For Israelis who wish to travel abroad since Oct. 7, there has been a constant worry of how to contend with ongoing antisemitism abroad and violent pro-Palestinian protests, but now Slovakia's tourism board hopes to allay these concerns with a newly launched campaign specifically inviting Israeli visitors to explore their country.

Slovak Ambassador to Israel Barbara Mestanova shared the rationale behind the move with Israel Hayom. "Israelis can feel completely secure in Slovakia, where they will find a warm and enthusiastic welcome. Slovakia stands as a safe haven for Israel, offering travelers an extensive array of attractions." The country maintains the highest safety classification - Level 1 - from Israel's National Security Council, indicating no travel advisories are in effect.

Lonely Planet, the renowned travel guide, recently designated Slovakia as one of its top ten must-visit countries for 2025. Though compact in size, the nation presents an impressive variety of experiences – featuring celebrated spa resorts, premium shopping venues, pristine natural landscapes, and significant historical sites, complemented by enchanting Christmas markets and distinguished culinary traditions.

Sharing a border with Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Austria, Slovakia serves as an ideal hub for multi-country European excursions, accessible by car or public transit. While direct flights from Israel are not currently available, travelers can easily reach Slovakia through short connections from Vienna, Budapest, or other neighboring transportation hubs.

Ivana Magátová, the CEO of Slovakia Travel, extended a personal invitation to Israelis."Slovakia distinguishes itself through its awe-inspiring natural beauty. The prestigious 'Lonely Planet' guide validated this by naming Slovakia among the top ten destinations for 2025. From the majestic High Tatras to the gentle Low Tatras, and throughout our nine national parks, the winter season transforms these landscapes into spectacular wonderlands. When you behold this extraordinary beauty firsthand, you'll need to pinch yourself to ensure it's not a dream. We warmly invite you to discover our beautiful and unique Slovakia. It would be our privilege to welcome you among us."

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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico suffered life-threatening injuries when he was shot and wounded in an attempted assassination on Wednesday, the government office said.

Fico, 59, was rushed to hospital in the central city of Handlova after holding a government meeting there, and was being transported by helicopter to the city of Banska Bystrica for urgent treatment, it said.

A Reuters witness heard several shots fired after the meeting in Handlova northeast of the capital Bratislava. Police detained a man and security officials pushed someone into a car and drove off, the witness said.

"An assassination (attempt) on Prime Minister Robert Fico was carried out today at the government's off-site meeting in Handlova," the government office said in a statement.

"At the moment he is being transported by helicopter to Banska Bystrica, because it would take too long to Bratislava in view of the necessity of an acute intervention."

Emergency Services said they had received information about a man being shot in Handlova shortly after 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) and sent an emergency helicopter to a 59-year old patient.

Broadcaster TA3 reported four shots were fired, and that the leftist prime minister had been hit in the abdomen.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, led condemnation of the attack, which also shocked the European Union and NATO member state's allies in central Europe.

"Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with PM Fico, his family", von der Leyen said.

Reuters /Radovan StoklasaA person is detained after shooting incident of Slovak PM Robert Fico, after a Slovak government meeting in Handlova, Slovakia, May 15, 2024 (Reuters /Radovan Stoklasa)A Reuters witness said he heard several shots and that he saw a man being detained by police. He also saw security officials pushing someone into a car and driving off. The government office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Return to power

The Slovak government was meeting in Handlova, 190 km (118 miles) northeast of Bratislava, as part of a tour of the country's regions after coming to power late last year.

Fico became prime minister for the fourth time last year after shifting political gears to appeal to a changing electorate.

During a three-decade career, Fico has moved between the pro-European mainstream and nationalistic positions opposed to European Union and U.S. policies. He has also shown a willingness to change course depending on public opinion or changed political realities.

Following the shooting, Slovakia's biggest opposition party called off a planned protest against government public broadcaster reforms set for Wednesday evening.

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova wrote on X: "Utterly shocked by today's brutal attack on #Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, which I condemn in strongest possible terms."

"I wish him lot of strength in this critical moment and early recovery."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed shock on X, adding: "News of the cowardly assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Fico shocks me deeply. Violence must have no place in European politics."

Austria's conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer also said he was shocked, adding: "Hate and violence must not be allowed to take hold in our democracies and must be fought with the utmost determination!"

Video: The attack / Social media

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Pope Francis opened his first full day in Slovakia on Monday by meeting with church and state leaders ahead of an encounter with the country's Jewish community to honor its Holocaust dead and atone for Catholic complicity in World War II-era racial laws and crimes.

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Francis arrived at the presidential palace, and later at the capital's St. Martin cathedral, on the second day of his four-day pilgrimage to Hungary and Slovakia which marks his first international outing since undergoing intestinal surgery in July.

Ahead of a rigorous two-day trip around Slovakia, Francis is spending Monday in the capital Bratislava where the highlight of his visit is an afternoon encounter at the capital's Holocaust memorial, built on the site of a synagogue destroyed by the communist regime in the 1960s.

