List of Images

Adolf Hitler inspecting the demolished bridge over the Drava River in Maribor, 26 April 1941. MNZS. It is incorrectly mentioned in literature that Hitler uttered the famous sentence “Make this country German again!” in his speech given on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor on 26 April 1941. In reality – according to the speech given by the Chief of the Civil Administration of Styria dr. Uiberreither on 28 April 1941, likewise on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor – he had given that order earlier. In his speech Uiberreither said that Hitler had addressed him with those words when handing over the administration three weeks earlier. Source: Repe, S puško in knjigo, 24.
Italian troops in Ljubljana (June 1941). MNZS, Author: Jakob Prešern.
Town Hall in Ptuj adorned with German flags. MNZS.
Demonstration of the breakthrough of German and Italian armies into Slovene territory during the attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941. Source: Repe, S puško in knjigo, 11.
German Army crossing the Drava River across a demolished bridge, Ptuj, 1941. MNZS.
Ceremony in Murska Sobota on 16 April 1941 when the Germans handed Prekmurje over to the Hungarians. Jožef Krantz, priest in the Catholic parish of Murska Sobota speaks on the stage. MNZS.
After occupation, Slovene territory was divided among the Germans, Italians, Hungarians and Croatians.
After splitting up the territories and demarcating the borders, the occupiers fortified and guarded their new borders in different ways. The Germans even went to the trouble of wiring the entire length of the border, cutting down forests or clearing the terrain within a 50m radius, and setting up a minefield, several metres wide. MNZS.
Border crossing between Germany and the Independent State of Croatia at Harine Zlake. MNZS.
After the division of Slovene territories, Ljubljana became an Italian city along the German-Italian border. The map shows the course of the border as demarcated on 21 September 1941 by the Central Boundary Commission. Source: Spezialkarte der Österreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie 1:75,000, sheet Laibach (5553). Archive: Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU.
German and Italian soldiers somewhere on the newly placed border. MNZS.
A German watchtower on the border with the Third Reich. MNZS.
Front page, DOCUMENTI DI VITA ITALIANA, No. 9, May 1941 and front page, Karawanken Bote, No 1, 5 July 1941.
A boundary marker between Germany and Italy. The chiselled letter I standing for Italy is clearly visible. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Concrete remains of the foundations of German watchtowers on the hill Toško čelo near Ljubljana and a part of the project team (from left) Peter Mikša, Božidar Flajšman, Bojan Balkovec and Božo Repe at the concrete foundation of a watchtower. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
A boundary marker between the Independent State of Croatia and Germany at Nova vas. Author: Matija Zorn.
Peter Mikša and Bojan Balkovec measuring the boundary marker. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
A tripoint marker between Germany, Italy and the NDH discovered by the project research team. In these parts, the borders mostly followed the former border between Carniola and Styria, and the marker used as the tripoint marker is likely from those times. The border there was shaped as a horn and cut deeply into Slovene (German) territory, since the tripoint marker is situated beneath Gadova Peč, the famous cradle of the cviček wine. Author: Peter Mikša.
A section of a map showing the border between Germany and the Independent State of Croatia at Ormož. The map clearly shows the course of the borderline. Source: Jugoslavija, topografske karte razmera 1:50,000, sheet Ptuj. Archive: Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU.
Kurt von Kamphoevener. Source: Politisches Archiv des Auswartigen Amts, Berlin.
Shown in the photograph is the letter of authorisation from Joachim von Ribbentrop (Germany's foreign minister between 1938 and 1945) to Kamphoevener to manage border-related affairs with the NDH, Italy and Hungary. His decisions also greatly influenced the border issues in the vicinity of Rogaška Slatina. Source: Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amts Berlin.
Sketch of a demarcation proposal. Source: Politisches Archiv des Auswartigen Amts, Berlin.
5. The minutes of an agreement between the German Ambassador Siegfried Kasche and the Croatian Foreign Minister Mladen Lorković on 17 June 1941, which state that the border at Rogaška Slatina will run along the Sotla River, as it had prior to April 1941. Source: Međunarodni ugovori: Nezavisna država hrvatska (1941), 95.
A text about the demarcation of the border between Germany and Italy in the newspaper Karawanken Bote.
When Yugoslavia was occupied in 1941 and Slovenia was divided among Germany, Italy, Hungary and the NDH, the present-day Croatian Municipality of Hum na Sutli and its towns or hamlets of Hum, Lupinjak, Druškovec, Prišlin and Brezno was given to Germany. 6,530 (Croatian) inhabitants in an area of 36.85 square kilometres came under Germany's rule, while the annexed territory belonged to the Šmarje District based in Rogaška Slatina. The main reason behind the annexation was industry – the glassworks Straža in Hum was highly advanced at that time and connected with the Štajerska region. Its owner was German. Thus, the border did not run along the Sotla River but along the banks of the Hrvatsko Zagorje region. In the end of June, after being persuaded by the NDH, this area was re-annexed to Croatia and the border was moved to the Sotla River.
Example of a bilingual border pass (Grenzkarte). In addition to the official stamp of the district customs office, and the date of issue and validity, each permit also contained a description of its owner with information on age, occupation and place of employment. Archive of the RS.
Today the territory south of Drava close to Ormož is part of Croatia, however in 1941 it was part of Germany; more precisely, it was part of the German state province of Styria (Reichsgau Steiermark).
The Sotla river is still a border river between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia. However, between 1941 and 1945 this was the border river between the German Reich and the NDH. At the end of 1941, the Germans heavily guarded its banks and enclosed it with barbed wire and minefields. Nevertheless, smuggling soon emerged across the river. Most sought after commodities were sugar, tobacco, copperas, salt, meat, lard, flour, eggs, even livestock. The photograph shows the exchange of goods at Sotla river in the immediate vicinity of Rogaška Slatina, most likely in the summer of 1944. Source: personal archive of Božo Kolar.
The map shows a microstudy of second world war remnants in the field as shown on a Lidar image – the location is Vonarje. In 1944, in anticipation of a potential landing of allies in Istria, the Germans greatly fortified their southern border with firing trenches, machine gun nests and fortified bunkers.
Remains of a firing trench above the Sotla River at Vonarje. Author: Daniel Siter.
On 4 May 1941, the Italian Army marched into Metlika. (Source: Rus, Zvonko. Kronika mesta Metlike. Metlika: Belokranjsko muzejsko društvo, 2003, 15). Shown in the picture is a house turned into a bunker next to a bridge over the Kolpa River. Source: personal archive of Božidar Flajšman.
Remains of an Italian bunker at Rosalnice. These bunkers were erected on elevations in the middle of fields (Author: Sonja Bezenšek). The parish priest of Črnomelj, Lojze Jože Žabkar, wrote in his journal on 3 August 1943: “The provost of Metlika Alfonz Klemenčič is celebrating his name day today, so I drove there at eleven o’clock. Metlika – nothing but bunkers, wires, trenches. The Italians are still stringing the wire (Rosalnice – Slamna vas). What for, when the empire is collapsing? I have many fond memories of Metlika – I was a curate there six years ago and it was wonderful. But today everything is different.” Source: Žabkar. Izpovedi (poems and diary), 89.
Section of an Italian map on the construction of a fortified line between Italy and the NDH at Metlika. The yellow dots mark the already built concrete bunkers at Rosalnice. Archive of the RS. Author of the photograph: Blaž Štangelj.
Partisan sketch of an Italian post in Zilje by the Kolpa River near Vinica. Archives of the RS. Author of the photograph: Blaž Štangelj.
Interview Marija Starešinič
Interview Gabre Bogdanovič
In Krmelj, the former occupational border was designated as a memorial and a reminder of the evil caused by the Second World War. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Italian and German soldiers on the border at Raka in the Dolenjska region. MNZS.
Remains of the base of a German watchtower above the village of Bučka with a view of Šentjernej and the Gorjanci hills. In the photograph, witness Silvo Vene and cameraman Bozidar Flajšman. Author: Bojan Balkovec.
A witness, Jože Jankovič, is standing on the once German left bank of the Krk a River in Kostanjevica. Border control was located on the north side of the bridge, which is shown on the right side of the picture. A part of Jankovič's house on the island was an Italian bunker. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Next to the railway line in Dobova is a tall concrete block; the rails have been concreted into it. Next to it is a smaller structure and a low concrete block between the two tracks. All of them were built by Germans during the war in case they had to disable traffic. Mining of the block would destroy the track, while the mined concrete structures would bury it and make reconstruction even harder. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
In 1941 several Slovenian villages south of Brežice were occupied by the NDH (Jesenice na Dolenjskem, Obrežje, Nova vas, Slovenska vas and Čedem).
Main boundary stone No. 12 of the Rapallo border between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia at the Prehodavci pass in the Julian Alps; it was kept as a boundary stone during World War II when it was used to demarcate Italy and Germany. Main boundary stones were one metre high and 40cm wide. The letter “D” stood for Germany. The year 1920 marks the year of the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo. Author: Matija Zorn.
Many boundary stones in high mountain ranges were destroyed after World War II, while some were merely tipped over into a secondary position. The fully preserved main boundary stone No. 9 beneath the Luknja col above the valley of Zadnjica is located a few tens of metres beneath its original spot. Author: Matija Zorn.
In many places, all that is left of the boundary stones is the concrete foundation and iron elements. Author: Matija Zorn.
Beneath the cols the border was heavily guarded on the German side. About one hundred metres of altitude beneath the Dovška vrata col above the valley of Vrata we can follow the former barbed wire fence transversely to the Valley. In the photograph, Peter Mikša. Author: Matija Zorn.
In the area of Rateče the locations of the boundary stones of the Rapallo border and of the later occupation border still serve their purpose. A boundary stone at the former railway border crossing at Rateče. The year 1947 marks the new border agreement reached after World War II when the Rapallo border formally ceased to exist. Author: Matija Zorn.
On the ridge of the Ponce mountain chain the locations of present-day boundary stones overlap with those of the boundary stones of the Rapallo and occupation border. This example shows the area of Macesnovec.
Remains of a German watchtower in the Ježica District. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Border crossing on the German-Italian border at Šentvid nad Ljubljano. After the wire had been placed, 11 road border crossings led from and to the city and could only be crossed with a permit. Anyone older than 14 could apply for one. MNZS, Author: Jakob Prešern.
Wire on the border in Šentvid. When the Commission inspected the first wire border it established that it did not meet the military requirements nor the needs of the population (e.g. the Žale District was outside of the ring of wire). Hence, the wire was moved outward by up to 250m but it still bypassed Barje, Polje, Kozarje, Savlje and Ježica, thus severing another part of the hinterland that was important for supply. MNZS.
A map of the fortified zone around Ljubljana. The entire border zone was around 30km long, around 2 metres high and 5-8m wide. Together with the telephone and electrical wiring, the floodlight stations for illuminating the border, and a circular runway on the inner side of the zone, the fortified line was about 80m wide. In January 1943, the border was guarded by some 2,500 soldiers, 500 Carabinieri, public security agents, and Questurini who examined people at the road checkpoints. MNZS.
Border crossing at Celovška street between the Italian district of Šiška and the German district of Šentvid. The tram network stayed the same during the war but the number of passengers increased. Tram drivers crossed the borders of occupied Ljubljana on a daily basis and had to have special permits. On the route towards Šentvid there was a border crossing near the Žibert Inn. The tram stopped there and the passengers completed all the border formalities. MNZS.
Knife-rests on the Tromostovje triple bridge. This barrier separated the narrow city centre from the broader one. There were 19 such barriers in the city centre, out of a total of 34. MNZS.
Arrival of the Hungarian Army in Dolnja Lendava on 16 April 1941. Source: private archive of Štefan Vida.
After the annexation of Prekmurje to Hungary, the rail link to the interior of Hungary was re-established. The picture shows workers laying the tracks at Hodoš in 1941. Source: private archive of the Bočkorec family.
A triumphal arch bearing the inscription “We Salute You on Liberation Day” erected in Murska Sobota at a ceremony on 29 June 1941. Source: Pomurski muzej Murska Sobota.
Members of the Hungarian and German armed police force with civilians at the German-Hungarian border in 1942. Source: private archive of Silvester Štingl.
In many places throughout Prekmurje, Hungarian authorities hung the so-called State Flags (Országzászló) to symbolically show the annexation of Prekmurje to Hungary. The photograph shows the consecration ceremony of an Országzászló in Beltinci in 1942. Source: Göncz, Felszabadulás vagy megszállás. MNMI, 105.
