Slovakia

Territories of Slovakia can boast of over seven centuries of Jewish culture development. Cities, villages, shtetls scattered over this region sometimes were predominantly Jewish, preserving for centuries religion and tradition in all aspects of life. During the dramatic chapter of Holocaust, when majority of Slovakian Jews were deported for extermination to Auschwitz-Birkenau or the Lublin district, the German and Slovak Nazis were very active in removing also the physical traces of Jewish culture from the occupied territories. Synagogues were burnt, cemeteries were destroyed within a systematic plan to annihilate everything Jewish.

In spite of those barbarian acts, nowadays Slovakia is still rich in many synagogues, prying houses, cemeteries and monuments. They are the silent witnesses of what Slovak Jewry used to be for centuries and some of them still serve as places of worship. By visiting those places you will get to know the history of its inhabitants as they were the ones who for centuries were actively forging and keeping up the flame of Jewish heritage. Only by understanding what this flame was and preserving its memory, can you approach the topic of the Holocaust in Slovakia and contemporary Jewish life in this country.

Bardejov

Bardejov is located near the Slovak - Polish border, about 140 km from Cracow. The first synagogue outside the city was completed in the early XIX century, the larger one in Neo-Gothic style was consecrated in 1830. Bardejov was a center of Hasidism and a community maintained a heder, Talmud Torah, and yeshiva. Before World War II, more than 4,000 Jews lived in Bardejov. Nearly the entire community was exterminated during the Holocaust in Auschwitz-Birkenau or Lublin district.

Nowadays there is a very precious complex of Old Synagogue, Beit Midrash, Mikveh and rabbi house preserved. Synagogue, although used as metalware storage, still holds very rich wall paintings.

Close to the city center there are Chevra Bikur Cholim synagogue and Chevra Mishnayot Synagogue. The first one is still used as a prayer hall, the second was changed into a school of commerce.

Bratislava

Bratislava is located near the Austrian and Hungarian border on the Danube River. Jews first settled in the city in the late XII century. Over the years, the Jewish community was expelled from the city on several occasions, specifically in 1360 and 1526 with the raise of Christian anti-Semitism. After the second expulsion, many Jewish families settled around Schlossberg (Castle-Hill). In this period Jews were forced to wear a special dress.

By the XVIII century, 120 families resided in Bratislava. During this period, the Jewish population continued to thrive, especially with Jews arriving from Moravia. The city became a centre of European Jewish religious life with the arrival of Rabbi Moses Schreiber. Prior to the Holocaust, 15,000 Jews lived in Bratislava, which also had numerous magnificent Jewish synagogues and buildings, including the Grand Orthodox Synagogue built in 1863.

One synagogue, built between 1923 and 1926 for the Orthodox community, remains in Bratislava and is the active synagogue, serving the needs of local Jewish community, numbering about 1100 members. This is Heydukova Street synagogue.  There is also kosher canteen and the Museum of Jewish Culture.

Brezovica

Jews from Galicia settled here around mid XVIII century. A wooden synagogue was erected in 1828 when the community numbered 148 people. In 1940 there were less then 100 Jews remaining in Brezovica. They were deported to Lublin district in 1942 through Zilina nad Sabinov.

Brezovica nad Torysu

Village close to Lipany. Jewish cemetery remaining. Up to 50 matzevots are still standing on the bush overgrown territory over the village. School is built on the plot of land where the synagogue used to be standing.

Bytca / Velka Bytca

Few Jews were present in the early XVIII century establishing a community. Count Esterhazy gave the community land for a synagogue and cemetery against a yearly payment and extended his protection over the Jews.

Nowadays there is an impressive dilapidated synagogue's building from 1886, still standing in Bytca. Despite damage, the remnants of the wooden paling, cassette ceiling, and stained glass windows are rare and worth attention.

Giraltovce

Jews first settled in Giraltovce in 1750 coming to those territories from Poland. The community was satellite of Hanusovce. By 1786, 21 Jews lived in Giraltovce. The first Jewish cemetery of the community was sanctified in 1800. In 1890, the first Jewish school was established and a decade later the first synagogue was consecrated. Synagogue was located close to the cemetery due to the lack of other construction plot.

