Liberation80: Bratislava's Liberation Was Important from Political Viewpoint

Bratislava, April 4 (TASR) - The liberation of Bratislava at the end of WWII was important mainly from the political viewpoint, as the city served as a significant communications and transport hub, historian Pavol Steiner from the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra has told TASR. According to Steiner, it was mainly rifle units that fought for Bratislava. The commanders at its gates changed their previous tactics, dividing their military forces into smaller groups. "While until then all the divisions had advanced in one front line, one could say shoulder to shoulder, as of the morning of April 4 these divisions were divided into smaller battle groups. They already had some experience, for example, with fighting for a besieged Budapest a little over a month earlier, where such tactics of relatively small groups, about the size of a platoon or battalion, but relatively heavily armed with artillery, had proven effective. So if we look at the photos from the conquest of Budapest or later from the conquest of Berlin, that was very similar to what was happening in Bratislava," said Steiner. He added that the German units in Bratislava defended themselves in isolated resistance nodes that the advancing Soviet soldiers had to overcome. Despite their efforts to resist, the city was almost indefensible, said Steiner, adding that the task of the German military units was rather to delay the Soviet troops, who took less than two days to liberate the city. The 80th anniversary of the Bratislava's liberation falls on April 4, 2025. ko/df