The Iron Curtain (SK) Multi-Cache

Winston Churchill, March 5th 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri

The Iron Curtain (Železná opona, Eiserner Vorhang, Zhelezniy zanaves) is a term referring to the boundary which divided Europe into two separate areas of political influence and ideology from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War in 1989. Many of the states were members of the Soviet Union itself (the Soviet Socialist Republics), while the neighboring countries of the Eastern bloc were ruled by pro-Soviet governments, kept in place by the threat of military force.

The Iron Curtain, built during 1948-53 as a system of barbed wire fences in military zones, served to keep people in the Eastern block and information out. In Czechoslovakia, till 1989, about 390 people were killed on border when trying to cross the line and escape, thousands were caught and jailed. Nevertheless, in years 1948-1989 emmigrated from Czechoslovakia over 400000 people!

In Devinska Nova Ves near Bratislava you can still see few meters of fence and an information table. They’ve been saved to let us remember our young history, brutal crimes of communistic machinery and millions suffering people in devastated countries without freedom.

Geocache: Coordinates will lead you to mentioned place, find a microcache with instructions. From this startpoint it takes about 1 hour (3 km)to final position. Especially last 1km is very interesting with spectacular views through former curtain. Map and repellent (in summer time)recommended.

SK: "Od Stetina na pobrezi Baltickeho mora po Terst na Jadrane “zelezna opona“ spadla napriec kontinentom. Za touto liniou zostali vsetky starobyle metropoly krajin strednej a vychodnej Europy. Varsava, Berlin, Praha, Vieden, Budapest, Belehrad, Bukurest a Sofia – vsetky tieto slavne historicke mesta a narody okolo nich lezia v – musim to tak nazvat – sovietskej sfere a vsetky sa v takej ci onakej forme ocitli nielen pod sovietskym vplyvom ale aj pod znacnou a v niektorych pripadoch stale rastucou mierou kontroly zo strany Moskvy.“

Winston Churchill, 5. marca 1946 na Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri

Pojem zelezna opona sa od konca 2. svetovej vojny ustalil ako oznacenie linie prisne strazenych hranicnych pasiem, ktore oddelovali socialisticke krajiny vychodneho bloku od susednych demokratickych krajin, predovsetkym NSR a Rakuska. V Ceskoslovensku sa opona zacala zatahovat prakticky uz od roku 1948, skutocne nepriepustnou sa stala az v rokoch 1952-53 ako reakcia na neustavajúce uteky za slobodou.

Bola tvorena systemom plotov z ostnateho drotu, podporenych signalizacnym zariadenim (na mnohych miestach pod prudom) a straznych vezi, vymedzujucich hranicne “pasmo smrti” so sirkou 4 - 10 km. Do roku 1989 bolo v tomto pasme zabitych spolu 390 osob, tisice dalsich bolo pri pokuse prekrocit hranicu zadrzanych a uvaznenych. Aj napriek tejto ostrahe, v rozpati rokov 1948-1989 emigrovalo z Ceskoslovenska vyse 400000 ludi!

Pociatocne suradnice vas zavedu do Devinskej Novej Vsi, kde ako v hranicnej obci zostalo niekolko metrov ostnateho plota a informacna tabula. Pripominaju nam nasu nedavnu minulost, zlociny komunistickej masinerie a utrpenie milionov ludi v zdevastovanych krajinach vychodnej Europy.

Geocache: Suradnice v hlavicke vas privedu na spomenute miesto, kde najdete mikrocache s instrukciami. Mozte vyuzit horsky bicykel (nim to zvladate az ku skrysi rychlejsie), ale pesi to trva asi hodinu (3 km). Obzvlast posledny kilometer tvori pekna prechadzka so skvelymi vyhladmi za byvalu oponu. Zide sa vam mapa a v lete urcite repelent.

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