Prior to the world wars most of the Jews were involved in trading and commerce; following World War I, many Jews became tailors and carpenters. Many men from this community fought in World War I, with only a few recorded deaths. In April 1920, 475 of the Jews from Giraltovce voted for the Jewish parties. By 1930, the Jewish population declined to only 220 people. In between the Wars the Zionist  movements began to thrive in Giraltovce through the local activity of Bnei Akiba , Betar and Hashomer Hatzair.

Before the Holocaust, 345 Jews (58 families) lived in Giraltovce. About 80% of Jews, 452 Jews from Giraltovce and the surrounding area were deported in 1942 to Auschwitz or Majdanek and Lublin district.

Humenne

Humenne is located in eastern Slovakia, close to the border with Ukraine. It was not until 1780 that the Jewish community was officially recognized on that territory. A fine synagogue was erected in 1793 as the community began to expand, chevra Kadisha was established. The city prospered from farming. Rabbi Spira Jakab was the first rabbi of the congregation, followed by Rabbi Fischel Horovitz. In 1835, a Talmud Torah was established to aid in the education of poor children. In 1919 the Jewish population was 1692 with 28 settlements under the jurisdiction of rabbinate. R.Hayyim Yehuda Ehrenreich published the important Orthodox periodical Otzar Hayyim until 1938.

An old Jewish cemetery is located in Humenne with 500-5000 tombstones in the gravesite, dating back to the early XIX century. During World War II, more than 2,200 Jews from Humenne were murdered.

Košice

Košice is considered the capital of eastern Slovakia. Jews were present here in the XV century. The fast development of the community started in mid XIX century after the residence restrictions were lifted. A progressive synagogue was built in 1866 and the majority of the congregation joined the Nelogists after the 1869 split. Orthodox worshipers consecrated a new synagogue in 1882. The new cemetery consecrated in 1888 had separate sections for the two congregations. The Orthodox community maintained its own yeshiva, Talmud torah, beit midrash, mikveh and poultry slaughter house. Galician and other Hasidim including R. Shemuel Angel of Radomysl and R. Avraham Shalom Halberstam of Stropkov, also established their courts in the city. During the Holocaust, the majority of the Jewish community was deported to concentration or extermination camps and annihilated.

Today, approximately 800 Jews live in Košice. Close to the city centre there is an interesting complex of Jewish district preserved with:

  1. Orthodox prayer hall at Zvonarska street (presently used synagogue) premises of shochetim and sukkah attached to it.
  2. Orthodox synagogue at Zvonarska street. Built in 1899 in Roundbogenstil. The interior still holds very rich Moorish like decorations.
  3. Mikveh
  4. Kosher canteen
  5. Hassidic Prayer hall at Krmanova street built in 1920 - good example of rural architecture incorporated in the city
  6. Orthodox synagogue at Puskinova street. Built in 1927 by Ludovit Oelschlager in historicist style merging some elements of Renaissance attic and Neo-Classical monumental elements.
  7. Neolog synagogue at Moyzesova street built in 1927.

Lipany

Jews first arrived in Lipany in the early XVIII century. By 1848, 130 Jews lived in the town and, in 1859, the community built its first synagogue. In the early XX century, a Beit Midrash and a Talmud Torah were established. After World War I, Zionist activities and organizations began to thrive in the town. In 1929 a new, larger synagogue was consecrated. In March 1942,nearly 400 Jews from Lipany were transported to various ghettos and concentration camps in occupied Poland.

There exists a cemetery from the XIX-XX century, incorporating 100-500 tombstones. The former synagogue's building was changed into a regular house and a shop on the ground floor.

