Ferdinand Čatloš

Ferdinand Čatloš
Born	(1895-10-07)7 October 1895 Szentpéter, Austria-Hungary (now Liptovský Peter, Slovakia)
Died	31 August 1972(1972-08-31) (aged 76) Martin, Czechoslovakia, (now Martin, Slovakia)
Allegiance	Slovak Republic (1939–1945)
Service/branch	Slovak Army
Rank	General 1st Class (Lieutenant General)
Commands held	Field Army Bernolák
Battles/wars	Invasion of Poland Operation Barbarossa

Ferdinand Čatloš (October 7, 1895 – December 16, 1972) - born Csatlós Nándor - was a Slovak military officer and politician. Throughout his short career in the administration of the Slovak Republic he held the post of Minister of Defence. He was also the commanding officer of the Field Army Bernolák during the 15 day Slovak Invasion of Poland and Operation Barbarossa. On 2 August 1944 he abandoned his post and joined the partisan fighters. At the conclusion of World War II, he was imprisoned for three years by the National Court of Bratislava and released in 1948. He spent the remainder of his life working as an ordinary clerk in Martin, Czechoslovakia. He then died in 1972.

On 1 September 1939, the Slovak Republic with three Infantry divisions under his general command attacked Poland and only met some resistance and quickly over-ran the Poles and took some land in Poland for Slovakia. While only losing 37 killed, 114 wounded, 11 missing and 2 aircraft shot down After serving in Poland, his army moved towards the east of Slovakia to join the German invasion of Russia, operation barbarossa.