Slovakian MPs condemn WWII deportation of Jews to Nazi Germany

The entrance to the Sachsenhausen Nazi death camp, about 30 kilometres north of Berlin.
The entrance to the Sachsenhausen Nazi death camp, about 30 kilometres north of Berlin. Copyright AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File
By AP with Euronews
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Lawmakers have also asked for the forgiveness of Holocaust survivors and relatives.

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Slovakia’s parliament has formally condemned the mass deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II.

MPs said the forced deportation of Jewish citizens from the Slovak republic was "particularly reprehensible".

Slovak authorities had paid Nazi Germany for each Jewish citizen who was transported to concentration camps between March and October in 1942.

A second wave of deportations took place between September 1944 and March 1945 when Slovakia was occupied by Nazi troops.

Most of the 70,000 Jewish citizens who were forced from the Slovak Republic died during the Holocaust.

In September, Slovakia's government apologised for World War II legislation that had stripped the country’s Jews of their human and civil rights.

The formal condemnation by Bratislava on Friday came on the 80th anniversary of the first transport to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

“We condemn such activities of the regime and express sorrow over the tragedy imposed on innocent victims,” the resolution read.

Lawmakers also observed a minute's silence and asked for the forgiveness of all those who survived and the relatives and descendants of the victims.

Members of the extreme far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia party -- who openly back the legacy of the Slovak war state -- didn’t participate in the vote on the resolution.

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