Former Staňkov citizen Karel Brožovský reminisces about the end of World War II and liberation in Staňkov: :
From the reminiscences of Karel Brožovský: “Staňkov faced a terrible danger in the last days of the war. The local Czechs learned from the local Germans that mines were being laid in Staňkov and it was slated to be blown up. This action was planned for the last Sunday before the war’s end. The Germans had already packed. We saw this with our German neighbors, who had their suitcases and other luggage packed in their home. They spoke publicly in front of us about how they had orders to head out into the forest and to the village of Malý Malahov. Men (including my father) walked through Staňkov at night to stay unseen, sought out wires with their flashlights, and snipped them. It was very dangerous work. However, the town’s liquidation was postponed by a week. It was because of the wedding of one bigwig in the Gestapo. That saved Staňkov’s life. People were tense and anxious—what would the Germans still get done?—even though they knew liberation was swiftly approaching. That day finally came! !
Liberation memorial plaque
Bilingual inscription: “DÍK ZA OSVOBOZENÍ ARMÁDĚ USA 6.5.1945 / THANKS TO US ARMY FOR A LIBERATION / MĚSTO STAŇKOV 6. 5. 1995”
These tour routes copy the movements of the US Army during the liberation of West Bohemia in the spring of 1945. Commemoration sites are connected into these tour routes in a way that ensures each site leads into the next. You’ll also find regional and private museums, as well as tourist activities connected with these military memorial sites.
We present to visitors a timeline that follows the advance of the US Army and individual parts of it from the German border to Domažlice and from there on towards Pilsen. The time information in this timeline will gradually gain in scope and detail.
The Paths of Liberation — The Pilsen Region