16—Emigration.

Most Holocaust survivors from Central and Eastern Europe headed for Palestine, where the state of Israel was established in 1948. The communists, led by Stalin, further recycled anti-Jewish superstitions.

In 1945, the Czechoslovak Republic was restored. After experiencing the horrors of the Second World War, the Jewish population returned home with the hope of a better life free from fear and oppression. But the initial euphoria of victory quickly faded. According to new laws only a person of Czech or Slovak or Ruthenian nationality could become a Czechoslovak citizen after the Second World War. Other nationalities were excluded as disloyal.

The strongly nationalistic policy of the new state did not even recognize Jewish citizenship.

Czechoslovakia considered the German- and Hungarian-speaking populations as collective perpetrators of the Second World War and denied them citizenship in the new republic. For this reason, those Jews who claimed German nationality before the war were persecuted as Germans after the war, those who claimed Hungarian nationality were persecuted as Hungarians after the war. The strongly nationalistic policy of the new state did not even recognize Jewish citizenship. Simply put, Jews had a choice between two options - either assimilate into Czechoslovak society, which meant acquiring Czechoslovak citizenship, or emigrate.

By 1950, approximately 23,000 people of Jewish origin had emigrated from Czechoslovakia, representing almost half of all survivors. Many migrated within the republic. The largest wave of migration within the republic came from Subcarpathian Rus and eastern Slovakia. Those who left home were those who had no one left in Slovakia or those who had bad memories of home. Anti-Semitic attacks by the local population also contributed to the overall picture. As countries such as the USA and Canada were only willing to accept a small number of Jewish refugees, most of them turned their eyes towards the territory of Palestine.

FIG. 16 / 01

European Jews arriving in Palestine

A number of states have adopted Christianity and Islam as state religions, which means that as believers they are protected by the state. With Judaism, something like this never happened. Jews have always been a fragmented group of believers around the world without a state of their own in which to live securely. Even before the Second World War, there were demands by Jews for the creation of their own state.

In Judaism, the territory of Palestine is considered to be the Promised Land, which God promised to the Jews as their homeland according to the Torah (holy book), but from which they have been expelled over the centuries. Judaism's holiest sites are also located here. The hope that they will one day return to their promised land is a central motif in Jewish prayer books.

An international movement towards the establishment of a Jewish nation-state in Palestine has existed since the 19th century. However, there were Arabs living in this territory who were negative towards the mass arrival of Jews.

MARTA SZILÁRDOVÁ

for EDAH

Available here.

My husband also had the idea of leaving and forgetting everything. But one does not forget there. I didn't want to leave, I was also hurt by the Jews. I didn't feel strong enough to meet those people. Again and again that cruel time would flash before my eyes. When he saw that I was against leaving, he backed down. Slowly, we got up. We knew we were no longer in any danger.

We began to think about starting a family. In 1946 we had a daughter and five years later a second daughter. (...) In 1948, when the State of Israel was established, we followed closely the events of the time. It was not easy for the Jews who went there. After the emigration wave, there were reports from Israel that they were living in tents, without money, without help. One might think that it was the only state where Jews could really feel at home and that they would have peace. But that peace will never be there.

FIG. 16 / 02

Post-war migration in Germany

On May 14, 1948, less than three months after the communist takeover in Czechoslovakia, the Jewish leadership in Palestine declared independence. Survivors from Czechoslovakia emigrated to the newly emerging Israel in the post-war period in two waves - directly after the war and after the communist takeover in 1948.

Communist Czechoslovakia initially provided significant assistance to the emerging Israel, but only until the Communists lost the first Israeli elections and the state became increasingly oriented towards the US. The former communist support for the Jewish state turned into hatred and abuse of old anti-Jewish prejudices. Anti-Semitism also found its place in communist Czechoslovakia.

NAFTALI FURST

for EDAH

SMy brother and I joined the Zionist organization Hashomer Hatzair after the war. It was a leftist organization that aimed to educate youth to help build the new state of Israel. In 1949, we immigrated to Israel. In my new homeland, I changed my name to Naftali and my brother changed his name to Shmuel. My parents originally did not want to come to Israel. They hoped that the Czechoslovak Republic would be like it was before the war. In 1948, the communists took power in the country. They immediately took away my father's business, and since they thought we had a large apartment, they wanted to move another family in with us.

My parents were disappointed and eventually decided to leave the country as well. In 1950 they came to Israel. During our visit (to Czechoslovakia) in the 1970s, we also passed through a part of Slovakia. Around Martin I heard people playing and singing beautiful Slovak songs. There were local specialties for sale. I enjoyed it very much. People were grouping around there. I said to my girlfriend, let's go and see what is going on there. They were having a mowing contest. They were encouraging the mowers by saying, "Scythe, scythe, scythe! Think of a Jew lying on the ground!" Suddenly I didn't know what to do. I wanted to shout that I am a Jew! My girlfriendfriend restrained me and tried to calm me down. I remained in shock. I was surprised that even now there are anti-Semites among Slovaks. I wondered if the Slovaks hadn't even learned their lesson from the war?

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his closest associates recycled the old anti-Jewish superstition that Jews were responsible for all of society's problems. After the final closure of Czechoslovakia's borders, the Jews left in the country were mainly not very religious, lonely elderly people, communists and those who failed to leave in time. With the death of Stalin, the situation improved, but the image of the enemy Jew remained part of the communist world.