77 years ago, on September 8, the East Carpathian operation of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian fronts began in the early hours of the morning. It also included the Carpathian - Dukla operation, which was supposed to provide military aid to the units fighting in the Slovak National Uprising.
After the massive defeats of Germany in the summer of 1944, the German command decided to place great emphasis on maintaining Slovak territory. The goal of the Soviet and Czechoslovak units was to break through the battle positions of the German and Hungarian armies in the Carpathians. Although the initial massive offensive was able to break through the defensive positions, it failed to hold them. The Carpathian-Dukla operation went down in history as one of the most difficult and bloodiest combat operations on the territory of Slovakia. Enemy units used the terrain effectively and fought for every village or hill. After the retreat from the Dukla Pass, the Germans dug in a valley between the villages of Kapišová, Kružľová and Nižná Písaná, which was named the Valley of Death. The bloody fighting lasted from October 21 to 27, 1944. In the same period, the capital of the uprising, Banská Bystrica, was occupied, therefore the East Carpathian operation was ended and, after replenishment of men and ammunition, the liberation of today's territory of Slovakia began.
The East Carpathian operation claimed 21,000 dead and about 89,000 wounded Soviet soldiers and more than 1,630 killed and 4,000 wounded members of the 1st Czechoslovak Army. On the German side, 20,000 dead and wounded are reported.
The 0 Euro Souvenir shows the Memorial to the Czechoslovak Army Corps and the symbolism of TARAN (a method of fighting by hitting a ship or vehicle) - a T-34/85 tank wedged into a German Pz.Kpfw tank. IV Ausf. J.
(source: Mičev. S: Slovak National Uprising 1944)
0 Euro Souvenir DUKLA DEATH VALLEY
Circulation: 5000 pcs (4000 pcs regular edition, 1000 pcs Anniversary 2020 overprinted edition)
Price: €3
Date of sale: in preparation
Place of sale: village KRUŽLOVÁ
