The history of the Jews in Slovakia goes back to the 11th century, when the first Jews settled in the area.
Early history
In the 14th century, about 800 Jews lived in
Bratislava, the majority of them engaged in commerce and money lending. In the early 15th century, a Jewish cemetery was established at
Tisinec and was in use until 1892.
In 1494, a
blood libel
Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...
caused sixteen Jews to be
burned at the stake
Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...
in
Trnava
Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' ( Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' ( T ...
, and in 1526, after the
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...
, Jews were expelled from all major towns. In 1529, thirty Jews were burned at the stake in
Pezinok
Pezinok (; hu, Bazin; german: Bösing; lat, Bazinium) is a town in southwestern Slovakia. It is roughly northeast of Bratislava and, as of December 2018, had a population of 23,002.
Pezinok lies near the Little Carpathians and thrives mainly ...
.
In the late 17th century and early 18th century, Jews began to return to their original cities and establish organized communities, though they were barred from many trading industries and often in conflict with non-Jews. In 1683, hundreds of Jews from
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The m ...
fled to the Hungarian Kingdom, seeking refuge from
Kuruc
Kuruc (, plural ''kurucok''), also spelled kurutz, refers to a group of armed anti-Habsburg insurgents in the Kingdom of Hungary between 1671 and 1711.
Over time, the term kuruc has come to designate Hungarians who advocate strict national ind ...
riots and restrictions on their living imposed in Moravia. In 1700, a leading
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...
was established in Bratislava and recognized by the government. Under
Joseph II
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
, Jews received many additional civil liberties.
19th century
![Malacky synagogue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Malacky_synagogue.jpg)
Jewish communities emerged in the late eighteenth century following immigration from
Bohemia,
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The m ...
, Austria and Poland. The communities were affected by the
schism in Hungarian Jewry in the mid-nineteenth century, eventually splitting into
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
(the majority),
Status Quo, and more liberal
Neolog factions. Following
Jewish emancipation
Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, e.g. Jewish quotas, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It in ...
in 1896, many Jews had adopted Hungarian language and customs to advance in society. Many Jews moved to cities and joined the professions; others remained in the countryside, mostly working as artisans, merchants, and shopkeepers. Their multilingualism helped them advance in business, but put them in conflict with
Slovak nationalism
Slovak nationalism is an ethnic nationalist ideology that asserts that the Slovaks are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of the Slovaks.
History
Modern Slovak nationalism first arose in the 19th century in response to Magyarization of Slo ...
. The Slovak Jews were not as integrated as the Jews in Bohemia and Moravia, preferring a traditional lifestyle. Traditional
religious antisemitism was joined by the stereotypical view of Jews as exploiters of poor Slovaks (
economic antisemitism
Economic antisemitism is antisemitism that uses stereotypes and canards that are based on negative perceptions or assertions of the economic status, occupations or economic behaviour of Jews, at times leading to various governmental policies and ...
), and a form of "national anti-Semitism" that accused Jews of sympathizing with
Hungarian and later
Czechoslovak national aims.
Interwar period
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Slovakia became part of the new country of
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. In both parts of the new republic,
anti-Jewish riots broke out in the aftermath of the declaration of independence (1918–1920), although the violence was not nearly as serious as in Ukraine or Poland.
Blood libel
Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...
accusations occurred in
Trenčin and in
Šalavský Gemer in the 1920s. In the 1930s, the
Great Depression affected Jewish businessmen and also increased economic antisemitism. Economic underdevelopment and perceptions of discrimination in Czechoslovakia led a plurality (about one-third) of Slovaks to support the conservative,
ethnonationalist
Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...
Slovak People's Party
Hlinka's Slovak People's Party ( sk, Hlinkova slovenská ľudová strana), also known as the Slovak People's Party (, SĽS) or the Hlinka Party, was a far-right Clerical fascism, clerico-fascist political party with a strong Catholic fundamentali ...
( sk, Hlinkova slovenská ľudová strana: HSĽS). HSĽS viewed minority groups such as Czechs, Hungarians, Jews, and
Romani people
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
as a destructive influence on the Slovak nation, and presented
Slovak autonomy as the solution to Slovakia's problems. The party began to emphasize antisemitism during the late 1930s following a wave of Jewish refugees from Austria in
1938 and anti-Jewish laws passed by Hungary,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, and
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
.
In the 1930s, antisemitic rioting and demonstrations broke out, incited by the
Slovak People's Party
Hlinka's Slovak People's Party ( sk, Hlinkova slovenská ľudová strana), also known as the Slovak People's Party (, SĽS) or the Hlinka Party, was a far-right Clerical fascism, clerico-fascist political party with a strong Catholic fundamentali ...
