Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Partisan Congress riots/archive1

Partisan Congress riots

 * Nominator(s): buidhe 00:42, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

This article is about anti-Jewish rioting in postwar Slovakia, primarily caused by former Slovak partisans at an official congress of the Union of Slovak Partisans, an anti-Nazi veterans' association. I would like to thank for their feedback and copyediting of the article. buidhe 00:42, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Source review - pass
Nb, I intend to use these reviews to claim points in the WikiCup.

The sources used all appear to me to be reliable. The sources referred to seem to support the text cited, insofar as I have checked them. I found no unattributed close paraphrasing. I consider the sources to be current, as these things go. A reasonable mix of perspectives are represented. Everything that I would expect to be cited, is. Gog the Mild (talk) 17:46, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Support from Gog the Mild
I copy edited this for GoCE and reviewed it at ACR. It looked pretty good both times. Let's see if I can find anything new to say.


 * "and political prisoners". Possibly you mean 'ex-political prisoners'?
 * Done
 * Is it worth mentioning whether "Colonel Rudolf Viktorín" was from the army, the police, or whatever?
 * Done
 * "the security agency erred in". Has this agency been previously mentioned?
 * Fixed
 * "The Czechoslovak police". Is "Czechoslovak" not redundant? If not, perhaps this could be explained? Elsewhere police are described as "police"; is there a distinction?
 * I was trying to link Czechoslovak police at first mention to avoid easter egging. Now moved up.
 * "According to the intelligence reports" I am not sure what the word "intelligence" is communicating here. Reports from security agencies?
 * Changed to "police report".
 * Caption: "17 Židovská Street, now Museum of Jewish Culture". Should that be '17 Židovská Street, now the Museum of Jewish Culture'?
 * Done
 * "a crowd described as mostly partisans". Is it known by whom?
 * Fixed
 * "a crowd reported to be 300 strong". Similarly.
 * Done
 * "people pretending to be partisans" → 'people pretending to be ex-partisans. or similar?
 * Done
 * "the difficulty of arresting armed persons". I think that the fact that the partisans were armed should be mentioned earier.
 * Done
 * "although this was soon called off". Which was called off: the suspension, or the idea of an executive order?
 * Clarified (the former)

Superb work. It reads even better than it did at ACR; you've been tweaking it. Gog the Mild (talk) 17:46, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your review! I believe I've addressed everything. buidh<b style="color: White">e</b> 18:55, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

You have indeed. Supporting. Gog the Mild (talk) 19:29, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