On 16 April 1941, Germans handed over control of Prekmurje to the Hungarians, except in four settlements in the northwest of the region. The sketch shows the German- Hungarian border at the settlement of Serdica (Seregháza), with the disputed area (vitás terület) drawn in. In Serdica the border ran along the Ledava River. On the bridge between the two parts of the village, a German officer drew the border with his boot; the subject of dispute was a mill on the Hungarian side of the village, which was owned by Germans. Border crossings and a limited transfer of goods were possible but under strict German supervision. People were not allowed to trade in livestock and it had to be marked (D for Germany and U for Hungary). Source: MNL OL K-64 - 1942 - 41.(96. cs.).
With his commemorative collection, Milan Košir from Črni Vrh above Polhov Gradec is preserving the memory of the occupation border which ran across the Polhov Gradec hills. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Preliminary microstudy of a section of the border between Italy and Germany at the Polhov Gradec Dolomites (vicinity of Ljubljana), marking the locations of buildings that had been torn town because of the new border zone and the locations of fatalities among the local population because of the mining of the border zone. Source: private archive of Milan Košir.
Researchers (from left to right: Matija Zorn, Maruša Nartnik, Božo Repe, Bojan Balkovec, Božidar Flajšman, Peter Mikša in Borče Ilievski) at the boundary marker beneath the homestead Domačija Pr’Mahačk near the hill Polhograjska Grmada. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Soldiers and civilians at the border. Source: private archive of Milan Košir.
Remains of a German watchtower on Goljek, a hill 809 metres high above the village of Topol (Sveta Katarina) above Ljubljana. Source: Author: Peter Mikša.
A memorial for all the victims of the inter-war border between Italy and Germany at Medvedov maln (between Planina, Butajnova and Zalog. Author: Peter Mikša.
On 16 November 2017, a part of the research team (Matija Zorn, Božidar Flajšman, Božo Repe, Peter Mikša), accompanied by Lojze Štih and Ivan Petrišič, the president and vice-president of ZZB NOB Krško, discovered a buried boundary marker in a remote area of the Municipality of Brežice near Gadova Peč, at the tripoint between Germany, Italy and the Independent State of Croatia. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
The photograph shows the research team (from left to right: Božidar Flajšman, Darja Kerec, Božo Repe, Peter Mikša in Kornelija Ajlec) marking the tripoint with an improvised inscription. On 13 April 2018, the research team marked a tripoint between Germany, Hungary and the Independent State of Croatia on the over grown right bank of the Drava River, south of Središče ob Dravi on today’s Croatian side. No physical remains of the former state border can be found in this flooded, muddy region, rich in vegetation. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
During World War II, boundary marker No. 40 of the Rapallo border in Spodnji Vrsnik became a tripoint marker between Germany, the Kingdom of Italy and the Province of Ljubljana, Italy's new occupation zone. Today this marker is kept by the museum Mestni muzej Idrija. Source: Idrija Municipal Museum, Author: Darko Viler.
A map of tripoints in Slovenia during World War II.
During World War II, the present-day tripoint between Austria, Italy and Slovenia was the tripoint between the Kingdom of Italy, the German Reich and the German Occupation Zone of Lower Carinthia. Unfortunately, the monument from those times has not been recorded, but we can see the tripoint marker from 1939 when it was visited by the underage King of Yugoslavia Peter II Karađorđević. Source: Nani Poljanec, Ljudski muzej Rogaška Slatina/Rogaška Slatina Folk Museum.
Božo Repe, Darja Kerec, Božidar Flajšman, Kornelija Ajlec and Peter Mikša at the present-day tripoint marker between Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Adolf Hitler inspecting the demolished bridge over the Drava River in Maribor, 26 April 1941. Photo library of the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia of Slovenia. It is incorrectly mentioned in literature that Hitler uttered the famous sentence “Make this country German again” in his speech given on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor on 26 April 1941. In reality – according to the speech given by the Chief of the Civil Administration of Styria Uiberreither PhD on 28 April 1941, likewise on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor – he had given that order earlier. In his speech Uiberreither said that Hitler had addressed him with those words when handing over the administration three weeks earlier (Ferenc 1968, 125; “Der Dank …” 1941, 4).
Hitlerjugend parade, Ptuj, 1941. MNZS.
Visit from the Chief of the Civil Administration of Lower Styria Siegfried Uiberreither PhD in Settlement Area A from 17 to 19 March 1942, Raka. Photo: Veit, photograph is kept by the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia of Slovenia.
Expulsion of Slovenes from the Brežice District; exiles on their way to the station, 9 November 1941. Photo: Veit, photograph is kept by the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia.
Celebration of the anniversary of the occupation of Maribor; a rally in the Glavni trg Square (Adolf Hitler Platz), Maribor, 12 April 1942. Photo: Veit, photograph is kept by the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia.
Young Slovene boys, forced to conscript into the German Army, are gathering at the Celje railway station to travel to the theatres of war throughout Europe. Source: the book S puško in knjigo/With a Rifle and a Book (author Božo Repe). Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje.
Town Hall in Ptuj adorned with German flags. MNZS.
A troop of 60–70 German soldiers lined up on 11 April 1942 in front of Zdraviliški dom [Health Resort Hall] in Rogaška Slatina, where a solemn celebration was held on the first anniversary of the German “liberation” of this resort town. Standing in the background, on the far left and right are boys from the Hitler Youth, who had rooms in the Pošta Hotel. Standing between them are Wehrmannschaft units. Source: School chronicle of the Kostrivnica Primary School.
In front of the bottling facility at the heart of the health resort in Rogaška Slatina. Source: personal archive of Nani Poljanec, Ljudski muzej Rogaška Slatina [Rogaška Slatina Folk Museum].
From September 1941 onwards, inhabitants of the Gorenjska region were sent to “SA Gruppenschule” courses in Rogaška Slatina. MNZS.
Immediately after their arrival, the Germans seized Učiteljski dom [Teachers' Hall], the Matanič Hotel, the house of Katoliško društvo [Catholic Society], Sokolski dom [Sokol Hall], Občinski dom [Municipal Hall] (previously Železničarski dom [Railway Hall]), the Sretenovič Villa (the base of Nacionalsocialistična ljudska blaginja [National Socialist People's Welfare] and of Nemška zveza žena [German Association of Female Citizens (NS-Frauenschaft)]) and two villas owned by the Orthodox priest Zuranović and a female professor from Zagreb, Zora Ilič. It should be added that this list mentions only the seizures from the initial period of occupation and is by no means complete. Later on, the Gestapo appropriated other property too: the Klanjšček pharmacy, Antonija Drofenik's catering establishment, the Pošta Hotel and Restaurant, the residential buildings of deported owners, and the Bofulin estate in Irje (livestock rearing for the needs of the occupying forces). Archives of the RS.
The occupier's units, which were stationed in Rogaška Slatina, often came to the nearby countryside. This photograph was taken in 1942, when three Germans visited Krumpak's shop in Cerovec. Published courtesy of the Krumpak family, who own the original.
Report on the accommodation of military and clerical personnel in Rogaška Slatina. Miglitsch, the German mayor of Rogaška Slatina, reported on 13 October 1941 that 72 soldiers and 27 officers were staying at the health resort. They had 22 motor vehicles at their disposal, which were parked in the garages of Zdraviliški dom. German non-commissioned officers and the accompanying kitchen staff were staying at the Nova Švicarija Hotel, while officers and clerks were assigned 25 rooms on the second and third floors of the Štajerski dvor Hotel (called Jugoslovanski kralj before the German occupation). In February 1943, police hospitals were also set up in this hotel. In Ljubljanski dom, after the abolition of Komarek's political commissariat of Šmarje pri Jelšah, many offices of various departments were set up. Other accommodation facilities in the health resort, which also contained a night-time swimming pool, a bakery and its own theatre or cinema, were intended for select guests from the countries occupied by the Third Reich. Archives of the RS.
At an “SA Gruppenschule” course in Rogaška Slatina. MNZS.
Immediately after occupation, Germans began the complete Germanisation of the population of Lower Styria. The photograph shows a celebration involving German organisations, such as the German Youth (Hitlerjugend), etc. The entire surrounding area bears Nazi symbols. MNZS.
Anton Belcer, born in 1923, was included in the group of the first military conscripts in Lower Styria; he was forced to enlist in the German Army (Heer) as early as July 1942, when the occupying forces began to enlist the first men, i.e. those born in 1923. Contrary to the special decree on sending men born in that year to the Labour Service and only afterwards to the Wehrmacht, Anton was sent directly to the front. He fought in the tank-hunting unit in Finland and Norway, where he was captured by the British. He suffered severe frostbite in battle and they had to amputate two of his toes. (Source: Programme for men forced to conscript into the German Army, MNZS, 19 September 2017. Published courtesy of Irena Poharc, who owns the original.
Ivan Siter, born in 1924, forced to conscript into the Wehrmacht and sent to northern France. Just before the Allies invaded Normandy (6 June 1944) he went on leave and headed for the occupied Slovenia. After a sudden German order to cancel all leaves, his train was redirected in Austria to the Eastern Front. Back home, he had connections that would have enabled him to join the partisan Sava Detachment. He was captured by the Soviets in the Pinsk Marshes and sent to a prison near the Kama River at the foot of the Ural Mountains. He returned home in late 1946, but very feeble. Published courtesy of Janez Siter, who owns the original.
A report from the occupation administration in Rogaška Slatina proving that Slovene books were confiscated and taken off the shelves by 11 November 1941. Any further printing of postcards with Slovene captions was cancelled. Archives of the RS.
“Mine and My Mother's Exile and Curse”: the diary entries of Marija Drimel about the horrific events in the period from early July 1942 to 30 July 1945. The author wrote most of the pages in great secrecy behind the barbed wire of the largest concentration camp, Auschwitz. The first entry was written on 7 July 1942, even before being deported to the camp, when Rogaška Slatina was dealt one of the hardest blows. On that day, after capturing and torturing a local to get information, German troops crammed 27 poor glassworkers into their lorries in front of the glassworks, and took them to the Stari pisker prison. In the following weeks and months, they were shot to death by Nazis in front of the “death wall” in this Celje prison. Published courtesy of Maša and Leon Drimel, who own the original.
Postcard sent from Rogaška Slatina in January 1945. It promotes the submontane climate (the occupying forces made a mistake there), the healing water and the diet food. Just as the glassworks operated with limited capacity, so did the health resort, which was ran by Director Wolf. In the beginning of May 1942, with the start of the new season, Wolf managed to move the police curfew for guests of the health resort from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Some of the hotel buildings that were part of the health resort's accommodation offer were closed during the winter. Thus, the Ozom Hotel and the Triglav Hotel were still closed in the middle of May 1942. Published courtesy of Robert Reich (Rogaška Slatina once upon a time), who owns the original.
A list of people arrested and exiled in the area of the Municipality of Rogaška Slatina. The list covers the period up to 3 June 1941. The curate from the parish house of the Church of the Cross and the parish priest from Kostrivnica were arrested and transferred to prisons in Maribor. Deportation also befell librarians, doctors, teachers (Rudolf Predan, the head teacher of the school in Sveti Križ was also deported), clerks and secretaries at the municipal hall, at the post office, at the health resort (including Ivan Gračner, the health resort's director until that time), and various landowners. Archives of the RS.
The primary school in Rogaška Slatina (the present-day 3rd Primary School of Rogaška Slatina) was built in 1888; due to the financing of its construction and the influence over its educational programme it was called the German school. It held lessons during the war. Published courtesy of Robert Reich (Rogaška Slatina once upon a time), who owns the original.
Okupirana občina Hum ob Sotli (1941)
A report from the Hum Gendarmerie Station (the Šmarje District based in Rogaška Slatina) dated 30 May 1941 on the Occupation Municipality of Hum, which, besides Hum, also included four corresponding cadastral units – Lupinjek, Druškovec, Prišlin and Brezno. Archives of the RS.
The minutes of an agreement between the German Ambassador Siegfried Kasche and the Croatian Foreign Minister Mladen Lorković on 17 June 1941, which state that the border at Rogaška Slatina will run along the Sotla River, as it had prior to April 1941. Source: Nezavisna država Hrvatska, Ministarstvo vanjskih poslova. Međunarodni ugovori 1941. P. 95.
