On identification of the anti-communist struggle in Slovakia: The interpretative labyrinth of its historical, legal and social levels Cover Image

K identifikácii protikomunistického odboja na Slovensku: O interpretačnom labyrinte jeho historickej, právnej a spoločenskej roviny
On identification of the anti-communist struggle in Slovakia: The interpretative labyrinth of its historical, legal and social levels

Author(s): Anton Hruboň
Subject(s): History, Political history, Recent History (1900 till today), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism, Politics of History/Memory
Published by: Historický ústav SAV
Keywords: Anti-communist struggle; Communism in Slovakia; Memory legislation; Historical memory; Discussion of the past;

Summary/Abstract: The paper indirectly continues the discussion on the pages of the Historical Journal on the relationship between history and politics against the background of identification of the anti-communist struggle in Slovakia after 1989. In the introduction,the author points to the frivolous manipulation of the terms anti-communist struggle or fighter in social and historical discourse, which was also reflected in the so-called memory legislation in Slovakia. Vague use of terminology in the memory legislation created a dangerous precedent, which enables the granting of the now positive status of anti-communist fighter also to members of pro-Nazi repressive military units operating in Slovakia after the outbreak of the Slovak National Uprising,and to open supporters of the other Ľudák totalitarian regime. The paper documents the complexity of the problem in the framework of a comparative approach,with regard to the disputes on the theme of the anti-communist struggle in the Czech Republic, where discussion strikes against similar problems to those in Slovakia, but the interpretation and methodology is undoubtedly a step more advanced. The author does not end his considerations with unambiguous conclusions.Instead of this, he outlines the more widely conceived fields of discussion,through which a polemical dialogue needs to be carried on in his view.

  • Issue Year: 63/2015
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 503-516
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Slovak