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Unknown Author - Leave Slovakia!, 1941 – 1942, Slovak National Museum - SNM Archive in Bratislava The transfer of Jewish property into "Christian" hands, so-called aryanisation, was planned since March 1939, when the state was founded. This government-sanctioned theft was presented as "an exclusion of Jews from economic and social life". The initial regulations allowed the government to remove Jews from their enterprises or appoint 'temporary administrators' in cases where there were objections against the owner because of "unreliability, public interest or social reasons".

Unknown Author - That's Him, You Can Recognise Him By the Star!, 1941 – 1942, Slovak National Museum - SNM Archive in Bratislava

During the spring and summer of 1940, aryanisation of agricultural properties and business began. In the phase after the Salzburg negotiations, aryanisation increased and was regulated by the newly created Central Economic Office. By the end of 1940, legislation allowed confiscation of all Jewish property - agricultural, corporate, residential as well as material items and bank deposits. Aryanisation, characterised by clientelism and corruption, culminated in 1941 and 1942.

During the aryanisation process, property valued at 4 billion Slovak crowns was confiscated from the Jewish population in Slovakia. As a consequence, the majority of Jews living in Slovakia lost the ability to earn a living. Stripped of their livelihood, they were now regarded as a ‘burden’ by the state apparatus.

Anti-Semitic Caricatures from the Humour Magazine Tomcat (Kocúr)

Other Media

Unknown Author - Don't Be a Servant of a Jew, 1940 - 1942, Slovak National Museum - SNM Archive in Bratislava, Bratislava

Unknown Author - Anti-Semitic Caricature from the Publication: Ctibor Pokorný - Judaism in Slovakia, 1940, University Library in Bratislava

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