Anti-Semitism in Slovakia after the Velvet Revolution of 1989

This study discusses anti-Semitism in Slovakia after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. The introductory section presents an overview of the most destructive manifestations of anti-Semitism during 1918-1920, the Holocaust, and the Communist era (1948-1989). Anti-Semitism in Slovakia is less aggressive than in many other countries of the European Union. Physical violence is especially rare, and even the defacement of Jewish sites (particularly cemeteries) is typically motivated by vandalism, rather than by anti-Semitism. The most frequent expression of prejudice against Jews takes the form of verbal insults. These are predominantly used by children, who hear them from their families. Children (and adults) generally view these words as a regular part of the language culture and do not attribute a pejorative context to them. Between 1990 and 2019, anti-Semitism became embedded in the ideological equipment of certain political parties. In the process, it has moved from the margins of society to its center. Although I have examined different aspects of anti-Semitism in Slovakia in the past,2 it was only while writing this study that I could more thoroughly consider the various manifestations of this phenomenon in the current democratic milieu. Jews in Slovakia3 welcomed the Velvet Revolution of 1989 with the hope that it would usher in a brighter future. At the same time, some members of the community—especially the older generation—voiced concerns that the newfound freedom of expression would once again allow people to fulfill the adage that every change is a change for the worse. The history of Slovakia in the 20th century provides at least three examples which affirm this unfortunate Jewish experience

The role of Judaism in the Jewish community after the Holocaust

Through conflicts of opinions inside the Bratislava Jewish religious community, the author monitors changed relations toward Judaism after the Holocaust. The current form of the community was due to Regulation 231-1945 concerning “the arrangement of the conditions of the Jewish faith members in Slovakia”. This resulted in religious, economic, and organizational centralization. After the 1968 occupation, those who stayed behind in Bratislava concluded that due to the emigration of the young and middle generations, the community lost its future and under the newly established conditions it was losing its past too. The Velvet revolution helped to overcome passivity existing until then. An informal gathering called Jewish forum helped to build and revive the Jewish identity. The status of the present-day Judaism can be illustrated by the fact that 36.6 percent of funerals in the course of 2001–2013 were done by cremation prohibited in Orthodox Judaism. It has been a manifestation of solidarity with the “burials” of those killed in concentration camps; but it is also a kind of revolt against God who did not prevent the Shoa. Today both individuals and families create their own model based on the traditions that they choose for themselves. Practicing such customs does not follow from Judaism, but it is an expression of one’s affiliation with the community and its traditions

Emigration, Home, Identity: An Ethnological Examination of the Identity of Jewish Emigrants from Czechoslovakia

Stretnutie (The Meeting) is a group formed in October 2004 by Jewish emigrants from Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia) who fled Czechoslovakia following the invasion of the Warsaw Pact armies in August 1968. The original intention behind its founding was to hold a reunion that would bring together people who, forty years after emigrating, lived in Israel, in different states across Europe and North America, and in Australia. The meeting took place in May 2005 in Bratislava, drawing over 200 participants. Encouraged by this initial success, the group and its website continued its activities, and it remains operational to this day. This paper examines the early years of The Meeting’s existence (2004–2009). Analyzing the correspondence on its website, it attempts to elucidate the rationale behind the group’s creation, as well as the reasons for its persisting appeal and the emigrants’ relationship to the country and milieu from which they fled

Jewish Holidays in the Time of the Corona Virus Pandemic in Slovakia

The first wave of the new coronavirus pandemic swept through Slovakia between March 1 and May 31, 2020. During this relatively short period, four important Jewish holidays took place: Purim, Pesach, Lag BaOmer, and Shavuot. When the news of the pandemic initially broke, a large part of Slovak society viewed COVID-19 as a remote, and therefore, not entirely dangerous, threat. This attitude shifted on March 6, , when the first case of the disease was confirmed in the country. On March 9, the authorities reacted by introducing the first set of public health measures, which the Jewish Religious Community immediately relayed to its members. The policy adopted by the JRC leadership was faced with a serious religious challenge. In these conditions, the observance of holidays required a degree of improvisation. Bar a few extraordinary examples, it was impossible to fulfill all of the traditionally required customs. Factors of selectiveness, streamlining, and individualization therefore had an even greater impact than usual. Involuntary isolation brought out the importance of family ties, as well as the need for solidarity

Ethnic Polarisation in an Ethnically Homogenous Town

The study analyzes ethnic relations & ethnic identity based on the example of Bratislava in the 20th century. The obtained ethnological material allows the author to conclude that the change in political system had affected the ethnic structure of the studied town. This was due to the migration of population as well as to elements of social engineering, which accompanied practically any change of the regime, but also due to so-called 'migration on the spot,' ie, a declared adjustment to political winners. In the first half of the past century, Bratislava was a trilingual city located at the borders of (Czecho)Slovakia, Hungary, & Austria. After WWII, the city changed (at least statistically) into an ethnically homogeneous environment, in which the Slovak ethnic group made up more than 90% of the whole population. In spite of this, the individual's identity & relations among citizens continued to be influenced by their ethnic affiliation. Its significance was already manifested during the first days of November 1989, but particularly in the following years. The identification with an ethnic group again became a differentiating factor (or even a polarizing one) in urban population. It seems that ethnicity is likely to affect the character of the studied town in the nearest future too

