Vojtech Tomáš Novák was born on October 10, 1946 as Vojtech Tomáš Neumann in Zlatná na Ostrove. Father Jozef Neumann came from a Jewish family, and his grandparents had a small mixed goods store in Zlatná na Ostrove. During World War II, he worked at forced labor, his parents and brother were taken to the ghetto in the Veľký Meder and later deported to Auschwitz, where they perished. Mother Eva, nee Teichner, also came from a Jewish family and lived with her mother, brother and sister in the Hungarian town - Györ. The brother managed to hide, the women were sent to the ghetto in 1944 and deported to Auschwitz in June. Eva’s mother was murdered and burned on the day the transport arrived. After a few days, the Teichner sisters were transferred to the Pieszyce concentration camp in southern Poland, where they worked in a textile factory. The camp was liberated on May 9, 1945, and after a week of difficult travel, they reached Bratislava and Györ, where they found their apartment occupied by foreign people. Vojtech’s father returned home from forced labor in April 1945 and also found a looted and destroyed house and a shop for his parents. Jozef and Eva got married in August 1945, settling in Zlatná na Ostrove. Vojtech was born in October 1946 and Ondrej three years later. In 1947 they had to change their surname to Slovak, they chose Novák. The family was afraid of anti-Semitism and also that they could send their mother away from Slovakia, as they had Hungarian citizenship. The boys attended Slovak schools, as the Jews believed that out of loyalty, their children should study in Slovak schools. For the same reason, they joined the Communist Party. Vojtech and his brother had no idea about their Jewish origin, his parents did not talk about it. In 1957, the family moved to Komárno, later Vojtech studied at a grammar school and wanted to continue his medical studies, but he did not succeed. He joined the basic military service in Karlovy Vary, where he also experienced the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia. Upon his return, he worked as a cultural officer and took part in organizing youth events. He wanted to study, but his superiors did not allow him to do so. He also formally joined the party structures. He later made his studies conditional on accepting a position in the Union of Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship, and in 1984 he completed his law studies. During his time in the union, he received several party punishments for his disagreement with the leading party’s policies, which prevented his daughter from going to college. In November 1989, he co-organized a meeting. ŠtB watched him and was interrogated several times. After the change of regime, he worked as the chairman of social organizations, later as a lawyer at the town hall in Komárno and also as a deputy mayor. He believes in the power of education and the European ideals of today’s society.
