Alexander Mach, born on 11 October 1902 in Slovenský Meder (now Palárikovo), Slovakia, was a journalist and Slovak politician. With one brief interruption, he was commander-in-chief of the Hlinka Guard from 1939 to 1944. From 1940 to 1945, he also held the office of Minister of the Interior and, from 1940 to 1944, the office of Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak State.
Career
Under the First Czechoslovak Republic, Mach belonged to the young generation of officials in Andrej Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party (1864–1938). After the Munich Agreement was signed at the end of September 1938 and Slovakia’s autonomy within Czechoslovakia was proclaimed on 6 October 1938, he became head of the Propaganda Office on 18 October.1Slovák [The Slovak], 20 October 1938, Volume XX, No. 239, 1. Even during the period of Slovak autonomy from 6 October 1938 to 13 March 1939, he was known for his radical speeches against Czechs and Jews and for his hostile attitude towards the Czechoslovak Republic. In those months, he was already one of the commanders of the Hlinka Guard.
Work as Minister of the Interior
After the proclamation of the independent Slovak state on 14 March 1939, he did not initially become part of the new government, but remained commander of the Hlinka Guard. It was only after 28 July 1940, when Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) had persuaded Jozef Tiso (1887–1947) to reform the Slovak state on the German model, that Alexander Mach’s position was strengthened. He was appointed Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia. His ministry was responsible for tightening anti-Jewish measures and discriminatory policies towards Roma. Under Mach’s leadership, the Ministry of the Interior organised the deportation of the Jewish population to Nazi concentration and extermination camps in 1942.
On 12 August 1942, Alexander Mach was on an inspection tour of eastern Slovakia, during which he also visited the locations of the ‘labour units’ where people categorised as ‘asocial’ or Roma had to perform forced labour.2Gardista [The Guard], 14 August 1942, Volume IV, No. 184, 3. In autumn 1942, the Ministry of the Interior, which he headed, began setting up labour units that were now intended to be permanent. The 16th Department, created specifically for this purpose, was tasked with planning the units. In September 1942, Mach issued Decree No. 419/1942, which officially established the labour units and regulated their organisation. Roma and people whose behaviour was labelled ‘asocial’ were conscripted for work. According to the decree, the latter group included, for example, ‘alcoholics, troublemakers, brawlers, card players, morally depraved persons, work-shy persons and persons who spread alarmist reports.’ From the spring of 1942 onwards, such labour units were established in Hanušovce nad Topľou, Dubnica nad Váhom, Ilava and Most na Ostrove. They existed until 1944. After the outbreak of the Slovak National Uprising on 29 August 1944, they gradually ceased their activities.
Escape and Conviction
After the outbreak of the Slovak National Uprising, Alexander Mach was also forced to resign from his position as commander-in-chief of the Hlinka Guard. He was accused of failing to maintain security in the country and of inaction.3Hruboň, Alexander Mach, 346–348. Moreover, after the uprising, the office of Minister of the Interior, which Mach held until the liberation of Bratislava, was severely cut back. At the liberation of the city, he fled to Kremsmünster in Austria together with other representatives of the Slovak state.
The representatives of the Slovak government remained in a Benedictine monastery there until the end of the war, where they signed a declaration of surrender on 8 May 1945. Thereupon they were arrested by a US Army Intelligence unit and transported to an internment camp. Because his family lived in Gmunden, 30 kilometres away, Mach was not present when the surrender was signed, and so he was interned later. Mach and other representatives of the Slovak government were handed over to Czechoslovakia by the Americans; they arrived in Bratislava on 29 October 1945. On 15 May 1947, the National Court in Bratislava sentenced him to 30 years in prison for treason, collaboration and betrayal of the Slovak National Uprising. However, Alexander Mach did not serve his entire sentence, but was granted amnesty on 9 May 1968. He died on 15 October 1980 in Bratislava.
