During the World War II, the family faced persecution because of their Jewish heritage and had to hide in a hut in the woods close to the village of Čierny Balog.
The most severe incident happened in 2012 when Janovic and his wife were beaten by the nationalist writer Drahoslav Machala at a post office.
[4] The case was prominently featured in the media because Machala was an advisor and speech writer of the prime minister Robert Fico and president Ivan Gašparovič.
In 1973, he received the Bratislava lyre award for lyrics of the song Chvála humoru performed by Karol Duchoň and Eva Kostolányiová.
[6] In 2017 Janovic was awarded Pribina Cross, 2nd class by the president Andrej Kiska for his lifelong contributions to Slovak literature and development of democracy and human rights in Slovakia.