BRATISLAVA, March 7, (WEBNOVINY) – As it has become a tradition, also this year, a march to celebrate the fascist wartime Slovak State will be organized in Bratislava. As the Bratislava – Stare Mesto spokesman Tomas Halan told SITA, the march was permitted to take place on Saturday, March 12, between 1 and 5 p.m. It should start at Hodzovo Namestie in front of the Presidential Palace and should continue to Martinsky Cintorin cemetery, where the grave of Slovak State President Jozef Tiso was reportedly located until recently.
According to the right wing extremist Slovenska Pospolitost website, the so-called “March for the Nation” should start at 2 p.m. organized by Maria Sykorova. In the 2010 municipal elections, a woman with the same name was a Ludova Strana – Nase Slovensko candidate for the office of Mayor of Bratislava-Petrzalka and for a seat in the Petrzalka parliament
The war-time fascist republic was established on March 14, 1939, as the first independent Slovak state. However, its sovereignty was rather formal, as it was de-facto controlled by Nazi Germany through a treaty on protecting Slovakia. During WW2, the Slovak State transported thousands of its citizens to concentration camps where most of them died. The number of survivors is estimated at some 18,000 Jews. According to different sources, some 60,000 to 90,000 Slovak citizens died during the Holocaust.
SITA