Slovak party's donation to families in need reflects hidden Nazi symbolism in the amount - EUR 1488

The neo-Nazi party in Slovakia chaired by Marián Kotleba, the “People’s Party – Our Slovakia” (Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko – ĽSNS) has taken advantage of the 14 March anniversary of the rise of the Fascist Slovak State, which collaborated with Hitler’s Germany, to donate money to three families, and the amount donated is reflective of Nazi symbolism. Slovak MP Milan Uhrík (ĽSNS) was asked by the Slovak news server TVnoviny.sk whether the amount of EUR 1488 was intentional or random.

The answer he gave confirmed the ĽSNS party’s intention to provocatively exploit Nazi symbolism:  “This is not a matter of symbolism or numerological occultism. We can’t be expected to rank even numbers according to whether somebody believes they might be racist. On the other hand, if we were to have made this a round number, then our long-term, systematic aid to the poor would never be noticed by the media.”

The number 14 symbolizes the number of words in the English sentence “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children”, which is a motto of American neo-Nazis. It was introduced by the head of the Klu Klux Klan, David Lane.

The number 88 refers to the eighth letter in the alphabet (H) and is used by neo-Nazis to represent the Nazi greeting “Heil Hitler”. The number 1488 is used to represent the slogan White Pride World Wide.

The ĽSNS conceived of the 14 March anniversary as a celebration of Slovak statehood. It began with a visit to the symbolic tomb of Jozef Tiso at the cemetery in Bratislava, where the controversial priest Miroslav Čajka led those assembled in prayer, followed by evening celebrations in Banská Bystrica that culminated in the signing of the anthem of the Fascist Slovak State, “Hey, Slovaks” (Hej Slováci).

Kotleba is the Governor of the Banská Bystrica Region. His party entered the Slovak Parliament for the first time more than a year ago, winning 14 seats.