Tomáš Róth (*1942)

Tomáš Róth (2022)

Tomáš Róth was born on August 11, 1942 in Nitra in the family of father Karol Róth and mother Margita Róthová, née Schlesinger. Mother of Tomáš came from Trnava, from a very poor family of painter Jakub Schlesinger and mother Rozália. She had 4 siblings who lived in Israel after the war. After getting married, Margita moved to Nitra with Tomáš´s father Karol.

During World War II, Tomáš and his mother hid in a cellar, where they were protected in the neighborhood by a Christian married couple risking their own lives. They have been hiding since 1942 in Nitra in the town district of Párovce. Father Karol Róth was taken to a concentration camp. Despite his mother’s great efforts, no information could be obtained about his fate. The mother’s siblings also survived and emigrated to Israel after returning from the concentration camps.

After the war, Tomáš’s mother married Eduard Deutch, who became a real father for Tomáš. They moved from Nitra to Nové Zámky. From this second marriage of Tomáš´s mom, was born his sister. Eduard Deutch was probably in hiding during the war, he was not in a concentration camp. He never talked about this period. Thomas was brought up at home in the spirit of the Jewish religion, Father Eduard adhered to all the principles of religious life.

When he was a child, he was present several times when his parents talking about political processes, also about the trial of Rudolf Slánský. The parents were anti-communist and condemned the trials. Outwardly they did not speak out against the regime. In childhood, he played with friends, especially football, or went to the cinema, etc. He also met with peers within the Jewish community. They went and observed holidays in synagogue.

When he started to attend high school, he stopped going to synagogue. He felt, that it would not be good druing the totalitarian regime. The holidays were celebrated only at home.
After high school he entered the Faculty of Education in Nitra. He graduated from Slovak, Russian language and civic education. After graduation, he joined the military basic service in Komárno.
After his military experience, he started teaching in 1965 in the village of Semerovo, near to Nové Zámky. Tomáš also taught at primary schools in Bánovo and Dvory nad Žitavou. In 1977, he was offered to go to work for the trade union – at that time, at the district trade union council within the ROH (Revolutionary Trade Union Movement). He worked there for 14 years. He had to be a member of the Communist Party, by virtue of his trade union position.

Tomáš were intensely experienced by events of 1968. He did not believe that the revival process could be thwarted by military force. The known day, August 21, found him in the village of Tekovské Lužany, where his wife came from.
The revival process ended, after the entry of the Warsaw Pact troop. Gradually, many of employees were expelled from the (communist) party, because it came the so-called vetting. Tomáš wanted to remain to be a teacher, so he had to adapt to the new situation.
Tomáš worked at the district Trade Union Council of the ROH with eleven colleagues. Sometimes, they hang out together, and they were saying to each other that the conditions in Czechoslovakia were one big spectacle. None of them was convinced, that what was happening, it was right. Outwardly, Tomáš acted within the official line, otherwise he would have lost his job. They talked about Charter 77, but only in private.
In the 80s, Tomas felt the growing discontent in society and many times they said among his friends, that this could not last long. However, he did not speak out openly or officially. He supported the ideas of “glasnosť” and “perestrojka”.
He knew about the events of 1989 from the media. He had expectations towards democracy, freedom of speech, competition in trade and that the standard of living would gradually increase.
After 1989, Tomas began visiting relatives in Israel. His daughter moved to Israel, after she graduated university and she raised her two children. The opportunity to travel opened up, but Tomáš did not consider emigrating.
The ROH was dissolved in 1990, and Tomáš returned to teaching in an elementary school. For the last five years before his retirement, he was appointed director of the primary school in Kolta.
Tomas has been retired since 2002. In addition to his retirement, he taught at three elementary schools for one more year. After that, he spent time at home and visits his daughter in Israel in the summer time.

The full story of the witness can be found in the online archive Memory of Nations.