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Article information

Author: Katherine Anderson[a][i]

See author information ▼
  1. ↑ Swarthmore College
  1. ↑ fiamh@protonmail.com

This is the pre-publication public peer review for the article The Holocaust in Slovakia

Peer review 1

[edit source]


Review by Hana Kubatova , Charles University
These assessment comments were submitted on , and refer to this previous version of the article

Review of “The Holocaust in Slovakia” WikiJournal Preprint

First and foremost, thank you for approaching me and inviting me to review this preprint. I have read the piece with great interest, and the author did a very good job in summarizing scholarship on the destruction of Jews in wartime Slovakia. I also find it important the author situated the Holocaust in what preceded 1938/9 and what followed 1945, as the Holocaust in Slovakia (and in general) cannot be explained outside of its background. The author takes on a chronological perspective and expands on the most important events (and actors) when it comes to anti-Jewish persecution. My only suggestion – connected to what I am interested in as a historian – would be to include auctions of Jewish belonging to the section on anti-Jewish looting; I believe this process enabled large sections of the society to participate in what was in effect a communal exclusion (and genocide, to refer to works of Omer Bartov or Natalia Aleksiun, for instance). I was also wondering whether the legacy section could be expanded to highlight how the resistance ritualization has enabled politicians but also much of the public to defer questions pertaining to collaboration and complicity in the Holocaust (and how the Righteous are being used, or misused, in the same vein recently). Apart from these rather minor comments, there is little I would add to the paper, and I want to use this opportunity to applaud the author for carefully examining not only the events of the past but also where scholars disagree with each other. This will be a very useful article, and I want to thank the author for doing the work on this.

Peer review 2

[edit source]


Review by anonymous peer reviewer , Genocide scholar, multiple publications on genocide in the Balkans, the Holocaust, and mass atrocity in Europe in the 20th century.
These assessment comments were submitted on , and refer to this previous version of the article

General
  • Almost nothing about non-Jewish others (Note: there is mention of “Romani” [in genocide studies more generally, it is more normal to use “Roma” instead of “Romani”] under “Forced labor” but as there is nothing about earlier persecutions or ideological identification, it feels considerably out of place)
    • Particularly relevant to the Roma; this omission is substantial
      • If a second article specifically on the genocide against the Roma in Slovakia is planned, it is critical that it noted at the top of the article and also that it is indicated that this specific article focuses on crimes against Jews in the Holocaust.
      • If a second article is NOT planned, I would strongly recommend that element be included throughout this article.
        • At the very least, the author should note at the top something along the lines of “We recognize the Holocaust consisted of genocides against multiple other groups throughout Europe. While this article focuses predominantly on genocide against Jews in Slovakia, we also recognize genocide against the Roma community who experienced persecution, deportation, and death at the hands of the Slovak and Nazi regimes.”
  • One point on grammar: some proper nouns are consistently capitalized (Jew, General, Bishop, etc.) while others are not (president, prime minister, parliament). It is suggested that all proper nouns be capitalized.
Specifics
  • Background
    • “State propaganda…” Specify: Slovakia or Czechoslovakia (or both?)
    • “…the Great Depression affected Jewish businessmen…” should read “affected Jewish businesses…”
  • Slovak Independence
    • Strange spacing around the photo
  • Anti-Jewish measures/Initial actions
    • There is some confusion here about the money. The author states “…Jews with a net worth of over 500,000 Kcs were arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent capital flight…” Then, the author discusses an attempted deportation operation, saying “A few days later, Tiso canceled the operation…” They go on to say “Between Dec 1938-Feb 1939, more than 2.25 million Kcs were transferred illegally to the Czech lands, the Netherlands, and the UK; further amounts were transferred legally…Although the Slovak government encouraged Jews to emigrate, it refused to allow the export of foreign currency, ensuring that…”
      • Firstly, it would help if the author would give financial equivalencies through this section, either in pounds or dollars, to give readers unfamiliar with Kcs an idea of the worth of said amounts;
      • Secondly, it is unclear how successful the Guard and Schutzstaffel was at arresting the most affluent Jews; was this policy also canceled? Or did it continue? Or were many able to escape? More clarity here would be beneficial
      • Thirdly, what was the difference in transferring funds legally or illegally? If the government refused to allow the export of currency, would not all transfers be illegal? Or was this a policy change that happened along the way?
      • Fourthly, does the author mean “refused to allow the export of foreign currency” or “refused to allow the export of currency from Slovakia”?
      • Finally a point about the 4-7 November deportation attempt: The author seems to indicate that international criticism and British economic concerns over Nazi deportation of Jewish Poles had a direct impact on Tiso’s decision to cancel the pogrom. However, whether this is mere speculation or factual consequence is unclear. If there is no proof connecting these two events, this section should be rewritten or that part of the sentence should be removed.
    • In short, this section needs to be rewritten, perhaps identifying “initial economic persecution” in one subsection and “early pogrom attempts” or “initial physical persecution” in another.
  • Anti-Jewish measures/Aryanization
    • 2nd para “under the law…” – More reflection/clarification here would be good, as would some indication of dates. Something along the lines of “However, few business owners acted on this policy. By [insert month], out of more than 12,000 Jewish-owned businesses, only 179 had been liquidated and a mere 50 had been Aryanized”
    • The following sentence states “Nevertheless, by mid-1940, the position of Jews in the Slovak economy had been largely wiped out.” The author should reflect on why/how that could be if the First Aryanization Law was only moderately enforced.
    • 3rd para “Jews were allowed to withdraw only 1,000 Ks (later 150 Ks) per week.” This is a significant drop. When was the change made?
  • Deportations/Planning
    • “On 15 May, parliament approved w:Decree 68/1942”… should read only Decree 68/1942
    • 2nd para - “This was the first step towards deporting Jews from Slovakia…” Conflicts with earlier statement that the 4-7 November pogrom attempt was the “rehearsal”

After this point, the writing continues clearly and directly. The author should be praised for their excellent research and provision of specific figures, dates, and regional data – very well done. The majority of research seems to come from secondary sources; the value is the work the author has done in bringing that extensive information together for the reader. There are no issues which should keep this article from publication; however, the strength of the article can be significantly improved with more information on the Roma population. At the very least, mention should be made as suggested above. Other issues of clarification should be fairly straightforward edits.

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