Slovakia government apologizes for WWII anti-Jew laws

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s government has apologized for World War II legislation that stripped the country’s Jews of their human and civil rights. Marking the 80th anniversary of the “Jewish Code” adopted on Sept 9, 1941, the government said Wednesday it “feels a moral obligation today to publicly express sorrow over the crimes committed by the then regime.” The code also prevented access of the Jews to education and authorized the transfer of their property to non-Jewish owners. Slovakia was a Nazi puppet state during World War II. It sent over 70,000 of its Jews to Nazi concentration camps, where most of them perished.