Monument in Kopčany, Slovakia

This monument is in the village of Kopčany in south-west Slovakia, near the border with the Czech Republic. It commemorates the Russian soldiers who died during the liberation of the village from the Nazis on April 10, 1945. It lists the name, rank and date of birth of each soldier, and at the bottom it also mentions nine more soldiers who could not be identified because they were not carrying papers. It is unusual to find such a monument in Slovakia which is only written in Russian, usually the captions are written in both Russian and Slovak. The most interesting part of the inscription is the line at the bottom, which reads "Sleep peacefully in brotherly ground". Therefore the brotherly Slavic relations between Russians and Slovaks were called upon to show that the Russian soldiers were not buried there in foreign soil, but died in the cause helping a fellow Slavic, socialist country.

Monument in Nová Lehota, Slovakia

This monument is in the small rural village of Nová Lehota in western Slovakia. It is dedicated to the Slovak partisan soldiers who fought the Nazis in 1944 as part of the Slovak National Uprising. The red star affixed to the top makes it clear that the soldiers were fighting for the establishment of communism in Slovakia, though this was not entirely the case. Some partisans were connected to communist organizations, but certainly not all of them. The communist leaders of Czechoslovakia sought to portray the Slovak partisans as fighting solely for the reunification of Czechoslovakia in a socialist state and any issue of Slovak independence aspirations or political systems other than communism were not represented publicly.

Wall Mural in Svidník, Slovakia

This wall mosaic is on the side of a building in the centre of Svidník, a town in north-east Slovakia. It shows three soldiers carrying the red flag of socialism who are ready to defend Czechoslovakia, or perhaps they are meant to commemorate the Russian and Czechoslovak forces who helped to liberate the town from the Nazis at the end of the Second World War. Fierce battles were fought to reclaim Svidník, and most of the town was completely destroyed in the fighting. Therefore the appearance of Svidník today is dominated by structures from the socialist period, in other words it's a sea of grey concrete. Several other murals adorn the walls of the city, mostly with a military theme.

Monuments to the Soviet Liberators in the Dukla Pass, Slovakia

The fight for the Dukla pass on the border between Slovakia and Poland was a major battle of the Eastern Front in the Second World War. German resistance was stonger than anticipated, and the advance of the Russian and Czechoslovak forces was held up for many months with over 70,000 casualties on both sides. Following the end of the war and the establishment of a communist government in Czechoslovakia in 1948, it was decided that the liberation of the country by the Red Army should be commemorated with the greatest possible fanfare. Cities and towns across the country erected statues and monuments to the Russian liberators, usually inscribed with the date that the settlement was freed from German forces. The Dukla pass was particularly important as the spearhead of the advance into Czechoslovak territory, and hence an enormous monument was erected there to honour the bravery of both Russian and Czechoslovak troops. A valley near the pass which saw intense fighting during the conflict became known as the "valley of death", and many abandoned military vehicles and tanks remained there following the battle. Many Russian tanks in the valley were restored to their original condition and then returned to the position where they had been found in the valley, some sitting frozen in the middle of advancing through a farmer's cornfield, others appearing to emerge from the forest to press the German defenses. Around a dozen Russian tanks remain spread through the fields and forests in the region today as memorials to the Russian liberators. At the peak of the Dukla pass on the Slovak-Polish border sits a lookout tower intended to allow visitors to view the full extent of the battlefield area. The nearby town of Svidník was almost totally destroyed in the battle, and today another large war memorial to the Soviet troops is a dominant feature of the town's layout.

The Dukla pass is easily reached by one of several daily buses to and from Svidník; Svidník is most easily reached by bus connection from Prešov or Bardejov. In Svidník, the Hotel Rubin is an inexpensive and reasonably comfortable place to stay.

Train Station Murals in Piešťany, Slovakia

These murals are found on the walls in the main hall of the train station in Piešťany, Slovakia, a town north of Bratislava in the western half of the country. The town has the largest health spa complex in Slovakia, built on an island in the middle of the Váh river. During the socialist period, factory workers were given several weeks of holidays to spend at spa resorts like the one in Piešťany, so a mural depicting the healthy lifestyle promoted by the spa makes an appropriate theme for visitors who have just arrived in the town by train. The spa's importance as a place of healing for various illnesses is also a major theme seen here. Note the stance and position of the man in the centre of the top picture, with hands upraised in greeting and proclaiming his health and satisfaction with life to the world.

Wall Mural in the Main Train Station, Bratislava, Slovakia

This mural is found in the main hall of the central train station in Bratislava; most passengers pass quickly beneath it on the way to the platforms and don't pause to glance up and see it on the wall above.
The mural contains many of the classic hallmarks of socialist thought. Looking from left to right, on the far left the viewer can see three 'capitalists' in their business suits being driven away by the moral superiority of the group standing to their right beneath the red banner of socialism with doves flying above their heads. One of the capitalists is dropping a gun to the ground, suggesting both cowardice and that their aggression towards socialism will be defeated in the end. A worker from the capitalist system (dressed in white) is being freed from the chains of the three capitalist masters so that he can come to join the group on the right. The group beneath the red banner has three dominant figures, a proud steel mill worker holding tools, an intellectual holding a book, and the flag bearer who stands above them providing the foundation for the development of the new society that labour and learning will develop together in partnership. The group standing in a circle at the centre of the mural is composed of women from different countries around the world, implying that socialism is the system that will unite the world in peace and unity. On the right-hand side the viewer can see the symbols of technology and learning that will make the socialist utopia possible; at the top we can see a rocket and a satellite (which looks like Sputnik) representing the scientific advances that socialism has produced ahead of the capitalist world. Below these we see the scientists who have produced these ideas, as well as the students learning from them who will develop the technologies of tomorrow.