September 1944 – 27 January 1945 The Germans come, the front arrivesPrichádzajú Nemci, prichádza front

The Slovak National Uprising broke out at Banská Bystrica on 29 August 1944, the day German troops began occupying the country. The insurgents held territory in central Slovakia; Spiš was not in it. The two Slovak divisions stationed in the east, which were meant to hold the Carpathian passes open for the Red Army, were disarmed by German forces in the first days of September almost without a fight, and that failure is why the war in this region was fought by somebody else's armies. German troops took Levoča in September 1944 and held it through the winter. On 27 January 1945 the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, advancing with the Soviet armies, drove the German and Hungarian troops out. The old town came through standing, which is not something every Slovak town can say.Slovenské národné povstanie vypuklo 29. augusta 1944 v Banskej Bystrici, v deň, keď nemecké vojská začali obsadzovať krajinu. Povstalci držali územie na strednom Slovensku; Spiš doň nepatril. Dve slovenské divízie na východe, ktoré mali Červenej armáde otvoriť karpatské priesmyky, Nemci v prvých septembrových dňoch odzbrojili takmer bez boja — a práve pre toto zlyhanie viedli vojnu v tomto kraji cudzie armády. Nemecké jednotky obsadili Levoču v septembri 1944 a držali ju celú zimu. Dvadsiateho siedmeho januára 1945 z nej nemecké a maďarské vojsko vytlačil 1. československý armádny zbor, ktorý postupoval spolu so sovietskymi armádami. Staré mesto zostalo stáť — a to sa o každom slovenskom meste povedať nedá.