The Hlinka Guard

Paramilitary Arm of the Slovak HSSP

The holocaust began for the Slovka Jews in Autumn of 1938, when Slovakia became an autonomous region. Upon conclusion of the first Vienna award on on 2 November 1938, a percentage of southern Slovakia and the town of Kosice were ceded to Hungary.

Of course this action elicited outrage against Slovak nationalists who took it upon themselves to proclaim that "Magyar Jews" were the cause of this loss of Slovak territory.

Over the next three years Slovak Jews became subject to constant harassment, and their freedom of movement was restricted in a series of legislative actions promulgated by the Zidovsky kodex or "Jewish Code" enacted on September 9 1941. The code was comprised of 270 articles, which contained all previous Jewish restrictions, and host of new orders as well.

Jewish property was confiscated and businesses liquidated at bargain prices all in an effort to "Aryanize" the country. In the Autumn of 1941 Slovak leaders approached Heinrich Himmler for assistance in ridding themselves of their Jewish population completely.  An arrangement was then made with the German Reich in January, 1942, where the Slovak government agreed to pay the equivalent of 500 Reichsmark for every Jew the Germans removed.

The Hilinka Guard was the paramilitary unit created by Catholic Priest Andrej Hlinka and controlled by the Slovak People's Party or HSSP. The Guard was officially established on October 8, 1938 but its roots cab be traced back as early as the 1920's to the "Rodobrana" a strong arm group that styled itself along the lines of the Mussolini's' Black shirts, and the  Nazi SA.

The HSSP  being a Catholic religious group in its orientation found its support among Slovak Catholics. The Slovak peasantry had suffered hardships during the period of economic readjustment after the disintegration of the Hapsburg Empire. Moreover, the apparent lack of qualified Slovaks had led to the importation of Czechs into Slovakia to fill jobs in administration, education, and the judiciary.

Although Andrej Hlinka's objective was solely Slovak autonomy within a democratic Czechoslovak state, his party contained a more radical wing, led by Vojtech Tuka. From the early 1920s, Tuka maintained secret contacts with Austria, Hungary, and Hitler's NSDAP. 

It was Tuka who formed the Rodobrana and began publishing subversive and anti-Semitic literature. Tuka later gained the support of the younger members of the Slovak Populist Party, who called themselves Nastupists, after the journal Nastup.

The Rodobrana and its offshoot the Hlinka Guard are said to have represented the major factions of Slovak fascism. Although it is believed that the Hlinka Guard may have actually been less violent that their cousins in the SA/SS, or Romanian "Iron Guard", there is no doubt as to their level of involvement and culpability in the looting of Jewish property, the beatings and forced deportation of  Jews, and their role in running the Slovak concentration camps.

Tuka's arrest and trial in 1929 where he was charged with espionage on behalf of the Hungarian government  precipitated the reorientation of Hlinka's party in a totalitarian direction. The Nastupists gained control of the party and in 1935 it polled 30 percent of the vote but refused to join with what they believed was an illegitimate government.

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http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/hlinka.html

The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team

www.HolocaustResearchProject.org