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Our readers did not have much difficulty learning anything about the history of the Slovak Air Force (SAF) and especially its deployment on the Eastern Front before 1989. At that time, official historians avoided this hot topic as much as possible. The participation of Slovak aircraft in the battles on the Eastern Front was still quietly confirmed, especially with the help of experts. Slovak pilots sabotaged orders. They only pretended to fight. They invented the clashes. They mostly destroyed their own planes in deliberate crashes (!) and, if possible, flew over to the Russians, where their hearts had always drawn them. The reality was, however, different and, of course, significantly more complex. It was conditioned by the complex structure of the Slovak state, whose history can be evaluated significantly differently from different angles, of which we have been witnesses almost daily since 1989. The authors of this article could well have been convinced that this topic is still a very sensitive issue for certain people. In February 1992, during the autograph session of her book
»Slovak Airmen 1939 -1945», a bomb was found in the gallery where the event was being held, but it did not explode by accident.
A detailed analysis and evaluation of Slovak issues, however, are beyond the scope of this article. As well as the focus of the this magazine. However, those interested can be recommended the recently published work of Ivan Kamenc »Slovak 5tdt«, highly appreciated even by our leading historians. During their three-time deployment on the Soviet front in the years 1941 - 1943, Slovak fighters achieved a total of 222 confirmed kills of Soviet aircraft. The vast majority of them - a total of 216 kills - were attributed to pilots of the elite fighter unit of the SVZ, namely the 13th Squadron, during its deployment between October 1942 and October 1943, when it operated in the southern sector of the Eastern Front as part of the most successful fighter unit. German Luftwaffe, namely the Jagdg-Schwader 52 fighter squadron as its 13th (Slovak) Staffel. renamed 13./JG 52. Pilot who was most responsible for the high combat score of Squadron 13 was 1st Lieutenant Jan Rczndk. During his 193 operational flights, the Germans credited him with a total of 32 confirmed kills. He also had 3 other unconfirmed kills. This guaranteed him the title of Slovak fighter pilot number 1. Jan Rczndk was born on April 14, 1919 in Jablonice in the Sčina district to a poor carpenter family. After graduating from high school in Senica, he began attending the Vajnory airfield. near Bratislava. where he completed basic pilot training at the local Slovak acroclub in 1938 as part of the military campaign "1000 new pilots". He then continued his training at the military pilot school
at the Spišská Nové Ves airport near the 3rd Air Force General M. R. Stefdnik**, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Josce Duda. After March 1939, this regiment automatically became part of the Slovak Army. The regiment then completed fighter training in Piestany and in 1940 was assigned to Flight 13 as a sergeant. The unit was then stationed in Piestany, and its armament consisted of Avia B-534 and BK-534 biplanes. It was commanded by Lieutenant Ondej Dumbala. At that time, the pilots of Flight 13 were no longer regulars. They had already served in two military campaigns - in March 1939 against Hungary and in September of that year the invasion of Poland. All of this was to pale in comparison to what awaited the 13th Squadron. On October 1, 1941, Private Jån Reznåk was officially appointed a field pilot-aviator, but that was already at a time when he had already had his baptism of fire. On June 22, 1941, Slovakia joined Nazi Germany and its other allies in the attack on the Soviet Union. The Slovak Expeditionary Army also included an air contingent consisting of three observation squadrons (Nos. 1, 2 and 3 armed with S-328s) and two fighter aircraft. (12th and 13th with Avia B-534 and Bk-534 aircraft). The Slovak army crossed the border and advanced through Ukraine in the blind spots of the Wehrmacht, following their rapid advance.

On June 22, 1941, Slovakia joined Nazi Germany and its other allies in the attack on the Soviet Union. The Slovak Army Expeditionary Force also included an air contingent consisting of three observation squadrons (Nos. 1, 2 and 3 armed with Létovy §—328) and two fighter squadrons (Nos. 12 and 13 with Avia B-534 and Bk-534). The Slovak Army crossed the border and advanced through Ukraine in the wake of the Wehrmacht, following its rapid advance. Squadron 13, armed with eleven B-534/Bk-534 aircraft, set off east on 27 June 1941 and left Slovak territory on 3 July. Its first base in Ukraine was Sambor (3 July). from where it moved to Lvov (10. 7.) and then to Cortkov (12. 7.), where it was tasked with escorting German observation Henschel Hs 126s from the 4.(H)/32 unit. These tasks, along with patrolling the battlefield and making combat attacks on retreating Soviet units, were then carried out from the field airfields in Jarmolinci (it moved there on 13. 7.), in Baar (19. 7.) and finally from Tulcin. Air battles with the decimated Soviet air force were rare and Squadron 13 could not claim a single kill on its first deployment. One Rczndk had already fired his first combat shot on July 29, 1941. But by coincidence, his target was not Russia. Rather, it was Hungary. That day, an unseen Hungarian fighter plane in a Fiat CR-32 flew over Tulcino airfield. The airfield was then occupied by a trio of B-534s, consisting of an officer deputy (rank somewhere between ensign and lieutenant) Jån Chupek and two of his numbers, privates Jdn Rcz-
nak and Michal Dandc. An alarm rocket flew over the airfield. The German commander gave the order to assemble and the trio of Avifs quickly took off. The radios did not work. The pilots were forced to communicate only by gestures and maneuvers. In the end, Rezédek was the only one left in pursuit of the Fiat. He managed to catch up with the Hungarian at full throttle and, as if to pull the trigger, he saw the trailing edges of his wings burn into the Fiat's fuselage. Immediately, anti-aircraft shells began to explode around the plane. Both opponents were already over the Hungarian airfield, and its anti-aircraft defenses were trying to destroy their pilot. The next day, an Arado arrived in Tulcin with a furious Hungarian officer. "He punished the Slovak ..sarkän repiilö". which damaged their fighter.