The material remains of the war also include the remains of fortified defensive lines, positions or borders from the time of World War II on Slovene territory. We can still recognise many trenches or foundations of various buildings in the landscape today. Tracking these remains in the field is time-consuming and often made difficult because the cultural landscape has changed greatly over the last seven decades. Characteristic of Slovenia in the post-war period was the process of land abandonment and the consequent overgrowing of the cultural landscape. In recent years, historians have been making use of laser surface scanning to detect such remains. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) is more efficient compared to aerial photography as it can “see” through vegetation. This enables the making of a highly precise Digital Relief Map (DRM) in a resolution of 1m or higher, which enables us to identify elements of such size in the landscape.
According to the data known so far, there were fourteen border crossings between Germany and the NDH in the vicinity of Rogaška Slatina (from Dobovec to Podčetrtek). They were: No. 1: Furt zwischen Terlitschner und Hromec, informal name: “Terlično-Hromec”; local border traffic. No. 2: St. Rochus-Burmanec; Eisenbahnübergang (railway) for international border traffic. No. 3: Brücke bei Grenzpfahl 75, Fahrweg von Dobrowetz nach Lupinjek beim kroatischen Schulhaus; local border traffic. No. 4: St. Rochus-Lupinjak; informal name: “St. Rochus-Lupinjak”; local border traffic; also Strassenübergang for international border traffic. No. 5: Steg und Furt bei Grenzpfahl 63 nördlich von Klenovec; local border traffic. No. 6: Brücke bei Grenzpfahl 59; local border traffic. No. 7: Rohitsch-Hum; international border traffic. No. 8: Brücke bei Grenzpfahl 38, Gehöft Meringovetz; local border traffic. No. 9: Clementbrücke or Klementbrücke, Brücke bei Grenzpfahl 31 (also: Clementbrücke Grenzpfahl 31); informal name: “Pri Klemenovem”, “Pri Klemenu”, “Čez Klemenovo”; local border traffic. No. 10: Brücke bei Grenzpfahl 29; informal name: “Čerena”; local border traffic. No. 11: Brücke bei Grenzpfahl 27 also Zurmanbrücke-Schwerko Grenzpfahl 27; informal names: “pri Mlinarčku”, “pri Mlinarju”, “pri Mlinu”, “pri Šerbaki”, “Stari Col”; local border traffic. No. 12: Brücke bei Grenzpfahl 19 (also Borschitz Grenzpfahl 19); informal name: “pri Bajti”; local border traffic. No. 13: Nimno-Brezno Grenzpfahl 10; local border traffic.
Example of a bilingual border pass (Grenzkarte) owned by Alojz Welle from Rogatec. In addition to the official stamp of the district customs office, and the date of issue and validity, each permit also contained a description of its owner with information on age, occupation and place of employment. There was a space for a photograph in the top right corner. Archives of the RS.
Franc Mikša – Maganatov Francl (in the above picture) lived right next to the Sotla River on the Croatian side of the border. On Easter Sunday in 1944, he was illegally crossing the border using his regular and well-trodden secret passage. He stepped on a newly planted landmine, which caused severe injuries. He spent the next three days dying at his home; in that time, they managed to write down his will. Source: personal archive of Branko Mikša.
The Sotla River is still the boundary river between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia. From 1941 to 1945 it was the boundary river between the German Reich and the NDH. In late 1941, the Germans guarded it heavily, enclosing it with barbed wire and minefields. Despite that, people soon started smuggling across it. The goods in high demand were sugar, tobacco, vitriol, salt, meat, fat, flour, eggs and even livestock. The photograph published courtesy of Božo Kolar (who owns the original) depicts the trading of goods at the Sotla River in the immediate vicinity of Rogaška Slatina, most likely in the summer of 1944.
A report from the Rogatec District Customs Office regarding the border crossings for local border traffic in the sector between Rogaška Slatina, Rogatec and Sveti Rok. In the agreement reached on 11 July 1941 in Rogaška Slatina, they established 9 points for the legal crossing of the German-Croatian border. Archives of the RS.
A German watchtower on the border with the Third Reich. MNZS.
On 1 October 1944, wrongly anticipating a landing of the Allies in the Balkans, the Germans turned the hinterland of the border at Rogaška Slatina and the neighbouring hills into a giant construction site of defensive systems that were to stop the Allied armies, or so the ruling Nazis naively believed. The photograph depicts the heart of the health resort's park and the conscripted women (many of whom were locals) that were forced to dig firing trenches and bunker pits, carry heavy wood, and build various fortifications during a harsh winter when the ground was frozen. Photograph published courtesy of Robert Vrečko, who owns the original.
The photograph shows a microstudy of the condition preserved in the field as seen in a Lidar image – the location is Vonarje. In 1944, in anticipation of a potential landing of Allies in Istria, the Germans heavily fortified their southern border with firing trenches, machine gun nests and fortified bunkers.
The terrain surrounding Rogaška Slatina and even in the town itself still clearly shows the remains of defensive fortifications. The photographs show the remains of a firing trench on Janina, a hill in the centre of Rogaška Slatina. Photo Daniel Siter
Remains of bunker pits above the Sotla River at Vonarje. Photo Daniel Siter.
Several fascist organisations chose the former restaurant “Pri črnem orlu” in the main town squar e as their premises during the Italian period. Idrija Municipal Museum.
The mercury mine was vitally important for Idrija even during the Italian period. All the way up until the capitulation of Italy, the mine managed to maintain a relatively high level of production (up to 14,600 flasks per year). War conditions interrupted the mine's planned modernisation in 1941. In the photograph, we can see the mine's picking plant building from the time before the company was sold in 1940 to the private company Monte Amiata from Tuscany. Idrija Municipal Museum.
A group of Partisans from Gregorčič's brigade, which, on 22 June 1943, under the leadership of Ivan Turšič - Iztok, attacked a truck of the mobile unit of Public Security from Idrija. The attack took place in Razore, which is located between Mrzla Rupa and Vojsko. 15 Italians were killed in the attack. MNZS.
The first Partisan armed actions against the Fascist supremacy in Idrija started in 1942. They were led by Janko Premrl - Vojko. Among other things, Vojko led the attack against the Italian fortress at Črni Vrh and against the sentry crew at Marof near Idrija. In June 1942, a special court for the protection of the state senteced Janko Premrl in absence to death. The Prefect of Gorizia issued a search warrant, and promised the high amount of 50,000 lire to anyone who would find him. On 15 February 1943, he was badly wounded after fighting against the crew of Fascist forest militia by the road leading to Idrijska Bela. He died one week later as the result of the wound. MNZS.
The Fascist regime placed great emphasis on the upbringing of youth in the spirit of militarism. In the photograph, we can see a group of young from Idrija, who were members of the Fascist youth organisation. Private archive of Slavko Moravec, Idrija War Museum.
Seven mobile units under the leadership of Giuseppe Gueli responded to the Partisan attack by carrying out an extensive act of vengeance in the wider area of Vojsko. In the photograph, we can see the funeral service of the fallen Italians, who died in Razore, taking place in Idrija’s main square. Private archive of Slavko Moravec, Idrija War Museum.
Beneath Kobalove Planine hills, a barracks Caserma maggiore Brighenti was built in 1933 to accommodate the Italian troops. It served its purpose up until the Italians retreated from Idrija in September of 1943. Private archive of Slavko Moravec, Idrija War Museum.
Depiction of fortresses which, as part of the Alpine Wall, protected the Rapallo Border area in the vicinity of Idrija. The main purpose of these fortresses was to block road connections that led to Italy’s interior.
During the war, Italian fortresses were garrisoned. Seen kneeling next to the machine gun in the middle is Lieutenant Xhoko, commander of the garrison of the Nikova brook valley, who joined the Partisans after Italy capitualted. Private archive of Leo Xhoko.
After several unsuccessful attempts, the Germans managed to take over Idrija on 23 September 1943. Author (presumably): Peter Weissbacher. Idrija municipal Museum.
The photograph shows the canal (Rake) that provided water for the equipment in the mine. After Italy capitulated, the canal was used as a trench by Partisans from Idrija. They shut off the inflow of water, brought confiscated Italian weapons in the canal, and used them to protect the town from the German army, which was approaching from the direction of Kovačev Rovt. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
The ruins of the bridge in Podroteja near Idrija, mined by miners from Idrija on 19 September 1943 on the orders of the Partisans, are still visible today. By mining roads and bridges, placing barriers, and by actively defending the outskirts, they managed to repel some German attempts to enter the town. Author: Matevž Šlabnik.
German military formation in Idrija’s main town square. Between 1943 and 1945, German Nazi flags replaced the Fascist bundle of sticks on top of the former restaurant Pri črnem orlu. The photograph was taken during the celebration of the Day of the Wehmacht in 1943. Author (presumably): Peter Weissbacher, partly colorized. Idrija Municipal Museum.
Armoured vehicle at Debela Skala protecting a road block on the main road between Idrija and Godovič. A special pass needed to be presented to the guard in order to exit Idrija, which was surrounded by barbed wire. Author: Stane Kobal, personal archive of Matej Kobal.
A simulation of German fortified positions and the trail of their barbed-wire obstacles around Idrija between 1943 and 1945, based on oral sources and a sketch made by the 9th corps’ intelligence service. The diameter of the barbed-wire circle was 6 kilometres.
The number of German soldiers in Idrija ranged between 400 and 800. The photograph shows the German crew that in 1945 guarded the positions by the road between Idrija and Vojsko. They settled in the Ferjančič, Murovec, Bezeljačka, and Medved family houses. Private archive of Miha Ferjančič.
Since mercury is highly significant for war industries, having control over the mine in Idrija was of strategic importance to the Germans. The war, however, did cause a drop in production, mostly due to Partisan sabotages and air raids. The crisis was made even worse by the mobilisations of the locals and their joining the Partisans. Only 4,100 flasks were filled with mercury in 1945. The photograph depicts one of the mine buildings burning, which was caused by Allied air raids in the spring of 1945. Idrija Municipal Museum.
Members of the Slovenian National Defense Corps (Littoral Home Guard) marching through Idrija. The group in Idrija was about 50 strong. Private archive of Slavko Moravec, Idrija War Museum.
Postcard depicting Žiri, photographed by Štefan Mlakar in 1927. The hillside in the background was on the Italian side of the Rapallo Border. Žiri Museum.
Armies would demolish bridges to make enemy movements difficult. This is why on 8 April 1941 the Yugoslav army demolished a number of bridges: the bridge leading to Brekovice, the bridge that connected Stare Žiri with Stara Vas and Nova Vas, and the bridges in Fužine. The Partisan army also demolished bridges. The photograph depicts the bridge in Žiri, which was burnt down by the Partisan division of the Gorenjska region in 1943. MNZS.
Due to being located by the border, the surrounding area of Žiri was subjected to intensive fortification before the World War II. 1938 saw the start of the construction of the fortification system called the Rupnik line. On the other side of the border, the Italian fortification system called the Alpine Wall was built. The Italians also planned on setting up minefields on the frontier.
Italian soldiers took part in religious ceremonies in the occupied areas. Wearing full military gear, they attended the Easter Day Mass alongside the local population on 13 April. In the photograph, we can see Italian soldiers receiving Holy Communion in Vrhnika. MNZS.
Two Italian border guards at Breznica. Private archive of Mihael Naglič.
In the photograph, we can see the first page of the brochure “Wir bauen auf,” which had been published by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP). The brochure presents the activities of the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV) that were carried out in Gorenjska: taking care of the helpless and the impoverished, establishing centres for mothers and children and sanatoriums for mothers, taking care of children in kindergartens and youth homes. This was also one of the reasons why some residents of Žiri would prefer to be occupied by Germans instead of Italians. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 41, B-I-4-3-1.
Hitlerjugend or Hitler Youth – German Nazi youth organisation – was founded in 1926. One of its goals was to spread Nazi ideology among young people. The organisation also operated in Žiri. Photographs show the application form that one needed to fill out if they wanted to join the Hitler Youth. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 44, B-IV-a-16.
In Žiri, the German teaching body consisted of individuals who lacked pedagogical education. The only person with professional education was the headmaster. In the photograph, we can see the certificate that was given to students of lower secondary school. Female students also attended the courses of handwork and home economics. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 44, B-IV-a-2.
The German occupier forsaw everyone speaking German within four years. This is why adults also needed to attend German language courses. In the photograph, we can see a poster stressing the importance of knowing how to speak German. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 44, C-VI-25.
Not only place names, but also personal names were Germanised. The German invaders did so with the help of a handbook. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 41, B-I-1-1.
During the interwar period, the Municipality of Žiri was part of the administrative unit of Logatec. After the German occupation, however, the town became part of the District of Kranj. In the photograph, we can see the stamp that was used in Žiri during German occupation. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0265, 1, 11.
