--- title: "Stratenec (Ztracenec): the Three Crosses in the Javorníky" description: "The Three Crosses on Stratenec in the Javorníky recall soldiers who fell in May 1945. The story of the memorial on the Czech-Slovak ridge and the way to it." url: "https://zpusteven.cz/en/stratenec" lang: "en" latitude: 49.315137 longitude: 18.334992 elevation: 1055 --- ![Three concrete crosses on the summit clearing of Stratenec, an information panel and a bench on the left, wooded ridges fading into haze behind](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3192.avif) A memorial to the fallen • the Javorníky ridge • 1,055 m a.s.l. # The Three Crosses on Stratenec Three crosses for three fallen soldiers. Two names were added to the memorial only after 77 years. - **They fell here:** 3 May 1945 - **The memorial dates from:** 1969 - **Names added:** 8 May 2022 - **Summit:** 1,055 m a.s.l. ## A memorial a few steps beyond the border Stratenec (Ztracenec in Czech) is a flat, cleared summit on the [main ridge of the Javorníky Mountains](https://zpusteven.cz/hiking/hrebenovka-bumbalka-stratenec), a short way beyond the **Czech-Slovak border** on the Slovak side. Three concrete crosses stand on it, along with a wooden lookout tower, a shelter and a few benches. The crosses are here for three soldiers of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps who fell crossing the border on 3 May 1945. Two of them had the word **“unknown”** on the memorial instead of a name – until 2022. ![The three crosses from the side, a wooden shelter with a bench on the right, the slope dropping into a wooded valley behind them](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3172.avif) The summit clearing is small: the crosses, a shelter with a bench, an information panel and the lookout tower. Wood all around, and valleys on both sides of the border. Why come here ### A memorial completed years later The three crosses of 1969 stand for three fallen soldiers. **Two of them were nameless on the memorial** - their names were added after seventy-seven years, thanks to a letter from a teacher in Velké Karlovice. When to come ### Any time; on the anniversary for the gathering Around the anniversary of the liberation of Velké Karlovice a **commemorative gathering of Czechs and Slovaks** comes up here; the exact date differs from year to year, so check it with the municipalities. The rest of the year the summit is freely accessible. What not to miss ### The unobtrusive stone in front of the memorial In front of the large slab lies **a small stone from the woods of Makov** with the names of Rudolf Miko and Ludvík Somoši. It is deliberately modest, so as not to disturb the memorial of 1969 - the story behind it, though, is anything but modest. ![A wooden lookout tower on four raking legs with a covered viewing cabin, the three crosses to its left](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3238.avif) ![The view from the tower gallery over the wooden railing down onto the three crosses and the summit clearing](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3178.avif) ![A wooden bench with a table by the path across the summit clearing, ridges in the haze behind](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3213.avif)![The three crosses in a wide view: an information panel on the left, the clearing and ridges to the horizon on the right](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3247.avif)![An aerial view of the summit clearing with the three crosses and the wooden lookout tower, spruce forest all around](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/DJI_0800.avif)![The three crosses on the summit clearing framed by the branches of a tree](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3230.avif) ## On the summit of Stratenec A memorial to the fallen, a view into two countries and a place to stop The memorial looks like a single whole, but it took over half a century to come about - the crosses speak of a number, the slab of an event, and the stone in front of it of how much can still be put right after decades. ![The three concrete crosses close up against the sky - the coarse aggregate is visible in the surface](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3206.avif) 1969 ### The three crosses Three concrete crosses of different heights, interwoven into one form on a low step. Carved lines decorate the shafts, and each cross has its arms at a different height. There are three because three soldiers fell here; the memorial went up twenty-four years after the war. - **Why there are