Comments Support by PM
Following on from my Milhist ACR comments: More to come. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 08:49, 7 July 2020 (UTC) That's me done. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 01:57, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Lead
 * suggest "and other cities and towns in the autonomous Slovak region of Czechoslovakia between 1 and 6 August 1946"
 * Done
 * suggest "of businesses that had been Aryanized, or confiscated, from Jews by the wartime Axis client state known as the Slovak State,..." with links
 * Done
 * suggest "Rioting began on 1 August with the robbery of František Hoffmann's apartment. A national congress of former Slovak partisans was held in Bratislava on 2–4 August 1946, and many of the rioters were identified as former partisans. Rioting continued until 6 August."
 * Done
 * Body
 * suggest "by economic antisemitism, the stereotypical view of Jews as exploiters of poor Slovaks. National antisemitism strongly associated Jews with the Hungarian state and accused them of sympathizing with Hungarian national aims at the expense of Slovak ambitions."
 * Done
 * suggest "The Slovak State, a one-party state of the far-right clerofascist Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSĽS)" with links
 * Partly done, the clerical fascist label is rejected by the majority of historians
 * Really, could you detail this rejection? I easily found plenty of quality reliable sources that call it that. Examples include . Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 01:45, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Ward says, "“Clerical fascist” became the preferred category for understanding him [Tiso]. Often describing a fusion between fascism and religious politics, it has been used by scholars for decades. 157 In Stalinist Czechoslovakia, however, it justified the persecution of Catholics and Ľudáks. The term “clerofascism,” a variant, became pejorative. The postwar dean of Slovak historians, Ľubomír Lipták, likened it to “Judeo-bolshevism,” which also aimed “to compromise one [component] with the other and both mutually.” (Priest, Politician, Collaborator p. 267) Elsewhere Ward writes that "clerical fascist" is a "Communist reduction" and that "I take issue in my conclusion with the concepts of “clerical fascist” and “conservative-authoritarian,” proposing instead a novel category that highlights the conflicted attitude toward revolution that typified politicians such as Tiso."
 * Why should their view take precedence over other academics? Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 03:31, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Ward wrote the #1 book in English about the Slovak State, linked above, whose reviews were almost unanimously positive. The idea that Slovak state was clerical fascist is rejected by most Slovak historians post-1990. The books you cited only mention the ideology of the Slovak State in passing, and their authors are not experts on the history of the Slovak State. The entire concept of clerical fascism is also very fuzzy as pointed out here. I just don't see how one could classify the Slovak State as clerical fascist in Wikipedia voice when it's a minority position among recent historians. (t &#183; c)  buidhe  04:33, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
 * It hasn't been shown that it is "a minority position among recent historians". Recently published books discussing Slovakian history, politics and religion use the term. I've already linked three, one from Cambridge UP (2016), one from SUNY Press (albeit 1998), and one from Routledge (2018). There are also others, like this one (2018), this one (already used in the article, 2013). In reviewing your articles on Slovakia I'm becoming concerned that you are giving undue weight to sources that take a particular stance on the status of the Slovak State and that you are failing to represent the academic consensus and compare and contrast when the academic sources differ on a topic. It is one reason I am not supporting the Holocaust in Slovakia article's promotion to FA, and I am thinking of opposing the promotion of this article for the same reason. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 04:52, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
 * The books cited above include one which is philosophy/memoir and another which refers to "German, Hungarian and Slovak clero-fascist regimes" (I am not aware of many historians who consider Nazi Germany clerical fascist). More importantly, I just don't see how characterizing the Slovak State as clerical fascist helps the reader's understanding of this article subject, which is not about the Slovak State. Any discussion of this issue which adequately represenents the nuances and different perspectives, without overbroad characterizations in Wikipedia voice, would be undue in this article, so I think it should be dealt with elsewhere. (t &#183; c)  buidhe  05:09, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
 * I have changed it to "far-right fascist", as I think that is adequately supported to say in Wikipedia voice. (t &#183; c)  buidhe  06:32, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
 * for "German-occupied Poland" link Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)
 * Done
 * suggest "and at least another 10,000 Jews were deported" as this was the second lot of deportations
 * Done
 * is there any info in sources as to why there were so many non-Bratislavan Jews in the city after the war?
 * Added a note, since Cichopek does not discuss this specifically with relation to Bratislava.
 * could "veterans of the Czechoslovak armies abroad" be linked to Czechoslovak government-in-exile?
 * Done
 * was there any particular strain of antisemitism amongst the partisans, or was it just general Slovak antisemitism?
 * Sources don't elucidate this question any more than I put in the third paragraph of the background section.
 * what does ÚSŽNO stand for?
 * Added
 * explain that the SRP represented non-religious Jews not covered by ÚSŽNO
 * Done
 * Topoľčany pogrom is duplinked
 * Fixed
 * suggest "The restitution law triggered a resurgence of popular anti-Jewish sentiment which led to the riots at the Partisan Congress ." as the latter part of the sentence belongs in a later section
 * Not done, this section specifically discusses the events that precipitated the riots.
 * link Kapucínska Street, and I am just wondering, are these streets and squares named because they are in the former Jewish quarter, or what?
 * Yes, I will look for a source for that later.
 * Now done—note added to the map. (t &#183; c)  buidhe  21:49, 7 July 2020 (UTC)
 * place 2–4 August 1946→place between 2 and 4 August 1946
 * Done
 * Masariak? first name?
 * Not stated in either source
 * was František Hoffmann a Jew?
 * Not stated explicitly in the source
 * "a group including former partisans stopped passersby" where?
 * Source doesn't say, Cichopek gives the locations for the riots overall but not this particular incident.
 * link rabbi
 * Done
 * was Pavol Rybár a Jew and Ružena Dobrická a Slovak?
 * Strongly implied by the source, but would be WP:OR as it's not stated explicitly
 * 5,000 Kčs
 * done
 * supporters of the former Slovak People's Party HSĽS regime
 * Done
 * "Winterstein criticized the police response, arguing that law enforcement tended to arrive late and release detained persons quickly, who then went on to make additional attacks.[k]" really needs to be properly footnoted, not rely on a footnote in a note
 * done
 * move link to Topoľčany to first mention
 * Done
 * E eastern Slovakia
 * Thanks so much for your comments. (t &#183; c)  buidhe  21:49, 7 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Is the link to News Agency of the Slovak Republic appropriate given the target org was only created in 1992? Also, was this state-controlled? If so, add.
 * Redlinked Zpravodajská agentúra Slovenska, appears to be an unrelated organization. Added state-controlled.
 * is Interior Ministry Commissioner Michal Ferjencik the same as the commissioner of internal affairs of the autonomous Slovak government?
 * No, Ferjencik is a federal official—clarified.
 * OK, I'm supporting now. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 06:21, 18 July 2020 (UTC)