The German air force commander, however, in the role of arbitrator, simply replied that he had ordered it and that the unmarked Fiat had no business being there. Thus the whole matter was settled. Re?ndk learned a lesson from his first air fighter. ?.that he must shoot from closer. because when shooting from a distance he has little chance of success.
During the summer battles of 1941, numerous weaknesses of the already outdated Slovak aircraft were also revealed. They suffered greatly from fire from the ground, which, with limited possibilities for repairs in the field, conditions led to the fact that the technical levels of individual units quickly dropped by half or more. This ultimately led to the gradual return of all five aircraft back to Slovakia. Squadron 13 and Rezndek with it returned to Piestany on August 15, 1941. However, the German Air Force Mission in Slovakia in Bratislava still demanded the redeployment of Slovak air weapons in the front line on the Eastern Front. In view of the increasingly more modern Soviet aircraft, such as the Yak-1, MiG-3 and LaGG-3, the SV7 was redeployed. conditional retraining of at least one fighter squadron to more modern technology. Therefore, on February 25, 1942, a group of 18 Slovak pilots and 88 related ground personnel were sent to the Schull-Staffel at the Karup-Grovce airfield in Denmark to jump onto the Messerschmitt Bf 109E. The group was led by Captain Ondrej Dumbala, and among the selected pilots was Jdn Rczndk. In Denmark, under the guidance of German instructors, he was trained in the "one hundred and nine" pilot squadron. In the future, all his sisters were to reach it. After completing the jump and returning to Slovakia. The event took place on June 6, 1942.
The majority of the graduates of this course were assigned to the 13th Squadron, which would soon
represent the Slovak colors in air battles on the Eastern Front.
Among those selected was also the pilot Jan Reznak. In the second half of 1942, deliveries of the first of 27 Messerschmitt Bf 109E. from the Luftwaffe's front line began to Slovakia. Seventy of these >EmilCi“ were in the E-4 version. the remaining versions - E-1/B. E-2. E-3, E-7 and E—7/Trop - were always represented in two pieces. "Emily" went primarily to Piestany to the armament of the 13th Squadron, whose so-called first squadron was preparing for deployment on the Eastern Front. On 27 October 1942, seven Bf 109E (one E-3, five E-4s and one E-7) under the command of Dumbala left from Piestany for the front to the Sea of Azov. Other pilots, including Recznak, traveled there by train. Together with them, in this first squadron were Lieutenant V. Krisko.
Lieutenant J. Gcrthoffcr, rtk. F. Cyprich. P. Zclendk, ctk. I. Kovarik, J. Stauder, F. Brezina, J. Drliéka, J. Janéovic. J. Svejdfk, J. Vincur and J. Setvdk. In early November 1942, the front line of the 13th Squadron was reinforced by five more "Emily" and was deployed to operational activities over the Kuban.
The squadron's first front-line base was the Maykop airfield, where the headquarters of the German fighter squadron JG 52 was also located, at whose command at that time was Major Dietrich Hrabak (125 sorties). The Slovak unit was included in this unit as its 13. (Slovak) Staffel. On 5. January
1943, 13./JG 52 was transferred from Maykop to the airfield in Krasnodar, where the fighting was already fierce. Although the Slovaks were mainly equipped with the aging "Emily", they were able to fight against their opponents. whose armament continued to consist mainly of the obsolete Polikarpov 1-15, 1-153 and 1-16, were at an advantage, and so it was no wonder that the air superiority was increasing. Re/nak scored his first kill on 17 January 1943. He took off from Krasnodar at 06.20 as the number of Lieutenant Vladimir Krisek to provide protection for the twin-hulled reconnaissance Focke Wulf Fw 189. "Glassauge" (glass eye), (or also "Ficko") as the Slovak pilots called him. Below them, a sleeping Kubdh flew. The scattered Russian anti-aircraft guns alerted them that they had crossed the front for the first time. At that moment, Rczndek noticed four moving dots on the horizon. "Polar, Indians ahead!"1* It was a group of four slow but very agile I-153 biplanes. One of them immediately broke away from its formation and headed straight for the Fw 189. R?nåk started to attack the remaining targets and immediately attacked. A short burst from his Bf 109F-2 (W. Nr. 12004) hit the fuselage of the "Seagull". It began to fall and exploded after hitting the snowy ground. This happened at 06:35 near the town of Smolenskaya. The remaining "Seagulls" quickly cleared the field. R?nåk began to pursue them. He quickly caught up with them, but to his surprise he found that there were six of them around him. He fell into a trap. but he fought on. During the duel, in which another 1-153 left the arena with a stream of smoke behind him. suddenly one of the /. Russians fired a signal rocket. The "Seagulls" flew in all directions and anti-aircraft shells began to splash around his Stfhaéka, among them? The fighter began to run. He understood that he was being dragged into a trap. The six wanted to get him even above the position of his own anti-aircraft artillery. "Flak-trap" however, the Russians did not succeed. because Rej.ftåk managed to get out and disappear. On his return he noticed four bombings by Petlyakov's Pe-2FT. He chose one of them and started shooting. The crews were afraid of retaliatory fire and he realized that he had started shooting too soon again. He broke away to prepare a second attack, but the Russians had already caught up. They threw their bombs into the air and escaped at high speed. Rejnåk landed in Krasnodar at 07.24. That same day at 13.31 he took off for another action, on the Bf 109E-4 (W. Nr. 2787) and luck left him at that moment. He took off in a squadron with Lt. Jdn Gerthoferrcm. rtk. Frantisek Cyprichcm and ctk. Frantisek Breczina. The place was free- to sit.