three:** One for each of the fallen ![The stone slab of the memorial with its carved inscription about 3 May 1945, a smaller stone and a wreath in the national colours in front of it](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3204.avif) The inscription ### A slab naming one man The original slab of the memorial carries the carved text: “On 3 May 1945, during the liberation of Velké Karlovice, two unknown members of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps and Andrej Rabčan, born 9 November 1922 at Drabsko, fell here on Ztracenec.” - **The only name on the slab:** Andrej Rabčan ![A close view of the low stone with the carved inscription Padlí neznámí: Rudolf Miko, Ludvík Somoši; a wreath in the national colours on the left](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3202.avif) 2022 ### The stone with two names Since May 2022 a low stone from the woods of Makov has lain in front of the slab. The names of the other two - previously unidentified - soldiers are carved into it, along with the small coat of arms of Makov. It is deliberately unobtrusive, so as not to disturb the older memorial. - **Carved by:** the carver Jozef Šimek for the municipality of Makov ![A wooden bench at the edge of the clearing, an open view beyond it across wooded valleys to distant ridges](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3252.avif) ### From the clearing Two benches on the edge of the slope The clearing falls away on the Moravian side, and right on its edge stand **two wooden benches** - one with a back, one without. From them you can see the **valley of the Vsetínská Bečva and the opposite ridge of the Vsetínské vrchy**, the direction the front advanced from in May 1945. **A seat with a table** stands opposite at the edge of the wood, right by the lookout tower, and a short way from the memorial there is also a **covered shelter with a bench**. Young spruces block part of the view, though; anyone who wants to see the other side of the border as well has to go up the tower. From the bench on the edge of the slope the view is open to the horizon. ![The three crosses and beside them the wooden lookout tower on raking legs with a covered viewing cabin](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3209.avif) ### The Stratenec lookout tower Eight metres, enough to rise above the wood The **wooden lookout tower of 2008** does not have to be tall - it only has to rise above the young wood around the clearing. It is eight metres high, the viewing platform is at five metres and twenty-four steps lead up. Even so it is the **highest viewing tower in the Javorníky**. The gallery rises above the treetops, so from it you can see **both sides of the border**: on the Moravian side the Vsetínské vrchy and, in good visibility, [Radhošť](https://zpusteven.cz/en/radhost), [Pustevny](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pustevny), Smrk and Lysá hora; on the Slovak side Považí with the Strážovské vrchy. The tower is freely accessible all year and free of charge. From the gallery you can see over the treetops to both sides of the border. ## The story of the three crosses on Stratenec The front crossed the ridge in a single night. Filling in who died in the process took seventy-seven years. 1–2 May 1945 ### A ridge full of trenches On **1 May 1945** people in Velké Karlovice heard the artillery of the approaching front for the first time. The Javorníky ridge was held by **German troops**, who had been fortifying it with trenches and strongpoints since the summer of 1944; **Hungarian soldiers** were retreating this way alongside them. Units of the **1st Czechoslovak Army Corps** were fighting their way to the ridge from the east in rain and sleet. An attack up a wooded slope against trenches is a slow business, and the border was not crossed at the first attempt. The next day, **2 May**, after a full day's fighting, **Papajské sedlo** fell - the lowest point of the Javorníky ridge, about fifteen kilometres to the west. That evening part of the brigade reached the Kychová valley at Huslenky and so cut off the German unit at Karlovice from its retreat to Vsetín. The ridge that the red waymarks follow today was the front line in those days. Stratenec is one of the places where it was crossed. ![An aerial view along the wooded ridge of the Javorníky, the summit clearing of Stratenec a pale patch in the middle of the woods](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/DJI_0798.avif) The main ridge of the Javorníky. The German defence had been fortifying it with trenches since the