The article discusses an opinion on the Jews formulated by Feliks Koneczny, an outstanding Polish historian and philosopher. Koneczny assumed that the Jews formed a separate civilization characterized by monolatrism, apriorism, sacralism, dual ethics, legalism, and the lack of historicism. However, other historians and philosophers, e.g. Spengler and Toynbee, claimed that the Jews did not form a separate civilisation, but constituted a part of magic culture or the Syrian civilisation respectively. Koneczny wrote that the Jews had influence on Latin (Western) civilisation through their morality, principles, and religion, and that the influence had disorganizing effect. He even considered Marxism and Hitlerism as manifestations of the Jewish civilisation. The author of the article indicates that Feliks Koneczny was an anti-Semite, though obviously he was far from Nazi-like hostility towards the Jews. The book under discussion, Cywilizacja żydowska [The Jewish Civilisation], expands our knowledge on the chosen nation, but it should also be a warning against racial hatred which consumes even outstanding scholars.
The text initially analyses what the term “historic site of interest” included during individual phases of modern Czech history. It also describes how and why spontaneous interest in historic monuments transformed into scientific interest. However, the text mainly focuses on the attitude of Czech society towards historic sites of interest and historical preservation after the Second World War. The paper clarifies why Prague monuments of the highest possible national value (Old Town Square, Prague Castle, Karolinum, Bethlehem Chapel, Hvězda Summer Palace) received the most attention primarily. It also clarifies the importance state bodies credited to minor (mainly Jewish) historic sites of interest, both in Prague and in the regions. The text states that although selected Jewish historic monuments in Prague were repaired in the 1950s, because it was assumed that they would be used in the field of tourism, others (including those that were of interest to tourists) were left to fall into disrepair. Terezín received attention for ideological reasons. However, its historical value was used for propaganda purposes. Victims of the Shoa were described as fighters for socialism in the 1950s. The post-war condition of Jewish historic sites of interest in the regions can be described as catastrophic, during which time only two regional synagogues were repaired during socialism (in Plzeň and Holešov). The devastation of unprotected Jewish cemeteries, which were usually located in remote areas, also continued. The gravestones in these cemeteries became sought-after building material. Indications of changes to come in relation to regional Jewish historic sites of interest only appear at the end of the so-called normalisation period.
The assumption that legislation should discriminate against citizens regarded as “Jews” was a basic feature of the Ľudák idea of state law in the period of the disintegration of Czechoslovak parliamentary democracy after the Munich Agreement. However, there were varying views on the question of definition of who would be covered by this legislation. From autumn 1939, internal debates in Slovakia’s autonomous political institutions, in the Ľudák controlled media and until 14 March 1939 in contacts with the central Czecho-Slovak ministries were carried on with the aim of accelerating the practical implementation of such legislation. In the official anti-Semitic discourse and subsequently also in the process of preparing and adopting anti-Jewish legislation, the influence of the traditional religious anti-Semitism supported by economic and cultural arguments overlapped with the newer and gradually strengthening racist argumentation derived from the Nazi Third Reich. The study is directed towards the origins of the Ľudák anti-Semitic legislation, and the argumentation strategy of its proposers, by which they introduced racist principles, and endeavoured to merge them with the proclaimed Christian basis of the Ľudák regime.
The article focuses on the issue of the looted Jewish art during the fascist Slovak State (1939 - 1945) and represents a pioneer attempt to summarize all available information. It covers the legal background (The Jewish Codex of 1941), procedures for gathering and evaluation of concerned objects (paintings, sculptures, applied art etc.), personal involvement of local art historians (Dr. Vladimír Wágner, Dr. Alžbeta Guntherová-Mayerová) and the works of art still in possession of local galleries (e.g. Slovak National Gallery).
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Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
The aim of this study is to map the evolution of Slovak films dealing with the subject of the Holocaust and the persecution of the Jewish minority in the twentieth century. Although it zooms in on a wide range of relevant narrative (and, marginally, also documentary) films, its main focus is on the analysis of narrative films by Slovak film makers whose central theme is the Holocaust − Námestie svätej Alžbety (The Square of Saint Elizabeth, 1965), Obchod na korze (The Shop on Main Street, 1965), Nedodržaný sľub (Broken Promise, 2009), and Správa (The Auschwitz Report, 2020). It tries to find the sources of inspiration for these films, examines the diversions of their final adaptation from their literary bases, and ponders their place in Slovak and global cinema. It also addresses the reasons why films with this subject were absent in certain periods of post-war Slovak history.
The 1947 partition plan for Palestine was certainly not a peaceful resolution to the contest for Palestine. Both Jewish and Arab armies lined up volunteers and equipped themselves as well as they could. Both sides committed terrorist acts against innocent civilians. The British folded their arms and ignored the escalating violence, as they were preparing to withdraw totally from Palestine. In this situation the Israeli army was in dire need of arms and Moscow which did not want to be directly involved in the conflict. Communist Czechoslovakia which belonged to the Soviet sphere of influence followed the instructions and supplied Israel with weapons despite UN sanctions. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war Czechoslovakia had considerably contributed to the Israeli victory. After Israel turned to the West the USSR became the main supporter of the Arab national-liberation movement. After the 1952 military coup the Egyptian army turned out to be the real ruler of Egypt. Since armistice of 1949, the Egyptian-Israeli border had been the site of frequent hostilities. Israeli forces carried out their missions easily and emphasized their military superiority which made the Egyptians aware of the pressing need to replace the outmoded equipment left to them by the British. However, when the Egyptian president approached the West for arms, he was rebuffed. He therefore turned to the USSR that acted in a similar way as before. In September 1955 Egypt concluded an agreement with Czechoslovakia to purchase $ 200 million worth of advanced Soviet military equipment in exchange for Egyptian cotton. The so-called Czech arms deal was really a Soviet-Egyptian one and caused considerable annoyance mainly in Washington and London.
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