Otomar Kubala

Otomar Kubala (1st from right) during the proclamation of the 14 points of Slovak National Socialism by Prime Minister Tuka (1941)

Otomar Kubala (born January 26, 1906 in Lakšárska Nová Ves , † August 28, 1946 in Bratislava ) was a Slovak teacher , journalist and, as a politician of the Ludaks, an important member of their radical wing. Kubala was Chief of Staff and later Deputy Commander in Chief of the Hlinka Guard .

As head of the State Secretariat for Security, to which the Slovak secret service, police, gendarmerie and the Hlinka Guard were subordinate, Kubala was one of the most active Slovak collaborators in the suppression of the Slovak national uprising and the subsequent occupation of Slovakia by the German armed forces .

Life

Kubala studied at the Modra Teachers' College from 1920 to 1924 and then worked as a teacher for ten years. From 1934 Kubala was director of the State Civic School in Varín and in 1939 he became director of a school in Bratislava . Kubala probably joined the Hlinka Guard in November 1938 at the latest, and he also continued to turn to journalism. He published articles with fascist content in the Gardista newspaper as early as the 1930s. As early as 1941 he became editor-in-chief of the Gardista newspaper , the press organ of the Hlinka Guard. For two months he went to the Eastern Front .

As a supporter of the radical wing of the Hlinka party under the leadership of Vojtech Tuka and Alexander Mach , Kubala campaigned for close cooperation with the German Reich and for a reorganization of public and political life in Slovakia according to National Socialist principles. In 1940 and 1941, Kubala was repeatedly involved in coup attempts by the radical party wing against President Jozef Tiso . The aim of these coup attempts was, in addition to the dismissal of the brief, moderate commander in chief of the Hlinka Guard František Galan, also the introduction of a National Socialist regime in Slovakia.

Kubala was seen as the leader of the most radical forces within the Hlinka Guard and even thought Alexander Mach was too moderate. He accused Mach that his “moderation and softness” as Commander in Chief of the Guard were complicit in the outbreak of the Slovak National Uprising. From 1940 to 1942 he was Deputy Commander in Chief of the Hlinka Guard . He took part in a course of the SS in Senheim (this is controversial as there is currently no source and he did not speak German) and organized schools for commanders of the Hlinka Guard in Bojnice based on the impressions he gained (there) .

Kubala mobilized various special and elite units of the Hlinka Guard, which participated in the liquidation of actual or alleged opponents of the regime, but above all in the so-called " solution of the Jewish question ". The Hlinka Guard and Kubala as one of their highest officials played a key role in the extermination of Slovak Jews.

The radicals of the Hlinka party lost their domestic power struggle in 1942. Kubala was then released from his high positions in the Hlinka Guard, but did not give up. He began to publish the newspaper Náš boj ( German “Our Struggle”), which appeared every two weeks, and propagated Nazi ideas in it without compromise. In addition, he unsuccessfully demanded the radical completion of the “solution to the Jewish question” or the “Czech question” as well as an uncompromising fight against opponents of the regime, the main pillar of which he saw as the units of the Hlinka Guard.

Kubala was only able to enforce most of his demands after the occupation of Slovakia by the Wehrmacht in autumn 1944, when he was restored to his previous position and also became head of the security department of the Ministry of Defense. Contemporary documents show that Kubala was considered the "most trustworthy" person in Slovakia by the National Socialists, which prompted him to work closely with the occupation authorities - especially with the security service . The National Socialists rewarded his collaboration in 1943 with the Order of Merit from the German Eagle .

From September 7, 1944 Kubala was chief of staff of the Hlinka Guard and immediately campaigned for the formation of special units that should actively fight against the Slovak insurgents on the part of the Germans. This is how the standby units of the Hlinka Guard (Slovak Pohotovostné oddiely Hlinkovej gardy , POHG for short ) came into being. Its first members were volunteer guardsmen. Since more recruits were needed to put down the uprising, membership became compulsory, whereby not only members of the Hlinka Guard, but also people who did not belong to the Guard were often used.

The readiness units of the Hlinka Guard not only took part in the fighting against the insurgents and in the persecution of partisans , but also committed crimes against the local civilian population. Also under Kubala's command were the units of the Hlinka youth ( Hlinkova mládež , HM for short ), the Slovak Labor Service ( Slovenská pracovná služba , SPS for short ) and the gendarmerie .

While Slovakia was gradually occupied by the Red Army , Kubala organized the withdrawal of the remaining Slovak units and withdrew to southern Bohemia , where he finally surrendered to American units at Strakonice . Kubala was extradited to the Czechoslovak authorities, sentenced to death by shooting on August 24, 1946 , and executed as a war criminal on August 28, 1946 . He remained childless until the end of his life.

literature

• Lenka Šindelářová: Final of the extermination: Einsatzgruppe H in Slovakia 1944/45. (= Publications of the Ludwigsburg Research Center of the University of Stuttgart; Vol. 22), Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2013, ISBN 978-3-534-25973-1 .
• Peter Sokolovič: Hlinkova garda 1938–1945. Ústav pamäti národa, Bratislava 2009, ISBN 978-80-89335-10-7 .

Web links

• Otomar Kubala. Z učiteľa fanatický gardista, www.hnonline.sk (Slovak)
• Tukovi židobijci, www.plus7dni.sk (Slovak)
• www.hnonline.sk (Slovak)
• Ústav pamäti národa, www.upn.gov.sk (Slovak)