Let's remember: The first deportations of Jewish women from Patrónka

On March 27, BKIS, through the Contexts cycle and thanks to cooperation with Post Bellum and Dopravný podnik Bratislava, commemorated one of the most difficult moments in the history of our city. The places we pass by every day often hide stories that have been forgotten over time. Patrónka in Bratislava is one of them. It was from here that the first 703 Jewish women from Slovakia aged 15 to 30 were deported on this day 84 years ago. At around 16:00 p.m., they left the Concentration Center on Patrónka in five steps and walked to the Lamač railway station. From there, already imprisoned in cattle cars, at 18:55 p.m. they set off for the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Although they believed they were leaving for work, in reality they set off on a journey from which most never returned.

This historical event was also commemorated by the voice of Emília Vášáryová in Bratislava's public transport. A recording pointing to this tragic event was played on selected public transport buses passing the Patrónka stop. Patrónka thus became a place reminiscent of the cruel history of our city.

Later, entire families from other parts of Slovakia arrived by train at Bratislava's Červený Most station, from where the guardsmen took them directly to Patrónka. They would have attracted unwanted attention at the Main Station. 7,800 Jews were deported from the Patrónka Concentration Center. Of this number, only about a hundred people survived. The first wave of transports of Slovak Jews to concentration camps lasted from March 25 to October 20, 1942 and affected more than 57,000 Jewish fellow citizens.

"It is our duty not to forget the events when human lives lost their value. Today, the patron saint has become a symbol of the fates of specific people - daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers. We believe that through such reminders we can strengthen the historical memory of society and reflect on the fragility of our freedom," said Katarína Hulíková, director of the Bratislava Cultural Center.