They were fleeing naked

Ján Bugel deserted his unit during the dying phase of the Slovak National Uprising near Banské Štiavnice. With a few friends he was headed east toward his home. With the help of some locals, they swapped their uniforms for civilian clothes and got rid of their weapons. After having walked for dozens of kilometers, somewhere past Poprad, the tired men lay down for a rest on a meadow near the forest during daytime. They were literally stumbled across by a 10-men-strong German patrol. All of them were arrested and taken to barracks in Sabinov, 80 kilometers away, used as a temporary detention camp for the insurgents. Ján Bugel was placed in the attic, where he met an interesting man – a Yugoslav who had a considerable amount of money and a plan of escape. One night the two men carried out that plan. They stripped their clothes completely in order to prevent the buckles on the clothes from tinkling. They let down their clothing first and then climbed down the pole in front of the window – all naked. The Yugoslav had studied the times of changing of the German guards and the routes they’d usually take. Thus they managed to escape undetected across the fence.