Marián Karcol: The Family in the Closing Phase of the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" in Slovakia

The aim of this paper, the heuristic base of which is formed mainly by archival documents and personal testimonies of witnesses, is to provide a closer view on the events in 1944 - 1945 and their impact on the family living within the borders of the-then Slovak state. It deals with families belonging to the majority population, but a special focus is on (especially) the family of the persecuted Jewish minority. A relatively peaceful period, in which this minority lived through in 1943 and 1944, was brought to an end when the Slovak state was occupied by the Nazi Germany determined to finally "solve" the Jewish question in Slovakia. Approximately 13,500 Jews were deported from the country in the new wave of transports, and several hundreds of them were murdered by the Nazis immediately in Slovakia. However, in comparison with the previous wave of deportations, now the Jews responded to the situation in an active way. They participated in the Slovak National Uprising and also tried to hide themselves from their persecutors. Owing to the substantial support received from the majority population about 11, 000 Jewish people could save their lives in the territory of Slovakia. In comparison with those Jews who survived concentration camps or those who lived in the areas incorporated into Hungary, this group contained not only parts of families – at least parents with their children – but also the whole family units.

World War II, jewish question, Jews, Anti-semitism, Slovakia, deportations, strategies of survival