Vladislav Mec

“Once we were after a retreating German unit. They were retreating along a road and on the sides of that road we found seven of our soldiers murdered. Later we found out that these soldiers were reconnaissance troops who were surrounded and captured by the retreating Germans on their mission. They Germans were then subsequently executing them on their retreat. These boys were shot in the head – they were horrendously mutilated. Such incidents were infuriating our soldiers and inflaming their lust for vengeance.”

“I and some others were chosen to attend a Soviet school for officers. It was a brief course lasting only 3 months. We had two companies at the Soviet school – one infantry company and one heavy-machine-gun company. I was in the infantry company. We all had to take exams in the end. After some quarrels between the Czechoslovak exile government in London, our command and the Soviet command, I attained the rank of Lieutenant. The quarrel was about the validity of the Soviet education with respect to promotions up to the rank of second Lieutenant. Thereafter we were sent to the front. It was on September 16, 1944. They transferred us straight to Dukla, where the fighting was already under way.”

“Everything was proceeding in short order at the front. The fighting was already under way so there was no time to be wasted. I was appointed platoon leader the next day already. There was a great lack of officers so they welcomed us with open arms. I have to say that my expectations concerning the quality of the assigned platoon weren’t met. I was surprised that my troop was predominantly made up of Subcarpathian Ruthenians. Although they were Czechoslovak citizens, they were Ruthenians first and foremost. Most of the time, we spoke Ukrainian together. I knew that language from my birthplace. These boys were very brave and bellicose, but they were poorly trained. They respected me and obeyed my orders and instructions. I liked them. In effect, they were prisoners in the Soviet army. When the Soviets found out that they are Czechoslovak citizens, they transferred them to our units.”

“The Fascist units were already retreating at this time. There were frequent skirmishes. The German tactic was to obstruct and slow down our advance. They did this by leaving behind only small formations of fighters. These fighters were holding us back while the main German forces retreated some ten, twenty or thirty kilometers into the hinterland where they occupied new positions. They entrenched themselves and impeded our advance.”