Comments Support from MaranoFan
I will be adding my comments here shortly. Though this isn't the type of topic I specialize in, the article looks great off a few glances. Which is a good sign that people who see it on the home page will like it too!---<b style="color:purple">N</b><b style="color:teal">Ø</b> 08:00, 13 July 2020 (UTC) All in all, it is definitely a great, well-researched article, with alt texts, great pictures and vocabulary throughout. No major concerns other than the red links.--<b style="color:purple">N</b><b style="color:teal">Ø</b> 12:07, 13 July 2020 (UTC)
 * "The Jewish community numbered 4,500 in 1869 and expanded to its peak of 18,000 in 1940, 13 percent of the population" - There are a bunch of territories mentioned in the sentences right before, might be helpful to re-mention which country's population is being referred to.
 * Clarified that this refers to Pressburg/Bratislava
 * "There were no major incidents in Bratislava prior to the summer of 1946." - Here too, it might help to clarify what type of major incidents are being referred to, maybe "no major anti-Jewish incidents"?
 * Done
 * I'm not sure if the red link on Ján Beharka is necessary, a direct link to the CS article like Ján Beharka might work better.
 * I prefer not to do that because it could be a bit easter eggy to send readers to a page in a different article when they're expecting an enwiki article.
 * "In postwar Slovakia, anti-Jewish leaflets appeared regularly" - Where did they appear from? Might be better to write this in active voice if possible, like "In postwar Slovakia, [Insert creator's name] distributed anti-Jewish leaflets regularly".
 * The anti-Jewish leaflets were anonymous—their creators, if known, would have been prosecuted for disrupting public order. The sources don't try to speculate who the creators might have been.
 * If information is available on František Hoffmann's profession or religion, it may be helpful to use that to introduce him in the Riot section's opening sentence. Even just mentioning if he's Jewish will probably help readers understand the context better.
 * I would love to give more context, but it's just not there in the source, which expects you to just know that he is Jewish. There's not much I can do without breaching WP:NOR.
 * Apologies but there are several more red links in this section, is this common? I just usually see people trying to avoid red-linked terms in articles I work on.
 * I personally believe, per WP:REDLINK, redlinks can be helpful in stimulating article creation. There are many highly notable topics in Central European history that don't have articles in enwiki; I imagine this is much less true of the topics that you work on.
 * "Throughout the evening, small groups of rioters robbed apartments where Jews lived, on Kupeckého, Laurinská, Svoradova, and Židovská Streets" - I would perhaps reframe this as "Throughout the evening, small groups of rioters robbed Jewish residences, on Kupeckého, Laurinská, Svoradova, and Židovská Streets". In general, I prefer the term residence to "where [X] lived", but that's purely a matter of personal choice.
 * Done — thanks for the suggestion
 * "other anti-Jewish incidents occurred the same month" - This is the first sentence of a new paragraph so perhaps the month (August) should be re-introduced.
 * Done
 * "a band of ten to twenty partisans" - Two-digit numbers should preferably be expressed as numerals. Only spell out nine or lower.
 * According to MOS:NUMERAL, "integers greater than nine expressible in one or two words may be expressed either in numerals or in words". I personally prefer words in this case, numerals make it look more precise than it really is.
 * "Yelling "Hang the Jews!" and "Jews out!" they sacked the same Jewish kitchen that had been attacked two years previously" - Comma after the second quote.
 * Done
 * Thanks very much for your comments! (t &#183; c)  buidhe  12:29, 13 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Happy to support - Learnt a lot from this article, with its accessibility and high quality prose it definitely represents some of Wikipedia's best work. Good luck!--<b style="color:purple">N</b><b style="color:teal">Ø</b> 12:46, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

Coord note
Have added this to the image review requests list. --Ealdgyth (talk) 14:18, 20 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Since this nom appears to be just waiting for image review, would it be possible to nominate another article? (t &#183; c)  buidhe  14:19, 20 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, you're fine for another. Very odd to be waiting on the image and not the source review.. heh. --Ealdgyth (talk) 14:22, 20 July 2020 (UTC)

Image Review - pass
All images are appropriately licenced, positioned, captioned and alt texted. Gog the Mild (talk) 18:52, 21 July 2020 (UTC)