Growing support

“We have a lot to be afraid of, yes,” said Stanislav Micev, a historian in the city of Banska Bystrica and director of the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP), which commemorates the wartime insurrection against Nazi troops and the Slovak quisling state.

Ironically, the uprising started in the very region where Kotleba was elected decades later.

“Sometimes we feel like lonely soldiers in the field,” Micev said, explaining that state efforts to fight extremism are often more theoretical than practical.

“I’m not sure how many committees there are to fight extremism. I myself am a member of at least three or four, but everything we agree on stays there, on paper.”

Slovakia’s wartime record still polarises opinion.

The country was a collaborationist satellite state of Nazi Germany led by Slovak arch-nationalist Josef Tiso, whose regime sent thousands of Jews to their death in the Holocaust.

But many take pride in the SNP insurrection that saw a “partisan” people’s army rise up from August 29, 1944 — a date still commemorated in national celebrations.

Kotleba prefers to celebrate a different date: March 14, the anniversary of the creation of Tiso’s fascist Slovak State in 1939.

Despite recent gains for progressives in Slovakia, LSNS support is growing, hitting 12-14 per cent, according to the most recent polls ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.

“I think that in Slovakia, we are still only coming to terms with the extent of how far this has gone,“ said Not in Our Town coordinator Strmenova.

“Kotleba has long been considered to be a Banska Bystrica problem. Now people realise he’s actually a problem of the whole country. His support is growing and I’m not sure we have found the right way to fight it yet.”

Sometimes we feel like lonely soldiers in the field. Historian Stanislav Micev

Not In Our Town was created by a group of activists in Banska Bystrica who wanted to defuse extremism while promoting democracy and human rights.

They were inspired by a movement from the US town of Billings in Montana state, where locals united under the slogan “not in our town” to fight against attacks on minorities by white supremacists.

And long before a return to “decency” became a nationwide rallying cry in the wake of the murder last year of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, the Banska Bystrica activists decided the best way to fight fascism was by offering positive alternatives.

No shouting, no violence, no more hate.

Instead, they acted as a watchdog to keep tabs on Kotleba’s administration. They organised debates to raise awareness of rising extremism.

“I’ve been learning so much about the psychology of extremism, about how some activities work and others don’t,” Strmenova said. “It’s very important to find a balance between the ‘noisy’ activities that are visible and the ones that people don’t see but that actually make a difference.”

In her view, “protests in themselves won’t decrease the level of radicalisation”.

Not in Our Town created an educational programme called Schools for Democracy to try to fill gaps in civic education and prevent radicalisation among students.

In an unprecedented move, they also set up a special committee at the mayor’s office, working with local police, authorities, teachers and experts to tackle extremism in all its nuances.