__NOTOC__ Jozef Turanec (7 March 1892

Sučany Sučany ( hu, Szucsány, (til 1895) Szucsán, pl, Suczany) is a village and municipality in Martin District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. It is located around 5 km northeast of Martin, in the Váh river valley. History In h ...

– 9 March 1957,

Leopoldov Leopoldov (before 1948 ''Mestečko''; german: Leopold-Neustadtl; hu, Lipótvár) is a town in the Trnava Region of Slovakia, near the Váh river. It has a population of around 4,000 inhabitants. The city is the location of Leopoldov Prison, a hig ...

) was a Slovak

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was also a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Jozef Turanec served as a general in the Slovak

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

. He held partial command of the Slovak Fast Division and helped in the command of the expeditionary force during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

. Turanec was a skilled commander and received the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

after a Slovak success in the Battle of Rostov in December 1941.

Awards

on 7 August 1942 as Major General and commander of the Slovak Fast DivisionScherzer 2007, p. 752.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* 1892 births 1957 deaths People from Martin District Slovak military personnel of World War II Slovak people of World War II Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Czechoslovak military personnel of World War II Slovak people who died in prison custody Slovak Roman Catholics {{Europe-mil-bio-stub