YESHAYAHU JELINEK (Granville, Ohio, U.S.A.) Dr. Jozef Tiso and His Biographers Franc M. Schneider, "Josef Tiso. Katholischer priester und Staatspraesident der Slowakei," Slovak Studies (Historica 7), 10 (1970), 7-146. "Slovakia 1972," Slovakia, 22, No. 45 (1972). 219 pp. $4.00 paper. Anthony X. Sutherland. Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modern Slovakia. Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. xii, 141 pp. Price not listed. Paper. Distributed by Jednota Printery, P.O. Box 150, Middletown, PA 17057. After his execution in 1947, Dr. Jozef Tiso, president of the short-lived Slovak state, became a subject of historical study and of an ever-increasing flood of hagiography.1 In order not to leave any doubt that it is, indeed, hag- iography, the late Dr. Jozef Pauco-previously the editor of the Hlinka Party daily Slovak-nodded to the Catholic Church to begin the process of Tiso's elevation to sainthood. In justification, Pauco quoted Tiso's alleged words be- fore execution: "I sense myself to be a martyr in the defense of Christianity against Bolshevism."2 Was Tiso a victim of Bolshevism? This question calls for a combination of answers. To a certain degree, he fought Bolshevism in the manner of Mussolini, Quisling, Ribbentrop, Antonescu, and the other executed leaders of the Axis "New Europe." Bratislava's National Court found him guilty of sending Slo- vak soldiers to fight the Soviet Union and of cooperating with Berlin in the oppression of the Slovak National Uprising of 1944-both actions that doubt- less can be termed "anti-Bolshevik." Also the deportations of Slovak Jews can be described by a stretch of Nazi imagination as struggle against (Judeo) Bol- shevism. Accusations of high treason against the Czechoslovak Republic or of proclamations of war on the United States and Great Britain cannot be classi- fied as "anti-Bolshevism," however. Tiso always described himself as an anti- Communist. Nevertheless, one may doubt whether Tiso's anti-Bolshevism 1. Michael Lacko, "Slovak Bibliography Abroad, 1966-1975," Slovak Studies (Biblio- graphica 2), 17 (1977), 436 pages, lists no less than twenty entries devoted to Tiso, the single largest number for one personality. For another bibliography, see Joseph M. Kirsch- baum, "Dr. Joseph Tiso-The Prelate-Politicianwho Died on the Gallows for His People," Slovakia, 22, No. 45 (1972), 16-19. 2. Tak sme sa poznali (Middletown, P.: Slovik v Amerike, n.d.), p. 275. Tiso's alleged last message was reprinted in Slovakia 1972, p. 3, and other places. Another alleged last message, this one claiming martyrdom in behalf of Slovak nationhood, but without men- tioning the Bolsheviks, is in Slovcnski hlasy z Rima, 4 (April 1978), 2. 77 weighed so heavily as to earn him the death penalty. The argument fitted well, nevertheless, the conditions of cold war and political tensions then developing in Slovakia. The final act of execution was a dramatic event. The Slovak National Coun- cil, the Central Government of Prague, and President Edvard Benes shared the responsibility for this act. As the Communists were extensively represented in the two aforementioned bodies, and as they pressed the cause of Tiso's hang- ing, he can be regarded, at least partially, as a victim of Bolshevism. Tiso's trial was one of the many post-war retribution processes that en- veloped most of the European countries. In subsequent analyses, many of these trials, including the ones at Nurnberg, came under fire from revisionist and historians. and fair in the lawyers They seemed, however, just psychosis ' and atmosphere of days heavy under the shadow of the just-ended European tragedy. Thus Tiso's trial and verdict. The political wisdom of the act of exe- cution was, and remains, controversial. But the execution did not come to . Tiso as a total and unexpected surprise. In fact, Tiso looked forward to martyrdom. He expressed willingness for it as early as 1939. He probably recalled the medieval example, those pious men who embraced martyrdom for the sake of their religion-and with aspirations to sainthood. This hint was dutifully accepted by political friends and follow- ers, and carried over to our days. Faithful to ths rules of hagiography, Tiso's biographers do not find a fault, a weakness, or a shortcoming in the man. In fact, given their uncritical descrip- tions, he must have been one of the most perfect politicians of our century: wise, kind, just, modest, shy of adulation, dearly loving his people, well-re- spected by the mighty of his time. This list of adjectives is almost endless. It is also characteristic for the authors to provide, and perhaps also to use, selec- tive sources. The main basis for the latter-day biographies are the works of their predecessors. (The selective mutual quoting is a trademark for the publi- cations of the Hlinka Party emigration.) The earlier biographers recorded their memories, and interpreted details of Tiso's trial, public pronouncements, and writing. Publications critical or uninterested in Tiso are used in a spotty fash- ion-for passages reinforcing the biographer's thesis-or neglected altogether. The same should be said about the published and unpublished documentation. Half-truth and lies are not an Another outright exception. shortcoming, repre- ' sented by Anthony X. Sutherland, is to excerpt and quote, verbatim, the long monologues of some of the witnesses, and to neglect the scholar's duty of critical and skeptical analysis. Still, Sutherland has at least the advantage of trying to preserve the semblance of scholarly presentation. Franc M. Schneider is romantic, while most of the others are mere journalists. Much of this kind of publication has appeared in the ethnic and emigrant press, often obscure and of limited circulation. .