventional interpretation, the dramatists allowed Janosik once again to reach out to his people, to inspire in them the courage to resist the new authorities. Because Melichercik had so successfully portrayed Janosik as an acceptable proto-communist hero, the brigand's image in these musicals passed under the censors' radar screens. Once again, in a way not anticipated by Melichercik, Janosik was there to contribute to the 59 60 Jaaanosfffk, 34. Jaaanosfffk, 35. �80 SLOVAKIA social and political resistance, to help undermine the system. Once again, in a way not anticipated by Melichercik, Janosik was a symbol of freedom - this time for a new generation in a new time and against a new oppressor. Feldek suggested just exactly that when in an interview in 1979, he said of his work: "There is no such thing as a historical play . We write and play alway s for the contemporary audience and for the present. The hi storical subject in a good 'historical' play is only a pretext - almost like the subject of animals in a fable. The viewer should leave my play with the sense that this was about us. "61 And by the end of the next decade, 1989, the communist system finally collapsed from within and the barbed wire was torn down - perhaps with just a little help from Janosik. 61 Feldek, 126. � SLOVAKIA ,, 63 V,, JANOSIK AS A SYMBOL OFFREDOMIN COMMUNIST SLOVAK.IA Patricia A. Krafcik The new millennium has witnessed a continued fascination in Central Europe with the figure of Janosfk, the well-known eighteenth-century Slovak brigand hero. Among the works relating to Janosfk that have appeared thus far, Polish scholar Joanna Goszczynska 's study, Mit Janosika w folklorze i literaturze Slowackiej XIX wieku (The Janosfk Myth in Slovak Folklore and Literature of the Nineteenth Century), examines the emergence of Janosfk from Slovak popular folklore and other sources, as well as the evolution of his figure in nineteenth-century Slovak literature. 1 Geroi iii zboinik? Obraz razboinika v fol 'klore Karpatskogo regiona (Heroes or Bandits? Outlaw Traditions in the Carpathian Region) , edited by Slovak ethnographer Viera Gasparfkova and Russian folklorist Boris N. Putilov, offers a comparative study of Carpathian bandit traditions, including that of Janosfk. 2 In a more popular vein, Zuzana Krizkova 's and Margareta Horvathova's popu lar collection of Janosfk folktales, Jura) Janosik: Rozpnivanie o zbojnfckom kapitanovi (Juraj Janosik : Tales of the Brigand Captain) , intersperses several texts with summaries of historical information from the mid-seventeeth century to just after Janosfk' s execution in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in 1713, and is replete with dozens of miniature historical and art prints relating to Slovak hi story prior to and during Janosfk's time.3 In 2005-2006, the Slovak National Gallery and the Slovak National Museum co-sponsored an ex hibition entitled "S lovensky mytu s" 1 Joanna Goszczynska, Mit Janosika w folklorze i literaturze Sfowackiej XIX wieku (Warszawa: Uniwersytet Warszawski , Lnsty tut Filologii Stowianskiej , 200 I). 2 Viera Gasparfkova and Boris N. Putilov, eds. , Geroi iii zboinik ? Obraz razboinika v fol'klore Kmpatskogo regiona (B udapest: European Folklore Insti tute, 2002). This work is published in Russian with a substantial summary in English. 3 Zuzana Kri zkova and Margareta Horvathova, Juraj Janosik: Rozprtivanie o zbojnickom kapittinovi (Bratislava: Perfekt, 2004). �64 SLOVAKIA (Slovak Myth), which included a prominent exhibit devoted to Janosfk: "Mytu s Juraj Janosfk , alebo Janosfko mani a v slove nskom vytvarnom umenf" (The Myth of Juraj Janosfk or Janosfk Mania in Slovak Creati ve Art). 4 As part of this "Janosfk mania" in Slovaki a, two mu sical plays, Poli sh pl ay wright Ernes t Bryll ' s and co mposer Katarzy na Gartnerova's Na skle malbvane: Spevohra v 3 castiach (Painted on Glass: A Musical Play in Three Parts, 1970)5 and Stani slav Stepka's Jaaanosfffk : Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Jaaanosfffk : News about the hero or a play on the hero , 1970)6 have been rev itali zed and restaged. When they first appeared in co mmunist Czechoslovakia of the 1970s-80s, these mu sica l pl ays were wildl y popular. Along with 4 Slovak Nati onal Ga llery at www s ng sk (accessed August 5, 2006). The ex hib ition's accompanying catalog contains an arti cle devoted to Janosik: Hana Hl6skova, "Narodny hrdina Ju raj Janosfk," My ty Nase Slovenske, eds. Edu ard Krekovic, Elena Mannova, and Eva Krekov icova, (Bratislava: Academic Electro nic Press, 2005), 94103 . 5 M albvane na skle premiered in Warsaw in 1970; in Czechoslovaki a in 1972 at the Statni divadl o in Brno under the title Z bojn fci a iandafi ; and in 1974 in Bratislava at the Slovak Natio nal T heater. Perfo rm ances resum ed again fro m October 2005 in Bratislava' s Nova scena theater in a new translation from the Polish by Slovak playwright J.:ubomfr Feldek, with singers and dancers from SCUK, Sl ove nsky l'udovy umelecky ko lektfv (S lovak Folk Artisti c Ensemble). See: http ://mu zikaly .szm.sk/nsm html (accessed August 4, 2006), and more on SCU K's ro le can be found in "I.:udovy umelec ky kolektfv koprodukcny partner di ela" at: http: //www nova-sce ne.sk/ index/php?page-page& itemid-15 (accessed August 6, 2006). For a brief descri ption of the revitalized musical' s fir st-night perform ance on September 22, 2005 at Brati slava's Nova scena theater, see "Prem iera Na skle ma lbvane mala us pech," at : http://koktail pravda sk/sk kfilm.asp?r=sk kfi lm&c-A050923 114927 sk kfi lm p 1Q (accessed Aug ust 6, 2006). The rev iew mentio ns that the spectac ul ar performance was attended by me mbers of the Nati onal Co unc il of the Slovak Repu blic, including its speaker Pavol Hrusovsky. The play is avai lab le on DVD; see: http://www panorama.sk/i ndex.asp?kam-/go/mapa.asp&lang-en&sv-2&mc- I430 &m id=l. 6 Jaaanosfffk premiered in 1970 in Rados ina' s Klu b ml adyc h (fou nded 1963) in th e hometow n of the Radosina Na'ive Theater (RND) which moved its operations that year to Brati slava. http: //www.rnd.sk/?i-program&id- J022 . The play is now run as "Jaaanosfffk (po tridsiatich rokoch)" (Janosik [after thirty years)), thi s rev ised title given to it during an earlier revival in 2000 in Kezmarok. The musical has continued to play in theaters through this past year: see, fo r instance, about a perform ance of the play in Rufo mberok in 2006 at : http ://www.ruzomberok.sk/index novinky.php?novinka-15 3. �SLOVAKIA 65 a third production - I.:ubomfr Feldek's Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho (Jano sfk According to Vivaldi , 1979)7 - they employed in an innovative way folksong, folk dance, and classical mu sic, as well as contemporary rock mu sic elements, and were rife with raucous humor, language play, and scarcely veiled social and political criticism. In them the figure of Janosfk, so beloved in Slovak folklore and literature and so exploited by the communist regime for its own purposes, was demythologized and parodied. By daring to manipulate a fi gure and a myth solidified and sanctified by the regime, the mu sicals in fact functioned as a form of resistance to the communist regime in Czechoslovakia and to its many "myths" and false promises. Yet even in a demythologized form, the subversive nature of the bri gand hero as a sy mbol of freedom from oppression and as a challenge to the social order still served as a liberating force .8 The evolution of the Janosik fi gure over the past four centuries is complex, as Martin Votruba demon strates in hi s recent article, "Hang Him High: The Elevation of Janosfk to an Ethnic Icon . "9 Inspired in part by the fate of the hi storical eighteenth-century Juraj Janosik, the folklore and literary fi gure was shaped over the years by many sources: Slovak mythology, pre-eighteenth-century Slovak brigand songs and tales, medieval anecdotes about bandits, eighteenthcentury Slovak "market songs," and the nineteenth-century Romantic literary movement in Europe. As an expression of their zealous patriotism during the mid-nineteenth century's national awakening in Central Europe, the younger generation of Slovak poets surrounding Cudovft Stur adopted and furth er shaped the image of Janosik and hi s "mountain lads" as the nation al sy mbol of the Slovak people 's 7 The play premiered I 979 at Statne divadlo in Kos ice under th e direction of Vaclav Martinec, music by Jaroslav Fi lip. The script was published along with other Feldek plays in the fo llowing vo lume: I.:ubomfr Feldek, Smutne komedie (Brati slava : Slovensky spi sovatel', 1982) 79- 11 9. 8 Eri c Hobsbawm , Bandits (London : Weidenfeld & Nico lson, 2000). Hobsbawm ' s landmark study is devoted to defi ning the archetypal figure of the bri gand hero as a perpetually liberating force. He refers to Janosik as one of the "noble robber" types (47). 9 Martin Yotruba, "Hang Him H igh: The Elevation of Janosik to an Ethnic Icon, " Slavic Review 65: I (2006): 24-44. For more on the historical Janosik, see Patricia A. Krafc ik , "Janosfk: Unrave ling the M an from the Legend, " Slovakia XXX III : 606 I ( 1987- I 988) : 7-22. A lso see Jozef K oc is, Neznamy Janosfk (Marti n: Osveta, I 986) for a more detai led study of Janosik's historical context. �66 SLOVAKIA struggle for liberation from the domination of Austrian and Hungarian rule. Beautiful in their language and hi ghl y emotive in their imagery, poems by Stefan Marko Daxner (1822-92), Samo Chalupka (1812-83), and Jan Botto (1829-81) are still today memorized, recited , and loved by Slovaks. Early twentieth-century Slovak prose writers ' attempts at further romanticizing hi s image by playing up the motifs of Janosfk's gi rlfriend and Janosfk as a seminary student did not tarni sh the Stur poets' image of Janosfk as a noble outlaw, a representati ve of freedom and defender of the oppressed. In the mid-twentieth century, communist Czec hoslovakia embraced the Janosfk myth co ntoured large ly by the Stur poets. Bas ing their version on selected folklore and the Sturists' vision of the hero, communist propagandists attempted to demonstrate that Janosi'.k, honored as the Slovak national sy mbol , had in fact been a proto-revolutionary who advocated preci sely what the communist government advocated: both the destruction of the bourgeo isie and aristocracy and the redi stribution of wealth in the spirit of socialism. After all , in both the folklore and nineteenth -ce ntury literature, Janosfk, the "mountain eagle," was depicted , like Robin Hood , confronting and humiliating noblemen and rich merchants and aiding and rewarding his supporters. Genuine hi storical court documents from his trial also clearly showed that Janosfk had never killed anyone, and had actually given gifts of jewelry to the young women of Terchova. 1 Furthermore, Janosfk's name and hi s image as a defender of the Slovak people had just recently been invoked among Slovak partisans in the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. 11 Finally, Soviet scholars did not shy away from the subj ect of social bandits in these decades, thu s affording it a further official stamp of approva l. Di stingui shed Russian folklori st Petr Grigor' evich Bogatyrev (1893- 1971 ) wrote about brigands before the 1950s and publi shed two excellent books about ° 10 see Andrej M elichercfk, Janosikovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Brati slava : SA YU. 1952) 248-59, for texts of the court documents revea ling inform ation about Janosik's activities. 11 M eli chercfk, Juraj Janosfk: Hrdina Protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho J'udu, 2nd ed. (Martin: Osveta, 1963) 16 1- 164. See also "Janosfk-partizanska brigada" and "Janosfk- ilegalny casopis protifasisti ckeho frontu," Encyklopedia Slovenska 11 (Bratislava, 1978): 478-479. �SLOVAKIA 67 Slovak outlaws in 1963 and 1976. 12 Even earlier, nineteenth-century Russian revolutionaries and Lenin himself had perceived in the Cossac k-bri gands, such as Sten ' ka Razin and Emeliian Pugachev, the people 's inherent revo lutionary spirit. 13 Janosik, in short, was thought to be a safe subject in communist Czechoslovakia, as well as advantageou s to the regime 's ideology, and thu s could be researched and celebrated by a host of writers, poets, artists, dramatists, composers, and scholars during the l 950s- l 980s . Through the ir work, he was elevated to communist sainthood. In Slovakia, the "father of Janosik studies," ethnographer Andrej Melichercfk (1917-1966) , was unquestionabl y the most ardent of them all. Born in the year of the Ru ssian revolution s, Melichercfk was educated at the Philosophical Faculty of Comenius University in Brati slava and was mentored in hi s chosen field of ethnography by Bogatyrev himself. 14 He served as an assistant professo r in ethnography at the university , was a "docent" from 1947, and lectured there to the end of hi s life. He also worked at the Matica slovenska, the key institution for the preservation of Slovak culture, from 1945, and served as its secretary from 1948. At the same time, as a tru sted sudruh (comrade), Melichercfk was asked to organize the Ethnographic Division (N arodnopisny ustav) in the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts and became president of that division in 1950. It was his responsibility in the new communist Slovakia to organize a unified body from diverse individuals, to critique the so-called bourgeois school s of folklore (that is, all folklore studies up to the communist ascend anc y in Czecho slovakia), and to align the work of hi s Academy sc holars with the "progress ive" Soviet ethnographic 12 P. G. Bogatyrev, S/ova tskie epicheskie rasskazy i /iro-epicheskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl ") (Moskva: AN SSSR , 1963) and Slovatskie narodnye razbojnich 'i pesni i ballady (Moskva: Khudozhestvenna ia literatura, 1976). Bogatyrev helped pave the way for the stud y of the Carpathian brigand phenomenon in such articles as the fo llow ing about the "oprishki " or brigands and their legends in Western Ukraine: P. G. Bogatyrev , "Fo llklornye skazanija ob oprishkakh Zapadnoi Ukra iny," Sove tskaia etnografiia: Sbornik statei V ( 1941 ): 59-80. 13 Patricia A. Krafc ik, "Sten 'ka Ra zin in Ru ss ian Hi storical Fo lksongs : A Robin Hood of the Volga" (PhD diss., Columbia Uni versity, l 980), 3-6. 14 Jan Mjartan, "Za Prof. Dr. And rejom Melichercfkom , l 9I7-I966," Slovensky mirodopis XIV : 4 (1966): 501-505 . Subsequent biographical information is taken from thi s brief artic le. �68 SLOVAKIA school. The Soviet Union, after all , provided a model to be em ulated by the satellite countries in all fields. 15 Melichercfk energetically threw himself into thi s task, publishing a compilation of transl ations into Slovak of selected ethnographic studies from Soviet folklorists which were to serve as a methodolog ical aid for Slovak communist scholars, followed by the publication of a volume of exemplary Soviet-type studies by Slovak folklorists the mselves. Melichercik's personal history helps us understand his determination to do the right thing, to make certain that Slovak fo lkl ore sc holarship approached the folk tradition "correctly," and that it serve not just to inform but also to educate, to shape Slovak citi zens in a proper understanding of their past and "for the building of socialism" in Slovakia. 16 Indeed , thi s is what, according to Soviet culture tsar Andrei Zhdanov ( 18961948), Socialist Realist literature, art, and schol arship were supposed 17 to do. Melichercfk began publishin g hi s research on Janosfk in the 1950s. Until hi s untimely death in I 966 at age forty-nine as a result of so me fatal illness, perhaps contracted during a fi e ld trip with students near Rufomberok, he produced books and articles on the subject of the Slovak brigand hero. 18 He publi shed hi s defi nitive work on Janosfk in 1952, which was, in fact, the first major scholarl y study of the tradition in general , entitled Janos1ko vska tradfcia na 19 Slovensku (The Janosfk Tradition in Slovakia). Here, in great detail , Meli chercfk covered the historical backgro und of soc ial brigandage in Slovakia, the hi storical Juraj Janosfk on whom the image of the ideal brigand was based, and the Janosfk tradition in folklore and in Slovak formal literature. He also included several pages of folksong and folktale texts, as well as documents connected with Janosfk's trial and exec ution in I 7 I 3, and some literary texts. In 1956 Me li chercfk publi shed another major study of the Janosik tradition wh ich appeared in both Slovak and Czech editi ons. It was entitled Juraj Janosik: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenske- 15 Mjartan, 501-502. Mjartan, 502. 17 Gleb Struve, Russian Literature Under Lenin and Stalin 1917-1953 (Norman: Un iversity of Oklahoma Press, 197 1) 26 1-262. 18 Martjan, 503. 19 Melichercik, Janosfkovska tradfcia. 16 �SLOVAKIA 69 ho J'udu (Juraj Janosfk: Hero of the Anti-Feudal Struggle of the Slovak People) .20 This time, while repeating some material from his first study, he placed even greater emphasis on the socio-economic conditions that gave ri se to the brigand phenomenon in Slovakia and in the greater Carpathian region. In hi s chapter on the comparative study of the bandit tradition in the Carpathian context, he was a pioneer in widening the scope of the study of that tradition in Slovak scholarship.21 Indeed, from the 1970s to the present, the most fruitful work on the brigand theme has been the comparative study of the bandit tradition within the Carpathian area, supported by the International Commission for the Study of Popular Culture in the Carpathian and Balkan Region , founded in 1976.22 Melichercfk 's study, Juraj Janosfk: Hrdina , was published in a second revised and enlarged edition in 1963 for the 250 th anniversary of Janosfk 's execution.23 Although after this he wrote a few articles and some short pieces about Janosik and other bandits, as well as a substantial textbook on Slovak folklore in general , this second edition of Juraj 24 Janosfk: hrdina was hi s last major statement about his beloved idol. In providing what became the official and definitive description of Janosfk in communist Slovakia, Melichercfk wrote with an almost religious fervor: Janosfk's struggle ended tragically, but the idea of struggle against exp loiters for the truth and for justice and a more beautiful life for the simple working people shone in the consciousness of our people like a bright star in the evening sky. Decades went by, centuries passed, and that struggle - even though its conditions changed - continued. In the memory of the people the figure of Juraj Janosfk revived afresh, and a 20 Juraj Janosik: Hrdina protifeuda/neho odboja s/ovenskeho J'udu (Praha : Nase vojsko, 1956). 21 Melichercfk pursued comparative study a lso in two separate articles: "K otazke vzn iku zbojnfctva v Karpatoc h," Slovensky narodopi s IV: 2 ( I 956) I 63-194 and "Slovensko-Ukrajinske vztahy v zbojnfckom folkl6re ," Slovanske studie I (Bratislava, 1957) 539-548. 22 Milan Lescak, CSc. , ed., lnteretnicke vztahy vo folk/6re karpatskej oblasti (Bratislava: Veda, 1980). Also see note 2 for Gasparfkova and Putilov , eds. , Geroi iii zboinik? Gasparfkova herself has contributed in a major way to brigand study with books and articles over the past several decades, including: Zbojn[k Michal Vdovec v hist6rii a folk/6re gemerskeho l'udu (Bratislava: SA V, 1964 ); Povesti o zbojnikoch zo slovenskych a pol's ky ch Tatier (Bratislava: Veda, 1979); and Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v narodnej kulture (Bratislava: Tatran, 1988). 23 Melichercfk, Juraj Janos{k: Hrdina, 2nd ed. 24 Melichercfk, Slovensky fo lk/6r: Chrestomatia (Bratislava : SA V, 1959). �70 SLOVAKIA beautiful poe m abo ut freedom linked to hi s life took shape and was 25 ex pressed in the Janosfk tradition for over two centuries. Melichercfk offered a biography of the hi storical Juraj Janosfk drawn from ex tant court documents connected to his trial in Liptovsky Mikul as, and viewed Janosfk in folklore and literature as a composite hero whose figure was influenced by many sources. As a communist sc holar, Melichercik emphasized Janosfk 's image as a product of hi storical conditions, that is, an image born of the struggle of the masses of serfs and peasants against their feudal lords. He also recognized the role of the human creative imagination in the contouring of thi s image, shaped by the people as "one of the most beautiful and humani stic types of hero ," reflecting the experience 26 and yearning of the masses for freedom from feudal exploitation. Like mantras, such statements are repeated over and over throughout all of Melichercfk 's writings about Janosfk . Melichercfk 's adoration of Janosik as a proto-revolutionary hero helps explain hi s high praise for the young Stur poets. Their work, he stressed, preserved the simple and pure lines of the folk hero who engaged in an elemental struggle for hi s people and who in a sense died a martyr's terribl e death - executed by being hung on a meat 27 hook piercing the left side of his rib cage. Melichercfk's unwavering devotion to this perception of Janosik also accounts for hi s extraordinarily harsh criticism of prose writers and dramatists from the end of the nineteenth and first few decades of the twentieth century . These writers, he claimed, intentionally di storted and falsified the Janosik tradition by playing down or eliminating the revolutionary content of the tradition and clothing the brigand in "adventure, sentimentality, megalomania, [and] day-dreaming. "28 He had in mind writers such as Pa vol Beblavy in Janosik: Po vest' o hrdinovi a dobrodincovi J'udu (Janosik: Tale of the People' s Hero and Benefactor), 25 Melichercfk , Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 7. M elichercfk, Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 158. 27 Yotruba describes how the bri gand fi gure from Slovak fo lklore was adapted by the Stur poets from fo lklore and other sources and further recontoured to fit their purposes, adapting some attributes of the Romantic bri gand hero well-known throu ghout Europe and eliminating a motif found in some previous folklore and poetry which harshly judged the bandits' deeds. The Stur poets, that is, pl ayed a significant role in manipul atin g the figure, rather th an simply "preserving" some sacred original image from the folklore. See Yotruba, 42-43. 28 Melichercfk , Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 143. 26 �SLOVAKIA 71 which first appeared in installments in Slovenske pohl'ady (IX, 1889); Dobry Slovak in Janosfk, junak slobody (Janosfk, Hero of Freedom) (l 893); Gu stav Marsall-Petrovsky in his two-volume novel Janos[k (1894); and Emo Bohun in his two novel s, Janos1kov poklad (Ja no sfk 's Treasure Hoard ) (1926) and Dedics tvo Janostkovho pokladu (The Legacy of Jano sfk's Treasure Hoard) . About these, 29 Melichercfk had only the most negative observations. Melichercfk adopted the bitter tone of a real zealot when he focused on Slovak drama , in much of which he saw further destruction of what he considered the authentic folk tradition . He lashed out at Viliam Pauliny-T6th, for example, as the first to recontour Janosik in hi s play Janosik (1862) as a Roman Catholic seminary student, the so n of wealthy peasants, and an educated "gentleman bri ga nd ," 30 thereby di storting the "authentic " brigand figure. Evoking the language of di sease, he insisted that these bourgeoi s writers tried to "infect" the people 's consciousness "with traditions that are entirely harmful and hostile" because they wanted to divert the attention of the working masses away from their most important interests, that is, away from the class strugg le, and to "prevent them from correctly recognizing and assessi ng their own capabilities for resistance and 31 their successes in the past. " He added further: It is eno ugh o nl y to reca ll what efforts the Slovak bourgeoisie expended in order to infect our people with the idea th at the ir basic characteristics were humility, co mpli ance, resignation to the will of God , that they were a so{!, patient, God-fearing people, humbl y obli gated to the lords, and so on. - Melichercfk injected a positive note, however, pointing out a few works which he considered reflected the genuine folk hero who "goes into brigandage with stron g conviction to puni sh injustice perpetrated by the lords on the poor Slovak people, "33 as in Jiff Mahen 's play Janos[k. Tragedie o peti dejstv[ch (Janosfk - A Tragedy in Five Acts.) 34 He was pleased that these elements in Mahen 's play served as a basis for so me other dramatic and mu sical re-wor- 29 Melichercfk. Jura) Janosfk: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 142-147. Melichercfk. Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 150. 31 Melichercfk , Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 157. 32 Melichercfk . Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 157. 33 Melichercfk. Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 15 I. 34 Jirf Mahen, Janosfk. Tragedie o peti dejstvfch (Prah a, 1910). 30 �72 SLOVAKIA 35 kings of the Janosfk story. Jan Cikker's 1953 opera Jura Janosik, according to Melichercfk, captured so accurately the "entire magnitude of the concept the Janosfk rebellion and its revolutionary message" that in hi s estimation it qualified as a folk opera - that is, an authentic expression of the masses - in terms of its theme and 36 music. Melichercfk ended hi s di sc uss ion of Janosfk in literature and the arts with the hope that arti sts would produce an abundance of Janosfk images so that these "will decorate buildings, parks, and squares of our nation and Janosfk wi ll live everywhere as a sy mbol of struggle and freedom , as a great message from the past for us and 37 for future generations. " He also offered a challenge to Slovak dramati sts that they take up the task of writing a "genuine Slovak folk play" about Janosfk. 38 Although thi s last task would indeed be taken up and fulfilled by dramatists, it would not be carried out in the way Melichercfk had hoped. In the cynical years after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, dram atists responded to Melichercfk 's call and wrote musical plays about Janosfk. Stepka's Jaaanosfffk: News About the Hero or a Play on the Hero, Bryll 's and Gartnerova's Painted on Glass, and Feldek's Janosik According to Vivaldi were produced and performed for co untl ess Slovak audiences. These plays, however, manipul ated the conventi onal image defined by Melichercfk and offered audiences radically new ways of considering not only the figure of Janosfk and the brigand tradition, but their own social, political, and existential reality. As for the depiction of Janosfk him self, it was as if tired of occ upying the glorious, but increas ingly cramped role of the almost superhum an hero officially sanctioned by the communist governme nt, he broke free from th at role 's confines and assumed another g ui se - as an ordinary man with ordinary weaknesses, coming from a well-meaning, but simple-minded family, and, at best, a reluctant bandit. The debunking and parodying of the conventional and officially approved myth of Janosfk in the musicals occurred in the context of a broad postmodern movement apparent throughout Central Europe 35 Jan Cikker, Juro Janosik: Opera v 6 obrazoch (Libretto: Stefan Hoza), l 953 . Melichercfk, Jura) Janosik: hrdina, 2nd ed ., 153. 37 Melichercfk , Jura) Janosik: hrdina, 2nd ed. , 154. 38 Melichercfk, Jura) Janosfk: hrdina, 2nd ed. , 152. 36 �SLOVAKIA 73 which had begun at the end of the 1950s. Slovak literary scholar Peter Petro refers to the period of the I 960s as a "turbulent decade," a period of experimentation , which gradua lly undercut the official Socialist Realism and pushed the limits of the permissible in literature. 39 The impul se to parody and debunk carried over into the 1970s and 1980s. It was strengthened by pressures of the "normalization," which took place directly after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and was connected to the reemergence of surrealism influenced by the surrealist movement during World War 11. 40 Central to thi s movement was new activity in the theater and in dramatic productions. Playwrights, utilizing the language of surrealism and the grotesque, sought to expose the absurdity of the political system by undermining its values and utopian premises which had claimed that "it is possible to control everything, even the dreams and hopes of the citizens. "41 Productions were characterized by fragmentation of the main motifs into parts and the insertion of poetry, mu sic , and dance. Humor, irony, skepticism , interaction with the spectators, direct appeals to the audience's imagination, word games, verbal improvisation-and all of this intended to unmask falsehoods, to shatter ideological stereotypes--characterized plays of this pe42 riod. It was in this context that Bryll, Feldek, and Stepka conceived their musicals and chose the officially sanctioned and exploited image of the Slovak national hero in their subversive work. Bryll's Painted on Glass was translated from the 1970 original Polish libretto and performed in Slovakia from the mid-l 970s. 43 Its title refers to the widespread folk art of painting colorful images on glass, popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and well 39 Peter Petro, A History of Sl ovak Literature (Montreal & Kingston, London , Buffalo: McGill-Queens University Press), 143-44. 40 Petro, 143. 41 Halina Janaszek-lvanicov, "Post-Modernism in the West Slavonic Literature in the Context of Euro-Atlantic Changes of the Postmodern Paradigms," Part Ill : "Five tides of postmodernism in Polish, Czech, and Slovak Literature," at: http: //src- h. sla v. hokuda i.ac. jp/pub Iictn/N o.64/ janaszek/ janaszek. htm I. 42 Janaszek-I van icov. 43 111 Slovakia the play premiered at the Slovak National Theater Oct. 19, 1974, where it ran for three decades. It was pulled from the stage briefly in 1983 when Ernest Bryll was forced to leave Poland for crit icizi ng the political situatio n. Bratislava's Novii scena theater has staged the play in an updated form since 2005. http://mu zikal y. szm.sk/nsm.html �74 SLOVAKIA known for preserving images of Janosik and hi s brigands and various 44 moments related to the conventional myth. Reproducing these images in dramatic action with song and dance, Painted on Glass broke with Melichercik 's communist definition of the myth by disclosing both Janosik's very ordinary human yearnings and failings. Janosfk's love for Anicka is unfulfilled, the gendarmes are not the hero 's eternal class enemies, but also human beings; and Death personified awaits the hero, as it does all of us. Light humor, rousing folk dance, memorable songs, and poking holes in the conventional myth all blended in Painted on Glass, and the figure of Janosfk was endeared to the audience which identified with the demythologized hero. The music of Bryll' s play, composed by Katarzyna Gartnerova, was a delightful hybrid of rhythmic rock and folk, and gave new voice to the expression of the Janosik tradition in the 1970s and 1980s. Feldek chose the title for hi s play, Janosik According to Vivaldi, because he wanted to indicate that in the eighteenth century Slovaks li ved "not only in Yratna dolina (ie., in the isolated depth s of Slovakia) but also in Europe. "45 Action in the play alternates between Slovakia and the Viennese court of Charles YI (d. 1740), where the emperor's daughter, the young Maria Theresa (1717- 1780), is heard in the background playing the mu sic of Antonio Vivaldi (16801743), then popular throughout Europe. Feldek worked from actu al hi storical documents linked to Janosfk's trial , but wove an amusing and fantastical version of the myth . Here, Uhorcfk is portrayed as the real bandit hero, and he and hi s wife Katarfnka manipulate Janosik into becoming the brigand captain. In quick order, however, Janosfk tires of stealing, as he tell s Katarfnka in very contemporary sounding terms: "We rob from morning to night and then again from night to morning and I'm as tired as a dog. And I swear that people would do better if they didn 't carry all thi s silly gold with them" (Zbfjame od rana do vecera a potom este aj od vecera do rana, unaveny so m ako pes. Prisaham bohu, casto si hovorfm , ze by tf 44 See introductory texts and reproductions of glass-painted images of Janosfk and brigands in IIena Pi sutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 2dh Century (Bratislava: Tatran, 1983), and Katarfna Ciema, Janosik v Slovenskom vytvamom umenf (Bratislava: Slovenska narodna galeria, 1988). This last is the catalog to an exhibition of the same name, held in March - May 1988. 45 Feldek, 125. �SLOVAKIA 75 l'udi a urobili Iepsie, keby so sebou nenosili tolko toho poondiateho zlata.)46 In the end Katarfnka angri ly insi sts that the people should celebrate Uhorcfk ' s memory, not Janosik's. At the same time, in the absence of a male heir to the throne, Charles VI decides that Uhorcik is his illegitimate son and should be the next emperor. Feldek plays with the myth , the hi story, and language, as, fo r instance, in Charles Vi 's interview with the w idow of one of hi s Au stri an genera ls, Madame Schardonova, whose existence is attested in the hi storical doc uments since she actuall y was robbed by Janosfk in Slovakia. Her stilted Slovak, prono unced with a German acce nt, is hil ario us, because a ll of her mi stake s ac tu a ll y convey other ridiculous meanings. Instead of saying "I am a widow " (som vdova), she says "I 47 am water" (som voda) ; instead of complimenting Charles for his nobility (s l'achetn y), she compliments him for being "tendinous" (... 48 aky ste sl'achovity). Painted on Glass offers great humor and new twists on the convention al elements of the communist interpretation of Janosfk so well defi ned by Melichercik. Perhaps most radical in its depiction of Janosfk and the brigand myth is Stepka 's Jaaanosfffk, pl ayed by his own troupe, the Rados inske naivne divadlo (Radosi na Nai·ve Theater). Its unu sual title was inspired by Slovak actor and director Pal'o Bielik 's famo us two-part film , Janosik ( 1963), in which Janosik's name is called out in the mountains and echoes lo udl y with a prolonged stress on the vowels. Whil e Melichercfk had approached the Janosik tradition with the utmo st gravity, Stepka kept hi s co mmuni st-era audience laughing throughout the entire musical. His language is rich with puns and humorously distorted references from fo lkl ore, literature, and especiall y from dail y life in com munist Slovakia. Ribald sex ual innuendoes are woven into the entire script. Janosik appears onl y in the last third of the play , during which the punning continues. Hi s family members - mothe r Dag mar, fathe r Jon athan , and sister He len a occ upy center stage through the play and are depicted as slow, thickwitted , shrewd, but also likeab le peasants. Their plight as serfs under the control of a Hungarian count, Artus Revay, is treated with humor and irony. The Radosina Na"ive Theater company performed and still 46 Feldek, 96. Feldek, 93. 48 Feldek, 93 . 47 �76 SLOVAKIA performs the play with few props and simple Slovak folk costumes with so me ac tors wearing regular contemporary clothes . The tone and atmosphere, free and characterized by improvisation , suggests an amateur village production with simple, barel y literate actors - but in fact the theater' s actors are professionals who bring their ro les to li fe exceedingly well. 49 The writer of thi s article attended a performance of Jaaanosfffk in Slovakia in 1983, which was played with great g usto and hilarious improvi sation . That perform ance diverged somewhat from the published script of 1970, but thi s is to be expected , considering that improvisation is integra l to the pl ay, contributing to its "amateur" quality , and insurin g that there be room for some actor-audience interaction. The very first lines of Jaaanosfffk immediatel y set the tone for the ling ui stic and cultu ral manipulation to come: Instead of the co nventional opening of a Slovak fo lktale - "Kde bolo, tam bolo" (Once upon a time ... ; litera ll y: Where it was, there it was) - two narrators begin with "Kde bolelo, tam bolelo" (Where it hurt, there it hurt), a play on the traditional phrase and suggesting that much more would be turned on its head before the end of the performance.so Janosfk's Slovak mother and father are given spurious genealogies by the narrators - Pani Dagmar Janosfkov a, nee Trautenbergerova, and Jon ath an Jano sfk , whose real s urname, we are told , is Weissmann_s, To suggest th at the Slovak national hero is actually of German de sce nt is, of course, hi ghly ironical and am usin g. When Helena and Dagmar are visited by a local constable sent by the count, they are pleased to welcome him in, having locked father in the cellar. The constable tell s Dagmar that he is on the lookout for a rebel , specifically her hu sband , who is inciting or rou sing the serfs (" Poddanych buri .. . "), and she responds cynicall y that her husband 49 Stanis lav Stepka's Radosinske naivne div adlo produced a CD of Jaacinosfffk and a DVD of three pl ays, including Jaaanosffik. For availability, see : http://www. panorama. sk/index.asp?kam-/go/mapa.asp&lan g-s k&sv-2&mc- 12 I9 ~. 50 Stani slav Stepka, Jaaanosfffk: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran , 1983) 19. All quotes are take n from the publi shed sc ript. Ac tors in the perfo rmance attended by the writer of this artic le fo llowed thi s sc ript closely, but not exactly. And this published script differs slightl y from the DVD version of the musical from 2004. 51 Jaaanosfffk, 23. �SLOVAKIA 77 "no longer arouses anything" ("Prosfm vas, on uz nic nevzburi. . ") and is willing to sign her name to that. 52 The constable summons Dagmar and Helena to the manor house, informing them that the Count Revay, a "candidate of the amorous sciences" (kandidat milostnych vied) - a satirical reference to scholarl y titles in communist Slovakia - wants them to come and "sew sacks" (obsfvat' vrecia), connoting here some kind of sex ual activity. In response, Helena blithely asks: "Which amorous lord ordered this, the young one or the old one?" When the constable says "the old one," Helena responds with complete confidence: "Mamicka, then that must mean the invitation 's for you. "53 Unlike in the conventional myth, the women here clearly do not feel threatened by the count's demand , and in fact they act as though it has happened repeatedly and welcome it eagerly. When the constable leaves, Helena and Dagmar di scuss how fine it is that the aristocracy, the lords, want only what is good for the serfs - surely a satirical reference to the contemporary situation with the communist government as the aristocracy and the serfs as the ordinary citizens. Helena means to say "They come here, advise us, and look around (pride, poradf, pohl'adf)," but, to the audience's surprise and amusement, in her simple-mindedness she says instead that "they come, advise us, and caress" (pride, poradi, pohladf)." 54 Dagmar then echoes, anachronistically for the eighteenth century, the sentiments of contemporary communist brigade workers perpetually urged to find ways to work harder, ways to over-fulfill the Plan: Let me pose this question to you, my daughter: are we really working on the estate like we should? Are we working a full eighteen hours? Couldn't we manage to work more? Sometimes we sing. Couldn't we work another eight or nine hours? We work only six days. And the seventh is the Sabbath. But couldn 't we work thirty-six days a month and then celebrate the Sabbath with whatever is left? And what about order at the workplace? Do we keep all our bundles in one place? So, see. We 55 need to think all thi s over sometime. 52 J aaanosifik, 22. Jaaanosffik, 22. 54 Jaaanosffik, 23. 55 Jti:i:inos([fk, 23. As an example of d ivergence from the written script of 1970, the 1983 viny l disc recordi ng of the musical , for instance, prov ides an al ternati ve statement in thi s section of the play. Dagmar asks: "Couldn 't we work six days a week and celebrate for seven?" This, again, is reflective of the improvisational nature of the script. 53 �78 SLOVAKIA These words, all too familiar to the audience daily subjected to pressure to achieve communist "excellence," provoked uproarious laughter from the audience. More bitter self-recognition for the Slovak audience in communist times - oftentimes struggling to procure even the basics, yet reassured by the government that they had the best possible living situation - resulted from Dagmar' s observation that they already had acquired everything they could possibly need: "We already have everything - a table, a chair, a bowl , a crucifix, and eventually even a house with doors. My God!" (A mame uz vsetko, aha - stol, stolicka, miska, krfzik , pomaly uz aj <lorn s dvermi. Boze!)56 Only after all this does the youthful Janosfk appear. Sister Helena, a family friend Samo, as well as Janosfk ' s girlfriend Anicka, and eventually his own mother all push him to become a brigand for the material benefits this will bring them, echoing a situation again all too familiar to the audience: that the only way to acquire goods , especially luxury goods, is by theft in one way or another. Janosfk acquiesces reluctantly, and only after complaining: Do I have to be a man? Do I have to be a hero? Do I have to be an example? You'll be at home lying in your feather quilts, and I have to offer up my kidneys [to the executioner's hook]? I don't want to be a hero, I want to be an ordinary man. . . I don't want to enter into reading books, I want to live out my life beautifully . . . This literature will live off me for 300 years , but I won ' t make it to thirty . . . I don ' t want to 57 enter history with a bullet between my shoulders. Janosfk, however, appears in the final scene with Uhorcfk, grudgingly about to begin his career, while Uhorcfk berates him for tossing aside his weapon and for showing no interest in banditry . Uhorcfk then initiates the highway robbery of two aristocratic travelers, a mother and daughter, with the traditional demand found in folktale s: "Your money or your life. . . " (Bohu dusu a nam dukaty. Literally: Hand over your soul to God and your money to us.) , but add s "and your citizenship documents" (a obcianske preukazy), much like the police could demand of anyone on the street in communist Slovakia. 58 The women, instead of fearing or hating Janosik, are enamored with hi s dashing appearance and charm - "Mama, so these are those famous brigands! My God, what beau56 Jaaanosfffk, 23. Jaaanosfffk, 33. 58 Jaaanosfffk, 34. 57 �SLOVAKIA 79 tiful folk garb they have" (Mamicka, tak toto su tf zbojnfci? Boze, ake krasne kroje maju.) - and he and Uhorcfk treat the robbery like a customs check. This certainly resonated with Slovaks, as well as foreigners, who passed repeatedly through Czechoslovak customs in communist times and often felt robbed and violated. 59 During the robbery, however, Janosik begins to wax poetic about the bandit life, and Uhorcik again reprimands him for getting distracted, but in a way which again sounds ironical in reference to brigandage and echoes a typical warning to the communist worker: "Duri, you keep forgetting your obligation" (Duri, zabudas na povinnost:)60 This Janosik is not Melichercfk's noble social brigand, a fighter against feudal lords, protector of the poor and oppressed. Stepka 's musical, as well as Bryll's and Feldek's, presented the Slovak public in the 1970s and 1980s not with a communist superhero, but with an ordinary guy, much of whose life and environment resonated with those of the audience. Janosik's experiences and the struggles of his time depicted in the musicals were a reflection of their own life. The outlines of the conventional myth were brought into question and turned upside down , and social and political issues that could not be criticized openly were spoofed. Audiences who experienced the plays together could leave the theater, having, in a sense, expressed and shared publicly their plight under the communist regime. Through irony and laughter, they could feel stronger in their resolve to resist. By employing the Janosik figure and myth, wrenching it free from the regime's ideology, the dramatists held up a mirror to the audience so that they could see themselves more clearly and could come to an understanding about how they might better deal with their social and political reality. Through humor and satire and breaking with the Soviet - and communist-approved conventional interpretation, the dramatists allowed Janosik once again to reach out to his people, to inspire in them the courage to resist the new authorities. Because Melichercik had so successfully portrayed Janosik as an acceptable proto-communist hero, the brigand's image in these musicals passed under the censors' radar screens. Once again, in a way not anticipated by Melichercik, Janosik was there to contribute to the 59 60 Jaaanosfffk, 34. Jaaanosfffk, 35. �80 SLOVAKIA social and political resistance, to help undermine the system. Once again, in a way not anticipated by Melichercik, Janosik was a symbol of freedom - this time for a new generation in a new time and against a new oppressor. Feldek suggested just exactly that when in an interview in 1979, he said of his work: "There is no such thing as a historical play . We write and play alway s for the contemporary audience and for the present. The hi storical subject in a good 'historical' play is only a pretext - almost like the subject of animals in a fable. The viewer should leave my play with the sense that this was about us. "61 And by the end of the next decade, 1989, the communist system finally collapsed from within and the barbed wire was torn down - perhaps with just a little help from Janosik. 61 Feldek, 126. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2007, Vol. 39 Description An account of the resource Vol. 39 (No. 72-73), 2007. 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 2007 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA ,, 63 V,, JANOSIK AS A SYMBOL OFFREDOMIN COMMUNIST SLOVAK.IA Patricia A. Krafcik The new millennium has witnessed a continued fascination in Central Europe with the figure of Janosfk, the well-known eighteenth-century Slovak brigand hero. Among the works relating to Janosfk that have appeared thus far, Polish scholar Joanna Goszczynska 's study, Mit Janosika w folklorze i literaturze Slowackiej XIX wieku (The Janosfk Myth in Slovak Folklore and Literature of the Nineteenth Century), examines the emergence of Janosfk from Slovak popular folklore and other sources, as well as the evolution of his figure in nineteenth-century Slovak literature. 1 Geroi iii zboinik? Obraz razboinika v fol 'klore Karpatskogo regiona (Heroes or Bandits? Outlaw Traditions in the Carpathian Region) , edited by Slovak ethnographer Viera Gasparfkova and Russian folklorist Boris N. Putilov, offers a comparative study of Carpathian bandit traditions, including that of Janosfk. 2 In a more popular vein, Zuzana Krizkova 's and Margareta Horvathova's popu lar collection of Janosfk folktales, Jura) Janosik: Rozpnivanie o zbojnfckom kapitanovi (Juraj Janosik : Tales of the Brigand Captain) , intersperses several texts with summaries of historical information from the mid-seventeeth century to just after Janosfk' s execution in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in 1713, and is replete with dozens of miniature historical and art prints relating to Slovak hi story prior to and during Janosfk's time.3 In 2005-2006, the Slovak National Gallery and the Slovak National Museum co-sponsored an ex hibition entitled "S lovensky mytu s" 1 Joanna Goszczynska, Mit Janosika w folklorze i literaturze Sfowackiej XIX wieku (Warszawa: Uniwersytet Warszawski , Lnsty tut Filologii Stowianskiej , 200 I). 2 Viera Gasparfkova and Boris N. Putilov, eds. , Geroi iii zboinik ? Obraz razboinika v fol'klore Kmpatskogo regiona (B udapest: European Folklore Insti tute, 2002). This work is published in Russian with a substantial summary in English. 3 Zuzana Kri zkova and Margareta Horvathova, Juraj Janosik: Rozprtivanie o zbojnickom kapittinovi (Bratislava: Perfekt, 2004). 64 SLOVAKIA (Slovak Myth), which included a prominent exhibit devoted to Janosfk: "Mytu s Juraj Janosfk , alebo Janosfko mani a v slove nskom vytvarnom umenf" (The Myth of Juraj Janosfk or Janosfk Mania in Slovak Creati ve Art). 4 As part of this "Janosfk mania" in Slovaki a, two mu sical plays, Poli sh pl ay wright Ernes t Bryll ' s and co mposer Katarzy na Gartnerova's Na skle malbvane: Spevohra v 3 castiach (Painted on Glass: A Musical Play in Three Parts, 1970)5 and Stani slav Stepka's Jaaanosfffk : Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Jaaanosfffk : News about the hero or a play on the hero , 1970)6 have been rev itali zed and restaged. When they first appeared in co mmunist Czechoslovakia of the 1970s-80s, these mu sica l pl ays were wildl y popular. Along with 4 Slovak Nati onal Ga llery at www s ng sk (accessed August 5, 2006). The ex hib ition's accompanying catalog contains an arti cle devoted to Janosik: Hana Hl6skova, "Narodny hrdina Ju raj Janosfk," My ty Nase Slovenske, eds. Edu ard Krekovic, Elena Mannova, and Eva Krekov icova, (Bratislava: Academic Electro nic Press, 2005), 94103 . 5 M albvane na skle premiered in Warsaw in 1970; in Czechoslovaki a in 1972 at the Statni divadl o in Brno under the title Z bojn fci a iandafi ; and in 1974 in Bratislava at the Slovak Natio nal T heater. Perfo rm ances resum ed again fro m October 2005 in Bratislava' s Nova scena theater in a new translation from the Polish by Slovak playwright J.:ubomfr Feldek, with singers and dancers from SCUK, Sl ove nsky l'udovy umelecky ko lektfv (S lovak Folk Artisti c Ensemble). See: http ://mu zikaly .szm.sk/nsm html (accessed August 4, 2006), and more on SCU K's ro le can be found in "I.:udovy umelec ky kolektfv koprodukcny partner di ela" at: http: //www nova-sce ne.sk/ index/php?page-page& itemid-15 (accessed August 6, 2006). For a brief descri ption of the revitalized musical' s fir st-night perform ance on September 22, 2005 at Brati slava's Nova scena theater, see "Prem iera Na skle ma lbvane mala us pech," at : http://koktail pravda sk/sk kfilm.asp?r=sk kfi lm&c-A050923 114927 sk kfi lm p 1Q (accessed Aug ust 6, 2006). The rev iew mentio ns that the spectac ul ar performance was attended by me mbers of the Nati onal Co unc il of the Slovak Repu blic, including its speaker Pavol Hrusovsky. The play is avai lab le on DVD; see: http://www panorama.sk/i ndex.asp?kam-/go/mapa.asp&lang-en&sv-2&mc- I430 &m id=l. 6 Jaaanosfffk premiered in 1970 in Rados ina' s Klu b ml adyc h (fou nded 1963) in th e hometow n of the Radosina Na'ive Theater (RND) which moved its operations that year to Brati slava. http: //www.rnd.sk/?i-program&id- J022 . The play is now run as "Jaaanosfffk (po tridsiatich rokoch)" (Janosik [after thirty years)), thi s rev ised title given to it during an earlier revival in 2000 in Kezmarok. The musical has continued to play in theaters through this past year: see, fo r instance, about a perform ance of the play in Rufo mberok in 2006 at : http ://www.ruzomberok.sk/index novinky.php?novinka-15 3. SLOVAKIA 65 a third production - I.:ubomfr Feldek's Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho (Jano sfk According to Vivaldi , 1979)7 - they employed in an innovative way folksong, folk dance, and classical mu sic, as well as contemporary rock mu sic elements, and were rife with raucous humor, language play, and scarcely veiled social and political criticism. In them the figure of Janosfk, so beloved in Slovak folklore and literature and so exploited by the communist regime for its own purposes, was demythologized and parodied. By daring to manipulate a fi gure and a myth solidified and sanctified by the regime, the mu sicals in fact functioned as a form of resistance to the communist regime in Czechoslovakia and to its many "myths" and false promises. Yet even in a demythologized form, the subversive nature of the bri gand hero as a sy mbol of freedom from oppression and as a challenge to the social order still served as a liberating force .8 The evolution of the Janosik fi gure over the past four centuries is complex, as Martin Votruba demon strates in hi s recent article, "Hang Him High: The Elevation of Janosfk to an Ethnic Icon . "9 Inspired in part by the fate of the hi storical eighteenth-century Juraj Janosik, the folklore and literary fi gure was shaped over the years by many sources: Slovak mythology, pre-eighteenth-century Slovak brigand songs and tales, medieval anecdotes about bandits, eighteenthcentury Slovak "market songs," and the nineteenth-century Romantic literary movement in Europe. As an expression of their zealous patriotism during the mid-nineteenth century's national awakening in Central Europe, the younger generation of Slovak poets surrounding Cudovft Stur adopted and furth er shaped the image of Janosik and hi s "mountain lads" as the nation al sy mbol of the Slovak people 's 7 The play premiered I 979 at Statne divadlo in Kos ice under th e direction of Vaclav Martinec, music by Jaroslav Fi lip. The script was published along with other Feldek plays in the fo llowing vo lume: I.:ubomfr Feldek, Smutne komedie (Brati slava : Slovensky spi sovatel', 1982) 79- 11 9. 8 Eri c Hobsbawm , Bandits (London : Weidenfeld & Nico lson, 2000). Hobsbawm ' s landmark study is devoted to defi ning the archetypal figure of the bri gand hero as a perpetually liberating force. He refers to Janosik as one of the "noble robber" types (47). 9 Martin Yotruba, "Hang Him H igh: The Elevation of Janosik to an Ethnic Icon, " Slavic Review 65: I (2006): 24-44. For more on the historical Janosik, see Patricia A. Krafc ik , "Janosfk: Unrave ling the M an from the Legend, " Slovakia XXX III : 606 I ( 1987- I 988) : 7-22. A lso see Jozef K oc is, Neznamy Janosfk (Marti n: Osveta, I 986) for a more detai led study of Janosik's historical context. 66 SLOVAKIA struggle for liberation from the domination of Austrian and Hungarian rule. Beautiful in their language and hi ghl y emotive in their imagery, poems by Stefan Marko Daxner (1822-92), Samo Chalupka (1812-83), and Jan Botto (1829-81) are still today memorized, recited , and loved by Slovaks. Early twentieth-century Slovak prose writers ' attempts at further romanticizing hi s image by playing up the motifs of Janosfk's gi rlfriend and Janosfk as a seminary student did not tarni sh the Stur poets' image of Janosfk as a noble outlaw, a representati ve of freedom and defender of the oppressed. In the mid-twentieth century, communist Czec hoslovakia embraced the Janosfk myth co ntoured large ly by the Stur poets. Bas ing their version on selected folklore and the Sturists' vision of the hero, communist propagandists attempted to demonstrate that Janosi'.k, honored as the Slovak national sy mbol , had in fact been a proto-revolutionary who advocated preci sely what the communist government advocated: both the destruction of the bourgeo isie and aristocracy and the redi stribution of wealth in the spirit of socialism. After all , in both the folklore and nineteenth -ce ntury literature, Janosfk, the "mountain eagle," was depicted , like Robin Hood , confronting and humiliating noblemen and rich merchants and aiding and rewarding his supporters. Genuine hi storical court documents from his trial also clearly showed that Janosfk had never killed anyone, and had actually given gifts of jewelry to the young women of Terchova. 1 Furthermore, Janosfk's name and hi s image as a defender of the Slovak people had just recently been invoked among Slovak partisans in the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. 11 Finally, Soviet scholars did not shy away from the subj ect of social bandits in these decades, thu s affording it a further official stamp of approva l. Di stingui shed Russian folklori st Petr Grigor' evich Bogatyrev (1893- 1971 ) wrote about brigands before the 1950s and publi shed two excellent books about ° 10 see Andrej M elichercfk, Janosikovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Brati slava : SA YU. 1952) 248-59, for texts of the court documents revea ling inform ation about Janosik's activities. 11 M eli chercfk, Juraj Janosfk: Hrdina Protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho J'udu, 2nd ed. (Martin: Osveta, 1963) 16 1- 164. See also "Janosfk-partizanska brigada" and "Janosfk- ilegalny casopis protifasisti ckeho frontu," Encyklopedia Slovenska 11 (Bratislava, 1978): 478-479. SLOVAKIA 67 Slovak outlaws in 1963 and 1976. 12 Even earlier, nineteenth-century Russian revolutionaries and Lenin himself had perceived in the Cossac k-bri gands, such as Sten ' ka Razin and Emeliian Pugachev, the people 's inherent revo lutionary spirit. 13 Janosik, in short, was thought to be a safe subject in communist Czechoslovakia, as well as advantageou s to the regime 's ideology, and thu s could be researched and celebrated by a host of writers, poets, artists, dramatists, composers, and scholars during the l 950s- l 980s . Through the ir work, he was elevated to communist sainthood. In Slovakia, the "father of Janosik studies," ethnographer Andrej Melichercfk (1917-1966) , was unquestionabl y the most ardent of them all. Born in the year of the Ru ssian revolution s, Melichercfk was educated at the Philosophical Faculty of Comenius University in Brati slava and was mentored in hi s chosen field of ethnography by Bogatyrev himself. 14 He served as an assistant professo r in ethnography at the university , was a "docent" from 1947, and lectured there to the end of hi s life. He also worked at the Matica slovenska, the key institution for the preservation of Slovak culture, from 1945, and served as its secretary from 1948. At the same time, as a tru sted sudruh (comrade), Melichercfk was asked to organize the Ethnographic Division (N arodnopisny ustav) in the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts and became president of that division in 1950. It was his responsibility in the new communist Slovakia to organize a unified body from diverse individuals, to critique the so-called bourgeois school s of folklore (that is, all folklore studies up to the communist ascend anc y in Czecho slovakia), and to align the work of hi s Academy sc holars with the "progress ive" Soviet ethnographic 12 P. G. Bogatyrev, S/ova tskie epicheskie rasskazy i /iro-epicheskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl ") (Moskva: AN SSSR , 1963) and Slovatskie narodnye razbojnich 'i pesni i ballady (Moskva: Khudozhestvenna ia literatura, 1976). Bogatyrev helped pave the way for the stud y of the Carpathian brigand phenomenon in such articles as the fo llow ing about the "oprishki " or brigands and their legends in Western Ukraine: P. G. Bogatyrev , "Fo llklornye skazanija ob oprishkakh Zapadnoi Ukra iny," Sove tskaia etnografiia: Sbornik statei V ( 1941 ): 59-80. 