Liptovsky Mikulas

Jews settled here under protection of Count Pongrac in the early XVIII century. Local markets and fairs attracted many Jews to establish community here. The first synagogue was built in 1731. The first Rabbi was Moshe Kohen, who founded a talmud torah. He was followed by Rabbi Loeb Kunitz in 172-1813, who opened one of the first yeshivot in Slovakia in 1776. This yeshiva under Rabbi Elizar Loew became one of the most important centres of learning in Hungary. In late XIX century Zionism became very strong in Mikulas. WIZO, Hashomer Hatzair, Bnei Akiva and the Maccabi sports club all had branches here.

Nowadays the building of synagogue from 1846 still remains in town, used as an exhibition and a concert hall.

Nove Zamky

Jews first arrived in the early XIX century in Nove Zamky and formed a religious community, establishing a synagogue and with time other Jewish institutions. Due to their knowledge and trade relations they managed to stimulate local trade market relations. From 1849 to 1895, Rabbi Ignac Kramer directed the services and communal life. In 1860's the first synagogue was established in Nove Zamky, following the neolog-congressional style of a synagogue in Budapest. The local Orthodox community, not accepting the Neolog practices, established another congregation in 1870. This congregation came under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Josef Richter and Rabbi Samuel Klein from 1913. The first elected rabbi of the Orthodox congregation was Benjamin Zeev Wolf, followed in 1882 by his son in law, Henrik Sonnenklar.

In 1859, the Orthodox congregation built a separate synagogue. It was reconstructed in 1931 and still exists today. The synagogue is one of the best preserved in Slovakia.

Prešov

The first Jew to settle was the wealthy Galician-born merchant Mordekhai Hollaender in 1785. The community's first rabbi Dr. Shelomo Manahem Schiller-Szinessy, was appointed in 1844 but forced to flee to England after supporting the Hungarian revolution in 1849. The first synagogue was established in 1849 and a Neologist congregation was formed, in 1887 it was burnt down. The next one was already erected in Moorish style. In 1971 the Orthodox congregation was established and in 1898 they built a separate synagogue. In 1912, 26 Hassidic families in the Orthodox community organized the third congregation. The Jewish population rose to 1010 in 1869 and 2106 in 1900. Zionist activity commenced in the late XIX century, mainly under the leadership of Dr. Hayyim Farbstein.

A new Orthodox synagogue was opened in 1930 and the Hasidim opened a shtibl in 1935 with a beit midrash and Talmud torah alongside it. In 1928 R. Moshe Hayyim Lau opened the Torat Ahim yeshiva, attracting students from many countries and reaching peak attendance of 150.

With the establishment of Slovak state in March 1939, anti-Jewish riots broke out, marked by looting and vandalism. In January 1941, local rioters burnt down the Orthodox synagogue. The arrival of 826 refugees from Bratislava in December 1942 increased the Jewish population to 5134. In late March and early April 1942 about 1000 young Jewish men and women were deported to Majdanek and Auschwitz concentration camps. Family deportations commenced in mid-April, with hundreds of Jews sent to Auschwitz and Demblin ghetto in Lublin District. In 1942 about 4000 Jews were deported from Presov.

After WW II in 1945 there were 716 Jews left in the city. Due to the politics of the communist Czechoslovakia regime, intolerant for minorities, in the beginning of 90's there were around 100 Jews left in Presov.

Jewish places worth visiting in Presov:

  1. Orthodox synagogue - impressive building built in 1898 The design is Moorish, with colorful patterns and drawings applied to the ceilings and walls. Rich polychromy is covering the column capitols and other architectonical details. The richly decorated aron hakodesh made by Košice sculptor Bacsó matches the interior and repeats some of the polychromy details. Now the building is used as the Museum of Jewish Culture.
  2. Neolog synagogue - built in 1887, now used a shop.
  3. Hassidic Klaus, Beit Midrash - Building constructed by Hassidic congregation in 1935, now used as office space.
  4. Tombstones from the old Orthodox and Reform cemeteries can be found near the Catholic gravesite.

Rohoznik

Small Shtetl village in Malacky district. A very picturesque synagogue preserved form XIX century. A good and well preserved example of rural, religious architecture.

Spisske Podhradie

Freshly restored synagogue from 1875 used as a concert hall and culture centre.