The Final Dilemma: Cremation as a Form of Jewish Burial in Slovakia

This paper seeks to answer the question of why, in the 21st century, Jews from the largest Jewish community in Slovakia have increasingly begun to prefer cremation over traditional Jewish burial. Importantly, Judaism views the act of cremation as a repudiation of faith in the afterlife, which incurs punishment in the form of exclusion from the resurrection after the prophesied coming of the Messiah. There is also a historical case against cremation, based on the Nazis’ burning of the bodies of murdered concentration camp inmates. Ethnological research shows that the main reason for this preferential shift is the Holocaust, one of the consequences of which was that part of the survivors lost their faith in God, who, in their view, had allowed the tragedy to take place. At the same time, many of these survivors wished for their urns to be stored at a Jewish cemetery. Since the start of the third millennium, there has been growing pressure to accommodate this wish. The leadership of the Bratislava Jewish Religious Community (JRC) debated the issue in 2007, ultimately deciding to establish a columbarium on the premises of one of the city’s two Jewish cemeteries. This paper’s paradoxical conclusion is that, by opting for cremation, some members of the community (and their descendants) renounce Judaism while simultaneously reaffirming their Jewish identity and communal belonging

Survivors and the Children of the Holocaust in Slovakia in 1945–1989

The author focuses on the survivors and the „children of the Holocaust“ from 1945‑1989. He offers characteristics of both studied fractions of the Jew‑ ish community, also defining the research methodology employed. The study concentrates on the post‑Holocaust Jewish families and the second‑generation strategies under the Communist regime. Moreover, the impacts of the occupation of Czechoslovakia after August 1968 (emigration, normalization during 1970– 1989) have been analyzed

Integrated Analysis of Clinical and Microbiome Risk Factors Associated with the Development of Oral Candidiasis during Cancer Chemotherapy.

Oral candidiasis is a common side effect of cancer chemotherapy. To better understand predisposing factors, we followed forty-five subjects who received 5-fluorouracil- or doxorubicin-based treatment, during one chemotherapy cycle. Subjects were evaluated at baseline, prior to the first infusion, and at three additional visits within a two-week window. We assessed the demographic, medical and oral health parameters, neutrophil surveillance, and characterized the salivary bacteriome and mycobiome communities through amplicon high throughput sequencing. Twenty percent of all subjects developed oral candidiasis. Using multivariate statistics, we identified smoking, amount of dental plaque, low bacteriome and mycobiome alpha-diversity, and the proportions of specific bacterial and fungal taxa as baseline predictors of oral candidiasis development during the treatment cycle. All subjects who developed oral candidiasis had baseline microbiome communities dominated by Candida and enriched in aciduric bacteria. Longitudinally, oral candidiasis was associated with a decrease in salivary flow prior to lesion development, and occurred simultaneously or before oral mucositis. Candidiasis was also longitudinally associated with a decrease in peripheral neutrophils but increased the neutrophil killing capacity of Candida albicans. Oral candidiasis was not found to be associated with mycobiome structure shifts during the cycle but was the result of an increase in Candida load, with C. albicans and Candida dubliniensis being the most abundant species comprising the salivary mycobiome of the affected subjects. In conclusion, we identified a set of clinical and microbiome baseline factors associated with susceptibility to oral candidiasis, which might be useful tools in identifying at risk individuals, prior to chemotherapy

Chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis is associated with detrimental bacterial dysbiosis.

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal mucosal injury (mucositis), commonly affecting the oral cavity, is a clinically significant yet incompletely understood complication of cancer chemotherapy. Although antineoplastic cytotoxicity constitutes the primary injury trigger, the interaction of oral microbial commensals with mucosal tissues could modify the response. It is not clear, however, whether chemotherapy and its associated treatments affect oral microbial communities disrupting the homeostatic balance between resident microorganisms and the adjacent mucosa and if such alterations are associated with mucositis. To gain knowledge on the pathophysiology of oral mucositis, 49 subjects receiving 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or doxorubicin-based chemotherapy were evaluated longitudinally during one cycle, assessing clinical outcomes, bacterial and fungal oral microbiome changes, and epithelial transcriptome responses. As a control for microbiome stability, 30 non-cancer subjects were longitudinally assessed. Through complementary in vitro assays, we also evaluated the antibacterial potential of 5-FU on oral microorganisms and the interaction of commensals with oral epithelial tissues. RESULTS: Oral mucositis severity was associated with 5-FU, increased salivary flow, and higher oral granulocyte counts. The oral bacteriome was disrupted during chemotherapy and while antibiotic and acid inhibitor intake contributed to these changes, bacteriome disruptions were also correlated with antineoplastics and independently and strongly associated with oral mucositis severity. Mucositis-associated bacteriome shifts included depletion of common health-associated commensals from the genera Streptococcus, Actinomyces, Gemella, Granulicatella, and Veillonella and enrichment of Gram-negative bacteria such as Fusobacterium nucleatum and Prevotella oris. Shifts could not be explained by a direct antibacterial effect of 5-FU, but rather resembled the inflammation-associated dysbiotic shifts seen in other oral conditions. Epithelial transcriptional responses during chemotherapy included upregulation of genes involved in innate immunity and apoptosis. Using a multilayer epithelial construct, we show mucositis-associated dysbiotic shifts may contribute to aggravate mucosal damage since the mucositis-depleted Streptococcus salivarius was tolerated as a commensal, while the mucositis-enriched F. nucleatum displayed pro-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic capacity. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our work reveals that chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis is associated with bacterial dysbiosis and demonstrates the potential for dysbiotic shifts to aggravate antineoplastic-induced epithelial injury. These findings suggest that control of oral bacterial dysbiosis could represent a novel preventive approach to ameliorate oral mucositis