A plaque commemorating the 102 Jewish students who were expelled from the Evangelical Collegiate Grammar School in Presov in the 1940/1941 school year was unveiled on the school building.
The plaque was unveiled on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe.
“Like in the whole of Slovakia, democracy and freedom of expression were eliminated, and a fascist regime led by Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party and President Jozef Tiso was established here in Presov as well. One of the most repulsive manifestations of this regime was the persecution of all those who differed in any way from what the official government promoted. Freedom of speech was restricted, various minorities were persecuted, and a particularly high level of hatred and persecution was directed against the Jewish population,” said the grammar school’s headteacher Marian Damankos in his speech.
At that time, almost one in five Presov residents was Jewish, said Damankos. The school, on whose building the commemorative plaque was unveiled on Wednesday, had more than 300 students in the past, a third of whom were Jewish.
“By a directive of the Slovak government, they were expelled from all secondary schools in Slovakia. They were prevented from attending school, and for the Evangelical Collegiate Grammar School this meant the loss of 102 students, which was a third of the total,” said Damankos.