13 Patricia A. Krafc ik, "Sten 'ka Ra zin in Ru ss ian Hi storical Fo lksongs : A Robin Hood of the Volga" (PhD diss., Columbia Uni versity, l 980), 3-6. 14 Jan Mjartan, "Za Prof. Dr. And rejom Melichercfkom , l 9I7-I966," Slovensky mirodopis XIV : 4 (1966): 501-505 . Subsequent biographical information is taken from thi s brief artic le. 68 SLOVAKIA school. The Soviet Union, after all , provided a model to be em ulated by the satellite countries in all fields. 15 Melichercfk energetically threw himself into thi s task, publishing a compilation of transl ations into Slovak of selected ethnographic studies from Soviet folklorists which were to serve as a methodolog ical aid for Slovak communist scholars, followed by the publication of a volume of exemplary Soviet-type studies by Slovak folklorists the mselves. Melichercik's personal history helps us understand his determination to do the right thing, to make certain that Slovak fo lkl ore sc holarship approached the folk tradition "correctly," and that it serve not just to inform but also to educate, to shape Slovak citi zens in a proper understanding of their past and "for the building of socialism" in Slovakia. 16 Indeed , thi s is what, according to Soviet culture tsar Andrei Zhdanov ( 18961948), Socialist Realist literature, art, and schol arship were supposed 17 to do. Melichercfk began publishin g hi s research on Janosfk in the 1950s. Until hi s untimely death in I 966 at age forty-nine as a result of so me fatal illness, perhaps contracted during a fi e ld trip with students near Rufomberok, he produced books and articles on the subject of the Slovak brigand hero. 18 He publi shed hi s defi nitive work on Janosfk in 1952, which was, in fact, the first major scholarl y study of the tradition in general , entitled Janos1ko vska tradfcia na 19 Slovensku (The Janosfk Tradition in Slovakia). Here, in great detail , Meli chercfk covered the historical backgro und of soc ial brigandage in Slovakia, the hi storical Juraj Janosfk on whom the image of the ideal brigand was based, and the Janosfk tradition in folklore and in Slovak formal literature. He also included several pages of folksong and folktale texts, as well as documents connected with Janosfk's trial and exec ution in I 7 I 3, and some literary texts. In 1956 Me li chercfk publi shed another major study of the Janosik tradition wh ich appeared in both Slovak and Czech editi ons. It was entitled Juraj Janosik: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenske- 15 Mjartan, 501-502. Mjartan, 502. 17 Gleb Struve, Russian Literature Under Lenin and Stalin 1917-1953 (Norman: Un iversity of Oklahoma Press, 197 1) 26 1-262. 18 Martjan, 503. 19 Melichercik, Janosfkovska tradfcia. 16 SLOVAKIA 69 ho J'udu (Juraj Janosfk: Hero of the Anti-Feudal Struggle of the Slovak People) .20 This time, while repeating some material from his first study, he placed even greater emphasis on the socio-economic conditions that gave ri se to the brigand phenomenon in Slovakia and in the greater Carpathian region. In hi s chapter on the comparative study of the bandit tradition in the Carpathian context, he was a pioneer in widening the scope of the study of that tradition in Slovak scholarship.21 Indeed, from the 1970s to the present, the most fruitful work on the brigand theme has been the comparative study of the bandit tradition within the Carpathian area, supported by the International Commission for the Study of Popular Culture in the Carpathian and Balkan Region , founded in 1976.22 Melichercfk 's study, Juraj Janosfk: Hrdina , was published in a second revised and enlarged edition in 1963 for the 250 th anniversary of Janosfk 's execution.23 Although after this he wrote a few articles and some short pieces about Janosik and other bandits, as well as a substantial textbook on Slovak folklore in general , this second edition of Juraj 24 Janosfk: hrdina was hi s last major statement about his beloved idol. In providing what became the official and definitive description of Janosfk in communist Slovakia, Melichercfk wrote with an almost religious fervor: Janosfk's struggle ended tragically, but the idea of struggle against exp loiters for the truth and for justice and a more beautiful life for the simple working people shone in the consciousness of our people like a bright star in the evening sky. Decades went by, centuries passed, and that struggle - even though its conditions changed - continued. In the memory of the people the figure of Juraj Janosfk revived afresh, and a 20 Juraj Janosik: Hrdina protifeuda/neho odboja s/ovenskeho J'udu (Praha : Nase vojsko, 1956). 21 Melichercfk pursued comparative study a lso in two separate articles: "K otazke vzn iku zbojnfctva v Karpatoc h," Slovensky narodopi s IV: 2 ( I 956) I 63-194 and "Slovensko-Ukrajinske vztahy v zbojnfckom folkl6re ," Slovanske studie I (Bratislava, 1957) 539-548. 22 Milan Lescak, CSc. , ed., lnteretnicke vztahy vo folk/6re karpatskej oblasti (Bratislava: Veda, 1980). Also see note 2 for Gasparfkova and Putilov , eds. , Geroi iii zboinik? Gasparfkova herself has contributed in a major way to brigand study with books and articles over the past several decades, including: Zbojn[k Michal Vdovec v hist6rii a folk/6re gemerskeho l'udu (Bratislava: SA V, 1964 ); Povesti o zbojnikoch zo slovenskych a pol's ky ch Tatier (Bratislava: Veda, 1979); and Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v narodnej kulture (Bratislava: Tatran, 1988). 23 Melichercfk, Juraj Janos{k: Hrdina, 2nd ed. 24 Melichercfk, Slovensky fo lk/6r: Chrestomatia (Bratislava : SA V, 1959). 70 SLOVAKIA beautiful poe m abo ut freedom linked to hi s life took shape and was 25 ex pressed in the Janosfk tradition for over two centuries. Melichercfk offered a biography of the hi storical Juraj Janosfk drawn from ex tant court documents connected to his trial in Liptovsky Mikul as, and viewed Janosfk in folklore and literature as a composite hero whose figure was influenced by many sources. As a communist sc holar, Melichercik emphasized Janosfk 's image as a product of hi storical conditions, that is, an image born of the struggle of the masses of serfs and peasants against their feudal lords. He also recognized the role of the human creative imagination in the contouring of thi s image, shaped by the people as "one of the most beautiful and humani stic types of hero ," reflecting the experience 26 and yearning of the masses for freedom from feudal exploitation. Like mantras, such statements are repeated over and over throughout all of Melichercfk 's writings about Janosfk . Melichercfk 's adoration of Janosik as a proto-revolutionary hero helps explain hi s high praise for the young Stur poets. Their work, he stressed, preserved the simple and pure lines of the folk hero who engaged in an elemental struggle for hi s people and who in a sense died a martyr's terribl e death - executed by being hung on a meat 27 hook piercing the left side of his rib cage. Melichercfk's unwavering devotion to this perception of Janosik also accounts for hi s extraordinarily harsh criticism of prose writers and dramatists from the end of the nineteenth and first few decades of the twentieth century . These writers, he claimed, intentionally di storted and falsified the Janosik tradition by playing down or eliminating the revolutionary content of the tradition and clothing the brigand in "adventure, sentimentality, megalomania, [and] day-dreaming. "28 He had in mind writers such as Pa vol Beblavy in Janosik: Po vest' o hrdinovi a dobrodincovi J'udu (Janosik: Tale of the People' s Hero and Benefactor), 25 Melichercfk , Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 7. M elichercfk, Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 158. 27 Yotruba describes how the bri gand fi gure from Slovak fo lklore was adapted by the Stur poets from fo lklore and other sources and further recontoured to fit their purposes, adapting some attributes of the Romantic bri gand hero well-known throu ghout Europe and eliminating a motif found in some previous folklore and poetry which harshly judged the bandits' deeds. The Stur poets, that is, pl ayed a significant role in manipul atin g the figure, rather th an simply "preserving" some sacred original image from the folklore. See Yotruba, 42-43. 28 Melichercfk , Jura} Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 143. 26 SLOVAKIA 71 which first appeared in installments in Slovenske pohl'ady (IX, 1889); Dobry Slovak in Janosfk, junak slobody (Janosfk, Hero of Freedom) (l 893); Gu stav Marsall-Petrovsky in his two-volume novel Janos[k (1894); and Emo Bohun in his two novel s, Janos1kov poklad (Ja no sfk 's Treasure Hoard ) (1926) and Dedics tvo Janostkovho pokladu (The Legacy of Jano sfk's Treasure Hoard) . About these, 29 Melichercfk had only the most negative observations. Melichercfk adopted the bitter tone of a real zealot when he focused on Slovak drama , in much of which he saw further destruction of what he considered the authentic folk tradition . He lashed out at Viliam Pauliny-T6th, for example, as the first to recontour Janosik in hi s play Janosik (1862) as a Roman Catholic seminary student, the so n of wealthy peasants, and an educated "gentleman bri ga nd ," 30 thereby di storting the "authentic " brigand figure. Evoking the language of di sease, he insisted that these bourgeoi s writers tried to "infect" the people 's consciousness "with traditions that are entirely harmful and hostile" because they wanted to divert the attention of the working masses away from their most important interests, that is, away from the class strugg le, and to "prevent them from correctly recognizing and assessi ng their own capabilities for resistance and 31 their successes in the past. " He added further: It is eno ugh o nl y to reca ll what efforts the Slovak bourgeoisie expended in order to infect our people with the idea th at the ir basic characteristics were humility, co mpli ance, resignation to the will of God , that they were a so{!, patient, God-fearing people, humbl y obli gated to the lords, and so on. - Melichercfk injected a positive note, however, pointing out a few works which he considered reflected the genuine folk hero who "goes into brigandage with stron g conviction to puni sh injustice perpetrated by the lords on the poor Slovak people, "33 as in Jiff Mahen 's play Janos[k. Tragedie o peti dejstv[ch (Janosfk - A Tragedy in Five Acts.) 34 He was pleased that these elements in Mahen 's play served as a basis for so me other dramatic and mu sical re-wor- 29 Melichercfk. Jura) Janosfk: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 142-147. Melichercfk. Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed., 150. 31 Melichercfk , Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 157. 32 Melichercfk . Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 157. 33 Melichercfk. Jura) Janosik: Hrdina, 2nd ed. , 15 I. 34 Jirf Mahen, Janosfk. Tragedie o peti dejstvfch (Prah a, 1910). 30 72 SLOVAKIA 35 kings of the Janosfk story. Jan Cikker's 1953 opera Jura Janosik, according to Melichercfk, captured so accurately the "entire magnitude of the concept the Janosfk rebellion and its revolutionary message" that in hi s estimation it qualified as a folk opera - that is, an authentic expression of the masses - in terms of its theme and 36 music. Melichercfk ended hi s di sc uss ion of Janosfk in literature and the arts with the hope that arti sts would produce an abundance of Janosfk images so that these "will decorate buildings, parks, and squares of our nation and Janosfk wi ll live everywhere as a sy mbol of struggle and freedom , as a great message from the past for us and 37 for future generations. " He also offered a challenge to Slovak dramati sts that they take up the task of writing a "genuine Slovak folk play" about Janosfk. 38 Although thi s last task would indeed be taken up and fulfilled by dramatists, it would not be carried out in the way Melichercfk had hoped. In the cynical years after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, dram atists responded to Melichercfk 's call and wrote musical plays about Janosfk. Stepka's Jaaanosfffk: News About the Hero or a Play on the Hero, Bryll 's and Gartnerova's Painted on Glass, and Feldek's Janosik According to Vivaldi were produced and performed for co untl ess Slovak audiences. These plays, however, manipul ated the conventi onal image defined by Melichercfk and offered audiences radically new ways of considering not only the figure of Janosfk and the brigand tradition, but their own social, political, and existential reality. As for the depiction of Janosfk him self, it was as if tired of occ upying the glorious, but increas ingly cramped role of the almost superhum an hero officially sanctioned by the communist governme nt, he broke free from th at role 's confines and assumed another g ui se - as an ordinary man with ordinary weaknesses, coming from a well-meaning, but simple-minded family, and, at best, a reluctant bandit. The debunking and parodying of the conventional and officially approved myth of Janosfk in the musicals occurred in the context of a broad postmodern movement apparent throughout Central Europe 35 Jan Cikker, Juro Janosik: Opera v 6 obrazoch (Libretto: Stefan Hoza), l 953 . Melichercfk, Jura) Janosik: hrdina, 2nd ed ., 153. 37 Melichercfk , Jura) Janosik: hrdina, 2nd ed. , 154. 38 Melichercfk, Jura) Janosfk: hrdina, 2nd ed. , 152. 36 SLOVAKIA 73 which had begun at the end of the 1950s. Slovak literary scholar Peter Petro refers to the period of the I 960s as a "turbulent decade," a period of experimentation , which gradua lly undercut the official Socialist Realism and pushed the limits of the permissible in literature. 39 The impul se to parody and debunk carried over into the 1970s and 1980s. It was strengthened by pressures of the "normalization," which took place directly after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and was connected to the reemergence of surrealism influenced by the surrealist movement during World War 11. 40 Central to thi s movement was new activity in the theater and in dramatic productions. Playwrights, utilizing the language of surrealism and the grotesque, sought to expose the absurdity of the political system by undermining its values and utopian premises which had claimed that "it is possible to control everything, even the dreams and hopes of the citizens. "41 Productions were characterized by fragmentation of the main motifs into parts and the insertion of poetry, mu sic , and dance. Humor, irony, skepticism , interaction with the spectators, direct appeals to the audience's imagination, word games, verbal improvisation-and all of this intended to unmask falsehoods, to shatter ideological stereotypes--characterized plays of this pe42 riod. It was in this context that Bryll, Feldek, and Stepka conceived their musicals and chose the officially sanctioned and exploited image of the Slovak national hero in their subversive work. Bryll's Painted on Glass was translated from the 1970 original Polish libretto and performed in Slovakia from the mid-l 970s. 43 Its title refers to the widespread folk art of painting colorful images on glass, popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and well 39 Peter Petro, A History of Sl ovak Literature (Montreal & Kingston, London , Buffalo: McGill-Queens University Press), 143-44. 40 Petro, 143. 41 Halina Janaszek-lvanicov, "Post-Modernism in the West Slavonic Literature in the Context of Euro-Atlantic Changes of the Postmodern Paradigms," Part Ill : "Five tides of postmodernism in Polish, Czech, and Slovak Literature," at: http: //src- h. sla v. hokuda i.ac. jp/pub Iictn/N o.64/ janaszek/ janaszek. htm I. 42 Janaszek-I van icov. 43 111 Slovakia the play premiered at the Slovak National Theater Oct. 19, 1974, where it ran for three decades. It was pulled from the stage briefly in 1983 when Ernest Bryll was forced to leave Poland for crit icizi ng the political situatio n. Bratislava's Novii scena theater has staged the play in an updated form since 2005. http://mu zikal y. szm.sk/nsm.html 74 SLOVAKIA known for preserving images of Janosik and hi s brigands and various 44 moments related to the conventional myth. Reproducing these images in dramatic action with song and dance, Painted on Glass broke with Melichercik 's communist definition of the myth by disclosing both Janosik's very ordinary human yearnings and failings. Janosfk's love for Anicka is unfulfilled, the gendarmes are not the hero 's eternal class enemies, but also human beings; and Death personified awaits the hero, as it does all of us. Light humor, rousing folk dance, memorable songs, and poking holes in the conventional myth all blended in Painted on Glass, and the figure of Janosfk was endeared to the audience which identified with the demythologized hero. The music of Bryll' s play, composed by Katarzyna Gartnerova, was a delightful hybrid of rhythmic rock and folk, and gave new voice to the expression of the Janosik tradition in the 1970s and 1980s. Feldek chose the title for hi s play, Janosik According to Vivaldi, because he wanted to indicate that in the eighteenth century Slovaks li ved "not only in Yratna dolina (ie., in the isolated depth s of Slovakia) but also in Europe. "45 Action in the play alternates between Slovakia and the Viennese court of Charles YI (d. 1740), where the emperor's daughter, the young Maria Theresa (1717- 1780), is heard in the background playing the mu sic of Antonio Vivaldi (16801743), then popular throughout Europe. Feldek worked from actu al hi storical documents linked to Janosfk's trial , but wove an amusing and fantastical version of the myth . Here, Uhorcfk is portrayed as the real bandit hero, and he and hi s wife Katarfnka manipulate Janosik into becoming the brigand captain. In quick order, however, Janosfk tires of stealing, as he tell s Katarfnka in very contemporary sounding terms: "We rob from morning to night and then again from night to morning and I'm as tired as a dog. And I swear that people would do better if they didn 't carry all thi s silly gold with them" (Zbfjame od rana do vecera a potom este aj od vecera do rana, unaveny so m ako pes. Prisaham bohu, casto si hovorfm , ze by tf 44 See introductory texts and reproductions of glass-painted images of Janosfk and brigands in IIena Pi sutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 2dh Century (Bratislava: Tatran, 1983), and Katarfna Ciema, Janosik v Slovenskom vytvamom umenf (Bratislava: Slovenska narodna galeria, 1988). This last is the catalog to an exhibition of the same name, held in March - May 1988. 45 Feldek, 125. SLOVAKIA 75 l'udi a urobili Iepsie, keby so sebou nenosili tolko toho poondiateho zlata.)46 In the end Katarfnka angri ly insi sts that the people should celebrate Uhorcfk ' s memory, not Janosik's. At the same time, in the absence of a male heir to the throne, Charles VI decides that Uhorcik is his illegitimate son and should be the next emperor. Feldek plays with the myth , the hi story, and language, as, fo r instance, in Charles Vi 's interview with the w idow of one of hi s Au stri an genera ls, Madame Schardonova, whose existence is attested in the hi storical doc uments since she actuall y was robbed by Janosfk in Slovakia. Her stilted Slovak, prono unced with a German acce nt, is hil ario us, because a ll of her mi stake s ac tu a ll y convey other ridiculous meanings. Instead of saying "I am a widow " (som vdova), she says "I 47 am water" (som voda) ; instead of complimenting Charles for his nobility (s l'achetn y), she compliments him for being "tendinous" (... 48 aky ste sl'achovity). Painted on Glass offers great humor and new twists on the convention al elements of the communist interpretation of Janosfk so well defi ned by Melichercik. Perhaps most radical in its depiction of Janosfk and the brigand myth is Stepka 's Jaaanosfffk, pl ayed by his own troupe, the Rados inske naivne divadlo (Radosi na Nai·ve Theater). Its unu sual title was inspired by Slovak actor and director Pal'o Bielik 's famo us two-part film , Janosik ( 1963), in which Janosik's name is called out in the mountains and echoes lo udl y with a prolonged stress on the vowels. Whil e Melichercfk had approached the Janosik tradition with the utmo st gravity, Stepka kept hi s co mmuni st-era audience laughing throughout the entire musical. His language is rich with puns and humorously distorted references from fo lkl ore, literature, and especiall y from dail y life in com munist Slovakia. Ribald sex ual innuendoes are woven into the entire script. Janosik appears onl y in the last third of the play , during which the punning continues. Hi s family members - mothe r Dag mar, fathe r Jon athan , and sister He len a occ upy center stage through the play and are depicted as slow, thickwitted , shrewd, but also likeab le peasants. Their plight as serfs under the control of a Hungarian count, Artus Revay, is treated with humor and irony. The Radosina Na"ive Theater company performed and still 46 Feldek, 96. Feldek, 93. 48 Feldek, 93 . 47 76 SLOVAKIA performs the play with few props and simple Slovak folk costumes with so me ac tors wearing regular contemporary clothes . The tone and atmosphere, free and characterized by improvisation , suggests an amateur village production with simple, barel y literate actors - but in fact the theater' s actors are professionals who bring their ro les to li fe exceedingly well. 49 The writer of thi s article attended a performance of Jaaanosfffk in Slovakia in 1983, which was played with great g usto and hilarious improvi sation . That perform ance diverged somewhat from the published script of 1970, but thi s is to be expected , considering that improvisation is integra l to the pl ay, contributing to its "amateur" quality , and insurin g that there be room for some actor-audience interaction. The very first lines of Jaaanosfffk immediatel y set the tone for the ling ui stic and cultu ral manipulation to come: Instead of the co nventional opening of a Slovak fo lktale - "Kde bolo, tam bolo" (Once upon a time ... ; litera ll y: Where it was, there it was) - two narrators begin with "Kde bolelo, tam bolelo" (Where it hurt, there it hurt), a play on the traditional phrase and suggesting that much more would be turned on its head before the end of the performance.so Janosfk's Slovak mother and father are given spurious genealogies by the narrators - Pani Dagmar Janosfkov a, nee Trautenbergerova, and Jon ath an Jano sfk , whose real s urname, we are told , is Weissmann_s, To suggest th at the Slovak national hero is actually of German de sce nt is, of course, hi ghly ironical and am usin g. When Helena and Dagmar are visited by a local constable sent by the count, they are pleased to welcome him in, having locked father in the cellar. The constable tell s Dagmar that he is on the lookout for a rebel , specifically her hu sband , who is inciting or rou sing the serfs (" Poddanych buri .. . "), and she responds cynicall y that her husband 49 Stanis lav Stepka's Radosinske naivne div adlo produced a CD of Jaacinosfffk and a DVD of three pl ays, including Jaaanosffik. For availability, see : http://www. panorama. sk/index.asp?kam-/go/mapa.asp&lan g-s k&sv-2&mc- 12 I9 ~. 50 Stani slav Stepka, Jaaanosfffk: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran , 1983) 19. All quotes are take n from the publi shed sc ript. Ac tors in the perfo rmance attended by the writer of this artic le fo llowed thi s sc ript closely, but not exactly. And this published script differs slightl y from the DVD version of the musical from 2004. 51 Jaaanosfffk, 23. SLOVAKIA 77 "no longer arouses anything" ("Prosfm vas, on uz nic nevzburi. . ") and is willing to sign her name to that. 52 The constable summons Dagmar and Helena to the manor house, informing them that the Count Revay, a "candidate of the amorous sciences" (kandidat milostnych vied) - a satirical reference to scholarl y titles in communist Slovakia - wants them to come and "sew sacks" (obsfvat' vrecia), connoting here some kind of sex ual activity. In response, Helena blithely asks: "Which amorous lord ordered this, the young one or the old one?" When the constable says "the old one," Helena responds with complete confidence: "Mamicka, then that must mean the invitation 's for you. "53 Unlike in the conventional myth, the women here clearly do not feel threatened by the count's demand , and in fact they act as though it has happened repeatedly and welcome it eagerly. When the constable leaves, Helena and Dagmar di scuss how fine it is that the aristocracy, the lords, want only what is good for the serfs - surely a satirical reference to the contemporary situation with the communist government as the aristocracy and the serfs as the ordinary citizens. Helena means to say "They come here, advise us, and look around (pride, poradf, pohl'adf)," but, to the audience's surprise and amusement, in her simple-mindedness she says instead that "they come, advise us, and caress" (pride, poradi, pohladf)." 54 Dagmar then echoes, anachronistically for the eighteenth century, the sentiments of contemporary communist brigade workers perpetually urged to find ways to work harder, ways to over-fulfill the Plan: Let me pose this question to you, my daughter: are we really working on the estate like we should? Are we working a full eighteen hours? Couldn't we manage to work more? Sometimes we sing. Couldn't we work another eight or nine hours? We work only six days. And the seventh is the Sabbath. But couldn 't we work thirty-six days a month and then celebrate the Sabbath with whatever is left? And what about order at the workplace? Do we keep all our bundles in one place? So, see. We 55 need to think all thi s over sometime. 52 J aaanosifik, 22. Jaaanosffik, 22. 54 Jaaanosffik, 23. 55 Jti:i:inos([fk, 23. As an example of d ivergence from the written script of 1970, the 1983 viny l disc recordi ng of the musical , for instance, prov ides an al ternati ve statement in thi s section of the play. Dagmar asks: "Couldn 't we work six days a week and celebrate for seven?" This, again, is reflective of the improvisational nature of the script. 53 78 SLOVAKIA These words, all too familiar to the audience daily subjected to pressure to achieve communist "excellence," provoked uproarious laughter from the audience. More bitter self-recognition for the Slovak audience in communist times - oftentimes struggling to procure even the basics, yet reassured by the government that they had the best possible living situation - resulted from Dagmar' s observation that they already had acquired everything they could possibly need: "We already have everything - a table, a chair, a bowl , a crucifix, and eventually even a house with doors. My God!" (A mame uz vsetko, aha - stol, stolicka, miska, krfzik , pomaly uz aj <lorn s dvermi. Boze!)56 Only after all this does the youthful Janosfk appear. Sister Helena, a family friend Samo, as well as Janosfk ' s girlfriend Anicka, and eventually his own mother all push him to become a brigand for the material benefits this will bring them, echoing a situation again all too familiar to the audience: that the only way to acquire goods , especially luxury goods, is by theft in one way or another. Janosfk acquiesces reluctantly, and only after complaining: Do I have to be a man? Do I have to be a hero? Do I have to be an example? You'll be at home lying in your feather quilts, and I have to offer up my kidneys [to the executioner's hook]? I don't want to be a hero, I want to be an ordinary man. . . I don't want to enter into reading books, I want to live out my life beautifully . . . This literature will live off me for 300 years , but I won ' t make it to thirty . . . I don ' t want to 57 enter history with a bullet between my shoulders. Janosfk, however, appears in the final scene with Uhorcfk, grudgingly about to begin his career, while Uhorcfk berates him for tossing aside his weapon and for showing no interest in banditry . Uhorcfk then initiates the highway robbery of two aristocratic travelers, a mother and daughter, with the traditional demand found in folktale s: "Your money or your life. . . " (Bohu dusu a nam dukaty. Literally: Hand over your soul to God and your money to us.) , but add s "and your citizenship documents" (a obcianske preukazy), much like the police could demand of anyone on the street in communist Slovakia. 58 The women, instead of fearing or hating Janosik, are enamored with hi s dashing appearance and charm - "Mama, so these are those famous brigands! My God, what beau56 Jaaanosfffk, 23. Jaaanosfffk, 33. 58 Jaaanosfffk, 34. 57 SLOVAKIA 79 tiful folk garb they have" (Mamicka, tak toto su tf zbojnfci? Boze, ake krasne kroje maju.) - and he and Uhorcfk treat the robbery like a customs check. This certainly resonated with Slovaks, as well as foreigners, who passed repeatedly through Czechoslovak customs in communist times and often felt robbed and violated. 59 During the robbery, however, Janosik begins to wax poetic about the bandit life, and Uhorcik again reprimands him for getting distracted, but in a way which again sounds ironical in reference to brigandage and echoes a typical warning to the communist worker: "Duri, you keep forgetting your obligation" (Duri, zabudas na povinnost:)60 This Janosik is not Melichercfk's noble social brigand, a fighter against feudal lords, protector of the poor and oppressed. Stepka 's musical, as well as Bryll's and Feldek's, presented the Slovak public in the 1970s and 1980s not with a communist superhero, but with an ordinary guy, much of whose life and environment resonated with those of the audience. Janosik's experiences and the struggles of his time depicted in the musicals were a reflection of their own life. The outlines of the conventional myth were brought into question and turned upside down , and social and political issues that could not be criticized openly were spoofed. Audiences who experienced the plays together could leave the theater, having, in a sense, expressed and shared publicly their plight under the communist regime. Through irony and laughter, they could feel stronger in their resolve to resist. By employing the Janosik figure and myth, wrenching it free from the regime's ideology, the dramatists held up a mirror to the audience so that they could see themselves more clearly and could come to an understanding about how they might better deal with their social and political reality. Through humor and satire and breaking with the Soviet - and communist-approved conventional interpretation, the dramatists allowed Janosik once again to reach out to his people, to inspire in them the courage to resist the new authorities. Because Melichercik had so successfully portrayed Janosik as an acceptable proto-communist hero, the brigand's image in these musicals passed under the censors' radar screens. Once again, in a way not anticipated by Melichercik, Janosik was there to contribute to the 59 60 Jaaanosfffk, 34. Jaaanosfffk, 35. 80 SLOVAKIA social and political resistance, to help undermine the system. Once again, in a way not anticipated by Melichercik, Janosik was a symbol of freedom - this time for a new generation in a new time and against a new oppressor. Feldek suggested just exactly that when in an interview in 1979, he said of his work: "There is no such thing as a historical play . We write and play alway s for the contemporary audience and for the present. The hi storical subject in a good 'historical' play is only a pretext - almost like the subject of animals in a fable. The viewer should leave my play with the sense that this was about us. "61 And by the end of the next decade, 1989, the communist system finally collapsed from within and the barbed wire was torn down - perhaps with just a little help from Janosik. 61 Feldek, 126.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Jánošík as a Symbol of Freedom in Communist Slovakia Description An account of the resource Patricia A. Krafcik Slovakia, Vol. 39 (No. 72-73), 2007 pp. 63-80 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krafcik, Patricia Ann, 1949- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/fcf3fe94bf3d88f466b31198a8cc2bb1.pdf 2bbe72291b71a9b403abd0d61d81994d PDF Text Text 146 SLOVAKIA AN AMERICAN illSTORIAN AND THE SLOVAKS Dr. VJctor R. Greene, Professor of American History aJt -the Kansa;s Staite Un~versity, Mamhattam, Kansas, a 1Jhiird generation American, who has no connection with Slovail~s in his brucikground, was asked for the reason of his interest in the American Slovaks and in the history Otf the First Cath~lic Slovak Union. Without hesitation and wi:th iassurance he promptly gave this answer. "I am not Slovak amd I ha:ve no immediate personal c.onneciion with ,t he nationality. The abHity of a re1atively uneducaited, ,p oor group of Slovruk immigramts to construct am ethnic community with all the ,a ssociations of seilf-help and murtual aid amazes me and I want to discover how their organi2Jations (like the Jednota) were formed." Professor Greene received his B.A. degree f r o m the University of Harv a r d in 1955; his M.A. degree from the University of Rochester in 1960; and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963. His dissertation for his Ph.D. was: A History of East European lmmigrants in the Anthracite Area before 1903. We asked the Professor to be more specific about his. disse:ritation and he respunded, "It is a study of the contribution Slovruks and others made rto ithe unions in the coal ficlds amd the aid to President J oihnny MitcheiH and the Uniited Mine Workers of America. My thesis is that it was because of the loyalty amd sacrifice of Slova,k mine wol1kers that trhe union was permanerutly estab1ished in the hard coal fields." A microfilm copy of the dissertation can ,b e purchased from University Microfilms, Allln Arbor, Michigan or the University of P ennsylvania Llbrary, Philadelphia, Pa. Of course, there are other dissertaitions aJbout Slovaiks that cam be obtained from Microffilms. In his present research, Profess·or Greene is making a. study of ;t he origins of Slovak and East European American s e 1 f -oonsciousness and why by World War I every Slovak immigrant realized such a strong feeling of his ethnic h eritage. He •is attempting to use Chicago, Illinois as a case study, ,b ut as yet h as found Httle ma,teriiaJ before 1910. �SLOVAKIA If he does not find sufficient records, he will survey the self-reoog,nition nationailly, especfa:lly the personalities of the Rev. Stephen Furdek, the foll!Ilder of t.lhe First Catholic SJ.walk Union, and P eter Rovniiaine'k, the foU!Ilde r of the Nationa1 Slova'k Society. Dr. Greene, who has learned to read and ooderstand SlovaJk, is familiar with the ouilitura1 and historicaJl material a'Wlllfa1ble art: tihe J ankola Lj,brary iin Damville, Pa., the S[ova'k linst1turte Li,b rary in Olevel-amd, Ohio, and the faciltties iin Pittsburgh, Pa. rund Chicago, Illinois. In his own reference library he has joot about aJll the books publ!ished about the American SlovaJks, both ii11 the English and S.Jovak language. In his cooversation he talks 147 with ease aibout FuTdek, JankoLa, Murgas, Rovnianek, Sabol, Cutlen, Ko j is, Hrobak, Hletko, itfue Slov,a;k League of Arrnedca, the S[ovalk CaitJholic Federation of America, Lhe Jednota, amd a;ll the other Slovaik orgamizations. He .feels he hi t a bonanza when he came across the 75 Year History of the 1?'irst Oatholk Slovaik Union (75 rdkov Prvej KatoliC!kej Sloveniskej Jednoty), by Dr. Joseph Pauco. •'Not only is it a complete a.ind most comprehensive 1h i s t o r y of the J ednota ,amd rt!he Slovatks in Arrnerlca, buit its many references, footnotes, and bibliography wiilil sart:isfy any serious reader and research historiam," said Dr. Greene. Joseph C. Krajsa A DELICATE SUBJECT On March 17, 1965, was St. Pia t T •i c k's Day, a day Wlhidh iJS lh~1d .fill high esteem in ,tJhe heart of every Irishman wthether of remote ancestry from -the United States or from a,cross :the s ea. ]n New Yoiik this day is celebra,ted wi:f:Jh an annual parade down F'wth Avenue. By chiam.ce my -husbam.d is em- ployed in a 'luxury apa:ritment house overlooking Ce n tr a 1 parik: ; thus lh e viewed the paraide for the first time a1thougih !he immigrated to the United States six years ago. His Irish co-wo:rike r raved about the spectac:Ie. Meanwhile, they were jomed by a third pa11ty who oommented on the strong Irish nation- � 146 SLOVAKIA AN AMERICAN illSTORIAN AND THE SLOVAKS Dr. VJctor R. Greene, Professor of American History aJt -the Kansa;s Staite Un~versity, Mamhattam, Kansas, a 1Jhiird generation American, who has no connection with Slovail~s in his brucikground, was asked for the reason of his interest in the American Slovaks and in the history Otf the First Cath~lic Slovak Union. Without hesitation and wi:th iassurance he promptly gave this answer. "I am not Slovak amd I ha:ve no immediate personal c.onneciion with ,t he nationality. The abHity of a re1atively uneducaited, ,p oor group of Slovruk immigramts to construct am ethnic community with all the ,a ssociations of seilf-help and murtual aid amazes me and I want to discover how their organi2Jations (like the Jednota) were formed." Professor Greene received his B.A. degree f r o m the University of Harv a r d in 1955; his M.A. degree from the University of Rochester in 1960; and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963. His dissertation for his Ph.D. was: A History of East European lmmigrants in the Anthracite Area before 1903. We asked the Professor to be more specific about his. disse:ritation and he respunded, "It is a study of the contribution Slovruks and others made rto ithe unions in the coal ficlds amd the aid to President J oihnny MitcheiH and the Uniited Mine Workers of America. My thesis is that it was because of the loyalty amd sacrifice of Slova,k mine wol1kers that trhe union was permanerutly estab1ished in the hard coal fields." A microfilm copy of the dissertation can ,b e purchased from University Microfilms, Allln Arbor, Michigan or the University of P ennsylvania Llbrary, Philadelphia, Pa. Of course, there are other dissertaitions aJbout Slovaiks that cam be obtained from Microffilms. In his present research, Profess·or Greene is making a. study of ;t he origins of Slovak and East European American s e 1 f -oonsciousness and why by World War I every Slovak immigrant realized such a strong feeling of his ethnic h eritage. He •is attempting to use Chicago, Illinois as a case study, ,b ut as yet h as found Httle ma,teriiaJ before 1910. �SLOVAKIA If he does not find sufficient records, he will survey the self-reoog,nition nationailly, especfa:lly the personalities of the Rev. Stephen Furdek, the foll!Ilder of t.lhe First Catholic SJ.walk Union, and P eter Rovniiaine'k, the foU!Ilde r of the Nationa1 Slova'k Society. Dr. Greene, who has learned to read and ooderstand SlovaJk, is familiar with the ouilitura1 and historicaJl material a'Wlllfa1ble art: tihe J ankola Lj,brary iin Damville, Pa., the S[ova'k linst1turte Li,b rary in Olevel-amd, Ohio, and the faciltties iin Pittsburgh, Pa. rund Chicago, Illinois. In his own reference library he has joot about aJll the books publ!ished about the American SlovaJks, both ii11 the English and S.Jovak language. In his cooversation he talks 147 with ease aibout FuTdek, JankoLa, Murgas, Rovnianek, Sabol, Cutlen, Ko j is, Hrobak, Hletko, itfue Slov,a;k League of Arrnedca, the S[ovalk CaitJholic Federation of America, Lhe Jednota, amd a;ll the other Slovaik orgamizations. He .feels he hi t a bonanza when he came across the 75 Year History of the 1?'irst Oatholk Slovaik Union (75 rdkov Prvej KatoliC!kej Sloveniskej Jednoty), by Dr. Joseph Pauco. •'Not only is it a complete a.ind most comprehensive 1h i s t o r y of the J ednota ,amd rt!he Slovatks in Arrnerlca, buit its many references, footnotes, and bibliography wiilil sart:isfy any serious reader and research historiam," said Dr. Greene. Joseph C. Krajsa A DELICATE SUBJECT On March 17, 1965, was St. Pia t T •i c k's Day, a day Wlhidh iJS lh~1d .fill high esteem in ,tJhe heart of every Irishman wthether of remote ancestry from -the United States or from a,cross :the s ea. ]n New Yoiik this day is celebra,ted wi:f:Jh an annual parade down F'wth Avenue. By chiam.ce my -husbam.d is em- ployed in a 'luxury apa:ritment house overlooking Ce n tr a 1 parik: ; thus lh e viewed the paraide for the first time a1thougih !he immigrated to the United States six years ago. His Irish co-wo:rike r raved about the spectac:Ie. Meanwhile, they were jomed by a third pa11ty who oommented on the strong Irish nation- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1965, Vol. 15 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965. 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 1965 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 146 SLOVAKIA AN AMERICAN illSTORIAN AND THE SLOVAKS Dr. VJctor R. Greene, Professor of American History aJt -the Kansa;s Staite Un~versity, Mamhattam, Kansas, a 1Jhiird generation American, who has no connection with Slovail~s in his brucikground, was asked for the reason of his interest in the American Slovaks and in the history Otf the First Cath~lic Slovak Union. Without hesitation and wi:th iassurance he promptly gave this answer. "I am not Slovak amd I ha:ve no immediate personal c.onneciion with ,t he nationality. The abHity of a re1atively uneducaited, ,p oor group of Slovruk immigramts to construct am ethnic community with all the ,a ssociations of seilf-help and murtual aid amazes me and I want to discover how their organi2Jations (like the Jednota) were formed." Professor Greene received his B.A. degree f r o m the University of Harv a r d in 1955; his M.A. degree from the University of Rochester in 1960; and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963. His dissertation for his Ph.D. was: A History of East European lmmigrants in the Anthracite Area before 1903. We asked the Professor to be more specific about his. disse:ritation and he respunded, "It is a study of the contribution Slovruks and others made rto ithe unions in the coal ficlds amd the aid to President J oihnny MitcheiH and the Uniited Mine Workers of America. My thesis is that it was because of the loyalty amd sacrifice of Slova,k mine wol1kers that trhe union was permanerutly estab1ished in the hard coal fields." A microfilm copy of the dissertation can ,b e purchased from University Microfilms, Allln Arbor, Michigan or the University of P ennsylvania Llbrary, Philadelphia, Pa. Of course, there are other dissertaitions aJbout Slovaiks that cam be obtained from Microffilms. In his present research, Profess·or Greene is making a. study of ;t he origins of Slovak and East European American s e 1 f -oonsciousness and why by World War I every Slovak immigrant realized such a strong feeling of his ethnic h eritage. He •is attempting to use Chicago, Illinois as a case study, ,b ut as yet h as found Httle ma,teriiaJ before 1910. SLOVAKIA If he does not find sufficient records, he will survey the self-reoog,nition nationailly, especfa:lly the personalities of the Rev. Stephen Furdek, the foll!Ilder of t.lhe First Catholic SJ.walk Union, and P eter Rovniiaine'k, the foU!Ilde r of the Nationa1 Slova'k Society. Dr. Greene, who has learned to read and ooderstand SlovaJk, is familiar with the ouilitura1 and historicaJl material a'Wlllfa1ble art: tihe J ankola Lj,brary iin Damville, Pa., the S[ova'k linst1turte Li,b rary in Olevel-amd, Ohio, and the faciltties iin Pittsburgh, Pa. rund Chicago, Illinois. In his own reference library he has joot about aJll the books publ!ished about the American SlovaJks, both ii11 the English and S.Jovak language. In his cooversation he talks 147 with ease aibout FuTdek, JankoLa, Murgas, Rovnianek, Sabol, Cutlen, Ko j is, Hrobak, Hletko, itfue Slov,a;k League of Arrnedca, the S[ovalk CaitJholic Federation of America, Lhe Jednota, amd a;ll the other Slovaik orgamizations. He .feels he hi t a bonanza when he came across the 75 Year History of the 1?'irst Oatholk Slovaik Union (75 rdkov Prvej KatoliC!kej Sloveniskej Jednoty), by Dr. Joseph Pauco. •'Not only is it a complete a.ind most comprehensive 1h i s t o r y of the J ednota ,amd rt!he Slovatks in Arrnerlca, buit its many references, footnotes, and bibliography wiilil sart:isfy any serious reader and research historiam," said Dr. Greene. Joseph C. Krajsa A DELICATE SUBJECT On March 17, 1965, was St. Pia t T •i c k's Day, a day Wlhidh iJS lh~1d .fill high esteem in ,tJhe heart of every Irishman wthether of remote ancestry from -the United States or from a,cross :the s ea. ]n New Yoiik this day is celebra,ted wi:f:Jh an annual parade down F'wth Avenue. By chiam.ce my -husbam.d is em- ployed in a 'luxury apa:ritment house overlooking Ce n tr a 1 parik: ; thus lh e viewed the paraide for the first time a1thougih !he immigrated to the United States six years ago. His Irish co-wo:rike r raved about the spectac:Ie. Meanwhile, they were jomed by a third pa11ty who oommented on the strong Irish nation-  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource An American Historian and the Slovaks Description An account of the resource Joseph C. Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965 pp. 146-147 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krajsa, Joseph C. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/cdb646f28f270daeb3b98aecbdfb6192.pdf 68e57641ece979f00b2be7451c23ff6f PDF Text Text 64 SLOVAKIA SLOVAKS HAVE ARRIVED! By Joseph C. Krajsa The famous hero of the Slovak people, Janosik, who with his band of mountain men fought oppression with the long-handled axe (val!aska), early irrl the 18th <:entury colored the dismal conditions of that period with daring acts for social liberation and still today portrays the spirit of the Slovak people's strength and fove for freedom. Janosik, who was symbolic of the spirit existing among a people who found themselves in a hopeless situation which resulted from a ruthless feudal system, gave hope to the people he loved when he expressed, "Truly it will come, and come must that great day of judgment when truth will be seated at the table of my people." ("No pride, bo prise musi ten vefky den sudu a za stol si sadne prnvda mojho l'udu!") Eve:n though truth does not prevail in the land of the Tatra mountains at this time, and even though as a nation the Slovak people knew independence only a few years, the last two decades have seen a stream of personal and nationality recognition in many corners of the world that acts as a balm for a people sorely tried throughout their long history. Here in America, it can be said about the Slovaks, WE HAVE ARRIVED! Time marked the classics of art, lite:riature, and music. Time marked the great moments of history and the heroes of the life story of the past. The Slovak nation had its contributions to civilization, its moments of history, its heros, its great men, and these have been preserved with time. And, time has filed a repertoire of the Slovak in America. Let us take a look at this repertory. Take our fraternal organizations for example - the National Slovak Society celebrated its 751:Jh anniversary; the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota) is in its 75th year in 1965; and the First Catholic Slova:k Ladies Union, the P enna. Slovak Catholic Union, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, and others are nearing milestones. �SLOVAKIA 65 Take our publications - the SLOVAK V AMERIKE, the oldest Slovak newspaper in America, celebrated its . 75th anniversary; 1:!he JEDNOTA, official orgian of the First Catholic Slovak Union, will be starting its 75th year; the OBRANA celebrated its 50th anniversary; and so it is with our other Slovak publications. A look at our Church dignita,ries shows Bishop Joseph A. Durik and Bishop Andrew G. Grutlm; a Slovak Bishop in Rome, Bishop Paul Hnilica; the first bishop in over 1,100 years for Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, Bishop Michael Rusnak; Abbots Teodor Kojis and Stanislav F. Gmuca; five with the rank of Protonotary Aipostolic; a,bout fifty prelates; and over 1,000 Slovak priests. Several of our Slovak Catholic laity received Papa,l distinctions and many of them received Bishop's awards for outstanding service to the Churc<h. We have one abbey and seven friaries; nine motherhouses for our sisters; nine institutions of higher lea,r ning; an orphanage; four old a,ge h omes; hundreds of elementary schools; and about 300 Slovak Catholic parishes and over 100 Slovak P rotestant churches. We are familiar with the many accomplishments and projected aims of the Slova:k League of America on the political front - this cultural and civic organization of Americans of Slovak descent believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations and primarily strives to maintain the political identity of the Slovaks; the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and its many deeds in the religious and social fields - its most recent contr ibution being the SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute in Rome which is destined to give a 'Second Spring for Slovakia'; and the recent establishment of the Anton Bernolak Cultuml Foundation - dedicated to preserve the Slovak culture and literature by the printed word. In the last two decades, over two thousand Slovak intellectuals left Slovakia to escaipe the Soviet armies and they arrived in their new surroundings around the world with earned degrees in varied fields of endeavor. In the free countries of the world, especially in the United States, among this wave of refugees from tyranny are some of the best known Slovak novelists, jour.nalists, poets, and writers. �6G SLOVAKIA '.Dhese writers presened their literary creativeness. and formed the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists and opened avenues to the greatest surge of literary efforts about the Slovaks in every language on several continents. More books have been published and distrirbuted about the Slovaks on this continent in the last ten years than in all the previous years put togetJher. As a result, several Departments of Education ·in our states have approved Slovak as a language course to be taught in their sohools; several colleges and universities have esbablished Slovak Chairs; and soon there will be released a modern language course SLOVAK LANGUAGE LABORATORY COURSE with correlated re0orded tapes. Perhaps the three significant contributions by American Slovruks rto date were the rtens of mil.lions of doHars solicited in the bond drives in World War I and World Wrar II; the SlovaJk Catholic Educational Institute (Slovenska Katolicka Matica Skolska) headed by a former editor of JEDNOTA, Joseph Husek, and Miohael Bosak, Sr., of Scranton, Pa., that helped to initiate Benedictine High School for boys in Cleveland, Ohio, and the St. Cyril Academy for girls in Danville, Pa.; and third, the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, where young men aire being ,t rained to ibe priests so that one day they can serve in Slovakia. Tangible evidence of the bond drives were ships and planes that were named after leading Slovaks; Benedictine High School and St. Cyril Academy boast a record of scholarship, scientific achievement, and cultural and so-cial advancement that is the pride of all Slovaks; and in the Institute of Rome is a ,p reparatory seminary with the added ingredient - the study of Slovak history, tradition, language and culture, and, that great intang1ble: the apostolic heritage of the patrons, SS. CyrH and Methodius. Another moment in American-Slovak history will be on September 5, 1965, when the Chrupel of Our Mother of Sorrows, Patroness of Slovakia - a gift of the First Catholic Slov,ak Union - will be dedicated in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D. C. It is expected that 10,000 Slovaks will gather in our nation's capitol for this event. The Mass at the main altar �SLOVAKIA 67 will be said in Slovak and the sermon will be in Slovak. It is expected that President Lyndon B. Johnson will be the main speaker at the banquet that will follow the dedication. We all still remember President Franklin D. Roosevelt's message to the American Slova:ks. "'l'he country is mindful of the vast contribution the Slovia~s have made to the cause of 1urthering ,t he development and growth - moral, cultural and material. The stout hearted, clear minded, freedom-loving and determinded ,peo,ple of Slovakia, who sensitive of the wrongs and deprivations experienced in their own country at the hands of invading forces, turned to America seeking a new home, now compose with their children and grandchildren an asset in the lirfe, industry and culture of this great land that defies human power of appraisal. Evidence of Slovak devotion to the United States, Slov,ak enterprise, and Slovak influences, are to :be found in all :bhe States of the Union. To be able to avail myself of this opportunity of directly expressing my ea;rnest ~eetings to the Slovak people pleases me unexpressibly." Yes, time has shown that the Slovak has arrived and it is really just the dawn of things to come. Just look about you in your locale and you will find Slovak leaders in every walk of life. All this time we have strived to establish our . identity under seemingly great odds, but WE HAVE ARRIVED! "So stand tall, my generations, Stand there with the greatest pride; For we Slovak-Americans Have not a thing to hide. Our ancestors have done muoh To mold this our country. And just think They did it for you and me. So let's start today To •b ecome more like them. And let this -be our motto, Slovak osta:nem." � 64 SLOVAKIA SLOVAKS HAVE ARRIVED! By Joseph C. Krajsa The famous hero of the Slovak people, Janosik, who with his band of mountain men fought oppression with the long-handled axe (val!aska), early irrl the 18th <:entury colored the dismal conditions of that period with daring acts for social liberation and still today portrays the spirit of the Slovak people's strength and fove for freedom. Janosik, who was symbolic of the spirit existing among a people who found themselves in a hopeless situation which resulted from a ruthless feudal system, gave hope to the people he loved when he expressed, "Truly it will come, and come must that great day of judgment when truth will be seated at the table of my people." ("No pride, bo prise musi ten vefky den sudu a za stol si sadne prnvda mojho l'udu!") Eve:n though truth does not prevail in the land of the Tatra mountains at this time, and even though as a nation the Slovak people knew independence only a few years, the last two decades have seen a stream of personal and nationality recognition in many corners of the world that acts as a balm for a people sorely tried throughout their long history. Here in America, it can be said about the Slovaks, WE HAVE ARRIVED! Time marked the classics of art, lite:riature, and music. Time marked the great moments of history and the heroes of the life story of the past. The Slovak nation had its contributions to civilization, its moments of history, its heros, its great men, and these have been preserved with time. And, time has filed a repertoire of the Slovak in America. Let us take a look at this repertory. Take our fraternal organizations for example - the National Slovak Society celebrated its 751:Jh anniversary; the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota) is in its 75th year in 1965; and the First Catholic Slova:k Ladies Union, the P enna. Slovak Catholic Union, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, and others are nearing milestones. �SLOVAKIA 65 Take our publications - the SLOVAK V AMERIKE, the oldest Slovak newspaper in America, celebrated its . 75th anniversary; 1:!he JEDNOTA, official orgian of the First Catholic Slovak Union, will be starting its 75th year; the OBRANA celebrated its 50th anniversary; and so it is with our other Slovak publications. A look at our Church dignita,ries shows Bishop Joseph A. Durik and Bishop Andrew G. Grutlm; a Slovak Bishop in Rome, Bishop Paul Hnilica; the first bishop in over 1,100 years for Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, Bishop Michael Rusnak; Abbots Teodor Kojis and Stanislav F. Gmuca; five with the rank of Protonotary Aipostolic; a,bout fifty prelates; and over 1,000 Slovak priests. Several of our Slovak Catholic laity received Papa,l distinctions and many of them received Bishop's awards for outstanding service to the Churc<h. We have one abbey and seven friaries; nine motherhouses for our sisters; nine institutions of higher lea,r ning; an orphanage; four old a,ge h omes; hundreds of elementary schools; and about 300 Slovak Catholic parishes and over 100 Slovak P rotestant churches. We are familiar with the many accomplishments and projected aims of the Slova:k League of America on the political front - this cultural and civic organization of Americans of Slovak descent believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations and primarily strives to maintain the political identity of the Slovaks; the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and its many deeds in the religious and social fields - its most recent contr ibution being the SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute in Rome which is destined to give a 'Second Spring for Slovakia'; and the recent establishment of the Anton Bernolak Cultuml Foundation - dedicated to preserve the Slovak culture and literature by the printed word. In the last two decades, over two thousand Slovak intellectuals left Slovakia to escaipe the Soviet armies and they arrived in their new surroundings around the world with earned degrees in varied fields of endeavor. In the free countries of the world, especially in the United States, among this wave of refugees from tyranny are some of the best known Slovak novelists, jour.nalists, poets, and writers. �6G SLOVAKIA '.Dhese writers presened their literary creativeness. and formed the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists and opened avenues to the greatest surge of literary efforts about the Slovaks in every language on several continents. More books have been published and distrirbuted about the Slovaks on this continent in the last ten years than in all the previous years put togetJher. As a result, several Departments of Education ·in our states have approved Slovak as a language course to be taught in their sohools; several colleges and universities have esbablished Slovak Chairs; and soon there will be released a modern language course SLOVAK LANGUAGE LABORATORY COURSE with correlated re0orded tapes. Perhaps the three significant contributions by American Slovruks rto date were the rtens of mil.lions of doHars solicited in the bond drives in World War I and World Wrar II; the SlovaJk Catholic Educational Institute (Slovenska Katolicka Matica Skolska) headed by a former editor of JEDNOTA, Joseph Husek, and Miohael Bosak, Sr., of Scranton, Pa., that helped to initiate Benedictine High School for boys in Cleveland, Ohio, and the St. Cyril Academy for girls in Danville, Pa.; and third, the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, where young men aire being ,t rained to ibe priests so that one day they can serve in Slovakia. Tangible evidence of the bond drives were ships and planes that were named after leading Slovaks; Benedictine High School and St. Cyril Academy boast a record of scholarship, scientific achievement, and cultural and so-cial advancement that is the pride of all Slovaks; and in the Institute of Rome is a ,p reparatory seminary with the added ingredient - the study of Slovak history, tradition, language and culture, and, that great intang1ble: the apostolic heritage of the patrons, SS. CyrH and Methodius. Another moment in American-Slovak history will be on September 5, 1965, when the Chrupel of Our Mother of Sorrows, Patroness of Slovakia - a gift of the First Catholic Slov,ak Union - will be dedicated in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D. C. It is expected that 10,000 Slovaks will gather in our nation's capitol for this event. The Mass at the main altar �SLOVAKIA 67 will be said in Slovak and the sermon will be in Slovak. It is expected that President Lyndon B. Johnson will be the main speaker at the banquet that will follow the dedication. We all still remember President Franklin D. Roosevelt's message to the American Slova:ks. "'l'he country is mindful of the vast contribution the Slovia~s have made to the cause of 1urthering ,t he development and growth - moral, cultural and material. The stout hearted, clear minded, freedom-loving and determinded ,peo,ple of Slovakia, who sensitive of the wrongs and deprivations experienced in their own country at the hands of invading forces, turned to America seeking a new home, now compose with their children and grandchildren an asset in the lirfe, industry and culture of this great land that defies human power of appraisal. Evidence of Slovak devotion to the United States, Slov,ak enterprise, and Slovak influences, are to :be found in all :bhe States of the Union. To be able to avail myself of this opportunity of directly expressing my ea;rnest ~eetings to the Slovak people pleases me unexpressibly." Yes, time has shown that the Slovak has arrived and it is really just the dawn of things to come. Just look about you in your locale and you will find Slovak leaders in every walk of life. All this time we have strived to establish our . identity under seemingly great odds, but WE HAVE ARRIVED! "So stand tall, my generations, Stand there with the greatest pride; For we Slovak-Americans Have not a thing to hide. Our ancestors have done muoh To mold this our country. And just think They did it for you and me. So let's start today To •b ecome more like them. And let this -be our motto, Slovak osta:nem." � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1965, Vol. 15 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965. 