The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - ELTE BTK Történelem Szakos Portál

In summary, the group of the „Moderates” outnumbered the radicals,
occupied most of the authorities, and according to their self-conception they
protected the Slovak nation from any foreign influence. They wanted to keep
the ideology of the Slovak national movement pure, and referred faithfully to
the paradigms mentioned above. They wanted to avoid the smell of imitation.
In their understanding only the party itself had the capacity to create, form,
develop and implement the Slovak nationalism. They wanted to create a selfstanding
typology for the young state without using any pre-set position,
without using the basis of an other prototyp. This self-concept seems illusory,
but the reactionary policy of the HSPP was either singular, nor exceptional
during this age in Europe. The ideas were widespread throughout the continent
and carried on an unfortunate tradition.
The common enemy
Slovaks, Hungarians and Germans lived in the Slovak Republic, but all
political power was bundled in the hands of the HSPP. For hiding this
imbalance a common enemy had to be found. The community, the three ethnic
groups, with their inherent inequality, needed a defining antipode. To transform
the disparity groups into a community it needed a defining „other”. When the
three groups spot an outsider, suddenly the groups were related and bound
together.
The Jews were stigmatized as the connecting enemy, as common hostile
counterparts. The anti-Semitism did not have to be newly created or developed,
it could refer to the catholic anti–Judaism, which was widespread throughout
the country and deeply, devotedly believed by the governing party. The
HSPP´s anti-Semitism must not be seen as a product of technical consideration
to deliver a common enemy for welding together the three groups. The HSPP
preached the anti-Semitic resentment with creed.
According to a population census in 1940 2,650,000 people lived in the
Slovak Republic. 89,000 of them were Jews. 4
The anti-Semitism bound the three ethnic groups together and even
moulded the belligerent opponents within the HSPP into a close unity. The
internal split was none existent when it came to the anti-Jewish policy of
the government. Although originally the anti-Semitism of the „Moderates”
was grounded in the catholic anti-Judaism, and the anti-Semitism of the
„Radicals” was leaned on a racial doctrine, the following steps were
supported fully by both groups. Disagreement existed only when the
question arose of how to treat converts. The „Moderates” refused the
deportation of 4,000 converts, but for the „Radicals” being Jewish was not a
religious question – it was a question of descent. Their understanding
4 HILBERG, Raul: The destruction of the european jews. Harper & Row, New York, 1979. 434.
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