During a brief visit to Hungary the previous day, where he also met the country's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Francis on Sunday called for Christians and Jews to work together to stop the rise of antisemitism in Europe, saying it is a "fuse which must not be allowed to burn."

"I think of the threat of antisemitism still lurking in Europe and elsewhere. This is a fuse that must not be allowed to burn. And the best way to defuse it is to work together, positively, and to promote fraternity," the pontiff said.

More than half a million Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust, which destroyed a once-vibrant culture across the country.

Today, there are about 75,000 to 100,000 Jews in Hungary, the largest number in central Europe, according to the World Jewish Congress, with most of them in Budapest.

A survey by the think tank Median commissioned by Mazsihisz, the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, found that one in five Hungarians were strongly antisemitic, while another 16% were what the survey called moderately antisemitic.

The survey, published in July and taken during 2019-2020, said there were fewer antisemitic acts such as vandalism and physical assault in Hungary compared with other European countries.

In his speech, the pope evoked the image of Budapest's famous Chain Bridge over the Danube River, linking the two halves of the Hungarian capital, Buda and Pest.

"Whenever we were tempted to absorb the other, we were tearing down instead of building up. Or when we tried to ghettoize others instead of including them," the pope said. "We must be vigilant and pray that it never happens again."

He said Christian leaders should commit to what he called an education in fraternity to stand up against outbursts of hatred.

Slovakia declared its independence from Czechoslovakia on March 14, 1939, and became a Nazi puppet state with a politician and Roman Catholic priest Jozef Tiso becoming the country's president.

Now, only about 5,000 Jews live in Slovakia, a largely Roman Catholic country of 5.5 million currently ruled by a four-party center-right coalition government.

Just last week, the government formally apologized for the racial laws that stripped the country's Jews of their human and civil rights, prevented their access to education and authorized the transfer of their property to non-Jewish owners.

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Marking the 80th anniversary of the "Jewish Code" adopted on Sept 9, 1941, the government said in a statement on Sept. 8 that it "feels a moral obligation today to publicly express sorrow over the crimes committed by the past regime."

The code was considered one of the toughest anti-Jewish laws adopted in Europe during the war.

Slovakia is now home to the far-right People's Party Our Slovakia party, which has had members in Slovakia's Parliament since 2016. The party openly advocates the legacy of the Slovak Nazi puppet World War II state. Its members use Nazi salutes and want Slovakia out of the European Union and NATO.

In January, the Slovakian government approved the purchase of 17 radar systems produced by Israel Aerospace Industries. The deal, worth some $182 million, will include a technology transfer from Israel to Slovakia, as well as industrial cooperation between the two countries.

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The Slovak government has approved the purchase of 17 radar systems produced by Israel Aerospace Industries, the Defense Ministry announced on Thursday.

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The deal, worth some $182 million, will include technology transfer from Israel to Slovakia, as well as industrial cooperation between the two countries, and is being led by the ministry's International Defense Cooperation Directorate. The radar components will be manufactured in collaboration with defense industries in Slovakia under the professional guidance of IAI and the ministry.

The flagship Multi-Mission Radar (MMR) manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary ELTA systems is combat-proven with extensive operational experience in Israel and around the world. The radar detects and classifies airborne threats, calculates the threat level and provides essential data that enables systems to neutralize multiple threats simultaneously.

The systems will be interoperable with NATO defense mechanisms, with similar systems having been incorporated into the command-and-control systems of additional countries in the NATO alliance in recent years.

According to ELTA CEO Yoav Turgeman, approximately 130 MMRs have been delivered to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, and are already operational in the United States, Canada and Israel.

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"I congratulate the employees of the Israeli Ministry of Defense and IAI on another significant achievement, which reflects the excellent capabilities of Israel's defense industry, as well as Israel's strengthening relations and cooperation with NATO countries," said Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Such technology and procurement agreements "are part of the security concept of the State of Israel and particularly important for Israeli resilience at this time, due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," he added.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Slovakia's Jewish community labeled it "an unprecedented barbaric act."

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Police are investigating the incident at the cemetery, which dates to the second half of the 18th century. It was renovated in 2010.

The World Jewish Congress decried the desecration.

"The Jews of Slovakia have in recent years been fortunately spared of overtly aggressive expressions of anti-Semitism, but it has become sadly clear that in the climate of xenophobia and hatred spiraling across Europe, every minority community is indeed a potential target for malicious attack," said the organization in a statement.

"We are incredibly grateful to the Christian NGO Pamätaj-Remember for taking it upon itself to invest in the maintenance and upkeep of the Jewish cemetery in the absence of an active Jewish community in the town of Námestovo, and we sincerely hope that this example of interfaith support will continue to triumph over any and all manifestations of hatred.

"This was an inexcusable and direct attack against the Jewish community, which must be condemned at the highest levels," the statement: continued. "All authorities in Slovakia and across Europe must make it clear that such expressions of disrespect and hatred will not be tolerated.

"We thank the local police authorities for treating this attack with the severity that it deserves and hope that the perpetrators will be located and brought to justice at once."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The family was forced to flee once it became known that Slovakian Jews would be sent to the death camps. Miriam was born in 1937 to Moshe and Olga Ressler and had two other sisters. For three years, the family managed to evade being sent to the camps, often spending time hiding in desolate forests and remote villages. 

