Academic Forum

Reflection of Polish question in Slovak preromantic and romantic literature

The analyses confirmed the connection between preromantic and romantic works with Kollár`s ideas of Slavic cooperation is obvious. The main link of Slovak authors` point of views on Polish question was different attitude to Napoleon, different cultural and historical roots, which made some attitudes towards Western Europe. Strong Polish tradition of emigration and contacts with Western Europe and the distraction from Slavic nations bothered Slovak authors who preferred Slavic cooperation. The most important and unforgettable fact was Polish unfriendly attitude towards Russia, which destroyed Kollár's and Štúr's concept. The idea of Slavic cooperation presented an utopian vision of all Slaves integrity, it influenced national proud, self-consciousness and supported the effort in fighting against stronger non-Slavic nations in multi-national Habsburg monarchy. It was strong cement in minds of its wearers, which was constantly disrupted by Slavic hostile relationships, mainly Polish-Russian contradiction. In spite of continual efforts appeals, which should be interesting for „unfaithful“ Poles to make them cooperate with other Slavic nations, idea of Slavic cooperation was ruined by reality.

(http://www.fphil.uniba.sk/index.php?id=historia_nova)

Forms of Anti-Semitism in Polish daily newspaper Mały Dziennik in 1938-1939
The main intention of this work is an explication of the main tendencies in the anti-Semitic propaganda in Polish daily newspaper Mały Dziennik in 1938/1939.  The target of the article is demonstration of Anti-Semitism by quantitative and qualitative analysis its individual forms till Poland was attacked, beginning of Second World War. Similar types of Anti-Semitism could be found in all European countries before the Holocaust was realized. The History of Polish-Jewish relationship is complicated and painful. Since the second half of 1930s the open anti-Semitism appeared which presented the first stage of Jewish tragedy. Long-lasted alienation between Poles and Jews was not only predetermined by the external political climate. Population was confronted with lots of forms of Anti-Semitism, the dominant one was a presentation anti-Semitic ideas in the periodical newspapers. Anti-Jewish stereotypes became pillars of the Polish propaganda. Indeed, many Poles construed anti-Semitic activities as patriotic. The Jews were portrayed as moneylenders who poisoned the Polish nation spiritually and physically. The perception of the Jews as an alien, hostile force fundamentally opposed to the essence of the Polish national ethos. The aim of this article is to describe existing forms of Anti-Semitism before Second World War which are classified into four main forms.

Bolo Rakúsko-Uhorsko niekedy žalárom pre Židov? Ich histróriu na tomto území treba vidieť v širšom kontexte. Bolo to práve dlhé 19. storočie, ktoré môže byť považované vzhľadom na židovské dejiny v podmienkach Habsburskej monarchie a neskôr Rakúska-Uhorska za storočie zmien, emancipácie a novôt zapríčinených vlastnou snahou, ale aj vonkajšími podmienkami. S postupujúcim 19. storočím a emancipáciou sa situácia i postavenie Židov zlepšovalo. V mnohých prípadoch môžeme byť svedkami priaznivejších podmienok pre Židov v porovnaní s inými národmi, ktorých domovom bolo Rakúsko-Uhorsko.

Svetoznámy nemecký odevný dom Hugo Boss je v súčastnosti módnym impériom s obchodmi vo viac ako 100 krajinách po celom svete. Ríša módy Huga Bossa je preslávená, okrem iného, najmä pre špičkovú dámsku a pánsku konfekciu. Tento módny gigant sa môže pýšiť ročným obratom, o ktorom sa bežnému smrteľníkovi ani len nesníva, no už menej známa je značka Hugo Boss pre niekdajšiu produkciu hnedých košieľ. Áno, presne pre tých hnedých košieľ.

The main aim of this article is to investigate the deportations, life in camps, but also prewar life and political changes trough the testimonies of survivors from the southern parts of Slovakia. These testimonies did not represent all testimonies of Holocaust survivors they rather present several case studies which can help us to create the whole picture of Holocaust.

In July 1942, when the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto began, Kossak-Szczucka wrote a
leaflet entitled "Protest," which was printed in 5,000 copies and spread. She described the
conditions in the Warszaw Ghetto and the circumstantes in which Polish Jews had lived and
criticized the genocide committed against the Jews. Kossak-Szczucka saw this largely as an
issue of religious ethics and as one of national honour, as well She believed even during that
Jews are political, economical and ideological ebemies of Poland. But, she wrote, this does
not relieve Polish Catholics of their duty to oppose the crimes being committed in their
country.
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka was a Polish resistance and writer fighter of World War II, author of
anti-Semitic articles, as well. During 30`s she showd racial Anti-Semitism in her articles,
moreover she publised anti-Semitic articles during Nazi occupation of Poland. On the other
hand, she was the one who during the occupation of Poland, worked for the underground
press; she co-edited the underground newspaper Polska yje (Poland Lives), and in 1941 she
co-founded the Catholic organization, Front for the Rebirth of Poland, she co-founded the
Polish organization egota – Council to Aid Jews, set up to assist Polish Jews in escaping the
Holocaust. The society have seen Kossak-Szczucka's life in contradictory views. On the one
hand she is described as a nationalist and an anti-Semite, something she did not in fact deny.
On the other hand, she made a genuine appeal to the Polish national conscience to come to the
aid of the Jews as well as risked her life by becoming involved in practical work to save
Polish Jews. Kossak-Szczucka was posthumously awarded Righteous Among the Nations
title.
It is important to admit that wartime Poland was a strange case of deeply rooted, historical
anti-Semitism coexisting with anti-Nazi resistance. In 1942, the celebrated Catholic writer and
resistance figure Zofia Kossak-Szczucka appealed for outside assistance on behalf of the Jews
languishing and dying within the Warsaw Ghetto. Neverthless, she added: „Our feelings
toward the Jews haven’t changed. We still consider them the political, economic and
ideological enemies of Poland.”