Stropkov

Jews first settled in Stropkov, located on the Ondava River, in 1648 fleeing the pogroms of Chmielnicki. Jews soon led the economy of Stropkov; although many Jews lived in poverty. Jews owned all the taverns and shops in Stropkov. Possibly because of their economic success, the Jews of Stropkov were expelled to nearby Tisinec in 1700. In early XVIII century few Jewish families from Galicia settled in Stropkov, they were followed by many Galician Hassidim. More arrived in XIX century establishing a community of 1189 members. Under the influence of rabbis, Hasidism spread to other communities in eastern Slovakia and Hungary, with Zanz (Sacz) Hasidism predominating.

Rabbi Moshe Schonfeld was the first rabbi of Stropkov and led the community until 1820. Rabbi Yekutiel Yehuda Teitelbaum of Drohobycz led the Hasidic congregation from 1833, rabbi Yehezkel Shraga Halberstam from 1870 and rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam in 1898-1933. A new synagogue was consecrated in 1894 with the old one becoming a Hasidic shtibl. Agudat Israel with its own youth movement and Beth Jacob school for girls was influential in orthodox circles. The community maintained a synagogue, rabbinical court and mikveh. Many famous rabbis were educated in Stropkov and the town became the centre of Torah study in Greater Hungary.

From 1400 to 1892, Jews were not permitted to bury their dead inside Stropkov and therefore established a cemetery in Tisinec, 6 km away from Stropkov. From 1892 to 1942 the second cemetery on the outskirts of the town was used for burials.

Prior to the Holocaust, approximately 2,000 Jews lived in Stropkov. The Slovak authorities closed down Jewish businesses in 1941 and seized Jews for slave labour. In March and April 1942 young Jewish women were deported to Auschwitz and men to Majdanek and Lublin District On May 24th , 1942 the remaining Jewish families were deported to Rejowiec in Lublin District, where most perished.

There are two devastated Jewish cemeteries in the vicinity of Stropkov remaining until nowadays.

Trencín

City is the former county centre. First ancient Jewish community was originating from Moravian emigrants.

Prior to World War II, 1,300 Jews lived in Trencín; most of whom were exterminated in Nazi death camps.

An impressive synagogue, which preserved until nowadays, was built in 1913 in Byzantine and Art Nouveau styles.

Trnava / Tyrnau

The Jewish settlements dates back to XII century and is one of the oldest in Slovakia.

Nowadays two synagogues remain:

  1. Status Quo Synagogue build in 1897 - gallery of art
  2. Orthodox Synagogue build in 1892 - dilapidated building

Ziar nad Hronom

The Jewish community of Ziar nad Hronom, located in central Slovakia, was established in the early XIX century, and the rabbinate was founded in 1848. The town synagogue was completed in 1889 and became the focus of the community. In 1919, 36 Jews were recorded living in Ziar nad Hronom. In World War II, the Jews of Ziar nad Hronom survived because they hid in the surrounding mountains.

After War World II the former building of a synagogue was changed into residential building. In the 90's there were some traces of polychromy discovered in the attic.

Zvolen

Jews settled here in the mid XIX century after residence restrictions were lifted, forming a Neologist congregation after the split in 1869. A synagogue was erected in 1895 and the Jewish population reached a peak of 611 people in 1910. Jews became increasingly active in public and economic life, owning 60 business establishments and 23 workshops and factories.

During the Holocaust men were deported to Novaky and women to Patronka in 1942. Subsequently they were deported further to Auschwitz or Lublin district. Jews initially spared were murdered by the Germans in autumn and winter 1944-45 at the local Jewish cemetery.

Nowadays the building of a former synagogue is changed into a shop with textiles and furniture. There is a commemoration plaque marking the building and presenting its former function.

If you are interested in visiting or researching any of the above mentioned places in Slovakia please contact us.

