Slovak Writer Questions Cultural Elite's Collaboration with Totalitarian Regimes

Slovak writer Peter Getting has criticized the romanticized view of artists as the "conscience of the nation," arguing that Slovakia has many unprocessed aspects of its past regarding cultural elites' collaboration with totalitarian regimes. Getting pointed to writer Ľudo Ondrejov as an example of someone who was both a literary figure and an "arizator" - someone who participated in the Nazi-era process of seizing Jewish property. He argues that Slovakia had many artistic icons who simultaneously served as collaborators with the Ľudák totalitarian system. Getting suggests that Slovak society continues to avoid confronting this uncomfortable history, preferring to remain silent about the complex relationship between cultural figures and political power during periods of authoritarian rule.