Politician. He was the Prime minister of the first Slovak Republic. After World War II, he was sentenced to death for collaboration with the Nazis during the war. On September 3, 1940, Tuka led the Slovak Assembly to enact Constitutional Law 210, a law authorizing the government to do everything necessary to exclude Jews from the economic and social life of the country. Slovakia was the first state outside of direct German control to agree to the deportation of its Jewish citizens to Nazi concentration camps. In all, Nazi forces, working with Slovak authorities, deported more than 70,000 Jews from Slovakia and later murdered more than 60,000 of them in concentration camps. By 1943, his health had declined to a point where his political activities were significantly diminished, and at the beginning of 1944, he was planning his resignation on September 5, 1944. He was very well-paid for his duties. Shortly afterward, he suffered a stroke which confined him to a wheelchair. Attempting to escape, he emigrated together with his wife, nursing attendants, and personal doctor to Austria, where Allied troops arrested him following the capitulation of Germany. After being given to the officials of the renewed Czechoslovakia, he had a brief trial and was executed.
Politician. He was the Prime minister of the first Slovak Republic. After World War II, he was sentenced to death for collaboration with the Nazis during the war. On September 3, 1940, Tuka led the Slovak Assembly to enact Constitutional Law 210, a law authorizing the government to do everything necessary to exclude Jews from the economic and social life of the country. Slovakia was the first state outside of direct German control to agree to the deportation of its Jewish citizens to Nazi concentration camps. In all, Nazi forces, working with Slovak authorities, deported more than 70,000 Jews from Slovakia and later murdered more than 60,000 of them in concentration camps. By 1943, his health had declined to a point where his political activities were significantly diminished, and at the beginning of 1944, he was planning his resignation on September 5, 1944. He was very well-paid for his duties. Shortly afterward, he suffered a stroke which confined him to a wheelchair. Attempting to escape, he emigrated together with his wife, nursing attendants, and personal doctor to Austria, where Allied troops arrested him following the capitulation of Germany. After being given to the officials of the renewed Czechoslovakia, he had a brief trial and was executed.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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