Medieval period

First settlements of Slavic tribes on the nowadays Slovakia's territory are dated back to V century. Around 830, Duke Prybina established the first country with Nitra as a capital. In this way Prybina became the first known Slovak surname. At the same time, archbishop of Salzburg consecrated the first Christian church in Nitra. Soon those territories were included into a larger state organism of Grater-Moravia with Swietopelek as the main ruler. In this time a gradual integration of Northern Slovakia with Cracow was observed. At the beginning of X century Grater-Moravia state fell down under a growing pressure of two new regional powers Hungarian and Czech states.

The first Jewish settlements in Slovakian region were documented in XI century. In the XIV century, nearly 800 Jews resided in Bratislava. The majority of Jewish population engaged in commerce and money lending. Money lending for interest was prohibited by Christianity. In the early Medieval period Central Europe was still undergoing gradual Christianization. In order to reinforce the faith, the territory was often visited by western European preachers. They were glorifying crusade movement and in their sermons they were openly turning against other religions. Two large blood libels were organized:  in 1494 some  Jews were burnt at stake in Trnava and in 1529, 30 Jews were burnt in Pezinok.

The catastrophic defeat of the Hungarian armies from Suleiman I ("the Magnificent") in the Battle of Mohács in 1526, and the conquest of Buda in 1541 by the Turks, brought about the reduction of the Kingdom of Hungary to the territory of what was called Royal Hungary, while the remaining former Hungarian territories became part either of the Ottoman Empire or of Transylvania. After the battle of Mohács in 1526, Jews were expelled from all major towns in Slovakia. This forced the Jewish communities into more rural territory which would later develop unique Shtetls.

Austro-Hungarian period

During the late XVII century and early XVIII century, Jews began to return to their original cities in Slovakia, and establish well defined communities. In 1683, hundreds of Moravian Jewish fled to Slovakia seeking refuge from the Kurucz riots and the living restrictions of Moravia. Most of these immigrants settled in western Slovakia, bordering Moravia. In 1700, the leading yeshiva in Slovakia was established in Bratislava. This institution was recognized by the government for the education of rabbis. Nevertheless, Jews were in constant conflict with locals and barred from many trading industries. The first Jewish cemetery in Slovakia was set aside in the early XV century in Tisinec (the cemetery was utilized until 1892). Under the rule of Joseph II, Jews received many civil liberties and much of their livelihoods were expanded in aptitude.

In 1867, the dual monarch of Austro-Hungary was established and Slovakia became part of Northern Hungary. For more than a millennium, Slovakian Jewry was closely linked with that of Hungarian Jews. The Hungarian parliament passed the Emancipation Law to promote assimilation among minorities, especially Jews. Government officials supported Jewish cooperation in industry and finance. The Jewish population grew exponentially, especially in small, secluded Shtetls in Eastern Slovakia. Late XIX century brought emergence of numerous national and independence movements which often bore very right wing orientation and built new national identity on anti-Semitism and intolerance. Often Jews were portrayed as obstacles on the way to re-cover independence.

In 1882 and 1883, anti-Jewish riots occurred in several towns in Slovakia. With the introduction of the "Reception Law" (1896), which placed Jews and Christians on the same equal level, the Slovak Clerical People's Party was formed. The Party's main interests were anti-Liberalism and limiting Jewish influence in the country. The main leader was Hlinka.

Similar national movements could be observed within Jewish communities. The idea of Zionism was forged as a solution to centuries of anti-Jewish politics of European countries. In Slovakia, eight local Zionist organizations were formed. In 1903, Bratislava held the first Hungarian Zionist Convention; the first World Mizrachi Congress was convened in 1904.

Between the Wars

In 1918, just after World War I, Czechoslovakia with other central European countries  regained independence as a result of Versailles treaty. Jews were given the right to be considered a separate nationality in the country. The so called "Small Versailles treaty", signed by majority of freshly created countries in Central  Europe, was created to grant legal protection for national minorities on those territories. Jews prospered not only in industry but cultural life. Jews held more than one-third of all industrial investments in Slovakia and were active in reconstruction of the country's economy after WW I. In 1919, the National Federation of Slovak Jews was established in Piestany and the Jewish Party (Židovská Strana) was created. On August 2, 1919, Juedische Volkszeitung ("Jewish People's Paper") was first published in Bratislava. This paper played a crucial role in advancing the rights of the Jews in Czechoslovakia. On February 15th 1921 the first national census in Czechoslovakia was held, 135,918 people registered as practicing Jews (4.5 percent of the population); 70,522 of them declared themselves of Jewish nationality.

