Dr. Cyril Daxner – Daxner’s house
Cyril Daxner was a Slovak lawyer, officer, journalist, national and Christian activist, participant in the Little War, organizer of the Slovak National Uprising in eastern Slovakia. Grandfather Štefan Marko Daxner de Tótzabar (1822 – 1891) was a co-founder of Slovak Matica, one of the representatives of the Slovak National Uprising 1848 – 1849 and the creator of the political program current until 1918. He went down in history as a defender of the Evangelical Church before hungarization on Gemer region and Honta. His father was Ivan Daxner (1860 – 1935), who was directly involved in the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic and was the secretary of the Slovak League. He signed the Cleveland and Pittsburgh agreements, i.e. the documents leading to the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic. His great-grandfather was Karol Kuzmány, the 1st historical vice-president of Slovak Matica and superintendent of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg denomination. Among close relatives, e.g. belongs Janko Jesenský (1874 – 1945), writer, politician and the first Slovak holder of the title of national artist, as well as Juraj Janoška (1882 – 1945) deputy robe, chairman of the Slovak National Party for some time, participant in the Slovak National Uprising, who died tragically in 1945.
Cyril Svetozár Daxner was born on July 20, 1904 in Tisovec. Already in his childhood he showed interest in national affairs. He graduated from the Gymnasium in Turčiansky sv. Martin and continued his law studies at the Comenius University in Bratislava, which he completed in 1931. After obtaining his doctorate in law, he also worked as an editor of the National Newspaper in Martin.
The historical significance of Cyril Daxner is in three areas: in active participation in the battles during the Little War (1939), in the Slovak National Uprising organization in eastern Slovakia, and in his the cultural and ecclesiastical influence in the Upper Zemplín region. He performed military duty as an artillery officer in the town of Vranov nad Topľou. After passing the bar exam, he opened a lawyer´s office here in 1934.
Cyril Daxner was known for his original views, social and church life, law practice and help to ordinary people. He also observed European political events due to his language skills. He spoke Russian, Hungarian and German. Cyril Daxner did not belong to any political group and his only priority was the defense of the national rights of Slovaks. He was clearly against Nazism and pan-Germanism. In March 1939, after the Hungarian occupation of Podkarpatska Rus, he voluntarily reports to the headquarters in Prešov to Augustín Malár, who took command of VI. corps ensuring the defense of eastern Slovakia. When, on March 23, 1939, Hungarian troops invaded the territory of Slovakia from the east, Daxner, as an artillery lieutenant, took command of the attack group consisting of several armored cars OA 30 and set off against the advancing Hungarian troops. During the fighting, he personally operated one armored vehicle and narrowly escaped death after being hit by a grenade. His actions included him among the heroes of the Little War (1939). Young volunteers from the Prešov telegraph battalion also join his group. Daxner and his unit are engaged in fierce battles around Nižná Rybnica. After the war, he worked as a lawyer in the town of Vranov nad Topľou.
In the following period, Cyril Daxner was involved in organizing the anti-German resistance and was a key figure in the civil resistance in eastern Slovakia with connections to Bratislava. He organized connections with civic groups in Humenné, Bardejov, Stropkov. He personally collaborated with Viliam Žingor and Ľudovít Kukorelli. He was a co-organizer of the Vranov partisan group known as Pučkov. During the repressive action in eastern Slovakia, on April 19, 1944, he was arrested together with his wife based on the information of a confidant of the State Security Center. From May 15, 1944, he was imprisoned in Ilava and later in Bratislava. In February 1945, the Gestapo dragged him to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.
After the liberation, sick and malnourished, he left Austria by ship and returned to Bratislava on May 24, 1945. He tried to get to his family relative Janko Jesenský, but fell asleep on the street due to fatigue and contracted pneumonia from the cold weather. Doctor prof. Sumbol tried to save him until the last moment. Cyril Svetozár Daxner dies in a hospital in Bratislava on Hlboka cesta on June 7, 1945 and is buried in the cemetery near the Goat Gate. In 1945 in memoriam awarded the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939; in 1946 in memoriam by the Council of the Slovak National Uprising I.class; in 1939 he was awarded the Medal for Heroism and the Memorial Medal for the defense of Slovakia in March 1939 during the Little War. The monument to his extraordinary life is currently maintained by the local branch of Slovak Matica in Vranov nad Topľou.