Military Cemeteries
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Surely no one doubts that the First World War was a terrifying conflict that left traces behind. The remnants of fierce fighting were obscured by nature or human activity. It is no different here in the Carpathian mountains. At the turn of 1914-1915, a large part of today's northeastern Slovakia became the scene of heavy fighting. As I mentioned, the traces of this cataclysm have faded, but something remains ... The last memento of the terrible war are dozens of military cemeteries in our region. The tooth of time was also signed on them. For decades, these sad monuments to the devastating war fell into disrepair and gradually disappeared from the face of the earth. It's time to change this unhappy state. The following lines are devoted to a brief introduction to the issue of military cemeteries from the First World War in northeastern Slovakia.
The First World War left a number of military cemeteries and graves in our territory. The successor state of the former monarchy had to take care of these graves. In difficult conditions, the Czechoslovak authorities tried to fulfill their international obligations in the field of care for war graves. As time later showed, the interwar era was the only period until today, when military cemeteries from the First World War were well taken care of.
Report from the grand opening of the reconstructed war cemetery from the First World War in the village of Palota.
In the summer of 2011, the war cemetery in Medzilaborce was ceremoniously dedicated. There were several reports in the media informing about the whole event. Anthem, honor guard and a new attraction in the city. However, not all the gold that glitters is. The whole thing has one good hook.
Reconstruction of the largest war cemetery from the First World War in Slovakia continues in August. About 10,700 soldiers are buried in the cemetery in Veľkrope. This cemetery is larger than the war cemetery in Slavín, while it is completely anonymous and neglected. For these reasons, members of KVH Beskydy have been working since 2009 on the rescue and reconstruction of the war cemetery in Velkrop.
Report from reverential actions at the reconstructed war cemeteries of northeastern Slovakia.
These days, volunteers from the Beskydy Military History Club managed to complete the reconstruction of the war cemetery from the First World War in the village of Becherov with a ceremonial dedication. I must point out that all of us who have been involved in restoring this war cemetery feel a huge satisfaction. In the following lines, I would like to summarize the individual stages of the gradual reconstruction of the war cemetery in Becherov.
Photo report from the reconstruction of the war cemetery from the First World War in the village of Stebník.
In March 1915, fierce fighting took place around the village of Výrava. The Russian army repeatedly tried to break through the Austro-Hungarian troops between the villages of Výrava and Svetlice. The fierce and destructive fighting, which could lead to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian front, brought heavy losses to both warring parties. The result is also three military cemeteries located in the cadastre of the village Výrava. These three military cemeteries from the First World War are among the most interesting in the district of Medzilaborce. In the archival materials, these military cemeteries are referred to as Vyrava - Pod Kudrovcom, Vyrava - elevation 600 and Vyrava - Pod Kobylou. Data on the number of fallen soldiers buried in these military cemeteries are not accurate. Approximately 2688 fallen soldiers are buried in the Pod Kudrovcom locality. Over 636 fallen soldiers are buried in the military cemetery at the elevation of 600, and in the Pod Kobylou locality the number of fallen soldiers buried ranges from 300 to 418 victims. Last year, the gradual reconstruction of these military cemeteries began.
In October 2012, the reconstruction of the war cemetery from the First World War Snina I. Giglovo was completed with a solemn ordination. The reconstruction was carried out in the course of 2012 by volunteers from the Beskydy Military History Club and the Slovak Soldiers' Union - Humenné Club. The restoration of the cemetery was supported by the Carpathian Foundation and the town of Snina. In the following report, we will recall the most important moments during the reconstruction.
Report on the reconstruction of the war cemetery from the First World War in the village of Kružlová (Svidník district).
Recently, reconstruction work began on war cemeteries in the villages of Becherov and Chmeľová. From June 9 to June 11, 2011, an international volunteer CAMP took place, during which volunteers from Slovakia as well as abroad worked on the mentioned war cemeteries. Reconstruction work is coordinated by the Beskydy Military History Club in cooperation with the municipalities of Becherov and Chmeľová.
The Memento of the First World War project is an activity that the Beskydy Military History Club, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic, has been implementing for the third year. The main idea of the project is to systematically map the history and current state of war cemeteries from the First World War.
There are about 200 war cemeteries from the period of the First World War in the territory of northeastern Slovakia. Most of them are in a catastrophic state and are on the verge of extinction. For many decades, war cemeteries have been on the verge of the interest of experts, the public and the competent authorities. Some of the cemeteries paid for this disinterest with extinction. The article discusses ways to change this situation.
When I wrote the first article about the German military cemetery in Malta ( Crete ), I had no idea that another post would be added soon. Together with my friends, we went to the opposite end of the republic to see the places of fighting in Dukla, as we have not had such an opportunity so far. I know that many may not have such a possibility either, so I will try to show them the reality of these places from the summer of 2005. So those who are interested can continue reading.
More than a year ago, we drew attention to the dubious reconstruction of the war cemetery from the First World War in Medzilaborce. During its reconstruction, the historical reality was not respected and in the end the cemetery was unjustifiably presented as a German war cemetery. This is despite the fact that the German victims make up only a small fraction of all soldiers buried there. Not much time passed and other irregularities appeared, but this time connected with the exhumation of war victims in the cemetery in the village of Oľka. Austro-Hungarian and Russian soldiers were exhumed in violation of documents from the archives on the pretext that they were Germans. We have pointed out suspicious facts on our website . We informed the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic with official letters, which is dealing with the agenda of war graves. The media also became interested in the case.
At present, there are 6 official German military cemeteries in Slovakia, where 12,199 German soldiers have found their last rest. The mentioned military cemeteries are Bratislava-Ružinov, Humenné, Hunkovce, Prešov, Važec and Zborov.
After a long winter break, it is time again to move forward with the reconstruction of the largest war cemetery from the First World War in the village of Veľkrop ( Stropkov district ). We started this year with a really big style. The first working event at the local cemetery was a large international working camp of the International Visegrad Working Group for Military Cemetery, composed of representatives of civic associations from all V4 countries.
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