The main aim of this article is to point out rape or sexual violence against Jewish women during WWI and the Holocaust. The article tends to support a future effort to research a not very well examined topic of the experience of victims of sexual crimes. Not only Slovak historiography or anthropology or other disciplines has been ignoring this phenomenon for decades for various reasons. However there have been sources, memoirs, documents, and many testimonies of victims, which must be researched, because the ignorance of this particular violence so typical for war conflicts in general has no legitimate reason. Moreover it is important to understand the complexity of WWII and the Holocaust in wholeness, and understanding of sexual violence during this period can help us to have a broader view of WWII and the Holocaust. Last but not least it is our duty to let the victims speak out and stop the stigmatizing the victims of sexual violence.
The study is meant to be only an introduction to a problem of sexual violence during WWII and the Holocaust. It is not trying to be a deep analysis of particular cases of testimonies of the victims of sexual violence, or be an only and exclusive contribution to Slovak historiography. The purpose of this contribution is a general overview of sexual violence, its definition, a discussion about a lack of its research, a presentation of a problematic and complex situation of the victims – Jewish women - of sexual violence during WWII and the Holocaust and different forms of sexual violence as crime done by Nazis, their collaborates, but also inmates in concentration camps or those who were hiding Jewish girls and women before deportation.
The article is as an introduction and support for a new research in the topic of sexual violence during WWII in general. Sexual violence during WWII has been only recently a subject of researchers. With the development of gender studies, holocaust studies and gradual ending of making taboo of sexuality, the time of deeper understanding of sexual violence has come, and we have no more excused to close eyes before such crimes. The long silence of victims, but also researchers, must be stopped, because by this silence society ignores this crime, moreover society somehow legitimizes sexual violence. Only a deeper research can change it. Therefore this brief article about the rape or sexual violence as a phenomenon of war can be an introduction to the enormous, scandalous and difficult topic of sexual violence during WWII and the Holocaust.

NEŠŤÁKOVÁ, Denisa. Did Poles imbibe anti-Semitism with their mother's milk? Prewar Polish anti-Semitism. História, 2016, 15, 1, pp. 5-8, Bratislava. The political anti-Semitism most frequently associated with Nazi Germany would not have been so successful if anti-Semitism had not also existed in the societies of the occupied or friendly countries already before the beginning of the Second World War. Prewar Poland had the largest Jewish minority in Europe and the majority population was unfriendly to a significant degree. Anti-Semitism was also promoted among Poles through propaganda, which shaped a sort of abstract concept of the " Jew " as the embodiment of all evil. Polish anti-Semitism had much in common with European anti-Semitism, but it also had its own specific features, which only confirm its autochthonous nature and lack of direct dependence on Nazi Germany.

Jewish elites and community leaders during the Second World War; 27-29. October, 2015; Cracow, Poland
Presentation deals with the functioning of Jewish elite gathered in Jewish Center in Slovakia (Ústredňa Židov) and their relations with Jewish and local Nazi and Slovak officials during World War II through the life of Gisi Fleischmann - the only woman in a leading position of Jewish Centers in Europe.

Doktorandenworkshop der Deutsch-Tschechischen und Deutsch Slowakischen Historikerkommission
13 - 16. October 2016, Olomouc, Czech Republic

Presentation of early stage of research of PHD thesis of Arab-Jewish Relations through the Experience of the German Settlers during the British Mandate for Palestine. The aim was to demonstrate the attitude of the Temple Society to local Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine in 1930s

Medzinárodná vedecká konferencia pri príležitosti 70. výročia ukončenia 2. svetovej vojny (International academic conference on the occasion of the 70 th anniversary of the end of World War II)
29 -30. September 2015; Piešťany, Slovakia

Introduction to the topic of sexual and sexualized violence of Jewish women during WWII and the Holocaust.

21st Workshop on the History and Memory of National
Socialist Camps and Extermination Sites: Between Collaboration and Resistance.
24-30.05.2016,  Aix-en-Provence, France

The presentation discussed the role of Gisi Fleischmann, a prominent member of the Jewish community in Slovakia and one of the few women who took up a leadership role. Fleischmann was involved in the promotion of Jewish labor camps, believing to protect the Jewish population in doing so. In that context Nešťáková referred to the concept of “choiceless choices” and talked about how Fleischmann is commemorated today. The following discussion showed the difficulties of analyzing the “collaboration” between Jewish communities and the German authorities, thus problematizing the use of the term.