Selected text
In 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany [Hitler became chancellor then]. Up to this point, we had no idea what anti-Semitism was about, we’d never heard about it, not many even knew [what] it [was]. When they passed the Jewish laws in Germany, it’s horrible to say what they did there.
The first [German] Jewish emigres fled to the Czech Republic, not to us. For us, the year 1938 was terrible. After Masaryk stepped down, we didn’t believe in Benes [19] as much; Benes was such a Czech that he wasn’t even on good terms with the Slovaks, so surely not with the Hungarians. He never did anything good for the Jews, so they didn’t really believe in him.
After 1936, a sort of phantom appeared, there was a feeling among Jews, that Masaryk is gone, so now what will happen. This thing continued until 12th March 1938, when Hitler took Austria [see Anschluss] [20], and the first emigres from Vienna and Austria arrived, and they told us a lot.
At first, we didn’t want to believe it, namely, that on the first day such things happened in Vienna, like that the Jews were made to scrub what’s now the Judenplatz with toothbrushes. So we didn’t believe that, didn’t think that could be possible.
Then we were truly frightened, and then the emigration started. It’s true, that in the winter of 1937, probably already in December and January of 1938, the situation was already insecure. I met my circle of friends once a week in the Carlton [one of the oldest and most esteemed hotels in Bratislava]. And then – young people aren’t scared, we weren’t scared either – we saw demonstrations.
Not military ones, but the Germans who came and went here and there, and they yelled, ‘Lieber Fuhrer mach uns frei vor der Tschechoslowakei.’ The Hungarians also showed up yelling, ‘Red, white and green, Bratislava is Hungarian again.’ Slovaks didn’t have any special reason to demonstrate, but the Hlinka [21] Party already existed and the Guard was being created as well.
They also participated, but I don’t remember any more what they were shouting. Their demonstrations didn’t have that many participants, as they were local. It was more Hungarians and Germans demonstrating.
The emigrations started after 1933. It wasn’t an easy thing. You didn’t only need a visa to America, but [also] something else, an invitation. And the person inviting the emigre had to commit himself to full support of the emigre, not to burden the United States. To get one of these, you had to have a really good friend or relative. It was very difficult.
The easiest was to go to France; French visas were somehow easier [to get]. The French government made it a little easier at the time. The pessimists emigrated, those who didn’t see any good. The optimists, like myself and my family, we stayed.
Because we said – this was already 14th March [on this day in 1939, Tiso’s kind of fascism formed in Slovakia] – that in a country where the head of state [Tiso] [22] was a Catholic priest, the kind of things happening in neighboring countries couldn’t happen here. Well, that’s what started the trouble.
During the First Czechoslovak Republic, I never encountered any anti-Semitism. Not just me, but none of my family members either. During the war, when Slovakia declared its independence, and became one of Hitler’s satellite countries, then naturally we felt it a few times.
As far as the city of Bratislava was concerned, here things didn’t change that much. The Hlinka-Guards were here, but they were quite bearable, they weren’t as monstrous as I heard they were in the country towns; how much worse the situation was there! With the star system [see Yellow star in Slovakia] [23], when they introduced it, some of us at first had to wear the six centimeter star, sewn on the part of your clothes visible under your overcoat. Later there was an order that workers didn’t have to wear it, if they were working.
Then another order came, that workers should wear a plastic star and affix it with a pin to their clothes. I was going down the street and if I saw an acquaintance; it was so embarrassing for them not to be allowed to stop with me there that they turned away. I felt on every occasion how embarrassing it was for them, and how they were even ashamed of themselves.
The first horrible experience for me was when my father came home one time. He had had some errands to take care of that afternoon and said, a young man had verbally abused him and slapped him. That was really horrible, even just to hear about.
After the formation of the Slovak State [24], every week more and more anti-Jewish decrees came out. First you had to submit all your valuables, jewelry, furs – not just full fur coats, but coats with small fur collars as well. You also had to bring in your radios, so we couldn’t be informed about what was happening in the world.
I just remembered that I had to bring my sports equipment in as well. I was really sorry about that – namely, the ski equipment, the skis, they were very expensive at that time. You had to personally go in and submit them. It really, really pained my heart, to part with this stuff. Broken-hearted, we submitted our things.
