“A small country, but ours”. The Czechoslovak autumn of 1938

Author(s): Jaroslav Rokoský / Language(s): English / Issue: 35/2019

The study presents and analyses the period of the Second Czechoslovak Republic, contradictory and neglected by both Czech and European historiography. For Czech society, the Munich Agreement was a shock. What people have believed for twenty years and what they worked for self-sacrificingly was suddenly in ruins and questioned. For Masaryk’s republic, it was an economic, political, social and moral catastrophe. Weakened Czecho-Slovakia was in a difficult, desperate, even tragic situation. The belief in democracy was shaken, and the trust in the West was undermined. After its territorial losses, Czecho-Slovakia was left at the mercy of Hitler’s Germany. In a turbulent atmosphere, people looked for someone to blame. Attention is focused on the Sudetengau, which originated from the ceded borderlands, on the transformation of the relationship between the Czechs and the Slovaks, on the situation in Carpathian Ruthenia, as well as on considerable economic and social difficulties. At the forefront of interest is also the transformation of the political system, the operation and role of Syrový and Beran’s government, the election of President Hácha and the creation of authoritative democracy. A sad reality of that time is the awaken anti-Semitism that affected overall civil society, including elite professions. The Jews and Roma became second category citizens. The question remains to what extent Czecho-Slovakia only bowed to Berlin’s pressure, which intensified and strengthened, and to what extent it introduced its antidemocratic demands by itself. At the end of the fateful year 1938, the country lived in the shadow of the Nazi threat.

“Abandoned Secrets”. The Question of the Holocaust Narratives in Ukrainian Literature

Author(s): Anja Golebiowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 12/2017

Golebiowski Anja, „Abandoned Secrets”. The Question of the Holocaust Narratives in Ukrainian Literature. “Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne” 12. Poznań 2017. Publishing House of the Poznań Society for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences, pp. 93–105. ISSN 2084-3011. The reportage Ukraine without Jews (1943) by the Soviet writer Vasilij Grossman is one of the earliest public reports on the Holocaust. Although Ukraine had been in the centre of the Nazi mass murder and single voices like the ones of Grossman or Il’ja Ėrenburg even called betimes attention to the ongoing genocide of Ukrainian Jews, any tradition of Ukrainian Holocaust narratives has not been developed yet. Since its independency in 1991, there are attempts to participate in the Western memory discourse, but by now, they have rather no broader impact. The reception of the debate on the Holocaust serves more likely as a backdrop for its own discourse of victimization, the Holodomor, which is used for developing a national identification within the current Ukrainian nation-building process. Since the Orange Revolution, as the Ukraine has found itself in a critical phase of a socio-political upheaval, some texts of leading Ukrainian writers (Marija Matios, Oksana Zabužko, Jurij Vynnyčuk) have occurred that carefully raise the subject of the Holocaust, or rather the gap in the Ukrainian consciousness. This paper gives an overview about the texts and works out the narrative strategies, whereby only the coming years will show, if these texts constitute the beginning of a Ukrainian Holocaust literature.

“For God and Nation” Catholicism and the Far-Right in the Central European Context (1918–1945)

Author(s): Miloslav Szabó / Language(s): English / Issue: 5/2018

The study deals with the somewhat controversial issue of the so-called “clerical fascism”. For this purpose, it summarizes the recent historiographical debates on totalitarianism, in particular on “political religions” or rather politicization of religions in the 20th century. The special emphasis is laid on individual clerics who sympathized and collaborated with fascist regimes in Nazi Germany and the Slovak state, respectively. In applying Roger Griffin’s and Thomas Forstner’s typology, two types of attitudes to fascism and National Socialism are discussed: loyalty and active collaboration.