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 1965 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 64 SLOVAKIA SLOVAKS HAVE ARRIVED! By Joseph C. Krajsa The famous hero of the Slovak people, Janosik, who with his band of mountain men fought oppression with the long-handled axe (val!aska), early irrl the 18th <:entury colored the dismal conditions of that period with daring acts for social liberation and still today portrays the spirit of the Slovak people's strength and fove for freedom. Janosik, who was symbolic of the spirit existing among a people who found themselves in a hopeless situation which resulted from a ruthless feudal system, gave hope to the people he loved when he expressed, "Truly it will come, and come must that great day of judgment when truth will be seated at the table of my people." ("No pride, bo prise musi ten vefky den sudu a za stol si sadne prnvda mojho l'udu!") Eve:n though truth does not prevail in the land of the Tatra mountains at this time, and even though as a nation the Slovak people knew independence only a few years, the last two decades have seen a stream of personal and nationality recognition in many corners of the world that acts as a balm for a people sorely tried throughout their long history. Here in America, it can be said about the Slovaks, WE HAVE ARRIVED! Time marked the classics of art, lite:riature, and music. Time marked the great moments of history and the heroes of the life story of the past. The Slovak nation had its contributions to civilization, its moments of history, its heros, its great men, and these have been preserved with time. And, time has filed a repertoire of the Slovak in America. Let us take a look at this repertory. Take our fraternal organizations for example - the National Slovak Society celebrated its 751:Jh anniversary; the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota) is in its 75th year in 1965; and the First Catholic Slova:k Ladies Union, the P enna. Slovak Catholic Union, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, and others are nearing milestones. SLOVAKIA 65 Take our publications - the SLOVAK V AMERIKE, the oldest Slovak newspaper in America, celebrated its . 75th anniversary; 1:!he JEDNOTA, official orgian of the First Catholic Slovak Union, will be starting its 75th year; the OBRANA celebrated its 50th anniversary; and so it is with our other Slovak publications. A look at our Church dignita,ries shows Bishop Joseph A. Durik and Bishop Andrew G. Grutlm; a Slovak Bishop in Rome, Bishop Paul Hnilica; the first bishop in over 1,100 years for Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, Bishop Michael Rusnak; Abbots Teodor Kojis and Stanislav F. Gmuca; five with the rank of Protonotary Aipostolic; a,bout fifty prelates; and over 1,000 Slovak priests. Several of our Slovak Catholic laity received Papa,l distinctions and many of them received Bishop's awards for outstanding service to the Churc<h. We have one abbey and seven friaries; nine motherhouses for our sisters; nine institutions of higher lea,r ning; an orphanage; four old a,ge h omes; hundreds of elementary schools; and about 300 Slovak Catholic parishes and over 100 Slovak P rotestant churches. We are familiar with the many accomplishments and projected aims of the Slova:k League of America on the political front - this cultural and civic organization of Americans of Slovak descent believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations and primarily strives to maintain the political identity of the Slovaks; the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and its many deeds in the religious and social fields - its most recent contr ibution being the SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute in Rome which is destined to give a 'Second Spring for Slovakia'; and the recent establishment of the Anton Bernolak Cultuml Foundation - dedicated to preserve the Slovak culture and literature by the printed word. In the last two decades, over two thousand Slovak intellectuals left Slovakia to escaipe the Soviet armies and they arrived in their new surroundings around the world with earned degrees in varied fields of endeavor. In the free countries of the world, especially in the United States, among this wave of refugees from tyranny are some of the best known Slovak novelists, jour.nalists, poets, and writers. 6G SLOVAKIA '.Dhese writers presened their literary creativeness. and formed the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists and opened avenues to the greatest surge of literary efforts about the Slovaks in every language on several continents. More books have been published and distrirbuted about the Slovaks on this continent in the last ten years than in all the previous years put togetJher. As a result, several Departments of Education ·in our states have approved Slovak as a language course to be taught in their sohools; several colleges and universities have esbablished Slovak Chairs; and soon there will be released a modern language course SLOVAK LANGUAGE LABORATORY COURSE with correlated re0orded tapes. Perhaps the three significant contributions by American Slovruks rto date were the rtens of mil.lions of doHars solicited in the bond drives in World War I and World Wrar II; the SlovaJk Catholic Educational Institute (Slovenska Katolicka Matica Skolska) headed by a former editor of JEDNOTA, Joseph Husek, and Miohael Bosak, Sr., of Scranton, Pa., that helped to initiate Benedictine High School for boys in Cleveland, Ohio, and the St. Cyril Academy for girls in Danville, Pa.; and third, the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, where young men aire being ,t rained to ibe priests so that one day they can serve in Slovakia. Tangible evidence of the bond drives were ships and planes that were named after leading Slovaks; Benedictine High School and St. Cyril Academy boast a record of scholarship, scientific achievement, and cultural and so-cial advancement that is the pride of all Slovaks; and in the Institute of Rome is a ,p reparatory seminary with the added ingredient - the study of Slovak history, tradition, language and culture, and, that great intang1ble: the apostolic heritage of the patrons, SS. CyrH and Methodius. Another moment in American-Slovak history will be on September 5, 1965, when the Chrupel of Our Mother of Sorrows, Patroness of Slovakia - a gift of the First Catholic Slov,ak Union - will be dedicated in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D. C. It is expected that 10,000 Slovaks will gather in our nation's capitol for this event. The Mass at the main altar SLOVAKIA 67 will be said in Slovak and the sermon will be in Slovak. It is expected that President Lyndon B. Johnson will be the main speaker at the banquet that will follow the dedication. We all still remember President Franklin D. Roosevelt's message to the American Slova:ks. "'l'he country is mindful of the vast contribution the Slovia~s have made to the cause of 1urthering ,t he development and growth - moral, cultural and material. The stout hearted, clear minded, freedom-loving and determinded ,peo,ple of Slovakia, who sensitive of the wrongs and deprivations experienced in their own country at the hands of invading forces, turned to America seeking a new home, now compose with their children and grandchildren an asset in the lirfe, industry and culture of this great land that defies human power of appraisal. Evidence of Slovak devotion to the United States, Slov,ak enterprise, and Slovak influences, are to :be found in all :bhe States of the Union. To be able to avail myself of this opportunity of directly expressing my ea;rnest ~eetings to the Slovak people pleases me unexpressibly." Yes, time has shown that the Slovak has arrived and it is really just the dawn of things to come. Just look about you in your locale and you will find Slovak leaders in every walk of life. All this time we have strived to establish our . identity under seemingly great odds, but WE HAVE ARRIVED! "So stand tall, my generations, Stand there with the greatest pride; For we Slovak-Americans Have not a thing to hide. Our ancestors have done muoh To mold this our country. And just think They did it for you and me. So let's start today To •b ecome more like them. And let this -be our motto, Slovak osta:nem."  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovaks Have Arrived! Description An account of the resource Joseph C. Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965 pp. 64-67 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krajsa, Joseph C. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/eaf8cd33fe36b1b52de2f48125723f4a.pdf 282ee0138479eabcbb48a62b3b40bd7b PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 141 The Face of a Thousand-Year-O ld-City Bratislava, Capital of Slovakia Since the Stone Age, the narrow neck of land connecting the last foot hills of the Europe's famous mountain ranges, the Carpathian Mountains and Alps, has been a natural area for man to settle. Situated along the central part of the Danube River, it has become the crossroads of two famous commercial routes-the Danube and Amber routes-which gave access between the West and the East and between South and North. In this area today is the sprawling city of Bratislava, the Capital of Slovakia. Before the time of Christ, several settlements developed in this area along the Danube and in the course of centuries, they belonged to different nations. The land was occupied by the Celts, the Germans and the Romans, but ever since the 6th century it has become the home of the Slovaks. In the second part of the 10th century it became an important Slovak town and it was named Bratislava. In the early part of the 16tbi century Bratislava grew in importance, especially after the Turks occupied a great part of Hungary. Bratislava became the capital of Hungary instead of Budapest for a period of over 200 years. Through the centuries, Bratislava maintained its position of importance. In the middle of the last century, it became the center of Slovak national enlightenment as the Slovaks sought to free themselves from the feudal aristocracy of the Hungarian regime. In the 1800's Bratislava had a population of 42 thousand and was the largest city in Slovakia. After World War I, with the fall of the Austria-Hungarian Monarchy, Bratislava became the real capital of Slovakia when the Czecho-Slovak Republic was formed comprising the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovaks of Slovakia. With over a hundred thousand inhabitants, Bratislava became the actual center of the political, economical and cultural life in Slovakia. In 1939 Slovakia declared its independence from the �142 SLOVAKIA domination of the Czechs and this move created the Republic of Slovakia with Bratislava as the capital. Now a thriving metropolis, Bratislava was the seat of government for six years for the first President of the Slovak Republic, Msgr. Joseph Tiso. When the Communists restored the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1945 after World War II, Bratislava had progressed to the position of being the undisputable seat of Slovak political, governmental, economical, cultural, scientific and educational life. Here were the cultural organs and mass organizations and institutions. Its University of Bratislava was world-famous and the position of the city on the Danube River marked it as a center of communication and an important harbor. In January of 1969 Slovakia again became a Republic, this time in the federated country of Czecho-Slovakia. Today the capital city of Slovakia has a population of over 300,000 and soon it is expected it will be the second largest city in the political entity of Czecho-Slovakia. The image of Bratislava is changing every day-and it is more beautiful than ever. This metropolis of Slovakia, with a thousand-year-old face, is getting younger every day and it shines in the setting of time as a precious gem. Joseph C. Krajsa 8LOVAK1A is published annually by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Amerjcaus of Slovak descent. One of the purposes of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better tmdel'standing ru1d appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long struggle for freedom and independence. Subsc1·iption to Slo ,-akia $3.00 per year in the u.S.A.. - $4.00 elsewhe1·c. Send sub. cription to: SLOVAKIA 313 Ridge A venue Mid<l1eto,v71, Pa. 17057 � SLOVAKIA 141 The Face of a Thousand-Year-O ld-City Bratislava, Capital of Slovakia Since the Stone Age, the narrow neck of land connecting the last foot hills of the Europe's famous mountain ranges, the Carpathian Mountains and Alps, has been a natural area for man to settle. Situated along the central part of the Danube River, it has become the crossroads of two famous commercial routes-the Danube and Amber routes-which gave access between the West and the East and between South and North. In this area today is the sprawling city of Bratislava, the Capital of Slovakia. Before the time of Christ, several settlements developed in this area along the Danube and in the course of centuries, they belonged to different nations. The land was occupied by the Celts, the Germans and the Romans, but ever since the 6th century it has become the home of the Slovaks. In the second part of the 10th century it became an important Slovak town and it was named Bratislava. In the early part of the 16tbi century Bratislava grew in importance, especially after the Turks occupied a great part of Hungary. Bratislava became the capital of Hungary instead of Budapest for a period of over 200 years. Through the centuries, Bratislava maintained its position of importance. In the middle of the last century, it became the center of Slovak national enlightenment as the Slovaks sought to free themselves from the feudal aristocracy of the Hungarian regime. In the 1800's Bratislava had a population of 42 thousand and was the largest city in Slovakia. After World War I, with the fall of the Austria-Hungarian Monarchy, Bratislava became the real capital of Slovakia when the Czecho-Slovak Republic was formed comprising the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovaks of Slovakia. With over a hundred thousand inhabitants, Bratislava became the actual center of the political, economical and cultural life in Slovakia. In 1939 Slovakia declared its independence from the �142 SLOVAKIA domination of the Czechs and this move created the Republic of Slovakia with Bratislava as the capital. Now a thriving metropolis, Bratislava was the seat of government for six years for the first President of the Slovak Republic, Msgr. Joseph Tiso. When the Communists restored the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1945 after World War II, Bratislava had progressed to the position of being the undisputable seat of Slovak political, governmental, economical, cultural, scientific and educational life. Here were the cultural organs and mass organizations and institutions. Its University of Bratislava was world-famous and the position of the city on the Danube River marked it as a center of communication and an important harbor. In January of 1969 Slovakia again became a Republic, this time in the federated country of Czecho-Slovakia. Today the capital city of Slovakia has a population of over 300,000 and soon it is expected it will be the second largest city in the political entity of Czecho-Slovakia. The image of Bratislava is changing every day-and it is more beautiful than ever. This metropolis of Slovakia, with a thousand-year-old face, is getting younger every day and it shines in the setting of time as a precious gem. Joseph C. Krajsa 8LOVAK1A is published annually by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Amerjcaus of Slovak descent. One of the purposes of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better tmdel'standing ru1d appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long struggle for freedom and independence. Subsc1·iption to Slo ,-akia $3.00 per year in the u.S.A.. - $4.00 elsewhe1·c. Send sub. cription to: SLOVAKIA 313 Ridge A venue Mid<l1eto,v71, Pa. 17057 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 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 SLOVAKIA 141 The Face of a Thousand-Year-O ld-City Bratislava, Capital of Slovakia Since the Stone Age, the narrow neck of land connecting the last foot hills of the Europe's famous mountain ranges, the Carpathian Mountains and Alps, has been a natural area for man to settle. Situated along the central part of the Danube River, it has become the crossroads of two famous commercial routes-the Danube and Amber routes-which gave access between the West and the East and between South and North. In this area today is the sprawling city of Bratislava, the Capital of Slovakia. Before the time of Christ, several settlements developed in this area along the Danube and in the course of centuries, they belonged to different nations. The land was occupied by the Celts, the Germans and the Romans, but ever since the 6th century it has become the home of the Slovaks. In the second part of the 10th century it became an important Slovak town and it was named Bratislava. In the early part of the 16tbi century Bratislava grew in importance, especially after the Turks occupied a great part of Hungary. Bratislava became the capital of Hungary instead of Budapest for a period of over 200 years. Through the centuries, Bratislava maintained its position of importance. In the middle of the last century, it became the center of Slovak national enlightenment as the Slovaks sought to free themselves from the feudal aristocracy of the Hungarian regime. In the 1800's Bratislava had a population of 42 thousand and was the largest city in Slovakia. After World War I, with the fall of the Austria-Hungarian Monarchy, Bratislava became the real capital of Slovakia when the Czecho-Slovak Republic was formed comprising the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovaks of Slovakia. With over a hundred thousand inhabitants, Bratislava became the actual center of the political, economical and cultural life in Slovakia. In 1939 Slovakia declared its independence from the 142 SLOVAKIA domination of the Czechs and this move created the Republic of Slovakia with Bratislava as the capital. Now a thriving metropolis, Bratislava was the seat of government for six years for the first President of the Slovak Republic, Msgr. Joseph Tiso. When the Communists restored the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1945 after World War II, Bratislava had progressed to the position of being the undisputable seat of Slovak political, governmental, economical, cultural, scientific and educational life. Here were the cultural organs and mass organizations and institutions. Its University of Bratislava was world-famous and the position of the city on the Danube River marked it as a center of communication and an important harbor. In January of 1969 Slovakia again became a Republic, this time in the federated country of Czecho-Slovakia. Today the capital city of Slovakia has a population of over 300,000 and soon it is expected it will be the second largest city in the political entity of Czecho-Slovakia. The image of Bratislava is changing every day-and it is more beautiful than ever. This metropolis of Slovakia, with a thousand-year-old face, is getting younger every day and it shines in the setting of time as a precious gem. Joseph C. Krajsa 8LOVAK1A is published annually by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Amerjcaus of Slovak descent. One of the purposes of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better tmdel'standing ru1d appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long struggle for freedom and independence. Subsc1·iption to Slo ,-akia $3.00 per year in the u.S.A.. - $4.00 elsewhe1·c. Send sub. cription to: SLOVAKIA 313 Ridge A venue Mid<l1eto,v71, Pa. 17057  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bratislava, Capital of Slovakia Description An account of the resource Joseph C. Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970 pp. 141-142 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krajsa, Joseph C. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e09c413c8ec993b1f87997223d7f3734.pdf af7d988263d437dd4ebed5d111b657bd PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 57 IN HIS 70TH YEAR Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks By Joseph C. Krajsa In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual men, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people, their nation and their country. These are men who are dreamers and some who are doers. But the great ones are those who are both--dreamers and doers. They are the one who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow . Dr. Peter P. Hletko, in his 70th year, is such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, now semiretired, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home is in Warrenville, Illinois and his office is at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anna E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at Saint Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921 ) . He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M. D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology a t Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. �58 SLOVAK.IA He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society and he serves in this capacity today. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and today is Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko is a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961). CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia, as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact-an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" ( Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939) and ( 1963-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America ( 1938-); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America ( 1934) ; Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of 'Club Furdek' - ( a Catholic Slovak Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago, since 1935. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Today, Dr. Hletko has a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary material, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. To many of these he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The �SLOVAKIA 59 Dr. Peter P. Hletko ( second from the right ) with Ms~:ir- A·ndrew Hlinka (at Hletko's right ) , leader oif the S l ovak Popu li st Party , and Karol SidOf' (right), former Premier of Slovakia, at the 1938 event in Bratislava when the delegati'on of the Slova~ League of .America c-ame to Slovakia with the origi-nal of the Pittsburgh Pac:t. following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact" (1934 ) ; wrote "Iskry"-a reprint of satiro-comic column in the Osadne Hlasy ( Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the "Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book", 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 1927-1963 ); editor of "Jaro" (Spring), English supplement to JEDNOTA. official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; eclitor of "Chicagsky Dennik" (Chicago Slovak Daily News, 1926-1927 ); presently serves as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society; and is President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday, the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago in the spring of this year. REFERENCES Slovakia 1965, Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. " Slovaci a ich zivot", Jedtnota, 3/ 17/ 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco. � SLOVAKIA 57 IN HIS 70TH YEAR Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks By Joseph C. Krajsa In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual men, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people, their nation and their country. These are men who are dreamers and some who are doers. But the great ones are those who are both--dreamers and doers. They are the one who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow . Dr. Peter P. Hletko, in his 70th year, is such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, now semiretired, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home is in Warrenville, Illinois and his office is at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anna E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at Saint Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921 ) . He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M. D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology a t Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. �58 SLOVAK.IA He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society and he serves in this capacity today. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and today is Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko is a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961). CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia, as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact-an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" ( Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939) and ( 1963-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America ( 1938-); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America ( 1934) ; Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of 'Club Furdek' - ( a Catholic Slovak Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago, since 1935. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Today, Dr. Hletko has a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary material, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. To many of these he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The �SLOVAKIA 59 Dr. Peter P. Hletko ( second from the right ) with Ms~:ir- A·ndrew Hlinka (at Hletko's right ) , leader oif the S l ovak Popu li st Party , and Karol SidOf' (right), former Premier of Slovakia, at the 1938 event in Bratislava when the delegati'on of the Slova~ League of .America c-ame to Slovakia with the origi-nal of the Pittsburgh Pac:t. following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact" (1934 ) ; wrote "Iskry"-a reprint of satiro-comic column in the Osadne Hlasy ( Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the "Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book", 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 1927-1963 ); editor of "Jaro" (Spring), English supplement to JEDNOTA. official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; eclitor of "Chicagsky Dennik" (Chicago Slovak Daily News, 1926-1927 ); presently serves as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society; and is President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday, the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago in the spring of this year. REFERENCES Slovakia 1965, Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. " Slovaci a ich zivot", Jedtnota, 3/ 17/ 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 57 IN HIS 70TH YEAR Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks By Joseph C. Krajsa In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual men, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people, their nation and their country. These are men who are dreamers and some who are doers. But the great ones are those who are both--dreamers and doers. They are the one who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow . Dr. Peter P. Hletko, in his 70th year, is such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, now semiretired, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home is in Warrenville, Illinois and his office is at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anna E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at Saint Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921 ) . He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M. D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology a t Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. 58 SLOVAK.IA He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society and he serves in this capacity today. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and today is Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko is a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961). CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia, as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact-an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" ( Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939) and ( 1963-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America ( 1938-); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America ( 1934) ; Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of 'Club Furdek' - ( a Catholic Slovak Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago, since 1935. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Today, Dr. Hletko has a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary material, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. To many of these he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The SLOVAKIA 59 Dr. Peter P. Hletko ( second from the right ) with Ms~:ir- A·ndrew Hlinka (at Hletko's right ) , leader oif the S l ovak Popu li st Party , and Karol SidOf' (right), former Premier of Slovakia, at the 1938 event in Bratislava when the delegati'on of the Slova~ League of .America c-ame to Slovakia with the origi-nal of the Pittsburgh Pac:t. following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact" (1934 ) ; wrote "Iskry"-a reprint of satiro-comic column in the Osadne Hlasy ( Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the "Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book", 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 1927-1963 ); editor of "Jaro" (Spring), English supplement to JEDNOTA. official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; eclitor of "Chicagsky Dennik" (Chicago Slovak Daily News, 1926-1927 ); presently serves as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society; and is President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday, the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago in the spring of this year. REFERENCES Slovakia 1965, Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. " Slovaci a ich zivot", Jedtnota, 3/ 17/ 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks Description An account of the resource Joseph C. Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 57-59 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krajsa, Joseph C. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/05830a9f7b1891136ed86a28d6d1e32e.pdf b647e20e2ea1ed7c42b8774a34b61939 PDF Text Text 54 SLOVAKIA DR. PETER P. HLETKO American Slovaks Lost a Great Man With the passing of Dr. Peter P. Hletko on November 4, 1973 in the City of Chicago, the American Slovaks and all freedom loving Slovaks in the world lost one of their most illustrious sons. Exceptionally talented and devoted, he contributed his efforts in helping his beloved Slovak people here and behind the Iron Curtain. Deserving tribute was paid to him by the hierarchy, clergy, civic and business leaders, the Slovak World Congress, the Slovak League of America, the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and all the Slovak fraternal societies that he served so well in various capacities. OUTSTANDING CAREER In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual man, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people and their country. These men who are dreamers and who are doers . But the great ones are those who are both-dreamers and doers. They are the ones who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow. Dr. Peter P. Hletko was such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home was in Warrenville, Illinois and his office was at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anne E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at St. Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius �SLOVAKIA 55 Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921). He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M.D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago, from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology at Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and was Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko was a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961) . CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact - an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" (Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939 and 1962-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America (1938-1973); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America (1934); Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive �SLOVAKIA 56 Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of "Club Furdek"-(a Catholic Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Dr. Hletko had a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary materials, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. He made a contribution of his materials to the Jednota Museum in Middletown, Pa. To many of the publications he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (1934); wrote Iskry-a reprint of satirocomic column in the Osadne Hlasy (Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book, 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 19271963); editor of Jara (Spring), English supplement to Jednota, official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; editor of Chicagsky Dennik (Chicago Daily News, 1926-1927); served as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society, and was President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago. Joseph C. Kr a j s a REFERENCES Slovakia 1965-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. Slovakia 1972-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. "Slovaci a ich zivot," Jednota, March 17, 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco. � 54 SLOVAKIA DR. PETER P. HLETKO American Slovaks Lost a Great Man With the passing of Dr. Peter P. Hletko on November 4, 1973 in the City of Chicago, the American Slovaks and all freedom loving Slovaks in the world lost one of their most illustrious sons. Exceptionally talented and devoted, he contributed his efforts in helping his beloved Slovak people here and behind the Iron Curtain. Deserving tribute was paid to him by the hierarchy, clergy, civic and business leaders, the Slovak World Congress, the Slovak League of America, the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and all the Slovak fraternal societies that he served so well in various capacities. OUTSTANDING CAREER In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual man, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people and their country. These men who are dreamers and who are doers . But the great ones are those who are both-dreamers and doers. They are the ones who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow. Dr. Peter P. Hletko was such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home was in Warrenville, Illinois and his office was at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anne E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at St. Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius �SLOVAKIA 55 Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921). He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M.D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago, from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology at Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and was Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko was a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961) . CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact - an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" (Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939 and 1962-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America (1938-1973); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America (1934); Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive �SLOVAKIA 56 Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of "Club Furdek"-(a Catholic Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Dr. Hletko had a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary materials, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. He made a contribution of his materials to the Jednota Museum in Middletown, Pa. To many of the publications he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (1934); wrote Iskry-a reprint of satirocomic column in the Osadne Hlasy (Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book, 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 19271963); editor of Jara (Spring), English supplement to Jednota, official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; editor of Chicagsky Dennik (Chicago Daily News, 1926-1927); served as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society, and was President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago. Joseph C. Kr a j s a REFERENCES Slovakia 1965-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. Slovakia 1972-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. "Slovaci a ich zivot," Jednota, March 17, 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 54 SLOVAKIA DR. PETER P. HLETKO American Slovaks Lost a Great Man With the passing of Dr. Peter P. Hletko on November 4, 1973 in the City of Chicago, the American Slovaks and all freedom loving Slovaks in the world lost one of their most illustrious sons. Exceptionally talented and devoted, he contributed his efforts in helping his beloved Slovak people here and behind the Iron Curtain. Deserving tribute was paid to him by the hierarchy, clergy, civic and business leaders, the Slovak World Congress, the Slovak League of America, the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and all the Slovak fraternal societies that he served so well in various capacities. OUTSTANDING CAREER In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual man, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people and their country. These men who are dreamers and who are doers . But the great ones are those who are both-dreamers and doers. They are the ones who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow. Dr. Peter P. Hletko was such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home was in Warrenville, Illinois and his office was at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anne E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at St. Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius SLOVAKIA 55 Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921). He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M.D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago, from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology at Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and was Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko was a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961) . CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact - an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" (Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939 and 1962-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America (1938-1973); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America (1934); Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive SLOVAKIA 56 Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of "Club Furdek"-(a Catholic Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Dr. Hletko had a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary materials, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. He made a contribution of his materials to the Jednota Museum in Middletown, Pa. To many of the publications he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (1934); wrote Iskry-a reprint of satirocomic column in the Osadne Hlasy (Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book, 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 19271963); editor of Jara (Spring), English supplement to Jednota, official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; editor of Chicagsky Dennik (Chicago Daily News, 1926-1927); served as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society, and was President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago. Joseph C. Kr a j s a REFERENCES Slovakia 1965-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. Slovakia 1972-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. "Slovaci a ich zivot," Jednota, March 17, 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Peter P. Hletko: American Slovaks Lost a Great Man Description An account of the resource Joseph C. Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 54-56 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krajsa, Joseph C. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/b6b8000204ecbaea6c54d44eefc26dac.pdf 4fce58f3064c766f04e09a6fe0dcd850 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 145 Slovaks A PART OF THE GREAT EMIGRATION TO AMERICA Joseph John K r a j s a The Slovak nation and the Slovak people, who have had their own territory of Slovakia since the sixth century in Central Europe, and who were a part of the great emigration to America, have left their indelible imprint on the character of America. Slovakia's history is a very tragic one. This country has suffered for over 1,100 years from every type of oppression ever conceived by man. It is one of the oldest Christian nations in Central Eure>pe, and has suffered under foreign domination more than any other nation. At times the Slovaks have been misunderstood and misrepresented, but they clung to their language, religion, customs, and traditions. The Slovaks lived through the predominance of feudalistic Hungary, the glory of the Magyars and the Czechs, and presently the Slovaks are ever determined to outlive the terror of Communism that has been thrust on them since 1945. Until recent years, very little has been written in this country on the history and culture of the Slovak people, in spite of the fact that almost one-third of all the Slovaks in the world live in the United States and Canada. 1 In area Slovakia is larger than Switzerland or Denmark. It lies along the northern shores of the Central Danube River, where its slopes on the east touch the Alps and the western slopes the Carpathian mountains. Since the beginning of European history, a route run through the gate of the Danube basin connecting the West and the East. Because of this fact, Slovakia is a nation that blends the culture of the West with the Eastern Slovanic culture even though the Romans withdraw from the Danube at the end of the 4th century. Oppressive measures continued for centuries in one form or another, but when it became possible to rid themselves of this oppression, the Slovaks migrated to �146 SLOVAKIA America to help mould the American culture-one rooted in the best traditions which they brought with them. True, the Slovaks began coming to America after 1875 numbers and before the great exodus itself, there great in hardly was a family in Slovakia which did not have at least one relative in America. The Slovaks were not always welcomed in the locale where they settled. When my grandfather arrived in A· merica in 1906, he was stoned by the "Americans" from the railroad station until he arrived in the section of the town called a Ward where all the "foreigners" were living. When he became settled, he was hard at work like the rest of the immigrants. He worked as a wiremaker ( drotar) and became what the handbook, "Gateway to Citizenship", prepared by the Department of Justice, said in tribute: The Slovak The endlessly unbowed, That gave the west continent The proudest and best of my Broad backs and eager youth ... Ask the coal you burn, who mined it, The ore, what worker wrung it from the earth, The bridge, what man bound its steel togetherAn every third answer will be a 'Slovak' ... And shall you forget me?2 President Taft did not forgot when he said of the Slovaks: The truth is, we need a little ,p oetry among our native Americans; we need an appreciation of poetic ideals; we need to have mixed with our every-day humdrum life a little bit of the romance that you bring from the old country and we welcome you on that account. 2 a President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not forgot the Slovak1s when he said: This country is m~dful of the vast contribution the Slovaks have made to ,the cause of furthering its development and growth-moral, cultural and material. The stout-hearted, clear-minded, freedomloving and determined people of Slovakia, who, sensitive of the wrongs and deprivations experienced in th~ir own country at the hands of invading forces, turned to America seeking a new home, now comprise with their children and grandchildren an asset in life, industry and culture of this great land that defies human power of appraisal.3 �SLOVAKIA 147 EARLY SWVAK EMIGRATION Even before the great "new emigration" which began around 1873, many Slovaks came to America as part of the "old emigration". Long before the exodus of the Slovak peasants and journeymen for America, hundreds of Slovaks left their homeland for life elsewhere. The Slovak emigration was not only for economic reasons, but also involved was the impelling desire to be part of the dream of a free world. This was also the dream of other ethnic groups from Central Europe. It should be mentioned, however, that before the mass emigration to the United States after the 1870's, there were Slovaks who made their mark in this land of the free. One Slovak who helped America gain her independence from Great Britain was a soldier, Major John J. Polereck~•, son of Count Andrew Polerecky of Polerieka, Turiec County, Slovakia. In 1781, when the army of Cornwallis was defeated, its arms were surrendered to Polerecky at Yorktown, Va. The story of John Polerecky's participation in the American Revolution was unfolded by Dr. Joseph Cincik, a professor in Cleveland, Ohio, who is a distant relative of Major Polerecky. John Polerecky, promoted to a Major in the " French Hussars" by Louis XV, came to America with the French expeditionary army of Rochambeau to help the colonists overthrow British rule. It was during the siege of Yorktown, ait: the beginning of 1781, that Major Polerecky became acquainted with Col. Henry Dearborn (1751-1829) and Col. Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810), who later became General in the American Army and then Secretary of War. On October 20, 1781, when Rochambeau sent Duke de Lauzun to Paris to report the victory to the French King, Polerecky accompanied him. Polerecky became a naturalized citizen by an act of ;the Massachusetts legislature and his papers were signed by Governor John Hancock, one of the signers of ,the American Dec1aration of Independence. Major Polerecky held various public offices from 1789 to 1828.4 Another Slovak who came to America in the earlier years was a doctor, Dr. Samuel Figuly, who fought in the Civil War in the side of the North and is especially noted for his many contributions to the scientific cultivation of tabacco in Virginia. As a plantation owner, he settled down to the cultivation of tabacco in the South, counseled from abroad by the Slovak botanist, Holuby. During the latter part of his life, Dr. Figuly took part in the unsuccessful expedition to the North Pole.5 �148 SLOVAKIA There is a long list of Slovak names that appear on the list of volunteers during the Civil War, especially with the militia in Chicago known as the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin". Such names as Filip, Krupinsky, Fiala, and Kozlej are listed as some of the volunteers.6 The famed Civil War soldier who commanded the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin" was a Slovak, Col Gejza Mihalotzy, who was killed later at Chattanooga. The fort there was then referred to as "Fort Mihalotzy". Col. Mihalotzy recruited the company of riflemen in Illinois and received permission from the President to call his group the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin" .7 A Slovak, Andrew Jelik, was a tailor on a Dutch Ship which sailed to America in 1754-1755.8 Another Slovak who arrived in America during the 18th century was Count Maurice Benovsky who landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1757 . .Ais an adventurer his career took him to Madagascar where he became King. In the year 1800, a Slovak dealer in oils surprised a Slovak Jesuit by making his confession in Slovak. 9 The first Slovak setUement was made in Philadelphia, Pa. by wire-workers (drotari), in 1840 at 412-414 Front Street.10A Martin Chalan landed in the United States in 1872, took out his first papers in 1876, and became an American citizen in 1879. He made the round-trip across the ocean twenty-six times.11 THE GREAT SURGE OF SLOVAK EMIGRATION In the wake of the great emigration to America, the movement seems to have begun in the eastern part of Slovakia, especially the counties of Zemplin, saris, and Spis.12 Between the years 1869-1890, the county of Spis lost 14 % of her youth between the ages of 20 to 25 years and 31 % of the men between 26 and 30; saris lost 34 % of those between 20 and 25 and 44 % of the men ·b etween 26 and 30 years of age. The movement spread in Slovakia as their brethren became settled in America and the central and western counties took to emigration in the next decade. 13 Between 1875-1914, great masses of Slovak intellectuals, peasants, tradesmen, and artists made up the hundreds �SLOVAKIA 149 of thousands who crowded the cities of New York, Scranton, Hazleton, Cleveland, Wilkes-Barre, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Philadelphia, Detroit, Bridgeport, Newark and the eastern industrial portions of the United States. These big cities and the little towns around them became centers of the new Slovak life in this country. There scarcely was an industry or trade, factory, mill, mine, or iron works where Slovak immigrants and their sons could not be found. Because of their brawn, they took on the most difficult jobs.14 New York ranked first as the port of entry to America; then in order followed Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Boston, and Portland. From Slovakia, the immigrants generally moved by rail to German, Dutch, or Italian ports. Through the port of Hamburg, Germany passed the greatest number of emigrants. Their voyage took from 13 to 19 days. For my grandmother and grandfather, who came across the ocean in different ships and in different years, the voyage lasted thirteen days. All they brought with them was a suitcase made of straw. It is difficult to give the exact figures on Slovak immigration before 1899 because the authorities counted the immigrants according to the country of last residence, and many of the Slovaks listed Hungary as their country of last residence. The total immigration to the United States numbered 9,555,673 in the period of 1899-1910, and of this number there were 337,527 Slovaks. The peak year was 1905 for the Slovaks when 52,368 of them were admitted to this new country of America. 15 In the twelve years ending with June 30, 1910, Slovakia ranked eight among the nations who emigrated to the United States. The Slovaks percentage rate of emigration was the highest of any other group. In fact, the rate of emigration of Slovaks per 1,000 was 18.6; double that of any other race of people, except the Hebrews (18.3). 16 SWV AK PIONEERS The truth remains that Slovakia, a nation with an area of 31,600 square miles-situated in the very heart of Central Europe; a small number of people of five million �150 SLOVAKIA in population and the oldest nation on the central Danube River, contributed much to the development of America. 17 In 1963, United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, reflected pointedly about the Slovaks when he spoke in Youngstown, Ohio: The United States wou~d be a poorer nation today, economically, intellectually, culturally, and in every other way, if it were not for the over two million of our citizens who are of Slovak birth or ancestry.17a The passing of some eighty years and the contributions of Slovaks to this country prompted Attorney General Kennedy to make the above conclusion. The immigrant, no matter where he was situated in the United States, had two seemingly opposing drives that moved him. One was toward becoming an American with which came the social acceptance all immigrants wanted from those who came to this country before them. The other was to preserve the culture, language, and faith of their Slovak past. Strange as it may seem, the two aims did not clash, instead, the two meshed and contributed largerly to the dedication and labors of the Slovak pioneers in the new land. Living in a vastly different environment, they were able to fashion a completely new life. 18 Thou, 0 Columbia, hast rent their chains, And lifted them to manhood, heaven, God!l9 On United States soil, the Slovaks developed a very living and dynamic organized activity; chiefly in journalism, fratemalism, education, music, drama, and religion. 20 Among the first was Julius Wolf (1859-1930) and John Slovensky ( 1856-1900) who, shortly after arriving in America in 1879, founded in Pittsburgh, Pa., the first Slovak periodical, the BULLETIN" (1885), which was hectograph~d. lit was replaced a year later, on October 21, 1886, by the first Slovak newspaper published in America, the AMERIKANSKO-SLOVENSK:t NOVINY (The American-Slovak News), through which Wolf and Slovensky set about encouraging the twofold development of .Slovaks in America. Intergration and yet preservation were ,the ideas of Slovensky and Wolf, both former teachers in Spis County, held out as maxims to the new immigrant.21 The second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called NOVA VLAS1' (The New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streator, Illinois. However, the town of Plymouth, �SLOVAKIA 151 Pennsylvania is the cradle of SWV .AK V AMERIKE (Slovak In America), which is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaper in the world. The founder of this newspaper was Albert S. Ambrose in 1889.22 The largest and most influential American-Slovak newspaper in the world-even today-is the JEDNOTA (The Union) -circulation 40,000-the official organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which was founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, Ohio, May 12, 1891.23 From the very beginning, the Slovaks set out to preserve their Christian heritage, and, because of economic and social need, they formed societies or lodges. Both established organizational life for the Slovaks and the task of implementing it fell on the shoulders of clergymen. It was the Slovak clergymen who came from the old country and responded to the call of the people and founded and helped to organize parishes, fraternal benefit societies, other organizations, and edited newspapers and periodicals.24 It was natural that the Slovaks first wanted to have their own churches for that was their prized heritage. In 862, there already stood in our Nitra, Slovakia, a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first among all western Slavs and the first church in Central Europe.25 The Slovak Calvinists of Jessup, Pa. had a chapel there in 1888 and were first organized as a religious group in 1887 in Scranton, Pa. 26 The Slovak Lutherans were the first to organize on a religious basis in the United States. They established the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Streator, Illinois, October 5, 1884, and their first minister was Karol Horak. Other Lutheran parishes were organized in Freeland, Pa. and Nanticoke, Pa., in 1886, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1888.27 The Slovak Lutherans of Chicago organized the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1893 and in 1894, the Rev. L. Boor became the pastor. 