On Sunday, hundreds of Slovaks attended the remembrance event marking 75 years since Nazi German SS troops burned down the villages of Ostrý Grúň and Kľak, both Banská Bystrica region. "Fascism is currently leeching off feelings of social and economic injustice, with this feeling affecting many of our fellow citizens," said Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová, who also took part. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini stressed in his speech that "we can't give up on democratic values and our ancestors' desire for freedom." On January 21, 1945, after suppressing the Slovak National Uprising, German SS troops, aided by their Slovak minions, massacred a total of 148 people in the two villages in retaliation for providing assistance to partisans.
Mojmir Prochazka, Photo: TASR