“The Jew Is and Always Will Be Our Greatest Enemy!” Anti-Semitism in Slovak Radio Broadcast from the Reich’s Vienna Radio Station

Author(s): Michala Lôncíková / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

The international political situation and the Nazi plans for Central Europe culminated in the late 1930s. The organisation of the collaboration with pro-Nazi and separatist Slovak representatives accelerated after the “Anschluss” of Austria in March 1938. From then on, Slovak territory was only separated from Nazi Germany by the Danube River. The proximity of the two major centres – Vienna and Bratislava – enabled the Nazis to affect the political development of Slovak autonomy and influence public opinion to favor the break-up of Czechoslovakia through the use of various propaganda tools. Modern technology further shortened the distance between places that were already physically close to each other. The main aim of this paper is to focus on Slovak radio broadcasts from the Reich‘s Vienna radio station. It was established at the time of the Sudetenland crisis on 15th September 1938 and was organised by Ľudovít Mutňanský and Rudolf Vávra, members of the Foreign Hlinka Guard (FHG). Studying the period of Slovak autonomy is crucial for gaining an understanding of the original purpose for this broadcast – an attempt to influence public opinion in favor of the dissolution process. Taking into consideration the radicalisation of the broadcast pertaining to the racial perception of the Jewish community, contrary to the ideology of the Hlinka‘s Slovak People‘s Party (HSĽS) at that time, special attention is paid to the role of anti-Semitism in the Slovak program.

“There Was the Tailor from Bohemia” - The nazi “euthanasia” programme and germans from český krumlov

Author(s): Pavel Zeman / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

English journalist Gitta Sereny’s book of interviews with Franz Paul Stangl, a participant in the Nazi “euthanasia” programme and the commander of the annihilation camps in Treblinka and Sobibór in occupied Poland, Into that Darkness: From Mercy Killing to Mass Murder, was published in the UK and the USA in 1974. The extensive tome brought a direct testimony from one of the prominent perpetrators of Nazi crimes while touching on the involvement of Germans from Bohemia in the Third Reich’s annihilation programmes.

„AUSTRIJSKO PITANJE” I VELIKA PREORIJENTACIJA KRALJA ALEKSANDRA PREMA NEMAČKOJ (1927 - 1932)

Author(s): Vuk Vinaver / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 1/1985