28 Today, the Protestant group represents about 12 % of the Americans of Slovak descent. The Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church has 52 churches and the Slovak Presbyterians have 15 churches. A very small number of Slovaks also belong to other denominations. 29 The first Catholic parish was founded in Hazleton, �152 SLOVAKIA Pa., in 1882, by the Slovak priest, Ignatius Jaskovic. His St. Joseph's Parish was actually formed in November 18, 1884. Prior to that he 1said Mass for his people in the "Irish Church", St. Gabriel's of Hazleton.30 The Slovak Catholics had two problems: priests were needed who could speak the language and funds were needed for parish churches and schools. One of the first Slovak priests who came to the new world, and luckily for the future, was the Rev. Stephen Furdek, a native of the village of Trstemi, Orava County, Slovakia. He arrived in Cleveland, Ohio in the early spring of 1882, and with Bishop Richard Gilmour's understanding and cooperation, he set the pattern in motion to solve the Slovak's problems. At the Bishop's request, Father Furdek went to Europe to seek out priests who would serve the spiritual needs of the Catholic Slovaks, Slovenes, and Croatians.31 Besides Father Furdek, other Catholic clergymen-Rev. Paul Lisicky, Dr. Alexander Dianiska, Rev. Anton Gracik, Rev. Joseph Murgas, Msgr. Stephen Krasul'a, and others became dynamic leaders of the Slovaks in America.32 Slovak Catholics number about 85 % of the American Slovaks in this country.33 A look at our Church dignitaries shows Bishop Joseph A. Durick, Bishop Andrew G. Grutka, Bishop Paul Hnilica, Bishop Michael Rusnak (the first Bishop i-n over 1,100 years for the Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite); Abbots Theodore Kojis, Stanislav F. Gmuca, Jerome Koval; five with the rank of Protonotary Apostolic; over fifty prelates; and over 1,000 American,Slov,ak priests. There are seven friaries, one abbey, nine motherhouses for Sisters; nine institutions of higher learning; an orphanage; four old age homes; hundreds of elementary schools; and about 300 Slovak Catholic Parishes. 34 It was toward the maintaining of his Catholic faith that the Slovak Catholic immigrant devoted the greatest portion of his efforts. He did this by organizing parishes, schools, social clubs, and fraternal societies to keep the faith rooted in the young. He did it with whatever time and financial resources he had left after sending stipends back to relatives in the old country for payment of his passage to America or to help his next of kin to emigrate to this land of opportunity.35 Mine disasters and other tragedies often took the lives of husbands and fathers, leaving the family destitute and �SLOVAKIA 153 without money for the funeral. In answer to the need of sickness and funeral benefits, a large number of societies grew up in the industrial and mining towns. Father Furdek organized these individual societies into a Union (Jednota) -the First Catholic Slovak Union (1890). He also organized the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union (1892), the Slovak Institute (Matica Slovenska) (1893), The National Fund, and the Fund to Preserve National Heritage. 36 The First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest Slovak fraternal benefit society in the world (105,000 members), founded in Cleveland, on September 4, 1890, is undoubtedly the greatest achievement of Father Furdek's fruitful life. He founded the organization's official organ, JEDNOT A (The Union), on May 12, 1891, and edited and published it and the KALENDAR JEDNOTA (Annual Jednota) for over a decade. 37 To write about the contributions of the Jednota to American-Slovak life would require a manuscript that could fill a good size book. In fact, on the society's 75th Anniversary in 1965, its history was published in a 560-page book: 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), by Dr. Joseph Pauco. This book portrays the early struggles of the Slovak immigrant.:;, their traits of character, their involvement in events, both here and rn their fatherland, their progress from life in simple settlements to flourishing parishes and to the founding of religious, dducational, cultural and eharitable institutions. It presents thumbnail sketches of institutions like the Catholic Slovak Federation of men and women, the newly established Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome for the training of priests for Slovakia. It includes biographical sketches of notable persons in Slovak life, contemporary ,as well as past, persons whose names were household words in their day-Furdek, Jankola, Hrobak, Dianiska, Pavfo, Murga§, Husek, Kozak, Lach, Rovnianek-all active in American Slovak life.as The Immigrant Archives of the University of Minnesota is establishing a Slovak Room with materials and references from Jednota Press in Middletown, Pa. Other Slovak societies and institutions are making their resources available to the study.39 Another Slovak pioneer, Peter P. Rovnianek, an outstanding organizer, brilliant writer and speaker, organized �154 SLOVAKIA the National Slovak Society "for all the Slovaks" without regard to creed (1890). He was born in Dolny Hricov, Trencin County, Slovakia. 40 In al:idition to the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, other Slovak fraternal benefit societies were organized: the Zivena Beneficial Society (1891), the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union (1893), the Slovak Evangelical Union (1893), the Slovak Gymnastic Union (1896), the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Ladies Union (1898), the Slovak Caitholic Sokol (1905), the Oanadian Slovak League (1932). The total membership of the Slovak fraternal benefit societies in the United States and Canada today is at the 500,000 mark.41 The newspapers were the sounding boards of popular oprmon as well as a unifying force among the Slovaks. Almanacs, such as the FIRST SLOVAK NATIONAL ALMANAC of the National Slovak Society (1893), and KALEND.AR JEDNOTA (Annual Jednota) (1896) of the First Catholic Slovak Union, provided the literary reading that most Slovaks did: short stories, political essays, reviews of important events, religious essays, articles on marriage, and articles pertaining to almost any subject useful to the Slovak readers. Almanacs by the Slovak writers reached the American-Slovak public and became so popular that twenty-nine were published at one time.t2 Slovakia was a land of song and dancing and any celebration of even slight importance in America had to be combined with singing, dancing, and shouting of the most vigorous sort.43 The Slovaks have thousands of folk songs and the 'cardas' dance is the universal favorite. 41 Slovak dramatic clubs were organized at the Slovak parishes and the plays served as the handmaid of religion and stirred the audiences. The best remembered plays are "St. Elizabeth", "St. Genevieva", and "Fabiola", by Fr. Matthew Jankola, a man who foresaw the needs of the Slovak immigrants and did much for them, especially in the field of education. Often enacted were ... entertaining skits portraying the Foibles of human nature, each with a wholesome lesson.4s The Slovaks also organized political clubs, cultural societies, and literary circles, but these had to wait because the Slovaks were occupied with labor conflicts. The early �SLOVAKIA 155 history of unions show the great part the Slovaks played in the labor movement. 46 The Slovaks made their contribution to agriculture in this country. Slovaktown, Arkansas, was a farm community near the town of Stuttgart, which was established by Slovak settlers from the "old country" who came there from the coal fields of Pennsylvania to produce dairy products and vegetables. Slovaktown was chartered in 1895, through the efforts of Peter V. Rovnianek, Francis Pucher, Julius Tatraj, Rev. Stephen Dzubaj, Rev. Stephen Furdek, and Rev. Vaclav Panuska. 47 The first Slovak Catholic parochial school in America was established in 1889 in Streator, Illinois, by the Rev. Ervin E. Gelhoff. 48 Today there are over 200 parochial schools, several high schools, also : St. Andrew's Abbey of the Slovak Benedictines, Cleveland, Ohio; the Slovak Franciscan Fathers of Uniontown, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., Valparaiso, Ind., Columbiana, Ohio, and Easton, Pa.; the Order of Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.; the Slovak Dominican Sisters, Oxford, Mich.; the Slovak Vincentian Sisters, Perrysville, Pa., Bedford, Ohio; the Slovak Franciscan Sisters of Bellevue, Pa., Lacon, Ill., and Bethlehem, Pa; and the Slovak Benedictine Sisters, Tinley Park, Ill .49 Their contribution to the education and the life of the Slovak immigrants should be regarded with deep appreciation for the achievements and accomplishments for the Slovaks in America. They have fulfilled their mission and lived up to their motto "For God and Country" (Za Boha a narod ).50 There remains a whole list of Slovak pioneers, and, with those already mentioned in some detail, a whole volume can be written on each with ease. Perhaps the most fertile, imaginative mind among the Slovaks who came to this country belonged to Father Joseph Murgas. A man of many talents, a painter, and yet having literary skill, Father Murgas made outstanding contributions in the field of electronics. Working even before Marconi had perfected his wireless, Murgas pioneered in telegraphic communication. He perfected a method to transit messages to moving railroad trains and secured a series of patents for his invention which he called the "Tone System". With his financial resources exhausted, Fr. Murgas invited �156 SLOVAKIA Marconi and the famous Professor Fessendom of the University of Pittsburgh to assess his work. What followed is not too clear, but shortly the "Sonorous System" appeared on the commercial market that infringed upon Murgas' patents. The "System" was sold in Europe beyond the reach of U.S. patent courts. Father Murgas held twelve patents, all instrumental in making wireless communications between railroad trains possible. In Slovakia, a new radio station was named after him and the Slovak Republic issued a postage stamp in his memory. In United States during World War II, a Liberty Ship was named in his honor. Father Murgas is also the founder of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, a Slovak Catholic Action organization which came into existence on February 22, 1911, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.st Just as the Slovak Catholic Federation of America was founded to promote Catholic Action, so on May 26, 1907, Father Furdek presided over 7,000 Slovaks in Cleveland, Ohio, representing all the Slovak societies and newspapers and clergy and laity of various religious and political convictions, to found the Slovak League of America. The purpose of the League was to unite all Americans of Slovak descent in the fight of the Slovak nation abroad. 52 The activities of the League and the Federation are a significant chapter in the life of the Slovak immigrants and they still function today with effectiveness. The League promotes Slovak culture and maintains the identity of the Slovak, and the Federation continues to promote Catholic Action. Another Slovak immigrant who "labored indefatigably" to preserve the Catholic faith among the people of his nationality was the Rev. Matthew Jankola. He not only took care of and built parishes in Hazleton, Pa., Pittston, Pa., and Bridgeport, Conn., but served as president of the First Catholic Slovak Union; was editor of JEDNOJ;'A (The Union); contributed to Slovak periodicals; and was responsible, after tremendous effort, of establishing a teaching community of Slovak Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius for the perpetuation of Catholic education among the Slovak people of America.53 It has been said that what Fr. �SLOVAKIA 157 Furdek was to the national life of the Slovak immigrants, Father Jankola was to their religious life.54 CONCLUSION The Slovak pioneer has built the foundation and started the process of development in the religious field, in education, in fraternalism, in journalism, in literature, and in culture. He did this in a strange environment, living in big cities and small towns, with a frightening language barrier, but he enjoyed and breathed freedom. He was free to think, work, write, and worship as he wished. He grasped every opportunity to grow and prosper in this free land, and he did all this to good advantage, thereby reaping all the precious things necessary and peculiar to him in the new world. And, the Slovak pioneer did this within one generation! 55 The Slovak with his sons and their sons, the new generations, advanced rapidly and their activity in the business world, political life, sports, and social life became more pronounced. But it was the hundreds of thousands of Slovak workers-the peasants representing practically every village in Slovakia- who gave concrete meaning to the dream which brought them here.56 The immigrants and those of Slovak descent took on another task when they resolved in the spirit of America that their homeland, Slovakia, would some day be free and independent of alien rule. They worked for and were determined to see in their time, . . . that Slovakia some day would be master of its own household, free to work out its own destiny ·as on equal among the civilized nations of the eavth.57 Along with Father Furdek, countless others played a large role in this work. Among them were Michael Bosak, Sr., whose warm story follows the traditionally American "rags to riches" theme. He was the wealthiest American of Slovak descent in the entire country. 58 Then there was Joseph Rusek, who spent thirty-seven years as the editor of the JEDNOTA (The Union), the most widely read American-Slovak newspaper in the United States. Both these men were instrumental in getting Slovakia's problems before their fellow Americans.59 �158 SLOVAKIA There were also many significant contributions by the American Slovaks in all the wars. Not only did the youth serve with distinction in the armed forces, but the Slovak leaders at home conducted huge War Bond drives. In World War II, headed by the Rev. John J. Lach of Whiting, Indiana, the Committee sold over $53 million in bonds. In recognition of this achievement, the Treasury Department credited the Slovak League with five bombers and named four "Liberty Ships" after famous Slovaks: "The Stephen Furdek", "The Mathias Kocak", "The General Milan R. t'itefanik", and "The Joseph Murgas". 60 In 1964, the Slovaks of America donated over one-half million dollars to build the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, where young men are being trained to be priests so that one day they can serve Slovakia when it is free of communism. Another great contribution was the Chapel of Our Mother of Sorrows, a gift of the First Catholic Slovak Union which was dedicated on September 5, 1965 in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D. C. This occasion was also the Diamond Jubilee of the Jednota and over 15,000 American• Slovaks gathered in the nation's capital to hear Senator Frank Lausche of Ohio laud the achievements of the American Slovaks. 61 The Slovaks contributed a large quota of stars and stalwarts in the field of sports and athletics in American colleges and on the professional teams. 62 The names on the teams' rosters today are witness to this fact, but names like: Pafko, Lapchik, Musial, Bucha, Bednarik, Valo, Kralik and Mucha are familiar to most sports-minded Americans. Yes, indeed, the Slovakis were a part of the "great emigration and: ... they have definitely and permanently united their /destiny with the destiny of America. It was men like Furdek, Murgas, Jankola, Rovnianek, and others who came after them that aided and guided their fellow Slovaks. They interpret~d America to the Slovaks and likewise interpreted the psychology and ideals of the Slovaks to their American neighbors. Through their leadership and guidance the Slovaks of America were enabled to make their contribution to the material, cultural, and spiritual progress of their adopted land.6 3 The Slovak was similar in many ways to other im- �SLOVAKIA 159 migrants in the assimilation process, but unlike the other ethnic groups, he was destined to play a role in the future of his homeland.64 In the last 25 years, over 15,000 Slovaks fled from their homeland to escape the vengeance of the communists and over 3,000 of these were Slovak intellectuals. Among the refugees from this tyranny are some of the best known Slovak novelists, journalists, poets, and writers. These writers preserved their literary creativeness and formed the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists and opened avenue to the greatest surge of literary efforts aboUlt Slovaks on several continents. More books have been published and distributed about the Slovak!s on this continent in the last ten years than in all the prevfous years put together.65 There is no question that these writers and historians will echo the deeds of their countrymen for posterity. What is still needed, however, are writers about the Slovaks in the English language. The Most Reverend Joseph A. Durick, D. D., Bishop, Diocese of Nashville, Tenn., speaking in 1965 in Washington, D. C.,summed it all up when in tribute to the Slovaks he said: The triumph of the Slov,aks has come about because of constant effort, faithful service, zeal for God's house and the willingness always to sacrifice. The Slovaks great triumph over innumerable odds has made ,t heir contribution to Church and Country a considerable one. By their loyalty to the Faith and subscription to the great fundamental fre~doms which they •have exemplified in the market place and in th~ home, they have helped to build the great city of God and the city of man in our beloved Country.66 FOOTNOTES 1) Victor R. Greene, " Sons of Hunkies: Men With A Past," SLOVAKI,\ , Vol. XVI (No. 39, 1966) , 80. 2) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946) , p. 176. 2a ) Ibid., p. 177. 3) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 178. 4 ) Gilbert L. Oddo, SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y. , 1960) , pp. 331-332. 5) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946),p. 168. 6) John Porubsky, "Lincoln And The Slovaks", KALEND'AR JEDNOTA, XLVII (1944), 129. �160 SLOVAKI A 7) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p. 332. 8 ) Konstantin Culen, DEJINY SLOVAKOV V AMERJKE (History of the Slovaks In America) (Slovakia, 1942), I, 24-25. 9 ) Ibid., p. 26-27. 10 ) Ibid. , p. 28. 11) Ibid., p . 29. 12) Emily Greene Balch, Ph.D., OUR SLAVIC FELLOW CITIZENS (New York, N. Y., 1910), p. 99. 13 ) James J. Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV ( 1965), 15. 14) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p. 333. 15) Emily Greene Balch, Ph.D., OUR SLAVIC CITIZENS (New York, N. Y., 1910) , p. 103. 16) James J . Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), 16. 17 ) Joseph M. Kirschbaum , LL.D., Ph.D., SLOVAKIA : NATION AT THE CROSSROA DS OF CENTRAL EUROPE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p . 15. 17a ) Joseph N. Misany, Esq., "Father Andrew Hlinka", SLOVAKIA , xv (1965), p. 76. 18) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y. , 1960), p. 333. 19) Peter P . Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p . 157. 20) Bonaventu re S. Bue, Ph.D., SLOVAK NATIONAL ISM: ITS ORIGINS, CONFLICT S AND OBJECTIV ES (M.ddletow n, Pa., 1957), p. 60. 21) Oddo, op. cit., p. 334. 22) William Kona, M.A., "The Oldest Slovak Newpaper in the U.S.A.", S LOVAKIA, XV (1965), pp. 38-39. 23 ) Joseph Pauoo, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCK EJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Middletow n, Pa., 1965) , pp. 13-14. 24 ) Gilbert Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960 ), p. 169. 25 ) Joseph Skultety, SKETCHE S FROM SLOVAK HISTORY (Middletown, Pa., 1930), p. 10. 26) Konstantin Culen, DEJINY SLOVAKO V V AMERIKE (History of the Slovaks in America) (Slovakia, 1942), I, 114-115. 28) James J . Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), 28. 29) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960 ), p. 338. �SLOVAKIA 161 30) "St. Joseph's Hazleton: Slovak Church Rebuilt", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV (1966) , p. 12. 31) Gilbert L. o'ddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 334. 32) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 169. 33) Oddo, op. cit., p. 337. 34) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrived", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965) , p. 65. 35) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 336. 36) Ibid., p. 335. 37) Ibid., p . 334. 38) Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M., "Book Reviews", SLOVAKIA, XV, (1965), pp. 152-155. 39) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Jednota Talk", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV, (1966), p. 5. 40) Dr. Peter Hletko, "The Founder of Our Society", ALMANAC FOR THE YEAR 1966, LXXIV (1966), 3. 41) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York. N. Y., 1960), p . 339. 42) James J. Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of the Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), p . 25. 43) Sr. Mary Eileen, SS.C.M., SLOVAK WEEK LECTURES: FEATURING ART AND MUSIC (Danville, Pa., 1957), p. 1. 44) James J . .Zatko, Ph.D., Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), p . 19. 45) Sr. M. Consuela Gregorovic, M .A., CONTRIBUTIONS OF MATTHEW JANKOLA TO SLOVAK EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (Danville, Pa., 1959), pp. 11, 47. 46) .Zatko, op. cit. , p. 29. 47) James J . .Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), p. 30. 48) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Looking Back", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV ( 1966), p. 5. 49) Philip A. Hrobak, SLOVAK CATHOLIC PARISHES AND INSTITUTIONS (Middletown, Pa., 1955) , p. 23. 50) Ibid., p. 27. 51) Canon Joseph Altany, LL.D., "Joseph Murgas: Father of Wireless", DOBRY PASTIER (Good Shepherd), XXXVII (1964), p. 3. 52) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , pp. 343, 344. 53) Sr. M. Consuela Gregorovic, M.A., CONTRIBUTIONS OF MAT- �162 SLOVAKIA THEW JANKOLA TO SLOVAK EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (Danville, Pa., 1959), p. 6. 54) Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Mid/dletown, Pa., 1965), .p . 306. 55) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 331. 56) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 157. 57) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 344. 58) Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of ,the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Middletown, Pa., 1965), p. 179. 59) Ibid., p. 344. 60) Oddo, op. cit., p. 338. 61) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrivejd", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), pp. 66, 67. 62) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton,Pa., 1946),p.176. 63) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 177. 64) Gilbert L. O~do, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y.), p. 346. 65) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrived", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965) , p. 65. 66) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Jednota's Glories and Future", JEDNOTA ANNUAL FURDEK, 1966, V (1966), pp. 4, 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY Altany, Joseph. " Rev. Joseph Murgas, Founder of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Recogniz~ as the 'Father of Wireless'", Dobry Pastier (Good Shepherd), XXXVII (1964). Balch, Emily G. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, New York: Charities Publication, 1910. Consuela, Sr. M. Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States. Danville, Pa., 1958. <'.'.:ulen, Konstantin. Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike (History of the Slovaks in America), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1942. Eileen, Sr. M. Slovak Week Lectures: Featuring Art and Music. Danville, Pa., 1957. Emerentia, Mother M. "Book reviews", Slovakia, XV (1965). Greene, Victor R. "Sons of Hunkies: Men With a Past?", Slovakia, XVI, Middletown, Pa., (1966). Hletko, Peter. "The Founder of Our Society", Almanac for the Year 1966. LXXIV, Pittsburgh, Pa., (1966). �SLOVAKIA 163 Hrobak, Philip. Slovak Catholic Parishes and Instituti ons. Midjdletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1955. Kirschbaum, Joseph. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Kona, William. "The Oldest Slovak Newspaper in the U.S.A.", Slovakia , XV, Middletown, Pa., (1965). Krajsa, Joseph C. "St. Joseph, Hazleton: Slovak Church Rebuilt", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 3998 (1966). "Jednota Talk", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 3999 (1966). "Looking Back", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 4000 (1966). "Je\foOlta Glories and Future", Jednota Annual Furdek. V, Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, (1960). "Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia. XV, Jednota Press, Middletown , Pa., (1965)°. Misany, Joseph N. "Father Andrew ffiinka", Slovakia, XV, Jednota Press, Middletown, Pa. ( 1965). Mother Tongue of the Foreign Born. U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, United States Census of Population, 1960. Washington, D. C. (1966). Qido, Gilbert L. Slovakia and Its People. New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Orth, Samuel P. Immigration and Labor. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1920. Pauco, Joseph. 75 Rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union). Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1965. Porubsky, John Rev. "Lincoln and the Slovaks", Kalendar Jednota (Annual Jednota) XLVII, Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, (1944) . Skultety, Joseph. Sketches from Slovak History. Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1930. Steiner, Edward A. The Immigrant Tide: Its Ebb and Flow. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1909. Yurchak, Peter P. The Slovaks. Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1946. 2atko, James J. "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", Slovakia, XV, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, (1965). THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to works of charity, materially and morally aids Slovaks, here and abroad, who may be in need of such aid; it supports the American Red Cross, United Fund Campaigns and other American charitable projects. � SLOVAKIA 145 Slovaks A PART OF THE GREAT EMIGRATION TO AMERICA Joseph John K r a j s a The Slovak nation and the Slovak people, who have had their own territory of Slovakia since the sixth century in Central Europe, and who were a part of the great emigration to America, have left their indelible imprint on the character of America. Slovakia's history is a very tragic one. This country has suffered for over 1,100 years from every type of oppression ever conceived by man. It is one of the oldest Christian nations in Central Eure>pe, and has suffered under foreign domination more than any other nation. At times the Slovaks have been misunderstood and misrepresented, but they clung to their language, religion, customs, and traditions. The Slovaks lived through the predominance of feudalistic Hungary, the glory of the Magyars and the Czechs, and presently the Slovaks are ever determined to outlive the terror of Communism that has been thrust on them since 1945. Until recent years, very little has been written in this country on the history and culture of the Slovak people, in spite of the fact that almost one-third of all the Slovaks in the world live in the United States and Canada. 1 In area Slovakia is larger than Switzerland or Denmark. It lies along the northern shores of the Central Danube River, where its slopes on the east touch the Alps and the western slopes the Carpathian mountains. Since the beginning of European history, a route run through the gate of the Danube basin connecting the West and the East. Because of this fact, Slovakia is a nation that blends the culture of the West with the Eastern Slovanic culture even though the Romans withdraw from the Danube at the end of the 4th century. Oppressive measures continued for centuries in one form or another, but when it became possible to rid themselves of this oppression, the Slovaks migrated to �146 SLOVAKIA America to help mould the American culture-one rooted in the best traditions which they brought with them. True, the Slovaks began coming to America after 1875 numbers and before the great exodus itself, there great in hardly was a family in Slovakia which did not have at least one relative in America. The Slovaks were not always welcomed in the locale where they settled. When my grandfather arrived in A· merica in 1906, he was stoned by the "Americans" from the railroad station until he arrived in the section of the town called a Ward where all the "foreigners" were living. When he became settled, he was hard at work like the rest of the immigrants. He worked as a wiremaker ( drotar) and became what the handbook, "Gateway to Citizenship", prepared by the Department of Justice, said in tribute: The Slovak The endlessly unbowed, That gave the west continent The proudest and best of my Broad backs and eager youth ... Ask the coal you burn, who mined it, The ore, what worker wrung it from the earth, The bridge, what man bound its steel togetherAn every third answer will be a 'Slovak' ... And shall you forget me?2 President Taft did not forgot when he said of the Slovaks: The truth is, we need a little ,p oetry among our native Americans; we need an appreciation of poetic ideals; we need to have mixed with our every-day humdrum life a little bit of the romance that you bring from the old country and we welcome you on that account. 2 a President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not forgot the Slovak1s when he said: This country is m~dful of the vast contribution the Slovaks have made to ,the cause of furthering its development and growth-moral, cultural and material. The stout-hearted, clear-minded, freedomloving and determined people of Slovakia, who, sensitive of the wrongs and deprivations experienced in th~ir own country at the hands of invading forces, turned to America seeking a new home, now comprise with their children and grandchildren an asset in life, industry and culture of this great land that defies human power of appraisal.3 �SLOVAKIA 147 EARLY SWVAK EMIGRATION Even before the great "new emigration" which began around 1873, many Slovaks came to America as part of the "old emigration". Long before the exodus of the Slovak peasants and journeymen for America, hundreds of Slovaks left their homeland for life elsewhere. The Slovak emigration was not only for economic reasons, but also involved was the impelling desire to be part of the dream of a free world. This was also the dream of other ethnic groups from Central Europe. It should be mentioned, however, that before the mass emigration to the United States after the 1870's, there were Slovaks who made their mark in this land of the free. One Slovak who helped America gain her independence from Great Britain was a soldier, Major John J. Polereck~•, son of Count Andrew Polerecky of Polerieka, Turiec County, Slovakia. In 1781, when the army of Cornwallis was defeated, its arms were surrendered to Polerecky at Yorktown, Va. The story of John Polerecky's participation in the American Revolution was unfolded by Dr. Joseph Cincik, a professor in Cleveland, Ohio, who is a distant relative of Major Polerecky. John Polerecky, promoted to a Major in the " French Hussars" by Louis XV, came to America with the French expeditionary army of Rochambeau to help the colonists overthrow British rule. It was during the siege of Yorktown, ait: the beginning of 1781, that Major Polerecky became acquainted with Col. Henry Dearborn (1751-1829) and Col. Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810), who later became General in the American Army and then Secretary of War. On October 20, 1781, when Rochambeau sent Duke de Lauzun to Paris to report the victory to the French King, Polerecky accompanied him. Polerecky became a naturalized citizen by an act of ;the Massachusetts legislature and his papers were signed by Governor John Hancock, one of the signers of ,the American Dec1aration of Independence. Major Polerecky held various public offices from 1789 to 1828.4 Another Slovak who came to America in the earlier years was a doctor, Dr. Samuel Figuly, who fought in the Civil War in the side of the North and is especially noted for his many contributions to the scientific cultivation of tabacco in Virginia. As a plantation owner, he settled down to the cultivation of tabacco in the South, counseled from abroad by the Slovak botanist, Holuby. During the latter part of his life, Dr. Figuly took part in the unsuccessful expedition to the North Pole.5 �148 SLOVAKIA There is a long list of Slovak names that appear on the list of volunteers during the Civil War, especially with the militia in Chicago known as the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin". Such names as Filip, Krupinsky, Fiala, and Kozlej are listed as some of the volunteers.6 The famed Civil War soldier who commanded the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin" was a Slovak, Col Gejza Mihalotzy, who was killed later at Chattanooga. The fort there was then referred to as "Fort Mihalotzy". Col. Mihalotzy recruited the company of riflemen in Illinois and received permission from the President to call his group the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin" .7 A Slovak, Andrew Jelik, was a tailor on a Dutch Ship which sailed to America in 1754-1755.8 Another Slovak who arrived in America during the 18th century was Count Maurice Benovsky who landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1757 . .Ais an adventurer his career took him to Madagascar where he became King. In the year 1800, a Slovak dealer in oils surprised a Slovak Jesuit by making his confession in Slovak. 9 The first Slovak setUement was made in Philadelphia, Pa. by wire-workers (drotari), in 1840 at 412-414 Front Street.10A Martin Chalan landed in the United States in 1872, took out his first papers in 1876, and became an American citizen in 1879. He made the round-trip across the ocean twenty-six times.11 THE GREAT SURGE OF SLOVAK EMIGRATION In the wake of the great emigration to America, the movement seems to have begun in the eastern part of Slovakia, especially the counties of Zemplin, saris, and Spis.12 Between the years 1869-1890, the county of Spis lost 14 % of her youth between the ages of 20 to 25 years and 31 % of the men between 26 and 30; saris lost 34 % of those between 20 and 25 and 44 % of the men ·b etween 26 and 30 years of age. The movement spread in Slovakia as their brethren became settled in America and the central and western counties took to emigration in the next decade. 13 Between 1875-1914, great masses of Slovak intellectuals, peasants, tradesmen, and artists made up the hundreds �SLOVAKIA 149 of thousands who crowded the cities of New York, Scranton, Hazleton, Cleveland, Wilkes-Barre, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Philadelphia, Detroit, Bridgeport, Newark and the eastern industrial portions of the United States. These big cities and the little towns around them became centers of the new Slovak life in this country. There scarcely was an industry or trade, factory, mill, mine, or iron works where Slovak immigrants and their sons could not be found. Because of their brawn, they took on the most difficult jobs.14 New York ranked first as the port of entry to America; then in order followed Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Boston, and Portland. From Slovakia, the immigrants generally moved by rail to German, Dutch, or Italian ports. Through the port of Hamburg, Germany passed the greatest number of emigrants. Their voyage took from 13 to 19 days. For my grandmother and grandfather, who came across the ocean in different ships and in different years, the voyage lasted thirteen days. All they brought with them was a suitcase made of straw. It is difficult to give the exact figures on Slovak immigration before 1899 because the authorities counted the immigrants according to the country of last residence, and many of the Slovaks listed Hungary as their country of last residence. The total immigration to the United States numbered 9,555,673 in the period of 1899-1910, and of this number there were 337,527 Slovaks. The peak year was 1905 for the Slovaks when 52,368 of them were admitted to this new country of America. 15 In the twelve years ending with June 30, 1910, Slovakia ranked eight among the nations who emigrated to the United States. The Slovaks percentage rate of emigration was the highest of any other group. In fact, the rate of emigration of Slovaks per 1,000 was 18.6; double that of any other race of people, except the Hebrews (18.3). 16 SWV AK PIONEERS The truth remains that Slovakia, a nation with an area of 31,600 square miles-situated in the very heart of Central Europe; a small number of people of five million �150 SLOVAKIA in population and the oldest nation on the central Danube River, contributed much to the development of America. 17 In 1963, United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, reflected pointedly about the Slovaks when he spoke in Youngstown, Ohio: The United States wou~d be a poorer nation today, economically, intellectually, culturally, and in every other way, if it were not for the over two million of our citizens who are of Slovak birth or ancestry.17a The passing of some eighty years and the contributions of Slovaks to this country prompted Attorney General Kennedy to make the above conclusion. The immigrant, no matter where he was situated in the United States, had two seemingly opposing drives that moved him. One was toward becoming an American with which came the social acceptance all immigrants wanted from those who came to this country before them. The other was to preserve the culture, language, and faith of their Slovak past. Strange as it may seem, the two aims did not clash, instead, the two meshed and contributed largerly to the dedication and labors of the Slovak pioneers in the new land. Living in a vastly different environment, they were able to fashion a completely new life. 18 Thou, 0 Columbia, hast rent their chains, And lifted them to manhood, heaven, God!l9 On United States soil, the Slovaks developed a very living and dynamic organized activity; chiefly in journalism, fratemalism, education, music, drama, and religion. 20 Among the first was Julius Wolf (1859-1930) and John Slovensky ( 1856-1900) who, shortly after arriving in America in 1879, founded in Pittsburgh, Pa., the first Slovak periodical, the BULLETIN" (1885), which was hectograph~d. lit was replaced a year later, on October 21, 1886, by the first Slovak newspaper published in America, the AMERIKANSKO-SLOVENSK:t NOVINY (The American-Slovak News), through which Wolf and Slovensky set about encouraging the twofold development of .Slovaks in America. Intergration and yet preservation were ,the ideas of Slovensky and Wolf, both former teachers in Spis County, held out as maxims to the new immigrant.21 The second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called NOVA VLAS1' (The New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streator, Illinois. However, the town of Plymouth, �SLOVAKIA 151 Pennsylvania is the cradle of SWV .AK V AMERIKE (Slovak In America), which is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaper in the world. The founder of this newspaper was Albert S. Ambrose in 1889.22 The largest and most influential American-Slovak newspaper in the world-even today-is the JEDNOTA (The Union) -circulation 40,000-the official organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which was founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, Ohio, May 12, 1891.23 From the very beginning, the Slovaks set out to preserve their Christian heritage, and, because of economic and social need, they formed societies or lodges. Both established organizational life for the Slovaks and the task of implementing it fell on the shoulders of clergymen. It was the Slovak clergymen who came from the old country and responded to the call of the people and founded and helped to organize parishes, fraternal benefit societies, other organizations, and edited newspapers and periodicals.24 It was natural that the Slovaks first wanted to have their own churches for that was their prized heritage. In 862, there already stood in our Nitra, Slovakia, a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first among all western Slavs and the first church in Central Europe.25 The Slovak Calvinists of Jessup, Pa. had a chapel there in 1888 and were first organized as a religious group in 1887 in Scranton, Pa. 26 The Slovak Lutherans were the first to organize on a religious basis in the United States. They established the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Streator, Illinois, October 5, 1884, and their first minister was Karol Horak. Other Lutheran parishes were organized in Freeland, Pa. and Nanticoke, Pa., in 1886, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1888.27 The Slovak Lutherans of Chicago organized the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1893 and in 1894, the Rev. L. Boor became the pastor. 28 Today, the Protestant group represents about 12 % of the Americans of Slovak descent. The Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church has 52 churches and the Slovak Presbyterians have 15 churches. A very small number of Slovaks also belong to other denominations. 29 The first Catholic parish was founded in Hazleton, �152 SLOVAKIA Pa., in 1882, by the Slovak priest, Ignatius Jaskovic. His St. Joseph's Parish was actually formed in November 18, 1884. Prior to that he 1said Mass for his people in the "Irish Church", St. Gabriel's of Hazleton.30 The Slovak Catholics had two problems: priests were needed who could speak the language and funds were needed for parish churches and schools. One of the first Slovak priests who came to the new world, and luckily for the future, was the Rev. Stephen Furdek, a native of the village of Trstemi, Orava County, Slovakia. He arrived in Cleveland, Ohio in the early spring of 1882, and with Bishop Richard Gilmour's understanding and cooperation, he set the pattern in motion to solve the Slovak's problems. At the Bishop's request, Father Furdek went to Europe to seek out priests who would serve the spiritual needs of the Catholic Slovaks, Slovenes, and Croatians.31 Besides Father Furdek, other Catholic clergymen-Rev. Paul Lisicky, Dr. Alexander Dianiska, Rev. Anton Gracik, Rev. Joseph Murgas, Msgr. Stephen Krasul'a, and others became dynamic leaders of the Slovaks in America.32 Slovak Catholics number about 85 % of the American Slovaks in this country.33 A look at our Church dignitaries shows Bishop Joseph A. Durick, Bishop Andrew G. Grutka, Bishop Paul Hnilica, Bishop Michael Rusnak (the first Bishop i-n over 1,100 years for the Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite); Abbots Theodore Kojis, Stanislav F. Gmuca, Jerome Koval; five with the rank of Protonotary Apostolic; over fifty prelates; and over 1,000 American,Slov,ak priests. There are seven friaries, one abbey, nine motherhouses for Sisters; nine institutions of higher learning; an orphanage; four old age homes; hundreds of elementary schools; and about 300 Slovak Catholic Parishes. 34 It was toward the maintaining of his Catholic faith that the Slovak Catholic immigrant devoted the greatest portion of his efforts. He did this by organizing parishes, schools, social clubs, and fraternal societies to keep the faith rooted in the young. He did it with whatever time and financial resources he had left after sending stipends back to relatives in the old country for payment of his passage to America or to help his next of kin to emigrate to this land of opportunity.35 Mine disasters and other tragedies often took the lives of husbands and fathers, leaving the family destitute and �SLOVAKIA 153 without money for the funeral. In answer to the need of sickness and funeral benefits, a large number of societies grew up in the industrial and mining towns. Father Furdek organized these individual societies into a Union (Jednota) -the First Catholic Slovak Union (1890). He also organized the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union (1892), the Slovak Institute (Matica Slovenska) (1893), The National Fund, and the Fund to Preserve National Heritage. 36 The First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest Slovak fraternal benefit society in the world (105,000 members), founded in Cleveland, on September 4, 1890, is undoubtedly the greatest achievement of Father Furdek's fruitful life. He founded the organization's official organ, JEDNOT A (The Union), on May 12, 1891, and edited and published it and the KALENDAR JEDNOTA (Annual Jednota) for over a decade. 37 To write about the contributions of the Jednota to American-Slovak life would require a manuscript that could fill a good size book. In fact, on the society's 75th Anniversary in 1965, its history was published in a 560-page book: 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), by Dr. Joseph Pauco. This book portrays the early struggles of the Slovak immigrant.:;, their traits of character, their involvement in events, both here and rn their fatherland, their progress from life in simple settlements to flourishing parishes and to the founding of religious, dducational, cultural and eharitable institutions. It presents thumbnail sketches of institutions like the Catholic Slovak Federation of men and women, the newly established Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome for the training of priests for Slovakia. It includes biographical sketches of notable persons in Slovak life, contemporary ,as well as past, persons whose names were household words in their day-Furdek, Jankola, Hrobak, Dianiska, Pavfo, Murga§, Husek, Kozak, Lach, Rovnianek-all active in American Slovak life.as The Immigrant Archives of the University of Minnesota is establishing a Slovak Room with materials and references from Jednota Press in Middletown, Pa. Other Slovak societies and institutions are making their resources available to the study.39 Another Slovak pioneer, Peter P. Rovnianek, an outstanding organizer, brilliant writer and speaker, organized �154 SLOVAKIA the National Slovak Society "for all the Slovaks" without regard to creed (1890). He was born in Dolny Hricov, Trencin County, Slovakia. 40 In al:idition to the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, other Slovak fraternal benefit societies were organized: the Zivena Beneficial Society (1891), the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union (1893), the Slovak Evangelical Union (1893), the Slovak Gymnastic Union (1896), the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Ladies Union (1898), the Slovak Caitholic Sokol (1905), the Oanadian Slovak League (1932). The total membership of the Slovak fraternal benefit societies in the United States and Canada today is at the 500,000 mark.41 The newspapers were the sounding boards of popular oprmon as well as a unifying force among the Slovaks. Almanacs, such as the FIRST SLOVAK NATIONAL ALMANAC of the National Slovak Society (1893), and KALEND.AR JEDNOTA (Annual Jednota) (1896) of the First Catholic Slovak Union, provided the literary reading that most Slovaks did: short stories, political essays, reviews of important events, religious essays, articles on marriage, and articles pertaining to almost any subject useful to the Slovak readers. Almanacs by the Slovak writers reached the American-Slovak public and became so popular that twenty-nine were published at one time.t2 Slovakia was a land of song and dancing and any celebration of even slight importance in America had to be combined with singing, dancing, and shouting of the most vigorous sort.43 The Slovaks have thousands of folk songs and the 'cardas' dance is the universal favorite. 41 Slovak dramatic clubs were organized at the Slovak parishes and the plays served as the handmaid of religion and stirred the audiences. The best remembered plays are "St. Elizabeth", "St. Genevieva", and "Fabiola", by Fr. Matthew Jankola, a man who foresaw the needs of the Slovak immigrants and did much for them, especially in the field of education. Often enacted were ... entertaining skits portraying the Foibles of human nature, each with a wholesome lesson.4s The Slovaks also organized political clubs, cultural societies, and literary circles, but these had to wait because the Slovaks were occupied with labor conflicts. The early �SLOVAKIA 155 history of unions show the great part the Slovaks played in the labor movement. 46 The Slovaks made their contribution to agriculture in this country. Slovaktown, Arkansas, was a farm community near the town of Stuttgart, which was established by Slovak settlers from the "old country" who came there from the coal fields of Pennsylvania to produce dairy products and vegetables. Slovaktown was chartered in 1895, through the efforts of Peter V. Rovnianek, Francis Pucher, Julius Tatraj, Rev. Stephen Dzubaj, Rev. Stephen Furdek, and Rev. Vaclav Panuska. 47 The first Slovak Catholic parochial school in America was established in 1889 in Streator, Illinois, by the Rev. Ervin E. Gelhoff. 48 Today there are over 200 parochial schools, several high schools, also : St. Andrew's Abbey of the Slovak Benedictines, Cleveland, Ohio; the Slovak Franciscan Fathers of Uniontown, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., Valparaiso, Ind., Columbiana, Ohio, and Easton, Pa.; the Order of Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.; the Slovak Dominican Sisters, Oxford, Mich.; the Slovak Vincentian Sisters, Perrysville, Pa., Bedford, Ohio; the Slovak Franciscan Sisters of Bellevue, Pa., Lacon, Ill., and Bethlehem, Pa; and the Slovak Benedictine Sisters, Tinley Park, Ill .49 Their contribution to the education and the life of the Slovak immigrants should be regarded with deep appreciation for the achievements and accomplishments for the Slovaks in America. They have fulfilled their mission and lived up to their motto "For God and Country" (Za Boha a narod ).50 There remains a whole list of Slovak pioneers, and, with those already mentioned in some detail, a whole volume can be written on each with ease. Perhaps the most fertile, imaginative mind among the Slovaks who came to this country belonged to Father Joseph Murgas. A man of many talents, a painter, and yet having literary skill, Father Murgas made outstanding contributions in the field of electronics. Working even before Marconi had perfected his wireless, Murgas pioneered in telegraphic communication. He perfected a method to transit messages to moving railroad trains and secured a series of patents for his invention which he called the "Tone System". With his financial resources exhausted, Fr. Murgas invited �156 SLOVAKIA Marconi and the famous Professor Fessendom of the University of Pittsburgh to assess his work. What followed is not too clear, but shortly the "Sonorous System" appeared on the commercial market that infringed upon Murgas' patents. The "System" was sold in Europe beyond the reach of U.S. patent courts. Father Murgas held twelve patents, all instrumental in making wireless communications between railroad trains possible. In Slovakia, a new radio station was named after him and the Slovak Republic issued a postage stamp in his memory. In United States during World War II, a Liberty Ship was named in his honor. Father Murgas is also the founder of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, a Slovak Catholic Action organization which came into existence on February 22, 1911, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.st Just as the Slovak Catholic Federation of America was founded to promote Catholic Action, so on May 26, 1907, Father Furdek presided over 7,000 Slovaks in Cleveland, Ohio, representing all the Slovak societies and newspapers and clergy and laity of various religious and political convictions, to found the Slovak League of America. The purpose of the League was to unite all Americans of Slovak descent in the fight of the Slovak nation abroad. 52 The activities of the League and the Federation are a significant chapter in the life of the Slovak immigrants and they still function today with effectiveness. The League promotes Slovak culture and maintains the identity of the Slovak, and the Federation continues to promote Catholic Action. Another Slovak immigrant who "labored indefatigably" to preserve the Catholic faith among the people of his nationality was the Rev. Matthew Jankola. He not only took care of and built parishes in Hazleton, Pa., Pittston, Pa., and Bridgeport, Conn., but served as president of the First Catholic Slovak Union; was editor of JEDNOJ;'A (The Union); contributed to Slovak periodicals; and was responsible, after tremendous effort, of establishing a teaching community of Slovak Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius for the perpetuation of Catholic education among the Slovak people of America.53 It has been said that what Fr. �SLOVAKIA 157 Furdek was to the national life of the Slovak immigrants, Father Jankola was to their religious life.54 CONCLUSION The Slovak pioneer has built the foundation and started the process of development in the religious field, in education, in fraternalism, in journalism, in literature, and in culture. He did this in a strange environment, living in big cities and small towns, with a frightening language barrier, but he enjoyed and breathed freedom. He was free to think, work, write, and worship as he wished. He grasped every opportunity to grow and prosper in this free land, and he did all this to good advantage, thereby reaping all the precious things necessary and peculiar to him in the new world. And, the Slovak pioneer did this within one generation! 55 The Slovak with his sons and their sons, the new generations, advanced rapidly and their activity in the business world, political life, sports, and social life became more pronounced. But it was the hundreds of thousands of Slovak workers-the peasants representing practically every village in Slovakia- who gave concrete meaning to the dream which brought them here.56 The immigrants and those of Slovak descent took on another task when they resolved in the spirit of America that their homeland, Slovakia, would some day be free and independent of alien rule. They worked for and were determined to see in their time, . . . that Slovakia some day would be master of its own household, free to work out its own destiny ·as on equal among the civilized nations of the eavth.57 Along with Father Furdek, countless others played a large role in this work. Among them were Michael Bosak, Sr., whose warm story follows the traditionally American "rags to riches" theme. He was the wealthiest American of Slovak descent in the entire country. 58 Then there was Joseph Rusek, who spent thirty-seven years as the editor of the JEDNOTA (The Union), the most widely read American-Slovak newspaper in the United States. Both these men were instrumental in getting Slovakia's problems before their fellow Americans.59 �158 SLOVAKIA There were also many significant contributions by the American Slovaks in all the wars. Not only did the youth serve with distinction in the armed forces, but the Slovak leaders at home conducted huge War Bond drives. In World War II, headed by the Rev. John J. Lach of Whiting, Indiana, the Committee sold over $53 million in bonds. In recognition of this achievement, the Treasury Department credited the Slovak League with five bombers and named four "Liberty Ships" after famous Slovaks: "The Stephen Furdek", "The Mathias Kocak", "The General Milan R. t'itefanik", and "The Joseph Murgas". 60 In 1964, the Slovaks of America donated over one-half million dollars to build the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, where young men are being trained to be priests so that one day they can serve Slovakia when it is free of communism. Another great contribution was the Chapel of Our Mother of Sorrows, a gift of the First Catholic Slovak Union which was dedicated on September 5, 1965 in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D. C. This occasion was also the Diamond Jubilee of the Jednota and over 15,000 American• Slovaks gathered in the nation's capital to hear Senator Frank Lausche of Ohio laud the achievements of the American Slovaks. 61 The Slovaks contributed a large quota of stars and stalwarts in the field of sports and athletics in American colleges and on the professional teams. 62 The names on the teams' rosters today are witness to this fact, but names like: Pafko, Lapchik, Musial, Bucha, Bednarik, Valo, Kralik and Mucha are familiar to most sports-minded Americans. Yes, indeed, the Slovakis were a part of the "great emigration and: ... they have definitely and permanently united their /destiny with the destiny of America. It was men like Furdek, Murgas, Jankola, Rovnianek, and others who came after them that aided and guided their fellow Slovaks. They interpret~d America to the Slovaks and likewise interpreted the psychology and ideals of the Slovaks to their American neighbors. Through their leadership and guidance the Slovaks of America were enabled to make their contribution to the material, cultural, and spiritual progress of their adopted land.6 3 The Slovak was similar in many ways to other im- �SLOVAKIA 159 migrants in the assimilation process, but unlike the other ethnic groups, he was destined to play a role in the future of his homeland.64 In the last 25 years, over 15,000 Slovaks fled from their homeland to escape the vengeance of the communists and over 3,000 of these were Slovak intellectuals. Among the refugees from this tyranny are some of the best known Slovak novelists, journalists, poets, and writers. These writers preserved their literary creativeness and formed the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists and opened avenue to the greatest surge of literary efforts aboUlt Slovaks on several continents. More books have been published and distributed about the Slovak!s on this continent in the last ten years than in all the prevfous years put together.65 There is no question that these writers and historians will echo the deeds of their countrymen for posterity. What is still needed, however, are writers about the Slovaks in the English language. The Most Reverend Joseph A. Durick, D. D., Bishop, Diocese of Nashville, Tenn., speaking in 1965 in Washington, D. C.,summed it all up when in tribute to the Slovaks he said: The triumph of the Slov,aks has come about because of constant effort, faithful service, zeal for God's house and the willingness always to sacrifice. The Slovaks great triumph over innumerable odds has made ,t heir contribution to Church and Country a considerable one. By their loyalty to the Faith and subscription to the great fundamental fre~doms which they •have exemplified in the market place and in th~ home, they have helped to build the great city of God and the city of man in our beloved Country.66 FOOTNOTES 1) Victor R. Greene, " Sons of Hunkies: Men With A Past," SLOVAKI,\ , Vol. XVI (No. 39, 1966) , 80. 2) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946) , p. 176. 2a ) Ibid., p. 177. 3) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 178. 4 ) Gilbert L. Oddo, SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y. , 1960) , pp. 331-332. 5) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946),p. 168. 6) John Porubsky, "Lincoln And The Slovaks", KALEND'AR JEDNOTA, XLVII (1944), 129. �160 SLOVAKI A 7) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p. 332. 8 ) Konstantin Culen, DEJINY SLOVAKOV V AMERJKE (History of the Slovaks In America) (Slovakia, 1942), I, 24-25. 9 ) Ibid., p. 26-27. 10 ) Ibid. , p. 28. 11) Ibid., p . 29. 12) Emily Greene Balch, Ph.D., OUR SLAVIC FELLOW CITIZENS (New York, N. Y., 1910), p. 99. 13 ) James J. Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV ( 1965), 15. 14) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p. 333. 15) Emily Greene Balch, Ph.D., OUR SLAVIC CITIZENS (New York, N. Y., 1910) , p. 103. 16) James J . Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), 16. 17 ) Joseph M. Kirschbaum , LL.D., Ph.D., SLOVAKIA : NATION AT THE CROSSROA DS OF CENTRAL EUROPE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p . 15. 17a ) Joseph N. Misany, Esq., "Father Andrew Hlinka", SLOVAKIA , xv (1965), p. 76. 18) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y. , 1960), p. 333. 19) Peter P . Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p . 157. 20) Bonaventu re S. Bue, Ph.D., SLOVAK NATIONAL ISM: ITS ORIGINS, CONFLICT S AND OBJECTIV ES (M.ddletow n, Pa., 1957), p. 60. 21) Oddo, op. cit., p. 334. 22) William Kona, M.A., "The Oldest Slovak Newpaper in the U.S.A.", S LOVAKIA, XV (1965), pp. 38-39. 23 ) Joseph Pauoo, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCK EJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Middletow n, Pa., 1965) , pp. 13-14. 24 ) Gilbert Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960 ), p. 169. 25 ) Joseph Skultety, SKETCHE S FROM SLOVAK HISTORY (Middletown, Pa., 1930), p. 10. 26) Konstantin Culen, DEJINY SLOVAKO V V AMERIKE (History of the Slovaks in America) (Slovakia, 1942), I, 114-115. 28) James J . Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), 28. 29) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960 ), p. 338. �SLOVAKIA 161 30) "St. Joseph's Hazleton: Slovak Church Rebuilt", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV (1966) , p. 12. 31) Gilbert L. o'ddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 334. 32) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 169. 33) Oddo, op. cit., p. 337. 34) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrived", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965) , p. 65. 35) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 336. 36) Ibid., p. 335. 37) Ibid., p . 334. 38) Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M., "Book Reviews", SLOVAKIA, XV, (1965), pp. 152-155. 39) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Jednota Talk", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV, (1966), p. 5. 40) Dr. Peter Hletko, "The Founder of Our Society", ALMANAC FOR THE YEAR 1966, LXXIV (1966), 3. 41) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York. N. Y., 1960), p . 339. 42) James J. Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of the Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), p . 25. 43) Sr. Mary Eileen, SS.C.M., SLOVAK WEEK LECTURES: FEATURING ART AND MUSIC (Danville, Pa., 1957), p. 1. 44) James J . .Zatko, Ph.D., Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), p . 19. 45) Sr. M. Consuela Gregorovic, M .A., CONTRIBUTIONS OF MATTHEW JANKOLA TO SLOVAK EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (Danville, Pa., 1959), pp. 11, 47. 46) .Zatko, op. cit. , p. 29. 47) James J . .Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), p. 30. 48) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Looking Back", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV ( 1966), p. 5. 49) Philip A. Hrobak, SLOVAK CATHOLIC PARISHES AND INSTITUTIONS (Middletown, Pa., 1955) , p. 23. 50) Ibid., p. 27. 51) Canon Joseph Altany, LL.D., "Joseph Murgas: Father of Wireless", DOBRY PASTIER (Good Shepherd), XXXVII (1964), p. 3. 52) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , pp. 343, 344. 53) Sr. M. Consuela Gregorovic, M.A., CONTRIBUTIONS OF MAT- �162 SLOVAKIA THEW JANKOLA TO SLOVAK EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (Danville, Pa., 1959), p. 6. 54) Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Mid/dletown, Pa., 1965), .p . 306. 55) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 331. 56) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 157. 57) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 344. 58) Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of ,the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Middletown, Pa., 1965), p. 179. 59) Ibid., p. 344. 60) Oddo, op. cit., p. 338. 61) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrivejd", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), pp. 66, 67. 62) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton,Pa., 1946),p.176. 63) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 177. 64) Gilbert L. O~do, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y.), p. 346. 65) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrived", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965) , p. 65. 66) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Jednota's Glories and Future", JEDNOTA ANNUAL FURDEK, 1966, V (1966), pp. 4, 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY Altany, Joseph. " Rev. Joseph Murgas, Founder of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Recogniz~ as the 'Father of Wireless'", Dobry Pastier (Good Shepherd), XXXVII (1964). Balch, Emily G. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, New York: Charities Publication, 1910. Consuela, Sr. M. Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States. Danville, Pa., 1958. <'.'.:ulen, Konstantin. Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike (History of the Slovaks in America), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1942. Eileen, Sr. M. Slovak Week Lectures: Featuring Art and Music. Danville, Pa., 1957. Emerentia, Mother M. "Book reviews", Slovakia, XV (1965). Greene, Victor R. "Sons of Hunkies: Men With a Past?", Slovakia, XVI, Middletown, Pa., (1966). Hletko, Peter. "The Founder of Our Society", Almanac for the Year 1966. LXXIV, Pittsburgh, Pa., (1966). �SLOVAKIA 163 Hrobak, Philip. Slovak Catholic Parishes and Instituti ons. Midjdletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1955. Kirschbaum, Joseph. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Kona, William. "The Oldest Slovak Newspaper in the U.S.A.", Slovakia , XV, Middletown, Pa., (1965). Krajsa, Joseph C. "St. Joseph, Hazleton: Slovak Church Rebuilt", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 3998 (1966). "Jednota Talk", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 3999 (1966). "Looking Back", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 4000 (1966). "Je\foOlta Glories and Future", Jednota Annual Furdek. V, Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, (1960). "Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia. XV, Jednota Press, Middletown , Pa., (1965)°. Misany, Joseph N. "Father Andrew ffiinka", Slovakia, XV, Jednota Press, Middletown, Pa. ( 1965). Mother Tongue of the Foreign Born. U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, United States Census of Population, 1960. Washington, D. C. (1966). Qido, Gilbert L. Slovakia and Its People. New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Orth, Samuel P. Immigration and Labor. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1920. Pauco, Joseph. 75 Rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union). Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1965. Porubsky, John Rev. "Lincoln and the Slovaks", Kalendar Jednota (Annual Jednota) XLVII, Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, (1944) . Skultety, Joseph. Sketches from Slovak History. Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1930. Steiner, Edward A. The Immigrant Tide: Its Ebb and Flow. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1909. Yurchak, Peter P. The Slovaks. Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1946. 2atko, James J. "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", Slovakia, XV, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, (1965). THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to works of charity, materially and morally aids Slovaks, here and abroad, who may be in need of such aid; it supports the American Red Cross, United Fund Campaigns and other American charitable projects. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1971, Vol. 21 Description An account of the resource Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971. 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 1971 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 145 Slovaks A PART OF THE GREAT EMIGRATION TO AMERICA Joseph John K r a j s a The Slovak nation and the Slovak people, who have had their own territory of Slovakia since the sixth century in Central Europe, and who were a part of the great emigration to America, have left their indelible imprint on the character of America. Slovakia's history is a very tragic one. This country has suffered for over 1,100 years from every type of oppression ever conceived by man. It is one of the oldest Christian nations in Central Eure>pe, and has suffered under foreign domination more than any other nation. At times the Slovaks have been misunderstood and misrepresented, but they clung to their language, religion, customs, and traditions. The Slovaks lived through the predominance of feudalistic Hungary, the glory of the Magyars and the Czechs, and presently the Slovaks are ever determined to outlive the terror of Communism that has been thrust on them since 1945. Until recent years, very little has been written in this country on the history and culture of the Slovak people, in spite of the fact that almost one-third of all the Slovaks in the world live in the United States and Canada. 1 In area Slovakia is larger than Switzerland or Denmark. It lies along the northern shores of the Central Danube River, where its slopes on the east touch the Alps and the western slopes the Carpathian mountains. Since the beginning of European history, a route run through the gate of the Danube basin connecting the West and the East. Because of this fact, Slovakia is a nation that blends the culture of the West with the Eastern Slovanic culture even though the Romans withdraw from the Danube at the end of the 4th century. Oppressive measures continued for centuries in one form or another, but when it became possible to rid themselves of this oppression, the Slovaks migrated to 146 SLOVAKIA America to help mould the American culture-one rooted in the best traditions which they brought with them. True, the Slovaks began coming to America after 1875 numbers and before the great exodus itself, there great in hardly was a family in Slovakia which did not have at least one relative in America. The Slovaks were not always welcomed in the locale where they settled. When my grandfather arrived in A· merica in 1906, he was stoned by the "Americans" from the railroad station until he arrived in the section of the town called a Ward where all the "foreigners" were living. When he became settled, he was hard at work like the rest of the immigrants. He worked as a wiremaker ( drotar) and became what the handbook, "Gateway to Citizenship", prepared by the Department of Justice, said in tribute: The Slovak The endlessly unbowed, That gave the west continent The proudest and best of my Broad backs and eager youth ... Ask the coal you burn, who mined it, The ore, what worker wrung it from the earth, The bridge, what man bound its steel togetherAn every third answer will be a 'Slovak' ... And shall you forget me?2 President Taft did not forgot when he said of the Slovaks: The truth is, we need a little ,p oetry among our native Americans; we need an appreciation of poetic ideals; we need to have mixed with our every-day humdrum life a little bit of the romance that you bring from the old country and we welcome you on that account. 2 a President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not forgot the Slovak1s when he said: This country is m~dful of the vast contribution the Slovaks have made to ,the cause of furthering its development and growth-moral, cultural and material. The stout-hearted, clear-minded, freedomloving and determined people of Slovakia, who, sensitive of the wrongs and deprivations experienced in th~ir own country at the hands of invading forces, turned to America seeking a new home, now comprise with their children and grandchildren an asset in life, industry and culture of this great land that defies human power of appraisal.3 SLOVAKIA 147 EARLY SWVAK EMIGRATION Even before the great "new emigration" which began around 1873, many Slovaks came to America as part of the "old emigration". Long before the exodus of the Slovak peasants and journeymen for America, hundreds of Slovaks left their homeland for life elsewhere. The Slovak emigration was not only for economic reasons, but also involved was the impelling desire to be part of the dream of a free world. This was also the dream of other ethnic groups from Central Europe. It should be mentioned, however, that before the mass emigration to the United States after the 1870's, there were Slovaks who made their mark in this land of the free. One Slovak who helped America gain her independence from Great Britain was a soldier, Major John J. Polereck~•, son of Count Andrew Polerecky of Polerieka, Turiec County, Slovakia. In 1781, when the army of Cornwallis was defeated, its arms were surrendered to Polerecky at Yorktown, Va. The story of John Polerecky's participation in the American Revolution was unfolded by Dr. Joseph Cincik, a professor in Cleveland, Ohio, who is a distant relative of Major Polerecky. John Polerecky, promoted to a Major in the " French Hussars" by Louis XV, came to America with the French expeditionary army of Rochambeau to help the colonists overthrow British rule. It was during the siege of Yorktown, ait: the beginning of 1781, that Major Polerecky became acquainted with Col. Henry Dearborn (1751-1829) and Col. Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810), who later became General in the American Army and then Secretary of War. On October 20, 1781, when Rochambeau sent Duke de Lauzun to Paris to report the victory to the French King, Polerecky accompanied him. Polerecky became a naturalized citizen by an act of ;the Massachusetts legislature and his papers were signed by Governor John Hancock, one of the signers of ,the American Dec1aration of Independence. Major Polerecky held various public offices from 1789 to 1828.4 Another Slovak who came to America in the earlier years was a doctor, Dr. Samuel Figuly, who fought in the Civil War in the side of the North and is especially noted for his many contributions to the scientific cultivation of tabacco in Virginia. As a plantation owner, he settled down to the cultivation of tabacco in the South, counseled from abroad by the Slovak botanist, Holuby. During the latter part of his life, Dr. Figuly took part in the unsuccessful expedition to the North Pole.5 148 SLOVAKIA There is a long list of Slovak names that appear on the list of volunteers during the Civil War, especially with the militia in Chicago known as the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin". Such names as Filip, Krupinsky, Fiala, and Kozlej are listed as some of the volunteers.6 The famed Civil War soldier who commanded the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin" was a Slovak, Col Gejza Mihalotzy, who was killed later at Chattanooga. The fort there was then referred to as "Fort Mihalotzy". Col. Mihalotzy recruited the company of riflemen in Illinois and received permission from the President to call his group the "Lincoln Riflemen of Slovak Origin" .7 A Slovak, Andrew Jelik, was a tailor on a Dutch Ship which sailed to America in 1754-1755.8 Another Slovak who arrived in America during the 18th century was Count Maurice Benovsky who landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1757 . .Ais an adventurer his career took him to Madagascar where he became King. In the year 1800, a Slovak dealer in oils surprised a Slovak Jesuit by making his confession in Slovak. 9 The first Slovak setUement was made in Philadelphia, Pa. by wire-workers (drotari), in 1840 at 412-414 Front Street.10A Martin Chalan landed in the United States in 1872, took out his first papers in 1876, and became an American citizen in 1879. He made the round-trip across the ocean twenty-six times.11 THE GREAT SURGE OF SLOVAK EMIGRATION In the wake of the great emigration to America, the movement seems to have begun in the eastern part of Slovakia, especially the counties of Zemplin, saris, and Spis.12 Between the years 1869-1890, the county of Spis lost 14 % of her youth between the ages of 20 to 25 years and 31 % of the men between 26 and 30; saris lost 34 % of those between 20 and 25 and 44 % of the men ·b etween 26 and 30 years of age. The movement spread in Slovakia as their brethren became settled in America and the central and western counties took to emigration in the next decade. 13 Between 1875-1914, great masses of Slovak intellectuals, peasants, tradesmen, and artists made up the hundreds SLOVAKIA 149 of thousands who crowded the cities of New York, Scranton, Hazleton, Cleveland, Wilkes-Barre, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Philadelphia, Detroit, Bridgeport, Newark and the eastern industrial portions of the United States. These big cities and the little towns around them became centers of the new Slovak life in this country. There scarcely was an industry or trade, factory, mill, mine, or iron works where Slovak immigrants and their sons could not be found. Because of their brawn, they took on the most difficult jobs.14 New York ranked first as the port of entry to America; then in order followed Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Boston, and Portland. From Slovakia, the immigrants generally moved by rail to German, Dutch, or Italian ports. Through the port of Hamburg, Germany passed the greatest number of emigrants. Their voyage took from 13 to 19 days. For my grandmother and grandfather, who came across the ocean in different ships and in different years, the voyage lasted thirteen days. All they brought with them was a suitcase made of straw. It is difficult to give the exact figures on Slovak immigration before 1899 because the authorities counted the immigrants according to the country of last residence, and many of the Slovaks listed Hungary as their country of last residence. The total immigration to the United States numbered 9,555,673 in the period of 1899-1910, and of this number there were 337,527 Slovaks. The peak year was 1905 for the Slovaks when 52,368 of them were admitted to this new country of America. 15 In the twelve years ending with June 30, 1910, Slovakia ranked eight among the nations who emigrated to the United States. The Slovaks percentage rate of emigration was the highest of any other group. In fact, the rate of emigration of Slovaks per 1,000 was 18.6; double that of any other race of people, except the Hebrews (18.3). 16 SWV AK PIONEERS The truth remains that Slovakia, a nation with an area of 31,600 square miles-situated in the very heart of Central Europe; a small number of people of five million 150 SLOVAKIA in population and the oldest nation on the central Danube River, contributed much to the development of America. 17 In 1963, United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, reflected pointedly about the Slovaks when he spoke in Youngstown, Ohio: The United States wou~d be a poorer nation today, economically, intellectually, culturally, and in every other way, if it were not for the over two million of our citizens who are of Slovak birth or ancestry.17a The passing of some eighty years and the contributions of Slovaks to this country prompted Attorney General Kennedy to make the above conclusion. The immigrant, no matter where he was situated in the United States, had two seemingly opposing drives that moved him. One was toward becoming an American with which came the social acceptance all immigrants wanted from those who came to this country before them. The other was to preserve the culture, language, and faith of their Slovak past. Strange as it may seem, the two aims did not clash, instead, the two meshed and contributed largerly to the dedication and labors of the Slovak pioneers in the new land. Living in a vastly different environment, they were able to fashion a completely new life. 18 Thou, 0 Columbia, hast rent their chains, And lifted them to manhood, heaven, God!l9 On United States soil, the Slovaks developed a very living and dynamic organized activity; chiefly in journalism, fratemalism, education, music, drama, and religion. 20 Among the first was Julius Wolf (1859-1930) and John Slovensky ( 1856-1900) who, shortly after arriving in America in 1879, founded in Pittsburgh, Pa., the first Slovak periodical, the BULLETIN" (1885), which was hectograph~d. lit was replaced a year later, on October 21, 1886, by the first Slovak newspaper published in America, the AMERIKANSKO-SLOVENSK:t NOVINY (The American-Slovak News), through which Wolf and Slovensky set about encouraging the twofold development of .Slovaks in America. Intergration and yet preservation were ,the ideas of Slovensky and Wolf, both former teachers in Spis County, held out as maxims to the new immigrant.21 The second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called NOVA VLAS1' (The New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streator, Illinois. However, the town of Plymouth, SLOVAKIA 151 Pennsylvania is the cradle of SWV .AK V AMERIKE (Slovak In America), which is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaper in the world. The founder of this newspaper was Albert S. Ambrose in 1889.22 The largest and most influential American-Slovak newspaper in the world-even today-is the JEDNOTA (The Union) -circulation 40,000-the official organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which was founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, Ohio, May 12, 1891.23 From the very beginning, the Slovaks set out to preserve their Christian heritage, and, because of economic and social need, they formed societies or lodges. Both established organizational life for the Slovaks and the task of implementing it fell on the shoulders of clergymen. It was the Slovak clergymen who came from the old country and responded to the call of the people and founded and helped to organize parishes, fraternal benefit societies, other organizations, and edited newspapers and periodicals.24 It was natural that the Slovaks first wanted to have their own churches for that was their prized heritage. In 862, there already stood in our Nitra, Slovakia, a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first among all western Slavs and the first church in Central Europe.25 The Slovak Calvinists of Jessup, Pa. had a chapel there in 1888 and were first organized as a religious group in 1887 in Scranton, Pa. 26 The Slovak Lutherans were the first to organize on a religious basis in the United States. They established the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Streator, Illinois, October 5, 1884, and their first minister was Karol Horak. Other Lutheran parishes were organized in Freeland, Pa. and Nanticoke, Pa., in 1886, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1888.27 The Slovak Lutherans of Chicago organized the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1893 and in 1894, the Rev. L. Boor became the pastor. 28 Today, the Protestant group represents about 12 % of the Americans of Slovak descent. The Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church has 52 churches and the Slovak Presbyterians have 15 churches. A very small number of Slovaks also belong to other denominations. 29 The first Catholic parish was founded in Hazleton, 152 SLOVAKIA Pa., in 1882, by the Slovak priest, Ignatius Jaskovic. His St. Joseph's Parish was actually formed in November 18, 1884. Prior to that he 1said Mass for his people in the "Irish Church", St. Gabriel's of Hazleton.30 The Slovak Catholics had two problems: priests were needed who could speak the language and funds were needed for parish churches and schools. One of the first Slovak priests who came to the new world, and luckily for the future, was the Rev. Stephen Furdek, a native of the village of Trstemi, Orava County, Slovakia. He arrived in Cleveland, Ohio in the early spring of 1882, and with Bishop Richard Gilmour's understanding and cooperation, he set the pattern in motion to solve the Slovak's problems. At the Bishop's request, Father Furdek went to Europe to seek out priests who would serve the spiritual needs of the Catholic Slovaks, Slovenes, and Croatians.31 Besides Father Furdek, other Catholic clergymen-Rev. Paul Lisicky, Dr. Alexander Dianiska, Rev. Anton Gracik, Rev. Joseph Murgas, Msgr. Stephen Krasul'a, and others became dynamic leaders of the Slovaks in America.32 Slovak Catholics number about 85 % of the American Slovaks in this country.33 A look at our Church dignitaries shows Bishop Joseph A. Durick, Bishop Andrew G. Grutka, Bishop Paul Hnilica, Bishop Michael Rusnak (the first Bishop i-n over 1,100 years for the Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite); Abbots Theodore Kojis, Stanislav F. Gmuca, Jerome Koval; five with the rank of Protonotary Apostolic; over fifty prelates; and over 1,000 American,Slov,ak priests. There are seven friaries, one abbey, nine motherhouses for Sisters; nine institutions of higher learning; an orphanage; four old age homes; hundreds of elementary schools; and about 300 Slovak Catholic Parishes. 34 It was toward the maintaining of his Catholic faith that the Slovak Catholic immigrant devoted the greatest portion of his efforts. He did this by organizing parishes, schools, social clubs, and fraternal societies to keep the faith rooted in the young. He did it with whatever time and financial resources he had left after sending stipends back to relatives in the old country for payment of his passage to America or to help his next of kin to emigrate to this land of opportunity.35 Mine disasters and other tragedies often took the lives of husbands and fathers, leaving the family destitute and SLOVAKIA 153 without money for the funeral. In answer to the need of sickness and funeral benefits, a large number of societies grew up in the industrial and mining towns. Father Furdek organized these individual societies into a Union (Jednota) -the First Catholic Slovak Union (1890). He also organized the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union (1892), the Slovak Institute (Matica Slovenska) (1893), The National Fund, and the Fund to Preserve National Heritage. 36 The First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest Slovak fraternal benefit society in the world (105,000 members), founded in Cleveland, on September 4, 1890, is undoubtedly the greatest achievement of Father Furdek's fruitful life. He founded the organization's official organ, JEDNOT A (The Union), on May 12, 1891, and edited and published it and the KALENDAR JEDNOTA (Annual Jednota) for over a decade. 37 To write about the contributions of the Jednota to American-Slovak life would require a manuscript that could fill a good size book. In fact, on the society's 75th Anniversary in 1965, its history was published in a 560-page book: 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), by Dr. Joseph Pauco. This book portrays the early struggles of the Slovak immigrant.:;, their traits of character, their involvement in events, both here and rn their fatherland, their progress from life in simple settlements to flourishing parishes and to the founding of religious, dducational, cultural and eharitable institutions. It presents thumbnail sketches of institutions like the Catholic Slovak Federation of men and women, the newly established Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome for the training of priests for Slovakia. It includes biographical sketches of notable persons in Slovak life, contemporary ,as well as past, persons whose names were household words in their day-Furdek, Jankola, Hrobak, Dianiska, Pavfo, Murga§, Husek, Kozak, Lach, Rovnianek-all active in American Slovak life.as The Immigrant Archives of the University of Minnesota is establishing a Slovak Room with materials and references from Jednota Press in Middletown, Pa. Other Slovak societies and institutions are making their resources available to the study.39 Another Slovak pioneer, Peter P. Rovnianek, an outstanding organizer, brilliant writer and speaker, organized 154 SLOVAKIA the National Slovak Society "for all the Slovaks" without regard to creed (1890). He was born in Dolny Hricov, Trencin County, Slovakia. 40 In al:idition to the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, other Slovak fraternal benefit societies were organized: the Zivena Beneficial Society (1891), the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union (1893), the Slovak Evangelical Union (1893), the Slovak Gymnastic Union (1896), the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Ladies Union (1898), the Slovak Caitholic Sokol (1905), the Oanadian Slovak League (1932). The total membership of the Slovak fraternal benefit societies in the United States and Canada today is at the 500,000 mark.41 The newspapers were the sounding boards of popular oprmon as well as a unifying force among the Slovaks. Almanacs, such as the FIRST SLOVAK NATIONAL ALMANAC of the National Slovak Society (1893), and KALEND.AR JEDNOTA (Annual Jednota) (1896) of the First Catholic Slovak Union, provided the literary reading that most Slovaks did: short stories, political essays, reviews of important events, religious essays, articles on marriage, and articles pertaining to almost any subject useful to the Slovak readers. Almanacs by the Slovak writers reached the American-Slovak public and became so popular that twenty-nine were published at one time.t2 Slovakia was a land of song and dancing and any celebration of even slight importance in America had to be combined with singing, dancing, and shouting of the most vigorous sort.43 The Slovaks have thousands of folk songs and the 'cardas' dance is the universal favorite. 41 Slovak dramatic clubs were organized at the Slovak parishes and the plays served as the handmaid of religion and stirred the audiences. The best remembered plays are "St. Elizabeth", "St. Genevieva", and "Fabiola", by Fr. Matthew Jankola, a man who foresaw the needs of the Slovak immigrants and did much for them, especially in the field of education. Often enacted were ... entertaining skits portraying the Foibles of human nature, each with a wholesome lesson.4s The Slovaks also organized political clubs, cultural societies, and literary circles, but these had to wait because the Slovaks were occupied with labor conflicts. The early SLOVAKIA 155 history of unions show the great part the Slovaks played in the labor movement. 46 The Slovaks made their contribution to agriculture in this country. Slovaktown, Arkansas, was a farm community near the town of Stuttgart, which was established by Slovak settlers from the "old country" who came there from the coal fields of Pennsylvania to produce dairy products and vegetables. Slovaktown was chartered in 1895, through the efforts of Peter V. Rovnianek, Francis Pucher, Julius Tatraj, Rev. Stephen Dzubaj, Rev. Stephen Furdek, and Rev. Vaclav Panuska. 47 The first Slovak Catholic parochial school in America was established in 1889 in Streator, Illinois, by the Rev. Ervin E. Gelhoff. 48 Today there are over 200 parochial schools, several high schools, also : St. Andrew's Abbey of the Slovak Benedictines, Cleveland, Ohio; the Slovak Franciscan Fathers of Uniontown, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., Valparaiso, Ind., Columbiana, Ohio, and Easton, Pa.; the Order of Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.; the Slovak Dominican Sisters, Oxford, Mich.; the Slovak Vincentian Sisters, Perrysville, Pa., Bedford, Ohio; the Slovak Franciscan Sisters of Bellevue, Pa., Lacon, Ill., and Bethlehem, Pa; and the Slovak Benedictine Sisters, Tinley Park, Ill .49 Their contribution to the education and the life of the Slovak immigrants should be regarded with deep appreciation for the achievements and accomplishments for the Slovaks in America. They have fulfilled their mission and lived up to their motto "For God and Country" (Za Boha a narod ).50 There remains a whole list of Slovak pioneers, and, with those already mentioned in some detail, a whole volume can be written on each with ease. Perhaps the most fertile, imaginative mind among the Slovaks who came to this country belonged to Father Joseph Murgas. A man of many talents, a painter, and yet having literary skill, Father Murgas made outstanding contributions in the field of electronics. Working even before Marconi had perfected his wireless, Murgas pioneered in telegraphic communication. He perfected a method to transit messages to moving railroad trains and secured a series of patents for his invention which he called the "Tone System". With his financial resources exhausted, Fr. Murgas invited 156 SLOVAKIA Marconi and the famous Professor Fessendom of the University of Pittsburgh to assess his work. What followed is not too clear, but shortly the "Sonorous System" appeared on the commercial market that infringed upon Murgas' patents. The "System" was sold in Europe beyond the reach of U.S. patent courts. Father Murgas held twelve patents, all instrumental in making wireless communications between railroad trains possible. In Slovakia, a new radio station was named after him and the Slovak Republic issued a postage stamp in his memory. In United States during World War II, a Liberty Ship was named in his honor. Father Murgas is also the founder of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, a Slovak Catholic Action organization which came into existence on February 22, 1911, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.st Just as the Slovak Catholic Federation of America was founded to promote Catholic Action, so on May 26, 1907, Father Furdek presided over 7,000 Slovaks in Cleveland, Ohio, representing all the Slovak societies and newspapers and clergy and laity of various religious and political convictions, to found the Slovak League of America. The purpose of the League was to unite all Americans of Slovak descent in the fight of the Slovak nation abroad. 52 The activities of the League and the Federation are a significant chapter in the life of the Slovak immigrants and they still function today with effectiveness. The League promotes Slovak culture and maintains the identity of the Slovak, and the Federation continues to promote Catholic Action. Another Slovak immigrant who "labored indefatigably" to preserve the Catholic faith among the people of his nationality was the Rev. Matthew Jankola. He not only took care of and built parishes in Hazleton, Pa., Pittston, Pa., and Bridgeport, Conn., but served as president of the First Catholic Slovak Union; was editor of JEDNOJ;'A (The Union); contributed to Slovak periodicals; and was responsible, after tremendous effort, of establishing a teaching community of Slovak Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius for the perpetuation of Catholic education among the Slovak people of America.53 It has been said that what Fr. SLOVAKIA 157 Furdek was to the national life of the Slovak immigrants, Father Jankola was to their religious life.54 CONCLUSION The Slovak pioneer has built the foundation and started the process of development in the religious field, in education, in fraternalism, in journalism, in literature, and in culture. He did this in a strange environment, living in big cities and small towns, with a frightening language barrier, but he enjoyed and breathed freedom. He was free to think, work, write, and worship as he wished. He grasped every opportunity to grow and prosper in this free land, and he did all this to good advantage, thereby reaping all the precious things necessary and peculiar to him in the new world. And, the Slovak pioneer did this within one generation! 55 The Slovak with his sons and their sons, the new generations, advanced rapidly and their activity in the business world, political life, sports, and social life became more pronounced. But it was the hundreds of thousands of Slovak workers-the peasants representing practically every village in Slovakia- who gave concrete meaning to the dream which brought them here.56 The immigrants and those of Slovak descent took on another task when they resolved in the spirit of America that their homeland, Slovakia, would some day be free and independent of alien rule. They worked for and were determined to see in their time, . . . that Slovakia some day would be master of its own household, free to work out its own destiny ·as on equal among the civilized nations of the eavth.57 Along with Father Furdek, countless others played a large role in this work. Among them were Michael Bosak, Sr., whose warm story follows the traditionally American "rags to riches" theme. He was the wealthiest American of Slovak descent in the entire country. 58 Then there was Joseph Rusek, who spent thirty-seven years as the editor of the JEDNOTA (The Union), the most widely read American-Slovak newspaper in the United States. Both these men were instrumental in getting Slovakia's problems before their fellow Americans.59 158 SLOVAKIA There were also many significant contributions by the American Slovaks in all the wars. Not only did the youth serve with distinction in the armed forces, but the Slovak leaders at home conducted huge War Bond drives. In World War II, headed by the Rev. John J. Lach of Whiting, Indiana, the Committee sold over $53 million in bonds. In recognition of this achievement, the Treasury Department credited the Slovak League with five bombers and named four "Liberty Ships" after famous Slovaks: "The Stephen Furdek", "The Mathias Kocak", "The General Milan R. t'itefanik", and "The Joseph Murgas". 60 In 1964, the Slovaks of America donated over one-half million dollars to build the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, where young men are being trained to be priests so that one day they can serve Slovakia when it is free of communism. Another great contribution was the Chapel of Our Mother of Sorrows, a gift of the First Catholic Slovak Union which was dedicated on September 5, 1965 in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D. C. This occasion was also the Diamond Jubilee of the Jednota and over 15,000 American• Slovaks gathered in the nation's capital to hear Senator Frank Lausche of Ohio laud the achievements of the American Slovaks. 61 The Slovaks contributed a large quota of stars and stalwarts in the field of sports and athletics in American colleges and on the professional teams. 62 The names on the teams' rosters today are witness to this fact, but names like: Pafko, Lapchik, Musial, Bucha, Bednarik, Valo, Kralik and Mucha are familiar to most sports-minded Americans. Yes, indeed, the Slovakis were a part of the "great emigration and: ... they have definitely and permanently united their /destiny with the destiny of America. It was men like Furdek, Murgas, Jankola, Rovnianek, and others who came after them that aided and guided their fellow Slovaks. They interpret~d America to the Slovaks and likewise interpreted the psychology and ideals of the Slovaks to their American neighbors. Through their leadership and guidance the Slovaks of America were enabled to make their contribution to the material, cultural, and spiritual progress of their adopted land.6 3 The Slovak was similar in many ways to other im- SLOVAKIA 159 migrants in the assimilation process, but unlike the other ethnic groups, he was destined to play a role in the future of his homeland.64 In the last 25 years, over 15,000 Slovaks fled from their homeland to escape the vengeance of the communists and over 3,000 of these were Slovak intellectuals. Among the refugees from this tyranny are some of the best known Slovak novelists, journalists, poets, and writers. These writers preserved their literary creativeness and formed the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists and opened avenue to the greatest surge of literary efforts aboUlt Slovaks on several continents. More books have been published and distributed about the Slovak!s on this continent in the last ten years than in all the prevfous years put together.65 There is no question that these writers and historians will echo the deeds of their countrymen for posterity. What is still needed, however, are writers about the Slovaks in the English language. The Most Reverend Joseph A. Durick, D. D., Bishop, Diocese of Nashville, Tenn., speaking in 1965 in Washington, D. C.,summed it all up when in tribute to the Slovaks he said: The triumph of the Slov,aks has come about because of constant effort, faithful service, zeal for God's house and the willingness always to sacrifice. The Slovaks great triumph over innumerable odds has made ,t heir contribution to Church and Country a considerable one. By their loyalty to the Faith and subscription to the great fundamental fre~doms which they •have exemplified in the market place and in th~ home, they have helped to build the great city of God and the city of man in our beloved Country.66 FOOTNOTES 1) Victor R. Greene, " Sons of Hunkies: Men With A Past," SLOVAKI,\ , Vol. XVI (No. 39, 1966) , 80. 2) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946) , p. 176. 2a ) Ibid., p. 177. 3) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 178. 4 ) Gilbert L. Oddo, SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y. , 1960) , pp. 331-332. 5) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946),p. 168. 6) John Porubsky, "Lincoln And The Slovaks", KALEND'AR JEDNOTA, XLVII (1944), 129. 160 SLOVAKI A 7) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p. 332. 8 ) Konstantin Culen, DEJINY SLOVAKOV V AMERJKE (History of the Slovaks In America) (Slovakia, 1942), I, 24-25. 9 ) Ibid., p. 26-27. 10 ) Ibid. , p. 28. 11) Ibid., p . 29. 12) Emily Greene Balch, Ph.D., OUR SLAVIC FELLOW CITIZENS (New York, N. Y., 1910), p. 99. 13 ) James J. Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV ( 1965), 15. 14) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p. 333. 15) Emily Greene Balch, Ph.D., OUR SLAVIC CITIZENS (New York, N. Y., 1910) , p. 103. 16) James J . Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), 16. 17 ) Joseph M. Kirschbaum , LL.D., Ph.D., SLOVAKIA : NATION AT THE CROSSROA DS OF CENTRAL EUROPE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , p . 15. 17a ) Joseph N. Misany, Esq., "Father Andrew Hlinka", SLOVAKIA , xv (1965), p. 76. 18) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y. , 1960), p. 333. 19) Peter P . Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p . 157. 20) Bonaventu re S. Bue, Ph.D., SLOVAK NATIONAL ISM: ITS ORIGINS, CONFLICT S AND OBJECTIV ES (M.ddletow n, Pa., 1957), p. 60. 21) Oddo, op. cit., p. 334. 22) William Kona, M.A., "The Oldest Slovak Newpaper in the U.S.A.", S LOVAKIA, XV (1965), pp. 38-39. 23 ) Joseph Pauoo, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCK EJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Middletow n, Pa., 1965) , pp. 13-14. 24 ) Gilbert Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960 ), p. 169. 25 ) Joseph Skultety, SKETCHE S FROM SLOVAK HISTORY (Middletown, Pa., 1930), p. 10. 26) Konstantin Culen, DEJINY SLOVAKO V V AMERIKE (History of the Slovaks in America) (Slovakia, 1942), I, 114-115. 28) James J . Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), 28. 29) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960 ), p. 338. SLOVAKIA 161 30) "St. Joseph's Hazleton: Slovak Church Rebuilt", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV (1966) , p. 12. 31) Gilbert L. o'ddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 334. 32) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 169. 33) Oddo, op. cit., p. 337. 34) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrived", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965) , p. 65. 35) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 336. 36) Ibid., p. 335. 37) Ibid., p . 334. 38) Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M., "Book Reviews", SLOVAKIA, XV, (1965), pp. 152-155. 39) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Jednota Talk", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV, (1966), p. 5. 40) Dr. Peter Hletko, "The Founder of Our Society", ALMANAC FOR THE YEAR 1966, LXXIV (1966), 3. 41) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York. N. Y., 1960), p . 339. 42) James J. Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of the Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), p . 25. 43) Sr. Mary Eileen, SS.C.M., SLOVAK WEEK LECTURES: FEATURING ART AND MUSIC (Danville, Pa., 1957), p. 1. 44) James J . .Zatko, Ph.D., Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), p . 19. 45) Sr. M. Consuela Gregorovic, M .A., CONTRIBUTIONS OF MATTHEW JANKOLA TO SLOVAK EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (Danville, Pa., 1959), pp. 11, 47. 46) .Zatko, op. cit. , p. 29. 47) James J . .Zatko, Ph.D., "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", SLOVAKIA , XV (1965), p. 30. 48) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Looking Back", JEDNOTA (The Union), LXXV ( 1966), p. 5. 49) Philip A. Hrobak, SLOVAK CATHOLIC PARISHES AND INSTITUTIONS (Middletown, Pa., 1955) , p. 23. 50) Ibid., p. 27. 51) Canon Joseph Altany, LL.D., "Joseph Murgas: Father of Wireless", DOBRY PASTIER (Good Shepherd), XXXVII (1964), p. 3. 52) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960) , pp. 343, 344. 53) Sr. M. Consuela Gregorovic, M.A., CONTRIBUTIONS OF MAT- 162 SLOVAKIA THEW JANKOLA TO SLOVAK EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (Danville, Pa., 1959), p. 6. 54) Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Mid/dletown, Pa., 1965), .p . 306. 55) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 331. 56) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 157. 57) Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y., 1960), p. 344. 58) Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., 75 ROKOV PRVEJ KATOLfCKEJ SLOVENSKEJ JEDNOTY (75 Year History of ,the First Catholic Slovak Union) (Middletown, Pa., 1965), p. 179. 59) Ibid., p. 344. 60) Oddo, op. cit., p. 338. 61) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrivejd", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965), pp. 66, 67. 62) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton,Pa., 1946),p.176. 63) Peter P. Yurchak, Esq., THE SLOVAKS (Scranton, Pa., 1946), p. 177. 64) Gilbert L. O~do, Ph.D., SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE (New York, N. Y.), p. 346. 65) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Slovaks Have Arrived", SLOVAKIA, XV (1965) , p. 65. 66) Joseph C. Krajsa, "Jednota's Glories and Future", JEDNOTA ANNUAL FURDEK, 1966, V (1966), pp. 4, 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY Altany, Joseph. " Rev. Joseph Murgas, Founder of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Recogniz~ as the 'Father of Wireless'", Dobry Pastier (Good Shepherd), XXXVII (1964). Balch, Emily G. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, New York: Charities Publication, 1910. Consuela, Sr. M. Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States. Danville, Pa., 1958. <'.'.:ulen, Konstantin. Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike (History of the Slovaks in America), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1942. Eileen, Sr. M. Slovak Week Lectures: Featuring Art and Music. Danville, Pa., 1957. Emerentia, Mother M. "Book reviews", Slovakia, XV (1965). Greene, Victor R. "Sons of Hunkies: Men With a Past?", Slovakia, XVI, Middletown, Pa., (1966). Hletko, Peter. "The Founder of Our Society", Almanac for the Year 1966. LXXIV, Pittsburgh, Pa., (1966). SLOVAKIA 163 Hrobak, Philip. Slovak Catholic Parishes and Instituti ons. Midjdletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1955. Kirschbaum, Joseph. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Kona, William. "The Oldest Slovak Newspaper in the U.S.A.", Slovakia , XV, Middletown, Pa., (1965). Krajsa, Joseph C. "St. Joseph, Hazleton: Slovak Church Rebuilt", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 3998 (1966). "Jednota Talk", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 3999 (1966). "Looking Back", Jednota (The Union), LXXV, No. 4000 (1966). "Je\foOlta Glories and Future", Jednota Annual Furdek. V, Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, (1960). "Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia. XV, Jednota Press, Middletown , Pa., (1965)°. Misany, Joseph N. "Father Andrew ffiinka", Slovakia, XV, Jednota Press, Middletown, Pa. ( 1965). Mother Tongue of the Foreign Born. U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, United States Census of Population, 1960. Washington, D. C. (1966). Qido, Gilbert L. Slovakia and Its People. New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Orth, Samuel P. Immigration and Labor. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1920. Pauco, Joseph. 75 Rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union). Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1965. Porubsky, John Rev. "Lincoln and the Slovaks", Kalendar Jednota (Annual Jednota) XLVII, Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, (1944) . Skultety, Joseph. Sketches from Slovak History. Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1930. Steiner, Edward A. The Immigrant Tide: Its Ebb and Flow. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1909. Yurchak, Peter P. The Slovaks. Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1946. 2atko, James J. "Early Beginnings of Slovaks in America", Slovakia, XV, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, (1965). THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to works of charity, materially and morally aids Slovaks, here and abroad, who may be in need of such aid; it supports the American Red Cross, United Fund Campaigns and other American charitable projects.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovaks: A Part of the Great Emigration to America Description An account of the resource Joseph John Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971 pp. 145-163 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krajsa, Joseph John Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/69822d17319c605cbb8f0c1e6926b300.pdf 676f42f0048a797f1a5304b71c3525b7 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 161 ANDREJ HLINKA By Maryagnes Krajsa "Hlinka was not satisfied with having his people faithful to their reli{ : n alone. He wanted his people to be independent economically; and for this reason, while planning missions for them , he began also to plan for their day-to-day material well-being." - Karol Sidor In the long historic process that determined the political destiny of Slovakia, Andrej Hlinka assumed a decisive r ole in directing the course of his country's development. The great Slovak patriot and political leader was fully conscious of his responsibility to the Slovak people. Hlinka devoted his life to one cause-that of the Christian faithful and the Slovak's fight for political equality. His intense love for the Slovak people had demanded the greatest personal sacrifices from him in a public life of almost fifty years. It was rewarded with as great a love on the part of the Slovak people as a whole. Slovak equality, Slovak autonomy-the long cherished hope of the Slovak people for national self-rule-he never lived to realize . Andrej Hlinka based his program and belief not on securing the favor of any incumbent political party, but on the solid foundation of a free , prosperous Slovak population. He realized that the fight for Slovak liberation would be a long and arduous struggle and that nothing short of an independent and self-sufficient Slovak population could bring it to a triumphant conclusion. The Slovaks have grown strong by hard work and struggle; and have acquired self-confidence and self-reliance, courage and endurance in the process .. . and, above all, they have an invincible faith in God. Such a man was Andrej Hlinka. Andrej Hlinka was born in 1864 of Slovak peasant stock in the village of c ernova. In the village public school, he showed superior talent, and upon the recommendation of the schoolmaster, his parents provided him with the opportunity for a higher education. His choice of the vocation of priest was made early. In the seminary his work was outstanding, as the records show. In the same records, however, appears the ominous, �162 SLOVAKIA notation, "Inclined to Slavism", -a charge bearing the most serious consequences for any Slovak student in the thoroughly Magyarized Hungary of 1887. A further notation emphasizing his "exceptional talent, modesty, and piety", probably accounts for his being permitted to go on. During these trying years in Slovakia, when it was necessary for Slovak theological students to fight for instruction in the Slovak language, which they would need in the pulpit and in public life, only his mother's affection and her great sacrifices and equally great expectations restrained Hlinka from action of any kind that might have incurred immediate dismissal. While he was still in the seminary, ,his father died. Soon after came the death of his mother, almost on the eve of his ordination, in 1889, a blow that seemed cruel and unjust to him, for the reason that his mother had looked forward to the day of his ordination as one that would be the happiest day of her life. Now that he was ordained, he was alone in the world, beginning the life of a priest with his love for his mother and father. A priest dedicated to his Church and Nation. Not only was Hlinka a faithful priest who performed his spiritual duties conscientiously, but he was a teacher, physician, and leader of his Slovak people. As a young priest, Hlinka lived close to his people so that he knew their conditions and studied the various influences that affected their lives. He always kept in mind that his main objective in life as a priest of God was to save immortal souls. He could not ignore the temporal affairs of his people though, because these are too often closely united with the spiritual needs of mankind. The Slovak nation was not only neglected but actually subjected to humiliation and tyranny. The arrogance of the non-Slovak higher classes went so far as to make disparaging references to that "lowly" Slovak and "that poor excuse for a man". This insult to his nation infuriated Hlinka. He felt its sting all the more because it was unChristian and inhuman. Upright in his concept of the dignity of his Slovak nation, Hlinka wanted to share that gift with all his fellow countrymen. This ideal was in accord with God's plan, with the teaching of the Church and with �SLOVAKIA 163 the universal belief of mankind, namely, that "all men are born and created equal". The Slovaks did not deserve to be belittled in view of their rich contributions in all fields of endeavor despite the handicaps for social and economic misery and cultural neglect. The more insolent the attacks became from the Magyars, the greater was Hlinka's courage and determination to fight for the Slovak cause. Truth, Justice, Human Rights, and Religion were the ideals that inspired Hlinka to carry on the struggle in behalf of the Slovak nation. He was convinced that truth and justice must triumph ultimately against the evil forces of untruth and injustice. The important aspect was though that truth and justice were on his side. Hlinka was appointed to his own parish in 1895 and it was then that he became interested in the popular political movement in Slovakia represented by the People's Party. Two years later he became editor of the Eudove Noviny and began vigorously opposing the Magyarization of the Slovaks. His power within the party continued to grow and by 1905, he became pastor of the large parish at Ruzomherok-the city that was to remain the center for most of his activity until the day of his death at the age of seventyfour . Father Hlinka and Francis Skycak formed their own Slovak People's Party on December 5, 1905. This party after World War I, became known as Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, the name it retained until 1945 when it was dissolved by the Prague Government. In 1906, two Slovak deputies were elected to the Diet. Under the leadership of Hlinka and others, the Slovaks increased their representation to seven. All of these men believed in the same truths as Hlinka, namely: linguistic and cultural autonomy for the Slovaks. Their campaign motto was, "For Our Slovak Language". The Magyars blamed Hlinka for the success of the· campaign because of the persuasiveness of his written and . spoken messages to the Slovaks. The Magyars applied pressure on Hlinka's ecclesiastical superiors that he might be suspended from his pastoral duties on charges of si- �164 SLOVAKIA mony. His bishop, Alexander Parvy of Spis, bowed to Magyar pressure. Hlinka, along with fifteen other Slovaks, was arrested on charges for "action against the Magyar nationality. " The t rial was held in Ruzomberok. It was indeed a trumped-up farce. Hlinka's young counsel was warned by the court not to let his defense make him an accomplice to Hlinka's guilt. Hlinka continued to stand his ground. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison. When leaving the courtroom, he added that upon his return he would continue to struggle for Slovak liberty. For this he was sentenced to an additional eighteen months imprisonment . For years Hlinka had wished to build a church in his native Cernova. After years of toil and deprivation- for Cernova was a poor community-the church was completed. The people wanted Hlinka to bless the church. On October 27, 1907, when the Cernovans saw the Magyar magistrate and priest coming, they blocked the way, seized the horses and shouted again for a postponement of the dedication. The Magyar magistrate ordered the gendarmes to open fire on the people of Cernova, and 15 were shot. This was known as the "Cernova Massacre. " This massacre focused the world's attention upon the Magyar tyranny more than any other single event. The events at Cernova also sparked the interest of impartial European scholars who soon thereafter became champions of the Slovak cause. Hlinka was lecturing in Bohemia when the tragedy occured at his birthplace. He spoke in numerous other cities for the cause of his people. His audiences hailed him as the great champion and martyr for Slovak freedom. On November 30, 1907, Hlinka began serving his sentence in Szeged. He once again declared his innocence of any wrong actions . His belief was molding firmer that the liberation of the Slovaks was inevitable. "Truth has never suffered in vain, so even Slovak truth shall not suffer," were his words to the Slovak people as the Magyar jail closed behind him. In May, 1908, he was sentenced to another eighteen months in jail for his newspaper articles. Even while in jail Hlinka continued to work. He translated the Holy Writ into Slovak. Rome found Hlinka in- �SLOVAKIA 165 nocent and on February 23, 1910, justification came to Hlinka. In the winter of 1910 Hlinka returned to his parish in Ruzomberok. By re-emphasizing his belief in Slovak freedom, Hlinka declared war on Magyar Chauvinism by demanding that the Slovaks be permitted to have the language taught in all the schools of the city. Most of Slovakia followed in suit. Slovak national life had continued to feel the pressure of Magyarization. In the election of 1910, only three Slovak deputies were elected. Slovaks continued to be divided into two different groups, one which favored complete Slovak autonomy and ultimate independence as a sovereign nation, and the other advocating a federated republic of Slovak and Czech peoples. The assasination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand on the streets of Sarajevo, plunged the world into the first war of the 20th century. This catastrophe also began tolling the watch for Austro-Magyar domination of Central Europe. On May 24, 1918, Hlinka took the lead for the creation of a new state, comprising Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Silesia. He drew up a program which stood for the creation of Czecho-Slovakia. "Let us welcome every Czech who is willing to help us," he preached. The followers of s tur, Radlinsky and Vajansky up to 1918 expressed themselves moderately in form, but convincingly in substance. When it came to the breaking of bread in 1918, however, Andrej Hlinka, leader of his party, proclaimed at Turciansky Svaty Martin, "The 1,000 year-old marriage with the Magyars was a failure. We must part." The policy of forcible Magyarization of the Slovaks was undoubtedly the greatest reason for Slovak immigration into America. The Slovaks in America were always mindful of the injustices that had driven them out of the land of their birth, their fatherland. The people were stirred up when they heard the news of the continuous persecution in Slovakia. The Hungarian government still wanted the immigrated Slovaks to feel the pressures of Magyarization but the Slovaks in America could no longer be controlled by forces across the ocean. They continued to make known in America and throughout the rest of the �166 SLOVAKIA world the persecution and injustice that the Slovaks were suffering. The Slovaks were suffering on account of the Magyars and the Czechs, at the hands of the Austrians. The Czechs and Slovaks lived apart. When the Czechs and Slovaks immigrated to this country, they continued to live and to develop here as two separate nations. The Czechs and Slovaks are the two closest Slovanic brothers, but each retained its own separate and definite identity. One of the most stirring incidents that finally completely awakened the Slovaks in America was the massacre in cernova. The founding of the Slovak League of America was the result of the persecution of Andrej Hlinka. The aim of this organization was: "That the Slovak nation may take its place among the other nations as an equal among equals." The Slovaks in America became unified. Meetings were called and the final conclusion was that they had to come to the rescue of their brethren in Slovakia. The Slovaks in America had prepared a Memorandum for all the parliaments of the United States. The Memorandum mainly stated that: "The Slovaks in Hungary should obtain their natural privileges of life, freedom and pursuit of happiness, which they have been deprived of by the dynasty; that the Slovaks be given an opportunity to develop their national spirit, their abilities, and the natural resources of their native land; that the Slovaks be guaranteed the realization of their national ideals and efforts, w hich have been mercilessly trodden by the tyrannical Hungarian Government." The more progressive portion of the Slovak nation was found here in America, and this portion had a full privilege, moral and financial, to speak in behalf of the entire nation. The Cleveland Agreement in 1915 was a fore-runner of the Pittsburgh Pact. The Czech National Alliance officially invited the Slovak League of America to a meeting-the purpose of which was to be: "That we could unite for combined political work." The Czechs soon after already tried to squeeze the Slovaks out. To a proclamation issued in Paris, was signed: "The Foreign Czech Committee" and not a Czecho-Slovak Committee. The difficulties of the co- �SLOVAKIA 167 operation with the Czechs became quite plain to the Slovaks. The Slovaks wanted to be with the Czechs and not under the Czechs. In 1918, the Slovaks' efforts seemed to be leading to success. Their goal-the liberation of Slovakia, and the founding of the Czecho-Slovak state. Small, but significant jncidents kept unfolding in which the Czechs proved to be not fully sincere with the Slovaks. The Slovaks tried to overlook all these though. Even write-ups in the Czech newspapers, such as the arrival of T. G. Masaryk only mentioned facts pertaining to the Czechs. The JEDNOTA-the official weekly of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest and one of the oldest Slovak fraternal organizations in America-acted quickly. The paper criticized Masaryk about never mentioning Slovakia-he completely ignored the Slovak participation in the struggle. The JEDNOT A printed, as it has continued to down through the years, the truth and that was, the Slovaks were gradually becoming subordinate to the Czechs. Masaryk arrived in Pittsburgh on May 30, 1918, where he was received most graciously by our Slovaks. Everything seemed to be ironed out. Masaryk ended his speech by saying, "Everyone shall have his personal liberty guaranteed." That same night Masaryk had a conference with representatives of the Slovaks in the Moose Temple on Pennsylvania Avenue. Many matters were presented which Masaryk answered to the satisfaction of all present. On May 31 , 1918, the representatives of the American Slovaks and Czechs met again. The report states that: "Professor Masaryk performed an act which shall always have historical significance in the history of the Czechs and Slovaks." This act consisted of a new agreement between the Czechs and Slovaks. Professor Masaryk wrote the new agreement himself, and it established the relations between the two nations. According to this agreement: The representatives of the Slovak and Czech organizations in the United States- the Slovak League, the Czech National Alliance , and the Union of Czech Catholics-have deliberated, in the presence of the Chairman of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, Professor Masaryk, on the Czecho-Slovak question and on our previous program manifestations, and have resolved as follows: �168 SLOVAKIA We fa vor a political program whose purpose it shall be to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an autonomous state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have her own administration, her own assembly, and her own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in the schools, in public offices, and in the public life in general. The Czecho-Slovak State shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic. The cooperation of the Czechs and the Slovaks in the United States shall be intensified and r egulated by mutual consent, according to need and changing situations. Detailed provisions relating to the organization of the CzechoSlovak State shall be left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks and their legal representatives. All matters seemed to be settled now--even the JEDNOT A was satisfied. As we shall see, however, the Pact was not kept. Yes, on May 31, 1918, the Pittsburgh Pact was drawn up and signed by Czech and Slovak representatives-as well as by T. G. Masaryk, the future President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. According to this document, Slo• vakia was guaranteed its autonomy, with its own assembly, administration, and department of justice. Andrej Hlinka and the Slovak People's Party incorporated the Pittsburgh Pact in their national party platform. When the Czecho-Slovak State was established, the Slovaks, including Hlinka, had no clear conception of what the new state would be like. It was agreed upon that the new state would be run in the spirit of equality of both nations . 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. Things didn't go according to the Pact though. The narrow political attitude of the Prague government toward the Slovaks as early as 1919 aroused Hlinka and many of the Slovak leaders. The progress of political events from within supported a fanatical centralizing of power at Prague in control largely of certain Czech leaders, which openly transgressed the rights guaranteed by the Pact. When Hlinka arrived in Prague he was welcomed not as the greatest friend of the Czechs, but as the worst enemy �SLOVAKIA 169 of the new state. The Czech section of the government was against him. The attack on Hlinka was continued for the three years that he was serving his term in office. This was a struggle which in the end meant the collapse of Czechoslovakia, the end of Slovak-Czech collaboration for any sort of common political state. On January 23, 1919, the Prague parliament was the scene of the wildest attacks against Hlinka. Hlinka practically stood alone in the defense of the interests of his Slovak people in 1919. He still had a great following in Slovakia. Hlinka became in Slovakia the very symbol of resistance to Prague's domination. Promises had been made to the Slovaks before they decided to join the Czechs to form a joint political state and those promises should have been kept. The Czech "progressives" even had an editorial in the LIDOVE NOV/NY (People's News) that read: "It will take only a few years and things will be the same in Slovakia as they are in the Czech lands." 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. In October, 1919, Hlinka left secretly for Paris, determined that the Slovaks would be heard at the Peace Conference which was then in session. Knowing that he would probably not be permitted a Czecho-Slovak passport to go to Paris, Hlinka turned to the Polish authorities for help, and then by way of Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Italy, and Switzerland he reached Paris. He asked for the Slovaks the rights of administering their affairs in Slovakia, stating that the Slovaks were not to be regarded as Czechs. He said, "The Slovaks are neither Czechs nor Czechoslovaks, but Slovaks who intend to remain Slovaks." He was ordered to leave at the instigation of the Czech delegates. When he returned to Slovakia, on October 12, 1919, he was seized at night and carted out of Slovakia on the charge of passport irregularity and later on for treason to the Republic. A local revolt broke out as a result of this. He was imprisoned for a period of six months awaiting trial. Meanwhile, on February 29, 1920, the final wording of the Constitution was discussed in the Prague Parliament. �170 SLOVAKIA The Slovak representativ es put a motion before the Constitutional Committee which stated that the vote for such a constitution would not prevent them from persevering in their struggle for autonomy and a legislature for Slovakia. The fundamental act of the Czecho-Slova k State was thereafter voted on February 29, 1920 not by a Constituent Assembly freely elected by the people, but by a revolutionary one. A constitution vote took place and voted on a united "Czechoslova k" nation; this deprived the Slovak nation more of its political and judical individuality and assured the Czechs of the exclusive direction of the State. Thus, the Slovak nation was once again deprived of its right which had been clearly guaranteed by international treaties. On April 18, 1920, Hlinka was elected to the CzechoSlovak Parliament. The authorities were compelled to release him. Hlinka fought now with all his energy and zeal. As the leader of the Autonomists, he fought the Centralists as hard as he had fought the Magyars. The official spelling of the name "Czecho-Slov akia," as found in the treaties at the time of the creation of the new Republic, was now changed to "Czechoslova kia." Instead of fusing the Czechs and Slovaks into a solid Czech whole, this change in the name of the State succeeded in accentuating the differences between them and in rekindling the fight of the Slovaks against denationaliza tion. Hlinka spent the best part of his life in this vital crusade for his beloved people. As an orator and debater, Hlinka was unequalled. As the political controversy grew stronger, so did his fight for the principles of his program. From 1925 on, Hlinka's Slovak People's Party was the most powerful single political party in Slovakia. In order to raise funds to carry on this fight, Hlinka turned to America in 1926 and appealed to the Slovaks here for aid. The welcome to Hlinka and the response to his appeal was more than generous. To write about Hlinka's triumphal tour of the United States is a chapter that deserves a separate presentation. In 1932, the Slovak People's Party and the non-Catholic Slovak National Party, under the leadership of Rev. Martin Razus joined forces and issued a joint declaration: "The �SLOVAKIA 171 individuality of the Slovak nation, which we shall not renounce even at the cost of the Republic, demands the recognition of sovereign rights and therefore a responsive form of political life. The only form, regarded as such by the Slovaks, is the immediate result of Slovak political tradition and agreements concluded during the action of liberation between the Czechs and Slovaks ... " Hlinka, by 1933, had become the most important national figure in Slovakia. That same year the ancient historical city of Nitra observed the eleventh centenary of the founding of the first Christian Church in Slovakia. More than 100,000 patriotic Slovaks gathered there to help celebrate the occasion. It turned out to be a major demonstration for Slovak autonomy. On June 5, 1938, over 100,00 national-minded Slovaks turned out in Bratislava-the capital of Slovakia-to manifest their fidelity to Hlinka's political program for autonomy. This date also commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Pittsburgh Pact. The observance was attended by enthusiastic representatives from the whole nation and was visited by a special delegation that brought the original document of that historic agreement direct from America. This memorable occasion was a distinct proof that the Slovak nation had grown to national maturity in its struggle for autonomy. This was to be Hlinka's last public appearance and address to any type of formal assembly. Msgr. Andrej Hlinka saw his goal in sight. Slovakia was on the threshold of self-government. In the years of 1938 and 1939, when the international situation weakened the foundation of the Czecho-Slovak republic, the Slovak nation got the opportunity to take hold of the helm of its own state government. The Slovaks declared independence and were given back their just national freedom just shortly after Hlinka died. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Andrej Hlinka, the Father of the Slovak Nation, met his everlasting peace on August 16, 1938. His funeral on August 21, 1938 was a national event of respect the likes of which was never seen in the shadow of the Tatra Mountains. Four bishops, over 1,000 prelates and priests, and over 120,000 Slovaks came to pay respect to their "father." �172 SLOVAKIA On October 6, 1938, shortly after Hlinka's death, Slovakia declared its right to self-government. The Slovak Parliament declared its country's independence and established the Slovak State on March 14, 1939. Although Hlinka did not live to see the successful outcome of his life-long struggle, he had prepared the waythe way of truth which did not succumb to all else in the end. Will truth again prevail? As of today, the Slovak nation has never renounced its independence and has never recognized the existence of the " Czechoslovak" nation. There is no such nation! There is a Czech nation and a Slovak nation; and so likewise, there is no "Czechoslovak" language, but there is a Czech language and a Slovak language. The cultural oppression of the Slovak people has an economic background for the benefit of the Czech people. The religious, political, economic and social well-being of the Slovaks is in grave danger. We are now living in the same atmosphere as did Andrej Hlinka. Hlinka, the Father of-the Fighter for-and the Light of the Slovak Nation has gone from this world in bodily appearance. Does his spirit live on? Yes!-in the souls and hearts of "true" Slovaks in America, in the rest of the free world, and those who are suffering in Slovakia. BIBLIOGRAPHY Culen, Constantine. "Andrej Hlinka and Prague", Slovakia. Middletown, Pa.: The Slovak League of America, 1958. Glaser, Kurt. Czecho-Slovakia, A Critical History, Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, 1961. Kirschbaum, Joseph. "The Politics of Hlinka's Party in the Slovak Republic". Slovakia. Middletown, Pa. : The Slovak League of America, 1951. Mikus, Joseph A. Slovakia, A Political History, 1918-1950. Milwaukee: The Marquette University Press, 1963. Oddo, Gilbert L.O. Slovakia And Its People. New York: Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Pauco, Jozef. 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty ( 75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) . Middletown, Pa.: The Jednota Press, 1965. Sidor, Karl. "The Slovak Republic-Fruit of Hlinka's Struggle", Slovakia. Middletown, Pa.: The Slovak League of America, 1951. Yurchak, Peter P. The Slovaks, Their History And Traditi ons. Whiting, Ind., 1946. � SLOVAKIA 161 ANDREJ HLINKA By Maryagnes Krajsa "Hlinka was not satisfied with having his people faithful to their reli{ : n alone. He wanted his people to be independent economically; and for this reason, while planning missions for them , he began also to plan for their day-to-day material well-being." - Karol Sidor In the long historic process that determined the political destiny of Slovakia, Andrej Hlinka assumed a decisive r ole in directing the course of his country's development. The great Slovak patriot and political leader was fully conscious of his responsibility to the Slovak people. Hlinka devoted his life to one cause-that of the Christian faithful and the Slovak's fight for political equality. His intense love for the Slovak people had demanded the greatest personal sacrifices from him in a public life of almost fifty years. It was rewarded with as great a love on the part of the Slovak people as a whole. Slovak equality, Slovak autonomy-the long cherished hope of the Slovak people for national self-rule-he never lived to realize . Andrej Hlinka based his program and belief not on securing the favor of any incumbent political party, but on the solid foundation of a free , prosperous Slovak population. He realized that the fight for Slovak liberation would be a long and arduous struggle and that nothing short of an independent and self-sufficient Slovak population could bring it to a triumphant conclusion. The Slovaks have grown strong by hard work and struggle; and have acquired self-confidence and self-reliance, courage and endurance in the process .. . and, above all, they have an invincible faith in God. Such a man was Andrej Hlinka. Andrej Hlinka was born in 1864 of Slovak peasant stock in the village of c ernova. In the village public school, he showed superior talent, and upon the recommendation of the schoolmaster, his parents provided him with the opportunity for a higher education. His choice of the vocation of priest was made early. In the seminary his work was outstanding, as the records show. In the same records, however, appears the ominous, �162 SLOVAKIA notation, "Inclined to Slavism", -a charge bearing the most serious consequences for any Slovak student in the thoroughly Magyarized Hungary of 1887. A further notation emphasizing his "exceptional talent, modesty, and piety", probably accounts for his being permitted to go on. During these trying years in Slovakia, when it was necessary for Slovak theological students to fight for instruction in the Slovak language, which they would need in the pulpit and in public life, only his mother's affection and her great sacrifices and equally great expectations restrained Hlinka from action of any kind that might have incurred immediate dismissal. While he was still in the seminary, ,his father died. Soon after came the death of his mother, almost on the eve of his ordination, in 1889, a blow that seemed cruel and unjust to him, for the reason that his mother had looked forward to the day of his ordination as one that would be the happiest day of her life. Now that he was ordained, he was alone in the world, beginning the life of a priest with his love for his mother and father. A priest dedicated to his Church and Nation. Not only was Hlinka a faithful priest who performed his spiritual duties conscientiously, but he was a teacher, physician, and leader of his Slovak people. As a young priest, Hlinka lived close to his people so that he knew their conditions and studied the various influences that affected their lives. He always kept in mind that his main objective in life as a priest of God was to save immortal souls. He could not ignore the temporal affairs of his people though, because these are too often closely united with the spiritual needs of mankind. The Slovak nation was not only neglected but actually subjected to humiliation and tyranny. The arrogance of the non-Slovak higher classes went so far as to make disparaging references to that "lowly" Slovak and "that poor excuse for a man". This insult to his nation infuriated Hlinka. He felt its sting all the more because it was unChristian and inhuman. Upright in his concept of the dignity of his Slovak nation, Hlinka wanted to share that gift with all his fellow countrymen. This ideal was in accord with God's plan, with the teaching of the Church and with �SLOVAKIA 163 the universal belief of mankind, namely, that "all men are born and created equal". The Slovaks did not deserve to be belittled in view of their rich contributions in all fields of endeavor despite the handicaps for social and economic misery and cultural neglect. The more insolent the attacks became from the Magyars, the greater was Hlinka's courage and determination to fight for the Slovak cause. Truth, Justice, Human Rights, and Religion were the ideals that inspired Hlinka to carry on the struggle in behalf of the Slovak nation. He was convinced that truth and justice must triumph ultimately against the evil forces of untruth and injustice. The important aspect was though that truth and justice were on his side. Hlinka was appointed to his own parish in 1895 and it was then that he became interested in the popular political movement in Slovakia represented by the People's Party. Two years later he became editor of the Eudove Noviny and began vigorously opposing the Magyarization of the Slovaks. His power within the party continued to grow and by 1905, he became pastor of the large parish at Ruzomherok-the city that was to remain the center for most of his activity until the day of his death at the age of seventyfour . Father Hlinka and Francis Skycak formed their own Slovak People's Party on December 5, 1905. This party after World War I, became known as Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, the name it retained until 1945 when it was dissolved by the Prague Government. In 1906, two Slovak deputies were elected to the Diet. Under the leadership of Hlinka and others, the Slovaks increased their representation to seven. All of these men believed in the same truths as Hlinka, namely: linguistic and cultural autonomy for the Slovaks. Their campaign motto was, "For Our Slovak Language". The Magyars blamed Hlinka for the success of the· campaign because of the persuasiveness of his written and . spoken messages to the Slovaks. The Magyars applied pressure on Hlinka's ecclesiastical superiors that he might be suspended from his pastoral duties on charges of si- �164 SLOVAKIA mony. His bishop, Alexander Parvy of Spis, bowed to Magyar pressure. Hlinka, along with fifteen other Slovaks, was arrested on charges for "action against the Magyar nationality. " The t rial was held in Ruzomberok. It was indeed a trumped-up farce. Hlinka's young counsel was warned by the court not to let his defense make him an accomplice to Hlinka's guilt. Hlinka continued to stand his ground. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison. When leaving the courtroom, he added that upon his return he would continue to struggle for Slovak liberty. For this he was sentenced to an additional eighteen months imprisonment . For years Hlinka had wished to build a church in his native Cernova. After years of toil and deprivation- for Cernova was a poor community-the church was completed. The people wanted Hlinka to bless the church. On October 27, 1907, when the Cernovans saw the Magyar magistrate and priest coming, they blocked the way, seized the horses and shouted again for a postponement of the dedication. The Magyar magistrate ordered the gendarmes to open fire on the people of Cernova, and 15 were shot. This was known as the "Cernova Massacre. " This massacre focused the world's attention upon the Magyar tyranny more than any other single event. The events at Cernova also sparked the interest of impartial European scholars who soon thereafter became champions of the Slovak cause. Hlinka was lecturing in Bohemia when the tragedy occured at his birthplace. He spoke in numerous other cities for the cause of his people. His audiences hailed him as the great champion and martyr for Slovak freedom. On November 30, 1907, Hlinka began serving his sentence in Szeged. He once again declared his innocence of any wrong actions . His belief was molding firmer that the liberation of the Slovaks was inevitable. "Truth has never suffered in vain, so even Slovak truth shall not suffer," were his words to the Slovak people as the Magyar jail closed behind him. In May, 1908, he was sentenced to another eighteen months in jail for his newspaper articles. Even while in jail Hlinka continued to work. He translated the Holy Writ into Slovak. Rome found Hlinka in- �SLOVAKIA 165 nocent and on February 23, 1910, justification came to Hlinka. In the winter of 1910 Hlinka returned to his parish in Ruzomberok. By re-emphasizing his belief in Slovak freedom, Hlinka declared war on Magyar Chauvinism by demanding that the Slovaks be permitted to have the language taught in all the schools of the city. Most of Slovakia followed in suit. Slovak national life had continued to feel the pressure of Magyarization. In the election of 1910, only three Slovak deputies were elected. Slovaks continued to be divided into two different groups, one which favored complete Slovak autonomy and ultimate independence as a sovereign nation, and the other advocating a federated republic of Slovak and Czech peoples. The assasination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand on the streets of Sarajevo, plunged the world into the first war of the 20th century. This catastrophe also began tolling the watch for Austro-Magyar domination of Central Europe. On May 24, 1918, Hlinka took the lead for the creation of a new state, comprising Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Silesia. He drew up a program which stood for the creation of Czecho-Slovakia. "Let us welcome every Czech who is willing to help us," he preached. The followers of s tur, Radlinsky and Vajansky up to 1918 expressed themselves moderately in form, but convincingly in substance. When it came to the breaking of bread in 1918, however, Andrej Hlinka, leader of his party, proclaimed at Turciansky Svaty Martin, "The 1,000 year-old marriage with the Magyars was a failure. We must part." The policy of forcible Magyarization of the Slovaks was undoubtedly the greatest reason for Slovak immigration into America. The Slovaks in America were always mindful of the injustices that had driven them out of the land of their birth, their fatherland. The people were stirred up when they heard the news of the continuous persecution in Slovakia. The Hungarian government still wanted the immigrated Slovaks to feel the pressures of Magyarization but the Slovaks in America could no longer be controlled by forces across the ocean. They continued to make known in America and throughout the rest of the �166 SLOVAKIA world the persecution and injustice that the Slovaks were suffering. The Slovaks were suffering on account of the Magyars and the Czechs, at the hands of the Austrians. The Czechs and Slovaks lived apart. When the Czechs and Slovaks immigrated to this country, they continued to live and to develop here as two separate nations. The Czechs and Slovaks are the two closest Slovanic brothers, but each retained its own separate and definite identity. One of the most stirring incidents that finally completely awakened the Slovaks in America was the massacre in cernova. The founding of the Slovak League of America was the result of the persecution of Andrej Hlinka. The aim of this organization was: "That the Slovak nation may take its place among the other nations as an equal among equals." The Slovaks in America became unified. Meetings were called and the final conclusion was that they had to come to the rescue of their brethren in Slovakia. The Slovaks in America had prepared a Memorandum for all the parliaments of the United States. The Memorandum mainly stated that: "The Slovaks in Hungary should obtain their natural privileges of life, freedom and pursuit of happiness, which they have been deprived of by the dynasty; that the Slovaks be given an opportunity to develop their national spirit, their abilities, and the natural resources of their native land; that the Slovaks be guaranteed the realization of their national ideals and efforts, w hich have been mercilessly trodden by the tyrannical Hungarian Government." The more progressive portion of the Slovak nation was found here in America, and this portion had a full privilege, moral and financial, to speak in behalf of the entire nation. The Cleveland Agreement in 1915 was a fore-runner of the Pittsburgh Pact. The Czech National Alliance officially invited the Slovak League of America to a meeting-the purpose of which was to be: "That we could unite for combined political work." The Czechs soon after already tried to squeeze the Slovaks out. To a proclamation issued in Paris, was signed: "The Foreign Czech Committee" and not a Czecho-Slovak Committee. The difficulties of the co- �SLOVAKIA 167 operation with the Czechs became quite plain to the Slovaks. The Slovaks wanted to be with the Czechs and not under the Czechs. In 1918, the Slovaks' efforts seemed to be leading to success. Their goal-the liberation of Slovakia, and the founding of the Czecho-Slovak state. Small, but significant jncidents kept unfolding in which the Czechs proved to be not fully sincere with the Slovaks. The Slovaks tried to overlook all these though. Even write-ups in the Czech newspapers, such as the arrival of T. G. Masaryk only mentioned facts pertaining to the Czechs. The JEDNOTA-the official weekly of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest and one of the oldest Slovak fraternal organizations in America-acted quickly. The paper criticized Masaryk about never mentioning Slovakia-he completely ignored the Slovak participation in the struggle. The JEDNOT A printed, as it has continued to down through the years, the truth and that was, the Slovaks were gradually becoming subordinate to the Czechs. Masaryk arrived in Pittsburgh on May 30, 1918, where he was received most graciously by our Slovaks. Everything seemed to be ironed out. Masaryk ended his speech by saying, "Everyone shall have his personal liberty guaranteed." That same night Masaryk had a conference with representatives of the Slovaks in the Moose Temple on Pennsylvania Avenue. Many matters were presented which Masaryk answered to the satisfaction of all present. On May 31 , 1918, the representatives of the American Slovaks and Czechs met again. The report states that: "Professor Masaryk performed an act which shall always have historical significance in the history of the Czechs and Slovaks." This act consisted of a new agreement between the Czechs and Slovaks. Professor Masaryk wrote the new agreement himself, and it established the relations between the two nations. According to this agreement: The representatives of the Slovak and Czech organizations in the United States- the Slovak League, the Czech National Alliance , and the Union of Czech Catholics-have deliberated, in the presence of the Chairman of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, Professor Masaryk, on the Czecho-Slovak question and on our previous program manifestations, and have resolved as follows: �168 SLOVAKIA We fa vor a political program whose purpose it shall be to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an autonomous state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have her own administration, her own assembly, and her own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in the schools, in public offices, and in the public life in general. The Czecho-Slovak State shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic. The cooperation of the Czechs and the Slovaks in the United States shall be intensified and r egulated by mutual consent, according to need and changing situations. Detailed provisions relating to the organization of the CzechoSlovak State shall be left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks and their legal representatives. All matters seemed to be settled now--even the JEDNOT A was satisfied. As we shall see, however, the Pact was not kept. Yes, on May 31, 1918, the Pittsburgh Pact was drawn up and signed by Czech and Slovak representatives-as well as by T. G. Masaryk, the future President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. According to this document, Slo• vakia was guaranteed its autonomy, with its own assembly, administration, and department of justice. Andrej Hlinka and the Slovak People's Party incorporated the Pittsburgh Pact in their national party platform. When the Czecho-Slovak State was established, the Slovaks, including Hlinka, had no clear conception of what the new state would be like. It was agreed upon that the new state would be run in the spirit of equality of both nations . 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. Things didn't go according to the Pact though. The narrow political attitude of the Prague government toward the Slovaks as early as 1919 aroused Hlinka and many of the Slovak leaders. The progress of political events from within supported a fanatical centralizing of power at Prague in control largely of certain Czech leaders, which openly transgressed the rights guaranteed by the Pact. When Hlinka arrived in Prague he was welcomed not as the greatest friend of the Czechs, but as the worst enemy �SLOVAKIA 169 of the new state. The Czech section of the government was against him. The attack on Hlinka was continued for the three years that he was serving his term in office. This was a struggle which in the end meant the collapse of Czechoslovakia, the end of Slovak-Czech collaboration for any sort of common political state. On January 23, 1919, the Prague parliament was the scene of the wildest attacks against Hlinka. Hlinka practically stood alone in the defense of the interests of his Slovak people in 1919. He still had a great following in Slovakia. Hlinka became in Slovakia the very symbol of resistance to Prague's domination. Promises had been made to the Slovaks before they decided to join the Czechs to form a joint political state and those promises should have been kept. The Czech "progressives" even had an editorial in the LIDOVE NOV/NY (People's News) that read: "It will take only a few years and things will be the same in Slovakia as they are in the Czech lands." 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. In October, 1919, Hlinka left secretly for Paris, determined that the Slovaks would be heard at the Peace Conference which was then in session. Knowing that he would probably not be permitted a Czecho-Slovak passport to go to Paris, Hlinka turned to the Polish authorities for help, and then by way of Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Italy, and Switzerland he reached Paris. He asked for the Slovaks the rights of administering their affairs in Slovakia, stating that the Slovaks were not to be regarded as Czechs. He said, "The Slovaks are neither Czechs nor Czechoslovaks, but Slovaks who intend to remain Slovaks." He was ordered to leave at the instigation of the Czech delegates. When he returned to Slovakia, on October 12, 1919, he was seized at night and carted out of Slovakia on the charge of passport irregularity and later on for treason to the Republic. A local revolt broke out as a result of this. He was imprisoned for a period of six months awaiting trial. Meanwhile, on February 29, 1920, the final wording of the Constitution was discussed in the Prague Parliament. �170 SLOVAKIA The Slovak representativ es put a motion before the Constitutional Committee which stated that the vote for such a constitution would not prevent them from persevering in their struggle for autonomy and a legislature for Slovakia. The fundamental act of the Czecho-Slova k State was thereafter voted on February 29, 1920 not by a Constituent Assembly freely elected by the people, but by a revolutionary one. A constitution vote took place and voted on a united "Czechoslova k" nation; this deprived the Slovak nation more of its political and judical individuality and assured the Czechs of the exclusive direction of the State. Thus, the Slovak nation was once again deprived of its right which had been clearly guaranteed by international treaties. On April 18, 1920, Hlinka was elected to the CzechoSlovak Parliament. The authorities were compelled to release him. Hlinka fought now with all his energy and zeal. As the leader of the Autonomists, he fought the Centralists as hard as he had fought the Magyars. The official spelling of the name "Czecho-Slov akia," as found in the treaties at the time of the creation of the new Republic, was now changed to "Czechoslova kia." Instead of fusing the Czechs and Slovaks into a solid Czech whole, this change in the name of the State succeeded in accentuating the differences between them and in rekindling the fight of the Slovaks against denationaliza tion. Hlinka spent the best part of his life in this vital crusade for his beloved people. As an orator and debater, Hlinka was unequalled. As the political controversy grew stronger, so did his fight for the principles of his program. From 1925 on, Hlinka's Slovak People's Party was the most powerful single political party in Slovakia. In order to raise funds to carry on this fight, Hlinka turned to America in 1926 and appealed to the Slovaks here for aid. The welcome to Hlinka and the response to his appeal was more than generous. To write about Hlinka's triumphal tour of the United States is a chapter that deserves a separate presentation. In 1932, the Slovak People's Party and the non-Catholic Slovak National Party, under the leadership of Rev. Martin Razus joined forces and issued a joint declaration: "The �SLOVAKIA 171 individuality of the Slovak nation, which we shall not renounce even at the cost of the Republic, demands the recognition of sovereign rights and therefore a responsive form of political life. The only form, regarded as such by the Slovaks, is the immediate result of Slovak political tradition and agreements concluded during the action of liberation between the Czechs and Slovaks ... " Hlinka, by 1933, had become the most important national figure in Slovakia. That same year the ancient historical city of Nitra observed the eleventh centenary of the founding of the first Christian Church in Slovakia. More than 100,000 patriotic Slovaks gathered there to help celebrate the occasion. It turned out to be a major demonstration for Slovak autonomy. On June 5, 1938, over 100,00 national-minded Slovaks turned out in Bratislava-the capital of Slovakia-to manifest their fidelity to Hlinka's political program for autonomy. This date also commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Pittsburgh Pact. The observance was attended by enthusiastic representatives from the whole nation and was visited by a special delegation that brought the original document of that historic agreement direct from America. This memorable occasion was a distinct proof that the Slovak nation had grown to national maturity in its struggle for autonomy. This was to be Hlinka's last public appearance and address to any type of formal assembly. Msgr. Andrej Hlinka saw his goal in sight. Slovakia was on the threshold of self-government. In the years of 1938 and 1939, when the international situation weakened the foundation of the Czecho-Slovak republic, the Slovak nation got the opportunity to take hold of the helm of its own state government. The Slovaks declared independence and were given back their just national freedom just shortly after Hlinka died. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Andrej Hlinka, the Father of the Slovak Nation, met his everlasting peace on August 16, 1938. His funeral on August 21, 1938 was a national event of respect the likes of which was never seen in the shadow of the Tatra Mountains. Four bishops, over 1,000 prelates and priests, and over 120,000 Slovaks came to pay respect to their "father." �172 SLOVAKIA On October 6, 1938, shortly after Hlinka's death, Slovakia declared its right to self-government. The Slovak Parliament declared its country's independence and established the Slovak State on March 14, 1939. Although Hlinka did not live to see the successful outcome of his life-long struggle, he had prepared the waythe way of truth which did not succumb to all else in the end. Will truth again prevail? As of today, the Slovak nation has never renounced its independence and has never recognized the existence of the " Czechoslovak" nation. There is no such nation! There is a Czech nation and a Slovak nation; and so likewise, there is no "Czechoslovak" language, but there is a Czech language and a Slovak language. The cultural oppression of the Slovak people has an economic background for the benefit of the Czech people. The religious, political, economic and social well-being of the Slovaks is in grave danger. We are now living in the same atmosphere as did Andrej Hlinka. Hlinka, the Father of-the Fighter for-and the Light of the Slovak Nation has gone from this world in bodily appearance. Does his spirit live on? Yes!-in the souls and hearts of "true" Slovaks in America, in the rest of the free world, and those who are suffering in Slovakia. BIBLIOGRAPHY Culen, Constantine. "Andrej Hlinka and Prague", Slovakia. Middletown, Pa.: The Slovak League of America, 1958. Glaser, Kurt. Czecho-Slovakia, A Critical History, Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, 1961. Kirschbaum, Joseph. "The Politics of Hlinka's Party in the Slovak Republic". Slovakia. Middletown, Pa. : The Slovak League of America, 1951. Mikus, Joseph A. Slovakia, A Political History, 1918-1950. Milwaukee: The Marquette University Press, 1963. Oddo, Gilbert L.O. Slovakia And Its People. New York: Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Pauco, Jozef. 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty ( 75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) . Middletown, Pa.: The Jednota Press, 1965. Sidor, Karl. "The Slovak Republic-Fruit of Hlinka's Struggle", Slovakia. Middletown, Pa.: The Slovak League of America, 1951. Yurchak, Peter P. The Slovaks, Their History And Traditi ons. Whiting, Ind., 1946. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 SLOVAKIA 161 ANDREJ HLINKA By Maryagnes Krajsa "Hlinka was not satisfied with having his people faithful to their reli{ : n alone. He wanted his people to be independent economically; and for this reason, while planning missions for them , he began also to plan for their day-to-day material well-being." - Karol Sidor In the long historic process that determined the political destiny of Slovakia, Andrej Hlinka assumed a decisive r ole in directing the course of his country's development. The great Slovak patriot and political leader was fully conscious of his responsibility to the Slovak people. Hlinka devoted his life to one cause-that of the Christian faithful and the Slovak's fight for political equality. His intense love for the Slovak people had demanded the greatest personal sacrifices from him in a public life of almost fifty years. It was rewarded with as great a love on the part of the Slovak people as a whole. Slovak equality, Slovak autonomy-the long cherished hope of the Slovak people for national self-rule-he never lived to realize . Andrej Hlinka based his program and belief not on securing the favor of any incumbent political party, but on the solid foundation of a free , prosperous Slovak population. He realized that the fight for Slovak liberation would be a long and arduous struggle and that nothing short of an independent and self-sufficient Slovak population could bring it to a triumphant conclusion. The Slovaks have grown strong by hard work and struggle; and have acquired self-confidence and self-reliance, courage and endurance in the process .. . and, above all, they have an invincible faith in God. Such a man was Andrej Hlinka. Andrej Hlinka was born in 1864 of Slovak peasant stock in the village of c ernova. In the village public school, he showed superior talent, and upon the recommendation of the schoolmaster, his parents provided him with the opportunity for a higher education. His choice of the vocation of priest was made early. In the seminary his work was outstanding, as the records show. In the same records, however, appears the ominous, 162 SLOVAKIA notation, "Inclined to Slavism", -a charge bearing the most serious consequences for any Slovak student in the thoroughly Magyarized Hungary of 1887. A further notation emphasizing his "exceptional talent, modesty, and piety", probably accounts for his being permitted to go on. During these trying years in Slovakia, when it was necessary for Slovak theological students to fight for instruction in the Slovak language, which they would need in the pulpit and in public life, only his mother's affection and her great sacrifices and equally great expectations restrained Hlinka from action of any kind that might have incurred immediate dismissal. While he was still in the seminary, ,his father died. Soon after came the death of his mother, almost on the eve of his ordination, in 1889, a blow that seemed cruel and unjust to him, for the reason that his mother had looked forward to the day of his ordination as one that would be the happiest day of her life. Now that he was ordained, he was alone in the world, beginning the life of a priest with his love for his mother and father. A priest dedicated to his Church and Nation. Not only was Hlinka a faithful priest who performed his spiritual duties conscientiously, but he was a teacher, physician, and leader of his Slovak people. As a young priest, Hlinka lived close to his people so that he knew their conditions and studied the various influences that affected their lives. He always kept in mind that his main objective in life as a priest of God was to save immortal souls. He could not ignore the temporal affairs of his people though, because these are too often closely united with the spiritual needs of mankind. The Slovak nation was not only neglected but actually subjected to humiliation and tyranny. The arrogance of the non-Slovak higher classes went so far as to make disparaging references to that "lowly" Slovak and "that poor excuse for a man". This insult to his nation infuriated Hlinka. He felt its sting all the more because it was unChristian and inhuman. Upright in his concept of the dignity of his Slovak nation, Hlinka wanted to share that gift with all his fellow countrymen. This ideal was in accord with God's plan, with the teaching of the Church and with SLOVAKIA 163 the universal belief of mankind, namely, that "all men are born and created equal". The Slovaks did not deserve to be belittled in view of their rich contributions in all fields of endeavor despite the handicaps for social and economic misery and cultural neglect. The more insolent the attacks became from the Magyars, the greater was Hlinka's courage and determination to fight for the Slovak cause. Truth, Justice, Human Rights, and Religion were the ideals that inspired Hlinka to carry on the struggle in behalf of the Slovak nation. He was convinced that truth and justice must triumph ultimately against the evil forces of untruth and injustice. The important aspect was though that truth and justice were on his side. Hlinka was appointed to his own parish in 1895 and it was then that he became interested in the popular political movement in Slovakia represented by the People's Party. Two years later he became editor of the Eudove Noviny and began vigorously opposing the Magyarization of the Slovaks. His power within the party continued to grow and by 1905, he became pastor of the large parish at Ruzomherok-the city that was to remain the center for most of his activity until the day of his death at the age of seventyfour . Father Hlinka and Francis Skycak formed their own Slovak People's Party on December 5, 1905. This party after World War I, became known as Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, the name it retained until 1945 when it was dissolved by the Prague Government. In 1906, two Slovak deputies were elected to the Diet. Under the leadership of Hlinka and others, the Slovaks increased their representation to seven. All of these men believed in the same truths as Hlinka, namely: linguistic and cultural autonomy for the Slovaks. Their campaign motto was, "For Our Slovak Language". The Magyars blamed Hlinka for the success of the· campaign because of the persuasiveness of his written and . spoken messages to the Slovaks. The Magyars applied pressure on Hlinka's ecclesiastical superiors that he might be suspended from his pastoral duties on charges of si- 164 SLOVAKIA mony. His bishop, Alexander Parvy of Spis, bowed to Magyar pressure. Hlinka, along with fifteen other Slovaks, was arrested on charges for "action against the Magyar nationality. " The t rial was held in Ruzomberok. It was indeed a trumped-up farce. Hlinka's young counsel was warned by the court not to let his defense make him an accomplice to Hlinka's guilt. Hlinka continued to stand his ground. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison. When leaving the courtroom, he added that upon his return he would continue to struggle for Slovak liberty. For this he was sentenced to an additional eighteen months imprisonment . For years Hlinka had wished to build a church in his native Cernova. After years of toil and deprivation- for Cernova was a poor community-the church was completed. The people wanted Hlinka to bless the church. On October 27, 1907, when the Cernovans saw the Magyar magistrate and priest coming, they blocked the way, seized the horses and shouted again for a postponement of the dedication. The Magyar magistrate ordered the gendarmes to open fire on the people of Cernova, and 15 were shot. This was known as the "Cernova Massacre. " This massacre focused the world's attention upon the Magyar tyranny more than any other single event. The events at Cernova also sparked the interest of impartial European scholars who soon thereafter became champions of the Slovak cause. Hlinka was lecturing in Bohemia when the tragedy occured at his birthplace. He spoke in numerous other cities for the cause of his people. His audiences hailed him as the great champion and martyr for Slovak freedom. On November 30, 1907, Hlinka began serving his sentence in Szeged. He once again declared his innocence of any wrong actions . His belief was molding firmer that the liberation of the Slovaks was inevitable. "Truth has never suffered in vain, so even Slovak truth shall not suffer," were his words to the Slovak people as the Magyar jail closed behind him. In May, 1908, he was sentenced to another eighteen months in jail for his newspaper articles. Even while in jail Hlinka continued to work. He translated the Holy Writ into Slovak. Rome found Hlinka in- SLOVAKIA 165 nocent and on February 23, 1910, justification came to Hlinka. In the winter of 1910 Hlinka returned to his parish in Ruzomberok. By re-emphasizing his belief in Slovak freedom, Hlinka declared war on Magyar Chauvinism by demanding that the Slovaks be permitted to have the language taught in all the schools of the city. Most of Slovakia followed in suit. Slovak national life had continued to feel the pressure of Magyarization. In the election of 1910, only three Slovak deputies were elected. Slovaks continued to be divided into two different groups, one which favored complete Slovak autonomy and ultimate independence as a sovereign nation, and the other advocating a federated republic of Slovak and Czech peoples. The assasination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand on the streets of Sarajevo, plunged the world into the first war of the 20th century. This catastrophe also began tolling the watch for Austro-Magyar domination of Central Europe. On May 24, 1918, Hlinka took the lead for the creation of a new state, comprising Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Silesia. He drew up a program which stood for the creation of Czecho-Slovakia. "Let us welcome every Czech who is willing to help us," he preached. The followers of s tur, Radlinsky and Vajansky up to 1918 expressed themselves moderately in form, but convincingly in substance. When it came to the breaking of bread in 1918, however, Andrej Hlinka, leader of his party, proclaimed at Turciansky Svaty Martin, "The 1,000 year-old marriage with the Magyars was a failure. We must part." The policy of forcible Magyarization of the Slovaks was undoubtedly the greatest reason for Slovak immigration into America. The Slovaks in America were always mindful of the injustices that had driven them out of the land of their birth, their fatherland. The people were stirred up when they heard the news of the continuous persecution in Slovakia. The Hungarian government still wanted the immigrated Slovaks to feel the pressures of Magyarization but the Slovaks in America could no longer be controlled by forces across the ocean. They continued to make known in America and throughout the rest of the 166 SLOVAKIA world the persecution and injustice that the Slovaks were suffering. The Slovaks were suffering on account of the Magyars and the Czechs, at the hands of the Austrians. The Czechs and Slovaks lived apart. When the Czechs and Slovaks immigrated to this country, they continued to live and to develop here as two separate nations. The Czechs and Slovaks are the two closest Slovanic brothers, but each retained its own separate and definite identity. One of the most stirring incidents that finally completely awakened the Slovaks in America was the massacre in cernova. The founding of the Slovak League of America was the result of the persecution of Andrej Hlinka. The aim of this organization was: "That the Slovak nation may take its place among the other nations as an equal among equals." The Slovaks in America became unified. Meetings were called and the final conclusion was that they had to come to the rescue of their brethren in Slovakia. The Slovaks in America had prepared a Memorandum for all the parliaments of the United States. The Memorandum mainly stated that: "The Slovaks in Hungary should obtain their natural privileges of life, freedom and pursuit of happiness, which they have been deprived of by the dynasty; that the Slovaks be given an opportunity to develop their national spirit, their abilities, and the natural resources of their native land; that the Slovaks be guaranteed the realization of their national ideals and efforts, w hich have been mercilessly trodden by the tyrannical Hungarian Government." The more progressive portion of the Slovak nation was found here in America, and this portion had a full privilege, moral and financial, to speak in behalf of the entire nation. The Cleveland Agreement in 1915 was a fore-runner of the Pittsburgh Pact. The Czech National Alliance officially invited the Slovak League of America to a meeting-the purpose of which was to be: "That we could unite for combined political work." The Czechs soon after already tried to squeeze the Slovaks out. To a proclamation issued in Paris, was signed: "The Foreign Czech Committee" and not a Czecho-Slovak Committee. The difficulties of the co- SLOVAKIA 167 operation with the Czechs became quite plain to the Slovaks. The Slovaks wanted to be with the Czechs and not under the Czechs. In 1918, the Slovaks' efforts seemed to be leading to success. Their goal-the liberation of Slovakia, and the founding of the Czecho-Slovak state. Small, but significant jncidents kept unfolding in which the Czechs proved to be not fully sincere with the Slovaks. The Slovaks tried to overlook all these though. Even write-ups in the Czech newspapers, such as the arrival of T. G. Masaryk only mentioned facts pertaining to the Czechs. The JEDNOTA-the official weekly of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the largest and one of the oldest Slovak fraternal organizations in America-acted quickly. The paper criticized Masaryk about never mentioning Slovakia-he completely ignored the Slovak participation in the struggle. The JEDNOT A printed, as it has continued to down through the years, the truth and that was, the Slovaks were gradually becoming subordinate to the Czechs. Masaryk arrived in Pittsburgh on May 30, 1918, where he was received most graciously by our Slovaks. Everything seemed to be ironed out. Masaryk ended his speech by saying, "Everyone shall have his personal liberty guaranteed." That same night Masaryk had a conference with representatives of the Slovaks in the Moose Temple on Pennsylvania Avenue. Many matters were presented which Masaryk answered to the satisfaction of all present. On May 31 , 1918, the representatives of the American Slovaks and Czechs met again. The report states that: "Professor Masaryk performed an act which shall always have historical significance in the history of the Czechs and Slovaks." This act consisted of a new agreement between the Czechs and Slovaks. Professor Masaryk wrote the new agreement himself, and it established the relations between the two nations. According to this agreement: The representatives of the Slovak and Czech organizations in the United States- the Slovak League, the Czech National Alliance , and the Union of Czech Catholics-have deliberated, in the presence of the Chairman of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, Professor Masaryk, on the Czecho-Slovak question and on our previous program manifestations, and have resolved as follows: 168 SLOVAKIA We fa vor a political program whose purpose it shall be to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an autonomous state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have her own administration, her own assembly, and her own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in the schools, in public offices, and in the public life in general. The Czecho-Slovak State shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic. The cooperation of the Czechs and the Slovaks in the United States shall be intensified and r egulated by mutual consent, according to need and changing situations. Detailed provisions relating to the organization of the CzechoSlovak State shall be left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks and their legal representatives. All matters seemed to be settled now--even the JEDNOT A was satisfied. As we shall see, however, the Pact was not kept. Yes, on May 31, 1918, the Pittsburgh Pact was drawn up and signed by Czech and Slovak representatives-as well as by T. G. Masaryk, the future President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. According to this document, Slo• vakia was guaranteed its autonomy, with its own assembly, administration, and department of justice. Andrej Hlinka and the Slovak People's Party incorporated the Pittsburgh Pact in their national party platform. When the Czecho-Slovak State was established, the Slovaks, including Hlinka, had no clear conception of what the new state would be like. It was agreed upon that the new state would be run in the spirit of equality of both nations . 