The Slovak cabinet voiced sharp disapproval of any displays of extremism, racism or xenophobia on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the first deportation of Slovak Jews from Poprad to the Auschwitz death camp in 1942. The event will be commemorated on Sunday, March 25.
"There should be no place for intolerance and violence in the coexistence of nations, nationalities, and various religious communities," read the cabinet statement, as quoted by the SITA newswire. "Extremism, racism and xenophobia gained monstrous dimensions that resulted in the extermination of representatives of another religion, belief and race," continued the statement.
The 1939-45 Slovak State was led by a Nazi-allied fascist regime which during 1942 deported tens of thousands of the country's Jews to their deaths in German-run camps. The first thousand Jewish girls and young women were transported from Poprad railway station to Auschwitz on March 25, 1942, with more transports following soon after. It later emerged that Slovakia had paid a fee of 500 Reichsmarks to the German government for each Jew deported.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
