Commission on Concealed Mass Graves in Slovenia
Encyclopedia
The Commission on Concealed Mass Graves in Slovenia is an office of the Slovenia
n government whose task is to find and document mass grave
sites from the Second World War and the period immediately after it. It was established on November 10, 2005. The Commission handed it's report to the Slovenian government in October 2009.
The Jutarnji newspaper reported the Commissions find, in all it is estimated that there are 100,000 victims in 581 mass graves. The commission's findings were used for the Reports and Proceedings of the 8th of April European public hearing on Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes organised by the Slovenia
n Presidency of the Council of the European Union
(January–June 2008) and the European Commission.
According to the “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes" the killings were executed by the Yugoslav Partisan Army in 1945 and 1946.
While the commission's own purpose is not to identify individual remains, research in Škofja Loka
has revealed that DNA
matches can still be made to identify victims.
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n government whose task is to find and document mass grave
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
sites from the Second World War and the period immediately after it. It was established on November 10, 2005. The Commission handed it's report to the Slovenian government in October 2009.
The Jutarnji newspaper reported the Commissions find, in all it is estimated that there are 100,000 victims in 581 mass graves. The commission's findings were used for the Reports and Proceedings of the 8th of April European public hearing on Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes organised by the Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n Presidency of the Council of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(January–June 2008) and the European Commission.
According to the “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes" the killings were executed by the Yugoslav Partisan Army in 1945 and 1946.
Work
The commission has been consistently registering, as well as gradually probing new grave sites.- 2002: 40 sites
- January 2007: 512 sites
- August 2007: 550 sites
- February 2008: 570 sites
- October 2009: 581 sites
- January 2011: 594 sites
While the commission's own purpose is not to identify individual remains, research in Škofja Loka
Škofja Loka
-Art colony:Before the civil war in the former Yugoslavia the Serbian town of Smederevska Palanka and the town of Škofja Loka held art colonies Groharijeva kolonija run by an art teacher from elementary school Olga Milošević in Smederevska Palanka. Now, after the split of SFR Yugoslavia, the two...
has revealed that DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
matches can still be made to identify victims.
Exhumations
- Barbara pitBarbara pitThe Barbara Pit is a pit near Huda Jama in Slovenia, known as the site of a World War II-era mass grave. The mass grave site was first publicly discussed in 1990, after the fall of communism in Yugoslavia...
, discovered in 2008. Remains of over 700 people were exhumed before work was stopped. - LancovoLancovoLancovo is a settlement on the right bank of the Sava river, opposite Radovljica in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.There is a late gothic church dedicated to St Lambert, originally built around 1500 but rebuilt in the 17th century....
, discovered in 2007. - Lokavec, AjdovščinaAjdovšcinaAjdovščina is a small town and a municipality with the same name and a population of 7000 , located in the Vipava Valley , Slovenia....
, discovered in 2004. Twelve bodies were exhumed in 2008. - MostecMostecMostec is a village on the left bank of the river Sava in the Brežice Municipality in eastern Slovenia. The area was traditionally part of Styria. It is now included in the Spodnjeposavska statistical region....
, discovered in 2010. - PrevaljePrevaljePrevalje is a settlement and a municipality in northern Slovenia. It lies in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia. On 1 January 1999 Prevalje became an independent municipality. Prevalje lies in a valley where the Meža River emerges from a narrow gorge, full of fluvioglacial sediments...
, discovered in 2010. Contains the remains of approximately 700 victims.
Members
- Jože DežmanJože DežmanJože Dežman is a Slovenian historian. He is currently the director of the National Museum of Contemporary History in Ljubljana....
(Chairman of the Commission, Director of the National Museum of Contemporary History) - Miha Movrin
- Metka Černelč
- Mag. Majda Pučnik Rudl
- Dr. Ludvik Puklavec
- Davorin Mozetič
- Marko Štrovs
- Janez Črnej
- Mag. Blaž Kujundžič (Statistical Office of the Republic of SloveniaStatistical Office of the Republic of SloveniaStatistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia is an independent Slovenian state institution in charge of official statistical surveying. It is responsible directly to the Prime Minister of Slovenia...
) - Dr. Andrej Vovko
- Nataša Kokol Car
- Anton Drobnič
- Pavel Jamnik
- Davorin Vuga
- Milan Sagadin
- Dr. Jožef Bernik
See also
- Bleiburg massacreBleiburg massacreThe Bleiburg massacre, which also encompasses Operation Keelhaul is a term encompassing events that took place during mid-May 1945 near the Carinthian town of Bleiburg, itself some four kilometres from the Austrian-Slovenian border....
- Commission on Concealed Mass Graves in SerbiaCommission on Concealed Mass Graves in SerbiaThe Commission on Concealed Mass Graves in Serbia is an office of the Serbian Government whose task is to find and document mass grave sites from the Second World War and the period immediately after it. It was established in 2009....
- Foibe killingsFoibe killingsThe Foibe killings or Foibe massacres refers to the killings that took place mainly in Istria during and shortly after World War II from 1943 to 1949, perpetrated mainly by Yugoslav Partisans. The name derives from a local geological feature, a type of deep karst sinkhole called a foiba...
- Kočevski RogKocevski RogThe Kočevski Rog or Kočevje Rog or simply Rog is a karstified plateau in the Kočevje Highlands above the Črmošnjice Valley. The plateau is part of the traditional Lower Carniola region of Slovenia and of the Dinaric Alps. The highest area is the central part, with the 1099 meter high peak Veliki...
- TeznoTeznoTezno is a suburb of the city of Maribor in Slovenia.During World War II, an anti-tank trench was dug in Tezno, around one kilometer in length and 3 to 4 meters wide. At the end of the war in 1945, in the events now collectively referred to as the Bleiburg massacre, the Yugoslav Partisans buried...