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. Things didn't go according to the Pact though. The narrow political attitude of the Prague government toward the Slovaks as early as 1919 aroused Hlinka and many of the Slovak leaders. The progress of political events from within supported a fanatical centralizing of power at Prague in control largely of certain Czech leaders, which openly transgressed the rights guaranteed by the Pact. When Hlinka arrived in Prague he was welcomed not as the greatest friend of the Czechs, but as the worst enemy SLOVAKIA 169 of the new state. The Czech section of the government was against him. The attack on Hlinka was continued for the three years that he was serving his term in office. This was a struggle which in the end meant the collapse of Czechoslovakia, the end of Slovak-Czech collaboration for any sort of common political state. On January 23, 1919, the Prague parliament was the scene of the wildest attacks against Hlinka. Hlinka practically stood alone in the defense of the interests of his Slovak people in 1919. He still had a great following in Slovakia. Hlinka became in Slovakia the very symbol of resistance to Prague's domination. Promises had been made to the Slovaks before they decided to join the Czechs to form a joint political state and those promises should have been kept. The Czech "progressives" even had an editorial in the LIDOVE NOV/NY (People's News) that read: "It will take only a few years and things will be the same in Slovakia as they are in the Czech lands." 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. In October, 1919, Hlinka left secretly for Paris, determined that the Slovaks would be heard at the Peace Conference which was then in session. Knowing that he would probably not be permitted a Czecho-Slovak passport to go to Paris, Hlinka turned to the Polish authorities for help, and then by way of Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Italy, and Switzerland he reached Paris. He asked for the Slovaks the rights of administering their affairs in Slovakia, stating that the Slovaks were not to be regarded as Czechs. He said, "The Slovaks are neither Czechs nor Czechoslovaks, but Slovaks who intend to remain Slovaks." He was ordered to leave at the instigation of the Czech delegates. When he returned to Slovakia, on October 12, 1919, he was seized at night and carted out of Slovakia on the charge of passport irregularity and later on for treason to the Republic. A local revolt broke out as a result of this. He was imprisoned for a period of six months awaiting trial. Meanwhile, on February 29, 1920, the final wording of the Constitution was discussed in the Prague Parliament. 170 SLOVAKIA The Slovak representativ es put a motion before the Constitutional Committee which stated that the vote for such a constitution would not prevent them from persevering in their struggle for autonomy and a legislature for Slovakia. The fundamental act of the Czecho-Slova k State was thereafter voted on February 29, 1920 not by a Constituent Assembly freely elected by the people, but by a revolutionary one. A constitution vote took place and voted on a united "Czechoslova k" nation; this deprived the Slovak nation more of its political and judical individuality and assured the Czechs of the exclusive direction of the State. Thus, the Slovak nation was once again deprived of its right which had been clearly guaranteed by international treaties. On April 18, 1920, Hlinka was elected to the CzechoSlovak Parliament. The authorities were compelled to release him. Hlinka fought now with all his energy and zeal. As the leader of the Autonomists, he fought the Centralists as hard as he had fought the Magyars. The official spelling of the name "Czecho-Slov akia," as found in the treaties at the time of the creation of the new Republic, was now changed to "Czechoslova kia." Instead of fusing the Czechs and Slovaks into a solid Czech whole, this change in the name of the State succeeded in accentuating the differences between them and in rekindling the fight of the Slovaks against denationaliza tion. Hlinka spent the best part of his life in this vital crusade for his beloved people. As an orator and debater, Hlinka was unequalled. As the political controversy grew stronger, so did his fight for the principles of his program. From 1925 on, Hlinka's Slovak People's Party was the most powerful single political party in Slovakia. In order to raise funds to carry on this fight, Hlinka turned to America in 1926 and appealed to the Slovaks here for aid. The welcome to Hlinka and the response to his appeal was more than generous. To write about Hlinka's triumphal tour of the United States is a chapter that deserves a separate presentation. In 1932, the Slovak People's Party and the non-Catholic Slovak National Party, under the leadership of Rev. Martin Razus joined forces and issued a joint declaration: "The SLOVAKIA 171 individuality of the Slovak nation, which we shall not renounce even at the cost of the Republic, demands the recognition of sovereign rights and therefore a responsive form of political life. The only form, regarded as such by the Slovaks, is the immediate result of Slovak political tradition and agreements concluded during the action of liberation between the Czechs and Slovaks ... " Hlinka, by 1933, had become the most important national figure in Slovakia. That same year the ancient historical city of Nitra observed the eleventh centenary of the founding of the first Christian Church in Slovakia. More than 100,000 patriotic Slovaks gathered there to help celebrate the occasion. It turned out to be a major demonstration for Slovak autonomy. On June 5, 1938, over 100,00 national-minded Slovaks turned out in Bratislava-the capital of Slovakia-to manifest their fidelity to Hlinka's political program for autonomy. This date also commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Pittsburgh Pact. The observance was attended by enthusiastic representatives from the whole nation and was visited by a special delegation that brought the original document of that historic agreement direct from America. This memorable occasion was a distinct proof that the Slovak nation had grown to national maturity in its struggle for autonomy. This was to be Hlinka's last public appearance and address to any type of formal assembly. Msgr. Andrej Hlinka saw his goal in sight. Slovakia was on the threshold of self-government. In the years of 1938 and 1939, when the international situation weakened the foundation of the Czecho-Slovak republic, the Slovak nation got the opportunity to take hold of the helm of its own state government. The Slovaks declared independence and were given back their just national freedom just shortly after Hlinka died. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Andrej Hlinka, the Father of the Slovak Nation, met his everlasting peace on August 16, 1938. His funeral on August 21, 1938 was a national event of respect the likes of which was never seen in the shadow of the Tatra Mountains. Four bishops, over 1,000 prelates and priests, and over 120,000 Slovaks came to pay respect to their "father." 172 SLOVAKIA On October 6, 1938, shortly after Hlinka's death, Slovakia declared its right to self-government. The Slovak Parliament declared its country's independence and established the Slovak State on March 14, 1939. Although Hlinka did not live to see the successful outcome of his life-long struggle, he had prepared the waythe way of truth which did not succumb to all else in the end. Will truth again prevail? As of today, the Slovak nation has never renounced its independence and has never recognized the existence of the " Czechoslovak" nation. There is no such nation! There is a Czech nation and a Slovak nation; and so likewise, there is no "Czechoslovak" language, but there is a Czech language and a Slovak language. The cultural oppression of the Slovak people has an economic background for the benefit of the Czech people. The religious, political, economic and social well-being of the Slovaks is in grave danger. We are now living in the same atmosphere as did Andrej Hlinka. Hlinka, the Father of-the Fighter for-and the Light of the Slovak Nation has gone from this world in bodily appearance. Does his spirit live on? Yes!-in the souls and hearts of "true" Slovaks in America, in the rest of the free world, and those who are suffering in Slovakia. BIBLIOGRAPHY Culen, Constantine. "Andrej Hlinka and Prague", Slovakia. Middletown, Pa.: The Slovak League of America, 1958. Glaser, Kurt. Czecho-Slovakia, A Critical History, Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, 1961. Kirschbaum, Joseph. "The Politics of Hlinka's Party in the Slovak Republic". Slovakia. Middletown, Pa. : The Slovak League of America, 1951. Mikus, Joseph A. Slovakia, A Political History, 1918-1950. Milwaukee: The Marquette University Press, 1963. Oddo, Gilbert L.O. Slovakia And Its People. New York: Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Pauco, Jozef. 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty ( 75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union) . Middletown, Pa.: The Jednota Press, 1965. Sidor, Karl. "The Slovak Republic-Fruit of Hlinka's Struggle", Slovakia. Middletown, Pa.: The Slovak League of America, 1951. Yurchak, Peter P. The Slovaks, Their History And Traditi ons. Whiting, Ind., 1946.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Andrej Hlinka Description An account of the resource Maryagnes Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 17 (No. 40), 1967 pp. 161-172 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krajsa, Maryagnes A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/3f7cde734c4e9ab1df2a2651ae221f64.pdf 23139c4596bc2840efc71bd5bc848244 PDF Text Text 50 SLOVAKIA The Kremlin and The Slovak National Uprising August-October, 1944 MICHAEL KRAUS Copyright © 1991, Michael Kraus In contrast to the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the quasi-independent Slovak state had become a brewing ground for anti-German resistance by the spring of 1944. 1 The main organization of the underground, the Slovak National Council (SNR), brought together a loose coalition of Communists, Socialists, and Liberal-Democratic opponents of the pro-German government headed by Monsignor Jozef Tiso. Encouraged by the advance of the Red Army, which by early April had reached the Carpathians, the prewar Czechoslovak-Soviet boundary, the SNR agreed on plans at the end of June, for an uprising involving the defection of sizeable units of the Slovak army to the Allies. According to these preparations, the insurrection would begin either if the Germans attempted to occupy Slovakia (as they had not yet done) or if the action could be coordinated with the advance of the Red Army. In the latter (and much preferable) case, the conspirators hoped that the collapse of the pro-German authority - in conjunction with the army's defection - would open Slovakia to a lightning strike of Soviet forces. Colonel Jan Golian, a high-ranking officer in the Slovak army, who enjoyed the backing of the Edvard Benes government in London, was entrusted with the military leadership of the revolt. 2 From the very outset, the insurrection plans were beset by problems. For one, the underground lacked the commitment of a sufficient number of military commanders to assure the success of �SLOVAKIA 51 the revolt inside the Slovak army. Nor was there a full appreciation for the military-logistical obstacles that lay in the path of the Red Army, namely the Carpathian Mountains. Moreover, mutual distrust among the political actors planning the insurgency complicated the preparations. Even more importantly, the conspirators lacked any direct means of communication with Moscow. Slovak Communists were unable to establish a two-way radio communication with the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), whose most senior members resided in the Soviet Union. As a result, in what was surely one of the more bizzare operations of the war, the insurgents attempted until August to coordinate the preparations for the uprising with the Soviet military via the Benes government in London. Benes, on the other hand, though he maintained contact with Golian through a short wave transmitter, was not fully versed in the composition of the SNR, the political arm of the conspiracy. In addition to Benes-loyalists, the SNR activists included the leaders of the Slovak Communist Party (KSS) Karol Smidke and Gustav Husak. Smidke had been sent back to Slovakia by the Comintern in June 1943 in order to resurrect the battered ranks of the KSS. The trials and then triumphs of Husak' s political career still lay ahead of him: Communist prisons in the 1950's, and the country's leadership in the 1970's and the 1980's . In mid-1944, these men hoped to exploit the revolt for purposes of their own. Negotiations between Benes and Moscow concerning military aid to Slovakia had been under way since the fall of 1943. Throughout these talks, the Soviets seemed receptive to Czechoslovak proposals and agreed to provide the necessary training and equipment for special Czechoslovak units that were to be deployed in the event of an anti-German insurrection in Slovakia. As early as November 1943 Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed London that the Soviets had promised to provide equipment for 50,000 men and to airlift into Slovakia units of the Czechoslovak armed forces organized on Soviet soil. Moscow also agreed to supplement these forces with Soviet paratroopers. 3 Negotiations about military assistance intensified especially after the official visit by Benes to Moscow in December 1943 dur- �52 SLOVAKIA ing which the Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship Mutual Assistance, and Postwar Cooperation was signed. 4 Thus, when Slovak requests for military supplies reached London in early summer 1944, Benes felt confident enough to reassure the rebels of "the certainty that at the given time, you shall get the weapons. " 5 To his surprise, however, enquiries in Moscow proposing the coordination of the revolt with Soviet actions on the war front met with evasive replies. NKVD General G.S. Zhukov, who supervised the foreign military units in the USSR, explained in late July that his government could not specify a date for a joint action in Slovakia. He advised Benes, unhelpfully, that the Slovak insurrectionists should take into account the "strategic situation as it will develop at a given time." Similarly, Moscow temporized on an urgent request from the Czech leader to supply the already promised arms to the Slovak loyalists. 6 But Moscow's picture of the Slovak situation improved considerably in early August when a small Slovak mission, seeking to coordinate the revolt with the Soviet advance, reached the Soviet Union . Though ostensibly the delegation came from the SNR, the plenipotentiaries represented, in fact, three different political groups: Slovak Communists, Benes-loyalists, and the Slovak Ministry of Defense. Certainly the most intriguing offer came in the form of a memorandum from Slovakia's Minister of Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos. He proposed to establish a military dictatorship in Slovakia, "cancel" the war against Russia and the Allies, declare war against Hungary, and in exchange for some degree of Slovak independence align Slovak internal politics '' in accordance with Soviet interest. " 7 Strangely enough, Catlos, who furnished the plane for the mission to Moscow, had been unaware of the SNR conspiracy from whose ranks the other emissaries came. Of special interest to Moscow were reports brought by Smidke that informed the Soviet General Staff of the disposition and the equipment of the Slovak forces as well as of the plans of the SNR. On a separate note, a memorandum prepared by Husak assessed the situation in terms highly favorable for the party's cause. "It is clear," he wrote, "that when the war ends, there will be only one party with a crushing Communist majority." Speaking on behalf of the KSS leadership, Husak claimed that if a free election �SLOVAKIA 53 were held in the summer of 1944, at least seventy percent of the Slovaks would vote for the region's incorporation into the Soviet Union, while twenty percent at most would want Slovakia to reunite with the Czechs. "We want to be a part of the USSR," declared Husak. "Why seek salvation with Benes, when Stalin has a proven recipe," asked the future leader of Czechoslovakia. If the country had to be reconstituted, submitted Husak, then as a "socialist federation of nations." 8 Given that no evidence supports Husak' s contentions concerning Slovak public opinion, his views shed more light on the attitudes of the KSS leadership than on anything else (when the Soviets searched for a successor to Dubcek in 1968, the file from 1944 could hardly do any harm to Husak' s candidacy). In fact, as late as December 1944, the underground leaders of the KSS evidently required tutoring by Georgi Dimitrov, the Comintern' s ex-chief, then serving as the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, that "the detachment of the Slovaks from the Czechs is not at present in the interest'' of Moscow. ''We should restrain those people in Slovakia who want to rush things too much where Soviet power is concerned," Dimitrov advised. "Do not raise the question of Sovietization of Czechoslovakia now," he counselled. 9 Smidke was debriefed on August 5 by General Lev Mekhlis, the political commissar of the Fourth Ukrainian Front, and then met with other Soviet military and political representatives, including Dimitrov. Stalin received a report on the Smidke mission on August 10. Smidke's information gave the Soviet General Staff - to quote Sergei Shtemenko, the Chief of its Operation Department - "a complete picture of the situation in Slovakia." 10 The Soviets seemed interested in the Catlos offer, at least for a while. That would help to account for the fact that despite the urgent call from Slovakia for the coordination of military planning, the Soviets attempted to hide the Slovak mission from both the Benes government and the KSC Politburo . So it was not until August 27 that Smidke reported to the Czechoslovak embassy, where he met with Benes' representatives. 11 In any event, Benes had been informed independently that a Catlos representative had gone to Russia. Intimations of Soviet contacts with Catlos alarmed the Czech leader. During his �54 SLOVAKIA December 1943 visit to the Soviet Union Benes told Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov that Catlos was among the traitors who "must hang ." In that spirit, the President in August 1944 instructed the Czechoslovak Ambassador in Moscow, Zdenek Fierlinger, to advise the Soviet government that direct or indirect negotiations with the "Slovak quisling rabble" can take place only through the offices of the Czechoslovak government. Any other conduct, warned Benes, might violate Soviet-Czechoslovak agreements and would put the West on notice that "our Soviet policy has failed." In September, when the uprising was already under way, Moscow replied lamely that the talks with the Catlos emissaries were conducted by the CPSU. "The Soviet government," read the reply, "had nothing to do with it. " In the meantime, however, the Soviets gave no indication of their plans to the insurgents or to Benes. 12 But on a separate level, Soviet-led actions influenced the outbreak of the uprising in late August . Radio dispatches from Soviet or Soviet-led partisan groups operating in Slovakia since July highlighted the favorable conditions for partisan warfare. By early August the partisans established contacts with both the KSS and the SNR and radioed the headquarters in Kiev that "plans for action against the Germans are ready . . . the leaders of the Slovak army request a signal for a joint action ... " 13 Nikita Khrushchev, under whose authority the Kiev partisan center fuctioned, passed the information on to Stalin in mid-August. Meanwhile, additional partisan groups and supplies were being airdropped and the partisan "fever" was rapidly catching on in Slovakia. There was the danger, however, that the rapid spread of sabotage activities would provoke the German occupation of Slovakia and thereby trigger the insurgency prematurely. Precisely for that reason, Husak intervened with the main partisan group on August 21, but his efforts came to naught, for the partisans respected only orders from the Kiev command. 14 In the following week the partisan acts of sabotage finally brought on German military intervention and, in turn, a premature outbreak of the insurgency on August 29. Though Soviet moves surrounding the Slovak revolt are something of a jigsaw puzzle, the following facts are beyond doubt. Moscow had known in advance, from both Benes and the SNR, �SLOVAKIA 55 of the preparations under way in Slovakia. In order of the revolt to begin under the most propitious circumstances, a coordination with Soviet military plans was essential. The Soviets, however, made no effort in this direction. The SNR mission, whose return within a week or so had been anxiously expected by the insurgents, spent five weeks in the Soviet Union, coming back only a week after the uprising began. 15 Nor do the orders issued to the Red Army - poised North and East, twenty five to forty miles, from the borders - indicate that Stalin wished the revolt to succeed. On August 25, Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed the Russian military command that Slovakia might be occupied in a matter of days by the Germans . 16 On the following day, on August 26, Stalin rescinded the original plan for an offensive operation in the East which was to commence two days later, and ordered the 4th Ukrainian Front to go into a "defensive" mode .17 Its advance was not resumed until seven weeks later. North of the border, the First Ukrainian Front, to which Czechoslovak military units were attached, went into action only on September 8. On that day the Soviets also replaced General Jan Kratochvil, the Benes-appointed commander of the Czechoslovak Corps in the Soviet Union, with Ludvik Svoboda, whom they and the KSC Politburo had groomed for the post all along. But it took a full month and enormous casualties before the troops made their way through the mountain passes. And it took just as long for the Sovietorganized airdrop of a Czechoslovak paratrooper brigade, allegedly on account of poor weather conditions . The transfer of the paratrooper brigade did not begin until the night of September 25-26. And the same reason was given for the six-week long delay in the transfer of Benes' representatives from Moscow to Slovakia. 18 But inclement weather conditions did not prevent the more immediate Soviet dispatch to Slovakia of Smidke, and of two KSC Politburo members, Rudolf Shinsky and Jan Sverma, nor can they account for Moscow's orders giving priority to Soviet-led partisans over the insurgents in the limited weapons aid supplied. Smidke returned to Slovakia on September 4; the KSC Politburo members, Sverma and Shinsky, arrived on September 28, while the Benes government representatives got there only on October 6-7. 19 Finally, �56 SLOVAKIA the Soviets effectively frustrated Benes' attempts to obtain Western assistance. In July and August the British told Benes that, though military supplies were available, the airlift was contingent on Soviet permission because Slovakia belonged to the Soviet sphere of war operations. Before the uprising the Soviets assured Benes that ample aid was forthcoming, but when urgent requests for weapons aid from Slovakia in September prompted Benes to turn to the British again, Moscow ignored the Foreign Office enquiries regarding Soviet intentions.20 The uprising collapsed on October 28, after two months of bitter fighting. What, then, were the Kremlin's objectives? Stalin's aims in Slovakia have to be viewed in the broader context of Soviet priorities and military capabilities. As seen from Moscow in the summer of 1944, Slovakia represented only one operation in a war that stretched Soviet armies over a thousand mile front from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Several war developments overshadowed the military-political significance of the Slovak operation. In the two weeks between August 23 and September 8, Romania and Bulgaria switched sides in the war to join the Allies, and Finland capitulated. The rush of the events in the Balkans evidently led the Soviet command to contemplate a thrust into Hungary, bordering on southern Slovakia. John Erickson's exhaustive survey of Soviet war strategy characterizes the Romanian defection of August 23 as "one of the decisive days of the entire war. " 21 Though he implies that the Soviet General Staff orders to the 4th Ukrainian Front "not to embark on any offensive operations" were related to the RomanianHungarian operations, he does not explain how .22 Erickson concludes that the Soviet command, "to the degree that it was actually culpable, made Slovakia the victim of its inflexibility. " 23 Hence, as cynical as Stalin's orders to the Fourth Ukrainian Front (to go on the "defensive") may appear at a first glance, they may have been related to the projected move into Hungary, a far more valuable prize militarily than Slovakia. At any rate, the costs of mounting a surprise attack through the treacherous passes of the Carpathian mountains must have seemed excessive to Stalin in relation to the small military gains and uncertain political rewards of the Slovak operation. What the well-meaning Benes could not know was that the �SLOVAKIA 57 Soviet General Staff had been highly suspicious of any "military putsch" in Slovakia under the auspices of the London government. According to later revelations by Shtemenko, the Soviet command had also lacked the conviction that the revolt against the Germans would succeed on military grounds. There was yet another reason for the Soviet refusal to provide Benes with a timetable: "It looked like an attempt to feel out the plans of the Soviet Supreme Command," notes Shtemenko. 24 Clearly Stalin was not keen on bolstering the Benes-loyalists, whom Shtemenko even years later characterized as "bourgeois military putschists. '' Nor did the Soviet leader make a habit of supporting zealous Communist radicals of Husak's variety. Unwittingly, Klement Gottwald, the Moscow-based leader of the KSC, might have sealed the fate of the uprising when in the first days of September he informed Molotov of the political character of the uprising's revolutionary Council and drew an analogy with Tito's Yugoslavia. 25 Over the previous year Stalin had had ample difficulties with Tito, whose political independence grew commensurately with the success of his resistance movement. All things considered, Stalin preferred to let the Red Army do the job of driving the Germans out of Slovakia, while the Soviet-led partisans continued to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear. At the same time, Moscow could hardly afford to do nothing for the Slovaks. On the one hand the Russians had been promising military assistance to Benes for months, and on those grounds discouraged Western aid to Slovakia. On the other hand, Stalin could no longer ignore the adverse Western reaction to the JulyAugust failure of Soviet assistance to the Warsaw Uprising. The mixture of these motives was evident in the way Moscow handled the Slovak insurgency. While the Soviets went through the motions of assisting the Slovak rebels, they did not take decisive measures to tilt the balance in favor of the insurgents. Different participants in the Slovak events were bound to draw different lessons from the experience. The uprising spelled the de facto end of the Tiso regime and, for the remainder of the year, Slovakia turned into a war zone . For a significant segment of the Slovak population the uprising marked a proud chapter in what was one of the largest European acts of resistance against Hitler . �58 SLOVAKIA Equally important, representatives of Slovak resistance secured for themselves a voice in the London-Moscow dialogue about the postwar order. As far as the KSC leadership was concerned, the prominent role played by Slovak Communists in the insurgency created high expectations regarding the party's postwar influence in the region. In addition, the uprising provided some valuable experience with national committees, organized by party activists in many communities over the two month period. But the party leadership also sustained an important loss: Sverma, the second in command after Gottwald, and one of Dimitrov' s adjutants, died in the Slovak mountains at the end of 1944. By contrast, for Benes and his supporters the lessons were all negative. To begin with, the uprising demonstrated the powerlessness of the London-based groups to shape the events in the distant heartland of the continent. Second, the abundant evidence of Soviet misbehavior cast a long shadow over the nature of the Soviet-Czechoslovak alliance. In addition to the incidents cited earlier, London discovered that Soviet partisans in Slovakia were far from bipartisan in political matters, clearly abetting the Communist cause. Third, Communist influence in the political headquarters of the uprising seemed to substantiate the party's claim to political leadership in the postwar period. But equally telling blows to the Benes circle came with the realization that Western military assistance to Czechoslovakia depended on Soviet good will. The inaction of the Americans and the British in August-October convinced Benes that the Allies had agreed at Teheran on military and, by extension, on political spheres of influence, assigning Czechoslovakia to the Soviet sphere. In his Memoirs Benes wrote of the Teheran Conference : ''The division of the war zones in Germany and Central Europe was decided between the West and East at this time. Poland and Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Hungary and Yugoslavia were placed in the Soviet zone. Nobody told us at the time either officially or unofficially. We only learned about it indirectly, much later, at the time of the Slovak uprising . " 26 This conclusion - along with the loss of faith in Soviet commitments - significantly affected the perceptions of the representatives of democratic resistance concerning Czechoslovakia' s place in the international order. As a result, the �SLOVAKIA 59 London-based moderates after October 1944 were far more impressed by the weakness of their bargaining position - a weakness only accentuated by the weighty presence of the Red Army on Czechoslovak territory - vis-a-vis the Gottwald-led contingent of the KSC. These factors and perceptions made themselves felt in the ensuing negotiations between the two factions of the political exiles concerning the postwar political system. When the revolt was crushed at the end of October, Fierlinger reported to London the view of the Soviet General Staff that " the uprising fulfilled its political and military task by creating chaos in the German ranks and by depriving Germans of important communication centers . " 27 And that is perhaps the best summary of Soviet objectives . FOOTNOTES 1 Preparation of this article for publication was facilitated by a grant from The Ada Howe Kent Foundation. It is based on my The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and the Second World War: The Foundations of Communist Rule, Ph .D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1986. For the background on the Slovak rebellion see Anna Josko, " The Slovak Resistance Movement, " in Victor Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948 (Princeton 1973), pp . 362-383; Jozef Jablonicky, Z ilegality do povstania, (Bratislava, 1969); other Jablonicky contributions appearing in samizdat, Bratislava a vznik Slovenskeho narodneho povstania; 0 vzniku SNR a vojenskeho ustredia; and Zlyhanie Malarovej armady v Karpatoch (Prague, 1978-79); and Zbornfk Slovenskeho narodneho povstania (Toronto, 1975), esp. Miroslav Licko, " K otazke spojeneckej pomoci v Slovenskom narodnom povstanf." 3 Dokumen ty a materialy k dejinam ceskoslovensko-sovetskych vztahit (Prague, 1984), vol. IV, part 2, p . 24 . 2 4 5 6 For evidence of Soviet support for Benes's requests, see ibid., 22-24, 34-35, 45-46. Vilem Precan, ed., Slovenske narodne povstanie-Dokumenty (Bratislava, 1965) (hereafter SNP), p . 244. fbid. , p. 250 7 For the text of the Catlos memorandum, see SNP, pp . 262-63; fo r an analysis, see Miroslav Licko, "Catlosov plan - politicka naivita, alebo strategicka iniciativa" Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (57, 1978), pp . 69-84. 8 Husak's report, " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," was publish ed by Vilem Precan for the first time in Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (58, 1979), pp. 367-382. �SLOVAKIA 60 9 For an incomplete record of these talks see Vaclav Kral, Osvobozenf Czeskoslovenska (Prague, 1975), pp. 177-78; Miroslav Boucek, Miloslav Klimes; Marta Vartikova, Program Revoluce (Prague, 1975), pp . 234-35. 10 S.M. Shtemenko, Generalnf stab za valky (Prague, 1974), p . 297. 11 For a report on the meeting prepared for Benes see SNP, p .329 and ff; for a commentary by one of the participants, see Prokop Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud (Toronto, 1982), Vol I, part II, pp . 631-642. 12 For the briefing of Stalin see Andrei Grechko, Cherez Karpaty, (Moscow, 1970), p . 60; for speculations on why the Russians kept Smidke from reaching both the KSC Politburo and Pika see E. Fris, "Moskovsky pobyt K. Smidkeho v August 1944," P'ffspevky k dejinam KSC, vol. 4, (3, June 1964), pp. 439-444, and Vilem Precan, Svedectvf, XV, (58, 1979), pp . 365-366; for Benes's comments see SNP, p.324. 13 14 SNP, p . 302 Khrushchev's cable to Stalin in SNP, pp. 294-5; for Husak's meeting with Soviet partisans see Za narodnf osvobozenf,za novou republiku (Prague, 1982), p . 32. 15 Gustav Husak, Svedectvo o Slovenskom narodnom povstanf (Bratislava, 1974), p. 212. 16 SNP, p. 329 17 Shtemenko, p. 298. 18 SNP, p . 562. SNP, pp. 562-63; for evidence that weather conditions were not an issue see Drtina, op. cit., pp . 661-62. 19 °For evidence that the British made their assistance plans contingent on Soviet 2 approval, see SNP, p. 251. In early August Fierlinger cabled Benes that Moscow was prepared to provide weapons aid to Slovakia "anytime"; see, SNP, p . 288. For a summary report by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense on the negotiations with the British and the Russians for military assistance see Ibid. , pp . 867-875. 21 John Erickson, The Road to Berlin (Boulder, 1983), p .360. 22 Ibid., p. 293. 24 Ibid. , p. 307. But, because his account relies on discredited sources, Erickson's analysis of the political background of the Slovak uprising, including the Smidke mission to Moscow, is sadly misinformed. 24 Shtemenko, op, cit. , pp. 286-91,295. Milos Klimes, et.al .. .. , Cesta ke kvetnu: Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku, vol. I, p . 203-206. 26 Pameti (Prague, 1947), p . 375 . And on the following page (p. 376), Benes equates the military with the political sheres of influence. 25 27 SNP, p. 776. � 50 SLOVAKIA The Kremlin and The Slovak National Uprising August-October, 1944 MICHAEL KRAUS Copyright © 1991, Michael Kraus In contrast to the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the quasi-independent Slovak state had become a brewing ground for anti-German resistance by the spring of 1944. 1 The main organization of the underground, the Slovak National Council (SNR), brought together a loose coalition of Communists, Socialists, and Liberal-Democratic opponents of the pro-German government headed by Monsignor Jozef Tiso. Encouraged by the advance of the Red Army, which by early April had reached the Carpathians, the prewar Czechoslovak-Soviet boundary, the SNR agreed on plans at the end of June, for an uprising involving the defection of sizeable units of the Slovak army to the Allies. According to these preparations, the insurrection would begin either if the Germans attempted to occupy Slovakia (as they had not yet done) or if the action could be coordinated with the advance of the Red Army. In the latter (and much preferable) case, the conspirators hoped that the collapse of the pro-German authority - in conjunction with the army's defection - would open Slovakia to a lightning strike of Soviet forces. Colonel Jan Golian, a high-ranking officer in the Slovak army, who enjoyed the backing of the Edvard Benes government in London, was entrusted with the military leadership of the revolt. 2 From the very outset, the insurrection plans were beset by problems. For one, the underground lacked the commitment of a sufficient number of military commanders to assure the success of �SLOVAKIA 51 the revolt inside the Slovak army. Nor was there a full appreciation for the military-logistical obstacles that lay in the path of the Red Army, namely the Carpathian Mountains. Moreover, mutual distrust among the political actors planning the insurgency complicated the preparations. Even more importantly, the conspirators lacked any direct means of communication with Moscow. Slovak Communists were unable to establish a two-way radio communication with the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), whose most senior members resided in the Soviet Union. As a result, in what was surely one of the more bizzare operations of the war, the insurgents attempted until August to coordinate the preparations for the uprising with the Soviet military via the Benes government in London. Benes, on the other hand, though he maintained contact with Golian through a short wave transmitter, was not fully versed in the composition of the SNR, the political arm of the conspiracy. In addition to Benes-loyalists, the SNR activists included the leaders of the Slovak Communist Party (KSS) Karol Smidke and Gustav Husak. Smidke had been sent back to Slovakia by the Comintern in June 1943 in order to resurrect the battered ranks of the KSS. The trials and then triumphs of Husak' s political career still lay ahead of him: Communist prisons in the 1950's, and the country's leadership in the 1970's and the 1980's . In mid-1944, these men hoped to exploit the revolt for purposes of their own. Negotiations between Benes and Moscow concerning military aid to Slovakia had been under way since the fall of 1943. Throughout these talks, the Soviets seemed receptive to Czechoslovak proposals and agreed to provide the necessary training and equipment for special Czechoslovak units that were to be deployed in the event of an anti-German insurrection in Slovakia. As early as November 1943 Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed London that the Soviets had promised to provide equipment for 50,000 men and to airlift into Slovakia units of the Czechoslovak armed forces organized on Soviet soil. Moscow also agreed to supplement these forces with Soviet paratroopers. 3 Negotiations about military assistance intensified especially after the official visit by Benes to Moscow in December 1943 dur- �52 SLOVAKIA ing which the Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship Mutual Assistance, and Postwar Cooperation was signed. 4 Thus, when Slovak requests for military supplies reached London in early summer 1944, Benes felt confident enough to reassure the rebels of "the certainty that at the given time, you shall get the weapons. " 5 To his surprise, however, enquiries in Moscow proposing the coordination of the revolt with Soviet actions on the war front met with evasive replies. NKVD General G.S. Zhukov, who supervised the foreign military units in the USSR, explained in late July that his government could not specify a date for a joint action in Slovakia. He advised Benes, unhelpfully, that the Slovak insurrectionists should take into account the "strategic situation as it will develop at a given time." Similarly, Moscow temporized on an urgent request from the Czech leader to supply the already promised arms to the Slovak loyalists. 6 But Moscow's picture of the Slovak situation improved considerably in early August when a small Slovak mission, seeking to coordinate the revolt with the Soviet advance, reached the Soviet Union . Though ostensibly the delegation came from the SNR, the plenipotentiaries represented, in fact, three different political groups: Slovak Communists, Benes-loyalists, and the Slovak Ministry of Defense. Certainly the most intriguing offer came in the form of a memorandum from Slovakia's Minister of Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos. He proposed to establish a military dictatorship in Slovakia, "cancel" the war against Russia and the Allies, declare war against Hungary, and in exchange for some degree of Slovak independence align Slovak internal politics '' in accordance with Soviet interest. " 7 Strangely enough, Catlos, who furnished the plane for the mission to Moscow, had been unaware of the SNR conspiracy from whose ranks the other emissaries came. Of special interest to Moscow were reports brought by Smidke that informed the Soviet General Staff of the disposition and the equipment of the Slovak forces as well as of the plans of the SNR. On a separate note, a memorandum prepared by Husak assessed the situation in terms highly favorable for the party's cause. "It is clear," he wrote, "that when the war ends, there will be only one party with a crushing Communist majority." Speaking on behalf of the KSS leadership, Husak claimed that if a free election �SLOVAKIA 53 were held in the summer of 1944, at least seventy percent of the Slovaks would vote for the region's incorporation into the Soviet Union, while twenty percent at most would want Slovakia to reunite with the Czechs. "We want to be a part of the USSR," declared Husak. "Why seek salvation with Benes, when Stalin has a proven recipe," asked the future leader of Czechoslovakia. If the country had to be reconstituted, submitted Husak, then as a "socialist federation of nations." 8 Given that no evidence supports Husak' s contentions concerning Slovak public opinion, his views shed more light on the attitudes of the KSS leadership than on anything else (when the Soviets searched for a successor to Dubcek in 1968, the file from 1944 could hardly do any harm to Husak' s candidacy). In fact, as late as December 1944, the underground leaders of the KSS evidently required tutoring by Georgi Dimitrov, the Comintern' s ex-chief, then serving as the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, that "the detachment of the Slovaks from the Czechs is not at present in the interest'' of Moscow. ''We should restrain those people in Slovakia who want to rush things too much where Soviet power is concerned," Dimitrov advised. "Do not raise the question of Sovietization of Czechoslovakia now," he counselled. 9 Smidke was debriefed on August 5 by General Lev Mekhlis, the political commissar of the Fourth Ukrainian Front, and then met with other Soviet military and political representatives, including Dimitrov. Stalin received a report on the Smidke mission on August 10. Smidke's information gave the Soviet General Staff - to quote Sergei Shtemenko, the Chief of its Operation Department - "a complete picture of the situation in Slovakia." 10 The Soviets seemed interested in the Catlos offer, at least for a while. That would help to account for the fact that despite the urgent call from Slovakia for the coordination of military planning, the Soviets attempted to hide the Slovak mission from both the Benes government and the KSC Politburo . So it was not until August 27 that Smidke reported to the Czechoslovak embassy, where he met with Benes' representatives. 11 In any event, Benes had been informed independently that a Catlos representative had gone to Russia. Intimations of Soviet contacts with Catlos alarmed the Czech leader. During his �54 SLOVAKIA December 1943 visit to the Soviet Union Benes told Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov that Catlos was among the traitors who "must hang ." In that spirit, the President in August 1944 instructed the Czechoslovak Ambassador in Moscow, Zdenek Fierlinger, to advise the Soviet government that direct or indirect negotiations with the "Slovak quisling rabble" can take place only through the offices of the Czechoslovak government. Any other conduct, warned Benes, might violate Soviet-Czechoslovak agreements and would put the West on notice that "our Soviet policy has failed." In September, when the uprising was already under way, Moscow replied lamely that the talks with the Catlos emissaries were conducted by the CPSU. "The Soviet government," read the reply, "had nothing to do with it. " In the meantime, however, the Soviets gave no indication of their plans to the insurgents or to Benes. 12 But on a separate level, Soviet-led actions influenced the outbreak of the uprising in late August . Radio dispatches from Soviet or Soviet-led partisan groups operating in Slovakia since July highlighted the favorable conditions for partisan warfare. By early August the partisans established contacts with both the KSS and the SNR and radioed the headquarters in Kiev that "plans for action against the Germans are ready . . . the leaders of the Slovak army request a signal for a joint action ... " 13 Nikita Khrushchev, under whose authority the Kiev partisan center fuctioned, passed the information on to Stalin in mid-August. Meanwhile, additional partisan groups and supplies were being airdropped and the partisan "fever" was rapidly catching on in Slovakia. There was the danger, however, that the rapid spread of sabotage activities would provoke the German occupation of Slovakia and thereby trigger the insurgency prematurely. Precisely for that reason, Husak intervened with the main partisan group on August 21, but his efforts came to naught, for the partisans respected only orders from the Kiev command. 14 In the following week the partisan acts of sabotage finally brought on German military intervention and, in turn, a premature outbreak of the insurgency on August 29. Though Soviet moves surrounding the Slovak revolt are something of a jigsaw puzzle, the following facts are beyond doubt. Moscow had known in advance, from both Benes and the SNR, �SLOVAKIA 55 of the preparations under way in Slovakia. In order of the revolt to begin under the most propitious circumstances, a coordination with Soviet military plans was essential. The Soviets, however, made no effort in this direction. The SNR mission, whose return within a week or so had been anxiously expected by the insurgents, spent five weeks in the Soviet Union, coming back only a week after the uprising began. 15 Nor do the orders issued to the Red Army - poised North and East, twenty five to forty miles, from the borders - indicate that Stalin wished the revolt to succeed. On August 25, Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed the Russian military command that Slovakia might be occupied in a matter of days by the Germans . 16 On the following day, on August 26, Stalin rescinded the original plan for an offensive operation in the East which was to commence two days later, and ordered the 4th Ukrainian Front to go into a "defensive" mode .17 Its advance was not resumed until seven weeks later. North of the border, the First Ukrainian Front, to which Czechoslovak military units were attached, went into action only on September 8. On that day the Soviets also replaced General Jan Kratochvil, the Benes-appointed commander of the Czechoslovak Corps in the Soviet Union, with Ludvik Svoboda, whom they and the KSC Politburo had groomed for the post all along. But it took a full month and enormous casualties before the troops made their way through the mountain passes. And it took just as long for the Sovietorganized airdrop of a Czechoslovak paratrooper brigade, allegedly on account of poor weather conditions . The transfer of the paratrooper brigade did not begin until the night of September 25-26. And the same reason was given for the six-week long delay in the transfer of Benes' representatives from Moscow to Slovakia. 18 But inclement weather conditions did not prevent the more immediate Soviet dispatch to Slovakia of Smidke, and of two KSC Politburo members, Rudolf Shinsky and Jan Sverma, nor can they account for Moscow's orders giving priority to Soviet-led partisans over the insurgents in the limited weapons aid supplied. Smidke returned to Slovakia on September 4; the KSC Politburo members, Sverma and Shinsky, arrived on September 28, while the Benes government representatives got there only on October 6-7. 19 Finally, �56 SLOVAKIA the Soviets effectively frustrated Benes' attempts to obtain Western assistance. In July and August the British told Benes that, though military supplies were available, the airlift was contingent on Soviet permission because Slovakia belonged to the Soviet sphere of war operations. Before the uprising the Soviets assured Benes that ample aid was forthcoming, but when urgent requests for weapons aid from Slovakia in September prompted Benes to turn to the British again, Moscow ignored the Foreign Office enquiries regarding Soviet intentions.20 The uprising collapsed on October 28, after two months of bitter fighting. What, then, were the Kremlin's objectives? Stalin's aims in Slovakia have to be viewed in the broader context of Soviet priorities and military capabilities. As seen from Moscow in the summer of 1944, Slovakia represented only one operation in a war that stretched Soviet armies over a thousand mile front from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Several war developments overshadowed the military-political significance of the Slovak operation. In the two weeks between August 23 and September 8, Romania and Bulgaria switched sides in the war to join the Allies, and Finland capitulated. The rush of the events in the Balkans evidently led the Soviet command to contemplate a thrust into Hungary, bordering on southern Slovakia. John Erickson's exhaustive survey of Soviet war strategy characterizes the Romanian defection of August 23 as "one of the decisive days of the entire war. " 21 Though he implies that the Soviet General Staff orders to the 4th Ukrainian Front "not to embark on any offensive operations" were related to the RomanianHungarian operations, he does not explain how .22 Erickson concludes that the Soviet command, "to the degree that it was actually culpable, made Slovakia the victim of its inflexibility. " 23 Hence, as cynical as Stalin's orders to the Fourth Ukrainian Front (to go on the "defensive") may appear at a first glance, they may have been related to the projected move into Hungary, a far more valuable prize militarily than Slovakia. At any rate, the costs of mounting a surprise attack through the treacherous passes of the Carpathian mountains must have seemed excessive to Stalin in relation to the small military gains and uncertain political rewards of the Slovak operation. What the well-meaning Benes could not know was that the �SLOVAKIA 57 Soviet General Staff had been highly suspicious of any "military putsch" in Slovakia under the auspices of the London government. According to later revelations by Shtemenko, the Soviet command had also lacked the conviction that the revolt against the Germans would succeed on military grounds. There was yet another reason for the Soviet refusal to provide Benes with a timetable: "It looked like an attempt to feel out the plans of the Soviet Supreme Command," notes Shtemenko. 24 Clearly Stalin was not keen on bolstering the Benes-loyalists, whom Shtemenko even years later characterized as "bourgeois military putschists. '' Nor did the Soviet leader make a habit of supporting zealous Communist radicals of Husak's variety. Unwittingly, Klement Gottwald, the Moscow-based leader of the KSC, might have sealed the fate of the uprising when in the first days of September he informed Molotov of the political character of the uprising's revolutionary Council and drew an analogy with Tito's Yugoslavia. 25 Over the previous year Stalin had had ample difficulties with Tito, whose political independence grew commensurately with the success of his resistance movement. All things considered, Stalin preferred to let the Red Army do the job of driving the Germans out of Slovakia, while the Soviet-led partisans continued to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear. At the same time, Moscow could hardly afford to do nothing for the Slovaks. On the one hand the Russians had been promising military assistance to Benes for months, and on those grounds discouraged Western aid to Slovakia. On the other hand, Stalin could no longer ignore the adverse Western reaction to the JulyAugust failure of Soviet assistance to the Warsaw Uprising. The mixture of these motives was evident in the way Moscow handled the Slovak insurgency. While the Soviets went through the motions of assisting the Slovak rebels, they did not take decisive measures to tilt the balance in favor of the insurgents. Different participants in the Slovak events were bound to draw different lessons from the experience. The uprising spelled the de facto end of the Tiso regime and, for the remainder of the year, Slovakia turned into a war zone . For a significant segment of the Slovak population the uprising marked a proud chapter in what was one of the largest European acts of resistance against Hitler . �58 SLOVAKIA Equally important, representatives of Slovak resistance secured for themselves a voice in the London-Moscow dialogue about the postwar order. As far as the KSC leadership was concerned, the prominent role played by Slovak Communists in the insurgency created high expectations regarding the party's postwar influence in the region. In addition, the uprising provided some valuable experience with national committees, organized by party activists in many communities over the two month period. But the party leadership also sustained an important loss: Sverma, the second in command after Gottwald, and one of Dimitrov' s adjutants, died in the Slovak mountains at the end of 1944. By contrast, for Benes and his supporters the lessons were all negative. To begin with, the uprising demonstrated the powerlessness of the London-based groups to shape the events in the distant heartland of the continent. Second, the abundant evidence of Soviet misbehavior cast a long shadow over the nature of the Soviet-Czechoslovak alliance. In addition to the incidents cited earlier, London discovered that Soviet partisans in Slovakia were far from bipartisan in political matters, clearly abetting the Communist cause. Third, Communist influence in the political headquarters of the uprising seemed to substantiate the party's claim to political leadership in the postwar period. But equally telling blows to the Benes circle came with the realization that Western military assistance to Czechoslovakia depended on Soviet good will. The inaction of the Americans and the British in August-October convinced Benes that the Allies had agreed at Teheran on military and, by extension, on political spheres of influence, assigning Czechoslovakia to the Soviet sphere. In his Memoirs Benes wrote of the Teheran Conference : ''The division of the war zones in Germany and Central Europe was decided between the West and East at this time. Poland and Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Hungary and Yugoslavia were placed in the Soviet zone. Nobody told us at the time either officially or unofficially. We only learned about it indirectly, much later, at the time of the Slovak uprising . " 26 This conclusion - along with the loss of faith in Soviet commitments - significantly affected the perceptions of the representatives of democratic resistance concerning Czechoslovakia' s place in the international order. As a result, the �SLOVAKIA 59 London-based moderates after October 1944 were far more impressed by the weakness of their bargaining position - a weakness only accentuated by the weighty presence of the Red Army on Czechoslovak territory - vis-a-vis the Gottwald-led contingent of the KSC. These factors and perceptions made themselves felt in the ensuing negotiations between the two factions of the political exiles concerning the postwar political system. When the revolt was crushed at the end of October, Fierlinger reported to London the view of the Soviet General Staff that " the uprising fulfilled its political and military task by creating chaos in the German ranks and by depriving Germans of important communication centers . " 27 And that is perhaps the best summary of Soviet objectives . FOOTNOTES 1 Preparation of this article for publication was facilitated by a grant from The Ada Howe Kent Foundation. It is based on my The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and the Second World War: The Foundations of Communist Rule, Ph .D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1986. For the background on the Slovak rebellion see Anna Josko, " The Slovak Resistance Movement, " in Victor Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948 (Princeton 1973), pp . 