The Foreigner's Guide to Slovakia

Jan Kocur – A Story of Slovak Pride, American Patriotism, & the Golden Age of the Slovak League of America
by Richard Kocur, Jr
Available from Amazon.com

One hundred years ago in 1909, a 22-year old Slovak left his village and traveled to America, beginning a new life in Pennsylvania. The story of Jan Kocur, written by his grandson Richard Kocur, chronicles Jan’s life through a fascinating time in European and American history, the early part of the 20th century.

Richard Kocur describes in depth the complicated landscape of Europe that Jan Kocur left behind; countries entering treaties, agreements, and alliances to isolate rivals while dealing with their many national identities. The multi-ethnic Austria-Hungary, which included the area that would be Slovakia, was ready to be torn apart when WWI started a few years later.

The author also illustrates life in America for a new immigrant, arriving through Ellis Island and living in Arnold Pennsylvania. He would return to Slovakia a few years later to marry a Slovak woman but interestingly enough, they would live their first 10 years of married life apart as he returned to the US and then went off to war, and she remained in Slovakia to take care of her parents.

Jan Kocur filled many roles such as a soldier, a diligent worker, and a husband and then father of a growing family, but one of his most important roles was as Secretary of the Slovak League of America for 26 years. Through the league he acted as the driving force of Slovak-American causes during the first half of the 20th century, and strove to achieve the idea of Slovak independence as well as bring his fellow countrymen the same benefits he enjoyed as a free and independent Slovak-American.

The story of Jan Kocur is important because his life goes beyond the simple story of a Slovak immigrant achieving the “American dream”. His life was one driven by a handful of principles; fair and equal treatment for his fellow Slovaks in the US, dedication and devotion to the ideals that made America great, and freedom and self-determination for his Slovak homeland.

For those of us interested in immigrants’ stories from Slovakia, particularly the story of a person who never lost touch of his heritage, this is a story worth knowing.

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