The residents of Žiri were also mobilised into the German army. The Germans used this poster (seen above) to notify all men born between 1923 and 1924 about the draft. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 79, OK-C-I-21.
Partisan maps of Žirovski Vrh, including the settlements in Žiri, and Gorenja Vas, which was surrounded with barbed wire by the Germans. When the Germans regained control over Poljane in 1944, they also surrounded it with barbed wire and bunkers. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 3, C-VI-3-l-11.
In the final years of the war, the population had to confront violence with an increased frequency. On 12 September 1944, Chetniks and Home Guard members from Vrh Svetih Treh Kraljev shot five hostages in Mršak. The selected photograph depicts the washing of one of the hostages before he was layed into his coffin. MNZS.
The map depicts the liberated territory, which included Žiri. Following the liberation, the Regional Committee for Gorenjska was temporarily stationed at Ledinica (near Kokelj). The intelligence headquarters was placed at Pepl, while Security and Intelligence Service’s (VOS) commanders were stationed in Jarčja Dolina (near Žust).
Just like during the German occupation, the Partisans carried out mobilisation and collection of resources for its units. The photograph depicts shoes that were confiscated by the Prešeren brigade in January of 1944 at Zajec near Žiri. MNZS.
In the surrounding area of Žiri, there was a number of Home Guard’s military bases. One of them was located in Rovte. The photograph shows the base in Rovte during the anti-Communist rally on 27 August 1944, which was also attended by Leon Rupnik. MNZS.
Immediately before the Italian attack on Yugoslavia, the Italian authorities ordered the people living in the villages on the border to evacuate their homes within a few hours. The photograph shows the evacuation order that was handed to Janez Jereb from Pečnik near Ledine on 8 April 1941. Private archive of Dušan Lapajne.
The border between Germany and Italy was marked by boundary stones of the old Rapallo Border all the way up to the sectoral boundary marker number 40, which can be seen in the photograph. New boundary markers were placed on the border with the Province of Ljubljana. Author: Darko Viler, Idrija Municipal Museum
The photographs show the border pass of Franc Rupnik from Mrzli Vrh, who used it to cross the Yugoslav-Italian border by the end of March 1941. After that, the border regime became stricter, making it more difficult to cross the border. Private archive of Tone Rupnik.
The poster that was used by the German authorities to notify the local population of the border’s fortification and the demolition of the facilities located near the border. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 77, II-C-14.
The map Vogels Karte des Deutschen Reichs und der Alpenländer already includes the border between the German and Italian territories. It was also used in German schools in Gorenjska. SI ZAL ŠKL, 44, B-IV-b-1.
In the photograph, we can see the following (starting on the left): Italian financial guard, Brigadier of the border garrison of the Financial Guards in Podlanišče, Commander of the German border gendarmerie Station at Sovodenj Perfler, a member of the Fascist border militia, a Yugoslav customs officer Lipicer, and a member of the Fascist militia. The photograph was captured at the border crossing in Podlanišče sometime around 11 April 1941. Pavšič, Ob stari meji (Založba Bogataj), 75. Original is kept in Idrija Municipal Museum.
Despite the Italian occupation of the Province of Ljubljana in April of 1941, police and tax control was still carried out on the Rapallo Border. While taking some time off from serving in the Italian army, Bogomir Eržen from Idrija (seen on the right) and his brother Danijel went to Rovte, where they bought a Czech machine gun Zbrojovka from a butcher. They took it past the financier’s office in Dole and smuggled it back to Idrija. When the anti-Italian resistance started in 1942, they handed over the weapon to Vojko’s unit, while also joining the Partisans. Private archive of Ivica Kavčič.
On 3 December 1943, part of Gradnik’s brigade was stationed at a farm at Mrzlikar above Otalež. Suddenly, they were taken by surprise by a column of 150 German soldiers from Idrija. Mrzlikar’s hayrack started burning, while the members of the Gradnik’s brigade began panicking. Tens of soldiers fled towards the former Italian- German border, which was fortified with barbed-wire obstacles and landmines, and soon after massive explosions could be heard. The deadly border obstacles were fatal for most of the 37 deceased that day. In the photograph, we can see depicted the Partisan soldier who was caught while fleeing. The Germans later took the Partisan to Idrija. Private archive of Aleksander Eržen.
During the time of the occupation, the German border police officers, who were attracted by Italian wine, would also attend the unofficial social events with the Italians in the Fascist barracks at Mrzli Vrh (above Vodičar). When the Germans, accompanied by Italians, were returning from one of such meetings to the other side of the border, they accidentally set off a landmine in its vicinity. The location where a German and an Italian lost their lives is depicted by the map above.
The photograph depicts an exaple of a travel permit application to cross the border between the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia and Zone B of the Julian March, the applicant entered his direction, location, and reasons for crossing. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0030, 4, 34, year 1946, 2, 01.
As part of the project, the recording of the remains of the border infrastructure is being carried out.The photograph shows the project’s leader Božo Repe, Ph. D., looking through the remains of border militia's barracks at Spodnji Vrsnik. Author of the photograph: Božidar Flajšman.
On 15 February 1942 an order came to power, stipulating that the border can only be crossed with an official permission and valid border documents. In the notice, it can be seen that an official border crossing was also located in Žiri. SI ZAL ŠKL, 0268, 79, OK-C-15.
Italian occupier military posts in White Carniola on 1 March 1942
The report of the Dolnji Suhor Gendarmerie Station clearly shows that 20 individuals from villages in the vicinity of Suhor were collecting signatures for the annexation of Bela krajina to Germany. Together with the citizens of the municipalities of Gradac and Semič, they took the signatures to the German command in Brežice between 5 and 8 May 1941, requesting that the Germans occupy Bela krajina as soon as possible. That never happened, even though the aforementioned report mentions that the Germans said they would arrive on 10 May. An excerpt from the report of the Dolnji Suhor Gendarmerie Station, No. 79, 12 May 1941, to the head of the srez in Črnomelj. Archives of the RS.
While some were calling for Bela krajina to be annexed to Germany, according to Marija Jelenič some of the townspeople of Vinica prepared a large Russian flag for the 1 May festivities (for the bell tower of the church in Žeželj near Vinica) and 50 small paper flags bearing the hammer and sickle. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Interview: Marija Starešinič
Interview: Ilija Strahinič from Doljani.
Interview: Janko (Janta) Goleš from Vukšiči near Radatovići.
Interview: Boris Anton Weiss from Predgrad.
A sketch of the Fascist and Financial Guard post in Sinji Vrh. Archives of the RS. Remains of the Italian inscription VINCEREMO (WE WILL WIN) on the outer wall of the rectory in Sinji Vrh, where a Fascist post was located between 26 May 1941 and 8 September 1943. Author: Blaž Štangelj.
On 8 April 1942, Fascists occupied the school in Griblje, while the Financial Guard occupied a civilian house. The post in Griblje was enclosed by barbed wire and fortified with five concrete bunkers and three bunkers dug into the ground, as well as with a stone and concrete wall. They also dug connecting trenches. The partisan sketch and description of the Italian post in Griblje was most likely created at the end of 1942 or in the first half of 1943. Archives of the RS.
A partisan sketch of the Fascist and Financial Guard post in Pobrežje near Adlešiči drawn at a scale of 1 : 1000. It was most likely created at the end of 1942 or in the first half of 1943. Archives of the RS.
The first Italian post in the village of Podzemelj was in the old school building; one of the classrooms was occupied by the Border Militia on 28 May 1941 and it stayed there for about two months. Afterwards, on 2 April 1942, members of the Financial Guard moved into two civilian houses, forcing the owners and their families to leave, while the Fascists occupied the new school. They enclosed the occupied buildings by barbed wire, built three bunkers and a stone wall, and dug a firing trench. The villagers had to take part in the fortifications by transporting building material. Archives of the RS.
In July 1942, the Italian Army enclosed Semič by barbed wire and then fortified it with 11 bunkers and firing trenches. At least three crossings led from Semič, which was enclosed by barbed wire, and all were protected by knife-rests. The church bell tower was used as an observation post, armed with a heavy machine gun and mortar. According to a partisan report dated 13 February 1943, there were around 180 Italian soldiers and between 140 and 180 members of MVAC in Semič. Archives of the RS.
The Karlovac – Ljubljana railway line was of strategic importance for the Italian Army, because it was used to transport strategic raw materials and military material from the Balkan Peninsula towards Italy. The railway line was protected by bunkers and by fortifying the railway stations and guardhouses. The partisans often attacked them and demolished individual sections of the railway. The Otovec viaduct; at 225 m it is the longest bridging structure on the Bela krajina railway line. The Italian Army enclosed it by barbed wire and stationed armed guards on each side of the viaduct and under it. A description and sketch of the guarded viaduct were included in a report of the 25th Partisan Division, dated 7 August 1943. Archives of the RS.
An intelligence report by an informant of the Črnomelj Company of the Detachment of the Eastern Dolenjska Region about the number of Italian and MVAC soldiers and their armament at the posts in Bela krajina, dated 7 January 1943. Archives of the RS.
The zone of barbed wire in 8 rows, densely woven, 4 metres wide and 160 cm tall, began at the stone bunker with armed guards on the left bank of the Kolpa River by the railway bridge at Rosalnice. The fortified zone continued N through the forest of Boriha and then turned NW towards the junction of the roads leading to Slamna vas and Drašiči. On the left is a partisan sketch of bunkers by the railway bridge over the Kolpa River at Rosalnice with a detailed description, dated 19 August 1943. Archives of the RS. In the centre and on the right: The remains of the bunker by the railway bridge over the Kolpa River, where the zone of barbed wire began. One photograph shows razor wire, which had been placed in 2015 and was later removed. Author: Blaž Štangelj.
A report from the Security Intelligence Service (VOS) on the construction of a fortified barbed wire fence at Rosalnice, 12 August 1943. Archives of the RS.
Along the zone of barbed wire, they built 6 strong concrete bunkers between early August and early September 1943. Four of them have been preserved to this day. The photograph shows the bunker near the village of Radoviči and Rosalnice. Authors: Blaž Štangelj and Božidar Flajšman.
The original plans for closing the border with the NDH from the first half of 1942 envisaged that the Italian 11th Corps would guard the border along the Kolpa River with fortified posts, without a continuous barbed wire fence. In the plan for protecting the border dated 20 August 1943, the Isonzo Division envisaged 100 bunkers or forts with armed guards (meaning 2 bunkers for each kilometre of wire) and barbed wire between the railway bridge at Rosalnice and the village of Severin na Kupi (south of Sinji Vrh, on the right bank of the Kolpa River). That plan was never realized. A report from the Isonzo Division about the planned number of bunkers and their armament along the route of the fortified border between the Gorjanci/ Žumberak mountain range, the railway bridge over the Kolpa River and Severin na Kupi, 20 August 1943. Archives of the RS
Metlika
A Croatian soldier in front of a barrier on the Croatian side of the bridge over the Kolpa River at Metlika. (Archive of Janko Bračika)
In September 1943, after Italy had capitulated, the partisans demolished the road bridge over the Kolpa River at Metlika. On the right side of the bridge we can see a semi-demolished house, which the Italians had converted into a bunker (shown on the map). They also demolished the railway bridge at Rosalnice and the road bridge at Vinica. The photograph is kept by the Bela krajina Museum in Metlika.
Interview: Martina (Tinčika) Jug from Metlika.
Interview: Marija Koležnik
The first page of a report from the Municipality of Radatovići regarding the visit from the NDH Boundary Commission in Radatovići on 5 November 1941. The report states that the NDH Boundary Commission was in Radatovići on 21 October 1941 mainly due to propaganda and not due to topography or boundary-related matters between the Kingdom of Italy and the NDH. It mentions that the commission was interested only in the people's state of mind, for instance in why a triumphal arch had been erected in Radatovići in honour of the high commissioner from Ljubljana, etc. Archives of the RS.
The border soon began causing many problems, including economic ones. A letter from the Municipality of Metlika, dated 16 August 1941, to the High Commissariat of the Province of Ljubljana in Ljubljana reads as follows: »The Croatian landowners who own land next to our vineyards are threatening our winegrowers that they won't be allowed to take their crop from the Croatian side in autumn. /…/ Let us mention that there are quite a few Croatian landowners who own land on our side and who have exported hay, wood and other items from their properties and were never hassled by the local authorities. The Croatian authorities should do the same.« Archives of the RS.
