The memorial plaque dedicated to the victims of the communist-era Border Guards in Petržalka was unveiled only last November. (source: FB of Petržalka)
Someone has stolen a memorial dedicated to the victims of the communist-era Border Guards in Petržalka, a borough of Bratislava. The municipal office installed it last November in the Park of the Victims of the Border Guards to mark the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. As well as commemorative plaque, the memorial incorporated a section of barbed wire that was an actual remnant of the Iron Curtain, the Petržalka municipal office reported.
“Although one would think that we live in the 21st century, in a time when terms such as remembrance and respect for history mean something, the opposite is true,” the office wrote.
The spot in the Park of the Victims of the Border Guards where the memorial previously stood. (source: FB of Petržalka)
The municipal office expressed its regret, and said it hopes that the culprit(s) will soon be caught. It has already contacted the city police and requested CCTV footage from them. In this context, it is also appealing to the public to contact the police if they have any information about the theft, or if they possess relevant video footage.
The memorial plaque is intended to commemorate the construction and existence of the Iron Curtain, but primarily to remember the victims who perished attempting to cross the Slovak-Austrian border near Petržalka during the communist era.
These people died on the territory of Petržalka, Kopčany and Jarovce – which were originally villages, but are today part of Bratislava. The memorial is also meant to be a reminder of a sad period in Slovakia's history when basic human rights were suppressed and people were harshly punished and even killed for violating them. The pillar is also meant to be a warning to future generations, so that such events never happen again.
Námestie Hraničiarov (Square of the Border Guards) (source: Mapy.cz)
The Iron Curtain once passed very close to Petržalka. People yearning for freedom were often detained, injured and even killed when trying to cross the border here. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, the border fortifications were removed, but a square in Petržalka that was named by the communist authorities in honour of the Border Guards still retains its name. In 2024, the green area within the Square of the Border Guards was officially named the Park of the Victims of the Border Guards.
The park was opened to residents on July 11, 2011, the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the National Border Protection Act.