362-383; Jozef Jablonicky, Z ilegality do povstania, (Bratislava, 1969); other Jablonicky contributions appearing in samizdat, Bratislava a vznik Slovenskeho narodneho povstania; 0 vzniku SNR a vojenskeho ustredia; and Zlyhanie Malarovej armady v Karpatoch (Prague, 1978-79); and Zbornfk Slovenskeho narodneho povstania (Toronto, 1975), esp. Miroslav Licko, " K otazke spojeneckej pomoci v Slovenskom narodnom povstanf." 3 Dokumen ty a materialy k dejinam ceskoslovensko-sovetskych vztahit (Prague, 1984), vol. IV, part 2, p . 24 . 2 4 5 6 For evidence of Soviet support for Benes's requests, see ibid., 22-24, 34-35, 45-46. Vilem Precan, ed., Slovenske narodne povstanie-Dokumenty (Bratislava, 1965) (hereafter SNP), p . 244. fbid. , p. 250 7 For the text of the Catlos memorandum, see SNP, pp . 262-63; fo r an analysis, see Miroslav Licko, "Catlosov plan - politicka naivita, alebo strategicka iniciativa" Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (57, 1978), pp . 69-84. 8 Husak's report, " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," was publish ed by Vilem Precan for the first time in Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (58, 1979), pp. 367-382. �SLOVAKIA 60 9 For an incomplete record of these talks see Vaclav Kral, Osvobozenf Czeskoslovenska (Prague, 1975), pp. 177-78; Miroslav Boucek, Miloslav Klimes; Marta Vartikova, Program Revoluce (Prague, 1975), pp . 234-35. 10 S.M. Shtemenko, Generalnf stab za valky (Prague, 1974), p . 297. 11 For a report on the meeting prepared for Benes see SNP, p .329 and ff; for a commentary by one of the participants, see Prokop Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud (Toronto, 1982), Vol I, part II, pp . 631-642. 12 For the briefing of Stalin see Andrei Grechko, Cherez Karpaty, (Moscow, 1970), p . 60; for speculations on why the Russians kept Smidke from reaching both the KSC Politburo and Pika see E. Fris, "Moskovsky pobyt K. Smidkeho v August 1944," P'ffspevky k dejinam KSC, vol. 4, (3, June 1964), pp. 439-444, and Vilem Precan, Svedectvf, XV, (58, 1979), pp . 365-366; for Benes's comments see SNP, p.324. 13 14 SNP, p . 302 Khrushchev's cable to Stalin in SNP, pp. 294-5; for Husak's meeting with Soviet partisans see Za narodnf osvobozenf,za novou republiku (Prague, 1982), p . 32. 15 Gustav Husak, Svedectvo o Slovenskom narodnom povstanf (Bratislava, 1974), p. 212. 16 SNP, p. 329 17 Shtemenko, p. 298. 18 SNP, p . 562. SNP, pp. 562-63; for evidence that weather conditions were not an issue see Drtina, op. cit., pp . 661-62. 19 °For evidence that the British made their assistance plans contingent on Soviet 2 approval, see SNP, p. 251. In early August Fierlinger cabled Benes that Moscow was prepared to provide weapons aid to Slovakia "anytime"; see, SNP, p . 288. For a summary report by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense on the negotiations with the British and the Russians for military assistance see Ibid. , pp . 867-875. 21 John Erickson, The Road to Berlin (Boulder, 1983), p .360. 22 Ibid., p. 293. 24 Ibid. , p. 307. But, because his account relies on discredited sources, Erickson's analysis of the political background of the Slovak uprising, including the Smidke mission to Moscow, is sadly misinformed. 24 Shtemenko, op, cit. , pp. 286-91,295. Milos Klimes, et.al .. .. , Cesta ke kvetnu: Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku, vol. I, p . 203-206. 26 Pameti (Prague, 1947), p . 375 . And on the following page (p. 376), Benes equates the military with the political sheres of influence. 25 27 SNP, p. 776. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 50 SLOVAKIA The Kremlin and The Slovak National Uprising August-October, 1944 MICHAEL KRAUS Copyright © 1991, Michael Kraus In contrast to the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the quasi-independent Slovak state had become a brewing ground for anti-German resistance by the spring of 1944. 1 The main organization of the underground, the Slovak National Council (SNR), brought together a loose coalition of Communists, Socialists, and Liberal-Democratic opponents of the pro-German government headed by Monsignor Jozef Tiso. Encouraged by the advance of the Red Army, which by early April had reached the Carpathians, the prewar Czechoslovak-Soviet boundary, the SNR agreed on plans at the end of June, for an uprising involving the defection of sizeable units of the Slovak army to the Allies. According to these preparations, the insurrection would begin either if the Germans attempted to occupy Slovakia (as they had not yet done) or if the action could be coordinated with the advance of the Red Army. In the latter (and much preferable) case, the conspirators hoped that the collapse of the pro-German authority - in conjunction with the army's defection - would open Slovakia to a lightning strike of Soviet forces. Colonel Jan Golian, a high-ranking officer in the Slovak army, who enjoyed the backing of the Edvard Benes government in London, was entrusted with the military leadership of the revolt. 2 From the very outset, the insurrection plans were beset by problems. For one, the underground lacked the commitment of a sufficient number of military commanders to assure the success of SLOVAKIA 51 the revolt inside the Slovak army. Nor was there a full appreciation for the military-logistical obstacles that lay in the path of the Red Army, namely the Carpathian Mountains. Moreover, mutual distrust among the political actors planning the insurgency complicated the preparations. Even more importantly, the conspirators lacked any direct means of communication with Moscow. Slovak Communists were unable to establish a two-way radio communication with the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), whose most senior members resided in the Soviet Union. As a result, in what was surely one of the more bizzare operations of the war, the insurgents attempted until August to coordinate the preparations for the uprising with the Soviet military via the Benes government in London. Benes, on the other hand, though he maintained contact with Golian through a short wave transmitter, was not fully versed in the composition of the SNR, the political arm of the conspiracy. In addition to Benes-loyalists, the SNR activists included the leaders of the Slovak Communist Party (KSS) Karol Smidke and Gustav Husak. Smidke had been sent back to Slovakia by the Comintern in June 1943 in order to resurrect the battered ranks of the KSS. The trials and then triumphs of Husak' s political career still lay ahead of him: Communist prisons in the 1950's, and the country's leadership in the 1970's and the 1980's . In mid-1944, these men hoped to exploit the revolt for purposes of their own. Negotiations between Benes and Moscow concerning military aid to Slovakia had been under way since the fall of 1943. Throughout these talks, the Soviets seemed receptive to Czechoslovak proposals and agreed to provide the necessary training and equipment for special Czechoslovak units that were to be deployed in the event of an anti-German insurrection in Slovakia. As early as November 1943 Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed London that the Soviets had promised to provide equipment for 50,000 men and to airlift into Slovakia units of the Czechoslovak armed forces organized on Soviet soil. Moscow also agreed to supplement these forces with Soviet paratroopers. 3 Negotiations about military assistance intensified especially after the official visit by Benes to Moscow in December 1943 dur- 52 SLOVAKIA ing which the Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship Mutual Assistance, and Postwar Cooperation was signed. 4 Thus, when Slovak requests for military supplies reached London in early summer 1944, Benes felt confident enough to reassure the rebels of "the certainty that at the given time, you shall get the weapons. " 5 To his surprise, however, enquiries in Moscow proposing the coordination of the revolt with Soviet actions on the war front met with evasive replies. NKVD General G.S. Zhukov, who supervised the foreign military units in the USSR, explained in late July that his government could not specify a date for a joint action in Slovakia. He advised Benes, unhelpfully, that the Slovak insurrectionists should take into account the "strategic situation as it will develop at a given time." Similarly, Moscow temporized on an urgent request from the Czech leader to supply the already promised arms to the Slovak loyalists. 6 But Moscow's picture of the Slovak situation improved considerably in early August when a small Slovak mission, seeking to coordinate the revolt with the Soviet advance, reached the Soviet Union . Though ostensibly the delegation came from the SNR, the plenipotentiaries represented, in fact, three different political groups: Slovak Communists, Benes-loyalists, and the Slovak Ministry of Defense. Certainly the most intriguing offer came in the form of a memorandum from Slovakia's Minister of Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos. He proposed to establish a military dictatorship in Slovakia, "cancel" the war against Russia and the Allies, declare war against Hungary, and in exchange for some degree of Slovak independence align Slovak internal politics '' in accordance with Soviet interest. " 7 Strangely enough, Catlos, who furnished the plane for the mission to Moscow, had been unaware of the SNR conspiracy from whose ranks the other emissaries came. Of special interest to Moscow were reports brought by Smidke that informed the Soviet General Staff of the disposition and the equipment of the Slovak forces as well as of the plans of the SNR. On a separate note, a memorandum prepared by Husak assessed the situation in terms highly favorable for the party's cause. "It is clear," he wrote, "that when the war ends, there will be only one party with a crushing Communist majority." Speaking on behalf of the KSS leadership, Husak claimed that if a free election SLOVAKIA 53 were held in the summer of 1944, at least seventy percent of the Slovaks would vote for the region's incorporation into the Soviet Union, while twenty percent at most would want Slovakia to reunite with the Czechs. "We want to be a part of the USSR," declared Husak. "Why seek salvation with Benes, when Stalin has a proven recipe," asked the future leader of Czechoslovakia. If the country had to be reconstituted, submitted Husak, then as a "socialist federation of nations." 8 Given that no evidence supports Husak' s contentions concerning Slovak public opinion, his views shed more light on the attitudes of the KSS leadership than on anything else (when the Soviets searched for a successor to Dubcek in 1968, the file from 1944 could hardly do any harm to Husak' s candidacy). In fact, as late as December 1944, the underground leaders of the KSS evidently required tutoring by Georgi Dimitrov, the Comintern' s ex-chief, then serving as the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, that "the detachment of the Slovaks from the Czechs is not at present in the interest'' of Moscow. ''We should restrain those people in Slovakia who want to rush things too much where Soviet power is concerned," Dimitrov advised. "Do not raise the question of Sovietization of Czechoslovakia now," he counselled. 9 Smidke was debriefed on August 5 by General Lev Mekhlis, the political commissar of the Fourth Ukrainian Front, and then met with other Soviet military and political representatives, including Dimitrov. Stalin received a report on the Smidke mission on August 10. Smidke's information gave the Soviet General Staff - to quote Sergei Shtemenko, the Chief of its Operation Department - "a complete picture of the situation in Slovakia." 10 The Soviets seemed interested in the Catlos offer, at least for a while. That would help to account for the fact that despite the urgent call from Slovakia for the coordination of military planning, the Soviets attempted to hide the Slovak mission from both the Benes government and the KSC Politburo . So it was not until August 27 that Smidke reported to the Czechoslovak embassy, where he met with Benes' representatives. 11 In any event, Benes had been informed independently that a Catlos representative had gone to Russia. Intimations of Soviet contacts with Catlos alarmed the Czech leader. During his 54 SLOVAKIA December 1943 visit to the Soviet Union Benes told Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov that Catlos was among the traitors who "must hang ." In that spirit, the President in August 1944 instructed the Czechoslovak Ambassador in Moscow, Zdenek Fierlinger, to advise the Soviet government that direct or indirect negotiations with the "Slovak quisling rabble" can take place only through the offices of the Czechoslovak government. Any other conduct, warned Benes, might violate Soviet-Czechoslovak agreements and would put the West on notice that "our Soviet policy has failed." In September, when the uprising was already under way, Moscow replied lamely that the talks with the Catlos emissaries were conducted by the CPSU. "The Soviet government," read the reply, "had nothing to do with it. " In the meantime, however, the Soviets gave no indication of their plans to the insurgents or to Benes. 12 But on a separate level, Soviet-led actions influenced the outbreak of the uprising in late August . Radio dispatches from Soviet or Soviet-led partisan groups operating in Slovakia since July highlighted the favorable conditions for partisan warfare. By early August the partisans established contacts with both the KSS and the SNR and radioed the headquarters in Kiev that "plans for action against the Germans are ready . . . the leaders of the Slovak army request a signal for a joint action ... " 13 Nikita Khrushchev, under whose authority the Kiev partisan center fuctioned, passed the information on to Stalin in mid-August. Meanwhile, additional partisan groups and supplies were being airdropped and the partisan "fever" was rapidly catching on in Slovakia. There was the danger, however, that the rapid spread of sabotage activities would provoke the German occupation of Slovakia and thereby trigger the insurgency prematurely. Precisely for that reason, Husak intervened with the main partisan group on August 21, but his efforts came to naught, for the partisans respected only orders from the Kiev command. 14 In the following week the partisan acts of sabotage finally brought on German military intervention and, in turn, a premature outbreak of the insurgency on August 29. Though Soviet moves surrounding the Slovak revolt are something of a jigsaw puzzle, the following facts are beyond doubt. Moscow had known in advance, from both Benes and the SNR, SLOVAKIA 55 of the preparations under way in Slovakia. In order of the revolt to begin under the most propitious circumstances, a coordination with Soviet military plans was essential. The Soviets, however, made no effort in this direction. The SNR mission, whose return within a week or so had been anxiously expected by the insurgents, spent five weeks in the Soviet Union, coming back only a week after the uprising began. 15 Nor do the orders issued to the Red Army - poised North and East, twenty five to forty miles, from the borders - indicate that Stalin wished the revolt to succeed. On August 25, Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed the Russian military command that Slovakia might be occupied in a matter of days by the Germans . 16 On the following day, on August 26, Stalin rescinded the original plan for an offensive operation in the East which was to commence two days later, and ordered the 4th Ukrainian Front to go into a "defensive" mode .17 Its advance was not resumed until seven weeks later. North of the border, the First Ukrainian Front, to which Czechoslovak military units were attached, went into action only on September 8. On that day the Soviets also replaced General Jan Kratochvil, the Benes-appointed commander of the Czechoslovak Corps in the Soviet Union, with Ludvik Svoboda, whom they and the KSC Politburo had groomed for the post all along. But it took a full month and enormous casualties before the troops made their way through the mountain passes. And it took just as long for the Sovietorganized airdrop of a Czechoslovak paratrooper brigade, allegedly on account of poor weather conditions . The transfer of the paratrooper brigade did not begin until the night of September 25-26. And the same reason was given for the six-week long delay in the transfer of Benes' representatives from Moscow to Slovakia. 18 But inclement weather conditions did not prevent the more immediate Soviet dispatch to Slovakia of Smidke, and of two KSC Politburo members, Rudolf Shinsky and Jan Sverma, nor can they account for Moscow's orders giving priority to Soviet-led partisans over the insurgents in the limited weapons aid supplied. Smidke returned to Slovakia on September 4; the KSC Politburo members, Sverma and Shinsky, arrived on September 28, while the Benes government representatives got there only on October 6-7. 19 Finally, 56 SLOVAKIA the Soviets effectively frustrated Benes' attempts to obtain Western assistance. In July and August the British told Benes that, though military supplies were available, the airlift was contingent on Soviet permission because Slovakia belonged to the Soviet sphere of war operations. Before the uprising the Soviets assured Benes that ample aid was forthcoming, but when urgent requests for weapons aid from Slovakia in September prompted Benes to turn to the British again, Moscow ignored the Foreign Office enquiries regarding Soviet intentions.20 The uprising collapsed on October 28, after two months of bitter fighting. What, then, were the Kremlin's objectives? Stalin's aims in Slovakia have to be viewed in the broader context of Soviet priorities and military capabilities. As seen from Moscow in the summer of 1944, Slovakia represented only one operation in a war that stretched Soviet armies over a thousand mile front from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Several war developments overshadowed the military-political significance of the Slovak operation. In the two weeks between August 23 and September 8, Romania and Bulgaria switched sides in the war to join the Allies, and Finland capitulated. The rush of the events in the Balkans evidently led the Soviet command to contemplate a thrust into Hungary, bordering on southern Slovakia. John Erickson's exhaustive survey of Soviet war strategy characterizes the Romanian defection of August 23 as "one of the decisive days of the entire war. " 21 Though he implies that the Soviet General Staff orders to the 4th Ukrainian Front "not to embark on any offensive operations" were related to the RomanianHungarian operations, he does not explain how .22 Erickson concludes that the Soviet command, "to the degree that it was actually culpable, made Slovakia the victim of its inflexibility. " 23 Hence, as cynical as Stalin's orders to the Fourth Ukrainian Front (to go on the "defensive") may appear at a first glance, they may have been related to the projected move into Hungary, a far more valuable prize militarily than Slovakia. At any rate, the costs of mounting a surprise attack through the treacherous passes of the Carpathian mountains must have seemed excessive to Stalin in relation to the small military gains and uncertain political rewards of the Slovak operation. What the well-meaning Benes could not know was that the SLOVAKIA 57 Soviet General Staff had been highly suspicious of any "military putsch" in Slovakia under the auspices of the London government. According to later revelations by Shtemenko, the Soviet command had also lacked the conviction that the revolt against the Germans would succeed on military grounds. There was yet another reason for the Soviet refusal to provide Benes with a timetable: "It looked like an attempt to feel out the plans of the Soviet Supreme Command," notes Shtemenko. 24 Clearly Stalin was not keen on bolstering the Benes-loyalists, whom Shtemenko even years later characterized as "bourgeois military putschists. '' Nor did the Soviet leader make a habit of supporting zealous Communist radicals of Husak's variety. Unwittingly, Klement Gottwald, the Moscow-based leader of the KSC, might have sealed the fate of the uprising when in the first days of September he informed Molotov of the political character of the uprising's revolutionary Council and drew an analogy with Tito's Yugoslavia. 25 Over the previous year Stalin had had ample difficulties with Tito, whose political independence grew commensurately with the success of his resistance movement. All things considered, Stalin preferred to let the Red Army do the job of driving the Germans out of Slovakia, while the Soviet-led partisans continued to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear. At the same time, Moscow could hardly afford to do nothing for the Slovaks. On the one hand the Russians had been promising military assistance to Benes for months, and on those grounds discouraged Western aid to Slovakia. On the other hand, Stalin could no longer ignore the adverse Western reaction to the JulyAugust failure of Soviet assistance to the Warsaw Uprising. The mixture of these motives was evident in the way Moscow handled the Slovak insurgency. While the Soviets went through the motions of assisting the Slovak rebels, they did not take decisive measures to tilt the balance in favor of the insurgents. Different participants in the Slovak events were bound to draw different lessons from the experience. The uprising spelled the de facto end of the Tiso regime and, for the remainder of the year, Slovakia turned into a war zone . For a significant segment of the Slovak population the uprising marked a proud chapter in what was one of the largest European acts of resistance against Hitler . 58 SLOVAKIA Equally important, representatives of Slovak resistance secured for themselves a voice in the London-Moscow dialogue about the postwar order. As far as the KSC leadership was concerned, the prominent role played by Slovak Communists in the insurgency created high expectations regarding the party's postwar influence in the region. In addition, the uprising provided some valuable experience with national committees, organized by party activists in many communities over the two month period. But the party leadership also sustained an important loss: Sverma, the second in command after Gottwald, and one of Dimitrov' s adjutants, died in the Slovak mountains at the end of 1944. By contrast, for Benes and his supporters the lessons were all negative. To begin with, the uprising demonstrated the powerlessness of the London-based groups to shape the events in the distant heartland of the continent. Second, the abundant evidence of Soviet misbehavior cast a long shadow over the nature of the Soviet-Czechoslovak alliance. In addition to the incidents cited earlier, London discovered that Soviet partisans in Slovakia were far from bipartisan in political matters, clearly abetting the Communist cause. Third, Communist influence in the political headquarters of the uprising seemed to substantiate the party's claim to political leadership in the postwar period. But equally telling blows to the Benes circle came with the realization that Western military assistance to Czechoslovakia depended on Soviet good will. The inaction of the Americans and the British in August-October convinced Benes that the Allies had agreed at Teheran on military and, by extension, on political spheres of influence, assigning Czechoslovakia to the Soviet sphere. In his Memoirs Benes wrote of the Teheran Conference : ''The division of the war zones in Germany and Central Europe was decided between the West and East at this time. Poland and Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Hungary and Yugoslavia were placed in the Soviet zone. Nobody told us at the time either officially or unofficially. We only learned about it indirectly, much later, at the time of the Slovak uprising . " 26 This conclusion - along with the loss of faith in Soviet commitments - significantly affected the perceptions of the representatives of democratic resistance concerning Czechoslovakia' s place in the international order. As a result, the SLOVAKIA 59 London-based moderates after October 1944 were far more impressed by the weakness of their bargaining position - a weakness only accentuated by the weighty presence of the Red Army on Czechoslovak territory - vis-a-vis the Gottwald-led contingent of the KSC. These factors and perceptions made themselves felt in the ensuing negotiations between the two factions of the political exiles concerning the postwar political system. When the revolt was crushed at the end of October, Fierlinger reported to London the view of the Soviet General Staff that " the uprising fulfilled its political and military task by creating chaos in the German ranks and by depriving Germans of important communication centers . " 27 And that is perhaps the best summary of Soviet objectives . FOOTNOTES 1 Preparation of this article for publication was facilitated by a grant from The Ada Howe Kent Foundation. It is based on my The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and the Second World War: The Foundations of Communist Rule, Ph .D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1986. For the background on the Slovak rebellion see Anna Josko, " The Slovak Resistance Movement, " in Victor Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948 (Princeton 1973), pp . 362-383; Jozef Jablonicky, Z ilegality do povstania, (Bratislava, 1969); other Jablonicky contributions appearing in samizdat, Bratislava a vznik Slovenskeho narodneho povstania; 0 vzniku SNR a vojenskeho ustredia; and Zlyhanie Malarovej armady v Karpatoch (Prague, 1978-79); and Zbornfk Slovenskeho narodneho povstania (Toronto, 1975), esp. Miroslav Licko, " K otazke spojeneckej pomoci v Slovenskom narodnom povstanf." 3 Dokumen ty a materialy k dejinam ceskoslovensko-sovetskych vztahit (Prague, 1984), vol. IV, part 2, p . 24 . 2 4 5 6 For evidence of Soviet support for Benes's requests, see ibid., 22-24, 34-35, 45-46. Vilem Precan, ed., Slovenske narodne povstanie-Dokumenty (Bratislava, 1965) (hereafter SNP), p . 244. fbid. , p. 250 7 For the text of the Catlos memorandum, see SNP, pp . 262-63; fo r an analysis, see Miroslav Licko, "Catlosov plan - politicka naivita, alebo strategicka iniciativa" Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (57, 1978), pp . 69-84. 8 Husak's report, " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," was publish ed by Vilem Precan for the first time in Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (58, 1979), pp. 367-382. SLOVAKIA 60 9 For an incomplete record of these talks see Vaclav Kral, Osvobozenf Czeskoslovenska (Prague, 1975), pp. 177-78; Miroslav Boucek, Miloslav Klimes; Marta Vartikova, Program Revoluce (Prague, 1975), pp . 234-35. 10 S.M. Shtemenko, Generalnf stab za valky (Prague, 1974), p . 297. 11 For a report on the meeting prepared for Benes see SNP, p .329 and ff; for a commentary by one of the participants, see Prokop Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud (Toronto, 1982), Vol I, part II, pp . 631-642. 12 For the briefing of Stalin see Andrei Grechko, Cherez Karpaty, (Moscow, 1970), p . 60; for speculations on why the Russians kept Smidke from reaching both the KSC Politburo and Pika see E. Fris, "Moskovsky pobyt K. Smidkeho v August 1944," P'ffspevky k dejinam KSC, vol. 4, (3, June 1964), pp. 439-444, and Vilem Precan, Svedectvf, XV, (58, 1979), pp . 365-366; for Benes's comments see SNP, p.324. 13 14 SNP, p . 302 Khrushchev's cable to Stalin in SNP, pp. 294-5; for Husak's meeting with Soviet partisans see Za narodnf osvobozenf,za novou republiku (Prague, 1982), p . 32. 15 Gustav Husak, Svedectvo o Slovenskom narodnom povstanf (Bratislava, 1974), p. 212. 16 SNP, p. 329 17 Shtemenko, p. 298. 18 SNP, p . 562. SNP, pp. 562-63; for evidence that weather conditions were not an issue see Drtina, op. cit., pp . 661-62. 19 °For evidence that the British made their assistance plans contingent on Soviet 2 approval, see SNP, p. 251. In early August Fierlinger cabled Benes that Moscow was prepared to provide weapons aid to Slovakia "anytime"; see, SNP, p . 288. For a summary report by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense on the negotiations with the British and the Russians for military assistance see Ibid. , pp . 867-875. 21 John Erickson, The Road to Berlin (Boulder, 1983), p .360. 22 Ibid., p. 293. 24 Ibid. , p. 307. But, because his account relies on discredited sources, Erickson's analysis of the political background of the Slovak uprising, including the Smidke mission to Moscow, is sadly misinformed. 24 Shtemenko, op, cit. , pp. 286-91,295. Milos Klimes, et.al .. .. , Cesta ke kvetnu: Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku, vol. I, p . 203-206. 26 Pameti (Prague, 1947), p . 375 . And on the following page (p. 376), Benes equates the military with the political sheres of influence. 25 27 SNP, p. 776.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 and The Slovak National Uprising, August-October, 1944 Description An account of the resource Michael Kraus Slovakia, Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90 pp. 50-60 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kraus, Michael, 1949- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-90 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2a34a75b82806f8fb6c5ae06baf89887.pdf b5aa7b80770b815331f27df2848c047f PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 76 THE SILOVAK ~GE By Joseph R. Kristofik On March 26, 1966 a second wave of protest marchers demonstrated in some of the world's capitals and in major American cities protesting United States policy in Viet Nam. Among the demonstrators were college students expounding a belief in the principle of self determination for the Viet Namese people. To those who have studied the problems of the Slovak people and the Slovak nation, this statement appears to be most insincere. There have been many opportunities in the past to demonstrate this expressed interest in the self determination of nations in behalf of many Eastern European nations, notably Slovakia, but to date no tangible expression of interest in Eastern European self determination has been shown by these self same groups. 1 The Slovaks in America have for many years advocated and pursued the policy of self determination for the people of Slovakia. In striving to meet this objective, however, a very serious error was made by the American Slovaks as in their eagerness to help establish an independent Slovak state, they failed to establish and extend the vast limits of their Slovak culture in America, and as a result suffer today from this lack of a so called "Slovak Image". In an effort to overcome this deficiency of the past, an attempt is being made to make the Slovaks aware not only of the quickest way in achieving positive results in projecting this "Slovak image", in America, but also a means of obtaining quicker recognition of Slovak objectives on an international level. One of the more complex problems with which the Slovaks have been confronted since the turn of the century has been •the inability to project the distinctive S 1 o v a k character or influence in either the area of American politics, OT to any significant degree in civic affairs. This is a most regrettable situation, since there are many outst,anding leaders in industry, in the field of education, and in the arts and sciences who not only have a Slovaik background, but are proud of their Central European heritage. So the question that must be asked is why, despite thi,s wealth of competent, educated people throughout the United States, �SLOVAKIA 77 we have as an ethnic group, faHed to project this Slovak image. One of the basic answers to this prOiblem lies in the use of more effective public and press relations. Another answer lies in more active participation in civic affairs. But probably the most effective method in making rapid strides in projecting this Slovak image is through the field of partisan politics, where the wants, the needs, the desires, and the ambitions of an ethnic group are not only recognized, but evaluated on the basis of compatibility with our foreign policy and national interest. This year we are commemorating the 27th Anniversary of Slovak Independence. This is a very memorable diate in the history of the Slovak people, as it was on March 14, 1939 that the Slovaks as a united people , carved their own independent state, in the world of freedom loving and self governing nations. Yet it is disheartening, that despite the fact that we are here today, twenty seven years later, celebrating the anniversary of the birth of the modern Slova,k state, a majority of Americans do not even recognize Slovaks as an independent, separaJte, Central Europe ethnic group. Thi:s is not too surprising however, when one realizes that the average American really knows very little about Central European affairs, and is doubly confused when confronted with t:Jhe compounded problems presented by the Siovaks. Even as late as four weeks ago there a,ppeared in the Detroit News a column by the well known and wideily read columnist Bob Considine, whose coiumn I know many of you read regularly. Despite Mr. Considine's wehl versed baokground, despite his constant attention to world affairs, despite his periodic visits to the worltl''S capita•ls, he stiQiJ. refer,s to Czedho-S•lovalkia as the 1kiingdom of bhe SeI1biaJn s, the Croatians, and the Slovenes. And yet we all here know that Czeoho-SilovBJkia is a land inhabited principaH.y by the Slovaks and the Czeohs. It is no wonder then that the national ambitions of the Slovaks have been so high misconstrued over the years, and the road to ethnic recognition so difficult. A moment ago I expressed the opinion that the quickest, surest, and most direct route to recognition as an ethnic group is through partisan politics. Many of you may recall a statement made by Republioan National Chairman Ray C. Bliss, in which he stated that it was time for the 1 �78 SLOVAKIA Republican Party to realize that the American electorate was not composed solely of white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants, but a mixture of all races, colors, and creeds. As a result of Mr. Bliss' conviction, more attention is being given to the ethnic groups, and thankfully also to the Slovak community. The DemoCTatic Party recogni~ed many years ago the need to evaluate the wants of the ethnic groups, and to respond accordingly. I would like to review briefly some of the recently accomplishments of your Michigan leaders in obtaining recognitions of the S,lovaks and for Slovak objectives not only here in Michigan, but throughout the United States. Within the past two years, in both major political parties, a complete separation has been made in the ethnic identification of the Czech and Slovak peoples. In each political party there exists a separate Siovak Division on the State Level, and in each political party there exists a Slovak Division on the National Level. We have in Michigan at the present time a Democratic Slovak Chaivman in almost every one of Michigan's nineteen congressional districts, and we expect before all programs are completed, to have a Slovak Chairman in each congressional district of every state in whic,h we have able, competent, and interested Slovak leadership. We want to express for once and for all time that there is a Slovak ethnic growp in America, that this ethnic group is interested in specific objectives such as an independent Slovak section at the Voice of America, that we are interested in the re-establishment of an independent Slovak state, and that we are not only interested in, and capable of, but desirous of holding elective offices. Every American President from Woodrow W i 1son through John F. Kennedy has reaffirmed the American conviction that all the people of the world have the right to their own self determination. Many of you will remember the words of the then Attorney General of the United States Robert Kennedy in Youngstown, Ohio on July 14, 1963 when he stated, "The President has asked me to tell you that the United States Government will continue to support the just aspirations of all people in the world for independence and liberty - aspirations which the Slovaks share today with many other of the captive nations." But in striving to meet any objectives we must never lose sight �SLOVAKIA 79 of the fact that there can be no accomplishment without the blessing of a power far greater than any here on earth. The Slova:ks have recognized this ever since the day,s of the Saints Cyril and Method}us, Patron Saints of Slovakia who first introduced Ohristi!anity to Central Europe over 1100 yeruris ago, and in the Sfavoniic rt01I1g1Ue. A!S ,a personal testimony to this deep Christian character of the Slovaks, I can recall that during my grade school days when a child, or even an adult first entered the home, the very firnt wo:ros to be spoken were "PochvMen bud' Pan Jezi s Kristus" (Praised Be Jesus Christ) . And I can recall a framed picture which hung on the wa11 in the kitohen of our home, and alongside the picture were inscribed these wOTlds, "Kde Boh hospodad, tam sa dobre dari" (Whe,r e God Rules, All is Well). And these words are just as true today as they were when I first had the good grace to read and understand their meaning. And I know that if we heed these words as we move forward, and work with tihese words as guidance, there will be no Slovak hope, there wHl be no Slovak desire, there will be no Slovak objective whioh will not be ultimately fulfilled. 1 There is throughout the United States a young, educated, and interested group of Slovaks who can be classif,i ed as a part of the army of 'angry young men'. Angry because of the failure to resolve Slovak problems which it appears should have been resolved over a quarter century ago. Angry because of the factionalism which has kept the Slovaks a house divided for too many years. Angry because of the loss of prestige suffered through failure to be associated with the culture of Slovak artists, professional and industrial people, social and economic leaders. It is hoped that this outlook on the Slovak problem will in some small way contribute to its eventual resolution. "After Benes concluded the 'Czechoslovak-Soviet Treaty' in Moscow, on December 12, 1943, the left-wing Slovak Agrarians (Lettrich's group) joined the Slovak communists (the Schmidke-Husak group) to conclude the 'Christmas Agreement' of 1943. They created a 'common political leadership' and declared 'eternal friendship' for each other." - Gilbert L. Oddo: Slovakia and Its People. � SLOVAKIA 76 THE SILOVAK ~GE By Joseph R. Kristofik On March 26, 1966 a second wave of protest marchers demonstrated in some of the world's capitals and in major American cities protesting United States policy in Viet Nam. Among the demonstrators were college students expounding a belief in the principle of self determination for the Viet Namese people. To those who have studied the problems of the Slovak people and the Slovak nation, this statement appears to be most insincere. There have been many opportunities in the past to demonstrate this expressed interest in the self determination of nations in behalf of many Eastern European nations, notably Slovakia, but to date no tangible expression of interest in Eastern European self determination has been shown by these self same groups. 1 The Slovaks in America have for many years advocated and pursued the policy of self determination for the people of Slovakia. In striving to meet this objective, however, a very serious error was made by the American Slovaks as in their eagerness to help establish an independent Slovak state, they failed to establish and extend the vast limits of their Slovak culture in America, and as a result suffer today from this lack of a so called "Slovak Image". In an effort to overcome this deficiency of the past, an attempt is being made to make the Slovaks aware not only of the quickest way in achieving positive results in projecting this "Slovak image", in America, but also a means of obtaining quicker recognition of Slovak objectives on an international level. One of the more complex problems with which the Slovaks have been confronted since the turn of the century has been •the inability to project the distinctive S 1 o v a k character or influence in either the area of American politics, OT to any significant degree in civic affairs. This is a most regrettable situation, since there are many outst,anding leaders in industry, in the field of education, and in the arts and sciences who not only have a Slovaik background, but are proud of their Central European heritage. So the question that must be asked is why, despite thi,s wealth of competent, educated people throughout the United States, �SLOVAKIA 77 we have as an ethnic group, faHed to project this Slovak image. One of the basic answers to this prOiblem lies in the use of more effective public and press relations. Another answer lies in more active participation in civic affairs. But probably the most effective method in making rapid strides in projecting this Slovak image is through the field of partisan politics, where the wants, the needs, the desires, and the ambitions of an ethnic group are not only recognized, but evaluated on the basis of compatibility with our foreign policy and national interest. This year we are commemorating the 27th Anniversary of Slovak Independence. This is a very memorable diate in the history of the Slovak people, as it was on March 14, 1939 that the Slovaks as a united people , carved their own independent state, in the world of freedom loving and self governing nations. Yet it is disheartening, that despite the fact that we are here today, twenty seven years later, celebrating the anniversary of the birth of the modern Slova,k state, a majority of Americans do not even recognize Slovaks as an independent, separaJte, Central Europe ethnic group. Thi:s is not too surprising however, when one realizes that the average American really knows very little about Central European affairs, and is doubly confused when confronted with t:Jhe compounded problems presented by the Siovaks. Even as late as four weeks ago there a,ppeared in the Detroit News a column by the well known and wideily read columnist Bob Considine, whose coiumn I know many of you read regularly. Despite Mr. Considine's wehl versed baokground, despite his constant attention to world affairs, despite his periodic visits to the worltl''S capita•ls, he stiQiJ. refer,s to Czedho-S•lovalkia as the 1kiingdom of bhe SeI1biaJn s, the Croatians, and the Slovenes. And yet we all here know that Czeoho-SilovBJkia is a land inhabited principaH.y by the Slovaks and the Czeohs. It is no wonder then that the national ambitions of the Slovaks have been so high misconstrued over the years, and the road to ethnic recognition so difficult. A moment ago I expressed the opinion that the quickest, surest, and most direct route to recognition as an ethnic group is through partisan politics. Many of you may recall a statement made by Republioan National Chairman Ray C. Bliss, in which he stated that it was time for the 1 �78 SLOVAKIA Republican Party to realize that the American electorate was not composed solely of white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants, but a mixture of all races, colors, and creeds. As a result of Mr. Bliss' conviction, more attention is being given to the ethnic groups, and thankfully also to the Slovak community. The DemoCTatic Party recogni~ed many years ago the need to evaluate the wants of the ethnic groups, and to respond accordingly. I would like to review briefly some of the recently accomplishments of your Michigan leaders in obtaining recognitions of the S,lovaks and for Slovak objectives not only here in Michigan, but throughout the United States. Within the past two years, in both major political parties, a complete separation has been made in the ethnic identification of the Czech and Slovak peoples. In each political party there exists a separate Siovak Division on the State Level, and in each political party there exists a Slovak Division on the National Level. We have in Michigan at the present time a Democratic Slovak Chaivman in almost every one of Michigan's nineteen congressional districts, and we expect before all programs are completed, to have a Slovak Chairman in each congressional district of every state in whic,h we have able, competent, and interested Slovak leadership. We want to express for once and for all time that there is a Slovak ethnic growp in America, that this ethnic group is interested in specific objectives such as an independent Slovak section at the Voice of America, that we are interested in the re-establishment of an independent Slovak state, and that we are not only interested in, and capable of, but desirous of holding elective offices. Every American President from Woodrow W i 1son through John F. Kennedy has reaffirmed the American conviction that all the people of the world have the right to their own self determination. Many of you will remember the words of the then Attorney General of the United States Robert Kennedy in Youngstown, Ohio on July 14, 1963 when he stated, "The President has asked me to tell you that the United States Government will continue to support the just aspirations of all people in the world for independence and liberty - aspirations which the Slovaks share today with many other of the captive nations." But in striving to meet any objectives we must never lose sight �SLOVAKIA 79 of the fact that there can be no accomplishment without the blessing of a power far greater than any here on earth. The Slova:ks have recognized this ever since the day,s of the Saints Cyril and Method}us, Patron Saints of Slovakia who first introduced Ohristi!anity to Central Europe over 1100 yeruris ago, and in the Sfavoniic rt01I1g1Ue. A!S ,a personal testimony to this deep Christian character of the Slovaks, I can recall that during my grade school days when a child, or even an adult first entered the home, the very firnt wo:ros to be spoken were "PochvMen bud' Pan Jezi s Kristus" (Praised Be Jesus Christ) . And I can recall a framed picture which hung on the wa11 in the kitohen of our home, and alongside the picture were inscribed these wOTlds, "Kde Boh hospodad, tam sa dobre dari" (Whe,r e God Rules, All is Well). And these words are just as true today as they were when I first had the good grace to read and understand their meaning. And I know that if we heed these words as we move forward, and work with tihese words as guidance, there will be no Slovak hope, there wHl be no Slovak desire, there will be no Slovak objective whioh will not be ultimately fulfilled. 1 There is throughout the United States a young, educated, and interested group of Slovaks who can be classif,i ed as a part of the army of 'angry young men'. Angry because of the failure to resolve Slovak problems which it appears should have been resolved over a quarter century ago. Angry because of the factionalism which has kept the Slovaks a house divided for too many years. Angry because of the loss of prestige suffered through failure to be associated with the culture of Slovak artists, professional and industrial people, social and economic leaders. It is hoped that this outlook on the Slovak problem will in some small way contribute to its eventual resolution. "After Benes concluded the 'Czechoslovak-Soviet Treaty' in Moscow, on December 12, 1943, the left-wing Slovak Agrarians (Lettrich's group) joined the Slovak communists (the Schmidke-Husak group) to conclude the 'Christmas Agreement' of 1943. They created a 'common political leadership' and declared 'eternal friendship' for each other." - Gilbert L. Oddo: Slovakia and Its People. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1966, Vol. 16 Description An account of the resource Vol. 16 (No. 39), 1966. 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 1966 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 76 THE SILOVAK ~GE By Joseph R. Kristofik On March 26, 1966 a second wave of protest marchers demonstrated in some of the world's capitals and in major American cities protesting United States policy in Viet Nam. Among the demonstrators were college students expounding a belief in the principle of self determination for the Viet Namese people. To those who have studied the problems of the Slovak people and the Slovak nation, this statement appears to be most insincere. There have been many opportunities in the past to demonstrate this expressed interest in the self determination of nations in behalf of many Eastern European nations, notably Slovakia, but to date no tangible expression of interest in Eastern European self determination has been shown by these self same groups. 1 The Slovaks in America have for many years advocated and pursued the policy of self determination for the people of Slovakia. In striving to meet this objective, however, a very serious error was made by the American Slovaks as in their eagerness to help establish an independent Slovak state, they failed to establish and extend the vast limits of their Slovak culture in America, and as a result suffer today from this lack of a so called "Slovak Image". In an effort to overcome this deficiency of the past, an attempt is being made to make the Slovaks aware not only of the quickest way in achieving positive results in projecting this "Slovak image", in America, but also a means of obtaining quicker recognition of Slovak objectives on an international level. One of the more complex problems with which the Slovaks have been confronted since the turn of the century has been •the inability to project the distinctive S 1 o v a k character or influence in either the area of American politics, OT to any significant degree in civic affairs. This is a most regrettable situation, since there are many outst,anding leaders in industry, in the field of education, and in the arts and sciences who not only have a Slovaik background, but are proud of their Central European heritage. So the question that must be asked is why, despite thi,s wealth of competent, educated people throughout the United States, SLOVAKIA 77 we have as an ethnic group, faHed to project this Slovak image. One of the basic answers to this prOiblem lies in the use of more effective public and press relations. Another answer lies in more active participation in civic affairs. But probably the most effective method in making rapid strides in projecting this Slovak image is through the field of partisan politics, where the wants, the needs, the desires, and the ambitions of an ethnic group are not only recognized, but evaluated on the basis of compatibility with our foreign policy and national interest. This year we are commemorating the 27th Anniversary of Slovak Independence. This is a very memorable diate in the history of the Slovak people, as it was on March 14, 1939 that the Slovaks as a united people , carved their own independent state, in the world of freedom loving and self governing nations. Yet it is disheartening, that despite the fact that we are here today, twenty seven years later, celebrating the anniversary of the birth of the modern Slova,k state, a majority of Americans do not even recognize Slovaks as an independent, separaJte, Central Europe ethnic group. Thi:s is not too surprising however, when one realizes that the average American really knows very little about Central European affairs, and is doubly confused when confronted with t:Jhe compounded problems presented by the Siovaks. Even as late as four weeks ago there a,ppeared in the Detroit News a column by the well known and wideily read columnist Bob Considine, whose coiumn I know many of you read regularly. Despite Mr. Considine's wehl versed baokground, despite his constant attention to world affairs, despite his periodic visits to the worltl''S capita•ls, he stiQiJ. refer,s to Czedho-S•lovalkia as the 1kiingdom of bhe SeI1biaJn s, the Croatians, and the Slovenes. And yet we all here know that Czeoho-SilovBJkia is a land inhabited principaH.y by the Slovaks and the Czeohs. It is no wonder then that the national ambitions of the Slovaks have been so high misconstrued over the years, and the road to ethnic recognition so difficult. A moment ago I expressed the opinion that the quickest, surest, and most direct route to recognition as an ethnic group is through partisan politics. Many of you may recall a statement made by Republioan National Chairman Ray C. Bliss, in which he stated that it was time for the 1 78 SLOVAKIA Republican Party to realize that the American electorate was not composed solely of white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants, but a mixture of all races, colors, and creeds. As a result of Mr. Bliss' conviction, more attention is being given to the ethnic groups, and thankfully also to the Slovak community. The DemoCTatic Party recogni~ed many years ago the need to evaluate the wants of the ethnic groups, and to respond accordingly. I would like to review briefly some of the recently accomplishments of your Michigan leaders in obtaining recognitions of the S,lovaks and for Slovak objectives not only here in Michigan, but throughout the United States. Within the past two years, in both major political parties, a complete separation has been made in the ethnic identification of the Czech and Slovak peoples. In each political party there exists a separate Siovak Division on the State Level, and in each political party there exists a Slovak Division on the National Level. We have in Michigan at the present time a Democratic Slovak Chaivman in almost every one of Michigan's nineteen congressional districts, and we expect before all programs are completed, to have a Slovak Chairman in each congressional district of every state in whic,h we have able, competent, and interested Slovak leadership. We want to express for once and for all time that there is a Slovak ethnic growp in America, that this ethnic group is interested in specific objectives such as an independent Slovak section at the Voice of America, that we are interested in the re-establishment of an independent Slovak state, and that we are not only interested in, and capable of, but desirous of holding elective offices. Every American President from Woodrow W i 1son through John F. Kennedy has reaffirmed the American conviction that all the people of the world have the right to their own self determination. Many of you will remember the words of the then Attorney General of the United States Robert Kennedy in Youngstown, Ohio on July 14, 1963 when he stated, "The President has asked me to tell you that the United States Government will continue to support the just aspirations of all people in the world for independence and liberty - aspirations which the Slovaks share today with many other of the captive nations." But in striving to meet any objectives we must never lose sight SLOVAKIA 79 of the fact that there can be no accomplishment without the blessing of a power far greater than any here on earth. The Slova:ks have recognized this ever since the day,s of the Saints Cyril and Method}us, Patron Saints of Slovakia who first introduced Ohristi!anity to Central Europe over 1100 yeruris ago, and in the Sfavoniic rt01I1g1Ue. A!S ,a personal testimony to this deep Christian character of the Slovaks, I can recall that during my grade school days when a child, or even an adult first entered the home, the very firnt wo:ros to be spoken were "PochvMen bud' Pan Jezi s Kristus" (Praised Be Jesus Christ) . And I can recall a framed picture which hung on the wa11 in the kitohen of our home, and alongside the picture were inscribed these wOTlds, "Kde Boh hospodad, tam sa dobre dari" (Whe,r e God Rules, All is Well). And these words are just as true today as they were when I first had the good grace to read and understand their meaning. And I know that if we heed these words as we move forward, and work with tihese words as guidance, there will be no Slovak hope, there wHl be no Slovak desire, there will be no Slovak objective whioh will not be ultimately fulfilled. 1 There is throughout the United States a young, educated, and interested group of Slovaks who can be classif,i ed as a part of the army of 'angry young men'. Angry because of the failure to resolve Slovak problems which it appears should have been resolved over a quarter century ago. Angry because of the factionalism which has kept the Slovaks a house divided for too many years. Angry because of the loss of prestige suffered through failure to be associated with the culture of Slovak artists, professional and industrial people, social and economic leaders. It is hoped that this outlook on the Slovak problem will in some small way contribute to its eventual resolution. "After Benes concluded the 'Czechoslovak-Soviet Treaty' in Moscow, on December 12, 1943, the left-wing Slovak Agrarians (Lettrich's group) joined the Slovak communists (the Schmidke-Husak group) to conclude the 'Christmas Agreement' of 1943. They created a 'common political leadership' and declared 'eternal friendship' for each other." - Gilbert L. Oddo: Slovakia and Its People.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to 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 Image Description An account of the resource Joseph R. Kristofik Slovakia, Vol. 16 (No. 39), 1966 pp. 76-79 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kristofik, Joseph R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1966 name