Beata Stasak

My ancestors, the Western Slavs lived about 500 AD in the Samo's Empire. Their first state was the Great Moravian Empire in the 9th Century. The annexation of Slovakia into the Hungarian state in the course of the 10th and 11th century slowed down of the Slovak development. From the 13th to the 18th centuries raids by Tartars and Turks decline occurs and return to hunting and food gathering. The 18th century brought the enlightened reforms of Maria Theresia and Joseph II. Serfdom was abolished in the middle of 19th century. The break up of the Monarchy and the creation of the Czechoslovakia followed in the beginning of the 20th century. Following two World Wars brought stagnation and depression. After the Second World War the greatest challenge was collectivization and socialization.The introduction of mass collectivization in Slovakia. There was an effort to liquidate the independent peasant who owned his soil. Entry into a united farming cooperative was compulsory and who sabotaged the idea of building socialism was declared a class enemy and shot. To scare people even more, the Russian tanks followed... It was time, when I was born...