. During the rioting, professional Jewish boxers and wrestlers took to the streets to defend their neighborhoods from antisemitic gangs, and one of them,
Imi Lichtenfeld
Imre "Imi" Lichtenfeld ( he, אימריך “אימי” ליכטנפלד; 26 May 1910 – 9 January 1998), also known as Imi Sde-Or ( he, אימי שדאור, label=none), was a Hungarian-born Israeli Martial arts, martial artist. He is widely r ...
, would later use his experiences to develop
Krav Maga
Krav Maga ( ; , ; ) is an Israeli martial art. Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it is derived from a combination of techniques used in aikido, judo, karate, boxing, and wrestling. It is known for its focus on real-world situation ...
.
The Holocaust
![Mausoleum of Moses Sofer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Mausoleum_of_Moses_Sofer.jpg)
Some 5,000 Jews emigrated before the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and several thousands afterwards (mostly to the British Mandate of Palestine), but most were killed in the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
. After the
Slovak Republic proclaimed its independence in March 1939 under the protection of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, the pro-Nazi regime of President
Jozef Tiso
Jozef Gašpar Tiso (; hu, Tiszó József; 13 October 1887 – 18 April 1947) was a Slovak politician and Roman Catholic priest who served as president of the Slovak Republic, a client state of Nazi Germany during World War II, from 1939 to 194 ...
, a Catholic priest, began a series of measures aimed against the Jews in the country, first excluding them from the military and government positions. The
Hlinka Guard Hlinka (feminine Hlinková) is a Czech and Slovak surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Andrej Hlinka
Andrej Hlinka (born András Hlinka; 27 September 1864 – 16 August 1938) was a Slovak Catholic priest, journalist, banker, po ...
began to attack Jews, and the "Jewish Code" was passed in September 1941. Resembling the
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of ...
, the Code required that Jews wear a
yellow armband and were banned from intermarriage and many jobs. By 1940, more than 6,000 Jews had emigrated. By October 1941, 15,000 Jews were expelled from Bratislava; many were sent to labor camps, including
Sereď
Sereď (; hu, Szered ) is a town in southern Slovakia near Trnava, on the right bank of the Váh River on the Danubian Lowland. It has approximately 15,500 inhabitants.
Geography
Sereď lies at an altitude of above sea level and covers an are ...
.
Originally, the Slovak government tried to make a deal with Germany in October 1941 to deport its Jews as a substitute for providing Slovak workers to help the war effort. The initial terms were for 20,000 young men aged 16 and older for forced labour, but the Slovak government was concerned that it would leave many aged, sick, or child Jews who would become a burden on the gentile population. A deal was reached where the Slovak Republic would pay 500 Reichsmark for each Jew deported, and in return, the Germans would deport entire families and promise that the Jews would never return. This was billed as a humanitarian measure that would keep Jewish families together; the Slovak fascist authorities claimed that they did not know that the Germans were systematically exterminating the Jews under its control. Some Jews were exempt from deportation, including those who had converted before 1939.
The deportations of Jews from Slovakia started on March 25, 1942. Transports were halted on October 20, 1942. A group of Jewish activists known as the
Working Group
A working group, or working party, is a group of experts working together to achieve specified goals. The groups are domain-specific and focus on discussion or activity around a specific subject area. The term can sometimes refer to an interdis ...
tried to stop the process through a mix of bribery and negotiation. However, some 58,000 Jews had already been deported by October 1942, mostly to the
Operation Reinhard death camps
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...
in the
General Government in occupied Poland and to
Auschwitz. More than 99% of the Jews deported from Slovakia in 1942 were murdered in the concentration death camps.
Jewish deportations resumed on September 30, 1944, after German troops occupied the Slovak territory to defeat the
Slovak National uprising
The Slovak National Uprising ( sk, Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) was a military uprising organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. This resistance movement was represented mainly by the members of the ...
. During the German occupation, up to 13,500 Slovak Jews were deported (mostly to Auschwitz where most of them were gassed upon arrival), principally through the Jewish transit camp in
Sereď
Sereď (; hu, Szered ) is a town in southern Slovakia near Trnava, on the right bank of the Váh River on the Danubian Lowland. It has approximately 15,500 inhabitants.
