13.3.1943 The Battle of Sokolov ended

During the Second World War, Czechoslovak soldiers clashed with the German army on the Eastern Front near the village of Sokolovo. The memorable battle ended on 13 March 1943.

According to the recollections of the participants, the day before the outbreak of the battle on 8 March 1943 was quite gloomy. Snow was still lying on the fields, which had become brittle with frost at night and thawed during the day. "In the hillside above Sokolov, people from the village helped our soldiers to finish the trenches. The soldiers of Jarosh's reinforced first company overcame the trembling of tense nerves. The forest stretching along the horizon rumbled with the echo of German tank engines," writes historian Karel Richter in his book Across Bloody Rivers.

In Taranovka, on the other hand, the dark thunder of artillery ceased. For there the Germans failed to break through the Soviet defences and advance towards Kharkov. Thus they did not carry out the plan for which Adolf Hitler himself had come to Zaporozhye to the headquarters of Manstein's Army Group South. One of the important battles on the Eastern Front also took place at Sokolov. The Germans took advantage of the fact that the Soviets did not have a continuous front in the Kharkov area and attacked. In the village of Sokolovo, near Zmijevo, the 1st Czechoslovak Field Battalion fought with the Wehrmacht.

It opened heavy defensive fire and forced the enemy to stop the attack. The Germans were taken by surprise by the intense defensive fire. Battalion commander Ludvík Svoboda wrote in his report before midnight on March 9, 1943, "The battalion is occupying the Mirgorod-Artuchovka defense. The section between Mirgorod and Artyuchovka is defended by four tanks of the 179th Tank Brigade with an artillery detachment."

It was also possible to preserve the memories of the locals from Artyuchovka. "One day I come in like this, I look, my neighbour Irina Josifovna's house is drowning. I go inside, and there are unknown soldiers sitting there. They were Czechoslovaks. They were drowning in the furnace. About ten people. I said to them, "Boys, can you drown like that? Hitler's men will see the smoke and shoot. One of them cheerfully replied that nothing worse than death could happen to us, mother," said Zinaida Gurov, for example.

Rather death in battle...

The key day of the fighting was March 11, when Czechoslovak radio operators intercepted a message from the German side and discovered the planned counterattack. The Red Army opened fire and scattered the Wehrmacht troops. However, the Czechoslovak battalion had to retreat at one point because the defensive positions had been breached. They fought to the last of their strength. They preferred to fall in battle rather than be captured by the Germans. They were aware that as citizens of the Protectorate they were in danger of death for treason anyway.

However, the Czechoslovak soldiers finally managed to carry out their orders, namely not to let the Germans cross the Mza River. "It was precisely because of the deteriorating situation at Kharkov that the commander of the 62nd Army ordered the Germans to take over Kharkov. Guards Rifle Division to prepare the battalion for departure at 11 p.m.," Richter writes in his book.

Later that night, minefields were laid on the bank of the Mzha River in front of the battalion's position. The companies broke away from the enemy and left in the direction of Konstantinovka and Lisogubovka. This ended the combat deployment of Czechoslovak soldiers at Sokolov. The Communists subsequently used the militarily complicated action for propaganda. In 1974, a giant, explosive seven-metre mosaic of the Battle of Sokolovo was placed in the underpass of today's Florenc metro station. It is said to be called "The Lady Treads on a Mine".

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