A decree exempting certain categories of Jews in Slovakia from wearing the yellow Mogen David, is published in the Nazi-dominated newspaper “Slovak,” reaching here today, while other sections of the Slovak press score the corruption that has arisen in connection with the “nationalization,” “Aryanization,” and outright confiscation of Jewish property.
Under the new decree, announced by Minister of the Interior Sano Mach, the following groups of Jews need not wear the yellow badges: Children under six; Jewish wives or husbands of non-Jews and their children if the latter are not of the Jewish religion; Jews still employed by the State or by public institutions; Jews to whom the Central Economic Office has granted working permits; and Jews who are members of a Christian church recognized by the Government, provided that they were baptized before September 10, 1941.
It is assumed that these exemptions are a result of a compromise between the Nazi officials and Catholic circles in Slovakia, which opposed the introduction of the Nuremberg laws into the country.
Meanwhile Dr. Josef Tiso, Slovak president, in an address at Benovce blamed the Jews for spreading alarming reports concerning the Slovak army fighting in Russia, while in Bratislava the Police Commissioner ordered all Jews to surrender, without any compensation, pictures, busts or statues of Slovak patriots, flags, phonograph records of national songs, cameras, telescopes, passports and radio sets. Radios must also be surrendered by non-Aryan members of Jewish households.
The newspaper “Gardista,” organ of the Fascist Hlinka Guard, publishes a warning against swindlers who visit Jewish homes and threaten the inhabitants with expulsion, under the newest anti-Jewish law, unless they pay a certain sum. At the same time the “Slovak” publishes an announcement that the Land Reform Office has already begun “nationalization” of Jewish real estates under the new code promulgated recently. This will greatly increase opportunities for Slovak peasants to obtain land, the paper states.
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.
