Slovak priest (therefore also known as 'father' josef tiso) and fascist leader who proclaimed the political autonomy of Slovakia on October 10th 1938. He ruled Slovakia from 1939-1945, as a Nazi satellite. Even when informed that deported Slovakian Jews were being exterminated, he did not intervene. He did grant exemptions from deportation to 1,100 wealthy Jews who agreed to baptism. In 1945 he fled, but was captured and executed.

Although a puppet of Nazi Germany, the Slovaks received what they thought was a taste of independence with Tiso as leader. At the onset of World War II, a bargain between Tiso and Hitler resulted in political autonomy and economic gains for Slovakia. In return, Slovakia provided food and raw materials for the German war machine. But by 1943, the Slovak people saw themselves more as labourers than allies. In November 1943, resistance began. The resistance was fuelled by opponents of fascism and the Slovak puppet government (including communists), called for the reestablishment of Czechoslovakia and closer relations to the Soviet Union. The resistance grew stronger in 1944, but was discovered after similar outbursts against Nazi power in Italy and Hungary. The Germans subsequently crushed the movement in the fall of 1944. Even with the defeat of the resistance, Nazi Germany was on its heels with the Allied forces invading from the east and west. In spring 1945 Slovakia was cleared of Nazi forces by the Soviet Union. Tiso's puppet government was abolished and Czechoslovakia was resurrected.