"Watch out, there are four Indians ahead of us!" shouted Rezfdk into the radio, who was the first to see the enemy. Indeed. Over Krasnodar, at an altitude of about 2000 m, four LaGG-3s were flying. They were trying to hide in the sun's rays. Rcznak was somewhat behind because his engine was not running, and the Russians saw him as a cheap prey. To top it all off, he discovered that his gun was not working. But the first LaGG-3 was already hitting him. One of its landing gear legs was sticking out. But the Russian apparently didn't mind, because he was shooting "like crazy". When Rcznak looked back, he saw that two more were firing at him from behind. Fortunately for him, in the confusion the Russians. one after the other. were ordering each other. Nevertheless. he still collected. Suddenly he felt a sharp shock and a jerk. "Emil" spun towards the ground from two thousand. He took it out at the last moment over the city. In the left wing, as if inflated, there were three large holes from the 20 mm §VAK cannon. He was floundering at a ground height just above the roofs of the houses. It was too late to jump. Finally, he managed to land in Krasnodar at 14.08. The mechanics in the plane counted a total of 60 hits from the 7.62 mm SKAS machine gun. One of the three hits from the cannon broke the left wing spar about a meter from its end. Wow, on such a wreckage, the plane crashed into the house.
Later that afternoon, at 14.22, he took off for the third event - a free landing in the Novorossiysk - Krymskaya area. The pilot flew on the more modern "Fritz", Bfl09F-4 (W.Nr. 133 34). Due to the obsolescence of the "Emilö", the 13./JG 52 was re-equipped with better equipment from 5 January 1943. Since these machines were not - unlike the "Emil" - Slovak property and were only loaned to the Slovaks, they bore German markings. The pilot's national qualification was demonstrated only by the propeller cones, which bore the Slovak national colours - blue, red and blue. This also applied to the later Bf 109G-2 and G-4.
Rczndek scored his second kill on January 28, at 11:10 a.m. This time, Polikarpov 1-16 fell to the ground near the town of Akhtyrskaya in front of his gun. Less than three hours earlier, at 8:45 a.m., Rczndek's closest friend, Private Izidor Kovarik, also scored his first kill. It was the first of his subsequent 28 confirmed kills, which placed him in second place behind Rezndek. After the units of the Soviet Transcaucasian Front penetrated from the south to Krasnodar
it was decided to evacuate the Slovaks and on 31st January 1943. on the day when Paulus' 6th Army capitulated in Stalingrad. Squadron 13 retreated to the Slavyanskaya airfield. The ratio between the achieved kills and personal losses was in favor of the Slovak squadron. The lack of critical moments was not decisive. On 3rd February 1943, Rczndek and Kovarik received an order to escort a German transport Junkers Ju 52/3m. "Aunt Ju" carried a German general and half of his staff on board. The commander of the escort was Rczndk. The takeoff of his Bf 109F-4 (W. Nr. 13367) in the frozen tracks of the Slavyanskaya base was risky. During takeoff, one tire burst, followed by the second. "Fritz" veered off course and flew straight towards the anti-tank trenches behind which the planes were hidden. Disaster seemed inevitable. but just before the trench of the "Fritz" caught hold of the ground with its keel. The fuselage broke away from the wings for the first time at the moment when Soviet I.A.G. and MiG fighters were approaching the airfield. The uninjured R/N quickly escaped. He climbed out of the wreckage and hid behind the engine, while bullets were piercing the ground around him. Kovari took off happily towards the enemy. He even managed to distract the Russian fighters from the Junkers, but in the end it turned out that he was shooting down a different machine than the General, whose number was known only to Rezhdek as the escort commander. The real "General" Ju 52/3s were shot down by the Russians. On February 11, 1943, in a duel over Crimea, Rezhdek scored his third kill. It was again Polikarpov's 1-16th "Rata", but a few days later he was shot down again. On February 15 at 07.48, was returning from a free flight to the Slavyanskaya base in a Bf 109F-4 (W. Nr. 7088). Just before he reached it, a "Stuka" suddenly ran into the landing strip. Duchapfftomné immediately increased the throttle sharply, the "Fritz" suddenly turned around and managed to overtake the Ju 87. The impact was hard, however, and the fuselage of the "19th" broke right behind the cabin. Even in this case, however, Rczndek got out of the wreckage unharmed. After Slavyanskaya was also threatened by the support of the Soviet Southwestern Front, the squadron moved to the Crimea on February 17, 1943, and Kerch became its new base. Then, death struck again. That day, at 06:37, he and the squadron's chief of armament, Karol Dubce, flew over the Kerch IV airfield on an Arado Ar 66. Due to the collision, they flew low over the surface of the Sea of Azov. At that time, the engine stopped working at 80 meters above the ground. This happened near the village of Golubinskaya. About 3 kilometers from the coast. The prospect of an involuntary winter landing in the ice waves did not look promising. In the narrow flight, Rezndek did not see the shore, but he did see a broken ice floe. He managed to slip to this "land" at the last moment. The landing gear of the Arado broke off at the edge of the ice and the fuselage suddenly braked. After a few moments, it stopped. The engine broke, the tail surfaces remained in contact with the mountain. The Arado began to crash into the ice with a crash. Both pilots freed themselves from the cockpits, while the plane crashed even faster. At the last moment, the German commanders on a boat intercepted them. They had just left the ice floe. The ara-
do disappeared into the depths... They returned to the island after a long journey only after three days. Two candles were already burning on their tables...