summer of 1944 - the attack went uphill and through wood. The night of 3–4 May 1945 ### Across the border in the dark On Thursday **3 May** Soviet units began liberating Karlovice together with the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps. An artillery duel flared up along the valley: the attackers fired on the main road at Léskové, and German guns by the school at Podťaté answered. The Germans in the village had already lost their shortest line of retreat to Vsetín the day before, though, and the patrols they sent out stopped coming back. The commander therefore ordered an immediate withdrawal: **until seven in the evening** columns of German and Hungarian soldiers from the Léskové and Podťaté valleys streamed through the village on the one remaining road towards Jezerné below Soláň. **On the night of 4 May** the **3rd Brigade of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps** crossed the border in the area of Stratenec. **Three soldiers of the corps fell in that crossing** - exactly where, and in what circumstances, the sources do not say. At dawn the brigade descended into the Pluskovec valley, and before six in the morning the first self-propelled gun reached the burgher school: **Velké and Malé Karlovice** - then two separate villages - were free after six years of occupation. The fallen were buried on 6 May in the Karlovice cemetery, but only one of them got a name on the gravestone. - **soldiers killed:** 3 - **Karlovice liberated:** 4 May 1945 - **the funeral at Karlovice:** 6 May 1945 #### The three who fell - **Andrej Rabčan:** Born 9 November 1922 at Drábsko near Brezno nad Hronom. The only one the memorial named from the start. - **Rudolf Miko:** Born 13 August 1921 at Tolčemeš (today Šarišské Sokolovce) in the Sabinov area. “Unknown” on the memorial until 2022. - **Ludvík Somoši:** No further details have been traced so far. According to the material held by the municipality of Makov he probably came from eastern Slovakia. There is one cross on the summit for each of them. 1969 ### A memorial with two blanks The crosses came to the ridge in **1969**, twenty-four years after the war. The concrete triple cross recalls the fighting for the ridge during the liberation; far more died in it, but the memorial names the three who fell here. Only one of them could be named, though. The slab gives **Andrej Rabčan**, and for the other two it says “two unknown members of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps”. Their graves at Velké Karlovice said the same: **“Unknown soldier of the Czechoslovak army, fell 3 May 1945 in the Javorníky.”** It was not carelessness. In the last days of the war burials were quick and papers were often missing. For many of the fallen a name was traced only decades later, and for some never. ![The three crosses on the summit clearing, an information panel on the left, the ridges of the Vsetínské vrchy behind](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3183.avif) The memorial stands right on the ridge, a few steps from the border line - within sight of both countries that people come to it from. 2021–2022 ### A letter from a teacher in Velké Karlovice The names of the two soldiers came to light during work on the book **Poslední výstřely** (Milan Kopecký and Petr Sehnálek) about the journey of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps across Moravia in May 1945. The authors found them in the archives: **Rudolf Miko** and **Ludvík Somoši**, both from the 4th battalion of the 3rd Czechoslovak Brigade. **Marie Mikulcová, a retired teacher from Velké Karlovice**, took up the discovery. She wrote to Martin Pavlík, the mayor of Makov, saying that those young men deserved to stop being unknown. The mayor drove out to meet her - they met in the Karlovice cemetery, where all three soldiers lie. So as not to disturb the memorial of 1969, the municipality agreed with the carver **Jozef Šimek** on a modest solution: a low stone from the woods of Makov, with the names and the small municipal coat of arms carved into it. On **8 May 2022**, symbolically on the 77th anniversary of the liberation, the mayor unveiled it on Stratenec with Šimek and Mrs Mikulcová. ![The memorial from the path: a tall inscribed slab, a low stone with fresh flowers in front of it, an information panel and a bench on the left](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/IMG_3200.avif) The stone with the names lies in the grass in front of the slab. Fresh flowers by it are no exception - the place is alive all year. Today ### A place where two countries