Defence Minister pays his respects to the victims of the Holocaust and racial hatred during a national Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Bratislava
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- Date: 11.09.2023
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To mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2023, known as Holocaust and Racial Hatred Victims Day in Slovakia, Defence Minister Martin Sklenár attended a national HMD commemoration in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust and racial hatred in Bratislava's Rybné Square today (11 September 2023). Also in attendance at the national HMD commemoration were President Zuzana Čaputová, other dignitaries, and Jewish community representatives. The Slovak Armed Forces Guard of Honour (GOH) provided ceremonial support to the event.
Recalling the Holocaust events in Slovakia, Defence Minister Martin Sklenár said: “Never ever must we forget the atrocities that happened to our fellow citizens because people succumbed to a false and perverted ideology. We cannot allow any expressions of extremism to become part of our lives again.“
As a day of commemoration for the Jews murdered in the Holocaust (The Shoah in Hebrew), the people killed in other genocides, and all victims of racial hatred, Holocaust Memorial Day is observed on 9 September in Slovakia and is linked directly to the day on which the Government of the Slovak State adopted the Order on the Legal Status of Jews, also known as the Jewish Code, which deprived Slovakia's Jewish population of their civil rights as citizens.
The Jewish Code was the most extensive legislation in the wartime Slovak State. Deportation transports from Slovakia to Nazi concentration and death camps began on 25 March 1942. In the next seven months, over 57,600 Jewish people were deported on transports out of the country. From September 1944 onwards, Slovakia experienced yet another wave of deportation transports.
Recalling the Holocaust events in Slovakia, Defence Minister Martin Sklenár said: “Never ever must we forget the atrocities that happened to our fellow citizens because people succumbed to a false and perverted ideology. We cannot allow any expressions of extremism to become part of our lives again.“
As a day of commemoration for the Jews murdered in the Holocaust (The Shoah in Hebrew), the people killed in other genocides, and all victims of racial hatred, Holocaust Memorial Day is observed on 9 September in Slovakia and is linked directly to the day on which the Government of the Slovak State adopted the Order on the Legal Status of Jews, also known as the Jewish Code, which deprived Slovakia's Jewish population of their civil rights as citizens.
The Jewish Code was the most extensive legislation in the wartime Slovak State. Deportation transports from Slovakia to Nazi concentration and death camps began on 25 March 1942. In the next seven months, over 57,600 Jewish people were deported on transports out of the country. From September 1944 onwards, Slovakia experienced yet another wave of deportation transports.