In Kerea the Slovak squadron was re-equipped with the more modern Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 from 1 March 1943 and in the same month it also received the first Bf 109G-4. Both of these versions of the "Gustav" were equipped with the R 6 armament variant, which, in addition to the usual two 13 mm Rheinmetall MG 131 machine guns and a 20 mm Mauser 151/20 cannon, also had two additional MK 151/20s mounted in under-wing pylons. The Slovak unit, still operating on inferior technology, thus reached the standard of the entire Jagdgeschwader 52 in its armament. It was therefore only logical that in the fight against Soviet pilots using worse, or worse armed, aircraft, this fact was reflected in the sharply increasing Slovak score. Reznåk became a flying ace on the morning of March 11, 1943. In the morning, at around 07:50, he and Kovarik got into a skirmish with Russian fighters at the Abinskaya station. Four of them went down again —
Reznåk shot down one "Rata" and one "Cajka" (it was his 5th and 6th kill), Kovarik "got" two "Cajkas" (4th and 5th kill). During the fight, however, Reznåk did not notice that the indicator light on his fuel gauge turned red. With such a dry air, he managed to land on the broken Krymskaya airfield, covering by Russian grenades. The queue was already close. "Gustav" remained standing by the broken Junkers Ju 52/3m. The last Germans, who were liquidated by the airfield crew before the Russians crossed, added thirty liters of gasoline to it from an ordinary bucket. It came from the tank of that Junkers, although it had less octane, but at that moment it was a godsend. Fortunately for him, the crank handle from the Russian gas tank captured by the Germans fit the flywheel of the "Gustav". He lifted off the ground just before the crater after one grenade and fortunately reached his own airfield. The squadron returned from Kerch to the Cuban bridgehead across the Kerch Strait on March 18, 1943. Its new base was the Taman airfield. It did not stay there for long and on April 1, it was transferred to the Anapa base, where the first squadron remained until its withdrawal from the front. After the Battle of Stalingrad, which marked a fundamental turning point in the fighting on the Eastern Front, the Battle of Kuban began in the spring of 1943. Extremely fierce and extensive air battles took place over the Kuban, the Kerch Peninsula, the Crimea, and the Black and Azov Seas.
The squadron of JG 52. The Russians continued to use outdated 1-153, 1-16 aircraft in action, but more modern Yak-1s, MiG-3s, LaGG-3s, as well as aircraft from Anglo-American deliveries such as Spitfires and Airacobras began to appear more often on the battlefield. It is not at all excluded that Soviet air force aces, such as Capt. A. I. Pokryskin, Lt. G. A. Reckalov, Lt. D. B. Glinka, his brother B. B. Glinka and others, who became famous precisely during the battles in the Kuban, fought directly with Slovak fighters. By March 25, 1943, Reznåk had already scored eight confirmed kills (four 1-16s, two 1-153s, one MiG-1 and one DB-3F) and was close again. That day, while on a patrol flight, he saw an aircraft streaking through a gap in the clouds. It would emerge from the clouds and disappear again. It was not yet possible to determine what type it was. Suddenly, Reznåk's Bf 109G-2 (W. Nr. 137 43) found itself in his immediate vicinity. So close that he could see the gunner's face in the cockpit of that Ptyljakov Pe-2FT. Before Reznak could recover, the gun turret briefly flashed and five, perhaps three, shots from a 12.7 mm UBT machine gun did their job. "Gustav" received a hit to the engine and suddenly the cabin was full of smoke. Reznak wanted to throw the cabin away. But it didn't work. The smoke stopped again - the propeller stopped moving. "Gustav" fell like a stone from 2000 m straight towards the Caucasus Mountains. The pilot managed to get out and, with the wind at his back and at high speed, prepared for an emergency landing on his belly in a cotton field near Taman. Upon contact with the ground, the cabin flew off and the cannon under the left wing was torn off; On the second cannon, "Gustav" began to show the clock. The fuselage separated from the wings. After a blow to the head, Reznåk lost consciousness. When he woke up, he felt the pain of his forehead and right shoulder. Around him, soldiers in green uniforms were staggering on the concourses. To his relief, he discovered that they were not Russians, but Romanians. After a telephone call, Kovarik flew in for him with the Prague E-241 connecting flight and transported him to the base. The air battles continued and their intensity did not decrease. On the contrary, it increased. It would probably not make much sense to describe all of Reznik's battles and kills. As the famous French strategist Pierre Clostermann wrote: "Nothing resembles an air battle more - if we leave aside a few minor geographical or tactical details - than any other air battle. Let us therefore limit ourselves to a few brief facts. On March 29, 1943, he achieved his ninth kill. Over the Slavyanskaya station, he managed He shot down an Ilyushin DB-3 bomber and added two more "Rats" on April 27. His twentieth opponent was shot down. It was one of two LaG-3s shot down near the town of Khoburskaya. May 4th was his most successful - over the Crimea he shot down two LaG-3s and one 1-16 in two battles. These were his 23rd, 24th and 25th confirmed kills. On May 29th he had his 30th kill - the MiG-1 crashed near the village of Trojskaya. On June 20th he, together with Lieutenant Frantisek Cyprich, got into a fight with a Yak-1 group. Cyprich shot down two, Reznåk one. This was his 31st kill. He made his last sortie into his rich "hunting grounds", again with Cyprich, ten days later, on the morning of June 30. He shot down one LaG-3 each, which landed near the Slavyanskaya station. It was Reznåk's 32nd and at the same time his last confirmed kill. During his eight-month operational deployment, he was gradually promoted from platoon sergeant to sergeant major and then to sergeant major. In addition to Slovak and Croatian decorations, his operational activities were also appreciated by the Germans. They awarded him first the Iron Cross, 2nd class (EK II), then the 1st class. (EK I), further the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) and the 7th Front Flight Clasp (Fronts-flugspange in Gold), which was awarded after the 150th combat flight.