Then, in 1940, we didn’t know yet, that soon enough the time would come when it wouldn’t be our valuables we submitted but our lives.
The first [German] Jewish emigres fled to the Czech Republic, not to us. For us, the year 1938 was terrible. After Masaryk stepped down, we didn’t believe in Benes [19] as much; Benes was such a Czech that he wasn’t even on good terms with the Slovaks, so surely not with the Hungarians. He never did anything good for the Jews, so they didn’t really believe in him.
After 1936, a sort of phantom appeared, there was a feeling among Jews, that Masaryk is gone, so now what will happen. This thing continued until 12th March 1938, when Hitler took Austria [see Anschluss] [20], and the first emigres from Vienna and Austria arrived, and they told us a lot.
At first, we didn’t want to believe it, namely, that on the first day such things happened in Vienna, like that the Jews were made to scrub what’s now the Judenplatz with toothbrushes. So we didn’t believe that, didn’t think that could be possible.
Then we were truly frightened, and then the emigration started. It’s true, that in the winter of 1937, probably already in December and January of 1938, the situation was already insecure. I met my circle of friends once a week in the Carlton [one of the oldest and most esteemed hotels in Bratislava]. And then – young people aren’t scared, we weren’t scared either – we saw demonstrations.
Not military ones, but the Germans who came and went here and there, and they yelled, ‘Lieber Fuhrer mach uns frei vor der Tschechoslowakei.’ The Hungarians also showed up yelling, ‘Red, white and green, Bratislava is Hungarian again.’ Slovaks didn’t have any special reason to demonstrate, but the Hlinka [21] Party already existed and the Guard was being created as well.
They also participated, but I don’t remember any more what they were shouting. Their demonstrations didn’t have that many participants, as they were local. It was more Hungarians and Germans demonstrating.
The emigrations started after 1933. It wasn’t an easy thing. You didn’t only need a visa to America, but [also] something else, an invitation. And the person inviting the emigre had to commit himself to full support of the emigre, not to burden the United States. To get one of these, you had to have a really good friend or relative. It was very difficult.
The easiest was to go to France; French visas were somehow easier [to get]. The French government made it a little easier at the time. The pessimists emigrated, those who didn’t see any good. The optimists, like myself and my family, we stayed.
Because we said – this was already 14th March [on this day in 1939, Tiso’s kind of fascism formed in Slovakia] – that in a country where the head of state [Tiso] [22] was a Catholic priest, the kind of things happening in neighboring countries couldn’t happen here. Well, that’s what started the trouble.
During the First Czechoslovak Republic, I never encountered any anti-Semitism. Not just me, but none of my family members either. During the war, when Slovakia declared its independence, and became one of Hitler’s satellite countries, then naturally we felt it a few times.
As far as the city of Bratislava was concerned, here things didn’t change that much. The Hlinka-Guards were here, but they were quite bearable, they weren’t as monstrous as I heard they were in the country towns; how much worse the situation was there! With the star system [see Yellow star in Slovakia] [23], when they introduced it, some of us at first had to wear the six centimeter star, sewn on the part of your clothes visible under your overcoat. Later there was an order that workers didn’t have to wear it, if they were working.
Then another order came, that workers should wear a plastic star and affix it with a pin to their clothes. I was going down the street and if I saw an acquaintance; it was so embarrassing for them not to be allowed to stop with me there that they turned away. I felt on every occasion how embarrassing it was for them, and how they were even ashamed of themselves.
The first horrible experience for me was when my father came home one time. He had had some errands to take care of that afternoon and said, a young man had verbally abused him and slapped him. That was really horrible, even just to hear about.
After the formation of the Slovak State [24], every week more and more anti-Jewish decrees came out. First you had to submit all your valuables, jewelry, furs – not just full fur coats, but coats with small fur collars as well. You also had to bring in your radios, so we couldn’t be informed about what was happening in the world.
I just remembered that I had to bring my sports equipment in as well. I was really sorry about that – namely, the ski equipment, the skis, they were very expensive at that time. You had to personally go in and submit them. It really, really pained my heart, to part with this stuff. Broken-hearted, we submitted our things.
Then, in 1940, we didn’t know yet, that soon enough the time would come when it wouldn’t be our valuables we submitted but our lives.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Katarina Löfflerova