holocaust

“As Mr. Schwarz is not Jewish, we are unable to handle this case.” Elements of (Un)Success in Overseas Emigration from Post-war Czechoslovakia

Hyrja, Jozef

Through the case study of the Schwarz family, this paper illustrates the complex relationship between an individual and institutions as well as the question of mutual trust—and mistrust—in the emigration process. The Schwarz family’s attempt to emigrate from Czechoslovakia with the assistance of intermediary organizations provides a wealth of insight into the (dis)function of a state and its administration after the war and during a time of defining the country’s approach to specific minority groups.

Sealed Borders, Trafficking and Deportation – Austrian Refugees in the Czechoslovak Border Region after the “Anschluss”

Schellenbacher, Wolfgang

Between the “Anschluss” of Austria to Nazi Germany in March 1938 and the first mass transports from Vienna in 1941, 135,000 Austrians, who were defined as Jewish by the Nuremburg laws, fled abroad. This article looks at the key moments in their expulsion, focusing on those who sought refuge in Czechoslovakia, especially in the border regions during 1938 and an examination of the processes of flight, trafficking, smuggling and illegal expulsions as the geo-political landscape of both countries changed dramatically.

The Trauma from War that Continued after the War

Mešková Hradská, Katarína

Antisemitism was part of the anti-Jewish policy of the "ľudák" regime in Slovakia during World War II. Deportations to the concentration camps in occupied Poland meant that the overwhelming majority of the Slovak Jewish community was wiped out. Shortly after the war, two groups of Holocaust survivors were formed. One group, in an effort to prevent their descendants from learning the truth about what they had been through, kept their past secret. On the contrary, the other group felt an inner need to talk about the concentration camps.

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