Liberation80: Nazi Units Tortured Inhabitants of Cigel for Aid to Insurgents (2)

Bratislava, April 17 (TASR) - The residents of Cigel (Trencin region) actively participated in the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) and for their help extended to the insurgents, German units corralled them to Prievidza, where a total of 132 people were tortured, some of whom were executed on the spot, while others were brutally murdered in Zemianske Kostolany. Historian Jan Vingarik from the Upper Nitra Museum in Prievidza described the involvement of the village of Cigel in the SNP as significant, as its location was close to guerilla units hiding in the hills nearby and most of insurgents were even recruited from residents of the local villages in the region. "Cigel was one of those resistance villages. The 'Major' unit was the one hiding closest to it, with its bunkers located in the forests of Vtacnik near Cigel. Cooperation with and support of this unit cost the residents dearly during the final stages of WW2, especially in January 1945, when German units – the Gestapo, SS, a special commando based in Laskar, and members of the so-called Slovak State, especially the Hlinka Guard and pro-fascist Germans from the local population – raided the village," Vingarik recalled. According to him, the units took 132 men from the village, marched them on foot to Prievidza, and imprisoned them in the cellars of a building that belonged to the first distillery factory in Prievidza. "They were imprisoned in terrible conditions in two front rooms. They were tortured because the goal was not just to hold them, but to interrogate them and uncover connections to the partisans, especially to locate the partisan bunkers. The proof that no one revealed anything is that the partisans from the 'Major' unit were never found," he explained. The reprisals claimed the lives of several residents of Cigel. "In the very building, Stefan Mjartan and Anton Murar died as a result of torture. Others were taken to Zemianske Kostolany, to the Dolne Lelovce area. There was a military zone there, which was ideal for committing murders and executions, often carried out in brutal ways," added the historian. After the liberation, a mass grave was found there containing 66 people, including several women and children, as well as men who had been imprisoned in the cellars. "However, not all of them were from Cigel. When this happened on January 13, 1945, there were already 15 people from other villages in the district. The Germans managed to do this within ten days, as they took over the building on January 3," the historian clarified. He noted that a large number of those detained were eventually released by the German units, which happened near the end of the war shortly before the liberation, when it became clear they would have to retreat before the advancing Allied forces. Nevertheless, a few were still executed, directly in the building. "The data on the numbers of victims vary, ranging from 17 to 25," he explained. The evidence of these events lies not only in the memories of survivors but also in mass graves. Many of the victims were identified after liberation, though some could not be identified due to the mutilation of their faces. The house on Kosovska Road, where German units tortured and executed several people, is now part of the Upper Nitra Museum in Prievidza. mf