There was a complication regarding the Municipality of Radatovići, which belonged to the Črnomelj srez (administrative unit). Thus, Kotarska oblast (County Administration) in Jastrebarsko informed the Municipality of Radatovići that the NDH Ministry of the Interior had annexed it to the NDH at the request of the citizens of Radatovići and the society of the people of Žumberak from Zagreb. Archives of the RS.
The Royal Civilian Commissariat of the Occupied Slovene Territory replied to the district governor in Črnomelj on 3 May 1941 that by decree »the occupied Slovene territory has been declared an integral part of the Kingdom of Italy and makes up the Province of Ljubljana. The entire Črnomelj srez constitutes a part of the aforementioned province.« Archives of the RS. It seems that the Radatovići affair ended with that, even though there were complications with the Boundary Commission which was to demarcate the boundary between Italy and the NDH in the field.
Interview: Anton Stipanič from Gradac.
Interview: Franc Zepuhar from Bušinja vas.
Interview: Ivan and Štefka Špehar from Breg.
Interview: Gabre Bogdanović from Hrast.
Interview: Jožef Klepec from Krasinec.
Bojanja vas burnt down by Italians. Author: Daro (Božidar) Kopinič. MNZS.
Terezija Starc from Rosalnice near Metlika received a message from the local parish that her husband had died in internment on the island of Rab. She commented that in his last letter her husband had written: »Send me bread if you ever want to see me alive again.« Archives of the RS. The mayor of Metlika included that message in a letter to the civilian commissioner in Črnomelj Emilio Cassanego dated 22 January 1943. He mentions several similar cases in his letter and asks the commissioner to intervene for the release of the internees. Archives of the RS.
An excerpt from an Italian list of internees who were taken from Črnomelj to Italian camps. This list also mentions Darinka (Darka) Šimec (married name Čop) and the women in her family. Archives of the RS.
Interview: Drago Kramarič from Dragomlja vas.
Interview: Niko Drakulić from Veliko Liješće.
Interview: Franc Kočevar from Bojanja vas.
Interview: Nežka Kobetič from Zagozdac near Predgrad.
Interview: Darka Čop (maiden name Šimenc) from Črnomelj.
Interview: Ivan Starešinič from Žuniči.
Danica Car from Brezovica still keeps a 50 Reichsmark banknote, which was given to her by a wounded German soldier, who was treated in partisan hospitals in Žumberak. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
The Municipality of Semič wrote the following in a report dated 21 September 1942: »We are reporting to the District Governor in Črnomelj that at the end of the previous week a great number of partisans arrived, crossing the border from Croatia.« Archives of the RS.
On 5 May 1944, the Germans bombed Dragatuš, because they thought it was the partisan headquarters. Bela krajina Museum.
Interview: Katica Adlešič and Marija Kordež from Adlešiči.
Interview: Zvone Radkovič from Bereča vas.
Interview: Terezija (Zinka) Selakovič from Drage near Metlika
Tončka Adam from Dragatuš.
Zilje
In the autumn of 1942, three houses were evacuated in Dolnje Zilje and the residents had to stay with their neighbours. They fortified the houses and outbuildings and made a genuine little fortress. There is a sketch in the top left corner while the reverse of the same document contains a detailed description of the post – the picture on the right. The document must have been created after November 1942, most likely in the spring or early summer of 1943. In the two-page document, partisan informants drew a sketch and wrote down detailed information about the garrison. The document is kept by the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia. The two pictures below show the demolition of bunkers in front of the house of the Čadonič family at the address Dolnje Zilje 42 (the locals called it the Markovi residence) after Italy had capitulated, most likely in September 1943 before the German Offensive. The picture on the left is the property of Janez Uršič, while the picture on the right belongs to the National Museum of Contemporary History. The authors are unknown.
Until the summer of 1942, the locals got along with the Italians, more or less. The Italians did not mistreat the villagers. They allegedly even paid them for the chickens they wanted for lunch, or for washing their linen and clothing. Some of the Italian soldiers were said to have been Slovenes from the Primorska region, because the locals could easily communicate with them. The picture shows a few villagers with soldiers from the garrison. One of the soldiers is allegedly a man named Rocco, who returned to the village for a visit twenty years after the war had ended. Jože Starešinič told us about his visit. Unknown photographer. Private archive of Franc Čadonič.
The letter sent by Jože Pokorn, a parish priest in Preloka, to Škofijski ordinariat (Episcopal Ordinariat) in Ljubljana. In the letter he points out, among other things, the great distress of family members who are unable to send packages to the internees and who do not know whether they are even alive. Archiepiscopal Archives Ljubljana.
Shown in the left picture is Franc Čadonič (1919-1942); the man on the left in the right picture is Jože Čadonič (1917-1942) and on the right is Marko Čadonič (1917- 2000). Franc and Marko were brothers, while Jože was their uncle (their father's halfbrother). Unknown photographers. Private archive of Franc Čadonič.
The wedding picture of Marko Čadonič and Frančiška Erdeljac; they were married on 30 May 1916 at the St Nicholas Church in Pittsburgh. Unknown photographer, private archive of Franc Čadonič.
Franc Čadonič with the wedding photograph of his grandparents, uncle Franc, great-uncle Jože and father Marko. Author: Božidar Flajšman
Notes about the late Franc Čadonič, Jože Čadonič and Franc Čemas in a file kept by Nadškofijski arhiv Archiepiscopal Archives Ljubljana
Quite often, the internees were parents and their children. Two of them were Franc Čemas and his son Ivan. The father was told to give his son some of his food so he would survive; sadly, that was exactly what happened. The father died and the note informing his family of his death, sent by the parish priest, is shown in the top right corner. After Italy had capitulated in September 1943, Ivan underwent treatment to regain his strength for the journey home. He was photographed in front of the hospital, a former hotel. On the left is the court decision which awarded the widow custody of her children, because her husband had died. The picture and documents are owned by Jože Čemas, Zilje.
Interview: Angele Žugelj
The picture shows the school-leaving certificates of Frančiška Tahija (maiden name Balkovec). In the 1942-1943 school year, her school-leaving certificate was issued by the Kingdom of Italy; in the next school year it was issued by the Government of the Free Territory; after the final year of the war, in the 1944-1945 school year, or more precisely in June 1945, she received a school-leaving certificate from the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia in her liberated homeland. Signed as the headmaster on all three school-leaving certificates is Feliks Jug.
Frančiška Tahija, nee Balkovec. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
House of Josip Vidmar in Ljubljana where The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation was established on 26/27 April 1941. Author: Jože Kološa. MNZS.
Several illegal printing works operated in the city; the Tunel printing work was located on Emonska cesta. MNZS.
Prešeren Square after the introduction of the driving ban, ban on public drinking establishment and public events. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
Illegal printing works used the hand-operated printing press nicknamed Tigl. Author: Franc Cerar. MNZS.
Kričač radio station was devised by students of electrical engineering. MNZS.
Italians exerted pressure in every aspect of life, even language, and the people resisted with humour. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
In the 1930s, the area of the City Municipality of Ljubljana incorporated suburban municipalities of Vič, Šiška and Moste, the cadastral municipality of Štepanja vas and parts of cadastral municipalities of Stožice and Ježica. Nove Jarše and the area around the airport had previously already merged with Moste Municipality. The total surface area of the urban sprawl was now 65 km2. After multiple changes of community structure in the wake of World War II, the city has been divided in five municipalities since the mid-1950s (Ljubljana Center, Ljubljana Vič-Rudnik, Ljubljana Šiška, Ljubljana Bežigrad and Ljubljana Moste-Polje). The city’s administration reached far into the periphery. The present-day scope of the city municipality goes back to the adoption of the Local Self-Government Act in 1994.
From left Franc Kimovec, Gregorij Rožman, Emilio Grazioli in Ignacij Nadrah. MNZS.
Juro Adlešič, Ljubljana Mayor 1935–1942. Handed over the keys to the city to the Italian army marching in on 11 April 1941 at 5:30 pm in front of the church in Vič. Kronika slovenskih mest 2/4 (1935).
Town Hall with Italian flag flying. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
Leon Rupnik, President, Bishop Gregorij Rožman and advisor General Erwin Rösener.
View of Pečar Pass. Taken from the site above the former German border post at Pečar's. According to the accounts of Marinka Jelenko and Metod Strojinca, the structure in the front was built by German soldiers; on the road behind it was a barrier, i.e. the border crossing between Italy and Germany. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
View of Kašelj Hill from Sostro. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
According to local accounts, a barrier, i.e. the border crossing between Italy and Germany, stood on Pečar Pass. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
The Italian–German border crossing on Podgorska cesta, above Zalokar's house (Cesta Andreja Bitenca 22, Ljubljana). View toward Ljubljana; meadows and fields visible in the background. Today this is a residential block area. Author: Tine Bitenc. Archive of Milena Zalokar.
Border block at Šentvid nad Ljubljano on the German– Italian border. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
Milena Zalokar in front of her house on Cesta Andreja Bitenca, Ljubljana. As a way to mark the occupation border between Germany in Italy that ran here, the Zalokar family had the original boundary stones marked with D (Deutschland-Germany) and I (Italy) built into the wall, 11 December 2018. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Milena Zalokar (b. 1927) at the site of the former Italian–German border crossing set up right next to her home (Cesta Andreja Bitenca). She is holding up photos of the demolition of her home, and of the border crossing, 11 December 2018. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Demolition of the houses on the Italian–German border in Podgora on present-day Cesta Andreja Bitenca. Germans also demolished Zalokar's house below the Italian–German border crossing. The meadows and fields in the background have been developed after the war; today, this is Cesta Andreja Bitenca. In the background is the junction of Cesta Andreja Bitenca and Celovška cesta where the border crossing between Germany and Italy was located. Author: Tine Bitenc. Archive of Milena Zalokar.
Page one of the German report concerning the implementation of the border strip clearing in Gorenjska, Bled, 13 June 1942. Attached were extensive lists of people affected by the German sanctions. Archive of RS.
German-Italian block on the bridge across Sava River in Ježica. Author: Miroslav Pavlin. MNZS.
Border block at Šentvid where the German–Italian border ran. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS. Tram tracks can be seen on the road. In October 1941, the Germans banned the tram from crossing the border. Its final stop was the station just before the border. The border crossing remained. (Brate, Ljubljanski tramvaj, 110–112).
Bunkers in Ježica, the railway bridge over Sava River in the background, 9 April 2018. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Concrete foundations of the German watchtower in Ježica, 9 April 2018. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Bunker in Črnuče, 9 April 2019. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Vida Urgl (b. 1927) next to the junction of Cesta Andreja Bitenca and Celovška cesta in Ljubljana, where the border between Italy and Germany ran during World War II (border block at Šentvid). Vida smuggled herself across the wire of Ljubljana to the border between Italy and Germany at the border block in Šentvid. The guards wouldn't let her across even though she had relatives waiting for her on the German side with a pair of shoes. They had no choice but to toss the shoes over the wire. Ljubljana, 7 December 2018. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Prešeren Monument decorated to celebrate liberation. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
Partisan army marching into Ljubljana. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
A symbol of resistance was also the initials OF written all over the city. MNZS.
Preparations for the arrival of the Partisan army upon liberation. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
Oton Župančič giving his speech from the balcony of the University of Ljubljana, 10 May 1945. Author: Franc Cerar. MNZS.
Josip Broz - Tito during his speech on the balcony of Ljubljana University on May 26, 1945. Author: Janez Kurent. MNZS.
Movement across checkpoints in Ljubljana was subject to strict control. While the resistance could not be contained, passing the border made the daily life of locals difficult as it required having a special pass. As a result, residents lost touch with the hinterland and the supply chain, and the goods began to dwindle. MNZS.
Part of the wire ring around Ljubljana in Šiška. The entire strip was 32 km long, and an extra 9 km of wire obstacles were installed inside the city. 32 km of wire was used to electrify the ring. In total, the Italian defence ring required 84,000 man-hours by soldiers and 420,000 man-hours by workers of Italian companies. Slovenian workers, mostly forcibly mobilized, performed 60,000 man-hours. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
Czech Hedgehogs at Streliška street. The Italian occupation authority not only set up an exterior wire ring but also an interior ring around the city centre, which was supposed to be completed by October 1943. The total 34 checkpoints, for which they used 225 Czech hedgehogs (1.25 to 3 m long), were erected next to main buildings of the Italian civilian authority, Carabinieri posts and barracks which had been additionally fortified and protected with wire. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
Wire around the defence bunker close to the erstwhile Evangelical cemetery in Navje in the present- day district of Zelena jama. Ljubljana Castle in the background. In total, the works required 1.770.000 building stones, 120.000 bricks, 1100m3 timbers, 1500 t concrete, 50 t lime, 10 t iron, 151 t barbed wire, 15,000 long stakes and 45 short stakes, roughly 1 t copper, 1000 electricity poles and 800 light bulbs. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
In 1985, the City Municipality of Ljubljana set up the Path of Remembrance and Comradeship to commemorate and mark the perimeter of the barbed wire ring around Ljubljana during the war. Every year on Friday and Saturday before 9 May, which marks the end of World War II in Europe, the March along the Barbed Wire is held, drawing thousands of walkers of all ages. The huge event closes with an annual ceremony in the city centre in memory of the hardships in the days of occupation and the wire fence around the capital. MNZS.
