At Dukla in eastern Slovakia, the heroes and victims of the Battle of Dukla Pass were commemorated on Sunday. This battle, one of the largest mountain battles of World War II and one of the largest unplanned operations of the war, took place in the heavily fortified area along the former Czechoslovak border, held by Nazi Germany following the Slovak National Uprising. The area was liberated on October 6, 1944.
The 81st anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Dukla Pass were attended by war veterans Vladimír Strmeň, aged 97, and Branislav Tvarožek, aged 99.
“Slovakia needs to unite around ideas stronger than today's divisions, much like the heroes of the 1944 Battle of Dukla Pass, who overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles through their unity,” President Peter Pellegrini said during the ceremony marking the anniversary of the Carpathian-Dukla Operation.
He highlighted the 1,265 names engraved on the colonnade of the Dukla Memorial — those who paid the ultimate price for their bravery. “Alongside our soldiers, over 20,000 Red Army soldiers also laid down their lives,” he emphasized.
It took almost a month for Soviet forces to reach Slovakia. Since 1949, a memorial to the Czechoslovak Army Corps has commemorated the heavy fighting and numerous casualties in the area.
Pellegrini also noted that society, not only in Slovakia but increasingly in other countries, is being divided into two irreconcilable camps. He expressed a hope that Slovak society would choose a path toward a higher goal.
Source: TASR, Wikipedia
