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Constanta, Romania
At the port in Constanta, Romania, Oscar Sladek’s family boarded a boat to sail to Israel.
Bratislava [Pozsony, Pressburg]
An important industrial, economic, and cultural center, Bratislava was the capital of the Slovak Republic during World War II. Historically part of Hungary [Hungarian: Pozsony; German: Pressburg], it was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary from the 16th-18th centuries and later part of Austria-Hungary under the Habsburg Monarchy (1867-1918). After World War I, the city became part of the new Czechoslovakian state. Upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1938-1939 Bratislava was designated capital of the Slovak Republic; today the city lies in Slovakia. When Oscar Sladek’s family decided to emigrate from Slovakia to Israel, they first traveled by train to Bratislava. There, with the help of the Israeli organization Sochnut, they boarded a train for the Romanian coast, from where they sailed to Israel.
Ziar, Slovakia
Ziar was one of the Slovakian towns that the Soviets liberated from the Nazis in early 1945. Prior to WWI, Ziar was a part of Hungary. From 1918-1939 it belonged to Czechoslovakia and, from 1939-1945 it was part of the Slovak Republic. Today Ziar is in Slovakia. Oscar Sladek and his family fled the Tatras with Slovak partisans in early 1945 to find the Russian line of war. They landed in Ziar, where the Russians provided them food and shelter until they were gradually able to travel back to their home in Prešov.
Váh River and Valley
The Váh is the longest river in Slovakia, and its headwaters are located in the Tatras mountains. The Váh river runs through the Váh valley which separates the High Tatras from the Low Tatras. The Nazis occupied the Váh valley in late 1944, and the valley was a site of combat between the Nazis and the Soviet army in the early months of 1945.
This map features a selection of locations that figure in the history of the Holocaust. This is not a comprehensive map. The featured locations were selected based on their relevance to the Survival & Witness project. Many sites have been omitted due to the limited scope of this project; new locations will be added as the project is expanded.