In July 1942 the Italians started to install artillery for the outer defense. It was placed in the strategic points of the city such as Rožnik Hill, Castle Hill and Studenci. LiDar image shows the remnants of artillery nest near Mostec on Rožnik hill, which protected the territory from Razori or the slopes of Polhograjsko hribovje hills all the way to the state border between Italy and Germany at Ježica. GIAM, Rok Ciglič
In the summer of 1944 a Kampfkommandant (Battle Commander) was assigned to Ljubljana. It was the Kampfkommandant’s duty to ensure the defence of the city and its periphery in case of danger. Battle Commander was SS - standartenführer Max Schimmelpfennig (right). On the left Erwin Rösener. MNZS.
The picture depicts Vida Urgl (fourth from left, born 1927) in the middle of a group of Ljubljana residents mobilized by the Germans during the occupation in 1945 to dig fire trenches around Ljubljana as part of the Labour Service (Arbeitsdienst). Archive of Vida Urgl.
General Rösener awarded medals to members of Home Guard. MNZS.
Bunker near Šmartinska cesta. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
The map shows the stands with the field of visual of both panoramas and the photo stands 1 first panorama and photo stand 2 second panorama.
Panorama 1. The panoramic view from the top of Mala Trata to the west of Šentvid covers the field of vision between 190° (south; southern gate into the Šentvid Tunnel; in the background is Mount Krim) and 10° (north; northern gate into the Šentvid Tunnel; in the background are the Kamnik-Savinja Alps). Most of today's urbanized area of Ljubljana was under Italy, as the border was located south of the Sava River. From this position, the Germans easily controlled a large part of the Italian territory. Panorama is made on the basis of satellite imagery in the Google Earth web globe. The red line indicates the course of the barbed wire around Ljubljana.
Panorama 2. The panoramic view from the top of Deben vrh on the Kašelj Hill covers the field of vision between 210° (southwest; Sostro, in the background are Golovec Hill and Mount Krim) and 30° (northeast; Dol pri Ljubljani; in the background are the Kamnik-Savinja Alps). This view also allowed the Germans to control the Italian territory south of the Sava River. Panorama is made on the basis of satellite imagery in the Google Earth web globe. The red line indicates the course of the barbed wire around Ljubljana.
1: The former border crossing between Italy and Germany at today’s crossroads of Celovška cesta and Cesta Andreja Bitenca roads. The Šmarna gora Hill is visible in the background. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
2: The bunker along the railway to Upper Carniola at today’s crossroads of Litostrojska cesta and Cesta Ljubljanske brigade roads was an integral part of the fortified positions of wired Ljubljana. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
3: Bunker on today’s Opekarska cesta Road as an integral part of the fortified positions of wired Ljubljana. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
4: Bunkers along the barbed wire fence near the present railway station of Ljubljana Brinje near Vodovodna cesta Road. The Šmarna gora Hill is visible in the background. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
5: Wire barriers in the former Štepanja village, today Štepanjsko naselje. Visible is the church of Holy Stefan. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
6: A bunker along a barbed wire fence in the area of today’s Nove Jarše. In the background are Šmartno ob Savi and Mount Menina. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
7: The bunkers along the railway bridge, which crossed the Gruber Channel at Kodeljevo near today’s Poljanska cesta Road. Author: Jakob Prešern. MNZS.
On (A) an aerial photograph from 1959 the course of the former WWII German railway is visible. On (B) a 3D 1959 landscape model made from stereoimaging, it can be seen that the railway ran along a cut and an embankment. After the war the railway was dismantled and the embankment was removed, so that on present-day LiDAR DTM (D) these anthropogenic relief forms are almost non recognizable, while the course of the former railway can be recognized on a 2011 aerial photograph (C) based on the land use.
”We were evicted; our new house was razed to the ground by the Germans. Because of the border. We were too close to the border. /…/ We were put up in a house in Črnuče, and there were some women there, the Germans sent them to internment and put us up there. We stayed there until the end of the war.” Account by Jožefa Kržan (b. 1938) from Savlje. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
”I smuggled myself across the wire of Ljubljana since I didn't have a pass. I couldn't get one as my father was in Dachau. The state border ran there, I remember that much, because I could see the church in Šentvid behind it. My aunt came up from the direction of the church; we set up to meet here. She brought me shoes but the German soldier wouldn't let her give them to me. We had to meet up here so she could hand them over to me. We just yelled across the border. Next thing I know, she took her shoes off and threw them over so I caught them. She was standing there barefoot, with another pair in her backpack.” Account by Vida Urgl (b. 1927). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
“That was under Germany. One hundred metres further was the German border and that side was Italian/.../ Our Jeli passed it here. She was returning home around noon. Mother came up to the border and put a plank over the wire. My sister went over the wire when a shot came flying under her feet. It came from the guardhouse. My sister made it across and hid in the bushes/.../my mother ran away/.../ The angry Kraut came running down, shooting/.../ He wasn't trying to kill her, just to scare her for being there in the first place. Everything she had with her – a kilo of flour ... he collected, plus she had to bring him cigarettes to let her go. If she hadn't, these devils would have sent her into internment.” Account by Izidor Slevc (b. 1938) from Savlje. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
”Everything you see below used to be the village of Podgora (now part of Ljubljana)/…/ This photo shows houses being demolished. All of this was demolished, right up to the road. To the right is Cesta Andreja Bitenca and below Celovška cesta/.../ German authorities ordered the demolition /.../ They were convinced of their victory and that this is where the border between Italy and Germany will be set/.../ They had to up and leave over night and one day. My grandpa supposedly said: ‘Well, I'm a beggar now.’ And indeed he was. He no longer had any possessions. Well, he had fields and forests but he had no home and no workshop left.” Account by Milena Zalokar (b. 1927) from Podgora, present-day Cesta Andreja Bitenca. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
”We are in front of the German border barracks which was built by the Germans in World War II, and burnt down in an attack by the Partisans. It was a wooden structure, with a concrete base, brickwork and a wooden beam construction over two storeys. You can still see the walls and foundations of the pillars holding up the porch/.../ You could access it from two sides ... the porch ... so the Germans could overlook all of Ljubljana. This forest was cut and burnt down; all wood was sent to Germany via the freight station in Zalog/.../. This was a border guardhouse in which the Germans also had its cavalry. There was white sand on the ground here and a stable with horses. Where the field is now, there used to be a military shooting-range. When I was ploughing the field I found hundreds and hundreds of empty bullet casings /.../” Account by Metod Strojinc (b. 1959) from Pečar (Kašelj Hill). Metod sitting on the concrete stairs leading up to the porch of the post that was later burnt down in a Partisan raid. The Germans left a reel of barbed wire, a bayonet, a helmet, a horseshoe and one clamp. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
During the military operations following the attack on Yugoslavia, a demarcation line was laid down between the two armies, which ran south of Litija past Novo mesto towards Karlovac and farther southeast. Hitler had already laid down the final boundary in April 1941 in Vienna. The boundary was demarcated by the Germans who had only their own interests in mind. The new state border between Italy and Germany was strategic and did not follow the course of the Sava River. The Germans protected the border with barbed wire and minefields. They also built watchtowers for better surveillance. The image above shows the watchtowers from Hinjce and Bučka.
Germans and Italians in Raka. MNZS.
»In 1941, we planted potatoes in the first Yugoslavia; then it was divided and the Germans came, so we grew them in a German state. But we harvested them in Italy. In the same year, on the same field.« As told by Viktor Miklič, in the middle, (born 1917) from Mačkovec near Novo mesto. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
»The bridge was the demarcation line between Italy and Germany. It was the German border and they were very strict. We had a field on that side [German] and couldn't get to it.« As told by Jože Jankovič (born 1936) from Kostanjevica na Krki. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
The border crossing in Veliko Mraševo on the Novo mesto – Brežice road in the direction of Cerklje ob Krki. PMB. Author of comparative photograph: Jure Tičar.
Map of the settlement area. The map shows the territory south of the Sava River up to the border with Italy and along the southern course of the Sotla River. The Germans deported Slovenes from this territory and populated it with Germans. When the war ended, these settlers moved away. MNZS.
Three bunkers stood by the Škerlj residence in Gotna vas. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto. Borut Škerlj (born 1960) next to the remains of a bunker. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Mihael (born 1932) and Ana Rukše (born 1928) remember that Germans were the first to arrive in Gabrje in April 1941. Some of the locals ordered all the houses in the village to hang out German flags. Two triumphal arches were set up and two maypoles with a board between them inscribed with »Heil Hitler«. The people of Gabrje did that in fear of what was to come. People were asked to greet the Germans especially by those who had worked in Germany before the war, where they earned enough money to enable a better life for their families at home. They thought that once these parts were occupied by Germans, the people would get jobs and better living conditions. They soon realised that was not the case and the people of Gabrje started supporting the Partisans. Partisan units often stayed in the village and its surroundings during the war. Author: Blaž Štangelj.
The people of Gorenja Straža spent three days collecting signatures in support of annexation to Germany. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto.
The border between Germany and Italy severed certain towns in the Province of Ljubljana from the parent municipality or, in other words, the part of the municipality containing the municipal centre was located in Germany. With a special ordinance High Commissioner Grazioli allocated such towns to municipalities in the Province of Ljubljana. Slovenski narod, 8 July 1941.
Many disliked the Germans. Thus, one house in Karteljevo did not hang out the German flag. The Germans demanded that they hang the flag. The lady of the house solved this predicament in an unusual way by using a red fabric. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto.
Often, the noblemen were the ones who advocated the annexation to Germany. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto.
Jelovec station in 1942. The photograph is kept by: Dušica Milost.
In May 1941, the judicial officer Leon Korošec had to travel from Kostanjevica to Novo mesto for family-related obligations. The picture shows two documents relating to the issuance of a pass which allowed him to travel. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto.
Leon Korošec most likely travelled through the crossing in Cikava. The picture on the left shows guards and locals in 1941. The pictures on the right shows the same location in 1981 (top) and September 2019 (bottom). MNZS. Authors: Anton Štampohar and Božidar Flajšman.
Travels within the Province of Ljubljana were also made very difficult, as special passes were required. Both passes shown above were required for travelling from Novo mesto to Ljubljana. The first was valid only for five days, while the other was valid for six months. The second one was issued to a mother with two children. Zgodovinski arhiv Ljubljana, Enota za Dolenjsko in Belo krajino Novo mesto.
There was a crossing on the left bank of the Krka River near the house at the address Šmarješka cesta 58 between Ločna and Mačkovec. Viktor Miklič (born 1917) told us about the crossing. The picture above shows the border crossing in 1941, decorated with the famous inscription »Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Fuhrer« The picture below was taken 78 years later. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
The Partisans used several techniques for crossing the heavily guarded border. They could dig a tunnel under the barbed wire and throw their rucksacks over the wire. The second option was cutting the wire. The third method was placing a ladder on top of the wire and crawling across the border. In any case, they had to be careful not to trigger any landmines. It was especially dangerous in the winter. The soil was frozen and footprints were visible in the snow. As told by Zdenko Roter (born 1926). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
During the war, Novo mesto was enclosed by barbed wire, numerous bunkers and fortified firing positions. The map shows the approximate course of the wire and the approximate positions of the bunkers. This map is based on a chart that was made at the intelligence centre of the 25th Division at the end of 1944 or in early 1945. It also marks the approximate course of the German-Italian border from April to June 1941 and the border crossings in Mačkovec and Cikava.
Base of the Isonzo Division at the courthouse in Novo mesto. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto.
On 19 June 1941, Marshal De Bono conducted an inspection visit to Novo mesto. »The town had prepared well for the Marshal’s arrival; the main square in particular was full of Italian and Fascist flags, which fluttered from the houses to greet the eminent guest« Slovenec, 21 June 1941. MNZS.
