Slovak History

Mira Slovak was born in Czechoslovakia and endured both the Nazi occupation and the brutal Russian liberation. He joined the Czech Air Force, rising to captain by the age of 21. When he could no longer tolerate life under the Communists, he hijacked an airliner and flew across the Iron Curtain to freedom. He outlasted communism, and when it collapsed in 1990, he returned to his home, only to realize his true home was and always would be the US.

It was the turn of the 20th Century. Millions of Eastern Europeans were coming to America for economic opportunity taking jobs in the coal mines, steel mills, and railroads as unskilled laborers. With technological advancements, some saw the opportunity to move into skilled employment. They brought their religion, language, and traditions with them—their ethnic characteristics—to the new communities where they settled. For Slovaks, in general, the new neighborhoods were mostly located in Pennsylvania and Ohio.