Despite the fact that it is virtually impossible for Jews in Slovakia to emigrate, the Slovak authorities in Bratislava today announced a twenty-five percent tax on all Jewish property in the country to “finance Jewish emigration.”
The decree provides for the establishment of a Jewish Emigration Fund within the framework of the Slovak Central Economic Office, with capital supplied by a compulsory levy on all Jews. In addition to the twenty-five percent tax on Jewish property, all Jewish organizations must turn in half of their cash-on-hand.
Since the only Jewish emigration that has taken place in Slovakia has been forced deportation to labor camps in Nazi-held Galicia, the creation of such a fund at this time is obviously merely a pretext for further confiscation of Jewish property.
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