The Partisan Congress riots were attacks on Jews in Bratislava and other cities and towns in the autonomous Slovak region of Czechoslovakia between 1 and 6 August 1946. Nineteen people were injured, four seriously, in Bratislava alone.
After World War II in Europe ended in May 1945, former Slovak partisans were often appointed as national administrators of businesses that had been Aryanized, or confiscated, from Jews by the Axis client state known as the Slovak State, leading to conflict with Jews seeking to regain their property. This conflict sporadically erupted into attacks on Jews. Tensions between Jewish and non-Jewish Slovaks were exacerbated in May 1946 by the passage of an unpopular law that mandated the restitution of Aryanized property and businesses to their original owners. Both antisemitic leaflets and attacks on Jews—many of them initiated by former partisans—increased following the restitution law.
Rioting began on 1 August with the robbery of František Hoffmann's apartment. A national congress of former Slovak partisans was held in Bratislava on 2–4 August 1946, and many of the rioters were identified as former partisans. Rioting continued until 6 August. Despite attempts by the Czechoslovak police to maintain order, ten apartments were broken into, nineteen people were injured (four seriously), and the Jewish community kitchen was ransacked. Additional attacks and riots were reported in other Slovak towns and cities, including Nové Zámky and Žilina. The contemporary press played down the involvement of partisans and instead claimed that the riots were organized by "reactionary elements", Hungarians, or former Hlinka Guardsmen. In response, the government launched a crackdown on antisemitic incitement and simultaneously suspended restitution to Jews.
Background
Jews have lived in Bratislava (then known by its German name, Pressburg) since the medieval era. Although they were expelled in 1526, Jews began to settle in the suburb of Podhradie towards the end of the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century, Pressburg was the most influential Jewish community in the Kingdom of Hungary, with more than a thousand members. In the nineteenth century, traditional religious antisemitism was joined by economic antisemitism, the stereotypical view of Jews as exploiters of poor Slovaks. National antisemitism strongly associated Jews with the Hungarian state and accused them of sympathizing with Hungarian national aims at the expense of Slovak ambitions. Between the revolutions of 1848 and the end of the nineteenth century, Pressburg witnessed repeated and extensive anti-Jewish rioting, in 1850, 1882 (in response to the Tiszaeszlár blood libel), 1887, and 1889. The Jewish community of the city numbered 4,500 in 1869 and expanded to its peak of 18,000 in 1940, 13 percent of the population. Many Jews in the city spoke Hungarian and considered themselves of Hungarian nationality. In 1918, Bratislava was included in the new country of Czechoslovakia.
The Slovak State, a one-party state of the far-right, fascist Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSĽS), declared its independence from Czechoslovakia on 14 March 1939. Although the Slovak State was an Axis client state during World War II, it enjoyed considerable latitude in domestic policy, including anti-Jewish actions. Anti-Jewish laws were passed in 1940 and 1941, depriving Jews of their property via Aryanization and redistributing it to Slovaks viewed by the regime as more deserving. The Slovak State organized the deportation of 58,000 of its own Jewish citizens to German-occupied Poland in 1942, which was carried out by the paramilitary Hlinka Guard and regular policemen. On 29 August 1944, Germany invaded Slovakia, sparking the Slovak National Uprising. The fighting, and German countermeasures, devastated much of the country; nearly 100 villages were burned by Einsatzgruppe H. Thousands of people, including several hundred Jews, were murdered in Slovakia, and at least another 10,000 Jews were deported. Anti-regime forces included Slovak Army defectors, Agrarians, Communists, and Jews. Altogether 69,000 of the 89,000 Jews in the Slovak State were murdered. About 3,500 Jews from Bratislava survived. After the war, Slovakia was reincorporated into Czechoslovakia; it retained a government in Bratislava with significant autonomy. By April 1946, 7,000 Jews were living in the city, only 1,000 of whom had lived there before the war.
Conflict over Aryanization and restitution characterized postwar relations between Jews and non-Jewish Slovaks. For many Slovaks, restitution meant returning property that they had paid for under the then-existing law, developed, and considered theirs. From the perspective of Jews, however, it was the obligation of those in possession of stolen property to return it. Former partisans, veterans of the Czechoslovak armies abroad, and ex-political prisoners were prioritized for appointment as national administrators of previously Jewish businesses or residences. In some cases, national administrators were appointed even though the owners or their heirs were still alive. The newly appointed national administrators considered their gains just reward for their sacrifices during the war—a rationale that was endorsed by the government. Disputes were polarized by prewar antisemitism combined with the residual effects of the Slovak State's anti-Jewish propaganda and the economic interests of non-Jewish Slovaks in the contested properties. However, informal agreements between former Jewish owners and national managers were not uncommon and were usually approved by the authorities.