In the 30's, 217 congregations existed in Slovakia: 165 Orthodox congregations and the remaining 52 congregations split between Neology and Status Quo Ante (the later two affiliations later unified under the title "Jeshurun"). During this period, Judaism in this region was also caught in the struggle between the Reform and Orthodox movements. It was because of this religious strife that the Jewish Party was split by such factions as the Conservative Jewish Party and the Jewish Economic Party in the nation's first two elections (1920, 1925). Ultimately, the party failed to receive enough votes to maintain any seats in the parliament in Prague. In 1929, during the third election, Ludvik Singer and Julius Reisz of Bratislava were elected to parliament through the Jewish Party.

In 1938 about 135,000 Jews lived in Slovakia, of whom 40,000 lived in the territory ceded to Hungary (Ruthenia and Subcarpathia). About 5,000 emigrated voluntarily before the war, leaving about 90,000 Jews, 3 % of the total population. Slovakia was poorer and far less industrialized than the historic Czech crown provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, and so were its Jews. They were engaged mostly in retail trade and handicrafts, servicing the peasantry.

The small segment of well-to-do Jews spoke Hungarian and were assimilated, maintaining religious congregations based on tradition rather then religion. Most other Jews were highly traditional, among whom Hasidic rabbis enjoyed huge followings especially in more rural areas and Shtetls.

Under the influence of the Slovak Peoples' party, many Slovakians were incited against the Jews. In the late 1930s, numerous anti-Jewish demonstrations were held in Slovakia led by the Nationalist Youth Movement (Om Iadina) and the Volksdeutsche students. In late 30's Slovakia was affected by Nazi policy and immediate raise of anti-Semitism followed.

WW II and the Holocaust in Slovakia

After the establishment on March 14, 1939 of a Nazi German protectorate state in Slovakia, the government instituted Nazi-style anti-Jewish legislation in an effort to banish the Jews from society and confiscate their property. The country came under the control of an extremely religious and right-wing party, the Hlinka (Slovak) Peoples' party, under the leadership of Father Jozef Tiso, a Catholic priest. This party had also its military branch called "Hlinka Guard" which was later responsible for final solution of Jewish question in Slovakia.

The first anti-Jewish law was passed in Slovakia on April 18, 1939. A few days later, on April 24, Jews were excluded from all government positions and service. On September 19, 1939, all Jews were expelled from the military. By 1940, more than 6,000 Jews emigrated both legally and illegally. Soon Slovakian government passed a law that permitted it to take over control of all major Jewish businesses.

In August 1940 SS-Haupsturmfuhrer Dieter Wisliceny, Eichmann's representative from the Reich Security Main Office, arrived in Bratislava as an adviser on Jewish affairs. The Hlinka Guard and the Freiwillige Schutzstaffel (Slovak volunteers in the SS) were reorganized on the model of the SS and given the responsibility of carrying out anti-Jewish measures.

On September 9, 1941, the Slovak government established a major code of anti-Jewish legislation, containing 270 articles, redefining the Jews as a racial group, requiring them to wear the yellow Star of David, making them liable to force labour, and evicting them from specified towns and districts.

The plans for deportations appeared in late 1941 and were implemented in 1942 by Jewish Center. It was SS established agency to deal with all Jewish matters in Nazi Slovakia. Their role was similar to Judenrats in the ghettos, it was mainly labour distribution and latter organization of deportations. Between March 25 and October 20, 1942, fifty-seven transports carrying close to 59,000 Jewish deportees left Slovakia. Thirty-eight trains with more than 40,000 Jews went to Lublin District; the other nineteen transports, with 18,600 people, were taken to Auschwitz. Only about 19,000 Jews - most of whom had certificates of exemption on the grounds that they were essential to the country's economy - remained in Slovakia. In addition, there were 3,500 Jews held in three labor camps: Novaky, Vyhne and Sered. Nearly 10,000 Jews avoided deportation for some time by fleeing to Hungary.

