President: Disappointment Breeding Ground for Rebirth of Totalitarianism

       Tokajik, November 22 (TASR) - The disillusionment of people, frustration and a polarised society, plagued by conflict and hatred, is an ideal breeding ground for the rebirth of totalitarian regimes in any form and anywhere in the world, President Peter Pellegrini said on Friday at the commemoration marking the 80th anniversary of the WW2 Tokajik massacre of 1944, when Nazi soldiers killed 32 men and burned down Tokajik village (Presov region) as a punishment for aid provided to partisans.
        The head of state further said that during the liberation of Slovakia, the Nazis left behind ruins, burnt sites and thousands of dead. More than a hundred villages were burnt or wiped out. "Although fascism suffered defeat, this doesn't mean that the threat of its return has passed away," stressed the president.
        "We're commemorating this year the 80th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) and next year we'll mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. I hope that we'll commemorate it with dignity and with due respect for the tens of millions of victims of wartime killings. Most of all, I want to believe that by that time we'll no longer be confronted with war in our immediate neighbourhood," said Pellegrini.