[1] Tatarka was born in Pelyvássomfalu, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (now Plevník-Drienové, Slovakia) to Jozef Tatarka-Greš and Žofia Tatarková (née Časnochová), who originally came from Sziklaszoros (now Skalité).

During the World War II, he joined the illegal Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and participated in the Slovak National Uprising.

[3] In the early 1950s, Tatarka worked as an editor of various Slovak newspapers (Pravda, Národná Obroda) and a writer of propagandist books and movie scripts celebrating the role of the Communist party in the defeat of fascism and general modernization of the society, particularly in terms of collectivization of the agriculture.

[5] In spite of his initial support for the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, in the later phase of 1950s, Tatarka became increasingly disillusioned with the cult of personality and lack of debate within the regime.

In 1954 he wrote The Demon of Consent, in which he satirically analyzed the role of "little stooges" seeking the "protection of the herd" and refusing to think for themselves, in maintaining totalitarian regimes.