Liberation80: This Year's Gathering of Generations a Two-day Event (2)

Banska Bystrica, April 20 (TASR) - This year's Gathering of Generations, held annually in the burned-down village of Kaliste near Banska Bystrica, will last two days, TASR learnt from deputy director of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) Museum Dalibor Lesnik on Sunday. Aiming to make the younger generation in particular more familiar with the event, the museum decided to dedicate the first day mainly to school groups. Therefore, the event, called Gathering of Generations, was moved in 2024 from August — the month when SNP celebrations are held— to early summer. “In June, when the school year is coming to an end, we’re able to bring various school groups to the event,” explained director of the SNP Museum Marian Uhrin. The mountain village of Kaliste was burned down by German forces on March 18, 1945 — this year marks the 80th anniversary of the tragic event. “We are preparing an engaging program, which will include survivors, military history clubs, culture, and guided tours aimed at bringing the history of WW2 closer to the younger generation. This year, the Gathering of Generations will truly take on the meaning of its name. Our goal is for a grandfather, father, son, and grandson to come together at this place of tragedy on those particular days,” Lesnik explained, adding that witnesses of WW2 and descendants of former Kaliste residents— who found a new home in the Nove Kaliste district of Banska Bystrica after the war — will be invited as well. During the Slovak National Uprising (SNP), the mountain village of Kaliste was one of the centers of the so-called Partisan Republic in the Low Tatras. After the insurgents switched to guerrilla warfare, Kaliste remained an important resistance hub. On the early morning of March 18, 1945, Nazi units surrounded and raided the village, burning down 42 houses and murdering 14 residents on the spot. A few days later, Kaliste was liberated by Romanian and Red Army soldiers. Of the 42 houses in Kaliste, only six remained after the Nazi attack. The village ceased to exist and life never returned there. Today, only the foundations of the destroyed and burned houses remain, along with a cemetery, two reconstructed houses with a chapel, and graves of the victims. The area of Kaliste, which has been a national cultural monument since 1961, is administered by the SNP Museum. mf