There was a time – not that long ago – when a big war was fast approaching on the European continent. It was during this time that a group of people gathered and planned the defense of Czechoslovakia. As a result, a number of bunkers sprang up along what is today the Slovak-Austrian border. Bunker BS-6, also known as “Vrba”, was one of the 15 bunkers in the neighborhood of Petržalka. The plan for the bunkers was drawn in 1933 and they came into existence in the years 1936 and 1937.
Bunker BS-6 was manned by a group of 10 soldiers. It had two heavy machine guns as well as one light machine gun.
Today the bunker is open to the public as a museum. The museum is run by the Múzeum v Pechotnom Zrube. We have not found any information about the possibility to see the inside of the bunker, but the area around it is open to visitors.
As a side story, let’s dig a bit into history. Just next to Bunker BS-6 there is also a memorial plate. It reads: “In Memory of hundreds of German, Hungarian and Slovak fellow citizens executed in the Petržalka amassing camp.” We finally found a bit of information about this camp, which history we did not know about while living in Petržalka. There was according to Aktuality.sk a German concentration camp in Petržalka. This was a camp that consisted of six subcamps with a few hundred prisoners in each. It was on Good Friday 1945, a few days before the liberation of Bratislava, that the final massacre took place. The guards executed the prisoners who were still remaining. The bodies were later buried in a mass grave. A total of 460-500 prisoners is buried at the cemetery.
Bunker BS-6 “Vrba”: How to get there?
This is one of the bunkers that is a bit more tricky to reach. It is situated just next to the highway and there are on and off ramps surrounding the site. The easiest way to reach Bunker BS-6 is to either come from the path along the border and walk along the exit ramp across the bridge to get to the site. The other option is to come from Petržalka along Bratská street.
Click on the links below to read more about the bunkers in Petržalka.
- Bratislava: a walk along the WWII frontier
- Bunker BS-2 “Mulda”
- Bunker BS-3 “Paseka”
- Bunker BS-4 “Lány”
- Bunker BS-8 “Hřbitov””
- Bunker BS-9 “Kittsee”
Want to find more sights in Bratislava? Check out our Bratislava Guide >>
I had no idea there were concentration camps in Czechoslovakia too. Thanks for sharing this.