Slovak Invasion of Poland (1939) - Aftermath

Aftermath

All Slovak units were pulled back until the end of September 1939. On October 5, a victorious military parade was held in Poprad. The mobilized units were gradually demobilized and the Army Group Bernolák was disbanded on October 7.

The Slovak Army took around 1,350 civilian prisoners in Poland. In February 1940, around 1,200 of these were handed to Germans, and some of the remainder to the Soviets. The rest were kept in a Slovak prison camp in Lešť.

All the disputed territory, whether part of Poland from 1920 or from 1938, was given to Slovakia (this was confirmed by a Slovak parliamentary resolution on December 22, 1939). Adolf Hitler's offer to annex Zakopane was rejected. This arrangement lasted until 20 May 1945, when the border line was returned to its 1920 position.

In invading Poland, the Slovak Army tried to regain some prestige lost during humiliating defeat in the Slovak-Hungarian War. In 1941, Slovakia participated in the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union from its start.