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WHO WAS GENERAL STEFAN
JURECH?
Bosaca
1904 |
Volunteer Army 1916 |
Student at Fontainebleau, France 1918-1922 |
Stefan Jurech was born in Bosaca, Trencin's County on June 9, 1898. He was open and honest
person, body, and spirit soldier, one could say from his own conviction not
from profession. He put on soldier's uniform first time during WW I During the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy he was absolvent of one year army volunteer officer's
school and then as a soldier went through fronts in Romania, Italy, and
France. Later he becomes an officer of the Czechoslovak army a graduate from
French Army University in Fontainebleau. He graduated from Army University in
1932. In the first years of existence of the Slovak State during the WW II he
became army Attaché in Budapest, Hungary. After finishing this mission he
becomes a Commander of the Air Defenses stationed in Trencin. In 1942 he
was named the Commander of the Slovak Armored Division (RD) on the eastern
front. Shortly after his arrival in the Soviet Union he made contact with the
Soviet command in order to make it possible for the Armored division to defect
to the Soviet side. These negotiations weren’t completed and the planned
mass defection of the complete Armored Division (RD) to the Soviet side in
Kaukaz never became a reality. In 1943 he became General and since he wasn’t
secretive about his anti fascist stand he was under suspicion by German Abwehr
(German military police) for his contacts with the Soviet army and on
September 26, 1943 was recalled from his commanding post at the Russian front.
He returned to Slovakia where after investigation was named a Commander of
Slovak Army Institute in Trencin. He made contact with the army
resistance movement and together with Golian, Ferencik, Kiss, and
Vesel was proposed in February 1944 in London to become commanders of the
planned Slovak National Uprising. This proposal was never accepted nor
confirmed.
Soon after the start of the
Slovak National Uprising, General Stefan Jurech was taken by German
intelligence forces first to Vienna, then Brno and finally to Germany where in
liquidation camp Flosengurg near Berlin he was sentenced to death and executed
on February 4, 1945.
His contribution and role in
speeding the end of the WW II was ignored, yet he is one of the few Slovak
Army high ranking officers who were sentenced to death and executed by
Germans. In 1963 the citizens of Bosaca got together and collected money for
monument for the fallen sons of the village. General Stefan Jurech is in the
first place. General Stefan Jurech was finally completely rehabilitated in
1968.
Celebration of his 100
birthday took place in Bosaca on May 31st, 1998.
If anybody from our readers
have any information about General Stefan Jurech, please contact the editor.
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Published in the
Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 6, No. 1, Spring 1998
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1998
3804 Yale
Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article and photographs may not be copied, reproduced,
republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without
the express written permission of Vladimir
Linder. All rights reserved.
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