In late March 1942 the first transport of Jewish women prisoners came into Auschwitz from Slovakia. 999 women were loaded on wagons in Poprad and on the next day this transport arrived at Auschwitz. Future women's camp in Birkenau was not yet constructed so all those women were imprisoned for a few months in 10 separated blocks of Auschwitz.

Majority of Slovak Jews deported in 1942 were sent to Lublin District. They were temporarily imprisoned in numerous SS labour camps and ghettos to be finally exterminated in Majdanek, Sobibor or Belzec.

Deportations of the Slovakian Jews to Lublin District

Date of the deportation Number of people in the transport Destination Death or the concentration camp in or to which the people were finally deported

27.03.1942

1,000

Lublin

Majdanek

30.03.1942

1,000

Lublin

Majdanek

31.03.1942

1,003

Lublin

Majdanek

5.04.1942

1,495

Lublin

Majdanek

12.04.1942

1,040

Lubartów (also Ostrow Lubelski and Firlej)

Majdanek / Treblinka

14.04.1942

1,038

Lubartów (also Ostrow Lubelski and Firlej)

Majdanek / Treblinka

16.04.1942

1,040

Rejowiec

Sobibór

20.04.1942

1,030

Rejowiec

Sobibór

22.04.1942

1,001

Nałęczów (Końskowola, Opole Lubelskie)

Majdanek / Sobibór / Poniatowa

27.04.1942

1,251

Nałęczów (Opole Lubelskie, Puławy)

Majdanek / Sobibór / Poniatowa

05.05.1942

1,040

Lubartów

Majdanek / Treblinka

06.07.1942

1,038

Lukow

Majdanek / Treblinka

07.05.1942

1,040

Lukow

Majdanek / Treblinka

08.05.1942

1,001

Miedzyrzec Podlaski

Treblinka

11.05.1942

1,002

Chelm

Majdanek / Sobibór

12.05.1942

1,002

Chelm

Majdanek / Sobibór

13.05.1942

1,040

Deblin

Treblinka

14.05.1942

1,040

Deblin

Treblinka

17.05.1942

1,028

Pulawy (Konskowola, Opole Lubelskie)

Majdanek / Sobibór

18.05.1942

1,025

Naleczow (Konskowola, Opole Lubelskie)

Majdanek / Sobibór

19.05.1942

1,005

Naleczow (Opole Lubelskie)

Sobibór / Poniatowa

20.05.1942

1,001

Pulawy (Konskowola, Opole Lubelskie)

Sobibór / Poniatowa / Majdanek

23.05.1942

1,630

Rejowiec

Majdanek / Sobibór

24.05.1942

1,022

Rejowiec

Majdanek / Sobibór

25.05.1942

1,000

Rejowiec

Majdanek / Sobibór

26.05.1942

1,000

Naleczow (Opole Lubelskie)

Sobibór / Poniatowa

29.05.1942

1,052

Izbica

Belzec

30.05.1942

1,000

Izbica

Belzec

01.06.1942

1,000

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

02.06.1942

1,014

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

05.06.1942

1,000

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

06.06.1942

1,001

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

08.06.1942

1,000

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

09.06.1942

1,000

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

11.06.1942

1,000

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

12.06.1942

1,000

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

13.06.1942

1,000

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

14.06.1942

1,000

Sobibór

Majdanek / Sobibór

Total
39,899

 

 

 

In late summer 1942 further deportations were put off, partly through the intervention of the Catholic church and partly through a strategy of bribery and promises of financial profit that the Jewish leaders used in negotiations with Slovaks and with Wisliceny himself.

