Last Artillery Veteran of Slovak National Uprising Dies

František Švidraň, the last surviving artillery soldier of the Slovak National Uprising, has died. Švidraň was one of the final living links to the 1944 armed resistance against Nazi occupation, in which Slovak soldiers and partisans rose up against the German-backed wartime Slovak state. In his final message to younger generations, he urged them to take pride in Slovakia's role on the right side of history. "Value the fact that as Slovaks we joined, through our precious Slovak National Uprising, the right side of history. Speak of it especially to the young, so they know, do not forget, and are proud of it," he said. The Slovak National Uprising, known by its Slovak initials SNP, remains one of the most significant events in Slovak national memory and is commemorated as a public holiday each year on August 29.