Liberation80: SNP Museum in Banska Bystrica Celebrates 70 Years

Banska Bystrica, May 6 (TASR) - The Slovak National Uprising (SNP) Museum in Banska Bystrica celebrates 70 years of its existence this year, symbolically coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. It was founded on May 8, 1955, and its mission and activities followed up those of the SNP Institute, which had operated in the city since December 1947. It is a unique place within Banska Bystrica where the SNP and the end of WWII are commemorated every year, as military cemeteries for Soviet and Romanian soldiers are situated in the nearby town of Zvolen. "It was meant to be a site for a dignified commemoration of the SNP victims since the construction the museum began. The location for the area was proposed in 1957 by Milan Kodon and Emanuel Hrusek, the winners of an urban planning competition in Banska Bystrica. The memorial building itself was designed by architect Dusan Kuzma, who won an architectural contest in 1959. The monument was completed by Jozef Jankovic with his work 'Victims Warn'. An impressive and symbolic building was thus created that serves not only as a monument, but also as a museum," said SNP Museum director Marian Uhrin. The new building and exhibition were opened to visitors in August 1969. The 80th anniversary of the end of WWII will be commemorated at the nation-wide SNP Museum by a wreath-laying ceremony at 11 a.m. on May 7. On the Victory over Fascism Day (May 8), the museum will be open to the public free of charge from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. Screenings of documentary films of various productions, from amateur documentaries to those created by Slovak Television and Radio, have been prepared for visitors in the museum's cinema hall. On the premises of the SNP Memorial, which has been a national cultural monument since 1982 and where the open-air museum of heavy combat equipment is located, a season featuring remote-controlled models of tanks and military vehicles will open on the day of the ceremony. ko/df