Liberation80: Interior Ministry Plans to Improve Care of War Graves

Bratislava, May 7 (TASR) - The Interior Ministry is placing special focus on initiatives aimed at improving the care of war graves and other commemorative sites, particularly in the context of Slovakia gearing up to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 in Europe on Thursday (May 8) — one of the most devastating events in modern history, TASR learnt from the ministry press department on Wednesday. The conflict, which affected over 60 countries and claimed the lives of approximately 60 million people, had significant consequences for Slovakia as well. The ministry has begun implementing a series of initiatives to enhance the documentation and care of war graves and memorial sites. A systematic research project is planned, which aims to significantly improve the accuracy of records concerning soldiers buried on Slovak soil. This effort is being made possible by extensive digitization projects in various countries and the use of modern technologies for processing and organizing the gathered data. The wartime events of 1939–1945 are still commemorated across Slovakia by dozens of cemeteries. The largest cemeteries of Red Army soldiers are located in Zvolen, Michalovce, Svidnik, Bratislava, Kosice, Sturovo, Zilina, Trebisov, and Humenne. Military cemeteries for the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps can be found in Dukla and Liptovsky Mikulas. Soldiers of the Romanian Royal Army are buried primarily in Zvolen, but also in Trencianska Tepla and Stara Tura. In total, more than 15,000 German soldiers are buried in Slovakia. mf