A Russian / Soviet Day

Those Russian/Soviet soldiers needed a huge beacon to find their barracks when the vodka flowed

This free tour covers the sad stories of the Slovak people during the fascist World War 2 Slovak state (1939-1945) and the communist era in the Czechoslovakia Socialist Republic (1948-1989). There are many unique and sad stories to be told, so they will not be forgotten. Stories including the holocaust, the uprising, fleeing over the iron curtain, and more…and with those happy thoughts my day began.

As tours go, this one was interesting enough and as always it gave me a layout of the town including a few places I would have otherwise missed. The thing about these tours is we stop at various monuments to heroes past and their story is interesting, sad or incredible. Three minutes after I walk away to the next site I have already forgotten what the previous monument was about.

Memorial to the Slovakians uprising against the Nazis

Our guide gave us some practical information including where to find local spots for take away food, mostly dumpling which were unbelievable. I ended up going to this shop three times while I was here. I took my cardboard takeaway and sat on a bench near the photo above, just pondering what the Slovaks have gone through, and how most of us in the West have no idea. This trip into Eastern Europe has been an incredible education for me, and I know I have just scratched the surface.

The presidential palace was ornate, as you would expect. There were a few large parks, one concrete with a large fountain in the middle that was popular for the locals and another that was more of a green space with neat paths, large trees and I suspect incredible lawns when they fully arrive in about a month. This was all mom's and prams and young teens hanging out on benches, doing teen things.

The Slavin Memorial

As the tour was ending, the guide started to point our various things and what direction to head. He caught my attention when he pointed to a monument standing high on a hill, about a 20 minute walk away (his words). This was Slavin, the memorial and military cemetery for the Russian Troops who liberated Bratislava in WW2. I know this is "lather, rinse and repeat" when it comes to WW2 but there are a few things to consider. First, these countries really suffered and fought back when they could. The Nazis were absolutely worse than what you can imagine so when the Russians liberated these towns you have to think of the allies liberating Western Europe. I cannot compare levels of suffering or atrocities between the East and the West, I am just experiencing the East right now. What we can not do is mistake the Russians who liberated Bratislava and so many more towns, cities and countries, with the Soviet Regime that ruled these areas post 1945. 

There are 6,845 soldiers are buried in the cemetery. The dark granite  headstones with gold inscriptions are beautifully laid among the memorial, shaded by tall cedars and overlooking the city they liberated. There are a few with photos, which means that the families made their way from Russian to honor their fallen father, husband or son. It game me time to pause and look at the photo, then the grave and really wonder about this soldier in front of me. Where was he from? What battles did he fight in? How did he die? What fears did he experience and oddly, what incredible memories and friendships did he create before he met his fate.

"They came from small towns and big cities. Men and women ready to die in places they had never hear of, for a people they didn't know". These exact words were from the latest "Lincoln Project Video when talking about the soldiers who liberated Western Europe on the 80th anniversary of VE Day. The same absolutely applies to the soldiers of the East.

I spend about two hours here. Wandering the rows of well maintained headstones, the memorials to the many towns that were liberated including Kosic, B. Bystrica, Presov, Dukla, Nitra, Zvolen, Lucenec, Bratislava. There is also a wall that has the name of every soldier that is interned here that includes their birthday and death date, which I feel adds a bit of humanity. 

"Bratislava was liberated by Soviet troops from the 2nd Ukrainian Front, under the command of Marshal Rodion Malinovsky, during the Bratislava-Brno Offensive in April 1945. Specifically, the 7th Guards Army, part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, was involved." -- Wiki

I needed a beer! It was sunny and I was parched. Considering the day that just experienced there was only one place to wind the down, The KGB Pub.  

This place about 10 feet underground in what could have been an air raid shelter or ancient tunnel. It was converted into a kitschy bar emboldened with everything Soviet Union. Pictures and statues of Lenin and Stalin (who seem to get a pass on their historical butchery). The beer was cold and I ended up chatting to an older couple from the UK who were already pissed at 2:30 in the afternoon. She was knocking back Captain Morgan and Coke and he was all about the double vodka and Red Bulls. They were fun to chat with and I think he was tired of his wife because he kept trying to buy me another pint, so I said yes, what the hell. However after about 2 hours he was getting incredibly sloppy so when the bar started to fill up I found my chance to say good-bye and off I went.

I was not ready to call it a day just yet and so it was off to the Irish pub that was conveniently located about a 10 minute walk from my hostel. I met a group of people that I had seen the day before climbing up to the castle and sat at a table on the patio beside them. We just chatted a bit about travel as you do. They were American and when I could feel the conversation heading in the direction that it was going to go I clammed up. I  decided to be my thoughts for a few minutes and let my mind wandered back to Slavin. To all the Russian, Ukrainian and soldiers of the Countries that died liberating Eastern Europe,  "Na zdorovie"