‘Like someone pulling a chair out from under your ass.’ half of Slovaks regret the division, they also regret the loss of Prague | iRADIO
Forty-five percent of Slovaks think that the division of Czechoslovakia was not beneficial. The separation of the brotherly states is mainly evaluated negatively by people over 50 and Slovak citizens of Hungarian nationality. but Slovaks still have power over the Czechia, for example they prefer to read books in Czech. But few people would give up their Slovak identity. How Slovaks remember the day of the establishment of the Slovak Republic, the new RTVS documentary Ask yours.
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The division of Czechoslovakia brought the greatest dilemma to the citizens who lived on the newly created state border. “Back then, we considered Czechoslovakia to be our homeland. We lived in a village that was right on the border. And suddenly it happened that we had to choose. Do you want to be Czech? Do you want to be Slovak?
How do Slovaks remember the day of the establishment of the Slovak Republic? This was investigated by the new RTVS documentary Ask with yours
Thirty years after the breakup, 45 percent of Slovaks consider the division wrong.
“I was not happy that we were splitting up. Two advanced Slavic nations are together in one state,” say some Slovaks in the new documentary Ask your directors Barbora Berezňáková, created for the public broadcaster RTVS.
The author interviewed dozens of people while filming. They say they remember Czechoslovakia with melancholy and ambivalence: “One of the respondents said it very well there. Czechoslovakia fell apart, as if someone pulled a chair out from under your ass. You get up, stand up, but in some kind of shock, what actually happened.”
During the first hours in their own state, Slovaks celebrated in the streets. On the Square of the Slovak National Uprising in Bratislava, they popped champagne and waved Slovak flags.
“I remember that day especially because we were in the squares and we were very happy because we were celebrating the partition. You can’t even imagine that. It was just a lot of positive energy,” says one of the respondents.
Celebrating the breakup or the new year?
According to director Berezňáková, the celebrations merged with welcoming the new year. “Some said they celebrated the end of the year the day before, but on New Year’s Eve they were more sad about the breakup with friends. Especially the politically aware ones. But often people live in history and only notice political events later, when it starts to affect them.”
Sculptures, paintings and planes. Thirty years ago, the Czechoslovak government adopted a law on the distribution of property
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The division of the state also brought with it difficulties or even existing problems for some. Many people lost their jobs in some plants, iron works or coke plants.
Crossings were erected at the borders, passports were checked, customs officials woke sleeping passengers on cross-border trains. In mixed marriages, it was decided which nationality to apply for.
The documentary Ask Yours does not neglect the origin of the Slovak crown or the new postage stamps.
Slovakia set out on its own path 30 years ago. However, Berezňáková believes that a very positive relationship with the Czechs and the maintenance of the Czechoslovak friendship system remain. “She’s still alive, she still exists. Slovaks do not see the Czechia as a foreign country at all. By foreign I mean Austria, Germany, France, England, but the Czechia is not a foreign country.”
Everyone supports their opinion on the division with different arguments. “What bothers me about the fact that we did not remain Czechoslovakia? We lost the capital city of Prague. The whole world could envy us, because Prague is a pearl.”
Ask your questions also reflects the question of Slovak identity, which according to the document is fragile and the uncertainty has long been exploited by populist politicians. “I’m still looking for it, Slovakia has no identity today.”
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