Pomníky v slovensko-maďarských vzťahoch: Etnické zápasy a ich regulácia na južnom Slovensku

The paper focuses on the issue of interethnic relations within a nation-state in connection with the issue of public commemoration. On the example of two case studies concerning the memorial-building activities in the town of Nove Zamky in South Slovakia, the authoress demonstrates how the local authorities use memorials for the present political purposes: 1. as means of the ethnic struggles between the core nation of Slovaks and the Hungarian minority, 2. as tool for the regulation of interethnic relations. The first case study describes the efforts of the representatives of Slovaks to restore the monument to the Czechoslovak legionaries from the interwar period, and the counter-efforts of the representatives of Hungarians to hinder the restoration. At the same time, the case documents the struggle of the mentioned ethnic groups for their status within the state as well as the efforts of the Mayor to forestall the ethnic confrontations. The other case study describes the unveiling ceremony of the statues to commemorate Anton Bernolak, a catholic priest and the author of the first version of Slovak literary language, and György Szechenyi, a former archbishop of Esztergom, in the city centre. Here the author points out the endeavour of the municipal representatives to foster the interethnic tolerance and ethnic balance in the town.