meet The gathering at the Three Crosses has built up a firm tradition: around the anniversary of the liberation of Velké Karlovice **hundreds of Czechs and Slovaks** climb up here from both sides of the border. The shortest approach comes from [Kasárne](https://zpusteven.cz/en/osada-kasarne) - the last four kilometres run along the ridge. ![An aerial view of the summit clearing of Stratenec with the three crosses, the lookout tower, the shelter and benches](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/ztracenec/1280/DJI_0794.avif) The clearing takes hundreds of people from both sides of the border at the commemoration. The nearest road is four kilometres away. Timeline ## From the front on the ridge to a stone with names From the first shots above Karlovice in May 1945 to the additional stone unveiled in 2022. 1. 1 May 1945 ### The front within earshot People in Velké Karlovice hear the first artillery. The **1st Czechoslovak Army Corps** fights its way through rain to the Javorníky ridge, fortified with trenches; it does not cross the border at the first attempt. 2. 2 May 1945 ### Papajské sedlo After a full day's fighting **Papajské sedlo** falls. Part of the brigade reaches Huslenky and cuts off the German units' retreat to Vsetín. 3. 3 May 1945 ### The fight for Karlovice and three killed The liberation of Karlovice begins. **Three soldiers fall crossing the border at Stratenec** - Andrej Rabčan, Rudolf Miko and Ludvík Somoši. 4. 4 May 1945 ### Karlovice liberated In the night the **3rd Brigade** enters the territory of Velké Karlovice in the area of Stratenec; before six in the morning six years of occupation are over. 5. 6 May 1945 ### The funeral at Velké Karlovice All three of the fallen are buried with honours at Velké Karlovice. **Only Andrej Rabčan** has a name on the gravestone. 6. 1969 ### The three crosses A **concrete memorial in the form of three crosses** goes up on the summit, with a slab that names one soldier and describes two as unknown. 7. 2008 ### The wooden lookout tower A **wooden lookout tower** rises beside the memorial - the highest viewing tower in the Javorníky. It came out of a cross-border walking route project. 8. 8 May 2022 ### Names on the memorial Symbolically on the **77th anniversary of the liberation**, the municipality of Makov unveils an additional stone with the names of **Rudolf Miko and Ludvík Somoši**. 9. today ### A gathering of Czechs and Slovaks Around the anniversary of the liberation of Velké Karlovice a **commemorative gathering** is held at the crosses, attended by hundreds of people from both sides of the border. Visit ## Four kilometres along the ridge ### Where exactly it is #### On the main Javorníky ridge, on the Slovak side The summit lies **on the Slovak side** of the ridge, on the boundary between the cadastres of [Makov](https://zpusteven.cz/en/makov) and Papradno, only a few steps from the Czech-Slovak border by Velké Karlovice. The [red Javorníky ridge route](https://zpusteven.cz/hiking/hrebenovka-bumbalka-stratenec) passes this way - a long-distance route along the Czech-Slovak border. The nearest road ends at [Kasárne](https://zpusteven.cz/en/osada-kasarne), about four kilometres from here. ##### Otevřít v mapách [Mapy.com](https://mapy.com/en/zakladni?x=18.334992&y=49.315137&z=16&source=coor&id=18.334992,49.315137) · [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=49.315137,18.334992) ##### Other places nearby [Veľký Javorník](https://zpusteven.cz/en/velky-javornik) · [The Kasárne settlement](https://zpusteven.cz/en/osada-kasarne) · [The source of the Kysuca](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pramen-kysuce) Map of the area ### How to get here The usual approach comes from the Slovak side, from Kasárne. Parking, transport and facilities are described on the Kasárne page; from there you simply set off along the waymarks. 1. 1 #### [Kasárne](https://zpusteven.cz/en/osada-kasarne) starting point • paid car park A mountain settlement and resort on the ridge. Two waymarked routes lead from here: the yellow over the Gežov saddle (shorter, 4.3 km) and the green to Bútorky, joining the red over [Veľký Javorník](https://zpusteven.cz/en/velky-javornik) (5 km). 2. 