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Battle of the Dukla Pass

Conflict on the Eastern Front of World War II

Field	Value
conflict	Battle of the Dukla Pass
image	Dukla Pass battle monument.jpg
caption	A monument to the battle on the Slovak side of the Dukla Pass.
partof	the Eastern Front of World War II
date	8 September – 28 October 1944
place	Dukla Pass, present-day Slovakia-Poland border
result
combatant1	Nazi Germany
Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46) Hungary
combatant2	Soviet Union
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia
commander1	Nazi Germany Gotthard Heinrici
Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46) Béla Miklós (8–16 Oct 1944)
Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46) Dezső László (16 Oct – 28 Oct 1944)
commander2	Soviet Union Ivan Konev
Soviet Union Andrei Grechko
Soviet Union Kirill Moskalenko
Czechoslovakia Ludvík Svoboda
strength1	100,000 soldiers
2,000 artillery pieces
350 tanks
strength2	Soviet Union 378,000 men
Czechoslovakia 16,700 men
1,517 artillery pieces
1,724 mortars
1,000 tanks
casualties1	61,000
(Czech estimates)
70,000
(modern Russian estimates)
casualties2	Soviet Union:
10,060 killed
41,387 wounded
13,548 sick
1,806 missing
(modern Czech estimates)
131,000
(German historian Freiser)
Czechoslovakia:
935 killed
4,518 wounded
756 missing
coordinates

Soviet failure to join Slovak rebel troops
Eventual Axis withdrawal from the area Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46) Hungary Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46) Béla Miklós (8–16 Oct 1944) Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46) Dezső László (16 Oct – 28 Oct 1944) Soviet Union Andrei Grechko Soviet Union Kirill Moskalenko Czechoslovakia Ludvík Svoboda 2,000 artillery pieces 350 tanks Czechoslovakia 16,700 men 1,517 artillery pieces 1,724 mortars 1,000 tanks (Czech estimates) 70,000 (modern Russian estimates) 10,060 killed 41,387 wounded 13,548 sick 1,806 missing (modern Czech estimates) 131,000 (German historian Freiser) Czechoslovakia: 935 killed 4,518 wounded 756 missing

The Battle of the Dukla Pass, also known as the Dukla, Carpatho–Dukla, Rzeszów–Dukla, or Dukla–Prešov offensive, was the battle for control over the Dukla Pass on the border between Poland and Slovakia on the Eastern Front of World War II between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in September–October 1944. It was part of the Soviet East Carpathian strategic offensive that also included the Carpathian–Uzhgorod offensive. The operation's primary goal, to provide support for the Slovak rebellion, was not achieved, but it concluded the full liberation of the Ukrainian SSR.

The German resistance in the eastern Carpathian region was much stronger than expected. The battle which began on 8 September would not see the Soviet forces on the other side of the pass until 6 October, and German forces would stop their heavy resistance in the region only around 10 October. Five days to Prešov turned into fifty days to Svidník alone with over 70,000 casualties on both sides. Prešov that was to be reached in six days remained beyond the Czechoslovaks' grasp for four months. The battle would be counted among the most bloody in the entire Eastern Front and the history of Slovakia; one of the valleys in the pass, near the villages of Kapišová, Chyrowa, Iwla and Głojsce, would become known as the "Valley of Death".

Background

In summer 1944, Slovaks rebelled against the Nazis and the Czechoslovak government appealed to Soviets for help. On 31 August, Soviet marshal Ivan Konev was ordered to prepare plans for an offensive to destroy Nazi forces in Slovakia. The plan was to push through the old Slovak-Polish border in the Carpathian Mountains via the Dukla Pass near Svidník to penetrate Slovakia proper.

In the meantime, however, the Germans had fortified the region, forming the Karpatenfestung ("Carpathian fortress") or Árpád Line.

Battle

The Soviet operation plan called for the Soviet forces to cross the pass and capture the town of Prešov within five days.

