25 – 27 October 1944 The Valley of DeathÚdolie smrti

A few kilometres north of Svidník the road runs through a narrow valley between the villages of Nižná Pisaná, Kapišová, Kružlová and Dobroslava. Soviet armour was pushed down it on 25 October 1944 and was caught by German guns and tanks dug in on the slopes above; the fighting went on for three days and it has been called the Valley of Death ever since. The scale is easier to feel in ammunition than in adjectives: on 25 October the 38th Army fired about forty-six thousand shells and mortar rounds, and about thirty-two thousand the next day. In the fight for Nižná Pisaná alone, sixteen identified soldiers and 1,101 unidentified ones were killed. Afterwards the villagers, children included, cleared the bodies; the dead were nailed into plank coffins, whitewashed with lime and carted to Svidník for burial in mass graves.Pár kilometrov severne od Svidníka vedie cesta úzkou dolinou medzi obcami Nižná Pisaná, Kapišová, Kružlová a Dobroslava. 25. októbra 1944 do nej vtlačili sovietske tanky a zachytili ich nemecké delá a tanky zakopané na svahoch nad ňou; boj trval tri dni a od tých čias sa tomu miestu hovorí Údolie smrti. Rozmer sa lepšie chápe cez muníciu než cez prívlastky: 25. októbra vystrieľala 38. armáda asi štyridsaťšesťtisíc nábojov a mín a nasledujúci deň ďalších približne tridsaťdvatisíc. Len v boji o Nižnú Pisanú padlo šestnásť identifikovaných a 1 101 neznámych vojakov. Potom telá odpratávali samotní dedinčania, aj deti; mŕtvych ukladali do zbitých dosiek, zavápnili ich a vozili do Svidníka do spoločných hrobov.