HODONÍN – The liberation of the hometown of Tomáš G. Masaryk’s homeland 80 years ago, the Bratislava-Brno operation culminated. During it, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front liberated Slovakia, destroyed nine divisions of the Wehrmacht and created conditions for a quick offensive on Prague. The expulsion of the occupation forces from Hodonin was celebrated by Moscow on 13 April 1945 with twelve salvos from 124 guns. The South Moravian town commemorated the event with a commemorative act and a meeting of military history associations.
The inhabitants of Hodonín and numerous guests paid tribute to the memory of the fallen during the liberation of the town eighty years ago. Their ancestors were the first in the Protectorate to feel the breath of freedom when the first Red Army soldiers broke into the town on the afternoon of 12 April 1945. Soviet troops had already occupied the centre in the evening. The battle for the town ended quickly thanks to a military stratagem: the attack was led from a side from which the Germans did not expect a strike, and at the same time their rear parts were attacked by Soviet units, which crossed the Morava River unnoticed near the village of Rohatec.
IT WAS THE MORAVA RIVER THAT THE GERMANS HAD PINNED THEIR HOPES ON AS A NATURAL LINE OF DEFENCE. THEY MADE THE RIVER CROSSING DIFFICULT BY BLOWING UP ALL THE BRIDGES AND THE WEIR. THE DEFENDING TROOPS RECEIVED STRONG REINFORCEMENTS, THE RAPID ACTIONS OF THE SOVIET 53. BUT THE ENEMY’S PLAN WAS THWARTED. ON APRIL 5, THE 25TH GUARDS RIFLE DIVISION QUICKLY CROSSED THE RIVER AND ESTABLISHED A FOOTHOLD ON THE WEST BANK. TWO DAYS LATER, THE GUARDSMEN OF THE CAVALRY-MECHANIZED GROUP I. A. PLIJEVA SMALL BRIDGEHEAD, WHICH THE GERMANS UNSUCCESSFULLY TRIED TO ELIMINATE WITH STRONG COUNTERATTACKS. BY MID-APRIL, THE MAIN FORCES OF THE 2. IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE UKRAINIAN FRONT THE GERMAN DEFENCES IN MORAVIA WERE BROKEN AND AT THE SAME TIME THE FIRST TOWN IN THE PROTECTORATE WAS LIBERATED.
The memory of the 1,179 Red Army soldiers who died during the liberation of the Hodonín district was paid tribute to by the participants of the celebration of the liberation of the town at the town cemetery, where the remains of the heroes are buried. Attention was drawn to the working period equipment on the square, which is maintained by members of military-historical associations. The first memorial to the fallen heroes in Hodonín was erected in July 1945 near the town hall. There was a cairn with the remains of fourteen soldiers who took part in the battle for the town. Their remains were later transferred to the Red Army burial ground, but the monument remained at the town hall and people laid flowers at it during weekend celebrations.
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photo: archive