In mid 1942 an underground organization known as the Working Group, headed by Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandel and Gisi Fleischmann, was created within the Jewish Center in an attempt to block or postpone the deportations and aid the deportees. The Working Groups success in halting the deportations from Slovakia encouraged its members to intensify their efforts to save all of European Jewry by negotiating with the Nazis. The resulting initiative, devised by Rabbi Weissmandel, was known as "Europa Plan". Second plan was called "Jews for Trucks" offering an exchange of Jewish populations for trucks for the III Reich. Both plans had very limited impact.

In April 1944 two Slovakian Jews, Alfred Wetzler and Walter Rosenberg (known as Rudolf Vrba), escaped from Auschwitz. The Working Group provided them a shelter in Slovakia and interviewed them about all details of the Auschwitz camp and the extermination methods developed in Birkenau. The prepared report was known as "Auschwitz Protocols", they were sent from Slovakia to the Western countries with full description and sketches of the death facilities. This was one of the most successful information release about the real nature of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Working Group was active to alarm worldwide public opinion and to force them to organize extensive rescue activities. Different Jewish organizations along with Polish government in exile in London, undertook diplomatic offensive to force the Allies to bomb Auschwitz-Birkenau and the rail connections in this part of Europe. Due to different general war strategies, such actions were not undertaken.

After the Slovak uprising in 1944 was suppressed, the Germans took over the authority for Jewish affairs. SS officer Alois Brunner, one of the Eichmann's assistants, went to Slovakia to deport all Jews irrespective of their status. The plan was to make Slovakia Judenrein. Those Jews, who were captured by the Nazis and their Slovakian accomplices, were taken to the Sered camp. The deportation of the remaining Jews in Slovakia resumed on September 30, 1944. From then until March 31, 1945, some 12,000 Jews were deported from Slovakia; only half survived. Another 2,500 Jews were murdered on Slovakian soil during this period. Additional victims among Slovakian Jews were those who had fled to Hungary and were deported from there to the extermination camps, mainly Auschwitz.

Slovak Jews from the Hungarian territory

The Jews in the territories annexed to Hungary in 1938-1939 met the same fate as those in the rest of Hungary. After the annexation of these territories, Hungarians began to persecute the Jews and accused them of supporting Czechoslovakia. Of the 10,600 business owners only 4,500 were permitted to keep their establishments going. Beginning in 1940, close to 7,500 men from southern Slovakia were taken to work in labor battalions; few survived. Several thousand Jews, lacking Hungarian citizenship, were deported in 1941 to the occupied part of Ukraine, where most of them were murdered. After the Germans occupied Hungary (March 19, 1944), new anti-Jewish edicts were promulgated. Ghettoization of the Jews began in the second half of April 1944. The first transports from the territories annexed to Hungary left for Auschwitz in the second half of May 1944; the rest of the deportations occurred in June of that year. Of some 45,000 Jews who lived in those territories, 10,000 survived. About 100,000 Slovakian Jews - 73 percent of their number in 1938 - perished during World War II.

After WW II

The Communist Party controlled politics of Czechoslovakia from February 1948 to 1989. During that time, little or no organized Jewish life existed in Slovakia. Religious practices were banned by the new Communist Authorities. Many Jews, mainly Holocaust survivors, left for Israel or the United States to retain their freedom of religion. In July 1991, Soviet forces were withdrawn from the region, initiating the fall of Communism. The country was gradually recuperating from communist trauma and more liberal approach for minorities could be observed.

After the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia in 1992, Slovakia gained its independence on January 1, 1993.

The major communal organization which maintains Jewish life is the Federation of Jewish Communities in Slovakia. In both Bratislava and Kosice, there exist kosher restaurants and community centres. Active Synagogues are located in Bratislava, Galanta, Kosice, Piestany, Presov and Trnava.

There are numerous Jewish cultural places in Slovakia to visit, including the Underground Mausoleum. This museum contains the graves of 18 famous rabbis with Chatam Sofer, who founded a rabbinical seminary. About 200 synagogues and 620 Jewish cemeteries remain in Slovakia, symbolizing the once thriving community and presenting its heritage. There are many Jewish heritage sites to be explored, sometimes even discovered for the first time with your Jewish guide in Slovakia.