Eggcorn Forum

The so-called BeneÅ¡ decrees were issued by Edvard BeneÅ¡, president of Czechoslovakia, during and after World War II. Some of the controversial decrees deprived persons of German and Hungarian nationality of the Czechoslovak citizenship and confiscated their property. (This occurred in connection with their expulsion from Czechoslovakia; the decrees don’t directly authorize the expulsion, though.) Today, some German organizations campaign for their annulment.

The term “Banish decrees” appears in this transcript of the interview on “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2001” (either an actual misstatement from the questioner, or a mistranscription):

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QUESTION: I’d like to ask you about Slovakia and the problems with minorities, especially Roma. What do you think about this case? Did we improve or not? And then maybe a question which is not dealing directly with human rights, but if you have any statement towards banish decrees, which are now the problem in Slovakia, Czech country, Hungary and

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Let me take your first question, which is that I think, especially since Mr. Dzurinda came into power, that the Slovak Government has made great efforts to address these issues. Some of them are not always within the power of the government to address; some issues are societal issues, and we try and make that clear where they are in the report that it may be societal discrimination, and not government discrimination.

But I do find again that a government that is more dedicated to democracy than its predecessor, than Mr. Macier’s government, has taken this on as something it wants to try and work out.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) banish decrees just a little more?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: I’ll just, I’ll go with the first one. Thank you.

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(Aside: You can find the term “Banish decrees” at a particular discussion board; yes, it’s me adopting the term. And for the record, I am Czech.)

Mike Rosoft