Almost 30 Slovak WWII veterans on Tuesday, April 17, received financial contributions from Britain for their involvement in the Western resistance to Hitler. The payments, which represented the 11th such instalment, were received from British Ambassador Susannah Montgomery.
Veteran Milan Pika noted that many Slovaks and Czechs left their homelands after their occupation by Hitler in 1939 in order to fight for freedom and independence. "Many of them reached France after a long and arduous journey and joined the organised resistance against Hitler's Germany. Following the fall of France in the spring of 1940, they were evacuated to Britain, where our common life journey began ... Britain gave us its helping hand at the time and accepted us as its allies," said Pika, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Montgomery expressed gratitude for the courage of Slovaks who fought alongside the British in WWII, and eventually helped them to win the war and freedom. "We'll never forget what your generation did for us," said the ambassador.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