On 6 July 1943, the first front- guard of Squadron 13 under the command of Major Ondrej Dumbala was withdrawn from the front back to Slovakia. With 150 losses, it was credited with 155 confirmed kills of Soviet aircraft. In Anapa, it was replaced by the so-called second guard of Squadron 13, commanded by Captain Jozef Pålenfcek.
Until the end of June 1943, when she too was stationed at the front, she achieved another 61 kills, while losing three pilots — all of whom deserted to the Soviet side. The number of Slovaks who were credited with shooting down, which was certainly high, is still a subject of much debate as to their verification. It is clear that during the war, for understandable reasons, these shots were a real boon for propagandists. In contrast, after the war, the Slovaks who joined the re-formed Czech Air Force - again for understandable reasons - claimed that they had mostly made up the shots. However, it is necessary to point out that the reported shots were subject to strict verification by the German side. As is also shown by the attached document concerning the shot down, which was not recognized by J. Reznåk. If the pilot did not have a witness to his kill (whether from the air or from the ground), he was not recognized.
However, it is not excluded - and the Slovaks like to The pilots apologized after the war—that the sensible sisters confirmed each other, at least some of them. To confirm or refute this thesis, however, we would have to thoroughly examine all the combat reports (Abschlussmeldungen) of Squadron 13, which, however, have been preserved in the Bundesarchiv only in a state of ruins - in a mere 1% of their original condition. And of course, we would also have to study the materials concerning the actual Soviet losses. They are stored in the still difficult to access Russian archives, but even then we would not be able to work out the results. because the Slovaks operated jointly in the southern part of the eastern battlefield. but also Hungarians, Romanians, Croats and, of course, most Germans. And how then, from the total number of Soviet aircraft lost in a certain time and space, can we determine who specifically shot down that particular aircraft? But another argument could be made in favor of confirming the high score of Squadron 13. First of all, it is necessary to realize that the Slovaks were significantly better armed at the front than their opponents, who were sent to the battlefield, although on a mass scale, but were mostly poorly trained and with equipment that was mostly of lower quality at that time. And one more thing - and perhaps the most important: the fighting on the Eastern Front was exceptionally tough and merciless for both sides, and the principle "kill or be killed" was more important there than anywhere else. It is difficult to doubt that someone - perhaps only apart from the deserter - found some other alternative. However, we think that it is necessary to take into consideration the authoritative assessment of one of the German historians. and thus conclude this digression: "As a fighter pilot ... the Slovaks proved themselves very well even by German standards. In July 1943, Ensign Jån Reznåk returned from the front to Slovakia in the same way as before? He had left for the front eight months earlier, by train. On the very first day after his return, he went to church with his soldier Frantisek Brezina to thank God for having survived... But he who sows the wind, usually reaps the storm. Soon the Eastern Front began to approach Slovakia, whose regime was also within range of American bombers operating from bases in southern Italy. After its return from the front, Squadron 13 was stationed at the airfield in Vajnory and in February 1944 it was transferred to PicStan. Its task was the territorial defense of Bratislava, hence its unofficial name Emergency Squadron. However, its armament was far from meeting the requirements placed on it. Since the Messerschmitt Bf 109G-4/R 6s with which it operated in Cuba were German property and had to be left there when it left the front, it only had considerably outdated armament. Its twenty pilots - including Reinák - had fourteen aircraft at their disposal: six Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4s. two in the E-1/B version, one each of the E-2, E-3 and E-7/Trop, two Avia B-534 biplanes and one Bk534. In April 1944, the unit was rearmed with fourteen modern Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6s, which Slovakia had purchased from Germany. The unit was then incorporated into the Reich Defense system and subordinated to the 8th Jagddivision, headquartered in Vienna. In the spring of 1944, Slovak Messerschmitts took off against the powerful American bomber squadrons from the 15th USAAF. but according to secret instructions, the pilots were to avoid combat. The aircraft; the pilots were to be prepared for the planned anti-German coup, which had Slovakia, which was in the war not only against the Soviet Union, but also against Britain and the