Monument to György Balázs Petőcz, martyr of 1848

György Petőcz – the county officials had a difficult time during the War of Independence. They always had to announce the proclamations and decrees of the current occupier. György Petőcz, born in Éberhard, was the county clerk from 1843. At the turn of 1848-49, the imperial-royal authorities appointed him as the deputy governor, and in the spring of 1849, the county authorities appointed him as the supply commissioner for the troops camped in Csallóköz. ; When the Hungarian troops entered Csallóköz, Petőcz did not follow the retreating imperial-royal troops, but returned from his office, Szerdahely, to his family in Felsőpatony. During his stay there, Colonel Mór Kosztolányi broke out of Komárom and drove the Austrians back all the way to the border of Bratislava. Learning that the lieutenant was in the countryside, he warned him that Bratislava County was still in arrears with some recruit commissions. (Bratislava County had 3,647 recruits. According to unreliable data from the imperialists, the county fielded 198 volunteers and 1,796 conscripts.) György Petőcz ordered the court clerks of the two Csallóköz districts to recruit, which resulted in about 120 Csallóköz boys joining the Hungarian flag in a few days. The imperialists learned of this and decided to kill György Petőcz. His friends warned Petőcz not to return to Bratislava, but to send his report from the Komárom castle, but the upright man, who knew his duty, did not heed the warning, he traveled to Bratislava, where he was immediately captured, court-martialed, sentenced to death and executed. ; According to contemporaries, the military judge asked György Petőcz: "Were you forced to recruit by the insurgents?", to which Petőcz replied that it was his duty to keep the recruitment going. This statement caused his death, which delegations tried to prevent, but without success. ; The sentence was carried out under the southwestern tower of the Bratislava castle – the so-called crown tower. Petőcz entered the place of execution with manly courage and unbreakable patriotic determination, where he was accompanied by his officer hajdú named Molnár. When Molnár blindfolded the condemned man, his former master whispered in his ear: ; – Tell the gentlemen not to be afraid, I did not impregnate anyone. And tell my family that I died as a man. ; These were the last words of György Petőcz. ; His body was placed on the same cart that he used on his last journey and buried in the military cemetery. Nothing marks the unknown grave of this brave man, but his memory was preserved with reverence by the public of the county, which in 1861 had his memory recorded in the minutes and placed a memorial plaque in the ceremonial hall of the county hall on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his execution. ; A street in Bratislava was named after the martyr György Petőcz in 1894, which was changed to Kráľova Street during the Czechoslovak period (1921). Its current name (from 1958 to the present) is Votrubova ulica. ; The monument to György Balázs Petőcz in Éberhard was erected by the local government in 2003. The plaque depicting the hero's presumed birthplace was made by the local organization of CSEMADOK in 2015.