Zvolen [German: Altsohl] lies in central Slovakia, 196 kilometres from Bratislava, and belonged to the territory of the Slovak State during World War II. In the second half of 1943, a revolutionary national committee was founded here, which carried out illegal activities such as providing weapons, explosives and funds for the Slovak National Uprising. Zvolen Castle played an important role after the outbreak of the uprising, as it housed the headquarters of the 2nd Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade and the insurgents’ military hospital. Three armoured trains were also built there.
Massacre
German occupation troops occupied the centre of the uprising on 27 October 1944, whereupon the insurgents retreated to the mountains. Several massacres then took place at the Jewish cemetery in Zvolen. The exhumation report states that ‘on 29, 30 and 31 March and 1 April 1945, six mass graves were opened at the Jewish cemetery in Zvolen, in which a total of 128 people were buried who had been shot by the German Gestapo in November and December 1944 and January 1945’.1Archive of the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising Banská Bystrica, Fond IX, Box No. 4, No. S 91/79. Among the identified victims were at least 35 Roma from Hriňová, Detva, Dúbravy near Zvolen, Vígľaš, Mýtná, Podkriváň and Dolná Bzová.
The mass killings were carried out by Einsatzkommando 14 of Einsatzgruppe H, which was based in Zvolen and commanded by SS-Obersturmführer Johannes Hoßbach.2Presumably Johannes Hoßbach (1914–1985), see https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polizei-Institut_Charlottenburg [accessed: 20/03/2026]. The victims were taken from the district court building in Zvolen to the mass graves that had already been dug in the Jewish cemetery.3Šindelarová, Einsatzgruppe H, 129–130.
With regard to the murdered Roma who came from Dúbravy, it is known that their settlement was located in the middle of the village. During the winter of 1944, partisans came to the village to replenish their food supplies. Jozef Klinec (1923–1944), a Romani man who was also a member of the partisans, was discovered and denounced. This led to the village being surrounded by eight members of the Schutzstaffel (SS), who arrested all the men of the Klinec family, a total of 15 people over the age of 14. The oldest victim was 57, the youngest 14. Among the victims were Jozef Klinec, Adam Klinec (1904–1944), Gejza Klinec (1924–1944), Gustáv Klinec (1910–1944), Imrich Klinec (1904–1944), Juraj Klinec (1887–1944), Juraj Klinec (1923–1944), Juraj Klinec (1927–1944), Koloman Klinec (1920–1944), Mikuláš Klinec (1912–1944), Pavol Klinec (1897–1944), Peter Klinec (1901–1944), Samuel Klinec (1928–1944), Viliam Klinec (1928–1944) and Vojtech Klinec (1918–1944). They were first detained at the school in Hriňová, then at the synagogue in Detva, and finally taken to Zvolen, where they were murdered. After the end of hostilities on Slovak territory, some of them were identified by surviving family members.4Mann, “Tragické osudy Rómov v Podpoľaní počas druhej svetovej vojny,” 11–13.
The circumstances surrounding the murder of the Roma from the Detva-Pustovníky settlement are also known.5Archive of the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising Banská Bystrica, Fond IX, Box No. 4, No. S 91/79. On 23 November 1944, insurgents blew up a freight train between Detva and Stožok. The next day, the settlement was occupied and the Roma were taken away on the pretext of having been involved in partisan activities.
Investigations
After World War II, preliminary proceedings were initiated in the Federal Republic of Germany against Johannes Hoßbach for the shootings at the Jewish cemetery in Zvolen. The proceedings were discontinued.6Šindelarová, Einsatzgruppe H, 336–337.
Remembrance
At the Jewish cemetery in Zvolen, a memorial stone commemorates the victims of the mass shootings, dedicated to the Jewish and Romani victims. The memorial, bearing the inscription ‘Ma bisteren – Na pamiatku rómskych obetí 1939 – 1945’ [In memory of the Romani victims 1939–1945], was unveiled on 8 April 2006 as part of the ‘Ma bisteren!’ project organised by the citizens’ initiative In Minorita.