USA, take the "Badoglio" route out of the war on the side of Nazi Germany. After some time, however, the officers of the Deutsche Luftwaffenmission in der Slowakei did complain about the patience and passivity of the squadron to the Slovak Minister of National Defense, Gen. Ferdinand Catlos. During a conversation with Lieutenant Juraj Puskár, who was replacing the sick squadron commander, Lieutenant Vladimir Krisko, the word cowardice was used... On June 26, 1944, another American unit approached from the south. Eight Bf 109G-6s of the Slovak squadron took off from Piestany. Puskår decided to launch a propaganda attack. Originally, Reznåk was also in the squadron. In the morning, one of the "Gustav" pilots (W. Nr. 161717, "bflå 6") was already sitting in the cockpit, but another pilot, Lieutenant Pavol Zelenåk, insisted on Puskår's permission to go instead. Reznåk angrily banged his howitzer and wandered away. Together with the commander of the 2nd Squadron, Lieutenant Ivan Haluzický, he could follow the course of this tragic event for the Slovaks on the ground by radio. It had already been several times described, so we will limit ourselves to the basics. Even before the "Gustavs" had time to form into an attack formation, Puskår gave the order to attack. Rtk. Gustav Lang shot down a Liberator from the 459th Bomber Group, another two Liberators were damaged by Pu§kår and Rtk. Stefan Jambor, and a Fortress was damaged by Rtk. Rudolf Bozfk. However, Mustangs from the 52nd and Lightnings from the 82nd Fighter Group immediately entered the fray. Their superiority almost wiped out the Slovak fighters. Puskår, Lang and Jambor fell, and the others narrowly escaped this fate. Zelenåk was caught up by Lightnings and to the ground near Piestany, where he crashed and was seriously injured. Zelčnåk was pulled out of the cockpit of the wrecked "Gustav" by Rč?fiåk, who had been watching his last fight from the Piestany airfield. After this battle, the standby squadron practically ceased to exist. According to some information, Catlos then received the American pilots shot down in this battle at the MNO in Bratislava and they met there with the Slovenian pilots who had survived the battle. Why this reception took place and what they talked about there is still unknown...

Behind the scenes, the events that would determine the future careers of their protagonists were set in motion. In August 1944, a tense atmosphere reigned in Slovakia. Partisans were increasingly showing themselves. Several pilots defected to the Russians. On August 29, 1944, it was also stuffy in Piestany. There was no takeoff. From the Bf 109E-
4 and Ju 87D-5s standing in closed hangars, something was removed from the fire. However, word spread that the Piestany crew would carry out a raid against the partisans. whose activity disrupted Catloš's coup plans and which ultimately threatened similar plans of the second conspiratorial center led by Lt. Col. Jan Golián. However, Rčiďak refused to go with a rifle to hunt down the partisans, and this was of fatal importance to him. Only later did he learn that the column of "anti-partisan" soldiers had actually stopped at Havran. There, Captain Haluzicky informed the soldiers that they were actually going to Banská Bystrica in central Slovakia, the center of the anti-German uprising that had just broken out. The next day, Haluzicky called Rcinák in Piestany to fly a Piestany Bf 109E-4 over the rebel airfield at Tri Duby. However, the latter had dismantled its incendiary devices and the Germans, who were occupying Slovakia, were marching into Piestany. This meant that Reznik had no chance of taking part in the uprising, which was of fundamental importance for his post-war career. 21st Army Group - what his comrades from the 13th/JG 52, such as F. Cyprich, F. Brezina, V. Krisko, F. Hanovec, R. Bozfk and others, who, like Reiftåk, were on the Eastern Front and also shot down a number of Soviet aircraft, their role in the SNP had been rehabilitated, but their post-war fates were different. While an uprising was taking place in central Slovakia, which was later suppressed, western Slovakia, where Reznák remained, was occupied by the Germans and units loyal to the regime. When the front approached in the spring of 1945, Reznák received an offer from the Germans to retreat with them and fight in the Luftwaffe. He refused. When the Russians arrived, he was taken to the local Red Army headquarters and brought before a military court in Martiná. However, he was acquitted of the charges. The whole procedure was recently developed by the slovenly public lean P. Valo in the corridor Corridor: .-So you are were they with Thirteenth Squadron, asked the prosecutorquite peacefully. Reznäk convinced. - We are at the front? After another positive answer fished out the machine-written "lajster" and check it out! If you want, support! You don't want shit, say why?! The pilot buried himself in the paper. There was every- general statements that they did not fulfill the years. from- they invented missiles, from pick-up flights they spread false news and even deliberately li maSiny. He had to smile here. Also the pilot house the student knows that even the smallest accident can mean the death of the crew. pilot which breaks the machine on purpose. He would have to be suicidal. Alc accidents, those were ... and after- it happened there that they refused to touch the ground targets. He could agree with that. Or he didn't shoot a long snake in Pinské blatä
people, animals and machines. Literary fights, that was different. Dreams were the same there. So after- he signed I still don't know who made the assessment, but it had to be one of those who were on the along the front line and later went to the Russians.
