The Carpatho-Dukla Operation, that took place from 8th September to 27th October 1944, is the greatest military operation that has taken place in Slovakia and, at the same time, was one of the major mountain battles of World War II. Approximately 21,000 Soviet and 1,500 Czechoslovak soldiers were killed or died as a consequence of their injuries from the battles in Dukla Pass. Their goal was to unite the advancing Soviet and Czechoslovak armies with the rebels of the Slovak National Uprising. As part of their attempt to liberate Czechoslovakia, it was Czechoslovak soldiers who played the significant role in the Carpatho-Dukla Operation.
The Memorial to the Battle of Dukla Pass, a national cultural monument in Vyšný Komárnik, and partially within Nižný Komárnik, commemorates the battle materially, architecturally, artistically and through its location through a group of eight objects. The memorial to the 1st Czechoslovak Army Force in the Soviet Union is probably the most famous symbol of the Dukla conflict. Recently, it has undergone several stages of restoration, among these it is vital to mention its de-ideologization which can be seen best through the restored copy of the original sculpture of a Czechoslovak soldier by the sculptor J. A. Vítek removed from the monument during the 1950s. The memorial cemetery includes the graves of 565 Czechoslovak soldiers who fell during the battles in Dukla Pass as they tried to liberate their homeland. The graves are close to the central memorial to the 1st Czechoslovak Army Force, with the name of each soldier engraved on an individual headstone.
The memorial to the 1st Czechoslovak Army Force in the Soviet Union, the adjacent memorial cemetery and the entire complex are not only an important place of reverence and symbol of modern Slovak and Czech history, but are also a dominant item in the tangible cultural heritage of the region at the foot of Dukla (in the Svidník district) and, last but not least, it is a significant memorial that reminds us of the horrors of World War II and the fight for freedom.
Matej Tatarka
