Jozef Tiso

Born in Velkabyta[?], in 1932 Tiso was made archbishop of Bratislava. He was also one of the leaders of the Slovak Populist Party[?], a Roman Catholic and Fascist leaning party that sought the independence of Slovakia from Czechoslovakia. This party was founded by Father Andrej Hlinka[?]; when Hlinka died in 1938, Tiso assumed its leadership.

After Adolf Hitler demanded territorial concessions from Czechoslovakia in the Sudetenland and ultimately invaded Bohemia and Moravia, Tiso used this opportunity to declare the independence of Slovakia and became its dictator with the support of the Third Reich. The "independence" of Slovakia was largely illusory; in fact, Slovakia was a German puppet state. The Slovak Populist Party became the sole legal political organisation in Slovakia, and Tiso became its dictator. Tiso submitted to Nazi demands for anti-Semitic legislation in Slovakia and participated in the deportation of its Jews.

Tiso was stripped of power when Slovakia was liberated in 1944 and was executed for treason in 1947.

See also: History of Slovakia

External link

Online exhibit from the Holocaust World Resource Centre (http://www.hwrc.org): In the Spirit of Christianity (http://www.hwrc.org/inthespirit/)