Liberation80: 1,369 Fallen Soldiers Buried in Haj Nicovo Cemetery in Liptov Area

Liptovsky Mikulas, April 12 (TASR) - The memorial and war cemetery on Haj Nicovo hill in the town of Liptovsky Mikulas (Zilina region) was opened to the public on May 9, 1961, after about ten years of work, spokeswoman for Liptovsky Mikulas Romana Nemcova has told TASR, adding that it was connected with the difficult post-war situation, difficulties with land settlement and the need to build up the town. Haj Nicovo is the final resting place for 1,369 members of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, soldiers of the insurgent army and partisans who were killed not only in the battles for Liptovsky Mikulas in 1945, but also in the districts of Dolny Kubin and Ruzomberok (both Zilina region). It is the largest war cemetery for Czechoslovak soldiers on the territory of the former Czechoslovakia. "The fallen soldiers were buried in gardens, yards and municipal plots; many remained in minefields. Gradually, after exhumation between November 9-18, 1950, a total of 1,361 dead from 69 villages of the Liptov area were transported to Haj Nicovo from the former districts of Liptovsky Hradok, Liptovsky Mikulas, Ruzomberok and Dolny Kubin," stated the spokeswoman. Nemcova went on to say that the cemetery contains 1,415 graves in ten rows, on both sides of a set of steps, and 1,369 soldiers are buried there, meaning that some of the graves are empty. When the cemetery was being built the names of 333 of the fallen were known, while nearly 800 more names have been identified since then. The memorial in the cemetery is formed by a central column made of Spis travertine. am/df/lin