Jews were once excluded from the productive areas of the economy in Slovakia because of their religion, so they were mainly engaged in finance and trade, which were becoming increasingly important. At the same time, families often paid attention to quality education.
In this way, many of them retained a strong influence in commerce, industry and agriculture in the interwar period. Compared to the general Slovak population, who were mainly peasants, Jews had a significant presence in the prestigious professions of doctors and lawyers, and many owned thriving businesses or trades ranging from bakeries to pharmacies to hotels. This fact was exploited by the Slovak government, which in 1939 issued a decree that Jewish property was to be transferred into "Aryan", i.e. non-Jewish, hands.
In this way, one citizen could deprive another citizen (of Jewish origin) of his house, business and later also of his furniture or clothes with impunity. This process is called aryanization and its aim was to eliminate Jews from economic life.
The Slovak state deprived the Jews of property worth approximately 700 million euros today. Much of this property was stolen by incompetent aryanizators.
...you Jews who fled with millions to Bohemia will continue to insult Slovak national and Christian feelings, so we will deal with you. We will never forget the Jews for what they did before November 1, and we will never forget that they screamed the loudest for the old regime. We will look at those we have on record... We, HG, do not know any Jewish property and money, we know only Slovak national property, only Slovak national capital. And the interest from this capital belongs to the Slovak working people. We are firmly convinced that our Slovak government will solve the Jewish question in Slovakia, and we Guardsmen will report for the execution of this law.
Only a person of Slovak or German nationality with good connections in the economic-political apparatus could aryanize jewish property. Preference was given to members of the HSĽS or members of the Hlinka Guard. The most profitable businesses and enterprises were taken over by Germans. However, even those who aryanized were not a homogeneous group. They differed in their motivations for wanting to aryanize and in their approach to the original Jewish owners. Some agreed with the original owners that they would take care of their business while they were "on the job" in Germany; others were only interested in financial gain and wanted to get rid of the owners as soon as possible.
One of those who aryanized was the writer Ľudo Ondrejov, author of popular book for kids ´Zbojnícka mladosť´ (The Bandit´s Youth). He was interested in an antique shop in the center of Bratislava, which had belonged to the Steiner family since 1847. At first he claimed that he would just take over the shop and keep the family members as employees, but later he wrote to the Central Economic Office:
I declare that I do not need the following Jews in my bookshop (...): Max Steiner, Joseph Steiner... Sigmund Steiner and William Steiner. By seizing and transporting these Jews, neither the shop nor the Slovak State will suffer any economic loss, because I have found a substitute in the Aryan person of Mr. Viliam Fábry from Turč. Sv. Martin.
These words were a death sentence and the Steiner family was deported. More on this here.
More about the Jewish community in Bratislava at www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/communities/bratislava/index.asp
Want to know if and how businesses in your neighborhood were Aryanized?www.upn.gov.sk/projekty/arizacie
all chapters
Remembering the HolocaustHungary
Return and emigrationHungary
LMBTQHungary
History of the HolocaustHungary
Fascist ideologyHungary
The HolocaustHungary
The HolocaustSlovakia
Slovak StateSlovakia
IdeologySlovakia
PersecutionSlovakia
AntisemitismSlovakia
AryanisationSlovakia
PorajmosSlovakia
PorajmosHungary
LGBT minoritySlovakia
First transportSlovakia
DeportationsSlovakia
Life in the campSlovakia
Slovak National UprisingSlovakia
HomecomingSlovakia
EmigrationSlovakia