После первой мировой войны югославское правительство считало аншлюс неминуемым, итальянское влияние опасным, опасаясь при этом что Австрия обеспечит прибежище хорватским эмигрантам и сепаратистам и, главным образом, что возможна реставрация Габзбургов. Демократическая левая и социал-демократия высказывались за аншлюс, а правая, склонная к реваншизму, была за независимость Австрии. Консервативное югославское правительство, напуганное итальянским вдавлением, считало обе группы нежелательными. Югославское правительство, свыкшееся со временем с идеей аншлюса, высказалась за аншлюс, опасаясь реставрации, итальянского влияния, хорватских сепаратистов. С 1927 года Муссолини предпринимает широкие действия против Югославии - в Вене итальянские посланцы вступают в связь с сепаратистами, венгерский премьер заключает пакт с Италией и предлагает блок Рим - Вена - Будапешт - Берлин, в то время как различные балканские террористические организации оказываются под итальянским контролем. Б Австрии Италия опирается на ,,Heimwehren“ - австрийских правых-фашистов, требующих с 1927 года оружие и деньги. Для югославского правительства и масе итальянская опасность становится преобладающей с 1926 - 1927 годов, вследствие чего аншлюс им кажется наименьшим злом - Австрия представляется им государством полным легитимистами, сепаратистами, италофилами, путиистами. План политика Корошеца заключался в том, чтобы дать согласие Германии на аншлюс пока еще существует „Веймарская Республика для того, чтобы на Караванках не появились милитаристские и реваншистские немцы в союзе с опасной Италией, следовательно дать согласие на аншлюс демократической Германии, преданной Локарнским соглашениям, желающей помириться с Францией, а не вступить в союз с Муссолини. С 1928 года Италия подготавливает путч в Австрии, блок с путчистской Австрией и с реваншистской Венгрией, старается подрыть югославское государство - используя внутреннее положение в Югославии и централистское правительство тогдашнего строя, была за независимое хорватское государство. Новая югославская диктатура с января 1929 года с оргомным воодушевлением воспринимала новое германское экономическое вторжение в Подунавие и на Балканы, а из-за Муссолини была готова подхватить германскую руку. Итальянский министр иностранных дел Гранди открыто потребовал образование цепи малых государств на Адриатическом Море, которая бы охватила Албанию, Черногорию, Хорватию, Далмацию, Словению под итальянским командованием. В результате глубокого австрийского экономическо-политического кризиса произошел значительный подъем в деятельности членов Геймвера, поддерживавших связь с правым крылом правой партии. Югославское правительство захватила настоящая паника в страхе от Италии, Геймвера, венгерского реваншизма, хорватских сепаратистов. Канцлер Шобер (Johannes Schober), в коалиции с промышленниками, „пангерманцами“ и аграриями казэлсь королю весьма подходящим - а он держал курс на аншлюс. К концу 1929 года в Германию был направлен политик Антон Корошец, пообещавший германскому министру иностранных дел согласие Югославии с аншлюсем. Первый этап итальнских действий в Вене закончился югославским поворотом к Берлину. Новой паникой был охвачен белградский режим осенью 1930 года когда было образованно прогеймверовское правительство, а французские и чехословацкие послы считали это положительным ввиду того, что оно, правое, не желает аншлюс. Выборы в ноябре 1930 года привели к провалу Геймвера. Германское влияние в Югославии возростало, югославский посол в Вене восхвалял Шобера. Попытка создать германско-австрийский таможенный союз в 1931 году в югославских кругах вызвала различные позиции, однако по французско-чехословацкому требованию правительство выступило против аншлюса. В течение целого 1931 года равительство вело переговоры с Германией пытаясь осуществить преференциальный торговый договор. Новые известия о реставрации, о деятельности Хеймвера, о прибежище для „усташей“ и итальянское влияние оказали воздействие на весьма отрицательные позиции югославского правительства по отношению к Австрии. Когда с 1932 годя начались переговоры относительно экономического блока Рим - Вена - Будапешт, а в Австрии было образованно правительство Дольфуса, австрийская политика ясно определилась. Осенью 1932 года Муссолини сочетал действия по создании тройственного блока с действиями по подрытии Югославии. Вслед за приходом на власть Гитлера, энергично отстаивающего аншлюс, итальянско-германский союз, которым Муссолини шантажировал Францию и Англию, оказался неосуществимым. Муссолини бросился защищать Австрию, находящуюся под серьезной угрозой, повернулся в сторону Франции и Англии, но для короля Александра и и для его режима это не являлось защитой одной маленькой страны. Он оказался перед дилеммой „итальянского или германского разрешения австрийского вопроса и высказался за германское решение, то есть против Италии, Франции, Чехословакии. Югославское правительство таким образом стало на сторону нацистской Германии ввиду того, что у них обнаружилась общность интересов - во-первых в Австрии, а во-вторых, ему был необходим новый защитник в отношениях с Италией. Австрийский вопрос стал катализатором значительных перемен в югославской политике. Данный очерк является сжатой частью более обширного труда, посвященного югославско-австрийским отношениям с 1918 по 1938 год и основывается в первую очередь на архивных материалах.

„Duch czasu wycisnął jednak na tej pracy swe piętno”. Historia Zagłady w badaniach Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego w okresie stalinowskim

Author(s): Stephan Stach / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 13/2017

The Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw was probably the only research institution in the Soviet Bloc and one of very few that undertook research on the Shoah during the 1950s. This article analyses the institute’s research and working conditions against the background of the general political regime under Stalinism in Poland. It argues that despite sometimes heavy-handed political biases in its publications, the institute made an important contribution to research on the Shoah. Its work also came to the attention of Jewish centers outside the Soviet Bloc, though it was seen through the prism of the Cold War.

