Kalište () was a village in the

Banská Bystrica District Banská Bystrica District () is a district in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Until 1918, the area belonged to the county of Zvolen within the Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. It was destroyed by the Nazis during the

Slovak National Uprising Slovak National Uprising ( Slovak: ''Slovenské národné povstanie'', abbreviated SNP; alternatively also ''Povstanie roku 1944'', English: ''The Uprising of 1944'') was organised by the Slovak resistance during the Second World War, directed ag ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Its remains are now managed by the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising.Spectacular Slovakia http://travel.spectator.sme.sk/articles/1855/kalilte_keeping_the_memory_alive

History

Kalište is remote, 924 metres above sea level in the hills north-east of the town of

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

. It was an ideal place for partisans who had taken part in the

to seek supplies and occasionally shelter in the winter of 1944–5. At 4 a.m. on March 18, 1945, Nazi German troops arrived. The villagers were shot as they emerged from their houses and the village was then burned to the ground. Five days later the area was liberated by the advancing

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. Only two houses now remain; stone foundations mark the sites of the other 36. The museum has erected information boards about the massacre around the site. Deputy director Roman Hradecký explains that the rest — and indeed the whole site — are intended to celebrate the lives of the people who lived here rather than just dwell on their fate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaliste Geography of Banská Bystrica Region Slovak National Uprising Former villages in Slovakia Former populated places in Slovakia Nazi war crimes in Czechoslovakia Buildings and structures in Banská Bystrica Region Tourist attractions in Banská Bystrica Region Monuments and memorials in Slovakia Massacres in 1945 Massacres in Slovakia Massacres committed by Nazi Germany