Guerrilla War in the Mountains: Experiences of Jewish Fighters in the Slovak National Uprising and Partisan Resistance

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article aims to bring forward first-person life stories and reflections of “ordinary” Jewish Holocaust survivors who took part in the Slovak resistance during World War II. The article is based on over 30 interviews conducted with Jewish survivors from Slovakia, who, later, after the war, settled In Israel, dealing with their experiences in the three forced labor camps that were established in Slovakia during the Slovak National Uprising, and among the partisans. These interviews were conducted in the early 1960s, mostly in Hebrew, and have rarely been used in historical research.. As a micro-historical study, the article paints a less familiar picture of Jews’ experiences during the war and the Holocaust in Slovakia, by presenting bottom-up, personal narratives and perspectives.