New Jersey Chapter

“The Battle for Dukla Pass”

Saturday, May 13, 2006 2:00 – 4:00 PM 
 

Wayne Public Library

461 Valley Road

Wayne, NJ 
 

C-RS member Bill Tarkulich, of Lexington, Massachusetts will give a presentation about an important World War II battle that is largely unknown to the west.  In 1944, the Russian and First Czechoslovak Armies had been moving quickly across Poland in a broad front. They planned a quick diversion to assist the SNP (Slovenske Narodne Povstanie/Slovak National Uprising) via the Dukla Pass to proceed swiftly.  This diversion turned into one of the bloodiest conflagrations in the history of Slovakia.  Five days to Presov turned into fifty days to Svidnik alone with over 138,000 casualties.  The Russian and Czechoslovak Armies had expected to meet up with the rebelling East Slovak Army Corps deep inside Slovakia.  But things went wrong -- very wrong.  The combatants were Russian, German and Czechoslovak.  Rusyns can be proud that at one point sixty percent of the Czechoslovak Army was comprised of Rusyns. The lands are remote, wooded, sparsely populated and economically depressed.  The Dukla Pass cuts through the Carpathian Mountains in northeastern Slovakia and is a strategic pathway from Poland to the Hungarian plains. 
 

This presentation provides a broad overview the battle, the events that precipitated it and its impact on the lands and people.  The fighting occurred in a region predominantly populated by Carpatho-Rusyn villages.  Rusyns can take pride in knowing that at one point more than sixty percent of the First Czechoslovak Army was Rusyn. 
 

Refreshments will be served. For further information call (973) 540-0871 or send an E-mail to njpublicrelations@c-rs.org. 
 

Directions: Take Route 46 to the Riverview Drive Exit in the direction of Wayne. Continue on Riverview Drive to the traffic light at Valley Road.  Turn right onto Valley Road and proceed to the second traffic light at Nellis Drive at the Wayne Municipal Complex.  Turn left and then right to access the parking lot and the Library.

From Manhattan: Take New Jersey Transit Bus #197 from Port Authority Bus Terminal on 8^th Avenue at 42^nd Street to the Valley Road/Preakness Avenue bus stop in Wayne.  The bus stop is across the street from the Wayne Municipal Complex, the location of the Wayne Public Library.  The 1 PM bus arrives in Wayne at 1:47 PM and costs approximately $10 round trip.