A wild story of guerilla mountains

„Make a trip to the easternmost corner of our country, to the indented mountain ridge of the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy Mountains. Their peaks are dominated by Lysá hora, and if you are lucky enough (or rather unlucky), you can meet a bear in the forest. In addition to the beauties of the mountains, you can enjoy an intricate story of partisans that took place in the local mountains. A brigade of Jan Žižka of Trocnov was the largest guerilla squad that operated in our country during World War II. The unit consisted of Soviet soldiers and Czech and Slovak volunteers and had almost 1,400 fighters. Hitler offered a reward for the head of the squad’s commander. However, the communist propaganda glamorised the partisans too much. What really happened? Start your mission in Raková by Čadca. You will cross the border under Velký Polom – it will certainly be much easier than in 1944 when a group of partisans was moving to Moravia after the Slovakian National Uprising had been suppressed, although it took several attempts for them to fight their way through. You must overcome a demanding terrain; the Beskydy Mountains simply do not give up easily. Go via Staré Hamry to the peak of Smrk. It is precisely here in this area where the Wolfram guerilla unit operated and where its member Josef Bierský was insidiously murdered by the Czech traitor Kotačka. Go on to the valley of the Čeladenka Crook, which was an epicentre of the partisans’ operation in dense forests and on steep slopes. There are many monuments and commemorative plaques for the victims of their conflict. Go on to mysterious Kněhyně, where the brigade of Jan Žižka is said to have been based. You will find a bunker of their command squad there. Go on to the place of the most dramatic events of the brigade’s history – Devil’s Mill (Czech: Čertův mlýn). This is where the hunt for the brigade, whose destruction was required by Hitler himself, culminated. The Gestapo prepared an ambush for the partisans and dispersed the brigade. An operation called The Grouse (Czech: Tetřev) was quickly launched, during which 13,000 soldiers were assigned to eliminate the partisans. However, most of them managed to slip out.“