„Fikcyjna rzeczywistość”. Codzienność, światy przeżywane i pamięć niemieckiej okupacji w Polsce, red. Robert Traba, Katarzyna Woniak, Anna Wolff-Powęska (Publikacje Centrum Badań Historycznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk w Berlinie, t. 3), Instytut Studió

Author(s): Katarzyna Kacka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 4/2016

„Gdy rozbolały mnie zęby, poszedłem do pani L.”

Author(s): Miroslaw Balka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 13/2017

Pani L. to Lidia Wolańska, wtedy młoda dentystka. Mieszkała w domu należącym do rodziny Perechodników w Otwocku na rogu ulic Kościelnej i Kościuszki, tam też prowadziła swoją działalność stomatologiczną.

„Im się zdaje, że zapomnimy. O nie!” Rodowody rewolucji

Author(s): Marcin Zaremba / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 6/2016

Zaremba demonstrates how insurrections and revolts were commemorated in the 1970s, how those traditions were reproduced, and who remembered them. The article begins with a description of the events of December 1970, which would become important reference points for ideas on oppositional activism. Discussing the Poles’ collective memory of March 1968 and October 1956, Zaremba emphasizes the significance of World War II: a code of resistance and cooperation has emerged as a long-term consequence, resounding most clearly and most frequently in the myth of the Warsaw Uprising. The article concludes with a discussion of what Adam Mickiewicz called książki zbójeckie (robbers’ books) – a term Zaremba applies to writers such as Bohdan Cywiński, Andrzej Kijowski and Marian Brandys. They were robbers’ books because they altered the atmosphere of public life in the 1970s, reclaiming memories of political thought that had no official place in the Polish People’s Republic.

„Im übrigen freue ich mich unendlich auf die Arbeit im Sudetenland!“ Studentské praxe v Sudetoněmeckém ústavu pro výzkum země a lidu pod vedením dr. Margarete Klanteové 1942–1944

Author(s): Milena Josefovicová / Language(s): Czech / Issue: 2/2016

This study deals with the involvement of female students in economic, historical and ‚‘racial‘‘ scholarly tasks at the Sudeten German Institute for Research on Provincial Characteristics and Folkways (Sudetendeutsche Anstalt für Landes- und Volksforschung, SALV) in Liberec (Reichenberg, which at that time was in the Reichsgau Sudetenland/Sudetengau) under Dr. Margarete Klante between 1942 and 1944. The students performed their wartime duties (Kriegspfl icht) for the Reich during their holiday deployment (Ferieneinsatz).

„Od dłuższego czasu straciłem wszelki kontakt z żydami i żydostwem”. Neofici w okupowanym Krakowie w świetle materiałów Archiwum Kurii Metropolitalnej w Krakowie

Author(s): Martyna Gradzka-Rejak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 13/2017

During World War II conversion came to mean something completely different than during the pre-war period: it became one of the survival strategies used by Jews on the territories under German occupation. Some Jews changed their religion because they married a Catholic. For others it was an escape from the categorization under German law and inclusion into the group with which, as they declared, they had had little in common. Others still saw baptism as a real chance of surviving the occupation. Conversion was a path to obtaining ‘Aryan’ papers, and thus acquiring a new identity necessary to survive beyond the walls of the Cracow ghetto and Płaszów camp. The objective of this article is to focus on the history and declared motivations of those who decided to apply for conversion after the outbreak of World War II. The archive of the Metropolitan Curia in Cracow includes documents and applications submitted by people intending to convert. That process began with the occupation and was officially and successfully continued almost until the end of 1942. This date is connected with the German ban on baptizing Jews under threat of severe punishment introduced on 10 October 1942. However, Jews continued to be baptized, though in secret, without applications to the Metropolitan Curia or public statistics.

