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| Slovak Expeditionary Army Group | |
|---|---|
| Slovenská Armádna Skupina | |
| Active | September 1941 – June 1944 |
| Country |  Slovakia |
| Branch |  Slovak Army |
| Size | 45,000 |
| Engagements | World War II |
TheSlovak Expeditionary Army Group was an element of the military forces of theSlovak Republic that fought under Nazi German command on theEastern Front duringWorld War II.
TheSlovak Republic was apuppet state established on 14 March 1939. It possessed a small army of its own, largely made up of parts inherited from the oldCzechoslovak Army. The 1st Slovak Infantry Division took part in theGerman invasion of Poland in September 1939. In the aftermath of theGerman invasion of France, the German government consolidated its control of the Slovak regime.[1] On 21 June 1941, the Slovak government was informed about the invasion of Russia and offered to participate in theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union. Germany accepted the following day.[2] The Slovak Army was called up, as the regime sought to demonstrate its indispensability to Nazi Germany and that its loyalty was greater than that of theHungary.
The Slovak Expeditionary Army Group of about 45,000 men entered the Soviet Union shortly after theGerman attack. This army lacked logistic and transportation support, so a much smaller unit, theSlovak Mobile Command under command ofRudolf Pilfousek (a.k.a. thePilfousek Brigade), was formed from units selected from this force; the rest of the Slovak army was relegated to rear-area security duty. The Slovak Mobile Command was attached to theGerman 17th Army (as was the HungarianCarpathian Group also) and shortly thereafter given over to direct German command, the Slovaks lacking the command infrastructure to exercise effective operational control. This unit fought with the 17th Army through July 1941, including at theBattle of Uman and theBattle of Lypovec.
At the beginning of August 1941, the Slovak Mobile Command was dissolved and instead two infantry divisions were formed from the Slovak Expeditionary Army Group. The Slovak 2nd Division was asecurity division, but theSlovak 1st Division was a front-line unit which fought in the campaigns of 1941 and 1942, reaching theCaucasus area withArmy Group B. The Slovak 1st Division then shared the fate of the German southern forces, losing its heavy equipment in theKuban bridgehead and suffering heavy losses atMelitopol in the southern Ukraine.
Slovak troops took part inOperation Bamberg, ananti-partisan action in which 5,000 alleged partisans, including 200 Jews, were shot.[3] Slovak soldiers participated in numerous pogroms and frequently robbed Jews during the first days and weeks of the occupation in the summer of 1941. However, there was no equivalent of theBarbarossa decree (which authorized Wehrmacht soldiers to execute civilians without trial) and some Slovak soldiers were tried for robbing or murdering Jews, receiving only very light sentences. Many Slovak soldiers and the army leadership nevertheless approved of the anti-Semitic actions, due in part to the large amount of propaganda promoting theJewish Bolshevikcanard.[4]
In June 1944, the remnant of the division, no longer considered fit for combat due to low morale, was disarmed and the personnel assigned to construction andlogistical work, a fate which had already befallen the Slovak 2nd Division earlier for the same reason.