# Jewish Code (9 September 1941)

URL: https://allhistories.com/slovakia/timeline/1941-jewish-code
Location: Bratislava
Themes: Wars & Revolts

Earlier anti-Jewish legislation in Slovakia had defined Jews by religion, which allowed converts to Christianity to escape some restrictions. By 1941, under German influence and with most Jewish property already confiscated, the radical wing of the government around Vojtech Tuka and Alexander Mach wanted a comprehensive racial law. On 9 September 1941 the government issued Regulation 198/1941, known as the Jewish Code. Its 270 articles defined Jews on racial grounds, following the Nuremberg Laws, banned marriages and sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, excluded Jews from public life, education and most occupations and required them to wear a yellow star. Jews faced severe restrictions on property, special taxes and could be forced into labour or moved from their homes. The government proudly claimed that it was the strictest anti-Jewish law in Europe. President Tiso could grant individual exemptions, which were given to a limited number of people. The Code completed the legal exclusion of the Jewish community and was followed by the concentration of Jews in labour camps such as Sereď, Nováky and Vyhne. The Holy See protested against the Code, particularly its treatment of baptised Jews, but the law remained in force. It provided the framework for the mass deportations that began only six months later.

## Why it matters
The Jewish Code stripped Slovak Jews of almost all rights and prepared the legal ground for their deportation.

Ruler at the Time: [Jozef Tiso](https://allhistories.com/slovakia/rulers/jozef-tiso)

Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic (1939–1945): Vojtech Tuka (Slovak People's Party)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — The Holocaust in Slovakia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Slovakia)
- [Yad Vashem](https://www.yadvashem.org/)
- [Wikipedia — Anti-Jewish laws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Jewish_laws)
- [Wikipedia — Slovak State And War (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_Republic_(1939%E2%80%931945))