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For example, a couple by the name of Vincent and Anna Tekley hid the family in their wine cellar. One day, German soldiers discovered the cellar and began firing at it indiscriminately. The Russell family survived that shooting and then went on to find refuge by hiding under the floor of a farmer's barn – accommodations they paid a handsome fee for. 

After the farmer and his wife learned the Resslers were running out of money, they reported the family to the authorities. The couple offered to wash the family's clothes – including the doll's tiny garments – but in actuality, called up the Slovakian guards to notify them of the family's existence. The guards seized the family and detained them until they were ready to be sent to the camps for what would be their inevitable death.

However, thanks to luck and cunning on the Resslers' part, they were able to escape their confinement. They returned to the couple who owned the wine cellar and hid there until the end of the war. 

And what of the doll? The doll was left behind in the farmhouse, likely never to be seen again.

While hiding under the floor in the farmhouse, Miriam believed the doll protected her and her family during those horrible and harrowing days. 

Once Slovakia was liberated, her parents pleaded and wept with the farmers for the doll to be returned to Miriam.

"It was only a doll, but I felt she gave me strength. When my whole body would shake from fright, I'd hug the doll close to me and she'd calm me down. I spoke to her. I sang to her. She was everything to me," Ressler said. 

The family found the doll among the farmer's possessions – broken, with no arms and legs. 

In 1947, the Ressler family immigrated to Israel. Vincent and Anna Tekley were recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations – an honor bestowed on non-Jews whose kindness and generosity allowed some Jews to survive the Holocaust.

Later, Miriam married the late Moshe Eli Farmer in Israel, and they have two daughters. Today she has six grandchildren and a 1½ year-old great-grandson. 

Despite all the time that has elapsed, the decision to hand the precious doll to Yad Vashem was not easy. 

Michael Tal, director of the Yad Vashem Collection, explained, "During the Holocaust, people had to say goodbye to their belongings. In many cases, they had one object that became a world to them and gave them hope. Yad Vashem is using these objects to tell the story of the survivors, who in a few year's time will no longer be with us." 

"I was debating whether to give the doll to Yad Vashem and say my final goodbyes," she said. "I felt that this doll protected me and was my best friend. To this day I think of her. In the end, we decided it was the best place so they wouldn't forget what we went through in the Holocaust. After I am no longer here, she will continue to tell my story."

The doll is part of the new online exhibition, Children in the Holocaust which appeared on the Yad Vashem website, in which various stories of children in the Holocaust are displayed through personal items. The doll was given to Yad Vashem as part of the "Gathering the Fragments" project to collect personal items from the Holocaust period.

To coordinate and deliver items as part of the "Gathering the Fragments" project call: 972-2-6443888, collect@yadvashem.org.il

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In his request filed two years ago, Jaromír Čižnár said the far-right People's Party Our Slovakia is an extremist group whose activities violate the country's constitution and its goal is to destroy the country's democratic system.

But the court ruled the prosecutor general failed to provide enough evidence for the ban.

The verdict is final.

"The ruling has clearly showed that our party is legitimate and democratic," party chairman Marian Kotleba said on Monday. He said it was "a political trial."

The prosecutor's office didn't immediately comment.

Kotleba's supporters applauded in the courtroom while the opponents unveiled a banner in front of the court that read "Stop Fascism."

The party openly admires the Nazi puppet state that the country was during World War II. Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime in deprived areas, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union.

If granted, it would have been the first ban on a parliamentary party.

There is a precedent, though. In 2006, the same court banned a predecessor of People's Party, the neo-Nazi Slovak Togetherness-National Party, also led by Kotleba.

It was a fringe political group then. Today, the popularity of Kotleba's group is on the rise. Some recent polls suggested it's the second most popular political party in the country. Kotleba finished fourth in the first round of Slovakia's presidential election last month.

Its simple slogan — "With courage against the system!" — attracts young people fed up with corruption and the inability of mainstream parties to deal effectively with the post-communist country's problems.

In contrast to most of Europe's far-right groups, analysts say it's truly neo-Nazi because it advocates the legacy of the Slovak Nazi war state.

It celebrates Jozef Tiso, a Catholic priest and politician who was Slovakia's war president. During his rule, some 60,000 Slovak Jews were transported to Nazi death camps. He was sentenced to death and hanged in 1947.

Kotleba's party made news by launching patrols on trains in 2016 in a reaction to a robbery blamed on a member of the Roma minority. Parliament outlawed them.

The party "unequivocally aims at the removal of the current (political) system," said Ivan Minar, one of the prosecutors representing the prosecutor general at the trial. "Democracy has a right, and also a duty to defend itself," he said.

But Judge Jana Zemkova said the prosecutors' arguments were not "legally relevant," and "lacked evidence" for such a serious decision as a ban.

"It's certainly a boost for the party," said Grigorij Mesežnikov, an analyst. "The Supreme Court proved them right to claim they're a standard part of the political system."

The party stands a good chance of winning seats in next month's European Parliament elections.

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