On Saturday, May 4, 2019, thousands of people in the region below Bradlo honored the memory of the Greatest Slovak - Milan Rastislav Štefánik - with an all-day program on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the tragic death.

One of the many accompanying events of the national memory of Štefánik in Košarisky or in Brezová pod Bradlom was the unveiling of a model of the MR Štefánik Mound next to his birth house. Thanks to the project of the municipality of Košariská, which was supported from the Participatory-Community Budget of the Trenčín Self-Governing Region (PKR TSK) in 2018 in the amount of 2,200 euros, it was possible to install a scale model of the Mohyla scale model at a scale of 1: 100. "The inscriptions from Mohyla are translated into Braille on the model, so that even people with visual problems can read what Mohyla means in this way and can touch it," said Jaroslav Baška, mayor of Trenčín, adding that the model was also made for so that even the handicapped have the opportunity to visit the Mound. As part of the public vote, the project received the most votes in the Myjava district, and in the second year of the PKR TSK, it finished in second place.

The program also included the solemn services of God in the Evangelical Church in Košarisky. With their festive atmosphere, they underlined the dignity of national celebrations. The crowded Evangelical Church of God commemorated with mass the life story and meritorious deeds of the son of the Evangelical pastor Pavel Štefánik, who worked priestly in Košarisky.

In the courtyard of MR Štefánik's Birthplace, they honored the life of a boy from Košarísk with a reverent act of laying wreaths. The Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republic Ľubica Laššáková addressed the present on this occasion. In addition, in the exterior of the museum, the authors of the comic brought to life the cartoon story of a native of Košarísk. After its official launch, a torchlight march on Bradlo was launched.

Hundreds of people from all over Slovakia met at Bradla

The mound of Milan Rastislav Štefánik on Bradla today connected the whole of Slovakia. It commemorated exactly 100 years since the sudden tragic death of her greatest son. On Sunday, May 4, 1919, an Italian Caproni plane crashed on board in Ivanka near Bratislava with the 1st Minister of War of the 1st Czechoslovak Republic, General Štefánik, and 3 Italian members. The place of his last rest became the Bradlianska Mohyla.

Not only the highest constitutional officials, representatives of state administration, self-government, churches, foreign delegations representing the countries of Štefánik's work, but especially the general public came to Bradlo to commemorate the sudden loss of one of the co-founders of the common state of Czechs and Slovaks on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death. The Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic and the town of Brezová pod Bradlom, signed the national celebrations. The memory of an important politician, diplomat, astronomer, general of the Armed Forces of the French Republic was commemorated at the Mound by a reverent act of laying wreaths. "Despite his varied career, Štefánik never forgot about Slovakia. Like the other central figures of his countries, he did not ask what his homeland could do for him, but what he could do for the benefit of our nation. He began his struggle at a time when his later outcome seemed unimaginable given international conditions. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Peter Pellegrini, spoke to us with a few efforts, "said the main host of the celebrations.

Štefánik's personal and work merits can be a great inspiration and example for today's and future generations. During his short, 39-year life, Štefánik's heart and soul beat us all for freedom and the future. "From a personal point of view, I most appreciate Štefánik's self-discipline, which he adhered to all his life and determination to bring sometimes great ideas and difficult decisions to a successful end," said Jaroslav Baška, Chairman of the General Assembly of TSK. The county will honor the deeds of Štefánik and three other important regional natives - Ľudovít Štúr, Jozef Miloslav Hurban and Alexander Dubček - by unveiling their bronze bastions at the county office in Trenčín on Monday, May 6, 2019. You are all most welcome!

"Nothing was impossible for me because I wanted to."

Milan Rastislav Stefanik

Source: Dept. communication and international relations, TSK