Slovakia parliament condemns mass Holocaust deportations of Jews to Nazi death camps

Over 70,000 Slovakian Jews taken to concentration camps, with authorities paying Nazi Germany for each Jewish citizen who was transported; extreme far-right party skips vote

A photo taken on April 9, 2021 shows old train tracks leading past a former canteen building of SS guards at the former Nazi Germany death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, in Oswiecim, Poland (BARTOSZ SIEDLIK / AFP)
A photo taken on April 9, 2021 shows old train tracks leading past a former canteen building of SS guards at the former Nazi Germany death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, in Oswiecim, Poland (BARTOSZ SIEDLIK / AFP)

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovakia’s Parliament condemned on Friday the mass deportation of Jews from the country to Nazi death camps during World War II.

Marking the 80th anniversary of the first transport to Auschwitz, the lawmakers said they consider “particularly reprehensible the forced deportation of the citizens of the Jewish origin from the territory of what was then the Slovak republic between March 25, 1942, and Oct. 20, 1942.”

The Slovak authorities paid Nazi Germany for each Jewish citizen who was transported.

“We condemn such activities of the regime and express sorrow over the tragedy imposed on innocent victims,” the resolution approved by Parliament said.

The lawmakers also asked for the forgiveness of all those who survived and the relatives and descendants of the victims.

Slovakia was a Nazi puppet state during World War II. It sent over 70,000 of its Jewish citizens to Nazi concentration camps, where most of them perished.

A photo taken on September 9, 2021 shows a Star of David on the Holocaust Memorial located in the center of Bratislava’s Old Town. (VLADIMIR SIMICEK / AFP)

A second wave of deportation took place between September 1944 and March 1945 when Slovakia was occupied by Nazi troops.

The members of the extreme far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia party, who openly back the legacy of the Slovak war state, didn’t participate in the vote on the resolution.

The lawmakers also observed a minute of silence to honor the victims.

Friday’s move came after the Slovak government apologized in September for the World War II legislation that stripped the country’s Jews of their human and civil rights.

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