August 29 saw the annual commemoration of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP). This was an armed insurrection planned and executed by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. The uprising started in Banská Bystrica on August 29, 1944. While it was fairly successfully repressed within 8-10 weeks, small pockets of rebels continued to perform sporadic attacks on German forces until the end of the war.
This year in Banská Bystrica, Romanian President Traian Băsescu and chairman of the Russian Duma Sergey Naryshkin unveiled two commemorative plaques to express Slovak gratitude and respect towards Soviet and Romanian soldiers who perished during the liberation.
In Bratislava’s SNP Square, a commemorative event entitled Začnite s Vysťahovaním – Start the Displacement - was held. The ceremony started at 8.00 p.m., the time when in 1944, General Ján Golián issued his order to start the uprising. Róbert Mihály of the initiative Bratislava bez náckov (Bratislava without Nazis), said gunshots were fired to remind attendees that many people did not hesitate, in hard times, to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of all Slovaks. The film Vlčie Diery - Wolves’ Lairs - by Paľo Bielik was screened and a crossed-out swastika was projected on to buildings.
