Sociálny kolaps židovskej mestskej elity na Slovensku počas holokaustu z individuálnej perspektívy

The paper deals with the issue of declining social mobility of the interwar Jewish municipal elite during the Holocaust. The objective of the author is to identify the degree of social decline experienced by three selected members of the Jewish municipal elite in Prešov, approached from an individual perspective, as a result of the implementation of anti-Semitic policies by the Hlinka Slovak People’s Party after the establishment of the authoritarian regime in Slovakia in the autumn of 1938. By using a biographical analysis of the social status of Aladár Böhm, Ľudovít Preisz, and Viktor Gärtner, the author examines their personal experiences with the Holocaust, the degree of their social decline within the social structure of society, as well as the mechanisms that were used to maintain their social status. The aim is to validate or refute the hypothesis that their previous social status, associated with additional advantages such as a stronger economic position or more diverse political, social, or personal ties, could have given them, under the conditions of the new regime, better opportunities to mitigate the consequences of anti-Semitic policies and increase their chances of surviving the Holocaust.