„Pamięć nie wybacza”. O „Białej Rice” Magdaleny Parys

Author(s): Natalia Zórawska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2017

“Biała Rika” („White Rika”, 2016) presents the trauma of a third generation. Magdalena Parys, referring to autobiographical motifs, recalls past events – the difficult childhood of the main character, specific family relations, and the tragic experiences of a so-called grandmother. The author of the article discusses the types of trauma connected with the experience of war, unsuccessful relationships within a family and the period of growing up. She concentrates on female characters, as the women in „Biała Rika” represent a wide variety of women with different features and values. The aim of the article is to interpret „Biała Rika” in the context of post-trauma with past torments and the work of memory always in the background of one’s consciousness.

„Složky a organizace ve výbojných plánech německého nacismu“ Přednáška pplk. Josefa Bartíka u jednotek československého pozemního vojska v Leamingtonu ve dnech 6. a 7. května 1941

Author(s): Pavel Kreisinger / Language(s): Czech / Issue: 21/2012

„Zaprowiantowanie obozu jest podobno wzorowe…” Wiedza więźniów getta łódzkiego na temat ośrodka zagłady w Chełmnie nad Nerem

Author(s): Adam Sitarek / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 13/2017

Information about the extermination conducted in the Chełmno nad Nerem death center reached the Łódź ghetto in the spring of 1942. An important link in the information transmission chain was Grabów, reached by the first escapees from Chełmno. Rabbi Jakub Szulman played a large role as he started sending letters with information about the crime obtained from the escapees. The letters he wrote reached Łódź together with people resettled from the provincial ghettos of Wartheland, from whom the Łódź ghetto residents heard a confirmation of the information about the purpose of the Chełmno nad Nerem center. The information flow was also affected by the information blockade campaign conducted by the Germans followed by a misinformation campaign regarding the actual lot of the people deported to Chełmno.

„Zbadać i wyświetlić”. Centralna Żydowska Komisja Historyczna (1944–1947)

Author(s): Agnieszka Haska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 13/2017

In the studies published so far the Central Jewish Historical Commission (Centralna Żydowska Komisja Historyczna, CŻKH) has been treated as a prelude to the target operation of the Jewish Historical Institute. Little attention has been devoted to its organizational structure and general operation, with emphasis laid on collection of testimonies, securing archives, and publications. Meanwhile, the CŻKH objectives and tasks, including its main task, that is, documenting and talking about the lot of Polish Jews during World War II, were much broader than assumed. This article is a sketch of the CŻKH history – its activity, programmatic assumptions, and Holocaust research methodology.

„Който предостави на евреин подслон, достави му храна или му окаже друг вид помощ, подлежи на смъртно наказание“

Author(s): Aleksandra Namyslo / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 5/2017

The Institute of National Remembrance realized a program "Index of Poles, repressed and killed for assisting Jews during the Second World War". The aim of the program is to identify the names of Polish citizens who lived in the territory of the Republic of Poland before September 1, 1939 and were opressed by the Third Reich military and civilian authorities, its officers and members of the Nazi Party; by the collaborative organizations, for assisting Jewish population.

Четници и капитулација Италије 1943.

Author(s): Dejan Segic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 1/2011

The Italian capitulation and retreating from the war were a signal for the Germans and the two movements in Yugoslavia (Partisans and Četniks) to take advantage of the new situation. The Germans wanted to advance towards the Adriatic Coast in order to prevent the Allies from possible landing. The Četniks tried to gain better positions by filling the vacuum created by the Italian capitulation and to get ready for possible allies’ landing. The Partisan movement hoped to expand the liberated territory and augment the movement by drafting new fighters. Both movements (Partisans and Četniks) strived for strengthening their military assets by acquiring Italian weapons. Following Četniks’ advance to the vacuum created by the Italian capitulation, the Partisan movement attacked those areas and took them over, deepening the irreconcilable conflict between them and Četniks. All the events that were taking place reflected efforts to secure better positions in the wake of the expected end of the World War II.

