Originally the Reichsarbeitsdienst was to serve as a preparation for service in the Wehrmacht, it was to be a kind of training centre, butbut was increasingly militarised, especially during the campaigns in Norway and the West.
In order to connect the guerrilla groups with London, during the Second World War, the Czechoslovakia, steamships with specially trained soldiers of the former Czechoslovak army were deployed. This is the story of one of them!
The Dukla Pass is the site of the largest battle in Slovakia during World War II. The Carpatho-Dukla operation, which included the battle for the Czechoslovak border, was intended to help the Slovak rebels. Originally it was supposed to last only 5 days, but in the end the fighting lasted 80 days.
One of the stops on our four-day excursion was the Dobrošov Fortress. It is a dismantled artillery fortress, part of the Czechoslovak border fortifications from 1935-1938.
I-52, also known as the Golden Submarine because of its latest cargo. However, the gold she carried in payment for technology and war materials never made it to occupied France.