Geography
Sereď lies at an altitude of above sea level and covers an are ...
under the command of
Alois Brunner
Alois Brunner (8 April 1912 – December 2001) was an Austrian (SS) SS-Hauptsturmführer who played a significant role in the implementation of the Holocaust through rounding up and deporting Jews in occupied Austria, Greece, Macedonia, France, ...
, and about 2,000 were murdered in the Slovak territory by members of the
Einsatzgruppe H
Einsatzgruppe H was one of the '' Einsatzgruppen'', the paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany. A special task force of more than 700 soldiers, it was created at the end of August 1944 to deport or murder the remaining Jews in Slovakia followi ...
and the
Hlinka Guard Emergency Divisions The Hlinka Guard Emergency Divisions or Flying Squads of the Hlinka Guard ( sk, Pohotovostné oddiely Hlinkovej gardy, POHG) were Slovak paramilitary formations set up to counter the August 1944 Slovak National Uprising. They are best known for the ...
. Deportations continued until March 31, 1945, when the last group of Jewish prisoners was taken from Sereď to the
Terezín
Terezín (; german: Theresienstadt) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,800 inhabitants. It is a former military fortress composed of the citadel and adjacent walled garrison town ...
ghetto. In all, German and Slovak authorities deported about 71,500 Jews from Slovakia; about 65,000 of them were murdered or died in concentration camps. The overall figures are inexact, partly because many Jews did not identify themselves, but one 2006 estimate is that approximately 105,000 Slovak Jews, or 77% of their prewar population, died during the war.
[
]
After World War II
11 Jews were murdered by an unidentified UPA group in September 1945 in Kolbasov.
In the Topoľčany pogrom 48 Jews were seriously injured. 13 anti-Jewish incidents called ''partisan pogroms'' took place between August 1 and 5, 1946, the biggest one in Žilina
Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of ...
, where 15 people were wounded. Antisemitic manifestations took place in Bratislava in August 1946 and in August 1948.
In 1946, the Slovak writer Karel František Koch argued that the antisemitic incidents that he witnessed in Bratislava after the war were "not antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
, but something far worse—the robber’s anxiety that he might have to return Jewish property tolen in the Holocaust" a view that has been endorsed by Czech-Slovak scholar .
After the war, the number of Jews in Slovakia was estimated to be 25,000. Most of them decided to emigrate. In February 1948, Communist rule was established after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état. It lasted until November 1989 Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
. During those years, little or no Jewish life existed. Many Jews emigrated to Israel or the United States to regain their freedom of religion. After 1989, and with the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia and Slovak independence in 1993, there was some resurgence in Jewish life. However, most Jews were elderly, and younger ones largely assimilated through intermarriage.
According to the 2021 census of Slovakia, the Jewish community had 2,007 members, which is about 0.04% of the total population of Slovakia. About 839 of them live in Bratislava Region (0.12% of the total population), followed by 311 members in Košice and 210 members in Trnava Region
The Trnava Region ( sk, Trnavský kraj, ; hu, Nagyszombati kerület; german: Tyrnauer Landschaftsverband) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It was established in 1996, before which date most of its districts were parts of Brat ...
(both: 0.04%). The Jewish population increased by 8 members since the 2011 census.[https://www.culture.gov.sk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/veriaci-3.pdf]
Slovak Jews
See also
*History of the Jews in Bratislava
The first record of the Jewish community in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, dates from 1251. Until the end of World War I, Bratislava (known as Pressburg or Pozsony through much of its history) was a multicultural city with a Hungarian and Ge ...
* Oberlander Jews
*History of the Jews in Carpathian Ruthenia
Jews settled in Transcarpathia as early as the 15th century. Local rulers allowed Jewish citizens to own land and practice many trades that were precluded to them in other locations. Jews settled in the region over time and established communiti ...
*History of the Jews in the Czech Republic
The history of the Jews in the Czech lands, which include the modern Czech Republic as well as Bohemia, Czech Silesia and Moravia, goes back many centuries. There is evidence that Jews have lived in Moravia and Bohemia since as early as the 1 ...
* Stolpersteine in the Banská Bystrica Region
* Stolpersteine in the Trnava Region
* Judeo-Czech language
Notes
References
Further reading
*
:
*
*
*
*
*
*
:
:
:
:
:
*
*
:
*
*
External links
The Story of the Jewish Community in Bratislava
An online exhibition by Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
History of the Jews in Slovakia
Concise Jewish History of Slovakia
Jewish heritage of Slovakia
Jewish Community Museum in Bratislava
Chatam Sofer Memorial in Bratislava
Nazi Camp Engerau in Bratislava-Petržalka
{{History of the Jews in Europe