The first postwar anti-Jewish riots occurred in 1945, in Košice (2 May), Prešov (July), Bardejov (22 July), Topoľčany (24 September), and Trebišov (14 November). Former partisans were involved in some of these events. There were no major anti-Jewish incidents in Bratislava between the end of the war and the summer of 1946. Most of the culprits of the attacks were not prosecuted. Top officials in the Slovak autonomous government, such as Jozef Lettrich and , did not issue clear condemnations of the attacks and even blamed Jews. The organizations ÚSŽNO (Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Slovakia) and SRP (Association of Racially Persecuted People) advocated for the rights of Holocaust survivors. The SRP advocated for the rights of people persecuted for their Jewish ancestry who did not belong to the Jewish religious community.
Lead-up
After the September 1945 Topoľčany pogrom, the central Czechoslovak government in Prague pressured the autonomous Slovak government to adopt a law for the restitution of Aryanized property. In May 1946, the Slovak autonomous government passed the Restitution Act 128/1946, which canceled Aryanizations in cases where the victim was judged to be loyal to the Czechoslovak state. Jews could regain their property via the court system, rather than local authorities, which were less favorable to their claims. At this time, most of the Aryanized property was in the hands of either the Aryanizers or national administrators. The government faced overwhelming public pressure not to implement the law and many officials refused to implement it. The restitution law triggered a resurgence of popular anti-Jewish sentiment which led to the riots at the Partisan Congress.
In postwar Slovakia, anti-Jewish leaflets appeared regularly, despite mostly unsuccessful attempts by the state to seek out and prosecute their creators. Multiple leaflets gave Jews an ultimatum to leave the country by the end of July 1946; Slovak historian Michal Šmigeľ suggests that the similarities in the leaflets imply that there was a coordinated campaign. In late July and early August, leaflets appeared with the phrases "Beat the Jews!", "Now or never, away with the Jews!", and even "Death to the Jews!". During the last week of July, posters were put up around Bratislava with slogans such as "Attention Jew, a partisan is coming to beat Jews", "Czechoslovakia is for Slovaks and Czechs, Palestine is for Jews", "Jews to Palestine!" "Jews out!" and "Hang the Jews!" In early July, two former partisans in Bytča repeatedly attacked Jews; an incident involving Jews and several former partisans occurred in Humenné on 27 July. The next day, provocateurs tried to incite anti-Jewish rioting in Trenčianske Teplice. From mid-July 1946, minor anti-Jewish incidents were occurring on an almost daily basis in Bratislava. For example, on 20 July, two men publicly hounded Jews on Kapucínska Street during the day, one of them "publicly calling all Hlinka Guardsmen, Hlinka Party members, and partisans to unite against the Jews". That night, Jews were assaulted on various streets, especially Kapucínska and Zámocká Streets. The SRP complained of systematically organized anti-Jewish demonstrations which pointed towards a future pogrom, which according to Šmigeľ was "not far from the truth".
The First National Congress of Slovak Partisans (), also known as the Partisan Congress (), took place between 2 and 4 August 1946. The Slovak authorities had intelligence anticipating riots at the Partisan Congress. On 31 July, of the Czechoslovak police met with ÚSŽNO leaders and told them that he expected trouble from "reactionary elements" at the congress. Masariak, a representative of the Union of Slovak Partisans, met with the SRP. He told them that a thousand politically reliable former partisans were on hand to protect the Jews in Bratislava. However, the police erred in planning the strictest security measures for the evening of 3 August to the morning of 5 August—when the main group of former partisans were expected to be in the city. Previous to that, only 250–300 delegates were scheduled to attend meetings. Contrary to expectations, two to three thousand former partisans arrived in Bratislava on 2 August; total attendance at the congress was estimated at fifteen thousand. Many of the partisans were armed. The local police went on alert and the SRP set up an observation station in the Jewish quarter to report on incidents by telephone.
Riots 1–2 August
The riots began close to midnight on 1 August, and bled into the early hours of 2 August. Several men identifying themselves as partisans showed up at František Hoffmann's apartment on Kupeckého Street and threatened to shoot him if he refused to open the door. The attackers beat him with canes and stole clothes, shoes, cigarettes, and 400 Czechoslovak koruna (Kčs) in cash, causing 18,000 Kčs in damage. One left behind his . Later that night and the following day, Jewish apartments at 30–32 Židovská Street were robbed. A effigy was hung at Sloboda Square with a sign stating "Hang all Jews", while pedestrians on Kapucínska Street were assaulted. SRP reported that these attacks were carried out by men wearing partisan uniforms as well as soldiers, officers, and civilians. The police dispersed the crowd, but did not make any arrests. Later, an apartment on Schreiberova Street was broken into, the residents beaten and the property vandalized. The Jewish community kitchen was also attacked, but the army intervened and dispersed the crowd.