Csemadok – Slovak Hungarian Social and Cultural Association

Csemadok, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2019, is still the largest cultural and public education organization of the Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin. Csemadok was originally an acronym for a longer name (Czech Slovak Hungarian Workers' Cultural Association). Over time, this definition changed, but the term Csemadok remained, as it became firmly established in the minds of the Hungarians in the Uplands, and is known by this name everywhere. Since its establishment on March 5, 1949, it has primarily carried out cultural and public education tasks, and although at the beginning the communist authorities tried to entrust the association with political tasks, the Hungarians in the Uplands – in an unprecedented way within the socialist bloc at the time (1948–1989) – turned the opportunity offered to their advantage. This is especially true for the lowest and most influential levels of the Csemadok structure. The fact that the Hungarians of the Uplands, after their humiliation and hellish journey between 1945 and 1948, got back on their feet and organized themselves in such a way that they preserved their identity, their mother tongue, and not only nurtured but also further developed their culture is an act that is not only exemplary for us, but can also be seen as a virtual fortress that strengthens the entire Hungarian nation and repels external interventions like a bulwark. ; The Csemadok was able to act as an organized force against the central power at all times, and although its highest levels were not always those whom the Hungarians in Slovakia could look up to with pride (they were usually appointed to these positions by the communist authorities), it was able to prevail over them even in the most critical situations with its collective strength and wisdom and created a medium for democratic decision-making and expression of opinion even in a totalitarian dictatorship. During the change of regime in 1989, this collective wisdom also decided that the alliance would not join any political or party ideology, but would serve the cause of the culture and public education of the entire Hungarians in the Highlands. We will not list in detail the events, forms of activity, and organizations operating within or growing out of the various Csemadok that confirm the above, as it would not be possible to summarize them completely even in a thick monograph.