MARK KU RLANSK Y
205
Economi cs has simpl y replaced po li ce co ntro ls as th e iso lating fac tor fo r
Siovakians.
The Stern s have resisted immi gration. Z uza na visited her relati ves in
Israe l in th e 1960s, but return ed fee lin g th at Sl ova ki a, o r at leas t
Czechoslovaki a, was her home . " I think that it is ve ry ne cessa ry that there
are some communiti es in o th er countri es," she sa id. The Sterns have al–
ways been p ro ud o f the ancient J ewish history of Slovaki a, even if they
are among the fe w J ews left. They celebrate th e J ewi sh ho lidays with their
closest fri ends, wh o happen to be Protestants. " It 's a good thing to have
some very good fri ends wh o have nothin g aga inst J ews and who are abl e
to celebrate J ewish ho lida ys too ."
Zu za na Stern beli eves that by dec idin g aga inst emi grati o n in 1968,
when all thei r J ewish fri ends left, "we just deferred th e dec isio n to an–
other generati on ." Soon their son and daughter w ill have to dec ide . Their
older son T omas, a nin eteen- yea r-old medi ca l student , still has not made
up his mind . T omas's fa th er, the economi cs pro fesso r, wa nts him to leave.
Juraj sees a di smal future fo r an independent Slovaki a. But he does n ' t
want to leave himself: "This is an impo rtant place fo r Judaism . It had o ne
of the great yes hi vas o f the nin eteenth centu ry."
"The grea test," argues T omas. "But you can ' t have that now ."
Juraj doesn' t hear hi s son and continu es, " Yo u ca n' t let that disappear.
Bratislava is a J ewish place."
"So you arc go ing to sacrifi ce yourself fo r that?"
Juraj does n't answer.
Back in my ho tel o n a dark stree t nea r th e D anube I contemplated
everything I had seen and hea rd , wondering, give n hi story's lessons, if it
was wise of all these people to be sitting at home, w ith too many rati onal
explanati ons, wa tching events unfo ld. Shouldn ' t they leave? The situati on
is not diffi cult to predi ct. T he Slova k state is a recipe fo r economic disas–
ter. When thin gs ge t rea ll y bad , wh o will be blamed? Who will be de–
nounced? What w ill
Z lII cll a
be say ing? Up until now the moderate wing
of the nationalist moveme nt has bee n in co ntro l. But th ere are small
groups of extreme ri ght-w ing nati onalists, eve n ove rt N azis. Who will
come
to
powe r in the fa iled state? Every Jew I talked to in Bratislava gave
the same scenari o.
"Everybody is wo rried , no t o nl y J ews," sa id Fero Al exander. " It's a
big adventure and a dangerous o ne - very, very dangerous. My only hope
and desire is that it should wo rk . T his is the desire of all o f us. If no t, they
will look for a scapegoa t."
I was running all thi s through my mind , leafin g through the week's
edition of
Z lII cll a,
wh en I hea rd a voi ce sho ut from th e street, "Sieg
