“When the Slovak National Uprising broke out me and teacher Tichý from Modra took a complicated journey towards Banská Bystrica. At first I hadn’t known what to do there but my uncle Tomáš Tvarožek, member of the national committee, was staying there. Thanks to him both I and my cousin got to a university watch unit which was supposed to guard generals Golian and Viest. This is where we underwent basic training because all of the troops there were young guys – students. The suppression of the uprising came up; terrible mess taking place at Donovaly. Two airplanes stood there intended for Viest and Golian but an order came to destroy them. All of our unit marched in the direction of Kozie chrbty and beyond. Various people joined us there including probably those who reported to the Germans because every day we exchanged fire with them. Only later – I don’t know on which hill that was – did we get to a valley where we witnessed a heavy shootout with the Germans. We returned up to the hill into the mountain pines where we stayed up until evening. A heavy patrol of about a hundred Germans went past us on the hilltop. We had orders not to intervene. We waited them out but as they passed on, they left telephonic cables behind. Later at night when we marched, I noticed those cables already isolated in plastic – unlike the Czechoslovak or Slovak army ones which would have been the classical ones made of rubber and cloth. So they had probably followed us already back then. We entered the valley where we had a break. I was ahead as a sort of a patrol. There were more of us like that. Suddenly, I realized that I was detached from the main group and that they had pulled back. I stayed there on my own and this is where I was eventually taken captive. I don’t know where generals Golian and Viest along with some commanders got detached from the group but the Germans had later also captured them in the mountains.”
“There was one guy from Malacky there with us in the electrics workshop. He was probably sentenced for possession of some gold. He was released on probation before serving the whole time. This lad told me several times prior to his release: ‘You, Braňo, it should be possible to escape that way.’ I told him: ‘Go to hell, it makes no sense to even think about that.’ But before his release he told the commander of the camp, Mr. Paleček, that I intended to run away. One Saturday I returned from my shift, carrying lunch in my mug. Suddenly, the camp radio started broadcasting: ‘The inmate Tvarožek is expected to report at the camp commander at once.’ Alright, so I put my lunch down on the table in my room and went there. I entered and reported my presence: ‘The inmate Tvarožek came upon your command.’ He said: ‘Well, Tvarožek, so what’s the story?’ – ‘What do you mean, Mr. commander?’ – ‘How was it with the escape?’ He had a table there so I leaned on it and asked: ‘What do you have in mind?’ He replied: ‘Well, we won’t debate about it any longer.’ Up on the wall hang a ring with keys from the confinement cell. As soon as I saw him reaching for it I knew what I was to expect. So he locked me in solitary confinement. This was on Saturday at lunchtime. But I have to say that even among the policemen there were some decent guys. In the evening, following lights-out at 8 p.m., I suddenly heard someone entering the cell. There were several rooms there but I was the only one present. At once, this warden had shown up. He was a guy just a bit older than me. He said: ‘Tvarožek, what have you done?’ – ‘I got here because someone fooled the camp commander into something.’ – ‘Okay, have you eaten?’ he asked. – ‘No, I didn’t even have lunch.’ – ‘Wait a moment.’ After a while he returned with a full mug of goulash. He told me: ‘Eat up but keep silent.’ I replied: ‘Sure thing.’ So I have to say that not all were mean to me. I ate and then waited till the morning. In the morning the camp commander unlocked the door: ‘Tvarožek, go to the shaft.’ - ‘Alright, I will go, but let me eat first.’ So I ate up and then went to the shaft. I came there and people were having fun there already. They told me: ‘We got you out of there.’ – ‘What happened?’ – ‘Formáček went to the Russian and told him that we were working on very important repairs but that you got locked in solitary confinement without any reason.’ Than the Russian summoned all of us including Formáček and asked what was going on. So I told him what and how. He also had commander Paleček come there and told him off in the presence of us all. In the end he told him: ‘Paleček, you do this once again and…’ He pulled out a gun and tapped it against his forehead. There were various humorous moments there.”
Slovak National Uprising came soon. I decided to get involved and thus I became a member of the university students’ guarding division. You know, there weren’t only university students, even though they comprised the majority of all members. We were called general Golian’s and general Viest’s guarding division. Then, after the suppression of the uprising, we went into the mountains with them. Aircrafts that had been prepared for the generals in Donovaly remained unused and were destroyed. We had daily clashes with the Germans. After few days the Germans knew a lot about us. Therefore, the generals Golian and Viest with their group decided to separate from the rest of the division somewhere above the Sopotnická dolina valley and attempted to escape. Unfortunately, it did not happen. They were caught in Bukovec in a forester’s house. Our division was gradually dissolved and liquidated.
After about a month we were moved from Ostrov to the shaft called Eliáš. There we spent about a month. Then, we were loaded onto trucks and driven about three kilometers away where there was a camp called Rovnosť. When we got off the trucks, the German prisoners who had previously worked there got in them. Then, we also moved to the same barracks. We were divided into groups. I got to the eighth floor. I used to load metal boxes, which were then covered with quarried stone which was poured into the mining wagon.
Branislav Tvarožek was born on December 2, 1925 in the village of Lok near Levice. As a child he learned three languages, Slovak, Hungarian and German. Speaking German actually saved his life in the period of uprising as well as during the last years of the war. In 1944 he joined the Slovak National Uprising as a member of the university students‘ guarding division, where he met general Golian and general Viest. After the suppression of the uprising, he was taken captive by the Germans; however, he managed to escape a bit later. After returning home he joined the civil resistance along with his father and together they used to help partisans near the town of Nové Mesto nad Váhom. After the communist takeover he was convicted and sent to Jáchymov, where he served his five-year sentence. He mostly worked in an electrician‘s shop. After being released from prison, he returned home and worked as an electrician.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
