The battles at Dukla Pass belong to the hardest military operations of the Czechoslovak units which took part in World War II. This military operation is known in history as the Carpatho-Dukla operation. It began on September 8, 1944 by the Soviet army to help the Slovak National Uprising and domestic Czechoslovak antifascist resistance. The 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in the USSR participated during these battles, which lasted almost 3 months.

There is no precedent in Czechoslovak history in terms of the numbers of casualties involved. The first attempt of the Soviet and Czechoslovak soldiers to conquer the German defenses at Dukla Pass began on September 30. North of the frontier, the Germans were well entrenched on Polish territory in the vicinity of Barwinek and Zyndranowa. The first day of the attack was characterized by the Czechoslovak 1st Army Corps being repulsed by heavy artillery fire and counterattacks by German soldiers. Troops of the Corps were uselessly trying to penetrate the hill by the village of Barwinek to the Czechoslovak border. The hill continuously changed hands that day. Seven tanks of the 1st Czechoslovak Tank Brigade were damaged.

Heavy fighting by the Czechoslovak troops also went on October 3. Despite all their efforts, the heavy rains and muddy fields caused the failure of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps to break the enemy's defense. The next day, owing to the exhaustion of the army, a subsequent attack was postponed.

On October 6, German troops began to draw back to avoid the danger of encirclement. Their new positions were 5-10 kilometers south of the pass. The front stopped there on the length of Nizny Komarrnik-Krajna Bystra. Fierce battles continued until November 25, when the offensive operation of the Czechoslovak and Soviet units halted.

During the 3 months of fighting in the Carpatho-Dukla operation, the attacking side suffered horrendous casualties. An estimated 84,000 Soviet soldiers were killed, wounded or missing, while the Czechoslovaks lost more than 6,000 soldiers. German casualties are estimated at 54,000 soldiers.

Courtesy of JOZEF RODAK, Ph.D.
Director of VOJENSKE MUZEUM (MILITARY MUSEUM)
SVIDNIK, SLOVAKIA