The operation started on 8 September. It took the Soviets three days to take Krosno (it was liberated on 11 September). One of the biggest battles in the pass took place on and around Hill 534 in the northwest from the town of Dukla; the battle to capture this hill lasted from 10 to 20 September, and during that period the control of the hill changed more than 20 times. The town of Dukla was liberated on 21 September. The area of the former Czechoslovak state border—heavily fortified by the Germans—was liberated on 6 October; it took almost a month for the Soviet forces to reach Slovakia.

The Dukla operation did not end when the Soviets forced the pass. The combat zone shifted to Eastern Slovakia, with Soviet forces trying to outflank and push back the German forces, still strong and having many fortified positions. South of the pass and directly west of the village of Dobroslava lies an area that has come to be known as the "Valley of Death". Here Soviet and German armor clashed in a miniature reenactment of the great tank battle of Kursk. Soviet and Czechoslovak forces would enter Svidník on 28 October. A major German fortified position near the pass, Hill 532 "Obšár", would be secured as late as on 25 November 1944.

Aftermath

The Slovak National Uprising had been mostly crushed by the time Soviet units secured Slovak territories; one of the main reasons for this was that the German resistance in the Dukla Pass was much heavier than expected. Another factor was that the Slovak insurgent forces failed to secure the other side of the pass, as planned by the Slovak and Soviet commanders during early preparations.

In 1949, the Czechoslovak government erected a memorial and cemetery southeast of the Dukla border crossing in Vyšný Komárnik village. It contains the graves of several hundred Soviet and Czechoslovak soldiers. Several other memorials and cemeteries have also been erected in the region.

In 1956, the football club ATK Praha changed their name to Dukla Praha (Dukla Prague) in honour of those who had fallen in the battle.

In October 2024, an article in Czech news was published reviewing 80 years since the battle took place. According to the article 617 Czech soldiers of the 2000 killed during the battle are not mentioned on any memorial. The article also stated the Ministry of Defence wants to build a memorial in honour of those soldiers in Poland.

Order of battle

Soviet Union

Elements of 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal Ivan Konev commanding
- 38th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)
- Czechoslovak 1st Army Corps (Ludvík Svoboda)
Elements of 4th Ukrainian Front:
- Soviet 1st Guards Army (Andrei Grechko)

Germany

Army Group Heinrici
- 1st Panzer Army (Gotthard Heinrici)
- Elements of Hungarian First Army (Dezső László)

Notes

References

Andrusikiewicz J., Boje o Przełęcz Dukielską (w:) "Wierchy" t. 37, Kraków 1968
{{cite book | author-link1 = Karl-Heinz Frieser | author-link5 = Krisztián Ungváry | trans-title = The Eastern Front 1943–1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts
Grzywacz-Świtalski Ł., Z walk na Podkarpaciu, Warszawa 1971
Luboński P., Operacja dukielsko-preszowska (w:) Magury' 83, Warszawa 1983
Michalak J., Dukla i okolice, Krosno 1996

References

Jaroslav Hrbek, Vít Smetana, Vladimír Pilát a Petr Hofman: Draze zaplacená svoboda I, Paseka Praha 2009, str. 351
Великая Отечественная без грифа секретности. Книга потерь. – Москва., 2009, стр. 152
Vladimir Baumgarten, [http://lemko.org/rusyn/svoboda.html General Ludvik Svoboda: Commander of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps]
[http://www.c-rs.org/Chapters/NewEngl/07dukla.html Battle of the Dukla Pass Lecture]
"The Carpatho-Dukla Operation".
[http://www.iabsi.com/gen/public/Military_dukla_pass.htm Battle for Dukla Pass]
[http://www.reenactment-sk.szm.sk/Operations/Dukla.htm Facts about Carpathian – Dukla's Operation]
(2024-10-31). "Over 600 Czechoslovak soldiers killed in the Battle of the Dukla Pass have no memorial".
[http://www.czechpatriots.com/csmu/corps.php 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps] {{webarchive. link. (2 August 2008)

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