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If I was to talk about the present, I'm a relatively active and socially occupied person. I'm also very active in the Jewish community. I'd say that my activity increased mainly after 1989. I have to mention that I became a member of the religious community already in 1976, that is, in a time when it wasn't yet popular. Back then I realized that everyone has to belong somewhere. That he can't stand isolated and apart from the rest of the world. And I said to myself, that with my origins and my upbringing, I'm more inclined to belong to the Jewish community. What's more, I also became convinced that it's very honorable to be a member of such a community, which gave the world its greatest thinkers. And for that I went back in history, not only of Jews, but also in history in general.
Jews were the first to give the world one God and the First Commandment: 'I am your God, and you shall not have any other gods before me.' All religions up to that time had many gods, which they could depict in various ways. Jews said, I am a God invisible to the human eye. Jews gave the world Moses, who gave the world God's Ten Commandments. They gave it Jesus, who gave the belief in life after death. They gave the world the awareness that one can correct his errors or shortcomings. Jews gave the world people like Spinoza [31], they gave the world Einstein, they gave the world Freud. And when a person considers that Jews make up a scant one percent of the world's population, but gave the world I don't know how many bearers of the Nobel Prize, then it's not any sort of a disgrace to be a member of such a community. So, that was also one of the reasons why at that time the tendency to be conscious of my Jewish identity strengthened.
In my case, it started to show itself in that I was more and more studying the issues of Judaism, more and more concerning myself with the problematics of the Holocaust. For two years, in the National Archive, I collected a large quantity of documents that are connected to the problematics of the Holocaust, during the years 1939 to 1945. I participate in practically all activities that have some sort of connection with Judaism. I attend various openings of restored synagogues. I go to openings of exhibitions about the Holocaust. I participate in various tours. I've already been to Auschwitz three times. I was on a tour of Sobibor. Further, it has to a large degree affected me that during the Slovak National Uprising I was a commander of one Jewish partisan group. Today I'm practically the only living commander of this group. I was also for this reason recommended for decoration. Decoration with a memorial medal of the Holocaust Museum in Washington. That I was invited to meet the President of America, Bush.
Jews were the first to give the world one God and the First Commandment: 'I am your God, and you shall not have any other gods before me.' All religions up to that time had many gods, which they could depict in various ways. Jews said, I am a God invisible to the human eye. Jews gave the world Moses, who gave the world God's Ten Commandments. They gave it Jesus, who gave the belief in life after death. They gave the world the awareness that one can correct his errors or shortcomings. Jews gave the world people like Spinoza [31], they gave the world Einstein, they gave the world Freud. And when a person considers that Jews make up a scant one percent of the world's population, but gave the world I don't know how many bearers of the Nobel Prize, then it's not any sort of a disgrace to be a member of such a community. So, that was also one of the reasons why at that time the tendency to be conscious of my Jewish identity strengthened.
In my case, it started to show itself in that I was more and more studying the issues of Judaism, more and more concerning myself with the problematics of the Holocaust. For two years, in the National Archive, I collected a large quantity of documents that are connected to the problematics of the Holocaust, during the years 1939 to 1945. I participate in practically all activities that have some sort of connection with Judaism. I attend various openings of restored synagogues. I go to openings of exhibitions about the Holocaust. I participate in various tours. I've already been to Auschwitz three times. I was on a tour of Sobibor. Further, it has to a large degree affected me that during the Slovak National Uprising I was a commander of one Jewish partisan group. Today I'm practically the only living commander of this group. I was also for this reason recommended for decoration. Decoration with a memorial medal of the Holocaust Museum in Washington. That I was invited to meet the President of America, Bush.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Alexander Bachnar