“Black Baron” Karol Bartek still does not understand why he was sent to the auxiliary technical battalion in 1952
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Karol Bartek was born on August 19, 1926 in Nemšová, as the fourth child out of eight. The father’s name was Ján and the mother’s name was Mária, born Patková. He attended folk school in Nemšová, and in 1938 began studying at the grammar school in Šaštín. He later moved to Trenčín and graduated in June 1947 in Zlaté Moravce. He performed theater at home. In high school, he was chairman of the Democratic Party of Young Democrats. After graduation, he studied social work at the University of Social Sciences in Brno (1947 - 1951). After college, he completed a one-year hygiene course and then worked at the Statistical Institute of Public Health in Bratislava. Shortly afterwards, in 1952, he enlisted in the compulsory military service in the 67th Auxiliary Technical Battalion in Zdechovice. He undertook a medical course there. In 1954 he returned to work for the statistical office. Four children were born to him - Ján, Veronika, Elvíra and Karol. In April 1955, he began working for the Trade Commission, where he worked until 1965 as a specialist clerk. Two years later, the family moved to an apartment on Krížná Street. Between the time when the mandates were abolished and the ministries were established, he worked temporarily at the General Directorate in Slovakia or at the Civil Engineering Works as a corporate sociologist. In 1968, he started working at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs as a chief expert officer - a specialist in the field of human resources. He remained here until his retirement in 1986. From 1986 to 1988 he worked as an assistant professor at the University of Economics in Bratislava at the Faculty of Economics. He wrote three books about his life (1990, 1993, 2006). In 2020 he lived in Bratislava.
