Contrary to the claims of local Slovak authorities that all Carpathian Jews must be repatriated to Soviet territory under the repatriation agreement between Czechoslovakia and the USSR, Soviet border authorities today refused to accept a transport of Carpathian Jews who were rounded up in the Slovakian town of Mihalovce and brought to the frontier to be handed over to the Russians.
It was learned today that the permanent Jewish residents of Mihalovce clashed with police in an attempt to prevent the deportation of the Carpathian Jews, necessitating intervention by the militia.
The news that the Soviet border authorities had refused to accept the Carpathian Jews was received here with great interest. It was also learned that the Slovak authorities do not intend to release these Jews, despite the fact that the Russians are not insisting on their repatriation. Jewish leaders hope that the central government in Prague will instruct the Slovak authorities to release the Carpathian Jews in view of the new Soviet attitude.
The trial of Dr. M.R. Vasco, who was the supreme authority on Jewish affairs in the Nazi puppet state of Slovakia headed by Father Tiso, will go on trial tomorrow before the Slovak National Court in Bratislava. Vasco, who is the first member of the Tiso Government to be brought to trial as a war criminal, is charged with personal responsibility for the death of 60,000 Jews.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
