Dukla Pass

The Dukla Pass (Slovak: Dukliansky priesmyk, Polish: Przełęcz Dukielska, Hungarian: Duklai-hágó, Czech: Dukelský průsmyk; 502 m AMSL) is a strategically significant mountain pass in the Laborec Highlands of the Outer Eastern Carpathians, on the border between Poland and Slovakia (Lemkivshchyna) and close to the western border of Ukraine.

The Dukla Pass is the lowest mountain pass in the Carpathian Mountains main range. Located south of Dukla in Poland and northeast of Prešov in Slovakia, the pass is acknowledged as an area where Eastern and Western Slavic cultures meet.

In the 17th century, it was the haunt of a bandit and folk hero, Andrij Savka. The Dukla Pass was the scene of bitterly contested battles on the eastern fronts of both World War I and World War II (Battle of the Dukla Pass).

Further reading

Battle of the Dukla Pass

The Battle of the Dukla Pass, also known as the Dukla / Carpatho-Dukla / Rzeszów-Dukla / Dukla-Prešov Offensive was the scene of bitterly contested battle for the Dukla Pass (borderland between Poland and Slovakia) on the Eastern Front of World War II between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in September–October 1944. It was part of the Soviet East Carpathian Strategic Offensive that also included the Carpathian-Uzhgorod Offensive. The operation's primary goal to provide support for the Slovaks was not achieved, however it concluded the full liberation of the Ukraine in its modern borders by the occupation of the Subcarpathian region as a territory of the former Carpatho-Ukraine.

The German resistance in the eastern Carpathian region was much harder than expected. The battle which began on 8 September would not see the Soviet forces on the other side of the pass until 6 October, and German forces would stop their heavy resistance in the region only around 10 October. Five days to Prešov turned into fifty days to Svidník alone with over 70,000 casualties on both sides. Prešov that was to be reached in six days remained beyond the Czechoslovaks' grasp for four months. The battle would be counted among one of the most bloody in the entire Eastern Front and in the history of Slovakia; one of the valleys in the pass near villages of Kapišová, Chyrowa, Iwla and Głojsce would become known as the Valley of Death.

Dukla

Dukla [ˈdukla] is a town and an eponymous municipality in southeastern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodship. The town is populated by 2,127 people (02.06.2009). while the total population of the commune (gmina) containing the town and the villages surrounding it is 16,640. The total area of the commune is 333.04 square kilometres (128.59 sq mi). Dukla belongs to Lesser Poland, and until the Partitions of Poland it was part of Biecz County, Kraków Voivodeship.

Location

The town lies on the Jasiołka river, at the foot of the Cergowa mountain (716 meters above sea level), in the Low Beskids. Dukla is located south of Krosno, along European route E371, which goes from Radom to Presov. The Dukla mountain pass is located in the Carpathians, a few kilometers south of the town, on the border with Slovakia and was a scene of a major battle in 1944.

History

First Slavic settlers appeared in the area of Dukla probably in the 5th or 6th century. It is not known which tribe settled here, and most probably, Dukla belonged for some time to Great Moravia, although it is not documented. Some time in the 10th century, Dukla was annexed by the early Polish state, ruled by the Polans. In the nearby village of Wietrzno there was a defensive gord, whose traces can still be seen.

Dukla (disambiguation)

Dukla is a town in Poland.

Dukla may also refer to:

Geography

Sports

Various sports clubs in former Czechoslovakia were named Dukla in memory of the Battle of the Dukla Pass:

Czech Republic

Slovakia