31 August 1944 · 20 December 1944 · 19 January 1945 The army that was disarmed, and the frontOdzbrojená armáda a front

When the Slovak National Uprising broke out at the end of August 1944, its whole plan rested on the Eastern Slovak Army — two divisions whose command sat in the county house in Prešov, and whose task was to open the Carpathian passes so the Red Army could come straight through. It never happened. On the afternoon of 31 August 1944 the Germans disarmed both divisions almost without a fight, and their commander, General Augustín Malár, was taken at the airfield at Nižná Šebastová on the edge of the city. Around four thousand of the men reached the uprising on their own; the rest were left without weapons, and the Red Army had to force the Dukla pass instead, at a cost of tens of thousands of lives. Prešov was bombed on 20 December 1944, and the Red Army entered the city on 19 January 1945.Keď koncom augusta 1944 vypuklo Slovenské národné povstanie, celý jeho plán stál na Východoslovenskej armáde — na dvoch divíziách, ktorých veliteľstvo sídlilo v prešovskom Župnom dome a ktoré mali otvoriť karpatské priesmyky, aby cez ne mohla prejsť Červená armáda. Nestalo sa. Popoludní 31. augusta 1944 Nemci obe divízie takmer bez boja odzbrojili a ich veliteľa, generála Augustína Malára, zajali na letisku v Nižnej Šebastovej na okraji mesta. Asi štyritisíc mužov sa do povstania dostalo na vlastnú päsť, zvyšok ostal bez zbraní — a Červená armáda si musela Dukliansky priesmyk prebiť sama, za cenu desiatok tisíc mŕtvych. Prešov bombardovali 20. decembra 1944 a 19. januára 1945 do mesta vstúpila Červená armáda.