Battle of Slivice: Last WWII battle on Czech soil
The Battle of Slivice was the last World War II battle fought on Czech territory and one of the last in Europe. The fighting broke out near the demarcation line, which had been agreed upon between the Soviet and American command. Not far from the battle site, people were already celebrating peace.
On the night of May 8-9, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered and all German forces were ordered to remain in their positions and respect the agreement. But not all German units complied.
On May 9, 1945, the area between Slivice u Milína and Čimelice was occupied by numerically strong and well-armed remnants of the German army under the command of SS-Gruppenführer General Carl von Pückler-Burghauss who, due to their location, were slated to fall into Soviet captivity. After a futile attempt to move to the other side of the demarcation line, so as to fall into American captivity, the general ordered the establishment of fortification lines.
Since the Red Army was still days away from the demarcation line, local partisan groups tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to stop the Germans, who responded with reprisals against the local population.
Partisans from the Death to Fascism group and members of the Revolutionary Guard set out from Příbram against the German fortification on May 11. The moment these fighters came into the firing range of the German guns, they were easy targets for the enemy. From a military point of view, the partisans' action had not the slightest chance of success. From the very beginning, the position of a few dozen partisans against a German army of about six thousand was essentially hopeless.
Although the fighting was taking place not far from the demarcation line, the American troops, who had been arriving in the area since May 7, were not allowed to intervene beyond this “red” line.
It was only the arrival of Red Army troops on May 11, that forced the German command to surrender.
The attack started with heavy artillery and rocket bombardment, which was supported by the 4th Armored Division of the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps. Later, troops from the 1st, 2nd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts also attacked the German positions. During the night, the German defense collapsed and, at around 3am on May 12, Pückler-Burghauss signed the capitulation, which was then countersigned by American and Soviet representatives. About 6,000 soldiers and a large number of vehicles were captured. About 60 partisans and Red Army troops lost their lives in the last battle on Czech soil.
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