2 #### The Gežov saddle about halfway A saddle with a wooden shelter on the ridge. From here the route follows the red waymarks westwards across meadows with views to the Moravian side. 3. #### Stratenec destination • 1,055 m a.s.l. The summit clearing with the Three Crosses, the lookout tower, a shelter and benches. The ridge route carries on to Malý Javorník and Bumbálka. From the Czech side people walk from Velké Karlovice: on the green route through Bukovina and then about a kilometre east on the red, or from Podťaté over the Gežov saddle. From the Slovak side the yellow route from Podjavorník also reaches the summit. ### What to know before you go #### Any time and free The summit and the tower are **freely accessible all year**, with no admission and no opening hours. The last stretch is always on foot. #### A place of remembrance The crosses are **a memorial to three men who died**; they are buried down at Velké Karlovice. #### Weather on the ridge A thousand metres above sea level means **wind, mist and fast changes of weather**. The views of [Radhošť](https://zpusteven.cz/en/radhost) and Lysá hora only work in good visibility - and there is almost no shade on the clearing. #### Nearest facilities By the tower there is a **covered shelter and a seat with a table**. Refreshments and toilets are at Kasárne, four kilometres along the ridge. #### In winter on skis In winter the red ridge route becomes a **groomed cross-country ski track** - part of the Beskydsko-javornícka magistrála. #### You are crossing the border The summit lies **on the Slovak side** and the path to it follows the border line - your phone will most likely switch to a Slovak network on the way. Na závěr ## Doplňující info a test znalostí ### Rychlá rekapitulace **Why are there three crosses on Stratenec?** One for each of the soldiers who fell here on 3 May 1945 crossing the border during the liberation of Velké Karlovice. The concrete memorial in the form of three crosses was made in 1969. **Who were the three soldiers?** Andrej Rabčan (born 9 November 1922 at Drábsko near Brezno nad Hronom), Rudolf Miko (born 13 August 1921 at Tolčemeš in the Sabinov area) and Ludvík Somoši. All three were Slovaks of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps and are buried in the cemetery at Velké Karlovice. **How were the names of the two unknown soldiers found?** The authors of the book Poslední výstřely traced them in the archives. Marie Mikulcová, a retired teacher from Velké Karlovice, wrote to the mayor of Makov about it; the municipality then had an additional stone carved, unveiled on 8 May 2022. **Is Stratenec in Czechia or in Slovakia?** The summit lies on the Slovak side of the ridge, on the boundary between the cadastres of Makov and Papradno, only a few steps from the Czech-Slovak border by Velké Karlovice. People walk to it from both countries. **How do I get to Stratenec?** On foot along the ridge route. The shortest way runs from Kasárne on the yellow route over the Gežov saddle (4.3 km, about 1 hour 30 minutes), the longer one from Kasárne over Veľký Javorník on the green and red routes (5 km). From the Czech side people walk from Velké Karlovice through Bukovina or from Podťaté. **What is the other cross visible from here on the ridge?** A wooden double cross on the summit of [Veľký Javorník](https://zpusteven.cz/en/velky-javornik) (1,071.5 m a.s.l.), the highest mountain of the Javorníky, about 2.5 km east along the red waymarks. It has no connection with the memorial on Stratenec - it is a summit cross. **Is the lookout tower open?** Yes, the wooden tower of 2008 is freely accessible all year, free of charge. It is eight metres high, the viewing platform is at five metres and twenty-four steps lead up to it. Where next ## Further along the ridge [Veľký Javorník](https://zpusteven.cz/en/velky-javornik) - The highest mountain of the range, further east · The summit with its wooden double cross stands two and a half kilometres east - sixteen metres higher and wholly in Slovakia. · Přejít na stránku → [The Kasárne settlement](https://zpusteven.cz/en/osada-kasarne) - The starting point and a five-hundred-year border saga · The settlement people set out from for Stratenec - and one that Moravia and Hungary fought over for five centuries. · Přejít na stránku → [The Tripoint](https://zpusteven.cz/en/trojmezi) - A border legible from a stone · Twenty kilometres away, on Trojačka, stands a boundary stone of 1906 with the names of three territories. · Přejít na stránku → [The Partisan](https://zpusteven.cz/partisan-memorial-makov) - The fight for the ridge a year earlier · The memorial in the Makov pass recalls the crossing of the Jan Žižka partisan brigade into Moravia in September 1944. · Přejít na stránku → --- Source: [Stratenec (Ztracenec): the Three Crosses in the Javorníky](https://zpusteven.cz/en/stratenec) - zPusteven.cz. 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