The Italians, and later the Germans, fortified the town. All entry points into the town were guarded and barricades were placed at the crossings; everyone had to show their IDs. The picture shows women in front of the barricade in Novo mesto in 1942. MNZS.
Ragovo. A machine gun nest and tower on a hillock in Ragovo, overlooking Cerovci to the northeast. MNZS. Author of comparative photograph: Jure Tičar.
Members of the Home Guard in Novo mesto. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto.
A part of the Dolenjska region on an original German map marking the occupation border between Germany and Italy. We have additionally marked the locations of German watchtowers that were placed at strategic points right next to the border. The concrete foundations of watchtowers have been fully preserved in Bučka, on the Okič Hill and in Hinjce, and partially in Goveji Dol and in some other places.
German border guards at the demarcation line between Germany and Italy. Taken from the book by Stane Mrvič and Janez Kos, Pomniki NOB na območju občine Sevnica, 15.
Ruins of a former Murn house near Tržišče in the Mirnska dolina valley along the Tržišče – Sevni- ca road, around 1980. There was a roadblock nearby. For a few months, the original occu- pation border ran less than a kilometre away to- wards Tržišče. The photograph is kept by: Oskar Zoran Zelič.
Marjan Zaman and Rafael Rafko Blažič next to the concrete foundations of a German watchtower in Hinjce above Krmelj. The Germans also built a bunker next to the watchtower, and dug firing trenches. Visible in the background is the rebuilt farm of Marjan Zaman, which was torn down by the Germans because it was located in the border zone. Marjan, who was a child at the time, was deported with his family to Germany, as were all other families along the German border. Author of photograph: Božidar Flajšman.
»We underwent racial examinations on 3 November 1941, after which we were deported, just as all other inhabitants of Bučka. We were sent on our way violently, at gunpoint, to Rajhenburg/Brestanica and then to German camps.« Ivica Žnidaršič. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Eviction notice for the owner of the house, Raka, 19 May 1941. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto.
The Partisan sketch and the map clearly show how the Italian occupying forces fortified Šentjernej. It was enclosed by two rings of barbed wire and bunkers. The first ring surrounded the centre of the town, while the other ran along its outskirts. In the centre of town, they also had an artillery battery with which they fired on the Partisan positions in the Gorjanci Hills. The town was decorated with Italian flags and portraits of Mussolini, which is visible in the photograph entitled »Threshing Day«. The Italian defensive line towards the Gorjanci Hills ran near Šentjernej; it, too, was made up of bunkers and barbed wire, and protected with firing trenches. Preserved in the photograph is the Italian bunker in Šmarje, which was photographed by monk Hugo Rožnik soon after the war; the photograph is kept by the monastery in Pleterje. There was a residential area to the right of the bunker, but it had been demolished before the photograph was taken. According to Janez Kuhelj, one of the townspeople built a house from the remains of the demolished bunker.
Tone Kovačič and Janez Kuhelj showed the yard behind the Kovačič residence, which had been a schoolyard during the war; the Italians placed six cannons next to it with which they fired on the Partisan positions in the Gorjanci Hills. According to them, whenever a Partisan rifle went off in the Gorjanci Hills, the Italians would fire their cannons all night long. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
First page of a Partisan description of the Šentjernej post. It was written at the intelligence centre of the 25th Division, nine months after Italy had capitulated, 22 May 1944. The description mentions, among other things, that the post housed between 180 and 200 members of the White Guard and that it was heavily fortified with 21 large and 38 small bunkers. Arhiv RS. Author: Blaž Štangelj.
This house in Dolenja Brezovica near Šentjernej was used as a post by a White Guard battalion from 15 October 1942 to 8 September 1943. 177 people were tortured there, including the poet Ivan Rob. 39 people were killed. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Members of the Home Guard in Šentjernej. Dolenjski muzej Novo mesto.
Map of the territory occupied by the NDH.
The village of Čedem was given to Croatia. The picture shows the village of Kamence, 400 metres north of Čedem. The border ran below the houses in the picture. A mine placed on the border killed Ivan Žurko and Alojz Kovačič on 6 December. Author of the top photograph: Bojan Balkovec. The bottom photograph is kept by: Antonija Erklavec.
Alojz Godec from Obrežje standing in front of a memorial to World War II casualties in Slovenska vas. The last name inscribed on the memorial is that of his brother Branko, who was 16 years old when he died. He fell victim to a German minefield while taking cattle to graze near the border in Perišče. The border ran along the road in which Alojz Godec is standing. Branko was killed near the plaque. Below is the entry of Branko’s death in the register of deaths of the Samobor parish. Author: Božidar Flajšman. Hrvatski državni arhiv.
»My father and his friend [Nikolaj Lazanski] stored stakes here for the vineyard across the border. My mother was with them and they sent her to fetch drinking water. […] In the meantime, my father’s friend stepped on a mine and was killed instantly. My father was heavily wounded and unfortunately didn’t survive. My mother found him alive, but he died a few minutes later. I should mention that my mother was pregnant with me at the time; I was born a month and a half after my father’s tragic death.« Franc Gajski (born 1943). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
On 27 September 1941, the NDH incorporated the occupied villages of Bregansko selo (Slovenska vas), Nova vas pri Mokricah, Jesenice, Obrežje and Rajec into the new Municipality of Bregana. Besides the above-mentioned villages, the village of Čedem was also incorporated into the NDH. Zakoni, zakonske odredbe i naredbe NDH.
Before the war, these villages, apart from Čedem, belonged to the Velika Dolina parish. During the war, they were entrusted to the care of a parish priest from Samobor. He was assisted by Franciscan monks from the monastery in Samobor. The part of the document discussing the necessity of getting accustomed to the Croatian language has been highlighted. Hrvatski državni arhiv, Odjel Nadbiskupijskog arhiva u Zagrebu.
Map of the barricade of the border with the NDH built in 1943, drawn based on sketches made by the Isonzo Division. The dating of the construction of bunkers (marked with Arabic numerals) and of stronger built fortifications (marked with Roman numerals) is shown with circles of various colours.
Unrealised plan for the barricade of the border with the NDH along the ridge of the Gorjanci Hills, 14 April 1942. Arhiv RS.
Jože Pirkovič (born 1934) next to a painting of his parents’ vineyard cottage in Vajndol (Gorenje Vrhpolje). Italian soldiers used it for food storage. There was a bunker about 150m from the cottage; it was partly dug into the ground, was made of wood, and covered with soil around the rim. They had to cut down vineyards along the route of the fortified border. Jože’s father made an arrangement with the Italian commander, so he did not have to cut down the vineyard; instead, he removed the stakes and fastened the vines to the ground. Author: Blaž Štangelj.
Albina Volčjak (born 1942) next to the remains of barbed wire near Dolenji Suhadol, where a fortified border ran across a deforested zone. Author: Blaž Štangelj.
A few border crossings were placed along the fortified border. The crossings were controlled by Italian soldiers and MVAC units. Rezka Paderšič (born 1932) in the location of the border crossing in Dolenji Suhadol and Mihael Rukše (born 1932) in the location of the border crossing near Gabrje. Both crossings had barbed wire gates. Author: Blaž Štangelj.
Remains of built bunkers on the Rutovca Hill and in Gomile near the village of Gabrje. Visible in the background of the below photograph are the Gorjanci Hills with the hill Trdinov vrh. Author: Blaž Štangelj.
Remains of an Italian bunker in Tolsti Vrh near Šentjernej; the slopes of the Gorjanci Hills are clearly visible in the background. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Terezija Zagorc from Gornje Vrpolje in the field Šentjernejsko polje, where the Italians had a bunker. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Slavko Franko and Stanko Kušljan next to the remains of Italian firing trenches at the village of Imenje pod Gorjanci near Šentjernej. Stanko (born 1919) gave a detailed description of how on one occasion, in broad daylight, his Cankar Brigade drove the Italians away from these positions and crossed the barricade of the border between the NDH and Italy. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Stanislav Sluga (born 1927) from Dolenja Brezovica took part in setting up the barricade of the border between Italy and the NDH. They drove six stakes into the ground to form a circle. They wrapped the barbed wire around the stakes, then they removed the stakes and turned the wire upside down, stretching it to form a tunnel, 50m long. They placed two barbed wire tunnels on the bottom and one on top, and then connected them. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Anton Palčič in the location of an Italian bunker in Zaboršt near the village of Kočarija. The remains of barbed wire can be seen in front of him. Because of the barricade of the border towards the NDH, his father had to deforest an area 50m wide and between 500 and 600m long. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Stanislav Grubar from Dolenje Vrhpolje said that the Italians had built an octagonal bunker, about four metres tall, on the corner of their house. It was entered through the house and had four portholes on the outside; they measured 30 x 40cm and were conically shaped. The wall was about 80cm thick; it had a surface area of 12m2. Just after the war, the bunker was used to store cereals. It was demolished in 1957 and the building material was used to build a stable. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Demonstration of the breakthrough of German and Italian armies into Slovene territory during the attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941.
Adolf Hitler inspecting the demolished bridge over the Drava River in Maribor, 26 April 1941. MNZS. It is incorrectly mentioned in literature that Hitler uttered the famous sentence “Make this country German again!” in his speech given on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor on 26 April 1941. In reality – according to the speech given by the Chief of the Civil Administration of Styria dr. Uiberreither on 28 April 1941, likewise on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor – he had given that order earlier. In his speech Uiberreither said that Hitler had addressed him with those words when handing over the administration three weeks earlier. Source: Repe, S puško in knjigo, 24.
Italian troops in Ljubljana (June 1941). MNZS, Author: Jakob Prešern.
Town Hall in Ptuj adorned with German flags. MNZS.
German Army crossing the Drava River across a demolished bridge, Ptuj, 1941. MNZS.
After occupation, Slovene territory was divided among the Germans, Italians, Hungarians and Croatians.
After the division of Slovene territories, Ljubljana became an Italian city along the German-Italian border. The map shows the course of the border as demarcated on 21 September 1941 by the Central Boundary Commission. Source: Spezialkarte der Österreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie 1:75,000, sheet Laibach (5553). Archive: Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU.
Border crossing between Germany and the Independent State of Croatia at Harine Zlake. MNZS.
German and Italian soldiers somewhere on the newly placed border. MNZS.
A German watchtower on the border with the Third Reich. MNZS.
The report by the newspapers Domovina and Kmetski list about the situation in Prekmurje after the beginning of the occupation. May 22, 1941.
Sketched map of Porabje. The Slovenian area (Slovenska vas, Doljni Senik) is marked in blue. (Inclusion of the German Part of Western Hungary to the Reich; Map XIII.)
The cover of the booklet The Inclusion of the German Part of Western Hungary to the Reich (Die Eingliederung des deutschen Westugarn in das Deutsche Reich. Geheime Reichssache. Anlagen. Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amts. Berlin, 1934-, R 105159, Pol. XII 39).
Dr. Helmut Carstanjen reports, as an associate of the »Verein für das Deutschtum im Ausland«, in a telegram sent from Graz to Berlin on April 14, 1941, about Prekmurje, which was temporarily under German military command with the districts of Murska Sobota (Olsnitz) and Dolnja Lendava (Unterlimbach); which was fervidly welcomed by the locals, who also expressed their desire for the province to join Germany. On April 16, the Germans handed over authority over Prekmurje to the Hungarians. (Politisches Archiv. Auswärtiges Amt. Mikrofilm-Nr.: 105.128. R 29.663)
Map of the border between Hungary, Germany, and NDH. The occupation and annexation of Prekmurje to Hungary in 1941 meant the separation of Slovenes in Prekmurje from their compatriots on the Styrian side of the Mura, and the establishment of a state border on the river on one hand, and the reunification of Prekmurje and Porabje under a common political-administrative system.
The territory of Goričko that was included in the German Reich.
The Ustashe proclamation of the annexation of Međimurje, Štrigova, and Razkrižje to the NDH. The Ustashe plans did not materialize, and both the Međimurje region and Štrigova with Razkrižje were given to Hungary by the Germans. MOL-K-64 93 csomó1941 67 tétel horvát-magyar viszony.
The bilateral agreement on the local border traffic and trade between Germany and Hungary. The residents by the border were exempted from customs duties on cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco for personal use during the day pass. Paragraph 2 of Article 5 set the upper limit in grams and articles for tobacco products. Politisches Archiv. Auswärtiges Amt. Mikrofilm- Nr.: J. Serie: 1274-1280. R 29.786.
Lendava, April 16, 1941. Celebration of the Hungarian takeover of Prekmurje. Photographed by István Vida. PMMS.