Четници и Црвена армија у Србији 1944. године

Author(s): Žarko Jovanovic / Language(s): Serbian / Publication Year: 0

WWII was aproaching its end in fall 1944. Italy, member of the Axis had already capitualted. German armed forces suffered grave defeats both on Western and Eastern fronts. They were also forced to start withdrawing from Greece through the vallies of the Vardar and the Morava. The Chetnik movement of Dragoljub Draža Mihalović was also in bad shape at that time. After a number of admonitions to start military actions against the occupying forces, the Western Allies withdrew their military missions from the Staff of Supreme Command as well as from other Chetnik staffs. Furthermore, they withheld military and every other kind of aid. Under the pressure of the British government, the King and the Yugoslav exile government have given them up too. The increasingly difficult military and political situation of the movement of Dragoljub Draža Mihalović spurred the gathering of the Central Nationa Committee whose permanent session started in the village of Milićevci near Čačak on September 8, 1944. Apart from making combinations about the make-up of the „Chetnik government“, the possibility of the Russian crossing of the Danube into Serbia and Yugoslavia was discussed at the meeting. Having crossed the Yugoslav-Romanian border at Turnu Severin on September 6, 1944, the units of 3rd Ukrainian Front of the Red Army, together with the units of the People’s Liberation Army dispersed the German, Chetnik, Nedić and Ljotić forces and prepared to take starting positions for the begining of the Belgrade operation. On hearing that the Red Army units were crossing into Serbia and in order to butter up to the command of the Soviet troops, the commander of the Rasina-Toplica corps group colonel Dragutin Keserović immediately undertook sabotage actions, obstructing German transports and he started attacking German forces. He ordered that German lines of communication be severed between Vrnjačka Banja and Kraljevo. Part of the Toplica Corps was saddled with the task to do the same between the village of Stopanje and Trstenik. The third part of his forces had the task to cut off the communication between Kruševac and Stalać. Chetnik forces of over 10.000 soldiers were used for these actions. At the intervention of the leadership of the People’s Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, the attempt at cooperation between the Chetniks of Draža Mihalović and the Red Army units turned out to be a total failure since it was known that some Chetnik commanders continued colaborating with Germans. For the leadership of the Red Army the Chetniks became the enemy force in Serbia which was to be destroyed together with occupying and other Quisling forces. Part of the members of Chetnik units was disarmed and set free, whereas many joined the units of the People’s Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and took part in the fight against occupiers and their collaborators. The Chetnik forces which managed to avoid being disarmed, withdrew together with their commanders and the Supreme Command simultaneously with the occupying forces in the previously determined direction of Bosnia and further to the West where they met with tragic fate. Smaller Chetnik groups which remained in some parts of Serbia organized terrorist activities for some time after the end of WWII until they were completely destroyed.

Штрихи к парадному портрету режима. (Наглядная агитация фашистской Италии)

Author(s): Elena Vladimirovna Tarakanova / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 25/2016

The term “fascist style” entered the political lexicon thanks to Benito Mussolini. By the word “style” Duce himself meant the way of life, not a figurative language that dominates the art forms, existing in a particular historical era. Giovanni Gentile, who created in 1925 the National Fascist Institute of Culture, began to develop the idea of the actual Nazi culture and sought to give it the status of an independent, original formation. In the early years of the regime existence the state only prompted artists what to say and did not dare to indicate how, showing a certain tolerance to all artistic systems: from Futurism to Realism a la the one of the 19th century, from Impressionism to Magical Realism and Neo-classicism. The article deals with the examples of some printed agitation materials, such as posters and advertising. These forms of art, wittingly agenda-driven by diktat, give reason to put the following question: whom should be regarded as the creator of totalitarian art, the realist artist, who is in the internal opposition to the political regime, or the modernist innovator, who put his talent on the altar of the totalitarian system.