They had to explain to them exactly what they were doing before. Maybe it was written by someone, to whom somehow he helped or saved someone in battle
life. There is no shortage of situations in a war like this ... and not only time for gratitude ... Jano Reznäk signed. — Good, said the prosecutor. - Go on
Prezcntaene commission! I'll give you a uniform and you will go to Spisská Nová Ves!**10 Jän Rezfiäk, after six years again of the Czechoslovak Air Force, performed from 15 June 1945 as deputy commander of the flight Trenéian Bishopric, Major Jozef Pälenfc-
ek and at the same time also the function of an operational officer. On October 15, 1945, he was assigned to the Military Aviation School (VLU) in Olomouc, commanded by Lt. Col. Josef Duda. Rcz- fiäk first completed a course in 1945/1946 at the School for Flight Instructors (§PUL) in Olomouc and then worked at the VLU as an instructor. At the suggestion of two former RAF pilots, Maj. Karel Vildomec and Capt. Josef Kubäk, he was then sent to the Applied Officer School in Prostéjová, where he was to attain the rank of Air Force Lieutenant. Shortly before his departure, however, Reznák was dismissed from the army in April 1948 and demoted with the reason that "because of his attitude, he does not provide any guarantees that he will be reliable and completely devoted to the people's democratic establishment." Paradoxically, the same "debriefings" were also received by former RAF personnel who fought against Germany during the war. He caught the attention of Capt. Kubák (who was also dismissed and demoted shortly after). He wrote him a letter confirming that Reznák had graduated from school. However, Reznák did not have to leave the air force for good.
The head of the civil aviation department at the Transport Authority in Bratislava at that time was Rczfiäk's comrade-in-arms from 13./JG 52, Jän Gerthofer. "Due to his intervention, Reznák got a position at Považské strojmách in Považská Bystrica as a chief pilot and a flight instructor for students of the aero club. Here the State Security began to take an interest in him. They confiscated his pilot's diploma twice in a row, which was, however, returned to him after the intervention of his acquaintances. The State Security confiscated his diploma for the third time on February 5, 1951, and this was definitive. When he lost the opportunity to fly, he found a position in construction thanks to his technical talent. He worked as a designer, project engineer and inspection technician in Považská Bystrica, later in Kovotechná and Kovovyrobá in Piestany. In 1979 he retired, to which The years spent in the army were not included in his salary. After 1989, he applied for rehabilitation twice. but without success, because he did not take part in the SNP. Whether the decision of the competent authorities after the division of Czechoslovakia will be different, will most likely be decided by further developments in the Slovak Republic. Pensioner Ján Reznák lives in Piestany. Pik. let. v. v. Ladislav Valousck, a Czech fighter pilot who fought during the war on both the Western and Eastern fronts, and who was Reznák's classmate at the pilot school in Spisská Nová Ves in 1939, later wrote: .Unlike several Slovaks, Reznák He was not a chauvinist and he behaved friendly towards us Czechs (there were 7 of us in that school). This is also evidenced by the note he wrote in my diary shortly before I left Slovakia on March 15, 1939: “You became a stranger to us, but you remained a good friend. Jåno Rezftåk”... I must admit, whether I like it or not, continues Mr. Valousck, that he behaved like a soldier who was put in a given situation, a very difficult one, and whether he really survived it, I will leave to others to judge..

Notes:
1./ Skpt. Josef Duda - was the commander of the II. Military Pilot School in Spisská Nová Ves and during the mobilization he commanded the III/2 Squadron, consisting of the 33rd (commander Lt. Karel Mråzek) and 35th (capt. Josef Machåcek) fighter squadrons. The squadron was assigned to the 2nd Army Field Command in North Moravia. During the war he served first in France with GC II/5. He fought with the NAF at the front, in England he flew with the 312th Squadron and then until the end of the war he served as the commander of the Czech liaison group at Fighter Command. After the war he became the commander of the VLU, after 1948 he was discharged and died in 1977.
2J Lt. (later Maj.) Ondrej Öumbala served as a fighter pilot in the 3rd Air Regiment before the war. In March 1939, as the commander of a reinforcement group consisting of personnel and aircraft of the former 37th, 38th and 39th Fighter Squadrons, he participated in the battle with Hungary. Later, he commanded the 13th Fighter Squadron in battles against Poland and in two deployments against the Soviet Union. During the SNP, he joined the insurgents. After the uprising was suppressed, however, he refused to fly to Russia like other Slovak pilots, fearing Russian reprisals. He soon joined the insurgents retreating to the mountains, but then went to his native village, where he hid. He was betrayed by the Germans, who captured him. He reportedly died in a German prison camp.
