21 September. The area of the former Czechoslovak state border—heavily fortified by the Germans—was captured on 6 October; it took almost a month for the Soviet forces to reach Slovakia. The Dukla operation did not end when the Soviets forced the pass. The combat zone shifted to Eastern Slovakia, with Soviet forces trying to outflank and push back the German forces, still strong and having many fortified positions. South of the pass and directly west of the village of Dobroslava lies an area that has come to be known as the "Valley of Death". Here Soviet and German armor clashed in a miniature reenactment of the great tank battle of Kursk. Soviet and Czechoslovak forces would enter Svidník on 28 October. A major German fortified position near the pass, Hill 532 "Obšár", would be secured as late as on 25 November 1944. Aftermath The Slovak National Uprising was mostly crushed by the time Soviet units secured Slovak territories; one of the main reasons for this was that the German resistance in the Dukla Pass was much heavier than expected. Another factor was that the Slovak insurgent forces failed to secure the other side of the pass, as planned by the Slovak and Soviet commanders during early preparations. In 1949, the Czechoslovak government erected a memorial and cemetery southeast of the Dukla border crossing, in Vyšný Komárnik, the first liberated village on the territory of (then) Czechoslovakia. It contains the graves of several hundred Soviet and Czechoslovak soldiers. Several other memorials and cemeteries have also been erected in the region. In 1956, the football club ATK Praha changed their name to Dukla Praha (Dukla Prague) in honour of those who had fallen in the battle. Order of battle Soviet Union Elements of 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal Ivan Konev commanding 38th Army (Kirill Moskalenko) Czechoslovak 1st Army Corps (Ludvík Svoboda) Elements of 4th Ukrainian Front: Soviet 1st Guards Army (Andrei Grechko) Germany Army Group Heinrici 1st Panzer Army (Gotthard Heinrici) Elements of Hungarian First Army (Dezső László) Notes References Andrusikiewicz J., Boje o Przełęcz Dukielską (w:) "Wierchy" t. 37, Kraków 1968 Grzywacz-Świtalski Ł., Z walk na Podkarpaciu, Warszawa 1971 Luboński P., Operacja dukielsko-preszowska (w:) Magury’ 83, Warszawa 1983 Michalak J., Dukla i okolice, Krosno 1996 External links Post-Dukla 1944 Soviet Offensive Operations in Eastern Slovakia Maps of operations in the Carpathian Mountains including the battle of the Dukla Pass: http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/maps/1944SW/1UF/CZ/s17_Carpatians_Sep_Nov44_eng.jpg, http://www.rkka.ru/maps/dukl.gif, https://web.archive.org/web/20080529154931/http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/maps/1944SW/1UF/CZ/38A_Dukla_s04_Sept27_Nov8_44.gif