Analysis of the bombing of Kassa (Košice) based on Slovak archival sources

Abstract

At the start of Operation Barbarossa, almost no Soviet air activity was observed in Slovak airspace in June and July 1941, even though some formations of the German Air Force(Luftwaffe) and the German Defense Force (Wermacht) were stationed in the territory of theSlovak Republic. The territory of Slovakia was not bombed in June and July 1941, and no airspace violations by the Soviets were even recorded. After the “mistaken” bombing of Kassa, why didn’t the Soviet Air Force bomb the potential Slovak targets? Based on my research sofar, I consider the probability that Kassa (Košice) was accidentally bombed by Soviet planesheading for Eperjes (Prešov) to be low.