3./ In one such incident, on July 25, 1941, a B-534 squadron from the 13th Squadron, led by Lieutenant General Ladislav Hodro, escorted an Hs 126 and came under fire from Soviet anti-aircraft defenses near Tulcin. Ctk.
Frantisck Brezina had to make an emergency landing with his Polish aircraft on Russian-controlled territory. Other pilots. ctk. Stefan Martis first bluffed the Red Army with machine gun fire and landed near Brezina, but he climbed onto the lower left wing of Martis' B-534 and held on to the strut. The heavily loaded plane then took off under heavy fire and, after a dangerous flight, landed at its airfield.
4./ This Bf 109E-4 (W. Nr. 2787) was repaired and, together with four other airworthy Slovenian “Emilys”, was flown back to Slovakia in the summer of 1943. It served with the LS-SVZ at Troch Duby and during the SNP it served with the Combined Squadron. It was burned during the retreat from Troch Duby. 5./ Kovarik is credited with 28 confirmed kills of Soviet aircraft on the Eastern Front, in addition to 1 unconfirmed one. After returning from Russia he became an instructor at the NSFK and later at Troch Duby at the LS-SVZ. On 11 July 1944, during a training flight on a Go 145 aircraft with student pilot L. Ciprian, under unusual circumstances crashed near Mosténice and both pilots died. It is not excluded that it was sabotage.
6./Clostermann P.: Velky cirkus, NV, 1968, p. 12
7./ Rtk. Jozef Drlicka fell on January 2, 1943 in a duel in the Caucasus, ctk. Jozef Vincur died on January 17, 1943 when, while pursuing I-16, he accidentally flew into the fire of a German aircraft, which hit his wing, ctk. Jozef Svejdflc was shot down and died on February 1, 1943 east of the Slavyanskaya station, ctk. On 29 March 1943, Jozef Janéovié was shot down by a LaGG-3 during an attack on the DB-3 and was seriously injured when his Bf 109G-2 (W. Nr. 148 30) crashed. He succumbed to his wounds the next day in the Zaporoskaya hospital. He became famous for his somewhat risky fighting style - once, for example, he returned to base with a piece of a cannon with a red star stuck in his machine. The wing came from an I-16 aircraft, with which he had collided during the fight.
8./ After the catastrophes at Stalingrad and Kursk, the Allies of the Third Fleet underwent certain revisions of their attitude, and one of the most obvious was desertion. All three lost pilots of Flight 13 from the second squadron also deserted. On September 9, 1943, while flying over the Kuban, Lieutenant Anton Matusek (Bf 109G-4 W. Nr. 193 47, "yellow 9") and Lieutenant Ludov Dobrovodsky (Bf 109G—4 W. Nr. 192 59, "yellow 13") simulated a duel with Soviet fighters on the radio and landed on the Russian side near the village of Novomalorossiyskaya. On 11th of September 1943, Lieutenant Alexander Geric (Bf 109G-4 W. Nr. 149 38, "yellow 2"), who together with Lieutenant Stefan Martis escorted a German Fw 189 over Cuba, did not return to Anapa. Although they did not manage to intercept the reconnaissance aircraft as originally planned, after landing in Anapa Martis reported that they had been attacked by six Soviet Spitfires near Novorossiysk and that Geric's plane had been shot down. In reality, Geric had escaped, and the radio mechanic, Lieutenant Vincent Tkåéik, was also hidden in the fuselage of his plane. Desertions, however, appeared on both sides, as is evidenced by the fact that on 11 May 1943 a Soviet Yak-1 flew to Anapa, where 13./JG 52 was based at that time, and its pilot requested to join the Luftwaffe. 9./ Venohr, J., W.: Aufstand fiir die Tschecho-slowakei, Ch. Wegncr Verlag, 1999, p. 85.
9.1 Venohr, J., W.: Aufstand fur die Tschechoslowakei, Ch. Wegncr Verlag, 1969, p. 85.
10./ Valo, P.: Slovenské eso, Koridor, 24. 10. 1992
11./ Lieutenant Jån Gerthofer was the third most successful fighter of the 13th Squadron. He achieved 27 confirmed and 5 unconfirmed kills of Soviet aircraft. After returning from the front, the commander of the East Slovak Corps, Gen. Augustin Malår, chose him as his personal pilot. In August 1944, when Malår was flying a Junkers W 34 from Pietany back to eastern Slovakia, both were captured by the Germans after landing, who were disarming the Slovak units there. Both were taken to a prisoner of war camp in Germany, where Malár died. Gerthofer was liberated and then worked at the Transport Commission and as an instructor at the Slovak National Aeroclub. In one battle on the front in 1943, a R/N fighter saved him. life. when he shot down one LaGG 3, which Gerthofer got into the la.
12./ Letter from Mr. L. ValouSek dated 18 August 1993. In possession of J. Rajlich. Honors of kills recognized by Airman 13 (13./JG 52)
Prepared on the basis of archival documents and the memories of the actors. We are also grateful for the cooperation of Mr. W. Bock, B. Barbas, T. Polåk, ing. S. Androvic and dr. V. Karlický.
Jirf Rajlich
Jiff Schnal