The handover of the administration of Prekmurje to the Hungarians by the Germans (the Mayor of Murska Sobota Ferdinand Hartner in the foreground), April 16, 1941. PMMS.
The territory south of Središče ob Dravi, currently belonging to Croatia, was under the German Rule in 1941, namely the German state province of Styria (Reichsgau Steiermark).
The Slovenian side of the plaque carries the date of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the Treaty of Trianon. The Austrian and Hungarian sides are both marked in the same way. Author: Darja Kerec.
The current tri-border between Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary. Before World War II, there was a border between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Hungary, but it was moved west during the war since Prekmurje and Međimurje came under Hungary. After World War II, the border between Yugoslavia and Hungary once again ran there, while the tri-border was formed after the independence of Slovenia and Croatia in 1991. Part of the research team visited the tri-border »hidden« in the swampy hard-to-reach confluence area of Velika Krka and Mura on April 13, 2018 (from left: Božo Repe, Darja Kerec, Božidar Flajšman, Kornelija Ajlec, and Peter Mikša). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Ludvik Dajč in front of the family mill in Sotina along the Mlinščica creek, November 23, 2018. The mill and homestead were annexed to Hungary after the occupation, separated from Germany by the nearby Lendava creek. Author: Sonja Bezenšek.
On April 13, 2018, on the overgrown right, Croatian bank of the Drava River, south of Središče ob Dravi, part of the research team (from left: Peter Mikša, Božidar Flajšman, Darja Kerec, Božo Repe, and Kornelija Ajlec) marked the tri-border point between Germany, Hungary, and NDH. Today, hardly any physical remains of the former state border can be found in the flooded, muddy, and overgrown area. (Team members Matija Zorn and Peter Mikša found a possible border moat south of the village of Virje. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
»The people were more inclined towards the Germans /.../. The Hungarians here (in Gerlinci) were stricter and the occupation complete. What happened in the neighboring village of Fikšinci (under German occupation)? During the war, they paved the road from Austria all the way to the village center. /.../ They took care of the infrastructure. Those people were a bit more satisfied. Nothing was done here.« (Alojz Grah, Gerlinci, April 14, 2018). Author:Božidar Flajšman.
»We had four lots on the German side /.../. We hauled the feed across the border. I was on the cart. The Germans were not that strict; the Hungarians were worse. They carried bayonets on their rifles, poking them inside the feed to see if we're smuggling something across the border /.../ The German side was more abundant compared to the Hungarian one.« (Emil Stojko, and his wife Katarina, Veščica, January 25, 2020). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Attila and István Kovács (right): »In the autumn of '44, two Hungarian soldiers came to us /.../. They visited us every day, sleeping there. They collected things for the army throughout the villages, requisitioning. Then in the spring of '45, when the front was pretty close and the Russians were nearing, they left ...« After the war, he reconnected with the family of one of them. (István Kovács, Dobrovnik, January 26, 2020). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
»There were Slovenian teachers all over Prekmurje who did not speak Hungarian at all. They are gone /.../. There (new) teachers were appointed by the Hungarians. Some came from there, some from here since they spoke Hungarian and could teach in elementary schools.« (Jozsef Biro, Lendava, January 26, 2020). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Pupils in Doljna Lendava school in typical Hungarian uniforms during the war. PMMS.
Second-grade students and teachers of Secondary Trade School in front of the castle gates in Murska Sobota during World War II. PMMS.
A poster inviting to a football match between the teams Mura Murska Sobota and SVSE Sopron, on May 23, 1943, at the stadium in Murska Sobota. PMMS.
»My grandfather did not want to be a Hungarian mayor, although he spoke Hungarian quite well.« (Milan Kučan in front of the house of his grandfather, an innkeeper, and owner, Prosenjakovci, January 25, 2020). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Rare moments of youthful enjoyment under Hungarian occupation: friends skating in Murska Sobota during World War II. From left: Tibor Vadaszi, unknown, Matilda Gumilar, Feri Toplak, and Zoli Borovski. PMMS.
The map of Porabje during World War II. In the nine local villages that were separated from the rest of the Prekmurje inhabitants by the Trianon border after World War I, 4166 people were speaking Slovene as their first language, based on the 1920 census.
The unimplemented German plan for a new border that included Porabje, published by the Cartographic (formerly Military-Geographical) Institute in Vienna. They planned to annex the territory in the direction of Ritkarovci-Verica in the area of the Two Valleys (Kétvölgy) in the south and southwest, all the way to Katinberg (Katicin breg; Katharinaberg) next to the Hungarian-Yugoslavian border. Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amts. Berlin (1934-), R 105159, Pol. XII 39. Kartenbeilage XI. Geheime Reichssache.
Bus timetable for the Murska Sobota - Monošter route during World War II. The line ran through four Porabje villages. MéV, volume XXXV, No 1, 4.
»There was already a sense of war. There was no peace, no salt, only for those who sold themselves to Hitler. During the war there was a great poverty in Gornji Senik.« (Mihael Ropoš – Miška, Ritkarovci, January 27, 2020). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Soldier Jožef Sukič (Szukics József) from Gornji Senik, photographed in 1930. He was re-mobilized during World War II and disappeared. The photograph is kept by Marija Mukič.
The tomb of the partisan Alojz Škerjanc - Mirko in Monošter. As a member of the Prekmurje Company, he was killed in the village of Salakovci in Porabje while fighting the Hungarian armed forces. Author: Brigitta Soós.
Interior of the church in Gornji Senik. The Slovene language survived in Porabje primarily thanks to the Church and family. Author: Marija Mukič.
Jože Krajcar from Gornji Senik was mobilized into the German army in September 1944. He was captured at Frankfurt upon arrival of the Red Army and sent to the Kharkiv prison camp in present-day Ukraine on June 8, 1945, where he, in great shortage, helped the effort to rebuild the ruined town. He returned home in 1951. (Gornji Senik, January 27, 2020). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
The number of settlers from Primorska coming from the vicinity of Doljna Lendava interned in the Sárvár camp in 1942, by settlements.
The second page of the list of settlers composed by the Hungarian authorities in January 2942. MNL OL, K-28, 101 csomó, 166. tétel, 22.
The cover of Angeza Papež's memorial book which she wrote at the Sárvár camp. Source: Bensa, Usoda naših dni, 14.
The settlers from Kamovci plowing the soil in 1940. The photograph is kept by Jože Vidič, Lendava.
»One day a message arrived, saying that children from the camp are to be put to foster care in Bačka. /.../ Serbian Orthodox Church organized the rescue of children. /.../ We were lucky enough to get to the camp when the action was already underway. I mentioned that we arrived on June 24 (1942). In August, the question arose: who wants to send the children out? I was the youngest in the family. My mother called me and told me: If you stay in the camp, you'll die. Sure, I've seen death when we were there. If you want to live, we need to separate. I did not dispute the decision …« (Lendava, January 26, 2020). Jože Vidič from Kamovci was interned at the Sárvár camp together with his family who moved from Primorska to Prekmurje during the interwar period. (Lendava, January 26, 2020). Auhor: Bojan Balkovec .
The courtyard of the Sárvár internment camp on the 1942 footage. Bensa, Usoda naših dni, 5.
Jože Vidič in front, behind him is Imre Csanádi wearing an army cap, unknown person with a rifle in his hands. Sitting on a motorcycle is Čurić, a child standing behind him is Dušan Živanov. Photo was taken on January 1, 1944 in Sivac (Bačka). Jože was in foster care by Milosavljev family, whilst his sisters Pavla and Marija were fostered by Majski and Pavko family. The photograph is kept by Jože Vidič.
The number of Jews in Prekmurje in 1941, by settlements.
The Jewish cemetery in Lendava where the local Jews and the Jews from surrounding villages are buried. Author: Attila Kovács.
The interior of the Murska Sobota synagogue, or more precisely, the Israelite temple, built in 1908 but demolished in 1954 by local communist authorities. The photograph is kept by Bojan Zadravec.
The Blau family from Lendava. Ludvik Blau (standing second from the right) survived the war. The photograph is kept by Renata Lešnjak.
Camp survivors in June 1945 in Murska Sobota. Among them, there are 16 Prekmurje Jews. The photograph is kept by Bojan Zadravec.
Jožef Baranja, Mario Sandreli's father. On February 27, 1945 he was shot dead by Hungarian soldiers in Turnišče. The photograph is kept by Mario Sandreli.
From left: Maria Horvat, Božo Repe, Monika Sandreli, Božidar Flajšman and Jožek Horvat-Muc. Roma radio Romic, Murska Sobota, March 4, 2020.
»Grandmother told me they had to dig their own grave whilst singing.« Mario Sandreli (Jože Kokaš), Jožef Baranja's son, holding the photograph of him. (Murska Sobota, March 4, 2020). Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Roma settlement at the end of the Tüskeszer in Dobrovnik village in 1942. In this period of time there were about 10 to 12 houses in this Roma settlement, some built as mud sheds. The photograph is kept by Gorza family.
Three graves of those six hostages shot dead. Turnišče cemetery, March 4, 2020. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
A number of Hungarians from Dolnja Lendava interned in Hrastovec in 1945, by settlements.
Hrastovec Castle in Slovenske gorice, where more than five hundred Hungarians were imprisoned in the summer of 1945. Author: Attila Kovács. Postcard: SI_ PAM/1889 Zavod za urbanizem Maribor, te 4/82.
A page of the list of interned Prekmurje Hungarians in Hrastovec. The list was secretly compiled by János Rudas from Radmožanci. Kept by József Biró, Lendava.
Tombstone of a Calvinist priest's daughter from Motvarjevci, who died a few days after arriving from the Hrastovec camp. Author: Attila Kovács.
Release document from OZNE custody in Filovci in Murska Sobota County. INV Documentation, Lendava Unit.
Vaccination certificate at the Strnišče camp near Ptuj. INV Documentation, Lendava Unit.
Hanging of Evgen Kardoš and Štefan Cvetko on October 31, 1941, in the courtyard of the Murska Sobota Castle. PMMS.
A sketch drawn by the Hungarian gendarmes (csendőrség) shows 13 sabotage and propaganda actions by the resistance movement and their perpetrators from April to October 1941. MNL ZML, IV. 401. b. 50/1941.
National hero Dane Šumenjak (first from right) with fellow fighters; on October 22, 1944, he was killed in combat at Vaneča. PMMS.
Štefan Kovač, national hero and organizer of the first resistance movement, in the first year of occupation; in October 1941, he was killed in a fight at the village of Gančani. PMMS.
Vogler's cottage in Bukovnica, where in early 1945, the Prekmurje Company was staying. PMMS.
Danijel Halas. The last victim of the Hungarians or the first victim of the new government? PMMS. Danijel Halas was ordained as a priest in 1933. After a brief service in Ljutomer, he was appointed as a chaplain in Dolnja Lendava. From 1938 until he died in 1945, he served in the newly-created parish of Velika Polana; as a pastor from 1939. He was imprisoned by the Hungarian authorities in the autumn of 1941 and charged for collaboration with the Communists. After nine months, he was released from prison and was allowed to return to his congregation. When he was returning from Dolnja Lendava in the evening hours of March 16, 1945, strangers grabbed him near Hotiza, brutally beat him and dragged him to Mura, where he was shot in the head and thrown into the river.
News of the visit of the Slovene National Liberation Committee delegation to Porabje on April 16, 1945. Novi čas, April 17, 1945.
The ceremonial unveiling of the victory monument in Murska Sobota on August 12, 1945, which is the only one dedicated to a Russian soldier on Slovenian soil. Designed by the Red Army officer Yuri Aronchik, the bronze statue of the Partisan and the Red Army soldier was made by brothers Zdenko and Boris Kalin. PMMS.
»Our children's world was moving from here to the creek /.../. On that road that led to the border, our space unfolded, until a guarded border closed it after the war when we were already in school. They put up wire, a wire fence. These were two kinds of barbed wire maybe two meters high, or even more. Now and then, there was a guard tower. It seemed strange to us, of course, because both that road and socializing with children from Őriszentpéter on the other side of the border were hindered. I especially found it strange because I used to drive to those villages with my grandfather in his cart. Suddenly, that was a different world, split in half, never to be united again.« The first president of independent Slovenia, Milan Kučan, on how he experienced the re-establishment of the border with Hungary during the Cominform era when he was still a child. Prosenjakovci, January 25, 2020. Author: Božidar Flajšman.
Cover of the first issue of the Novi čas newspaper (March 15, 1945). It was edited by partisan and writer Ferdo Godina.