Holocaust Testimony without Liberation: Letters to Slovak President Jozef Tiso about the 'Jewish Question'

• In Event: Waiting for Liberation: Authoritarian Rule in Slovakia

Abstract

Between 1939 and 1944, thousands of desperate Jews petitioned Jozef Tiso for mercy from antisemitic legislation. Their pleas describe daily suffering and serve as a form of testimony about Jewish victimization during the period. Most of the individuals who wrote this emotional correspondence did not survive the Holocaust. This presentation will describe their entreaties, how the government processed them, and the value of studying such material. Where known, the fate of the petitioner will be included.

Author

• Madeline Vadkerty, Gratz College